Life as a Basketball GM: Michael Illiano on 2016 NBA Season, TBT

What’s up everybody? This is Fred roshani of TSC News here with my old friend Michael ileana for any long time tsc listeners and in the past readers, you may know Mike as our former NBA analyst. He wrote some pretty informative and at times controversial articles such as the top 50 NBA players of all time Michael jordan vs lebron jordan vs kobe among many other pieces of great work and now Michaels involved as the GM of the popular team 23 and TBT the basketball tournament which you may have seen air on ESPN the last couple of years easier to talk about TBT team 23 and of course everything going on in the NBA Mike what’s going on my man, how you doing I’m doing.

Okay. It’s getting a little bit colder your nice warm Arizona. I’m supremely jealous of you, but other than that. I can’t complain. Yep. It’s basketball season again. That never stopped? Oh, yeah. Now Mike before we get to everything going on in the NBA I did mention the TBT you tell fans a little bit about that might not be familiar with it ah basically the TBT stands for the basketball tournament simple title. It was founded by John mugre and his best friend Dan friel aah the concept started where it was a winner-take-all $500,000 money tournament that was 2014 I got wind of it on in 2015 I heard about it at first.

I thought it was fake. Oh my god, this can’t be real, you know, they upped the price to a million dollars. And I thought to myself, I’m like ah, you know, I just don’t know. Then I found out it was real the games were going to be on ESPN and espn2. So, I decided to throw my hat in the ring with a lot of the guys that I know well at a 90 17. We were just, we were the 13 seed in our region and we all the way to the championship only to lose by two points 15 call overseas elite who ended up winning it again this past year.

So, they’ve now collected three million dollars in two years. So, we were kind of like the Cinderella story you guys were and yeah, I’d say you still are because you’re a bunch of guys I kind of overcame the odds. And in your own respective lives and did your thing came together nearly won a million dollars in the inaugural TBT and you’re a guy that I’ve known for a long time I’ve always said Mike get involved in basketball get involved in personnel decisions get involved in the NBA or any kind of other league it for years and years. I bugged you to do it and you’re like and maybe what made you finally decide to get involved and do hell of a job with team 23 because team 23 was my own creation, you know, I never really wanted to work for anyone else and any sort of in corporate environment, you know, if you can’t call me be like, oh, here’s a job on ESPN as I am like it’s not that interesting to me.

It did, you know, this is a creative process and now I’m kind of turning team 23 into a non-profit. It’s kind of morphed into its own thing through popularity. So, you know, how it is when you create something it means like a hundred times more that it that is true. That is certainly true. And with team, 23. This is your first gig as far as being a GM. I know you’ve kind of worked a little bit as far as scout and goes and even before you got involved in making personnel decisions. I know you’ve always been really good at evaluating talent, I’m an armchair quarterback, right?

I’m sitting around I could tell the Sixers or another team had to make their personnel decisions, but on the inside it’s a lot. It’s a lot different? What are some differences that you see on the inside that you didn’t notice on the outside ah. I think you have to have a game plan, I think a lot of GM’s they don’t have game plan, you know, it’s fishing the NBA’s moniker, you know, you draft guys based on potential. And then you develop them, you know, especially now guys come at the college one year. It’s like you’re dealing with a 19 year old kid. I mean remember how you were mentally at 19 years old.

I mean, think about these guys what they’re handed. I think that veterans are completely undervalued, you know guys who have been through Wars like you just see the situation with Jonathan Simmons, you know, for the Spurs. He’s 27 years old. I mean, he looks phenomenal on opening night because that guy. He’s battle-tested some guys they don’t peak until their 27 28 and I think that’s one of the biggest mistake the NBA makes is they’re so into development that they don’t realize there’s a lot of great players that kind of patch them up because of this and it hurts the product of the league and you would think to with the d-league and it looks like they’re gonna be going towards this direction anyway.

But you would think they use the d-league as you know, development. I mean, that’s what the d-league is for its to develop players. So, if you have a draft pick and you want somebody to make an immediate impact. I mean once you look at some veteran players or once you’d be open to using some pliers that may be kind of slipped through the cracks like that guy who’s 27 years old 28 years old. Maybe some dance little bit younger its hat or national experience why do you feel like there’s such a stigma when it comes to veteran players or guys that maybe don’t necessarily fit right away.

