Speaker 1: All right, welcome to Hoops to night here at the Volume.
Speaker 1: Happy Monday, everybody. I hope all of you guys had
Speaker 1: a great weekend. We have finally made it to the
Speaker 1: NBA Playoffs, my favorite time of year. For basically every
Speaker 1: night over the next two months or so, we're gonna
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to watch the best basketball players in
Speaker 1: the world play incredibly intense and high stakes games, which
Speaker 1: just leads to incredible basketball and that's why I love
Speaker 1: it so much. We have a very busy week for
Speaker 1: those are guys who missed it. Last night, we went
Speaker 1: forty plus minutes with Colin Coward talking some big picture
Speaker 1: NBA Playoff topics. Today we're gonna be covering the play
Speaker 1: in games, previewing the seven eight matchups in both conferences,
Speaker 1: So we're gonna talk Lakers, Wolves, and Heat Hawks, and
Speaker 1: then brief mentions of the back end of the play
Speaker 1: in tournament. And then throughout this week, pay close attention
Speaker 1: to the feeds because I'm gonna be really seeing eight
Speaker 1: different videos breaking down all eight of the NBA Playoff
Speaker 1: series on every level, the schematics, the xs and o's,
Speaker 1: and the matchups and everything that I expect to see
Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor in those series, just
Speaker 1: like we did last year. And then Tuesday night we'll
Speaker 1: be doing an instant reaction video after the two seven
Speaker 1: eight games. Thursday, we're gonna be doing a playoff preview
Speaker 1: episode where we talk about major big picture predictions and
Speaker 1: storylines with Carson. And then starting Saturday, every single night
Speaker 1: that there are games, we will be covering and breaking
Speaker 1: down those games, and it'll be a similar cadence to
Speaker 1: last year. At the start of the video will do
Speaker 1: instant reactions, and then the second half of the video
Speaker 1: will do deep dives into my film sessions from the
Speaker 1: morning after the games, which are where I get to
Speaker 1: learn the most about some of the schematic things that
Speaker 1: are taking place. So this is that crazy time of year.
Speaker 1: For the next couple of months, we're gonna have videos
Speaker 1: coming out, sometimes multiple almost every single day, So keep
Speaker 1: an eye on the feeds. You guys know the joke
Speaker 1: before we get started it subscribed to the Volumes YouTube
Speaker 1: channel so you don't miss any more of our videos.
Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you
Speaker 1: guys don't miss any show announcements, and for whatever reason
Speaker 1: you guys miss one of these videos and you can't
Speaker 1: get back over to YouTube. You can always find these
Speaker 1: videos wherever you get your podcasts. Under Hoops Tonight, All right,
Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So Wolves Lakers on Tuesday. A
Speaker 1: couple quick notes on the game. The Lakers are a
Speaker 1: seven and a half point favorite right now on FanDuel.
Speaker 1: Minnesota won the season series two to one. However, the
Speaker 1: only Lakers win was the only time post deadline that
Speaker 1: both Lebron James and Anthony Davis played a little over
Speaker 1: a week ago, a double digit win on the road
Speaker 1: in Minnesota. And we found out this morning that not
Speaker 1: only will Jaden McDaniels be out from the bizarre wall
Speaker 1: punching situation, but Rudy Gobert will also be suspended for
Speaker 1: just this game, expecting him to return should they lose
Speaker 1: in the second playing game or if they win in
Speaker 1: the seven two series, but he will not be playing
Speaker 1: on Tuesday night in Los Angeles did not even travel
Speaker 1: with the team. Jaden McDaniels is a massive loss. He's
Speaker 1: one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, looking
Speaker 1: to rest that title away from the likes of Andrew
Speaker 1: Wiggins and Jason Tatum and some of the guys that
Speaker 1: talked about last season, and he's been doing a number
Speaker 1: on Stars all season long. This is crazy. In his
Speaker 1: last matchup with Steph, he held him to twenty points
Speaker 1: on twenty three shots, in his last matchup with Kad
Speaker 1: he held him to sixteen points on eighteen shots, and
Speaker 1: in his last matchup with Lebron he held him to
Speaker 1: eighteen points on nineteen shots. So in his last three
Speaker 1: matchups with Steph, Katie and Lebron he held him to
Speaker 1: fifty four points on sixty shots, which is just insane
Speaker 1: defensive effectiveness from Jade McDaniels. So taking him out of
Speaker 1: the picture and replacing him with someone like Torrian Prince,
Speaker 1: who's a good basketball player, but Torrian Prince is a
Speaker 1: guy that Lebron James has consistently dominated throughout his career.
