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Dial one eight hundred five 29 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: two two forty seven hundred in Wyoming, or visit www 30 00:01:52,960 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: dot one eight hundred gambler dot net in West Virginia. 31 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: Happy Thursday, everybody. I hope all of you guys are 32 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: having a great week so far. We are live on AMP. 33 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: Don't forget if you're watching YouTube or listening on the 34 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 1: podcast feeds that AMP is the very first place that 35 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: you guys can get these shows. Jay Packs show Tonight 36 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: the Grizzlies kick the Warriors ass something. I kind of 37 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: saw it coming. I just don't think the Warriors were 38 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,079 Speaker 1: playing well enough to overcome their physical disadvantages for this 39 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: type of matchup. We're talking a little bit about the 40 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,079 Speaker 1: Kevin Durant injury. And then at the end, I want 41 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: to talk a little bit about the Mavericks from a 42 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: more optimistic point of view. You guys know the joke 43 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:41,519 Speaker 1: before we get started. Don't forget to subscribe to the 44 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 1: volumes YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos. 45 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,359 Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you 46 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: guys don't miss any show announcements. And for whatever reason, 47 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: you guys miss one of these shows and you can't 48 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: get back over to YouTube to finish, don't forget. You 49 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: can find them wherever you get your podcasts. Under Hoops tonight, 50 00:02:57,600 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: all right, let's talk some basketball. So one of the 51 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: themes of tonight's show is going to have to do 52 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: with physicality and athleticism in the MBA. Make no mistake, 53 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,079 Speaker 1: at the end of the day, skill is monumentally important 54 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 1: in this game. But I think through narratives, you know, 55 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: just some of the beef that you see between the 56 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: way that you know the NFL is handled by the 57 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: players versus the MBA, some of the old heads in 58 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:25,480 Speaker 1: the NBA and the way they talk about the modern 59 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: game and they want to pretend like it's all offense 60 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: and they want to pretend like, you know, there's no physicality. 61 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:33,360 Speaker 1: You know, this guy wouldn't be able to survive in 62 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: my era, which is all just stupid. People lose sight 63 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: of the fact that the game of basketball is an 64 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: incredibly physical game and that there's a lot more contact 65 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: that takes place on the court than you'd think, and 66 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: things like size and strength really do matter coming into 67 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: this game, and I was especially worried, you know, coming 68 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: off of the Draymond trash talk with Dylan Brooks, which 69 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about a little bit more here 70 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: in a little bit. Coming off of that, I was 71 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: worried about Golden State's ability to win this game because 72 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: the one thing that's guaranteed when you play hard is 73 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: that your physical advantages will come through. Sometimes you shoot 74 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: all the same shots you work on a million times, 75 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 1: and sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't. Sometimes your 76 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: mental focus isn't quite as sharp as it needs to be. 77 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: But usually if you play hard, your physical attributes will 78 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: come through to the surface in a basketball game. And 79 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: they were motivated to get that win tonight even without 80 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: John morand a lot of people saw a lot of 81 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,239 Speaker 1: people going like, oh, they're without you know, John Moran. 82 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: They're without Steven Adams, there without Brandon Clark and all 83 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: that's true. But even when you get past those guys, 84 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: it's like Tyas Jones is a bigger, stronger guard, a 85 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: good size point guard compared to John morand in a 86 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:46,479 Speaker 1: much better defensive player. You know, Desmond band is as 87 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,679 Speaker 1: big and strong of a you know, of a physical 88 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:51,719 Speaker 1: two guard that you'll see in the league. Dylan Brooks 89 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:54,240 Speaker 1: is one of the most physical perimeter defenders in the league. 90 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:58,160 Speaker 1: Jaron Jackson is a big, strong, monster of a rim protector. 