Well, let like I said get certain guys, they just develop later. I think the Developmental League one agent called it the redheaded stepchild to the old CBA like it just it the Developmental League it really kind of serves. No purpose, you know, we were all pretending that it does because all of these guys get on-the-job training. All right, the purpose of the Developmental League serves is just the thirty thousand dollar your paycheck for guys who need it and a lot of those guys are just lifetime d-league I and most of the really good Americans know that I could go to Europe and make six figures or I can stay here and play in the d-league and make nothing.

I mean, that’s it. That’s a no brainer you go to Europe, you know, in a heartbeat. So, what are you really getting as a d-league like it’s not quality basketball, you know, they’re not sending down young guys the way they do in the minors in baseball, you know that they say they do. But I mean, most of those guys if they’re gonna play, they’re just going to play on their protein. So, the d-league it needs to change its format a little and it is there a way immediately that it can change to make it better and actually make it more of kind of like an NBA junior similar to college basketball or similar to one of the high quality euro leagues as opposed to being the redheaded stepchild or do you think it’s just going to take time.

I mean, is it as simple as say, hey, increasing the minimum salary and encouraging players to go to the d-league as opposed to Europe or is it going to take a lot more steps than that it. I think off the bat it takes two things off the bat one thing they’re doing right now is they’re trying to get every NBA team its own d-league affiliate, you know for a while there were like four teams that would share one d-league team. So Adam Silver’s making the right moves as far as expanding the d-league in that sense. But to your point you brought up a great point you do have to pay them a little more.

I mean, if you want quality American to play there. I mean, you don’t have to pay them, you know, seven figures, but with the NBA’s new TV deal. If you were to offer guys eighty percent of what they make in Europe, but they have a chance now to live in the States. I think you’d be surprised how many guys would just want to be home instead of in a foreign country. Oh, I agree. Totally because I’ve talked to athletes before that have played internationally the variety of sports and they say. Okay. It’s great. You know, we get paid. Well, you know, we get food pay for travel a lot of accommodations about the end of the day, especially if you’re from the states.

It’s not home at the end of the day you want to be home, you know, first couple weeks you’re playing in Europe. It’s like, oh, this is great the next couple weeks. It’s like, man, I’m just really homesick. I really do think that if they gave more incentive it would encourage more people to play in the d-league and in turn if salaries were to increase. I don’t think we’ve seen too many cases of this, but could you see some college players or potential college players. So, you know what I know I’m only going to play in college for one year why not get paid to do it and play one or two years in the d-league could you see any college players potentially doing that, you know, I think that’s a bridge at the NBA should consider crossing.

I don’t think I’d have a problem with it as long as the NBA had a restriction. They would tell call exploiters, if you commit to doing this? You have to be there. The whole year. We can’t just bring you up, you know, I mean? And it would actually make the game, more exciting, but part of the d-league improvement to is the d-league passing yet, if they’re going to do something like that. Now you kind of have to up, you know, who guys are learning from here. I mean, you have to up your coaches at that point. Yep, you have to up the whole game because you don’t want just the Developmental League to just be this open run right now as far as TBT goes, you guys have high quality players that have played in the NBA before at times I’ve currently played in the NBA as well as people that slip through the cracks may be played in Europe Asia all over the world.

Do you see TBT in the future, not only being a great place for players to apply the craft and make some money, but also serve as a jump start to an NBA career or maybe a restart to an NBA career? Well, you know, it’s hard for me to say yes or no, but I will give you an example of something ah the last two years, you know, one can argue DJ Kennedy. I don’t remember having played at st John’s he was arguably the best player in TBT. I mean, he was definitely the MVP both years and wanting to make a case that he got out try out with the Nuggets because of tbt.

I mean, he eventually did not get to ended up cutting him he’ll be fine he’ll go over in Europe and he’ll make a decent amount of money. So to answer your question. I think it’s already happened. So I mentioned it before I hate to bring it up, but you did get so close to winning that million-dollar prize a couple years ago and even though you guys lost you still were able to make it back get close. You did lose. You didn’t get upset in the second ever TBT. But the fact that you guys were resilient enough to qualify get a ton of fan votes. It’s not a fan support definitely speaks volumes now, for those that don’t know and I’ll just mention this real quick.

