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You're at the ball. 32 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: You might be Thursday, everybody, If all of you guys 33 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: are having a great week, got a jampackshow for you 34 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: guys tonight. We're hitting that really bizarre game between the 35 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Brandon 36 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: Pajemski badly outplays Luka Doncic game. We're gonna be talking 37 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,720 Speaker 1: about that game from the perspective of both teams. One 38 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 1: of the things I want to get into there is that, yes, 39 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:14,920 Speaker 1: there was a lot of weird stuff tonight that you 40 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: can sort of compartmentalize a little bit, but there are 41 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 1: also some realities there that are scary if you're a 42 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: Lakers fan. So we're going to be getting into that 43 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:25,920 Speaker 1: as well as the Warriors get finally get a signature 44 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,839 Speaker 1: win in the Jimmy Butler era going on the road 45 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,960 Speaker 1: and kind of I thought, dominating the Lakers. We're going 46 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: to get into that game for quite a bit. After that, 47 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:37,120 Speaker 1: we got our weekly Course Correction segment, a segment with Microsoft. 48 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,799 Speaker 1: I want to talk about Giannis and the unbelievable night 49 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 1: he just had tonight on the road in Philly, and 50 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: then at the tail end of the show, I want 51 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: to talk a little bit about the Grizzlies heat game 52 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 1: and the first game of the TNT Slate, specifically about 53 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: jam Morant and his superpower and why that kind of 54 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 1: keeps things somewhat open minded for me as it pertains 55 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: to the Grizzlies future. And then at the tail of 56 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: the show, just like we do on every one of 57 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: these nighttime live shows, we're going to do like ten 58 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: to fifteen minutes of questions from the chat. You just 59 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: have to be subscribed. Drop your questions and there Jackson's 60 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: going to come on the show. We'll talk a little 61 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: bit of hoops. You guys have the jow before we 62 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,120 Speaker 1: get started. Subscribe to Hoops and Oight YouTube channels. You 63 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:16,519 Speaker 1: don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on 64 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: Twitter at underscore JCNLTS. You guys don't miss announcement. Don't 65 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: forget about a podcast feed wherever you get your podcast 66 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave 67 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: a rating and a review on that front. Jackson's doing 68 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: some great work on social media. Make sure you follow 69 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 1: us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook where we're getting more 70 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: content out throughout the course of the year. And the 71 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 1: last but not least, keep dropping mail bag questions in 72 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: the YouTube comments that we can get it into our 73 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: mail bag next week. All right, let's talk some basketball. 74 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: So one of the things I talked about in this 75 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: morning show, if you guys remember correctly, if it's not 76 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: the first time I've talked about it, but it's a 77 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: concept of styles making fights, and we did a whole 78 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: bit at the tail end of the show. If you 79 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: guys remember where I talked a little bit about this 80 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 1: game specifically and how it was going to be about 81 00:03:54,840 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: the Lakers perimeter size versus the Warriors perimeter, and I 82 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: was curious to see which party in this instance would 83 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: be able to leverage their advantage more. A lot of 84 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: times we think of a certain type of player of 85 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: being unable to play, Oh, he could play this guy 86 00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: off the floor. He can't handle this, or he can't 87 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: handle that. Most of the time it comes down to, like, 88 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,720 Speaker 1: are your fast guys doing a better job of leveraging 89 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:25,680 Speaker 1: their speed, then your big guys are doing leveraging their 90 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,720 Speaker 1: size right, And interestingly enough, in the early portion of 91 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 1: the game, the first handful of possessions, the Lakers were 92 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: getting fantastic shots every single down as time down the floor, 93 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 1: posting Smalls with Ruby Hatch murl Lebron James, and Lukadancic, 94 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: and if it wasn't for Brandon Pajemski's early shooting stretch 95 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: that he went on, the Lakers would have built themselves 96 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: a sizable lead. In the early portion of the game, 97 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,359 Speaker 1: the Lakers were getting a lot of offensive rebounds, beating 98 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,799 Speaker 1: the Warriors to the ball. That brief little stretch of time, 99 00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:56,280 Speaker 1: that first shift, that first whatever it was, five or 100 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: six minutes, everything was going the Lakers' way as it 101 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: pertains to those styles making those fights right from that 102 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: point on, literally for the rest of the game, I 103 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,039 Speaker 1: thought the Warriors just kicked their ass. I thought they 104 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: beat them to every single loose ball. They dramatically compromised 105 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: the Lakers just about every time down the floor, just 106 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 1: by running and getting into their pace in the half court, 107 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: getting in and out of actions quickly. I thought one 108 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: of the perfect examples of that was right when the 109 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: Lakers cut it to five, and then Steph came in 110 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: right after the timeout, just zoomed up to the top 111 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: of the key and curled right around the screen and 112 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: just had an easy lamp and it literally looked like 113 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: he just cut through them like a knife through butter, 114 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: as every Laker was kind of stuck in the mud. 115 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:38,799 Speaker 1: And we're going to get into a bunch of different 116 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 1: elements of how this fight manifested between the two styles, 117 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: but the bottom line is is the Lakers were able 118 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: to leverage their size for about one shift, and then 119 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: for the rest of the game, it didn't matter the Warriors, 120 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: just I thought they completely controlled the game. Every time 121 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:00,120 Speaker 1: I looked at the scoreboard, I really couldn't believe that 122 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,760 Speaker 1: the game was as close as it was the late stretch. 123 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,280 Speaker 1: After the Warriors went up, it was just basically Austin 124 00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: Reeves shooting, and the only thing keeping them close there 125 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: in that middle portion of the game was Ruy Hachimura 126 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: and Lebron James. I thought just about every Laker outside 127 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: of Austin in that fourth quarter, and then Lebron and 128 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: Rue I thought every one of those guys got outplayed 129 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: by their Warriors counterparts, and I thought it was just 130 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: a clean, dominant, kind of wired to wire type of victory. 131 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:25,919 Speaker 1: You know, I talk a lot about this concept, I 132 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: don't really there's a feeling you can get watching a game. 133 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: It's hard to explain, but like a lot of times, 134 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: it's separate from the scoreboard because there's so much weirdness, 135 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:37,360 Speaker 1: right There's all these like different random things that can 136 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: happen in a game that swing the result one way 137 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,280 Speaker 1: or another. But there's a feel that you can feel 138 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,640 Speaker 1: in a basketball game when one team is just getting 139 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: things easier than the other thing the other team is 140 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 1: getting them. I'll give you an example, Like I thought 141 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,120 Speaker 1: the Lakers game when they beat the Pacers, the one 142 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,600 Speaker 1: where Lebron got the tap in, I thought the Lakers 143 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: controlled that game. They tricked it off at the end, 144 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 1: but throughout the entirety of the game, things just felt 145 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: easier for the Lakers on offense than it was for 146 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: the Pacers. Similarly, the Lakers were close in this game 147 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: for the most part. They kind of hovered within that 148 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: you know, you know, seven to fifteen point range for 149 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: the most part. But as I was watching the game, 150 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: everything felt like a chore for the Lakers, and everything 151 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: looked more fluid and easy for the Warriors. And that's 152 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: concerning for me in the big picture as it pertains 153 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 1: to the Lakers. But I want to wait until we 154 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: get into some Lakers stuff later on the show. So 155 00:07:30,200 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: early in the game, Lakers are starting to punish the 156 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: Warriors with their size. Brandon Pajemski just goes on that 157 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 1: little hot streak right at the start of the game, 158 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: hitting what three or four threes in the first few minutes, 159 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: And this is an important part of game plan for 160 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: opponents for the Warriors, and beating the game plan for 161 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,560 Speaker 1: the Warriors themselves. Like I've talked a ton this year 162 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,679 Speaker 1: about how teams are going to concede three point shots 163 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: to Draymond Green, They're going to concede three point shots 164 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 