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Speaker 1: we've already made it a fourth of the way through

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Speaker 1: the season. So we're gonna take a look at m

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Speaker 1: v P Most Improved Player, Defensive Player of the Year,

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Speaker 1: and Rookie of the Year, and then tonight's slate of

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Speaker 1: games is jam packed. I'm gonna be recording an instant

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Speaker 1: reaction right after the games tonight. I'm not sure if

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Speaker 1: it will actually go up on the YouTube feed tonight

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Speaker 1: or tomorrow morning, but keep an eye on the feeds.

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Speaker 1: We will have an instant reaction there. Um, you guys

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Speaker 1: know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the

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Speaker 1: Volumes YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of

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Speaker 1: our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason lts

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Speaker 1: you guys don't miss any show announcements. And then, last

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Speaker 1: but not least it for whatever reason, you guys miss

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Speaker 1: one of these videos and you can't get back over

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Speaker 1: to YouTube to finish, you can find them wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Under Hoops tonight. So starting with m

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Speaker 1: v P, this is not my favorite award just because

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Speaker 1: of the inconsistencies over the years, but I wanted to

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Speaker 1: make sure that for me personally when I'm picking him

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Speaker 1: an m v P, that I was consistent with my criteria.

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Speaker 1: So a few years ago I nailed it down to

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Speaker 1: three specific criteria and then I kind of like combine

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Speaker 1: those three when I'm ranking the players. So those three

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Speaker 1: criteria that I use are who is the best player

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Speaker 1: in the world, like regardless of situation, who would be

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Speaker 1: the guy you'd want for a season and a playoff

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Speaker 1: run for instance, Like that's the rankings list that I

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Speaker 1: do over this over the summer. Where you land in

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Speaker 1: that list is one chunk of the pie for me,

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Speaker 1: and then the second chunk of the pie is who's

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Speaker 1: the best player on the best team. This is like

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Speaker 1: your stereotypical m vps that you've seen over the years,

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Speaker 1: like Steph in two thousand fifteen or James Harden in

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Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen, where maybe that guy wasn't necessarily considered

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Speaker 1: the best player in the world at that point, but

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Speaker 1: he was clearly the best player on the best team

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Speaker 1: in the league at that point. So that's the middle

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Speaker 1: chunk of the pie. And then the last chunk of

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Speaker 1: the pie for me is who is more directly valuable

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Speaker 1: to their team success. This is where I'm looking at

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Speaker 1: like point differential stuff like how good are they with

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Speaker 1: you on the floor versus when you're off the floor.

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Speaker 1: These are your stereotypical m v P cases like Nicola

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Speaker 1: Yokits last year, Russell Westbrook in two thousand and seventeen,

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Speaker 1: where they are a lower seed but they're playing extremely

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Speaker 1: good basketball and elevating an average supporting cast to a

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Speaker 1: mid level playoff birth. So I'm gonna factor all three

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Speaker 1: of those things in for all these players and kind

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Speaker 1: of combine them as I ranked the players. So number

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Speaker 1: one at this point in the season I think is

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Speaker 1: clearly Jason Tatum. So to keep it simple, Jason Tatum

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Speaker 1: is clearly in the conversation for best player in the world.

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't put him directly there right now. I think

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Speaker 1: Steph and Janice are clearly ahead of him, But he's

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Speaker 1: every like he has every case to be at the

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Speaker 1: top of the group of guys that's right behind them.

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Speaker 1: So this season, Tatum is averaging thirty two, eight and

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Speaker 1: five on shooting. If Kevin Durant was doing that, if

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry was doing that, if Lebron James was doing that,

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Speaker 1: we'd all be calling them the m v P. Once again,

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Speaker 1: he's paying like a Tatum tax. That's more like a

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Speaker 1: Austin Celtics tax, where people are underrating how good he's

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Speaker 1: been just simply because of who he is and who

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Speaker 1: he plays for. But he has unquestionably been one of

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Speaker 1: the best players in the league this year. So he's

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Speaker 1: doing really well in that first chunk, and then the

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Speaker 1: second chunk, which is team success. The Celtics are the

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Speaker 1: best team in the league by a mile. They're eighteen

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Speaker 1: and four, They're playing at a sixties seven win pace.

