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Speaker 1: All right, welcome to tonight here at the Volume. Happy Tuesday, everybody.

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Speaker 1: Hope all of you guys are having a great week

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Speaker 1: so far. We are live on AMPS. If you're watching

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Speaker 1: on YouTube or listening on the podcast feeds, don't forget

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Speaker 1: that AMP is the very first place that you guys

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Speaker 1: can get these shows. Today's Memphis Grizzlies Day. They come

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Speaker 1: in at number fifteen and our Power Ranking is gonna

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Speaker 1: do a deep dive season preview on them. And then

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Speaker 1: I've got two mail bag questions for the end of

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Speaker 1: the show as well. You guys are the drop before

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Speaker 1: we get started, Subscribe to our YouTube channel, follow me

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Speaker 1: on Twitter at Underscore Jason lt don't forget about our

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Speaker 1: podcast feed under Hoops Tonight and I need mail bag questions.

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Speaker 1: Drop those in the YouTube comments so we can hit

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Speaker 1: them at the end of our shows. All right, let's

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Speaker 1: talk some basketball. So, like usual, we're gonna start with

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Speaker 1: an offseason recap. The Grizzlies lost Dylan Brooks to the

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Speaker 1: Houston Rockets and free agency, and Tyus Jones was included

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Speaker 1: in the Marcus Smart trade. He's now a Washington Wizard.

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Speaker 1: They added Josh Christopher, who's a bench guard from the

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Speaker 1: Houston Rockets. Talented guard, really good with the ball in

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Speaker 1: his hands, not so good with the ball not in

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Speaker 1: his hands. But he's a really athletic guard as well.

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Speaker 1: Probably not gonna see much room or time in the

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Speaker 1: rotation given how deep the Grizzlies are at guard, but

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Speaker 1: he's an interesting kind of a pickup for them to

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Speaker 1: potentially have some success within the long run. It's got

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Speaker 1: to learn how to shoot, though he's shot just twenty

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Speaker 1: two percent on catch and shoot jump shots last year

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Speaker 1: just set seventeen percent when he was unguarded, so that's

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Speaker 1: probably the biggest thing that's going to hold him back

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Speaker 1: from getting minutes playing alongside Desmond Bane, John Moran, and

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Speaker 1: Jared Jackson. They also signed Derrick Rose. He only played

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Speaker 1: in twenty seven games last year for the Knicks, career

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Speaker 1: low five point six points per game on forty six

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Speaker 1: percent true shooting, but he was good in pick and roll.

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Speaker 1: He ran one hundred nine pick and rolls for the

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Speaker 1: Knicks last year, leading to one hundred and thirty points.

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Speaker 1: That's one point one to nine points per possession, which

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Speaker 1: is in the ninety sixth percentile. He also shot fifty

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Speaker 1: three percent in effective field goal percentage on pull up

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Speaker 1: jump shots, although only thirty five of them. Because like

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Speaker 1: we said, he was out of the rotation for most

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Speaker 1: of the year. He might play some backup guard while

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Speaker 1: John Moran is suspended, but I don't expect him to

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Speaker 1: be in the rotation when Jott gets back. There is

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Speaker 1: a logjam at the guard position for this Grizzlies team.

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Speaker 1: One of the big themes for this show is going

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Speaker 1: to be the imbalance in this particular roster. They are

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Speaker 1: deep at center and they are deep at guard, but

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Speaker 1: they do not have a starting caliber forward on the roster.

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Speaker 1: They've got forwards right, guys like Jaron Jackson and Brandon Clark,

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Speaker 1: but they function more as bigs on both ends of

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Speaker 1: the floor. So I mean Jared Jackson can shoot, but

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Speaker 1: I mean he's not gonna attack close outs and play

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Speaker 1: driving kick the way a guard can. Right, So, for

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Speaker 1: all intents and purposes, they've got a lot of centers

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Speaker 1: and a lot of guards, but they don't really have forwards,

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Speaker 1: and specifically at the guard position, they're stacked, and it's

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Speaker 1: going to be hard to find minutes for guys. And

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Speaker 1: you know, the reason why this is going to be

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Speaker 1: such a hot button topic in this particular show is like,

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Speaker 1: you guys who followed the show for a while know

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Speaker 1: that the one team that I kind of root for

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Speaker 1: really is the Los Angeles Lakers, and I covered them

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Speaker 1: for a year and a half when they had no forwards,

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Speaker 1: and I've seen how damaging that can be to a

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Speaker 1: basketball team when you don't have guys that are between

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Speaker 1: six six and six ' nine that can dribble, shoot

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Speaker 1: and pass and guard multiple positions and help with crackdown

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Speaker 1: rebounding and things along those lines. If you don't have

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Speaker 1: those guys, it's hard to be a functional basketball team.

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Speaker 1: And I think that's something that has been a problem

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Speaker 1: for the Grizzlies even in the past, but losing Dylan Brooks,

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Speaker 1: who kind of was one of those guys, is a

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Speaker 1: you know, he's a little bit shorter on the shorter side,

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Speaker 1: he's six foot six, but he's very big and strong,

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Speaker 1: and he took a lot of those primary forward defensive assignments.

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Speaker 1: Like losing him, you now don't have a single starting

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Speaker 1: caliber forward on the roster, and I think that's something

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Speaker 1: that's going to be a little bit of an issue

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Speaker 1: for the Grizzlies this year. The lockdam at guard is

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Speaker 1: pretty significant. You have John Moran and Desmond Baine, which

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Speaker 1: you also have Marcus Smart and Lukenard. You also have

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Speaker 1: John conchar and Josh Christopher. You have Derek Rose in there.

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Speaker 1: That's seven guards who can probably play minutes if you

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Speaker 1: need him to. And so that's one of those things

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Speaker 1: that's going to be potentially an issue as the season progresses. Now,

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Speaker 1: what Derek Rose will help with a lot is he's

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Speaker 1: another grown up in the locker room. I think that

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Speaker 1: bringing in Derek Rose and Marcus Smart was a very

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Speaker 1: deliberate move by this front office to try to get

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Speaker 1: professional basketball players in the room. I think that you know,

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Speaker 1: one of the significant issues for the Grizzlies last year

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Speaker 1: was the distractions, right you know, you guys know I've

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Speaker 1: talked about trash talk on the show. I don't have

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Speaker 1: a problem with trash talk. I don't think there's anything

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Speaker 1: wrong with trash talk. I'd be lying to you if

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Speaker 1: I sat here and said that I've never talked trash

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Speaker 1: into basketball game before. Of course, it's part of the game.

