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Speaker 1: The volume. It's Hoops to Night presented by FanDuel. The

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Speaker 1: All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight, presented by Fan Duel

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Speaker 1: here at the volume. Happy Monday, everybody. I hope all

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Speaker 1: of you guys had a great weekend. We are live

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Speaker 1: on AMP. Don't forget if you're watching on YouTube or

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Speaker 1: listening on the podcast feeds that AMP is the very

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Speaker 1: first place that you guys can get these shows. We

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Speaker 1: have a Jampack show for you today. We're gonna hit

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Speaker 1: three games from this past weekend. The New York Knicks

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Speaker 1: went on the road to a red hot Lakers team

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Speaker 1: and got a big win. Last night, the Brooklyn Nets

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Speaker 1: went into Denver and got a big road win. I

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Speaker 1: thought that was interesting from a tactical perspective because they

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Speaker 1: went small in the second half and did a lot

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Speaker 1: of damage to the Nuggets best five main groupings, which

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Speaker 1: I want to dive into some of the basketball concepts

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Speaker 1: surrounding that a little bit and just the danger that

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Speaker 1: that presents Denver and some of the ways that they're

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Speaker 1: going to have to adjust to that. And then, last,

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Speaker 1: but not least, on Saturday night, the Sacramento Kings won

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Speaker 1: in Phoenix. That was their eighth win and nine tries,

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Speaker 1: which is the best record in the league since the

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Speaker 1: All Star Break. Haven't talked a lot of Kings lately,

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Speaker 1: so I want to dive into them a little bit

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Speaker 1: deeper and talk about what I think their playoffs ceiling is.

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

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Speaker 1: to the Volumes YouTube channel so you don't miss any

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Speaker 1: more of these videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore

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Speaker 1: Jason lt so you guys don't miss any show announcements.

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Speaker 1: And if for whatever reason, you guys miss one of

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Speaker 1: these videos and you can't get back over to YouTube

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Speaker 1: to finish. Don't forget. You can find them wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Under Hoops tonight, so let's talk some basketball.

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Speaker 1: The Knicks got a huge win. They came in and

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Speaker 1: threw an outstanding punch. I thought the Lakers were gonna

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Speaker 1: win that game last night just because of the without

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Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson, them not having the same level of pull

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Speaker 1: up shooting that you need to beat Darvin Hamm's defensive coverages.

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Speaker 1: But you know a couple of things. Julius Randall, RJ.

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Speaker 1: Barrett came in and just completely kicked the Lakers ass

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Speaker 1: on offense. They combined for sixty three points, and I

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Speaker 1: thought the story of the game was the perimeter defense

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Speaker 1: of the Knicks versus the perimeter defense of the Lakers.

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Speaker 1: I've talked a lot on this show about how I

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Speaker 1: view the perimeter defense dynamic, like the line play dynamic

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Speaker 1: and football Like a lot of times in football will

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Speaker 1: talk about a quarterback and how he's getting rid of

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Speaker 1: the ball too quickly and he's not throwing the ball

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Speaker 1: down field and the offense is, you know, slowed down.

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Speaker 1: But we won't acknowledge the fact that they can't run

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Speaker 1: the ball because the defensive line is killing them, and

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Speaker 1: the quarterbacks running for his life because the defensive line

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Speaker 1: is killing them, and how that usually ends up being

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Speaker 1: the primary driving force of how the game is going

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Speaker 1: to play out. And we just as fans, focus on

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Speaker 1: the skill players because that's just the easy way to

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Speaker 1: direct our attention and we forget some of those details

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Speaker 1: that are taking place. And basketball, the same thing happens

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Speaker 1: all the time. You know, we'll be like, oh man,

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Speaker 1: he missed that shot. This guy missed that shot, or

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Speaker 1: oh man, this star is settling for this jumper settling

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Speaker 1: for that jumper, and we don't acknowledge the fact that,

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Speaker 1: like so many things about shot quality in the NBA,

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Speaker 1: come down to dribble penetration. Are your guards getting downhill?

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Speaker 1: Because if they're getting downhill, you're drawing in help defenders.

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Speaker 1: If you're drawing in help defenders, the defenses in rotation.

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Speaker 1: If the defense is in rotation, then your offensive players

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Speaker 1: are attacking with an advantage. And if are attacking with

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Speaker 1: an advantage, they're going to get higher quality shots. It's

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Speaker 1: really that simple. And if you contain the basketball, suddenly

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Speaker 1: those those downhill opportunities aren't there. You're not engaging help defenders,

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Speaker 1: so no one's open, and since no one's open, the

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Speaker 1: guy with the basketball ends up taking and settling for

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Speaker 1: extremely difficult pull up jump shots. That's what that dynamic

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Speaker 1: looks like, and way too often we ignore that dynamic.

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Speaker 1: And you know, the Nicks have some really good perimeter

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Speaker 1: defensive players, with Jalen Brunson out of manual quickly sliding

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Speaker 1: into that starting point guard role. He's an outstanding perimeter defender.

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Speaker 1: You know. RJ. Barrett, who's been an inconsistent offensive player

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Speaker 1: in his career, is a good defensive player. Miles McBride,

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Speaker 1: he's got a little bit undersize, but he's super quick,

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Speaker 1: got as quick hands, is aggressive on the basketball, has

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Speaker 1: got a good like stout low center of gravity, and

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Speaker 1: is strong, so he's a good point of attack defender.

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Speaker 1: And then one of the you know again, one of

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Speaker 1: the more bizarre trades of his trade deadline, the Knicks

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Speaker 1: going after Josh Hart, which was kind of like an

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Speaker 1: all in type of move that none of us saw coming.

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Speaker 1: Josh Hart is one of the better perimeter defenders in

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Speaker 1: the entire game of basketball because he can do what

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Speaker 1: those guards do and he can switch on to bigger

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Speaker 1: wings and contain them on the perimeter. Not that he

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Speaker 1: needed to do that last night against the Lakers much,

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Speaker 1: although he had some battles with Ruby hat Chimura, but

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Speaker 1: those that specific core for the Knicks put the Lakers

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Speaker 1: guards in hell all night long. And the Laker guards

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Speaker 1: are somewhat limited even with D'Angelo Russell Danzel, you know,

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Speaker 1: with Lebron James being out and with Anthony Davis as

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Speaker 1: great as he is, and he had a rough game

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Speaker 1: last night, we'll talk about that in a little bit,

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Speaker 1: but like as great as he is, he's not a

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Speaker 1: guy that's a you know, that can break you down

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Speaker 1: with the live dribble from the perimeter. I mean, he

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Speaker 1: was struggling beating Isaiah Hartenstein off the dribble last night. Right, So,

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Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you're looking at the guard corps

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Speaker 1: as the primary offensive decision makers for the Lakers, And

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Speaker 1: you know, D'Angelo Russell is a is a very good

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Speaker 1: guard in this league, but he's not a top t

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Speaker 1: your guard. And then all the other guys like Dennis

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Speaker 1: Roeder and Austin Rees and Malik Beasley, like those are

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Speaker 1: role player guards in this league. And so if you

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Speaker 1: defend at an extremely high level on the perimeter, you

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Speaker 1: can give the Laker offense a lot of problems, and

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Speaker 1: they did. Any lineup they played three of three of

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Speaker 1: those four guys for a good chunk of that game.

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Speaker 1: Any lineup that had RJ. Barrett, Josh Hart, Miles McBride,

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Speaker 1: and Isaiah Hartenstein, regardless of who the fifth man was,

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Speaker 1: was plus fifteen in twelve minutes because of RJ. Barrett,

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Speaker 1: Josh Hart, and Miles McBride and the job they were

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Speaker 1: doing on the perimeter, and Isaiah Hartenstein containing Anthony Freakin.

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Speaker 1: Davis I thought that was the difference in the game.

