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Speaker 1: The Volume. All right, welcome to HIMS tonight here at

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Speaker 1: the Volume Heavy Wednesday. Everybody hopeful. If you guys are

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Speaker 1: having a great week so far, I got a Jampac

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Speaker 1: show for you guys today. I wanted to hit that

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Speaker 1: Pistons Lakers game from last night. I thought it was

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Speaker 1: a perfect showcase of everything that made that has made

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Speaker 1: the Pistons awesome this year, is the number one seed

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Speaker 1: in the Eastern Conference, and everything that's wrong with this

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles Lakers team as I continue to seriously consider

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Speaker 1: removing them entirely from my contender tiers as we head

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Speaker 1: into contender rankings here on Friday. After that, I want

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Speaker 1: to talk a little bit about the Nicole Jokic injury,

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Speaker 1: looking forward at the schedule for the Nuggets and what

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Speaker 1: it means for them this season and what it means

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Speaker 1: for the rest of the Western Conference. And then at

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Speaker 1: the tail end of the show, the San Antonio Spurs

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Speaker 1: have lost two straight games since Oklahoma City, since they

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Speaker 1: dominated ok on the City the week of Christmas, and

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Speaker 1: so I want to dive into what specifically we've seen

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Speaker 1: in that slide, especially in the offensive end, and the

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Speaker 1: Cleveland Cavaliers deployed a very interesting defensive strategy versus that

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Speaker 1: Spurs team that I think is telling for what San

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Speaker 1: Antonio can expect to see down the line when they

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Speaker 1: get into the postseason this year. So, but you guys

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Speaker 1: are the Joe before we started. Subscribe to Pops to

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Speaker 1: Night YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos.

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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore JCNLTS. You guys, don't

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Speaker 1: miss you announcements. Don't forget to like this video. And

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Speaker 1: then last minute, least, if you want to get mail

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Speaker 1: bag questions in for our mailbag next Friday, drop them

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Speaker 1: in the full episodes in the comments just right mailbag

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Speaker 1: with the colon. Write your question and we'll get to

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Speaker 1: them in our Friday mail bags. Right, Let's talk some basketball.

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Speaker 1: So kind of a strange game Pistons Lakers. I was

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Speaker 1: watching the game with my wife and I told her

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Speaker 1: before the opening tip, I think the Lakers are going

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Speaker 1: to get blown out tonight. And I had three reasons

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Speaker 1: why I felt that way. One, I think the Pistons

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Speaker 1: are just a better team even under normal circumstances, and

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Speaker 1: they have menive athletic advantages all over the floor. This

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Speaker 1: has been one of the teams that I've keyed in

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Speaker 1: on as like one of the best perimeter defense, like

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Speaker 1: get up into the basketball, force turnovers, get out, and

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Speaker 1: transition types of teams. And we've seen the Lakers struggle

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Speaker 1: against that type of team with Phoenix for example, or

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Speaker 1: with like Oklahoma City for example. We've seen them kind

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Speaker 1: of decompose against this type of matchup, and I just

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Speaker 1: think the Pistons are a better team. Two, the Lakers

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Speaker 1: are beat up and out of rhythm, right, So you

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Speaker 1: have Austin Reeves out, you ever had Cha Mura out?

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Speaker 1: And you have Gabe Vincent all that, so three core

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Speaker 1: key rotation players and two starters. And then Luca's been

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Speaker 1: pretty bad by his standards for over a month now,

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Speaker 1: and Lebron is forty one years old and pretty inconsistent

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Speaker 1: as you could expect from a player that age, right,

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Speaker 1: And then three, the Lakers only know how to lose

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Speaker 1: one way. When things start to slip out of control,

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Speaker 1: they completely decompose and they get blown out. It's just

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Speaker 1: what they do. So I thought they'd get blown blown

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Speaker 1: out in that game last night, but it ended up

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Speaker 1: being kind of strange because it was abundantly clear that

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Speaker 1: the Pistons were better, but they couldn't pull away. The

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Speaker 1: Lakers stayed attached for basically most of the first three

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Speaker 1: quarters of this game. They were all over it on

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Speaker 1: the broadcast last night. You know, it's kind of a

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Speaker 1: Reggie Miller classic. There's so many different things in just

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Speaker 1: kind of a shit show of a broadcast that you

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Speaker 1: grow to expect now and you watch Reggie Miller on

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Speaker 1: the call. But they were on this particular concept like

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Speaker 1: it felt like they were playing with their food a

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Speaker 1: little bit. It felt like the Lakers were hanging around

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Speaker 1: even though they weren't playing nearly as well. And it

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Speaker 1: basically came down to two things. One, the Lakers did

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Speaker 1: a pretty good job on the offensive glass. They had

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Speaker 1: a fifteen to six second chance point advantage in this

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Speaker 1: particular game. In general, I think the Lakers are at

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Speaker 1: least in the last couple of games, competing in the

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Speaker 1: areas defensively and on the glass that they weren't beforehand.

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Speaker 1: And then secondly, they kept fouling, fouling, like the Pistons

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Speaker 1: just kept fouling Luca and Lebron and a lot of

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Speaker 1: like just basic foul grifting stuff that they were falling

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Speaker 1: for so, for instance, like Asar Thompson got caught reaching

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Speaker 1: in a bunch on Luca's little mid range jump shots.

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Speaker 1: Instead of keeping your hands back and letting him shoot,

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Speaker 1: he was constantly reaching. And Luca's just so good at

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Speaker 1: getting his arms out and grabbing your arm on his

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Speaker 1: way up on that jump shot to get to the

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Speaker 1: foul line. Kay Cunningham had a play where Lebron's facing

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Speaker 1: him up on the right wing and he just reached

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Speaker 1: in all the way and Lebron's like, all right, just

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Speaker 1: took the jump shot right into his arm and drew

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Speaker 1: another foul. That was the big thing that kept the

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Speaker 1: Lakers attached through the first three quarters, in addition to

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Speaker 1: the offensive rebounding, was they were getting to the foul

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Speaker 1: line a ton, and it was just them foul that

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Speaker 1: the Pistons falling for the classic grifty tricks that you

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Speaker 1: come to expect from a Luka Doncis led team. Right

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Speaker 1: that said, though throughout the entire first three quarters, I

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Speaker 1: thought the Pistons were getting better shots, and so it

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Speaker 1: was only a matter of time before it turned around.

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Speaker 1: And Ron Holland really was the guy who sparked the

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Speaker 1: run in that third quarter on both ends of the floor.

