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Speaker 1: dot net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Lakers Tonight,

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Speaker 1: presented by FanDuel. Here on the volume, I am Jason

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Speaker 1: Tim Happy Wednesday, everybody. I hope you're all having a

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Speaker 1: great week. We finally got a competitive ish Lakers game,

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Speaker 1: like there was at least a stretch of the game

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Speaker 1: where it seemed like two NBA teams were playing against

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Speaker 1: each other. That's a good sign. We're gonna get to

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Speaker 1: everything that happened in that game. I want to talk

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Speaker 1: about that incredible thriller in Brooklyn between Luca and k

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Speaker 1: D and the MAVs and the Nets, and some of

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Speaker 1: the interesting things that I noticed in that game, and

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Speaker 1: then I've been doing a lot of deep dive into

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Speaker 1: the film of the Sixers. As of late, they had

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Speaker 1: another somewhat lackluster win on the road against the shorthanded

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Speaker 1: Cleveland Cavaliers tonight. They haven't looked great in the last weeks.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to dive in is some of the reasons

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Speaker 1: why that is the case, in my opinion, So stick

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Speaker 1: around for the end for that. But let's start with

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Speaker 1: some Lakers. So you know, as a commonly said over

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Speaker 1: the course of this season, leadership involves so many different

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Speaker 1: things as it pertains to the way it can't impact

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Speaker 1: your team. And I have said on the record on

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Speaker 1: this show that even though I Lebron is my favorite player,

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Speaker 1: he's always been my favorite player, and I think he

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Speaker 1: is probably the number one guy i'd take for a

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Speaker 1: playoff series right now if I needed him, and I

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Speaker 1: very well think he could be the greatest basketball player

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Speaker 1: of all time. But he's one of the worst guys

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Speaker 1: that you could possibly have to lead a team that

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Speaker 1: doesn't have a real chance to win a championship, because

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Speaker 1: while Lebron is psychotically competitive when things are when he

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Speaker 1: has a chance, when he can smell blood in the water.

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Speaker 1: He's kind of the exact opposite when he can tell

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Speaker 1: that the team has no real chance. And over the

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Speaker 1: course of this last stretch of game, since the star break,

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Speaker 1: he struggled with having consistent effort, particularly on the defensive

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Speaker 1: end of the ball. And when you have a team

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Speaker 1: like this that has a lot of veteran players, guys

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Speaker 1: that are established in this league, guys who have a

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Speaker 1: lottery background, and there's a bunch of guys like that

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Speaker 1: on the team Stanley Johnson, Karmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard. These

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Speaker 1: are all guys that were lottery picks at various points,

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Speaker 1: and at various points in their careers were considered the

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Speaker 1: future of a franchise or even a superstar in the league.

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Speaker 1: And so those kinds of guys are not chip on

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Speaker 1: their shoulder like self starter type of guys. They're gonna

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Speaker 1: follow their leader. And I think that's been a big

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Speaker 1: part of how the defense for the Lakers have struggled

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Speaker 1: so much in recent weeks. But tonight, in the first

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Speaker 1: few possessions of the game, Lebron made a couple of

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Speaker 1: key defensive rotations. There was a pick and roll with

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Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns in D'Angel Russell. Where as Cat was

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Speaker 1: rolling down the lane, Lebron put his body on the

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Speaker 1: line and took a charge, and almost immediately it's set

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Speaker 1: a different tone for the entire game. Now, the Lakers

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Speaker 1: still had extended stretches of sloppy defense throughout the game,

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Speaker 1: but the overall tone of the game was more serious.

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Speaker 1: The Lakers actually made an attempt to try to win,

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Speaker 1: and at the end of the day, even though they

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Speaker 1: lost and when they lost it got ugly, at least

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Speaker 1: it was a respectable product for the most part that

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Speaker 1: they put on the court. Now, after the effort comes

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Speaker 1: all of the scheme, After the effort comes all of

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Speaker 1: the habits, after the effort comes all of the talent.

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Speaker 1: And those are three areas where the Lakers are extremely weak,

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Speaker 1: so they're gonna lose games. This is a good Minnesota

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Speaker 1: Timberwolves team. This is not the Minnesota Timberwolves teams of

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Speaker 1: the previous decade that we're kind of the laughing stock

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Speaker 1: of the NBA. This is a team that has a

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Speaker 1: good amount of size and athleticism, especially on the wing.

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Speaker 1: Guys like Jada McDaniels and Jared Vanderbilt, don't get enough

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Speaker 1: credit all the McDaniels. McDaniels is hurt right now, but

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Speaker 1: they're very athletic, they're big. The Patrick Beverley has done

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Speaker 1: a really good job of transitioning the culture of that

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Speaker 1: team from a team that was less competitive and less

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Speaker 1: serious in a team that was more serious in their

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Speaker 1: home crowd. Is a lot to deal with, and obviously

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Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns say what you want about the guy.

