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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, oldome Toop said, I here at

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

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Speaker 1: had an incredible weekend. Got a jam packed show for

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Speaker 1: you guys. Today, I want to do a little bit

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Speaker 1: of a deeper dive into the Denver Houston showdown from

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Speaker 1: Friday night. We obviously had a little bit of an

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Speaker 1: instant reaction to that at the tail end of the playbackstream,

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Speaker 1: but I actually went back and rewatched a bunch of

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Speaker 1: that game and I have some thoughts on some of

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Speaker 1: the bigger picture stuff for both teams. So we are going

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Speaker 1: to lead the show with that today. After that. Yesterday

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Speaker 1: I watched Miami versus Philly, another really impressive showing for

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Speaker 1: the Miami Heat. Is it kind of controlled that game

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Speaker 1: from start to finish. I want to dig into their

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Speaker 1: defense a little bit, some of the rise of kelll Ware,

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Speaker 1: who's been playing amazing over the last couple of weeks,

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Speaker 1: and so we'll be talking Heat sixers there. In that

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Speaker 1: second segment. We got our second game with Lebron James

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Speaker 1: the Lakers, and there's a concerning trend with their offense

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Speaker 1: that I want to touch on in that segment and

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Speaker 1: then at the tail end of the show. Look we

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Speaker 1: always do on Monday, we have our weekly power rankings.

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Speaker 1: You guys owe the job before we get started. To

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Speaker 1: subscribe to the Hoops to Night YouTube channels. You don't

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Speaker 1: miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter

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Speaker 1: at underscore jsonlts, you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't

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Speaker 1: forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast

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Speaker 1: under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpfulf we leave a

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Speaker 1: rating in a review on that front. Jackson's doing incredible

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Speaker 1: work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and TikTok. Make sure you guys follow us there for

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Speaker 1: more content throughout the season, and then keep dropping mailbag

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Speaker 1: questions and those YouTube comments we can get to our

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Speaker 1: mail bags. We won't have a mail bag this week

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Speaker 1: because this Friday we're doing our latest update on our

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Speaker 1: contender rankings, which we're going to do about once a

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Speaker 1: month throughout the remainder of the season. But we will

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Speaker 1: have a mail bag the following Friday, so plenty of

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Speaker 1: time to get questions in for that and then last

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Speaker 1: week before we get started. It'd be really helpful for

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Speaker 1: you guys if you guys and for us, if you

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Speaker 1: guys could like this video, you guys could please go

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Speaker 1: down those of you watching on YouTube and quick hit

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Speaker 1: that like button. We would really appreciate it. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So some follow up thoughts on

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Speaker 1: Denver Houston. First of all, again we did this one

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Speaker 1: on playback. We do two playback streams every single week

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Speaker 1: where we watch a game live, like actually during the

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Speaker 1: game rather than after the game. The two games that

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Speaker 1: we're doing this week are Clippers Lakers on Tuesday night

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Speaker 1: and then MAVs Lakers on Friday night, the two n

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Speaker 1: Season Tournament nationally televised games. Again, with those two, like

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Speaker 1: it's like with the Denver Houston one, for example, when

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Speaker 1: I'm done, I'm sticking around for like fifteen minutes to

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Speaker 1: do kind of an instant reaction. So those are kind

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Speaker 1: of like bonus examples of our normal show that you'll

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Speaker 1: find throughout the week. So like, even if you can't

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Speaker 1: watch along with us, come hang out after the game

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Speaker 1: and we'll be breaking it down for about fifteen minutes

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Speaker 1: after the tail end. So again, that next one will

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Speaker 1: be on Tuesday for Clippers Lakers, which will be a

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Speaker 1: more interesting matchup now that Kawhi Leonard is back, although

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Speaker 1: they got smacked down in Cleveland yesterday. But yeah, we

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Speaker 1: covered this game on Friday. The Nuggets ended up turning

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Speaker 1: around and losing to Sacramento at home on Saturday, more

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Speaker 1: or less of a schedule loss. I had heard that

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Speaker 1: they landed back in Denver at like two thirty am,

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Speaker 1: and that they weren't back in their beds till like

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Speaker 1: three thirty am. So that's just a brutal back to

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Speaker 1: back and like you go, oh, but they don't have

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Speaker 1: to do anything until the next night. It's less about

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Speaker 1: that and more about just completely throwing off your sleep routine.

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Speaker 1: Any of you guys who have ever dealt with that

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Speaker 1: type of work before know that, Like sometimes you get

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Speaker 1: back in bed at three thirty and you can't fall

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Speaker 1: asleep for a little while, or you go to bed,

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Speaker 1: but then you wake up at seven and then like

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Speaker 1: you try to take a nap, but maybe you're bad

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Speaker 1: at mapping, and it just kind of throws off your equilibrium.

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Speaker 1: And again, like especially off of a nationally televised showdown

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Speaker 1: between two top tier contenders, like the game against Houston,

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Speaker 1: that's really tough. And then they're down a couple of

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Speaker 1: starters too. We got some bad news about the Aaron

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Speaker 1: Gordon injury. He took a very awkward step in the

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Speaker 1: lane right at the very beginning of the Houston game

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Speaker 1: where it's like kind of his foot like kind of

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Speaker 1: slipped out from underneath him, and he suffered a pretty

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Speaker 1: significant hamstring strength to be out for four to six weeks. So,

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Speaker 1: in other words, Christian Brown and Aaron Gordon, we're not

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Speaker 1: gonna see them again until sometime next year. So this

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Speaker 1: is gonna be a real test for Denver's depth. But

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Speaker 1: for you Nuggets fans, I would not get too worked

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Speaker 1: up about the Kings loss if I were you guys.

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Speaker 1: But I went back and watched the game on Friday,

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Speaker 1: because we just don't get too many games like that

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Speaker 1: each year where our legit top tier contenders face off

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Speaker 1: against each other, not inlike some weird environment like Opening

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Speaker 1: Night where nobody even knows what Houston's gonna play like.

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Speaker 1: This was our first kind of like real look at

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Speaker 1: like established top tier contenders playing against each other, And

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Speaker 1: so after rewatching most of it, I have some additional

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Speaker 1: takeaways for you guys. Again. First of all, I was

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Speaker 1: really impressed with Denver's defense. They executed their game playing

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Speaker 1: extremely well. It was very clear that they wanted to

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Speaker 1: just keep the ball in front and force Houston to

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Speaker 1: make jump shots. And Houston's actually been a sneaky good

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Speaker 1: jump shooting team this year. They were about a week

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Speaker 1: ago they were actually the best jump shooting team in

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Speaker 1: the NBA by points per shot, and now they're fifth.

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Speaker 1: But they don't actually like to take jumpers. They like

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Speaker 1: to get into the lane. They're actually just nineteenth in

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Speaker 1: jump shot volume. They only take about forty six of

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Speaker 1: them per game. But they like to take a lot

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Speaker 1: of shots on cuts and then a lot of stuff

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Speaker 1: in like the mid range and in the short range

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Speaker 1: from their one on one guys from Sheng, gun from

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Speaker 1: Kde and I'd even throw a Men Thompson in there.

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Speaker 1: They take a lot of shots that are like closer

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Speaker 1: to the basket, right. The Nuggets did a great job

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Speaker 1: all game of swarming those ISOs, so they weren't able

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Speaker 1: to get into those comfortable shots in the midrange that

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Speaker 1: they like to take aggressive coverages, so like at the

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Speaker 1: level against Katie to get the ball out of his

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Speaker 1: hands in ball screens, and then aggressive help on all

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Speaker 1: of Shangun and Kd's one on ones, but also getting

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Speaker 1: back to the rim. And there's a downside to that, right,

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Speaker 1: Like they gave up a lot of good looks at

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Speaker 1: corner threes. The majority of offensive rebounds that Houston got

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Speaker 1: actually came from their perimeter players, guys like Jabari Smith

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Speaker 1: and a Men Thompson crashing the offensive glass. That's gonna

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Speaker 1: happen when you're helping off of the corners to keep

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Speaker 1: the ball in front. But they forced Houston into a

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Speaker 1: lot of jump shots. They forced them into their third

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Speaker 1: highest jump shooting total of the season. Synergy logged them

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Speaker 1: at fifty seven jump shot attempts in that game. They

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Speaker 1: also scored just seven points on cuts in that game.

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Speaker 1: That's well below their season average, where they typically get

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Speaker 1: about thirteen points per game on cuts. And Jokic, to me,

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Speaker 1: was the guy that screamed off a film when I

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Speaker 1: was watching this. He was consistently all game long getting

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Speaker 1: up to the level, getting back into the lane, getting

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Speaker 1: up to the level, getting back into the lane, which

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Speaker 1: is not an easy job, and especially when it's not

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Speaker 1: just about protecting the room, but it's also about securing

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Speaker 1: defensive rebounds. And it's just a casual reminder for this

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Speaker 1: Denver team, like Denver's playing some really good defense this year,

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Speaker 1: and it's because it's that combination of savvy vets that

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Speaker 1: know what they're doing, the Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokicic crowd

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Speaker 1: where they're just typically in the right spot, and then

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Speaker 1: also having the athleticism, having the guys like Peyton Watson

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Speaker 1: that can come in and make a huge block at

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Speaker 1: the end of the game to cling up a mistake

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Speaker 1: or something like that. We talked about Jokicic being excellent

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Speaker 1: getting back up to the level and back into the lane,

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Speaker 1: and up to the level and into the lane. He

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Speaker 1: had a big key strip on Kevin Durant late in

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Speaker 1: the game where Katie got to the mid range and

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Speaker 1: he got his hand up in the pocket and stripped

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Speaker 1: him clean. Jamal Murray had a bunch of defensive plays

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Speaker 1: down the stretch. He blocked a Kevin Durant jump shot

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Speaker 1: along the right baseline where he just kind of went

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Speaker 1: along his side and reached around from behind and ended

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Speaker 1: up blocking his jump shot. He had that big steal

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Speaker 1: on the Shangun short roll pass, so we like flashed

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Speaker 1: up like he was gonna guard Shangun in the short role,

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Speaker 1: which tricked Shangun into passing, but then at the last

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Speaker 1: second he stepped back, got into the passing lane and

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Speaker 1: got a hand up and deflected that pass to a men.

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Speaker 1: Thompson he had a big contest on a late floater

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Speaker 1: where he forced to miss. But again you have like

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Speaker 1: the high IQ dudes and then you have the athletes.

