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Above The Board podcast is a unique blend of NBA opinion, stats, and culture. Host of Above The Board Kebron Hailu covers the NBA from all angles — from stats and game breakdowns to player stories and league culture. Whether it’s the NBA Finals, Draft, or free agency, we’re talking hoops the way fans actually watch and think about the game. Expect honest takes, smart analysis, and a real love for basketball.
0:00:00
(Speaker 2)
What's up y'all?
0:00:05
(Speaker 1)
Welcome back to another episode of A Bud Aboard. I'm your host, Kebron. This is the first episode of something that could be great. Podcast has been calling my name for quite a time. Been on a couple of podcasts. If you guys ever heard the Teflon Sports Podcast.
0:00:21
(Speaker 1)
I have some great friends over there that do the football work and even NBA work. And I've always wanted to do my own podcast, I have some great friends over there that do the football work and even NBA work. And I've always wanted to do my own podcast, but it's something that has been held back for quite a time. But anybody that knows me in real life, all I do is talk about basketball.
0:00:35
(Speaker 1)
I hope this is a great way for you guys to get to know me and kind of understand my basketball knowledge and how I look at the sport of basketball. I didn't get to play Division I basketball or anything like that, but I feel like I have some great NBA techs and something that could be respected.
0:00:52
(Speaker 1)
And this is all I do. I live and breathe basketball. Anybody that know me on Twitter, that's all I talk about. I even write articles sometimes, and I wanted to get my voice out there.
0:01:02
(Speaker 1)
And what better way to get your voice out there than through basketball? We're at a great time in basketball right now. It's in the NBA Finals. Game two was last night, June 8th. What was going on?
0:01:15
(Speaker 1)
But anybody that know, game one was crazy, real crazy. I didn't understand how game one even came about like that. It's the fact that the Pacers keep doing this and I don't know how the Pacers keep doing this. They're on Twitter, on TikTok saying all types of stuff that is the devil's work,
0:01:33
(Speaker 1)
but I don't even look at basketball like that. That's not even right to say. The Pacers just play a very, very hard brand of basketball and Carlisle got them playing something that I've never have seen. I think they've won four games by game winner now, all coming from the hands of Tyrese Halliburton,
0:01:49
(Speaker 1)
who's having a special playoff run. I can't quite understand what's going on over there in Indiana, but it's really amazing. It's one of those Cinderella runs going on right now. Now can they keep it up against this Thunder's team, which is kind of on a historical level?
0:02:06
(Speaker 1)
I don't know. I mean game one they were down for majority of the game. I mean they were down 47 minutes and 59 no 59 seconds basically. Like almost the whole game. They led for .3 seconds in that game which was the Tyrese Halliburton jump shot. A lot of it had to do with the fact that the Thunders just went way like they couldn't take the lead and
0:02:30
(Speaker 1)
just keep keep going out them every time they got it to 12, 14 and even 15 in the fourth quarter felt like the Pacers kept coming back and kept throwing a shot of their own. I thought Obi Toppin played a great game in game one. He started out very roughly I think he had a couple turnovers in a great game in game one. He started out very roughly. I think he had a couple turnovers in the first half of game one. And everybody thought, maybe this is a blowout.
0:02:51
(Speaker 1)
I think he ended the game with five threes, which is crazy for a bench player. Tyrese, he hasn't had those Tyrese type of games where we get 10 assists or 15 assists. The Thunders just do a great job at picking you up full court, just throwing all types of curvages at you. I think he's having a real hard time right now with Dort. Dort got him in a chamber.
0:03:15
(Speaker 1)
It's like a whole chamber. He's full court pressing him. He's bodying him up. Tyrese can't get a dribble off. And a lot of it has to do with the fact that Tyrese is so great on picking roles and For some reason Indiana is struggling so bad at saying screens. I've seen a hundred illegal screens I mean they had 25 turnovers in the first game, and I couldn't quite understand how
0:03:37
(Speaker 1)
You could turn the ball over 25 times and win the game It just didn't make sense at all how to even came out and scratch that game on win But it's that Indiana magic that's been going on for uh the whole playoffs we all seen it against the bucks series when they came back down seven with like 30 seconds and then the the calves one where they were down what 14 with two minutes left i think was 13 against the knicks with like two minutes left and it's just like how many of those do you have in your bag?