91 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:01,359 Speaker 1: Davier Tillman is a big, strong center. Like they still 92 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:05,120 Speaker 1: are very much a very physically imposing team, and it 93 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,039 Speaker 1: was just gonna be tough for them to win that game. 94 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: And again, like Golden State was never the biggest or 95 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: most athletic team, make no mistake, but they did have 96 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: some supreme level athletes last year when they won the 97 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:20,279 Speaker 1: championship that we're not playing tonight. Andrew Wiggins still dealing 98 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: with a personal issue. Hopefully he'll be back soon. You know, 99 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: Gary Payton's still nursing an injury. Hopefully he'll be back soon. 100 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: Those are two top tier athletes at their position in 101 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:31,719 Speaker 1: this league. And then in warmups for the second time 102 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,919 Speaker 1: in as many nights, and an extremely strange circumstance, we 103 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:37,719 Speaker 1: have an NBA player get injured in warmups I think 104 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: the same type of ankle spraining, although I haven't seen 105 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 1: the video of the Jonathan Cominga injury. But now Jonathan 106 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 1: Cominga is out. So with Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton out, 107 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: Jonathan Cominga is your best athlete that you have on 108 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: the roster, and so without him, it just put him 109 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: in a really tough to put them in a really 110 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: tough spot. I mean, there was a bench lineup out 111 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: there for the Warriors tonight that was Steph Curry, Dante DiVincenzo, 112 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: and I Jerome So three guards, a thirty nine year 113 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: old Andre Iguadala, and Jamichael Green who's an undersized and 114 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: not very not very big center who mainly plays for 115 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: the Warriors because he can't miss from three as of late, 116 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: that's been his big winning impact. And he's a smart player, 117 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 1: doesn't take bad shots and things along those lines. So 118 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: they were kind of it was kind of stacked against them, 119 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,599 Speaker 1: and in that situation, you have to be incredibly sharp 120 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: in every other detail of the game. I've seen the 121 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: Warriors win tons of games without that physicality advantage, or 122 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: I should say with a huge physicality disadvantage, even in 123 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: the playoffs last year. Just in recent weeks without Andrew Wiggins, 124 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: without Gary Payton, they've been able to win games with 125 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:50,279 Speaker 1: physical disadvantages because they've been very sharp elsewhere. Clay Thompson 126 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: emerging as this awesome half court shot creator, wasn't very 127 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,919 Speaker 1: good on offense tonight. Right like Steph Curry. He's back, 128 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: but he's not like one hundred percent. So he struggled 129 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: a little bit with Dylan Brooks tonight, although he still 130 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: was above fifty percent from the field and at twenty 131 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:06,960 Speaker 1: seven because he's one of the best players in the 132 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,039 Speaker 1: world and that's the kind of thing that he's going 133 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: to do. But in order to win a game when 134 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: you don't have when you're when you have disadvantages in 135 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:16,600 Speaker 1: the physicality of the game, you have to be really 136 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: sharp everywhere else. You've got to take care of the basketball. 137 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: They didn't take care of the basketball tonight. I can't 138 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 1: believe how many unforced errors the Warriors had tonight. Inability 139 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: to make a post century pass or a swing pass, 140 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: or just botching advantage situations on fast breaks just by 141 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 1: throwing the ball away. And it's so unusual because the 142 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: Warriors have had issues with turnovers time again in the past, 143 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: but it's usually like a game here, a game there, 144 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: and they and they typically can overcome it with overwhelming skill. 145 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:47,000 Speaker 1: But they weren't hitting a ton of shots tonight. They're 146 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: fifteen for forty five from the field. Those unforced errors 147 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: then start to really come to the surface. And you know, 148 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: the Warriors for being as good of an execution team 149 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: as they've been over the course of the last couple 150 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: of years, it's it's been an iffy year for them 151 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: on the front of execution and it's presented some problems 152 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: for them. I want to credit Memphis. You know, Jaron 153 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: Jackson Junior did a great job locking down the paint. 154 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 1: Kevon Looney missed an easy layup under the basket because 155 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 1: he was overthinking it a bit. Draymond Green turned down 156 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 1: some shots around the rim and missed a couple shots 157 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 1: around the rim that he normally makes, so credits to them. 158 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: Dylan Brooks did a really good job on staff, like 159 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 1: he's done on a lot of players in the league 160 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: this year. But they just weren't sharp enough. They didn't 161 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,360 Speaker 1: win the skill battle. You're a more skilled team than Memphis. Memphis' 162 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: skills showed through tonight in a way that yours did not. 163 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: You know, you're a better execution team than Memphis. Memphis 164 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: executed better than you did tonight. And so when you 165 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: have all of