- 8 hours ago
John Fanta joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to give his reaction to the Wizards getting the No. 1 pick, analyze some choices, and discuss who to keep an eye on in the process.
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00:00One of my favorite people to just talk hoops with is John Fanta,
00:06Mr. Big East himself, but really Mr. Everything, NBC Sports right now,
00:11at John underscore Fanta on X.
00:14Called a lot of college games this year.
00:16By the way, what are you doing NBA-wise right now?
00:20Are you calling games?
00:23Well, Kevin, great to be with you.
00:25No, I'm doing some different digital coverage for the NBA playoffs.
00:30Now we're deep enough in it that we're getting down to the thick of things
00:36with the conference finals.
00:38And, of course, Mike Tirico leads one crew on the NBA side,
00:42and Noah Eagle, two of my good friends, leads another series.
00:46He's got the Cavs and Pistons tonight.
00:49So those two crews take things through on the NBC side,
00:53the rest of the conference semifinals, and, of course,
00:55Mike will have the Western conference finals.
00:57I'm actually transitioning into baseball season.
00:59Now I was the dugout reporter yesterday for the Nationals and Marlins.
01:04Oh, really?
01:05You had the Nats and Marlins yesterday?
01:08Yes.
01:08Spent the morning with Blake Butera
01:11and was around the Nationals quite a bit throughout the last couple of days,
01:15but was on the broadcast yesterday.
01:18Kate Cavalli pitched well for the Nats.
01:20He's having a nice season.
01:21The bullpen just remains the worst bullpen in the sport.
01:26Yeah, not very good there.
01:27They got to within a game of .500,
01:30and they played that 8-7 game the other night with the Marlins to get to .500.
01:34But now that – I mean, this has been a very surprising start, you know,
01:40through what is it now, 41 games to be at 19 and 22
01:44with the offense that they've been able to generate.
01:47Well, that's what stands out to me,
01:49and it's what stood out to me being around the clubhouse yesterday, Kevin.
01:53I sense the atmosphere of guys who are in it for each other
01:56and truly are talking to each other about their approach at the plate.
02:00You can sense that people are on the same page.
02:03And, you know, they've – look, they swept house.
02:07They brought in a whole new staff, and that new staff has injected energy.
02:10I mean, Blake Butera, when you have – you have the youngest manager in baseball
02:14since 1972, since Frank Willoughby of the Minnesota Twins.
02:19And, you know, he brings in, you know, a hitting coach, Matt Borgschultz,
02:25who I think has, you know, just done things a little differently.
02:30They've – the guys talked about – James Wood said,
02:32when I'm going back to the dugout, the criticism is constructive.
02:37It's not overcomplicated.
02:39And, you know, he wasn't taking a shot at the previous staff that he worked with,
02:43but he was just putting up the point, like, I'm more comfortable as a hitter.
02:47C.J. Abrams is comfortable.
02:49He feels good with what he's doing.
02:51That lineup's got some real intrigue.
02:53They attack.
02:54They lead the majors in first-inning runs.
02:56They're among the top teams in runs seventh-inning or later.
02:59And they got a pitching coach, Simon Matthews,
03:01who I actually covered at Georgetown.
03:03And I think that he's got a bright future.
03:05So, I think if you're a Nats fan, you've got to be excited
03:08because what's the most fun part about being in sports?
03:11The rise.
03:12I think this is kind of a start.
03:14And I think gradually you're going to see the Nationals rise up.
03:18Yeah.
03:19I mean, I think, you know, C.J. Abrams right now is tied for the league in RBIs,
03:23tied for the lead in the league in RBIs.
03:25And I think there's just this expectation that when we get to July,
03:29he's going to be moved, you know, at some point for a lot of assets
03:32because they are in rebuild mode number two.
03:35But you just said something.
03:36You said, you know, enjoying the rise.
03:39The rise of the Wizards, you know, the attempt to rise through this three-year tank,
03:45which resulted in them getting a number one pick, has been painful.
03:48And you know the market a little bit.
03:50You know this is a basketball town,
03:52but nothing compares to the interest level in our football team.
03:56I mean, everything else is a distant, distant, you know,
03:59second, third, and fourth among the pro sports teams.
