1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: The volume. The NBA eighty two game grind is done, 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:10,239 Speaker 1: and now the real fun begins. The NBA Playoffs aren't here, 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:12,920 Speaker 1: and it's time for all the high stakes drama, clutch moments, 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: and jaw dropping plays. I can't wait. If you're looking 5 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: to make the playoffs even more exciting, DraftKings Sportsbook has 6 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: you covered as an official sports betting partner of the 7 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: NBA from the playing games all the way through to 8 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: the finals. Now's the time to back your favorite players 9 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: and teams as they chase glory. All season long. 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All of you guys had an incredible weekend. 36 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:07,760 Speaker 1: As expected. The Clippers Warriors game yesterday was incredibly entertaining 37 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: and incredibly informative. So all we're gonna do in this 38 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,239 Speaker 1: little short episode this morning is we're going to talk 39 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: about my five biggest takeaways from the first truly important, 40 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: truly high stakes game in the NBA this season, and 41 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: then after that, I'm gonna give just my initial impressions 42 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: on the two Western Conference playoffs series, that being the 43 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: Lakers versus the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Denver Nuggets versus 44 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:36,520 Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Clippers. The rest of this week, we're 45 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: gonna have a lot of series preview content. I actually 46 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 1: have a kind of a breakdown of that coming a 47 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: little bit later in the show so that you guys 48 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:44,320 Speaker 1: can have an idea of what to expect this week. 49 00:02:44,360 --> 00:02:47,919 Speaker 1: But this morning just Clippers Warriors, some takeaways, as well 50 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: as my initial thoughts on the two other playoff series 51 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 1: in the Western Conference. You guys know the joke before 52 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:54,839 Speaker 1: we get started to subscribed to the Hoops Tonight YouTube 53 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. 54 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,639 Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore json lt so you 55 00:02:58,639 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: guys don't miss announcement stff forget about a podcast for 56 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:02,240 Speaker 1: you wherever you eat you podcast on our Hoops Tonight. 57 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and 58 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: a review on that front. Jackson's also doing incredible work 59 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: on our new social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. 60 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: Make sure you guys follow us there. In the last 61 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions and the YouTube 62 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: comments and we can get to our mail bags throughout 63 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:19,679 Speaker 1: the remainder of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball. 64 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: So again, yesterday, there was a brief moment early in 65 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: the day where it looked like things could get a 66 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: little bit more complicated because email Udoka decided to play 67 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: his starters against the Nuggets. So now all of a sudden, 68 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,840 Speaker 1: you're really looking at the four or eight being literally anything. 69 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,840 Speaker 1: But the Nuggets came out with the requisite intensity. The 70 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: Rockets did not. Udoka kept their minutes down and so 71 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: that game ended up not mattering. So it ended up 72 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: all coming down to that Clippers Warriors game. As I 73 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: said at the top, we're going to do our five 74 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 1: biggest takeaways. This is going to be the schedule for 75 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: series previews this week, So again we have just initial thoughts. 76 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: Today Tomorrow full series previews for Bucks, Pacers and Pistons Nicks. 77 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: The next day Wednesday, full series previews on Lakers, Wolves, 78 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: and on Clippers Nuggets. The two sevens will be out 79 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: on Thursday after we have the results from the play 80 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: in and then, just like we do every year, the 81 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: one eights are always a little bit shorter and a 82 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: little bit more brief, just because they're the biggest favorite 83 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: usually and because of the way the schedule works, we 84 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: don't even find out who those teams are until Friday night, 85 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: and then Saturday morning the actual playoffs start, so I 86 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 1: actually have to turn my attention to the real game. 87 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:35,520 Speaker 1: So our one eights won't be as comprehensive as the 88 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: other six series previews. But that's the schedule this week. 89 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: Two on Tuesday, two on Wednesday, two on Thursdays. Keep 90 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 1: an eye on the feeds. You guys will see it there. 91 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: Also for your Warrior fans, we will be going live 92 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:50,280 Speaker 1: on YouTube after the final buzzer of Grizzlies Warriors tomorrow night, 93 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: and we'll do a little mail bag there as well. 94 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: So our five biggest takeaways from this Clippers Warriors game. 95 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: First of all, just incredible basketball. It's always amazing when 96 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: you get to this time of year. There are important 97 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: regular season games. There have been a lot of important 98 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: regular season games in the last couple of weeks, but 99 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,159 Speaker 1: when you get to that final day of the regular season, 100 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,039 Speaker 1: it just feels different in terms of the stakes. And 101 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: these were important stakes for both teams on a bunch 102 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: of different levels. Right the Warriors losing dropped to the 103 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: play in. If the Clippers had lost, they would have 104 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 1: dropped to the plan. Now you can kind of draw 105 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: a little bit of a silver lining for Warriors fans 106 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: in the sense that, like, if you win that game, 107 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 1: you have to go through the Clippers and then likely 108 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: excuse me, the Lakers, and then likely the Clippers right 109 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: after that, because I do think the Clippers would have 110 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:40,479 Speaker 1: beat Houston in a two seven matchup, and so you 111 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: would have to go through two of the top teams 112 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: in the Western Conference. If I was ordering the teams 113 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,840 Speaker 1: in the Western Conference, there's going to be, you know, 114 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 1: the Thunder, the Lakers, the Clippers, the Warriors, and then 115 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: a gap for me before the rest of these teams. 