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Speaker 2: to tonight. You're at the volume heavy Tuesday, everybody of Bath.

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Speaker 2: You guys are having a great start to your week.

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Speaker 2: Got a jam packshow for you tonight as we get

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Speaker 2: through one of the final few nights of the in

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Speaker 2: season tournament woll Play games, We're gonna be covering three

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Speaker 2: games from tonight. The Suns get a dominant win against

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Speaker 2: the Lakers in the return of Kevin Durant and Bradley

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Speaker 2: Beal to the lineup. There now nine to one with

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Speaker 2: KD in the lineup this year. We're gonna do a

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Speaker 2: deep dive into that game on the perspective of both

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Speaker 2: teams of Lakers. Back to Mack games where they looked

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Speaker 2: pretty sharp in the first half and then just completely

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Speaker 2: decomposed in the second half. I want to get into

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Speaker 2: that concept a little bit. After that, without Giannis, the

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Speaker 2: Bucks go into Miami and beat the Heat. I want

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Speaker 2: to talk about some of the chess match that was

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Speaker 2: taking place down the stretch of that game, and talk

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Speaker 2: a little bit about the struggles that the Miami Heat

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Speaker 2: have been having to this point in the season. And then,

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Speaker 2: by far what I thought that was the most entertaining

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Speaker 2: game of the night, the Houston Rockets in the Minnesota

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Speaker 2: Timberwolves had a knockdown, drag out fistfight of a game

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Speaker 2: that ended up going to overtime off of a huge

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Speaker 2: steal from a men Thompson that extended the game. We're

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Speaker 2: gonna be breaking that game down from the perspective of

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Speaker 2: both teams. So lots of basketball to get into tonight.

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Speaker 2: You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribed

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

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Speaker 2: more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore JSNLTS.

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Speaker 2: You guys, don't mi sho announcements dot forget about a

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Speaker 2: podcast feed where you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight.

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Speaker 2: Don't forget it's helpful if you leave a rating and

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Speaker 2: a review. On that front, we also have new social

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Speaker 2: media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for the Hoops

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Speaker 2: Tonight channel where we're going to be releasing additional content,

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Speaker 2: so make sure you guys follow us there, and last,

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Speaker 2: but not at least, keep dropping mail bag questions and

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Speaker 2: the YouTube comments. Every Friday throughout the regular season, we

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Speaker 2: record a mailbag episode and I take the questions from

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Speaker 2: the YouTube comments. All right, guys, let's talk some basketball.

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Speaker 2: So a huge win for the Suns, dominant left no

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Speaker 2: doubt to improve to nine to one with Kevin Durant

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Speaker 2: in the lineup. We're going to talk a little bit

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Speaker 2: about the formula for this Sun's team, and it obviously

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Speaker 2: relies a lot on their total amount of aggregate offensive skill,

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Speaker 2: right Like, if you take Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant

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Speaker 2: out of the equation and you take some defensive specialists

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Speaker 2: and start asking them to do more with the basketball,

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Speaker 2: you're going to have some struggles. And the Suns obviously

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Speaker 2: struggled quite a bit with KD out, But there's a

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Speaker 2: formula that works when they have all of their guys,

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Speaker 2: and you saw an excellent example of it there in

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Speaker 2: that third quarter run. I really want to shine a

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Speaker 2: light on Devin Booker and use of Nurkic here, because

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Speaker 2: I thought they were the two primary driving forces behind

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Speaker 2: that run. Nurkic was incredible the entire run. He's had

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Speaker 2: a rough season, that's been a lot of like pretty

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Speaker 2: bad basketball from Musif durkicch for the most part this year,

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Speaker 2: but I thought he dominated in his role tonight. He

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Speaker 2: was setting massive screens to help free up Devin Booker.

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Speaker 2: The Lakers do a lot of switching on defense as

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Speaker 2: one of the big differences between them this year and

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Speaker 2: then last year under JJ Reddick, and he was repeatedly

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Speaker 2: just going right through Ruyachimura's chest to finish easy shots

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Speaker 2: one on one in the post, or catching deep position

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Speaker 2: against Cam Reddish and finishing with and one's just really

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Speaker 2: simple effective post moves and making layups, which has always

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Speaker 2: been a little bit of an adventure for Useuf Nurkics.

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Speaker 2: But he finished with a double double. He was plus

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Speaker 2: twenty and twenty seven minutes. We're getting I thought he

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Speaker 2: kind of outplayed Anthony Davis in the second half of

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Speaker 2: this game, it was a big time night for Musif Durkic.

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Speaker 1: And then Devin Booker.

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Speaker 2: Like in the first half, he wasn't quite getting as

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Speaker 2: much separation as he needed from Austin Reeves, but he

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Speaker 2: started to get much better separation from Austin in that

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Speaker 2: third core, not just from the monster screens. The use

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Speaker 2: of Nurkic absolutely leveled Austin on one of them there

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Speaker 2: along the left wing, but it also was with his

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Speaker 2: dribble combinations just a little bit more oomph into every move.

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Speaker 2: He had a little step back against Austin along the

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Speaker 2: baseline on the left side where you can tell Devin

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Speaker 2: was like, this is a scrappy dude.

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Speaker 1: I need to get a little bit more.

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Speaker 2: Space and a little bit more lift, And even though

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Speaker 2: Austin got a decent contest on it, Devin was able

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Speaker 2: to get enough separation to knock a big shot down,

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Speaker 2: hit a bunch of big jump shots in this game.

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Speaker 2: Didn't have a massive scoring night or anything like that,

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Speaker 2: but he was the driving force behind the key run

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Speaker 2: of the game there in the third quarter. And again,

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Speaker 2: like we talked about earlier, we'll talk about that later

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Speaker 2: with the Lakers, but they kind of like go to

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Speaker 2: the rope. And this is a Laker team that's a

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Speaker 2: little just in the last week, has been a little

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Speaker 2: fragile when things don't go their way, and so you

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Speaker 2: put together a good stretch of basketball against them, they

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Speaker 2: have a tendency to fall apart, and that's what they did,

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Speaker 2: and the Suns ended up getting out of there with

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Speaker 2: a blowout win. The Suns were pretty much dominating their

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Speaker 2: matchups down the roster in the second half. I thought

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Speaker 2: Nurkic outplayed Anthony Davis in that third quarter. Like I

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Speaker 2: mentioned earlier, Bradley Beal was cooking Dalton connect all night

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Speaker 2: the uh. One of the things too, that both Bradley

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Speaker 2: Beal and Devin Booker were able to do against Max

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Speaker 2: Christi too, is like Max Christy just has this tendency

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Speaker 2: to give ground on any sort of like bump move,

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Speaker 2: and then when they go into their pull ups, Max

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Speaker 2: always tries to meet them up high, like at the

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Speaker 2: top of the shot. And like I've talked about this

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Speaker 2: a lot on the show. When you're dealing with the

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Speaker 2: best pull up jump shooters in the league, the professional scores,

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Speaker 2: they have been shooting shots with hands in their face

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Speaker 2: their entire life. That's not what bothers them. You have

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Speaker 2: to find a way to disrupt their rhythm before the shot,

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Speaker 2: and the Lakers just don't have a Like Like, Max

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Speaker 2: is one of the better perimeter athletes on the team,

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Speaker 2: and he's just pretty light, pretty top heavy, doesn't hold

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Speaker 2: his ground well, doesn't do a good job of disrupting rhythm,

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Speaker 2: and so he can struggle against guys that aren't, you know,

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Speaker 2: dealing with some sort of significant size disadvantage. Max pretty

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Speaker 2: good job against smaller guards, but he can really struggle

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Speaker 2: against those bigger shot creators. Right, And like it was

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Speaker 2: just a down the roster out classing, Right, Like Austin

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Speaker 2: got the better of Devin Booker in the first half,

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Speaker 2: but then Booker ended up getting much better of Austin

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Speaker 2: in the second half. Right, Like Katie and Lebron weren't

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Speaker 2: matched up with each other as much, but I thought

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Speaker 2: Katie was much much better than Lebron tonight. Like Lebron's

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Speaker 2: been pretty bad by his standards for a while now,

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Speaker 2: but we'll talk about that here in a little bit.

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Speaker 2: But again, like a lot of times, when it comes

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Speaker 2: down to these games, it's about like everybody's going into

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Speaker 2: the event with a job. Like the shot creators have

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Speaker 2: a job, the defensive specialists have a job, the connective

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Speaker 2: pieces on offense have a job.

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Speaker 1: Everybody's got a job.

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Speaker 2: I talk about the list of responsibilities on a basketball

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Speaker 2: court that it has to be attained by or taking

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Speaker 2: care of by the five players that are on the floor,

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Speaker 2: and like, the Suns just did a better job down

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Speaker 2: the roster of doing their jobs than the Lakers players did.

