Tea Time with Charlie Skillen from MailOnline Sport

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Brian chats with Charlie Skillen, News Editor at MailOnline Sport, about the last week in the NBA on this episode of Tea Time. They discuss the insane Game 7's from the Nuggets vs. Jazz and Rockets vs. Thunder series, the Heat and Celtics both going up 2-0, stupid things people are arguing about on the internet (like does Giannis need his Jordan?), their playoff predictions, and more.

Full Transcript

Brian Bosché:
Everyone welcome back to High Tea Hoops. This is Brian Bosché at the Duke of hoops. And today we have a very special guest Charlie Skillen from MailOnline. He's sports news editor. Charlie, how's it going?

Charlie Skillen:
Very well, Brian. How are you?

Brian Bosché:
I'm doing well. We are missing the duchess of hoops today, Skylar, which is probably a good thing because she just talks about Jimmy Butler the entire time. But she is sadly missing today, but you are gong to feel the spot.

Charlie Skillen:
I'm sure we can sneak a bit of Jimmy in.

Brian Bosché:
I am sure we will. But this is our Tea Time show Charlie. So thanks for coming, our a little more casual, high level conversations about NBA, NBA culture, it has been a crazy week so far. And you just shared some breaking news with me. Do you want to share it with the pod?

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. So Steve Nash is Brooklyn's coach next year, which is very surprising.

Brian Bosché:
Insane. Tottenham zone. Sorry, Charlie.

Charlie Skillen:
I was going to say I've always been a massive fan of Steve Nash when he was at the Suns Zone. I remember watching him, he's one of my favorite player. His only drawback as a human being is that he's a Tottenham fan. Apart from that, I like him a lot. But this is mad surprising though. You would have thought this would be a part of his job. Steve obviously is an incredible individual, but pretty much like every single person who watches NBA has been looking forward to this Brooklyn season, when they get KD back. And everything else that goes with him, Kyrie and everything. And to have someone that has never coached before is bizarre. Just to bring you back to football very quickly, it's a lot like what we're seeing with a lot of the top clubs. So Juventus have just gotten Pirlo, Chelsea with Lampard obviously, Man United with Solskjær. I know those guys have had a bit of experience before but it's an interesting parallel. And it's a really surprising development. What do you make of it?

Brian Bosché:
I love Steve Nash. I think you're right, where he wasn't only an incredible player, two time MVP, but also just a great guy on the league. Like he's always at summer trainings with players, he's in the industry. He's speaking on it. So I think he's one of the most beloved NBA players or former NBA players. But, it's a little shocking to me where there's so many personalities to manage on the nets. I would have thought that they wanted to go after that pop type coach or someone with a little more experience.

Charlie Skillen:
Already everyone got excited. Everyone got excited because he sold his house in San Antonio, right?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. Because Pops coming here, he's going to end his career with KD and Kyrie instead of DeMar DeRozen and LaMarcus Aldridge for the Spurs. But, this could work too. You're seeing a lot more first year coaches come in, like Ty' Lue with the Cubs. You even see... What are some other teams where they have a first year coach coming in? Steve Kerr, obviously came in. But I think-

Charlie Skillen:
He did all right.

Brian Bosché:
They're doing all right with these first-year coaches. But I wonder if it will help because they see him more as a peer than as that stringent coach. And he's managing more of the personalities than this new players coming on to the team.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. It also goes without saying, he's not only one of the most beloved NBA players of all time. He's one of the most intelligent core players ever. This is not a 6-9 guy, this was someone who was at a high level. Well, at the very highest level, because of that on core intelligence. You have to think that that is going to transfer over in some way. And like you say, has he won 10 NBA titles as a coach? Obviously not. Will he command respect from even the biggest names in the sport? Absolutely so. Whatever happens is going to be interesting to see.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. Because the Nets targeted him. They were recruiting him heavily. So KD and Kyrie, must've been like, "This is the style of coach we want, please go after this person, don't go off" Because if you bring Pop, who brings in culture instead of player management that might ruin what KD and Kyrie are hoping to have as a part of the Net. So I'm excited for it.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah, no. I can't wait. We are pretty explosive certainly.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. A little to start off the day for me. You'd have to... You're just in the middle of the bubble, which is cool to see. But we had an incredible lineup of games the last few days. So we're going to start with some game takeaways, starting with the Rockets, Thunder last night, Game 7. There's been a couple of Game 7s, which we'll get into later. The Game 7s are awful, but very entertaining to watch, in terms of play. So what were some of your takeaways from this Rockets, Thunder Game 7 last night?

Charlie Skillen:
James Harden defends MVP, right?

Brian Bosché:
Yes. That's what... He's so hot right now.

Charlie Skillen:
He's amazing. That block was genuinely incredible. That was an awesome defensive play. This was on a night when he was terrible. What did he go? Full for 15 or something.

Brian Bosché:
I can't believe how awful he is in these moments.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. It's definitely a mark against him. And people are very quick to bash Harden and that's something.... Maybe he brings down himself a little bit, but that's one of the big sticks to beat him with, isn't it? His performance in these games.

Brian Bosché:
Defense. The one player that mattered.

Charlie Skillen:
Exactly. And he's the last person in the league you'd probably expect to pull out.

Brian Bosché:
To make that play at the end. Also all dodgeball team? I don't know how much... Is dodgeball a PE sport in the UK.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. It's certainly not taken to Will Farrell levels. Yeah, we know that.

Brian Bosché:
So that last dodge on the Lu Dort trying to peg him while he was out of balance, incredible move there. But yeah, that game was ridiculous. And to have James Harden suck basically the whole game, everyone's ready to roast him and just throw out the insults as they always do.

Charlie Skillen:
Everyone had the endurance, didn't they?

Brian Bosché:
Yes. Ready to be released onto the world. And then he makes the game winning block incredible to see. But what is going on in James Harden's head in these Game 7s? Because he got challenged directly by CP3, with "Some people are built for this. Some people aren't." And he still struggled. I think he had what? 12 points near the end of the fourth and started to pick it up a little bit. But what is going on in this guy's head?