those things and you struggle in the 166 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:44,679 Speaker 1: physicality of the areas of the game, that's going to 167 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,439 Speaker 1: be a really tough game to win. And most importantly, 168 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 1: they just weren't very sharp defensively, especially when you know 169 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: you're gonna give up some offensive rebounds, you have to 170 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: get a lot of stops because you know you're gonna 171 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,240 Speaker 1: have to get more stops than that on the rebounding mismatch, 172 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: so like you're already the deck is already stacked against 173 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 1: you in that regard. The big problem they were having 174 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 1: tonight was help defense. There's a lot of situations tonight 175 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: where whether it was Taias Jones and a methodical ball 176 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: screen rejecting a ball screen, or whether it was Desmond 177 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 1: Bain was doing some really good work in semi transition tonight, 178 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: just really hard, straight line moves to the rim. When 179 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: the Warriors weren't quite set and taking advantage of the 180 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 1: fact that if you beat that first man off the dribble, 181 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: there was nobody on the back line, and a lot 182 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: of it was on the guards. There were a lot 183 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: of plays where the guards were pointing at each other like, Hey, 184 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: that's your help. Hey, that's my help. Everyone's looking around, 185 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: like whose help is that. You can't hope to win 186 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:43,880 Speaker 1: in a setting like that without being sharp in all 187 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: of those details of the game. And the concerning thing 188 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 1: is these have all been consistent problems for the Warriors 189 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,880 Speaker 1: on the road all year this year. Not to be clear, 190 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: as I've said one hundred times this season, I'm not 191 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: out on the Warriors. You know why because this story 192 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,679 Speaker 1: that I'm telling right now, this like, we rip off 193 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: a five game winning streak with all those details sharpened, 194 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: and then we immediately drop a game in Oklahoma City 195 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: that we shouldn't have lost, and then we go into 196 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: Memphis and get our ass kicked. That sort of dynamic 197 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: has happened to almost every team in the Western Conference 198 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: this year. Clippers have won a couple of tough games 199 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 1: in a row. What happened before that, they dropped a 200 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:26,439 Speaker 1: bunch of games that they shouldn't have lost and couldn't 201 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 1: execute at the end of games. You know, the Lakers 202 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 1: are on a run now, but they've had a bunch 203 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:32,959 Speaker 1: of down stretches during the season and they've dug They've 204 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 1: dug too big of a hole. I don't think they're 205 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:36,960 Speaker 1: gonna be able to really get up into the top 206 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: of the standings, so they're gonna be making an uphill 207 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: climb all season long. Minnesota will drop four out of 208 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: five and then rip off three games in a row, 209 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 1: right like. It's been like this for everyone in the 210 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:51,840 Speaker 1: Western Conference except for Sacramento, who I don't think anyone's 211 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: scared of because they can't defend, and Denver, who has 212 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 1: their own question marks. I pointed this out earlier today, 213 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: but the Denver Nuggets are allowing one hundred and twenty 214 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: points per one hundred possessions when they play a top 215 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: ten offense this year, which is twenty third in the league. 216 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: Kind of a great example of what I've always talked about, 217 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,840 Speaker 1: where you know, you can put forth a fact simile 218 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 1: of a good regular season defense. If you run certain 219 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: coverages and you've got a decent guy who can protect 220 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 1: the rim, you can do a decent job in the 221 00:11:23,440 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: eighty two. We saw this for years with the Utah 222 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: Jazz with Rudy Gobert. Problem is, as you get into 223 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,920 Speaker 1: the postseason, then personnel starts to come to the surface, 224 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:34,719 Speaker 1: as scouting becomes a bigger issue, and now all of 225 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: a sudden, those limitations that you have in personnel can 226 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: become a problem. So there really isn't that big scary 227 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 1: team like Milwaukee or Boston in the conference. And aside 228 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: from Sacramento and Denver, all the other teams are up 229 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:49,440 Speaker 1: and down all season long. So like the lucky thing 230 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 1: for Golden State is they can't get their ship together, 231 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,440 Speaker 1: but neither can anyone else. And like you saw for 232 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:00,199 Speaker 1: the Lakers, they put together like three solid week of 233 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: basketball and now they're right back into the mix. So 234 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: for the Warrior's perspective, they're running out of time, but 235 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 1: they do have some weeks left and they just have 236 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: to be There's gonna be somebody or one or two 237 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: teams in this mix. They're in the Western Conference that 238 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: gets it together. Who's it gonna be? And I will 239 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: say that it will be a lot easier for the Warriors. 