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Speaker 1: All right, welcome to hoops tonight here at the Volume.

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Speaker 1: Happy Friday, everybody, If all of you guys are having

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Speaker 1: an incredible week, got a fun show for you guys.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna be hitting Suns MAVs from last night. Super

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Speaker 1: interesting game and to talk a lot about the new

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Speaker 1: additions for the Mavericks and how they're helping them. So

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Speaker 1: I've had that game circle down the calendar for a

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Speaker 1: while because it's our first opportunity to see the MAVs

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Speaker 1: against a quality opponent post trade deadline. After that, we're

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Speaker 1: going to go into the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls.

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Speaker 1: Big win for the Celtics pulled away in the early

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Speaker 1: second half in that one. I also wanted to clarify

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Speaker 1: some of my thoughts because I've had some pushback from

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Speaker 1: Celtics fans surrounding the kind of dynamic between their paint

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Speaker 1: attack and how much they post up, and I want

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Speaker 1: to kind of dive into that a little bit after that.

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Speaker 1: At the end of the show, there was a debate

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Speaker 1: that went around I think on Wednesday last week or

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Speaker 1: this week Tuesday or Wednesday, involving kind of j J

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Speaker 1: Redick in the state of modern sports media, and I

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Speaker 1: had some thoughts on that front because it's been a

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Speaker 1: super fascinating thing to me as i've been trying to

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Speaker 1: build this show out, as obviously I'm very new into

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Speaker 1: this industry and I've been learning a lot about it,

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Speaker 1: and I've just had some thoughts on that front.

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Speaker 2: So we're gonna save that for the end of the show.

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Speaker 2: You guys are the Joe Forore.

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Speaker 1: We get started subscribe to a brand new YouTube channel,

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Speaker 1: I mean a lot to me if you guys would

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Speaker 1: take a second to hit that subscribe button. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: about our podcast feed wherever you put your podcasts under

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Speaker 1: oops tonight. Also, it's helpful if you leave your rating

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Speaker 1: and review on the podcast front. I would appreciate that.

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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you

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Speaker 1: guys don't miss the film threads that I do from

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Speaker 1: time to time in the mornings, as well as show announcements.

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Speaker 1: And then, last but not least, keep dropping mail bag

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Speaker 1: questions in the YouTube comments. We're gonna have a couple

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Speaker 1: mail bags over the course of the next week or so.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. So, like I said,

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Speaker 1: had this game circled on the calendar for a while.

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Speaker 1: The MAVs had won six games in a row, but

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Speaker 1: they had played a couple of injury riddle teams. I

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Speaker 1: think it was the Sixers and the Knicks, and then

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Speaker 1: they had played a bunch of bad teams and also

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Speaker 1: what they had a big, massive win against the Oklahoma

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Speaker 1: City Thunder, but PJ. Washington and Daniel Gaffer did not

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Speaker 1: play in that game. So I wanted to kind of

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Speaker 1: like get a feel for the MAVs against a really

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Speaker 1: good opponent. Now here's the Sons didn't have Bradley Beal,

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Speaker 1: But even without Bradley Beal, there's still a really good

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Speaker 1: basketball team. I think Royce O'Neil has kind of added

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Speaker 1: to their physical profile on the perimeter and giving them

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Speaker 1: a better option there. Royce actually had a bunch of

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Speaker 1: contested rebounds last night where even though he didn't shoot

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Speaker 1: particularly well in that game, I was watching him and

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Speaker 1: I'm like, this is something that's going to be important

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Speaker 1: for them when they get to the postseason, Like a

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Speaker 1: wing player that is a plus offensive player, but that

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Speaker 1: also is going to win some physical battles for them.

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Speaker 1: And so again like I love that pickup, and in general,

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Speaker 1: even without Bradley Beal, I still think the Sons are

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Speaker 1: a really good team. And they controlled the game early.

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Speaker 1: Devin Booker came out and he was red hot. You

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Speaker 1: could tell he was just hunting his shot. Stepped into

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Speaker 1: like a pretty contested transition three on the right wing

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Speaker 1: in the early possessions, and you could just tell like

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Speaker 1: he was gunning for it. As a team, they shot

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Speaker 1: eight for seventeen from three in the first half. Dallas

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Speaker 1: wasn't super sharp defensively in that half, particularly in they're

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Speaker 1: picking roll coverages. They were given away some easy swing

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Speaker 1: swings for catch and shoot threes on the perimeter. Hyrie

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Speaker 1: was incredible in the first half for Dallas to keep

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Speaker 1: them in it. He had his three ball going. He

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Speaker 1: had that kind of like tough transition three going. It's

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Speaker 1: a footwork thing that I work on with the high

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Speaker 1: school kids that I trained too, Like, whenever you're shooting

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Speaker 1: a movement shot, you want to try to get the

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Speaker 1: end result to be up and down, which is all

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Speaker 1: about leg strength. And if you watch Kyrie on those shots,

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Speaker 1: like he's sprinting up the floor in full speed, but

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Speaker 1: he gets that left right footwork down and he goes

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Speaker 1: pretty much straight up down. There's a little bit of

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Speaker 1: a forward movement, but it's pretty balanced on that shot.

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Speaker 1: A lot of people don't realize that, but that movement shooting,

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Speaker 1: that pull up shooting, almost all that comes down to

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Speaker 1: leg strength. It's like your base is one of the

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Speaker 1: most important parts of that type of shooting. But it

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Speaker 1: was close game sixty three sixty I think at halftime,

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Speaker 1: and then Luca just utterly assassinated them to start the

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Speaker 1: third quarter, got crazy hot from three, hit a catch

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Speaker 1: and shoot three on the right wing. Then he hit

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Speaker 1: a couple of pull up threes. He actually hit one

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Speaker 1: off a side step to his right, which I don't

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Speaker 1: think I've ever seen Luca do before. Like Luca, when

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Speaker 1: you shoot as a right handed player moving towards your right,

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Speaker 1: you kind of have to square up in mid air,

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Speaker 1: like JJ Redick has done a bit about this on

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Speaker 1: his show, I think with Cam Johnson from the Nets

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Speaker 1: about like the idea of squaring up as a right

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Speaker 1: handed shooter moving towards your right, and that's more of

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Speaker 1: an athletic play right and Luca is a little bit

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Speaker 1: more of a groundbound shooter. That's why, like so many

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Speaker 1: of his host up fadeaways are spinning over his right shoulder,

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Speaker 1: so his feet are kind of more naturally square, or

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Speaker 1: his step back is usually stepping back to his left

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Speaker 1: with his right shoulder already in position to take that shot.

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Speaker 1: And so it's kind of interesting just to see Luca

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Speaker 1: kind of demonstrate that he's got that in his bag too.

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Speaker 1: It just goes to show you how good he was

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Speaker 1: feeling in this particular game.

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Speaker 2: They built a quick.

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Speaker 1: Lead, they did lose it for a second, Luca got

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Speaker 1: a little carried away started attacking Kevin Durant in Iso,

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Speaker 1: which kind of cooled him off, and like, again, that's

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Speaker 1: the last guy on Phoenix that you want to attack

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Speaker 1: in io, especially for a guy like Luca, because Kadie

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Speaker 1: just has the length to kind of bother him on

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Speaker 1: those shots. As a result, the Suns made some shots

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Speaker 1: on the other end. Royce O'Neil hit a three on

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Speaker 1: the left wing got it to eighty one eighty, but

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Speaker 1: Dallas regained control pretty quick from their good team effort.

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Speaker 1: When Luca was off the floor at that point, Daniel

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Speaker 1: Gafford was super active. He generated two extra possessions just

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Speaker 1: being active on the offensive glass. There was one where

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Speaker 1: he kind of caused a loose ball crashing on the

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Speaker 1: baseline side and forced Royce O'Neil to go out of

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Speaker 1: bounds to save the basketball. And then Josh Green made

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Speaker 1: a nice athletic play swiping in from the weak side

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Speaker 1: wing to get that steal led to a Kyrie Irving

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Speaker 1: catch and shoot three that put them back up by four.

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Speaker 1: Then Kyrie actually drew a foul after that to get

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Speaker 1: to the foul line, kad started attacking Maxi Kleba in

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Speaker 1: Iso and Maxie was holding up super well, which became

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Speaker 1: a theme even as we get into the fourth quarter.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna talk more about Maxi and a lot of

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Speaker 1: the Dallas defensive personnel here in a little bit. Daniel

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Speaker 1: Gafford had a big block and help side defense. I

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Speaker 1: also thought Tim Hardaway Junior had some good stretches on

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Speaker 1: defense against Devin Booker, just getting late contests as he

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Speaker 1: was coming over the top of ball screens, and then

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Speaker 1: some good driving kick possessions. He had a driving kick

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Speaker 1: to a corner three on the right side, and then

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Speaker 1: he also had a kind of transition driving layup where

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Speaker 1: he hit a bank shot. A good team effort, beautiful

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Speaker 1: basketball on both ends. Dallas kind of regains control. But

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Speaker 1: we go to the fourth quarter and it's a five

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Speaker 1: point game, and then the MAVs close it out with

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Speaker 1: efforts on both ends of the floor. They start with

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Speaker 1: a Luca post up on the right block on that possession,

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Speaker 1: had zones up and comes over on the opposite side

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Speaker 1: of the block to help and Maxi just slipped right

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Speaker 1: in front of the rim.

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Speaker 2: Luca hit him. He had a layup.

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Speaker 1: After that, Kadi tries to ISO Maxic Clay but again

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Speaker 1: and he gets another stop in ISO. After that, they

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Speaker 1: push in transition.

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Speaker 2: PJ.

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Speaker 1: Washington catches on the right wing, rips through the left,

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Speaker 1: gets a left handed layup, and it's a nine point game.

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Speaker 1: So pretty quickly Dallas regains control. There was a cool

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Speaker 1: sequence at the end that I wanted to hit on

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Speaker 1: as it pertains to Phoenix's offense, which we'll talk about

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Speaker 1: here in a second. So after Katie hits a tough

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Speaker 1: turnaround jumper in the lane, then Luca drives on Grayson

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Speaker 1: Allen draws a foul. Still a nine point game, it's

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Speaker 1: one O two to ninety three. So at that point

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Speaker 1: there's an open double of Kevin Durant on the perimeter.

