1
00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:06,000
Speaker 1: The volume. The roller coaster of an NFL season is

2
00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:08,080
Speaker 1: moving right along, and it promises to be a month

3
00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,440
Speaker 1: full of tricks, treats, and of course, touchdowns. Draftking Sportsbook

4
00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:14,640
Speaker 1: and official sports betting partner of the NFL, is the

5
00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,760
Speaker 1: number one place to bet touchdowns. Running it in from

6
00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:19,880
Speaker 1: the one or at eighty yard bomb. We don't care

7
00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:22,320
Speaker 1: how they score touchdowns, we want to bet on them.

8
00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:25,120
Speaker 1: DraftKings hurt us and is delivering ready to place your

9
00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:27,400
Speaker 1: first bet. Try betting on something simple like a player

10
00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,720
Speaker 1: to score a touchdown. Go to the Draftking Sportsbook app

11
00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,919
Speaker 1: and make your pick. Super Bowl odds so far at

12
00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:35,839
Speaker 1: this point in the season the Chiefs at plus five hundred.

13
00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:39,159
Speaker 1: Also the Baltimore Ravens up to plus seven point fifty

14
00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,720
Speaker 1: is the second favorite to win the Super Bowl at

15
00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,199
Speaker 1: this point. Here's a reason for new customers to do

16
00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:46,920
Speaker 1: a touchdown dance of their own. Bet five dollars to

17
00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,400
Speaker 1: get two hundred dollars in bonus bets. Instantly score big

18
00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,040
Speaker 1: with DraftKings Sportsbook, the number one place to bet touchdowns.

19
00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:55,600
Speaker 1: Download the Draft King Sportsbook app and use code hoops.

20
00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,760
Speaker 1: That's hoops, that's code hoops. For new customers, to get

21
00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:01,720
Speaker 1: two one hundred dollars in bonus bets when you bet

22
00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,199
Speaker 1: just five bucks only on DraftKings. The crown is yours.

23
00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,800
Speaker 1: Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York

24
00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:11,080
Speaker 1: called eight seven seven eight Hope and why, or text

25
00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:14,000
Speaker 1: hope and why to four six seven three six nine

26
00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,520
Speaker 1: and Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling called eight

27
00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,720
Speaker 1: eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or.

28
00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:21,880
Speaker 2: Visit CCPG dot org.

29
00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,759
Speaker 1: Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort

30
00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,560
Speaker 1: in Kansas twenty one plus age in eligibility varies by jurisdiction.

31
00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,600
Speaker 1: Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty

32
00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,160
Speaker 1: eight hours after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources,

33
00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:52,520
Speaker 1: see DKNG, dot co slash ft ball. All right, welcome

34
00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:54,960
Speaker 1: to Hoops today. You're at the volume. Happy Thursday, everybody.

35
00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:56,360
Speaker 1: I hope all of you guys are having a great

36
00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,040
Speaker 1: week so far. I am very very excited for today's show.

37
00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,200
Speaker 1: We've been doing this I think two maybe three years.

38
00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,200
Speaker 1: I can't even remember exactly how many, but my friend

39
00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:10,480
Speaker 1: Sam Vessini is coming on to break down our contender rankings. Sam,

40
00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,120
Speaker 1: how are you, man, how is the early part of

41
00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:14,040
Speaker 1: the season treating you?

42
00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:17,600
Speaker 3: It's good, you know, I'm trying to dive into a

43
00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:22,639
Speaker 3: lot of international prospects I've watched. I've targeted my preseason viewing,

44
00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:24,519
Speaker 3: I think is the way to put it. Like, I

45
00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:26,520
Speaker 3: texted you about a few things I've seen, Like I

46
00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:29,799
Speaker 3: texted you about Phoenix and their offense looking a lot

47
00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,200
Speaker 3: more fluid. I texted you weirdly about Charlotte. I was like,

48
00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:38,040
Speaker 3: Charlotte looks like a lot more competent stylistically than what

49
00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,639
Speaker 3: they have the last couple of years, Like Charles Lee

50
00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,840
Speaker 3: has them just like firing from three. Like I'm all

51
00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,120
Speaker 3: for that, right, But you know, I'm not gonna sit

52
00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:48,799
Speaker 3: here and tell you I've watched every preseason team yet

53
00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:50,799
Speaker 3: just because that's I don't know, that doesn't feel like

54
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,120
Speaker 3: a great use of my time yet, Yeah, I was.

55
00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,720
Speaker 1: I was actually complaining to Paul two days ago. I

56
00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:58,799
Speaker 1: was like, dude, I'm so ready for preseason to be over.

57
00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,080
Speaker 1: Like I had a much easier time with preseason last

58
00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,920
Speaker 1: year this year, Like, I just so badly want to

59
00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:05,720
Speaker 1: get to the real basketball, but at the same time,

60
00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:07,679
Speaker 1: we're less than a week away, so we're not too

61
00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:10,720
Speaker 1: worried about that. So, as we usually do this time

62
00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,000
Speaker 1: of year, we want to break down our contenders just

63
00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,000
Speaker 1: to give you a real basic outlook. I had eleven

64
00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,960
Speaker 1: teams listed in my realistic Contenders. I have a top

65
00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,360
Speaker 1: tier with Boston, Denver, OKAC at New York, and then

66
00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,120
Speaker 1: I have this tier of seven teams that I view

67
00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:26,760
Speaker 1: as if things go right, and that could be like

68
00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,760
Speaker 1: if they hit on a trade, if a young player pops.

69
00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,120
Speaker 1: Maybe it's a team that specifically relies on health luck

70
00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:35,560
Speaker 1: that's had really bad health luck in the past. Maybe

71
00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,160
Speaker 1: it's matchups, like some of these teams have very specific

72
00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,240
Speaker 1: types of matchup weaknesses. And so those teams for me

73
00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:46,280
Speaker 1: are Dallas in order, Dallas, Philly, Minnesota, the Lakers, the Bucks,

74
00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,120
Speaker 1: the Suns in the Grizzly. So before I know, you

75
00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,760
Speaker 1: have a different top tier than I do. But is

76
00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,080
Speaker 1: there any team other than those eleven teams that you

77
00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:57,960
Speaker 1: actually think has a realistic shot to win the title

78
00:03:58,000 --> 00:03:59,520
Speaker 1: this year that I had not listed?

79
00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:09,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a great question, right, I think no, So,

80
00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,960
Speaker 3: like the Pelicans are interesting if they could make the

81
00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,080
Speaker 3: right move at the deadline, But I think still probably

82
00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:20,960
Speaker 3: know for them honestly, Like I I think I would

83
00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:25,000
Speaker 3: remove the Grizzlies, Like, I really love this Grizzlies team.

84
00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,159
Speaker 3: I think they're gonna win somewhere between like forty six

85
00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,279
Speaker 3: and fifty two games like something like that. It's just

86
00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:35,240
Speaker 3: that I don't know how well their team actually aligns

87
00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:37,720
Speaker 3: for the playoffs right now. They don't have a lot

88
00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:40,560
Speaker 3: of spacing, they don't have a lot of shooting. It

89
00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:44,320
Speaker 3: feels very cramped, and basically, until John Morant proves to

90
00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,040
Speaker 3: me that he can make a pull up jump shot consistently,

91
00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,320
Speaker 3: it's just gonna be really hard for me to buy

92
00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:52,560
Speaker 3: them in the playoffs.

93
00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:57,160
Speaker 1: I feel like, right, yeah, I I watched a lot

94
00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,279
Speaker 1: of Grizzlies when I was doing their season previews because

95
00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:01,320
Speaker 1: I just didn't watch my to them last year. It's like,

96
00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,200
Speaker 1: because why, like you talk about talking about targeting your viewing,

97
00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:05,719
Speaker 1: I was not targeting.

98
00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,520
Speaker 3: Oh boy, their offense was hard to watch last year.

99
00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:13,760
Speaker 1: But when I went back and I watched a few

100
00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:19,039
Speaker 1: of the Jah Morant games, I really like Marcus Smart

101
00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,440
Speaker 1: as a connective piece. I used to think, like I'm

102
00:05:21,760 --> 00:05:24,720
Speaker 1: I've been generally low on three guard lineups, just as

103
00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:27,560
Speaker 1: as as I've just seen over the last few years

104
00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:29,520
Speaker 1: some of these bigger, beefier teams that are better at

105
00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,320
Speaker 1: defensive rebounding, better at pounding the front line, that kind

106
00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:33,880
Speaker 1: of thing. I've just seen those teams have a lot

107
00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,839
Speaker 1: of success. I've been lower on three guard looks, but

108
00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,840
Speaker 1: after I watched them, Bain and Smart are both so physical,

109
00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,320
Speaker 1: and they're both so good at pushing guys off of

110
00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,279
Speaker 1: their spots and keeping guys out of their like preferred

111
00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:50,520
Speaker 1: ways to initiate offense. And then also just the perfect

112
00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:52,839
Speaker 1: guy to like kind of connect things on offense, Like

113
00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:55,680
Speaker 1: Marcus Smart. He kind of has a reputation for being

114
00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,000
Speaker 1: a shot chucker, but he's actually become a pretty decent

115
00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:00,719
Speaker 1: passer and connective piece at this face in his career,

116
00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:04,120
Speaker 1: and so that and then just the the the like.

117
00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:06,760
Speaker 1: They just have so much of this like young exciting

118
00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:10,479
Speaker 1: athleticism with Jaron Jackson and with John Moran, the like

119
00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:12,760
Speaker 1: Gigi Jackson will see if he can get healthy. But

120
00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:15,440
Speaker 1: to me, there it was a simple question of them

121
00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:20,360
Speaker 1: having most likely a pretty decent seed going into the postseason.

122
00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,560
Speaker 2: I don't know about you. I thought Edie looked amazing.

123
00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,479
Speaker 1: This game the other night, Like he kept getting to

124
00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,320
Speaker 1: that left shoulder hook and just people couldn't stop him

125
00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:31,279
Speaker 1: down there. I thought he'd held up pretty well running

126
00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:33,000
Speaker 1: up and down the floor, so I was a little

127
00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:35,800
Speaker 1: higher on them. The only other team that I considered

128
00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,320
Speaker 1: that I didn't put in there, The Pelicans weren't for me,

129
00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:41,800
Speaker 1: but just that's just because, like their top guys are

130
00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:44,200
Speaker 1: just guys that I don't really fear in any sort

131
00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,680
Speaker 1: of real playoff series type of setting. The Calves were

132
00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:49,920
Speaker 1: the other team where I could see. I could see

133
00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,679
Speaker 1: Calves fans being like, we're a contender. I just don't

134
00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:56,160
Speaker 1: see it because of my fears with Evan Mobley and

135
00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,200
Speaker 1: Darius Garland. I just think those two guys are so

136
00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:00,480
Speaker 1: flawed at this point in their career. I think they're

137
00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:02,159
Speaker 1: too exposable in a playoff setting.

138
00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, I still just don't love the way that their

139
00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:11,880
Speaker 3: roster fits together, and because of their extension decisions this summer,

140
00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,040
Speaker 3: they are a bit limited throughout the season in terms

141
00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:17,520
Speaker 3: of the moves that they can make. Like Darius Garland

142
00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:19,920
Speaker 3: is really the only guy that can be moved throughout

143
00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:21,679
Speaker 3: the entirety of the season.

144
00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:23,480
Speaker 4: I think that Jarrett.

145
00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,400
Speaker 3: Allen can be moved right around the end of January

146
00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:29,320
Speaker 3: start of February. That's when his six month window from

147
00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:30,760
Speaker 3: his extension ends.

148
00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:32,400
Speaker 4: Evan Mobley, you know.

149
00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:34,600
Speaker 3: Isn't going to be moved obviously, but you know, he's

150
00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,200
Speaker 3: really not even tradable right now because he just signed

151
00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:40,520
Speaker 3: his extension. So then you have Donovan Mitchell, who you know,

152
00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,400
Speaker 3: just signed his massive contract extension as well. So they're

153
00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,440
Speaker 3: really locked in. And I think it's okay to be

154
00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:50,920
Speaker 3: locked in, but it's a core group that I feel

155
00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:56,880
Speaker 3: like again doesn't necessarily mix and match well toward playoff

156
00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,520
Speaker 3: basketball and to go sorry, you want to go back

157
00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:01,360
Speaker 3: to the Grizzlies just.

158
00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:01,880
Speaker 4: Like real quick.

159
00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:04,560
Speaker 3: I'm glad that they're like, by far, the most interesting

160
00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,280
Speaker 3: team to me in the early season. It's like them,

161
00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,160
Speaker 3: it's Houston, It's you know, I do want to see

162
00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,120
Speaker 3: what Oklahoma City looks like. New York obviously has all

163
00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:17,200
Speaker 3: of these new pieces, right, but they are fascinating to me,

164
00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,640
Speaker 3: if only because of the push pool between the Edy

165
00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:25,200
Speaker 3: style and the Jaw style, right because Jaw's style is frenetic,

166
00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,000
Speaker 3: and if you listen to the Grizzlies, they've been so

167
00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:32,600
Speaker 3: outspoken about wanting to play at the fastest pace possible.

168
00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,840
Speaker 3: But then you get to the Edy portion of it,

169
00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:40,720
Speaker 3: and Edie is, you know, as you mentioned earlier this

170
00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:43,720
Speaker 3: week in the game that he played against Indiana, best

171
00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:47,800
Speaker 3: utilized in post ups in all likelihood right now, So

172
00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:52,560
Speaker 3: how does that push pool go? My idea for that was, Okay,

173
00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,319
Speaker 3: you can start Zach Edie. That's fine. You play Edy

174
00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,360
Speaker 3: with Jaw for the first five minutes, then you take

175
00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:00,960
Speaker 3: him out, you play job for the first you know,

176
00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,800
Speaker 3: tend to you know, first quarter basically, and then when

177
00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:09,240
Speaker 3: John gets arrest you bring back Eadie and just just

178
00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,360
Speaker 3: let him. But you let him just like totally eat

179
00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:15,440
Speaker 3: against second units. I think that's where Edie's gonna like

180
00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:19,720
Speaker 3: just feast. You give him second unit centers like Isaiah

181
00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,199
Speaker 3: Jackson against Indiana. I know he did really well against

182
00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,800
Speaker 3: Miles Turner too, but you know, that's kind of my pride.

183
00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:26,080
Speaker 2: Jackson was hopeless.

184
00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:29,040
Speaker 3: He had no chance. So there are a lot of

185
00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,319
Speaker 3: guys like that on second units. All due respect to

186
00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,240
Speaker 3: enormous human beings at the center position in the NBA,

187
00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:37,800
Speaker 3: you are just smaller than Zach Edy. Like I was

188
00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:40,679
Speaker 3: trying to explain to somebody the difference in height and

189
00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:44,880
Speaker 3: length between like Zach Edy and Steven Adams. And Steven

190
00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:48,000
Speaker 3: Adams is an enormous human being. If you've ever stood

191
00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,720
Speaker 3: next to him, oh my goodness, he is enormous. The

192
00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,440
Speaker 3: difference in height between those two is like the difference

193
00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:59,560
Speaker 3: in height between Steven Adams and like Luca, Like, it's.

194
00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,200
Speaker 4: Just enormously different.

195
00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,520
Speaker 3: Those are two, like three people that are of entirely

196
00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:05,360
Speaker 3: different heights.

197
00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,240
Speaker 4: And Edie is mean. He's an ass kicker.

198
00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:10,760
Speaker 3: He's like a great guy off the court, but like

199
00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:13,000
Speaker 3: when he's on the court, he is as competitive as

200
00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,600
Speaker 3: can be. I love Edie as a regular season player.

201
00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:17,920
Speaker 3: I don't know what it's gonna look like in the

202
00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,040
Speaker 3: playoffs yet, but as a regular season player, that dude's

203
00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:22,200
Speaker 3: gonna absolutely feast.

204
00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:23,200
Speaker 4: I have no doubt there.

205
00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,439
Speaker 1: I like that idea too, of like staggering and maybe

206
00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,320
Speaker 1: partnering Baine with the Edie units and running like some

207
00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,640
Speaker 1: splitter cut type stuff while he's posting out that that

208
00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:33,280
Speaker 1: could be a really interesting way for them to go.

209
00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:34,679
Speaker 2: But let's get to the top of the league.

210
00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,920
Speaker 1: Canard too. By the way, Canard too exactly. So let's

211
00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:41,840
Speaker 1: start with a very basic question. Do you think Boston

212
00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:44,679
Speaker 1: should be in a separate tier above the rest of

213
00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:46,480
Speaker 1: the field, or do you think they belong in the

214
00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:48,200
Speaker 1: top tier with some other teams.

215
00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:52,720
Speaker 4: So I had Boston in a tier with one other team, and.

216
00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:54,679
Speaker 3: I'm gonn assume, I guess think that's okay. See right,

217
00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:58,600
Speaker 3: it's Oklahoma City. Yeah, I have like a separate mini

218
00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:02,240
Speaker 3: tier of these two being a little bit different than

219
00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:03,079
Speaker 3: the other teams.

220
00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:07,439
Speaker 4: And then I have you know, another I don't.

221
00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:12,600
Speaker 3: Know, maybe like three or four team group realistically, and

222
00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,160
Speaker 3: then I have your other teams kind of underneath that.

223
00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,360
Speaker 3: So yeah, I've Boston in Oklahoma City just in a

224
00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:23,400
Speaker 3: tier that is separate, if only because to me, they

225
00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:27,040
Speaker 3: are the two teams in the NBA that kind of

226
00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:31,319
Speaker 3: embody this era in terms of where basketball is going most.

227
00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:40,080
Speaker 3: And to me, that answer is it's finding solutions to

228
00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:44,319
Speaker 3: every problem that an opposing team can pose for you

229
00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:48,800
Speaker 3: while also playing the math game of shooting threes and

230
00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,120
Speaker 3: playing five out spacing right. And by that I mean

231
00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:56,680
Speaker 3: if a team wants to go big against you, both

232
00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,560
Speaker 3: of these teams have the wherewithal to be able to

233
00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,800
Speaker 3: go as big as possible. Oklahoma City with Chet and

234
00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:07,200
Speaker 3: Isaiah Hartenstein, Boston hopefully with chrisops Porzingis when he gets

235
00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:09,839
Speaker 3: healthy and Al Horford, they have the ability to go.

236
00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:11,200
Speaker 4: Small against you.

237
00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:13,520
Speaker 3: They can go Boston to go Horford at the five

238
00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:18,160
Speaker 3: with their four great perimeter players Drew Derek White, Jason Tatum,

239
00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,520
Speaker 3: Jalen Brown. Oklahoma City can do it with you know,

240
00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:24,000
Speaker 3: Shake Gils, Alexander, Jalen Williams, and any of their bevy

241
00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:28,400
Speaker 3: of options across the wing. But they're also always going

242
00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,320
Speaker 3: to play five out offense, always going to be essentially

243
00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:35,679
Speaker 3: a top three offense in the league with their current constructions.

244
00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,720
Speaker 3: Both organizations can really really pass the ball, They get

245
00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,880
Speaker 3: good movement, and they set up their stars for success.

246
00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,520
Speaker 3: That's the number one key of today's NBA, I think,

247
00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:50,640
Speaker 3: is setting up your stars to play in the most

248
00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:56,040
Speaker 3: space possible. Boston's scheme allows for them to invert post

249
00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,040
Speaker 3: touches for Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown if they want to.

250
00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:01,640
Speaker 3: They can have those guys drive because they constantly have

251
00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:03,880
Speaker 3: five floor spacers out there on the court.

252
00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:05,160
Speaker 4: Oklahoma City, it's the.

253
00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,280
Speaker 3: Same deal they were really for years, even when they

254
00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:10,560
Speaker 3: were bad, even when they had Al Horford on that

255
00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:13,280
Speaker 3: team for a year. Right Their whole thing was that

256
00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,640
Speaker 3: they wanted five out spacing. This is why we got

257
00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:19,360
Speaker 3: the Isaiah Robis at center, the Darius Baisleys at centers

258
00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:23,800
Speaker 3: at times while Mark Dagnall figured out what his scheme

259
00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:28,320
Speaker 3: was going to be for the future. So those two teams,

260
00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:35,600
Speaker 3: to me, have the best combination of elite talent, modern

261
00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:40,920
Speaker 3: offensive principles and also the ability to match up with

262
00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:45,280
Speaker 3: you defensively in a bevy of ways. And they have

263
00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:48,199
Speaker 3: a way to match up with you defensively for any

264
00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:50,319
Speaker 3: lineup that you put on the court.