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Speaker 1: He has defensive shortcomings. He's a bit of a ship talker,

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Speaker 1: but when he's got to go, and he's one of

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Speaker 1: the best players in the league, and he could be

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Speaker 1: very difficult to handle, especially for those small Laker lineups

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Speaker 1: that are so limited in their ability to handle real

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Speaker 1: interior presence is just like we saw the other day

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Speaker 1: with DeAndre But the Lakers have an obvious personnel issue

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Speaker 1: that was gonna be a problem in in any of

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Speaker 1: these matchups against good teams. I think ten of their

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Speaker 1: last four teen games are against teams over five hundred.

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Speaker 1: The Lakers are gonna be in a personnel disadvantage in

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Speaker 1: just about every single one of those games. You know,

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Speaker 1: the we talked about habits, right like at the end

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Speaker 1: of that game, the Lakers get back within I think

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Speaker 1: they got within five. You get back into the game,

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Speaker 1: you're right there, and then it's a couple of miss

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Speaker 1: defensive rotations. There was a play I'm not trying to

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Speaker 1: pick on Russ here. There's a play I shared on

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Speaker 1: my Twitter feed where Rust gets beat back door because

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Speaker 1: he's just standing in a non defensive stance, just airing

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Speaker 1: at the ball, and as his man gets beat back

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Speaker 1: door and he's late to understand that, Lebron's like screaming

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Speaker 1: at him to switch out to the corner. But he

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Speaker 1: does it, and the Lakers gave up a wide open

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Speaker 1: three that ended up being the dagger that put Minnesota

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Speaker 1: back up by ten. And as it was, when you

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Speaker 1: have sloppy habits and you have a scheme that doesn't

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Speaker 1: work with your specific set of talent, and you don't

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Speaker 1: have talent, then yeah, even effort cannot be enough. And

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Speaker 1: just like in that first quarter when the Lakers were

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Speaker 1: trying so hard on defense, I think they were down

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Speaker 1: fifteen at the end of the first quarter. So I

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Speaker 1: understand why this team has let go of the rope.

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Speaker 1: I understand why Lebron doesn't feel like it's worth it.

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Speaker 1: He just sees the writing on the wall. Why why

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Speaker 1: would you try harder to just get blown out by

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Speaker 1: less than you would have gotten blown out by anyway?

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Speaker 1: And I get why that's frustrating for me. It's all

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Speaker 1: about establishing something that you can build on for next season.

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Speaker 1: Like for instance, like I'm really having a hard time

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Speaker 1: watching Russell Westbrook continue in you the flounder the way

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Speaker 1: he is when he's not going to be a Laker

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Speaker 1: next year. He clearly is distancing himself from the lockerman,

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Speaker 1: from the coaching staff, and he's clearly gone through something mentally,

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Speaker 1: which again you have to sympathize with him and the

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Speaker 1: struggles he's had this season. But he's not going to

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Speaker 1: be a Laker next year. So at a certain point,

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Speaker 1: what came you gain and what I think is important

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Speaker 1: is you have guys coming back. Taylor Horton Tucker is

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Speaker 1: under contract next year. He's coming back. Austin Reeves is

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Speaker 1: under contract next year. You have Stanley Johnson under a

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Speaker 1: team control deal. I would lean as much as you

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Speaker 1: can into guys that could potentially come back next year,

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Speaker 1: so at least you can get a look at that

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Speaker 1: and get a feel for what's usable and what's not.

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Speaker 1: For instance, Taylor Horton Tucker over the course of the

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Speaker 1: next stretch of games has an opportunity to get a

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Speaker 1: lot of on ball reps. He's struggling mightily off the ball.

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Speaker 1: I tweeted out earlier today, he's shooting below on wide

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Speaker 1: open threes this year with the defender at least six

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Speaker 1: ft away. That's not a functional off ball threat. That's

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Speaker 1: a real problem. So a th HD is kind of

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Speaker 1: more of an on ball player. Get him lots of

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Speaker 1: on ball reps, have him build out that part of

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Speaker 1: his game, and then maybe it'll raise his value to

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Speaker 1: a point where he's either usable as an onball threat

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Speaker 1: next year for a title contender, or someone that you

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Speaker 1: can trade to a team that has a more future focus.

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Speaker 1: But at a certain point here, what you saw tonight

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Speaker 1: was the best effort from the Lakers in the last week,

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Speaker 1: and they still got rolled. So read the writing on

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Speaker 1: the wall, understand the reality of your predicament, and try

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Speaker 1: to play into things that are gonna be translatable to

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Speaker 1: the future, things that are gonna be usable for next

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Speaker 1: year's team. I had one last thing that I wanted

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Speaker 1: to touch on with the Lakers before we move on,

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Speaker 1: and it just has to do with what I think

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Speaker 1: is the most important lesson that the Lakers have to

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Speaker 1: learn from this year when it comes to roster building,

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Speaker 1: and it has to do with the fact that you're

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Speaker 1: operating in the veteran minimum market, so you when you

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Speaker 1: are capped out, when you're over the cap, you basically

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Speaker 1: have three ways to sign guys for over a veteran minimum.

