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Speaker 1: You're at the ball.

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Speaker 2: You'd have you Monday, everybody, I'll ball you guys. Had

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Speaker 2: an incredible weekend. Got a jam pack Monday show for

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Speaker 2: you guys. I've got four big takeaways from this weekend

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Speaker 2: off the top, and then at the tail end of

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Speaker 2: the show, like we always do on Monday, our power

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Speaker 2: rankings as we go through the top ten teams in

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Speaker 2: the league. You guys know the joke before we get started.

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Speaker 2: Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss

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Speaker 2: on or hoops tonight, don't forget. It's also helpful if

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Speaker 2: you leave a rating and a review on that front.

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Speaker 2: We also have brand new social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram,

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Speaker 2: and Facebook. We we're releasing content throughout the year. Make

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Speaker 2: sure you guys follow us there. And last but not least,

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Speaker 2: like we do every Friday, we're going to be doing

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Speaker 2: a mail bag, So drop questions in the YouTube comments

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Speaker 2: for the mail bag by the time we get there

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Speaker 2: on Friday. All right, let's talk some basketball. So my

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Speaker 2: number one big takeaway from the weekend, the Los Angeles

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Speaker 2: Lakers have reinvented themselves as a staunch defensive team. This

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Speaker 2: team has pretty much only had weird seasons ever since

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Speaker 2: they made the decision to trade for Russell Westbrook, whether

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Speaker 2: it's been like that first Russ here where it's a

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Speaker 2: lot of injuries, or that second rush here where it's

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Speaker 2: more injuries, but then you're kind of a completely different

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Speaker 2: team in the post deadline phase of the season to

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Speaker 2: the quitting on Darvin Ham in the middle of the

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Speaker 2: season for a month to everything that went wrong in

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Speaker 2: that late November early December stretch this year, But this

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Speaker 2: might actually be the weirdest thing that I've seen the

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Speaker 2: Lakers do post trading for Russell Westbrook. In the Lakers'

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Speaker 2: first twenty three games before this four to one stretch,

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Speaker 2: they were twenty sixth in defensive rating, meaning they allowed

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Speaker 2: the fifth most points in the league per one hundred possessions,

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Speaker 2: twenty fifth in defensive rebounding percentage, twenty seventh in fast

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Speaker 2: break points allowed, meaning basically for the first twenty three

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Speaker 2: games of the season, for more than a fourth of

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Speaker 2: the season, they were getting absolutely crushed in every athleticism category. Defending, rebounding,

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Speaker 2: and running the floor. Those are all things that come

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Speaker 2: down to your willingness to compete athletically on the floor,

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Speaker 2: bottom six in all three of those categories. In the

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Speaker 2: lakers last five games, they are the number one defense

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Speaker 2: in the league, allowing just ninety nine point two points

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Speaker 2: per one hundred posessions, or the only team in the

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Speaker 2: league allowing less than one hundred points per one hundred possessions.

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Speaker 2: In that span, They are ninth in defensive rebounding percentage,

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Speaker 2: and tenth in fast break points allowed. So from bottom

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Speaker 2: six in all three categories to number one in defense

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Speaker 2: and top ten in all three categories. Most impressively, they've

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Speaker 2: done it against teams that specifically attack their weaknesses. In

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Speaker 2: this stretch of games they've had to play their last

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Speaker 2: three against Memphis and Sacramento, those are all top ten

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Speaker 2: offenses predicated on speed, which is a weakness for the Lakers,

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Speaker 2: right and especially in transition weaknesses for the Lakers, and

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Speaker 2: they shut both offenses down and kept both teams out

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Speaker 2: of transition. That's a Memphis Grizzlies team that's been kicking

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Speaker 2: everybody's butt and the Lakers kind of led them wire

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Speaker 2: to wire. And it mostly comes down to the team

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Speaker 2: rediscovering its competitive nature. Like there are some schematic things

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Speaker 2: that have changed, Max Christy is starting now right, the

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Speaker 2: Lakers have been more picky with their switching essentially, just

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Speaker 2: they're not just conceding guard guard switches unless it's necessary,

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Speaker 2: meaning unless there's actually a good pick that is set.

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Speaker 2: And then usually if there's an action between a guard

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Speaker 2: an AD instead of switching that action, which they had

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Speaker 2: done in the past, they're having that guard chase over

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Speaker 2: the top in AD's meeting them at the level a

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Speaker 2: more traditional pick and roll coverage. This has allowed Anthony

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Speaker 2: Davis to be at the rim more frequently, which is

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Speaker 2: important for protecting the rim and for defensive rebounding. One

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Speaker 2: of the things with the Lakers, you know, I'm actually

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Speaker 2: generally a believer in switching as a scheme. I think

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Speaker 2: it stagnates teams and baits them into a lot of

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Speaker 2: bad basketball. But in order for switching to function, you

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Speaker 2: need five man units that are generally pretty athletic across

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Speaker 2: the board. The reason why is teams are going to

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Speaker 2: attack switching by picking on mismatches and by doing damage

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Speaker 2: on the offensive glass. Right, So like you switch, you know,

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Speaker 2: you get a bad guard like d Lo onto the

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Speaker 2: ball and they're looking to attack, right, that's a mismatch.

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Speaker 2: Or Okay, Anthony Davis switched the ball screen and now

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Speaker 2: he's on their best guard. But now that guard is

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Speaker 2: taking Anthony Davis away from the player, and now you

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Speaker 2: don't have rim protection or anybody that can clean up

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Speaker 2: the defensive glass.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: Like the Lakers, in terms of their personnel, should be

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Speaker 2: more picky with their switching. They have been more picking

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Speaker 2: picky with their switching, and that has helped. Those things

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Speaker 2: have certainly played a role, but by far the biggest

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Speaker 2: change has just been in their competitive nature, right, like

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Speaker 2: a tweak Like that's not the difference between the Lakers

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Speaker 2: being one of the very worst defensive teams in the

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Speaker 2: league and being the best defensive team in the league.

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Speaker 2: That's not the kind of difference that'll come from that

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Speaker 2: kind of change that helps, But most of it comes

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Speaker 2: down to their just fighting. The NBA is like a

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Speaker 2: never ending onslaught of good basketball teams pitted against you.

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Speaker 2: There's always just another one waiting, right, and you have

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Speaker 2: to be ready to compete every night. The Lakers went

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Speaker 2: through an extended stretch where they were literally not competing,

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Speaker 2: and they got.

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Speaker 1: Rolled a bunch.

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Speaker 2: There are five factors that I think have led to

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Speaker 2: this turnaround for the Lakers. Number one embarrassment. The loss

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Speaker 2: in Miami in particular is one of the low points

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Speaker 2: of the lebron ad era. I wasn't the one, I

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Speaker 2: wasn't the only one being very critical of them. It

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Speaker 2: was a pretty big story. Like you guys spent all

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Speaker 2: training camp passive aggressively shitting on Darvin Ham for him

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Speaker 2: not being competent, and now you're openly quitting in the

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Speaker 2: first quarter of an important game against a mediocre team

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Speaker 2: in the Miami Heat and getting smacked by forty for

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Speaker 2: your sixth loss in eight tries. That was embarrassing. Embarrassment

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Speaker 2: is a natural motivator. Number two. There is a trickle

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Speaker 2: down effect that comes from minor schematic changes when they

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Speaker 2: lead to success. It's like momentum. We talked about it earlier.

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Speaker 2: The switching wasn't a good fit for this particular roster,

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Speaker 2: at least to do it as much as they had

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Speaker 2: been doing. You make a tweak in your approach. Suddenly

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Speaker 2: you start getting more stops. You start getting more stops.

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Speaker 2: Players start to believe in the scheme more, players start

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Speaker 2: to believe in the scheme more, they start to buy

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Speaker 2: in more. Suddenly you're getting even more effort, even more

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Speaker 2: Stopsuddenly he start to win some games. Now it starts

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Speaker 2: to believe, the roster starts to believe even more, and

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Speaker 2: it can really turn into a momentous kind of thing. Right, So,

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Speaker 2: there's no doubt that the schematic changes have led to

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Speaker 2: some of the turnaround in the competitiveness of the Lakers three.

