1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: The volume Lakers Tonight is presented by FanDuel Sports Book. 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,639 Speaker 1: There's no better place to make every moment more than 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 1: with FanDuel. You get great odds in markets for the 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: NBA and a gel college and so much more. It's 5 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: America's number one sports book. It's super easy to use. 6 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 1: Plus you can combine multiple bets from the same game 7 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: into a same game parlay. If you are new, just 8 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: download the FanDuel Sports Book app to get started. Now 9 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,440 Speaker 1: sign up with promo co Jason T so they know 10 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: I sent you. Twenty one plus in president Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, 11 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:39,680 Speaker 1: Permitted parishes only, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Virginia 12 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: or West Virginia. First online real money wager only. Refund 13 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: issued as non withdrawalable site credit that expires in fourteen days. 14 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,480 Speaker 1: Restrictions apply see terms at sports book dot FanDuel dot com. 15 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: Gambling problem called one eight hundred, next step or text 16 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: next step to five three three four two in Arizona 17 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: one eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven 18 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:08,679 Speaker 1: seven or visit CCPG dot org slash chat in Connecticut 19 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: one eight hundred gambler or visit FanDuel dot com slash 20 00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: RG in Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, in Virginia one eight 21 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: seven seven seven seven zero stop in Louisiana one eight 22 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: hundred to seven zero seven one one seven for confidential 23 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:30,920 Speaker 1: help in Michigan one eight seven seven eight hope and why, 24 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,679 Speaker 1: or text hope and Why to four six seven three 25 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: six nine in New York. In tennessee redline dial one 26 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: eight hundred eight eight nine nine seven eight nine in 27 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 1: Tennessee visit www one dot one eight hundred gambler dot 28 00:01:46,680 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: net in West Virginia. All right, Welcome to Hoops Tonight, 29 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: presented by Fan Duel here at the volume. Happy Thursday, 30 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,640 Speaker 1: everybody happy. I'll be one Canobi released day, something that 31 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: I am very excited to indulge myself with immediately after 32 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 1: this show is over. In completely inconsequentially, I wore my 33 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: Star Wars shirt tonight. Um awesome, incredible performance from the 34 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors, enough fight from Dallas to not be 35 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: completely embarrassing, which is about the best that we can 36 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: hope for in this conference final, which has been an 37 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: utter disaster. But I believe that the disaster that this 38 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: Conference Finals has been is largely fueled by Golden State 39 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: being much better than Dallas. Yes, I was wrong. Dallas 40 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: is not in the same league as Golden State. They 41 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: are much better and that played out in the series. 42 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: And Boston is much better than Miami, and more often 43 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,679 Speaker 1: than not, the blowout nature of this Conference Finals has 44 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: been a swing back and forth between the better team 45 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: dominating and then the better team letting their foot off 46 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: the gas periodically because there's so much better than the 47 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,519 Speaker 1: team they're playing, which is what happened with Golden State 48 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: in Game four and what happened with Boston in game one. 49 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 1: In Game three, the chasm between these two teams is gigantic, 50 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: and that led to a pretty ugly Conference final, although 51 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: Boston still has to close the deal. But I do 52 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: believe our NBA Finals series, which I expect to be 53 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 1: Boston versus Golden State, is going to be much more interesting. 54 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: We have packed show tonight. I want to get into 55 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,320 Speaker 1: the weeds of this game tonight. Talk a little bit 56 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: about how this Golden State Warriors engine continues to impress me, 57 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: a little bit about Luca and the way he went 58 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: down tonight, and some kind of concerning markers that I 59 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: noticed not just on the defensive end, but also with 60 00:03:52,720 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: some of his off ball threat stuff. And then if 61 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: you guys stick around for the end of the show, 62 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 1: I want to take some time. I'm not as big 63 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: on the player rankings as I used to be when 64 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: I was younger, but I do still think they carry 65 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: some importance. And there was an epic debate in the 66 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: social media world about whether or not Steph or Lebron 67 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:20,039 Speaker 1: will be higher all time after this if the Warriors 68 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: were to win a championship this year, fueled of course, 69 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: as always by the talking head cycle at ESPN, this 70 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: time Patrick Beverley, who is clearly not afraid to say 71 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: anything scary. So we will get to some Lebron VERSU 72 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 1: step stuff at the end of the show. Before we 73 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:36,839 Speaker 1: get started, all of you guys who are listening, if 74 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:38,600 Speaker 1: you could take the time to like this video, I 75 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: would sincerely appreciate that that helps us a lot. Also, 76 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: if you could subscribe to the channel so that you 77 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: don't miss any more of our content, that would be awesome. 78 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: Draymond Green, I'm sure we'll be reacting soon in the 79 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:50,280 Speaker 1: next couple of days. And then, last but not least, 80 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason lt So you 81 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: guys can see the video breakdowns that we do. We 82 00:04:55,680 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: have big plans to do a lot of footage, like 83 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: actual on court footag stuff during the NBA Finals, So 84 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: you're gonna want to be following me for that. So 85 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: I wanted to get started by talking a little bit 86 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:11,600 Speaker 1: about the importance of having multiple offensive threats, which has 87 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: been the difference between Golden State in Dallas and the 88 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:21,480 Speaker 1: difference between Boston in Miami. The we we looked at 89 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 1: this Boston game last night. You go into an important 90 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:29,279 Speaker 1: game on the road in Game five, and Jayson Tatum 91 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:33,359 Speaker 1: plays poorly, right, Marcus Smart plays poorly. You know, you 92 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,599 Speaker 1: don't shoot the ball particularly well. But that team is 93 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:41,479 Speaker 1: loaded with guys that can score. And so even though 94 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,719 Speaker 1: those two guys didn't play particularly well, you've got a 95 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: big Derek White game, You've got a monster Jalen Brown game. Right. 96 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: The anatomy of having multiple threats is chances are you know, 97 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: like this is just the anatomy of being a basketball player. 98 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 1: Any of you guys who are listening who played hiccup, 99 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: don't you have days where you go up and everything's 100 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 1: going in and then you have days where you're going 101 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: up where you're taking the same shots and they just 102 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: miss for whatever reason. Right, Like, there's a lot of 103 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 1: you know, what's the what's the word I'm looking for here? 104 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: Like like shot just like a difference in expected shot 105 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: result versus actual shot result. Right, And if you only 106 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: have a couple of threats, it's far more likely that 107 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: you might catch them on a night where no one's scoring. 108 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: We go forward to Golden State tonight. You know, I 109 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 1: have once again met up with with Live Moods. Are 110 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:38,039 Speaker 1: are are one of our big gambling people here at 111 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: the volume, and we were talking about the same game 112 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: partlay to put together today. And you know, Clay Thompson 113 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: uniquely seems to have a nose for these types of settings. 114 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: He's one of those guys that seems to get even 115 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:57,359 Speaker 1: more confident and have even more audacity when the stakes 116 00:06:57,360 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: are highest, which is why he's so reliable towards the 117 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: ends of playoff series. And it's such an interesting dynamic. 