At 22:55 Bill remarks "Ant found his superpowers again". Nah, what happened is that KAT took Lively out of the game with a knee to the head -- so Ant didn't have to deal with defense.
ant had 6 streight points just off either scoring on no rim protection by powell or djj not trusting powell at the rim and conceding 2 mid ranges not contested really well
100% they don't, and I think some of it is because they simply can't watch 30 teams play 82 games and then they talk about things they don't really know about. Luka should have won MVP, he had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of the basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening
Luka’s the guy - and the engine of the team. He’s a maestro out there. But I feel like Kyrie isn’t getting the credit he deserves. He’s been a huge part of this series. He arguably had the better game last night. Both had 33, but Kyrie went 12-20 (60% versus Luka’s 50%), and had 12 of those points in a tight 4th quarter. Luka made some huge shots too (as always). But this is definitely a two headed monster. Not just the Luka show.
I dont really think Luka And Irving care much about what media says or how much they give them credit they want to win all they know they are the best and no one can stop them all that matters for them is the Rings 👌
To be fair his criticism of Kyrie(except of the vax stuff) has been fair but I’m in agreement with you. I would love to see Kyrie and Dallas destroy Boston.
We haven't seen THIS Kyrie for 8 years. His defensive effort in particular has been outstanding. I don't know what caused the change but it's been great to see.
@@daveclark8337literally seen this Kyrie in Brooklyn during the bucks series before he got injured . That would’ve been Kyrie year. People keep sleeping on Kyrie
I’ve watched Luka since he was a rookie. I’ve always said he is a combination of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. His passing is so underrated. One of the greatest passers ever.
Its not his passing. I mean his passing is good but Its the IQ, similar to jokic. His decision making is really amazing. There were possession i see him ISO drag his defender to his pace and start a play. This destroy his defender because they react and try as much to put pressure on Luka but the majority of the time caught on his pace. Wheather he try to score, lob or even pass outside. Luka and jokic seems to understand their weakness and try not to expose it as much which is hard to do. Example rudy gobert is liability in offense even inside the paint he fambles the ball, his foot is sometimes glued in the floor. Aside from that opponents always try to get him in the switch. Both nuggets and dallas did it.
That was the most gentle way someone has told Bill to chill the fuck out with his hyperbole when Russillo told him to stop with the best player in the world belt stuff Bill is constantly doing
I kinda think Bill is usually pretty rational with his reactions. They may seem hyperbolic but I think he's just seen so much and has such a strong memory of the history of the sport that he kinda catches the scent of things pretty fast. I will say that when it comes to this Minnesota run he's had a few overreactions that ended up looking silly, like thinking they would sweep Denver or be a lock for the Finals if they won round 2. And I also think the best player in the world conversation is a little too soon but I think he'll come back to earth.
He got straight up punked by Boston last time he played them in the playoffs. He’s definitely gonna be motivated to get revenge. After everything that happened with him while he played for Boston, it would be the most satisfying win for Kyrie if that Mavs beat them for the title.
@@emilelerate6454 The thing is that their record has been awesome since the trade deadline (a 70+ win pace since then). Lots of commentators have completely ignored and/or missed that fact.
Luka should have won MVP, he had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of the basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening. What did Luka get, three 1st place votes out of 100? He had a season we won't see again for decades. He broke records that have stood since the 1960's and 70's.
He made first team all nba 2 years in a row now. Im not sure he's really being disrespected. People just want to see him have success, especially playoff success, and he's doing it. The second half of the season until now, the only real criticism Ive heard of Luka is to get in elite level shape, which is fair
Jokic is still the best player. Refs cheated for Mavs in first two games so nothing they do going forward even counts. Anyone who disagrees with this isn’t even a real nba fan.
Bill and Ryen, I am a faithful listener of the pod, and I have heard the discussion on multiple occasions about 22 year old stars breaking through a winning a title, in reference to Ant. Have you considered Tim Duncan? I believe he was 22 when they won in '99. He was clearly the best player on that team, helped sweep the Shaq/Kobe Lakers and a very good Portland team, and won the Finals MVP. I understand it was the lockout shortened season, but I think we have to get past dismissing everything of note in seasons like that.
Im a Ant/Wolves fan...but it feels like its Luka's time to finally reach and win the Finals after the past 5 yrs of taking mediocre teams deep in the playoffs. Can't wait to see Luka v Tatum and Kyrie v Brown
Pretty sure Jrue will be on Kyrie. Not sure who is guarding luka though. Pj and DJJ will guard Tatum and Brown. The other matchups will be interesting too. Hope lively and KP are back so its even more fun to watch.
@@jacobscott9732 nah, Kyrie is an anomaly; aloof and heterodox and most people don't even know what those words mean, possibly including Kyrie...so here we are, innit' fun?
@@ryanmussell739 Yes he's used to love Luka, but after a few years he started hating him really hard, this is the only time in the whole playoff run that he has given credit lol
Jokic is that guy too. Never lost the series b/c they lost good pieces off their bench& one of their starters, MPJ was MIA all series.They should not have loss gm 7 up 20 early 3Q. It is not like they are a rookie team or have mediocre D like Pacers.
@@mollyweir9350 I disagree. Luka leverages his scoring threat to manipulated defenses better than joker. Joker not seen as a big threat on the perimeter hurts him a bit
Didnt Ryen and Bill recently choose the Mavs 9th when they drafted West teams they'd like to be the GM for? What, Luka doesn't make you feel like a kid, Ry?
They dislike the mavs for non basketball reasons. That’s fine but it became obvious that became a problem in their basketball analysis months ago. I like Bill but the hate clearly runs deep
They also said Minnesota was going to sweep denver... Like a week after the nuggets for the best thing in history. I mean it's not unique to them, pretty much every major sports media has to take these huge binary takes or nobody listens to them. Frankly we're all to blame because we engage with it
Luka should have won MVP, he had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening. Also, "I wonder why Denver couldn't do this?" Ummm, because Kyrie Irving is better and more unstoppable than Jamal Murray and because DLive/Gaff protect the paint better than anyone that plays for Denver? The Wolves can't even get a game off of Dallas but beat Denver 3 times in Denver.
@@denigsterHe’s been an above average defender all year. The Mavs record when he’s on the floor is much better than when he’s off it. So you’re 0-2 there. Complaining at the refs certainly was a contributing factor in not getting more votes. But it shouldn’t be. The voters just hate him and lie to themselves that he’s not right there with Jokic as best player in the world.
Luka not playing defense is an old ignorant narrative. Everyone conveniently forgets that Kyrie missed 28 games before the All-Star game and who was the second best scorer on the team during that time? Tim Hardaway? During that time of the season Luka went off for 73pts vs Hawks and all Stephen A Smith can talk about is how bad the Hawks defense is instead of giving Luka credit for basically carrying the team to an overtime win. Luka was the MVP this season but the so called experts were not going to research what really went on with the Mavs season.
The Edwards glazing was getting nauseating. He’s not a top 5 player yet, it’s fine he’s 22. But, Luka and Kyrie have been unreal this series. There was a reason the thunder played Dallas the way they did, they wanted PJ and DJJ to beat them. It’s 3-0 but it’s been such a close series, but the Mavs just matchup so well against the wolves. Also, I’ve never seen Luka and Kyrie exert this much on defense.