0:04:05
(Speaker 1)
Because now we're in the NBA Finals where this Thunder's team feels like their destined, especially Shea Gilgamesh. This is a once in a lifetime player in my opinion. This guy has been on a special run now. And they say he has the most first two NBA Finals
0:04:18
(Speaker 1)
debut games right in front of Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan. I mean, these are two of the top four shooting guards in NBA history and it's like, we constantly keep seeing Shea Gilgamesh, Alexander being these talks. It's crazy to even fathom what the Thunder's thought
0:04:37
(Speaker 1)
he would be and let alone the Clippers. The Clippers traded him. This trade is just looking so bad over time and how quickly things could change in the NBA. This is all something nobody really thought that would happen, but if you really keep watching
0:04:53
(Speaker 1)
what's going on with Shea Gilgeous, he's on one of those runs, I don't even know how to really describe him. I mean, if he could get a finals MVP in this series, he's in some talks. He's in some talks. He's in some crazy talks. Is he better than James Harden all the time with a ring?
0:05:08
(Speaker 1)
I don't know. Is he better than James Harden with a ring? Is he better than Russell Westbrook with a ring? I think he is. And I mean, a ring right now would definitely make him the best Thunder of all time
0:05:18
(Speaker 1)
because he's gonna do something that they haven't. He already caught them up in MVP, he even caught up Kevin Durant in MVP. I just wanted to touch a couple things about game one and especially game two. I took some notes on game two. Pacers, same lineup, first two games. But the Thunders also make no changes but keeping Kayson Wallace in the starting lineup. And a lot of people thought Kayson Wallace starting was a bad idea in game one and a lot of people thought Kayson Wallace starting was a bad idea in game one, and a lot of people thought that was overreaction
0:05:48
(Speaker 1)
by Mark Dagnall. Instead of just keeping it double bigs, he went with Kayson, and I thought that was genius. And maybe you could fault me for kinda getting excited in the first game. I thought in the first game,
0:06:00
(Speaker 1)
I thought that was the biggest difference. I thought Kayson starting would be the reason why the Thunders win, and we all know how that game turned out. I see why Mark went the KSAN route. Instead of going to double big, I feel like the double big would just get ran off the floor by the Pacers.
0:06:15
(Speaker 1)
If you've been watching this Pacers team the first three series in these playoffs, they just run teams. They're like an AU team. It doesn't make sense. When they full court press you and they run you to the ground on some 2007 Warriors, you know, like they just run you off the ground and they'll go small.
0:06:35
(Speaker 1)
And I thought Mark did a great job by putting Kays on and matching the speed and not letting the double bigs get sped up. I'm pretty sure you guys have seen Chet in this series. He just, sometimes he touches the ball and he just speeds up and he falls and he flails.
0:06:51
(Speaker 1)
Sometimes he keeps bringing the ball up because you got Nemhar Foucault pressing Shea, ball denying him. And then there's times where people that shouldn't be bringing the ball up is bringing the ball up.
0:07:02
(Speaker 1)
And I get why they put case on in there and I thought he did a very good job game to dork has Halle in in a dork chamber like he's literally just he hasn't becoming a non-factor in the series I know Halleburn had that game winner in game one he can't get nothing off he can't dribble on door and and a lot of times we're seeing Halleburn in the corner just standing a lot of times we're seeing Halliburton in the corner just standing. A lot of times in other series he's able to do that when he's getting locked up because you could get a ball to Nembhard and Nembhard could go out there and run
0:07:33
(Speaker 1)
an offense for a whole quarter. We've seen that game win in the fourth quarter but they can't do that if you have Kayson on Nembhard too and when you got a case on a Nemhart and then you got door on Hadley and then you have a rotation of that with Caruso it's like it's very hard for the Pacers to get their game off and and I don't even want to dive into Pasogo Seacoom. Pasogo Seacoom is doing nothing in this series so far and and a lot of that has to do with J-Dub. A lot of people think that second team all defense is just some fluke or something. No, we've seen this two series in a row now where he's taken out the primary power forward for the opposing teams.
