How long before Wemby’s Spurs are a threat to Jokic’s Denver Nuggets?

How long before Wemby’s Spurs are a threat to Jokic’s Denver Nuggets?

He threw it from out of bounds to the other Corner Victor wanyama is a freak but Nicole yic is a monster are they going to wind up as a rivalry plus the MVP straw poll is out and it’s looking like mv3 I’ll list and more on locked on

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Guys with us here on a Wednesday uh on today’s show we’ll talk about the Nuggets win over the San Antonio Spurs yoga drops 42 in the win we’ll talk about whether or not Victor wanyama and Nico yic will wind up being Rivals of any sort of sort or is it more of a

Different kind of comparison of where they’ll be at in their careers plus the MVP straw poll is out and it’s good news for Nicole yic and those that want him to win his third MVP we’ll talk about might be bad news for joic man I don’t

Know we’ll find out we’ll talk about it I think he’s moov I think he’s honestly moved past it but we’ll talk about it uh all right let’s start with this the Nuggets get the win over the San Antonio Spurs in a surprisingly entertaining contest uh 110 105 let’s go through some

Stat lines here yic has 42 points 16 rebounds six assists one steal and two blocks like a normal person does Victor wanyama has 23 points 15 rebounds eight assists and nine blocks it’s crazy uh Wan yamad Desu uh nine of 29 from the field the efficiency was not there it was there

For yic as it always is he goes 18 of 32 from the field just one of six from three-point range unsurprisingly he was trying to space out the Spurs in particular was I actually thought he was shooting a lot versus Zach Collins which I don’t necessarily think is like

Usually he does that when he’s like let’s let’s pull this big a little bit up let’s just let’s just make him think about it a little bit um I Hest think he was more like I don’t want to waste my time going to work on Zack Collins but

Well well honestly it might be that we always say this but this time of year yoke starts taking more threes because he needs them in the playoffs and I do wonder if there’s a little bit of a I always say shooting is about three-point shooting is a lot about confidence to

Shoot it quickly like if you had hesitate you think about it for any second your percentages are going to go down so I think there’s a mental adjustment that yoke makes every year where it’s like I got to shoot no hesitation I’m open just take the shot

And so I kind of expect him to take four five six threes a game for the next five six games do you think he needs to get that up I think he so right now I mean every year he shoots well in the playoffs knock on wood but I’m not sure but my

Confidence is never High going into the playoffs in his three-point shot so I almost feel like he does need to get that Rhythm that’s like a among the many the various things where I’m like this is probably going to be a harder playoff run even though I’m like I still think

They’re going to win um it’s probably going to be harder is because I’m like he may not shoot 45% from three again like that might just change things um this was Malone was irritated after the game and I don’t blame him um the okay I’ll put it this way my take

And you were there at the arena uh and Malone as where he been um my take on the post game with Malone was in his head before he like before he got up on the podium and while he’s up there is like don’t get mad they did this last

Year don’t get mad they did this last year don’t get mad they did this last year that’s how it felt to me where he’s just like talked to him all night about transition defense and they didn’t defend in transition I talked to them all day about I’ve been talking about

How much offensive rebounding we’ve been giving up and they’re still giving up offensive rebounds um I can tell that he’s like very much trying not to fall into the Trap that he did last year where he was extremely stressed out by their performance that last month of the

Season um and be like they’re going to be fine this is a choice that they’re making it’s impossible for them to get up for this game I’m not surprised like they got out for the Cavs game they lost two straight and were um yeah played hard they they came out and played

Amazing in the Cavs game and then this one was kind of back to like okay what do we got to do to win and this could have gone the other way but they did enough in the end versus a Spurs team that’s not equipped to win those types

Of games to get it done I honestly think Denver missed shots I mean they shot 29% from three um and and there were a lot of really good looks that they got in that first half that you get a couple of those to go down and the game opens up

And I just felt like they missed all of those in the first half so some of it is that but I agree with you about Michael Malone that except I phrase it differently I don’t think it’s that he’s trying to tell himself to Cal down I think he gen genuinely believes in this

