ESPN's Kane Pitman in the studio (30.09.26)

0:00This episode is brought to you by PayPal. You know how a mom's bag has everything? Sunscreen? Snacks? A stapler? The new PayPal app is like that, but for your money. Shop, pay, manager account, and earn rewards all in one place. And with purchase protection on eligible items, biometric security, and pasquies, you're protected at every step. Download the new PayPal app to get started. See PayPal.com slash protection terms. This episode is brought to you by Born in Roma fragrances by Valentino Beauty, the iconic fragrance duo. Donna Born in Roma, Ode to Parfume, is a feminine fragrance featuring juicy black current, central jasmine, woody cashmurren, and warm vanilla. Its masculine counterpart, Womow Born in Roma, Ode to Dualet, has notes of fresh violet leaf, aromatic sage, green vetiver, spicy ginger, and mineral salt. Shop at Macy's.com. Fall has never looked or tasted this good.

1:02Sweet Greens Fall Harvest Menu is back with seasonal favorites, dressed to impress and made to be devoured. Warm roasted sweet potatoes, crisp apples, maple glazed brussels, and crave worthy flavors in the autumn harvest bowl, maple glazed salmon plate, and roasted bacon brussels side. The season's most desirable menu has returned to sweet green, featuring Fall's best dress. Make your move, order on the sweet green app. Mornings on S.E.N. It is, it's just on 11 o'clock here on Mornings, into the final hour we go. Josh Jenkins is here, my name's Sam Edmund, and we're about to be joined. What are we now? A few days out from the start of the NBA preseason. That's how quickly it rolls around. It's a few days away, JJ, for Alex Scott and staff, sell your livestock or sell your home. None other than ESPN's Kane Pittman Live and in the studio with us here at S.E.N. Kano. It is an absolute pleasure, and it is very nice, because over the years we're normally dealing with the phone service that's cutting out, and you're very patient along the way,

2:02but it's nice to sit alongside you boys. What's going on with the signal over there in the US? What's probably modern rebuild? Yeah, it's my phone bill. Well, ESPN, they do actually provide me with a nice phone deal, but at times, in those busy arenas, perhaps, doesn't cut it. There's a lot to talk about. There could be air in too. We sometimes can't get through to people in Richmond. This is very true. Now, I'm going to let JJ loose on you. He could talk to you for the MBA for hours, but just how long you're back for and what brings you back on? Well, I had to get some visa paperwork done, but I always try to get back in September. It was interesting. If I had a GPS on me walking around Connecticut, the man of hours and kilometers, I do listening to S.E.N. So I'm always, as a catchman, trying to get back in September. Now, I missed the boys by a few days this year, but I'm still interested at this time of year to listen to that. So, see family, watch them footy, and get visa done. How do you find, I've been to Bristol, which is the home of ESPN.

3:02I've been for a tour of the ESPN campus. What do you do? Nothing. In Bristol when you're not working. So people can't believe, and I was shocked the first time that I went there and opened the hotel curtains, and there was nothing. There's a little bit of grass. It is a very, very small part of America. It's not just cold. It's in the winter. It is disgusting weather. So I'm not making it sound all too nice, but working at ESPN obviously, the headquarters there, and the people you see struggling around, and just the size of the TV studios, and what they can do. I'm very lucky to be there. But certainly, if I get some days off, I'm normally getting to the city and getting out of Connecticut, because there's not much going on. Yeah. But you have, it does give you the opportunity at ESPN. You get to the finals. You get to big matches. You bring all the action back to Australia for us, which is fantastic. So, you know, you may be paying the price a little bit in Bristol, but... I don't have it all. The ability to get on the road and get to some of the best basketball matches we've ever seen is the upside.