0:08:10
(Speaker 1)
I mean, Julius Randle was in hell last series and J-Dub is a lot bigger than people think. I think he's around 6'8", 6'9". And he has the strength to keep in front of these guys. The thing with, no, not Halliburton, the thing with Siakam and Julius Randle is they're not very athletic power forwards.
0:08:28
(Speaker 1)
They're gonna get to their spots, do a fade away, post you up a little bit, but they're not power forwards that beat you by athleticism and that's why they struggle with Aaron Gordon, because Aaron Gordon just beat them up on a glass,
0:08:41
(Speaker 1)
beat them up on the cuts. It's like, it's a lot different guarding Aaron Gordon than it is Siakam and Randle, and that's why I think they're doing a way better job on Siakam and they did a better job on Randle is because the athleticism is just not there with those two players.
0:08:59
(Speaker 1)
Maybe you could say OB has the athleticism on the paces, but the thing is he's just, he's way better on the corner. He's just not somebody you could get a ball consistently to to try to get production. And I think JW is doing a great job on guarding Siakam right now.
0:09:16
(Speaker 1)
I have, yeah, Nembhard touching the ball more than Halliburton in the series, to me is kind of interesting. If Halliburton can't get none on the screens, I don't know how they can win. This is a very tight series and a lot of it has to do with what Halliburn could do with the ball. We need Halliburn to take more shots, basically. It's just like, I think he scored like 12 points in the fourth quarter yesterday in that game too. Why do
0:09:41
(Speaker 1)
you wait all the way into the fourth quarter to take some shots? I mean, I don't wanna call you a stat pad or anything like that, but waiting all the way until the fourth quarter to actually look for your own shots, it's not gonna work out against this Thunder's team. They need Halliburton to score throughout the game.
0:09:58
(Speaker 1)
They might need 25 from him, they might need 30. And if he's missing shots, that's okay, that's fine. But we shouldn't be okay with Halliburton going for three points for a whole full three quarters. That's just too long. They don't have enough to withstand that. It's like, that's not gonna work.
0:10:17
(Speaker 1)
Not against this team. And it's how many players, I think this is the second game in a row where they have like seven players over ten points even though I like that I like the depth I like that but they need more from their stars if they're gonna need if they're gonna win anymore the Thunders yesterday on a game two they went on a 23 to 2 run if they
0:10:37
(Speaker 1)
can't stop these avalanches of runs coming it's not gonna work out for them especially in Indiana game game three is very important how it is, because I could see the Pacers losing game three and just quitting. And you know, they need to win that game. I seen some interesting stats after the game.
0:10:58
(Speaker 1)
Shea, first player since Wilt to score nine 30 point games in his first nine home games. And that's just, that's nuts. You know, whenever you're mentioned Wilt. Crazy, I mean, Shays having one crazy playoff run, y'all. Like one crazy playoff run, and I can't believe
0:11:17
(Speaker 1)
that we're just witnessing this right now. I wanted to touch on a couple things. The NBA, the NBA got bullied and put a digital Larry O'Brien trophy on the court. I don't know what Adam Silver's doing. I mean, after game one, they came out saying that
0:11:33
(Speaker 1)
the reason why they stopped putting that Larry O'Brien on the court was due to player injury risk. And okay, like, not that we didn't see you have in-season tournaments this year with fat trophies in the middle of them,
0:11:47
(Speaker 1)
but okay, right? Game two comes and they put these digital Larry O'Briens on the court, where we literally see players running through that. The quality was terrible. Even the quality was terrible,
0:11:59
(Speaker 1)
and I just, I don't understand what Adam Silver's doing. I think even in the third quarter, that Larry O'Brien is left and then five minutes later they put him back in. I just don't know what's going on. I don't know. Are you getting bullied?
0:12:11
(Speaker 1)
Is NBA Twitter bullying you, Adam Silver? Can they bully you from that fetishizing thing that you got going on with Team USA and Team World? Can we stop that too? I don't even want to get into that today. That wasn't even what we were supposed to talk about today But Adam Silverman, I don't know what's going on with that guy He's just making decisions that that just don't make sense to me right now
0:12:32
(Speaker 1)
Yeah, and be bullied into putting it Larry O'Brien on the court. That was funny to me. We got some key injury news today There is Garland likely to miss the start of 2025-2026 season. He was first diagnosed with the injury on March 23 in Utah and managed to end the regular season before re-aggravating and playing through the toe in the playoffs. And he underwent surgery to repair a great toe injury and will be sidelined approximately four to five months.
