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Speaker 1: Mmmm, Welcome to the Jason Tin Podcast. Thank you guys

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Speaker 1: so much for taking time out of your Friday to

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Speaker 1: hang out with Roger and I. Roger, thank you so

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Speaker 1: much for taking time before work today to come hang

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Speaker 1: out with me and talk about some Lakers. How you

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Speaker 1: doing man? Oh? Well man? Uh so early on the

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Speaker 1: California coast, but yeah, thank for having me. I know,

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Speaker 1: it's it's so much easier for me to make this

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Speaker 1: stuff work because I'm in Arizona some an hour behind you, guys,

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Speaker 1: So every time I link up with somebody from California,

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Speaker 1: it's a little bit easier for me. Um. I thought

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Speaker 1: you were the perfect person to have on today because

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Speaker 1: I think, honestly like anybody who's been watching the Lakers

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Speaker 1: lately is gonna be frustrated with what they've seen, even

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Speaker 1: even though I talked about before the game last night

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Speaker 1: that I thought it was kind of a throw away, Um,

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Speaker 1: just as a result of the obvious circumstances that both

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Speaker 1: teams were going through. Uh, there are some lingering problems,

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Speaker 1: and so we're gonna talk. We're gonna talk about that today.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about the Laker offense. We're gonna talk

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Speaker 1: about what this team looks like without Anthony Davis, what

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Speaker 1: they need to do to succeed, and just kind of

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Speaker 1: touch all the bases. But I wanted to start with

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Speaker 1: the offense because last night, you know, obviously they made

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Speaker 1: a Brooklyn Nets defense that's terrible of Brooklyn. Brooklyn Nets

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Speaker 1: defense that since the Harden trade is dead last and

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Speaker 1: points alloud in the paint, a team that and just

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Speaker 1: about every other team in the league has been lighting

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Speaker 1: it up against um A friend of mine on Twitter

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Speaker 1: who post lines I want to say, like they were

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Speaker 1: seventeen of their last twenty games they went over on

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Speaker 1: the over under and uh, just for the game, like

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Speaker 1: it's always a boat race with those guys. And then

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Speaker 1: last night's game looked like an old Eastern Conference playoff games,

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Speaker 1: so it was it was definitely really strange. But going

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Speaker 1: into last night, even if you throw away that game,

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Speaker 1: over the last fifteen games, they were twenty second in offense. Uh.

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Speaker 1: So that's where I want to start today. It's just

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Speaker 1: kind of talking about like the reasons why things have

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Speaker 1: been kind of stagnant and ugly on that end of

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Speaker 1: the ball, especially giving the level of talent that this

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Speaker 1: team hass So what's your what what is your diagnosis

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Speaker 1: for what's going on with the Laker offense. Yeah, it

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Speaker 1: feels like the sum is less than the whole of

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Speaker 1: the parts, right, Like they have a lot of great

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Speaker 1: offensive talent, it's just not fitting correctly yet. I think

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Speaker 1: that's a product mainly to Anthony Davis not being himself.

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Speaker 1: I think Davis obviously, even before he went down, it

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Speaker 1: felt like he wasn't at his top gear. He's not

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Speaker 1: playing at his best, and really Shrewder relies on that.

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Speaker 1: Lebron has been caring. Obviously, he's been great, he's been

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Speaker 1: at he I think he had a great game last

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Speaker 1: night too, But when you have him the only one going,

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Speaker 1: k c P has been struggling, and the shock creation

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Speaker 1: just isn't there, especially you see when he gets out

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Speaker 1: of the game. I mean last night's a throwaway. Obviously

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Speaker 1: there's not many people playing, but even before last night,

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Speaker 1: when he comes out, the offense just creators, especially when

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Speaker 1: there's no Shrewder. And then THHD obviously has taken a

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Speaker 1: step back, which is expected. You weren't gonna expect him

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Speaker 1: to be a high level NBA player the whole season,

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Speaker 1: and but I think that's the main reason why this

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Speaker 1: offense just looks slow. Marcusol started to hit his threes,

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Speaker 1: but before that he's been almost a liability on offense

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Speaker 1: pretty much people aren't guarding him, and now people are

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Speaker 1: not guarding KCP, which is a little worrisome. For now.

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Speaker 1: I think, I think this whole team just needs the

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Speaker 1: All Star Break, which is a little worrisome because the

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Speaker 1: All Star Break is still like eight games away. So, um,

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Speaker 1: it's it's kind of a long way. It's it's gonna

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Speaker 1: be a trend here. But like you said, the offense

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Speaker 1: has really been struggling. The defense somehow, it's still at first,

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Speaker 1: I mean it's it's um it's dropped a little bit

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Speaker 1: for the last ten games, but um it's still ranked

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Speaker 1: number one, which is surprising. So that's a good thing

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Speaker 1: to see. But yeah, the offense has really has really

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Speaker 1: been tough without without eighties production, and Shrewder has been

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Speaker 1: up and down. He started to pick it up and

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Speaker 1: I think he was out with the COVID protocols, so

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Speaker 1: that really that really messed him up last night and

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Speaker 1: against the team like Brooklyn, Man, they they're gonna give

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Speaker 1: you open shots, and I felt like we missed a

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Speaker 1: bunch of them. Casey, he missed a bunch of them. Um,

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Speaker 1: and then Caruso couldn't hit it three as well. So

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Speaker 1: Matthews also, I think went over on his shot last week.

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Speaker 1: Do we have any news on the shoulder thing at

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Speaker 1: all as to what happened? Was it a close contact,

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Speaker 1: was it a positive test? We have no information on that.

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Speaker 1: I don't believe we do. But if it was a

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Speaker 1: positive test, I feel like he wouldn't be the only

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Speaker 1: one that's out. And I was thinking too, Yeah, So

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Speaker 1: I don't think we have any news on that. And

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Speaker 1: you know how this goes. I mean, the NBA is

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Speaker 1: going to take their time with this COVID protocol stuff,

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Speaker 1: so we we're not sure. And Anthony Davis, I think

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Speaker 1: I ruled out for another four for four weeks, which

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Speaker 1: puts him, Yeah, but that puts him a little bit

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Speaker 1: after the All Star break as well a couple of games.

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Speaker 1: So hopefully we get him back back healthy to get

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Speaker 1: this offense. How may again, So the main comparison that

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Speaker 1: I've been making, uh, you know, to be clear, I

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Speaker 1: always you you're aware of this. Everybody who follow follows

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Speaker 1: me is aware of this. I'm a huge believer in

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Speaker 1: this team, and I'm an optimist with them, and uh

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Speaker 1: I even at the darkest points of last year, I

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Speaker 1: maintained that optimism just because I really believed in the

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Speaker 1: way that they were put together. And this stretch of

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Speaker 1: games that they're going through right now reminds me so

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Speaker 1: much of the seeding games in the Bubble. And I

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Speaker 1: talked about this a lot last night, But like so,

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Speaker 1: if you remember the seeding games in the Bubble, there

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Speaker 1: was nobody in the crowd. It was the first time

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Speaker 1: they were playing without fans. Um they had absolutely no

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Speaker 1: stakes because they weren't really worried about seeding. Now, you

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Speaker 1: could argue that there's a little bit more of that

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Speaker 1: type of urgency in this in this season, but I

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Speaker 1: don't think the Lakers are particularly scared of any sort

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Speaker 1: of playoff path through the Western Conference. Um. And then

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Speaker 1: in addition to that, they went unbelievably cold from three

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Speaker 1: And I just want to read some of these numbers

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Speaker 1: to you, because this is crazy. These are some shooting

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Speaker 1: numbers from Lakers over the last fifteen games. Contabuous called

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Speaker 1: well Pope, Kyle Kuzma, p Alex cruzoent Dennis Shroeder, Talent

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Speaker 1: Horton Tucker, and a d You only played ten games

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Speaker 1: in that fifteen game stretch eighteen percent from three. And

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Speaker 1: you know, I I this kind of thing is like

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Speaker 1: a cascading effect, Like it's one thing that kind of

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Speaker 1: leads to another thing that leads to another thing. Like

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Speaker 1: you know, the the lack of of shooting has caused

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Speaker 1: teams to pack the paint, which has caused guys who

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Speaker 1: attacked the basketball lot like talent Horton Tucker to start

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Speaker 1: to struggle. You know, KCP has always been really good

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Speaker 1: at attacking close outs. All of a sudden, guys aren't

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Speaker 1: closing out his hard on him, so it starts to

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Speaker 1: affect his game. You know, Anthony Davis, like his ability

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Speaker 1: to shoot the ball is such an important part of

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Speaker 1: his game, and and I really do think that it

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Speaker 1: just kind of waterfalls into all of these different things.

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Speaker 1: Even Lebron, who shop the ball really well to start

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Speaker 1: the year, is down to thirty six over his last

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Speaker 1: fifteen games, so which is okay, but it's not it's

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Speaker 1: not great, but I think it's But if you remember

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Speaker 1: in the seating games, even despite all of that stuff,

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Speaker 1: their competitive nature kicked in in the form of them defending.

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Speaker 1: Because even in the seating games, when there was nothing

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Speaker 1: else going good for the Lakers, they were locking up

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Speaker 1: and it was which was weird. And so I think

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Speaker 1: that's kind of like the way this team is wired

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Speaker 1: is like when the offense slips, they just lock up. Now,

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Speaker 1: last night was a weird example, and that was the

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Speaker 1: weird part to me because and this is the next

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Speaker 1: thing I wanted to touch on, was, you know, I

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Speaker 1: talk all the time about how I think the Laker

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Speaker 1: defense is predicated on these guards pressuring on the perimeter,

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Speaker 1: but they're they're comfortable in the chaos. You know, We've

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Speaker 1: talked about it a hundred times. And I was really

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Speaker 1: disappointed last night in Caruso and KCP and UH and

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Speaker 1: West Matthews and and th h T for just just

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Speaker 1: being a step slow in all those rotations and in

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Speaker 1: all the chaos. It didn't it didn't look like them.

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Speaker 1: I mean, did you agree with what what I'm talking

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Speaker 1: about from last night? Yeah, So, like this team without

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Speaker 1: the rim protection is really reliant on like having chemistry

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Speaker 1: and being on the same page defensively, speed beating guy's position.

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Speaker 1: And last night, like like you said they were just

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Speaker 1: not on the same page. And also they had a

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Speaker 1: lot of lineups that just never played together. Um, you

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Speaker 1: had Quinn cooking in the second quarter. Um th HD

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Speaker 1: I thought was horrible off ball last night he was

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Speaker 1: ball watching. Um he left Joe Harris like five straight

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Speaker 1: times to go to go help on a on a

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Speaker 1: drive that just was not necessary. And uh yeah, k

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Speaker 1: CP looked really a step slow, especially on Kyrie. Um

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Speaker 1: he tried to chase him around. So yeah, like all

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Speaker 1: the guards just do not play well. I thought Crusoe

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Speaker 1: did okay on Hardened like I thought he did his

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Speaker 1: job in isolation, but um for the most part. But

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Speaker 1: other than that, Yeah, the Cards just really struggled. And

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Speaker 1: for this team, like they're not gonna stop guys at

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Speaker 1: the rim, like marcusol is just not gonna stop. Even

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Speaker 1: Jeff Green put him, put him in the paint like

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Speaker 1: a shot over him. But uh yeah, for this team,

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Speaker 1: they really need the guards. Like on the same page,

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Speaker 1: when you have line up said just have not played together,

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Speaker 1: and they just they just do not They just can't

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Speaker 1: defend the same way. Um without without those guys on

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Speaker 1: the same page. M hmm, you know, I agree and

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Speaker 1: and like there's a you know, there's there's a there's

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Speaker 1: a math equation here. It's interesting with the Brooklyn nets

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Speaker 1: h you know, having to do with their defense. So

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Speaker 1: people will say things like uh. People will say things like, oh, well, uh,

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Speaker 1: who cares as long as they outscore the other team.

