1
00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:07,600
Speaker 1: The volume Lakers Tonight is presented by FanDuel Sports Book.

2
00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,719
Speaker 1: There's no better place to make every moment more than

3
00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:12,920
Speaker 1: with FanDuel. You get great odds in markets for the

4
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,960
Speaker 1: NBA and a gel college, and so much more. It's

5
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,759
Speaker 1: America's number one sports book. It's super easy to use.

6
00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:21,680
Speaker 1: Plus you can combine multiple bets from the same game

7
00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,720
Speaker 1: into a same game parlay. If you are new, just

8
00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,360
Speaker 1: download the fandel Sports Book app to get started. Now

9
00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,440
Speaker 1: sign up with promo code Jason T so they know

10
00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:35,160
Speaker 1: I sent you twenty one plus in president Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana,

11
00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:39,720
Speaker 1: permitted parishes only, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Virginia

12
00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:43,320
Speaker 1: or West Virginia. First online real money wager only. Refund

13
00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:47,320
Speaker 1: issued as non withdrawable site credit that expires in fourteen days.

14
00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,520
Speaker 1: Restrictions apply see terms at sports book dot FanDuel dot com.

15
00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,240
Speaker 1: Gambling problem called one eight hundred, next step or text

16
00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,640
Speaker 1: next step to five three three four two in Arizona

17
00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,640
Speaker 1: one eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven

18
00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,720
Speaker 1: seven or visit CCPG dot org slash chat in Connecticut

19
00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,200
Speaker 1: one eight hundred gambler or visit FanDuel dot com slash

20
00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:17,080
Speaker 1: RG in Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, in Virginia one eight

21
00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,800
Speaker 1: seven seven seven seven zero stop in Louisiana one eight

22
00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:26,080
Speaker 1: hundred to seven zero seven one one seven for confidential

23
00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,280
Speaker 1: help in Michigan one eight seven seven eight Hope and

24
00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,319
Speaker 1: Why or text hope and Why to four six seven

25
00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,039
Speaker 1: three six nine in New York. In Tennessee redline dial

26
00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,039
Speaker 1: one eight hundred eight eight nine nine seven eight nine

27
00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:46,400
Speaker 1: in Tennessee, visit www one dot one eight hundred gambler

28
00:01:46,440 --> 00:02:07,160
Speaker 1: dot net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight,

29
00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:10,400
Speaker 1: presented by FanDuel Here at the Volume. I am Jason

30
00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:12,920
Speaker 1: Timp Happy Tuesday, everybody. I hope you guys this week

31
00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,880
Speaker 1: is off to a good start. We have an absolutely

32
00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,280
Speaker 1: jam packed show tonight. We're not going to talk about

33
00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,680
Speaker 1: that specific Lakers games, simply because it does not deserve

34
00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:26,119
Speaker 1: to be discussed in any capacity. However, we are going

35
00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,600
Speaker 1: to talk about the Lakers and their chances in the

36
00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:30,800
Speaker 1: playing tournament, whether or not they're gonna get there, what

37
00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:33,359
Speaker 1: they could do when they get there. We're also going

38
00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:37,440
Speaker 1: to break down that incredible game between the Bucks and

39
00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,200
Speaker 1: the sixers and Janice's massive second half as he led

40
00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,080
Speaker 1: them to a comeback win. We're gonna dive a little

41
00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,800
Speaker 1: bit into the m v P race, and then at

42
00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:48,360
Speaker 1: the end of the show, I'm gonna give you guys

43
00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:53,239
Speaker 1: my top five contenders in each conference, So not power rankings,

44
00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:56,040
Speaker 1: not ranking the teams. I'm just going to talk about

45
00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:58,320
Speaker 1: which teams I had I think have the best chance

46
00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,480
Speaker 1: to win and in championship. And then we've got some

47
00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:03,880
Speaker 1: special stuff for you guys planned in there as well.

48
00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,600
Speaker 1: But let's start with the Lakers. So I went on

49
00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,560
Speaker 1: with the guys from Silver Screen and Roll today and

50
00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:14,160
Speaker 1: we were talking a little bit about the realities of

51
00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,440
Speaker 1: this next couple of weeks for the Lakers. So just

52
00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,000
Speaker 1: to give you guys an update on what the situation is,

53
00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:23,600
Speaker 1: Mark uh Chris Haynes reported that Lebron and a d

54
00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,640
Speaker 1: are probably both going to sit out on Thursday in Utah,

55
00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,920
Speaker 1: but that they will probably both play on Friday at

56
00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,239
Speaker 1: home against the Pelicans. So that essentially means that they're

57
00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:35,960
Speaker 1: punting that game on Thursday. If anything we learned about

58
00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,560
Speaker 1: today's game repeats in Utah, which it almost certainly will.

59
00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:41,920
Speaker 1: Utah has already lost to the Lakers twice, so you

60
00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:44,880
Speaker 1: know they're not gonna sleep in that particular game. So

61
00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,960
Speaker 1: chances are the Spurs and the Lakers will be tied

62
00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:53,000
Speaker 1: for that ten seed at thirty one. And problem is,

63
00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,840
Speaker 1: the Spurs actually have the tiebreaker because they have the

64
00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:00,360
Speaker 1: better conference record comfortably like that's not changed over the

65
00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:02,840
Speaker 1: course of the next couple of weeks. So the Lakers

66
00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,640
Speaker 1: starting Friday with Lebron and Anthony Davis in the lineup,

67
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:12,080
Speaker 1: should in theory, have a nice little stretch run there

68
00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:13,680
Speaker 1: where all they have to do is be better than

69
00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,280
Speaker 1: the Spurs. So that was that's where the schedule gets

70
00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,440
Speaker 1: a little bit complicated. So as we know, in remaining

71
00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,800
Speaker 1: strength of schedule coming into tonight, the Lakers were second

72
00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,839
Speaker 1: and remaining scheduled difficulty, meaning they have the second toughest

73
00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:29,640
Speaker 1: remaining schedule, but the Spurs have the fifth toughest remaining schedule.

74
00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,159
Speaker 1: I was looking at each of the games individually. Both

75
00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:35,359
Speaker 1: teams have a couple of games that are winnable, but

76
00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,040
Speaker 1: for the most part, they're gonna be underdogs in almost

77
00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,040
Speaker 1: every game they play, except for the fact that the

78
00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:43,720
Speaker 1: Lakers will have Lebron James and Anthony Davis. And this

79
00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,000
Speaker 1: is where it gets tricky, because I was talking with

80
00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:48,320
Speaker 1: the guys from Silver Screening Roll today. Think of it

81
00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,240
Speaker 1: like this, the Lakers are a terrible basketball team. We

82
00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,720
Speaker 1: can all agree on that they're on both ends of

83
00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,440
Speaker 1: the floor. They're bad. They're bad down the roster with

84
00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:03,479
Speaker 1: their talent, They're poorly coached in relation to uh the

85
00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:05,320
Speaker 1: types of players they have on the roster. And we

86
00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:07,200
Speaker 1: don't even have to get into front office and management.

87
00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,960
Speaker 1: They're not a good basketball team. However, this year has

88
00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:15,120
Speaker 1: been a travesty of injury luck. Lebron and Anthony Davis

89
00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:17,080
Speaker 1: can't seem to be on the floor together for more

90
00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,920
Speaker 1: than a handful of games at at a time. This season,

91
00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:22,320
Speaker 1: the two of them have only appeared in twenty two

92
00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:25,599
Speaker 1: games total, extually twenty one games, and in those games

93
00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,039
Speaker 1: they're only eleven in tent because of continuity and a

94
00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,679
Speaker 1: lot of other issues. But while we can all agree

95
00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,040
Speaker 1: that the Lakers win healthy with Lebron and Anthony Davis

96
00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,640
Speaker 1: are not a contender, meaning like a top tier contender,

97
00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,719
Speaker 1: they're not Phoenix. Obviously, they're probably not a second tier

98
00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:44,880
Speaker 1: contender right like they're not on the same level as

99
00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,520
Speaker 1: Boston or a Golden State or a Brooklyn. But with

100
00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,880
Speaker 1: Lebron and Anthony Davis, they probably are comfortably in that

101
00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:56,000
Speaker 1: third tier, that puncher's chance tier, with those guys on

102
00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,400
Speaker 1: the floor. Now that DeAndre Jordan is out or off

103
00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,000
Speaker 1: the roster entirely, now that they're no longer playing Kemp

104
00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,560
Speaker 1: He's more and Avery Bradley and Trevor Reason all their

105
00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,440
Speaker 1: worst players, they're probably comfortably in that third tier when

106
00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:12,120
Speaker 1: they are healthy. It's the Anthony Davis injury in conjunction

107
00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,279
Speaker 1: with their total lack of athleticism that has been such

108
00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,960
Speaker 1: a problem for them in this past month. But this

109
00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:21,160
Speaker 1: last stretch of games here, if Lebron and a D

110
00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,600
Speaker 1: are available, if they have their mobility, which I expect

111
00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:26,960
Speaker 1: them to have, I think Lebron's ankle is going to

112
00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,120
Speaker 1: be okay. And as we saw with Anthony Davis's knee

113
00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:32,600
Speaker 1: when he came back, he was very mobile. So if

114
00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:34,880
Speaker 1: Lebron and a D actually put their foot on the

115
00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:37,360
Speaker 1: gas and really go for it down the stretch, they

116
00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,000
Speaker 1: should absolutely be ahead of San Antonio and very possibly

117
00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,640
Speaker 1: could finish ahead of the Pelicans if they catch some

118
00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,880
Speaker 1: luck along the way and win that game. On Friday

119
00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:50,160
Speaker 1: against the Pelicans. You know, one of the other things

120
00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,400
Speaker 1: we were talking about today, you know, there's a it's

121
00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:57,560
Speaker 1: very important for the Lakers to try down the stretch

122
00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,839
Speaker 1: here and to make an impressive showing, even if they lose,

123
00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:04,960
Speaker 1: because looking forward to this coming summer, obviously the Lakers

124
00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,320
Speaker 1: need to clean house, right. They probably have a new coach,

125
00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,280
Speaker 1: they'll probably have a bunch of different role players, they'll

126
00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,280
Speaker 1: probably have a very different dynamic surrounding the team. But

127
00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,600
Speaker 1: in order to do so, the importance for the Lakers

128
00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:18,840
Speaker 1: to have a strong showing has to do with this

129
00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:23,080
Speaker 1: coming off season and the fact that you have to

130
00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,960
Speaker 1: somehow convince players to come in at a discount. Just

131
00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,440
Speaker 1: like what happened the last couple of years. The Lakers

132
00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:33,760
Speaker 1: are primarily going to be relying on guys like Kendrick

133
00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,280
Speaker 1: Nunn or Montrez Harrold, So guys that probably could get

134
00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,320
Speaker 1: ten fifteen million on the open market that decided to

135
00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,280
Speaker 1: take a discount to come to the Lakers, or guys

136
00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:45,720
Speaker 1: that could get that five to ten million who end

137
00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:48,560
Speaker 1: up taking a veteran minimum contract. We've seen a bunch

138
00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:50,760
Speaker 1: of examples of that over the course of the last

139
00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:55,320
Speaker 1: couple of years. However, the players can see injury luck,

140
00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:57,960
Speaker 1: they can see that kind of thing. They can read

141
00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:02,080
Speaker 1: through that. What they can't read through is poor effort.

142
00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,200
Speaker 1: If they see a toxic situation, if they see a

143
00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,320
Speaker 1: team that has quit, if they see a dumpster fire,

144
00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,760
Speaker 1: it becomes very difficult to convince a quality role player

145
00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,400
Speaker 1: to take a discount to come play for the Lakers.

146
00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:18,840
Speaker 1: Think about it like this. You are let's let's say you're,

147
00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,680
Speaker 1: you know, Jeff Green this summer or whatever, somebody that

148
00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:26,320
Speaker 1: ilk of player quality wing in that you know, uh,

149
00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:28,920
Speaker 1: mid level exception to veteran minimum type of market. If

150
00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:32,080
Speaker 1: you could choose between going to the Clippers, who have

151
00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:35,319
Speaker 1: looked like a fantastic team this year despite of of

152
00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,080
Speaker 1: injury luck and with Kauai and Paul George coming back

153
00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,800
Speaker 1: and with a very clearly sound environment, with a good

154
00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:44,640
Speaker 1: coach that fits their players, in a high quality front office,

155
00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:47,959
Speaker 1: or Brooklyn, who is kind of in a similar boat.

156
00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,760
Speaker 1: If you could choose between those two teams are going

157
00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,679
Speaker 1: to play with the Lakers with all of the things

158
00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:56,680
Speaker 1: that have gone poorly for them this season, what would

159
00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:58,920
Speaker 1: you choose? That's why it's so important. If you can

160
00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,320
Speaker 1: somehow down on the stretch, have a have a couple

161
00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,439
Speaker 1: of quality wins that remind everybody of what Lebron and

162
00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,200
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis are like when they're together. If you could

163
00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,360
Speaker 1: go into the playing game and beat the Pelicans and

164
00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,840
Speaker 1: beat the Clippers and get into that eight seed, that

165
00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:18,040
Speaker 1: that adds legitimacy to what you're trying to build. If

166
00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,520
Speaker 1: you go into the first round playoff series against the

167
00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,320
Speaker 1: Phoenix Suns and you go down swinging, even if you

168
00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:26,760
Speaker 1: don't win, if you go down swinging, then you restore

169
00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,560
Speaker 1: some integrity around the franchise, which allows you to have

170
00:09:30,679 --> 00:09:34,160
Speaker 1: that phone conversation with this theoretical Jeff Green and be like,

171
00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,240
Speaker 1: hey man, we had really bad luck this year. We

172
00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,079
Speaker 1: couldn't get the we couldn't get the right amount of

173
00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,120
Speaker 1: um of of continuity. We couldn't get the right right

174
00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:48,520
Speaker 1: amount of of of consistent you know, uh, stability in

175
00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:52,080
Speaker 1: order to have an environment that could cultivate good basketball.

176
00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,920
Speaker 1: And maybe you can convince those guys again. But that's

177
00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,280
Speaker 1: why it's so important to have a functional and and

178
00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:02,200
Speaker 1: coherent and competent finish to this season. And one last

179
00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,160
Speaker 1: note on that front before we move on what happened

180
00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:08,439
Speaker 1: last year in the playoffs. We had two teams make

181
00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,240
Speaker 1: it to the conference finals that nobody in a million

182
00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:12,679
Speaker 1: years would have thought would have made it to the

183
00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:16,760
Speaker 1: conference finals. Nobody thought Atlanta was gonna beat Philly. Nobody

184
00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:21,199
Speaker 1: thought Atlanta would go into Milwaukee and still steal that

185
00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,120
Speaker 1: uh that game, wanted that series. No one thought the

186
00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:28,520
Speaker 1: Clippers were going to eliminate the Utah Jazz and take

187
00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,439
Speaker 1: the Phoenix Suns to six games in the conference finals.

188
00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:38,200
Speaker 1: Those are incredibly flawed teams right relative to their peers

189
00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:40,760
Speaker 1: at the top of the league. But some things broke

190
00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,400
Speaker 1: right for them. A couple injuries here, couple of good

191
00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:47,680
Speaker 1: injury luck for you. There some matchups that work in

192
00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,920
Speaker 1: your favor. Some role players get hot. You know, we

193
00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:53,559
Speaker 1: had a Nicholas Betune kind of sighting in that early

194
00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:57,200
Speaker 1: playoff run for the Clippers. Obviously, Trey Young played a

195
00:10:57,200 --> 00:10:59,880
Speaker 1: lot better than we expected in that playoff runt. And

196
00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,800
Speaker 1: anything can happen if some things break your way and

197
00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:05,640
Speaker 1: suddenly you're in the conference finals. Do I think the

198
00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:07,680
Speaker 1: Lakers are a top tier contender? No? What do I

199
00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:10,000
Speaker 1: expect to happen? I expect them to either lose in

200
00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,560
Speaker 1: the plan or to lose in the first round. But

201
00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,160
Speaker 1: that doesn't mean that they can't get there. They have

202
00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,320
Speaker 1: a puncher's chance when they're healthy. That's why you have

203
00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:21,679
Speaker 1: to get there. Anything can happen. Even the two teams

204
00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,320
Speaker 1: that made it to the finals, the Bucks and the Sons,

205
00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:28,160
Speaker 1: were not the favorites in their conference. Nobody took Phoenix seriously.

