SPEAKER_00 0:34

Welcome to the Five Arms and Lucky Fin podcast. I am your host, Brendan McCormick, with my co-host, David Soloway, aka Big Diesel. He is for the people. The people are for him. And breaking news, David. The New York Knicks are headed to the NBA Finals for the first time in forever. Forever. Long time. I think we were maybe three or four years old then.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

1999. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

And they are headed to the NBA Finals. Drop your thoughts. Incredible.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

We know the East is down. You know, the the one seed was the Pistons, who that's a young team. Just a couple years ago, they were awful. The Knicks go through the Cavs as well, which a lot of talent there, but you've got an aging James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, who's never really been able to get over that hump. But even then, even if the competition isn't crazy good, what they're doing is historic. They've won 11 in a row, back-to-back sweeps here, and they're going into the finals hot. Now we can always get into the rest versus rust debate. Yeah. But they also were coming off a lot of rest going into the the Eastern Conference finals and they swept the calves.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

So yeah, I think I think people are under underestimating how good Jalen Brunson can be. And what I mean by that is if you look two or three years ago, no one expected this. I don't care who you are. No one expected Jalen Brunson to be this good in the in the numbers that he is putting up. Do you want me to walk down how many points that he scored in the last on this incredible run? Let me just let me just run it down for you, David. Let me run it down for you. All right, game three against Cleveland at Cleveland, Brunson dropped 30. The first game of game one at versus Cleveland, Brunson dropped 38. And then we head in the Philly series. Let me just walk you down here in this series right here. Let's talk about game three in Philly. Brunson dropped 33. Game two, Brunson dropped 26. Game one against Philly dropped 35. I mean, this guy's on a flamethrower. This guy can't miss. I mean, he's posting posting guards up and just doing this, you know, little you know, shot fake in the post and just going around him and doing a layup. I mean, this guy has all the tools in the repertoire. And this guy isn't that tall, David. Everything against him, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

He he's a crafty guy, and always has been ever since college. He's just a crafty guy. He finds his spots and takes advantage of them, even though you're right, he's he's a tiny little guy.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Tiny, he's tiny. You know, I love go ahead. Go, go, no, you go, you go ahead. Oh, I just love you know his interviews, honestly, with um different analysts and things like that have been really good. He he said, I've always, you know, typical, you know, always been short, never fast enough, couldn't shoot the ball that well, you know, basically saying that people could always find a reason to go against him or find something that was flawed in his game. And essentially he used that for complete motivation. I do think that the Mavericks in their situation years ago could not re-sign Brunson. Brunson wanted the money, Mavericks didn't have it with Luca. It just wasn't it wasn't gonna happen. It wasn't gonna happen for you know him staying. But I would have loved load of loved if he would have stayed in Dallas Maverick, but obviously that's just not happened. And what he's been able to do in New York is absolutely incredible. The fan base has just rallied around this team. You know how New York Knicks fans are, some of the most passionate fans of sports absolutely love their Knicks, almost obsessed with the Knicks. And man, David, I hate saying this, but the way the OKC Thunder are currently playing basketball makes me want to root for the Knicks that much harder. So that's all I gotta say.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

I agree with you there. You know, New York is an interesting city, and that I agree with you. Their fans are some of the craziest in sports. Yeah, but if you look at the history of that city's franchises, especially during our lifetime, it's not good. It's bad, it's really bad.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

It's really bad.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

What only three titles since we were conscious, since like 2000, I guess. Yankees won in 2000, uh Yankees won in 2009, Giants won two. That's it, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:23

Mets the Mets made it the one year. They didn't win it, they didn't win, but they still made it. Yeah, I see where you're going. Yeah, no, I mean that's a solid point. I think it's you know, New York fans in general have been a little deprived of shallow for sure and hungry for success. And you know, there's something special about the Knicks and the history of the Knicks, and obviously being a you know, in a big city, a big market team. This just elevates, you know, the passion that we should be able to win, and you know, I could, etc. etc.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