Charlie Skillen:
I think if anyone could work that out, they'd have done it already. Wouldn't they? It's just a bizarre phenomenon, isn't it? Even though people like to bash him, it shouldn't be forgotten, the guy is putting up numbers season in season out, like we've never seen. And that's not an exaggeration, that's just a fact. We have never seen the numbers....

Brian Bosché:
Even in this series?

Charlie Skillen:
Even in this series, and even in the season when he wasn't really in huge contention for the MVP. The numbers have been incredible, but it does get to these games. And just to touch on Chris Paul, how sweet it would have been for him. I know he just fell away finally, but I was a little bit gutted for him because he's done so well this season Chris Paul.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. And bringing them back that Game 6, that set up the Game 7 where the Rockets should have won that game, they should have sealed it. For some reason, Westbrook had the ball in his hands for the last two minutes instead of Harden, which is another knock. But when CP3 hit the couple threes, I think he spanked Covington on his way by, gave him a little slap in the ass. And then he was just staring at Harden on the free throw line, that was a great meme of him just staring directly at him, away from the hoop.

Charlie Skillen:
This is the drama. This is what we love. This is what makes the NBA, these little storylines and just the personalities. It's incredible. And I think none more so than in this series, out of the whole thing, really. It's just a shame that it doesn't continue. Whatever happens, this Chris Paul season has just been incredible. If you think back to the start when no one even thought he wanted to play for them, let alone they would do anything this season. And he's taken on this elder statesman role, hasn't he?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. And brought the young team up. They weren't even supposed to make the playoffs this year.

Charlie Skillen:
He's been key. I know we're going to talk about Lu Dort. He's been key to all of that. Dennis Schröder, Gilgeous-Alexander, obviously. He's been so key to all of that and it's been a privilege to watch him.

Brian Bosché:
And you're right with the drama, with Houston trading him to OKC for Westbrook.

Charlie Skillen:
Exactly.

Brian Bosché:
And then having Chris Paul outperform Westbrook at every stage of this series.

Charlie Skillen:
100%. It wasn't even close to that, was it?

Brian Bosché:
Westbrook was hurt and was coming back from injury, but CP3 he alpha-ed James Harden in game six. And I can't believe he passed it on the last possession. That last one, he drives in, kicks it out, almost turns it over on the kick-out and Lu Dort is taking your final shot. I cannot believe he set everything to set up Game 7 and then didn't just ISO one-on-one tried to win the game himself.

Charlie Skillen:
That's quite emblematic of his season though, isn't it? He has led the team and team in the biggest sense of the word. He's led those players.

Brian Bosché:
You are being nice Charlie.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. Maybe. But that's what he's been about this season, isn't it?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah, that last minute was also just, I've never seen, I think it was a 16 minute. It took 16 minutes to go through the last minute of that game with the flops and the fouls. Oh my God.

Charlie Skillen:
It was painful.

Brian Bosché:
Very painful.

Charlie Skillen:
Painful to watch. But the drama was incredible,

Brian Bosché:
But the Rockets are moving on, the Thunder bounced in the first round, Chris Paul, another early exit in the playoffs. Is he a Hall of Famer? How do you think this is going to mark his legacy? Because you're right, he's done incredible this season. Didn't really have the supporting cast. Is this a mark against him? I feel like he almost earned more respect in this playoff than-

Charlie Skillen:
100%. He's moved up a level in terms of all that for me. Because he is the figurehead of that team and he's shown a different side to his game, in terms of being the elder statesman. He's got the ball back as well because obviously on the Rockets, he didn't have the ball.

Brian Bosché:
Just James Harden, yeah.

Charlie Skillen:
If you're on a team with James Harden, you don't have the ball. And I think he's gone back to that style of his play. I don't think anyone can look at a Rockets, Thunder series that wins a Game 7 and say that that's a mark against Chris Paul.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. I just hope he finds a team where he can win and get some playoff success. Even if it's later in his career. I know his contract is huge, so it's hard to move him around, but I'd love to see him get some success later on. But let's move on to the Denver Jazz Game 7, I'm a Nuggets fan as we've discussed. Love the Nuggets. I haven't been too bullish on them. They seem like they're still a couple years away from peaking and they have played not very good so far in this series, but fought back from 3-1, were a Game 7... Did you watch the end of this game, Charlie?

Charlie Skillen:
I think it was almost more incredible than the last bit of Rockets, Thunder.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. In terms of crazy games.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. We're going to have to forgive Jamal Murray, aren't we? For that at the end. I'm not sure why he didn't just run on the clock. That was almost like his J. R. Smith moment.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. Just like... "Fast break, I've got to go." And just-

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. Like, "Mate, what are you doing?"

Brian Bosché:
"That was something I'd missed, unlike a rec game. Because I'm tired and old."

Charlie Skillen:
Well, thank God for Mike Conley.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. The in and out, so if you didn't watch the end of this game, it was Denver's up two, Donovan Mitchell has the ball. I think there's one possession left. I don't think they have a two for one. Gary Harris who just sucked from the offensive floor, but had a good defensive performance, discarding Donovan Mitchell. He pokes the ball loose from Mitchell, they have a three on one fast break with what? Six seconds, five seconds left? And like you said, he could have just dribbled into the corner away from everyone, they win the game. Instead, they do a classic three on one fast break, passes it to Craig, Craig misses a wide open layup. Rudy Gobert instantly gets the rebound, kicks it to Conley, who gets a good look from three in and out. That was a very make-able shot. Mike Conley can't shoot either, no one could shoot in this game. What was it, 80 to 80? I think it was the lowest scoring game in the bubble.

Charlie Skillen:
It was quite retro, wasn't it?

Brian Bosché:
It was like watching a match madness here in the States with two university teams. But what were some of your takeaways from this game or this series?

Charlie Skillen:
I think it's just a shame the series is over. Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell, that has been-

Brian Bosché:
That battle. Wow.

Charlie Skillen:
That battle has been one of the best I can remember. I've got a little stat for you Brian, you'll like this.

Brian Bosché:
Hit me with it.

Charlie Skillen:
There are four players in history, have scored over 50 multiple times in a series and two of them were in this series.

Brian Bosché:
Holy shit. It was Mitchell and Murray?