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Speaker 1: There were a lot of wild swings, right like Julius

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Speaker 1: Randall is red hot in the first half and De'angelo

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Speaker 1: Russell was red hot in the first half, and there

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Speaker 1: were these random swings there. RJ. Barrett kind of took

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Speaker 1: over in the second half. But the primary driving force

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Speaker 1: of the dynamic of that game and the way that

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Speaker 1: the Knicks stayed in control for the most part was

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Speaker 1: that perimeter defense and the fact that the Laker guards

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Speaker 1: could not keep RJ. Barrett out of the lane, could

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Speaker 1: not keep Emmanuel quickly out of the lane while on

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Speaker 1: the other end of the floor. They were forcing D'Angelo

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Speaker 1: russell and to pull up jump shots. They were forcing

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Speaker 1: Dennis schroder and to pull up jump shots. The only

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Speaker 1: guy that was really getting some dribble penetration was Austin Reeves.

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Speaker 1: But even him, he struggled a little bit. He had

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Speaker 1: three uncharacteristic turnovers trying to throw cross court passes over

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Speaker 1: the Knicks length. That perimeter defense dynamic is what swung

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Speaker 1: that game. Kind Of looking at the Knicks a little

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Speaker 1: bit in the big picture, I think their defense is

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Speaker 1: for real. When you combine what Mitchell Robinson kind of

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Speaker 1: provides as an option in the front line, Isaiah Hartenstein

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Speaker 1: is kind of a different type of option, and when

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Speaker 1: you look at what they have on the perimeter defensively,

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Speaker 1: their defense is for real. Everything for them comes down

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Speaker 1: to shot creation. As I've talked about many times on

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Speaker 1: this show. You know, obviously when they're healthy, it's Julius

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Speaker 1: Randall and Jalen Brunson, but Emmanuel Quickly in RJ. Barrett

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Speaker 1: in these recent weeks have done a pretty good job

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Speaker 1: stepping into that that role in providing that little bit

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Speaker 1: of offensive punch to give them a fighting chance in

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Speaker 1: these games we've taught. I consider the Knicks to be

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Speaker 1: their future to be entirely tied to their half court

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Speaker 1: shot creation. I think they're gonna be able to fight

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Speaker 1: in these rock fights with some of these other teams

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Speaker 1: in the Eastern Conference. I know they're gonna be able

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Speaker 1: to get enough stops. It's can they when they face

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Speaker 1: a team like the Celtics, when they face a team

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Speaker 1: like the Bucks, when they really lock down defensively, Whether

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Speaker 1: it's the Bucks funneling everybody to Brook Lopez in the paint,

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Speaker 1: or it's the Celtics in them having all the great

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Speaker 1: perimeter defenders that they have. Regardless of which one of

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Speaker 1: those teams it is they going, They're going to need

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Speaker 1: to be able to get baskets consistently in the slowdown

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Speaker 1: environment against those teams, and that comes entirely down to

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Speaker 1: their shot creation. If they play the way they've been

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Speaker 1: playing in the last month, they've got a chance. If

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Speaker 1: they don't, they're going to get beat. That's really what

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Speaker 1: it comes down to on the Laker front. Obviously, it's

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Speaker 1: a disappointing loss because you've, you know, Laker fans and

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Speaker 1: myself as someone who's been rooting for the Lakers. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: you want to win that game. You're at home, it's

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Speaker 1: the Knicks without Jalen Brunson, You've got an opportunity in

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Speaker 1: the standing. So it's frustrating, But it was a weird night, Like, yes,

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Speaker 1: the Knicks deserve a ton of credit, but there were

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Speaker 1: a lot of Lakers that just had uncharacteristically bad nights.

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Speaker 1: Like Anthony Davis seventeen points on eighteen shots. Wasn't nearly

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Speaker 1: as impactful defensively around the rim as you would expect,

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Speaker 1: and on offense, he really struggled with Isaiah Hartenstein. And

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Speaker 1: I don't really think that's going to happen much in

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Speaker 1: the future. Like that's a kind of a bizarre circumstance there.

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Speaker 1: Troy Brown Junior, he came in shooting forty five percent

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Speaker 1: from three on four attempts per game in his last

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Speaker 1: seventeen games. He was over seven last night, and a

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Speaker 1: lot of them were wide open looks. That's pretty unusual.

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Speaker 1: Malike Beasley is shooting thirty two points six percent from

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Speaker 1: three since coming to the Lakers on ninety two attempts.

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Speaker 1: That there's got to be some positive regression there coming,

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Speaker 1: and there's a separate conversation to have about whether Darvin

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Speaker 1: Ham needs to cut his minutes a little bit, because

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Speaker 1: when he's not making shots, he's just not nearly the

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Speaker 1: same defensive player as the other Laker guards Jared Vanderbilt.

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Speaker 1: That was the first time I've seen him really struggle

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Speaker 1: with a defensive matchup since he came to the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: really struggle with Julius Randall in the first half. I

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Speaker 1: do want to say, though, that I thought that the

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Speaker 1: whistle played a little bit of a factor. Julius Randall

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Speaker 1: picked up I think he shot eight free throws in

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Speaker 1: the first quarter. He picked up a couple of specific

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Speaker 1: ticky tack fouls in the first quarter that I thought

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Speaker 1: really kind of disrupted the rhythm of the game and

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Speaker 1: got Julius Randall into rhythm. There was one where he

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Speaker 1: kind of dropped his shoulder and just went to the

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Speaker 1: left on Jared Vanderbilt, and Jared Vanderbilt took the contact

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Speaker 1: in the middle of the chest and he got a foul.

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Speaker 1: Didn't like that call. There's like a pump fake jumper

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Speaker 1: in the lane in the first quarter that I didn't

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Speaker 1: think was a foul. I think that one was on

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Speaker 1: Ruby hat Tamura though, but that I do think that

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Speaker 1: it was telling that in that specific matchup, again, Jared

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Speaker 1: Vanderbilt's giving up some weight there, some size and strength

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Speaker 1: to Julius Randall. He did struggle a little bit there.

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Speaker 1: But what I will say though, is Lebron solves a

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Speaker 1: lot of those problems, like Lebron giving them another big

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Speaker 1: body to throw out Julius Randall, and we'll talk about

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Speaker 1: what he does offensively in a little bit, but Jared

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Speaker 1: Vanderbilt did struggle with that Julius Randall matchup. Austin Reeves,

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Speaker 1: who's been surgical in the half court as of late,

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Speaker 1: had three uncharacteristic turnovers. So a lot of guys had

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Speaker 1: really bad nights. Honestly, the only guys for the Lakers

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Speaker 1: that I thought played well last night were Ruey Hatchamura,

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Speaker 1: Indiangelo Russell. And so when you have in a you know,

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Speaker 1: nine ten man rotation or whatever it is, when you've

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Speaker 1: got seven or eight guys playing poorly, it's just it's

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Speaker 1: just gonna be really hard to win games. And honestly,

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Speaker 1: I did. There were a lot of Laker fans that

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Speaker 1: were criticizing Darvin Hamm. There were a lot of Laker

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Speaker 1: fans that were criticizing their defensive effort. I didn't really

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Speaker 1: think it was any of those things. Of course, the

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Speaker 1: effort wasn't ideal, but effort is directly tied to the

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Speaker 1: way the game is going to Like, when you can't

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Speaker 1: get drivel penetration, it slows down your own rhythm, and

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Speaker 1: when you're not playing as well off pensively, you're not

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Speaker 1: as confident and energetic on the defensive end of the floor.

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Speaker 1: All those things are attached. I didn't think last night

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Speaker 1: I had much to do with Darvin Hamm at all.

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Speaker 1: There was a couple nitpicky things here, or they're rotation wise,

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Speaker 1: or you know, I didn't like when they went zone

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Speaker 1: when Julius Randall was off the floor, But those are

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Speaker 1: just nitpicky things. I think Darvin Hamm's done a really

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Speaker 1: good job, and that's not why they lost this game.

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Speaker 1: The Knicks lockdown all of the Laker guards, a lot

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Speaker 1: of Lakers played poorly, and the Lakers best players just

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Speaker 1: didn't play well. If Anthony Davis goes out there and

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Speaker 1: gives you thirty and seventeen, you win that game. That's

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Speaker 1: just a fact. And so a lot of things just

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Speaker 1: didn't go well. I don't want to overthink it. I

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Speaker 1: will say though, like looking at the Lakers glass, I

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Speaker 1: want to take a little bit of a zoom out

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Speaker 1: look at the Lakers from a glass half full perspective

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Speaker 1: and a glass fmty perspective. So glass half full. Obviously

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Speaker 1: ad plays a bad game. He plays better, you win.

