Lakers Win NBA Cup, Trade Rumors, Surprises and Disappointments, Classic Card Challenge

0:00 Intro 0:46 Scott reflects on what he remembers about Utah Jazz center Greg Ostertag  2:35 Bruce shares a quick story on Olden Polynice before providing his opening tip on his Boston Celtics 4:50 Scott gives some love to Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler who has been unbelievable in the playoffs 6:04 Ross provides a friendly reminder to the listeners to remain buckled up for a wild ride in this year’s NBA playoffs 7:20 1st Quarter: the guys recap the Heat/Bucks 1st Round Series offering their insights 17:10 2nd Quarter: Knicks bury the Cavs & a Miami/New York 2nd Round Series Preview with predictions 25:46 3rd Quarter: The road Warriors get a big Game 5 win in Sacramento. Will they put the Kings to bed in Game 6? 37:11 4th Quarter: Phoenix Suns/Denver Nuggets 2nd Round Series Preview with predictions 51:10 A fun game of Word Association with NBA Champion Scott Williams 58:22 Scott provides an update on his book & where you can purchase a copy

28 Huhti 20231h 1min

0:05 ... Hello and Welcome to "48 Minutes" presented by Bet Online 1:40 ... Bruce's opening comment concerns Dejounte Murray of the Hawks and his ill advised actions after game 4 against the Celtics that got him suspended for Tuesday's game 5. 3:31 ... World B comments on Ime Udoka and his challenges taking over as head coach for the Houston Rockets 5:17 ... Ross is concerned about Joel Embiid's health and whether he can hold up as the playoffs progress 6:48 ... Monday night, Jimmy Butler of Miami dropped a career high 56 points as the Heat took game 4 against the Milwaukee Bucks and put them on the brink of elimination 10:10 ... Ross expresses his surprise that Jae Crowder didn't play a single minute for the Bucks in game 4 12:18 ... The Heat have totally flipped the script against the Bucks as they've gone from a poor offensive team to the top scoring playoff team against a Milwaukee team known for its defense.  Erik Spoelstra has done a masterful coaching job in Miami getting the Heat to this point. 15:27 ... Ross believes the Bucks will take game 5 in Milwaukee on Wednesday and head back to Miami with a chance to tie the series 3-3 on Friday 17:29 ...The Warriors/Kings series continues to dazzle with great performances from DeAaron Fox and others, but Fox broke a finger in game 4 and his status for game 5 is unknown 22:24 ... Draymond Green and Kevon Looney were great in game 4 with combined totals of 20 points, 24 rebounds, and 13 assists 25:41 ... After a great game one performance, Trey Lyles of Sacramento has disappeared but needs to reappear for the Kings to prevail in the series 27:27... Turning to the Grizzlies/Lakers series, we'll comment on Dillon Brooks and his continuing shenanigans that are not helping his team 30:45 ... Dillon Brooks needs to earn his swagger, it is not given.  If you talk and don't produce, you're just a punk. 32:12 ... Kawhi Leonard will miss his third straight game in the Clippers/Suns series and it has thrown the  load management strategy into question 37:08 ... Phoenix needs to carefully manage the minutes of their starters as the playoffs progress 38:23 ... Chris Paul has been BALLING for the Suns and it has to be extra sweet because he's doing it against his former team. 40:50 ... In the Knicks/Cavaliers series, New York has simply been the better team 43:22 ...The Cavs aren't playing 48 minutes, the Knicks are.  Cleveland needs to fix this 44:10 ... The Knicks bench has outclassed the Cavs bench 48:53 ... In Best Bets presented by Bet Online, Ross discusses a same game parlay involving Rui Hachimura 49:45 ... In our "Final thoughts" segment, the crew discusses which team leading its series 3-1 is more impressive: the Celtics of the Nuggets. 55:38 ... Bye until next time TRT: 55:56