206
00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:30,080
Speaker 1: They A lot of people picked the Lakers to win

207
00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:33,360
Speaker 1: that series, including myself. Nobody thought the Bucks were gonna win.

208
00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:35,760
Speaker 1: The Bucks were literally the laughing stock of the league

209
00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:37,960
Speaker 1: after they folded against Miami and had kind of a

210
00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:41,480
Speaker 1: mediocre regular season that year. So my point is is

211
00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:45,240
Speaker 1: everything is in flux in the NBA because of the

212
00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,000
Speaker 1: day to day up and downs of what happens with

213
00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:51,559
Speaker 1: injuries and what happens with matchups. So it's very important

214
00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:54,880
Speaker 1: to always push forward, not just for the integrity of

215
00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,280
Speaker 1: your franchise, not just for your credibility when you're communicating

216
00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:00,440
Speaker 1: with free agents in the summer, but also because you

217
00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,840
Speaker 1: don't know what's gonna happen, and folding is never a

218
00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,640
Speaker 1: good idea as a competitor or for the integrity of

219
00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:09,880
Speaker 1: the team and the franchise. For those of you who

220
00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:12,040
Speaker 1: are just joining us. This is Hoops Tonight, presented by

221
00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:14,240
Speaker 1: Fandel Here at the volume. We are going to bring

222
00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,640
Speaker 1: on my guy Carson. Carson helps with the show. He

223
00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:18,719
Speaker 1: also does NBA draft stuff, but that's a story for

224
00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,640
Speaker 1: another day. What's up, Carson? How you doing, my guy?

225
00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,440
Speaker 1: I'm great man, happy to be here. All right, what

226
00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,480
Speaker 1: do you got? So? We are going to play a

227
00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:32,000
Speaker 1: game called Laker or Faker. It's a pretty simple format.

228
00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:34,559
Speaker 1: I'm gonna list off a few names to you. You're

229
00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:37,120
Speaker 1: gonna tell me if this guy next year is going

230
00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:39,160
Speaker 1: to be a Laker still on the team. If you

231
00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,200
Speaker 1: think he is not, you're going to say faker. We're

232
00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:49,680
Speaker 1: gonna start with Russell Westbrook Laker Faker. Interesting, Okay, I

233
00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,440
Speaker 1: like this a going faker. Absolutely have to get off

234
00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:55,960
Speaker 1: of him for if if nothing else, because even in

235
00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,040
Speaker 1: this recent stretch he's actually played okay like and I

236
00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,840
Speaker 1: mean that term is being used loosely. He's played okay

237
00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,240
Speaker 1: of late and it's still is like a full blown

238
00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,439
Speaker 1: civil war with Laker fans, and within the locker room

239
00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:10,839
Speaker 1: there's this weird vibe. You know, we've heard about the

240
00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,440
Speaker 1: coaching staff and what his issues are with Frank Vogel.

241
00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:16,480
Speaker 1: We've heard from Lebron directly or not directly, but we've

242
00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,480
Speaker 1: heard from Lebron through the grape vine that he's come too.

243
00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,520
Speaker 1: I would be absolutely stunned if he's not here next year.

244
00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:25,840
Speaker 1: There's a chance he doesn't get traded. But if he

245
00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:27,840
Speaker 1: doesn't get traded, I'd expect him to go with an

246
00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:30,040
Speaker 1: even more nuclear option, which is like a wave in

247
00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:32,760
Speaker 1: stretch where they basically just split his salary over the

248
00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:35,280
Speaker 1: next three seasons to free up some immediate cap space.

249
00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:38,400
Speaker 1: But I would be absolutely shocked if Russ is a

250
00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:42,920
Speaker 1: Laker next year. I'm going Faker, all right. Moving on

251
00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:50,440
Speaker 1: Malik Monk, Laker or Faker, I'm gonna go with Laker.

252
00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:54,920
Speaker 1: He has had some really good stretches this year, but

253
00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:58,360
Speaker 1: I think that people, you know, he's gonna fall into

254
00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:02,480
Speaker 1: that mid level exception type market in my opinion, and

255
00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:07,319
Speaker 1: in that market, most teams that are using that contract

256
00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:10,199
Speaker 1: are going to attempt to find somebody who's a more

257
00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,520
Speaker 1: dependable role player. Malik Monk has been a pretty bad

258
00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:16,640
Speaker 1: defensive player this year. And while he's shown scoring pop

259
00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:18,600
Speaker 1: and it is off the bench and how he's had

260
00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:20,120
Speaker 1: a lot of really good moments. I really really like

261
00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:22,560
Speaker 1: Leik's game, so I don't want to make it sound

262
00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,760
Speaker 1: like that. However, I have a feeling that he's going

263
00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:27,640
Speaker 1: to end up being a player that's in the mid

264
00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,320
Speaker 1: level exception type of territory, and I think the Lakers

265
00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:32,200
Speaker 1: are going to be able to afford him, so I

266
00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,120
Speaker 1: would be I would be surprised if he's not here

267
00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:37,600
Speaker 1: next year. I'm going Laker if he were to demand

268
00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:39,400
Speaker 1: more than that, like if he were getting into like

269
00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,360
Speaker 1: the twelve million range, do you think then that's no

270
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:46,880
Speaker 1: longer on the table. Well, so if they waved and

271
00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,440
Speaker 1: stretched Russ, then I think they could theoretically use the

272
00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,720
Speaker 1: non taxpayer mid level exception, which gets close to that number.

273
00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,480
Speaker 1: I just think that would be poor management. If you

274
00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:58,560
Speaker 1: look at the Lakers this year, their biggest problem has

275
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,320
Speaker 1: been lack of competent size athleticism. So if you can

276
00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,080
Speaker 1: get Malik for basically what you're paying Kendrick Nunn, that's

277
00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,880
Speaker 1: one thing. I and and he's there's a bunch of

278
00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:08,600
Speaker 1: stuff there too, where the Lakers have been saying all

279
00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,000
Speaker 1: the right things, acting like they really like having him around.

280
00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:13,480
Speaker 1: I just think the more likely scenario if it pushes

281
00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:15,640
Speaker 1: up to that number, is the Lakers prioritize a wing

282
00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:19,720
Speaker 1: if they're gonna pay that much. All right, we've got

283
00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:25,760
Speaker 1: a big one here. Frank Vogel Laker or Faker. Oh.

284
00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:27,840
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this one the other day. I'm

285
00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:32,800
Speaker 1: gonna go Faker. But it's close to a coin flip.

286
00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:34,960
Speaker 1: The reason why is because what do we know about

287
00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,320
Speaker 1: Genie Buss. We know she doesn't like to spend money.

288
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,840
Speaker 1: We also have reports that Frank Vogel is under contract

289
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:44,160
Speaker 1: next year. Now, the case for bringing Frank Vogel back

290
00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:47,080
Speaker 1: would be Frank is actually a good coach. He's just

291
00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:49,840
Speaker 1: a defensive minded coach, and so when you put him

292
00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:52,880
Speaker 1: with an offensive oriented roster, you kind of get the

293
00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,360
Speaker 1: worst of both worlds because you lose the defensive element

294
00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,320
Speaker 1: that Frank brings to the table and he's not competent

295
00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:01,080
Speaker 1: enough with xs and os to maximum eyes that uh

296
00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:04,920
Speaker 1: that roster offensively. So if they did bring Frank back,

297
00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,280
Speaker 1: they would have to reorient the roster to his strengths,

298
00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:12,320
Speaker 1: prioritize all the signings and trades this summer around bringing

299
00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:16,840
Speaker 1: incompetent defenders and building around that model. Because Frank was

300
00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,440
Speaker 1: the perfect coach for that model. That said, I think

301
00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:21,960
Speaker 1: a slightly better than coin flip chance that he's gone,

302
00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:24,920
Speaker 1: simply because my guess is that he's gonna be labeled

303
00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:26,760
Speaker 1: as a scapegoat in a lot of ways for this season,

304
00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:29,640
Speaker 1: kind of like russ Is, Who would be the guy

305
00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:31,280
Speaker 1: to you that you would look at on the market

306
00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:36,040
Speaker 1: for the Lakers potentially as his replacement? This is a

307
00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:41,720
Speaker 1: really interesting question. I you know what we know about

308
00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:45,360
Speaker 1: Genie again, she likes to stay in house, So I

309
00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,280
Speaker 1: wouldn't be shocked if they looked for one of the

310
00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:51,440
Speaker 1: assistants on the staff, someone like a Phil Handy. Um.

311
00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:53,760
Speaker 1: I like Phil Handy as an offensive coach. He's famous

312
00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:55,560
Speaker 1: kind of as a skill development guy in the league,

313
00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:57,560
Speaker 1: and allegedly he's been doing a lot of the xs

314
00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,680
Speaker 1: and os for the team offensively in the second half

315
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:02,120
Speaker 1: of the season, but those xs and knows still haven't

316
00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:06,000
Speaker 1: looked great. Um. I would go for somebody that's proven

317
00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:09,439
Speaker 1: as an offensive coach and trust the fact that you

318
00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:11,359
Speaker 1: can get Lebron in a D to lock in and

319
00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:13,520
Speaker 1: get enough stops. So in that case, I'd be targeting

320
00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:20,560
Speaker 1: someone like Mike D'Antoni. Okay, all right, Carmelo, Anthony Laker

321
00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:26,840
Speaker 1: or Faker. I'm gonna go with Laker. I don't I

322
00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:28,840
Speaker 1: I don't think he should be in the rotation anymore.

323
00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:31,400
Speaker 1: There's this really interesting phenomenon that happened with Carmelo. It's

324
00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:34,359
Speaker 1: the textbook case of of of people kind of forming

325
00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:36,959
Speaker 1: an opinion about someone and they're not changing. He shot

326
00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,720
Speaker 1: incredibly well for the first like third of the season,

327
00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:43,000
Speaker 1: like off the charts well. But the truth of the

328
00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,480
Speaker 1: matter is is he hasn't shot particularly well in the

329
00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,360
Speaker 1: last half of the season or so, and as a result,

330
00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,879
Speaker 1: with all of his defensive shortcomings, he's actually been somewhat

331
00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:54,280
Speaker 1: of a negative player for the Lakers as of late.

332
00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:56,560
Speaker 1: He's my candidate for a guy who I would drop

333
00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,439
Speaker 1: out of the rotation in favor of leaving someone like

334
00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,199
Speaker 1: when you gave bal In the in the lineup. I

335
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,399
Speaker 1: think he's likely to come back just because he's already

336
00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:07,520
Speaker 1: in l a, he's friends with Lebron. I just think

337
00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:09,000
Speaker 1: if he's back, he needs to come back and more

338
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,000
Speaker 1: of like a mentorship, end of the bench type of role.

339
00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:19,000
Speaker 1: All Right, Austin Reeves Laker or Faker. Laker absolutely coming back.

340
00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:21,000
Speaker 1: They got him under team control next year anyway, So

341
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:22,480
Speaker 1: the only way he begane is if he got lumped

342
00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:24,679
Speaker 1: in with the trade. And I think the Lakers are

343
00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:26,479
Speaker 1: super high on him. I doubt they throw him in,

344
00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:28,439
Speaker 1: and I don't think his opinion is high enough in

345
00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:30,720
Speaker 1: the rest of the league to where teams would be like, hey,

346
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:32,479
Speaker 1: we're not doing the deal unless you're throw in Austin.

347
00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:36,960
Speaker 1: So I'm going Laker, all right, probably the biggest one

348
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:43,120
Speaker 1: we've got here, Anthony Davis Laker or Faker. Oh good one,

349
00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,399
Speaker 1: I'm going Laker. I saw this report from Brian went

350
00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,919
Speaker 1: Horse earlier today. Now the way I look at it,

351
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:55,160
Speaker 1: I understand the idea behind wanting to trade him really

352
00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:57,359
Speaker 1: bad since the bubble, even when he's been healthy and

353
00:18:57,400 --> 00:18:59,760
Speaker 1: for the most part he hasn't been able to stay

354
00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:03,160
Speaker 1: on the floor. So from that standpoint, like I get

355
00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:05,000
Speaker 1: the thought process behind, maybe you might be able to

356
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,240
Speaker 1: get something for him. But here's the issue. First of all,

357
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:09,800
Speaker 1: every time you do a superstar trade, you get pennies

358
00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:12,560
Speaker 1: in return. You never get very rarely do you get

359
00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,280
Speaker 1: that Ben Simmons for James Harden type of return, And

360
00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:17,480
Speaker 1: chances are if the Nets knew that Ben Simmons wasn't

361
00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:19,080
Speaker 1: gonna be able to play because a herniated disks, they

362
00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,359
Speaker 1: probably wouldn't have made the deal to begin with. So

363
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,600
Speaker 1: the way I look at it, you're trading Anthony Davis

364
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,600
Speaker 1: for a lesser player and some spare parts. So I

365
00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:28,960
Speaker 1: get it from the standpoint of the lack of depth

366
00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:30,960
Speaker 1: that the Lakers have. If you could get a lower

367
00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:35,320
Speaker 1: level star who's got durability and some quality role players,

368
00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:37,680
Speaker 1: that's great. My thing is what NBA team out there

369
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:39,719
Speaker 1: is gonna give away a bunch of quality role players

370
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:43,720
Speaker 1: in a solid star when you know that that Anthony

371
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:47,840
Speaker 1: Davis's value is probably the lowest it's been in his career. So, like,

372
00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:50,600
Speaker 1: I just think, I think selling low on Anthony Davis

373
00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:52,960
Speaker 1: would be a bad decision. He's had really bad injury luck.

374
00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:55,800
Speaker 1: I think you're better off keeping Anthony Davis in the

375
00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:58,000
Speaker 1: fold for as long as possible and trying to build

376
00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,200
Speaker 1: around on the marsh the Margins. All right, guys, that's

377
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:02,960
Speaker 1: it for Carson. We appreciate. We're gonna see him a

378
00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,600
Speaker 1: little bit later in the show. So we're gonna get

379
00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:11,359
Speaker 1: to this uh incredible Bucks Sixers game from tonight. Um

380
00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:15,480
Speaker 1: Sixers came out playing really really well. Actually, the Bucks

381
00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:16,760
Speaker 1: took a little bit of an early lead, but they

382
00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:19,040
Speaker 1: stayed with it and the and the Sixers weathered along.

383
00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:21,600
Speaker 1: I was really impressed with the way James Harden played

384
00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:25,240
Speaker 1: early in the game. As I've always said, James Harden,

385
00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:28,760
Speaker 1: his entire game is predicated on getting into the paint,

386
00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:31,240
Speaker 1: and I think he finished with five made field goals

387
00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:33,639
Speaker 1: in the paint, which is a huge part of what

388
00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,439
Speaker 1: opens everything else up for him. When he is getting

389
00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,679
Speaker 1: to the paint, that's what allows him to have that

390
00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:43,080
Speaker 1: defender on their heels a little bit, which sets up

391
00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:45,160
Speaker 1: his step back. When he goes to his step back

392
00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:47,600
Speaker 1: and the defenders on his heels and he gets great

393
00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:50,160
Speaker 1: separation and he can go straight up and down. He's

394
00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,160
Speaker 1: a good shooter on the step back. When he's kind

395
00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:55,200
Speaker 1: of using the step back as his bread and butter,

396
00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,520
Speaker 1: and he's not really putting any pressure on the defense,

397
00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,359
Speaker 1: and the defenders playing up into him, he didn't get

398
00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,840
Speaker 1: as much separation. That's when he starts missing him and

399
00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,040
Speaker 1: trying to draw fouls instead. I I thought it was

400
00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,120
Speaker 1: really interesting that James Harden's best game as a Sixer

401
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,440
Speaker 1: came hand in hand with him finally getting into the basket.