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Speaker 1: But I think there's a difference between competitive trash talk

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Speaker 1: that takes place on the court, which we see all

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Speaker 1: over the place in every basketball game in America, and

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Speaker 1: then performative trash talk that's directed towards the media. Like,

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Speaker 1: for instance, is John Morant gonna walk up to Steph

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Speaker 1: Curry in the middle of a game and say, I'm

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Speaker 1: fine in the West. No, I don't think he's gonna

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Speaker 1: do that, but he went to the media and said

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Speaker 1: it right now, Dylan Brooks, he does a little bit

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Speaker 1: of both. But there's a lot of performative talk to

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Speaker 1: the media. And that's the thing is like Steph says,

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Speaker 1: I'm fine in the West, but in order to win

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Speaker 1: the West, you've got to beat Lebron and Steph and

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durant and nicolea Jokic. He ran into two of

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Speaker 1: those guys in the last two years and you lost

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Speaker 1: to both of them. So it was a performative stunt

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Speaker 1: in the media for whatever reason. Right, nothing wrong with it.

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Speaker 1: He's just a kid. He's a kid, and he had

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Speaker 1: to learn that lesson, right, Dylan Brooks, same kind of thing.

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Speaker 1: It's like, you know, trashing Lebron and say, oh, like

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Speaker 1: waxing eloquent about how he's figured out how to guard Lebron.

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Speaker 1: You just have to be physical with him and send

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Speaker 1: him left. But in a one position game with a

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Speaker 1: series at two to one with a chance to tie

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Speaker 1: the series, when you needed to stop, Lebron went left

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Speaker 1: and beat you for an end one and then you

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Speaker 1: lost the series. So, like all that performative stuff, it

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Speaker 1: was just a distraction. You'll notice I haven't mentioned Desmond Bain.

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Speaker 1: Desmond Bain is a legendary trash talker already in the NBA.

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Speaker 1: But the difference is he does it on the court.

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Speaker 1: He's not doing it performatively for the media for the fans.

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Speaker 1: He's talking trash on the court like a competitor. He's

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Speaker 1: looking back to Lebron in a game and saying those

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Speaker 1: footsteps aren't scaring anybody, right, Like That's that to me

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Speaker 1: is way more normal part of the game of basketball.

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Speaker 1: And all of the greats have a certain amount of

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Speaker 1: trash talk element to their game, at least most of

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Speaker 1: them do. But I think it was important to kind

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Speaker 1: of differentiate between those two and understand that the Grizzlies

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Speaker 1: were talking and acting like a team that had been

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Speaker 1: there and done that, but they had never actually been

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Speaker 1: there and done that, and that culture needed to turn over,

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Speaker 1: and there were two phases to that. It was get

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Speaker 1: Dylan Brooks out of the locker room and then get

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Speaker 1: some grown ups in the room to help joh Moran

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Speaker 1: with his development. And that's I think the purpose behind

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Speaker 1: bringing in Marcus Smart and Derreck Rose, although with Marcus

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Speaker 1: Smart there was a second purpose there, which is Jamran

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Speaker 1: is suspended for very similar reasons involving his behavior for

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Speaker 1: the start of the season for twenty five games, and

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Speaker 1: you need somebody who can step in and help you there.

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Speaker 1: And Marcus Smart is a legitimate, like you know, like

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Speaker 1: not just a starting level NBA guard, but a very

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Speaker 1: good starting level NBA guard, And he comes in and

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Speaker 1: helps you a lot in that specific situation. That was

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Speaker 1: your big splashy roster shakeup for this summer for Memphis Grizzlies,

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Speaker 1: Marcus Smart was an excellent or is an excellent defensive guard.

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Speaker 1: He won Defensive Player of the Year two years ago.

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Speaker 1: Marcusmart had a little bit of a defensive decline last year,

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Speaker 1: but that was kind of a team wide issue. And

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Speaker 1: those of you guys who've heard me talk about the

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Speaker 1: Celtics know that I don't necessarily attribute decline to any

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Speaker 1: of those things. Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, and Marcus Smart

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Speaker 1: all became lesser defenders without declining his athletes. What does

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Speaker 1: that tell you. It tells you. It's a commitment thing,

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Speaker 1: It's a culture thing. So I still think that Marcus

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Speaker 1: Smart is going to come into Memphis and be an

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Speaker 1: excellent defensive guard. He's also a good playmaking guard. He's

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Speaker 1: one of only thirteen players in the league last year

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Speaker 1: to average at least six assists per game but fewer

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Speaker 1: than two point five turnovers per game. He's good at

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Speaker 1: manufacturing rim pressure and pick and roll and attacking closeouts.

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Speaker 1: He's good at making kickouts to shooters and making drop

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Speaker 1: off passes to the dunker spot. He's a great pick

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Speaker 1: and roll player. He ran three hundred and fifty eight

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Speaker 1: of them last year. One point one eight points per possession.

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Speaker 1: That's off the charts good. That's ninety fifth percentile. As

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Speaker 1: a matter of fact, those like there were moments where

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Speaker 1: the Celtics offense just looked better when Marcus Marter or

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Speaker 1: Derek White were running the offense because they were looking

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Speaker 1: to drive and kick, and Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum

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Speaker 1: were going through these growing pains of learning how to

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Speaker 1: run an NBA offense. Right, So, like Marcus Smart is

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Speaker 1: a good offensive player who's going to help you there.

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Speaker 1: Here's a shot making numbers from last year. He was

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Speaker 1: efficient at the rim, but at low volume sixty six percent,

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Speaker 1: which is great for a guard in the restricted area,

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Speaker 1: but only one point two makes per game, so not

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Speaker 1: much there. Thirty nine percent effective field goal percentage on

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Speaker 1: pull up jump shots, which is not good, but fifty

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Speaker 1: one percent on floaters, which is very good. In fifty

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Speaker 1: three percent on effectiveield goal percentage on catch and shoot

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Speaker 1: jump shots, which is solid. Was not particularly great attacking

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Speaker 1: closeouts though he only scored zero point ninety four points

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Speaker 1: per possession in spot up situations, which is in the

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Speaker 1: thirty third percent tile And I don't even think that's

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Speaker 1: necessarily about his passing ability, because when Marcus is driving

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Speaker 1: to pass, he can make a lot of plays there.

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Speaker 1: Like we talked about earlier, it's more just what every

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Speaker 1: single Celtics fan will tell you is Marcus's big weakness,

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Speaker 1: which is occasionally he just tries to do too much

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Speaker 1: on offense. He will turn a simple situation into a

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Speaker 1: complicated situation. He will take a really tough shot when

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Speaker 1: there's no need for it. He will look off his

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Speaker 1: stars to try to make a play offensively and when

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Speaker 1: you probably should have the ball in a better player's hands.

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Speaker 1: That's just kind of the nature of the Marcus Smart experience.

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Speaker 1: He's super confident and super competitive, which helps him in

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Speaker 1: every single phase of the game, except for offensive decision

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Speaker 1: making from time to time. But I think most Celtics

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Speaker 1: fans would agree that the total package of Marcus Smart

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Speaker 1: is totally worth it, and he's very much a talent

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Speaker 1: infusion in this roster and is going to make them better.