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Speaker 2: Several Lakers are just playing better basketball than they did

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Speaker 2: to start the season. I talk about this concept all

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Speaker 2: the time on the show, but sometimes the best solution

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Speaker 2: for a struggling basketball team is guys just have to

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Speaker 2: play better, you know, Like it's crazy for the Milwaukee

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Speaker 2: Bucks this year, what happened when Jannis and Brook were

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Speaker 2: just like, Hey, what if you and I just go

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Speaker 2: back to completely shutting teams down on defense? And what

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Speaker 2: if that just snowballs into a bunch of good stuff

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Speaker 2: for our team? And that's what happened, right, same things

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Speaker 2: happening for the Lakers. Lebron James. A big part of

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Speaker 2: the two and six stretch was Lebron was terrible. He

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Speaker 2: wasn't scoring much, he wasn't scoring very efficiently, he was

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Speaker 2: turning the ball over too much, and he wasn't engaged

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Speaker 2: defensively or on the glass. I think he got embarrassed

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Speaker 2: by that whole thing. He took ten days off, and

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Speaker 2: when he came back, he just started playing super hard.

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Speaker 2: This is something I talked about a lot during Lebron's slump.

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Speaker 2: Those are you guys who followed the show during the time,

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Speaker 2: We'll remember this, But I talked about one of the

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Speaker 2: best ways to get out of a slump is to

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Speaker 2: build momentum and confidence by making winning plays. Lebron is

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Speaker 2: still huge, Lebron is still fast. He's still a excellent

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Speaker 2: NBA athlete with a ton of skill in IQ. So

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Speaker 2: if he just is focused and plays hard, it's kind

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Speaker 2: of impossible for him to have a bad game because

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Speaker 2: of all the little things he can do that don't

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Speaker 2: really rely on variants, right, he just had to lock

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Speaker 2: in and do his job, and so he starts playing hard.

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Speaker 2: All of a sudden, he starts to feel better about himself.

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Speaker 2: He's almost playing angry right now. And even though the

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Speaker 2: box score production hasn't been that good, since he's come back,

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Speaker 2: he's been awesome. His box score numbers in the last

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Speaker 2: three games are more or less the same as they

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Speaker 2: were in the stretch before, but he is so much

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Speaker 2: more engaged on defense, so much more engaged on the glass,

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Speaker 2: so much more focused and making better decisions on the offense.

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Speaker 2: The flour Lebron has been really good again. With Lebron,

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Speaker 2: it always goes beyond the box score. You could go

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Speaker 2: back to when he was struggling and it's like, oh,

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Speaker 2: he's still you know, twenty three, you know, eight and

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Speaker 2: seven or whatever it was that he was averaging. It's

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Speaker 2: all good numbers, right, but like when Lebron's not engaged,

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Speaker 2: it can really be draining on a team. He's been

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Speaker 2: so engaged since he's come back, and it's made a

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Speaker 2: world of difference. One stat to demonstrate this difference. In

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Speaker 2: Lebron's first twenty two games this year, he averaged just

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Speaker 2: one point one stocks per game that.

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Speaker 1: Steals plus blocks.

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Speaker 2: Right in his last four games, he's averaging three point

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Speaker 2: three stocks per game, so he's tripled his output on

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Speaker 2: steals and blocks. And again, it even goes well beyond

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Speaker 2: the box score in terms of the efforts that he's making,

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Speaker 2: communicating the rotations that he's making. I think it's the

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Speaker 2: hardest I've seen Lebron play consistently three games in a

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Speaker 2: row in like a mid season stretch like this in

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Speaker 2: December since the twenty twenty one team. It's one thing

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Speaker 2: to do it opening week, it's one thing to do

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Speaker 2: it right before the playoffs. But Lebron for the most

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Speaker 2: part in this time of year, is very select dive

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Speaker 2: with his effort and he's playing really hard every night

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Speaker 2: that has been working. Max Christy very uneven start to

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Speaker 2: the season. He's been in the starting lineup for five

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Speaker 2: games now. He's starting to find his footing on defense.

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Speaker 2: He'd struggled on defense to start the year, and he's

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Speaker 2: shooting forty three percent from three in this five game span.

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Speaker 2: He's just being solid in his starting role. Gabe Vincent.

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Speaker 2: Gabe Vincent has always been a rock solid role player

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Speaker 2: who does his job on both ends of the floor.

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Speaker 2: But he's kind of small, so when he's not hitting shots,

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Speaker 2: he's not good enough on defense to overcome those that

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Speaker 2: issue with him making shots. He's a guy that like

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Speaker 2: when he's hitting, and in his last nine games, he's hitting.

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Speaker 2: In his last nine games, gave his forty nine percent

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Speaker 2: from three on four attempts. Suddenly he looks like a

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Speaker 2: very useful role player because he does his job. He's

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Speaker 2: a legitimate two way player. He just hadn't hit shots

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Speaker 2: the entirety of his Lakers' tenure up until this recent stretch.

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Speaker 2: Ruy Hachimura three blocks and twenty two rebounds in his

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Speaker 2: last three games. He's been a huge part in their

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Speaker 2: defensive uptick. He also had a huge tap out rebound

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Speaker 2: to save Anthony Davis after he missed a couple free

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Speaker 2: throws against Sacramento Austin Reeves. He was out of the

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Speaker 2: lineup for the last three losses in that ugly stretch.

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Speaker 2: Getting him back has been huge. In his four games

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Speaker 2: since returning, he's averaging twenty points, five rebounds, and six assists.

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Speaker 2: That's damn near all star level production. D'Angelo Russell Delo

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Speaker 2: can be an infuriating player sometimes, especially when he's not

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Speaker 2: hitting shots because of all of his shortcomings. In his

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Speaker 2: first seventeen games this year, he had six to three

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Speaker 2: point attempts per game and only made twenty eight percent

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Speaker 2: of them. In his last ten games, on six attempts,

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Speaker 2: he's hitting forty two percent of them. A lot more

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Speaker 2: of d Lo's upside is on display, and then AD

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Speaker 2: has massively improved on the defensive end in this stretch

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Speaker 2: by virtue of that scheme change that we talked about

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Speaker 2: and also him just kind of devoting some resources to

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Speaker 2: that end of the floor. In this five game stretch,

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Speaker 2: AD is averaging fourteen point four rebounds per game, with

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Speaker 2: one point four steals and three point six blocks per game. So, again,

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Speaker 2: a bunch of key Lakers are playing better and as

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Speaker 2: a result of that, it amounts to an influx of

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Speaker 2: talent and you're gonna make yourself look like a better team.

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Speaker 2: For Lebron and Ad are now primarily directing their energy

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Speaker 2: towards the defensive end. Scoring an efficiency has dipped for

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Speaker 2: both of them, but both of them in a bit

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Speaker 2: have been amazing on defense, and the roster is actually

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Speaker 2: more capable of supporting Lebron and Ad on the offensive end,

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Speaker 2: So it's actually the smartest way for them to use

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Speaker 2: their resources. Austin and Di lo are stepping up on

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Speaker 2: the offensive end. They're getting enough buckets to win. We're

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Speaker 2: gonna talk about their offense in a minute. Their offense

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Speaker 2: is actually dead last in this span as well. So

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Speaker 2: it's been like a complete and total trade off, and

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Speaker 2: that's gonna take some That's gonna be something that takes

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Speaker 2: some time because again, like when you go from like

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Speaker 2: not competing on defense to competing on defense, it's gonna

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Speaker 2: drain your legs. They've got to condition themselves now to

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Speaker 2: be in a position where they can do that while

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Speaker 2: also having the legs they need to make shots. But

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Speaker 2: that's the exciting part because this team does have the

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Speaker 2: potential to be good on both ends if they get

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Speaker 2: to that point where that's a habit for them. And

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Speaker 2: then number five, and this is the probably the most

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Speaker 2: concerning part for me in terms of how I look

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Speaker 2: forward for the Lakers. The schedule has not been demanding

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Speaker 2: on them in this stretch in terms of wear and tear.

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Speaker 2: That's the big question mark. Like they've played these five

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Speaker 2: games this four and one stretch over a sixteen day span.

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Speaker 2: There's eleven rest days mixed in. As we mentioned earlier,

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Speaker 2: the NBA is an onslaught of good basketball teams over

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Speaker 2: and over and over again in the normal parts of

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Speaker 2: the schedule that don't center around the Ncason Tournament. Right

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Speaker 2: Like the schedule stays tough, the Lakers have Detroit tonight.