@@FRESH___ Stop it, Luka already took a lottery team to a WCF in 2022, Kyrie has been first round exit until he joined Luka. Luka is more valuable and should be no.1 under 25.
@@djkido316 I get it you just look at the “results” and outcome but various factors played apart in kyrie. Just take his last team… he rolled his ankle HORRIBLY in the bucks series leaving kd to put on a cape. Then the next he was restricted because New York is dumb. Kyrie ALWAYS had this talent since the Cleveland years
He should be. Dallas is peaking at the perfect time while Cs have a history of being flaky. It's almost Popovichian how well Kidd has this team ready. Credit to Luka dn Kyrie for themselves, but the other guys are way over-performing. The long layover before the Finals will favor Luka and the Mavs, since that gives Lively time to heal as well.
@@nocturne311 To me it depends on Porzingis.After all, the Jays have a long history of coughing up what should be sure wins, e.g. it was inexcusable to lose to the Heat last year.
@@David-iv6je Boston is also gonna get Porzingis back. As good as Lively and Gafford are, they are uniquely less valuable against Boston because of KP. They _must_ guard him 25 feet from the basket and if they don't Boston will post KP and he'll destroy all these little 6'7" dudes. Assuming he's healthy and not rusty anyway. Boston also matches up much better with Luka ad Kyrie than Minnesota does. The big question with Boston, besides KP, is gonna be can they execute in close games and how much of a shock will it be to play a good team for the first time in at least 2 months maybe three
I’ve watched every Luka game for the last 5 years. 100% correct. Wiggins in that series was INCREDIBLE defensively against Luka. Best I’ve seen someone guard him consistently.
If you Double Luka at the High P&R, Dallas not only has a Kyrie, but Gafford/Lively have furious Dunks and PJ/Jones/Green can all dunk as well as shoot 3s. The gravity of Luka improves the role-players. Mavs play above the rim, all about 25 y.o. So when you Dunk? It's an extra momentum/psychological blow.
Bill changes his opinions as much as Stephen a does. These playoffs have been very revealing that no matter how many followers you have and how smart you think you are, even the biggest no it alls don’t know shit.
Mainstream sports media mostly just spread narratives. Think about the fact Luka got three 1st place votes out of a 100 for MVP. THREE. Luka had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of the basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening
"I don't want to make excuses for Ant...", then makes excuses for Ant. Rinse, repeat, for 95% of the NBA talking heads out there. Everyone's tired in the playoffs.
The Mavs are up 3-0 because Luka and Kyrie have gone nuclear on the Timberwolves. As a backcourt they are averaging 60 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists (on damn near 50%FG: 40%3pt: 80%FT splits) in the Western Conference Finals. Minnesota has no answer for them.
They have also played fantastic defense but you are just ignore that because it doesn't fit the Luka is a terrible defender narrative. He has literally been lock down in the playoffs so far. Same with Kyrie.
@@emilfrederiksen.1622 im a mavs fan and Luka my favorite player but the mavs haven't faced a good backkcourt yet. they faced Clippers Harden Chokes every playoffs Terance Mann isn't a threat. Thunder Shai is a bucket but Giddy isn't a threat and young Minnosota who finals were beating the nuggets. they have to face the best defensive backcourt in the league now.
@@emilfrederiksen.1622 You know who needs to be shitted on for defense? Jokic... the dude was a literal cone on defense the entire series he was like an open door into the paint
He is 22. And carried his team deep in the Playoffs. He is not Jordan, but a pretty good version of Anthony Edwards. A very talented overall player with hugh Potential. Who reminds us of MJ in the way he plays. Isnt that great? Let's hope he stays healthy. And we have years to watch him get better..
To be fair, every game has been close down the stretch and that mavs have trailed for large parts of games one and two. But better stars make better finishers. Go Mavs
Everybody keeps saying the playoffs break young guys, the exception to this is Lively. This rookie is thriving and if it wasn't for the knee to his head i think he was in for a big game.
Tbf: Its incredibly impressive what Ant has done. Even if they fail. And Towns has sadly proven he is overrated. He aint bad but he aint that good. To be a 100: Everyone feels safer when Naz is in.
Cheers from L.A. :) seems from here that the Wolves' main 2 things stopping them r n are that Ant still has to mature for another year or three, and KAT is too dumb to be a reliable #2 on a contender
I honestly don’t think Kat is that terrible in comparison to edwards. Kats definitely playing terrible but edwards isn’t top 5 in the league or probably even top 10. His team carried him and fouled everyone just to get this far.
Kat lost this series for the Timberwolves in the off season. He doesn't really work on his game or do much to make himself a better player. He's like that kid who says they cleaned up their room but when you go in every is stuffed under the bed and in the closet.
Ant is averaging 22ppg on awful efficiency for the series. A week ago he was “the next MJ” but now he gets no heat for looking like he’s exhausted by the time they finish layup lines😂
Ant got exposed by elite rim protection anchored by Lively in these playoffs. Lively's play as a rookie is astonishing. The difference between this year's Mavs and previous versions is: 1. Luka-Kyrie combo (obviously). 2. The new guys and 3: Lively. I don't see the Mavs winning the title without Lively's rim protection, rebounding and interior scoring. In fact, if Lively doesn't come back I wouldn't be surprised if the Wolves win a game or 2 in this series. He's that important, IMO. Hope Lively gets back ASAP.
100%. Lively is an extremely important piece for the Mavs. The fact that these bums couldn't recognize that Ant only scored at the rim once Lively left the game tells me all I need to know about their basketball knowledge.
Denver couldn't unlock Minesota's defense cause Gobert could hide on Aaron Gordon...now Gobert has to guard the PNR...Denver needs shooting PF, someone like Batum.
Kat “I’m best shooting big” needs to step it up or it’s over. BTW the real greatest shooting big was courtside last night, his name is Dirk “diggler” Nowitzki!!
@@RonJP-pm7jp He was quite the anomaly back then, but Detlef was a very talented player as well, rarely here his anymore despite being one of the key pieces on those great Sonics team of the mid 90's.
Denver/Dallas/Minny shows that matchups matter. The Wolves have three bigs to throw at Jokic. And they have three top tier perimeter defenders to throw at Murray, and McDaniels and NAW are two of the best screen navigators. For the Nuggets it mostly came down to Jokic hitting shooters and shooters being hot, and the shooters on Denver went cold for most of the series. Conversely the Nuggets really have nobody to guard Ant - Gordon was decent against him but had to check bigs, and KCP was too small. With limited rim protection behind, the Nuggets had to constantly double and rotate to deal with Ant, which they are actually pretty good at but it did mean Minnesota was getting shots. As good a defender as Ant, McDaniels, and NAW are, none of them are big enough to really bother Luka. And all the front line size Minnesota has just isn't that useful defensively against a team that is never posting their bigs. Minnesota hates to double which just plays into Luka iso-ball and makes their lack of a Luka stopper even more glaring. Meanwhile, Aaron Gordon is one of the best 2 or 3 guys in the entire league to throw at Luka, and KCP is solid against Kyrie. And Denver being so comfortable doubling and rotating on defense means they are well-suited to force someone other than Luka and Kyrie to beat them.
