Key Injuries, Impressive Magic, End Of G League Ignite | The Hoop Collective

Key Injuries, Impressive Magic, End Of G League Ignite | The Hoop Collective

Hello welcome to the hoop Collective podcast we talk about the NBA which we are doing late on Thursday evening joining us from New York City where he’s back from Boston where you were at that spectacular bucks Celtics game on Wednesday night that was an all-time classic in the Eastern Conference one

Verse two came down to the final minute game of the year bontemps yeah I’d say it falls into the category basically every game between two fun teams right now which is that they’re key guys missing on both sides and therefore we didn’t get to learn anything from it which is disappointing

But hello everybody it was a it was a okay game I mean the it wasn’t indicative of way the series would go uh away a series would go because Giannis didn’t play and of course Giannis played against the Nets on Thursday night Thursday he was he was fine to play

Against the Nets but not good for the National Television game yes uh but you know PPP is only Loosely enforced so whatever sounds fun he had 21- n against the Nets they won joining us from Dallas Texas where he was at the Utah Jazz Dallas Mavericks game tonight

In fact he’s joining us from the American Airlines Center B McMahon did you get any dunks in because I think everybody else in Dallas got a dunk in this game howdy Partners my dunking days are long gone although actually no that’s not true I threw one down uh

Believe it or not I threw one down Wednesday night well this is breaking news now on a 10 foot hoop no it was eight feet um it was eight feet you just did that piece a few weeks ago on the coaches who dunk you’re our you’re our specialist

Listen we are going to talk about one of the stars of that story uh here in a little bit we’ll get to that um but no I mean the Mavericks I’ll say this their goal over the summer and they followed up on the tread deadline was to surround

Luca donic and Kyrie Irving with as much athleticism as possible as Jason kid said they can compete in the layup lines now I mean they threw down eight 18 dunks is the and look the Jazz are obviously not very good and not motivated to win and on a back toback

Still 18 dunks the second most dunks by any team in any game uh over the last 25 years at least according to ESPN stats and INF for our good friends there and probably the most spectacular it’s all part of a conspiracy to call more fouls and now we’re not shooting threes we’re

Duncan Goden there uh the Mavericks at one point they ended up shooting 60% from the line but at one point the best defense the Jazz had was to foul the Mavericks because they were like shooting 40% uh through the second quarter uh most spectacular dunk though

Was a lob Luca threw one of those where it looks like you pull the pin just kind of throw the grenade type of of passes and uh to Kyrie and Kyrie climbed the ladder went up caught that thing with one hand and punched it in okay I did

Not see this highlight Kyrie throwing down a lob D it’s all over the socials all over the socials oh my God it was no it was a it he’s had a couple the man you know he’s not known as a dunker obviously he’s known for his below the

Rim crazy layup package uh he’s for a fell his age and his size he’s he’s got some Springs still but anyways again nice win for the Mavericks there on a pretty good stretch here Gafford had 25 and vast majority of that was on dunks um but we’re not gonna leap to any

Conclusions because they beat the tanking Jazz get it leap brilliant as always brilliant um so we had a unfortunate moment on Thursday night and um one that you know we’re going to have to wait and see in the next 24 hours or so how it might affect the playoff race and it

Unfortunately might because uh Brandon Ingram uh the Pelicans uh were playing the Magic in a game the magic won which we’ll talk about the magic here in a second um he was I don’t remember if he was playing defense was he playing defense or offense but he he went down awkwardly

Um in the lane um and you know looked like a hyp extension of his knee but you wonder if there was any more damage he had to be helped off couldn’t come off under his own power he had been having the most healthy season he’d had since

He was a pelican um he had only missed he has only missed four games this year and hopefully it is not a serious uh injury hopefully it’s something that maybe he’ll miss a little time but won’t affect his overall season because the Pelicans since they’ve gotten mostly

Healthy have been such a dynamic team you got Zion playing great um Ingram’s had a strong season I wouldn’t say it’s been a great season but he’s had a strong season they obviously need him you know multi-position a as one of their um you know trigger men on offense um play

Initiators Etc and so right there you wonder you know they they really had gotten on the heels of the Clippers they were one game back from the Clippers in the Lost column and it’s you know now you you sort of take that out you’re not even worried about

Seating you’re worried about where they fit and if you’re a team like Dallas who’s on their heels and you’re a team like the Clippers who’s right in front of them you see something like that and you’re like this is very important to where this seating could go yeah and uh

Ingram’s going to get an MRI which you know makes sense obviously it’s no surprise but Willie Green confirmed that and obviously hoping for uh good news coming out of that uh the Mavericks are sitting in sixth place as we speak and you know they’ve been floating uh spending most of their time

In that 78 but the the Wizards that’s capital W Wizards got a huge win tonight not necessarily huge for the wizards but huge for the Mavericks because they beat the king um which oh boy that’s the kind of any win for the Wizards is a good win well I

Know but it’s huge for the Mavericks because particularly awful loss for the Kings yes it is and that’s why it’s big for the Mavericks and that’s the kind of loss that the Kings might look at uh come seeding time be like what in the bleep um so anyways I think next week’s

Time we can really kind of focus in on that bottom half of the West playoff bracket because the Mavs have that baseball Series against the Kings so there might be some crystallizing or happening there but uh certainly something to keep an eye on right now well coming into today the Mavs had a

One and a half win lead over the kings in the projections and that is before this result which obviously was going to be projected as a win for the Kings so the kings are probably going to be projected to finish eighth after losing this game which you know a couple days

Ago they were projected to finish sixth which again just shows you how close a how close the West is as we’ve talked about a bunch and be like you said how much you can really regret having a game or two like this that you have slipped

