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Speaker 1: The Volume.

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Speaker 2: All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight. Here at the Volume,

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Speaker 2: Happy Wednesday, everybody. Round two coverage of the NBA Playoffs.

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Speaker 2: Here at Hoops Tonight is brought to you by Chase

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Speaker 2: Freedom Unlimited.

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Speaker 3: How do you cash Back?

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Speaker 2: We have very special guests today, a couple of new

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Speaker 2: teammates here at the Volume, mister Logan Camden and mister

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Speaker 2: Carson Breber, who many of you guys know from many

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Speaker 2: of the shows that we've done over the course of

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Speaker 2: the last couple of years. They run NERD SESSH. They've

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Speaker 2: been grinding building this thing up for a while. I'm

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Speaker 2: super stoked for you guys to be on the same

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Speaker 2: team with you. And most importantly, we have four incredibly

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Speaker 2: entertaining playoff series to get into. So, without any further ado,

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Speaker 2: Lakers four Years was billed as Steph Curry versus Lebron James,

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Speaker 2: and in my series preview, I was very delivered at

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Speaker 2: the beginning to make it clear that I wasn't looking

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Speaker 2: at it like that. I was looking at it as

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Speaker 2: Lakers versus Warriors, and not just because of Anthony Davis,

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Speaker 2: but because there are so many players in this series

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Speaker 2: that are going to be massive swing factors at various

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Speaker 2: points throughout, and Anthony Davis is just as capable of

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Speaker 2: leaving this series as a guy who is determined to

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Speaker 2: be the best player in this series as a mister

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Speaker 2: Steph Curry or long shot Lebron James. So my question

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Speaker 2: for you guys, we can start with you, Carson. How

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Speaker 2: do the Warriors solve the Anthony Davis problem?

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Speaker 4: I don't know that they really can. I mean, we

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Speaker 4: saw Ady absolutely dominate Game one on both sides of

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Speaker 4: the ball, and I think that when he's at this

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Speaker 4: level as a shot maker, if it's from that ten

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Speaker 4: to twelve foot range, if it's his turnarounds out of

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Speaker 4: the post as he was especially in the first half here,

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Speaker 4: there really isn't an answer. I think that you can

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Speaker 4: try sticking Dre on him more. I know that you

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Speaker 4: want him in that constant helper role. But I did

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Speaker 4: think as we saw him on Ad a bit more

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Speaker 4: in the home stretch of this game, the fourth quarter,

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Speaker 4: he was able to make him more uncomfortable than Looney.

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Speaker 4: I think that he's just a feistier defender. I thought

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Speaker 4: he can tested him better. I think that he is

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Speaker 4: going to be a more physical guy in that role

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Speaker 4: more capable of potentially poking the ball out if he

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Speaker 4: gets an ad face up. And Ady did not score

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Speaker 4: in the last eight mins of this one, as dominant

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Speaker 4: as he was overall. But I think the even bigger

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Speaker 4: problem is what Aid is doing defensively, because the bottom

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Speaker 4: line is that the Lakers have a size pain advantage

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Speaker 4: offensively from a lot more than ad. We saw their

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Speaker 4: guards getting downhill largely at will. If Lebron turns up

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Speaker 4: to that top tier, Ruey and Vando even are going

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Speaker 4: to be relatively effective interior scores if they get their looks.

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Speaker 4: But I thought what Ady was able to do completely

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Speaker 4: taking away the paint was incredible. I think he is

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Speaker 4: on one of the best defensive runs in this postseason

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Speaker 4: that I can recall from anybody. So I think they

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Speaker 4: actually have to go to more steph pick and roll,

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Speaker 4: and I think that they're probably gonna have to involve

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Speaker 4: eighties man some as scary as that is because of

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Speaker 4: how good he is guarding in space by big man standards,

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Speaker 4: just to get him out of the paint. To put

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Speaker 4: yourself in a position where it's okay, they're hedging. Now

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Speaker 4: we have a four on three, we have Looney and

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Speaker 4: Dre making decisions out of the short role. Because through

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Speaker 4: these playoffs so far, if it hasn't been unbelievable Steph

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Speaker 4: shot making, that's been their best offense, it's been Okay,

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Speaker 4: we're playing with an advantage. These guys are great decision makers.

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Speaker 4: We have good cutters, good shooters. Let's dissect now, and

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Speaker 4: it all starts with demanding the respect that Steph does

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Speaker 4: as a ball handler. And we saw them go to

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Speaker 4: Steph handling the ball more late in this game, and

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Speaker 4: we saw it spark a bit of a run. So

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Speaker 4: I think eighty is a big problem. I think the

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Speaker 4: Lakers overall size athleticism advantages their defensive personnel, their ability

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Speaker 4: to attack the paint. This is a lot for the

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Speaker 4: Warriors to work out. But I think that they're gonna

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Speaker 4: need nuclear staff and they're gonna need to maximize feeding

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Speaker 4: off of his attention and they have to lean into

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Speaker 4: that one.

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Speaker 3: Hundred percent agree. What are your thoughts slogan?

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Speaker 1: I think the exact same thing.

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Speaker 5: I think they need to turn to stuff, pick and

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Speaker 5: roll at the top of the key see if they

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Speaker 5: can draw him out.

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Speaker 1: I mean, they completely took the pain away in.

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Speaker 5: This game, they wrecked up ten blocks. Just eleven percent

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Speaker 5: of the Warriors shots come at the rim. That's twelve

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Speaker 5: total attempts through the game. Not only did they not

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Speaker 5: get a lot of attempts at the rim, they didn't

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Speaker 5: convert them.

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Speaker 1: They just make fifty eight percent of their at rim attempts.

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Speaker 5: And I think it's, like you noted Carson, so many

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Speaker 5: long rangy defenders here, it's gonna be hard with any

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Speaker 5: to get any interior offense at all in this series.

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Speaker 5: I think that starts with the pick and roll at

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Speaker 5: the top of the key. If that's Pool, if that's Play,

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Speaker 5: if that's Steph, and they were dropping a lot too.

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Speaker 5: Pool got some really good opens looks that he was

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Speaker 5: able to step into out of the pick and roll,

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Speaker 5: because guys are so far dropped into the paint.

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Speaker 1: I think the pick.

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Speaker 5: And roll you try to get ad to draw out

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Speaker 5: of the paint. I think you either try to drive

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Speaker 5: into maybe get Steph into float to range. Just get

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Speaker 5: this defense in rotation a little bit. But it is

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Speaker 5: going to be tough too with the drop that they

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Speaker 5: were running on all of the non shooters too, Graymond Looney,

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Speaker 5: Jamichael Green, Gary Payton. The second all of these guys.

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Speaker 5: Even backdoor cuts weren't open in this series too. But

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Speaker 5: I think it starts with leaning into the pick and

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Speaker 5: roll too more with all of these guys full play

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Speaker 5: and Steph Curry. This is a Warriors team that is

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Speaker 5: running pick and roll with the least amount of frequency

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Speaker 5: out of all the teams in the playoffs left and

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Speaker 5: we've seen it lead to consistent offense for a team

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Speaker 5: like the Miami Heat with a lot of great shooters.

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Speaker 5: I think that is what the Warriors need to lean

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Speaker 5: into really heavily in this series, just to attempt to

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Speaker 5: get this Lakers defense in.

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Speaker 1: Rotation a little more and just open up.

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Speaker 5: Space in the mid range and in the paint, because

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Speaker 5: with what they're doing right now in the personnel for

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Speaker 5: the Lakers, there's nothing. It is super clogged up in

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Speaker 5: the paint and on the interior of the arc.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know this, This thing with begging for Steph

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Speaker 2: to run more high pick and roll has been a

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Speaker 2: theme for Warriors fans in general for years now, like

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Speaker 2: dating all the way dating all the way back to

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Speaker 2: the original run, even before Kevin Durant was around, and

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Speaker 2: that was what ended up turning around the twenty fifteen Finals,

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Speaker 2: for instance, was just leaning heavily on high pick and

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Speaker 2: roll again.

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Speaker 3: Like it.

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Speaker 2: It's almost been said so many times that it's become cliche,

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Speaker 2: but it's just the reality of the predicament. I expect

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Speaker 2: this series, especially after rewatching that game this morning, I

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Speaker 2: think both teams are going to be able to massively

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Speaker 2: hinder the opposing offense. Carson, you hit on some stuff

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Speaker 2: with Draymond Green on Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis has a

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Speaker 2: has a real advantage against Draymond Green in height, and

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Speaker 2: he's going to get some good looks against him. When

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Speaker 2: I say good looks, I mean like looks that he

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Speaker 2: he's capable of making in terms of hook shot and

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Speaker 2: fadeaways and stuff like that. But I do think he

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Speaker 2: can take away the easy towards the rim stuff, which

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Speaker 2: is a big deal. Andrew Wiggins did a good job

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Speaker 2: on Lebron James last night. He's going to do a

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Speaker 2: good job on him throughout the series, although I'd like

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Speaker 2: to see Lebron James try to post him up a

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Speaker 2: little bit more. I thought that the Warrior guards at

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Speaker 2: various points in the game did a good job against

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Speaker 2: Angelo Russell and Austin Reeves, even though those guys did

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Speaker 2: have baskets in specific matchups and specific scenarios. So I

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Speaker 2: think the Warriors are going to eventually slow down the Lakers.