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Speaker 1: So on the surface, when you look at it, just

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Speaker 1: from the simple standpoint of adding talent, bringing Marcus Smart

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Speaker 1: to the equation is a very very smart move for

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Speaker 1: this particular team. But we got to go back to

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Speaker 1: the depth chart for a minute, because let's talk about

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Speaker 1: the depth chart at guard. Like we talked about earlier,

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Speaker 1: we have seven playable guards, John Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart, Canar,

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Speaker 1: Derek Rose, Josh Christopher and John Conchar. The bigs we

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Speaker 1: have Jaron Jackson, Steven Adams, Brandon Clark, and Xavier Tilbman

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Speaker 1: who played really well in that first round series against

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Speaker 1: the Lakers. Like, that's four playable bigs. Two of them

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Speaker 1: at least are starter caliber and Steven Adams and Jaron Jackson.

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Speaker 1: Brandon Clark is an interesting player that might potentially be

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Speaker 1: able to start for a different team around the league

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Speaker 1: if he gets if he recovers well from his achilles

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Speaker 1: injury right, Like, he's got that level of talent. Brandon

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Speaker 1: Clark is a very very interesting player. But as we

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Speaker 1: go to the forward position, I've got Zira Williams, who

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Speaker 1: is a young player who is still not ready to

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Speaker 1: be in a starting forward role. I've got Jake Lavia,

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Speaker 1: another twenty one year old forward who's got some offensive

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Speaker 1: skill but isn't quite ready, right, And Santel Damo is

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Speaker 1: really good who played really well for Spain this summer,

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Speaker 1: and a guy that I think is a very interesting player.

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Speaker 1: But he's more of like a four than a three

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Speaker 1: in the sense that, like, you can't play him alongside

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Speaker 1: too bigs, So I don't think he can play when

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Speaker 1: John Mourant's out at the starting three, and that leaves

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Speaker 1: you with David Roddy. David Roddy in the Intel is

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Speaker 1: saying that David Roddy's probably going to start at small

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Speaker 1: forward while John Morant's out of the lineup, And like,

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Speaker 1: here's the thing. I like David Roddy. He's a good

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Speaker 1: physical defender and a smart offensive player, but he's got

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Speaker 1: some limitations, not a great shooter, and probably he's best

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Speaker 1: served coming off the bench, right. So I just named

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Speaker 1: four bench forwards, at least in terms of the perimeter

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Speaker 1: interpretation of the forward. And so what confuses me about

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Speaker 1: the Marcus Smart trade is just the overall kind of

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Speaker 1: process behind it, because when I look at when I

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Speaker 1: look at the big picture of this team, right, I've

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Speaker 1: got John Morant, this primary shot creator who's an on

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Speaker 1: ball type of player, and I've got Desmond Baine, who's

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Speaker 1: a primary shot creator as an off ball sort of player.

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Speaker 1: So they compliment each other really well. And I've got

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Speaker 1: Jaron Jackson who's kind of like the perfect modern five right, Like,

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Speaker 1: can have some off the dribble, Jews can play out

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Speaker 1: of the post, has a good catch and shoot jump

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Speaker 1: shot at this point, and arguably the best rint protector

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Speaker 1: in the league. I don't think so. I think he's

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Speaker 1: pretty far down on that list, probably in the four

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Speaker 1: or five range, but it certainly in volume of blocked shots,

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Speaker 1: he's the best rint protector in the league. Right. So, like,

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Speaker 1: you've got all of these specific pieces, but you've got

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Speaker 1: two guards, and you've got this center, and what you're

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Speaker 1: missing is a dynamic forward that can slot between those

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Speaker 1: guys that's between six six and six ' nine, that

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Speaker 1: is a good spot up player that can guard multiple

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Speaker 1: positions and help you on the glass. And they spent

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Speaker 1: two draft picks, two first round picks, going after Marcus Smart,

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Speaker 1: who's a very good player but is a redundancy at

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Speaker 1: this point. He won't be at the start of the season.

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Speaker 1: He's gonna make perfect sense filling in for John Morant

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Speaker 1: when he's out, and I expect the Grizzlies that hit

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Speaker 1: the ground running to start the season and win a

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Speaker 1: shit ton of games. But as is always the case

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Speaker 1: when I'm talking about this in this particular show, I'm

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Speaker 1: always looking at the bigger picture of the NBA playoffs,

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Speaker 1: especially with the way the league has changed. Because with

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Speaker 1: the way the league has changed now, regular season results

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Speaker 1: don't mean as much. We're seeing teams like Memphis and

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Speaker 1: Sacramento finish really high in the regular season and then

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Speaker 1: get beat by lower seeds that are experienced playoff teams

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Speaker 1: when they get to the playoffs. More than ever, in

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Speaker 1: the regular season, it matters less because teams are aware

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Speaker 1: that it's better just to be healthy when you get there.

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Speaker 1: And so the young teams that are athletic and young

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Speaker 1: and play hard every night are winning more regular season

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Speaker 1: games and getting higher seeds. And then the older veteran

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Speaker 1: teams that are more comfortable in the playoffs are coasting

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Speaker 1: and load managing and just getting through the season, and

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Speaker 1: then they're beating the young teams when we get there.

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Speaker 1: And so when I levy this criticism, I don't think

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Speaker 1: it's gonna hurt the Grizzlies in the regular season I mean,

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Speaker 1: we'll talk about it in a little bit, but I

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Speaker 1: expect them to win over fifty games this year, and

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Speaker 1: I right away, even without Jaw, I expect Marcus Smart

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Speaker 1: to come in and then to start winning. But in

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Speaker 1: the bigger picture, if you're gonna get out of the

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Speaker 1: Western Conference, if you're gonna beat teams like the Lakers

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Speaker 1: that just loaded up on talent this summer, I still

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Speaker 1: think they have the same top end weaknesses, but they're

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Speaker 1: certainly better than Memphis. And then we've got Golden State,

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Speaker 1: who has retooled a little bit. They're probably not as

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Speaker 1: good as some of the other teams at the top

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Speaker 1: of the West, but they beat Memphis two years ago.

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Speaker 1: Denver is gonna be good as shit again, right. Phoenix

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Speaker 1: is brought in Bradley Beal and better role players than

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Speaker 1: they have last summer. So they're all better. Right, That's

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Speaker 1: what you gotta get through. And so it's less about

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Speaker 1: can I win fifty games, it's can I beat those teams?

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Speaker 1: And right now, you don't have a starting caliber forward

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Speaker 1: on the roster. Now here's the thing. Memphis has a

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Speaker 1: lot of draft picks that they have access to in

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Speaker 1: the future, and so I wonder if this is kind

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Speaker 1: of like a a part one of a bigger, kind

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Speaker 1: of splashier move, right like, but if they intend to

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Speaker 1: flip you know, Luke Kennard's contract and maybe Marcus Smart

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Speaker 1: as well, but who knows, is something else for a

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Speaker 1: forward at the deadline, and maybe this makes a lot

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Speaker 1: more sense, But this team's ultimate ceiling involves Jaron Jackson

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Speaker 1: at the five, two really good forwards in John Moran

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Speaker 1: and Desmond Bay and making the two first round pick

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Speaker 1: trade for Marcus Smart kind of seems like a move

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Speaker 1: that is in a different direction in that sense, especially

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Speaker 1: when you will let Dylan Brooks go, which I agree with.