You overcame cancer. He overcame a lot of issues to get to a certain point. It was tough for you much respect to you, I know you don’t like to bring it up too much. And I know your players in turn have also overcome a lot in their respective lives professionally and personally as somebody that’s in that management position in terms of knowing recruiting players, but motivating players how much work is it to go through all that you guys have been through to come back and to say, you know what? Let’s try again, next to your as opposed to throwing in the towel ah. Well, it’s a no-brainer.

I mean, I didn’t really pay to own this like in like an NBA owner. I kind of created it and it morphed into its own thing and I’d be foolish. Not to embrace this every year for the rest of my life what I mean all you got to do is win the tournament once and I think we’re eight and two overall in our two years doing TBT. We’ve won eighty percent of our games which and the team that beat us this past year was the University of Colorado alumni. They ended up going to the championship, I knew the minute. They beat us that they were going to make a deep run.

So we lost to two really quality teams. So in a sense. I’m playing with the lottery ticket why would I not do this? I gotta say though. And I tell people this all the time, you know, I was sitting out what’s in the Cavs warriors game 7, you know, the lawyers. They want 73 games and they lost. We all have that played out in my mind losing that million dollars is way harder because those guys are worth so much money they go to Aruba. They decompress. Yes, I go to Vegas they can do whatever they want their lives are built that way. The guy that I had they needed that money and it came out in their play, you know they have families to support its.

It was so heartbreaking in that sense that it’s very hard for me to sympathize with pros. Now when they lose because they’re just so much money in the pro game that I just I look at it different after experiencing what I experienced and at the end of the day, you know, you’re paid to make those shots. You are you’re paid to win the big games and especially within the Warriors case. I mean my god. They only lost nine games all regular season. And I think another number in front of me did they lose nine postseason games. If it’s unbelievable. I’d yeah, let’s transition NBA here since we’re on this topic, how does a team break the 96 bold regular season win record go to the postseason and fail.

So, miserably whoa by their standards by the way by their standards, but before we get into that I do want to make a reference that no one talks about when they talk about breaking 96 bolts record the 96 Bulls were trying to break 70. All right. That was their goal was not to win 73 or 74 once they broke 70. They rested guys lost to meaningless home games late in that year. I think they lost. I think out of there 10 losses seven or eight of them worked. Like five points or less one can make the case the Bulls could have been 75 and seven that year.

So, let’s be real clear when you don’t care the final six games after you 70 does that 72 in that 73 really have a difference like the Warriors took everything I could it took the last game of the season, you know, I give them a ton of credit. But if you know, the NBA and you knew that once the Bulls reach 70 the milestone was achieved the bar was different for them as far as I’m losing in the playoffs. You know, credit to Cleveland Cavaliers. I mean, I don’t know why anybody ever doubt LeBron James. I really don’t I don’t get it anymore. They got to let that one go because he’s just he’s the best that we’ve seen in a long time?

I mean, this, they’re a jump shooting team, you know, you’re gonna have games. Like they did in Game seven where they don’t shoot. Well, they haven’t shot particularly well to begin this season. It’s not like their team is this perfect machine. They’re just the team that makes threes at such an efficient rate and they pass the ball so well that no one’s really figured it out yet slowly teams are figuring it out though. Well, I think in the case of LeBron James. I think a lot of people for a while until this Cleveland when kind of looked at him more like the pain Manning of the NBA a great player a guy that always gets into dance, but a guy that perhaps at this stage of his career should have had more than two or three championships.

I think that’s why he gets a lot of criticism obviously, you know, the Jordan comparisons the marketing machine, but I’ll tell you amanda de it is amazing that this team was able to come back from being down 3-1 to win the NBA title. And for him for a guy that’s been ridden so many times by the Cavs and the heat and the Cavs again for him to still be playing at a high level. I mean, it just speaks volumes about his conditioning in his talent. Oh, yeah. I don’t know if you saw what they said during the broadcast. Yes. Yesterday, they were saying that he has the body of a 19 year old.

