How Much Does the End of The Regular Season Matter to Playoff Success? | Islands In The League
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- Welcome to another episode of Islands in the League presented by DraftKings Sportsbook. In this episode, JJ examines the end of the regular season and how much that has mattered to teams in the past like Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat, Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets and LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Then we have a new segment called "Build Around" which is simple - how would you build around an NBA legend in today's NBA. First up - Michael Jordan. And finally we welcome in Josh Appelbaum to talk Golden State Warriors playoff odds and more.
Subscribe to The Old Man and The Three podcast w/ JJ Redick (ESPN / First Take) and Tommy Alter TH-cam channel today for more NBA analysis, player interviews and highlights.
#nba
I'm calling it now. Derrick White will be in every one of these builds.
And if he ever skips on Derrick white, he will use Jrue Holiday.
He gotta a very team friendly contract
@@bulletwittheblankface4173just like Caruso too he would be in a lot of these
He needs to make a rule that he can't reuse players, then we can compare the different teams he makes
Lmaoooooo
Derrick White at the championship parade: “Phil, MJ and I were in the huddle. MJ told Phil that I’m not so comfortable in these situations. Why don’t we go with Derrick. So I thought to myself:’looks like I have to bail Michael out again.’”
this has a longer version, with Pip on the script.😂
JJ Reddick is already subscribed to this D White fanfic
What the hell are you talking about 🤓🤓🤓🤓
@@iyanriaz9075what is this from
@@danielbattle7620 speech by Kerr
I feel like both J-Dub and Derrick White, considering their contract situation, could be on every team you'll build in the future
Michael would be a very good side-kick to Derrick White
Jokic throwing lobs to MJ would be unstoppable. he's already so good at it with Gordon
They'd be the #1 highlight on NBA's Top 10 every time they played.
He is one of the reason Bruce Brown earned his current contract.
Tbf Jokic could make all of us get a decent contract
not to mention J dub is also an elite lob threat
Joker is the best big man passer of all time, put into the MJ triangle offense requiring passing out of the mid post... That's a 3-peat guarenteed
10-peat...ftfy
Best passer of all time, regardless of size
The Heat are always in the conversation. It's just how they play, they manage to pull through when they have to. I am a Celtics fan, but I would never count them out. I do think Heat are gonna struggle more this year, particularly with the Celtics and Cavs, but they may very well carry on the tradition of pulling through. We've seen it before.
I Just hope nobody on any of these teams gets injured. I want to see good basketball, and no excuses. May the best team, win.
Yeah injuries suck it would be nice to see fully healthy teams but that's unheard of
Favorite part of Celtics playoffs for me is watching Al horford lock up Joel lmao
Thank you for this comment. People like you are true NBA fans. Respect. See yall in the ECF! #HEATNATION
@@darnellismyname4011 the heat have failed to build around jimmy.
@@danielbattle7620 our trips to the ECF and Finals say otherwise. I'm still upset about failing to get Dame though. That was a failure by Pat Riley. Getting Terry and Delon to replace Lowry was a good move.
Heat are Dangerously looming always. Weee wooo 🔥🚨
I hope they beat the nuggets tonight
I hope not @@rickkroll
It's jimmy butler season
@@joshuaconniff7712 Jimothy Buckets
Heat feel like a waste of time imo. Good enough to win the East but not the whole thing. Would rather see Boston in the finals
I love the Build Around exercise, although not sure about including rookie contracts. Great rookies are always underpaid, so you might as well stack the team with them
Good point but in a real scenario a rookie will be on the squad. As long as he keeps it to just one I’m fine with it.
Facts might as well just throw Chet, Wemby, JJ jr, Jdub, Paolo, & Brandon miller in there
J.J this is the best idea Ive heard all year for content!!!
The 2008-09 Magic lost in the finals, but despite that defeat, they rank as one of the most innovative teams in recent league history because of the way they played, how coach Stan Van Gundy deployed players and how GM Otis Smith built the roster.
I think JJ said Van Gundy overcoached and lost them the Celtics series by changing the way they played before the series even started
2009 MAGICS Coach and Jameer Nelson L O S T the Finals
Rafer Austin took you to the FINALS but Coach sat him on the bench
in favor of ball HOG Dribble Dribble Dribble Nelson
It doesn't exactly take a lot of deep thinking to say it would be a good idea to pair Jordan, the best player of his era, with Jokic, the best player of his era. It doesn't matter of you have after those two.
