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Speaker 1: dot net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight,

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Speaker 1: presented by Fan Duel here at the volume. Happy Monday, everybody.

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Speaker 1: I hope all of you guys had an outstanding weekend.

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Speaker 1: We are live on and don't forget if you're watching

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Speaker 1: on YouTube or listening on the podcast feed, that's the

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Speaker 1: very first place that you guys can get these shows

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Speaker 1: really quick. Show today, we're just gonna be hitting that

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Speaker 1: crazy game between the Warriors in Minnesota Timberwolves last night.

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Speaker 1: I want to spend a good amount of time talking

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Speaker 1: about the Minnesota Timberwolves because they are red hot right

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Speaker 1: now and they have a really really interesting defensive combination

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Speaker 1: that I think spells danger for the rest of the

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Speaker 1: league if they can add some pieces this offseason, and

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Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about how that

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Speaker 1: fits into this particular postseason run. And then, last, but

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Speaker 1: not least, we have the news this morning. We were

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Speaker 1: supposed to go later tonight but Joel Embid, despite playing

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Speaker 1: in a back to back this weekend, is going to

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Speaker 1: skip the MVP showdown with Nicola Yokus tonight, which I

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Speaker 1: think is really bizarre and I have some thoughts about

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Speaker 1: and honestly, I'm a little bit disappointed in Joel Embiid

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Speaker 1: for skipping that game. You guys know the drill. Before

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Speaker 1: we get started, subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channels. You

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Speaker 1: don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on

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Speaker 1: Twitter at underscore Jason lt. So you guys don't miss

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Speaker 1: any show announcements. And for whatever reason, you guys miss

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Speaker 1: to YouTube definished, don't forget. You can find them wherever

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Speaker 1: some basketball. So this was a wild finish in this

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Speaker 1: Wolves Warriors game. The Wolves took a nine point lead

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Speaker 1: or so there in the middle of the fourth quarter.

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Speaker 1: And as there's been a theme throughout this entire season,

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Speaker 1: the Warriors, despite all of their personnel limitations and all

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Speaker 1: of the things that have gone wrong, they've shown a

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Speaker 1: great deal of fight. And I swear I don't have

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Speaker 1: the numbers in front of me, but maybe one of

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Speaker 1: you guys are crazy enough to do the digging. But

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Speaker 1: I swear they've come back from eight nine point leads

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Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter at least a dozen times this year.

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Speaker 1: It's just a very very recurring theme for them. They

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Speaker 1: take on a hectic nature defensively and pushing in transition,

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Speaker 1: and Stephen Clay and Jordan Pool would all just kind

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Speaker 1: of find a way to make enough shots and somehow,

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Speaker 1: some way they always end up in these close games

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Speaker 1: at the end. And you know what's interesting is they've

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Speaker 1: been better as of late. Steph has just in the

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Speaker 1: last week closed out two games with outstanding execution down

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Speaker 1: the stretch. But it's been kind of a theme throughout

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Speaker 1: this season that they've had some uncharacteristic execution mistakes, and

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Speaker 1: you saw some of those mistakes come to the surface

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Speaker 1: in this particular game. I want to focus on the

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Speaker 1: end of the game here to start, and then we'll

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Speaker 1: go into the middle portions of the game because I

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Speaker 1: do think that the matchup problems that Minnesota presents to

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Speaker 1: a lot of teams are super interesting and makes them

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Speaker 1: super interesting as a play in threat this year. So

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Speaker 1: first of all, the Warriors, Jordan Poole ends up knocking

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Speaker 1: down a corner three at ninety six ninety four with

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Speaker 1: just over a minute left to give the Warriors the lead, right,

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Speaker 1: and Jordan does a little dance in front of the

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Speaker 1: Wolves bench runs back on defense. Gobert has this deep

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Speaker 1: seal underneath the basket and Minnesota enters it to him.