265
00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:52,920
Speaker 2: I one hundred percent agree. I think there.

266
00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:55,000
Speaker 1: I think I would put those two teams on a

267
00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:58,000
Speaker 1: separate tier in terms of like just pure talent. I

268
00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:01,280
Speaker 1: think the Oklahoma City, with the moves they made this summer,

269
00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:04,720
Speaker 1: entered into Boston's tier in talent in a way that

270
00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,920
Speaker 1: they were probably in a separate tier in years past.

271
00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:10,640
Speaker 1: The two the reason why I included Denver, New York,

272
00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:11,680
Speaker 1: and by the way, I don't want to spend too

273
00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:13,080
Speaker 1: much time on Denver because I want to actually hit

274
00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:15,160
Speaker 1: them as an entire separate topic here in a minute.

275
00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:17,240
Speaker 1: But like the reason why I included Denver, New York

276
00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,400
Speaker 1: are pretty simple. Denver has in my opinion, the best

277
00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,680
Speaker 1: player in the world, and in New York, they have

278
00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,560
Speaker 1: a lot of talent that is kind of point and

279
00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:30,920
Speaker 1: shot in a very specific way that accentuates their gifts. So,

280
00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,840
Speaker 1: for instance, like, does anybody think that Jalen Brunson is

281
00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:38,080
Speaker 1: as good at basketball as Shay or as Luca, or

282
00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:39,560
Speaker 1: as Jokic or as Tatum.

283
00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:44,040
Speaker 4: No, but they've gone down to Manhattan and say that Jason, Yeah.

284
00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:45,000
Speaker 2: This is what I'm saying.

285
00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,400
Speaker 1: So like, and more importantly, go into Madison Square Garden

286
00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:52,600
Speaker 1: in a in a big game where Jalen is determining

287
00:14:52,640 --> 00:14:57,120
Speaker 1: every possession when he is pointed and shot as the

288
00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,880
Speaker 1: primary shot creator and he doesn't really have to do

289
00:15:00,160 --> 00:15:03,560
Speaker 1: much else. He's really damn good at it. And then

290
00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:06,280
Speaker 1: same go like mkale and Og. It's like, are Mkaleen

291
00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:09,320
Speaker 1: Og as good as Tatum and Brown? Know, but they're

292
00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:12,120
Speaker 1: kind of like focused in these very specific ways with

293
00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:14,800
Speaker 1: the Knicks where they impact winning at a really high level.

294
00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:18,080
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns, I like, I know he's not shooting

295
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,760
Speaker 1: well in preseason, but the amount of wide open shots

296
00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:26,000
Speaker 1: he's getting as like a trailer in transition or or

297
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,200
Speaker 1: popping out of any sort of screening action. He's going

298
00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:31,720
Speaker 1: to get so many open looks and he is going

299
00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,880
Speaker 1: to hit them this year. The obviously they're a team

300
00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:36,440
Speaker 1: that lacks a little bit of center depth. There's some

301
00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:39,280
Speaker 1: question marks there. But like to me, Denver and New

302
00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,480
Speaker 1: York are examples of teams where I think the total

303
00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,560
Speaker 1: is more than the sum of their parts because of

304
00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:48,440
Speaker 1: the uniqueness of New York's talent and the uniqueness of

305
00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:54,720
Speaker 1: Nikole jokicch and specifically with Denver, there the the matchup

306
00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,520
Speaker 1: problems that they present because Jokic is so unguardable. Do

307
00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,480
Speaker 1: you have any pushback on my defenses of New York Denver?

308
00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:03,920
Speaker 3: So let's ignore Denver because you do have like a

309
00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:08,120
Speaker 3: whole section here for Denver. New York is fascinating to

310
00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:12,840
Speaker 3: me because you know I mentioned earlier with Oklahoma City

311
00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:14,640
Speaker 3: and Boston, the reason I have New York in just

312
00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:16,600
Speaker 3: a different tier, and I agree with you, I have

313
00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:19,960
Speaker 3: them in my top four right now. New York I

314
00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:21,640
Speaker 3: have them in a slightly different tier than the other

315
00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,320
Speaker 3: two because of that ability to match up in different ways.

316
00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:26,760
Speaker 3: I don't really think that they can do it. I

317
00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:31,160
Speaker 3: think this team is almost I don't know that they

318
00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:33,400
Speaker 3: can do it. I'm just saying the way that I

319
00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,640
Speaker 3: think that, you know, Leon Rose and all that front

320
00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:38,960
Speaker 3: office have built this team. I think that they have

321
00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,520
Speaker 3: built this team to contend with Boston more so than

322
00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:46,240
Speaker 3: the other teams in the Eastern Conference in a playoff series.

323
00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:49,400
Speaker 3: They're trying to win or trying to keep up basically

324
00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:51,880
Speaker 3: with the math game, while also having a bunch of

325
00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:53,960
Speaker 3: different options on the wing to be able to throw

326
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,800
Speaker 3: a Jayalen Brown and Jason Tatum. That's what I see

327
00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,920
Speaker 3: when I see New York's team build. But if you

328
00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,960
Speaker 3: look at them against Milwaukee, I'm honestly, like really interested

329
00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,720
Speaker 3: in how they would match up with Milwaukee because they

330
00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:12,560
Speaker 3: don't really have the interior strength and power unless Mitchell

331
00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:16,439
Speaker 3: Robinson is fully healthy to be able to stop Jannis

332
00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:20,000
Speaker 3: from getting to the rim. Right, Like Karl Anthony, Town's

333
00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:25,960
Speaker 3: phenomenal offensive player showcased real moments last year where he

334
00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,240
Speaker 3: could match up one on one with bigger bodies like

335
00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:34,159
Speaker 3: Nikole Jokic while they had but slower bodies, Right, I

336
00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,679
Speaker 3: don't think he profiles super well against Giannis necessarily, And

337
00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,480
Speaker 3: on top of it, what you typically want to do

338
00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:42,920
Speaker 3: against Gianness is you want to have a help defender

339
00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:47,840
Speaker 3: like Rudy Gobert there to be at the rim, as

340
00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,760
Speaker 3: opposed to having og A Nanobi who is a fantastic,

341
00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,440
Speaker 3: phenomenal elite level perimeter defender. He's a smaller, right, He's

342
00:17:55,480 --> 00:18:00,200
Speaker 3: not a primary rim protector. So I actually want under

343
00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:03,600
Speaker 3: how that series would go. If I'm being completely transparent,

344
00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:06,840
Speaker 3: like I think that New York almost matches up slightly

345
00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:12,520
Speaker 3: better on paper with Boston than it does with Milwaukee.

346
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,320
Speaker 3: It's just Milwaukee has its own shit to figure out, right,

347
00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,040
Speaker 3: Like they have to figure out the dam and Gianni stuff.

348
00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:21,360
Speaker 3: They have to figure out Doc Rivers, you know, figuring

349
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:25,560
Speaker 3: his stuff out, everything like that. But then you look

350
00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,000
Speaker 3: at Philadelphia as well, like Philadelphia has like a weird

351
00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:31,520
Speaker 3: matchup I think with New York.

352
00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:33,720
Speaker 4: So the lack of like.

353
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:35,800
Speaker 3: This is a word, I'm going to create a thin

354
00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,000
Speaker 3: air match up ability, match up flexibility maybe is the

355
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,359
Speaker 3: way to put it. Is why I'm slightly lower on

356
00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:46,960
Speaker 3: New York than I am on Boston and Oklahoma City.

357
00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:51,520
Speaker 1: So I completely agree in the sense that compared to

358
00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:56,359
Speaker 1: OKAC in Boston, they don't have the versatility I I'm

359
00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,719
Speaker 1: really worried about teams that can space cat out because

360
00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:04,200
Speaker 1: as good at like, just having both Brunson and Kat

361
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:06,520
Speaker 1: out there just gives you a little bit more vulnerability

362
00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:11,119
Speaker 1: in those situations. The Milwaukee matchup is interesting because I

363
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:15,080
Speaker 1: kind of like Og on Giannis a little bit. The

364
00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,639
Speaker 1: bigger issue I would have. The bigger issue i'd have

365
00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,640
Speaker 1: there is like, if you end up putting Kat as

366
00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,199
Speaker 1: your back line, They're just gonna space Brook above the

367
00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:24,320
Speaker 1: break on the opposite side and try to punish you

368
00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:27,280
Speaker 1: in that regard. And I think you are a little

369
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:30,920
Speaker 1: weak on help Length simply because if you put Og

370
00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:35,600
Speaker 1: on the ball, and in this case McHale, Bridges is

371
00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:38,719
Speaker 1: the guy who's guarding Dame, right Like, that's the direction

372
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:40,640
Speaker 1: you're going in all likelihood.

373
00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:42,680
Speaker 4: Maybe Heart like, maybe Hart.

374
00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:46,480
Speaker 3: So if it's McHale, depends on what version of Chris

375
00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:48,320
Speaker 3: Middleton you get, probably.

376
00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,199
Speaker 1: Too exactly, and so yeah, and if Middleton's out there,

377
00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:52,160
Speaker 1: who's guarding Middleton?

378
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:52,439
Speaker 2: Right Like?

379
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:54,320
Speaker 1: At that point, I think I'd probably put Hard on

380
00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:56,680
Speaker 1: Middleton and I'd probably put Bridges on Dame because I'd

381
00:19:56,680 --> 00:20:00,080
Speaker 1: want Length contesting over the back pressure. But like in

382
00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:04,280
Speaker 1: that sort of situation, if OG's on Giannis, and kat

383
00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:06,679
Speaker 1: is being spaced above the break on the opposite side,

384
00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,280
Speaker 1: and I have Michale Bridges chasing in action with Dame.

385
00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,960
Speaker 1: That means Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson are my back

386
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:15,520
Speaker 1: line in any sort of situation like that. So, like

387
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,919
Speaker 1: you're right, there's not as much matchup versatility there. I

388
00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,680
Speaker 1: want to be clear, like Boston, I would not put

389
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:26,880
Speaker 1: them on a separate tier, but I do think they're

390
00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,200
Speaker 1: the clear number one. I don't think any team in

391
00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,840
Speaker 1: the league, like if someone argued to me, I think

392
00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:33,120
Speaker 1: Boston's not the favorite.

393
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:35,639
Speaker 2: This is the team I think is it?

394
00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:38,280
Speaker 1: I think is And here's why I'd be like, I

395
00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,000
Speaker 1: can't even conceptualize a version of that that I get behind.

396
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:44,639
Speaker 1: OKAC would be the one team that I would think of.

397
00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:48,040
Speaker 1: But even with OKC, I think their question mark centering

398
00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:52,000
Speaker 1: around like, hey, like Jalen Williams in year three is

399
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,159
Speaker 1: your second best shot creator and a guy that is

400
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:56,719
Speaker 1: going to be determining a lot of key possessions for

401
00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,040
Speaker 1: you in the postseason, That to me is a little

402
00:20:59,040 --> 00:20:59,760
Speaker 1: bit of a question mark.

403
00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:01,560
Speaker 2: The lot of youth there.

404
00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:03,800
Speaker 1: Even though I'm super high on Oklahoma City and so

405
00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:06,879
Speaker 1: I think Boston. I think just has a clear sign

406
00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,320
Speaker 1: of a clear strength in terms of experience and just

407
00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:13,000
Speaker 1: overall shot creation and that sort of stuff. So like,

408
00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:31,240
Speaker 1: to me, Boston's a clear number one. I totally get

409
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:33,640
Speaker 1: your reasoning for having Denver, New York in a second tier.

410
00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:37,880
Speaker 1: For Denver, here's what I'm gonna do for Denver. I'm

411
00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,399
Speaker 1: gonna just quickly pitch to you. I think people are

412
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:42,359
Speaker 1: writing them off too quickly, and then I want you

413
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:45,879
Speaker 1: to tell me why you disagree or agree. So I

414
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,200
Speaker 1: was talking about this on my show yesterday. So much

415
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:54,119
Speaker 1: went wrong for Denver last year. Jokic jump shot in

416
00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:58,520
Speaker 1: the postseason was worth zero point three to eight points

417
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:03,760
Speaker 1: lesser single attempt than it was in the previous jump

418
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,840
Speaker 1: previous postseason, so literally four tenths of a point less

419
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:12,320
Speaker 1: first shot from the previous postseason. Casep hurts his ankle

420
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:15,119
Speaker 1: in the first round. Jamal Murray hurts his calf muscle

421
00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,280
Speaker 1: in the first round. Jokich is also clearly gassed by

422
00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:20,120
Speaker 1: the end of the Minnesota series and is just really

423
00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:22,119
Speaker 1: really struggling to do some of the dirty work stuff

424
00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:25,000
Speaker 1: that he did really well. And we're like, if you

425
00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:27,600
Speaker 1: just turn maybe two or three minutes of that run

426
00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,240
Speaker 1: from bad basketball into decent basketball. They're in the Western

427
00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:33,560
Speaker 1: Conference Finals. I think they get favored because Gafford and

428
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:36,520
Speaker 1: Lively would get eaten alive by Jokic. I also think

429
00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:40,080
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon is a better defensive matchup for LUCA than

430
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,480
Speaker 1: basically every forward in the league except for a small

431
00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:44,639
Speaker 1: handful of guys, and so I just think that was

432
00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,760
Speaker 1: a matchup that would have benefited Denver and then Denver Boston.

433
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:49,600
Speaker 1: I mean, who knows what would happen in that series.

434
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,120
Speaker 1: I probably would have picked Boston just because how banged

435
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:55,240
Speaker 1: up Denver was. But Denver had a decent matchup in

436
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:57,520
Speaker 1: that series because of their front line and the poor

437
00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:00,439
Speaker 1: zingis injury and things along those lines. So like for

438
00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,040
Speaker 1: a second round loss, with so many things that got

439
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:07,040
Speaker 1: that went wrong, I think they were reasonably close to

440
00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,119
Speaker 1: still making a very deep playoff run, at at a

441
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 1: minimum at least making it to the conference finals. So

442
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,320
Speaker 1: with that being the case, as I look at the roster,

443
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,320
Speaker 1: I'm higher on Christian Brown with the starters than most people.

444
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,840
Speaker 1: I think that he's bigger and stronger than KCP, which

445
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,760
Speaker 1: I think actually keeps them a little bit more versatile

446
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:24,840
Speaker 1: defensively in terms of like they won't have to put

447
00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:26,720
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon on big Fords all the time, and they

448
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,240
Speaker 1: could keep him in help more often. The bench is

449
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,440
Speaker 1: a complete shit show. We all know that, everyone can

450
00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,399
Speaker 1: can admit that, but that's been That was basically the

451
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,679
Speaker 1: case the entirety of this era, with the exception of

452
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:40,679
Speaker 1: they had this sixth starter in Bruce Brown, and I

453
00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:42,159
Speaker 1: would argue that if they were going to win the

454
00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:45,040
Speaker 1: title again, somebody's going to have to materialize from that group,

455
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,640
Speaker 1: whether it's Peyton Watson or who knows what, Maybe it's

456
00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:50,600
Speaker 1: a Russell Westbrook vindication at some point. But like, the

457
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,639
Speaker 1: bench is a shit show, But to me, the starting

458
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:56,240
Speaker 1: lineup it still is this really rock solid cores. I

459
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,280
Speaker 1: do think Jokic will shoot jump shots better this year,

460
00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:01,200
Speaker 1: which is such an important ceiling razor for him. Obviously

461
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 1: there's a question mark with Jamal Murray's help, but I

462
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:08,040
Speaker 1: think people are more like wishing on Denver's downfall than

463
00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:11,120
Speaker 1: like some of the actual tangible basketball materializing that way.

464
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,240
Speaker 1: So where are you at with Denver? Are you much

465
00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:16,439
Speaker 1: lower on them than I am? Do you think that

466
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:18,920
Speaker 1: this is the the they're on the way down.

467
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,439
Speaker 3: I think my answer to that is more that I

468
00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:27,320
Speaker 3: just think they have more variants than they've had over

469
00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:31,000
Speaker 3: the last few years. It's not that I think they

470
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:32,960
Speaker 3: don't have the same upside. I think that they do

471
00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 3: have similar upside if things all break right. It's just

472
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,920
Speaker 3: that the downside is lower than what we've seen from

473
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,760
Speaker 3: them the last couple of years. And to me, that

474
00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 3: does all revolve around Jamal Murray. Jamal Murray hasn't played

475
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,400
Speaker 3: great basketball in the last eight months. That's the reality

476
00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:54,440
Speaker 3: of the situation here. Didn't play great at the Olympics,

477
00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:57,399
Speaker 3: wasn't great for the last what three four months of

478
00:24:57,400 --> 00:24:58,840
Speaker 3: the NBA season last year year.

479
00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:02,280
Speaker 2: More shot attempts than point in the playoffs. Yes, so.

480
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:07,280
Speaker 3: I don't think it's as simple as saying that Denver

481
00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:09,960
Speaker 3: should be written off. They absolutely should not be written off.

482
00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,360
Speaker 3: And I agree with you in having them in your

483
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,400
Speaker 3: top four or five contenders one hundred percent. I would

484
00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:24,600
Speaker 3: also have Denver there. My main concern revolves around Murray

485
00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:29,800
Speaker 3: and what happens if Murray is not the offensive creator

486
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:34,840
Speaker 3: that has incredible synergy with nicolea Jokic that we've seen previously.

487
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,119
Speaker 3: I actually don't know that they have an answer to

488
00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:44,600
Speaker 3: that question, and they've now extended Jamal Murray and extended

489
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:47,399
Speaker 3: him after the deadline where he can be moved this season.

490
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,520
Speaker 4: So they're in a space where they need this to

491
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:52,000
Speaker 4: go right.

492
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,639
Speaker 3: There's not another They don't have an out really in

493
00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:58,840
Speaker 3: terms like they don't have their pick this year, they

494
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:01,480
Speaker 3: don't have a ton of flexibility with their future draft

495
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:04,840
Speaker 3: picks in terms of being able to move them. Their

496
00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,320
Speaker 3: young guys are polarizing. Like I can tell you from

497
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,800
Speaker 3: talking to teams league wide, there are people that really

498
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,560
Speaker 3: really like Peyton Watson. There are people who have questions

499
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:18,639
Speaker 3: about if he's just like an interesting, you know, curious

500
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:22,680
Speaker 3: athlete who can cut and who can defend a little

501
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,680
Speaker 3: bit but doesn't really shoot it and is still developing

502
00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:29,480
Speaker 3: into his overall game. There are questions about Julian Strawther.

503
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:32,240
Speaker 3: There are questions, like most people don't really think Jalen

504
00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:35,800
Speaker 3: Pickett a is a player. You know, Hunter Tyson is

505
00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:39,119
Speaker 3: very polarizing as a player. All of these guys that

506
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:45,520
Speaker 3: they've drafted, they've just always been extremely polarizing, which means

507
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:51,120
Speaker 3: it's harder for them to make deals with teams involving

508
00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:56,359
Speaker 3: those players, some evaluators and executives are maybe going to

509
00:26:56,440 --> 00:26:59,439
Speaker 3: like those players more than others, or they might have

510
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:02,399
Speaker 3: like very different opinions on those players, which means if

511
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,080
Speaker 3: you're trying to foster a trade to go get like

512
00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:09,080
Speaker 3: another real difference maker, it's like, well, we really like

513
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,520
Speaker 3: Julian Strawther, but we don't like Hunter Tyson, or we

514
00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:16,040
Speaker 3: don't like you know, Peyton Watson, or we really like

515
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 3: Peyton Watson, but we don't like Strawther, we don't like

516
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:22,679
Speaker 3: X Y and Z. Right, we really like Doron Holmes,

517
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:24,439
Speaker 3: but Doron Holmes is out for the year now, so

518
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,480
Speaker 3: we don't know what to do with that. It's just

519
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,040
Speaker 3: going to be a moving target for them, I think,

520
00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:31,720
Speaker 3: on the trade market in terms of trying to improve

521
00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 3: this group.

522
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,320
Speaker 4: So they need what they have.

523
00:27:35,440 --> 00:27:40,280
Speaker 3: Now to go right, and it could I think that

524
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:42,760
Speaker 3: you're one hundred percent right like that. That's why this

525
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,439
Speaker 3: is like not all. It's an exciting conversation because we

526
00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:47,600
Speaker 3: haven't had this much uncertainty with Denver in a while.