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Speaker 2: They have the size to make things tough on Lebron

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Speaker 2: and Ad. They beat the Lakers earlier this year. If

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Speaker 2: you remember at Golden State on Christmas Day, that's a

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Speaker 2: road game versus a team that has a lot more

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Speaker 2: perimeter speed than the Lakers. That's a tough matchup for them.

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Speaker 2: Sacramento on Saturday. It's really hard to beat a team

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Speaker 2: four times in a row. And again this is the

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Speaker 2: same team that was four and oh against the Lakers

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Speaker 2: last year, the Calves. They beat the shit out of

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Speaker 2: the Lakers earlier this year in Cleveland second week of January.

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Speaker 2: They have road games at Houston and at Dallas. So

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Speaker 2: like this is going to go back to playing every

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Speaker 2: other night against good teams. And this is where it's

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Speaker 2: going to come down to their willingness to hang on

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Speaker 2: to the rope. Right Like I said when I had

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Speaker 2: my Lakers melt down a few weeks ago, that they

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Speaker 2: would have more good stretches this year.

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Speaker 1: That's all this is.

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Speaker 2: I knew this was gonna happen, even when I was

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Speaker 2: bitching and moaning about that heat game. I said, they

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Speaker 2: will have more good stretches this year. They will have

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Speaker 2: stretches where they beat good teams. This is one of

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Speaker 2: those stretches. But any sort of ambition this team has

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Speaker 2: to make a deep playoff run is contingent on their

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Speaker 2: commitment to the daily process, even when it's not easy,

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Speaker 2: even when you're not playing five games in sixteen days.

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Speaker 2: It will only get harder as the season progresses, and

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Speaker 2: they need to hang on to the rope for a

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Speaker 2: long time before I have any sort of real belief

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Speaker 2: in this team. Again, so again, they're on a good

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Speaker 2: stretch four and one, defending like crazy, lot of exciting stuff.

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Speaker 2: But championship teams don't do it for a week and

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Speaker 2: a half or for two weeks. They do it month

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Speaker 2: after month after month until they get to April, and

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Speaker 2: by virtue of that process, they are so buttoned up

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Speaker 2: that they are so good with their execution for two

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Speaker 2: straight months that they put themselves in a chance in

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Speaker 2: a position to win the title. This is not a

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Speaker 2: two week week journey. They are what four months I

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Speaker 2: think roughly until the playoffs start. They've got to figure

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Speaker 2: out how to get this into an extended part of

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Speaker 2: their basketball identity. I am skeptical, but a good job

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Speaker 2: over the last couple of weeks. Second big takeaway from

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Speaker 2: the weekend there is no point in taking standings victory

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Speaker 2: laps in the Western Conference unless you can separate from

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Speaker 2: that group that's in the middle of the standings. I

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Speaker 2: saw a lot of Laker fans after the Sacramento game

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Speaker 2: the other night. They're like, we have the ninth best

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Speaker 2: record in the league. We are the five seed in

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Speaker 2: the West, and in the Western Conference. Only sustain success

349
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Speaker 2: is gonna give you any sort of real breathing room.

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Speaker 2: Even without playing, They've dropped to the tenth best record

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Speaker 2: in the league and sixth in the West. Everyone in

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Speaker 2: that five to eleven group in the West is separated

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Speaker 2: by one point five games, so to be clear, Like,

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Speaker 2: I think it's the Suns that are at eleven. The

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Speaker 2: eleven seed. Suns feels like a catastrophe, right, They're one

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Speaker 2: good week away from being the five seed. The Denver Nuggets,

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Speaker 2: they're the five seed right now, looks great, They're one

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Speaker 2: bad week away from being the eleven seed. So, like,

359
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Speaker 2: no one needs to be taking victory laps over this

360
00:17:39,160 --> 00:17:42,719
Speaker 2: crazy shuffling that's taking place week by week in that

361
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Speaker 2: middle portion of the Western Conference. All of those teams

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Speaker 2: have significant flaws. Like, yeah, some more than others. Sure,

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Speaker 2: like Denver's got Nikola Jokic. That's gonna be a big advantage, right,

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Speaker 2: But if any of those teams are actually going to

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Speaker 2: win the title, they're going to need to find a

366
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Speaker 2: way to build separation from that group. It's Denver, the Lakers,

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Speaker 2: Golden State Warriors, the Clippers, the Spurs, the Timberwolves, and

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Speaker 2: the Suns. That's that group and all of them are flawed.

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Speaker 2: The Nuggets, they either need Jamal Murray to keep improving

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Speaker 2: the way he has been, or they'll need to make

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Speaker 2: a trade for a reliable perimeter score. They're also going

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Speaker 2: to have to get more consistent with their defensive effort.

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Speaker 2: A couple of pretty mediocre teams that they've played against

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Speaker 2: recently that have scored on them relatively easily. The Lakers,

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Speaker 2: they need a trade or an upgrade at the two

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Speaker 2: or three in their starting lineup, and they need consistent

377
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Speaker 2: commitment to the work throughout the regular season. The Warriors

378
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Speaker 2: they need to trade for a secondary score behind Steph.

379
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Speaker 2: The Clippers they need Kawhi Leonard to come back and

380
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Speaker 2: play at an MVP level. The Spurs, they probably should

381
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Speaker 2: start considering making a hyper aggressive trade, like if they

382
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Speaker 2: made a deal for dearon Fox, they could enter into

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Speaker 2: the contention. We're going to talk about the Spurs here

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Speaker 2: in just a minute. The Timberwolves, they got to find

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Speaker 2: a way to create space for their stars so they

386
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Speaker 2: can attack the rim in this two and three stretch.

387
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Speaker 2: In their last five games, Julius Randall and Anthony Edwards

388
00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:01,800
Speaker 2: are combining to attempto point six shots per game in

389
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Speaker 2: the restricted area. Jason Tatum, by himself in the same

390
00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:09,080
Speaker 2: span is attempting eight shots per game in the restricted area.

391
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Speaker 2: There's no space to operate within Minnesota. They've got to

392
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Speaker 2: figure that out. That's going to probably be a more

393
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Speaker 2: substantial shuffle at some point this season then the Suns.

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Speaker 2: The Suns are allowing just one hundred The Suns are

395
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Speaker 2: allowing over one hundred and twenty two points per one

396
00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:24,760
Speaker 2: hundred possessions in the four games since Kde came back

397
00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:28,520
Speaker 2: from injury. They just aren't defending. So all of those groups,

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Speaker 2: they might, by virtue of the schedule, or by virtue

399
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Speaker 2: of a couple role players getting hot, or by virtue

400
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Speaker 2: of just brief moments where they're more locked in than usual,

401
00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:39,919
Speaker 2: might rack together a three to oh four to ozer

402
00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:43,280
Speaker 2: week and gain ground in the standings. But all of

403
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Speaker 2: that is going to continue to get jumbled, And really

404
00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:49,160
Speaker 2: for me is if any team is going to make

405
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Speaker 2: a substantial playoff run this year, meaning like winning at

406
00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,280
Speaker 2: least two rounds, they're gonna have to separate themselves from

407
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:58,399
Speaker 2: that pack in the regular season. That will be the

408
00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:02,360
Speaker 2: way they demonstrate that they've improved in the necessary areas

409
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Speaker 2: in order to make that kind of run. If none

410
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Speaker 2: of them do, all of those teams are going to

411
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Speaker 2: be eliminated in the first two rounds by better teams.

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Speaker 1: Again, could they beat a Houston or.

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Speaker 2: A Memphis, one of the flawed, younger teams at the top, Sure,

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Speaker 2: But teams like Dallas and OKC they're beating all these

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Speaker 2: teams in a playoff series with the type of basketball

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Speaker 2: they're playing right now. If you want to get through

417
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Speaker 2: one of those teams, and you might have to get

418
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,440
Speaker 2: through both of them, you're gonna have to play better basketball,

419
00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:34,080
Speaker 2: and it's going to have to come through a combination

420
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Speaker 2: of roster upgrades and improved attention to detail over the

421
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Speaker 2: court and competitiveness over the course of the regular season.