116 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: And so the for you to have to play one 117 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,360 Speaker 1: of those teams in every single round, potentially this would 118 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,279 Speaker 1: be extremely difficult to get through. So now, if you 119 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: win on Tuesday against the Grizzlies, at least you get 120 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:09,599 Speaker 1: to play Houston in the first round, which I think 121 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: is an easier opponent than both the Lakers or the Clippers. 122 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:16,159 Speaker 1: That said, I think Warriors fans would have rather done 123 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: the Lakers Clippers route and not have to take the 124 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: risk of the play in. You go in there tomorrow 125 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:24,799 Speaker 1: and John Moran happens to have his three point shot 126 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: going and he hit six or seven threes, and Desmond 127 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:29,840 Speaker 1: Bain's got to go in and Jaron Jackson hit six 128 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: or seven threes, you could be staring down the barrel 129 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,239 Speaker 1: of like a Demarta rozen Zach Lavine led team coming 130 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 1: into your building with a chance to knock you out 131 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 1: of the playoffs. It's unnecessary risks, So obviously you'd rather 132 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: take the route of the guaranteed playoff path. But if 133 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,160 Speaker 1: you're looking for a silver lining, I do think it's 134 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:50,720 Speaker 1: an easier path to go Houston La ok See than 135 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: to go La la ok See. So that's a little 136 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: bit of a of a silver lining there. But okay, 137 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,919 Speaker 1: looking back at the game ends up going to ot 138 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: Clippers pull it out late. I wanted to go over 139 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: some takeaways because I did think there were some revealing 140 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: things for both teams in terms of what we can 141 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: expect in their playoff run this year. From that game, 142 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: first of all playoff Kawhi looks very much here, easily 143 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: getting separation from top tier defenders, working Jimmy Butler to 144 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:23,760 Speaker 1: his spots on the floor to get easy fadeaways over 145 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: both shoulders. He was getting separated. Draymond Green did log 146 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: some good possessions against him, specifically the one at the 147 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: final buzzer in the fourth quarter where he just got 148 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: a great contest and forced one of Kawhi's worst misses 149 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 1: of the day, kind of like an outside of the 150 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: rim miss long into the right. But even against Draymond Green, 151 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:44,960 Speaker 1: like got a clean look at a step back three 152 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: in crunch time, got a clean look at a step 153 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: back along the left wing along two that he made. 154 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: He was able to get separation from everybody and eventually 155 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: dictate a bunch of double teams from Steve Kerr, I disagreed. 156 00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: I was actually talking with Jackson. We talked on the 157 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: phone a little bit after the game yesterday, and I 158 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: disagree with the strategy that they went with with the 159 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: double team, specifically attacking Kawhi so far from the basket. 160 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: One of the reasons why I don't like that is 161 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: it creates a lot more space to deal with the 162 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:13,640 Speaker 1: four on three. Right, Like, it's kind of the Steph 163 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: Curry blitz concept. Right, This is what Steph Curry's been 164 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: doing to teams for a decade in terms of blitz coverage. 165 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: You give a guy the ball right at the high 166 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: post and a four on three with like the two 167 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:26,760 Speaker 1: defenders that were on the ball way out at near 168 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 1: half court, there's just so much space for Chris Dunn 169 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: to turn around and methodically look down the lane, like, oh, 170 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: you know, this guy didn't step up, so I'm gonna 171 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: shoot the little floater. Oh, this guy did step up, 172 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:39,400 Speaker 1: so I'm gonna throw the little lob to Zubats. It's 173 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: like a very easy kind of like order of operations there. 174 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,840 Speaker 1: Kawhi is not the greatest passer of all times, so 175 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: like I would have rather had you double Kawhi, Like 176 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: as he's going into more of a scoring position, So like, 177 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 1: if he's dribbling out by the three point line, just 178 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: tell your man to pressure the ball, pressure him and 179 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:58,959 Speaker 1: funnel him to a specific side where you're planning the 180 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: double coming from. And then as he puts his head 181 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 1: down and starts driving, that's when you bring the double 182 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:05,679 Speaker 1: team and you can kind of capitalize in some of 183 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 1: Kawhi's playmaking weaknesses. But I disagree with the strategy, but 184 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: it is what it is. Kawhi ends up drawing all 185 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,840 Speaker 1: these double teams and they're able to consistently generate great 186 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: shots out of it. But it started from the basic 187 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: concept that nobody on the Warriors, an elite defense in 188 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:22,680 Speaker 1: this league, could make Kauai uncomfortable as he was just 189 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: dropping whatever he wanted from anywhere on the floor. That 190 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:29,680 Speaker 1: bodes extremely well for the Clippers, right, Like, so much 191 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: of what we talk about with the Clippers comes down 192 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:35,319 Speaker 1: to like this theoretical concept of like, well will Kawai 193 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: be able to give you four playoff rounds? Well, here's 194 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 1: the thing. It's April fourteenth or here now, Like Kawhi 195 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: is healthy right now, with no games between now and 196 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,440 Speaker 1: his playoff series with the Denver Nuggets that starts on Saturday. 