04:02But now there seems to be a little bit of excitement, at least for the day.
04:06You saw all of these players all season long.
04:10If you're the GM and you're on the clock at number one, who's the pick and why?
04:15The pick right now is C.J. DeBansa.
04:18It is.
04:18And I want to see how the pre-draft goes with Darren Peterson.
04:21I think it's as fascinating a pre-draft process as any because of how much
04:25Peterson was up, down, all around, status, and constantly in jeopardy.
04:32A.J. DeBansa, Kevin, at 6'9", just over 200 pounds, has the frame.
04:39He's got the physique.
04:41He possesses the intangibles.
04:43The guy is mature beyond his years.
04:46You know, carves out.
04:47I like a guy who paves a different way.
04:51Yeah, and people say, well, he got paid a boatload at BYU.
04:54Here's the thing, Kevin, he would have gotten paid a boatload anywhere he went.
04:57Yeah.
04:57But he said, I'm not going to go to Duke or Carolina.
04:59I'm going to do this at BYU.
05:01And I thought that the way that he played, they had some unfortunate injuries beyond him.
05:06But he is a big-time, fully NBA-ready player that can be a double-digit-time all-star
05:13in the National Basketball Association.
05:15That's what I think of A.J.
05:17I think his ability to attack the rim is special.
05:19He can rise above a defender.
05:21The shot-making's only gotten better.
05:23His defense, I think it's present enough that he's not a liability.
05:27You know, I don't know that fully about Darren Peterson.
05:30I think Cameron Boozer's a great defender and very physical.
05:34I don't know if he can shoot the basketball consistently in the NBA that says, okay, all-star
05:38year in and year out.
05:40I would go with DeBonta.
05:42I think that he's your number one pick.
05:45You know, it's interesting because I talked about this earlier, but when they're 19 years
05:49old, especially when you start projecting what they may be defensively after they've
05:55played one year in college, and they're not even physically mature yet, that's a hard thing
06:00to do.
06:01One more on A.J.
06:03DeBonta, because I do want to get to Darren Peterson.
06:06I mean, you know, the comp has been Kevin Durant.
06:09He's not as tall as Kevin Durant, but do you have somebody stylistically that you would compare
06:15him to?
06:17Yeah, it's a good question.
06:19I think of Tracy McGrady.
06:22You know, I just think of an elite scoring wing who can break you down off the dribble.
06:29Remember how good Tracy was at getting to his spot?
06:31A.J.'s kind of got that shiftiness where he can stop and go.
06:35He's got the frame.
06:36He can score from three levels.
06:38So McGrady is the guy that comes to mind for me.
06:43It's not Durant.
06:44Uh, it's, it's, it's more of T-Mac because I just, I think the physical, the physical
06:52nature of this young man and the skillset with, with the fact that he can get just about
06:58anywhere he wants and he's got a measured approach to like, Kevin, there are some guys
07:04in this class that they put their head down, they drive to the rim and they just expect
07:08to get a call or lay it in.
07:09We're seeing it in the playoffs right now.
07:11You can't just put your head down and go to the rim.
07:13Um, the, the officials, they're letting a lot happen and you've got to have feel, you've
07:19got to have feel, you've got to have touch.
07:21You know, I mean, I've seen it.
07:23The Cavs distance series that Donovan Mitchell's been trying to get to the rim and he gets
07:28contacted and there's no call.
07:30Well, welcome to the playoffs.
07:32I, to bounce the, I just, I like his all around skillset.
07:37It reminds me of McGrady.
07:39He's got a little bit of Paul George in there and there's times where I've watched him and
07:43I'm like, man, this guy's got some Scotty Pippen to him.
07:46So I dynamic wing who can be present on both ends of the floor.
07:51It could be a long time all-star in this league.
07:54I'll tell you the big difference too.
07:56And I have not pointed it out, but you will certainly understand the, the comparison and
08:02probably agree, but AJ DeBonsa, you know, didn't take himself out of games.
08:07He played 40 minutes multiple times this year, including in the tournament loss to Texas when
08:13he went for 35 and in 40 minutes, like there was no, there was no load managing through
08:19his one college season.
08:20And that, you know, let's segue into Darren Peterson and load managing may not be what
08:27was going on because there's a lot to this story.