527
00:27:48,359 --> 00:27:51,600
Speaker 3: But it's not a question I can answer. I feel like,

528
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,720
Speaker 3: either you could tell me Denver wins fifty five games

529
00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,760
Speaker 3: and is incredible. Again, you could honestly sell me on

530
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:02,439
Speaker 3: them winning like forty six this year because teams just

531
00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,919
Speaker 3: completely sell out to stop Jokic. Christian Brown does not

532
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,720
Speaker 3: have a great shooting season. Aaron Gordon is obviously not

533
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:13,440
Speaker 3: really a great shooter, but plays off of jokicch incredibly

534
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,800
Speaker 3: well as a cutter. Michael Porter Junior is a guy

535
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:18,919
Speaker 3: that's had health issues in the past, so you never know,

536
00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 3: Like you could sell me on a number of things

537
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:25,040
Speaker 3: they have. They have a number of cascading things that

538
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:29,920
Speaker 3: could go wrong for them, but they also still have

539
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:34,320
Speaker 3: Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Junior surrounding the

540
00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:39,480
Speaker 3: best player on planet Earth doesn't really miss games who

541
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:44,000
Speaker 3: you can you can rely on to consistently play. So

542
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:48,000
Speaker 3: anybody that's writing them off is absolutely insane to me.

543
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:53,360
Speaker 3: It's just that there is more uncertainty there now, I

544
00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:55,600
Speaker 3: think in terms of what they could look like by

545
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:57,720
Speaker 3: the time February rolls around, I.

546
00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:00,800
Speaker 1: Think that uncertainty is almost guarantee to show in the

547
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:03,800
Speaker 1: regular season. I mean, you're leaning on You're leaning on

548
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:05,880
Speaker 1: a lot of young players. Like to be clear, like,

549
00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:10,160
Speaker 1: I think I think Oklahoma City will finish at least

550
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,840
Speaker 1: five games ahead of Denver in the standings, like at

551
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:16,960
Speaker 1: least I think I think you'll probably have occ around

552
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:19,760
Speaker 1: like what fifty seven to fifty eight wins, And I

553
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 1: think I'm with you. I think Denver is looking at

554
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,880
Speaker 1: the low fifties. I could argue that that's probably what

555
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,080
Speaker 1: Denver should do, because they looked tired at the end

556
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,720
Speaker 1: of last season. And the reason for that is they

557
00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,440
Speaker 1: depend on their starting units so much. And when you

558
00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:36,240
Speaker 1: depend on your starting unit so much and you lean

559
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,160
Speaker 1: on those guys in big minutes and they determine the

560
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 1: outcome of every single game, there's just a lot of

561
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:42,320
Speaker 1: pressure on them and you don't get to kind of

562
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,560
Speaker 1: like manage their load throughout the season. And so there's

563
00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:47,280
Speaker 1: a case to be made that, you know, forty eight

564
00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:51,360
Speaker 1: wins is a is an outcome that should be the

565
00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:54,400
Speaker 1: what happens if they take a more cautious approach to

566
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:56,880
Speaker 1: this regular season, especially with Jamal Murrays knee injury. And

567
00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,360
Speaker 1: to your point, like, because we've seen the knee injury

568
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,080
Speaker 1: flare up in the reason like, none of this is

569
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,640
Speaker 1: realistic if Jamal's not Jamal, And like, I don't think

570
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:08,640
Speaker 1: Jamal needs to be what he was in the twenty

571
00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:12,520
Speaker 1: twenty three playoff run, because that was like, that was insane,

572
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,280
Speaker 1: but that was that was he was playing like an

573
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:18,600
Speaker 1: he was playing like a superstar guard. But he can't

574
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:20,880
Speaker 1: be as bad as he was last year either. I

575
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:23,520
Speaker 1: do think I think one of the most important outcomes

576
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:25,880
Speaker 1: is Jokic's jump shot. I don't think people realize how

577
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,800
Speaker 1: important that was to them in the title run. He

578
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:30,960
Speaker 1: made thirty five threes in that title run, but it

579
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 1: wasn't just the thirty five threes. He was doing a

580
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,080
Speaker 1: lot of work driving closeouts at the top of the

581
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,120
Speaker 1: key and against Minnesota, they were literally doing this, So like,

582
00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,719
Speaker 1: go ahead, man, like, yeah, that was it. Shoot it,

583
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,240
Speaker 1: you know, And so I'm really curious to see how

584
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 1: that goes. But yeah, I'm with you. I think I

585
00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:49,440
Speaker 1: think variance is the right way to put it. I'm

586
00:30:49,520 --> 00:30:52,080
Speaker 1: just I'm more emphasizing that, Like, I think people are

587
00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,560
Speaker 1: insane to not acknowledge that that top end is still there,

588
00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:58,440
Speaker 1: because I think that Jokic that shoots forty five percent

589
00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:00,360
Speaker 1: from three isn't just the best player in the world.

590
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:02,240
Speaker 1: I think he's by far the best player in the world.

591
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:04,959
Speaker 1: I think that the jump shot declining is what has

592
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:06,720
Speaker 1: brought him down to the field a little bit. But

593
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,120
Speaker 1: I would take him head and shoulders over Luca if

594
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 1: he's got his jump shot going in.

595
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:15,040
Speaker 3: So and maybe this is where we transition to this

596
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:17,840
Speaker 3: next group of you know teams, right, And I'm going

597
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:19,479
Speaker 3: to kind of go off book in terms of what

598
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:23,560
Speaker 3: we wanted to talk about here, but I actually do

599
00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:26,960
Speaker 3: still have Minnesota head of Denver right.

600
00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:27,640
Speaker 4: Now in my group.

601
00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:29,120
Speaker 2: Okay, let's hear it.

602
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:36,240
Speaker 3: So I think that they again are a group of

603
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:39,160
Speaker 3: They're a team that has a different way to match

604
00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,520
Speaker 3: up with you. And I think that the Randall Devincenzo

605
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,960
Speaker 3: deal for Towns actually gives them even more kind of

606
00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:50,719
Speaker 3: alps to be able to do that because now instead

607
00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:55,240
Speaker 3: of having Mike Conley and two bigs out there to close,

608
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:59,440
Speaker 3: you can go Dante and close with Anthony Edwards. And

609
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:01,880
Speaker 3: a big piece of is trusting Anthony Edwards to really

610
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:04,200
Speaker 3: run the offense. And this is something you and I

611
00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 3: have talked about a ton with Timberwolves. It's just their

612
00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:09,800
Speaker 3: late game offense, right, what does it look like throughout

613
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:12,840
Speaker 3: the course of this full season and the playoffs?

614
00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:15,960
Speaker 4: That's their biggest question. They need to figure that out.

615
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:18,760
Speaker 3: Maybe it's just Ant taking another leap and just becoming

616
00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:22,040
Speaker 3: like a total assassin, right, That would be their best

617
00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:26,720
Speaker 3: case scenario. But I think Julius Randall is going to

618
00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:32,040
Speaker 3: do a much better approximation of Carl Town's at least

619
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:35,800
Speaker 3: on offense. They'll play different stylistically and do different things, obviously,

620
00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:38,680
Speaker 3: but in terms of the actual production than what most

621
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:42,760
Speaker 3: people do. Julius Randall is in a contract year. Chris

622
00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:45,880
Speaker 3: Finch is a coach that has gotten extremely high level

623
00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:50,880
Speaker 3: play out of him previously, and with Rudy Gobert backing him.

624
00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:55,080
Speaker 3: To me, the defense is less of a concern. I

625
00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:57,760
Speaker 3: thought Carl Towns did fine on defense last year. I

626
00:32:57,760 --> 00:33:01,360
Speaker 3: don't think Carl Towns is now some magically positive defender.

627
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,840
Speaker 3: I think that I think Towns is a better defender

628
00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:09,000
Speaker 3: than Randall. To be clear, but in Towns is a

629
00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:11,880
Speaker 3: better player than Julius Randall. I don't mean to say

630
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:15,200
Speaker 3: that the two are comparable. I think the difference between

631
00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:20,160
Speaker 3: Towns and Randall is smaller than the addition of getting

632
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:24,720
Speaker 3: Dante DiVincenzo and the flexibility and spacing that he provides personally.

633
00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:27,360
Speaker 3: And I totally understand why New York did the deal. Like,

634
00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:28,960
Speaker 3: I'm not sitting here and saying it was a bad

635
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:32,160
Speaker 3: deal for New York. I have my questions, and we've

636
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:35,360
Speaker 3: talked about that previously on my show. But I think

637
00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:38,600
Speaker 3: that Minnesota, and what you've talked about with Minnesota is

638
00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:40,960
Speaker 3: just the overall spacing and figuring out how to make

639
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 3: it work with Edwards and Randall together, I think that

640
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:47,800
Speaker 3: they can figure out a way to make that work.

641
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:53,080
Speaker 3: They also have enough flexibility with their picks moving forward

642
00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:54,880
Speaker 3: to where if you wanted to try and do like

643
00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:59,080
Speaker 3: a Randall and a first round pick for something at

644
00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:03,000
Speaker 3: the deadline, that will be available to you the other

645
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,280
Speaker 3: guy that like I'm sure Minnesota fans don't want to

646
00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:08,080
Speaker 3: hear this because they love nas Reed, but nos Reed

647
00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:12,040
Speaker 3: is in expiring contract and they need to figure out

648
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:14,400
Speaker 3: what their front core of the future looks like between

649
00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:18,279
Speaker 3: these three guys, because in theory, all three of these

650
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:22,160
Speaker 3: guys could leave after this year, Gobert, Randall, and nas Reed.

651
00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,400
Speaker 3: So they have a real flexibility in terms of the

652
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:29,399
Speaker 3: way that they can attack the deadline here coming up

653
00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:32,800
Speaker 3: that I think, you know, a team like Denver doesn't

654
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:38,000
Speaker 3: necessarily quite have in the same way because Denver doesn't

655
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:41,520
Speaker 3: have as many cheap contracts unless they're willing to move Brown.

656
00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,120
Speaker 3: But Brown is now like an integral part of a

657
00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:47,560
Speaker 3: team that doesn't have any depth. I would argue Minnesota

658
00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:52,000
Speaker 3: right now might have the best top eight in the NBA.

659
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:55,760
Speaker 3: I think that you can certainly make that case between

660
00:34:55,760 --> 00:34:59,440
Speaker 3: Conley Edwards, Dante and Nikhil Alexander Walker and then in

661
00:34:59,440 --> 00:35:03,600
Speaker 3: the front core Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randall, Nasried and Rudy Gobert.

662
00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:08,799
Speaker 3: I mean that's eight, you know, top is I.

663
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:12,239
Speaker 2: Don't know says right.

664
00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 1: Nikhil Alexander Walker's started, but I think he's a really

665
00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:15,960
Speaker 1: good rotation player.

666
00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:19,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, He's an unbelievable like defensive weapon that you can

667
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,160
Speaker 3: throw out there and who isn't going to kill you

668
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:26,280
Speaker 3: on offense. So I think that their depth, their ability

669
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:29,080
Speaker 3: to match up with just about any lineup that you

670
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:31,520
Speaker 3: throw out there. You can go small, Jaden McDaniels. That's

671
00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:33,040
Speaker 3: the other thing of the Dante deal. I think it

672
00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 3: allows you to if you want to go small based

673
00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:39,200
Speaker 3: on how another team is playing you, you can go small.

674
00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:44,479
Speaker 3: Now you can go Anthony Edwards, Dante, DiVincenzo, one of

675
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,120
Speaker 3: Mike Conley or Nikhil Alexander Walker depending on how big

676
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:52,200
Speaker 3: or small the opposing backboard is, and Jade McDaniels at

677
00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:55,319
Speaker 3: the four with Rudy at the five if you want to,

678
00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:57,960
Speaker 3: or you can go super big with these bigs that

679
00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:00,239
Speaker 3: you have across the board. They have just for a

680
00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:02,279
Speaker 3: ways to match up. And we haven't talked about the

681
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:05,799
Speaker 3: biggest reason yetter I haven't. Anthony Edwards continues to get

682
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:10,080
Speaker 3: better and better every single season, and last year's playoff

683
00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:14,479
Speaker 3: run was something special for a you know, third fourth

684
00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:18,719
Speaker 3: year guy. I believe he's entering his fourth year. No,

685
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:20,759
Speaker 3: he's entering his fifth, I guess, But you know he

686
00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:24,480
Speaker 3: is an absolute stud that I completely believe in him

687
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:26,280
Speaker 3: by in a playoff setting.

688
00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:30,239
Speaker 1: So before I give my response, I want to ask

689
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:35,160
Speaker 1: you a follow up. Yeah, should Dante de Evenchenzo just

690
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,080
Speaker 1: be the starting too? I think he's a better player

691
00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:41,280
Speaker 1: than Mike Conley. So you could argue Mike Conley running

692
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:43,600
Speaker 1: bench units with an off the four almost makes more sense.

693
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:44,279
Speaker 2: What do you think?

694
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:49,400
Speaker 3: So maybe this is me having reacted to the ESPN

695
00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:55,480
Speaker 3: Top one hundred that came out earlier this week and

696
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:58,640
Speaker 3: see that they have Fred van Vliet at number seventy

697
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:02,320
Speaker 3: nine on that list. I think that we've gone round

698
00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:05,120
Speaker 3: the bend with these small guards who like are actually

699
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:08,160
Speaker 3: tough defensively, Right, Mike's not quite as good as he

700
00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:10,200
Speaker 3: once was defensively, and is not quite as good as

701
00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:12,600
Speaker 3: Fred is now defensively, just you know, he's older at

702
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:13,120
Speaker 3: this point.

703
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:15,440
Speaker 4: But Mike is.

704
00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:19,640
Speaker 3: Still incredible at getting a team organized, and he knocked

705
00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:22,880
Speaker 3: down forty percent of his threes last year, and he

706
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:25,640
Speaker 3: fights over the top of screens like Mike Conley is

707
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:30,080
Speaker 3: still an awesome player. The case for doing what you're saying, though,

708
00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:34,319
Speaker 3: and I think this is a valid case, is I

709
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:37,080
Speaker 3: would just want to get Aunt as many reps as

710
00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 3: possible running the show, and maybe I would stagger him

711
00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:45,839
Speaker 3: without Mike more often, just to give him that opportunity.

712
00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:48,080
Speaker 3: Whether or not you're starting Mike, you're bringing him off

713
00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:51,440
Speaker 3: the bench, I guess I don't really care. But I

714
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:53,840
Speaker 3: do think there's a case for what you're saying to

715
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:57,680
Speaker 3: get Anthony Edwards more reps on the ball so that

716
00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:02,160
Speaker 3: that decision making tree continues to improve, because that's that's

717
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:06,600
Speaker 3: really the last step here for Aunt is consistency off

718
00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:09,840
Speaker 3: the ball. Defensively, and then the decision making tree on

719
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:13,880
Speaker 3: his drives and on his ability to you know, find

720
00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:17,680
Speaker 3: the open teammate regularly as opposed to take a terrible

721
00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:19,960
Speaker 3: pull up mid range jumper or a drive into the

722
00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:23,920
Speaker 3: trees where it's a lower percentage shot. That's really the

723
00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:25,080
Speaker 3: last step for him.

724
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,000
Speaker 1: In my opinion, I'm really curious to see if if

725
00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:33,120
Speaker 1: Chris Finch does any kind of exploring on spacing looks.

726
00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:37,399
Speaker 1: Dante plays bigger than he is because he's athletic and strong,

727
00:38:37,480 --> 00:38:40,520
Speaker 1: he rebounds well for a guard. It just gets up

728
00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:43,759
Speaker 1: underneath bigger players when he's on switches, and an Ant

729
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:46,520
Speaker 1: is literally built like an F one fifty. So like,

730
00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:50,520
Speaker 1: I wonder if you could start to explore looks too,

731
00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:54,200
Speaker 1: where you have you know, Ant kind of functioning as

732
00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:57,239
Speaker 1: the three defensively, but you go with Conley, Aunt and

733
00:38:57,320 --> 00:39:00,640
Speaker 1: Dante with nas at the foe next to go Bear.

734
00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:03,759
Speaker 1: I wonder, and you could get into some real four

735
00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:06,600
Speaker 1: out one end stuff where it's like just spread, pick

736
00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:09,520
Speaker 1: and roll, but you've got deadly shooters on both corners

737
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:13,080
Speaker 1: and Dante above the break who's deadly, and you can

738
00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:16,400
Speaker 1: really create some more spaced out environments for him. This

739
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,200
Speaker 1: is one of the issues, like because I mean, as

740
00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:21,879
Speaker 1: I've watched Minnesota in preseason, their defense looks amazing, right,

741
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:25,360
Speaker 1: like like in these these spurts like that, it's a

742
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:28,239
Speaker 1: spurt against Philly where you're like, holy shit, you know

743
00:39:28,640 --> 00:39:30,319
Speaker 1: they have this spurred against They had to spurt against

744
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:31,920
Speaker 1: the Lakers when Lebron and Nadi didn't play in the

745
00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:34,480
Speaker 1: first game of the preseason, where like they just you

746
00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:36,400
Speaker 1: could just tell Austin and Dilo and Rui, we're just

747
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:38,320
Speaker 1: having a hell of a time getting free of those guys.

748
00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:41,800
Speaker 1: But Nikhil, Alexander Walker and Jada McDaniels are both guys

749
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:44,279
Speaker 1: that are like very hot and cold on offense and

750
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:47,839
Speaker 1: can in terms of the game plan. You're pretty much

751
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:50,239
Speaker 1: helping off of those guys and offering late contests and

752
00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:52,359
Speaker 1: you know, going underneath picks and doing.

753
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:53,040
Speaker 2: All that kind of stuff.

754
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:55,920
Speaker 1: Right, So, like, I wonder if you could look into

755
00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:58,120
Speaker 1: some more of those options and see if it develops.

756
00:39:58,719 --> 00:40:02,799
Speaker 1: Ants jump shooting, it's starting to get ridiculous. Sam, He's

757
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:04,879
Speaker 1: twelve for twenty three in preseason. Again, I know it's

758
00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:07,160
Speaker 1: a small sample, but like we are now on a

759
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:11,720
Speaker 1: seven month span going back to last April in three different,

760
00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:14,399
Speaker 1: completely different situations between obviously some of the new guys

761
00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:17,479
Speaker 1: he's playing with this year, the roster from last year,

762
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:21,160
Speaker 1: super high intense games in terms of the conference finals

763
00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:24,840
Speaker 1: and conference semis. Last year, you've got the Olympic Games,

764
00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:28,080
Speaker 1: where he shot well in both the exhibition games and

765
00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:32,440
Speaker 1: the Olympic Games themselves. This is a roughly three hundred

766
00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:38,080
Speaker 1: rep seven month span of him making jump shots at

767
00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:41,080
Speaker 1: like one point two points per shot, which is like insane.

768
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:44,960
Speaker 1: Off the dribble, off the catch, left shoulder fades, right

769
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:48,160
Speaker 1: shoulder fades, like the jump shooting is ridiculous. And so

770
00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:51,520
Speaker 1: that to me is where the upside is the reason

771
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:56,000
Speaker 1: why I'm still like Minnesota for me is a team that,

772
00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:58,520
Speaker 1: like I just want to see them play in the

773
00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:02,480
Speaker 1: regular season with Julie Randall, sure, because I'm just so

774
00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:04,920
Speaker 1: interested to see how that front court shapes out with

775
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:07,719
Speaker 1: the starting group with Jade and Julius and Rudy. So like,

776
00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:11,800
Speaker 1: for me, like I have them loosely ranked at seven

777
00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:14,920
Speaker 1: right now in my contender rankings, but like I could

778
00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:17,960
Speaker 1: see that going way up or potentially even down a

779
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,719
Speaker 1: little bit, because I just it's so hard for me

780
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:24,000
Speaker 1: to conceptualize it. Dane Moore does an amazing job covering

781
00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:26,520
Speaker 1: the Wolves, and he had a tweet the other day

782
00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:30,960
Speaker 1: where he basically broke down how like even though Julius

783
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 1: doesn't shoot percentage wise the way that Kat does, yes,

784
00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:37,560
Speaker 1: he does shoot a lot in so correct and his

785
00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:40,800
Speaker 1: case was basically like he's respected and treated as a

786
00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:43,800
Speaker 1: shooter even if he's not, and so maybe that materializes.