4:04Yeah, it's unbelievable. Particularly coming off last year's NBA finals, and the NICS was obviously a juggernaut on a street. What was it like in New York City? Well, nothing I've ever seen before. I think about Game 5, they won in San Antonio, which was obviously historic for them. But I don't think Game 4, and Game 3 and Game 4 are Madison Square Garden. And for those that have been to New York City, the ton of people who are listening to this show, you're outside Madison Square Garden, and it is chaos. There is traffic. There's people everywhere on these games. All the avenues around the arena were shut down. It was a ghost town. We had to go through about seven security checkpoints that even get near the building. And then once you got in there, you've never been to an NBA game where it is packed to the rafters, not a spare seat, two and a half hours before the game. I'm not the best celebrity spotter, but there was left and right. The tickets were 6, 7K to get in there. And I definitely got to a point at the end of Game 4, and I'm going to show you boys about this feeling before. Hopefully I'll work in this career for a little bit longer, but I got to the end of Game 4, and I think I've clocked it.

5:04I don't know whether that could be an event with the people that were on the court, and we were trying to go live, and we got Richard Jefferson on our show, and he's just been tackled by given a lot of it. Yeah, I saw that. He's bloody crying as we go and live on the show, and it was just absolutely chaos, and I don't know whether there could be another experience as crazy as that one. Have you found the integration? I guess you call it, you know, you're bringing a lot of the action back to us here in Australia, or on ESPN Australia, you know, getting access to people like Richard Jefferson, found the integration of, you know, those guys in terms of what you're trying to do and what you're trying to achieve has been. It's been seamless on TV. Has it been the same in the Uranus? Well, I'm glad if it looks that way, because sometimes there is a lot that's going on. And we've got a really small team over there in Bristol, a tiny team, a lot of young guys and girls that help us with the video and the graphics and putting all this stuff together, so there's no doubt that we probably do more than we should with the team that we have, but we're really lucky whether it is Richard Jefferson or Brian Winthorst and Tim McMan, those guys are coming out to Melbourne.

6:04They're on a plane right now, actually, for a live hoop collective podcast on Friday night, but they love doing it. And the players love coming on the show, because they say that it's actually more entertaining jumping on the Aussie shows, because it's a little more lighthearted. They can have a little bit more fun, they can relax a little bit more. So I get out of the way and let those guys bring the expertise that they have and the personality they have. So I'm the lucky one. I'm a basketball fan. I would be watching these games anyway, so I get to just play Point Garden and they take over. And they're the ultimate showman, so it was a lot of fun. I reckon he's one of the, he is one of the genuine up and coming media talent for Richard Jefferson. He is unbelievable. What's the biggest offseason story, Ben, do you think? Well, outside of Kauai and the Clippers, but if we're talking on court, and I think because the next one, the title, it probably more so than years gone by, even if you think of the Thunder and some of the other teams who are one of the title on recent years, I think the free agency and the level of caliber,

7:05of player, of superstarders, move teams. And I know we're going to go through some of these names, but when you have LeBron James, that's on the move, and he was just one of the big names that moved to Philadelphia and got Jalen Brown. But Yarnes has been in Milwaukee for a while over a decade, won a title there. Now he's going to Miami, and that's a really interesting scenario, because I don't know whether he's been in a market like that where if things don't go well, the pressure is going to be amplified more than certainly more than it was in Milwaukee, Jamaranko's across to Portland and Kauai, goes back to Toronto, he had one year there and won the title. So it's one of the more interesting NBA seasons that I can remember covering in the last decades since I've been over there. And I think it's good. I think it's a lot of fun. The LeBron stuff is, I think it was the perfect destination for him to go. What was that? Well, because he wasn't going to stay in LA, so we can scratch that. So we could have gone back to Cleveland, he's done that before. He could have gone to Miami, but he's done that before. And if you think about Philadelphia and go back to the Ben Simmons days

8:05where that was the tanking to get the team in Joel and B, Joel and B, Joel and B has been there for over a decade and they haven't gone out in the second round. So if you think about things that LeBron hasn't done yet, he's ticked it all off, but if you can go to Philly and win a title in that city, that is desperate for a winner, and those fans are as rabid as they are in New York, maybe on a slightly smaller scale, numbers wise, it would be chaos. Volatiles, and... Philadelphia. But think about Philadelphia and New York, if they get to the Eastern Conference finals, that'll be dangerous. Yeah, that'll be real. Yeah, I'll be just maybe considering a vest of some kind and maybe a helmet if you're covering those games. What do you make of the Sixers lineup? Also the starting lineup. Torres, Maxi, we all love, we love his game. Even last year at times, I thought when NB and Brown were playing, he sometimes had to defer too much. He effectively is the point guard. You know, those guys want to get their shots as well. Now you put LeBron into the mix, VJ Edge. It looks like a guy who needs to get more of the ball next year.