08:29I'll let you tell it from your perspective as, as a college basketball fan, you know,
08:35when he pulled himself out of that Arizona game, 30 minutes, 45 minutes before tip or whatever
08:40it was, that was a major red flag for me.
08:43And I've read every story since, including the creatine story from the other day.
08:47What do you think somebody has to really make sure they understand about Darren Peterson?
08:54Got to understand his circle.
08:56And you have to make that circle, understand that when he gets drafted to an NBA team, that
09:01circle is eliminated.
09:02And if you think that that sounds harsh, Kevin, welcome to life in the NBA, because the NBA
09:08people will say, well, that was great and all what you did there in college, but college
09:13is actually more chaotic than our world.
09:15We run a business here and our business has guardrails.
09:18Our business has a salary cap limitations.
09:22Our business has expectations.
09:23You can't just sit out.
09:25When you sit out, you get fined.
09:26I mean, that's just it.
09:28Like when we talk about the different levels of basketball right now, there is, how about
09:32the different levels of college sports?
09:33There is no more chaotic sport in our world than college basketball right now.
09:38There's no control over it.
09:39Well, Darren Peterson could play by his rules.
09:41When you get drafted to an NBA team, you are playing by their rules.
09:44So whoever's drafting him, all these teams are going to visit with him this week, next
09:49week, the following week, and they're going to ask him questions.
09:52And when they sit you down and ask you questions, you don't have the ability to say, oh, can
09:57I have some help answering that?
09:59No, you're getting interviewed.
10:01Look, this kid could go as high as one.
10:04The Wizards could fall in love with him and say, we're not concerned about the injury issues.
10:09We're not concerned about the load management.
10:11We talked to him.
10:12His circle was genuinely concerned about the NBA.
10:15We understand that now.
10:17Kevin, you better be right.
10:19If you're going to do that, you better be correct in your assessment and not run into
10:23these problems.
10:24Because these problems, whether anybody wants to hear it or not, whether you think it's
10:30fair or not, these concerns are red flags.
10:34The question in the coming weeks is, how big are the flags?
10:39Are they little flags, like when someone does some work in your yard and flags down that
10:43they looked at your water?
10:45Or are they big flags that hang out in front of your house and they're swollen in the wind
10:50saying, do not take?
10:51Because if they're big flags, you could see this young man fall to six, seven, or eight
10:56in the draft.
10:57And if people are like, I'm shocked.
10:58I can't believe that that just happened.
11:00We're talking about a generational draft class.
11:03I think that there's guys that could get drafted eighth or ninth in this draft that end up
11:08being the best player out of the class.
11:10That's how competitive this draft is.
11:12It's why the Wizards, yeah, they got the one pick, but it's enviable, but it's also kind
11:18of tough because you have a challenge in front of you with how much talent and you better
11:22get it right.
11:22You can't Anthony Bennett this.
11:24So they're legit concerns.
11:27To what degree, I think this pre-draft process is going to really reveal it, but I wouldn't
11:32pick Darren Peterson, number one.
11:34I just wouldn't.
11:37Yeah.
11:38I mean, I love the way that you immediately honed in on the circle.
11:43That circle's irrelevant when you are actually being employed by an NBA team.
11:49And if it isn't irrelevant, you've got to steer clear of it.
11:53If there's no way to keep it from being overly relevant, then you need to steer clear from
11:58it.
11:58And that's what they're going to have to figure out.
11:59So it sounds to me like you believe that this is a dicey situation and you'd steer clear
12:06of it.
12:07So DeBonsa would be number one.
12:10Tell me, because this is a deep draft and you're right.
12:12I mean, we end up, we may find out a guy like Mara ends up being, you know, taken 12th
12:17and ends up being the star of this class, but give me, give me the two or three guys
12:23that, you know, after DeBonsa, Peterson, Boozer, and let's, let's include Caleb Wilson
12:29and, and, and sort of a, a consensus top four, but I don't know if anything's consensus at
12:34this point, but give me the guys that you really like, like somebody could end up getting
12:38Giannis at, at 15 or Kawhi at 13 or wherever they were, or the Joker in the second round
12:44happens all the time.
12:46Who do you love?