Team because he saw it like we all worried about the team last year and I think he’s like oh okay now I know what these guys are feeling I know what they’re capable of I know how it is you have to manage so I’m going to keep preaching my talking points I’m not

Going to overlook the fact that they’re not rebounding and they’re not guarding and transition very well and he actually both of those things by the way come down to the same flaw and I thought he articulated this well he said on defense when the shot goes up we’re all ball

Watching and that gives people offensive rebounds on offense we’re ball watching when the shot goes up and that gives transition baskets so both of the problems right now come from a lack of urgency in this Lial space of the of between offense and defense the rebounding portion of it which you could

Say okay well that’s good because then you just got to focus on that and you’ll win in the playoffs I think Mike and that’s the thing we’re saying about is it’s hard to say a team will do it when they haven’t proven it but Malone’s going off of last year that they can

Flip that switch and those little things those little margins are the difference between bad regular season play and good playoff play I think coaches are and particularly him because he’s talked a lot about how much he hates to lose I think that to be a great coach you have

To be wired a little bit as a psycho and I think part of that it’s well look we got to get off to a good start if we don’t get off to a good start we’re chasing the entire year oh we got to we got to keep up this momentum because

This is the hard part of the season this is where got close strong got a close strong you don’t want to be not playing your best basketball going into the playoffs and it’s like okay over 82 games guess what you’re probably not gonna play well at some point or another

Um and so I I think for him it’s like he’d rather like and he just doesn’t wanna because it is on him if they slip and then they come out in the playoffs and they’re like and they’re still playing like this it’s fault for not having them ready right like it’s his

Job to kind of be on them but it’s tough when you have a veteran group right like this the other thing I will just say is like um so I think I thought the Spurs played pretty well for them you look at the splits and you’re like oh boy 40 29

But like I thought that they executed pretty well they played hard um and then like that was enough to get them into a game where the Nuggets shot badly like that’s kind of like this is a good example honestly of the margin for error I’m always talking about the Gap that

I’m always referring to is like what happened well the Nuggets shot poorly and did not have a lot of energy and the Spurs had a lot of energy and played pretty well and so the result was that the Nuggets only won by a handful like that’s the gap between these two teams

Yeah right if the Nuggets give that kind of a performance both shooting wise and energy wise because I will say this like I think those two things are actually related in terms of the shooting they look tired to me and again I want to say

This again I I I I feel confident and I may be wrong but I feel confident in my ability after doing this for so long to be able to tell the difference between we don’t care and we’re just tired yeah age and they look tired like Ag and

Reggie in particular those two guys looked really tired last night AG’s Podium game last night was the lowest energy Podium I’ve ever seen from him that was and look he took a tough fall maybe that had something to do with it maybe I don’t know but last night he he

Basically was sleeping at the podium while while talking us uh T stat lines like this prove yic Lov to get up for the big games I don’t know that this is like I understand it’s like well it’s Victor wanyama I I think that there is two things concurrently there is a

Long-standing history in the NBA of when there is a young pup that comes in that is going to be on your block at your position that guys make a statement it is not coincidental that Joel embiid 70o game came against that Squad it is not incidental oh really that was against

Yeah or was Wy not playing that game I don’t even no he played because I watched you remember that play in the I think it was the third quarter where yoke like just like Ju Just Like bodied into him and then and Wy just went flying there was like five of those

Versus embiid like embiid cleared him out with one hand and pushed him like five feet away um the other thing I think is is very much literally like this one honestly to be really honest with you this 42 Point performance yol’s amazing I don’t think I need to like

Validate my my belief that yok is amazing um but also this one goes in the Wizards category for me where I’m like yeah had 42 that that he was he he played 37 minutes versus the Spurs that tracks yeah I mean it’s still good performance but you are right that these numbers

This year are are like this and when you play Bad teams you’re supposed to put up good you know good numbers before I want to get to the yic part in the other side so I’m going to push the thing about you know a new guy coming in on the Block to

