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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, well, good hoops to night here

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Speaker 1: at the Vallume, having fun to everybody. Oh ball, if

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Speaker 1: you guys had an incredible weekend, have a jam pack

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Speaker 1: show for you guys today. We're gonna be hitting eleven

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Speaker 1: different teams. Lebron James, shortly after being eviscerated for failing

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Speaker 1: to reach ten points in a game as it looked

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Speaker 1: like he was starting to look like he was on

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Speaker 1: the other side of the cliff, explodes in crunch time

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Speaker 1: against the Sixers last night, goes for twenty nine points. Basically,

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Speaker 1: ice is the game, in a game where both Austin

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Speaker 1: and Luca had nothing going big win for the Lakers

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Speaker 1: to end their road trip. Are going to lead with

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Speaker 1: that one. After that, the Boston Celtics got yet another big, controlling,

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Speaker 1: dominant win on the road against the Toronto Raptors. I

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Speaker 1: want to dig into some specific reasons why the Celtics

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Speaker 1: have been so good on offense during this stretch and

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Speaker 1: what things could look like if they were to make

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Speaker 1: some sort of aggressive move to try to make a

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Speaker 1: push within the East this season, which I think is

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Speaker 1: no longer just a pipe dream but like a legitimate

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Speaker 1: possibility and arguably the strategy they should have as they

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Speaker 1: approach this season. After that, the Golden State Warriors get

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Speaker 1: back to back road wins against the Cleveland Cavaliers and

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Speaker 1: the Chicago Bulls without Draymond and without Steph Kurt, and

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Speaker 1: in those wins in the last four games, really we

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Speaker 1: see the explosion of Pat Spencer off the bench and

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Speaker 1: then recently in the starting lineup for that group. He's

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Speaker 1: been having success both within their system and as a

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Speaker 1: spread pick and role player, which I think is really

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Speaker 1: informative about the type of player that Golden State has

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Speaker 1: been missing over the last few years as they've struggled

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Speaker 1: so much to score without Steph. So I want to

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Speaker 1: dive into that concept for a little bit that at

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Speaker 1: the tail end of the show are weekly power rankings

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Speaker 1: going to be hitting on eight additional teams in that segment,

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Speaker 1: obviously very brief touches on the Lakers and Celtics as well,

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Speaker 1: but that's where we'll get to bounce around the rest

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Speaker 1: of the league. Have a lot of thoughts about several teams,

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Speaker 1: some thoughts about Minnesota, some thoughts about Oklahoma City, a

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Speaker 1: lot of stuff I want to get into when we

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Speaker 1: get to our Power rankings. You guys know the joke

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Speaker 1: before we get started. Subscribe to Hoops Tonight YouTube channels

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Speaker 1: you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me

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Speaker 1: on Twitter at underscore jsonlt so you guys don't miss

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Speaker 1: show announcements. Don't forget about our podcast feed where you

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Speaker 1: get your pocast under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful

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Speaker 1: if you leave a rating in a review on that front.

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Speaker 1: Jackson's doing incredible work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook,

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Speaker 1: and TikTok. Make sure you guys follow us there for

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Speaker 1: more content throughout the season. Then, if you want to

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Speaker 1: get mail bag questions into our mail bags, I don't

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Speaker 1: think we're going to do a mail bag this week.

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Speaker 1: I think I'm going to end up doing that video

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Speaker 1: I was telling you guys about where I'm going to

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Speaker 1: go over all my predictions from the off season and

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Speaker 1: go through the things that I was right about and

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Speaker 1: the things that I was wrong about. But about a

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Speaker 1: week from Friday, we'll have our next mail bag. If

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Speaker 1: you guys want to get questions into that mail bag,

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Speaker 1: just make sure you drop them in our full episodes

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Speaker 1: on YouTube in the comments right mail bag colon. Write

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Speaker 1: your question. We'll get to them a week from Friday.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. The Lakers continued their

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Speaker 1: season long trend, this really bizarre trend where they've been

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Speaker 1: much better in second halves than they've been in first halves,

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Speaker 1: as they kind of just messed around with Philly and

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Speaker 1: you know, never let themselves get blown out like they

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Speaker 1: went down double figures. They kind of hovered in that

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Speaker 1: eight to nine, ten point range, but they would just

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Speaker 1: keep going on these little runs to cut it to three,

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Speaker 1: to cut it to four, to cut it to five,

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Speaker 1: to stay attached. And then they came out in the

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Speaker 1: third quarter with one of their strongest defensive halves of

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Speaker 1: the season, excellent help in rotation on drives. Lebron and

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Speaker 1: Luca in particular were doing a good job showing bodies

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Speaker 1: at the rim on drives, forcing Philly to kick out

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Speaker 1: to some of their lesser shooters. I thought DeAndre Ayton

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Speaker 1: was a huge factor defensively in the second half, especially

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Speaker 1: down the stretch. He had three massive plays at the

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Speaker 1: rim in defense in crunch time. He had a block

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Speaker 1: on VJ. Edgecomb. He had a play where he where

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Speaker 1: Tyrus Maxey was driving past Jake Laavia and he ended

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Speaker 1: up settling for a really bad floater because Ayton was

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Speaker 1: strong positioned right between him and the rim. And then

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Speaker 1: he had a steal on a play where Max he

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Speaker 1: was trying to throw it back to a popper and

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Speaker 1: pick and pop. Ayton was just big with his arms

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Speaker 1: there and he ended up getting a steal. His size

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Speaker 1: was just imposing for Philly around the rim, and his

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Speaker 1: help situations really good defensive half for eighton And that's

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Speaker 1: been the big thing that stood out to me with

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Speaker 1: him is like he's been somewhat inconsistent with his effort,

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Speaker 1: somewhat inconsistent with his focused possession to possession, but like

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Speaker 1: pretty consistently when they need him in like a big

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Speaker 1: game or in a big spot late, he is just

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Speaker 1: in the right spot and he's huge, and he's athletic,

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Speaker 1: and he's been a big layer to this Laker defense,

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Speaker 1: which has been consistently very good in crunch time and

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Speaker 1: very good at the end of games when they've needed

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Speaker 1: to generate the separation to win. The Lakers logged a

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Speaker 1: one oh four defensive rating in the second half of

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Speaker 1: this game as they took control and Lebron was obviously

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Speaker 1: great down the stretch, which we'll get to in a

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Speaker 1: minute on offense, but he actually started the second half.

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Speaker 1: He was involved throughout that second half in a variet

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Speaker 1: of different ways. He started the second half curling off

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Speaker 1: of off ball action and kind of getting down into

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Speaker 1: the short range for a little right shoulder fade aways.

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Speaker 1: He started the third quarter with a couple of those,

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Speaker 1: and then at the start of the fourth quarter ran

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Speaker 1: a ton of that classic two man game with Austin

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Speaker 1: Reeves in pick and roll, this time with him as

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Speaker 1: a screener. We've seen it both ways, Austin screening for

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Speaker 1: Lebron and with Lebron screening for Austin. A lot of

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Speaker 1: Lebron screening for Austin to start the fourth quarter, and

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Speaker 1: they were just meeting Austin at the level, which kept

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Speaker 1: getting Lebron in the pocket and catches it in the pocket,

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Speaker 1: drives lob for Aden dunk, catches it in the pocket,

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Speaker 1: drives right handed layup off the glass, just punishing the

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Speaker 1: Sixers for showing on Austin at the level. There's another

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Speaker 1: one where the Sixers were sick of letting Lebron get

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Speaker 1: in the pocket, so they switched it they dump it

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Speaker 1: to Lebron in the post, Ruey hatcha Mura batcuts Quentin

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Speaker 1: Grimes on the baseline, gets a little short jump shot

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Speaker 1: off of Lebron. They were punishing the Sixers with that

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Speaker 1: Lebron Austin two man game with Lebron functioning as the screener.

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Speaker 1: This is a consistent thing that I want to kind

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Speaker 1: of I want to come back to in a minute.

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Speaker 1: But most of this offense, off ball action to start

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Speaker 1: the third quarter, inverted action or not inverted, excuse me,

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Speaker 1: two man game as the screener with Austin to start

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Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, and then down the stretch he closed

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Speaker 1: the game by being the play finisher in Luka Doncic's

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Speaker 1: pick and rolls. Take that set that aside for a second,

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Speaker 1: because I want to come back to that when we

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Speaker 1: talk about Lebron's turnovers, which had been at a career

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Speaker 1: low this season, which I think is really fascinating. We'll

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Speaker 1: get into that in just a minute. But the most

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Speaker 1: important distinction between this Lebron silencer put the crowd on

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Speaker 1: his hand, a crown on his head, like big celebration

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Speaker 1: after dominating a game in crunch time. This particular instant

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Speaker 1: compared to all of the previous times in his career.

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Speaker 1: Is once again, it was not him being like, give

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Speaker 1: me the ball, Austin and Luca go stand over there.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to do my thing. It was all in

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Speaker 1: the action off of Lebron in Austin or off of

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Speaker 1: lou Uah and Austin. In that early fourth quarter run,

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Speaker 1: it's all him being Draymond Green off of Austin. Right

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Speaker 1: that closing run with Luca, He's working off the left

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Speaker 1: wing when Luca's getting ball screens and punishing Paul George

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Speaker 1: for tagging the roller. One time, Luca gets kind of blitzed,

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Speaker 1: he dumps it over the top to Ayton, Paul George

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Speaker 1: tags him, swing to Lebron on the left wing, knocks

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Speaker 1: down a three. There was another one where that same

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Speaker 1: sort of action happened, but Paul George came to Ayton earlier,

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Speaker 1: so Luca ends up pitching it back directly to Lebron

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Speaker 1: on the wing. He knocks down the three. There was

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Speaker 1: even one if you guys, if you saw down the stretch,

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Speaker 1: there was that sequence where the Lakers kind of fell

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Speaker 1: apart on offense and in that sequence the blitz was

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Speaker 1: causing problems for Luca. He ended up turning the ball

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Speaker 1: over on a pitch back to eight, and he was

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Speaker 1: struggling with the Blitz there down the stretch, so they

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Speaker 1: just had Lebron set the screen and then the Blitz comes.

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Speaker 1: Lebron pops out of the Blitz, Luca hit him. He

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Speaker 1: hits the three at the top of the key. So

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Speaker 1: Lebron in all of those sequences in the fourth quarter

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Speaker 1: where he was scoring, it was all off of the

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Speaker 1: attention that Austin and Luca were drawing. He was operating

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Speaker 1: as the play finisher, and then the game icing possession.