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Speaker 1: Dallas sends two defenders, no ball screen or anything. They

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Speaker 1: just sent mexiclib over to just double team Kevin Durant

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Speaker 1: on the perimeter. And there was this really interesting possession

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Speaker 1: where you know, Nasir Little and Joshakogi you are running

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Speaker 1: around trying to find an opening. Grayson Allen's just like

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Speaker 1: standing in the left corner, might as well have had

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Speaker 1: his hands in his pockets. He's not doing anything. Royce

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Speaker 1: O'Neill's kind of floating around the perimeter and they can't

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Speaker 1: find a way to beat a blatant on ball double team,

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Speaker 1: and it ends up leading to a Joshuacogi turnover. And

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Speaker 1: that's when Kyrie Irving got the ball and had that

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Speaker 1: ridiculous sequence where he did like the behind the back

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Speaker 1: dribble that then sp went into that nasty spin move

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Speaker 1: and went right up at the rim and laid it

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Speaker 1: up and they were up by eleven, and from there

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Speaker 1: the MAVs basically stiff armed them and won by double figures.

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Speaker 1: But I thought it was super interesting on a couple

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Speaker 1: of different levels. One Dallas's defensive rotation, which we're going

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Speaker 1: to get to in just a second, and then two

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Speaker 1: Phoenix's offense when Bradley Beal is not on the floor,

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Speaker 1: and how they can struggle, especially in fourth quarters to

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Speaker 1: deal with double teams and traps and stuff like that.

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Speaker 1: That has become a consistent theme throughout the end of

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Speaker 1: the season, and I thought that was just kind of

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Speaker 1: like an interesting play sequence in that game that kind

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Speaker 1: of demonstrated both teams and some consistent themes that we've

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Speaker 1: seen in the past for Phoenix and what I expect

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Speaker 1: in the future for Dallas, excellent defensive rotations in back

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Speaker 1: line athleticism for Dallas or spacing principles, and a kind

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Speaker 1: of like a Mendoza line of offensive talent that Phoenix

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Speaker 1: can dip below when Bradley Beal's not out there. That

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Speaker 1: makes it easy to double team the ball out of

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Speaker 1: their stars hands. So I want to start with Dallas's defense.

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Speaker 1: Let's get there first. They have the number one defense

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Speaker 1: in the league over this seven game winning streak. Now,

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of bad teams in there. Like I said,

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Speaker 1: I don't think Dallas is actually a number one quality defense,

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Speaker 1: but they absolutely look like a team that can reach

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Speaker 1: a level defensively that is good enough to give them

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Speaker 1: a chance to make a run in the playoffs. And

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Speaker 1: so let's get into why I want to start at

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Speaker 1: the point of attack.

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Speaker 2: I thought PJ.

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Speaker 1: Washington did a really good job on Kevin Durant, kept

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Speaker 1: beating him to spots, chesting him up and taking that contact,

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Speaker 1: and then he uses outside hand to swipe down and

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Speaker 1: disrupt the shooting pocket. And you know, he also just

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Speaker 1: has the length to be a nuisance on KD which

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Speaker 1: not very many players in the league can do. Like

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Speaker 1: there was an early fourth quarter possession on the right

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Speaker 1: wing where Kevin Durant had PJ. Washington in an ISO

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Speaker 1: and he tried a jabstep jumper and KD had a

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Speaker 1: bad miss. It was far to the right and he

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Speaker 1: hit it off the heel of the rim and it

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Speaker 1: went over the back of the rim. And if you

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Speaker 1: watch the play, like PJ. Washington's just sitting in defense

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Speaker 1: and he's kind of like not conceding the Jeff step jumper.

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Speaker 1: But there's a reason why KDI took it, like he

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Speaker 1: had the space to do it, but PJ was able

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Speaker 1: to close and get a really good contest because he

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Speaker 1: had the length there. And if you look at Dallas's

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Speaker 1: perimeter defenders before that trade, they got guys with length.

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Speaker 1: They got guys that can guard on the perimeter, but

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Speaker 1: they didn't have their length. Was like a skinny or

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Speaker 1: shorter guy in Derek Jones Junior right, or a fire

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Speaker 1: hydrant guy in Josh Green.

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Speaker 2: PJ. Washington brings like actual size.

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Speaker 1: To that position defensively that they didn't have before, which

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Speaker 1: I thought was really interesting. But it extends down the

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Speaker 1: roster because Derek Jones Junior is a very good defensive

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Speaker 1: player I thought he had some really good defensive possessions

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Speaker 1: on Katie as well. He actually blocked him on a

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Speaker 1: pull up jumper in this game, how often do you

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Speaker 1: see a perimeter defender block Kevin Durant on a jump shot?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 1: And then Josh Green just kind of brings a different

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Speaker 1: kind of athlete to the table. Like I said, Josh

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Speaker 1: Green's more of like that shorter, stockier, fire hydrant type

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Speaker 1: of defender that can beat people to spots and bring

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Speaker 1: kind of like a physical strength to the position. Right,

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Speaker 1: Derek Jones Junior is like freaky athleticism in length, right,

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Speaker 1: and then PJ. Washington's more of like your stereotypical traditional

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Speaker 1: big forward that can guard on the perimeter. So they

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Speaker 1: have different types of players that they can bring in

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Speaker 1: that situation, which allows them to give different looks on

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Speaker 1: the ball, so they can actually make sure that they

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Speaker 1: have multiple perimeter defenders to throw at multiple different perimeter

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Speaker 1: options for the other team. And again, like that matters

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Speaker 1: because you're going to get cooked sometimes, but more often

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Speaker 1: than not, if you make.

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Speaker 2: A superstar work harder, you.

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Speaker 1: Can kind of limit his effectiveness enough to give yourself

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Speaker 1: a better chance to succeed there. Are going to be guys,

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Speaker 1: the top tier guys that can cook you even when

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Speaker 1: you play perfect defense. But more often than not, you're

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Speaker 1: going to get a better result when you have better

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Speaker 1: perimeter defense personnel that can make the other star work harder.

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Speaker 1: Over the course of the forty eight minutes we talked

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Speaker 1: about this last night with Austin Reeves, I was talking

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Speaker 1: about like all of you guys who play basketball who

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Speaker 1: are ball handlers. When you walk onto the court when

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Speaker 1: your local pickup run or your local men's league, or

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Speaker 1: even when if you're playing in college, when you go

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Speaker 1: to practice, when one of your teammates is on you,

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Speaker 1: and you're like, oh, yeah, this dude has no chance

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Speaker 1: to guard me. He doesn't have physical tools. I'm bigger,

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Speaker 1: I'm stronger, and faster, whatever it is, you have that tool.

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Speaker 1: From the beginning of the game, you just know I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna be comfortable against this guy. I'm going to get

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Speaker 1: to my spots.

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Speaker 2: Whereas we all know that guy.

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Speaker 1: We all have a guy where like when he steps

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Speaker 1: on the floor and he reguards you, you're like, well,

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Speaker 1: this is gonna be a pain in the ass, you know,

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Speaker 1: And it's like you can still have some success, but

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Speaker 1: you're gonna have to work harder to do so. And

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Speaker 1: like Dallas just has more guys now an additional guy

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Speaker 1: in the form of PJ. Washington that gives him another

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Speaker 1: option to make opposing stars feel uncomfortable, which I think

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Speaker 1: is valuable. And again all three of them can help

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Speaker 1: on the offensive end of the floor. Josh Green has

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Speaker 1: shot the ball really well the last two years, Like

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Speaker 1: this is a guy that you could leave open in

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Speaker 1: the playoff run in twenty twenty two, and like last

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Speaker 1: two years, he's been a dead eye spot up shooter,

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Speaker 1: which is a testament to how hard he's worked and

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Speaker 1: has made him a much more useful player for them,

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Speaker 1: especially as a three and D guy. Derek Jones Junior

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Speaker 1: is really he's not as as accurate of a shooter

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Speaker 1: as a guy like Josh Green, but he's actually a

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Speaker 1: more efficient spot up player. One of the main reasons

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Speaker 1: why is he's really good at that slashing cut off

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Speaker 1: of or slashing drive off of the wing. There was

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Speaker 1: actually a play like this in the first half of

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Speaker 1: this game. Luca's working. It was either an ISO or

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Speaker 1: a post up on the left l bow extended and

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Speaker 1: Derek Jones Jr's guy digs down to the elbow, and

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Speaker 1: when the off ball defender digs down to the elbow,

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Speaker 1: there's a baked in driving lane. It's baked into the

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Speaker 1: coverage because if you throw a quick swing pass and

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Speaker 1: you quickly rip to the right, that defensive player is

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Speaker 1: not in position to beat you to the spot. And

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Speaker 1: if he does, he's not gonna be able to slide.

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Speaker 1: He's gonna have to turn and run, in which case

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Speaker 1: you can make a counter move towards the middle and

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Speaker 1: easily cross him over and get back into the lane.

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Speaker 1: And Derek is really good at reading those driving lanes

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Speaker 1: and attacking quickly off the catch and getting to the

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Speaker 1: basket in a spot up situation. Again, this is something

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Speaker 1: I talked about all the time on the show. Three

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Speaker 1: point shooting is only one part of being an effective

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Speaker 1: off ball weapon. Having the ability to cut without the basketball,

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Speaker 1: be an offensive rebounder, and then also driving closeouts. Those

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Speaker 1: are ways to be effective spoted players. Derek Jones Junr.

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Speaker 1: Has been what I think he's like one point zero

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Speaker 1: nine points for SPOTU possession this year.

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Speaker 2: That's above average.

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Speaker 1: That's a that's a plus offensive player that you have

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Speaker 1: there and then PJ.

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Speaker 2: Washington.