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Speaker 1: They have a two game lead on the rest of

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Speaker 1: the field. They have the best net rating in the

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Speaker 1: league by one point seven points per one hund possessions

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Speaker 1: over second place, and they're on a five game winning street.

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Speaker 1: So they're clearly the best team in the league, and

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Speaker 1: he's clearly in the conversation for best player in the world.

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Speaker 1: And then when we look at how valuable he is

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Speaker 1: to the Celtics, there plus twelve per one hundred possessions

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Speaker 1: with him on the floor and their plus four per

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Speaker 1: one hundred possessions with him off the four So to

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Speaker 1: simplify that, they're unbelievably good when he's on the floor

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Speaker 1: and they're just pretty good when he's off the floor.

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Speaker 1: That's a significant differential. So he's checking all three boxes

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Speaker 1: and resounding fashion. This is a classic m v P case.

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Speaker 1: Obviously he has to maintain it through another three fourth

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Speaker 1: so the season, but right now I think he's the

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Speaker 1: clear m v P at this point. Alright, number two, Janice,

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Speaker 1: So when we're talking about that first chunk best player

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Speaker 1: in the world, Janice is actually the best player in

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Speaker 1: the world. I had him number one on my list

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Speaker 1: coming in this year, So he's got that box completely checked. Um,

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Speaker 1: he's averaging a career high thirty one points per game

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Speaker 1: with twelve rebounds and six assists. His efficiency is down

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Speaker 1: a little bit this year. This is actually Janice's first

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Speaker 1: time being below sixty true shooting since two thousand eighteen.

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Speaker 1: But a big part of that is injuries, you know,

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Speaker 1: with Pat Conatson being out, with Chris Middleton being out,

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Speaker 1: even Drew Holidays miss some time. The spacing isn't quite

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Speaker 1: as good around your honest, and his usage is higher

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Speaker 1: as a result of the fact that they don't have

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Speaker 1: as much offensive creation, so that's typically going to cause

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Speaker 1: you some issues inefficiency. As we look at the team,

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Speaker 1: the Bucks are fifteen and five, only two games back

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Speaker 1: from Boston, so in the team success portion, he's also

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Speaker 1: got that pretty well checked. As far as differential goes,

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Speaker 1: there us nine points per one possessions when he's on

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Speaker 1: the floor, and then they're even when he's off the floor,

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Speaker 1: so it's a similar differential to Tatum. So as we

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Speaker 1: look out, his case is also very very good. I

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Speaker 1: think Tatum is just having a slightly better season, and

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Speaker 1: I think his team is slightly better, so that gives

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Speaker 1: Tatum the nod here, but it is close, and I

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Speaker 1: do think that Janice I predicted that Janice would win

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Speaker 1: the MVP before the season. Obviously, at this point, with

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Speaker 1: what we know about Joannest and with we with what

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Speaker 1: we know about Jayson Tatum, and given the small gap

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Speaker 1: between the two, I still predict that Janice will eventually

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Speaker 1: end up getting the m v P award, But I

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Speaker 1: do think if the season ended today, it would have

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Speaker 1: to go to Tatum alright. Number three Devin Booker, Is

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Speaker 1: he in the best player in the world conversation? No,

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Speaker 1: I'd say he's probably closer to ten than he is

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Speaker 1: to one. So that's the major week portion of his case.

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Speaker 1: But he is having by far the best season of

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Speaker 1: his career, and is he and he has taken a

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Speaker 1: leap from star to superstar in my opinion. I did

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Speaker 1: a whole video on him yesterday that you can find

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Speaker 1: on my Twitter feed at underscore json LT, breaking down

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Speaker 1: his high level offensive initiation that he demonstrated in a

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Speaker 1: comeback win over the Sacramento Kings earlier this week. He's

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Speaker 1: averaging a career high twenty nine points per game with

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Speaker 1: five rebounds and six assists. He's shooting, He's got a

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Speaker 1: sixty shooting percentage, which is insane, and I believe this

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Speaker 1: is the best playmaking season and best defensive season of

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Speaker 1: his career. Now, he's had seasons where he's averaged more assists,

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Speaker 1: but they were on really bad Sons teams where he's

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Speaker 1: a lot more heliocentric um. In this particular season, when

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Speaker 1: you factor in the stakes, the level of competition, and

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Speaker 1: just you know, with them being in a winning concept,

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Speaker 1: I think this has been the highest level playmaking I've

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Speaker 1: seen from him. So again, not not doing strong in

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Speaker 1: that specific criteria, but he's also a lot higher there

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Speaker 1: than people would probably realize. Looking at the team. The

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Speaker 1: Sons are fifteen and six, they're the top seed in

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Speaker 1: the West. They are plus nine point nine points per

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Speaker 1: one possessions with him on the floor and minus one

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Speaker 1: point four points per one hundred possess with him off.