0:13:00
(Speaker 1)
A lot of people try to kind of ignore that the Cavs was injured in that Pacers series. We all know that Garland wasn't himself and Mobley even missed a game or two in that series. I don't know. This is kind of interesting to me. Maybe Imani could get some runs now. Cleveland is in a tough spot to me because it's just like, do you run it back?
0:13:24
(Speaker 1)
You just won 64 games or do you make some changes in a team that's clearly flawed? I don't think you run that back. I just don't see that team winning 60 games again, and I don't, especially if Garland is going to miss a couple games. I mean, if he's going to miss more than 15 games to start the year, there's no chance they can even sniff 60 games. I thought a big reason why they even touched 64 games this year was the fact that they
0:13:50
(Speaker 1)
were more healthy than everybody else until playoff came. You have nobody on ball other than Garland and Mitchell and it's like, you might need to get away from the double bigs, but I just don't understand what's going on in Cleveland. I thought that roster was clearly flawed all year. I mean, it didn't trick me at all. Looking through the roster right now,
0:14:13
(Speaker 1)
I just don't know where they go from here. Ty Jerome, are they gonna pay Ty Jerome? Are they gonna pay Ty Jerome? Do you want to go to war with Ty Jerome again? I don't know. I don't know if you do that. I mean, I thought he had a great year in the regular season
0:14:29
(Speaker 1)
but looking at his splits this year, 11 points on 40% from the field. You might have to go somewhere else to start the year because starting Ty Jerome for the first 20 games or so, that Garland's gonna miss is gonna be key for your season and it's like, I don't like that.
0:14:48
(Speaker 1)
Trade rumors, Kevin Durant to the Spurs is kinda heating up right now. Certain that Kevin Durant is going to the Spurs right now. And Kevin Durant to the Spurs, it's interesting. KD with Wimby is kinda interesting but I just don't know what the trade package looks for him.
0:15:06
(Speaker 1)
They're saying that they're gonna keep the second overall pick. How do you get Kevin around without the second overall pick? And what does that even look like? Do you give up Devin Vassell? Do you give up Kelton Johnson?
0:15:17
(Speaker 1)
Do you give up Castle? I just don't see a world where they give up Castle right now. I could see them package the second round pick maybe with Kelton. I don't want to I don't see a world where they could give up second Kelton and Devin Vassell. I don't think they're that dumb. Spurs were interesting to me though. I think Fox, Paul off the bench. I think Paul I think it's time for Paul to come off the bench it's time I don't I don't think Chris Paul is a starting point guard on an actual NBA
0:15:48
(Speaker 1)
team I think it's time to put him on a bench I think he could be a great vet coming off the bench. Castle, Castle and Fox should start. Castle Fox KD Wimby maybe Harrison Barnes if you don't give up Devin Bissell, Bissell at the forward. Maybe Kelton, but I just don't see a world where they get KD without giving up Kelton. Especially by many ways.
0:16:15
(Speaker 1)
If I was them, I don't think I'd trade that second overall pick. I mean, in a year where Dylan Harper is the second overall pick, that's kind of special to me. How many years are you gonna get a player like that
0:16:28
(Speaker 1)
as a second overall pick? I mean, I know we get how good Cooper Flagg is, but I feel like a lot of people don't understand how good this draft really is. There's many different ways they could go about this. I don't think they go the Ace Bailey route,
0:16:41
(Speaker 1)
but Dylan Harper, Dylan Harper is one of them guys, and I'm the type of guy that doesn't care about fit in terms of draft. You know, Dylan Harper could contribute on the spurs. He's that good of an NBA talent, and it's like, are you getting ahead of yourself
0:16:59
(Speaker 1)
trying to get KD at what, age 37? Dylan Harper is gonna be an All-Star caliber player by year two or three. You know, it's coming. And I don't think you rush this Spurs process coming. You know, it's coming.
0:17:16
(Speaker 1)
A lot of people don't understand how good this team's really gonna be in a couple years, but yes, Pop is retiring and stepping down to become vice president of the Spurs. This Spurs team is coming. Don't rush the process, let them grow.