12:47Yeah, there, there's a couple of guys that I'm, I'm very intrigued by.
12:51Um, number one would be Mikel Brown out of Louisville because of the fact that he was
12:59another guy who the sample size was a little bit all over the place, but this is a guy
13:03who, you know, I mean, he had a, a 50 point game this past year.
13:08He, he can really, really fill it up.
13:11I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:12It's unbelievable what he's been able to do when he's been out there on the floor and
13:17he's got pretty solid positional length.
13:18I think he'd go eighth or ninth in the draft.
13:21Uh, and I've got the Mavericks taking him.
13:24Imagine Cooper flag and Kyrie Irving with a healthy Kyrie Irving with a guy who's just
13:29wired to score and can play off the two of them.
13:31That would be fascinating.
13:33A couple other guys that I think are really intriguing.
13:35LeBaron Phylon out of Alabama.
13:37He's not in the same tier of Kingston, Fleming, Darius, a copper, Keaton Waddle.
13:44Um, but he is a guy who could get drafted 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th.
13:48I look for the golden state warriors to take a hard look at either Phylon in the backcourt
13:52or the guy you just brought up a guy Mara.
13:55I also think more as Johnson, Mara's teammates going to get looked at right around that 12
14:00to 16, 17 range.
14:02Those two Michigan bigs are very, very, very, very valuable.
14:06Another guy who I think, you know, we haven't even seen him fully take off.
14:11Look at Vijay Edgecombe who came into Baylor, did some good things, but now has broken out
14:17into a potential superstar as time goes on.
14:21Look at Cameron Carr out of Baylor.
14:23Right now I'm seeing him get projected around 20th.
14:27That's a guy who could ultimately end up being a top 10 player in this draft class.
14:32And I'll give you a total sleeper that the nation does not know about Jalen Williams of
14:38the Oklahoma city thunder, uh, Jalen with J a L E N the, the, the main J dub was taken
14:45out of, uh, Santa Clara, Santa Clara, Alan Graves, Alan Graves is out of Santa Clara too.
14:52And I'm telling you right now, Alan Graves is a guy who I'm zoning in on.
14:58He's a six foot nine forward who is extremely versatile.
15:02And if he stays in this draft, if he stays in this draft, I mark my words, he is going
15:09to make somebody feel very good about their future because he's a guy who Kevin, there's
15:14nothing wrong with stepping into the NBA as a rookie and being a team's third or fourth
15:20best option.
15:21Those are, that's what gets you on deep playoff runs.
15:24You've got to win some playoff games.
15:25You've got to win some key games by having a guy who capitalizes when the other team's
15:31defensive attention is on the top two guys.
15:33Alan Graves out of Santa Clara is a sleeper prospect on my radar, who I really, really like.
15:38Tell me why Coa Pete isn't thought of more highly than somewhere between 12 and 18.
15:46Because I think that there's some concern about how the physicality and feel come together
15:53in the NBA, the NBA is a shot making league.
15:57You've got to be able to step on the floor and you've got to be able to consistently make
16:01shots.
16:02And when teams play off you and dare you to shoot the three at the end of the day, Coa
16:07Pete
16:07attempted one three pointer in the NCAA tournament.
16:11One, he made it.
16:12But Kevin, you and I both know whether we like it or not, the National Basketball Association,
16:20specifically from October until the end of March, is a league that you've got to be making
16:2715, 16, 17 threes.
16:29You've got to be filling it up from distance.
16:31And I just think with Coa, if I'm a team defensively, I mean, I'm looking at it now in the
16:37last 12
16:40games of the season, he attempted two threes total.
16:43Yeah.
16:44That's a concern.
16:45NBA teams are going to say, how much is it worth if I've got a guy who could very well
16:50be a liability out there from beyond the arc?
16:53And if I'm going to play him and teams, teams are going to mark that down.
16:57They're going to say, well, we don't have to guard him out there.
16:59We'll, we'll make the most of it.
17:01I mean, we're, we will, we will hide our worst defender on him from the perimeter.
17:05Oh, when he goes to the paint, we've got rim protection.
17:08We've got people who can handle that, but we're going to hide.
17:10That's what Coa has got to fight.