They spend like a million dollars a year just on his body alone. So, it doesn’t look like he’s slowing down anytime soon. I the thing that bothers me about when people criticize him, you know, you only see these stupid means. Like no Jordan, it took, you know, he got six rings in six tries, you know, Kobe won the majority of his finals what difference does that make why would you penalize LeBron James for getting further in the playoffs. There’s been times where Gordon didn’t reach the finals and he got knocked out by the Pistons like you can’t penalize a guy for going further. I mean, does that make any sense to you?

No, not really and I think to its. I know this might be kind of a bad comparison because Aaron Rodgers at the moment isn’t Avenue a great season in the NFL, but I look at Aaron Rodgers is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time already and statistically you look at his stats. I mean prior to this season. He’s played the quarterback position better than most people in NFL history. He’s only got one Super Bowl he’s only got one Super Bowl appearance. It’s team game, I gonna penalize him for that. He’s nummies always in the mix. I mean, that’s not to take away. The fact that he is a Hall of Famer and one of the all-time greats.

And it’s the same thing with LeBron granted there’s less people playing in basketball than there are in the NFL, but you out I’m saying? It’s a team sport. He’s a guy that throughout his career, he’s playing with some great talent now. He played with some great talent with Miami, but for a lot of those years. He’s had to carry some of those teams, you know, he carried an older Dwyane Wade, you know, he carried a team in 2007 that had the likes of Eric snow and Larry huge. I mean, come on. I mean, how many I know hires would make the most out of that kind of talent.

I mean, Allen Iverson. Maybe comes to mind, but I mean very few guys it. It’s crazy. You know, what’s really crazy to think about is, you know, we’re always complaining all the east is so weak the East is a week it kind of looks that way, but it really isn’t it’s mainly because they’re just a shoo-in whatever team. He gone for the final. It’s just that’s in textin me to help, but he is that you can just pencil them in the finals and why would this year be any different? I mean, do you really see anybody in the Eastern Conference winning four out of seven games versus them, man.

I really don’t I really really don’t it’s it. I think had the heat been healthy last year. I think they could have given the Cavs run for their money, but that was last year as far as this year goes. I don’t see anybody in the East challenging? Yeah, I mean there seemed that’ll win a couple of games here and there someone recently said to me on a facebook thread road. Well, the Raptors 12 games. Yeah, but why don’t you look at the Raptors for losses verse the cavs they lost like every game by like 18 plus point. And it was a couple of 30-point blowouts there and the Cavs were just far superior than the Raptors.

So I get I guess as far as your Eastern Conference evaluation. It’s the cavs and everybody else. Yeah, it’s been LeBron James’s team and everybody else for the past how many years now five or six even almost 10 years. If you really think about it. Well, not really because when you had boston in their prime you could make the case that Boston could beat anybody, but now that there’s no Boston. I mean, I do think the Pacers are probably the closest thing that can be competitive. I think over the length of the season. You’re going to see the Pacers have a really good team, but beyond that I mean, everyone else is just they got too many holes that is true.

Now on the Western Conference side of things. I’m very interested in hearing your take here because on paper, it should be the Warriors, they just got Kevin Durant who has been widely criticized for signing with his rival team because of the fact that he was leading 3-1 with OKC Thunder against the Warriors looking like he was going to go to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012. And then they lost and Durant joined the Warriors and on top of that. There were multiple reports that he was in communication with the Warriors during that time perhaps prior during that time as well with them trying to recruit him to the fray.

So, why are we gonna do this are we gonna get in the Kevin Durant right now, you know what let’s not wait let’s get into kevin durant, ok. And then the rest of the Western Conference, what are your thoughts on Durant going to the Warriors and what are your thoughts on the Warriors immediate future? Oh, boy I was this close and just not watching the NBA, but there’s part of me that’s like I’d love to see them be a train wreck and fall apart. Okay. Okay for oversight first off, let me interrupt you real quick and let me just say that a few years ago.

You were a staunch defender of LeBron James going to the Miami Heat even though he was widely criticized. Okay, I would like to while you’re making your explanation here. I like to also hear you elaborate on why you supported LeBron back in the day, but why you’re not a fan of this particular move by during. Okay. Hey, there’s a huge difference. And when you look at it on the surface it’s similar here’s the thing though. They did and this is where you kind of need someone who’s an expert of the NBA who understand complex economics of the NBA the way that the cap was when LeBron James did that.

