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In Tennessee redline dial 26 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: one eight hundred eight eight nine nine seven eight nine 27 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:46,400 Speaker 1: in Tennessee. Visit www one dot one eight hundred gambler 28 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:56,800 Speaker 1: dot net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Lakers Tonight, 29 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: presented by FanDuel. Here at the volume, I Jason timp 30 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 1: having Monday, everybody. I hope your week is off to 31 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: a good start. Another mostly predictable Lakers disaster tonight. We're 32 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: gonna spend a few minutes talking about that game. I 33 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: don't want to spend too much time on it, just 34 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: simply because the Lakers do not deserve to be discussed 35 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:17,880 Speaker 1: at length with the product they're putting on the floor. 36 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: But we are going to touch on that for a 37 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: little bit. I wanted to dive into the Yokichen bead 38 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: battle tonight, which I thought was super interesting on a 39 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:27,079 Speaker 1: bunch of different levels. And then if you guys stick 40 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:29,359 Speaker 1: around for the end. I have some thoughts on the 41 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,839 Speaker 1: Milwaukee Bucks and some really interesting stats from this them 42 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,840 Speaker 1: this year that concerned me about whether or not they 43 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: can repeat as champions. So let's start with the Lakers. 44 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: So again, there's a huge difference between like being big 45 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: and playing big, because we've talked about at length that 46 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: the Lakers don't have size at any of the positions 47 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: that they needed to succeed at the NBA level. It's 48 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 1: hilarious tonight to watch the Raptors bully them physically and 49 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 1: to have their big audible to be Here comes DJ Augustine, 50 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: Here comes Avery Bradley, Here comes Carmelo Anthony. This is 51 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:09,679 Speaker 1: how we're gonna throw the curveball to try to hang 52 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: with your freakishly athletic lineups. But that's the reality of 53 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: their predicament. But it goes deeper than that, because you know, 54 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: the Lakers are obviously not able of They're not capable 55 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: of hanging with the Raptors physically. That goes without saying. However, 56 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: they're capable of hanging with them more than they did 57 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: in the early phases of that game, which brings me 58 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: to an ancient basketball idea that is debated at all levels. 59 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: It's the concept of being big versus playing big, because 60 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: there's a way to play bigger than your size, and 61 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: it has a lot to do with your physicality. We've 62 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,360 Speaker 1: all seen this if you've been involved with sports at 63 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 1: any level, even if it's baseball, if it's football, if 64 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: it's basketball, you've all seen that freakishly large athlete that 65 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: looks like a grown men amongst boys. That doesn't make 66 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: any sense, but for whatever reason, he's just not as 67 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: good as he's supposed to be. Maybe he's passive, maybe 68 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: he doesn't like the physicality. I played high school football 69 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:10,280 Speaker 1: and basketball. I saw a little bit of both. I 70 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: saw it in the college level as well. You'd see 71 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: guys that have great physical tools, but for whatever reason, 72 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:19,039 Speaker 1: there's just something missing with their aggression and it leads 73 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: to them playing smaller than they are. And then you'll 74 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: see the exact opposite. You'll see a guy like Draymond 75 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 1: Green or a guy like p J. Tucker. You'll see 76 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: a guy like past like Fred van Fred van Fleet 77 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: is an awesome example of this, a guy who's incredibly 78 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: undersized and lacks almost everything that you would consider to 79 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:38,240 Speaker 1: be NBA tools for the position. But he's a great 80 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: defensive player and a great offensive player in the NBA. 81 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,160 Speaker 1: It's a testament to the fact that he plays bigger 82 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:46,119 Speaker 1: than he actually is and his work ethic and everything 83 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,719 Speaker 1: that comes along with that. But the Lakers are have 84 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: a team full of guys that, in addition to being small, 85 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: also play small. You know, like Malik Monk. He's six 86 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,239 Speaker 1: three and he's very athletic, but he's thin and wiring, 87 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: and he doesn't do great in how eye contact situations. 