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Speaker 1: That's an eleven point three point differential. That's m VP

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Speaker 1: level stuff. They're an outstanding team with him on the floor,

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Speaker 1: and they're a negative team with him off the floor.

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Speaker 1: So you know, as we look as we zoom out

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Speaker 1: with Devin Booker, he's got the team success thing, and

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Speaker 1: he's got the value to his team thing. He's just

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Speaker 1: a little week in that actual hierarchy of the NBA.

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Speaker 1: That's why I have him down at number three, number

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Speaker 1: four Steph Curry, so at a minimum, he's the second

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Speaker 1: best player alive. I used to think that there was

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Speaker 1: a chasm between Janice and the rest of the field,

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Speaker 1: in large part because Steph had a great playoff run.

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Speaker 1: But he didn't have a great regular season last year,

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Speaker 1: and he had some poor shooting at certain points during

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Speaker 1: the playoffs, so like it was one of those things

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Speaker 1: where you know you're you. You still view Steph in

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Speaker 1: great esteem, but you don't view him as the same

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Speaker 1: type of regular season weapon as Janice, right, But he

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Speaker 1: completely put that to rest this year. He's having just

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Speaker 1: a completely ludicrous offensive season that has he raised that chasm.

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Speaker 1: In my opinion, I still give a slight nod to

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Speaker 1: Jannice is the best player in the world, but Steff

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Speaker 1: is clearly a better offensive player than your Honice. He's

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Speaker 1: arguably the best offensive player that's ever played, and he's

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Speaker 1: arguably having the best offensive season that any player has

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Speaker 1: ever had. And that might be enough for some folks

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Speaker 1: to put him up at number one. I just have

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Speaker 1: him barely behind Janice at number two, So he's doing

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Speaker 1: really well. In that first criteria, the Warriors are eleven

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Speaker 1: and eleven. This is where Steph is gonna lose a

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Speaker 1: ton of ground in these rankings. They didn't defend nearly

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Speaker 1: well enough during that five game road trip on the

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Speaker 1: East Coast and they went oh and five and it

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Speaker 1: dug them in a big hole. But the team does

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Speaker 1: appear to be putting some things together and he could

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Speaker 1: move up this list if the Warriors move up the standings.

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Speaker 1: The differential is where Steph is completely insane, and this

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Speaker 1: is his long shot to win m v P. So

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Speaker 1: the Warriors are plus eleven point two points per one

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Speaker 1: hun possessions with step on the floor, and they are

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Speaker 1: minus sixteen point five points per one hund possessions with

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Speaker 1: him off the floor. That is a twenty seven point

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Speaker 1: seven point differential with stap on versus when he's off.

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Speaker 1: He is so vital to everything they do offensively in

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Speaker 1: terms of pure value that third chunk, he has a

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Speaker 1: chasm between him and the rest of the field. So

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Speaker 1: in a year like last year, he probably would have

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Speaker 1: won m v P. But the problem is that you

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Speaker 1: have some more clear cut candidates this year, So the

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Speaker 1: Warriors are definitely going to have to win more games

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Speaker 1: in order for Steff to get it. But if it's close,

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Speaker 1: if the Warriors are a two set out West and

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Speaker 1: He's got a twenty eight point differential and Tatum's got

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Speaker 1: an eight point differential, I could see some voters gravitating

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Speaker 1: back towards step especially with the legitimacy of him having

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Speaker 1: just won his first finals MVP and his fourth championship. Alright,

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Speaker 1: Number five, I have Luca don Chet. He's kind of

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Speaker 1: similar to uh to Jayson Tatum in the sense that

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Speaker 1: like he's in that group of players that's right below

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Speaker 1: Janis and Steph clearly in the conversation for best player

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Speaker 1: in the world, but also clearly not the best player

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Speaker 1: in the world. He's averaging a career high thirty four

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Speaker 1: points per game with nine rebounds and nine assists, a

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Speaker 1: career high sixtry shooting percentage. He's also been defending a

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Speaker 1: lot better as of late after a pretty rough start

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Speaker 1: to the season. But the team, once again not his fault.