The other side but we should mention mpj tonight gets the game winner we don’t he doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to get the gamewinner I mean he does get some but I thought this was a really cool one because unlike a lot Michael Porter gets a lot of nail in the coffin

Shots he gets a lot of all right you’re up four there’s 30 seconds left and now the ball goes to the corner he hits it you’re up seven the game’s over he doesn’t get a ton of these and when they happen they’re really special and last

Night he did a lot of we talk about Murray’s out is Porter G to start gunning I thought Porter didn’t take any shots that were really like out of the ordinary he kind of played his game he got 16 rebounds really you thought he was gunning oh yeah both Blackburn and I

Were looking at each other in the first quarter like oh Mike mik Mike’s going for it yeah I thought he was gunning yeah well see I thought he played well within himself and then he gets that shot at the end and he knocks it down

And I just I’m happy for Mike to get uh to get those chances and get those opportunities because they don’t come too often 15 and 16 too he had 16 rebounds so it’s a big game man and actually when rebounding is such an important thing you get 16 from yok 16

From Porter seven from Aaron Gordon you know even pton get six there’s there’s two sides of this coin which I think is really interesting which is like um you can say like oh mpj was facing a bad team and saw an opportunity for him to

Get going or uh the positive way to spin this is actually hey the team’s kind of low on energy everybody else is Gass and Jamal’s out so mpj picked it up and played hard on both ends don’t you think I I don’t think mpj ever like brings bad

Energy I think that’s one quality of him is he always he likes to play he seems to like to compete and he always play well that dude that dude never pouts yeah he plays hard he doesn’t sulk he doesn’t lethargically just go through the motions he plays hard on the other

Side we’ll talk about Victor wanyama versus Nicole yic and whether that will be a rivalry for years to come and later on the straw poll indicates that we’re going to have mv3 we’ll talk about all that more on the other side on locked on nuggets passion drive and patience the

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Nuggets back here on lock on nugget thanks for joining us and making this part of your day appreciate you guys being with us on a Wednesday world’s finest adamar as a mat Moore uh I will open the floor to you sir your thoughts on Victor wanyama versus Nico yic and

What the future holds for that matchup I mean the future seems really bright for for San Antonio I he’s a heck of a player has really grown over the course of the season is I think the most impressive thing and the reason I’m sold

On him is how much he has picked up over the course of one season and last night I I was texting a group of friends this last night wemi is one of the guys that I’m really glad I went to see in person I highly recommend nuggets fans that’s a

Game you go and watch wear your nuggets gear don’t you know we’re not doing the Webby thing but you go to Denver next year when they come to town he’s a guy that I think you need to see in person he’s on the short list and he’s probably

At this very moment number one guy for me that you have to see in person part of this is his body is just so unique and you never not aware of it you’re you never go like a few minutes where you’re like wow I forgot how big wimy is he’s

Enormous he’s he and it really stands out two and obviously he makes Incredible plays the crowd had this fun energy remember when yoke took it to LeBron in the post years back like 2017 and what a big moment it was because you kind of felt like all right LeBron

Versus the next guy and there was this energy there was that in the building last night every time wmy got yoke with a block it was a big like oh my God and every time yoke got wmy in the post with a jump hook there was this yeah show him

Don’t you know show the young PB so I thought there was a great energy to it but lastly the thing about wmi last night that I loved was watching his mannerisms off the you know when the when he was not quote unquote in frame the guy is really competitive he’s a

Little edgy edgier than you would think and there was just a lot of emotion from him in the moments of the game when he would not have been on television or the camera would not have been following him I just thought that was really interesting so not not everybody has

That and he has a lot of that intensity Malone sing that his passing pregame he was talking about how of a playmaker him being a willing passer I think is like a really big part of this you have to have that kind of instinct I

Think out of the gate and it’s going to do him really well where a lot of guys what will happen is they’re dominant one-on-one situations but when the help starts coming they struggle and wanyama has a really good ability not ability he still struggles with it because he’s

Young but I can tell that in a couple years he’s like he’ll make those reads he’ll he’ll anticipate those reads and he’ll make them he’s got a real confidence he’s got a real he doesn’t I’ll say this he doesn’t drift in games which I think is really

