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Speaker 1: and responsible gaming resources. All right, welcome to whom tonight

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Speaker 1: you're at the volume. Happy Friday, everybody. Oh both, if

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Speaker 1: you guys had a good end to your week. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna break down both of tonight's games from the perspective

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Speaker 1: of both teams. The Clippers pose out the Mavericks at

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Speaker 1: home and the Magic win at home against the Cavs.

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Speaker 1: So we're gonna have Game seven on Sunday as well,

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Speaker 1: which should be fun and then special for tonight, I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna do fifteen minutes of mail bag questions at the end,

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Speaker 1: So drop as many male bad questions as you'd like

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Speaker 1: in the chat, and Paul, our producer, is gonna be

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Speaker 1: sending them to me so that I can get to

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Speaker 1: him at the end of the show, and I'll get

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Speaker 1: to as many as I can for about fifteen minutes

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Speaker 1: or so at the end of the show. You guys

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Speaker 1: know the joke before we get started. Subscribe to our

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Speaker 1: brand of YouTube channel. You don't miss any more of

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Speaker 1: our videos. Call me on Twitter at underscore JSNLTS. You

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Speaker 1: guys don't miss any show announcements. Don't forget about our

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Speaker 1: podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts. Under Hoops tonight,

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Speaker 1: don't forget to keep dropping those questions in the chat

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Speaker 1: as well as the begin him at the end of

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Speaker 1: the show. All right, let's talk some basketball. So that

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Speaker 1: looked a lot like Game four. Right, The MAVs are

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Speaker 1: just a better basketball team than the Clippers when they

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Speaker 1: don't have a healthy Kawhi Leonard, right, Like that was

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Speaker 1: the big question mark surrounding the series, was like, is

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Speaker 1: Kawhi gonna be healthy? Is he gonna be able to

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Speaker 1: bring anything to the table. As soon as he was out,

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Speaker 1: this thing was over. The reality is is that once

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Speaker 1: we get into super physical and tense environments, Luca and

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Speaker 1: Kyrie are just better shot creators than Harden and Paul George.

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Speaker 1: Both of these teams have elite perimeter defenders. Both of

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Speaker 1: these teams play physical with ball pressure. Both of these

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Speaker 1: teams have a lot of athletes that can attack the

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Speaker 1: offensive glass. There's no advantage there. The advantage is in

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Speaker 1: shot creation. And in Game four, like we talked about,

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Speaker 1: Luca and Kyrie dominated Paul George and James Harden, and

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Speaker 1: they did the same thing tonight between Luca and Kyrie

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Speaker 1: fifty five points and seventeen assists, Paul George and James

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Speaker 1: Harden tonight thirty four points in eighteen assists. We went

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Speaker 1: into much more detail in Game four, and I won't

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Speaker 1: get into that much detail tonight, but the gist of

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Speaker 1: it is is that Paul George and James Harden are

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Speaker 1: just simply not athletic enough to get separation from superior

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Speaker 1: defensive athletes. Kyrie has the quickness to go with the

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Speaker 1: skill that he can get separation with. Luca has the

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Speaker 1: size and strength. Those two guys have elite physical traits

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Speaker 1: that allow them to break open in a way that

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Speaker 1: Paul George and James Harden cannot. Paul George, when he

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Speaker 1: was in his athletic prime, back when he was with Indiana,

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Speaker 1: had this insane first step. Even just as recently as

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Speaker 1: like twenty twenty one, he had a crazy first step

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Speaker 1: and he was toasting people off the dribble consistently, But

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Speaker 1: at this phase of his career, as he's entering into

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Speaker 1: his mid thirties, just not the same. And as you

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Speaker 1: kind of look around the landscape of the league, if

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Speaker 1: you're making a list of like not just shot creators,

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Speaker 1: but shot creators that have reliability in intense postseason environments,

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Speaker 1: it's a very short list, and it's basically like a

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Speaker 1: handful of guys that are just all time type of

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Speaker 1: skill athletes, right like Jalen Brunson is a guy that's

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Speaker 1: kind of breaking that mold. Steph Curry is a guy

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Speaker 1: who has broken that mold. There are some guys that

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Speaker 1: kind of are exceptions to that rule, but for the

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Speaker 1: most part, it's the big, strong, fast guys that have

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Speaker 1: like superior physical gifts attached to IQ and skill, which

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Speaker 1: they use with those physical gifts after they get separation

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Speaker 1: to pay plays off. But at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: like I'm watching and when you see Paul George dribbling on,

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Speaker 1: when you see Paul George dribbling on Darrek Jones Junior,

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Speaker 1: Like he's just not capable of getting free from him

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Speaker 1: as easily as you see other higher level shot creators

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Speaker 1: around the league. That really is the is the gist

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Speaker 1: of it. Kyrie, I want to shout him out. He's

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Speaker 1: been amazing all series and once again, like Luca, all

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Speaker 1: series long, has just struggled to get back to his

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Speaker 1: normal level of efficiency. Some of that I want to

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Speaker 1: credit the Clippers. Some of that is shot selection, He's

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Speaker 1: taken a lot of really difficult shots, and some of

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Speaker 1: that is the neat right, Lucas struggling a little bit,

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Speaker 1: Kyrie has been carrying that load. And like, here's the thing,

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Speaker 1: I'm wrong about a lot of stuff. I never sit

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Speaker 1: up here and try to pretend that I'm Jason Stradamis

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Speaker 1: and I just get everything right as it pertains to

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Speaker 1: the NBA. That's never been what I've tried to lead

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Speaker 1: you guys to believe. But I'm on the right side

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Speaker 1: of history. And when it comes to Kyrie Irving, from

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Speaker 1: the minute everything was going south again, just really really

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Speaker 1: wanted free agency. That mattered to him, right Like he

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Speaker 1: got traded to Boston, he wanted free agency. He wanted

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Speaker 1: to pick a destination. He picked Brooklyn. I'm not defending

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Speaker 1: everything he did. He made some mistakes off the court,

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Speaker 1: especially where and on the court in the sense that

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Speaker 1: like he abandoned his team in a lot of cases

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Speaker 1: and many there was stories about him leaving his team

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Speaker 1: without even informing the coach, Like there's stuff that Kyrie

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Speaker 1: did that's not okay. But for the most part, like,

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Speaker 1: the reason why he left Boston was because he wanted

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Speaker 1: to be a free agent, right, And the reason why

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Speaker 1: he left Brooklyn is because he wanted an extension and

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Speaker 1: because he had burnt the bridge with Brooklyn, Brooklyn wasn't

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Speaker 1: going to give it to him, and so he really

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Speaker 1: had no choice but to force his way out of

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Speaker 1: Brooklyn to go to a different scenario where he could

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Speaker 1: get a long term contract, which he did. Not defending

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Speaker 1: everything he did in that stretch. But at the end

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Speaker 1: of that trade saga, when he got sent to Dallas,

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Speaker 1: Kyrie got basically painted as a complete and total, unreliable asshole,

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Speaker 1: and that just wasn't true. And most importantly, in all

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Speaker 1: of that, people started to rewrite the history on who

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Speaker 1: Kyrie was as a basketball player, and like, yeah, you're right,

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Speaker 1: when he's the number one option on a Boston team,

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Speaker 1: probably not going to be able to pull you over

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Speaker 1: the top. But I don't know about you, guys. I

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Speaker 1: never had any delusions about Kyrie being a number one option.

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Speaker 1: That was never what I thought he was. I don't

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Speaker 1: think you guys felt that way, right. He's always been

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Speaker 1: viewed as like the ultimate number two a guy if

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Speaker 1: you can put him next to a do everything superstar,

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Speaker 1: like a true top tier guy, and he can just

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Speaker 1: focus on basically second side shot creation, running units, when

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Speaker 1: when your best players on the bench, he's actually an

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Speaker 1: extremely useful number two, not just on the offensive end either,

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Speaker 1: he competes on the defensive end and can be useful there. Right.

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Speaker 1: And so not only did he get painted as this

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Speaker 1: like complete and total jerk when really he was a

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Speaker 1: guy who made some poor decisions, but also was being

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Speaker 1: opportunistic about his situation, like he had never been a

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Speaker 1: free agent when he Boston. I'm not gonna hate on

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Speaker 1: a guy for wanting to pick a team. Okay, that's

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Speaker 1: like I feel like that's the dream for a lot

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Speaker 1: of NBA players. It's like, one day I get to

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Speaker 1: choose where I want to go. Good for him. He

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Speaker 1: chose Brooklyn. Okay, there he burned his bridge that you

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Speaker 1: can blame him for. But when it came down to it,

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Speaker 1: the nets were not going to give him the money

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Speaker 1: he wanted. He wanted the long term security. He had

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Speaker 1: no choice but to force his way out at that point.

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Speaker 1: The nets were kicking everybody's ass when he demanded that trade.

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Speaker 1: He did so because he needed to find financial security.