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Speaker 1: It's a supporting cast thing, similar to the step thing.

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Speaker 1: But the Mavericks are ten and eleven and that's just

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Speaker 1: not gonna get it done. That's where he's getting hurt.

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Speaker 1: On the differential side of things, the Mavericks are plus

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Speaker 1: four point three points per one Hunter possessions with Luca

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Speaker 1: on the floor, and they are minus five point two

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Speaker 1: points per one Hunter possessions with him off. That is

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Speaker 1: a nine and a half point swing. So he's playing

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Speaker 1: m VP level basketball, and um, you know, he's he's

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Speaker 1: good enough in the hierarchy of the league. But the

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Speaker 1: Mavericks are just gonna have to win more games for

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Speaker 1: him to ever be considered, which is why when I

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Speaker 1: saw him as the preseason favorite on fan Duel, I

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Speaker 1: just didn't understand that, and I thought it was a

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Speaker 1: bad bet. I just never thought the Mavericks would be

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Speaker 1: able to win enough games. And you know, one last

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Speaker 1: note on the Luca thing, and I talked about this

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Speaker 1: a little bit in our Technical Difficulties episode on Tuesday.

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Speaker 1: That's why I'm gonna rehash it here a little bit.

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Speaker 1: But it bothers me that we have a tendency to

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Speaker 1: jump down and denigrate players when their team struggles when

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Speaker 1: it was an obvious roster situation, like it's basically the

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Speaker 1: same roster except for without Jalen Brunson and last year

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Speaker 1: with Jalen Brunson. They were three wins away from the finals,

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Speaker 1: and the role players fell apart in that series. Luca

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Speaker 1: also didn't play very well. But those things are intecrate,

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Speaker 1: intricately related to each other. My point there is is

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Speaker 1: like it's clearly a roster issue and everyone's jumping down Luca,

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Speaker 1: and the thing is is, like I get it as

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Speaker 1: it pertains to his play style and how aesthetically it

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Speaker 1: can be not the most attractive style of basketball. We

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Speaker 1: used to say, you know, I say we basketball media

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Speaker 1: used to to say a lot of similar things about

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Speaker 1: Lebron in the Spurs and like the two thousand two

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Speaker 1: fourteen range, it was like the Spurs were playing the

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Speaker 1: beautiful game and then the Miami Heat was like really

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Speaker 1: good defense and Lebron James creating everything and a lot

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Speaker 1: of like basketball fans would talk about how you know,

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Speaker 1: they preferred the player movement, they preferred the ball movement.

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Speaker 1: And we've also heard it. We've heard that with James

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Speaker 1: Harden over the years. We've heard that with Tray Young

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Speaker 1: over the years. We've heard that with Luca Dontage over

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Speaker 1: the years, and Luca just gets lumped in with Trey

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Speaker 1: and James harden as those like heliocentric, ugly style of

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Speaker 1: play players, but he's so much better than them with

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Speaker 1: his versatility offensively, which is why he actually goes up

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Speaker 1: a level in the playoffs rather than you know, declining

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Speaker 1: like most players have, like Trey Young has, like James

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Speaker 1: harden has, And so I don't like good. If you

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Speaker 1: want to talk about how you don't like the way

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Speaker 1: Luca Dontech plays, that's fine, but the actual impact you

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Speaker 1: can't overlook that. That's unassailable. Luca don Che is a

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Speaker 1: proven playoff performer and he's in his early twenties. Like

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Speaker 1: where was Lebron at four? You know, where was Michael

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Speaker 1: Jordan four? I I don't think he's discussed fairly. Um,

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Speaker 1: And this is gonna be a crap season because the

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Speaker 1: maps are gonna suck and everyone's gonna use it as

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Speaker 1: an opportunity to act as though Luca Dunch doesn't play

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Speaker 1: the right way and then watch what happens. He'll be

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Speaker 1: playing on some team with a legit costar, you know,

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Speaker 1: the legit co stars that every other NBA champion in

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Speaker 1: NBA history has had, you know, like Kawhi Leonard doing

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Speaker 1: it with Pascal Siakam in that ridiculous team, or you know,

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Speaker 1: uh Janic's doing it with Chris Middleton and Drew Holiday,

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Speaker 1: or Lebron doing it with Anthony Davis, or Steph doing

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Speaker 1: it with Kevin Durant. Everyone's playing with great players, and

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Speaker 1: yet you're judging Luca for losing games with Spencer Dinwoodie

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Speaker 1: and off the streets, Kemba Walker coming in to try

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Speaker 1: to save their offense. Like, I don't think that's fair.