1: to Brandon Pajemski, They're going to concede three point shots 165 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: to Jonathan Kaminga. Those guys won eleven for seventeen from 166 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 1: three tonight. If that is going to be a sweet 167 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: forget about the Lakers for a minute. Regardless of who 168 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:13,800 Speaker 1: they play, first round, second round, third round, the Warriors 169 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: are going to get to where they want to go. 170 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: Those guys are gonna have to hit shots. It actually 171 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: kind of reminds me of the dynamic with the Nuggets, 172 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: because with the Nuggets, it's similar with like Christian Brown 173 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: and Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson and Russell Westbrook. Like 174 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:29,440 Speaker 1: there's these guys that teams, as far as the game 175 00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:32,360 Speaker 1: plan goes, will concede shots too, and they're going to 176 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: have to knock them down. I thought those threes from 177 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: Brandon early in the game were huge because they covered 178 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: for that brief stretch of the game when the Lakers 179 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: were kind of beating them to the ball and just 180 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 1: leveraging their size. One of the big game plan things 181 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: in this game that I thought was fascinating. The Lakers, 182 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: for the most part when I've watched him, have run 183 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: a lot of deep drop with Quinton Post. They like 184 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,200 Speaker 1: him better under the basket that they do on the perimeter. 185 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,400 Speaker 1: He can have some issues in space. And this is 186 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: where like not being married to your basketball philosophy but 187 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:04,680 Speaker 1: rather catering your basketball philosophy to the surrounding circumstances is 188 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,200 Speaker 1: so important because if you do that against the Lakers, 189 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 1: they're gonna kill you. Consistently, since Luca went to the Lakers, 190 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 1: they have struggled against switching, and they've eviscerated teams that 191 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,559 Speaker 1: have run traditional coverages chasing over the top of screens 192 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: and things along those lines. And again we're gonna talk 193 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: about the Lakers struggles there here in a minute, But 194 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:25,120 Speaker 1: from a game plan standpoint, the smart thing to do 195 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: with Quentin Post or with anybody is to switch, because 196 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 1: even if you give up dribble penetration or you know, 197 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: first of all, you can force Luca into step back threes, 198 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:36,960 Speaker 1: and Luca just his shot making is right back in 199 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:38,679 Speaker 1: the gutter like it was when he first came to 200 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: the Lakers, or you can have a plan for dribble 201 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,320 Speaker 1: penetration that is a little easier to manage than blitzing 202 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: a ball screen or ending up in a really compromise 203 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: situation on a skip pass because you had to load 204 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: up the strong side so much and pick and roll 205 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: because you're sitting in a drop coverage. And so I 206 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:57,840 Speaker 1: thought that was really smart just in general, all game long, 207 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: the Warriors were able to stagnate the Lakers and make 208 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: them attack post mismatches or general mismatches everywhere on the floor. Right, 209 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:08,959 Speaker 1: here's the problem. The only guys in the game that 210 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: we're having any sort of success punishing smalls Ruija Chamura 211 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: and Lebron James. And you're not gonna play through Ruie 212 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: that much because he's ruy Ha Chamura. You're gonna play 213 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: through Luca a lot. And like, in order for the 214 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: Lakers to be able to score against the switching scheme 215 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: like that, Luca's got to be able to score the basketball. 216 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: He's got to be able to compromise the defense against 217 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: these switches. It was a really smart game plan from 218 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 1: Steve Kerr. Everybody did an amazing job in their individual 219 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 1: defense possessions. Draymond I thought him specifically in his possessions 220 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:42,560 Speaker 1: off of Lebron and Rui. He You know, one of 221 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 1: the things that the that I've talked about consistently this year, 222 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: specifically with Draymond and Gary Payton, is their ability to 223 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,080 Speaker 1: like make it look like there's an opening because they've 224 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:53,360 Speaker 1: got a foot in the paint, but they are so 225 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: anticipatory with the way they read the pass before it 226 00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 1: happens and where the pass is going that they can 227 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 1: throw these clothes out that he raced those openings. There's 228 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 1: two early in the game skips to ruy Ha Chamura 229 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: in the right corner where Draymond Green closed out on 230 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,720 Speaker 1: him and Luca was dribbling live dribble off the left 231 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 1: wing and the Warriors are completely loaded up on the 232 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: strong side and the skip passes the reef that's the 233 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:18,120 Speaker 1: reader's supposed to make in that situation. But Draymond's superpower 234 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: is his ability to be able to cover ground the 235 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: way that he did, and he just did a great 236 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 1: job shutting down those windows every single time they appeared. 237 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 1: I thought their rebounding was excellent. Again there was you know, 238 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: it's so funny watching the difference between Steve Kerr and 239 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 1: JJ Reddick, and JJ's new and obviously he's kind of 240 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: like getting his bearing still in the profession, but you 241 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:42,800 Speaker 1: can tell he's like this, like this competitor that runs 242 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:45,800 Speaker 1: super hot. Because I thought, if you watched like the two, 243 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 1: if you watch the two press conference, the two like 244 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,199 Speaker 1: coach interviews after the first quarter and after the third quarter, 245 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: seeing the two of them juxtaposed with each other was 246 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 1: actually really funny because JJ's like clearly really terse and 247 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:58,840 Speaker 1: pissed off because his team's playing like shit and all 248 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:01,440 Speaker 1: of his guys are struggling. He's just all upset. Like 249 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,280 Speaker 1: twenty six twenty two first quarter, I mean, like the 250 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:07,320 Speaker 1: Warriors were in control and they had dominated the second 251 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 1: half of the first quarter, but Steve Kurt was just like, yeah, 252 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: like early in the game, I thought we were crashing 253 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: too hard and the long rebounds were coming out towards 254 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,160 Speaker 1: the elbows, and we just need to, you know, crash 255 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:18,960 Speaker 1: more towards the elbow so we can be more prepared 256 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: for some of these long rebounds. But we'll be fine. 257 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: Like I thought, we controlled things defensively. It's just like 258 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,080 Speaker 1: so like calm and like measured in his approach. But 259 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:26,680 Speaker 1: I thought The bit that he talked about with the 260 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: rebounding was really fascinating because that's literally what was happening 261 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,480 Speaker 1: in that first quarter when the Lakers were missing those threes. 262 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: The corner crashers for the Lakers were crashing up to 263 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 1: the elbows and the Warriors were crashing into the paint. 264 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: And it's just a simple concept. If you miss a 265 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:41,959 Speaker 1: corner three off of the heel of the rim or 266 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:43,439 Speaker 1: off of the left side of the rim, like it's 267 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: just going to go carroning off towards the top of 268 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 1: the key. And you got to have guys there to 269 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: win those battles. And, like I said, just absolute dominance 270 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,439 Speaker 1: on the glass by the Warriors. After that first quarter, 271 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: there was a stretch when the Lakers were making their 272 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: push periodically in the fourth quarter and it out I 273 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:02,240 Speaker 1: was like, this is just a fake, comeback to me 274 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: until they show that they can get a defensive rebound, 275 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 1: because it was like they get it to five, but 276 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: then they get a stop and then Jimmy Butler would 277 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: get another offensive rebound, and they just kept getting beat 278 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 1: to the ball, even those late game possessions where it's 279 00:13:13,520 --> 00:13:16,559 Speaker 1: like somehow Jimmy Butler's just coming away with the ball 280 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: in these situations when there's all these bodies around, when 281 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: there's all this congestion around, and like, make no mistake, 282 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: I talk about it all the time. Basketball's contact sport. 