197 00:09:49,559 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 1: So like he's here now, and he looks like Kauai. 198 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: So at this point I feel like it's wishful thinking 199 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:56,760 Speaker 1: for him to get hurt. Maybe he will get hurt, 200 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: who knows, but like it's very likely at this point 201 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: that Kawhi is going to be healthy for this playoff 202 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: runt in a way that it wasn't when we were 203 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 1: discussing this theoretical team back in October. In November, I 204 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: think that Bo's extremely well for Clippers fans. Kawhi Leonard 205 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:13,520 Speaker 1: looked like the best player on the floor last night. 206 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,079 Speaker 1: Kawhi when he's at his ceiling, is very capable of 207 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,160 Speaker 1: being a top tier superstar in this league, and it 208 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:23,280 Speaker 1: just fundamentally alters the talent level that is on this 209 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:27,320 Speaker 1: Clippers team. They looked like an absolute problem yesterday because 210 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: of Kawhi and the ceiling that he's able to reach. 211 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: Two I vi'sa. Zubats is on the doorstep of becoming 212 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 1: one of the star centers in this league. Big, huge, 213 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: important game, twenty two points, seventeen rebounds, got a bucket 214 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: out of the post. He was doing a lot of 215 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: different types of floor spacing. We talked about the vertical 216 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: spacing on the lob from Chris Dunn in crunch time. 217 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,640 Speaker 1: He had another example of spacing like that Isaiah Hartenstein 218 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 1: style floater spacing on a James Harden drive past Gary 219 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: Payton where he went down the lane line had just 220 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 1: shoveled it off to Zoo just outside the left block, 221 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: and he was able to shoot that little floater over 222 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 1: the top. He was destroying them on the offensive glass. 223 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: He was just an absolute problem. I cannot wait to 224 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: watch him battle Jokic for a full series. I think 225 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 1: it's a very interesting matchup because of his size. He's 226 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 1: one of the few guys in this league that's actually 227 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: big and strong enough to cause some disruption for Nicole 228 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:25,200 Speaker 1: Jokic's base. Zoo is on a run and I cannot 229 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:27,400 Speaker 1: wait to watch him play some really high stakes basketball 230 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: this week. Third big takeaway playoff. Jimmy Butler apparently is 231 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 1: still a thing. I can't ever remember watching a player 232 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,880 Speaker 1: that has had more ability to scale up from his 233 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 1: normal production in high stakes environments than Jimmy Butler. I 234 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:47,560 Speaker 1: wish he would have been more aggressive in crunch time, 235 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about that in a little 236 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,599 Speaker 1: bit here in our fourth piece. Like Steph was just 237 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:53,520 Speaker 1: running out of gas a little bit late in the 238 00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: game once we got into the final minute of the 239 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: fourth quarter. But for the most part last night, with 240 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: the scoring in the playmaking, was able to leverage it 241 00:12:01,640 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: in a way that was deeply impactful. He looked springy. 242 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:06,560 Speaker 1: He was getting to the rim, he was dunking, he 243 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,439 Speaker 1: was getting lots of lyft on his jump shot. Little 244 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:11,440 Speaker 1: concern with that need of the quad that he caught 245 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 1: late in the game from Kawhi, especially just because they 246 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:17,440 Speaker 1: have to turn around and play in a day. That said, 247 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,680 Speaker 1: I do think the Warriors will dispatch of Memphis and 248 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,120 Speaker 1: he will have Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off, So 249 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: I think he should be fine. Jimmy looking great, I 250 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: think is huge. I was talking with my friend Sam's 251 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: fondi a who covers the Warriors with the Light Years guys, 252 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:34,440 Speaker 1: like about a week ago about Jimmy and just like 253 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: some of his scoring scalability and like this was the 254 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: big question mark. Was he gonna be the Jimmy that 255 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: we saw in the regular season that's just kind of 256 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:44,199 Speaker 1: like a cog in the system that kind of helps 257 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 1: elevate everybody and the Warriors look really, really good. Or 258 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,079 Speaker 1: is he going to be the twenty five plus per 259 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:54,760 Speaker 1: game point scorer that can like actually raise the ceiling 260 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:56,120 Speaker 1: of this team to where it needs to be to 261 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 1: win the title. And even though it's just one game, 262 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 1: I thought that was a very encouraging start to that 263 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:04,560 Speaker 1: run from Jimmy Butler. Four, the Warriors offense is still 264 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:08,120 Speaker 1: way to Steph reliant, kind of to the point where 265 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: it doesn't actually make sense schematically. Like Brandon Pajemski is 266 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 1: playing incredibly well, continues to play incredibly well, played incredibly 267 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 1: well in a high leverage game again yesterday, Jimmy Butler 268 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: was scoring whenever he wanted throughout the majority of that game. 269 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:26,960 Speaker 1: But there's this thing that happens when they get into 270 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:29,600 Speaker 1: crunch time where all of a sudden, it becomes no 271 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:32,559 Speaker 1: one shoot but Steph. The only way you're allowed to 272 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: shoot off of Steph is if it's like specifically in 273 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:37,959 Speaker 1: the flow of those like four on three. So like, yeah, 274 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: Jimmy will score on a cut off of a Jimmy 275 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: off of a Steph Curry backscreen, or Brandon Pajemski will 276 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:46,400 Speaker 1: take a you know, wide open three at the top 277 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: of the key out of a rotation situation that Steph generates. 