88 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: You know, Carmelo Anthony, because of his lack of foot speed, 89 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:07,720 Speaker 1: he's gonna struggle against bigger athletes as well. Even though 90 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: he has some size, he's going to struggle in a 91 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: lot of those matchups because his lack of foot speed 92 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: causes him to play small. They went with when in 93 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: Gabriel as an audible at one point in the game 94 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:19,840 Speaker 1: to try to get some size and athleticism on the court. 95 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: He played really hard, he battled, but he's thin and 96 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,920 Speaker 1: wiry and he's not a super physical player, so he's 97 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: gonna struggle in a lot of those settings. And so 98 00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:30,960 Speaker 1: what you saw there was a combination of a massive 99 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: physical match, physical mismatch in conjunction with the Lakers team 100 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 1: that has really shied away from the physical areas of 101 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,440 Speaker 1: the game all season long. It's been a huge problem 102 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:43,479 Speaker 1: for them. It's manifested in a ton of different ways. 103 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: They've had rebounding issues all season. They've had defensive issues 104 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: all season, even when they've had their bigger personnel on 105 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: the floor. It's something we've all been critical of with 106 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:55,159 Speaker 1: Anthony Davis from time to time. He can float in 107 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: and out of games and not play as big as 108 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: he is. It's been an issue with the roster, and 109 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 1: I'm not surprised at all that it manifested the way 110 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:05,840 Speaker 1: it did tonight with the Raptors. The other thing I 111 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:07,320 Speaker 1: wanted to talk about with the Raptors that I think 112 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:09,559 Speaker 1: is really interesting, and this is an issue that goes 113 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: deeper because it has a lot to do with the 114 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:14,400 Speaker 1: problems that I have with advanced metrics and the way 115 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: that the very very smart statistical analysts that work in 116 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: the league, the way that they try to portray data 117 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: to us. Because what you saw tonight from the Raptors 118 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,600 Speaker 1: was one of the most impressive bits of defensive pressure 119 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 1: that I have ever seen. And they've always been like this. 120 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: They've been like this for as long as I can remember, 121 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,359 Speaker 1: with Nick Nurse at the Helm and with and with 122 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 1: Massi Eugeria as the general manager, with the guys that 123 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: he's brought into this franchise, and the way that that's 124 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: led to a specific type of on court product. But 125 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:46,360 Speaker 1: from the time the ball is thrown up in the air, 126 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:51,720 Speaker 1: they are in your jersey. There is nothing that is easy. 127 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: No one is ever comfortable. And that's that's what I 128 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: always talked about. There's a difference between being on a 129 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: player and having your arm extended and playing a little 130 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: bit of defense. But there's a difference between that and 131 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: literally making that person uncomfortable, getting into getting up underneath 132 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:14,239 Speaker 1: underneath them, making every single dribble, every single swing pass, 133 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,800 Speaker 1: even just bringing the ball up the floor becomes a 134 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:19,200 Speaker 1: royal pain in the ass. And when you set that 135 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 1: tone from the opening tip, it makes everybody uncomfortable. It 136 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: causes teams to not shoot well, it causes teams to 137 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: have turnovers, it causes a dip in confidence. It's a 138 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: huge part of what has made the Raptors so successful 139 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: over the years, and it's a credit to them. You know, 140 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,160 Speaker 1: Laker fans all the time will say things like, oh, 141 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: so and so is come into town, he's gonna shoot, 142 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: He's gonna shoot better than he has all season, or 143 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 1: like that. You know, every star plays their best game 144 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: against the Lakers, and that's not a coincidence. A lot 145 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: of times fans have a way of convincing themselves that 146 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: is related to luck, like oh we got bad luck 147 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,560 Speaker 1: Gary Trent Jr. Shooting really well tonight, or oh we 148 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,080 Speaker 1: got really bad luck, Kyle Lowry's going off again, or 149 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 1: whatever it might be. It's never that it's not luck. 150 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:05,960 Speaker 1: The reason why players have good games has a lot 151 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: to do with how comfortable they are, and if you 152 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,800 