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. And then, do you want to know the other two?

Brian Bosché:
Yes.

Charlie Skillen:
Allen Iverson in '01 And MJ in '98.

Brian Bosché:
That's a pretty big crowd.

Charlie Skillen:
That's the only time.... Yeah. That's good company to be in. That's the only time it's ever been done. For the first six games, that was incredible. I know it didn't really happen for them in Game 7. It was more about the teammates. But I think that was always going to happen at some point, it was amazing to get six games out of them. So yeah, it's a little bit of a shame that this series is over. It'll be interesting to see if Murray has a similar thing going on with Kawhi.

Brian Bosché:
No way. This is the thing, this series felt like it's teams that are still a couple of years away or have a couple missing pieces. That's why I think you see Murray and Mitchell stepping up, is the second leading score for the Jazz out, for the season didn't come in. With the Nuggets, they lost Will Barton. Some of the other players weren't stepping up and playing very well. So they both had to ISO win the games by themselves, and you saw them dueling doing this, but the wings are just so good for the Clippers. Like Paul George, or Kawhi, or both of them guarding Murray and double teaming him, I just can't see them getting by that.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. You're going to have a few sleepless nights leading up to that series.

Brian Bosché:
Well, I pick the Clippers to win the whole thing.

Charlie Skillen:
I'm sure you did.

Brian Bosché:
Because I know the team. But what was good to see is Jokic just struggled a little bit in this series. I think Gobert is a monster, but with Murray not hitting, with everyone not hitting any shots, he stepped up. And he came in I think at 30 and 14 or something, but he really came through and provided that next level of support and scoring and leadership that the Nuggets didn't have.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah, absolutely. And we know it's not a premier defensive side, but that side of the game was a lot better. It was a lot better in this series.

Brian Bosché:
It was a lot better at the end, yeah. The first four games, wow. That was just us sliding doors.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. And like you say, that's just the difference, isn't it between a Nuggets and a Clippers or whatever, just-

Brian Bosché:
On their teams. Yeah.

Charlie Skillen:
Their next round of the playoffs basically, that's just the difference. Barring a miracle and I really hope it happens for you. Doesn't look like it's quite going to happen. And equally with Jovic, it's going to be, like you say, guarding Kawhi full doors is going to be a different kind of fish. Isn't it?

Brian Bosché:
I don't know what they're going to do. We lost our biggest advantage where usually if we have home games, it's in Denver, which is a mile high and all the other teams are tired from the altitude and we're good. And we lost that completely.

Charlie Skillen:
It's all in Mickey Mouse's house. Like I said, it was quite retro, wasn't it? That low scoring and it was all centered around a big really, in Jokic. It was a bit more of a team game than just Jamal Murray against Mitchell which was the theme of the first of the first six games.

Brian Bosché:
I think that's what we saw as Murray and Mitchell were dueling. And then when Murray couldn't hit, when Mitchell was struggling a little bit, Denver had Jokic to go to and the Jazz didn't really have that secondary person.

Charlie Skillen:
And what do you think happens for Utah now? Because, am I mad? A team with Mitchell who has really been probably the overwhelming player since the recent years. A team with Mitchell and Gobert, they should probably be doing better, shouldn't they?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. Like losing your second leading score obviously kills you, but you're right. I think this was a very good restart and playoff experience for Mitchell. Because there's a lot of questions of, "Can he lead a team like he did a couple of years ago through the playoffs? Can he be that alpha?" I think he's proved he can. I think the Jazz have to make a decision if they want to keep Gobert or not. Or if they need to pile more wings on it. Because their wings were bad.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. They've got to keep them together, no?

Brian Bosché:
They don't like each other. Gobert gave them Covid.

Charlie Skillen:
That's what I mean. Yeah. That's what I was about to say. Although it might be a bit dodgy.

Brian Bosché:
Well, he did. Actually it's not proven, so don't fact check us on that. But allegedly gave them Covid.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. This is likely what happened as well. There are stories that that relationship's been improved a bit, but there's only so many players of Gobert's standards to go around. If you've got one on your team, you should try and keep one. He's still probably the NBA's best defense player?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. One of them still, especially just the specialist.

Charlie Skillen:
Without question, one of them. If it was me, I'll try and keep them together and just make the pieces around them hopefully better and try and get a game plan that plays to both their strengths [inaudible 00:18:50] admittedly as hard.

Brian Bosché:
I don't envy their GM.

Charlie Skillen:
No. Well, good luck to Denver. I know you'll be glued to it.

Brian Bosché:
It'll be fun no matter what. But let's move on to the Eastern conference here with some of the Eastern Conference Semis. We had the Heat, Bucks start their first two games, Celtics, Raptors start their first two games and the Heat and Celtics both take the first two games from the higher seats.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. Well this is what we see in the East. Isn't it? The Celtics, they're just a play off team, aren't they?

Brian Bosché:
They have really come through. It's so impressive.

Charlie Skillen:
They've just got good players everywhere, haven't they? Whether it's Tim Brown, whether it's Walker, whether it's Marcus Smart, they're just players that would fit in anywhere.

Brian Bosché:
Well, this is the antithesis to the Jazz where they have Gobert, and they've spent money on Gobert and he's the center. And Austin's like, "We'll just hack together a center. We don't really care for that position. We're just going to have a bunch of wings and it's working. It works on Marcus Smart, hits six threes in the fourth quarter, which any team's going to lose to that. But you're right, these wings and Tatum they're really stepping up. It's impressive to see.

Charlie Skillen:
We've seen that a few times from Boston, haven't we? Where regular season, everyone is sort of writing them off, and saying they're doing X, Y, and Z badly. And then the players, it gets to the real big boys time and they just never disappoint. There's just something about those names, the Celtics. For a long time, we had it with the San Antonio. Where you just write them off of your peril and you can talk about Giannis doing this for the Bucks and whatever, but when it comes down to it, it's those teams with the real playoff knowledge. They've got down to Game 7 and they've-

Brian Bosché:
They've been tested.