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Speaker 1: Draymond just kind of pulls him underneath the basket and

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Speaker 1: fouls him. Rudy misses the first and makes the second,

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Speaker 1: So it's ninety six ninety five, but there's only twenty

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Speaker 1: nine seconds on the game clock or whatever, so they

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Speaker 1: dribble up the floor, and they're kind of in this

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Speaker 1: weird spot where like, you probably should foul if you're Minnesota,

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Speaker 1: but hey, maybe if you get a stop, you'll have

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Speaker 1: three or four seconds to get down and get another shot.

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Speaker 1: Minnesota opts not to foul, and I think Steph Curry

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Speaker 1: kind of saw that coming because when he got it

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Speaker 1: dribbled into the lane there, he got up to the

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Speaker 1: foul line. You were expecting him maybe to just hold

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Speaker 1: onto the ball or dribble it out and wait for

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Speaker 1: someone to foul him. But it became clear that Minnesota

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Speaker 1: was holding on. So Steph makes that hook pass back

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Speaker 1: out to Draymond, and I would imagine he's circling back

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Speaker 1: out to try to get it back, but Draymond throws

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Speaker 1: a quick swing pass to Clay Thompson and Kyle Anderson.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna spend a lot of time talking about today.

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Speaker 1: When we start diving into the Wolves just sticks one

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Speaker 1: of his super long arms out deflects the ball. We

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Speaker 1: end up in a chaotic transition possession where Karl Anthony Towns,

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Speaker 1: who had a nightmare night shooting the basketball, but about

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Speaker 1: two or three possessions earlier at the top of the

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Speaker 1: key on a quick screening action against Raymond. Green got

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Speaker 1: a decent look from the top of the key and

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Speaker 1: made it so he had just made a lead changing

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Speaker 1: three about a minute prior, and he steps confidently into

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Speaker 1: that three at the top of the key and knocked

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Speaker 1: it down. And just like that, you go from in

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Speaker 1: a position where if you hold onto the basketball you

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Speaker 1: have a chance to win too suddenly you're now coming,

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Speaker 1: You're now trailing in the final seconds of the game.

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Speaker 1: Is just a ridiculous turn of events, and you know

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Speaker 1: on the very next play you have an opportunity to

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Speaker 1: tie the game or to take the lead. And Jordan

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Speaker 1: Pool's dribbling through the top of the key and Steph

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Speaker 1: is trying to shake Jade McDaniels like he's been trying

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Speaker 1: to shake him all night long, and he fakes a

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Speaker 1: backcut in Jordan Poole throws it out of bounds, and

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Speaker 1: so here's the thing. A lot of people were blaming

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Speaker 1: Jordan Poole. Jordan Pool made a huge three in the

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Speaker 1: left corner that ended up being what was there what

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Speaker 1: should have been the game winning shot if you possessions prior.

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Speaker 1: Draymond obviously did great work defensively throughout the game for

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Speaker 1: the most part. Right, and Steph Curry, you had a

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Speaker 1: rough shooting night in this one, which is to be

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Speaker 1: expected with Minnesota's perimeter defense. But the reality is is

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Speaker 1: all three guys I thought were directly involved. Draymond obviously

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Speaker 1: has to be more careful with the basketball. When you're

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Speaker 1: playing against length, you have to use pass fakes. You

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Speaker 1: cannot just throw the basketball around because there's arms everywhere.

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Speaker 1: You've got to throw a pass fake in one direction

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Speaker 1: to get the defender to lunge before you make those

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Speaker 1: swing passes on the perimeter, Otherwise you're running into some

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Speaker 1: danger there. And on the backcut play, I saw a

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Speaker 1: lot of people blaming Jordan Pool, but and I do.

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Speaker 1: Here's the thing. I blame Jordan Pool and Steph Curry

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Speaker 1: equally for that exchange. Here's why Jordan Pool shouldn't have

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Speaker 1: thrown the pass, no question why, because Steff wasn't open.