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Speaker 1: He's a solid shooter when he's wide open. He was

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Speaker 1: thirty nine percent on un guarded jumpers when he was

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Speaker 1: in Charlotte. That's a field goal percentage, so waited for

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Speaker 1: threes obviously considerably higher. I could live without the random

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Speaker 1: transition pull up threes that he took in this game.

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Speaker 1: I think he was one for two, but I just

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Speaker 1: don't necessarily think that needs to be in his game

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Speaker 1: right now. But he can do the slot drive thing

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Speaker 1: as well. He had a big one in the fourth

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Speaker 1: quarter coming off of the right wing where he got

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Speaker 1: to his left hand, had a couple others in the game.

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Speaker 1: He's also good at identifying when he has a mismatch.

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Speaker 2: PJ.

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Speaker 1: Washington will like find, like whether it's through a switch

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Speaker 1: or a scramble situation, he'll find a guard on him

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Speaker 1: and rather than just going to stand in the corner,

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Speaker 1: he will duck down into the lane and create a

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Speaker 1: good passing angle and you can throw a pass over

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Speaker 1: the top. The MAVs have good, you know, post entry passers,

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Speaker 1: catches the ball and he'll just rise up and dunk.

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Speaker 1: And he's already had a few of those with Dallas

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Speaker 1: where he can get a deep seal and score in there.

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Speaker 1: But the point is Dallas now has a pretty deep

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Speaker 1: and solid two way perimeter defender corps at different position

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Speaker 1: in groups too, right Like PJ. Washington brings it more

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Speaker 1: as a forward and Derk Jones Junior is kind of

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Speaker 1: more of a wing, and Josh Green can bring it

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Speaker 1: more as a go But like, they just have like

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Speaker 1: a lot more options there than they did before the trade.

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Speaker 1: The next layer of Dallas's defense is their back line.

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Speaker 1: The addition of Daniel Gafford gives them two really good

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Speaker 1: athletes at the center position. I liked that they started

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Speaker 1: Derek Lively. I mean, at least to this point. I

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Speaker 1: think Derek Lively's playing a little bit better. I think

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Speaker 1: you see that in the plus minus numbers two. Ironically,

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Speaker 1: he could be their best option, which is crazy for

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Speaker 1: a rookie, right, And it just goes to show you

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Speaker 1: how one you know, really smart draft pick can change

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Speaker 1: the fortunes of a franchise.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 1: But between Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively, and also Maxi

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Speaker 1: Kleeba and his ability to defend and switches like he

402
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Speaker 1: did against Kevin Durant, they have a pretty athletic and

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Speaker 1: versatile front line. But the big thing I'm gonna be

404
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Speaker 1: keeping an eye on moving forward is the rebounding piece.

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Speaker 1: So in the four games since Daniel Gaffer joined the team,

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Speaker 1: they have a seventy two point seven defensive rebound percentage.

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Speaker 1: That's considerably higher than where they were before that stretch

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Speaker 1: as a team before that stretch sixty nine point four percent.

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Speaker 1: So again, small samize, but I want to keep an

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Speaker 1: eye on it because having just some more athletes and

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Speaker 1: also healthy being healthy, I think has helped. But I'm

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Speaker 1: just curious to see if they can rebound better over

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Speaker 1: the course of the end of the season because that

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Speaker 1: was a big problem for them early in the season.

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Speaker 1: And then a two other pieces on the defensive end,

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Speaker 1: they rotate really well. How many times did you see

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Speaker 1: in that game We talked about that one possession with

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Speaker 1: the double team of Kevin Durant where they didn't leave

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Speaker 1: any openings, And if you watch the other three guys,

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Speaker 1: they're constantly positioning themselves, kind of splitting the difference between options,

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Speaker 1: making it so that whichever guy they passed to they

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Speaker 1: can rotate too, right, But how many times in this

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Speaker 1: game did you see a trapper double team of Devin

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Speaker 1: Booker or Kevin Durant coming off of a ball screen

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Speaker 1: and then a scramble situation where they phoenix moves the

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Speaker 1: ball around and they get the ball to like use

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Speaker 1: of Nurkitchen the post or something like that. But by

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Speaker 1: the time they get it there, there's already a defender

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Speaker 1: who has rotated back and his positioned behind you of Nirkkitchen,

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Speaker 1: the advantage is gone, or it gets worked around to

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Speaker 1: an open Eric Gordon on the weak side, but they're

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Speaker 1: able to chase Eric Gordon off the line, and now

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Speaker 1: that buys you the time to make another rotation. Really

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Speaker 1: sharp rotations are especially important for teams like Dallas that

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Speaker 1: have good defensive personnel but not like outstanding defensive personnel

436
00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,240
Speaker 1: team like Dallas that's going to have in all likelihood

437
00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:16,560
Speaker 1: to two or three depending on the lineup, kind of

438
00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:20,119
Speaker 1: ify defensive players on the floor. Defensive rotations are going

439
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:21,639
Speaker 1: to be a key part of their success, and they

440
00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:24,600
Speaker 1: were really really sharp against Dallas. And then lastly, you

441
00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,240
Speaker 1: need Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic to at least put

442
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:29,240
Speaker 1: in the effort and to do their jobs, which is

443
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:32,120
Speaker 1: what they are doing, and that's the formula for them.

444
00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:36,640
Speaker 1: Incredible offense with playoff resiliency that you get from Luca

445
00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:40,080
Speaker 1: and Kyrie, and then two way athletes around them that

446
00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:42,560
Speaker 1: can finish plays and do the dirty work. I thought

447
00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:44,760
Speaker 1: it was a really impressive first showing in a quality

448
00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,720
Speaker 1: matchup for Dallas with their new additions. They are heading

449
00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,399
Speaker 1: out on a four game road trip now, They're at Indiana,

450
00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,360
Speaker 1: at Cleveland, at Toronto, and at Boston over the course

451
00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:54,879
Speaker 1: of the next week or so, so we're gonna learn a

452
00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:59,920
Speaker 1: lot about Dallas over that stretch, all right, Phoenix. Look,

453
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,440
Speaker 1: it's like so many games from earlier in the season

454
00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:04,800
Speaker 1: when Beal was hurt. They start out hot and then

455
00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:08,400
Speaker 1: teams start bringing super aggressive coverages in that late third quarter,

456
00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:11,440
Speaker 1: fourth quarter stretch on Kevin Durant and Devin Booker just

457
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:14,280
Speaker 1: double teaming them, and then their offense falls apart and

458
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:15,840
Speaker 1: it trickles down into every area of the game. Then

459
00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:17,400
Speaker 1: they start to out rebound as well. Then they start

460
00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:19,919
Speaker 1: to not defend as well, and that's why they've been

461
00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,840
Speaker 1: so mediocre without Bradley Beal on the floor this year.

462
00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:25,800
Speaker 1: Handling double teams is the big thing that stands out

463
00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,320
Speaker 1: when Beal is off the floor. When Beal is out there,

464
00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,480
Speaker 1: they usually only have one or maybe even zero negative

465
00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,040
Speaker 1: offensive players on the floor, and so they can really

466
00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,399
Speaker 1: quickly operate out of those aggressive coverages. But when Beal

467
00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:40,600
Speaker 1: is not out there, all of a sudden, it's like

468
00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:43,200
Speaker 1: at least one limited offensive player on the floor, if

469
00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:45,600
Speaker 1: not two. And that's how you end up with that

470
00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,200
Speaker 1: early fourth quarter stretch when Dallas blew the game open.

471
00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:51,159
Speaker 1: Josha Kog and I Sire Little were both on the

472
00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,840
Speaker 1: floor together. They were getting in each other's way in

473
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:55,640
Speaker 1: the middle of the floor because both of them kind

474
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:57,840
Speaker 1: of wanted to short roll into that area as a

475
00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:00,320
Speaker 1: result of a roller cut into that area. Because they

476
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,720
Speaker 1: know they have limitations as shooters. They kept ending up

477
00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:05,320
Speaker 1: above the break too, like multiple times for both of them,

478
00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:06,640
Speaker 1: and they're just bad.

479
00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:07,240
Speaker 2: Above the break shooters.

480
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:09,600
Speaker 1: I think at Coach's like twenty nine percent, and I think,

481
00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:11,639
Speaker 1: if I'm not mistaking us here, Little is like thirty

482
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:13,600
Speaker 1: one percent above the break. So like they're guys that

483
00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:15,120
Speaker 1: you just don't have to go guard out there that's

484
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:18,320
Speaker 1: below a point per shot, And so that lineup just again,

485
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:20,199
Speaker 1: like I said earlier, just dips below a certain like

486
00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:22,880
Speaker 1: mandatory minimum amount offensive talent to be able to deal

487
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,439
Speaker 1: with the aggressive coverages that Kevin Ran and Devin Booker get.

488
00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:26,879
Speaker 1: And then the other part of it is I think

489
00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:29,440
Speaker 1: they can get a little stagnant in terms of their

490
00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,359
Speaker 1: off ball player movement, like that play that I talked about.

491
00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:33,000
Speaker 2: I cliped this play.

492
00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,080
Speaker 1: It's on my Twitter feed out underscore jsonlt that you

493
00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,679
Speaker 1: guys can find. But the double team that led to

494
00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,600
Speaker 1: the use or the Josh Coogi turnover which led to

495
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,040
Speaker 1: the Kyrie Irving nasty spinning lay up the other end

496
00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,320
Speaker 1: of the floor, watch Grace Allen in the left corner.

497
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:48,880
Speaker 2: He doesn't move. And like again, when.

498
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,320
Speaker 1: Everyone on the floor is a laser from three. With

499
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,800
Speaker 1: some of their better lineups, you can get away with

500
00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:56,920
Speaker 1: standing still because ball movement and red hot shooting will

501
00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:57,199
Speaker 1: get you.

502
00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:57,800
Speaker 2: Through that moment.

503
00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:01,639
Speaker 1: But when the lineup offensive talent just kind of dips

504
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:03,439
Speaker 1: below that level, I think they do need to be

505
00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:05,920
Speaker 1: more creative to make themselves harder to guard. There needs

506
00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,359
Speaker 1: to be more player movement. You need to have Grayson

507
00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:11,240
Speaker 1: Allen and at a position where he's closer to the

508
00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,240
Speaker 1: basketball so that he can help be a release valve.

