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Speaker 1: to Hoops Tonight, presented by Fame Dull here at the volume.
Speaker 1: Happy Tuesday again everybody. We are continuing with their power
Speaker 1: rankings today with number four the Los Angeles Clippers. We
Speaker 1: will get right into it. You guys know the drill
Speaker 1: before we get started. Subscribe to the volumes YouTube channels.
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Speaker 1: can find them wherever you get your podcasts Under Hoops tonight.
Speaker 1: And on that note, let's talk some basketball. So as
Speaker 1: we were working up through our tears, if you guys
Speaker 1: remember we had the non contenders, the teams that I
Speaker 1: just deemed the amount of luck they would need to
Speaker 1: end up with the trophy at the end is too
Speaker 1: great because there were too many teams in front of
Speaker 1: them that would just by virtue of the sheer number
Speaker 1: of them, one of them would have more luck or
Speaker 1: be more fortunate in combination with the talent that they
Speaker 1: have and the luck that they'd have. So I didn't
Speaker 1: view them as potential contenders. Then we had our puncher's
Speaker 1: chance contenders. These were teams that did not have as
Speaker 1: much talent as the top teams in the league, but
Speaker 1: had top tier talent like superstars like a Lebron James
Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis or a Nicola Yokich or a Donovan Mitchell. Right,
Speaker 1: we those were the teams that we were looking at
Speaker 1: in that regard. Then we had our if things go
Speaker 1: right contenders. These were teams that had tons of talent,
Speaker 1: but they needed things to go right for them in
Speaker 1: order to contend. These were teams like the Brooklyn Nets,
Speaker 1: who when you look at their roster on paper, it's stacked.
Speaker 1: But we don't have to get into all the reasons
Speaker 1: over the last couple of years why that can't be
Speaker 1: necessarily depended on the same goes for the Philadelphia seventy
Speaker 1: six man. You've got James Harden, you got Joel Ebid,
Speaker 1: you got Tyrese Maxie, you got Tobias Harris. But there's
Speaker 1: health concerns there. There's James Harden and his age and
Speaker 1: his body holding up concerns. There's concerns with the psychology
Speaker 1: of the top players on the team, and whether or
Speaker 1: not they're tough enough to really handle a sixteen win
Speaker 1: playoff front though, that was the kind of issue we
Speaker 1: were dealing with with that tier. Now we're heading into
Speaker 1: the top tier contenders, and I've got four teams here,
Speaker 1: and these are teams that have every single box checked
Speaker 1: as it pertains to contending for an NBA championship. They
Speaker 1: have top tier talent. Like with the Clippers, were talking
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard and Paul George with the Warriors, were talking
Speaker 1: Steph Curry. Right with the UH Bucks, we're talking on
Speaker 1: a santenna Kompo with the Celtics were talking Jayson Tatum
Speaker 1: and Jalen Brown. They got the stars, they got the depth,
Speaker 1: they got talent down the roster right, have got the experience.
Speaker 1: They've won big playoff series before. These are teams that
Speaker 1: have all the boxes checked, and they can even potentially
Speaker 1: weather some bad luck, kind of like the Warriors last
Speaker 1: year losing Steph Curry to his sprained foot, losing Draymond
Speaker 1: Green to a backstrain, losing missing Clay Thompson for a
Speaker 1: big chunk of the season. These teams can weather some
Speaker 1: of the storm. None of these other teams on this
Speaker 1: list are capable of weathering that storm. And that's the
Speaker 1: big thing that separates these teams from the rest of
Speaker 1: the field. So we're gonna be covering the l A
Speaker 1: Clippers today. This is one of my favorite teams in
Speaker 1: the NBA to talk about because this team is the
Speaker 1: personification of my core basketball beliefs. Now, again, you have
Speaker 1: to differentiate between core basketball beliefs and what your roster needs. Right, Like,
Speaker 1: just because I believe in five out basketball and switching
Speaker 1: everything on defense, doesn't mean if I was coach of
Speaker 1: the Lakers that that's what I would do, because with
Speaker 1: that team, they don't They just simply don't have the
Speaker 1: personnel to run that style, right. So the Clippers are
Speaker 1: uniquely equipped to have the players to run that style,
Speaker 1: and they have a forward thinking front office and a
Speaker 1: forward thinking coach that runs the style of basketball that
Speaker 1: I believe in the most. So that's why I enjoy
Speaker 1: this team. That's why I was excited to dive into
Speaker 1: them today. So last year they were forty two and
Speaker 1: forty um, they lost in the playing tournament. They were
Speaker 1: twenty five in offense, they were eight in defense. Kawhi
Speaker 1: Leonard did not play Paul George only played in thirty
Speaker 1: one games. Not much to take from that particular season,
Speaker 1: So I'm not gonna spend a ton of time on
Speaker 1: that season. Most of the numbers and the footage that
Speaker 1: I reference is going to be from one season because
Speaker 1: that was the year that we last saw Kawhi Leonard,
Speaker 1: Paul George, Reggie Jackson, Nick Patum, the core group of
Speaker 1: this team on the floor together. We did have we
Speaker 1: did learn some things. Terrence Man took some leaps. He
Speaker 1: looks like a really good athlete that could play both
Speaker 1: ends of the floor, attack closeouts. Starting to shoot a
Speaker 1: little bit better too. You can defend, defend pretty well.