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Speaker 2: And on the other end of the floor, again, like

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Speaker 2: the all of the off ball stuff, the lock and

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Speaker 2: trail stuff, I think is kind of dead on arrival,

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Speaker 2: except against the Laker bench when you get some sloppy

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Speaker 2: or less focused defenders that are going to make more mistakes,

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Speaker 2: like Troy Brown Junior for example.

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Speaker 3: But like to.

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Speaker 2: Me, there's a schematic reason why the high pick and

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Speaker 2: roll matters, and it's less about like, oh, we need

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Speaker 2: the ball in STEP's hands, that's not it. It's about

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Speaker 2: getting Steph separated. Like if you could get the ball

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Speaker 2: to Steph off the ball coming off of screens but

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Speaker 2: he's open, ideally, that's obviously a great option. But it's

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Speaker 2: less about that and more about the simple fact that

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Speaker 2: in a lock and trail position, Jared Vanderbilt can stay attached.

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Speaker 2: In an on ball situation, it's much easier for Steph

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Speaker 2: to get him separated, and it's really simple. If Steph

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Speaker 2: is running off these actions, Jared Vanderbilt has a very

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Speaker 2: simple assignment he's just running around after it, right, But

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Speaker 2: if it's a live dribble situation, he's squared up with them. Laterally,

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Speaker 2: he's trying to set himself up to chase over picks, right,

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Speaker 2: So he's setting up his high foot to.

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Speaker 3: Get over whatever.

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Speaker 2: Direction on the screen is coming, and Steph can flip

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Speaker 2: the angle on him three or four times in rapids accession,

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Speaker 2: and that gets to the point where Jared Vanderbilt inevitably

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Speaker 2: is going to run in the screen as Kevon Looney's

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Speaker 2: flipping that angle on the screen every single time. Laker fans,

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Speaker 2: you're probably super familiar with this with Austin Reeves. Austin

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Speaker 2: Reeves is one of the best players in the league.

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Speaker 2: Get this, just multiple behind the back dribbles and counter

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Speaker 2: moves to get the defender to lean one way. And

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Speaker 2: Dante de Vincenzo did a great job on Austin Reeves

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Speaker 2: during one of the shifts, but Austin still managed to

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Speaker 2: get downhill on him. You probably remember the lob dunk

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Speaker 2: to Lebron in large part because he just hit four

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Speaker 2: or five counter moves before he finally got downhill. That's again,

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Speaker 2: the best option for the Warriors to get shots in

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Speaker 2: this slog of a series as we move forward, will

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Speaker 2: be Steph with the live dribble being able to get

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Speaker 2: separation from Jared Vanderbilt, which will pull Anthony Davis out

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Speaker 2: further to have to contest those shots, which is going

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Speaker 2: to open everything up on the back end, and the

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Speaker 2: Lakers or the Warriors are going to do just as

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Speaker 2: well slowing down the Lakers on the other end. It's

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Speaker 2: going to be a rock fight, and I do think

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Speaker 2: that it's going to be a question of who can

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Speaker 2: make more shots Lebron James and Anthony Davis around the

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Speaker 2: rim or Steph Curry and pick and roll. My next

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Speaker 2: question for you guys is this dating back to last year.

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Speaker 2: And I know it's just one game, so I obviously

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Speaker 2: we have the right to kind of flip this opinion.

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Speaker 2: Do you think this Lakers team is better than any

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Speaker 2: team that the Warriors played during their playoff run last year?

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Speaker 4: That's a good question. I think, I lean yes. I

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Speaker 4: think because of and the Lakers aren't the epitome of

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Speaker 4: like consistent seamless execution, because of the lapses that we

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Speaker 4: see from them when they get up and obviously we

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Speaker 4: almost saw it to a disastrous extent last night, But

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Speaker 4: I do feel that their ability to consistently exert that

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Speaker 4: rim pressure compared to the inconsistency and difficult shot making

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Speaker 4: and decision making that we saw from that Celtics team

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Speaker 4: last year. And also, I think this Lakers team is

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Speaker 4: every bit as good, if not better, defensively because of

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Speaker 4: how dominant eighty is on the interior. You mentioned how

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Speaker 4: great Jared Vanderbilt has been consistently off ball on Steph

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Speaker 4: or was in Game one. I guess it depends on

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Speaker 4: what version of Lebron they get, because the secondary creation

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Speaker 4: from Reeves and Dill and Shrewder was awesome in this game,

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Speaker 4: and it's not always that awesome, like if Dilo's difficult

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Speaker 4: shot making is off, he can be a flat out negative.

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Speaker 4: Shrewder I thought was weaponizing his quickness. He took some

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Speaker 4: bad shots, but he was able to get away with

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Speaker 4: it because of how good he was getting to the

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Speaker 4: rim getting the line overall, and Reeves is pretty consistent

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Speaker 4: when those guys are clicking. When this team is locked

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Speaker 4: in defensively, And if we see a better version of Lebron,

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Speaker 4: then I think it would be no doubt. But I'm

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Speaker 4: still just a bit concerned about Lebron's reliance on the

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Speaker 4: jump shot, which has been abysmal. How content he has

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Speaker 4: been to say, all right, I'll get my looks off

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Speaker 4: the catch out of side pick and roll, or if

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Speaker 4: I am gonna create my own shot, it's very likely

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Speaker 4: to be a pull up jumper. I don't know how

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Speaker 4: much of that is him pacing himself. I don't know

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Speaker 4: if the foot is a concern there. It's tough to say.

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Speaker 4: But regardless, this version of Lebron does concern me a bit.

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Speaker 4: But I think this Lakers ceiling, yeah, is better than

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Speaker 4: any team that the Warriors beat last year. In Game one,

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Speaker 4: I thought the Lakers looked outstanding.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think this is a better team that they faced.

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Speaker 5: But I think it largely has to do with the

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Speaker 5: defensive ceiling that the Lakers can reach. I think they're

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Speaker 5: just a flat out better defense. I mean, Boston was

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Speaker 5: great last season, but I think this is a better

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Speaker 5: Lakers team because of all the advantages that they have physically,

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Speaker 5: especially in we saw Wiggins, Looney, Draymond come up big

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Speaker 5: and hustle and effort plays in the finals last season,

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Speaker 5: and that's something that they're going to really struggle to

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Speaker 5: create an advantage in in the terms of they're not

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Speaker 5: just going to be able to out hustle the Lakers.

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Speaker 5: The Lakers have such a physical advantage that just pure

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Speaker 5: effort is not going to give them an advantage. And

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Speaker 5: I do think you're right, Carson. I think Lebron is

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Speaker 5: the swing factor if they are definitively the better team.

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Speaker 5: What I'd like to see Lebron if he is not

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Speaker 5: fully locked in and fully engaged in going to control

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Speaker 5: the game the way old Lebron could Jason something you

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Speaker 5: laid out, I just want to see him use his

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Speaker 5: size more on a guy like Wiggins. Just back him

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Speaker 5: down and go on the low block, go on the post,

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Speaker 5: back him down and just garner.

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Speaker 1: A little more attention.

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Speaker 5: Get a guy to slide off of a shooter and

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Speaker 5: create an open look for him. If you're not going

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Speaker 5: to control the game and be super physical and the

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Speaker 5: old Lebron and getting downhill and just completely controlling the game,

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Speaker 5: then just draw a little more attention. A we said

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Speaker 5: this on the show last night, Carson, A Lebron jump

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Speaker 5: shot is not an efficient shot.

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Speaker 1: At this point in his career.

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Speaker 5: He's shooting fourteen point six on threes in these playoffs

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Speaker 5: thus far, and.

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Speaker 1: It's just not a good jump shot.

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Speaker 5: It's just not an efficient look for any team on

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Speaker 5: any possession. I want Lebron to lean into what he

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Speaker 5: does well at this point in his career if he's

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Speaker 5: not going to make a concerted effort to get to

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Speaker 5: the wreck. But I do think this Lakers team is

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Speaker 5: better than Boston, and they're going to be drastically better

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Speaker 5: than Boston if Lebron could turn back the clock.

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Speaker 2: So to me, you both hit on important things. The

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Speaker 2: defensive personnel element. Boston is a deeper defensive team that

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Speaker 2: goes without saying in terms of, like, you know, the

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Speaker 2: seventh or eighth guy off the bench being an outstanding

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Speaker 2: defensive player. That's a different level than what the Lakers

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Speaker 2: can muster. But the top end defense of personnel on

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Speaker 2: the Lakers is definitively better, and specifically the guys that

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Speaker 2: you're involving in the most important action for the Warriors,

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Speaker 2: which is a Steph Curry ball screen or off ball screen.

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Speaker 2: Right talked a little bit about this last night. But

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Speaker 2: like as good as Robert Williams is and as athletic

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Speaker 2: as he is, he's just not the same as Anthony Davis.

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Speaker 2: And as I think Al Horford has a similar defensive

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Speaker 2: IQ to Anthony Davis, just without the physical tools, right, Like,

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Speaker 2: if you could combine those two guys, you might have

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Speaker 2: an Anthony Davis type of talent. But and then all

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Speaker 2: of these guards like you know, Marcus Smart, Derek White,

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Speaker 2: Chase and Steph over the top of screens, they just

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Speaker 2: can't really apply the same level of back pressure to

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Speaker 2: someone like Jared Vanderbilt. And so again, in terms of

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Speaker 2: a defensive matchup, it's less about the totality of the

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Speaker 2: roster and the way that this Laker team can guard

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Speaker 2: this Warriors team because of the guy that can put

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Speaker 2: on Steph and the guy that they can put in

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Speaker 2: the back line to help against Steph. Again, that's the

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Speaker 2: power of Anthony Davis, the best defensive player in the

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Speaker 2: league in my opinion, when he's truly locked in. They

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Speaker 2: have a bunch of very very specific roster attributes that

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Speaker 2: make them a terrible matchup for the Warriors in a

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Speaker 2: way that goes beyond what the teams last year. By

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Speaker 2: the way, that doesn't mean the Warriors can't win the series.