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Speaker 1: He learned his lesson. He had to play in the

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Speaker 1: second quarter where he was posting up Luca and he

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Speaker 1: had his arm out and Luca just kind of turned

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Speaker 1: up into his arm and on a right shoulder fade

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Speaker 1: away and drew a foul. And from that point forward

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Speaker 1: he was keeping his arms back and he was one

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Speaker 1: of the few guys that was doing a good job

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Speaker 1: not fouling in the second half by getting his arms

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Speaker 1: back when he was guarding Luca and then on the

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Speaker 1: other end of the floor. And this has been something

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Speaker 1: that Ron's been doing in these bench units all season,

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Speaker 1: just hard drives to the basket. He had a couple

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Speaker 1: of big driving layups in that run as well. We've

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Speaker 1: talked about this all season with the Pistons, but they

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Speaker 1: have a depth of athletic guards that can do ball

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Speaker 1: pressure damage, getting up into the ball, making ball handlers

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Speaker 1: uncomfortable and forcing turnovers. And then they can drive over

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Speaker 1: and over and over again, whether it's transition drives off

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Speaker 1: of the turnovers they force, or just in the half

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Speaker 1: court just beating that primary point of attack defender. It's

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Speaker 1: a cycle. They get into the ball, they make you uncomfortable,

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Speaker 1: They turn you over, they get out and transition and

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Speaker 1: if you saw him down in the half court, they

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Speaker 1: beat you off the dribble to get to the basket

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Speaker 1: with quick drives from their guards. They bring that level

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Speaker 1: of intensity all game, but it does really stack up

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Speaker 1: in their bench groups. That's when you see Ron Holland

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Speaker 1: and Javonte Green and Jade and Ivy and with kar

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Speaker 1: Slavern out of the lineup yesterday, we saw Marcus Sasser

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Speaker 1: get into the lineup. And he's a guy who's not

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Speaker 1: a regular rotation player for the Pistons, but he's another

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Speaker 1: super fast guard who can pressure the ball and he

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Speaker 1: can drive it. On the other end. I thought he

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Speaker 1: kicked Nick Smith Junior's ass yesterday on both ends of

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Speaker 1: the floor. He picked him clean at half court for

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Speaker 1: a bucket. At one point he was driving it right

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Speaker 1: at him, getting to the rim and drawing fouls. He

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Speaker 1: hit four threes in this game to add insult to injury.

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Speaker 1: Just a really really nice game for Marcus Sasser filling

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Speaker 1: in at that backup guard spot, and that was really

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Speaker 1: how they continued the run in that late third quarter

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Speaker 1: after Ron Holland kind of got him sparked, Marcus Sasser

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Speaker 1: drives at Nick Smith, draws a foul. Jada Ivy drives

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Speaker 1: right at Vando in transition, gets another easy layup going

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Speaker 1: through Jared Vanderbilt kind of backpedaling yet another reverse layup

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Speaker 1: cutting out of the left corner. On another Marcus Sasser drive,

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Speaker 1: there was just a like just kind of cut along

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Speaker 1: the baseline and cut caught Jared Vanderbilt ball watching on

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Speaker 1: the right wing or on the left wing, and just

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Speaker 1: got behind him and went up and under for a

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Speaker 1: reverse layup. And they blew that thing open up to

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Speaker 1: eight when they got into the early fourth quarter, So

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Speaker 1: as the Lakers were close, and they even tied it

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Speaker 1: at one point, and they were kind of hanging in

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Speaker 1: that like two to three point range there in the

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Speaker 1: middle of the third. Right at the end of the third,

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Speaker 1: that bench guard group goes on a quick run and

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Speaker 1: they're right to start that fourth quarter. Another Javonte Green

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Speaker 1: steel on Lebron on a rebound Cade runs a ball screen,

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Speaker 1: dumps it into Jay Jalen Deurney turns over his right

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Speaker 1: shoulder and gets a layup. Then Marcus Sasser hits both

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Speaker 1: of those threes, catches Deandreyton on his heels on the

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Speaker 1: right wing and just hits a little step back, hits

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Speaker 1: another corner three, and transition off of a drive and

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Speaker 1: kick sequence just immediately blow it open. It's fifteen, it's seventeen,

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Speaker 1: it's twenty, and exactly like we talked about at the

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Speaker 1: beginning of the show, the Lakers just decomposed. There was

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Speaker 1: a five minute stretch in the fourth quarter there where

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Speaker 1: it seemed like Lebron and Luca were having a competition

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Speaker 1: who could throw the worst cross court pass or interior

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Speaker 1: feed that would turn into a turnover going the other way.

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Speaker 1: It was just really poor basketball from the Lakers. I

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Speaker 1: thought Jalen Duran was an absolute monster in this game

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Speaker 1: on the glass as well and in the interior beating

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Speaker 1: switches we saw early in the game. Switch on the

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Speaker 1: ball screen, dump inside, little left shoulder hook over the top,

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Speaker 1: the one at the end of the game they blitz Cad,

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Speaker 1: he rolls to the middle, seals, Luca Caid pitches it in,

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Speaker 1: turns over his right shoulder and scores. I thought DeAndre

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Speaker 1: Ayton was a pretty much non factor defensively in the

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Speaker 1: paint in this game. Caide was able to get around

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Speaker 1: his shoulder and just finish little reverse layups, and he's

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Speaker 1: powering through everybody at the basket. The Pistons ended up

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Speaker 1: out scoring the Lakers in the paint seventy four to

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Speaker 1: forty four in this game, and it was just a

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Speaker 1: that classic kind of decomposing Lakers effort as things started

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Speaker 1: to get tough. The Pistons ended up finishing the game

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Speaker 1: with thirty points off of twenty one Lakers turnovers, and

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Speaker 1: they ended up going on to win that game by

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Speaker 1: twenty two points. I thought, in many ways, it was

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Speaker 1: a perfect showcase of what makes the Pistons great and

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Speaker 1: a perfect showcase of what plagues the Lakers. On both

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Speaker 1: ends of the floor. You saw everything that makes Kaid great.

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Speaker 1: The relentless rim pressure coupled with top tier playmaking. He's

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Speaker 1: fourth in the league and drives per game. He's downhill

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Speaker 1: all the time, and he just plays with so much

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Speaker 1: power how much time? How many times do we see

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Speaker 1: him like go through eight and then get all the

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Speaker 1: way to the basket for a layup, or just power

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Speaker 1: through his primary matchup and put it. He had that

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Speaker 1: play where he kind of headbutted the basketball after he

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Speaker 1: put it in. He just powered through the defender's chest

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Speaker 1: and went right up and banked it in twenty seven

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Speaker 1: and eleven last night in a game Best plus twenty

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Speaker 1: three an excellent again, an excellent showcase of what makes

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Speaker 1: CAID great. You saw the blossoming Jalen Duran, Like that

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Speaker 1: mid range jumper. He's been hitting that this year. He's

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Speaker 1: fifteen for twenty five on him. That's sixty percent, And

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Speaker 1: like he's actually becoming a semi reliable ISO option for

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Speaker 1: the Pistons this year. He's got on forty four ISOs

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Speaker 1: including passes. He's generating one point one six points per possession.

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Speaker 1: That's really good, about one and a half times per game.

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Speaker 1: We had a mailbag question the other day two weeks

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Speaker 1: ago talking about, like how he had been starting to

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Speaker 1: struggle a little bit with double teams in the middle

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Speaker 1: of the floor, which is what's gonna happen when you

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Speaker 1: start having success. The same thing happened to Jonathan Kaminga

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Speaker 1: was cooking everybody at the beginning of last year with

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Speaker 1: these like straight post ups and ISOs, and then team

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Speaker 1: started sending that second defender and that was when Kaminga

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Speaker 1: started to decompose, and like similar things were starting to

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Speaker 1: happen with Jalen Duran. And one of the things that

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Speaker 1: that we got asked in the mail bag is like,

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Speaker 1: how can they make things easier for him there? And

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Speaker 1: I talked about clearing the side for him, make it

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Speaker 1: so that he doesn't have to worry about seeing what's

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Speaker 1: happening behind him. And one of the things I've noticed

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Speaker 1: in the last few games, and one of the things

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Speaker 1: I've last noticed in the last few games, and I

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Speaker 1: saw this in the Clippers game that I was watching

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Speaker 1: the other day. They'll run a horn set where they

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Speaker 1: get Jalen Duran on the right, like kind of elbow era,

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Speaker 1: and they'll run that guard off of the right side,

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Speaker 1: off of like a little iverson cut to basically clear

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Speaker 1: the right side, and then they'll throw the post entry

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Speaker 1: to Jalen and he'll just catch, turn and face and

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Speaker 1: rip to the right. And what ends up happening there

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Speaker 1: is he doesn't have to worry about a defender coming

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Speaker 1: from that other side. He just has to worry about

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Speaker 1: half of the floor. And when he beats his man

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Speaker 1: off the dribble, he can either get all the way

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Speaker 1: to the basket like he did on the play where

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Speaker 1: he you know, beat Jake Lavea and just elbowed him

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Speaker 1: in the face. But that one wasn't even a clear side.