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Speaker 1: He even said so after the game, He's like, we lost.

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Speaker 1: That one's on me. I didn't play well. Specifically, some

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Speaker 1: of the role player struggles were flukey, right, like Troy

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Speaker 1: Brown Junior going over seven. That's not gonna happen often.

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Speaker 1: Malik Beasley is going to be due for some positive regression.

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Speaker 1: And then lastly Lebron being out. We just talked about

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Speaker 1: how that might have helped as just another body to

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Speaker 1: throw Julius Randall. But on the offensive end of the floor,

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Speaker 1: when you have like why were the Knicks able to

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Speaker 1: play three players six five and smaller on the perimeter defensively? Why? Well,

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Speaker 1: the reason why is because the Lakers didn't have a

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Speaker 1: real rim pressuring forward to attack those smaller guards. Like

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Speaker 1: they went to Ruy Hatchimer in the post a few times,

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Speaker 1: and you know he had a couple tough step backs

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Speaker 1: and fade aways. But that's not a thing that you're

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Speaker 1: gonna be able to run an entire offense around. And

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Speaker 1: obviously Jared Vanderbilt is not an offensive weapon, and Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davis was matched up with the center all games. So

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Speaker 1: like the real like, if your guards can't get dribble

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Speaker 1: penetration and Anthony Davis can't create from with a live

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Speaker 1: dribble from the perimeter, all of a sudden that rim

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Speaker 1: pressuring forward becomes an absolutely vital position. And what ends

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Speaker 1: up happening there is the way I talked about how

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Speaker 1: you need to get the Knickson rotation right so you

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Speaker 1: can get them flying around and get high quality shots.

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Speaker 1: The only way you're doing that is throwing the ball

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Speaker 1: to Lebron James and having him initiate stuff from the

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Speaker 1: perimeter where even if they do contain him, he can

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Speaker 1: pass over the top or he can back dudes down

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Speaker 1: in the post to draw that help defender to then

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Speaker 1: get the defense in rotation. Like Lebron fixes almost all

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Speaker 1: of the problems that affected the Lakers last night. That's

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Speaker 1: the glass half full way of looking at it. The

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Speaker 1: glass half empty way is the Laker perimeter defense is

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Speaker 1: not going to be fantastic, Like they'll have lineups that'll

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Speaker 1: be good, like Dennis Schroeder and Austin Reeves. That's a

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Speaker 1: good defensive backcourt that can hold their own. But offensively

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Speaker 1: that's not enough. I think they're gonna probably end up

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Speaker 1: going down in big games with DeAngelo Russell at the

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Speaker 1: point and with Austin Reeves at the two. Austin Reeves

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Speaker 1: solid perimeter defender, D'anzel Russell not so much right So, like,

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Speaker 1: perimeter defense is going to be an issue for the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: but that's set. They have an awesome backline defensively between

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Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt and Lebron James and Anthony Davis when they're healthy,

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Speaker 1: they're gonna be okay there. They just can't afford Like

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis had a bad defensive game last night too.

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Speaker 1: If Anthony Davis has a bad defensive game alongside poor

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Speaker 1: perimeter defense, it's just gonna go poorly. But I do

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Speaker 1: believe the Laker defense is going to be able to

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Speaker 1: get a lot of stops when Anthony Davis is locked in,

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Speaker 1: even with some limited perimeter defense, as we've literally seen

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Speaker 1: in their defensive rating since the trade deadline. They've been

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Speaker 1: able to get a lot of stops, but it's something

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Speaker 1: to keep an eye on. And then lastly, the Lakers

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Speaker 1: shot creation without Lebron. This is just the reality I

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Speaker 1: have said many times over the course the last couple

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Speaker 1: of weeks that the Lakers will struggle to consistently beat

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Speaker 1: good teams until they have Lebron James back. And the

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Speaker 1: main reason why is like they didn't have much of

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Speaker 1: a chance at all without Daniel Russell. Now with Daniel Russell,

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Speaker 1: they have a pretty decent chance in a lot of

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Speaker 1: these battles, but they're not going to consistently win night

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Speaker 1: in night out against good teams until they get Lebron.

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Speaker 1: And it's really this simple. Anthony Davis cannot create offense

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Speaker 1: with a live dribble from the perimeter. He needs to

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Speaker 1: be set up, he needs to be tossed the ball

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Speaker 1: on the block and provided the spacing to operate, and

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Speaker 1: he needs to be a play finisher and pick and

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Speaker 1: roll or working on the offensive glass. That's the only

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Speaker 1: way he can really impact a game offensively. He is

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Speaker 1: not a consistent spot up threat from the three point line,

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Speaker 1: and he's not going to stare you in the face

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Speaker 1: and break you down off the dribble. That's the biggest

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Speaker 1: difference between between guys like him and Janis for instance.

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Speaker 1: Right like that, that's going to be your fundamental difference there.

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Speaker 1: I mean, even Joel Embiid throwing him the ball at

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Speaker 1: the high post, he just has a whole other level

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Speaker 1: that he can go to as an offensive initiator than

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Speaker 1: a guy like Anthony Davis can. So that brings you

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Speaker 1: to the guard corps. And again, Danzel Russell also reives

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Speaker 1: Dennis Schroeder and Malik Beasley. They're fine. That's a perfectly

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Speaker 1: fine guard core when you've got Lebron, James and Anthony Davis.

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Speaker 1: But when Lebron is out that that group has a

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Speaker 1: certain ceiling to them, they'll win. I think they'll go

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Speaker 1: about fifty fifty against good teams, and then they'll have

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Speaker 1: a really good chance to win all the games against

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Speaker 1: the bad teams. But until Lebron comes back, there's a

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Speaker 1: certain ceiling to the way you can expect the Lakers

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Speaker 1: to perform on the offensive end of the floor, especially

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Speaker 1: when they run into teams with really good perimeter defenders.

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Speaker 1: I don't think it's a coincidence that they lost to

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Speaker 1: Minnesota the other night with Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards,

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Speaker 1: and I don't think it's a coincidence. They lost last

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Speaker 1: night to that Nick's defensive group that is so good.

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Speaker 1: So they need Lebron back and they're going to need

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Speaker 1: to kind of figure out how to address their perimeter

378
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Speaker 1: defense concerns. I think the easy solution there is make

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Speaker 1: sure you always have one of Austin Reeves or Dennis

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Speaker 1: Schroeder out there in the big moments of the games

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Speaker 1: at the end of games, which the easy solution there

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Speaker 1: is you just go to Austin Reeves next to D'angela Russell.

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Speaker 1: I think that's the direction they'll end up going. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's move on to Nets Nuggets. So the Nets won

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Speaker 1: this game one twenty two to one twenty. The Nuggets

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Speaker 1: were in pretty solid control. I think they were up

387
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Speaker 1: seventy seven to seventy one at one point in the

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Speaker 1: third quarter. They were really cooking the Nets with Yokis

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Speaker 1: on the floor, especially in the first half. I think

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Speaker 1: he was like a plus twenty in the first half

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Speaker 1: of this game. But they Yokis picks up as a

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Speaker 1: foul on Clackson gets him into foul trouble and Jack

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Speaker 1: von audibles and goes small right. And I think the lineup,

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Speaker 1: if I remember correctly, was Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney Smith,

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Speaker 1: Spencer Dinwitty, and I believe it was Cam Johnson and

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Speaker 1: Royce O'Neill. I think that was the five man group

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Speaker 1: that they went with. And they immediately go on a

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Speaker 1: twenty seven to ten run to end the third quarter.