787
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:47,320
Speaker 3: So to me, it's not that he's respected and treated

788
00:41:47,400 --> 00:41:51,880
Speaker 3: as a shooter, it's that you have to like get

789
00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:56,240
Speaker 3: up near him and make early contact because if he drives,

790
00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:00,399
Speaker 3: if you if he gets like two steps down hill

791
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,239
Speaker 3: into yeah, there's actually like no way that you can

792
00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:07,239
Speaker 3: physically stop him. He's too strong, he's too physical. So

793
00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:09,600
Speaker 3: you know, I think we talked about that on our show,

794
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:12,640
Speaker 3: that like he gets close, he gets guarded on the

795
00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:18,960
Speaker 3: perimeter more than what the shooting percentages would indicate necessarily.

796
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:22,080
Speaker 3: And again, like Chris Finch knows this, He's he understands

797
00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:24,279
Speaker 3: how to make Randall work. He understands how to make

798
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:27,719
Speaker 3: that tick. You know, he coached him before Randall had

799
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:30,640
Speaker 3: like the crazy outlier shooting year with the Knicks where

800
00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:32,960
Speaker 3: he made like forty percent of his threes, right, So

801
00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:36,879
Speaker 3: I think Finch really is like a savant in terms

802
00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:39,920
Speaker 3: of spacing his big men and understanding how to make

803
00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:44,680
Speaker 3: that work. And while he doesn't bring the same spacing

804
00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:47,640
Speaker 3: that Karl Anthony Towns does as a shooter where you

805
00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:51,319
Speaker 3: do genuinely have to be uptight on him, I do

806
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:55,759
Speaker 3: think that Randall at least gets guarded out on the

807
00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:58,839
Speaker 3: perimeter in a way that maybe it's not quite as

808
00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:02,799
Speaker 3: like tightly on the clothes outs as Towns is, but

809
00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:05,319
Speaker 3: it is still going to be a guy that gets

810
00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:09,319
Speaker 3: guarded yeah, and accounted for. I have Minnesota three right

811
00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:12,080
Speaker 3: now rankings.

812
00:43:11,760 --> 00:43:15,680
Speaker 2: So the best team beneath Boston and OKAC. How about that.

813
00:43:15,719 --> 00:43:20,640
Speaker 3: My rankings were Boston and OKAC basically tied at one.

814
00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:23,840
Speaker 3: The only reason that I didn't have Boston considerably higher

815
00:43:24,719 --> 00:43:27,600
Speaker 3: was because I want to see what Porzingis's health was.

816
00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:30,879
Speaker 3: That's literally the only reason. If you told me that

817
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:33,400
Speaker 3: Porzingis was going to be one hundred percent by the

818
00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:36,160
Speaker 3: time April rolled around, I would have Boston clearly number one.

819
00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:39,799
Speaker 3: I have Boston and Oklahoma City basically tied at one.

820
00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:43,359
Speaker 3: I had Minnesota at three. I had New York at four,

821
00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:44,319
Speaker 3: and I had Denver at five.

822
00:43:46,239 --> 00:43:48,600
Speaker 1: We didn't even get into with Minnesota. The idea of

823
00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:52,040
Speaker 1: like Julius Randall as a backup shock creator when ants

824
00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:53,799
Speaker 1: off the floor. Now, that's kind of another thing to

825
00:43:53,800 --> 00:43:56,360
Speaker 1: look at you in terms of like the staggering with Conley,

826
00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:01,280
Speaker 1: Like Conley in like inverted town game with Julius Randall,

827
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:03,000
Speaker 1: you could see a lot of opportunities for him to

828
00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,320
Speaker 1: get going, especially since he's going to be get guarded

829
00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:09,040
Speaker 1: by smaller defenders or guys that are gonna hedge. Minnesota's

830
00:44:09,040 --> 00:44:10,640
Speaker 1: gonna be interesting. They're definitely a team I'm gonna be

831
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:28,800
Speaker 1: watching a lot to start the year. Dallas, I have

832
00:44:28,960 --> 00:44:31,640
Speaker 1: them as the top of my if things go right tier,

833
00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:35,359
Speaker 1: I'm not as high on. I was never quite as

834
00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:38,560
Speaker 1: high like I always viewed Dallas as Like last year

835
00:44:38,600 --> 00:44:41,320
Speaker 1: after when we did our contender rankings before the postseason,

836
00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:46,279
Speaker 1: I had Dallas, I think, if I remember correctly, I

837
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:47,839
Speaker 1: definitely had him in my top five, but they were

838
00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:49,600
Speaker 1: in like that three or four spot, but I had

839
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:52,680
Speaker 1: him beneath that Boston and Denver Tier. I've always had

840
00:44:52,800 --> 00:44:55,960
Speaker 1: Dallas as like the best of the teams that I

841
00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:59,960
Speaker 1: don't really view as like your traditional bona fide championship contenders.

842
00:45:00,719 --> 00:45:03,280
Speaker 1: You know, Clay isn't shooting the ball well in preseason,

843
00:45:03,360 --> 00:45:05,279
Speaker 1: who cares he's not playing with Steph, or he's not

844
00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:08,160
Speaker 1: playing with Clay and or with with Kyrie and Luca.

845
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:11,399
Speaker 1: They are running him off of a considerable amount of action.

846
00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:13,200
Speaker 1: But then I get worried about whether or not that'll

847
00:45:13,200 --> 00:45:16,640
Speaker 1: still be the case when those guys are back. But

848
00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:20,480
Speaker 1: for them, I just it just views it looks to

849
00:45:20,520 --> 00:45:23,840
Speaker 1: me like a bunch of decent role players around Kyrie

850
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:26,520
Speaker 1: and Luca, and I just don't think they have the

851
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:29,640
Speaker 1: overall firepower to contend with the teams in that top tier.

852
00:45:29,680 --> 00:45:32,799
Speaker 1: Do you agree with me or you hire on them?

853
00:45:33,360 --> 00:45:35,400
Speaker 3: Yeah? Look, I mean I have them at six like

854
00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:37,360
Speaker 3: they're the next team for me. So I'm glad that

855
00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:40,239
Speaker 3: you brought them up. Just in terms of like title, right,

856
00:45:40,760 --> 00:45:43,360
Speaker 3: I don't know where they'll finish in the Western Conference.

857
00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:44,879
Speaker 3: I mean I think they're in that group where it's

858
00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:45,880
Speaker 3: just a total bloodbath.

859
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:47,439
Speaker 4: But in terms of.

860
00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:49,560
Speaker 3: In the playoffs, like I buy this team in the

861
00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:52,080
Speaker 3: playoffs by and large because I buy Luca and Kyrie

862
00:45:52,080 --> 00:45:55,360
Speaker 3: in the playoffs. What I would say is you know

863
00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:58,720
Speaker 3: they are a high variant team just because they've basically

864
00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:01,880
Speaker 3: cycled through almost it feels like their entire role player

865
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:04,480
Speaker 3: group over the last I don't know what you want

866
00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:07,280
Speaker 3: to call it ten months, basically, you know, the PJ.

867
00:46:07,480 --> 00:46:12,720
Speaker 3: Washington deal, the Naji Marshall signing, losing Derek Jones Junior,

868
00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:16,959
Speaker 3: losing Josh Creen, bringing in Quinton Grimes like that. Klay

869
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:19,680
Speaker 3: Thompson obviously is the biggest piece of this in terms

870
00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:22,480
Speaker 3: of their role players. It's just another team like Denver

871
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:26,359
Speaker 3: that has a wide degree of variants. I think I'm

872
00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:32,920
Speaker 3: a little bit less high on this group tentatively than

873
00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:35,440
Speaker 3: I was going into the playoffs last year. I remember

874
00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:38,160
Speaker 3: that I had Dallas like obnoxiously high when we did

875
00:46:38,239 --> 00:46:41,120
Speaker 3: our condender rankings and people were like, you're out of

876
00:46:41,160 --> 00:46:42,440
Speaker 3: your mind, and I was like, I don't know. I

877
00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:44,920
Speaker 3: think that, you know, Luca, surrounded by spacing is a

878
00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:45,880
Speaker 3: pretty good idea.

879
00:46:45,960 --> 00:46:47,359
Speaker 2: You were ahead of that, you were ahead of the curve.

880
00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:48,920
Speaker 1: You were talking to me, you were talking to me

881
00:46:48,920 --> 00:46:52,680
Speaker 1: about Dallas and text messages like long before they started

882
00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:54,520
Speaker 1: to take off too, because I was still worried about

883
00:46:54,560 --> 00:46:56,120
Speaker 1: their defense, and I remember you'd be like, watch out

884
00:46:56,120 --> 00:46:57,680
Speaker 1: for Dallas, man, watch out for Dallas.

885
00:46:57,680 --> 00:47:02,560
Speaker 3: They're going to be good. So here's my main worry.

886
00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:05,480
Speaker 3: It is the Clay side of it. I think they're

887
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:09,319
Speaker 3: going to be like utterly devastating on offense. I think

888
00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:11,680
Speaker 3: that they're gonna just like Wreck Worlds on offense. If

889
00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:15,960
Speaker 3: you have to basically make a decision in a Luca

890
00:47:16,080 --> 00:47:21,160
Speaker 3: ballscreen with Derek Lively of Okay, Klay Thompson is on

891
00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:24,920
Speaker 3: the weak side here. I have to make a decision

892
00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:27,399
Speaker 3: on if I'm going to tag Derek Lively or I'm

893
00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:31,040
Speaker 3: going to leave Klay Thompson in order to tag Derek Lively,

894
00:47:31,120 --> 00:47:32,840
Speaker 3: or I'm just gonna leave Lively wide open at the

895
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:37,280
Speaker 3: rim for a rim run dunk. That's basically an impossible

896
00:47:37,360 --> 00:47:39,000
Speaker 3: choice to me. Like, I know, like you said, Clay

897
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:42,040
Speaker 3: hasn't shot well in preseason. I don't really care. Klay Thompson,

898
00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:45,360
Speaker 3: who's going to get, you know, the shot back? He

899
00:47:45,400 --> 00:47:48,279
Speaker 3: always does. He always makes forty percent of his threes, so.

900
00:47:48,560 --> 00:47:50,719
Speaker 1: He's hitting his open ones too. He's he's three for

901
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:53,160
Speaker 1: fifteen on jump shots, but he's three for five when

902
00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:53,880
Speaker 1: he's unguarded.

903
00:47:54,719 --> 00:47:56,480
Speaker 4: Yeah, Like, to me, I'm just not.

904
00:47:57,960 --> 00:48:00,000
Speaker 3: That they're going to be able to devise so much

905
00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:03,200
Speaker 3: many different ways to just obliterate you and ball screens now,

906
00:48:03,600 --> 00:48:07,000
Speaker 3: because they have theoretically, as long as Pj's shooting from

907
00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:09,960
Speaker 3: the playoffs holds up. And that's a question, like that's

908
00:48:10,000 --> 00:48:14,200
Speaker 3: a totally open question that I'm here to listen to

909
00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:18,880
Speaker 3: and hear out right, they could go devastating like well,

910
00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:21,960
Speaker 3: I guess four out with Lively as the role man,

911
00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:26,120
Speaker 3: where Luca prefers to actually have the role man. I

912
00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:29,560
Speaker 3: feel like as opposed to the five that is like

913
00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:32,040
Speaker 3: the floor spacer buying large. He likes to have that

914
00:48:32,160 --> 00:48:35,160
Speaker 3: lab option because he likes to have that pressure being

915
00:48:35,160 --> 00:48:37,279
Speaker 3: put on the defense with how excellent he is at

916
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:43,600
Speaker 3: hitting skip passes. So this is theoretically, as long as

917
00:48:43,640 --> 00:48:49,600
Speaker 3: Clay is who he is, probably the best constructed offense

918
00:48:49,640 --> 00:48:51,440
Speaker 3: that Luca has gotten a chance to play with in

919
00:48:51,760 --> 00:48:56,920
Speaker 3: during his time. Now, the question for me is do

920
00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,359
Speaker 3: they have enough two way players? And that's to come

921
00:49:00,360 --> 00:49:02,600
Speaker 3: down to Nausey Marshall making shots. It's going to come

922
00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:05,560
Speaker 3: down to Quentin Grimes being more the guy we saw

923
00:49:05,560 --> 00:49:07,600
Speaker 3: in New York as opposed to the guy we saw

924
00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:10,719
Speaker 3: you know in the split year between New York and Detroit,

925
00:49:13,040 --> 00:49:15,919
Speaker 3: can those guys step in and be able to give

926
00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:21,759
Speaker 3: them honestly, probably close to forty to fifty minutes a night.

927
00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:25,080
Speaker 3: And if they can do that, I think Dallas has

928
00:49:25,120 --> 00:49:28,520
Speaker 3: a very real chance again to go to the NBA Finals.

929
00:49:29,160 --> 00:49:32,319
Speaker 3: It is just a real level and degree of uncertainty

930
00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:35,320
Speaker 3: because it's a whole lot of new pieces being integrated.

931
00:49:36,600 --> 00:49:39,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, you had mentioned week side. I've seen them use

932
00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:42,239
Speaker 1: him a lot in three man action too, at the

933
00:49:42,239 --> 00:49:44,600
Speaker 1: top of the key, where like staggers and stacks and

934
00:49:44,640 --> 00:49:47,799
Speaker 1: stuff like that. And similarly, similarly like making the team

935
00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:50,560
Speaker 1: make this, making the defense make decisions. The way you

936
00:49:50,560 --> 00:49:53,920
Speaker 1: put it is really interesting to me because I think

937
00:49:53,920 --> 00:49:56,359
Speaker 1: you're right. I think this is the most well constructed

938
00:49:56,400 --> 00:50:00,920
Speaker 1: offense for Luca ever because he's got the best secondary

939
00:50:00,920 --> 00:50:03,720
Speaker 1: shot creator he's ever had in Kyrie Irving. Jalen Brunston

940
00:50:03,800 --> 00:50:06,000
Speaker 1: has become a better player than Kyrie, but when Jalen

941
00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:08,520
Speaker 1: Brunson was with Dallas, he's not what Kyrie was. Right,

942
00:50:09,400 --> 00:50:12,160
Speaker 1: You've got You've got this the second best shooter of

943
00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:16,319
Speaker 1: all time playing the three basically in in uh Klay

944
00:50:16,320 --> 00:50:20,279
Speaker 1: Thompson you've got Derek Lively, who is uniquely gifted as

945
00:50:20,320 --> 00:50:23,160
Speaker 1: one of the rare athletes that is both great at

946
00:50:23,239 --> 00:50:26,360
Speaker 1: vertical spacing and at making decisions on four on threes

947
00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:29,160
Speaker 1: on short roles. And then PJ Washington is like kind

948
00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:32,640
Speaker 1: of this interesting forward who again above the breaks shooting

949
00:50:32,680 --> 00:50:34,280
Speaker 1: is interesting because he did not shoot well in the postseason,

950
00:50:34,320 --> 00:50:36,320
Speaker 1: but he actually shot okay on him in the regular season,

951
00:50:36,520 --> 00:50:39,080
Speaker 1: And I think PJ has good form. Like Pj's form

952
00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:41,799
Speaker 1: is it looks like a nice jump shot to me,

953
00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:44,440
Speaker 1: And so like there's a version of this where like

954
00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:46,839
Speaker 1: he's euro above the break spacer who can also hit

955
00:50:46,840 --> 00:50:50,359
Speaker 1: corner threes, also can post up mismatches down low. That

956
00:50:50,480 --> 00:50:52,400
Speaker 1: unit all makes really good sense to me. On the

957
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:56,560
Speaker 1: offensive end of the floor. I am seriously concerned about

958
00:50:56,600 --> 00:50:59,200
Speaker 1: them on defense though, I think I think I think

959
00:50:59,520 --> 00:51:03,160
Speaker 1: they could into a let's outscore everybody team pretty quick. Yeah,

960
00:51:03,200 --> 00:51:05,840
Speaker 1: and that's fun and that can win some regular season games,

961
00:51:06,320 --> 00:51:09,080
Speaker 1: but then inevitably you just run into a real physical,

962
00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:11,680
Speaker 1: tough playoff matchup and then things can get ugly. And

963
00:51:11,719 --> 00:51:14,120
Speaker 1: so are you concerned at all about that? Do you

964
00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:16,280
Speaker 1: think that this was the right trade off for Dallas

965
00:51:16,320 --> 00:51:16,880
Speaker 1: to make.

966
00:51:19,600 --> 00:51:22,120
Speaker 3: The answer is I don't know. In all honesty, like,

967
00:51:22,239 --> 00:51:23,640
Speaker 3: I don't know the answer to that. I would like

968
00:51:23,680 --> 00:51:26,279
Speaker 3: to see how Derek Jones Junior shoots this year. If

969
00:51:26,280 --> 00:51:29,279
Speaker 3: Derek Jones Junior shoots thirty five thirty six percent from

970
00:51:29,280 --> 00:51:31,240
Speaker 3: three this year, I'd probably have rather.

971
00:51:31,160 --> 00:51:31,960
Speaker 4: Just kept him.

972
00:51:32,280 --> 00:51:36,879
Speaker 3: But you know, if he's the guy where Dallas thinks that, hey,

973
00:51:36,920 --> 00:51:39,080
Speaker 3: you know, we got the best that we could out

974
00:51:39,080 --> 00:51:43,520
Speaker 3: of Derek Jones Junior, let's you know, not invest further

975
00:51:43,600 --> 00:51:46,279
Speaker 3: in this. I would also understand that too, given his

976
00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:51,120
Speaker 3: track record and history this Dallas team. Do you remember

977
00:51:51,160 --> 00:51:54,759
Speaker 3: those Cavs teams with Lebron where you know they would

978
00:51:54,760 --> 00:51:57,120
Speaker 3: finish like twenty eighth in defense And I don't think

979
00:51:57,160 --> 00:51:59,080
Speaker 3: Dallas will be that bad in defense, but like they

980
00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:01,160
Speaker 3: would just literally outsore or everybody, right. I think it

981
00:52:01,200 --> 00:52:03,319
Speaker 3: was like Kyrie and Kevin Love were on those teams too.

982
00:52:03,600 --> 00:52:07,600
Speaker 3: It's somewhat this build is somewhat reminiscent of that to me.

983
00:52:08,480 --> 00:52:12,759
Speaker 3: Just you know, Luca is amazing. He's not quite what

984
00:52:12,880 --> 00:52:17,520
Speaker 3: Lebron was, yet it is ceiling Maybe, you know, he's

985
00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:19,839
Speaker 3: one of the few guys that I'll at least not

986
00:52:19,960 --> 00:52:24,319
Speaker 3: rule out in the half strictly in the half court.

987
00:52:24,320 --> 00:52:26,160
Speaker 1: On offense, I think you could say that he's reached

988
00:52:26,239 --> 00:52:29,040
Speaker 1: Lebron's level, as like the one thing he doesn't have

989
00:52:29,120 --> 00:52:33,759
Speaker 1: is just the rim pressure piece where it's just like slashing,

990
00:52:33,800 --> 00:52:36,239
Speaker 1: But he's got the totally playmaking and the shot making

991
00:52:36,360 --> 00:52:36,720
Speaker 1: for sure.

992
00:52:38,120 --> 00:52:41,200
Speaker 3: And then they have you know, Derek Lively rim running

993
00:52:41,400 --> 00:52:44,160
Speaker 3: protecting the basket. That's you know, he's a much better

994
00:52:44,239 --> 00:52:46,840
Speaker 3: rim runner than Tristan Thompson was, but Tristan Thompson was

995
00:52:46,880 --> 00:52:51,000
Speaker 3: a phenomenal interior defender. Right, you can just kind of

996
00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:53,080
Speaker 3: look across the board, like I do think that those

997
00:52:53,080 --> 00:52:57,080
Speaker 3: two situations kind of match, and you know, Lebron carried

998
00:52:57,120 --> 00:53:00,560
Speaker 3: those teams to NBA Finals runs, right, and I think

999
00:53:00,600 --> 00:53:03,399
Speaker 3: that Luca has a chance to do the same thing.

1000
00:53:03,440 --> 00:53:04,960
Speaker 3: That would you know, he did it last year and

1001
00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:07,000
Speaker 3: it wouldn't surprise me if he did it again this year.

1002
00:53:07,040 --> 00:53:09,960
Speaker 4: It's just that.

1003
00:53:08,760 --> 00:53:11,280
Speaker 3: Those teams do. This team has a lot of arians

1004
00:53:11,320 --> 00:53:13,000
Speaker 3: and has a lot of uncertainty to me.