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Speaker 1: The one little one on one move that Lebron hit,

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Speaker 1: there was a very specific sequence that led to that happening. Right,

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Speaker 1: Luca and Austin look to attack four times in a

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Speaker 1: row before Lebron hits the three. Austin drives on Embeid,

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Speaker 1: misses a scoop shot leap, Austin drives on Paul, George

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Speaker 1: gets good separation on the little left shoulder fade away,

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Speaker 1: leaves it short. He was out of rhythm all night.

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Speaker 1: Luca misses a step back three. Luca had the turnover

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Speaker 1: against the Blitz where he pitched it back against Ayton.

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Speaker 1: Then Lebron hits the three out of the blitz. So,

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Speaker 1: looking at that situation, Austin and Luca were both in

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Speaker 1: terrible rhythm. They were twelve for forty from the field

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Speaker 1: between the two of them. They had both just tried

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Speaker 1: to assert themselves a couple possessions in a row and

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Speaker 1: both of them failed. Lebron was clearly in better rhythm.

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Speaker 1: So the three guys on the floor all kind of

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Speaker 1: naturally felt that situation out and they go, hey, let's

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Speaker 1: run the Luca Lebron ball screen again to see if

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Speaker 1: they blitz. They don't. They switch because Lebron had been

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Speaker 1: burning that coverage, so they switch. Luca reads the situation

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Speaker 1: and goes, my jumpers off, Austin's jumpers off, Lebron's hit

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Speaker 1: a bunch in a row. Let's just go to Lebron

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Speaker 1: tosses the ball to Lebron against Quinton Grimes. There on

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Speaker 1: the left elbow, left elbow extended out above the break,

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Speaker 1: He faces up, hits a hard dribble move to his left,

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Speaker 1: gets good separation on a step back, and knocks down

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Speaker 1: the jump shot. That basically ice is the game, and

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Speaker 1: that's why, like one of the main reasons why it's

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Speaker 1: so silly to talk about things like, well, who's gonna

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Speaker 1: get the last shot with this group? When you're talking

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Speaker 1: about multiple stars, that sort of thing ends to naturally

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Speaker 1: work itself out when you have smart basketball players, who's

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Speaker 1: in the best rhythm, who's got the best defensive matchup?

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Speaker 1: How are they defending the action? The Lakers were trying

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Speaker 1: to play through Luca and Austin the fourth quarter, the

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Speaker 1: Sixers were defending it in a way that was forcing

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Speaker 1: Lebron to beat them on roles, on pops spacing from

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Speaker 1: the wing when Ayton was rolling. Then when Austin and

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Speaker 1: Luca did get looks for themselves, they were missing because

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Speaker 1: they were a bit out of rhythm. So things naturally

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Speaker 1: lended themselves to Lebron being the scorer down the stretch.

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Speaker 1: And that's the luxury of having your third best player,

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Speaker 1: that you be a guy who made an All NBA

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Speaker 1: team last year. And Lebron talked about this after the game.

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Speaker 1: He basically said, I'm gonna do whatever, Like whatever the

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Speaker 1: game calls for for me, I'm gonna do. Next game

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Speaker 1: might not be a Lebron's scoring type of game. Maybe

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Speaker 1: Austin's in better rhythm. Maybe Luca moves off the ball

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Speaker 1: in crunch time. These things, again, they tend to naturally

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Speaker 1: work themselves out as long as you have really smart

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Speaker 1: basketball players at the helm of your team, and they'll

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Speaker 1: figure it out when that situation comes up, they'll figure

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Speaker 1: it out naturally. They'll know who to play play through,

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Speaker 1: and ultimately having three of those dudes is a luxury.

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Speaker 1: A couple of quick, small things with Lebron that I

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Speaker 1: want to hit. First of all, Lebron is a screener

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Speaker 1: on Luca. You know, we're not going to see a

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Speaker 1: ton of that because they're going to switch it the

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Speaker 1: majority of the time. But in situations where they identify

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Speaker 1: that Luca is getting blitzed all of a sudden, it

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Speaker 1: makes a ton of sense, right, So if the blitz

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Speaker 1: is coming, then the switch is not a factor. Lebron's

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Speaker 1: gonna get open. And I love him being the first

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Speaker 1: passer on that four on three, So I thought it

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Speaker 1: was really fascinating that on the blitz where Luca turned

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Speaker 1: it over, it was with Ayton and there was a

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Speaker 1: miscommunication between eight and Luca where eighton kind of short

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Speaker 1: rolled to the foul line and Luca thought he was

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Speaker 1: gonna pop. Probably a batteriad from Luca, because I don't

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Speaker 1: the Gaton's popped once a single time this year, but

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Speaker 1: Luca ends up throwing the ball out of bounds. The

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Speaker 1: adjustment the Lakers make is they go sixers are blitzing,

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Speaker 1: Let's have Lebron set the screen. Let's have Lebron be

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Speaker 1: the first guy to make the read. I think that's

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Speaker 1: an interesting way to use Lebron in these games, when

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Speaker 1: Lucas starts getting blitzed as soon as the coverage comes

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Speaker 1: down from the head coach on the other team where

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Speaker 1: blitzing Luca start using Lebron as a screener. That's when

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Speaker 1: you can start to unlock him at the beginning of

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Speaker 1: those four on threes as a score or as a

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Speaker 1: red maker. Secondly, Lebron's turnovers. I've been really fascinated by

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Speaker 1: how little Lebron is turning the basketball over this year.

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Speaker 1: He's averaging seven point six assists per game, which is

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Speaker 1: just a touch below where he was last year. He

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Speaker 1: was at eight point two last year, seven point six

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Speaker 1: this year, So just a small decrease year over year,

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Speaker 1: less than ten percent decrease. Year every year and his

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Speaker 1: assists volume, but he's averaging one point nine turnovers per game.

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Speaker 1: That's half of what he averaged last year. And I

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Speaker 1: think the reason for that is he's not dealing with

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Speaker 1: the same kind of mental fatigue that he dealt with

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Speaker 1: in years past that comes from high usage. This is

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Speaker 1: what is happening with Luca. Luca's turnovers are almost always

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Speaker 1: just like, Okay, it's like the twentieth ball screen I've

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Speaker 1: run in this half and I'm just making a sloppy

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Speaker 1: read because my brain is just fatigued from the sheer

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Speaker 1: volume of initiation that I have to do. That's what

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Speaker 1: you're seeing with Luca, and that's what you saw in

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Speaker 1: years past with Lebron. But Lebron's usage rate is eight

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Speaker 1: percent lower than it was last year, so those like

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Speaker 1: mental fatigue turnovers are not a factor anymore. In fact,

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Speaker 1: he's getting the ball so much less often that when

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Speaker 1: he does get it, you can see Lebron is laser

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Speaker 1: focused every time he gets a touch to capitalize on

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Speaker 1: that opportunity because he knows he's not going to get

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Speaker 1: as many that high assist percentage relative to the volume

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Speaker 1: that he has and the low turnovers are actually making

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Speaker 1: Lebron a very efficient shot creator in the half court.

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Speaker 1: This year, when he's had his opportunities, he's run twenty

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Speaker 1: five pick and rolls, twenty ISOs, and twenty eight post

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Speaker 1: ups this year including passes, so seventy three possessions and

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Speaker 1: seven games. That's about ten times a game. Last year

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Speaker 1: that number was thirteen hundred and ninety nine and seventy games,

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Speaker 1: or about twenty times per game. So he's initiating action

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Speaker 1: as the primary ball handler about half as often as

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Speaker 1: he did last year. But in those possessions he's been

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Speaker 1: surgically efficient. One point one to two points per pick

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Speaker 1: and roll including passes, one point one to zero points

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Speaker 1: per ISO including passes, one point two five points per

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Speaker 1: post up including passes. Those are all in the eightieth

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Speaker 1: percentile or better according to Synergy. So like you're seeing

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Speaker 1: a situation where he's being relied on an offense less often.

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Speaker 1: So when he has the ball, he's laser folks guest

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Speaker 1: and he's super efficient and it's been a big boost

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Speaker 1: to this offense. And last thing I'll say about Lebron

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Speaker 1: before we move on, he's looked far and away like

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Speaker 1: the most explosive version of himself that we've seen all

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Speaker 1: season in that game, And for some reason, what's bothered

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Speaker 1: me with the way I've seen his athleticism discussed by

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Speaker 1: people is people are looking at it as like the

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Speaker 1: result of him wearing down over decades of basketball, and

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Speaker 1: that's not what's happening at all. He's not wearing down.

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Speaker 1: He's ramping up. And yes, at his age, ramping up

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Speaker 1: will take a lot longer, and the question will be

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Speaker 1: where will he plateau when he's finished ramping up, and

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Speaker 1: when he gets there, will he be able to stay healthy?

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Speaker 1: And I don't know, but the last time he ramped

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Speaker 1: up last year in January and February, he literally looked

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Speaker 1: like one of the top tier superstars in the league,

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Speaker 1: which is why he was sixth and MVP voting. Now,

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Speaker 1: will he get to that level again? There's certainly no

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Speaker 1: reason to think he can't, but it's obviously less likely

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Speaker 1: than it was last year. However, it is still a possibility.

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Speaker 1: I think he's gonna get pretty close to that all

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Speaker 1: NBA level at some point in the next month or so.

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Speaker 1: And as far as the injury risk goes, he's running

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Speaker 1: half as much action in the half court as he

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Speaker 1: did last year. He's spotting up more than ever. He's

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Speaker 1: literally playing the fewest minutes per game out of any

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Speaker 1: season in his entire career. He's not playing back to

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Speaker 1: backs at least until he's finished ramping up. The Lakers

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Speaker 1: are doing everything they can to minimize that risk. So,

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Speaker 1: I mean, as far as it goes with Lebron and

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Speaker 1: his athleticism, like he's on the way up, We'll see

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Speaker 1: what level he can get to. We'll see if he

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Speaker 1: can stay there. But I think it's ridiculous to just

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Speaker 1: assume the guy we saw in Toronto is just the

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Speaker 1: new reality for Lebron. It's not. He's ramping up right now.