The other way um as we get down towards the end here without punched up it’s going to be and obviously there’s going to be a pretty big difference between being in the top six or being in a playing mix where you’re probably gonna see Kevin Durant LeBron James and Steph Curry all in

It yeah so another injury developing situation is in Cleveland um they’re banged up as a team right now we’ve talked about that a little bit um so Donovan Mitchell is out for a week after getting uh surgery on his broken nose Schn schn snower snower is schneer and I’m sure that’s uncomfortable but the real concern with Donovan Mitchell is his knee you know he had PRP he missed seven games came back and he got hit in the in the schneer schneer schnaz he got hit in the in the nose in

One of the two games when he came back which obviously was um painful broke his nose but the knee is not getting better and so the Cavs have him on the injury report is out with the nasal fracture but um even if he wasn’t out with the nasal fracture from what I understand

He’d be out with this knee um he is going to need some time to let that calm down the the the good news I guess is this is not believed to be something that would be like he’d be out for the rest of the season or anything he

Doesn’t like need surgery but that knee you know as the Cavs have looked at it and and they got it evaluated is the PRP didn’t solve the issue and he basically needs to shut it down for quite some time and I I think the the the hope is that he’s back before the

End of the regular season he should get back but he’s going to miss some some a a stretch of games here I’m trying to not get too terribly aggregated here on this um because I don’t even think they know um but it it’s not going to be just

The nasal fracture that he’s going to be back he’s going to be at a longer period than that while they try to get this knee calmed down um and so they are in third hanging on um but they are they’re in a precarious position because it’s

Has been seen this year that they can handle a lot when it comes to injuries to their rotation um they can handle um you know they’ve handled Moy being out a couple of different times they’ve handled uh Garland being out they’ve handled Max stru being out um right now

They’re they’re hurting with Dean Wade out Dean Wade’s an important player for them he’s missed seven games with um with knee issues and but they can’t they can’t stay above water I don’t think without without Donovan Mitchell he’s just too vitally important to them and so they’re sitting there in third

Place and the team that’s behind them in fourth and making a move has got to be staring at that is the Orlando Magic who won their fifth consecutive game on Thursday night um beating the Pelicans who had been one of the hottest teams in the league um they since uh since

January 31st so we’re talking about sixish weeks they are the second had the second best record in the NBA at 18 and five only the Celtics have had a better record they’ve got I think they’re third or fourth in defense the numbers haven’t updated from tonight but I think they’re

Third or fourth in defense in that stretch and while they don’t have a great offensive team that is you know they’re not dynamic they have been they’ve shot the ball well in that stretch you know you know they’re they’re not high up there in terms of offensive rankings but they’re shooting

Over 50% as a team in that stretch which you shoot over 50% for 23 games or whatever um even in the modern era that’s really good they’re they’re getting a better production there and Pao banero is just having a humongous season like he is just putting up terrific performance after

Terrif performance he obviously made the All-Star team this year in his second season after winning rookie of the year that you know is not you know making your first All-Star team as big he had another triple double um I think he’s got two or three now had another triple double on Thursday night

Um and they are to and they they’ve got some depth um they are to be taken notice of because not only are they playing well but the Cavs are suceptible and the Cavs for example on Friday play the Timberwolves and it looks like Rudy goar and Nas Reed

Who were out against the Nuggets earlier this week there a decent chance of them coming back and that gamees in Minnesota so bont temps the magic are rising the Cavs are wavering a little bit and I think that’s that’s we just didn’t expect to see the Magic in three at this

Point potentially they’re not there yet they’re fourth but I like I like how you’ve just ignored the fact that they’re tied with the Knicks just just skipping right over that listen we don’t like to focus on those big Market teams around here we we like to focus on the

Cavs though that’s that is what we focus on stop crying he had a little news I’m just giving I’m just giving our guy a hard time oh really we’re going to defend that we’re the Knicks lost to the Nuggets tonight their Road winning streak was snapped yes they did and we still don’t

Know what’s going on with ogan and Obi either look Orlando has been healthy they have right Mitchell Robinson back to practice which is which is a good thing for them but yeah look Orlando’s got one of the easiest schedules in the league coming in that relatively healthy

Um you mentioned how paa has played um it’s been an interesting season for him now certainly there there are some things you can point to in terms of his efficiency that are questionable going forward but given the lack of offensive options you got around him he has really

Carried them and yeah I mean as it sits right now with the injuries that Cleveland has with the injuries that New York has you know Orlando is going to be sitting there probably if you had to guess on the s they’re probably going to end up in the three and you know

Certainly being on the opposite side of the bracket from like in uh from Boston is appealing and you know on the other hand if you’re Miami and Philly if you can get out of that playin mix not only are you in the playin not in the playin but no disrespect to

Orlando uh if you have a choice between playing Orlando Milwaukee or Boston in the first round I think it SA to say that both of those teams I’m sure would pick Orlando first in that why don’t you like his efficiency because he doesn’t shoot that many threes uh it without getting too far

Into it there’s some Advanced stats that basically um lay out what your what how many points you should score in terms of the shot profile you have and Pao was near the bottom of the league in some of that in some of those statal categories but also a he’s a very

Young player and B he’s also being asked to carry a very heavy load for a team that doesn’t have a lot of offensive creation around him so that’s where I’d say it’s not I’m not saying it’s a 100% onetoone thing but um he’s had a really good year and he’s a very interesting

Player obviously going forward for them well the yeah the analytics there’s a lot of like Pao is not an analytics Allstar like even his Allstar case you just looked at analytics he the the advanced stats aren’t kind to him but you know what obviously the guy’s a

