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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, Well, goome to DOUP tonight. You're

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Speaker 1: at the volume heavy Monday, everybody. Hope all of you

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Speaker 1: guys had an incredible weekend. Got a jampack show for

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Speaker 1: you guys today. We're gonna do a deep dive into

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Speaker 1: Timberwolves Thunder, our main national TV game from yesterday. And

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Speaker 1: then at the tail end of the show, because we

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Speaker 1: haven't done a mail bag in a couple of weeks,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna do a mini mail bag. I've got five

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Speaker 1: questions that we're gonna hit. We're gonna talk some Spurs,

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Speaker 1: We're gonna talk a little bit of follow up stuff

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Speaker 1: on some Lakers, some big picture of NBA stuff. Then

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Speaker 1: we'll get out of here today. You guys know the job.

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Speaker 1: Before we get started. To subscribe to Oops to Date

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Speaker 1: YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos.

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Speaker 1: Make sure you like this video and sign up for

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Speaker 1: post notifications. It helps us a lot. And then for

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Speaker 1: future mail bags, drop your questions in our full episodes

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Speaker 1: on YouTube in the comments, right mail bag colon, write

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Speaker 1: your question that helps us sort through them in the

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Speaker 1: comments and we'll get to them in mail bags throughout

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Speaker 1: the rest of the way. Also, we're not doing power

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Speaker 1: rankings because we're doing contender rankings on Wednesdays, so we're

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Speaker 1: gonna be shifting our gears more towards the playoff picture anyway,

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Speaker 1: and we're gonna be doing a ranking of the teams

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Speaker 1: on Wednesday, So that's why we're not doing a power

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Speaker 1: rankings video today. All right, let's take into Timberwolves Thunder.

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Speaker 1: So for the first time in this entire season, Shake

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Speaker 1: Gildes Alexander hit less than a third of his shots.

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Speaker 1: Shay has been one of the most consistent players in

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Speaker 1: the league this year. Obviously, you guys know about the

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Speaker 1: twenty point streak where he just recently passed Wilt. He

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Speaker 1: kept that alive with a ten point fourth quarter yesterday

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Speaker 1: against the Timberwolves. But one of the big reasons why

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Speaker 1: Shay has a ridiculous sixty seven percent through shooting a

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Speaker 1: percentage this season which is off the charts, is that

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Speaker 1: he just doesn't have bad games. And again, that sixty

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Speaker 1: seven percent is insane. To give you an idea, the

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Speaker 1: last time we had a high volume guard hit that

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Speaker 1: number was literally Steph Curry in twenty sixteen. So we

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Speaker 1: are in really rarefied air there that was when Steph

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Speaker 1: won unanimous MVP, and you could argue Sha should unanimous

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Speaker 1: MVP this season. We'll see how that goes when we

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Speaker 1: get to the end of the season. But one of

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Speaker 1: the biggest reasons why Shaye has that true shooting percentage

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Speaker 1: is he's hit at least fifty percent of his shots

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Speaker 1: in forty one of the fifty six games he's played

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Speaker 1: this season. That's seventy three percent of the time. First

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Speaker 1: in perspective, even Jokic, who's a center who takes the

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Speaker 1: majority of his shots right at the front of the rim,

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Speaker 1: hits fifty percent of his shots seventy eight percent of

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Speaker 1: the time. So Shay is near Yokich level in his

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Speaker 1: night to night consistency with his efficiency. And he was

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Speaker 1: awful against the Timberwolves, especially in that first half. It

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Speaker 1: was honestly strange to watch, because I want to give

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Speaker 1: the Timberwolves credit. They did defend him well. Anthony Edwards

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Speaker 1: in particular, logged a half dozen or so excellent ISO

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Speaker 1: reps against him. Lots of different guys had great contests

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Speaker 1: on his pull ups or managed to twist his feet

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Speaker 1: up on one of his moves to disrupt his base,

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Speaker 1: so he didn't get as much lyft as he usually got.

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Speaker 1: He got blocked at the rim a couple of times.

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Speaker 1: But I also thought Shaye was just playing a bad game.

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Speaker 1: He was forcing the issue and taking some bad shots.

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Speaker 1: It was just bizarre watching Shaye play a bad game,

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Speaker 1: because he just never plays bad games. To his credit,

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Speaker 1: I will say. And just like we talked about in

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Speaker 1: the Saturday night show, for those of you guys who

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Speaker 1: missed it, we covered Lakers Nuggets in an episode that

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Speaker 1: went out very late on Saturday nights. You can find

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Speaker 1: that a little bit further back on our feed if

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Speaker 1: you want to get the reaction to that game. But

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Speaker 1: in that show, I was talking about how with Luca

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Speaker 1: like Luca, because Lucas had just a really bad second

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Speaker 1: half in that particular game. It's like, you just gotta

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Speaker 1: stay with it. You gotta find a way to make

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Speaker 1: a play, and he found a way to make some

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Speaker 1: big plays in that second half. I don't care much

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Speaker 1: for the ten fourth quarter points that was after the

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Speaker 1: game was basically out of reach. But in that third

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Speaker 1: quarter things were teetering, the Wolves were going on a

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Speaker 1: little bit of a run. They'd push it out to

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Speaker 1: I think about nine and they just looked like the

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Speaker 1: much more comfortable and confident team on both ends of

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Speaker 1: the floor. It was teetering. It looked like it could

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Speaker 1: go either way. At that point, it could have gone

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Speaker 1: the other one and Minnesota could have gone out by

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Speaker 1: fifteen and they could have got out of there with

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Speaker 1: the win. In that run, Shaye made two big time

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Speaker 1: help side rotations at the rim, one on a lob

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Speaker 1: to go baar and one on a drop off where

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Speaker 1: he blew up what should have been dunks, and they

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Speaker 1: were a big part of what sparked Okac getting back

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Speaker 1: into that game. We talked about this about a week

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Speaker 1: or two ago, but Shay has had some real defensive

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Speaker 1: utility as a secondary rim protector, and it's because he

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Speaker 1: has long arms. We talked about this. Secondary rim protection

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Speaker 1: is very different than primary rimp protection. Primary rim protection

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Speaker 1: usually you're the first line of defense. Usually the guys

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Speaker 1: come and screaming downhill at you, and you're making a play.

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Speaker 1: But you can get him to drop the ball off,

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Speaker 1: or you can get him to miss a layup, and

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Speaker 1: then the big is out of the play now, so

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Speaker 1: somebody else has to come over to either defend that

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Speaker 1: drop off or to defend an offensive rebound right, and

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Speaker 1: so these two examples with Shae were drop offs or lobs.

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Speaker 1: But that secondary rim protection. One of the reasons why

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Speaker 1: Shae is a smaller guard is able to you have

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Speaker 1: success there is because he's got really good length for

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Speaker 1: the position. Right. So a lot of the secondary rimp

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Speaker 1: protection sequences are more based on like flat footed vertical

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Speaker 1: leaping rather than like a running start kind of thing. Right, Like,

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Speaker 1: if Gobart gets a pocket pass, catches it at the

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Speaker 1: semi circle and he's screaming down hill and he takes

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Speaker 1: off two hands, two feet, Shaye's not blocking that, right.

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Speaker 1: But if go Bear is in a straight vert right

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Speaker 1: under the basket, Shay is actually physically capable of making

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Speaker 1: a play there. That secondary rimp protection secondary rimprotection tends

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Speaker 1: to be more of that vertical leaping kind of thing.

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Speaker 1: But I was impressed. Again, Like I thought, Shaye was

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Speaker 1: mostly terrible in that game. And I'm not gonna be

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Speaker 1: too hard on Shae because he just doesn't have bad

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Speaker 1: games for the most part. It's not like this has

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Speaker 1: been a recurring issue, but let's call it what it is.

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Speaker 1: He had a terrible game, but he kept his composure

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Speaker 1: and made a couple of big plays in that third

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Speaker 1: quarter that helped his team on the defensive end of

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Speaker 1: the floor. The defense was obviously the star of the game,

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Speaker 1: particularly their ability to force turnovers. Wallace, Alice Crusoe, aj Mitchell,

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Speaker 1: shaikofs Alexander and Chet Holmgren all had multiple steals in

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Speaker 1: this game. They had thirteen steals just between those five guys.