283 00:13:24,840 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 1: These are fistfights. This is not you know, everyone wants 284 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:30,680 Speaker 1: to talk about scheme. Everyone wants to talk about some 285 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 1: magic solution for why the game went the way it went. 286 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: For the most part, it's in the trenches and it's 287 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:40,680 Speaker 1: about fighting for position, for loose balls, winning different leverage battles, 288 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: like little things like big late game possession. Lebron's driving 289 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: I think it was on Jonathan Kaminga out of the 290 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:49,240 Speaker 1: right corner, and like Lebron's trying so hard to turn 291 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: the corner, and he had turned the corner so many 292 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: times that game, And like Kaminga won a battle, he 293 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: won one battle against Lebron sliding his feet across the lane. 294 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:00,959 Speaker 1: That was the one where Lebron through the pass the 295 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,000 Speaker 1: Dorian Finney Smith cutting along the baseline and it went 296 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: out of bounds. That's not a scheme thing. It's a 297 00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:09,200 Speaker 1: physical battle. It was Jonathan Kamina and Lebron James fighting 298 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 1: to see Lebron's trying to turn the corner. He's trying 299 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 1: to blow through that right shoulder and get that leverage 300 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:16,960 Speaker 1: so that he can turn and finish with his left 301 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:19,480 Speaker 1: hand at the rim, and Kaminga's fighting like hell to 302 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: hold his shoulder there and to slide his feet and 303 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,680 Speaker 1: to win that leverage battle. This is where these things 304 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,200 Speaker 1: are won. And I just thought the Warriors kicked their 305 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: ass tonight and all of those physical parts of the game, 306 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 1: and that ultimately, like we talked about off the top, 307 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: when you're talking about the two styles, their speed, they 308 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 1: won the ground battle all game long, and I thought 309 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: they deserved to win as a result. A couple of 310 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: other kind of interesting things. Jonathan Kamena showed a little 311 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: stretch of some matchup hunting in this game that I 312 00:14:48,480 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 1: thought was fascinating. In that fourth quarter stretch, they capitalized 313 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 1: on a couple of switches with Austin Reeves on Kaminga 314 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 1: and he got a couple of buckets in a row. 315 00:14:58,040 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: I thought that was kind of an interesting example of 316 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,560 Speaker 1: how now Jonathan Kaminga is going to be an up 317 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: and down player, and there are gonna be certain games 318 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:07,280 Speaker 1: where you're scratching your eyes out and you wish he 319 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: wasn't on the floor, but there's gonna be other games 320 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: where he could be instrumental to what you're trying to do. 321 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,480 Speaker 1: I mean, he hit seven shots tonight, he was plus 322 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: nine in his minutes. Like, yeah, that was a big time, 323 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 1: big time performance in a big time game. He made 324 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: more field goals today than Luka Doncic did and that's 325 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 1: a huge kind of like swing factor in a game 326 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: like this. A really really impressive performance from the Golden 327 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:34,560 Speaker 1: State Warriors. Again, one of the exciting things too, is 328 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:36,560 Speaker 1: like I'm gonna be talking a little bit about with 329 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 1: the Lakers, the potential for guys to play better. Right, Like, 330 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: there's a version of this game where Luca plays better. Right, 331 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: there's a version of this game where Dorian Finney Smith 332 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: plays better. You know those sorts of things. Right, there's 333 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: also a version of this game where Jimmy Butler plays 334 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: a lot better. And if you're looking for something in 335 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: terms of like a potential upside outside of what we 336 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 1: saw tonight, Jimmy I thought early in the game was 337 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:04,800 Speaker 1: just kind of going through the motions. In general, this 338 00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 1: game kind of had a really strange feel. You could 339 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:09,760 Speaker 1: really tell in the early part of the game that 340 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: neither team knew how they wanted to attack each other, 341 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: and so there's a lot of standing around, a lot 342 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: passing the ball around the perimeter, a lot of really 343 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: ugly offensive possessions from both teams, and some of those 344 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:24,400 Speaker 1: possessions for Jimmy Butler manifested. I thought Lebron was doing 345 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 1: this too early in the game where where he had 346 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: those two back to back turnovers where he's driving into 347 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: the lane and no one's helping, so he's in a 348 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,120 Speaker 1: one on one, but he's like trying to force some 349 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:36,200 Speaker 1: pass to a guy that's guarded. It's like, no, you 350 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:38,640 Speaker 1: need to be looking to score. You're leading a unit 351 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:41,080 Speaker 1: without your star on the floor. Same thing goes for 352 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler in those situations, like they need him to 353 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: look to be aggressive if you're not gonna get you know, 354 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: eight made threes out of Brandon Pejemski every single night. 355 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,200 Speaker 1: They're gonna need more production out of Jimmy in that spot. 356 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: But overall, I thought he made a bunch of big 357 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: plays late. I thought the corner three he made late 358 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: was big. At three steals in the game. Was beating 359 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: the Lakers to a bunch of loose balls some key situations, 360 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 1: really really impressive performance from the Warriors top to bottom. 361 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:07,920 Speaker 1: I thought Steph to last piece, I'll say, in the 362 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,679 Speaker 1: Warriors before we get to the Lakers. You know, Steph 363 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: has been fantastic since the Jimmy Butler trade. He's at 364 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: coming into tonight. He was at like twenty eight points 365 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,199 Speaker 1: per game on sixty six percent tru shooting over his 366 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:23,439 Speaker 1: last twenty three games. On a court that had Jimmy Butler, 367 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:26,120 Speaker 1: that had Lebron James, to have Luka Doncic, that had 368 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,160 Speaker 1: all this star talent on the floor, I thought Steph 369 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,560 Speaker 1: was the best player on the floor. And I even 370 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:36,399 Speaker 1: though Lebron statistically performed really well, I thought Steph was 371 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,919 Speaker 1: able to consistently break down the defense. I talked earlier 372 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,320 Speaker 1: about how both teams didn't really seem to know how 373 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:45,480 Speaker 1: they wanted to attack each other in the early portions 374 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: of the game. It crystallized for Golden State they found out, 375 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 1: you know, they're about halfway through that second quarter. In 376 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: that second quarter, they found out it's like, actually, let's 377 00:17:55,359 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: just get Steph out into space against Luca and we'll 378 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,640 Speaker 1: have him drive by Lucas. Sometimes we'll have him look 379 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:05,600 Speaker 1: to attack immediately off the catch off of some off 380 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:08,400 Speaker 1: ball screening action. Will There was one late the Big 381 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,199 Speaker 1: Three he hit late where Draymon fell down like he 382 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:14,400 Speaker 1: had Luca on a switch. But then Draymond just sprinted 383 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:16,439 Speaker 1: into a ball screen. I talked earlier today when we 384 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:18,959 Speaker 1: were talking about Jared Allen and the Caves. When you 385 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:21,560 Speaker 1: sprint into actions, it makes you that much harder to guard. 386 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: Draymon sprinted into that ball screen and Lebron was too 387 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: far back and Lebron was late. It was bad defensive 388 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:28,639 Speaker 1: possession from Lebron and a big part of that was 389 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,400 Speaker 1: Draymond sprinted into the ball screen. Got Steph another clean 390 00:18:32,480 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: look at it, basically a drop coverage possession off the 391 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:39,680 Speaker 1: left wing. But this is Steph is heating up right 392 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,760 Speaker 1: in time for what they're going to need him to 393 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 1: be in this postseason run. And I thought he just 394 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:46,159 Speaker 1: came in here tonight and kicked the shit out of 395 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:50,360 Speaker 1: the Lakers and badly outplayed Luca and set his team 396 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: up to be in a really good position in the 397 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: standings as we come down the stretch here on the 398 00:18:56,119 --> 00:19:00,400 Speaker 1: Lakers front. As I always say, I don't really look 399 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 1: at the scoreboard when I'm thinking about the postseason, and 400 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: one of the main reasons why is because there's just 401 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: so much noise in the regular season, whether it's from 402 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: the schedule or it's a random role player doing this 403 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 1: or a random guy being out of the lineup for 404 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,880 Speaker 1: whatever reason. There's also a lot of noise relative to 405 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:21,120 Speaker 1: the postseason where you'll see, oh, you know, the Phoenix 406 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:24,439 Speaker 1: Suns beat the Timberwolves every single game last year, and 407 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:26,600 Speaker 1: they had this awesome game plan for like how to 408 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: beat the Timberwolves. But then they get into a playoff 409 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: series and it's like, oh, actually none of these guys 410 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: can guard aunt and they're being super physical on defense 411 00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:36,720 Speaker 1: and we can't even like dribble the ball of the 412 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:40,200 Speaker 1: floor without losing it. So like everything shifted and changed, right. 