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Speaker 1: terms and responsible gaming resources. All right, well, God to

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Speaker 1: hoops tonight. You're at the volume. Happy Saturday. Everybody'll love you.

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Speaker 1: Guys are having a great start. To your weekend. As promised,

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Speaker 1: yesterday we did the Western Conference Finals kind of fallout

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Speaker 1: mail bag. This episode is going to be all the

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Speaker 1: mail bag questions centered around the NBA Finals, so everything

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Speaker 1: having to do with Boston and Dallas against each other.

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Speaker 1: And then tomorrow morning we'll have one final mail bag

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Speaker 1: that's going over everything else that's around the league. Anything

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Speaker 1: that any question that I received that didn't have anything

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Speaker 1: to do with Dallas, Minnesota or Boston is going to

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Speaker 1: be in tomorrow's show. You guys know the joke before

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Speaker 1: we get started. Subscribe to our to the Hoops and

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Speaker 1: I YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of our videos.

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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore JSNLTS. You guys o't

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Speaker 1: show announcements, don't forget about our podcast feed wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcast on our Hoops tonight, and then keep

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Speaker 1: dropping mail bag questions in those YouTube comments so we

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Speaker 1: can keep hitting them throughout the rest of the postseason.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk so basketball. So question number one,

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Speaker 1: why are you picking Boston in the finals. The MAVs

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Speaker 1: are better at playmaking shot making. They have the best

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Speaker 1: player in the series and the best duo call coaching.

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Speaker 1: Bbe basketball IQ, athleticism, size and length, chemistry and fit

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Speaker 1: a tie. Celtics are better defensively and have more talent

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Speaker 1: across the roster, but Dallas has more depth. Are you

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Speaker 1: expecting Boston to slow down don Jachenrving and their collective

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Speaker 1: offense to match the MAVs superstar duo? How would that work?

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Speaker 1: So I put this question at the beginning for a

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Speaker 1: specific reason, because we're going to get to a bunch

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Speaker 1: of specific topics in the finals today. But I haven't

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Speaker 1: done all my prep yet. So a couple things I

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Speaker 1: mentioned on the Cowhord podcast on Monday when he asked

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Speaker 1: me where are you leaning? And I am leaning Boston

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Speaker 1: before I go into my prep. But I haven't done

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Speaker 1: all my prep yet, and so I'm taking the weekend

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Speaker 1: off with my wife. I recorded this show on Friday,

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Speaker 1: taking the weekend off with my wife, decompressing for a

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Speaker 1: little bit. Monday morning, I'm hitting the film and we're

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Speaker 1: gonna do an entire episode centered around Boston on Offense

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Speaker 1: on Monday. We're gonna do an entire episode around Dallas

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Speaker 1: on Offense on Tuesday, and then I have two interview

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Speaker 1: style ones with the nerd sessh guys and Sam Vassini

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Speaker 1: for next week. That is gonna run on Wednesday morning

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Speaker 1: and Wednesday evening, flowing into the game one day, which

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Speaker 1: is on Thursday. Right, So we're gonna have a lot

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Speaker 1: of film in those two sessions. I'm going to give

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Speaker 1: you my actual pick, but yeah, I'm leaning Boston going in,

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Speaker 1: but I don't know what I'm gonna think after I

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Speaker 1: go watch the film. It's very possible that I flip

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Speaker 1: to Dallas. We'll see when we get to that point.

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Speaker 1: I'm not actually making my official pick until we get

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Speaker 1: into probably the Tuesday show next week. That also factors

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Speaker 1: in for some of the way I'm answering these questions

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Speaker 1: right now, Like I'm gonna reference some concepts that we're

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Speaker 1: gonna get into in more detail when we get into

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Speaker 1: the film next week. As far as all of the

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Speaker 1: specific details that he mentioned, we'll get into them in

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Speaker 1: some of this mail bag and some of them in

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Speaker 1: the film sessions next week. But I just wanted to

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Speaker 1: reference I haven't picked anybody yet. Yes, I'm leaning Boston,

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Speaker 1: but we'll see how that kind of shapes out after

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Speaker 1: we go into all of our prep. Next question, Hey, Jason,

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Speaker 1: love the show. I've been learning a lot from you

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Speaker 1: for over a year now. You're the best analyst I've

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Speaker 1: found by far. Greetings from Brazil. Thank you for the

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Speaker 1: kind words. Is porzingis the key for Boston to reduce

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Speaker 1: Dallas's bigs impact by pulling them out of the paint,

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Speaker 1: and we'll in giving Tatum and Brown clear lanes to

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Speaker 1: the basket. I'm a Dallas fan and I'm worried about

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Speaker 1: this dynamic. So what was the biggest lesson we learned

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Speaker 1: from the Minnesota Dallas series. It was a perfect example

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Speaker 1: of the fact that matchups dictate a lot when it

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Speaker 1: comes to playoff series. This is a I had a

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Speaker 1: big rant about this in the mail bag yesterday. As

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Speaker 1: it pertains the Dallas fans. Dallas fans are the latest

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Speaker 1: and a long line of fans Denver last year, the

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Speaker 1: year before that, Golden State, Milwaukee, the Lakers, even where

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Speaker 1: there's this feeling that, oh, we're winning now, that means

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Speaker 1: we're invincible, and that were you know, this awesome team

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Speaker 1: that no one's ever gonna stop. And there is not

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Speaker 1: a team like that in the league right now. The

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Speaker 1: last team that we had that was like that was

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Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors in twenty seventeen twenty eighteen, I

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Speaker 1: think out of all of the teams that I've seen

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Speaker 1: in this last kind of five year window, I think

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Speaker 1: Denver is the most capable of sustaining success a year

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Speaker 1: in and year out. They've got this perfectly constructed starting five,

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Speaker 1: a really deep group of starters, and then obviously Nicole

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Speaker 1: Jokich is with Luca right there at the top of

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Speaker 1: the league, if not at the very top of the league. Right.

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Speaker 1: But like, no one's invincible, and matchups do play a

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Speaker 1: big role in who wins. And we just saw a

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Speaker 1: Minnesota team beat my championship favorite going into the postseason, Denver,

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Speaker 1: the same Denver team that beat Boston twice, that won

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Speaker 1: the championship last year in convincing fashion, right, that team

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Speaker 1: had a lot of problems with Minnesota. Right. And then

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Speaker 1: that same Minnesota team walked into Dallas and it felt

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Speaker 1: to me like, six halves into this, or excuse me,

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Speaker 1: six quarters into the series, right around halfway through Game two,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, Oh, they can't beat these guys because of

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Speaker 1: the matchup, because of the perimeter athleticism, the interior defense piece. Right.

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Speaker 1: And we had a YouTube comment during one of those

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Speaker 1: shows where someone said, and I thought this was kind

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Speaker 1: of profound at the time. He's like, this is a

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Speaker 1: great example of how we can't look at playoff matchups

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Speaker 1: through the lens of who the best team is in

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Speaker 1: a vacuum. We have to look at it in individual

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Speaker 1: matchups and how these basketball teams face up against each other. Right,

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Speaker 1: Because I personally would have picked Denver to beat Dallas

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Speaker 1: had they faced in the conference finals, but they didn't

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Speaker 1: play each other because Minnesota was a bad matchup for Denver.

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Speaker 1: They were able to dispatch of Denver. Now we have

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Speaker 1: Dallas first Minnesota in the conference finals and Dallas wins.

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Speaker 1: By the way, I think Dallas would have had a

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Speaker 1: chance to beat Denver. I would have given them a

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Speaker 1: good chance. I just would have leaned slightly towards Denver

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Speaker 1: in that matchup. The point is matchups matter. So what's

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Speaker 1: different about this matchup compared to the Minnesota matchup? Right now,

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Speaker 1: there's in terms of defensive personnel, the Boston has more

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Speaker 1: good perimeter defenders. In terms of like, I think they've

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Speaker 1: four in their starting lineup that are all awesome, like

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Speaker 1: Drew Holliday's awesome Jalen Brown's awesome, Tatum's awesome, Derek White

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Speaker 1: is awesome. Right. Minnesota has really good perimeter defenders, especially

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Speaker 1: in Anthony Edwards and Jade McDaniel's right, But like the

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Speaker 1: other guys that they have that are good perimeter defenders

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Speaker 1: come off the bench, they have some offensive limitations, right. So,

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Speaker 1: like I think Boston's perimeter defensive personnel is at a

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Speaker 1: similar level to Minnesota, if not a little deeper. Right.