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Speaker 1: That's why you don't throw the pass. But on the

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Speaker 1: staff side of things, one of the most consistent messages

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Speaker 1: I've heard from basketball coaches since I was a little kid,

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Speaker 1: all the way through high school and through college, was

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Speaker 1: never ever fake a backcut unless it's part of the

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Speaker 1: play because of that specific play right there. Whenever you

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Speaker 1: fake a backcut or even make it look like you're

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Speaker 1: about to back cut, they usually don't open up until

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Speaker 1: and they're usually only open for the briefest of seconds

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Speaker 1: between the perimeter defender and whoever's in rim protection, right,

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Speaker 1: So there's a very small window there, and a lot

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Speaker 1: of times you're passing someone open, you're throwing as the

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Speaker 1: offensive players even with the defensive player and he's catching

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Speaker 1: up to the basketball right. So like there's a very

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Speaker 1: brief window there, and you should never fake a backcut

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Speaker 1: unless it's part of a play on the perimeter. V cuts,

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Speaker 1: they're not backcuts. You're walking into your defender and you're

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Speaker 1: kind of giving them a shove and you're breaking open.

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Speaker 1: There's no reason to necessarily fake a backcut cut all

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Speaker 1: the way through or don't cut it all unless it's

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Speaker 1: a part of the play. Not Stef's fault for the turnover.

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Speaker 1: Jordan Poole shouldn't throw in the pass, but Jordan threw

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Speaker 1: it because he thought Steph was cutting. That's a consistent miscommunication.

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Speaker 1: You'll see unfaked backcut. So here's the reality. Of the situation,

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Speaker 1: despite all of the personnel limitations, despite playing well enough

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Speaker 1: to beat the Wolves last night and to have a

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Speaker 1: lead going into the final possession, you had three execution mistakes.

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Speaker 1: Draymond Green throwing the bad pass, Steph Curry fake in

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Speaker 1: a backcut, Jordan Poole throwing the ball out of bounds.

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Speaker 1: That's enough to lose you a game. And unfortunately that's

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Speaker 1: been a recurring theme this year, although they've been better

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Speaker 1: in the recent weeks. And again, just like I've been

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Speaker 1: telling Laker fans, like, yeah, it sucks that you've played

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Speaker 1: well enough to beat the Mavericks, and it sucks that

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Speaker 1: you were up three or four with you know, thirty

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Speaker 1: five seconds left with a chance to win the game,

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Speaker 1: but in two mistakes from Anthony Davis cost you. But

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Speaker 1: the reality is it doesn't change anything in the standings. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: in the locker room, you might be like, we play

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Speaker 1: well enough to beat the Mavericks tonight. In the locker room,

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Speaker 1: you might be like, we played well enough to beat

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Speaker 1: the Wolves tonight, But that doesn't mean anything in the standings.

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Speaker 1: It still just counts as a loss. And unfortunately, they

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Speaker 1: were in a really good position to avoid the play

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Speaker 1: in tournament, and now that's not as clear cut. Now

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Speaker 1: they're going to have to play near perfect basketball down

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Speaker 1: the stretch of the season to get out of that

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Speaker 1: seven seed and to lock down that six seeds. So

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Speaker 1: it's a really unfortunate loss and a painful one that

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Speaker 1: the Warriors are gonna have to overcome. But I wanted

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Speaker 1: to spend some time talking about the Minnesota Timberwolves. This

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Speaker 1: has been one of my favorite teams that I've covered

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Speaker 1: throughout this season. You know, this show, we kind of

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Speaker 1: focus on the top teams in the league, right, so

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Speaker 1: we're going to see a lot of Bucks, Celtics, Sixers,

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Speaker 1: a lot of Nuggets, a lot of Lakers, Clippers, Warriors

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Speaker 1: that you know, you guys know, that's what we do.

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Speaker 1: We cover the teams that I think have a real

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Speaker 1: chance to win the championship. But when it comes to

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Speaker 1: the lower echelon teams, I focus on teams that I

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Speaker 1: genuinely like, that I think are going to be really

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Speaker 1: interesting and impactful teams in the future of the NBA. Right.