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Speaker 1: You gotta have someone that can make a big play.

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Speaker 1: There was that key roll late where Shane Gun tried

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Speaker 1: to spin into the lane to go to the right

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Speaker 1: handed scoop shot at the basket. Peyton Watson came flying

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Speaker 1: in for that block off the glass. And these are

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Speaker 1: some interesting stats. Denver is now played five games against

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Speaker 1: teams that are in the top ten in offensive rating

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Speaker 1: according to Cleaning the Glass, and they're holding their opponents

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Speaker 1: to just one hundred and ten point eight points per

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Speaker 1: one hundred possessions in those games. Those five games against

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Speaker 1: top ten offenses, they're five to zero in those games,

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Speaker 1: and that one ten point eight defensive rating in those

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Speaker 1: matchups ranks second in the entire NBA according to Cleaning

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Speaker 1: the Glass, and the team above them. OKC has only

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Speaker 1: played one top ten offense in the entire season so far.

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Speaker 1: So just a really strong indicator for this particular Denver

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Speaker 1: team that they're meeting what they need to meet in

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Speaker 1: order to compete for a championship this year. They needed

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Speaker 1: to be really good on defense to have any shot

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Speaker 1: to beat OKC and they're meeting those markers here early

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Speaker 1: in the season. Really good engagement from their vets, the

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Speaker 1: additional depth helping them play hard throughout games. A lot

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Speaker 1: of really impressive stuff from Denver in that game they're

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Speaker 1: meeting all the We're gonna talk about this like when

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Speaker 1: we get to our contender rankings, just spoiler alert, I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna be moving Oklahoma City up above Denver. But it

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Speaker 1: doesn't have anything to do with anything Denver's doing. Denver

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Speaker 1: has looked every bit as impressive as I've expected them

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Speaker 1: to look this season, all the things that I thought

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Speaker 1: would happen, Like I thought their vets would just be

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Speaker 1: super locked in because they would know they have a

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Speaker 1: great shot. Joki is playing the best basketball of his career.

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Speaker 1: This is the best Jamal Murray has looked this early

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Speaker 1: in the season. Obviously, Aaron Gordon's dealing with an injury,

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Speaker 1: but He's looked great this year. The Vets are all

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Speaker 1: locked in the depth pieces have all accentuated the team

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Speaker 1: in all the different ways. The only real downside is

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Speaker 1: like Cam Johnson got off to a little bit of

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Speaker 1: a rough start, but I think he's been way better

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Speaker 1: over the last week and a half. Ended up hitting

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Speaker 1: arguably the biggest shot of the night against Houston, that

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Speaker 1: little three off the left wing off of the double

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Speaker 1: team of Jokic. Starting to get more aggressive and put

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Speaker 1: up some real scoring volume as well, and get a

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Speaker 1: key play late in the game too, where he made

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Speaker 1: like a really nice defensive rotation on a cut from

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Speaker 1: a Men Thompson where he ended up leaving Jabari Smith open.

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Speaker 1: But this isn't this is exactly the game plan. He

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Speaker 1: did not allow the Amen Thompson cut in front of

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Speaker 1: the lane. He got in there and did a three

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Speaker 1: quarter front on Shane Gun's role so that the pass

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Speaker 1: to Amend Thompson was not open, which forced the skip

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Speaker 1: to Jabari Smith. They throw a close out, Jabari Smith

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Speaker 1: misses it. That's that little bit of like additional defensive

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Speaker 1: upside that Cam Johnson have that has that I think

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Speaker 1: is a really nice addition to this team. I know

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Speaker 1: that Denver fins have been struggling a little bit as

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Speaker 1: they've watched Michael Porter Junior go and just put up

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Speaker 1: big numbers for a bad team out in Brooklyn, But

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Speaker 1: I mean, we all knew that was going to happen

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Speaker 1: ultimately with Cam, he brings a speed and a little

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Speaker 1: bit more defensive versatility element that I think is an

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Speaker 1: underrated addition to this team. And as long as the

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Speaker 1: offense keeps coming along like it has been, they're going

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Speaker 1: to be fine. The reason why I'm moving Okay See

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Speaker 1: up above them has nothing to do with Denver. It

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Speaker 1: has everything to do with Oklahoma City. Okloma City just

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Speaker 1: had to experience a certain amount of internal improvement and

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Speaker 1: they've just clearly demonstrated that to start this season. We

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Speaker 1: will get more into that when we get into our

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Speaker 1: contender rankings. To be clear, Denver fans, I still view

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Speaker 1: you guys as the by far the best upset threat.

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Speaker 1: It's just I used to feel like it was like

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Speaker 1: fifty three forty seven that Denver would win a series

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Speaker 1: against OKCE, and now it's more like forty seven to

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Speaker 1: fifty three. Leaning back slightly towards ok see overall, though, Houston,

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Speaker 1: I want to kind of move to Houston for a

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Speaker 1: minute here. I also left the rewatch feeling really bullish

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Speaker 1: about the Rockets as a legit top tier contender. I

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Speaker 1: thought their defense was pretty solid down the stretch. Denver

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Speaker 1: just has two of the greatest like late game shot

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Speaker 1: makers in the league. Like there were a couple of mistakes.

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Speaker 1: There was a bad gamble from Reied Shepherd which led

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Speaker 1: to him getting switched onto Jokic, which led to a

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Speaker 1: drive and kick sequence for Jamal Murray. Pump faked on

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Speaker 1: KD and got into the lane and hit like a

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Speaker 1: little mid range jump shot. That's a silly mistake from

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Speaker 1: Reed Shepherd that got their defense in rotation and gave

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Speaker 1: up a clean look. There was also a breakdown in

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Speaker 1: pick and roll, a little stack action that they ran

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Speaker 1: where Shanegon ended up staying glued to Jokic on the roll,

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Speaker 1: which left nobody to protect the rims, so Jamal Murray

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Speaker 1: got an easy little It was actually pretty tough because

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Speaker 1: of the rotation at the end, but a little left

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Speaker 1: handed layup off the glass. But other than those two breakdowns,

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Speaker 1: everything else was pretty tough. Like Steven Adams forced Jokich

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Speaker 1: into a pretty tough face up jumper out of the

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Speaker 1: post Jamal Murray. The couple jump shots he hit were

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Speaker 1: broke rhythm jump shots where he was kind of awkwardly

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Speaker 1: timed and like had the awkward footwork. That one on

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Speaker 1: the left lane line where he's like stepping through and

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Speaker 1: leaning forward. That's a really tough shot, and sometimes you

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Speaker 1: just have to tip the cap, like these are really

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Speaker 1: good players. Like I know I'm higher on Jamal Murray

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Speaker 1: than most, so that can get annoying sometimes, but I

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Speaker 1: still think he's massively underrated as just a do everything,

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Speaker 1: big game player. He had twenty six points and ten

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Speaker 1: assists in that game on Friday Night and hit some

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Speaker 1: of the biggest shots of the game and made some

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Speaker 1: of the biggest defensive plays of the game. Like, I

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Speaker 1: remain super super high on Jamal Murray, so he got

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Speaker 1: to tip the cap to them. But overall, I thought

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Speaker 1: Houston defended Denver's vaunted late game offense pretty well. They

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Speaker 1: forced him into some of the tougher shots in that profile,

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Speaker 1: and then on the other end of the floor, they

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Speaker 1: got good shots, Like they pretty consistently generated some quality

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Speaker 1: looks against Denver's defense again. Shane Gun had a couple

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Speaker 1: of mistakes. He had that one turnover against Jamal Murray

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Speaker 1: where it's like at that point, Jamal's kind of stunting

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Speaker 1: and recovering back to the cutter, so he almost just

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Speaker 1: has to take that little floater in the lane, which

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Speaker 1: is a good look for him. And then he on

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Speaker 1: the one where he spun into the lane kind of

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Speaker 1: telegraphed it. It was just clear that after what happened on

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Speaker 1: the Jamal Murray turnover, he really wanted to make sure

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Speaker 1: that he looked to score the next time, and then

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Speaker 1: he just telegraphed it with this super long spin move

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Speaker 1: which gave Peyton Watson plenty of time to really load

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Speaker 1: up and go get it. But outside of that, like

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Speaker 1: the reids were there and he made them several times.

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Speaker 1: He had a couple of really nice short roll skips

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Speaker 1: to Jabari Smith Junior for wide open corner threes. He

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Speaker 1: just missed him. Jabari has been a good shooter this year.

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Speaker 1: They make one of those, it's a very different game, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: he had a really nice play where the rockets ran

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Speaker 1: like kind of this like iverson style screen, like a

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Speaker 1: little screen that got Shane Gun towards the left elbow

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Speaker 1: extended and Jokics chased over the top of the screen,

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Speaker 1: which gave Shanggun to baked In ripped through to the left.

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Speaker 1: He just ripped through to the left on the baseline

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00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,840
Speaker 1: cleanly beat Yokich off the dribble. There's a step up,

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Speaker 1: easy drop off to a men Thompson right in the

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Speaker 1: lane for an easy one right in front of the rim.

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Speaker 1: Like they got really good looks off of offensive rebounds,

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Speaker 1: Like kd and Reed Sheppard both had wide open threes

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Speaker 1: in the final sequences of the game off of offensive rebounds.