399
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Speaker 1: A couple of consistent problems that you would see. Centers

400
00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,480
Speaker 1: in particular have notched have a different set of defensive

401
00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:51,679
Speaker 1: instincts than guards do, right, Like, We've talked about this

402
00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:54,600
Speaker 1: a lot from the Yoki's perspective on offense with inverted

403
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Speaker 1: pick and roll, Like a lot of the reason why

404
00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:58,920
Speaker 1: he has so much success running inverted pick and roll

405
00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,040
Speaker 1: is like he's hands the ball and now you're asking

406
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Speaker 1: a big man to navigate a ball screen as the

407
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Speaker 1: on ball defender. It's just a weird thing for him

408
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Speaker 1: to do, right Like, point guards have a certain tendency defensively,

409
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Speaker 1: Wings have a certain tendency defensively. In bigs have a

410
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,439
Speaker 1: certain tendency defensively. The problem is is when you go

411
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Speaker 1: five out offensively, suddenly there's no big man on the

412
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Speaker 1: floor traditionally on the offensive end. So there's no guy

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Speaker 1: screening and rolling to the rim, right, nobody's rolling to

414
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Speaker 1: the rim. Ball screens are popping to the three point line,

415
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Speaker 1: they're spacing you out. It's all driving kicked. The paint

416
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,200
Speaker 1: is unoccupied. And so one of the problems that big

417
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:40,840
Speaker 1: guys have in five out situations defensively is they default

418
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Speaker 1: back to their natural big guy defensive principles when that's

419
00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,480
Speaker 1: not gonna work because there's no big on the floor offensively.

420
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Speaker 1: So a couple of consistent problems. We're hurting the Nuggets

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Speaker 1: in this game. First of all, Spencer did what he

422
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Speaker 1: kept getting Yokich on switches, and Yokis actually was doing

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Speaker 1: okay against Spencer didn't. Now it's Spencer Dinwoody. If you

424
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Speaker 1: get to a late round of a playoff series, it's

425
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Speaker 1: not gonna be Spencer Dinwoody. It's gonna be someone like

426
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Speaker 1: a you know, a Steph Curry. It's gonna be someone

427
00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:11,560
Speaker 1: like a deer in Fox right, Like, it's gonna be

428
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,480
Speaker 1: a much better guard that's gonna be on Yokich in

429
00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,280
Speaker 1: those situations. But so let's let's look at it from

430
00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:21,000
Speaker 1: this perspective, Denver was overhelping, right Like they were sending

431
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,680
Speaker 1: doubles to help Yokich every time he got switched on

432
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,320
Speaker 1: to Spencer Dinwoody, which was getting Brooklyn some open shots,

433
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:28,600
Speaker 1: and like, yeah, part of you as a Nuggets fan,

434
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:30,119
Speaker 1: like a lot of Nuggets fans, were like why were

435
00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:33,520
Speaker 1: they doubling? Like I will live with Spencer Dinwoody Isoa

436
00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:35,760
Speaker 1: Nickela Yokich all game long. Yeah, I agree with you,

437
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:38,880
Speaker 1: and it was a bad decision in this particular game,

438
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,320
Speaker 1: but that specific concept will happen in the late rounds

439
00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,240
Speaker 1: of the postseason when it's not Spencer Dinwoody. It's a

440
00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:48,439
Speaker 1: much better guard that is attacking Yokich in those switches.

441
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:49,920
Speaker 1: And then the second thing that was happening a lot

442
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:52,760
Speaker 1: is they would put Yokich in ball screens, and Yokich

443
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:54,920
Speaker 1: was guarding them the way a big man normally would

444
00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:57,159
Speaker 1: in a ball screen, right like he would kind of

445
00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:59,520
Speaker 1: do a catch headge, which is, you know, he basically

446
00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:01,640
Speaker 1: is kind of like semi sort of in a high

447
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:04,360
Speaker 1: drop where he's containing the ball handler, but he's still

448
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:07,399
Speaker 1: kind of backpedaling and dropping back. And the Denver guards

449
00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:09,840
Speaker 1: were chasing over the top, and they were leaving shooters

450
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,960
Speaker 1: open on those pick and pops because again, that big

451
00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,960
Speaker 1: man's not rolling to the rim, it's a guard that's

452
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,040
Speaker 1: relocating to the three point line, and all five players

453
00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,520
Speaker 1: in that Nets lineup could shoot, So they were relentlessly

454
00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,800
Speaker 1: attacking Yokich. Some of it was decision making, right, Like

455
00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:28,280
Speaker 1: I if I was Denver, I would have just switched

456
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,439
Speaker 1: all those screens and been like, try to iso Yokich

457
00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:32,919
Speaker 1: all game long, be my guest, right, But that's not

458
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:36,520
Speaker 1: what happened, and they were really struggling because their defense

459
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:40,000
Speaker 1: was playing back to those four out one in principles

460
00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,359
Speaker 1: despite them being in a five out situation. So that

461
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,640
Speaker 1: was the offensive side of the twenty seven to ten run.

462
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:47,920
Speaker 1: On the defensive end of the floor, Dorian Finney Smith

463
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,679
Speaker 1: did a really nice job fronting Yokis in the post

464
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:55,280
Speaker 1: and then the Nets were swarming around Yokis every time

465
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,920
Speaker 1: he catched the ball with doubles and then rotating out

466
00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,680
Speaker 1: of it extremely well. That is a very good defensive group.

467
00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:04,399
Speaker 1: Royce Neil excellent defensive player. Michael Bridges excellent defensive player.

468
00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,520
Speaker 1: You know, Cam Johnson is Okay, Spencer Dinwood, he has

469
00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,359
Speaker 1: actually been pretty good. You know, like they've got good defense,

470
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,760
Speaker 1: Dorian Finney Smith excellent defensive player, all really good defensive players,

471
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,000
Speaker 1: all really good athletes, so they can really fly around

472
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,720
Speaker 1: on the perimeter in those rotations, and they some of

473
00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:25,560
Speaker 1: it was shot selection. Jamal Murray responded to the fronting

474
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,639
Speaker 1: of Yokich and the bracketing of Yokis by just jacking

475
00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,040
Speaker 1: up a bunch of bad shots. That obviously is less

476
00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:34,119
Speaker 1: than ideal. But they really struggled to score and that

477
00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:35,800
Speaker 1: was kind of the genesis of the twenty seven to

478
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:37,440
Speaker 1: ten run. And I want to be clear, it wasn't

479
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:40,120
Speaker 1: just Yokich. They were like Michael Bridges was going right

480
00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:42,440
Speaker 1: at Jamal Murray a lot on the offensive end of

481
00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:44,600
Speaker 1: the flour Again, Denver's got entry points. It's gonna be

482
00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:46,040
Speaker 1: a lot of Jamal Murray. It's gonna be a lot

483
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,119
Speaker 1: of Yokich having to guard on the ball when they

484
00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,639
Speaker 1: get into the postseason. Then we get to the end

485
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,720
Speaker 1: of the game because Yokich comes back into the game

486
00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,359
Speaker 1: in the middle of the fourth quarter and sends the

487
00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,320
Speaker 1: Nuggets on a run and they get it back to

488
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:00,800
Speaker 1: I think it was one sixteen to one fifteen, So

489
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,760
Speaker 1: it was a winnable game. But when they got into

490
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:07,320
Speaker 1: one sixteen one fifteen, Nikola Yokis made two back to

491
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,320
Speaker 1: back defensive mistakes that cost them the game. The first

492
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:12,560
Speaker 1: one was both of them were Spencer didn't Wood he

493
00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:16,320
Speaker 1: pick and rolls with Nikola Yokich's man, which I believe

494
00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:20,240
Speaker 1: is Jordan Finney Smith. On the first one, Yokis comes

495
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:22,439
Speaker 1: up and sets the ball or Finney Smith comes up

496
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:25,760
Speaker 1: and sets the ball screen and didn't. He just comes

497
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,679
Speaker 1: off the ball screen and turns the corner on. Yokich

498
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:30,880
Speaker 1: actually beats him off the dribble, which is something that's

499
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:32,919
Speaker 1: going to happen, and he makes a kickout pass to

500
00:24:32,920 --> 00:24:35,440
Speaker 1: the left wing. And what happens after he makes the

501
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:37,800
Speaker 1: kickout pass to the left wing, Spencer didn't. He kind

502
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:39,920
Speaker 1: of relocates to the short corner on the left side,

503
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,200
Speaker 1: and I can't remember who it was that had the ball,

504
00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,520
Speaker 1: but they were being guarded by Christian Braun and they

505
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,880
Speaker 1: drive towards the middle, and in the process when they're

506
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:52,080
Speaker 1: driving towards the middle, Christian Braun kind of has it contained, right.