Speaker 1: Of her coffee also is starting to look a lot better.
Speaker 1: Norman Powell was a super interesting acquisition that adds a
Speaker 1: lot of dynamic. They kind of had a core lineup
Speaker 1: that they went down with in a lot of cases
Speaker 1: last year or two years ago, which was Reggie Jackson
Speaker 1: with Nick Beto, Marcus Morris, and then Kawhi Leonard and
Speaker 1: Paul George. They're gonna have some different directions they can
Speaker 1: go there if Nick Batum ages faster than they like,
Speaker 1: or if he just doesn't have it on any particular night.
Speaker 1: You can slide Norman Powell in there if Reggie Jackson
Speaker 1: is getting attacked too much and post mismatches. Norman Pale
Speaker 1: is a better defender. Is a little stout, not super tall,
Speaker 1: but he's got a bit of a bit more of
Speaker 1: a physical presence, so you can slot him in there.
Speaker 1: Just a lot more flexibility with their lineups thanks to
Speaker 1: Norman Powell. So we did learn some things last year
Speaker 1: that will that will project towards this year. But for
Speaker 1: the most part, we're gonna be focusing one season when
Speaker 1: we're talking about what they like to do in the
Speaker 1: way they like to play. So this offseason they signed
Speaker 1: John all Um. It's hard to see. It's hard to
Speaker 1: say what kind of player he's gonna be until we
Speaker 1: see him play real NBA basketball games. Not a big
Speaker 1: shock there, But if John Wall has anything left in
Speaker 1: the tank, the Clippers are the place where we're gonna
Speaker 1: find out because in this particular system, it's going to
Speaker 1: play to his strengths. This is a guard that loved
Speaker 1: to put rim pressure, to pressure the rim, and this
Speaker 1: is a team that is going to set him up
Speaker 1: with tons of space to operate and by virtue of
Speaker 1: the lineups he'll be playing with. He'll have great matchups.
Speaker 1: He'll have the ability attacking bench lineups to go against
Speaker 1: weaker defenders in a spaced out environment. We're going to
Speaker 1: find out if John Wall can still play in this league.
Speaker 1: They did lose Isaiah Hartenstein to the Knicks. Um he
Speaker 1: was a pleasant surprise last year as a backup big.
Speaker 1: He was really gifted in the short role if you
Speaker 1: remember all those like nifty floaters and stuff he was making,
Speaker 1: But that was where he was having a lot of
Speaker 1: success last year. It has hurt to lose him. Um.
Speaker 1: The guy they signed to replace him, Moses Brown, is
Speaker 1: definitely more of a project, not as much of a
Speaker 1: dependable backup center. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: this is a team that went down with their small lineups.
Speaker 1: Every time the Chips were down, they didn't even play
Speaker 1: a big and then use zoo Bach off the bench.
Speaker 1: So at this point I don't really view it as
Speaker 1: that much of a loss Um. And then the big
Speaker 1: difference is gonna be Kwhi, Leonard and Paul George back
Speaker 1: in the lineup compared to UH last year. Now it's
Speaker 1: funny because there's been kind of a perception around the Clippers,
Speaker 1: around the Lakers as a team that's never healthy and
Speaker 1: Lebron James and a d are never healthy. And it's
Speaker 1: and it's kind of funny because the Clippers have gotten
Speaker 1: off the hook in that regard. And the truth of
Speaker 1: the matter is Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have had
Speaker 1: just as big of a problem staying healthy and being
Speaker 1: on the court as a Lakers guys have been and
Speaker 1: a lot of pressure. Just like there's pressure on Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis to take care of his body and be available
Speaker 1: this year, that same pressure is on Paul George and
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard. Looking at the depth chart at the guard position,
Speaker 1: and this is classic Clippers. They only have two guards
Speaker 1: in their rotation and maybe two bigs in their rotation
Speaker 1: and just a ship ton of wings. So at the
Speaker 1: guard position they have Reggie Jackson and John Wall on
Speaker 1: the wing, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Norman Powell, Marcus Morris,
Speaker 1: Luke Kennard, Robert Covington, Nick Bottom, a mere coffee, Terrence
Speaker 1: Man just stacked at that position. Once again, all the
Speaker 1: good teams in the league are going in that direction,
Speaker 1: unlike the Lakers, who are obsessed with bigs and guards.