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Speaker 1: And so there's a version of that game where they

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Speaker 1: hit some of those shots and they complete one or

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Speaker 1: two more of those sequences and we have a different

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Speaker 1: results than a different result than what we had on Friday, right,

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Speaker 1: And again I think their stars could have played better,

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Speaker 1: and like, ultimately, in a game like that, what I'm

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Speaker 1: looking for is just if you can cause it team

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Speaker 1: problems And yes, Denver one, Yes, I think Denver is

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Speaker 1: the better team. Yes I have Denver higher on the

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Speaker 1: top Tier contender list, but Houston did cause some issues

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Speaker 1: for them, and that is ultimately what makes them an

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Speaker 1: interesting playoff opponent, and I know we'd all be down

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Speaker 1: moving on to Heat sixers. I caught this game in

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Speaker 1: its entirety yesterday. I was having kind of a lazy

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Speaker 1: Sunday and just was hanging out on the couch and

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Speaker 1: instead of watching football, I was watching basketball. Typically. It's

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Speaker 1: funny because typically I do most of my rewatches in

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Speaker 1: the morning on Synergy, but I ended up catching this

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Speaker 1: one live. It was a very fascinating game, and you

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Speaker 1: could literally tell from the opening tip that Miami was

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Speaker 1: in complete control of the shot quality dynamic. They were

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00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,040
Speaker 1: just getting better shots throughout the game, and so it

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Speaker 1: kind of felt throughout that they were most likely going

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Speaker 1: to win comfortably. Like even when Philly would make their

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Speaker 1: runs and get back into it, Miami would immediately respond

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Speaker 1: and get the lead back up to five to seven,

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Speaker 1: and you can kind of see that dynamic building in

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Speaker 1: the first quarter. Philly had a couple like nice runs

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Speaker 1: of jump shooting crazy one in the second quarter. I

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Speaker 1: think they had a sixteen to ozer run at one

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Speaker 1: point in the second quarter. But outside of those runs,

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Speaker 1: Miami basically controlled the game from start to finish, and

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Speaker 1: I thought it taught us a lot about both teams, because,

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Speaker 1: on the one hand, with Philly, one of the things

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Speaker 1: that stood out a big way is, you know, their

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Speaker 1: drible penetration attack is very based on speed right now

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Speaker 1: and not a lot on power. So when they run

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Speaker 1: into other teams that have quickness that can kind of

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Speaker 1: keep them in front and keep them out of the paint,

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Speaker 1: their offense can struggle a little bit. I think that's

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Speaker 1: where like having a guy like MBIID as a counter

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Speaker 1: is something that's important to look at for future potential

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Speaker 1: for Philly. Like you know, when they run into fast

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Speaker 1: guards that can make life more difficult for their fast guards.

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Speaker 1: They got to have somebody that can kind of get

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Speaker 1: that second defender and get the defense in rotation, and

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00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:33,520
Speaker 1: ultimately a guy like Mbi could provide that power dynamic.

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00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:35,040
Speaker 1: And then on the other end of the floor for Philly,

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00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,240
Speaker 1: like just especially in that second half, they're just so

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00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:43,600
Speaker 1: small and Miami has these power players, particularly Jim Hakkas,

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00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:45,680
Speaker 1: where it was like at any given moment, you would

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00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:47,240
Speaker 1: look on the floor and you'd be like, there's three

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00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:51,080
Speaker 1: dudes out there who have no shot to guard him Hakkis,

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00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,960
Speaker 1: and like that to me is a severe defensive limitation

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00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:57,320
Speaker 1: of that Philly team. Just like in terms of their personnel,

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Speaker 1: that's going to be really difficult for them to overcome.

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Speaker 1: But let's get back to Miami. I want to say

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Speaker 1: Miami's offense to the side for a minute, because we've

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Speaker 1: talked about it quite a bit as of late, and

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Speaker 1: it was every bit as impressive yesterday. Norman Powell is

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Speaker 1: amazing in the first half about Jaimehawkz really controlled the

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Speaker 1: second half. We'll get to that in a little bit.

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Speaker 1: I want to focus on Miami's defense for a minute.

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Speaker 1: For all that we talk with Miami's pace and attack

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Speaker 1: on offense right like kick aheads early drives, getting good

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Speaker 1: dribble penetration playing off of it, their defense is very,

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Speaker 1: very good at stopping those same types of attacks on

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Speaker 1: the other end, like this is a fast Philly roster,

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Speaker 1: like even without VJ. Edgecombe who sat out yesterday, Like

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Speaker 1: Philly has so much quickness on the perimeter, and they

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Speaker 1: get out and transition a lot, and Miami just shut

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Speaker 1: all of that shit off. They run the floor and

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00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:50,320
Speaker 1: transition so well. Even their bigs, like it was really

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Speaker 1: fun to watch kell Aware and bam Adebayo just run

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Speaker 1: up and down yesterday just keeping up with the pace

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Speaker 1: of that game. I think they probably keep up with

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Speaker 1: the pace of games and transition better than any set

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Speaker 1: of bigs in league right now. They they held Philly

432
00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,200
Speaker 1: to just twenty two transition points that tied a season

433
00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,880
Speaker 1: low for Philly, who's been getting out in transition quite

434
00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:11,120
Speaker 1: a bit. And then in a half court Steady died

435
00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:13,440
Speaker 1: of just chasing them off the three point line. Really

436
00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:15,879
Speaker 1: good point of attack a defense. I thought both Davion

437
00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,040
Speaker 1: Mitchell and Drew Smith in particular did a phenomenal job

438
00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:22,680
Speaker 1: on ball all game. And again, like Philly's still gonna

439
00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,480
Speaker 1: get a lot of threes up just because they have

440
00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:26,840
Speaker 1: some guys like Tyrese Maxi and Quinton Grimes who will

441
00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:30,560
Speaker 1: take some super tough threes off of contests. Like Maxie

442
00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,640
Speaker 1: will shoot like a step back thirty foot or three

443
00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,920
Speaker 1: or four times a game, So like that's gonna get

444
00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:39,639
Speaker 1: three point volume up regardless of what defense you're playing.

445
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,439
Speaker 1: Quinton Grimes will just kind of elevate off the catch

446
00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:45,160
Speaker 1: even when he's guarded. So they ended up getting twenty

447
00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:47,040
Speaker 1: one threes up just between the two of those guys,

448
00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:49,320
Speaker 1: but they only made seven of them. They were well defended.

449
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,840
Speaker 1: And then I thought Kellaware and Bam were both awesome

450
00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,240
Speaker 1: at the rim all game when they when they would

451
00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:57,119
Speaker 1: chase Philly off the line, so they would just end

452
00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:01,520
Speaker 1: up running into rim protection. Philly a lot of layups

453
00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,359
Speaker 1: in this game, like Quinton Grimes would kind of slither

454
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:06,840
Speaker 1: into the lane and the heat players would be there

455
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:08,880
Speaker 1: without fouling walling up it. It would be this really

456
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,639
Speaker 1: difficult layup that would roll off of the rim, and

457
00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:15,359
Speaker 1: MAXI really difficult layup would roll off the rim. Andre

458
00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:17,600
Speaker 1: Drummond had like a bunch of offensive rebounds that he

459
00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 1: tried to put back and he just couldn't finish them

460
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:24,040
Speaker 1: because Bam and kellel were there all game bothering shots

461
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,800
Speaker 1: around the rim. Philly ended up shooting just fifty three

462
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:29,840
Speaker 1: percent at the rim in this game, which was their

463
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:35,080
Speaker 1: second lowest rim efficiency number of the entire season. According

464
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:39,159
Speaker 1: to Synergy, Miami is fourth in defensive rating to start

465
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,600
Speaker 1: this season, number one, and half court defense according to

466
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,120
Speaker 1: Cleaning the Glass, they're allowing just eighty seven point six

467
00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,439
Speaker 1: points per one hundred half court possessions. I was just

468
00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:50,520
Speaker 1: really impressed with them yesterday on the defensive end of

469
00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:54,800
Speaker 1: the floor, and they were equally impressive on offense yesterday.

470
00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,680
Speaker 1: Norman Powell really controlled things in the first half. He's

471
00:21:57,720 --> 00:21:59,600
Speaker 1: just the perfect guy to give a green light to

472
00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:04,320
Speaker 1: in this system, because he's your textbook like simple shooting

473
00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,560
Speaker 1: read maker right, like he gets a clean look, he's

474
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:09,680
Speaker 1: taking it every single time, and he gets so many

475
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,760
Speaker 1: like trailing the play and transition, like they'll run the

476
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:14,359
Speaker 1: ball up the floor and like pitch it back to

477
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,320
Speaker 1: Bam and then here comes Norman just like sweeping across

478
00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:19,840
Speaker 1: like at an angle, and he'll just rise up off

479
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:21,840
Speaker 1: the catch and take like a twenty seven footer and

480
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,520
Speaker 1: knock it down, you know. Or in those driving chaos situations,

481
00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:28,040
Speaker 1: just every time he gets the slightest bit of separation,

482
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:30,960
Speaker 1: he's rising up. And he was hitting so many of

483
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,040
Speaker 1: them early in the game that he started to draw

484
00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:35,439
Speaker 1: fouls as Philly was closing out too aggressively. I think

485
00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:39,880
Speaker 1: he ended up drawing three three shot fouls in yesterday's game.

486
00:22:39,920 --> 00:22:44,240
Speaker 1: And then from there it's just very simple like of

487
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 1: reads right, Like if he gets chased off his left shoulder,

488
00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:49,639
Speaker 1: he's ripping right. If he rips right and there's a

489
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,000
Speaker 1: rim protector there, he'll just stop and pop from fifteen.

490
00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:53,879
Speaker 1: If no one's there, he'll slash. If he ends up

491
00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,000
Speaker 1: getting late help, he'll kick it out. It's all just

492
00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:59,280
Speaker 1: like very basic read making off of the power of

493
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,679
Speaker 1: his shooting, Like he just dominated the early stretch of

494
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,000
Speaker 1: that game. And then in the second half, like we

495
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:07,639
Speaker 1: talked about earlier, with Philly's defense, it just became abundantly

496
00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,159
Speaker 1: clear that Philly just couldn't guard him and they had

497
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:12,200
Speaker 1: too many guys on the floor that were easy targets

498
00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,680
Speaker 1: for him, and he just played really simple one on

499
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,760
Speaker 1: one basketball out of cleared side post ups and ISOs,

500
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,880
Speaker 1: And like, Hi, Ma's got a very a very unique

501
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:27,240
Speaker 1: gift for like understanding the physical leverage battle that happens

502
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:29,800
Speaker 1: in the post. Like he's really good at like feeling

503
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,920
Speaker 1: which one of his shoulders you're leaning on, and then

504
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,480
Speaker 1: from there kind of like using little little pivots and

505
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,879
Speaker 1: little bumps to kind of get additional separation off of you.

506
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,080
Speaker 1: He had this nasty spin move off of the right

507
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:44,000
Speaker 1: wing where he like set it up with a hard

508
00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:46,680
Speaker 1: dribble to the left and just pounded into a full

509
00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:49,040
Speaker 1: spin and just completely dusted his man off the dribble

510
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:51,359
Speaker 1: for an easy layup. And so he's become like the

511
00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:55,080
Speaker 1: very simple post up mismatch problem for opponents because it's

512
00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,560
Speaker 1: like if you leave him one on one, he's really

513
00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,320
Speaker 1: good at either getting to some sort of short hook

514
00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:03,119
Speaker 1: or a little easy right shoulder fade or god forbid,

515
00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:05,360
Speaker 1: he just completely toasts you off the dribble and gets

516
00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:07,000
Speaker 1: all the way into the lane for a layup. And

517
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:08,880
Speaker 1: then as soon as you bring that second defender over,

518
00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:11,879
Speaker 1: he's really good at the easy kick out reads the

519
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,439
Speaker 1: lobb to kelll Ware when the big man steps up.