Speaker 1: come out with a lack of defensive pressure, if they 153 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: bring up the ball, if they bring the ball up 154 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: the floor with no ball pressure, if they throw swing 155 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: passes with no resistance, if there's very little physicality, if 156 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: there if you can run a if you can set 157 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: a down screen or cut through the lane and there's 158 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: nobody throwing a forearm shiver in your chest as you're 159 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: coming through the lane, or if no one's really fighting 160 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 1: through the screen, you just operate at a level of 161 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: comfort and confidence in the game that leads to you 162 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: having a big night. Those things are very much related 163 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: to each other. And what Toronto did tonight is make 164 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: the Lakers feel really uncomfortable from the start and exposed 165 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: them as a team that had a lack of fundamentals, 166 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:50,559 Speaker 1: which is something I talked about last night, because how 167 00:08:50,559 --> 00:08:52,719 Speaker 1: do you handle that When a team comes at you 168 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,680 Speaker 1: with a ton of size and athleticism and a ton 169 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 1: of defensive pressure. The only way to counter that is 170 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 1: to play incredibly fundamentally sound basketball. Every past needs to 171 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: involve a past fake. Every cut needs to involve a 172 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: V cut where you fake cutting the other direction. Every screen, 173 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:12,200 Speaker 1: you have to set your man up. Everything that you 174 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:15,199 Speaker 1: do on the floor has to be so fundamentally sound 175 00:09:15,480 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: in order to counter what the super athletics, super high 176 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:22,680 Speaker 1: pressure team is doing. And the Lakers are not that team. 177 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: They were obviously gonna fold under that kind of pressure. 178 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: It was a very predictable outcome. So bottom line, I 179 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: just want to throw shout outs to the Toronto Raptors 180 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: because they play basketball in a way that I think 181 00:09:33,440 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: is highly It's it's very underestimated by NBA fans in 182 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:39,600 Speaker 1: a lot of different ways. People will look at that 183 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: roster and be like, how does Pascal siakam and and 184 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,800 Speaker 1: Fred van Vleet hang with all of the best star 185 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: duos that we have in the league. And that's the 186 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 1: reason why they are a good basketball team from the 187 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: top to the bottom. From mass mass Eu Jerry bringing it. 188 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: Look at their wings and all the guys they have 189 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 1: between six seven and six nine that can run up 190 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 1: and down floor compared to what the Lakers have, which 191 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: is basically Lebron James. And when you and Gabriel and 192 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,800 Speaker 1: Stanley Johnson and Stanley Johnson's closer to six five and 193 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: he is to six seven. So I the massugery has 194 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: done a great job. Nick Nurse has done a great job. 195 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:15,559 Speaker 1: And then the players in that locker room are so 196 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: bought into that system. They compete and they deserve They 197 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: went out there and they whoop the Lakers asked tonight 198 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: and they very much deserved it. Last note on the 199 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:27,200 Speaker 1: Lakers before we move on. The Lakers are in a 200 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:31,680 Speaker 1: lot more danger than people realize of missing the plan. Now. 201 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: I know everyone wants to talk about, you know, Brandon 202 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: Ingram's injury, and the Zion Williams situation is Zion Williamson 203 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: situation and C. J. Mccollumn and the fact that the 204 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: Pelicans are trending downwards and you look at a team 205 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: like the Spurs and you're like, there's no way they're 206 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: coming back, right, But the Lakers only have a two 207 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: and a half game lead on the eleven seat, And 208 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: if you look at their schedule and you look at 209 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: the type of basketball they're playing, it's really difficult to 210 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,240 Speaker 1: see where the winds are coming from. And so yes, 211 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: they only have to be better than those teams, but 212 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: those teams are probably more likely to manufacture wins over 213 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 1: the course of the next month than the Lakers are. 214 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 1: That's a real concern. They might by the time Anthony 215 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: Davis comes back, they could very well be entirely out 216 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: of the playoff picture. Now. I would imagine if you 217 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:23,439 