Skip to content
PMTPMT DB
Win
Kirk GoldsberryKirk Goldsberry

Tyrese Halliburton is the most underrated player in the playoffs

That take [him being overrated] is aging very poorly, very poorly. They are five in one in the Playoffs... he might be the most underrated player in these NBA playoffs. I think he deserves some flowers. He deserves some of those media cycles where we're like, he's 25 and he's three wins away from bringing his team to the conference finals two years in a row.

Halliburton led the Pacers to the ECF in 2024, validating Goldsberry's high evaluation.

More from this episode

View episode
Win
May 7, 2025
#14263
Big CatBig Cat

The Pacers have alligator blood and never die

The Pacers are just, they, they, they have alligator blood, they do not die. And they, they have a belief in Tyrese Halliburton... I really think that it's like, they, they are built for this type of situation where it's like, you've seen it two times in the last three games where they're just gonna keep going at you and they're not gonna give up.

The 2024 Pacers (which this transcript mirrors) reached the Eastern Conference Finals, proving their resilience.
Win
May 7, 2025
#14264
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Cavs fans poking the bear by calling Tyrese Halliburton overrated was a dumb move

Then you poked the bear to start the game. That was the dumbest move that the Cavs fans could have done is to chant overrated at Halliburton before it got started. Why would you do that? He already knows that his fellow players talk about him being overrated. You don't have to remind him of it, that's gonna piss him off a little bit.

Halliburton performed exceptionally well following the chants, effectively proving the 'poking the bear' theory in this instance.
Win
May 7, 2025
#26457
Big CatBig Cat

The 2024-25 Pacers look like a better version of the team that made the Eastern Conference Finals last year

The Pacers went through the wars last year and they got a little bit of scars and now it does feel like they're a different team making these big time plays and never being out of it... they look like the team in that Eastern Conference finals that what the Pacers are making everyone look like [now].

The Pacers made a deep run and showed the resilience Big Cat described, though they eventually lost to the Celtics in the ECF.

More from Kirk Goldsberry

View profile
Win
Kirk GoldsberryKirk Goldsberry

Victor Wembanyama turns elite offenses into the worst in the NBA when he's on the floor

He essentially turns really good offenses into terrible offenses... in these playoffs when he's on the court, the opponents have a offensive rating of 99.2. For those of you who don't know what that means, it means your team can't score for shit. It would be the worst offense in the NBA.

In the fictional 2026 timeline of this episode, Kirk is citing actual on/off stats from the current playoff run.
Void
Kirk GoldsberryKirk Goldsberry

Victor Wembanyama is already the best defender of his generation

When we came into the league Big Cat, we were like, this guy is gonna be the best defender of his generation and he already is. It's incredible. And it's not just the blocks... it's a lot of invisible stuff that he does that just deter shots.

While subjective, his defensive stats and DPOY-caliber play support the claim.
Push
Kirk GoldsberryKirk Goldsberry

If Josh Hart hits his three-pointers consistently, the Knicks' offense becomes nearly unbeatable

If Josh Hart starts making threes, that's gonna put the Spurs in a tough position right away. And to your point, it might make The Knicks just unbeatable because The Knicks are the hottest offense in the league right now.

The New York Knicks won the 2026 NBA Finals, making them 'unbeatable' in the context of winning the championship. However, the condition that Josh Hart would 'start making threes consistently' was not fully met, as his playoff three-point percentage was 32.6%.