Speaker 1: And then at the biggs they have Vika Zoo, Bats,
Speaker 1: Zubats and uh and Moses Brown, although I don't think
Speaker 1: Moses Brown is gonna play all that much um looking
Speaker 1: over at the offensive end of the ball. So, like
Speaker 1: I said before, this is the definition of modern basketball,
Speaker 1: and this is why I love watching this particular team.
Speaker 1: I dove into a bunch of footage from the season
Speaker 1: over the last couple of days because that's the best
Speaker 1: place for me to find anything that translates forward with
Speaker 1: this Clippers team, and they're just a joy to watch
Speaker 1: and it can be you know, it's it's kind of
Speaker 1: like Brooklyn where you're not enjoying the ball movement in
Speaker 1: terms of you know, running sets. I shouldn't even say
Speaker 1: ball movement. That you're not enjoying the player movement, but
Speaker 1: what you appreciate is the level of skill and the
Speaker 1: willingness to make the extra pass. When the Chips were
Speaker 1: down in playoffs, they did go small. They played Kawhi Leonard,
Speaker 1: Paul George, Nick Patum, Marcus Morris, and Reggie Jackson in
Speaker 1: large part to start big games and to end big games,
Speaker 1: and then they would just switch everything with that group,
Speaker 1: which we'll talk about on the defensive side of the ball,
Speaker 1: and then they would just drive and kick. When it
Speaker 1: came to sets, they had an even They were like
Speaker 1: an even more sparse version of the Nets. The Nets
Speaker 1: would run sets out of dead ball situations and they
Speaker 1: would run a bunch of stuff to get Kevin Durant
Speaker 1: the ball at the elbow. But for the most part
Speaker 1: they would dribble up the floor and just play spread,
Speaker 1: pick and roll and spread isolation right. Well, the Clippers
Speaker 1: are even more sparse than that. They would bring the
Speaker 1: ball up the floor and run isolation out of dead
Speaker 1: ball situations out of time out, So they still did
Speaker 1: occasionally run things a lot of stuff to get Kauai
Speaker 1: an advantage at the elbow, very similar to what Brooklyn
Speaker 1: would do with Kevin Durant. Big Shot Quais more of
Speaker 1: back to the bat player than uh than Kevin Durant is,
Speaker 1: but they both like to operate out of that mid
Speaker 1: range when they have an advantage. The big time that
Speaker 1: you would see them start to run sets was when
Speaker 1: Kauai would go to the bench and the and the
Speaker 1: way they kind of organized this in that season is
Speaker 1: Patrick Beverley would come in, although this year that will
Speaker 1: end up being John Wall and then they'd ride most
Speaker 1: of their offense on Paul George and Luke Kennard towards
Speaker 1: the end of the first quarter, started the second quarter,
Speaker 1: and then they would start to run some more stuff.
Speaker 1: Still a lot of isolation, still a lot of just
Speaker 1: dribble up and play basketball, but definitely more frequent with
Speaker 1: the sets. They would run things like classic double screen
Speaker 1: actions for Kennard coming off to shoot on the catch
Speaker 1: they would run. They would put like Marcus Morris and
Speaker 1: zoobots on the two blocks and then have Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 1: or excuse me, Paul George and Luke Kennard stand directly
Speaker 1: under the basket and they kind of just mess around
Speaker 1: for a second, and then they both just spread off
Speaker 1: of the tooth the two screens and they pick which
Speaker 1: side they want to go, and Kennard would get good
Speaker 1: looks off that, Paul George would get good looks off that.