Speaker 1: So switching from McDaniels on Lebron to Torrian Prince on Lebron,
Speaker 1: that's a huge swing factor in a game like this.
Speaker 1: And then on the go bare front again like this
Speaker 1: is this is complicated. Gobert is a good player. As
Speaker 1: much as we like to make fun of him, Gobert
Speaker 1: is a good player. And obviously the Wolves are a
Speaker 1: better team when Rudy Gobert is out there, But I
Speaker 1: do think that the Lakers are a much better team overall,
Speaker 1: and the Wolves need to create a weird environment, any
Speaker 1: different type of game to win this game, and so
Speaker 1: their best bet, in my opinion, is an unorthodox type
Speaker 1: of game where you're doing a lot more switching, you're
Speaker 1: playing a lot more five out offensively, in generating an
Speaker 1: environment where Aunt can be very comfortable because their best
Speaker 1: chance to win is just an otherworldly effort from Anthony Edwards.
Speaker 1: So even though in like a larger sample size, I
Speaker 1: think Gobert kind of makes you a better team in
Speaker 1: this matchup, obviously with what he brings to the table
Speaker 1: defensively and on the offensive glass and things along those lines.
Speaker 1: For a one game sample against a much better team,
Speaker 1: I actually think Gobert being out kind of creates the
Speaker 1: type of weird environment that could cultivate an upset in
Speaker 1: a single game sample. But Lakers are the better team.
Speaker 1: They're much better defensive team, and they're much better offensive
Speaker 1: team post headline, they have better superstars, they're at home,
Speaker 1: and then without Jade McDaniels and nas Read and Go Bear,
Speaker 1: they're just not very deep. They're not deep enough to
Speaker 1: hang with this team. And most importantly, Lebron James and
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis just have more big game experience. Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know the Wolves have played in this type of
Speaker 1: seven eight game and won before. They won last year,
Speaker 1: but the Lakers did the same thing the year before,
Speaker 1: and they've just Lebron James and Anthony Davis in their
Speaker 1: career have just played in so many monumentally important, important games.
Speaker 1: They're going to be the more confident, more talented, and
Speaker 1: simply better team. So having Rudy Gobert out of the picture,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, kind of creates that bizarre set of
Speaker 1: circumstances that gives them actually a better chance for that
Speaker 1: miracle type of game. And Anthony Edwards, I mean, I
Speaker 1: thought I was so incredibly impressed by him last night.
Speaker 1: I've always said that I view Anthony Edwards as like
Speaker 1: guard Lebron, And the main reason that I say that
Speaker 1: they're not the same type of player. Obviously, and Lebron
Speaker 1: specifically as a playmaker, is just on a completely different
Speaker 1: stratosphere than Anthony Edwards will ever be able to get
Speaker 1: in my opinion, But where I see similarities is the
Speaker 1: way that at their position, their physical tools can be
Speaker 1: such a problem. There are a lot of athletic players
Speaker 1: in the league. There are not a lot of athletic
Speaker 1: players in the league that are as well rounded an
Speaker 1: athlete as Anthony Edwards in terms of overall size and strength,
Speaker 1: low center of gravity, lateral quickness, vertical pop all of
Speaker 1: the different things that you absolutely have to have to
Speaker 1: be a supreme athlete. Aunt Edwards is a ten out
Speaker 1: of ten on all of those And what that means
Speaker 1: is he's able to impact the game in a way
Speaker 1: that goes beyond what his shot result is. And I
Speaker 1: thought last night was a perfect example of that. Couldn't
Speaker 1: make a jumpshot to save his life. He was turning
Speaker 1: the basketball over. But through sheer force of will and athleticism.