9:07So only one basketball, five hungry mounds to feed. That's why there's potential for carnage, which is why it's must see TV this year, because it looks good on paper and even some of the additions they made on the bench, Anthony Simon's team Wade was starting for the casual look. And for the casual look at that time, Contaivious, Colwell Pope was a key piece of the Denver Nuggets title back in 2023. So the roster is absolutely stacked. They have every single piece you could possibly need. The one thing I would say about LeBron over the course of his career, he hasn't been a guy that's demanded the final shot. He's always made the right pass. So whether it is Tyrese Maxi or it's Jalen Brown, I think it probably works. The big question though is, do I'll imbeade? As always. I would, how would you handle him? Because to me, I would have moved him a couple of years ago, but that's well in theory. He's probably right. And he's in these early 30s now and he doesn't reach 60 games at all. He hasn't been able to do it. So I would at the start of the season, and there's some stuff here with the players association

10:08would they want him to do that? And 65 games and all NBA. He's done it all. He's an MVP. But the one thing he hasn't done has got to the conference finals or the NBA finals. So I would just say, we don't, we don't need you until January of February. Play one game a week, play two games a week, just keep ticking along till we get to February after the All-Star break them ramp up for the playoffs. Because it still feels like with all the other teams in the Eastern Conference, he's going to be the difference between whether they can win a title or not. But they got to get him there. Yeah, that's a good point. Because there are 10 that looks like, with the Adam, you want that 10 to get up and down and play on the perimeter and score and keep the game free-flowing. But with him in the lineup, sometimes you get a white for him because he doesn't get down the floor at the same speed. So it's going to be, I mean, they are going to be must see TV. They're on opening night for a reason. It's interesting. The Lakers were involved on Christmas Day for a long time. Now they're not. So it's more about LeBron than it is. Some of these big franchises. Let's get to some of the Aussies. We know that, you know, we're probably a little bit lighter

11:08with guys like Joe Engels not necessarily in the NBA. What's the latest on Johnny Furfie? And he's ACL recovery. Actually went and watched him ironically, Sam, playing the under 20 national championships. We were looking, I was at Jalong. We were looking for a category B rookie. And Johnny Furfie was the one we wanted. We just didn't know we were competing with the NBA draft. It might have been a good financial decision for him to have that way. You could say that, yeah. It's interesting you say about those national championships, though, because back then he wasn't really on the radar. Look, as a massive possible fan and you know what's going on. We know when all these young guys are coming through to the potential NBA players. And Johnny Furfie wasn't even on the radar. But he had a couple of moments during those championships that all of a sudden he went to Candace, was a one-year player, then went to the NBA. But that wasn't really the expectation even for him. If you ask him, he said, the NBA, I didn't even think about going to college until 12 months before I was in the league. But he should be back early in the season.

12:10He... This episode is brought to you by PayPal. You know how a mom's bag has everything? Sunscreen? Snacks? A stapler? The new PayPal app is like that. But for your money, shop, pay, manage your account, and earn rewards all in one place. And with purchase protection on eligible items, biometric security, and pass keys, you're protected at every step. Download the new PayPal app to get started. CPAPAL.COM slash protection terms. Is a fan favorite in Indiana. They love Indiana. Covered them a lot early in the season, obviously coming off the NBA finals. And they were chanting for him to get put in the game. And they were frustrated with the head coach Riccala because they wouldn't put him in there. Now, is a young guy, I think he's very popular with the younger fans, the women over there in Indiana. I think that's fair to say. But he's an explosive athlete. Work on the shot a little bit. But he looks like a guy that will be an NBA player for a decade and the boom is potentially well-cuff coming up this year as well next year.

