NBA Western Conference Finals Game 5 Preview | Oddball w/ Amin Elhassan and Charlotte Wilder

The Mavs play in Minnesota tonight: will the Mavs end the series? Amin suggests why the Wolves may have a chance to make history. But, if the Wolves lose, who’s to blame? Meanwhile, Kristaps Porzingis tweeted he may be coming back in time for the Finals. At least that’s what Google’s AI said… we think. Then, we discuss how JJ Redick might (will?) be the new coach of the Lakers and Ty Lue’s extension with the Clippers. Then Doc Rivers stops by to discuss his thoughts on the new FX show Clipped.

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[Music] welcome to Oddball Charlotte Wilder Here Am El Hass in there laughing at our intro music as always we’re both in Miami yes uh where they are not playing basketball right now I mean they were this time last year yes but this is a new year this is a new year new us new us new thing and you know what the thing that’s happening that’s the thing the thing that’s happening is that there was no basketball last night Charlotte how did that feel a little empty to be honest with I agree I was excited at first cuz I was like oh man I can go to bed whenever it’s a night off and then I was sitting there and I’d ordered food and I was like well what the heck do I watch I I didn’t know what to do with my I was like it would be a lot easier if there were a basketball came on you know what I couldn’t even find anything on TV I just was on my phone just thumbing away sad yeah I started watching Bridgerton oh anyway uh the Wolves basketball is back tonight um The Wolves f the Mavs obviously Dallas is up 31 yes they are and that’s wild I I mean I think we we both thought that it was going to end um I’m glad it didn’t in retrospect you were you were you wanted it to end I yeah I I should say I hoped it ended I didn’t I didn’t think it was going to end or I mean I didn’t think anything I was I was open for either possibility right but I was hoping well in NBA history you know this teams that go up three and O are 155 to zero yeah in the series last year there was a chance that the Celtics could break that obviously they didn’t left a hole in my heart which recently was patched up a little bit when the Celtics got past the Eastern Conference Finals um and four teams down 03 have done what the Celtics did and forced a game seven does Minnesota have it in them okay so as luck would have it I had two conversations yesterday with two people who have some experience in this realm one of them is Antonio Daniels who won a championship with the Spurs in 99 but then was on the Portland Trailblazers team that was the first uh that was the first year they went to seven games in the first round oh wow they went down 03 and then they tied it up and went to a game seven and actually LED going into the fourth quarter of game seven oh my God so on the road mind you so I talked to him I said well what how’ you guys stay with him he said our leaders Rasheed Wallace and Damon star they were so confident and they were so loose that it helped us all remain confident and lose and then they were playing the Mavericks and Dirk nitzky and Steve Nash went off in the fourth quarter and that and that’s how that ended and that’s basketball cuz you have zero margin of error really so part of it is having a leader or leaders who are loose and I think Minnesota has that in Anthony Edwards the other part of it I talked to Channing fry yesterday uh now Channing hasn’t come back from three 0 down but he has come back from 3-1 down in the finals yep well technically this is a 3-1 series true right like I mean it’s not like we have to go retro we can just start right here and say how many teams have come back from 31 well that’s happened quite a few times well right here we are and so Channing talked about just the mentality of we can’t make mistakes like he felt like in Cleveland in that series they had made some mistakes and they were playing against an opponent the Warriors that were uncommonly deadly when you made mistakes they made you pay every single time right and so they knew hey we haven’t locked in to the level that we need to lock in and so they did that and obviously the rest is history so I feel like based on that I feel confident because oh I mean not confident but I feel like oh yeah no it’s it’s definitely doable because Anthony Edwards and all that but then the part where like we can’t make mistakes I don’t know so much I don’t know well I do feel that they limited well Carl Anthony towns made a big mistake when he F out last game but they did fix a lot of the things they were doing wrong granted Luca and Kyrie shot very poorly both of them on the night um interesting though Dallas is still going to be well no he’s going to play Derek Lively it’s he’s questionable he might play and that’s kind of shocking to me well they’re saying he has a next brain next brain my ass why your ass because I saw the video man like you don’t get hit in the head like that with that kind of force from that kind of joint right the knee right it’s like knees and elbows right like it’s an MMA thing they