240 00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: They will buy themselves a lot more margin for error, 241 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: when Andrew Wiggins gets back, when Gary Peyton can start 242 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 1: playing in games again, when everyone starts getting slotted properly 243 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: so that you don't have as many minutes for you know, 244 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:40,760 Speaker 1: like PBJ played a lot tonight, and you know he's 245 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: a young player. That's a big game. He's a good shooter, 246 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 1: but you know he missed a lot. I think he's 247 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:47,240 Speaker 1: one for six from three. That's gonna happen for a 248 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: young player who's a little bit in over his skis 249 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: in a big, tough road game like that. Ideally don't 250 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:56,079 Speaker 1: have to play a guy like that, so it will 251 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:58,200 Speaker 1: get easier for them as they slot, but they are 252 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: running out of time and the urgency to kick in eventually. 253 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 1: A couple notes on the Draymond trash talk thing. First 254 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: of all, I am not a Dylan Brooks fan. I 255 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:12,319 Speaker 1: have very you guys know how I feel about the 256 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 1: game of basketball. It's sacred to me. I think I 257 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: have the utmost respect for players who make it to 258 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: the NBA. I think that's a sacred achievement. The game 259 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: of basketball itself is something that I love so much 260 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,480 Speaker 1: that I hate it when it gets disrupted by Shenanigans. 261 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:28,960 Speaker 1: I mean, we're not gonna talk about it tonight, but 262 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: I agree with some of the stuff that Fred van 263 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: Vliet has been saying about the officials and them thinking 264 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: they're the show I hate. But it goes the other 265 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: way with players too. The foul grifting, to me is 266 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: like offensive and sacrilegious to the game of basketball. And 267 00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:44,200 Speaker 1: one of the things that Dylan Brooks does that I 268 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: have a huge problem with is he does unnatural basketball 269 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,079 Speaker 1: acts that can hurt basketball players. Obviously, I had a 270 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:54,559 Speaker 1: huge problem with what he did to Gary Payton in 271 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 1: the playoffs last year. He had a couple of instances 272 00:13:57,480 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 1: like that this year. There was one recently where he 273 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 1: liberately did like two barrel rolls to go up into 274 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell's legs, which could have tore up his knee 275 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 1: or messed up his ankle, and and he hit him 276 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 1: in the crotch in the process. Like to me, once 277 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:15,920 Speaker 1: you start doing things that blatantly start to threaten the 278 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 1: health and safety of players, I'm out on you. Like 279 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 1: and there's a lot of things that I respect about 280 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: Dylan Brooks, and I like the fact that he's grind 281 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: Like there's a lot of similarities between him and Draymond 282 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:29,280 Speaker 1: at their positions with like, you know, Dylan's not an 283 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: outstanding athlete, but like, and he's incredibly unskilled offensively, but like, 284 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:38,560 Speaker 1: he just competes his ass off every single night and 285 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: has good instincts defensively, and he's weaponized all that to 286 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:43,240 Speaker 1: carve out like a really nice place in the league, 287 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:45,680 Speaker 1: which I respect. But I just I can't handle the 288 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: trying to injure players thing. That's just that's a line 289 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 1: for me that I'm completely unwilling to cross when it 290 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: comes to supporting a player. And the other thing with 291 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: the Draymond trash talk thing is he was right like regardless, Like, yeah, 292 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: it's two trash talkers talking trash, but there's a huge 293 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: difference there, you know, like trash. I've never been a 294 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: trash talker, but I don't have any problem with it 295 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 1: where I start to get a little bit like I 296 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: think it's a bad look when you're not respectable, when 297 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: you're not respectful to people that have accomplished a lot. 298 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: I'll give you an example on my front, Like it'd 299 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:26,000 Speaker 1: be like if I just was like imagine if I 300 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 1: didn't work for the volume and I was just going 301 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: at Colin cowhard every day. It's like, that's so disrespectful 302 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 1: to the work that he's put in this industry to 303 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: establish himself the way that he has. Regardless of how 304 