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Speaker 1: Should he be the m v P. No, But that's

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Speaker 1: why I have him down at five. But let's let's

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Speaker 1: cut him some slack for what's happening with the Mavericks.

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Speaker 1: All right, moving on, Defensive Player of the Year. So

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Speaker 1: there's gonna ruffle some feathers, but hear me out. I

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Speaker 1: think Anthony Davis is the clear choice for Defense Player

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Speaker 1: of the Year at this point. So obviously, the Lakers

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Speaker 1: as a team have underperformed, but their defense has been excellent.

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Speaker 1: Their seventh and defensive rating in their second In half

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Speaker 1: court defense, Anthony Davis is fourth in the league and blocks.

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Speaker 1: He's the only player in the entire NBA averaging over

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Speaker 1: one and a half steals and one and a half blocks,

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Speaker 1: and the big difference between him and the other guys

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Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about on this list um which I

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Speaker 1: won't reveal at this exact moment in time, but the

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Speaker 1: biggest difference between him and the other two guys that

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Speaker 1: I have in this list is Anthony Davis is not

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Speaker 1: just a rim protector. He's also an outstanding UH interior defender.

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Speaker 1: As it pertains to defending passes. He keeps his hands

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Speaker 1: high and low to disrupt pocket passes, to disrupt kickout passes,

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Speaker 1: to disrupt drop off passes to the dunker spot, or

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Speaker 1: things along those lines, which is why he's the only

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Speaker 1: player in the league that's averaging over one and a

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Speaker 1: half steals and one and a half blocks. It kick

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Speaker 1: starts everything the Lakers do in transition, and he leads

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Speaker 1: the entire league and rebounding, so he's finishing defensive possessions

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Speaker 1: for the Lakers at an astounding rate, which is a

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Speaker 1: big part of defense. If you can't finish the defensive possession,

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Speaker 1: you have to play defense. Again, rebounding is part of

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Speaker 1: defen it. So Anthony Davis, if you especially when you

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Speaker 1: look at the supporting cast, he's not being flanked by

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Speaker 1: Janis Antenna Coupo and Drew Holiday. Sorry, like he's just

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Speaker 1: he's got Lebron James, who, yeah, when he tries hard

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Speaker 1: like he did on Wednesday, is an above average defender,

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Speaker 1: in fact, a good defender when he tries hard. But

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Speaker 1: then on Monday night he was an absolute disaster and

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Speaker 1: gave really poor effort and it arguably costs his team

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Speaker 1: the win. Right, So, like, the Lakers are playing with

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Speaker 1: an average defensive supporting cast at best, and Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: is just about single handedly anchoring them as the seventh

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Speaker 1: best defense in the NBA and the second best half

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Speaker 1: court defense in the NBA. It's it's just him in

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Speaker 1: a bunch of veteran minimum contracts and a Lebron James

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Speaker 1: that only plays hard when he feels like it's on

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Speaker 1: the defensive end, A D makes it all work, and he,

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Speaker 1: to me, he's the clear cut defensive player of the year.

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Speaker 1: If you were if you were let's say a Brook

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Speaker 1: Lopez fan, and you were griping with this specific take,

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Speaker 1: the big thing that you would hone in on his

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Speaker 1: A D S transition defense. The Lakers have the worst

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Speaker 1: transition defense in the league, and Anthony Davis has been

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Speaker 1: one of the culprits for that, although he's been better

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Speaker 1: in the last couple of weeks. Number two, I've Brook Lopez.