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Speaker 1: Nice response on the road ship from the Lakers after

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Speaker 1: that Phoenix loss. You'd beat two Eastern Conference playoff teams

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Speaker 1: in their bill. You lose a tough back to back

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Speaker 1: against a red hot Celtics team that's just been cutting

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Speaker 1: everybody to pieces, and Luca and Lebron were out of

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Speaker 1: the lineup in that game. Obviously, Lakers on the tail

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Speaker 1: end of a back to back, tough game in Toronto.

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Speaker 1: I want to credit the Celtics there too. I thought

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Speaker 1: they just played awesome we're gonna talk about them in

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Speaker 1: a minute, but overall, this road trip was the type

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Speaker 1: of response you expect from a dead serious basketball team

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Speaker 1: that has goals to win a championship. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if the Lakers are as good as the Houston Denver tier,

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Speaker 1: yet I want to see them look better against some

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Speaker 1: of these bigger and more physical defenses. This week's games

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Speaker 1: against San Antonio and potentially Oklahoma City will be an

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Speaker 1: excellent next test for them. I also still think they

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Speaker 1: need to trade for a starting, starting small forward. But

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Speaker 1: in terms of the controllables, the checkpoints in that locker room,

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Speaker 1: they are meeting every single one of them. So far.

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Speaker 1: They have great camaraderie and chemistry. The vibes are excellent

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Speaker 1: around this team. They're ten and three on the road.

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Speaker 1: That's always a strong indicator for a dead serious team.

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Speaker 1: They are yet to lose two basketball games in a row.

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Speaker 1: That's always a strong indicator. They have a winning record

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Speaker 1: against teams that are five hundred or better. Really, the

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Speaker 1: only thing that's missing is that signature win. They need

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Speaker 1: to go against one of the top tier contenders in

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Speaker 1: this league, Houston Denver, OKC, and they need to beat them.

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Speaker 1: To show that they can, and the first time did

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Speaker 1: not go well against Oklahoma City, right, But they'll have

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Speaker 1: their second chance this week if they can take care

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Speaker 1: of San Antonio. And by the way, San Antonio is

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Speaker 1: no slouch. That game on Wednesday is gonna be a

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Speaker 1: tough one. Quick a little rundown. I should have done

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Speaker 1: this off the top of the show, but our schedule

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Speaker 1: for this week is gonna be a little funky because

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Speaker 1: of the N Season Tournament. We have today's show today,

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Speaker 1: there is no show tomorrow because we're gonna be working

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Speaker 1: this weekend for the N Season Tournament. On Wednesday, we

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Speaker 1: will be waking up in the morning to cover the

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Speaker 1: Tuesday night in season tournament games. Those will be on

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Speaker 1: Wednesday morning. Wednesday Night will be going live after the

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Speaker 1: final buzzer of Lakers Spurs to cover that as well

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Speaker 1: as the thunder Sun's game, so we'll go twice on Wednesday.

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Speaker 1: We will have no show on Thursday. On Friday, we'll

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Speaker 1: have that video coming out in the morning that's going

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Speaker 1: to be that breakdown of all my predictions from the

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Speaker 1: off season and which ones have gone right versus which

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Speaker 1: ones have gone wrong. And then Saturday night, after the

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Speaker 1: n Season tournament semi final games will be going live

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Speaker 1: that evening to break down hopefully what will be a

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Speaker 1: really fun show down between the Lakers and the Thunder

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Speaker 1: in what I think will be a much better showing

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Speaker 1: from the Lakers in that game and potentially an opportunity

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Speaker 1: for the Thunder to shut all that shit down in

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Speaker 1: emphatic fashion. So again twice on Wednesday, Friday morning, and

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Speaker 1: then Saturday night. Those are the next four Hoops Tonight

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Speaker 1: shows this week. Just so you guys know what the

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Speaker 1: on to the Boston Celtics. I watched most of the

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00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:29,200
Speaker 1: Celtics big win in Toronto yesterday, and I find myself

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00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:31,720
Speaker 1: wanting to buy all of the Celtic stock right now.

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00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:35,199
Speaker 1: I've been underwhelmed by most of the East teams this

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00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,439
Speaker 1: year outside of Detroit. Detroit is a real team. They

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00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:39,000
Speaker 1: deserve to be viewed as the favorites in the East

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Speaker 1: right now. They're dominating in crunch time. Kay Cunningham has

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00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,640
Speaker 1: been unbelievable. They've got a bunch of guys that are

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Speaker 1: making shots and getting big offensive rebounds in the clutch.

429
00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:48,800
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about Detroit when we get to our

430
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,960
Speaker 1: power rankings, but Cleveland has been super disappointing. Every time

431
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:54,520
Speaker 1: I start to believe in the Knicks, they drop a

432
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:56,560
Speaker 1: game like they did against Boston, where all of the

433
00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,160
Speaker 1: same weaknesses from the last few years are on display.

434
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,840
Speaker 1: Orlando's up and down and they can't seem to stay healthy.

435
00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:07,040
Speaker 1: Milwaukee has fallen off. The East feels very open, and

436
00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:09,439
Speaker 1: this surge from Boston has me feeling as though they

437
00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:11,880
Speaker 1: have a legitimate chance to win this conference. They've won

438
00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:14,199
Speaker 1: five in a row. They're ten and two in their

439
00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:16,840
Speaker 1: last twelve. In that twelve game span, they have a

440
00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:21,240
Speaker 1: one twenty nine offensive rating, playing some of the best

441
00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:22,920
Speaker 1: offense in the Joe Mizula era. We're gonna get to

442
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,520
Speaker 1: that in a second nineteenth. In defense that have won

443
00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,600
Speaker 1: sixteen defensive rating, but even that's complicated because it has

444
00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:30,719
Speaker 1: to do with their center vers centerless looks, which we'll

445
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,119
Speaker 1: talk about in a minute. The offense is just cooking

446
00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:38,480
Speaker 1: everyone right now. In their last four games, in particular,

447
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:41,560
Speaker 1: just this last four games, they're already one to thirty

448
00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:46,280
Speaker 1: seven offensive rating. Dalen Brown has been just masterful as

449
00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:50,320
Speaker 1: their lead shot creator, doing an awesome impersonation of what

450
00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:53,520
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum did last year, just like being very deliberate

451
00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:57,120
Speaker 1: about which matchups he's attacking, abusing those matchups one on one,

452
00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:59,600
Speaker 1: and then every single time the defense reacts to him

453
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,040
Speaker 1: making the appropriate kickout reads. I've been super impressed by

454
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,399
Speaker 1: his drives over the course of the last ten games,

455
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:10,119
Speaker 1: in particular his volume of attacks to the basket have

456
00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:13,360
Speaker 1: gone up to about five makes per game at the rim,

457
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,840
Speaker 1: which is about twenty five percent up from where he

458
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,800
Speaker 1: was to start the season. He's been great at hitting

459
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,840
Speaker 1: those natural angles that exist in the offense, like catching

460
00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:23,639
Speaker 1: on the wing when a dude's closing out at his shoulder,

461
00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:26,679
Speaker 1: he rips the opposite way. When a team is shading

462
00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,280
Speaker 1: him in a direction, he'll just attack that angle and

463
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,000
Speaker 1: he'll come downhill with so much force that he just

464
00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,040
Speaker 1: blows through a guy's shoulder and he's getting another layup.

465
00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,960
Speaker 1: All the kickouts that he's making in those rim pressuring situations,

466
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,200
Speaker 1: and then both Pritchard and White have been in great

467
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,080
Speaker 1: grooves and pick and roll. The Celtics are running a

468
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:45,800
Speaker 1: lot of stack where they're having one of those dudes

469
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,240
Speaker 1: backscreen for the role man as they're getting downhill. They're

470
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,400
Speaker 1: hitting threes off of those screens off the dribble. Derek

471
00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:53,720
Speaker 1: White has got his pull up three going like crazy

472
00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,479
Speaker 1: right now. On those kickbacks they're hitting them. And then

473
00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 1: their spot up efficiencies through the roof one seventeen offen

474
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:03,360
Speaker 1: of rating and spot ups against Toronto one seventy offensive

475
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:05,800
Speaker 1: rating in spot ups against the Lakers. They shot insanely

476
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,080
Speaker 1: well in that game one twenty seven offensive rating and

477
00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:12,119
Speaker 1: spot ups against Washington, won thirteen against New York, and

478
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,960
Speaker 1: won twenty two against Cleveland, just literally lighting teams up

479
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,359
Speaker 1: on kickouts in those spot up situations. Set Jason Tatum

480
00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:22,760
Speaker 1: and his injury aside for a second. This is some

481
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:24,840
Speaker 1: of the best offense that this team has played in

482
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,000
Speaker 1: this decade, and a lot of it has to do

483
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,360
Speaker 1: with continuity, Like they're playing the same style that they

484
00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:32,440
Speaker 1: did with Jason Tatum, and so a lot of these

485
00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:35,320
Speaker 1: guys have actually been here a long time and they're

486
00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:38,920
Speaker 1: getting very familiar with the system. They're getting very similar

487
00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,560
Speaker 1: shots to what they've been getting in recent years, and

488
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:43,720
Speaker 1: so there's a level of comfort that they're reaching in

489
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,720
Speaker 1: the offense as a group that is manifesting in this

490
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,879
Speaker 1: hot stretch of offense that we've seen from them. We

491
00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:51,919
Speaker 1: talked last week about their offensive rebounding. I'm not going

492
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:53,280
Speaker 1: to go into that today because we did a deep

493
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,520
Speaker 1: dive last week. Jackson broke it out for us in

494
00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:57,240
Speaker 1: a clipse. So if you look on our YouTube feed

495
00:24:57,280 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 1: and you find the video that talks about Jaylen Brown

496
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 1: leveling up, if you click on that one, we talk

497
00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,080
Speaker 1: about their offensive rebounding, but the short version is the

498
00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:06,280
Speaker 1: Celtics are winning the second chance points battle despite being

499
00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:09,760
Speaker 1: an awful defensive rebounding team, and it's because they turn

500
00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:13,800
Speaker 1: their offensive rebounds into easy putbacks while swarming the opponent

501
00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,960
Speaker 1: bigs whenever they get offensive rebounds on them. And yes,

502
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:19,760
Speaker 1: with the defense, the numbers are more complicated than they appear.

503
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,120
Speaker 1: They've been a below average defense in the aggregate over

504
00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:26,560
Speaker 1: these twelve games, but with Cada on the floor, they've

505
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,880
Speaker 1: been great. A one oh seven defensive rating in Cada's

506
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:32,200
Speaker 1: minutes over that twelve game span. That's an excellent number,

507
00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,760
Speaker 1: and where they defended poorly is in their centerless looks.

