Alley Oop 163: Cade Cunningham: Superstar Leap or Empty Hype? | Zach Harper + Spurs, Luka & Olympics
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Oh, oh, Magic City Mindy. Hey, Magic City Mindy.
We come for the wings. We come for the wings. We stay for the ass. We stay for the ass.
Welcome back to the alley-oop. I am Juju Gotti, joined by my sister as always, Trista Crick. How you doing, sis?
It was pretty good, right, Zach?
It was dead on, dead on pre-show. She did an impeccable Juju impersonation.
Come on, man. And to say the least, the man, not the myth. Zach Harper is joining us today. How you been, my brother?
60% man, 40% myth. So pretty good.
Man, that's not what I hear from the ladies. Moving on. We got a lot of stuff going on in the NBA. Let's go right into it, man. Cade Cunningham, MVP candidates. Is it a lot?
I need you to adjudicate this, Zach. I believe if Cade Cunningham messes around and wins the MVP, he should give the award back. He is not a true creator for himself. You go into synergy, every offensive metric is... Good to average to below average. He does not generate space. He is an excellent defender. He is an excellent passer. He is a terrible three-point shooter. And for a guard, I want somebody to do better in that regard. Is it valid, yes or no, to have this besmirching play the beat of Cade Cunningham?
I hope it just starts playing over and over because he pushed the button so much. Throughout. Yeah. That's a lot of besmirching. I do not think there's any world in which he should be the MVP. So I'll say that.
Say it with your chest, Zach.
What are we doing? Say it again. This is Jokic's award or SGA's award, and if it's Jalen Brown or Cade Cunningham or Victor Wembanyama, no thank you. That is strictly, we now have a 65-game rule, and those dudes didn't... didn't become eligible because of that, which is stupid. It's a stupid rule for the, especially for the MVP. That's an MVP by default. You cannot have an MVP by default. We often have someone coming out of the East by default, but you can't have an MVP by default. That's not okay. You're right. I feel you. I feel you.
Back to Cade.
Yeah.
We're not about to allow you this.
Right. He just did his lightness. He's a professional bullsh**. Man, by the way, if you don't know, now you know.
Is Cade Cunningham an MVP candidate or just hype?
My boy Zach is a professional Houdini. You just saw it. He ain't answer a damn thing right now.
He was like an eel soaked in oil. He slipped right out of that thing.
Absolutely. Yeah. No, Diddy. definitely no diddy i do think like yeah he's a horrible he's a horrible three-point shooter especially if like what you want as a guard i wonder how much of not creating space is because they literally have one shooter on that team i do think that matters like you have so much that is just paint focus and and like i don't know i don't i don't know that you're you're worried about too much of this of like swinging you know the pass or whatever um I think, like, he's someone I've been highly critical of in the past. I do think, like, he's become a really good clutch player, right? And I think that matters. I think that matters. Like, not three-point shooting, but everything else.
Like, he creates a great mid-range shot for himself. He knocks it down. He gets the free throw line. So I think Cade is, like, for me, he's on the MVP ballot. He's just not the MVP. Paul George once finished third on an MVP ballot. He wasn't close to the MVP. That's where I think Cade is this year. For me, he's first-team All-NBA, but I don't know that he's overrated. I think he's just overstated at this point for this season because people are hedging their bets going, well, if SGA doesn't qualify and Jokic doesn't qualify, it's got to go to somebody. Your guy, Stan Van Gundy, like a week and a half ago, doing a Pistons-Knicks game, and he starts going off on how Cade Cunningham needs to be in the MVP conversation.
You know what that means? I don't believe he's the MVP, but I do think he should be on the ballot, which is a nothing thing. When people talk about the MVP conversation, that's a cowardice of I will not pick this guy. I just want you to know I've been watching him.
Does Cade have a bag, yes or no?
No. What is happening, right?
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:43
2
Is Cade Cunningham an MVP candidate or just hype?
2:43–11:17
3
What are the Spurs' chances of being the second-best team in the West?
11:17–18:09
4
Can Team USA be beaten in Olympic basketball?
18:09–23:41
5
Why isn't Luka Doncic shooting when he's wide open?
23:41–27:32
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from The Dan Le Batard Show
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