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Speaker 2: That to me is the dead giveaway. Who's going to

423
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Speaker 2: be that five seed. Who's going to be the five

424
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Speaker 2: seed that separates and builds margin between them and the

425
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Speaker 2: rest of that pack? That to me is a team

426
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Speaker 2: that is serious. If you're in that pack when we

427
00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:55,480
Speaker 2: get to April, I'm going to have a hard time

428
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Speaker 2: believing that you can win multiple playoff rounds. Number three,

429
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Speaker 2: Victor Webinyama is already good enough to justify the Spurs

430
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,040
Speaker 2: getting aggressive and going for In Victor webin Yama's last

431
00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:22,800
Speaker 2: thirteen games, he's averaging thirty points, ten rebounds in five

432
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Speaker 2: assists with four point five stocks per game on fifty

433
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,360
Speaker 2: one percent from the field, thirty eight percent from three,

434
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:30,800
Speaker 2: and eighty five percent from the line. The Spurs are

435
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,440
Speaker 2: nine to four in those thirteen games. When Victor plays,

436
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,800
Speaker 2: he's shooting thirty eight percent from three on eleven attempts

437
00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:40,720
Speaker 2: per game. Has this habit of just rising and firing

438
00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,280
Speaker 2: over guys, even in clutch time, and all you can

439
00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:45,520
Speaker 2: do is really just pray he misses. He's four for

440
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,399
Speaker 2: nine on clutch threes over this span too, doing a

441
00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:51,600
Speaker 2: ton of damage in pick and pop. He's popping almost exclusively.

442
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,040
Speaker 2: This is a big thing that stood out to me

443
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:55,600
Speaker 2: over the course of the last couple of weeks. On his

444
00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:57,919
Speaker 2: last twenty shot attempts that have come in out of

445
00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:00,720
Speaker 2: pick and roll as the role man, teen of them

446
00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:05,160
Speaker 2: have been threes. He's popping above the break almost exclusively

447
00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:07,879
Speaker 2: in ball screens, and then from there he's looking to

448
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:11,000
Speaker 2: shoot or to drive closeouts. He's getting one point two

449
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,119
Speaker 2: to two points per roleman possession for the season. That

450
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,880
Speaker 2: ranks fifth among all NBA players to log at least

451
00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:20,520
Speaker 2: seventy five roll man possessions. This season, He's up to

452
00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,600
Speaker 2: thirty nine percent overall on unguarded catch and shoo jumpers,

453
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:25,560
Speaker 2: So like, if he's got his feet set, feels like

454
00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:27,800
Speaker 2: it's going in. He's also in addition to the pick

455
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,040
Speaker 2: and pop stuff stuff, he's doing a ton of damage

456
00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:33,159
Speaker 2: out of the triple threat around the elbows. So like,

457
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,840
Speaker 2: sometimes it'll be like a ball screen switch and he'll

458
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:38,639
Speaker 2: take the guard down to the elbow. But even if

459
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,760
Speaker 2: you like it, even in his like regular matchup, if

460
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,280
Speaker 2: he likes that matchup, he'll just catch around the elbow.

461
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:46,320
Speaker 2: What they'll usually do is they'll load up his left

462
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:49,520
Speaker 2: hand side so that he's got, you know, a bunch

463
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:51,359
Speaker 2: of bodies over there. But then they'll just put like

464
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:53,600
Speaker 2: one guy in the strong side corner, so like it

465
00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:55,880
Speaker 2: creates a little bit more space for him. And he's

466
00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,720
Speaker 2: basically ripping through to the right and then turning back

467
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,359
Speaker 2: over his right shoulder, and he's doing a lot of

468
00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:03,960
Speaker 2: step through moves, a lot of like spinning into a

469
00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:06,439
Speaker 2: pump fake and then stepping through because and all that

470
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:08,560
Speaker 2: is for step through if you imagine, like my right

471
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,200
Speaker 2: foot's my pivot right, and I bring my left foot

472
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:13,639
Speaker 2: around and plant it for a fade away, but I

473
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,600
Speaker 2: pump fake and then further bring that foot around, I

474
00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,280
Speaker 2: can step all the way through towards the basket. He's

475
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,800
Speaker 2: got such a long stride there that he's like turning

476
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 2: like he's gonna fade at like twelve feet, and then

477
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:26,720
Speaker 2: when he's doing a step through move, he's getting easy,

478
00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,360
Speaker 2: easy layups because of how much ground he can cover

479
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 2: towards the rim there, but doing a ton of damage

480
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:33,800
Speaker 2: around the elbows. He's ran one hundred and eighty nine

481
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,560
Speaker 2: post ups and ISOs this year, including passes, and it's

482
00:23:37,560 --> 00:23:40,320
Speaker 2: generated one hundred and ninety one points, So that's over

483
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,600
Speaker 2: a point per possession as a static half court initiator, again,

484
00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:47,400
Speaker 2: a major benchmark for young shot creators in this league.

485
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,200
Speaker 2: He's not even old enough to order a beer yet, guys,

486
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,159
Speaker 2: and he's playing at a surefire top ten level at

487
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,600
Speaker 2: this point and right now off of it, Wembe, it's

488
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,000
Speaker 2: a lot of like kind of random contributions. They have

489
00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,320
Speaker 2: seven guys averaging double figures for the Spurs in this span,

490
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,040
Speaker 2: but nobody is averaging over seventeen points per game in

491
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:07,920
Speaker 2: these last thirteen games that Wemby's played. So like, if

492
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:09,879
Speaker 2: I was the Spurs, I'd be keeping an eye on

493
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,560
Speaker 2: the Deer and Fox situation. They have the assets to

494
00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:14,760
Speaker 2: make a real push for him if he becomes available.

495
00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:18,600
Speaker 2: The Kings had another disappointing blowout loss at home to

496
00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:22,159
Speaker 2: the Indiana Pacers last night. I also think he's just

497
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:26,120
Speaker 2: the perfect guard to partner with Victor wemen Yama. Like, yes,

498
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,399
Speaker 2: Deer and Fox is twenty seven years old, but that's

499
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 2: in the heart of his prime with a solid, you know,

500
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,920
Speaker 2: five to seven good years left, and Wemby is good

501
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,200
Speaker 2: enough to lead a championship team right now thirty ten

502
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:39,399
Speaker 2: and five. On his level of efficiency with what he

503
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,720
Speaker 2: does defensively, he's a bona fide top ten player in

504
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,480
Speaker 2: the league at this point. So the timeline is now.

505
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,960
Speaker 2: Forget about the age. Yeah, he's twenty Yeah, Fox is

506
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:50,160
Speaker 2: twenty seventy seven years older.

507
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:50,639
Speaker 1: Who cares.

508
00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,119
Speaker 2: He's good enough to actually help Wenby win games right now.

509
00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:56,119
Speaker 2: I also think Fox is the perfect pick and roll

510
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:59,080
Speaker 2: partner for him. It's difficult to switch right. Fox is

511
00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 2: too fast for bigs and Wemby can punish guards around

512
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,160
Speaker 2: those elbows with the face up game that we talked

513
00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,399
Speaker 2: about earlier. He's got a lot of experience playing with

514
00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:09,879
Speaker 2: a good pick and roll partner in Demanda Sabonis, and

515
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,200
Speaker 2: he's got a lot of experience feeding the pocket, which

516
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,400
Speaker 2: is something that's important in that matchup. Right, His ability

517
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 2: to pop as a more deadly shooter will create more

518
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:20,479
Speaker 2: driving space for Darren Fox, which is something that has

519
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:22,520
Speaker 2: been an issue with Sabonis at times. His teams kind

520
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:26,679
Speaker 2: of ignore him, right, It's just it's just an easy,

521
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,320
Speaker 2: easy fit. Fox defensively is at his best when he's

522
00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:32,920
Speaker 2: able to be aggressive with ball pressure rather than trying

523
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,120
Speaker 2: to contain. It's another thing that makes him a little

524
00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:38,800
Speaker 2: funky fit with Sabonis, right, Like with Victor wem Minyama,

525
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,520
Speaker 2: you couldn't script a better type of fit defensively for

526
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:43,400
Speaker 2: him to be able to be aggressive on the ball

527
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,600
Speaker 2: to try to force deflections and turnovers, knowing that he's

528
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,680
Speaker 2: got the greatest mess cleaner up er behind him.

529
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:51,000
Speaker 1: Right.

530
00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:54,679
Speaker 2: In addition to that, I just think Darren Fox is awesome.

531
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:56,919
Speaker 2: I had him in my top twenty five last summer.