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Speaker 2: They dominated in the half court sharper action and better

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Speaker 2: quicker decisions. They won the fast break points battle seventeen

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Speaker 2: to five, one of the big differences in this game.

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Speaker 2: He scored nineteen points off of Lakers turnovers, which continues

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Speaker 2: to be an issue for them. Again with the Lakers

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Speaker 2: physical ball pressure, run in transition, You're gonna generate a

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Speaker 2: lot of margin there because this is a team that

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Speaker 2: is really, really sloppy in those two specific areas just

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Speaker 2: handling ball pressure, handling physical perimeter defense, and running back

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Speaker 2: in transition.

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Speaker 1: They just don't run.

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Speaker 2: This is a team that has is limited in athleticism

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Speaker 2: as is, and their second best star is a guy

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Speaker 2: that likes to chill for the most part. Over the

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Speaker 2: course of the regular season, at least at this part

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Speaker 2: this portion of the regular season. And so there's a

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Speaker 2: game plan advantage with the Lakers if you take advantage

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Speaker 2: of it, play physical defense, you leverage your athletic gifts

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Speaker 2: on the perimeter to force turnovers and then run the

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Speaker 2: damn ball down the floor. I just in general, I

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Speaker 2: thought the Suns just showed better fight and competitiveness throughout

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Speaker 2: the game. And then we get beyond that to the formula,

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Speaker 2: the formula that has worked really well for them this year,

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Speaker 2: going nine to one in games that Kevin Durant has

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Speaker 2: played in. And it's a simple concept, and I think

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Speaker 2: Mike Budenholzer has done a good job of streamlining it.

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Speaker 2: But it's essentially the concept of advantage creation combined with

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Speaker 2: smart spacing and then making the correct reads when you

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Speaker 2: have those advantage situations. Right, So like when you've got

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Speaker 2: a guy like Nurkisch who sets really good screens, and

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Speaker 2: you've got a trio of ball handlers, and I mean,

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Speaker 2: Bradley Beal is not going to bring two to the

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Speaker 2: ball as often, but at least Devin Booker and Kevin

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Speaker 2: Durant are going to pretty consistently at least bring the

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Speaker 2: screen defender up pretty high in the action, and like

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Speaker 2: one of the flip sides is like this is Nurkic

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Speaker 2: helps a lot in this regard. The Suns have personnel

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Speaker 2: to beat switches on both sides of the switch, right,

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Speaker 2: So like if you end up running action and you

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Speaker 2: get Ruey Hachimura switched on the use of Nurkic, you

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Speaker 2: can throw the ball down to the block to him

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Speaker 2: when he's sharper and when he's making his lips right.

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Speaker 2: And then but on the flip side of that, like

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Speaker 2: kd and Devin Booker can take their pick of Dalton

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Speaker 2: connector D'Angelo Russell and take those guys to their sweet

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Speaker 2: spots and go to work on them, right. So, like

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Speaker 2: you try not to switch, and if you're gonna try

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Speaker 2: to keep Cam b Reddish or one of your better

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Speaker 2: perimeter defenders on a Kevin Durant or on a Devin

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Speaker 2: Booker in those moments, you're gonna have to show on

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Speaker 2: the screens because you know Nurkic is setting really good

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Speaker 2: screens to get separation from those guys, and they're just

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Speaker 2: gonna walk into pull up jump shots and beat you.

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Speaker 2: So you end up showing up at the level right,

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Speaker 2: and so by virtue of bringing two to the ball

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Speaker 2: in actions where guys are chasing over screens or eventually

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Speaker 2: bringing two to the ball again, the Lakers were content

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Speaker 2: to just die on an island tonight. But like, if

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Speaker 2: you have a guy that consistently can beat one on

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Speaker 2: one matchups, you can bring two to the ball even

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Speaker 2: without having to have a screen. And then from there

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Speaker 2: it's about having your guys in spaces where they can

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Speaker 2: be immediate threats. So you want to have the guy

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Speaker 2: that's catching that first pass to be a guy that

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Speaker 2: makes the quick decision to see where the defense is

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Speaker 2: overcompensating in their rotation, and generally speaking, it's gonna get

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Speaker 2: worked around to the weak side corner. The vast majority

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Speaker 2: of teams the weekside corner or the weak side wing right.

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Speaker 2: Good defenses will make you take a week side wing.

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Speaker 2: Bad defenses will give up a weak side corner three right,

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Speaker 2: Because just imagine this scenario where Kevin Durantz dribbling up

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Speaker 2: the right side of the floor and he gets ball

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Speaker 2: screen from use of Nurkic. It's being iced, but Katie's

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Speaker 2: bringing the defender up to the level, and so Nurkic

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Speaker 2: kind of short rolls. Right, Nurki short rolls and Katie

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Speaker 2: hits him. You have a three on two on the

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Speaker 2: weak side. Right, you have the two defenders that were

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Speaker 2: guarding the guy on the weak side wing and the

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Speaker 2: guy in the weak side corner, and then you have

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Speaker 2: Nurkic rolling to the basket. Really bad teams they'll just

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Speaker 2: show with the low man the guy who's guarding the

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Speaker 2: guy in the weak side corner, and then it's just

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Speaker 2: an easy skip pass to the corner three. They're really

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Speaker 2: good teams will have another rotation coming down from the

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Speaker 2: wing to take away that corner three and force you

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Speaker 2: to make that pass up to the wing. But it's

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Speaker 2: just a bunch of really smart offensive players that can

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Speaker 2: quickly process the advantage that's in front of them, and

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Speaker 2: a bunch of guys who can pay it off by

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Speaker 2: either knocking down catch and shoot threes, driving closeouts, or

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Speaker 2: as we talked about earlier, being able to beat switches

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Speaker 2: that occur in those situations, also attacking the offensive glass

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Speaker 2: as a way to take advantage of it. Tea that

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Speaker 2: is in rotation, But the formula is there. They just

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Speaker 2: have all of the talent they need to consistently to

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Speaker 2: consistently generate great shots. And then on defense, like you know,

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Speaker 2: they obviously have some personnel limitations there, but it's and

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Speaker 2: this is something I'm gonna talk about a little bit

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Speaker 2: with JJ Redick in a little bit, But like, find

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Speaker 2: something you can be good at, right, Like the Suns

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Speaker 2: are never going to be a dominant paint defense, right

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Speaker 2: they just don't have the personnel for that, or at

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Speaker 2: least like they could be abdominant paint defense, but it

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Speaker 2: would be at the expense of giving up the three

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Speaker 2: point line. But the way that the Sons have approached

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Speaker 2: it this year, I've been, in general really impressed by

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Speaker 2: Phoenix's closeouts, just how quickly they get out to the

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Speaker 2: perimeter and chase guys off the three point line. It

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Speaker 2: disrupts rhythm. Like the Lakers got some good looks from

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Speaker 2: three in the late third quarter early fourth quarter that

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Speaker 2: didn't go down, but it was after the game was

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Speaker 2: already out of reach, and the Suns kind of relaxed

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Speaker 2: a little bit, and none of their shooters were confident

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Speaker 2: or in rhythm at that point because they weren't getting

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Speaker 2: good looks in the early part of the game. Again, like,

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Speaker 2: if you think about it from an analytics standpoint, if

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Speaker 2: you're bad defensively in terms of your personnel, and these

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Speaker 2: are two teams that if you're ranking teams in their

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Speaker 2: overall defensive personnel, the Suns and the Lakers are gonna

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Speaker 2: be pretty far down in the list compared to the

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Speaker 2: other you know, ambitious teams in the league this year

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Speaker 2: that are trying to win the title. Right, And so

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Speaker 2: if you have limited personnel, then analytically there are shots

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Speaker 2: that are more valuable.

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Speaker 1: Than others on the court.

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Speaker 2: You know, Like I would argue that you should get

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Speaker 2: back in transition no matter what, because that's when teams

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Speaker 2: are most efficient. So like, if you're bad transition defense,

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Speaker 2: I feel like that's just something that you have to

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Speaker 2: find a way to rectify, regardless of your personnel.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: But like beyond transition, when you get into the half court,

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Speaker 2: it's like the two most efficient shots in the game

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Speaker 2: are shots at the rim and wide open catch and

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Speaker 2: shoot threes, right, So like those are the two shots

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Speaker 2: that if like you're gonna be bad at everything, you

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Speaker 2: might as well take one of those away. You know,

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Speaker 2: find a way to take one of those types of

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Speaker 2: shots and remove them from the equation, you might get

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Speaker 2: shredded in the other area by virtue of just taking

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Speaker 2: away one of the two most efficient shots that exists

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Speaker 2: on the basketball court. You can raise your floor on

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Speaker 2: the defensive end of the floor, and the Suns at

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Speaker 2: the very least do a decent job of chasing teams

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Speaker 2: off the three point line. And so there you go.