507
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,119
Speaker 1: But Yokis is a big man, and you know what

508
00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:57,520
Speaker 1: big men are used to doing. They're used to guarding

509
00:24:57,520 --> 00:25:00,119
Speaker 1: big men, and so they're used to lingering Aroun on

510
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:02,760
Speaker 1: the basket, and they're used to help in on drives,

511
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:07,800
Speaker 1: and so Yokeet's left Spencer Dinwoody just left him to

512
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:09,720
Speaker 1: go help Christian Braun on a drive that he didn't

513
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,000
Speaker 1: really need help with because that's his natural defensive instinct.

514
00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,359
Speaker 1: Christian Braun made the nice little drop off past to

515
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 1: Spencer Dinwoodie in the short corner, wide open, little sixteen

516
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:20,200
Speaker 1: foot jump shot, and he knocked it down. That was

517
00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,680
Speaker 1: defensive mistake number one. The Nuggets actually go down and score.

518
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,080
Speaker 1: I think I think Yoki gets like an offensive remail

519
00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:28,359
Speaker 1: put back on, like a misshook shot or something. They

520
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,119
Speaker 1: come back down. They were on the exact same action

521
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 1: and on this play, Yokis takes a little bit more

522
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: of an aggressive angle and has Spencer Dinwoody contained, but

523
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:40,800
Speaker 1: it's the same coverage and contagious called while Pope is

524
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,399
Speaker 1: chasing over the top of the screen and is staying

525
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:47,160
Speaker 1: with Spencer Dinwoody, So they're running basically like a high

526
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 1: drop or a catch. Heage on Dinwoody and leaving Dorian

527
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:54,960
Speaker 1: Phinney Smith wide open on the right wing. Dinwood. He

528
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,160
Speaker 1: just does a spin back pivot, throws the passage Dorian

529
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 1: Phinney Smith, he knocks down the three nets are up

530
00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:02,000
Speaker 1: four with less than a minute left, and the game

531
00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:05,239
Speaker 1: is over. And so again, even though they had some

532
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:07,760
Speaker 1: success there in the middle of the fourth quarter, Yokis

533
00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:09,480
Speaker 1: was on the floor for that entire twenty seven to

534
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:12,800
Speaker 1: ten run, and he made the two biggest defensive mistakes

535
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,720
Speaker 1: down the stretch of that game, simply because they went

536
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:20,520
Speaker 1: to a five out offense for Brooklyn and Denver was

537
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:23,720
Speaker 1: kind of falling back on their natural four out one

538
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 1: in defensive instincts. This is why I talk about this

539
00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:32,399
Speaker 1: so much. You can put forth the facts simile of

540
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,600
Speaker 1: a decent defense in the NBA regular season. The Nuggets

541
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,360
Speaker 1: are sixteenth in defensive writing this season. That's not awful,

542
00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:42,119
Speaker 1: like it's bottom half, but it's not awful, right, And

543
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,359
Speaker 1: there are only a few points away from being twelve

544
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 1: or eleventh or whatever, right, So it's not like they're

545
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:50,960
Speaker 1: a bad defense in the regular season. But the way

546
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,520
Speaker 1: that they've been a decent defense in the regular season

547
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,440
Speaker 1: is they've found ways to keep Yokis around the rim

548
00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 1: and to cover for him in space and it hasn't

549
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:00,560
Speaker 1: been as much of an issue, but when you get

550
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:02,399
Speaker 1: to the postseason, it becomes a little bit more of

551
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,720
Speaker 1: a chess match, and there are specific ways to attack

552
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:07,800
Speaker 1: the Nuggets. It's going to take certain types of teams.

553
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 1: It's gonna take a team that has the necessary perimeter

554
00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:14,320
Speaker 1: talent to punish them, right, Like, I don't think the

555
00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:17,840
Speaker 1: Memphis Grizzlies are going to be able to punish Nicola

556
00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 1: Yokich in the half court offensively. That's like, if they

557
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,720
Speaker 1: catch the right matchups, it might not even matter. But

558
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:25,679
Speaker 1: if they get against a team and they are a

559
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,040
Speaker 1: handful of teams, whether it's the Sacramento Kings, or if

560
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,600
Speaker 1: it's the Los Angeles Lakers or the Los Angeles Clippers

561
00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,120
Speaker 1: or the Phoenix Suns, there are a handful of teams

562
00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,560
Speaker 1: that will be able to put out some lineup groupings

563
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:38,800
Speaker 1: that are going to have enough perimeter talent to put

564
00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:43,120
Speaker 1: this specific dynamic into play where they have to play

565
00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:47,520
Speaker 1: five out basketball, and if they do, Denver can't rely

566
00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 1: on their base scheme that they use in the regular season.

567
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 1: They're base scheme that they use in the regular season

568
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 1: just got them absolutely barbecued by the Brooklyn nets they need.

569
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:01,240
Speaker 1: They need to be able to function five out. Their

570
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,760
Speaker 1: best bet is to be like fine, attack Yokich all

571
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,600
Speaker 1: game long, attack Murray all game long, Take bad isolation shots,

572
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:10,880
Speaker 1: and we'll probably still be able to win. But it's

573
00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:13,800
Speaker 1: going they need to have more of that type of

574
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:17,240
Speaker 1: scheme prepared for that playoff situation. As a matter of fact,

575
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,199
Speaker 1: I'd like to see them here down the stretch of

576
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: the regular season do a lot more switching. Put Yokis

577
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,840
Speaker 1: on an island more, at least practice it, because you're

578
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:26,600
Speaker 1: going to need to be able to do that in

579
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:31,240
Speaker 1: specific matchups when they get later into the postseason. You know,

580
00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:33,560
Speaker 1: I had some Nuggets fans in my mentions earlier this morning,

581
00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,840
Speaker 1: several of them that were like, like, oh, Yokis was

582
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,920
Speaker 1: a plus fourteen in this game, and like, look, man,

583
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:43,240
Speaker 1: Yokis is a plus plus minus machine. He's a positive

584
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:44,920
Speaker 1: and damn near every single one of his shifts the series.

585
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:46,960
Speaker 1: He's been the best player by plus minus in the

586
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,640
Speaker 1: league this year by a mile. But here's the reality

587
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,920
Speaker 1: of the situation. He was on the floor for that

588
00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:55,840
Speaker 1: entire twenty seven to ten run, and he was directly

589
00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:58,200
Speaker 1: responsible for the two biggest defensive mistakes of the game,

590
00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:02,560
Speaker 1: and he was a six in the second half. So

591
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:03,960
Speaker 1: it's not like he could have run over to the

592
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,480
Speaker 1: scorers table and been like, hey, I was a plus

593
00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,200
Speaker 1: fourteen tonight and they were going to switch the outcome

594
00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:11,760
Speaker 1: in the standings. That's not how it works. I'm not

595
00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 1: concerned about the Nuggets as a whole in what they're

596
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:17,840
Speaker 1: capable of on both ends of the floor. In a

597
00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 1: eighty two game regular season, They've been the best team

598
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:22,800
Speaker 1: in the Western Conference by far. That goes without saying.

599
00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:27,760
Speaker 1: What I am specifically saying is that they have some weaknesses.