520
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:18,240
Speaker 1: He just makes simple decisions based on how the defense

521
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:19,720
Speaker 1: reacts to him there in the middle of the floor.

522
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:21,919
Speaker 1: And I also want to shout out Bam and kelll

523
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,800
Speaker 1: I thought they're short range spacing was key in this game.

524
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,560
Speaker 1: Like Bam was killing Philly with these like little like

525
00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,400
Speaker 1: seven to eight foot jump shots where they get right

526
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:32,600
Speaker 1: up to the front of the rim and everyone on

527
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,080
Speaker 1: Philly would react and they would just drop it off

528
00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:37,520
Speaker 1: to Bam. They're like seven feet from the basket, easy

529
00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:39,760
Speaker 1: jump shot, knock it down. Kelll Ware hit a couple

530
00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:43,680
Speaker 1: of threes. He was also providing that vertical spacing window.

531
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,399
Speaker 1: But I may can go through these runs where he

532
00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 1: straight up dominates the offense for like a five to

533
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,640
Speaker 1: six minute stretch and gets great shots every single time.

534
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,680
Speaker 1: It was just a wired to wire dominant performance from

535
00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:56,720
Speaker 1: the heat on the road against a good team. They've

536
00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 1: now won four in a row. They're up to eleven

537
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,200
Speaker 1: and six. They have sole possession of the four seed

538
00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,600
Speaker 1: out East, just one game back of the two seed.

539
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,239
Speaker 1: A couple other final shoutouts from Miami. Kellaware has been

540
00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:12,960
Speaker 1: getting a lot of direct coaching behind the scenes about

541
00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:16,159
Speaker 1: directing his talent towards the margins rather than scoring. A

542
00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,080
Speaker 1: lot of like, hey, dude, like focus on the things

543
00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,160
Speaker 1: that you're great at right now that help the team win,

544
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,080
Speaker 1: and the scoring will just kind of come naturally with that,

545
00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,879
Speaker 1: right So, like sprint up and down the floor and transition,

546
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,880
Speaker 1: clean up the defensive glass, make those help side rotations

547
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,199
Speaker 1: at the rim, attack the offensive glass. He was a

548
00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:35,720
Speaker 1: monster on the offensive glass yesterday. He had eight offensive

549
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:39,040
Speaker 1: rebounds and as a result, like he's been taking that

550
00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:42,919
Speaker 1: to heart and it's been awesome. Another twenty points and

551
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,520
Speaker 1: sixteen rebounds yesterday. In the last seven games, kellel is

552
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 1: averaging fifteen to fifteen on fifty seven percent from the

553
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,920
Speaker 1: field and forty six percent from three. Just outrageous stuff

554
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,080
Speaker 1: from the young fella. And again early in the season,

555
00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:56,639
Speaker 1: it was like a lot of attempts to try to

556
00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:58,760
Speaker 1: get some of that to work the kel Alware units

557
00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,400
Speaker 1: when BAM's off the floor, some of the two big stuff,

558
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:03,720
Speaker 1: And it wasn't pretty to start the year, but they're

559
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:05,920
Speaker 1: starting to gain some real momentum in both their two

560
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:08,679
Speaker 1: big looks and their kellowaar on the floor without Bam

561
00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:12,080
Speaker 1: looks over the course of the last couple of weeks.

562
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,200
Speaker 1: And then lastly, Davion Mitchell. You know, it's interesting because

563
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:17,960
Speaker 1: he was such a, you know, a one dimensional type

564
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,520
Speaker 1: of player before coming to Miami, very much just a

565
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,919
Speaker 1: primary point of attack guy who was pretty mediocre at

566
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:28,280
Speaker 1: everything else. But refining one of his weaknesses, particularly his

567
00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,480
Speaker 1: spot up three point shooting, and then Spolser just weaponizing

568
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:35,120
Speaker 1: a couple of his kind of like underdiscovered strengths has

569
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,520
Speaker 1: turned him into a really high level starter in this league.

570
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:40,080
Speaker 1: He's always been fast, he's always been a good point

571
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,879
Speaker 1: of attack defender, but in Miami he's become a reliable

572
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,720
Speaker 1: catch and shoot guy. For instance, if you leave him open.

573
00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,720
Speaker 1: This year, unguarded threes forty five percent. Last year with

574
00:26:48,760 --> 00:26:52,000
Speaker 1: Miami fifty four percent, So he's been consistently knocking down

575
00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,199
Speaker 1: the catch and shoot threes in a heat jersey, and

576
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,159
Speaker 1: then Spolster's found his offensive talent, which is like he

577
00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 1: can beat dudes off the dribble and make simple kick outreads.

578
00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:04,879
Speaker 1: He's averaging nine point one assists for thirty six minutes

579
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,160
Speaker 1: this year. His previous career high was six point four,

580
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,800
Speaker 1: and it's just a very simple dynamic. He's sneaky, one

581
00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:13,800
Speaker 1: of the best rim finishers in the league, and he

582
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,040
Speaker 1: can get to the foul line by getting into your body,

583
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,520
Speaker 1: so that causes teams to kind of react to his drives,

584
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 1: and then he just makes those simple reads. That's very

585
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,959
Speaker 1: much the meat and potatoes of Miami's offense. Generate dribble

586
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,480
Speaker 1: penetration through defense to transition and high level driving kick

587
00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:33,879
Speaker 1: attack from Himeha Kez and from Davion Mitchell while having

588
00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,800
Speaker 1: the kind of counterbalance of the overtop shooting from Norman Powell.

589
00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:40,960
Speaker 1: And it's just working. It's just working at a really,

590
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,000
Speaker 1: really high level. And now Tyler Harrow is coming back,

591
00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:45,800
Speaker 1: so gonna be really interesting to see how he kind

592
00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,080
Speaker 1: of fits with the dynamic with Norman Powell, if their

593
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,199
Speaker 1: rhythm competes with each other, if it turns into just

594
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,399
Speaker 1: forty eight minutes of that high level, aggressive jump shooting

595
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:56,800
Speaker 1: that actually ends up helping them very different system than

596
00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,560
Speaker 1: last Tyler Harrell plays. I'll be really curious if I

597
00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:02,880
Speaker 1: wonder if they'll more or less use him the same

598
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,239
Speaker 1: way they've been playing, or if they kind of use

599
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:07,600
Speaker 1: him as a counterbalance to their attack by running more

600
00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:09,400
Speaker 1: pick and roll with him in BAM. That'll be something

601
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,520
Speaker 1: that'll be interesting to see with his return. Some thoughts

602
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:15,760
Speaker 1: on the Lakers now that we got another game last

603
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,679
Speaker 1: night with Lebron back in the mix, and that Jazz

604
00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 1: game was a chore to watch. The intensity was completely

605
00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:24,800
Speaker 1: lacking for the first two and a half quarters. The

606
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:28,040
Speaker 1: Lakers played some real defense in late third from the

607
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:31,040
Speaker 1: late third on, and there's some really encouraging stuff there.

608
00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:33,719
Speaker 1: We're going to talk about this. It's weird, like I'm

609
00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:36,760
Speaker 1: kind of more impressed by their defense to this point

610
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:38,840
Speaker 1: in the season than their offense, which makes no sense

611
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,520
Speaker 1: compared to how I saw them coming into the season.

612
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:44,040
Speaker 1: They found a lineup that was really getting stops late

613
00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: in the game, and this is kind of one of

614
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:47,280
Speaker 1: the unique things about the way that the Lakers rosters

615
00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:51,440
Speaker 1: put together. They don't have a bona fide like starting

616
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:56,040
Speaker 1: caliber three to be found on the roster anywhere. But

617
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:58,360
Speaker 1: what they do have is they've got a bunch of

618
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:02,320
Speaker 1: different kinds of de dudes to slot into those jobs. So,

619
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,200
Speaker 1: for instance, like Deandreton leaves a game yesterday with a

620
00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 1: knee contusion, he's out for the rest of the He

621
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,440
Speaker 1: was out for the entire second half, and so you know,

622
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,600
Speaker 1: Jackson was playing pretty well throughout the game. He ended

623
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:16,280
Speaker 1: up picking up some fouls in the second half, and

624
00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,000
Speaker 1: and j J ends up going with Maxi and Maxi

625
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:21,400
Speaker 1: who's looked really athletic as of late, which is encouraging

626
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 1: because the dudes really struggled just to get on the

627
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,640
Speaker 1: floor and stay healthy. But looked like he was healthy

628
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:27,560
Speaker 1: and moving really well over the course of the last

629
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,560
Speaker 1: couple of games. And what he's provided is like a

630
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:34,840
Speaker 1: hybrid type of big that has some real switchability, and

631
00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:39,240
Speaker 1: ironically he's been he's just like he's not like terrific

632
00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 1: at anything on defense, Like he's not like a lockdown

633
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,280
Speaker 1: switch defender. He's not like an unbelievable rim protector, but

634
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:47,760
Speaker 1: he's like sneaky good at all of those things, Like

635
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:52,640
Speaker 1: he will come flying over and block a big Keyante

636
00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:55,080
Speaker 1: George lay up late in the game, or like the

637
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:57,880
Speaker 1: final possession where Kiante George missed the three in the corner.