402
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:15,960
Speaker 1: It also opened up things with his playmaking and there

403
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:18,119
Speaker 1: in the second half he was able to draw a

404
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:20,720
Speaker 1: lot of fouls. But as you saw over the course,

405
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:25,480
Speaker 1: it was just after wave of Bucks there was a stretch.

406
00:21:25,840 --> 00:21:30,040
Speaker 1: It's all the Philadelphia TV properly with the stat here.

407
00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:34,480
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure that that Yannas scored tea conceptive point

408
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:42,280
Speaker 1: end to start forward and honest the game Chris Bilton

409
00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,080
Speaker 1: came in, it was just playing awesome. And then as

410
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,080
Speaker 1: soon as Chris Middleton cooled here came Drew Holiday and

411
00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:51,680
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday, it was awesome. It's just one thing after another,

412
00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,600
Speaker 1: and so much of it had to do and Drew Off.

413
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,040
Speaker 1: They actually playing to their potential. How though that they

414
00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:01,000
Speaker 1: can be. They were very instant for the course of

415
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,640
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks. In particular, is that playoff

416
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:08,680
Speaker 1: early stretches, that plot friend in the Bucks for Shortland,

417
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:13,640
Speaker 1: it was at Holiday games that was those problems through

418
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,199
Speaker 1: all day. I don't know the Olympics or it was.

419
00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:20,680
Speaker 1: Deal is even more comment than he has ever ever been.

420
00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:25,119
Speaker 1: He fantastic. That changes the entire dynamic of that team.

421
00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:30,000
Speaker 1: Now you know Janice obviously was amazing tonight. Obviously, I

422
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,320
Speaker 1: think he's in contention for being considered the best player

423
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:35,639
Speaker 1: in the league. What I thought, Janice is this conversation

424
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,440
Speaker 1: that centers around his jump shot, because everyone every time

425
00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:42,040
Speaker 1: Janice hits a turnaround, fade away, or HiT's the three

426
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,600
Speaker 1: point shot in transition, I always see the clip on

427
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,280
Speaker 1: the Twitter feed and everyone's talking. It's like, oh my gosh,

428
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,960
Speaker 1: if he starts hitting this, it's over for the rest

429
00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,680
Speaker 1: of the league. And I've always disagreed to a certain

430
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,280
Speaker 1: extent because when I'm looking at player development of stars,

431
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:57,480
Speaker 1: I look at it from two different things. How do

432
00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:01,040
Speaker 1: you handle individual coverage and how do you handle double

433
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:04,240
Speaker 1: teams or teams really packing the paint on you. In

434
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:08,560
Speaker 1: individual coverage, Janice doesn't need a three point shot. When

435
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,399
Speaker 1: he gets the ball on the block, he can dominate

436
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,480
Speaker 1: any defender in the league, and individual coverage to either

437
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:16,480
Speaker 1: get to the basket. Even if you can't write away,

438
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:18,160
Speaker 1: he'll wear on them over the course of the game,

439
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,840
Speaker 1: he'll draw fouls. So I like the idea of having

440
00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 1: a jump shot as like an audible to save your legs.

441
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:27,080
Speaker 1: So you've bullied your way to the basket. To three

442
00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,119
Speaker 1: times in a row and you're tired, but you have

443
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 1: the same matchup and you're still in single coverage. It's

444
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:35,040
Speaker 1: nice to have a longer jump hook from further away

445
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,719
Speaker 1: from the basket, or a turnaround jump shot or a

446
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,200
Speaker 1: face up game as something you can do to save

447
00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,800
Speaker 1: your legs, but it's not as important in the chess

448
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:45,640
Speaker 1: match of the game. The chess match of the game

449
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,080
Speaker 1: is gonna involve you're punishing single coverage until they send

450
00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:51,440
Speaker 1: multiple defenders at you. This is why I've always said

451
00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:55,480
Speaker 1: the most important part of Janice's development is always going

452
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:59,040
Speaker 1: to be his passing. And he's kind of plateauing a

453
00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:01,000
Speaker 1: little bit in that to partment, which happens to a

454
00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,720
Speaker 1: lot of players because playmaking is so much of a

455
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:07,040
Speaker 1: natural gift. It's like the yokich Is and the Lebrons

456
00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,520
Speaker 1: and the uh the Luca don Riches and the Chris

457
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,760
Speaker 1: Paul's of the league. Those are usually like your your

458
00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,800
Speaker 1: mount rushmore of playmakers in the league right now, those

459
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,280
Speaker 1: guys are born with it to a certain extent. And

460
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,280
Speaker 1: there's a little bit of a plateau for Janice. But

461
00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:23,680
Speaker 1: the biggest thing that will be what the biggest indicator

462
00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,320
Speaker 1: of whether or not Jannie can be that solo, unbeatable

463
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:29,480
Speaker 1: best player in the league will be his ability to

464
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:32,440
Speaker 1: make teams pay for sending help to him, far more

465
00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:34,520
Speaker 1: than anything having to do with his jump shot. And

466
00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 1: so what I watched with Joannice on any given night

467
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:41,800
Speaker 1: is going to be his playmaking. How he does, how

468
00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,520
Speaker 1: he does when when things are low, when when the

469
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:46,680
Speaker 1: defense has you kind of like we were talking about

470
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:48,280
Speaker 1: with the Lakers and the Pelicans the other day in

471
00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:52,000
Speaker 1: that video that I released, talking about digging into the

472
00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,760
Speaker 1: pain and shutting off driving lanes when you have and

473
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:59,320
Speaker 1: when the wall is built and Joannice can't plow over everybody,

474
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:03,960
Speaker 1: can he consistently spray out two shooters or two cutters

475
00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,760
Speaker 1: to keep the defense loose so they can't load up

476
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,160
Speaker 1: on him. That's always going to be the biggest element

477
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,760
Speaker 1: of Janice's game to watch moving forward. But with the Bucks,

478
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:15,840
Speaker 1: you know, we're gonna get into this a little bit

479
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:20,679
Speaker 1: later when we talk about the East contenders. The uh,

480
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:22,879
Speaker 1: the Buck's defense has just not been good enough this

481
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,240
Speaker 1: year at all. In any stretch of the season. I

482
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,240
Speaker 1: keep like pulling little shorter, you know, chunks of the

483
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,000
Speaker 1: season to try to see if there was some stretch

484
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:34,960
Speaker 1: of time or maybe they flip the switch. Because when

485
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:40,040
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the championship team compared to this team,

486
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,879
Speaker 1: what I'm looking for is flashes because it's unrealistic for

487
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:46,520
Speaker 1: us to expect the Bucks to bring that same level

488
00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:49,040
Speaker 1: of intensity that they did before they had the ring.

489
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,639
Speaker 1: That's just goes against human nature. There's no way in

490
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,440
Speaker 1: hell that the Bucks want this title as bad as

491
00:25:54,480 --> 00:25:56,879
Speaker 1: the Sun's do, because the Suns haven't been able to

492
00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,719
Speaker 1: sleep probably for the last calendar year, as they've been

493
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,119
Speaker 1: wishing themselves mentally for all the mistakes they made along

494
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,359
Speaker 1: the way that had them coming up short. The Bucks

495
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:07,720
Speaker 1: are never going to have that type of mental motivation,

496
00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,160
Speaker 1: even as great as Janice is. So what I look

497
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:12,119
Speaker 1: forward teams like this, and that's not a problem you

498
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:14,840
Speaker 1: need to the Bucks. That's every defending champion in NBA history.

499
00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,000
Speaker 1: So what I look for is the little short stretches.

500
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:20,320
Speaker 1: Did they have like a fifteen game stretch where they

501
00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:21,840
Speaker 1: looked like the old Bucks and they just have it.

502
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:25,560
Speaker 1: In March, once again, the Bucks had the sixteenth defense,

503
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 1: sixteenth ranked defense in the league, So once again coming

504
00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,920
Speaker 1: into tonight, that is so once again, even in this

505
00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:36,320
Speaker 1: stretch when you'd expect them to be, you know, tuning

506
00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,200
Speaker 1: up and stepping up and picking up their intensity, they're

507
00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 1: still not good enough on the defensive end of the floor.

508
00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:44,239
Speaker 1: And I know, I know Bucks fans will tell you, oh,

509
00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:46,760
Speaker 1: it's because Bruke Lopez was out, But my thing is

510
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:50,760
Speaker 1: like they have enough talent on that roster to be

511
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,200
Speaker 1: a coherent and competent defense even without brook Lopez. That's

512
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,520
Speaker 1: what I've been being told about Janice Antenna Coop over

513
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:58,800
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. Perennial Defensive Player of the

514
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 1: Year condidate can did it one of the best off

515
00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,560
Speaker 1: ball defensive players in the league. You know, I I

516
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,160
Speaker 1: don't really buy that excuse, not to mention drop coverages

517
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:11,040
Speaker 1: with brook Lopez are kind of a regular season fat anyway,

518
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,120
Speaker 1: and they don't work as well in the postseason regardless.

519
00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:17,199
Speaker 1: So I'm still worried about the Bucks in general. The

520
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,880
Speaker 1: one thing that makes me feel like maybe they still

521
00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:24,120
Speaker 1: have that punch is their crunch time defense in clutch situations.

522
00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:28,320
Speaker 1: Coming into tonight, the Bucks have the sixth best defense

523
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:31,000
Speaker 1: in the league. So if there's one little kernel of

524
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:32,679
Speaker 1: of hope that you can hold too if you're a

525
00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,320
Speaker 1: Bucks fan in terms of them still having that defensive

526
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,119
Speaker 1: ceiling that they need to win a championship. It's what

527
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,439
Speaker 1: they do in crunch time. And once again you saw tonight, Uh,

528
00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,760
Speaker 1: Janice just a monster defensive play, run under the basket,

529
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:47,840
Speaker 1: timing the Joe LM bead rebound and that quick putback

530
00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:50,880
Speaker 1: to swatt it off of the glass. You know, there's

531
00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:52,800
Speaker 1: a couple of There's two notes that I wanted to

532
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:55,920
Speaker 1: uh talk about from this specific game as it pertains

533
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,520
Speaker 1: to a potential playoff matchup between these two teams. Now

534
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:00,760
Speaker 1: will they face each other in the play us? Who knows?

535
00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:02,439
Speaker 1: Like we talked about later, I expect one of these

536
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:04,439
Speaker 1: top four seeds to get knocked out by the nets

537
00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:06,480
Speaker 1: out of the plane, uh, coming out of the plan.

538
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:10,399
Speaker 1: And these top four seeds are so influx that you

539
00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:12,960
Speaker 1: really don't know who's gonna play who. But say the

540
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,640
Speaker 1: Bucks face the Sixers there too, a specific matchup things

541
00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:20,080
Speaker 1: that I think are super interesting. First of all, Janice

542
00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:24,760
Speaker 1: off ball defense. So to start the game that Janice

543
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:29,119
Speaker 1: on Mattiste tybel matist Tyble is a okay three point shooter,

544
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:32,120
Speaker 1: not a good three point shooter. So as a help defender,

545
00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:35,439
Speaker 1: Janice was able to roam a lot more. But when

546
00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:37,520
Speaker 1: Tibo went to the bench, they bring in Georgia Kneeing.

547
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:40,200
Speaker 1: Georgia Kneeing is a much much better three point shooter.

548
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,600
Speaker 1: He's been right around all season long, and he's tall,

549
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,080
Speaker 1: so he's got a high release point, a quick release,

550
00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,040
Speaker 1: and he has a shooter's mentality. Georgia Kneeing, if he

551
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,720
Speaker 1: catches with an inch of space, he's firing. He hit

552
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,280
Speaker 1: two massive threes at the end of this game. It's

553
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:56,960
Speaker 1: something he's been doing all season long. When Janice was

554
00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,960
Speaker 1: on Georgias Kneeing, he wasn't able to leak into the

555
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 1: pain as much. He wasn't able to roam as much.

556
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:05,440
Speaker 1: And these are those chess match things that are so

557
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,240
Speaker 1: interesting in a playoff series. If you're the Sixers, how

558
00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:10,800
Speaker 1: good is Matisse Thyble gonna be in your defense? Is

559
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:12,800
Speaker 1: it worth it having him on the floor when you

560
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:15,600
Speaker 1: know that when matissee Thibles on the floor, Janice is

561
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,160
Speaker 1: gonna hug up to him and be roaming around the

562
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,560
Speaker 1: floor helping. Or if you go with George's kneeing, you're

563
00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 1: gonna have a much better time on offense, You're gonna

564
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,959
Speaker 1: give James Harden and Joel and Being much more space

565
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,800
Speaker 1: to operate because Janice is gonna have to stay glued

566
00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 1: up to Georgie. To Georgia's Niang, but you lose Matiss

567
00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,480
Speaker 1: Thible on the defensive end of the floor, and maybe

568
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,840
Speaker 1: he's an important part of you being able to build

569
00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:39,480
Speaker 1: your wall and stop your honest those are the interesting

570
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:41,840
Speaker 1: little chess match pieces. What's probably gonna what it's probably

571
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 1: gonna come down to, is making shots. If George's is not,

572
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,480
Speaker 1: If Niang's knocking down half of his threes and tables broke,

573
00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:51,640
Speaker 1: then it's gonna be Niang that's in the game. If

574
00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:54,920
Speaker 1: Niang is not making enough threes and tibles competently knocking

575
00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:57,400
Speaker 1: down thirty seven percent of them, then they can go

576
00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,280
Speaker 1: towards Thyble and be a much better defensive team. Those

577
00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:04,320
Speaker 1: are those little details that swing playoffs series. The last

578
00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:06,040
Speaker 1: little note that I wanted to hit on on this

579
00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,320
Speaker 1: one was trapping Harden. So the Bucks did a lot

580
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:13,520
Speaker 1: of trapping and heavily shading towards Heart Hardened in their

581
00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:15,960
Speaker 1: pick and roll cover. Just tonight we saw the exact

582
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:19,280
Speaker 1: same thing from the Phoenix Suns a few nights ago,

583
00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:21,960
Speaker 1: where they basically were double teaming James Harden on every

584
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,440
Speaker 1: single pick and roll. This is a strategy that I

585
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:28,520
Speaker 1: objectively disagree with, especially with this Sixers team. You know,

586
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,280
Speaker 1: obviously the Sons are a really good defensive team, and

587
00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:34,040
Speaker 1: they did a pretty good job rotating around that. The

588
00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:36,840
Speaker 1: Bucks aren't as good, but they did Okay. The thing

589
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:39,880
Speaker 1: is is when you consistently are compromising your defense, it

590
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:42,560
Speaker 1: makes your job hard. And in that Son's game the

591
00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,400
Speaker 1: other night, a big part of why the Sixers lingered

592
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,400
Speaker 1: around the entire game until the fourth quarter was they

593
00:30:48,400 --> 00:30:51,600
Speaker 1: were persistently playing four on three in the background because

594
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,200
Speaker 1: the Suns kept trapping James Harden. I did a whole

595
00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,440
Speaker 1: video on this right after the trade. I'm a big

596
00:30:57,440 --> 00:31:00,480
Speaker 1: believer with James Harden, in particular at the space of

597
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,120
Speaker 1: his career. This is not two thousand eighteen James Harden.