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Speaker 1: As a team, the thunder Force twenty five turnovers and

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Speaker 1: scored twenty nine points off of them. Running out the

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Speaker 1: other way, like, if you want to ask, how does

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Speaker 1: a team have as much success as they did in

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Speaker 1: this game comfortably beating a championship contending level team in

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Speaker 1: Minnesota despite your superstar being unable to make a shot

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Speaker 1: and having a bad floor game. You'd do it by

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Speaker 1: dominating the margins. They were twenty to seven and second

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Speaker 1: chance points and twenty five to seven in points off

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Speaker 1: of turnovers. That literally flipped the entire game. Alex Crusoe

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Speaker 1: had a cool quote at the end of the third quarter.

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Speaker 1: He was getting interviewed and he elaborated about how like

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Speaker 1: he was asked like, hey, Julius Randalls having success, what

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Speaker 1: do you guys got to do? And Alex was talking

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Speaker 1: about the idea of making them uncomfortable. It's such a

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Speaker 1: simple concept, but it makes all the difference. How does

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Speaker 1: a defense force turnovers? You'll sometimes just take the ball

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Speaker 1: away from the perimeter the primary ball handler, right Like,

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Speaker 1: Sometimes that'll happen, but it's not the most common thing

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Speaker 1: in the world. Right, Like Cason Wallace ripped Anthony Edwards

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Speaker 1: in the back court, got to steal, went out and

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Speaker 1: got a lay up. But that's generally rare. Why Because

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Speaker 1: NBA ball handlers are really talented, They're usually not going

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Speaker 1: to lose the ball there. For the most part. Your

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Speaker 1: goal with ball pressure is to just try to speed

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Speaker 1: up the ball handler, cause him to rush a little

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Speaker 1: bit right from there behind him. You want to have aggression, right,

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Speaker 1: So maybe you send a double team on a drive.

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Speaker 1: Maybe you are denying swing passes or denying the easy

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Speaker 1: reads that are available when high post guys are trying

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Speaker 1: to catch the ball, like around the elbow, three quarter front.

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Speaker 1: Get around and make it so that there's not much

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Speaker 1: of a passing angle. You create scenarios where there are openings,

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Speaker 1: but the offense has to execute perfectly in order to

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Speaker 1: beat you. Right, a pass to or three quarter front

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Speaker 1: is tough if they are denying the first reads and

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Speaker 1: sending help on a drive a skip pass is tough

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Speaker 1: doing all that, while handling ball pressure is tough. That's

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Speaker 1: the point, like right, Like, it's really hard to execute

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Speaker 1: perfectly when you're rushed. So by getting up into the

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Speaker 1: basketball to make the guy uncomfortable and by taking away

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Speaker 1: the easy reads, you make the offense be extremely disciplined.

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Speaker 1: They have to be perfect, and that's difficult to do

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Speaker 1: when you are rushed. That's why you get up into

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Speaker 1: the basketball, even in just one on one situation. So

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Speaker 1: forget about like team defense like that. Let's say, hey,

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Speaker 1: we don't want to help off because this guy can

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Speaker 1: really shoot, or we're having a trouble with the role

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Speaker 1: man or whatever it is. That situation becomes even statically

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Speaker 1: in a one on one situation, and it's still about

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Speaker 1: making them uncomfortable. If you allow a player who behind

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Speaker 1: the scenes is doing workouts or he's chaining together dribble

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Speaker 1: combinations and hitting tough shots off the dribble, and you

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Speaker 1: allow him to do that in an NBA game, he's

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Speaker 1: going to make them. You have to get up underneath

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Speaker 1: them to make them uncomfortable to make it so that

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Speaker 1: they don't feel like they're just in a groove in

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Speaker 1: the gym by themselves, but rather they're in more of

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Speaker 1: a rock fight type of environment. That's why it's so important.

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Speaker 1: It's one of the defining characteristics of this Thunder team.

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Speaker 1: And then they add on to it with very specific

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Speaker 1: personnel straits that make it exceptionally hard to deal with,

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Speaker 1: like having a real rim protector in chet holmgrid right,

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Speaker 1: so you have real length at the rim, having a

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Speaker 1: ton of speed in rotation so that even when a

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Speaker 1: team does make their correct read, they can recover out

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Speaker 1: of it. Much of the time, outside of that second

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Speaker 1: quarter where Randall got going, okay, see, pretty much handled

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Speaker 1: Minnesota's offense. I'm super excited to tell you guys about

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Speaker 1: our new partnership with your Those of you guys who

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Speaker 1: are familiar with VIORI have noticed that I've been wearing

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Speaker 1: it on the show almost every day now for several years. Today,

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Speaker 1: I am wearing the Ponto Performance half Zip, one of

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Speaker 1: my favorites from them. It's straight up the most comfortable

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Speaker 1: hoodie that I've ever worn, but it's also super versatile.

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Speaker 1: It's something that looks very nice that I can wear

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Speaker 1: out when I'm running errands or going to get lunch

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Speaker 1: with my wife. But it's also like this super stretchy,

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Speaker 1: dry fit fabric that I can wear when I'm going

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Speaker 1: to play basketball. Here in Colorado, it's cold as heck,

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Speaker 1: and so sometimes I get up at seven o'clock in

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Speaker 1: the morning to go play basketball, and when I'm doing

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Speaker 1: my warm up, I want to have something on that

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Speaker 1: keeps me warm but that I can still move around in.

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Speaker 1: the offensive glass was huge, I mean again, twenty to

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Speaker 1: seven and second chance points. They got fifteen offensive rebounds.

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Speaker 1: They really kicked Minnesota's ass on The offensive glass started early.

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Speaker 1: Isaiah Hertenstein was just basically manhandling Rudy Gobert. Kind of

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Speaker 1: a weird Rudy Gobert game. We'll get to that in

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Speaker 1: a minute. And then from there the perimeter players just

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Speaker 1: guys just out hustling that speed, just out hustling Minnesota

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Speaker 1: to loose balls again. That bought Okay, see the margin

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Speaker 1: to survive a bad Shay game. You go into that

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Speaker 1: game and you go, hey, Shay's gonna have this type

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Speaker 1: of game. You think Minnesota's gonna win. Right, They bought

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Speaker 1: themselves a massive margin for error by controlling those two margins.

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Speaker 1: And then I thought the thunder just got enough offensive

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Speaker 1: juice down the line, right, Like I thought Chet was

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Speaker 1: amazing in this game. He poured in twenty one points,

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Speaker 1: did work on the offensive glass, hit a couple of

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Speaker 1: really nice like short pull up jump shot jump shots

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Speaker 1: against contests, like little ten footers that are really impressive

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Speaker 1: shots that I think are gonna help Oklahoma City in

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Speaker 1: the playoffs. Did some work as a rollman, did some

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Speaker 1: work in transition. Obviously, was great on defense. Just a

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Speaker 1: beautiful two way game from him. Isaiah Joe poured in

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Speaker 1: twenty Obviously, hit four threes, but he also got opened

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Speaker 1: on cuts a few times. He's actually sneaky, really good

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Speaker 1: at this give and go kind of thing, where like

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Speaker 1: he'll run towards the ball and he'll catch and'll pump

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Speaker 1: fake and then he'll pass the ball and just immediately

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Speaker 1: back cut. And he ended up getting a couple buckets

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Speaker 1: out of those in this game, and then Jared McCain, man,

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Speaker 1: he catches a heater in that second half really blows

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Speaker 1: the game open. He already has natural chemistry with Isaiah

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Speaker 1: Hartenstein is like a DHO partnership kind of thing. Hartenstein's

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Speaker 1: really good at those like Draymond passes right. We've seen

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Speaker 1: this with him with Steph for years, where like Steph

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Speaker 1: is sprinting off and then Draymond would like throw it

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Speaker 1: between the legs pass and then just rock the dude

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Speaker 1: with the screen or behind the back pass and just

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Speaker 1: rock the dude with the screen. Hartenstein was doing that

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Speaker 1: with Jared McCain in this game and helping him break

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Speaker 1: free and then McCain those shots, those are like extremely

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Speaker 1: difficult movement shooting shots where like he's sprinting full speed

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Speaker 1: into perfect footwork right, like he at one going left

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Speaker 1: and going right, and if slow him down, the one

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Speaker 1: going to his left right left, the one going to

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Speaker 1: his right left right, squaring up in mid air. That's

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Speaker 1: all textbook fundamental movement movement shooting footwork, but it's also

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Speaker 1: really difficult to do. It's really difficult when you're running

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Speaker 1: full speed from a like strength standpoint to stop yourself

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Speaker 1: on a dime and get straight up and down and

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Speaker 1: knock the shot down. Just really really impressive shot making

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Speaker 1: from Jared McCain. They blew it open and the Thunder

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Speaker 1: never looked back from there. Last note on the Thunder

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Speaker 1: before we move on, I can't say enough about how

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Speaker 1: important Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Crusoe are to this team. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: Sam Presty pulled off a really impressive rebuild the Paul

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Speaker 1: George trade to get Shae Ye's Alexander, all the gems

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Speaker 1: he found in the draft, the culture that him and

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Speaker 1: Mark dagnall have built in that organization, but they also,

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Speaker 1: like Sam Presty, absolutely nailed those two moves in the

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Speaker 1: summer of twenty twenty four for those two guys, and

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Speaker 1: they have just perfectly rounded out this team into a

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Speaker 1: perennial contender. Make that eight in a row now for

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Speaker 1: the Thunder as they ramp up for their title defense.