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Speaker 1: But it's an example of him like ripping through. But

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Speaker 1: if he does make any sort of defensive you know

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Speaker 1: shift happen. It's easier for him to see when they

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Speaker 1: have the side cleared. And you know what's kind of

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Speaker 1: New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia. That's all exciting for

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Speaker 1: the future of the team. You know, if he becomes

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Speaker 1: this kind of monstrous version of Amaro Stotdemeyer that can

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Speaker 1: hit face of jumpers and run little quick ISOs. But again,

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Speaker 1: right now, they're only doing that like once or twice

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Speaker 1: in game a game. The meat and potatoes of what's

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Speaker 1: making Jalen Duran's offensive game so successful right now is

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Speaker 1: he's got great hands, and he catches and finishes everything

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Speaker 1: on cuts and rolls. And now he can beat switches

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Speaker 1: because he's got that little left shoulder hook that he

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Speaker 1: can hit fifty percent of the time. And again he

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Speaker 1: was beating those Lakers switches with deep seals. He got

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Speaker 1: that one in the first half on that little left

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Speaker 1: shoulder hook. He got that one in the second half,

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Speaker 1: turning over Luca on the deep seal over his right shoulder.

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Speaker 1: Like That's what makes him the perfect role man option

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Speaker 1: with kid is he can catch and finish anywhere. Like

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Speaker 1: he can catch and finish at the foul line with

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Speaker 1: the little short jump shot, he can catch and finish

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Speaker 1: in the short range with a little hook. He can

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Speaker 1: catch finished with a dunker a layup underneath the basket,

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Speaker 1: and then he can beat the switch by either getting

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Speaker 1: an offensive rebound, which he gets four of every single game,

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Speaker 1: or with those deep seals for quick little hooks or turnarounds,

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Speaker 1: things along those lines, and then I'd argue that this

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Speaker 1: game was the best showcase of what's driven the majority

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Speaker 1: of the Pistons success this year, which is their defense.

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Speaker 1: They're the second best defensive rating team in the league

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Speaker 1: after Oklahoma City. They have six guys, like six to

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Speaker 1: seven guys who can really guard on the perimeter, and

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Speaker 1: all of them get up into the ball. They all

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Speaker 1: force turnovers. They're third in the league this year in

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Speaker 1: points off of turnovers. They get over twenty points a game,

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Speaker 1: turning the opponent over and scoring in transition. I thought

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Speaker 1: they had gotten away from it a little bit in

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Speaker 1: the Jazz and Clippers games. I thought their defense just

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Speaker 1: wasn't very good in those two games. So Star Thompson's

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Speaker 1: been having a little bit of a problem with some

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Speaker 1: of these bigger forwards, and Luca got him with the

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Speaker 1: foul grift in Kawhi, which is kind of bullying in

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Speaker 1: the other night. But overall, they got back on track

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Speaker 1: in a big way last night against a Lakers team

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Speaker 1: that you know has some offensive town and even with

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Speaker 1: their injuries, I mean, you say what you want about

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Speaker 1: that roster. You're dealing with Luca and Lebron for forty

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Speaker 1: eight minutes. It wasn't an easy challenge for them defensively,

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Speaker 1: and I thought the Pistons got back on track there.

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Speaker 1: One of my most you know, one of the things

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Speaker 1: that gets me most excited about this Pistons team as

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Speaker 1: a potential playoff threat as the years go by, is

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Speaker 1: just how big an athletic and physical they are at

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Speaker 1: every single position group. They're huge and athletic. At center.

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Speaker 1: We talked about Duran. Isaiah Stewart was great last night

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Speaker 1: coming in off the bench. He was I think he

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Speaker 1: was like something crazy like plus twenty one in his

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Speaker 1: minutes last night. Like Isaiah Stewart was excellent. They have

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Speaker 1: this death lineup of like awesome point of attack guards.

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Speaker 1: Over and over again. You get through this Star Thompson

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Speaker 1: group and then all of a sudden, it's like here

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Speaker 1: is Javonte Green, here is Jade and Ivy, here is

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Speaker 1: Ron Holland, and they are just getting up into your

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Speaker 1: jersey for forty eight minutes. And then you have the

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Speaker 1: star in Kay Cunningham, whose entire identity as a player

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Speaker 1: is physicality, just overwhelming defenses with downhill force. I'm just

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Speaker 1: really happy for Pistons fans. I think you guys have

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Speaker 1: an awesome team. They're really fun to watch. They're built

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Speaker 1: the right way to have success both in the regular

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Speaker 1: season and in the postseason, and they're still barely scratching

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Speaker 1: their potential. We'll see what happens with Jalen during in

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Speaker 1: the long run with this skill development, if he can

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Speaker 1: become a more dynamic offensive player. We'll see what happens

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Speaker 1: with Jade and Ivy if he can actually stay healthy

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Speaker 1: for fifty games and really start to build a rhythm

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Speaker 1: and show what he can do on offense. And Caid

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Speaker 1: the pull up three point shot and the pull up

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Speaker 1: mid range shot and some of the rim finishing stuff.

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Speaker 1: I think that will all improve as the years go by.

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Speaker 1: The turnovers, all that stuff's going to get better, and

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Speaker 1: so there's a lot to be excited about if you're

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Speaker 1: a Pistons fan. On the Lakers front, take your pick.

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Speaker 1: It was all on display last night. Every issue that

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Speaker 1: they've had this season. I know they've had some injuries,

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Speaker 1: and that was the focal point in some of the

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Speaker 1: postgame pressers last night. I know Lebron was talking about

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Speaker 1: it in his postgame presser, and look, I'm not gonna

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Speaker 1: site here and pretend like Austin Reeves isn't super important

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Speaker 1: to this team. Certainly is. But regardless of whether or

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Speaker 1: not you think Rui should start, you'd prefer to have

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Speaker 1: him available in the rotation. You need to have Austin

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Speaker 1: Reeves out there. Gabe Vincent does give you another option

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Speaker 1: in terms of speed foot speed on the ground for

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Speaker 1: a team that desperately needs it. That said, even if

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Speaker 1: we take all those things and set them to the side,

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Speaker 1: even when the Lakers are healthy, these issues still exist,

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Speaker 1: like the turnovers. This is a big one that I've

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Speaker 1: been keyed in on lately and all season for the

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Speaker 1: most part. And Luca fans always get pissed off at

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Speaker 1: me because they get so hung up on his counting stats.