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Speaker 1: You can use bird rights, so if you already have

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Speaker 1: a player under contract, you can sign him for more

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Speaker 1: than that amount the next year based on how many

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Speaker 1: years he's been with the team. You can use a

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Speaker 1: mid level exception at a varying level depending on whether

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Speaker 1: or not you're in a hardcap your team that lets

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Speaker 1: you pay basically double what a veteran minimum contract is

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Speaker 1: up to about ten million. If you're willing to hardcap yourself,

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Speaker 1: and then you have the veteran minimum markets, you're highly

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Speaker 1: limited in what you can do around your superstars when

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Speaker 1: you have a hundred and twenty million dollars tied up

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Speaker 1: in your three stars in the Lakers this year went

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Speaker 1: out of their way to try to bring in shooting

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Speaker 1: with those veteran minimum contracts. These guys like Carmelo Anthony,

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Speaker 1: guys like Molik Monk, guys like Wayne Ellington, And they

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Speaker 1: did this as a reaction to what happened in the

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Speaker 1: Phoenix series. You guys remember in the Phoenix series, after

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis went down, Phoenix was absolutely abandoning everybody to

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Speaker 1: load up in the paint, and both Dennis Shrewder and

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Speaker 1: Lebron James were struggling to get to the bast gate,

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Speaker 1: which turned them both into jump shooters. And Lebron's a

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Speaker 1: good jump shooter, but denishooter is a bad jump shooter,

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Speaker 1: and it didn't go well right, So they reacted to

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Speaker 1: that by trying to bring in shooting. The problem is

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Speaker 1: this season, Frank Vogel has noticed, and all of us

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Speaker 1: have noticed, you can't run a functional NBA lineup with

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Speaker 1: guys that can't guard. When you have multiple guys on

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Speaker 1: the floor that can't guard, and all of these shooters

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Speaker 1: the Lakers signed can't guard. So they brought in this

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Speaker 1: shooting to try to give space for Lebron to feel

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Speaker 1: comfortable going to the basket, for Russ to feel comfortable

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Speaker 1: going to the basket, for Anthony Davis to feel comfortable

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Speaker 1: going to the basket, and it hasn't worked out because

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Speaker 1: they haven't been able to have their shooting on the

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Speaker 1: floor because of the obvious defensive shortcomings that's come from that.

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Speaker 1: And then this is a separate topic, but the Russ

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Speaker 1: problem has been there too. You have shooters on the floor,

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Speaker 1: but when RUSS is a complete waste of an off

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Speaker 1: ball thread, it kind of puts you in the same

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Speaker 1: predicament you'd have if you didn't have shooting on the

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Speaker 1: floor anyway. But what's interesting is you what you need

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Speaker 1: is guys that can shoot and play defense. Right, But

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Speaker 1: if you can shoot and play defense, you're not making

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Speaker 1: a veteran minimum contract. You're not making the mid level exception.

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Speaker 1: You're not available. If you can shoot and play defense,

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Speaker 1: you're making over ten million a year in this league.

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Speaker 1: That's what Danny Green got when he came to the Lakers.

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Speaker 1: That's what guys like Mikhail Bridges are getting right now.

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Speaker 1: That's what guys that Cam Johnson are getting. Right If

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Speaker 1: you can play two ways and shoot the ball, you're

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Speaker 1: too valuable to be someone that the Lakers can target

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Speaker 1: on the fringe. So you have to pick between guys

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Speaker 1: that can defend and guys that can shoot. And I

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Speaker 1: think the most valuable lesson the Lakers have learned this

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Speaker 1: year is you can't take the guys that can shoot

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Speaker 1: because the problem because it becomes athletically, you can't hang

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Speaker 1: in this five out n b A. I've talked about

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Speaker 1: this a lot on the show. When when these teams

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Speaker 1: go five out and it's all dribble, drive and attack,

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Speaker 1: you have to have guys that can contain on the perimeter,

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Speaker 1: Guys that can move their feet and keep their man

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Speaker 1: in front, and if they give up a drive, they

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Speaker 1: have to be willing to do the necessary work to

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Speaker 1: rotate and recover on the back end. I'm gonna get

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Speaker 1: to that in a little bit here with the Dallas Mavericks,

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Speaker 1: this team has been utterly lacking in that area, and

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Speaker 1: you're better off bringing I'll give you an example, guy

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Speaker 1: like Wesley Matthews. Wesley Matthews played for the Lakers last year.