Speaker 1: gave a bunch of truth serum to those guys, they'd 218 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:26,080 Speaker 1: probably be fine with that, because I don't judging by 219 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: the product that we're seeing on the floor night in 220 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 1: night out, especially in this back to back, these two ugly, 221 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: ugly losses, they don't seem to be very interested in 222 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,560 Speaker 1: being here to begin with. But there's real danger here. 223 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: There's a lot of like, there's a lot of I 224 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: see a sentiment coming from Laker fans that they think, oh, 225 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 1: the there's nothing that could happen that could cause them 226 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: to miss the play, and I completely disagree. I think 227 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:51,960 Speaker 1: that the Lakers are very much headed in that direction. 228 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: They only will continue to play better teams as time 229 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:57,960 Speaker 1: goes on, and they're not playing good enough basketball to 230 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: even stay remotely competitive with these guys. Is and Lebron 231 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: just can't can't just drop fifty every night, Okay. As 232 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, the Lakers are completely winless 233 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: since the All Star Break and games where Lebron doesn't 234 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: drop fifty, So that doesn't bode well for this whole scenario. 235 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:14,680 Speaker 1: That's all I have for the Lakers. They don't deserve 236 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: to get any more discussion tonight. So let's move on 237 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:19,959 Speaker 1: to the Nuggets sixers. So there's a couple of different 238 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 1: ways to look at this, and I want I want 239 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: to be clear upfront because these topics get conflated often 240 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: when we're debating and beat verse Yokich. The m v 241 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: P discussion is very separate from the discussion of which 242 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:36,719 Speaker 1: player is better. Okay, because the best player in the 243 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:38,440 Speaker 1: league doesn't win m v P every year. That's just 244 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: never has been how it works. The m v P 245 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: discussion is very different than what happened in this game. 246 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:47,160 Speaker 1: They're way too often in NBA history will take a 247 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:49,400 Speaker 1: head to head match up and use it to determine 248 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 1: the outcome of a of a m v P race 249 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: when that they play ad two games. That's really silly. 250 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: That's a silly way to do it. For instance, I 251 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: thought Yoki was not I thought Ebat outplayed Kich tonight, 252 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 1: but I think Yoki very much deserves should be the 253 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:05,199 Speaker 1: m v P. Will get to that in a second, 254 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: But the point is is these these topics have to 255 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,319 Speaker 1: be approached separately. Yokis, to me, is the runaway m 256 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,560 Speaker 1: v P. If you look at those two teams and 257 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:15,200 Speaker 1: you look at the talent between the two of them, 258 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:18,080 Speaker 1: even though mb might be a better player, you could 259 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: make that argument. I wouldn't make that argument, but you 260 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: could make that argument. In terms of what the m 261 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,200 Speaker 1: v P race always has entailed, Yokich is a much 262 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: stronger MVP candidate the Nuggets this season. Coming into tonight, 263 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: we're sixteen point eight points better with Yoki on the 264 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: floor than with him off. Now that's not what happened tonight. Ironically, 265 00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: they were minus nine in the Yokich minutes, and they 266 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:44,960 Speaker 1: were plus thirteen in the minutes when Yokis was off. 267 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: The floor is a weird game. Bones Highland got outrageously hot. 268 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,839 Speaker 1: He hit three gigantic three's in the fourth quarter. All 269 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:53,959 Speaker 1: of them were tough. There was one that he hit 270 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: from the logo, there was one he hid in transition, 271 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: and then the one the the key one at the 272 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: end of the game, the what amounted to the game winner. 