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Speaker 1: And there he was again last night, thirty points and

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Speaker 1: eleven assists, and you know, JJ was talking about it

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Speaker 1: after the game, like, oh, he's leading the league in scoring,

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Speaker 1: He's got the balance figured out, and like, I just

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Speaker 1: am not seeing it that way, like Luca posted a

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Speaker 1: usage rate of thirty nine percent last night, He's gonna

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Speaker 1: hit counting stats, but when you dig into it, the

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Speaker 1: only consistent success he's having right now is getting to

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Speaker 1: the foul line by twerking into defenders. Once again last night,

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Speaker 1: thirteen missshots, eight miss threes, eight turnovers. Eight miss threes

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Speaker 1: and eight turnovers are gonna lead to a lot of

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Speaker 1: buckets going the other way. A lot of these step

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Speaker 1: back threes off the top, they happen with poor floor balance,

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Speaker 1: and then Luca's a bad transition defense defender, so they

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Speaker 1: end up in layups going the other way. Since Luca

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Speaker 1: went to Slovenia, he's shooting forty two percent from the

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Speaker 1: field in twenty eight percent from three, and he's turning

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Speaker 1: the ball over five times per game. Yeah, he's getting

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Speaker 1: thirty points per game in that span, but he's just

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Speaker 1: missing way too many shots and turning the ball over

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Speaker 1: way too much to be as impactful as he's capable

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Speaker 1: of being. And like guys, it's a chore to watch.

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Speaker 1: He's not beating anyone off the dribble. His entire offensive

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Speaker 1: game right now is predicated on a step back three

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Speaker 1: that he can't make in torking for fouls along the

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Speaker 1: lane line. Even his two point shooting has cratered since

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Speaker 1: the start of the season. Before going to Slovenia, he

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Speaker 1: was shooting sixty percent on twos. He's down to just

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Speaker 1: fifty four percent on twos. And he's been a disaster

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Speaker 1: on the defensive end. Like, here's the thing, Like the

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Speaker 1: Lakers have a boatload of issues that go well beyond Luca,

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Speaker 1: but Luca is also playing like somewhere around the tenth

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Speaker 1: to twelfth best player in the world right now, not

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Speaker 1: the third best player in the world, and it's making

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Speaker 1: things even harder on the Lakers. Lebron's been better defensively

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Speaker 1: and on the glass in the last couple of games.

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Speaker 1: He's responded well after that embarrassing effort on Christmas Day,

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Speaker 1: but I thought this was one of his worst offensive

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Speaker 1: games since coming back, Unable to generate an advantage some

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Speaker 1: really poor shot selection. He's been settling for some really

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Speaker 1: tough pull up threes as well. Both him and Luca

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Speaker 1: have this problem with trying to make highlight passes like

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Speaker 1: these interior feeds or these super tight window passes that

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Speaker 1: sometimes work, but they regularly turn into turnovers. And a

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Speaker 1: classic example, there's a play in the first half where

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Speaker 1: Lebron's posting up on the left block and he throws

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Speaker 1: a lob to Jackson Hayes kind of cutting down the middle,

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Speaker 1: and Isaiah Stuart gambles for it and he misses it,

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Speaker 1: and so Jackson catches it and he goes up and

430
00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:05,280
Speaker 1: he dunks it, and it's like, okay, Like Lebron gets

431
00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:07,560
Speaker 1: an assist there. It's easy dunk for Jackson Hayes, right,

432
00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,000
Speaker 1: But it was a really tight window pass. And if

433
00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,640
Speaker 1: that passes, you know, maybe an inch lower, Isaia Suwer

434
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,440
Speaker 1: gets a finger on it. Now Detroit's running out the

435
00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:18,680
Speaker 1: other way with another advantage because the Lakers had a

436
00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:20,720
Speaker 1: bunch of players below the foul line. Again, and it's

437
00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,320
Speaker 1: like that was a high risk type of play that

438
00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:26,920
Speaker 1: happened to lead a reward on that play. How many

439
00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:29,560
Speaker 1: other times in the game did we see a lob

440
00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:32,760
Speaker 1: that ended up being turned over because Lucas trying to

441
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,840
Speaker 1: throw a lob to Jared Vanderbilt, who's not a vertical

442
00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:38,520
Speaker 1: spacer cutting along the baseline and ends in a turnover,

443
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,399
Speaker 1: or Lebron trying to rifle a pass to eight and

444
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,440
Speaker 1: on a deep seal when he doesn't even have the seal,

445
00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:47,720
Speaker 1: you know, it doesn't even have the angle created for

446
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,240
Speaker 1: the pass. These are all like super low percentage passes

447
00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,320
Speaker 1: that have a small percentage chance of ending in a bucket,

448
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,200
Speaker 1: but a high percentage chance and ending in a transition

449
00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:00,280
Speaker 1: opportunity going the other way. And I think both Luca

450
00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,160
Speaker 1: and Lebron have to do a better job taking care

451
00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:05,960
Speaker 1: of the basketball. That was a huge thing. You talk

452
00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,359
Speaker 1: about thirty points off of turnovers for the Pistons, the

453
00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,320
Speaker 1: majority of those came down to straight up mistake making

454
00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,080
Speaker 1: or like and ones that don't reflect as points off

455
00:21:16,119 --> 00:21:19,280
Speaker 1: of turnovers. Bad shots, these bad pull up threes that

456
00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:21,200
Speaker 1: ended up leading in buckets the other way. Just a

457
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:23,960
Speaker 1: lot of like really poor process from Lebron and Luca

458
00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,600
Speaker 1: that has helped a night offense going the other way

459
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,120
Speaker 1: for the Pistons and for other teams over the course

460
00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,239
Speaker 1: of these last couple of weeks. Like here's the thing,

461
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,280
Speaker 1: the poor roster construction was on display again last night,

462
00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:37,920
Speaker 1: Like the complete lack of athleticism and shooting in this

463
00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,080
Speaker 1: eleven game span where the Lakers are five and six,

464
00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:42,560
Speaker 1: they're shooting just thirty three percent from three that's the

465
00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:44,920
Speaker 1: fourth worst mark in the entire league in that span.

466
00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:48,560
Speaker 1: They look completely overmatched athletically. Like I actually thought the

467
00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:51,040
Speaker 1: Lakers played hard last night on defense. It wasn't an

468
00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:53,600
Speaker 1: effort thing. They're just giving up so much speed all

469
00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,440
Speaker 1: over the floor. Like Lakers fans were complaining about Marcus

470
00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,359
Speaker 1: Sasser going from not playing to play awesome, and like,

471
00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:04,159
Speaker 1: it's not some weird sort of voodoo. It's not like, oh,

472
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,040
Speaker 1: he just gets up for the Lakers. It's because he

473
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:08,879
Speaker 1: has a massive speed advantage. He's faster than everybody, and

474
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,160
Speaker 1: so he's comfortable, and like just about every NBA player,

475
00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:15,400
Speaker 1: if they're comfortable, is able to go off and put

476
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,639
Speaker 1: up big point totals. All of the stuff about the

477
00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:21,560
Speaker 1: roster and Rob Polinka and how he's failed to do

478
00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:24,760
Speaker 1: his job over the last half decade, all that remains true.