413 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:44,240 Speaker 1: So what I'm looking at is are there any things 414 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 1: from tonight that translate to a potential postseason series between 415 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 1: these two teams? And the first one that screams off 416 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:56,320 Speaker 1: the screen to me is their struggles with switching ever 417 00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 1: since Luca came over to the Lakers. And again, I've 418 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:01,320 Speaker 1: broken this down, but I'll do a very short version 419 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:03,439 Speaker 1: of it here. But the short version of it is 420 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,840 Speaker 1: against drop coverage, against traditional coverages, Luca is so good 421 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:11,240 Speaker 1: at making all the natural reads he can. If you 422 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,719 Speaker 1: don't pick him up going downhill, he's just gonna get 423 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 1: into that like right around the block where he can 424 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 1: shoot that little seven foot bank shot that he's gonna 425 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 1: make like sixty percent of the time. If you do 426 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 1: step up with your big man, he's throwing a lob 427 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: to the center for a dunk, and if you tag 428 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:26,920 Speaker 1: the roller, he's skipping it to the weak side for 429 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,960 Speaker 1: a wide open three. And it's just he's so surgical 430 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:33,320 Speaker 1: with it that it's just it's a death sentence. There's 431 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 1: literally nothing you can do. And every team, for the 432 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:38,840 Speaker 1: most part that has run that coverage against the Lakers 433 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: this year with Luka Doncic has gotten torch and for 434 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: the most part, they've had a couple of good games. 435 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 1: But for the most part against these teams that just 436 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,919 Speaker 1: switch with their fives or switched generally everywhere on the floor, 437 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: they've really struggled to score. And one of the big 438 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:59,760 Speaker 1: reasons why is when Lebron was healthy earlier on Luca 439 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: was bad, and then Lebron goes out. And during the 440 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:06,159 Speaker 1: phase that Lebron was out, Luca was very good. His 441 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: shot making bounced back in a major way, but they 442 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:12,679 Speaker 1: just didn't have that additional defensive rebounding presence in the 443 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,320 Speaker 1: front court over that span because Ruiy, Lebron, and Jackson 444 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 1: were all out. Now everybody's back, but Lebron is still 445 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:21,960 Speaker 1: kind of getting back into form, and here goes Luca 446 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,440 Speaker 1: again into another kind of like spiraling type of sequence. 447 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 1: Luca has shot below fifty percent from the field in 448 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:33,199 Speaker 1: five of his last six games. He has absolutely no 449 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,959 Speaker 1: touch on his short range shot making. Before tonight he 450 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:41,680 Speaker 1: was just twenty eight for eighty eight on floaters and 451 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,719 Speaker 1: or excuse me, on jump shots inside his seventeen feet. 452 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:48,480 Speaker 1: So all those like jump shots that he was hitting 453 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:51,159 Speaker 1: NonStop in the playoffs last year, he made three of 454 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,479 Speaker 1: them per game last year in the postseason at forty 455 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 1: six percent. He's shooting just thirty two percent on him 456 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: this year and he's barely making one a game with 457 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:02,640 Speaker 1: the Lakers. He has like no touch on his short 458 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,000 Speaker 1: range shot, making zero for six from three tonight. Bizarrely 459 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: ineffective Luka Doncic, And like the thing is is, there's 460 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 1: a version of this where the Lakers can theoretically be 461 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,679 Speaker 1: very good against switching, but it's gonna require the Lebron 462 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 1: James that was there before he heard his groin and 463 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,280 Speaker 1: the Luka Doncic that was there last year in the 464 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 1: NBA playoffs. And so it's one of those things where, 465 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 1: like I've talked a lot about this, the Lakers have 466 00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: arguably the largest amount to potentially improve between now and 467 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:37,119 Speaker 1: May first. The Lakers could be dramatically better by May first, 468 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: just simply from Lebron and Luca getting back to form 469 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 1: and some team chemistry stuff and regaining their defensive identity, 470 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,720 Speaker 1: which we'll talk about in a little bit. But the 471 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: reality is is it's it's also possible that they just don't. 472 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:55,440 Speaker 1: And I'm just gonna be perfectly frank with you, guys. 473 00:22:56,040 --> 00:23:00,200 Speaker 1: If Luca plays like this in the postseason, they're they're 474 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:02,159 Speaker 1: they're gonna get beat. They're gonna get beat in the 475 00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:04,879 Speaker 1: first or second round. Like it, They're just there's no 476 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,879 Speaker 1: going the distance. If you make a trade with Anthony 477 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: Davis for Luka Doncic and you get this type of 478 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:14,120 Speaker 1: performance out of Luca in a big game, and I mean, 479 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: strangely enough, the Lakers have dominated the middle tier of 480 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 1: the NBA since Luca came that every Houston, Minnesota, you know, Phoenix, 481 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: every team that's in that you know, kind of like 482 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: just outside the top tier of contenders. The Lakers are 483 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:32,879 Speaker 1: kicking the shit out of those guys. They've faced two 484 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: of the teams that I said that I would consider 485 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,280 Speaker 1: as the top tier contenders, Boston, who's been there all year, 486 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: in Golden State, who I said I would add when 487 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:42,960 Speaker 1: we do our contenders list with sa Vassini right before 488 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,320 Speaker 1: the start of the postseason. And in those two games, 489 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 1: the Lakers pretty much got out played wire to wire 490 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: and Luka Doncic looked really, really bad in both games, 491 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: and I am I am. Here's the thing. Early on 492 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,199 Speaker 1: after the trade, I wasn't worried about it. I was 493 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 1: just kind of like, give Luca some time. He'll be fine. 494 00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: He's one of the greatest players that we've ever seen 495 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,399 Speaker 1: at his age in this league. But here we are, Guys, 496 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:16,160 Speaker 1: it's it's been months now, spend two months, and he's 497 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:18,640 Speaker 1: going in the wrong direction. So I don't know what's 498 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 1: going on with him. Part of the thing that I'm 499 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,000 Speaker 1: seeing too, is like he's he's not even trusting himself 500 00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: in the short range, like he's pump faking pn Like 501 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:29,200 Speaker 1: he's pump faking NonStop in that ten to fifteen foot 502 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,240 Speaker 1: range and just looking to grift for fouls instead of 503 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: looking to take and make the shots that he was 504 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,639 Speaker 1: hitting half of at decent volume when he was in 505 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:42,439 Speaker 1: the postseason last year. So I'm again, I'm hopeful that 506 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,320 Speaker 1: Luca will figure it out. I'm hopeful that this will 507 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: all come together. But guys, like we've already the hoops 508 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:50,840 Speaker 1: tonight's staff, we've already gone over our schedule for the 509 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: week of the playing tournament, Like this shit is right 510 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,920 Speaker 1: around the corner. It's here, It's like here, now, there's 511 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,439 Speaker 1: no like, let's give Luca a runway and see what 512 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,280 Speaker 1: he can do. Like there's a chance you're facing the Clippers, 513 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 1: the Timberwolves, how the Warriors in two in three weeks 514 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: like that. This needs to be this, These problems need 515 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 1: to be resolved yesterday. And so I'm starting to get 516 00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 1: a little bit concerned about whether or not the Lakers 517 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:21,120 Speaker 1: are hitting at the right type of level they need 518 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:22,439 Speaker 1: to be hitting at to go on the run that 519 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:26,399 Speaker 1: they need to go on the defensive struggle with speed, 520 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:30,520 Speaker 1: A lot of miss rotations tonight, a lot of missed 521 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:34,440 Speaker 1: defensive rebounds where they're slower to the ball. In this 522 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: sort of situation, I want to at least account for 523 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 1: some of the fact that the Lakers are kind of 524 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: not in the same defensive rhythm that they were in 525 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: in the past. But the reality is there was only 526 00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:48,920 Speaker 1: a very brief stretch there where they were good defensively 527 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,560 Speaker 1: with Luca right after the trade. There's been a pretty 528 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: large sample now after that where they've been pretty bad 529 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,960 Speaker 1: defensively with Luca and teams are looking to attack him 530 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:02,400 Speaker 1: out front over over and over again. We did see 531 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:05,080 Speaker 1: an example in the second half tonight of a pre switch, 532 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 1: meaning where they brought Luca's man up into his screen 533 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,159 Speaker 1: and then Lebron went instead of Luca, but that was 534 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,000 Speaker 1: the only time I saw it, and for the most part, 535 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,399 Speaker 1: they were just conceding that switch. And if they're going 536 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: to concede that switch, then they're just gonna have to 537 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:22,080 Speaker 1: be better in their rotations than they've been being. If 538 00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: they defend like this behind Luca, who's been giving updriple 539 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:27,200 Speaker 1: penetration the way that he has, I think they could 540 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: get pieces by a good offensive team when they get 541 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 1: into postseason. I talked a lot in other games about 542 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 1: the idea of leveraging your strengths to hide your weaknesses. 