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Speaker 2: You got a good formula on both ends. And then,

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Speaker 2: as we've seen before the injuries that hit them earlier

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Speaker 2: this year, at the end of games, KD is just

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Speaker 2: walking teams down in clutch situations, just getting great shots consistently.

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Speaker 2: He's been one of the big guys that kind of

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Speaker 2: like leverages his defensive talents at the end of games

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Speaker 2: two to get key stops. But like, the formula is there,

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Speaker 2: and I'm really really excited to watch this team now

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Speaker 2: that they're healthy again. A great win for the Suns

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Speaker 2: to get back on track on the Lakers' front. This

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Speaker 2: is the second strike game where they look like they

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Speaker 2: kind of lost their will to fight in the second half,

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Speaker 2: which is super weird.

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Speaker 1: I did a little video after the.

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Speaker 2: After the Nuggets game where I talked about how, like, hey,

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Speaker 2: this kind of stuff can happen. Like, the reality is

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Speaker 2: in an eighty two game regular season, everybody has stretches

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Speaker 2: where they play poorly.

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Speaker 1: It's just a fact of life.

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Speaker 2: Even the Boston Celtics last year, who have been probably

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Speaker 2: the most dominant regular season team in the last it's

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Speaker 2: like since the Golden State Warriors, you know, with KD

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Speaker 2: and Steph Right. So, like you have this really damn

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Speaker 2: good regular season team with Boston, and they dropped a

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Speaker 2: couple of big games in a row at the tail

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Speaker 2: end of the year where they like got outscored. They

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Speaker 2: blew a twenty point lead in the fourth quarter against

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Speaker 2: the Cavs. That was the Max Strews game winner game,

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Speaker 2: and I think that was the one where Jason Tatum

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Speaker 2: missed a little fadeaway jump shot over Darius Garland at

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Speaker 2: the elbow. And then a couple of nights later they

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Speaker 2: ended up losing to Denver, Right, and that was obviously

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Speaker 2: a concern because Boston had struggled against the top of

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Speaker 2: the West throughout the regular season. So like if you

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Speaker 2: zoom in on any stretch of games, you can find

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Speaker 2: even the best teams in the league will play some

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Speaker 2: bad basketball for a certain amount of time, and so,

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Speaker 2: like you know, in the big picture, that's why I'm

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Speaker 2: I'm a believer in like not panicking, not overreacting to

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Speaker 2: any singular stretch of games, because the eighty two game

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Speaker 2: grind as long, and it takes a lot of mental

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Speaker 2: toughness and a lot of resilience to fight through those stretches, right,

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Speaker 2: and the Lakers are clearly in one of those stretches

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Speaker 2: right now. The difference is that it ended up being

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Speaker 2: a a little bit tougher of a stretch than I thought,

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Speaker 2: in the sense that the Denver game to me looked

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Speaker 2: like an outlier. The Orlando Magic game was a game

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Speaker 2: I thought the Lakers played great against a team that

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Speaker 2: athletically is kind of a mismatch for them. Lebron and

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Speaker 2: ad were awesome, and they battled and they got a

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Speaker 2: win until Anthony Davis missed three free throws in the

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Speaker 2: final minute, right, So, like they didn't get a win.

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Speaker 2: That's heartbreaking, But there's a lot of good basketball there, right,

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Speaker 2: not anything to get too worked up about. And then

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Speaker 2: you completely shit the bed in the third quarter against Denver.

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Speaker 2: So it's like one of those things where you don't

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Speaker 2: want to overreact to it. But then I talked about

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Speaker 2: in that second half against Denver how it was their

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Speaker 2: offense that seemingly completely lost any sense of rhythm and flow,

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Speaker 2: and every single player on the floor looked like they

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Speaker 2: lost their confidence, like they'd lost their mojo. There was

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Speaker 2: no like passion even behind the way they were playing.

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Speaker 2: What scares the hell out of me is that's exactly

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Speaker 2: what happens tonight with the Suns. Like you're right there

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Speaker 2: in the first half, Austin goes on a crazy run

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Speaker 2: at the end of the second quarter that gets you

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Speaker 2: back within two points, and then you come out in

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Speaker 2: the third quarter and you're just lifeless. And again it's

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Speaker 2: like they get hit in the mouth by a couple

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Speaker 2: of shots, right, so you end up falling down by seven,

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Speaker 2: nine points.

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Speaker 1: Whatever, like get it together.

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Speaker 2: But then they were coming out of those timeouts just

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Speaker 2: the same lifeless team that we saw in that second

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Speaker 2: half against Denver. And so like, again, you're ten and seven.

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Speaker 2: I still don't think you should panic. We'll get a

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Speaker 2: little bit further into that in a minute. What is

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Speaker 2: going wrong with the Lakers right now? Why do they

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Speaker 2: look like a team that is not just bad in

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Speaker 2: these second halves, but is lifeless, like utterly lifeless, looking

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Speaker 2: like they have lost the will to fight. My working

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Speaker 2: theory right now is that it has a lot to

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Speaker 2: do with the fact that Lebron James, their second best player,

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Speaker 2: is just playing really poorly by his standards right now.

400
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Speaker 2: Yet eighteen points, eight rebounds in tennisiss fine stat line.

401
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,520
Speaker 2: He was seven for sixteen with five turnovers, and again,

402
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Speaker 2: it's about the standard. The Lebron James that we saw

403
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Speaker 2: from you know, roughly mid January through the end of

404
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Speaker 2: that first round series against Denver last year was one

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Speaker 2: of the five best players in the world. He was like,

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Speaker 2: I can't remember the numbers off the top of my head,

407
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Speaker 2: but it was something crazy like twenty eight eight and

408
00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,320
Speaker 2: ten on like sixty seven percent true shooting over a

409
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Speaker 2: massive span. Lebron was was playing at an insanely high level.

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Speaker 2: It wasn't like we always kind of think about Lebron

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Speaker 2: as a player that so much little little basketball things

412
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Speaker 2: that win games, but like Lebron was also bringing top tier,

413
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Speaker 2: superstar level production at the tail end of last season,

414
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Speaker 2: right that formula works with this team for a pretty

415
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Speaker 2: high floor. When Ad is the guy that he's been

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Speaker 2: all year and By the way, a lot of people

417
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Speaker 2: are like, oh, AD's having this big, crazy bounce back season.

418
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Speaker 2: Anthony Davis was kicking ass the entire second half of

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Speaker 2: last season. I've been saying that all year, like pretty

420
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Speaker 2: much from mid January through the first round series against Jokich,

421
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Speaker 2: Anthony Davis was playing at that insanely high level. And

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Speaker 2: to start this year, Ad has for the most part

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Speaker 2: been there. He was really bad in the Denver game.

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Speaker 2: He's had his bad nights, but he's for the most part,

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Speaker 2: has been there. Lebron is in an extended stretch where

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Speaker 2: he hasn't been And there have been like three or

427
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Speaker 2: four games where he's been at that level, but the

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Speaker 2: rest of them he just hasn't been. In the five

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Speaker 2: games coming into tonight, he was at twenty two eight

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Speaker 2: and nine. Here were shooting splits. We're at twenty two

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Speaker 2: eight to nine, five point four turnovers per game, forty

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Speaker 2: eight percent from the field, thirty five percent from three

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Speaker 2: to sixty three percent of the line. That's that's not

434
00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,600
Speaker 2: even that's not a top twenty player in the league

435
00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,119
Speaker 2: right now. Again, just forget about the idea of what

436
00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,760
Speaker 2: Lebron's gonna be. I think Lebron is gonna be fine.

437
00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,040
Speaker 2: I'm not worried about Lebron in the big picture, Like

438
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:28,480
Speaker 2: he kind of has a stretch like this every year

439
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,200
Speaker 2: at this phase of his career, and in the I

440
00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,440
Speaker 2: am of the opinion that as long as he doesn't

441
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:35,760
Speaker 2: suffer an injury, when we get into March or April,

442
00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,800
Speaker 2: he's gonna look like Lebron James. It's not a big

443
00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,960
Speaker 2: picture problem in my opinion. It is a short term problem.

444
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:45,160
Speaker 2: Though You're in a really tough stretch to your schedule.

