Sports
James Holas talks Eastern/Western Semifinals with Jordan Buscarini
In this episode, Jordan Buscarini and James Holas dive into the thrilling matchups of the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Semifinals. They discuss the surprising playoff performances, analyze team ...
James Holas talks Eastern/Western Semifinals with Jordan Buscarini
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Speaker A
With the sixth pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics select Marcus Smart from Oklahoma State University. This is Marcus Smart from the Boston Celtics. Here you're listening to drivetime Sports with Jordan Buscarini. Marcus Smart, what a spin move and a finish. Hard to handle. Marcus Smart, whether he's outside or inside the paint.
Speaker B
Round two of the NBA playoffs already off and rolling. What a dominating performance from the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 against the Phoenix Suns. We'll talk about that. We finally have the two western semifinal. The other western semifinals matchup set between the Lakers and the Warriors. We'll get into that and we'll talk about tonight's game 76ers Celtics. Just a lot to get into in the NBA, including some teams that maybe fell short in the opening round. Joining us right now to talk, as he does every Monday, we have James Holis, half of the Dunktails pod. James. Here we go, man. Western and Eastern semis off and rolling. This is an exciting time. This is the best basketball that you'll see all season.
Speaker A
I think so, man. We've had a lot of complaints about regular season for years, and sometimes people complain about the playoffs, but so far I think this has been a super entertaining playoff run, and I'm excited, man.
Speaker B
Yeah, I always say first round. Yeah, there can be some intriguing matchups. By the time we get to the second round, you know, we have the eight best teams in the NBA duking it out, and that's essentially what we have here. Before we talk about the second round matchups, a couple of teams in particular we need to talk about, one being the Milwaukee Bucks, the other being the Memphis Grizzlies. We see a one go down, we see a two go down. You echo literally everything I have to say about Giannis Anticon Tupo and the idea that this was not a failure for the Milwaukee Bucks. On the flip side, I look at the Memphis Grizzlies, I can say the same thing. Last year was supposed to be a step in the process, and I think maturity was definitely an issue. When you look at Milwaukee and you look at Memphis, let's take out of the equation who they played in the first round. Biggest disappointment's got to be the Bucks, right? Hands down.
Speaker A
Hands down. I think I respect the hell out of Yana to the player. He's still a top three player, you know, arguably the best player in the world. But what he was saying, his whole diatribe, a lot of it sounds like sour grapes where you're trying to kind of Rationalize whatever just happened. He's doing all this philosophical talk and I respect it. But at the same time, that wasn't what the question was. As a number one seed, you've already won a championship in recent years. Allegedly having your second best player out derailed you last season and you still put up a good fight, you know, into the, into the, you know, into the playoffs against the Celtics, seven games. And now you come with a whole team and you've made a couple moves around the edges. Don't give me this stuff about success comes in stages and building you've already built. You are already a ready made contender. Don't give me this nonsense about success is about building. Right. That's a failure flat out. As far as the Memphis Grizzlies are concerned. They're a young up and coming team that think they're better than they are. They got humbled a bit this year. I really respect the fact that Ja even afterwards says, hey, I have to make better decisions on and off the court. I have to be more mature. I love to hear him say that unprompted when he's asked. So yeah, they're two different teams with the same results, but they have completely different context and that's why Bucs are definitely the bigger disappointment.
Speaker B
Yeah, and people would say, hey, throw the Sacramento Kings in the same conversation with the Memphis Grizzlies. I can't do that, James, because I got to go back to what happened last year with Memphis. That is part of the process. You lose to a champion, you're supposed to grow in that situation. This was entirely new territory for Sacramento. The fact that they went seven with Golden State. I'm not saying you deem it a success because you come up short. But I can't put Sacramento in the same category as Memphis or Milwaukee.
Speaker A
I'm going to say it was a success because the Kings haven't made the playoffs in what, 16 years, 17 years.
Speaker B
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker A
And every off season they would make moves and say this is our year, we're gonna make a playoff run. And they would be abysmal every year when they made the trade for Sabonis, people panned the trade because of what Halliburton turned into. But Sabonis was regular season has a great fit. Besides Fox, it all looked great. They got a number three seed, the warriors got whole and the warriors of the Warriors. But yeah, everyone was. The question was asked before the playoffs, can the Kings upset the warriors even though they were the three seeds? So I'm Going to say it was a success. They learned they took some lumps and this is how. That's the process. They got into the playoffs, they got humbled, they got handled a little bit because they were shown the know how, you know, outperformed their athleticism and their youth. That's, I think, I think this season was a success for Sacramento, even for Memphis. Right. The injuries derailed them. No Steven Adams, no Brandon Clark, those. That's huge as far as the team construction playing against Anthony Davis. And so, yes, Memphis got over their skis a bit. They talk a little too much, especially a guy like Dylan Brooks who was a negative on offense, but he talks like he's a, like a core piece. They definitely bit off more than they could chew. And I think this is good for them. This is a, this is part of their process too. It's a humbling experience. Right. They got some humble pie. Maybe they'll learn to focus more on the process and not so much talking and yapping.