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Speaker 1: But the reality is is none of them are big

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Speaker 1: enough really to hang with with Luca, except for Jason Tatum, Right,

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Speaker 1: So that's an interesting matchup piece we're gonna look at.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna go into a bunch of different matchup pieces

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Speaker 1: over the course of this this mail bag, but I

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Speaker 1: want to zero in on one specific matchup, and that's

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Speaker 1: the Porzingis and Horford matchup. Right. So if we look

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Speaker 1: at Minnesota, they are they played Rudy Gobert the majority

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Speaker 1: of the minutes, so they had shooting big lineups, or

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Speaker 1: they'd have a shooting big at the center. But this

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Speaker 1: is gonna be very different in the in the sense

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Speaker 1: that you're gonna face forty eight minutes of a sh

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Speaker 1: shooting center the entire series, it's gonna be Porzingis for

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Speaker 1: probably right around you know, twenty seven to twenty eight minutes,

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Speaker 1: and it's gonna be Horford the remaining minutes. Right, So

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Speaker 1: you're gonna face shooting bigs the entire series, and they

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Speaker 1: are going to pick and pop. That's what they do.

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Speaker 1: They are a pick and pop, keep the floor spaced

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Speaker 1: type of team. And so if you run a deep

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Speaker 1: drop coverage or even a high drop coverage like Dallas

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Speaker 1: did for the most part against Minnesota, you're gonna leave

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Speaker 1: some guys open. Schematically, we've talked to this through before.

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Speaker 1: If in a drop coverage, the guard is chasing over

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Speaker 1: the top, so the offensive player's going downhill, the guard's

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Speaker 1: chasing over the top, trying to apply back pressure. Right,

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Speaker 1: you're trying to funnel them into your screen defender that's waiting.

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Speaker 1: He's either up at the level or he's a little

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Speaker 1: bit further back, but he's waiting on the other side

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Speaker 1: of that screen. What if the guy who sets the

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Speaker 1: screen instead of rolling into that same vicinity, pops to

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Speaker 1: the three point line. If he pops to the three

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Speaker 1: point line, he's gonna be open. He's gonna be open

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Speaker 1: unless you rotate from the weak side, which is gonna

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Speaker 1: cause other problems on the weak side of your defense. Right,

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Speaker 1: So that is a very unique piece in this series

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Speaker 1: from a matchup standpoint, that's very different than what we

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Speaker 1: saw from Minnesota. Again, Minnesota had shooting bigs, but they

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Speaker 1: did not lean into that for large portions of the series. Right.

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Speaker 1: This is where I think Maxi Kliba and him being

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Speaker 1: back in the lineup is an interesting kind of matchup

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Speaker 1: piece for Dallas. I think that we could end up

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Speaker 1: seeing more of the Kleiba Lively duo than we see

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Speaker 1: of the Lively Gafford duo in this series because Gafford,

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Speaker 1: while he's an awesome while he's an awesome rim protector,

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Speaker 1: and his rim protection was very valuable against Minnesota, Lively

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Speaker 1: is better on the perimeter and Kleiba's better on the perimeter.

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Speaker 1: And so I think what will end up happening a

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Speaker 1: lot in this series is Dallas is gonna have to

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Speaker 1: do some switching. They're gonna have to have lineups out

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Speaker 1: there with Kleiba PJ. Washington or Lively PJ Washington, with

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Speaker 1: Derek Jones Junior obviously Kyrie King guard on the perimeter

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Speaker 1: as well, and they're gonna have to do more switching

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Speaker 1: in those ball screens. My guess is that's not how

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Speaker 1: it will start. They'll start in their drop and they'll

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Speaker 1: leave Porzingis open to start the series, and basically they're

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Speaker 1: gonna be like, let's see if he hits them. In

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Speaker 1: my experience watching the NBA, every single team basically concedes

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Speaker 1: the pick and pop three until it becomes a problem.

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Speaker 1: Doesn't matter if it's Myles Turner, doesn't matter. If it

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Speaker 1: was Anthony Davis back in twenty twenty when he could shoot,

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Speaker 1: doesn't matter if it's Nicole Jokic. Nicole Jokic got left

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Speaker 1: open on pick and pops in the Minnesota series, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't matter who it is. Most teams will favor

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Speaker 1: the ball handler in a pick and pop and leave

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Speaker 1: the popping big open until he starts making shots. Once

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Speaker 1: he starts making shots, that's when you'll see kind of

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Speaker 1: like what Boston did in the last round. Will they'll

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Speaker 1: switch Tatum onto Myles Turner, Right, That's that's what I

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Speaker 1: expect Dallas to do. I think they'll start in a

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Speaker 1: drop coverage and concede shots to Porzingis, but eventually Porzingis

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Speaker 1: if he starts hitting, and I mean like over forty percent.

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Speaker 1: If Porzingi starts hitting, that's when they'll start switching. And

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Speaker 1: that's when I think we'll see a lot more Lively,

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Speaker 1: a lot more Kleiba because Kliba can guard on the perimeter.

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Speaker 1: Lively can guard on the perimeter. And whoever, the primary

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Speaker 1: round ball guy is Derek Jones Junior, they're gonna have

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Speaker 1: him sprint back out to Christops Porzingis sprint back out

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Speaker 1: to Al Horford. Now Porzingis presents another issue in the

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Speaker 1: sense that he's a switch beater. He will take you

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Speaker 1: down to the post and try to attack your guard

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Speaker 1: in an isolation situation there. However, that is something that

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Speaker 1: is easier to handle as a team than a wide

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Speaker 1: open three. So, for instance, I Porzingis is hitting forty

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Speaker 1: percent of his pick and pop threes. That comes out

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Speaker 1: to one point two points per possession. So if you're

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Speaker 1: giving up five of those a game, you can safely

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Speaker 1: assume you're gonna you're gonna give up one point two

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Speaker 1: points per possession for those five possessions. Right, what does

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Speaker 1: that come out to like seven points or something like that? Right, So,

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Speaker 1: like you that's that's what you can count on for

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Speaker 1: those five possessions. But if he goes down to the post,

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Speaker 1: it's more possible if you can offer backside help rotate

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Speaker 1: out of it, maybe you can hold him below a

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Speaker 1: point point of one point two points per possession. Right, So, like,

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Speaker 1: those are the types of decisions that the staff has

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Speaker 1: to make. What are we willing to concede? And again,

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Speaker 1: I believe they'll start by conceding the pick and pop,

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Speaker 1: But if Porzinga starts hitting half of them, that's when

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Speaker 1: they'll probably start switching and try to make Porzingis beat

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Speaker 1: post mismatches. Download. Now, we're going to get into more

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Speaker 1: of the other matchup examples, both in this mail bag

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Speaker 1: and when we get into the film session next week.

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Speaker 1: But throw everything out. Everything you saw about Boston in

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Speaker 1: the first three rounds, everything you saw about Dallas in

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Speaker 1: the first three rounds, throw it all out. It's all

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Speaker 1: about this matchup and how these guys line up. And yes,

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Speaker 1: this is a fundamentally very different offensive attack from Boston

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Speaker 1: than Minnesota, and it will challenge Dallas's defense in a

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Speaker 1: different way, in the same way that Minnesota's defense was

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Speaker 1: constructed to deal with Denver's interior size and passing, and

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Speaker 1: they locked up Denver, but they had very little success

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Speaker 1: slowing down Dallas. Dallas had a one to eighteen and

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Speaker 1: change offensive rating against Minnesota because they were a bad

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Speaker 1: matchup for Dallas's offense. Right, we have to throw all

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Speaker 1: that out and zoom in on just this particular series.