508
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,439
Speaker 1: But in those center lists looks they're scoring at such

509
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,639
Speaker 1: an insane rate that they're dominating those minutes. They have

510
00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:45,200
Speaker 1: a one to forty one offensive rating in their centerless

511
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:49,560
Speaker 1: looks this season, plus sixteen points per one hundred possessions.

512
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 1: And again, ultimately, whenever they need to get stops for

513
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,520
Speaker 1: whatever reason, their offense cool down they want to win

514
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:57,880
Speaker 1: in more of a slugfest type of fashion, they can

515
00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:00,280
Speaker 1: just go to Kada and they've been scoring just in

516
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,840
Speaker 1: the CATA lineups this year. If this team can get

517
00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:07,800
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum back, I mean, let's really look at it,

518
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:12,119
Speaker 1: Like Jalen Brown's better than he's ever been. Pritchard and

519
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:15,000
Speaker 1: White are both in plenty of a groove. They look

520
00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:17,159
Speaker 1: more or less what they were last year, if not

521
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:19,520
Speaker 1: a little better. In these last couple of weeks. You

522
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:22,600
Speaker 1: have a level of depth at the guard position with

523
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:24,920
Speaker 1: Anferny Simons. Now we'll see if that ends up being

524
00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:27,639
Speaker 1: the piece they use to try to balance the roster

525
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 1: a little bit. But like they look as good on

526
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,119
Speaker 1: the perimeter as ever. With that, you know, obviously removing

527
00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,280
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum from the equation. The dirty little secret is

528
00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,000
Speaker 1: like Christaps Porzingis and Drew Holliday both can't stay healthy

529
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,159
Speaker 1: this year. The Celtics seem to have gotten off of

530
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 1: them just in time. I'd argue Nimi Kita and Jordan

531
00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:50,399
Speaker 1: Walsh have been like better rotation players flat out this

532
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,280
Speaker 1: year in the NBA than Porzingis and Holiday have been.

533
00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,480
Speaker 1: Jordan Walsh has blossomed into one of the best perimeter

534
00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,800
Speaker 1: defenders in the NBA this season. He did probably the

535
00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:03,280
Speaker 1: best job I've ever seen on Austin Reeves. You guys know,

536
00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:05,359
Speaker 1: I root for the Lakers. I've watched the majority of

537
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,200
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves' games in his career, the vast majority of them.

538
00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:12,480
Speaker 1: I've never seen somebody make Austin look as uncomfortable as

539
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:16,359
Speaker 1: he looked in that first quarter against Jordan Walsh, getting

540
00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:21,240
Speaker 1: blocked on back pressure, fumbling the basketball everywhere, turnovers, missshots.

541
00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,160
Speaker 1: Jordan had him in a box to start that game.

542
00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:29,000
Speaker 1: Jordan has been a godsend for them as a point

543
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,760
Speaker 1: of attack defender, as a corner crasher. On the offensive end,

544
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,280
Speaker 1: He's hitting threes, he's running the floor in transition. He's

545
00:27:35,320 --> 00:27:38,359
Speaker 1: like just an awesome rotation player that they found. Nimi

546
00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:41,720
Speaker 1: Keita looks like a legitimately perfectly fine starting center in

547
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:47,320
Speaker 1: this league. You bring Jason Tatum back, you convert Anthony

548
00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:52,320
Speaker 1: Simon's contract into another rotation level center, this could easily

549
00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:55,960
Speaker 1: be the best team in the Eastern Conference. That seemed

550
00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:57,800
Speaker 1: like an insane thing to say before the start of

551
00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,239
Speaker 1: the season, but it's not just a pipe dream any more.

552
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:06,360
Speaker 1: It's like a it's a completely legitimate outcome, And frankly,

553
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:09,359
Speaker 1: if I'm Brad Stevens, I'm looking at this as an

554
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,480
Speaker 1: opportunity this season in a wide open Eastern Conference. That's

555
00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:14,480
Speaker 1: how good I think this team is. And who the

556
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:16,560
Speaker 1: hell knows what happens out West, whoever comes out of

557
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:19,280
Speaker 1: that bloodbath could be beat the shit even Oka. See,

558
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:25,800
Speaker 1: there's an opportunity here for Boston. There's there's a continuity

559
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:30,119
Speaker 1: with their core players. You don't think Tatum's Tatum's I

560
00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:32,120
Speaker 1: gotta struggle when he comes back to this is this

561
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:38,320
Speaker 1: is easy basketball for him. They have so much continuity

562
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,640
Speaker 1: now and it's manifesting in just a machine on both

563
00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:45,840
Speaker 1: ends of the floor. Joe Missoula has them achieving margin

564
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:49,400
Speaker 1: where they have no business achieving margin. It's just a really,

565
00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:51,960
Speaker 1: really good basketball team. And I'm just buying all the

566
00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:55,400
Speaker 1: Celtic stock right now. The Warriors have a two and

567
00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:58,240
Speaker 1: zero weekend without Draymond or Steph Curry, a couple of

568
00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:01,479
Speaker 1: huge road wins, and it's Cleveland and Chicago. Those are

569
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,560
Speaker 1: not easy teams to beat on the road, especially with

570
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,360
Speaker 1: the level of talent they had available to them. And

571
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:09,320
Speaker 1: it's been a product of a couple things. One, they've

572
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:11,760
Speaker 1: put together two of their best defensive performances of the season,

573
00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:13,880
Speaker 1: kind of a blast from the pass from the team

574
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,520
Speaker 1: we saw back in October, right, and then two they

575
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,120
Speaker 1: found a much needed source of offense in Pat Spencer.

576
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 1: And to be clear, it's not all Pat Spencer. Jimmy

577
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,440
Speaker 1: came back and had a great game against Chicago. Podds

578
00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,480
Speaker 1: finally hit some threes and got some rhythm in the

579
00:29:28,520 --> 00:29:31,680
Speaker 1: Chicago game. Quinton Post has been a revelation as a

580
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:33,960
Speaker 1: stretch big for them. He's turned into like he's just

581
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,280
Speaker 1: way better than he was last year. He's like a legitimate,

582
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:40,360
Speaker 1: very good rotation center player stretch five for this Warriors team.

583
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,480
Speaker 1: He's basically been everything they hoped Al Horford would be,

584
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:47,160
Speaker 1: like very very good a season from Quinton Post this year.

585
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:48,960
Speaker 1: But I want to zoom in on Pat Spencer for

586
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,840
Speaker 1: a minute because I think specifically the way he's been

587
00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,040
Speaker 1: dominating these games on offense is super interesting and it's

588
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:59,840
Speaker 1: informative for what this team needs. First. In the numbers

589
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:03,000
Speaker 1: four games, Pat is averaging sixteen points and six assists

590
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,640
Speaker 1: per game, which is one point eight turnovers. The shooting

591
00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:07,640
Speaker 1: is a little ridiculous and will probably come down to earth,

592
00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:09,560
Speaker 1: like he shoots seventy five percent from three in that

593
00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:12,600
Speaker 1: span fifty nine percent from the field. The shot creation

594
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:14,880
Speaker 1: data is also off the charts. He's run one hundred

595
00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:17,120
Speaker 1: and one ball screens this season and generated one hundred

596
00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:20,480
Speaker 1: and twenty one points of one twenty offensive rating, turning

597
00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:22,480
Speaker 1: it over just six percent of the time when he

598
00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,520
Speaker 1: runs a pick and roll that specifically that pick and

599
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:31,160
Speaker 1: roll stat That's the super informative part what Pat Spencer

600
00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,040
Speaker 1: is bringing to the Warriors in the last week that

601
00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:39,640
Speaker 1: Brandon Pajemski can't bring, that Jonathan Kaminga can't bring is

602
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:45,080
Speaker 1: the ability to both play within the Warriors system and

603
00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:50,160
Speaker 1: run spread pick and roll effectively. So like in the system,

604
00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:52,080
Speaker 1: he knows how to relocate, he knows how to cut

605
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,680
Speaker 1: off the ball when he gets cut turning downhill in

606
00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,000
Speaker 1: a off ball screen, or when he cuts back door

607
00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:58,440
Speaker 1: and he catches in the middle of the floor, he

608
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:03,000
Speaker 1: knows the next ro in that progression. So he's perfectly

609
00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:07,560
Speaker 1: fine within the system. But when things break down and

610
00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:09,560
Speaker 1: they need to run a ball screen off the top

611
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,160
Speaker 1: with quintin post, to run a ball screen with Trace Jackson, Davis,

612
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:16,720
Speaker 1: whoever it is, He's been very good at that specific

613
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:21,320
Speaker 1: form of shot creation. And the core piece of this

614
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:26,000
Speaker 1: is he's very good at getting dribble penetration out of

615
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,800
Speaker 1: those ball screens and actually getting both feet and the paint.

616
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,160
Speaker 1: He sets his man up for screens, well, he's good

617
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:35,120
Speaker 1: at getting his man caught on the screens. That gets

618
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:38,720
Speaker 1: him angles to actually get downhill once he gets into

619
00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,280
Speaker 1: the paint. In those actions, the defense reacts in a

620
00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,719
Speaker 1: certain way, and that's where his versatility comes into the equation.

621
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,560
Speaker 1: In the action, he can score from all three levels.

622
00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:51,040
Speaker 1: He can hit a pull up three, he can hit

623
00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:53,680
Speaker 1: a pull up two like in the Philly game. He

624
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:55,719
Speaker 1: can draw little fouls in the mid range when you're

625
00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,280
Speaker 1: back pressuring him too hard. He can get to the

626
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,040
Speaker 1: basket for these like nifty why scoop shots. He hit

627
00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,000
Speaker 1: a bunch of right handed scoop shots last week. He

628
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:06,640
Speaker 1: had a lefty one in the Bulls game. He's shooting

629
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:11,360
Speaker 1: seventeen for thirty two on shot attempts, his own personal

630
00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:13,520
Speaker 1: shot attempts out of pick and roll. So he's a

631
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,760
Speaker 1: threat to score at all three levels. But then from

632
00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:19,920
Speaker 1: there he can also make all the reads. He can

633
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:22,720
Speaker 1: hit Quinton Post on the pick and pop on the kickback.

634
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:24,840
Speaker 1: He can hit Tray Jackson Davis in the pocket on

635
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:26,760
Speaker 1: the roll. If they tag the roller, he can make

636
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,400
Speaker 1: the skip passes, he can beat nail help with swing passes.