grab you by the head and they knee you right by a 7 foot 260 lb plus man Carl Anthony towns moving with force it wasn’t just kind of like he nudged him he’s running in rushing in to grab a rebound yeah boom to the back of the head you’re telling me you know everything’s fine just a little sore just a little sore neck it just doesn’t if if his head were that strong I think towns would be injury report too for a sore KN it’s true I just it just I I don’t know like obviously our sport doesn’t have the same kind of track record as football with concussions and concussion protocol right it you could tell me hey he was concussed a little concussed but he’s over it now I’d rather that I believe that a whole lot more than nope nothing wrong yeah his brain’s fine especially because he was sort of confused on the floor after the they you know what it reminds me of Charlotte remember when Tua got hit and he start doing gang signs and they were like oh but he was fine on the plane he’s not concuss I’m like guys come on man yeah like there’s some of these things you can’t get past us right right I know well we’ll see how that impacts Dallas we’ll see if he plays and and if he is able to play how he’s able to play um but last last game fresh off being declared the most talented back court in NBA history Luca and Kyrie shot they had the it was the worst Kyrie’s worst shooting game of the series uh in game four and Jaden McDaniels guarded him they made that change the the wolves um and McDaniels seemed to think that mini figured something out let’s take a look at this after game one we could win or game two we win I’ll say the only game they really beat us was the last game like the rest of them were close and it was like our mistakes that let us lose but does getting over the hump help you game oh yeah we could probably run off three more now I mean he’s right yeah their mistakes are reason why they lost three games in a row that’s what you’re just saying yeah but it’s just like I don’t have the confidence in them to not make those mistakes cuz even the game that you know he said oh the only game they beat us was game three I would say the only game where you guys overcame your mistakes was game four and you didn’t really not make the mistakes they made all the mistakes it’s just they didn’t capitalize you got lucky in making those mistakes you got lucky that you could make those mistakes and still win right now Kyrie and Luca shot poorly I’m sure McDaniels say well that wasn’t an accident we we made them shoot poorly right while Anderson was on Luca all whatever defensive adjustments you want to talk about that they did you can take credit Jan McDaniels in making that happen the thing that I would ask is in the history of our game have you ever seen not one but two guys that talented get locked up for four straight games no that’s the part right like if everything else was the same and that and look if ifs were a split we’d all geted up right that’s the saying right but I often say this when like like two Channing Bri said this for them to win game seven for them to win that series they needed Andrew bogot to get hurt Andre gal to get hurt they needed Draymond Green to get suspended a game they needed uh Steph Curry to have re-aggravated an injury early in the playoffs then they needed LeBron James to make the greatest defensive play in finals history they needed Kyrie Irving to hit one of the greatest shots in finals history they needed the Warriors to play the only three guys at night with a negative plus minus in the fourth quarter yep and finally they needed Kevin Love to get maxed up with uh Steph Curry one-on-one and to get a stop oh and also they needed Harrison Barnes to be just that’s a long list of things a lot of and but that’s basketball we do what we can and we hope those other things work out and if they do we end up with greatest comeback in finals history and that’s what they did there’s no asterisk there’s no caveat there but if I change any one of those things they don’t win yeah right and that was kind of like right when they signed Kevin Durant and people were like well I think it could still be tough like it won’t be tough because I just listed all the things it took for the cast win and I just replace Harrison bars with Kevin Durant it’s a wrap and they I think they won one game in the next two finals matchups with them so similarly here Jay McDaniels you needed a lot of stuff to happen how realistic is it to for that to happen again and again and again in order for you to win that and I think what Minneapolis Minnesota every every single time I think what the Wolves want to prove is that they can force they can make those things happen they can they can be the force that makes Dallas make mistakes I think it’s way too early to say that that’s possible based on the last four games but we’ll see what happens I think it would be it would be fun to have a little bit of excitement in the western comp I mean it’s been exciting these four games have been exciting right yeah and and a little bit of like oh what’s going to happen yeah you know some uncertainty yeah in terms of