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You can 25 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: use code Hoops ten that's Hops one zero for ten 26 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: percent off your next set of tickets at Sea Geek. 27 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: That's ten percent off any tickets with promo code Hoops 28 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: ten that's Hops one zero. Make sure you click the 29 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: link and the description to download the app and have 30 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: the code automatically added to your account so you can 31 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: use it later. Thank you, Sea Geek. All right, welcome 32 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: on Hoops toight here at the Volume. Happy Monday, everybody. 33 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: Hope all of you guys are having a great start 34 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 1: to your week. Got a jam pack show for you today. 35 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: We had a bunch of great basketball games yesterday. We're 36 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: gonna be breaking down two of them. Off the top, 37 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: the Cleveland Cavaliers getting a big win on the road 38 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: against the Milwaukee Bucks, kind of controlling that one throughout. 39 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: Want to talk about some of the differences between those 40 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:03,800 Speaker 1: two teams and how it's led to their success and 41 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 1: failures this year. Then we got an MVP showdown the 42 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:08,799 Speaker 1: first of two. We got another one tonight that will 43 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: be breaking down in tomorrow's show. But the Denver Nuggets 44 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: one on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and 45 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:16,240 Speaker 1: the Thunder pretty much controlled that game throughout and ended 46 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: up winning in dominant fashion. Late, we're gonna break that 47 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: game down. Then at the tail end of the show, 48 00:02:20,919 --> 00:02:22,440 Speaker 1: I want to hit on the last two Golden State 49 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:24,760 Speaker 1: Warriors games, talking about how good Steph has been of 50 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:26,679 Speaker 1: late as he puts on a show against the Brooklyn Nets. 51 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:28,519 Speaker 1: And then I want to talk about how Draymond Green 52 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: and Jimmy Butler kind of stole the show down the 53 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,679 Speaker 1: stretch in a big win against the Detroit Pistons. You 54 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: guys know the job before we get started. Subscribed to 55 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any 56 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore 57 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:41,679 Speaker 1: JSNLT so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget 58 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: about a podcast for you where you get your podcast 59 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave 60 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:46,839 Speaker 1: a rating and a review on that front. We also 61 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: have brand new social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and 62 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: Facebook where we're releasing content throughout the year. Jackson's doing 63 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 1: some amazing work on those channels. Make sure you guys 64 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: follow us there. In the last but not least, keep 65 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: dropping mail back questions in the YouTube comments. All of 66 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: the mail bags have been kind of out of way 67 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: because of all the trips that I've been going on 68 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,679 Speaker 1: this month, and I still have two more at the 69 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: tail end of this month, so it's gonna get a 70 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: little tricky. But we're gonna be doing a mail bag 71 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: that I believe is releasing on Thursday this week that 72 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: I'm recording on Friday, so you still have a couple 73 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: more days to get in mail bag questions for that. 74 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,079 Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. So once again, every 75 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: time I watch these kind of like middle tier teams 76 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:24,399 Speaker 1: in the league. You know, I've talked about this last 77 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: night with Colin Coward, but like I kind of view 78 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: the inner circle of the NBA as like five teams 79 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:32,840 Speaker 1: that I think have like a real chance to win 80 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: the title, and in no particular order, because I'm gonna 81 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: end up doing some stuff involving ordering them over the 82 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:40,840 Speaker 1: course of the next month. Jackson and I were talking 83 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: this morning about doing very, very in depth breakdowns specifically 84 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: on the inner circle contenders involving some film and stuff, 85 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 1: so we're thinking about doing that over the course of 86 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: the next month. But those five teams for me right 87 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: now are in the Eastern Conference Boston and Cleveland, and 88 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: in the Western Conference Oklahoma City, Denver, and the Los 89 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers. If you look at those teams and you 90 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: watch them play every single night, there's a level of 91 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: seriousness on both ends of the floor and their execution 92 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: and their attention to detail and just their overall pursuit 93 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: of maximizing their talent and being the best basketball team 94 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: that they can be. And literally as soon as you 95 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: go below that, it's a drop off. Even with a 96 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:19,919 Speaker 1: team that has a pretty damn good record like the 97 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 1: New York Knicks, they've been so inconsistent with their defensive 98 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: execution this year. Teams like Milwaukee, teams like Minnesota. There's 99 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:32,039 Speaker 1: so many teams in that group that have been very, 100 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,479 Speaker 1: very inconsistent in their attention to detail. The one team 101 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:37,840 Speaker 1: that's kind of below there that I'm keeping my eye 102 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: on because I don't really know where they're gonna fit 103 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:41,839 Speaker 1: once we see a larger sample of them playing some 104 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: tougher teams as the Golden State Warriors. I think they 105 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:46,720 Speaker 1: have a chance to enter into the inner circle. There 106 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: are some teams in that group that I think I 107 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:50,800 Speaker 1: am keeping my eye on over the course of the 108 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 1: final month to see, but those are the five teams 109 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: that I see, and when you go beyond that, there's 110 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,680 Speaker 1: a pretty substantial drop off in terms of just a 111 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,599 Speaker 1: level of serious basket caket ball that they play. I 112 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:03,719 Speaker 1: thought it was really interesting as I started to dig 113 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: through the numbers, like, if you look at the margins, 114 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: these are the areas where all of the good teams 115 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: are always good. The margins are the little details that suck. 116 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: They're hard to do, but they're such an important part 117 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: of winning basketball games, for instance, taking care of the 118 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: basketball and making sure you don't give up points off 119 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,280 Speaker 1: of turnovers. The Thunder, the Calves, and the Celtics are 120 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:31,599 Speaker 1: all top five and opponent points off of turnovers, and 121 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: the Lakers are top ten. Giving up points off of 122 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,840 Speaker 1: offensive rebounds, the Calves and Celtics are both in the 123 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: top ten. The Thunder have always been a bad defensive 124 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:42,919 Speaker 1: rebounding team, that's their achilles heel, so they're out of 125 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: that group, but the Calves and Celtics top ten, and 126 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:47,880 Speaker 1: the Lakers since January fifteenth, when they kind of became 127 00:05:47,920 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: a serious team. They're seventh in that department giving up 128 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,160 Speaker 1: fast break points. The Calves, the Celtics, and the Thunder 129 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: are all in the top eleven in limiting opponent's fast breakpoints. 