1005
00:53:13,719 --> 00:53:16,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's just so hard to tell too, just

1006
00:53:16,400 --> 00:53:18,759
Speaker 1: simply because once again with the clay piece, we just

1007
00:53:18,800 --> 00:53:20,560
Speaker 1: don't know what it's going to look like I've seen

1008
00:53:20,640 --> 00:53:22,759
Speaker 1: Clay be a good defender. I would even argue, like

1009
00:53:22,760 --> 00:53:24,600
Speaker 1: if I was trying to talk myself into it, I'd

1010
00:53:24,600 --> 00:53:27,359
Speaker 1: be like, Okay, Well, with Boston, they weren't even really

1011
00:53:27,360 --> 00:53:28,560
Speaker 1: attacking Derek Jones and PJ.

1012
00:53:28,719 --> 00:53:30,880
Speaker 2: Washington that much anyway. They were hunting matchups.

1013
00:53:31,120 --> 00:53:32,880
Speaker 1: So it's not like even if we had an elite

1014
00:53:32,920 --> 00:53:35,359
Speaker 1: defender on the ball, they might be looking to get

1015
00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:37,400
Speaker 1: Luke on switches. Anyways, It's going to be more important

1016
00:53:37,440 --> 00:53:39,880
Speaker 1: for us to be sharp in rotation. And the truth

1017
00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:43,640
Speaker 1: is that their offense fell apart because of PJ. Washington

1018
00:53:43,640 --> 00:53:45,719
Speaker 1: and Derek Jones Junior being unable to hit above the

1019
00:53:45,719 --> 00:53:49,279
Speaker 1: break threes. And so if Clay addresses that at the

1020
00:53:49,360 --> 00:53:51,759
Speaker 1: very least, even if you run intown problems elsewhere that

1021
00:53:51,800 --> 00:53:55,560
Speaker 1: you have to address, Like your offense crumbled at this

1022
00:53:55,680 --> 00:53:59,680
Speaker 1: one break point and you've now turned that into the

1023
00:53:59,680 --> 00:54:02,000
Speaker 1: second best shooter of all time. So like that, I'm

1024
00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:04,920
Speaker 1: not gonna I'm not gonna overthink it, Okay, all right,

1025
00:54:04,920 --> 00:54:06,640
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna bitch and moan to you for a

1026
00:54:06,680 --> 00:54:08,200
Speaker 1: second about the Lakers, and then I want you to

1027
00:54:08,239 --> 00:54:09,160
Speaker 1: tell me if I'm being.

1028
00:54:09,040 --> 00:54:09,759
Speaker 4: Toll this is great.

1029
00:54:10,680 --> 00:54:13,719
Speaker 1: Okay, So I want to be clear, overall, I am

1030
00:54:14,120 --> 00:54:16,400
Speaker 1: pleased with the JJ Reddick experience so far. I think

1031
00:54:16,440 --> 00:54:18,759
Speaker 1: he's bringing in structure, he's running more organized offense, he's

1032
00:54:18,760 --> 00:54:21,000
Speaker 1: talking about the right things, he's emphasizing the right things.

1033
00:54:21,239 --> 00:54:23,680
Speaker 1: There appears to be more buy in. I expect a

1034
00:54:23,680 --> 00:54:26,640
Speaker 1: more serious Lakers team this year. However, the Lakers are

1035
00:54:26,640 --> 00:54:28,480
Speaker 1: the latest and a long line of teams that is

1036
00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:31,560
Speaker 1: obsessively trying to increase three point volume. Okay, So I'm

1037
00:54:31,560 --> 00:54:34,839
Speaker 1: watching the Golden State Warriors game last night, and I'm

1038
00:54:34,880 --> 00:54:36,800
Speaker 1: watching them like throw the ball out the floor and

1039
00:54:36,880 --> 00:54:39,839
Speaker 1: semi transition and Ruby Hotchamura just jacks up and above

1040
00:54:39,840 --> 00:54:41,919
Speaker 1: the break three with twenty one seconds on the shot clock.

1041
00:54:41,920 --> 00:54:44,360
Speaker 1: And then the very next possession, Austin Reeves does the

1042
00:54:44,440 --> 00:54:46,560
Speaker 1: exact same thing. And then here's d Lo on the

1043
00:54:46,640 --> 00:54:49,000
Speaker 1: right wing taking a heavily contested three off the catch.

1044
00:54:49,040 --> 00:54:51,520
Speaker 1: Here's you know, Anthony Davis taking a bunch of threes

1045
00:54:51,560 --> 00:54:55,279
Speaker 1: in a very basic stat to put this together, last night,

1046
00:54:55,280 --> 00:54:57,440
Speaker 1: they took thirty four catch and shoe jump shots, and

1047
00:54:57,560 --> 00:55:01,240
Speaker 1: twenty seven of them were classified as guarded by Synergy.

1048
00:55:01,360 --> 00:55:05,040
Speaker 1: Last year, in the regular season forty nine percent of

1049
00:55:05,120 --> 00:55:08,920
Speaker 1: the Lakers catch and shoot shot attempts were classified as guarded,

1050
00:55:09,040 --> 00:55:11,960
Speaker 1: so less than half this year. So far, in pre season,

1051
00:55:12,160 --> 00:55:15,000
Speaker 1: sixty four percent of the Lakers catch and shoot shot

1052
00:55:15,000 --> 00:55:19,800
Speaker 1: attempts are classified as guarded. So I'm a big believer

1053
00:55:20,040 --> 00:55:24,719
Speaker 1: in increasing your shot value, and that means as many

1054
00:55:24,800 --> 00:55:27,239
Speaker 1: quality rim attempts as possible than as many catch and

1055
00:55:27,239 --> 00:55:29,680
Speaker 1: shoot quality catch and shoot three attempts as possible, and

1056
00:55:30,080 --> 00:55:32,200
Speaker 1: you need to try to turn any other shot attempt

1057
00:55:32,239 --> 00:55:34,640
Speaker 1: and as into as many more of those as possible.

1058
00:55:34,880 --> 00:55:37,160
Speaker 1: But I think that just jacking up contest to catch

1059
00:55:37,160 --> 00:55:39,960
Speaker 1: and shoot three is not a way to actually improve

1060
00:55:40,000 --> 00:55:43,360
Speaker 1: shot value, even if it improves your three point volume.

1061
00:55:43,520 --> 00:55:44,520
Speaker 2: So am I.

1062
00:55:45,080 --> 00:55:48,160
Speaker 1: It's obviously very small sample size, very early in the year.

1063
00:55:48,360 --> 00:55:50,320
Speaker 1: I've even talked about in my show. There's a confidence

1064
00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:52,600
Speaker 1: element in this, where like, I'm a big believer that

1065
00:55:52,880 --> 00:55:55,080
Speaker 1: you want to get guys confident in shooting a lot

1066
00:55:55,120 --> 00:55:58,000
Speaker 1: and then try to parse it back rather than have

1067
00:55:58,120 --> 00:56:00,480
Speaker 1: guys super scared and hesitant and then try ask them

1068
00:56:00,520 --> 00:56:02,920
Speaker 1: to shoot more. So like I think he might be

1069
00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:05,680
Speaker 1: trying to build out some confidence in this group and

1070
00:56:05,719 --> 00:56:08,080
Speaker 1: then try to trim some of the fat after the fact.

1071
00:56:08,480 --> 00:56:11,319
Speaker 1: But I am irritated with the Lakers shots selection in

1072
00:56:11,400 --> 00:56:14,880
Speaker 1: preseason so far. What if What has been your takeaway

1073
00:56:14,880 --> 00:56:17,000
Speaker 1: on the early returns on the JJ Reddick offense.

1074
00:56:17,880 --> 00:56:20,719
Speaker 3: This is my favorite segment that we've done so far.

1075
00:56:20,840 --> 00:56:27,719
Speaker 3: You're so mad about preseason basketball, right, Look, I think

1076
00:56:27,719 --> 00:56:30,080
Speaker 3: that your read the last thing you said, I think

1077
00:56:30,120 --> 00:56:33,399
Speaker 3: is the key. I think JJ's trying to like instill

1078
00:56:33,719 --> 00:56:37,840
Speaker 3: in them the way that they want to play and

1079
00:56:37,920 --> 00:56:41,640
Speaker 3: the way that they want to think almost about shock quality.

1080
00:56:41,920 --> 00:56:42,160
Speaker 2: Right.

1081
00:56:43,239 --> 00:56:48,719
Speaker 3: Ruey throughout his career, going back to Gonzaga, right, has

1082
00:56:48,840 --> 00:56:51,120
Speaker 3: always been this guy that's a little bit more comfortable

1083
00:56:51,120 --> 00:56:53,440
Speaker 3: in the mid range. It's a little bit more comfortable

1084
00:56:53,480 --> 00:56:56,720
Speaker 3: like if he can, you know, even like many post

1085
00:56:56,960 --> 00:56:59,480
Speaker 3: bit times, like when he was with Gonzaga and Washington, Right,

1086
00:57:00,320 --> 00:57:03,960
Speaker 3: he needs to almost like recalibrate in some way in

1087
00:57:04,120 --> 00:57:07,640
Speaker 3: order to be the best version of himself that he

1088
00:57:07,719 --> 00:57:13,640
Speaker 3: can be for this Lakers team. Right, Austin Reeves like

1089
00:57:13,760 --> 00:57:15,960
Speaker 3: is a guy where I've always felt like there's more,

1090
00:57:17,560 --> 00:57:20,600
Speaker 3: there's a bigger propensity there to be able to up

1091
00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:24,200
Speaker 3: your three point volume, right, to have a chance to

1092
00:57:24,240 --> 00:57:26,160
Speaker 3: really be that kind of guy who can get up

1093
00:57:26,400 --> 00:57:29,200
Speaker 3: seven or eight threes a game realistically and make them

1094
00:57:29,200 --> 00:57:31,600
Speaker 3: at a thirty eight to forty two percent clip depending

1095
00:57:31,640 --> 00:57:35,480
Speaker 3: on the season. Right, Dangela Russell's always had no problem

1096
00:57:35,560 --> 00:57:39,760
Speaker 3: with this, so like we can remove him. But when

1097
00:57:39,840 --> 00:57:44,480
Speaker 3: darvinham was there, it felt like offense didn't really have

1098
00:57:44,560 --> 00:57:48,479
Speaker 3: an overarching kind of shot that it was trying to get.

1099
00:57:48,560 --> 00:57:53,720
Speaker 3: It felt like unorganized chaos maybe is the way I

1100
00:57:53,720 --> 00:57:57,000
Speaker 3: would put it. I like basketball teams that are organized

1101
00:57:57,080 --> 00:58:00,120
Speaker 3: chaos and they are forcing defenders to fly around and

1102
00:58:00,760 --> 00:58:03,280
Speaker 3: you know, make reads off of one thing and then

1103
00:58:03,320 --> 00:58:06,120
Speaker 3: you counter off of it on the backside. Right, I

1104
00:58:06,160 --> 00:58:09,960
Speaker 3: want to always see those kind of structures offensively, and

1105
00:58:12,120 --> 00:58:14,760
Speaker 3: it does feel like the Lakers are at least running

1106
00:58:14,800 --> 00:58:19,320
Speaker 3: more intriguing sets as I watch them in half court settings.

1107
00:58:20,720 --> 00:58:24,320
Speaker 3: I don't want to take too too much away from

1108
00:58:24,680 --> 00:58:29,400
Speaker 3: the overall shot quality to this point, because I think

1109
00:58:29,440 --> 00:58:31,840
Speaker 3: that a lot of it is trying to instill a

1110
00:58:31,960 --> 00:58:36,920
Speaker 3: process that is working and that is been proven frankly

1111
00:58:37,400 --> 00:58:41,880
Speaker 3: to be the driver of key offenses in the league.

1112
00:58:42,120 --> 00:58:42,320
Speaker 2: Right.

1113
00:58:42,680 --> 00:58:44,680
Speaker 3: You know, you look at the three best offenses in

1114
00:58:44,720 --> 00:58:49,520
Speaker 3: the league, they are Boston, Oklahoma City, Indiana. Those are

1115
00:58:49,560 --> 00:58:53,800
Speaker 3: the three, they all take threes at an exceptionally high volume.

1116
00:58:54,160 --> 00:58:56,240
Speaker 3: Part of that is they take them in transition. Part

1117
00:58:56,240 --> 00:59:00,000
Speaker 3: of that is that they are able to get down

1118
00:59:00,160 --> 00:59:03,680
Speaker 3: He'll pressure toward the basket and drive and kick. I

1119
00:59:03,720 --> 00:59:07,520
Speaker 3: would argue that to this point, the biggest reason why

1120
00:59:07,520 --> 00:59:09,760
Speaker 3: the Lakers have not gotten great shots, and I've watched

1121
00:59:09,800 --> 00:59:12,600
Speaker 3: like a game and a half of them in preseason.

1122
00:59:12,880 --> 00:59:14,280
Speaker 3: I'm not going to sit here and tell you I'm

1123
00:59:14,280 --> 00:59:18,800
Speaker 3: an expert, is that they are not getting as much

1124
00:59:19,000 --> 00:59:23,880
Speaker 3: downhill pressure from Lebron because it's preseason, so he's not

1125
00:59:24,080 --> 00:59:28,320
Speaker 3: forcing like defenses to collapse. Nobody is really forcing defenses

1126
00:59:28,360 --> 00:59:31,600
Speaker 3: to collapse where you get that ball spraying out and

1127
00:59:31,880 --> 00:59:35,600
Speaker 3: you know, creating a shot that way. It just feels

1128
00:59:35,800 --> 00:59:42,600
Speaker 3: more like they are trying to instill the right processes

1129
00:59:42,960 --> 00:59:46,640
Speaker 3: as opposed to worrying about what the results are now

1130
00:59:46,760 --> 00:59:52,000
Speaker 3: because they're just not concerned about you know, what is

1131
00:59:52,120 --> 00:59:54,440
Speaker 3: you know, the actual is the ball going in or not?

1132
00:59:54,640 --> 00:59:58,080
Speaker 3: Or are are we actually winning preseason games? Does that

1133
00:59:58,160 --> 00:59:58,920
Speaker 3: kind of make sense?

1134
00:59:59,200 --> 01:00:01,840
Speaker 1: No, it doesn' record. Like I'm kind of being facetious

1135
01:00:01,840 --> 01:00:06,680
Speaker 1: without dramatic. I'm being I I know, I'm with you,

1136
01:00:06,720 --> 01:00:09,560
Speaker 1: Like The Lakers are an interesting team because they don't

1137
01:00:09,600 --> 01:00:12,840
Speaker 1: generate dribble penetration, but they generate a ton of rim pressure.

1138
01:00:13,160 --> 01:00:15,560
Speaker 1: Like this has been consistently one of the best paint

1139
01:00:15,640 --> 01:00:19,720
Speaker 1: offenses in the league, and it stems mostly from ball

1140
01:00:19,760 --> 01:00:22,600
Speaker 1: screens and rolling to the rim and cutting to the rim.

1141
01:00:22,640 --> 01:00:24,520
Speaker 1: That's usually where they get their rim pressure. And like

1142
01:00:25,000 --> 01:00:28,240
Speaker 1: they actually are a very good three point shooting team

1143
01:00:28,280 --> 01:00:31,360
Speaker 1: percentage wise, last year they were just very picky. It

1144
01:00:31,400 --> 01:00:33,040
Speaker 1: was a ton of stuff in the paint and then

1145
01:00:33,240 --> 01:00:36,640
Speaker 1: wide open catch and shoot threes. And I am generally

1146
01:00:36,640 --> 01:00:40,200
Speaker 1: of the opinion that like there are, I think that

1147
01:00:40,240 --> 01:00:44,600
Speaker 1: the threshold for what should be considered go point, like

1148
01:00:44,640 --> 01:00:47,200
Speaker 1: a go point for a catch and shoot three, needs

1149
01:00:47,240 --> 01:00:48,840
Speaker 1: to be moved a little bit. For the Lakers. Austin

1150
01:00:48,880 --> 01:00:51,040
Speaker 1: Reeves is a great example of this. Austin passes up

1151
01:00:51,080 --> 01:00:53,120
Speaker 1: so many ketch and shoot threes to pump, fake and

1152
01:00:53,200 --> 01:00:55,080
Speaker 1: drive all. He was doing that a lot in the

1153
01:00:55,120 --> 01:00:57,200
Speaker 1: last few years. I want to see him shoot the

1154
01:00:57,200 --> 01:01:00,400
Speaker 1: ball more, and I do. I do think that the

1155
01:01:00,440 --> 01:01:03,280
Speaker 1: majority of this is just let's breed a bunch of

1156
01:01:03,320 --> 01:01:05,959
Speaker 1: confidence and let's let's kind of parse things back.

1157
01:01:06,600 --> 01:01:08,000
Speaker 2: I also would never.

1158
01:01:07,840 --> 01:01:10,360
Speaker 1: In a million years take any sort of strong committed

1159
01:01:10,400 --> 01:01:12,320
Speaker 1: stance on something like this unless we had like a

1160
01:01:12,360 --> 01:01:16,080
Speaker 1: twenty game sample of regular season basketball. But it's fun

1161
01:01:16,080 --> 01:01:18,280
Speaker 1: to bitch and mote about in the preseason. A couple

1162
01:01:18,440 --> 01:01:20,360
Speaker 1: just quick notes for you, just just for fun, on

1163
01:01:20,400 --> 01:01:24,520
Speaker 1: the Lakers from you watching them this season, they're occupying

1164
01:01:24,520 --> 01:01:26,600
Speaker 1: the dunker spot a lot more than they did in

1165
01:01:27,560 --> 01:01:31,600
Speaker 1: last year. The specifically with guys that can shoot threes.

1166
01:01:31,640 --> 01:01:33,920
Speaker 1: And that's the interesting thing to me, Like, I totally

1167
01:01:33,920 --> 01:01:36,200
Speaker 1: get it. If it's like, Okay, Jackson hayeses on the floor,

1168
01:01:36,520 --> 01:01:39,000
Speaker 1: let's have him setting pin in flares out of the

1169
01:01:39,040 --> 01:01:41,440
Speaker 1: dunker spot to try to get skip passes for threes

1170
01:01:41,680 --> 01:01:45,520
Speaker 1: or kind of operating like a dunker spot to dunker spot,

1171
01:01:45,600 --> 01:01:47,439
Speaker 1: just kind of making yourself available on the catch.

1172
01:01:47,640 --> 01:01:48,160
Speaker 2: I would get it.

1173
01:01:48,160 --> 01:01:50,480
Speaker 1: If it's Jared Vanderbilt, Like, there are guys where I

1174
01:01:50,480 --> 01:01:53,360
Speaker 1: would understand that kind of concept. I'm seeing a lot

1175
01:01:53,360 --> 01:01:56,280
Speaker 1: of Like I'm seeing a lot of like Lebron down there,

1176
01:01:56,760 --> 01:01:59,880
Speaker 1: ad down there, like while the balls on the opposite

1177
01:02:00,400 --> 01:02:03,760
Speaker 1: running action like spotting up. I'm I'm more of the

1178
01:02:03,800 --> 01:02:06,360
Speaker 1: opinion that the Lakers need to occupy that spot on

1179
01:02:06,520 --> 01:02:11,000
Speaker 1: cuts and on rolls, but like when you're actually spacing

1180
01:02:11,040 --> 01:02:13,280
Speaker 1: the floor. I don't love the idea of putting a

1181
01:02:13,280 --> 01:02:16,160
Speaker 1: guy who can knock down threes, even Ad, because, like

1182
01:02:16,240 --> 01:02:18,960
Speaker 1: I'm I'm generally of opinion with Ad that he's a

1183
01:02:19,000 --> 01:02:22,280
Speaker 1: good shooter who stopped shooting and he had a like

1184
01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:24,160
Speaker 1: he shot well, he got hurt, and then he kind

1185
01:02:24,160 --> 01:02:26,000
Speaker 1: of just stopped taking shots. And then he always would

1186
01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:29,000
Speaker 1: take like two or three a game and he'd miss them.