445
00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:47,840
Speaker 2: You got some of the easy stretch out of the

446
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,200
Speaker 2: way early. Now it's like, guess what's waiting for you

447
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:53,560
Speaker 2: right around the corner. A Spurs team in San Antonio

448
00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,439
Speaker 2: that's been pretty damn tough to beat at home. An

449
00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,879
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City team coming into Los Angeles on Friday, and

450
00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,159
Speaker 2: it doesn't get any easier from there. And like the

451
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,520
Speaker 2: reality is is this roster does have limitations, especially when

452
00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:09,960
Speaker 2: Jared Vanderbilt is out. Those limitations are they are very

453
00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:14,080
Speaker 2: unathletic on the perimeter. And like one of the things

454
00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:16,960
Speaker 2: with Lebron is like Lebron has a tendency to chill

455
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:20,199
Speaker 2: in some ways. He'll chill on the defensive end in

456
00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:23,760
Speaker 2: his rotations, he'll be sloppy with his mental focus. That's

457
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:26,080
Speaker 2: the turnover thing. Like Lebron is too good of a

458
00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:28,879
Speaker 2: basketball player to be this sloppy with the basketball. It

459
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,719
Speaker 2: is a mental focus thing. He is not locked in

460
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,080
Speaker 2: the way that he needs to be. But like the

461
00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:37,479
Speaker 2: big issue is Lebron at this phase of his career

462
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,879
Speaker 2: doesn't engage himself athletically as much in regular season games.

463
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:43,600
Speaker 2: But that's okay because he did the same thing last

464
00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:45,919
Speaker 2: year for big stretches as well. The difference was as

465
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,280
Speaker 2: he was pouring in twenty eight points a game hyper

466
00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:54,000
Speaker 2: efficiently and was dishing out tennis sis snite and wasn't

467
00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:57,520
Speaker 2: turning the ball over this much. So Lebron was bringing

468
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,880
Speaker 2: so much good with his making and his skill overall

469
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,840
Speaker 2: and his ability to surgically pick apart teams in the

470
00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,480
Speaker 2: half court that even though that if he skipped a

471
00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 2: low man rotation or didn't fight for a defensive rebound,

472
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:10,680
Speaker 2: it wasn't.

473
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:11,159
Speaker 1: The end of the world.

474
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,120
Speaker 2: But when you combine him being a really limited offensive

475
00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:19,960
Speaker 2: player right now compared to his standard, while also being

476
00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,840
Speaker 2: really unfocused in terms of his decision making, while also

477
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:29,160
Speaker 2: not engaging himself athletically on a team that is starving

478
00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:33,600
Speaker 2: for athleticism, you're going to continue to have issues. And

479
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:36,679
Speaker 2: so like, in the big picture, I'm not worried about Lebron,

480
00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,960
Speaker 2: but in the short term, this is a tough stretch

481
00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 2: of schedule and I don't know that they can win

482
00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:46,240
Speaker 2: many times without Lebron meeting Anthony Davis at least near

483
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:50,520
Speaker 2: the level that he's at. Even just as like decision makers,

484
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,160
Speaker 2: the Lakers perimeter players are all pretty inconsistent to varying degrees.

485
00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 2: Lebron needs to be the guy that brings consistency to

486
00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:01,359
Speaker 2: their perimeter decision making and their pre or firepower, and

487
00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:02,240
Speaker 2: he just hasn't been.

488
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:03,880
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny.

489
00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:07,120
Speaker 2: We talk a lot about like teams records, and we

490
00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,479
Speaker 2: hyper focus on role players, and we hyper focus on scheme,

491
00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:13,439
Speaker 2: and we hyper focus on you know, strength of schedule

492
00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,400
Speaker 2: and all these like different issues. But nine times out

493
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,640
Speaker 2: of ten, it comes down to, like, are your stars

494
00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,480
Speaker 2: playing really really well or are they struggling. We're gonna

495
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,359
Speaker 2: talk about the minding heat here in a few minutes.

496
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:25,200
Speaker 2: Most of their issues come down to the fact that

497
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,080
Speaker 2: Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are combining to average just

498
00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:30,720
Speaker 2: a few more points than Anthony Davis is averaging by himself.

499
00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:36,159
Speaker 2: They're not getting production star production from their stars. So

500
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,040
Speaker 2: you can talk about Terry Rogier and you can talk

501
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 2: about like, oh man, these these you know, kilolware minutes

502
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:43,359
Speaker 2: are rough or whatever it is that your issue is,

503
00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,119
Speaker 2: but like, it doesn't really matter if your stars aren't

504
00:23:46,119 --> 00:23:49,399
Speaker 2: playing at a superstar level. One of the things I

505
00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:52,000
Speaker 2: talk about all the time is like, when superstars play

506
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:56,840
Speaker 2: at a superstar level, they eat up so much responsibility

507
00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:01,880
Speaker 2: on both ends that it actually rafts these really small

508
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:06,200
Speaker 2: and achievable roles for the role players. Like if you've

509
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:10,439
Speaker 2: got an offensive star who is consistently bringing two to

510
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:16,639
Speaker 2: the ball because he's a devastating offensive weapon, all of

511
00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:20,680
Speaker 2: a sudden, you can see some pretty mediocre role players

512
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:26,840
Speaker 2: around the league look good because they're consistently getting great advantages. Right,

513
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,480
Speaker 2: But if those stars aren't playing super well and they

514
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,840
Speaker 2: aren't lighting the world on fire in single coverage situations

515
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:39,040
Speaker 2: or against traditional coverages, then you aren't gonna load up

516
00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:41,720
Speaker 2: on them the way you need to, and those guys

517
00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,840
Speaker 2: aren't gonna get great advantages off the ball and then

518
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:47,600
Speaker 2: guess what they're gonna start looking like pretty limited role players.

519
00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:50,560
Speaker 2: Same thing goes on the defensive end of the floor.

520
00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:52,840
Speaker 2: I'm gonna talk about this again with the Bucks here

521
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 2: in a minute. Jannison Brook Lopez have leveraged themselves defensively

522
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 2: at a much higher level over the course of the

523
00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:05,400
Speaker 2: last couple of weeks some real throwback games between those

524
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:09,960
Speaker 2: two guys. Brooke had another ridiculous block on a Tyler

525
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,639
Speaker 2: Harrow step back three along the right wing tonight. Because

526
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 2: of that, the Bucks have looked sharper defensively. But it's

527
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:21,040
Speaker 2: not just because those two. When the Bucks back line

528
00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:26,000
Speaker 2: is flying around and making all these plays, it crafts

529
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:32,240
Speaker 2: small achievable roles for your defensive players, and then suddenly

530
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:36,320
Speaker 2: guys like Andre Jackson and aj Green and everyone else

531
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:39,240
Speaker 2: playing defensive roles for Milwaukee looks like they're a little

532
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:44,200
Speaker 2: bit more, you know, in their wheelhouse, something they can manage, right.

533
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 2: It's the same thing on both ends of the floor.

534
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 2: And when you look at the Lakers, it's like when

535
00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:56,200
Speaker 2: Lebron James and Anthony Davis are not bringing truly elite

536
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:57,200
Speaker 2: play on both.

537
00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:57,680
Speaker 1: Ends of the floor.

538
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 2: Between the two of them, you're gonna start to say,

539
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 2: see some limitations within the Lakers role players. I'm always

540
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,240
Speaker 2: more willing to point the finger at the Stars because

541
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:10,800
Speaker 2: they are the guys that make tons and tons of money,

542
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:12,760
Speaker 2: and they are the guys that have the reputation and

543
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:17,240
Speaker 2: are held to a different standard. I don't think it

544
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:18,719
Speaker 2: makes a ton of sense to look at an eight

545
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 2: million dollar player and be like, man, he's so inconsistent. Yeah,

546
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:27,280
Speaker 2: that's why he makes eight million dollars. Like, that's the point.

547
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,919
Speaker 2: You have two guys that make fifty, they got to

548
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:33,400
Speaker 2: do a lot so that the guys that don't make

549
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:38,320
Speaker 2: fifty can can have manageable roles. And again I'm referring

550
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:40,639
Speaker 2: to Lebron and Ad as a duo. Lebron is the

551
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:42,840
Speaker 2: main guy that's struggling. AD has been pulling his weight

552
00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:44,720
Speaker 2: for the most part this year, but he's been really

553
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 2: AD's two back to back really bad second alps, and

554
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:52,080
Speaker 2: those are when things fell apart. In fact, Ad has

555
00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:54,199
Speaker 2: been so good this year that he's been able to

556
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,800
Speaker 2: overcome most of Lebron's issues, But in the stretches where

557
00:26:57,800 --> 00:26:59,479
Speaker 2: Ad has been bad, Like think about the stretches when

558
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,960
Speaker 2: Ad has been really bad second half again against Denver,

559
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:04,959
Speaker 2: they get blown out. Second half against the Suns, they

560
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:08,200
Speaker 2: get blown out. First half against Cleveland when Jared Allen

561
00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 2: ate his lunch, they get blown out. So like again,

562
00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:16,240
Speaker 2: it's mostly the start the superstar play that I believe

563
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,480
Speaker 2: is the issue behind this team that's leading to their funk.