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Speaker 1: And he found it in Dallas. And guess what He's

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Speaker 1: learned from his mistakes that he made in Brooklyn. So

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Speaker 1: he's on his best behavior and in Dallas he has

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Speaker 1: found long term financial security and another role alongside a

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Speaker 1: top tier superstar where he is thriving and like no

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Speaker 1: matter what the basketball side of it, he always did

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Speaker 1: what he was supposed to do as long as he

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Speaker 1: was alongside a true top tier superstar the way that

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Speaker 1: he needed to to push them over the top. And

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Speaker 1: so I'm I'm gonna always defend Kyrie in that specific regard,

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Speaker 1: not his specific actions. But I think I think way

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Speaker 1: too much was made of the bigger picture of who

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Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving was as a person. And I'm glad to

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Speaker 1: be on the right side of history. There because now

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Speaker 1: he's the second best player on a team with genuine

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Speaker 1: championship potential and they're headed to the second round for

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Speaker 1: the Oklahoma City Thunder. And he was just unfreaking believable

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Speaker 1: in this series. In Round one, PJ and Maxi hit

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Speaker 1: five more threes. That was a huge swing factor without

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Speaker 1: the entire series, those guys hitting shots. And it's been

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Speaker 1: a little bit back and forth and alternating, like Maxi

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Speaker 1: was the one hitting the shots in Game four, PJ

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Speaker 1: is the guy hitting the shots in Game five, maxicalle

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Speaker 1: But did me leave the game with a nasty shoulders

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Speaker 1: plaint is spraying where he kind of fell really hard

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Speaker 1: with his whole body weight on his shoulder. That could

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Speaker 1: be big for OKAC, which we'll talk about in a minute.

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Speaker 1: I wanted The last guy I wanted to shout out

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Speaker 1: for Dallas was Derek Lively. That the third quarter run

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Speaker 1: that he went on was crazy. He was doing it all.

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Speaker 1: He's defending, he was cleaning up the glass on both ends,

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Speaker 1: was really active on the offensive glass, in particular, providing

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Speaker 1: that vertical spacing that we know is so crucial to

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Speaker 1: the way that Luca likes to play. And then the

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Speaker 1: big one making reads out a short role that again

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Speaker 1: simple concept. When Luca calls for a ball screen from

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Speaker 1: Lively and Luca's defender shows high above the above where

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Speaker 1: Lively's role is, He's going to roll into a four

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Speaker 1: on three and he's got to catch there, and he's

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Speaker 1: got to make the reads quickly. He even had a

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Speaker 1: play where he caught on the right block and made

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Speaker 1: like a little left shoulder hook off the glass. I

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Speaker 1: was thinking a lot about it because not only is

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Speaker 1: it truly impressive that Dallas was able to find a

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Speaker 1: true contributing player in the NBA draft as a rookie,

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Speaker 1: and not only was it impressive that Derek Lively himself

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Speaker 1: put in the work to become that type of reliable player,

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Speaker 1: but I think he can get so so so much

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Speaker 1: better in the long run. And I actually had a

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Speaker 1: little moment today when I was watching the game where

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Speaker 1: I'm like, I look forward to that moment when we're

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Speaker 1: watching the MAVs three four years from now and Lively

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Speaker 1: is like a well established, really really good NBA player

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Speaker 1: alongside Luka Doncic. She feels like one of those guys

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Speaker 1: that like, we're gonna kind of attach to Luca and

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Speaker 1: his career in terms of like one of his like

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Speaker 1: you know, partners in Crime, so to speak, and like

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Speaker 1: it just it just feels like the beginning of an

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Speaker 1: era there and Derek was just incredible tonight. Looking forward

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Speaker 1: for the MAVs again, Thunder is gonna be a tougher matchup.

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Speaker 1: Tougher in some ways and easier in others. But I

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Speaker 1: do think the okay See without Kawhi is a with

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Speaker 1: the Clippers not having Kawhi. Okay See, he's a better team.

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Speaker 1: Okay See's shot creation is substantially better, Like Shake Kildas.

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Speaker 1: Alexander is just a much much better player then both

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Speaker 1: James Harden and Paul George. So that's a whole other

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Speaker 1: challenge that challenges you got sitting in front of you.

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Speaker 1: Derek Jones Junior is gonna have his hands full from

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Speaker 1: the start of that series. I think he'll probably get

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Speaker 1: the matchup, and then Jalen Williams. He didn't have the

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Speaker 1: stature of Paul George or James Harden, but he is

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Speaker 1: a much much better at fleet and he brings a

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Speaker 1: I've said this before, but I think he has the

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Speaker 1: best combination of downhill force, pull up jump shooting and

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Speaker 1: playmaking ability of any forward I've seen in a very

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Speaker 1: long time. Like there's there are guys that can move

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Speaker 1: the way he can and can play make the way

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Speaker 1: that he can, but can't shoot the way that he can.

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Speaker 1: There are guys that can move and shoot, but can't

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Speaker 1: play make the way that he can't. He is a

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Speaker 1: rare combination of those three traits. His first ever playoff

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Speaker 1: series against an elite defensive team that put elite perimeter

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Speaker 1: defenders on him the whole series twenty one, seven and

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Speaker 1: five on fifty nine percent from shooting as a rookie.

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Speaker 1: Never's done it before, So like that, it's gonna be

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Speaker 1: a whole other challenge in terms of shot creation from

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma City. But they don't bring the physical strength that

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Speaker 1: the Clippers bring to the table. Now, lou Dort is

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Speaker 1: super strong and he's gonna be He's another guy that's

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Speaker 1: in that top tier perimeter defenders, and so it's gonna

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Speaker 1: be a tough matchup for Luca to deal with. So Luca,

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Speaker 1: he's slumping right now. He's gonna need to figure it

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Speaker 1: out for Dort. Dort's gonna have a difficult series ahead

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Speaker 1: for him in terms of just how hard he's gonna

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Speaker 1: make things for Luca. But Chet is just not the

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Speaker 1: type of power player that zubatches A Zubats is, i

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Speaker 1: should say, And they don't really have a power forward

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Speaker 1: on the roster. They don't have anybody in that like

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Speaker 1: Kleiba PJ. Washington type of size profile, right, And so

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Speaker 1: it's gonna be about bullyball in a lot of cases.

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Speaker 1: And but before we get into that, this is where

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Speaker 1: Kleiba and his injury could be an issue. And I

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Speaker 1: hope that Kleeba is able to come back because one

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Speaker 1: of the big things that I could see Dallas doing

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Speaker 1: to try to handle the Shay Chet pick and pop

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Speaker 1: and the Jalen Chet pick and pop. As I've talked

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Speaker 1: about a lot the for traditional bigs that run drop coverages.

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Speaker 1: So for instance, Chet, excuse me, Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively,

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Speaker 1: they're in a drop coverage, right, So essentially as the

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Speaker 1: ball handlers coming over the top, they're trying to drop

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Speaker 1: and keep the roller and the on ball guy in front.

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Speaker 1: You know, on a better pull up shooter, they might

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Speaker 1: be closer to the level, but for the most part,

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Speaker 1: they're they're working kind of from where the ball comes

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Speaker 1: off the screen back towards the basket, right, And so

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Speaker 1: that works when the ball when the when the guy's

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Speaker 1: rolling right, when Zubots is rolling into the paint. You

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Speaker 1: can kind of guard to people at once in some way,

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Speaker 1: shape or form, right, but as soon as that screen

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Speaker 1: or pops it, he's just gonna be open. The pick

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Speaker 1: and pop is like the ultimate uh you know, it's

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Speaker 1: like the ultimate trump card for any sort of for

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Speaker 1: any sort of like basic trump uh drop coverage, you

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Speaker 1: can't really like get out there in time, right, And

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Speaker 1: so this is where I see Kliba being super important

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Speaker 1: and Dallas leaning more into that look they used in

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Speaker 1: Game two of the Clipper series, which is Kleiba and PJ.

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Speaker 1: Washington together, Because if you do that, you can do

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Speaker 1: something like have PJ. Washington on Jalen Williams and Derek

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Speaker 1: Jones or you know, it'll be interesting to see too,

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Speaker 1: because Jalen's more of a downhill threat and Sha, he's

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Speaker 1: more of like a shifty guy. So maybe it'll end

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Speaker 1: up being PJ. Washington on SGA and more Derek Jones

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Speaker 1: matching athleticism for athleticism on Jalen Williams but either way,

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Speaker 1: if you have those two guys there and you have

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Speaker 1: Kleiba on chet, then you can switch any ball screen

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Speaker 1: between any variation of those two guys. And so I

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Speaker 1: think that's something where where Kleiba's value is a little

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Speaker 1: bit understated. And so I'm hoping that that shoulder injury

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Speaker 1: isn't too serious because that's gonna be something that I

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Speaker 1: think that Dallas is going to need. But again, like

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Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier, Bulli ball is gonna be the name

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Speaker 1: of the game. Luca is gonna need to hunt the

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Speaker 1: thinner Thunder players and take him to the basket. That

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Speaker 1: was where he was most efficient in this series was

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Speaker 1: right handed drives where he would like kind of get

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Speaker 1: down the lane line and then kind of stop right

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Speaker 1: around the block and just shoot that little one handed

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Speaker 1: push shot slash like half hook over his left shoulder.

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Speaker 1: That's a big one I think for him to lean

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Speaker 1: on in this series against some of the smaller defenders.