1187
01:02:29,400 --> 01:02:31,320
Speaker 1: But it's like you need to take six or seven

1188
01:02:31,320 --> 01:02:33,120
Speaker 1: it jump shots a game in order to actually have

1189
01:02:33,200 --> 01:02:35,320
Speaker 1: your rhythm. And I do think that Ad is a

1190
01:02:35,400 --> 01:02:37,360
Speaker 1: capable shooter. I think I don't think there's any reason

1191
01:02:37,400 --> 01:02:40,320
Speaker 1: why he couldn't shoot thirty three percent from three if

1192
01:02:40,360 --> 01:02:42,880
Speaker 1: you actually let him take five shots a game out there,

1193
01:02:42,960 --> 01:02:45,040
Speaker 1: or three shots at the four shots a game out there,

1194
01:02:45,040 --> 01:02:47,440
Speaker 1: you know. So, like I want to see them create

1195
01:02:47,520 --> 01:02:49,880
Speaker 1: some more of that space. I have found it interesting

1196
01:02:50,440 --> 01:02:55,080
Speaker 1: how often they are occupying that dunker spot. The second

1197
01:02:55,120 --> 01:02:57,760
Speaker 1: thing that I think is interesting is last year was

1198
01:02:57,840 --> 01:03:00,200
Speaker 1: a ton of horn sets and a ton of like

1199
01:03:00,240 --> 01:03:01,920
Speaker 1: traditional five out concepts.

1200
01:03:02,360 --> 01:03:03,440
Speaker 2: They are running a lot.

1201
01:03:03,280 --> 01:03:06,160
Speaker 1: More like dribble weave this year, where like the guards

1202
01:03:06,200 --> 01:03:09,320
Speaker 1: are crossing in the back court and it's giving me

1203
01:03:09,360 --> 01:03:12,640
Speaker 1: this weird PTSD from like Sean Miller Arizona teams where

1204
01:03:12,880 --> 01:03:14,200
Speaker 1: that just always ends in a switch.

1205
01:03:14,240 --> 01:03:17,440
Speaker 3: And then I was gonna say that it feels coach K.

1206
01:03:17,840 --> 01:03:21,920
Speaker 3: It feels like JJ's like Coach k influence exactly.

1207
01:03:22,440 --> 01:03:27,800
Speaker 1: And I again, I am overwhelmingly positive on the early

1208
01:03:27,960 --> 01:03:30,000
Speaker 1: returns with JJ, and I'm super excited to see how

1209
01:03:30,000 --> 01:03:32,600
Speaker 1: it goes. But it has just been a little interesting

1210
01:03:32,920 --> 01:03:36,680
Speaker 1: to see. This is my one, my one last thing

1211
01:03:36,680 --> 01:03:41,360
Speaker 1: I'll say about the Lakers. It wasn't broke. The offense

1212
01:03:41,520 --> 01:03:45,320
Speaker 1: wasn't broke. They needed some They were for their last

1213
01:03:45,320 --> 01:03:47,840
Speaker 1: forty six games of the season last year top three.

1214
01:03:48,240 --> 01:03:50,320
Speaker 1: Excuse me, they were third. I think they were third

1215
01:03:50,320 --> 01:03:52,439
Speaker 1: in offense for the last forty six games last year.

1216
01:03:52,800 --> 01:03:56,680
Speaker 1: This is a good offense. They just needed some small tweaks,

1217
01:03:56,720 --> 01:03:58,480
Speaker 1: a little bit more, a little bit more commitment to

1218
01:03:58,560 --> 01:04:01,760
Speaker 1: organized action. Let's turn some of these contested twos into threes.

1219
01:04:02,360 --> 01:04:04,280
Speaker 1: Let's work out some of these details, and then most

1220
01:04:04,280 --> 01:04:07,160
Speaker 1: of it is like details on the margins, like transition defense,

1221
01:04:07,200 --> 01:04:11,360
Speaker 1: crashing the offensive glass, overall defensive details and game planning

1222
01:04:11,440 --> 01:04:14,080
Speaker 1: night to night regular season game planning, like those are

1223
01:04:14,080 --> 01:04:16,960
Speaker 1: the real things that I think need improvement, and so

1224
01:04:17,200 --> 01:04:18,760
Speaker 1: I'm just really curious to see how it goes over

1225
01:04:18,760 --> 01:04:20,640
Speaker 1: the rest of the season. But we have about fifteen

1226
01:04:20,640 --> 01:04:22,720
Speaker 1: minutes here, and there are two teams that I really

1227
01:04:22,760 --> 01:04:24,680
Speaker 1: want to hit before we're done, the Bucks and the Suns.

1228
01:04:24,720 --> 01:04:25,720
Speaker 2: Who would you rather start with?

1229
01:04:27,160 --> 01:04:29,400
Speaker 3: Let's go with the Bucks to start, because we talked

1230
01:04:29,440 --> 01:04:30,760
Speaker 3: about them briefly earlier.

1231
01:04:31,320 --> 01:04:34,440
Speaker 1: Okay, So the two main things that I'm noticing with

1232
01:04:34,480 --> 01:04:36,280
Speaker 1: the Bucks that are fascinating to me, a lot more

1233
01:04:36,360 --> 01:04:39,320
Speaker 1: dribble handoff stuff here in preseason instead of just straight

1234
01:04:39,400 --> 01:04:41,840
Speaker 1: up ball screens, which I've liked as counters to.

1235
01:04:43,680 --> 01:04:44,280
Speaker 2: Ball pressure.

1236
01:04:44,280 --> 01:04:46,000
Speaker 1: And also just kind of keeping them more in five

1237
01:04:46,000 --> 01:04:49,200
Speaker 1: out principles, also something I've been begging for them all.

1238
01:04:49,080 --> 01:04:49,960
Speaker 2: Season last year.

1239
01:04:50,480 --> 01:04:53,400
Speaker 1: So much more cleared side action for Giannas so that

1240
01:04:53,440 --> 01:04:56,120
Speaker 1: he's rolling towards the baseline instead of towards the middle

1241
01:04:56,160 --> 01:04:58,520
Speaker 1: of the floor and he can see everything in front

1242
01:04:58,520 --> 01:05:00,760
Speaker 1: of him. Dame also looks like lot sharper than he

1243
01:05:00,800 --> 01:05:03,280
Speaker 1: did last year. What are you liking What are you

1244
01:05:03,360 --> 01:05:04,720
Speaker 1: not liking from the Bucks so far?

1245
01:05:05,360 --> 01:05:07,480
Speaker 3: Well, I feel like a lot of those you know,

1246
01:05:08,040 --> 01:05:10,760
Speaker 3: you know, empty side actions that you're kind of talking

1247
01:05:10,760 --> 01:05:13,920
Speaker 3: about here, are like they're trying to get Johannis and

1248
01:05:14,000 --> 01:05:16,840
Speaker 3: Dame involved in those actions. From what I've seen right,

1249
01:05:16,920 --> 01:05:20,000
Speaker 3: like they're trying to build that synergy between the two

1250
01:05:20,040 --> 01:05:22,400
Speaker 3: of them. Early, I thought that that had a chance

1251
01:05:22,440 --> 01:05:25,200
Speaker 3: to be like the most devastating duo in the NBA

1252
01:05:25,760 --> 01:05:28,920
Speaker 3: last season, and it just never kind of developed. It

1253
01:05:28,920 --> 01:05:32,000
Speaker 3: felt like, you know, be it. Adrian Griffin just didn't

1254
01:05:32,000 --> 01:05:34,920
Speaker 3: make it a priority early in the season and they

1255
01:05:34,920 --> 01:05:38,680
Speaker 3: were winning games, so nobody really said anything until he

1256
01:05:38,720 --> 01:05:42,320
Speaker 3: got fired. And then Doc Rivers comes in, and I

1257
01:05:42,360 --> 01:05:44,800
Speaker 3: felt like Doc tried to do a little bit of

1258
01:05:44,840 --> 01:05:46,520
Speaker 3: that later in the year, but it was just too

1259
01:05:46,600 --> 01:05:48,600
Speaker 3: late at that point, and then Jannis got hurt and

1260
01:05:48,680 --> 01:05:53,120
Speaker 3: it became more difficult, right. So I think that's what

1261
01:05:53,200 --> 01:05:55,680
Speaker 3: I've liked most is I know there was like a

1262
01:05:55,720 --> 01:05:59,680
Speaker 3: storyline where, you know, somebody's I think Day might have

1263
01:05:59,720 --> 01:06:02,200
Speaker 3: said like he didn't work out with Giannis at all

1264
01:06:02,240 --> 01:06:05,120
Speaker 3: in the summer, and people took that to mean some

1265
01:06:05,320 --> 01:06:07,680
Speaker 3: type of thing, and I was just like, okay, guys,

1266
01:06:07,720 --> 01:06:08,440
Speaker 3: like let's.

1267
01:06:08,240 --> 01:06:09,680
Speaker 4: Just let's call him down.

1268
01:06:09,840 --> 01:06:10,480
Speaker 2: Let's grow up.

1269
01:06:11,240 --> 01:06:12,160
Speaker 4: Let's take a beat here.

1270
01:06:13,440 --> 01:06:15,760
Speaker 3: Look, I'm glad that they're taking a minute to try

1271
01:06:15,800 --> 01:06:18,920
Speaker 3: and figure that out. That's been like, honestly my biggest takeaway.

1272
01:06:20,120 --> 01:06:22,520
Speaker 3: The thing I will say about the Bucks beyond that

1273
01:06:23,640 --> 01:06:28,320
Speaker 3: is Chris Middleton is Obviously I haven't watched there the

1274
01:06:28,400 --> 01:06:30,600
Speaker 3: last week. Is he playing or maybe the last like

1275
01:06:30,640 --> 01:06:31,880
Speaker 3: five days? Is he playing yet?

1276
01:06:31,960 --> 01:06:34,120
Speaker 2: I don't think so. I think.

1277
01:06:35,280 --> 01:06:37,480
Speaker 3: I know that Doc said that, you know, we might

1278
01:06:37,480 --> 01:06:40,240
Speaker 3: get him back by the end of preseason. We might not, Right,

1279
01:06:42,360 --> 01:06:45,960
Speaker 3: Middleton is the almost like biggest He's not the biggest

1280
01:06:45,960 --> 01:06:47,919
Speaker 3: swing guy in the NBA this year, but he's one

1281
01:06:47,920 --> 01:06:50,480
Speaker 3: of the bigger swing guys in the NBA this year.

1282
01:06:50,480 --> 01:06:51,720
Speaker 3: Like we know a good Dame is. We know how

1283
01:06:51,720 --> 01:06:53,960
Speaker 3: good Giannis is. You know Brook Lopez is in a

1284
01:06:54,000 --> 01:06:55,960
Speaker 3: contract year and we know what he can bring defensively

1285
01:06:56,000 --> 01:07:00,360
Speaker 3: and as a shooter. Chris Middleton had multiple ankle series

1286
01:07:00,400 --> 01:07:04,000
Speaker 3: this summer. Do you know how good Chris Middleton was

1287
01:07:04,080 --> 01:07:05,040
Speaker 3: last year in the playoffs?

1288
01:07:05,080 --> 01:07:06,400
Speaker 2: Though he is insane?

1289
01:07:06,760 --> 01:07:08,760
Speaker 1: They're like, what twenty seven points a game on like

1290
01:07:08,840 --> 01:07:11,040
Speaker 1: sixty two percent through shooting or something crazy like that.

1291
01:07:11,240 --> 01:07:16,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, he was unbelievable. He averaged twenty five points nine rebounds,

1292
01:07:16,280 --> 01:07:18,440
Speaker 3: four point seven assists with a two to one assist

1293
01:07:18,480 --> 01:07:23,320
Speaker 3: to turnover ratio, shooting forty eight thirty five ninety from

1294
01:07:23,360 --> 01:07:28,800
Speaker 3: the field. In the playoffs, he was unreal against Indiana.

1295
01:07:29,640 --> 01:07:33,160
Speaker 3: They need that guy like That's that is the secondary

1296
01:07:33,240 --> 01:07:39,040
Speaker 3: creator that puts them on par with New York and

1297
01:07:39,160 --> 01:07:42,600
Speaker 3: potentially Boston. Maybe not on par with Boston, but who

1298
01:07:42,680 --> 01:07:44,440
Speaker 3: at least gets them to where they can have a

1299
01:07:44,440 --> 01:07:51,200
Speaker 3: fighter's chance against Boston. Right That's the absolute, unequivocal, biggest

1300
01:07:51,320 --> 01:07:53,920
Speaker 3: you know swing to me is can Chris Middleton come

1301
01:07:53,960 --> 01:07:56,040
Speaker 3: back be at one hundred percent be that guy that

1302
01:07:56,080 --> 01:08:00,360
Speaker 3: we saw in the playoffs last year. If he's that guy, like,

1303
01:08:00,400 --> 01:08:05,120
Speaker 3: the Bucks are in an interesting position. While also acknowledging

1304
01:08:05,160 --> 01:08:07,400
Speaker 3: that I don't trust Doc Rivers, I'm one of those

1305
01:08:07,400 --> 01:08:13,120
Speaker 3: people who just doesn't really buy it. But they still

1306
01:08:13,120 --> 01:08:20,200
Speaker 3: have the bones of a great interior defense. I think

1307
01:08:20,240 --> 01:08:26,519
Speaker 3: that the Gary Trent in for Malik Beasley defensive decision

1308
01:08:26,760 --> 01:08:29,040
Speaker 3: is a bigger upgrade than what people think.

1309
01:08:29,240 --> 01:08:32,400
Speaker 2: I think it's a massive upgrade.

1310
01:08:30,640 --> 01:08:36,080
Speaker 3: I think that Trent is like a pretty overrated defender.

1311
01:08:36,400 --> 01:08:39,160
Speaker 3: I think that Raptors fans will probably tell you that

1312
01:08:39,240 --> 01:08:43,400
Speaker 3: as well, But I think Milk Beasley's one of the

1313
01:08:43,439 --> 01:08:45,760
Speaker 3: worst defenders in the NBA. It drives me out of

1314
01:08:45,760 --> 01:08:50,800
Speaker 3: my mind watching him play. So you have that upgrade there.

1315
01:08:52,080 --> 01:08:54,240
Speaker 3: Wareen Prince at least knows where to be. Delon Wright

1316
01:08:54,280 --> 01:08:56,800
Speaker 3: can be like an energy guy that comes in for

1317
01:08:57,040 --> 01:08:59,720
Speaker 3: fifteen to twenty minutes a game. Let's hope right and

1318
01:08:59,760 --> 01:09:04,080
Speaker 3: give them, you know, ball movement, organization and some point

1319
01:09:04,080 --> 01:09:07,000
Speaker 3: of attack defense with his length and athleticism, even though

1320
01:09:07,000 --> 01:09:10,519
Speaker 3: he's a little bit older now. I overall like the

1321
01:09:10,560 --> 01:09:12,600
Speaker 3: structure of this Bucks team a little bit better, but

1322
01:09:12,680 --> 01:09:15,479
Speaker 3: it all swings on Middleton because if without Middleton, they

1323
01:09:15,479 --> 01:09:19,080
Speaker 3: don't really have that secondary perimeter shot creator unless Gary

1324
01:09:19,080 --> 01:09:20,120
Speaker 3: Trent takes another lead.

1325
01:09:21,000 --> 01:09:23,639
Speaker 1: I think the offense is clearly good enough. I think

1326
01:09:23,680 --> 01:09:27,760
Speaker 1: that another year of Damon Gianni's continuity, Dame not being

1327
01:09:27,800 --> 01:09:28,520
Speaker 1: as distracted.

1328
01:09:28,600 --> 01:09:30,200
Speaker 2: Dame has been just shooting the ball way better.

1329
01:09:30,240 --> 01:09:33,160
Speaker 1: So far in preseason, Giannis is kind of entering into

1330
01:09:33,160 --> 01:09:36,320
Speaker 1: that like like he's almost overlooked and has a little

1331
01:09:36,360 --> 01:09:38,200
Speaker 1: bit of that like nobody believes in me type of

1332
01:09:38,240 --> 01:09:41,800
Speaker 1: attitude that I like. Chris Middleton huge believer in him.

1333
01:09:41,800 --> 01:09:43,840
Speaker 1: On the offensive end of the floor. So much to

1334
01:09:43,880 --> 01:09:47,240
Speaker 1: me comes down to that Chris Middleton health piece, mainly

1335
01:09:47,240 --> 01:09:49,680
Speaker 1: for the defensive end, because like any sort of like

1336
01:09:49,880 --> 01:09:52,479
Speaker 1: a realistic championship ceiling for this team comes down to

1337
01:09:52,479 --> 01:09:55,360
Speaker 1: whether or not they can guard on the perimeter. And

1338
01:09:55,640 --> 01:09:57,960
Speaker 1: you know, I'm glad you mentioned the Gary Trade junior piece,

1339
01:09:58,000 --> 01:10:01,160
Speaker 1: like because I didn't thin think he was particularly good

1340
01:10:01,160 --> 01:10:04,160
Speaker 1: defensively last year either. I think you could even make

1341
01:10:04,200 --> 01:10:08,919
Speaker 1: the case he was on the lower end of the spectrum. However,

1342
01:10:09,040 --> 01:10:12,080
Speaker 1: he's specifically good at one thing on defense, and that's

1343
01:10:12,120 --> 01:10:15,439
Speaker 1: like ball pressure and poking at the basketball, which like

1344
01:10:15,479 --> 01:10:18,200
Speaker 1: has a tendency to speed guys up and force them

1345
01:10:18,240 --> 01:10:20,920
Speaker 1: to go downhill to get away from that pressure. And

1346
01:10:21,040 --> 01:10:23,519
Speaker 1: that feeds into the strength of the defense, which is

1347
01:10:23,600 --> 01:10:27,559
Speaker 1: their interior size and length and ability to cover ground. Right, So,

1348
01:10:27,760 --> 01:10:31,479
Speaker 1: like that Gary Trent piece, I would be so much

1349
01:10:31,479 --> 01:10:33,800
Speaker 1: more worried about him if he was like playing on

1350
01:10:33,840 --> 01:10:36,559
Speaker 1: the Knicks and Karl Anthony Towns was the center and

1351
01:10:36,600 --> 01:10:39,160
Speaker 1: you were asking him to like contain the ball. But

1352
01:10:39,280 --> 01:10:42,800
Speaker 1: like in this particular defensive scheme, I actually really like

1353
01:10:43,240 --> 01:10:46,960
Speaker 1: I think Gary Trent is a massive upgrade over over

1354
01:10:47,080 --> 01:10:50,320
Speaker 1: Malik Beasley. Dylan Wright I think is an interesting option too.

1355
01:10:50,400 --> 01:10:52,400
Speaker 1: We'll see how he pans out this season. But I'm

1356
01:10:52,439 --> 01:10:54,160
Speaker 1: with you, it so much comes down to, like, can

1357
01:10:54,280 --> 01:10:57,280
Speaker 1: Chris Middleton be just the rock solid two way player

1358
01:10:57,479 --> 01:11:00,160
Speaker 1: and ken Yannis gets to the playoffs healthy? But I

1359
01:11:00,200 --> 01:11:03,639
Speaker 1: think they are a textbook if things go right, contender

1360
01:11:03,760 --> 01:11:06,360
Speaker 1: because there's just a lot of question marks and there's

1361
01:11:06,360 --> 01:11:08,679
Speaker 1: a version of this for all those question marks tilt

1362
01:11:08,760 --> 01:11:11,840
Speaker 1: in Milwaukee's favor and suddenly they're in an Eastern Conference

1363
01:11:11,880 --> 01:11:13,680
Speaker 1: final series with a real chance to beat Boston and

1364
01:11:13,680 --> 01:11:15,680
Speaker 1: maybe we're looking at a contender. But yeah, it's just

1365
01:11:16,040 --> 01:11:32,479
Speaker 1: so much is up in the air. Phoenix, this is

1366
01:11:32,520 --> 01:11:35,920
Speaker 1: a team that you've been texting me about. You said

1367
01:11:36,200 --> 01:11:38,439
Speaker 1: to me in a text message the other day that

1368
01:11:38,560 --> 01:11:42,479
Speaker 1: you think coach Budd has worked wonders for their approach

1369
01:11:42,520 --> 01:11:44,720
Speaker 1: on offense. Can you break down for our audience what

1370
01:11:44,760 --> 01:11:47,080
Speaker 1: you've been seeing and what you like about that approach?

1371
01:11:47,720 --> 01:11:50,519
Speaker 3: To me, it's just like purely overall like scheme and

1372
01:11:50,520 --> 01:11:54,280
Speaker 3: structure to me, like they the ball is moving now.