273 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 1: He was literally up against the shot clock. He released 274 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:04,679 Speaker 1: it with about a tenth of a second left, just 275 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:08,480 Speaker 1: a huge shot from Bones Highland, and then uh Jamichael 276 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:10,480 Speaker 1: Green made a bunch of huge plays down the stretch 277 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: at a couple of mid range jumpers that were huge. 278 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 1: It was an interesting game in the sense that lesser 279 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: players for the Nuggets made plays that shifted the outcome 280 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: of the game, even though Embiid played better than your kids. 281 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: But it's funny to see those two teams juxtaposed against 282 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 1: each other, to see the difference in the talent, because 283 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 1: you can kind of see, like, you know, Aaron Gordon 284 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: is a is a vaguely similar player to a Tobias Harris, right, 285 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 1: like a highly paid wing that definitely is an offensively 286 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: skilled enough to be a number one option, but brings 287 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:45,360 Speaker 1: defensive versatility and if you attack specific matchups with him, 288 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: he's gonna have success and on any given night he 289 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: can give you a thirty. That's the Aaron Aaron Gordon 290 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,360 Speaker 1: versus Tobias Harris type of dynamic. But outside of that, 291 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: it's a complete like train wreck of talent difference between 292 00:14:57,480 --> 00:14:59,480 Speaker 1: the two teams. You've got James Harden on the perimeter, 293 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,560 Speaker 1: who's at a whole other stratosphere of a player than 294 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 1: any of the guards who play for Denver. You've got 295 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxie, who is like basically a much more developed 296 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: and established pro version of Bones Highland. You know, a young, 297 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,440 Speaker 1: super talented guard, but that's just further along in his 298 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 1: development and much more consistent. You look at a guy 299 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:23,760 Speaker 1: like Matisse Thybel, he's a better defensive player than anybody 300 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: on the Denver roster. You take him over Jeff Green 301 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: in a heartbeat. When you're really looking at it, there's 302 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: a giant chasm and talent and when you look at 303 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,200 Speaker 1: what Yokich has been able to do this year with 304 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 1: that team, he has to be the m v P 305 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: in my in my opinion, there's no way around it 306 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 1: at this point. And when you a factor in the 307 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: hard and trade here at the end, I think that 308 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:46,760 Speaker 1: just kind of puts the nail in the coffin. Maybe 309 00:15:46,760 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: not necessarily fair that and be getting more talent is 310 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: it is a demerit to him, but that's just kind 311 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: of the way it works. Unfortunately, that's the way it works. 312 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 1: I think Yokis deserves to win the m v P. 313 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,840 Speaker 1: What's so funny about it, though, is even though I 314 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: very much think that Yokis deserves to be be the 315 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:07,400 Speaker 1: m v P, he's playing bad basketball right now by 316 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: his standards relative to what he was playing the rest 317 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:14,680 Speaker 1: of the season. He is starting to really struggle in 318 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: this recent stretch of games because he's been going against 319 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: more athleticism and better defensive teams. Dove into the tape 320 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,720 Speaker 1: of the his last two matchups against Toronto and against 321 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: Golden State, and he really really struggled with the length 322 00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:33,920 Speaker 1: that those teams have. Those teams are big, with the 323 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: tons of athletic wings they fly around in rotations, they 324 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: play passing lanes, and you're seeing a guy like Nicola Yokich, 325 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: who's one of the best passers to ever set foot 326 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: on an NBA court, who has incredible court vision, throwing 327 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:52,000 Speaker 1: the ball away all over the place. It's like he 328 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:54,840 Speaker 1: couldn't even see matistible half the time on the floor tonight, 329 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 1: he wasn't seeing the floor and it was bizarre. You 330 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: could see Yokis get flustered by the size and athleticism 331 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 1: of these teams. I saw, literally, I saw Kavan Looney 332 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 1: completely locked Yokis down at the end of the Golden 333 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: State Warriors game and forced him into a ton of 334 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 1: turnovers and crunch time. You know, Yokich is still amazing. 335 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: He's gonna make crazy shots. He made some crazy shots 336 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: at the end of the game against the Warriors. He 337 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,960 Speaker 1: made some He made an absolute wild falling out of bounds, 338 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: leaning floater thing over and beat Today, yoki is incredible. 339 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,159 Speaker 1: I'm not trying to undercut him by any stretch of 340 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:31,880 Speaker 1: the imagination, but what you've seen in this last week 341 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,680 Speaker 1: is some limitations for him when he faces some real 342 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,399 Speaker 1: size and athleticism, which is exactly what happened in the 343 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 1: bubble when he ran into Lebron and Anthony Davis and 344 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 1: Dwight Howard and that Lakers team that was flying around 345 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: in rotation. All of a sudden, the same Yokich that 346 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:52,920 Speaker 1: was picking the Clippers apart was struggling against that Laker defense. 