479
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:30,240
Speaker 1: But as a practical matter, this is the roster, probably

480
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:35,080
Speaker 1: for another five weeks. As a practical matter, Austin Reeves

481
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,160
Speaker 1: is gonna miss all this time before the All Star

482
00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:41,680
Speaker 1: break or the or the trade deadline. The Laker supporting

483
00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:43,479
Speaker 1: cast kind of is what it is right now. It's

484
00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,359
Speaker 1: not gonna magically get better. If you're waiting for Marcus

485
00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:48,720
Speaker 1: Smart and Jake Laavia to knock down open threes, I

486
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:53,680
Speaker 1: don't think it's gonna happen. The one thing that actually

487
00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:58,560
Speaker 1: can happen between now and February that can help float

488
00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:03,000
Speaker 1: the ship until untill reinforcements arrive, until Austin Reeves gets back,

489
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 1: until a trade gets made, is Luca can start making

490
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:10,480
Speaker 1: more shots and turning the ball over less and making

491
00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:14,320
Speaker 1: a better effort on defense. Lebron can anchor the defense,

492
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:18,480
Speaker 1: anchor the defensive glass, and provide more consistent production in

493
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:23,480
Speaker 1: support of Luca. Those two things actually can happen. There's

494
00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:27,200
Speaker 1: a far better chance of that happening than Marcus Smarter

495
00:23:27,359 --> 00:23:30,800
Speaker 1: Jake Laavia shooting fifty percent on catch and shoot threes

496
00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:33,080
Speaker 1: and turning this thing around. It has to start with

497
00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,119
Speaker 1: the guys at the top. That's why I always focus

498
00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,560
Speaker 1: on those guys. I know Luca can trim some of

499
00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:41,119
Speaker 1: these bad step back threes out. I know Luca can

500
00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:42,960
Speaker 1: do a better job taking care of the basketball. He

501
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,159
Speaker 1: just has to do it. Those guys have to be

502
00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:53,760
Speaker 1: better or things could spiral out of control here. So

503
00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:56,919
Speaker 1: we got some bad news the other day. I suppose

504
00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,200
Speaker 1: it's actually good news, but it's bad news seeing nikolay

505
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,800
Speaker 1: Yokic go down way that he did. But we got

506
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,000
Speaker 1: a report that it was a hyper extension that comes

507
00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:07,520
Speaker 1: attached to a bone bruise that's going to require some

508
00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:09,760
Speaker 1: time to heal. So it looks like Nikoliokic is going

509
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:11,560
Speaker 1: to be out for at least four weeks, probably until

510
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,760
Speaker 1: after the All Star break. This Nugget season has been

511
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:19,000
Speaker 1: completely cursed from the start. Aaron Gordon came out looking

512
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:20,520
Speaker 1: as good as ever to start the season and he

513
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:22,640
Speaker 1: goes down with a hamstring injury on an awkward step

514
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,120
Speaker 1: against the Houston Rockets. Christian Brown ends up going down.

515
00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:27,879
Speaker 1: Cam Johnson finds his groove with the team after a

516
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,000
Speaker 1: rough start, and then he goes down. And now Nikolijokic

517
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:33,679
Speaker 1: a knee hyper extension that's going to hold him out

518
00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,359
Speaker 1: until after the trade deadline. First of all, nikol Jokic

519
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 1: in the first ten years of his career average seventy

520
00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,359
Speaker 1: five games played per season, so a remarkable example of

521
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:46,080
Speaker 1: regular availability to his team, for which he deserves a

522
00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:48,600
Speaker 1: ton of credit. And it's just a bummer to see

523
00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:50,159
Speaker 1: him go down like this. When he was playing the

524
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:52,359
Speaker 1: best basketball of his career, so let's hope for Da

525
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:54,840
Speaker 1: kol Jokic's sake that he makes a speedy recovery and

526
00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,760
Speaker 1: is able to return sooner than later. Taking a peek

527
00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:02,000
Speaker 1: at the situation for the Nugget, they're twenty two to ten,

528
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,280
Speaker 1: currently in sole possession of the three seeds, so they

529
00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:08,080
Speaker 1: did a good job banking wins despite the injuries to

530
00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:11,240
Speaker 1: start the year. They are three games up on the

531
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:14,040
Speaker 1: Phoenix Suns for the first playing spot that seven seed,

532
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:16,840
Speaker 1: and they're five and a half games up on the

533
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,800
Speaker 1: Warriors for the eighth seed. I think there's some risk

534
00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:23,040
Speaker 1: here that the Nuggets could fall that far seven and

535
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,480
Speaker 1: a half games up on Memphis for the nine seed.

536
00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,480
Speaker 1: Things would have to get exceptionally ugly for them to

537
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:32,600
Speaker 1: slip that far. It's tough to find wins on the schedule,

538
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:34,280
Speaker 1: but like if you really look at it, so there's

539
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 1: twenty four games between now and the and the All

540
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,520
Speaker 1: Star Break. Let's say that you know Memphis is gonna

541
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,879
Speaker 1: win somewhere around eleven of those games, right, So, like

542
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,879
Speaker 1: you really only have to win, you know, five or

543
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,879
Speaker 1: six games in the next twenty four in order for

544
00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:53,520
Speaker 1: you to avoid slipping all the way to that nine seed.

545
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,000
Speaker 1: So I think it's possible that they slip as far

546
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,320
Speaker 1: below as far down as eight, but I don't think

547
00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:01,480
Speaker 1: they'll slip as far down is nine. Looking at the

548
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:03,879
Speaker 1: schedule now as you try to dig into it, like

549
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,840
Speaker 1: I was looking at the schedule specifically looking for like

550
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,399
Speaker 1: bankable wins, like games that I feel really good about

551
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 1: their ability to win. And what I'm looking at there

552
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:15,359
Speaker 1: is home games against bad teams, because obviously, without Jokic

553
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:17,760
Speaker 1: you can lose to anyone, but in front of your

554
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,400
Speaker 1: home crowd, competing on defense, you have a decent chance

555
00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,000
Speaker 1: against some of these bad teams to come away with wins.

556
00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:26,120
Speaker 1: They have a home game versus Washington in the SPAN,

557
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,959
Speaker 1: home game versus Charlotte, home game versus Brooklyn. So if

558
00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,200
Speaker 1: you pull those three out and again those are not

559
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:35,440
Speaker 1: guaranteed wins, But if you pull those three out and

560
00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:38,119
Speaker 1: then you really just have to win like three of

561
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:41,000
Speaker 1: the other nineteen games, three of the other you know,

562
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,520
Speaker 1: four of the other nineteen games to be in pretty

563
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:45,920
Speaker 1: solid position to be able to make a late season run.

564
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 1: So I do think that's doable. It just gets really

565
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,800
Speaker 1: tough when you start to dig in to what the

566
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,159
Speaker 1: lineup data has shown for the Nuggets this year. So

567
00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:58,719
Speaker 1: if you look at the lineup data, the one lineup

568
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 1: that they've actually used considerably this year with Jokic, Brown,

569
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 1: Gordon and Johnson all off the floor is a group

570
00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:09,000
Speaker 1: that's played one hundred and forty seven possessions. It's Jamal Murray,

571
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:12,720
Speaker 1: Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway, Peyton Watson, and Yonis Valentunis. That

572
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,359
Speaker 1: group has a minus thirteen net rating in one hundred

573
00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:19,080
Speaker 1: and forty seven possessions if you take all the lineup data,

574
00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:22,240
Speaker 1: so every possession the Nuggets have played without Jokis, Brown,

575
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:24,880
Speaker 1: Gordon and Johnson on the floor, the Nuggets are minus

576
00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,200
Speaker 1: twenty six points per one hundred posessions in four hundred

577
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,560
Speaker 1: five possessions. Good amount of garbage time in there, though,

578
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:33,399
Speaker 1: So you can't take that all, you know, as like

579
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 1: just solid, solid data under the circumstances. So the way

580
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,040
Speaker 1: you're looking at it is you're basically starting from scratch.