I think the beauty of the Knicks, too, is that they seem to have all of New York City behind them because the Nets, even though they're now in Brooklyn, were they started as the New Jersey Nets. So that wasn't people in the New York, in actual New York City were not Nets fans, they were all they grew up Knicks fans. Whereas every other sport, they have two teams, both I mean, the Jets and the Giants are in New Jersey, but they split the fan base in New York because neither one is in in actual New York City. So I think that makes them unique in New York as well, in that it seems like the whole city's behind them. I mean, they had to shut down the watch party for like game three of these finals because they were worried it was gonna get out of control, but because that's how that's how the city's rallying around them.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Yeah, I just I would love to go to a watch party just once in my lifetime and just see how chaotic and disruptive it is. I would love it. I think I would love it.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Yeah, I mean you gotta you gotta be at one that the team wins.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Yeah, you can't be at one they lose because then yeah, you you go to one and it's just a complete dud. That would yeah, no, you don't want that. You don't want that, but the energy of the win and like the people around you. I can only imagine what that place and that street would feel like.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Imagine being at the watch party for the IU Football National Championship inside Assembly Hall, dude. It had to be electric with the reach.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Oh, I bet that just blew up. Oh, yeah, I bet it just blew up. Man, talk about that.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

I have a question on the Knicks. Yeah, would they be the most shocking NBA champion of our lifetime?

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Most shocking NBA champion of our lifetime.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

I mean, most years you go into the year and you have a good idea of there's these three or four teams that are loaded, they're gonna win, especially the past 10 years in the NBA. It has mostly been we know coming into the year who's good and who's not, right? The only examples I can really think of are the 04 Pistons that kind of came out of nowhere.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Yes, absolutely nowhere.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

The Raptors with Kawhi in 2019.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Yeah, that was I mean, that was kind of odd too. The 06 Heat.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

I mean it's like in D-Wade, like looking back, it's not as crazy.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

The Mavs in 2011, maybe. I mean, the Knicks are the three seed, but also the Cavs were the four seed in the Eastern Conference Finals.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

So, like, because yeah, I think that's the one thing that that takes away from it is that yeah, it's not like they took down a giant in the east, they didn't even get a chance to take down the Celtics because the 76ers for them. Yeah, so uh their giant that they would be taking down is let's I mean OKC's down at half right now in game six as we're recording this. But let's say OKC does end up winning that series, taking them down when they're going for back-to-back titles. I mean, that's that's a giant.

SPEAKER_00 9:06

You're you're slaying a giant there, yeah. I mean, we'll see because Mitchell Robinson, their center, just broke his pinky, is right. Pinky David just announced breaking news, but obviously not Jalen Robinson.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

If his pinky is the difference between them winning a championship, yeah, I don't think they were cut out to win a championship.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

That's fair. That's a that is a fair assessment. Especially because he can't shoot to begin with.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

No, he's like the only player in the modern NBA that still they still use the Hackershack strategy on. Yeah, you're probably right.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

He might be better at shooting without a pinky. Maybe that's been the problem the whole time.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Cut that thing off.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Yeah, maybe the follow-through, you know. Yeah, maybe you never know. Watch him be a lefty. I don't know if he's a lefty or righty, anyways.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Hey, there are some guys who, even into their 20s, don't know what hand they're supposed to shoot with. True. Looking at you, Stan Robinson.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

Yeah, pretty, pretty crazy. Pretty crazy. Uh-huh. David, another thing that's going around in the sports world, a lot of a lot of stirring, a lot of madness, a lot of controversy around this NBA officiating with the San Antonio Spurs and OKC Thunder. And our favorite player, very sarcastic, SGA, a little flopping. And we both know he's not very good at basketball. So, what is your take of this officiating? Because I'll tell you what NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said on this. He said that can officiating get better, of course, but the officiating is incredible. What is your opinion of this?

SPEAKER_01 10:52

I think on an overall level, yes, the officiating is incredible. I think it's if you were to be dropped into a refs position in any sport, you would be shocked at how fast those players are moving. It is an impossible job. They have to be elite to be at that level. Having said that, the foul baiting in the NBA has gone too far. And this all started with James Harden about 10 years ago.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

I would argue that it started with Manu Genobli, but go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Sure, but uh he wasn't really a superstar where you saw it a lot. James Harden was winning scoring titles. He won sixth man of the year. Yeah, you just proved my point. Thank you. And this is a different issue than flopping. Flopping to me, they're not flopping. Flopping is when you're like over-embellishing, you're you're going over the top, and it's it's egregious. Where you the refs, the refs that fall for actual flopping are dumbasses, and they've actually kind of done away with that, but now they're falling for foul baiting. And I have a problem with it, and it honestly makes the NBA unwatchable. And it's not just the Thunder, every player these days is trying to draw a foul instead of just focusing on making a damn shot.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

