PMT DB
PMT DB
Nate Oats on Alabama's Run, NBA Trade Deadline, and Sweet 16 Picks
The NBA trade deadline was absolute fire emoji, at least according to Adam Schefter and eventually Big Cat. While the Raptors decided to hold onto Kyle Lowry, the Bulls finally decided to stop being a farm system for the rest of the league. Big Cat is fully in on the new regime in Chicago after they shipped out Wendell Carter Jr. and picks for Nikola Vucevic, signaling an end to the dark ages of Garpax.
Big CatThe Chicago Bulls are finally building a winning culture by trading for Nikola Vucevic
The Bulls basically took the entire Garpax regime and threw it in the trash can today, which was awesome. Vucevic coming to Chicago... I'm sick of missing the playoffs and getting the seventh pick and getting a guy that we have to wait on and hope is good. If you want to eventually be a team that can win in the playoffs, you have to make the playoffs. You have to have a culture of hey, we're trying to compete.
While the Bulls were buying, the Heat were also making moves to salvage their season. Big Cat thinks the Heat fleeced the Rockets for Victor Oladipo, especially considering what Houston actually has left from the original James Harden haul.
Big CatThe Heat made a great trade by acquiring Victor Oladipo from the Rockets
Oladipo to Miami is a great trade. Yeah, the Rockets somehow, the James Harden trade now is going to look even worse because they have nothing from that.
On the other side of the coin, the Celtics basically sat on their hands. Hank is officially throwing in the towel on the season, convinced that Danny Ainge’s refusal to make a big move has left them in the dust compared to the Nets and Heat.
HankThe Boston Celtics have no chance of beating the Brooklyn Nets or Miami Heat in the playoffs
There's no way we're winning. There's no way we're beating the Nets. We're probably not going to beat the Heat again. That's what sucks about the NBA is where there's really only a few teams that are going to make the finals.
The Sweet 16 and Nate Oats
Alabama head coach Nate Oats joined the show from the Indy bubble to talk about his team's electric pace and their upcoming matchup with UCLA. Before the interview could even start, Nate Oats had to clear the air regarding the guys' "Must-Bust" and Tom Crean allegiances by literally ripping up a piece of paper. He's a Wisconsin guy through and through, which Big Cat tried to claim as a win for the Big Ten, but Bama plays a brand of basketball that is the polar opposite of the Badgers.
Nate Oats broke down his math-teacher approach to the game, explaining why he devalues the mid-range in practice by only making it worth one point. For him, it's all about efficiency and avoiding the soft play that kills teams in the tournament.
Nate OatsMid-range jumpers are an 'awful shot' unless a player is shooting at least 60%
It's just all about the efficiency. Like, I mean, if you're shooting 60% on them, like go ahead and take them. That's 1.2 [points per possession]. But the problem is most of the guys are shooting like in the 30% and 40%. And that's an awful shot at those percentages.
Nate OatsSoft basketball teams cannot win in the NCAA Tournament in March
You've got to get to the free throw line. Soft teams can't win in March. There you go. That was a Buffalo quote. I had a few quotes at Buffalo... quit avoiding contact. Get your butt to the free throw line.
He also touched on the coaching dynamics of the Hurley brothers and how his blue-collar points system keeps Bama among the best defensive teams in the country despite playing at a breakneck speed.
Nate OatsA basketball team's pace of play does not correlate to their defensive efficiency
I don't think pace of play correlates to defensive efficiency at all, which you can tell. I mean, we're top three in the country in defensive efficiency. We've been number one for a few weeks... on our offense is one of the fastest, if not the fastest in power five. So I think we can still push the pace on offense and then demand a lot out of them on defense and get stops.
Sweet 16 Predictions
The guys went through the bracket and the vibes are high for some serious upsets and blowouts. Big Cat is firmly on the Baylor bandwagon, convinced that the Bears are going to steamroll a Villanova team that is still reeling from the loss of Collin Gillespie.
Big CatBaylor will 'truck' Villanova in the Sweet 16
Baylor's going to truck Villanova. Put it on a board. Put it on a quote board. And I love Villanova... But yeah, Baylor, I've seen that Baylor team. They're going to truck you.
While PFT is starting to believe Bama is a team of destiny after talking to their coach, Big Cat thinks the mid-major magic might finally run out for Oral Roberts when they face Eric Musselman's squad.
PFT CommenterAlabama will reach the 2021 Final Four
I think I got to go Bama. It might just be because we interviewed Nate Oats. That actually might be what pushed me over the top. But I think they've just been scoring too. Like, 96 points against Maryland, to me, that made me feel like Alabama might reach the Final Four.
Big CatArkansas will 'kill' Oral Roberts in the Sweet 16
Oral Roberts, Arkansas. Arkansas is going to kill them. Must bust all the way.
Fyre Fest of the Week
Hank is mourning the loss of Chrissy Teigen on Twitter, while also casually mentioning he has a gas leak in his apartment that might blow him up before the podcast even drops. PFT is still dealing with his elevator catastrophe and has proposed a structural redesign of all apartment buildings to eliminate stairs in favor of something more mechanical.
PFT CommenterApartment buildings should replace staircases with escalators
Why don't we have escalators instead of staircases in apartment buildings? That to me seems like a much more functional alternative. [Big Cat: That takes up a lot of space.] Same amount as the stairs. I want the stairs to move.
To wrap things up, the guys discussed the Evergreen ship stuck in the Suez Canal. PFT has a few military-grade solutions involving whales and missiles if they don't get that boat moving soon.
PFT CommenterThe Suez Canal ship will be bombed if it is not fixed within a week
Eventually they're just gonna have to blow it up. Eventually someone's gonna launch a missile at it. Take it apart piece by piece. They're gonna drop a bomb on it if it's not fixed within a week. That's my prediction.
Just remember, if Hank's apartment goes, he wants it on the record that he loved us all.