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Speaker 1: Attacking the offensive glass like they did tonight, there's a

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Speaker 1: huge part of this series for Dallas, and that's a

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Speaker 1: big way that you can attack. Okay, see, they're one

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Speaker 1: of the worst defensive rebounding teams in the league and

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Speaker 1: then deep seals for PJ Washington with the other thing

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Speaker 1: I wrote down where PJ did this more often during

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Speaker 1: the regular season, but like when he gets a smaller

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Speaker 1: matchup on him, like if Oklahoma City has to put

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Speaker 1: dort on Luca and they have to put Jalen Williams

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Speaker 1: on Kyrie Irving, that's gonna leave one of Shay or

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Speaker 1: Josh Gitty, probably Josh Gitty on PJ Washington, And so

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Speaker 1: deep seals in the paint to try to get quick

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Speaker 1: early post touches and easy dump ins for like layups

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Speaker 1: and fouls and things like that. Bullyball is gonna be

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Speaker 1: a big element of that series. I will have a

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Speaker 1: series preview later this weekend. I did my prep for

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Speaker 1: Pacers Nicks, but I haven't recorded it yet. I'm recording

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Speaker 1: that first thing in the morning, and then I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: start doing the prep for this series, so I'll probably

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Speaker 1: end up recording that video later in the afternoon, and

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Speaker 1: so it'll probably be up either later tomorrow night or

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Speaker 1: in the morning on Sunday. But when it does go up,

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Speaker 1: I will tweet out the links. You can see it

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Speaker 1: on my Twitter feed at underscore JSNLT on the Clippers front,

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Speaker 1: I don't really know what to say. I don't know

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Speaker 1: how you build a team or prepare for a postseason

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Speaker 1: run when you're best player is literally not physically capable

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Speaker 1: of handling a playoff runt, WHI is on the books

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Speaker 1: for one hundred and fifty two million dollars over the

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Speaker 1: next three seasons. I can't even get mad at Paul

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Speaker 1: George and James Harden for not being able to successfully

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Speaker 1: navigate this half court environment against an elite defense, because

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Speaker 1: that's never what they were meant to do. They were

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Speaker 1: never meant to be depended on to this extent. They

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Speaker 1: were designed to be secondary and tertiary shot creators behind

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Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard, who is one of the rare guys when

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Speaker 1: he's healthy, who has resilience as a shot creator in

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Speaker 1: the slowdown, playoff environment against elite defenses. And so I

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Speaker 1: don't really know what to say. You can't blow it

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Speaker 1: up because you're about to head to a brand new arena.

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Speaker 1: You can't go into your new arena with a rebuilding

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Speaker 1: team that seems like a financial disaster. So my guess

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Speaker 1: is that they'll let Paul George go to free agency,

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Speaker 1: but then match whatever he gets offered, and so they'll

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Speaker 1: do whatever they need you to bring Paul George back. Now,

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Speaker 1: maybe he'll choose to leave, but I think they'll offer

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Speaker 1: Paul George whatever the max is to keep him. I

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Speaker 1: think they'll sign James Harden to a long term deal

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Speaker 1: at a little bit more of a team friendly number.

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Speaker 1: And I think they'll run it back. And I do

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Speaker 1: think that's defensible for two reasons. Won the arena, Like

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Speaker 1: we mentioned obviously, like it's just the reality of going

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Speaker 1: into a new arena. You almost better off giving it

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Speaker 1: one good season there with all of this talent to

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Speaker 1: at least drive some of the buzz. And then especially

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Speaker 1: like if you're selling season ticket packages like they've probably been.

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Speaker 1: They've probably been selling season ticket packages, and so you'd

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Speaker 1: hat to go back on that by bringing out a

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Speaker 1: some sort of rebuilding team or trading a star away

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Speaker 1: and not having the talent that you have, right, And

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Speaker 1: so like, I think it's defensible to bring everybody back

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Speaker 1: under that circumstance. And the second piece of it is

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Speaker 1: just the reality of their predicament. They're not one move

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Speaker 1: away from figuring this out. They could trade Paul George,

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Speaker 1: but it's still gonna be fragile Kawhi and James Harden

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Speaker 1: who needs to be a secondary shot creator behind a

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Speaker 1: true superstar. Right, So it's the same, it's more or

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Speaker 1: less the same predicament. And so that's kind of where

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Speaker 1: I tie this off is just as a Clippers fan,

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Speaker 1: don't get your hopes up, because even if they do

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Speaker 1: run it back, the reality is is twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard looked awesome and then his knee fell apart.

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Speaker 1: Twenty twenty two, he was still recovering from the knee injury,

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Speaker 1: couldn't play in the playoffs. Twenty twenty three, he looked

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Speaker 1: awesome in the playoffs and then his knee fell apart.

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Speaker 1: Twenty twenty four, looked awesome all season, and then his

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Speaker 1: knee fell apart before he got to the postseason and

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Speaker 1: he was unable to play. So that and like each

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Speaker 1: one of those years, he's getting older. I mean a

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00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,359
Speaker 1: half decade is passed, so like half decade ago, his

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Speaker 1: body couldn't handle it, and now he's falling apart before

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Speaker 1: he gets there. It's sad. Kawhi Leonard is one of

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Speaker 1: my favorite players to watch. A good chunk of my game,

401
00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:46,399
Speaker 1: our moves and things in play style that I've stolen

402
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Speaker 1: from Kawhi Leonard, huge fan of his. It's a huge bummer,

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Speaker 1: but it's just the reality of the predicament. He for

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Speaker 1: whatever reason, just his body can't make it. His body

405
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Speaker 1: can't make it through this grind. And so maybe you

406
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Speaker 1: get lucky. I mean, you going too the New Arena,

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00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:04,280
Speaker 1: and by the grace of the basketball guys, you just

408
00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:07,199
Speaker 1: roll in deep next season and everyone hangs tight and healthy,

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00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:08,639
Speaker 1: and then you get into the postseason, you go on

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Speaker 1: some sort of run. Maybe that'll happen, but I just

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Speaker 1: don't think anybody should get their hopes up. Moving on

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Speaker 1: to Calves Magic. The dynamic of this series is super

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Speaker 1: fascinating to me because like it's two very different game

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Speaker 1: plans between the two teams. Like the Calves are daring

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Speaker 1: the Magic to make jump shots. The Magic were dead

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Speaker 1: last in a jump shot attempts per game during the

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Speaker 1: regular season and near the bottom in efficiency. They're not

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Speaker 1: a good jump shooting team. So the Calves are ducking underscreens.

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Speaker 1: They're playing contain on the ball. What that means is

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Speaker 1: is like positional defense, so like you're giving ground and

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Speaker 1: just prioritizing keeping the offensive player in front no matter

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Speaker 1: what it takes. So like, even if you have to

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Speaker 1: leave a guy open on the perimeter, you're just beating

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Speaker 1: him to a spot, sliding, taking that contact in the chest,

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Speaker 1: trying to bait them into taking jump shots. Right, Jalen

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Speaker 1: Suggs is really the only guy for Orlando that they're

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Speaker 1: really trying to run off the line. And by the way,

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Speaker 1: he had a great night twenty two points. Should have

429
00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:03,760
Speaker 1: had twenty five if he didn't kick his legout on

430
00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,679
Speaker 1: that one end one that got over or the offensive foul.

431
00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:08,639
Speaker 1: But he had a ton of big momentum shots and

432
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,160
Speaker 1: obviously he's been a defensive force in this series. Jalen

433
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,200
Speaker 1: Suggs continues to be awesome. But the Magic are doing

434
00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:17,479
Speaker 1: the exact opposite to Cleveland. They're chasing Darius Carland and

435
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,440
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell and Max Strew's off the line. Then they're

436
00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,880
Speaker 1: ignoring the non shooters in the corners, like guys like Mobiley,

437
00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,959
Speaker 1: guys like Akorro, and they're trying to funnel the calves

438
00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:31,159
Speaker 1: into the paint. And then from there they're just banking

439
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:32,880
Speaker 1: that they're gonna be able to get enough stops at

440
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,639
Speaker 1: the rim. Now, the Calves had a great paint knight.

441
00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:39,760
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell made eighteen shots in the paint. Garland made eight,

442
00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:41,760
Speaker 1: so they got twenty six made field goals in the

443
00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:44,760
Speaker 1: paint just from their backcourt. Mitchell made nine shots in

444
00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,679
Speaker 1: the paint outside of the restricted area. Just a deadly

445
00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:52,200
Speaker 1: eurostep floater. He also does that wade pullover dribble. He

446
00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,280
Speaker 1: is one of my favorite moves to use because it

447
00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:57,360
Speaker 1: like automatically gets Essentially, you're driving up the right side

448
00:21:57,359 --> 00:21:59,119
Speaker 1: of the floor and you pound the ball with your

449
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,639
Speaker 1: right hand and you gather a high but when you

450
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,880
Speaker 1: have real downhill force coming, your elbows are up here,

451
00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:07,480
Speaker 1: and so what ends up happening is the back pedaling

452
00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:10,320
Speaker 1: defender who's kind of in your way has a tendency

453
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,480
Speaker 1: naturally as human nature to kind of go to kind

454
00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:15,960
Speaker 1: of like back away from the elbow because you're worried

455
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,840
Speaker 1: about your getting hit, and so usually that gather over

456
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,440
Speaker 1: the top will get you back on to the left

457
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:23,960
Speaker 1: side towards the rim, and then you just explode off

458
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,760
Speaker 1: that left leg and you can get all the way

459
00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:28,160
Speaker 1: to the basket. Now, Mitchell was using that to set

460
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:30,240
Speaker 1: up his floater, So he's like doing that high gather

461
00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:32,720
Speaker 1: into the middle of the lane and shooting that floater

462
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,320
Speaker 1: over the top, because once again, that was kind of

463
00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:36,440
Speaker 1: the way Orlando's defense was set up. They were trying

464
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,680
Speaker 1: to take away the paint, take away the three point line,

465
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:42,520
Speaker 1: very analytically a smart approach to offense, right or defense.