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Speaker 1: So he is the rim protector in the Bucks drop

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Speaker 1: coverage scheme, and he is protecting the hell out of

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Speaker 1: the rim. He is averaging two point nine blocks per game,

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Speaker 1: which is second in the league. And the Bucks have

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Speaker 1: the best paint defense in the league. They're allowing just

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Speaker 1: forty four and a half points in the paint per

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Speaker 1: one possessions, which, like I said, is first place in

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Speaker 1: the league. He's doing an incredible job. I don't want

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Speaker 1: to undercut that, but guys, just let's be honest. Like

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Speaker 1: playing defense at the rim next to janis Antenna Kompo,

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Speaker 1: who is the best defensive player in the world in

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Speaker 1: my opinion, he's just saving resources for his job over

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Speaker 1: the course of the season. Andrew Holiday, who is one

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Speaker 1: of the top six or seven defensive players in the

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Speaker 1: entire world. It's just a different level of work than

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Speaker 1: Lebron James cleaning up for Lonnie Walker, who has been

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Speaker 1: a career bad defensive player. Right, you know guys that

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Speaker 1: are old and us their prime, like Russell Westbrook and

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Speaker 1: Lebron James and a bunch of Editan minimum guys. It's

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Speaker 1: just a different level of challenge that Anthony Davis has,

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Speaker 1: and he has turned them into a good defense in

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Speaker 1: spite of all of that. Number three, I have Joel

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00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:14,840
Speaker 1: embid He's also been one of the best defensive anchors

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Speaker 1: in the league this year. He just hasn't played often enough.

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Speaker 1: I think he's only played in fourteen games this year

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Speaker 1: because of injuries. Among players who are playing at least

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Speaker 1: thirty four minutes per game, no player in the entire

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Speaker 1: NBA has posted a better defensive rating than Joel Embiid

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Speaker 1: at one oh three point seven, which is two points

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Speaker 1: better than the second place. If he could play sixty

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Speaker 1: five plus game um uh, sixty five plus games, he

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Speaker 1: does have an outside chance of getting this award. All Right,

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Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year Number one, I have Pala bunkro

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Speaker 1: He's already an incredibly gifted NBA score He's averaging twenty

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Speaker 1: three points on fifty five cent try shooting. He's also

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00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,919
Speaker 1: scoring zero point nine eight points per isolation, which is

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00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,080
Speaker 1: slightly above average, which is really impressive for essentially a teenager.

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00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,160
Speaker 1: UM He's scoring one point to one points proposed up though,

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Speaker 1: which is in the ninety one percentile counting passes. So

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Speaker 1: he's when we talked to I did a breakdown a

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Speaker 1: Palabant Carol like two weeks ago. But it's like his

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Speaker 1: ability to use hesitation dribbles to get defenders at a

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Speaker 1: position because he has a decent pull up jump shot,

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Speaker 1: although that's his biggest area of opportunity right now. But

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Speaker 1: then he's so big and strong. It's insane for a

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Speaker 1: guy his age, a rookie to have a combination of strength,

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Speaker 1: size and skill that is already causing problems for the

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Speaker 1: vast majority of NBA defenders. Is super impressive and like

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Speaker 1: he waits to have little gaps appear, and then he

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Speaker 1: plays a super physical brand of basketball. He'll hit that

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Speaker 1: gap with his right shoulder and just punched through with

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Speaker 1: strength and go all the way to the rim. He's

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Speaker 1: really gifted in the post, going over both shoulders, and

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Speaker 1: he passes surprisingly well for a young player as well.

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Speaker 1: Um number two and number number two I have Jade

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Speaker 1: and Nivy and number three, I've Ben mathurin their numbers.

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Speaker 1: Aren't that far apart. Ben's actually been a little bit

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Speaker 1: better statistically but I just think Jade and Ivy is

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Speaker 1: a better player. His role is a different The Detroit

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Speaker 1: Pistons are actually having him create a lot more, whereas

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Speaker 1: Ben Mathurins and more of a play finishing type of

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Speaker 1: role um with Indiana. And if you actually look at

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00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,040
Speaker 1: their self creation numbers, I vs are way better. So

428
00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:14,480
Speaker 1: and pick and roll including passes, Jade and Ivy's given

429
00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:17,440
Speaker 1: U zero point nine points per possession. Ben Mathurins given

430
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,160
Speaker 1: USE zero point six six. That's a pretty significant gap.