347 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: And I think that's where I digress from most of 348 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: the Yoki hype. I very much think he is the 349 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 1: m v P, but I think we got way out 350 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:04,440 Speaker 1: in front of ourselves with this Yoki is the best 351 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 1: player in the world business. I think I could say 352 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:09,399 Speaker 1: the same thing with them Beat. Both of those guys 353 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: have played well enough in the last two seasons. Both 354 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,880 Speaker 1: of them are I think Yokis was Yokis one MVP 355 00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:18,560 Speaker 1: last year and Beat was an m VP candidate last year. 356 00:18:18,640 --> 00:18:20,520 Speaker 1: Yoki is gonna win this year and Beat is an 357 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,199 Speaker 1: MVP candidate again this year. They both are playing some 358 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 1: of the best regular season basketball that we can see. 359 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: But I've seen a lot of limitations from them in 360 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: in recent weeks that remind me of why I have 361 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: guys like Janice, like Lebron, like Kevin Durant ahead of them. 362 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: A huge part of it is their foot speed all 363 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,160 Speaker 1: over the all over the court. In this last week, 364 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: when Yokis R. And b get caught under the basket 365 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:49,359 Speaker 1: after some sort of miss, teams are making Philly and 366 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:53,680 Speaker 1: Denver pay just by sprinting down the floor and beating 367 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:57,320 Speaker 1: Yokis are too slow to hang in the foot race 368 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 1: when the when the the collective foots beat of their 369 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: opponent is fast enough to make them pay for having 370 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:04,919 Speaker 1: a slow player on the floor. You're not doing that 371 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: to Kevin Durant. You're not doing that to Janna's antenna compo. 372 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: You're not doing that to Lebron James. Now, Nicola Yokich, 373 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,119 Speaker 1: he's this amazing playmaker, which is something that you guys know, 374 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,879 Speaker 1: I value so much, But he doesn't have that same 375 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 1: level of individual offensive ability that you see from those 376 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: top level guys, and and Bead has all that individual 377 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: offensive ability, but he doesn't have the playmaking side. These 378 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 1: guys have some pretty gaping holes for guys that are 379 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 1: being loosely thrown around in that best player in the 380 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:39,760 Speaker 1: World conversation. I love them both. I enjoyed watching that 381 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,359 Speaker 1: game tonight. It was it was like a vintage Battle 382 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:45,120 Speaker 1: of the Bigs. They both had success scoring on each other. 383 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,919 Speaker 1: They both had defensive success on each other. But I 384 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: think we need to remember that there's a difference between 385 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: that type, that archetype of player, and that all world 386 00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:00,200 Speaker 1: super versatile forward that Kevin Durant, the Lebron, the janna Us, 387 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 1: the guy that can guard all five positions, that can 388 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: initiate everything from the perimeter, that can hang in a 389 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: foot race, and that can do all of the things 390 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:12,080 Speaker 1: that those guys do. That will always. There may be 391 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: a point in the future where the size advantages of 392 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,440 Speaker 1: those guys become so valuable that maybe it swings the pendulum. 393 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: But for right now, you're best putting your money with 394 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:25,360 Speaker 1: those big wings. Those are the guys that are controlling 395 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: the outcomes in the league today. I think we got 396 00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: a little ahead of ourselves with our you know, worshiping 397 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,440 Speaker 1: the bigs. Al Right, before we get out of here tonight, 398 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,439 Speaker 1: I wanted to talk about that Bucks game against the Jazz. 399 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:38,639 Speaker 1: So first of all, I do not care that they 400 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 1: beat the Jazz. As you guys know, I think the 401 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 1: Jazz are frauds. The Jazz are the textbook example of 402 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 1: a regular season win producing machine. They have a bunch 403 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:52,960 Speaker 1: of offensive minded perimeter players in one All World All 404 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: Universe defensive player. So in the regular season, when teams 405 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,920 Speaker 1: can't game plan as much, you can run a basic 406 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,960 Speaker 1: scheme where you have your offensive minded players just chase 407 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,159 Speaker 1: guys off the three point line