600
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,080
Speaker 1: Every team in the West has weaknesses. That's why. And

601
00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:33,840
Speaker 1: I said this. I went on with Mark Ryan with

602
00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,120
Speaker 1: CBS Sports on a Saturday evening and one of the

603
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,320
Speaker 1: things I said to him was like, because his first

604
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:40,920
Speaker 1: question to me was like, why aren't people taking the

605
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:44,480
Speaker 1: Nuggets seriously? If the season ended today, I would pick

606
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 1: the Nuggets to win the Western Conference. Yes I would,

607
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:53,160
Speaker 1: because Lebron's not healthy, Kevin Durant's not healthy, Andrew Wiggins

608
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:55,880
Speaker 1: is not even with the Warriors, and the Sacramento Kings

609
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:58,240
Speaker 1: are just a worse version of the Denver Nuggets. And

610
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:01,000
Speaker 1: the Clippers have this Russell Westbrook thing and they're a

611
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,840
Speaker 1: little bit inconsistent. There isn't anybody out there that looks

612
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:07,720
Speaker 1: better than the Nuggets, so they're the safest bet. And

613
00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,000
Speaker 1: if the season ended today, I would pick the Nuggets,

614
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,640
Speaker 1: But obviously the season doesn't end today. Kevin Durant's coming back,

615
00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:20,280
Speaker 1: Lebron James is coming back, right like the Clippers might

616
00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:22,840
Speaker 1: decide to just bench Russell Westbrook entirely when they get

617
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,400
Speaker 1: into these specific situations, or maybe they figure out a

618
00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,760
Speaker 1: way to use him in a way that's beneficial. I'd

619
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,280
Speaker 1: argue they already have to a certain extent. Maybe the

620
00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:34,960
Speaker 1: Sacramento Kings start playing Kessler Edwards more and getting more stops,

621
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 1: and maybe their offense suddenly becomes a bigger weapon. Things

622
00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 1: could change, And if they catch the right matchup, there

623
00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,960
Speaker 1: is an opportunity there for teams to attack Denver in

624
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:49,320
Speaker 1: a five out setting by going after Jamal Murray, by

625
00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,360
Speaker 1: going after Michael Porter Jr. And by going after Nicola Yokis.

626
00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,640
Speaker 1: That's just a fact. And so we're going to talk

627
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,520
Speaker 1: about them and talk about what their upside is and

628
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:00,880
Speaker 1: what their downside is. They're upside is they win the West,

629
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,720
Speaker 1: and then they get into the finals and they you know,

630
00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:07,680
Speaker 1: catch the They catch the Bucks and they're able to

631
00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,120
Speaker 1: keep Nicola Yokis around the rim and everything works out

632
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,719
Speaker 1: fine defensively, and they win the title. That is an option,

633
00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,240
Speaker 1: that is a real outcome. But it's also possible that

634
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:18,840
Speaker 1: they end up in a bad first round series against

635
00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:21,720
Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors and they pick them apart in

636
00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:25,680
Speaker 1: five out. That's also on the table. And like, it

637
00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:29,560
Speaker 1: is amazing to me how many Nuggets fans have ignored that.

638
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,200
Speaker 1: And I get it. You're a fan and you love Yokis.

639
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,360
Speaker 1: I know the feeling. Trust me, I get my own

640
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:39,560
Speaker 1: judgment clouded all the time with the Lakers and with

641
00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,840
Speaker 1: Lebron right, But what I'm saying is is that, like,

642
00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 1: let's acknowledge, if, for what it is, they're the best

643
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:47,240
Speaker 1: team in the West, I pick them to win the

644
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:51,920
Speaker 1: conference today. They are extremely vulnerable. They are extremely vulnerable

645
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,880
Speaker 1: if they catch this a certain type of matchup. All right,

646
00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:57,680
Speaker 1: before we get out of here today, let's talk King's sons.

647
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:00,240
Speaker 1: So the Kings of one eight out of nine instance,

648
00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:02,560
Speaker 1: they all star break. That's the best record in the

649
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:04,360
Speaker 1: league over that span. Some quality wins in there too.

650
00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,600
Speaker 1: They beat the Clippers twice, they beat the Pelicans, they

651
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:11,400
Speaker 1: beat the Knicks, they beat the Suns on Saturday. That's

652
00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:13,360
Speaker 1: the game we're gonna talk about tonight. They won twenty

653
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:15,800
Speaker 1: eight to one. Nineteen seven Kings were in double figures

654
00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:17,920
Speaker 1: in this game. Key adjustment down the stretches, Mike Brown

655
00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:21,400
Speaker 1: went to Kessler Edwards. Didn't play very much of Keegan

656
00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:25,960
Speaker 1: Murray or Kevin Hurder in this game, and Kessler Edwards

657
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:29,680
Speaker 1: did an outstanding job defending Devin Booker, and he made

658
00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:31,960
Speaker 1: I think he made three two or three threes in

659
00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:35,840
Speaker 1: the game as well, so like he was functional enough offensively,

660
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,480
Speaker 1: did not hurt them and was a much much better

661
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:43,800
Speaker 1: defensive player than Hurder or Kegan Murder. Right. And you know,

662
00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,640
Speaker 1: it's funny because one of the things that one of

663
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:48,560
Speaker 1: the ways you can always tell a dude's playing really

664
00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:50,520
Speaker 1: good defense on a star player is the type of

665
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:53,840
Speaker 1: shots that he's taking. Like there was a late isolation

666
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,240
Speaker 1: possession in the late fourth quarter where Kessela Edwards is

667
00:32:57,240 --> 00:32:59,800
Speaker 1: matched up with Devin Booker, and Devin Booker ends up

668
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:03,160
Speaker 1: take like a ridiculously difficult step back three going to

669
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:07,120
Speaker 1: his right, and like, that's always the thing you can

670
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:08,760
Speaker 1: keep an eye on, when you can tell when a

671
00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,200
Speaker 1: guy's got a really good matchup versus a guy who's

672
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:13,160
Speaker 1: doing a really good job defensively. I'll give you an

673
00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:17,640
Speaker 1: example later. I can't remember if it was earlier or

674
00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:19,680
Speaker 1: later in the game, but in the same crunch time period,

675
00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:21,600
Speaker 1: there was a play where Darren Fox got switched on

676
00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:25,480
Speaker 1: to Tory Craig, and Tory Craig is has no hope

677
00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:28,560
Speaker 1: in hell at guarding Darren Fox, and Darren hit him

678
00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:30,680
Speaker 1: with a left or right crossover and got like ten

679
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:33,640
Speaker 1: feet of separation and rose up and knocked down the shot.

680
00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:37,080
Speaker 1: It was a straight up and down, wide open seventeen

681
00:33:37,120 --> 00:33:39,560
Speaker 1: footer because he was able to get a ton of

682
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:42,880
Speaker 1: separation with Kessler Edwards and Devin Booker. Devin Booker couldn't

683
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,200
Speaker 1: get separation from him and so he had to take

684
00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:50,239
Speaker 1: an extremely difficult, nearly impossible, stepping fading jumper to his

685
00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:53,160
Speaker 1: right from three right. That's kind of like the way

686
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:55,520
Speaker 1: that dynamic looks for me. But shout out to Kesler Edwards.

687
00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:58,920
Speaker 1: He hasn't played a ton since coming over, but he

688
00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:00,360
Speaker 1: did a really good job and he was one of

689
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:02,360
Speaker 1: the big reasons why the Kings won this game knocked

690
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:04,240
Speaker 1: down the biggest shot of the game too, a kickout

691
00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 1: pass off of a double team in the right corner.

692
00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:10,600
Speaker 1: We'll talk about that in just a minute. One of

693
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:12,680
Speaker 1: the things that stood out to me from the Sun's

694
00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,799
Speaker 1: perspective in this game is just without Kevin Durant, how

695
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:18,480
Speaker 1: poor they look at the forward position. Big shock. I mean,

696
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,320
Speaker 1: when you trade all your forwards to get the best forward,

697
00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:24,400
Speaker 1: maybe depending on who you ask, When you trade all

698
00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:26,160
Speaker 1: of your forwards to get the best forward and then

699
00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:29,680
Speaker 1: the best forward doesn't play, then suddenly you're playing all

700
00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:32,400
Speaker 1: your bench forwards, right, So like I mean, there was

701
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,200
Speaker 1: a steady diet of like Tory Craig and Ishwayne Wright

702
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:38,320
Speaker 1: and Josh Akog and some Terrence Ross down the stretch

703
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 1: of this game. And Terence Ross couldn't stay on the

704
00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:42,600
Speaker 1: floor because he couldn't defend, and then the Kings just

705
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:45,200
Speaker 1: weren't even guarding the other three guys, Ishwayne Right, Josh

706
00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:47,279
Speaker 1: Cog and Tory Craig were wide open pretty much the

707
00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:50,360
Speaker 1: entire fourth quarter. They were loading up on the Booker

708
00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:53,640
Speaker 1: and Paul actions, and those guys got great looks and

709
00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:55,279
Speaker 1: they just couldn't make up those four guys combined to

710
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,280
Speaker 1: go two for ten from the field in the fourth quarter.