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Speaker 2: It just means it'll be a tougher fight. I mean,

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Speaker 2: if you really look back last year, they never were

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Speaker 2: challenged enough to go to a seventh game. Even in

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Speaker 2: that Memphis series they'd punted Game five. Yeah they were.

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Speaker 2: They won the Celtics series in six, but they were

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Speaker 2: down two to one. They dominated that series down the stretch,

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Speaker 2: like the Warriors never really got pushed to the brink

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Speaker 2: in that in that particular series to the same extent

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Speaker 2: last year, to the same extent that I think this

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Speaker 2: Lakers team is capable of. Again, it remains to be seen.

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Speaker 2: But because it's because the defensive personnel to legitimately bothers

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Speaker 2: Steph a switchable size, which is such a huge factor

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Speaker 2: because the Warriors have been playing rim protectors off the

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Speaker 2: floor for years and years and years, and then on

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Speaker 2: the offensive end of the floor a great amount of

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Speaker 2: aggregate size to get high quality shots in the paint

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Speaker 2: against the Warriors. Again, like if you look at the

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Speaker 2: shot chart for the Lakers in that game, they're just

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Speaker 2: getting a lot of shots in that inside of fifteen

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Speaker 2: feet close to the rim. Even for their guards against

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Speaker 2: the Warriors drop coverage, they're just getting a lot of

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Speaker 2: really good looks. So I do think I do think

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Speaker 2: this Laker. I'm not going to say they're better than

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Speaker 2: the Celtics just yet. I just think they're capable of that,

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Speaker 2: and the Lebron part is the swing factor, and I agree.

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Speaker 3: Now, I do think the.

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Speaker 2: Lebron stuff is a little overstated, and this is the

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Speaker 2: case that I'd make for that. It really just comes

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Speaker 2: down to the jump shot for me. Now, Logan, you said,

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Speaker 2: you know, this is just at this point in his career,

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Speaker 2: he can't make a shot efficiently the way he used to.

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Speaker 2: I'm not saying that that's not necessarily the case. I

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Speaker 2: guess next year will be the determining factor. But Lebron

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Speaker 2: has had this every once in a while, where like

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Speaker 2: he'll go six or seven years of consistent jump shooting

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Speaker 2: and then they'll just have this one year where he

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Speaker 2: can't make a shot. That was basically twenty fifteen, and

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Speaker 2: it's happening again this year. It's been like an all

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Speaker 2: season like wide open catch and shoot threes. Every single

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Speaker 2: type of shot that Lebron takes that is a jump shot,

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Speaker 2: he's been converting at a significantly lower rate than he

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Speaker 2: used to. He's been a thirty six percent postseason three

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Speaker 2: point shooter for like the better part of a decade now,

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Speaker 2: Like that's just the reality of Lebron James. He's missing

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Speaker 2: the same shots he's been usually making, and if you

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Speaker 2: really zoom in on the numbers, he's actually getting to

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Speaker 2: the rim and finishing there about as frequently and about

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Speaker 2: as efficiently as ever. He's shooting over sixty three percent

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Speaker 2: on twos in this postseason run. That's the second highest

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Speaker 2: mark of his career. The volume is pretty similar to

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Speaker 2: what it was in twenty twenty.

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Speaker 3: If he just.

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Speaker 2: Shot his regular thirty five ish percent from three, he'd

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Speaker 2: be averaging twenty six points per game on a pretty

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Speaker 2: decent level of efficiency, which is Lebron James, you know.

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Speaker 2: And then defensively, I think he's been fantastic in the

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Speaker 2: last several games since the beginning of the Memphis series.

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Speaker 3: During that run last night.

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Speaker 2: He had an unbelievable block of Steph Curry on the

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Speaker 2: opposite end of the rim. They tell you go to

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Speaker 2: the other end of the rim because the net and

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Speaker 2: the rim will protect you, and Lebron somehow evaded all

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Speaker 2: of that and blocked Steph on the opposite end of

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Speaker 2: the rim. I thought he had a couple of big

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Speaker 2: transition pushes, one where he got called for a travel,

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Speaker 2: but there was another one where he just saw the

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Speaker 2: tunnel there and Jordan Poole was the only one that

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Speaker 2: was back, and he just hit the jets and he's like,

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Speaker 2: I'm getting a freaking foul here, man, And he got

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Speaker 2: there and he got the free throw that bumped the

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Speaker 2: lead up to three, which put Golden State in a

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Speaker 2: different situation with the in terms of their offensive approach.

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Speaker 2: So with Lebron now, he might never make the jump

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Speaker 2: shot in this playoff run, and if that's the case,

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Speaker 2: I think that lowers this Lakers ceiling. But I do

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Speaker 2: think Lebron's mobility and age are being overstated a bit

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Speaker 2: when I do think this is just a guy that

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Speaker 2: is having an uncharacteristic bad shooting season, which is something

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Speaker 2: he's been capable of doing. But let's let's move on

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Speaker 2: to Nuggets Suns. So this series has been super interesting

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Speaker 2: on a bunch of different levels. The Suns team in particular,

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Speaker 2: I don't think we had a really good feel for

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Speaker 2: because they played so many games again bad teams. When

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Speaker 2: Kevin Durant came back and so we're like, okay, they're

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Speaker 2: beating everybody. Okay, they're scoring the ball really well, but like,

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Speaker 2: what are they really capable of? And you know, we

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Speaker 2: start to think about our postseason you know, checklists, and

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Speaker 2: it's like, okay, do they thrive in physicality? We'll see,

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Speaker 2: you know, do they have good point of attack defense?

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Speaker 2: And we'll see, you know, how's their rid protection at

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Speaker 2: like all these different things. The big one that concerned

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Speaker 2: me was like, they rely on pull up jump shooting,

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Speaker 2: and I've just seen that sort of thing go south,

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Speaker 2: and once again, through two games, they're way below their

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Speaker 2: normal level of efficiency and pull up jump shooting in

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Speaker 2: a super physical series. And here we are with Kevin

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Speaker 2: Durant the postgame presser saying things like, man, I got

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Speaker 2: good looks. I don't know what's going on. They're just

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Speaker 2: not going in. He was saying the same shit against

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Speaker 2: Celtics last year. So, like, I do think that a

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Speaker 2: lot of this is some reality check for the Suns

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Speaker 2: and the way they play. That said, Nikola Jokic has

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Speaker 2: been the best player in the series by a mile

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Speaker 2: in my opinion, and I think that a lot of

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Speaker 2: the postseason limitations with Jokic, I've just posted them as

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Speaker 2: relative to the top players in the league. But I

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Speaker 2: think even beyond that, in the media and with fans,

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Speaker 2: I think people have portrayed Yokic is a bad playoff player,

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Speaker 2: which is something I disagree with. Do you think this

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Speaker 2: series is going to finally silence the Jokic doubters?

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Speaker 4: Well, I'll start on this one, Jason, because this is

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Speaker 4: a big part of my personal brand. I don't know.

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Speaker 4: I cannot get inside the mind of a legitimate Yokic doubterer,

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Speaker 4: And of course there are fair questions to ask. For example,

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Speaker 4: I was concerned about him matching up with the Sun's

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Speaker 4: pick and roll in this series and the level of

434
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:42,600
Speaker 4: pull up jump shooting that book and Katie and CP

435
00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:44,560
Speaker 4: three when he was healthy or capable of, because it

436
00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:46,760
Speaker 4: was just two years ago that we saw CP three

437
00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:49,800
Speaker 4: score eleven mid range points per game on sixty five

438
00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,800
Speaker 4: percent shooting from the mid range against Yokic playing out

439
00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:55,360
Speaker 4: of drop where I thought he conceded those shots like layups.