Absolutely agree with that. Absolutely agree with that. Do you think teams are practicing how to draw fouls? The Thunder are. Oh, absolutely. And you other teams.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Yes, I think everybody is, and I don't think that's a bad move because they know the refs are gonna call it. I think that it is smart for a team to try to practice this, but I think it's bad for the game. The M. I can't I can't go down this path though, because the NBA rules, the NBA rules are not basketball. These players can take seven steps and it's not a travel. Yeah, it's not this, it's not even a game of basketball. You can't call the NBA basketball. It's a it's a completely different sport than if you go to a high school gym in Indiana. Completely different sport, and I'm not saying based on athleticism, I'm saying specifically based on the rules.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

You you mentioned Indiana High School basketball, but you can stand in a corner and just burn the whole you know quarter of the game because there's no shot clock.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

I mean, yeah, we we can we can that is a separate discussion. Love to talk about that sometime that I I I personally don't have a problem with, but you want to see five to three? It I mean that doesn't happen. So that that doesn't happen. It doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_00 14:03

I've seen a couple scores like 11 to 6 in my lifetime.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

That doesn't happen. It doesn't happen often enough to constitute a a major statewide change that would cost millions of dollars. And there are certain schools where the kids aren't even good enough to put up a shot in 30 seconds, so just forcing them to put up more shots just for the hell of it that makes no sense. We can't get yeah, we'll get we'll get back to that. That is the whole thing. If you want to do an episode on that, we can do an episode on that.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Let's go back to let's go back to OKC Thunder for a hot uh couple more minutes here. Out of game five, David. We obviously know game six is playing right now. How many free throws? I want you to guess without looking, how many free throws do you think SGA had in that game?

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Uh I mean, just based on the narrative, I would say for sure double digits, 15. Very close, 17.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Guess how many he made? A lot of them. 16. 16, correct. Guess how many total points he had? I know he had 30 something. Correct. He had 30 something, 32. That is half that is half of this man's points. He has made more free throws for points than he has field goals, David. Yeah. Is the refs to blame for that? Or is SGA that great at drawing fouls?

SPEAKER_01 15:36

He's great at it in that he knows the refs are gonna call it, and there's I don't know, there's not it's all subjective, and he's he's figured out a way to throw his body around and throw his body into guys and and get past the guy and then and then like stop himself, like hesitate. So a guy falls over his back, and then he throws it's all this BS, it's not basketball. But yes, he's he's trained, he's trained, and he's done he's done a great job at it, and that's the brand of basketball they play.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

It is the brand of basketball they play, and they win. They win doing it. Let's just say, for example, that we bring back the days of Kobe and Carmelo, where they were actually physical and they're you didn't really get a call back in the day. Do you think that needs to be do you think the league today needs to be a little more tough?

SPEAKER_01 16:39

Yeah, because if you think about like in the 90s, they didn't have the whole like freedom of movement rules. The defense was able to put put their hands on you and stop you, like it wasn't a foul every time, and it's not a foul every time you get touched now, but it's a lot more times than it's not. And even in the Kobe days, if you go back and look at some of those final scores from like the Lakers finals, or even the the Heat finals with LeBron, those scores were in the low hundreds, some games in the 90s. You don't see that now.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

No, every game is over a hundred points for each for both teams, and usually the winner, David, has like 120 to 140. Literally, yeah, like yeah, like 100.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

I mean, what was the the thunder the other night was 120 something, right? Yes, we are in an era in every sport where they are trying to have more offense because they think that more offense gets the fans going, and you know what? It might get the casual fans going, but I am a casual NBA fan, and I would much rather see a 90 to 83 game than a 130 to 115 game because I don't know. The the rules the rules have just moved in a way to where it's all about offense, and I would like to see that kind of rolled back a little bit. It's the same in the NFL.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

Yeah, DBs can't even put their hands on a guy now without no, it's all it's automatically PI, and we both, you know, we all you can't touch the quarterback either, yeah. It's just we gotta what do you think?

SPEAKER_01 18:24

Do you think you as a fan, do you like seeing higher scoring games?