Speaker 1: And by the way, Anthony Edwards is one of the
Speaker 1: best competitors that we have in the league right now,
Speaker 1: just in terms of his overall attitude and approach to
Speaker 1: the game. Just through sheer competitive will in athletic tools,
Speaker 1: he stole that game. Brandon Ingram was amazing in that
Speaker 1: game from the same point of polish, but Anthony Edwards
Speaker 1: won it with just sheer force of will and athleticism.
Speaker 1: That's been the thing that I always see get lost
Speaker 1: when we're evaluating players. You watch a guy like Lebron
Speaker 1: and you watch a guy like Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant's
Speaker 1: undeniably more polished, but Lebron James has had a more
Speaker 1: successful career because he has a more imposing competitive force
Speaker 1: of will, and he's just a much better all around
Speaker 1: athlete when you combine all of his attributes, and those
Speaker 1: sorts of things just come together in this stage in
Speaker 1: a way that's more reliable, in my opinion, than your
Speaker 1: ability to hit a pull up jump shot. A nightmare
Speaker 1: game for Anthony Edwards, but he made monumental defensive plays.
Speaker 1: He had thirteen rebounds, four steals, four blocks. One of
Speaker 1: the most incredible defensive plays I've ever seen a position
Speaker 1: a play where he's completely out of position and CJ.
Speaker 1: McCollum has a straight line drive going to the rim,
Speaker 1: goes up with two hands to dunk it. Anthony Edwards
Speaker 1: comes flying in out of the corner. His head is
Speaker 1: above the rim as he swats CJ out of existence
Speaker 1: and goes the other way, turns it over, but gets
Speaker 1: to the ball back and gets an and one. Again,
Speaker 1: just his overwhelming athletic gifts or what allow him to
Speaker 1: be impactful on a night and night out basis in
Speaker 1: a way that guys that are incredibly dependent on their
Speaker 1: skill set in how they can be a little bit
Speaker 1: more inconsistent and like again, I think he went eight
Speaker 1: for twenty one from the field in this game, and
Speaker 1: a big part of that was the fact that he
Speaker 1: was able to supplement his jump shooting by getting to
Speaker 1: the rim. I think he was three for eleven on
Speaker 1: jump shots, but he was able to get to the
Speaker 1: rim and make some shots, and he made some big
Speaker 1: shots down the stretch of this game. He is the
Speaker 1: key to them being able to win a one game
Speaker 1: sample against a much better team like the Lakers. Have
Speaker 1: him feel comfortable from the opening tip, have him feel
Speaker 1: like he's got more space to get to the rim
Speaker 1: when he starts generating drill penetration, the on ball defender
Speaker 1: will give him more space. That makes it so that
Speaker 1: his pull up threes are a higher quality shot. Again,
Speaker 1: it just is a better kind of like set of
Speaker 1: circumstances for Anthony Words to have a thirty five forty
Speaker 1: point night, which is what they're going to need to
Speaker 1: beat the Lakers, so that that's just basically a very
Speaker 1: long way of me saying I actually think Rudy Gobert
Speaker 1: being out kind of gives Minnesota a better chance in
Speaker 1: this one game, albeit you desperately need him. Should you
Speaker 1: win or should you get the eight seed for a
Speaker 1: playoff series? From a matchup perspective, judging from what we
Speaker 1: learned in that game a couple of Sundays ago or
Speaker 1: a couple of Fridays ago, I should say we know
Speaker 1: that with Gobert being off the floor, the Lakers are
Speaker 1: gonna try to put Anthony Davis on Kyle Anderson. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be their best bet to try to keep him
Speaker 1: around the basket to spite Rudy Gobert being off the floor.