598
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,520
Speaker 1: Tonight's game is an unusual result relative to what we've

599
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,000
Speaker 1: usually been getting out of James Harden. So what I

600
00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:12,080
Speaker 1: would do is I would stop sending so much attention

601
00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,760
Speaker 1: to James Harden, and I would dare him to beat you,

602
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:18,480
Speaker 1: because I genuinely believe rather than letting Tobias Harris and

603
00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,680
Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxie and Joel Embiide play four on three all

604
00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:25,080
Speaker 1: night long. I would much rather watch James Harden the

605
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:29,240
Speaker 1: out of shape, clearly not the same physical athlete that

606
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:31,520
Speaker 1: he was back in two thousand eighteen. I'd rather have

607
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:35,040
Speaker 1: that guy constantly trying to break down my defense than

608
00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,160
Speaker 1: constantly compromising my defense and playing four on three in

609
00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:39,960
Speaker 1: the back end. That's gonna be a really interesting thing

610
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:42,960
Speaker 1: to watch with the Sixers in a playoff series, is

611
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,959
Speaker 1: how teams decide to defend James Harden. Because I do

612
00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:48,360
Speaker 1: think there will be a point in the in the

613
00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:52,400
Speaker 1: playoffs where the encounter team that feels comfortable leaving James

614
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 1: Harden on an island and he's gonna have to attack

615
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,600
Speaker 1: in isolation. And just like that video I shared earlier today,

616
00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:02,040
Speaker 1: when James Harden attack an isolation, but good teams crowd

617
00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:04,280
Speaker 1: the lane. There was this big play in that Son's

618
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:07,400
Speaker 1: game where Devin Booker locked up a James Harden isolation.

619
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:09,920
Speaker 1: Everyone will see stuff like that and think, like, oh man,

620
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:13,160
Speaker 1: Devin Booker locked up James Harden. Devin Booker is only

621
00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:15,680
Speaker 1: an okay defensive player, but the Sons did a really

622
00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 1: good job on that possession of shading and taking away

623
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:21,520
Speaker 1: James Harden's right hand in help side so that he

624
00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:24,440
Speaker 1: had no choice but to cross back over to his

625
00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:27,080
Speaker 1: left or to try to go to the left, and

626
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,680
Speaker 1: Devin Booker could sit on it. And that's why when

627
00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:31,600
Speaker 1: you when you take away that pick and roll option,

628
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 1: and and and forced James Harden to try to beat you,

629
00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:38,800
Speaker 1: He's just not that same superstar level talent that he

630
00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:41,640
Speaker 1: was in two thousand and eighteen. He's descended down. You

631
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:44,000
Speaker 1: could argue Devin Booker is better. You can argue Chris

632
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:46,400
Speaker 1: Paul's better. You can argue Jason Tatum and John Moran

633
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:48,480
Speaker 1: and a lot of these guys are better than James

634
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,080
Speaker 1: Harden at this point. And so because of that, I'm

635
00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:54,040
Speaker 1: a big believer in leaving him in single coverage, make

636
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:57,400
Speaker 1: him beat you. Joel Embiide has been a freaking monster

637
00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:59,920
Speaker 1: for the last couple of weeks. In that Son's game,

638
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,560
Speaker 1: and James Harden went two for eleven again, Joel Empiade

639
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:04,320
Speaker 1: was getting whatever he wanted. He had to run there

640
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,080
Speaker 1: in the third quarter where he where he was scoring

641
00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:08,360
Speaker 1: every damn near every time down the floor. He was

642
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:12,560
Speaker 1: a monster again tonight against the Bucks, and Bead's gonna

643
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:16,520
Speaker 1: be fine. Get them to go away from him double

644
00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:19,120
Speaker 1: and Bead get the ball out of his hands. Forced

645
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:21,480
Speaker 1: this to be a James Harden team, and I think

646
00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:24,120
Speaker 1: that gives you your best chance to beat them. All right,

647
00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,560
Speaker 1: So we're gonna move on to this m VP conversation

648
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: for a second. So ESPN released their straw poll, which

649
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,880
Speaker 1: they do a couple of times every year, and it's

650
00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:37,000
Speaker 1: from actual MVP voters, so tends to be pretty prescient

651
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,400
Speaker 1: about who's actually going to win m v P. Now,

652
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,440
Speaker 1: I was very interested in the results to be clear,

653
00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:46,600
Speaker 1: real quick, just quick synopsis. Nicola Yokich had sixty two

654
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,080
Speaker 1: first place votes, Joel embeat at twenty nine first place votes,

655
00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:54,320
Speaker 1: and Jhanison and Janasontenna Coople only had nine first place votes. So,

656
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:56,240
Speaker 1: if you guys remember my little MVP breakdown that I

657
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,680
Speaker 1: did the other day, I had your kitchen first place

658
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:00,720
Speaker 1: as well. But I said, if the Bucks got the

659
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:02,680
Speaker 1: one seed, I give it to you. Honest, I think

660
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:06,520
Speaker 1: he's very much the best regular season player in the NBA.

661
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:08,960
Speaker 1: I value what he brings on a night tonight basis

662
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:11,600
Speaker 1: more than in beating Yokich. As good as Yokich has

663
00:34:11,600 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 1: been this year, I think he has a textbook m

664
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:15,759
Speaker 1: v P case. I think giving it to the one

665
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:18,880
Speaker 1: seed is a better precedent to set moving forward, provided

666
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,520
Speaker 1: that the player is in the conversation for the best

667
00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:26,040
Speaker 1: players in the league and legitimately has had an amazing season,

668
00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,319
Speaker 1: which the Honest has had. But what the voters are

669
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:30,920
Speaker 1: telling you is they're not even They're barely even considering

670
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,680
Speaker 1: the Honest, which I thought was really interesting, And Bead

671
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 1: having as many first place votes as he does is

672
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 1: really interesting. Because the Sixers have a very easy schedule

673
00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:42,000
Speaker 1: the rest of the season. I can't remember off the

674
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:43,680
Speaker 1: top of my head. I think they have the twenty

675
00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:47,880
Speaker 1: nine easiest or the twenty nine hardest, so second easiest

676
00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:51,320
Speaker 1: remaining schedule among all NBA teams here down the stretch,

677
00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:53,920
Speaker 1: whereas the Celtics and the Heat and the Bucks all

678
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:57,239
Speaker 1: have significantly tougher schedule. So there's a decent chance that

679
00:34:57,320 --> 00:34:59,600
Speaker 1: when the dust settles on this thing, that Philly is

680
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,520
Speaker 1: the one seed and Embeed clearly has a ton of

681
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,440
Speaker 1: voters support and he might very well get it. I

682
00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,800
Speaker 1: would disagree with that I think both Yokich and Janice

683
00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:14,360
Speaker 1: have been better players this season. But I think that, uh,

684
00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:16,359
Speaker 1: that whoever ends up getting that one seed in the

685
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,080
Speaker 1: East is probably who I would pick as someone who

686
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,160
Speaker 1: deserves it. If it ends up being Boston or Miami,

687
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,200
Speaker 1: then I would go with Nicola Yokis. But it looks like,

688
00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:27,680
Speaker 1: I mean, again, these are the straw pole, uh, the

689
00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:30,960
Speaker 1: results that ESPN does that are always so informative about

690
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,799
Speaker 1: this process. It looks like it's gonna be Yoki. And

691
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:36,360
Speaker 1: like I say, every single gear in my little Twitter

692
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:39,359
Speaker 1: rants that I do from time to time, you know,

693
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:42,600
Speaker 1: all of these m v P voters have egos. It's

694
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:45,120
Speaker 1: kind of just a natural part of the business, I think,

695
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,239
Speaker 1: And it's much much harder for them to move off

696
00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,440
Speaker 1: of a player than it is for them to just

697
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:52,839
Speaker 1: stay put where they're at, because then they can point

698
00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:54,920
Speaker 1: to all the articles they wrote all season, all of

699
00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:58,799
Speaker 1: their analysis all season. If they want Yokich, It's just

700
00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:01,160
Speaker 1: gonna take a lot for them to overturn that. So

701
00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:04,439
Speaker 1: I disagree with that. However, it looks like it's it's

702
00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:06,439
Speaker 1: going to be Yokich in the end. One last note

703
00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:08,839
Speaker 1: on on Devin Booker you know, I did a whole

704
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:10,120
Speaker 1: thing on this the other day, so I'm not gonna

705
00:36:10,120 --> 00:36:12,640
Speaker 1: get too far into it, but I I broke down

706
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,239
Speaker 1: the criterion and I talked about how you know, you're

707
00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:16,120
Speaker 1: supposed to be the best player on the best team

708
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:19,120
Speaker 1: in the league, which Devin Booker has down pat but

709
00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:21,320
Speaker 1: he's not in the conversation for the best player in

710
00:36:21,360 --> 00:36:23,799
Speaker 1: the league, and he hasn't been the most Valuable player

711
00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:25,200
Speaker 1: in the league. And this is where I'm gonna repeat

712
00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:27,960
Speaker 1: something that I heard from Ryan Russilo, who because I'm

713
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:30,479
Speaker 1: always listening to everybody, because I always want to hear

714
00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:33,160
Speaker 1: what other people's opinions are because it just gives you

715
00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:37,360
Speaker 1: more perspective. And the best synopsis of the Bookers situation

716
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:39,680
Speaker 1: that I've heard was Ryan Russilo. He just said, have

717
00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:41,919
Speaker 1: any of us for even a second thought that Devin

718
00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:44,000
Speaker 1: Booker has been the best player in the league this year,

719
00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:46,520
Speaker 1: or that he's had the best season. No, and if

720
00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:49,839
Speaker 1: you haven't at least had that conversation, I don't think

721
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:53,040
Speaker 1: you can be in that uh, in that conference. I

722
00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,760
Speaker 1: don't think you can be a realistic m VP candidate.

723
00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:59,319
Speaker 1: I appreciated that Ryan put that so succinct because, as

724
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:00,840
Speaker 1: is always the case with me, I'm gonna have it

725
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,280
Speaker 1: in a lot more of a long drawn out type

726
00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:06,480
Speaker 1: of way. I Booker has not had the best season

727
00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:08,759
Speaker 1: in the n B in the NBA this year, so

728
00:37:08,920 --> 00:37:11,560
Speaker 1: he simply cannot be the MVF he by any measure

729
00:37:12,040 --> 00:37:15,120
Speaker 1: that we've previously used this award for. So again I

730
00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,040
Speaker 1: predict it will be Yokich. I think it should be honest.

731
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:20,839
Speaker 1: I give him beat an outside chance if he gets

732
00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:23,799
Speaker 1: the one seed. I'm gonna move on to the two

733
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:28,480
Speaker 1: ranking my contenders. So again, to be clear up front,

734
00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:30,560
Speaker 1: we're gonna rank the top five contenders in the East

735
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:33,319
Speaker 1: and the top five contenders in the West. To be

736
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:37,759
Speaker 1: clear upfront, contender does not mean power rankings. It does

737
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:40,320
Speaker 1: not mean what team is playing the best as of late.

738
00:37:40,719 --> 00:37:43,520
Speaker 1: It does not mean anything having to do with anything

739
00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:47,400
Speaker 1: other than is this team, like if I was ranking

740
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:51,960
Speaker 1: percentage chances to beholding the trophy at the end of

741
00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,960
Speaker 1: the day. That's all I'm factoring in when I'm ranking

742
00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:57,640
Speaker 1: these teams. So let's start in the Eastern Conference. At

743
00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:00,799
Speaker 1: number five, I have the Miami Heat. This is a

744
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,160
Speaker 1: team that has been near the top of everyone's list

745
00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:04,960
Speaker 1: for most of the season. They were at the top

746
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,319
Speaker 1: of the East for the vast majority this season. But

747
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:09,239
Speaker 1: I never believed in them, and so much of that

748
00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:11,840
Speaker 1: centered around what they do on the offensive end of

749
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:14,960
Speaker 1: the floor, and it's starting to finally materialize. I was

750
00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:17,960
Speaker 1: referring to that offensive issue as something that would plague

751
00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:21,400
Speaker 1: them in the postseason, and ironically enough, it's ended up

752
00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:24,120
Speaker 1: being something that has plagued them in the regular season.

753
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:28,319
Speaker 1: So as of late, since January twenty nine, they are

754
00:38:28,719 --> 00:38:32,719
Speaker 1: sixteen and eleven in that stretch, the Heat are twenty

755
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:37,000
Speaker 1: feet in offense in third in defense, So they've had

756
00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:40,680
Speaker 1: the third best defense in the entire NBA since January nine,

757
00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:43,480
Speaker 1: in our only sixteen and eleven. So all of those

758
00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:46,279
Speaker 1: offensive issues that I've been talking about have finally come

759
00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:49,160
Speaker 1: home to roost sooner than I even expected. So much

760
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:50,960
Speaker 1: of it. It comes down to a handful of different issues.

761
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,960
Speaker 1: So first of all, is space for regardless of who

762
00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:56,880
Speaker 1: has the ball, if you're playing Jimmy Butler, p J. Tucker,

763
00:38:56,920 --> 00:38:59,720
Speaker 1: and bam At a bio, that's to three point shooters

764
00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:02,080
Speaker 1: in jim You Butler and Bamata and uh and p J.

765
00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:04,959
Speaker 1: Tucker that are below average three point shooters are gonna

766
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:07,520
Speaker 1: knock down maybe one out of every three or three

767
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:10,640
Speaker 1: out of every ten. Right, and then Bamata Bios I've

768
00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:13,239
Speaker 1: laid out, has been one of the worst long range

769
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:15,319
Speaker 1: shooters in the NBA this season. I know, when we

770
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:17,920
Speaker 1: evaluate bamat to Bio as a talent, where you look

771
00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:20,319
Speaker 1: at him as someone who is a proficient player from

772
00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:24,759
Speaker 1: the midrange, it just hasn't materialized this season. That lack

773
00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:27,719
Speaker 1: of spacing has consistently been an issue for the Heat,

774
00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:30,399
Speaker 1: going all the way back to the NBA Finals when

775
00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:33,520
Speaker 1: the Lakers utterly shut them down any time that series

776
00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:38,319
Speaker 1: was really in flux. So from that standpoint, you know,

777
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:41,080
Speaker 1: like like it just especially as we go into a

778
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:44,720
Speaker 1: postseason series and we're looking at you know, them against

779
00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:48,200
Speaker 1: the Bucks, or them against the Boston Celtics, or them

780
00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:51,719
Speaker 1: against the Philadelphia seventies six ers, I don't understand. I

781
00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:54,320
Speaker 1: don't understand how they're suddenly gonna be able to score.

782
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:57,960
Speaker 1: That's gonna be an issue for them throughout this throughout

783
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:01,400
Speaker 1: this entire postseason run. Another huge part of this is

784
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,000
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler just hasn't quite been as good as he

785
00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:05,960
Speaker 1: was last year. I know the numbers look okay, but

786
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:08,279
Speaker 1: if you dig into it a little bit, his playmaking

787
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:10,439
Speaker 1: is dipped a touch from where it was last year.

788
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:13,799
Speaker 1: His percentages have dropped from where they are last year.