118 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: It's such an interesting dynamic in the sense that that 119 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: threat is always that's always a possibility when you have 120 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: that much talent on the floor. If it wasn't Clay tonight, 121 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: it would have been someone else. Jordan Pool had an 122 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: okay game, right. I think he had fourteen points or 123 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: fifteen points, right, Like, that's an okay game from Jordan Pool. 124 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: You know you've got uh. Steph Curry was largely playing 125 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: decoy tonight. And the value of having all those threats 126 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: is what allows you to have the enough shots at 127 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: the roulette table to have a couple of them hit. 128 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: If I got six guys that can go for twenty points, 129 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:44,600 Speaker 1: it's a lot more possible that a couple of guys 130 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: actually do. Andrew Wiggins couldn't buy a three point shot tonight, 131 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: but he was massive scoring in the mid range and 132 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: at the rim, right, Like, that's that's a nice threat 133 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: coming through for you there. Kevon Looney eighteen rebounds, seven 134 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:04,240 Speaker 1: offense siv rebounds, seven additional possessions, including what I thought 135 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: was the dagger to Clay Thompson on the right wing 136 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: after and Andrew Wiggins missed three on the left wing, 137 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: and with Andrew with with Kevon Looney, it's not the 138 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 1: same kind of threat, right, It's not you know, him 139 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: going for twenty five points. What it is is it's 140 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: him remaining a threat off the basketball by simply playing 141 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: hard and having a nose for the ball, chasing after 142 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: offensive rebounds right, and securing the defensive rebounds. This is 143 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: something I've been super critical of a lot of players 144 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,439 Speaker 1: over the years. I'm gonna be critical about Luke with 145 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: Luca about it later tonight. You know, there are, roughly 146 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,559 Speaker 1: depending on the team, you play around a hundred possessions 147 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: in a basketball game. You're not going to shoot or 148 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,400 Speaker 1: pass on all of them. You might be like, if 149 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: you're a starter, you're gonna be in there for seventy 150 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:55,320 Speaker 1: ish possessions, So what are you gonna do on the 151 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 1: other thirty or forty possessions when you're not involved? Right? 152 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: That's what have all Looney does to remain threat. But 153 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: most importantly, and this is I think the thing that 154 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 1: most frequently gets glossed over with this whole Golden State 155 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: Warrior system because don't get me wrong, they have a 156 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: lot of talent. Gold State and and Boston have proven 157 00:09:12,840 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: that they have the two most talented rosters in this 158 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: playoff field. Unfortunately because of the decline of Phoenix's Superstars, 159 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: which we we've been over on the show before. But 160 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: there's something very different about the way Step plays and 161 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 1: the way that opens things up for other scores. You know, 162 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:35,719 Speaker 1: one of the you know, the heliocentric style I think 163 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: gets maligned too much. I think people point to heliocentric 164 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: styles failing when more often than not, it is talent. 165 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: Like everyone says, oh, two thousand eighteen hard and it failed. 166 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: And don't get me wrong, Harden wasn't great. Deserves a 167 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 1: ton of criticism there. But they're up three too before 168 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: Chris Paul went down, right, they look at you know, 169 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: things like the we look at like the Clippers last year, 170 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: it's very heliocentric, is very Reggie Jackson and Paul George 171 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: just isolating while they space the floor. But it's like, 172 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 1: I mean, if they have Kawhi Leonard, they probably be Phoenix, right, 173 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 1: you know. And then this year with Luca, it's like 174 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: this style, the spreading the floor. It has a lot 175 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: more effectiveness than you would think. This team has out 176 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: king coverage with respect to the amount of talent that 177 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: it has. It has a lot more to do with 178 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: the fact that Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinuity are running 179 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: your alternate possession. So to be clear upfront, I do 180 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: think helio centric basketball can work if you have the 181 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 1: right roster construction. But this style that Steph plays with 182 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: also works and it's damn effective. It requires a different 183 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: kind of thing, right, Like there's a huge difference between 184 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: a spot up threat and a scoring threat for helio 185 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: centric systems. You need spot up threats for movement systems, 186 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: and with the star that can succeed so much off ball, 187 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,679 Speaker 1: like Steph, it helps more to have scoring threats. That's 188 00:10:56,679 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: why you saw guys like Andrea Guadala and Sean Livingston 189 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 1: and Leandro Barbosa and everything you know, Jordan Pool, these 190 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,960 Speaker 1: kinds of guys succeeding alongside step to have a scoring 191 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:12,680 Speaker 1: archetype because with the way that Steph inverts a defense, 192 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: with the way that he can succeed off ball, with 193 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:17,440 Speaker 1: the way that he dictates attention even when he doesn't 194 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: have the ball a lot more often than not, it 195 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: has to do with guys being able to put the 196 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 1: ball on the floor and score rather than with the 197 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: heliocentric system. You need guys like Maxi Kleiba. You need 198 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: guys like Reggie Bullock who can just spot up and 199 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 1: be deadly when you help, as guys like Lucar Driving 200 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:38,319 Speaker 1: into the lane. But what's this Steph play style? We've 201 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: talked about it before, and I said the same thing 202 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,199 Speaker 1: to Colin Coward when I went on his show on Sunday. 203 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: It's impossible to replicate because there just isn't a player 204 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: around the league that has the requisite commitment to winning 205 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,079 Speaker 1: to be willing to do something like be a decoy 206 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 1: all night long. Like there's a little flurry there in 207 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 1: the third quarter where Steph tried to or but outside 208 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:04,480 Speaker 1: of that, he basically was content to absorb defensive attention 209 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: and let his teammates go off. That's very unique around 210 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:14,679 Speaker 1: the NBA. The Warriors had thirty six assists on forty 211 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: five field goals tonight. That's an insane number. Over of 212 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: their field goals were assisted tonight. Think about how wild 213 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:29,120 Speaker 1: that is. That kind of thing just doesn't happen anywhere 214 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: else in the league. That is a unique, impossible to 215 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: replicate play style that is opened up by Steph, and 216 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: everyone down the line is bought into it, including Clay Thompson, 217 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: who was incredible tonight. I wanted to talk about this 218 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 1: clay Hot streak because you know, the the the anatomy 219 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: of a Clay Hot streak is so different than other scores. 220 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: You know, a lot of Warriors fans over the course 221 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: of the years will tell you that Steph is obviously 222 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,719 Speaker 1: a much better player than Clay, and obviously step is 223 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: a much better shooter than Clay. Steps the best shooter 224 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,280 Speaker 1: of all time. But Warriors fans usually will admit that 225 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:15,600 Speaker 1: Clay's hot streaks are actually better than steps. The famously 226 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,320 Speaker 1: once scored what was it, thirty seven points in a quarter. 