13:10He's posterized if you already saw. Yeah, he has indeed. You were never a chance to get him to the cat's eye, though, that much. Not one more competing with the Indiana Paces. No, of course not. Not at all. It's a tough one to win. We're about to get a 30, what I say about. So we're going to get a 31st NBA team in the next couple of years. Adonavada. Yeah, I think Las Vegas since Seattle looked like they might be the two teams moving forward. I did here just before I came in here. You were throwing around some potential names. But Vegas got on for us. I would be happy to go to Vegas in December. It's a nice time of year to go there. Because normally the only time we go there is summer league in the middle of July. And it's about 48 degrees. And it's not exactly my favorite place to be. So while we've got the aces, I'm not sure about the baseball team got a name yet. I'm not sure if they do when they come in in the next year or two. But it could be the Las Vegas dice. We got the NHL team. Hangovers. What about Seattle? We know the Supersonic's bit of a shame that they moved away as it is.

14:11Once we get Vegas and Seattle into the league, you've been over in the States for a while, you've traveled a fair bit. Are there really any other locations where, because the league's going to want to grow more TV games, more money, there are many other places that you could potentially see more teams. Tough for basketball. And particularly then you get into 32 teams. I don't know how much. Could you run the team out of LA? Well the clip is... Can we get the clip is on the decks? Can we get them just to run things properly for a start? Well, you're going to need a decade before the clip is back on track. So that's going to be a bit of a challenge out there and the beautiful new arena they have in Inglewood. But I think 32 teams is enough. They play games in Mexico. Yeah. And obviously we're seeing the NFL and the NBA is pretty desperate to expand and have a European league out there as well. So they might look international before they look in America after 32. But I don't know how much further you could expand. I mean, they're already playing 82 games.

15:11And all we do is talk about who's available and what games they can play. So I feel like they're just about taping that in the US. Is that the biggest issue the game faces? The fact that the athletes just don't play 82 games anymore and some, you know, and for most people who go to games, they probably just casually go to games. They don't have season tickets. They're just going to games occasionally. And if you're paying big money because the heater in town and Yarnas aren't at the公po's playing and he just chooses not to play because he's on a back to back or whatever, is that the biggest issue in the game at the moment? Well, ticket prices aren't getting cheaper. No. Nothing's getting cheaper. So if you're putting your heart on down and you're going to see those guys and you can't be guaranteed that they're going to play until the couple hours before the game. It is a concern. But I also understand why the teams do that. Yeah. You rolling through from October all the way to June and there's never been a time in the NBA where people care less about whether you get to the conference finals. You have to win a championship, which is why we see all these players move from team to team.

16:13And I remember having a conversation with Damien Lillard who spent more than a decade in Portland and then went to Milwaukee. And I don't think he necessarily even wanted to go to Milwaukee but he tried and tried and tried. That team couldn't win a title. And I asked him about how the game is covered and whether or not it's fair. That's the way that people see it, whether it's Ringelbustin. And he absolutely hated it. Now he's back in Portland. He's probably not going to win a championship in his career. You would have to say. But he chose family and being home. So that is part of the challenge. These teams, if you're telling them that it only matters if you win a title, then how can you blame them if they're not playing guys in back-to-back in November? Keves got the bucket list trip, sort of boys. Mad Philly fan, go on over to watch the Melbourne storm in Vegas in late Feb. Then I'm traveling around the States watching Philly for a month. Just hope Lebron and MB are injured by then if they are to go deep. Lebron has to be a role player and let Brown and Maxi take control. Yeah, I like that. The problem is, I mean, Lebron and particularly MB, they don't even need to be injured to not play.

17:14If you just catch them on the wrong night, my advice would be, don't pay big money for tickets where the sixes are playing the second night of a back-to-back. That's when potentially you won't see Lebron. Because we've got to respect the fact he's 41. He's in his 40s. It's 40. It's 40 plus. Keves is going to be there for a month on the road. Keves gains wisely. You're seeing him once or twice. I reckon he's going to catch him a couple of times there for a month, Kev. Good on you, I'm jealous. Okay. Are you all right to hang around just for two more minutes? Is that okay? I'll get a break in and I know JJ has got a bit more on his list he wants to throw up. To get to the rest of the Aussies. Indeed. We'll do that next on more. Mornings on SEM. It is and ESPN's Kane Pitman is our live with us in the studio and being kind enough JJ to hang around for just a couple more minutes before we let him go into his day here in Melbourne town. But you just work any way through your list of Aussies. Yeah, absolutely. The whole tour of team I watch a lot now, yes, a couple of Aussies on the roster. But Jalen Johnson's probably my favorite player in the NBA.