509
00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,240
Speaker 1: In those situations. I think they just have to do

510
00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,520
Speaker 1: a better job of making themselves harder to guard in

511
00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,200
Speaker 1: those situations. But big shock, they need Bradley Beal to win.

512
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,159
Speaker 1: That's not a criticism of Phoenix. That's the same for

513
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:26,720
Speaker 1: every single team in the league that has a real

514
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:30,159
Speaker 1: shot to win the title. You know, not even just stars,

515
00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:32,800
Speaker 1: even extending down to role players like you need, an

516
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:37,000
Speaker 1: injury to a significant rotation piece is going to make

517
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,120
Speaker 1: it significantly harder for any of these teams to win,

518
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,760
Speaker 1: and certainly is the case with Bradley Beal. All right,

519
00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,720
Speaker 1: Celtics Bulls. So I talked about, you know, last week,

520
00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:49,119
Speaker 1: the idea of the Celtics having so much margin for

521
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,119
Speaker 1: air and being able to try stuff right, because they're

522
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:54,119
Speaker 1: going into last night they were what six games up

523
00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,680
Speaker 1: on the two seed in the East and then four

524
00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:58,520
Speaker 1: games up on the one seed in the West. So

525
00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:00,520
Speaker 1: they just have a comfortable margin work with, right, and

526
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 1: they also have a super easy schedule down the stretch

527
00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,119
Speaker 1: of the season. Well you saw that a little bit

528
00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:07,840
Speaker 1: in the first half, like they straight up ran five

529
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,320
Speaker 1: possessions of that three to two zone that they've been

530
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 1: working on as of late, and they got cooked in

531
00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:14,320
Speaker 1: and I think they gave up nine points in the

532
00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:16,880
Speaker 1: five possessions of the three to two zone. Chicago got

533
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,000
Speaker 1: in a rhythm. They had thirty nine points in the

534
00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 1: second quarter. Kobe White made like a drifting three on

535
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:25,879
Speaker 1: a kind of a breakdown defensive rotation situation where he

536
00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,080
Speaker 1: had a drifting three on the left wing, put him

537
00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:30,040
Speaker 1: up by three sixty two to fifty nine going into

538
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:32,879
Speaker 1: the half. But in the second half, Boston tightened the

539
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,320
Speaker 1: screws in their main demand defense for one quarter and

540
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:38,000
Speaker 1: the game was over. And again that's the flexibility that

541
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:40,399
Speaker 1: they have with their talent and with the margin that

542
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,840
Speaker 1: they have in the standings, and they were really sharp

543
00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:45,919
Speaker 1: in their extra efforts on defense. They had several blocks

544
00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,040
Speaker 1: at the rim. The Celtics had eleven blocks in this game.

545
00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, they're second in the league

546
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,400
Speaker 1: in blocks, just so many athletes. There was this play

547
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,760
Speaker 1: Alex Cruzo got a steal and threw like a two

548
00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,600
Speaker 1: handed overhead bounce pass that hit. I think it was

549
00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:00,920
Speaker 1: Ayoda soon MoU in transition and he was ahead of

550
00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,840
Speaker 1: the field, but Jalen Brown and Derek White were trailing

551
00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,119
Speaker 1: to play and I remember as him watching it and

552
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:07,800
Speaker 1: I don't even know what's gonna happen yet, I'm like,

553
00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:10,720
Speaker 1: this is a bad idea, Like you might as well

554
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 1: pull this one out, and like Derek White and Jaylen

555
00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,480
Speaker 1: Brown both just sky way above the rim and block

556
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:19,959
Speaker 1: desum MoU at the rim. Also, the Celtics broadcasters were

557
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:21,720
Speaker 1: talking about Vusovich and how he was kind of killing

558
00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:23,720
Speaker 1: them in the first half, and I think it was

559
00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:25,680
Speaker 1: Skala Briney mentioned like they have to do a better

560
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:29,120
Speaker 1: job on Vusovic's rolls to the rim of digging down

561
00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:30,920
Speaker 1: and making it harder for him to catch there, harder

562
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 1: for him to elevate when he gets there. And they

563
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:35,720
Speaker 1: were just doing a better job when Vosovich caught there

564
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,240
Speaker 1: in the second half of digging down from the weak

565
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,040
Speaker 1: side and disrupting the basketball. Drew Holliday had to dig

566
00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,160
Speaker 1: down from the left wing where he actually knocked the ball,

567
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,080
Speaker 1: loosing cause a turnover. They just did a much better

568
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,240
Speaker 1: job defensively and then again helping off of if he shooters.

569
00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:50,800
Speaker 1: The Bulls are twenty fourth and three pointers made per game,

570
00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:52,399
Speaker 1: so that's the team that you want to pack the

571
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,520
Speaker 1: paint on. They got it going on the defensive end,

572
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,800
Speaker 1: which led to success on the offensive end as well,

573
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:01,360
Speaker 1: and then they pulled away in that third quarter. Obnoxiously

574
00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:04,800
Speaker 1: good jump shooting in this game, the Celtics made nineteen

575
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:09,639
Speaker 1: pull up jump shots. They scored fifty points on thirty

576
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,879
Speaker 1: four attempts, comes out to one point four to seven

577
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:14,639
Speaker 1: points per shot. Think about how insane that is. In

578
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,320
Speaker 1: pull up jump shooting, anything over one point is good.

579
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:22,840
Speaker 1: The Celtics average slightly over one point in pull up

580
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,640
Speaker 1: jump shot situations, but like again, pull up jumpers are

581
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,000
Speaker 1: the reason why just barely over one point is good

582
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 1: there when like a one to twenty offensive rating is

583
00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:32,240
Speaker 1: more like what you want in a grand scheme of

584
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:34,640
Speaker 1: a game. Most of the time, pull up jump shooters

585
00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,119
Speaker 1: are like coverage beaters or rescue possession type situations. The

586
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:40,080
Speaker 1: Celtics actually can lean on them in high doses in

587
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:42,199
Speaker 1: Knights like this when they're making them at such an

588
00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,439
Speaker 1: insane clip. Jalen Brown was just insanely hot. In the

589
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 1: first half, the Celtics were running horn sets. You're where

590
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:49,680
Speaker 1: they have two players at the elbow, two players in

591
00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,159
Speaker 1: the deep corner, player up top. They're running horn sets

592
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:56,320
Speaker 1: to get Jalen Brown with Nikola Vusovich switched on to him,

593
00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:58,840
Speaker 1: and then he would just beat Nikola Vusovich with like

594
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,960
Speaker 1: a hard downhill move into like a step back three.

595
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:04,320
Speaker 1: He also hit like a left shoulder fade over Alex

596
00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:06,280
Speaker 1: Cruso out of the post. We're gonna talk more about

597
00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:08,600
Speaker 1: that here in a minute. But he had a really,

598
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:10,320
Speaker 1: really nice stretch in that first half. He had twenty

599
00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:12,200
Speaker 1: points to kind of keep them in the game while

600
00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:14,800
Speaker 1: their defense wasn't as locked in. And then in that

601
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,200
Speaker 1: third quarter run Jason Tatum and Derek White got their

602
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,639
Speaker 1: pull up jump shots going Howser ended up hitting a

603
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:21,359
Speaker 1: big three in transition on the left wing. All of

604
00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:24,320
Speaker 1: a sudden, they're up fourteen and they never looked back.

605
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:27,639
Speaker 1: Really sharp performance to start the Celtics season. Out of

606
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:29,880
Speaker 1: the break, I wanted to I'm gonna stay on Boston

607
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:31,719
Speaker 1: for a minute because I wanted to clarify some comments

608
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,760
Speaker 1: that I made earlier about Boston's lack of an interior attack.

609
00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:36,919
Speaker 1: This is something I've been talking a lot about. I've

610
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,000
Speaker 1: been harping a lot on Boston's offense because I think

611
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:40,760
Speaker 1: it's the main thing that is going to be the

612
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:45,000
Speaker 1: determining factor of their success in the postseason, and Boston

613
00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:49,160
Speaker 1: is an elite offense, elite of the elite, but they've

614
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,720
Speaker 1: been elite in the large sample. They have also had

615
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 1: a tendency to go really cold in individual games, especially

616
00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:58,280
Speaker 1: in high profile games, and their offense has fallen apart

617
00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 1: in those situations. And so I've been talking about them

618
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 1: needing to have a counter, something that they can do

619
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,560
Speaker 1: that is more physically aggressive towards the rim when the

620
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:09,760
Speaker 1: jump shots aren't falling. I've had a lot of Celtics

621
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,959
Speaker 1: fans since I've been kind of getting on that wagon

622
00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 1: talking about how the Celtics are. Actually they actually post

623
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:17,720
Speaker 1: up more than any team in the league. For the record,

624
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:21,240
Speaker 1: it's true, Boston posts up more than every team in

625
00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:23,720
Speaker 1: the league except for Denver. Denver's the one team that

626
00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:26,480
Speaker 1: posts up more than them, and they're the most efficient

627
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,240
Speaker 1: post up team in the NBA. Boston scores one point

628
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:34,200
Speaker 1: one five points per post up including passes, but all

629
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,520
Speaker 1: of their post up offense including passes, only amounts to

630
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:42,200
Speaker 1: twelve point eight points per game. Denver is also Denver's

631
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:43,760
Speaker 1: also a really good post up team. Right they're number

632
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,920
Speaker 1: one in post up frequency, but they're also number two

633
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:50,680
Speaker 1: in points in the paint per one hundred possessions. Boston

634
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,359
Speaker 1: is twenty seventh in points in the paint per one

635
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:59,000
Speaker 1: hundred possessions. Why because posting up is one of is

636
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,720
Speaker 1: only one way to get into the paint. There are

637
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:04,600
Speaker 1: many many different ways to get the basketball into the paint,

638
00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:06,480
Speaker 1: just like driving is only one way to get in

639
00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:08,639
Speaker 1: the paint. Remember when all the talk was going on

640
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:12,440
Speaker 1: about the Lakers and their foul discrepancy in how they

641
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,560
Speaker 1: drive less than any team in the league. People think

642
00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:18,080
Speaker 1: that driving is the only way to get in the paint.