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Speaker 1: Didn't shoot well after shooting pretty well in previous seasons

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Speaker 1: with the Milwaukee Bucks, but he was still a very

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Speaker 1: productive player because the Lakers understood that he was doing

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Speaker 1: the job defensively that they needed him to do in

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Speaker 1: relative So let's say Wesley Matthews shoots thirty five on

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Speaker 1: wide open threes, but a guy like Malik Monk can

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Speaker 1: shoot on him. It's easier to make up for that

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Speaker 1: difference in shooting on the offensive end than it is

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Speaker 1: to make up for what Wesley Matthews can bring as

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Speaker 1: a defensive player as a cog in a system, especially

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Speaker 1: alongside players as defensively talented as Lebron and Anthony Davis.

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Speaker 1: So it's been an interesting lesson for the Lakers, and

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Speaker 1: I hope this next offseason. They addressed that when you're

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Speaker 1: looking for discounted players on the market, favor discounted players

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Speaker 1: that can play defense over discount of players that can

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Speaker 1: play offense. And to be clear, I was more optimistic

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Speaker 1: about this past offseason coming into the year. This is

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Speaker 1: a lesson that I've had to learn as well. The

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Speaker 1: league is changing. You can't operate without good perimeter defensive

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Speaker 1: players anymore. It's okay, you you learned a lesson. You

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Speaker 1: messed up with Russ, you messed up on some of

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Speaker 1: these other signings on the periphery, Learn your lesson. Move on.

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Speaker 1: Just don't make the same mistake again this summer. Bring

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Speaker 1: in defensive players, Try to recreate that culture that you

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Speaker 1: had in with Lebron and a D make another run

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Speaker 1: you are just joining us, this is Lakers Tonight, presented

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Speaker 1: by Fandel Here at the Volume. I want to move

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Speaker 1: on from the Lakers to talk about that nets Maps game,

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Speaker 1: which was incredible. This is the second absolutely giant gay

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Speaker 1: Antick win in a super competitive, hostile road environment for

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Speaker 1: the Dallas Mavericks. On Sunday they had that huge way

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Speaker 1: over the Boston Celtics, and then tonight they went at

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Speaker 1: the buzzer against Brooklyn. These are two massive wins for

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Speaker 1: this team, and I think it's super interesting to see

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Speaker 1: how they're doing this because they're doing it on the

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Speaker 1: defensive end. I know they gave up a lot of

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Speaker 1: points tonight, but in the fourth quarter when things really

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Speaker 1: got grinded to a halt, the Mavericks defended extremely well.

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Speaker 1: If you go on my Twitter feed and you scroll

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Speaker 1: down on the videos, I did a video three or

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Speaker 1: four days ago after that Sunday game where where I

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Speaker 1: broke down just how Dallas is getting these stops, and

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Speaker 1: it really comes down to doubling and recovering if you

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Speaker 1: have personnel like they're the opposite of Boston. Boston has

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Speaker 1: all these good defensive players. I just released a video

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Speaker 1: about them today for the volume. They always have five

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Speaker 1: really good defensive players on the floor, so they don't

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Speaker 1: have to double. They switch everything, and it's hey, pick

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Speaker 1: your poison. Do you want to guard a guy like

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Speaker 1: Marcus Smart who's short but that's a bulldog and keep

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Speaker 1: you in front and is super physical, Or do you

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Speaker 1: want to attack a taller, slower guy you know, uh,

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Speaker 1: but have struggles because he's athletic and can cover ground

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Speaker 1: with his link. You know, we've seen that a lot

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Speaker 1: with Robert Williams, who's doing a really nice job in

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Speaker 1: their switching scheme. They're gonna man you up most of

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Speaker 1: the time. A team like Dallas doesn't have that defensive personnel.

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Speaker 1: Tha Spencer did what. He's not a great defensive player.

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Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson is not a great defensive player. Luca don

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Speaker 1: Che is not a great defensive player. Maxine Kleiba is

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Speaker 1: not a great defensive player. But they're getting stops with

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Speaker 1: that group because instead of operating in one on one situations,

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Speaker 1: they are doubling the other team's best player every time

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Speaker 1: down the floor. They doubled Tatum the entire fourth quarter

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Speaker 1: in Boston on Sunday. They doubled Kevin Durant on almost

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Speaker 1: every single possession in the fourth quarter tonight. And what

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Speaker 1: they've done is they've gotten their rotations on the back

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Speaker 1: end down to a science, and it's really just about

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Speaker 1: effort and focus in communication. My high school team, we

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Speaker 1: do this drill to practice this where we basically play

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Speaker 1: four on three and the three guys on defense as

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Speaker 1: the guys on the offense are swinging the ball around,

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Speaker 1: it's chaos. And as I'm coaching the kids, I tell them, like,

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Speaker 1: this is supposed to be chaos. There's no exact science,

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Speaker 1: there's no place you're supposed to go. You just have

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Speaker 1: to talk and play extremely hard and you can make

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Speaker 1: up for that ground. And then they do other little

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Speaker 1: things like as soon as Tatum will pick up his

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Speaker 1: dribble or as soon as Kevin Durant will pick up

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Speaker 1: his dribble, one of the guy that guys that's double

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Speaker 1: teaming will pre rotate and leave and start rotating around

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Speaker 1: to get ahead of that first past. They've done that

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Speaker 1: to beat a lot of those first passes out of

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Speaker 1: the double team. But I've been really impressed in general

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Speaker 1: with the way that Dallas has manufactured a basically what

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Speaker 1: amounts to a fake defense, meaning they're achieved. They're massively

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Speaker 1: overachieving defensively over what their personnel should be able to do.