466
00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:46,080
Speaker 1: Excuse me, but Mitchell just made a pay nine shots

467
00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:49,520
Speaker 1: that he made outside of the restricted area, but inside

468
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 1: of the paint eleven paint field goals for Garland, Mitchell

469
00:22:53,320 --> 00:22:56,439
Speaker 1: gets fifty. Honestly, it made me feel bad because that

470
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,359
Speaker 1: was one of the better playoff performances that I've seen.

471
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:03,160
Speaker 1: That was a that'll get lost in the mix because

472
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,199
Speaker 1: it was a loss, but given the fact that it

473
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,000
Speaker 1: was on the road, in a close out game where

474
00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:10,040
Speaker 1: his teammates were in a lot of ways letting him down,

475
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,120
Speaker 1: and we're gonna get into that in a minute, he

476
00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:16,199
Speaker 1: was just unbelievably good. And it just as a bummer

477
00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:17,840
Speaker 1: because he played well enough to win that game and

478
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:19,879
Speaker 1: he doesn't get a win down the stretch. The Magic

479
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,880
Speaker 1: just made more plays and fewer mistakes than the Caves.

480
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 1: The shot making was there for both teams. As we

481
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:26,880
Speaker 1: talked about. Mitchell was hitting shots. Pallo got hot late.

482
00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:28,919
Speaker 1: He had a big pull up three over even Mobley

483
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:30,760
Speaker 1: on the left wing, and then he had a spin

484
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,480
Speaker 1: move into Moblei Mobiley raked him across the arms, kind

485
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:35,440
Speaker 1: of a dumb foul. I think Pallo missed the free

486
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:40,080
Speaker 1: throw anyway, But anytime Paolow saw Mobli on his heels,

487
00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:43,159
Speaker 1: same sort of thing, just hard dribble to the left,

488
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,120
Speaker 1: like spin into either a short fadeaway, short hook shot,

489
00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,000
Speaker 1: something along those lines. But Mitchell and Paalow were getting

490
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,199
Speaker 1: into the shot making, but Garland was the guy that

491
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 1: just couldn't kind of meet that level. Made a few

492
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,080
Speaker 1: huge mistakes down the stretch of the game. Everyone saw

493
00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,280
Speaker 1: the eight second violation. That's just completely inexcusable. You're just

494
00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,600
Speaker 1: not paying attention. There's no ball pressure. There was no

495
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:05,040
Speaker 1: ball pressure on that play. He just slow dribbled across

496
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:07,440
Speaker 1: half court and took an eight second violation. The cole

497
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,560
Speaker 1: Anthony put back along the baseline. This is where I

498
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,159
Speaker 1: want to get into the concept of rebounding as a

499
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,520
Speaker 1: team versus rebounding it as an individual. And this is

500
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,960
Speaker 1: especially important when you don't have physical advantages, which Cleveland

501
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:21,280
Speaker 1: without Jared Allen is at a huge disadvantage against Orlando.

502
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,440
Speaker 1: So on this play, Franz Wagner comes off of a

503
00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:26,280
Speaker 1: ball screen on the left wing and shoots a pull

504
00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:29,040
Speaker 1: up three. But on the play, Evan Mobley came up

505
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:31,080
Speaker 1: to the level of the screen. So when Evan Mobley

506
00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:33,240
Speaker 1: came up to the level of the screen, Wendell Carter Junior,

507
00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:35,840
Speaker 1: the guy who set the ball screen, he rolled hard

508
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:37,960
Speaker 1: to the basket right and as soon as the shot

509
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,000
Speaker 1: goes up, it's not even really a role. It's more

510
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,480
Speaker 1: of a crash. So Franz has taken the three, Mobley's

511
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:46,360
Speaker 1: out at the perimeter and Wendell Carter Junior is sprinting

512
00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:48,359
Speaker 1: down the lane to go get an offensive rebound. Now,

513
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:50,760
Speaker 1: Evan Mobley's gonna try to get back in front, but

514
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 1: he's really out of position, and so Donovan Mitchell, who's

515
00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:57,000
Speaker 1: guarding Cole Anthony in the right corner, he comes down

516
00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,520
Speaker 1: and cracks down and boxes out Wendell Carter Junior. So

517
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:05,640
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell is rebounding as a team. He's looking and going, yeah,

518
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,879
Speaker 1: I've got Cole Anthony and he might crash. But Wendell

519
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:12,920
Speaker 1: Carter Jr. Is crashing and he's got Evan Mobley beat

520
00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,200
Speaker 1: right now, I need to get in there and box out.

521
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:19,200
Speaker 1: So he's thinking within the team concept. Darius Garland, who's

522
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:22,160
Speaker 1: guarding Jalen Suggs up on the right wing, he's rebounding

523
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,760
Speaker 1: more as an individual, he when the shot goes up,

524
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,880
Speaker 1: just looks at Jalen Suggs, identifies that he's not crashing

525
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:32,600
Speaker 1: and does nothing. But that's not even just a rebounding rotation.

526
00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:37,160
Speaker 1: That's a defensive rotation. When the lowman tags in any way,

527
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,400
Speaker 1: shape or form, whether that's helping. And again, the lowman

528
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 1: is the player that's guarding the guy in the weak

529
00:25:42,840 --> 00:25:45,320
Speaker 1: side corner, and he is the guy who's responsible for

530
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,080
Speaker 1: the role man in the ball screen when your screen

531
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 1: defender is up at the level of the screen. So

532
00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,879
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell is the low man. Donovan Mitchell is the

533
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,560
Speaker 1: low man in a rebounding situation, went over to tag

534
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,640
Speaker 1: slash box out Wendell Carter Jr. If it wasn't a shot,

535
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,119
Speaker 1: it was just a role, he'd be tagging the roller right.

536
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,600
Speaker 1: Same kind of rotation, though when that happens, the same

537
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:07,600
Speaker 1: thing is supposed to happen every single time. If you

538
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,479
Speaker 1: were on the wing and you see the low man

539
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,680
Speaker 1: tag or have to crack down and rebound, you have

540
00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,360
Speaker 1: to drop to the corner. That is the next rotation,

541
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,440
Speaker 1: and Darius just one paying attention, and so Cole Anthony

542
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:25,640
Speaker 1: just walked in for an easy offensive rebound put back late.

543
00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:28,560
Speaker 1: Everyone's gonna focus on those two plays, but he had

544
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,440
Speaker 1: two other turnovers in the fourth quarter, over penetrating. He'd

545
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,480
Speaker 1: got Paalo on switches and was just trying to beat

546
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 1: him off the dribble, but like Pallo once again, like

547
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:40,960
Speaker 1: trying to protect the rim and take away the three

548
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,159
Speaker 1: point shot, right, So as soon as Darius started driving,

549
00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,879
Speaker 1: he was taking really aggressive backward steps, and so what

550
00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:50,640
Speaker 1: was open for Garland was a short step back jump

551
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 1: or something in the mid range, but instead he over

552
00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:56,320
Speaker 1: penetrated him both times, got himself caught into trouble where

553
00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:59,040
Speaker 1: he was buried underneath the basket with nowhere to go,

554
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 1: and had to try to worst kickout passes when nobody's

555
00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:04,920
Speaker 1: open because they're staying glued up off the ball, and

556
00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,639
Speaker 1: he like it was just a really really rough stretch

557
00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:10,479
Speaker 1: for Darius Garland, and once again, like I feel bad

558
00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:12,200
Speaker 1: for Donovan because he was hooping his ass off and

559
00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,080
Speaker 1: his co star was just kind of making mistake after

560
00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,600
Speaker 1: a mistake. Darius was good for the first three quarters,

561
00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:18,359
Speaker 1: I want to be clear, but yeah, that was a

562
00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,280
Speaker 1: rough fourth quarter from him. Really. The difference in the game, though,

563
00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:24,960
Speaker 1: was offensive rebounding fifteen to two was the second chance

564
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:27,880
Speaker 1: points advantage for Orlando. And the reality is is without

565
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,919
Speaker 1: Jared Allen, Cleveland is just completely overmatched on the glass,

566
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,119
Speaker 1: like we talked about earlier, like so many of these possessions,

567
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 1: it's like mobilely under the rim with like Darius Garland

568
00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:42,600
Speaker 1: and Max Struce and like your biggest guy there is

569
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:46,800
Speaker 1: Mobiley who's a relatively thin and undersized big right, and

570
00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:50,640
Speaker 1: he's trying to get rebounding position or fight for contested

571
00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 1: rebounds with Wendell Carter Junior and Jonathan Isaac and Paala

572
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,600
Speaker 1: Bonco and Franz Wagner, right, So like it's just an

573
00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,639
Speaker 1: impossible job and so kind of looking forward to Game seven,

574
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:04,080
Speaker 1: that problem isn't going away unless Jared Allen is feeling better.

575
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:07,200
Speaker 1: And apparently he's in pain basically when he does anything

576
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 1: with his rib injury, So I don't know, maybe he'll

577
00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:11,000
Speaker 1: put on some type of flat jacket and try to

578
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:14,359
Speaker 1: give it a go. But like, but if Jared Allen

579
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,040
Speaker 1: can't go in Game seven, that problem isn't going away.