130 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,719 Speaker 1: This is the lakers Achilles Heel's where they always get beat. 131 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: They're unathletic in transition at times, cleaning the glasses. Overall 132 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: transition defense stat, the Calves, the Celtics, and the Thunder 133 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: are all top ten. The Lakers are top ten since 134 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: January fifteenth. Makes in the restricted area allowed so giving 135 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: up easy baskets right underneath the rim. The Calves, Celtics, 136 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: and Thunder are all top ten. The Lakers are seventh 137 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,479 Speaker 1: since January fifteenth. Total number of contested shots this year. 138 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,080 Speaker 1: This is a hustle stat on NBA dot Com. The Calves, 139 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 1: the Thunder, and the Celtics are all in the top four. 140 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: These are non negotiables. If you want to be a 141 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: serious basketball team, you have to be committed to running 142 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: the floor in transition, making contact on box outs, competing 143 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: for contested rebounds, making rotations, putting your body on the line, 144 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 1: making extra efforts contesting shots. These are non negotiables, and 145 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: they're hard. I get it. There's a reason why there's 146 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: such a huge swath of the league that's bad at 147 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,280 Speaker 1: this stuff on a nightly basis, because it's eighty two 148 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: games and you're all a bunch of million and it's 149 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: really really hard to get yourself to compete at that 150 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: level in a night in a night out basis. That said, 151 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: like I said, it's a non negotiable if you want 152 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: to get to the finish line, if you want to 153 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: get De Larry O'Brian Trophy. Every time I watched the Bucks, 154 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: they seem to be heavily lacking in these areas. They 155 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: are mediocre to bad and every single one of those 156 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: statistical categories that I listed, except for defensive rebounding. It 157 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: was jarring again to watch as the Calves just dominated 158 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: this game by out running the Bucks all over the floor. 159 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: Twenty four easy points in transition, countless possessions where they 160 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: would defend well and get a stop and rebound and 161 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: run out the other way and get an easy one 162 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: against a Bucks team that wasn't willing to run even 163 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: in the half court. It's the same sort of concept, 164 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: whether it was Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell or somebody 165 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: else creating that initial advantage. The Calves just sliced and 166 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: diced the Bucks defense with these beautiful driving kick sequences 167 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: that often ended in wide open looks for very good shooters. 168 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: You could literally see them repeatedly knifing through the lane, 169 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,280 Speaker 1: not just on that initial drive but on closeouts, and 170 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: as a result, they're able to grow that advantage so 171 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: that first close out's only a little bit of a 172 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:14,880 Speaker 1: close out, that second close out's more of a close out, 173 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: the third one no chance the dudes wide open. The 174 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 1: Calves generated twenty two unguarded catch and shoot jump shots 175 00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 1: in this game. The Milwaukee Bucks generated just nine. That's 176 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: the difference. The Calves have this beautiful ability to slice 177 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:36,679 Speaker 1: and dice defenses for these super high quality catch and 178 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,200 Speaker 1: shoot looks and at the same time, on the other 179 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: end of the floor keep their defense out of rotation 180 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,080 Speaker 1: against Milwaukee, and it's not just the commitment to running, 181 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,319 Speaker 1: it's the commitment off the ball on defense to tracking 182 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:52,959 Speaker 1: shooters being sharp with your closeouts. Cleveland was so attentive 183 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: and sharp. Every catch and shoot look for Milwaukee felt 184 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,680 Speaker 1: like it was smothered with a quick and reactive closeout. 185 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: How many times did you see Torrian Prince in the 186 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 1: game kind of lingering around five six feet away from 187 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 1: Max Struce and just a quick swing pass and Max 188 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: Struce knocks down a shot. How many times did you 189 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: see Brook Lopez and Janisantana Kumpo just drifting off of 190 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:16,800 Speaker 1: Evan Mobley and not in position to offer a closeout 191 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: as Evan Mobley made them pay knocking down that catch 192 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,400 Speaker 1: and shoot on the weak side. Prince in particular had 193 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: a really enough rough night in this regard, but as 194 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: a team, the Bucks were not attentive in their off 195 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: ball defense. That's how you end up with such a 196 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: huge chasm in the overall number of wide open catch 197 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: and shoot shots that they generated. The Bucks have a 198 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 1: lot of talent, but you can't even get to the 199 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: point where you're able to weaponize that talent until you're 200 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 1: willing to commit to the hard work that is consistent 201 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: winning basketball that is required to get to that level. 202 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 1: There are some realities with the Bucks regarding their age 203 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: in overall foot speed. This is a size team, not 204 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: a speed team. We're gonna talk about the difference between 205 00:09:58,480 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: the two here in a minute, but at the same 206 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,439 Speaker 1: time every time I watch them. There's just so much 207 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:06,719 Speaker 1: fat that can be trimmed simple transition defense principles like 208 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: stopping the ball, stopping the basket, and getting matched up. 209 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: There's a big one late in the game where Tori 210 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: and Prince left a wide open shooter right at the 211 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: top of the key. The on defense in the half 212 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: court like simple ideas like making sure that when you're 213 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: in help side defense, positioning yourself in a way where 214 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: you can see man and ball, and make sure that 215 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,839 Speaker 1: if that pass goes, you're already in the close out 216 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:32,679 Speaker 1: while the ball's in the air and you're there on 217 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: the catch. These are details that don't necessarily depend on 218 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:39,200 Speaker 1: their overall team speed that can be cleaned up that 219 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: they just haven't made the requisite effort to do so. Now, 220 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:44,480 Speaker 1: getting to the game itself, I want to talk about 221 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:48,040 Speaker 1: how the combination of speed and jump shooting is what 222 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 1: actually allows the Cleveland Cavaliers to generate so many quality shots. 223 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:53,600 Speaker 1: This has been the best offense in the NBA this year. 224 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: They're actually almost three points per one hundred possessions ahead 225 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: of the second place Boston Celtics. They're the only team 226 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: in the league getting over one offensive rating. The Caves 227 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 1: offense is unbelievable. Now, Like we talked about earlier, there's 228 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,320 Speaker 1: a difference between size and speed. There are two easy 229 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,840 Speaker 1: ways to get the defense into rotation through overwhelming speed 230 00:11:12,120 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: and overwhelming size. For overwhelming size, think like Jokicchure, guys 231 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:18,559 Speaker 1: like Lebron, James Luka, don Should, Chason Tatum, some of 232 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 1: these bigger, stronger players. They find a defender that's too 233 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:24,160 Speaker 1: small to guard them, then they pressure the rim until 234 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,360 Speaker 1: they get easy twos, or they draw in that second defender. 