1373
01:11:54,320 --> 01:11:57,000
Speaker 3: I felt like with Phoenix last year particularly, it was

1374
01:11:57,040 --> 01:11:59,840
Speaker 3: just so stagnant all the time. They very rarely ran

1375
01:12:00,000 --> 01:12:03,080
Speaker 3: and more than like one primary action with maybe like

1376
01:12:03,120 --> 01:12:06,519
Speaker 3: a counter off of it on the backside. This year,

1377
01:12:06,600 --> 01:12:09,680
Speaker 3: like it's you know, at least in preseason and preseason

1378
01:12:09,840 --> 01:12:15,479
Speaker 3: is where I'm willing to take like stylistic takeaways, right Like,

1379
01:12:15,520 --> 01:12:17,960
Speaker 3: I'm not going to sit here and tell you that, oh,

1380
01:12:18,000 --> 01:12:21,200
Speaker 3: I think that Ti John Salon for the Charlotte Hornets

1381
01:12:21,640 --> 01:12:24,720
Speaker 3: is a shooter now because he drilled six threes in

1382
01:12:24,760 --> 01:12:26,320
Speaker 3: a game or whatever. I'm not gonna sit here and

1383
01:12:26,320 --> 01:12:28,160
Speaker 3: tell you I think Ryan Dunn's like a definite shooter

1384
01:12:28,280 --> 01:12:30,720
Speaker 3: right now for Phoenix because he hit six threes in

1385
01:12:30,760 --> 01:12:32,880
Speaker 3: a game or whatever. But what I can tell you

1386
01:12:33,000 --> 01:12:36,640
Speaker 3: is that their ball is moving a lot better. It

1387
01:12:36,680 --> 01:12:40,719
Speaker 3: feels like it's just a little bit freer in terms

1388
01:12:40,720 --> 01:12:44,280
Speaker 3: of what they're running. It felt like they ran like

1389
01:12:44,360 --> 01:12:46,519
Speaker 3: a decent amount of like empty stuff last year. They're

1390
01:12:46,600 --> 01:12:48,760
Speaker 3: utilizing like the full court this year, which is a

1391
01:12:48,800 --> 01:12:51,599
Speaker 3: little bit more interesting. It feels like they're playing faster.

1392
01:12:52,160 --> 01:12:54,000
Speaker 3: To me, that could just be a function of the

1393
01:12:54,000 --> 01:12:57,280
Speaker 3: preseason by and large, but you know, it just feels

1394
01:12:57,320 --> 01:12:59,360
Speaker 3: a little bit quicker. It feels like the decisions are

1395
01:12:59,400 --> 01:13:06,080
Speaker 3: being made. I really just feel like overall, whereas last

1396
01:13:06,120 --> 01:13:08,600
Speaker 3: year they were a lot more happy to settle in

1397
01:13:08,640 --> 01:13:11,479
Speaker 3: that mid range area, and it felt like there was

1398
01:13:11,520 --> 01:13:13,679
Speaker 3: no accountability for stopping those guys.

1399
01:13:13,439 --> 01:13:15,240
Speaker 4: From doing that.

1400
01:13:15,240 --> 01:13:18,920
Speaker 3: That is happening much less stylistically and schematically right now.

1401
01:13:18,960 --> 01:13:21,800
Speaker 3: It feels like they're more willing to fire from three,

1402
01:13:22,280 --> 01:13:24,479
Speaker 3: which is what this offense needs. They need guys like

1403
01:13:24,520 --> 01:13:28,000
Speaker 3: Beale and Durant and Booker, all of whom can the

1404
01:13:28,120 --> 01:13:31,679
Speaker 3: guys that settle in the mid range to fire from

1405
01:13:31,720 --> 01:13:34,960
Speaker 3: three consistently when they find catching shoots that are open.

1406
01:13:35,640 --> 01:13:37,479
Speaker 3: That's just like the biggest change that you could make

1407
01:13:37,680 --> 01:13:41,280
Speaker 3: is not catch hold the ball to dribble pull up

1408
01:13:41,280 --> 01:13:44,280
Speaker 3: in the midrange. It's just catching fire, right, just let

1409
01:13:44,360 --> 01:13:46,240
Speaker 3: it go. And to me, there's letting it go a

1410
01:13:46,280 --> 01:13:47,240
Speaker 3: little bit quicker now.

1411
01:13:48,080 --> 01:13:51,000
Speaker 1: At the risk of putting too much stock in more

1412
01:13:51,040 --> 01:13:54,080
Speaker 1: small sample preseason stuff, I'm going to share some stats

1413
01:13:54,080 --> 01:13:58,120
Speaker 1: with you about Phoenix. Their fifth and assist percentage so

1414
01:13:58,240 --> 01:14:02,599
Speaker 1: far in preseasonists on over seventy three percent of their

1415
01:14:02,640 --> 01:14:05,120
Speaker 1: made field goals, that is considerably higher than last year.

1416
01:14:05,479 --> 01:14:08,720
Speaker 1: And then third and three point volume. So again, like

1417
01:14:08,960 --> 01:14:09,559
Speaker 1: so much of this.

1418
01:14:09,560 --> 01:14:10,240
Speaker 2: Too, is like.

1419
01:14:13,040 --> 01:14:15,439
Speaker 1: It's easy to buy in and do stuff. The same

1420
01:14:15,439 --> 01:14:17,280
Speaker 1: thing goes for the Lakers. It's easy to buy in

1421
01:14:17,320 --> 01:14:18,840
Speaker 1: and do this sort of thing in the early part

1422
01:14:18,880 --> 01:14:21,080
Speaker 1: of the season. I'm curious with how long that it sticks.

1423
01:14:21,720 --> 01:14:25,680
Speaker 1: I think it's also a big part of Phoenix's approach

1424
01:14:25,880 --> 01:14:28,599
Speaker 1: to make themselves tougher to guard when things slow down,

1425
01:14:28,800 --> 01:14:32,240
Speaker 1: meaning in the playoffs or in clutch situations, and kind

1426
01:14:32,240 --> 01:14:35,240
Speaker 1: of getting away from the reality that for guys like Brad,

1427
01:14:35,320 --> 01:14:39,000
Speaker 1: Kevin and Devin this is kind of their natural tendency

1428
01:14:39,040 --> 01:14:41,080
Speaker 1: as basketball players, just to operate out of the mid

1429
01:14:41,200 --> 01:14:44,480
Speaker 1: range and to lean on their tough shot making ability.

1430
01:14:44,880 --> 01:14:47,000
Speaker 1: The Ryan dun thing is really exciting. If for no

1431
01:14:47,040 --> 01:14:49,320
Speaker 1: other reason, then even with the shooting, which is obviously

1432
01:14:49,400 --> 01:14:51,559
Speaker 1: going to go up and down, he's just a big,

1433
01:14:51,640 --> 01:14:55,560
Speaker 1: functional athlete, which is something that they just haven't had

1434
01:14:55,320 --> 01:14:58,439
Speaker 1: in years past, at least not within the context of

1435
01:14:59,439 --> 01:15:00,960
Speaker 1: being able to do it on both ends of the

1436
01:15:00,960 --> 01:15:04,839
Speaker 1: floor in a way that really helps them. Frank Vogel,

1437
01:15:04,920 --> 01:15:09,160
Speaker 1: I think is a profoundly underrated defensive coach in the NBA,

1438
01:15:09,720 --> 01:15:13,800
Speaker 1: but he is He is way way way behind the

1439
01:15:13,840 --> 01:15:16,280
Speaker 1: times on the offensive end of the floor, and so

1440
01:15:16,320 --> 01:15:17,920
Speaker 1: I do think that this is a big part of

1441
01:15:18,720 --> 01:15:22,400
Speaker 1: just bringing a more modern approach schematically and in terms

1442
01:15:22,400 --> 01:15:24,400
Speaker 1: of just like order of operations and the type of

1443
01:15:24,400 --> 01:15:27,519
Speaker 1: shots that they're hunting. But most of it to me

1444
01:15:27,680 --> 01:15:29,960
Speaker 1: in terms of, like, this is why I have Phoenix,

1445
01:15:30,000 --> 01:15:33,960
Speaker 1: and that if things go right category because they're so small,

1446
01:15:34,400 --> 01:15:37,519
Speaker 1: because they're so thin, they desperately need guys like Kevin

1447
01:15:37,560 --> 01:15:39,559
Speaker 1: Durant and Devin Booker to like play like all defense

1448
01:15:39,640 --> 01:15:41,640
Speaker 1: players and to be total ass kickers and like the

1449
01:15:41,680 --> 01:15:44,120
Speaker 1: physical parts of the game. And that is just where

1450
01:15:44,120 --> 01:15:47,200
Speaker 1: I continue to be concerned about Phoenix. There's just a

1451
01:15:47,280 --> 01:15:50,479
Speaker 1: team like Oklahoma City with Caruso and Lou Dort flying

1452
01:15:50,520 --> 01:15:53,400
Speaker 1: around being physical and Isaiah Hartenstein just throwing guys around

1453
01:15:53,400 --> 01:15:55,680
Speaker 1: on the front line, a team like the Lakers, a

1454
01:15:55,720 --> 01:16:00,160
Speaker 1: team like Minnesota, just these big, strong front lines, like

1455
01:16:00,760 --> 01:16:02,759
Speaker 1: the Lakers have always matched up really well with Phoenix

1456
01:16:02,840 --> 01:16:04,719
Speaker 1: because they have to run drop coverage with the Nurkic

1457
01:16:04,720 --> 01:16:06,760
Speaker 1: and they just can't guard the lebron ad pick and roll.

1458
01:16:07,080 --> 01:16:10,479
Speaker 1: There's the Minnesota just grabs and holds their perimeter players

1459
01:16:10,479 --> 01:16:13,800
Speaker 1: and just strangles them in space. And so let me

1460
01:16:13,840 --> 01:16:16,280
Speaker 1: pitch it back to you like this, we both agree

1461
01:16:16,479 --> 01:16:20,599
Speaker 1: Mike Budenholzer is bringing better offensive organization and approach to Phoenix.

1462
01:16:21,280 --> 01:16:23,559
Speaker 1: Where do you have them in your rankings? How do

1463
01:16:23,600 --> 01:16:25,639
Speaker 1: you feel about them as a championship contender?

1464
01:16:27,160 --> 01:16:31,920
Speaker 3: So right around you them at ten, it looks like

1465
01:16:31,920 --> 01:16:35,240
Speaker 3: like ten. That's I'm trying to like do the math

1466
01:16:35,280 --> 01:16:37,160
Speaker 3: in my head right now. I had Philly ahead of them.

1467
01:16:37,400 --> 01:16:41,000
Speaker 3: I had certainly Minnesota ahead of them. I had the

1468
01:16:41,040 --> 01:16:44,439
Speaker 3: Bucks ahead of them, probably like that eight to eleven

1469
01:16:44,520 --> 01:16:48,599
Speaker 3: range something like that. Yeah, So look, I'm worried about

1470
01:16:48,600 --> 01:16:52,040
Speaker 3: the defense. What I will say is, like, again, I

1471
01:16:52,560 --> 01:16:55,519
Speaker 3: truly hope that the Ryan dunshooting thing is real, like

1472
01:16:55,560 --> 01:17:01,160
Speaker 3: that that is Dun. Seriously, if Ryan can shoot thirty

1473
01:17:01,200 --> 01:17:04,000
Speaker 3: six percent from three this year on four attempts per game,

1474
01:17:05,240 --> 01:17:09,680
Speaker 3: he is an immediately like exceptionally valuable player. Because I'm

1475
01:17:09,680 --> 01:17:14,160
Speaker 3: not exaggerating this to you, Jason, he is one of

1476
01:17:15,080 --> 01:17:19,360
Speaker 3: arguably could be the best defensive wing I have evaluated

1477
01:17:19,400 --> 01:17:26,280
Speaker 3: pre draft. Really is unbelievable as a havoc creator defensive

1478
01:17:26,280 --> 01:17:29,920
Speaker 3: playmaker on that end, and he has experienced playing at

1479
01:17:29,920 --> 01:17:33,080
Speaker 3: the big position. I honestly wonder if there is a

1480
01:17:33,120 --> 01:17:35,680
Speaker 3: world where you could do some weird things where like

1481
01:17:35,720 --> 01:17:39,800
Speaker 3: he's flying over, rotating across from the weak side, and

1482
01:17:39,880 --> 01:17:42,360
Speaker 3: play lineups that are like him and KD at the

1483
01:17:42,400 --> 01:17:46,120
Speaker 3: four or five with Booker and Beale and Grayson Allen,

1484
01:17:46,200 --> 01:17:50,280
Speaker 3: and like you have this weird, big, switchable ish group

1485
01:17:50,479 --> 01:17:54,599
Speaker 3: that can hopefully get enough rim protection with him like

1486
01:17:54,880 --> 01:17:56,880
Speaker 3: rotating across and like being like a havo guy, Like

1487
01:17:56,880 --> 01:17:59,120
Speaker 3: he averaged over two blocks a game last year at

1488
01:17:59,200 --> 01:18:03,960
Speaker 3: Virginia playing that like slow dragout style of basketball that

1489
01:18:04,080 --> 01:18:09,800
Speaker 3: Virginia plays, So that that's like a ways away. Still

1490
01:18:09,840 --> 01:18:12,400
Speaker 3: probably that might not be this year that that happens.

1491
01:18:12,439 --> 01:18:15,960
Speaker 3: But if he can shoot, he is truly a ready

1492
01:18:16,000 --> 01:18:16,760
Speaker 3: made defender.

1493
01:18:16,840 --> 01:18:19,840
Speaker 2: Like I Sue, I think he looks good.

1494
01:18:20,720 --> 01:18:22,519
Speaker 3: And I'm telling you, like last year, do you know

1495
01:18:22,520 --> 01:18:24,679
Speaker 3: how many shots per game he took in his last

1496
01:18:24,680 --> 01:18:26,120
Speaker 3: fourteen games?

1497
01:18:26,600 --> 01:18:27,920
Speaker 2: How many he.

1498
01:18:27,920 --> 01:18:33,400
Speaker 3: Took five per game in college? Like he had no

1499
01:18:33,560 --> 01:18:36,679
Speaker 3: confidence last year on offense, Like there were games where

1500
01:18:37,000 --> 01:18:40,439
Speaker 3: he didn't look at the rim really and like didn't

1501
01:18:40,479 --> 01:18:43,840
Speaker 3: even really think about trying to score. He looks like

1502
01:18:43,920 --> 01:18:46,880
Speaker 3: a completely different player than what we saw late in

1503
01:18:46,880 --> 01:18:50,920
Speaker 3: his career offensively at Virginia, And I couldn't be more

1504
01:18:50,960 --> 01:18:54,479
Speaker 3: excited for him, because literally every single person that's ever

1505
01:18:54,520 --> 01:18:57,559
Speaker 3: been around Ryan Don will tell you like, unbelievable dude,

1506
01:18:57,600 --> 01:18:58,840
Speaker 3: just incredibly good guy.

1507
01:18:59,840 --> 01:19:01,280
Speaker 4: I couldn't be more.

1508
01:19:01,120 --> 01:19:04,200
Speaker 3: Excited to see if this ends up being real because

1509
01:19:04,240 --> 01:19:06,840
Speaker 3: if it is, if it is, he's a top one

1510
01:19:06,920 --> 01:19:09,920
Speaker 3: hundred NBA player at some point, not this year, but

1511
01:19:10,040 --> 01:19:12,519
Speaker 3: like he is for sure a top one hundred NBA

1512
01:19:12,560 --> 01:19:16,679
Speaker 3: player that makes nine figures in his life. I really

1513
01:19:16,720 --> 01:19:19,759
Speaker 3: hope the confidence sticks, because if it does, that sons

1514
01:19:19,800 --> 01:19:21,439
Speaker 3: have something very very special here.

1515
01:19:21,960 --> 01:19:23,840
Speaker 1: I remember we talked a lot about Ryan Dunn around

1516
01:19:23,880 --> 01:19:26,599
Speaker 1: the draft, and I remember when I was scouting him

1517
01:19:27,439 --> 01:19:29,479
Speaker 1: that that end of the floor was crazy. I just

1518
01:19:29,520 --> 01:19:31,519
Speaker 1: I don't even like I remember watching him on the

1519
01:19:31,560 --> 01:19:33,880
Speaker 1: offensive end and he looked so incredibly out of place,

1520
01:19:34,520 --> 01:19:36,680
Speaker 1: and it is kind of a remarkable transformation. And it's

1521
01:19:36,680 --> 01:19:40,040
Speaker 1: clear that he spent all summer with Kevin, which was

1522
01:19:40,080 --> 01:19:43,400
Speaker 1: a very good idea. But that's high praise from Sam,

1523
01:19:43,360 --> 01:19:46,280
Speaker 1: who I think is the best person covering the draft

1524
01:19:46,400 --> 01:19:48,960
Speaker 1: in the business, and so your son's fans should be excited.

1525
01:19:49,120 --> 01:19:51,519
Speaker 1: The one team we skipped over, I'll just pitch it

1526
01:19:51,560 --> 01:19:54,000
Speaker 1: to you for like, do you have thirty seconds and

1527
01:19:54,040 --> 01:19:55,000
Speaker 1: how you feel about Philly.

1528
01:19:56,280 --> 01:20:00,639
Speaker 3: So Philly is just a team that we need to see.

1529
01:20:00,680 --> 01:20:03,120
Speaker 3: I feel like they have all new pieces except for

1530
01:20:03,160 --> 01:20:06,240
Speaker 3: Tyres and Joel and look, I think ty Resee. I

1531
01:20:06,280 --> 01:20:08,280
Speaker 3: said this on my show earlier this week. I think

1532
01:20:08,320 --> 01:20:10,920
Speaker 3: ty Res is going to be their most important player

1533
01:20:10,960 --> 01:20:12,880
Speaker 3: this year. I mean, maybe not most important. I think

1534
01:20:12,880 --> 01:20:15,240
Speaker 3: he's going to be their most valuable overall player this year,

1535
01:20:15,720 --> 01:20:19,040
Speaker 3: just because Joel is seemingly going to miss time, like

1536
01:20:19,040 --> 01:20:21,240
Speaker 3: they're not going to play him in back to backs.

1537
01:20:21,439 --> 01:20:25,160
Speaker 3: He's gonna, you know, try and get healthy for the playoffs,

1538
01:20:25,200 --> 01:20:27,960
Speaker 3: which is the way that they should handle it. I

1539
01:20:27,960 --> 01:20:30,320
Speaker 3: think ty Resee makes all NBA this year. I think

1540
01:20:30,360 --> 01:20:33,640
Speaker 3: he is going to take in another leap from what

1541
01:20:33,680 --> 01:20:36,640
Speaker 3: we have already seen from him previously. Paul George is

1542
01:20:36,640 --> 01:20:39,120
Speaker 3: a big addition for them because he allows them to

1543
01:20:39,200 --> 01:20:42,519
Speaker 3: keep the offense afloat when Joel is out, having both

1544
01:20:42,600 --> 01:20:45,320
Speaker 3: him and ty Resee being able to stagger them potentially

1545
01:20:45,360 --> 01:20:49,280
Speaker 3: you don't have to have, you know, fourteen minutes a

1546
01:20:49,280 --> 01:20:52,280
Speaker 3: game where ty Resee isn't out there and you just

1547
01:20:52,320 --> 01:20:55,719
Speaker 3: have no way to generate offense, right like Tobias Harris

1548
01:20:55,800 --> 01:20:58,679
Speaker 3: generating offense was not something that worked well as all

1549
01:20:58,840 --> 01:21:05,120
Speaker 3: Philadelphia fans value so much better team, very interesting team.

1550
01:21:05,439 --> 01:21:08,080
Speaker 3: I do have them ahead of Phoenix because I think

1551
01:21:08,120 --> 01:21:10,080
Speaker 3: if it all goes right, you can very easily make

1552
01:21:10,120 --> 01:21:13,280
Speaker 3: a choice that they just have more talent, right, but

1553
01:21:14,479 --> 01:21:17,120
Speaker 3: a lot of uncertainty, that's the reality. And look like

1554
01:21:17,360 --> 01:21:21,080
Speaker 3: the last team that we haven't mentioned here, and they

1555
01:21:21,120 --> 01:21:24,360
Speaker 3: will be very angry if we don't mention them. Would

1556
01:21:24,400 --> 01:21:28,720
Speaker 3: I miss the Eastern Conference finalists from last year, the Indiana.

1557
01:21:28,360 --> 01:21:32,360
Speaker 1: Pas Yes, the Indiana Pacers the NBA's worst defense in

1558
01:21:32,400 --> 01:21:33,320
Speaker 1: preseasons so far.