and funnel everybody to 408 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert and that works great. And then on the 409 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:12,439 Speaker 1: offensive end, because other defenses aren't as dialed in, those 410 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:16,480 Speaker 1: limited offensive players can create enough offense to be a 411 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: productive NBA team, but they do not have that superstar 412 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: offensive player and their defense gets utterly exposed in the 413 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: postseason when they can game plan and expose them for 414 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,440 Speaker 1: being a weak perimeter defense team. This is what happened 415 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: with the Clippers in last year's playoffs. The The Clippers 416 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:36,119 Speaker 1: literally hung a one thirty offensive rating on the Utah 417 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: Jazz despite them being one of the best defenses in 418 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,959 Speaker 1: the league, because they spread them out, got Rudy Gobert 419 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: out of the paint. And they understood too that if 420 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,360 Speaker 1: Rudy helped, all they had to do was do one 421 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 1: extra rotation with the ball and have Rudy rotate out 422 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 1: to the perimeter. All of a sudden, no one was 423 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,560 Speaker 1: under the basket. Guys could get to the paint Jordan Clarkson, 424 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:56,400 Speaker 1: Mike Conley, Boon Bogdanovich, these Bogdon Bodonovitch, these guys are 425 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:00,200 Speaker 1: not great defensive players and they don't have any were 426 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:02,680 Speaker 1: near as much defensive talent on the perimeter as any 427 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: of the other contenders. I think they're fraud So good 428 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:07,120 Speaker 1: nice job for the Bucks tonight to get that win. 429 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:09,439 Speaker 1: But I just wanted to frame that with this because 430 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: I'm worried about the Bucks on a couple of different levels. 431 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: The Bucks are eighteen in defense. Since the New Year, 432 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 1: they had a defensive rating of one five point eight 433 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:25,919 Speaker 1: against Golden State one fifty six point five in the 434 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:28,680 Speaker 1: third quarter when Golden State went on their run to 435 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,879 Speaker 1: bump the lead from single digits up to twenty. And 436 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:35,359 Speaker 1: so we're starting to have some really big red flags 437 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:38,680 Speaker 1: surrounding their defense, which is something that is a perennial 438 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 1: all like. It's one of the most consistent themes in 439 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 1: NBA history is if you're not a top ten defense, 440 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 1: you cannot win an NBA championship unless you have an 441 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:52,119 Speaker 1: otherworldly talent advantage, meaning if you don't have Steph Clay, 442 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 1: K D and Draymond, or if you don't have Shack 443 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:56,679 Speaker 1: and Kobe. You're not If you don't have a che 444 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 1: malaje Uan at the top height of his powers with 445 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:01,320 Speaker 1: m J sitting on his couch, then you're not winning 446 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: the title. If you don't have a top ten defense. 447 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,919 Speaker 1: That is just an established truth in NBA history. And 448 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:08,920 Speaker 1: the Bucks do not have a top ten defense, and 449 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: in fact, they're getting worse as time is going on. 450 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,160 Speaker 1: And before they went into Utah tonight, they laid another 451 00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:16,680 Speaker 1: egg against Golden State. So I wanted to dig into 452 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:18,159 Speaker 1: their defense a little bit and see what's going on 453 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: and see if it's something that I thought was rectifiable. So, 454 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,160 Speaker 1: first of all, they're great at defending the paint. They're 455 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:25,520 Speaker 1: one of the best paint defenses in the league. They're 456 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 1: great at rebounding. They're great at defensive rebounding, which is 457 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,280 Speaker 1: a huge part of defense. They're great in transition defense, 458 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,680 Speaker 1: they don't commit fouls. They do everything really well defensively, 459 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: except they lead the league in three pointers made a 460 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:44,160 Speaker 1: loud per game. They give up twenty plus wide open 461 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,399 Speaker 1: threes per game according to NBA dot Com and what 462 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,200 Speaker 1: which leads the entire NBA. And this is what's crazy 463 00:23:50,240 --> 00:23:52,879 Speaker 1: about that stats. So they're giving up more wide open threes, 464 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: meaning the defenders at least six ft away. They're giving 465 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: up more wide open threes than anybody in the NBA. 466 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:03,119 Speaker 1: But amongst opponents wide open three point percentage, they have 467 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,640 Speaker 1: the third lowest, meaning even though they're giving up a 468 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: ton of wide open threes, they're not even making them. 