637
00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:32,760
Speaker 1: He's quick at making the reads when the defense reacts,

638
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 1: and the defense reacts because he can score the basketball,

639
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:40,040
Speaker 1: and when they don't, he's scoring it. And again, it's

640
00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:43,240
Speaker 1: all foundationally from the fact that he can get downhill

641
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:45,680
Speaker 1: and he can get into the paint. He just has

642
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:48,840
Speaker 1: a natural gift for setting his man up for screens

643
00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:51,400
Speaker 1: and the body position in the natural angles that exist

644
00:32:51,480 --> 00:32:54,440
Speaker 1: for drives, and he just hits those gaps and makes

645
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,240
Speaker 1: all the appropriate reads when he gets there. So he's

646
00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:00,760
Speaker 1: provided a much needed outlet for a war offense that

647
00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:03,640
Speaker 1: can't generate offense right now with Steph off the floor

648
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:09,680
Speaker 1: until this Pat Spencer development for them, they can run

649
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:13,320
Speaker 1: Pat Spencer pick and roll when the offense breaks down,

650
00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:15,920
Speaker 1: and they're getting good offense out of it every single time. Again,

651
00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:18,680
Speaker 1: a one to twenty offensive rating in those Pat Spencer

652
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:21,960
Speaker 1: ball screens. Here's why it's super important and informative about

653
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:26,760
Speaker 1: the Warriors. Again, I've been specifically calling for this type

654
00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 1: of player for Golden State for years. Once again this season.

655
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,880
Speaker 1: Last year, Steph on the floor one twenty offensive rating,

656
00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:38,200
Speaker 1: despite the void of offensive talent on the roster, falls

657
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:41,080
Speaker 1: off a cliff when STEP's off the floor. This season, again,

658
00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:44,960
Speaker 1: Steph on the floor one nineteen point three offensive rating

659
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:48,880
Speaker 1: despite the lack of offensive talent craters. When he's off

660
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,840
Speaker 1: the floor. They can score just fine with Steph. It's

661
00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:54,680
Speaker 1: when he's not on the floor that they struggle. And

662
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:56,480
Speaker 1: it's not even just fine with Steph. It's elite. They're

663
00:33:56,480 --> 00:33:59,400
Speaker 1: an elite offense when Steph's on the floor. They just

664
00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:01,720
Speaker 1: have to figure out how to score more effectively in

665
00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:04,360
Speaker 1: these minutes when Steps off. Even when Jimmy's on, it's

666
00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:08,759
Speaker 1: been a problem. Pat has been a representation of exactly

667
00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:12,600
Speaker 1: what they need, a guard who can play in the

668
00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:16,680
Speaker 1: system with Steph. But it can also be like give

669
00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:19,799
Speaker 1: me the ball spread the floor comes at a ball

670
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:21,800
Speaker 1: screen for me and I can get hot and carry

671
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:26,359
Speaker 1: our offense for like five minutes. That's what Jordan Poole

672
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:30,839
Speaker 1: was for this team. That's what I envisioned a guy

673
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,960
Speaker 1: like Malik Monk being for this team. Maybe it ends

674
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:36,680
Speaker 1: up being Pat. Now, it's way too small of a

675
00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:38,600
Speaker 1: sample size for Pat. It's been two it's been like

676
00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:42,160
Speaker 1: four games and he's shooting seventy five percent from three right,

677
00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:45,480
Speaker 1: so we'll see if you have plenty of time, you're

678
00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:46,880
Speaker 1: not about to make a move right this second r

679
00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:48,560
Speaker 1: Johnathan Comick, it can't even be traded. I don't think

680
00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:51,879
Speaker 1: it's till January fifteenth. So by the time you get

681
00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:55,160
Speaker 1: to February, if Pat is still doing this, then great,

682
00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:58,319
Speaker 1: Pat's that guy for you. Steph will come back into

683
00:34:58,320 --> 00:34:59,880
Speaker 1: the fold. He'll get to demonstrate if he can do

684
00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:02,600
Speaker 1: it in that system. I'm a little skeptical it's just

685
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:04,320
Speaker 1: been too small of a sample size. But if he

686
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:06,959
Speaker 1: cools down and he's not quite ready for that level

687
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:09,000
Speaker 1: of workload and a large sample yet, and he's better

688
00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:12,040
Speaker 1: just being another option for you off the bench. Let

689
00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:16,000
Speaker 1: this be a lesson for the Warriors' front office. This

690
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:20,239
Speaker 1: offense has always been at its best, even going back

691
00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:22,520
Speaker 1: to the k D days and going back to the

692
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:26,440
Speaker 1: Livingston Barbosa days, they've been at their best when they

693
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:30,279
Speaker 1: had a counter to their system in the form of

694
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,680
Speaker 1: a real offensive weapon that can play in more of

695
00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:37,799
Speaker 1: a brute force style. Leandro Barbosa just beaten dudes off

696
00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:40,439
Speaker 1: the dribble. Forget about the system. You can't keep Leo

697
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:44,880
Speaker 1: in front. Forget about the system. Sean Livingston gets to

698
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:46,560
Speaker 1: the mid range and he can he can hit a

699
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:50,399
Speaker 1: fade away over both shoulders. Forget about the system. Kevin

700
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:54,400
Speaker 1: Durant is the best freaking scorer of all time. Forget

701
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:56,920
Speaker 1: about the system. Jordan Poole's going to come in for

702
00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:01,920
Speaker 1: five minutes in a finals game and just spaz out

703
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:05,000
Speaker 1: and score in high pick and roll and control the offense.

704
00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:09,120
Speaker 1: That has been the counter to the Steph system every

705
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:13,520
Speaker 1: time they've been a championship level team. And that's why

706
00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:17,080
Speaker 1: I wouldn't roll my eyes at Malik Monk or the

707
00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:20,719
Speaker 1: next Molik Monk type of player that becomes available in

708
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:23,879
Speaker 1: a potential Jonathan Minga deal as we get further into

709
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:26,400
Speaker 1: the season. All right, let's get into our power rankings

710
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:30,399
Speaker 1: once again. All of our lines are presented by hard

711
00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:39,640
Speaker 1: rock Bet. Number ten. The Orlando Magic currently plus three

712
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:42,319
Speaker 1: thousand to win the title on hard rock Bet. Just

713
00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:44,759
Speaker 1: a brutal week from a Magic team that had been

714
00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:46,560
Speaker 1: playing super well. First, they lose a game to San

715
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:50,240
Speaker 1: Antonio on a very tough foul call on Jonathan Isaac,

716
00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:52,680
Speaker 1: probably the right call, but just a really tough one.

717
00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:54,920
Speaker 1: In that spot to lose a game. Then they get

718
00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:57,680
Speaker 1: a huge win against the Heat, a monster defensive sequence

719
00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:00,279
Speaker 1: down the stretch where they denied everyone so well that

720
00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:01,719
Speaker 1: the Heat had to call time out to get the

721
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:03,480
Speaker 1: ball in bounds. Then they finally do get the ball

722
00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:06,239
Speaker 1: in bounds, but they deny everyone super well again and

723
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:09,000
Speaker 1: Miami has to lean on this stupid bam out of

724
00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:11,160
Speaker 1: bio heave at the buzzer that has no chance. Really

725
00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:13,960
Speaker 1: good defensive performance in a win against the Heat, and

726
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:15,680
Speaker 1: then they lose to New York and a game where

727
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:18,879
Speaker 1: Franz Wagner goes down with this apparent knee injury got

728
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:21,239
Speaker 1: an MRI last night. I haven't heard anything about the

729
00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:24,480
Speaker 1: results yet, so we'll see, but eerily reminiscent of last

730
00:37:24,560 --> 00:37:26,799
Speaker 1: year where Palo finally gets healthy and then Frans gets

731
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,000
Speaker 1: Franz gets hurt, Like they just can't have both of

732
00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:30,680
Speaker 1: those dudes healthy and on the floor at the same time.

733
00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:33,480
Speaker 1: It's just been bad luck. Yesterday, Sam Vessini and I

734
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:36,120
Speaker 1: I went on his show, The Game Theory podcast yesterday

735
00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:38,600
Speaker 1: and we did a deep dive on the magic and

736
00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:41,160
Speaker 1: what a potential Palo for Giannis swap could look like.

737
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,160
Speaker 1: Mainly looking at this summer, just something to keep in mind.

738
00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:46,880
Speaker 1: I want you guys to go check that out. I

739
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:48,640
Speaker 1: tweeted the link out, so we go to my Twitter

740
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:51,399
Speaker 1: page at underscore json lt you can find the link

741
00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:54,000
Speaker 1: to that page that show I did with Sam Vassini.

742
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:57,680
Speaker 1: But I'm just fascinated. It's been by far my favorite

743
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:01,760
Speaker 1: Giannis trade for both sides is the Magic this summer,

744
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:04,879
Speaker 1: just turning Paalo into Giannis. I think it foundationally sets

745
00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:07,520
Speaker 1: up the Bucks for the future and overnight just makes

746
00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:11,400
Speaker 1: the Orlando Magic the top tier contender in the Eastern Conference.

747
00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 1: Like they just be clearly far and away best team

748
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,719
Speaker 1: in the East, easily puncher's chance to win the title

749
00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:19,040
Speaker 1: against whoever comes out of the West. It's just it's

750
00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:22,200
Speaker 1: my favorite Giannis trade right now. Number nine the San

751
00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:24,800
Speaker 1: Antonio Spurs plus four thousand to win the title according

752
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:26,920
Speaker 1: to hard Rock Bet two in one week, couple of

753
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,799
Speaker 1: nice wins against the red hot Grizzlies team as well

754
00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:32,400
Speaker 1: as the Orlando Magic tough loss in Cleveland where their

755
00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:34,160
Speaker 1: offense just fell apart in the third quarter. They just

756
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:36,280
Speaker 1: completely lost control of that game in like ten minutes.

757
00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:38,799
Speaker 1: But I'm actually higher on the Spurs than I've ever been.

758
00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:42,440
Speaker 1: I'm really bullish about how good their offense has been

759
00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:47,120
Speaker 1: under Deeron Fox, who's been fantastic ever since that Warriors nightmare.

760
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:50,360
Speaker 1: Devin Vessel continues to shoot the absolute shit out of

761
00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:53,880
Speaker 1: the basketball. Keldon Johnson and Jeremy Sohan have provided like

762
00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:57,120
Speaker 1: more of like a rim pressure bullyball element to their offense.