18:15At the moment, that's a yearly for discussion debate. I'll just follow the next flop. The next up and Kammer. He's a pretty good player. Dyson Daniel season was an interesting one. We know the year previous he exploded, most improved player. Started the year really well, looked really good when he was the point guard of the team or the co-point guard. And then late in the season, those shooting was sort of got up on him and there was some stats around about the threes that he hadn't made. And even in the playoffs, some key moments, it felt a bit Josh Giddy ashtin in the playoffs when he wasn't in the game when typically he would have been in the game. Well, I do remember actually, I spoke to Sam before that elimination game where the Hawks were down by about 55, halfway through the second quarter and Dyson got ejected and it felt like perhaps in a sick way a fitting end to his season because it was tough. And I think the interesting thing with Dyson is in his early 20s, you sign a $100 million contract and everyone sits back and thinks, well, life's easy now.

19:16But I think he found that after you sign a contract, there's significantly more pressure that comes with that. And he actually in the preseason, and this wasn't really reported, but he jammed his thumb a couple of times early in the season. So he really struggled with that right throughout the campaign. I think it impacted his shooting and he spoke a lot that the mental side of the game became a lot for him to get through and to the point where you talk about the fans and what happened to Josh Gideon, OK, C, it was the same thing where Dyson would go to shoot a three and you could feel the whole home crowd started growing. And that became a lot for him. So I think he's worked on that a lot during the off season, not just the shot, but just understanding what pressure is going to be there. This Hawks team was one of the hottest teams in the NBA in the back end of the season. But I do think big picture. It is an interesting one to think about and take note of just how young he is and probably for the first time in his life, he wasn't an under radar player. And the team they expected him to be great. He probably wasn't offensively, but I still think he's in a good spot on it. And what is really a young team and they should be fun to watch in the east?

20:17Yeah, they are certainly. I mean, he's still 12 points per game, almost seven boards. And that's one thing he does do. He gets on the glass, particularly gets the odd put back or two offensively and six assists per game. So his numbers are really, really good. He's still a great defender as well. Jock Landau, of course, in Atlanta and the way he got there was a major... This episode is brought to you by PayPal. You know how a mom's bag has everything? Sunscreen, snacks, a stapler, the new PayPal app is like that, but for your money. Shop, pay, manager account, and earn rewards all in one place. And with purchase protection on eligible items, biometric security and paskeys, you're protected at every step. Download the new PayPal app to get started. See PayPal.com slash protection terms. Is he in terms of the trade and then the double trade and being able to go and have a career night straight away? So the hawks are going to be fun. Is there a... You know, Simmons, Gidey to an extent. Now Daniels, is there a...

21:18It's three players. Is there a shooting... We've got a shooting issue in this country. Are we sending NBA players who clearly can play the game? We just can't send shooters. It's funny. We don't have shooters. Well, I'm not the expert in shooting mechanics. I try to stay away from that. But you get asked... When I'm at NBA games, I get asked a lot by Scouts that will come through. And they ask the question, they're like, the Australians, they play fundamental basketball. They're excellent defensive players. They're run selfish. They're great locker room guys. But they can't shoot. And they're asking the question, why that is the case? And I do think if we look big picture at the boomers and hopefully they're a team that can win medals. And I was fortunate enough to be at the Parasol Olympics. And you're looking at the teams that they had to play and they're playing Serbia and Nicoli Yokić. They're playing Greece and Yana Santos to Cumpo, the playing Canada and Shay Guilda, Salyxander. They had that high caliber MVP guy that Australia just doesn't really have. Josh Gidey, young, is great player. He's on a great trajectory. He again signs $100 million contract. But there's no question. Australia is missing a superstar MVP caliber guy.