564
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:22,840
Speaker 2: A couple other small things. The starting lineup piece. I

565
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:27,320
Speaker 2: understood the reasoning behind going to Cam Reddish mostly had

566
00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:29,080
Speaker 2: to do with the fact that Delo wasn't playing well.

567
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:32,199
Speaker 2: Like the Austin Delo Ruey Lebron a D lineup works.

568
00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:36,760
Speaker 2: Just Delo was playing bad basketball, and I understood the

569
00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 2: reason why you went to look at the Cam Reddish piece.

570
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,120
Speaker 2: But Ruey's not playing good basketball right now, in large

571
00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:43,959
Speaker 2: part because he just came back from an injury and

572
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,480
Speaker 2: he's working his way back into rhythm. And so because

573
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,000
Speaker 2: Rui's not playing good basketball, and Cam is not playing

574
00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 2: good basketball, or Cam has his offensive limitations and Lebron's

575
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,720
Speaker 2: having a slump, now, all of a sudden, a starting

576
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:57,800
Speaker 2: lineup for the Lakers that's been really good offensively for

577
00:27:57,840 --> 00:27:59,359
Speaker 2: a long time has not looked very good.

578
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:02,320
Speaker 1: And so I don't know how you can pull it off.

579
00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,360
Speaker 2: I would even consider just putting in Dalton straight up

580
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,320
Speaker 2: for Cam and just going back to the way things were,

581
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:10,920
Speaker 2: or even even going with d Lo or going with

582
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,880
Speaker 2: de Lo and Dalton. But at this point, the offense

583
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:16,960
Speaker 2: has to get going. Offense is what gives this team life.

584
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,760
Speaker 2: Offense is what gets this team to play hard. Offense

585
00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:22,120
Speaker 2: is what gets this team to run the floor. They

586
00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,680
Speaker 2: get energized when they're scoring. And so with that being

587
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:27,800
Speaker 2: the case, I think you've got to inject some more

588
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 2: offensive firepower into the starting lineup with either d Lo

589
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:32,760
Speaker 2: or Dalton or both. They just got to find a

590
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,480
Speaker 2: way to do that. And then lastly, JJ in his scheme,

591
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,920
Speaker 2: JJ's been doing a lot of switching, and in the switching,

592
00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:43,760
Speaker 2: they've been giving up a lot of different issues, a

593
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 2: lot of offensive glass stuff. This is a This is

594
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,520
Speaker 2: a defensive rebounding lineup. That a lineup that struggled the

595
00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:53,120
Speaker 2: defensive rebound which, by the way, the Austin Delo Lebron

596
00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:58,280
Speaker 2: ad Ruey lineup last year defensive rebounded really well. So

597
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,240
Speaker 2: like they're capable of rebounding better. A big part of

598
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:04,880
Speaker 2: it is switching. When Anthony Davis gets switched out onto

599
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:07,960
Speaker 2: the perimeter, who's on the back line lazy Lebron and

600
00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,480
Speaker 2: Ruey who doesn't rebound. You see how that can be

601
00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,320
Speaker 2: an issue. So like, I think at a certain point,

602
00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,720
Speaker 2: JJ's got to look at the data here and be like,

603
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:20,040
Speaker 2: we are a bottom three defense that can't rebound, So

604
00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:22,560
Speaker 2: maybe the switching needs to be something that we take

605
00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:24,200
Speaker 2: a different look at. It's a delicate balance. It's the

606
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,320
Speaker 2: same thing with the starting lineup, because like, you never

607
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:28,720
Speaker 2: want to bail on things just because they're not going

608
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,360
Speaker 2: your way in a small sample, because sometimes basketball concepts

609
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,000
Speaker 2: take time to flush out, takes time for teams to

610
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,920
Speaker 2: pick up the habits and to get better, right uht.

611
00:29:36,960 --> 00:29:38,960
Speaker 2: The Lakers offense last year is a great example of that.

612
00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:40,920
Speaker 2: The five out stuff looked terrible at the start of

613
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:43,040
Speaker 2: the year. It was unguardable in the second half of

614
00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:46,160
Speaker 2: the year. So like, at a certain point, like there's

615
00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:50,280
Speaker 2: a delicate balance between bailing on something, but like I

616
00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,760
Speaker 2: wonder when JJ is going to look at this data

617
00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,520
Speaker 2: and go like, all right, this isn't working. We need

618
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,800
Speaker 2: to try something. And the lastly on the Lakers, there

619
00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:00,840
Speaker 2: was a comment that I received on Twitter from someone

620
00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:04,200
Speaker 2: who listened to the video that I did referencing me saying,

621
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,959
Speaker 2: don't panic. Here's the thing that's still what you do.

622
00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:10,960
Speaker 2: You don't panic because you're ten and seven. Yeah, you're

623
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:13,520
Speaker 2: playing shit basketball and there's a bunch of good teams

624
00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:17,040
Speaker 2: coming to town or vice versa. So yeah, you're in

625
00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:20,360
Speaker 2: some trouble, but thankfully you bank some wins, so the

626
00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 2: world's not crumbling around you. Here's the reality. You're playing

627
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:29,000
Speaker 2: shit basketball. Helps not coming. Yeah, the Lakers will hopefully

628
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:31,120
Speaker 2: make a trade this year, but it's probably not gonna

629
00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:33,960
Speaker 2: happen until closer to February, which means you've got twenty

630
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,440
Speaker 2: thirty games here where you got to figure your shit out.

631
00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:40,640
Speaker 2: This be an active participant in your own survival. No

632
00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:43,800
Speaker 2: one is coming to help you. So you don't panic.

633
00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:47,240
Speaker 2: You identify what you're doing poorly, and you find a

634
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,120
Speaker 2: way to try to fight it, and you fight like

635
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:53,240
Speaker 2: hell until you find some relief, whether that's Jared Vanderbilt

636
00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:56,080
Speaker 2: coming back, Lebron James getting his legs back underneath him,

637
00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:59,240
Speaker 2: or a trade, whatever it ends up being, you've got

638
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,840
Speaker 2: to fight until then. I've seen that Lakers teams do

639
00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,760
Speaker 2: it before. The Russell Westbrook Lakers fought like hell until

640
00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:08,480
Speaker 2: they traded Russ and then they ended up making a

641
00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,120
Speaker 2: run to the Western Conference finals. That's the type of

642
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:13,920
Speaker 2: spirit that they need to see, that I need to see.

643
00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:14,760
Speaker 1: And if there's.

644
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,000
Speaker 2: Anything that I'm really disappointed about, it's just the overall

645
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 2: fight that they showed in the second half over the

646
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:37,680
Speaker 2: last two games. All Right, Bucks heat Dame got super

647
00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,080
Speaker 2: hot from three. Early in this game, they were spamming

648
00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:43,840
Speaker 2: double dragged with Brook Lopez in a guard and you know,

649
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:47,480
Speaker 2: three man action is kind of like the foundational concept

650
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:50,400
Speaker 2: between most of what NBA teams do right now. Right, So,

651
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,160
Speaker 2: like you can imagine a horn set where you have

652
00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:54,560
Speaker 2: two guys at the elbows and a guy at the

653
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:56,200
Speaker 2: top of the key. It's like pass the ball to

654
00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 2: one guy at the elbow, and then there's some sort

655
00:31:57,640 --> 00:31:59,560
Speaker 2: of screening action between the other two guys. There's like

656
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:03,800
Speaker 2: some sort of interchange between those three guys. Stack, pick

657
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:05,840
Speaker 2: and roll just a ball screen, but we're bringing a

658
00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,080
Speaker 2: shooter into the action and we're backscreening for the role

659
00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:10,040
Speaker 2: man as he's going, so he's interchanging to the top

660
00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,080
Speaker 2: of the key. Once again, three players all the threat. Right,

661
00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:17,120
Speaker 2: you have a lot of like the all of the

662
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:19,040
Speaker 2: stuff that like Dallas has been doing, the Lakers been

663
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:20,240
Speaker 2: doing this too. A lot of teams are doing this

664
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,400
Speaker 2: stuff where they use their center as the passing folkrum

665
00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:24,160
Speaker 2: at the top of the key, where they just enter

666
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:25,880
Speaker 2: the ball to the top of the key, and then

667
00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:27,360
Speaker 2: you have your two guards like screen for each other,

668
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:29,719
Speaker 2: and then cut off and try to make something happen there.

669
00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:33,400
Speaker 2: Once again, three players all in some sort of like interchange.

670
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:36,560
Speaker 2: Double drag is nothing but a couple of screens where

671
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:39,080
Speaker 2: one guy rolls to the basket, so it's two staggered

672
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:43,160
Speaker 2: ball screens. The better athlete typically rolls, the better shooter

673
00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:47,520
Speaker 2: typically pops. But the whole point of running a three

674
00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,360
Speaker 2: man action is to take what is a simple decision

675
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,160
Speaker 2: and turn it into a complicated decision. So if like

676
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:56,440
Speaker 2: two guys interchange, it's just you get him, I get him.

