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Speaker 1: On today's show, Nikola Jokicch's Nuggets are playing great, but

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Speaker 1: does that hurt his MVP chances? The Hawks? Tray Young

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Speaker 1: is growing before our eyes. LaMarcus Aldridge has a very

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Speaker 1: successful debut for the Nets. And they say Victor Oladipo

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Speaker 1: had a successful debut for the Heat. But I'll tell

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Speaker 1: you why that's not true. They they said that who

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Speaker 1: is they? Hey, I'm Tas Mellus and this is what

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Speaker 1: you need to know in the NBA for Friday, April second.

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Speaker 1: Good morning to everyone out there. Let's get into it.

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Speaker 1: The Nuggets had a wall to wall win over the

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Speaker 1: Clippers on the road. As much as I brate the

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Speaker 1: Clippers play, that's a very solid win for the Nuggets,

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Speaker 1: beating a team ahead of them in the West. They

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Speaker 1: now sit tied for fourth in the West. The Nuggets

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Speaker 1: are moving on up, Niccola. Jokic had a quiet fourteen

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Speaker 1: to seven seven Since Aaron Gordon was acquired at the deadline,

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Speaker 1: Jokic is being a little quiet. He's averaging only fourteen

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Speaker 1: shot attempts per game. An MVP candidate that few of

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Speaker 1: shots per game. That's four to five shots less per

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Speaker 1: game per fewer per game than he was shooting earlier

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Speaker 1: this season. The numbers are going down so naturally, you'd

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Speaker 1: think that would hurt his MVP chances, but no, Because

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Speaker 1: Jokic is looking even more like his usual self. Getting

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Speaker 1: those involved around him, those guys become bigger threats. Jokic

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Speaker 1: becomes an even bigger threat himself. It's that old adage

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Speaker 1: in basketball, you gotta shoot when you're open. The team

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Speaker 1: around him is better, the wins will follow. Plus, Jokic's

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Speaker 1: stats are so incredible they could fall a bit and

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Speaker 1: he could still win MVP. The team wins would help

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Speaker 1: his case more than any stats would. It would make

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Speaker 1: his MVP case more balanced, just like his team has

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Speaker 1: become more balanced since the Train. They are three and

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Speaker 1: zero since Aaron Gordon was acquired, everybody a thread on

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Speaker 1: the floor. Jamal Murray benefits too. When Aaron Gordon, Michael

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Speaker 1: Porter Junior, and Will Barton our threats, you just don't

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Speaker 1: know who to stop on this team anymore. Jamal Murray

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Speaker 1: has more space. That's why he had a team leading

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Speaker 1: twenty three for the Nuggets. All starters have between fourteen

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Speaker 1: and twenty three for that team. The defense was solid.

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Speaker 1: They are looking good. Another threat in the West. How

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Speaker 1: many threats in the West do we need? It seems

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Speaker 1: like there's a bit of a theme here Today in basketball,

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Speaker 1: the Hawks beat the Spurs in double overtime. So where's

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Speaker 1: the theme here? Well, the Hawks are now five hundred.

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Speaker 1: They're twenty four and twenty four. Ken Griffy and Ken Griffy.

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Speaker 1: That's the last time I watched baseball when Ken Griffy

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Speaker 1: was wearing number twenty four? I kid, how about that

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Speaker 1: Blue Jays on opening Day? A play at the plate

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Speaker 1: on opening Day in the ninth inning. Doesn't get much

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Speaker 1: better than that. The Hawks are three and four here

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Speaker 1: on their eight game road trip to start. They're through

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Speaker 1: seven games. That's very respectable. They're proven to everyone there.

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Speaker 1: Coaching change has helped. I didn't want to admit it,

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Speaker 1: but I'm just open about my respect for coach Pierce

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Speaker 1: the man. But on the floor, the difference is this

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Speaker 1: young team seems to have a little bit more structure

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Speaker 1: under Nate McMillan, and they're listening to that voice. In

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Speaker 1: the locker room. Trey is setting up his guys more

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Speaker 1: waiting to get his till late in the game. He

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Speaker 1: didn't take a three point shot until overtime on Thursday night.