789
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,960
Speaker 1: He's actually below fift and effective field goal percentage, which

790
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,840
Speaker 1: weighs your field goal percentage with three point shots. And

791
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:22,920
Speaker 1: his availability has been an issue. Not to mention, we

792
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:24,920
Speaker 1: had this big blow up between him and Erik Spoelstre

793
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:26,920
Speaker 1: the other day. Huge part of that is just the

794
00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:29,640
Speaker 1: way that Jimmy Butler can wear on people over the

795
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:32,480
Speaker 1: course of time. This is something that we've seen everywhere

796
00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:34,680
Speaker 1: he's been over the course of the year. So I

797
00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:37,320
Speaker 1: I I put them at fifth because the teams below

798
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:39,279
Speaker 1: them I don't think have any chance at all to

799
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:41,640
Speaker 1: win the title. A lot would have to go right

800
00:40:41,719 --> 00:40:44,959
Speaker 1: for Miami, but I think they're clearly below the next

801
00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:47,799
Speaker 1: four teams in this list. Number four, the Philadelphia has

802
00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:53,200
Speaker 1: seventy sixers, so they since the Heart and Trade that

803
00:40:53,239 --> 00:40:55,479
Speaker 1: these numbers are coming into tonight, by the way, because

804
00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:59,280
Speaker 1: NBA does not update their stats that fast, So since

805
00:40:59,280 --> 00:41:02,120
Speaker 1: the Hard and Trade, they've been ninth in defense and

806
00:41:02,239 --> 00:41:06,560
Speaker 1: twelfth in offense. That's only okay, especially when you factor

807
00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:09,840
Speaker 1: in the first handful of games. They utterly destroyed the

808
00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:12,840
Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves. They beat the New York Knicks twice and

809
00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,439
Speaker 1: put up massive numbers. They floated a lot of those

810
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:20,440
Speaker 1: metrics with a handful of easy opponents early in that schedule,

811
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:22,880
Speaker 1: and so from that standpoint, for them to be twelfth

812
00:41:22,880 --> 00:41:26,719
Speaker 1: in offense, adding James Harden to the mix, it's a

813
00:41:26,719 --> 00:41:28,719
Speaker 1: big disappointment. Now. So much of that comes down to

814
00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:31,399
Speaker 1: James Harden in the way that he's been struggling yet

815
00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:33,520
Speaker 1: his best game as a Sixer tonight. So much of

816
00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:36,200
Speaker 1: that's gonna depend on whether that was an outlier or

817
00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:38,640
Speaker 1: if that was the real deal, And so we'll pay

818
00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:41,200
Speaker 1: attention to that moving forward. Of one other really weird

819
00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:45,600
Speaker 1: note coming into tonight, when e beat is off the

820
00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:48,560
Speaker 1: floor but James Harden is on the floor. In a

821
00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:51,080
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty nine minutes, the Sixers have had a

822
00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:54,760
Speaker 1: minus two point three net rating. There's something funky about

823
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:56,799
Speaker 1: that group. I thought it was a big part of

824
00:41:56,800 --> 00:42:00,160
Speaker 1: why the Sixers went with no Harden, no Embiid in

825
00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:03,279
Speaker 1: that beginning of the fourth quarter, which ended up backfiring

826
00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:06,040
Speaker 1: as Janice and Chris Middleton ran them over and made

827
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,160
Speaker 1: that into a game. But I think the Sixers are

828
00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:10,080
Speaker 1: trying to work out some details of how to use

829
00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:12,319
Speaker 1: James Harden, and so much of it is like, dude, hey,

830
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:14,600
Speaker 1: James Harden just has to be better. He's got to

831
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:17,319
Speaker 1: be a better player. And then with Joel Embid, I

832
00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:20,040
Speaker 1: just don't view him as highly as I view these

833
00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:21,799
Speaker 1: stars at the top of the league because of his

834
00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:24,399
Speaker 1: inability to handle double teams and because of how much

835
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:26,440
Speaker 1: he relies on foul gdrifting. I said this the other

836
00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:28,280
Speaker 1: day and I got in trouble, but it's it's literally

837
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:32,239
Speaker 1: a fact Joanna's Joel Embiid is not as good at

838
00:42:32,239 --> 00:42:34,879
Speaker 1: putting the ball in the basket in terms of field

839
00:42:34,920 --> 00:42:37,719
Speaker 1: goal percentage as some of his peers are. He is

840
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:40,600
Speaker 1: a sub fifty field goal percentage guy. When you compare

841
00:42:40,640 --> 00:42:44,680
Speaker 1: that to Janice and Nicola Yokich and Lebron and Kevin

842
00:42:44,719 --> 00:42:47,399
Speaker 1: Durant and how efficient those guys are if you don't

843
00:42:47,400 --> 00:42:50,360
Speaker 1: send them to the line, they're still making shots. And

844
00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:52,480
Speaker 1: Bead can struggle a little bit if he's not getting

845
00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:54,880
Speaker 1: foul calls in terms of his efficiency. So I'm just

846
00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:56,560
Speaker 1: not as high on him as some of the other

847
00:42:56,560 --> 00:42:58,200
Speaker 1: players at the top of the league. That's why I

848
00:42:58,200 --> 00:43:00,440
Speaker 1: have the Sixers all the way down at four, number

849
00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:04,560
Speaker 1: three Boston Celtics. So to be clear, I would have

850
00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:07,800
Speaker 1: had the Celtics at number one. That's how confident I

851
00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:11,720
Speaker 1: felt about this team before the Robert Williams injury. Digging

852
00:43:11,719 --> 00:43:14,480
Speaker 1: into the numbers, they were about a plus ten net

853
00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:16,560
Speaker 1: rating with Robert Williams on the floor this year and

854
00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:19,400
Speaker 1: about a plus four without him, So it seems like

855
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:22,839
Speaker 1: a big drop. A little context there. Robert Williams has

856
00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:24,920
Speaker 1: started every single game he's played this year, and if

857
00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:27,000
Speaker 1: you play your minutes with the starters, meaning the best

858
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:29,680
Speaker 1: players on your team, it tends to lead to some

859
00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:33,399
Speaker 1: better metrics in that regard. So I it's it's it's

860
00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:38,200
Speaker 1: it's hard to properly weigh how important Robert Williams is

861
00:43:38,239 --> 00:43:41,040
Speaker 1: to this team. The biggest, the easiest way that I

862
00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:44,520
Speaker 1: would describe it is depth. We talked a lot about

863
00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:46,799
Speaker 1: the Celtics defense. It's the big part of why I

864
00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:49,720
Speaker 1: believe so much in them. They are far and away

865
00:43:49,719 --> 00:43:51,799
Speaker 1: the best defense in the league in my opinion. They

866
00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:54,760
Speaker 1: switch everything, they don't have to double but when they do.

867
00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:59,360
Speaker 1: They do it well. But if you take Robert Williams

868
00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:01,920
Speaker 1: out of the equation Asian, all of a sudden, you

869
00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:05,680
Speaker 1: have two feasible options for closing lineups. You can either

870
00:44:05,719 --> 00:44:08,200
Speaker 1: go to Al Horford at the five and bring Derek

871
00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:10,840
Speaker 1: White into the picture. Now it's Derek White, Marcus Smart,

872
00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:15,040
Speaker 1: Brown and Tatum and Al Horford. Or you can go

873
00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:18,319
Speaker 1: really small, right and you can just take him off

874
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:20,799
Speaker 1: the court entirely, go with another guard or wing or

875
00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:24,279
Speaker 1: like a Grant Williams or a Peyton Pritchard, and you know,

876
00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:27,839
Speaker 1: basically switch everything and hope to overcome that with athleticism.

877
00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:31,920
Speaker 1: Bottom line is suddenly taking Robert Williams and his thirty

878
00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:34,719
Speaker 1: minutes a game out of the picture puts a lot

879
00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:38,399
Speaker 1: on Al Horford's plate. And he's older and he's had

880
00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:40,920
Speaker 1: an history of breaking down in the past. So I'm

881
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:42,880
Speaker 1: just a little bit concerned about the Celtics from a

882
00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:46,040
Speaker 1: depth standpoint. But at the end of these games, it's

883
00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:49,239
Speaker 1: still gonna be Tatum and Brown, Marcus Smart, probably Derek

884
00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:51,640
Speaker 1: White and Al Horford, and it's still gonna be a

885
00:44:51,680 --> 00:44:55,000
Speaker 1: really difficult team to beat. I take them handily over

886
00:44:55,040 --> 00:44:56,960
Speaker 1: the Sixers and the heat, and I think they're every

887
00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:59,759
Speaker 1: bit as good as the teams above them. I'm just

888
00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:02,439
Speaker 1: king them below because I think their depth is going

889
00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,520
Speaker 1: to inevitably become a problem for them down the line.

890
00:45:05,560 --> 00:45:08,280
Speaker 1: Tatum and Brown look fantastic. They're both starting to shoot

891
00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:11,440
Speaker 1: a lot better. This is still a bona fide title contender.

892
00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:13,959
Speaker 1: I've just taken them down a notch from the best

893
00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:15,960
Speaker 1: team in the East to kind of a little bit

894
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:19,279
Speaker 1: more in the mix. Number two the Milwaukee Bucks. So

895
00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:23,759
Speaker 1: they're eleven and three since February, counting tonight's win. They

896
00:45:24,200 --> 00:45:27,280
Speaker 1: coming into tonight not counting tonight because the stats haven't updated.

897
00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:31,120
Speaker 1: Their fifth in offense fourteen and defense sixth and net rating,

898
00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:34,200
Speaker 1: So their offense looks great, but still that defensive end

899
00:45:34,239 --> 00:45:36,239
Speaker 1: of the four is continuing to be a problem for them.

900
00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:39,000
Speaker 1: They're good stretches. The stretches of the season where they've

901
00:45:39,040 --> 00:45:41,640
Speaker 1: looked like the Bucks where they've put it together, still

902
00:45:41,719 --> 00:45:45,400
Speaker 1: hasn't been that world beating, dominant type of good stretch

903
00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:47,839
Speaker 1: that you would hope to see from a team that's

904
00:45:48,440 --> 00:45:51,359
Speaker 1: defending the defending champion, to prove to the to us

905
00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:54,799
Speaker 1: that they can still do it in clutch situations. This year,

906
00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:57,560
Speaker 1: they are sixth and defense. Like I mentioned earlier, that's

907
00:45:57,600 --> 00:45:59,840
Speaker 1: your best evidence of them having a switch that they

908
00:46:00,000 --> 00:46:02,600
Speaker 1: can flip. I don't think it's enough for me personally

909
00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:04,600
Speaker 1: to put them at the top of this list, but

910
00:46:05,760 --> 00:46:07,840
Speaker 1: maybe that's your hope is whatever they've been doing in

911
00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:10,680
Speaker 1: crunch time on defense is what they'll do when the

912
00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:13,080
Speaker 1: chips are on the line. And then lastly, just be honest,

913
00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:16,960
Speaker 1: you saw him amazing again tonight. One of two things

914
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:19,680
Speaker 1: happened in last year's plaoff run. Either he became a

915
00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:23,399
Speaker 1: player who's as good is Kevin Durant Lebron or someone

916
00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:25,960
Speaker 1: who's better than them, and we're gonna find out in

917
00:46:25,960 --> 00:46:29,799
Speaker 1: this postseason run. And he's that big wild card. And

918
00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:31,960
Speaker 1: if he takes a big leap, if he shoots incredibly

919
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:34,279
Speaker 1: from the from the perimeter and from the freight throw line,

920
00:46:34,280 --> 00:46:37,080
Speaker 1: and he and his playmaking takes a leap with everything

921
00:46:37,120 --> 00:46:38,480
Speaker 1: else that he brings to the table, he's the best

922
00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:40,399
Speaker 1: player in the league at that point. If that's the case,

923
00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:42,920
Speaker 1: I don't predict that to happen. I would take Katie

924
00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:46,080
Speaker 1: over him, But Janice is the wild card that makes

925
00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:48,680
Speaker 1: the Buck such a dangerous playoff opponent. Last, but not least,

926
00:46:48,719 --> 00:46:50,400
Speaker 1: my number one contender in the East, the team I

927
00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:52,960
Speaker 1: expect to win the East, and the only team that

928
00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:58,719
Speaker 1: I think has a realistic chance of uh So, this

929
00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:02,040
Speaker 1: gets tricky because they're in the in game right. If

930
00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:05,080
Speaker 1: you look at where the standings are at, they're probably

931
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:07,279
Speaker 1: gonna end up in the seven seed because they're gonna

932
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:10,640
Speaker 1: finish eight, but they'll probably win that first playing game.

933
00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:13,479
Speaker 1: So you're gonna put the Bucks at number seven, they're

934
00:47:13,520 --> 00:47:16,160
Speaker 1: probably excuse me, the Nets at number seven. They're gonna

935
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:18,440
Speaker 1: play one of those top four teams, whether that's the Heat,

936
00:47:18,480 --> 00:47:21,080
Speaker 1: the Bucks, the Sixers, or the Celtics. They're gonna play

937
00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:24,479
Speaker 1: one of those teams. I would pick them over any

938
00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:26,759
Speaker 1: of those teams except for the Celtics that they have

939
00:47:26,880 --> 00:47:30,040
Speaker 1: Robert Williams, which they don't. So that's how that's how

940
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:32,439
Speaker 1: confident I feel about this Nets team. I think they're

941
00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:34,920
Speaker 1: going to send one of these teams home early, which

942
00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:37,960
Speaker 1: is really unfortunate for whichever team that ends up being.

943
00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:41,960
Speaker 1: So much of this comes down to Kadi and Kyrie

944
00:47:42,480 --> 00:47:46,160
Speaker 1: and their unique ability to be immune to space and concerns.

945
00:47:46,200 --> 00:47:49,359
Speaker 1: I did a full video on this last week. When

946
00:47:49,400 --> 00:47:52,920
Speaker 1: you have guys who are comfortable operating in the mid range,

947
00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:55,920
Speaker 1: where their bread and butter does not involve putting their

948
00:47:55,920 --> 00:47:59,160
Speaker 1: head down and getting to the rim, those guys are

949
00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:02,759
Speaker 1: immune to space ason. As a result of that, they

950
00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:06,280
Speaker 1: have an exam they have an opportunity to play other forwards.

951
00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:08,560
Speaker 1: When this trade first went down, I told you guys,

952
00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:10,759
Speaker 1: I don't think they can play Bruce Brown and Andre

953
00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:13,239
Speaker 1: Drummond at the same time. Well, I was proven wrong

954
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:16,000
Speaker 1: about that because for the for the most for the

955
00:48:16,040 --> 00:48:19,359
Speaker 1: most part, Katie and Kyrie aren't operating in the pain,

956
00:48:20,120 --> 00:48:23,120
Speaker 1: so there there they feel plenty comfortable operating with that

957
00:48:23,239 --> 00:48:26,479
Speaker 1: kind of spacing. So as a result, having Bruce Brown

958
00:48:26,560 --> 00:48:29,880
Speaker 1: and Andre Drummond on the floor, that bolsters the athleticism

959
00:48:29,880 --> 00:48:33,200
Speaker 1: of those lineups, That bolsters the physicality of those lineups,

960
00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:36,120
Speaker 1: their ability to be successful in the glass and on

961
00:48:36,160 --> 00:48:38,399
Speaker 1: the defensive end of the floor. In their last ten games,

962
00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:40,960
Speaker 1: I know everyone thinks the Nets have had some They've

963
00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:43,400
Speaker 1: had some ugly losses recently. I know that wanted to

964
00:48:43,480 --> 00:48:46,719
Speaker 1: Charlotte the other night was really disappointing. They lost to

965
00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:49,920
Speaker 1: the Grizzlies without John Morant. I know but over the

966
00:48:49,960 --> 00:48:52,680
Speaker 1: course of their last ten games, their fourteenth and defense,

967
00:48:52,719 --> 00:48:54,880
Speaker 1: which I think is more than good enough. With this group,

968
00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:58,880
Speaker 1: they're still dealing with some continuity stuff. These losses like

969
00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:00,680
Speaker 1: the one to Charlotte and the one to Memphis. I

970
00:49:00,719 --> 00:49:03,960
Speaker 1: think over time they'll be able to work out they

971
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:05,600
Speaker 1: This is again, is that this is a team that's

972
00:49:05,600 --> 00:49:07,920
Speaker 1: effectively in training camp. If you really look at it,

973
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:11,040
Speaker 1: Katie and Kyrie are finally getting consistent minutes on the

974
00:49:11,080 --> 00:49:13,800
Speaker 1: floor together. There's a bunch of new guys in the fold,

975
00:49:13,880 --> 00:49:16,560
Speaker 1: like Andre Drummond and Seth Curry. I'm not going to

976
00:49:16,719 --> 00:49:18,600
Speaker 1: judge them for these little losses here. I'm going to

977
00:49:18,719 --> 00:49:22,440
Speaker 1: judge them by their ceiling, which they've flashed plenty of

978
00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:25,080
Speaker 1: times over the course of this last couple of weeks.

979
00:49:25,239 --> 00:49:28,960
Speaker 1: They have a one hundred and twenty five offensive rating

980
00:49:29,239 --> 00:49:31,560
Speaker 1: with Katie and Kyrie on the floor this year plus

981
00:49:31,560 --> 00:49:34,839
Speaker 1: eleven point three net. They've been been with those two

982
00:49:34,840 --> 00:49:36,520
Speaker 1: guys on the floor, and they're gonna have them on

983
00:49:36,560 --> 00:49:40,200
Speaker 1: the floor moving forward and the last but at least

984
00:49:40,360 --> 00:49:43,600
Speaker 1: they are built to survive in a playoff environment. Kyrie

985
00:49:43,680 --> 00:49:46,760
Speaker 1: and kd are offensive players that are proven to succeed

986
00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:49,440
Speaker 1: at the highest levels of playoff intensity, and they have

987
00:49:49,480 --> 00:49:51,759
Speaker 1: a defensive scheme that's proven to work in the playoffs.