25 Huhti 202355min

0:00 ... Hello and Welcome 0:32 ... Ross reads BetOnline copy 1:39 ... Bruce's opening tip on Draymond Green's damaging antics 4:30 ... World B's opening tip on the 37th anniversary of Michael Jordan's 63 point game against the Celtics 5:33 ... Ross opening tip on Jamal Murray's great performance for Denver on Wednesday 6:29 ... Can Jonathan Kuminga help fill the void left by Draymond Green in Golden State? 7:19 ... the Warriors' defense will be tested without Green on the court ... 8:33 ... Ross feels the first 6 minutes of game 3 will tell us a lot about the Warriors chances of winning 10:13 ... Game 3 is "Do or Die" for the Dubs and Steph Curry has had to use a lot of energy against the aggressive Kings defense 15:27 ... In the Suns/Clippers series, LA needs contributions from more than Kawhi Leonard 17:25 ... Devin Booker has actually played well at both ends of the court in the series ... on defense his steals and blocked shots have been big 19:16 ... In the Heat/Bucks series, Jrue Holiday led Milwaukee to a huge game two win with Giannis sidelined due to his back injury 23:00 ... Ross asked Bruce and World B whether Giannis should play if he is only at 80% in game 3 ... Bobby Portis filled in admirably starting for Giannis with 15 rebounds and 13 points 27:30 ... Bruce was impressed with Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and his handling of Duncan Robinson and Victor Oladipo while understanding the need to reduce the minutes of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo in game two 29:05 ...In game two against the Lakers, Memphis was aggressive from the start and had much better energy than LA. 30:39 ... The Grizz were the more desperate team and Xavier Tillman and Tyus Jones led the charge 31:27 ... Dillon Brooks is doing his best to be "Draymond 2.0," taunting LeBron James 32:29 ... Ross felt Luke Kennard and David Roddy also made great contributions off the bench for Memphis 33:39 ... LA's Anthony Davis was subpar in game two but he will have a bounce back game back home this weekend 34:50 ... LeBron James has been cold from outside and is getting most of his points at the rim, but if he doesn't start making outside shots, the Grizz will load up to stop his drives to the bucket 35:43 ... Minnesota got way behind against Denver in game two on Wednesday and Bruce feels that they had to work so hard in the 3rd quarter to get back in the game that the altitude eventually got to them in the 4th and the Nuggets pulled away 41:37 ... Ross' "Best Bets" sponsored by BetOnline.ag concerned the same game parlays that he's been cashing in on all week. 43:30 ... Madison Square Garden hosts game 3 of Cavs/Knicks on Friday and there is NOTHING like playoff basketball on Broadway. 47:31 ... Bruce's closing comment is on the three 6-4 guards on the Boston Celtics (Derrick White, Marcus Smart, & Malcolm Brogdon) who remind him of another 6-4 Celtics guard who won two rings in Boston: the late Dennis Johnson. 49:10... World B's closing remarks concern Dillon brooks of the Grizzlies and how he's competing with Draymond Green to be the biggest knucklehead in the playoffs. 50:28 ... Ross' closing comment concerns the drama involving Rappers E-40 and "Fitty-Cent" in Sacramento 51:24 ... Bye until next time TRT 51:48

21 Huhti 202351min

0:00 ... Hello and Welcome 0:36 ... Bruce quickly recaps the three series that should end quickly 1:36 ... World B explains how load management helped Kawhi Leonard get off to a fast start for the Clippers 2:43 ... Ross has words of praise for Rui Hachimura of the Lakers, who saved his best performance as a Laker for a very big moment 4:36 ... Bruce shows his respect for Miami's Jimmy Butler, the former Marquette star who came back to Milwaukee and crushed the Bucks in game one 5:09 ... World B expresses concern about the Bucks' offense as game 2 against the Heat approaches and Ross pipes in on the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo and it's affect on the Bucks' offense. 7:17 ... Ross wonders why Jae Crowder was such a non-factor for the Bucks in game one 11:08 ... Despite losing at home in game one, Bruce identifies several "silver linings" for the Bucks coming off the loss 14:34 ... The Lakers beat Memphis in game one and their transition offense was a big reason 16:22 ... Role players Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves overshadowed superstars Anthony Davis and LeBron James in the first game of the Lakers/Grizz series 18:06 ... Ja Morant injured his shooting hand and the crew discusses the chances of Memphis beating LA if he is out of the lineup 20:56 ... Russell Westbrook of the Clippers had one of his most improbable "big game" performances in game one against the Suns 23:29 ... The two headed Clippers Center (Ivica Zubac and Mason Plumlee) gave DeAndre Ayton of the Suns all he could handle in game one 26:24 ... Phoenix stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker need to be MUCH better in game two 30:18 ... The Warriors/Kings matchup has all the makings of an all time great playoff series 32:59 ... Can Malik Monk of Sacramento continue his torrid shooting as the series moves forward? 35:20 ... The Warriors always win a road game in every playoff series ... will the streak continue? 36:07 ... Kings coach Mike Brown kept calling for screen and rolls against the team he knows well after being a Warriors assistant for 6 seasons 38:43 ... Both Steve Kerr and Brown are using their entire roster rather than tightening up their rotations in the first game of the series 39:11 ... The gritty New York Knicks did what they always seem to do in game one against the Cavaliers 42:02 ... The Cavs have some young players who lacked poise in game one and need to mature quickly 46:47 ... Ross shares his Best Bets on some Clippers parlays that will make you some money 48:03 ... Bruce's closing thought is on "Bloody Sunday" where injuries to key players cast a pall over the first weekend of action 49:37 ... World B takes Russell Westbrook to task for his antics with a fan at halftime of game one 53:22 ... Ross quotes the great Pat Riley who said "A series doesn't start until the home team loses." 54:20  ... Bye for now TRT: 54:37