Has anyone else noticed how Bill and Ryen are treating Kyrie like some ancillary piece? Bill purposely never mentions Kyrie’s #’s & thats on purpose. He acts like Kyrie was a bench player since leaving Cleveland. He breaks down every players #’s with a fine tooth comb but somehow he’s not aware of Kyrie’s stats??? Kyrie averaged 27 5 & 5 in BK on 50/40/90 and Bill have never mentioned it. Kyrie and Luka has the same amount of points last night and he never mentioned it lol. He said “I’m glad Kyrie got his life together” WTF?? Bill he was suspend for sharing link and went to a bday party during Covid. When you bill was suspended by ESPN MULTIPLE TIMES was his life out of order?! The way he dismisses Kyrie is fucking crazy. If the Celtics loose tthese finals man omg 😂😂😂😂
Luka should have won MVP, he had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening. Also, "I wonder why Denver couldn't do this?" Ummm, because Kyrie Irving is better and more unstoppable than Jamal Murray and because DLive/Gaff protect the paint better than anyone that plays for Denver? The Wolves can't even get a game off of Dallas but beat Denver 3 times in Denver.
Calm down. Kyrie was a mess and didn’t do shit for 8 years after Cleveland. He’s playing great for Dallas - doesn’t change the mediocrity before Dallas.
Yeah KYRIE and the Mavs are in control, but if big Luke keeps gettin 25/10/8 he ll get mvp, but I think Kai will average 37-42 to become MVP in the finals
@@VideoRandomChannel I doubt that Luka will take more shots i think he takes the finals MVP. But yeah Kyrie has a shot too if the Mavs win the series of course.
Yeah, I remember Luka saying(at 21). " The playoffs are hard let me avg a 30 pt triple doubles. Then do it every year since. But let's give Ant-Man a pass cuz he's 22....,🤨 How is Bill not embarrassed by this bad take!?!
the problem with rudy is he's a really easy punching bag for people who don't know what they're watching. rudy has very obvious flaws, but he's not why they're down 0-3. they're down 0-3 because kat hasn't been able to reliably score on pj washington, ant has made some boneheaded decisions late in games, and luka and kyrie have been fucking amazing. additionally, their shooting isn't reliable, so when ant tries to attack, the paint is clogged and with their mediocre passing, dallas has been able to recover to the shooters most of the time. dallas is just playing really freaking well, and luka and kyrie are hitting every tough shot they take in these close games.
He disappears. He's a liability because you can't rely on him. Kat's been in the league how many years and still hasn't improved his game much. Jimmy Butler was right.
I give credit to the Mavs: they have really transformed themselves. I never thought it would work with Kyrie. Wasn't sure Luka would grow up and be a good teammate and play in a good defense. Just a remarkable reinvention of the team. Kinda rooting for them to take out Boston!
Tatum is 6’9” and added 10 lbs of muscle in the offseason to balloon up to 235-240 lbs. Too skinny? It’s funny seeing takes from fans who don’t watch Boston.
Nobody was wrong on Kyrie. We all were saying 'if he can stay on the court and not cause any problems, he's a high level basketball player'. Kyrie, to his credit, has stayed on the court and been happy. Ability was never in doubt, availability was.
Denver just isn’t built to beat the Timberwolves the way Dallas can. They (Denver) don’t have anything close to their guard play and rim protection. In theory, the good defenders Minnesota has should bother Luka but the archetype of defenders they have are not the ones you need for him. Ant could be that big body that help take out Luka’s legs but he doesn’t navigate screens well enough
So many media people and probably the same ones that refused Luka some decent numbers for MVP, are now talking so much about how dominant is Luka (and Kyrie), how impressed they are with long descriptions about the way Luka does that game by game. It is like they are opening their eyes for the first time to a player who has been cooking numbers and bisecting other teams for six years. It seems like they have never watched a Mavs game during the regular season, The guy had been doing this the whole time, I know that because I have watched every single game, you don't need to watch all of those games, if you know about basketball you're supposed to notice this type of greatness, or at list listen to the noise, so much noise that have been going on, Luka's 73 points against the Hawks was not a casualty. His triple doubles records, his numbers in playoffs being comparable to MJ and LeBron for several years already, and a long list of stats and facts. It is a shame, and to come to ask why is Luka so mad at Gobert, that's the end of cynicism, I would like to see you being through to the floor and punched again and again for what? For the media to through constant trash to him and the referees to constantly ignore that the guy is being harassed in and out of the court just because they don't like him because he isn't Anthony Edwards, which is an inferior player, obviously, by the numbers and the history of the last several years.
Hey, Bill, how’s the Wolves looking now huh? What a garbage 25 and under list. Also, how’s your gambler friend Bob feeling ? We’ll win that chip and rub it to all your faces.
Luka got three 1st place votes out of a 100 for MVP. THREE. Luka had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of the basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening
@@denigster often no rhyme or reason logically.. all about narratives.. if Boston wins the chip then Tatum will be number one to start next year , especially if he's finals MVP
Doesn't this Mavericks team kinda remind you of the last Pistons championship team. Mid season trades changes team, player with erratic behavior history becomes cornerstone player and fulfills potential...
Meh the 2 wizards years no playoffs some injuries the quarter of a year back from baseball plus playoffs the rookie season and his injured 2nd season are all not great mj years...ant is already better than mj pre 86 playoffs and post 98 mj and early 95 mj....just saying
Not in the regular season bro if Luka got bunched in the first round you wouldn't say this people are so biased taking the post season into account. People said Embild didn't deserve the MVP because he went out in the 2nd round and sucked. People said Jokic didn't deserve MVP this year or in 2022 because he bunched out early. MVP is a regular season award.
Shaq was spot-on if you've seen the clip of the media interviewing Towns outside of the locker room after the game 3 loss last night. He didn't seem pissed off at all. And Shaq said, that was the most concerning thing about him, and I 100% agree. He said if Kobe played a bad game, NOBODY would dare say a word to him on the plane.
It is the guards that are leaving Rudy on an island leading him to look useless. I saw several plays last night & I felt bad for Rudy and I am not a fan of either team. In fact, I picked Minny to win w/7 but it was based on how Luka looked in the previous series health wise & Minny D on Jamal & Joker. Bwoy was I wrong!
Jokič is amazing, but he cannot affect the game in the playoffs as much as a guard/small forward/ball handler can...the list is too long, IT, Magic, MJ, Kobe, Lebron, Steph, Kyrie, Luka, Jamal Murray [last year]... Duncan doesnt win without the amazing Manu and Parker, Shaq doesnt win without amazing Kobe and Wade.. the big is always dependent on the form of his guard/forward
The pain in Bill's voice having to speak highly of Dallas is hilarious
He picked againts dallas every series lol
@user-gc1wj8tt2p lol so we dry lying now...