235 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,959 Speaker 1: Speed works the exact same way when you have guards 236 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: that through transition or through ball screens against switches, whatever 237 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: it is. When they can consistently get screaming downhill towards 238 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,079 Speaker 1: the rim, they either are going to get layups or 239 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: they're going to draw in multiple defenders. This is the 240 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 1: part of the Caves roster construct that has really shown 241 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 1: through this year. And for the record, I was originally 242 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: a couple of years ago completely out on the Darius Garland, 243 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell Perry as like a foundation for the Caves. 244 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: Why because it's two small guards, and when you're building 245 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: around two small guards, it just presents so many issues 246 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: for you on the defensive glass and just on the 247 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: defensive end in general. And by the way, they still 248 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: occasionally have rebounding issues and they still occasionally have defense issues. 249 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: But as Darius Garland has gotten healthy this year and 250 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,720 Speaker 1: as he's blossomed into this like super high level guard, 251 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: we've gotten to see the other side of that dynamic, 252 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:26,720 Speaker 1: which is that they do have overwhelming speed. Garland this year, 253 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: healthy with his legs underneath him, has been one of 254 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: my favorite players to watch in the league this year 255 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: because of his combination of speed and handle in shot 256 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: making and playmaking, which gives him the ability to get 257 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: wherever he wants to get on the floor. His probing 258 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:42,839 Speaker 1: and transition off the dribble and in the half court 259 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: is responsible for so much of Cleveland's offensive success. The 260 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 1: Cavs offense all year has been about two points better 261 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: per one hundred possessions when Darius Garland is on the 262 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: floor versus off, Donovan Mitchell brings the same thing. He's 263 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,199 Speaker 1: not at the same level of quickness that Darius Garland 264 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: is at, but he's close, and he's bigger, and he's 265 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: more vertically athletic, and he's a better shot maker and 266 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: he's got like a bunch of these really fancy gatherer moves, 267 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:09,480 Speaker 1: like he's been putting on a clinic of that like 268 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: windmill over the top gather that Dwayne Wade popularized, and 269 00:13:13,280 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 1: then he's brought back the sham god with a vengeance 270 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: this year. He had another nasty one the other night. 271 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: Darius or Donovan Mitchell's ball handling in the middle of 272 00:13:21,280 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 1: the floor has been unbelievable this year, but he also 273 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 1: has an amazing ability to get wherever he wants on 274 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: the floor. That's the initial first step for any driving 275 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,679 Speaker 1: kick sequence. You've got to generate that initial advantage that 276 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:39,360 Speaker 1: compromises the defense and generates those kickout opportunities for your 277 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:42,400 Speaker 1: spot up guys. From there, they just have a bunch 278 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 1: of guys who are awesome at playing driving kick basketball. 279 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: Max Struz Lightning quick release, can do it on the 280 00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,320 Speaker 1: move and is a really good driving kick player, can 281 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:53,360 Speaker 1: make basic driving kick reads. Dean Wade is good at 282 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: it too. DeAndre Hunter has been brilliant so far as 283 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,840 Speaker 1: a CAV as a spot up guy, as a guy 284 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: who can do some advanced in the mid range attacking closeouts. 285 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: Ti Jerome is good at it. Sam Merrill's good at it. 286 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:06,360 Speaker 1: Mitchell and Garland can both do it when they're off 287 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 1: the ball. Just give you an idea. Here are some 288 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,600 Speaker 1: spot up efficiency numbers for Calves players according to Synergy. 289 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: DeAndre Hunter one point three seven points per possession. That's outrageous. 290 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 1: Ty Jerome one point three to six points per possession. 291 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,040 Speaker 1: That's outrageous. Craig Porter, obviously in a smaller role, one 292 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: point two to eight points per possession. Max Streu's one 293 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:30,200 Speaker 1: point twenty four, Donovan Mitchell one point one eight, Sat 294 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 1: Marrill one point one five. They have six players logging 295 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: over one point one five points per possession and spot 296 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: up situations. As a team, they get one point one 297 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: one points per any spot up possession. Only the Celtics 298 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: in the NBA are better at converting spot up possessions 299 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 1: than the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they generate so many of 300 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: them on the strength of their speed. It's that combination 301 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: speed which is necessary to consistently get the defense in 302 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 1: rotation and then having players that can extend advantages and 303 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:07,840 Speaker 1: pay them off even they're bigs. Evan Mobley last night 304 00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: burned Giannis and Brooke on skip passes by hitting weak 305 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 1: side threes. He's shooting thirty seven percent from on catch 306 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,280 Speaker 1: and shoot threes this year. That is helping. Jared Allen 307 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: provides his own kind of spacing as a short range 308 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: shot maker. There's a play yesterday where Darius Garland was 309 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: driving through the lane and Jared ended up like kind 310 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: of right outside the right block, and Darius ran into 311 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 1: a bunch of help and just kind of dumped it 312 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: off to Jared Allen, and Jared Allen just stuck a 313 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,200 Speaker 1: little left handed floater like six feet from the basket. 314 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: In all year long, he's been deadly on hooks and floaters. 