643
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,040
Speaker 1: That's not how it works. The Lakers make the second

644
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:24,760
Speaker 1: most shots in the restricted area per game in the NBA.

645
00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:28,560
Speaker 1: Fifty six percent of the Lakers shot attempts come within

646
00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:31,480
Speaker 1: eight feet of the rim. Despite the fact that they

647
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,840
Speaker 1: don't drive the basketball very much, why is that they

648
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,520
Speaker 1: are top ten in points scored on cuts. Boston is

649
00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:42,680
Speaker 1: twenty first. They are first in two point field goals

650
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:45,400
Speaker 1: made on rolls to the rim. Boston is twenty sixth.

651
00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:47,640
Speaker 1: Boston is mainly a pick and pop team. They take

652
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:50,720
Speaker 1: a lot of threes in pick and roll right. Boston

653
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,000
Speaker 1: is twenty fourth in field goals made on offensive rebound situations.

654
00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:57,640
Speaker 1: Even in transition, Boston is second in transition threes made

655
00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:01,200
Speaker 1: per game, but they are seventeenth in transition two's made

656
00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,720
Speaker 1: per game. They run the floor for threes, whereas the

657
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:08,240
Speaker 1: Lakers are third in transition twos scored per game. I'm

658
00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:10,400
Speaker 1: not trying to compare the Lakers of the Celtics. Celtics

659
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,400
Speaker 1: are way better than the Lakers. They'd kick the shit

660
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:14,000
Speaker 1: out of them if they played in the series tomorrow.

661
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:16,080
Speaker 1: I'd pick them in four or five games. What I'm

662
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,320
Speaker 1: trying to make a point about is about the offensive versatility. Yes,

663
00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:21,440
Speaker 1: the Celtics posts up a lot, but they do not

664
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:24,680
Speaker 1: generate nearly enough points in the paint, which is a

665
00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:27,800
Speaker 1: more resilient form of scoring in what happens when we

666
00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:30,440
Speaker 1: get to the to the postseason. Again, like, even if

667
00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:32,960
Speaker 1: you look at their post ups, they're a post up

668
00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:35,680
Speaker 1: team that takes a lot of fadeaway jump shots out

669
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,640
Speaker 1: of the post. They had eighteen post ups versus Chicago

670
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 1: last night. Eleven of them either ended up in fadeaway

671
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,640
Speaker 1: jumpers or kickout jump shots. Like they're they post up

672
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,520
Speaker 1: for jump shots two, which is why their points in

673
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:49,480
Speaker 1: the paint are so limited. I'm not worried about it

674
00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:52,600
Speaker 1: in a large sample. Boston like to steal a word

675
00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 1: phrase from my friend Sam Vesini, who came on the

676
00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:57,320
Speaker 1: show last week, like they're ass kickers. They're total ass

677
00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:59,480
Speaker 1: kickers on the offensive end of the floor. They are

678
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:01,440
Speaker 1: by far the best regular season team in the league,

679
00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:05,240
Speaker 1: and I think they'd easily dispatch in the playoffs all

680
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,600
Speaker 1: but a small handful of teams. But we know one

681
00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:12,840
Speaker 1: thing for sure, Boston can go cold. They went cold

682
00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:17,400
Speaker 1: against Denver, they lost. They went cold against Milwaukee, they lost.

683
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:20,560
Speaker 1: They went cold against the Lakers, they lost. They went

684
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:24,000
Speaker 1: cold against the Clippers, they lost. It's not the large

685
00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:26,760
Speaker 1: sample I'm worried about. It's the small sample size that

686
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:30,040
Speaker 1: I worry about for Boston in the event that they

687
00:30:30,040 --> 00:30:33,440
Speaker 1: find themselves in the Eastern Conference semis or Eastern Conference

688
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 1: Finals against Milwaukee or New York and the series is

689
00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,440
Speaker 1: tied at two and Game five is in Boston and

690
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 1: it's a super physical, rock fight type of game.

691
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,400
Speaker 2: What happens if they go cold? What do they do next?

692
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:53,240
Speaker 1: Because we've seen in all those games I just mentioned,

693
00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:55,080
Speaker 1: the Denver game, the Milwaukee game, and the two Lakers,

694
00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:58,080
Speaker 1: the two LA teams in those games. It wasn't like

695
00:30:58,080 --> 00:30:59,960
Speaker 1: they were cold for a half and then they got hot.

696
00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,280
Speaker 1: It was a consistent theme throughout the game. Even when

697
00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:05,080
Speaker 1: they made a couple, they weren't able to sustain it.

698
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:06,960
Speaker 1: And a big part of that is that's just how

699
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,040
Speaker 1: these types of games go. This has been an overarching

700
00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:13,680
Speaker 1: theme of my kind of basketball philosophy for a long time.

701
00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:17,240
Speaker 1: The more important the basketball game is, the more physical

702
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,800
Speaker 1: it becomes, the more intense it becomes, and the more

703
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:24,000
Speaker 1: the skill oriented parts of the game become difficult, which

704
00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:27,600
Speaker 1: is why I am so you know, high on teams

705
00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 1: that have interior physicality.

706
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,160
Speaker 2: Just go back through NBA history, like last.

707
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,880
Speaker 1: Year's Denver Nuggets team biggest strongest player on the floor,

708
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:39,200
Speaker 1: Nicola jokicch now the Warriors. In twenty twenty two, it's

709
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:42,160
Speaker 1: Steph Curry's the greatest small perimeter player in the history

710
00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,280
Speaker 1: of basketball. So he's the exception that proves the rule.

711
00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,400
Speaker 1: You can't use him as as evidence of what you

712
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:49,400
Speaker 1: can do. Nobody on Boston is even remotely in the

713
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,280
Speaker 1: same stratosphere as a shooter as Steph Curry, so that

714
00:31:52,640 --> 00:31:56,320
Speaker 1: can't be your approach. Right twenty twenty one Johannis Sintena

715
00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:58,320
Speaker 1: Kombo biggest, strongest player on the floor most of the

716
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:02,080
Speaker 1: time twenty twenty James and Anthony Davis big massive, physically

717
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 1: imposing frontline. Twenty nineteen Kawhi Leonard, big massive, physically imposing

718
00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,719
Speaker 1: forward like that is the way you win most of

719
00:32:09,760 --> 00:32:13,280
Speaker 1: the time. And again, like I was literally, you guys know,

720
00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:15,080
Speaker 1: I coach high school basketball here in town. I was

721
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:19,000
Speaker 1: watching our kids playing a playoff game on Wednesday, and

722
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:20,480
Speaker 1: they ended up they were up by one with less

723
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:22,560
Speaker 1: than a minute left, and then the other team made

724
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:24,120
Speaker 1: a couple of plays, ended up winning by four and

725
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,480
Speaker 1: their season's over now. But in the game, it was

726
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,840
Speaker 1: interesting because I once again watching the game, super super intense,

727
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,280
Speaker 1: both teams season on the line, both teams bringing crazy,

728
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:35,400
Speaker 1: crazy level of effort on both ends of the floor.

729
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,160
Speaker 1: You know what wasn't happening a ton of three point shots.

730
00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:40,480
Speaker 1: And that's not to say that that's not an important

731
00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:41,920
Speaker 1: part of the game. Of course, it's an important part

732
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,400
Speaker 1: of the game. And before you say this is how

733
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:46,880
Speaker 1: we've been playing and it's been working, that's not the case.

734
00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,240
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty two, when the Celtics made it to

735
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:52,880
Speaker 1: the NBA Finals and got within two wins of hoisting

736
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,960
Speaker 1: the trophy. They were eight in three point attempts per

737
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,400
Speaker 1: one hundred possessions, not first. They were fifteenth in points

738
00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,480
Speaker 1: in the paint per one hundred possessions, not twenty seventh.

739
00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:06,920
Speaker 1: They were a much more balanced scoring team in that

740
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:09,880
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two season than they were now. They have

741
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:12,760
Speaker 1: gone so so so far in that direction, to the

742
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:18,320
Speaker 1: point where now they've attached their fate to variants. Last

743
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:21,240
Speaker 1: night in Chicago, they scored one hundred and twenty nine points,

744
00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:26,440
Speaker 1: only thirty of them were in the paint. They attempted

745
00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: fifty seven jump shots in that game. Again, it's not

746
00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:34,120
Speaker 1: about Chicago, like it's not about the eighty two game

747
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,960
Speaker 1: regular season. This is one hundred percent about a seven

748
00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:41,400
Speaker 1: gamer against a healthy Knicks team, against a healthy Bucks team,

749
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:44,080
Speaker 1: against a healthy Nuggets team, or a healthy Clippers team.

750
00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:46,080
Speaker 1: That's the lens that we have to look through. The

751
00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:48,720
Speaker 1: look through. By the way, I have Celtics seconds my

752
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,240
Speaker 1: list of championship contenders. I think they're the most talented

753
00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 1: team in the league. Well, why I am harping on

754
00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:55,320
Speaker 1: this is this is going to make or break their season.

755
00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:57,600
Speaker 2: In my opinion. There is a.

756
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,920
Speaker 1: Chance that they just go into the playoffs and they

757
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:04,280
Speaker 1: make their threes five to six times per series and

758
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:05,680
Speaker 1: they just beat the shit out of everybody.

759
00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:06,280
Speaker 2: That's a chance.

760
00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:08,080
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to say that that's not possible. Of

761
00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:11,560
Speaker 1: course that's possible. But winning an NBA championship is hard.