Speaker 1: That's designed to confuse you because you don't know which
Speaker 1: way they're going, so it's hard to set up your
Speaker 1: screening actions and things along those lines. But make no mistake,
Speaker 1: it's exceedingly rare that they run something. This is a
Speaker 1: brute force offense through and through five out, pick on
Speaker 1: your worst defender, drive and kick the basketball. And what's
Speaker 1: crazy is in that season they were third in offensive rating,
Speaker 1: and their offensive rating actually went up about two points
Speaker 1: per one possession in the playoffs. That's the value of
Speaker 1: brute force. In the regular season, you're not gonna get
Speaker 1: as much easy stuff. You're not gonna get layups and
Speaker 1: wide open shots out of your set often the way
Speaker 1: that you do during the playoffs. But during the playoffs,
Speaker 1: most of those sets cease to function anyway because of
Speaker 1: scouting in the way that teams can get in front
Speaker 1: of your sets. So if you can attack matchups and
Speaker 1: consistently generate advantages with your best players, that is actually
Speaker 1: the best way to go in the playoffs. With exception
Speaker 1: of a small handful of teams like the Warriors who
Speaker 1: have succeeded in that regard or the Miami Heat who
Speaker 1: have succeeded in that regard, But for the most part,
Speaker 1: that brute force offense is the most effective. In the
Speaker 1: NBA playoffs. They were eight in isolation efficiency in one
Speaker 1: excuse me, frequency, ninth in efficiency. Kauai was a little
Speaker 1: bit down that year zero point nine four points per possession,
Speaker 1: which was in the sixty five percentile. Paul George was
Speaker 1: awesome one point zero seven points per isolation possession eighty
Speaker 1: six percentile. Reggie Jackson was awesome s percentile one point
Speaker 1: one three points per possession. They were ninth and can
Speaker 1: roll efficiency. You see them run a lot of pick
Speaker 1: and roll with zoobots, but the vast majority of their
Speaker 1: ball screens are designed to get switches. So like what
Speaker 1: you'll see a lot of times down the floor, and
Speaker 1: they were doing this relentlessly against the Mavericks and the Jazz.
Speaker 1: But like they they have Paul George bring the ball
Speaker 1: up the floor and just have Marcus Morris come up
Speaker 1: and set a ball screen and Gobert with switch because
Speaker 1: and there's a couple of different things, like if you
Speaker 1: Gobert doesn't want to switch that he wants to run
Speaker 1: a drop coverage, right. But one of the easiest ways
Speaker 1: is a ball handler to force the switch is to
Speaker 1: take aggressive lateral dribbles. So for instance, if you come
Speaker 1: off the ball screen and you work slowly, it's going
Speaker 1: to allow them to run their drop coverage. But what
Speaker 1: Paul George and Kawhi Islander do really well. Is Oreggie
Speaker 1: Jackson does this as well. That sometimes forced the switch
Speaker 1: when the ball screen comes. Rather than trying to do anything,
Speaker 1: they'll just take two or three really quick dribble side
Speaker 1: to side, which basically forces Rudy Gobert or whoever is
Speaker 1: the screen defender to run out on you, because otherwise
Speaker 1: you're just gonna shoot a wide open three. It's an
Speaker 1: easy way to force a switch in a pick and
Speaker 1: roll situation. And then a lot of times, especially in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, refs just let a lot of contact go
Speaker 1: on those screens, so you'll see like Marcus Morris almost
Speaker 1: like hug you know, Kauai's defender, whoever it is, because
Speaker 1: the switch is coming and they just kind of let
Speaker 1: them play that way. Um, But for the most part,
Speaker 1: that's how they run their ball screens. They're not running
Speaker 1: ball screens to roll to the rim and hit pocket passes.
Speaker 1: They will only do that in the bench lineups when
Speaker 1: they have Zoombak out there and the and the teams
Speaker 1: are running drop coverage. The second the second biggest area
Speaker 1: where they attack you is in post ups. They were
Speaker 1: actually fifth in post up frequency, seventh in post up efficiency,
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard, Zobots, and uh Marcus Morris, We're all in
Speaker 1: the seventy seven percentile or better as post up players.
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard averaged an outrageous one point one two points
Speaker 1: per possession out of the post in campaign, I wanted
Speaker 1: to spend a couple of minutes talking about Kawhi Leonard's
Speaker 1: fade away, and I did this in the player rankings,
Speaker 1: but I wanted to do it again for the people
Speaker 1: who didn't hear that. You know, I think Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 1: is the perfect player to watch for post scoring from
Speaker 1: the wing, and the main reason why is he has
Speaker 1: turned what is difficult shots for most people into effishing
Speaker 1: shots by relying on his strength rather than his athleticism.