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Speaker 1: And there's some truth to that, because it's a basic

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Speaker 1: scoreboard math equation, like your defense only needs to be

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Speaker 1: as good as what it takes for your point differential

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Speaker 1: to be good enough to beat these teams. That's what

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Speaker 1: that's what you're like, common sense would tell you. But

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Speaker 1: there's a reason why defense matters so much. There's a

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Speaker 1: reason why, you know, there's that crazy top ten defense

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Speaker 1: stat that everyone throws out every year. And it's interesting

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Speaker 1: because Brian Windhorse had a podcast and Ramona Shelburn and

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Speaker 1: and someone else was on I can't remember the other day,

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Speaker 1: and they were basically confronted this issue, like what like,

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Speaker 1: are we entering an era where defense no longer matters?

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Speaker 1: And I thoroughly, I thoroughly disagree, because defense translates to

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Speaker 1: the playoffs better than offense does because defense only depends

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Speaker 1: on effort, offense depends on rhythm and feel and confidence

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Speaker 1: and all of these other things, and defense only depends

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Speaker 1: on effort. That's why that defense stat exists. That's why

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Speaker 1: the Steve Nash sons were unable to win in the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: That's that's why that sort of thing doesn't translate it.

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Speaker 1: And so when I see the Lakers go out and

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Speaker 1: dog it the way they did last night, I'm never

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Speaker 1: overly concerned. I'm disappointed because as a fan, I want

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Speaker 1: them to play better, but like I'm never concerned because

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Speaker 1: when the chips are down, that team just dials it

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Speaker 1: up and and the best example is that game five,

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Speaker 1: in Game six against Miami last year, they come out

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Speaker 1: and they're really lazy. In game five. I'm tweeting about

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Speaker 1: it all games just complaining, like pulling my hair out,

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Speaker 1: you know. Uh. Laker Film room goes in and and

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Speaker 1: and post that thread of all those video clips of

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Speaker 1: them just losing shooters in all game long. And then

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Speaker 1: they come out the next game and it's like, all right,

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Speaker 1: we're dialing this up, and all of a sudden they

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Speaker 1: were getting stops. And so that's why I'm not worried

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Speaker 1: about it. But I was definitely frustrated, you know, you know,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's crazy. I thought they actually defended enough

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Speaker 1: last night where like if they made some shots, that

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Speaker 1: would have been a game still, which is kind of

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Speaker 1: insane because the math. The math problem was just I

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Speaker 1: think someone tweeted like Joe Harris had like eight threes

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Speaker 1: and the Lakers only attempted eleven or something like crazy

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Speaker 1: number like that, where they were just getting destroyed in

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Speaker 1: the math problem. Also the free throws. I thought, I

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Speaker 1: think the next shot more free throws as well. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: I thought they defended still enough to where if they

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Speaker 1: made a couple of shots, um, that would go in.

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Speaker 1: I agree with you on the defense part. My thing is,

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Speaker 1: like the only pushback I have is that, um yeah,

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Speaker 1: defense obviously matters on teams in the playoffs. It's just

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Speaker 1: I think super teams like this are the exception. Like

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Speaker 1: that's the point of having the three best isolation scorers

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Speaker 1: or whatever in the history of the game, Hardened, Katie

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Speaker 1: and uh Kyrie is just it's a level offense. I

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Speaker 1: just think we haven't seen that kind of matches maybe

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Speaker 1: the Golden State years, and that still wasn't isolation scoring.

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Speaker 1: So I think they'll need defense. I just think like

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Speaker 1: their defensive rating is needs to be taken into context,

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Speaker 1: like will bring it up like they have a wet

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Speaker 1: they have like the twenty seven defense or something some

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Speaker 1: low defensiveount and to me that that number needs to

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Speaker 1: be skewed in terms of context of like can you

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Speaker 1: score one twenty with them? Like I look at the

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Speaker 1: Milwaukee Bucks, who are actually really struggling right now. They're

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Speaker 1: like in a five game losing streak. Can they keep up?

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Speaker 1: Like can they score with Katie Harden and Kyrie in

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Speaker 1: a consistent possession? Like will will they go cold? Because

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Speaker 1: if you go cold like the Lakers last night, I

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Speaker 1: went cold for four minutes, you can't do that against Brooklyn.

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Speaker 1: You're gonna lose. Like they couldn't score for four straight

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Speaker 1: minutures is unacceptable with the talent on this roster, even

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Speaker 1: without the guys. But and that game was over. The

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Speaker 1: Nets went up fifteen in that stretch. It was a

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Speaker 1: close game, and then they went up fifteen and from

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Speaker 1: there they were trying to fight back. But yeah, like

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Speaker 1: that's where I only pushed back with this NETS team,

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Speaker 1: Like I think they're like now eleven and one against

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Speaker 1: teams above five hundred, which is kind of ridiculous that.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if that means they're just dogging on

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Speaker 1: on the bad teams. I don't watch enough of them,

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Speaker 1: but yeah, like that, That's where I'm at with them, Like, obviously,

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Speaker 1: do you need defense, They're gonna need to defend at

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Speaker 1: a certain base point level. But this team is gonna

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Speaker 1: just score the hell out of boll I mean, I

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Speaker 1: don't trust Philly discover with the Milwaukee and then from

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Speaker 1: there the East kind of drops down from there. I

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Speaker 1: I am a believer in Brooklyn. Um. I've been a

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Speaker 1: roller coaster with them this year because to start the

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Speaker 1: season I picked them when they had Jaren Allen, Katie

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Speaker 1: and Irie, and then after the Harden trade, I kind

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Speaker 1: of got off of that train and now I'm back

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Speaker 1: on and and the main reason why I and when

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Speaker 1: I say back on, I mean I think they'll get

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Speaker 1: out of the wet or the East. I still believe

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Speaker 1: that the Lakers at full strength can beat that team

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Speaker 1: for the record. Though, when Lebron was on the floor

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Speaker 1: last night without Showder and a D it looked pretty

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Speaker 1: good like they were competing with that team. And I

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Speaker 1: know Katie wasn't playing either, but but that that they

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Speaker 1: can compete with that team when Lebron's on the floor,

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Speaker 1: and as long as they have shoulder in a D

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Speaker 1: to lean on, I think it should be more competitive.

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Speaker 1: But the reason why I believe in that team is,

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Speaker 1: you know, say what you want about Kyrie and James Harden,

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Speaker 1: they've both had stretches in their career where they have

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Speaker 1: defended Jay Is in particular in two thousand eighteen, Pyrie

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Speaker 1: in particular in two thousand sixteen, and all it took

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Speaker 1: was all of them to kind of reach that level.

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Speaker 1: And and last night you could see that they adopt

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Speaker 1: a really basic switching scheme. They switch everything. They're willing

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Speaker 1: to give up offensive rebounds, they're willing to give up

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Speaker 1: enough stuff around the paint as long as they keep

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Speaker 1: you in isolation so that there's no flow to your offense,

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Speaker 1: so that there's no rhythm to your offense, and so

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Speaker 1: that everyone's just a little uncomfortable. It's what the two

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Speaker 1: eighteen Rockets did so well. And Kyrie and James Harden

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Speaker 1: both are bought into that. Now. It took them getting

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Speaker 1: their butts kicked by some bad teams, but they're both

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Speaker 1: bought into that now. And and and you know Katie

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Speaker 1: is not going to be less less bought in on

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Speaker 1: that in them they are, so there's reason to believe

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Speaker 1: that this could work. And so you know, I've come

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Speaker 1: back around on them. I still think there's a pathway

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Speaker 1: for Philly in l a the Lakers in particular, to

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Speaker 1: beat them by by by not playing their game. You

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Speaker 1: never want to play their game by just getting into

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Speaker 1: an ISO contest, but rather by just bullying them around

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Speaker 1: the rim they do. A guy like Ben Simmons and embiid,

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Speaker 1: a guy like Lebron and a D are gonna that

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Speaker 1: that kind of duo is gonna be able to put

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Speaker 1: relentless pressure on the rim and kind of potentially swing

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Speaker 1: that matchup. But yeah, I'm I'm a believer. I'm a

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Speaker 1: believer in Brooklyn. Yeah. Um, so let's talk, Uh, let's

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Speaker 1: talk about what this Laker team has to look like

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Speaker 1: without a D because you know I talked about with

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Speaker 1: Tommy on Wednesday's pod. You know, I'm a I'm a

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Speaker 1: big I'm a big believer in uh, in the fact

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Speaker 1: that this team isn't entirely a D dependent. I think

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Speaker 1: that's been something that's been overstated over the years. You know,

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Speaker 1: like Oh, Anthony Davis is here. They are a great defense.

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Speaker 1: Oh Anthony Davis is here. That that kind of unlocks everything.

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Speaker 1: That's not to say a D is not great. He

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Speaker 1: absolutely is great. But this team is constructed around Lebron's

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Speaker 1: playmaking and around elite defense, and their elite defense is

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Speaker 1: structured around stuff that that a D helps a great deal,

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Speaker 1: but they don't necessarily need. And they have a lot

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Speaker 1: of NBA starter level players, like k c. P is

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Speaker 1: an NBA starter level player, so is Dennis Well. Dennis

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Speaker 1: is a really good starter. You know, Marcus Stolt is

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Speaker 1: a starter level player. Kyle Kuzma as a starter level player.

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Speaker 1: Wesley Matthews started last year for the best team in

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Speaker 1: the NBA in the regular season. You know markiefmore not Markief.

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Speaker 1: Montrese Harrold is a starter level player, so is Alex Cruzo.

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Speaker 1: There is a lot of of talent on this roster.

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Speaker 1: They didn't look like it last night. They played poorly,

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Speaker 1: but there's a lot of talent on this roster. So

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Speaker 1: I'm a believer in the fact that they can not

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Speaker 1: only float the ship without a D but that they

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Speaker 1: can be really good. Uh So, so my question for

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Speaker 1: you is like, you know, what is there, what is

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Speaker 1: their pathway to like to competing for that one seed

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Speaker 1: with a D out over this next month. Yeah, to me,

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Speaker 1: it's mainly on the offensive end. Like obviously a D

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Speaker 1: fixes the defense a lot. I thought last night, Like,

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Speaker 1: obviously their effort wasn't there on defense, but when they

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Speaker 1: want to. I think this is a guard oriented defensive

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Speaker 1: team for the most part, and then a D kind

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Speaker 1: of fixes things around that. A D is obviously the

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Speaker 1: to me, is the best defensive player in the league,

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Speaker 1: but this this thing is credic exactly. Yeah, and their

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Speaker 1: defense is predicated on the guards flying around, creating turnovers,

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Speaker 1: being aggressive. Um. I like when this team is aggressive.

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Speaker 1: Treads last night for some reason, they had him again

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Speaker 1: dropping back and it just doesn't help anything when he

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Speaker 1: does that. UM I like him when he's aggressive up

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Speaker 1: in a defensive stance, and you could tell. I think

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Speaker 1: Treads really feeds off like the whole team, when the

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Speaker 1: team is really locked in aggressive, he gets into that mode.

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Speaker 1: And last night, also, they're gonna need Lebron to be

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Speaker 1: a defender for pretty much the whole game, Like he

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Speaker 1: needs to be locked in. It's really tough when you

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Speaker 1: have all these guys switching and trying to um create turnovers,

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Speaker 1: and you have a few guys just not on the

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Speaker 1: same page with that. UM, I think they're gonna need them.