638
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,520
Speaker 1: That wasn't a foul. That was an awesome test by

639
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:03,400
Speaker 1: Maxi on a really tough play as Canta came off

640
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 1: through the corner. Got a great contest on that shot

641
00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:08,960
Speaker 1: without fouling. Like, that's a play that a lot of

642
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,640
Speaker 1: bigs will foul. They'll either be too far back and

643
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:13,680
Speaker 1: they'll give a good look, or they'll be too far

644
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:15,960
Speaker 1: up and they'll commit a foul, right, Like I thought,

645
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,680
Speaker 1: like Maxi brings some of that, he brings the switchability,

646
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:21,760
Speaker 1: he brings like competitiveness on the glass. Like Maxi just

647
00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:23,640
Speaker 1: kind of does a little bit of everything. And so

648
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:25,840
Speaker 1: you can see the different types of options that JJ

649
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:29,240
Speaker 1: Reddick has. You have DeAndre Ayton, who's this very traditional

650
00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:32,000
Speaker 1: big that runs deep drop is an excellent defensive rebounder

651
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,680
Speaker 1: and an excellent like role man, right, but he has

652
00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:36,640
Speaker 1: some short comings. He's not as good on switches and

653
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:38,280
Speaker 1: he makes a lot of mistakes. Right, He's a little

654
00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:41,800
Speaker 1: bit of a mistake prone player. Same thing goes with Jackson,

655
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:43,800
Speaker 1: Like he's improved a lot defensively this year, but he's

656
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:45,880
Speaker 1: a little bit mistake prone. He can commit some fouls

657
00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:48,680
Speaker 1: on offense. Not much of a threat on the short roll,

658
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:51,160
Speaker 1: but a great vertical spacer and very good at making

659
00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:53,400
Speaker 1: the short role reads right in the middle of the floor, right,

660
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:57,040
Speaker 1: Like they all bring different traits to the table. And

661
00:30:57,080 --> 00:30:59,400
Speaker 1: then similarly, at the end of the game, you know,

662
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,640
Speaker 1: Marcus was really struggling to knock down catch and shoot threes,

663
00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:05,960
Speaker 1: getting some wide open looks on pick and pops with Luca,

664
00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:09,200
Speaker 1: so like that was kind of an issue throughout the game.

665
00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:12,880
Speaker 1: You know, you know, Ruy Hatchamura brings a certain dynamic

666
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,000
Speaker 1: to the table on offense, Jake Loravia brings a certain

667
00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:18,120
Speaker 1: dynamic to the table. Well, yesterday Jay z Redick's like

668
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:20,600
Speaker 1: I need speed, I want speed out there, So he

669
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:23,240
Speaker 1: ended up going with Gabe. Gabeh's a huge catch and

670
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:25,840
Speaker 1: shoot three on the left wing and is like battling Lori,

671
00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,120
Speaker 1: marknin on switches providing really physical defense up underneath him

672
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:31,400
Speaker 1: and like flying around in rotation. And all of a sudden,

673
00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:34,120
Speaker 1: I'm watching this lineup and it's like Lebron, Luca, Austin,

674
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,800
Speaker 1: Gabe and Maxie and it's like each guy is a

675
00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:40,960
Speaker 1: different Gabe and Maxie are like two very different types

676
00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:43,560
Speaker 1: of options than some of the options JJ's gone with

677
00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:46,360
Speaker 1: in the past, but they bring unique traits, like Maxi

678
00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:49,280
Speaker 1: is a more versatile big that is pretty good at

679
00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:51,680
Speaker 1: a lot of things, and Gabe is really fast and

680
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:54,880
Speaker 1: competes defensively at a level that most of the perimeter

681
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,240
Speaker 1: players can't get to. And so like all of a sudden,

682
00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:58,760
Speaker 1: it just kind of worked and they got a bunch

683
00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:01,680
Speaker 1: of stops. And like I mentioned earlier about how the

684
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:04,400
Speaker 1: defense to me has been actually a little bit more

685
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,720
Speaker 1: impressive than their offense. That first of all, is statistically right.

686
00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 1: They're fourteenth and defensive rating to start the year at

687
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,360
Speaker 1: fifteenth in offensive rating, but that even the offense stuff

688
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:15,120
Speaker 1: gets a little more complicated because the Lakers are top

689
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,080
Speaker 1: five and a half court offense. Set the offense to

690
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,320
Speaker 1: the side for a minute, though, I've just been really

691
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:23,040
Speaker 1: impressed by the defense as being a timely defense. They

692
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,120
Speaker 1: have these awful stretches. They stretches like the first two

693
00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:27,320
Speaker 1: and a half quarters where you're like, what are you

694
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:30,480
Speaker 1: guys doing? And when they're so slow, and they're also

695
00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:33,479
Speaker 1: not mentally engaged and they're also not physically engaged. They

696
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:37,120
Speaker 1: can look so bad on defense, but consistently every game,

697
00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:40,560
Speaker 1: especially against the bad teams. That's happening later, but we're

698
00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:42,520
Speaker 1: seeing it in some full games like the Bucks game

699
00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:43,840
Speaker 1: right where they go on the road and they just

700
00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:46,920
Speaker 1: look fantastic on defense all night. But like they'll just

701
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:48,440
Speaker 1: be like, we're going to tighten the screws. And when

702
00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:50,760
Speaker 1: they tighten the screws. They have some high IQ defenders,

703
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:54,160
Speaker 1: like Lebron a couple extra rotations, a couple that he

704
00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,720
Speaker 1: had a bad backcut he lost. I think it was

705
00:32:58,160 --> 00:33:00,760
Speaker 1: he gave up a couple of bad ones ace late

706
00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,760
Speaker 1: in the game where he wasn't rebounding and he lost

707
00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:06,920
Speaker 1: a backhutter. Lebron not a good defensive game last night overall.

708
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:09,120
Speaker 1: We'll talk about it in a minute. But like Sky's

709
00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:11,840
Speaker 1: for a huge defensive rebound late in the game, and

710
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:15,040
Speaker 1: like Luca's getting big stops one on one, and here's

711
00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:18,600
Speaker 1: Gabe fighting against Laurie market In for a big stop,

712
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 1: and Max he's making plays everywhere, and all of a sudden,

713
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,440
Speaker 1: it's like, shit, they look like a good defense for

714
00:33:23,520 --> 00:33:25,840
Speaker 1: you know this ten to twelve minute stretch where they

715
00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:27,920
Speaker 1: assert control over the game, and on the other end

716
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:30,280
Speaker 1: of the floor, Lucas starts getting super aggressive and starts

717
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,120
Speaker 1: getting good shots, and all of a sudden, you're in

718
00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:35,360
Speaker 1: control of the game. And this has shown up in

719
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:39,280
Speaker 1: the metrics the The Lakers have been the number one

720
00:33:39,800 --> 00:33:43,040
Speaker 1: clutch defense in the NBA to start the season, and

721
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:45,680
Speaker 1: they are six and zero in games that have come

722
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:49,120
Speaker 1: down to clutch situations. And part of that is, like,

723
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:51,720
Speaker 1: that's kind of a good checkpoint. So in a lot

724
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,480
Speaker 1: of ways, like my checkpoints for the Lakers coming into

725
00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:56,840
Speaker 1: the season, where they need to be an elite offense,

726
00:33:57,520 --> 00:33:59,520
Speaker 1: which they haven't been, and we'll talk about in a minute,

727
00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:04,320
Speaker 1: they need to be a above average defense. They have

728
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,920
Speaker 1: met that check mark. They've been an above average defense,

729
00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:12,239
Speaker 1: a situational defense. They are much closer to what we

730
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:16,000
Speaker 1: considered the Denver Nuggets to be at their peak and

731
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:18,399
Speaker 1: kind of still so to this day than what they

732
00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:21,200
Speaker 1: are than what we thought they would be, which is

733
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:23,880
Speaker 1: like a bottom third of the NBA type of defense.

734
00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:27,240
Speaker 1: They've been a team that for five to ten minute

735
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:31,680
Speaker 1: stretches really locks in, has high IQ defenders mixed with

736
00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 1: a couple of higher level defenders, and they just get stops.

737
00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:39,160
Speaker 1: They've been a good defense against the good offenses in

738
00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:41,600
Speaker 1: the league this year per Cleaning the Glass as well.

739
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,360
Speaker 1: That's the one thing that's like kind of randomly encouraging

740
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:49,319
Speaker 1: is their defense has been able to get timely stops.

741
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:54,400
Speaker 1: Here's the downside, though, in order for that formula to

742
00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:57,120
Speaker 1: work like what the Denver Nuggets were in twenty twenty three,

743
00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:00,359
Speaker 1: where you're an above average defense that can be very

744
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:03,560
Speaker 1: good situationally and get stops at the end of games

745
00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:07,880
Speaker 1: when you need to, that team was transcendently great on offense,

746
00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:13,239
Speaker 1: and the Lakers have been just a little bit underwhelming

747
00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:14,960
Speaker 1: on that end of the floor. And there's two key

748
00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:18,239
Speaker 1: areas that I think are holding them back. One is

749
00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:22,040
Speaker 1: the shooting, and this is really the fundamental thing that's

750
00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:25,160
Speaker 1: stopping them from being like unguardable on offense. In the

751
00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:27,239
Speaker 1: half court and they've been good again. They're fifth and

752
00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,880
Speaker 1: half court offensive rating according to Cleaning the Glass, and

753
00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,360
Speaker 1: it's a lot of that, just like Luca and Austin

754
00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:36,600
Speaker 1: are unguardable in pick and roll and Lebron is just

755
00:35:36,680 --> 00:35:39,960
Speaker 1: destroying teams in the post. Lebron's run thirteen post ups

756
00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,120
Speaker 1: so far for twenty two points including passes. That's one

757
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:45,719
Speaker 1: point six y nine points per possession. He's either just

758
00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:48,520
Speaker 1: scoring or making an easy kickout for a three year

759
00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:51,320
Speaker 1: a lob dunk, Like he's just killing teams in the post.

760
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:53,560
Speaker 1: So they're one and ones are really good and it's

761
00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:55,720
Speaker 1: causing a lot of success for them in the half court,

762
00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:58,239
Speaker 1: but they're not quite as good in the half court

763
00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:00,400
Speaker 1: offense as they need to be. They need to be

764
00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:03,440
Speaker 1: like top one to two and then their fifteenth in

765
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,040
Speaker 1: offensive rating because they never score in transition. And that's

766
00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:08,520
Speaker 1: the second piece of it. Now, I don't expect the

767
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,799
Speaker 1: Lakers to be some sort of elite transition offense because

768
00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:13,680
Speaker 1: they don't really have the players for that. They don't

769
00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:16,120
Speaker 1: have the speed to beat teams up the floor. But

770
00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:18,960
Speaker 1: what's standing out to me in terms of the offensive

771
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:23,440
Speaker 1: shortcomings that we've seen is every single lineup has a

772
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:25,480
Speaker 1: couple of guys on the floor that are like, yeah,

773
00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:28,920
Speaker 1: they can make a three, but they're not knockdown shooters.