Charlie Skillen:
They've been tested and at the end of the day, when it all comes down to these games no one remembers what was happening in January. For the last couple of years, I remember reading a couple of thin pieces about where the Celtics were going wrong in the regular season and that, and time and time again, they just confined all those expectations. And for me, they're quite clearly going to get through this Raptor series now.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. I think Kemba has provided that leadership and what was-

Charlie Skillen:
He's Celtics well, hasn't he?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. I think he gained a lot of confidence in the last series.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. He's massively stepped up as that figure. Again, obviously he's not as old as Chris Paul, but that figure what Chris Paul is doing for the Thunder in terms of bringing those other guys along.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. And he doesn't have that ego. So with Tatum and Brown, Tatum's a clear star that's stepping up Brown as super close. But he doesn't need to be the Kyrie with the ball in his hands all the time.

Charlie Skillen:
I was going to say, it's strange that never happened with the Kyrie, isn't it?

Brian Bosché:
No. I don't think he stepped up. But you're right, Tatum in his rookie year took this team pretty deep in the playoffs. They have this experience together and the Raptors were just missing that one little piece called Kawhi. And they're alpha dog in this series where, we picked the Raptors, both Skylar and I picked the Raptors to make the finals. And they just... We can talk about Siakam a little bit later and who's not hot right now. But they just don't have that alpha that's really going to drive them to win.

Charlie Skillen:
But, it's just a failing of a collective performance. Isn't it? Like Larry, VanVleet, Siakam as you pointed out, they've all been pulled. They were two nil down against the Bucks this time, last year or this round last year, obviously. And obviously they had Kawhi and they quite clearly got through, but this feels a lot different. This feels like there's no chance for them really.

Brian Bosché:
A neutral court. So they don't have their home court advantage in Toronto.

Charlie Skillen:
Which is huge. As with the Nuggets, with the altitude stuff. People going up to Canada, that was so big for them last year. And I think it's one of those, isn't it? Where obviously the team was going to try and do the best they can. And they still got some players that would grace any NBA team, but without Kawhi, it was a huge shock that they won the championship last year and they played so well. And Kawhi was at the center of it all, bringing people like Siakam with him. And it's just a statue far, isn't it? This is not your regular NBA champion, building a dynasty. This is something else entirely where it was unexpected. And one of the most incredible light championship performances for a long time. And it's just a bit of a set too far Celtics-

Brian Bosché:
The Celtics have stepped up.

Charlie Skillen:
Are playing better than the team, the raptors. For me, this is done in two games' time. Maybe the Raptors get one game.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. I think there's a lot of luck that comes into these series. We see a lot of these come down to the last second and the first game the Raptors couldn't make a shot. They're going to lose that one. This one, they should've won. I think they played better. I think they stepped up, Marcus Smart hitting six threes. You game plan for like, "Okay, let's let Marcus Smart, take six. Maybe he'll make a two on a good day." But him making six for them to lose it. They had a shot to win or tie, I think at the end for VanVleet, but they just could not pull it together and losing that one. You just lose all your momentum. That's like a fight back. You're one, one, then you're looking good in this series to maybe squeak out a win, being down two all in the bubble. I think they'll fight back. I think they've got a little more fight than maybe one game. I think it'll go six. But you're right. Especially with Brad Stevens being such a good coach against Nick Nurse, two time PPL champion by the way, and coach of the year. But I just don't think the Raptors have quite enough from what I've seen so far, the Celtics are just taking it. It's not like the Celtics are letting... The Celtics are grabbing this like, "This is our title."

Charlie Skillen:
All without Hayward as well.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. We're getting some weird minutes from Wanamaker and some bench guys.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. That's the thing, if Raptors can do it at all, their benching is better. Serge Ibaka and people like that. That is, if they can put it back. I don't think they'll win the series now, but if they can pull back a couple of games, I think that could possibly be the different spot.

Brian Bosché:
Do you think the Celtics are going to make the finals? Regardless of who wins Bucks seat?

Charlie Skillen:
I think if the Bucks, I don't think this will happen by the way, if the Bucks take that series from being two nil down, the momentum and Giannis, I think that would probably take them through some finals, but I expect them to lose that series now. And I think the Celtics here would be a great series.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. So let's move on to that one. I think the Celtics are going to make the finals now. I don't think the Bucks are going to win. The Celtics, do terrible against the Bucks. They don't really have an answer for Giannis, where Bam and the team defense for the heat seem to be containing him relatively well. But let's move on to that series. They had game two last night, I listened to it on the radio. So I was like-

Charlie Skillen:
Very old school.

Brian Bosché:
A very old school listening while I was driving. And I was like, "What the fuck is going on?" That was one of the sloppiest last minutes of basketball I have ever seen.

Charlie Skillen:
It's been a theme. Isn't it? It's been a theme.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah, it's awful. Just like saving the inbound.... Jimmy Butler, falling out of bounds, throwing it directly to Brooke Lopez for a layup to make it a two point game instead of a four point game when he could've literally just thrown it into the air as high as he could and done better. They almost completely collapsed here. And two bailout calls, Chris Middleton, gets called. He shot a three, wasn't fouled, was, there's a lot of.... Kahwi didn't foul, got the three free throws to tie it. And then Jimmy Butler as time expired, got a foul call, then he got to shoot to win the game. But what were your takeaways from this one? because the-

Charlie Skillen:
Was that fouled? The one on Butler for you?

Brian Bosché:
I don't think either of them were fouls. I think you let them play, it's so slow in the last minute. And the refs are deciding the game basically.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. What they can't do the Bucks though is allow, because that's true. But they can't allow that to paper over the cracks of why they're on the verge of another player affects it. Having won three quarters of their regular season games over the last two years, they're going to foot the light... Unless they run around and do an incredible turnaround, which as we've seen is infinitely harder in the bubble. Even though your boys managed to do it. That raises a serious questions about them. Doesn't it?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. Because we defeated them in this game. It wasn't close, the Heat almost blew it, but they had a commanding lead the whole time. They were-

Charlie Skillen:
The Heat just have that number, don't they?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah.

Charlie Skillen:
The Heat have that number. As you say with Berman and those other guys. They've got a plan for Giannis, they allowed Jimmy Butler to do his thing. Liked Jimmy Butler, this whole series, he's been playing like his life depends on it. It was incredible. A lot of his teammates came to the foul in his last game with Dragic, and Dragic led in scoring, I think.