Speaker 1: So a lot of players around the league, even all
Speaker 1: time greats like Michael Jordan's, would generate most of their
Speaker 1: separation on fade aways by elevating. And what I'm talking
Speaker 1: about here is back to the basket. Let's say I'm
Speaker 1: on the left block, I'm dribbling the ball with my
Speaker 1: left hand, the defenders on my back side, and I'm
Speaker 1: either going to turn over my left shoulder to shoot
Speaker 1: the fade away or I'm going to turn over my
Speaker 1: right shoulder to shoot the fade away, and I might
Speaker 1: fake one way or the other before going the other way.
Speaker 1: It might be immediately on the catch, it might be
Speaker 1: after a couple of dribbles. That that's the general post
Speaker 1: fade away, right. It's Kwie Leonard's bread and butter. The
Speaker 1: way that Kawhi Leonard does it though, that makes him
Speaker 1: unique from the rest of the league is he generates
Speaker 1: his separation by plowing into your chest with his shoulders.
Speaker 1: So he's gonna hit you with a really hard pound
Speaker 1: dribble and try to cave your chest in with that
Speaker 1: right shoulder, and then when he turns around in fades,
Speaker 1: he'll try to go straight up and down rather than
Speaker 1: fading as much. A lot of players won't initiate contact
Speaker 1: and will rather just fade a great distance with their athleticism.
Speaker 1: The hard part there is you really have to get
Speaker 1: your legs into that shot, and if you don't, you'll
Speaker 1: leave it short. You'll miss that shot. And so what
Speaker 1: the advantage there for Kauai is he's doing the physical
Speaker 1: labor of the shot in the backdown and then the
Speaker 1: actual jumper itself is a nice, easy wide open ten
Speaker 1: to fifteen foot are going mostly straight up and down,
Speaker 1: and he gets that shot with his strength. It's a
Speaker 1: great lesson for big wings. If you're a big wing,
Speaker 1: if you're between six four and six eight and you
Speaker 1: want to put work out of the post a little bit,
Speaker 1: that's a great way to get to your shot. Initiate
Speaker 1: con tacked first, then turn around in fade. The Clippers
Speaker 1: were the best spot up team in one by a mile.
Speaker 1: They averaged one point to four points per spot up possession.
Speaker 1: Second place was Brooklyn at one point one two, so
Speaker 1: twelve points better per one possessions. This is the value
Speaker 1: of five out basketball. Yes, the Clippers have great shooters,
Speaker 1: Yes the Clippers have guys that can attack close outs
Speaker 1: and extend the advantage. But by playing five out in
Speaker 1: building a culture with that group of guys who are
Speaker 1: willing to if they have the basketball, create the advantage,
Speaker 1: if they get the basketball to extend the advantage, and
Speaker 1: then having shooters at the end that can finish plays,
Speaker 1: being willing to make the extra pass to get a
Speaker 1: great shot. That is generating higher quality spot up possessions
Speaker 1: than anybody else in the league. It's not just talent
Speaker 1: it's the quality of spot up possessions they're getting when
Speaker 1: defenses get in rotation. Even the very best defenses in
Speaker 1: rotation will eventually leave something open. You might have to
Speaker 1: swing it three times, you might have to drive and
Speaker 1: kick four or five times on a possession. It's going
Speaker 1: to take a little bit of work. But if you
Speaker 1: continue to drive and kick and force the defense into rotation,
Speaker 1: eventually their slowest player will miss an assignment and somebody
Speaker 1: will get an open shot. The Clippers the that's the
Speaker 1: big difference between them and the Brooklyn Nets. With the
Speaker 1: Brooklyn Nets, it's a lot of Kevin Durant and and
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving looking for their own shot. The Clippers system, yes,
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard looks for his own shot in isolation a lot,
Speaker 1: but so much of it is an equal opportunity drive
Speaker 1: and kick offense. Everyone is in a rhythm, everyone feels
Speaker 1: comfortable with the basketball, and as a result, they get
Speaker 1: really high quality spot up possessions and they knock them down.
Speaker 1: That particular type of offense is super effective because it's
Speaker 1: impossible to scheme against. There's no scheme for five out
Speaker 1: driving kick. There's no defensive magical trick you either have
Speaker 1: to help on those drives or you let them get
Speaker 1: to the basket, and if they get to the basket,
Speaker 1: they're gonna make layups. The only way to stop a
Speaker 1: five out driving kick offense is to contain on the perimeter.