Bill Simmons is the biggest fish known to sports betting😅
Amen hhahahaha
At 22:55 Bill remarks "Ant found his superpowers again". Nah, what happened is that KAT took Lively out of the game with a knee to the head -- so Ant didn't have to deal with defense.
the way they would've been blown out if lively stayed in would've kept the lights on in dallas by itself for weeks
Exactly but they don't want to admit that this fraud got exposed lol.
ant had 6 streight points just off either scoring on no rim protection by powell or djj not trusting powell at the rim and conceding 2 mid ranges not contested really well
Yeah as much as the nba is trying to hype ant. He's just....not a prime time player
Also, Gafford had 4 fouls, so he couldn't foul.
Your organization ranked Luka FOURTH on the 25 under 25 a few days ago. Burn it down!!!
Lmao he's clearly the 2nd best player in the NBA after Jokic and the way he's playing rn he might pass Jokic with a ring
Lukas 25
@ckq easy. I'm a Mavs and Luka fan, but Jokic is eye test and statistically at a top 10 all time level
Did you see the criteria for that list? Wasn’t simply a question of who is the best player today.
because he's one of the oldest guys on the list? that's why it's a 25 under 25 not a GOAT ranking
These playoffs have really shown me that the media hasnt got a clue
100% they don't, and I think some of it is because they simply can't watch 30 teams play 82 games and then they talk about things they don't really know about. Luka should have won MVP, he had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of the basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening
Tim Legler, to his credit, has picked Dallas to win each series.
They are corrupt idiots. Look how they talked about the virus and the jab. All lies.
Stephen A. jinxed Minnesota after Game 2 of the Denver series saying that they will win the title
They live in North Korea
Luka’s the guy - and the engine of the team. He’s a maestro out there. But I feel like Kyrie isn’t getting the credit he deserves. He’s been a huge part of this series. He arguably had the better game last night. Both had 33, but Kyrie went 12-20 (60% versus Luka’s 50%), and had 12 of those points in a tight 4th quarter. Luka made some huge shots too (as always). But this is definitely a two headed monster. Not just the Luka show.
We have a great Team!
It’s Bill Simmons and his puppet, they hate Kyrie 😂
I dont really think Luka And Irving care much about what media says or how much they give them credit they want to win all they know they are the best and no one can stop them all that matters for them is the Rings 👌
Both are good
@@andycundy5822kyrie has been poison for years. This is a rebirth
I would love nothing more than to see Kyrie destroy this dudes team he’s been trashing Kyrie for damn near 10 years it will be so beautiful to watch
To be fair his criticism of Kyrie(except of the vax stuff) has been fair but I’m in agreement with you. I would love to see Kyrie and Dallas destroy Boston.
We haven't seen THIS Kyrie for 8 years. His defensive effort in particular has been outstanding. I don't know what caused the change but it's been great to see.
@@daveclark8337the confidence that his level of D can result in another ring…. He isn’t going to bust his ass on an average team..
@@daveclark8337literally seen this Kyrie in Brooklyn during the bucks series before he got injured . That would’ve been Kyrie year. People keep sleeping on Kyrie
Wow I wonder why people would criticize Kyrie, that's crazy
Because LUKA IS HIM. Saved you 45 minutes.
And Kyrie is MIH 😂😂😂😂
If Jokic had Kyre by his side, he would already be sitting on 2-3 rings...
You'd be terrible at podcasting 🤣🤣
One of the best players in the league, but he’d be easier to root for if he didn’t lead the league in complaining to the refs
That’s the story? U need to learn hoops bro🥴😂😂😂😂
I’ve watched Luka since he was a rookie. I’ve always said he is a combination of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. His passing is so underrated. One of the greatest passers ever.
I really think he's going to go down as the best PG ever
@@AMINOMMA Even if he retires today he'll be a Hall of famer.
bro add KOBE's/JORDAN mentality to that list. Luka is a PSYCHOPATH like them, I never seen a player express anger and trash talk like he does
Its not his passing. I mean his passing is good but Its the IQ, similar to jokic. His decision making is really amazing. There were possession i see him ISO drag his defender to his pace and start a play. This destroy his defender because they react and try as much to put pressure on Luka but the majority of the time caught on his pace. Wheather he try to score, lob or even pass outside. Luka and jokic seems to understand their weakness and try not to expose it as much which is hard to do. Example rudy gobert is liability in offense even inside the paint he fambles the ball, his foot is sometimes glued in the floor. Aside from that opponents always try to get him in the switch. Both nuggets and dallas did it.
Don't mention jokic in the same sentence as Luka. Jokic can only beat play in teams. He is a statpadding bum.
That was the most gentle way someone has told Bill to chill the fuck out with his hyperbole when Russillo told him to stop with the best player in the world belt stuff Bill is constantly doing
Russillo is an expert at managing Bill lol
Bill lets his emotions get in the way of his takes too much. He’s very reactionary.
@@leungsznahhh he Yes-Manned Bill agreeing with the excuses he made for Ant
@@ElBrillante4he was on board with the ant stuff
I kinda think Bill is usually pretty rational with his reactions. They may seem hyperbolic but I think he's just seen so much and has such a strong memory of the history of the sport that he kinda catches the scent of things pretty fast.
I will say that when it comes to this Minnesota run he's had a few overreactions that ended up looking silly, like thinking they would sweep Denver or be a lock for the Finals if they won round 2.
And I also think the best player in the world conversation is a little too soon but I think he'll come back to earth.
Kyrie in Boston is going to be CRAZY ! They hate him 😂😂
Feelings mutual
Good more motivation for Kyrie!
He got straight up punked by Boston last time he played them in the playoffs. He’s definitely gonna be motivated to get revenge. After everything that happened with him while he played for Boston, it would be the most satisfying win for Kyrie if that Mavs beat them for the title.
Doncic vs Zingis after swtiches is also gonna be a massacre, cant wait
@@pipohemm8726 is he healthy?
Luka is tired of being disrespected. Also Dallas has been the underdog in every series.
That’s a product of their record and has nothing to do with disrespect. However I do agree people discount Lukas greatness.
@@emilelerate6454 The thing is that their record has been awesome since the trade deadline (a 70+ win pace since then). Lots of commentators have completely ignored and/or missed that fact.
Luka should have won MVP, he had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of the basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening. What did Luka get, three 1st place votes out of 100? He had a season we won't see again for decades. He broke records that have stood since the 1960's and 70's.
He made first team all nba 2 years in a row now. Im not sure he's really being disrespected. People just want to see him have success, especially playoff success, and he's doing it. The second half of the season until now, the only real criticism Ive heard of Luka is to get in elite level shape, which is fair
Jokic is still the best player. Refs cheated for Mavs in first two games so nothing they do going forward even counts. Anyone who disagrees with this isn’t even a real nba fan.
Bill and Ryen, I am a faithful listener of the pod, and I have heard the discussion on multiple occasions about 22 year old stars breaking through a winning a title, in reference to Ant. Have you considered Tim Duncan? I believe he was 22 when they won in '99. He was clearly the best player on that team, helped sweep the Shaq/Kobe Lakers and a very good Portland team, and won the Finals MVP. I understand it was the lockout shortened season, but I think we have to get past dismissing everything of note in seasons like that.