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Speaker 1: On the Timberwolves front, first of all, I have to

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Speaker 1: talk about this stuff. With their effort, the Wolves looked

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Speaker 1: like absolute garbage all week. I know the Lakers needed

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Speaker 1: a signature win, but when I talk about the Lakers

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Speaker 1: signature win, I'm really wins I'm looking at like the

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Speaker 1: next game and the Nuggets game. I watched that Wolves

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Speaker 1: game last Sunday against the Lakers, and I was appall

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Speaker 1: to how bad they looked. They turned around the next

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Speaker 1: night and gave one hundred and fifty points to the Clippers.

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Speaker 1: They might be the worst regular season effort and energy

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Speaker 1: team of any real serious contending team that I've ever seen.

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Speaker 1: The closest thing I can think of, because I was

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Speaker 1: thinking about this morning, like, can I remember a team

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Speaker 1: where they, like straight up weren't playing hard most of

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Speaker 1: the time. The twenty seventeen Calves was what I came

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Speaker 1: up with. I remember that entire season, people were talking

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Speaker 1: about the Calves like potentially going to be losing in

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Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference playoffs because of how mediocre they looked

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Speaker 1: all year. I never was really worried, and they were

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Speaker 1: never worried. But that's because nobody in the East was

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Speaker 1: capable of beating them. They knew Golden State was the

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Speaker 1: only team that they really had problems with, and they

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Speaker 1: were right. They mailed it in all regular season. And

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Speaker 1: if it wasn't for Avery Bradley hitting that little game

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Speaker 1: winner where we got a favorable bounce off the front

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Speaker 1: of the rim, they would have swept to the Eastern Conference.

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Speaker 1: This is not the twenty seventeen Eastern Conference. The West

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Speaker 1: is brutal. Oklahoma City's clearly better than them, and then

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Speaker 1: Denver La and San Antonio at least and maybe Houston

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Speaker 1: are all right there with you. You need to be

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Speaker 1: at your best for these matchups. And it deeply bothers

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Speaker 1: me how often the Timberwolves literally practice playing bad basketball.

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Speaker 1: They talk about, Oh, NBA teams don't practice, Yes they do.

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Speaker 1: That's what the eighty two is for two full length opportunities.

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Speaker 1: Obviously it has importance in the regular season standings, but

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Speaker 1: as we know, thanks to the playing, you can get

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Speaker 1: away with a lot of bad basketball in the regular

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Speaker 1: season and still make the playoffs. These are your practices.

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Speaker 1: And it just bothers me how much they practice playing poorly.

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Speaker 1: It feels like they're trying to cheat the process. And

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Speaker 1: you guys know how I am on Minnesota. I think

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Speaker 1: they have a real shot to win the whole thing.

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Speaker 1: Their talent levels off the charts, but there is a

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Speaker 1: process to becoming a championship team, a six month long

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Speaker 1: regular season practice, and I just wish that the Timberwolves

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Speaker 1: cared more about becoming the best version of themselves. It

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Speaker 1: keeps bringing me back to Chris Finch because I also

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Speaker 1: hate the way they play on offense. They don't play fast,

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Speaker 1: they don't play with pace, they don't play with verv

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Speaker 1: they don't move the basketball around, they don't move around

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Speaker 1: off the basketball. They rarely run organized offense. They rely

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Speaker 1: almost solely on the ability of their stars to break

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Speaker 1: the defense down off the bounce, which can lead to

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Speaker 1: some horribly ugly stretches of offense from them. Them rarely

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Speaker 1: playing hard and having such a rudimentary offense relative to

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Speaker 1: their talent, it reflects poorly on Finch. Now, it may

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Speaker 1: not all be Finch's fault. We've talked about this before.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes locker rooms just tune out their head coaches. Sometimes

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Speaker 1: you just need a change. But if the Wolves end

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Speaker 1: up losing in a first round or second round series

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Speaker 1: this year, I would seriously consider making a change a

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Speaker 1: head coach. Try to bring in a new voice, someone

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Speaker 1: that can get more consistent engagement out of them in

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Speaker 1: the regular season and that can help revamp this offense.

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Speaker 1: I thought Julius Randall was mostly great. That was a

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Speaker 1: bright spot in this game. I've talked about this before

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Speaker 1: with Oklahoma City, but if you're a big ball handler

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Speaker 1: that can handle and shoot and make basic passing reads,

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Speaker 1: you can have a lot of success against the Thunder

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Speaker 1: because they're kind of small and one of their bigs

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Speaker 1: is kind of thin. Julius was able to turn the

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Speaker 1: corner on sheet a couple times. Yesterday, I thought Julius

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Speaker 1: was more or less getting wherever he wanted on the floor. Today,

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Speaker 1: it's proof of concept in a lot of ways to me,

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Speaker 1: as I look at a potential Minnesota Oklahoma City matchup

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Speaker 1: in this year's playoffs, it really comes down to turnovers.

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Speaker 1: If their stars can keep getting to their spots, and

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Speaker 1: if they can read the floor well enough to make

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma City help or pay for helping, they can score

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Speaker 1: against these guys, and we know they can guard them.

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Speaker 1: Today it was another example of them having a pretty

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Speaker 1: solid half court defense game against Okay See. But if

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Speaker 1: they're turning the ball over constantly and they're getting killed

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00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,679
Speaker 1: on the offensive glass, they're getting demolished in the margins,

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Speaker 1: they're drawing dead in this matchup. But we've seen time

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Speaker 1: and time again and can get to the rim against

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Speaker 1: these guys. Julius Randall can get wherever he wants against

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Speaker 1: these guys. I was pretty disappointed in Ant's third quarter.

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Speaker 1: In particular, I thought the game was there for the taking.

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00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:14,840
Speaker 1: Shay was having his worst game in the season, Julius

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00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,200
Speaker 1: was playing really well. Ant had found some success over

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Speaker 1: the course of the first half, like getting to the rim,

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Speaker 1: hit a couple of jump shots. If he would have

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Speaker 1: had a great third quarter, the Wolves would have gone

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Speaker 1: up by fifteen and they probably would have won that game.

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Speaker 1: But instead, I thought Ant was brutally bad in that

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Speaker 1: third quarter, especially on offense, where he repeatedly missed easy reads,

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Speaker 1: forced the issue with some really really bad shots. Selection

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Speaker 1: Doris Burke correctly called that one in particular, where Julius Randall,

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Speaker 1: who's hot and his jump shot feels good, standing wide

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Speaker 1: open on the right wing, and Ant just forces his

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00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,280
Speaker 1: way down the lane. Again. With Ant, we all know

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Speaker 1: the talent level is absurd, but it's about him playing

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Speaker 1: mature basketball, reading the floor, making the right play more

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00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:07,400
Speaker 1: often than not. The clips about him, you know, postgame

405
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,280
Speaker 1: presser is talking about how him shooting is always the

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00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:13,959
Speaker 1: right decision. It's funny and it's endearing, and I do

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Speaker 1: want it to be aggressive. I think that his kind

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00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,840
Speaker 1: of like spectrum for what I consider to be a

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00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:21,600
Speaker 1: good shot for him is very different than it is

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Speaker 1: for most stars in the league. But it has to

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Speaker 1: be focused a little bit more, and I thought he

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Speaker 1: heard his team in that third quarter with the shot selection.

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Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert. Rudy's had a good season overall, but he

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Speaker 1: was incredibly frustrating in this game. He actually defended really well.