Important a lot of the hyper athletic super long guys that I’ve seen will just drift along they’ll have stretches where it’s like oh that was really good that was really good and then like oh they they kind of drifted or if you’re physical with them they’re kind of like

Okay maybe not he battles back against that physicality he loses because he he’s a buck 80 but like he battles batt in those situations uh he gets not I will say this one of the things I like about him he was calling for fouls on drives and finishes last night yelling

At the official Forum but when he gets knocked down he doesn’t be like where’s my foul call he just gets back up and runs yeah and that’s really important to me because like that’s for a kid he’s 19 that is MVP behavior um unlike someone

Else in Dallas so I think if you’re like looking at the future of it though I think it’s really interesting because you you’ve kind of made in our sidebar you hear you said yic is this area as Duncan wem’s timeline you know Duncan was in his second to last year in yok’s

Rookie and so I actually don’t know if yic was what oh oh I see yeah yeah okay so jokic’s rookie season was Duncan he was already he was no longer Tim Duncan the MVP he was he was already on the down sure right and so I I’m really

Trying to think back of an era where we had kind of this comparison of this this timeline crossover where a guy’s in his Prime and then the young guy is at this point in his career where he’s a rookie you can make on borderline Kobe of uh

Jordan yeah of3 I was thinking Kobe LeBron of 03 right like Kobe’s in his prime Championship Kobe played till 2013 that’s just way too I guess maybe yeah I guess yeah maybe I mean y won’t play that long I don’t think but like and this is kind of where it’s interesting

It is a I think it’s a very unique situation where yok is 27 gonna turn 28 and so he’s got five more years of prime left right like he’ll be good probably till 33 if he chooses to play that long what you think is that too high I mean

Who knows okay uh do you want to go longer you can go 35 if you want because I mean yeah I mean who knows I would that’s would be my guess 33 to 36 and then most rookies don’t start winning until year year three like they at the earliest usually like year

Five year six right you usually need to be in in age 26 27 before you start really winning um it’s one of the reasons why I think yoka is actually an exception because I always kind of think back on that I’m like wow like his rookie season was 16 they made the

Playoffs in 19 and the Conference Finals in 20 like it took him four years for him to and now he was older right than Victor I think that matters but that timeline crossover I think is really interesting just when we look at what they’re going to be for one another

Because embiid’s gonna be or I’m sorry not embiid wem’s gonna be 27 when Joker’s 33 and so like that’s like a really interesting like crossover point right of where they’re going to be at in their careers yeah no totally I I mean it is hard to say I was thinking Dwight

And Shaq but there the game is different now in that I feel we look forward more than maybe we did even in 2004 because Shaq was still super dominant in 2004 I know he was going to Miami and it was his his down Arc was maybe a little

Steeper than than like a Kobe’s was Kobe Kobe’s 10 years kind of on on a decline but was still great and maybe that’s similar I don’t know which one it is but so I think there is something to it here’s the thing I would say and I love yoke because everyone’s hyping wimy

Everyone’s hyping and yoke is consistent every time he’s asked about a great young player he always says we’ll see like the guy has a lot of potential but yoke seems so unimpressed with potential not because he doesn’t think it matters but because I think he knows this core

Truth of sports which is that Talent is only so much and you have to see the other parts of it and he said he’s humble he works hard um I can’t remember what the other adjective was that he used but he but he basically he said and

That’s a great combination so he’s like all yic was basically saying after the game all signs point towards this guy’s gonna be great but we’ll see greatness you can’t always say how it’s gonna be and I’m gonna say wiim Bama and I think joic and I think a lot of players of

This era 23 points 15 rebounds eight assists nine blocks on a random game in your rookie season as a teenager there’s only 20 players in NBA history capable of putting up that stat line so wemi has this weird thing where his stats are always going to be outliers and

Spectacular and he’s great and to get those you have to have a certain level of greatness but I think what yoke knows and why he always answers these things differently is greatness spectacular all these things they don’t equal winning and we have to wait and see if those