17:12Coa in Chicago this week, Coa in the pre-draft workout test to say, okay, I know you're concerned
17:17about my lack of perimeter shooting.
17:19I am working on it.
17:20I will work on it, but I'm serviceable there.
17:23Yeah.
17:24There's, um, there's a stylistic, uh, similarity with Derek Queen.
17:28Derek, Derek's a bit bigger, but Derek Queen actually has a good stroke.
17:33Like I, it's not going to surprise me in three or four years.
17:36If Derek Queen actually can, can really stretch the floor, uh, at the position he plays.
17:42Cause he's got the stroke.
17:43He just wasn't asked to shoot it either at Maryland or, um, last year.
17:47Are you, um, in the camp of boozers got a high floor, but a low ceiling?
17:53Yes, I, I am.
17:55Uh, I, I also think the ceiling's getting a little bit undersold.
17:59You know, I think everyone's like, well, yeah, you know, I, I don't see him fully breaking
18:03onto that next level or he is what he is.
18:06Kevin, when you get around an NBA staff and you're in that laboratory, never question the
18:12workout.
18:12If somebody's got the work ethic, never question their potential to be able to break out of
18:17the, what people thought that they would be and that they become somebody totally different
18:21or they level up.
18:23Look, here's the thing about camp.
18:25This guy is determined as all get out.
18:27I covered his peach jam games in high school.
18:29He was wired one way.
18:31Um, he's outgoing.
18:33He wants to win.
18:34He's got a will to win.
18:36And you know, Duke, Duke should have been in the final four.
18:39I mean, it's a generational joke job.
18:41It's one of the all time joke jobs in college basketball history for them to lose that game.
18:46He had that game one for them.
18:48And I, I don't often feel bad for people.
18:50I, I, you know, when they're, when they're getting paid a lot of money, cause he's getting
18:54paid a lot of money to be a Duke, but I felt bad for him that day.
18:57I don't think that he, you know, caps out.
18:59What I will say is this.
19:01I think he probably has picked fourth or fifth on draft nine.
19:04That's just my take.
19:06If, if I am, uh, Memphis, I'm taking Caleb Wilson.
19:11I think Caleb Wilson is a top three pick in this draft and you might see him on draft
19:17day, get rumored at number one.
19:20Yeah.
19:21By the time we get there, I'm not going to be surprised by anything, uh, by the time we
19:25get to number one, including by the way, a potential trade.
19:28That's not going to shock me either in terms with the wizards.
19:31One other player, and I want to ask you really, really quickly about the NBA playoffs, but
19:35I think a cuff, even though he is disinterested in defending, he to me looks like five years,
19:43six years from now, he's at 26, 27 point a night score.
19:47What do you see?
19:49I see.
19:50That's a live wire.
19:51You know, for me, the most fascinating part, the most fascinating part of this draft, Kevin
20:01is the dynamic between a cuff, Caden Wagler, Kingston, Flemings, because you have these three
20:08guards who are size is a little bit of a concern defense is a little bit of a concern.
20:13Where do they fall?
20:14Where do they come into play?
20:15But here's the thing.
20:16When you put the pieces together with Wagler, Flemings, and a cuff, the best pure score is
20:23Darius a cuff.
20:24No, he is just his quickness, his ability to change the game off the dribble.
20:31And I think he can become an even better playmaker in an NBA system.
20:35Um, but I, I really love that kid and I'm with you.
20:38I, I couldn't agree with you more 26, 27 point per game score.
20:42It's in the cards.
20:44And so if that guy, like, you know, there's a world where that guy falls to seven or eight
20:49or maybe Sacramento ends up having him fall into their lap, which boy, they need guard
20:54help.
20:55They're going to take one of, of, um, a cuff Fleming's or Wagler.
20:59And by the way, Sacramento has got to get younger.
21:01I mean, they've, they've, they've put up bad contracts with older players.
21:04They need one of those young guards, but Darius a cuffs.
21:08If he's picked fourth overall in this draft, you know, if the, if the Chicago bulls say,
21:14we're going to go get this guy, I wouldn't be stunned at all because there's a world where
21:18a front office says, we don't care about where we line up positionally.
21:22Like the bulls got the bulls roster is a total mess.