278 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: But there's no willingness for Jimmy to like come off 279 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 1: of an action and look to score. There's no willingness 280 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,720 Speaker 1: for Brandon Pajemski to come off of an action and 281 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: look to score down the stretch of these games. It's 282 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: like Steph tries to create something and if it's not there, 283 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: it's like find Steph again, Like wherever Steph is, just 284 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 1: give it back to Steph. And it's like, while I 285 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 1: get that, because I agree with Steve Kerr when he 286 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: had his rant with Buddy Heel to be like, hey, 287 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:16,000 Speaker 1: look it's Steph Curry's great a shoot of all time, 288 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,520 Speaker 1: should probably give him the basketball. I don't disagree. But 289 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: there's this thing that happens when you get into these 290 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: super intense physical games where Steph Curry, because he's not 291 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: the greatest athlete in the world, can sometimes struggle to 292 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: get a shot off. Like over the course of the 293 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:33,000 Speaker 1: final six minutes of the game, he was incredible for 294 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 1: the first stretch of crunch time that like just lighting 295 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:40,600 Speaker 1: the world on fire. Relocation, threes off the dribble, threes, 296 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: getting to the basket, and transition. Steph was cooking them. 297 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 1: But over the last six minutes he was running out 298 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:47,320 Speaker 1: of gas. He had three turnovers. He had a turnover 299 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: in the final minute of the fourth quarter. He had 300 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: two turnovers in the fourth quarter or in the overtime. 301 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: Excuse me, you only got one three point shot off 302 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: and then entire span like Steph was struggling to get 303 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: a shot off. And so that's what you got Jimmy 304 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: Butler for. Like what happens in those situations is when 305 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: things get really physical and really tight and no one's open. 306 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:10,080 Speaker 1: It helps to have a forward who's big and strong, 307 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: who can put his elbow into a dude and create 308 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: a passing angle for you to just throw him the 309 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: damn ball and he can turn and just shoot over 310 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: the top of somebody. Because that's the advantage of being 311 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 1: the great athlete, right. Like Steph has to run in 312 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: circles until someone fucks up so that he can get open, 313 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 1: Jimmy can just stand there at six seven with lots 314 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:32,720 Speaker 1: of strength and a good strong base and great lyft 315 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: on his jump shot to be able to create a 316 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: shot for himself. And so I think it would behoove 317 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: the Warriors to at least have a little bit more 318 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,600 Speaker 1: balance down crunch time of these games to where you're 319 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:45,360 Speaker 1: still trying to get the ball to Steph and everything 320 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: is still flowing through Steph. But hey, if it's like, 321 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:49,800 Speaker 1: you know, nine ten seconds left on the shot clock, 322 00:15:49,840 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 1: it might be time to get Jimmy to the high 323 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: post and ask him to try to draw foul by 324 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: like ripping through him, pump faking, or trying to get 325 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 1: to a spot in the middle of the floor so 326 00:15:57,760 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 1: he can elevate over the top for a little ten 327 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:02,040 Speaker 1: foot jumps out over the top of somebody. There needs 328 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: to be more variety down the stretch of these games. 329 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: It's just so many of these games look just like 330 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 1: that for the Warriors, where it's just Steph running around 331 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: in circles until someone fucks up, and there just needs 332 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,520 Speaker 1: to be a little bit more variety and a little 333 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: bit more confidence for Steph's co stars to be able 334 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: to take some initiative late in games. And then, lastly, 335 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 1: the Warriors have a little bit of a fifth starter problem. 336 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: They had this issue yesterday where they're like, Okay, we 337 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: who are we gonna close with? Are we gonna close 338 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:35,160 Speaker 1: with Moses Moody? Are we gonna close with Gary Payton? 339 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: Are we gonna close going big? Like what are we 340 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: gonna end up doing? Right? And so they end up 341 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 1: going with Gary Payton, And the problem with that is 342 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: Gary Payton wasn't particularly having too much success with James Harden. 343 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 1: James Harden was still getting dribble penetration on him pretty 344 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,480 Speaker 1: much whenever he wanted. Shout out to James Harden, by 345 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: the way, like two just absolutely massive threes in overtime, 346 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: the transition three out of the right corner and that 347 00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 1: little step back three that he hit at the top 348 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,720 Speaker 1: of the key, some great dribble penetration sequences that led 349 00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 1: to quality shots. I thought Harden was fantastic yesterday, but 350 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 1: Gary Payton was struggling in that particular matchup to keep 351 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:12,160 Speaker 1: him away from the basket. And then on the offensive 352 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:13,960 Speaker 1: end of the floor, it gives you a third player 353 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:16,919 Speaker 1: that no one has to account for as a shooter. 