532
00:25:57,240 --> 00:25:59,240
Speaker 2: He's had a rough start to the season shooting the ball,

533
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:00,800
Speaker 2: but I think he's a good shooter. And again they

534
00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:02,639
Speaker 2: mixed everything up again by bringing in de Rosen. It's

535
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,160
Speaker 2: kind of tweaked things. He's specifically good at hitting short

536
00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,399
Speaker 2: to mid range jump shots and it's a major weapon

537
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 2: to having your bag for clutch situations. As a matter

538
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,240
Speaker 2: of fact, Deeran Fox is leading the league in clutch

539
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,040
Speaker 2: field goals made with twenty five. Second place is twenty

540
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,560
Speaker 2: so he's got a pretty hefty lead there, shooting forty

541
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:21,720
Speaker 2: eight percent from the field in thirty nine percent from

542
00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:24,720
Speaker 2: three in clutch situations. I think Deeron Fox and Victor

543
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,480
Speaker 2: wemen Yama could compete for a title right away. I

544
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,040
Speaker 2: think that's the move that they need to look to

545
00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:34,399
Speaker 2: make if it becomes available this year. Number four, My

546
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 2: last big takeaway from this weekend. The Indiana Pacers are

547
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,280
Speaker 2: starting to look like the Indiana Pacers. They've won five

548
00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:42,520
Speaker 2: out of six. They're fourth in offense over that span.

549
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:44,639
Speaker 2: Defense was the big issue in the early part of

550
00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:46,399
Speaker 2: the season. Andrew Nemhard was out of the lineup, but

551
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,680
Speaker 2: also their frontline guys weren't doing a very good job.

552
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,119
Speaker 2: They've been ninth in defense over this six game span,

553
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,080
Speaker 2: very equal opportunity on offense. Like no one's averaging twenty

554
00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:57,239
Speaker 2: points a game over this span, but seven guys are

555
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,320
Speaker 2: averaging double figures. Tyres Aliburn's looking more like himself because

556
00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:02,399
Speaker 2: his shot is following. He's shooting forty four percent from

557
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:05,439
Speaker 2: three on nine attempts over this span. He's also averaging

558
00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:08,400
Speaker 2: nineteen points in ten assists. That's more in line. It's

559
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 2: not like the whatever it was twenty four and fourteen

560
00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:13,320
Speaker 2: he was averaging, or what he was at the beginning

561
00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:15,359
Speaker 2: of last season. But he's getting a little closer to

562
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,320
Speaker 2: what we grow to expect from Tyree Saliburton. He also

563
00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:21,680
Speaker 2: has six steals and six blocks in the span. He

564
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:23,840
Speaker 2: was one of the big culprits in their bad defense

565
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:25,440
Speaker 2: in the early part of the year. Is just competing

566
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,320
Speaker 2: a little bit better. That's really the thing. The whole

567
00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 2: team is competing on defense. Andrew Nemhart is back now.

568
00:27:30,359 --> 00:27:33,040
Speaker 2: He has stabilized them at the point of attack defensively.

569
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:35,320
Speaker 2: I talked with the Nerd Sash guys about how I

570
00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:38,160
Speaker 2: expected the Pacers to have some potential to turn their

571
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:40,720
Speaker 2: defensive round because they just have good defensive players like

572
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,679
Speaker 2: Pascalsi ho comes a good defensive player. He did an

573
00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,359
Speaker 2: amazing job on De Marti Rosen last night, right, Like

574
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,720
Speaker 2: Miles Turner's capable of being a very good defensive player.

575
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:51,760
Speaker 2: He did a number on demonasabonus last night.

576
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:52,440
Speaker 1: Right.

577
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,320
Speaker 2: So, like you get a good point of attack defender

578
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:57,879
Speaker 2: with a good four to five defensively, you should be

579
00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:00,679
Speaker 2: pretty good defensively as as long as you can get

580
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:02,840
Speaker 2: Ben Matherin and tires Aliburton to do their job, which

581
00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,560
Speaker 2: they have. Thomas Bryant has come in and kind of

582
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:08,120
Speaker 2: provided some stability at the backup center spot. I covered

583
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,680
Speaker 2: him with the Lakers. He's a really fun offensive player.

584
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:12,960
Speaker 2: Like he plays super hard, He runs the floor super well.

585
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:15,440
Speaker 2: You guys have already seen that. He's legit good at

586
00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:17,520
Speaker 2: like finishing in traffic for a guy who's mostly a

587
00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,800
Speaker 2: below the rim player. He just has good at angles

588
00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:22,440
Speaker 2: and he's got good touch, and he's a pretty solid

589
00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,200
Speaker 2: jump shooter. He's got his defensive limitations, but he will

590
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,200
Speaker 2: bring some stability to that spot. The Pacers are playing

591
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:30,719
Speaker 2: some serious basketball, but their schedule is about to get

592
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:32,840
Speaker 2: really tough. They're just two games back in the five seed,

593
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 2: but their next five games at Golden State, home for

594
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:40,040
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City, at Boston, at Boston, and then home for Milwaukee.

595
00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,680
Speaker 2: So definitely a tough stretch for them coming up on

596
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,280
Speaker 2: the schedule. Getting into our power rankings, and again all

597
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:50,360
Speaker 2: odds are provided by our partner Draft Kings. Number ten

598
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:52,720
Speaker 2: the Los Angeles Lakers four and one in their last

599
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:54,520
Speaker 2: five games, the number one defense in the league over

600
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:56,240
Speaker 2: that span. We covered them in the opening segment, so

601
00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:58,080
Speaker 2: we won't go any further here. Lakers fans who are

602
00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,400
Speaker 2: looking for a deep dive on the Laker, you can

603
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 2: find that just by clicking on our full episode for

604
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 2: this Monday show and you'll it was the first segment

605
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:07,040
Speaker 2: that I went into and I did like a solid

606
00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:09,240
Speaker 2: fifteen to twenty minutes on him, so you can see

607
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:11,360
Speaker 2: him there. The Lakers right now, if you want to

608
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,520
Speaker 2: make a bet, they're plus thirty five hundred to win

609
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:15,920
Speaker 2: the title, plus eighteen hundred to win the Western Conference.

610
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:18,960
Speaker 2: Number nine the Denver Nuggets, two in one week. The

611
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,600
Speaker 2: Nuggets have been playing some lower level competition on the road,

612
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:23,600
Speaker 2: and they've been playing down to that competition and it's

613
00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:25,880
Speaker 2: led to a lot of close games. They beat the

614
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:29,200
Speaker 2: Kings in a classic Nuggets walk down, they score on

615
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 2: seven possessions in a row down the stretch. The Yokich

616
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,360
Speaker 2: Murray two man game scores on four consecutive possessions down

617
00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,160
Speaker 2: the stretch, and Jamal Murray hits the eventual game winner.

618
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 2: They lose to the Blazers on a game winning layup

619
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:41,560
Speaker 2: by Infanty Simons.

620
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:42,640
Speaker 1: Really weird sequence.

621
00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 2: The Blazers were attacking with dribble penetration from Anferny Simons

622
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:50,320
Speaker 2: off of the right wing, and they went a bunch

623
00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:53,320
Speaker 2: of times down the stretch. Earlier on in clutch time,

624
00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,840
Speaker 2: they were going at Jamal Murray, but it was kind

625
00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:59,719
Speaker 2: of like this weird sequence where like they were loading

626
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:03,040
Speaker 2: up on Anthony Simons's left hand, like Yo Kicch when

627
00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:05,120
Speaker 2: he was offering his help, he was kind of coming

628
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:08,440
Speaker 2: higher up the lane line. They were doubling, so like

629
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:10,800
Speaker 2: they got Jamal Murray on Anthony Simons and for Simons

630
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,200
Speaker 2: loads up to drive and they sent the double from

631
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:18,320
Speaker 2: Russell Westbrook on Anthony Simons's left hand side and the

632
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:21,160
Speaker 2: and Anthony Simons is driving to the right, And it

633
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:23,800
Speaker 2: was kind of like a weird foreshadowing moment because Jamal

634
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:26,560
Speaker 2: Murray slides over and takes the contact and it gets

635
00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:30,360
Speaker 2: a really good contain on Anthony Simons and they end

636
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:31,920
Speaker 2: up getting a stop. But on the game winner, they

637
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,160
Speaker 2: end up going back to On the game winner, they

638
00:30:35,240 --> 00:30:36,960
Speaker 2: end up going back to that same action, but they

639
00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:39,520
Speaker 2: go at Russ instead of Jamal, same sort of thing.