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Speaker 1: His ability to shut the rim off on most of

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Speaker 1: those sequences was causing problems for Oklahoma City. Had a

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Speaker 1: couple of like lingering switches where he helped to slow

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Speaker 1: down some shade drives too. I thought he was defending

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Speaker 1: really well, but he got his ass kicked on the

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Speaker 1: offensive glass seven rebounds. With how well Oklahoma City was crashing,

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Speaker 1: that's bad. And then he can't finish anything around the

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Speaker 1: rim him on drop offs and lobs, which has kind

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Speaker 1: of always been the case with Rudy, but he's been

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Speaker 1: better this season with that stuff, and it was dramatically

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Speaker 1: undercutting his defensive success in this game. I did think Iyo,

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00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,480
Speaker 1: to assume moved was a rare bright spot. He just

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00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:17,399
Speaker 1: came in and played with a lot of pace and speed,

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Speaker 1: which this team desperately needs when they're stuck in the mud.

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Speaker 1: Offensively the way they can get at times. I still

430
00:22:23,920 --> 00:22:26,720
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431
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Speaker 1: I'm super disappointed with how they've looked in the last

432
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Speaker 1: or Virginia. All right, before we get out of here today,

459
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:54,480
Speaker 1: we're going to do a mini mail bag. I've just

460
00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:58,359
Speaker 1: got five questions for you guys. A big part of

461
00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:01,359
Speaker 1: the Lakers' success this first question, A big part of

462
00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:04,280
Speaker 1: the Lakers' success in the playoffs has to be Lebron.

463
00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:08,280
Speaker 1: Of course, Luca has to be playoff Luca Reeves cannot

464
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:11,280
Speaker 1: be the playoff reeves of the last years. He has

465
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 1: to step up in the playoffs like he has this

466
00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:14,760
Speaker 1: year in the regular season, and the role players have

467
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:18,400
Speaker 1: to start in their roles. But Lebron is already looking

468
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,840
Speaker 1: gassed in a regular season game. He has to be

469
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,119
Speaker 1: at least eighty percent of the Lebron James we know

470
00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:27,399
Speaker 1: he has been previously in the playoffs. If he is

471
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,280
Speaker 1: gassed in a game against Denver at home by halftime,

472
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,240
Speaker 1: how will he play a seven game series against the

473
00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:37,080
Speaker 1: young Spurs in Oklahoma City? Very good question. I want

474
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,160
Speaker 1: to dive into this concept just a little bit, specifically

475
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,960
Speaker 1: the boxes that have to be checked in order for

476
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:46,400
Speaker 1: the Lakers to achieve their goals this year, which I think, honestly,

477
00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:48,520
Speaker 1: even if you ask the guys in the locker room

478
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,199
Speaker 1: on some truth serum, I think they just say like

479
00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 1: they want to have a competitive showing. They want to

480
00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,400
Speaker 1: look like a good playoff team, regardless of where they lose,

481
00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:57,800
Speaker 1: if they lose in the first round, second round, a

482
00:24:57,800 --> 00:24:59,800
Speaker 1: third round. They want to look like a good competitive

483
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:04,240
Speaker 1: play off team. They're checking lots of boxes along the way.

484
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,520
Speaker 1: Box one Luka danci Chess to play like an MVP

485
00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:10,400
Speaker 1: for the most part this year he has, but he's

486
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,760
Speaker 1: had some downstretches, particularly surrounding the Slovenia trip, which now

487
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:16,720
Speaker 1: we understand there was some backstory there, and then two

488
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,040
Speaker 1: hit this weird stretch surrounding the All Star break on

489
00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,400
Speaker 1: both ends basically early February early March ten games span

490
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:24,919
Speaker 1: where he hit thirty only twice out of ten games.

491
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,080
Speaker 1: But other than that, he's been pretty good. And I

492
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:29,200
Speaker 1: would say, especially over the last couple of weeks, he's

493
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:31,679
Speaker 1: been fantastic. And the big thing is is and I

494
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:33,239
Speaker 1: have Luca fans all the time that are like, well,

495
00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:35,920
Speaker 1: what about his numbers? It goes deeper than that. He's

496
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,280
Speaker 1: trimmed his turnovers down. He's been at just three turnovers

497
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:43,879
Speaker 1: a game since since coming back from his little brief

498
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:48,440
Speaker 1: hamstring scare. That's really impressive. He's cleaned up his turnovers

499
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,160
Speaker 1: from they were up to almost five at a point

500
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,600
Speaker 1: in the middle part of the season, right and then two.

501
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:56,800
Speaker 1: The three point shots been on for a long time,

502
00:25:57,320 --> 00:25:59,520
Speaker 1: so he was missing a lot of step back threes

503
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,600
Speaker 1: early in the which was sparking transition opportunities. He's cleaned

504
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:04,960
Speaker 1: that up. He's been like nails on his pull up

505
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:08,040
Speaker 1: three for a while now, and then three, He's been

506
00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:12,640
Speaker 1: playing really good defense ever since the UH ever since

507
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,119
Speaker 1: coming back from his hamstring injury. So like, this is

508
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:17,720
Speaker 1: the Luca that is capable of helping the Lakers reach

509
00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,679
Speaker 1: their goals. Two, you need Austin Reeves to be in

510
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 1: full rhythm. I I really think that the biggest part

511
00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:28,960
Speaker 1: that was missing from the Lakers during that couple of

512
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 1: months there where everyone was out on them, including myself

513
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,040
Speaker 1: and the conversation even surrounding Lebron and like his fit,

514
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 1: most of it came down to the fact that Reeves

515
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,359
Speaker 1: was just hurt and out of rhythm. Like this stretch

516
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,919
Speaker 1: right here, these last four games or five games from Austin,

517
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:48,359
Speaker 1: this is the first time since early December that Austin

518
00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:51,320
Speaker 1: Reeves has had consecutive twenty point games. So the first

519
00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:54,399
Speaker 1: time since early December that Austin Reeves has actually been

520
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:59,640
Speaker 1: healthy and in rhythm. And he just completely changes the

521
00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,119
Speaker 1: flow of the team offensively because he's one of the

522
00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:04,480
Speaker 1: few guys that can consistently get to the rim. Luca

523
00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:07,080
Speaker 1: doesn't get to the rim. He gets to the rim

524
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:08,680
Speaker 1: about half as often as he did a couple of

525
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,720
Speaker 1: years ago, So like Austin's ability to get to the

526
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:15,919
Speaker 1: rim is vitally important to this team. Austin being back

527
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:20,399
Speaker 1: and being in rhythm has made the team look substantially better.

528
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:25,359
Speaker 1: That's the second box checked, right. That one of the

529
00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:28,480
Speaker 1: most important things to remember as it pertains to the data,

530
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:30,480
Speaker 1: Because you guys keep hearing, oh, the Lakers can't play

531
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:33,639
Speaker 1: with Lebron, the Lakers can't play with Lebron. It is

532
00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:37,080
Speaker 1: true that the numbers with Lebron with the guys early

533
00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:40,760
Speaker 1: in the season sucked. They were bad. Why because Lebron

534
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,439
Speaker 1: had sciatica and he missed training camp and he jumped

535
00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:46,400
Speaker 1: in and ramped up in the middle of an NBA

536
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:49,320
Speaker 1: season in November, And yeah, all the data from back

537
00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,520
Speaker 1: then sucked. The Lakers got their butts kicked with those

538
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:55,480
Speaker 1: three on the floor. But that was a very different

539
00:27:55,520 --> 00:28:00,719
Speaker 1: Lebron than the Lebron that's healthy and in rhythm right now, Ron, Austin,

540
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:04,560
Speaker 1: Luca Trio in two hundred and twenty two minutes since

541
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,560
Speaker 1: Austin returned from his calf injury is outscoring teams by

542
00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,640
Speaker 1: twelve points per one hundred possessions. They've been fantastic since

543
00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:14,320
Speaker 1: then and that's with only a one to fifteen offensive rating,

544
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:17,720
Speaker 1: which I think will skyrocket now that Austin's actually in rhythm,

545
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,200
Speaker 1: because for a while there he wasn't in rhythm. If

546
00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 1: you add Marcus Smart to those three guys, that foursome

547
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:26,720
Speaker 1: on the entire season has a plus fifteen net rating.