354 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,000 Speaker 1: I saw my friend roch Topolua I used to cover 355 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: the Lakers with years ago. He tweeted out after the game, 356 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:25,480 Speaker 1: like it's Gary Payton, it's Draymond, it's Jimmy Butler. It's 357 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,880 Speaker 1: three guys that you don't necessarily have to like worry 358 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:31,640 Speaker 1: about being aggressive at the three point line in crunch time, 359 00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:33,360 Speaker 1: like they will take them. Like we saw Draymond take 360 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: one out of the right corner that he made. We 361 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:38,400 Speaker 1: saw Jimmy randomly after like not shooting in crunch time 362 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: at all. We saw Jimmy randomly just just take a 363 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: super heavily contested left corner three. But like, they're not 364 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:46,119 Speaker 1: guys that are going to catch wide open on the 365 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:49,320 Speaker 1: three point line and typically look to be super super aggressive, 366 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:51,600 Speaker 1: and that just gives a ton of opportunity for those 367 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: other three guys, the defenders, to leverage their attention a 368 00:17:56,840 --> 00:17:59,800 Speaker 1: little bit more towards Steph and so, but then you 369 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:01,680 Speaker 1: go to the Moses Moody thing and it's like, Okay, well, 370 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:04,879 Speaker 1: Moses Moody has been really struggling to shoot the ball 371 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:08,400 Speaker 1: as of late, right, and Moses Moody is not as 372 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,680 Speaker 1: good of a read and react player as Gary Payton is. 373 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: That's a big part of why they go with Gary Payton. 374 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: When Draymond missed the layup right in the final minute 375 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:17,639 Speaker 1: of OTI, it's a read that Gary Payton made out 376 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:19,479 Speaker 1: of the short role. Gary Payton has a ton of 377 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 1: experience running screening action with Steph Short, rolling into the 378 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:25,399 Speaker 1: middle of the floor and playmaking out of it, where 379 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: Moses Moody does not. So like that's the issue. Is like, okay, 380 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:30,400 Speaker 1: so you can go with the three and D guy, 381 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: but then you don't have the playmaking talent, and Moses 382 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,000 Speaker 1: Moody hasn't been a very reliable three point shooter. Or 383 00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: you can go with Gary Payton and you're gonna get 384 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,360 Speaker 1: a better defender, but he's small and struggled with James 385 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: Harden's size, and he doesn't shoot the three well even 386 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: though he can do the read and react stuff. And 387 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: so that's where, like, you know, when I look at 388 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:48,920 Speaker 1: the big picture for the Warriors as we go into 389 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:51,720 Speaker 1: next season, who knows what's gonna happen this year. There's 390 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: still plenty of time for this team to regain the 391 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:57,520 Speaker 1: momentum that they lost here in the last week, and 392 00:18:57,520 --> 00:18:59,360 Speaker 1: they could potentially go on a title run this year. 393 00:18:59,359 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: I'm not right off by any means, but if they 394 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,320 Speaker 1: go into this summer, that's the position I think they 395 00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: need to look to address. And that's where it's like, Man, 396 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: if you could somehow flip you know, minga and and 397 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,680 Speaker 1: something else for Cam Johnson and bring in like a 398 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:18,919 Speaker 1: like a really high level fifth starter, that's where this 399 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: team could potentially vault into that like top top tier 400 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:27,639 Speaker 1: of teams in this league. So let's take a couple 401 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:31,960 Speaker 1: of looks at our Western Conference first round series. So 402 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:35,920 Speaker 1: Clippers Nuggets. My initial thoughts, I was surprised to see 403 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:39,200 Speaker 1: that Denver was favored, even though they do have home court. 404 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,240 Speaker 1: The Clippers have been playing better basketball for a very 405 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:45,120 Speaker 1: long time, like much better basketball for a very long 406 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: time than the Denver Nuggets. I struggle to see how 407 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: Denver regard the Clippers. James Harden in ball screens is 408 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: the classic conundrum that Denver has struggled with, which is 409 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:57,959 Speaker 1: a pull up shooter that you have to bring Jokic 410 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: up to the level against. Also a top tier playmaker 411 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:04,600 Speaker 1: in this league that can make the passes out of 412 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:08,240 Speaker 1: those sequences to consistently get Denver and rotation. That's a problem. 413 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: As you saw in overtime and in crunch time, Norman 414 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,640 Speaker 1: Powell can attack closeouts. He attacked to close out off 415 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,120 Speaker 1: of the left winging crunch time, got to the basket 416 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:20,399 Speaker 1: for a scooping layup attack to close out out of 417 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 1: the left corner. In overtime, drove along the baseline and 418 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 1: had a really nice little slaloming move around the rim 419 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,800 Speaker 1: protector to get a reverse layup on the right side 420 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: of the basket. That's the type of weak side scoring 421 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:34,720 Speaker 1: that has been devastating the Nuggets throughout this entire stretch 422 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,359 Speaker 1: where their defense is falling apart. You bring Jokic up 423 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:40,160 Speaker 1: to the level where's zoo Zoo is now getting all 424 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,440 Speaker 1: the way towards the rim with inside position on everybody. 425 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: He's gonna crush everybody on the offensive glass. Are you 426 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:49,359 Speaker 1: going to guard Kawhi Leonard with Aaron Gordon? He's the 427 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:52,680 Speaker 1: only guy physically capable. Christian Brown is too small, Michael 428 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: Porter Junior would get thrown around like a rag doll, 429 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,159 Speaker 1: Peyton Watson's too skinny. Aaron Gordon's the one guy who 430 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 1: can physically match up with him. Here's the problem if 431 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:04,520 Speaker 1: you bring and I talked about this in other playoff 432 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,160 Speaker 1: series in the past, when you bring Aaron Gordon out 433 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,679 Speaker 1: to the perimeter to guard, he is no longer the 434 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:13,240 Speaker 1: low man support behind Jokic. Jokic is a weak rim 435 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: protector that consistently has to go up to the level 436 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,120 Speaker 1: that it's consistently running back and forth to the perimeter. 437 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,080 Speaker 1: You need Aaron Gordon on the back line as the 438 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:23,639 Speaker 1: athlete that can clean things up at the rim and 439 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,320 Speaker 1: help side situations and clean up the defensive glass. If 440 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:29,680 Speaker 1: you put him on Kawhi gonna Kawhi is gonna space 441 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,439 Speaker 1: him out and occupy him, and it's just gonna leave 442 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:34,680 Speaker 1: an athletic deficit on the back line. I think it's 443 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:37,679 Speaker 1: That's my initial impression is I just don't see how 444 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 1: Denver is going to really successfully guard the Clippers. Now. 445 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: To be clear, Denver will also be able to score. 