Speaker B
Okay, so now that we talk about some of the shortcomings in the first round, to me it was not an upset that Golden State knocked off Sacramento. It was not an upset that the Lakers knocked off Memphis. You and I had a talk going into the playoffs. You took Golden State to come out of the West, I took the Lakers. And I think we agreed at that particular time, whoever wins that series coming out of the west is not going to be a surprise. We can talk about that in a moment. On the flip side, the Eastern Conference, the Miami Heat, not only did the Heat knock off the Bucs, they now have the path of the one seed. And this is something that I think gets overlooked entirely. The Heat now get the New York Knicks. And whatever your thought is on New York, it doesn't matter. The fact is the eight seeds getting the five. They don't have home court advantage, but they're getting the five. The Heat on the flip side of the bracket get to avoid both Boston and Philly. Things have really, really broke well for Miami and they earned it. I mean, they. Look, they had to go through the play in round. They had to win an elimination game and then they had to go out and they had to beat Milwaukee. But the entire Eastern Conference bracket is flipped. Especially knowing that Joel Embiid might not play.
Speaker A
Absolutely. And sure, this is a boon to the Celtics. It's funny, it's kind of interesting. I never thought about that, how you said they, they have the. They have the path of the one, of the one because they don't have Home court advantage, that's the big thing. Yep. No matter what happens for them, they don't have home court advantage. So I think it's a little different. And also I think that first round upset was a perfect storm. They earned it 100. I'm not taking anything away from them. No tower hero do they did Bucs collapse epically. But no title hero is a big thing. And that's where I think, I think the Knicks are a flawed team. That has been a pleasant surprise. Right. Again, we talk about success to failure. Even if they lose in the next three, you know, they get swept or they get a degenerate sweep against the Heat. I think this season was still a success for the Knicks, but, you know, they want more. But yeah, 100%. I don't, I don't. I'm still not. Maybe I'm the fool. Jimmy Butler is a real thing in the playoffs. I'm still not a believer. I just think they're him, Jimmy Butler and a bunch of like nondescript role players. I don't think it's, it's all heart and guts and Jimmy Butler. That's not going to be enough against the elite in the East.
Speaker B
No, I agree. I think we were both on the same page. Right. Going into the playoffs that the east was kind of a three pony race. And we look, we both thought that Cleveland would be just on the outside of Philly, Boston, Milwaukee. It does seem like tonight, game one, Philly, Boston, it's game one of the Eastern Conference finals. To me it does seem that way. Although I look, I'm done counting out Miami. I've done that now for the last two months. I'm done counting these guys out. It does feel like tonight it's game one of the Eastern Conference finals.
Speaker A
It does. And hey, that's why I love the playoffs. Wild things happen. Miami Heat have went from looking there were. They looked like they were on life support and barely, you know, Chicago gave them a good scare in the playing game. Doesn't matter. They are now, you know, surging momentum. I'm gonna, I don't know how you feel. I think momentum is real confidence and momentum makes such a difference in the NBA. And right now they're riding a wave of momentum and confidence that is making them look almost unbeatable. So 100%, man, it's. This is fascinating. I still think Boston and if a healthy Philly is a thing, they're still probably, you know, they, they're, they are the cream of the crop. But yeah, Miami can definitely put A scare on anybody right now.
Speaker B
Yeah. Let's talk about your Celtics, because in this Philly series, there's this idea that Joel Embiid is going to be doubtful. I think we're going to see that time and time again throughout the series. Game one, doubtful. Game two, doubtful. Game three, doubtful. Game four, probable. I think that's what is going to be hovering around Joel Embiid. You brought this up to me before we hopped on air during that break, that the idea of gamesmanship is something you cannot overlook in the postseason.
Speaker A
100%. I wouldn't be shocked if Embiid is closer than anyone thinks, and they might even hold him out of game one as precaution. But they're going to keep the. You know, they keep things under wraps, right? Any. Any. You don't want to give the other team any advantage, no matter how slight. And so planning on having Embiid, you know, planning on not having Embiid, the Celtics will have to game plan a certain way. And even if they. They know that the possibility, they have to game plan for no Embiid. And all of a sudden, he pops up Game 2, and he's 90% of himself. That's a whole different ball game. So, yeah, maybe there's some game gamesmanship going on, but knowing Embiid's history, you know, that mean this was one of his healthiest seasons ever. And I think, you know, he played great and he was relatively healthy, but coming into this year, it's always been something so knock on wood. I want to see him healthy. And I'm in the spirit of competition. I would love to see both these teams at full strength. But then, as a Celtics fan, hey, man, you can't help who you play. And if he's out, he's out. And more power to Boston.