548
00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:31,120
Speaker 1: So like, I don't think there's any a debate anymore

549
00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:33,119
Speaker 1: as to whether or not Luca and Austin can be

550
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,679
Speaker 1: in rhythm alongside Lebron. We just got two examples in

551
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:38,760
Speaker 1: the last two games, and again we have a pretty

552
00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,400
Speaker 1: large sample size of data here right. The third box

553
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,400
Speaker 1: that needs to be checked is their defense. We needed

554
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:51,400
Speaker 1: to see the Lakers actually play mediocre defense. They don't

555
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:53,680
Speaker 1: have the personnel to be a great defense, but can

556
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:57,080
Speaker 1: they be a mediocre defense? Their twelfth in defensive ratings

557
00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,440
Speaker 1: since the All Star Break. I've been telling you, guys,

558
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,480
Speaker 1: twelve to fifteen is that range they need to be

559
00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:04,320
Speaker 1: in there. It's not the same as doing it for

560
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:06,400
Speaker 1: a whole season. We'll see if they can sustain it

561
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,520
Speaker 1: over the final month. But the Lakers have finally found

562
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:14,280
Speaker 1: their individual defensive ceiling as a team, and they're finally

563
00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:18,320
Speaker 1: getting to that level the fourth box. Actually, I'm gonna

564
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:20,120
Speaker 1: add one more so, the fourth box before we get

565
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:24,160
Speaker 1: to Lebron. The fourth boxes role player shooting. They were

566
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 1: having a huge problem paying off sequences throughout the regular

567
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,680
Speaker 1: season with guys hitting shots. Marcus Smart has been over

568
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:34,520
Speaker 1: forty percent from three for a few months now. Marcus

569
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,560
Speaker 1: Smart is hitting Ruy Hachimura, is healthy in the lineup,

570
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 1: and hitting Ousin Reeves healthy in the lineup, and hitting

571
00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:44,640
Speaker 1: Luka Doncic now is hitting like his threes at a

572
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:46,280
Speaker 1: much higher rate than he did in the early part

573
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:48,640
Speaker 1: of the season. And you get a deal for Luke

574
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,440
Speaker 1: Canard done that brings in another guy that's shooting. So

575
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 1: as a team, the three point shooting is dramatically better

576
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:58,080
Speaker 1: than where it was. The fifth box is Lebron, and

577
00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:00,560
Speaker 1: I would argue this is the box that has to

578
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,840
Speaker 1: be checked if the Lakers are going to like surprise

579
00:30:03,880 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 1: everyone and win a playoff series. Like if we were

580
00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 1: shocked and it was like, oh my god, the Lakers

581
00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:12,120
Speaker 1: are playing against the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals

582
00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,440
Speaker 1: and probably losing, it would be because this fifth box

583
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:20,400
Speaker 1: gets checked. Okay, So Lucas reached the MVP level. Austin

584
00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,000
Speaker 1: Reeves is back healthy and in rhythm. The team has

585
00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:27,160
Speaker 1: found a groove defensively, and role players are hitting shots.

586
00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:29,960
Speaker 1: The last piece is the Lebron piece. Now, I think

587
00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 1: in terms of play style, Lebron has done a great

588
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:38,040
Speaker 1: job since he came back. He has been great defensively,

589
00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:40,160
Speaker 1: he's been great on the glass, he's been great as

590
00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:43,840
Speaker 1: a connective playmaker. The last piece for Lebron is, like

591
00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:45,880
Speaker 1: you mentioned, he did look fatigued. He's got to be

592
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,920
Speaker 1: able to get back into shape from his little break

593
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,600
Speaker 1: that he took and stay healthy throughout the rest of

594
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:53,800
Speaker 1: the season. And then I think there's a higher level

595
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:56,400
Speaker 1: offensively that he needs to get to the catch and

596
00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:58,560
Speaker 1: shoot threes. He's got to shoot the ball better from

597
00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 1: three and then two. He's got to start converting some

598
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,920
Speaker 1: of these post ups in that Nuggets game, for example,

599
00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:07,240
Speaker 1: a couple of those post ups where he just gets

600
00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,400
Speaker 1: stonewalled by Bruce Brown. He's got to win that battle.

601
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,800
Speaker 1: The reason why he does is because if you look

602
00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,680
Speaker 1: at the Oklahoma City matchup in particular, but any matchup

603
00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:19,880
Speaker 1: that has really good ball pressure guards that can cause

604
00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:23,400
Speaker 1: problems for Austin Reeves. All of a sudden Austin reeves

605
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,920
Speaker 1: is value offensively shifts a little bit, and Lebron becomes

606
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:29,160
Speaker 1: more valuable because he can attack out of the post.

607
00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:32,960
Speaker 1: If that option isn't there for the Lakers, that's a problem.

608
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,640
Speaker 1: And so the final box, this fifth box for the Lakers,

609
00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,680
Speaker 1: is Lebron's got to find a higher level offensively as

610
00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 1: a catch and shoot guy and as a post up player.

611
00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:45,160
Speaker 1: If he can do that and all those other boxes

612
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,000
Speaker 1: stay in a good spot, role players keep hitting shots.

613
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:53,640
Speaker 1: Defense days mediocre Austin and Lucas day in rhythm, Lebron

614
00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:56,400
Speaker 1: brings a little bit more offensive punch. That team is

615
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:58,760
Speaker 1: every bit as good as all of the second tier contenders.

616
00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:05,360
Speaker 1: That team can beat anybody right as an upset. Do

617
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:07,440
Speaker 1: I think they'll win four playoff rounds? No? I would

618
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:10,440
Speaker 1: be stunned if the Lakers won four playoffs, like, absolutely stunned.

619
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:12,520
Speaker 1: I'd be stunned if they won three. I'd be stunned

620
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:14,640
Speaker 1: if they made it to the Western Conference finals. But

621
00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,320
Speaker 1: that group, checking those boxes, I do think can win

622
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:21,880
Speaker 1: a first round series and look competitive in a second

623
00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 1: round series before getting eliminated. This is a really good one.

624
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,080
Speaker 1: Do you think the Lakers regret rescinding the Mark Williams trade.

625
00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:30,480
Speaker 1: I think he'd be a better fit than Aighton, and

626
00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:32,920
Speaker 1: his defense has improved a lot, your biggest critique of

627
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:35,000
Speaker 1: him last season. Loved the show, have been listening for yours.

628
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:36,880
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for supporting the show. This is

629
00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,760
Speaker 1: a really interesting question now. To be clear, I don't

630
00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:42,360
Speaker 1: want to take a victory lap here because I did

631
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:44,080
Speaker 1: not think Mark Williams was a good defender when I

632
00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:46,560
Speaker 1: was watching the tape from Charlotte. So I'm not sitting

633
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:48,360
Speaker 1: here saying like, oh, the Lakers should have traded for

634
00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:54,440
Speaker 1: Mark Williams. No, but the Suns correctly identified an opportunity

635
00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:59,000
Speaker 1: with Mark in his potential on defense and the health

636
00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,480
Speaker 1: stuff as so to this point not been a major issue.

637
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,080
Speaker 1: Mark Williams. The Mark Williams who've seen in Phoenix, that's

638
00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:09,520
Speaker 1: been an elite drop coverage big that has been a

639
00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:11,760
Speaker 1: guy that's had utility as a rebounder and as a

640
00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:15,400
Speaker 1: finisher on offense. That guy would certainly be a big

641
00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:18,120
Speaker 1: help for the Lakers. Now. The one complication I'd had

642
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:20,760
Speaker 1: here is the Sons are running a lot of drop coverage,

643
00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,040
Speaker 1: like deep drop coverage with Mark Williams and it's working.

644
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,600
Speaker 1: The Lakers do a lot more switching, and they don't

645
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:29,280
Speaker 1: have a lot of guys that are like great at

646
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:31,640
Speaker 1: getting over the top of screens and funneling. So I

647
00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:34,040
Speaker 1: don't think it would have looked as good defensively with

648
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,360
Speaker 1: the Lakers as it did with Phoenix. But yeah, in retrospect,

649
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:40,640
Speaker 1: given new information, which is that turns out Mark Williams

650
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,360
Speaker 1: is a good defensive player and turns out he was

651
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:46,960
Speaker 1: able to play this season, Yeah, like in retrospect, he

652
00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:48,880
Speaker 1: would have been a great fit for the Lakers. But again,

653
00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:51,360
Speaker 1: we only have the information we had available at the time,

654
00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:54,080
Speaker 1: and the information at the time was he had really

655
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:57,160
Speaker 1: bad defensive tape in Charlotte and he had health issues.