Brian Bosché:
Which is amazing they're that deep. And that's what I like about Jimmy Butler is he can have that alpha performance. I think he had 40 in game one, his playoff high. But then he can take a back seat a little bit and still distribute, and his defense is still... His two way game is unbelievable. And he can let Dragic step up or he can let Herro step up or Bam or whoever else on the team.

Charlie Skillen:
Well, that is playoffs, isn't it? That is playoff basketball. And that's where maybe the Bucks are falling short that they don't have that second gear. Giannis either isn't able to do that or he's failed by the other guys. You don't get to play a finals, you don't win championships by having one guy and four others. And as you say, Jimmy Butler was able to do that for this series. And it's a real big mark against the Bucks this season, even more so than last year when they lost the eventual champions. I don't think anyone thinks the Heat are going to be the eventual champions.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. Because they lost to the Raptors with Kawhi and because Kawhi was there, I think that had a big difference. Now it's like, "Okay, you're losing to the Heat?" Like the heat weren't expected to do anything. They're rising in a bubble and you can't even take them on

Charlie Skillen:
Do you think that Middleton, Bledsoe, these guys, they've been fantastic in the regular season, the last two years, at least. Do we think they are of the level that Giannis needs to be the second and third best players?

Brian Bosché:
Yes. I don't think so. We're obviously not seeing it where Middleton has been playing well, though. So that's why it's hard to say, "Okay, Middleton's been playing well..." Giannis struggles, he's still like a 38 and eight. So he's still.

Charlie Skillen:
It's incredible, though.

Brian Bosché:
No matter what he's going to make a huge impact. But I don't know, like Bledsoe continually disappoints in the bubble. Brooke Lopez is fine, but they just don't have that, I don't know. It's like when you watched the Raptors last year and VanVleet became a killer, Lowry stepped... I don't see that from the supporting cast in the Bucks. They're not stepping up and taking these games like you see in other teams.

Charlie Skillen:
It's the Giannis or nothing, isn't it?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. Marcus Smart drove the Celtics to win. The Bucks don't have an equivalent right now.

Charlie Skillen:
No. And honestly, that is just the difference. And you can get by in the regular season from that. And let's not take away from two things, how brilliant they were in the regular season and have been for the past two years. But you can't get by playing like that. And then when it really comes down to the crunch, when teams like the Celtics pick up, if you were to get to a finals, when the Clippers or Golden State or whoever it may be, when it gets to those games, that just doesn't fly anymore.

Brian Bosché:
It falls apart.

Charlie Skillen:
That just doesn't fly anymore. I suppose the other thing we should say is that the Bucks playoff's this year. And it's going to get remembered for more noble reasons than these. Whether Giannis is supporting cast on the best. The NBA seems quite angry at the minute. And I think they deserve credit obviously for that, no matter what happens.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. Basketball, the reason for the strike last week was because they didn't feel like the NBA was doing enough. They weren't doing enough and using the platform. And you even saw Donovan Mitchell after they lost, he loses a heartbreaking Game 7 at the last minute. He's worked so hard for this. He's devoted his life to this, but then he goes to the press conference afterward and says, "The pain I feel right now is nothing compared to all of the black families out there who had been affected by police brutality, by police shooting family members." And so he put it back in context immediately. And that's top of all of these players minds. And the Bucks didn't need it.

Charlie Skillen:
And it has to be in, yeah the Bucks had it. Having said that, they're going to lose this series.

Brian Bosché:
They're probably going to lose this series. And if they fight back, I'm excited to see both of these teams down zero to fight back and see what we can do with this series.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. What does this mean for the Bucks going forward, do you think?

Brian Bosché:
I think they're going to have to shake it up a little bit. They lost Brogdon, which was a big loss this year. And I think they're going to have to figure out how to build a supporting cast or how they can convince Giannis to stay. It seems like Giannis wants to stay and he seems like he's a little bit more traditional. But they're going to have to figure out how to rework this team to give him the support-

Charlie Skillen:
I've seen Giannis in all sorts of mad uniforms.

Brian Bosché:
I know. It's a Jersey swaps.

Charlie Skillen:
This gets pretty tiresome, doesn't it?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. And we're going to get into that and stupid things people are arguing about on the internet. So we'll save it for that. All right. Let's move on to our next segment. Who's hot and who's not? Where this week I'm rebranding it to, who's built for this versus who's not built for this? On Chris Paul's [crosstalk 00:33:53]. Thank you for that. We already covered it. My first one was Harden's defense. Harden's defense is built for this. I can't believe that's what decided the game. No one would have predicted it, but who do you have as hot right now in the playoffs?

Charlie Skillen:
I'm going to battle you up here and go for Jokic.

Brian Bosché:
Nice. Thank you. I appreciate that. I didn't see that-

Charlie Skillen:
That's all right. Well, I want to make a good impression on the pod'. No. I just think everyone's been talking so much about Jamal Murray, that it was a real reminder of his capabilities. Does it extend to keeping the Clippers out? Probably not. To have 13, 14 in Game 7 to take that series. Let's not forget, there were three, one down in this series. And it's a bit of a throwback and it's not the prettiest to watch. But even our last shot of Gobert.

Brian Bosché:
Little baby hook? What do you mean is not pretty to watch? This is virtually my game on the pickup court, it's Jokic. Throw me in the high post, I'm going to look awkward and unathletic, maybe throw up a couple hooks shots, distribute but he really came through. They only scored 15 points in the third, 15 points in the fourth. And it was mostly Jokic.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah, exactly. And this is what we've been talking about. It's about these other... You can let someone else have the lead, but then you've really got to come through. When it gets to these Games 7, it's all about the team. And I think Jokic definitely did that.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. It's pretty amazing to see. We've talked about Marcus Smart enough. Talked about Tatum and Butler a little bit. You mentioned a little bit of Lu Dort action in the intro. Is that one of your call outs?

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. Well, for an undrafted rookie to have this performance in the NBA playoff side-

Brian Bosché:
30 points.