580
00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:19,440
Speaker 1: So the Calves are gonna need to ride the home

581
00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:21,680
Speaker 1: crowd hold up better on the glass again, like I

582
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,200
Speaker 1: talked about earlier, rebounding as a team, doing your job,

583
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,920
Speaker 1: and then they're gonna need offensive support for Mitchell, which

584
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,640
Speaker 1: is usually better at home. Anyway, on the Orlando front,

585
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:32,240
Speaker 1: I thought they could just do a better job of

586
00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:34,760
Speaker 1: shrinking the floor on Mitchell when he does get past

587
00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:37,119
Speaker 1: his man, especially on Mitchell in particular, because I think

588
00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:40,080
Speaker 1: he's the one guy who's like really capable of shooting

589
00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:41,560
Speaker 1: you out of the gym, and so they just need

590
00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:43,760
Speaker 1: to do a better job on him in Game seven.

591
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:47,080
Speaker 1: I know I said after Game two or Game three,

592
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:48,920
Speaker 1: I should say I said that the home team would

593
00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,640
Speaker 1: win every game in the series, and I'm gonna stick

594
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,760
Speaker 1: with that for now, and or I should say for

595
00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:58,200
Speaker 1: good and I'm gonna pick the Calves to win Game seven.

596
00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:00,200
Speaker 1: But I'm gonna be honest with you guys. You it

597
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:02,160
Speaker 1: as more or less as of a coin flip. I

598
00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:05,320
Speaker 1: think it could go either way. So yeah, we'll see

599
00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 1: what We'll see what happens Games seven. I think Jared Allen,

600
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:08,320
Speaker 1: whether or not he plays, is going to be the

601
00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:10,560
Speaker 1: biggest swing factor. But I really could see that game

602
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:15,520
Speaker 1: going either way. All right, Well, let's do about fifteen

603
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:18,480
Speaker 1: minutes of mail back questions here for Okay see vers

604
00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:23,000
Speaker 1: Dallas in the playoffs. How do you weigh talent verse experience?

605
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,840
Speaker 1: So obviously you can't lean entirely on experience, right, And

606
00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:29,360
Speaker 1: we've seen hell, Oklahoma City fans have seen this, right,

607
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,960
Speaker 1: Like the early thunder teams that had Kevin Durant and

608
00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:37,640
Speaker 1: James Harden in Russell Westbrook, they were going up against experienced,

609
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:41,920
Speaker 1: veteran teams and beating them, right Like, So I don't

610
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,680
Speaker 1: want to say that that's completely out of the equation.

611
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:47,080
Speaker 1: Something to keep in mind, though, when we look back

612
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:51,240
Speaker 1: through NBA history, like Kevin Durant, top twelve thirteen player

613
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:55,640
Speaker 1: in NBA history, right, like James Harden. I don't know

614
00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:57,600
Speaker 1: where I'd put James Harden all time, but we know

615
00:29:57,680 --> 00:29:59,960
Speaker 1: what he turned into, right, he turned into a franchise

616
00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:04,120
Speaker 1: cornerstone for a decade. Right. Russell Westbrook obviously played under

617
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:06,400
Speaker 1: KD for the majority of that time, but while he

618
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:08,680
Speaker 1: was healthy, was one of the best, you know, kind

619
00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:11,000
Speaker 1: of like engines in the league on both ends of

620
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:14,160
Speaker 1: the floor. Right, So like especially truly special team that

621
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:17,600
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City team was. But I do think that Okayc's

622
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:20,719
Speaker 1: talent has to be factored in here. So Dallas' experience, right,

623
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:26,360
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving NBA finals experience in three different four different

624
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:28,760
Speaker 1: seasons if you count the brief minute a brief game

625
00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,160
Speaker 1: that he played wait, three times. Yeah, he played in

626
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,560
Speaker 1: the NBA finals three times in twenty fifteen, twosy sixteen,

627
00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen. So he's been a lot of deep

628
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:39,000
Speaker 1: playoff runs. Luca's been to the conference finals before. Those

629
00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 1: guys have lost and lost in embarrassing fashion, have lost

630
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 1: in frustrating fashion, have lost in close fashion. So they

631
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:47,760
Speaker 1: have a lot of that scar tissue that I talk about, right,

632
00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:50,480
Speaker 1: which I think is so important for winning in the playoffs.

633
00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:53,000
Speaker 1: But at the end of the day, like, Okay, so

634
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,440
Speaker 1: he's just really damn good and so that's not going

635
00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:57,880
Speaker 1: to carry you home, but it could be a differentiator

636
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:03,960
Speaker 1: when other things are when other things are equal, Let's see,

637
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:07,520
Speaker 1: why does Luca not seem as dominant as he normally is.

638
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:09,080
Speaker 1: Talked about this earlier in the show. But I think

639
00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:11,800
Speaker 1: it's a combination of three factors. Obviously, his knees bothering

640
00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,080
Speaker 1: him a little bit. Give the Clippers some credit. They

641
00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:16,840
Speaker 1: put their best athletes on him, Terrence Man and Russell

642
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:19,080
Speaker 1: Westbrook's pressure in the hell out of him all game long.

643
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,200
Speaker 1: And then three, I didn't like his shot selection. I

644
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:23,440
Speaker 1: thought he took a lot of really really difficult shots.

645
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:25,680
Speaker 1: He was actually really efficient when he got closer to

646
00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,120
Speaker 1: the basket, and when he was more deliberate he looked

647
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,920
Speaker 1: really good. And for the record, he was deliberate when

648
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,600
Speaker 1: it mattered, and I never thought his sloppy play like

649
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,520
Speaker 1: really cost the team, so to speak. But like I

650
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 1: think it's a combination of all of those factors. Compare

651
00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:45,280
Speaker 1: all the number ones the Kyrie has ever played with, Bron,

652
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:47,640
Speaker 1: Luca and Katie. How do you compare Kyrie playing with

653
00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:49,800
Speaker 1: Lebron vrus Luca? Is there a difference? So I was

654
00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:51,840
Speaker 1: actually thinking about this when I was working through the

655
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,280
Speaker 1: Kyrie story. But Katie's actually an interesting example of a

656
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,720
Speaker 1: number one that Kyrie played with that didn't work out,

657
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,480
Speaker 1: And Katie's not the same type of Swiss Army knife

658
00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,720
Speaker 1: offensively that Lebron and Luca are, and so I wonder

659
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:07,280
Speaker 1: if that's kind of the mix. Is Like I used

660
00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:10,600
Speaker 1: to think about this and talk about it when when

661
00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:13,240
Speaker 1: I was really active on Twitter before I worked in

662
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,440
Speaker 1: sports media. That was kind of how I got into

663
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,160
Speaker 1: sports media. I won't get into that story right now,

664
00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:22,440
Speaker 1: but like, basically, my wife and friends are not big

665
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:24,760
Speaker 1: basketball fans, right so, like I would go to Twitter

666
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:28,360
Speaker 1: to talk about basketball, and I remembers as a person

667
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:31,640
Speaker 1: rooting for Lebron during those years in Cleveland, like it

668
00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:33,360
Speaker 1: kind of felt like a two thirds one third thing.

669
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 1: And what I mean by that is like Lebron was

670
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,320
Speaker 1: just kind of like responsible for the offense two thirds

671
00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:41,720
Speaker 1: of the time, and that meant all types of versatile

672
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,600
Speaker 1: shot creation, high pick and roll, iso post up transition,

673
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:47,400
Speaker 1: you know, obviously looking to score himself, looking to create

674
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,760
Speaker 1: for others, blah blah blah blah. And I remember there's

675
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:51,840
Speaker 1: a lot of criticism around Kyrie at the time where

676
00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:53,800
Speaker 1: he'd have these possessions where he'd dribble up the floor

677
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,160
Speaker 1: and dribble, you know, seventeen times and never make a

678
00:32:57,240 --> 00:32:58,880
Speaker 1: pass and then take a shot and people would be

679
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:02,520
Speaker 1: critical of Kyrie, but it really dawned on me in

680
00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:05,400
Speaker 1: that twenty sixteen series in particular what they were doing

681
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,000
Speaker 1: and what that was is on those possessions Lebron would

682
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:12,760
Speaker 1: rest while playing Lebron basically every year after twenty twelve,

683
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:15,960
Speaker 1: with exception of last year in twenty fifteen, was a

684
00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:19,640
Speaker 1: reliable catch and shoot shooter. So Lebron would just park

685
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:21,640
Speaker 1: his ass, you know, twenty five feet from the basket

686
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:23,880
Speaker 1: on the wing, and he'd still be a threat because

687
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:28,640
Speaker 1: he could shoot. But Hyrie would essentially run his own

688
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:30,880
Speaker 1: action to try to hunt his own shot, and it

689
00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:34,520
Speaker 1: effectively worked out for like a kind of efficient secondary

690
00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:38,960
Speaker 1: shot creation while also buying Lebron opportunity to rest. Lebron

691
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,640
Speaker 1: and Luca are very similar in that regard in the

692
00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,840
Speaker 1: sense that they're like total offensive engines. Honestly, I don't

693
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:47,000
Speaker 1: really see much difference in the fit as it pertains

694
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:49,720
Speaker 1: to the offensive end. Obviously, they're just different as players

695
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:52,120
Speaker 1: in terms of Lebron as an athlete in all the

696
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:58,440
Speaker 1: other ways he can impact winning. Let's see who guards

697
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:00,480
Speaker 1: Shay for Dallas. So I think they'll probably start the

698
00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:02,920
Speaker 1: series with Derek Jones Junior because they're gonna look at

699
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:06,800
Speaker 1: that as like kind of lanky versus lanky, and then

700
00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:09,279
Speaker 1: Jalen Williams more of a power player, so the look

701
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:11,720
Speaker 1: at that as like power verse power with PJ. Washington.