Major talent and as you just said Bon Temps you’re talking about a second-year guy who is the face of a franchise that has made a massive leap I this is a this is a team they’re still a rebuilding team they’re still a re I mean look at

Look at also not one a playoff Ser since Dwight Howard was on the team right I mean they’re they’re building around a bunch of guys on rookie cont tracks and you know we we talk a lot or people who talk about the magic we don’t necessarily talk a lot about van Carroll

But the focus in the magic tends to be Ben Caro fron Vagner um Jaylen Suggs is having a hell of a year and being all defense guard absolutely I was say you talked to you talked to Jamal Mosley about him and Mosley is the guy coach I

Was referring to as one of the stars of my dunk story who we’re going to get to mosy in a minute you you I I talked to mosy earlier this year about sugs and he said hey he is a Marcus Smart Gary pton type of Defender he’s and the man those are

The last two guards to win defens Player of the Year and that’s the category of Defender that that he’s putting him in and if you watch him it’s not Hyperbole and smart is shooting the three at 40% this year sugs I’m sorry Suggs uh at 40% this year

Marcus would love to shoot 40% oh yeah he shoot he shoots him like he shoots 40% from three hey he’s shooting 100% when his fingers pointed that direction but then he had he hadn’t been able to play since then because his fingers pointed that direction no anyways Suggs is shooting the three at

40% this year on more than five attempts per game yeah 5.2 that is such a huge huge thing because you know honestly for a lot of his times since he got drafted and got what what was he fourth or fifth overall but a top five pick fifth pick

Yep I mean there were times when he was borderline unplayable because he was such a bad offensive player um you know it’s not like he’s some prolific scorer now but he’s not a guy who’s killing your spacing and again you’re talking about very short list one of the most

Impactful defensive guards in the NBA who’s really developed uh significantly on the offensive end so that he’s not a a you know real liability there and look let’s talk about mosy I just mentioned how young the magic are you know all their building blocks are are basically

Rookie contract guys to be able to get you know offense first lottery picks like pal banero like France Vagner to buy in as much as they have on the defensive end that’s coaching coaching is not just X’s and O’s I mean I think buying might be more important than uh

Than the exes know honestly it’s kind of crazy that Mosley’s in the last year of his contract and just over the last whatever it was week or two yeah got got an extension like hey I’ll say this he at least had some leverage have a team

Option or was he actually up uh I thought he I I might be mistaken don’t aggregate me on one I thought he was in the last year of his contract point being he earned that extension he took over a total tear down type of rebuild nobody nobody thought the magic would be

Competing for homec court advantage in the first round frankly not this year not next year uh they are way way way ahead of schedule and you know when I was working on that dunk Story one of the the the scenes that really kind of

Got me wanting to do the story and I I focused on in there was the Mexico City practice they had in their social media team put the video out there where the guys were hyping Mosley up ah come on come on you got to get us one and uh he

Grabs the ball at half court and takes a dribble and then about he he walked oh my gosh just a blatant travel 12 like 12 like 12 Cho we’re gonna give him a pass on that well there were no refs there he got away with it and then he goes up and

He just weaked it over and the team went crazy and I remember talking to fron about it and he said look man that kind of captures what Moe brings to this team just how much fun guys how much guys love playing for him how much fun guys

Have in their gym um and again I think we culture um buyin all these things to me are at least as important as X’s an O’s and Mosley has done an outstanding job there st’s never Steve K is never going to be considered the greatest EX no

Coach of all time the reason he’s won as much as he has is because of all of the EQ stuff that’s off the court I mean he’s obviously done some very good X’s and O’s work but that Greg poppic is a similar way I mean we’ve seen his time

Has gone on like pop is not necessarily the best X’s and O’s guy but he knew when to push the buttons and how to and that was a big part of what drove the success in b s Antonio Golden State for such a long time and to your point

Jamal’s got a young team even when they’ve had injuries even when they’ve been losing that team has played super hard been super engaged anybody who’s watched them has noticed that opposing team Scouts coaches Etc and it’s I mean they’re a fun team to watch and it’s

Been a really cool story and now they’ve got a chance to do like you said if they had just been in the play in this year that would have been seen as a successful season for them be maybe the three seed even if they end up as four

Or five and they don’t get that high it this is all gravy at this point it’s it’s been very cool to see yeah I mean I spent some time with Jamal last summer he was with Team USA uh doing some work with Team USA he was talking about how excited he was

About the team which is I guess every coach has to say in July or August and I was like well your biggest acquisition was signing Joe Les like that’s not going to move the needle and uh you know mo has more dunks and Engles this year believe

That I haven’t checking that but I I believe that oh I did it’s a fact okay all right um you know they they drafted Anthony black who uh you know great size uh guy late in the lottery or mid- lottery I guess and um but they had all

These guards on the roster so I was like I don’t know where he’s fitting so like by the way they think Anthony black Mo thinks black is going to be an awesome defensive player too yeah well he has you know I don’t know what his wingspan

Is but he’s like six sevenish you know um he’s very raw but the PO potential for him and Suggs going forward as a defensive combo is pretty intriguing yeah I just wasn’t like uh you know I’s be honest I was I was eating my omelet and nodding and saying

Oh yeah it’s gonna be great I I well and the interesting thing about their season is fron Vagner is really been a little bit of a disappointment he’s shooting under 30% from three um you know we’ve talked a bunch about him on the p obviously he helped Germany win the

World Cup gold medal last summer he’s a super intriguing young forward and like the fact that they’re doing what they’re doing with him not playing badly but not playing to quite the level that not shooting it well I I I you say when he’s he’s been a disappointment the only

Thing he’s he hadn’t he hadn’t shot it well because yeah I I just right he just it hasn’t been a perfect season for them or for or for their second best player and they’re still in this spot it just shows that they’ve got some potential even more upside than what they what