Things equal winning eventually that’s a really great point that you could use with a lot of people in the MVP conversation you could have even used it for joic last year though and and I think this is part of joic is why yic Always dampens these things is it’s like

Yeah man these things are impressive and awesome but there’s this other component of of winning and I think and you know the ultimate example of this to me is embiid this is why when he scored 70 points and Kevin Durant said I said he’s the greatest player of all time and it’s

Like yeah man scoring 70 is hard but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re gonna win championships that just means you’re really good at this really difficult thing but that’s not all of it and I think I evaluate most players based off of um the core principle that

I kind of came to in MVP thought process which is how much do you impact winning how much does what you do help your team win it’s not how much you do you can do a lot you can do so much but if it doesn’t lead to winning it doesn’t

Matter it’s just numbers like I’m an analytics forward guy but the big key for wemy is going to be translating how he can impact the game with his production with his play and do the things that lead to winning and that’s really I think is is the big key

Element um speaking of the MVP the straw pll’s out and real quick we didn’t mention the timeline can we just mention the timeline real quick yeah I don’t we don’t know what the Spurs are going to do I actually thought for as good as

Wimy was and he did block yoke a lot I thought yoke still was comfortable in this game and that’s I know that’s weird to say on a guy that had nine blocks and it was a five-point win you can tell when is struggling with a guy or this or

That and I just didn’t think that was the case last night I think there was a little testing the parameter like okay he’s good at that oh he blocked me there I didn’t expect that one but I don’t ever feel like yok was like man how do I

Get by this guy I think he was just like oh I I screwed that up I’ll I’ll change it the next time Jump hook Swit no like that he’s not look I mean nobody bothers him I could I I I’ve watched every offensive not every I’ve watched 75% of

All uh jokic’s possessions where he scored either scoring or assisting in the last five days I’ve done all there’s just nothing like there’s there’s nothing you can do um but Victor definitely is not I don’t think Victor’s gonna cause problems for him for a long time really no because he’s got to get

The weight he’s just he’s got to add the weight or or the teammate like there is the right combo or something in the individual in maybe but that’s like in winning the game in the individual matchup Victor is just gonna have to add so much weight in order to be able to

Hang with yoke so he is so big though effects as a helps side Defender man he covered so much ground like the whole game was really the team just kind of being like man he’s everywhere and they figured out but yeah I I wrote a column

This season for Action where one thing I said and and Malone mentioned this too um the biggest thing for me about wimy is just we’ve never seen anything like it we’ve never seen anything like Victor wanyama and that I think is what makes him so exciting uh on the other side

We’ll talk about the MVP straw poll and we’ll get into the chances which are high of Nicole yic winning his third MVP up that next on locked on nuggets Fire TV is your destination for sports from live games to Highlights to indepth analysis Fire tv offers amazing viewing

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Part of your day appreciate you guys being with us ESPN published the latest straw poll from Tim bontemps the last and final MVP straw poll and Nicole yic has expanded his lead if you’re joining us on YouTube you can see the results right there yic with 85 out of 100 first

Place votes shos Alexander is second with 10 I expect that to slip before down the end of the really actual vote LCA donic with one but he’s got 31 second place votes and 43 third place votes total points yic is ahead by more than 300 total points uh Shay is

Currently up about 150 on Luca I expect that to shrink and for Luca donic to finish second um so here’s an I have a question for you it is totally okay if you’re if you are outright like no that’s totally okay I think it’s an interesting question um

Where would you rank this MVP season amid yoga’s four thir third me too does the fact that he’s going to win in a season where he hasn’t been the best that he can well okay should it matter I mean I think he’s the MVP to me

I think he’s the clear MVP I actually think we do this every year when a guy is overwhelming favorite at it for for so long I think that it we are more likely to poke holes in it almost out of bored him like in this year he was the

Favorite early on he was the favorite in the middle he’s been the favorite in this third third now he’s the favorite here so I think there’s this level of like all right are we sure though are we sure we have too much time to second