440
00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,119
Speaker 4: I do think he's fared better in that matchup than

441
00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,439
Speaker 4: I expected. I do think the Nuggets will overall have

442
00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:02,800
Speaker 4: schemed better. I think Aaron Gordon has done a really

443
00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,200
Speaker 4: good job on Kadie and stretches. I think they've done

444
00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:08,280
Speaker 4: a good job with those trailing contests on the midrange

445
00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:10,920
Speaker 4: pull ups, and bottom line, the Suns aren't making the

446
00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,080
Speaker 4: shots at an efficient enough clip. And it's like Mike

447
00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:16,360
Speaker 4: Malone said after Game one, tough twos aren't gonna beat

448
00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:18,720
Speaker 4: the Nuggets in their offensive machine. Even though Game two

449
00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,080
Speaker 4: was a more labored effort. Nobody creates better shots than

450
00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:25,040
Speaker 4: the Denver Nuggets, and I do think Nikole Jokic deserves

451
00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:26,959
Speaker 4: the line and share of the credit for that. And

452
00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:33,480
Speaker 4: he has consistently been a phenomenal offensive player in the postseason,

453
00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,080
Speaker 4: better even, I think than in the regular season because

454
00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,520
Speaker 4: he becomes more aggressive as a scorer. We've seen him

455
00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,160
Speaker 4: increase his scoring in each postseason compared to that regular

456
00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,119
Speaker 4: season by over three points per game every single time

457
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:47,680
Speaker 4: that he's been there, and we've seen him elevate the

458
00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:50,760
Speaker 4: Nuggets team offense to be a top five playoff offense

459
00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:53,240
Speaker 4: every single time he's been there. Two of those years

460
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,359
Speaker 4: with Fakuno Compazzo and Austin Rivers as his backcourt and

461
00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:00,520
Speaker 4: then with Monte Morrison. Will Barton like he is up

462
00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:03,560
Speaker 4: there with Steph as the most complete one man offensive

463
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:07,320
Speaker 4: engine in basketball right now. So if you can't see that,

464
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,520
Speaker 4: then I really don't know what you're watching. Like, the

465
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,280
Speaker 4: guy's an unstoppable one on one score, Jason. He's one

466
00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:16,439
Speaker 4: of the great playoff scores in NBA history. He is

467
00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:21,280
Speaker 4: currently the highest scoring center per game in NBA history. Now,

468
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:22,960
Speaker 4: you do have a bit of a decline from some

469
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:24,600
Speaker 4: of the all time greats in their later years. If

470
00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,359
Speaker 4: you just go through age twenty eight seasons, then of

471
00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:29,960
Speaker 4: guys to play in at least forty five games, he's fourth.

472
00:22:30,080 --> 00:22:33,439
Speaker 4: He's behind just Kareem Wilt and Shack. So for that

473
00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,760
Speaker 4: to be your secondary skill set, that's pretty darn good.

474
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:38,760
Speaker 4: And nobody on this Suns team can guard him like

475
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,040
Speaker 4: nobody in the NBA can guard him because there is

476
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,560
Speaker 4: a level of touch shot making with him that you

477
00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,880
Speaker 4: cannot take away. When a guy's two hundred and eighty

478
00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:49,000
Speaker 4: five pounds and can put up a hook or a

479
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,520
Speaker 4: floater and hit it with a sixty percent clip whenever

480
00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:54,239
Speaker 4: he wants, or go to that turnaround and hit that

481
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,960
Speaker 4: with a fifty plus percent efficiency, or spin out and

482
00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,000
Speaker 4: maintain his body control and get a good look around them,

483
00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:03,320
Speaker 4: or come out of picking pop situations. He's a forty

484
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,800
Speaker 4: percent career three point shooter in the playoffs. There's just

485
00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,800
Speaker 4: no formula to stop that when he's also the best

486
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,840
Speaker 4: passer arguably on the planet and certainly the best passing

487
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,640
Speaker 4: big that we've ever seen. So I think this should

488
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,720
Speaker 4: convince people. But again, it's like, I don't know how

489
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:23,720
Speaker 4: you could hold the last two years against him. Sure

490
00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:26,679
Speaker 4: he had some ugly moments defensively, but offensively he did

491
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,199
Speaker 4: everything he always has. And I tweeted this out and

492
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 4: I believe it. I think the gap between him and

493
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,439
Speaker 4: Mbat offensively in a playoff setting is much bigger than

494
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,320
Speaker 4: people have made it out to be. I think he

495
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,640
Speaker 4: is point blank a better playoff scorer than Joel Embiid,

496
00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,040
Speaker 4: and I think that the career production certainly speaks to that,

497
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,040
Speaker 4: almost three more points per game in the playoffs. The

498
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:49,080
Speaker 4: efficiency he's almost seven percent better in terms of effective

499
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:51,879
Speaker 4: field goal percentage because he is a better shot maker,

500
00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,560
Speaker 4: and I think that is what scales better than anything else.

501
00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:57,680
Speaker 4: That is what we saw in that massive game against Minnesota.

502
00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,560
Speaker 4: That's what we saw in this pass game. If it's

503
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,040
Speaker 4: as a cut the floaters off the roll, as a

504
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,679
Speaker 4: popper or from that float range out of the post.

505
00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,679
Speaker 4: His touch and shot making is just on a different

506
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:10,800
Speaker 4: level and you can't take that away. He doesn't need

507
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,160
Speaker 4: to get to the line, He doesn't need anything other

508
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:15,760
Speaker 4: than what he does with regularity and what he makes

509
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,159
Speaker 4: look easy. And of course he can't double him. And

510
00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:21,080
Speaker 4: you can absolutely hinder Embiid as a scorer if you

511
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:24,159
Speaker 4: are doubling him aggressively and he's not holding you accountable

512
00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,159
Speaker 4: for that at the rate that he needs to. And

513
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:28,920
Speaker 4: that's just never gonna happen with Yo, because he's gonna

514
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:32,639
Speaker 4: do that every single night. So I think he's been

515
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,359
Speaker 4: awesome in this playoff run. I think he is going

516
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,119
Speaker 4: to make a push for best player in the world.

517
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:40,200
Speaker 4: I think Steph and he are clearly the two best

518
00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:41,280
Speaker 4: offensive players.

519
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:41,480
Speaker 3: In the world.

520
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,280
Speaker 4: And this is what he does. This isn't a surprise,

521
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,919
Speaker 4: This isn't like some revelation. This is nikol Jokic and

522
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:50,480
Speaker 4: what he does. And yeah, now it's leading the team

523
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,239
Speaker 4: success because he has a capable supporting cast around him,

524
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:55,640
Speaker 4: and by the way, a supporting cast that is clearly

525
00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,280
Speaker 4: better than the Suns. Denver should win this series, not

526
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:00,240
Speaker 4: just because they have the best player, but because they

527
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:04,800
Speaker 4: have the better team.

528
00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:04,800
Speaker 5: Carson might not be able to get into the mind

529
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,480
Speaker 5: of a Jokic hater, but I will toss play this

530
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:12,880
Speaker 5: one very quickly. The sad reality of NBA discourse nowadays

531
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 5: in the way the neanderthal brain thinks, is basically, until

532
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,840
Speaker 5: Nikola Jokic gets that ring, people are gonna hate on

533
00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,520
Speaker 5: his regular season accolades and all the awards that he's

534
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,280
Speaker 5: won and all the praise that he gets from NBA

535
00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:30,680
Speaker 5: heads across the league. Until Jokic gets that monkey off

536
00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:33,200
Speaker 5: of his back and finally gets a ring, most people

537
00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:35,720
Speaker 5: are going to discredit everything he's done in the playoffs,

538
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:40,640
Speaker 5: everything that he's done award wise. So yeah, I think

539
00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 5: for the mass contingency, you know, in the big NBA discourse,

540
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:47,640
Speaker 5: until Jokic gets a ring, I think people are still

541
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:50,159
Speaker 5: going to hate and still not going to crown him

542
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,560
Speaker 5: and praise is Jokic. But like you said, Carson, I

543
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 5: think if you're watching these games, if you're seeing what

544
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:59,639
Speaker 5: Nikola Jokic is doing night tonight, masterful passing in a

545
00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,520
Speaker 5: spec in Game two, like you said, Carson, where his

546
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,920
Speaker 5: skill set, you can't take it away when everything else,

547
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,480
Speaker 5: it's such a slog. Offensively, Jamal Murray is not hitting anything.

548
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:12,080
Speaker 5: He goes three to fifteen. Michael Porter Junior is not

549
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,760
Speaker 5: giving you anything. The Nuggets offense is just not working

550
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,479
Speaker 5: like a machine when it is so down and dirty

551
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:22,359
Speaker 5: and so nasty. Jokic didn't need an excuse. He took

552
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:24,919
Speaker 5: over and he did what superstars do, and he showed

553
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,199
Speaker 5: you how we can score the basketball and how you

554
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:31,240
Speaker 5: can't take away his scoring skill set either. So to

555
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,320
Speaker 5: keep it brief, I think for the for most of

556
00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:37,480
Speaker 5: people in NBA discourse, until he gets that ring, I

557
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:39,400
Speaker 5: think that people aren't going to give him his love.

558
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,320
Speaker 5: But if you're watching these games, I don't know how

559
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:43,520
Speaker 5: you can discredit what Yokic is doing on the court.

560
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:45,600
Speaker 5: And I also think he is one of the two

561
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:47,040
Speaker 5: best players in the world.

562
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there's a fine line between being like

563
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,080
Speaker 2: over the top critical for no particular reason and just

564
00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:56,679
Speaker 2: being slow to elevate. So, for instance, like for me,

565
00:26:57,640 --> 00:26:59,679
Speaker 2: I'm okay with being like, yeah, I get the trophy

566
00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,679
Speaker 2: before I put you over steph Kde and Lebron Sorry, Like,

567
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,840
Speaker 2: I don't think that that's that ridiculous of a take.

568
00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:08,320
Speaker 2: I and to me, that's more about the sanctity of

569
00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:12,440
Speaker 2: the achievement. I mean again, like it's just like, let's

570
00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 2: just give you an example, like for Jokic to get

571
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:20,199
Speaker 2: the trophy, he has to go through Kevin Durant and

572
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:22,199
Speaker 2: the Suns team, and then he's gonna have to go

573
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:25,600
Speaker 2: through either Steph Curry the defending champion, or this Lebron

574
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:28,520
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis team, and then in all likelihood the Boston

575
00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 2: Celtics in the NBA Finals. Like when he gets to

576
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,720
Speaker 2: the end of that rope, that's a level of achievement

577
00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,880
Speaker 2: that needs to be treated with the appropriate level of respect.