They’ve got right now because they’ve got some guys who could be playing better than they are and they’re still in the position they are but what happens with a lot of young uh like Lottery type talents who have had success in the league what what happens usually when a guy like that doesn’t

Shoot it well right he mopes you see it all the time he mopes he half asses it on the defensive end he’s he’s on the defensive end thinking what’s my shooting percentage tonight and you know again the thing and this gets back to the culture and all that the like you

Ask Mosley about fron and you know you can ask him like what you know he’s not Shadow and he’s like dude this guy is bought in on defense you see how hard he’s playing you see you know all he cares about is winning um so you again it to me fron is

A great example of why they’re having success because it he’s created a a team of guys who care about the stuff that matters and understand that they’re you know yes you want to you want to shoot the three well obviously but you can’t let that determine you know your your

Approach and kind of how you show up in every other facet of the game which is a lot easier said than done by the way speaking of fron Vagner we talked in the last pod about you know there being some difficult decisions to make on some of

These Third Year guys that you would have just given the fun Max to without thinking in the last CBA and now it’s a little harder you know vogner’s numbers are excellent terrific size um you know exactly the type of guy you want in with your team um can play multiple

Positions he’s exension eligible this summer and I’m sure they’ll try to get something done is that a in a different you know two three years ago I think that’s fun Max Zone just you know uh I don’t know on that I mean he’s uh I’ll say

This if I’m frons and you’re not fun maxing me I think we might just play things out he’s still averaging 20 points per game for a good team uh with playmaking skills and and contributing on a well the the magic defense the Magic’s cap is pretty clean you know uh

But it’s just one of these things like you know maybe it is a no-brainer maybe you do it but I’m just saying like yeah you you have to retrofit your your Viewpoint you just can’t have guys on Max contracts that so you’re gonna have to you’re gonna have to come up with a

Different nickname for it if it ain’t just the fun Max no it’s still the fun Max it’s still the fun Max apparently it ain’t apparently it ain’t if if France can’t get one it ain’t that fun well even if he does get one it’s still fun because everybody’s happy and you know

He’s young and he’s only 25% of the cap and you know sg’s extension eligible too not that not that he’d be in in that range but again I think he’s positioned himself to you know be a candidate for a pretty nice contract well look Paulo is getting Paulo is getting the fun

Max uh he’s headed for that yeah now so you you know you have to I would assume that France will be getting the max I would have him getting the max ahead of most of the guys that we’ve talked about Evan Mo these other guys in this class that we’ve talked about potentially

Getting it and I EV Moy and Jaylen Johnson were the two guys we talked about the other day who I think two three years ago done by July 5th and I just maybe I’ll be wrong Maybe by July 5th they’ll both be done this summer but tell you

What you know an interesting one’s going to be kaminga yeah that’s another one that’s going to be and jayen green for that matter both guys who Midway through this this year I don’t think jayen green is a serious candidate for it but well I’m telling you what he’s becoming more

Serious every time the Rockets play because he as I said as I said the other day as I said the other day I would guess this month has just increased the chances of Jaylen green not getting extended and everyone will just go in next season see if he can

Replicate what he’s doing and and I would say it’s probably going to be a similar deal for Jonathan kaminga because of how he has played this year he is a very confident guy I will assume he would want the max I would not be giving him the max now and I assume

Golden State will just let it play out and if he plays great again next year then he gets the Max and that’s fine but the one thing about Orlando you mentioned both Suggs and frons being extens eligible obviously poo coming up the next year they have been pretty uh

Conservative in how they have operated in general they’ve basically just drafted players for a while not really done a lot else to add to the team you mentioned signing a guy guys like Joe Engles here and there um this is sort of the last summer they can really go out

And make some significant moves outside the team to bring in players assuming they do extend Jaylen and France who I think we all agree will likely be with the team or not likely will be with the team long term so they are a team to watch this summer obviously no South no

No um income tax state in Florida young exciting team I’ve been in there facility we checked it out during the g-league Showcase they have an incredible practice facility right next to the arena they got a lot of stuff to sell there it’s going to be interesting

To see if they go out and do something like what Houston Did Last Summer getting Fred vanite getting Dylan Brooks do they go out and add some veteran talent to this young team and put themselves in a position to be maybe a team that everyone expects to be in the

Top three or four next year in the west or in the East instead of just being one that you know obviously took a big step forward and surprised Everybody by the way Jaylen green 26 points on Thursday night as the Rockets won their seventh consecutive game beating the Bulls big

Win you know what else happened in that game Dylan Brooks got [Laughter] tossed got booted along with Demar D rozan yeah little I I I haven’t seen the actual uh video but well Demar was having a very tough night I didn’t I didn’t watch any of the game but he was

4 or5 shooting when he got ejected makes me wonder if he was getting a little salty about the way about the way he was you know what I’m you know what I’m salty about for some reason I can no longer watch Rockets games on my phone

On the league pass get it fine at home on the on the on the league pass bet on it though get the IT department on that get to figure it out I you know I was trying you the MZ Jazz and I and there points when it wasn’t the most compelling game

In the world I’m wanting to watch some other stuff and waned to check out little Bulls rockets red hot Houston Rockets and damn Adam Silver I mean hook a brother up I used to be able to to do that I don’t know why I can’t anymore doesn’t seem fair

Well before you blame the NBA I think a fuller investigation of your technology needs to be to be oh no I watch trust me I watch plenty every other game it’s else on prro who could have looked at there just to make sure because I I

Would have liked to have a second Source on this you know who I sit next to Dwayne price you know Dwayne price know D price covering the NBA for years DNE Dwayne price been covering his League since AB Wayne price doesn’t I mean he can barely turn his phone on although