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Speaker 1: It's a massive credit to Jason Kidd. You know, I

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Speaker 1: was talking about this with my father in law earlier.

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Speaker 1: You know, the the Jason Kidd had a really rough

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Speaker 1: time in Milwaukee and it formed this really nasty reputation

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Speaker 1: around him. And it's really not fair because if you

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Speaker 1: think throughout sports history, almost every coach in their first

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Speaker 1: stint doesn't do well. Bill Belichick didn't do well in

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Speaker 1: his first coaching stint in the NFL. Even you know,

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Speaker 1: look at Ty Lou. He got fired from the Calves.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't a great fit after Lebron left. You have

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Speaker 1: to learn as a coach, you have to you have

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Speaker 1: to fall on your face to become more adaptable, to

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Speaker 1: become more malleable. And Jason Kidd, who was a bad

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Speaker 1: coach in Milwaukee and had some bad ideas and kind

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Speaker 1: of nuked his reputation a bit, has become a very

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Speaker 1: good coach in Dallas, and I think it's a valuable

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Speaker 1: lesson for us to learn there. And then lastly, just

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Speaker 1: a credit to the players. It's a lot of work

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Speaker 1: to constantly be double teaming and rotating. It's a lot

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Speaker 1: of sprinting, a lot of cutting. It's exhausting, and those

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Speaker 1: guys have just bought in and they're just doing it

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Speaker 1: and it's working. And then on the other end of

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Speaker 1: the floor, it's all about Luca with that extra threat.

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Speaker 1: In the early fourth quarter, Jalen Brunson did what Jalen

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Speaker 1: Brunson does, creates offense while lucas off the floor. That

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Speaker 1: is very similar to what they had in previous years.

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Speaker 1: But Spencer did what he just gives them one more

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Speaker 1: guy who might be able to attack a matchup, who

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Speaker 1: has the confidence to make shots when they matter. On

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Speaker 1: that last possession, the nets double Luca Doncheons at the

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Speaker 1: top of the key. They actually did a really nice job.

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Speaker 1: As soon as Katie rotated up to double on Luca,

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Speaker 1: Gore and Dragice came out of the corner off of

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Speaker 1: Dorrian Phinney Smith and was right at Spencer Dinwoodie as

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Speaker 1: the past was there. It was perfectly defended. Spencer didn't

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Speaker 1: what he should have swung it one more time, but

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Speaker 1: because of the way they timed their double team, even

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Speaker 1: if Dorian Phinney Smith caught it and shot it out

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Speaker 1: of the corner, they might not have had time to

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Speaker 1: get it off. So it's a really smartly designed double team.

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Speaker 1: But Spencer Dinwoodie is a very confident offensive player. He

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Speaker 1: always he's one of those guys that he probably he

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Speaker 1: thinks he's one of the best players on the floor,

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Speaker 1: and he just rose up over that contest and elevated like,

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Speaker 1: I know I'm gonna make this ship. And that's the

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Speaker 1: advantage of having those types of alpha dog egos on

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Speaker 1: the floor alongside your superstar, so that he has somebody

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Speaker 1: that he can count on in those biggest moments. This

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Speaker 1: team is dangerous, extremely dangerous because of what they can

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Speaker 1: do defensively, the stuff that translates to the postseason, and

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00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:29,240
Speaker 1: their ability to attack matchups there at the end of

431
00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,480
Speaker 1: that game, the shots Luco is getting attacking Gore on

432
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,960
Speaker 1: Drawgice out of those switches, those are fantastic looks and

433
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:37,679
Speaker 1: those are the kind of looks that they're gonna be

434
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:40,160
Speaker 1: able to get in any postseason series. That is very

435
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:44,360
Speaker 1: reliable stuff. I'm a big believer in Dallas. They are dangerous.

436
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,000
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk about the Brooklyn Nets for just

437
00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,720
Speaker 1: a second before we move on. We had this really

438
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,800
Speaker 1: weird report come out today saying that every time Ben

439
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:56,080
Speaker 1: Simmons has attempted to ramp up right in that first

440
00:22:56,160 --> 00:23:00,639
Speaker 1: or second day, he's experiencing inflammation in his spine. That's

441
00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:05,680
Speaker 1: really scary. He got an epidural shot, that's really scary.