446 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:46,879 Speaker 1: Michael Porter Junior will almost certainly have size advantages shooting 447 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 1: over the top. They'll put either James Harden or Norman 448 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:50,720 Speaker 1: Powell on him and he's gonna be able to shoot 449 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: over the top. And then because of help on Jokich, 450 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 1: there's gonna be opportunities for Christian Brown to slash off 451 00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 1: the wing or to cut along the baseline. Aaron Gordon's 452 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: shooting the ball extremely well for a long time. I 453 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:04,400 Speaker 1: think he's just a good shooter now, so like he's 454 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 1: gonna get clean looks as they're having to swarm around Jokic. 455 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 1: But the Clips do have more traditional matchups for Denver 456 00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:14,040 Speaker 1: stars than vice versa. For Denver, they have to take 457 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: their lowman to occupy Kawhi. That's a problem, that's a 458 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,120 Speaker 1: non traditional thing that messes up the backside of their 459 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:24,280 Speaker 1: defensive scheme. They literally don't have the ability to contend 460 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:28,320 Speaker 1: with James Harden. That coverage is gonna get annihilated. They 461 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:31,159 Speaker 1: don't have traditional matchups there. You go over to the 462 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,160 Speaker 1: other side of the floor and it's like Chris down 463 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,199 Speaker 1: and Derek Jones Junior are a classic chase over the 464 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: top bother pull up shooter type of players. They are 465 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 1: a clean natural matchup for Jamal Murray. And then, in 466 00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: a league that doesn't really have many natural matchups for 467 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: Nikola Jokic, Avita zubats is as close as you can 468 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 1: get to a natural matchup for NICOLEA Jokic. He's big 469 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:53,240 Speaker 1: and strong, one of the few players in the league 470 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: that actually has the size to bother Jokic's base a 471 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 1: little bit. Again, I expect Denver to score, but I 472 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,400 Speaker 1: always look at playoff series in a very basic concept 473 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: the context which team is more likely to make the 474 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:11,480 Speaker 1: other team uncomfortable. Do you think Denver's defense will make 475 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 1: the Clippers offense more uncomfortable? Then the Clippers defense will 476 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,879 Speaker 1: make the Denver offense. And for me right now, it 477 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: looks to me like the Clippers would be able to 478 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:24,440 Speaker 1: make Denver's offense more uncomfortable than the other way around. 479 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,879 Speaker 1: That's just my initial impression. Again, I want to be 480 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:29,560 Speaker 1: very clear, I've not done my prep yet for the series. 481 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 1: That's the goal for this week. I'm going to watch 482 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: a ton of film. I'm gonna dig into numbers. I 483 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 1: might change my mind on this, but my initial impression 484 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,240 Speaker 1: right now is that the Clippers should be favored to 485 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,639 Speaker 1: beat the Nuggets and that I would pick them to 486 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,640 Speaker 1: win that series. Same thing for the Lakers Wolves. These 487 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:47,960 Speaker 1: are just my initial thoughts. Reserve the right to change 488 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:50,120 Speaker 1: my mind. But I can tell you as a fan, 489 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:54,119 Speaker 1: I was experiencing a great deal of anxiety worrying about 490 00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 1: how to guard the Golden State Warriors. They were a 491 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: team that caused me anxiety on both ends of the 492 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: floor because one, I don't think they have the foot 493 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: speed to guard Steph, and then once you start throwing 494 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,879 Speaker 1: a lot of attention at Steph, playmaking talent is how 495 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:12,040 Speaker 1: you capitalize on that. I'm more worried about super smart, 496 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:16,640 Speaker 1: high high IQ teams incrementally breaking down the Laker defense 497 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:19,919 Speaker 1: than teams that can't playmate. The Warriors have all that 498 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:22,399 Speaker 1: playmaking talent. They were a team that I thought was 499 00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:24,119 Speaker 1: going to be able to score against the Laker defense. 500 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: And then on the other end of the floor, it's 501 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,119 Speaker 1: a team that switches a ton, super high IQ and 502 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:31,000 Speaker 1: excellent in rotation at like speeding guys up, which I 503 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 1: thought could cause some problems for Laker role players and 504 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:36,600 Speaker 1: capitalizing some of the indecision for Luca and Lebron. I 505 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: would have still picked the Lakers versus the Warriors. I 506 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,399 Speaker 1: think they're a better basketball team. But I thought it 507 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: was a really tough matchup, and it was something that 508 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: I was worried about and I didn't want to see, 509 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: and I would rather see after they dealt with Dylan Brooks, 510 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,600 Speaker 1: you know, kicking them in the balls for two straight weeks. 511 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 1: So that was what I was That was the ideal 512 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:59,280 Speaker 1: outcome for me Timberwolves as a fan again, And I 513 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,280 Speaker 1: might change mind after digging into the numbers a little bit, 514 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: but and digging into the film, but I think it's 515 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,879 Speaker 1: the perfect matchup for the Lakers as a first round series. 516 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:11,400 Speaker 1: The only team that I'd feel more confident in them 517 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: beating out of the teams that were beneath them in 518 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,200 Speaker 1: the standings that they could potentially face in the first round. 519 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: The only team I'd feel more confident in them beating 520 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:21,120 Speaker 1: is Memphis, and Memphis had no chance to get out 521 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:22,920 Speaker 1: of the eight because they've just been playing really bad 522 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,439 Speaker 1: basketball for a while. This was the team I wanted. 