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Speaker 1: And then on offense, they're gonna need Shrewter back. I

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Speaker 1: think they just don't have enough um playmaking without him, um,

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Speaker 1: they needed another playmaker. Lebron can't be making every single

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Speaker 1: play when he goes When he goes out of the game,

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Speaker 1: it just creators unless we get th HD playing back

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Speaker 1: at his level. UM. So I think you're right. I

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Speaker 1: think they have the talent to kind of a afloat

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Speaker 1: um without a d I just think his offense is

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Speaker 1: really needed here. Like this team just they just can't

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Speaker 1: score enough right now, especially with the shooters going through

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Speaker 1: the slumps they are and West Matthew's KCP. They got

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Speaker 1: hit open shots or this team is going to really

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Speaker 1: go down in the standings. They're kind of lucky because

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Speaker 1: the Clippers also, I think are just out with Kauai

390
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Speaker 1: PG as well, so they're kind of staying above them,

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Speaker 1: above water, above water here. And I think what people

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Speaker 1: forget it is like last year in Milwaukee had like

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Speaker 1: I think like a six game lead in the standings

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Speaker 1: um in like January February, and by the time the

395
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Speaker 1: season ended, I think the Lakers caught him. So like

396
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Speaker 1: people are saying, Utah has the one seed locked up,

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Speaker 1: I just don't agree with that. It's a two game

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Speaker 1: lead with like thirty games left. Um so yeah, I

399
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Speaker 1: think I think they have time still and there's just

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Speaker 1: no urgency. Like you said, there's no urgency, there's nothing

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Speaker 1: to play for, there's no fans in the arena. It's

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Speaker 1: really tough for them to have anything to jump up for. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I agree, Like the Jazz are playing above their above

404
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Speaker 1: their weight. They're they're you know, they're they're overachieving right now.

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Speaker 1: Like if you if you were to you know, the

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Speaker 1: Jazz are better than we all thought they were, but

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Speaker 1: if you were to rank the teams in the West,

408
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Speaker 1: you're putting them third behind the two l a team.

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Speaker 1: So it's it's very clear that they're overachieving. So theoretically,

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Speaker 1: over the course of the season they'll kind of snap

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Speaker 1: back to reality a little bit. There's also they remind

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Speaker 1: me a little bit of the Bucks last year in

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Speaker 1: the sense that they're kind of scheme dependent and uh,

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Speaker 1: and they're kind of like a, uh yeah, exactly. So theoretically,

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Speaker 1: over the course of the season, some teams will unlock

416
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Speaker 1: some success against them, it will get spread around the

417
00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:30,919
Speaker 1: league and teams will guard them better. No different than

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Speaker 1: what happened in Milwaukee last year, who not only struggled

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Speaker 1: in the bubble in the seeding games and in the playoffs,

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Speaker 1: but they also struggled in the um. They also struggled

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Speaker 1: in the things, like they also struggled in the in

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Speaker 1: the the last like half dozen games, last dozen games

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Speaker 1: heading into the COVID stoppage, like that was a team

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Speaker 1: that I don't want to say the league figured them out,

425
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Speaker 1: but but there was there was an obvious path to

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Speaker 1: where things were kind of getting off the rails for them.

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Speaker 1: And so you know, as far as far as you know,

428
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,280
Speaker 1: between the Paul George injury, the Anthony Davis injury, and

429
00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:10,440
Speaker 1: the Jazz potentially kind of coming back to reality, things

430
00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:12,960
Speaker 1: are very much still open there. But I agree, like

431
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:15,119
Speaker 1: as far as the shooting goes, you know, we have

432
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:18,400
Speaker 1: experience with this, Like they went cold for stretches at

433
00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:20,600
Speaker 1: the beginning of the season last year and then they

434
00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:22,679
Speaker 1: got hot. They all got hot in March, you know,

435
00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,119
Speaker 1: like Avery Bradley, we would go cold for a while.

436
00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,919
Speaker 1: Avery Bradley was scorching hot going into the end of

437
00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:30,840
Speaker 1: the season. K CP struggled to start the year, was

438
00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:33,439
Speaker 1: really getting slandered by Lakers Twitter. All of a sudden,

439
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:35,280
Speaker 1: he was the most consistent player at the end of

440
00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:37,320
Speaker 1: the year. You know that this is how it goes.

441
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:40,760
Speaker 1: It's just an awkward situation where everyone's going cold. And

442
00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:43,240
Speaker 1: the funny part is like Marcus al starting to make

443
00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:45,879
Speaker 1: shots like this, this thing is it's all gonna just

444
00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:48,399
Speaker 1: kind of turn around at some point. And you know,

445
00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:54,560
Speaker 1: if you remember after Game four against the Nuggets, Game

446
00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:56,920
Speaker 1: five against No, Game four gets the Nuggets last year,

447
00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:01,119
Speaker 1: you and I did a pod and I was freaking

448
00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,320
Speaker 1: out about lebron jump shot and I was saying, like

449
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,159
Speaker 1: I was like, man, like he's losing his confidence. This

450
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,280
Speaker 1: reminds me of the Spurs in two thousand thirteen. This

451
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:11,200
Speaker 1: might not be good, blah blah blah blah. And then

452
00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:13,439
Speaker 1: he just came out in games Game five and just

453
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:17,080
Speaker 1: lit them on fire and executed them. Like this is

454
00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:20,040
Speaker 1: a team that is mentally tough. They understand what they're

455
00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,640
Speaker 1: going through with they're shooting. It's gonna turn around. It's

456
00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,560
Speaker 1: only a matter of time. I'm not concerned about that

457
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,439
Speaker 1: at all. Yeah, and the seventy one day offseason, right

458
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,320
Speaker 1: is also like the elephant in the room here. Like

459
00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:32,720
Speaker 1: I saw a stat the other day. I looked up

460
00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:34,920
Speaker 1: a stat the other day all the other three contenders.

461
00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,920
Speaker 1: So I believe the Celtics, the Heat, and the Nuggets

462
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:41,399
Speaker 1: are combined forty and forty three, which I think is

463
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:43,600
Speaker 1: like a forty six percent one percentage. And then you

464
00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:45,959
Speaker 1: compare that to the Lakers, who are around twenty two

465
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,040
Speaker 1: and eight now, but um, they're on like a seventy

466
00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,360
Speaker 1: one percentage. So just to compare like those teams, which

467
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,359
Speaker 1: are good franchises, it's not like the Heat going to

468
00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,400
Speaker 1: the summer and we're like, oh yeah, we're gonna rest,

469
00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:58,439
Speaker 1: like you know, they they proclaimed this heat culture and

470
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,199
Speaker 1: all that, and obviously like they had some injuries. But

471
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,280
Speaker 1: you know, all these teams Denver as well, this is

472
00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:05,920
Speaker 1: a good team that went into the season with zero practice,

473
00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:09,760
Speaker 1: and Boston as well. I think they're they're underperforming, so um,

474
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:11,439
Speaker 1: you gotta look at from there. I think the Lakers

475
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:13,720
Speaker 1: aren't a lot of better position. I mean, it could

476
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:15,520
Speaker 1: be that I feel like if they ran the same

477
00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:17,760
Speaker 1: team back, it might be in that position. To be honest,

478
00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:20,280
Speaker 1: all that new blood kind of helps with um that

479
00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:22,560
Speaker 1: short offseason. So that that's another thing that I think

480
00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:25,119
Speaker 1: people got taken account is that they really had no summer.

481
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,600
Speaker 1: I think I saw that they're having their ninth practice

482
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,199
Speaker 1: of the year tomorrow, which is just insane. Usually you

483
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:32,840
Speaker 1: you know, you practice a lot more than that. So

484
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,080
Speaker 1: all those teams are are kind of going through it,

485
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:36,679
Speaker 1: and you're kind of we're kind of lucky to at

486
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,080
Speaker 1: least be in this spot still second in the West,

487
00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,600
Speaker 1: second best record in the league right now. Yeah, the

488
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:47,120
Speaker 1: there are landmarks that you look forward repeating champion UM

489
00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 1: or champion attempting to repeat, like you know, uh, have

490
00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,920
Speaker 1: they completely let go of the rope defensively the way

491
00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,640
Speaker 1: like the you know, the shot Kobe Lakers did no completely,

492
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,199
Speaker 1: or like the way the fourteen heat did no, Like

493
00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,320
Speaker 1: they haven't let go the rope defensively. You know, Uh,

494
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,320
Speaker 1: there's injuries, but they're all manageable. I mean, knock on

495
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,760
Speaker 1: wood with this a d thing, Like I hope it's

496
00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:12,000
Speaker 1: not something that becomes a chronic problem for him. UM.

497
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,439
Speaker 1: But but like the There there are no like giant

498
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:18,120
Speaker 1: red flags that would concern you and make you think

499
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,080
Speaker 1: like did they lose a bunch of talent to try

500
00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:22,679
Speaker 1: to avoid the luxury tax? No, they actually added talent.

501
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,600
Speaker 1: Like you know, does does Lebron look like he's aging? No,

502
00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:27,880
Speaker 1: he actually looks a little better than he did last year.

503
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,240
Speaker 1: So there's no major red flag that would have you

504
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,520
Speaker 1: be concerned about this team. You know, I was talking

505
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:35,680
Speaker 1: about this with Jeremiah on Twitter this morning. He's he's

506
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:37,479
Speaker 1: saying that he doesn't think the Lakers would get out

507
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:39,960
Speaker 1: the out of the West, and I said, you know, well,

508
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:42,880
Speaker 1: what has changed? Like, yeah, Utahon, Phoenix are an interesting

509
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,440
Speaker 1: wrinkle that that are in there, you know, but like

510
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,200
Speaker 1: Denver was one of those types of teams last year

511
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,919
Speaker 1: and they got worse because they lost their defensive wings.

512
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,440
Speaker 1: You know, Like, so they're not gonna be that much

513
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,119
Speaker 1: of a factor. You know, the Clippers are a little

514
00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:57,800
Speaker 1: better than they were last year, but so are the

515
00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,520
Speaker 1: Lakers and so, and my my question would be like

516
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:05,280
Speaker 1: what what has changed, like, you know, materially that would

517
00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:08,000
Speaker 1: make you think that that that that that that this

518
00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:10,119
Speaker 1: is some sort of different outlook than last year And

519
00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:12,120
Speaker 1: and I don't see that. I do think you brought

520
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:17,560
Speaker 1: an interesting point up about Tres because you know, uh I,

521
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,479
Speaker 1: I keep saying, like, you can't, you can't set him

522
00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:22,240
Speaker 1: up to fail by putting in a position where his

523
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,600
Speaker 1: flaws can get exposed. And when you put him in

524
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,800
Speaker 1: a drop coverage or when he's in that catch hedge

525
00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,080
Speaker 1: catch hedge coverage, but that he's sitting too low to

526
00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 1: the basket where he's not really bothering the ball handler,

527
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,760
Speaker 1: like you're he's just gonna look like one of the

528
00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,680
Speaker 1: worst players on the floor. And whereas like when when

529
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,840
Speaker 1: in the last couple of weeks he's been really good defensively,

530
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,520
Speaker 1: and I think it's been because he's been extremely active

531
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,840
Speaker 1: running around, not around the basket, more in rotations, using

532
00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,399
Speaker 1: his length and his quickness and his effort, like his

533
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,680
Speaker 1: motor to be effective on the defensive end of the ball.

534
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,280
Speaker 1: And then suddenly last night it was like like the

535
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 1: worst possible Montrese scenario, constantly in drop coverage around the basket,

536
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,040
Speaker 1: getting absolutely bullied on the offensive glass by by DeAndre Jordan's,

537
00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,959
Speaker 1: making DeAndre Jordan literally look like like vintage DeAndre Jordan's,

538
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,280
Speaker 1: like all all of those sorts of things are are

539
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:21,240
Speaker 1: avoidable in my opinion. And and you you made a

540
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:23,680
Speaker 1: great point to you said, like he tends to feed

541
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,800
Speaker 1: off of the overall defensive energy of the team. And

542
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:31,960
Speaker 1: it's so true, like this team has a tendency to

543
00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:34,200
Speaker 1: I don't want to say, let go of the rope,

544
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: uh like, but when a couple of guys aren't bringing it,

545
00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:41,240
Speaker 1: like the whole team seems to just kind of be

546
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,520
Speaker 1: out of sink on that end of the ball and

547
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:46,639
Speaker 1: and it's it's frustrating to watch because I feel like

548
00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:51,240
Speaker 1: that's like that's avoidable. Yeah, Darius at Form Balloon Gold,

549
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:52,959
Speaker 1: he has a great expression like you know, there's like

550
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,520
Speaker 1: the let the foot off the gas statement, you know,

551
00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:57,320
Speaker 1: like that you're foot off the gas. The Lakers just

552
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:58,879
Speaker 1: get out of the car Like there's no get lit

553
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 1: the foot of the gas. They just get the whole car.