702
00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,440
Speaker 1: But I think Derek Jones is quicker, and I think

703
00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:18,200
Speaker 1: that Jalen Williams is quicker. So I wonder if, over

704
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:20,160
Speaker 1: the course of the series, if they won't try switching

705
00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:24,240
Speaker 1: that and putting PJ on Shae so he can absorb

706
00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:27,000
Speaker 1: that off arm push off that Shay does and offer

707
00:34:27,080 --> 00:34:29,520
Speaker 1: really good contests on his pull up jump shots. And

708
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:32,280
Speaker 1: if Derek Jones Jr. More focused on beating Jalen Williams

709
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:35,200
Speaker 1: to spots because he's got better athletic tools. But we'll see.

710
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:36,960
Speaker 1: I think they'll start with Derek Jones Jr. But we'll

711
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:46,040
Speaker 1: see what happens over the course of the series. All Right,

712
00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:48,600
Speaker 1: Let's see who are the current players that you think

713
00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:50,759
Speaker 1: can be the number one on a championship team. So

714
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:54,040
Speaker 1: this is all relative because it's all about how much

715
00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:56,759
Speaker 1: talent you have. Like, for instance, Jason Tatum is a

716
00:34:56,760 --> 00:34:59,759
Speaker 1: guy I would typically not put on this list, But

717
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 1: the Celtics have the most talented roster in basketball, and

718
00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:05,800
Speaker 1: so of course he can win a championship. So like

719
00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:08,840
Speaker 1: the reality is, is this question in and of itself

720
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,359
Speaker 1: is flawed. I appreciate the question because it's a question

721
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,959
Speaker 1: all basketball fans like to talk about, but it's flawed

722
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,320
Speaker 1: in the sense of, like basketball is a team sport

723
00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:19,719
Speaker 1: under any circumstances, Like in theory, you could have the

724
00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:24,480
Speaker 1: fifteenth best player in the league and still win a title.

725
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:26,520
Speaker 1: And I don't think Dam's fifteenth. I think he's higher.

726
00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:28,440
Speaker 1: He's in that you know, seven to ten range. But

727
00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:31,800
Speaker 1: like even though, like even if you had like the

728
00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:34,680
Speaker 1: fifteenth best player in the league, when you have you know,

729
00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:38,640
Speaker 1: six above average starters, that's just a lot of that's

730
00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:40,440
Speaker 1: a lot of talent, you know what I mean? And

731
00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:43,440
Speaker 1: I do think that that it can get into a

732
00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 1: little bit of a gray area. But if I had

733
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,279
Speaker 1: to run it down to like players who could be

734
00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:51,560
Speaker 1: number one one on a championship team without an overwhelming

735
00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:55,799
Speaker 1: talent advantage. We pull up my leading scorers this year

736
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:56,919
Speaker 1: so I can get a little list, so I don't

737
00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:02,520
Speaker 1: forget anybody. Joel Embiid, Yes, Luka Danci, Yes, Joannison, Tennan Kompo, Yes,

738
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:07,080
Speaker 1: Shay it's too early to tell. We'll see h Jalen Brunson.

739
00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:10,759
Speaker 1: I don't think so. But we'll see Kevin Duran at

740
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:12,879
Speaker 1: this phase of his career. No, Devin Booker, I don't

741
00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:16,879
Speaker 1: think so. Jason Tatum with an overwhelming talent advantage, yes,

742
00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:22,160
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell, No, Darren Fox. Know. Steph Curry maybe last year.

743
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:23,719
Speaker 1: I don't know if he could do it anymore. We'll

744
00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:27,640
Speaker 1: see Nikola Jokic, yes, Tyree Spaxy know, Anthony Edwards, yes,

745
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:31,360
Speaker 1: Trey Young know, Lebron James at this phase of his career. No,

746
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:37,200
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving, No John Morant. We'll see with John Morant

747
00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:40,120
Speaker 1: in the long run. Anthony Davis, I don't know. He

748
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:42,880
Speaker 1: showed a lot this year. The tough thing with him

749
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,520
Speaker 1: is I don't think he's good enough offensively and we're

750
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:47,800
Speaker 1: kind of past the top there. So that's that's not

751
00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,440
Speaker 1: very many, I mean how much. I don't know if

752
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:52,600
Speaker 1: anybody was counting during that, but that's maybe like a

753
00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:56,040
Speaker 1: half dozen guys. But like it's it's it's a rare

754
00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:58,120
Speaker 1: it's a rare group. It's a it's a small class

755
00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:01,200
Speaker 1: of players that can actually lead a team that doesn't

756
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:04,279
Speaker 1: have an overwhelming talent advantage. In my opinion, how big

757
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,600
Speaker 1: is coaching in these games. I have no faith in kid,

758
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:08,520
Speaker 1: and I don't expect to see him coaching in Dallas

759
00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:12,080
Speaker 1: much longer. So this has actually been a huge storyline

760
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:14,040
Speaker 1: surrounding the last few weeks, especially as it pertains to

761
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:18,120
Speaker 1: Darvin Ham. And I actually so, I think sometimes you

762
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:21,840
Speaker 1: fire a coach because you're looking for an additional advantage,

763
00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:25,440
Speaker 1: but he's not like the reason why your team is underachieving,

764
00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:27,880
Speaker 1: and I think that was the main difference between Vogel

765
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:32,080
Speaker 1: and Darvin Ham. I think the Lakers fired Frank Vogel

766
00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,600
Speaker 1: because they wanted to just see if they could find

767
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:37,719
Speaker 1: something better. I don't think it was like a matter

768
00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:40,680
Speaker 1: of urgency or crisis. A major point in the Vogal

769
00:37:40,719 --> 00:37:43,160
Speaker 1: firing too, that gets lost in the shuffle is Vogel

770
00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:45,799
Speaker 1: and Russ had a falling out, and the Lakers were

771
00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:48,200
Speaker 1: hell bent on keeping Russ for some stupid fucking reason.

772
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:50,560
Speaker 1: So that's a big part of why Darvin Ham got

773
00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:54,400
Speaker 1: the job was he kind of pitched his utilization of

774
00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:57,000
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook right. Darvin Ham had to be fired because

775
00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:59,759
Speaker 1: he was like he was just legitimately a bad NBA

776
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:03,040
Speaker 1: coach coach, and I went into excruciating detail, did thirty

777
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:04,640
Speaker 1: minutes on it today, so you can find that on

778
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:08,399
Speaker 1: our UH on our YouTube feed. But I put Kid

779
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,600
Speaker 1: more in the in the Frank Vogel class than the

780
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:16,719
Speaker 1: UH than the Darvin Ham class. Meaning of course you

781
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:19,400
Speaker 1: can probably find a better coach than Kid, and of

782
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:22,439
Speaker 1: course he's gonna have moments where you're frustrated as a fan,

783
00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:25,759
Speaker 1: But I do think he has a baseline level of

784
00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:28,560
Speaker 1: game management and at least is going to put the

785
00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:31,440
Speaker 1: outcome in the hands of the players. This is generally

786
00:38:31,560 --> 00:38:35,120
Speaker 1: one of my big kind of beliefs in basketball. I

787
00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:39,120
Speaker 1: do think that the truly elite coaches can dramatically increase

788
00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:41,520
Speaker 1: your odds. We've seen that with guys like Eric Spolster

789
00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:45,080
Speaker 1: and Steve Kerr. Right, Steve Kerr like completely transformed the

790
00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:48,239
Speaker 1: Warriors from a mediocre playoff team into a championship team

791
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:51,440
Speaker 1: in one season. So like we and we've we've any

792
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:52,920
Speaker 1: of you guys have read about that. No, it was

793
00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:56,400
Speaker 1: like like Mark Jackson just had st Steph Curry running

794
00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:59,040
Speaker 1: spread pick and roll all the time, and Steve Kerk

795
00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:00,160
Speaker 1: came in and was like, no, we're going to run

796
00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:02,080
Speaker 1: five out motion. We're gonna lead the league in passes.

797
00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:04,319
Speaker 1: They led the league in passes. Their offense took off

798
00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:07,359
Speaker 1: steph one MVP, averaging like twenty three points a game.

799
00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:10,200
Speaker 1: Like the rest is history, right, But outside of that

800
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:13,520
Speaker 1: top tier, there's only a handful of them. All that

801
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,759
Speaker 1: middle tier, of the guys that are not terrible, I

802
00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:19,960
Speaker 1: don't think they're gonna help or hurt your championship chances

803
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:21,560
Speaker 1: that much. And the reason why I feel that way

804
00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:23,960
Speaker 1: is like, you see this like you have a game plan,

805
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:26,439
Speaker 1: but how often do you get a transition cross match?

806
00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:29,239
Speaker 1: How often do you have, you know, an action that

807
00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:30,840
Speaker 1: gets a switch before you run an action All of

808
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:32,959
Speaker 1: a sudden, your base scheme is kind of out of whack.