I’ve heard some argue that the best fit next to MJ would be a big man who knew how to pass.
I could see that
Naw you either are the best or your not so sorry buddy jokic still not on mj level
@@ReneLuis-ge7df Legacy wise for sure but who do U think has the bigger impact on winning games ?
@@captainzursee3071 the one with 6 rings
@fortynights1513 if you're interested, watch some tape about the 90s Bulls Triangle offense. The big man being able to pass out of the mid post is a huge asset. Joker + MJ = 3-peat
fun build around! i loved tapping in while drinking my coffee
Those were some good picks around MJ, concerning contracts and talent, but there is one concern: size. Having Derrick White and Jalen Williams starting would push MJ to SF when he usually played SG and rarely PG. If Mikail Bridges also starts, either him or MJ would be pushed to PF as both of them are 6’6”, which may not work well in today’s size. The PF spot is crucial for your team and may need a tall big that works for spacing and money. For that important PF spot, Bobby Portis may be a good asset with his shooting and contract.
Isn't Mikhail 6'8,also jdubb plays the sf or pf for okc
I am not through it yet but I love the build around segment and how much time you put into deciding salary and such awesome segment will look for it as often as you do it
JJ if D.White is paying u for PR , thats money well spent
Love the first part of this. The gambling stuff is revolting
Loved this episode!! JJs breakdowns of realtime stats and knowledge are always on point, speaks clear and with conviction, huge fan of the show! Btw the MJ lineup is 🔥🔥🔥
Wish building team was that simple 😅
Went JJ speaks only about Basketball is a pleasure .
I get to listen to
This before work 👌🏽
Same
Please talk about Miami more. We miss when this was a Heat podcast!
That was fantastic JJ all those stats from the past 30 champions very interesting 🤔
The team builder segment was great
alex, derrick white, and mikal should be on every build around team EVER. winning players whose defense is ELITE and with ac’s improved offensive this year they can all shoot and guard 1-4(5) - if healthy i think lonzo could also fit into this team as another tall elite d and 3 guy and maybe add rim protection instead of jokic
Really nice. Would’ve liked to see Herb Jones on the team
I look at Phoenix suns schedule and I’m like yes this is what this team needs , these late regular season games will define a lot for me moving forward
Great episode as always, but does anybody know where JJ gets all of his analytical data from? Is there a website?
Really depends on the rule set like when talking about functionality it depends on if we pick a team to be based on hypothetically let's say we're the thunder it'd be money to make a crazy team in which case I'd go
PG: MJ
SG: OG Anunoby
SF: Mikal Bridges
PF: AD
C: Jokic
6 Caruso
7 Torrey Craig
8 Andre Drummond
Great series.
When analytics tries to forecast human based outcomes it never ever makea sense.
That's why Heat finds the beat prospects every year. They go to the games and don't look at the numbers.
So many things can happen that wont show up in the box score.
This era will be replaced with AI algorythm that will be better but in the end wont be perfect.
This team would be so gritty and hard to play against. I love it
Miami HEAT ALL DAYYYYY 305 IN THE BUILDING!!!
I knew immediately the second JJ said 'who would I want in the backcourt w MJ?' That he was going to say Derrick white 😂
That team is insane JJ
If Jordan and Jokic played together they’d win 12 years in a row
Well, Jordan is in his 60’s now, so…… 🤷🏻♂️🙄🤦🏻♂️
I saw fhat derrick white pick coming lol
Should do this with an NBA 2k league wide draft. Turn off injuries, simulate all games & see how you perform over the course of 3-5 seasons.
Thats how i would build around Jordan.These 5 players are on the same contending route -2 and rebuild route 2.and its also the championship route.Michael Jordan wouldnt settle for 2nd place with contender route -2 and rebuild route -2 with PG Jalen Brunson,SF Andrew Wiggins,PF Nic Claxton and C Mitchell Robinson.That just doesnt cut it.
Levert not getting a mention in the 6 man discussion is wild
Caris is injury prone and inconsistent asf
Jrue 33M
MJ 51M
Andrew Wiggins 24M
Evan Mobly 9M
Bam 33M
Norman Powell 18M
Alperen Sengun 4M
Andre Drummond 4M
Josh Hart 10 M
Please do Bill Russell since he and Cousy were pace monsters. Wilt's pace was crazy too. How a player can average 50.