the Timberwolves though if they do blow this Which history says they probably will right um who is going to get blamed because I have I have a personal favorite you know obviously there’ll be stuff about towns he’s 7-1 in the playoffs um the team sorry is 7-1 in the playoffs when he scores more than 18 um but he’s been shooting 23% from three this series uh goar hasn’t really looked like the defensive player of the year except for game four um but my favorite person to blame for this would be Alex Rodriguez whoow along with Mark Lori his minority business partner in owning this team has been Courtside he looked we didn’t talk about this I mean he looked Wild game four he was wearing a dark suit he looked like he came from like a finance like Wall Street and he was losing his mind and he’s caused a lot of noise around the team he’s a very look at me Louie guy on the sidelines of game it might be his fault if the W maybe he’s distracting distraction yeah you know it’s funny in sports we always go to like is this a distraction and no one’s no one’s asked that question is it a distraction I asked uh John krinski of the athletic off the Record ah John is it a distraction he said the players don’t know anything they they don’t know and they don’t care so it’s not a distraction but I’m with you in blaming A-Rod that that’s a that’s a fun fun place to go that’s a fun person to blame and and and Lord knows we have much like there’s a lot of history that shows that the Wolves aren’t going to come back from 3 a lot of history shows if you blame A-Rod no one’s really going to fight you on that sounds be like oh yeah you’re right but I think the reality is yeah it’s going to be towns and goar who get it yeah towns and go not ant like ant not shooting I mean he didn’t have like the superhero games where used to him in the first three no because everyone likes ant he’s still that Sage everybody likes him and so the failings even if he’s attached to them they’re going to be described differently like well this is a learning experience for him and they he needed this he needed this to go Vinnie Goodwill was right you needed to go through this for for towns and go bear you stupid [ __ ] it’s all your fault hey dumb ass stop jumping for every pump fake and you stop posting up when Anthony Edward is trying to ISO get the hell out the lane that’s what everyone’s gonna say I mean yeah that feels right Aunt would probably say that to CAD he’d be like it’s your fault ass you fouled out again no ant’s too nice he’s too nice lovely that’s but that’s the evolution he’s got he’s got to learn sometime in the words of Dalton in in Roadhouse sometimes there’s a time to be not nice and when that time comes I’m going to be not nice and that’s what he needs to learn maybe I mean he’s been pretty he’s been explicit about saying but it’s in a jokey kind of he’s so cute he’s so like come on man you got to S like I’m not talking about that I’m talking about hey [ __ ] stop fouling okay yes all right a that there’s a note for you I do I do admire honestly a how he shows up to every game like they’re down three they could go home he shows up he’s joking around he’s loose warming up like that is a gift I don’t think people understand how rare that is in a high pressure situation to have a leader like that which is why I think they do have a bit of a chance well and and the interesting thing is also it it’s a very thin line because on the one side you could be like I’m loose and other side like he’s not taking it seriously and so he manages to walk that line totally totally um all right well we got to talk about the Celtics because if this ends because I’m here but also because if this Ends Tonight the Mavs are are facing the Celtics um and Chris steps has been hurt he might return for game one I just read the thing supposed to be saying this all well he said it he tweeted it the problem is he tweeted it in lvan and I’m not so sure I’m positive my line is that strong so we just kind of have to trust Google AI translation now the problem is Google AI has not had the best of weeks no right like it’s just there’s a lot of stuff out there where like it’s just you know hey you walk off a cliff how long will you stay like upright before you fall and they’re like yeah and as long as you don’t look down you’re fine Wy coyote rules just like the inter the the translation though says as you can see on the screen right there that he’s going to come back for game one see you in the finals so I have a theory about why he tweeted this because he thought no was going to know no no no I think he tweeted it in Lan so that if he is not back soon he can say Google translate was wrong I actually didn’t say that and isn’t there like can’t you edit your tweets now that he could go back sure sure but I’ll say he edited but I think we have maybe ALG Rhythm or algorhythm excuse me ALG different ALG Rhythm different person different person do you think he’s friends with the Google translate AI do AI get along oh there he is right there with eyes oh hey Al it’s been a minute yeah I think that algorithm our basketball AI robot co-host I think he’s