554
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,160
Speaker 1: And with treads. He's a guy like, um, you'll see

555
00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:05,000
Speaker 1: a lot when when someone scores, he does a lot

556
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:06,399
Speaker 1: like hey, you're supposed to be there, Like you know,

557
00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:08,439
Speaker 1: he does a lot of pointing and stuff like that.

558
00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:10,040
Speaker 1: And I think he's a guy that really needs like

559
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 1: chemistry with lineups. Um, when he starts to play with

560
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,600
Speaker 1: a bunch of people, he knows their tendency where to help.

561
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:17,240
Speaker 1: He played a lot with He played with th h

562
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:19,560
Speaker 1: T last night, Quinn Cook with that second unit and

563
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,280
Speaker 1: they just really um struggled to have any kind of

564
00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:25,040
Speaker 1: rhythm on the defensive end. And Steve Nash did a

565
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,159
Speaker 1: smart thing. He kind of Mirrord Deandre's minutes with Tress

566
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,720
Speaker 1: and they had Jeff Green mirror and Mark Um it

567
00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,080
Speaker 1: looked like he really coached for last night and Vogel

568
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:35,600
Speaker 1: and he even said this that he was not coaching

569
00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,560
Speaker 1: for last night. Um, he really had zero game plan,

570
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 1: especially for the nets specifically. Um, so he's still experimenting

571
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 1: with stuff. So um yeah, that was smart by the

572
00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,320
Speaker 1: smart by Steve Nash. And uh yeah, treads just man

573
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,080
Speaker 1: when he's when he's not like in a defensive stance

574
00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:53,119
Speaker 1: and not actually defending, it's just it's just not helping

575
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 1: anything him And a drop coverage doesn't stop anybody. He's

576
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,440
Speaker 1: not protecting the rim. His hands aren't up, his hands

577
00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:01,400
Speaker 1: aren't active. He's he's a guy that can create turnovers

578
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,440
Speaker 1: and um, you can see when he's really lively, like

579
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,000
Speaker 1: even on offense. Um, he had a few buckets, but

580
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,040
Speaker 1: like you said, the Nets kind of push you into

581
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:11,600
Speaker 1: their style, right this isolation heavy basketball and a tread

582
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,360
Speaker 1: even fell into that. He was taking you know, iso

583
00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:18,080
Speaker 1: jab step jumpers over DeAndre Jordan, which just again it's

584
00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:23,040
Speaker 1: just plays right into right into into their hands. I agree, Uh, well,

585
00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:26,320
Speaker 1: are you worried about KCP at all? I feel like

586
00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:29,160
Speaker 1: he's earned the benefit of the doubt, right, Like, I mean,

587
00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 1: he's a guy that um, he's he's an iron man.

588
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,640
Speaker 1: He plays every game for the most part, and he's

589
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,560
Speaker 1: uh he struggled to in this stretch, but he had

590
00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:38,719
Speaker 1: a really nice starts of the year, and guys go

591
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,120
Speaker 1: through slumps, like you know, as a as a player,

592
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,040
Speaker 1: as a shooter, guys struggle sometimes with their shot. He's

593
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,840
Speaker 1: obviously in his head right now, but I think he's

594
00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:48,560
Speaker 1: earned the benefit of doubt when he played that well

595
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,679
Speaker 1: in a playoff series and high level intensity games that

596
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:54,280
Speaker 1: consistently you you get to benefit out in like these

597
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,000
Speaker 1: uh dog days of the NBA season. So I think

598
00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:58,880
Speaker 1: I think he'll be fine. He's a guy that needs

599
00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:00,800
Speaker 1: the All Star break. Um, I'm kind of fine if

600
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,359
Speaker 1: he wants to take a few games off like, you know,

601
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 1: maybe you can't say rest anymore as a as a term,

602
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,400
Speaker 1: but you know you could say sore whatever, a calf

603
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:11,560
Speaker 1: or something and give him a few days just to

604
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,640
Speaker 1: just to rest it. I think I think he deserves it.

605
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 1: He does seem a little banged up. You made a

606
00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:22,679
Speaker 1: good point about shooting, like it's basketball. I made the

607
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:24,720
Speaker 1: same thing about the made the same point about the

608
00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:29,280
Speaker 1: Lakers as a whole earlier. But it's so everything has

609
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:33,720
Speaker 1: kind of like a a cascading effect, and you know,

610
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:38,160
Speaker 1: when you're not shooting well, it drastically affects everything else

611
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,800
Speaker 1: you do on the basketball court, Like I have noticed

612
00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:43,120
Speaker 1: even with myself sometimes, like like if I if I

613
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:45,920
Speaker 1: missed some shots, all of a sudden, like you don't

614
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,920
Speaker 1: see the floor as well, because you know, maybe you're

615
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:50,920
Speaker 1: rushing a little bit, so instead of taking time to

616
00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 1: really read things now, all of a sudden, you're pressing.

617
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:55,880
Speaker 1: And you could see that with KCP yesterday, like there

618
00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,320
Speaker 1: was when he missed his first couple of threes, he

619
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,920
Speaker 1: started pump faking a ghosts. There was one where he

620
00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 1: caught the ball at the top of the key with

621
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,960
Speaker 1: like fifteen feet of space and just didn't even he

622
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:08,840
Speaker 1: didn't pump fake. He just he just like I met

623
00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 1: immediately upon catching the ball, he's looking to swing it

624
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,560
Speaker 1: and and you're driving into traffic to where there were

625
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,840
Speaker 1: a bunch of hands where it wasn't really uh much

626
00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:20,440
Speaker 1: space for him to operate. It was just you could

627
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,560
Speaker 1: tell like he psyched himself out. But I like he's

628
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,000
Speaker 1: been in worst slumps before and gotten out of him.

629
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:28,800
Speaker 1: And you know, KCP is at his best when the

630
00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,200
Speaker 1: game is simple for him. You know, I've told you

631
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:32,720
Speaker 1: a million times. I think he's one of the best

632
00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:34,959
Speaker 1: close out guys in the league. Like if you if

633
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:36,880
Speaker 1: you close out short, he's gonna shoot the ball, and

634
00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:38,320
Speaker 1: he's gonna make a lot of him. He's gonna make

635
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:40,320
Speaker 1: of him when he's in a good groove. You know,

636
00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:43,080
Speaker 1: when if you if you chase him off the line,

637
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:46,440
Speaker 1: he's a he's really good at just ripping through going

638
00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,440
Speaker 1: up off one leg, either finishing or making that next read.

639
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:51,640
Speaker 1: And and that's gonna be when he snaps out of it,

640
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:53,080
Speaker 1: is he makes a couple of shots and just kind

641
00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:57,440
Speaker 1: of gets back to KCP basketball and just and I'm

642
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:02,320
Speaker 1: just not worried about that. I still and he's uh

643
00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:04,920
Speaker 1: one of the better you know, three and D type

644
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:08,000
Speaker 1: of guards that we have in the league right now. Yeah. Same,

645
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 1: confidence is a hell of a drug. Like I say

646
00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,200
Speaker 1: that with KCP. Like with confidence, he looks like a

647
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,480
Speaker 1: million dollar player. And then when when he's when he's

648
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 1: in his head, he's obviously not at that level. So

649
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,520
Speaker 1: he just needs his confidence back. He'll be fine. What

650
00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:25,480
Speaker 1: are you are you concerned about th h T at all?

651
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:30,360
Speaker 1: I mean he's a twenty year old, Uh, basically a rookie.

652
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 1: I mean last year he played like five games and

653
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,360
Speaker 1: he got a few playoff games. To me, he's a rookie.

654
00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 1: Like Lakers didn't have a first round pick this year,

655
00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:38,840
Speaker 1: they traded it for Dennis Shrewter, So to me, he's

656
00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,480
Speaker 1: our first round pick. Um, he goes into the glore

657
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,560
Speaker 1: of a Lakers young cores that we see all around

658
00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:47,000
Speaker 1: the league, um kind of driving. So I think he's

659
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:48,920
Speaker 1: another one of those. I mean, it's kind of hard

660
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,040
Speaker 1: to expect him to be the backup point guard, a

661
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,960
Speaker 1: twenty year old backup point guard on a championship level

662
00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:55,920
Speaker 1: winning team. Maybe if this was like the New York

663
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,800
Speaker 1: Knicks or Knicks. Actually, I've been playing well, but whatever

664
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,040
Speaker 1: the terrible teams. If he was like the point guard there,

665
00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 1: he'd probably be getting a lot more touches, being able

666
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,040
Speaker 1: to get a rhythm and be able to average fifteen

667
00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:08,160
Speaker 1: or something like that. On this team, he's just not

668
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:09,959
Speaker 1: gonna get the touches to do that. And you can

669
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:11,800
Speaker 1: see he's still trying to find his way. He he

670
00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:13,920
Speaker 1: does a lot where like he'll drive and like he

671
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,880
Speaker 1: doesn't realize there's help coming, Like he'll get he'll like

672
00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:18,520
Speaker 1: do his two steps and then he'd be like, oh,

673
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:20,920
Speaker 1: oh shoot, there's like a big right there, and he

674
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,040
Speaker 1: tries to kick it out. Then um, last night he

675
00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:25,520
Speaker 1: drove and took like a fade away one leg jumper.

676
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:28,960
Speaker 1: I was like it was like man. But again, like

677
00:31:29,240 --> 00:31:31,400
Speaker 1: as Laker fans, we can't, like I said before, we

678
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:33,720
Speaker 1: can't push for th h t minutes and then be

679
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:36,320
Speaker 1: mad at like the growing pains, right like we you

680
00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:38,320
Speaker 1: can't have both. You can't want TSC to play and

681
00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:40,600
Speaker 1: then also want him not to make the mistakes that

682
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:42,680
Speaker 1: come with it. And I think these are investments in

683
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:44,680
Speaker 1: the future. These are you know, these are these are

684
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,000
Speaker 1: not for this game. What t does for this the

685
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:49,400
Speaker 1: turnovers and all that is all building towards something. He's

686
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,160
Speaker 1: not a defined player, right, He's not a shrewder like

687
00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:53,520
Speaker 1: where you're like, man, what are you doing. You've been

688
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:55,200
Speaker 1: in the league seven years. Why are you trying to

689
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 1: behind the back? You know? No, look like so you

690
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,120
Speaker 1: gotta let the kid learn, and I'm fine with the

691
00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:01,640
Speaker 1: bumps that are going to come with it. I think

692
00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:05,320
Speaker 1: the talent will oversee what he's doing. Now. I'm trying

693
00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:09,520
Speaker 1: to throw away last night's game in terms of evaluating

694
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:12,080
Speaker 1: him on the defensive end, because it reminds me of

695
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:14,959
Speaker 1: some of the Montrez problems earlier in the year, when

696
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:17,600
Speaker 1: you know, he would look really bad in a game

697
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:20,920
Speaker 1: where the entire team looked really bad defensively, and so

698
00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,680
Speaker 1: you know, if you remember earlier in the year against Portland,

699
00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:27,240
Speaker 1: he had that wake up call of a game guardian

700
00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 1: Gary Trent Jr. Where he kept leaving him open and

701
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,320
Speaker 1: giving up all those threes and it pretty much cost

702
00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:35,320
Speaker 1: him a game. And uh, I thought he had made

703
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,880
Speaker 1: progress from that and gotten to the point where where

704
00:32:38,880 --> 00:32:41,640
Speaker 1: he had kind of made some strides on understanding the

705
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,840
Speaker 1: defensive end and his just a focus in the in

706
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:48,480
Speaker 1: the incessant like you literally can't lose focus for a

707
00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,400
Speaker 1: second or it could cost you. And I thought he

708
00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:52,840
Speaker 1: had kind of figured that out. There was a lot

709
00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:56,080
Speaker 1: of stretches there over the last month where he was

710
00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:01,280
Speaker 1: dominant defensively, like part of some crazy defense, some sequences

711
00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:03,280
Speaker 1: for the Lakers where they would go on crazy runs

712
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:07,240
Speaker 1: where he was just everywhere getting strips, getting steals, you know, disrupting,

713
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:13,320
Speaker 1: passing everything, and uh, and I was more concerned with

714
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:17,160
Speaker 1: his offensive inconsistency. Not concerned, but just that would be

715
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 1: the thing that would be the difference between him being

716
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,400
Speaker 1: like a pivotal part of their playoff rotation and kind

717
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,600
Speaker 1: of being a microwave guy only played five ten minutes

718
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,640
Speaker 1: a game, you know, And last night was the first

719
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:31,360
Speaker 1: time in a long time where I kind of saw

720
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:34,720
Speaker 1: some slippage on the defensive end. And I'm hoping that

721
00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:37,840
Speaker 1: it was just a throwaway from the standpoint of of

722
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:41,239
Speaker 1: the whole team's effort, because you know that's gonna be

723
00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,640
Speaker 1: you know, if you look at the Lakers guard rotation,

724
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:48,080
Speaker 1: they have Dennis Strutter, KCP, Alex Caruso, Wesley Matthews, and

725
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:52,080
Speaker 1: th h T. So that's five guys in the playoffs.