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Speaker 1: That's why I've talked a lot of Nicks, That's why

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Speaker 1: I've talked a lot of Minnesota Timberwolves. That's why I've

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Speaker 1: talked a lot of Oklahoma City thunder right. That's those

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Speaker 1: are the teams that I've been focusing on as I

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Speaker 1: look at the next era of NBA basketball, And I've

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Speaker 1: talked a lot about how this interesting tandem of Jaden

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Speaker 1: McDaniels and Anthony Edwards as perimeter defenders is a super

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Speaker 1: interesting compliment to Rudy Gobert. And you know, I think

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Speaker 1: you can actually couple Kyle Anderson in there. Now. It's

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Speaker 1: complicated because I talked a lot about Minnesota's future and

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Speaker 1: them needing to upgrade that Mike Conley position and upgrade

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Speaker 1: that Kyle Anderson position from the Mike Conley position more

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Speaker 1: from a size and athleticism a piece, but on the

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Speaker 1: Kyle Anderson piece, it's more offensive. They need more skill

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Speaker 1: at that specific position because they get trapped into these

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Speaker 1: half court sets. And a big part of how the

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Speaker 1: Warriors got back into this game is they got a

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Speaker 1: ton of stops down the stretch because you just have

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Speaker 1: too many non shooting threats. Jade McDaniels has had some

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Speaker 1: success lately. He's had a couple twenty point games in

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Speaker 1: the last week. He's doing a lot of work coming

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Speaker 1: off of a dribble handoff some curls to get into

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Speaker 1: the lane, and he's got a really nice little ten

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Speaker 1: foot turnaround jump shot that he can make there in

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Speaker 1: the lane. And he's finding a ways to score, and

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Speaker 1: he's knocking down his corner threes and he's doing all

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Speaker 1: those things. But the reality is is in a slowdown

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Speaker 1: half court environment against an elite defense, he's a blow

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Speaker 1: average offensive player. Same for Kyle Anderson, same for Rudy Gobert,

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Speaker 1: and so there's some limitations with what you can do offensively.

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Speaker 1: There's too much on the plate of guys like Mike

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Speaker 1: Connolly and Anthony Edwards and trying to fit Carl Towns

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Speaker 1: into all of this as well. They need to upgrade

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Speaker 1: some stuff there. But defensively, there's this insane foundation any

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Speaker 1: lineup that includes Anthony Edwards, Kyle Anderson, Jaden McDaniels and

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Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert. This year for the Timberwolves, in one thousand,

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Speaker 1: one hundred and eleven possessions, is outscoring teams by eleven

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Speaker 1: points per one hundre possessions, which is outstanding, And most

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Speaker 1: importantly in the half court, they're holding teams to ninety

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Speaker 1: point nine points per one hundred possessions. As a point

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Speaker 1: of reference, I told you guys that the Boston Celtics

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Speaker 1: from last year in the postseason were the best half

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Speaker 1: court defense I've seen in this era, and they held

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Speaker 1: teams in the playoffs last year to eighty eight points

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Speaker 1: per one hundred possessions in the half court. That's in

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Speaker 1: a more physical environment, with more pressure, with a tougher whistle.

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Speaker 1: So what Minnesota is doing defensively with that group is

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Speaker 1: extremely impressive. But it's just kind of interesting. It's gonna

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Speaker 1: be interesting to see how they make this all work

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Speaker 1: right because Carltown's brings that perimeter shooting and that offensive

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Speaker 1: skill and that's vitally important, as you saw down the

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Speaker 1: stretch of that game. But it's going to be interesting

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Speaker 1: to see how they kind of piece together all of

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Speaker 1: these lineups, because I really like Kyle Anderson as this big,

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Speaker 1: long forward that just gets a ton of deflections and

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Speaker 1: can work downhill against smaller perimeter players and make little

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Speaker 1: nifty hook shots and bank shots and stuff in the lane.