Guess it so I think he’s the clear best part of this is I think the comp the challengers in 21 and 22 and 23 were better Giannis was better embiid was better embiid’s removed from the conversation this year because of uh you know because of missing the games so I

Think that that is part of it and then to me just sh Alexander he’s a great player but to me it’s a it’s like Tatum’s a great player but there’s just there’s a level below you do not like SGA not impressed with that guy I love

SGA no I’m how how can you do this how can you watch I think he is he is the most dynamic two-way player this season you’re you’re gonna vote Shay huh this is no I already voted no I’m not I don’t have a vote oh yeah but in the

Straw poll I had yic won yeah I I look I think Shay again I think he is better than Tatum I’m saying that there are players that I think are more impactful than than Shay is and he is great at the level of impact that he makes that’s

Crazy to me because the entire argument I have for Shay is Shay is the second most impactful in winning over the course of the season it’s not just like can I have 100% usage and throw a bunch of assists all the time to spot up Shooters and flail for flail for some

Fouls definitely draws a lot of fouls doesn’t flail as much uh he impacts the game on the defensive end he’s a transition player he he’s the core he is the core engine of a lot of these teams unlike like he’s the core engine of the Thunder unlike Giannis and his his play

You you have to say it’s impacted winning they’ve won like they win by more when he’s on the court and they’ve won more games and like that’s a thing that’s happened that’s the season that’s occurred now I came to the point of Shay dropped off and yoke didn’t I don’t know

Like he surged some and and not surged right here’s what’s really funny is Shay is the new joic man Shay is the guy that has done all of the stuff to help win and everyone’s else like it can’t be him what about this other guy what about

What about this guy did you see that he had 70 versus the Atlanta Hawks can you believe it and so I think you just hate I just think think you hate Luca man oh think you hate SGA I love SGA I’m a big fan of you’re very

Annoyed that the Thunder is still at the top of the Western Conference versus the Nuggets I’m I honestly am not Matt I honestly am not I like this Thunder team I mean here’s the thing there are there’s almost like a split in the NBA right now in how teams build on one half

You have very like individualistic play I would say this to me the suns are the ultimate expression of this they are a bunch of guys that just want to cook and they want proper spacing around them and then there are teams that like really have a camaraderie and a connectedness

And the Thunder are to me are one of those teams and I like those teams so all the teams that sort of have that that sort of fight for each other mentality and and Harmony and how they play I like and the Thunder are like one

Of the best examples of that so I don’t have any problems with the Thunder I I more just think that I’ve said this before Jaylen Williams to me Major Impact piece he’s a big reason of why they’re as good as they are they’ve had Remarkable Health so like me when I look

At that I go Shay’s really good the the Celtics are really good the Celtics you talk about winning the Celtics are winning but we all kind of know like yeah Tatum is a part of that but not as big of a part of that as other players

That’s just how I feel uh about Shay at this very moment can you can ask something somebody you posted the comment of they’re trying to steal jokic’s MVP how can that be true when he let in the straw pole three different times well these the straw pole is not

Here’s what’s interesting about the straw pole it has been incredibly influential on the MVP I really believe this like it’s really influential in the markets after this came out in fact I should have looked before on FanDuel and seen what were the odds before today and after today because I would bet they

Shift because of how influential it is but I kind of think this one will be less influential in part because I think the conversation is less toxic than it was last year so I wonder if it’ll be less influential and the people that are interviewed for the straw pole are not

Like I you and me both are interview for this we’re not voters so it’s it sort of mirrors what we expect voting to be but it’s not a perfect copy and I think this year it’ll be less of a copy than ever before I disagree because there are a

Number of Voters that are included in the in the straw pole there a high number of them um the other votes are the votes like the TV people those types of folks the more hot take artists LCA is gonna Luka is gonna gain a lot of

Ground with those folks can I show you something that you might enjoy here Mt five people have never voted joic first in MVP never not once Greg Anthony Rick buer Dave MC Menan Dwayne Rankin Ramona shelburn yok’s been in the MVP conversation for three straight years

He’s won two he lost one F it’s crazy to me that there are people that not once in any of the three years voted yic to me that’s insane I get one year maybe two you felt the other way but to go all three years and never once felt him I I