18 Huhti 202354min

0:00 Intro 0:38 Bruce shares his first hand insight/observations while working courtside at the Bulls/Raptors play in game 3:21 Zion Williamson’s decision to warm up pregame but not play in the biggest game of the season, World B has some thoughts and the crew discusses the Zion situation in New Orleans 11:58 Ross explains why Kyle Anderson was the player of the game in Wolves/Lakers play in game despite the result 13:24 Chicago Bulls/Miami Heat Play-In Matchup Preview 19:04 OKC Thunder/Minnesota Timberwolves Play-In Matchup Preview 25:19 Atlanta Hawks/Boston Celtics Series Preview 30:48 Brooklyn Nets/Philadelphia 76ers Series Preview 34:56 New York Knicks/Cleveland Cavaliers Series Preview 38:44 Golden State Warriors/Sacramento Kings Series Preview 46:12 LA Lakers/Memphis Grizzlies Series Preview 54:01 LA Clippers/Phoenix Suns Series Matchup 59:43 Bruce gives his final thoughts on Nick Nurse & the Toronto Raptors 1:01:51 World B discusses Kevin Durant for his final thought 1:03:25 Ross gives loves to the 10 players that played in every game this season & why there is an added level of excitement with the playoffs this season

14 Huhti 20231h 5min

0:00 Intro 0:54 Ross steals the tip to discuss Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s post podcast game performances 2:09 Kevin gives his two cents on the Dallas Mavericks decision to tank & the crew react as well 7:42 Bruce uses his opening tip to touch on the Lakers & their chances moving forward 10:02 World B reflects on the Minnesota Timberwolves decision making during the past summer & this weekend 13:55 The crew along with special guest Kevin Winter break down the play in matchups & make their predictions 13:56 Atlanta Hawks @ Miami Heat play in game preview/predictions 18:24 Minnesota Timberwolves @ LA Lakers play in game preview/predictions 24:26 Chicago Bulls @ Toronto Raptors play in game preview/predictions  28:30 Oklahoma City Thunder @ New Orleans Pelicans play in game preview/predictions 31:57 The rest of the Western Conference 1st Round Matchups set in stone 32:06 Golden State Warriors/Sacramento Kings 1st Round series preview/predictions 38:05 LA Clippers/Phoenix Suns 1st Round series preview/predictions 43:55 The rest of the Eastern Conference 1st Round Matchups that are solidified  44:04 Brooklyn Nets/Philadelphia 76ers 1st Round series preview/predictions  47:06 New York Knicks/Cleveland Cavaliers 1st Round series preview/predictions 54:48 Our final NBA Award Picks featuring ESPN Radio Studio Host Kevin Winter’s picks 54:56 This year’s 2022-2023 NBA MVP 59:57 The 2022-2023 NBA Rookie of the Year 1:01:14 The 2022-2023 NBA Coach of the Year 1:03:04 The 2022-2023 Most Improved Player  1:05:07 The Sixth Man of the Year 1:07:54 The Defensive Player of the Year 1:10:40 Bruce shares his final thought on Udonis Haslem of the Miami Heat 1:11:53 World B uses his final thought to give Brooklyn Nets Head Coach Jacque Vaughn some well deserved credit  1:13:26 Special guest Kevin Winter gives his final thought on what round of the NBA playoffs he’s most looking forward too 1:15:05 Ross shows much deserved love & recognition to the voice of the Phoenix Suns Al McCoy