22:19I would say from the shooting perspective, Tariš Prokter and Cleveland is a guy that can really shoot the ball and Johnny Furfey hopefully can continue down that trajectory as well. But the shooting and probably just that superstar, that's probably what we're missing in Australia right now. Have we got, I don't know how much you follow. The pre-draft stuff and the guys that are in high school or the NBA or wherever. Have we got anyone? Is there anyone of that caliber in the pipeline somewhere where we can hang out and hang out and being in all start level talent? Not to that top 10 NBA caliber guy right now. But I would say because of the way they play fundamental basketball and defense and we've always had guys that stepped up to a level patty mills obviously as the all-timeer that did it time and time again for Fiber. And we've actually already seen it from Josh Gidey a little bit. So it would be nice to have that guy. But I think for Adam K. Paul and the new head coach of the boom is it's going to be a lot around the collective. And they're going to have a roster full of 7, 8, 9 guys that play in the NBA and actually play legit minutes.

23:20So the rotation is still going to be stacked. It's just a question of whether you have enough. If you're trying to win a medal because it's not just the US, the rest of the world's getting better at a rapid rate as well. Indeed. A few people wanting Gaisy to come and stand in the corner and drop threes for us. Last one for me. Last if you're asking. Last one for me. We can't let you go without the Ben Simmons questions. Clearly, it turns up in Sacramento. I think it's amazing that he's been able to get that opportunity for himself. Speak about potential difference makers. He was on that trajectory three time all star. He was the guy. All NBA defense. He was the guy for us. What level are you expecting him or hoping that he can get to in Sacramento? He's going to be off Broadway, which I think might be a good thing. Hopefully he's just in the rotation and last throughout the whole season. I'm looking at it. Is that still where you still think there's a world where he's not necessarily even on the team by the end of the season? Yeah, I think you would have to believe that based on what we've seen over the last few years. Particularly being in Sacramento.

24:21I actually had a look at the ESPN depth chart for the Sacramento Kings right now. They have him as the third string point guard for Sacramento. This is not exactly a team that is stacked with Italian and contending for a title. When I look at media today yesterday and he's been asked questions about can you get to an old star level and he's got the confidence that he can. It's just a ridiculous conversation to have right now because he hasn't been at that level for six years. In fact, he's barely played in six years and people can say whatever they want about whether or not he loves the game. I want to play the reality is he's had two significant back surgeries that were real injuries. He was a guy that relied on his athleticism. I hope that he plays and I hope that he proves a lot of people wrong. He gets the people talking. There's no doubt about that. I just don't think we should be talking about him playing at an old star level. We should just be hoping that he can be a 10 to 15 minute a night guy and then build from there. We're going to get in undated with shooting recommendations now. They've already started so well we'll read them out. We won't bore came with those. I came so good to see a live and in the studio mate.

25:22It's awesome. Thanks for donating your time and band so generous with it this morning. We can't wait for the new NBA season. Yeah, I'm sure we'll get back to the crackly connection down the road made a little portal. It's ESPN's came pitman there where they're selling a livestock or selling your home contact Alex Scott and staff today. Just as you jump in the newsroom J.J. Weather update thanks to city power few shares in Melbourne. Pretty gray and overcast outside about nice and warm 24 degrees at the moment before the bad weather hits. Indeed, be prepared and sign up for the SMS editor alerts all at citypower.com.au. This episode is brought to you by Born in Roma fragrances by Valentino Beauty. The iconic fragrance duo Donna Born in Roma Ode to Parfume is a feminine fragrance featuring juicy black current Central Jasmine Woody Cashmurren and warm vanilla. It's masculine counterpart. Woman, born in Roma Ode toilette has notes of fresh violet leaf, aromatic sage, green vetiver, spicy ginger and mineral salt. Shop at macy's.com

26:26Brussels clean up nicely at sweet green. Maple glazed, roasted and edges perfectly caramelized. Sweet greens fall harvest is back on the menu and the season's most overlooked little green vegetable is dressed to be devoured. You know what to do. Order on the sweet green app. I see you. Avatar Fire and Ash is now streaming on Disney Plus. It's the film critics are calling the best Avatar yet. Go, go, go, go, go! A true epic and completely jaw-dropping. This is the only pure thing in this world. Return to Pandora on Disney Plus. It will be an adventure for the whole fam. And watch the Oscar winning phenomenon at home. This is sick! Avatar Fire and Ash now streaming on Disney Plus. Ready to pee to their teen.