The Ant glazing is hilarious
Im a Ant/Wolves fan...but it feels like its Luka's time to finally reach and win the Finals after the past 5 yrs of taking mediocre teams deep in the playoffs. Can't wait to see Luka v Tatum and Kyrie v Brown
Agreed
As a Dallas fan this series has been the best in a while
Pretty sure Jrue will be on Kyrie. Not sure who is guarding luka though. Pj and DJJ will guard Tatum and Brown. The other matchups will be interesting too. Hope lively and KP are back so its even more fun to watch.
They made one conference finals in the last 5 years. Luka’s been great though. The difference now is Kyrie and an overall better team.
@@GoRavens520 this is Luka's second WCF
Luka and Kyrie best backcourt in the NBA right now
It's amazing because kyrie is such poison
@@jacobscott9732Maybe he’s not the full problem 🤔. Working out just fine in Dallas.
@@jacobscott9732 He is not really he hasn't done anything toxic in Dallas.
Not exactly sticking your neck out with that statement.
@@jacobscott9732 nah, Kyrie is an anomaly; aloof and heterodox
and most people don't even know what those words mean, possibly including Kyrie...so here we are, innit' fun?
1 more. It's not over yet. Stay focused, Mavs.
Kat's biggest contribution was knocking out lively.
Kat's biggest contribution was that 10 minute rant by the TNT crew on why Kat is so bad
It may have helped them win the series
Bill hates having to give props to Luka or Kyrie so this is absolute GOLD 😂😂😂
I thought bill like Luka because he was the only media member saying take Luka over trey ?
Fans making up narratives are just as bad as the media they claim to hate.
He’s been giving Luka and Kyrie love for a minute now
@@ryanmussell739 Yes he's used to love Luka, but after a few years he started hating him really hard, this is the only time in the whole playoff run that he has given credit lol
@@dragonverde188no it’s not. Quit making shit up
Luka might be the hardest player to double. You can't hide an open teammate from him, he see everything out there.
Jokic is that guy too. Never lost the series b/c they lost good pieces off their bench& one of their starters, MPJ was MIA all series.They should not have loss gm 7 up 20 early 3Q. It is not like they are a rookie team or have mediocre D like Pacers.
@@mollyweir9350cool. Id still take Luka over Jokic. Just more options offensively from the guard position.
@@kevmar29 ok. I hear you. Luka's stepback 3 is great asset but I think Jokic can manipulate the defense better than Luka & much better rebounder.
@@mollyweir9350 I disagree. Luka leverages his scoring threat to manipulated defenses better than joker. Joker not seen as a big threat on the perimeter hurts him a bit
Kyrie Vs Boston is gonna be soo good
unicorn v luka too!
Dallas vs Boston will be good
It’s gonna be bananas! 🍌
^See what I did there? 😉
Porzingis vs Dallas
Didnt Ryen and Bill recently choose the Mavs 9th when they drafted West teams they'd like to be the GM for? What, Luka doesn't make you feel like a kid, Ry?
They dislike the mavs for non basketball reasons. That’s fine but it became obvious that became a problem in their basketball analysis months ago. I like Bill but the hate clearly runs deep
@@bravetraveler1386for someone out of the loop, what’s their beef with the mavs?
@@pstratos7bill’s friend that dork with the goofy name humiliated himself during his time with the Mavs.
@@dannytallmage2971 wait who?
@@pstratos7 it’s something like harlbros.
The Ringer: Luka is the 4th best player under 25
Bill Simmons, also of the Ringer: is he taking the best in the world title from Jokic?
Bill needs to talk to his staff lol
Also the Ringer, Kyrie is the 66th ranked player in the NBA.
Luka's 25.
They also said Minnesota was going to sweep denver... Like a week after the nuggets for the best thing in history. I mean it's not unique to them, pretty much every major sports media has to take these huge binary takes or nobody listens to them. Frankly we're all to blame because we engage with it
@@ashantilematthew6277 you could have saved yourself looking this stupid by just googling "ringer under 25"
Luka should have won MVP, he had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening. Also, "I wonder why Denver couldn't do this?" Ummm, because Kyrie Irving is better and more unstoppable than Jamal Murray and because DLive/Gaff protect the paint better than anyone that plays for Denver? The Wolves can't even get a game off of Dallas but beat Denver 3 times in Denver.
play defense win games and STOP crying - maybe than he deserves it
The first two games were literal coin flips. So were some of the Denver games. So it goes.
@@denigster Do you have any idea how full of shit you really are?
@@denigsterHe’s been an above average defender all year. The Mavs record when he’s on the floor is much better than when he’s off it. So you’re 0-2 there.
Complaining at the refs certainly was a contributing factor in not getting more votes. But it shouldn’t be. The voters just hate him and lie to themselves that he’s not right there with Jokic as best player in the world.
Luka not playing defense is an old ignorant narrative. Everyone conveniently forgets that Kyrie missed 28 games before the All-Star game and who was the second best scorer on the team during that time? Tim Hardaway? During that time of the season Luka went off for 73pts vs Hawks and all Stephen A Smith can talk about is how bad the Hawks defense is instead of giving Luka credit for basically carrying the team to an overtime win. Luka was the MVP this season but the so called experts were not going to research what really went on with the Mavs season.
Lively is what we wanted Wiseman to be
Exactly. Wiseman just has a horrible basketball IQ
The Edwards glazing was getting nauseating. He’s not a top 5 player yet, it’s fine he’s 22. But, Luka and Kyrie have been unreal this series. There was a reason the thunder played Dallas the way they did, they wanted PJ and DJJ to beat them. It’s 3-0 but it’s been such a close series, but the Mavs just matchup so well against the wolves. Also, I’ve never seen Luka and Kyrie exert this much on defense.
Another Great Black Hope taken out to the breaking shed.
Didn’t the Ringer just say Luka was 4th u25 player, and he’s playing on one good leg
ringer is so dumb for that, so reactionary at all times
That still can be true. Not enough credit is given to THE KYRIE IRVING and others
@@FRESH___it literally cannot.
@@FRESH___ Stop it, Luka already took a lottery team to a WCF in 2022, Kyrie has been first round exit until he joined Luka. Luka is more valuable and should be no.1 under 25.
@@djkido316 I get it you just look at the “results” and outcome but various factors played apart in kyrie. Just take his last team… he rolled his ankle HORRIBLY in the bucks series leaving kd to put on a cape. Then the next he was restricted because New York is dumb. Kyrie ALWAYS had this talent since the Cleveland years
2 weeks ago: "ANT IS THE NEXT MICHAEL JORDAN!!!"
Now: "THE PLAYOFFS IS HARD!!!"
Just another failed Great Black Hope.
And to then back off the michael jordan comparisons like nahh keep that same energy Bill
More like the next Carmelo Anthony.
It sounds like Bill is worried about this Dallas matchup.
He should be. Dallas is peaking at the perfect time while Cs have a history of being flaky. It's almost Popovichian how well Kidd has this team ready. Credit to Luka dn Kyrie for themselves, but the other guys are way over-performing.
The long layover before the Finals will favor Luka and the Mavs, since that gives Lively time to heal as well.
@@David-iv6je Ya’ll never learn.