726
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:54,560
Speaker 1: You're probably only going to see four of those guys

727
00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,680
Speaker 1: play because Lebron and Kyle Kuzma and Anthony Davis and

728
00:33:57,720 --> 00:33:59,840
Speaker 1: Montrez Harrold and Marcus Saul are still gonna play, and

729
00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,120
Speaker 1: you're you may even see some Marquis Moore's for specific

730
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,600
Speaker 1: matchups when then he's shooting from the five. So from

731
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:07,640
Speaker 1: that standpoint, like you know, in order for him to

732
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:10,920
Speaker 1: break into that top four and be playing in the playoffs,

733
00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,320
Speaker 1: I think they can live with some of the offensive inconsistency,

734
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:16,400
Speaker 1: some of the him not seeing the floor super well.

735
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,600
Speaker 1: It's that it's games like last night where he's giving

736
00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:23,520
Speaker 1: up an offensive rebound to Cole to Kyrie Irving, when

737
00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,840
Speaker 1: he's giving up on a play, or or he's losing

738
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,080
Speaker 1: Joe Harrison rotation, Like those are the kinds of things

739
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:32,560
Speaker 1: where he's going to find himself out of the rotation.

740
00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:34,279
Speaker 1: And and I, like I said, I just kind of

741
00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,080
Speaker 1: hope last night was a throwaway. Yeah. Same, he's an

742
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,239
Speaker 1: over helper, right, He's the guy that really likes to help,

743
00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:41,080
Speaker 1: so like he'll be in the paint even though his

744
00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:43,520
Speaker 1: man is Joe Harris and the nets are really good

745
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,200
Speaker 1: at like if you're in rotation, it's over, Like they

746
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,640
Speaker 1: moved the ball three times, um, and it's too Joe Harris.

747
00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:53,200
Speaker 1: I think TLC Timothy Loo hit like four threes in

748
00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,919
Speaker 1: three minutes because the Lakers lost him. So the nets

749
00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:57,520
Speaker 1: will put you in. Then they're one of the the

750
00:34:57,520 --> 00:34:59,440
Speaker 1: the best opments of the team, So you can't have

751
00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,759
Speaker 1: guys getting lost falling asleep off the ball. Yeah, and

752
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:07,000
Speaker 1: like it was funny yesterday. You know, I tweeted this

753
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:09,480
Speaker 1: out yesterday. You sent me the d M about the

754
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:12,040
Speaker 1: guy that got upset that I said this, but which

755
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,720
Speaker 1: was funny. I had to reread that like six times,

756
00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:17,880
Speaker 1: like some guy was like I was tweeting after the

757
00:35:17,880 --> 00:35:19,759
Speaker 1: game and I basically was like did any Laker play

758
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,440
Speaker 1: well tonight? And it was kind of just presenting the

759
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:27,920
Speaker 1: topic that was pretty clear. Yeah, that was But anyway,

760
00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:30,920
Speaker 1: the you know, like Lebron was fine, but he wasn't great,

761
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:33,000
Speaker 1: Like he didn't shoot the ball well, and I agree

762
00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:35,279
Speaker 1: with you, like he wasn't great on the defensive end.

763
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:37,560
Speaker 1: There was a play at the start of the fourth

764
00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:41,200
Speaker 1: quarter where he uh was kind of standing on the

765
00:35:41,239 --> 00:35:44,720
Speaker 1: block and Jeff Green was guarding him and Joe Harris

766
00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,279
Speaker 1: was there with it was either Crusoe or I can't

767
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:50,239
Speaker 1: remember who it was, and uh and Jeff Green and

768
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,360
Speaker 1: Joe Harris was in the corner and Jeff Green just

769
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,640
Speaker 1: kind of went and set a pin down and uh

770
00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:59,360
Speaker 1: and Lebron stood on the block and uh, whatever guard

771
00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:01,080
Speaker 1: was over there when it was Cruiser t HD or

772
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:04,080
Speaker 1: whatever gets caught on the pin down and Joe Harris

773
00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:06,719
Speaker 1: breaks free for three and Lebron basically didn't move on

774
00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:09,319
Speaker 1: the entire possession, and they're thinking, like, all right, like

775
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:12,759
Speaker 1: we can't do that, you know either, you know, and

776
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:16,760
Speaker 1: then uh, you know, Kuzmo was good, but I also

777
00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:19,880
Speaker 1: felt like he had he missed some bunnies. He had

778
00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:21,440
Speaker 1: a couple of players where he would like get steals

779
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:22,880
Speaker 1: but then like fumble the ball out of bounds. Like

780
00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:24,719
Speaker 1: I didn't think it was his best game either, and

781
00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:26,600
Speaker 1: he's still kind of struggling a little bit from the

782
00:36:26,840 --> 00:36:30,640
Speaker 1: from the three point line. But every every other Laker

783
00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:34,279
Speaker 1: had about their worst nightmare game, Like Caruso had his

784
00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:37,400
Speaker 1: classic like driving into the lane and then just throwing

785
00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:41,000
Speaker 1: the ball to the other team. Uh, missing floaters and layups.

786
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:43,040
Speaker 1: You know, th HD had one of his worst offensive

787
00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:48,120
Speaker 1: games in a while. You know, Mark Kith Morris was bad. Uh,

788
00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:52,400
Speaker 1: Westerley Matthey, like literally every single Laker played one of

789
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:55,399
Speaker 1: their worst games that I've seen them play, and and

790
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:57,200
Speaker 1: that was why it was like so crazy to see

791
00:36:57,239 --> 00:37:00,120
Speaker 1: them even compete there where they were within ten or

792
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:03,120
Speaker 1: at the end of the third quarter. Uh, it was

793
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:05,279
Speaker 1: wild because like you just don't see that very often.

794
00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:06,759
Speaker 1: But it goes to show you what we said and

795
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:09,640
Speaker 1: what you were pointing out, you know about like getting

796
00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:11,560
Speaker 1: out of the car, Like the Lakers just have a

797
00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:15,600
Speaker 1: tendency to really to really let things slip. Yeah, I

798
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,239
Speaker 1: thought Kuzma actually, like I thought he played pretty well.

799
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:20,600
Speaker 1: He brought the energy last night, right like, um, He's

800
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:22,560
Speaker 1: still went after his offense, rebounds, he had like a

801
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:24,520
Speaker 1: he had a bunch of big threes. I thought to

802
00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:26,839
Speaker 1: keep him close for a little bit. So I thought

803
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,600
Speaker 1: him Lebron had like the best games last night. Kusma

804
00:37:29,600 --> 00:37:33,399
Speaker 1: has been pretty consistent just bringing the effort, trying every night,

805
00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:35,799
Speaker 1: so give him some some credit for that. I thought

806
00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:38,759
Speaker 1: he played well. I thought he defended his role. I

807
00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:41,080
Speaker 1: thought he played well. So that's that's the only ones. Yeah,

808
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:42,719
Speaker 1: you're right, though everyone else had a pretty much a

809
00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:44,640
Speaker 1: bad game. And you're not gonna beat the nets with

810
00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:47,520
Speaker 1: like your half, your over half, your roster just not

811
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:51,080
Speaker 1: not contributing at all. And and DeAndre Jordan played the

812
00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:52,960
Speaker 1: best game I've seen him play this season in terms

813
00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:55,000
Speaker 1: of his activity. I'm sure he's had better scoring nights,

814
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:58,560
Speaker 1: but his activity was great too. Cabereau was a brick

815
00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:01,600
Speaker 1: in Philly and and now he's making everything in Brooklyn.

816
00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:05,160
Speaker 1: Joe Harris was great, like they Jeff Green never misses

817
00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:07,160
Speaker 1: an open shot anymore. I'd sent out a staff the

818
00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:09,759
Speaker 1: other day, like, you know, you always have to trust

819
00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:12,400
Speaker 1: your eye to eyes sometimes because I remember sitting there thinking, like, man,

820
00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:14,959
Speaker 1: Jeff Green is making all these shots when he's playing

821
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,200
Speaker 1: in Houston in the playoffs last year, and then this

822
00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:18,920
Speaker 1: year in Brooklyn. It's like, man, every time I watch

823
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:21,040
Speaker 1: a Brooklyn game, like Jeff Green is not missing any shots,

824
00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:22,839
Speaker 1: and you look it up and he's like forty three

825
00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:26,080
Speaker 1: over over the last playoffs in this entire season. But yeah,

826
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:28,960
Speaker 1: you can't, uh, you're you can't expect to beat a

827
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:31,600
Speaker 1: team when you're just getting outplayed down the roster, Like

828
00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:34,560
Speaker 1: if Montras is gonna get out by DeAndre Jordan's that's

829
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:37,960
Speaker 1: gonna be a problem. Uh rooking, before I get you

830
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:42,560
Speaker 1: out of here. What are you still confident? Are you wavering?

831
00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:44,839
Speaker 1: How do you feel about them getting out of the West.

832
00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:46,120
Speaker 1: How do you feel about them in a match up

833
00:38:46,160 --> 00:38:49,840
Speaker 1: with Brooklyn? I'm pretty confident. I think Brooklyn and the

834
00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:51,920
Speaker 1: Clippers are the toughest ones that. Like you said, I

835
00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:53,840
Speaker 1: actually think Brooklyn is a little bit more tougher. I

836
00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:56,239
Speaker 1: just think they're offensive, like firepower, has a little bit

837
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,600
Speaker 1: more of a juice that's able to kind of just

838
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:00,880
Speaker 1: outscore you for four games like as possible. Those two

839
00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,120
Speaker 1: teams the only ones that I see. I think Utah

840
00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:05,480
Speaker 1: is a great team. I just think the matchup for

841
00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:07,840
Speaker 1: US is just awful. Um. I just think like go

842
00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:10,520
Speaker 1: Berry gets played his strengths kind of get played off

843
00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,160
Speaker 1: with and Anthony Davis at the five lineup, I think,

844
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:14,839
Speaker 1: and they have no one to guard Lebron as well

845
00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:19,359
Speaker 1: when things matter. Davis just wants to completely emasculate Rudy. Yeah.

846
00:39:19,560 --> 00:39:21,000
Speaker 1: I don't know why. I don't. I don't know what

847
00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:23,920
Speaker 1: Rudy did to a d to make that matchup really personal.

848
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,360
Speaker 1: It feels like a lot of people really take Rudy's

849
00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:29,000
Speaker 1: matchup personal for some reason, he just has that way

850
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:31,439
Speaker 1: about him, I guess. But yeah, like a D takes

851
00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,200
Speaker 1: that matchic really personal. Um, Lebron plays well in Utah,

852
00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:37,040
Speaker 1: I think. So yeah, those are those the only teams that, like,

853
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:38,799
Speaker 1: I think have have a real chance. I think this

854
00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,520
Speaker 1: team is fine. You can't really judge them without a D.