You look over there he’s one he’s so old his his texts are like like billboard size letters Dwayne can’t help me with any damn it stuff he7 years old Dwayne has one of the larg love Dwayne price Dwayne has one of the largest shoe budgets of and I don’t mean for for uh

Sneakers oh listen no here’s a development I have been a positive influence on Dwayne now because he does he goes what’s that store in Atlanta where a bunch of players I don’t remember the name of it but Shaq claims to have spent more than $1 million at that store yeah well Dwayne whatever

Jackson Google the Dwayne has a ton shoes from there but all alligators and what you know what you know you know what Dwayne wore tonight Jordan swe no well sweet pair of gray Chucks oh he’s been he’s that would help his that would help his budget

Because you know those are he wears some beautiful shoes um Chucks are beautiful shoes sir I didn’t think I didn’t think we’re gonna have a Dwayne price update on the Pod this this is uh and and if he had any idea how to find a podcast he’d

Be thrilled by this but again he has no IDE he I’ll just tell you you know for the for the less half of a percent of people who know know Dwayne price are listening I was with him like 15 years ago uh we were at a place and someone

Came up and asked for uh Mr gerin uh could I have I have a photo great he’s about six foot six and you know again covered the ABA he Dwayne claims he can still dunk he’s lying anyways anyways at the opposite end at the younger end of the

NBA Spectrum there was some news today not really surprising because Adam Silver uh completely uh slay it um during the allstar when he got asked about uh how the g-league ignite was performing this year I don’t even know what their most recent record is um it is very bad but

Their season ended program ended star game when he just announced I don’t know how this is going to go going forward yeah um well I thought it was a bad sign um when you know so there’s this um South Sudanese player who’s going to Duke um kman malok um 7 foot

Three uh and this guy uh you know he’s raw I’ve got I got a chance to meet him in Manila last year and watch him play he’s raw but he’s one of these guys who in the era of um of you know wemi and and Chad holgren

You look at a player like this and say oh my God can we find can we develop another one um and he is a huge success story for the NBA Academy in Sagal uh they got him early have been developing him there he’s uh turned into one of the

Best prospects to come out of Africa and um when he was choosing his college Choice it won the g- league night he choose he CH and like this is this is what the NBA right um uh the whole system was set up to be it was we’re gonna we’re gonna find players we’re

Gonna develop them and then we’re going to give them this great opportunity now by the way Jackson looked it up they’re too they are they they’re still playing some games right I believe I believe the record’s even worse than two in 28 because the season has split into a

Couple segments right that the showc but the record’s bad hey 2 and 28 you know what that is 0.067 which I would call a legal uh legal breathalyzer reading however since most of the players are not of drinking age it would still be illegal but yeah that

Stinks yeah now they they had some I mean we just talked about kaminga and Jaylen green those are two guys that were on the ignite yeah and guess what it took until Midway through their third year before they were really I mean Jaylen green was obviously playing but it took until

Midway through the third year before they were quality NBA players that’s like the dude the g- league ignite I loved the idea I was I thought it was a great idea I was all in favor of it but it’s been a it’s been a failure they

Have not it has not been a good developmental environment I mean scoot Henderson spent two years there and as a number three overall pick he is a project he is raw well most most point guards are raw coming in the league scoot has not quite had the year I would have expected but

Here’s the real deal with the G League ignite they have had some success stories they’ve had several players drafted in the lottery we just mentioned three of them the real the real thing is the NBA created the g-league ignite to be nil has become in in the NCAA over

The past five years and when the G league night began it was the idea of hey we don’t have high school players eligible to come into the draft here’s a way where we can provide money to these players they can then play in the g-league we can get a chance to have

Them in an NBA type environment and then they can be drafted the following year well within a couple of years of starting the G League KN the world caught up with the NCAA as we know now nil is all over the NCAA these kids can go to college and make all sorts of

Money with nil opportunities and therefore the the thing that the g-league unite was created for essentially became irrelevant and now the NBA has this developmental program that’s costing it several million dollars a year maybe more than that and as we know part of the reason the league

Got rid of the high school to pro draft model in the first place was so that you’re farming out some of the developmental time to the colleges and therefore you don’t have to have guys going to watch um players playing in random High School gyms and all this

Other stuff now you go back right to that you get rid of the ignite the league saves a ton of money which it’s happy to do and you have all these top prospects going to play in college for a year and coming into the league and they’re getting money the whole time

Anyway so whether the G League ignite was being a successful model from a drafting development standpoint whether you want to argue it is or not I think the Advent of nil basically declared that this thing was going to be going away at some point anyway and the fact

That it the team has been struggling and they they have seven or eight draft eligible guys they probably have too many this year frankly not enough it’s made for a bit of awkward roster um the fact that the team has been set up this way it gives the NBA sort of a

Convenient excuse now to save a bunch of money and get rid of it but the real thing something else happened too something else happened and this wasn’t maybe the major thing but there was some belief when they started this that they might lower the age limit and so the ignite would actually

Be an option for 17y olds which they did take some 17 year olds as you mentioned um H and that’s Al you know also the operation in Atlanta overtime Elite you know they’re taking guys for seven couple years well the new CBA got done and that rule didn’t get touched uh

You’re still going to be that that Gap year at least one year for for college which means it isn’t for the rest of the decade at least exactly so there there wasn’t even going to be that sort because you know it you know I’ve been to overtime Elite you know there’s been

Many stories written around now but those there is a school associated with overtime Elite there are there is high school type classes being taught there um and so that was one thing that the ignite could have offered that you know that also is not the window so um but yeah I mean Adam