Momentum is very important in sports. If you shut it down at the end of the season you could lose a rhythm that you've built up. Jordan played 9 82 game seasons and won 6 championships. He started strong and finished strong.
Crazy Lebron still better tho lmao
Feel like you need a 3rd scorer off the bench. Malik monk or Norman Powell would be perfect
I hate how people just assume MJ would be a good 3pt shooter on high volume just because he's MJ. Statistically he was an awful 3pt shooter for his career outside the shortened 3pt line years. We don't make this assumptions or excuses for anyone else. No one says that Bron would be one of the best post up players or perimeter defenders in the league if he played in the 90s just because he's Bron. We don't say Bill Russell would be a great shooter nowadays if he played right now just because he's Bill Russell etc. MJ was a great midrange shooter but he was very bad from 3, like a Derozan type. MJ would still be the best player in the league nowadays, but we can't just give him a great 3pt shot when he never had one.
Love the build around segment. Please do one for Kobe. Would be the toughest - but most exciting - job in basketball. Do you put veterans around him, or young players that he might call soft like charmin?!
It would be identical to this Jordan one
When the Heat look back they are going to regret not picking up Naz Reid. He wanted to go to the Heat. Instead the Heat wasted time on the Dame situation and Cronin's stubbornness. Reid would have fit perfect on the Heat.
Oh really? But sadly we already have 3 centers. No 4 is what the team needs.
Yeah that would probably be the best offense and defense in the league. Good job
The team is perfect 👍❤🎉
JJ, why is there no movement shooter in that MJ-Jokic build? It would diversify the offense for MJ & Jokic even more.
Team Alien starting with Shaq as the past player:
Shaq
Kevin durant
Chet holmgren
Victor wenbenyama
Bol bol
The ultimate ridiculous team
switch/add Zion and that’s a absolutely terrifying 6 man lineup
Boban Marjanovic is 7'4'' like Wemby.
Bro, mj would average a nonsense amount of assists on that team Jesus . Drive collapse kick bucket . Also, pairing Jokic with a guy with a four foot vertical is just mean to the league
I’ll take that warriors bet! Sounds like money winning to me!
Was so glad he picked Naz Reid
What would happen if a superstar decided to take a serious pay cut in order to help their team get guys to win a championship? Like, if Steph signed a 25 million contract and then suddenly the GM picks up 2-4 players they need to win?
Money is more important than championships apparently
i’ve thought about this a lot. imagine the first player to do that.
@@Bookake-2russel Westbrook….
Steph did something very similar to this…He was largely underpaid. Harden also did it on 76rs but didn’t take that big a pay cut at all
tom brady special
Halfway through that first player description and I thought, That's Derrick White.
JJ is sensible and knows what he's talking about, unlike SAS and Perkins.
That's a good list, except for Bridges. I don't think you need his playmaking with Jokic on the team. Maybe Austin Reaves?
Don't use Giannis' missed game as an excuse they lost to Miami in 2023. Tyler Herro only played 19 minutes in that series and never returned in the playoffs. Yet Miami went all the way to the Finals.
jj litterally just built an all podcast member team
MJ and Joker= 6 rings all over again
Bobby Portis not getting any 6th man of the year love is crazy to me
Have you ever seen Bobby Portis play defense ? have you seen how he affects games when he's not hot offensively ?
Cause he’s not the 6th man of the year
how would you build around shmoga tho?
How are you filling out the rest of the roster tho?
Feels like JJ created this segment to talk more about Derrick White. LOL
I would go a more defensive player at the backup 5
The end of the regular season is basically what is going to happen in the playoffs barring injuries. OKC's maturity level looks like they are becoming a complete team with their skillsets combined and smart players at every position. Timberwolves has defense, experience at guard position, now they got to make the right plays at the end of games. Top 4 teams in the west are becoming more complete each day. Suns and Mavs look like they are still deficient defensively and can't organize an effective defense to lock down a team in a 7 game series. Lakers looks like they backslide heavily, and going to need Lebron to score big to win games, due to lack of ball movement.
lonzo, mj, caruso, mikal, turner - coby white, jaquez, drummond
this not bad
Nikola is the MV3️⃣
This segment should consist of shades, palm tree tshirts, and a lei around your neck 😎🏝️👕
Mikal Bridges fits on every single team in the league
Pick up two GOATs who are offense army on their own the only thing you need is defenders. This would be Denver with Luka and Jokic. They don't need any other offensive player, just defenders.