578
00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 2: And like that's the thing, like Lebron James in his

579
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,840
Speaker 2: past has gone through Damian Lillard and then gone through

580
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,320
Speaker 2: Harden and Russell Westbrook and then gone through jokicch and

581
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,280
Speaker 2: Murray and then gone through Bam and Jimmy like he's

582
00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:53,440
Speaker 2: done it, Like when you've done the sixteen win thing.

583
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,800
Speaker 2: It's just so sacred to me that I'm okay with

584
00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:00,640
Speaker 2: being like, hey, jokicch you're freaking incredible, man, go get

585
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:03,280
Speaker 2: the trophy before we give you the that that level

586
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:06,760
Speaker 2: of respect, I'm okay with that. However, there's a difference

587
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:08,800
Speaker 2: between that and like, this dude's a bum.

588
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:10,000
Speaker 3: He can't succeed in the playoffs.

589
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 2: That's just stupid, and like and again, like there is

590
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 2: again when I'm comparing him to the top players in

591
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 2: the league, do I think there's a difference between Like,

592
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,840
Speaker 2: for instance, I think Anthony Davis has been every bit

593
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:23,479
Speaker 2: is impressive in this postseason run. As Nuklea Jokic, I'm sorry,

594
00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:27,480
Speaker 2: but his impact on the defensive end has been frightening

595
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:30,159
Speaker 2: and has Like this Laker team, I'm not sure they

596
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:32,760
Speaker 2: win a single one of these games if Anthony Davis misses.

597
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 2: That's just that's just a real They're not beating Memphis,

598
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:37,240
Speaker 2: and they're not be They got their ass kicked every

599
00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:39,400
Speaker 2: time he was off the floor against Memphis, and he

600
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:41,720
Speaker 2: excuse me, I had to play every single minute in

601
00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:44,880
Speaker 2: the second half against the Warriors last night. Like there

602
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,440
Speaker 2: is a there is value in what in what Anthony

603
00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:49,160
Speaker 2: Davis can do on the defensive end. I think he

604
00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,720
Speaker 2: has a legitimate case to be the best player in

605
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:53,480
Speaker 2: the world if he can lead this Laker team to

606
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 2: an NBA championship. I do think it's okay to bring

607
00:28:56,480 --> 00:28:59,880
Speaker 2: up the difference in being what Yoki has become, which

608
00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:03,760
Speaker 2: is an acceptable COG and a defensive system in the

609
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,680
Speaker 2: NBA playoffs, that is where he needed to get to

610
00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:10,160
Speaker 2: and he's there on the offensive end, and Carson, you

611
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:14,080
Speaker 2: hit on this he made. This is a crazy stat.

612
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,760
Speaker 2: He made fourteen field goals in the paint In Game

613
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 2: two against Phoenix, the Suns attempted fourteen shots in the

614
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:27,120
Speaker 2: entire game in the restricted area. See like, that's that's

615
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,840
Speaker 2: the type of dynamic that wins in the NBA playoffs.

616
00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,120
Speaker 2: Like when we look back, it's like last year's the

617
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,960
Speaker 2: outlier at Steph Curry's the greatest perimeter player that's below

618
00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:38,000
Speaker 2: six ' five in the history of the NBA. Right,

619
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 2: But before that, it's Rock fight Giannis. Before that, it's

620
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:45,600
Speaker 2: rock fight Lebron. Before that, it's rock fight Kawhi. Guys

621
00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:49,080
Speaker 2: that are great at fighting their way to spots on

622
00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,240
Speaker 2: the floor that are close to the rim, or they

623
00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 2: can make shots with a high level of efficiency even

624
00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:59,640
Speaker 2: in super physical environments, Whereas when you're a specialist in

625
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,840
Speaker 2: eighteen to twenty four feet off the dribble jump shots,

626
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,280
Speaker 2: there's so much more variance in a postseason setting. I

627
00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:08,440
Speaker 2: do think the Suns will have a game in Phoenix,

628
00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:11,720
Speaker 2: probably Game three, where KD and Book both shoot over

629
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:13,720
Speaker 2: fifty percent on pull up jump shots and they beat

630
00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,400
Speaker 2: the Nuggets, Like, that's certainly a possibility, But to do

631
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 2: that four times out of seven.

632
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 3: Is so hard.

633
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,080
Speaker 2: Whereas if you have a guy that all And this

634
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:24,040
Speaker 2: is the fear for the for the Lake, for the

635
00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:27,280
Speaker 2: Laker Warriors series is like if they can't flip that

636
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,800
Speaker 2: interior shot dynamic where the Lakers are so comfortable around

637
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,520
Speaker 2: the rim, they're just gonna lose because that's gonna be

638
00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 2: there every single game. It's not gonna be there four

639
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:38,959
Speaker 2: times out of seven, it's in every single game. Thing

640
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:43,440
Speaker 2: there are dependable things in basketball. Defense is dependable close

641
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,200
Speaker 2: to the rim, shot making is dependable. Anything from the

642
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:50,640
Speaker 2: perimeter has variants, and there's an up and down factor

643
00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:54,120
Speaker 2: to that. Nikola Jokic is dependably getting great shots in

644
00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:56,520
Speaker 2: this series that the Suns can't get, and that's why

645
00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:58,520
Speaker 2: he's the best player in the series. And if KD

646
00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,520
Speaker 2: can't catch just the ridiculous heater as a pull up

647
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,000
Speaker 2: jump shooter, they're in serious trouble. All right, Let's move

648
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:08,640
Speaker 2: over to the Eastern content a conference so congrats to

649
00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,440
Speaker 2: Joel Embiid who won the NBA have won the NBA

650
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:16,720
Speaker 2: MVP yesterday. I do want to give him the benefit

651
00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:18,720
Speaker 2: of the doubt. To Carson's point about being a better

652
00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,600
Speaker 2: playoff shot maker, I do want to give him a

653
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:25,080
Speaker 2: chance to demonstrate that in this series, although I'm concerned

654
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 2: under the injury circumstances. Joel just had a very good

655
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,320
Speaker 2: year this year, better than any year he's had as

656
00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 2: a shot maker. So I want to see if it translates.

657
00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:36,800
Speaker 2: And Brooklyn, it's just, you know, they're double teaming him

658
00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,000
Speaker 2: a lot. He's playing down to the competition a certain extent.

659
00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:40,560
Speaker 3: You know.

660
00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,800
Speaker 2: I want to see him against Boston, but he's a

661
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:48,000
Speaker 2: little bit limited, Harden. I know he had a great

662
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:51,920
Speaker 2: game in Game one, but there were some schematic reasons

663
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,040
Speaker 2: for that as well, And so I do think that

664
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,440
Speaker 2: it's fool's gold if you expect him to do that

665
00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:59,239
Speaker 2: five more times in the series. So my question is this,

666
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:02,960
Speaker 2: do you guys think Joel Embiid can bring enough to

667
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,680
Speaker 2: this series to give the Celtics or to give the

668
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 2: Sixers a chance to beat the Celtics.

669
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,840
Speaker 4: Absolutely, they have a chance. I mean they've already stolen

670
00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:16,520
Speaker 4: one on the road, and I think that we continue

671
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,760
Speaker 4: to see the execution issues from the Celtics in the

672
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:22,680
Speaker 4: clutch Game one. A lot of it, I thought was

673
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 4: about the consistency of their defensive effort. There's no reason

674
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:27,320
Speaker 4: for them to not win that game when they come

675
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:30,960
Speaker 4: out humming offensively like they did. And I thought the

676
00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,000
Speaker 4: lack of adjustments, the willingness to continue to just switch

677
00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,240
Speaker 4: everything on to Harden and him getting the looks that

678
00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:39,800
Speaker 4: he wanted all night. It's just problematic. And I don't

679
00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:42,720
Speaker 4: know how many times we can see the Celtics underachieve

680
00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:46,240
Speaker 4: their talent level and just be cool with it, because

681
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,400
Speaker 4: it is incredibly frustrating and it remains a concern.

682
00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:49,640
Speaker 3: Now.

683
00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:53,000
Speaker 4: The Sixers aren't exactly the epitome of playoff greatness. I

684
00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,760
Speaker 4: don't think there are two stars on the planet as

685
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,440
Speaker 4: of this point who have underachieved more on the playoff

686
00:32:58,440 --> 00:33:01,520
Speaker 4: stage relative to expectation then James Harden and Joel Embiid.

687
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:04,560
Speaker 4: This is the best version of Embiid. He absolutely has

688
00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,000
Speaker 4: the opportunitytunity to prove that statement wrong, but up to

689
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,040
Speaker 4: this point he's regressed every single time he's been there.

690
00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:13,160
Speaker 4: A combination of his body breaking down, his jump shot

691
00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:17,160
Speaker 4: breaking down, and his difficulty handling double teams basically. So

692
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 4: I'm not gonna give the ultimate vote of confidence to

693
00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:22,920
Speaker 4: those guys, but there's no question they can match the

694
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:28,480
Speaker 4: Celtics in terms of talent approximately, especially with the level

695
00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 4: that they're getting from some of these role guys Paul

696
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:33,440
Speaker 4: Reed de Anthony Meltin. You have two really high level

697
00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:37,960
Speaker 4: perimeter shot makers and creators in Maxi and Harden. You

698
00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:41,280
Speaker 4: have a good mismatch attack or pull up jump shooter

699
00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,160
Speaker 4: all around supporting score and Tobias Harris, and you have

700
00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:47,760
Speaker 4: potentially an unstoppable one on one scorer in Joel Embiid.