988
00:49:51,880 --> 00:49:54,640
Speaker 1: They switch everything, they stagnate opponents, and they have a

989
00:49:54,640 --> 00:49:57,680
Speaker 1: lot of success on that front. So five Heat, four Sixers,

990
00:49:58,080 --> 00:50:02,040
Speaker 1: three Celtics, two Buck and one nets. Those are my

991
00:50:02,120 --> 00:50:04,839
Speaker 1: contenders in these all right. So I've been told that

992
00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:07,480
Speaker 1: Carson is back and his audio is working, So we're

993
00:50:07,480 --> 00:50:11,160
Speaker 1: gonna bring Carson back on. Yeah, all right, I really

994
00:50:11,160 --> 00:50:13,440
Speaker 1: like our chances again this right this time, Jason. So

995
00:50:14,080 --> 00:50:16,480
Speaker 1: we are going to play a game called fill in

996
00:50:16,520 --> 00:50:19,280
Speaker 1: the Lane. It's pretty simple. I'm gonna give you a prompt.

997
00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:21,680
Speaker 1: You're gonna fill in the blank at the end. So

998
00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:23,880
Speaker 1: we're gonna start with the team you were just talking about,

999
00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:30,440
Speaker 1: the Sixers, Achilles heel Is. I'm gonna go with James

1000
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:35,120
Speaker 1: harden Um more often than not this season. He hasn't

1001
00:50:35,120 --> 00:50:38,520
Speaker 1: looked like he's looked tonight. And I think that players

1002
00:50:38,560 --> 00:50:40,920
Speaker 1: tell us who they are over large sample sizes, not

1003
00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:43,560
Speaker 1: short sample sizes. And I was really impressed with the

1004
00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:47,520
Speaker 1: way that Phoenix attacked him just in his first shift

1005
00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:50,759
Speaker 1: the other night. They put him in seven pick and

1006
00:50:50,840 --> 00:50:54,520
Speaker 1: roll in isolation situations when you wear on his legs

1007
00:50:54,600 --> 00:50:58,880
Speaker 1: by making him guard, it has a progressive fatigue of

1008
00:50:58,920 --> 00:51:01,840
Speaker 1: fatigue effect as well, And I think that we have

1009
00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:04,279
Speaker 1: enough tape on that sort of thing, especially when you

1010
00:51:04,280 --> 00:51:06,040
Speaker 1: look at the rest of the Sixers lineups. When you

1011
00:51:06,040 --> 00:51:09,360
Speaker 1: have Joel Embi, Matisse Stybol, Tobias Harris, and Tyris Maxie

1012
00:51:09,400 --> 00:51:12,880
Speaker 1: on the floor, they are so good defensively elsewhere that

1013
00:51:13,000 --> 00:51:15,080
Speaker 1: you have to attack James Harden. I think that can

1014
00:51:15,160 --> 00:51:17,719
Speaker 1: lead to fatigue. And I think this this team ends

1015
00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:21,240
Speaker 1: up going down with James Harden in single coverage, forcing

1016
00:51:21,280 --> 00:51:24,400
Speaker 1: difficult shots, missing them, and them falling short against a

1017
00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:29,840
Speaker 1: better offensive superstar. Is there a particular matchup that you

1018
00:51:29,880 --> 00:51:32,440
Speaker 1: think is really troubling for them, Like, is there a

1019
00:51:32,600 --> 00:51:35,680
Speaker 1: sort of because a lot of the really elite teams

1020
00:51:35,719 --> 00:51:37,840
Speaker 1: in the East this year, outside of obviously like the

1021
00:51:37,920 --> 00:51:42,000
Speaker 1: nett feelssarily have that superstar guard. But is there like

1022
00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:43,680
Speaker 1: a team that you look at out there you think

1023
00:51:43,880 --> 00:51:46,520
Speaker 1: can really go out and work Harden on defense, Like

1024
00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:50,000
Speaker 1: you were saying, I'm gonna go with the Boston Celtics,

1025
00:51:50,239 --> 00:51:54,520
Speaker 1: so one Al Horford. Nobody can guard Joel Embid, but

1026
00:51:54,600 --> 00:51:57,440
Speaker 1: Al Horford does an okay job. He plays positional defense,

1027
00:51:57,440 --> 00:51:59,600
Speaker 1: he doesn't fall for his fakes. He does a good

1028
00:51:59,680 --> 00:52:01,600
Speaker 1: job of just getting in the way and making Joel

1029
00:52:01,600 --> 00:52:03,960
Speaker 1: Embiid make shots like which we talked about is not

1030
00:52:04,040 --> 00:52:07,200
Speaker 1: a strength of his relative to some of his peers.

1031
00:52:07,239 --> 00:52:10,720
Speaker 1: So then on the perimeter, they're gonna switch everything. They're

1032
00:52:10,840 --> 00:52:13,680
Speaker 1: very unlikely to send traps at James Harden and pick

1033
00:52:13,719 --> 00:52:15,239
Speaker 1: and roll, so it's gonna be a lot of James

1034
00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:17,560
Speaker 1: Harden trying to beat guys like Tatum and Brown and

1035
00:52:17,560 --> 00:52:20,280
Speaker 1: Marcus Smart off the dribble. I think there are terrible

1036
00:52:20,320 --> 00:52:22,719
Speaker 1: matchup for the Sixers. Plus the Celtics can get out

1037
00:52:22,880 --> 00:52:26,160
Speaker 1: in transition as well, which is a direct weakness of

1038
00:52:26,200 --> 00:52:28,200
Speaker 1: the Sixers. So I'd say the Celtics would be the

1039
00:52:28,200 --> 00:52:30,920
Speaker 1: team that would most handily beat the Sixers that they

1040
00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:36,080
Speaker 1: had alright, fill in the lane for me here. The

1041
00:52:36,280 --> 00:52:42,640
Speaker 1: nets best first round matchup is Oh, that's another good one.

1042
00:52:42,760 --> 00:52:49,680
Speaker 1: I'm I might go to Sixers as well. The uh

1043
00:52:49,719 --> 00:52:52,439
Speaker 1: I think they beat Miami easily. I think they beat

1044
00:52:52,480 --> 00:52:55,239
Speaker 1: the Sixers easily. I think the Celtics and Bucks would

1045
00:52:55,280 --> 00:52:58,000
Speaker 1: be tougher matchups, but I would pick the Nets to

1046
00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:00,800
Speaker 1: win in six or seven games. The reason why I

1047
00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:05,640
Speaker 1: say the Sixers is one they the the the Nets

1048
00:53:05,719 --> 00:53:08,480
Speaker 1: thrive in that isolation basketball environment, and if they get

1049
00:53:08,520 --> 00:53:10,360
Speaker 1: into that type of matchup, they're going to have a

1050
00:53:10,440 --> 00:53:14,719
Speaker 1: lot of success. You've literally seen an example of a

1051
00:53:14,719 --> 00:53:18,520
Speaker 1: bit of milage they have to Harden didn't seem to

1052
00:53:18,680 --> 00:53:22,480
Speaker 1: enjoy having to compete with them in that type of environment.

1053
00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:25,239
Speaker 1: And then again, it's just that it's that dynamic of

1054
00:53:25,280 --> 00:53:28,560
Speaker 1: isolation basketball and living in transition. And who are you

1055
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:31,960
Speaker 1: picking James Harden creating shots from the perimeter or Kyrie

1056
00:53:31,960 --> 00:53:36,319
Speaker 1: and Kevin Durant. I'm going with those two guys, all right,

1057
00:53:36,920 --> 00:53:40,240
Speaker 1: fill in the lane. The Clippling with a healthy Paul

1058
00:53:40,400 --> 00:53:50,360
Speaker 1: George is firmly below Golden State, Memphis and the Sun's

1059
00:53:51,080 --> 00:53:54,040
Speaker 1: but actually has a has a puncher's chance to win

1060
00:53:54,040 --> 00:53:57,680
Speaker 1: the title. So most of the season for the Clippers

1061
00:53:57,719 --> 00:54:04,040
Speaker 1: has been just maintaining their identity right because Kauai is out,

1062
00:54:04,080 --> 00:54:06,759
Speaker 1: Paul George is out. Everything all eyes are on the

1063
00:54:06,800 --> 00:54:10,200
Speaker 1: next season. And they've done that successfully. They've maintained their identity.

1064
00:54:10,280 --> 00:54:13,480
Speaker 1: Now I have no idea how in the hell Paul

1065
00:54:13,520 --> 00:54:15,600
Speaker 1: George is playing. I hope at some point we get

1066
00:54:15,600 --> 00:54:17,520
Speaker 1: a press conference where he kind of breaks down what

1067
00:54:17,600 --> 00:54:19,399
Speaker 1: this whole thing has been like. Because for whatever reason,

1068
00:54:19,440 --> 00:54:21,600
Speaker 1: I thought, if you need Tommy John surgery, I just

1069
00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:23,520
Speaker 1: thought that was it for you. I can't believe just

1070
00:54:23,719 --> 00:54:26,360
Speaker 1: I I can't even imagine shooting jump shots with a

1071
00:54:26,400 --> 00:54:28,600
Speaker 1: missing ligament in my elbow. But for whatever reason, I'm

1072
00:54:28,640 --> 00:54:30,839
Speaker 1: happy for Paul George that he can come back. They

1073
00:54:30,880 --> 00:54:33,600
Speaker 1: have they I've said on on many occasions, the Clippers

1074
00:54:33,600 --> 00:54:37,920
Speaker 1: have the most modern basketball approach that I've seen in

1075
00:54:37,920 --> 00:54:41,239
Speaker 1: the league. They maximize their talent better than any team

1076
00:54:41,280 --> 00:54:43,640
Speaker 1: in the league, in my opinion. So if you add

1077
00:54:43,680 --> 00:54:46,279
Speaker 1: Paul George to that picture, it just gives them one

1078
00:54:46,320 --> 00:54:50,440
Speaker 1: additional perimeter initiator and one initial of one additional perimeter

1079
00:54:50,520 --> 00:54:53,560
Speaker 1: defensive player. Just raises the ceiling, and like we see

1080
00:54:53,680 --> 00:54:56,360
Speaker 1: saw last year, anything can happen. That same team basically

1081
00:54:56,360 --> 00:54:59,360
Speaker 1: as it's currently constructed, made it to the conference finals.

1082
00:54:59,400 --> 00:55:01,040
Speaker 1: I don't see how that's out of the question for

1083
00:55:01,080 --> 00:55:05,520
Speaker 1: them with Paul George available. What level I mean, if

1084
00:55:05,520 --> 00:55:07,640
Speaker 1: you're talking about, you know, the puncher's chance at the title,

1085
00:55:08,400 --> 00:55:10,400
Speaker 1: how great does PG have to be for that? How

1086
00:55:10,520 --> 00:55:13,640
Speaker 1: much they need out of you know, the secondary creators,

1087
00:55:13,760 --> 00:55:16,879
Speaker 1: because obviously for them to get where they did last year,

1088
00:55:16,920 --> 00:55:19,640
Speaker 1: it was like unreal Reggie Jackson. Where would you put

1089
00:55:19,640 --> 00:55:23,560
Speaker 1: the bar at there? Well, it needs to be unreal

1090
00:55:23,560 --> 00:55:28,080
Speaker 1: Reggie Jackson and unreal Paul George. But you know, there's

1091
00:55:28,120 --> 00:55:29,640
Speaker 1: kind of it's like the concept of having the monkey

1092
00:55:29,640 --> 00:55:30,839
Speaker 1: on your back, you know what I mean, Like when

1093
00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:34,160
Speaker 1: you break through that wall, something happens psychologically and you

1094
00:55:34,200 --> 00:55:36,880
Speaker 1: start playing better. Happened with you, honest last year. Happened

1095
00:55:36,880 --> 00:55:38,560
Speaker 1: with Paul George. Last year Paul George. I used to

1096
00:55:38,640 --> 00:55:41,040
Speaker 1: roast him all the time. He had lost five consecutive

1097
00:55:41,040 --> 00:55:44,640
Speaker 1: playoff series coming into UH, coming into his tenure with

1098
00:55:44,640 --> 00:55:48,080
Speaker 1: the Clippers, and it's like, you just something clicked for

1099
00:55:48,160 --> 00:55:50,359
Speaker 1: him and he just looked comfortable on the floor all

1100
00:55:50,400 --> 00:55:54,080
Speaker 1: the time. And we already know that Paul George and

1101
00:55:54,120 --> 00:55:56,759
Speaker 1: Reggie Jackson playing the way that they did last year

1102
00:55:56,800 --> 00:55:59,480
Speaker 1: in the postseason was enough to push the Suns to

1103
00:55:59,520 --> 00:56:03,279
Speaker 1: the brink. They won that series in six games, and

1104
00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:06,799
Speaker 1: I remember two games early in that series, UH one

1105
00:56:06,880 --> 00:56:09,880
Speaker 1: in particular where they won on a I think it

1106
00:56:09,920 --> 00:56:11,719
Speaker 1: was the one where they won on the eighton lob

1107
00:56:12,480 --> 00:56:14,560
Speaker 1: uh of right at the buzzer. And then there was

1108
00:56:14,600 --> 00:56:17,879
Speaker 1: another one that they want. I think likewo like really

1109
00:56:17,960 --> 00:56:20,080
Speaker 1: close barn Burner type of game. That's one of those

1110
00:56:20,080 --> 00:56:21,800
Speaker 1: series where the Sun's won in six, but it was

1111
00:56:21,840 --> 00:56:24,600
Speaker 1: a lot closer than it looked. And that same Sun's

1112
00:56:24,640 --> 00:56:26,680
Speaker 1: team is basically what we're looking at right now is

1113
00:56:26,719 --> 00:56:28,800
Speaker 1: the runaway title favorite. I'm not saying that they're going

1114
00:56:28,840 --> 00:56:31,120
Speaker 1: to be that that type of team, but that's what

1115
00:56:31,120 --> 00:56:33,000
Speaker 1: I mean by Punner's chance. If Reggie Jackson and Paul

1116
00:56:33,000 --> 00:56:35,319
Speaker 1: George get it going, of course, they're capable of beating

1117
00:56:35,320 --> 00:56:39,439
Speaker 1: anybody if enough shots go down. A lot of people

1118
00:56:39,440 --> 00:56:42,880
Speaker 1: are saying, you know, PG, without a ligament, you on

1119
00:56:42,960 --> 00:56:44,960
Speaker 1: your best day, shooting the lights out, you might be

1120
00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:48,040
Speaker 1: the better option there. That's what I'm from some people

1121
00:56:48,040 --> 00:56:51,640
Speaker 1: around the league. That's all I'm saying. All Right, fill

1122
00:56:51,680 --> 00:56:55,799
Speaker 1: in the lane. The NBA scoring title will go to

1123
00:56:58,880 --> 00:57:02,239
Speaker 1: all Right, I think it's gonna be Lebron. The thing

1124
00:57:02,280 --> 00:57:04,880
Speaker 1: that's tricky with this is they're all I think Lebron's

1125
00:57:04,880 --> 00:57:06,000
Speaker 1: got a little bit of a lead now. I think

1126
00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:08,120
Speaker 1: he's up to like two tenths of a of a

1127
00:57:08,200 --> 00:57:10,239
Speaker 1: point in the in the lead, which is bigger than

1128
00:57:10,280 --> 00:57:12,520
Speaker 1: it's been of late, because all those guys have been

1129
00:57:12,560 --> 00:57:14,840
Speaker 1: jam packed right around twenty nine points per game for

1130
00:57:14,880 --> 00:57:18,760
Speaker 1: most of the last couple of months. The tricky thing is,

1131
00:57:19,480 --> 00:57:23,520
Speaker 1: with Anthony Davis coming back, is Lebron gonna gun as

1132
00:57:23,640 --> 00:57:26,200
Speaker 1: much as he has been? That will be the trick. However,

1133
00:57:26,520 --> 00:57:29,280
Speaker 1: I think this, I think the scoring title matters more

1134
00:57:29,320 --> 00:57:31,840
Speaker 1: to Lebron than it matters to the other guys. Katie's

1135
00:57:31,880 --> 00:57:34,760
Speaker 1: got a bunch of them. Janice legitimately doesn't care about him,

1136
00:57:34,760 --> 00:57:36,600
Speaker 1: and Beat I think cares more about the m v P.