315 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 1: He provides his own kind of spacing in that way. 316 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: It's a principle that works for them in both the 317 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: half court and in transition. It makes them nearly impossible 318 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:50,560 Speaker 1: to guard. And it's why they've been head and shoulders 319 00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:52,480 Speaker 1: above the rest of the field on offense this year. 320 00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: The Celtics are in second place three points fewer per 321 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: one hundred possessions. That's how ahead of the field their 322 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 1: offense has been. Yeah, as we've talked about, margins shrink 323 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: when you get to the postseason. I saw a crazy 324 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: stat this morning when I was digging through some old 325 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:13,840 Speaker 1: NBA data, Five of the last seven NBA teams to 326 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: win at least sixty games or to win at a 327 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: sixty win pace in the two shortened seasons in twenty 328 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,520 Speaker 1: twenty and twenty twenty one, five of the last seven 329 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:26,720 Speaker 1: of the teams to accomplish those feats failed to win 330 00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: their conference in the playoffs. Only one of those five 331 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: losers made it out of the second round. The reason 332 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: is simple, By the way, the two exceptions there are 333 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: the twenty twenty Lakers and last year's Boston Celtics. The 334 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: reason why this happens is you're almost exclusively in the 335 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 1: playoffs facing elite locked in defenses that have done extensive 336 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: game planning, and as the officiating loosens up and the 337 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:56,520 Speaker 1: game becomes very physical, all of that easy dribble penetration 338 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 1: becomes harder to come by. In the half court. It 339 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: gets harder to get to your spot, and the catch 340 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: and shoot threes get harder to knock down because everyone's 341 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: more tired from being in that super physical environment. The 342 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: game actually shifts in the playoffs heavily towards each individual 343 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: matchup and how well each team can guard each other 344 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:18,840 Speaker 1: in the half court again. Five out of the last 345 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,960 Speaker 1: seven teams to do what Cleveland's doing, to do what 346 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: Oklahoma City is doing, failed to make it out of 347 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,199 Speaker 1: their conference. Four out of those seven failed to make 348 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 1: it out of the second round. That is a trend 349 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: that Cleveland has to find a way to reverse, and 350 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:36,359 Speaker 1: it's going to come down to guys knocking down shots 351 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:38,119 Speaker 1: at the same rate they did in the regular season 352 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 1: and Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell continually being able to 353 00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 1: generate those advantages and once again finding ways to make 354 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: sure that you can prevent specific matchups from causing you 355 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: problems when you get into the in a playoff series. 356 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 1: For instance, we talked about the Celtics Cavs series a 357 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: Celtics Calves game the other night. The ability to attack 358 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:02,320 Speaker 1: Sam Hauser in the half court in crunch time that 359 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: won't be there, So it'll be about can Jason Tatum 360 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:09,639 Speaker 1: and Jaylen Brown do a better job of attacking Garland 361 00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,879 Speaker 1: and Tatum is comfortable against both Allen and Mobley as well, 362 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:15,880 Speaker 1: are they going to be able to attack those guys 363 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: better than Cleveland can attack Derek White, Al Horford, Chris 364 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:25,400 Speaker 1: aps Porzingis in his drop coverages whatever it may be. 365 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,280 Speaker 1: That is the battle. That's the chess match that ultimately 366 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:31,720 Speaker 1: is going to determine who wins the title, not which 367 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,000 Speaker 1: team had the better offensive rating in the regular season, 368 00:18:34,160 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: which team had the higher win percentage. That is what 369 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:38,760 Speaker 1: happens in NBA history, and that is why a lot 370 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 1: of these teams that dominate the regular season end up 371 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: losing in the postseason. It doesn't matter what you accomplished 372 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:46,879 Speaker 1: in the eighty two. It comes down to the matchups. 373 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: Not to be clear, the team that wins the title 374 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: is almost always in the upper echelon of teams, basically always, 375 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 1: so there is a mandatory minimum of a commitment to 376 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:01,040 Speaker 1: excellence that you have to have, and all of those 377 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: teams had that. But what ends up happening are there 378 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:09,119 Speaker 1: are these teams, usually in that second tier, usually that 379 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:11,480 Speaker 1: don't have quite the sixty win pace, but they're in 380 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: the mid fifties or so that were dead serious all year. 381 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,320 Speaker 1: But maybe they're a little older, maybe they're a little slower, 382 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 1: and they get run off the floor a bunch of 383 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:21,720 Speaker 1: times in the regular season, but they get into the postseason, 384 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:24,159 Speaker 1: they get their shit together. The Vets leverage their athleticism 385 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: and it gets tougher, and that's the challenge that Cleveland 386 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,840 Speaker 1: has to overcome when the margins shrink and it becomes 387 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: about Garland and Mitchell matchup attacking versus a different team 388 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: matchup attacking them. How can they hold up. I think 389 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: they're gonna hold up really well against everybody except for 390 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: Boston out in the East, and ultimately that's the challenge 391 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:49,640 Speaker 1: and nothing else really matters until we get to that point. 392 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:52,040 Speaker 1: A couple of the shoutouts from the Bucks game again, 393 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: I thought Max Struce was just awesome, and I thought 394 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,159 Speaker 1: he kicked Torrey in Prince's ass and that was a 395 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: significant swing factor in this game. I also thought the 396 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:01,919 Speaker 1: Caves defended Damian Lillard extreme well. Isaacacorro in particular, did 397 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:04,200 Speaker 1: a really nice job. His shifts were excellent in this game. 398 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:06,119 Speaker 1: I also thought it was just a great example of 399 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:10,439 Speaker 1: how devastating Cleveland's driving kick attack can be in the 400 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 1: sense that no player on the team scored over twenty points. 401 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: Darius Carland and Donovan Mitchell were both broke on their 402 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: pull up threes, and it just didn't matter because they 403 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 1: just picked Milwaukee apart for wide open catch and shoot 404 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,919 Speaker 1: threes for their role players. Who's scoring big in the 405 00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,520 Speaker 1: NBA this season? 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It started off 437 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,880 Speaker 1: super high energy and a lot of shot attempts because 438 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:11,560 Speaker 1: the thunder we're running a lot of single coverage against 439 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,360 Speaker 1: Jokic with Hartenstein, so both guys were getting a bunch 440 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 1: of shot ups. Shaye and Yokic attempted twenty one shots 441 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: between the two of them in the first quarter. It 442 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:20,280 Speaker 1: was kind of crazy and it was funny too, because 443 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,040 Speaker 1: neither guy could make a three point shot to save 444 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,680 Speaker 1: their life, but they were getting them up. Like Shaye 445 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,160 Speaker 1: is so good at driving to the basket that when 446 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,160 Speaker 1: he turns that right shoulder and just does that hard 447 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:31,880 Speaker 1: little step back move, he can get a good look 448 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,320 Speaker 1: from three literally whenever he wants. And Yokic can get 449 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:37,440 Speaker 1: one whenever he wants just by popping out of ball 450 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,400 Speaker 1: screens or spacing above the key because he's generally being 451 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,479 Speaker 1: guarded by really big players that are defending in some 452 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:45,840 Speaker 1: sort of drop coverage and he's just gonna be wide 453 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: open every time he pops out. Those threes were there, 454 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,400 Speaker 1: they were just both missing them. There was a lot 455 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 1: of talk about Jokic's elbow and his jump shot in 456 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: the game, and I remember a similar conversation happening last 457 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,879 Speaker 1: year when Yokic's jump shot was struggling surrounding his wrist. 