762
00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:15,160
Speaker 1: Winning four series in two months is hard, and they

763
00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:19,160
Speaker 1: have made themselves beatable in the sense that if you

764
00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:21,480
Speaker 1: can play them into their worst tendencies and they go

765
00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:24,520
Speaker 1: and you play a super physical brand of basketball, you

766
00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:26,800
Speaker 1: can get them to go cold, and you might be

767
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:29,840
Speaker 1: able to steal the series from them. If Boston loses,

768
00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:32,640
Speaker 1: that's what it will look like. A way to prevent

769
00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:35,960
Speaker 1: that from happening is to be more active in those

770
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:39,560
Speaker 1: specific areas. Run in transition for layups and dunks. Whenever

771
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:42,160
Speaker 1: you can take the threes when they're an option. Stop

772
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:46,000
Speaker 1: running for the purpose of taking threes. Roll to the

773
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,840
Speaker 1: basket harder more Jalen Brown, Drew Holliday, and Jason Tatum.

774
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:53,319
Speaker 1: When you're posting up, stop settling for fataways every day.

775
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:56,759
Speaker 1: Like Jalen Brown is the best fadeaway jump shooter in

776
00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,160
Speaker 1: the league. This year Outstanding Athlete you can go over

777
00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:03,920
Speaker 1: both shoulders. Excellent fadeaway jump shooter, even the best fadeaway

778
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,200
Speaker 1: jump shooter in the world is not close to as

779
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:08,920
Speaker 1: efficient on that shot as Nikola Jokic is on a

780
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:13,480
Speaker 1: hook in the lane. Forget about that. It's not even

781
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:15,960
Speaker 1: close to as efficient as Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum

782
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,960
Speaker 1: can be. In physical bullyball post up possessions, so like

783
00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:23,160
Speaker 1: crashing the offensive glass, more running for in transition for

784
00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:26,319
Speaker 1: layups and dunks, posting up with physicality towards the rim

785
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,960
Speaker 1: instead of finesse away from the rim, rolling to the

786
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,799
Speaker 1: basket more in pick and roll situations that like those

787
00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,719
Speaker 1: are all like cuts to the basket off the ball

788
00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:38,560
Speaker 1: instead of constantly spotting up, maybe taking advantage of a

789
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,600
Speaker 1: defender being out of position by cutting to the basket.

790
00:35:41,719 --> 00:35:44,880
Speaker 1: These are always that Boston can add points in the

791
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:49,520
Speaker 1: paint to make their scoring more resilient. That twenty twenty

792
00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:52,680
Speaker 1: two Boston team. That's a great mark to be eighth

793
00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:55,520
Speaker 1: and three point attempts per one hundred possessions fifteenth in

794
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,480
Speaker 1: points in the paint. That is an analytically sound approach.

795
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,320
Speaker 1: You're taking advantage of I value shots on the floor

796
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:03,879
Speaker 1: while making sure that you have some more resiliency when

797
00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,880
Speaker 1: the shots aren't following. Boston was able to win ugly

798
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:11,080
Speaker 1: better in that season than they were this season. And again,

799
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:13,920
Speaker 1: I don't want this to come off as Celtic's criticism.

800
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:16,480
Speaker 1: That's not what I'm trying to do. We're nitpicking here

801
00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:19,040
Speaker 1: because we're talking about the very best of the best.

802
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:22,200
Speaker 1: Like if I wanted to talk about the Lakers, I'd

803
00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:24,680
Speaker 1: have to get into seventeen other massive issues before they'd

804
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,360
Speaker 1: even have a chance to could be in these conversations. Right,

805
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,800
Speaker 1: Boston has everything else checked.

806
00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:31,480
Speaker 2: If they can.

807
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,719
Speaker 1: Figure this out, they will hoist the trophy. That is

808
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:37,160
Speaker 1: why I'm viewing this as such an important swing factor

809
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:40,520
Speaker 1: for them this season. All right, before we get out

810
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:43,279
Speaker 1: of here, I want to talk about JJ Reddick in

811
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:45,440
Speaker 1: the State of Sports media, so the backstore here for

812
00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:48,319
Speaker 1: those are guys who missed it. JJ Reddick criticized Doc

813
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:50,959
Speaker 1: Rivers on I think Monday or Tuesday because Doc won't

814
00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:53,600
Speaker 1: stop criticizing his players even though he's got his own

815
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 1: set of issues. I didn't have any problem with that criticism. Honestly,

816
00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:59,879
Speaker 1: it's like nice to see players be authentic, honestly, because

817
00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:03,120
Speaker 1: like so many former players get out and they, you know,

818
00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:06,520
Speaker 1: are just always on the defensive of NBA players or

819
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:08,560
Speaker 1: NBA coaches and they kind of just take the company

820
00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:11,239
Speaker 1: line on everything. And so I appreciated the authenticity in

821
00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:13,759
Speaker 1: that situation, right. But then JJ came on the next

822
00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,520
Speaker 1: day on First Take and he talks about how fans

823
00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:20,120
Speaker 1: don't want to be educated about basketball, and he brought

824
00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:23,640
Speaker 1: in an example and he basically said, I did a

825
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:25,759
Speaker 1: deep dive on Zion Williamson.

826
00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:26,400
Speaker 2: And him being on the ball more.

827
00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:27,680
Speaker 1: Those of you guys who listened to this show, we

828
00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:29,480
Speaker 1: did a similar conversation, not as deep, but we had

829
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:32,560
Speaker 1: a conversation about Pelicans, the Pelicans and Zion playing better,

830
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:35,200
Speaker 1: being on the ball more and generating close out opportunities

831
00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,840
Speaker 1: for the Pelicans off ball players or perimeter players, and

832
00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:41,359
Speaker 1: how they've been really killing teams with that. JJ did

833
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:43,520
Speaker 1: a far more in depth version of that where he

834
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,760
Speaker 1: talked about specific actions that the Pelicans are using, namely

835
00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:49,080
Speaker 1: empty corner pick and rolls with you know as Vala Tunis,

836
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,000
Speaker 1: and just in general like transition pushes and sweeping drives

837
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,479
Speaker 1: from Zion ghost screens too with guys like Trey Murphy

838
00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:56,759
Speaker 1: and stuff like that. Really really well done by J. J.

839
00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:57,200
Speaker 2: Redick.

840
00:37:57,200 --> 00:37:59,560
Speaker 1: I want to be clear, this is my disclaimer. I

841
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:01,640
Speaker 1: think Jerretic is the very best in the world at

842
00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,000
Speaker 1: what he does. He's someone that I look up to

843
00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:06,800
Speaker 1: a lot, someone I strive to be like. He's a

844
00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:09,560
Speaker 1: hard worker, he's super knowledgeable, he's an excellent communicator. He

845
00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:13,640
Speaker 1: brings that former NBA player perspective. He's awesome with interviews,

846
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,320
Speaker 1: color commentary, studio shows everything. I think he's the best,

847
00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:19,640
Speaker 1: but I disagree with his take about the current state

848
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:21,360
Speaker 1: of sports media, so I wanted to talk about it

849
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:25,959
Speaker 1: for a second. First of all, I am super optimistic

850
00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:31,160
Speaker 1: about the current state of sports media. The ecosystem and

851
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:34,560
Speaker 1: the tools that we have at our disposal are incredible.

852
00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:38,919
Speaker 1: You can these days if you have a MacBook and

853
00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:43,360
Speaker 1: an iPhone due to I think it's called like I

854
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:45,279
Speaker 1: can't remember what the technology is called from Apple, but

855
00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:47,480
Speaker 1: you can actually use your iPhone as a webcam. Now,

856
00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:48,880
Speaker 1: that's what I do when I travel, when I go

857
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:50,520
Speaker 1: on ski trips with my wife or whatever the hell

858
00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:52,640
Speaker 1: I'm doing, I set up my phone and I can

859
00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:53,040
Speaker 1: make a.

860
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:56,600
Speaker 2: High quality video on the road with a.

861
00:38:56,600 --> 00:38:58,400
Speaker 1: Little handheld microphone that I got on Amazon that I

862
00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:01,320
Speaker 1: think was like twenty thirty bus a long time ago.

863
00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:03,520
Speaker 1: Like then I got that one before it, but even

864
00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:05,799
Speaker 1: started working with the volume, Like it is easy to

865
00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,759
Speaker 1: come up with the equipment to make quality content Now.

866
00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:12,040
Speaker 1: In addition to that, you can distribute it extremely easily

867
00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:17,000
Speaker 1: between free tools like YouTube, social media, and the algorithms

868
00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:20,080
Speaker 1: that are behind that, the algorithms that promote content based

869
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:23,640
Speaker 1: on watch time. As a result, we have a ton

870
00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:30,000
Speaker 1: of options. We have incredible team specific pods, national pods,

871
00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:34,279
Speaker 1: draft guys, film guys, CBA guys like you name it.

872
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,680
Speaker 1: We have everything under the sun now. Like if you

873
00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:39,920
Speaker 1: go back like ten years, think about the kind of

874
00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:43,399
Speaker 1: niche basketball analysis that was available five ten years ago

875
00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:48,200
Speaker 1: versus now it is skyrocket. I am so optimistic about

876
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:51,600
Speaker 1: the state of sports media. But the take JJ had

877
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:54,920
Speaker 1: he said when I made that Zion Williamson video, it

878
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:59,120
Speaker 1: only got fifty four thousand views when I criticized my

879
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:02,279
Speaker 1: former head coach and went viral and had tens of

880
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:05,880
Speaker 1: millions of impressions. This is where I think we have

881
00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:10,880
Speaker 1: to be realistic. I think it's unrealistic to expect a

882
00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:14,560
Speaker 1: ton of engagement from niche content like that, like the

883
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,520
Speaker 1: Zion video. Like a guy like me, it's gonna be

884
00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:20,120
Speaker 1: super interested in a video like that. All of you

885
00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:22,440
Speaker 1: guys who listen to the show, you're gonna be super

886
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:26,520
Speaker 1: interested in something like that. But there's no doubt that

887
00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:31,600
Speaker 1: like like shorter attention span type of content, that sort

888
00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:33,840
Speaker 1: of thing is going to perform better in the masses.