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Speaker 1: That is incredible when you think about it, and that's

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Speaker 1: when he clearly he showed he was the best player

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Speaker 1: on the floor amongst everybody on the Hawks and the Spurs.

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Speaker 1: He is taking on the personality of new coach McMillan

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Speaker 1: and how he played a little bit getting everybody involved

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Speaker 1: in just waiting until the end to get his on.

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Speaker 1: Nate didn't really do that, but Trey is just ridiculously

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Speaker 1: talented and he can do that. And because they're sharing,

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Speaker 1: Atlanta had three guys with twenty eight points, Trey in

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Speaker 1: the end, Clint Cappella and bog Down Bogdanovitch. And if

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Speaker 1: you haven't heard or read, I should say bug am

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Speaker 1: Bugdanovitch's exclusive interview with Chris Kershner on The Athletic. You

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Speaker 1: should Bogie very open about how he thinks the team

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Speaker 1: has improved under coach McMillan, how they're listening to more,

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Speaker 1: how they respect him a little bit more, how there's

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Speaker 1: structure versus the openness that coach Pierce was coaching. You

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Speaker 1: should take a read. Jump over to the Athletic dot

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Speaker 1: com slash no dunks if you need a subscription I

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Speaker 1: guess the theme today is by doing less, you do

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Speaker 1: more or whatever those motivational posters say. Trey Young must

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Speaker 1: have that poster. It is helping out there for the Hawks.

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Speaker 1: Moving on, LaMarcus Aldridge, just picked up from the Spurs,

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Speaker 1: made his debut for the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday. They

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Speaker 1: hosted Charlotte and the Nets one in a blowout on TNT.

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Speaker 1: Aldridge got the start at center at thirty five. Aldridge

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Speaker 1: can clearly still play, but the Spurs needed him to

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Speaker 1: be greater than he needs to be on this loaded

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Speaker 1: Nets team. Are you kidding? He had eleven nine rebounds

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Speaker 1: and six assists six sis for LaMarcus Aldridge the Nets

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Speaker 1: removing the ball. Steve Nash must have been giddy over

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Speaker 1: there on the sideline. Twenty six baskets in the first

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Speaker 1: half for the Nets. Twenty were assisted. Kevin Durant's gonna

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Speaker 1: love Aldridge because number when. He's just a good player,

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Speaker 1: but he's a pretty traditional post player, a mid post player,

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Speaker 1: the purity of it all. Kevin Durant loves that he's

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Speaker 1: not even playing right now, but they're still winning. And

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Speaker 1: I guess that's why he recruited him. He knows Aldridge

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Speaker 1: is a sensational player. They are just two loaded. Aldridge

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Speaker 1: gives the Nets something they didn't have. Actually, the Nets

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Speaker 1: had the second fewest post ups in the league before

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Speaker 1: Aldridge came over. And if a team like this moves

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Speaker 1: it in the first half, where incredibly skilled guys get

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Speaker 1: the feel and the flow, they get the lather, then

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Speaker 1: they can cook and isolation plays in the second half.

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Speaker 1: Aldridge took over from DeAndre Jordan in the starting lineup,

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Speaker 1: who was a healthy scratch, so second year player Nick

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Speaker 1: Clackson can still keep his backup role. Aldridge makes sense

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Speaker 1: to grab DeAndre Jordan's minutes. DeAndre Jordan was the guy

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Speaker 1: playing the least effective amongst their big man rotation. I

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Speaker 1: don't know why we didn't see that. I'm not gonna

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Speaker 1: predict any more rotational changes. No Durant, who should be

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Speaker 1: back next week from that hamstring injury. No Blake in

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Speaker 1: a back to back, no Hardening this one who's got

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Speaker 1: a tight hamstring. All those guys should be fine. Then

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Speaker 1: we'll see how the minutes will break down for the