Silver had to had to know that uh yeah the decision was probably made quite some time even before he said that right so um arguably the legacy of the ignite now I’m sure they would say well the the legacy is Jaylen green kuminga scoot Etc they also had um

Dyson Daniels is another lottery pick was taken um another guy who’s extremely raw and needs a lot of development right he’s not getting much time he was playing a little bit earlier when they were he’s hurt now but by the way has talent 68 and conour yeah but raw but

Anyway the maybe the moment of the ignite’s Run was what when they played wanyama and the Mets 92 team in Vegas before last season they played those two games and they split them they actually beat Mets 92 in the first game and um and it was an incredible um an

Incredible display I mean Victor you know I think in the one game had six or seven threes and and he had this back and forth with Scoot and um it was a it I what I loved about it and what we what we really now know about Victor but

We’re still learning about him is just the willingness of those two guys to to play with each other like to to to say okay let’s let’s face off I mean you got guys purposely trying to prevent themselves from I mean like you know from being like exposed in any way like

M Bama is gonna be the number one pick no matter what you know why come over to the US fly you know 10 or 11 hours crazy time zone play a style that you’re not familiar with you know they’re playing you know NBA esque rules with NB you

Know with NBA D D-League you know g-league reps yeah and that was amazing event that got put together and was completely you know it blew everyone’s expectations out and like if you had watched that you’d been like oh my gosh this is going to be great but it it never really improved from

There like I said I I like the idea it didn’t it didn’t pan out I don’t think players benefited from the g-league ignite experience and now they can go places like Kentucky get paid a ton of money and get spanked in the first round of March Madness

Right yeah um my wife what a what a terrible night for uh dearon Fox and Malik monk they lose to the freaking capital W Wizards and they come out of the game and check their phones and see if they’re all got beat by Oakland by the way that’s Oakland in

Michigan yeah uh I watched it my wife I don’t do a bracket my wife had Kentucky in the final four she might even have in the championship game I don’t know why but that a lot of brackets were busted on that but a terrific performance by

Oakland it was it was it was one of those classic NCAA games where they just made the plays they had to make and there was a guy who made 10 threes in the game I can’t remember his name he GES with a G sorry we shout out to

LeBron’s high school coach Keith damrod by the way coaching the Atlantic 10 out to Duane Dukes won their first NCA Tournament game in 55 years today beat retiring of the Season he is retiring at the end of the end of the season and I believe LeBron’s high school teammate

Drew Joyce will be taking over for Keith as the coach of the Dukes oh really they are here in Omaha and I am uh um looking forward to going and seeing them tomorrow on their off day on Friday um um you’re gonna go to a

Game my wife wants to go I don’t know I oh my goodness come on dude are you serious guy you covered 20 some odd years ago 25 his last years ago in his last season pulled off an upset playing in the second round of the freaking tournament in your backyard and

What what what are you gonna do you gonna freaking watch golf you come on man no I’m not gonna watch golf I’ll watch him I just don’t know if I’m GNA go but um going to that game that this is ridiculous if you don’t go to that

Game Bon Tims and I are boycotting this podcast you’re going to that game and actually or if you do go to the game we’re boycot whichever one you would would prefer well um you know Keith he he is not afraid to put he’s he’s a very intense guy and he was very

Intense with LeBron and LeBron didn’t like it when he was uh he was 14 15 years old but there’s a lot of respect now um but yeah it you know to to go to a place that hadn’t been to the they hadn’t been to the tournament in 46

Years I didn’t know I been to the tournament since 77 hadn’t won a game since 69 dude you have to go to that game are you honestly it’s a I’m disappointed you didn’t go today now that I know all these things I was flying back from La I

Mean the oh wow you were just setting the game was first out of the gate you know uh but by you tweeted you tweeted a nice little congratulations thing but one thing that shocked me in that tweet you mentioned meeting him 25 years ago

When there was a a six foot 14y old on his team named LeBron LeBron was only six feet tall when he was 14 yeah and he actually 6 feet tall is 14 isn’t is pretty tall man not for a guy who ends up being 68 or 69 it’s not so at the

Beginning of his freshman season he was 6 foot 61 I don’t exactly know and he grew two or three inches during the season by the end of by the end of the season he was 63 is something like that um and you know 20 they went 27 and0 it was a it

Was a Mira it was absolutely unbelievable to watch this guy play you know in the Drew Joyce who was I guess going to be I hadn’t seen he was going to be named the head coach in Du Kane I know that’s what Keith wanted Drew Joyce was the reason that LeBron

Went to St Vincent St Mary because Drew was five foot I don’t mean he was 5 foot five and I’m um rounding down to have fun Drew was five feet tall playing vars basketball and it was in the era of the long shorts so the shorts were down to

His ankles it looked like you know that that um yes that famous photo of it’s the same Bonaventure guy right uh bagg shorts Marcus Green Marcus that’s that’s basically what it looked like um and the the the public school where they were going to go which was sort of the

Basketball power inac at the time the coach I don’t know exactly what he said I don’t want to but he was like you I don’t think Drew you I don’t think you can play for me right away you’re gonna have to grow and Drew felt he should get

An opportunity and so he said I’m going to go over here and play for Keith danro because Keith had been had seen him play and said I’ll put you on Varsity which is the greatest decision Keith dbr ever made LeBron wanted to be with Drew and

Um I mean I remember this game it was their first game I was at it and Drew is five foot tall and he comes he didn’t start he comes to check into the game and you’re like what’s going on somebody literally let a fifth grader a

Sixth grader in to check in and of course the other team is like trying not to laugh right I mean it’s one thing to see him in the layup line okay you know some kid up from the freshman team or whatever he was the first guy off the