Speaker B
Look, I'm just going to be real here, okay? Paul Reed would step in as a starting center for Philadelphia. I already believe that Boston was the best team in the Eastern Conference. I felt this way going into the postseason. To me, they are the deepest team. They are the most reliable team. They do stuff on the perimeter that you have to do to be successful in the postseason. Now, you take Joel Embiid out and you insert Paul Reed. I don't believe Philadelphia has a chance in hell in the series without Embiid. I really don't.
Speaker A
And I 100% agree. But in the back of my mind, nagging, I see, you know, I see Giannis come back, no Tyler hero, and everyone's thinking there's no way in hell, Miami wins this. Miami want it. I know that James Harden at one point was the singular star on the team that went to the Western Conference final and took Golden State to seven games. I know that was quite a few years ago, but he's just, you know, James Harden might have a flashback performance. I know that Maxi has shown he can score like a superstar at times at his, at his peak. And I just watched Malik Monk play at a level that pushed Golden State to seven games. So as much as I feel and I also know that Boston made, you know, no dejounte Murray, they lost game five at home to the Atlanta Hawks, making boneheaded plays down the stretch. So the Celtics, you know, that are supposedly learned from last year, they shown they can still, you know, that career is ugly head sometimes. So I'm cautiously optimistic with the keyword there being caution.
Speaker B
Let's talk about the two series in the west and we'll start with Phoenix and Denver. Tonight we get game two Phoenix, they were blown out in game one. I mean, it really wasn't even that competitive. You just can get the sense, right, that there is something special about this Denver team. And I also believe you have to look at the fact that Phoenix has not played well away from home. You can almost throw those statistics out because now they are as healthy as they're going to be but moving forward, still, game one, it was all Denver. I mean, this was, it was kind of boring. James, it was a boring game.
Speaker A
I want to say that they, the broadcast team said that this was the 14th game with Kevin Durant and the full lineup. So like we're seeing a brand new team in Phoenix. And I think this might be a case study in continuity and depth versus maybe top end talent because it's arguable if you say Kevin Durant is better than Jokic. Some people argue that opposite. That's fine. Booker is definitely, I think, better than Jamal Murray. But then players three through maybe six or seven, it's, it's, it's hard to go and say that Denver's not better there and they know each other and they, they play with the familiarity and the strengths. Like, you know, it's definitely, it shows they're confident in themselves and they play together rock solid. Even though we know Denver's not a great defensive team, they've shown that they can trust each other in rotations. On Phoenix, they're kind of out there just learning each other. And it really shows that Kevin Rant played great, played well, not maybe great, but he could be better but he's no. He was efficient. Booker played well. Chris Paul looked his age. Aiden, the old question about his motor, you can put him out there. The clip is going around about him rebounding, and they just don't have enough depth. They have no one else to really just do stuff. So this looks. Reminds me a little bit of the Nets vs Celtics last year, right in the playoffs, where you got these two superstars and everyone else around them is just not good enough.
Speaker B
Wasn't Deandre Ayton's effort in Game 1 at times just dreadful?
Speaker A
It was like I said, that clip going viral of Yokic tapping up his own miss. And I think maybe Aaron Gordon got in there and try to get a rebound and. And Kevin Durant's battling and Yokic just making. Look at Tyler and DeAndre standing there three feet away on the baseline, just watching. Yeah, literally just standing there, just watching. And he kind of trots in to try to reach a hand in, but it was a very much fake effort. Like, let me do here. Max Money, young athlete. We've seen him play very well. We've seen him get, you know, 20 rebounds and be effective off the court. That was sad to see.
Speaker B
The other Western Conference series. This is so intriguing, the fact that we get Golden State and the Lakers in round two, in my mind, look, I don't think there's any doubt right now. We have the four best teams playing in the Western Conference. Lakers, they get past Memphis in six. They dismantle the Grizzlies in game six. The warriors pretty much dismantle Sacramento in game seven. I love the fact that we get these two going toe to toe. The storylines kind of write themselves and, yeah, these are two legitimate Western conference championship contenders. LeBron, Steph Curry, like I said, we can go on and on and on. James, the narrative here is fantastic for the NBA.
Speaker A
It is. I get it. I'm going to. I'm not naturally being a contrarian, I promise. I wanted to see fresh blood. But, you know, LeBron James and Steph Curry, two biggest draws in the NBA. The, you know, the warriors versus LeBron storyline now on a. You know, moved on to a different franchise. I love that Steph, you know, Steph and the team are kind of like the last stand and LeBron went and got reinforcements at the trade deadline. The narrative is really good and it's entertaining. Like, it's going to be entertaining. LeBron at his best, a singular talent with a very capable costar versus the, you know, the one team, one fight kind of Warriors. Everybody Moving and on a string. So it's definitely going to be interesting. Both teams have flaws. The warriors look old, and they have no depth. The Lakers have depth, but a lot of their. Their talented, their talent is not mismatched, but a lot of them are offensive end. So, yeah, this will be a definite. A definite contrast in styles. One of them is driven by two singular talents and a bunch of shooters. The other one is, you know, the system of the warriors and the shooting of Clay and Steph and Draymond's playmaking like it's. It's going to be very interesting. Very interesting.