763
00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:00,440
Speaker 1: Dylan Harper has been killing teams with his drives. Memphis

764
00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:04,000
Speaker 1: and Minnesota games were awesome demonstrations of Dylan's ability to

765
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:07,240
Speaker 1: pressure the rim. Luke Cornett has been great, hopefully his ankles. Okay.

766
00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:11,799
Speaker 1: I keep thinking if they can somehow combine the offensive

767
00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:15,440
Speaker 1: success they've had under Deer and Fox with the defensive

768
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:19,319
Speaker 1: success they've had under Wemby, this suddenly becomes a real

769
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,279
Speaker 1: threat in the Western Conference. Easily the team I was

770
00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:25,760
Speaker 1: most wrong about this season. I have them, when healthy

771
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:30,040
Speaker 1: with Wemby in the mix as firmly in that second

772
00:39:30,040 --> 00:39:32,600
Speaker 1: tier of Western Conference teams with the Lakers and the Timberwolves.

773
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:35,880
Speaker 1: I mean it's like, Okay, see clearly the top above

774
00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,000
Speaker 1: Houston and Denver, maybe even a third tier, maybe even

775
00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:43,600
Speaker 1: just in a tier by themselves. Then Houston Denver then Lakers, Wolves,

776
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:46,040
Speaker 1: Spurs in whatever order. That's kind of how I see

777
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:48,320
Speaker 1: the East or the West shaking out to this point.

778
00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:54,680
Speaker 1: Number eight the Boston Celtics plus four thousand to win

779
00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:56,440
Speaker 1: the title on hard Rock Bet. We hit them for

780
00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:57,880
Speaker 1: a full segment earlier in the show, so I'm not

781
00:39:57,880 --> 00:39:59,480
Speaker 1: gonna stay too long here, But they are playing some

782
00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:00,920
Speaker 1: of the best off defense they've played in the Joe

783
00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:03,439
Speaker 1: Missoula era. They're getting plenty of stops with Nimi Kada

784
00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:06,320
Speaker 1: on the floor. I think there are returns Jason Tatum

785
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:08,759
Speaker 1: as well as a true center. Like a trade for

786
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:11,520
Speaker 1: a center, not necessarily does it. I think Kate is

787
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:13,160
Speaker 1: fine as a starter. I just think they need another

788
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,640
Speaker 1: player of that ilk in their rotation so that they

789
00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:17,680
Speaker 1: can potentially go to a center forty eight minutes if

790
00:40:17,719 --> 00:40:20,040
Speaker 1: they have to for a specific matchup. If they get

791
00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:22,280
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum Mack and they get a center in the trade,

792
00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:24,920
Speaker 1: maybe for an Anthony Simons type of deal, that's when

793
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:26,840
Speaker 1: I think they've become a legitimate threat to make the

794
00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:30,879
Speaker 1: NBA Finals this season, which seemed completely impossible when Jayson

795
00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:33,520
Speaker 1: Tatum went down in a heap last year against the Knicks.

796
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:36,399
Speaker 1: Number seven, the Minnesota Timberwolves currently plus twenty two point

797
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:39,480
Speaker 1: fifty to win the title on hard Rock Bet, winners

798
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:41,600
Speaker 1: of five in a row after beating the Clippers on Saturday.

799
00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,400
Speaker 1: Their offense is just in a ridiculous groove right now.

800
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:46,960
Speaker 1: They have a one twenty four point four offensive rating

801
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:50,080
Speaker 1: in their five game streak. Anthony Edwards has gone up

802
00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:53,200
Speaker 1: a massive level as a rim finisher this year. He's

803
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:56,080
Speaker 1: getting there more often than he did last year, and

804
00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:58,680
Speaker 1: he's finishing at by far the best rate of his

805
00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:02,680
Speaker 1: career sixty eight percent at the rim as Anthony Edwards

806
00:41:02,719 --> 00:41:05,400
Speaker 1: this year fueled by him making a much higher percentage

807
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,440
Speaker 1: of his layups than he has in previous seasons in

808
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:11,359
Speaker 1: his career. He's just so much better at slowing down

809
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:15,239
Speaker 1: and like letting things develop on his drives. He used

810
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:17,920
Speaker 1: to just be shot out of a cannon every time

811
00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:19,839
Speaker 1: and he would miss layups as he's just going full

812
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:23,680
Speaker 1: speed downhill into traffic. Now he's like hitting a hesitation

813
00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:25,760
Speaker 1: dribble in the middle of the floor, kind of waiting

814
00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:28,279
Speaker 1: to see how the defense to react, seeing where the

815
00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:31,239
Speaker 1: seam is before he hits it, or he'll hit a

816
00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:33,919
Speaker 1: slow down step to wait for a defender to run

817
00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:37,120
Speaker 1: by him or for a rim protector to jump and

818
00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:39,440
Speaker 1: then come back to the ground. He's just taken a

819
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,360
Speaker 1: leap with his rim reads that has made him so

820
00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:44,839
Speaker 1: much more effective at the basket. And it's flying under

821
00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:47,480
Speaker 1: the radar because of how good shay Luka, Jannis and

822
00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:50,200
Speaker 1: Jokic have been. But Ant has also taken a big

823
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:52,840
Speaker 1: leap this year and is scoring and efficiency, and his

824
00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:56,200
Speaker 1: volume and efficiency have both gone up a significant chunk.

825
00:41:56,440 --> 00:41:58,839
Speaker 1: You combine that with Jane McDaniels, who's taken a leap

826
00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:02,000
Speaker 1: on offense that really started the playoffs last year. Julius

827
00:42:02,160 --> 00:42:04,520
Speaker 1: Randall's been awesome. Nas Reed's been excellent. He was great

828
00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:06,839
Speaker 1: in that Clippers game. Dante de Vincenzo's shooting the ball

829
00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:10,920
Speaker 1: really well. Their offense is cooking, and yeah, their defense

830
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:13,760
Speaker 1: has left a lot to be desired through inconsistent effort

831
00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:16,319
Speaker 1: and some of their specific lineups that struggled to guard.

832
00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:19,520
Speaker 1: But they're top seven in defense in both fourth quarters

833
00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:22,719
Speaker 1: and in clutch situations, so they've still shown the ability

834
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,040
Speaker 1: to hit that extra gear when they need to to

835
00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:29,359
Speaker 1: win games. I think we're all under rating Minnesota again

836
00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:32,080
Speaker 1: this year. I view them as every bit the Punchers

837
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:33,759
Speaker 1: chance threat that they were to win the title in

838
00:42:33,800 --> 00:42:36,719
Speaker 1: each of the last two seasons, as they demonstrated in

839
00:42:36,760 --> 00:42:40,720
Speaker 1: their Western Conference Finals runs number six. The Houston Rockets

840
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:42,799
Speaker 1: currently plus one thousand to win the title on hard

841
00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:45,400
Speaker 1: Rock Bet two and two week took a tough loss

842
00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:47,279
Speaker 1: in Utah where they were super sloppy down the stretch.

843
00:42:47,320 --> 00:42:49,040
Speaker 1: They couldn't stop fouling. They had a possession where I

844
00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:51,920
Speaker 1: think they committed five fouls before getting the ball back

845
00:42:51,920 --> 00:42:55,200
Speaker 1: in crunch time. Some miss layups and turnovers on the

846
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:56,960
Speaker 1: other end in that one too, Shangun missed a couple

847
00:42:57,000 --> 00:42:59,160
Speaker 1: of bunnies. Just a bad night. It happens in the NBA.

848
00:42:59,239 --> 00:43:02,560
Speaker 1: Whatever they BEATU Recremento had a super impressive win against

849
00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:04,920
Speaker 1: this very good Suns team. Shangun was out with an

850
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:07,960
Speaker 1: illness and a men Thompson and kd just were awesome

851
00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:10,120
Speaker 1: from start to finish. They controlled the Suns from the start.

852
00:43:10,160 --> 00:43:12,040
Speaker 1: That was a really good win for them. Then they

853
00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:13,759
Speaker 1: lost a tough game on the road in Dallas, where

854
00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:15,600
Speaker 1: I think they really felt the loss of Shangun and

855
00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:18,960
Speaker 1: the MAVs. They're playing good basketball. I know they got

856
00:43:18,960 --> 00:43:21,160
Speaker 1: their buts kicked by OKC, but they've won most of

857
00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:24,040
Speaker 1: their games around that, which is again a testament to

858
00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:26,359
Speaker 1: just how good Oklahoma City is. But that's a tough

859
00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:27,960
Speaker 1: one to win on the road without shangu and they

860
00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,320
Speaker 1: ended up dropping that one. Kadi and a Men Thompson

861
00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:33,480
Speaker 1: last week fifty eight points, twelve rebounds and tennis sis

862
00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:36,560
Speaker 1: per game between the two. Just a really fun give

863
00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:39,560
Speaker 1: and take to watch them with Shangoon out of the lineup.

864
00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:42,799
Speaker 1: A light schedule over the next two weeks, but a

865
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:45,800
Speaker 1: tough one, A light in terms of volume I ME

866
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:47,719
Speaker 1: and they only have five games total in the next

867
00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:51,320
Speaker 1: fourteen days, which is wild. They have played the fewest

868
00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:54,520
Speaker 1: games in the league so far, only twenty one, but

869
00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:57,520
Speaker 1: they also play only five times in the next fourteen days.

870
00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:01,400
Speaker 1: It's kind of a bizarre set, but two games on

871
00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:03,680
Speaker 1: the road against Denver in that set, so a couple

872
00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:08,160
Speaker 1: of fun ones there to watch, and the schedules insane.

873
00:44:08,239 --> 00:44:10,799
Speaker 1: Once they get to January, they have seventeen games they

874
00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:14,280
Speaker 1: play basically every other night, plus three back to backs,

875
00:44:14,760 --> 00:44:17,279
Speaker 1: so the schedule will end up balancing out in a

876
00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:19,600
Speaker 1: bad way for Houston when they get to January. That's

877
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:23,799
Speaker 1: when their depth and their health will be tested. Number five.