543 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:42,920 Speaker 1: There's no doubt that all this stuff is connected. I'll 544 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:47,239 Speaker 1: give you guys some examples. Luca plays better from the 545 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:52,200 Speaker 1: start of this game. Immediately starts kicking ass, punishing mismatches, 546 00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:58,119 Speaker 1: drawing double teams, spraying out beautiful kickout passes to shooters. Now, 547 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: the threes that Dorian gets, the threes that Gabe gets, 548 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: they're cleaner, they're more in rhythm now instead of those 549 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:10,480 Speaker 1: guys going one for ten from three, they have much 550 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:13,679 Speaker 1: better shooting nights now. As a result, the team is 551 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,600 Speaker 1: able to set their defense more. Now that they're setting 552 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,320 Speaker 1: their defense more and they're in control of the game 553 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:25,000 Speaker 1: and they're not trailing by ten, they're more invigorated. They're 554 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,720 Speaker 1: more motivated, they're flying around, they're making plays. See how 555 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 1: like you can imagine a scenario where these things are connected. 556 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:35,679 Speaker 1: You can leverage your strengths to hide your weaknesses. The 557 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,040 Speaker 1: part that gets scary for me there is, as I said, 558 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: like we're on almost a two week stretch there where 559 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: Lucas just hasn't been as good and so it's just 560 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,760 Speaker 1: a little concerning from the standpoint of right now, I 561 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: haven't seen the Lakers put together a consistent stretch of 562 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: like great basketball since Lebron came back from his injury, 563 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,240 Speaker 1: and so I'm definitely a little bit I'm a little 564 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,719 Speaker 1: bit concerned there. That said, there is time, and you know, 565 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 1: if they do get a favorable first round matchup and 566 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:05,760 Speaker 1: they end up getting a win, they could have until 567 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,359 Speaker 1: May to get some of this together before they face 568 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,160 Speaker 1: a more serious team. Similar to what I talked about 569 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: with Jonathan Kaminga, I did think we saw one clear 570 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: advantage for the Lakers tonight, and that's that the Warriors 571 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:21,119 Speaker 1: can't guard Lebron. Lebron did exactly what I was just 572 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:25,280 Speaker 1: talking about Luca needing to do. He consistently methodically found 573 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 1: mismatches against guards where he liked his size and he 574 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: liked the spacing of the floor, and he was able 575 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,400 Speaker 1: to get downhill, and he was able to consistently compromise 576 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,800 Speaker 1: the defense for kickout passes and for layups right at 577 00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:39,280 Speaker 1: the front of the rim. That is, to me a 578 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,840 Speaker 1: translatable thing to a series between the Lakers and Warriors. 579 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 1: And so in an event where the Lakers beat the 580 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:49,400 Speaker 1: Warriors in a playoff series, it will require Lebron to 581 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:52,360 Speaker 1: continue to leverage that and for Luca to meet him 582 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:55,520 Speaker 1: at that level. And that really is the advantage there. 583 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 1: If the Lakers are going to leverage their size, it's 584 00:28:58,560 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 1: got to be Lebron and Luca together. They're punishing them 585 00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:04,959 Speaker 1: all over the floor. All right, that's enough for that 586 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,600 Speaker 1: one random regular season game. Let's get into our other 587 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 1: segments for the night. Welcome to Course Correction, brought to 588 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,560 Speaker 1: you by Microsoft. Just like star players and teams navigating 589 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: performance hurdles, business decision makers today are under immense pressure 590 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,040 Speaker 1: to get things right. They must rise to the occasion, 591 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:23,480 Speaker 1: turning challenges into opportunities. Microsoft empowers these visionaries with AI solutions, 592 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 1: simplified cloud and data management and trustworthy responsible AI. And 593 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 1: when you're in the NBA, you have your own hurdles 594 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,760 Speaker 1: to face. In this segment, we explore the challenges faced 595 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 1: by the teams or star players and how they can 596 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 1: turn things around. Whatever challenge you're facing, Microsoft empowers you 597 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 1: with the expertise to say bring it on. This week, 598 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:47,440 Speaker 1: we're discussing Jannis and Tennankumpo's big night in Philly. Aside 599 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:50,080 Speaker 1: from the victory in the N Season Tournament, this year 600 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 1: has been a complete disaster for the Milwaukee Bucks. Year 601 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 1: two of the dam Janis experiment, Dame has a full 602 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:00,480 Speaker 1: summer to work out, less drama going going on in 603 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:04,600 Speaker 1: his life. They have a full training camp, lots of expectations. 604 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:08,160 Speaker 1: They start two to eight, then you go fourteen and 605 00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: four over your next eighteen games. That's when they won 606 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 1: the N Season Tournament. Now you're sixteen and twelve, you've recovered. 607 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,560 Speaker 1: But in the forty eight games since they're twenty six 608 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 1: and twenty two, they're thirteenth in offense, fifteenth in defense, 609 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: twenty fourth and rebounding just incredibly mediocre, thirteenth best team 610 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,040 Speaker 1: in the league over that span forty two and thirty four, 611 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 1: thirteenth best record in the league for the entire season. 612 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:34,040 Speaker 1: Now they're staring down the barrel of having to face 613 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 1: either Indy or New York in the first round without 614 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,360 Speaker 1: home court, then having to go through Boston and Cleveland 615 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 1: successively consecutively without home court, and Dame is down in 616 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: the deep vane thrombosis in his CAF with no timeline 617 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,640 Speaker 1: to return, and Bobby Portis got himself suspended. There is 618 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,480 Speaker 1: every reason in the world for Jannis to field defeated 619 00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:56,000 Speaker 1: right now and to feel like he has no chance 620 00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 1: to get this done and to pack it in. But 621 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:02,120 Speaker 1: instead he's just continuing to play the best basketball of 622 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 1: his career. He was insanely good today on the road 623 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: in Philly. He relied mostly on high ball screens with 624 00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: either Brooker with guards or wing ISOs. He caught a 625 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 1: couple of favorable matchups that he liked against Squashanyamuseli and 626 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:17,560 Speaker 1: Colin Castleton, and in space along the wing there and 627 00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 1: in the screening actions and in the wing ISOs. He 628 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:24,280 Speaker 1: was just punishing them so relentlessly that he was able 629 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: to generate a lot of clean playmaking opportunities from the 630 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:30,880 Speaker 1: defense reacting to him. And he had the best playmaking 631 00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:34,760 Speaker 1: game of his entire career, making every single type of 632 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,840 Speaker 1: Reid hitting guards slipping out of his inverted ball screens 633 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: to the three point line. There were a couple plays 634 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:43,720 Speaker 1: where brook Lopez had inside position as guys tried to 635 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:45,680 Speaker 1: front him in the post, and he threw a beautiful 636 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,880 Speaker 1: over the top feeds that just led brook Lopez right 637 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,160 Speaker 1: into the basket for layups. He was skipping the ball. 638 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,480 Speaker 1: They were plays where lowman's in position. He's just rifling 639 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:58,280 Speaker 1: a pass to the corner to get another open three, 640 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:01,120 Speaker 1: throwing the ball over the top out post ups, driving 641 00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: and dumping the ball off to a guard underneath the basket, 642 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:07,000 Speaker 1: slipping along the baseline. He looked like Magic Johnson. In transition. 643 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,200 Speaker 1: He had a behind the back pass and transition for 644 00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:13,320 Speaker 1: a layup. He had another like beautiful lefty scoop pass 645 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:15,880 Speaker 1: around a guy's but like a wrap around pass around 646 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 1: a defender to Torian Prince cutting along the wing. He 647 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:24,040 Speaker 1: was just brilliant tonight in every single facet of the game. 648 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,800 Speaker 1: Looked like a floor general out there just pointing at 649 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:29,840 Speaker 1: guys and telling them where to go, looking methodical and 650 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 1: surgical on every single possession. He finished with thirty five points, 651 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,680 Speaker 1: seventeen rebounds, and twenty assists. The team was minus ten 652 00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: with him off the floor in just nine minutes. He 653 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 1: played thirty nine minutes, and he still managed to lead 654 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:48,160 Speaker 1: his team to a thirteen point win, just clearly sending 655 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 1: the message that he's not going down without a fight. 656 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:54,800 Speaker 1: That's it for this week's course correction. Remember Microsoft's AI 657 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,360 Speaker 1: solutions empower you to take bold steps and make informed decisions, 658 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:00,960 Speaker 1: sparking new ideas to help drive your business forward. With 659 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:03,360 Speaker 1: Microsoft as your trusted partner, you can navigate your journey 660 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 1: with confidence, finding innovative solutions, and reaching new possibilities. Visit 661 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 1: Microsoft dot com slash Challengers who learn more. We have 662 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:13,920 Speaker 1: one last short segment tonight on John Morant and the 663 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:15,960 Speaker 1: game winner he hit against the Heat. Then we're going 664 00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:18,479 Speaker 1: to do our mail bag from the chat, So make 665 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 1: sure you guys drop your questions in the chat. Remember 666 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:22,880 Speaker 1: you got to subscribe to the channel first drop those questions. 