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Speaker 1: But you've got to kind of find a way to

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Speaker 1: piece together a functional line up there. You're gonna need

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Speaker 1: a lot of offensive skill out of that power forward

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Speaker 1: position because of go bear right. So putting Kyle Anderson

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Speaker 1: there limits you in your in your offensive skill. But

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Speaker 1: if you slot guys up and you play Anthony Edwards,

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Speaker 1: Jaden McDaniels at the two, with Kyle Anderson at the three,

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Speaker 1: with Carl Towns and Rudy Gobert, now you're too big,

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Speaker 1: not quick enough with your feet, and you have nowhere

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Speaker 1: near enough offensive skill. So it's gonna be interesting to

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Speaker 1: see how they pair this all up. And that's why

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Speaker 1: when I talk about the Wolves in their future, I

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Speaker 1: keep looking at the odd man out as Carl Towns,

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Speaker 1: because I think if you can get just a really

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Speaker 1: really skilled two way player in that two guard spot

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Speaker 1: and then you get Jaden McDaniels to take offensive leaps

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Speaker 1: over the years, I think Kyle anderson makes sense at

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Speaker 1: that forward position, but Carl Town's the two bigs thing.

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Speaker 1: You're too slow with your feet, you can't run around

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Speaker 1: in rotation. I just don't like how that all works.

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Speaker 1: And when you plug him in there, you give up

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Speaker 1: too much defensively. So they're gonna have some decisions to

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Speaker 1: make in the future. But there's a really interesting core

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Speaker 1: concept there which is outstanding perimeter defenders, and den He

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Speaker 1: Edwards who's more of like a bulldog point of attack

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Speaker 1: guarding other guards. And then Jade McDaniels, who's like this

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Speaker 1: lanky wing who can has a ton of positional versatility

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Speaker 1: defensively with a ridiculous rim protector behind them, and Rudy Gobert.

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Speaker 1: That all works. They're just gonna have to figure out

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Speaker 1: how to piece it together with the right combination of

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Speaker 1: offensive skill and defensive versatility at that two guard spot

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Speaker 1: and at that four position. It's gonna be interesting to

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Speaker 1: see what they do over the years, and they are

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Speaker 1: a legit threat if they there's a good chance they

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Speaker 1: get that seven seed or the sixth seed, And for

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Speaker 1: the Lakers' sake, they better hope they get the sixth

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Speaker 1: seed because that is a really tough matchup for them

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Speaker 1: because we know how the Lakers struggle with ball pressure guards. Right.

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Speaker 1: Whoever ends up whoever ends up having to face Minnesota though,

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Speaker 1: if they if it ends up being in a play

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Speaker 1: in game, especially if you have to go to Minnesota,

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Speaker 1: it's gonna be that's gonna be an extremely difficult game

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Speaker 1: to win because of what they can do defensively the

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Speaker 1: way that translates to big games and then playing in

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Speaker 1: front of their home crowd. For the sake of the

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Speaker 1: Lakers and the Warriors, they better hope that that group

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Speaker 1: gets into the six seeds so they don't have to

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Speaker 1: see him in the playing all right, So one last

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Speaker 1: note before we move on. One of the things you

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Speaker 1: saw in this game is just the reality of Golden

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Speaker 1: State's personnel limitations. The only reason they had a chance

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Speaker 1: to come back into this game was the fact that

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Speaker 1: once again Minnesota can't score in the half court when

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Speaker 1: things really really slowed down. But they got destroyed once again.

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Speaker 1: In all the physicality areas of the game. They were

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Speaker 1: outrebounded by the Wolves forty nine to thirty seven. They

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Speaker 1: were there was a twelve to six gap in second

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Speaker 1: chance points, which was literally the difference in the game.

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Speaker 1: The Wolves scored twenty points in transition, they turned the

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Speaker 1: Warriors over sixteen times and turned those turnovers into twenty

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Speaker 1: four points. All of that athleticism was on display throughout

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Speaker 1: the game. And like that's even with Gary Payton back,

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Speaker 1: who I thought played a pretty solid game for his

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Speaker 1: first game back, and you could see how he just

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Speaker 1: kind of works in that Warrior system, which makes them

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Speaker 1: a lot better. But I mean, here's the thing. Without

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Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins, They're just gonna have a really hard time.