Speaker B
When I look at this series, you go back to Memphis, okay, there are times Anthony Davis looks fantastic. There are times he looks lost. Welcome to the world of Anthony Davis. The difference in that series, it wasn't LeBron, it wasn't Anthony Davis. It was Rui Hachimara, and it was d' Angelo Russell. When those two performed very well, it's a very difficult team to beat. Right. I think that's going to play a factor again in this series. I do believe that Kevon Looney is going to give the Lakers some fits. I really do. You got to remember, Anthony Davis was supposed to dominate the Grizzlies based off of their front court depth. But when you look at the Lakers as a whole, they have success. When Rui and d'. Angelo, one of those two picking up the slack, being that third guy. Even if Anthony Davis has lost, I will.
Speaker A
I'm going to give Rui Hachimura all the credit in the world. I had no idea he'd turn himself into that kind of shooter. He was shooting with such confidence, and just. He's brimming with confidence right now, so that's going to help a lot. They're definitely much bigger around and a little deeper than. Not deeper than it came out. Much bigger on the perimeter with a guy like Rui. D' Angelo's a big guard. Curry is, you know, I think his timing. A bad defender is definitely overstated, but he's still a smaller guard, and we'll see. We'll see how that goes, man. Clay is not who he used to be defensively. Yeah, Rui. I'm gonna say Rui Austin and. And d' Angelo are going to be kind of the bellwethers if they. If they play well. I think the warriors are in trouble.
Speaker B
James. Beginning of the postseason, I went Lakers, Celtics. You went Warriors, Celtics. Who you rolling with now? You making any changes that.
Speaker A
I think Denver's gonna make it. I think Denver. Denver Looks like just the most complete team right now. And Jokic, I still don't know if any team has an answer for Jokic. I know that Anthony Davis is great, but we know Jokic is, you know, you got to guard him to 25ft out. And his playmaking and passing are just so devastating. He gets guys dunks and layups and they just know each other so well. So I think right now Denver is going to be the team to beat. But I think Boston got it in the East.
Speaker B
James Solas again, our guest. Have the Dunktails Pod. James, always a pleasure to get you on. Look forward to the conversation every Mondays. Before I let you go, of course, tell us more of where we can find you in the Dunktails pod.
Speaker A
Dunktail Pods is on a fake hiatus because both of us are really busy with life. But you can find us on all streaming platforms. Go listen to all episodes of me and my buddy JP Talking basketball and having a good time. We got to have you on soon, whenever we get back to recording. And I'm on Twitter at Snotty Dripping, where I'm just, you know, talking some basketball, some life. It's. It's whatever I do want to say before I go though, if the warriors win, it's because the Lakers don't. They lack the perimeter discipline to maintain contact with the shooters. And we're going to. We might see vintage Clay game and then like a vintage Curry game or two where they just erupt and go nuts. Because I don't think those, those guards in Laker land have enough to stick with those guys for 48 minutes the way you have to.
Speaker B
Absolutely. At some point we will see a vintage Klay Thompson game. At this point, I look at Steph, it's just the norm. But at some point, Klay Thompson is going to. He did it in the regular season. He gave the Lakers fits. Right. Even with this, with these, these additions, you go back to the last time these two teams went toe to toe at crypto. I mean, at some point Klay Thompson is going to have a big moment in the series. I guarantee it.
Speaker A
Yeah. My, my one, my one thing again on other side of that is he's trying to force it. You can see him kind of forcing and searching for it and that kind of. You can't force being hot. And he's been pressing a little bit, so we'll see if he can get over that and he can find it.
Speaker B
James, I'd love to catch up maybe even later this week if you're up for a dual segment multiple times in.
Speaker A
One week, especially if the Lakers lose and Boston keeps winning.
Speaker B
What if it's the flip side? Looking forward to it, James, as always. Thank you.
Speaker A
All right, brother, talk to you soon.
Speaker B
And with that, we are out of time in this edition of Drive TIME Sports. We'll be back to do it again tomorrow. We'll talk exclusively NFL It's Football Tuesday. We'll recap the NFL draft. We'll bring in a couple of friends, including Antwan Staley of the New York Daily News. That's coming up tomorrow here on Drive Time Sports. I want to thank Coach Chase Julian and of course, James Hollis for taking out the time to join us. We'll be back to do it again tomorrow. Be safe. We're out.