656
00:33:57,240 --> 00:33:59,640
Speaker 1: So I'm not gonna like blame the Laker Like I

657
00:33:59,680 --> 00:34:02,880
Speaker 1: don't think Rob Polinka missed out on Mark Williams. I

658
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:06,440
Speaker 1: just think in retrospect, now knowing what we know, he

659
00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,600
Speaker 1: would have been a good fit. Next question, how do

660
00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:13,879
Speaker 1: you feel about San Antonio's experience. I know they haven't

661
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:15,759
Speaker 1: made the playoffs as a unit together, but they have

662
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:19,840
Speaker 1: two championships, winning Vets and Cornette and Barnes Fox is

663
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:22,560
Speaker 1: a playoff but Wenby carried his team in France to

664
00:34:22,560 --> 00:34:25,160
Speaker 1: their finals as a teenager, and he carried France in

665
00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:27,840
Speaker 1: the Olympics to a silver medal versus the US in

666
00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,280
Speaker 1: a really good game where he was the entire game's

667
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:33,680
Speaker 1: leading scorer. He is no stranger to high pressure scenarios.

668
00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:38,200
Speaker 1: So I will say, specifically with Wemby, you got to

669
00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:40,440
Speaker 1: take like the Wemby part and kind of set it aside,

670
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:42,760
Speaker 1: and then there's like the rest of the team. Cause

671
00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:45,880
Speaker 1: my kind of recalibration with the Spurs in terms of

672
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:51,240
Speaker 1: their youth, separates Wemby from the other young players. Wemby

673
00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:53,959
Speaker 1: is so good defensively right away that like, I don't

674
00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,920
Speaker 1: think he's gonna have as much of a difficulty translating

675
00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 1: to the playoffs. I'm not going to re harp on

676
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:02,239
Speaker 1: this because we've talked about it a lot. The comp

677
00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:04,320
Speaker 1: that I would use is Anthony Davis in New Orleans

678
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:08,440
Speaker 1: walked into the playoffs and was a monster. Why Because

679
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,520
Speaker 1: he's a defense a defensive player who's an awesome play finisher.

680
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,160
Speaker 1: So there's just like a ton of damage that he's

681
00:35:14,200 --> 00:35:17,160
Speaker 1: gonna do no matter what, even if he does struggle

682
00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:19,560
Speaker 1: to shoot, even if he does struggle with some physicality.

683
00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:23,279
Speaker 1: He's just still going to be deeply impactful. It's the

684
00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:27,560
Speaker 1: other younger guys that I worry about. The playoffs have

685
00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:32,160
Speaker 1: such a unique feel in the sense that, like the

686
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:39,080
Speaker 1: pressure mounts immediately. You can see players crumble mentally. Every

687
00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,080
Speaker 1: team you get to the postseason and you have like

688
00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:45,719
Speaker 1: within within the first half of the first game, you're like, oh,

689
00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:49,319
Speaker 1: that dude can't play in this series, or oh, like

690
00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:52,719
Speaker 1: this dude's got a great matchup, right Like certain things

691
00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:57,480
Speaker 1: scream off the screen right away. In the postseason, they

692
00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:01,520
Speaker 1: are going to be very intentional effort to play the

693
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:07,480
Speaker 1: Spurs guards into their weaknesses, even though there are experienced

694
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:11,280
Speaker 1: players there. Cornett has experience as you mentioned, Harrison Barnes

695
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:13,319
Speaker 1: has experience as you mentioned. Even Wenby has been in

696
00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:17,440
Speaker 1: some big games as you mentioned. But I specifically worry

697
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:24,360
Speaker 1: about like Steph Castle, Devin Vessel, Keldon Johnson, Dylan Harper,

698
00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:28,759
Speaker 1: these guys having like, oh, they missed their first two

699
00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:32,680
Speaker 1: or three threes, and now the pressure is mounting and

700
00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:37,200
Speaker 1: it just gets really tough. And what happens is the

701
00:36:37,239 --> 00:36:40,759
Speaker 1: defenses almost exaggerate the way that they tilt their game

702
00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:44,600
Speaker 1: plan towards those weaknesses until you prove that you can

703
00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:48,480
Speaker 1: beat them. And so again I will say, to be clear,

704
00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:52,560
Speaker 1: we're about to do our contender rankings. I absolutely think

705
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:55,279
Speaker 1: the Spurs can win the championship. I do not think

706
00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:58,799
Speaker 1: it's the same as like Okac two years ago. I

707
00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:02,120
Speaker 1: think that this Spurs team because the Wemby problem is

708
00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:05,440
Speaker 1: so unique. I think they're very capable of going on

709
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:08,840
Speaker 1: a title run this year. But I do think it'll

710
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:12,480
Speaker 1: have to be with them dealing with some downturns from

711
00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:16,120
Speaker 1: their younger players. Because NBA history just tells us, guys. Again,

712
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:17,600
Speaker 1: like my dad used to say this to me, and

713
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:23,200
Speaker 1: it's the truth, Like the best indicator of future performance

714
00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:26,080
Speaker 1: is past performance. Like that works for individuals, but it

715
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:27,760
Speaker 1: also works when we look at the rest of the league.

716
00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:31,440
Speaker 1: We got to learn from history, and history just tells

717
00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:35,000
Speaker 1: us that these teams tend to struggle a little bit. Now,

718
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:39,279
Speaker 1: what usually ends up happening is like the second playoff run.

719
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,120
Speaker 1: A lot of times teams can be ahead of schedule. Okay,

720
00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:46,279
Speaker 1: see last year the Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook. Okay,

721
00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:48,759
Speaker 1: see teams right, Like, sometimes they can be ahead of

722
00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:53,200
Speaker 1: schedule once they start getting playoff experience. But is I

723
00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:56,439
Speaker 1: straight up cannot think of an example of a team

724
00:37:56,480 --> 00:37:59,040
Speaker 1: having their very first playoff run together as a bunch

725
00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:01,760
Speaker 1: of young players just ripping through and winning the trophy.

726
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:05,640
Speaker 1: It's just exceedingly rare. But again, like if you're a

727
00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:07,480
Speaker 1: Spurs fan, which you've got to cling to there in

728
00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:10,480
Speaker 1: terms of your hope is specifically the Victor women Yama thing.

729
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:14,279
Speaker 1: Like so, for instance, like Steph Castle at the Hornets game,

730
00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:20,240
Speaker 1: Victor women Yama dominates the Hornets game literally just because

731
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:23,120
Speaker 1: he shuts off the rim against Mussa Diabata and Ryan

732
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:26,960
Speaker 1: Kyle Brenner. And it's kind of another side thing that

733
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:28,920
Speaker 1: I've been thinking about with the Spurs. I don't think

734
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,640
Speaker 1: you can beat the Spurs if your centers can't provide

735
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:35,480
Speaker 1: real offensive utility. I mean not just dunks, but like

736
00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:38,239
Speaker 1: have some sort of high level shooting talent or some

737
00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:41,920
Speaker 1: high level posting up talent, Like your bigs have to

738
00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:45,520
Speaker 1: be skilled against Wemby, because if Wemby can guard your

739
00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,640
Speaker 1: center and just park his ass underneath the basket, you're

740
00:38:48,719 --> 00:38:50,840
Speaker 1: drawing dead against the Spurs. And the Hornets were a

741
00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:53,840
Speaker 1: classic example of that. Their offense could not sustain anything

742
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:57,319
Speaker 1: against the Spurs because of what Wemby was doing to

743
00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:00,640
Speaker 1: Musa Diabate and Ryan Calkbrenner just camping out in the paint. Right,

744
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,000
Speaker 1: how many times have we see Mussa Dibate catch on

745
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:04,560
Speaker 1: the role and be like, oh fuck, Like, what am

746
00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,400
Speaker 1: I gonna do? Right? Like? It just is really difficult.

747
00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:12,840
Speaker 1: Steph Castle demonstrated his amazing lob chemistry with Victor Reminyama

748
00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:15,640
Speaker 1: in that game. We've talked a ton about that. He

749
00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:18,600
Speaker 1: just has such a great natural feel for where and

750
00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:21,960
Speaker 1: when to hit wemb beyond his roles. So like, right

751
00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,319
Speaker 1: out the gates in the postseason, I think Wemby's gonna

752
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:27,160
Speaker 1: get four or five lob dunks a game and be

753
00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:29,479
Speaker 1: the best defensive player in the history of the entire

754
00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:32,600
Speaker 1: league when he's shutting defenses down. That just gives him

755
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:35,720
Speaker 1: such an enormously high floor that even if he doesn't

756
00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:37,879
Speaker 1: hit threes, which he's been shooting the three extremely well

757
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:39,920
Speaker 1: as of late, and even if he doesn't do well

758
00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:42,239
Speaker 1: in his ISOs, he's just going to have such a

759
00:39:42,239 --> 00:39:45,800
Speaker 1: profoundly impactful performance. So their margin is big, their defense

760
00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:47,600
Speaker 1: is great, which will keep them in all their games.