SPEAKER_00 18:28

No or lower scoring games. You know why I like seeing low low scoring games? Shout out to Haynes for this. Haynes has made me a big believer in defense in general and sports. A great defense is gonna win you so many more games than a great offense.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

I agree with you, but a great defense in the NBA means nothing. You can be a great defense and still give up 110 points a game.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

I think correct. I think the NBA has a lot more issues, is where I'm going than just the officiating that everyone's served about because of SGA. I think there's a lot more issues. What are the other issues? What you just mentioned, the traveling, right? You can take seven. I love it. It's it's absolutely ridiculous. It's like you're dancing out there. Like, I don't want to watch that. That's not basketball. You know, I guess it's really hard for us because we are we love the fundamental game of basketball. That's what we grew up with. I mean, we watched some great, we grew up with some great basketball players who also were super athletic, but also played a very fundamental game of basketball. Now, today it's all about highlight reels, it's all about AAU, and that's where the NBA is. It's just a bunch of AAU older people who are super athletic. That's all it is. There's no defense, and then now everyone's trying to get the archetype of Wimby and these 7-5 people, and it's just like the tallest player of when we were growing up was Yao Ming. And now everyone wants a Yao Ming.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Yeah, dude, and Yao Ming was a it was a statue back there. He wasn't he was just he wasn't moving, just backing you down in the post, and he yeah, he wasn't moving, he wasn't playing the perimeter.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

And I'm all about the game, you know, elevating, you know, growing bigger and coming more worldwide, and these great European players. I'm all for that, but at the same time, you have to go you have to go back to the roots of the game of basketball, like, and everyone, I think everyone in in the sports world would agree with us. I mean, you watch all these different, you know, today NBA highlight reels, and it's terrible, it's just soft. It's like, oh, the guy got by me, let him dunk. Like, it's just it's all about looking good on the offensive side of the ball. No one wants to get gritty in someone's face. I think that speaks to somewhat of the Knicks because I feel like the Knicks are one one one of the more physical teams in the NBA today. I think that's why I also like them. They're a little more physical. Yes, you have Towns down low who's a little he's a little soft in my opinion for a big guy. But at the same time, they they do they do play some defense. Like, and so if you look at the past, you know, scoring games for the Knicks, yes, there's been multiple hundred-point games, but it's low hundreds, high nineties, and middle nineties of games that they won against. So it's just it's a really sad point of the NBA, and I agree with a lot of people that just say this is a horrible league. And if you look at viewership, the only reason why it increased, and we've talked about this, was because it's on you know national TV now, it's easy to watch it.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Yeah, if you look back at the past 15, 10, 15 years, MLB. B was trending way down. And NBA was trending way up. And in the past few years, it has completely it's completely gone the other way. And I think a lot of that is the NBA. If you turn on an NBA game, if my if my dad were to turn on an NBA game, which there's he's not watching an NBA game, if he were to turn that on and see the these dudes taking four steps and then throwing up 63s a game, he wouldn't watch.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

No, I I agree with you. And I think you have to be a loyal, a loyal fan for an NBA team to stick with watching this league.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Like I think if I was a loyal fan, if I was a if I had been a Pacers fan, you know, growing up, I think I'd probably still watch them because I'd have an allegiance to the team. But me as someone who doesn't have a team, I have no interest in watching the sport. Yeah, it's got do so and I'll I'll throw it on from time to time. It's the playoffs. No, like it's this is still history in the making. We're gonna look back 20 years from now and be like, wow, the Thunder won two titles in a row, and we might not even remember the talking point of SGA getting to the free throw line a lot. It's just gonna be part of his legacy and part of the franchise's legacy. We might, it's pretty egregious right now. You're right. It it might even lead to rule changes. So, but it's still, you know, it's still a sport that still a sport that that I can win. So it's really not that bad of a sport to throw on and watch the playoffs because it does have an impact on the way the game's gonna play out in the future.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

Yeah, yeah. I I just think finally something needs to be done, and Adam Silver saying that basically it's good, everything's great.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Yeah, that's not the problem is he's not the solution, they need a new commissioner. Everybody hated David Stern back in the day. Oh Adam, Adam Silver has tanked the reputation of the NBA.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Ooh, tanks. Yeah, I think I think most sports people would absolutely agree with you. Absolutely agree with you on that. Real quick, David. Our guy, Brendan Soresby, has been denied of coming back in to play this season. Obviously, he is appealing this of the decision. But what what do you think is gonna move happen to move forward? Do you think he'll be drafted in the supplemental NF NFL draft? Or is his career just absolutely done? Is he going to the Canadian Football League? Like, what do you think his next steps are if he can't play college football anymore?