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: Dylan Brooks feels about Draymond Green is a person, he 305 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:42,360 Speaker 1: might dislike him, he might think he's a jerk. But 306 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 1: when you start to like say things like like undercut 307 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: his winning impact, you look like the idiot, and Draymond 308 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: called him an idiot. Like think about it, Like, Draymond 309 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: has won a Defensive Player of the Year. There are 310 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 1: four hundred and fifty players in the NBA and he 311 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:01,240 Speaker 1: got rated the very best defender. I think he's the 312 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: best defender of this era. He's made a second team 313 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 1: All NBA. We finished an NBA season and the media 314 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 1: voted him as one of the ten most winning, impactful 315 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 1: winning players in the league. The guy has won four 316 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:19,360 Speaker 1: NBA championships. Like, he didn't even play very well and 317 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: last year's a postseason, and they still were nine plus 318 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: points better when he was on the floor versus when 319 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 1: he was off, and they won all their minutes when 320 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 1: Draymond was on the court with Steph off by a lot, 321 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: Like by twelve points per one hundred possessions, regardless of 322 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: If you don't like him, that's fine, But you look 323 00:16:36,360 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: like an idiot when you start trying to tell us 324 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: he's not a very good basketball player or that he 325 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: wouldn't succeed somewhere else. It's objectively false. You come off 326 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:48,480 Speaker 1: looking super disrespectful, and I mean, what do you expect? 327 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: And look, he got to have some moments to night. 328 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 1: He played a good game, good defensive game on Steph, 329 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:56,160 Speaker 1: had a couple of moments at Draymond's expense, had a 330 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: nice driving layout. But everything Draymond said is true. The 331 00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: reason why you guys aren't ready to contend for a 332 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:06,640 Speaker 1: championship yet is in that locker room you have an 333 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 1: elevated sense of what you've already accomplished. And the truth 334 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:12,879 Speaker 1: of the matter is is it's incredibly hard to win 335 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:16,159 Speaker 1: an NBA championship, and most of the guys who do 336 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: it are humbled in the time before that. Lebron James 337 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:23,680 Speaker 1: humbled in twenty eleven before he won in twenty twelve. 338 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:26,160 Speaker 1: There's pain and suffering and loss on the way because 339 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,680 Speaker 1: you have to learn that, like you, that it is 340 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,119 Speaker 1: an incredibly difficult journey, and it's a long pathway to 341 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: get there. And I do think that Draymond's right that 342 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: there's an issue within that locker room with understanding their 343 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:42,880 Speaker 1: ultimate goal and how far away they still are from 344 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: getting there, and how much better all of them have 345 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:47,720 Speaker 1: to get and how much more locked into the details 346 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: they have to be in order to actually achieve that goal. 347 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: So it's two trash talkers talking trash, but it's one 348 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: guy who I don't like because he tries to injure 349 00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:02,040 Speaker 1: people and you know, is being disrespectful to an established 350 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: great player in this league. But that's all I'm gonna 351 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,960 Speaker 1: say about that. So let's move on to the Suns. 352 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:13,640 Speaker 1: In the KD injury so super freaky, like I can't 353 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:17,119 Speaker 1: even remember this happening ever, I can't even think of 354 00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 1: I'm sure it has happened in recent years, but I 355 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: can't think of a time recently where a NBA player 356 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:23,879 Speaker 1: got injured in warm ups And we just had it 357 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:27,960 Speaker 1: happened twice in two nights. And it really sucks because 358 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:30,560 Speaker 1: it probably takes Phoenix out of the running for the 359 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:32,720 Speaker 1: three seed. I think they probably could have passed Memphis, 360 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: but now that's going to be pretty tough, and that 361 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:40,160 Speaker 1: sucks for their event eventual playoff path because that four 362 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,200 Speaker 1: seed means you'll have to play Denver in the first round, 363 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: and you'll probably have to play a much tougher opponent 364 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: in that five seed versus somebody in that three seed. 365 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: But once again, like I said with the Warriors, what's 366 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 1: working in their favor is they shouldn't drop any lower 367 00:18:54,840 --> 00:18:59,680 Speaker 1: than fourth because every team below them cannot maintain good 368 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:01,920 Speaker 1: play for more than a week or so. We just 369 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,199 Speaker 1: talked about this earlier. The Clippers, the Warriors, the MAVs, 370 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 1: and the Wolves. They all it's one week on, one 371 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: week off with them playing good basketball. And