227 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: He once had sixty points in three quarters. Clay Thompson 228 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: will be and it's a couple of different things. One, 229 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:34,920 Speaker 1: he's got a really quick release and it's very there's 230 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: not a lot of wasted movement. It's one of the 231 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,079 Speaker 1: number one things that I coach kids on when I'm 232 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,920 Speaker 1: coaching my high school kids about shooting. You know, the 233 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 1: more moving parts you have, the more margin for error 234 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: there is, or the less margin for error there is. 235 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: If I'm doing all sorts of weird stuff as I'm 236 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: going up into my shot, all it takes is one 237 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: of those parts getting out of whack for the shot 238 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,200 Speaker 1: to miss. Clay Thompson is one of my favorite players 239 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 1: to show people at an example of beautiful shooting. For 240 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:05,079 Speaker 1: him because there is no wasted motion, which is one 241 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:06,960 Speaker 1: of the main things that allows him to get that 242 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 1: muscle memory so dialed in that he can hit these 243 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: hot streaks. And then the key is he's tall. He's 244 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: six ft seven and with that quick release at six 245 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:22,400 Speaker 1: ft seven, for Clay, if he wants to and don't, 246 00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: you don't have to work too hard to get a 247 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:27,920 Speaker 1: shot off. And so his hot streaks have always been 248 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 1: so interesting to me because there's it's a different kind 249 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: of helplessness than it is with Steph. A lot of 250 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: times with Steph you feel like you're guarding him well 251 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: and he's just making impossible shots because he's the best 252 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: shooter of all time. With Clay, it just feels like 253 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: he's getting great looks. He seems to have a nose 254 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: for the ball. This is another huge detail. This is 255 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: an instinct thing. It's not something you can coach. It's 256 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: something that some players just have. It's like it's like 257 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: the rebounders like Kevan Looney who just have an instinctual 258 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: nose for the basketball. They just they seem to know 259 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: where the ball is coming off the rim. They seem 260 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 1: to know where they're supposed to be to get the rebound. 261 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:09,720 Speaker 1: Clays the same way with his spotting up, his ability 262 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: to relocate and kind of just have a feeling of 263 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:15,680 Speaker 1: where he can get the basketball and kind of just 264 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:17,520 Speaker 1: have a feeling of where the open spot in the 265 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: defense is. Every time there's an offensive rebound, doesn't it 266 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,000 Speaker 1: just kind of seem like Clay's open. He'll he'll sense 267 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: that sort of thing. He'll sense when the offensive rebound 268 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 1: is there, and he won't get back on defense. He'll relocate. 269 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 1: He's got all these little unique traits that are so 270 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: different from other shooters around the league. And I think 271 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,560 Speaker 1: that's why, even though he's not as good as shooter 272 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: as Steph, he can have hot streaks that are even crazier. 273 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: But overall, I thought tonight was an absolute clinic in 274 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: what makes this Golden State offense great. And I'm gonna 275 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:50,800 Speaker 1: be really critical of Dallas and their defense here in 276 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 1: a little bit, but there, over the course of the 277 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: last third of that game, I thought Dallas actually was 278 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 1: defending pretty well in Golden State. It still was able 279 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: to get the shots that they needed to get, so 280 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,880 Speaker 1: salute to them. Um. I was bummed out by the 281 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: conference finals. I thought they were boring on a bunch 282 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: of different levels. First of all, Golden State proved to 283 00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 1: be way better than Dallas, and Steph proved to be 284 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: way better than Luca. I made a prediction when I 285 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:21,040 Speaker 1: wasn't confident in I told you guys, I wasn't confident 286 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: in this particular series, but I thought Dallas. I leaned 287 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: slightly towards Dallas in six games. I was flat out wrong. 288 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: I was wrong about Luca over Steph. I was wrong 289 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 1: about the Dallas roster and being able to keep up. 290 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:34,960 Speaker 1: I have to own that Golden State proved themselves to 291 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: be the better team. I've been right about a lot 292 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: of stuff in this playoff run, and I've been wrong 293 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: about a lot of stuff in this playoff run. It's 294 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: just kind of the nature of the way things go. 295 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: But that talent gap between Golden State and Dallas, as 296 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: well as the talent gap between Boston and Miami, I 297 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: think it's a huge part of why these games been blowouts. 298 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 1: I think it's been a combination of Boston and Golden 299 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: State dominating games because they are better, and Dallas in 300 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: Miami hanging tight and and and taking advantage of lacks 301 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:05,159 Speaker 1: of daisical effort from Boston and Golden State when they 302 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: get too arrogant and they let their foot off the 303 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:09,399 Speaker 1: gaess like what happened to Golden State and game in 304 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:11,959 Speaker 1: game four and what happened to Boston in games one 305 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: in game three. Right, this series is going to be 306 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 1: a whole lot closer. If Boston closed the deal tomorrow, 307 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: which I expect them to. We're looking at again. This 308 00:17:24,680 --> 00:17:26,239 Speaker 1: is the biggest example that I can use to kind 309 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: of demonstrate to you guys the difference in this matchup 310 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:31,920 Speaker 1: compared to what Golden State has been dealing with through 311 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:36,199 Speaker 1: this playoff run. Golden State averaged like over points per 312 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:42,280 Speaker 1: Hunter possessions against Denver. Denver was outmatched with talent. Yoki 313 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:44,479 Speaker 1: had so much on his offensive load that he basically 314 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: had to mail in the defensive end just to have 315 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: the energy to hang in the games. Golden State lit 316 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:51,239 Speaker 1: him on fire. Golden State destroyed this Dallas team. They 317 00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: embarrassed him on the defensive end. Dallas has a whole, 318 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:56,080 Speaker 1: a whole other defensive set of issues they're gonna have 319 00:17:56,080 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: to confront this summer. With John Morant on the floor, 320 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:02,280 Speaker 1: the Warriors scored about a hundred and twelve points per 321 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:04,479 Speaker 1: one hundre possessions, which is pretty good. Not as good 322 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: as they did in the other two series, but pretty good. 323 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:11,119 Speaker 1: Here's the issue. When Memphis was without Job through that 324 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:14,840 Speaker 1: entire series, the Warriors had a hundred and four offensive rating. 325 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: That's pretty low. Boston is a much much better defense now. 326 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: To be clear, I'm picking Golden State to win this series, 327 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: but I expected to be much closer and to be 328 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: by far Golden State's biggest challenge of this playoff run, 329 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: and it will have a lot to do with the 330 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:34,720 Speaker 1: fact that they're facing a defensive matchup that they haven't 331 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: faced yet. In this series, Boston ran a ton of 332 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,359 Speaker 1: drop coverage against Miami. Miami their offensive system is is 333 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:45,000 Speaker 1: reliant on a lot of dribble handoffs and high ball 334 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,280 Speaker 1: screens with Bam and guys like Max Struce and Gay Vincent, 335 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: Kyle Lowry, you know, even a little bit of Jimmy 336 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,359 Speaker 1: Butler Tyler Harrow coming off of those screens and pulling 337 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: up jump shots right. And I vehemently disagreed with the strategy. 338 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:01,160 Speaker 1: I thought it was a huge part of why Miami 339 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:04,320 Speaker 1: got the wins they did early in the series. But 340 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: the way the reason why it broke for Boston is 341 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 1: everyone went cold. Max Strew's completely fell apart, Kyle Lowry 342 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,480 Speaker 1: completely fell apart, Tyler Harrold got hurt, and then Jimmy 343 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:17,800 Speaker 1: Butler completely fell apart. Gay Vinson has been the only 344 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: guard really for Miami that's played well. Right, We're upgrading 345 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 1: all of that for this series. Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, 346 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,919 Speaker 1: Jordan Pool even a little bit, and Andrew Wiggins. This 347 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,879 Speaker 1: is an entirely different level of pull up jump shooting 348 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 1: team and curl jump shooting team and movement jump shooting team. 349 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 1: So I don't think Boston is gonna be able to 350 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:42,199 Speaker 1: run the same drop coverage that they did. So this 351 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: is where rim pressure becomes critical. I expect Boston to 352 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: do a ton of switching. Now that that what happens 353 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,800 Speaker 1: with switching, Golden State's gonna do things like they're gonna 354 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: run wild off ball actions to try to confuse Boston switches, 355 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: to try to bait them into mistakes. They will get 356 00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:02,199 Speaker 1: some a ups and dunks in this series off of 357 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 1: that type of off ball movement and mistakes from Boston. 358 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: But a large part of what Golden State will have 359 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: to do offensively in this series is to attack switches. 360 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,080 Speaker 1: So this is where this is This is where shot 361 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 1: selection becomes key and rim pressure becomes key, specifically for 362 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: Jordan's Pool and Steph. When you're attacking a switching defense, 363 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: it becomes about your ability to create an advantage against 364 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: your defender, specifically the weakest defender on the floor that 365 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,639 Speaker 1: you're trying to target, which with Boston there's just not 366 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: a lot of options there. So the tendency for a 367 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 1: lot of players in these types of situations is to 368 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: fall for the trap and to go to a series 369 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:47,639 Speaker 1: of isolation moves and take pull up jump shots. It's 370 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 1: one of the biggest things that Boston's had issues with 371 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 1: throughout the series, which by the way, will impact Boston 372 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:53,879 Speaker 1: when they're on offense. And I'm gonna get to that 373 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 1: here in just a minute. But the best way, the 374 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,439 Speaker 1: smart way to attack a switch defense is to apply 375 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:07,880 Speaker 1: rim pressure to engage help defenders, because you don't want 376 00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,920 Speaker 1: to run into an isolation contest. If you run into 377 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:14,680 Speaker 1: an isolation contest, you put yourself at the mercy of physicality, 378 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: and Boston's gonna have physical advantage over advantages over you 379 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:21,440 Speaker 1: in this series. But if you turn it into an 380 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,480 Speaker 1: isolation contest where they're isolating and you are getting kick 381 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 1: out wide open shots and nice you know, uh, offensive 382 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: opportunities attacking closeouts, then you have the advantage. The only 383 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: way to get to the point where you can attack 384 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: closeouts against the switching defense is if you apply rim 385 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,640 Speaker 1: pressure and engage rim defenders. So there will be a 386 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:47,200 Speaker 1: ton of pressure on Steph and Jordan Pool in particular 387 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:51,240 Speaker 1: to get dribble penetration, and they both do it very differently. 388 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: Steph does it by weaponizing the threat of his shooting 389 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 1: to keep you on your toes, leaning forward, constantly concerned 390 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 1: about the threat of the pull up, and weaponizing that 391 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:05,919 Speaker 1: to get around you. For Jordan's Pool, it's just straight 392 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,680 Speaker 1: line speed in the ability to change direction in combination 393 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: with the ability to handle the basketball. There was a 394 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,000 Speaker 1: massive pivotal play in the third quarter of this game tonight. 395 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 1: Luca makes a tough float in the lane, gets it 396 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: down to eight. Actually someone else at score, but they 397 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: got it down to eight, and it's the end of 398 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: the quarter and Jordan Pool brings the ball off the 399 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:28,359 Speaker 1: floor and he's got Reggie Bullock on him and he 400 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: just hits him with a vicious right to left crossover 401 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:36,240 Speaker 1: and completely dusts him a good defensive player and gets 402 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: into the lane on a in a blur and finishes 403 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,879 Speaker 1: with a left handed lay up off the glass. It 404 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: was a massive play in that game to get it 405 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,680 Speaker 1: to double digits going into the break, and it's a 406 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: clear demonstration of what I'm talking about here. The one 407 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:52,879 Speaker 1: of the keys to the series in this Boston Golden 408 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:55,919 Speaker 1: State matchup. If Boston can close the deal against Miami 409 00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,119 Speaker 1: tomorrow again, which who knows, but if they can, is 410 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:01,639 Speaker 1: that deal and they end up in this matchup. The 411 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,720 Speaker 1: ability of Steph and Gold and Stephan Jordan Pool to 412 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:07,720 Speaker 1: apply rim pressure against Boston switches and to get their 413 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: defense and rotation is going to be pivotally important because 414 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:13,919 Speaker 1: if they get a one or four offensive rating against Boston, 415 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: it might not be enough. It might have to be 416 00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,119 Speaker 1: closer to one ten. And the only way that's happening 417 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,360 Speaker 1: is if they get consistent rim pressure. I want to 418 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:22,679 Speaker 1: move over to the other side of the ball for 419 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:31,720 Speaker 1: a second, So the the I want to I want 420 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: to take you guys back to the Brooklyn Boston series 421 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:40,919 Speaker 1: for a second. So in that series or Brooklyn actually 422 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: fared pretty well against that Boston defense, which again I've 423 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: spoken very highly of that Boston defense. I think when 424 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,160 Speaker 1: they're actually dialed in and trying, and they have Robert Williams, 425 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,399 Speaker 1: I I think they're one of the best defenses of 426 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:53,359 Speaker 1: this era, if not the best defense of this era. 427 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,200 Speaker 1: They held a Kade Kyrie line ups during the regular 428 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:00,320 Speaker 1: season averaged about a hundred and twenty two points per 429 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: one hundre possessions. They held that same pairing to about 430 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:07,280 Speaker 1: one thirteen in the first round series. The consistent theme 431 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: is that Boston has been holding your scoring to about 432 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 1: ten points less per one hun possessions than what you 433 00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,119 Speaker 1: did in the regular season. But one thirteen is a 434 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 1: pretty decent number for Brooklyn, and Boston swept them. And 435 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 1: the reason is is because Boston had no trouble scoring 436 00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: in that series, a lot less trouble than they had 437 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:31,199 Speaker 1: against Milwaukee and then they had against um Miami. And 438 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,360 Speaker 1: one of the keys there was the way that Boston 439 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: was able to attack small perimeter players, which Miami doesn't 440 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:44,719 Speaker 1: have much of, in which Milwaukee didn't have much of. 441 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:48,199 Speaker 1: So what will be interesting is Golden State's ability to 442 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,399 Speaker 1: avoid mismatches, particularly guys like Steph in Jordan's pool, keeping 443 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:56,399 Speaker 1: your smaller, slighter guards off of the bigger Boston Wings 444 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:00,080 Speaker 1: to attack. Again. This isn't like Luca where he's to 445 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: methodically work you into the lane herkey jerky and you 446 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:04,399 Speaker 1: have plenty of time to help and recover. These are 447 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 1: guys in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown that are gonna 448 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,200 Speaker 1: put their head down and try to slash to the rint. 449 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:11,640 Speaker 1: And so one of the things that Golden State's done 450 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:13,600 Speaker 1: consistently in this playoff run that I think is very 451 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: smart is they've used Stephen Jordan pool and what's called 452 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,680 Speaker 1: a hedge and recover scheme. So there's a bunch of 453 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: different types of pick and roll coverages. Right. We've talked 454 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:24,240 Speaker 1: about drop coverage a lot on this on this show, 455 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:26,760 Speaker 1: we talked about switching on the show. There's different things 456 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: you can do