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Speaker 1: Better duo Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown or Luca and

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Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving. This is a tough one to me, and

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Speaker 1: I think it's very close to make it. On a

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Speaker 1: very simple level, I believe Jalen Brown is a bit

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Speaker 1: better than Kyrie Irving. Jalen Brown is a much better

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Speaker 1: defensive player, but Kyrie is a good defensive player. I

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Speaker 1: think Kyrie is a better offensive player, but Jalen Brown

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Speaker 1: is a very good offensive player. Right, So I think

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Speaker 1: Jalen Brown Jalen Brown. We'll see when we get into

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Speaker 1: the player rankings, but I think Jalen Brown's right around

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Speaker 1: the fifteenth best player in the world right now, and

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Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving is somewhere in that like seventeen to twenty

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Speaker 1: two type of range, right, probably a little high. I

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Speaker 1: think Kyrie's gained some ground in my book, so like

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Speaker 1: I would argue that, like we'll see when we get

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Speaker 1: into the offseason, but I'd put Kyrie closer to the

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Speaker 1: seventeen side of that. You know, he's having an amazing

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Speaker 1: offensive postseason run. Don't look at the box score numbers either.

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Speaker 1: It's about timely scoring. Like Kyrie has been passive in

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Speaker 1: a a lot of games as Luca's run the show

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Speaker 1: and then taken over late, that's obviously gonna manifest in

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Speaker 1: lower box score numbers. It's kind of like Jaylen Brown

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Speaker 1: he averaged what twenty three points a game this regular season,

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Speaker 1: He's capable of averaging twenty seven to twenty eight on

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Speaker 1: a good team if he's the number one option, right, So,

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Speaker 1: like everything is in context of their team situations. But

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Speaker 1: I do think Jaylen Brown's a little better than Kyrie Irving.

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Speaker 1: But I think Luka Doncic is a little better than

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Speaker 1: Jason Tatum. I think Luka Doncic is a bona fide

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Speaker 1: top tier superstar. I think Tatum is like near the

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Speaker 1: top of the next tier of players. And so from there,

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Speaker 1: why I lean towards Luca and Kyrie as a duo

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Speaker 1: is the fact that I think having the best player

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Speaker 1: in the series is a real advantage. And I do

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Speaker 1: think Luca is a better basketball player than Jason Tatum,

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Speaker 1: and so I do think Dallas is a better duo.

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Speaker 1: But that doesn't matter because the next three guys that

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Speaker 1: you're gonna name are all gonna be Celtics. It's gonna

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Speaker 1: be Derek White, Porzingis, and Andrew Holliday if you're ranking

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Speaker 1: players in the series. And so I don't think it

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Speaker 1: really matters much in this series. But I do think

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Speaker 1: Luca and Kyrie are the better duo. I'd argue it's

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Speaker 1: actual more important just to focus on Luca and Tatum.

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Speaker 1: Luca being better than Tatum is a more point, is

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Speaker 1: a bigger point of optimism for Dallas. What do you

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Speaker 1: think the pressure points will be for both teams? Defensively,

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Speaker 1: Let's start with Dallas on defense. The one of the

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Speaker 1: biggest difference between Boston and Minnesota is Boston is equipped

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Speaker 1: to attack you from every angle, whereas Minnesota has a

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Speaker 1: bunch of play finishers on the floor. Right like Ant

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Speaker 1: can run action, Cat can renaction. Conly can run action,

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Speaker 1: but ideally you don't want to run a ton through him.

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Speaker 1: But it's like Gobart is strictly a play finisher and

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Speaker 1: a bad one at that, And Jaden McDaniels is mostly

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Speaker 1: just a play finisher and he's not that great at it. Right,

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Speaker 1: this Boston team everyone is both a play finisher and

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Speaker 1: a offensive initiator in their own way, and so they

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Speaker 1: can target entry points easier than Minnesota could. So like

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Speaker 1: Minnesota had a hard time attacking Luca because even when

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Speaker 1: Luca would get on a switch, they just load up

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Speaker 1: behind him by ignoring Rudy Gobert and it would just

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Speaker 1: be gaffered or lively waiting under the if Ant did

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Speaker 1: manage to beat Luke off the dribble, which allowed Luca

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Speaker 1: to press up on Ant and take away the pull

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Speaker 1: up jumper. Right, this series is gonna be different in

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Speaker 1: the sense that Luca's gonna have to guard one of

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Speaker 1: those guys. We'll talk about the matchups later, but like

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Speaker 1: it's it's very possible that he ends up on a

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Speaker 1: Jlen Brown or on a Drew Holiday, and like you

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Speaker 1: will see, Boston will just give the let's say he's

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Speaker 1: on Drew Holiday, They'll just give the ball to Drew

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Speaker 1: and they'll start running action and they'll start looking to attack,

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Speaker 1: and like Let's say they bring Tatum into the action

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Speaker 1: and Luca just switches and allows you know, Derrek Jones

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Speaker 1: Junior or PJ. Washington to guard Drew Holliday. They're throwing

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Speaker 1: the ball right to Tatum on Luca, and it's not

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Speaker 1: gonna be Gafford or Lively parked in the paint on

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Speaker 1: the back line. It's gonna be Porzinga's spacing to the

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Speaker 1: le to the opposite wing, or to the opposite corner.

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Speaker 1: And so, like I do think and by the way

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Speaker 1: we saw this, like one of the things I thought

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Speaker 1: was really interesting about the Pacers series. Boston was relentless

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Speaker 1: attacking Halliburn. It was like every time down the floor,

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Speaker 1: and so that I think is a big matchup difference

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Speaker 1: in this series, especially from a fatigue standpoint. Luca got

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Speaker 1: to do a lot of standing around against Minnesota on

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Speaker 1: the defensive end of the floor. He obviously did his

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Speaker 1: job in that position, but he didn't have to engage

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Speaker 1: himself as much defensively. Boston is going to make Luca work.

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Speaker 1: He's an entry point. Kyrie irving for all of his

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Speaker 1: gifts as a size issue, so I think that teams

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Speaker 1: will look to attack him. I say, teams Boston. I

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Speaker 1: think Boston will look to attack him as well. But

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Speaker 1: Luca and Kyrie being forced to guard the ball against

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Speaker 1: Boston is going to be a very different type of

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Speaker 1: dynamic than the last series. On the opposite end of

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Speaker 1: the floor, I think that Luca is going to like

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Speaker 1: they might put Tatum, Boston will inevitably at some point

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Speaker 1: in the series put Tatum on the ballscreen big to

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Speaker 1: try to shut down ball screen actions. But it's just

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Speaker 1: gonna be the and I actually think we'll see less

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Speaker 1: of that because they're not a pick and pop team.

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Speaker 1: You might see that a little bit with Kliba, but

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Speaker 1: I doubt we'll see too much of it because they're

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Speaker 1: a pick and roll team more than a pick and

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Speaker 1: pop team. Right But even if Tatum, even if they

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Speaker 1: move guys around, Luca will find who never Porzingis is guarding,

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Speaker 1: even if it ends up being Derek Jones Junior. If

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Speaker 1: Boston puts Porzingis on Derek Jones Jr. Luca will bring

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Speaker 1: him up into the ball screen and he will look

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Speaker 1: to attack the exact same way that he attacks in

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Speaker 1: these other ball screen actions. Specifically, one of the things

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Speaker 1: I've noticed on film the size is an issue for Boston.

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Speaker 1: Lucas too big for most of their guys, but I

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Speaker 1: do think that they have a unique weapon in Jason

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Speaker 1: Tatum to unleash on Luca that most teams in the

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Speaker 1: league don't have, which is a really big, strong forward

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Speaker 1: that it can actually match Luca's physicality. That said, Boston's

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Speaker 1: entry points are gonna be Derek White and Drew Holliday.

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Speaker 1: Boston does a lot of switching, especially on guard guard actions.