SPEAKER_01 24:55

I think his only real option is gonna be supplemental draft, see if a team wants him, which I don't really think he's that desirable of an NFL quarterback, but I'm sure someone would take a chance on him. You know, he's been a he was a successful quarterback in Cincinnati. Uh, but yeah, it looks like he's got another court date uh next week. So we'll see what happens there. The NCAA has ruled him ineligible, so he's gonna have to win it through the courts, and time's running out to enter the supplemental draft as well. So he he may come to a crossroads where he's gonna have to make a decision. Yeah, we'll see. I mean, end of the day, gambling is such a big thing in American culture now since it became legalized outside of Nevada. Correct. But if you are betting on your own team, I don't care that he was betting on all this other shit. If you're betting on your own team, on your on a game you theoretically could have played in, I don't think you should be allowed to play that sport anymore. Even if you go through rehab like you did.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

I I agree with you. I completely agree with you. It's it's different because yes, I get the reason why he did it, but at the same time, you are betting an outcome. I feel like if you are betting an outcome in general, the team that you're on, too, like I agree with you. Like it's you're done.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

It's just and I think this is a lot different than like those NBA players who are are telling people to take their unders and then coming out of a game early. That is just manipulating it to a whole different level. Yeah, but this was always the argument with Pete Rose, too, is Pete Rose always said he was betting on his own team. So why does it matter if I'm just betting on my own team? Well, it does change the way that you manage a game or play in a game. If Sorceby's playing in that game and and he's got a bet on his own team, and they're up seven, he might make a different decision than if he didn't have any money on the game. So it it there's layers to it that even if you're betting on your own team, it's still ruining the integrity of the game. And especially with how many of these stories we've seen lately, it is very important to keep the integrity of the game in hand.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Yeah. Yes, I am with you. I'm with you, and I agree. Real quick, David, let's talk on the Josh Jacobs arrest uh relating to domestic violence. Looks like that uh he turned himself in and denied the allegations, but I guess that the Packers are now facing the biggest problem, and it looks like he's predicted to get four to eight games uh suspended. Do you think that should be longer?

SPEAKER_01 28:00

It's hard to tell without knowing exactly what happened here. Yeah, but they do seem to have set a precedent. Ever since they made the Ray Rice ruling, well, I think it was two games originally, and then the video in the elevator came out and they upped it to a full season, I believe. I think that's what happened. I believe you're right. Feels like I feel like it was a full season, but ever since that incident, the NFL has come down really hard on this type of stuff. So I would guess even if it doesn't go to trial, if the charges are dropped, there will still be some sort of suspension of you know, six games, something like that.

SPEAKER_00 28:45

Yeah, uh it was a whole season. He had to reinstate to the NFL. You were current you were correct on that. Yeah, it's you know, I feel like it's hard to make a ruling when you need all the evidence. It's almost like, you know, you don't know the full story. So I do think I do think we just have to wait to see what all happens. Do you think Green Bay will release him?

SPEAKER_01 29:15

I can't imagine so. The NFL, there's this type stuff every year, and these players don't get in every sport. I mean, it happens in baseball too. There's guys who have had domestic violence, domestic abuse type stuff, and still get a job. So if you're still a winning player and you can contribute to a team winning some football games, then they're gonna take a chance on you.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

What do you think about their Super Bowl chances with all this going on? Packers are definitely a playoff team. I wouldn't say they're front of the pack for a Super Bowl contender, but I feel like the NFL is pretty open this year. So not saying the Packers have a great chance, but not saying they don't. I think they'll definitely be in the playoff race.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

Yeah, totally agree. They've been in there in the playoff race every year. Yeah. And yeah, he was a big, big piece for them last year. He's their starting running back. And Jordan Love, while he's a good quarterback, I would say a top half of the league quarterback, trending on like top 10, top 12 sometimes. Yeah. It's still he's the type of guy who needs a complimentary run game in order to be that successful quarterback because he's not the type of guy that you're just gonna put it all in his shoulders, uh Patrick Mahomes. So this could this could knock them down a peg, but I'm sure they got a running back room that's ready to split carries and still make a pretty pretty decent impact.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

Yeah, yeah. Yep. Well, it'll be interesting to see what progresses in Green Bay moving forward. Interesting to see at the NFL um what their exact ruling is with the punishment. So really, really interested to see what happens in the future. But we appreciate you guys tuning in, listening. Always appreciate you guys' support. Give us a follow on X, Instagram, 5LF Podcasts, and TikTok. Also YouTube, five arms and a lucky fin. Just google it, uh, subscribe, comment, like would mean the world to us. We will see you guys in the next one and give us a five-star review on Spotify if you might don't mind. Peace. Five arms and lucky.