within drop coverage is like a catch 457 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: hedge and things along those lines. But you don't see 458 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 1: the hedge and recover very often anymore. It was primarily 459 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,680 Speaker 1: used about ten years ago and power forwards that we're 460 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,959 Speaker 1: in the game and you'd see old slow bigs hedge 461 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,159 Speaker 1: and recover out on the perimeter. You can kind of 462 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:45,159 Speaker 1: You can if you guys, those of you who have 463 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:46,879 Speaker 1: been watching the game for a while, just visualize it. 464 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:50,680 Speaker 1: You can imagine the big lumbering post player coming out 465 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: to hedge almost out to half courton and recovering right. Well, 466 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 1: the genius of the hedge and recovery is it forces 467 00:25:57,280 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 1: the ball handler to take a retreat dribble out to 468 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: have court. And when you make a ball handler make 469 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 1: a retreat dribble out to half court, it just buys 470 00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,960 Speaker 1: your time to recover around that. Okay, so what will 471 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 1: happen is Luca or somebody will call for step on 472 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:16,119 Speaker 1: a switch and when he comes up, when steps Man 473 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:19,199 Speaker 1: comes to set the screen, instead of doing a switch, 474 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:24,000 Speaker 1: Step will hedge hard, forcing Luca to take a retreat dribble, 475 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: which gives Andrew Wiggins time to fight through the screen 476 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,239 Speaker 1: so that Steff can recover. It was the genius thing 477 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,600 Speaker 1: that Golden State did to try to keep guys like 478 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 1: Jordan Pool and Steff off of Luca, which is why 479 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:35,600 Speaker 1: they weren't able to get that switch. Often they were 480 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:37,639 Speaker 1: much more willing to give the Looney switch or the 481 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,480 Speaker 1: Elita switch than they were to give the guard switches. 482 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,879 Speaker 1: That is going to be vitally important against Boston because 483 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 1: Boston was relentless and attacking Patty Mills and attacking Kyrie 484 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,200 Speaker 1: Irving and it and it just an attacking Gore and 485 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:54,680 Speaker 1: Dragic and all the slower, slight, skinny guards that we're 486 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:58,960 Speaker 1: playing for Brooklyn. That's going to be a really really 487 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:01,480 Speaker 1: interesting part of this matchup. Andrew Guadala is going to 488 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,439 Speaker 1: be a key factor here because Andrew Wiggins demonstrated that 489 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 1: he can stand up to Stout Wings the way he 490 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: still stood up to Luca. As a matter of fact, 491 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: another thing I have to own I said in the 492 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 1: Dallas series, I said no one, nobody on Golden State 493 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: has a chance of guarding Luca. Now, I don't think 494 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:22,600 Speaker 1: anybody in the league can guard Luca in the sense 495 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,359 Speaker 1: like shut him down. But Andrew Wiggins demonstrated in that 496 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:27,919 Speaker 1: series he can guard Luca, and by guard, I just 497 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:29,879 Speaker 1: mean naked, so that he has to rely on the 498 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,639 Speaker 1: more difficult elements of his offensive game. So credit to 499 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:35,040 Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins. I was wrong. There was one player on 500 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,639 Speaker 1: Golden State who could guard Luca. It was Andrew Wiggins 501 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: ended up being a huge swing factor in this series. 502 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: But if Andrew Wiggins is on Jayson Tatum. Who's gonna 503 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: guard Jalen Brown. That's an interesting It's probably gonna be 504 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,360 Speaker 1: Clay Thompson, right, but Clay Thompson is not the same 505 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: defensive player that he was earlier in his career. This 506 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:58,399 Speaker 1: is where Andrew Guadala being available would be massive. Jalen Brown. 507 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,119 Speaker 1: First of all, Jalen round. Have you guys noticed how 508 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:03,240 Speaker 1: many times Jalen Brown has gotten stripped in this series 509 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:04,800 Speaker 1: and turn the ball over. It's like every time he 510 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:06,639 Speaker 1: puts the ball on the floor tries to go through traffic, 511 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,119 Speaker 1: the ball just goes to the other team. Andre Goodal 512 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 1: has some of the best hands of any defensive player 513 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,600 Speaker 1: that's ever played this game. So Andre Goodala's availability so 514 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:17,879 Speaker 1: that they can physically match up with the two wings 515 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:20,880 Speaker 1: for Boston is going to be vitally important. Last thing 516 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:23,840 Speaker 1: I wanted to touch on for the NBA Finals again 517 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:28,360 Speaker 1: caveat Boston has to close the deal. I think it's 518 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: gonna be really important for Golden State to do a 519 00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:33,440 Speaker 1: ton of switching outside of those headge and recover situations 520 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: and test Boston's decision making. So as you've seen with 521 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 1: Miami and with Milwaukee. Both of those teams have been 522 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:46,040 Speaker 1: able to get Boston to go through extended stretches where 523 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:49,800 Speaker 1: they can't score, largely fueled by baiting them into isolation 524 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:53,280 Speaker 1: basketball and getting Tatum and Brown to take stupid contested 525 00:28:53,360 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 1: jump shots and avoid that same rim pressure that I 526 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:58,560 Speaker 1: say is so vitally important to attack these switching schemes. 527 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: I expect Steve Curve to do exactly what Erik Spoelstre 528 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: did and to consistently mix things up, to consistently change coverages, 529 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:10,200 Speaker 1: and to consistently forced Boston to test their decision making. 530 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:13,560 Speaker 1: I haven't checked it updated for Game five, but through 531 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:16,760 Speaker 1: the first four games of the Conference Finals on the East, 532 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 1: Boston average about a hundred and two points in the 533 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: half court per one possessions. That's a decent number. It's 534 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: a lot better than they fared against Milwaukee. And so 535 00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 1: that dynamic, that that half court dynamic, it's going to 536 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 1: come down to which team can execute better there. Will 537 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 1: it be Steph and Jordan Pool applying the rim pressure, 538 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:39,560 Speaker 1: getting Boston in rotation and getting quality three point shots 539 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:43,320 Speaker 1: for their wings, or will it be Boston running over 540 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,600 Speaker 1: the small bar guards of Golden State and getting into 541 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 1: the lane. This is an incredibly close series. I think 542 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,440 Speaker 1: it'll be a long series and I'm incredibly excited for it. 543 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:59,120 Speaker 1: I am leaning towards Golden State in six. Actually, we'll see. 544 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 1: I'm gonna, I'm gonna I'm to do a final pick 545 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:03,200 Speaker 1: as we get closer to the finals, but I'm picking 546 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,160 Speaker 1: Golden State as of right now to win in a 547 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:09,520 Speaker 1: longer series because I trust their overall commitment to the job, 548 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: their attention to detail, their leadership, and there's a guy 549 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: named Steph Curry who's been there before. He's been there 550 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 1: five times. He will be immensely comfortable. Just like Lebron 551 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:22,560 Speaker 1: was on the early Golden State teams in the finals 552 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: where he was clearly the most comfortable guy on the floor. 553 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: I expect that to be Steph in this final series, 554 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: and I think it's gonna be a huge swing factor 555 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:30,840 Speaker 1: to Golden State. All Right, we have two other things 556 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:32,040 Speaker 1: real quick. I want to hit tonight. I want to 557 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about Dallas We're looking forward, and 558 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:36,880 Speaker 1: then at the end, I want to talk about this 559 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:39,080 Speaker 1: Lebron Steph debate that was going all over the place 560 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:46,440 Speaker 1: on social media because of Patrick Beverley all right, So 561 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,280 Speaker 1: I talked about Luca's defense. I'm not gonna get into 562 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:49,960 Speaker 1: that again. Luca has to get in better shape and 563 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 1: become a better defensive player. That goes without saying. But 564 00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 1: one of the most interesting dynamics that I noticed in 565 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: this series and throughout this entire playoff runt is that 566 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:59,320 Speaker 1: Luca was not making his catch and shoot threes. And 567 00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 1: so I went into the numbers and looked to see 568 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,960 Speaker 1: Usually that's how I always am. I'm trying to attach 569 00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:08,440 Speaker 1: things with the eye test too, things that are represented statistically, 570 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: because I think either without the other is worthless, right A. 571 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:14,520 Speaker 1: Numbers that don't actually represent what's happening on the floor 572 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 1: are worthless, And whatever you perceive is happening on the 573 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:20,280 Speaker 1: floor that's not also leading to statistical success is also worthless. 