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Speaker 1: You can't pay Dylan Brooks twenty plus million dollars to

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Speaker 1: be a very limited offensive player. Dylan Brooks was literally

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Speaker 1: one of the worst offensive players in the league last year.

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Speaker 1: There were eighty one players in the NBA eighty if

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Speaker 1: you have a ten game limit, so eighty players in

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Speaker 1: the NBA last year that attempted at least thirteen shots

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Speaker 1: per game. Only one failed to score fifteen points per game,

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Speaker 1: and that was Dylan Brooks. So he was the least efficient,

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Speaker 1: you know, like volume guy in the league last year.

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Speaker 1: So like you needed to let him go, and we

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Speaker 1: talked about all the culture stuff earlier, with the distractions,

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Speaker 1: you needed to let him go. But he was your

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Speaker 1: one starting caliber forward, and now you don't have anybody

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Speaker 1: to slide in between there. So now you're gonna have

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Speaker 1: guys like David Roddy, who's a good bench player in

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Speaker 1: the NBA, playing starters minutes. And then what's our second problem?

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Speaker 1: Do you guys remember, Do you guys remember when I

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Speaker 1: was talking about the Lakers in a mailback question a

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Speaker 1: few games ago or shows ago, and I talked about

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis at the four and the problems that that

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Speaker 1: presents because the Lakers' four best players are Austin Reeves,

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Speaker 1: Lebron James, who has to play a four, Ruey Hachimura

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Speaker 1: who has to play a four, can play some three,

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Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis, who should play the five. If I

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Speaker 1: move ad to playing the four for a few shifts

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Speaker 1: a game, now I've got three of my four best

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Speaker 1: players playing the same position. Do you see how that

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Speaker 1: creates a logjam? Just so you can force minutes for

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Speaker 1: a center in there, Like it doesn't make any sense, right,

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Speaker 1: That's kind of the situation. With the Marcus Smart heal,

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Speaker 1: you bring him in. At first, it makes perfect sense.

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Speaker 1: Marcus Smart, Desmond Bane, David Roddy, Jared Jackson, Steven Adams

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Speaker 1: were winning a shit ton of games. Everything looks great.

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Speaker 1: But John Morant comes back into the picture. He's one

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Speaker 1: of the thirty best players in the league. So you

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Speaker 1: got you gotta play him, right. He's your franchise players,

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Speaker 1: your best player in the long run, so you gotta

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Speaker 1: play it. So now that slots Marcus Smart to the three,

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Speaker 1: and now I've got a backcourt with a skinny John Morant,

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Speaker 1: Desmond Bain who has a six to four wing span,

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Speaker 1: and Marcus Smart, who's sixty three, all on the floor

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Speaker 1: at the same time because my three best, three of

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Speaker 1: my four best players are guards. Now, when you have

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Speaker 1: that redundancy, you have to play them all at the

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Speaker 1: same time, or you lose minutes in the process because

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Speaker 1: you have to play size that that's kind of the problem.

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Speaker 1: It's better to have your star talent dispersed. If you

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Speaker 1: look at the Lakers, where their best players are a guard,

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Speaker 1: two forwards in a center sense, but if you go

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Speaker 1: center three guards for the for the Grizzlies have some issues.

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Speaker 1: If you go three forwards one guard for the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: you start to have some issues. And so that's where

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Speaker 1: like in terms of just roster balance, I'd like to

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Speaker 1: see the Grizzlies address that in the coming seasons. But

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Speaker 1: let's talk about offense and defense, like we did with

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Speaker 1: all of the other teams going into the season. I

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Speaker 1: want to start with the defense with the Grizzlies because

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Speaker 1: it's specifically important, not just because that was what they

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Speaker 1: were best at, but also because that was their best offense.

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Speaker 1: Because the Grizzlies actually finished the season eleventh in offensive rating,

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Speaker 1: but they were twenty second in half court offense according

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Speaker 1: to Cleaning the Glass. They relied heavily on getting stops

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Speaker 1: and steals to get out and transition for easy baskets.

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Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, they were the number one

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Speaker 1: transition frequency offense in the league. They scored or they

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Speaker 1: attempted one nine field goals this season in transition according

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Speaker 1: to Senergy, that was number one in the entire NBA.

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Speaker 1: They were fifteenth in transition efficiency, so they were middle

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Speaker 1: of the pack and converting those possessions, which doesn't sound great,

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Speaker 1: but it was one point one to four points per possession,

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Speaker 1: so they're middle of the pack transition efficiency, it was

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Speaker 1: still a one to fourteen offensive rating. To give you

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Speaker 1: an idea like, the best half court offense in the

428
00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,000
Speaker 1: entire league this year, according to Cleaning the Glass, was

429
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,160
Speaker 1: the Dallas Mavericks, and they scored one hundred and five

430
00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,359
Speaker 1: points per one hundred possessions. So even a middle of

431
00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:35,119
Speaker 1: the pack transition offense is almost ten points per one

432
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:39,399
Speaker 1: hundred possessions more efficient than the best half court offense

433
00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,879
Speaker 1: in the league. So it was a really smart strategy

434
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,800
Speaker 1: for Memphis. Bad half court offense, but we're athletic and

435
00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:48,160
Speaker 1: we're great at defense, so let's get stops and let's

436
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:52,280
Speaker 1: run like crazy down the other end. And they had

437
00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:55,080
Speaker 1: a lot of success that way. But you have to

438
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,040
Speaker 1: have a great defense in order to play that way,

439
00:21:57,280 --> 00:21:59,720
Speaker 1: which the Grizzlies absolutely did. They were third in defensive

440
00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:02,840
Speaker 1: ratings last year, number one in half court defense according

441
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,760
Speaker 1: to Cleaning the Glass. They allowed just ninety four points

442
00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,639
Speaker 1: per one hundred half court possessions. They were the second

443
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:10,960
Speaker 1: best team in the entire NBA and protecting the paint,

444
00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,600
Speaker 1: they allowed just forty six point six points in the

445
00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:15,960
Speaker 1: paint per one hundred possessions. They were third in the

446
00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:19,199
Speaker 1: league in blocks per one hundred possessions. Opponents shot just

447
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:22,359
Speaker 1: sixty two point one percent in the restricted area against

448
00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:24,639
Speaker 1: the Memphis Grizzlies, which was the best mark in the

449
00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,159
Speaker 1: entire league. So they guard the paint extremely well, and

450
00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,720
Speaker 1: there's two reasons for that. One is Jaron Jackson, best

451
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:31,960
Speaker 1: shot blocker in the league. That obviously deserves a whole

452
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:33,480
Speaker 1: lot of the credit, but a lot of it was

453
00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,679
Speaker 1: by design. This is a pack the paint team. They

454
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,240
Speaker 1: played two bigs and they help off a shooters, They

455
00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:41,159
Speaker 1: dig down into driving lanes, they make you see a

456
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:43,879
Speaker 1: crowd in the paint, and obviously the trade off with

457
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:45,560
Speaker 1: that is you give up a lot of threes. They

458
00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,600
Speaker 1: gave up the sixth most three point attempts per game

459
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,040
Speaker 1: and the sixth most three pointers made per game. But

460
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:54,919
Speaker 1: to Taylor Jenkins credit, they were helping off the right people.