1137
00:57:36,880 --> 00:57:41,000
Speaker 1: So I think Lebron will understand the bare minimum that

1138
00:57:41,080 --> 00:57:42,480
Speaker 1: he has to do, lock that thing up, and I

1139
00:57:42,480 --> 00:57:45,880
Speaker 1: think he'll get it done. How much do you think

1140
00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:48,640
Speaker 1: it actually matters? Like, is the significance of it mostly

1141
00:57:48,720 --> 00:57:50,640
Speaker 1: just that you know he went out there and did

1142
00:57:50,640 --> 00:57:56,600
Speaker 1: it in year nineteen exactly, That's exactly what the significance is.

1143
00:57:56,640 --> 00:57:59,600
Speaker 1: It's like the Lebron is too smart with this kind

1144
00:57:59,600 --> 00:58:01,160
Speaker 1: of stuff. I think the way he looks at it

1145
00:58:01,200 --> 00:58:02,960
Speaker 1: is like dudes are gonna be arguing at a sports

1146
00:58:02,960 --> 00:58:06,200
Speaker 1: bar fifteen years from now, and it's it's just one

1147
00:58:06,240 --> 00:58:10,200
Speaker 1: more round. In the magazine, it's like after you've unleashed

1148
00:58:10,600 --> 00:58:14,440
Speaker 1: ten finals and and you know, and after you've unleashed

1149
00:58:14,520 --> 00:58:17,680
Speaker 1: the uh, you know, NBA's all time leading score, after

1150
00:58:17,720 --> 00:58:20,600
Speaker 1: you've unleashed four time finals, MVP or whatever it is.

1151
00:58:20,640 --> 00:58:23,080
Speaker 1: It's that other. Oh, by the way, in his nineteen season,

1152
00:58:23,120 --> 00:58:25,680
Speaker 1: he wont a scoring title, Like it's just one more

1153
00:58:25,760 --> 00:58:29,240
Speaker 1: bullet in the gun that gives that that ammunition towards

1154
00:58:29,320 --> 00:58:31,960
Speaker 1: his goat case. It doesn't matter for me. I couldn't

1155
00:58:32,000 --> 00:58:35,360
Speaker 1: care less into my opinion of Lebron. Kind of is

1156
00:58:35,400 --> 00:58:38,040
Speaker 1: what it is at this point, but it's it's your

1157
00:58:38,080 --> 00:58:39,840
Speaker 1: You could sway some people with it, and I think

1158
00:58:39,920 --> 00:58:41,840
Speaker 1: Lebron's trying to fight for every inch that he can

1159
00:58:41,920 --> 00:58:47,960
Speaker 1: at this point. All Right, last one here the NBA

1160
00:58:48,040 --> 00:58:53,280
Speaker 1: player you would least want to be slapped by ish

1161
00:58:55,720 --> 00:59:00,240
Speaker 1: um Man. I'm gonna go with Joel Embiide. There was

1162
00:59:00,240 --> 00:59:01,880
Speaker 1: a play in that fourth quarter today. I don't know

1163
00:59:01,880 --> 00:59:04,880
Speaker 1: if you saw it. He's isolating Brook Lopez on the

1164
00:59:04,960 --> 00:59:10,360
Speaker 1: left block and he does a jab step and Brooke

1165
00:59:10,960 --> 00:59:13,560
Speaker 1: buckles just a little bit to the side. And I

1166
00:59:13,560 --> 00:59:15,920
Speaker 1: talked about this in a video that I recorded yesterday.

1167
00:59:16,000 --> 00:59:19,720
Speaker 1: But when you're working in tight spaces on offense, if

1168
00:59:19,720 --> 00:59:23,080
Speaker 1: you can create a tiny bit of separation, it's rather

1169
00:59:23,120 --> 00:59:25,360
Speaker 1: than trying to go around somebody, you want to try

1170
00:59:25,400 --> 00:59:27,480
Speaker 1: to shoot that gap with physicality and try not to

1171
00:59:27,480 --> 00:59:29,400
Speaker 1: get pushed off your line. It's such an important part

1172
00:59:29,600 --> 00:59:33,040
Speaker 1: of operating in space and Joel Embid did that perfectly.

1173
00:59:33,080 --> 00:59:35,800
Speaker 1: So after he does the job, step Brook buckles just

1174
00:59:35,840 --> 00:59:40,200
Speaker 1: a tiny bit, Joel just does a vicious power dribble

1175
00:59:40,400 --> 00:59:45,560
Speaker 1: and like just flies into the lane and hits uh

1176
00:59:45,920 --> 00:59:49,280
Speaker 1: Brook Lopez in the sternom with his shoulder. Brook Lopez

1177
00:59:49,280 --> 00:59:51,360
Speaker 1: goes flying and he ends up getting an and one.

1178
00:59:51,640 --> 00:59:54,560
Speaker 1: And I was just sitting there thinking, like, that's that's

1179
00:59:54,600 --> 00:59:59,480
Speaker 1: just brute force. And I think Joel Embiid is probably

1180
00:59:59,560 --> 01:00:02,240
Speaker 1: the great is brute force athlete that we have in

1181
01:00:02,280 --> 01:00:06,120
Speaker 1: the league right now. With Joannice, he's got the best

1182
01:00:06,120 --> 01:00:10,000
Speaker 1: combination of speed and quickness and coordination with that. But

1183
01:00:10,040 --> 01:00:12,320
Speaker 1: in terms of just pure brute force would be Joel Embid.

1184
01:00:12,520 --> 01:00:14,920
Speaker 1: Couple that with the wingspan. I think if he loaded

1185
01:00:14,960 --> 01:00:17,479
Speaker 1: up on me, there's like at least a nine percent

1186
01:00:17,560 --> 01:00:21,680
Speaker 1: chance I'd be knocked unconscious. What about you, Carson, Yeah, Well,

1187
01:00:21,760 --> 01:00:23,880
Speaker 1: Ebid was actually my first thought to you, just because

1188
01:00:23,920 --> 01:00:26,440
Speaker 1: I feel like he has enough dog in him and

1189
01:00:26,560 --> 01:00:28,720
Speaker 1: enough of like the nastiness, you know, because that's a

1190
01:00:28,720 --> 01:00:31,040
Speaker 1: lot of the guys who I You know, if James

1191
01:00:31,120 --> 01:00:33,000
Speaker 1: Johnson comes up to me and slaps me, I think

1192
01:00:33,000 --> 01:00:34,720
Speaker 1: that I'm done for, you know, because that guy is

1193
01:00:34,760 --> 01:00:38,240
Speaker 1: an actual fighter. He's a he's a pretty intense guy.

1194
01:00:38,920 --> 01:00:42,480
Speaker 1: I think, Yo kich you know, there's a lot of

1195
01:00:42,520 --> 01:00:45,400
Speaker 1: weight there. The dude had knives thrown at his head

1196
01:00:45,440 --> 01:00:48,680
Speaker 1: throughout his childhood, grew up in you know, sambor Serbia,

1197
01:00:48,840 --> 01:00:52,240
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not enjoying a Yoki slap to the face.

1198
01:00:52,960 --> 01:00:55,120
Speaker 1: I feel like Pat dev might, like, you know, throw

1199
01:00:55,160 --> 01:00:59,320
Speaker 1: a scratch in there, just do something really really uh

1200
01:00:59,560 --> 01:01:02,360
Speaker 1: Dison herble. But yeah, I think I beat is a

1201
01:01:02,400 --> 01:01:04,360
Speaker 1: really good choice. I mean again, he was the first

1202
01:01:04,360 --> 01:01:06,720
Speaker 1: guy who I don't want to slap from Joel Embiad

1203
01:01:06,720 --> 01:01:10,560
Speaker 1: at all. James Johnson was an interesting one. He's just

1204
01:01:10,800 --> 01:01:14,000
Speaker 1: famous for being like a jiu jitsu's crop magaw something

1205
01:01:14,160 --> 01:01:16,520
Speaker 1: type of fighter. So the thing is the problem is

1206
01:01:16,560 --> 01:01:19,560
Speaker 1: James Johnson would hit me, and like if I gave

1207
01:01:19,640 --> 01:01:21,640
Speaker 1: him a dirty look, he would continue to hit me

1208
01:01:21,680 --> 01:01:23,400
Speaker 1: and then I'd be down for the count, so that'd

1209
01:01:23,440 --> 01:01:26,920
Speaker 1: be the issue there. Yeah, now he's got a deep bag.

1210
01:01:26,960 --> 01:01:31,240
Speaker 1: I mean maybe your slap. He's not as dangerous, but

1211
01:01:31,600 --> 01:01:33,760
Speaker 1: an actual fight, I mean, he's the guy you most

1212
01:01:33,800 --> 01:01:38,320
Speaker 1: want to avoid. I think no doubt. Alrighty, so we

1213
01:01:38,400 --> 01:01:40,920
Speaker 1: are going to Thanks Carson, I appreciate you, man. We

1214
01:01:41,000 --> 01:01:44,040
Speaker 1: are going to finish up tonight with my top five

1215
01:01:44,080 --> 01:01:47,600
Speaker 1: contenders in the Western Conference and I got a surprise

1216
01:01:47,640 --> 01:01:51,800
Speaker 1: for you guys for number five, So my fifth most

1217
01:01:51,840 --> 01:01:54,600
Speaker 1: likely team in the Western Conference to win the NBA

1218
01:01:54,680 --> 01:01:58,760
Speaker 1: Championship and again qualifier. Up Front, this is not power rankings,

1219
01:01:58,960 --> 01:02:01,080
Speaker 1: This is not how I feel about the team. This

1220
01:02:01,160 --> 01:02:06,600
Speaker 1: is strictly ranking percentage chances that this team could win

1221
01:02:06,680 --> 01:02:09,720
Speaker 1: an NBA championship, and at number five, I have the Lakers.

1222
01:02:09,720 --> 01:02:12,400
Speaker 1: So to be clear up front, this is a terrible,

1223
01:02:12,480 --> 01:02:16,600
Speaker 1: terrible team. But it's really this simple. It's Lebron James

1224
01:02:16,640 --> 01:02:20,800
Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis, a shrunken rotation in a playoff setting.

1225
01:02:21,640 --> 01:02:24,560
Speaker 1: Do you think they are more or what's more? Likely?

1226
01:02:24,920 --> 01:02:29,040
Speaker 1: That the Utah Jazz, who are basically proven playoff failures,

1227
01:02:29,040 --> 01:02:31,760
Speaker 1: will continue to bring back the same guys even though

1228
01:02:31,760 --> 01:02:34,520
Speaker 1: we know it doesn't work. The Nuggets, who outside of

1229
01:02:34,800 --> 01:02:39,360
Speaker 1: Nikolayok have nobody. The Minnesota Timberwolves, who we've talked about

1230
01:02:39,400 --> 01:02:40,840
Speaker 1: at length, can't be a good team when they have

1231
01:02:40,840 --> 01:02:43,920
Speaker 1: all their stars. The Clippers, who, I guess Paul George

1232
01:02:43,920 --> 01:02:46,560
Speaker 1: makes it a little more complicated, but they're not and

1233
01:02:46,840 --> 01:02:48,080
Speaker 1: as good as some of these teams at the top

1234
01:02:48,080 --> 01:02:49,960
Speaker 1: of the league, or the New Orleans Pelicans, those are

1235
01:02:49,960 --> 01:02:53,360
Speaker 1: your other options for number five. So what's more statistically

1236
01:02:53,480 --> 01:02:57,360
Speaker 1: likely that Lebron and a D get healthy and somehow

1237
01:02:57,400 --> 01:02:59,520
Speaker 1: managed to escape the play in and then Lebron and

1238
01:02:59,600 --> 01:03:02,680
Speaker 1: a D find some synergy and the defense kind of

1239
01:03:02,720 --> 01:03:06,000
Speaker 1: comes together and they go on a run, or that

1240
01:03:06,080 --> 01:03:08,080
Speaker 1: one of those other teams I just mentioned to do it,

1241
01:03:08,120 --> 01:03:10,160
Speaker 1: and I would go with the Lakers. To be clear,

1242
01:03:10,400 --> 01:03:13,840
Speaker 1: I expect them to probably lose in the playing game

1243
01:03:14,240 --> 01:03:16,640
Speaker 1: and definitely to lose in the first round of the playoffs.

1244
01:03:16,760 --> 01:03:20,760
Speaker 1: That's what I expect to happen. But they have just

1245
01:03:20,920 --> 01:03:24,800
Speaker 1: a tiny, tiny chance of everything breaking right for them

1246
01:03:24,800 --> 01:03:27,360
Speaker 1: and them getting it done, whereas the teams below them

1247
01:03:27,400 --> 01:03:29,600
Speaker 1: I think have zero chance. So that's why I have

1248
01:03:29,600 --> 01:03:31,720
Speaker 1: them at number five. Again, not a power ranking, not

1249
01:03:31,800 --> 01:03:34,320
Speaker 1: how I feel about the team just chances to win

1250
01:03:34,360 --> 01:03:36,680
Speaker 1: a title. Number four. Yeah, I don't want to talk

1251
01:03:36,680 --> 01:03:38,640
Speaker 1: about the Lakers anymore. They don't deserve it. Number four

1252
01:03:38,960 --> 01:03:42,600
Speaker 1: the Dallas Mavericks. So their defense has fallen way off

1253
01:03:42,600 --> 01:03:45,160
Speaker 1: coming into tonight. They obviously looked great against the shell

1254
01:03:45,200 --> 01:03:47,240
Speaker 1: of the Lakers without Lebron and Anthony Davis, but they

1255
01:03:47,280 --> 01:03:50,200
Speaker 1: had lost three of their previous six games in that stretch.

1256
01:03:50,240 --> 01:03:53,520
Speaker 1: They had slipped to six in defense. If you remember

1257
01:03:55,080 --> 01:03:58,520
Speaker 1: the the defense was a huge part of why they

1258
01:03:58,560 --> 01:04:02,160
Speaker 1: were winning in the previous wretch. They were guarding extremely well.

1259
01:04:02,640 --> 01:04:05,520
Speaker 1: They were making up for their lack of defensive personnel

1260
01:04:05,560 --> 01:04:07,000
Speaker 1: with a lot of scheming, a lot of double teaming,

1261
01:04:07,000 --> 01:04:11,320
Speaker 1: a lot of trapping things along those lines. But as

1262
01:04:11,360 --> 01:04:15,680
Speaker 1: I said, that making up for defensive personnel requires a

1263
01:04:15,680 --> 01:04:18,520
Speaker 1: ton of effort, and effort is very difficult to maintain

1264
01:04:19,000 --> 01:04:21,600
Speaker 1: throughout the regular season. So it was inevitable that they

1265
01:04:21,640 --> 01:04:23,640
Speaker 1: were gonna slump a little bit. And they have the

1266
01:04:23,720 --> 01:04:25,840
Speaker 1: one thing that concerns about because it's easy to get

1267
01:04:25,840 --> 01:04:28,000
Speaker 1: excited about this team, right because I've got Luka don

1268
01:04:28,360 --> 01:04:33,160
Speaker 1: the ultimate playoff weapon. I've got extra creator uh creators.