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Speaker 1: East top team. I'll stop pretending to know how it's

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Speaker 1: gonna happen. One complaint LaMarcus Aldridge did look a little

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Speaker 1: big in the nets Tide uniforms. It just looked a

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Speaker 1: little large. Maybe they're just not that flattering. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he didn't look as big as Derek Coleman did back

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Speaker 1: in the nineties. Actually, if you're watching on YouTube, Derek

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Speaker 1: Coleman looks slender. Who am I to judge? What a

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Speaker 1: jerk I am? Those jerseys they're just nice. I don't know,

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Speaker 1: they look more fitted in the nineties, which I guess

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Speaker 1: makes sense. All right, looking good, LaMarcus. I take it

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Speaker 1: all back. I take it all back. Moving on to

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Speaker 1: Golden State and Miami, Victor Aldipo made his debut for

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Speaker 1: the Heat. He got the start in the backcourt. He

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Speaker 1: seemed to fit well into the Heat culture. Yes, take

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Speaker 1: a drink really well early on. And when we all assume,

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Speaker 1: we all assume that Heat culture means working hard, but I

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Speaker 1: mean moving the ball. He did that. He had five

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Speaker 1: assists in this game. He got everyone involved, and that's

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Speaker 1: what the Heat do. That's how they got to the finals.

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Speaker 1: They also work hard on defense, though Heat culture have

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Speaker 1: a drink, and he did that. He worked hard on

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Speaker 1: d There you go. He was an all defensive player

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Speaker 1: in his peak year of twenty eighteen, if you remember,

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Speaker 1: But then he made plenty of mistakes, plenty of booboos,

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Speaker 1: three turnovers. Five assists to three turnovers. That's not a

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Speaker 1: good assist a turnover ratio. And he's still struggling to

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Speaker 1: find his shooting stroke as he has all season two

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Speaker 1: of eight. Missed all of his threes in this game,

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Speaker 1: and that was the reason he was the only starter

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Speaker 1: who had a negative plus minus in this game. For

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Speaker 1: the Miami Heat, It's a limited role like LaMarcus Aldridge

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Speaker 1: in Brooklyn, and that should, in theory, help get the

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Speaker 1: best out of Victor Oladipo. But I'm not so sure.

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Speaker 1: He seems to be a guy who gets that shot

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Speaker 1: going by being a volume shooter, at least he has

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Speaker 1: the last few years. So can he excel in a

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Speaker 1: more limited role than he's used to Well? One, two, three, ABC, TBD,

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Speaker 1: The East Coast Family. Three other games on the sched

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Speaker 1: from Thursday. Philadelphia beat Cleveland in a route. Remember when

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Speaker 1: the Cavs call in Sexton was an All Star consideration.

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Speaker 1: Those were the days Shake Milton had twenty seven and

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Speaker 1: oh Kevin Love is playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers right now.

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Speaker 1: Get healthy. keV Josh Shackson had a season high thirty

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Speaker 1: one points for Detroit in a win over Washington. The

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Speaker 1: former number four pick trying to resurrect his career in Detroit.

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Speaker 1: I hope he can do that and the Magic keep

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Speaker 1: winning when they absolutely most definitely do not want to win.

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Speaker 1: They want to lose. They blew it up at the

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Speaker 1: deadline to be bad. They're pick. This season will be

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Speaker 1: better than anything they got at the deadline for vouch

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Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon, Revan four. At least it should be. If

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Speaker 1: they keep winning, then it won't be. They beat a

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Speaker 1: Zionist Pelicans team in overtime. That is it for me.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining me today. Make sure

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Speaker 1: you check out the full Nodunks episode here. On Friday.

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Speaker 1: We got plenty in the show. We got worse of

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Speaker 1: the week, we got lots of stuff. I think we

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Speaker 1: got a five star Friday coming for you. So join us.

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Speaker 1: Then I will be back on Monday to give you

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Speaker 1: the news as fast as I possibly can see. Then