878
00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:26,359
Speaker 1: The New York Knicks currently plus fifteen hundred to win

879
00:44:26,400 --> 00:44:28,600
Speaker 1: the title on hard Rock Bet. They are three to

880
00:44:28,680 --> 00:44:30,560
Speaker 1: zero since the bad loss to Boston where all their

881
00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:32,920
Speaker 1: weaknesses were on display, a couple easy ones against Charlotte

882
00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:35,000
Speaker 1: and Utah, but then a slug fest of a win

883
00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:37,799
Speaker 1: against the Orlando Magic yesterday. Very good to have og

884
00:44:37,920 --> 00:44:40,719
Speaker 1: and Andobi back. You can literally see how important he

885
00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:43,839
Speaker 1: is to their defense. It's just you need to have

886
00:44:44,000 --> 00:44:48,000
Speaker 1: him and McHale really flying around to account for the

887
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:51,840
Speaker 1: mistakes that Cat makes and the physical limitations of Jalen Brunson.

888
00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:54,680
Speaker 1: And it's just been apparent every time I watch them,

889
00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:57,000
Speaker 1: and it's in the numbers as well. They're twelve points

890
00:44:57,040 --> 00:45:01,080
Speaker 1: better per one hundred possessions on defense with Ognanobi on

891
00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:03,960
Speaker 1: the floor versus off the floor. They're a great defense

892
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:06,040
Speaker 1: with them on and a bad defense with him off.

893
00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:07,800
Speaker 1: It's been one of the big stories of this season

894
00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:10,600
Speaker 1: for them. It's just important that they have him out there.

895
00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:12,600
Speaker 1: With Michale. They've won seven out of eight their top

896
00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:16,600
Speaker 1: five in offense, defense and rebounding in that span. Townsend

897
00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:18,560
Speaker 1: Brunson have both been great on offense. In that stretch,

898
00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:20,560
Speaker 1: Josh Hart's playing some of the best basketball of his career.

899
00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:23,160
Speaker 1: He's averaging sixteen points, ten rebounds, and six assists per

900
00:45:23,200 --> 00:45:26,239
Speaker 1: game in that span, killing teams for helping off of

901
00:45:26,280 --> 00:45:28,280
Speaker 1: him or for putting centers on him. He's hitting threes

902
00:45:28,320 --> 00:45:30,800
Speaker 1: at a high rate, he's cutting, he's grabbing offensive rebounds,

903
00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:33,719
Speaker 1: just doing a lot of damage there. Similar to the Lakers,

904
00:45:34,440 --> 00:45:36,680
Speaker 1: they're just the one thing that's missing with them is

905
00:45:36,680 --> 00:45:39,759
Speaker 1: that signature win that like, no one's gonna take the

906
00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:43,560
Speaker 1: Lakers or the Knicks seriously until they go up against

907
00:45:43,600 --> 00:45:46,479
Speaker 1: one of the top tier contenders and just beat them.

908
00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:50,560
Speaker 1: It's just there's too much lingering baggage from their playoff

909
00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:53,480
Speaker 1: issues in recent seasons for both teams for them to

910
00:45:53,520 --> 00:45:57,239
Speaker 1: get the respect as a legitimate championship contender until they

911
00:45:57,280 --> 00:45:59,360
Speaker 1: go and beat one of these top teams in the league,

912
00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:02,279
Speaker 1: and they're gonna plenty of opportunities over the course of

913
00:46:02,320 --> 00:46:04,279
Speaker 1: the rest of the season. The difference though, between the

914
00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:07,400
Speaker 1: Knicks and the Lakers, for example, is the East is

915
00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:11,319
Speaker 1: wide open. Like if the season ended today for me

916
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:13,239
Speaker 1: with the Lakers, I have them, I don't even have

917
00:46:13,320 --> 00:46:15,360
Speaker 1: them in the top tier in the West. I have

918
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:17,759
Speaker 1: them in that second tier with Minnesota and San Antonio.

919
00:46:18,239 --> 00:46:20,080
Speaker 1: If the season were to end today and I had

920
00:46:20,120 --> 00:46:23,160
Speaker 1: to pick someone to win the East, to me, it's

921
00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:27,719
Speaker 1: like fifty to fifty between Detroit and New York, with

922
00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:29,759
Speaker 1: Boston hot on their heels because we just don't know

923
00:46:29,800 --> 00:46:32,560
Speaker 1: what deals they're going to make at the deadline. But like,

924
00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:37,319
Speaker 1: I mean, you could, because Detroit's so young, and because

925
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:38,960
Speaker 1: the Knicks beat them in the playoffs last year, you

926
00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:41,840
Speaker 1: could talk me into the Knicks just being the East favorite.

927
00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:47,040
Speaker 1: Right now, I'd probably lean very slightly towards Detroit, But like,

928
00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:49,319
Speaker 1: like that's the thing that's different. With how open the

929
00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:52,840
Speaker 1: East is, even with the Knicks issues, they very easily

930
00:46:52,880 --> 00:46:55,839
Speaker 1: could win this conference. And that's why. If they can

931
00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:57,799
Speaker 1: clean some of this stuff up, they just become so

932
00:46:57,880 --> 00:46:59,560
Speaker 1: much more of a threat. But again, I think for

933
00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:01,480
Speaker 1: everybody to take them seriously, they're gonna have to have

934
00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:03,799
Speaker 1: a signature win at some point. Number four the Los

935
00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:06,200
Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers plus thirteen hundred to win the title, according

936
00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:07,880
Speaker 1: to hard Rock Bet. Once again, we hit them in

937
00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:09,439
Speaker 1: a segment earlier in the show, So I'm not gonna

938
00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:11,560
Speaker 1: stay here long, but This team is hitting all the

939
00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:15,360
Speaker 1: major checkpoints for championship contention. They seem to have excellent

940
00:47:15,440 --> 00:47:18,040
Speaker 1: chemistry and vibes around the team. They haven't lost two

941
00:47:18,040 --> 00:47:20,280
Speaker 1: games in a row yet, they're excellent on the road,

942
00:47:20,719 --> 00:47:22,640
Speaker 1: and they have a legit top tier superstar. That's one

943
00:47:22,680 --> 00:47:24,440
Speaker 1: of the big differences between them and the Knicks. Like

944
00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:28,160
Speaker 1: Luca was bad by his standards in the Suns game

945
00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:32,359
Speaker 1: and in that game yesterday in Philly, and yet in

946
00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:35,040
Speaker 1: those two games he averaged thirty five points, thirteen rebounds,

947
00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:38,080
Speaker 1: and eight assists on a fish and shooting. That's the

948
00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:41,000
Speaker 1: difference between the top tier guys and the next tier

949
00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:43,080
Speaker 1: of guys. They just somehow find a way to be

950
00:47:43,120 --> 00:47:46,640
Speaker 1: effective even when they're not at their best. And you know,

951
00:47:46,760 --> 00:47:49,040
Speaker 1: that's just a testament to how great Luca is. But again,

952
00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:50,760
Speaker 1: similar to New York, I think they need a signature

953
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:53,120
Speaker 1: win to get everyone to really believe they can compete

954
00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:55,279
Speaker 1: at the highest levels, and they're gonna have a great

955
00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:57,560
Speaker 1: chance to do so this week. You beat San Antonio

956
00:47:57,600 --> 00:47:59,719
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, you got a date with Oklahoma City on

957
00:47:59,680 --> 00:48:02,480
Speaker 1: Saturday night. That would be an awesome opportunity for the

958
00:48:02,560 --> 00:48:05,759
Speaker 1: Lakers to demonstrate that They are a dead serious championship

959
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:09,040
Speaker 1: contender in this league. Go beat Oklahoma City, Go compete

960
00:48:09,040 --> 00:48:12,240
Speaker 1: with Oklahoma City. Show that you can play with those guys.

961
00:48:13,520 --> 00:48:15,880
Speaker 1: Number three, the Denver Nuggets currently plus six hundred to

962
00:48:15,880 --> 00:48:18,239
Speaker 1: win the title according to hard Rock Back, currently sitting

963
00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:21,080
Speaker 1: at seventeen and six, which is the best start in

964
00:48:21,120 --> 00:48:24,839
Speaker 1: franchise history. They won their eighth, ninth, and tenth consecutive

965
00:48:24,920 --> 00:48:28,080
Speaker 1: road games this week, including a super impressive road win

966
00:48:28,600 --> 00:48:31,319
Speaker 1: in Atlanta against the Hawks. Jamal Murray is the guy

967
00:48:31,360 --> 00:48:32,920
Speaker 1: I want to hit on in this segment, just in

968
00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:36,200
Speaker 1: a really special zone in his last seven games, thirty points,

969
00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:40,760
Speaker 1: four rebounds, seven assists, fifty seven percent from the field,

970
00:48:41,120 --> 00:48:44,400
Speaker 1: sixty one percent from three to eighty nine percent from

971
00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:48,000
Speaker 1: the line, seventy two percent in true shooting percentage, and

972
00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:49,560
Speaker 1: I have to take a victory lap year. I'm going

973
00:48:49,600 --> 00:48:51,959
Speaker 1: to get into this more when we get into our

974
00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:54,240
Speaker 1: show on Friday where we go over my summer predictions.

975
00:48:54,239 --> 00:48:55,320
Speaker 1: But this is one of the ones that I was

976
00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:58,200
Speaker 1: right about. I got eviscerated this summer for saying that

977
00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:00,360
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray was one of the twenty five best in

978
00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:03,640
Speaker 1: the league, and my thought process there was just after

979
00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:05,960
Speaker 1: the trades and the signings. I just thought he'd come

980
00:49:05,960 --> 00:49:08,680
Speaker 1: in locked in because he'd see the opportunity they have

981
00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:10,879
Speaker 1: to win the title, and he's not exactly that. He's

982
00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:12,640
Speaker 1: come into the season in the best shape he has

983
00:49:12,680 --> 00:49:16,319
Speaker 1: in years. He's been excellent from the start. He's very

984
00:49:16,480 --> 00:49:18,480
Speaker 1: clearly to me one of the twenty five best players

985
00:49:18,480 --> 00:49:20,160
Speaker 1: in the league to start the season, and I think

986
00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:22,080
Speaker 1: he's going to be the first one of Jokiic's teammates

987
00:49:22,080 --> 00:49:24,160
Speaker 1: to make an All Star team. So shout out to

988
00:49:24,239 --> 00:49:27,240
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray. Awesome couple of weeks from him. The Nuggets

989
00:49:27,280 --> 00:49:29,640
Speaker 1: have won four out of five, which is super impressive

990
00:49:29,640 --> 00:49:32,560
Speaker 1: when you consider their down two starters and two very

991
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:36,080
Speaker 1: very important starters to their defense, which obviously has been

992
00:49:36,280 --> 00:49:38,880
Speaker 1: a troublesom over the course of the last couple of weeks.