Charlie Skillen:
Off to an awful game three as well. Yes. And this is like testament to Thunder as a team and everyone rallying around each other led by Chris Paul. He's another one of these CP prodigies, isn't he?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah.

Charlie Skillen:
But for an undrafted rookie to be deciding things in Game 7 in the event of NBA players, I was like, "I can't remember much like that."

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. And he was brought in to play defense against Harden. He was the defensive specialist. And for him to go in and you're right, they left him wide open for every three. They're just like, "Yes, take it Lu Dort. You can't come through." And a rookie in Game 7, this is what we've talked about. These role players, you need the Marcus Smarts, you need the Lu Dort stepping up. Even the Rockets. Covington came through two straight threes, good defensive plays in the last couple of minutes there. The role players have to step up and make a mark because Lu Dort led both teams in scoring.

Charlie Skillen:
That's incredible, isn't it? That's incredible. When you're playing with all these established names, you're on the court with MVPs as an undrafted rookie and you're doing that. I think that's... No matter what-

Brian Bosché:
Against two MVPs and a point guard. Yeah.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. No matter what... To be honest, if he never makes another point in the NBA, I think he's done his job.

Brian Bosché:
Yes. Yeah. I think I saw on Twitter Dortlando rebranded as Dortlando. Yeah. I like that one. But man, he really stepped up and he seems like whenever he drives to the basket, it's like his whole body is moving. I don't know what he does, but he's just like a cyclone of energy going into the paint shooting threes. And he had all the confidence in the world.

Charlie Skillen:
He's a fun player to watch. Isn't he?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. I appreciate it. As a little bit of a thicker player myself, like that defensive stopper he's strong. Like stopping Harden, [inaudible 00:37:51], bowling people over. It was great to see. Go Dort.

Charlie Skillen:
Showers in set crew.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah, exactly. Well, I've now compared myself to Jokic and Dort. So I need to get it back a little bit after quarantine. All right, who is not hot right now? Who doesn't have it? What are some of your top ones from the last week or so?

Charlie Skillen:
You mentioned Siakam earlier. He's just been terrible, isn't it? I don't know. I'm low to slack people off too much. But if Toronto were going to get anything out of this, they need those players to be honest. And he's not being the only one. It's hard to dig him out and not say the same thing for Larry and not say the same thing for VanVleet. But he's just been so poor throughout, not just game two, but throughout and it's emblematic of the Raptors while they're going home, basically this performances.

Brian Bosché:
They really missed the Kawhi's consistent 20 to 30 to 35 points, a game or even Giannis, when he has a bad game, he's still putting up 30 or 25. Siakam at 12, 13, 14, that is not enough as the leader of the team.

Charlie Skillen:
No, absolutely not. 90% of the NBA can get you that.

Brian Bosché:
He's a role player right now.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah, exactly. But they're not looking to him as a role player and that's just not good enough. And it's why the Raptors are bowing out now, as opposed to being dragged by Kawhi. It's almost testament to Kawhi. It's testament to him and his ability to drag the level of a team up, and drag the level of those around him. That is really... Particularly if he wins a third championship with a third team, he's up there, isn't he? Kawhi. That is what separates those players. It becomes a privilege to play with them and they have to be... And that's true of any sport. When you have players like that on your team, you can't help as a professional for your level to go up to heights you probably didn't even think you could.

Brian Bosché:
Yep. Or it's the confidence and the belief, the Raptors said this last year. They knew they had the best player on the floor at all times, which meant they thought they could win. Now they don't.

Charlie Skillen:
Exactly. And so while it's a bit harsh because there's obviously other factors at play, I think Siakam has been the figurehead of that and he's coming for the most abuse and we're going to put that on board.

Brian Bosché:
We'll see. Like Murray struggled in the first couple of games as well against the Jazz and then really stepped up. So I think you're right, if the Raptors are going to fight back, it has to be Siakam leading. And you have to have that consistent 30 point score that the rest of the team can depend on.

Charlie Skillen:
Exactly. He's just got to be better. Isn't he?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. I have some not hots as I've been watching these games. I'm going to just bring them all. The refs in the last minute of games are excruciating. And you see this with the premier league, with football in general, as Americans become more excited about watching, the free flowing of the game, how fast it is, fast paced, it's always in play and football. In basketball, you get four three quarters. And then seven eighths of a quarter, all pretty consistent. And then the last minute takes 16 or 20 minutes, and it's just foul and flopping and stopping and free throws and it's awful.

Charlie Skillen:
It's really unattractive for a casual view as well.

Brian Bosché:
Yes.

Charlie Skillen:
It's bad for the sport and bad for the league.

Brian Bosché:
If we're trying to win over a UK audience here, Charlie, to get into the NBA, you can't have a 16 minute, fourth quarter where there's actually no basketball being played. And it's just free throws and out of bounds plays.

Charlie Skillen:
No, exactly. It's something they've got to address. I know it's something they've been trying to do for a while. And unfortunately, again, we go back to the boxing, what were they talking about afterwards? They were talking about the reps.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. Everyone, even Houston. Houston was all about the refs and Scott Foster and having a bad relationship with Chris Paul.

Charlie Skillen:
Shock.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. Shocker. [crosstalk 00:42:15].

Charlie Skillen:
That's their favorite line, isn't it? We shouldn't be talking about them. It's a shame because we've seen, as we talk through we got so many interesting narratives at play and then there's one really uninteresting narrative which is the refs.

Brian Bosché:
The refs, the fouls, the bail outs.

Charlie Skillen:
Exactly. Now, I share your frustration. Like you said, particularly for UK audience, I think the sport's massively growing over here. I think interests must be growing. But die hard NBA fans, I want to see that. Let alone people that are just dipping their toes in. It's not attractive to watch, it doesn't bring the best out of the personalities. It doesn't bring the best out of the game and the sport itself. So I agree with you it's really frustrating.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. And in the all star game, they set a score to get to that target score, and then they took the clock off. So in the fourth quarter, they said, "Okay, the first team to 150 points wins the game."