677
00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:00,680
Speaker 2: We're good, right a ball screen, Well I'm in a drop.

678
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:03,840
Speaker 2: Oh we're switching. Oh I'm blitzing. Oh I'm hedging whatever

679
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,080
Speaker 2: it is. Oh I'm going under. There's just pretty simple

680
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:09,680
Speaker 2: decision making process. As soon as you bring that third

681
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,320
Speaker 2: guy into the equation, you can start to force teams

682
00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:16,640
Speaker 2: to make some mistakes and Dame was just constantly finding

683
00:33:16,720 --> 00:33:19,640
Speaker 2: the mistake in Miami's approach to that double drag at

684
00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:21,680
Speaker 2: the top of the key. So it was usually somebody

685
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:25,880
Speaker 2: like aj Greener, Andre Jackson and Brook Lopez setting the

686
00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 2: two picks, and then essentially as Dame is coming off

687
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:34,040
Speaker 2: to his left hand side, there's usually a guard guard

688
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:36,360
Speaker 2: switch in there somewhere. Usually the guy who's guarding Dame

689
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:37,800
Speaker 2: is going to pass him off to the guy who's

690
00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:38,720
Speaker 2: guarding the other guard.

691
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:40,160
Speaker 1: But then there's also like.

692
00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:43,000
Speaker 2: A drop coverage element sometimes because even that second guard

693
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,360
Speaker 2: can get screened, and then the guy who's guarding the

694
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,880
Speaker 2: big man who's rolling might sit there in a drop

695
00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:51,520
Speaker 2: and Dame beat every variation of it. There was a

696
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:53,920
Speaker 2: time where he came off of the double drag and

697
00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:56,680
Speaker 2: Bam was too far back in a drop because the

698
00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,800
Speaker 2: second guy got screened, and he just walked into a three.

699
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:02,720
Speaker 2: There was a time that Bam said, Ah, screw it,

700
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:05,200
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna switch, and he switched, and he was

701
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 2: sitting too far back on his heels, and Dame just

702
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:09,120
Speaker 2: went to a little step back to his right and

703
00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:11,000
Speaker 2: knocked it down. There was another play in the second

704
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:12,440
Speaker 2: half where it was just a straight up one on

705
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,400
Speaker 2: one situation with Bam and Dame, and Bam was just

706
00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:18,680
Speaker 2: just overplaying the drive and Dame, who'd had hit like

707
00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:20,879
Speaker 2: six or seven threes at that point, was just able

708
00:34:20,880 --> 00:34:22,680
Speaker 2: to easy step back going to his left and knock

709
00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:24,719
Speaker 2: down a three point shot. But like Bam was sitting

710
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:26,600
Speaker 2: too far back on his switches. There was a play

711
00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:29,000
Speaker 2: where Kevin Love was in the game where like the

712
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,479
Speaker 2: other guard who was switching was waiting on the other

713
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:33,840
Speaker 2: side of the second screen. So what did Dame do.

714
00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:36,160
Speaker 2: He just came off the first screen, and when he

715
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:38,240
Speaker 2: came off the first screen, he just kind of settled

716
00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:40,480
Speaker 2: into that soft spot right there in the middle of

717
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:42,360
Speaker 2: the action and rose up and knocked it down. But

718
00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:46,920
Speaker 2: Dame just got blazing hot from three just by spamming

719
00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:48,880
Speaker 2: the same action that double drag at the top of

720
00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:51,080
Speaker 2: the key, and then from there Miami basically had no

721
00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:53,160
Speaker 2: choice but to start double teaming him because at that

722
00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:55,080
Speaker 2: point he was in rhythm. He hit the shot over

723
00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:57,279
Speaker 2: Jimmy where like step back on the left wing of

724
00:34:57,320 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 2: pump fake, Jimmy did everything right, broke his rhythm and

725
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,360
Speaker 2: he just kind of leaned back and reloaded and just

726
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:04,719
Speaker 2: kind of knocked it down off of the pump fake

727
00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:06,839
Speaker 2: like he just had it going too much. So they

728
00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:08,719
Speaker 2: had to start double teaming, and it worked and it

729
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:10,480
Speaker 2: got them back in the game. I thought the Bucks

730
00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:12,920
Speaker 2: were a little slow with their processing. And then one

731
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:14,399
Speaker 2: of the big things that you have to do when

732
00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:17,600
Speaker 2: you're beating a blitz or a double team is you

733
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:19,480
Speaker 2: got to get the ball on time and on target.

734
00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:22,440
Speaker 2: Like to put it simply, if I ask you to

735
00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:27,279
Speaker 2: guard me and you're fifteen feet away and before you

736
00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:29,040
Speaker 2: run at me, you have to throw me a chest

737
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:32,200
Speaker 2: pass right into my shooting pocket, You're not gonna be

738
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:34,040
Speaker 2: able to guard me, like I'm either gonna shoot it,

739
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:35,600
Speaker 2: or if you sprint, like hell, I'm just gonna go

740
00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:38,120
Speaker 2: right around you, right. But if you throw me a

741
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:40,759
Speaker 2: bad pass, like if you throw me a bounce pass,

742
00:35:40,960 --> 00:35:42,640
Speaker 2: you know, three feet off to my left, or if

743
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:44,520
Speaker 2: I have to like go way down to grab it,

744
00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,239
Speaker 2: or it's just it's difficult for me to catch all

745
00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:49,359
Speaker 2: of a sudden, that fifteen foot close out for you

746
00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:52,000
Speaker 2: become something that's more achievable. And like the Bucks were

747
00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:54,759
Speaker 2: just throwing some sloppy passes, and like those four on

748
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:58,759
Speaker 2: threes were quickly turning into situations where there was no advantage,

749
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:01,040
Speaker 2: and so Miami started to get now transition. They had

750
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:03,520
Speaker 2: fifteen transition points in the second half. They had a

751
00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:05,960
Speaker 2: really rough jump shooting first half, and they finally started

752
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:07,960
Speaker 2: to make some jump shots in the second half. Terry

753
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:10,880
Speaker 2: Rogier in particular, hit three threes and a long two

754
00:36:10,920 --> 00:36:12,600
Speaker 2: in that half, and so they were able to just

755
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:15,040
Speaker 2: kind of slowly but methodically work their way into game

756
00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:18,279
Speaker 2: by doubling Dame getting out in transition. Jimmy was able

757
00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:20,800
Speaker 2: to drop his shoulder on that left lane line drive

758
00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:22,799
Speaker 2: and get to the basket a couple of times. In

759
00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:24,960
Speaker 2: the third quarter. They get themselves back into a game,

760
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:27,160
Speaker 2: and now it's a crunch Time game. But in the

761
00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:31,600
Speaker 2: Crunch Time game, it was fascinating because Dame is again

762
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:33,719
Speaker 2: the superstar for the Bucks. Like we talked about in

763
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:37,600
Speaker 2: that segment earlier about your superstar doing his job, we

764
00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:40,480
Speaker 2: saw a massive mismatch in the quality of superstar playing

765
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:43,520
Speaker 2: Crunch Time. Dame, because of everything he did in the

766
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:45,840
Speaker 2: earlier phase of the game, was consistently bringing two to

767
00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,640
Speaker 2: the ball, so they were able to pass out of it.

768
00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:50,759
Speaker 2: And guess who ended up getting hot in crunch time.