Go um I think the problem I have with that is if you’re analyzing it Year bye and your standards are different from those of us that are on the more analyst side of things I think it’s I think it’s possible for you to have that now does

It say that you probably underrate yage yeah like it just does like it just underrates it because I would actually say um we were talking about this last night there are narrative voters that vote based off of like what’s the story of the season I actually think jic is

Very much been one of the stories of the Season like this has been the year when he has finally gotten the validation that nuggets fans have wanted for years he is regarded as like I’m writing his argument right now I’m writing the argument on like what’s the

Um like what what’s the what’s the argument in a nutshell right and the argument for yage and a nutshell is best in the world that’s the argument is he’s the best in the world oh I and I would say that he whether he touches the ball doesn’t shoots doesn’t whatever he impacts every

Single possession in ways no other player does yep I mean on the offensive end on the offensive end yeah yeah and so there’s another side I don’t know if you remember that but like um there’s I think you don’t know if I remember that there’s a defensive side mat I’m just

Ribbing you oh okay okay um so I think that it’s interesting from the perspective of I I do think it’s going to mirror I think it’s going to mirror the straw poll except that I do think luuka overtakes Shay so I guess I don’t necessarily disagree with your take

Because I do think Luca is going to overtake Shay I think that most of the people that are that that were pulled in this are people that watch The League like closely from November all the way through and aren’t just like you know in March he’s been really good I’ve been

Watching these games since the tournament he’s been really good and so like I think that those let me ask you this about winning though let me ask you this about winning Shay has never won in the playoffs Luca has gone to the Western Conference Finals like I think there this was part

Of the yic conversation I don’t think it should be I think it should be contained but so I’m not even talking about the MVP part of this I’m talking about you are very skeptical about whether or not Luca plays winning basketball but he’s been to a Conference Finals

So but you’re kind of seem to be extending a Grace to Shay for having this great regular season even though he’s never come close to winning in the playoffs so how do you square those two well why I think regular season winning is different than playoffs right it’s

About like I was very consistent on this last year as you judge the regular season but forget the MVP part I just want to talk about win basketball he’s made a Conference Finals when Jaylen Brunson beat the Jazz and the Suns had covid so it didn’t count

I’m I mean look I’m I’m here’s here’s the rest of it lost to the Clippers lost to the Clippers badly lost to the Clippers blowing in a 20 lead how often do we forgive guys for that uh made the covers finals behind Jaylen Brunson being the Jazz in Co

Tanked had to tank to get the 10th 10th pick had to tank it had to openly miss the play like had to be like no we can’t we can’t try and win what other player has done that so just are you are you you’re out on Luca this year in the

Playoffs I like this Dallas team no because I think they’re really good I think they’re really good and they have a legit shot shot of making the the Conference Finals the difference here is not like here’s the thing you’re like you hate Luca no no no I hate the

Conversation about Luca like I hate the convers about a lot of players Luca is an incredible player across all levels he is amazing and with the right team around him if he gets the right series of matchups they can make a Conference Finals absolutely but he’s talked about

On jokic’s level should Luca be on jokic’s level well I I look I do think there is something to winning it we watch yoke go through it and I think there is something to like you got ultimately you have to get over the hump Lucas bill is about do I actually think

He probably in my opinion Luka probably has this year’s grace period meaning I think that we can be a little overly harsh on players early in the career for not getting success because very few players actually find that level of success that early in their career

Unless they have just a camp Miss team but his the bill is due for him I do think this year I think this is a watershed moment if you flame out early in the playoffs if you underperform or if you don’t go on a run I think it is

It would be time but for me he’s done a lot in his short career for me to go you know what it’s there’s signs there that he’s actually a a pretty freaking good player yeah he’s done a lot um with the ball in his hands 100% of the time um

You don’t like that style and I don’t either to be honest with you see that’s the thing is that’s really the Crux of it Adam honestly it’s it’s more of here’s what I believe I believe that teams take on the identity of their best player and that the best player often