761
00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:49,920
Speaker 1: I just worry about their guards. I think a lot

762
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:53,600
Speaker 1: of it's going to kind of disseminate down to Deer

763
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:55,480
Speaker 1: and Fox pick and roll, and he's just not as

764
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:57,239
Speaker 1: good as some of the other ball handlers that they're

765
00:39:57,239 --> 00:40:00,520
Speaker 1: going to face around the Western Conference. Two more and

766
00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:02,680
Speaker 1: we're out of here. Love the show. You're one of

767
00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:04,640
Speaker 1: the few people I consistently go to for in depth

768
00:40:04,719 --> 00:40:07,960
Speaker 1: and thoughtful basketball analysis. Really appreciate the dedication to the

769
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,000
Speaker 1: attention and the attention to detail in each game. Love

770
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:12,839
Speaker 1: it when you call it specific plays in each game.

771
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,440
Speaker 1: What of their channels podcast shows would you recommend for

772
00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:18,080
Speaker 1: your listeners to tune into. I often go to channels

773
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:20,799
Speaker 1: like JD for his Nerd Highlights, Zach Low, Nerd, Sash,

774
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:24,040
Speaker 1: et cetera. Okay, so this is complicated. First of all,

775
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:25,719
Speaker 1: thank you for the kind words and for supporting the show.

776
00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:29,920
Speaker 1: So I used to listen to a lot more basketball

777
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:35,320
Speaker 1: content before I worked in the space. I my entire

778
00:40:35,400 --> 00:40:37,719
Speaker 1: life involves basketball to the point where it can get

779
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:40,120
Speaker 1: to be a little much sometimes. Obviously, I cover the

780
00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:42,960
Speaker 1: league and I watch a ton of games. I also

781
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:46,480
Speaker 1: am a fan, so, like you know, Lakers games in particular,

782
00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:48,440
Speaker 1: like I watch them as a fan, you know, Like

783
00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:50,680
Speaker 1: I like a lot of the games that I watch

784
00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:52,279
Speaker 1: for the rest of the league. I watch in the

785
00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:56,200
Speaker 1: mornings and I watch on watch the film, and I

786
00:40:56,239 --> 00:40:57,799
Speaker 1: like deep dive into the film, and I deep dive

787
00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:00,640
Speaker 1: into numbers a lot of times, like I'll just hang

788
00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:02,480
Speaker 1: out with my wife and watch a Lakers game and

789
00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:05,000
Speaker 1: I'll relax and try to like enjoy it. Right, I

790
00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:07,239
Speaker 1: play a ton of basketball. I'm playing pick up twice

791
00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:08,640
Speaker 1: a week, and I'm play in a men's league twice

792
00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:10,680
Speaker 1: a week, so I'm playing four times a week. My

793
00:41:10,719 --> 00:41:14,000
Speaker 1: wife used to play in college. We do shooting workouts together,

794
00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:16,359
Speaker 1: so like we do, like I go shoot with her.

795
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:18,360
Speaker 1: So like I live and breathe the game of basketball

796
00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:20,040
Speaker 1: all the time, and so I was kind of looking

797
00:41:20,080 --> 00:41:23,520
Speaker 1: for a spot where I could get a break, and

798
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:26,440
Speaker 1: that like downtime when I get to listen to stuff

799
00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:28,480
Speaker 1: is when I've been taking that break, and so I

800
00:41:28,520 --> 00:41:30,520
Speaker 1: listen to a lot of audio books. I listen to

801
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:34,839
Speaker 1: a lot of like music during that a sort of time.

802
00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:37,000
Speaker 1: So like I don't listen to anywhere near as many

803
00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:40,400
Speaker 1: basketball podcasts as I used to. The two that I

804
00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:44,680
Speaker 1: regularly listen to. Are one Zachlow, who I think is

805
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:46,560
Speaker 1: excellent at his job. He's just like kind of like

806
00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:48,400
Speaker 1: a role model for me, someone that I look up to.

807
00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:50,719
Speaker 1: So he's the guy that I watch a lot, and

808
00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:53,160
Speaker 1: then not as much as i'd like to, but I

809
00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:55,439
Speaker 1: would say that I probably catch Zach Low episode about

810
00:41:55,480 --> 00:41:59,440
Speaker 1: once every other week, and then the Laker Film Room

811
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:03,000
Speaker 1: Podcast PSS and Darius Storiano. If you're a Laker fan

812
00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:05,439
Speaker 1: and you're not listening to Pete and Darius, you're missing out.

813
00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:08,800
Speaker 1: They are diehard, real Laker fans that go back decades

814
00:42:08,840 --> 00:42:12,200
Speaker 1: and decades and decades. They do such a fantastic job

815
00:42:12,200 --> 00:42:14,520
Speaker 1: of capturing like the culture of the Laker fan base

816
00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:17,840
Speaker 1: in their show, but at the same time, it's just

817
00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:19,880
Speaker 1: a pure love of the game that comes out in

818
00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:22,360
Speaker 1: the way that they break it down. Pete and Darius

819
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:24,160
Speaker 1: each kind of bring their unique element to it. I

820
00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:26,480
Speaker 1: just think they're awesome. If you're looking for a team

821
00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:28,960
Speaker 1: specific pod as a Lakers fan, I'd highly recommend that

822
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:31,920
Speaker 1: one you mentioned. Nerd Sash guys. Those guys are just

823
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:37,759
Speaker 1: my buddies. Like I was texting with Carson literally during

824
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:40,480
Speaker 1: the thunder Wolves game. I just love talking basketball with him,

825
00:42:40,520 --> 00:42:42,960
Speaker 1: Like he came on the show to do the BAM

826
00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:45,000
Speaker 1: eighty three thing the other day. I just love the

827
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:47,799
Speaker 1: nerd Sash guys. They're just really big fans of their work.

828
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:50,200
Speaker 1: But yeah, again, I don't listen to anywhere near as

829
00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:53,640
Speaker 1: many basketball podcasts and things like that as I used to,

830
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:59,640
Speaker 1: just simply because I've been looking for a break. Last question, Hey, Jason,

831
00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:01,520
Speaker 1: love your show and the depth of analysis you provide

832
00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:02,920
Speaker 1: all of his viewers. Keep up the great work. Thanks

833
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:05,120
Speaker 1: again for the kind of words. My question to you

834
00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:08,719
Speaker 1: is about NBA offense sequencing. I'm a big baseball fan,

835
00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:11,200
Speaker 1: and something that is obviously so important for pitchers is

836
00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:13,200
Speaker 1: how they sequence their pitches. For those of you guys

837
00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:15,000
Speaker 1: who don't know what he means when he says sequence pitches,

838
00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:18,840
Speaker 1: it's just like setting up like fastball off speed in

839
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:23,760
Speaker 1: a way that tries to get the batter off balance. Essentially,

840
00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:28,080
Speaker 1: when I watch NBA offense is I always wonder how

841
00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:30,600
Speaker 1: teams go about calling their actions. Now, what points in

842
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:33,000
Speaker 1: the game are they most effective? Do teams have a

843
00:43:33,040 --> 00:43:35,520
Speaker 1: first shifteen reference to football, like a set of plays

844
00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:38,279
Speaker 1: that like a script that you run on your first

845
00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:40,480
Speaker 1: drive or a set of actions that they know they'll

846
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:42,279
Speaker 1: start the game with, and as the game goes on

847
00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:44,600
Speaker 1: do they adjust accordingly or do teams have different actions

848
00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:47,440
Speaker 1: for different opposing team lineups? Even on a possession of

849
00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:49,799
Speaker 1: possession basis, most teams have a couple of actions that

850
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:52,040
Speaker 1: they know are advantageous for them, so how do they

851
00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:55,200
Speaker 1: decide how to sequence them? I never hear this being

852
00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:57,600
Speaker 1: praised or criticized about a team, so I'm very curious

853
00:43:57,600 --> 00:43:59,520
Speaker 1: about your thoughts on this. Thanks again for all you do, Jason,

854
00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:02,640
Speaker 1: Thanks again for the kind of words so they to

855
00:44:02,680 --> 00:44:05,319
Speaker 1: your point the pitch sequencing, that's literally my favorite part

856
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:07,120
Speaker 1: about baseball. I grew up playing baseball. I grew up

857
00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:10,200
Speaker 1: playing Little league, and I was a pitcher for most

858
00:44:10,200 --> 00:44:12,680
Speaker 1: of my childhood, so I always like love that and