769
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,880
Speaker 2: AJ Green hit three threes in the second half, had

770
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:55,520
Speaker 2: a big one off of a double team, and then

771
00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:58,399
Speaker 2: a ridiculously tough one, a tough one on the left

772
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:01,239
Speaker 2: wing where one of those sloppy passing sequences from the

773
00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:04,319
Speaker 2: Bucks had AJ Green with Terry Rozier in like a

774
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:08,799
Speaker 2: straight up loaded situation late clock and aj did like

775
00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:10,320
Speaker 2: a hard rip to the like kind of like a

776
00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:13,719
Speaker 2: pullover to his right and then a rip, a hard

777
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:15,440
Speaker 2: rip to the left and was able to get enough

778
00:37:15,480 --> 00:37:19,600
Speaker 2: separation from separation from from Tyler Harrow to just rise

779
00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:21,920
Speaker 2: up and knock down a huge just a huge bucket

780
00:37:21,960 --> 00:37:24,080
Speaker 2: from AJ Green. He's been awesome. We'll talk about him

781
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:27,040
Speaker 2: here in a minute. But like Dame, was able to

782
00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:29,520
Speaker 2: generate quality shots by virtue of his threat by bringing

783
00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:31,799
Speaker 2: two guys to the ball, and on the other end

784
00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:33,760
Speaker 2: of the floor, they just the heat. Can't get anything

785
00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:37,160
Speaker 2: out of Jimmy and Bam. Jimmy and Bam combined for

786
00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:40,359
Speaker 2: five points in the fourth quarter. The two of them

787
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:44,040
Speaker 2: on the season are combining to average thirty six points

788
00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:47,440
Speaker 2: per game. It's just not gonna get it done, like

789
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:49,560
Speaker 2: I talked about it earlier, and I'm not gonna get

790
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:51,239
Speaker 2: too much deeper in it now, but like, don't look

791
00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:54,120
Speaker 2: any further off your Miami Heat fan. Then the fact

792
00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:58,480
Speaker 2: that your stars are not providing superstar level production and

793
00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:01,400
Speaker 2: when they're not, like and again, BAM's not a superstar

794
00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,480
Speaker 2: level player, but he's close, and like, if he's not

795
00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:06,160
Speaker 2: going to play up to that level, if Jimmy and

796
00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:08,239
Speaker 2: Bam are, if neither of them are going to play

797
00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:11,520
Speaker 2: at a top twenty five level, then you're you're not

798
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:13,799
Speaker 2: gonna win many games in the NBA with how much

799
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:16,759
Speaker 2: talent there is right now. And that ended up being

800
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:18,960
Speaker 2: the difference in the game is there was a little

801
00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,160
Speaker 2: bit of a faux pause. Andre Jackson like panicked and

802
00:38:23,239 --> 00:38:25,480
Speaker 2: turned it over, and they ended up giving up a

803
00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:27,879
Speaker 2: three to Terry Rozier in transition, and so Miami did

804
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,600
Speaker 2: end up getting a better chance to try to steal

805
00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:33,080
Speaker 2: that game. But like the Bucks were up four l A,

806
00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:34,839
Speaker 2: they should have put it away easier than they did,

807
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:37,560
Speaker 2: because once again, Dame was able to provide the superstar

808
00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:39,880
Speaker 2: impact of bringing two to the ball and Jimmy and

809
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:42,880
Speaker 2: Bam couldn't do anything on the offensive end down the

810
00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:44,680
Speaker 2: stretch of that game. The Bucks have now won five

811
00:38:44,719 --> 00:38:47,040
Speaker 2: in a row seven out of eight, and again that

812
00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:49,879
Speaker 2: one loss in there was that Giannis foul of LaMelo ball.

813
00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:53,080
Speaker 2: They've had over a twenty before tonight's game because Giannis

814
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:55,799
Speaker 2: didn't play tonight, they had over one hundred and twenty

815
00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:58,520
Speaker 2: points in three consecutive games. In the previous three games,

816
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:00,799
Speaker 2: and again, like early in the season, it wasn't just

817
00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:04,240
Speaker 2: the defense. The offense where it wasn't where it needed

818
00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:07,040
Speaker 2: to be, but like getting you're getting the offensive burst.

819
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:07,160
Speaker 1: Now.

820
00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:09,080
Speaker 2: We talked about Brooke and Giannis earlier and how they're

821
00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:12,400
Speaker 2: establishing kind of like a really high floor for this defense,

822
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,600
Speaker 2: and then AJ Green and Andre Jackson there. I'm of

823
00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:19,080
Speaker 2: the opinion AJ Green should start. I think the reason

824
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:21,239
Speaker 2: Docks leaning and Andre Jackson is he's bringing a little

825
00:39:21,239 --> 00:39:23,080
Speaker 2: bit more like full court pressure to just kind of

826
00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:26,200
Speaker 2: like disrupt rhythm. But Aj, I think is a pretty

827
00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:28,399
Speaker 2: damn good point of attack defender. Sides his feet well,

828
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,120
Speaker 2: gets over screens well, He's got a really strong like

829
00:39:31,280 --> 00:39:34,320
Speaker 2: build in low center of gravity, so he absorbs contact

830
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:37,200
Speaker 2: well like and he's just a better offensive player. But like,

831
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:40,319
Speaker 2: those two guys are are providing forty eight minutes of

832
00:39:40,520 --> 00:39:44,120
Speaker 2: pretty decent quality perimeter defense. I mean they played they

833
00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:46,600
Speaker 2: close both of them together tonight, obviously with Giannis out

834
00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:48,600
Speaker 2: of the lineup. So like starting to look like a

835
00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:51,520
Speaker 2: serious basketball team in Milwaukee after not looking like a

836
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:55,960
Speaker 2: serious basketball team in the in the early stretch of

837
00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:58,000
Speaker 2: the year. Not gonna spend too much time on Rockets bowlves,

838
00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,040
Speaker 2: but it was a really really fun game. The the

839
00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:04,640
Speaker 2: Rockets were really bogging down Minnesota's offense in the first

840
00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:07,000
Speaker 2: three quarters. In Minnesota's offense has a boatload of issues.

841
00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:08,520
Speaker 2: I'm gonna get into that here in just a minute,

842
00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:13,000
Speaker 2: but it turned into this really interesting, like crunch time

843
00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:17,520
Speaker 2: battle because the Wolves just kind of methodically took control

844
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:20,120
Speaker 2: of the game, just slowly chopped away and ended up

845
00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:21,880
Speaker 2: taking control of the game. And they really should have

846
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,080
Speaker 2: won this one. Rob Dillingham had a really bad turnover

847
00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:27,320
Speaker 2: against the men Thompson that ended up leading to a

848
00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:30,360
Speaker 2: layup that tied the game. And then Anthony Edwards missed

849
00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:33,480
Speaker 2: two wide open threes and he had like a little

850
00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:35,239
Speaker 2: bank shot that he shot at the buzzer that hit

851
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:36,840
Speaker 2: every part of the rim and didn't go down. So

852
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:39,360
Speaker 2: like it it got to be a discouraging one for

853
00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:41,080
Speaker 2: Wolves fans. Because it felt like a game that they

854
00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:44,080
Speaker 2: should should have won. But what was really fascinating down

855
00:40:44,120 --> 00:40:46,719
Speaker 2: the stretch in the fourth quarter when the Wolves were

856
00:40:46,719 --> 00:40:50,000
Speaker 2: taking control up until the final minute, it was kind

857
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,319
Speaker 2: of a formula that I liked in the sense that, like,

858
00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:58,960
Speaker 2: it's kind of ugly and clunky, but Ant and Julius

859
00:40:59,719 --> 00:41:02,960
Speaker 2: are guys that have a lot of physical advantages against

860
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,400
Speaker 2: the guys that are guarding them, and they can get

861
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,200
Speaker 2: to their spots. And so as long as the Wolves

862
00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:10,600
Speaker 2: can tighten the screws on the defensive end of the

863
00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:15,280
Speaker 2: floor and get stops and Julius can generate some pretty

864
00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:17,400
Speaker 2: solid looks down the stretch of a game. And it

865
00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:19,560
Speaker 2: was kind of impressive as they kind of worked their

866
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:22,279
Speaker 2: way back into it. It has like three or four

867
00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:24,319
Speaker 2: plays a game now where he just snakes through like

868
00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:26,200
Speaker 2: four bodies and gets to the basket for.

869
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:26,840
Speaker 1: An and one.

870
00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:29,600
Speaker 2: Now he shouldn't have to stake through four bodies, which

871
00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:31,960
Speaker 2: we'll get to in a minute. But anyway, Rob Dillingham

872
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:34,560
Speaker 2: has the turnover on the right wing, a men Thompson

873
00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:38,920
Speaker 2: ends up getting the transition layup, Anthony Everards misses the

874
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,680
Speaker 2: little banking floater and we end up going to overtime,

875
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:46,640
Speaker 2: and in overtime a really good defensive stretch where Dylan

876
00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:48,880
Speaker 2: Brooks got a bunch of key stops and the Rockets

877
00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:51,920
Speaker 2: started to get out in transition, they had eight points

878
00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:56,480
Speaker 2: in fast break situations just in the ot period. A

879
00:41:56,560 --> 00:41:58,880
Speaker 2: Men Thompson, who got the huge deal against Rob Dillingham,

880
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:02,319
Speaker 2: hit a massive three on the right wing, and then

881
00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:05,319
Speaker 2: Alpert and Saning Goudo several occasions in the game was

882
00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:07,200
Speaker 2: just going right at Rudy Gobert, which I thought was

883
00:42:07,239 --> 00:42:09,960
Speaker 2: really fascinating. Was able to get to a nice little

884
00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:12,640
Speaker 2: left shoulder hook that iced things and the Rockets ended

885
00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:16,000
Speaker 2: up stealing that game from the Wolves. I've talked quite

886
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:17,719
Speaker 2: a bit about the Rockets in the last week, so

887
00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:19,360
Speaker 2: you guys can go to my channel to find some

888
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:22,960
Speaker 2: of that content in the Power Inkings video, and then

889
00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:24,640
Speaker 2: we did a deep dive on the Rockets. I think

890
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:26,720
Speaker 2: it was after the Bucks game if I remember correctly.