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Speaker 1: My guess is Luca's gonna do a lot of dribbling

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Speaker 1: them off the floor, calling for a guard guard screen

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Speaker 1: to get either Derek White or Drew Holliday switched on

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Speaker 1: to him, and then put them in jail, trap them

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00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,080
Speaker 1: on his backside, methodically work down the lane, try to

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Speaker 1: bait the rim protector one way or another, and either

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Speaker 1: shoot or pass out of there. So like again, I

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Speaker 1: think the pressure points or entry points for both defenses

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00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:05,959
Speaker 1: will be For Dallas, it's gonna be Luca and Kyrie

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Speaker 1: just getting attacked on the ball by Boston, and on

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Speaker 1: the other end of the floor, it's gonna be the

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Speaker 1: smaller perimeter players I think struggling to handle Luca's size

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Speaker 1: and strength Hey, Jason, As you've spoken about on the show,

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Speaker 1: one of the MAVs key attributes that has led to

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Speaker 1: their Finals performances is rim protection. One thing we haven't

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Speaker 1: talked much about, however, is their perimeter defense, which ranks

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Speaker 1: among the bottom in the league this season. Although this

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Speaker 1: wasn't a factor in the Minnesota series due to Minnesota

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Speaker 1: not being a very good perimeter offense or jump shooting

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Speaker 1: team in general, do you expect this to be a

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Speaker 1: factor in how the Finals goes when considering Boston's elite

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Speaker 1: perimeter players and Derek White, Jason Tatum, etc. Love the

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Speaker 1: VIDs a couple things. First of all, I do think

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Speaker 1: Dallas has a good perimeter defense. I think that they

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Speaker 1: did demonstrate that over the tail end of the season,

425
00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:49,400
Speaker 1: this Dallas team. Do you remember how all year long

426
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,639
Speaker 1: I kept talking about the mediocre teams, and that was

427
00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:57,000
Speaker 1: like Dallas, the Lakers, the Bucks, you know, the Warriors,

428
00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,600
Speaker 1: the like, all those teams that were like kind of

429
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,520
Speaker 1: beneath the top tier. I said consistently the same thing.

430
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:06,680
Speaker 1: They need like a fifteen to twenty game stretch sometime

431
00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:08,439
Speaker 1: before the end of the season where they build the

432
00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:10,600
Speaker 1: habits they need for the postseason. I kept referring to

433
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,280
Speaker 1: that constantly with all of those teams. Dallas did that.

434
00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:15,919
Speaker 1: Dallas over the tail end of the season sharpened up

435
00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,280
Speaker 1: their defense. That's what they did. It was like almost

436
00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:20,680
Speaker 1: like a little mini training camp post trade deadline where

437
00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:22,560
Speaker 1: they got all that shit together and they're carrying that

438
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:24,720
Speaker 1: into the postseason. I think Derek Jones Junior has been

439
00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,160
Speaker 1: one of the best perimeter defenders in this postseason run. PJ.

440
00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,239
Speaker 1: Washington has had his moments. He's better on pull up

441
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,159
Speaker 1: shooters than he is on drivers. Is a little bit

442
00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,480
Speaker 1: slow foot laterally sometimes, but PJ. Washington can get defend

443
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:37,679
Speaker 1: on the perimeter. Josh Green can defend on the perimeter,

444
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:39,680
Speaker 1: and Kyrie Irving when he's locked in is an above

445
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:42,359
Speaker 1: average perimeter defender in my opinion. I thought he had

446
00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:45,000
Speaker 1: some good reps on Anthony Edwards last night, so like,

447
00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:47,800
Speaker 1: I actually think they're a good perimeter defense team. However,

448
00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:50,960
Speaker 1: you're right about Boston's elite perimeter players in the sense

449
00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:54,040
Speaker 1: that it stretches your perimeter defense. So if you use

450
00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:56,440
Speaker 1: Derek Jones Junior. Let's say you use Derek Jones Junior

451
00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,480
Speaker 1: on Jalen Brown or Derek White, let's just say I

452
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:01,680
Speaker 1: think I'll probably use him on Derek White. We'll see

453
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,719
Speaker 1: if they use Derek Jones Junior on Derek White, and

454
00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,680
Speaker 1: they use PJ. Washington on Jason Tatum and they use

455
00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:13,080
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving on Jalen Brown, that means that Drew Holliday

456
00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,920
Speaker 1: is gonna be guarded by Luka Doncic. And again, Jalen

457
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,159
Speaker 1: Brown's gonna have a massive size advantage against Kyrie, and

458
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:19,440
Speaker 1: we know how he likes to attack in the post,

459
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:21,920
Speaker 1: which may cause them to switch that and Kyrie will

460
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:24,320
Speaker 1: be on Derek White. But like, regardless of that those

461
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:27,280
Speaker 1: matchups work out, Boston just stretches your perimeter defense just

462
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,280
Speaker 1: because you need four good perimeter defenders to handle their

463
00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,560
Speaker 1: perimeter threats. Even with Lively going down and coming back,

464
00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:37,680
Speaker 1: do you think bringing in Maxi Kleiba into an obviously

465
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:39,960
Speaker 1: working Dallas starting rotation in the Celtics series could be

466
00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,880
Speaker 1: a mistake as he's also a defense and rebounding liability

467
00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,159
Speaker 1: in comparison in coming back from an injury. First of all,

468
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:47,520
Speaker 1: I think Maxic Cleeb was a good defender. I think

469
00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:49,800
Speaker 1: he's proven that over the last three years or so.

470
00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:53,480
Speaker 1: I think that he also because of his ability to

471
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:56,800
Speaker 1: switch on too perimeter players makes him uniquely valuable in

472
00:22:56,840 --> 00:22:58,800
Speaker 1: a series like this against Boston. I think they have

473
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,399
Speaker 1: to play him. I think they have to play lot.

474
00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:02,119
Speaker 1: I think is actually more likely that you see a

475
00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:04,159
Speaker 1: guy like gafferd get his minutes cut in a series

476
00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:09,600
Speaker 1: like this. Next question. Looking at this mav Celtics Finals,

477
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,880
Speaker 1: one interesting dynamic is the personal motivators of the Dallas Stars.

478
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,760
Speaker 1: Boston fans hate Kyrie and I'm sure he will be

479
00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:17,960
Speaker 1: extra motivated to beat this opponent more than any other.

480
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,040
Speaker 1: Luca and Chrisops Porzingis didn't work out together, and I

481
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,520
Speaker 1: think Luca could go into this psychopath tendencies to try

482
00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:25,560
Speaker 1: to torch him whenever he gets the chance. Do you

483
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:29,240
Speaker 1: take these dynamics into account when previewing a series? I look,

484
00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:32,920
Speaker 1: Do I think Luca's indomitable personality and his ability to

485
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:34,720
Speaker 1: dominate a game as a factor. Yeah, but I don't

486
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,040
Speaker 1: think it has anything to do with Porzingis. Like Luca

487
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:40,440
Speaker 1: got mad at a fan last night. Like the competitors

488
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,960
Speaker 1: like him, they don't need motivation, They find motivation. It's

489
00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,480
Speaker 1: not hard for them. At this point. You're playing in

490
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:48,160
Speaker 1: the NBA Finals with a chance to win the title,

491
00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,840
Speaker 1: and both teams are legitimately very good. I don't think

492
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,000
Speaker 1: motivation plays a role at all in this series. I

493
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:59,440
Speaker 1: think everybody's motivated by the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Jason. Question

494
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:01,640
Speaker 1: for the mailbag, what's your take on the national media

495
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,639
Speaker 1: being seemingly overly critical and negative on Jason Tatum. He

496
00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:07,639
Speaker 1: has always put up numbers and been the best player

497
00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:09,920
Speaker 1: on the league's best team. Would appreciate your insight, love

498
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,359
Speaker 1: the work you do. So I've seen a lot of

499
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,000
Speaker 1: this from Boston fans, and I really don't think it's

500
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:19,040
Speaker 1: that complicated. I think there's a basic disconnect between where

501
00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:22,720
Speaker 1: Boston fans view Jason Tatum and want him to be respected,

502
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:25,159
Speaker 1: and where most of the fans in the around the

503
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:30,240
Speaker 1: league view him. So, for instance, Jason Tatum's team success

504
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,240
Speaker 1: has been undeniably impressive. I mean, the guys this, He's

505
00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,800
Speaker 1: about to make his second NBA Finals appearance. He's been

506
00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:39,600
Speaker 1: to the conference finals a bunch of times. The dude's

507
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 1: played over one hundred playoff games already. He's had a

508
00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,760
Speaker 1: lot of big playoff moments. So there's like a lot

509
00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,280
Speaker 1: that like Tatum's already putting together a pretty long resume

510
00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:53,720
Speaker 1: of playoff success, right. But I don't think he's one

511
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:55,679
Speaker 1: of the top players in the league. I think that

512
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:59,280
Speaker 1: if you were ranking players, you're putting Jokic, you're putting Luca,

513
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:03,959
Speaker 1: you're putting Young honest, and there's there's like a gap

514
00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:06,720
Speaker 1: before you get to the next tier. Now, when you

515
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:08,840
Speaker 1: get to that next tier, the guys like you know,

516
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:12,639
Speaker 1: Shag Gildas Alexander, the guys like Joel Embi, Jason Tatum.