Speaker 1: He still will be able to help there, but it's
Speaker 1: never quite the same as when a guy's in the
Speaker 1: dunker spot or rolling to the basket. It's easier to
Speaker 1: linger around the rim there than it is if he's
Speaker 1: kind of relocating around the perimeter, even if you're not
Speaker 1: guarding him on his spot up attempts, and Kyle Anderson
Speaker 1: can drive that close out and make little pop shots
Speaker 1: and floaters in the lane, so like it's a better
Speaker 1: it's a better spacing concept for Minnesota. But I do
Speaker 1: think Anthony Davis will guard Kyle Anderson whenever he's on
Speaker 1: the floor and linger around the basket as much as possible.
Speaker 1: I think they'll put Lebron James on Carl Towns and
Speaker 1: have him primarily just worry about him at the three
Speaker 1: point line. We noticed in the second half of their
Speaker 1: game against the Timberwolves a few fridays ago that they're
Speaker 1: gonna put Jared Vanderbilt on Anthony Edwards as much as
Speaker 1: they can, So wouldn't be surprised if you see Jared
Speaker 1: Vanderbilt on Aunt from the opening tip, and then I
Speaker 1: expect Austin Reeves to be guarding Mike Conley, and then
Speaker 1: Dennis Roder when he checks in the game, will guard
Speaker 1: Mike Conley. And I think they'll tuck DeAngelo Russell away
Speaker 1: on Torrian Prince. So I think we saw some of
Speaker 1: those matchups bear out in that second half against the Wolves. Again,
Speaker 1: it's always a little different because that was a bench
Speaker 1: group in that game with go bear off the floor,
Speaker 1: whereas this will be a starting group. But I think
Speaker 1: that's kind of the way that we're gonna see this shakedown.
Speaker 1: On the other end of the floor, I think you'll
Speaker 1: see Torrian Prince on Lebron James with some Kyle Anderson
Speaker 1: on Lebron James. But my guess is they'll put Kyle
Speaker 1: Anderson on Jared vander Built and try to get him
Speaker 1: as the guy who's going to be the hard double guy.
Speaker 1: Because in their last matchup, if you guys remember Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards or Anthony Davis, I should say just barbecued both
Speaker 1: go bear in Carl Towns, but especially Carl Towns in
Speaker 1: single coverage in the fourth quarter in the post, just
Speaker 1: regular post moves just was killing him. And we've also
Speaker 1: seen in four of Anthony Davis's last eight games him
Speaker 1: finished with less than twenty points because of teams aggressively
Speaker 1: doubling him and him struggling to handle that. So in
Speaker 1: this game, I expect the Timberwolves to hard double Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis as much as possible and do some doubling of
Speaker 1: Lebron as well. So from a matchup standpoint, you love
Speaker 1: to double team with length right because the way you
Speaker 1: beat double teams is by making kickout passes to shooters,
Speaker 1: specifically the right shooter that can beat the double team right,
Speaker 1: and if you pressure the ball that usually what they'll
Speaker 1: do on a double team is the guy they'll leave
Speaker 1: open is in the week side corner. And so the
Speaker 1: more you pressure the ball, that's a long pass. And
Speaker 1: if that has to be a looping pass over the
Speaker 1: top as opposed to a straight line pass in his chest,
Speaker 1: that buys you time to rotate out to the shooter.
Speaker 1: So doubling with a guy like Kyle Anderson, who's got
Speaker 1: super long arms in his excellent at getting deflections, that's
Speaker 1: the best way to try to make Lebron James and
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis feel uncomfortable in those double teams. So I
Speaker 1: think you'll put I think they'll end up putting Kyle
Speaker 1: Anderson on Jared Vanderbilt and using him as the aggressive
Speaker 1: double team guy. You'll see Torrian Prince on Lebron James,
Speaker 1: which is a matchup I really like for Lebron, And
Speaker 1: you'll see Carl Town's on Anthony Davis, which is a
Speaker 1: matchup I really like for Anthony Davis. So a big
Speaker 1: storyline in this game is going to be the ability
Speaker 1: for the Lakers to handle double teams, particularly of Anthony Davis.
Speaker 1: I expect Lebron James to handle it well. He has
Speaker 1: his entire career. Honestly, That's gonna be one of the
Speaker 1: biggest stories for the Lakers in this entire postseason run.