11 Huhti 20231h 17min

0:00 Intro 1:10 Thanasis shares his motivation on why he decided to start his own podcast 2:31 With both a Nigerian & Greek background Thanasis explains a strong similarity between the two 4:18 Having 4 brothers Thanasis discusses his role growing up as the second oldest in the family 5:23 Thanasis explains how cool & special the journey has been being teammates with Giannis in Milwaukee as well as sharing these experiences with Kostas & Alex 8:33 Did Kostas brag about winning a Championship before Giannis & Thanasis? 9:53 Thanasis reflects on the Bucks finishing with the best overall record in the Eastern Conference 11:15 Ross asks Thanasis how he stays well conditioned & ready to play when called upon 13:06 World B asks Thanasis is he sees any similarities between this year’s team & the 2021 Championship team 14:40 How important is it for teams to have playoff experience as the pressure builds in a series? 16:41 Thanasis shares just how competitive practices are with the guys on this year’s Bucks roster 17:53 Bruce challenges Thanasis to determine which Disney character Brook Lopez most resembles 19:19 World B asks Thanasis to give us insight on how this Bucks offense has improved a ton since the All-Star break 21:13 Thanasis discusses the Antetokounbros project  22:38 Is Joe Ingles a fashionable guy?  26:14 The Clippers once again win the Battle of LA on Wednesday night 34:37 How the rest of the West shapes up  41:03 If you were a Suns fan would you rather Phoenix play the Clippers or the Warriors in 1st Round? 43:49 Bruce shares his final thought on Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzula’s lack of coaching experience in the playoffs  45:46 World B discusses the latest Zion Williamson update given by the Pelicans & shares his thoughts 48:14 Ross uses his final thought to discuss Kyrie Irving & the Dallas Mavericks. Bruce & World B chime in.

7 Huhti 202352min

0:00 ... Hello and Welcome ... 0:36 ... Opening Comments: Bruce looks forward to Andrew Wiggins' long awaited return to the Golden State Warriors after missing 22 games due to a family issue involving his father's health. 1:55 ... World B has a problem with Kawhi Leonard sitting out the second half against Memphis due to load management. 3:17 ... Ross is relieved that the new collective bargaining agreement between the players and management has been agreed upon. 4:40 ... Bold Predictions: Bruce says the Nets will win their final four games, secure the #6 seed in the eastm and his the postseason with some momentum. 7:05 ... World B says the Lakers will not only make the postseason, they'll secure the #6 seed out west and avoid the Play In games. 8:35 ... Ross predicts that the Suns will not lose another game heading into the playoffs. 11:03 ... High Drama in the East ... Milwaukee, Boston, and Philly are the top three teams but there's a lot of unfinished business. 15:00 ... Ross wants to know who will step up for the Bucks if Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday have off night in the playoffs. 21:03 ... Boston needs Robert Williams III to play to his potential if they expect to come out of the east. 25:45 ... Two of the three MVP Favorites are Giannis and Joel Embiid but their recent head to head matchup didn't decide anything. 29:39 ... Playoff matchups we want to see ... Bruce hopes the Celtics and Heat meet in the first round because they have a rich postseason history and the teams don't really like each other. 32:22 ...World B wants to see the Knicks and the Cavaliers go at it with New York's Julius Randle healthy enough to make an impact. 37:16 ... Ross hopes the Kings and Warriors match up in round one as the franchises are in close proximity and the fans of both teams will be incredibly passionate. 41:26 ... The "48 Minutes Awards" are announced ... The categories are "He Came out of Nowhere" with nominees Austin Reaves, Lauri Markkanen, and Jalen Brunson. 44:29 ... The nominees for the "Mr Indispensable Award" are Tyrese Maxey, Steven Adams, and Nikola Jokic. 47:19 ... The nominees for the "Leadership Award" are Jrue Holiday, Jalen Brunson, and CJ McCollum. 51:14 ... And finally, the "I Got You" Award nominees are Robert Williams III, Marcus Smart, and DeAaron Fox. 54:02 ... Final Thoughts: Bruce doesn't think Angel Reese of LSU owes anyone other than her teammates an apology for her actions at the end of Sunday's NCAA Women's Championship game. 55:53 ... World B has praise for the Oklahoma City Thunder and their gesture honoring the late wife of Phoenix Suns coach Monty Williams on Sunday evening. 57:19 ... Ross is curious about which teams will be "spoilers" in the final week  of the regular season. 58:07 ... Bye until next time ...   TRT: 58:24

4 Huhti 202358min