the Lakers, 372 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: who are playing really good basketball and have a lot 373 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: more talent now they're too far back. They're not going 374 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:18,679 Speaker 1: to pass Phoenix, right. So it is unfortunate. But we 375 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: know how Kevin Durant is. He always seems to come 376 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,640 Speaker 1: back from these injuries at the top of his game. 377 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,439 Speaker 1: Doesn't have nearly the runway to get back in rhythm 378 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:30,359 Speaker 1: that we see from some of the other players in 379 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: the league. The dude just like steps on the court 380 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:36,399 Speaker 1: and is the same bucket that he was when he 381 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:40,199 Speaker 1: got hurt, right so I'm not overly concerned about it. 382 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: The way I look at it is it limits your 383 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: opportunity to get the three seed, which is not it's 384 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,200 Speaker 1: not entirely out of the equation. Job misses a bunch 385 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:49,760 Speaker 1: of time, and Devin Booker starts playing like you know, 386 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:51,840 Speaker 1: the player he did early in the season for the 387 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,520 Speaker 1: last month. They have a chance, but I think more 388 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:56,119 Speaker 1: than likely this means they're gonna end up with the 389 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:57,720 Speaker 1: four seed, which is going to make things just a 390 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,640 Speaker 1: little bit tougher for them. All Right, So I've talked 391 00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:05,119 Speaker 1: a lot about the bad for the MAVs in recent weeks, 392 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: and it kind of was on display again last night. 393 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:10,440 Speaker 1: They lost on the road in New Orleans one thirteen 394 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:12,879 Speaker 1: to one oh six. Luca and Kyrie both played poorly. 395 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: Luca left the game early with the quad strain, but 396 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: the MRI was clean, so he shouldn't miss more than 397 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:19,360 Speaker 1: a game or two, so that's some good news. They 398 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:23,359 Speaker 1: got absolutely obliterated in all the physicality areas of the 399 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:25,720 Speaker 1: game again. They got outrebounded forty nine to thirty four. 400 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:27,720 Speaker 1: They lost points in the paint, they lost second chance points, 401 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 1: they lost transition points, all things that are directly tied 402 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: to your size and athleticism on the court. They got 403 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: lit up by C. J. McCollum, and yeah, I want 404 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 1: to be clear, within this season, I don't see any 405 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 1: hope for the Maps. There's there's no way they're gonna 406 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: be able to overcome these physical advantages that they're giving 407 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:49,119 Speaker 1: up every night. But I do think that they're not 408 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:53,119 Speaker 1: overly far away within this summer to be able to 409 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,080 Speaker 1: go and target these sorts of things that they need. 410 00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:58,679 Speaker 1: So and I want to use the Lakers as an 411 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 1: example because with the Lakers, you know, again all the 412 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: focus was on the Russell Westbrook trade and Russ wasn't 413 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:09,880 Speaker 1: a good fit. And it's not an apples and apples 414 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:12,200 Speaker 1: thing to apples to apples thing with Kyrie, because Kyrie 415 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:14,440 Speaker 1: is a much better player than Russell Westbrook. But take 416 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: Russ out of the equation for a second and just 417 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 1: look at who they lost, you know, losing Kyle Kuzma, 418 00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 1: who was a great rebounder for them and who was 419 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: a solid on ball defender, Andy really good help defender 420 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,440 Speaker 1: for them. He was a very good above average spot 421 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:30,560 Speaker 1: up player for them. He's given him about one point 422 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: zero five points per spot up possession, just a big 423 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,320 Speaker 1: forward that could do a lot of things. Contavious Cabo Pope, 424 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:39,240 Speaker 1: one of the best lock and trail defenders in the league, 425 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 1: one of the best transition guards in the league. He 426 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:43,280 Speaker 1: was a very very good spot up player for the 427 00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,080 Speaker 1: Lakers too. In the ensuing salary crunch, they lost Alex 428 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:50,160 Speaker 1: Crusoe's top tier guard defender in the league, who has 429 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: the size and strength to switch on to bigger forwards 430 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:57,280 Speaker 1: and is like a connective piece on the offensive end 431 00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:59,159 Speaker 1: of the four great cutter he shot forty percent the 432 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: last year with the lay from three. They gave up 433 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: all these different things, and then in the process they 434 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: had nothing left. A completely devoid of offensive skill, completely 435 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:13,399 Speaker 1: devoid of size on the perimeter, and so basically for 436 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 1: a year and a half when Lebron and even when 437 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: Lebron and ad would play together, they were only about 438 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 1: a five hundred team. Now, part of that was Lebron 439 