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Speaker 1: I'm beating good teams, that's just a fact. And even

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Speaker 1: when they've beaten good teams of late, it's been chaotic

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Speaker 1: last minute comebacks. They were down big in the fourth

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Speaker 1: quarter to the Sixers, they found a way to come

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Speaker 1: back and win. They were down big, they were down

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Speaker 1: huge late to the Milwaukee Bucks. They found a way

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Speaker 1: to come back and win. Without Andrew Wiggins. It's just

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Speaker 1: so difficult. Steph has to be so good, Clay has

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Speaker 1: to be so good, Jordan Pool has to be so good,

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Speaker 1: and so at the end of the day, when we're

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Speaker 1: evaluating this team before the playoffs, we're gonna have to

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Speaker 1: look at that Andrew Wiggins piece and see if that

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Speaker 1: removes a championship ceiling from them. It's gonna be I'm

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Speaker 1: not gonna make a call on it until we get

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Speaker 1: to middle April in terms of a prediction, but it

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Speaker 1: definitely is a concern, and I would imagine that most

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Speaker 1: Warriors fans would agree with me. All right, before we

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Speaker 1: call it a day, I just wanted to vent for

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Speaker 1: a couple of minutes about this Joel Embiid thing. So

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Speaker 1: Joel Embid does this interview for the Athletic today where

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Speaker 1: I believe it was with the Athletic if I remember correctly,

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Speaker 1: where he basically vents about the inconsistency of the MVP criteria,

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Speaker 1: awards criteria, just in general, venting about him not getting

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Speaker 1: the respect that he deserves in this particular debate. And

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Speaker 1: then on the same day he announces that or the

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Speaker 1: team announces that he's not going to play tonight in

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Speaker 1: a game in Denver against the Nuggets, with an opportunity

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Speaker 1: to really put a final stamp on his MVP case,

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Speaker 1: and in a vacuum, I wouldn't think too much of it,

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Speaker 1: Like if it was clear that he was banged up,

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Speaker 1: if they were, you know, locked into any sort of

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Speaker 1: seeding position, I would understand if they were like, hey,

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Speaker 1: no reason really to go after this thing. But when

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Speaker 1: you look at the situation, he just played it back

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Speaker 1: to back. He just played in Golden State and Phoenix

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Speaker 1: now and James Harden didn't play in those games, so

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Speaker 1: those were low probability to win games without James Harden,

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Speaker 1: and he still played in them. James Harden is playing

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Speaker 1: tonight in Denver. At least it's been reported that he's

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Speaker 1: on track to return tonight in Denver. So here's why

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Speaker 1: I'm confused. You were going into that game. You were

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Speaker 1: a game back of Boston in the lost column I

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Speaker 1: remember correctly, and Boston had the tiebreaker, so you were

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Speaker 1: effectively two games back of Boston, and so you're gonna

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Speaker 1: be the three seed. That was just gonna happen. Boston's

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Speaker 1: playing like crazy because there's still i think within vaguely

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Speaker 1: within striking distance in Milwaukee and they have a chance

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Speaker 1: to play them on Thursday. So you weren't going to

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Speaker 1: pass Boston. And they were low probability games anyway because

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Speaker 1: they were in Phoenix and in Golden State. So why

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Speaker 1: in the world. The one thing he had to fight

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Speaker 1: for down the stretch of the season was show us

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Speaker 1: you're better than Yokich, Go get the MVP award, and

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Speaker 1: I know he wants it. So it was really really

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Speaker 1: bizarre to see all of that build up to this

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Speaker 1: game and for him, and again maybe it was the

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Speaker 1: medical staff that's that stepped in, but I don't buy that.

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Speaker 1: When he just played back to back if this was

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Speaker 1: an injury management situation, why would he play two nights

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Speaker 1: in a row. And it just is genuinely confusing. And

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Speaker 1: again like maybe maybe he looks at it like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: it's elevation and it's going to be a really tough

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Speaker 1: game to win. If we lose the game, then suddenly

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Speaker 1: Yoki becomes gets that stamp of approval on his MVP case.