458 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,159 Speaker 1: And again, I'm not debating whether or not Yokic is 459 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,640 Speaker 1: actually hurt. I'm sure he is. But here's the thing, 460 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:09,240 Speaker 1: regardless of whether or not it's an injury, him making 461 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: that shot is vitally important to the ceiling of this team. Okay, See, 462 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,159 Speaker 1: he was doing an awesome job against Yo kicch in 463 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: this game of swarming him on rolls, going under on 464 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:25,200 Speaker 1: inverted ball screens, and basically daring Jokic to make above 465 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:28,000 Speaker 1: the break threes. You know you've seen it before, Like 466 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: they'll okay, see will come from the weak side with 467 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,600 Speaker 1: guys like JDub or Shay just swiping over the top, 468 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: and they got these long arms and they'll just go 469 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:37,479 Speaker 1: at these bigs when they catch on the roll and 470 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:39,880 Speaker 1: just swarm them and make life really difficult for them. There. 471 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:44,119 Speaker 1: Yokic had an uncharacteristic, uncharacteristic poor shooting game because he 472 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: had to drop back in those ball screens and start 473 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 1: popping above the break, and he just couldnt knock him down. 474 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 1: That's his counter to that coverage. When they're swarming him 475 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: on rolls, he'll pop. And here's the thing. When he's 476 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:02,040 Speaker 1: hitting forty five percent of his threes, that's one point 477 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: three to five points per possession. That's untenable for the defense. 478 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,160 Speaker 1: Now you're chasing him off the line, he's rumbling downhill 479 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,680 Speaker 1: and he's attacking closeouts and you're in trouble. But here's 480 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 1: the problem. Over the last sixteen games, Yo Kids' shooting 481 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: just thirty two point nine percent from three. And this 482 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:18,879 Speaker 1: is the thing with the elbow. I'm sure the elbow 483 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: is not helping things at this point, but we are 484 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: now on almost a fourth of the season where he's 485 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,240 Speaker 1: back to shooting the ball extremely poorly. Again, it's just 486 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,800 Speaker 1: something to keep an eye on. Again, that's what happened 487 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 1: in the Minnesota series, defending Yogics by daring him to shoot, 488 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,920 Speaker 1: and his inability to knock down those three point shots. Again, 489 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,520 Speaker 1: it's just something to keep an eye on. Hopefully it's 490 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:42,920 Speaker 1: just a small trend in the season that he can 491 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,680 Speaker 1: kick before we get to April. But this game was 492 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:49,200 Speaker 1: just a complete and total outclassing by the Oklahoma City Thunder. 493 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: They shot better from two, they shot better from three, 494 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: They got to the line more, they shot better when 495 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: they got to the line. They out rebounded Denver by eight, 496 00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 1: They had more assists, they had fewer turnovers, they had 497 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:01,920 Speaker 1: more points off turnovers, they had more points in the paint. 498 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: It was like total domination. I thought Shay and Jadub 499 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: just eviscerated Denver's man to man defense with their ability 500 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:10,720 Speaker 1: to get downhill. You know, we've talked a lot about 501 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,360 Speaker 1: Jokic in his defense at the level of ball screens, 502 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:15,639 Speaker 1: but they don't have much in the way of perimeter 503 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:20,000 Speaker 1: containment either, just in terms of their guard defenders. Shaye 504 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 1: right away from the start of this game made it 505 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,359 Speaker 1: perfectly clear that he can drive past Christian Brown whenever 506 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 1: he wants. Really, the only guy I thought that kind 507 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:30,120 Speaker 1: of made Shaye uncomfortable was Russ, who did some really 508 00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: nice work with physicality and back pressure, and he actually 509 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: forced him into some pretty bad misses. But like everyone else, 510 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 1: he was just going by whenever he wanted. And in 511 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,760 Speaker 1: ball screens, Jokic had a couple of different coverages he 512 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:44,240 Speaker 1: was using in this game. He's either coming all the 513 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:45,679 Speaker 1: way up to the level or he's sitting in a 514 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:47,920 Speaker 1: deeper drop, and none of it worked. When he was 515 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 1: in the deeper drop, Shae could just get wherever he 516 00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:52,560 Speaker 1: wanted in the mid range. And Shae didn't shoot well 517 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:53,879 Speaker 1: from three in this game, but he was six for 518 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:56,280 Speaker 1: twelve on mid range pull ups. And then when Yokic 519 00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,439 Speaker 1: came up to the level, he'd just go around it, 520 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 1: either by splitting the ball screen or like in and 521 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:04,120 Speaker 1: out dribble and make that aggressive dribble past him, Shay 522 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,359 Speaker 1: was just picking them apart. I thought j Dub was 523 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,960 Speaker 1: brilliant in the second half. He did some great work 524 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: against Yo kitchen ball screens in the early third quarter. 525 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 1: But he was one of the guys who really helped 526 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: the Thunder crack Denver zone. The Thunder eviscerated Denver's man 527 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,439 Speaker 1: demand defense in the half court in this game, they 528 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 1: got one point two to three points per half court possession. 529 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:27,239 Speaker 1: A one to twenty three offensive rating in the half 530 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:30,119 Speaker 1: court is outrageous. Denver's man and man defense could not 531 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,960 Speaker 1: guard Oklahoma City. So Mike Malone in that second half 532 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:37,240 Speaker 1: go zone and it gets him back into the game. 533 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,359 Speaker 1: They run zone for seven possessions in the third quarter. 534 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: In the thunderscore zero points. They couldn't get dribble penetration. 535 00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: They were generating these kind of mediocre catch and shoot 536 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 1: looks on the perimeter off of swing passes, so Denver 537 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:51,680 Speaker 1: worked their way back into the game. I thought Tim 538 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: Legler is just an absolute legend, and I've really enjoyed 539 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: him being on call on the call in these games lately. 540 00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: He was doing a great job of explaining how when 541 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:03,159 Speaker 1: the zone is there, it contains dribble penetration, which was 542 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,520 Speaker 1: the specific problem that a Denver was having with Oklahoma 543 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:10,119 Speaker 1: City all game long. But in the fourth quarter, the 544 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 1: Thunder found a way to penetrate the zone screens out 545 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:15,080 Speaker 1: the top and then just beating the man in front 546 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 1: of you and getting into the middle of the zone 547 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:18,920 Speaker 1: where everybody reacted, where they generated higher quality catch and 548 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 1: shoot looks. J Dubb did this several times. Alex Crusoe 549 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,200 Speaker 1: had a nice driving kick to the left corner as well. 550 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:27,320 Speaker 1: As a result of that, they were able to generate 551 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:29,680 Speaker 1: higher quality catch and shoot looks. Then they started popping 552 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:31,199 Speaker 1: the ball around the perimeter. They had a really nice 553 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,679 Speaker 1: dunk that they got for Isaiah Hartenstein by moving the 554 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: ball around a bunch of times, getting Denver's zone moving 555 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 1: and Jokic had to rotate out and chet just threw 556 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: a beautiful pass from the top of the key to Hartenstein. 