517
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,040
Speaker 1: You could argue Tatum's at the top of that list,

518
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:16,960
Speaker 1: and we'll see how I end up ranking everybody when

519
00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,480
Speaker 1: we get into the offseason. But I don't think Tatum

520
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,880
Speaker 1: is capable of doing what Luka Doncic did last night.

521
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:27,720
Speaker 1: I don't think Tatum can completely mentally and physically dominate

522
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:29,960
Speaker 1: an opponent and get them to lose their confidence. I

523
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 1: don't think Tatum has the ability to reach the heights

524
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:36,600
Speaker 1: that the top players in the league can reach, Right,

525
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:38,520
Speaker 1: And so the problem there is that that's where the

526
00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 1: disconnect is. Boston fans desperately want Tatum to be regarded

527
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:45,800
Speaker 1: as one of those guys, and what they point to

528
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,960
Speaker 1: are his accomplishments but the rest of the fans in

529
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:52,200
Speaker 1: the league are like, he's not one of those guys,

530
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,480
Speaker 1: and we don't care about those accomplishments because one, the

531
00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference is super damn weak and two in the

532
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,919
Speaker 1: time where the Boston like in the time since the

533
00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,119
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference has gotten stronger, and I do think in

534
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,239
Speaker 1: the last few years the Eastern Conference is stronger at

535
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:08,880
Speaker 1: the top, But in that stretch, Tatum has also had

536
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 1: by far the most talented roster in the conference. And

537
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:15,320
Speaker 1: so what that's done is it's minimized some of those accomplishments. Right,

538
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,120
Speaker 1: It's no different than the Lebron MJ thing. Lebron fans

539
00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:20,719
Speaker 1: are like eight straight finals, eight straight finals, He's been

540
00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:22,639
Speaker 1: to the finals ten times, and like, while that is

541
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:26,560
Speaker 1: an accomplishment that when you factor in the weakness of

542
00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,960
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference, is not going to sway an MJ supporter,

543
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:32,960
Speaker 1: a Michael Jordan fan is not going to look at

544
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,880
Speaker 1: Lebron's eight straight conference finals and be like, that's the differentiator.

545
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,560
Speaker 1: They want to see titles, and that's kind of because

546
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:43,760
Speaker 1: the title is undebatable, right, and even within the scope

547
00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:47,800
Speaker 1: of titles, every title is weighed differently, Like Lebron's title

548
00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:51,280
Speaker 1: in twenty sixteen with the Cavs is weigh differently than

549
00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,520
Speaker 1: his title in twenty twenty, when he had the best

550
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,159
Speaker 1: team in the league all season long, when Anthony Davis

551
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,080
Speaker 1: was also playing at a top five level, and when

552
00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:01,200
Speaker 1: they dominated everybody and did it look threatened at any

553
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,880
Speaker 1: single point over the course of four rounds of the playoffs.

554
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,119
Speaker 1: So guess what in the court of public opinion, the

555
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,280
Speaker 1: time that he came back from down three to one

556
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,479
Speaker 1: and had to achieve unbelievable level of play to steal

557
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:14,560
Speaker 1: a series against a seventy three win team is going

558
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:17,800
Speaker 1: to be weighed differently, right. That's the thing. Jason Tatum

559
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:22,000
Speaker 1: winning the Eastern Conference this year, winning sixty whatever games

560
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:26,320
Speaker 1: in that weak ass East against the terrible fucking opponents

561
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:29,160
Speaker 1: they played in their three playoff rounds is not going

562
00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 1: to sway the court of public opinion to raise Tatum

563
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:35,520
Speaker 1: up to the level with those guys. The only thing

564
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 1: that is going to raise Tatum up to the level

565
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:41,639
Speaker 1: of what Luka and Jokic and Jannis are regarded at

566
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:43,800
Speaker 1: around the league is if he goes toe to toe

567
00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:46,359
Speaker 1: with one of those guys and badly outplays them in

568
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:50,119
Speaker 1: a series. The last time he had a chance was

569
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:54,000
Speaker 1: the last year against Jimmy Butler, and he lost the

570
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,159
Speaker 1: year before against Steph Curry, and he lost in the

571
00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:00,640
Speaker 1: same season against Giannis. It was like they were heavily

572
00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,000
Speaker 1: favored going into that series because of the Chris Middleton

573
00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:06,399
Speaker 1: injury and Yannis out, Like Tatum had big moments in

574
00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:09,399
Speaker 1: that series, but Yannis dragged that series to seven games,

575
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,399
Speaker 1: and Jannis was the best player in that series, and

576
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,480
Speaker 1: so like that, that's the thing, is like what they want,

577
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,440
Speaker 1: what everyone outside of Boston wants to see is Tatum

578
00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:23,359
Speaker 1: go into this Dallas series and just badly out play

579
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:27,160
Speaker 1: Luca and be the reason why his team wins the title.

580
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,720
Speaker 1: And by the way, if he does, I think he

581
00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:33,880
Speaker 1: will get recognition from that group. But that's the disconnect there.

582
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,240
Speaker 1: Celtics fans are like, look at the resume, and everyone

583
00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:39,800
Speaker 1: else is like, that conference is weak as hell, and

584
00:28:39,880 --> 00:28:42,000
Speaker 1: ever since the conference got a little tougher. Now you

585
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:43,720
Speaker 1: have the most talent in the league. You have five

586
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 1: thirty million dollars plus players. You have four of them

587
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,240
Speaker 1: actually on those contracts, and Derek White is worth Derek

588
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:51,440
Speaker 1: White's worth like thirty five million a year and will

589
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:53,680
Speaker 1: get that the next time he's a free agent. So like,

590
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,200
Speaker 1: that's just the reality of the way this stuff works.

591
00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,640
Speaker 1: Go ask any Kevin Durant fan, They're going to be like,

592
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:02,760
Speaker 1: why isn't he regarded? Is this, this and this? And

593
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,360
Speaker 1: everyone says the same thing. Why would we put Kevin

594
00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:10,840
Speaker 1: Durant on the level of Stephen Lebron when he won

595
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,520
Speaker 1: two titles? When he jumped on to that Golden State Warriors,

596
00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:15,840
Speaker 1: seen that won seventy three seventy three games, and he's

597
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,840
Speaker 1: lost everywhere else, Like, obviously those aren't going to be

598
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 1: regarded the same way. Like, it's just the reality of

599
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 1: the court of public opinion. How do I feel about Tatum?

600
00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:28,920
Speaker 1: I think he's somewhere in that, you know, fourth to

601
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,080
Speaker 1: seventh best player in the world. I think that he's

602
00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:36,480
Speaker 1: perfect for that Celtics roster. I think his defensive versatility

603
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:38,280
Speaker 1: is one of the most underrated things that we hear

604
00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:40,080
Speaker 1: about a superstar in the league. The dude is just

605
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:44,040
Speaker 1: a dominant defensive player that flies completely underneath the radar.

606
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:48,160
Speaker 1: He's a great, connective star, the perfect guy unselfishly to

607
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:51,640
Speaker 1: tie all of that talent together. He's perfect for that

608
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 1: Celtics team. But he's not doing, especially not in terms

609
00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,320
Speaker 1: of degree of difficulty, what Lucas had to do in

610
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,720
Speaker 1: the West, Jokic had to do last year in the West,

611
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,400
Speaker 1: what Yannis has had to do in years past as well.

