00:00How many teams can win the East, do you think?
00:04It really is wide open.
00:05I think there is a little bit of a Patriots feel to this, right?
00:08Where the AFC was wide open, they took advantage of it,
00:11and kind of similar with the Celtics.
00:12Because all the teams in the Eastern Conference have question marks.
00:15And we talked about this, I think, last week,
00:17where the Celtics have the fewest question marks, I think,
00:19especially with Jason Tatum now coming back.
00:22Like Detroit, they can't really shoot.
00:24New York, they're super inconsistent.
00:25We're having players-only meetings two months ago.
00:28You can't forget about that aspect of it.
00:30And with Cleveland, they've been playing much better defense as of late.
00:34But they bowed out early last year, and it's James Harden.
00:37We know how he is in the postseason.
00:39So win the East?
00:40I would answer it's three.
00:41Three, right?
00:42Detroit, Boston, New York?
00:43Yeah.
00:44I don't count Cleveland.
00:45I don't think they can.
00:46James Harden in an NBA Finals?
00:47I don't think so.
00:48And then nobody after that.
00:49There might be a one-off, maybe you have an upset.
00:52Is that right?
00:52Do you include Cleveland?
00:53I wouldn't.
00:54No, I wouldn't include Cleveland.
00:55Like, again, they've been playing better defense as of late, but they've shown me nothing in the postseason.
01:01Any of these players on that team have shown me anything in the playoffs to believe in them actually upsetting
01:07a team en route to winning the East.
01:09And when you're looking at the championship experience, right?
01:12Like, who in the East has any besides the Celtics?
01:15Like, that core.
01:16The Knicks don't have any.
01:17No.
01:18I think the Knicks have some good playoff experience, but they don't have a championship pedigree.
01:22Nope.
01:23Like, last year's a good example for the Knicks, but, like, you don't have any championship experience.
01:27Same thing with, you know, Cleveland.
01:29Like, they don't have any championship experience.
01:30Detroit has no really good playoff experience.
01:32Their first little playoff experience was last year.
01:36Spolstra and those guys.
01:37Like, you have to go.
01:37They're not even in the top six, right?
01:39Miami?
01:40You'd have to go down to that level, probably.
01:41And I think that stuff is important.
01:42Like, I think we saw it with the Celtics in 2022 when they played the Warriors.
01:46Like, that championship experience.
01:48And granted, that's kind of an extreme example, because that team is really, really talented.
01:51I think it's real in the NBA.
01:52Oh, it's totally real.
01:53You know, like, Oklahoma City hadn't been to a finals before with this group, and they broke through and won,
01:58but they had been on a deep run.
02:00And, yeah, I do think that's a real thing.
02:02I do.
02:02And that's why I don't really believe in Detroit.
02:04But if you're asking me, could they win the conference, I still would say.
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