21:24It's an absolute mess.
21:25We're going to go best available talent.
21:27We're going to go best available score.
21:28The NBA is a scoring league.
21:31Watch the playoffs right now.
21:32The teams who have multiple ways of scoring win.
21:35All right.
21:36Uh, we're talking to John Fanta from, from NBC sports.
21:39So I'll get to the Knicks in a moment, but just, I, I exchanged texts this morning with,
21:45with Legler.
21:46And I just said, when's the last time you saw a series as physical as Spurs, Timberwolves?
21:53Like I don't, you, you said they're letting a lot go.
21:56They are letting everything go in that series with the exception of an elbow to Nas Reed's
22:01head, uh, by Wembin Yama last night.
22:03But I can't remember watching a, it's a literal football game at times.
22:10I love it.
22:11I, it personally reminds me of like, you know, the eighties and nineties Pistons and some
22:17of those series, but that series is contact first.
22:22And then it's got to rise to almost literally a maiming level for the whistle to blow.
22:28I haven't seen anything like it in 10 years.
22:30What about you?
22:32We are entering into a different era of the NBA, and I think it's the best thing possible
22:39for the league.
22:40I really do.
22:41The younger talent that's come into the league has injected his personality, has said enough
22:48with the old guard.
22:48We're going to make our mark.
22:50And guess what?
22:51If that comes at the expense of an ejection, sports is better when it's physical.
22:56Sports is better when people don't like each other.
22:59Minnesota is great for the NBA because guess what?
23:02Nobody likes them.
23:03The other teams don't like them because they're chippy and they, they, they, they play hard
23:08and they go at you defensively and they'll, they'll commit a hard foul.
23:12And when Ben Yama, that was a frustration thing, you know, where people said, oh, he got,
23:15he got fouled multiple times before that.
23:17And he got ticked off.
23:18Yeah.
23:18He got ticked off and he got thrown out.
23:20Now this series is tied at two.
23:22And what's, what's the fascination?
23:24The fascination, Kevin is when Ben Yama is the face of the NBA.
23:29If you think you need to see more folks, I'm here to tell you right now, this guy, he is
23:35a super freak and never seen anything like once he gets one title, he could get four or
23:41five.
23:42But here's the thing about the NBA, there's another team that the biggest challenger to
23:47him is, I mean, right now it's Minnesota, but for that type of reign is Oklahoma city.
23:53You know, when the warriors were running ship in the NBA, you had, you had the Cavaliers
23:58as a real challenger with LeBron, but they still, they still ran their dynasty until we've
24:03had the run that we've been on seven different champions in the last seven years.
24:08Kevin, that was enjoyable.
24:09It was enjoyable, but any sports league is better when there's an evil empire.
24:14And when there's real dislike and in the Western conference, I'm sensing dislike and I'm sensing
24:21physicality that you just said, I haven't seen since the old days.
24:24It feels like the old NBA playoffs.
24:26And it's not just because of, I do think the new broadcast partners have injected a fresh
24:31energy into the league.
24:32And I think it's just, there's, there's more storytelling happening.
24:35There's more, Hey, this star's rising.
24:37People love the rise.
24:38We're watching that young talent rise.
24:40And you know what else people love and hate people love and hate New York sports and the
24:46Knicks, the Knicks are here.
24:47They're, they're here and they should be here to stay.
24:50They're so talented.
24:51Their, their atmosphere is ridiculously good.
24:54They should be in the NBA finals.
24:56They get a week off.
24:57Now, neither Cleveland or Detroit is better than them.
24:59Imagine a, a Knicks.
25:01It could be Knicks thunder.
25:02It could be a Knicks spurs.
25:04Hell, it could be Knicks wolves.
25:07And if Anthony Edwards is showing up to the garden, he creates enemies.
25:11The NBA should be smiling right now.
25:13And the people who take a, you know what on the league, I get it.
25:18I get your mad at the regular season, the tanking, but rather than have a commissioner who sat around and
25:23did absolutely nothing.
25:24They're attempting to penalize teams for losing now.
25:27Like you got to give the, give credit to the league for saying, this is a real problem.
25:31We have to fix this.
25:33You have to.
25:35Well, look, you love it.