612
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,440
Speaker 1: Jannis is playing like Giannis was doing one a title

613
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,720
Speaker 1: with Drew Holliday, with Chris Middleton, right Like it's it's

614
00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:13,040
Speaker 1: just a different level of difficulty. It's a different level

615
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:15,840
Speaker 1: of challenge for those stars. It's regarded differently in the

616
00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:18,760
Speaker 1: court of public opinion. And again, like I don't see

617
00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:21,480
Speaker 1: that gap closing. Celtics fans are going to continue to

618
00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,400
Speaker 1: want Tatum to get that regard and everyone else is

619
00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 1: not going to give it to him until he finally

620
00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:29,800
Speaker 1: climbs the mountain top. And again like I'll be I

621
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,120
Speaker 1: just need to prepare you, Celtics fans. If Boston wins

622
00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:37,000
Speaker 1: this series and Tatum averages you know, twenty six, ten

623
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,520
Speaker 1: and five, and he shoots forty two percent from the

624
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,040
Speaker 1: field and thirty two percent from three, it settles for

625
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:45,440
Speaker 1: a bunch of bad jump shots and impacts the game

626
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:48,000
Speaker 1: still and is a great defender and does all those things.

627
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:50,760
Speaker 1: But Jalen Brown plays awesome, and Drew Holliday plays awesome,

628
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,160
Speaker 1: and chrisops Porzingis plays awesome, and Derek White plays awesome,

629
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:55,920
Speaker 1: and Al Horford plays awesome, and Pritchard and Howser hit

630
00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 1: a bunch of threes and Dallas just looks overwhelmed by talent,

631
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,440
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, Tatum's hoisting the Bill Russell

632
00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 1: Finals MVP Trophy. You guys need to be prepared for

633
00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:09,360
Speaker 1: the rest of the league to be like, yeah, it

634
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:11,560
Speaker 1: kind of reminds me of when KD won in twenty

635
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,800
Speaker 1: seventeen or twenty eighteen, right, and KD was like actually

636
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:17,760
Speaker 1: considered one of the top guys, and like he didn't

637
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,400
Speaker 1: get credit. So like, again, that's just the way this

638
00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:22,480
Speaker 1: all this, that's just the way this all works. But

639
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:25,240
Speaker 1: if Tatum goes into the series and he guards Luca

640
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:29,320
Speaker 1: and shuts him down and averages thirty and shoots forty

641
00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:31,480
Speaker 1: eight percent from the field in thirty seven percent from

642
00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:34,240
Speaker 1: three and is deeply and profoundly impactful and all these

643
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,080
Speaker 1: other facets of the game, and the series goes six

644
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,440
Speaker 1: and Tatum makes a bunch of big plays and then

645
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 1: he's hoisting the Bill Russell Trophy. Everybody in that other

646
00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:45,640
Speaker 1: camp is going to be like, damn, that might be

647
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:48,320
Speaker 1: the best player in the world, And don't be surprised

648
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,960
Speaker 1: if you actually see that group elevate Tatum to that level.

649
00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:53,520
Speaker 1: But that's what they want to see. They want to

650
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,560
Speaker 1: see difficulty, They want to see rising against adversity. They

651
00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:58,200
Speaker 1: want to see you going toe to toe with the

652
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,960
Speaker 1: best players in the world and beaten those dudes the

653
00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,040
Speaker 1: same way that Luca did in the last round to

654
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:04,840
Speaker 1: get Aunt, the same way that he did in the

655
00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,240
Speaker 1: previous round against Shake Gildas Alexander, and the same way

656
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:10,160
Speaker 1: he did in the round before that against Paul George

657
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:12,880
Speaker 1: and James Harden. That's what people want to see. That

658
00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:15,920
Speaker 1: is what gets regarded in terms of the actual full

659
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,720
Speaker 1: blown NBA wide fan base. Local fan bases all have

660
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:24,320
Speaker 1: their different opinions about it, right, I'm a Lakers fan.

661
00:32:24,560 --> 00:32:27,400
Speaker 1: Lakers fans are a lot higher on Anthony Davis than

662
00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 1: I am. Like that's kind of the way this stuff works, right,

663
00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,000
Speaker 1: Like it is totally normal. Like Warriors fans still think

664
00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,760
Speaker 1: Steph Curry is the best player in the world. Every

665
00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:38,360
Speaker 1: Denver fan has been in my mentions and YouTube comments

666
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:41,680
Speaker 1: non stop complaining about how I have elevated Luca above

667
00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:44,080
Speaker 1: Jokic because of what he's doing in this postseason run,

668
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:46,520
Speaker 1: because they're convinced their guy is still the best. This

669
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,360
Speaker 1: is totally normal, but if you're gonna win the court

670
00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:52,840
Speaker 1: of public opinion, there has to be this undeniable evidence

671
00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:59,600
Speaker 1: to win that battle. One last note on that front, though,

672
00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:01,600
Speaker 1: like I do you feel bad for Celtics fans in

673
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:03,200
Speaker 1: the sense that I do think Tatum has become a

674
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:05,960
Speaker 1: bit underrated, in the sense that people I think don't

675
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:07,760
Speaker 1: pay enough attention to the good things he does do

676
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:11,080
Speaker 1: for that team. If Kyrie wins another ring, does he

677
00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:13,600
Speaker 1: s pass guards like Dame Westbrook and Harden, not in

678
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:16,080
Speaker 1: a vacuum, but as a player who contributes to winning basketball.

679
00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,840
Speaker 1: So when I look at like number two options who

680
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:22,160
Speaker 1: primarily focus on scoring the basketball, who helped lead their

681
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:24,880
Speaker 1: team to a championship, I think in recent NBA history,

682
00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:27,360
Speaker 1: I think guys like Paul Pierce in two thousand and

683
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:29,240
Speaker 1: eight behind Kevin Garnett, who I thought was the best

684
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,520
Speaker 1: player on that team. Jamal Murray for the Denver Nuggets

685
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,440
Speaker 1: was a good example of that. Chris Middleton for the Bucks,

686
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:36,960
Speaker 1: like he was the one who hit basically the game

687
00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:39,840
Speaker 1: winner in that NET series in Game seven when they

688
00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:42,640
Speaker 1: went into overtime. Like, those are guys that kind of

689
00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,800
Speaker 1: focused on shot making to complement their stars and they

690
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:49,520
Speaker 1: led their teams. Now if he helped help their teams

691
00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:52,480
Speaker 1: win titles, Now if he does it twice, if Kyrie

692
00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:54,960
Speaker 1: does it twice, the next kind of peer that I'd

693
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:56,800
Speaker 1: be looking at there for Kyrie is a guy like

694
00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:00,600
Speaker 1: Tony Parker, where it's like, clearly not the best player

695
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:06,920
Speaker 1: on his team, but like a scoring ceiling Razer who

696
00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:10,120
Speaker 1: works at the guard position and is probably closer to

697
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:11,680
Speaker 1: the top of the league than people realize. And by

698
00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:13,440
Speaker 1: the way, before you think Tony Parker is an insult

699
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:16,000
Speaker 1: for Kyrie Irving, Tony Parker has made second Team All

700
00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:19,920
Speaker 1: NBA three times, Kyrie's made it once. Tony Parker has

701
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 1: a Finals MVP, so like, that's not an insult, that

702
00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:25,080
Speaker 1: is a compliment. I think Kyrie Irving enters into that

703
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:30,080
Speaker 1: Tony Parker layer of like secondary scoring guard that just

704
00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 1: helps lift a championship team to that level. Respect for work. Jason,

705
00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:37,200
Speaker 1: My question is do you see the Celtics mixing in

706
00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 1: different coverages to throw Luca off like a box and

707
00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:42,520
Speaker 1: one or zones, or do you see them staying home

708
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,600
Speaker 1: and trying to make and making him try to beat

709
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:46,880
Speaker 1: single coverage and eliminating the other players. I think we'll

710
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:48,440
Speaker 1: see a bunch of different coverages. I think we'll see

711
00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:50,719
Speaker 1: some blitzing, especially on Knights when Luca's got a going.