711
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,600
Speaker 1: Down the stretch particularly, they went with Jo Shakogi and

712
00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:02,960
Speaker 1: Tory Craig, and they just couldn't get a quality look

713
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,439
Speaker 1: because they were just ignoring them. I think Josh Cog

714
00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:07,680
Speaker 1: mister corner three. I think Tory Craig mister corner three.

715
00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:09,919
Speaker 1: Just in those last few possessions it was bad. So

716
00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:13,160
Speaker 1: like Katie coming back obviously helps that. And I always

717
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,120
Speaker 1: look at it as like the kind of like the

718
00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:18,719
Speaker 1: aggregate ball handling of the group. I'll talk about this

719
00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:21,840
Speaker 1: with the Lakers. A lot like Jared Vanderbilt is a

720
00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:26,040
Speaker 1: real problem offensively, right, But if he's alongside Anthony Davis, Lebron,

721
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,400
Speaker 1: James Austin Reeves and DeAngelo Russell, there's so much offensive

722
00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:31,640
Speaker 1: skill around him that it'll be fine. And that's kind

723
00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:33,360
Speaker 1: of the way I look at it from the Sun's perspective.

724
00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:36,799
Speaker 1: If Kevin Durant is in for Tory Craig and that's

725
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:40,080
Speaker 1: Josh Akogi is the one week link. Offensively, I think

726
00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,120
Speaker 1: it all works. But when you have to put two

727
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:44,920
Speaker 1: guys like that out there, that's when things just kind

728
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,840
Speaker 1: of drop below that minimum level of acceptable offensive talent

729
00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:52,920
Speaker 1: to be able to contend against good teams. But the

730
00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:56,960
Speaker 1: Kings continue to be ridiculously good in clutch situations down

731
00:35:57,040 --> 00:35:59,640
Speaker 1: the stretch. It was one fifteen, one fifteen, and the

732
00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,399
Speaker 1: King scored on four straight possessions and three of them

733
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,520
Speaker 1: were outstanding shot quality, only one of them was tough.

734
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:07,839
Speaker 1: So I wanted to kind of go play by play

735
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:09,760
Speaker 1: through that really quick. So when it was one fifteen,

736
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,759
Speaker 1: one fifteen, they start by running a Molique Monk and

737
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:15,680
Speaker 1: Sabonis pick and roll, and this was the play that

738
00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:18,080
Speaker 1: got Terrence Ross out of the game. The Molique Monk

739
00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:21,279
Speaker 1: got downhill way too easy, engaged the screen defender, just

740
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:23,600
Speaker 1: throw a little shovel pass to Sabonis who got a

741
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:27,840
Speaker 1: wide open layup. Right next possession down the floor, Darren

742
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,480
Speaker 1: Fox runs a pick and roll with Demonus Sabonis and

743
00:36:30,520 --> 00:36:32,120
Speaker 1: they actually defend it really well. This is the one

744
00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:34,560
Speaker 1: possession that they forced the Kings into a tough shot.

745
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,960
Speaker 1: They contained the pick and roll. Deandreton recovers back to Sabonis.

746
00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:41,359
Speaker 1: Sabonis is now stuck in the post shot, clocks winding down,

747
00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:44,439
Speaker 1: and he just kind of like orients himself and hits

748
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:46,719
Speaker 1: Eton with the shoulder and comes way out wide with

749
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:48,680
Speaker 1: this lefty hook and he puts it in tough shot,

750
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:53,319
Speaker 1: you know. But from there, Darren Fox started going at

751
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:56,360
Speaker 1: Tory Craig, so he starts calling these ball screens to

752
00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:58,560
Speaker 1: get switches. He gets switched on to Tory Craig. First

753
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:00,000
Speaker 1: play is the one I told you guys about early

754
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:02,680
Speaker 1: hits Tory Craig with the left or right crossover buckles.

755
00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:05,080
Speaker 1: Zim gets all this separation knocks down the jump shot.

756
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:08,520
Speaker 1: So then the very next possession they go at Tory

757
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:11,440
Speaker 1: Craig again, get the switch, and the Suns had to double,

758
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 1: and when they doubled, it was swing, swing, wide open

759
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:17,320
Speaker 1: three for Kessler Edwards that ended up being the dagger.

760
00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:19,680
Speaker 1: So like the level of offense, it's not hard to

761
00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:23,200
Speaker 1: see why this works. The Kings are now twenty two

762
00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:25,759
Speaker 1: and fourteen in clutch games. That's the sixth best win

763
00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:28,160
Speaker 1: percentage in the league in those situations. They have a

764
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,719
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty nine offensive rating in clutch situations, which

765
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:33,480
Speaker 1: is the best in the league by a mile. That's

766
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:36,400
Speaker 1: eleven point four points better than the second best clutch

767
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 1: offense in the league. And to me, it's really simple.

768
00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:43,839
Speaker 1: It's an outstanding pick and roll duo. Darren Fox, who

769
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:45,600
Speaker 1: you have to chase over the screen, which is going

770
00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:50,520
Speaker 1: to get him downhill right, and Demonus a Bonus who

771
00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:52,919
Speaker 1: can catch and finish everything around the rim, is an

772
00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:56,799
Speaker 1: outstanding screener to get Darren Fox position. And you can't

773
00:37:56,840 --> 00:37:59,160
Speaker 1: switch the pick and roll because if you switch it,

774
00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:02,280
Speaker 1: Darren Fox is gonna kill you an ISO or Demonus

775
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:04,920
Speaker 1: a Bonus is gonna kill you in a post. So

776
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,480
Speaker 1: like that dynamic is just a huge pain in the

777
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:09,680
Speaker 1: ass for every team. And what makes it work is

778
00:38:09,960 --> 00:38:13,640
Speaker 1: Sabonis can finish everything around the rim, and he can

779
00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:15,439
Speaker 1: make all those quick little hook shots in the lane

780
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:18,319
Speaker 1: against switches and deer. And Fox has a great pull

781
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:20,840
Speaker 1: up jump shot that he can use in ball screens

782
00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,000
Speaker 1: when he gets too much separation, and that he can

783
00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:25,520
Speaker 1: beat people with an ISO, and he can get all

784
00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:27,840
Speaker 1: the way to the rim to such a ridiculous extent

785
00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:30,680
Speaker 1: that guys play off of him because how quick he is.

786
00:38:31,160 --> 00:38:33,480
Speaker 1: Oh and even if he gets into your chest, he

787
00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:36,040
Speaker 1: can stop short and kind of pull up and make

788
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:38,319
Speaker 1: that little short, little left handed float or in the lane,

789
00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:41,279
Speaker 1: the offensive skill set of those two makes it extremely

790
00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:44,680
Speaker 1: difficult to guard them, which starts bringing extra defenders into

791
00:38:44,719 --> 00:38:48,320
Speaker 1: the play. And they're always surrounded by three great shooters,

792
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,799
Speaker 1: whether it's Harrison Barnes or whether it's Kevin Herder or

793
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:55,120
Speaker 1: today or last night it was you know, Kessler Edwards. Like,

794
00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:58,000
Speaker 1: regardless regardless of who it ends up being, they went

795
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:00,319
Speaker 1: with a lot of Molik Monk in the clutch situations

796
00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:02,760
Speaker 1: this year the league. Monka is obviously a dead eye shooter,

797
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:05,160
Speaker 1: can also run a little second side action if Daron

798
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:08,080
Speaker 1: Fox gives the ball up. They're just an extremely difficult

799
00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:10,239
Speaker 1: team to guard in clutch situations. I don't think it's

800
00:39:10,440 --> 00:39:13,480
Speaker 1: I don't think that's flukey. Like if if the Kings

801
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:17,160
Speaker 1: can somehow find themselves getting into late game situations and

802
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:19,520
Speaker 1: the clutch, obviously their defense is gonna be a problem,

803
00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:21,080
Speaker 1: but their offense is going to give them a chance

804
00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:25,839
Speaker 1: to win playoff games down the stretch. Darren Fox has

805
00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:28,800
Speaker 1: made sixty five clutch field goals this year, which is

806
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:31,120
Speaker 1: twenty one more than the next best guy in the league.