574 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: It needs both. Lucas shot on catching shoot threes in 575 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:31,240 Speaker 1: this playoff run before tonight. That's awful. That's extraordinarily bad. Now, 576 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:34,080 Speaker 1: catching shoot threes and are are an entirely different dynamic 577 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,480 Speaker 1: than pull up threes. Pull up threes are so much 578 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 1: more about touch and getting lift and getting separation. Lucas 579 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:47,080 Speaker 1: shot pull up threes in this series before tonight, overall, 580 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:51,040 Speaker 1: so he shot better there. Catching shoot threes are way 581 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: more about muscle memory and repeating the same motion every 582 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,080 Speaker 1: single time. You have to take time to work on 583 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:00,000 Speaker 1: catching shoot threes. When I go through my shooting routine 584 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:02,800 Speaker 1: means I always make sure there's a good balance between 585 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,040 Speaker 1: what I'm doing with step back threes and pull up 586 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,200 Speaker 1: threes and step back jump shots, pull up jump shots, 587 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:09,240 Speaker 1: turn around jump shots out of the post. I always 588 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,840 Speaker 1: have a balance between that kind of thing and just 589 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: a ship ton of reps and standard catching shoot threes. 590 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 1: Because again, this is the most important dynamic here. Because 591 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 1: let's we talked a lot about helio centric offenses earlier 592 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:23,840 Speaker 1: in the show. In order for helio centric offense to 593 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:27,080 Speaker 1: win a championship, they're gonna have to bring in another star. Right, 594 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:29,480 Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about that here in just a second. 595 00:32:29,960 --> 00:32:32,240 Speaker 1: So let's say they bring in another star. All of 596 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:34,800 Speaker 1: a sudden, Luca's usage rate is going to go way down, 597 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:37,320 Speaker 1: and he's gonna have to be a threat on on 598 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:40,479 Speaker 1: possessions when he does not have the ball. He's not 599 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 1: quick enough to do what Steph does and just fly 600 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:45,760 Speaker 1: around off the screens and stuff, right, he'll be able 601 00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:48,000 Speaker 1: to do the occasional deep seal and when he gets 602 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:49,600 Speaker 1: switched on to a smaller defender. Kind of the some 603 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:51,960 Speaker 1: of the stuff that Lebron does right, but a huge 604 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,000 Speaker 1: part is going to be him to turning himself into 605 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:57,680 Speaker 1: a successful catching shoot three points. This is actually something 606 00:32:57,680 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: that I think Lebron has done a really nice job 607 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: towards the end of his career. He he even spots 608 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 1: up a little bit further outside the line. He'll spot 609 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:07,760 Speaker 1: up at about twenty five feet instead of ft, just 610 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 1: so he has that little extra bit of space and 611 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:12,120 Speaker 1: and it it makes that defender have to go a 612 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:14,960 Speaker 1: little bit further out and he'll Lebron is a gunner 613 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:18,160 Speaker 1: and catch and shoot situations, and Luca will take them 614 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:19,520 Speaker 1: at the end of the clock when he has to. 615 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:21,400 Speaker 1: But it seems like that's not a big enough part 616 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 1: of his game. And I think that's gonna be a 617 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,520 Speaker 1: huge part. In addition to his conditioning and in condition, 618 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 1: in addition to his ability to defend, He's going to 619 00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:31,800 Speaker 1: have to make himself a threat off the basketball. Now. 620 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:35,640 Speaker 1: I talked about them retaining a star with Dallas. It's 621 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:39,959 Speaker 1: vitally important that they retain assets. The Warriors just clearly 622 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:45,320 Speaker 1: demonstrated this. Kevin Durant says he wants to leave, says 623 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:49,440 Speaker 1: he's going to Brooklyn. Golden State has two options, let 624 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:53,720 Speaker 1: him go or engage the Brooklyn Nets and try to 625 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:57,080 Speaker 1: bring something back for k D. As a result, they 626 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: overpaid for a player They didn't like the little Russell. 627 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:02,680 Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, they didn't like him so 628 00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:04,480 Speaker 1: much that I actually have been pretty critical of Golden 629 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:06,240 Speaker 1: State in the way they handled him, and they kind 630 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,600 Speaker 1: of burped him to the ground after they traded him away, 631 00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:14,040 Speaker 1: which I thought was unprofessional. But the move of retaining 632 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,520 Speaker 1: D'angela Russell was genius because they were able to flip 633 00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:21,040 Speaker 1: him to Minnesota, not just for Andrew Wiggins, but for picks. 634 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:25,880 Speaker 1: And Andrew Wiggins is now a vitally important part of 635 00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:27,200 Speaker 1: a team that I think is going to win the 636 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:31,160 Speaker 1: NBA Championship this year. So retaining assets is one of 637 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 1: the most important dynamics to maintaining your competitiveness as you 638 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,760 Speaker 1: move forward over the years. You need to resign Jalen 639 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:42,120 Speaker 1: Brunson to whatever he asks, or not what he asked, 640 00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:46,000 Speaker 1: but whatever he dictates in the open market, because even 641 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:48,080 Speaker 1: if you don't think he's the number two for Luca, 642 00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:52,160 Speaker 1: you need the asset. Jalen Brunson is not a star, 643 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:55,520 Speaker 1: but he did demonstrate in this postseason run that he 644 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 1: is an effective matchup attacker. He can beat people off 645 00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:01,960 Speaker 1: the dribble, he's a great mid range game, he's a competitor. 646 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,719 Speaker 1: He had some massive games in this playoff run. So 647 00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:08,439 Speaker 1: he does have value. And if there's a disgruntled star 648 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:11,680 Speaker 1: somewhere around the league, somewhere around the next couple of years, 649 00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:15,640 Speaker 1: and you're engaging them as the Dallas Mavericks, and you 650 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:17,600 Speaker 1: can come to them and say, hey, I've got all 651 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:22,839 Speaker 1: these draft picks. Also, here's Jalen Brunson, a player that's 652 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:26,040 Speaker 1: at least a good player for you. You know, here's 653 00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 1: so and so, here's so and so. Retaining assets is 654 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,200 Speaker 1: important to engage in those trade situations. So I think 655 00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:34,880 Speaker 1: it's really really important for Dallas this summer to not 656 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:37,480 Speaker 1: you know, I, yeah, they're not good enough, they need 657 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:41,120 Speaker 1: another star. But don't let guys walk for nothing. Follow 658 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:44,200 Speaker 1: the Golden State example. Retain your assets, be prepared to 659 00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:47,440 Speaker 1: engage teams in the trade market. Okay, So I had 660 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,399 Speaker 1: no intention of talking about Lebron and Steph tonight. Wasn't 661 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,800 Speaker 1: planning on really getting into that unless stephf got the trophy, 662 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:55,040 Speaker 1: which obviously there's still one more step there. But I 663 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 1: do think step will end up getting the trophy. I 664 00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 1: typically don't hair anywhere near as much about all time 665 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:05,600 Speaker 1: player rankings now as I did when I was younger. 666 00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:07,520 Speaker 1: I bought into that stuff a lot, a lot more 667 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 1: when I was younger. Now as as I've gotten older, 668 00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:13,560 Speaker 1: I'm a lot more, you know, Just aware of the 669 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:17,200 Speaker 1: fact that this situation is way too complicated. Everyone's way 670 00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:20,759 Speaker 1: too entrenched. Like all of you Warriors fans listening, you 671 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:23,080 Speaker 1: think Steph was better. I can't tell you you're wrong. 