712
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:52,719
Speaker 1: I think we'll see a lot of drop coverage. And

713
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:54,120
Speaker 1: I think we'll see a lot of switching too. I

714
00:34:54,160 --> 00:34:56,680
Speaker 1: think we'll see a lot of like trying to force

715
00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:58,719
Speaker 1: Luca to score on an island. I think we're gonna

716
00:34:58,719 --> 00:35:00,440
Speaker 1: see everything and again, when it comes to to these

717
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,399
Speaker 1: types of situations trying to slow down a superstar, it's

718
00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:07,680
Speaker 1: all about that variety and mixing up coverages and trying

719
00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,920
Speaker 1: to keep the offensive player off balance. Jason, are we

720
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,719
Speaker 1: underestimating the Boston defense a bit? I think Holliday is

721
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:17,799
Speaker 1: as strong as Dort will give Luca an issue. Derek

722
00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:21,200
Speaker 1: White is going to absolutely swallow up each of Kyrie's shots.

723
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,120
Speaker 1: First of all, I do think we under a Boston's defense.

724
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:27,279
Speaker 1: I think that they've demonstrated, especially in clutch time this

725
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:31,560
Speaker 1: postseason run that when those four guys Brown, Tatum, White

726
00:35:31,719 --> 00:35:34,800
Speaker 1: in Holiday, when they all really lock in on defense.

727
00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:37,920
Speaker 1: I think that they can be frightening on the perimeter.

728
00:35:38,080 --> 00:35:41,040
Speaker 1: Right that said, I do not think Drew Holliday is

729
00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:42,839
Speaker 1: as big and strong as Lou Dort. I think that

730
00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:46,480
Speaker 1: like Lou Dort brings like another level of physicality that

731
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:48,680
Speaker 1: Drew can't match. And just in terms of his size,

732
00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:51,439
Speaker 1: I don't think he's going to give Luca as many

733
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,960
Speaker 1: issues as Lou Dort did. And Derek White is an

734
00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:57,520
Speaker 1: awesome guard defender, but no one's swallowing up each of

735
00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:00,799
Speaker 1: Kyrie's shots, Like, have some respect for your opponent here,

736
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:03,560
Speaker 1: Like Luca and Kyrie are really really good. That said,

737
00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,920
Speaker 1: I do believe that Boston is capable of being a

738
00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:09,759
Speaker 1: better defensive team than Dallas, and I think that we'll

739
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,440
Speaker 1: see some crazy defensive punches from Boston in this series.

740
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,040
Speaker 1: Hello Jason, I have a question about Dallas defending Boston

741
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:19,160
Speaker 1: with Porzingis Lively had some problems with him in the

742
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:21,759
Speaker 1: one time porzingis played in this matchup. I just feel

743
00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:23,719
Speaker 1: like this is a potentially bad matchup for Dallas. How

744
00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:27,040
Speaker 1: does Dallas try to counter it if it proves to

745
00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,040
Speaker 1: be problem early in the series. If it proves to

746
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:30,680
Speaker 1: be a problem early in the series. Thanks love the

747
00:36:30,719 --> 00:36:33,400
Speaker 1: show a couple of things. We talked a little bit

748
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:35,279
Speaker 1: more about that pick and pop piece earlier in the show,

749
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:37,440
Speaker 1: so I won't get into that again. I am excited

750
00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:41,680
Speaker 1: to look at the film and see what you're referencing

751
00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:46,240
Speaker 1: in terms of Porzingis and Lively's individual matchup. But like again,

752
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:49,560
Speaker 1: I think it comes down to them running drop until

753
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:53,200
Speaker 1: Porzingis starts making shots, and then switching if Porzingis starts hitting.

754
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,840
Speaker 1: At that point, Jason said, Luca is going to be

755
00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:58,960
Speaker 1: the best player in the mav Celtics series. Is Kyrie

756
00:36:59,040 --> 00:37:01,400
Speaker 1: the second best player? Is Kyrie the second best player

757
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:03,759
Speaker 1: in that series? No, Jayson Tatum is Again, like I think,

758
00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:07,319
Speaker 1: I think we're I think the NBA fan base at

759
00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:09,719
Speaker 1: large under rats Tatum a little bit. I think he's

760
00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:14,880
Speaker 1: a lot closer to Luca's level than people think. What

761
00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:16,720
Speaker 1: will it take for you to admit that Jason Tatum

762
00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,080
Speaker 1: is a better player than Luka Doncic. I understand that

763
00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:21,600
Speaker 1: Luca has better stats and is a better passer than Tatum,

764
00:37:21,719 --> 00:37:23,560
Speaker 1: but Tatum is a much lower usage rate due to

765
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:26,759
Speaker 1: boston stacked roster. Tatum is bigger, faster, longer, stronger, and

766
00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:29,480
Speaker 1: a better athlete and a much better defensive player, a

767
00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:31,960
Speaker 1: better jump shot in my opinion, a very underrated passer,

768
00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:34,200
Speaker 1: no holes in his game, et cetera. He also tends

769
00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:36,120
Speaker 1: to outplay Luca whenever they play head to head, and

770
00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:38,640
Speaker 1: Boston has won the last four meetings. If Jayson Tatum

771
00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:41,040
Speaker 1: outplays Luca and Boston wins comfortably in five or six games,

772
00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:43,399
Speaker 1: will you finally admit that you've had Tatum too low

773
00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:45,600
Speaker 1: in your player rankings and that he's a better player

774
00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:48,520
Speaker 1: than Luka Doncic. This male back question is a perfect

775
00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,080
Speaker 1: example of what I was talking about earlier. That's how

776
00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:54,799
Speaker 1: most Boston fans viewed Tatum, and so that's the disconnect.

777
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:58,719
Speaker 1: They view him as better than Luca and better than

778
00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:00,400
Speaker 1: the guys at the top of the league, and outside

779
00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:02,080
Speaker 1: of Boston people don't feel that way. They view him

780
00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:05,560
Speaker 1: in the tier below that right, couple things, I do

781
00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:09,319
Speaker 1: agree that Luca has the ability. I'm gonna take it

782
00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:11,680
Speaker 1: to the front portion of this question. What will it

783
00:38:11,680 --> 00:38:13,080
Speaker 1: take for you to admit that Jason Tatum is a

784
00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:15,920
Speaker 1: better player than Luka Doncic guard him in the series.

785
00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:19,200
Speaker 1: You're gonna need to guard him in the series. Lock

786
00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:23,040
Speaker 1: him up and do everything you can to help your

787
00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:25,640
Speaker 1: offense score on the other end of the floor, be

788
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,400
Speaker 1: the better two way player, and lift your team to

789
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:33,200
Speaker 1: win the title. It's literally that simple. But if he

790
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:36,839
Speaker 1: doesn't take the Luca assignment and Luca shreds them, but

791
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:39,840
Speaker 1: Boston just wins because they're more talented. Like that question

792
00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:42,640
Speaker 1: that Boston's won the last four meetings, Boston's best team.

793
00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:44,520
Speaker 1: Boston has the most talent in the league by far,

794
00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:47,080
Speaker 1: so like they should win most of the time, they

795
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:49,360
Speaker 1: should win the title this year. They're minus two twenty

796
00:38:49,360 --> 00:38:52,480
Speaker 1: favorite in the series. Tatum is not viewed as a

797
00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:55,759
Speaker 1: minus two to twenty better player than Luka Doncic. That's

798
00:38:55,800 --> 00:39:00,399
Speaker 1: the roster. The roster is what's dictating that. As far

799
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:04,640
Speaker 1: as the specifics, is Tatum bigger in terms of like

800
00:39:04,719 --> 00:39:07,799
Speaker 1: overall physicality, It's closer than you think. I'd probably give

801
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:13,040
Speaker 1: the slight edge to Luca. Is Tatum faster, yes, Tatum longer, Yes,

802
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:18,320
Speaker 1: tatums stronger. Tatum's leaner, but like more like defined muscle.