Speaker 1: It's to sit in a defensive stance and to not
Speaker 1: allow that initial dribble penetration. That's why I always talk
Speaker 1: about how dribble contain is quickly becoming one of the
Speaker 1: most important skills in the league. But the reality is
Speaker 1: that when you do that, it's extremely difficult under any
Speaker 1: circumstances because they're gonna find a matchup even if you
Speaker 1: even if you were playing a team like the Clippers
Speaker 1: and you were running five out, as long as you like,
Speaker 1: you're quicker, guys can find their way onto Marcus Morris
Speaker 1: and try to drive by him, or you're bigger, guys
Speaker 1: can try to find their way under Reggie Jackson and
Speaker 1: try to attack him in the post. You'll find a way.
Speaker 1: There is always a little bit of a weak link
Speaker 1: somewhere on the floor for every one of the thirty
Speaker 1: teams in the league, and that's what makes the Clippers
Speaker 1: so good. They are relentless in finding the right guy
Speaker 1: and attacking him. That is scheme proof and that's why
Speaker 1: it translates well to the playoffs. You can't scout your
Speaker 1: way around it. The only way to stop it is
Speaker 1: drib will contain and if you don't have the personnel
Speaker 1: to do it, you will not be able to stop them.
Speaker 1: That's why they averaged over a hundred and nineteen points
Speaker 1: per one possessions in playoffs, or a bunch of those
Speaker 1: games didn't even have Kawhi Leonard involved. It is the
Speaker 1: strength of modern offense and how hard it is to guard,
Speaker 1: especially in a playoffs setting. Um. The downsides there's you
Speaker 1: have to have the right personnel. So, like I said,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be able to run that with a team
Speaker 1: like the Lakers, and it requires buy and you've got
Speaker 1: to have guys willing to make the extra pass. Your
Speaker 1: initial creators have to understand that it's not just them
Speaker 1: driving into the basket and scoring a lot of the possessions.
Speaker 1: It's just their job to draw the help defender and
Speaker 1: get the get the train move in where they're attacking
Speaker 1: the closeouts, so moving on to the defensive end of
Speaker 1: the floor. Um, So they switch everything except for when
Speaker 1: ZoomBox is on the floor are and they always went
Speaker 1: small when the chips were down. So we're gonna kind
Speaker 1: of focus on switching, and we talked drop coverage at
Speaker 1: length in the other videos in this series. There are
Speaker 1: a bunch of specific values that come with switching. First
Speaker 1: of all, stagnation. It throws everybody out of rhythm and
Speaker 1: it stops other teams sets because it doesn't matter what
Speaker 1: kind of screening action you're running. If a good switching
Speaker 1: team is communicating switches and getting out in front of it,
Speaker 1: nothing will be open. That will turn you into an
Speaker 1: isolation team that stagnates a lot of teams around the league,
Speaker 1: even great teams. The Golden State Warriors in two thousand
Speaker 1: eighteen were stagnated by the Houston Rockets, and it required
Speaker 1: excellent isolation play from Steph Curry and Kevin Durant to
Speaker 1: overcome it. That's the value of a really good switching defense.
Speaker 1: It lessons physical wear and tear of navigating screens. It's
Speaker 1: hard physically to just force your way through all these huge,
Speaker 1: strong forwards who are setting screens all over the floor.
Speaker 1: If you're switching those screens, it offsets that physical wear
Speaker 1: and tear into ment old focus, and as long as
Speaker 1: you pay attention, you communicate well, and you're practiced enough
Speaker 1: to where you know when to switch and what to do,
Speaker 1: you can get in front of that stuff without having
Speaker 1: to hurt yourself physically. Um with a team like the Clippers,
Speaker 1: when you when you get them to devolve into an
Speaker 1: isolation attack, they just don't have any good options to attack.