friends with Google AI but I also think that he’s been clowning on Google AI a lot because he’s like you just got owned by a bunch of people on the internet Al r l is like savier than that yeah yeah is he no I don’t know he’s ours so he goes off on rants a lot of the time that sound oddly like our producer Gabe but how much would Shaq average in today’s NBA there’s no way of knowing well I’m sure Al gorithm can figure it out yeah uh I’m not Confident by the way that porzingis in the finals is necessarily like oh that’s it SE seal delivered like that he looks good that he’s the answer because he’s been out for so long for out for so long and and like even though I think he’s better at moving defending in space than Rudy goar is he’s still not exactly like the next coming of you know Dennis Rodman or anything yeah I mean the only differ he can shoot where Rudy can yes offensively they’ll be better so but you know you’re right well I don’t know we’ll see I mean I guess we’ll see we’ll see how Derk Lively looks if he plays I’m sure the long rest helps both of those guys and yeah we’re all looking forward to it if the Mavs get the job done all right well stick around we’ve got some fun Clipper stuff coming at [Music] you welcome back to Oddball uh I know I said we were going to talk about the clippers but this is actually a broader conversation this is about the this is what we’re calling the LA coaching Corner because uh Chris Hayes yesterday and Dan Patrick said that it’s pretty much a done deal that JJ reck will be coaching the Lakers um what’s going on here I feel like that happened quickly no it didn’t quickly or what that Rel well no it’s like all of a sudden this is out there and then it’s happening it seems like I feel like it’s been weeks like we it’s it’s been weeks it’s been weeks since they’ve been talking about like hey do you think JJ Rd could be the actual coach um I don’t know I feel I feel conflicted here because on the one hand obviously most of the time when you’re a first-time coach you get a shitty hand right like look at Steven Silas where he got in Houston he thought he was getting to coach hard in Westbrook instead he’s coaching a bunch of kids look at Jamal Mosley uh down in Orlando I know they’re good now but when he got there they weren’t necessarily good yeah that’s typically the path of a firsttime coach uh and in this case he’s getting at least two really talented guys two all NBA players LeBron and Anthony Davis yeah the flip side is you’re getting LeBron and Anthony Davis and specifically LeBron and that means expectations are outside outsized excuse me and unrealistic and the blame will 100% fall on you regardless of whether or not it was your decision right and so like it’s hard enough to be a first-time head coach in the NBA there’s a lot of learning on the job you can be the smartest exos guy you could be the smartest uh interpersonal guy and I think JJ is great at both of those things yeah yeah but there are just things you’re going to have to make mistakes and learn from like anything else no one’s perfect at this first Go Round right and when you’re coaching in a situation with that kind of scrutiny if if this is to be the case then I think he runs the risk of like getting blamed for stuff that sometimes it’ll it will be his fault because of the learning curve but a lot of times it’s not going to be his fault it’s going to be roster construction it’s going to be player uh buying on certain things player ability to execute certain things yeah and at that point it’s like is it like you know do I do I get unfairly blamed for this and where does that leave my career if I get the ultimate blame which is you’re out of here right I do think I mean the stakes could not be higher it’s LeBron he0 he will be0 uh you know it’s sort of Championship or bust especially with ad and with a roster even though I I started by saying those are two really good players to start with it’s like this is hardly we can play the same game I played a year ago and say let’s start naming teams in the west and by the time you’re done naming you’ll figure out like oh yeah the Lakers are pretty much like a seven seed right but I so I think that first of all these are sort of unheard of high stakes for a first-time head coach I think on well yeah I mean it’s up there I’m not the basketball history and you are yeah okay I mean maybe he didn’t have Championship orust when he walked in I guess just the name LeBron add a weight to this that cannot be overstated and so I think on some level it’s really Brave of JJ to do like I think it’s a courageous I I do I think the breach yeah you know go for it and and of all guys out there who could do it I think JJ has the confidence and the belief in himself that could make other people believe in going on this journey with him and LeBron wants him yep so that’s the other part about this right like you have to have kind of a level of cocky yeah courage to do this job to do it well because you can’t do it scared right and so JJ has always been that guy whether it’s on a basketball court or behind a microphone or now perhaps with a clipboard in his