461
00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,840
Speaker 1: They were top ten in opponent three point percentage, which

462
00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:00,199
Speaker 1: is what allowed them to have the defensive rating they did.

463
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,320
Speaker 1: And they also forced a lot of turnovers eighth most

464
00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:06,400
Speaker 1: in the league, to be exact, fifteen turnovers forced per

465
00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,240
Speaker 1: one hunder possession. So you pack the paint to just

466
00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,080
Speaker 1: think it through. If you pack the paint and force

467
00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 1: a lot of missed layups, which causes floor balance issues

468
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,760
Speaker 1: which lead to fast break opportunities, and you block a

469
00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,560
Speaker 1: lot of shots and you force a lot of missed threes,

470
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:27,399
Speaker 1: what's happening? Long rebounds, block shots, and missed layups caused

471
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,200
Speaker 1: flour balance issues, right those were just gift wrapping transition

472
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,800
Speaker 1: opportunities for the Memphis grizly. So they did an amazing

473
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,240
Speaker 1: job of using their defense to make up for their

474
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:40,919
Speaker 1: offensive shortcomings whenever they could. Biggest area of opportunity in

475
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,119
Speaker 1: the Memphis defense right now is rebounding. They were twenty

476
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,879
Speaker 1: second in defensive rebounding. I think it's a couple of

477
00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,200
Speaker 1: different things with that. Again, they're giving up a lot

478
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,680
Speaker 1: of threes, which means a lot of long rebounds. This

479
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,760
Speaker 1: is a huge interior team that offensive rebounds extremely well

480
00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:59,959
Speaker 1: Steven Adams, Jaron Jackson and Brandon Clark and Xavior Till.

481
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,440
Speaker 1: But those dudes are bullying people underneath the basket. On offense,

482
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:05,800
Speaker 1: they average over ten offensive rebounds a game just between

483
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,679
Speaker 1: those four guys. But long rebounds are about guards. And

484
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,320
Speaker 1: you've got a skinny guard, another guard with a short wingspan,

485
00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:15,920
Speaker 1: and Dylan Brooks, who is a somewhat undersized wing. Now

486
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,080
Speaker 1: you don't even have that guy anymore. So that's gonna

487
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:20,239
Speaker 1: be an even bigger problem in this particular season. Now,

488
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,040
Speaker 1: one of the things that's nice is David Roddy is

489
00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,199
Speaker 1: a better rebounder, a much better rebounder than Dylan Brooks was,

490
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:28,600
Speaker 1: So that should help a little bit. But that's where

491
00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:32,400
Speaker 1: athleticism at the forward position comes in long rebounds. It's

492
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:36,359
Speaker 1: it's athletes that get long rebounds. You need big, tall,

493
00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,960
Speaker 1: long armed athletes to grab those sorts of rebounds. And

494
00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,320
Speaker 1: so that's another situation where forwards well helped. This is

495
00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,240
Speaker 1: a team that should not be twenty second in defensive rebounding,

496
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:48,199
Speaker 1: but they are, and it comes down to giving up

497
00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:50,960
Speaker 1: a lot of threes and not having the appropriate amount

498
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,399
Speaker 1: of wing length to secure long rebounds. So, moving to

499
00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:57,760
Speaker 1: the offensive end of the four, we talked about transition earlier.

500
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,119
Speaker 1: I won't get into that. Obviously, another huge way they

501
00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,159
Speaker 1: supplement their week half court offenses by attacking the offensive glass.

502
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:05,439
Speaker 1: They made two hundred and seventy two offensive rebound put

503
00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:07,480
Speaker 1: backs last year. That was the sixth most in the NBA.

504
00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,600
Speaker 1: They averaged fifteen second chance points per game last year,

505
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:12,960
Speaker 1: also sixth most in the NBA. But let's talk about

506
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:16,280
Speaker 1: their half court offense for a little bit. So regardless

507
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:18,960
Speaker 1: of how good you are at half court defense, and

508
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,439
Speaker 1: regardless of how good you are at forcing turnovers, and

509
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,600
Speaker 1: regardless of how good you are getting out in transition

510
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,080
Speaker 1: and running, eventually you're gonna find yourself in a slow

511
00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,400
Speaker 1: down playoff game, and in a slow down playoff game,

512
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:31,480
Speaker 1: in the half court, you're gonna have to be able

513
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:36,080
Speaker 1: to generate shots. And in this particular situation, the biggest problem,

514
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:39,640
Speaker 1: and again this team was twenty second and half court

515
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,600
Speaker 1: offense according to Cleaning the Glass last year. It starts

516
00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:46,960
Speaker 1: with spacing. For this particular team, the Grizzlies play way

517
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,880
Speaker 1: too many players who are not threats off the ball.

518
00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:53,120
Speaker 1: They converted spot up possessions at zero point ninety nine

519
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 1: points per possession last year, which ranked twenty seventh in

520
00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:00,119
Speaker 1: the NBA, so the fourth worst mark in the entire NBA.

521
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,160
Speaker 1: That allowed the Lakers to do what they did, which

522
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,680
Speaker 1: is to pack the paint entirely on these Jam Morant

523
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:06,720
Speaker 1: pick and rolls, which just makes it really difficult to

524
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,320
Speaker 1: play like. This was a really heavy pick and roll offense.

525
00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:11,879
Speaker 1: They ran threey one hundred and sixteen last year, that

526
00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:14,760
Speaker 1: was tenth most in the entire NBA, but they converted

527
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,240
Speaker 1: them at just zero point ninety seven points per possession,

528
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:21,000
Speaker 1: which ranked twenty fifth in the NBA. Why because it's

529
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,800
Speaker 1: really hard to score and pick and roll when teams

530
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:27,639
Speaker 1: are ignoring shooters off the ball. Jaw was one of

531
00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:29,480
Speaker 1: the least efficient high volume pick and roll players in

532
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:31,040
Speaker 1: the league last year. He was out out of the

533
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,600
Speaker 1: fifteen players that ran at least a thousand high volume

534
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:35,280
Speaker 1: pick and roll list that I've been talking about all summer.