And chris bosh and dwyane wade the cap was in a position where not only did they have to take, you know, their pay cuts, but they had to sign nine middle minimum veterans. Okay. So yeah, you could do that you could put those three guys together and but now you’re going to be stuck with nine veteran minimum deals and you had aging like babies and aging ilgauskas and it cost them in the final to a cost them what happened this year not to mention the Heat were not a great team the year before. So, you know, adding a superstar player to an okay team is one thing adding a superstar player to a team that won 73 games is a whole nother animal.

I mean, not to mention, what happened is not as much Kevin Durant fault as much as it’s the NBA’s Walt the NBA was going to see a spike in the cap because of all the TV revenue and what they should have done for competitive balance. Purposes was close this short loophole because once the rest of the league catches up. There’s no way the Warriors are going to be able to keep all four of those guys. There’s this there’s no way. So this might last two years before they have to make a decision that one of those four hats ago and I think that’s what bothers means the economics of it is that he took advantage of a loophole he decided that I don’t want to be a competitor anymore because let’s be honest.

That’s really what this is like yeah, you know, don’t you want to beat the best isn’t there something to beating the best. I mean, I even talked to Bob and wider plays on Team 23 for me and he’s by far one of the best players I’ve seen know a long time. He says to me. He goes, I don’t understand he goes, I’m a competitor I want to beat the best. You know, be especially when you’re getting paid that much money you already have life said like find some other way to get motivated. So I just think it’s going you a team that already won 73 games.

It’s no different than hakeem olajuwon going to the bowls in the mid-90s like it just doesn’t make any sense? Yeah. I agree. And if you look at the cavs and the he in that whole situation years ago looking back. I remember I don’t really have a problem with LeBron James leaving just kind of the way he left and can make any public with the decision, but you look back. I mean, the guy’s a marketing machine. He was really young at the time. I mean, look, everybody makes mistakes everybody’s immature, but you know, really looking back at it. I mean, you were right? The heat weren’t a good team, the previous season, you know, a lot of people were starting to write Dwyane Wade off Chris Bosh much respect to him and everything.

He’s going through right now was unproven as a big time player. He was kind of a big big fish in a small pond there was no guarantees to those three guys getting together. We’re going to result in championships if you actually talked to people at new basketball, but they made it work. They went to four straight finals, they made everybody around them better. And LeBron James emerged those four seasons in Miami is undoubtedly the best player on the team. Whereas Kevin Durant’s going there and you can make the argument Kevin Durant’s not even the third best player on that team. I mean, you have curry.

Yep Thompson idea of dragging really an idiot makes that argument. I think Kevin Durant is the best player on that team three kevin durant has always been better than sorry better and curry? Yeah, I mean to me. I get with Stefan curious. He’s the best shooter. I’ve ever seen but from an overall standpoint Durant rebounds. He defends. I mean? Yeah, great block on Anthony Davis last night it Durant. I think you could do more with Durant to be honest with you. And for them to have success. He kind of has to take this, you know, this opportunity and seize it and he really didn’t. You know, as much as everyone wants to complain about Westbrook, you know, he seemed passive at times like it’s like, oh, I don’t want to test Russell’s personality.

So now he’s going to have to deal with bigger personalities in Golden State. So, if he thinks that he left one situation to not deal with it over here. Just wait till they lose a couple of games and you’ll see now klay Thompson has been on record saying I ain’t sacrifice and bleep when it comes to sharing the ball with Kevin Durant and his respective teammates somebody’s going to have to make some sacrifices. I don’t think it should be the former MVP. So who do you see this season making the sacrifice to get the Golden State Warriors back to the promised land huh? I don’t know.

I don’t know, ok better quite better question who should SAT make it more of a sacrifice in order to let Kevin Durant excel and lead this team to the finals actually, I don’t like the question to be honest with you because I think that they can all produce. I think the biggest thing that they have to worry about is the team that they had last year had such cohesive chemistry, you know, guys like space and Barbosa and Bogut and barn that they’re bigger problem is they don’t really have a backup point guard the you can’t play Ian Clark like in big playoff games. They’re their length and shot walking has deteriorated big time.