891
00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:28,640
Speaker 2: Last week. I want to talk a little bit about

892
00:42:28,640 --> 00:42:31,160
Speaker 2: the Wolves though specifically and their issues was shooting. So

893
00:42:31,719 --> 00:42:33,040
Speaker 2: one of the things that happened at the tail end

894
00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:35,520
Speaker 2: of this game was mostly Jabari Smith Junior, but as a

895
00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:38,160
Speaker 2: couple other guys, they would put a defender on Jada

896
00:42:38,239 --> 00:42:40,880
Speaker 2: McDaniels and just ignore him and just offer help everywhere.

897
00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:44,680
Speaker 2: And Jaden, i think, went four for sixteen from the field,

898
00:42:44,719 --> 00:42:46,560
Speaker 2: couldn't make a three point shot to save his life.

899
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:53,000
Speaker 2: Multiple beautiful, completely uncontested three point looks in crunch time,

900
00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:55,719
Speaker 2: and none of them were close. There was a play

901
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:59,240
Speaker 2: where had this like crazy slithering drive and like whipped

902
00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:02,640
Speaker 2: a beautiful left handed cross court passed to hit Jaden

903
00:43:02,719 --> 00:43:04,360
Speaker 2: right in the shooting pocket in the right corner, and

904
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,080
Speaker 2: it was a brick. And like I've been saying a

905
00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:13,920
Speaker 2: lot on my show that I love Anthony Edwards. He's

906
00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:18,719
Speaker 2: probably my favorite young prospect in the league, and I'm

907
00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:22,200
Speaker 2: rooting for him in a big way. But like, I

908
00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:25,040
Speaker 2: believe in the Wolves less this year than I ever have,

909
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:27,239
Speaker 2: and I hate this roster construct. And one of the

910
00:43:27,239 --> 00:43:31,239
Speaker 2: big reasons why is, like, again, play into your stars strengths.

911
00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:34,799
Speaker 2: Anthony Edwards is over two hundred jump shots this year,

912
00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:37,000
Speaker 2: damn near one point two points per attempt. He is

913
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:39,799
Speaker 2: a really good jump shooter. That is something that I've

914
00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:42,160
Speaker 2: emphasized as a piece of his growth that I believe

915
00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:44,880
Speaker 2: is real. And I think He's demonstrated that over a

916
00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:47,960
Speaker 2: pretty massive sample size between last year's playoffs, the stuff

917
00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:49,640
Speaker 2: with Team USA this summer, and the stuff with the

918
00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:56,680
Speaker 2: Wolves this year. But his absolute superstar superpower is nobody

919
00:43:56,719 --> 00:43:59,720
Speaker 2: can guard this dude. No one can keep him in front,

920
00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:03,880
Speaker 2: and yet every time he beats his man off the dribble,

921
00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:06,840
Speaker 2: he's got to slither through three or four help defenders

922
00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:10,160
Speaker 2: to get anything off at the rim. And it's because

923
00:44:10,600 --> 00:44:14,200
Speaker 2: you're closing out short, if not outright ignoring Jaden McDaniels,

924
00:44:14,400 --> 00:44:18,080
Speaker 2: you're closing out short on Julius Randall and Rudy Gobert

925
00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:20,120
Speaker 2: can hardly catch the damn ball, let alone put it

926
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:24,759
Speaker 2: in the basket. It is such a flawed construct and

927
00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:27,520
Speaker 2: like every game with the Wolves is so ugly. And

928
00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:29,880
Speaker 2: for the record, I understand there's another side to this,

929
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,560
Speaker 2: which is they have the defensive personnel to cause some

930
00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:38,960
Speaker 2: real problems for teams, But like, ultimately, ultimately, I think

931
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:41,240
Speaker 2: if you're going to get the best out of Anthony

932
00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:43,359
Speaker 2: Edwards and what this offense can be, and even taking

933
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:45,120
Speaker 2: it a step further with Julius Randall is a guy

934
00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:47,680
Speaker 2: who can really beat matchups and use his athletic tools

935
00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:50,239
Speaker 2: to pressure the rim. You gotta get some guys who

936
00:44:50,239 --> 00:44:54,360
Speaker 2: can hit some shots in this lineup. And like, I

937
00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:57,200
Speaker 2: don't know what's going on with Jade McDaniels because the

938
00:44:57,239 --> 00:45:01,960
Speaker 2: development is just stalled out. Like in this league, if

939
00:45:02,000 --> 00:45:06,520
Speaker 2: you're just a non threat, it becomes pretty difficult to

940
00:45:06,640 --> 00:45:11,480
Speaker 2: consider you to be a reliable rotation piece. He's looking

941
00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:15,400
Speaker 2: a lot closer to Jared Vanderbilt than he is prime

942
00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:19,239
Speaker 2: McHale Bridges, and that concerns me because I don't know.

943
00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:22,279
Speaker 2: I don't know that there's a good solid for that

944
00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:24,680
Speaker 2: other than ant takes eleven three is a game and

945
00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:28,160
Speaker 2: hopefully makes five of them. But that was a really

946
00:45:28,280 --> 00:45:30,040
Speaker 2: entertaining game. That was probably the game that I enjoyed

947
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:32,719
Speaker 2: most watching tonight. That's all I have for tonight is

948
00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:35,680
Speaker 2: always sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting

949
00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:38,560
Speaker 2: the show. I recorded over an hour with Sam Vessini

950
00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:40,799
Speaker 2: earlier this afternoon, talking a bunch of stuff about the

951
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:42,000
Speaker 2: contenders at the top of the league.

952
00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:45,120
Speaker 1: I think we're running that on Wednesday. I feel bad

953
00:45:45,120 --> 00:45:45,440
Speaker 1: for you.

954
00:45:45,400 --> 00:45:47,640
Speaker 2: Guys because I did a I did a for your

955
00:45:47,680 --> 00:45:50,279
Speaker 2: regular guys who listened to all of our episodes. I

956
00:45:50,320 --> 00:45:53,080
Speaker 2: did a I worked four hours this morning on a

957
00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:58,000
Speaker 2: video with the film breakdown of Nicks of Nick Nuggets

958
00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:01,040
Speaker 2: and recorded the whole damn thing, and then my computer

959
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:04,200
Speaker 2: had some sort of glitch where my camera wasn't or

960
00:46:04,239 --> 00:46:06,120
Speaker 2: where my camera was glitching, and the mic was glitching,

961
00:46:06,120 --> 00:46:07,600
Speaker 2: and we had to scrap the whole damn thing. So

962
00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:09,720
Speaker 2: that's why we didn't have a new episode this morning.

963
00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:11,960
Speaker 2: I apologize, trust me, no one's more irritated than I

964
00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:14,879
Speaker 2: am about that. But we do have more content coming

965
00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:19,520
Speaker 2: out with Sam Vassini. Every year for Thanksgiving, we take Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,

966
00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:21,920
Speaker 2: Saturday Sunday off me and our whole team so that

967
00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:23,480
Speaker 2: we could take a little break before we get into

968
00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:26,520
Speaker 2: the n season tournament. So no new content after the

969
00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:29,360
Speaker 2: Sam Vasini video until our Power Rankings video on Monday.

970
00:46:29,360 --> 00:46:31,280
Speaker 2: But once we get to the Power Rankings video on Monday,

971
00:46:31,280 --> 00:46:33,880
Speaker 2: it's grind time and you guys can count on that

972
00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:36,799
Speaker 2: same Monday through Friday schedule basically through to the All

973
00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:40,279
Speaker 2: Star break again. I sincerely appreciate you guys for rocking

974
00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:42,000
Speaker 2: with me and rocking with the show. If you have

975
00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:44,680
Speaker 2: an opportunity to spend some time with family and food

976
00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:46,799
Speaker 2: this holiday. I hope you guys enjoy it and I'll

977
00:46:46,800 --> 00:46:49,600
Speaker 2: see you guys with Sam and then on Monday.

978
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:54,080
Speaker 1: For some power rankings the volume. What's up guys?

979
00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:56,880
Speaker 2: As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting

980
00:46:56,880 --> 00:46:59,480
Speaker 2: OOPS tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us

981
00:46:59,480 --> 00:47:01,400
Speaker 2: if you guys would take a second and leave a

982
00:47:01,560 --> 00:47:04,080
Speaker 2: rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys

983
00:47:04,080 --> 00:47:05,719
Speaker 2: supporting us, but if you could take a minute to

984
00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:07,560
Speaker 2: do that, I'd really appreciate it.