535
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,000
Speaker 1: He was tenth in that list at one point zero

536
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,879
Speaker 1: four points per possession. The Lakers held jam Moran to

537
00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,119
Speaker 1: just zero point eight seven points per pick and roll,

538
00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:47,199
Speaker 1: despite John Morant making fourteen pull up jump shots in

539
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:49,800
Speaker 1: that series. If you Memphis fans, you remember that series,

540
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,240
Speaker 1: Joe was hitting a shot when they were going under picks,

541
00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 1: and they still couldn't even get over nine tenths of

542
00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,600
Speaker 1: a point per job pick and roll because they're packing

543
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:03,879
Speaker 1: the paint. It's a great pick and roll player. Nobody

544
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,000
Speaker 1: can keep him in front off the dribble. He's an

545
00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,320
Speaker 1: excellent passer. His jumper is progressing nicely. He was up

546
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:11,479
Speaker 1: to forty four percent effective field goal percentage on pull

547
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:13,960
Speaker 1: up jump shots this year, and I expect another leap

548
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:16,320
Speaker 1: this year. I bet you he's up to forty eight

549
00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:19,560
Speaker 1: percent or so. This year. He shot forty seven percent

550
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 1: on floaters on massive volume. As a matter of fact,

551
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:23,600
Speaker 1: he made one hundred and twenty seven floaters last year,

552
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,600
Speaker 1: which is third most in the entire NBA. But you've

553
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,920
Speaker 1: got to give him space to work. Like I understand,

554
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:33,480
Speaker 1: I get it. Steven Adams is a great screener. The

555
00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,920
Speaker 1: dude averaged like five offensive rebounds a game last year.

556
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:40,640
Speaker 1: That's awesome. But like, at a certain point, you've got

557
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,280
Speaker 1: to give your skill players what all the other great

558
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:45,359
Speaker 1: skill players in the league have, which is room to work,

559
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,240
Speaker 1: especially when you're talking about a supreme athlete like Jaw

560
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:54,159
Speaker 1: who literally no one can guard. And it's amazing that

561
00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:56,639
Speaker 1: he's been as productive as he has been despite that.

562
00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:59,720
Speaker 1: Desmond Bain was the most impressive offensive players for the

563
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:02,280
Speaker 1: grizz in that Lakers series. If you guys remember, he

564
00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:05,320
Speaker 1: really took over games four and five of that series.

565
00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:06,800
Speaker 1: I thought he was the best player on the floor

566
00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,560
Speaker 1: for the last or for those two particular games Game

567
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 1: four and five, aside from the crazy stretch from Lebron

568
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:14,520
Speaker 1: at the end of regulation and in ot and Game

569
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:16,440
Speaker 1: four to steal that game. But he was the most

570
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,600
Speaker 1: reliable guy on both teams getting to spots on the

571
00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:27,520
Speaker 1: floor for half court offense. He uh uh again, Like specifically,

572
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,760
Speaker 1: I think it's interesting the way that Desmond Baine became

573
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,520
Speaker 1: their most efficient half court player at the tail end

574
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:37,640
Speaker 1: of the Lakers series, because John Moran's a better player

575
00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:42,240
Speaker 1: than Desmond bay. Like that's just a fact. Like Desimond

576
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:44,959
Speaker 1: bin played better than him in that series, but at

577
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,120
Speaker 1: least at the tail end. But John Rant's a better player.

578
00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:51,720
Speaker 1: But if you're going against a packed paint dribble drive,

579
00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:54,760
Speaker 1: guys are going to really struggle and guys that can

580
00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:57,920
Speaker 1: make shots over the top are going to succeed. Desmond

581
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,320
Speaker 1: Bain sixty one percent effective field goal percent on catch

582
00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,719
Speaker 1: and shoot jumpers in the regular season. He shot sixty

583
00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 1: nine percent an effective field goal percentage on catching shoo

584
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 1: jumpers in the Lakers series. He's also Desmond Bain has

585
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,480
Speaker 1: worked really hard to add an off the dribble game

586
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:14,800
Speaker 1: to his game. Two years ago he was like or

587
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:16,920
Speaker 1: three years ago, I should say, like not a good

588
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,800
Speaker 1: pull up jump shooter at all whatsoever. And then this

589
00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:22,160
Speaker 1: year fifty six percent effective field goal percentage on pull

590
00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,560
Speaker 1: up jumpers. That's great out of fifty six players to

591
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,000
Speaker 1: attempt at least two hundred and fifty pull up jump shots.

592
00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,680
Speaker 1: Last year, Bain ranked sixth in effective field goal percentage,

593
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:34,960
Speaker 1: so on a lower volume tier, but among the top

594
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 1: fifty or so pull up shooters, he's top ten. He's

595
00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,280
Speaker 1: worked really hard to build that out. Again, three years

596
00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:43,720
Speaker 1: ago not a reliable part of his game. Now it is.

597
00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:47,600
Speaker 1: He was a seventy eighth percentile pick and role player

598
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:51,960
Speaker 1: this last season. Two years ago he was thirty second

599
00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:54,840
Speaker 1: percent tile. So Desmond Bain has worked really hard to

600
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:56,560
Speaker 1: add that pull up jump shot and to add that

601
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,560
Speaker 1: off the dribble juice to go with his ridiculous catch

602
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,080
Speaker 1: and shoot game and so big shot against the Lakers

603
00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,160
Speaker 1: team that was packing the paint, running that deep drop

604
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 1: coverage with Anthony Davis at the rim, he was the

605
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:08,480
Speaker 1: guy that he was able to get over the top

606
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:11,120
Speaker 1: of screens and bump guys off with his shoulder and

607
00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:13,200
Speaker 1: rise up for those little fifteen foot jump shots and

608
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:16,640
Speaker 1: knock him down. He was actually giving Austin Reeves a

609
00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:18,600
Speaker 1: lot of problems over game four in game five of

610
00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,960
Speaker 1: that particular series with his strength. He's put in the

611
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:25,400
Speaker 1: work and it's paid off, and that's like, that's the

612
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:29,320
Speaker 1: really really exciting part. Like he had thirty six in

613
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,600
Speaker 1: game four and thirty three in game five. Like you've

614
00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:36,200
Speaker 1: got John Morant, who's this, you know, guy who's gonna

615
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:38,160
Speaker 1: be a perennial top twenty player in the league, potentially

616
00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:40,640
Speaker 1: even the top ten if if he figures some stuff out,

617
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,360
Speaker 1: And Desmond bain is working his ass off and like

618
00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:48,760
Speaker 1: going right with him progressing, and he you know, he

619
00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:51,560
Speaker 1: with the giant leaps he's taken every summer. Like at

620
00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,240
Speaker 1: this pace, he's very capable of becoming an NBA alsar

621
00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,240
Speaker 1: one day. And I haven't even talked about Jared Jackson,

622
00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:01,479
Speaker 1: who we're gonna talk about right now because we as

623
00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:04,680
Speaker 1: much as good as John Moranan and Desmond Baane have gotten,

624
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:08,080
Speaker 1: Jared Jackson's improving rapidly too. He had a great season.