774
00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:31,480
Speaker 1: Like when you look at the starting lineup for instance,

775
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:34,319
Speaker 1: like Ruey and Lebron are the only guys where it's

776
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:35,919
Speaker 1: like if they get a clean catch and shoot, they're

777
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:39,279
Speaker 1: gonna hit over forty percent of them that they're the

778
00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:41,480
Speaker 1: only two guys like Luca. And this it comes to

779
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:45,560
Speaker 1: the stars like Austin and Luca are not good catch

780
00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:48,879
Speaker 1: and shoot players. Lucas probably never gonna be because he's

781
00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:52,840
Speaker 1: very much like an on ball like initial shot creator,

782
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:55,040
Speaker 1: and I don't really have too much expectation there because

783
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:56,799
Speaker 1: it's just so rare for him to get catch and

784
00:36:56,800 --> 00:37:00,160
Speaker 1: shoot looks. But Austin in particular, I had hopes for

785
00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:02,000
Speaker 1: him at this point in his career to become a

786
00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:04,480
Speaker 1: reliable catch and shoot guy. I just thought as a competitor,

787
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:07,239
Speaker 1: and like, given the situation he's in that he'd put

788
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:09,240
Speaker 1: in the work behind the scenes to get to that point.

789
00:37:09,239 --> 00:37:12,640
Speaker 1: But he's looking closer to Luca as a guy that's

790
00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:16,359
Speaker 1: like a very much a rhythm based jump shooter who

791
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:18,839
Speaker 1: needs to feel the ball and like take them off

792
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 1: the dribble more than take them off the catch kind

793
00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,560
Speaker 1: of guy. And so with Luca and Austin both being

794
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:26,640
Speaker 1: poor catch and shoot players, it's causing a lot of

795
00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:29,120
Speaker 1: these driving kick sequences to end with oh my god,

796
00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:32,960
Speaker 1: Austin's open again clank, Oh my god, Luca's open clank,

797
00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,719
Speaker 1: and it's just a problem because they're not paying off

798
00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:40,400
Speaker 1: a lot of these sequences. They have advantage creators, advantage extenders,

799
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:43,120
Speaker 1: dudes that are generating really clean looks, and they'll get

800
00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:44,480
Speaker 1: a lot of dunks and they'll get a lot of

801
00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:46,640
Speaker 1: buckets out of their one on ones. But so many

802
00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:49,160
Speaker 1: of these driving kick sequences are ending in the hands

803
00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:52,120
Speaker 1: of guys that aren't making shots. And then you go

804
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:54,680
Speaker 1: to the bench and it's like, yeah, Jake should be

805
00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:56,920
Speaker 1: a good shooter, but he hasn't been making shots. Like

806
00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:00,800
Speaker 1: Maxi Kleiba didn't even want to take open three easy yesterday.

807
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:04,080
Speaker 1: That's gonna be an issue, right Like Marcus Smart every

808
00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:06,200
Speaker 1: single time he takes that open catch and shoot three

809
00:38:06,239 --> 00:38:07,560
Speaker 1: at the top of the key, I feel like it's

810
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:10,400
Speaker 1: short and so like there's just a huge kind of

811
00:38:10,440 --> 00:38:12,400
Speaker 1: like shooting shortcoming there. As a matter of fact, as

812
00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:14,840
Speaker 1: you kind of dig into the numbers, they are bottom

813
00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:20,720
Speaker 1: five in three point percentage this year, and they're dead

814
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:24,480
Speaker 1: last in three point makes per game. Those are some

815
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:26,520
Speaker 1: concerning metrics that I think are holding them back on

816
00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:29,239
Speaker 1: the offensive end of the floor. Ultimately, though, I don't

817
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:31,839
Speaker 1: think it's gonna come down like this is not a

818
00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:35,359
Speaker 1: thing a trade can fix. The only thing that's going

819
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:37,560
Speaker 1: to help the Lakers get to that point where they

820
00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:39,560
Speaker 1: start to pay off more of these sequences and become

821
00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:43,360
Speaker 1: a better, more reliable offense. Austin and Luca have to

822
00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,600
Speaker 1: become good catch and shoot players. So behind the scenes

823
00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:48,560
Speaker 1: and all their shoot arounds and every single little bit

824
00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:51,040
Speaker 1: of extra work they can get, those two guys got

825
00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:53,279
Speaker 1: to work off the catch because they are going to

826
00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,120
Speaker 1: end up getting looks by the way these sequences are

827
00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:58,600
Speaker 1: working out, and they're just not paying them off at

828
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:01,600
Speaker 1: this point. So, like, strangely, some really positive indicators for

829
00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:03,799
Speaker 1: the Lakers. I mean, they're twelve and four, They've got

830
00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:07,360
Speaker 1: the third best record in the NBA. They're fourteenth in defense.

831
00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:09,640
Speaker 1: That's a really impressive number for that group of talent.

832
00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:12,839
Speaker 1: Number one clutch defense in the NBA, six to zero

833
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,359
Speaker 1: clutch situations. But weirdly enough, I'm not as high on

834
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:19,080
Speaker 1: them as I was kind of looking at this team

835
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:22,360
Speaker 1: on paper because their offense just isn't coming together in

836
00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:24,680
Speaker 1: large part because of how poor their catch and shoot

837
00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:26,680
Speaker 1: play is. And it's just something to keep an eye

838
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:29,000
Speaker 1: on over the course of the rest of the season.

839
00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:37,480
Speaker 1: All Right, let's get into our power rankings, and again

840
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:39,959
Speaker 1: all of our lines are provided to you guys by

841
00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:44,680
Speaker 1: hard Rock Bett. Number ten. The Atlanta Hawks currently plus

842
00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,280
Speaker 1: four thousand to win the title on hard rock Bet.

843
00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:48,960
Speaker 1: They got back on track with a couple of wins

844
00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:51,560
Speaker 1: over New Orleans and Charlotte after a two game slide.

845
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,080
Speaker 1: They've now won seven out of nine. They sit up

846
00:39:54,120 --> 00:39:57,239
Speaker 1: at fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Jalen Johnson had

847
00:39:57,280 --> 00:40:00,440
Speaker 1: twenty eight to eight and eleven against Charlotte last night.

848
00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:02,560
Speaker 1: He's averaging twenty five, eleven and nine over his last

849
00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:05,719
Speaker 1: seven games, fueled by as we've talked about his jump

850
00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:08,799
Speaker 1: shot being that force multiplier. He's always been so great

851
00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:10,960
Speaker 1: at pressuring the rim and making plays out of it.

852
00:40:11,360 --> 00:40:14,120
Speaker 1: But what he's added is this counterbalance in the form

853
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:17,520
Speaker 1: of the jump shot, and he's hit multiple threes, multiple

854
00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:20,960
Speaker 1: threes in every single one of those seven games that

855
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:24,359
Speaker 1: he's averaged twenty five, eleven and nine. That is the uptick, right,

856
00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:28,200
Speaker 1: Like twenty five becomes seventeen or eighteen really fast if

857
00:40:28,239 --> 00:40:31,400
Speaker 1: you're not hitting multiple threes, right. That's just an impressive

858
00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:34,879
Speaker 1: stretch of consistent shooting from Jalen Johnson. He's just making

859
00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:38,200
Speaker 1: the leap into a star right before our eyes. Also,

860
00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:40,080
Speaker 1: was really nice to see crisps Porzingis back in the

861
00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:43,160
Speaker 1: Pelicans game. He dropped thirty with three blocks. Tough schedule

862
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:44,759
Speaker 1: coming up in the next couple of weeks though, all

863
00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:47,879
Speaker 1: in the next two weeks Cleveland, Philly, Detroit, Denver, and

864
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:50,840
Speaker 1: the Clippers, who now have Kawhi Leonard. So tough schedule

865
00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:54,840
Speaker 1: coming up for Atlanta number nine. The Phoenix Suns currently

866
00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:59,280
Speaker 1: plus fifty thousand to win the title on hard rock Bet.

867
00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:02,800
Speaker 1: They really shut down the Spurs offense in the second

868
00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:05,600
Speaker 1: half last night with physical ball pressure. They had a

869
00:41:05,760 --> 00:41:08,319
Speaker 1: one h two defensive rating in the second half. They

870
00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:10,239
Speaker 1: have now climbed all the way up to seventh and

871
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:12,640
Speaker 1: defensive rating on the season. I remember I was talking

872
00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:15,600
Speaker 1: about this last week, but Benjamin Garcio covers the Suns.

873
00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:17,759
Speaker 1: I went on his pod before the season. He asked

874
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:19,279
Speaker 1: me pointedly, He's like, do you think the Suns can

875
00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:21,359
Speaker 1: get the top five and defensive rating? And I said, yeah,

876
00:41:21,400 --> 00:41:24,160
Speaker 1: they have the talent for it. They've got good perimeter defenders,

877
00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:27,839
Speaker 1: a couple of different types of options in the in

878
00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:30,600
Speaker 1: the front court. Defensively, in terms of rim protection that

879
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 1: can either play traditional rim protection versus switching, and they're

880
00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:36,920
Speaker 1: guys that are off like off of those top tier defenders.

881
00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:39,880
Speaker 1: Guys like Devin Booker and Grayson Allen and Roy O'Neil

882
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,560
Speaker 1: are all like pretty good perimeter defenders. So like, they

883
00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 1: just have a lot of simply on paper, a lot

884
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:47,799
Speaker 1: of good defensive talent, and it's coming together for them

885
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:50,080
Speaker 1: as they've been super bought in, Like literally from the

886
00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:52,160
Speaker 1: first preseason game I watched them, I'm like, these dudes

887
00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:54,239
Speaker 1: really want to be a good defense and it's really

888
00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:55,960
Speaker 1: coming together. They also had a fun win against the

889
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:58,640
Speaker 1: Timberwolves on Friday night. They controlled most of the game

890
00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:01,600
Speaker 1: until they lost control during an Anthony Edwards broad in

891
00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:04,200
Speaker 1: the third quarter, but they just kept playing defense and

892
00:42:04,239 --> 00:42:06,120
Speaker 1: just kept pressuring the ball. They were down eight with

893
00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:08,719
Speaker 1: just over a minute left, and they forced Minnesota into

894
00:42:08,719 --> 00:42:11,840
Speaker 1: several mistakes down the stretch and made them pay with

895
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:14,279
Speaker 1: shots out of those sequences, and they ended up coming

896
00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:16,600
Speaker 1: back to win on a Colin Gillespie floater along the

897
00:42:16,640 --> 00:42:19,400
Speaker 1: right lane line, a huge shot. After Devin Booker had

898
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:21,319
Speaker 1: fouled out of the game, someone needed to make something

899
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:24,399
Speaker 1: happen and Colin Gillespie did I would imagine Suns fans

900
00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:27,760
Speaker 1: are much more enjoying this team compared to a couple

901
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:31,520
Speaker 1: of the previous seasons. Number eight, the Miami Heat currently

902
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:33,520
Speaker 1: plus seventy five hundred to win the title on hard

903
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:36,520
Speaker 1: Rock Bet. Not gonna dwell here for long because we

904
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:38,600
Speaker 1: just did a full segment on them earlier in the show,

905
00:42:38,880 --> 00:42:41,080
Speaker 1: but they're riding a four game winning streak up to

906
00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:43,719
Speaker 1: fourth in the Eastern Conference. Finally starting to get some

907
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:46,719
Speaker 1: consistent high end returns from kell Aware, which had been

908
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:48,160
Speaker 1: a little bit of an issue to start the year.