Speaker 1: So like, let's say you're in a fourth quarter Eastern
Speaker 1: Conference excuse me, Western Conference semifinals, game six, and there's
Speaker 1: six minutes left and they're switching everything, and they've got
Speaker 1: Marcus Morris, you know, Reggie Jackson, Nick patun Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 1: or Paul George or let's say they put in Norman
Speaker 1: Powell for Marcus Morris or I think they need to
Speaker 1: keep more Morris out there for size, But say they
Speaker 1: put him in there for Nick Patum. Okay, who are
Speaker 1: you gonna attack? Where's the good match up? Like I've
Speaker 1: watched lots of footage of the Utah Jazz and the
Speaker 1: Dallas Mavericks attacking Reggie jacks and in post ups, and
Speaker 1: it's not like they were just barbecuing him. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: got some good stuff sometimes. Yeah, he's small and he's
Speaker 1: gonna give some ground, but Reggie fights. He's he's a
Speaker 1: good switch defender. Marcus Morris. Yeah, he's a little bit
Speaker 1: slow footed. You can beat him off the dribble sometimes,
Speaker 1: but it's not it's not easy. And and if you
Speaker 1: have to isolate Marcus Morrison Reggie Jackson for six minutes straight,
Speaker 1: I like my chances on the other end of the
Speaker 1: floor going to work with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George,
Speaker 1: probably getting better matchups than you're getting now getting there
Speaker 1: are downsides. You need to have the right personnel. A
Speaker 1: lot of teams don't have the personnel to switch. It
Speaker 1: requires a lot of practice and focus. There are bad
Speaker 1: switching teams out there that botch switches all the time.
Speaker 1: The Brooklyn Nets are not a good switching team, for instance.
Speaker 1: But if you have the right personnel like the Clippers do,
Speaker 1: and you're bought in and you do it right, it
Speaker 1: can be a damn effective defense. Their metrics in and
Speaker 1: they were eighth in defensive rating, which is a little
Speaker 1: bit below their potential. They defended better in the playoffs
Speaker 1: and they will be a better defensive team. I believe
Speaker 1: this year they're deeper and they're more athletic. They were
Speaker 1: ninth in defending the three. They were fifth in defensive rebounding.
Speaker 1: Now this is this is the key difference. Uh, this
Speaker 1: is the key thing I wanted to talk about as
Speaker 1: it pertains the switching defenses. So many coaches are reticent
Speaker 1: to use the switching defense because they're terrified of giving
Speaker 1: up rebounding mismatches or post mismatches, but mainly rebounding mismatches. Like, Okay,
Speaker 1: you switch your biggest out on the guard on the perimeter.
Speaker 1: He forced him into a tough step back jumper and
Speaker 1: he misses. Okay, good, your defense did a job. But
Speaker 1: their center now has your point guard pinned under the
Speaker 1: basket gets an offensive rebound put back. I get why
Speaker 1: that's frustrating, but this team was fifth in defensive rebounding
Speaker 1: because size doesn't matter as much as you think. First
Speaker 1: of all, there are more long rebounds than ever before
Speaker 1: because of all the long jump shots. So the big
Speaker 1: guys around the rebound around the basket are getting few
Speaker 1: of rebounds, and it's become more important than ever to
Speaker 1: have your guards and your wings crashing the glass. And
Speaker 1: most importantly, Tyler has them coached up. Well, they're boxing out,
Speaker 1: they're crashing the glass. That is allowing them to get
Speaker 1: those to secure those rebounds despite their size. Mismatches a
Speaker 1: couple of areas. So again, the strength of their the
Speaker 1: strength of their defense is the defensive rebound extremely well,
Speaker 1: meaning they end possessions. They defend the three point line
Speaker 1: very well, meaning they take away the second most efficient
Speaker 1: shot in basketball. They're also seventh in opponents assists, means
Speaker 1: they stagnate teams and that disrupts the rhythm of the opponent.
Speaker 1: A couple of areas of opportunity. They were seventeenth and
Speaker 1: transition defense according to cleaning the glass. That should be
Speaker 1: better given the amount of athletes that they have. They're
Speaker 1: also nineteenth enforcing turnovers. That should be better considering the
Speaker 1: types of defensive talent that they have on the floor. Um,
Speaker 1: but they do all those other things really well. They
Speaker 1: also don't fail too much. They were leventh and free
Speaker 1: throw attempts allowed. So a couple of areas of opportunity.
Speaker 1: This is a very good defense. All right, what's the
Speaker 1: best case scenario. The best case scenarios they win the title.
Speaker 1: I think this is the biggest threat to the Warriors.
Speaker 1: They can take them out of their sets by switching
Speaker 1: everything kind of similar to the two thousand eight team
Speaker 1: Rockets did and run turn them into a isolation team.
Speaker 1: They won't run that stupid drop coverage the way that
Speaker 1: Boston did that got Steph Curry all those open jump
Speaker 1: shots at the top of the key. They won't play
Speaker 1: bigs that Steph can attack in iso. Steph was one
Speaker 1: of the most efficient isolation players in basketball this year,
Speaker 1: averaging one point two points per isolation possession, but his
Speaker 1: volume was extraordinarily low because he's very picky. He only
Speaker 1: did it about once per game in the regular season,
Speaker 1: and the main reason why there is he's very picky.