855
00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:43,279
Speaker 1: I mean I set a lot like I saw a

856
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:46,680
Speaker 1: lot of headlines this week like if Anthony Davis isn't

857
00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:49,520
Speaker 1: there or isn't healthy, the Lakers you know, can't win.

858
00:39:49,600 --> 00:39:52,400
Speaker 1: And that's like, well, obviously, I mean what kind of

859
00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:55,040
Speaker 1: analysis that like analysis is that, Like it's obvious if

860
00:39:55,040 --> 00:39:57,320
Speaker 1: the Lakers don't have a D, then then yeah, they're

861
00:39:57,320 --> 00:39:59,719
Speaker 1: not gonna win the title. You can do that because

862
00:39:59,719 --> 00:40:03,520
Speaker 1: you're like can win by losing a star, even Brooklyn.

863
00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:06,120
Speaker 1: They're not winning without Katie or one of you know,

864
00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:08,840
Speaker 1: one of them, or even the Clippers, and because everything

865
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:10,759
Speaker 1: is built around this idea that they need all three

866
00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:14,520
Speaker 1: of them to overcome their their defensive deficiencies exactly. And

867
00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:16,760
Speaker 1: so so with the Clippers, right, they need both Kauai

868
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,160
Speaker 1: and they don't just need PG, they need PG two

869
00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:21,879
Speaker 1: be himself in the playoffs, which is still uh TV

870
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:24,520
Speaker 1: hit TV D. So yeah, I think the Lakers are fine,

871
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:27,719
Speaker 1: and Lebron is still shown that he's not just like

872
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:30,280
Speaker 1: he's not dropping, he's actually like to me, he's wide

873
00:40:30,280 --> 00:40:35,000
Speaker 1: in the gap in a weird way, another ridiculous tone

874
00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:38,040
Speaker 1: class night, like what is going on? So I want

875
00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:39,560
Speaker 1: to I guess I want to ask you this because

876
00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:41,560
Speaker 1: like you've been watching Lebron a lot more than me,

877
00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:43,360
Speaker 1: and I feel like you probably think he's been the

878
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:46,719
Speaker 1: best player in the league since twenty twelve. You think, like,

879
00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:49,840
Speaker 1: so Kobe's last Like to me, Kobe was at the

880
00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:53,440
Speaker 1: top around two thousand ten, and then I think eleven

881
00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:56,160
Speaker 1: was when Lebron lost in the finals. But like around

882
00:40:56,160 --> 00:40:58,239
Speaker 1: that time, I'm thinking he was the best guy, kind

883
00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:01,839
Speaker 1: of like a vacancy, like give it by honorary, give

884
00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:04,839
Speaker 1: it to Kobe kind of thing. Yeah, but in twelve,

885
00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:07,120
Speaker 1: by then Lebron was the best player in the league.

886
00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:09,160
Speaker 1: I'm guessing so, and it was him and made me

887
00:41:09,239 --> 00:41:12,480
Speaker 1: k d right at that time. And then Steph obviously

888
00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:14,959
Speaker 1: came in, staff came in to me like the gap

889
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:17,480
Speaker 1: has widened. I guess I think it's him and Steph

890
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:20,400
Speaker 1: maybe like those two. I guess are the best stuff

891
00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:22,040
Speaker 1: does in a different way. But like, I feel like

892
00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:24,439
Speaker 1: the gap has widened between him and the best player

893
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,040
Speaker 1: in the league just with um how I mean, Steff

894
00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:29,719
Speaker 1: is still coming back. Katie's not what he is what

895
00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:31,799
Speaker 1: he was. So what do you think, Like, is that

896
00:41:31,840 --> 00:41:34,200
Speaker 1: gap widening, is it around the same as it's been

897
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:36,160
Speaker 1: since he's been at the top, or what do you

898
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:39,360
Speaker 1: think about that? I don't think the gap is necessarily widened,

899
00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:41,120
Speaker 1: but I think it's more a product of just how

900
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:44,759
Speaker 1: insanely talented the league is right now. Um, you know

901
00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:46,920
Speaker 1: when I look at this kind of stuff, like you know,

902
00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:49,120
Speaker 1: whoever wins the title this year? I was thinking about

903
00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:50,759
Speaker 1: this literally on my on my drive home. I was

904
00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:52,600
Speaker 1: playing basketball this morning and I was driving home and

905
00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:56,479
Speaker 1: I was like, I, whoever get like if if if

906
00:41:56,719 --> 00:42:00,360
Speaker 1: Kauai runs through Lebron and a D and then runs

907
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:04,120
Speaker 1: through this Katie team in Brooklyn, Like that's that's insane.

908
00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:07,520
Speaker 1: If Lebron does the same to Kauai in Brooklyn. If

909
00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:09,680
Speaker 1: Brooklyn does it to Joel em Beat and then gets

910
00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:12,359
Speaker 1: through one of the l A teams, if like like

911
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:14,440
Speaker 1: if if Philly runs through it, or if you like,

912
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:18,800
Speaker 1: whoever wins this title this year. You know, I'm not

913
00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:20,840
Speaker 1: a big believer in diminishing titles, but I mean I

914
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:23,200
Speaker 1: also believe that summer are a little bit more impressive

915
00:42:23,239 --> 00:42:27,160
Speaker 1: than others, like this year, borrowing massive injury implications, like

916
00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:30,239
Speaker 1: this is gonna be an unbelievable accomplishment for whatever team

917
00:42:30,239 --> 00:42:33,960
Speaker 1: hoisted that trophy. And and again, it's just a product

918
00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:36,239
Speaker 1: of how insanely talented the league was. Like think of

919
00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:39,360
Speaker 1: it this way, Like last year, Steph and Kadie missed

920
00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:43,080
Speaker 1: the playoffs because of injuries, and yet the Lakers still

921
00:42:43,120 --> 00:42:47,600
Speaker 1: had to go through Damian Lillard, who's unbelievable um, and

922
00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:50,279
Speaker 1: they had to go through you know, James Harden and

923
00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:53,200
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook. They had to go through Nicola Yo Kitchen,

924
00:42:53,239 --> 00:42:57,040
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray, who was literally a thirty point it's like,

925
00:42:57,120 --> 00:43:00,359
Speaker 1: sixty percent effective field goal percentage guy last year. And

926
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:02,560
Speaker 1: then they had to go through you know, Jimmy Butler,

927
00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:05,239
Speaker 1: who is arguably one of the ten best players in

928
00:43:05,239 --> 00:43:06,759
Speaker 1: the league when he's when he's dialed in like that

929
00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:10,200
Speaker 1: in the playoffs and like, and so a down year

930
00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:14,120
Speaker 1: for talent because of injury was still just this insane

931
00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:17,480
Speaker 1: pathway and this year is gonna be even crazier, you know,

932
00:43:17,560 --> 00:43:20,160
Speaker 1: as far as like his career path. Like, I'm really

933
00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:23,200
Speaker 1: really hard when I evaluate the top players in the league,

934
00:43:23,239 --> 00:43:26,600
Speaker 1: and I do put a huge, you know, extra amount

935
00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:31,400
Speaker 1: of weight on on that that I Q and savvy

936
00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:34,560
Speaker 1: for winning basketball games, because I think like that is

937
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:37,160
Speaker 1: one of the most underrated aspects when we're evaluating players.

938
00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:41,600
Speaker 1: Is just like a player's ability to sense the teetering

939
00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:46,440
Speaker 1: outcome of the game in specific moments, and that kind

940
00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:49,239
Speaker 1: of thing is not evaluated by talent. That's evaluated with

941
00:43:49,239 --> 00:43:52,360
Speaker 1: your brain. Because Lebron undoubtedly has been the most talented

942
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:55,279
Speaker 1: player in the world since two thousand seven, you know,

943
00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:58,560
Speaker 1: and maybe at this point there might be players who

944
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:01,320
Speaker 1: are more talented than him in terms of just pure ability,

945
00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:04,759
Speaker 1: but there's you know, from two thousand three to two

946
00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:08,760
Speaker 1: thousand twelve, Lebron just he didn't quite have the same

947
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:13,239
Speaker 1: grasp of that ability to to take control of basketball game.

948
00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:15,720
Speaker 1: That's why Dirk did what he did in two thousand eleven.

949
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:20,120
Speaker 1: Dirk was peaking mentally sense to those moments like in

950
00:44:20,239 --> 00:44:22,799
Speaker 1: Game three against Miami when Miami's kind of falling apart

951
00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:25,239
Speaker 1: and he's making that comeback. Like, that's Dirk. That's Dirk

952
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:28,839
Speaker 1: sensing and smelling blood in the water. That's you know, Dirk.

953
00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:31,279
Speaker 1: In Game six was the best one. You know, Game six,

954
00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:33,480
Speaker 1: Miami's coming home, they have two home games with a

955
00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:36,400
Speaker 1: chance to win the series, and Dirk is just like, no, Like,

956
00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 1: I have an opportunity here to get this done and

957
00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:42,080
Speaker 1: Chris Bosh can't guard me, you know, And and and

958
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:43,960
Speaker 1: that and that was that. That's where it teetered. And

959
00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:46,359
Speaker 1: two thousand twelve was when Lebron figured that out, and

960
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:48,880
Speaker 1: since then it's been him. And as far as the

961
00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:51,600
Speaker 1: gap though, like it's like, man, it's hard to say

962
00:44:51,680 --> 00:44:54,920
Speaker 1: Lebron is way better than the other players in the

963
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:58,240
Speaker 1: league when Steph's playing the way he's playing, when Katie's

964
00:44:58,239 --> 00:45:00,279
Speaker 1: playing the way he's playing, when kawais playing the way

965
00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:05,640
Speaker 1: he's playing. You know, I I don't hold this against

966
00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:10,799
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan's because in fairness, you know, it's hard to

967
00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:14,200
Speaker 1: push yourself to a certain level when there's not a

968
00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:16,440
Speaker 1: carrot that's being dangled in front of you. I think

969
00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:20,360
Speaker 1: that's why he retired twice like he did. But like

970
00:45:21,239 --> 00:45:26,160
Speaker 1: Lebron cannot rest, there's a reason why he's improving. He

971
00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:30,080
Speaker 1: cannot rest because the dudes on his heel on his

972
00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:33,600
Speaker 1: heels in any other season would be the best player

973
00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:36,600
Speaker 1: in the world. Like drops Steph Curry in any other

974
00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:38,680
Speaker 1: era other than maybe Michael Jordan's era, he's the best

975
00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:40,960
Speaker 1: player in the world. Drop Kuai and in the seventies

976
00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:43,200
Speaker 1: and eighties, like he's right up there with Magic and

977
00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:48,880
Speaker 1: Larry Like like Kevin Durant, Kevin freaking Durant is unbelievable,

978
00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:51,680
Speaker 1: Like it's just it's it's just what a great time

979
00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:53,920
Speaker 1: to be like that. I I keep getting bummed out

980
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:56,600
Speaker 1: by all these people complaining about watching basketball this year

981
00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:00,600
Speaker 1: because dude, like, of course it's a little bit ugly

982
00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:02,880
Speaker 1: from time to time. You know, we're all the threes,

983
00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:05,879
Speaker 1: but the half court slog in the early two thousands,

984
00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:07,960
Speaker 1: there's not as much talent on the floor is just

985
00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:12,000
Speaker 1: as ugly. You just start romanticizing it, like I want

986
00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:15,120
Speaker 1: fans back. Yes, the regular season has always been crappy

987
00:46:15,160 --> 00:46:17,680
Speaker 1: because of the tons of games and the lack of urgency,

988
00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:21,200
Speaker 1: but like, how can you not, Like literally two of

989
00:46:21,239 --> 00:46:23,600
Speaker 1: the top four players who are the top three players

990
00:46:24,239 --> 00:46:27,400
Speaker 1: missed last night's game, and the talent level was unbelievable

991
00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:30,680
Speaker 1: on the floor. Yeah, yeah, it's insane. And as a guy,

992
00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:32,680
Speaker 1: like I don't know when you brought up Georgian and

993
00:46:32,719 --> 00:46:34,880
Speaker 1: I was just thinking, like, obviously, the Lakers haven't been

994
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:37,280
Speaker 1: in the playoffs for a long time before. Lebron obviously

995
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:39,960
Speaker 1: got back last year, and I just I guess I forgot.