625
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:10,120
Speaker 1: He led the leagues in he led the lead league

626
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,800
Speaker 1: in blocks again for the second consecutive year. This time,

627
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,160
Speaker 1: like seven tenths of a block more than he did

628
00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:20,160
Speaker 1: the previous season. He's also making huge strides offensively fifty

629
00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:22,240
Speaker 1: three percent in effective field goal percentage on catch and

630
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,480
Speaker 1: shoot jump shots, fifty eight percent when he's unguarded, so like,

631
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:28,000
Speaker 1: if you leave him open, he's pretty legit stretch big

632
00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:30,840
Speaker 1: at this point. He also was a legit post up

633
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,000
Speaker 1: threat this year. One hundred and ninety seven post ups,

634
00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,400
Speaker 1: one point zero four points per possession, fifty three percent

635
00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:38,280
Speaker 1: on hook shots. Dumped the ball down to him, he

636
00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:40,680
Speaker 1: can get a bucket, and that translated to the playoffs.

637
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:44,280
Speaker 1: He was attacking Lebron James in that first round series.

638
00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 1: He actually stayed over a point per possession in that

639
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:50,440
Speaker 1: playoff series against the Lakers out of the post. I

640
00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:52,320
Speaker 1: can't remember the exact number. It was like twenty seven

641
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:55,600
Speaker 1: post ups. It's not nothing so like that. There's real

642
00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,880
Speaker 1: there's real development there. You know. The biggest weakness that's

643
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:00,480
Speaker 1: standing out to me with Jaron Jacks right now is

644
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:02,920
Speaker 1: this rim finishing. He just shot just twenty excuse me,

645
00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:05,600
Speaker 1: shot just sixty six percent in the restricted area last year.

646
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:10,040
Speaker 1: Biggs should always be over seventy percent. But again spacing

647
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:13,720
Speaker 1: plays a role there two big lineups, You're going into

648
00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:16,680
Speaker 1: his secondary rim protector every time. And again that's the

649
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,400
Speaker 1: kind of the theme here. It's just it's too difficult

650
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:22,520
Speaker 1: to consistently score in the NBA against the level of

651
00:32:22,520 --> 00:32:25,360
Speaker 1: defensive talent that you're gonna see, especially in later playoff rounds,

652
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:27,440
Speaker 1: if you have multiple players on the floor that the

653
00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:31,480
Speaker 1: team doesn't have to guard. And what's interesting about it

654
00:32:31,520 --> 00:32:32,800
Speaker 1: in the long run, And I talked about this a

655
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:35,480
Speaker 1: little bit earlier, but like there's a lot of really

656
00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:39,880
Speaker 1: complimentary stuff going on with the stars, like John Moran,

657
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:43,880
Speaker 1: an on ball primary shot creator, but that's downhill towards

658
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,360
Speaker 1: the rim. Desmond Bayne, an on ball and off ball

659
00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:50,240
Speaker 1: primary shock. Remember desmon Vane was an excellent spot up

660
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:52,960
Speaker 1: shooter this year. He also had the thirteenth most buckets

661
00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:55,280
Speaker 1: made in the league coming off of off ball screens.

662
00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:57,640
Speaker 1: He's one of the best movement shooters in the league.

663
00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:00,640
Speaker 1: So you've got an off ball guy that complements John

664
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:04,200
Speaker 1: Morant perfectly, who's also making these huge, huge strides as

665
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,280
Speaker 1: an un ball shot creator. And then you've got Jaron Jackson,

666
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:09,600
Speaker 1: who not only is a post up fulcrum who not

667
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:12,240
Speaker 1: only is a defensive fulk crum but also is a

668
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:16,360
Speaker 1: legit stretch big, which is so important in the modern NBA.

669
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 1: So you've got everything you need to be like a

670
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:25,760
Speaker 1: bona fide championship contender except for what slots between them.

671
00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,040
Speaker 1: And right now, part of your problem is you're slotting

672
00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:31,240
Speaker 1: Jaron Jackson at the four, playing a non shooting big

673
00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:35,240
Speaker 1: next to him, and you've got weakness at the forward

674
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:39,600
Speaker 1: position between Jaron Jackson and Desmond Bay. That's gonna put

675
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,280
Speaker 1: you in a predicament with your spacing in the half court.

676
00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:46,640
Speaker 1: Nine times out of ten, this season feels like a

677
00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:49,280
Speaker 1: gap year from Memphis to me. And that's less about

678
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:51,719
Speaker 1: the Josh suspension and more about those issues at forward

679
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,360
Speaker 1: and with spacing like I was talking about, and again

680
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:55,720
Speaker 1: we got to look at the depth at the top

681
00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:59,760
Speaker 1: of the West. But like, you're not gonna beat teams

682
00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:03,040
Speaker 1: like Phoenix or Denver or the Lakers this year if

683
00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:05,760
Speaker 1: you have a glaring flaw and this team has too.

684
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:11,000
Speaker 1: But the exciting part is they can address those things.

685
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:14,239
Speaker 1: This Memphis team is really easy to guard in the

686
00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:18,920
Speaker 1: half court there, but as long as they address that

687
00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:24,880
Speaker 1: need at forward, especially two guys preferably as skinnier forward.

688
00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:27,040
Speaker 1: Be it'd be great as Aira Williams can make these leaps,

689
00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:30,400
Speaker 1: but preferably a skinnier forward that can get over the

690
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:32,560
Speaker 1: top of screens and knock down shots, like a Jade

691
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:37,520
Speaker 1: McDaniels type, right. And then a stronger forward who's bigger

692
00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:40,600
Speaker 1: and can and and can help you in post up

693
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:43,600
Speaker 1: situations against power players and help you as a low

694
00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:46,280
Speaker 1: man as a rim protector, and help you with defensive rebounding.

695
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,399
Speaker 1: Think is like think like the Aaron Gordon archetype, right.

696
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:51,840
Speaker 1: And another guy who might even be available for trade

697
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,200
Speaker 1: this this year is a guy like Jeremy Grant, a

698
00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:56,480
Speaker 1: really good athlete who can play off the ball, has

699
00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,799
Speaker 1: some off the dribble bounce pop and it slots really

700
00:34:59,880 --> 00:35:02,480
Speaker 1: no ically between those guys like. They need to find

701
00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:06,839
Speaker 1: those two needs, and if they do, I think they

702
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,920
Speaker 1: have the chance to contend year in and year out,

703
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:13,200
Speaker 1: because that's how high I think of John Morant, Desmond Bayne,

704
00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:15,799
Speaker 1: and Jaron Jackson. But they've got to provide them the

705
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,280
Speaker 1: appropriate players to slot them properly and orient them properly

706
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,719
Speaker 1: as a modern basketball team. That's it. I still think

707
00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:24,239
Speaker 1: they're gonna win about fifty games. I still think they're

708
00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:26,600
Speaker 1: gonna get home court in the first round, and they

709
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:28,479
Speaker 1: might even win a first round series if they get

710
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:30,920
Speaker 1: a good matchup. But I don't think this team is

711
00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:32,440
Speaker 1: getting out of the second round, and I wouldn't be

712
00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 1: surprised if they lost in the first round. All right,

713
00:35:36,280 --> 00:35:41,040
Speaker 1: let's move on to our mail bag. So first mail

714
00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:45,120
Speaker 1: back question from kleb who do you think would have

715
00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,280
Speaker 1: won between the Rockets and the Cavs in the twenty

716
00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,400
Speaker 1: eighteen finals if the Rockets had won Game seven instead

717
00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:54,080
Speaker 1: of the Warriors, and now Harden and CB three's legacy

718
00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:56,359
Speaker 1: would have looked differently if they won or Lebron won.