701
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,440
Speaker 4: So I do think it's going to be a question

702
00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:53,600
Speaker 4: of what level is he at, how healthy is he?

703
00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,080
Speaker 4: Like is he going to be in the spot where

704
00:33:56,080 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 4: it's either we double him or we die, Because if

705
00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,520
Speaker 4: the Celtics get to that point, then they're in trouble.

706
00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:04,719
Speaker 4: Like I do think they have good personnel to double

707
00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:07,360
Speaker 4: and bed with. They have good long athletes, they have

708
00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:10,759
Speaker 4: good defensive personnel overall, but it's a scary spot to

709
00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,680
Speaker 4: be in against the best spot up shooting team in

710
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:17,400
Speaker 4: the league. So I think we need to see consistently

711
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:21,840
Speaker 4: disciplined Boston defense. I think we need to see Tatum

712
00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,799
Speaker 4: and Brown not settling, getting to the rim, getting high

713
00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:27,600
Speaker 4: quality shots. We need to see them and this guardcore

714
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:32,640
Speaker 4: creating good drive and kick opportunities, and if they execute

715
00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:35,480
Speaker 4: in all those areas, then they should win. But this

716
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:37,879
Speaker 4: isn't going to be a matter of James Harden doing

717
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:40,080
Speaker 4: what he did, because I thought that was an exceptional

718
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,839
Speaker 4: display of shot making. Harden could not score the rim

719
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:45,960
Speaker 4: against the nets. He was nine of thirty four. I

720
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,040
Speaker 4: believe it was on twus in that series. Like their length,

721
00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,600
Speaker 4: their athleticism, defensively, their help, it was too much for him.

722
00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:54,680
Speaker 4: And he got a few looks at the rim in

723
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:56,759
Speaker 4: this one, but it was mostly the step backs from

724
00:34:56,760 --> 00:34:59,040
Speaker 4: deep and his ability to kill them from that mid

725
00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:01,480
Speaker 4: range area to take what they were giving him in

726
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:03,839
Speaker 4: that range where he was nails. But he's not gonna

727
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:06,600
Speaker 4: do that consistently. He's not the level of downhill force

728
00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:08,400
Speaker 4: that he used to be. So it is going to

729
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,520
Speaker 4: be about Embiid. It's gonna be about the level that

730
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:12,040
Speaker 4: he can play at and if he can be his

731
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:17,160
Speaker 4: best version. Having stolen one on the road, the Sixers

732
00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:19,840
Speaker 4: should probably win this series now, but I don't know

733
00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:23,920
Speaker 4: if I'm comfortable picking that. Just because it seemed that

734
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:27,880
Speaker 4: the situation with Mbid's knee was worse than initially believed

735
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,399
Speaker 4: and this is like a speedier return, then that would

736
00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:33,080
Speaker 4: suggest maybe. But it's just a concern for me that

737
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:34,560
Speaker 4: he's not going to be one hundred percent and if

738
00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:36,799
Speaker 4: he's not, then I think the Celtics talent advantage is

739
00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:39,319
Speaker 4: still significant enough to where they should win.

740
00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:40,480
Speaker 2: Now.

741
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:42,280
Speaker 1: We are going to need to see great Joe El Embiid.

742
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:44,480
Speaker 5: We have yet to see him really reach that peak

743
00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:46,920
Speaker 5: as a shot maker in the playoffs. We have yet

744
00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,480
Speaker 5: to see him be a great playmaker in the playoffs

745
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,759
Speaker 5: when they send bills at him, or just even be

746
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:56,279
Speaker 5: flat out efficient. And Embid is still a guy who's

747
00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 5: really reliant on getting to the line as well too.

748
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:02,640
Speaker 5: He's gonna have to play great now on the other

749
00:36:02,719 --> 00:36:03,399
Speaker 5: side of that too.

750
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:04,959
Speaker 1: I don't know about you, guys.

751
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,880
Speaker 5: I was completely disappointed with the level of defensive engagement

752
00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:10,680
Speaker 5: and effort we saw from Boston in that first game too.

753
00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:15,480
Speaker 5: On what they did in James Harden, They're just it

754
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:18,480
Speaker 5: was a very soft defensive effort from Boston, and it's

755
00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:21,000
Speaker 5: like very similar to the Lakers and how they take

756
00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:22,960
Speaker 5: games off. It seems like Boston it just has this

757
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:27,120
Speaker 5: propensity to take quarters off, to just lose it at

758
00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:27,920
Speaker 5: certain points.

759
00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:31,200
Speaker 1: I think you're right. I think Boston.

760
00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:35,200
Speaker 5: Boston scares me like no other team in the NBA does,

761
00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:38,440
Speaker 5: with their propensity to just disappear at the drop of

762
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:42,480
Speaker 5: a hat like a magician, just bam. We get bad Celtics.

763
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:46,200
Speaker 5: It's turnovers, it's bad decision making, it is a complete collapse.

764
00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:50,759
Speaker 5: It is bad defensive effort. We haven't seen the Celtics

765
00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 5: just be consistent in closing moments, and sixteen turnovers in

766
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:57,960
Speaker 5: Game one was really bad too. Schematically, I want to

767
00:36:57,960 --> 00:36:59,400
Speaker 5: ask you guys, I mean, do you guys think that

768
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:02,560
Speaker 5: they should doubles an Embiid or you content with Horford

769
00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:05,600
Speaker 5: and Robert Williams in the paint Like I think that

770
00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:06,960
Speaker 5: Horford and Robert.

771
00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:08,520
Speaker 1: Williams have done a tremendous job when I'm beating in

772
00:37:08,600 --> 00:37:10,880
Speaker 1: the past. How do you defend him? How do you

773
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,080
Speaker 1: try to limit him in this series? What do you

774
00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:14,880
Speaker 1: do to limit Joel Embiid?

775
00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:18,520
Speaker 2: If you're Boston, they do a really nice job of

776
00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:21,480
Speaker 2: mixing up coverages. When I went back and watched all

777
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,480
Speaker 2: their matchups, I watched particularly the last two matchups they

778
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:28,399
Speaker 2: had this year, because Joel and me played really well

779
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:30,320
Speaker 2: in those two games. I thought it was good examples

780
00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:32,879
Speaker 2: of how to like kind of deal with it, and

781
00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:36,360
Speaker 2: there was no real rhyme or reason to it. The

782
00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:40,680
Speaker 2: game where he was on fire late they double teamed

783
00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:42,680
Speaker 2: him and PJ. Tucker burnt them out of the corner

784
00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:44,839
Speaker 2: with a couple of threes. But he played really well

785
00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:47,319
Speaker 2: in the game with the Jason Tatum game winner, and

786
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:49,120
Speaker 2: there was a possession late in the game where he

787
00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:51,400
Speaker 2: got switched onto Jalen Brown and they just let him

788
00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:53,040
Speaker 2: work one on one and he ended up drawing a

789
00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:55,799
Speaker 2: foul and going to the line. Sometimes they double his face,

790
00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:58,399
Speaker 2: sometimes they double from behind, sometimes they double on the catch,

791
00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:01,520
Speaker 2: sometimes they double off the dribble. It's very seems to

792
00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:04,080
Speaker 2: be very improvisational. There doesn't seem to be any rule

793
00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:07,400
Speaker 2: set of rules that they're following. At the end of

794
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:12,000
Speaker 2: the day, like the Sixers actually scored pretty well on

795
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:15,279
Speaker 2: emb double teams on a points per possession basis, But

796
00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:19,160
Speaker 2: it's not entirely telling because Joel Embiid also turns the

797
00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:22,560
Speaker 2: ball over a ton, so one point, you know, two

798
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:26,000
Speaker 2: points per possession, for example, is undercut by the sheer

799
00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:29,399
Speaker 2: number of transition possessions that are triggered by him turning

800
00:38:29,480 --> 00:38:34,520
Speaker 2: the basketball over. Carson is right that his struggles handling

801
00:38:34,600 --> 00:38:40,280
Speaker 2: double teams are a legitimate postseason problem. You know, I

802
00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:45,359
Speaker 2: I think everything comes down to Boston's defensive effort. When

803
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:50,560
Speaker 2: I went back and rewatched that first game, their offense.

804
00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:51,400
Speaker 3: Wasn't that bad.

805
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:55,080
Speaker 2: I want to give a ton of credit to the Sixers.

806
00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,640
Speaker 2: Two man, were they flying around defensively with their five

807
00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:02,919
Speaker 2: out group in that in that final sequence, The job

808
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:06,040
Speaker 2: that Tobias Harris and PJ. Tucker were doing rotating around

809
00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:08,520
Speaker 2: on the back end as they were trying to hedge

810
00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:11,080
Speaker 2: with Tyree Smacks here when Tyre's would get beat off

811
00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:14,239
Speaker 2: the dribble, or when they'd slip a ball screen or

812
00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:17,359
Speaker 2: something like that, like every time someone got downhill, they

813
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:21,400
Speaker 2: were facing bodies in Sixers jerseys. It was a really

814
00:39:21,400 --> 00:39:25,040
Speaker 2: good defensive effort. It was more the other end of

815
00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:29,240
Speaker 2: the floor where the where the Celtics just were playing

816
00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:32,960
Speaker 2: pickup basketball, like, oh, let's switch this, and you know,

817
00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:35,840
Speaker 2: we'll just kind of let James Harden get comfortable with

818
00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:38,279
Speaker 2: the live dribble when literally there's two guys on the

819
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:41,000
Speaker 2: floor that can't shoot, so we should be pressing up

820
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:42,759
Speaker 2: on him and forcing him to drive into all of

821
00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:44,880
Speaker 2: our traffic. It was just a really bad defensive effort.