Speaker 1: It's how well Anthony Davis manages double teams. There's been
Speaker 1: a lot of thirty five and seventeen type games here
Speaker 1: down the stretch of the season, and then there's been
Speaker 1: a lot of like eighteen and eleven type games, And
Speaker 1: usually the difference between those two types of games is
Speaker 1: the way teams aggressively double team Anthony Davis in his
Speaker 1: inability to pass them out of those double teams to
Speaker 1: earn him single coverage opportunities. So that's the way I
Speaker 1: see the matchups breaking down. I think you'll see Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards start on D'Angelo Russell he did in the last game,
Speaker 1: and then I think you'll see Mike Conley start on
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves again. The goal for the Lakers in this
Speaker 1: game is going to be to keep Anthony Davis by
Speaker 1: the rim as much as possible. Their best bet there
Speaker 1: is Kyle Anderson that just by virtue of having Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis around the rim, it's gonna make things so much
Speaker 1: harder for Minnesota to score the basketball. That's one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why this is going to be such a
Speaker 1: tough game for the Wolves to win. I expect the
Speaker 1: Lakers to win relatively comfortably. I think they'll be up
Speaker 1: by about ten points throughout the game. The Lakers are
Speaker 1: not a team that likes to put teams away. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: It's kind of just part of the psyche of Lebron
Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis. As soon as they start to
Speaker 1: build a little bit of a margin, they relax, and unfortunately,
Speaker 1: teams just kind of linger around and then they put
Speaker 1: them away. And my guests, as the Lakers end up
Speaker 1: winning this game by somewhere between like Evan in thirteen points,
Speaker 1: you know, like hovering around ten, give or takers shot
Speaker 1: here or there. But again, they're best chance, Minnesota's best
Speaker 1: chance to win this game. It's just an otherworldly game
Speaker 1: from Anthony Edwards, red hot shooting from Carl Towns, Like,
Speaker 1: I think you need those two to combine for about
Speaker 1: sixty in order to have a chance to win this game.
Speaker 1: But it's certainly there, it's certainly on the table. That's
Speaker 1: always the case in a single game when you have
Speaker 1: a talent the likes of Anthony Edwards. But I do
Speaker 1: like this matchup for the Lakers. I think they'll be
Speaker 1: able to keep a d around the paint. I think
Speaker 1: Lebron James working against Tori and Prince demanding double teams
Speaker 1: is going to generate high quality shots all game. My
Speaker 1: guess is they double team Anthony Davis and he struggles
Speaker 1: with it again like he usually does. They end up
Speaker 1: running the offense through Lebron James in the post. That's
Speaker 1: what I expect to happen in this game. Again, single game,
Speaker 1: anything can happen, but I think the Lakers are going
Speaker 1: to win. All right. Let's move on to Atlanta Miami,
Speaker 1: So a couple game notes. Miami's a five point favorite.
Speaker 1: Miami won the season series three to one. To my knowledge,
Speaker 1: I tried to look up some injury reports today, but
Speaker 1: I think everyone is playing for both teams in this game.
Speaker 1: Kyle Lowry has been back in the lineup for the
Speaker 1: better part of a month now, and he's actually been
Speaker 1: helping them a lot as a playmaker, and he's been
Speaker 1: one of the plus minus heroes of the team since
Speaker 1: he returned. But he's been coming off the bench. If
Speaker 1: you look at the way that Miami has been building
Speaker 1: their rotation out, you can bet it's like a lot
Speaker 1: of teams that are in these middling areas of the standings,
Speaker 1: you know, the middle ten teams of the league, they
Speaker 1: don't really have a surefire five guys that they like
Speaker 1: to go to. Even the Lakers, like, yeah, it's de Low,
Speaker 1: and it's Austin, and it's Lebron Vanderbilt and a d
Speaker 1: But it's like on any given night, it might be
Speaker 1: Dennis instead of Delo or Dennis instead of Austin, and
Speaker 1: it might be Ruey instead of Jared, it might instead
Speaker 1: of Jared Vanderbilt, depending on what they need from that
Speaker 1: specific lineup in Miami's very similar. It's gonna be Bam,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be Jimmy, it's gonna be Tyler Harrow, and
Speaker 1: then you're probably gonna see Caleb Martin. He's been taking
Speaker 1: a lot of their primary point of attack assignments as
Speaker 1: of late. I expect him to guard Trey Young from
Speaker 1: the opening tip in this game, and then that fifth guy.