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:23,760 Speaker 1: and Nady were constantly in and out of the lineup, 440 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: so they were never in rhythm, which can disrupt those 441 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 1: sorts of things. But like still, for the two of 442 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:30,720 Speaker 1: them to play together and to be five hundred is 443 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: pretty jarring, But it comes back to that thing that 444 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: I talked about on this show all the time. There 445 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: is a list of responsibilities on both ends of the 446 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: floor that you have to fulfill as a basketball team. 447 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: And what happened was is by get sending out all 448 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,399 Speaker 1: those guys when Lebron and Adi were in and out 449 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:50,119 Speaker 1: of the lineup, they just weren't checking enough boxes and 450 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:54,160 Speaker 1: so they were a bad basketball team. Again, like basketball 451 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 1: is a like, it's of all the American sports team sports, 452 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:03,919 Speaker 1: the major American team sports. The individual impacts winning in 453 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,119 Speaker 1: basketball more than any other sport, that's a fact, but 454 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:09,560 Speaker 1: it is still a team sport at the end of 455 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:13,040 Speaker 1: the day, and it does get much harder for even 456 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,840 Speaker 1: the best players in the world to win games when 457 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:17,639 Speaker 1: they don't have guys that can go out and fulfill 458 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: responsibilities for them. And there are a lot like let's 459 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,360 Speaker 1: zoom in on the MAVs for a minute, Like they 460 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: have all the offensive boxes checked. They have two outstanding 461 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:32,120 Speaker 1: shot creators, Kyrie Irving excellent pick and roll, excellent isolation, 462 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 1: can attack switches, can destroy drop coverage. Luca can do 463 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: all those same things. Luca can also attack out of 464 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 1: the post and create a lot of high quality opportunities there. 465 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 1: They have, you know, some reasonable movement shooting right, like 466 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:47,359 Speaker 1: like Tim Hardaway Junior can come off the screen and 467 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: hit a shot. They have a lot of really good 468 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: spot up players. They've got a They've got two pick 469 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,160 Speaker 1: and pop bigs with Maxi Kliba and Christian Wood. They've 470 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: got a lob threat in Dwight Powe. They check a 471 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:01,439 Speaker 1: lot of box on the offensive end of the floor, 472 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:03,239 Speaker 1: but there's a lot of boxes on the defensive end 473 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 1: of the floor too. You need guys who can guard 474 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:06,719 Speaker 1: at the point of attack, dribble drive guards. You need 475 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 1: guards that can fly over the or that can fight 476 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,119 Speaker 1: over the top of screens and compete and pick and 477 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,760 Speaker 1: roll coverages. You need guards who can lock and trail 478 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,920 Speaker 1: and chase shooters around. You need guard. You need um. 479 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 1: You need big guys that can fight in box out 480 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:24,119 Speaker 1: against big physical uh bigs that like to crash the 481 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,719 Speaker 1: offensive glass. You need big wings on the perimeter that 482 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,840 Speaker 1: can crash from the perimeter to win those contested rebound 483 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:36,719 Speaker 1: battles or to um you know, to to run up 484 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:38,480 Speaker 1: and down the floor and transition and cover a lot 485 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: of ground. You need those wings to guard the bigger 486 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:43,760 Speaker 1: forwards in the league that will try to attack you 487 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,960 Speaker 1: in mismatches and things along those lines, and the Mavericks 488 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: are just about devoid of all of those things. They 489 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:54,560 Speaker 1: don't have rim protection, they don't have wing defenders, they 490 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,320 Speaker 1: don't have athleticism that can crack down from the wings 491 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 1: and grab contested rebounders. They've got like a pretty versatile 492 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 1: defensive forward and Naxi Kliba, a center in JaVale McGee 493 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: that they can't seem to find a playtime for. They've 494 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:10,479 Speaker 1: got a good lock and trail defender and Reggie Bullock. 495 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: You know, Josh Green has shown some flashes of that 496 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:16,639 Speaker 1: winging defense, but like they're really thin in all of 497 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:18,920 Speaker 1: those areas. But this is where I want to go positive, 498 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,639 Speaker 1: because what sucked for the Lakers is they were in 499 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:26,040 Speaker 1: the difficult position where because of the way that Anthony 500 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,880 Speaker 1: Davis and Lebron James liked to play, they needed offensive 501 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:34,720 Speaker 1: skill off the ball to open up everything for them 502 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:38,280 Speaker 1: in the paint and to generate those high quality three 503 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:40,360 Speaker 1: point shots that they could convert at a high rate 504 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:44,240 Speaker 1: or close out opportunities and things along those lines. They 505 