442
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,720
Speaker 1: He's allegedly not going to come back until there's a

443
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,760
Speaker 1: few games left in the regular season. To me, it

444
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,920
Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily make it so that the Nets can't win

445
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,280
Speaker 1: the title, but it is a little bit more of

446
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,080
Speaker 1: a concern. As I've talked about in my film studies

447
00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:23,600
Speaker 1: with the Nets, they are struggling a little bit with

448
00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,280
Speaker 1: that Bruce Brown, Andre Drummond, Nick Claxton role. When they

449
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:29,160
Speaker 1: have one or two of those guys on the floor,

450
00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:32,399
Speaker 1: there's a little bit of an offensive limitation. Ben Simmons

451
00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,080
Speaker 1: is a better defensive player than any of those guys,

452
00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:39,359
Speaker 1: and he's a much, much, much better offensive player. Even

453
00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:41,239
Speaker 1: though we like to slander him, even though we make

454
00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:43,480
Speaker 1: fun of him for not shooting, he is a much

455
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,679
Speaker 1: better offensive player than those guys. So being able to

456
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,760
Speaker 1: get him on the court and use him this year

457
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:51,960
Speaker 1: is a significant ceiling raiser for them. So if he's

458
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:56,240
Speaker 1: not available. Of course, that lessens their chances. But look

459
00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,119
Speaker 1: at how good Kevin Durant looked tonight. I thought he

460
00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 1: missed a couple of easy shots that he normally makes.

461
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 1: There's a little one legged fade away he shot from

462
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:07,560
Speaker 1: the left elbow that he left just barely short. That's

463
00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:09,880
Speaker 1: a really good shot for k D that he's gonna

464
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,160
Speaker 1: make eight times out of ten. He had another fade

465
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:14,679
Speaker 1: away going to the right along the base line that

466
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,920
Speaker 1: he always makes that he misses. He missed a layup

467
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,119
Speaker 1: right at the rim in the middle of the fourth quarter.

468
00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 1: So Katie didn't even make shots that he normally made.

469
00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,320
Speaker 1: But he still did enough to win that game, had

470
00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:30,400
Speaker 1: that huge three to take the lead late. They just

471
00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:33,680
Speaker 1: Spencer didn't what he made a huge shot. But I'm

472
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:35,639
Speaker 1: never gonna write off k D. I think he's the

473
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:37,680
Speaker 1: best player in the world. I would not write off

474
00:24:37,680 --> 00:24:41,199
Speaker 1: this team. But the lack of Ben Simmons is definitely

475
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:46,080
Speaker 1: a concern, and it's something that absolutely lowers that ceiling.

476
00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:48,960
Speaker 1: And like I always talked about the difference between these

477
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,359
Speaker 1: teams when you get to that top tier, when we're

478
00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,240
Speaker 1: splitting the difference between Milwaukee and Brooklyn and Philly and

479
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:58,720
Speaker 1: Phoenix and Golden State. When you're with that group, nobody's

480
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 1: gonna beat anybody in a sweep there. No one's gonna

481
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:05,879
Speaker 1: run rush shot over any of those teams. Those teams

482
00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,880
Speaker 1: are gonna go down in a battle of a playoff

483
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:12,080
Speaker 1: series and it's gonna be very close. And so having

484
00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:16,359
Speaker 1: every single advantage available is important to giving yourself the

485
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,200
Speaker 1: best chance to win those matchups. And if Ben Simmons

486
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:23,040
Speaker 1: can't go that lessons those chances all right. Before we

487
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 1: get out of here, I wanted to do a little

488
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:26,960
Speaker 1: bit of a deep dive into the Philadelphia seventy sixers.

489
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:28,720
Speaker 1: I've been watching a lot of film with them late

490
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,960
Speaker 1: of late, uh tomorrow, keep an eye on my Twitter feed.

491
00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,160
Speaker 1: I have a video video coming out that's gonna break

492
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,480
Speaker 1: down the Yokich and beat battle and some of the

493
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:40,679
Speaker 1: lessons that I learned from watching Dad. But Philly stopped

494
00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,280
Speaker 1: playing good basketball now, which is ironic because they came

495
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:46,359
Speaker 1: out game busters in that first week after the trade.

496
00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 1: They lost to Brooklyn ugly. They blew that lead to Denver,

497
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,240
Speaker 1: that that they had Denver dead to rights and blew

498
00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:57,000
Speaker 1: that game and then uh they took overtime to win

499
00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:59,520
Speaker 1: in Orlando, and they were trailing much of the third

500
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,280
Speaker 1: of with quarter tonight against Cleveland, without Jared Allen, and

501
00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,800
Speaker 1: with Philly's defense and with Cleveland's lack of offensive creation,

502
00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:09,879
Speaker 1: they should have been able to win that game by

503
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:13,160
Speaker 1: a lot and they didn't. Billy doesn't look great right now,

504
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:15,120
Speaker 1: and there's a couple of reasons why, and I wanted

505
00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,520
Speaker 1: to get to those really quick. First, to me is