431
00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,760
Speaker 1: That's like average for Ivy, too bad for Ben Mathin

432
00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:26,000
Speaker 1: and I so Jad and Ivy is giving U zero

433
00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,040
Speaker 1: point eight nine. Mathen's given you zero point eight. So

434
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:30,840
Speaker 1: you know, shout outs have been Matthren. We talked about

435
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:32,880
Speaker 1: him a lot on Monday or Wednesday when we talked

436
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:34,879
Speaker 1: about the Pacers. He's been a lot better than I

437
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:37,040
Speaker 1: expected him to be, especially as a jump shooter. But

438
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:38,920
Speaker 1: I just think Ivy is a better player for now,

439
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,640
Speaker 1: and I think Ivy has more like high end superstar

440
00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,760
Speaker 1: potential as well. All right, last, but not least before

441
00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:48,840
Speaker 1: we get out of here tonight, most improved player. So

442
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,320
Speaker 1: I have Lori markin in at number one. I know

443
00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:52,800
Speaker 1: there's been a lot of hype around Bull Bull, and

444
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:54,159
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about him in a second, but I

445
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,200
Speaker 1: think Lori markin In deserves the award through one fourth

446
00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:00,280
Speaker 1: of the season. Obviously, he's averaging a career high two

447
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:02,800
Speaker 1: points and nine rebounds, is shooting a career high sixty

448
00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,879
Speaker 1: true shooting percentage. He's taking a d jump shots this

449
00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:10,080
Speaker 1: year for two D eight points, which is five percentile.

450
00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,159
Speaker 1: He's also shooting off the dribble, which is kind of

451
00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:16,000
Speaker 1: a new part of his game. He's scoring efficiently out

452
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:17,920
Speaker 1: of the post and out of ice so and he's

453
00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,479
Speaker 1: been really solid in crunch time as well. He's been

454
00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,320
Speaker 1: one of the highest scorers this season. I think he's

455
00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:26,040
Speaker 1: like thirteen in the entire NBA when the game is

456
00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,359
Speaker 1: within five points with less than five minutes left. He

457
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:34,760
Speaker 1: went from inconsistent role player to legitimate foundational piece for

458
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,199
Speaker 1: a franchise in one summer, which to me is what

459
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:39,639
Speaker 1: deserves the award now. Kind of similar to the MVP thing.

460
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,720
Speaker 1: There's a bunch of different interpretations of this rule, because

461
00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,560
Speaker 1: like bow Bowl, the actual gap between what bo Bo

462
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,199
Speaker 1: was and now is bigger. But I prefer to reward

463
00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:53,399
Speaker 1: players who go from role player to star, then players

464
00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:55,119
Speaker 1: who go from end of the bench to role player.

465
00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,720
Speaker 1: I just think that's what the awards specifically should be targeting. Um.

466
00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,800
Speaker 1: I did have bow Bull at secon it uh. He

467
00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,760
Speaker 1: averaged a two point seven points per game for his

468
00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,879
Speaker 1: career in three seasons in Denver, and now he's averaging

469
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,639
Speaker 1: thirteen point one points per game with the Orlando Magic

470
00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,760
Speaker 1: on sixty seven percent true shooting and with some good

471
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,400
Speaker 1: jump shooting in there as well. Um And more importantly,

472
00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,040
Speaker 1: he's actually been pretty productive for the Magic on the scoreboard.

473
00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,480
Speaker 1: His net rating, meaning the point differential per one hunter possessions,

474
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:26,320
Speaker 1: is fourth on the team among rotation players. He's got

475
00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:28,480
Speaker 1: a really good handle for his size. That's the big

476
00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:30,040
Speaker 1: thing that stands out to me when I was watching

477
00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 1: film this morning. He also plays relatively well in the

478
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:35,520
Speaker 1: physicality for being a really thin player. Kind of reminds

479
00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:37,280
Speaker 1: me of Katie a little bit, where like, even though

480
00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,680
Speaker 1: he is thin, by being the physical aggressor, he gets

481
00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:45,040
Speaker 1: himself UM through those physical scenarios pretty well. I I

482
00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:47,760
Speaker 1: just think, you know, and this is where, because as

483
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:49,639
Speaker 1: is always the case, when stuff like this happens, we

484
00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,320
Speaker 1: all go off the rails and you know, I saw

485
00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:55,639
Speaker 1: Stephon Marbury, and Stephon Marbury's famously says all sorts of

486
00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:58,720
Speaker 1: crazy stuff. Um, but Steven Marbury is like, oh, he's