1559
01:21:34,160 --> 01:21:36,439
Speaker 3: Yeah, so they don't look great on that end, but

1560
01:21:37,040 --> 01:21:40,439
Speaker 3: Zachi ed just murdered them and just like took their soul.

1561
01:21:43,160 --> 01:21:45,720
Speaker 3: What else say is this? They are unbelievable on offense, Yeah,

1562
01:21:45,760 --> 01:21:48,320
Speaker 3: they are. And they figured out the defense late in

1563
01:21:48,360 --> 01:21:52,560
Speaker 3: the year last year to a passable level with Siakam

1564
01:21:52,600 --> 01:21:55,920
Speaker 3: and Miles Turner playing together and then getting them hard

1565
01:21:55,920 --> 01:21:58,160
Speaker 3: to be able to guard a little bit. Nate Smith,

1566
01:21:58,240 --> 01:22:01,600
Speaker 3: you know, has always been like pretty solid against wings defensively,

1567
01:22:02,400 --> 01:22:04,840
Speaker 3: Nemhar does a solid job on guards.

1568
01:22:05,040 --> 01:22:06,639
Speaker 4: There are worlds where I.

1569
01:22:06,600 --> 01:22:11,919
Speaker 3: Can see this working for them again, Like their variance

1570
01:22:12,000 --> 01:22:13,920
Speaker 3: is going to be wide because they're a you know,

1571
01:22:14,040 --> 01:22:18,559
Speaker 3: top three offense and a charitably, let's say they could

1572
01:22:18,560 --> 01:22:23,360
Speaker 3: finish you know, sixteenth, seventeenth in defense, but more likely

1573
01:22:23,400 --> 01:22:26,920
Speaker 3: than not, maybe like twentieth. Their games are just gonna

1574
01:22:26,920 --> 01:22:30,519
Speaker 3: have a little bit more variance. But this is like

1575
01:22:30,640 --> 01:22:34,040
Speaker 3: genuinely an unstoppable offense. When they're on the court and

1576
01:22:34,040 --> 01:22:37,479
Speaker 3: when ty Reese is running the show, they do at

1577
01:22:37,560 --> 01:22:41,680
Speaker 3: least like deserve our respect in some way, shape or

1578
01:22:41,680 --> 01:22:44,120
Speaker 3: form or you know, we didn't mention Orlando or Cleveland

1579
01:22:44,160 --> 01:22:46,160
Speaker 3: as well. Orlando is going to be a top three

1580
01:22:46,240 --> 01:22:49,120
Speaker 3: defense probably this year. They're fantastic. I just don't know

1581
01:22:49,160 --> 01:22:51,800
Speaker 3: that they have the shot creation yet to make it

1582
01:22:51,840 --> 01:22:54,000
Speaker 3: work in the playoffs at this point.

1583
01:22:53,439 --> 01:22:55,080
Speaker 2: The way they play on offense.

1584
01:22:55,840 --> 01:23:00,280
Speaker 3: Totally agree the KCP addition is intriguing because this team

1585
01:23:00,320 --> 01:23:03,719
Speaker 3: was amazing last year with Gary Harris in the lineup,

1586
01:23:04,040 --> 01:23:07,320
Speaker 3: and KCP is like elevated Gary Harris. And then oh,

1587
01:23:07,400 --> 01:23:09,400
Speaker 3: by the way, they now get slack Gary Harris off

1588
01:23:09,400 --> 01:23:11,960
Speaker 3: the bench, which is going to allow them to be

1589
01:23:12,000 --> 01:23:13,680
Speaker 3: like a little bit more functional as opposed to having

1590
01:23:13,720 --> 01:23:15,840
Speaker 3: Joe Ingles, you know coming off the bench for them,

1591
01:23:15,880 --> 01:23:19,320
Speaker 3: who looked, you know, all due respect to my Australian

1592
01:23:19,479 --> 01:23:26,200
Speaker 3: brethren here a bit washed. H. I love this Orlando team.

1593
01:23:26,200 --> 01:23:28,320
Speaker 3: I think they're going to be really I think they

1594
01:23:28,400 --> 01:23:31,200
Speaker 3: might win fifty games in the regular season. I just

1595
01:23:31,240 --> 01:23:32,439
Speaker 3: don't know what it's going to look like in the

1596
01:23:32,439 --> 01:23:34,800
Speaker 3: playoffs for them, so I can't quite put them into this.

1597
01:23:35,040 --> 01:23:37,280
Speaker 3: You know, top ten is contender group.

1598
01:23:38,080 --> 01:23:42,519
Speaker 1: Yeah, the offense is just so brutally bad. You know,

1599
01:23:42,560 --> 01:23:44,840
Speaker 1: You've You've always been a person who's a little lower.

1600
01:23:44,600 --> 01:23:45,880
Speaker 2: On Pallo than I am.

1601
01:23:46,360 --> 01:23:50,200
Speaker 1: And I've watched him in preseason and like and as

1602
01:23:50,240 --> 01:23:53,559
Speaker 1: I rewatched the postseason games as part of my prep

1603
01:23:53,600 --> 01:23:57,000
Speaker 1: for them. Hallo does play a big role in the

1604
01:23:57,080 --> 01:23:59,719
Speaker 1: lack of ball movement. He is a slow decision maker

1605
01:23:59,720 --> 01:24:03,599
Speaker 1: who is incredibly methodical, and he tends to just kind

1606
01:24:03,640 --> 01:24:05,519
Speaker 1: of stand and stare with the ball in his hands

1607
01:24:05,520 --> 01:24:10,160
Speaker 1: for a while. Indiana, well, this is the last thing.

1608
01:24:10,200 --> 01:24:11,479
Speaker 1: I'll quick pitch to you and then we'll be out

1609
01:24:11,520 --> 01:24:17,000
Speaker 1: here for the day. Indiana has good defensive personnel. Why

1610
01:24:17,040 --> 01:24:18,000
Speaker 1: are they so bad?

1611
01:24:18,280 --> 01:24:18,360
Speaker 2: Like?

1612
01:24:18,439 --> 01:24:23,320
Speaker 1: Nemhart is good, Nie Smith is good, comes good, Turner's good.

1613
01:24:23,600 --> 01:24:24,240
Speaker 2: What do you think?

1614
01:24:25,479 --> 01:24:28,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, McConnell fights, like do you do you. I even

1615
01:24:28,439 --> 01:24:31,760
Speaker 1: what's this, I'm blanking on his name, the the like

1616
01:24:31,840 --> 01:24:35,719
Speaker 1: six five sixty six, uh bench wing that can shoot

1617
01:24:35,760 --> 01:24:38,200
Speaker 1: for the matther No, not Ben Mathering, the other that

1618
01:24:38,240 --> 01:24:45,160
Speaker 1: he's a old taller. It's killing Ben Shephard, Ben Shepherd.

1619
01:24:45,360 --> 01:24:48,160
Speaker 1: I think Ben Shephard competes defensively as decent length like

1620
01:24:48,160 --> 01:24:50,400
Speaker 1: they've they've got some guys like I.

1621
01:24:50,439 --> 01:24:51,680
Speaker 2: Do you think it's just because do you.

1622
01:24:51,600 --> 01:24:53,439
Speaker 1: Think it's like a Carlisle thing or do you think

1623
01:24:53,439 --> 01:24:55,480
Speaker 1: it's like a oh we play with such an absurd

1624
01:24:55,560 --> 01:24:57,759
Speaker 1: pace that the guys just don't have the legs for defense.

1625
01:24:58,200 --> 01:25:00,559
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's pace. When I watch them, I

1626
01:25:00,600 --> 01:25:02,479
Speaker 3: just think it's pace. And I will say though that

1627
01:25:02,560 --> 01:25:05,559
Speaker 3: like they didn't have Sacam all year last year, and

1628
01:25:05,840 --> 01:25:11,839
Speaker 3: the defense took a big leap better for sure. So yeah,

1629
01:25:11,880 --> 01:25:13,960
Speaker 3: to me, it's like a depth question, and it's a

1630
01:25:14,120 --> 01:25:19,760
Speaker 3: Seacam hopefully getting there and being consistently available defensively and

1631
01:25:20,080 --> 01:25:21,840
Speaker 3: being the guy that you know, we all think he

1632
01:25:21,880 --> 01:25:27,160
Speaker 3: can be on defense. So look, I think we would

1633
01:25:27,160 --> 01:25:31,000
Speaker 3: just be remiss not to mention them, if only because

1634
01:25:31,800 --> 01:25:35,000
Speaker 3: I do think that they could work in the playoffs. Again,

1635
01:25:35,840 --> 01:25:38,600
Speaker 3: Halliburt and running the show and making elite level decisions.

1636
01:25:38,840 --> 01:25:41,880
Speaker 3: Sam being able to be that kind of half court

1637
01:25:42,000 --> 01:25:46,280
Speaker 3: you know, they're in full transition, you know forward who

1638
01:25:46,320 --> 01:25:48,880
Speaker 3: can guard on the perimeter against certain guys, and who

1639
01:25:48,880 --> 01:25:51,479
Speaker 3: can create shots from the mid post and create shots

1640
01:25:51,520 --> 01:25:54,080
Speaker 3: from the wing and attack and then you know you

1641
01:25:54,080 --> 01:25:56,960
Speaker 3: can play five out with Turner right, Like they have

1642
01:25:57,080 --> 01:26:02,000
Speaker 3: real options, is all I'm saying here. Well, yeah, they

1643
01:26:02,040 --> 01:26:06,960
Speaker 3: have a scheme that really I think flows upward when

1644
01:26:07,000 --> 01:26:08,599
Speaker 3: it comes to successful playoff runs.

1645
01:26:09,120 --> 01:26:10,519
Speaker 1: No, I agree with you, And it was more I

1646
01:26:10,560 --> 01:26:13,520
Speaker 1: think I think we I think between Cleveland and Orlando

1647
01:26:13,720 --> 01:26:17,000
Speaker 1: and and Indiana, we we hit the teams that were

1648
01:26:17,000 --> 01:26:18,200
Speaker 1: on the fringes pretty well.

1649
01:26:18,280 --> 01:26:21,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would have I would have Indiana honestly ahead

1650
01:26:21,320 --> 01:26:23,600
Speaker 3: of Memphis.

1651
01:26:23,200 --> 01:26:25,799
Speaker 4: And interesting contender series.

1652
01:26:25,960 --> 01:26:27,879
Speaker 2: Okay, that's that. Yeah, that's interesting.

1653
01:26:28,640 --> 01:26:29,519
Speaker 4: I mean, look, they've.

1654
01:26:31,040 --> 01:26:35,639
Speaker 1: Familiar, like in practice, like they've actually made it, they've

1655
01:26:35,640 --> 01:26:38,559
Speaker 1: done it. Tell us about where we can find your

1656
01:26:38,600 --> 01:26:40,760
Speaker 1: work and anything in particular that you've been working on

1657
01:26:40,800 --> 01:26:41,280
Speaker 1: as of late.

1658
01:26:41,840 --> 01:26:43,679
Speaker 3: Yeah, I go to the Game three podcasts with Sam

1659
01:26:43,760 --> 01:26:44,879
Speaker 3: Cini over on YouTube.

1660
01:26:44,920 --> 01:26:45,280
Speaker 2: Go there.

1661
01:26:45,840 --> 01:26:50,360
Speaker 3: On the many podcasting platforms that you listen to shows

1662
01:26:50,400 --> 01:26:54,240
Speaker 3: on uh do some breakdowns on draft prospects over on

1663
01:26:54,240 --> 01:26:55,760
Speaker 3: the YouTube channel as well. I've done some of the

1664
01:26:55,800 --> 01:26:59,200
Speaker 3: European guys already. Uh Ben Saraf is the recent one

1665
01:26:59,240 --> 01:27:02,880
Speaker 3: I did in ISRAELI kind of leadish six foot five guard.

1666
01:27:02,960 --> 01:27:05,320
Speaker 4: That's intriguing. You know.

1667
01:27:05,360 --> 01:27:08,400
Speaker 3: I've done Alex Towey and Roko Zakarski over here in Australia.

1668
01:27:08,680 --> 01:27:10,960
Speaker 3: As the college season gets going, I'll do a bunch

1669
01:27:11,000 --> 01:27:12,640
Speaker 3: more of those breakdowns and we'll have some fun with it.

1670
01:27:12,720 --> 01:27:14,800
Speaker 3: Once the NBA season gets gone. I'm excited to do

1671
01:27:14,840 --> 01:27:17,960
Speaker 3: some of those on the rookies, Like I'm really excited

1672
01:27:18,000 --> 01:27:20,120
Speaker 3: to see what Ree Shepperd looks like because he's looked

1673
01:27:20,120 --> 01:27:22,759
Speaker 3: amazing in preseason so far. And then Edie has been

1674
01:27:22,960 --> 01:27:25,680
Speaker 3: really fun, as we mentioned earlier. So go to the

1675
01:27:25,680 --> 01:27:27,720
Speaker 3: Game three podcast, go to the athletic as well. Keep

1676
01:27:27,720 --> 01:27:30,519
Speaker 3: me employed over there, that'd be great. I enjoy working there.

1677
01:27:31,479 --> 01:27:31,640
Speaker 2: You know.

1678
01:27:31,760 --> 01:27:35,320
Speaker 3: I've done a mock draft over there recently, and I

1679
01:27:35,360 --> 01:27:37,720
Speaker 3: think that CJ. Moore and I might be working on

1680
01:27:37,720 --> 01:27:40,400
Speaker 3: a top twenty five college basketball thing as well, because

1681
01:27:40,400 --> 01:27:43,640
Speaker 3: I end up engaged on that front too because of

1682
01:27:43,640 --> 01:27:46,320
Speaker 3: the draft stuff. So NBA stuff will come at some

1683
01:27:46,360 --> 01:27:48,559
Speaker 3: point once that season starts. But I can't write about

1684
01:27:48,560 --> 01:27:49,560
Speaker 3: preseason basketball.

1685
01:27:50,160 --> 01:27:50,760
Speaker 2: I don't blame you.

1686
01:27:50,880 --> 01:27:52,400
Speaker 1: I'm yeah, I'm gonna be picking your brain a little

1687
01:27:52,439 --> 01:27:54,479
Speaker 1: bit more of the season because the volume is gonna

1688
01:27:54,479 --> 01:27:56,679
Speaker 1: have me do a weekly college basketball segment.

1689
01:27:56,720 --> 01:27:59,000
Speaker 2: So that should be well, that should be interesting.

1690
01:27:59,000 --> 01:28:02,120
Speaker 1: We got we got a much more stacked college basketball field.

1691
01:28:02,120 --> 01:28:04,880
Speaker 1: My Arizona Wildcats are ranked ten. We have a Cooper

1692
01:28:05,000 --> 01:28:08,240
Speaker 1: Cooper flag making his college debut with two which should

1693
01:28:08,240 --> 01:28:08,559
Speaker 1: be fun.

1694
01:28:08,840 --> 01:28:10,880
Speaker 4: All right, guys, have you have you real quick? Have

1695
01:28:10,920 --> 01:28:12,280
Speaker 4: you watched VJ. Edgecomb yet?

1696
01:28:12,800 --> 01:28:14,320
Speaker 2: No? Who's that? He?

1697
01:28:14,400 --> 01:28:17,479
Speaker 4: Is it Baylor? Okay, you're going to You're going to

1698
01:28:17,680 --> 01:28:18,000
Speaker 4: like him?

1699
01:28:18,760 --> 01:28:19,960
Speaker 2: Is you forward?

1700
01:28:20,200 --> 01:28:24,400
Speaker 3: He is a six foot four ish let's go with

1701
01:28:25,160 --> 01:28:29,599
Speaker 3: guard who has more like vertical pop than probably anybody

1702
01:28:29,640 --> 01:28:32,200
Speaker 3: in college basketball this year. It's from the Bahamas. He

1703
01:28:32,240 --> 01:28:34,360
Speaker 3: played on the Bahamian national team when they were trying

1704
01:28:34,360 --> 01:28:37,840
Speaker 3: to make the Olympics this past summer. Already he is

1705
01:28:38,840 --> 01:28:41,200
Speaker 3: he's a dude that you are. You're he's like a

1706
01:28:41,320 --> 01:28:43,559
Speaker 3: leader out there. Like I've kind of talked to, you know,

1707
01:28:43,600 --> 01:28:45,280
Speaker 3: some folks down there and they're just like he's just

1708
01:28:45,320 --> 01:28:49,680
Speaker 3: like already just so good at being our leaders a

1709
01:28:49,720 --> 01:28:53,120
Speaker 3: freshman this year, So yeah, he's a he's a good one.

1710
01:28:53,160 --> 01:28:53,639
Speaker 2: I'm excited.

1711
01:28:53,840 --> 01:28:56,040
Speaker 1: See twelve basketball is gonna be really fun this year

1712
01:28:56,120 --> 01:29:00,680
Speaker 1: with the Conference RAE alignment. It's gonna be fun. The

1713
01:29:00,760 --> 01:29:02,280
Speaker 1: Baylor didn't move out of the Big twelve, did they?

1714
01:29:02,320 --> 01:29:04,000
Speaker 1: Are they sell in the Big I think.

1715
01:29:03,880 --> 01:29:07,040
Speaker 3: So eight people just came out. There are I think

1716
01:29:07,240 --> 01:29:09,920
Speaker 3: five teams in the top ten from the Big ten

1717
01:29:10,040 --> 01:29:10,679
Speaker 3: or Big twelve.

1718
01:29:11,439 --> 01:29:14,720
Speaker 1: I saw I saw this random reel on Instagram the

1719
01:29:14,760 --> 01:29:16,719
Speaker 1: other day of a poll of a bunch of coaches

1720
01:29:16,760 --> 01:29:21,000
Speaker 1: asking which team had the most resources for nil and

1721
01:29:21,040 --> 01:29:23,200
Speaker 1: everyone thinks it was going to be Duke or Kansas

1722
01:29:23,280 --> 01:29:25,720
Speaker 1: or Kentucky or someone like that. The name that all

1723
01:29:25,760 --> 01:29:28,439
Speaker 1: the coaches whough out was Arkansas. They're the team that

1724
01:29:28,439 --> 01:29:29,800
Speaker 1: has all the money.

1725
01:29:29,920 --> 01:29:33,360
Speaker 3: The three right now that people talk about. I'm not

1726
01:29:33,360 --> 01:29:36,360
Speaker 3: saying that this is the reality. The three that people

1727
01:29:36,400 --> 01:29:41,040
Speaker 3: talk about right now within the industry are Arkansas BYU

1728
01:29:41,080 --> 01:29:41,880
Speaker 3: in Kansas State.

1729
01:29:42,520 --> 01:29:47,200
Speaker 2: Hy you interesting? Yeah? Wow? How about that?

1730
01:29:47,240 --> 01:29:49,040
Speaker 3: They're all recruiting some of the best players in the

1731
01:29:49,040 --> 01:29:50,360
Speaker 3: country right now pretty heavily.

1732
01:29:50,439 --> 01:29:53,920
Speaker 1: That's super fascinating, especially within the context of just how

1733
01:29:53,960 --> 01:29:57,400
Speaker 1: the entire sport is changing. All right, Well, I could

1734
01:29:57,439 --> 01:29:59,080
Speaker 1: talk to you all day, but we'll call it a

1735
01:29:59,160 --> 01:30:02,640
Speaker 1: day for right now. Sam, I appreciate you giving us

1736
01:30:02,640 --> 01:30:05,760
Speaker 1: your time. Everyone, I appreciate for supporting the show. I

1737
01:30:06,000 --> 01:30:08,599
Speaker 1: have one more show this week on Friday, we're gonna

1738
01:30:08,600 --> 01:30:10,320
Speaker 1: do a season preview on the Boston Celtics, as well

1739
01:30:10,320 --> 01:30:12,280
Speaker 1: as probably hit another preseason game or two, and then

1740
01:30:12,600 --> 01:30:16,000
Speaker 1: literally next Tuesday live on YouTube after the final buzzer

1741
01:30:16,400 --> 01:30:18,679
Speaker 1: of Lakers timber Wolves should be a really fun one.

1742
01:30:18,840 --> 01:30:20,400
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys for supporting the show and for

1743
01:30:20,479 --> 01:30:22,040
Speaker 1: rocking with me. And we'll see you guys next time.

1744
01:30:24,200 --> 01:30:24,879
Speaker 2: The volume