Dallas ain't beating the Celtics
@@nocturne311 To me it depends on Porzingis.After all, the Jays have a long history of coughing up what should be sure wins, e.g. it was inexcusable to lose to the Heat last year.
@@David-iv6je Boston is also gonna get Porzingis back.
As good as Lively and Gafford are, they are uniquely less valuable against Boston because of KP. They _must_ guard him 25 feet from the basket and if they don't Boston will post KP and he'll destroy all these little 6'7" dudes. Assuming he's healthy and not rusty anyway.
Boston also matches up much better with Luka ad Kyrie than Minnesota does.
The big question with Boston, besides KP, is gonna be can they execute in close games and how much of a shock will it be to play a good team for the first time in at least 2 months maybe three
Did y'all forget Andrew Wiggins guarding Luka in the Warriors run? Dude played the best defense we've seen on Luka.
I’ve watched every Luka game for the last 5 years. 100% correct. Wiggins in that series was INCREDIBLE defensively against Luka. Best I’ve seen someone guard him consistently.
If you Double Luka at the High P&R, Dallas not only has a Kyrie, but Gafford/Lively have furious Dunks and PJ/Jones/Green can all dunk as well as shoot 3s.
The gravity of Luka improves the role-players. Mavs play above the rim, all about 25 y.o. So when you Dunk? It's an extra momentum/psychological blow.
Bill changes his opinions as much as Stephen a does. These playoffs have been very revealing that no matter how many followers you have and how smart you think you are, even the biggest no it alls don’t know shit.
Says the guy who wrote "no it alls"
People change their opinions its just being a person lol.
@milospanic5686 doesn't change fact of what he saying....since you wanna be funny...
Mainstream sports media mostly just spread narratives. Think about the fact Luka got three 1st place votes out of a 100 for MVP. THREE. Luka had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of the basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening
@@jackastor5265 - gotta be better than 5th in your conference little bro
"I don't want to make excuses for Ant...", then makes excuses for Ant. Rinse, repeat, for 95% of the NBA talking heads out there. Everyone's tired in the playoffs.
Sad part was Rusillo said I agree smh
Mj You'r Not The Father 😂😂😂😂
Bill, Jamal Murray and MPJ are not on the same level as Luka and Kyrie. “Why didn’t Denver just do what Dallas is doing?” Because they can’t.
Wiggins guarded Luka really well too when Warriors beat them 4-1 in WCF
Bill would never admit that because of what happened after that. Wiggins played the hoops of his career vs the Celtics.
What happened to Wiggins?
The Mavs are up 3-0 because Luka and Kyrie have gone nuclear on the Timberwolves. As a backcourt they are averaging 60 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists (on damn near 50%FG: 40%3pt: 80%FT splits) in the Western Conference Finals. Minnesota has no answer for them.
They have also played fantastic defense but you are just ignore that because it doesn't fit the Luka is a terrible defender narrative. He has literally been lock down in the playoffs so far. Same with Kyrie.
@@emilfrederiksen.1622 im a mavs fan and Luka my favorite player but the mavs haven't faced a good backkcourt yet. they faced Clippers Harden Chokes every playoffs Terance Mann isn't a threat. Thunder Shai is a bucket but Giddy isn't a threat and young Minnosota who finals were beating the nuggets. they have to face the best defensive backcourt in the league now.
@@emilfrederiksen.1622 You know who needs to be shitted on for defense? Jokic... the dude was a literal cone on defense the entire series he was like an open door into the paint
The next Michael Jordan... Turned out it was Michael B Jordan
He's not retiring
He is 22. And carried his team deep in the Playoffs. He is not Jordan, but a pretty good version of Anthony Edwards. A very talented overall player with hugh Potential. Who reminds us of MJ in the way he plays. Isnt that great? Let's hope he stays healthy. And we have years to watch him get better..
@@scottipippen6935 True and MJ lost in the first round at 22. He had a lot less help, but still. Ant is still young he has plenty of time to learn.
😅😅😅
He is more like 21.5 year old kobe middle of 2000-2001season and 22.5 year old d wade....aka middle of the 04-05 season
Wow it’s crazy that so many people in the media thought they would struggle against the Timberwolves. Good for Luca & co on showing out 🫡
To be fair, every game has been close down the stretch and that mavs have trailed for large parts of games one and two. But better stars make better finishers. Go Mavs
Timberwolves
how about all defense luka with 5 steals?
Luka, Luka, Luka. Nothing about Kyrie 😂😂😂😂😂😂
It's honestly crazy that Luka has leveled up his defense as much as he has this playoffs.
Luka at 21 years old averaged 35 a game against the Clippers - mention that why don’t you?
In a first round series loss
Cause he lost
Bill picked against Dallas all playoffs now struggles to give credit.
You need to be strong heavy like Lu Dort to take 7p off Luka
OG & Scottie Barnes always play good D, especially OG on Luka when Dallas played vs Mavs under NN.
Everybody keeps saying the playoffs break young guys, the exception to this is Lively. This rookie is thriving and if it wasn't for the knee to his head i think he was in for a big game.
he was in for a huge game. he was probably getting 15 and 10
Hahahaha 😂 these dudes were both picking the wolves.
Luka spreads the D and Kyrie cuts it up.Kid's coaching is pretty, pretty good.
Bill is watching Luka and thinking, shit, he's coming for my Celtics.
Let him come. Boston beat Dallas by 28 the last time they played this season.
@@nocturne311lmao yall celtics fans tryna convince yourselves that regular season the same as playoffs🤣
@@nocturne311Celtics are getting bounced in 5 games.
Tbf: Its incredibly impressive what Ant has done. Even if they fail. And Towns has sadly proven he is overrated. He aint bad but he aint that good. To be a 100: Everyone feels safer when Naz is in.
Cheers from L.A. :) seems from here that the Wolves' main 2 things stopping them r n are that Ant still has to mature for another year or three, and KAT is too dumb to be a reliable #2 on a contender
I honestly don’t think Kat is that terrible in comparison to edwards. Kats definitely playing terrible but edwards isn’t top 5 in the league or probably even top 10. His team carried him and fouled everyone just to get this far.
Kat lost this series for the Timberwolves in the off season. He doesn't really work on his game or do much to make himself a better player. He's like that kid who says they cleaned up their room but when you go in every is stuffed under the bed and in the closet.
Ant is averaging 22ppg on awful efficiency for the series. A week ago he was “the next MJ” but now he gets no heat for looking like he’s exhausted by the time they finish layup lines😂
I just love seeing the coping from Russillo and Simmons when they're talking about Edwards.
These two guys finally realised how good Luka Doncic really is. I feel sorry for Simmons and Boston, they are gonna suffer. Dallas is awesome.
Ant got exposed by elite rim protection anchored by Lively in these playoffs. Lively's play as a rookie is astonishing. The difference between this year's Mavs and previous versions is: 1. Luka-Kyrie combo (obviously). 2. The new guys and 3: Lively.
I don't see the Mavs winning the title without Lively's rim protection, rebounding and interior scoring. In fact, if Lively doesn't come back I wouldn't be surprised if the Wolves win a game or 2 in this series. He's that important, IMO.