809
00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:36,040
Speaker 1: Like so much of basketball is read and react, especially

810
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:39,160
Speaker 1: in the modern NBA, and so really, so much of

811
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:41,000
Speaker 1: this is on the players. I'm both ends of the floor,

812
00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:43,560
Speaker 1: you know, Like a lot of times, like you are

813
00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:47,600
Speaker 1: in the moment as the ball handlers coming downhill at

814
00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:49,880
Speaker 1: you in a ball screen, You're making a decision on

815
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:51,560
Speaker 1: the fly, Am I coming up high? Or am I

816
00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:53,120
Speaker 1: staying back on the roll man? Or like you know,

817
00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:57,080
Speaker 1: that sort of thing, and you know, every guy that's

818
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:00,880
Speaker 1: guarding a perimeter player. Should I do down hard here?

819
00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:04,359
Speaker 1: Should I stunt? Should I hard double? Should I stay

820
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:06,960
Speaker 1: home on the shooter? Like there's and obviously there is

821
00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:10,040
Speaker 1: a game plan there, but because of those cross matches,

822
00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:12,600
Speaker 1: so much of it is read and react. Okay, now

823
00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:14,560
Speaker 1: you got the defense in rotation at that point, you're

824
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:17,360
Speaker 1: not running a set. It's driving kick basketball. That's not

825
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:20,360
Speaker 1: something that the coaches help you with. That's like the

826
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:22,359
Speaker 1: basketball players on the floor, how good are they at

827
00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:25,040
Speaker 1: reading and reacting? Same thing goes on the defensive side

828
00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:27,640
Speaker 1: of that. How good are you at closing out? How

829
00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:30,520
Speaker 1: good are you at like closing out on the right shooter, Like, okay,

830
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:33,120
Speaker 1: they're driving and kicking, and there's a kickout past to Russ, Okay,

831
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,920
Speaker 1: let me not close out on that one. Or like

832
00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:39,560
Speaker 1: I'm you know, I see a bang bang play happening

833
00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:41,520
Speaker 1: with two shooters on the wing, and one shooter is

834
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:43,800
Speaker 1: a much better shooter than the other, Like maybe I

835
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:46,560
Speaker 1: should actually close out to the better shooter even if

836
00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:49,040
Speaker 1: the worst shooters catching the ball. Maybe bait on his

837
00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:51,960
Speaker 1: indecisiveness a little bit, Like there's there's so much read

838
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:55,040
Speaker 1: and react in basketball, and so that kind of mitigates

839
00:40:55,040 --> 00:40:57,160
Speaker 1: a lot of the coaching element of it. Right, Like

840
00:40:57,480 --> 00:40:59,960
Speaker 1: Darvin Ham, I think is legitimately a bad NBA code,

841
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:02,560
Speaker 1: And the Lakers went to the Western Conference Finals last

842
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:06,000
Speaker 1: year and legitimately gave Denver some issues this year, but

843
00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:08,320
Speaker 1: it was because of the players. So like for me,

844
00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:10,279
Speaker 1: it's about like making sure that you don't have a

845
00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:13,440
Speaker 1: truly damaging coach. And as bad as Jason Kidd can

846
00:41:13,520 --> 00:41:18,239
Speaker 1: be sometimes I don't necessarily view him as a as

847
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:21,040
Speaker 1: any sort of like truly damaging coach. And so if

848
00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:22,520
Speaker 1: you're in that middle tier and you got one of

849
00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:24,840
Speaker 1: those guys, So for instance, the Sons with Frank Vogel,

850
00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:27,640
Speaker 1: Like if they fire Frank Vogel and they hire a

851
00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:30,279
Speaker 1: Mike Budenholzer or Kenny Atkinson, they're just gonna be in

852
00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:32,440
Speaker 1: the exact same boat that they were last year. Right,

853
00:41:32,719 --> 00:41:35,040
Speaker 1: But if the Lakers fired Darvin Ham in bringing a

854
00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:38,200
Speaker 1: Kenny Atkinson or a Mike Budenholzer, all of a sudden,

855
00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:40,759
Speaker 1: they're gonna have a baseline level of competence which will

856
00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:43,040
Speaker 1: help them avoid some of the major issues. Darvin Ham

857
00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:48,360
Speaker 1: put you in like four guard lineups, you know, cam Like,

858
00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:50,240
Speaker 1: this is the this is the crazy stat I always

859
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:53,080
Speaker 1: tell with Darvin ham during the three to ten stretch

860
00:41:53,680 --> 00:41:58,080
Speaker 1: host in season tournament, Wind'angelo Russell was playing as many

861
00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:02,359
Speaker 1: minutes as Camra and getting as many shot attempts as

862
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:07,160
Speaker 1: Torreum prints. That's below the baseline level of competence for

863
00:42:07,239 --> 00:42:09,800
Speaker 1: a head coach, right, So like there is like a

864
00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:12,080
Speaker 1: truly damaging level. I don't think Jason Kidd is there.

865
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:16,160
Speaker 1: What is the difference between number one options and number

866
00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:18,800
Speaker 1: two options? So a real number one option on a

867
00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:23,280
Speaker 1: championship team is a guy that can consistently generate quality

868
00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:27,040
Speaker 1: shots against an elite locked in defense in an urgent

869
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:31,040
Speaker 1: and physical and intense environment. There's a very short list

870
00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:33,799
Speaker 1: of those guys, like we talked about, right, a secondary

871
00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:36,600
Speaker 1: option or a secondary shot creator. He's a guy that

872
00:42:36,719 --> 00:42:39,480
Speaker 1: can create shots when the factors are kind of in

873
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:42,400
Speaker 1: his favor. So a quality matchup. Maybe he has a

874
00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,400
Speaker 1: perimeter defender that he happens to be comfortable against. You know,

875
00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:48,799
Speaker 1: maybe it's a defensive scheme. So for instance, like if

876
00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:51,719
Speaker 1: James Harden, let's say the same Clipper series happens, but

877
00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:55,680
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard's healthy, and so PJ. Washington has to guard

878
00:42:56,480 --> 00:43:00,440
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard and Derek Jones Junior has to guard George

879
00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:03,640
Speaker 1: the entire series and the entire series, James Harden is

880
00:43:03,640 --> 00:43:07,560
Speaker 1: getting more favorable matchups and he's consistently seeing Kyrie. Not

881
00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:09,080
Speaker 1: that Kyrie didn't do a goo job. Kyrie did a

882
00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:11,800
Speaker 1: good job on James Harden. But maybe if James Harden

883
00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:15,440
Speaker 1: never had to see an elite perimeter defender in the series. Oh,

884
00:43:15,640 --> 00:43:19,440
Speaker 1: and they're running a deep drop coverage and they're you know,

885
00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:21,920
Speaker 1: digging down off of shooters and tagging the roller every

886
00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:24,120
Speaker 1: single time, then yeah, James Harden's just gonna be able

887
00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:26,640
Speaker 1: to get downhill and make the plays, the reids, the

888
00:43:26,719 --> 00:43:29,879
Speaker 1: kickout passes, and he'll be able to generate offense. But then,

889
00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:33,160
Speaker 1: like when that intensity ratchets up, when he does see

890
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:35,239
Speaker 1: a really good perimeter defender, all of a sudden, his

891
00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:37,520
Speaker 1: ability to create shots just falls off of a cliff.

892
00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:41,480
Speaker 1: That's a secondary shot creator. You've got a number one

893
00:43:41,960 --> 00:43:44,360
Speaker 1: has to have a certain amount of resilience when it

894
00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:52,960
Speaker 1: comes to the higher levels of basketball. Let's see, do

895
00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:54,799
Speaker 1: you think Kyrie will be like Lebron and Steph who

896
00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:56,680
Speaker 1: can age one play at such a high level despite

897
00:43:56,719 --> 00:43:59,760
Speaker 1: getting older. So similar to what happened to Paul George,

898
00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:02,440
Speaker 1: because Paul George has got a great handle and pull

899
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:04,440
Speaker 1: up jumper. Two. I mean Kyrie's is better, but you

900
00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:07,080
Speaker 1: get the point. There will come a point where Kyrie

901
00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:09,560
Speaker 1: can't beat people off the dribble as well as he

902
00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:11,719
Speaker 1: used to, and he will kind of dip into that

903
00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:15,000
Speaker 1: level where he doesn't have that kind of resilience. But

904
00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:20,600
Speaker 1: I don't think he's there yet. Let's see, here's a

905
00:44:20,680 --> 00:44:23,279
Speaker 1: last one for tonight. Do you think Anthony Edwards is

906
00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:26,600
Speaker 1: similar to two thousand and six Dwayne Wade. That's really

907
00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:32,160
Speaker 1: interesting now, Dwayne Wade. You know, Anthony Edwards is shooting

908
00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:35,399
Speaker 1: really well on pull up jump shots, and Wade had

909
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:37,839
Speaker 1: some of that in his game, but he was more

910
00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:41,200
Speaker 1: of just like a downhill a downhill force. I also

911
00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:44,760
Speaker 1: think Wade. This is the most underrated thing about Dwayne Wade.

912
00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:49,120
Speaker 1: Wade could change directions at full speed different in a

913
00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:52,120
Speaker 1: different way than any human I've ever watched, And there's

914
00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:55,200
Speaker 1: no way I could really describe it to you. If

915
00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:57,440
Speaker 1: you're a young basketball fan and you haven't really been

916
00:44:57,480 --> 00:45:01,080
Speaker 1: familiarized with Dwayne Wade. Don't watch this stuff with Lebron

917
00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:03,440
Speaker 1: in Miami because his knees had kind of failed him

918
00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:06,160
Speaker 1: at that point. Go back and watch highlights from like

919
00:45:06,520 --> 00:45:11,239
Speaker 1: eighth nine, and you're gonna see Dwayne Wade like be

920
00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:14,680
Speaker 1: able to slice and dice defenses unlike anything you've ever seen.