506
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:21,720
Speaker 1: James Harden being a lesser version of himself. When James

507
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:25,840
Speaker 1: Harden is at his best, he's primarily trying to get

508
00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,760
Speaker 1: to the rim. He is relentless in his rim pressure,

509
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,160
Speaker 1: and everything else plays off of that. His passing plays

510
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,320
Speaker 1: off of that, his floater game plays off of that,

511
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:35,640
Speaker 1: and his step back plays off of that. But there's

512
00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:39,040
Speaker 1: this alter ego of James Harden when he's not putting

513
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,080
Speaker 1: that kind of pressure on the rim, where it seems

514
00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:43,320
Speaker 1: like he's trying to get to his step back and

515
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,720
Speaker 1: defenders will overplay up into his step back and he

516
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,640
Speaker 1: still won't drive past them, or when he does drive

517
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:51,920
Speaker 1: past them, either in isolation or out of a pick

518
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:55,359
Speaker 1: and roll, instead of aggressively attacking the rim, he starts

519
00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:59,160
Speaker 1: to kind of slowly meander into the paint, and he's

520
00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,520
Speaker 1: just to pack if he's not applying enough rim pressure.

521
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,680
Speaker 1: And as a result to that, their offense has stilted

522
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,800
Speaker 1: a little bit, especially in big moments. This and the

523
00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,040
Speaker 1: only way this is gonna work out, the only way

524
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,000
Speaker 1: Philly is gonna be able to win it all is

525
00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,439
Speaker 1: if you get two thousand eighteen James Harden. And the

526
00:27:15,480 --> 00:27:17,920
Speaker 1: only way that's gonna happen is if he gets into

527
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 1: shape and starts putting his head down and going to

528
00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:22,119
Speaker 1: the basket again. That's something to keep an eye on.

529
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,760
Speaker 1: Also on the defensive end of the floor, you know,

530
00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,159
Speaker 1: against the Knicks and against the Timberwolves and some of

531
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:31,040
Speaker 1: those weaker opponents that they played right after the trade,

532
00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:33,359
Speaker 1: Harden can kind of float around. But when you're playing

533
00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:37,840
Speaker 1: against these better offensive teams like Denver and like Brooklyn,

534
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:40,879
Speaker 1: you need to get more out of James Harden. Defensively.

535
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,919
Speaker 1: They were consistently attacking him in screening actions. He always

536
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:47,399
Speaker 1: dies on every screen. There were some examples in the

537
00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:49,840
Speaker 1: film that I'll show you guys tomorrow where a guy

538
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,480
Speaker 1: wouldn't even run off the screen. He'd run like three

539
00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,439
Speaker 1: ft to the left of the screen and instead of

540
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:57,680
Speaker 1: just chasing him around I've seen hard and just run

541
00:27:57,680 --> 00:27:59,920
Speaker 1: into the screen because it's almost like it gives you

542
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:02,080
Speaker 1: an excuse to be like, oh, well, I'm not in

543
00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:04,680
Speaker 1: the play. I can't guard him, and they're gonna need

544
00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:07,680
Speaker 1: more out of James Harden defensively if they're gonna really

545
00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:09,520
Speaker 1: have a chance to get the trophy at the end

546
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,800
Speaker 1: of the day. And then uh, moving on to mbiad

547
00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:15,639
Speaker 1: for a quick second, he is really really struggling with

548
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,960
Speaker 1: handling double teams. He does okay when they're one pass away.

549
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:20,320
Speaker 1: There was a huge play at the end of the

550
00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:23,119
Speaker 1: game tonight where Lori Markenham was guarding him Beat at

551
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:25,159
Speaker 1: the high post. They were only up by one. I

552
00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:27,119
Speaker 1: think there's about a minute and a half left, and

553
00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,800
Speaker 1: the Calves doubled one pass away from the direction and

554
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,879
Speaker 1: Bead was facing and be just through a basic swing

555
00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,840
Speaker 1: pass to Tyrese Maxie and Tyrese Maxie made the dagger

556
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:39,160
Speaker 1: that ended up being the shot that kind of ended

557
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:41,760
Speaker 1: the game, that kind of thing, and Beat desfined with

558
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:43,640
Speaker 1: I thought it was a poor scheme there. You guys

559
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,120
Speaker 1: know me, I always say, if you're gonna double one

560
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:48,560
Speaker 1: pass away, then you have to pre rotate take away

561
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 1: that first pass so that they you have to make

562
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:53,880
Speaker 1: the guy who's getting double through across the court because

563
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:55,760
Speaker 1: that allows you to apply ball pressure and gives you

564
00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:58,880
Speaker 1: a better chance to rotate in those situations. And I'll

565
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:00,640
Speaker 1: show this in the film tomorrow when you guys see

566
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 1: the video and Beat is really struggling seeing the open

567
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:07,080
Speaker 1: man two passes away, especially in the week side corner,

568
00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,960
Speaker 1: and it's really limiting them in a lot of these scenarios.