So, if you’re like me and you don’t want worried. So when these are positives to look at because they get severely outrebounded against the Spurs AAA one game. No need to panic, but in the playoffs, you know, if you’re not hitting your shot. Then the small ball is not going to work. So, I think those are bigger issues than worrying about which of those four is going to take a backseat because I don’t think any of them are so now on the flip side. You have Russell Westbrook as the undeniable number one guy the alpha dog in okc. There’s a lot of people predicting that he could average a triple double that he could win the MVP and that he could take.

Okay, see as far as the Western Conference Finals where do you thought I see a good Pacific really, but they’re not going at the Western final with it wait. You’re telling me, he’s going to play an 82-game season. All right. He’s going to get he’s gonna play through two rounds of the playoffs. He’s going to take 30 to 35 shots a game and you’re gonna win playing that basketball? No, no way. Like there’s no way that’s happening. They would need to make some sort of deal at the deadline they’re not even close to being a contender in the Western Conference. Wow. Okay, so, you know, when you let me guess Golden State.

I think you’d say disperse are certainly contenders as they are every season. And as far as it. So, we gonna do this thing with the Clippers are we gonna do this thing that we do every year with them. I was actually I was actually going to say Portland, but make a case for the Clippers if you want now, did you know, as nice as Portland is and they do have arguably maybe the best backcourt after curry and Thompson if Blake Griffin was healthy in that theory. And Chris, Paul was playing healthy Portland doesn’t stand a chance against the Clipper. But the Clippers problem is they’re just their own worst enemy, you know, the other day.

They went in the Portland the other day and they want you heard Chris Paul after the game. Oh, we know that we’re hated we want to embrace that you see there to worry about things like that and they’re kind of known as crybabies of the league just go out and play I think the clippers. It’s almost like they have a self-defeating mechanism that comes out at some point. Well, Charles Barkley as always said that they have the toughness of a flea because their toughest player is Chris Paul, who’s only six foot and he’s insinuated multiple times that yo. They’re mentally weak now a lot of people have gone on and protect criticism, but you see time and time again in the playoffs.

They melt down. Yeah, III don’t want to like knock Chris Paul because Chris Paul is actually one of my favorite players. I do agree with Charles in that sense that Chris Paul is he’s tough as far as you know, the rest of the team this they’ve always had a weak bench and it really got exposed a couple of years ago against the Rockets, you know, this year the bench is a little better. I’m not a big proponent of guys like Jamal Crawford, you know that I think those guys long-term, they hurt you more and they help you? But some will argue that with me. So, it is they have holes.

They’re good, but they have holes. So, if it’s not la. And if it’s not Portland who would you say outside of Golden State and San Antonio is going to emerge as may be that dark horse contender in the Western Conference. Well, it is LA. He’s a specific, they just have less hole than everybody else unless. I mean, I don’t think anybody else is really in that conversation. I mean, I’ll never support a team that has a Mike D’Antoni system unless it has Steve Nash like it’s if you have Steve Nash and D’Antoni. You could survive and be good. So, there’s the Rockets are pretending the Mark Cuban, he doesn’t seem to understand how to put actual teams together with chemistry he just loves to just sign any free agent out there and overpay them.

So, I don’t know. I don’t believe in the Mavs. I mean, I think the Jazz are an upcoming team. They just got to get healthy first bit one of their biggest problems was they didn’t have a point for a while now. They have George Hill, but other, you know, but it’s pretty much a three-horse race in the West and a four horse race in the whole league is there any player that you could see emerging as one of the top 10 best in the NBA I have a feeling you might say Anthony Davis, but he’s a guy that people have pegged as a potential top 10 player for the last couple of years.

Is there anybody that’s truly under the radar that you see emerging this season ah, you mean someone who hasn’t already shown signs of like greatness. Maybe maybe maybe somebody has shown signs, but doesn’t get the media love that an Anthony Davis of our karl-anthony towns as god ah. I don’t know that one. I gotta think about okay. Well, I would actually say karl-anthony towns to be honest. Okay, okay. And for any that doesn’t watch Minnesota games and doesn’t have NBA League Pass like you why would you say karl-anthony towns because there’s nothing on the floor. He can’t do. It’s very similar to Anthony Davis. He can block shot.