557 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,439 Speaker 1: He got a dunk. On eight possessions of zone to 558 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:48,359 Speaker 1: start the fourth quarter. The Thunder scored fourteen points and 559 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:51,360 Speaker 1: that caused Mike Malone to bail on that too. Then 560 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:53,520 Speaker 1: Shay comes back in and closes the deal with a 561 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 1: bunch of buckets. He's another mid range jump shot and 562 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,480 Speaker 1: pick and roll. He had a nasty hesitation move on 563 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:00,359 Speaker 1: Jamal Murray where he just kind of looked at the 564 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:04,399 Speaker 1: rim as he went forward right hand left side layup 565 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:06,720 Speaker 1: for another bucket, and then he had a step back 566 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,400 Speaker 1: three at the top of the key. He finally made 567 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:10,600 Speaker 1: one that ended up being the dagger in this game, 568 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,199 Speaker 1: and this ended up being an absolute blowout as the 569 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:16,080 Speaker 1: Thunder one one twenty seven to one ZHO three. I 570 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:18,680 Speaker 1: want to talk a little bit about MVP and about 571 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,120 Speaker 1: how this game kind of fits into that in tonight's 572 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,120 Speaker 1: rematch as well, but before we do that, I want 573 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:24,919 Speaker 1: to talk a little bit about Jalen Williams, who's been 574 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,240 Speaker 1: on an absolute tear. He had twenty six, nine and 575 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: eight last night. In his last nineteen games, he's getting 576 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,159 Speaker 1: twenty three points per game, five rebounds, and five assists 577 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,280 Speaker 1: on fifty nine percent true shooting. Not bad for a 578 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: twenty three year old, right. He's been one of the 579 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: best defensive players in the league over that span as well. 580 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: He's just kind of like the prototypical Swiss Army knife forward, 581 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: which is one of my favorite archetypes in the league. 582 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 1: He's big and strong, He's a great athlete, He's a 583 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: legit shooter. He had a rough start to this season 584 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: jump shooting, but he's been over forty percent from three 585 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: in this span, and he was fantastic last year. He's 586 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: a legit on ball creator. He can shoot off the dribble, 587 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,240 Speaker 1: he can score from all three levels. He's way ahead 588 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 1: of where most forwards are as playmakers at this phase 589 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 1: of his career. Like so many of these forwards can't. 590 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:11,239 Speaker 1: They're like one to one assist the turnover guys. You 591 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 1: can count on j Dubb to just be another level 592 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 1: above as a playmaker at the forward position than most 593 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,400 Speaker 1: guys are. He's just kind of a natural at it. Honestly, 594 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: I tend to think a lot of that playmaking talent 595 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: is natural. And he's a very good defensive player. You 596 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,160 Speaker 1: can guard multiple positions, he can defend both on and 597 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 1: off the ball, and he's a good defensive rebounder. Now, 598 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: the next step for him is becoming a reliable secondary 599 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: ball handling option in the postseason context. It can't turn 600 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,360 Speaker 1: into Shay's got to make all the shots. That's where 601 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: they get into issues, right, But he's well on his 602 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 1: way to that point. So I'm going to say the 603 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: same thing that I said when we were talking about Cleveland. 604 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: Five of the last seven teams to win at least 605 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: sixty games in a season or to win at a 606 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:55,200 Speaker 1: sixty game pace in the shortened seasons failed to win 607 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: their conference in the playoffs. Four of those five teams 608 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 1: lost in the second round or And the reason why, 609 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 1: like we talked about earlier, is margins become less of 610 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,520 Speaker 1: a separator. Everyone is really good, defenses are really good, 611 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:11,320 Speaker 1: the game planning is incredible, and now it becomes about 612 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 1: how do you match up against this team? Nothing else 613 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: matters For two weeks you're playing against each other. It's 614 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 1: going to denigrate down into half court basketball. It's going 615 00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:22,000 Speaker 1: to get super physical, and it's going to come down 616 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:25,120 Speaker 1: to matchups. Okama City is going to run into the 617 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:28,000 Speaker 1: same problem they ran into last year, role players making 618 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: catch and shoot shots. And is Jalen Williams going to 619 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: be able to be that legitimate secondary option to help 620 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,000 Speaker 1: carry weight for Shae Kills with Alexander. That is the 621 00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 1: trend they're going to have to overcome if they are 622 00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:43,400 Speaker 1: going to beat that trend. Or Five of the last 623 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:45,280 Speaker 1: seven teams to win at this pace have failed to 624 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:49,360 Speaker 1: have success in the postseason. A couple of things. I 625 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: want to get to the Denver front and talk a 626 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:55,600 Speaker 1: little bit about the MVP race. So we already talked 627 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,280 Speaker 1: about the MVP race in our last show, but yesterday 628 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 1: was a strong statement from Shay drops forty picks apart 629 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:06,120 Speaker 1: Denver's defense. Despite a poor three point shooting game, I 630 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:09,360 Speaker 1: thought he had a good defensive game as well. He's 631 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: up to minus five hundred on DraftKings to win the 632 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:17,040 Speaker 1: award after last night's game. But these same two teams 633 00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:20,240 Speaker 1: play again tonight in Oklahoma City. If Yo Kich is 634 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:22,480 Speaker 1: gonna get back into the race, he's gonna have to 635 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: win tonight, and he's gonna have to look clearly better 636 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:27,560 Speaker 1: than Shay in the process. So what can Denver do 637 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:30,800 Speaker 1: to flip the script tonight? A couple things. One, I 638 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:33,680 Speaker 1: thought yokichs at the level coverages were effective when he 639 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 1: contained the ball. There were a couple times where he 640 00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,040 Speaker 1: was late up to the level and Shaye was able 641 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:39,840 Speaker 1: to split him or make it in and out dribble 642 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:41,680 Speaker 1: and go the other way. He gave up a little 643 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,040 Speaker 1: too much dribble penetration on some of those looks. But 644 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:46,680 Speaker 1: if he gets up to the level quickly and forces 645 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:49,480 Speaker 1: Shaye to not get downhill but to take a retreat dribble. 646 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,600 Speaker 1: Shay struggles compared to most of his peers at skipping 647 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 1: the ball out of ball pressure. So they can actually 648 00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 1: do a good job of putting two on the ball 649 00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:01,480 Speaker 1: with Shay and keeping their defense out of rotation as 650 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,120 Speaker 1: long as Yo Kic gets up there quickly and is 651 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:06,479 Speaker 1: active with his hands to prevent Shae from splitting him 652 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 1: off the dribble two. As a team, they need to 653 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,680 Speaker 1: do a better job of containing dribble penetration at all positions. 