523 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 1: Here's my basic reasoning, surface level right now, before I 524 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,400 Speaker 1: dig into the film and do the comprehensive breakdown. One 525 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:37,359 Speaker 1: the Dorian Finney, Smith, Ruby, Hatchamurro lineup. The lineup with Austin, 526 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,320 Speaker 1: Lebron and Luca, the lineup that I've often said is 527 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:43,240 Speaker 1: the only other team other than Boston with their lineups 528 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,080 Speaker 1: with Horford to perzingis the only other lineup in the 529 00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 1: league that can truly present elite advantage creation with elite 530 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,200 Speaker 1: five out spacing. That's the only lineups in the league 531 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 1: that can do that right now. Five guys where it's like, 532 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:57,880 Speaker 1: you can't leave this guy open. If you leave him open, 533 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: he's just gonna hit shots. If you leave Dorian Finn 534 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:02,920 Speaker 1: Smith open, he's gonna hit shots. If you leave Ruy open, 535 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:04,840 Speaker 1: he's gonna hit shots. If you leave Austin open, he's 536 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:06,560 Speaker 1: gonna hit shots. If you leave Lebron open, he's gonna 537 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: hit shots. And Luke is probably gonna have the ball 538 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 1: most of the time, so like it's a lineup that 539 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:14,720 Speaker 1: can really truly space the floor, that lineup will either 540 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,720 Speaker 1: play Rudy off the floor or at least neutralize his 541 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: rim protection. Rudy, when he can sit under the basket, 542 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 1: is a devastating defensive player. When he switches onto the 543 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: perimeter and has help behind him, he's a devastating defensive player. 544 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,880 Speaker 1: When he has to guard in space, his defensive value 545 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:42,120 Speaker 1: is mitigated a bit because he's not protecting the rim. 546 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:44,359 Speaker 1: He's defending out on the perimeter, which he does well, 547 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: but not exactly as well as elite perimeter defenders. And 548 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:51,320 Speaker 1: then is he bringing enough offensively on the other end 549 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 1: of the floor to justify him being out on the court. 550 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: That is the question we will see if it's very 551 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,440 Speaker 1: possible that we uh seecres Finch basically just be like, 552 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 1: we're gonna leave Rudy out there, and even if we 553 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: lose some value in certain places, we're gonna gain value elsewhere. 554 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:09,440 Speaker 1: We'll see, but that unit at the very least should 555 00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:13,120 Speaker 1: be able to neutralize Rudy's rim protection. Once you neutralize 556 00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 1: Rudy's rim protection, now you're allowing Lebron and Luca to 557 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: pick on matchups without having to worry about being deterred 558 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:21,520 Speaker 1: when they get to the rim. I think that that 559 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: is a huge advantage for the Lakers. Two, the Wolves 560 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,119 Speaker 1: perimeter guys, all their perimeter defenders are way too small 561 00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 1: for Luca. As we saw in the Western Conference Finals 562 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,879 Speaker 1: last year, Jada McDaniels is just too skinny for Luca. 563 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,040 Speaker 1: He can throw him around. He's one of the very 564 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: best perimeter defenders in the league who can't guard Luca. 565 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:44,240 Speaker 1: And that is like just a really difficult situation to manage, 566 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: right off the stop, right off the top. I wanna 567 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:51,919 Speaker 1: there's a potential here to like tinker with matchups. So 568 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,320 Speaker 1: you could imagine a situation where you take Jada McDaniel's 569 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 1: and you put him on Austin Reeves instead, because he 570 00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:58,959 Speaker 1: at the very least can stop Austin Reeves. But then 571 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,159 Speaker 1: it's like, now you're asking Anthony Edwards and Julius Randall 572 00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: to guard Lebron James and Luka Doncic, and that's a 573 00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:07,119 Speaker 1: problem because one ant can't navigate screens, So if you 574 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:09,159 Speaker 1: put him on Luca, he's just gonna run him through screens. 575 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:10,639 Speaker 1: We saw that at the tail end of the Western 576 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,200 Speaker 1: Conference Finals last year they tried on Luca. It didn't work. 577 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:17,680 Speaker 1: Put Julius on Luca. Ah, that's gonna be barbecue chicken. 578 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: And yeah, you could put Lebron on you could put 579 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards on Lebron, but now you're leaving Julius on 580 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:27,680 Speaker 1: Luca and that's just a huge problem. If you don't 581 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 1: put Jayden on Austin, Who's guarding Austin? Is it going 582 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 1: to be Mike Conley? Like Austin's gonna cook Mike Conley? 583 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,679 Speaker 1: Like there's so many different like matchup issues with the 584 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:40,640 Speaker 1: way that Minnesota can disperse their perimeter talent. If I 585 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:43,000 Speaker 1: was coaching the Timberwolves, is what I would do is 586 00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: I would lean a lot more into like Dante DiVincenzo, 587 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:49,080 Speaker 1: and I would deploy their best defenders on Lebron in 588 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,920 Speaker 1: Austin and try to mitigate them as much as possible, 589 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:55,400 Speaker 1: understanding that you're probably not going to do much damage 590 00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:58,600 Speaker 1: to Luca anyway. So maybe like put Jayden on Lebron 591 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:03,320 Speaker 1: and put Dante on Austin and essentially have those two 592 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 1: be uncomfortable all series and just see if Luca can 593 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:08,560 Speaker 1: do enough damage to you and try to wear him 594 00:29:08,600 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: down with physicality over the course of the series. But 595 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 1: the bottom line is the Wolf's perimeter guys are just 596 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,440 Speaker 1: not necessarily big and strong enough to bother a Luka 597 00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:22,320 Speaker 1: doncicin Lebron the way that like you see from Houston 598 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 1: for instance, or when Golden State like deploys Draymond and 599 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: Jimmy on the perimeter and stuff like that like that, 600 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: those options are just not available to Minnesota in this series. 601 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:36,040 Speaker 1: And then lastly, as an advantage for the Lakers, I think, 602 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 1: as I mentioned earlier, what worries me the most for 603 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 1: the Laker defense is playmaking talent. The reason why is 604 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 1: there's a lot of smoke and mirrors with JJ Redick's defense. 