889
00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:36,279
Speaker 1: Like lower brow or low brow is probably not the

890
00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:38,960
Speaker 1: way to phrase it, but like small, surface level content

891
00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:43,760
Speaker 1: is easier to digest buy the masses. It's no different

892
00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:45,239
Speaker 1: than like if I was talking to my wife about

893
00:40:45,239 --> 00:40:47,960
Speaker 1: the Grateful Debt and she's like, I like Scarlet Pegunias,

894
00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:49,640
Speaker 1: That's a cool song. And then I was like, well,

895
00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:51,680
Speaker 1: let me talk to you about the chord progression of

896
00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:54,040
Speaker 1: this song, and then the differences between you know, this

897
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:56,640
Speaker 1: tour versus last tour, and the tone that John Mayer

898
00:40:56,680 --> 00:40:58,480
Speaker 1: was using and the kind of like vibe that he's

899
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:00,200
Speaker 1: going with with the way he's playing over it, and

900
00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:02,120
Speaker 1: like the way that the he's Jeff Timenti is the

901
00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:04,480
Speaker 1: piano player in Franklin's Tower now versus like I can

902
00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:06,640
Speaker 1: get into the weeds about that shit. Carly's not going

903
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:09,640
Speaker 1: to care. Why would she? She just doesn't care about that, right, Like,

904
00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:12,520
Speaker 1: there's different levels of interest in this kind of thing.

905
00:41:12,719 --> 00:41:15,520
Speaker 1: There are basketball fans that get invested in the playoffs

906
00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:18,400
Speaker 1: and we'll turn on a broadcast and they'll watch superstars play.

907
00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:20,359
Speaker 1: And then there are basketball fans that want to get

908
00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:23,080
Speaker 1: in the weeds and so to me, like I don't

909
00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:27,759
Speaker 1: necessarily understand the comparison there, like JJ Reddick criticizing his

910
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:32,439
Speaker 1: coach on first Take or I don't even remember which

911
00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:35,479
Speaker 1: platform he originally did it on, but that being talked

912
00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:39,160
Speaker 1: about is going to be a significantly larger, you know,

913
00:41:39,239 --> 00:41:41,680
Speaker 1: audience that's going to be interested in it, Like I

914
00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:46,040
Speaker 1: could get, let's invent a fictitious person that's the very

915
00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:50,520
Speaker 1: best basketball analysis analyst and history of mankind, and give him.

916
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:52,359
Speaker 2: All of the top of the line.

917
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:55,200
Speaker 1: You know, production tools that are available to him, and

918
00:41:55,360 --> 00:41:58,000
Speaker 1: give him, you know, the world's biggest YouTube channel to

919
00:41:58,000 --> 00:42:00,320
Speaker 1: post it on, post it a freaking I don't know

920
00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:03,160
Speaker 1: what mister Beast's channel or something like that, and pretend

921
00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:05,200
Speaker 1: all of them are basketball are people that are interested

922
00:42:05,239 --> 00:42:07,000
Speaker 1: in sports in some way, shape or form. If he

923
00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:09,600
Speaker 1: did the Zion Williamson video and posted it there, it's

924
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:12,359
Speaker 1: not going to perform as well as some surface level

925
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:15,120
Speaker 1: of content. That's just the reality. So that is where

926
00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:17,080
Speaker 1: I think we have to be more realistic. That doesn't

927
00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:20,120
Speaker 1: mean we can't be better, and I do think that

928
00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:23,600
Speaker 1: what JJ's getting at in the big picture is important.

929
00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:28,560
Speaker 1: I think specifically game broadcasts we can get so much better.

930
00:42:29,200 --> 00:42:32,480
Speaker 1: It's so much more important for the color commentators that

931
00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:35,280
Speaker 1: are on those broadcasts to be able to actually explain

932
00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:38,240
Speaker 1: to fans what are happening on the court. JJ Redick

933
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:40,520
Speaker 1: does a great job of this. Standan Gundhi does a

934
00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:42,400
Speaker 1: great job of this. Even local guys like one of

935
00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,840
Speaker 1: my favorites on League Passes, Antonio Daniels, who covers the Pelicans.

936
00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:47,520
Speaker 1: I think he does such a good job of breaking

937
00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:49,480
Speaker 1: down some of the x's and o stuff that is

938
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:52,799
Speaker 1: happening on the floor. But why do I care about broadcasts?

939
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:55,800
Speaker 1: Because broadcasts are where we go to get the games.

940
00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:00,400
Speaker 1: Everything else it's you can go where you are, Like,

941
00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:03,640
Speaker 1: I never have understood people who complain about first take

942
00:43:03,880 --> 00:43:06,759
Speaker 1: and it being like surface level, Why are you watching it?

943
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:07,000
Speaker 2: Then?

944
00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:13,280
Speaker 1: Like who's making you turn on ESPN? I haven't watched

945
00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:17,120
Speaker 1: live first take and don't I think it's been ten years,

946
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:19,920
Speaker 1: I'm not interested in it. So when I want to

947
00:43:19,960 --> 00:43:23,000
Speaker 1: watch a piece of sports media content, I personally like

948
00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:25,800
Speaker 1: in depth basketball analysis. I like to learn from in depth.

949
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:29,319
Speaker 1: I like to learn from other basketball mindes, and so

950
00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:33,279
Speaker 1: I will try to find a team specific pod or

951
00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:35,840
Speaker 1: a national pod that I like, and I'll find a

952
00:43:35,880 --> 00:43:39,800
Speaker 1: guy who's opinion in basketball intellect I respect, and I

953
00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:42,880
Speaker 1: will listen to that person. If you're choosing to listen

954
00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:46,840
Speaker 1: to ESPN and you don't like ESPN, that's a you problem.

955
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:51,400
Speaker 1: But game broadcasts, they're where we go to watch the NBA.

956
00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:55,000
Speaker 1: That's where I think we need to do better. More

957
00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:58,880
Speaker 1: guys doing color commentary, like the guys I mentioned that

958
00:43:59,360 --> 00:44:02,440
Speaker 1: primarily focus on explaining to fans what is happening on

959
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:04,560
Speaker 1: the on the court. A big one to me too.

960
00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:08,560
Speaker 1: Studio shows, pre game, halftime, post game shows. I'd love

961
00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:12,279
Speaker 1: to see better panelists that do a better job of

962
00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:16,719
Speaker 1: explaining the x's and o's to the fans that that

963
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:19,560
Speaker 1: are watching the games. Way too often, between color commentary

964
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:23,719
Speaker 1: and studio shows, we get surface level analysis, you know,

965
00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:27,160
Speaker 1: like and here's the thing, shows like inside the NBA,

966
00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:30,319
Speaker 1: they're legendary in the in the industry. That's a huge

967
00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:33,280
Speaker 1: part of me growing up as a basketball fan. But like, yeah,

968
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:37,960
Speaker 1: it's not exactly the most tactically proficient show out there, right,

969
00:44:38,360 --> 00:44:42,160
Speaker 1: And I think it would be beneficial for basketball fandom

970
00:44:42,239 --> 00:44:44,360
Speaker 1: or whatever you want to call it to have better,

971
00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:49,640
Speaker 1: you know, better game breakdowns and explanations of the tactics

972
00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:52,680
Speaker 1: in those settings because I can't. I think we can

973
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:56,640
Speaker 1: make smarter casual fans that way. But like again, like

974
00:44:56,960 --> 00:45:01,040
Speaker 1: to me, I don't understand how like like first take

975
00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:03,600
Speaker 1: to me has nothing to do with the realm of

976
00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:08,600
Speaker 1: basketball analysis. It's just it's there for their audience. My

977
00:45:08,680 --> 00:45:12,319
Speaker 1: show's here for my audience. J JJ's show is there

978
00:45:12,360 --> 00:45:14,400
Speaker 1: for his audience. You can go where you want to

979
00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:18,920
Speaker 1: go that there's no there's no reason to watch a

980
00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:22,600
Speaker 1: show that you don't want to watch anymore. And then

981
00:45:22,640 --> 00:45:26,920
Speaker 1: again at the end here viewership tells us that there

982
00:45:26,960 --> 00:45:31,040
Speaker 1: are topics that have large audiences and there are topics

983
00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:33,479
Speaker 1: that have smaller audiences. At the end of the day,

984
00:45:33,960 --> 00:45:37,520
Speaker 1: this is a business. I talk about this on my show.

985
00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:39,640
Speaker 1: It's a big part of how this show is structured.

986
00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:43,080
Speaker 1: I'll get in the weeds, but you bet your ass.

987
00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:44,799
Speaker 1: If there's a Lebron topic, I'm going to hit it,

988
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:46,719
Speaker 1: you bet your ass. If there's a STEPF topic, I'm

989
00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:48,239
Speaker 1: going to hit it, you bet your ass. I'm going

990
00:45:48,280 --> 00:45:52,919
Speaker 1: to cover the major the major markets. Why Because I'm

991
00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:55,359
Speaker 1: competitive and I want to win. I want this show

992
00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:56,960
Speaker 1: to be the best, And the only way I'm going

993
00:45:57,000 --> 00:45:59,480
Speaker 1: to do that is if I do both. If I

994
00:45:59,600 --> 00:46:02,279
Speaker 1: bring the in depth, niche stuff and I make sure

995
00:46:02,280 --> 00:46:05,200
Speaker 1: that I hit bigger picture topics. And I don't think

996
00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:09,000
Speaker 1: it's fair or realistic to pretend like we're above the

997
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:11,960
Speaker 1: bigger picture topics. When I even I still remember even

998
00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:14,080
Speaker 1: when I was younger, when I was playing basketball in college,

999
00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:17,879
Speaker 1: like after practice, before practice, on the bus, you don't

1000
00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:21,600
Speaker 1: think we're having first take style debates about Lebron versus

1001
00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:24,480
Speaker 1: MJ or stuff like that. That's also an important part

1002
00:46:24,840 --> 00:46:28,239
Speaker 1: of the sports media space that's never going away. Will

1003
00:46:28,239 --> 00:46:30,120
Speaker 1: it shift a little bit, will debate shows get a

1004
00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:32,640
Speaker 1: little smaller or maybe a little bigger. Who knows, Like, yeah,

1005
00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:35,000
Speaker 1: there'll be shifts, but there's always going to be a

1006
00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:37,640
Speaker 1: spot in sports media for that kind of thing. That's

1007
00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:40,920
Speaker 1: an important part of the business, and I'm thankful that

1008
00:46:41,000 --> 00:46:42,920
Speaker 1: we have a format here where we can do both.