654 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,960 Speaker 1: We talked about that earlier. Three. I would absolutely try 655 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:17,720 Speaker 1: the zone again. I'd wait, I'd wait until Oklahoma City 656 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:20,160 Speaker 1: makes a second half run and try to just use 657 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:23,280 Speaker 1: it as a rhythm disruptor. I think Yokic is gonna 658 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 1: have to hit some of those pick and pop jumpers 659 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 1: like we talked about it like that again, when you 660 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:30,960 Speaker 1: look at the way Oklahoma City is guarding him on 661 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,160 Speaker 1: those rolls, it's just the easy counter. It's for him 662 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:35,680 Speaker 1: to pop. He just has to knock the shot down. 663 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:38,440 Speaker 1: If Yo Kitchen the Nuggets get a big win tonight, 664 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: it will flip the script and get things back to 665 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:43,080 Speaker 1: where they were yesterday. And if you looked at the 666 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:46,120 Speaker 1: odds yesterday, Jokicch was like plus two hundred. He was 667 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:49,959 Speaker 1: back within striking distance. The narrative was gaining strength. If 668 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:52,920 Speaker 1: he gets a win tonight and Yokicch is amazing the 669 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,880 Speaker 1: rest of the season and he demonstrates a little bit 670 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: of a closing of that gap, maybe he can make 671 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:00,480 Speaker 1: up ground and get to his fourth envy. But it's 672 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: going to start tonight by flipping the script against the 673 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:20,640 Speaker 1: thunder all right, Let's talk a little bit about the 674 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:22,520 Speaker 1: Golden Saved Warriors before we get out of here for today. 675 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: A couple of big wins over the weekend against the 676 00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,920 Speaker 1: Brooklyn Nets and the Detroit Pistons. Steph put on an 677 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:31,720 Speaker 1: absolute show against Brooklyn. Dropped forty points, hit one of 678 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 1: the craziest shots of his career, left shoulder fade from 679 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:36,920 Speaker 1: forty feet to beat the halftime buzzer. Just a ridiculous shot. 680 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:38,880 Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about that specific 681 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,280 Speaker 1: footwork and how Steph's just been deadly on it here 682 00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:43,600 Speaker 1: in a little bit. He hit two threes in the 683 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,200 Speaker 1: final six minutes that ice that game. He continues to 684 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:48,680 Speaker 1: be absolutely brilliant. He dropped thirty two more against the 685 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:52,240 Speaker 1: Pistons yesterday. We're now at a fifteen games span from Steph, 686 00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:54,560 Speaker 1: where he's played every night, hasn't missed a game, averaged 687 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,400 Speaker 1: thirty one points, four rebounds, and six assists on sixty 688 00:33:57,440 --> 00:34:02,080 Speaker 1: five percent true shooting. Remember Steph's animous MVP campaign, he 689 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,040 Speaker 1: averaged thirty points a game on sixty seven percent trough shooting. 690 00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:08,000 Speaker 1: He's basically at that level and he looks like it too. 691 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:11,000 Speaker 1: I talked about how the best example of it is 692 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,040 Speaker 1: his paint scoring in a video a while back. I 693 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:15,720 Speaker 1: shared some stats with you guys about how since Jimmy 694 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,120 Speaker 1: Butler came to the team, his rim attempts and his 695 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:22,640 Speaker 1: efficiency of skyrocket skyrocketed since Jimmy came to town. But 696 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:25,440 Speaker 1: another example that has come to light to me is 697 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:29,879 Speaker 1: his movement shooting, particularly sprinting to his right. I've talked 698 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 1: about this concept on the show before, but it is 699 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:35,640 Speaker 1: the hardest shot for a right handed shooter. Most right 700 00:34:35,640 --> 00:34:38,640 Speaker 1: handed shooters, when they're taking a jump shot, their shoulders 701 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:41,319 Speaker 1: are not square to the basket. They're tilted slightly to 702 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:43,680 Speaker 1: the left. Why Because it's just kind of a natural 703 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:46,640 Speaker 1: spot for the shooting motion to exist. Most right handed 704 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:50,360 Speaker 1: shooters are very comfortable moving to the left, shooting to 705 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:52,759 Speaker 1: the left, because as they're running, it's an easy one 706 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: to two with that right foot left foot as they're 707 00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:56,799 Speaker 1: planning their feet to get up, straight up and down, 708 00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,440 Speaker 1: and when they're off to dribble, they're already canted in 709 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:01,440 Speaker 1: that direction, so they can take step backs and shoot. 710 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:03,680 Speaker 1: Shay's a great example that step back that Shay shoots 711 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 1: all the time. He's using that right foot to jab 712 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:08,680 Speaker 1: because his right foot's going to be forward when he 713 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:12,400 Speaker 1: shoots anyway, and so like as you're moving as a 714 00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:16,320 Speaker 1: shooter to your left, it's easier. Most ball handling shooters 715 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:18,200 Speaker 1: in the league, if you funnel them to the right, 716 00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:20,120 Speaker 1: they're going to go to the rim. If you funnel 717 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:21,759 Speaker 1: them to the left, they're going to settle for a 718 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,360 Speaker 1: pull up jump shot. It's like a basic defensive principle 719 00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:27,040 Speaker 1: that works for the most part at all levels. But 720 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:30,040 Speaker 1: the very best shooters in the world can also shoot 721 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,319 Speaker 1: really well moving to the right. It's just way more difficult. 722 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:38,560 Speaker 1: Specifically on your legs, that same dynamic is reversed. I 723 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:41,880 Speaker 1: want to shoot with my right foot slightly canted forward 724 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:46,200 Speaker 1: and my left foot slightly back, but I'm running towards 725 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:49,320 Speaker 1: my right hand side. So as I'm running, my left 726 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:51,879 Speaker 1: foot is closer to the basket and my right foot 727 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:54,799 Speaker 1: is closer to half court. And so in order to 728 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,759 Speaker 1: rise up and knock down a shot sprinting to my right, 729 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:01,160 Speaker 1: I have to plant that left foot, swing that right 730 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:04,600 Speaker 1: foot all the way around, and plant it as close 731 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:08,280 Speaker 1: to forward as possible, usually not. And then as I'm jumping, 732 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,160 Speaker 1: I have to square up in mid air in order 733 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:13,560 Speaker 1: to rise up and knock the shot down. It is 734 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:18,480 Speaker 1: a very difficult shot, specifically on your legs. And that's 735 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:20,560 Speaker 1: the most exciting part that I've seen from Steph over 736 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 1: the course the last couple of weeks, other than the 737 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:25,520 Speaker 1: stuff and the paint. He's sprinting into that jump shot, 738 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:29,000 Speaker 1: running to his right, and he's hitting that thing. He 739 00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:31,560 Speaker 1: had a big one against the Pistons late. He had 740 00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:33,959 Speaker 1: a big one against the nets late. He had another 741 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,400 Speaker 1: one a couple games earlier, the fade away that he 742 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:39,240 Speaker 1: hit against the nets. That's also a same sort of concept. 