Hope Lively gets back ASAP.
if Porzingis is in for Boston and no Lively, you might be right...which is a crazy degree of 'X' factor for a rookie roll-man
100%. Lively is an extremely important piece for the Mavs. The fact that these bums couldn't recognize that Ant only scored at the rim once Lively left the game tells me all I need to know about their basketball knowledge.
Denver couldn't unlock Minesota's defense cause Gobert could hide on Aaron Gordon...now Gobert has to guard the PNR...Denver needs shooting PF, someone like Batum.
Kat “I’m best shooting big” needs to step it up or it’s over. BTW the real greatest shooting big was courtside last night, his name is Dirk “diggler” Nowitzki!!
For sure and a close second is Detlef Schremp
@@RonJP-pm7jp And Arvydas Sabonis who had big time range for a big in the 80's and 90s. And he was a true BIG.
@@wileyschmitt I like it!
@@RonJP-pm7jp He was quite the anomaly back then, but Detlef was a very talented player as well, rarely here his anymore despite being one of the key pieces on those great Sonics team of the mid 90's.
KAT is a better Terry Mills
That’s about it
Rusillos with the low PRO "Must Have Got a lot of AP Credits" goes under the radar. Love these two....Best in the business!!
"he must have gotten a lot of AP credits..." 🤣🤣
Ha, ha Bil! You cant talk around the Mavericks anymore...we coming for you!
Denver/Dallas/Minny shows that matchups matter. The Wolves have three bigs to throw at Jokic. And they have three top tier perimeter defenders to throw at Murray, and McDaniels and NAW are two of the best screen navigators. For the Nuggets it mostly came down to Jokic hitting shooters and shooters being hot, and the shooters on Denver went cold for most of the series.
Conversely the Nuggets really have nobody to guard Ant - Gordon was decent against him but had to check bigs, and KCP was too small. With limited rim protection behind, the Nuggets had to constantly double and rotate to deal with Ant, which they are actually pretty good at but it did mean Minnesota was getting shots.
As good a defender as Ant, McDaniels, and NAW are, none of them are big enough to really bother Luka. And all the front line size Minnesota has just isn't that useful defensively against a team that is never posting their bigs. Minnesota hates to double which just plays into Luka iso-ball and makes their lack of a Luka stopper even more glaring.
Meanwhile, Aaron Gordon is one of the best 2 or 3 guys in the entire league to throw at Luka, and KCP is solid against Kyrie. And Denver being so comfortable doubling and rotating on defense means they are well-suited to force someone other than Luka and Kyrie to beat them.
Has anyone else noticed how Bill and Ryen are treating Kyrie like some ancillary piece?
Bill purposely never mentions Kyrie’s #’s & thats on purpose. He acts like Kyrie was a bench player since leaving Cleveland. He breaks down every players #’s with a fine tooth comb but somehow he’s not aware of Kyrie’s stats???
Kyrie averaged 27 5 & 5 in BK on 50/40/90 and Bill have never mentioned it.
Kyrie and Luka has the same amount of points last night and he never mentioned it lol.
He said “I’m glad Kyrie got his life together” WTF??
Bill he was suspend for sharing link and went to a bday party during Covid.
When you bill was suspended by ESPN MULTIPLE TIMES was his life out of order?! The way he dismisses Kyrie is fucking crazy.
If the Celtics loose tthese finals man omg 😂😂😂😂
Luka should have won MVP, he had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening. Also, "I wonder why Denver couldn't do this?" Ummm, because Kyrie Irving is better and more unstoppable than Jamal Murray and because DLive/Gaff protect the paint better than anyone that plays for Denver? The Wolves can't even get a game off of Dallas but beat Denver 3 times in Denver.
Spot on. Don't forget ringer ranked Kyrie as the 66th best player in the NBA. What the hell??
@@icekyuu Even at age 32 Kyrie is still a savage. The fact they didn't put him on the Top 75 team because of his vaccination views is egregious.
Calm down. Kyrie was a mess and didn’t do shit for 8 years after Cleveland. He’s playing great for Dallas - doesn’t change the mediocrity before Dallas.
I hope it happens Bill deserves to get absolutely cooked same with Stephen A and all the other media muppets.
The real MVP dominates the postseason. Shock horror.
does not make you look smart if you think this is dominating^^ not even his best postseason you clown
Ringer ranking Luka 4th on the 25 under 25 is all time hilariously bad. Makes no sense considering how hard bill has been on him since pre-draft.
Bill is salty after hyping Ant😭and now Luky Mavs will win vs Boston😂😂
Yeah KYRIE and the Mavs are in control, but if big Luke keeps gettin 25/10/8 he ll get mvp, but I think Kai will average 37-42 to become MVP in the finals
@@VideoRandomChannel I doubt that Luka will take more shots i think he takes the finals MVP. But yeah Kyrie has a shot too if the Mavs win the series of course.
Mavs aren't beating Boston.
@@VideoRandomChannelimagine thinking Kyrie is better than Luka😂
Yes Ryen back with Bill Simmons. Been waiting for this.
Luka is like a prime James harden with no drop off in the playoffs
With much better rebounding
Much better than Harden ever was
luka and kyrie are straight up killers and it’s heartbreaking to watch as a wolves fan rn
Yeah, I remember Luka saying(at 21). " The playoffs are hard let me avg a 30 pt triple doubles. Then do it every year since. But let's give Ant-Man a pass cuz he's 22....,🤨 How is Bill not embarrassed by this bad take!?!
the problem with rudy is he's a really easy punching bag for people who don't know what they're watching. rudy has very obvious flaws, but he's not why they're down 0-3. they're down 0-3 because kat hasn't been able to reliably score on pj washington, ant has made some boneheaded decisions late in games, and luka and kyrie have been fucking amazing.
additionally, their shooting isn't reliable, so when ant tries to attack, the paint is clogged and with their mediocre passing, dallas has been able to recover to the shooters most of the time. dallas is just playing really freaking well, and luka and kyrie are hitting every tough shot they take in these close games.
Wolves don't beat Nuggets without Towns - especially in Game 7.
He disappears. He's a liability because you can't rely on him. Kat's been in the league how many years and still hasn't improved his game much. Jimmy Butler was right.
How is it possible that Bill Simmons has a millionaire podcast and yet have a camera from, I don't know.. 2002?
Bout time Dallas forced haters to show them respect
literally 99% of the media had dallas as the second best team in the west before the playoffs - what a hate ! grow up cry baby
@@denigster No they didn't lol. They had the Suns Lakers Nuggets Wovles Clippers all over them.
@@denigsterhell no they didn’t
@@denigster and 100% of the media had Mavs missing the playoffs beginning of the season
@@blacktriggumm yea, they did. They were underdogs in literally every single series
Finals Bill is almost here. 2022 Finals were delightful watching Bill go up 2-0 then have his soul crushed 🤣
He can’t stop himself from referencing that year either lol
39:30 and on is absolute gold from Russillo. He is spot on with that entire assessment. Just absolute gold.
Bill really said I can’t wait for him to argue 45 calls 😭😭 They’re running out of hate y’all
"45" calls? sorry, I'm slow lol
is that some ref's jersey# or ?