Go with Bam over whoever that backup big is and it's nasty
Well...asking u how to build around MJ, u throw in Jokic there, that's just cheat code....And I love it LOL😁
The down the stretch record has a new wrinkle involving the league's new rules on resting players. Will that have an impact?
So basically Jamal Murray is Michael Jordan.
Heat vs (T’Wolves, Nuggets, or Mavericks) NBA finals…pin it.
Love the build around concept, but to make it more interesting don’t pair the historical player with a Superstar.
Isaiah Hartenstein 2020 Nuggets legend! 😂
MJ and Joker would be great
Great team. As a Nuggets fan, I will attempt to not be a Homer and ignore Jokic. 😢 ⛏️🏔🏆🃏
Mike is a helo-centric player that will be scoring the most points. I want defensive elites around him, with some play-making and scoring to help Mike.
PG Marcus Smart (~19 mil/year)
SG Micheal Jordan (~55 mil/year)
SF Lauri Markkanen (~18 mil/year)
PF Aaron Gordon (~22 mil/year)
C Evan Mobley (~8 mil/year)
Screw the bench.
I'd be curious how MJ and Jokic's personalities match up. On one hand Mj would love Jokic's skill level. On the other, I feel like MJ would not like how Jokic seems to not care about basketball... that said I could see them bonding over horse race betting
Naz Reid was the cherry on top
Michael Jordan is basically a much quicker Kawhi Leonard who also has an excellent post game and an absurd vertical to boot.
🏝🏝🏝
I can’t possibly imagine MJ taking 8-10 3s a game. He was just not a good 3pt shooter. I get that a lot of people give him credit because of his work ethic and drive to be the best, but at a certain point, with a player like MJ, you’re not getting him to completely rework the mechanics of his shot. With how dominant he was inside, I can’t see him averaging more than 3-4 attempts a game, like we see today with guys like Shai who live in the midrange
I see your MJ lineup with
Jrue Holiday
MJ
Kevin Durant
Jusuf Nurkic
Jabari Smith Jr
Grayson Allen
KCP
JJJ
My team clears easily
You need a “Dennis Rodman, Haslem ” around Michael Jordan to do the physical dirty work
Bro Jordan and Jokic is cheating 😂
Yea but what would Derrek be saying on his Australia tour?
Swap mikal for OG Anunoby and that team would be perfect.
Terrible take, Mikal is much better
@@davidbardot1how? OG is a SIGNIFICANTLY better defender and considering Jordan, Jokic and JDub would do most of the scoring, you don't need Mikals advantage as an offensive player. OG fits better.
@@michaelbietsch2864 Having offense is always a plus. Mikal fits better since you get both. The defense on a team like that is already good enough with Caruso & Jordan. I’d take more def & off.
@napG1 regardless of you who take at SF, they're going to be relegated to being a spot up shooter like MPJ. Why have an objectively worse defender who isn't going to do anything on offense other than shoot 3s, slash and make connective passes over a dpoy caliber guy who shoots 40% from the corner (where he'll be 90% of the time) is an elite cutter, and can take guys off the dribble if they're too aggressive in their closeouts. Not to mention, OG is what, 4 million cheaper? Jordan, Jokic + 3 spacers is the perfect formula for an ELITE offense. Maybe I'm crazy, but I'd rather have a 120 offensive rating and a 106 defensive rating that a 122 offensive rating and a 110 defensive rating
@@michaelbietsch2864 Mikal is also top tier defensively. I’ll take the guy who’s proved his value on a contender.
I would’ve picked Jrue over Caruso and someone more defensive over Hartenstein.
Dude MJ and Jokic would have a stupid two man game! It would give NBA defenses nightmares!!!😂
W vid jj
anybody else click off the video as soon as other dude comes on
So you’d basically switch jimmy butler for michael Jordan ! That’s pretty much what you built! Which explains why Eric spiel star is the best coach in the nba
As a Heat fan I hate Derrick White more than any other Celtic player & yeah that’s a compliment
Oh great MJ surrounded by another superteam
Extension of this exercise: if you could replace one player in today’s game with Michael Jordan, who would you replace to make the best functioning team? Tatum? Jamal Murray?
I think the Jalen and Joker picks are kind of gimmicky bc you're projecting for a pick to draft them as is when you wouldn't have known their value at the time.