743 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:42,560 Speaker 1: He's pivoting over his left shoulder and squaring up in 744 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:44,600 Speaker 1: mid air to knock down a shot. That to me 745 00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:47,280 Speaker 1: is a great sign that Steph has a really strong 746 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:50,000 Speaker 1: base right now, and that to me is the most 747 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:52,600 Speaker 1: important part. You're seeing it too. Yeah, he had a 748 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:54,520 Speaker 1: little step back jumper that he missed against a Star 749 00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:57,479 Speaker 1: Thompson in the I think it was in the late third, 750 00:36:57,640 --> 00:36:59,120 Speaker 1: it could have been in the fourth quarter, but he 751 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:01,520 Speaker 1: got tons of separate against a Star Thompson, and I'm like, oh, 752 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:04,239 Speaker 1: my goodness, Like Sar Thompson is one of the most 753 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,280 Speaker 1: athletic perimeter defenders we have in the league, and Steph 754 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:08,960 Speaker 1: just just basically shucked him off and got an easy look. 755 00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:15,839 Speaker 1: Steph is looking fantastic, and that is exciting because there 756 00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:20,920 Speaker 1: is no championship ceiling for this team, even with trades, 757 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:24,000 Speaker 1: even with roster upside, even with Jimmy Butler. There's no 758 00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:27,359 Speaker 1: championship upside for this team unless Steph Curry gets back 759 00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:30,400 Speaker 1: to top tier superstar level, and we're at about a 760 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:33,040 Speaker 1: month now of him being at that level, which is 761 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:35,040 Speaker 1: super super encouraging. But I want to shout out some 762 00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:39,120 Speaker 1: of Steph's teammates from the Pistons game. The Pistons defended 763 00:37:39,160 --> 00:37:41,959 Speaker 1: Steph pretty well. He grinded out his thirty two points 764 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:44,560 Speaker 1: because he's a legend, but it wasn't easy. Sar Thompson 765 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:46,880 Speaker 1: did a good job on him in this game. Jalen 766 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:49,759 Speaker 1: Duran logged some really good at the level reps in 767 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,719 Speaker 1: that fourth quarter, even got a strip on Steph trying 768 00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:54,680 Speaker 1: to cross over in front of him in that stretch, 769 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:57,200 Speaker 1: but the Warriors were able to go somewhere else for 770 00:37:57,280 --> 00:38:00,040 Speaker 1: offense down the stretch. Jimmy was fantastic all night. He 771 00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:01,520 Speaker 1: had twenty six to nine and five, one of his 772 00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:03,840 Speaker 1: better stat lines as a Warrior. Did a lot of 773 00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:06,600 Speaker 1: work against Isaiah Stewart in switches in the bench groups. 774 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,319 Speaker 1: He's already showing some nice chemistry with Quinton Post as 775 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:11,640 Speaker 1: like a ballscreen guy. He can get some favorable switches 776 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:13,920 Speaker 1: there because nobody wants to leave Quinton Posts open on 777 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:16,239 Speaker 1: the pop if they can avoid it. He's good at 778 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: like kind of operating in the dunker spot off of Jimmy, 779 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:20,399 Speaker 1: and Jimmy's just doing a really nice job with those 780 00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:22,520 Speaker 1: bench groups. But he also hit one of the biggest 781 00:38:22,520 --> 00:38:25,279 Speaker 1: shots of the game late ty game a little over 782 00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:28,280 Speaker 1: a minute left, just cleared the left side of the floor, 783 00:38:28,800 --> 00:38:31,400 Speaker 1: gave the ball to Jimmy against Tobias Harris, and he 784 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:34,759 Speaker 1: just sat in that hesitation dribble and rose up over 785 00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:36,440 Speaker 1: the top and knocked down a big shot to put 786 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:40,480 Speaker 1: the Warriors up too. And then Draymond Green two massive 787 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:43,920 Speaker 1: plays a beautiful pass to Steph on a cut where 788 00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:47,200 Speaker 1: he was cutting through the lane and Malik Beasley was 789 00:38:47,239 --> 00:38:50,799 Speaker 1: like face guarding Steph, and Draymond identified that he was 790 00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:53,839 Speaker 1: face guarding him, and that means he's open and he's 791 00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:56,680 Speaker 1: being face guarded. It means he's not watching man and ball. 792 00:38:56,680 --> 00:39:01,040 Speaker 1: He's only watching man. So Draymon just this easy, breezy 793 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:03,600 Speaker 1: little pass and Steph saw it. Just sealed Malik a 794 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:05,319 Speaker 1: little bit, allowed the pass to come in right over 795 00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:06,799 Speaker 1: the top and then flipped it in for an and 796 00:39:06,920 --> 00:39:10,439 Speaker 1: one beautiful read from Draymond Green, and then the game 797 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:14,200 Speaker 1: winner with about thirty seconds left, just confidently stepped into 798 00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:15,920 Speaker 1: a three on the right wing and swished it. There 799 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:17,520 Speaker 1: was a lot of time on the shot clock when 800 00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:23,000 Speaker 1: that shot went up, so Draymond literally trusted himself down 801 00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:24,960 Speaker 1: what was it down two or down one, I can't 802 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,719 Speaker 1: remember exactly down in the final minute to rise up 803 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:31,319 Speaker 1: and knock down a shot with plenty of time left 804 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:35,520 Speaker 1: in the shot clock swished it to just unbelievable plays. 805 00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:39,040 Speaker 1: On one hand, the luxury of having an apex star 806 00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,040 Speaker 1: to give the ball too late to go get a bucket, 807 00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:43,920 Speaker 1: but on the other hand, a confident veteran who can 808 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:46,440 Speaker 1: make simple reads and step up and make big shots 809 00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:48,520 Speaker 1: and big moments. I thought it was awesome that those 810 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:50,640 Speaker 1: two stepped up and made the plays late to beat 811 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:53,120 Speaker 1: the Pistons. I want to sho shout out some of 812 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,239 Speaker 1: the other role players as well. Moses Moody. He had 813 00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:57,839 Speaker 1: a rough shooting night overall, but he made two huge 814 00:39:57,840 --> 00:39:59,520 Speaker 1: plays late. He had a big catching shoot three out 815 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:02,680 Speaker 1: of the right corner, and then after Draymond's three, playing 816 00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:06,160 Speaker 1: some good ball pressure to Kay Cunningham and strips Cade 817 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:08,360 Speaker 1: at half court. One of the biggest plays of the game, 818 00:40:08,719 --> 00:40:10,440 Speaker 1: a big steal. He had three steals in this game. 819 00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:13,280 Speaker 1: And then Gi Santos just active all over the floor. 820 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:16,440 Speaker 1: He had an incredible offensive rebound put back where he 821 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:18,799 Speaker 1: got knocked to the floor off of like a little shove, 822 00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:20,319 Speaker 1: but he just kind of fed the ball into the 823 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:23,120 Speaker 1: basket and got an and one. He had this nice 824 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,360 Speaker 1: play too late in the game where he was operating 825 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:27,239 Speaker 1: with the ball at the right wing, and there was 826 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:30,640 Speaker 1: off ball action running and the pistons were just completely 827 00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:33,720 Speaker 1: geared towards the off ball action, and he just ripped 828 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:35,560 Speaker 1: through to the right side driving lane and got all 829 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:37,359 Speaker 1: the way to the basket and made a layup. He 830 00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:39,759 Speaker 1: looked awesome. He had fifteen points and six rebounds and 831 00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:43,520 Speaker 1: was a plus twelve. The Warriors are eleven and two 832 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:46,399 Speaker 1: in their last thirteen games, now just five games back 833 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:49,520 Speaker 1: from the two seed as they continued to climb in 834 00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:51,400 Speaker 1: the standings. All right, guys, that is all I have 835 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:53,719 Speaker 1: for tonight. As always, as sincerely appreciate you guys for 836 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:56,680 Speaker 1: supporting me and supporting the show. We'll be back tomorrow 837 00:40:56,960 --> 00:40:59,440 Speaker 1: with a breakdown of that rematch between the Thunder and 838 00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:02,479 Speaker 1: the Nuggets, to swallow some a couple other games from tonight's slate. 839 00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:08,520 Speaker 1: I'll see you guys then the volume. What's up guys, 840 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:11,279 Speaker 1: As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting 841 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:13,920 Speaker 1: hoops tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us 842 00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:15,839 Speaker 1: if you guys would take a second and leave a 843 00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:18,520 Speaker 1: rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys 844 00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:20,120 Speaker 1: supporting us, But if you could take a minute to 845 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:22,000 Speaker 1: do that, I'd really appreciate it.