hands but the other thing I’ve kind of warn against is the Lakers um more than any other organization M are known for not like they bail they bail on Phil Jackson yep they bail they bailed on Mike Danton and Mike Brown were both pretty good coaches everywhere else right so I mean if he takes a job best of luck to him but well speaking of tyo with the Clippers he got he got outed in Cleveland um 70 million of them things yeah so they said they want to keep Paul George and James Harden um they’re running this back part of me I’m like I think the Clippers are not totally looking at this realistically because all these guys were old this year and they’re going to be older next year and health was a big issue they also had a great run in there so if they stay healthy uh are the Clippers delusional or is there well what are they delusional about like if the delusions are about basketball I would say no they’re not like the proof is in the pudding they’re 97 and 47 over the last how many years where PG and Ka have played for tyo right they they unequivocally are a great basketball team even this year with Addam James Harden and like oh is there enough you know Russell Westbrook Off the Bench it worked when they were all healthy it worked it fell apart when their best player got hurt Qui Leonard and that’s the part where there might be some delusion like can we really honestly say year five year six of this experiment this is the year where he’s not going to get hurt and he’s going to stay healthy like it just sounds a little a little unrealistic also we should mention as we talked about yesterday with Keith pompei’s report in the Philadelphia inquire Philly’s going to make a run at PG so we don’t even know if he’s coming back cuz Philly has a wherewithal to just go out and sign him straight up good for tyo good for tyo get that money uh we have to talk about clip oh yeah because if the real life Clippers are not enough we have a TV show called clipped and it’s a limited series about the end of Donald Sterling’s Clippers era uh Ed O’Neal is Donald Sterling Lawrence Bundy yeah Lawrence Fishburn is Doc Rivers Styles does Doc have anything to say about this uh yeah you know it’s funny because when they told me uh I was getting played by uh lence Fishburn I was I felt very complimented I said wow the Lawrence Fishburn he’s been Apocalypse Now and and uh he played bumy Johnson and hoodlum and a lot of my favorite movies uh but then I kind of saw like Lawrence didn’t really take the role that seriously in terms of like conditioning like I feel like I’m pretty slim DM guy I’m on the golf links every day you know working it out and you’re worried he’s not going to look as good well I mean I just I’ve just watched trailers but I mean think he do you think he’ll do your voice as well as Amel Hassen the co-host of vball probably not but I’m more concerned that he didn’t do the treadmill as well as Amel Hassen all right uh thanks Doc okay clipped is a godsend for daily n shows like us that or playing me we will need content in the next few weeks so we’re going to be watching this in other news uh as important as a new series clipped Victor w minyama i mean clapped back if the kids are still saying that at a troll on Instagram who in 2020 posted under a picture of wanyama he’s not going to do that in the NBA speaking because he was Victor was I mean look what a baby he look 12 he’s like two years old he was balling out in the French leagues and someone said he’s not going to do that in the pros Victor um two days ago commented on it and said why not that’s so godamn lame if he had said why not at the time at the time it would be the cool ever it would be amazing and then and then take a picture and repost it remember this look how conf remember I told y’all as a baby but that you know what that tells me he saw it at the time what if they right and he was waiting waiting that’s a coward you think he had like do you think he had a reminder in his phone absolutely you’re in rookie as here go back to that uh AO let them know this is the most French thing he could have ever done why is it French because it’s cowardly are theow cowards maybe you should read the history books uh you would learn a thing or two about was oh oh that oh that coward oh that oh yeah okay we’re doing that kind of thing oh I see Napoleon we skip to right over that okay um yeah I don’t know I sort of love it though because I love messy internet stuff yeah speaking of messy internet stuff apparently what the Wizards hired a coach I’m sorry what I didn’t even know the Wizards have a new coach who is it well that Brian Keef it’s not really a new coach I mean he there inter yeah I can’t we did a whole show and like that’s a real piece of NBA news we I’m I’m staring at it right now yeah the Wizards how about that remember them remember the Wizards where do they play they I think they play in Washington DC they might be playing in Alexandria Virginia uh who knows oh wait no no no sorry that didn’t work they’re they’re planed to get a bunch of certain kinds of people in their fancy cars out to white people white thanks for watching oddball