672 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: You know I disagree with you, but I can't tell 673 00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:30,800 Speaker 1: you you're wrong. Like and that there is no static environment. 674 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:35,480 Speaker 1: This is not tennis. This is a team sport. Not 675 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:39,239 Speaker 1: only does talent player role, injuries player role makes and 676 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:42,759 Speaker 1: mrs player role. I mean, I watched a playing game 677 00:36:42,840 --> 00:36:48,440 Speaker 1: last year where Steph vastly outplayed Lebron for the entire game. Now, 678 00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,560 Speaker 1: Lebron was hurt and just come back from injury, but 679 00:36:51,719 --> 00:36:56,799 Speaker 1: look Steph like resoundingly outplayed Lebron and Lebron made a 680 00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:59,080 Speaker 1: wild contested three at the end of the shot clock 681 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:02,080 Speaker 1: and stole the game. You know, like basketball as a 682 00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:04,680 Speaker 1: team sport, it's not tennis. None of this stuff ever 683 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:08,279 Speaker 1: just comes down to Lebron one. Therefore he's better than 684 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:10,560 Speaker 1: the stuff, or step one, therefore he's better than Lebron. 685 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:12,600 Speaker 1: The stuff is complicated, and all of that complication is 686 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:14,920 Speaker 1: why I've been so annoyed by these kinds of topics 687 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:18,760 Speaker 1: over the years. But we we were forced to discuss 688 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:21,720 Speaker 1: it a little earlier than I thought because of Patrick 689 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:25,520 Speaker 1: Beverley going on ESPN today and saying that Lebron and 690 00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:30,160 Speaker 1: Steph were close to each other all time. Now, to 691 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:34,319 Speaker 1: be clear upfront, Steph is my second favorite player of 692 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:39,120 Speaker 1: this era. I think he has resoundingly established that spot, 693 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:43,920 Speaker 1: meaning yes, he's a significantly ahead of Kevin Durant for 694 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:46,759 Speaker 1: this era, and I think that I think that that 695 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:49,520 Speaker 1: is a remarkable accomplishment on his part. That said, I 696 00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:52,280 Speaker 1: think as the years have gone by, Lebron has almost 697 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:55,600 Speaker 1: become a little underrated, And the reason for that is 698 00:37:56,120 --> 00:37:59,759 Speaker 1: I think he fell short of the MJ standard and 699 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,480 Speaker 1: as he's gotten older, it's been drama with the Lakers, 700 00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,680 Speaker 1: and it's been two times, missing the playoffs in a 701 00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:09,279 Speaker 1: first round exit surrounding the championship, and so Lebron's kind 702 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:12,920 Speaker 1: of drifting out of focus a little bit. Meanwhile, Steph 703 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:15,480 Speaker 1: is having a remarkable season, which we're gonna talk about 704 00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:17,600 Speaker 1: here in just a second, and the Warriors on the 705 00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:19,920 Speaker 1: title run. And that's just kind of the nature of 706 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:23,359 Speaker 1: recency bias, right. But I want to remind people why 707 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:28,240 Speaker 1: Lebron is in the Goat conversation to begin with, because 708 00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:31,160 Speaker 1: now I don't have Lebron ahead of MJ. But there's 709 00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:34,759 Speaker 1: a reason why he's in that conversation. This is a guy, 710 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:37,120 Speaker 1: you know, I talked about shots at the table. We 711 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:39,480 Speaker 1: talked about this with Colin Coward on Sunday. In order 712 00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:41,000 Speaker 1: to win a championship, a lot of things have to 713 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:44,879 Speaker 1: break your way, like for Golden State even this year, 714 00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:47,240 Speaker 1: some things are breaking their way. You catch a matchup 715 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:50,239 Speaker 1: right in with Denver in the first round. You don't 716 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:52,600 Speaker 1: have to face Jamal Murray. You know, let's face Michael 717 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:56,279 Speaker 1: Porter Jr. Right, You go into the second round and 718 00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:59,919 Speaker 1: John Ran gets hurt. You go into the third round 719 00:39:00,040 --> 00:39:02,160 Speaker 1: and you get to play a weaker Dallas team because 720 00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:04,759 Speaker 1: Dallas beat a Phoenix team that had an injury at 721 00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:06,840 Speaker 1: the point guard position, and Chris Paul, Right, you have 722 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,640 Speaker 1: some things go your way, but things go your way. 723 00:39:09,719 --> 00:39:11,879 Speaker 1: Every time you win a championship. There's no such thing 724 00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:15,279 Speaker 1: as you just going through and beating everybody at full strength. 725 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:18,799 Speaker 1: It almost never happens. Lebron's last title bunch, things went 726 00:39:18,840 --> 00:39:22,760 Speaker 1: their way. Stephan Katie were on their couches. Kyrie Irving 727 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:25,680 Speaker 1: was on his couch, and he went through some stars. 728 00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:27,520 Speaker 1: He went through Damian lillardy went through James Harden and 729 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:30,839 Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook and Nicola Yokich. But those guys were all 730 00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:33,480 Speaker 1: on lesser teams. Lebron he had caught. He had Anthony 731 00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:35,719 Speaker 1: Davis on his team, playing at the peak of his powers. Right, 732 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:40,279 Speaker 1: you need some things to go your way. But if 733 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:46,399 Speaker 1: I get seven opportunities to play the game and three, 734 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:48,799 Speaker 1: you know, sometimes things are gonna go not my way, 735 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:51,080 Speaker 1: but sometimes things will go my way. And when they do, 736 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:53,719 Speaker 1: that's how I end up with three or four championships. 737 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:56,719 Speaker 1: I have to get to the table enough times for 738 00:39:56,760 --> 00:40:00,360 Speaker 1: things to break my way. And what's so in interesting 739 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:02,600 Speaker 1: is is more often than not, we just make it. 740 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:05,040 Speaker 1: We simplify it down to just who had the trophy, 741 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:07,760 Speaker 1: and that's all that matters. Lebron is in the goat 742 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:12,600 Speaker 1: conversation because he has consistently in a twenty year career 743 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:16,120 Speaker 1: for basically nineteen of those years. I'll take that back, 744 00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:18,839 Speaker 1: will take away the will take away this last year 745 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:21,920 Speaker 1: because the injuries, and we'll take away the two thousand 746 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:26,520 Speaker 1: nineteen season, the Mario Hazonia block, the wine under the seat. 747 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:30,719 Speaker 1: So for seventeen years of a twenty year career, excluding 748 00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:33,560 Speaker 1: those two that I just mentioned and his rookie season, 749 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:37,320 Speaker 1: he's been so damn good that his team's had a 750 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:42,040 Speaker 1: puncher's chance to win the title. That seventeen seasons is 751 00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:46,080 Speaker 1: exactly what puts him in the goat conversation. Because when 752 00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:48,680 Speaker 1: you're talking about who the best basketball player of all 753 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,640 Speaker 1: time is, I like to think of that personally as 754 00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:54,720 Speaker 1: a static situation. If I had to pick up player, 755 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:59,359 Speaker 1: irrespective of talent, irrespective of coaching, irrespective of things going 756 00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:01,759 Speaker 1: your way, what player gives you the best chance to win? 757 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:05,439 Speaker 1: And Lebron having seventeen of those seasons is what puts 758 00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:10,719 Speaker 1: him in that conversation. So with Steph, he's had a 759 00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:16,640 Speaker 1: remarkable run here, but not only okay. So personally, I 760 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,759 Speaker 1: think Lebron's peak because of his two way play and 761 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:22,720 Speaker 1: the way he was as a defensive threat in addition 762 00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:25,520 Speaker 1: to what he brought as an offensive player. That's we're 763 00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:28,360 Speaker 1: seeing this from Janice right now. He had a world 764 00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:31,080 Speaker 1: beating element to him. There wasn't a player in the 765 00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:33,319 Speaker 1: world that could touch how good he was in two 766 00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:36,960 Speaker 1: thousand twelve and two thousand thirteen. Steph I never I 767 00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:39,600 Speaker 1: never thought step had a peak like that. But in 768 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:42,680 Speaker 1: addition to that, he just hasn't had the same number 769 00:41:42,719 --> 00:41:46,360 Speaker 1: of shots at the table. His window has been shorter 770 00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:49,439 Speaker 1: because we lost two seasons right over the last couple 771 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:51,880 Speaker 1: of years because of some bad luck last year with 772 00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:55,120 Speaker 1: him falling on that step and bruising his tailbone which 773 00:41:55,200 --> 00:41:57,319 Speaker 1: led to him being in the playing tournament, and then 774 00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:00,279 Speaker 1: the year before him breaking his hand right and then 775 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:02,439 Speaker 1: outside of that, you know, he hasn't been relevant since 776 00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:04,560 Speaker 1: like two thousand thirteen, or he was relevant starting in 777 00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:07,560 Speaker 1: about two thousand thirteen. So I'm getting a shorter window 778 00:42:07,600 --> 00:42:11,120 Speaker 1: of