0:17:32
(Speaker 1)
You see what's going on with the Thunders. Everybody understands that going young right now is the way and it's not going old. I don't wanna say KD can't contribute to a championship level team I think KD if KD could go to a team like the Rockets that would be kind of
0:17:51
(Speaker 1)
interesting to me even though they closed the window and on the Warriors I thought that would have been something really interesting and too bad that he hates Draymond Guts because I thought that would have been it would had a great chance at a second ring but I mean a second chance for a ring, you know it is what it is, sometimes you just, some doors aren't meant to be closed,
0:18:11
(Speaker 1)
and yeah I don't think the Spurs should rush the process, I don't think they need to win now, I mean Wimby's age what, 21? Wimby's 21? It's like we haven't even touched the surface of what this player could be and it's like,
0:18:28
(Speaker 1)
we don't need to rush any process. If we could get him a second overall talent and we already have a Fox and we already have a rookie of the year in Castle, I don't think you run away from that. I think you kinda just let them develop
0:18:41
(Speaker 1)
and like I said, I'm a player that, I'm the type of guy that thinks that Drafting the best on the board is what it is And I don't think the Spurs should overthink about the fact that they already have three guards draft Dylan Draft Dylan and see what he could be in any year or two There's a world where they Dylan could start with castle and Fox right now
0:19:04
(Speaker 1)
I don't think Fox is a long term player for the Spurs, but the fact that Fox is on this team, we already seen how good a Fox led team could be, right? In the Kings. But the thing is, Fox has a second option, he's scary. I mean there was a point where I thought Fox could be
0:19:20
(Speaker 1)
the best guard in the league, and it's like, don't run away from that, don't run away. I don't think you go get KD. If you go get KD without giving up the second overall pick, go do that. I think Dylan's gonna be too special for you
0:19:37
(Speaker 1)
to just trade that second pick and it's like, we're at the bottom line of KD career. They don't need to do a win now trade. That's not the route that I think that they need to do. I think we'll know where KD's going by draft night and draft night is a lot closer. I can't wait till the draft comes we'll do an in-depth draft process before and after and we're just gonna talk about where I think
0:20:06
(Speaker 1)
some players will be going and and we're drafting or should they be trading or it's gonna be fun it's gonna be real fun. Got a couple minutes left on this podcast I did want to talk about game three and what could be key for the Pacers and OKC. For the Pacers, I don't think anything really changes. I think Halliburton just needs to shoot the ball more. And yes, they're struggling on the screens right now,
0:20:34
(Speaker 1)
but I think they'll be way better at home. This Pacers team is tough. I'm not gonna say that they're out just yet. That, you know, it's 1-1. Going back home, they did steal a World Game. I'm not out on the Pacers I think I think the Pacers can win a game
0:20:49
(Speaker 1)
the bookies got the Pacers just yeah they don't got them winning this series at all. It's some things that needs to go to Pacers way for them to win this series but I'm not completely out on them. I think Carlisle needs to trust his players a lot more. I think Benedict Mathurin needs to be trusted more. I mean he had 14 points in game two and he was leading the team in scoring
0:21:15
(Speaker 1)
majority of the game until Halliburton had that little flurry in the fourth quarter. Trust him, don't pull him out. Let him miss a shot. Can we see Mathurin miss two shots without getting pulled? Mathurin needs to play.
0:21:31
(Speaker 1)
Mathurin needs to touch the ball. Siakam, Siakam needs to show up in this series. I just don't see a world where they could win in this series without Siakam at least scoring 20 plus. You know, he just looks like another guy. And he can't just be another guy.
0:21:49
(Speaker 1)
For the Thunders, to me, you just keep going with this lineup. This Kaysawn Wallace lineup is cruel. It's like the Thunders are like better version of the Pacers in some way. Even though they have quite the opposite star players,
0:22:07
(Speaker 1)
it's like they both play like an AU team. It's so interesting to me, if you ever played AU basketball, the Pacers are that team, it's an 8 a.m. game, and they full court pressing you at 8 a.m. before you even had breakfast.
