The Ringer’s Howard Beck Talks Bucks, Cavs, & NBA Scoring Surge | The Rich Eisen Show
What’s your impression on how well Doc Rivers is meshing with the buck it’s a great question um obviously the the record doesn’t show or suggest that things are going great so far um but that team was a little wonky even before he got there and yes I know the
Record was great but you know there’s a reason that they threw Adrien Griffin overboard when they did despite that record they just didn’t have the long-term faith that that Griffin was going to be the guy to make the right decisions in the postseason a new coach
Comes in even a coach of of Doc’s caliber you know it’s a different voice a different philosophy a different style he’s got to learn these players they have to learn him I’m not surprised it’s going to be a little bit bumpy and they’ve had other bumpy stretches this
Season anyway so I I I think it’s at least a little bit alarming that’s fair considering the Bucks have the highest of expectations but I I don’t I wouldn’t overreact just yet and let me ask you this what are we not talking about who are we not talking about that we should
Be talking about oo the probably the clevand Cavaliers I mean they are having what will probably be their best season their best non LeBron season maybe in franchise history and certainly in the last 30 years uh they’ve been the hottest team in the NBA over the last
Month or so they play phenomenal defense the offense has really started to click the the concern I think they always had when they got Donovan Mitchell was meshing Mitchell with Darius Garland and figuring out the Jared Allen Evan Mobley thing has been a challenge but they have
With with some of those guys out this season they found a formula that works those guys came back they’re healthy now they’re at full strength and they they just still just keep chugging along now I don’t think anybody’s expecting the Cavs are going to like knock off the
Celtics make the finals or that they’re a threat to win the championship but they’re not not that either right now like they’re really really good and the space behind the Celtics in the East is kind of wide open right and be is out for at least the
Time being the buckers we just discussed are kind of wonky the Knicks are really banged up uh there’s a lot of teams vying for number two and to try to be the team that presumably will face the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals and the Cavs are as strong a candidate
As any right now and that’s the one I think probably no one’s talking about Chris Hey Howard Chris how you doing bud what’s up Chris two teams uh in the west that are starting to pick up steam the Warriors and the Mavericks who do you like what do you like about both these
Teams can they make a run and really challenge the top of the West it’s it’s funny because think logic says to pick the Mavs between the two of those but um I’m not entirely convinced myself that the Luca Kyrie thing is is the right way it feels like they’re just
Like taking turns a lot still as a partnership and it’s you know they haven’t been together that long but I don’t fully trust that and I do tend to have a bias toward the team that has the track record and that has Steph Curry and that has still a little bit of that
Allure and that that that Mystique of a d d y right like we see it over and over again just when we want to write them off you have another game like Steph had last Saturday which you know was incredible and that shot um and they’ve
Caught a little bit of of of traction again here with Draymond back for the last few weeks some of their young guys are starting to pop like I think I think there’s still some life left in the Warriors I’m not saying they’re going to make a run to the finals necessarily
This spring but of the two of them them and Dallas I trust the Warriors more what do you make of the scoring I mean there was that one week where we had 260s and 270s is it is it good for the game is someone going to get 80 this
Year what has been your read on all of that it’s really interesting you know we we strain in this league all the time media and fans do to try to make these comparisons when we talked about the goat or we’re talking about you know the 73 win uh Warriors team versus the 72
Win Bulls or all these comparison AC comparisons across the areas are inherently fraught because the NBA I think more than the other sports evolves so much the pace of the game the style of the game uh and the tempo right now the pace of today’s NBA game is so
High uh by historic standards plus the Reliance now on the three-point shot it has just spiked uh scores and it is spiked individuals because we’re also in an era where uh we have what what has been referred to as heliocentrism right you take your best player and you make
Him the center of your universe and you just say do everything and so you have the ball in your hands more often and more opportunities to get 60 or 70 um so it’s it’s hard to wrap your head around and I do think it’s it’s kind of warping
Our historical perspective on the league a little bit statistically but it’s also a blast to watch I mean I don’t think anybody’s complaining in the moment no absolutely not and it does feel like Luca is kind of the guy right who could get we could an 80-point game this year
I mean he is he is the epitome of heliocentrism uh right now Luca James Harden previous during his Houston days especially where every single Maverick’s Possession It feels like even though they have Kyrie Irving there who could do a lot of amazing things with the ball in his hands Luca controls that offense
It seems like 99% of the time it’s either you know shooting or passing and um and he’s also yes very very skilled and can score in a variety of ways and yeah like if someone’s going to threaten 80 it it could be him but you know maybe
It’s Donovan Mitchell um maybe it’s you know uh eventually Anthony Edwards like there there’s a lot of really talented scorers in the league right now you combine that with you know the pace of the game and how many opportunities they get the three-point shot getting hot for
A night it seems like almost anything is possible but I’m going to just say no I don’t think wilts 100 is ever going to get catch the rich eyes and show every single day on the Roku Channel 12 to 3 Eastern for free
The Ringer’s Senior NBA Writer Howard Beck and Rich Eisen Show guest host Suzy Shuster discuss Doc Rivers and the Bucks’ struggles, the red-hot Cavaliers, if the Mavericks and Warriors can win the West, and if the NBA’s scoring surge this season is good for the league.
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1 Comment
Go Cavs