822
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:45,719
Speaker 3: Here's the thing.

823
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,719
Speaker 2: I don't think Embiid's gonna have enough. And the main

824
00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:53,360
Speaker 2: reason why is if it was the same Joel Embiid

825
00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:56,360
Speaker 2: that we saw when he beat the Celtics earlier this year,

826
00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:58,600
Speaker 2: I feel way more confident because he was in such

827
00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:01,440
Speaker 2: a good groove and he was healthy. But the reality

828
00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:04,480
Speaker 2: is is with him being a little outer of rhythm

829
00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:06,640
Speaker 2: by being away from the game for the past week

830
00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:09,239
Speaker 2: or so, and the way that can affect his work

831
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:11,319
Speaker 2: from the foul line, and I'm not talking about free throws,

832
00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:13,640
Speaker 2: I'm talking to live droubles, triple threat stuff from the

833
00:40:13,640 --> 00:40:16,959
Speaker 2: foul line, and then also just conditioning and the fact

834
00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:18,960
Speaker 2: that he's had to rest so much on that knee,

835
00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:22,000
Speaker 2: and the fact that in order to beat the Celtics

836
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,279
Speaker 2: team when they're really locked in on both ends, and

837
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,000
Speaker 2: Bead's gonna have to be so so so good for

838
00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,600
Speaker 2: so long in these games. I just don't think that

839
00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:34,160
Speaker 2: he has enough in terms of conditioning to make that work.

840
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:36,960
Speaker 2: All right, let's get to our last series here. So

841
00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:41,520
Speaker 2: Nick's Heat. Game one Knicks played really well for a while,

842
00:40:41,600 --> 00:40:44,040
Speaker 2: then the Heat come back, stagnate him with a bunch

843
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:48,640
Speaker 2: of switching, make a bunch of shots, and end up winning.

844
00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:52,120
Speaker 2: R J. Barrett for whatever reason, co ops the offense

845
00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:54,160
Speaker 2: down the stretch, makes a bunch of mistakes. Game two,

846
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:58,320
Speaker 2: Sposer runs a ton of z own Jimmy Butler's out

847
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:01,600
Speaker 2: stagnates the hell out of in a different way than

848
00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:03,800
Speaker 2: Finally down the stretch, they unlocked a couple of different

849
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:05,839
Speaker 2: ways to attack the zone and basically screening the top

850
00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:08,040
Speaker 2: guy for Jalen bruntson so you could get some pull

851
00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:10,920
Speaker 2: up jump shots, and then Julius Randall just backing his

852
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:13,880
Speaker 2: way down until he could draw multiple defenders for kickouts.

853
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:18,879
Speaker 2: I I'm gonna save my answer until you guys go.

854
00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:22,239
Speaker 2: But at one one here headed back to Miami with

855
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:25,799
Speaker 2: Jimmy and Julius both kind of banged up. Who do

856
00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:30,520
Speaker 2: you favor at this point? I think it depends.

857
00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:34,400
Speaker 4: On Jimmy Butler's health, because the Miami Heat continue to

858
00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:37,840
Speaker 4: overperform their talent level more than any other team in

859
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:40,000
Speaker 4: the league. And I remember there was a point, with

860
00:41:40,280 --> 00:41:42,359
Speaker 4: maybe a month or so left in the regular season

861
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:44,160
Speaker 4: where I came on your show, Jason, and we talked

862
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:47,040
Speaker 4: about who's most likely to pull off an upset out East.

863
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:49,319
Speaker 4: I literally laughed at the idea that the Heat would

864
00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:51,239
Speaker 4: do it, because I thought this is probably the least

865
00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:54,279
Speaker 4: talented team in the entire playoff field. And they were,

866
00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:57,000
Speaker 4: and then they lost Tyler Hero and then they lost

867
00:41:57,080 --> 00:42:01,200
Speaker 4: Jimmy Butler, and they continue to scheme up in ways

868
00:42:01,239 --> 00:42:03,560
Speaker 4: that maximize their talent level. I think Spoe is the

869
00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:05,840
Speaker 4: best coach in the league. I think their ability to

870
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:08,240
Speaker 4: create out of the pick and roll with limited athletes,

871
00:42:08,239 --> 00:42:12,160
Speaker 4: but to consistently weaponize their shooting has been super impressive.

872
00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:15,520
Speaker 4: The level they've reached defensively, their ability to force the

873
00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:18,439
Speaker 4: Knicks to beat them with decision making and shooting, which

874
00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:20,719
Speaker 4: can be two weak points with this team, as we

875
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:23,440
Speaker 4: saw in Game one where they collapsed, especially in the

876
00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:28,280
Speaker 4: shooting category. It's so impressive, And if Jimmy is healthy,

877
00:42:28,680 --> 00:42:31,600
Speaker 4: I think they have the level of big time shot making,

878
00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:35,080
Speaker 4: of takeover scoring in those clutch situations and of course

879
00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:39,040
Speaker 4: Jimmy is just their best perimeter defender, then I would

880
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:41,959
Speaker 4: pick them, But I think you also hit on why

881
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:45,279
Speaker 4: if he's not healthy, if he doesn't play, or if

882
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:48,759
Speaker 4: he isn't like normal Jimmy Butler. I do Lean New York,

883
00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:51,719
Speaker 4: and it is that they have the guys who can

884
00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:55,200
Speaker 4: create better looks and who are more big time shot makers,

885
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:57,960
Speaker 4: and I thought that that different showed late in this game.

886
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:01,520
Speaker 4: Of course, the Knicks were forty percent from they outshot

887
00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:05,399
Speaker 4: expectations there. But Brunson was able to create quality looks

888
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:07,720
Speaker 4: for himself even against the zone in this second half,

889
00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:09,920
Speaker 4: and was nails as a pull up jump shooter. Like

890
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:13,200
Speaker 4: you said, Randall's ability to attack mismatches which we saw

891
00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:15,880
Speaker 4: early in this game, and then against the zone to

892
00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:19,239
Speaker 4: draw help, and I thought created two great looks from

893
00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:22,759
Speaker 4: deep at the end that won this game. Basically, the

894
00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:26,200
Speaker 4: Heat still don't have that caliber of creation even in

895
00:43:26,239 --> 00:43:28,640
Speaker 4: the aggregate, and we saw they had a lull three

896
00:43:28,680 --> 00:43:31,560
Speaker 4: plus minutes no buckets in this fourth quarter. Knicks had

897
00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:34,680
Speaker 4: the opposite, They had the shot makers, and they surged ahead.

898
00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:39,160
Speaker 4: So I just feel like that gap is enough to

899
00:43:39,239 --> 00:43:43,440
Speaker 4: wear Eileen New York without Jimmy, But what a testament

900
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:45,800
Speaker 4: that is to the heat that it's a conversation because

901
00:43:46,719 --> 00:43:48,759
Speaker 4: just such clean execution on both sides of the ball.

902
00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:52,359
Speaker 4: They only have fourteen turnovers through two games here, Like

903
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:55,600
Speaker 4: it's remarkable what they do. But I do think that

904
00:43:55,760 --> 00:44:00,360
Speaker 4: Randall Returning tipped that shot, creation star shot made making

905
00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:03,719
Speaker 4: pendulum enough in the knicks favor to where I think

906
00:44:03,719 --> 00:44:05,040
Speaker 4: they're the better team.

907
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:07,840
Speaker 5: I still think the Knicks are the better team without Jimmy,

908
00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:10,480
Speaker 5: but if Jimmy's healthy, I think I lean Miami. And

909
00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:12,759
Speaker 5: that's schematically. It's what they've been able to do out

910
00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:14,680
Speaker 5: of the pick and roll. Like you said, Carson, this

911
00:44:14,719 --> 00:44:16,359
Speaker 5: is a Miami team that did not run a lot

912
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:18,279
Speaker 5: of pick and roll in the regular season. They're running

913
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:21,880
Speaker 5: thirty one possessions per game, the highest frequency in these playoffs.

914
00:44:21,880 --> 00:44:24,200
Speaker 5: And it's like you said, when you have all these shooters,

915
00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:27,960
Speaker 5: if you sag off for any any bit, if you

916
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:31,800
Speaker 5: give these guys a sighted daylight, Duncan Robinson, Max Drus Gabe, Vincent,

917
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:35,320
Speaker 5: Tayla Martin, any of them, if you sag off for

918
00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:37,520
Speaker 5: just a little bit, they're gonna earn you and they're

919
00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:39,720
Speaker 5: gonna hit that three Jason, I think this is exactly

920
00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:41,880
Speaker 5: what the Knicks need to do down the stretch when

921
00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:43,040
Speaker 5: they're offense stagnates.

922
00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:45,320
Speaker 1: And that second quarter into the third, when.

923
00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:48,480
Speaker 5: Miami switched into that two three zone, it was like

924
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:49,960
Speaker 5: it was like the Miami Heat.