667 00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:25,960 Speaker 1: Jackson's going to hop on and we'll talk some hoops 668 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:27,600 Speaker 1: for about ten fifteen minutes at the tail end of 669 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,400 Speaker 1: the show. So the Grizzlies beat the Heat one ten 670 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:32,080 Speaker 1: to one to eight tonight in a really fun game. 671 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:34,640 Speaker 1: Tyler Harrow and John Morant had an awesome duel in 672 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:36,800 Speaker 1: the second half, going off every time down the floor. 673 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: Bam kind of kicked Jaron Jackson's ass, which was an 674 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 1: interesting subplot and a feather in the cap of BAM's 675 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:46,640 Speaker 1: just the reputation he has as one of excuse me, 676 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,400 Speaker 1: as one of the best defenders in the league, kalel 677 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:52,480 Speaker 1: Ware had a really fascinating game, one of those classic 678 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:55,200 Speaker 1: like young talented player type of games where he just 679 00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:58,400 Speaker 1: flashes tons of potential, showed some of his rim protection 680 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: in this game, some of histential as a vertical spacer, 681 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:03,760 Speaker 1: as a three point spacer, as a fun game from him. 682 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,720 Speaker 1: But John Morant completely takes over down the stretch, generating 683 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:11,520 Speaker 1: three straight buckets to win the game. He attacks Tyler 684 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:13,919 Speaker 1: Harrow in a screen right around the top of the key, 685 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,840 Speaker 1: goes right around Tyler Harrow dunks it with two hands. 686 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:20,319 Speaker 1: Then there's this random Jaron Jackson possession where he tries 687 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:22,800 Speaker 1: to post up bam Adebayo again and it just looks 688 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:25,680 Speaker 1: really ugly and he has a bad miss. That possession 689 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:27,160 Speaker 1: made no sense to me because they should have been 690 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:28,920 Speaker 1: going through jaw every time. But then you go back 691 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:31,000 Speaker 1: to John in the next possession, he goes to attack 692 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:33,640 Speaker 1: Harrow again, this time they double team him. Swing swing 693 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:36,400 Speaker 1: wide open three for Jaron Jackson in the right corner. 694 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:39,359 Speaker 1: He knocks it down and then after Tyler Harrow ties 695 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:41,400 Speaker 1: the game with a beautiful floater. By the way, Tyler Harrow, 696 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:44,160 Speaker 1: I want to compliment him, I think the very end 697 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:48,319 Speaker 1: of his release, just the flip of the wrist might 698 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,880 Speaker 1: be the prettiest in the NBA. He literally looks like 699 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:52,560 Speaker 1: the coaches when they're trying to teach you to reach 700 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:55,040 Speaker 1: into the cookie jar, who says, like that perfect follow 701 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:57,400 Speaker 1: through on that little floater to tie the game. But 702 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:02,320 Speaker 1: then John Morant very interestingly calls for a ball screen 703 00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:05,440 Speaker 1: to get kellel Where switched on to him instead of 704 00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:09,239 Speaker 1: Tyler Harrow. I thought, my guess is that the Grizzlies 705 00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 1: were banking on the game plan being to double team 706 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,480 Speaker 1: specifically off of Harrow, but just to switch anything else, 707 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:19,760 Speaker 1: And so I think Jock called for that specific screen 708 00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 1: with the intent of getting a one on one and 709 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:23,799 Speaker 1: not facing a double team. And he did. He got 710 00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:26,120 Speaker 1: a one on one with kellow Ware, and he just 711 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:29,080 Speaker 1: went right downhill into his chest and took this comically 712 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:32,080 Speaker 1: large step back and took one of those patented little 713 00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:34,160 Speaker 1: short range jump shots that he takes, and he got 714 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:36,280 Speaker 1: the bounce and he wins the game at the buzzer. 715 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:42,200 Speaker 1: And it's things like that that make Joss such a 716 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: difficult player for me to like give up on, even 717 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:47,840 Speaker 1: with his health issues, even with the off court issues 718 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,759 Speaker 1: he had earlier in his career. He just has a 719 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:55,399 Speaker 1: bonafide superpower. No one can keep him from scoring one 720 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:58,279 Speaker 1: on one. There are ways to deal with him in 721 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:02,880 Speaker 1: a team context, forcing lesser players to score. Memphis has 722 00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:05,080 Speaker 1: a flawed team construct in general. We're going to talk 723 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:07,000 Speaker 1: about it here in a minute. But there's not a 724 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:09,760 Speaker 1: defender in the league that can stop him from getting 725 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,800 Speaker 1: to a spot in the short range and just popping 726 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:15,240 Speaker 1: up off the ground and shooting one of his patented 727 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:17,160 Speaker 1: little floaters or a little short range jump shots. You 728 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:20,319 Speaker 1: can't stop him from getting to that shot, not without 729 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:22,759 Speaker 1: sending multiple bodies and just somehow tilting the offense in 730 00:36:22,800 --> 00:36:26,319 Speaker 1: a different direction. He's fifty percent on floaters this year. 731 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:30,520 Speaker 1: He's forty five percent on jumpers inside of seventeen feet. 732 00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:34,560 Speaker 1: Those are really good looks for him. It's like it's 733 00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 1: a coin flip if you get John on one on 734 00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:37,279 Speaker 1: one at the end of the game, even if you 735 00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,200 Speaker 1: put a rimp protector on him, even if you pack 736 00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:41,480 Speaker 1: the paint, he can get to the middle of the 737 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:44,919 Speaker 1: floor and get just pop off the ground. I've talked 738 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:47,080 Speaker 1: about this a lot. The short range shot making, to me, 739 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:50,359 Speaker 1: is far more valuable in the postseason context than mid 740 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:54,799 Speaker 1: range shot making. If you can get into that inside 741 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:58,760 Speaker 1: of seventeen feet, like inside the paint, paint, non restricted 742 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:01,200 Speaker 1: area type of stuff, that's where I feel like there's 743 00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:04,840 Speaker 1: real dependable shot making in the postseason. That's what Jokic 744 00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:07,080 Speaker 1: has done for years. Back when Luca used to be 745 00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:09,200 Speaker 1: able to make those shots, That's what he did for years. 746 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:14,000 Speaker 1: Like that is such a valuable part of surgical scoring 747 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:16,320 Speaker 1: in the half court. Now the Grizzlies are a mess. 748 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:18,640 Speaker 1: I think they have to find a way to be 749 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:22,080 Speaker 1: better defensively around John Moran and Desmond Bay and Jared Jackson, 750 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:24,799 Speaker 1: while also making sure you create space so you can't 751 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:29,440 Speaker 1: tilt shots away from Jaw. But this is still jaws superpower, 752 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:33,520 Speaker 1: the foundational ceiling raising talent that keeps this team interesting 753 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:36,080 Speaker 1: and why I think there's always a case to just 754 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:38,680 Speaker 1: pivot and try to make it work before just bailing him, 755 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:42,640 Speaker 1: bailing on him as a talent overall. All, Right, Jackson, 756 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:44,360 Speaker 1: let's talk some hoops, man, What do you got for 757 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:45,840 Speaker 1: us from the chat? 758 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:49,719 Speaker 2: Yes, let's do it. Let's start with there were a 759 00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:53,959 Speaker 2: handful of Luca Dontrich questions. Let's start with why does 760 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:58,800 Speaker 2: luca struggle versus big athletic wings JB JT, Jimmy Butler, 761 00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:02,120 Speaker 2: Draymond Andrew Wiggins come to mind. How can Luca overcome 762 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:03,839 Speaker 2: this to win a championship. 763 00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:06,640 Speaker 1: So I've actually seen him have a lot of success 764 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:09,719 Speaker 1: against certain types of wings. I'm more worried about him 765 00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:12,880 Speaker 1: against the shorter, more fire hydrant types of wings. I 766 00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:15,359 Speaker 1: think Luca just had a bad game tonight. I think 767 00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:18,200 Speaker 1: I think we can. I think we can acknowledge that 768 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:21,960 Speaker 1: the Warriors played really good defense while also acknowledging that 769 00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:24,120 Speaker 1: lucas capable of playing much better than he did tonight. 770 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:28,200 Speaker 1: I think both things are true. Jalen Brown did a 771 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:30,840 Speaker 1: number on him in the Celtics game, that is worth staying. 772 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:33,120 Speaker 1: I thought that was different than what happened tonight. I 773 00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:35,520 Speaker 1: thought tonight Luca was just bizarrely passive, a lot of 774 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:37,720 Speaker 1: pump faking, a lot of grifting, and I just didn't 775 00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:39,840 Speaker 1: think he inflicted himself on the game as well. I 776 00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:42,200 Speaker 1: thought the Celtics game was much more of like a 777 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:44,879 Speaker 1: Jalen you know, stole his lunch money kind of thing. 778 00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:47,879 Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, And I think that there's also sort 779 00:38:47,880 --> 00:38:51,879 Speaker 2: of a specific challenge to for someone as smart as 780 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:54,960 Speaker 2: Luca to play against the Warriors where you have Draymond 781 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:56,200 Speaker 2: on the back line, right when you have a guy 782 00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:59,239 Speaker 2: like Wiggins or or Jimmy or whoever most moody in 783 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:01,880 Speaker 2: the first half being playing good, solid events in the 784 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,960 Speaker 2: back line, but someone like Draymond who knows exactly they 785 00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:07,160 Speaker 2: read that Luca wants to make and as as one 786 00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:09,520 Speaker 2: of the few players who can recover and some of 787 00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:11,640 Speaker 2: those faces, makes it specifically challenging. 788 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:13,200 Speaker 1: I think I thought that was a huge part of 789 00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:16,560 Speaker 1: tonight's game, was Draymond praying on Luca's indecisiveness. 