Speaker 1: It's just gonna be a question. It's just gonna be
Speaker 1: a question of what they need. Sometimes it's gonna be
Speaker 1: Max Struce when they're doing more switching. If Trey Young
Speaker 1: is trying to attack a lot in ISO, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: be surprised if they go with Gabe Vincent just because
Speaker 1: he's a little quicker. And then I wouldn't be surprised
Speaker 1: if you see Kyle Lowry in there in days where
Speaker 1: he's feeling well physically. It's it's gonna oscillate around. But
Speaker 1: I think when the chips are down, when they need
Speaker 1: stops in this game, down the stretch of games, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be Bam, it's gonna be Jimmy, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: Tyler Harrow, it's gonna be Caleb Martin, and then my
Speaker 1: guests will be they'll go down with Max Struce in
Speaker 1: a more switching approach. But we'll see they have been
Speaker 1: going back and forth a lot in that specific situation.
Speaker 1: Their last matchup with Atlanta, they were still playing Oladipo
Speaker 1: down the stretch and he's kind of fallen out of
Speaker 1: the crunch time rotation. So I don't expect that to
Speaker 1: be the case. They cat Caleb Martin Johnte Murray a
Speaker 1: little bit more because Victor Oladipo is out there, but
Speaker 1: then down the stretch they actually switch that in Caleb
Speaker 1: Martin guarded Trey. That's why I expect him to guard
Speaker 1: Trey in this game. Dejontay Murray's an interesting matchup because
Speaker 1: he's got a little bit of a higher release point
Speaker 1: than a lot of than a lot of the other
Speaker 1: like smaller guards in the league. He gets down to
Speaker 1: that fifteen footmark and he kind of pushes his release
Speaker 1: up higher and he can shoot over the top of teams.
Speaker 1: And so I wouldn't be surprised if over the course
Speaker 1: of that game, if they have to make an adjustment
Speaker 1: and they have to move Caleb Martin because he's taller
Speaker 1: and a better athlete, move him over to de Jontay
Speaker 1: Murray and have to find somebody to guard Trey Young.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be the trick. Now we know the way
Speaker 1: that they're going to guard these Atlanta Hawks high screens,
Speaker 1: and you know it's high pick and roll with Trey,
Speaker 1: but it's a lot of dribble handoffs and other off
Speaker 1: ball actions for dejon Day Murray. They like to aggressively switch,
Speaker 1: so it's like it's the difference between an aggressive switch
Speaker 1: and a passive switches. It almost looks like a blitz
Speaker 1: right Like, It's not like, Okay, I'm guarding that guy now.
Speaker 1: Bam wills almost close out, like hard close out to
Speaker 1: the perimeter as Trey or dejan is coming off that screen,
Speaker 1: which usually forces them into a retreat dribble. The advantage
Speaker 1: there is if you can force those guards into a
Speaker 1: retreat dribble so that they can reassess the switch, that
Speaker 1: gives you an opportunity to set your help defense in
Speaker 1: the background. Now. In their previous matchups this season, de
Speaker 1: Jontay Murray's actually had a good amount of success attacking
Speaker 1: Bam at a bio in those switches. He can beat
Speaker 1: him off the dribble. He can knock down those pull
Speaker 1: up jumpers over the top. Dejean Ty Murray's actually had
Speaker 1: some success there. Trey Young Miami has consistently had his number.