909
00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:51,680
Speaker 1: The typical Miami elite defense that we've become accustomed to

910
00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:54,720
Speaker 1: in an impressive offense led by Norman Palace, hyper aggressive

911
00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:58,319
Speaker 1: shooting and Jimejakez's shot creation out of the post again.

912
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:00,560
Speaker 1: If you want more Miami Heat talk, we had a

913
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:03,279
Speaker 1: big segment on them earlier in the show. Number seven

914
00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:06,360
Speaker 1: the Toronto Raptors currently plus ten thousand to win the

915
00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:09,080
Speaker 1: title on hard Rock Bet, now winners of seven in

916
00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:12,239
Speaker 1: a row. All five starters scored over fifteen points in

917
00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:14,560
Speaker 1: an impressive road win in Philly, then a couple of

918
00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:18,120
Speaker 1: easy wins over Washington and Brooklyn. Seventy percent of their

919
00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:20,680
Speaker 1: baskets have been assisted during the seven game win streak

920
00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:24,360
Speaker 1: as they continue to demonstrate really impressive drive and kick basketball.

921
00:43:24,719 --> 00:43:27,680
Speaker 1: This roster just has a ton of aggregate ball handling

922
00:43:27,719 --> 00:43:30,200
Speaker 1: and playmaking. It's been one of the more fun teams

923
00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:31,640
Speaker 1: that I've watched this year. If you haven't had a

924
00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:33,920
Speaker 1: chance to check them out yet, I highly recommend it.

925
00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:37,279
Speaker 1: They play defense, they run in transition. Their stars make

926
00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:40,960
Speaker 1: a lot of like really impressive plays happen. Scottie Barnes

927
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:43,520
Speaker 1: with bullyball, Brandon Ingram's play making out of the post.

928
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:45,920
Speaker 1: The two of them have been good on defense during

929
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:48,040
Speaker 1: this stretch as well. They're just they move it well.

930
00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:50,040
Speaker 1: They play really good drive and kick basketball. It's just

931
00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:51,600
Speaker 1: fun to watch. You guys should check out the Raptors

932
00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:53,799
Speaker 1: if you haven't had a chance yet. Number six the

933
00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:57,200
Speaker 1: Cleveland Cavaliers plus nine hundred to win the title according

934
00:43:57,200 --> 00:44:00,440
Speaker 1: to hard Rock Bet. They smacked the Clippers in Kawhi

935
00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:04,080
Speaker 1: Leonard's return yesterday, lost control of Vivika Zubats in that

936
00:44:04,120 --> 00:44:06,640
Speaker 1: game with Jared Allen out, Evan Mobley basically had defend

937
00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:09,319
Speaker 1: for himself down there, and he got smashed, but he

938
00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:11,880
Speaker 1: lost that battle. But they won the war as the

939
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:14,640
Speaker 1: Cavs completely held James Harden and Kawhi Leonard and Check

940
00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:16,719
Speaker 1: did a great job of chasing the Clippers off the

941
00:44:16,719 --> 00:44:18,680
Speaker 1: three point line. They picked the Clippers apart on the

942
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:20,680
Speaker 1: other end and pick and roll a lot at the

943
00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:24,080
Speaker 1: expense of Zubats and Donovan Mitchell was on fire yesterday,

944
00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:27,400
Speaker 1: thirty seven points on twenty two shots. He's on a

945
00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:30,680
Speaker 1: special heater right now. Thirty two points, six rebounds and

946
00:44:30,719 --> 00:44:33,760
Speaker 1: six assists per game on fifty thirty nine eighty seven

947
00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:36,319
Speaker 1: splits over his last eleven games, the thirty two, six

948
00:44:36,400 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 1: and six on almost fifty forty ninety. That's pretty impressive

949
00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:42,280
Speaker 1: stuff from Donovan Mitchell and that I've really enjoyed watching

950
00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:45,440
Speaker 1: Nikwon Tomlin grow into a consistent role this season. Just

951
00:44:45,480 --> 00:44:48,040
Speaker 1: your textbook high motor athlete, a guy that does a

952
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:50,040
Speaker 1: lot of damage on defense that can be deployed both

953
00:44:50,080 --> 00:44:51,799
Speaker 1: on and off the ball because he's got such great

954
00:44:51,880 --> 00:44:54,840
Speaker 1: length and athleticism and he's super active. Then he kills

955
00:44:54,880 --> 00:44:56,719
Speaker 1: you running the floor in transition and then does a

956
00:44:56,719 --> 00:44:59,200
Speaker 1: bunch of damage on the offensive glass. Just a type

957
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:01,640
Speaker 1: of really fun to watch kind of athletic wrecking ball

958
00:45:01,880 --> 00:45:04,400
Speaker 1: provided a type of dynamic that this cast team hasn't

959
00:45:04,440 --> 00:45:08,240
Speaker 1: had over the years. They're bigger forwards have typically been

960
00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:12,320
Speaker 1: a very different type of player, right and like DeAndre

961
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:14,640
Speaker 1: Hunter for instance, is you know, six' eight and pretty

962
00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:16,640
Speaker 1: big and, strong but leaves a lot to be desired

963
00:45:16,680 --> 00:45:18,120
Speaker 1: on the defensive end of the floor at. Times it

964
00:45:18,160 --> 00:45:20,319
Speaker 1: can be mistake prone and doesn't give a ton of

965
00:45:20,320 --> 00:45:22,440
Speaker 1: effort motor on that end of the floor at. Times

966
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:25,120
Speaker 1: and like having just a, big lanky athlete who just

967
00:45:25,120 --> 00:45:27,239
Speaker 1: plays super hard and can just make a lot of

968
00:45:27,280 --> 00:45:29,640
Speaker 1: plays has been an interesting dynamic add to the. Team

969
00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:33,560
Speaker 1: two straight games Where Darius garland has, played now all

970
00:45:33,600 --> 00:45:36,640
Speaker 1: eyes shift to his ability to actually stay on the floor.

971
00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:38,600
Speaker 1: Again that's going to be the key For cleveland reaching

972
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:42,400
Speaker 1: their ceiling number. Five The Los Angeles lakers at plus

973
00:45:42,600 --> 00:45:45,120
Speaker 1: fifteen hundred to win the title On Hard Rock. Bet

974
00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:46,920
Speaker 1: won't spend too much time here because we just did

975
00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:48,520
Speaker 1: a segment on, Them but the long and short of it,

976
00:45:48,560 --> 00:45:51,080
Speaker 1: Is i'm not as high on them as Some lakers fans.

977
00:45:51,120 --> 00:45:52,640
Speaker 1: ARE i think some of the issues with their jump

978
00:45:52,680 --> 00:45:55,640
Speaker 1: shooting are. Real in the starting lineup Only lebron And

979
00:45:55,680 --> 00:45:57,799
Speaker 1: ruie are WHAT i would consider to be reliable catch

980
00:45:57,800 --> 00:45:59,880
Speaker 1: and shoot, guys like, legit like they're going to make

981
00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:03,719
Speaker 1: when they're open rather than maybe. Right AND i keep

982
00:46:03,760 --> 00:46:06,520
Speaker 1: waiting For austin to become a reliable catches shoot guy

983
00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:09,279
Speaker 1: and he's just not And luca isn't, Either and off

984
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:11,560
Speaker 1: the bench they have guys that are struggling to hit.

985
00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:13,959
Speaker 1: Shots and so The lakers right now are dead last

986
00:46:13,960 --> 00:46:16,319
Speaker 1: and three point makes and bottom five and, percentage WHICH

987
00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:19,000
Speaker 1: i think is holding them back on. Offense but they

988
00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:21,000
Speaker 1: do have the third best record in the league right

989
00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:24,600
Speaker 1: now because they're great at controlling. Pace they're still somehow

990
00:46:24,680 --> 00:46:26,640
Speaker 1: top five half court offense because of how good they're

991
00:46:26,640 --> 00:46:29,160
Speaker 1: one on ones Are, Luca austin And lebron are just

992
00:46:29,160 --> 00:46:31,000
Speaker 1: doing a great job and pick and rolling IN iso.

993
00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:34,239
Speaker 1: Attacks lebron has been dominant in the, post and they've

994
00:46:34,239 --> 00:46:37,520
Speaker 1: been sneaky good on, defense fourteenth in defensive ratings so

995
00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:40,080
Speaker 1: far to start the, season the number one clutch defense

996
00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:43,560
Speaker 1: in THE, nba and all just putting together these timely

997
00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:46,319
Speaker 1: stretches of, defense the clutch stuff like a big, like,

998
00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:48,960
Speaker 1: oh late third, quarter we're gonna play really hard defense

999
00:46:48,960 --> 00:46:51,879
Speaker 1: for four minutes and turn a one point deficit into

1000
00:46:51,920 --> 00:46:54,120
Speaker 1: a seven point. LEAD a lot of like those kinds

1001
00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:56,480
Speaker 1: of stretches that are helping them take control of, games

1002
00:46:56,840 --> 00:46:59,759
Speaker 1: finding some found money in the form of Mexicallbo Is

1003
00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:02,400
Speaker 1: final looking healthy and playing some good, defense got all

1004
00:47:02,440 --> 00:47:06,200
Speaker 1: the key stops yesterday Against utah as their offense looked absolutely. Brutal.