921
00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:16,840
Speaker 1: The big one that Dwayne Wade was good at. There

922
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:19,480
Speaker 1: were two specific things that Dwayn Wade would do that

923
00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:24,520
Speaker 1: were amazing. To beat people off the dribble, he was

924
00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:26,320
Speaker 1: the best guy in the league at splitting a ball screen.

925
00:45:27,239 --> 00:45:30,680
Speaker 1: So splitting a ball screen, what that means is if

926
00:45:30,760 --> 00:45:34,040
Speaker 1: I come off of the ball screen, the defender is

927
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:37,720
Speaker 1: behind me right, but immediately waiting there is the screen

928
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:39,799
Speaker 1: defender right, and he's at he's going to be at

929
00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:41,520
Speaker 1: a certain level right, So he's either gonna be at

930
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:43,920
Speaker 1: the level of the screen, way back at the basket,

931
00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:46,680
Speaker 1: or somewhere in between. But what a lot of teams

932
00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:47,960
Speaker 1: would do, because back in the day, I don't know

933
00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:51,440
Speaker 1: if you guys knew this, I remember this, but the

934
00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:53,960
Speaker 1: most one of the most common pick and roll coverages

935
00:45:54,040 --> 00:45:56,160
Speaker 1: during the late two thousands early twenty tens was a

936
00:45:56,239 --> 00:46:01,160
Speaker 1: hedge you don't really see this much anymore. All high

937
00:46:01,239 --> 00:46:04,880
Speaker 1: drop low drop switch blitz those are like really the

938
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:08,480
Speaker 1: only coverages you'll see. Hedging is almost exclusively for guard

939
00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:11,800
Speaker 1: guard actions now, and it's designed to protect like a

940
00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:14,120
Speaker 1: Steph Curry or Jamal Murray, like a skill guard that

941
00:46:14,719 --> 00:46:17,480
Speaker 1: is that you want to avoid getting onto bad mismatches. Right,

942
00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:19,759
Speaker 1: But back in the day, it used to be the

943
00:46:19,800 --> 00:46:22,120
Speaker 1: big guys that would hedge. So like when teams would

944
00:46:22,160 --> 00:46:25,480
Speaker 1: run a ball screen, you'd see a big center like

945
00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:29,040
Speaker 1: a pow Gasol or a Zadrounis Olgalaskis or somebody like that.

946
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:33,520
Speaker 1: You'd see them actually like take a hard defensive slide

947
00:46:33,640 --> 00:46:38,120
Speaker 1: perpendicular to the driving lane. So like imagine, imagine you're

948
00:46:38,200 --> 00:46:42,120
Speaker 1: the ball handler and the basket's there, okay, Like you're

949
00:46:42,160 --> 00:46:45,440
Speaker 1: trying to drive that way. I would actually slide out

950
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:48,520
Speaker 1: and cut you off this way, and I'd force you

951
00:46:48,640 --> 00:46:50,960
Speaker 1: to pick up your dribble or take a retreat dribble

952
00:46:51,520 --> 00:46:54,719
Speaker 1: that would allow my on ball defender to go underneath

953
00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:57,760
Speaker 1: the screen and meet you, and then I would sprint

954
00:46:57,840 --> 00:46:59,839
Speaker 1: back to the role man. That was like the cover

955
00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:01,680
Speaker 1: that you'd see a lot of the time. And so

956
00:47:01,800 --> 00:47:03,759
Speaker 1: what Wade would do is he'd be able to beat

957
00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:07,200
Speaker 1: the hedge with this like ridiculous change of directions. So

958
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:09,000
Speaker 1: like he'd come off the ball screen and then he

959
00:47:09,040 --> 00:47:11,759
Speaker 1: would just like quick change direction and split, meaning like

960
00:47:12,400 --> 00:47:15,000
Speaker 1: as I'm here, he would just beat me this way, which,

961
00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:16,320
Speaker 1: by the way, is like the one thing you're not

962
00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:18,319
Speaker 1: supposed to allow as a hedge. The one thing you're

963
00:47:18,320 --> 00:47:20,680
Speaker 1: supposed to do in a hedge is prevent the ball

964
00:47:20,719 --> 00:47:22,960
Speaker 1: handler from turning the corner. You're supposed to make him

965
00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:25,759
Speaker 1: go that way around you, the long way, because if

966
00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:28,319
Speaker 1: he takes a negative step, meaning if he goes away

967
00:47:28,360 --> 00:47:31,600
Speaker 1: from the basket up towards half court, that buys time

968
00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:34,719
Speaker 1: for the on ball defender to recover. Right. But Wade

969
00:47:34,760 --> 00:47:37,279
Speaker 1: would split it, so he would be so fast in

970
00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:40,440
Speaker 1: his ability to change direction at full speed was so

971
00:47:40,600 --> 00:47:43,520
Speaker 1: ridiculous that these bigs would have no idea how to

972
00:47:43,640 --> 00:47:46,239
Speaker 1: contain Wade on hedges, And so he'd split it and

973
00:47:46,280 --> 00:47:48,880
Speaker 1: then he'd just come flying downhill and dunk on everybody.

974
00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:51,600
Speaker 1: Then the second thing he would do, and Kevin Durant

975
00:47:51,600 --> 00:47:53,800
Speaker 1: actually does this now more in terms of getting separation,

976
00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:56,480
Speaker 1: but Wade would do it to get downhill Wade would

977
00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:58,839
Speaker 1: start in the corner and he'd come off and catch

978
00:47:58,880 --> 00:48:01,080
Speaker 1: on a dribble handoff, but instead of coming off the

979
00:48:01,120 --> 00:48:03,400
Speaker 1: dribble handoff and using it, he would just catch a

980
00:48:03,520 --> 00:48:06,920
Speaker 1: quick rip back towards the baseline. But he was so

981
00:48:07,239 --> 00:48:09,960
Speaker 1: damn fast with that change of direction, he would routinely

982
00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:13,879
Speaker 1: dust everybody off the dribble and then he would get

983
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:16,320
Speaker 1: down the lane and wreck havoc. If you guys remember

984
00:48:16,360 --> 00:48:19,800
Speaker 1: the big dunkey hat on Kendrick Perkins, and this was

985
00:48:19,840 --> 00:48:22,360
Speaker 1: when Perkins was in Okay, Okay, see if I remember correctly,

986
00:48:22,640 --> 00:48:24,920
Speaker 1: it was on one of those baseline rips. He came

987
00:48:25,000 --> 00:48:28,200
Speaker 1: off of a dho ripped back to the baseline, pounded

988
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:31,680
Speaker 1: into his spin dribble, and dunked all over Kendrick Perkins's head.

989
00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:34,839
Speaker 1: But like Wade and Ant are different in the sense

990
00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:38,520
Speaker 1: that like Ant's a little bit bigger and stronger. Ant

991
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:41,880
Speaker 1: has a lot of that downhill force and is a

992
00:48:42,040 --> 00:48:46,400
Speaker 1: better pull up jump shooter, but Wade had better change

993
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:48,800
Speaker 1: of direction. And the other thing with Wade is Wade

994
00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:51,759
Speaker 1: was a high level playmaker. And we'll see maybe over

995
00:48:51,800 --> 00:48:54,160
Speaker 1: the years off Ant becomes that, But like that was

996
00:48:54,239 --> 00:48:57,280
Speaker 1: a big way that Wade remained effective after his knees

997
00:48:57,320 --> 00:48:59,480
Speaker 1: started to fail him and he no longer could beat

998
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:01,320
Speaker 1: people off the dribble the way he used to. He

999
00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:06,040
Speaker 1: was a really high level playmaker, and he was always

1000
00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:08,719
Speaker 1: a very very good defensive player, and so he would

1001
00:49:08,719 --> 00:49:11,000
Speaker 1: have you know, eighteen to twenty points in a playoff

1002
00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:13,000
Speaker 1: game would be but would be a huge plus on

1003
00:49:13,080 --> 00:49:15,759
Speaker 1: both ends of the floor because of those things. All right, guys,

1004
00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:17,520
Speaker 1: that is all I have for tonight. I appreciate the

1005
00:49:17,600 --> 00:49:20,640
Speaker 1: questions and I appreciate you guys for supporting the show. Again.

1006
00:49:20,719 --> 00:49:22,480
Speaker 1: Keep an eye on the feeds Tomorrow morning. We'll have

1007
00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:25,960
Speaker 1: a preview on Knicks Pacers. Obviously, we've got I think

1008
00:49:26,000 --> 00:49:29,919
Speaker 1: we have one game tomorrow, right, and that's the game

1009
00:49:29,960 --> 00:49:34,240
Speaker 1: one of Nuggets Timberwolves, I believe, yep at seven o'clock Eastern,

1010
00:49:34,360 --> 00:49:36,960
Speaker 1: So Timberwolves Nuggets Game one tomorrow will be live on

1011
00:49:37,080 --> 00:49:39,920
Speaker 1: YouTube after the final buzzer of that game. As I mentioned,

1012
00:49:40,040 --> 00:49:44,319
Speaker 1: we'll have Knix Pacers out tomorrow, probably thunder MAVs as well,

1013
00:49:44,360 --> 00:49:46,840
Speaker 1: if not by Sunday morning. I appreciate you guys, and

1014
00:49:46,840 --> 00:50:12,280
Speaker 1: I'll see you tomorrow. The volume