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,439 Speaker 1: needed offensive skill. They tried that the first year with 506 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:51,080 Speaker 1: guys like Mellow and Malik Monk, right, and what happened 507 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 1: They couldn't defend. Then this year they went all in 508 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 1: on defense, but they didn't have any skill and so 509 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: they couldn't score. They could only score and transition. It's 510 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,520 Speaker 1: expensive as all hell to get players that can do both. 511 00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:11,240 Speaker 1: The advantage with how good Kyrie Irving and Luca donche 512 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:15,200 Speaker 1: Jar offensively is you do not need nearly as much 513 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: offensive skill off of them, because Kyrie's an outstanding pull 514 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 1: up shooter, because Luke Dontage is an outstanding isolation player, 515 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: shoot shots over the top, and the quality of looks 516 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:29,560 Speaker 1: that they're going to get off the ball are so 517 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,119 Speaker 1: high that even limited offensive players will be able to 518 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:35,520 Speaker 1: convert them at a decent rate. Again, it's all relative 519 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:39,120 Speaker 1: to the shot quality. A stand still three for a 520 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: average shooter is a just as valuable of a shot 521 00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 1: as a contested three is for a great shooter, right, 522 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 1: And so that's the advantage that they're bought. They can 523 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,400 Speaker 1: afford to do what the Lakers did at the start 524 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:58,000 Speaker 1: of the season, target veteran minimum contracts players that are 525 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: considered offensively limited, that have struggled fitting offensively. Other in 526 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:06,320 Speaker 1: other places around the league. Guys like a Troy Brown junior. 527 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:09,160 Speaker 1: That's a great example. Guys like a Dennis Schroeder, that's 528 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:12,440 Speaker 1: a great example. You can afford to go after limited 529 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 1: offensive players that succeed on the defensive end and plug 530 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:22,399 Speaker 1: them in alongside Luca don Chich and Kyrie Irving, and 531 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: you're gonna be able to fulfill. You're gonna be able 532 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 1: to steal survive offensively like the offensive drop off, like 533 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 1: right this year, Kyrie Irving. Since Kyrie started playing basketball 534 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: for the MAVs, which was February eighth, I think the 535 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,239 Speaker 1: MAVs are scoring about one hundred and twenty points per 536 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: one hundred possessions on offense. That's amazing. I think it's 537 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,800 Speaker 1: fourth in the league over that span. That's not going 538 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:47,040 Speaker 1: to drop off Berry fall far. If you bring in 539 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:50,639 Speaker 1: some size and athleticism on the perimeter or on the 540 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:54,320 Speaker 1: wing that have some offensive limitations, it might drop from 541 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: one twenty to one eighteen or whatever. But defensively, you're 542 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 1: gonna be able to survive to a much greater stent. 543 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,080 Speaker 1: It's gonna be hard, they're gonna have. You know, there's 544 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:06,720 Speaker 1: the mid level exception. Reggie Bullocks on a team friendly deal, 545 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: but I'm not sure if he's the kind of guy 546 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:10,480 Speaker 1: you want to give up. Again, maybe it's a piece 547 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:12,400 Speaker 1: for peace type of thing, a team that's looking for 548 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,240 Speaker 1: shooting in a lock and trail guy. Maybe you can 549 00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: flip Reggie Bullock for a team that has a plethora 550 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,919 Speaker 1: of size and athleticism on the wing. Hell, like the 551 00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: Toronto Raptors. Call the Raptors get one of their wings, right, 552 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:28,400 Speaker 1: They've got it. At least one tradeable first round pick. 553 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,199 Speaker 1: Tim Hardaway Junior is a good mid size contract that 554 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: they can attach the stuff you've got your mid level exception. 555 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:38,680 Speaker 1: They have options, and they have a larger scope of 556 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 1: players that they can consider because of the offensive skill 557 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:45,480 Speaker 1: that Luca and Kyrie present. So again, I've been super 558 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:47,600 Speaker 1: negative about the Mavericks. I don't think they can win 559 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:52,200 Speaker 1: this year. But I do believe that they have a 560 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:56,680 Speaker 1: very straightforward path this offseason to get it to get 561 00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: into a situation where Kyrie's offensive skill and Luca's offensive 562 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:02,960 Speaker 1: skill can come to the forefront. So I don't think 563 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:04,760 Speaker 1: it's all lost. I just think it's all lost within 564 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:06,920 Speaker 1: this season, all right, guys. That is all I have 565 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 1: for tonight we will be back on I'm recording a 566 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 1: video on Saturday night that will be uploaded on Sunday morning, 567 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: covering tomorrow night's games and Saturday night's games. As always, 568 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:18,680 Speaker 1: I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting the show, and 569 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: I will see you on Sunday morning. The volume