569
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,360
Speaker 1: There are a lot of and be double teams that

570
00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:15,520
Speaker 1: are just getting swung back out to the perimeter and

571
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,960
Speaker 1: reset as opposed to ending in open shots, which is

572
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:20,800
Speaker 1: what they need to do. The reason why that's so

573
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,680
Speaker 1: important is again, when you're playing the very best teams.

574
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 1: We were talking about this with Yokis. Yokis did fantastic

575
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:31,200
Speaker 1: tonight against the Washington Wizard's a horrible defensive team, but

576
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 1: he struggled like crazy against the Philly defense and against

577
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,520
Speaker 1: the Golden State defense. He struggles against the length. That's

578
00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:41,880
Speaker 1: where he has issues. And Bet it's a similar thing

579
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,720
Speaker 1: when you are in a playoff series against the Miami

580
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,760
Speaker 1: Heat or the Boston Celtics, you're going to face so

581
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,680
Speaker 1: much length and athleticism defensively that there's not gonna be

582
00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:54,800
Speaker 1: a lot of openings, and you're going to have to

583
00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:57,800
Speaker 1: be able to make those reads. It's what's made Lebron

584
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:01,200
Speaker 1: the greatest basketball player potentially of all time. It's why

585
00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:06,160
Speaker 1: I've always leaned towards high end playmakers when I'm evaluating players,

586
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:09,480
Speaker 1: because in a postseason series, they don't let you operate

587
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:10,960
Speaker 1: in one on one a lot. It's a lot of

588
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 1: double teams, it's a lot of help defenses, a lot

589
00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:16,320
Speaker 1: of help defense. And the guys that can read that

590
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,960
Speaker 1: and identify the cracks in the defense and make you

591
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,960
Speaker 1: pay for sending help, those are the guys that succeed

592
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,160
Speaker 1: at the highest level. That's a big part of why

593
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,280
Speaker 1: I think k D has been so much better as

594
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:31,160
Speaker 1: of late. He's taken leaps and bounds as a passer

595
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:33,640
Speaker 1: out of double teams and out of drives to the rim,

596
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,440
Speaker 1: and that's open things up for him all over the floor.

597
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:39,520
Speaker 1: Last little note on the Sixers. They are really struggling

598
00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 1: with Tyrese Maxie and Tobias Harris finding out where they

599
00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:45,480
Speaker 1: fit in the offense. There are a lot of possessions

600
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:47,720
Speaker 1: where Tobias is like, I think it's my turn. I'm

601
00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:50,160
Speaker 1: just gonna go. There are a lot of possessions where

602
00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:53,400
Speaker 1: James Harden wants the ball to run a screening action,

603
00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:55,360
Speaker 1: but Tyrese Maxie just kind of goes and does his

604
00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,560
Speaker 1: own thing. Those kinds of things take time to iron out,

605
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,560
Speaker 1: and over time that offensive fit will make sense. Those

606
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:07,360
Speaker 1: are two guys that are massively, massively overqualified for the

607
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:10,240
Speaker 1: offensive role they're playing right now. Tyrese Maxie is a

608
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,720
Speaker 1: great perimeter initiator and a great ball handler out of

609
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:17,240
Speaker 1: pick and roll, He's gonna get fewer opportunities. That's that's

610
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,160
Speaker 1: something you have to work around. That's something he's gotta

611
00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:21,440
Speaker 1: have to learn. He's gotta learn how to be a

612
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,400
Speaker 1: better off ball player because on this team, that's what

613
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:26,760
Speaker 1: he's gonna need. Saying goes with Tobias Hairs. Hey man,

614
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:28,960
Speaker 1: you don't get to just break off of the offense

615
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:32,080
Speaker 1: and do seventeen and do seven post ups every game,

616
00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:34,720
Speaker 1: because it's bad for their offense. With all the talent

617
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,360
Speaker 1: they have on the floor, over time they'll sort that out.

618
00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:39,160
Speaker 1: But those are the big things. Harden's gotta get better

619
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 1: on defense, Hardon's gotta start getting down to the rim again,

620
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,200
Speaker 1: and Bead's gotta pass better out of these double teams,

621
00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:46,960
Speaker 1: and Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxy have to do a

622
00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,400
Speaker 1: better job figuring out where they fit in the offense.

623
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,320
Speaker 1: There trending down right now. I still have them as

624
00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 1: a top tier contender. They just gotta get their ship together,

625
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:56,840
Speaker 1: all right, guys. That is all I have for tonight.

626
00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,560
Speaker 1: I sincerely appreciate your support. As always, we have to

627
00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,560
Speaker 1: show Friday and Saturday this weekend. I hope you guys

628
00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:04,600
Speaker 1: will join us then. As always, I appreciate your support

629
00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:06,080
Speaker 1: and we will see you in a couple of days.

630
00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:23,840
Speaker 1: The volume m