Bench five foot tall and the first possession of course they went at him and the guy took like a 15f footer and Drew did the only thing he could do which is he put put his hand in yeah the guy’s face he missed the shot Drew came

Down LeBron had the ball and what is LeBron gonna do LeBron sends the ball to the corner to the five- foot kid who in the first 20 seconds of his high school career takes a corner three and hits it and I was like oh I see fast forward to

The state championship game I told the story before but it’s one of my favorite memories in all of basketball I’ve ever seen in my life state championship game this is not when LeBron has been the cover of Sports Illustrated he is generally an unknown okay um he’d been

On the cover of the Aron Beacon Journal but still a few times but you know my I was a part-timer at the ACR Beacon Journal that’s why I was at the game and my bosses were giving me crap because they felt like I was trying to get

Coverage for my alma Mo when I was saying we should be paying more attention to this team and they were like what are you trying to do you trying to get us to pay attention to him because you went there I mean they didn’t I was 21 Old it’s like Bon thinks

You do with the Cavs but go on yeah um so anyway he does that with the Cavs he wasn’t doing it with LeBron at the time I think my record will stand on its s so um in the you know in the state championship game LeBron had made a play

Which he had three fouls five fouls of high school obviously yeah he had three fouls in the third quarter and there’s a turnover I think maybe it was even his turnover and the other team’s going it’s a it’s a close game it’s a one or two possession game the kid from the other

Team is going up for a fre layup at pick six and LeBron comes from behind him and blocks the ball off the backboard again as a 15-year-old yeah gets the the B rebound comes down hits a three like Jaws dropped it was like what the hell did we just see like that play

Was like okay so little Drew though goes seven of seven on threes at Ohio State shottenstein Center I think it was a shottenstein center um whatever at Ohio State in front of 15,000 people five foot tall nobody knows who these guys are he goes seven of seven on threes and the six

Three-pointer he was six of six and now the the team is pushing the lead out now they got to like a 10 12o lead and LeBron is on his way to like 25 points he’s six of six the crowd is mostly just casuals that don’t have a rooting

Interest there’s you know people from each school but it’s these are small schools there’s maybe 500 fans from each school there’s 10,000 fans that just come to watch the state tournament LeBron’s got got the ball he’s dominating the game people are figuring this out he drives into the

Lane they collapse on him ball goes to the corner to Drew it was six of six on three ball goes in the air from the um Corner buzzer for the third quarter sounds while the ball’s in the air bam to go seven of seven the crowd is

Falling into the Isles because a 5- foot kid is having the they’ve never seen before he’s seven to seven on threes LeBron goes over and picks him up his his legs are at LeBron’s knees it looks like a and it ran in the paper the next day it’s and it’s a forgotten photo

It’s an iconic photo he’s holding him his his legs are dangling at LeBron’s knees and the headline on that said he’s not heavy he’s my three-point shooter I can still remember that headline so we fast forward 25 years later by the way Drew went on to be an all conference

Player in the Mid-American Conference for Keith damr at the University of akan played like 12 or 14 years in Europe like a long career and now is going to be the head coach at Duan I definitively done at Duane but certainly certainly believing that they’re not gonna CA

Because Keith when they when they won the other day he announced the day after selection Sunday that he was going to retire yeah made it very clear he wants him to be the coach and I I suspect he’s going to be the coach I tell you what

You know what else he is he’s a coone factor Award winner based on that story I mean it is 25 years late but somebody got to get him a coone fact award I can still remember you know in the timeout between the third and fourth quarter the ribbon boards you know at

Ohio State showing said Joyce threes seven for seven um I’m fired up man I’m about to check to Omaha let’s go Kane what’s what’s their mascot what’s the nickname The Dukes the duk let’s go Dukes not Duke everybody got a roote against Duke that’s like

Part of March let’s go Dukes here in New York City on Friday send me some free gear baby I’m want a rep so for for for Drew who was five foot in 1999 uh to you know have this incredible career basketball and they celebrate this um I you know he came to when

LeBron um uh broke the scoring record last year in La uh they had a game like the next day he you know somewhere on the East Coast obviously they in the A10 and he flew out to see LeBron break the scoring record and then got on a red eye and

Went back and I remember seeing him going what time’s the game tomorrow um so it’s just uh it’s just awesome for them to have this moment and you know LeBron sent them shoes you LeBron sent support for them so um dude you’ve got to go to the game are you

Kidding meisten I’ve know these guys for 25 years I mean I’ve been at many many many moments on it you know I don’t you haven’t been to their second round NCAA game might be the coach’s last game of his career I’m gonna go see them

Tomorrow and I you know go to theame I send them messages you know messages they don’t care about your messages they care if you go to the game go to the game give me a break this is ridiculous that was go to the game bring me back a double XXL t-shirt damn

It man I’m fired up now I’m I’m rooting for Duane this is gonna be awesome yeah so I got a question really important how tall is Joyce now oh he’s like over six foot he’s taller than me okay so he whatever he wants basketball yeah he

His ghost yeah he his ghost for and and know my and my guess is he could still shoot over 40% on threes uh probably in an international league um he had he he ended up being an excellent player but it was just I I promise you nobody who

Was at that game you know the other thing is is that once LeBron got older there was a bunch there was a whole layer of people who didn’t like him you know they didn’t like that he had a Hummer they didn’t like that he wore you know throwback jerseys you know that’s

What happens in our society but then it was it was a purity there were these 14 15y old kids that like were doing it up and so that’s that’s a real positive memory I wish that the stuff was available on YouTube it just I mean the

Game was on TV but it was just a little bit before that era I’ve looked for it I maybe it’s somewhere maybe somebody will find it and put it in the comments underneath and somebody will see it but um that um that that was just it’s such an