Speaker 1: He's shooting thirty six percent from the field against them
Speaker 1: this season, averaging over five turnovers per game. He usually
Speaker 1: struggles with those aggressive switches from bad But I think
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna see a lot of a lot
Speaker 1: of switching. I think you're gonna see a little bit
Speaker 1: more max strus because of the switching and his ability
Speaker 1: with his lower center of gravity and his big, strong
Speaker 1: size to box out guys like DeAndre Hunter, John Collins,
Speaker 1: and and Clint Capella. The more interesting thing to me
Speaker 1: is on the other end of the floor, how at
Speaker 1: Lanta is gonna guard Miami because we can count on
Speaker 1: we can count on Miami to figure it out. They've
Speaker 1: given Trey Young issues. Like we talked about, Spoilster is
Speaker 1: gonna mix in zone with his aggressive pick and roll coverages, right,
Speaker 1: so you're gonna see, You're gonna see like like they
Speaker 1: ran I think nine possessions the zone the last time
Speaker 1: they played the Hawks, and the Hawks actually played pretty
Speaker 1: well against their zone in that game. But it's more
Speaker 1: it's more of a rhythm disruptor. You just throw it
Speaker 1: in every once in a while and it just kind
Speaker 1: of gets you out of your groove that you're in.
Speaker 1: And with those aggressive switches, they kind of take them
Speaker 1: out of their pick and roll game and turn them
Speaker 1: into an ISO team. I think Miami's gonna have some
Speaker 1: success obviously with a team like Atlanta. They have so
Speaker 1: much offensive firepower that if they shoot well, obviously they
Speaker 1: can win. It's not that they don't have a chance.
Speaker 1: In fact, I think Atlanta has a much better chance
Speaker 1: against Miami than Minnesota does against the Lakers. I don't
Speaker 1: think that's much of a hot take, but I do
Speaker 1: think that it's advantaged Miami on the defensive end of
Speaker 1: the floor against Atlanta on the other end of the floor.
Speaker 1: The way that they guarded Miami last time is they
Speaker 1: tucked Trey Young on Tyler Harrow, which is kind of
Speaker 1: an interesting choice, right. They put DeAndre Hunter on Jimmy Butler,
Speaker 1: and they put Clint Capella on bam at a bio
Speaker 1: and they run drop coverage and they had a lot
Speaker 1: of success getting Jimmy Butler down in this. In the
Speaker 1: last matchup against each other, the game was actually tied
Speaker 1: at one thirteen in the middle of the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: and it was Jimmy pick and roll kick for three,
Speaker 1: Jimmy pick and roll kick for three, Jimmy pick and
Speaker 1: roll pull up jump shot, and the game was basically over.
Speaker 1: So they just spammed pick and roll and Lana was
Speaker 1: hesitant to switch, which Will allowed Jimmy Butler to get
Speaker 1: downhill against Clint Capella dropping way far back in his
Speaker 1: drop and then he's just making decisions because as Jimmy
Speaker 1: gets downhill like that, it's a natural inclination of the
Speaker 1: defense to kind of suck in, and that's when those
Speaker 1: shooting opportunities are there. As is the case with Miami
Speaker 1: a lot, their spot up shooting kind of dictates their outcomes.
Speaker 1: That if guys like Caleb Martin and Max Struce and
Speaker 1: Tyler Harre are hitting their threes, they can look like
Speaker 1: a dynamic offensive team behind the shot creation of Jimmy Butler.
Speaker 1: But you know, those guys can run hot and cold
Speaker 1: sometimes and that can be an issue for them. I
Speaker 1: would say the line feels right to me. Miami minus
Speaker 1: five feels right again. Atlanta has enough offensive firepower that
Speaker 1: if they shoot well, they can win. But Miami has
Speaker 1: the best player and Jimmy Butler. They have the best coach,
Speaker 1: buy a Mile and Eric Spoelstra, and I it's not
Speaker 1: the Quinn Snyder thing. I want to I want to
Speaker 1: see what he looks like when they overturn the roster
Speaker 1: this summer and they make some changes and have a
Speaker 1: whole training camp to institute stuff. I believe in Quinn
Speaker 1: Snyder and his in the way that he's optimizing these
Speaker 1: guys offensively by prioritizing spacing. But in this matchup, you're
Speaker 1: taking Eric Spolstra. He's gonna be better with the schematics,
Speaker 1: the adjustments, and understand how to win this one game
Speaker 1: sample size. Miami's also at home, and they fared well
Speaker 1: in this matchup for a while now, and so I
Speaker 1: think Miami will feel the most confident. So again, Atlanta
Speaker 1: has a better chance to win this game than say
Speaker 1: Minnesota does against the Lakers. But I think Miami makes sense.