Charlie Skillen:
Like the all star game. Right?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. And that became incredible to watch because there were no time outs, there were no fouling to get to the line and to stop the clock. And it was just a free flowing game. So I do wonder what the NBA will do because having your two premiere games both have 16 minute last minutes. It's tough.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. It's no good, but when you think how good that All Star game was, that was so much fun.

Brian Bosché:
I know, that was a lot of fun.

Charlie Skillen:
Beforehand, everyone was like, "What's going on?" I know, it's a bit more of an established concept in the States, isn't it? That system of scoring, but it works so well. And during that, I remember I was watching a live and I was just looking at Twitter and everyone was blowing up about that. And Adam Silver is not afraid to try things, is he?

Brian Bosché:
No. Though we are in a bubble right now, that's a testimony to it.

Charlie Skillen:
We're in the bubble. We had a play in. I would have preferred a World Cup style thing.

Brian Bosché:
The group stage would have been really fun.

Charlie Skillen:
The group stage would be amazing. Maybe the Kings would have got through it.

Brian Bosché:
You can dream.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. That makes sense. Proudly hanging on to the record of being the team with the longest time out of the playoffs and long will that continue, I'm afraid. But, Adam Silver is certainly not afraid to try things and I think that would be really interesting because they've got a combat in some way.

Brian Bosché:
Definitely. And that's a great segue into stupid things people are arguing about on the internet. One of them is the lasting of the Scott Foster stuff, that ref stuff. Another one, that I want to pose this question to you, Richard Jefferson yesterday tweeted, "Is Giannis, just a Pippen and still needs his Jordan?" So what do you think Charlie? Is Giannis not the number one guy, alpha dog on a team? Does he need someone like a KD or Steph Curry to actually get them over the hump?

Charlie Skillen:
I think that's massively unfair. Firstly, he just called him Pippen. But also to Giannis, I think Giannis is a Jordan who needs a Pippen really than the other way around. We touched on it before. As brilliant as those players have been the last two years, those names Middleton, Bledsoe, they don't roll off the tongue as easily as some of the biggest stars in the league. You need those guys in the squad, don't get me wrong. You need those guys on the team. But when Giannis is only making 23 or whatever, you just need someone else to come to the front and that's why they're two nil down. And I think he needs that. It does Giannis a massive disservice to say like, "Well he just needs to move to the Warriors." It's another one like Harden, like the performances he's put in, in the last two, three years have been sensational. I was lucky enough to watch him live against the Hornets in Paris. A lot of people-

Brian Bosché:
It's unbelievable to watch, it doesn't seem real.

Charlie Skillen:
A lot of people have watched him live. Obviously, out of living in the UK I don't see live NBA anyway, at all. It was such a privilege to watch him live and the Hornets were up for a lot of that game, but you just got the feeling... And this is why I'm so surprised how badly the Bucks are doing now. The pandemic came at a really bad time for them. Bad time for everyone to be fair. But particularly the Bucks. But he was just in control the whole time. "Okay. Yeah. You can get up by eight. You can get up by 12. It doesn't matter. We're going to win this game. We're better than you. And I'm the best player on this court." And it was such a privilege to watch, as soon as he got the ball, the whole game just changed. And obviously he got the ball a hell of a lot, but it was always just that feeling of, "Okay, well something's happening now." There's very few players like that, you've got your players. Sorry, go on.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. I was going to say, is this the same trip we had a fan question from Rory Jennings. Is this the same trip where you didn't take Rory to the Paris camps or a different trip.

Charlie Skillen:
He's like a around this trip.

Brian Bosché:
Is this the same trip?

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah, it's the same trip. It was in January.

Brian Bosché:
Oh, no. Sorry Rory.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. He was particularly upset because I got to meet Muggsy Bogues.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. And you got to go to a Rockets game and a lot of good experiences.

Charlie Skillen:
I'm being himself, where he's got a lot of time for Muggsy Bogues. He was quite upset about that.

Brian Bosché:
And I think you make a great point though. It insults both Scottie Pippen and Giannis. Where Scottie Pippen top 50 all the time. He's a legendary player. Giannis isn't quite there yet, but I think he'll get there. But, when you think about, especially bigs like Shaq, Shaq had Penny for the Magic. Then he had Kobe, then he had Wade. He always had that elite second player. And Giannis has Middleton and you're right, if you get an elite second player in there for him, that's how teams win championships. And we see that every year.

Charlie Skillen:
Well, maybe he's a Shaq without Kobe. That's a pretty better way to put it,

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. All right. Next one of stupid things people are talking about on the internet. Did you see the Joel Embiid beef complaining about 76ers getting rid of Jimmy Butler?

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. He was on like a little Twitter rampage. Wasn't he?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. I don't know what... It was-

Charlie Skillen:
He's usually so shy on retiring.

Brian Bosché:
But he just fires it out. Like hitting on Rihanna obviously he's a legendary Twitter follower.

Charlie Skillen:
If there's someone listening to this, he doesn't follow anybody, you've got to do it.

Brian Bosché:
You've got to do it. So what do you think, do you think the 76ers fucked up by not keeping Jimmy Butler as he steps up and takes down the team they were built to try to take on? Are you team Embiid here? Or are you saying don't argue about this and just support your GM?

Charlie Skillen:
No, I'm team Joel on this because the process just isn't working, is it? Again, there's like parallels with the Bucks here. It works and it works and it works and it works and then it doesn't. And Jimmy Butler is one of the best players in the league. And just because it didn't... Yeah, he was an ugly fit in that system but great players can play together. I feel there was more they could do then. Commendably in some respects, but they prioritize the overall 76ers project ahead of who are the best players we can get.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. That's a good point.

Charlie Skillen:
And they shoved Jimmy Butler out of the back door. He's showing them up... All of this is very easy say in hindsight, and it's particularly easy for him being said in hindsight. He's showing them how massively now with the 76ers he was already home. But what do you think? Do you think there's more that could have been done?

Brian Bosché:
I think that I overall support players airing their grievances publicly on Twitter. And-

Charlie Skillen:
So we can all watch?

Brian Bosché:
We can all agree, that's just entertaining to me. They kept Tobias Harris instead of Jimmy Butler. Which is probably a mistake here, but overall people are arguing. Shouldn't be airing these or not? Yes. I think we both agree, it's more fun when he airs his grievances publicly.