@@shaft9000 45 calls = a lot of calls throughout the game
Three of the most thrilling playoff NBA games I've ever seen, all in a row and all favoring Dallas over Minnestoa. Unbelievable!
If Ryen could ever finish a thought he might be able to complete a sentence
I give credit to the Mavs: they have really transformed themselves. I never thought it would work with Kyrie. Wasn't sure Luka would grow up and be a good teammate and play in a good defense. Just a remarkable reinvention of the team. Kinda rooting for them to take out Boston!
Tatum cannot stop Luka are you kidding me?!
Simmons is great. He had Dallas all playoffs and was so quick to notice the Mavs defensive prowess. So insightful 😂
Bill is delusional if he thinks Tatum can slow Luka down. He’s way too skinny for Luka.
He can't Tatum is a worse defender than Jaden Mc Daniels and he has gotten cooked by Luka all series.
Tatum is 6’9” and added 10 lbs of muscle in the offseason to balloon up to 235-240 lbs. Too skinny? It’s funny seeing takes from fans who don’t watch Boston.
Luka has not chance of Guarding Tatum
Luka is going to have a lot harder time against a defensive team like Boston than whatever Minnesota is throwing up against the wall.
@@KK-pm7ud how so? Wolves were the #1 defense had the DPOY and McDaniels All Defensive first team neither of which even slightly slowed down Luka
“That’s the America flag, that’s the club house “ I am so dead
Ryen still not admitting he wasn’t wrong about Kyrie 😂
wrong ? no one was wrong about kyrie - kyrie got lucky that he is that good or he would be out of the league
Nobody was wrong on Kyrie. We all were saying 'if he can stay on the court and not cause any problems, he's a high level basketball player'. Kyrie, to his credit, has stayed on the court and been happy. Ability was never in doubt, availability was.
Luka broke that buck and now he’s an asset. Tale as old as time. BWA’s break ‘em or sell them down the river.
Ryen can never admit he’s wrong. Dude’s still single for a reason
Denver just isn’t built to beat the Timberwolves the way Dallas can. They (Denver) don’t have anything close to their guard play and rim protection. In theory, the good defenders Minnesota has should bother Luka but the archetype of defenders they have are not the ones you need for him. Ant could be that big body that help take out Luka’s legs but he doesn’t navigate screens well enough
Kyre is HIM...put some respect on his name too...
not surprised no respect from THESE cats....
Dallas is Him
Ironically, you disrespected his name by misspelling it 😂
@@cowboyschad5x778 cowboys? 😆
Love Russillo's subtle math quip on that 7 year old to college graduate thing Bill said.
Say his fucking name...LUKA
So many media people and probably the same ones that refused Luka some decent numbers for MVP, are now talking so much about how dominant is Luka (and Kyrie), how impressed they are with long descriptions about the way Luka does that game by game. It is like they are opening their eyes for the first time to a player who has been cooking numbers and bisecting other teams for six years. It seems like they have never watched a Mavs game during the regular season, The guy had been doing this the whole time, I know that because I have watched every single game, you don't need to watch all of those games, if you know about basketball you're supposed to notice this type of greatness, or at list listen to the noise, so much noise that have been going on, Luka's 73 points against the Hawks was not a casualty. His triple doubles records, his numbers in playoffs being comparable to MJ and LeBron for several years already, and a long list of stats and facts. It is a shame, and to come to ask why is Luka so mad at Gobert, that's the end of cynicism, I would like to see you being through to the floor and punched again and again for what? For the media to through constant trash to him and the referees to constantly ignore that the guy is being harassed in and out of the court just because they don't like him because he isn't Anthony Edwards, which is an inferior player, obviously, by the numbers and the history of the last several years.
Hey, Bill, how’s the Wolves looking now huh? What a garbage 25 and under list. Also, how’s your gambler friend Bob feeling ? We’ll win that chip and rub it to all your faces.
Can they all just say we jumped the gun on Edwards ?
Luka should've won MVP.
Luka got three 1st place votes out of a 100 for MVP. THREE. Luka had not just a really good season but one of the greatest individual seasons in the history of the basketball and guys like Bill blithely looked away and pretended it wasn't happening
@@jackastor5265 he will get it next year now...that's how it goes modern times...JOKE
@@PRODIGY-AND-HAVOC thas how it goes forever !
@@denigster often no rhyme or reason logically.. all about narratives.. if Boston wins the chip then Tatum will be number one to start next year , especially if he's finals MVP
Don't sleep on Boston by the way!
Doesn't this Mavericks team kinda remind you of the last Pistons championship team. Mid season trades changes team, player with erratic behavior history becomes cornerstone player and fulfills potential...
ANT’s best year wont touch MJ’s worst year. Anyone who compares the two should be laughed out of the room
Meh the 2 wizards years no playoffs some injuries the quarter of a year back from baseball plus playoffs the rookie season and his injured 2nd season are all not great mj years...ant is already better than mj pre 86 playoffs and post 98 mj and early 95 mj....just saying
Ryen’s subtle dig at Bill messing up the 18 year old graduating college bit was great.
We ready to admit Luka was the actual MVP this year?
Not in the regular season bro if Luka got bunched in the first round you wouldn't say this people are so biased taking the post season into account. People said Embild didn't deserve the MVP because he went out in the 2nd round and sucked. People said Jokic didn't deserve MVP this year or in 2022 because he bunched out early. MVP is a regular season award.
@emilfrederiksen.1622 I felt this way before the postseason, my comment was a joke. Relax
Luka was first player ever to average 32+,9+,9+
Also most over points accounted for (pts + ast).
Historic season and truly, Luka is real mvp.
Shaq was spot-on if you've seen the clip of the media interviewing Towns outside of the locker room after the game 3 loss last night. He didn't seem pissed off at all. And Shaq said, that was the most concerning thing about him, and I 100% agree. He said if Kobe played a bad game, NOBODY would dare say a word to him on the plane.
First of all Tatum aint stoping no one...he just hides in a corner and is waiting for game to be taken over and then statpads!
Pacers players shot 4/12 with Tatum as the primary defender in game three. He’s a very underrated defensive player.
That AP Credits line was super funny lowkey
These "analysts" don't seem to realise that Wolves interior D is completely useless without Rudy. Look at the numbers
It is the guards that are leaving Rudy on an island leading him to look useless. I saw several plays last night & I felt bad for Rudy and I am not a fan of either team. In fact, I picked Minny to win w/7 but it was based on how Luka looked in the previous series health wise & Minny D on Jamal & Joker. Bwoy was I wrong!
“Must’ve gotten a lot of AP credits” fucking sent me😂
Jokič is amazing, but he cannot affect the game in the playoffs as much as a guard/small forward/ball handler can...the list is too long, IT, Magic, MJ, Kobe, Lebron, Steph, Kyrie, Luka, Jamal Murray [last year]... Duncan doesnt win without the amazing Manu and Parker, Shaq doesnt win without amazing Kobe and Wade.. the big is always dependent on the form of his guard/forward
Thunder challenged Dallas role players to beat them. Wolves challenged Luka and Kyrie straight up. Same result either way.