He can rebound like a beast. He can step out and make shots. I mean, he could play pick and roll he’s just he’s complete, you know, he came and Anthony Davis are ushering in the new type of great big men and playing on their Tom Thibodeau. There’s no way he’s not going to get better because he’s gonna learn team defensive concepts. He’s going to have competitive hoarse voice screaming at him every chain persistent I can. I can’t imagine him not improving unless he gets hurt do you see this as the year where Minnesota finally returns to the playoffs. I feel like the last few seasons has been so many false starts.

Oh, they got Ricky Rubio. Oh, they got this guy. Oh, Kevin Love is doing great easy point amazing, they’re finally gonna get to the playoffs. And then every year down the stretch just whether it be injuries or bad luck or bad player what have you they’re out of the tournament again. Do you see this finally being the year really qualify. I think they’ll be in the race, I don’t know if they’ll make it, but I definitely italy think come game 70 they’ll be in the conversation. I just think tom thibodeau that much of Tom Thibodeau. I trust me as a Bulls fan because fred hoiberg drives me insane.

I want to punch my TV at times how much I missed Tom Thibodeau and it’s not even he its leaps and bounds how much they learn from him and obviously for the Bulls it is unfortunate some Bulls fans like yourself that Tom Thibodeau is no longer with Chicago. They got, Fred Hoiberg. They got D Wade. They got Rondo there a new-look team. Do you see the Bulls getting to playoffs and making some noise sure, but can we be cleveland. Oh, yes. This the goals the bulls are an enigma because they have three guys in Rondo wait and Butler that have kind of been through Wars and you can’t really underestimate that I mean Vegas had their wind whole like 38 and I was like, that’s a little low.

I mean, they’re not that bad. They’re probably a 45 wing team easily, but they have some holes to mainly its, Fred Hoiberg. He’s just he’s his own worst enemy. So you think tips got a bad rap because everybody said, oh, he wears on his players. Oh, he’s a great coach, but he’s somebody that you don’t want to trust with your superstar because they’re gonna get worn down. He doesn’t know when to rest, but you’ll get Derrick Rose you look at? No, I mean, those guys have been injury-prone for a long time, they definitely aren’t the same players. I mean, can you really put all of that on tips.

No, that’s ridiculous like some guy’s body is built like laughs and my and it’s something but as well. I mean, Tom Thibodeau’s job as a coach is to get in there and max his players. And I trust me. I watched both games for the last five years. There’s been plenty of times that the Bulls have over used their bench. I just think that it’s nonsense it makes no sense. It’s funny, you know, in a way everybody was complaining tibs a lot of ways people complain about Tom Coughlin with the Giants. I’ll use the problem, you know, he’s again the most of these players they get bigger it or both guys.

And then look at these two teams, the Giants knee and you look at the Bulls and it’s like well, I don’t think the head coach was a problem. You know, there was another team in sports that did the same thing the Sam Cisco 49ers. In fact, if you actually mirror the 49ers over the last couple of years and the Bulls there’s a lot of similarities in the way that they treated their coach, you know, they had their shots to win. They couldn’t do it. It’s it just it’s what happens in sports. I mean, it’s not a knock on Tom Coughlin or Tom Thibodeau or any of these guys, they’re just sometimes the team just wants to move on and they make an excuse for it.

Yeah, they the coach is gonna get to blame. You can’t always fire the player secret can trade them, but usually it’s a coach in the GM that our first that are going to go you’re in Arizona. You got the sons who have had some bad luck post Steve Nash. Do you see him getting back to relevance anytime soon? No, no, I my best friend, he’s got son season ticket. So, we’ll go to games. I mean, did they have talented guys. I like Devin Booker and I like TJ Warren when he was at NC State, you know, last night was a good example of just how young the sons are they had the Thunder beat they had them on the ropes and they can’t finish it.