469 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,680 Speaker 1: Opponents are shooting just thirty five point five per cent 470 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,359 Speaker 1: on wide open threes against the Bucks, So their defense 471 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 1: is even worse than what the results would show you 472 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:23,439 Speaker 1: because giving up that many wide open threes, especially the 473 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,800 Speaker 1: NBA competition, allows teams to get in a rhythm and 474 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:28,880 Speaker 1: start making shots. But for whatever reason, they just haven't 475 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 1: made shots against them this year. And there's a couple 476 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:33,760 Speaker 1: of things that come into that. Part of it is 477 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:37,160 Speaker 1: defensive scheme. Budden holes has always been huge, unpacking the paint. 478 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:39,200 Speaker 1: This is what drives me nuts about everyone saying, oh, 479 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 1: brook Lo Brook Lopez is coming back, that's gonna fix everything. 480 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: The paint is not the issue. They're having no issues 481 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,440 Speaker 1: controlling the paint. Defensively, they are guarding the three point line. 482 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:54,960 Speaker 1: So some of this is championship hangover. It's normal after 483 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 1: you get the trophy. To not want it as bad 484 00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:00,159 Speaker 1: as the other twenty nine teams in the league. That 485 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: can lead to some slippage. That's that disease of more, 486 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:04,919 Speaker 1: that thing that pat Riley used always talking about. It's 487 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,280 Speaker 1: all the stuff that we've always talked about about defending 488 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:10,720 Speaker 1: champions That's why it's so hard to repeat in the 489 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: n B. A part of it is the fact that 490 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,200 Speaker 1: they have the sixth fastest pace in the league, so 491 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:18,000 Speaker 1: they play so fast, and when teams play up and 492 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:20,399 Speaker 1: down the floor, defense is usually the first thing to 493 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,159 Speaker 1: go as they fatigue, they're struggling with rotations, they're not 494 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,360 Speaker 1: getting around to the perimeter. So the question becomes, can 495 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,840 Speaker 1: this team win the championship? Now, I saw in that 496 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,800 Speaker 1: fourth quarter tonight them really lock in and make things 497 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:37,919 Speaker 1: extremely difficult on Utah. So we saw an example of 498 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 1: the switch being flipped tonight. But like I always say, 499 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,040 Speaker 1: that's why defensive writing is a great indicator of a 500 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:50,120 Speaker 1: team's overall effort. Is the switch getting flipped the usual 501 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: occurrence or is it the outlier occurrence? And the numbers 502 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:56,919 Speaker 1: tell us that that fourth quarter against the Jazz tonight 503 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,119 Speaker 1: was an outlier more often than not this season, and 504 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:03,600 Speaker 1: They've tried to tap into that and it hasn't been there. 505 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,439 Speaker 1: So the Bucks have to understand the urgency of the situation. 506 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:12,919 Speaker 1: They have about a month's worth of games here to 507 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:16,600 Speaker 1: try to establish the defensive identity that they let slip away, 508 00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 1: and if they don't, they're gonna lose, because if they 509 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,840 Speaker 1: give up twenty plus wide open threes to a team 510 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:25,680 Speaker 1: like the Miami Heat, or to a team like the 511 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy sixers, or god forbid, a team like the 512 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,680 Speaker 1: Brooklyn Nets, they're gonna lose. Even if Janice is Janice, 513 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,440 Speaker 1: even if Chris Middleton's Chris Middleton, and even if Drew 514 00:26:35,480 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 1: Holidays Drew Holiday. They have to fix that. It's a 515 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 1: huge problem. Everything in NBA history tells us that that's 516 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:47,800 Speaker 1: a massive indicator of a team's limitation in their pursuit 517 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,640 Speaker 1: of a championship, and it's serious for them now. They 518 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:52,359 Speaker 1: have to solve this problem over the course of the 519 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:54,679 Speaker 1: next month. All right, guys, that is all I have 520 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,959 Speaker 1: for tonight. I sincerely appreciate your guys support as always, 521 00:26:58,040 --> 00:27:01,160 Speaker 1: especially you like your fans, for hanging with us through 522 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 1: this complete and utter travesty of a season. Your support 523 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: means the world to me. The Lakers play on Wednesday 524 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: the I believe the game starts at five Pacific Standard time, 525 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:14,120 Speaker 1: so it's a little bit earlier, but we'll be going 526 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,800 Speaker 1: live right after the final buzzer. As always, I appreciate 527 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:18,360 Speaker 1: your guys sport, and I'll see you in a couple 528 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 1: of days. The volume