1005
00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:08,759
Speaker 1: Again we'll talk about Why i'm not as high on

1006
00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:10,480
Speaker 1: them as a contender when we get to our contender

1007
00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:13,359
Speaker 1: rankings later in the. Week but twelve and, four third

1008
00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:16,040
Speaker 1: best record in the league plus fifteen hundred to win

1009
00:47:16,040 --> 00:47:18,080
Speaker 1: the title on hard Rock bett number. Four The Houston

1010
00:47:18,160 --> 00:47:21,200
Speaker 1: rockets plus one thousand to win the title according to

1011
00:47:21,239 --> 00:47:23,759
Speaker 1: hard Rock. Bet we hit them earlier in the, show

1012
00:47:23,760 --> 00:47:25,920
Speaker 1: So i'm not going to stay here too. Long BUT

1013
00:47:25,960 --> 00:47:27,680
Speaker 1: i thought they demonstrated a lot of their upside in

1014
00:47:27,719 --> 00:47:30,120
Speaker 1: The denver, game despite their stars not playing super. Well

1015
00:47:30,719 --> 00:47:32,880
Speaker 1: they did a lot of damage on the offensive, glass

1016
00:47:33,080 --> 00:47:35,080
Speaker 1: considering they were going against one of the best defensive

1017
00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:38,279
Speaker 1: rebounding teams in the, league albeit Without Aaron. Gordon BUT

1018
00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:41,160
Speaker 1: i also just thought they generated a really good offense

1019
00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:43,280
Speaker 1: down the. STRETCH a couple of corner threes For Jabari,

1020
00:47:43,320 --> 00:47:45,680
Speaker 1: smith one of those goes in very different type of.

1021
00:47:45,719 --> 00:47:48,359
Speaker 1: Game Shanng gun made a couple of mistakes in the short.

1022
00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:49,759
Speaker 1: Role it was a rough night for, him BUT i

1023
00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:51,680
Speaker 1: think there were reads that he'll eventually learn how to.

1024
00:47:51,719 --> 00:47:54,360
Speaker 1: Make and then again on. Defense outside of a couple of,

1025
00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:56,319
Speaker 1: MISTAKES i thought they did a pretty good job and

1026
00:47:56,360 --> 00:47:58,560
Speaker 1: Forced denver into some of the lower percentage shots in

1027
00:47:58,560 --> 00:48:01,120
Speaker 1: their profile that they just made Because denver. RIGHT i

1028
00:48:01,160 --> 00:48:04,040
Speaker 1: still feel pretty good about them being a legit top tier.

1029
00:48:04,120 --> 00:48:08,520
Speaker 1: Contender number three The Detroit pistons plus four thousand to

1030
00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:11,040
Speaker 1: win the title according to Hard Rock. Bet a somewhat

1031
00:48:11,080 --> 00:48:13,360
Speaker 1: light schedule this. Week they beat The bucks Without, giannis

1032
00:48:13,360 --> 00:48:14,799
Speaker 1: and they had a win versus The, pacers but they

1033
00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:16,960
Speaker 1: did have a really impressive road win against The Atlanta,

1034
00:48:17,000 --> 00:48:20,440
Speaker 1: hawks where once Again cad And Jalen duran just bludgeoned

1035
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:24,120
Speaker 1: a good defense in pick and. Roll the addition Of

1036
00:48:24,200 --> 00:48:26,840
Speaker 1: Dannis jenkins is really giving some nice returns to this.

1037
00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:30,440
Speaker 1: Team he's now played one hundred and seventeen possessions Alongside

1038
00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:33,560
Speaker 1: cad and they are plus seventeen net in those possessions

1039
00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:36,400
Speaker 1: with a one twenty seven offensive, rating just that additional

1040
00:48:36,440 --> 00:48:39,480
Speaker 1: shooting and ball handling to Support cad and then When

1041
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:41,560
Speaker 1: danis is on the floor Without, cade The pistons are

1042
00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:45,000
Speaker 1: plus twelve per one hundred possessions in three hundred and

1043
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:48,400
Speaker 1: twenty eight, POSSESSIONS a really nice. Rotation add, there twelve

1044
00:48:48,440 --> 00:48:50,759
Speaker 1: wins in a row For. Detroit tough schedule coming up

1045
00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:53,839
Speaker 1: though this Week, Boston, orlando And, miami so a couple

1046
00:48:53,840 --> 00:48:57,200
Speaker 1: of challenges for That Detroit. Pistons Team number, two The

1047
00:48:57,200 --> 00:48:59,560
Speaker 1: Denver nuggets plus five hundred to win the title according

1048
00:48:59,600 --> 00:49:01,360
Speaker 1: To Hard Rock. Bet once, again we hit them earlier

1049
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:02,719
Speaker 1: in the, show So i'm not going to dwell here

1050
00:49:02,719 --> 00:49:05,560
Speaker 1: for too, long but they passed a major top tier

1051
00:49:05,600 --> 00:49:08,759
Speaker 1: contender checkpoint On friday night In. Houston not gonna get

1052
00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:11,360
Speaker 1: too worked up about their loss To sacramento is just

1053
00:49:11,400 --> 00:49:14,000
Speaker 1: a brutal back to back after that type of, game

1054
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:16,720
Speaker 1: with the travel that they. Had i'm perhaps a tiny

1055
00:49:16,719 --> 00:49:18,480
Speaker 1: bit less high on them THAN i was to start the,

1056
00:49:18,560 --> 00:49:20,760
Speaker 1: year just because of how Good Oklahoma city has, Looked

1057
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:22,600
Speaker 1: but it has nothing to do With. Denver all of

1058
00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:25,280
Speaker 1: the upsides from their added depth and from their vets

1059
00:49:25,320 --> 00:49:27,520
Speaker 1: being true believers in what they can accomplish this year

1060
00:49:27,840 --> 00:49:31,640
Speaker 1: have come to. Fruition lastly number, one The Oklahoma City

1061
00:49:31,640 --> 00:49:34,440
Speaker 1: thunder plus one eighty to win the. Title according to

1062
00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:37,000
Speaker 1: Hard Rock, bet that number just keeps creeping up as

1063
00:49:37,040 --> 00:49:39,160
Speaker 1: they look good and as the as the rest of

1064
00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:42,160
Speaker 1: the league starts to show their. Flaws they continued their

1065
00:49:42,200 --> 00:49:45,040
Speaker 1: tour of dominance with another. Blowout they've played five straight

1066
00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:46,919
Speaker 1: games against teams that are below five. Hundred they played

1067
00:49:46,920 --> 00:49:49,520
Speaker 1: the easiest schedule in the League's we'll talk about that

1068
00:49:49,560 --> 00:49:51,919
Speaker 1: in a. MINUTE i don't BLAME okc for. It it's

1069
00:49:51,960 --> 00:49:54,640
Speaker 1: just making it hard for us to see like a

1070
00:49:54,680 --> 00:49:57,280
Speaker 1: little bit more high leverage basketball from. Them but played

1071
00:49:57,280 --> 00:49:59,719
Speaker 1: another blow five hundred team In portland yesterday blew them out,

1072
00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:02,640
Speaker 1: again the fifth straight time they've blown out a blow

1073
00:50:02,640 --> 00:50:05,319
Speaker 1: five hundred. Team But i'm all in ON okc, now

1074
00:50:05,440 --> 00:50:07,239
Speaker 1: and you guys will see in our contender, Rankings i'm

1075
00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:09,960
Speaker 1: moving them Past denver into my number one. SPOT i

1076
00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:11,920
Speaker 1: just think they're hitting all the checkpoints that they needed

1077
00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:14,759
Speaker 1: in terms of internal improvement to separate themselves from the.

1078
00:50:14,800 --> 00:50:18,399
Speaker 1: League LIKE chet looks way better than last. Year Aj

1079
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:20,960
Speaker 1: mitchell put up twenty on a perfect eight for eight

1080
00:50:21,320 --> 00:50:24,839
Speaker 1: last night as that like legit secondary creator who will

1081
00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:27,200
Speaker 1: become a tertiary creator with the return of j Dub

1082
00:50:27,760 --> 00:50:29,640
Speaker 1: and Then shay looks like he's made a, nice little

1083
00:50:29,719 --> 00:50:31,799
Speaker 1: modest leap from last. Year he's scoring at a rate

1084
00:50:31,840 --> 00:50:34,640
Speaker 1: of thirty five points per thirty six, minutes cut short

1085
00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:36,879
Speaker 1: by the fact that his team keeps blowing everybody, out

1086
00:50:37,239 --> 00:50:39,480
Speaker 1: and he's at a career high sixty seven percent for

1087
00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:42,239
Speaker 1: shooting due to the addition of a reliable three point.

1088
00:50:42,280 --> 00:50:44,560
Speaker 1: Shot now, again they've played far and away the easiest

1089
00:50:44,560 --> 00:50:46,920
Speaker 1: schedule in THE. Nba to, start opponents have won just

1090
00:50:47,000 --> 00:50:49,640
Speaker 1: forty two percent of their, games which is two point

1091
00:50:49,719 --> 00:50:53,640
Speaker 1: six percent lower than the twenty ninth ranked toughest, schedule

1092
00:50:53,680 --> 00:50:56,840
Speaker 1: which happens to Be. Phoenix they've played just four teams

1093
00:50:56,840 --> 00:50:59,759
Speaker 1: that are above five, hundred but they've looked excellent in

1094
00:50:59,800 --> 00:51:02,279
Speaker 1: those four. Games AND i don't think any of us

1095
00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:04,560
Speaker 1: are under any sort of delusion that they're going to

1096
00:51:04,640 --> 00:51:07,120
Speaker 1: fall apart when they start playing tougher. Competition they just

1097
00:51:07,120 --> 00:51:09,960
Speaker 1: look to me like an all time great basketball team

1098
00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:12,600
Speaker 1: playing some all time great. Basketball all, right, Guys that's

1099
00:51:12,600 --> 00:51:14,520
Speaker 1: ALL i have for today is always to sincerely appreciate

1100
00:51:14,520 --> 00:51:17,000
Speaker 1: you guys for supporting us and supporting the. Show we

1101
00:51:17,080 --> 00:51:20,880
Speaker 1: will be back tomorrow with another set of game. REACTIONS

1102
00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:21,920
Speaker 1: i will see you guys then