25:37Like I do, because this, this time of year doesn't even come close to resembling, uh, October through the end
25:44of March and early April.
25:46This is a different sport.
25:47And if you get the Knicks in the NBA finals against either OKC or San Antonio, uh, it should be
25:55the most watched we've seen in a while.
25:57Obviously last year you had two small market teams.
26:00Um, but yeah, it'd be incredible.
26:02I actually love watching Minnesota play.
26:04I'm rooting for them.
26:05The, the rivalry, you know, preceded this series.
26:09Uh, nobody knows this unless you pay attention.
26:11You know, it Denver, Minnesota is a hell of a rivalry.
26:14Um, but the game is just such a, a, a, I mean, that series is insane.
26:20So last one, are you buying into the Knicks to be in the finals or do the Pistons have a
26:25chance?
26:25Cause I think the Pistons are going to win this series.
26:27You know, they lost the other, uh, the other day, James Harden finally made a couple of plays.
26:32Um, but do you have the Knicks in the finals?
26:36Tonight to me is the biggest night in the cast Piston series.
26:39Because one thing I will say is that Cade fell into some bad turnovers late on Saturday.
26:48And Kevin, the last time the Pistons really struggled in the post season was because of
26:53Cade turning the ball over and they fell behind three, one to Orlando.
26:57Why has Cleveland struggled James Harden's turnovers?
27:00I want to see if Harden follows up Saturday with a big game tonight.
27:03If the Cavaliers make this two, two, I think the series goes seven games because both neither
27:09team can has proven that they can win away from their home building.
27:12So if it goes seven games, not a team holds a candle to a well-rested Knicks team.
27:18And I like the Knicks to make the finals.
27:20I've got the Knicks making some of the finals.
27:23And I think it only takes them five games, regardless of who they play.
27:27It would be a fascinating, highly anticipated buildup if it's Thunder Knicks in particular.
27:34But it would be the same with the Spurs Knicks.
27:36But I personally, and I'll leave you with this, John, and you can just comment on it.
27:40And I don't think the Thunder can be beaten four out of seven.
27:44I just don't.
27:45I agree with that.
27:46I agree with that.
27:47And I still think that, like, Sam Presti's built a monster.
27:50I mean, the fact that they have the 12th overall pick, and I think, you know, they could
27:54get Yaksa Lendeborg, they could get LeBaron Bailon there, they could get Adyemara.
28:00It's insane.
28:01But, you know, I'll leave you with a D.C. connection.
28:03When the Big East needed to take off, Patrick Ewing committed to Georgetown, and Dave Gavitt
28:10got on the phone and said to Madison Square Garden, that's it, we're taking the Big East
28:13tournament to MSG.
28:15The NBA's been in a bit of a state of mystery, crisis.
28:18People have been questioning, you know, is it going to be back?
28:21Is it going to roll?
28:22Well, guess what?
28:22You know what the league could use?
28:24How about going to Madison Square Garden for your NBA finals and having the world talking
28:30about you?
28:31And how about a market like Washington, D.C. getting back on the map in the NBA with the
28:35number one pick?
28:36Like, the future for the league can be good, but the league's got to capitalize on this
28:40and stop the tanking problem.
28:42Sounded like MSG in Philly yesterday, but you're right.
28:46There is no environment like Madison Square Garden for the postseason.
28:49Would love to see the finals there.
28:51Thanks for doing this.
28:52Always enjoy it.
28:54Thanks, John.
28:55Thank you, Kevin.
28:56Always a pleasure to join you.
28:57And I do think Maryland and Georgetown, I think, are going to surprise some people next
29:03college hoop season.
29:03Next time, we'll talk about that.
29:05Well, the Terps have had an active offseason, and he needed it.
29:09Next year's a big year for him.
29:11Thanks, John.
29:11Appreciate it.
29:12Thanks, Kevin.
29:13As always, John Fanta, everybody, at John underscore Fanta on X.
29:18When we come back, Will Dawkins was a guest of the Junkies this morning and played a name
29:26association game with all of the top prospects in the draft.
29:31If you missed it, I'll play it back for you when we return.
29:34Kevin Sheehan Show, the Team 980, theteam980.com.
29:37We're free and live on the Odyssey app.
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