581
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,560
Speaker 1: My guess is that they'll start games with a similar

582
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,479
Speaker 1: version of that lineup. Instead of Bruce Brown, I think

583
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:47,760
Speaker 1: they'll probably go for Spencer Jones, so it'll probably be

584
00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,320
Speaker 1: like Jamal Murray and Tim Hardaway with Peyton Watson and

585
00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,639
Speaker 1: Spencer Jones and Yonas Valentunas. That's my guess as to

586
00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,119
Speaker 1: how they start games. But really it's gonna come down

587
00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:58,880
Speaker 1: to the defensive end. If you're gonna have any chance

588
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:01,160
Speaker 1: to win these games, you got to keep your team

589
00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,560
Speaker 1: attached and stay close enough to end up in clutch situations.

590
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,000
Speaker 1: You can get into clutch situations. Jamal's going to pull

591
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:09,880
Speaker 1: out a few of these games with his shot making,

592
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:11,920
Speaker 1: but you gotta be able to get into some close

593
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,159
Speaker 1: games late. The best way to do that is to

594
00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,080
Speaker 1: play great defense every night. So really look at David

595
00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,560
Speaker 1: Adelman to emphasize and drill the defensive end of the floor.

596
00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:23,280
Speaker 1: In the coming weeks, my guess is that they'll lean

597
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:27,560
Speaker 1: into variance. This team actually does have some defensive talent

598
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 1: that can guard the ball available, Like Bruce Brown can

599
00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:32,240
Speaker 1: guard the ball a little bit, right, Jalen Picking and

600
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,400
Speaker 1: guard the ball a little bit. Peyton Watson can guard

601
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,160
Speaker 1: the ball a little bit. So what I think they'll

602
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:39,520
Speaker 1: do to lean into variance is basically force teams to

603
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:41,640
Speaker 1: make jump shots. I'd expect to see a lot of

604
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,720
Speaker 1: deep drop coverage, so Yonis valenciun Is sitting way back,

605
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,560
Speaker 1: asking those guards to chase over the top and funnel,

606
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:49,920
Speaker 1: offering a little bit more help from the weak side

607
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,720
Speaker 1: and essentially making teams win by hitting pull up jumpers

608
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:57,000
Speaker 1: in the mid range and by knocking down kickout threes

609
00:28:57,080 --> 00:28:59,600
Speaker 1: at least, then you can lean into variants where maybe

610
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,040
Speaker 1: they're four or five nights over the next twenty four

611
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,680
Speaker 1: games where dudes just missshots, and if dudes just misshots,

612
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 1: you have a good chance to win in a close

613
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:11,760
Speaker 1: game late right, I think the big key there is

614
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,920
Speaker 1: going to be avoiding transition. So on the offensive end,

615
00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:17,640
Speaker 1: with the type of talent that they have available, you

616
00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,400
Speaker 1: just can't turn the ball over. And you have to

617
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 1: make sure you have your transition defense set up, meaning

618
00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,880
Speaker 1: good floor balance. If Jamal Murray's driving off the top,

619
00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 1: you gotta have guys wheeling up above the break. You

620
00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:30,800
Speaker 1: gotta have two guys above the foul line at all times.

621
00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:33,400
Speaker 1: Those dudes got to get back. As a team, You've

622
00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,760
Speaker 1: got to sprint back. You cannot get massacred in the

623
00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:39,000
Speaker 1: margins and have a chance to win. Take care of

624
00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,360
Speaker 1: the basketball, set up your transition defense, lean into variants

625
00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:44,880
Speaker 1: with deep drop coverage, make teams score and pick and

626
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,920
Speaker 1: roll and score on kickouts. Try to keep things close

627
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,320
Speaker 1: with your defense on the other end of the floor

628
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,000
Speaker 1: in a close game late I like the idea of

629
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,360
Speaker 1: Yonas Malacunas and Jamal Murray being able to pull out

630
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:58,600
Speaker 1: some games with their two man game. Here's the thing,

631
00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,560
Speaker 1: so before you go big picture, Aaron Gordon and Christian

632
00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,360
Speaker 1: Brown will probably return at some point in January to help.

633
00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:10,760
Speaker 1: You can't risk it in terms of re injury, Like

634
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:12,720
Speaker 1: there's no point in rushing them back, even if it

635
00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 1: hurts you in the standings, there's no point in rushing

636
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:16,760
Speaker 1: them back. But if those guys can come back at

637
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,880
Speaker 1: some point in January, that obviously gives you additional options.

638
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,560
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon is capable of scaling up offensively. He's been

639
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:24,080
Speaker 1: doing a lot of work out of the post this year.

640
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,360
Speaker 1: He can really shoot the ball from three right. Christian

641
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 1: Brown and Aaron Gordon both represent excellent defensive weapons to

642
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:31,000
Speaker 1: give you a better chance to compete on that end

643
00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:33,520
Speaker 1: of the four. Those guys coming back will help. Do

644
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 1: not rush them back, though, because here's the thing, this

645
00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:39,680
Speaker 1: has the potential to get really ugly for the next month,

646
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,240
Speaker 1: and I think there's a good chance that Denver drops

647
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,280
Speaker 1: down to like the seventh or eight seed, and maybe

648
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:46,080
Speaker 1: even lower. But I think they'll end up right around

649
00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:48,280
Speaker 1: the seventh or eight seed when Nicole Yokic comes back.

650
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:52,480
Speaker 1: But when this team is healthy, they have clearly demonstrated

651
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,160
Speaker 1: themselves as a top tier contender in this league. So

652
00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:58,040
Speaker 1: even if they are the seventh seed, if they have

653
00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:00,880
Speaker 1: all these guys healthy and there are in rhythm when

654
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:03,560
Speaker 1: they get to mid April, they're every bit as dangerous

655
00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,160
Speaker 1: as any of these other contenders at the top of

656
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,680
Speaker 1: the league when they get there. So, if anything, this

657
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:12,360
Speaker 1: injury is actually really bad luck for the top teams

658
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:16,000
Speaker 1: in the West, Houston, Oklahoma City, San Antonio. I think

659
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:17,959
Speaker 1: that'll probably end up being our top three seeds when

660
00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:20,480
Speaker 1: it's all said and done. One of them is probably

661
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,640
Speaker 1: gonna have to play Denver in the first round. It's

662
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:25,840
Speaker 1: a hell of a reward for a great regular season.

663
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,360
Speaker 1: It also feels more likely than not that if they

664
00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:30,960
Speaker 1: do climb out of the play in that they end

665
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:33,160
Speaker 1: up in like a four or five seed, and if

666
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:35,080
Speaker 1: they end up there, they could end up facing Oklahoma

667
00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:36,680
Speaker 1: City in the second round, and that would be a

668
00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:39,720
Speaker 1: brutal second round matchup for a team like Oklahoma City,

669
00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:42,680
Speaker 1: who's gonna be the runaway number one overall seed. Right,

670
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:46,080
Speaker 1: So again, it's just about managing the long game here.

671
00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:48,720
Speaker 1: You just need to get to April healthy. Seating no

672
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 1: longer matters at this point. You're gonna win a play

673
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:52,840
Speaker 1: in game. You're gonna be just fine if you end

674
00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:55,680
Speaker 1: up in that situation. All you have to do here

675
00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:58,560
Speaker 1: is avoid an absolute catastrophe over the course of the

676
00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,120
Speaker 1: next twenty four games. You can do that by winning

677
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:05,280
Speaker 1: your must win home games against Washington, against Brooklyn and Charlotte.