996
00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:41,880
Speaker 1: Like I think Kobe does in a different way, it's

997
00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:44,680
Speaker 1: more of a scoring kind of dominance, but Lebron it's

998
00:46:44,719 --> 00:46:48,239
Speaker 1: like in every possession kind of like I know, every

999
00:46:48,239 --> 00:46:50,680
Speaker 1: possession matters, and like his mind is at like a

1000
00:46:50,719 --> 00:46:53,040
Speaker 1: different level than I've seen it. And just like when

1001
00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:54,960
Speaker 1: I saw that in the playoffs last year, this year

1002
00:46:55,000 --> 00:46:57,400
Speaker 1: I watched, I'm like, oh, this isn't even close. Like

1003
00:46:57,440 --> 00:47:00,239
Speaker 1: this has like this is nothing compared to like what

1004
00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:02,279
Speaker 1: he does when it matters, Like when it matters, Like

1005
00:47:02,320 --> 00:47:04,520
Speaker 1: his mind is on a different level. Every person is

1006
00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:06,960
Speaker 1: in the right place, he's controlling. He knows every play

1007
00:47:07,280 --> 00:47:09,480
Speaker 1: every every other playbook. So that's where it gives me

1008
00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:11,839
Speaker 1: like a calmness, like I guess, like that's how CAS

1009
00:47:11,920 --> 00:47:14,800
Speaker 1: fans must have felt, like obviously he didn't he didn't

1010
00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:17,080
Speaker 1: coast this much. He coasted a lot more I think

1011
00:47:17,080 --> 00:47:20,680
Speaker 1: in Cleveland, right, Like I'm guessing, uh, they were watching. Yeah,

1012
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:23,080
Speaker 1: they were like about a fourth seed that sometimes some

1013
00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:25,240
Speaker 1: years that they went in. And you know, those Atlanta

1014
00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:27,560
Speaker 1: Hawk teams really remind me of like this Jazz team

1015
00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:29,799
Speaker 1: this year, Like they won like sixty five games, just

1016
00:47:30,000 --> 00:47:33,200
Speaker 1: beautiful offense. Right Obviously they were coached by Mike Budenholzer,

1017
00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:37,040
Speaker 1: which is you know, another topic. But yeah, like but

1018
00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:39,080
Speaker 1: but Lebron obviously, just like in the playoffs, I remember

1019
00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:41,520
Speaker 1: watching and I was like, man, like this Hawks team

1020
00:47:41,560 --> 00:47:43,600
Speaker 1: isn't even on the same tier and they won like

1021
00:47:43,800 --> 00:47:46,640
Speaker 1: fifteen more games, and Lebron is like toying with him.

1022
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:49,040
Speaker 1: He's like, oh, Jeff T like are you serious? So

1023
00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:51,799
Speaker 1: like it's it's hilarious just to watch. And that's that's

1024
00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:53,640
Speaker 1: where I'm like, I'm thinking, that's where like the gap

1025
00:47:53,719 --> 00:47:55,880
Speaker 1: widened to me is when I watched the playoffs last year,

1026
00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:58,560
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, there's no one else, maybe Steph because

1027
00:47:58,560 --> 00:48:00,160
Speaker 1: he hasn't been in there for a while or d.

1028
00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:02,160
Speaker 1: But they just do it in different ways. Like I

1029
00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:04,799
Speaker 1: just feel like Lebron's at a different level right now.

1030
00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:07,000
Speaker 1: He's at like this, which is weird in year eighteen,

1031
00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:09,240
Speaker 1: where like I feel like I've seen his like peak

1032
00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:12,799
Speaker 1: in terms of athleticism matching, the mind matching, you know,

1033
00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:16,160
Speaker 1: just the just the experience as well. So that's where

1034
00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:19,120
Speaker 1: I was questioning, like the gap widening between him and

1035
00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:22,520
Speaker 1: like a guy like Kauai. I guess it's all subjective,

1036
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:25,719
Speaker 1: Like you know, all of these players are different, Like

1037
00:48:25,760 --> 00:48:28,719
Speaker 1: you know, it's funny because I'm a Lebron fan, uh

1038
00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:31,600
Speaker 1: and everyone, And the big difference between me and most

1039
00:48:31,719 --> 00:48:34,640
Speaker 1: Lebron fans that you'll meet is like I am a

1040
00:48:34,760 --> 00:48:37,960
Speaker 1: basketball junkie who who loves all of these guys, Like

1041
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:41,279
Speaker 1: I'm a huge Michael Jordan's literally have a frame of

1042
00:48:41,320 --> 00:48:45,000
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan's first Sports Illustrated cover. When I play basketball,

1043
00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:48,680
Speaker 1: I play, I mimic Michael Jordan in my game. Like

1044
00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:50,399
Speaker 1: the biggest thing I've been working on the last few

1045
00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:52,480
Speaker 1: years is like all this low post stuff that I

1046
00:48:52,600 --> 00:48:57,040
Speaker 1: literally have stolen from him. Like everyone associates my fanhood

1047
00:48:57,040 --> 00:49:00,359
Speaker 1: with Lebron as some sort of like oversimplification of my

1048
00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:03,200
Speaker 1: view on basketball, and it's ridiculous. And it's like, you know,

1049
00:49:03,440 --> 00:49:07,840
Speaker 1: the for MJ's birthday, the that video went viral again

1050
00:49:07,920 --> 00:49:11,560
Speaker 1: from the last dance. And it's so funny because you

1051
00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:17,640
Speaker 1: know that you could not pick two more different archetypes

1052
00:49:17,640 --> 00:49:20,360
Speaker 1: of basketball players to be competing for the goat title

1053
00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:24,480
Speaker 1: between Lebron and Michael Jordan's because you know, Michael Jordan's

1054
00:49:24,719 --> 00:49:27,480
Speaker 1: whole view of the game, his whole persona, his whole

1055
00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:31,600
Speaker 1: you know, uh, his leadership technique, the way the way

1056
00:49:31,600 --> 00:49:34,800
Speaker 1: he viewed basketball, like when when a game would be teetering,

1057
00:49:34,920 --> 00:49:37,800
Speaker 1: the way that he would perceive his pathway to grabbing

1058
00:49:37,840 --> 00:49:41,319
Speaker 1: control of the game again, versus the way Lebron views

1059
00:49:41,360 --> 00:49:44,840
Speaker 1: that identical scenario. Versus the way Lebron would behave in

1060
00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:48,080
Speaker 1: a documentary, versus the way Lebron would treat his teammates.

1061
00:49:48,120 --> 00:49:53,920
Speaker 1: Like it's all so different, but it's equally impactful or

1062
00:49:54,760 --> 00:49:57,560
Speaker 1: or close, you know. And so that that's what's so

1063
00:49:57,640 --> 00:49:59,640
Speaker 1: interesting to me, because like you talk to any of

1064
00:49:59,719 --> 00:50:02,960
Speaker 1: Lebron his teammates, it's like he's jokey, he's jovial, he's

1065
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:04,960
Speaker 1: he's nice. In the media is all this stuff, but

1066
00:50:05,000 --> 00:50:07,680
Speaker 1: behind closed doors, it's like if you go out drinking

1067
00:50:08,520 --> 00:50:11,600
Speaker 1: and and you miss the workout in the morning, like

1068
00:50:11,680 --> 00:50:15,000
Speaker 1: he's on your ass. You don't keep the locker room clean,

1069
00:50:15,320 --> 00:50:18,160
Speaker 1: he's on your ass like if he's if you do all,

1070
00:50:18,320 --> 00:50:20,200
Speaker 1: like it's all this stuff that gets lost in the

1071
00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:22,960
Speaker 1: shuffle and and and you know, when you're watching a

1072
00:50:23,040 --> 00:50:26,160
Speaker 1: random Tuesday night against Memphis, there will be like an

1073
00:50:26,160 --> 00:50:29,800
Speaker 1: out of bounds call and Lebron will be like demonstrative

1074
00:50:29,840 --> 00:50:32,000
Speaker 1: freaking out, like yelling at the refs and doing all

1075
00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:34,080
Speaker 1: this stuff. And I'm always sitting there thinking, like, it's

1076
00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:37,000
Speaker 1: amazing to me that, you know, some of his detractors

1077
00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:39,759
Speaker 1: have painted him as someone who doesn't care as much

1078
00:50:40,440 --> 00:50:43,120
Speaker 1: and and but it's all it's all the aesthetics and

1079
00:50:43,239 --> 00:50:45,520
Speaker 1: the and the differences in the way these guys are

1080
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:48,040
Speaker 1: and and honestly, I think it's cool. And it's because

1081
00:50:49,080 --> 00:50:50,759
Speaker 1: if all of them were the same, like if this

1082
00:50:50,800 --> 00:50:53,920
Speaker 1: was Nascar, it would just be a result based thing

1083
00:50:54,040 --> 00:50:56,000
Speaker 1: and'd be like, well, this guy won, and they're all

1084
00:50:56,040 --> 00:50:58,399
Speaker 1: in the same car and they're all driving the same way,

1085
00:50:58,440 --> 00:51:00,480
Speaker 1: and this guy won. But no, it's not like that,

1086
00:51:00,719 --> 00:51:03,600
Speaker 1: you know, like, how do you how do you differentiate

1087
00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:06,200
Speaker 1: between a Kareem and a Michael and a Michael Jordan's

1088
00:51:06,200 --> 00:51:09,760
Speaker 1: You can't, like it's all sub you know, and and

1089
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:12,680
Speaker 1: and I think, like, I think it's okay to embrace

1090
00:51:12,719 --> 00:51:15,759
Speaker 1: some of the barbershop stuff and have some fun, you know,

1091
00:51:16,080 --> 00:51:19,640
Speaker 1: talking ship back and forth and and in exchanging opinions

1092
00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:22,239
Speaker 1: and arguing back and forth. But like the the way

1093
00:51:22,280 --> 00:51:25,200
Speaker 1: that it's it's portrayed is like this like clear cut,

1094
00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:27,480
Speaker 1: you know, lying in the sand, like this guy is

1095
00:51:27,520 --> 00:51:29,719
Speaker 1: better than this guy. Like that to me is frustrating

1096
00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:33,840
Speaker 1: because there's really there's absolutely no way to make that case,

1097
00:51:34,719 --> 00:51:37,719
Speaker 1: uh in definitive way, because of how different they're. I mean,

1098
00:51:37,760 --> 00:51:41,360
Speaker 1: Lebron literally is half as polished as as as a

1099
00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:43,840
Speaker 1: Kobe or as a Michael Jordan in terms of his

1100
00:51:43,960 --> 00:51:47,400
Speaker 1: like offensive skill set. Uh, yet yet is every bit

1101
00:51:47,440 --> 00:51:50,200
Speaker 1: as good as them, you know, And that's crazy. I

1102
00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:52,800
Speaker 1: don't know how you. I don't know how you differentiate that. Yeah,

1103
00:51:52,880 --> 00:51:54,840
Speaker 1: it's tough. I just love like they all have that

1104
00:51:54,920 --> 00:51:57,840
Speaker 1: same Like I know, Jordian, Lebron, even Curry. I'll do

1105
00:51:57,880 --> 00:51:59,480
Speaker 1: it differently, but I just like they all have that

1106
00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:02,759
Speaker 1: offidence about them, right, all that like like people see

1107
00:52:02,760 --> 00:52:04,920
Speaker 1: stuff as this humble dude, but that dude wants to

1108
00:52:05,000 --> 00:52:07,480
Speaker 1: like really kill you, Like he's gonna he's gonna hit