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Speaker 1: But like, as a competitor, I don't understand that thought process,

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Speaker 1: like yeah, yeah, yeah, you stand to lose a lot

429
00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:35,480
Speaker 1: by going into Denver and losing, but you also stand

430
00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,600
Speaker 1: to gain all the glory by going into Denver and winning.

431
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:42,920
Speaker 1: And that's what sports is all about. And I mean,

432
00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna get into it today, but there's this

433
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,359
Speaker 1: kind of the my Like I was talking with a

434
00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:50,280
Speaker 1: friend about this this morning actually, but one of the

435
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:54,320
Speaker 1: things that I've seen just with the way that basketball

436
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,520
Speaker 1: players are brought up now that in the AU culture

437
00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,640
Speaker 1: is a lot of times people are prioritizings like oh

438
00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:02,439
Speaker 1: I just gotta get to that max contract. Oh I

439
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:05,359
Speaker 1: just got to get to this particular financial goal or

440
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 1: this particular personal goal. And I respect the importance of that,

441
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:12,600
Speaker 1: like gotta go get your money man, like you gotta

442
00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,520
Speaker 1: take care of your family. I get that, But the

443
00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:19,920
Speaker 1: flip side of it is like, where's that raw competitive energy?

444
00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:23,840
Speaker 1: You know? Like, I don't know about you, guys, but

445
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:25,840
Speaker 1: I'm on the list of people who's such a fan

446
00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:27,480
Speaker 1: of the game of basketball that I would play it

447
00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:31,760
Speaker 1: for free, like if I could. I'm not an NBA player,

448
00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:33,640
Speaker 1: but if I if I could play for the Lakers

449
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:35,280
Speaker 1: for free, I would do it. That's how much I

450
00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,399
Speaker 1: love the game, you know. And like, as a competitor,

451
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:42,000
Speaker 1: I think that it bothers me sometimes when I see

452
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:46,160
Speaker 1: guys losing sight of those battles and what they mean,

453
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,800
Speaker 1: like going to Denver and beat Yokich and you know what,

454
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:52,800
Speaker 1: maybe you lose, but maybe you go for thirty seven,

455
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,639
Speaker 1: thirteen and eight and you go down swinging and the

456
00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:00,400
Speaker 1: world respects you more for it. And it just backing

457
00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,360
Speaker 1: out entirely, I thought was a confusing decision. And who knows,

458
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:04,919
Speaker 1: maybe he played in this back to back and he

459
00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,600
Speaker 1: messed up his calf. But like, as a competitor, I

460
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,560
Speaker 1: would have understood it more if he said, Hey, guys,

461
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,440
Speaker 1: not playing tonight in Phoenix. I want I want to

462
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,439
Speaker 1: kick Yokich's ass on Monday. That's what matters to me.

463
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:19,840
Speaker 1: That's what we can get to hear down the stretch.

464
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,080
Speaker 1: I can send a message in that game let me

465
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:24,840
Speaker 1: sit out against the Suns. I just I just was

466
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,840
Speaker 1: confused by the thought process. Last thing I'll say about it.

467
00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:32,679
Speaker 1: I have been very impressed by Joel Embiad's fight throughout

468
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:36,439
Speaker 1: this last few months. So like, I hate to color

469
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:40,720
Speaker 1: the entire situation by one decision, but like the Joe

470
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,760
Speaker 1: l Embiid that I've been watching for the last couple

471
00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 1: of months would have wanted to play in this game,

472
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,400
Speaker 1: and so that's why it's confusing to me. All Right, guys,

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00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:54,160
Speaker 1: that is all I have for today. We are taking

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00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,400
Speaker 1: Tuesday and Wednesday off, but we're going twice on Thursday.

475
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,560
Speaker 1: So Thursday morning we'll be going at covering Tuesday and

476
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:04,280
Speaker 1: Wednesday night's games, and then on Thursday night we're breaking

477
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,040
Speaker 1: down that showdown live on AMP after the final buzzer

478
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,080
Speaker 1: of Celtics Bucks. As always, I appreciate you, guys, and

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00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:34,120
Speaker 1: I'll see you on Thursday morning. The volume