640
00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray's coming to double from the left hand side.

641
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:44,240
Speaker 2: Yo Kich is kind of high up the lane line,

642
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:46,800
Speaker 2: Aaron Gordon is staying home in the strong side corner,

643
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:50,160
Speaker 2: and Russell Westbrook is opened up to the left, like

644
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,280
Speaker 2: straight up opened up with his body just giving a

645
00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,880
Speaker 2: right handed drive. Well, guess what, Anthony Simons just hit

646
00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,680
Speaker 2: a right handed drive and went right down the Yokic

647
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:02,640
Speaker 2: wasn't even close to being able to get over there

648
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,040
Speaker 2: in time and gets a layup. So like there's a

649
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,800
Speaker 2: lot of blaming going on there. There's a lot of like, oh,

650
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:11,160
Speaker 2: Yokic can't protect the rim, A lot of like, oh, uh,

651
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:13,880
Speaker 2: Russell Westbrook can't guard on the perimeter. I thought everyone

652
00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,320
Speaker 2: had blood on their hands there. Like Russ, you can't

653
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:18,880
Speaker 2: just get like cleanly toasted. You got to do something

654
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,560
Speaker 2: to flatten out that drive. Nicole Yoki, your job is

655
00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:23,480
Speaker 2: to protect the rim and help, So like you got

656
00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:25,920
Speaker 2: to do better than you did there, And Mike Malone,

657
00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:27,720
Speaker 2: why are you sending all the help from the left

658
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:29,880
Speaker 2: side while also funneling him to the right, Like that

659
00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,320
Speaker 2: doesn't make any sense. Like your team defense isn't really

660
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:34,160
Speaker 2: set up there. So like that ended up being a

661
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:36,280
Speaker 2: really disappointing loss, and then they bounce back by beating

662
00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,880
Speaker 2: the Pelicans in overtime another huge Jamal Murray shot to

663
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:41,040
Speaker 2: send the game to overtime there.

664
00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:42,880
Speaker 1: That's really the huge development with Denver.

665
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:45,360
Speaker 2: If you're looking for positivity, Jamal is starting to get

666
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:47,440
Speaker 2: his legs back underneath him. In his first seventeen games

667
00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 2: this hear he averaged eighteen points, four rebounds, and six

668
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,680
Speaker 2: assists on forty two percent from the field and thirty

669
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:55,680
Speaker 2: three percent from three. In his last four games twenty

670
00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:59,880
Speaker 2: five five and six, forty six percent from the field

671
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,200
Speaker 2: thirty nine percent from three. This brings me to like

672
00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:06,080
Speaker 2: the kind of trade topic with Denver. There's been a

673
00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:08,000
Speaker 2: lot of talk about making a move with Michael Porter

674
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 2: Junior going after someone like a zach Lavine. If Jamal

675
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,240
Speaker 2: continues this trajectory and gets to the point where he's

676
00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,520
Speaker 2: basically averaging twenty three to twenty five points per game efficiently.

677
00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:21,760
Speaker 2: From here to the trade deadline, I would not make

678
00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:24,920
Speaker 2: an aggressive trade. There's just no point Jamal being Jamal

679
00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,640
Speaker 2: is all they really need. Outside of that, I would

680
00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:30,920
Speaker 2: bet on continuity in this weird Western Conference with all

681
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,240
Speaker 2: these flawed teams, For every team, you want to bet

682
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:39,040
Speaker 2: on continuity and just getting sharper or making some sort

683
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,560
Speaker 2: of trade for aggressive upside. And it depends on the

684
00:32:41,600 --> 00:32:44,520
Speaker 2: team in that tier of teams. For me, for Denver,

685
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:47,920
Speaker 2: if Jamal Murray keeps this up to the deadline, I'd

686
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,800
Speaker 2: bet on continuity. We've just seen how devastating this team

687
00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:52,600
Speaker 2: can be in the playoffs when Yokich and Murray are

688
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:55,560
Speaker 2: at that special level. Last year, neither of them were.

689
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,000
Speaker 2: If both of them are this year, you're right back

690
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,360
Speaker 2: in it. The Nuggets right now. Plus fifteen hundred to

691
00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:02,400
Speaker 2: win the Western Conference, excuse me, Plus fifteen hundred to

692
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,200
Speaker 2: win the title. Plus seven hundred to win the Western Conference.

693
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:07,920
Speaker 2: Number eight the Memphis Grizzlies two to oh week.

694
00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:10,320
Speaker 1: They beat the living shit out of the Warriors. On Thursday.

695
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,040
Speaker 2: They hold Steph Curry and Raymond Green without a midfield

696
00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:15,560
Speaker 2: goal in twenty four minutes. Got a nice win in

697
00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:19,120
Speaker 2: Atlanta without John Morant. Seven guys in double figures in

698
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:21,960
Speaker 2: that game. Excellent defense last week. They had a ninety

699
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,040
Speaker 2: five point eight defensive rating in the two games. That

700
00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,200
Speaker 2: was the best out of any NBA team last week.

701
00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,240
Speaker 2: Starting to look like the regular season buzz saw that

702
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:31,880
Speaker 2: we talked about the Grizzlies being before the season. They

703
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:34,000
Speaker 2: are now plus twenty five hundred to win the title,

704
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:37,440
Speaker 2: plus eleven hundred to win the Western Conference. Number seven

705
00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,200
Speaker 2: the Houston Rockets super light week the games against the

706
00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:42,760
Speaker 2: Pelicans and the Raptors. Struggled a bit with the Raptors

707
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:44,320
Speaker 2: last night, but they pulled away with their bench group

708
00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:46,840
Speaker 2: in the fourth quarter. A couple guys who haven't had

709
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:49,760
Speaker 2: much opportunity this year, and Jayshon Tate and Cam Whitmore

710
00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:51,920
Speaker 2: ended up leading the charge for their bench unit in

711
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:54,040
Speaker 2: the early fourth quarter. A lot of downhill force. Jayshon

712
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:57,440
Speaker 2: Tate in the half court bringing downhill force in ball screens,

713
00:33:57,600 --> 00:33:59,560
Speaker 2: and then Cam Whitmore in transition. He also had a

714
00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:01,560
Speaker 2: little bully ball possession in the half court as well.

715
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 2: Another light week this week for the Rockets. They're at

716
00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:07,400
Speaker 2: Charlotte at New Orleans and then home for Minnesota, and in

717
00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:09,160
Speaker 2: Miami they go three and one that week, they'll be

718
00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:11,360
Speaker 2: in a good spot in the standings. The Rockets plus

719
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:14,080
Speaker 2: sixty five hundred to win the title, plus twenty two

720
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:17,040
Speaker 2: hundred to win the conference. That's actually the worst odds

721
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:20,520
Speaker 2: out of anybody in the Power Rankings. Are the longest odds,

722
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:22,040
Speaker 2: I should say it, of anybody in the Power Rankings

723
00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:25,160
Speaker 2: this week. Number six the New York Knicks. The New

724
00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:28,399
Speaker 2: York Knicks that are playing defense. The second quarter run

725
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:30,960
Speaker 2: that the Knicks went on against the Wolves in Minnesota

726
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:33,760
Speaker 2: on Thursday was one of their best stretches of basketball

727
00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:37,480
Speaker 2: this season. It's a unit with Campaign Duce McBride, Michael Bridges,

728
00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:40,799
Speaker 2: og And and Obi and Karl Anthony Towns, and they put

729
00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:44,920
Speaker 2: a straight jacket on the Wolves defensively, perpetually got out

730
00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:47,880
Speaker 2: in transition off of it. Great shot after great shot.

731
00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:51,000
Speaker 2: Off of those pushes, they went from trailing to being

732
00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:54,920
Speaker 2: up by twenty eight in the same quarter. A great

733
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,680
Speaker 2: example of what I've been talking about a lot over

734
00:34:58,719 --> 00:35:01,680
Speaker 2: the course of this Knicks saga posts, the Karl Anthony

735
00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:04,800
Speaker 2: Towns trade, which is all this obsession with rim protection.