1109
00:52:07,560 --> 00:52:09,200
Speaker 1: us he's gonna hit it in and out, dribble three

1110
00:52:09,200 --> 00:52:10,880
Speaker 1: in your face and make you know about it, Like

1111
00:52:11,160 --> 00:52:12,880
Speaker 1: you know, he has his humble persona and staying with

1112
00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:14,759
Speaker 1: Lebron Like I saw it last year in the playoffs

1113
00:52:15,040 --> 00:52:17,520
Speaker 1: and he hit that logo three against Dame, you know

1114
00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:19,279
Speaker 1: what I mean, Like he's like, and I think that

1115
00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:21,239
Speaker 1: was Game five or something. I'm like, oh wow, I

1116
00:52:21,280 --> 00:52:24,719
Speaker 1: did not see this coming, I guess. So it's cool

1117
00:52:24,760 --> 00:52:26,520
Speaker 1: that they all have that, and the last dance kind

1118
00:52:26,560 --> 00:52:30,680
Speaker 1: of obviously glorified Michael Jordan's and doing that. But I think, um,

1119
00:52:30,719 --> 00:52:32,600
Speaker 1: all the stars today kind of have that. You can't

1120
00:52:32,600 --> 00:52:34,799
Speaker 1: be a star today without having some kind of like

1121
00:52:34,840 --> 00:52:37,200
Speaker 1: confidence level um with that, And yeah, you're right, the

1122
00:52:37,200 --> 00:52:39,680
Speaker 1: talent in this league is insane. I think what Luca

1123
00:52:39,719 --> 00:52:41,680
Speaker 1: and Trey do at like twenty one years old is

1124
00:52:41,719 --> 00:52:44,640
Speaker 1: absolutely absurd. Um. I see people already asking can you

1125
00:52:44,680 --> 00:52:47,839
Speaker 1: win with Trey Young. I'm like, he's twenty one having

1126
00:52:47,880 --> 00:52:49,640
Speaker 1: the keys to like the best offense of the league

1127
00:52:49,640 --> 00:52:52,640
Speaker 1: when he's on the floor. Just like, appreciate the talent

1128
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:55,759
Speaker 1: first before you start like going what was Atlanta doing

1129
00:52:55,920 --> 00:52:57,640
Speaker 1: with the trade? Like at least you know what I mean,

1130
00:52:57,680 --> 00:53:00,480
Speaker 1: at least, you know, I appreciate the talent person. Then

1131
00:53:00,520 --> 00:53:03,520
Speaker 1: you can go into sea defensive liability all that, of course,

1132
00:53:03,560 --> 00:53:05,319
Speaker 1: But yeah, I just think there's a lot of that

1133
00:53:05,400 --> 00:53:08,719
Speaker 1: going on today in the conversation. You show up on

1134
00:53:08,760 --> 00:53:12,480
Speaker 1: the road in Washington against a bad team, and it's like, oh, shift,

1135
00:53:12,520 --> 00:53:14,720
Speaker 1: I have to car Bradley Beale and Russell Westbork tonight

1136
00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:19,000
Speaker 1: you show up on the road in uh Minnesota, like

1137
00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:21,520
Speaker 1: you know, like I thought, like I thought the Lakers

1138
00:53:21,560 --> 00:53:23,279
Speaker 1: look really good in Minnesota the other night, and so

1139
00:53:23,320 --> 00:53:25,480
Speaker 1: many people would oversimplify that by saying they're the worst

1140
00:53:25,480 --> 00:53:28,319
Speaker 1: team in the league record wise, But I mean, Karl

1141
00:53:28,320 --> 00:53:30,360
Speaker 1: Anthony Towns has missed most of the season, and I

1142
00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:32,480
Speaker 1: want to sit there and be like, Karl Anthony Towns

1143
00:53:32,520 --> 00:53:36,000
Speaker 1: is really, really good. And and so you've got the

1144
00:53:36,120 --> 00:53:38,840
Speaker 1: number one pick from this last year's draft, who is

1145
00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:41,120
Speaker 1: just being shot out of a cannon because of Dangela

1146
00:53:41,160 --> 00:53:44,719
Speaker 1: Russell's injury, and Karl Anthony Towns, who like is just

1147
00:53:44,760 --> 00:53:47,600
Speaker 1: a dead eye three point shooter who could do all

1148
00:53:47,640 --> 00:53:50,279
Speaker 1: these other things offensively. It's like, that's the worst team

1149
00:53:50,280 --> 00:53:52,960
Speaker 1: in the league. Like that's who I'm playing on the

1150
00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:55,080
Speaker 1: worst team in the league. You know, I go to

1151
00:53:55,280 --> 00:53:57,840
Speaker 1: I go to Atlanta, It's it's Trey Young and John Collins.

1152
00:53:57,920 --> 00:54:01,080
Speaker 1: You know, you go to UH. You just pick any

1153
00:54:01,160 --> 00:54:04,000
Speaker 1: team in the league and it's the like Sacramento is

1154
00:54:04,040 --> 00:54:07,040
Speaker 1: a huge pain in the ass. You like, they're just

1155
00:54:07,200 --> 00:54:09,880
Speaker 1: paying the ass. It's just it's crazy. Like and I

1156
00:54:10,320 --> 00:54:13,680
Speaker 1: that's what I appreciate the most about this season, you know,

1157
00:54:13,960 --> 00:54:16,359
Speaker 1: is like that I you know, my wife has been

1158
00:54:16,400 --> 00:54:18,319
Speaker 1: doing a lot of homework at home lately because she's

1159
00:54:18,320 --> 00:54:21,760
Speaker 1: been doing some schooling on the side of her job. UH.

1160
00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:23,800
Speaker 1: And like I've had a lot more time to watch

1161
00:54:24,200 --> 00:54:26,279
Speaker 1: some of the other teams in the league, and I've

1162
00:54:26,280 --> 00:54:29,440
Speaker 1: just been having so much fun with it. And I

1163
00:54:29,680 --> 00:54:32,120
Speaker 1: that wait for fans to get back. Of course, all

1164
00:54:32,120 --> 00:54:35,520
Speaker 1: of those things go without saying, but like I just

1165
00:54:35,640 --> 00:54:37,279
Speaker 1: I've been having I've been having a lot of fun

1166
00:54:37,320 --> 00:54:39,359
Speaker 1: with it and and and like I talked a lot

1167
00:54:39,400 --> 00:54:42,560
Speaker 1: about this with UH the other day on Monday in

1168
00:54:42,640 --> 00:54:47,080
Speaker 1: a pot But like I'm I'm not worried about the

1169
00:54:47,440 --> 00:54:51,960
Speaker 1: playing styles because I think, like I think we've seen

1170
00:54:52,280 --> 00:54:54,440
Speaker 1: like the Lakers are a great example of this. Utah

1171
00:54:54,600 --> 00:54:57,879
Speaker 1: is a great example of this, Like the the their

1172
00:54:57,960 --> 00:55:01,359
Speaker 1: teams are already adapting and they're figuring out a way

1173
00:55:01,400 --> 00:55:05,279
Speaker 1: to make the teams that shoot a ton of threes pay, uh,

1174
00:55:05,360 --> 00:55:08,560
Speaker 1: making that kind of end up actually working to their detriment,

1175
00:55:08,680 --> 00:55:11,480
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Yeah, we did this every year, right,

1176
00:55:11,520 --> 00:55:13,719
Speaker 1: We see a team that's hot from three and and

1177
00:55:13,760 --> 00:55:17,200
Speaker 1: then they get into a series where the defense tightens up.

1178
00:55:17,239 --> 00:55:19,799
Speaker 1: That space goes from like you know a little bit

1179
00:55:19,800 --> 00:55:22,080
Speaker 1: of space to like really tight. All the shooters get

1180
00:55:22,160 --> 00:55:24,480
Speaker 1: you know, uh, the game plan for them. You know,

1181
00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:26,440
Speaker 1: like I don't think anyone's game planning right now for

1182
00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:30,120
Speaker 1: Bogdanovitch or whoever whoever is hitting three's on Utah. They're

1183
00:55:30,120 --> 00:55:32,319
Speaker 1: all hitting like from three. But you know, in the

1184
00:55:32,320 --> 00:55:34,880
Speaker 1: playoffs that space gets tightened, you have nowhere to go

1185
00:55:35,160 --> 00:55:36,759
Speaker 1: go there all of a sudden, they're gonna have to

1186
00:55:36,760 --> 00:55:38,520
Speaker 1: make him be an office and threat the way he

1187
00:55:38,640 --> 00:55:40,840
Speaker 1: is in UM. And I just feel like in the playoffs,

1188
00:55:40,840 --> 00:55:42,919
Speaker 1: it gets it gets tighter. You see that. You see

1189
00:55:42,960 --> 00:55:45,839
Speaker 1: teams um just within the pressure of that. So we'll

1190
00:55:45,880 --> 00:55:47,440
Speaker 1: see how that goes by. Every year we see the

1191
00:55:47,440 --> 00:55:49,520
Speaker 1: team that can get to the rim, get to that

1192
00:55:49,520 --> 00:55:51,920
Speaker 1: can defend the rim, defend the paint and the defending

1193
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:54,000
Speaker 1: the end. Uh score at the rim and the other end,

1194
00:55:54,160 --> 00:55:56,319
Speaker 1: they're the ones who wins. So that that's where I'm

1195
00:55:56,320 --> 00:55:59,680
Speaker 1: making on this season again, I'm interested in what Frank

1196
00:55:59,760 --> 00:56:04,040
Speaker 1: has for the Jazz because he has famously cared a

1197
00:56:04,040 --> 00:56:07,520
Speaker 1: little bit more about regular season game plans. Um. It's

1198
00:56:07,520 --> 00:56:12,120
Speaker 1: funny because I I've seen Lebron get mad at the

1199
00:56:12,160 --> 00:56:15,279
Speaker 1: coaching staff for the scouting report before. You saw that

1200
00:56:15,320 --> 00:56:18,600
Speaker 1: with Zeke Naji the other day in Denver, Like Seek

1201
00:56:18,719 --> 00:56:21,399
Speaker 1: was making these threes and Lebron was like looking over

1202
00:56:21,400 --> 00:56:23,840
Speaker 1: at the coaching staff almost as if the scouting report

1203
00:56:23,960 --> 00:56:26,560
Speaker 1: was like close out short on Zeke, Like there's like

1204
00:56:26,600 --> 00:56:29,480
Speaker 1: this weird accountability for that kind of stuff within that organization.

1205
00:56:29,520 --> 00:56:32,080
Speaker 1: So I'm really looking forward to that Jazz game which

1206
00:56:32,080 --> 00:56:35,600
Speaker 1: is next week. Sometime I can't because like, I think

1207
00:56:35,640 --> 00:56:37,040
Speaker 1: that's a game that I think that's a game that

1208
00:56:37,080 --> 00:56:39,200
Speaker 1: Frank is gonna try to win. And I let's fingers

1209
00:56:39,239 --> 00:56:42,680
Speaker 1: crossed that that that Dennis gets back. But hey, do

1210
00:56:42,880 --> 00:56:45,839
Speaker 1: I really really appreciate you taking an hour to come

1211
00:56:46,080 --> 00:56:49,160
Speaker 1: hang out and talk with me this week? Uh? I

1212
00:56:49,200 --> 00:56:50,960
Speaker 1: hope I'm getting you out of here in time. Everyone

1213
00:56:51,000 --> 00:56:53,560
Speaker 1: else who do joined. I really appreciate you guys for

1214
00:56:53,640 --> 00:56:57,040
Speaker 1: listening and supporting. I will have the podcast version of

1215
00:56:57,080 --> 00:57:00,399
Speaker 1: this up UH in about twenty minutes or so UH,

1216
00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:02,439
Speaker 1: and then I will speak to you guys next week.

1217
00:57:02,480 --> 00:57:04,920
Speaker 1: Thanks again, Roger, I appreciate you man, thanks for having me.

1218
00:57:04,920 --> 00:57:08,040
Speaker 1: Man M.