487
00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,359
Speaker 1: gonna be a top tier star and next two years. Okay,

488
00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,040
Speaker 1: let's slow down a little bit. You know everyone was

489
00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,880
Speaker 1: talking about you know why is why is uh Victor

490
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,600
Speaker 1: Wemban Yama getting all this attention when bull Bowl is

491
00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,280
Speaker 1: doing all the same things. No, he's not. Okay, Like,

492
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:18,280
Speaker 1: let's let's calm down. I really enjoyed watching that film

493
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:21,879
Speaker 1: on bull Bowl this morning. He has absolutely taken a

494
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,800
Speaker 1: significant leap. It's good to see him getting a legit

495
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,200
Speaker 1: green light in an opportunity to actually show what he

496
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,320
Speaker 1: can do without fear of making mistakes. I'm on board

497
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,040
Speaker 1: just like everyone else's, but let's slow down a little bit.

498
00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:39,160
Speaker 1: I do not think that he has enough fluidity, especially

499
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,560
Speaker 1: going from handle to jumper, to be a top tier

500
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,199
Speaker 1: superstar or even really anything close to that. And you

501
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:47,600
Speaker 1: know the other thing too, is like Victor woman Yama,

502
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:49,240
Speaker 1: you can see the difference. Like just go look at

503
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,160
Speaker 1: like five or six pull up jump shots from bow Bowl,

504
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:54,280
Speaker 1: and then go look at five or six pull up

505
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:57,640
Speaker 1: jump shots from Victor wemban Yama. Bow Bowl looks like

506
00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,280
Speaker 1: a big man who's shooting a pull up jumps shot.

507
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:03,640
Speaker 1: Victor wembon Yama looks like a two guard. He's got

508
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,200
Speaker 1: an incredibly fluid and quick and confident release, which is

509
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:09,480
Speaker 1: the like for instance, Bobo has only taken two threes

510
00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,199
Speaker 1: per game this year, Victor women Yama is going to

511
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,320
Speaker 1: attempt seven threes per game as a rookie. In all likelihood,

512
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:18,000
Speaker 1: he's going to be a high volume three point shooter

513
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:21,199
Speaker 1: because of the fluidity and quickness of his release. And

514
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:23,280
Speaker 1: then again, like, you want to know why there's more

515
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,600
Speaker 1: hype around Victor women Yama. He's an eighteen year old

516
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,119
Speaker 1: dude who's not in the league yet and bow Bo

517
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:30,960
Speaker 1: is a twenty three year old who's in his fourth

518
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,399
Speaker 1: NBA season. Like, it's totally different prospects in terms of

519
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,200
Speaker 1: future development for both of those two guys. So let's

520
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:40,360
Speaker 1: just enjoy Bobo's game like normal people and not make

521
00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:43,640
Speaker 1: outrageous comparisons. Um. And then the last guy I wanted

522
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 1: to shout out on the most improved player I put

523
00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:48,639
Speaker 1: third on my list was Anthony Simons. He's up from

524
00:25:48,720 --> 00:25:50,600
Speaker 1: last so last year he had average a career high

525
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 1: seventeen points per game. This year, he's bumped that up

526
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,720
Speaker 1: to twenty four points per game. And most importantly, he's

527
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,359
Speaker 1: actually generating a lot of quality shots. He's turned himself

528
00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:01,800
Speaker 1: into a legit NBA shot creator. The Blazers have scored

529
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,960
Speaker 1: three D fourteen points on three hundred and six of

530
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:07,679
Speaker 1: his pick and rolls, which is in the sixty nine percentile.

531
00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:10,960
Speaker 1: He's also run ninety ISOs for ninety six points, which

532
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,560
Speaker 1: is in the seventy percentile. You could actually make the

533
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:17,080
Speaker 1: case that Anthony Simmons is like legitimately better than c. J.

534
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,480
Speaker 1: McCollum at this point. So yeah, only a quarter of

535
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:21,640
Speaker 1: the way through the season, a lot can change. We'll

536
00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:23,560
Speaker 1: probably touch based on this again here in about a

537
00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:25,960
Speaker 1: month and a half. But that's all I have for today.

538
00:26:26,040 --> 00:27:29,680
Speaker 1: Is always I sincerely appreciate your guys. The volume