Amazing memory and uh and I I guarantee it’s a top one of LeBron’s top memories too so I mean they ended up making a movie there’s a movie about these guys obviously that was documentary that was made that talks about their you know what happened when they were Juniors and

Then seniors and you know they made a feature film about it or TV series or whatever but I’m talking about when they were truly like not even shaving right so as people were all like oh well you know when LeBron came in the league they’re like this guy’s actually 23 you

Know let’s see his birth certificate and I would just say yes by the time he was 18 he was an absolute beast but when he was 14 he actually looked 14 he had big feet so you know you knew he was going to keep growing um but I just remember

That night so that night I was the first time I ever watched them play Keith had only been the coach for two years and I um had not met him before but he had been a head coach in college he had lost no longer you know you you weren’t uh

Wealthy enough at that point to be a big time booster for S V St Mary yeah well there’s there’s a couple of Big Time boosters from sa and St Mary who uh who have given lots of money who have the gym named after them but um you have the

Library I have nothing I um I went over to interview him after the game the coach after the game and he says to me and you again he coached in he coached at Central Michigan in the M American Conference so I realized that’s not coaching a Duke but he had he was

Coaching at the YMCA okay and he said to me number 32 because that’s what what LeBron wore as a freshman whenever you I you know it’s it’s whenever you go to games that you see people wearing St V and St Mary 23 jerseys those are cool

The real ones know that he had a he actually wore 32 because they had even numbered jerseys you know they used to have to wear the jerseys for like five six years they had all even numbers that was all was available by the time he was a senior

They had 17 different sets of uniforms they wore a different uniform every game he said to me number 32 is the best player I’ve ever seen he’s going to be one of the greatest players ever this is the first night I met him so he’s best player he’d ever he meant like college

Whatever he’s was the best player he’d ever seen wow he said that about a 14-year-old and he said and I of course my questions to him as a reporter on you know on the game I didn’t come there because of LeBron James I came there because it was a an opening night of

High school basketball I said what about this five foot kid who is barely you know got his you know shorts above his his high tops and uh he’s like that kid is awesome he’s going to be one of our most important players now he did come

Off the bench it wasn’t like he was leading the team at minutes but still three months later he scores 21 points in the state championship game so I will give Keith damrock credit he was saying it on the record to somebody he didn’t even know it wasn’t even like he was say

Like he was saying it knowing I was probably going to quote him in the paper so anyway tell you what man this has been an outstanding addition of Story Time with Wendy I’m glad I inquired about the Heights on on tweet yeah yeah well um now he’s just got a

Not big his old pal I’m not big time seriously if this is ultimate big time this is an ultimate big time situation you don’t go to that game we really I don’t know I don’t know if I could be bothered go it’s not about being bothered it’s not about being what is it

No we’re boycotting the damn rubber ducks bobblehead if you don’t go to that game I’m gonna I’m gonna tell the rubber ducks to cancel it if you don’t go listen um I got to say how about akan St Vincent St high school because LeBron obviously how about Keith

Danr Drew Joyce Brandon weams who’s on that team who is an executive in the Cavs front office am I allowed to talk about the Cavs by times um you are you are Malachi brandham who’s on the Spurs um you know not bad right Ryan

Wior I mean come on not you know we had there was there was uh you know other some other NBA players couple other NBA players come out of there I know it’s not you know McLean’s High School in uh in Oakland which like had like multiple

Hall of Famers in like a four or five year span um but uh you know anyway yeah so uh it was obviously terrific to watch Keith damr um have that experience and uh it’ll be even better to see it in person on Saturday seriously yeah uh you know yes and you

Know it’s it’s just I was already selection Sunday I was already in Los Angeles to work this week and then not only do they get placed in Omaha but they get the first game out of the shoot so I didn’t have a chance to go today sure so now you can

Go on Saturday sure you have a chance double XL t-shir baby all right well I think that’s I think that’s gonna wrap up this we got the tip we got the tip times here right here we got Omaha got Duan Illinois 8:40 Eastern Time 7:40 central time oh yeah a nice little

Dinner beforeand watch the game absolutely take Dane oh yeah be great by the way Dane uh thank you to the Wizards um danne got a special gift from uh Corey kissper I was gonna say I didn’t want to spoil but D could where is Cory kissper Jersey and go out there thank

You to the Wizards and Corey kissper you know he’s uh he’s now got a he he’s got to be the only guy in Omaha with a with a ory kissper uh authentic jersey right I would think so so but you know that’s the thing like he doesn’t play

I’m the I’m the guy who plays with the Wizards he does he plays against the Wizards because he wants to you don’t need the Jersey needs the Jersey you know he loves it details details um all right well go uh go Duane dukes and go Keith damr and um we’re all

Proud of you from akan and uh so and next podcast we’ll get back to full-time NBA discussion so uh thank you to bonts thank you McMahon thank you to Jackson our producer thank you for listening and watching we’ll talk to you next week adios amigos

Key Injuries, Impressive Magic, End Of G League Ignite | The Hoop Collective
Brian Windhorst is joined by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Tim MacMahon to talk some injuries around the league including to stars like Brandon Ingram, Donovan Mitchell and OG Anunoby. Plus, the guys talk the impressive play of the Magic and the end of G League Ignite before taking a trip down St. Vincent-St. Mary memory lane.
#thehoopcollective #espn #nba

0:00 Intro
4:00 Key Injuries To Ingram & Mitchell
10:47 Surprising Success Of The Magic
24:57 Fun Max Decisions
33:01 The End Of G League Ignite
42:57 St. Vincent-St. Mary Memories
1:02:13 Thanks For Watching!

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