678
00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:06,560
Speaker 1: Do I think those were the three if I remember

679
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,440
Speaker 1: correctly that they're playing at home, and then lean into

680
00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,440
Speaker 1: your defense, keep games close, and hopefully Jamal can pull

681
00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:14,680
Speaker 1: a couple out. You just need five or six wins

682
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,360
Speaker 1: between now in early February to be able to survive

683
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,080
Speaker 1: what's happening with the Spurs. First of all, I've seen

684
00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:25,080
Speaker 1: a lot of talk surrounding the idea that the Spurs

685
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:29,480
Speaker 1: can only beat the Thunder. That's ridiculous. Even after those

686
00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 1: two losses, the Spurs are fifteen to five in their

687
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:34,200
Speaker 1: last twenty games. They were the best team in the

688
00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:37,440
Speaker 1: league by record for like six weeks, so they've had

689
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:40,600
Speaker 1: plenty of success beating teams that aren't the Oklahoma City Thunder.

690
00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:42,320
Speaker 1: And again that's what Victor Orman ya, I'm missing the

691
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:44,280
Speaker 1: majority of that time, And if you really look at

692
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:45,880
Speaker 1: where they're at in the standings and how much time

693
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:47,960
Speaker 1: Fox has missed and how much time Wenby has missed,

694
00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,960
Speaker 1: I think it's ridiculous to synthesize their success down to

695
00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,080
Speaker 1: just beating the Thunder. They've had plenty of wins against

696
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:56,040
Speaker 1: everyone else, including ripping through Denver in LA to get

697
00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:59,720
Speaker 1: into the n season Tournament. That said, I do think

698
00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:02,480
Speaker 1: these two losses did show some stuff that the Spurs

699
00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:05,239
Speaker 1: will have to contend with before they can reach their

700
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:07,440
Speaker 1: ultimate goals. And I want to zoom in on the

701
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:09,280
Speaker 1: Calves game for a minute. First of all, shout out

702
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:10,720
Speaker 1: to the Calves. I thought they just played a really

703
00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:14,000
Speaker 1: good defensive game, all sorts of deflections and steals, just

704
00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:17,640
Speaker 1: with their activity and rotation. Overall, over the course of

705
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:19,960
Speaker 1: the last four or five games or so with Cleveland,

706
00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 1: I've seen a market increase in their intensity and just

707
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:25,640
Speaker 1: kind of starting to recapture a little bit of that,

708
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,200
Speaker 1: like just Calves flair that they had last year on

709
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,120
Speaker 1: both ends of the floor, And honestly, if it wasn't

710
00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,760
Speaker 1: for Tyler Colech and Jylen Brunson hitting four straight threes

711
00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:36,520
Speaker 1: to end Christmas Day, they'd be four and one in

712
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,000
Speaker 1: their last five games. So I'm starting to buy more

713
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:40,800
Speaker 1: Calves stock. I'm starting to feel better about them. I

714
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:42,680
Speaker 1: thought they played a really good game against the Spurs,

715
00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:45,120
Speaker 1: so let's get give them some credit for that. But

716
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:47,680
Speaker 1: they deployed an interesting defensive strategy in that game that

717
00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:49,800
Speaker 1: I think we'll see more of against San Antonio, and

718
00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:51,760
Speaker 1: I think it's something that they're going to deal with

719
00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:55,480
Speaker 1: in the postseason when they get there. They basically use

720
00:33:55,600 --> 00:34:00,920
Speaker 1: their forwards to guard san Antonio's guards of Dean Wade,

721
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:04,360
Speaker 1: a lot of DeAndre Hunter, a lot of Evan Mobley,

722
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:09,520
Speaker 1: a lot of Nakuon Tomlin guarding Steph Castle, guarding Dylan Harper.

723
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:12,680
Speaker 1: And when they were on those guys, they were going

724
00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:17,480
Speaker 1: way back, like sagging way back and then going underneath screens.

725
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,399
Speaker 1: The reason why this is really smart is it puts

726
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:23,719
Speaker 1: the guards in a bind. The correct read there if

727
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:25,680
Speaker 1: you're dribbling, if you're Steph Castle and you're drilling at

728
00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:28,040
Speaker 1: the three point line and Dean Wade's playing at the

729
00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:30,520
Speaker 1: foul line or like, you know, a little bit above

730
00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,279
Speaker 1: the foul line, like five feet away. The right read,

731
00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:35,320
Speaker 1: so to speak, is to take the pull up jumper

732
00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,279
Speaker 1: because the defender is basically conceding it to you. Right,

733
00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:40,600
Speaker 1: you're saying like, I'm gonna let you take that shot.

734
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,120
Speaker 1: But at the same time, you don't want to settle

735
00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:46,239
Speaker 1: for pull up jumpers every time down the floor because

736
00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:48,080
Speaker 1: that can bog down an offense in a different way.

737
00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:50,239
Speaker 1: So you need to attempt to drive as much as

738
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:53,880
Speaker 1: you can. But now you're driving the basketball at a

739
00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:58,520
Speaker 1: bigger defender who's basically backpedaling and waiting for you to

740
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:01,799
Speaker 1: drive into him. And so as a result, they don't

741
00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,640
Speaker 1: need to offer as much help because they're containing the

742
00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:07,759
Speaker 1: ball through sagging off with these bigger forwards, and so

743
00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:10,839
Speaker 1: the spot up opportunities aren't there, the kickouts aren't there,

744
00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:14,600
Speaker 1: and it really bogged down San Antonio's offense. They generated

745
00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:18,080
Speaker 1: just nineteen spot up opportunities against Cleveland. That was their

746
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:21,720
Speaker 1: lowest total in a game since opening night against Dallas.

747
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:26,080
Speaker 1: They average as a team thirty spot up opportunities per game,

748
00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:29,480
Speaker 1: seventh most in the NBA. They got just nineteen against

749
00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:33,319
Speaker 1: the Calves because they weren't having to offer as much

750
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:37,600
Speaker 1: help on drives because those bigger forwards were sagging, going under,

751
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:40,680
Speaker 1: basically waiting for those dudes to drive right into their chest.

752
00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:45,360
Speaker 1: This is the thing that stands in their way. And

753
00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:47,719
Speaker 1: kind of this, you know, in a lot of ways,

754
00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:51,120
Speaker 1: it kind of follows a similar and familiar pathway. We've

755
00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:55,160
Speaker 1: seen this before, the young, interesting team that rises into

756
00:35:55,280 --> 00:36:00,000
Speaker 1: championship contention. How does it go? You flash dynamic upside

757
00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:02,680
Speaker 1: in this case, the ability of all your guards drive

758
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:06,840
Speaker 1: to basketball, and then the league responds by identifying what

759
00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:10,320
Speaker 1: your weakness is and essentially forcing you to do something

760
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:12,879
Speaker 1: about it. We will see this. I think we'll even

761
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:15,080
Speaker 1: see more aggressive versions of it where it's not just

762
00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:19,799
Speaker 1: bigger forwards but also centers. They ended up deploying Jared

763
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,560
Speaker 1: Allen a lot on Wemby and did a very nice job.