opportunity with Steph, and I'm getting a lower peak 779 00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:14,560 Speaker 1: ceiling than stuff. So for me, that just simply makes 780 00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:17,880 Speaker 1: a chasm there. But That's why for me, when I'm 781 00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:19,920 Speaker 1: ranking players all time, a couple of things, I always 782 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:22,359 Speaker 1: have guards and wings separate from bigs. I think they 783 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:24,960 Speaker 1: play an entirely different position. To me, it's like comparing 784 00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:28,839 Speaker 1: an offensive lineman to a quarterback. And then I also 785 00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:31,000 Speaker 1: split eras I don't think of anything but pre nine 786 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:34,680 Speaker 1: because it's also just an entirely different sport. So for me, 787 00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:37,000 Speaker 1: I have m J and Lebron in the top tier, 788 00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:39,160 Speaker 1: and I think MJ's clearly above Lebron, but I think 789 00:42:39,239 --> 00:42:41,640 Speaker 1: Lebron is the only guy who's in that conversation. Then 790 00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:43,920 Speaker 1: when I dropped down from there, that's where I get 791 00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:46,680 Speaker 1: to the Kobe, the Magic, the Bird, and then I 792 00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:49,520 Speaker 1: have Steph in that group if he wins a title 793 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:52,880 Speaker 1: this year. So for me to say that with that 794 00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:57,719 Speaker 1: short window, with Steph having only really been relevant in 795 00:42:57,760 --> 00:43:01,160 Speaker 1: the championship landscape for about half as long as Lebron was, 796 00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:04,280 Speaker 1: for him to be in the same conversation as Larry 797 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:11,359 Speaker 1: Freaking Bird and Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant, that's remarkable. 798 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:15,960 Speaker 1: That's an unbelievable accomplishment. But that degree of difficulty has 799 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:18,319 Speaker 1: to be factored in there. I put in my notes, 800 00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:21,240 Speaker 1: the two guys that steps career reminds me the most 801 00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:25,319 Speaker 1: of in terms of long like rankings of the all 802 00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:28,880 Speaker 1: time great players, Magic and Kobe strike me as the 803 00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:34,479 Speaker 1: most uh most realistic comes because degree of difficulty does matter. 804 00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:39,800 Speaker 1: Lebron won a championship with Anthony Davis, and that was 805 00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:44,400 Speaker 1: probably the best team that he had, right and what 806 00:43:44,480 --> 00:43:47,360 Speaker 1: Anthony Davis did that season was amazing, but he was 807 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:50,040 Speaker 1: a play finisher. There was no debate as to who 808 00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:53,439 Speaker 1: the best player on that team was. Kyrie Irving. It's 809 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:56,600 Speaker 1: been exposed now that outside of scoring the basketball, he 810 00:43:56,719 --> 00:43:59,040 Speaker 1: just doesn't bring that much to a team. So you 811 00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:00,840 Speaker 1: gotta give a lot Lebron on a lot more credit 812 00:44:00,880 --> 00:44:03,040 Speaker 1: for what he did in two thousand sixteen, and then 813 00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:05,960 Speaker 1: in two thousand twelve and two thousand thirteen, Dwyane Wade 814 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:09,440 Speaker 1: was a shell of himself, which is how they trailed 815 00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:12,719 Speaker 1: against the Boston Celtics into twelve, which is how they 816 00:44:12,719 --> 00:44:15,239 Speaker 1: trailed against the Indiana Pacers in twelve, which is how 817 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:17,839 Speaker 1: they trailed to the Oklahoma City Thunder in twelve, which 818 00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:20,799 Speaker 1: is how they trailed to the Pacers and Spurs. The 819 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:23,319 Speaker 1: reason why those series were so close was because yes, 820 00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:26,480 Speaker 1: there were big names involved, but Bosh and Wade were 821 00:44:26,520 --> 00:44:31,360 Speaker 1: clearly at a level below Lebron. The titles that Steph 822 00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:34,120 Speaker 1: one with Kevin Durant remind me a lot more of 823 00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:36,960 Speaker 1: the titles that Kobe won with Shack or the titles 824 00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:40,040 Speaker 1: that Magic won with Kareem in the early eighties. They're 825 00:44:40,080 --> 00:44:43,600 Speaker 1: still titles. They are incredible indicators of what they are 826 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:48,640 Speaker 1: as engines. They're incredible indicators of of their overall basketball ability, 827 00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:51,319 Speaker 1: but they aren't the same degree of difficulty as what 828 00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:54,960 Speaker 1: Lebron did in his four championships. And even though in 829 00:44:55,040 --> 00:44:58,000 Speaker 1: my book, Steph has the Finals MVP for two thousand fifteen, 830 00:44:58,560 --> 00:45:01,680 Speaker 1: that's why Lebron has four of him. There was no debate, 831 00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:04,320 Speaker 1: there was no conversation about who the best player in 832 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:07,080 Speaker 1: the team was. There was a clear engine that was 833 00:45:07,120 --> 00:45:10,640 Speaker 1: making the whole thing work. And so one of the 834 00:45:10,680 --> 00:45:13,640 Speaker 1: things that that hurts Steph in this regard is that 835 00:45:13,719 --> 00:45:16,480 Speaker 1: Kevin Durant, those those championships with Kevin Durany just had 836 00:45:16,520 --> 00:45:20,160 Speaker 1: a lower degree of difficulty. But again, I'm just pointing 837 00:45:20,239 --> 00:45:24,440 Speaker 1: those things out to juxtapose him with Lebron freaking James, 838 00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:27,239 Speaker 1: the second best basketball player to ever play the game, 839 00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:30,680 Speaker 1: who for seventeen seasons was in the conversation for being 840 00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:32,759 Speaker 1: the best player in the game and very well might 841 00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:35,360 Speaker 1: have been, and gave his team chances to win championships 842 00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:39,400 Speaker 1: and one ten conference titles in the process. So for 843 00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:41,680 Speaker 1: me to say that Steph is in a tier with 844 00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:44,840 Speaker 1: Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant is not 845 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:47,440 Speaker 1: an insult in my opinion. For me to say that 846 00:45:47,520 --> 00:45:50,200 Speaker 1: Steph was better than Kevin Durant in this era but 847 00:45:50,239 --> 00:45:52,560 Speaker 1: not as good as Lebron is not an insult to 848 00:45:52,640 --> 00:45:55,680 Speaker 1: Steph in my opinion. But once again, and this last 849 00:45:55,680 --> 00:45:58,160 Speaker 1: thing I'll say about it. You Steph fans, if you 850 00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:00,080 Speaker 1: think if you think Steph was better than Lebron, I 851 00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:02,719 Speaker 1: can't argue with you there. This is a subjective take. 852 00:46:04,120 --> 00:46:06,840 Speaker 1: It's it's so much more comes down to personal preference 853 00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:09,680 Speaker 1: because this isn't tennis, and we don't have clear cut 854 00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:12,680 Speaker 1: results to to to dictate this kind of thing. It's 855 00:46:12,719 --> 00:46:18,440 Speaker 1: all about weighing context, and everyone weighs context differently, so 856 00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:20,879 Speaker 1: it's impossible to reach common ground. So if you guys 857 00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:22,319 Speaker 1: want to tell me in the comments, if you want 858 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:23,879 Speaker 1: to tell me, if if you ever seen me out 859 00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:25,759 Speaker 1: in public and you come up and chat and you say, hey, 860 00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:28,600 Speaker 1: I think Steps better than Lebron all time. More power 861 00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:31,000 Speaker 1: to you, man. I can't I can't disagree with you, 862 00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:33,600 Speaker 1: and I can't prove you wrong. All I can do 863 00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:36,840 Speaker 1: is disagree with you. But for Stepp to have, if 864 00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:39,680 Speaker 1: he's got one last task he has to accomplish. But 865 00:46:39,719 --> 00:46:44,040 Speaker 1: if he closes this deal, then it's an unbelievable accomplishment 866 00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:46,560 Speaker 1: for him to get into that tier of players with 867 00:46:46,680 --> 00:46:50,960 Speaker 1: his shorter prime relative. Al Right, guys, that is all 868 00:46:51,000 --> 00:46:54,160 Speaker 1: I have for tonight. I sincerely appreciate you guys hanging out. 869 00:46:54,239 --> 00:46:56,680 Speaker 1: I apologize for the technical difficulties we had earlier. If 870 00:46:56,719 --> 00:46:58,319 Speaker 1: you missed any part of the show, you'll find it 871 00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:00,759 Speaker 1: in its totality on YouTube. If you can't check it 872 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:02,120 Speaker 1: out on YouTube because you don't have time to get 873 00:47:02,160 --> 00:47:04,440 Speaker 1: on your computer on your phone, go to our podcast 874 00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:06,600 Speaker 1: feed Lakers Tonight. You can find the full show there, 875 00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:09,600 Speaker 1: typically a couple of hours after we finish. As always, 876 00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:11,960 Speaker 1: I sincerely appreciate your support. No live show over the 877 00:47:12,000 --> 00:47:14,800 Speaker 1: course of the next couple of days, I am traveling 878 00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:19,600 Speaker 1: to Charlotte with my wife, So tomorrow night before I 879 00:47:19,680 --> 00:47:22,640 Speaker 1: hit the road, I'm going to upload a breakdown of 880 00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:27,160 Speaker 1: the Celtics Heat Game five or six. I expect the 881 00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:30,239 Speaker 1: series is to be over at that point, So at 882 00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:32,719 Speaker 1: that point I would probably take some much needed days 883 00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:35,399 Speaker 1: off this weekend to enjoy time in Charlotte, but I'll 884 00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:37,040 Speaker 1: have my equipment with me and I might do some 885 00:47:37,080 --> 00:47:39,799 Speaker 1: film breakdowns or do a preview of the finals. We'll 886 00:47:39,800 --> 00:47:42,240 Speaker 1: see and then the NBA Finals starting next week on Thursday, 887 00:47:43,239 --> 00:47:45,360 Speaker 1: and I think it's gonna be incredible. So as always, 888 00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:47,319 Speaker 1: I appreciate your guys support and rocking with me, and 889 00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:59,200 Speaker 1: I will see you guys tomorrow night. The Volume