Speaker 1: This is a five point favorite, and I believe they
Speaker 1: will win on their way to a series against the
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics. I'm not gonna dive too deep into the
Speaker 1: lower level playing games again, it's really this simple. I
Speaker 1: have to do eight series previews this week, so I've
Speaker 1: got a lot of film to watch, and I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna waste a bunch of time watching Thunder and Pelicans
Speaker 1: film when I don't think they're gonna factor in a
Speaker 1: big way into this playoff run. Right Like, I think
Speaker 1: I'd rather watch lots of footage on you know, Nick's
Speaker 1: calves for instance. Right, So, but my best guess is
Speaker 1: I think Toronto beat Chicago. Chicago's defense is awesome, but
Speaker 1: They're a little bit undersized on the perimeter. They're a
Speaker 1: perimeter defense, ball contained defense. In Toronto's a team that
Speaker 1: likes to ram it down your throat with big forwards
Speaker 1: to target your smaller guards. So I like that matchup
Speaker 1: for them in Toronto's at home, I do think Atlanta
Speaker 1: beats Toronto, though they've had their number all seasons, so
Speaker 1: I think we'll end up seeing Atlanta be that eight
Speaker 1: seed and then out West. I think the Pelicans win
Speaker 1: comfortably against okay See, they're good at home. They're just
Speaker 1: okay see, is another you know team that has a
Speaker 1: lot of ball handling and shooting. Like it's kind of
Speaker 1: like this shot creation contest right between Josh Giddy, Jalen
Speaker 1: Williams and Shay Gilders, Alexander versus Brandon Ingram CJ McCollum
Speaker 1: and Trey Murphy, right, And I just give a slight
Speaker 1: nod right now, especially with the length and athleticism they
Speaker 1: have defensively, I give a slight nod to the Pelicans,
Speaker 1: especially at home. Not to mention the Jonas valanciness element.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be able to generate some advantages inside against
Speaker 1: jay Lynn Williams he's gonna be the biggest player on
Speaker 1: the floor by a mile in this game. So I
Speaker 1: think the Pelicans went comfortably against Okay see. And then
Speaker 1: it's another coin flip game against Minnesota, and I think
Speaker 1: Aunt actually might be better than Ingram right now. Again,
Speaker 1: I know it sounds crazy to say, but especially in
Speaker 1: this type of game where the physicality and athleticism plays
Speaker 1: a bigger role, I actually like Aunt as the best
Speaker 1: player on the floor in this game. So I just
Speaker 1: give a slight nod to Minnesota. So my best guest
Speaker 1: right now, as I think the Lakers are gonna be
Speaker 1: the seventh seed in the West and the Wolves will
Speaker 1: be the eighth seed, and the Hawks will be the
Speaker 1: eight seed in the East, and the Heat will be
Speaker 1: the sevens. But again, these are single game samples. In
Speaker 1: a playoff series, you have much more time for your
Speaker 1: advantages to bear out in a single game. It could
Speaker 1: be foul trouble, it could be shot making, it could
Speaker 1: be officiating. There's so many different things that can go
Speaker 1: one way or another to swing a game, so anything
Speaker 1: can happen. But those are just my best guests for
Speaker 1: right now. All right, guys, that's all I have for today,
Speaker 1: I remember to keep an eye on the feeds so
Speaker 1: that you guys can see all the season previews. Don't
Speaker 1: forget to check out our series previews. Don't forget to
Speaker 1: check out my show with Colin from last night. Thursday night,
Speaker 1: we'll be going with Carson Tuesday night, Instant reaction to
Speaker 1: the seven eight games, and then we're into the playoff
Speaker 1: grind starting Saturday. As always, I appreciate you guys. I'm
Speaker 1: excited for this run. It's going to be a good
Speaker 1: time and I will see you guys tomorrow. The volume