605 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: They don't have rim protection, they don't have a ton 606 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:50,280 Speaker 1: of elite perimeter defenders that usually are hiding at least 607 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,239 Speaker 1: two targets on the floor at any given time. But 608 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,600 Speaker 1: what they do is they just have a ton of 609 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,840 Speaker 1: like elite defensive game planning in terms of like funneling 610 00:29:59,840 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: guy into where they specifically want their help side set up. 611 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:05,400 Speaker 1: They're good in rotation. They've got a couple of athletes 612 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 1: on the floor all the time that are flying around 613 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 1: and helping recover situations. You need to break down the 614 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:14,800 Speaker 1: Laker defense with incremental playmaking, like creating that initial advantage 615 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:16,280 Speaker 1: and the guy drives a close out and then another 616 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:17,720 Speaker 1: guy makes a great read and a guy makes a 617 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:19,600 Speaker 1: smart cut. If you do that kind of stuff, you 618 00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 1: can pick the Lakers apart. And the Warriors have done 619 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 1: that in their most recent matchup against the Lakers. This 620 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: Timberwolves team is not a good aggregate playmaking team. They're 621 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:32,040 Speaker 1: a team that I think would be susceptible to a 622 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:34,680 Speaker 1: lot of the gimmicky stuff that JJ Reddick will do. 623 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,160 Speaker 1: I expect an assortment of double teams against Anthony Edwards. 624 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: I expect a lot of pressure being put on Ants 625 00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: to be an elite playmaker in this series. I just 626 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:47,680 Speaker 1: think from a matchup standpoint, a lot of stuff just 627 00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: kind of lines up with the Lakers' strengths and avoids 628 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 1: some of the Lakers' weaknesses, and so I think it both. 629 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:56,160 Speaker 1: I think it's just a really favorable matchup for them. 630 00:30:56,480 --> 00:31:01,120 Speaker 1: Now again, where another opportunity for the Timberwolves in this series. 631 00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,600 Speaker 1: Where the Lakers struggled in the past with Aunt and 632 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:07,960 Speaker 1: Julius Anthony Edwards in particular in their last matchup, even 633 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:10,920 Speaker 1: though the Lakers controlled that matchup from start to finish, 634 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 1: they were funneling Anthony Edwards. They were doing the same 635 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 1: defense they used against shake Yos Alexander, So they're funneling 636 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 1: him towards the sideline, like opening up their stance. Basically, 637 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: they did this against Jalen Brunson too, if you remember 638 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:24,920 Speaker 1: they used it against Shay. They use it against Jalen. 639 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: They used it. It's basically their defense against elite star 640 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:30,640 Speaker 1: guards in this league. They funnel him towards the sideline 641 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: with like basically a catch waiting. So a helper like 642 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:36,600 Speaker 1: that's already zoned up on the strong side outside the block, 643 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,880 Speaker 1: like waiting for that drive. And Ant did have some 644 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: success in that game, being like, oh, you're gonna give 645 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,240 Speaker 1: me a runway, Well, I'm way more athletic than you guys, 646 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:46,400 Speaker 1: And he would just shoot that gap and he'd be 647 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:48,200 Speaker 1: right in the teeth of all the help. But he's 648 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 1: such an elite athlete that he would either just finish 649 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: over everybody or he would do that slow down step 650 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: he does and wait for everybody to la Hi back 651 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 1: on the ground before he goes back up and score 652 00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:59,720 Speaker 1: An did have some success against that defensive game plan 653 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:01,800 Speaker 1: before he got ejected in that game. And then lastly, 654 00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: Julius Randall over the years has had some success against 655 00:32:04,600 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 1: Ruey Hotcha Mura. It's something I've talked about on the 656 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: show before, the idea of like holding ground with your shoulder. 657 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:10,920 Speaker 1: Ruey has a little bit of a tendency to give 658 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: ground against physicality, and so if Ruy Hatcha Mura gets 659 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:17,440 Speaker 1: the Julius Randall matchup instead of Lebron James to start 660 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 1: the game, that's something I could see Ruey having some 661 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,520 Speaker 1: issues with. It's very possible that the Lakers deploy Lebron 662 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:25,959 Speaker 1: on Jaden McDaniels thinking they can use him as a roamer, 663 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:28,760 Speaker 1: and I think they could end up in some situations 664 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: where Julius gets comfortable if they do that. So I 665 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:32,960 Speaker 1: don't want to sit here and pretend like Minnesota doesn't 666 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: have advantages. They obviously do. I just think the Lakers 667 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 1: have more advantages in this matchup. This was the matchup 668 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 1: that I was most comfortable with as a first round 669 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 1: series for the Lakers other than Memphis. Again, we're gonna 670 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:45,520 Speaker 1: do a deep dive as we get later into this week, 671 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:47,320 Speaker 1: but those are my initial impressions. It's all I have 672 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:49,440 Speaker 1: for today is always a sincerely appreciate you guys for 673 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:52,320 Speaker 1: supporting me and supporting the show. I will see you 674 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:55,880 Speaker 1: guys tomorrow morning with series previews on the Bucks and 675 00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: the Pacers and the Pistons and the Knicks, and then 676 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,080 Speaker 1: again tomorrow night for the Warriors play. As always, appreciate 677 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: you guys, and I will see you that. What's up guys, 678 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 1: As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting 679 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,160 Speaker 1: OOPS tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us 680 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:10,080 Speaker 1: if you guys would take a second and leave a 681 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:12,760 Speaker 1: rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys 682 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:14,360 Speaker 1: supporting us, but if you could take a minute to 683 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:19,160 Speaker 1: do that, I'd really appreciate it. The volume