803
00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:21,880
Speaker 1: But Luca's a big, strong motherfucker, a better athlete. Definitely,

804
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:25,319
Speaker 1: Tatum much better defensive player. Definitely tatum better jump shot,

805
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:29,520
Speaker 1: Absolutely not. Tatum's jumper is very inconsistent. Lucas is more

806
00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:32,439
Speaker 1: like Luca hasn't shot particularly well in this postseason run

807
00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:36,560
Speaker 1: up until the last round, but from October to now,

808
00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:41,040
Speaker 1: Luca's been a better shooter. Very underrated passer. You're right,

809
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:42,560
Speaker 1: Tatum is an underrated passer. I think he's one of

810
00:39:42,600 --> 00:39:45,120
Speaker 1: the best passers of all the forwards in the league.

811
00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:47,200
Speaker 1: Luca might be the best passer in the league. That's

812
00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:50,040
Speaker 1: just it's a different level. No holes in his game.

813
00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:53,319
Speaker 1: Totally disagree. I think Tatum in slow down half court

814
00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:56,080
Speaker 1: environments can struggle. Sometimes. He's better at it than he

815
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:57,400
Speaker 1: used to be. He's better at it than a lot

816
00:39:57,440 --> 00:39:59,200
Speaker 1: of people think he is, but he is not the

817
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:02,520
Speaker 1: same level of half court initiator as Luka Doncic. So again,

818
00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:06,279
Speaker 1: in terms of it has to be Tatum badly out

819
00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:08,520
Speaker 1: playing Luca and his team winning. It can't just be

820
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:11,239
Speaker 1: the team wins, but Tatum and Luca just kind of

821
00:40:11,239 --> 00:40:13,360
Speaker 1: play each other to a draw at that point. I

822
00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:15,799
Speaker 1: think Lucas just accomplished more in this playoff run in

823
00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:18,000
Speaker 1: terms of degree of difficulty in what his team has

824
00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:21,960
Speaker 1: needed him to do to win. But I'm not going

825
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:24,200
Speaker 1: to write that off like it's very possible that two

826
00:40:24,239 --> 00:40:26,799
Speaker 1: weeks from now we're talking about Tatum is the best

827
00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:29,359
Speaker 1: player in the world. I'm not saying he can't do it.

828
00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:31,520
Speaker 1: I'm saying I just don't think he's going to do it.

829
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:34,400
Speaker 1: I think it's more I think the most likely scenario

830
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:38,080
Speaker 1: in this series is that Boston wins and Tatum looks

831
00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:39,719
Speaker 1: more or less like he's looked through the other three

832
00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:42,000
Speaker 1: rounds of the postseason, like just another really good player

833
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:45,600
Speaker 1: in the NBA. Do you think that Tatum has the

834
00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:48,040
Speaker 1: ability to lock up or at least make life difficult

835
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:50,800
Speaker 1: for Luca to play well in this series. I personally

836
00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:53,120
Speaker 1: think that he can and will sacrifice his offensive production

837
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:54,800
Speaker 1: to do so, leaving the rest of the Celtics to

838
00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:57,120
Speaker 1: pick up the slack offensively. Do you think that Dallas

839
00:40:57,160 --> 00:40:58,960
Speaker 1: has the personnel to guard the rest of the Celtics

840
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:03,400
Speaker 1: starters effectively. So this would be the worst case scenario

841
00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:06,399
Speaker 1: for Tatum and whatever sort of public opinion sort of thing,

842
00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:09,440
Speaker 1: because the public is so focused on box score numbers,

843
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:12,760
Speaker 1: But that is Boston's best pathway to victory. If Tatum

844
00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:14,759
Speaker 1: goes into the series from this jump and says I

845
00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:18,120
Speaker 1: am guarding Luka Doncic the entirety of the series. Everyone

846
00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:20,200
Speaker 1: else I will spot up in the corner and run

847
00:41:20,239 --> 00:41:22,480
Speaker 1: second side action whenever I have the legs for it.

848
00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:24,600
Speaker 1: But you guys are on the offense, I'm gonna focus

849
00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:27,600
Speaker 1: on Tatum. If Boston did that, I'd feel pretty strongly

850
00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:30,120
Speaker 1: that Boston's gonna win this series. It's just unlikely to

851
00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:33,279
Speaker 1: me that they do that. I hope. I think that

852
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:35,920
Speaker 1: if they find themselves in some trouble, like if Dallas

853
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:37,759
Speaker 1: is up to one in the series, I think we'll

854
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:39,680
Speaker 1: see a lot more Tatum on Luca, especially if they're

855
00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:42,440
Speaker 1: struggling to guard him. But like that to me is

856
00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:47,799
Speaker 1: like then it's not the super exciting way to win

857
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:50,240
Speaker 1: the series. But I think that that's an interesting direction

858
00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:52,279
Speaker 1: that Boston could go. That would be really difficult for

859
00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:57,560
Speaker 1: Dallas to deal with. Who needs this championship more. It's

860
00:41:57,640 --> 00:42:03,200
Speaker 1: a tough one. Boston's bringing everybody back next year. I

861
00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:05,160
Speaker 1: said this with Colin the other day, but the only

862
00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:06,600
Speaker 1: thing that would really freak me out if I was

863
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:10,600
Speaker 1: Boston is if Tatum sucks. If Tatum goes into the

864
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:13,320
Speaker 1: series like he did in the Warriors series and plays

865
00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:18,400
Speaker 1: abhorrently bad and Luca dominates the series and Dallas wins

866
00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:22,440
Speaker 1: in six games. That's a catastrophe because now it's like,

867
00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:25,040
Speaker 1: holy shit, Jason Tatum at age twenty six just cannot

868
00:42:25,120 --> 00:42:27,200
Speaker 1: go toe to toe with the best guys. And it

869
00:42:27,239 --> 00:42:30,080
Speaker 1: doesn't matter how talented of a roster we put around him,

870
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:34,680
Speaker 1: They're just not good enough. Like that would be a catastrophe,

871
00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:37,760
Speaker 1: But any other outcome is great, Like if Tatum plays

872
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:40,359
Speaker 1: great and you lose, you're bringing everybody back next year

873
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:41,920
Speaker 1: and you'll probably and you have a much better chance

874
00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:44,440
Speaker 1: to get it done with another year of experience for Tatum,

875
00:42:44,719 --> 00:42:50,040
Speaker 1: right like, or if you win, right, Dallas has it's

876
00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:52,520
Speaker 1: just if they lose, it's just bad, no matter how

877
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:55,879
Speaker 1: you slice it, because they've poured everything. The worst case

878
00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:58,280
Speaker 1: scenario for Dallas is if you get killed. If Boston

879
00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:02,360
Speaker 1: wins this series four games to one, that's rough because

880
00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:05,600
Speaker 1: now you've invested so heavily in this roster, which does

881
00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:09,240
Speaker 1: not have enough firepower to beat Boston, and that becomes

882
00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:11,840
Speaker 1: an issue. Right, And then you also didn't have to

883
00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:14,799
Speaker 1: play Denver in the Western Conference playoffs, which there's a

884
00:43:14,840 --> 00:43:16,920
Speaker 1: decent chance you have to the following year, right, So,

885
00:43:17,080 --> 00:43:20,839
Speaker 1: like it's kind of both teams will live to fight

886
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:24,040
Speaker 1: again regardless of what happens. I'm gonna say Dallas needs

887
00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:26,520
Speaker 1: this championship more though, just simply because the West is

888
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:29,360
Speaker 1: much harder to get through, and because they've invested so

889
00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:32,480
Speaker 1: much more in terms of draft capital into this particular

890
00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:35,160
Speaker 1: season and they have less ability to pivot than Boston does.

891
00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:36,919
Speaker 1: Boston has all these really good players, they can trade

892
00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:39,480
Speaker 1: really good players, you know, like Dallas has a lot

893
00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:41,600
Speaker 1: of play finishers that are valuable for them but maybe

894
00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:44,440
Speaker 1: less valuable elsewhere around the league. All right, guys, that

895
00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:46,759
Speaker 1: is all I have for this particular mail bag. We'll

896
00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:48,400
Speaker 1: be back tomorrow with another mail bag on the rest

897
00:43:48,400 --> 00:44:14,000
Speaker 1: of the league. I'll see you guys. Then the volume