790 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:18,040 Speaker 2: All right, next one, This one has been asked in 791 00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:20,440 Speaker 2: the chat like every single time we do one of these, 792 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:23,239 Speaker 2: so I'm finally going to get to it. Shout out 793 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:25,000 Speaker 2: the shout out to you guys for being consistent with 794 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:30,160 Speaker 2: the questions. Is it possible that Jimmy's impact will be 795 00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:35,640 Speaker 2: bigger than Luca's this season? Yeah, that's sort of why 796 00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:37,239 Speaker 2: I've held off on the question because it seems a 797 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:41,200 Speaker 2: little Warriors fanny, But I mean, I can understand the 798 00:39:41,239 --> 00:39:44,680 Speaker 2: spirit of the question because I think Jimmy does so 799 00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:47,200 Speaker 2: many different things while Luca is just super super elite 800 00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:51,040 Speaker 2: at the one thing quote unquote, but come on, guys, 801 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:52,200 Speaker 2: we can we can be honest. 802 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:55,799 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean Jimmy wasn't exactly a world beater tonight either. 803 00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:58,440 Speaker 1: He made some plays, yeah he was. 804 00:39:58,520 --> 00:40:01,520 Speaker 2: He was pretty passive as well. All right, Hey, Jason, 805 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:04,800 Speaker 2: how would you describe the difference between between role players 806 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,480 Speaker 2: and if there are levels to them being elite? Example, 807 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:10,680 Speaker 2: Derek White is a role player technically, but so is 808 00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:11,480 Speaker 2: Jackson Hayes. 809 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:15,080 Speaker 1: Okay, this is actually a really interesting question, and I 810 00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:17,000 Speaker 1: think there's a bunch of different elements to get into. 811 00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:20,200 Speaker 1: So I think consistency is a big one for me 812 00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:23,480 Speaker 1: in terms of like role player talent, and that stems 813 00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:26,799 Speaker 1: from like a versatility of talent. So if you are 814 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:32,120 Speaker 1: a specialist let's say Buddy Yield for instance, and you're 815 00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:36,920 Speaker 1: not making your threes, your impact craters. But for guys 816 00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:40,920 Speaker 1: like Brandon Pajemski or I even think Austin Reeves falls 817 00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:42,960 Speaker 1: into this category. These guys that kind of are like 818 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:45,240 Speaker 1: do all like they do all these like little things. 819 00:40:45,239 --> 00:40:47,680 Speaker 1: They can impact the game in ways that go beyond 820 00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:50,400 Speaker 1: their shot making. And so I think that one of 821 00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:52,960 Speaker 1: the underrated parts about it, like a Drew Holliday or 822 00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:57,280 Speaker 1: Derek white Is there are such great connective skill players 823 00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:00,160 Speaker 1: because they can dribble, shoot, and pass really well that 824 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:02,279 Speaker 1: even if Drew Hollidy goes oh for three from three 825 00:41:02,719 --> 00:41:05,239 Speaker 1: or oh for five from three, he can have a 826 00:41:05,239 --> 00:41:07,760 Speaker 1: couple buckets slipping along the baseline in the dunker spot 827 00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:10,400 Speaker 1: as a guard. He can slip out of screens with 828 00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:12,799 Speaker 1: Tatum and make plays in four on threes. He can 829 00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:14,640 Speaker 1: be the best defensive player on the floor in any 830 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:16,520 Speaker 1: given game. He can do all these like different kinds 831 00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:19,839 Speaker 1: of things. So I think, I think ultimately that's it, 832 00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:23,000 Speaker 1: like can you be a like a versatile enough player 833 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:26,200 Speaker 1: to be immune to like the differences in in in 834 00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:29,600 Speaker 1: shot result. And then I think, I think the second 835 00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:34,600 Speaker 1: piece of it is like legitimate upside, Like there there's 836 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:41,360 Speaker 1: a difference between a Jackson Hayes, for example, and let's 837 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:45,920 Speaker 1: say a Bobby Portis. Like Bobby Portis can go for 838 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:49,400 Speaker 1: thirty in any given game, right, You're not expecting that 839 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:54,640 Speaker 1: type of upside from a Jackson Hayes. Similarly, like DeAndre 840 00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:58,319 Speaker 1: Hunter with the Calves, he's playing a smaller role with 841 00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:01,440 Speaker 1: the Calves, but he also has scoring talent that can 842 00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:04,160 Speaker 1: manifest in oh he has twenty points in game four 843 00:42:04,160 --> 00:42:06,759 Speaker 1: of a huge playoff game. Like, those are the kinds 844 00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:08,560 Speaker 1: of things that I think are a little bit different. 845 00:42:08,719 --> 00:42:11,759 Speaker 1: Is like, sometimes there are role players that can masquerade 846 00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:16,200 Speaker 1: as stars for brief stretches as well, But ultimately, I 847 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:18,160 Speaker 1: think the night to night versatility, the night to night 848 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:21,160 Speaker 1: reliability is the main separator between good and bad role players. 849 00:42:21,239 --> 00:42:22,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree, I was gonna say, I think the 850 00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:25,800 Speaker 2: upside is a big one. And then also just diversity 851 00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:27,360 Speaker 2: of skill set, Like even you can see it on 852 00:42:27,400 --> 00:42:30,120 Speaker 2: the Lakers, like Ruy Hachimura is able to do a 853 00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:32,759 Speaker 2: lot more things even when he's not necessarily lights out 854 00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,160 Speaker 2: from three than Jackson hayes is able to do. And 855 00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:38,960 Speaker 2: I also think just being being super super super elite 856 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:42,240 Speaker 2: at something, Like if you're just insanely elite at something, 857 00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:45,359 Speaker 2: you can Jackson Hayzesen is very as good at some things, 858 00:42:45,360 --> 00:42:47,880 Speaker 2: but he's not really elite at anything. Davion Mitchell is 859 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:50,920 Speaker 2: insanely elite at defense. Aj Green on the Bucks just 860 00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:54,040 Speaker 2: insanely good at shooting. Right, if you are like levels 861 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:57,319 Speaker 2: above your other role players of your similar type, then 862 00:42:57,320 --> 00:42:58,600 Speaker 2: that can also sort of be a separator. 863 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:01,120 Speaker 1: I think, well, that's like the buddy heel thing. It's 864 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:04,640 Speaker 1: like like I was watching Duncan Robinson today and like 865 00:43:05,239 --> 00:43:08,359 Speaker 1: there's a level of like consistent shot making with him 866 00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:11,480 Speaker 1: that is different that literally brings two to the ball 867 00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:14,040 Speaker 1: every time, and the heat can like build an offense 868 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:15,839 Speaker 1: out of it, you know what I mean? Like there 869 00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:18,239 Speaker 1: to your point, Like, yeah, like there's there's specialists and 870 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:21,360 Speaker 1: then there's specialists. There's another there's another level. 871 00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:24,840 Speaker 2: Right, exactly? All right, what team other than the Calves 872 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:27,360 Speaker 2: and the Celtics has the best chance to win the East? 873 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:29,640 Speaker 2: And Slash? Do you think any team other than the 874 00:43:29,640 --> 00:43:31,600 Speaker 2: Caves the Celtics has a chimp to win the Dude? 875 00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:35,600 Speaker 1: I think there is such a massive chasm between those two. 876 00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:37,839 Speaker 1: I mean, if I had to pick one, I would 877 00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:41,400 Speaker 1: take the Knicks, I suppose. But like at this point, 878 00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:44,520 Speaker 1: I is there any more sure thing in this playoff 879 00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:48,640 Speaker 1: picture than a conference finals? Yeah? Like it? 880 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:52,759 Speaker 2: Hey, Jason love the show. What are your ideal quote 881 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:56,200 Speaker 2: unquote basketball fantasy first round matchups for the East and 882 00:43:56,239 --> 00:43:58,480 Speaker 2: the West? Just best possible basketball? 883 00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:03,160 Speaker 1: Okay, let's pull up the standings here, best possible basketball. 884 00:44:03,840 --> 00:44:06,400 Speaker 1: I'm I'm I don't want the Lakers and Warriors to 885 00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:08,680 Speaker 1: face each other in the first round for two reasons. One, 886 00:44:08,719 --> 00:44:10,960 Speaker 1: I'm terrified of them, which I said before tonight. I 887 00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:12,920 Speaker 1: want the record to show I said I was terrified 888 00:44:12,920 --> 00:44:15,400 Speaker 1: of the Warriors before tonight, but I don't want But 889 00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:17,399 Speaker 1: I also just think it'd be a waste to have 890 00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:20,120 Speaker 1: one of them get eliminated in the first round because 891 00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,080 Speaker 1: I think they're two of the top six teams in 892 00:44:22,120 --> 00:44:25,719 Speaker 1: the NBA. So I'm gonna think I'm gonna go with this. 893 00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:30,759 Speaker 1: I think I think Las Lakers Clippers would be a 894 00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:32,200 Speaker 1: really fun first round series. 895 00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:34,640 Speaker 2: I love the Lakers Clippers series. 896 00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:44,720 Speaker 1: Nuggets, timber Wolves, Warriors, Rockets, thunder Grizzlies the case there, 897 00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:47,759 Speaker 1: Warriors Rockets, you have the Dylan Brooks rivalry with Draymond, 898 00:44:48,600 --> 00:44:52,560 Speaker 1: the thunder Grizzlies thing. There's the Ja Morant's not gonna 899 00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:54,759 Speaker 1: let everybody sit there and talk about how amazing Shay 900 00:44:54,880 --> 00:45:01,200 Speaker 1: is for two weeks with Lakers wol With Lakers Clippers, 901 00:45:01,200 --> 00:45:03,200 Speaker 1: we get the playoff series we've been begging for ever 902 00:45:03,239 --> 00:45:08,880 Speaker 1: since Kawhi signed with the Clippers, and it was Timberwolves Nuggets. 903 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:11,040 Speaker 1: We get to solve and we get to round two 904 00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:13,520 Speaker 1: of that incredible seven game series we got last year. 905 00:45:14,760 --> 00:45:18,760 Speaker 1: In the East, I'm gonna go with Indie Milwaukee because 906 00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:22,560 Speaker 1: they hate each other. I'm gonna go with the Nicks 907 00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:25,239 Speaker 1: and the Pistons because they will hate each other by 908 00:45:25,239 --> 00:45:29,360 Speaker 1: the end of that series. Oh yeah, and then Celtic's 909 00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:33,680 Speaker 1: Heat just because that's fun, and then Cav's Magic because 910 00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:36,080 Speaker 1: they hate each other. So I think, I think I 911 00:45:36,120 --> 00:45:39,319 Speaker 1: think that would be the the perfect series. What do 912 00:45:39,360 --> 00:45:39,680 Speaker 1: you think? 