807
00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:36,480
Speaker 1: He's shooting fifty four percent in those situations. Yeah, we

808
00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:37,799
Speaker 1: talked a little bit about what he can do an

809
00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:40,480
Speaker 1: Ione pick and roll with his skill set. Here's where

810
00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:43,239
Speaker 1: I'm at with the Kings. Do I think they can

811
00:39:43,320 --> 00:39:46,160
Speaker 1: win the West? Sure, But that mainly has to do

812
00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:47,600
Speaker 1: with the fact that the West is a shit show.

813
00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:52,000
Speaker 1: I think that the Kings of like, there's no reason

814
00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:55,000
Speaker 1: why I should theoretically believe in teams below them, right,

815
00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:59,279
Speaker 1: Like the Warriors are incredibly unathletic without Andrew Wiggins, and

816
00:39:59,400 --> 00:40:01,640
Speaker 1: who knows when he's gonna come back. Lebron's out, Kevin

817
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:03,720
Speaker 1: Durrant's out. We talked, We talked about all that stuff.

818
00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:06,480
Speaker 1: Everybody below the top of the West has so many

819
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,080
Speaker 1: question marks that like, yeah, any of those teams could

820
00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:12,200
Speaker 1: win the West, but they could just as easily lose

821
00:40:12,239 --> 00:40:14,360
Speaker 1: in the play in or or lose in the first round,

822
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:17,160
Speaker 1: like all those teams. You know how much I believe

823
00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:19,200
Speaker 1: in their ceiling. I think the Suns can win the title.

824
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 1: I think the Clippers can win the title. I think

825
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:22,200
Speaker 1: the Warriors can win the title. I think the Lakers

826
00:40:22,239 --> 00:40:24,279
Speaker 1: can win the title, but they just have so many

827
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:28,560
Speaker 1: question marks. And then between Denver and Sacramento, I think

828
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:30,400
Speaker 1: Denver's better and I'd picked them if they ended up

829
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:33,600
Speaker 1: in a Western Conference Finals matchup, but Sacramento presents some

830
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:36,000
Speaker 1: of those specific issues we talked about earlier with Denver

831
00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:39,319
Speaker 1: in five out situations with a much better guard initiating

832
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:41,320
Speaker 1: things in deer and Fox, So they have a puncher's

833
00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:44,200
Speaker 1: chance to win that series. And then yeah, in the finals,

834
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:49,440
Speaker 1: it gets extremely tough because now, like I think, I

835
00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:52,120
Speaker 1: think they would have almost zero percent chance of beating

836
00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:54,960
Speaker 1: Boston and Milwaukee. So I kind of put their ceiling

837
00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:56,960
Speaker 1: at can they win the West, yes? Can they win

838
00:40:56,960 --> 00:40:59,359
Speaker 1: the Finals? No? And the real thing that's holding them

839
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:02,799
Speaker 1: back once again continues to be the defense. Even in

840
00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:05,400
Speaker 1: this eight in one stretch post All Star Break, they

841
00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:09,440
Speaker 1: are twenty seventh in defensive rating. They haven't had a

842
00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:14,360
Speaker 1: single encouraging stretch of defense during the season. Their best

843
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:18,000
Speaker 1: defensive month was December they were fourteenth, But they've been

844
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,239
Speaker 1: in the bottom half of the league every other month

845
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:24,560
Speaker 1: in four of the six seasons. This month or months

846
00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:27,840
Speaker 1: this season, they've been in the bottom ten in defensive rating.

847
00:41:28,719 --> 00:41:30,279
Speaker 1: It really comes down to front court. I actually think

848
00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:32,200
Speaker 1: the guards have done a decent job. You've seen a

849
00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:33,920
Speaker 1: little bit of Terrence Davis, You've seen a little bit

850
00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:37,320
Speaker 1: of Davion Mitchell. Darren Fox is playing really good defensively

851
00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:41,360
Speaker 1: as of late. Their guards are competing. But it comes

852
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:43,760
Speaker 1: down to that same concept that I've talked about forever.

853
00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:49,800
Speaker 1: Look back at NBA history from now every year back

854
00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:55,040
Speaker 1: who is the defensive front court? Last year Draymond Greene

855
00:41:55,960 --> 00:41:58,040
Speaker 1: that one of the best defensive players of all time,

856
00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:00,960
Speaker 1: with Kevin Luny a good defensive front court player. Year

857
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,200
Speaker 1: before Janison brook Lopez arguably the best defensive front court

858
00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:06,919
Speaker 1: to ever win a championship, right depending on who you ask,

859
00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:11,640
Speaker 1: Lebron and Anthony Davis in twenty twenty, Kawhi Leonard and

860
00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:18,400
Speaker 1: Sergebaca in twenty nineteen, the Warriors again in twenty eighteen

861
00:42:18,400 --> 00:42:21,240
Speaker 1: and twenty seventeen. Except for now it's Draymond and Kevin Durant.

862
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:25,360
Speaker 1: You know, Lebron James and Tristan Thompson in two thousand

863
00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:29,080
Speaker 1: and sixteen, that back when Lebron was an otherworldly defensive player.

864
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:32,520
Speaker 1: Draymond green again in two thousand and fifteen, Tim Duncan

865
00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:35,200
Speaker 1: in two thousand and fourteen, Boshon Lebron in two thousand

866
00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:38,400
Speaker 1: and thirteen, boshon Lebron in two thousand and twelve. You

867
00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:41,080
Speaker 1: know Sean Marion and Tyson Chandler in two thousand and

868
00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:48,360
Speaker 1: eleven byonhum Gasol byonhum Gasol, Kevin Garnett, we like Tim Duncan,

869
00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:52,960
Speaker 1: we can go on forever you need. You're not winning

870
00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:57,280
Speaker 1: a championship in the NBA unless you have an outstanding

871
00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:01,760
Speaker 1: defensive front court. The Kings, it's Harrison, Barnes and demonis

872
00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:05,920
Speaker 1: a bonus. So that's ultimately what's holding them back. In

873
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:10,320
Speaker 1: the NBA, your forwards are what contain pick and roll actions.

874
00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:13,400
Speaker 1: They're what help around the rim, and then when the

875
00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:15,239
Speaker 1: defense gets in rotation, they have to be able to

876
00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:18,719
Speaker 1: cover ground and drive and kick basketball. You can't win

877
00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:21,200
Speaker 1: unless you have excellent players in those positions. That's what's

878
00:43:21,239 --> 00:43:23,520
Speaker 1: holding them back. So I've enjoyed watching the Kings. We're

879
00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:26,200
Speaker 1: gonna cover them very closely Kings fans. We will cover

880
00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:29,640
Speaker 1: every single playoff game for the Kings this year. We'll

881
00:43:29,640 --> 00:43:33,359
Speaker 1: do film, deep dives, we'll do instant reactions. It's just

882
00:43:34,719 --> 00:43:37,080
Speaker 1: I mean, like, as I'm curious if you're a Kings fan,

883
00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:39,560
Speaker 1: put it in the comments, like do you think they

884
00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:41,759
Speaker 1: can win the title with the Harrison Barnes demonus a

885
00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:45,080
Speaker 1: bonus front court defensively, do you think they can? And

886
00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:47,440
Speaker 1: let's be honest and let's have a conversation about it.

887
00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:50,240
Speaker 1: All right, guys, That's all I have for tonight. As always,

888
00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:52,960
Speaker 1: that sincerely appreciate your support. Rest of the schedule for

889
00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:58,200
Speaker 1: this week daytime shows Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, taking Friday off,

890
00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:01,440
Speaker 1: probably gonna have a video Saturday night after Warrior's Grizzlies,

891
00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:03,439
Speaker 1: and then taking Sunday off before we go into next week.

892
00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:05,879
Speaker 1: As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys, and I will

893
00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:16,800
Speaker 1: see you tomorrow morning. The Volume