Charlie Skillen:
100%. And he's going to, he's Joel Embiid.

Brian Bosché:
He's going to. Every time.

Charlie Skillen:
That's what he does and that's why we like him.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. Any other dumb things people are arguing about before we move on to our final segment?

Charlie Skillen:
I think it's all been fairly unanimous, isn't it?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah.

Charlie Skillen:
It's been a lot about refs, which I don't like. As we said before, we don't want to see people arguing about that. But a lot of it's been fairly unanimous. I think a lot of it now throws forward to these Western conference. This next one in the Western conference and a lot of people I've seen have been talking about.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. All right. So let's finish off the pod with our picks for the Western conference semifinals. We've got Clippers, Nuggets. We touched on this briefly earlier, who do you got in this series and why?

Charlie Skillen:
I'd love to say the Nuggets for you.

Brian Bosché:
No, I didn't even pick them.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. I just can't say it. I'm going to say Clippers in five.

Brian Bosché:
We got one game. Alright. That's respect, John Murray game.

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah, exactly. It's just going to be a different kettle of fish in it, by playing against Kawhi, playing against Paul George. It's just going to be different. Can Jokic do what he did in Game 7 for five, six, seven games, probably not. Can Jamal Murray explode the way that he did? Maybe for one game, maybe two. It'd be amazing if he did it for three. He's not going to do it for four or six. And again, it just comes down to what we've been talking about for the last 45 minutes, whatever. It's just the overall quality. The Nuggets have done fantastically to make it to this stage. And I just think the Clippers won't have too much room.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. I'm going to give us a little more respect. I'm going to say it's in six, Clippers, won in six. I think there's going to be a Murray game and a Jokic game. I think both of them will push us over the edge and then I'll be happy. Then with no expectations to be at the Clippers, I don't want them to gut house. I think we need to keep confidence in the team and growing our younger players and seeing how they bloom. So I think if going out in six to the Clippers and the semis, we're good. I'll feel good about that as a Nuggets fan.

Charlie Skillen:
This is the thing about the West. Isn't it?

Brian Bosché:
It's so tough.

Charlie Skillen:
It's so tough.

Brian Bosché:
What are you going to do, play the Lakers? Either side, you're fucked.

Charlie Skillen:
Exactly. And that's through the whole conference pretty much. There's-

Brian Bosché:
It's rough out there.

Charlie Skillen:
The eight seed in the regular season, that was looking really tough. It's funny instead of looking as a Kings fan, you think going, "How can we actually do it?" And you start ticking off the teams that are definitely going to make it in the West and you still end up taking off about 12. You end up taking off about 12 teams and it's like-

Brian Bosché:
You're like the maps of the seventh seed. Like, "What are we going to do?"

Charlie Skillen:
Precisely. And the nuggets have been a very, very good team in the Utah Jazz. Well, there's certainly been some incredible players. And now it's just the Clippers is not.... It's just going to be one bridge too far. And that is like the folly of the Western really.

Brian Bosché:
All right, let's go to the next one. Lakers and Rockets, Skylar and I almost jinx this by saying, "It's going to be a great series between the Rockets and the Lakers. After game five, the Rockets pulled it out barely last second. So who do you got here?

Charlie Skillen:
I've got Lakers in six.

Brian Bosché:
Okay. A little bit of a battle. What do you think the factors are going to be here?

Charlie Skillen:
It's two completely contrasting styles, isn't it? It's size-

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. More than I could even imagine for any other team.

Charlie Skillen:
So that's going to be really interesting. If one of those stars clicks, particularly if it's the Lakers, then I think it could be over sooner. But if it is that back and forth, we could even see a seven game series here. I just don't think the Rockets are quite good enough to take them all the way. That's the thing. I don't think it clicks quite. Bear in mind, the Lakers are not a vintage Lakers team despite having LeBron, despite having A.D.. I don't expect them to beat the Clippers for example, but I just think the Lakers will have too much on them. I think Lakers and 76ers, what about you?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. I think I agree. I think Lakers and 76ers. I think the Rockets really showed a lot of weaknesses against the Thunder. The role players not stepping up as much. And I think this is going to be an Anthony Davis breakout party. I think he's got to come out. He's a perfect match against the Rockets. There's no one that can really take him on. With PJ Tucker vs Davis, because Davis can actually shoot unlike Steven Adams and he can actually create. And so I think LeBron and Davis are going to be too much for the Rockets, but it's so hard to predict because if the rockets hit 23s, it's over. The three ball is really the equalizer. So I think the rockets could get lucky here, but this Lakers team I think will have the consistency to pull it out.

Charlie Skillen:
And so even when the Rockets do go home after five, six, seven games, where does that leave them in terms of D'Antoni and Harden?

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. I think that they'll revamp the roster and probably get rid of D'Antoni. I think that when they traded Capella, they basically went, "All right, this is our best shot to beat the Lakers." Because if they had Capella, I think they would still be the clear favorite to lose. But the Lakers would still be the clear favorites. So like, "All right, let's go small ball. We have to be either the Lakers or the Clippers, the best way for us to do it is to hit 23s in a game four times and we'll get by them." And if they don't do that, I think Daryl Morey, their GM is like, "All right, that was the math behind it. We did the analytics, it didn't work. So let's try to rebuild this team in other ways." But, I think you'll see a little bit of sweeping changes because this will be what? The fourth or fifth year in a row now where they just haven't broken through?

Charlie Skillen:
Yeah. Well, they've got to see something, haven't they? Because it's another one of these teams that it works and works and works, and then it doesn't. It'd be interesting, but no, I agree. I suspect the Lakers to win through.

Brian Bosché:
Yeah. All right. Rory, not Rory. Shout out Rory, thanks for the question on Twitter.

Charlie Skillen:
Hello Rory.

Brian Bosché:
Charlie, thank you so much for joining us on our Tea Time show, covering the NBA. We'd love to have you on again.

Charlie Skillen:
I've loved it, Brian. It's been really good. I'd love to come in again.

Brian Bosché:
All right, thanks man.

Charlie Skillen:
Cheers.