925
00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:52,759
Speaker 1: They threw out a fishing rod and the Knicks took

926
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:53,120
Speaker 1: the bait.

927
00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:55,240
Speaker 5: They were like, go ahead, take all the open threes

928
00:44:55,280 --> 00:44:57,800
Speaker 5: that you want, and the Knicks hook line and sinker

929
00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:00,160
Speaker 5: took it. Take a bunch of threes. That is not

930
00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:02,680
Speaker 5: their bread and butter. They need to run more pick

931
00:45:02,719 --> 00:45:04,880
Speaker 5: and roll. They need to get downhill, they need to

932
00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:07,319
Speaker 5: collapse the defense, and they need to open up more

933
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:11,919
Speaker 5: open looks instead of just taking stagnant threes. The Knicks

934
00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:14,120
Speaker 5: ran the eleventh most pick and roll in the regular season.

935
00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:16,759
Speaker 5: They are running four less pick and roll possessions per

936
00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:20,360
Speaker 5: game at the second least frequency among teams remaining in

937
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:23,279
Speaker 5: the playoffs. I think when this offense stagnates, you have

938
00:45:23,360 --> 00:45:27,919
Speaker 5: got guys who can get downhill, especially Jayalen Brunson, set

939
00:45:27,960 --> 00:45:30,280
Speaker 5: your pick and roll ball handlers up for more success.

940
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:33,520
Speaker 5: You've got two guys who are basically eightieth percentile out.

941
00:45:33,440 --> 00:45:35,040
Speaker 1: Of the pick and roll that's a manual.

942
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:38,439
Speaker 5: Quickly and Jalen Brunson, when your offense is stagnating, give

943
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:41,279
Speaker 5: them a screen, let them go to work against the zone,

944
00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:45,320
Speaker 5: because settling for threes is not the right ideal for

945
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:48,319
Speaker 5: the Knicks. I don't want to pick this series, if

946
00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:50,319
Speaker 5: I'm being honest with you guys. This scares me like

947
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:53,200
Speaker 5: no nothing else. I think the Knicks are more talented,

948
00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:57,600
Speaker 5: but man, I bet against Jimmy last round and I

949
00:45:57,640 --> 00:45:59,759
Speaker 5: got burnt like nothing else, and I don't want to

950
00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:04,920
Speaker 5: better against Jimmy Butler. I think I'm slightly leaning Miami,

951
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:07,759
Speaker 5: although I will say this is my final point. If

952
00:46:07,800 --> 00:46:12,000
Speaker 5: the Knicks can out rebound and outwork Miami on the glass,

953
00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:14,600
Speaker 5: I think that is where they hold their most distinct advantage.

954
00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:17,480
Speaker 5: With Mitchell Robinson, with Isaiah harden Stein, with Josh Hart,

955
00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:20,839
Speaker 5: with Julius Randall, with all these great physical athletes. If

956
00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:24,120
Speaker 5: the Knicks can really really dominate the glass in this series,

957
00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:26,280
Speaker 5: I think they can pull it out. But that's really

958
00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:30,239
Speaker 5: their only advantage to me. With the Jimmy Butler thing,

959
00:46:30,280 --> 00:46:32,440
Speaker 5: i think I'm still slightly leaning Miami.

960
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:35,440
Speaker 2: Though that's been the most disappointing thing for me from

961
00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:38,080
Speaker 2: the Knicks is first half of Game one, they played

962
00:46:38,080 --> 00:46:41,400
Speaker 2: with so much force and they've looked like the bigger, stronger,

963
00:46:41,440 --> 00:46:45,000
Speaker 2: faster team, and then Miami's kind of flipped that dynamic

964
00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:47,279
Speaker 2: to a certain extent in the last three halves at

965
00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:51,240
Speaker 2: least evened it out. The biggest schematic thing that's bothering

966
00:46:51,360 --> 00:46:55,280
Speaker 2: me is I don't know why they aren't switching these

967
00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:59,359
Speaker 2: guard pick and rolls yet with Miami, And the main

968
00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:02,200
Speaker 2: reason why is, like, just from a skill development perspective,

969
00:47:03,239 --> 00:47:05,760
Speaker 2: like when I'm working on pull up jump shots, there's

970
00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:08,200
Speaker 2: two different kinds of shots that I work on. There

971
00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:11,839
Speaker 2: are shots where I'm baking in automatic separation and then

972
00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:14,720
Speaker 2: there's shots where I need to generate separation. So, for instance,

973
00:47:14,719 --> 00:47:16,440
Speaker 2: like if I'm working on pick and roll shots and

974
00:47:16,480 --> 00:47:18,880
Speaker 2: I'm going to hit a move to set up a

975
00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:20,560
Speaker 2: guy on a screen, and then I'm going to try

976
00:47:20,560 --> 00:47:22,719
Speaker 2: to do, you know, one or two hard ribbles to

977
00:47:22,719 --> 00:47:24,440
Speaker 2: my left or one or two hard dribbles to my

978
00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:27,440
Speaker 2: right with a certain footwork to elevate and knock down

979
00:47:27,440 --> 00:47:29,759
Speaker 2: a shot. I'm not planning on there being a defender there.

980
00:47:29,960 --> 00:47:33,359
Speaker 2: The idea there's the defenders behind me. I am practicing,

981
00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:35,480
Speaker 2: and I will rep out hundreds and hundreds of these

982
00:47:35,520 --> 00:47:39,000
Speaker 2: pull up jump shots expecting that I expect to get

983
00:47:39,040 --> 00:47:42,400
Speaker 2: from a specific coverage, right Whereas if I'm squared up

984
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:44,640
Speaker 2: with the guy in isolation, I've got to make a

985
00:47:44,719 --> 00:47:47,560
Speaker 2: move to generate separation, So I've got to cover more ground.

986
00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:50,680
Speaker 2: I've got to set the hint at one direction and

987
00:47:50,680 --> 00:47:52,719
Speaker 2: come back the other way. It's much more difficult, much

988
00:47:52,719 --> 00:47:54,879
Speaker 2: more taxing on the body. And so when you run

989
00:47:54,920 --> 00:47:57,359
Speaker 2: a drop coverage the way that the Knicks have been

990
00:47:57,400 --> 00:47:59,719
Speaker 2: running against Lowry and Vincent and a lot of these

991
00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:03,680
Speaker 2: pick and rolls for Miami, you're allowing players that will

992
00:48:03,840 --> 00:48:07,919
Speaker 2: struggle to generate separation against NBA level athletes to get

993
00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:11,160
Speaker 2: natural separation that occurs as part of the coverage. And

994
00:48:11,239 --> 00:48:13,480
Speaker 2: now they're going into a shot that they practice and

995
00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:15,560
Speaker 2: rep thousands and thousands of times.

996
00:48:15,880 --> 00:48:17,560
Speaker 3: And of course, Kyle Lowry and Gave.

997
00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:19,439
Speaker 2: Vincent are knocking down some pull up jumpers that they've

998
00:48:19,440 --> 00:48:22,120
Speaker 2: been making their whole damn basketball lives since they were

999
00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:25,839
Speaker 2: in high school. Like switch the damn screen, make Gave

1000
00:48:25,920 --> 00:48:28,600
Speaker 2: Vincent and Kyle Lowry make a step back jump shot

1001
00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:32,000
Speaker 2: over Mitchell Robinson or Julius Randall off the bounce. This

1002
00:48:32,040 --> 00:48:36,080
Speaker 2: is a team that fundamentally lacks shot creation, even with

1003
00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:39,520
Speaker 2: Jimmy Butler let alone. Why when they don't have him,

1004
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:41,720
Speaker 2: so I'd like to see. I do think the Knicks

1005
00:48:41,719 --> 00:48:44,839
Speaker 2: have more talent, they have more athleticism. I just this

1006
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:47,280
Speaker 2: is coaching. Mismatches are a real thing that take place

1007
00:48:47,280 --> 00:48:49,520
Speaker 2: in the NBA and Spolsra I think is the very

1008
00:48:49,520 --> 00:48:51,920
Speaker 2: best coach in the NBA, and he's done a really

1009
00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:56,000
Speaker 2: nice job of baiting the Knicks into their worst tendencies. Honestly,

1010
00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:59,279
Speaker 2: right now, had I not already made a pick, I'm

1011
00:48:59,320 --> 00:49:01,759
Speaker 2: like on the fed's leaning slightly towards Miami, but I

1012
00:49:01,800 --> 00:49:04,319
Speaker 2: haven't seen enough to flip my pre series pick, so

1013
00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:06,400
Speaker 2: I'm gonna stick with the Knicks for now. All right, guys,

1014
00:49:06,440 --> 00:49:10,880
Speaker 2: that is all we have for today. Logan and Carson,

1015
00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:12,400
Speaker 2: thank you guys so much for coming on you. I

1016
00:49:12,440 --> 00:49:14,280
Speaker 2: think you guys do great work. Like I said again,

1017
00:49:14,360 --> 00:49:17,440
Speaker 2: I'm super stoked to have you guys on the team

1018
00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:20,120
Speaker 2: and I'm looking forward to talking a lot of basketball

1019
00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:22,600
Speaker 2: with you guys over the course of the next few years.

1020
00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:25,839
Speaker 2: As always, we appreciate you guys, and we will see

1021
00:49:25,840 --> 00:49:34,440
Speaker 2: you tomorrow night.

1022
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:38,680
Speaker 1: The volume