1269
01:04:33,200 --> 01:04:35,760
Speaker 1: Because now in addition to just Jalen Brunson, they have

1270
01:04:35,760 --> 01:04:38,600
Speaker 1: Spencer Dinwoodie is another kind of like alpha dog offensive

1271
01:04:38,600 --> 01:04:42,040
Speaker 1: personality that feels comfortable creating shots for himself and taking

1272
01:04:42,040 --> 01:04:44,640
Speaker 1: and making big shots. And their defense is better, So

1273
01:04:44,920 --> 01:04:46,919
Speaker 1: you would kind of add that all together to mean

1274
01:04:47,040 --> 01:04:49,480
Speaker 1: Puncher's chance to win the title. Right, My only concern

1275
01:04:49,560 --> 01:04:51,680
Speaker 1: with them is that their defense is kind of gimmicky.

1276
01:04:51,680 --> 01:04:54,439
Speaker 1: It involves a ton of doubling and recovering, a ton

1277
01:04:54,480 --> 01:04:58,120
Speaker 1: of scramming guys out of mismatches because their defensive personnel

1278
01:04:58,120 --> 01:05:00,720
Speaker 1: isn't great. So I'm worried about really good teams and

1279
01:05:00,760 --> 01:05:04,200
Speaker 1: really good coaches being able to eventually scheme their way

1280
01:05:04,200 --> 01:05:08,440
Speaker 1: around a lot of what Dallas does. Number Three, I

1281
01:05:08,480 --> 01:05:11,240
Speaker 1: have the Memphis Grizzlies, So they have the best defense

1282
01:05:11,240 --> 01:05:14,919
Speaker 1: in the NBA in March coming into tonight. So all

1283
01:05:14,960 --> 01:05:18,120
Speaker 1: of the things that we worry about with young teams.

1284
01:05:18,120 --> 01:05:20,560
Speaker 1: Will they be able to create shots in the postseason,

1285
01:05:20,560 --> 01:05:22,360
Speaker 1: will they be able to defend as good as some

1286
01:05:22,400 --> 01:05:24,080
Speaker 1: of the other teams in the league. That doesn't seem

1287
01:05:24,120 --> 01:05:27,360
Speaker 1: to be a problem there that they've been arguably the

1288
01:05:27,440 --> 01:05:29,600
Speaker 1: second or third, probably the third best team in the

1289
01:05:29,680 --> 01:05:31,440
Speaker 1: NBA over the course of the the last half of the season,

1290
01:05:31,440 --> 01:05:34,280
Speaker 1: behind the Sons and the Celtics. They're unbelievable defensive team.

1291
01:05:34,280 --> 01:05:37,200
Speaker 1: They have a ton of athleticism. Jaren Jackson Jr. Looks

1292
01:05:37,240 --> 01:05:40,520
Speaker 1: like a d reincardnated. Desmond Baine is kind of like

1293
01:05:40,520 --> 01:05:44,240
Speaker 1: a weird wing defender, bigger, stronger version of Clay Thompson

1294
01:05:44,240 --> 01:05:48,880
Speaker 1: that's not quite as good offensively. And and just the

1295
01:05:49,280 --> 01:05:51,800
Speaker 1: crowd is incredible. And then John Moran sa bona fide

1296
01:05:51,800 --> 01:05:53,320
Speaker 1: top ten player in the NBA. I think I had

1297
01:05:53,400 --> 01:05:56,160
Speaker 1: him at ten when I ranked players the other day,

1298
01:05:56,360 --> 01:06:00,240
Speaker 1: and you know, he kind of he kind of has

1299
01:06:00,280 --> 01:06:03,000
Speaker 1: I've talked about this on the show before. John Marat

1300
01:06:03,000 --> 01:06:06,760
Speaker 1: has some Dwyane Wade potential. He's such an incredible athlete

1301
01:06:07,000 --> 01:06:09,680
Speaker 1: and he's going to be flying into the lane all

1302
01:06:09,720 --> 01:06:14,160
Speaker 1: the time in this postseason run. And you know, reffing

1303
01:06:14,200 --> 01:06:16,880
Speaker 1: can always go one way or another. There's fouls that

1304
01:06:16,920 --> 01:06:20,440
Speaker 1: occur on every single possession. It's really just amount about

1305
01:06:20,440 --> 01:06:23,280
Speaker 1: whether or not a ref feels like calling it. And

1306
01:06:23,320 --> 01:06:25,640
Speaker 1: we do see that fouls get called less often in

1307
01:06:25,640 --> 01:06:28,760
Speaker 1: the postseason, but we've also seen that's primarily with the

1308
01:06:28,880 --> 01:06:32,160
Speaker 1: Jankee stuff. They're less likely to call flopping in the postseason,

1309
01:06:32,320 --> 01:06:34,840
Speaker 1: They're less likely to call the James Hard and Joel

1310
01:06:34,880 --> 01:06:38,200
Speaker 1: Embiide you know, foul grifting type of stuff. But they

1311
01:06:38,280 --> 01:06:40,400
Speaker 1: are known to call stuff around the basket, just like

1312
01:06:40,440 --> 01:06:42,240
Speaker 1: you saw with Joannice last year and with all the

1313
01:06:42,240 --> 01:06:43,920
Speaker 1: foul calls that he was he was getting. So the

1314
01:06:43,920 --> 01:06:46,960
Speaker 1: wild card for the Grizzlies is if John rand Is

1315
01:06:46,960 --> 01:06:48,600
Speaker 1: gonna get a ton of calls on his drives to

1316
01:06:48,600 --> 01:06:51,320
Speaker 1: the basket, that just makes them a way more dynamic

1317
01:06:51,440 --> 01:06:54,760
Speaker 1: offensive team and makes them a lot scarier. The one

1318
01:06:54,760 --> 01:06:56,960
Speaker 1: big concern I have for them is their lack of

1319
01:06:57,000 --> 01:06:59,840
Speaker 1: secondary offensive creation. Like I've said many times on the show,

1320
01:07:00,160 --> 01:07:01,600
Speaker 1: Jaren Jackson Jr. Is a bit of a bull in

1321
01:07:01,600 --> 01:07:04,800
Speaker 1: the title shop China shops, So he's gonna struggle when

1322
01:07:04,840 --> 01:07:07,000
Speaker 1: teams really scout and take away. He's easy stuff. Yeah,

1323
01:07:07,000 --> 01:07:08,520
Speaker 1: if you leave him on an island, he's gonna run

1324
01:07:08,520 --> 01:07:10,960
Speaker 1: guys over and get layups. But no good playoff defense

1325
01:07:11,040 --> 01:07:13,360
Speaker 1: is gonna do that. And then Desmond Baine is more

1326
01:07:13,400 --> 01:07:15,160
Speaker 1: of a slasher than he is a creator. He's great

1327
01:07:15,160 --> 01:07:18,600
Speaker 1: flying off screens, he's great attacking close outs, he's great uh,

1328
01:07:18,640 --> 01:07:20,959
Speaker 1: shooting the three ball, but he's not like a stare

1329
01:07:21,040 --> 01:07:22,480
Speaker 1: you in the face and break you down off the

1330
01:07:22,520 --> 01:07:24,200
Speaker 1: drew ble and make plays type of guys. So that

1331
01:07:24,280 --> 01:07:27,760
Speaker 1: kind of leaves you with Dylan Brooks. And is Dylan

1332
01:07:27,800 --> 01:07:32,360
Speaker 1: Brooks gonna be productive enough as a secondary perimeter initiator

1333
01:07:32,400 --> 01:07:35,200
Speaker 1: to help spell John Moran. I don't think so, That's

1334
01:07:35,200 --> 01:07:37,720
Speaker 1: why I have them down at number three. The one

1335
01:07:37,800 --> 01:07:40,520
Speaker 1: interesting wrinkle with Memphis that makes them a little bit

1336
01:07:40,560 --> 01:07:43,280
Speaker 1: more interesting is home court. So even though their second

1337
01:07:43,280 --> 01:07:45,240
Speaker 1: in the West, they have a better record than anybody

1338
01:07:45,320 --> 01:07:47,800
Speaker 1: in the East, So outside of a matchup with Phoenix,

1339
01:07:48,000 --> 01:07:50,400
Speaker 1: they would have home court advantage in every single series.

1340
01:07:50,920 --> 01:07:53,040
Speaker 1: And as a result of that, when you look at

1341
01:07:53,040 --> 01:07:54,920
Speaker 1: Memphis and how crazy their home crowd is and the

1342
01:07:54,960 --> 01:07:57,760
Speaker 1: way that young players in particular feed off of home

1343
01:07:57,800 --> 01:08:00,880
Speaker 1: crowd energy, that kind of gives them another unique element.

1344
01:08:01,760 --> 01:08:04,160
Speaker 1: Number two at Golden State, not a ton to say

1345
01:08:04,200 --> 01:08:06,640
Speaker 1: about them because they've barely looked like themselves. They are

1346
01:08:08,480 --> 01:08:12,240
Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors. Season has been cursed nearly to

1347
01:08:12,280 --> 01:08:15,120
Speaker 1: the same extent as the Lakers. The differences is they're

1348
01:08:15,160 --> 01:08:18,720
Speaker 1: well run. The Lakers have had injury issues, but They're

1349
01:08:18,760 --> 01:08:22,000
Speaker 1: also a very poorly run basketball team that actively sabotaged

1350
01:08:22,040 --> 01:08:25,120
Speaker 1: themselves in personnel, so when Lebron and a D went down,

1351
01:08:25,760 --> 01:08:28,439
Speaker 1: they literally turned into one of the worst basketball teams

1352
01:08:28,439 --> 01:08:31,880
Speaker 1: in the league. Golden State because they are very well run,

1353
01:08:31,920 --> 01:08:35,200
Speaker 1: They're loaded with wings, their skill developments awesome. They've brought

1354
01:08:35,240 --> 01:08:37,720
Speaker 1: a bunch of young players up through their system that

1355
01:08:37,760 --> 01:08:41,160
Speaker 1: have turned into productive NBA players. They've had terrible injury

1356
01:08:41,200 --> 01:08:43,880
Speaker 1: luck and basically have been incapable of keeping Steph and

1357
01:08:43,960 --> 01:08:46,639
Speaker 1: Draymond on the floor together for the last two thirds

1358
01:08:46,680 --> 01:08:49,400
Speaker 1: of the season, but in spite of that, they've still

1359
01:08:49,439 --> 01:08:52,320
Speaker 1: been good because they are a well run team. The

1360
01:08:52,360 --> 01:08:54,080
Speaker 1: main reason why I have them at number two and

1361
01:08:54,120 --> 01:08:56,720
Speaker 1: ahead of Memphis is because we know their defense is

1362
01:08:56,720 --> 01:09:00,799
Speaker 1: great and the Steph Clay Draymond trio is a proven

1363
01:09:00,800 --> 01:09:03,400
Speaker 1: playoff formula. Those guys are gonna be comfortable in every

1364
01:09:03,439 --> 01:09:06,120
Speaker 1: playoff series. Yes, it's gonna suck that they're gonna have

1365
01:09:06,120 --> 01:09:08,000
Speaker 1: to kind of wrap this all together over the course

1366
01:09:08,000 --> 01:09:10,160
Speaker 1: of the last week of the season, but those guys

1367
01:09:10,240 --> 01:09:12,200
Speaker 1: have so many reps playing with each other that if

1368
01:09:12,200 --> 01:09:14,479
Speaker 1: there's one trio in the NBA that could do it,

1369
01:09:14,479 --> 01:09:17,080
Speaker 1: it would be them last, but not least, the Phoenix Suns.

1370
01:09:17,160 --> 01:09:18,679
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna spend too much time on them because

1371
01:09:18,680 --> 01:09:21,240
Speaker 1: I've railed on them NonStop on the show over the

1372
01:09:21,240 --> 01:09:23,040
Speaker 1: course the last couple of weeks. They are the most

1373
01:09:23,040 --> 01:09:27,240
Speaker 1: talented team in the NBA. Not just they're not as

1374
01:09:27,720 --> 01:09:29,400
Speaker 1: top heavy as some of these other teams in the league.

1375
01:09:29,400 --> 01:09:31,760
Speaker 1: No one's saying Devin Booker and Chris Paul are as

1376
01:09:31,800 --> 01:09:34,640
Speaker 1: good as as Janice or Lebron or Kevin Grant or

1377
01:09:34,640 --> 01:09:38,960
Speaker 1: anything like that, but what they are what they are

1378
01:09:39,520 --> 01:09:42,599
Speaker 1: is down the roster by far the most talented team

1379
01:09:42,600 --> 01:09:45,040
Speaker 1: in the NBA. Chris Paul and Devin Booker can hold

1380
01:09:45,080 --> 01:09:48,320
Speaker 1: their own in Superstar matchups, but it's also Michael Bridges

1381
01:09:48,360 --> 01:09:51,000
Speaker 1: and how good of a close out attacking wing and

1382
01:09:51,160 --> 01:09:54,160
Speaker 1: argue he's He's been in conversations for Defensive Player of

1383
01:09:54,200 --> 01:09:56,360
Speaker 1: the Year this year. That's how good Michal Bridges has been.

1384
01:09:56,600 --> 01:10:00,559
Speaker 1: DeAndre Ayton is way better than what he's been asked

1385
01:10:00,640 --> 01:10:03,920
Speaker 1: to do with this Son's team. He has a level

1386
01:10:03,920 --> 01:10:05,759
Speaker 1: that he can get to that he's been holding in reserve.

1387
01:10:06,000 --> 01:10:08,800
Speaker 1: I think he deserves a max contract. Cam Johnson is

1388
01:10:08,800 --> 01:10:12,679
Speaker 1: incredible campaign is incredible. They have a big defensive wing

1389
01:10:12,680 --> 01:10:14,479
Speaker 1: and Jake Crowder that they can throw up people. JaVale

1390
01:10:14,520 --> 01:10:17,240
Speaker 1: McGee is an awesome backup center. They're far and away

1391
01:10:17,600 --> 01:10:20,360
Speaker 1: the most talented team in the NBA. Devin Booker has

1392
01:10:20,400 --> 01:10:22,640
Speaker 1: been playing so well lately you could argue he's right

1393
01:10:22,640 --> 01:10:25,160
Speaker 1: there with John Morant competing for the tenth best player

1394
01:10:25,160 --> 01:10:27,760
Speaker 1: in the NBA. CP three looks great. He looks way

1395
01:10:27,760 --> 01:10:30,520
Speaker 1: better than James Harden the other day. And they absolutely

1396
01:10:30,520 --> 01:10:35,639
Speaker 1: destroy teams in crunch time, but like like lapping everybody

1397
01:10:35,680 --> 01:10:38,200
Speaker 1: else in the rest of the field, which would argue

1398
01:10:38,240 --> 01:10:40,120
Speaker 1: that they even have a better punch than the what

1399
01:10:40,160 --> 01:10:42,760
Speaker 1: they've shown for the vast majority of the season that

1400
01:10:42,800 --> 01:10:45,559
Speaker 1: they've been reserving for crunch time scenario. So I think

1401
01:10:45,600 --> 01:10:47,400
Speaker 1: the Sons are the most likely to win. I put

1402
01:10:47,439 --> 01:10:50,679
Speaker 1: Golden State right behind them, Memphis right behind there, then Dallas,

1403
01:10:50,920 --> 01:10:53,280
Speaker 1: then a big drop off, and then I'd go with

1404
01:10:53,320 --> 01:10:55,400
Speaker 1: the Lakers. With all the junk at the bottom of

1405
01:10:55,400 --> 01:10:57,240
Speaker 1: the West, they're the one team that has Lebron and

1406
01:10:57,280 --> 01:10:58,880
Speaker 1: a d in their back pocket. That's why I give

1407
01:10:58,920 --> 01:11:03,200
Speaker 1: them a very slim chance as our fifth most likely

1408
01:11:03,280 --> 01:11:05,439
Speaker 1: team in the West to win the title. Al Right, guys,

1409
01:11:05,439 --> 01:11:08,400
Speaker 1: that is all I have for tonight. I appreciate you

1410
01:11:08,439 --> 01:11:11,000
Speaker 1: guys always for supporting the show. We will be back

1411
01:11:11,080 --> 01:11:13,080
Speaker 1: on Thursday. I will see you guys in a couple

1412
01:11:13,120 --> 01:11:26,879
Speaker 1: of days. The volume