764
00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:26,759
Speaker 1: But like you're gonna see centers guard Steph Castle, You're

765
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:29,920
Speaker 1: gonna see forwards guard Wenby. You're gonna see all sorts

766
00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:33,400
Speaker 1: of janky kind of matchups moved around. Try to make

767
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:36,840
Speaker 1: the Spurs uncomfortable. The question is how does san Antonio

768
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 1: counter this? So we all agree it doesn't make a

769
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:43,640
Speaker 1: ton of sense to just keep driving at the sagging

770
00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 1: forward and it doesn't make a ton of sense to

771
00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:48,560
Speaker 1: just shoot a bunch of pull up threes, right, So

772
00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:51,560
Speaker 1: how do you find ways to generate openings for them

773
00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:54,759
Speaker 1: with the way they're being guarded? Now, there's two ways

774
00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:58,080
Speaker 1: to look at this one. In the big picture, Harper

775
00:36:58,160 --> 00:36:59,960
Speaker 1: and Castle got to improve his pull up jump shooters.

776
00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:03,280
Speaker 1: You can't get away with that sort of coverage against

777
00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:05,040
Speaker 1: the best guards in the league because they all shoot

778
00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:06,480
Speaker 1: too well. Who are the best guards in the league,

779
00:37:06,520 --> 00:37:09,280
Speaker 1: Shaye Jalen Brunson, Donovan Mitchell, Steph Curry, all these guys.

780
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:11,760
Speaker 1: You can't do that with them because they're all elite

781
00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:15,319
Speaker 1: jump shooters. Harper and Castle will have to improve there

782
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:17,440
Speaker 1: in order to make this kind of cover jobs sleep.

783
00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:20,560
Speaker 1: But again there's the practical matter. The practical matter of

784
00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:23,680
Speaker 1: this is how they are right now, Here's how they're

785
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:26,600
Speaker 1: going to be guarded this season. What do they do

786
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,279
Speaker 1: to confront this issue within this season? First of all,

787
00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:32,920
Speaker 1: this is where having Deer and Fox as a luxury.

788
00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:35,160
Speaker 1: He was out for the Utah Jazz game with an

789
00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:37,160
Speaker 1: adductor injury, and he didn't play well in the Cavs game.

790
00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:39,399
Speaker 1: I don't know how much of that was the adductor injury.

791
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 1: He didn't shoot the ball well, just had kind of

792
00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:44,279
Speaker 1: a bad night, right. But the beauty of having that

793
00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:46,520
Speaker 1: kind of depth at the guard spot is you can

794
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:51,320
Speaker 1: play through Fox. Now if you're using Steph Castle and

795
00:37:51,400 --> 00:37:54,080
Speaker 1: Dylan Harper as places for you to ditch your forwards

796
00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:57,680
Speaker 1: to sag off, you can use those guys as screeners,

797
00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:01,640
Speaker 1: get him screening for deer and force the guard or

798
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:05,120
Speaker 1: the forward who is guarding Steph Castle or the ford

799
00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:08,680
Speaker 1: who is guarding Dylan Harper to make a decision. Am

800
00:38:08,719 --> 00:38:13,319
Speaker 1: I helping? If I'm helping, then Steph's gonna slip out

801
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:15,200
Speaker 1: of it and he's gonna have an easy driving lane.

802
00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:19,120
Speaker 1: Are we switching? Well? Now, Steph's gonna have a better

803
00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:21,439
Speaker 1: matchup to drive, and dearon Fox will have a better

804
00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:23,800
Speaker 1: matchup to drive. Right, Like, they're gonna have to be

805
00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:28,680
Speaker 1: more deliberate about making those forwards make decisions defensively so

806
00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:31,479
Speaker 1: that they can find better opportunities to drive. The second

807
00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:33,399
Speaker 1: piece of it, And I would argue that This kind

808
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:35,840
Speaker 1: of is more or less the same concept. But what

809
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:39,000
Speaker 1: do forwards and biggs struggle to do. They struggle to

810
00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:43,480
Speaker 1: navigate screens, So put them through as many screens as possible.

811
00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:47,680
Speaker 1: When Steph is handling the ball, runs some three man

812
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:50,960
Speaker 1: action so he can't just go underneath, but they have

813
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:54,160
Speaker 1: to work some sort of complicated switch where maybe somebody

814
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:56,960
Speaker 1: gets botched and left open, or maybe Steph ends up

815
00:38:56,960 --> 00:38:58,840
Speaker 1: on the other side of the screen against the defender

816
00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:01,560
Speaker 1: that he's more capable of pass. But you know, the

817
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:03,640
Speaker 1: Spurs have gotten away with a lot of simple offense

818
00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:05,680
Speaker 1: this year because of how good their guards are at

819
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:08,040
Speaker 1: driving the basketball. So they've had a lot of early

820
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:11,440
Speaker 1: offense ISOs off the wing or that little flare screen

821
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:13,480
Speaker 1: from Luke Cornett off the top where they just quick

822
00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:15,160
Speaker 1: drive off of it. There's been a lot of that

823
00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:16,800
Speaker 1: kind of stuff that they've been able to get away with.

824
00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:19,360
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna have to get more creative to

825
00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:22,000
Speaker 1: find ways to generate offense when teams really zero in

826
00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:25,160
Speaker 1: on their weaknesses. And again, my thing is, if you're

827
00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:28,800
Speaker 1: going to defend these quick guards with these bigger forwards,

828
00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:31,320
Speaker 1: the best thing you can do is get them involved

829
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:33,640
Speaker 1: in as much screening action as possible, both them as

830
00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:36,520
Speaker 1: the screener, whether it's for Wemby or s Forerdier and Fox,

831
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:39,759
Speaker 1: or get multiple screeners involved when they have the ball

832
00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:42,320
Speaker 1: so that they can't just easily go underneath the screen

833
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:43,920
Speaker 1: and meet you on the other side and kind of

834
00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:46,520
Speaker 1: take away that advantage. The good news is there's a

835
00:39:46,600 --> 00:39:50,160
Speaker 1: lot of time between now in mid April to figure

836
00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:53,640
Speaker 1: this stuff out. But they're going to have to figure

837
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:55,720
Speaker 1: it out because this is going to be how teams

838
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:59,120
Speaker 1: defend It's copycat league. It was only a matter of time.

839
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:02,319
Speaker 1: We've seen Steph Castle and Dylan Harper just bully these

840
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:06,080
Speaker 1: smaller guards all around the league, especially Oklahoma cities. So like,

841
00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:08,480
Speaker 1: we're going to see teams that have the types of

842
00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:11,719
Speaker 1: Ford personnel to do this, deploy their defense in this

843
00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:13,719
Speaker 1: way to try to make the Spurs uncomfortable and they're

844
00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:15,040
Speaker 1: just gonna have to find a way to counter it

845
00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:17,200
Speaker 1: at some point. All right, guys, It's all I have

846
00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:19,320
Speaker 1: for today is always a sincerely appreciate you guys for

847
00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:22,239
Speaker 1: supporting us and supporting the show. I'm recording with Sam

848
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:26,320
Speaker 1: Assini later today for our contender rankings for Friday so

849
00:40:26,680 --> 00:40:29,279
Speaker 1: on Friday, everyone enjoy New Year's Day. I hope you

850
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:31,240
Speaker 1: get some time to relax with your friends and family.

851
00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:34,080
Speaker 1: We will be back on Friday morning with contender rankings.

852
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:35,240
Speaker 1: I will see you guys. Donnay