Has the most say in how teams play yic taught me that you know though but you know something M on this point you could say this about LeBron and I think we all say this in hindsight because we weren’t thinking that but there was a little bit

Of this in Lebron in Cleveland where it felt like yes he doesn’t have the right teammates yes this or that but teams I know but but but again I think there’s something too Luka doesn’t necessarily need another great player he needs the right kind of role players but there is

Also this thing about with LeBron where even though he came up short with some good role playing teammates he didn’t know how to win and he had to go other places to learn how to win it was like okay and Luka might have to do that as

Well yeah he’s he’s also really young like he’s still really young what is he 25 yeah like he’s super super young but I mean again 25 is about when the bill I understand how I come off here and like I got to adjust it because what’s going

To happen is he’s going to make a run and then I’m my mentions are gonna be a dumpster fire and I get it like I don’t think that Luca is a loser I I think I think you should go all in the skip Bist went all in on anti- LeBron you I think

You should go in on anti Luca but I don’t want to do that like that’s the thing is like I care about the stuff and I want to do it I want to be on intellectually honest with it but I care very much when guys are given more

Credit when they haven’t done it because I value so much having done it that’s the whole veteran versus young guy argument it’s why I value Justin holiday because he’s stuck around in this league for so long right he played great by the way the other day Jason tat has won

Playoff series Jason Tatum showed up to a game seven when they were down 3-1 and won that game like tatums made four Conference Finals one finals I do not doubt that Jason Tatum is a winning player and I actually don’t doubt that Luca is a winning player the dude’s

Hardwired super competitive I don’t trust his decision- making at times um did you w did you you probably didn’t so I watched Warriors Mavericks last night and some of the shots that he takes where he’s just like fires up from 30 like and they’re weirdly timed where I’m

Just like is that don’t because I I honestly I’m swear to God yoke has shifted me so much in valuing possessions because he really does seem to Value every possession now where it’s like he still does crazy passes but it’s not like it was when he was younger

Because he values every possession now and that really changes like the way that I look at things and it’s not that I I understand how I come across but it has been frustrating to me to see a guy like Shay gilis Alexander who has led the youngest team in the league to

Potentially the one seed who is the engine of it who is a phenomenal two-way player get shoved aside that’s been frustrating for me I don’t think SGA should win I think yic should win I voted jic won in the in the straw pole but that’s been my take on on SGA is

Like I think SGA should finish too I think he’s deserved that joic look every we shouldn’t complain about joic because every great player has gone through this voter fatigue and I honestly think there’s a little voter fatigue in in even all of these conversations where we’re like yeah but he’s done a great

Job he’s done a great yeah but y’s also done a great job and it’s clear he’s way better so I think there is a little bit of that going on but it’s inevitable LeBron went through it Michael went through it all the great players have gone through this thing where it’s like

To your point joic it’s his third best MVP season so that feels bad but it’s like yeah but Jordan’s third best MVP season was one of the greatest seasons of all time so there’s that’s why I ultimately come down to is when I look at everything and I’m like man Joker

Just hasn’t been as good at the rim and like it’s three points down and like I actually don’t think his defense has been good this year for the most part and then I look at everything and I’m just like yeah no he controls the game better than everybody else he’s the most

Impactful player towards winning he’s the MVP that’s how it goes thanks win you calling it a lock is he winning for sure yeah he’s lock it’s done it’s been done it was it was done when SGA started tail off and when luga made the run because he’s going to can they’re going

To canalize votes from each other um it’s done L Nicole yage is the third MVP thanks for joining us appreciate you guys being with us here on World’s Finest uh swipe is back with you tomorrow and then swipe and gripe on Friday morning and then you can catch us

Again on world’s finest on Sunday night we’ll talk about the game versus the Atlanta Hawks for the the Denver Nuggets uh we’ll talk about the game versus the Clippers on Friday morning with Swip and gripe as well thanks for joining us appreciate you guys being with us have a

Great day we’ll see you guys again next time on on nuggets

Jokic dominates, Wemby’s incredible, a rivalry may form one day, and the straw poll says….

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