736
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:08,360
Speaker 2: There's a great counter for rim protection, and it's perimeter defense.

737
00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:11,799
Speaker 2: I would argue perimeter defense is more important than rim

738
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:15,160
Speaker 2: protection in the modern NBA and the Knicks, there was

739
00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:19,239
Speaker 2: a lot of not weaponizing their defensive talent in the

740
00:35:19,239 --> 00:35:21,080
Speaker 2: early part of the season the way they're capable of,

741
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,400
Speaker 2: and it's been their defense that has turned their season around.

742
00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:26,920
Speaker 2: They also got wins against Orlando and New Orleans and

743
00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:28,879
Speaker 2: the three and zero road trip. They've now won eight

744
00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:31,720
Speaker 2: out of ten. They have a one oh four point

745
00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:33,880
Speaker 2: four defensive rating in those ten games. That's good for

746
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,200
Speaker 2: third best in the league over that span. Mchael Bridges

747
00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:39,440
Speaker 2: is back guarding at a high level and it's just

748
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:42,240
Speaker 2: trickled down from there. This is the path for the Knicks,

749
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:46,399
Speaker 2: like not just scoring a million points. Their offensive rating

750
00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:49,680
Speaker 2: in the span is only one fifteen point five. That's

751
00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:52,120
Speaker 2: down considerably from where they were before that span, right,

752
00:35:52,560 --> 00:35:57,520
Speaker 2: but they're winning more games. You're not trying to outscore teams.

753
00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:01,520
Speaker 2: You're trying to be a better version of last year's Nicks,

754
00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:08,120
Speaker 2: the gritty, hard nosed, physical squad that defends and drags

755
00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:09,919
Speaker 2: the game down in the mud and kicks your butt

756
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,560
Speaker 2: on the glass. That's how the Knicks win. But if

757
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,480
Speaker 2: you infuse that with additional offensive skill, that's where the

758
00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:20,200
Speaker 2: real championship potential is. That team can win the title.

759
00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:23,759
Speaker 2: Last year's Nicks with better offensive skill the team that

760
00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:27,040
Speaker 2: started this year, they can't win the title. But it's

761
00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,520
Speaker 2: been a nice little proof of concept there with what

762
00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:31,200
Speaker 2: we've seen from the Knicks in the last ten games.

763
00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:32,839
Speaker 2: They are plus nine to fifty to win the title,

764
00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:35,560
Speaker 2: plus four to twenty five to win the Eastern Conference

765
00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 2: Number five. The Milwaukee Bucks took a loss without Dame

766
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:42,319
Speaker 2: to the Cavs after the Ncason Tournament, but I'm choosing

767
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:44,200
Speaker 2: to go positive with them. I thought the Ncason Tournament

768
00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:46,480
Speaker 2: win was huge. It was also a proof of concept

769
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:48,719
Speaker 2: in the sense that they're capable of being a team

770
00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:50,640
Speaker 2: that's a lead on both ends when they're committed to

771
00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:53,760
Speaker 2: the task. Giannis's ability to pick defenses apart with his passing,

772
00:36:54,239 --> 00:36:57,440
Speaker 2: was on full display in that thunder game Dame going

773
00:36:57,440 --> 00:36:59,200
Speaker 2: toe to toe with some of the best shot makers

774
00:36:59,239 --> 00:37:01,799
Speaker 2: in the league. Like I thought it was just a bit,

775
00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:03,880
Speaker 2: I thought it was a huge positive sign of what

776
00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:06,640
Speaker 2: this Bucks team is capable of with their ceiling They

777
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:09,400
Speaker 2: do have a relatively easy schedule in the next few weeks, though,

778
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:11,759
Speaker 2: which is huge because I watched with the Lakers last year,

779
00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:14,000
Speaker 2: the n season tournament kind of drained them and they

780
00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:16,279
Speaker 2: played really bad basketball for the next month. Obviously a

781
00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:20,000
Speaker 2: disappointing performance against Cleveland, but this easier stretch of their

782
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:21,960
Speaker 2: schedule will give them some time to cool off from

783
00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:24,160
Speaker 2: the Ncason Tournament, which probably wore them down a little bit.

784
00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:26,680
Speaker 2: But I'm really high on the Bucks. Giannis is playing

785
00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:29,360
Speaker 2: at a special level, as close to Jokic as anybody

786
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:32,080
Speaker 2: in the league is. Right now, They're bought in, they're defending.

787
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:34,479
Speaker 2: I think they have real championship potential if you agree

788
00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:36,400
Speaker 2: with me. The Bucks right now are plus eighteen hundred

789
00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:38,880
Speaker 2: to win the title, plus eight hundred to win the

790
00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:42,359
Speaker 2: Eastern Conference. Number four the Dallas Mavericks one in one week.

791
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:45,239
Speaker 2: Both games were at home against the Clippers. Luca and

792
00:37:45,320 --> 00:37:47,280
Speaker 2: Kyrie both sat out the first game and they lost,

793
00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:49,799
Speaker 2: but then Kyrie comes back for the second game they

794
00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:52,000
Speaker 2: win comfortably. Kyrie had an offshooting night, but the rest

795
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,759
Speaker 2: of the guard court was great. Clay Quinton Grimes and

796
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:57,640
Speaker 2: Naji Marshall went nine for thirteen from three. In that game,

797
00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:01,439
Speaker 2: Spencer Dinwoody dished out six assists five offensive rebounds for Lively.

798
00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:02,720
Speaker 1: I pulled this Dowt. This is crazy.

799
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:06,600
Speaker 2: Both Derek Lively and Daniel Gafford are top five in

800
00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:10,359
Speaker 2: the NBA in offensive rebounds per thirty six for thirty

801
00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:12,880
Speaker 2: six minutes among the two hundred and two players to

802
00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:15,400
Speaker 2: play at least five hundred minutes. A huge part of

803
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 2: Dallas's ability to win on the margins. They've got two

804
00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:20,640
Speaker 2: really good centers that they don't have to play big minutes,

805
00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:22,560
Speaker 2: so when they go out there, they can play their

806
00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:26,480
Speaker 2: asses off just on end and they do a lot

807
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:27,760
Speaker 2: of damage on the offensive glass.

808
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:27,920
Speaker 1: With that.

809
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,440
Speaker 2: They have the Timberwolves and Suns this week for a

810
00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:32,920
Speaker 2: couple tough games for them. They're plus eleven hundred to

811
00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:35,480
Speaker 2: win the title, plus five point fifty to win the conference.

812
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,120
Speaker 2: Number three the Boston Celtics. One in one week, they

813
00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:40,000
Speaker 2: dropped a game at home to the Bulls. They completely

814
00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:42,239
Speaker 2: lost control of the game in the fourth quarter. One

815
00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:44,359
Speaker 2: of the worst shifts I've ever seen Jalen Brown play.

816
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:47,560
Speaker 2: He legitius was not competing at the point of attack

817
00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:49,680
Speaker 2: and just he was the main point of attack eye

818
00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:51,719
Speaker 2: in that group. So the Bulls were just getting downhill

819
00:38:51,800 --> 00:38:53,480
Speaker 2: every single time down the floor, and it was they

820
00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:56,160
Speaker 2: were just slicing and dicing the Celtics. The Celtics also

821
00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:57,719
Speaker 2: went cold from three in that game. They missed forty

822
00:38:57,719 --> 00:38:59,360
Speaker 2: two three, so they ended up getting a loss. But

823
00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:01,560
Speaker 2: then two nights later they went on the road into

824
00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:04,680
Speaker 2: Chicago and just demolished the Bowls in one of their

825
00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:07,880
Speaker 2: better performances this season. I talked last week about how

826
00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:10,760
Speaker 2: Jason Tatum was in a slump and how it probably

827
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:13,000
Speaker 2: had mostly to do with his knee, and then I

828
00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:16,320
Speaker 2: expected him to explode out of his slump soon. Well,

829
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:19,319
Speaker 2: thirty seven points, thirteen rebounds, and seven assists per game

830
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:21,560
Speaker 2: last week on fifty seven percent from the field and

831
00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:24,240
Speaker 2: fifty percent from three to eighty two percent from the line,

832
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:27,840
Speaker 2: that's pretty dominant. Forty three to thirteen to ten in

833
00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:30,839
Speaker 2: the win in Chicago, and now, shooting numbers are right

834
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:32,719
Speaker 2: back up where they needed to be, back up over

835
00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:34,719
Speaker 2: a point per pull up jump shot when he had

836
00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:37,160
Speaker 2: dipped below up to one point zero five points per

837
00:39:37,239 --> 00:39:39,239
Speaker 2: jump shot on the season. So, as I talked about

838
00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:42,560
Speaker 2: last week, just a random shooting slump, Tatum red Hot

839
00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:44,319
Speaker 2: got right back out of it. The Celtics right now

840
00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:46,719
Speaker 2: plus two forty to win the title, plus one oh

841
00:39:46,719 --> 00:39:50,160
Speaker 2: five to win the Eastern Conference. Number two the Oklahoma

842
00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:52,800
Speaker 2: City Thunder obviously a disappointing end to the n season tournament.