913 00:45:39,840 --> 00:45:41,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree with questions that I said this on 914 00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:44,359 Speaker 2: another mail bag we did. I think that I really 915 00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:48,160 Speaker 2: want Pacers Pistons. It just feels it just feels very 916 00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:50,600 Speaker 2: old school. I don't know, There's just something fun about it. 917 00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:52,239 Speaker 2: And I also feel like it's a series that Cad 918 00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:53,719 Speaker 2: will win. And I am just more and more a 919 00:45:53,760 --> 00:45:57,279 Speaker 2: fan of kid every time I watch him. So that's 920 00:45:57,280 --> 00:45:59,480 Speaker 2: definitely one of the East for me. That's definitely one 921 00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:01,239 Speaker 2: of the East for me. All right, let's do a 922 00:46:01,280 --> 00:46:05,759 Speaker 2: couple more. This one is why we You sort of 923 00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:07,880 Speaker 2: touched on this a little bit in the Lakers segment 924 00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:11,240 Speaker 2: of the show, But why does Luca foulbait unseemingly every shot? 925 00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:12,680 Speaker 2: Is it a mental thing right now. 926 00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:15,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, I literally think he doesn't trust his short range 927 00:46:15,120 --> 00:46:18,920 Speaker 1: shot making. Like there is he's shooting fourteen percent less 928 00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:21,279 Speaker 1: than he did in the postseason last year, and his 929 00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:24,000 Speaker 1: volume is about a third what it was in the 930 00:46:24,239 --> 00:46:26,839 Speaker 1: in the playoffs last year in terms of like short 931 00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:28,920 Speaker 1: range shot making, which is such an important part of 932 00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:32,319 Speaker 1: his game. And I think that in general, players tend 933 00:46:32,400 --> 00:46:36,120 Speaker 1: to get more grifty the more they're struggling, because you're 934 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:39,200 Speaker 1: literally just trying to manufacture offense out of nothing, and 935 00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:41,799 Speaker 1: like and it's just one Like that was kind of 936 00:46:41,800 --> 00:46:45,799 Speaker 1: the bizarre, Like that was the griftiest I've ever seen 937 00:46:45,840 --> 00:46:47,279 Speaker 1: Steph play tonight. Did you see that? 938 00:46:47,480 --> 00:46:47,680 Speaker 2: Yeah? 939 00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:51,280 Speaker 1: He was like, dude, he was flailing on every single 940 00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:54,120 Speaker 1: shot attempt, which, by the way, like my thing is 941 00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:55,960 Speaker 1: like if every other guard in the league is doing it, 942 00:46:56,080 --> 00:46:58,720 Speaker 1: do it. This is not. I don't blame the players 943 00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:02,160 Speaker 1: for this. I blame the Like you're gonna stop doing 944 00:47:02,239 --> 00:47:04,719 Speaker 1: it if it stops working, if you stop getting rewarded 945 00:47:04,719 --> 00:47:07,600 Speaker 1: with free throws for it. But but yeah, I think 946 00:47:07,600 --> 00:47:10,760 Speaker 1: he just I think Luca it's been such a bizarre 947 00:47:10,800 --> 00:47:14,120 Speaker 1: experience rooting for him because he's had some nights where 948 00:47:14,120 --> 00:47:16,640 Speaker 1: I'm like, this guy's fucking incredible. But then he's had 949 00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:18,920 Speaker 1: other nights where I'm like, this is so bizarre, Like 950 00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:21,480 Speaker 1: why are you Why are you watching your teammate like 951 00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:25,120 Speaker 1: give everything he's got and to try to keep his 952 00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:26,879 Speaker 1: team in this game in Lebron and you're just kind 953 00:47:26,880 --> 00:47:29,040 Speaker 1: of like jogging and going through the motions like where's 954 00:47:29,040 --> 00:47:31,400 Speaker 1: a lot of where's where's the verve? Man? Like it 955 00:47:31,480 --> 00:47:33,319 Speaker 1: just wasn't there. It was bizarre, weird Luca game. 956 00:47:33,400 --> 00:47:35,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, it wasn't very strange of the game. All right, 957 00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:37,480 Speaker 2: let's close with this one. Hi. Jason, a huge fan 958 00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:39,960 Speaker 2: of the show, was wondering which three players you think 959 00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:43,040 Speaker 2: deserve to be dpo Y candidates and why. I mean, 960 00:47:43,040 --> 00:47:46,360 Speaker 2: the odds are certainly un draftings are certainly heavily favored 961 00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:48,839 Speaker 2: towards Draymond and Evan Mobley, with Dyson Daniels being sort 962 00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:52,120 Speaker 2: of a distant third. I've heard some some Ludork conversations 963 00:47:52,120 --> 00:47:54,320 Speaker 2: because of how good their defense has been. But what 964 00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:55,000 Speaker 2: do you what's your take there? 965 00:47:55,120 --> 00:47:58,120 Speaker 1: I was listening to Bill Simmons and Zach low Uh 966 00:47:58,640 --> 00:48:01,440 Speaker 1: this morning actually, and by the way, I'm not sure 967 00:48:01,440 --> 00:48:02,799 Speaker 1: if he had a chance to check that out yet. 968 00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:05,520 Speaker 1: But dude, Zach is so fucking amazing. He's so good 969 00:48:05,520 --> 00:48:08,239 Speaker 1: at his job. It's as I was listening to that, 970 00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:10,320 Speaker 1: I was like, Dude, this guy is just the best 971 00:48:10,320 --> 00:48:14,480 Speaker 1: at what he does. But he Uh. But Bill actually 972 00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:16,840 Speaker 1: had a really interesting point about lou dort and and 973 00:48:16,960 --> 00:48:18,840 Speaker 1: his ability to basically just cut the head off the 974 00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:21,520 Speaker 1: snake every single night, and that sort of player like 975 00:48:21,640 --> 00:48:25,160 Speaker 1: never wins DPO. I uh, because like even when Marcus 976 00:48:25,200 --> 00:48:26,880 Speaker 1: Smart won it, like I didn't think he was like 977 00:48:26,920 --> 00:48:28,960 Speaker 1: cut the head off the snake guy. He was more 978 00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:32,279 Speaker 1: of like defensive playmaker type of guy, you know, yeah, 979 00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:37,160 Speaker 1: and yeah exactly, And so I I kind of find 980 00:48:37,160 --> 00:48:39,320 Speaker 1: that to be an interesting case. And I thought Bill's 981 00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:42,120 Speaker 1: whole point about like his ability to cut the head 982 00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:44,160 Speaker 1: off the snake as a type of value I thought 983 00:48:44,239 --> 00:48:49,120 Speaker 1: was really fascinating. I just think when I watched Raymond Green, 984 00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:53,720 Speaker 1: I just think he's better at defense than Evan Mobley. 985 00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:55,799 Speaker 1: And like, look, I've watched a lot of Calves lately. 986 00:48:55,840 --> 00:48:58,040 Speaker 1: I just watched him the other day in the in 987 00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:00,120 Speaker 1: the next this morning, in the next game, and like, 988 00:49:00,719 --> 00:49:04,000 Speaker 1: I just think Draymond is a more disruptive defender I 989 00:49:04,040 --> 00:49:06,759 Speaker 1: don't think Evan Mobley could do to the Lakers defensively 990 00:49:06,800 --> 00:49:10,120 Speaker 1: what Draymond Green did to the Lakers. Like Dyson Daniels, 991 00:49:10,360 --> 00:49:15,000 Speaker 1: really good, really good player. I think he's got a 992 00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:17,680 Speaker 1: ton of offensive potential. I've been talking about that on 993 00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:20,759 Speaker 1: the show a little bit. His shiftiness and his kind 994 00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:22,080 Speaker 1: of like short range He's got a little bit of 995 00:49:22,080 --> 00:49:23,919 Speaker 1: that John Morant pop off the ground in the short 996 00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:26,279 Speaker 1: range and make a little floater kind of thing. It 997 00:49:26,600 --> 00:49:30,040 Speaker 1: obviously is a wrecking ball on defense, but I think 998 00:49:30,160 --> 00:49:33,160 Speaker 1: Draymond does more to damage a team's offense than any 999 00:49:33,160 --> 00:49:34,399 Speaker 1: defender that I watch in the league. 1000 00:49:34,760 --> 00:49:36,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. It's like if you were just saying 1001 00:49:36,840 --> 00:49:41,200 Speaker 2: Evan Mobley guard one single possession, I might be like, yeah, okay, 1002 00:49:41,280 --> 00:49:44,520 Speaker 2: maybe take that guy. But just in the whole construct 1003 00:49:44,560 --> 00:49:48,279 Speaker 2: of the game and the ability to understand on a 1004 00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:49,960 Speaker 2: mental level what the other team is trying to do 1005 00:49:50,040 --> 00:49:53,359 Speaker 2: and wanted to take those things away. It's been cool 1006 00:49:53,400 --> 00:49:56,480 Speaker 2: to see him get the credit again because you know, 1007 00:49:56,600 --> 00:49:58,600 Speaker 2: he's had They had a couple of weird seasons and 1008 00:49:58,640 --> 00:50:00,120 Speaker 2: he was hurt a couple of a couple of in 1009 00:50:00,280 --> 00:50:02,720 Speaker 2: a row, so he wasn't getting the games threshold. And 1010 00:50:02,840 --> 00:50:04,880 Speaker 2: you know, also he was doing a lot of stuff, 1011 00:50:05,719 --> 00:50:07,439 Speaker 2: silly stuff on the court that was sort of taking 1012 00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:10,600 Speaker 2: away from his sort of perception around the league. But 1013 00:50:10,680 --> 00:50:13,440 Speaker 2: it's great to see him sort of get the credit 1014 00:50:13,480 --> 00:50:16,359 Speaker 2: again because he they talked that, they kept talking about 1015 00:50:16,400 --> 00:50:18,080 Speaker 2: it in the broadcast night, how he's trying to get 1016 00:50:18,440 --> 00:50:21,120 Speaker 2: ten All Defense selections and become one of the few 1017 00:50:21,160 --> 00:50:24,319 Speaker 2: players to have that honor. And I hope he gets 1018 00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:28,239 Speaker 2: there because he has been I think pretty unquestionably the 1019 00:50:28,239 --> 00:50:31,279 Speaker 2: best defender in the NBA over the last ten years, 1020 00:50:31,320 --> 00:50:31,960 Speaker 2: fifteen years. 1021 00:50:32,040 --> 00:50:34,279 Speaker 1: I totally agree, And like the point you made last 1022 00:50:34,320 --> 00:50:37,279 Speaker 1: about last year and the behavior is so fascinating because 1023 00:50:37,280 --> 00:50:38,840 Speaker 1: like I just kind of got a little bit of PTSD. 1024 00:50:38,920 --> 00:50:41,160 Speaker 1: Do you remember all the little shit he did last year? 1025 00:50:42,880 --> 00:50:46,120 Speaker 1: I still I still remember him getting himself ejected in 1026 00:50:46,200 --> 00:50:48,640 Speaker 1: like the first quarter of a super important game down 1027 00:50:48,680 --> 00:50:51,080 Speaker 1: the stretch, and like Steph just like looking down at 1028 00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:55,160 Speaker 1: the gradgity game, so dejected from everything, and like he's 1029 00:50:55,239 --> 00:50:58,520 Speaker 1: just had his act together this year and he's just 1030 00:50:58,560 --> 00:51:01,120 Speaker 1: been awesome. And and a bunch of credits to those 1031 00:51:01,160 --> 00:51:04,120 Speaker 1: guys too, for battling through a pretty limited roster in 1032 00:51:04,120 --> 00:51:06,560 Speaker 1: the first part of the year as well. All right, guys, 1033 00:51:06,560 --> 00:51:08,800 Speaker 1: that's all we have for tonight. As always, we sincerely 1034 00:51:08,800 --> 00:51:11,799 Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. 1035 00:51:12,320 --> 00:51:14,680 Speaker 1: We're taking the weekend off for you guys to enjoy 1036 00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:17,879 Speaker 1: the tournament. There's no nationally televised games other than NBA 1037 00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:23,520 Speaker 1: TV until Monday, if I'm not mistaken, and so I'm 1038 00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:26,759 Speaker 1: actually going Monday Night with Kevin O'Connor, So if you 1039 00:51:27,040 --> 00:51:29,600 Speaker 1: want to hear me talk some college hoops, that's the 1040 00:51:29,640 --> 00:51:32,799 Speaker 1: place to be on Monday night. But OOPS Tonight will 1041 00:51:32,800 --> 00:51:35,919 Speaker 1: be back on Monday morning. Jackson and I will be back, 1042 00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:38,919 Speaker 1: and then next week we got a bunch of huge 1043 00:51:38,960 --> 00:51:41,240 Speaker 1: games to cover as we get into the final stretch 1044 00:51:41,280 --> 00:51:44,279 Speaker 1: of seeding, and then in the week after that we 1045 00:51:44,320 --> 00:51:47,359 Speaker 1: got our series previews and playing tournament that will be covering, 1046 00:51:47,400 --> 00:51:49,120 Speaker 1: so lots of interesting stuff on the rise. And again, 1047 00:51:49,160 --> 00:51:51,160 Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys for rocking with us, and we 1048 00:51:51,160 --> 00:51:53,120 Speaker 1: will see you on Monday. What's so, guys, As always, 1049 00:51:53,160 --> 00:51:56,200 Speaker 1: I appreciate you for listening to and supporting OOPS tonight. 1050 00:51:56,280 --> 00:51:58,279 Speaker 1: They would actually be really helpful for us if you 1051 00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:00,880 Speaker 1: guys would take a second and leave a rating and 1052 00:52:01,080 --> 00:52:03,239 Speaker 1: a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us, 1053 00:52:03,280 --> 00:52:04,600 Speaker 1: but if you could take a minute to do that, 1054 00:52:04,960 --> 00:52:08,120 Speaker 1: I'd really appreciate it. 1055 00:52:08,239 --> 00:52:08,880 Speaker 2: The volume