719
00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:58,719
Speaker 1: So I thought a lot about this, obviously, I was

720
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,640
Speaker 1: thinking about it at the time, and the answer to

721
00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:04,360
Speaker 1: me is pretty simple. Had Chris Paul been able to

722
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:06,799
Speaker 1: recover and play in the NBA Finals, I think they

723
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:08,400
Speaker 1: would have beat the Caves. The CAS team was not

724
00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:13,960
Speaker 1: very talented, but had Chris Paul stayed hurt, but they

725
00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:17,719
Speaker 1: somehow beat the Warriors in Game seven, which everybody wants

726
00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:19,719
Speaker 1: to attribute to just them missing threes, but really the

727
00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:21,680
Speaker 1: Warriors were just playing a better brand of basketball. And

728
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:23,759
Speaker 1: if you watch the threes that the Rockets took, they

729
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:25,680
Speaker 1: were taking a lot of bad shots in that game.

730
00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:28,520
Speaker 1: Had they gone into the NBA Finals with just hardened

731
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:30,879
Speaker 1: in role players against Lebron in role players, you bet

732
00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:32,560
Speaker 1: your ass and picking Lebron James. He was the best

733
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:34,799
Speaker 1: player in the world at that time and twenty eighteen,

734
00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:37,359
Speaker 1: Lebron is the best individual basketball player I've ever seen.

735
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:42,080
Speaker 1: But the bottom line is is that's what if, and

736
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:45,000
Speaker 1: that's not what happened. And Chris Paul did not return,

737
00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,760
Speaker 1: but they couldn't beat the Warriors, and then the greatest

738
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:49,520
Speaker 1: team of all time, the Warriors went in and kicked

739
00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:51,759
Speaker 1: the shit out of the Caves. But yeah, that's the

740
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:53,880
Speaker 1: answer to that question. Chris Paul healthy, I'd picked the

741
00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:56,399
Speaker 1: Rockets over the Calves. Chris Paul not healthy. I'd picked

742
00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:59,719
Speaker 1: the Calves over the Rockets. All right. Last mail back

743
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:02,800
Speaker 1: question from Ralph. Hey, Jason, my first time commenting. I

744
00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:04,799
Speaker 1: hope you haven't gotten this question too much, But why

745
00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:07,799
Speaker 1: do you think nobody uses the sky hook anymore? Hate

746
00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:09,319
Speaker 1: to break it to you, Ralph, You're the first guy

747
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:12,279
Speaker 1: to ask me about the sky hook, but let's talk

748
00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:14,520
Speaker 1: about it. So it's really simple to me. Like, the

749
00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:19,520
Speaker 1: reason why uh, nobody uses the sky hook is because

750
00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:23,440
Speaker 1: the half hook accomplishes basically the same thing and as

751
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:26,399
Speaker 1: much easier to make. So the sky hook just think

752
00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:28,000
Speaker 1: of it like this, like I'm gonna move my mic

753
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:30,360
Speaker 1: a little bit to make this possible. But the skyhook,

754
00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:33,160
Speaker 1: I'm way out on the side, right if the baskets here,

755
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:35,879
Speaker 1: I'm going way out on the side with the shot right,

756
00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:39,600
Speaker 1: and it's just a really difficult maneuver to make. A

757
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:42,920
Speaker 1: half hook is more like the baskets where you guys are,

758
00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:45,719
Speaker 1: and I'm turning my shoulder and I'm shooting like that,

759
00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:49,400
Speaker 1: and it's more like a floater, and it more closely

760
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:52,759
Speaker 1: mimics the end release more closely mimics that of a

761
00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:56,160
Speaker 1: jump shot, and so or a floater, right, so it

762
00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:58,799
Speaker 1: has more of like a natural shooting release to it,

763
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:01,560
Speaker 1: and so a half hook, even though it doesn't quite

764
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,120
Speaker 1: generate the same amount of separation as a sky hook does,

765
00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:05,960
Speaker 1: you can still get it off as long as you

766
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:07,680
Speaker 1: bump the guy with your left shoulder and then go

767
00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:10,640
Speaker 1: to the to the half hook, and it's a shot.

768
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:13,800
Speaker 1: Guys can make it a significantly higher percentage so I

769
00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:15,439
Speaker 1: think that's the main reason why as a matter of fact,

770
00:38:15,680 --> 00:38:18,480
Speaker 1: I would look at the skyhook as more like a

771
00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:22,640
Speaker 1: funky shot release in the terms of like a jump shot. Right, So, like,

772
00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:26,200
Speaker 1: what's a good example of this, Like think of guys

773
00:38:26,239 --> 00:38:29,319
Speaker 1: like Kevin Martin or Sean Mary and the guys who

774
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:32,319
Speaker 1: just had really funky shot releases, Like Kareem just had

775
00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:36,879
Speaker 1: a really funky hook shot that uniquely worked for him,

776
00:38:37,160 --> 00:38:39,680
Speaker 1: or he could knock that down at a high rate.

777
00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:43,880
Speaker 1: But like if I gave, you know, all of the

778
00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:47,080
Speaker 1: best bigs in the league, you know, one hundred shots

779
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:51,479
Speaker 1: on regular standard sky hooks, they're not gonna make half

780
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,920
Speaker 1: as many as they would with half hooks because it's

781
00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:56,920
Speaker 1: just a more natural shooting motion. So and for the record,

782
00:38:56,920 --> 00:38:58,920
Speaker 1: like I think if Kareem comes up today, I think

783
00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:01,239
Speaker 1: he takes a half hook instead of a skyhook and

784
00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:06,640
Speaker 1: probably still kicks everyone's ass with that. So that's again

785
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:08,839
Speaker 1: my two cents on that. But at the same time,

786
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:10,319
Speaker 1: like I don't know, maybe some guy will come in

787
00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:13,080
Speaker 1: and start making skyhooks and change the league again, who knows?

788
00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:14,799
Speaker 1: All right, guys, that is all I have for today

789
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:17,680
Speaker 1: is always as sincerely appreciate your support. We will be

790
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:44,480
Speaker 1: back with number fourteen tomorrow. The volume