843
00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:55,280
Speaker 2: He lose to the Bucks in a way that specifically

844
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:58,520
Speaker 2: exposes some flaws that have been concerning about the Thunder

845
00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:02,759
Speaker 2: for a while, right lack of consistent perimeter shooting, questionable

846
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:05,279
Speaker 2: decision making from their ball handlers. I also thought it

847
00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:07,520
Speaker 2: exposed a hole in their defense as a defense that

848
00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:10,840
Speaker 2: while they're very good with blitzing and rotating and putting

849
00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:13,200
Speaker 2: two on the ball in that context, they struggle a

850
00:40:13,239 --> 00:40:15,399
Speaker 2: little bit with hard help on drives and hard help

851
00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:17,680
Speaker 2: on post ups. The rotations were not nearly as sharp.

852
00:40:17,719 --> 00:40:19,759
Speaker 2: I thought that was something that stoock out dug into

853
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:24,520
Speaker 2: the numbers. To their ability to defend in rotation out

854
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:27,240
Speaker 2: of the post and on dribble drives is more middle

855
00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:29,120
Speaker 2: of the pack compared to the rest of their defense.

856
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:31,080
Speaker 2: They did bounce back though, with a couple of wins

857
00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:33,680
Speaker 2: against Orlando and Miami, still just a one toh eight

858
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:36,040
Speaker 2: offensive rating in those two games, so I'm wondering if

859
00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:38,800
Speaker 2: the Thunder need to at least consider being more aggressive

860
00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,960
Speaker 2: at this deadline in pursuit of offensive firepower or off

861
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:44,320
Speaker 2: ball scoring. Like even just a guy like Cam Johnson

862
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:46,520
Speaker 2: could be a huge asset to this team as a

863
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:49,200
Speaker 2: guy that's just like aggressively looking for his shot off

864
00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:51,320
Speaker 2: the ball. The Thunder right now are plus three p

865
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:53,960
Speaker 2: forty to win the NBA title and plus one to

866
00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:56,680
Speaker 2: sixty five to win the Western Conference. Lastly, this week

867
00:40:56,760 --> 00:40:58,759
Speaker 2: number one, the Cleveland Cavaliers back in the top spot

868
00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:01,839
Speaker 2: after a three to zero week to beat easier schedule again.

869
00:41:01,840 --> 00:41:03,600
Speaker 2: They got some injury luck too. They played the Bucks

870
00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:06,400
Speaker 2: without Dame and the Sixers without Joel Embiid, but continuing

871
00:41:06,400 --> 00:41:07,840
Speaker 2: to just beat the shit out of teams. They have

872
00:41:07,880 --> 00:41:10,359
Speaker 2: the second best net rating in basketball. I talked about

873
00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:12,600
Speaker 2: their offense struggling a little bit last week. It exploded

874
00:41:12,640 --> 00:41:15,160
Speaker 2: out of that slump this week. As a team, they

875
00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:17,920
Speaker 2: shot forty five percent from three last week. That's gonna

876
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,839
Speaker 2: They made sixty one threes total in the three games.

877
00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:23,200
Speaker 2: That's gonna get your offense right. Evan Mobley, a monster

878
00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:25,600
Speaker 2: twenty two to thirteen and seven game against Philly, had

879
00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:28,560
Speaker 2: a ridiculous left handed dunk over kJ Martin Andre dummend

880
00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:32,120
Speaker 2: On like a drive out of the elbow, his inverted

881
00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 2: ball screens where he has a guard screen for him

882
00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:36,680
Speaker 2: and then pop out. They're up to seventy four points

883
00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:39,160
Speaker 2: on sixty nine possessions this season. That's one point zero's

884
00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:42,279
Speaker 2: one point zero seven points per possession including passes. That's

885
00:41:42,320 --> 00:41:46,040
Speaker 2: an excellent half court play. Max Struce made his return

886
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:48,520
Speaker 2: in the Bucks game and was plus twenty and nineteen minutes,

887
00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:51,480
Speaker 2: hit three threes, still forcing a ton of turnovers, still

888
00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:54,080
Speaker 2: getting out in transition and running it down everyone's throat.

889
00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:58,000
Speaker 2: Their tough West Coast road trip starts this Friday, though,

890
00:41:58,080 --> 00:41:58,839
Speaker 2: and remember that's the one.

891
00:41:58,880 --> 00:41:59,080
Speaker 1: I think.

892
00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:03,279
Speaker 2: It's like Golden State, Dallas Lakers, and Denver I think,

893
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:07,400
Speaker 2: but they really tough games consecutively on the road in

894
00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:09,440
Speaker 2: the West where they're gonna play some tough teams. Now

895
00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:13,120
Speaker 2: here's the deal. I want to be clear. I believe

896
00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:15,440
Speaker 2: in this Calves team. I currently have them above the

897
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:19,520
Speaker 2: Knicks and the Bucks out east. That said, this road

898
00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:22,239
Speaker 2: trip to me will be really revealing about their proximity

899
00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:24,840
Speaker 2: to Boston. This is the type of road trip that

900
00:42:24,840 --> 00:42:26,680
Speaker 2: if the Celtics went on it, they'd go three and

901
00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:29,600
Speaker 2: one for sure, and they'd probably have a good chance

902
00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:31,920
Speaker 2: to go four and zero. I think three and one

903
00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:33,640
Speaker 2: should be the goal for this Calves team. You go

904
00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:36,000
Speaker 2: three and one on that West Coast road trip, I

905
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:38,759
Speaker 2: think that's a strong statement about how, yes, you're in

906
00:42:38,800 --> 00:42:41,000
Speaker 2: the Eastern Conference, but you're still head and shoulders above

907
00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:42,840
Speaker 2: these teams out in the West. I think that'd be

908
00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:44,520
Speaker 2: a good chance for them to send that message.

909
00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:45,239
Speaker 1: Calves right now.

910
00:42:45,360 --> 00:42:48,440
Speaker 2: Plus sixteen hundred to win the title, plus six fifty

911
00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:51,080
Speaker 2: to win the Eastern Conference again, all odds provided by

912
00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:55,359
Speaker 2: our partner DraftKings. All right, guys, so quick little heads

913
00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,359
Speaker 2: up on the schedule. I've been given orders from on

914
00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:02,799
Speaker 2: High to take Tuesday and Wednesday off this week and

915
00:43:02,960 --> 00:43:06,560
Speaker 2: next week. I have a tendency to work work, work, work, work,

916
00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:08,240
Speaker 2: and we need to take some time off for the holidays.

917
00:43:08,239 --> 00:43:09,640
Speaker 2: We need our staff to take some time off for

918
00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:10,120
Speaker 2: the holidays.

919
00:43:10,160 --> 00:43:11,000
Speaker 1: So no new.

920
00:43:10,920 --> 00:43:13,200
Speaker 2: Episode on Tuesday or Wednesday this week. But we'll be

921
00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:16,279
Speaker 2: reacting to the Christmas Day games on Thursday, Jampac slate.

922
00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:18,359
Speaker 2: We'll get into that and then we'll have a usual

923
00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:20,719
Speaker 2: mail bag on Friday before we get into next week.

924
00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:23,040
Speaker 2: As always to sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me

925
00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:24,600
Speaker 2: and supporting the show. I hope you guys get to

926
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:26,120
Speaker 2: spend some time with family over the course of the

927
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:28,280
Speaker 2: next couple of weeks, and I will see you guys

928
00:43:28,600 --> 00:43:29,280
Speaker 2: on Thursday.

929
00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:32,280
Speaker 1: The volume