1009
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:47,040
Speaker 1: No one's stopping me from spending fifteen minutes talking about

1010
00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:49,320
Speaker 1: this because I have the freedom to do so thanks

1011
00:46:49,320 --> 00:46:54,640
Speaker 1: to this new ecosystem. Fifteen years ago, if I happen

1012
00:46:54,680 --> 00:46:57,320
Speaker 1: to be working at a television company, i'd have timelines

1013
00:46:57,320 --> 00:46:58,919
Speaker 1: and I have to be out by this commercial break,

1014
00:46:58,920 --> 00:47:01,200
Speaker 1: and like you bet, like I might only have thirty

1015
00:47:01,200 --> 00:47:02,840
Speaker 1: minutes in a show or one hour in a show

1016
00:47:03,040 --> 00:47:05,640
Speaker 1: minus commercial time to figure out how to fit everything,

1017
00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:07,000
Speaker 1: and I might have to be way more picky and

1018
00:47:07,000 --> 00:47:08,400
Speaker 1: I might have to focus on some of the No,

1019
00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:11,160
Speaker 1: I don't have that problem anymore. If I want to

1020
00:47:11,200 --> 00:47:13,920
Speaker 1: tell Paul's early producer now, if I wanted to tell

1021
00:47:14,040 --> 00:47:16,720
Speaker 1: him on Sunday, like I want to do twenty minutes

1022
00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:20,480
Speaker 1: on you know, some random college basketball game, They're not

1023
00:47:20,480 --> 00:47:22,000
Speaker 1: going to stop me from doing that. I can do

1024
00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:25,279
Speaker 1: that now. That's a beautiful part of the way the

1025
00:47:25,280 --> 00:47:27,839
Speaker 1: sports media space has changed. I think it's better than ever.

1026
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:31,839
Speaker 1: I'm super super optimistic about it, and I don't have

1027
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:35,080
Speaker 1: any problem at all with folks who make a living

1028
00:47:35,640 --> 00:47:38,400
Speaker 1: on more of the surface level stuff. It's an important

1029
00:47:38,400 --> 00:47:40,720
Speaker 1: part of the space. If they can retain an audience

1030
00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:41,560
Speaker 1: and make money on it.

1031
00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:42,319
Speaker 2: Good for them.

1032
00:47:42,360 --> 00:47:44,200
Speaker 1: I don't have any problem with that. And I think

1033
00:47:44,239 --> 00:47:46,440
Speaker 1: a lot of those people are are super super super

1034
00:47:46,480 --> 00:47:49,040
Speaker 1: super talented guys like Steven and a Smith, guys like

1035
00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:54,480
Speaker 1: Shannon Sharp. They are incredible talents and like and I

1036
00:47:54,520 --> 00:47:56,400
Speaker 1: don't believe in minimizing that necessarily.

1037
00:47:56,440 --> 00:47:59,600
Speaker 2: Here's the bottom line. I think JJ's very good for.

1038
00:47:59,480 --> 00:48:03,000
Speaker 1: Sports media, in basketball media in general, and I think

1039
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:05,040
Speaker 1: he is one of the guys that's going to help

1040
00:48:05,080 --> 00:48:07,080
Speaker 1: address some of those problems that I talked about earlier,

1041
00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:10,880
Speaker 1: but debate shows and surface level content, they have a

1042
00:48:10,920 --> 00:48:11,479
Speaker 1: place too.

1043
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:14,280
Speaker 2: You can choose what you want to watch.

1044
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:17,239
Speaker 1: And this is where, like Nick right, Nick Wright kind

1045
00:48:17,239 --> 00:48:19,799
Speaker 1: of went after JJ on Twitter and was taking in

1046
00:48:19,880 --> 00:48:22,520
Speaker 1: kind of pointing out some of the some similar things

1047
00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:25,000
Speaker 1: to what I was talking about. And one of the

1048
00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:27,359
Speaker 1: things he said that I thought was was a good

1049
00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:30,399
Speaker 1: point is he goes, why would you go on First Take,

1050
00:48:31,640 --> 00:48:34,080
Speaker 1: take the check, like take the payment, agree to be

1051
00:48:34,160 --> 00:48:36,640
Speaker 1: on the show, and then be critical of the show.

1052
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:41,960
Speaker 1: That I don't understand, because like that's literally what that

1053
00:48:42,040 --> 00:48:46,560
Speaker 1: space is. Nobody turns on First Take expecting Zion Williamson

1054
00:48:46,600 --> 00:48:51,480
Speaker 1: film breakdowns that's an unrealistic expectation, right, And so I guess,

1055
00:48:51,480 --> 00:48:53,080
Speaker 1: like what I'm trying to say is like I'm a

1056
00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:56,680
Speaker 1: big believer in like the core belief system that's driving

1057
00:48:56,760 --> 00:49:00,400
Speaker 1: JJ in this endeavor. I just don't necessarily think it

1058
00:49:00,440 --> 00:49:02,840
Speaker 1: has anything to do with first take at all whatsoever.

1059
00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:06,600
Speaker 1: To me, Like JJ has an opportunity to improve some

1060
00:49:06,640 --> 00:49:09,719
Speaker 1: specific areas of basketball media for the better, and I

1061
00:49:09,760 --> 00:49:12,160
Speaker 1: think those conversations are worth having. But I'm not a

1062
00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:14,880
Speaker 1: big believer in being critical of people who just do

1063
00:49:14,960 --> 00:49:17,200
Speaker 1: a different kind of sports media, because that's what they do.

1064
00:49:17,239 --> 00:49:19,560
Speaker 1: They're just a different kind of sports media. I remember

1065
00:49:19,600 --> 00:49:21,360
Speaker 1: a while back, is the last thing I'll say and

1066
00:49:21,360 --> 00:49:25,400
Speaker 1: then we'll get out of here. I was talking about

1067
00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:27,880
Speaker 1: a fan base, and this was years ago. This was,

1068
00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:29,960
Speaker 1: like I want to say, like twenty eighteen was well

1069
00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:36,239
Speaker 1: before I was even doing podcasts, and I was being

1070
00:49:36,280 --> 00:49:38,960
Speaker 1: critical of some fan I think. And then Sam as

1071
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:42,680
Speaker 1: fondo Ari has become a friend of mine, pointed out

1072
00:49:42,719 --> 00:49:46,080
Speaker 1: about how pointless it is to be fan police, because

1073
00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:49,560
Speaker 1: why would I think that like my version of being

1074
00:49:49,560 --> 00:49:51,480
Speaker 1: a sports fan is the right way to be a

1075
00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:54,799
Speaker 1: sports fan. It's just not that that's ridiculous. There's so

1076
00:49:54,840 --> 00:49:56,440
Speaker 1: many different ways to be a sports fan. You can

1077
00:49:56,480 --> 00:49:59,400
Speaker 1: be passionate, you can be vocal, you can be quiet,

1078
00:49:59,440 --> 00:50:02,239
Speaker 1: you can be a content creator, you can be a

1079
00:50:02,280 --> 00:50:05,000
Speaker 1: content consumer. There's like a million different ways to be

1080
00:50:05,040 --> 00:50:07,120
Speaker 1: a fan. Why would I act like my way is

1081
00:50:07,120 --> 00:50:08,440
Speaker 1: the only way to do it, or that there's a

1082
00:50:08,480 --> 00:50:10,040
Speaker 1: wrong way to be a fan. The only wrong way

1083
00:50:10,080 --> 00:50:12,680
Speaker 1: to be a fan is to be violent or abusive, right,

1084
00:50:13,080 --> 00:50:16,319
Speaker 1: Like that stupid couple who called Katie a bitch and

1085
00:50:16,360 --> 00:50:18,359
Speaker 1: then tried to be nice to his face right after, Like,

1086
00:50:18,520 --> 00:50:21,239
Speaker 1: I have no respect for that shit, But like, there

1087
00:50:21,560 --> 00:50:25,759
Speaker 1: is no wrong way to be a fan. But I

1088
00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:29,320
Speaker 1: feel the same way about sports media and media in general.

1089
00:50:29,719 --> 00:50:32,520
Speaker 1: I don't want to play media police. There's not a

1090
00:50:32,600 --> 00:50:35,680
Speaker 1: right or wrong way to do it. This ecosystem allows

1091
00:50:35,719 --> 00:50:38,440
Speaker 1: everybody to do it their own way. It's been so

1092
00:50:38,600 --> 00:50:40,840
Speaker 1: good for the space. We have so much better content

1093
00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:43,560
Speaker 1: as a result. I'm a huge fan of the direction

1094
00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:46,000
Speaker 1: we're going, and as I said, I am an optimist

1095
00:50:46,320 --> 00:50:48,960
Speaker 1: about where we're headed. All Right, I'm off my soapbox.

1096
00:50:49,040 --> 00:50:51,040
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys for listening to the show. The

1097
00:50:51,120 --> 00:50:53,760
Speaker 1: game plan for this weekend we are taking Tomorrow off,

1098
00:50:54,160 --> 00:50:57,680
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna be uploading a video after the Sunday

1099
00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:00,560
Speaker 1: afternoon game, which I think is Laker's son Ones if

1100
00:51:00,600 --> 00:51:04,200
Speaker 1: I remember correctly, and then the Sunday evening game I

1101
00:51:04,200 --> 00:51:06,440
Speaker 1: believe is Nuggets Warriors.

1102
00:51:06,480 --> 00:51:06,759
Speaker 2: That one.

1103
00:51:06,800 --> 00:51:10,680
Speaker 1: We're going live on YouTube after so two shows on Sunday,

1104
00:51:11,040 --> 00:51:38,359
Speaker 1: no show on Saturday. I will see you guys on Sunday.

1105
00:51:41,239 --> 00:51:41,920
Speaker 1: The volume