0:22:20
(Speaker 1)
Y'all don't remember those days, bro. Like y'all don't remember those days, bro. Like, y'all don't remember those AU teams that full court press you and you didn't know what to do with them. And then they just don't stop running. I think for the Thunders, it's just key on keep doing what you're doing.
0:22:34
(Speaker 1)
Keep case on with this team. Run, run, run. They did a way better job in game two of running turnovers that they was forcing. In game one it felt like a lot of those turnovers were dead ball turnovers and it felt like, it felt like the pacers kind of got saved. It was like at least five to 10 turnovers
0:22:51
(Speaker 1)
that went out of bounds. They just never really had a chance to go on a fast break. But game two, I thought J-Dub did a great job of pushing the pace. I think that's when J-Dub ISO mid-rangers.
0:23:06
(Speaker 1)
Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. But as, you know, I feel like it's a lot of that. Okay Shay, you just took 10 shots in a row, let me get my turn now. But to me, J-Dub is at his best when he's off ball and especially on a break.
0:23:20
(Speaker 1)
I think he's too hard to stop on a break. A 6'8 player that could dribble like that, he's very hard to stop. I think Chet needs to keep being aggressive. There's nobody on the Pacers that could guard Chet, and that's why it just doesn't make sense to me when he struggles. He shouldn't have a game where he's having six points.
0:23:39
(Speaker 1)
He needs to be there, He needs to be a force. If Chet and J-Dub could just be themselves, there's just no way for the Thunder to lose because the Pacers have nothing for Shay. And they've tried everything. They've tried Nesmith, they've tried Nembhard, they've tried Benedict Mathurin.
0:23:56
(Speaker 1)
And it's just like, I don't think there's anybody in this series that could guard him. I think he's gonna go out there and average 35 for the series Now the Pacers could throw zone at them like Denver did but I Don't think I don't think Carlisle likes throwing zone. I think I read something about before the finals They already they only ran zone three times I
0:24:18
(Speaker 1)
Think you you you throw a couple zones at the on the Thunders and try to make them make shots cuz game one and game Two they kind of been struggling from the three. I know we had a crazy barrage of threes from Aaron Wiggins and Alex Caruso in game two but you'll live with those. I think it's okay if you lose to Alex Caruso and Aaron Wiggins and not that I don't like those two players, those are really really really good players. If you're losing the Doar 3s, Alex Caruso 3s, Aaron Wiggins 3s,
0:24:46
(Speaker 1)
then you're willing to live with that. But if you're gonna give up 40 points to Shea every single game, that's just, that's not the recipe for success. I don't think that's where the Pacers are gonna win. I don't, don't live with this thing
0:24:58
(Speaker 1)
where you're playing drop coverage on Shea Alexander with Thomas Bryan and and and Myles Turner that's just not gonna work out for the Pacers in the long run but I think Carlot he understands that that is a genius coach he I don't know more than him you know it's kind of it's gonna be interesting to see what he does to fix this and I can't wait to see what that what that looks like I think game three could be real interesting I got I got I got Thunders pulling out a close one though.
0:25:27
(Speaker 1)
I think they're just too tough and they're just too battle tested right now. I can't wait for game three. I think game three is on Wednesday. I would like to drop another podcast with my friend. I think I got a Thunders pulling out game three.
0:25:41
(Speaker 1)
I just don't see them stopping Shea right now. There isn't a defense for them to go to that will consistently stop this guy. And he's just on a tremendous run right now. If they could do a great job on just limiting the others, I think that's where the Pacers could win a game. It's not so much about Shea.
0:26:02
(Speaker 1)
It's much more about J-Dub and Chad and Hart, Aaron Wiggins and Kayson Wallace. If they could just do kinda what they did in game one and force the role players to just stink it up a bit, then they have a great shot at game two, I mean game three.
0:26:19
(Speaker 1)
And it's gonna be real interesting. They'll change the lineup. I doubt the Pacers will change the lineup. I think that lineup has been too successful this playoff and I don't think you overreact to one game from the Thunders.
0:26:34
(Speaker 1)
But it's gonna be real interesting. It'll be real interesting. Thanks for listening to Above the Board Podcast. It's your host, Kebron. Check it out. Check it out.
0:26:43
(Speaker 1)
You can follow me on Twitter at O2Bron