993
00:49:40,160 --> 00:49:42,759
Speaker 1: Number two, the Detroit Pistons currently plus two thousand to

994
00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:44,920
Speaker 1: win the title on hard Rock Bet another three in

995
00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:46,799
Speaker 1: one week. They took a bad loss to the Bucks

996
00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:49,320
Speaker 1: without Giannis, but they did get revenge for that on Saturday,

997
00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:51,640
Speaker 1: won a really fun game against the Blazers on Friday,

998
00:49:51,680 --> 00:49:54,000
Speaker 1: where Duncan Robinson ended up hitting a monster three. On

999
00:49:54,040 --> 00:49:57,200
Speaker 1: the right wing that ice the game. Winning those close

1000
00:49:57,239 --> 00:50:00,560
Speaker 1: games has been the biggest difference between last Year'ston's team

1001
00:50:00,719 --> 00:50:03,600
Speaker 1: and this year's Pistons team. Last year, the Pistons were

1002
00:50:03,600 --> 00:50:06,600
Speaker 1: twenty one and twenty three in clutch games below five

1003
00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:10,000
Speaker 1: hundred thirty, bad on both ends of the floor. This year,

1004
00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:14,600
Speaker 1: they have a league best thirteen clutch wins, thirteen and

1005
00:50:14,719 --> 00:50:18,120
Speaker 1: four overall and seventeen clutch games excellent on both ends

1006
00:50:18,120 --> 00:50:21,160
Speaker 1: of the floor. Won thirty offensive rating, one h two

1007
00:50:21,360 --> 00:50:25,279
Speaker 1: defensive rating. They are grabbing forty three percent of their

1008
00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:28,239
Speaker 1: own misses, which is an insane number. We talked last

1009
00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:30,080
Speaker 1: week about how good Shay's been in the clutch, and

1010
00:50:30,160 --> 00:50:32,359
Speaker 1: Kaid's been right there with him. He's twenty four for

1011
00:50:32,360 --> 00:50:35,080
Speaker 1: forty five from the field on fifty three percent shooting.

1012
00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:40,640
Speaker 1: That's insane in crunch time. That's basically right where Shay

1013
00:50:40,760 --> 00:50:42,799
Speaker 1: is at in the same kind of volume, same kind

1014
00:50:42,800 --> 00:50:46,200
Speaker 1: of efficiency. Asar Thompson and Jalen Duran are killing teams

1015
00:50:46,200 --> 00:50:48,400
Speaker 1: on the offensive glass at the end of games. I

1016
00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:50,759
Speaker 1: think they have ten clutch offensive rebounds just between the

1017
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:54,120
Speaker 1: two of them. Tobias Harris, Karris Lavert, Duncan Robinson They've

1018
00:50:54,160 --> 00:50:56,600
Speaker 1: all hit big shots. Danis Jenkins sent a game to

1019
00:50:56,680 --> 00:50:58,719
Speaker 1: overtime with a big shot. They're just all hitting big

1020
00:50:58,760 --> 00:51:01,759
Speaker 1: shots and they're converting the those close games and it's

1021
00:51:01,840 --> 00:51:05,840
Speaker 1: driving their record. As we have the Pistons at number

1022
00:51:05,840 --> 00:51:09,760
Speaker 1: two and then lastly today number one, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

1023
00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:12,680
Speaker 1: This is very interesting. They were plus one point eighty

1024
00:51:12,760 --> 00:51:14,520
Speaker 1: to win the title for hard Rock Bet last week,

1025
00:51:14,520 --> 00:51:16,919
Speaker 1: all the way up to plus one forty five. Really

1026
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:20,920
Speaker 1: starting to gain some momentum in the odds there in

1027
00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:24,400
Speaker 1: the lines there. Another week means another undefeated week for

1028
00:51:24,440 --> 00:51:27,160
Speaker 1: the Thunder. Just an absolute machine. No Shay, no Hartenstein,

1029
00:51:27,200 --> 00:51:29,480
Speaker 1: no Dort on the road in Utah and they just

1030
00:51:29,560 --> 00:51:31,880
Speaker 1: like jump them right out the gates. They go up

1031
00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:33,680
Speaker 1: by twenty seven points in the first quarter. Just a

1032
00:51:33,760 --> 00:51:37,200
Speaker 1: ridiculous team. I watched their win against Dallas, and I

1033
00:51:37,239 --> 00:51:39,560
Speaker 1: thought they put together one of their best offensive halves

1034
00:51:39,560 --> 00:51:42,680
Speaker 1: i've seen them play. In that second half against Dallas,

1035
00:51:43,040 --> 00:51:46,360
Speaker 1: Shae J. Dub and AJ Mitchell just put such insane

1036
00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:48,480
Speaker 1: pressure on the rim with their drives. I left that

1037
00:51:48,600 --> 00:51:52,799
Speaker 1: game thinking this might be the best duo of drivers

1038
00:51:52,800 --> 00:51:55,560
Speaker 1: to the basket that I've seen since Lebron James and

1039
00:51:55,640 --> 00:51:58,960
Speaker 1: Dwayne Wade in the early twenty tens. Shay and j

1040
00:51:59,080 --> 00:52:02,520
Speaker 1: Dubb in particular, they're just relentless beating that first line

1041
00:52:02,520 --> 00:52:04,840
Speaker 1: of the defense and getting into the paint and everything

1042
00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:08,080
Speaker 1: good comes from there. They're seemingly always making the right

1043
00:52:08,160 --> 00:52:11,080
Speaker 1: reads and as you saw in that second alfaganst Dallas

1044
00:52:11,080 --> 00:52:13,040
Speaker 1: like they get good looks, they're knocking them down. They're

1045
00:52:13,040 --> 00:52:15,560
Speaker 1: shooting forty three percent this season on unguarded catch and

1046
00:52:15,560 --> 00:52:19,160
Speaker 1: shoot threes. That's fifth in the entire NBA. They're just

1047
00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:21,000
Speaker 1: one of the best shooting teams in the league too. Now,

1048
00:52:21,120 --> 00:52:24,000
Speaker 1: so just get used to that. That's the reality. I

1049
00:52:24,040 --> 00:52:25,760
Speaker 1: have a feeling that by the time we get to July,

1050
00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:28,480
Speaker 1: we'll be discussing this Thunder team as one of the

1051
00:52:28,520 --> 00:52:31,600
Speaker 1: greatest teams ever play in the NBA. That's how special

1052
00:52:31,640 --> 00:52:35,400
Speaker 1: of a level they've reached. And it's everyone, even their benches,

1053
00:52:35,400 --> 00:52:37,920
Speaker 1: annihilating people. I'm gonna leave you guys today with this

1054
00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:41,319
Speaker 1: stat which is maybe the craziest stat I can ever

1055
00:52:41,360 --> 00:52:45,759
Speaker 1: remember seeing with an NBA team. The Yoklahoma City Thunder

1056
00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:49,560
Speaker 1: are outscoring opponents by sixteen point two points per one

1057
00:52:49,640 --> 00:52:53,440
Speaker 1: hundred possessions with shake kills as Alexander off the floor

1058
00:52:53,520 --> 00:52:58,080
Speaker 1: this season in six hundred and sixty possessions. It's pretty

1059
00:52:58,120 --> 00:53:02,120
Speaker 1: substantial sample size. That net rating plus sixteen point two

1060
00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:05,600
Speaker 1: would be the best net rating in the entire NBA

1061
00:53:05,719 --> 00:53:08,520
Speaker 1: this season, better than any of the other teams in

1062
00:53:08,560 --> 00:53:13,640
Speaker 1: the league. For one last bit of perspective, let's compare

1063
00:53:13,680 --> 00:53:15,960
Speaker 1: that to a team that is actually considered to be

1064
00:53:16,000 --> 00:53:18,800
Speaker 1: the best basketball team ever by most folks, the twenty

1065
00:53:18,880 --> 00:53:23,319
Speaker 1: seventeen Warriors. The twenty seventeen Warriors with Steph Curry off

1066
00:53:23,320 --> 00:53:28,040
Speaker 1: the floor plus zero point two points per one hundred possessions.

1067
00:53:29,239 --> 00:53:33,080
Speaker 1: They were dominant, but they were only dominant with Steph.

1068
00:53:33,280 --> 00:53:37,040
Speaker 1: This thunder team is on pace for the most incredible

1069
00:53:37,080 --> 00:53:41,080
Speaker 1: demonstration of organizational excellence from the top down in the

1070
00:53:41,120 --> 00:53:43,520
Speaker 1: history of the NBA. That's what they have the ability

1071
00:53:43,560 --> 00:53:45,480
Speaker 1: to accomplish this season. If they can close the deal

1072
00:53:45,520 --> 00:53:48,640
Speaker 1: all the way through mid June. They are boat racing

1073
00:53:48,719 --> 00:53:54,160
Speaker 1: teams without their best player boat racing them. It's unbelievable.

1074
00:53:54,440 --> 00:53:56,520
Speaker 1: It's again, that's one of the wildest stats I can

1075
00:53:56,560 --> 00:53:59,359
Speaker 1: ever remember seeing about an NBA team. All right, guys,

1076
00:53:59,400 --> 00:54:01,040
Speaker 1: that's all I have for today As always to sincerely

1077
00:54:01,080 --> 00:54:04,040
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show. Again.

1078
00:54:04,120 --> 00:54:06,600
Speaker 1: No show tomorrow, but we'll be back on Wednesday twice.

1079
00:54:06,680 --> 00:54:09,160
Speaker 1: Wednesday morning to cover the Tuesday night in season tournament

1080
00:54:09,200 --> 00:54:11,160
Speaker 1: games and then Wednesday night to cover the Wednesday night

1081
00:54:11,239 --> 00:54:14,000
Speaker 1: in season tournament games, and we'll be off again on Thursday.

1082
00:54:14,360 --> 00:54:17,360
Speaker 1: Friday morning will go over all my preseason predictions, and

1083
00:54:17,400 --> 00:54:20,319
Speaker 1: then Saturday night, after the semi finals of the n

1084
00:54:20,320 --> 00:54:22,359
Speaker 1: season tournament, will be live on YouTube again. As always,

1085
00:54:22,400 --> 00:54:24,600
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show.

1086
00:54:24,800 --> 00:54:26,320
Speaker 1: I'll see you guys on Wednesday morning.