Speaker 1: He typically will only attack in isolation when he gets
Speaker 1: biggs on switches. That doesn't mean he's not capable of
Speaker 1: attacking other players. He can. He's just less efficient when
Speaker 1: he's attacking great defensive players in isolation, so is everyone
Speaker 1: else in the league. Kawhi Leonard was in like in
Speaker 1: the nineties for offensive writing and isolations in kwhilelands a
Speaker 1: great isolation player, he's just attacking better defensive players more
Speaker 1: frequently in isolation. But they don't have bigs for Steff
Speaker 1: to attack except for in small pockets of the game
Speaker 1: when Zoobok is out there, so it will force Steff
Speaker 1: to run isolation against better defensive players they are, They're
Speaker 1: very difficult matchup for them. They have the on the
Speaker 1: other end of the floor, they have the ability to
Speaker 1: punish the Warriors back court with better versions of Tatum
Speaker 1: and Brown. All those offensive frustrations we had with Tatum
Speaker 1: and Brown, with their inability to pass the basketball, with
Speaker 1: their inability to handle the basketball without turning it over,
Speaker 1: their unwillingness to make that extra pass. That's not gonna
Speaker 1: happen with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. We talked about
Speaker 1: that earlier. That's the strength of this team. They move
Speaker 1: the basketball. They generate better spot up opportunities than anybody
Speaker 1: in the league. This is a smarter team with more
Speaker 1: ball handling than the Boston Celtics that will run a
Speaker 1: better defensive scheme. Their defensive personnel is not as good
Speaker 1: as Boston's, but they are smarter on the defensive vent
Speaker 1: in my opinion. Now, to be clear, I would pick
Speaker 1: the Warriors in that series, but I'm saying the Clippers
Speaker 1: are their biggest threat and I'm explaining why they're gonna
Speaker 1: switch everything. They're gonna stagnate the game. They're gonna attack
Speaker 1: your weakest defensive links relentlessly, and if they stay healthy,
Speaker 1: they absolutely are a threat to win the title. Their
Speaker 1: worst case scenario pretty basic, Paul George and Kwhilander get hurt,
Speaker 1: in which case they will lose in the first round
Speaker 1: or in the playing tournament. The biggest X factor for
Speaker 1: this team is John wall So John Wallen is prime.
Speaker 1: Before the injury, was an outstanding driving kick player, almost
Speaker 1: impossible to stop from getting to the rim and grade
Speaker 1: spraying out to three point shooters. That makes him, excuse me,
Speaker 1: that makes him a very organic and natural fit with
Speaker 1: his Clippers team. If he is capable still excuse me
Speaker 1: of doing of what he did before his injury, He's
Speaker 1: gonna be a devastating weapon in his Clippers system. He
Speaker 1: also caught and shot the ball pretty well in Houston
Speaker 1: last year or the year before last, when he was
Speaker 1: actually playing, he was thirty eight on catching shoot threes
Speaker 1: and then on the defensive end of the floor. He's
Speaker 1: a short, stout athlete. Not short, you know, um relative
Speaker 1: to guards, but short relative to the wings around the league.
Speaker 1: But he's strong as a low center of gravity, can
Speaker 1: slide his feet well. He should hold up well in
Speaker 1: their switching scheme, and he's got a big swing between
Speaker 1: him potentially being useless or him potentially being a real
Speaker 1: weapon for this team. That's what makes him the X
Speaker 1: factor in my opinion. If John Wall gives you eight
Speaker 1: percent of what he was before the injury, this suddenly
Speaker 1: becomes possibly the most talented team in the league. So
Speaker 1: kind of wrap all this up, This is one of
Speaker 1: my favorite teams to watch. They have at least almost
Speaker 1: as much talent as the top teams in the league,
Speaker 1: if not as much, and if John wallpans out, they
Speaker 1: could have more talent than the rest of the teams
Speaker 1: in the league. They are extremely modern in their approach
Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor, and they're gonna be
Speaker 1: a huge pain in the ask to knock out of
Speaker 1: the playoffs. That absolutely makes them a top tier contender.
Speaker 1: I think they're the biggest threat to the Warriors out West,
Speaker 1: and they're absolutely capable of winning the title. Right now,
Speaker 1: I think they are the fourth most capable team at
Speaker 1: this point in the season. All right, guys, that is
Speaker 1: all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate
Speaker 1: your support and I will see you next time. The
Speaker 1: volume