They’re kind of like in that spot the Sixers are in where it’s like you’re young. You’re talented, you’ll see flashes of what these guys can do, but it’s not going to come together. Not this year for either of those things. So, before we let you go. There’s some great analysis by the way on the NBA for any players that may be listening to this or any fans? I want to check out TBT, maybe they know a player something is really talented in college or post college. It’s going to continue to the career progress their career, how do they get involved in TBT a gentleman from a player standpoint?

Yes or from okay, but from a player standpoint ah. Obviously first if you know, a GM. I mean with me. I can’t tell you how many people thank me to play and like you know, if it was up to me. I could make five kings and give everyone a chance, but I can’t really do that they could always just create a profile and enter the free agent pool and you know you’d be surprised who gets picked up via free agency and you know, I actually made an attempt last year to pick up DJ Strawberry Darryl Strawberry son and then he ended up getting hurt and backing out, but he was in the free-agent pool.

So that’s probably the best way to go about it and the tournament is open to anyone, but you don’t have to be a high level player to play in it. I mean, you’ve got to be a good player to win it, but it’s kind of this open tournament to prove that, you know, there’s a lot of great players out there now if you’re a fan that wants to support their team in their area. Maybe they find out they have a TBT team. Maybe maybe just maybe they’re in Arizona and they say, holy crap, but just listen to this interview team, 23 is based in Arizona?

How can they support you guys? Well, the one of the beauty about pvt is the fans can win money and this is like one of the best marketing things. I have ever heard anybody do the way we get into the tournament is through fan votes and fan support. So, if you go online and you vote for us and then you get other people to vote for us through your link you get points and whoever gets the most points, but I think the top 100 point debtors get money last year ah, the prep the fan top fan prize was twenty thousand dollars this the next four people got ten thousand dollars.

And then all the way down to like a thousand the top. 100 people got paid. I mean ten twenty thousand dollars and all you’re doing is just voting for a team. I mean, all they ask for your email and P to create a login. It’s not like they ask for credit cards or anything like that. I think it’s insane that fans are involved in this? Yeah, I mean, you could certainly win some money and the games itself are pretty entertaining. I mean, do you guys have any specific locations where you guys play the games as a revolve around a certain number of sees every year ah, it does.

I know that the basketball tournament is very partial to the location in Philadelphia, they do the each region there and they’ve moved the sweet 16 to Philadelphia. We’ve been playing in LA in the West the last couple years at one point we played in Chicago and then the final two have always been at Fordham University in the Bronx, which is this beautiful campus denzel washington alma mater. It’s a great location. So, and I think the South Region the first year I forgot where was the first year. I think he was in atlanta and then it was in charlotte was in charlotte this past year. So, they’re all over the place you get a chance for travel.

So with you making preparations for you next season. 14 23 to hopefully win that million dollar prize five years from now where do you see TBT going because right now it’s on ESPN. It’s been a SPN to espn3 has gotten a lot of coverage, I believe bill simmons, even bet on one respective team this past season, which is pretty huge. If you know anything about Bill Simmons and his stature and in the sports world five years from now where do you see TBT going and where do you hope to see it. Well, I do know that two years ago when we were in the championship like our ratings beat like the Pan Am Games if I’m not mistaken and in last year their ratings beat the NBA summer league.

So, people are choosing to watch TV t over the NBA summer league because allah there’s so many College alma mater Xin it that it’s kind of like, oh, I remember hakim warrick and you know, eric devendorf at Syracuse. So, it’s kind of like you’re getting a chance. So, watch all those guys play again, I think the tournament prize money is going to double. I mean, it nothing is indicated that’s not going to change. I mean, assuming that they’re going to get more sponsors, you know, jack links beef jerky was a big sponsor for them and then this past year. They got kumho tires if you just look at the way, it’s going their expansion is that it at a rapid rate that in five to ten years, whatever vision.

They had at the begin and you’d have to ask them that it’ll probably be met. Now, before we let you go for anybody that wants to find you online team, 23 online TBT online, where can they find them. Are you get the there’s a team 23. Facebook page you like us on facebook. I mean, you could always look on the basketball tournament calm and just get an indication of the type of players that are playing in this tournament, you know, we have a page on there as well. Awesome, Mike. I appreciate the time, man. Let’s get you back on soon. Definitely not let’s not wait a few years this time.

All right, no problem. Thanks, man. All right. Thank you for.