859
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:16,320
Speaker 1: when I'm watching baseball, to me, is the most fascinating

860
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:19,480
Speaker 1: chess match part of it. The script part in the

861
00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:21,560
Speaker 1: NFL is really fascinating, right, So, like you have a

862
00:44:21,560 --> 00:44:23,600
Speaker 1: list of fifteen plays or whatever that you're gonna run

863
00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:25,360
Speaker 1: on your first drive, and they're all meant to build

864
00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:29,160
Speaker 1: on each other and set each other up. Right. Basketball

865
00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:31,560
Speaker 1: games have so much more flow side decide that it's

866
00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:33,840
Speaker 1: difficult to do that. But what teams will do is

867
00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:36,080
Speaker 1: one they almost always have a play that they're going

868
00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:38,160
Speaker 1: to run to start a half or a quarter, right, so,

869
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:41,200
Speaker 1: like and out of timeouts too, so out of any

870
00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:42,959
Speaker 1: sort of stop. It's whether it's first play the game,

871
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:45,360
Speaker 1: first play out of time out, first play of a

872
00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:49,560
Speaker 1: new quarter, you're gonna have a set play, and that

873
00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:51,640
Speaker 1: set play is going to be something that you want

874
00:44:51,680 --> 00:44:53,359
Speaker 1: to start the game with, set the tone with. Right.

875
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:55,120
Speaker 1: Usually it's going to be designed to drop for a

876
00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:58,359
Speaker 1: wide open three or for a dunk, right. But from

877
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:02,200
Speaker 1: there it's all flow, And what will end up happening

878
00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:06,640
Speaker 1: is a coach in their game plan will in the

879
00:45:06,640 --> 00:45:10,000
Speaker 1: shoot around especially, will be like, hey, here are like

880
00:45:10,520 --> 00:45:13,359
Speaker 1: four or five different actions that we want to run

881
00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:17,160
Speaker 1: tonight because they we think they will work against this

882
00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:20,400
Speaker 1: team they're personnel and the way they're guarding, right, So, like,

883
00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,840
Speaker 1: maybe it'll be a drop coverage beater. Maybe it'll be

884
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:27,040
Speaker 1: like a specific play to attack a certain matchup that

885
00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:30,600
Speaker 1: they think that they have a favorable matchup in. Maybe

886
00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:33,480
Speaker 1: it's a high drop beater or a blitz beater. Right, Like,

887
00:45:34,120 --> 00:45:36,560
Speaker 1: you look at the team you're playing. Okay, we're playing

888
00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:39,680
Speaker 1: the Lakers, they're switching a lot. Okay, we're playing Boston,

889
00:45:39,680 --> 00:45:42,600
Speaker 1: they're running deep drop coverage. Okay, we're playing the Nuggets.

890
00:45:42,640 --> 00:45:45,600
Speaker 1: They're gonna be up at the level. Okay, we're playing

891
00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:48,480
Speaker 1: the Warriors, they're gonna be playing three small guards most

892
00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:51,480
Speaker 1: of the game. Like whatever it is, you're gonna have

893
00:45:51,600 --> 00:45:53,920
Speaker 1: like a little kind of set of like four or

894
00:45:54,000 --> 00:45:56,920
Speaker 1: five actions out of your playbook that you're like, these

895
00:45:56,960 --> 00:45:58,600
Speaker 1: are the ones we really want to get to tonight.

896
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:01,920
Speaker 1: And those actions have multiple reads. So like a lot

897
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:04,480
Speaker 1: of times, to your points about sequencing, a lot of

898
00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:06,520
Speaker 1: times the sequence is actually just the same play over

899
00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:09,480
Speaker 1: and over again, but you're just looking for a different read. So, like,

900
00:46:10,040 --> 00:46:12,520
Speaker 1: maybe it's a play where you run an inverted ball

901
00:46:12,600 --> 00:46:16,480
Speaker 1: screen for your big like the one that they constantly

902
00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:20,360
Speaker 1: run in Charlotte with like LaMelo backscreening for Mussa diabate

903
00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:22,919
Speaker 1: at the elbow as he rips. Right, that's a play

904
00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:27,040
Speaker 1: that Charlotte starts almost every game with the first play

905
00:46:27,040 --> 00:46:29,600
Speaker 1: you run it, you might get a dunk, right, But

906
00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:31,200
Speaker 1: what you do is usually if a play works, you

907
00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:33,640
Speaker 1: keep running it because what ends up happening is usually

908
00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:37,160
Speaker 1: a team makes an adjustment, so maybe you run the

909
00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:39,680
Speaker 1: exact same thing, except for this time LaMelo balls man

910
00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:44,720
Speaker 1: hangs back to help on Mussa Diabate's drive, and now

911
00:46:45,000 --> 00:46:46,600
Speaker 1: all of Musa has to do is turn around to

912
00:46:46,600 --> 00:46:49,640
Speaker 1: pitch it back to LaMelo and he's wide open. If

913
00:46:49,719 --> 00:46:52,440
Speaker 1: LaMelo catches there, it probably flows into another part of

914
00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:54,440
Speaker 1: the action, right, Like we've seen that with the Lakers.

915
00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:58,719
Speaker 1: Horn sets right like the Lebron will have the post

916
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:02,480
Speaker 1: entry will come into Ron at the elbow, and Luca

917
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:05,759
Speaker 1: will cut off of him, and Lebron will look for Luca,

918
00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:07,440
Speaker 1: and if Luca's open, he'll hit him. But if he's not,

919
00:47:07,520 --> 00:47:09,720
Speaker 1: he's going to flow into that ball screen off of Jackson,

920
00:47:09,719 --> 00:47:13,480
Speaker 1: hazer Deandrayden. If Lebron can get a look there, he'll

921
00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:16,479
Speaker 1: take it. If the big man shows and Aighten's open,

922
00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:18,960
Speaker 1: he'll throw the ball. They Eighten in the pocket. If

923
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:21,719
Speaker 1: they successfully defend it, it flows into this dribble hand

924
00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:23,799
Speaker 1: off with Austin Reeves coming out of the corner, which

925
00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:26,520
Speaker 1: then flows into another ball screen. Like all these plays,

926
00:47:26,560 --> 00:47:29,400
Speaker 1: a lot of times, what you'll see is Okay, this

927
00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:31,920
Speaker 1: play's working. We're getting a good look out of it.

928
00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:34,560
Speaker 1: Let's keep running it until they show they can stop

929
00:47:34,600 --> 00:47:38,160
Speaker 1: it and just take the different reads that are available,

930
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:40,720
Speaker 1: and then if that doesn't work, maybe you try something different.

931
00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:43,160
Speaker 1: But you have like four or five different plays that

932
00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:45,680
Speaker 1: you'll periodically go to a lot of times, they'll go

933
00:47:45,719 --> 00:47:48,600
Speaker 1: to them off of made baskets, so off of missus.

934
00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:51,799
Speaker 1: If there's a transition opportunity you want to push. But

935
00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:54,120
Speaker 1: if there's any sort of slow walk the ball up,

936
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:56,839
Speaker 1: the coach might call play from the sideline and they'll

937
00:47:56,840 --> 00:47:59,040
Speaker 1: try to get into their action. And I generally think

938
00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:03,320
Speaker 1: the teams that run more organized offense perform better. But again,

939
00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:06,520
Speaker 1: you're not gonna have a script like fifteen plays. You're

940
00:48:06,600 --> 00:48:08,080
Speaker 1: usually gonna have a play that you come out of

941
00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:10,799
Speaker 1: every time out or dead ball situation with we're gonna

942
00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:12,960
Speaker 1: slow down walk the ball at the court, and again

943
00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:15,279
Speaker 1: you're usually just gonna spam that action until they show

944
00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:17,359
Speaker 1: that they can defend it. All right, guys, it's all

945
00:48:17,360 --> 00:48:19,200
Speaker 1: I have for today. My voice is gonna get a

946
00:48:19,239 --> 00:48:20,680
Speaker 1: rest for a couple of days. Hopefully when you guys

947
00:48:20,680 --> 00:48:22,279
Speaker 1: see me on Tuesday, it sound a lot better. I'm

948
00:48:22,280 --> 00:48:26,239
Speaker 1: recording this on Sunday again. I always appreciate you guys

949
00:48:26,280 --> 00:48:27,799
Speaker 1: for supporting us in supporting the show, we got some

950
00:48:27,840 --> 00:48:30,400
Speaker 1: fun game reactions for Tuesday plan. I will see you

951
00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:30,879
Speaker 1: guys day