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Speaker 2: All right, welcome to hoops tonight here at the Volume Ball.

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Speaker 2: You guys had an incredible weekend. We are getting into

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Speaker 2: our top five, the final tier of our player rankings

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Speaker 2: today with number five and number four, and then everyone's

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Speaker 2: really pissed off about how who I have at number five,

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Speaker 2: So we're gonna be doing some mail bag questions centered

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Speaker 2: around that and a little bit of debate in the

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Speaker 2: tail end of the show. You guys know the Joe

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Speaker 2: before we get started. Subscribe to Hoops Tonight YouTube channels.

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Speaker 2: You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me

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Speaker 2: on Twitter at underscore JCNLT so you guys don't miss

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Speaker 2: show announcements. Don't forget about a podcast feed wherever you

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Speaker 2: get you podcast owner Hoops Tonight, don't forget. It's also

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Speaker 2: helpful if you leave your rating and a review on

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Speaker 2: that front. And the last not out least, keep dropping

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Speaker 2: mail bag questions in the comments. If you disagree with

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Speaker 2: these rankings in any way, shape or form, leave your

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Speaker 2: case for it in the comments and we'll debate it

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Speaker 2: at the tail end of these shows. All right, let's

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Speaker 2: talk some basketball. So as we head into the final

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Speaker 2: tier of this list, I have this tier list. It's

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Speaker 2: a little complicated because I have this tier titled parent

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Speaker 2: MVP Candidates. I believe these five players will have at

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Speaker 2: least two Top five MVP finishes in the next three seasons,

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Speaker 2: which is something I don't think the rest of this

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Speaker 2: list is gonna do. Everybody I have from six to eleven,

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Speaker 2: I don't think you're gonna see multiple Top five MVP

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Speaker 2: finishes in the next three seasons from that group of guys,

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Speaker 2: But at the same time, I do see a drop

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Speaker 2: off from number four to number five. So the guy

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Speaker 2: I've had number five, which is Anthony Edwards, is kind

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Speaker 2: of like a tweener for me because one of the

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Speaker 2: many reasons we're going to get into it, but one

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Speaker 2: of the reasons why I had anticize I had is

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Speaker 2: because I do believe he's going to be a perennial

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Speaker 2: MVP candidate, and the guys believe below him, I don't

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Speaker 2: believe will be. But at the same time, I do

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Speaker 2: think the guy that I have at number four, there's

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Speaker 2: a little bit of a gap between him and Aunt

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Speaker 2: at this point. So like, if you want to call

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Speaker 2: it your top tier, super duperstar tier of players, that's

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Speaker 2: going to be one through four, but my perennial MVP

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Speaker 2: candidate tier is going to be one through five, which

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Speaker 2: we're starting today with number five. We had a couple

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Speaker 2: of people that were confused by the criteria, which I

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Speaker 2: went over extensively in our first video, the one that

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Speaker 2: had Kyrie Irving in it. It was number twenty five and

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Speaker 2: number twenty four if you scroll back on the feed,

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Speaker 2: I did like a ten to fifteen minute kind of

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Speaker 2: explanation of how we do this. The way I see it,

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Speaker 2: there are three different ways to rank players. You can

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Speaker 2: rank players like just who's the best basketball player today?

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Speaker 2: Like we got to play a basketball game right now,

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Speaker 2: who are the best basketball players in the world. Everyone's healthy,

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Speaker 2: everyone's at the top of their game, just who's the best.

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Speaker 2: That's one way to look at it, right, But it's

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Speaker 2: kind of an unrealistic way to look at it because

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Speaker 2: you never get to wear a win Alari O'Brien by

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Speaker 2: just playing a basketball game tomorrow. You win Alario O'Brien

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Speaker 2: by going from October all the way to June. Right.

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Speaker 2: The second way to look at it is bragging rights.

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Speaker 2: This is what I did the last couple of years

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Speaker 2: with my list. It was more of like a just

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Speaker 2: a representation of who had the best season. Like it

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Speaker 2: was more of like a wards kind of thing, like,

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Speaker 2: let's give recognition to who played the best basketball in

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Speaker 2: the last twelve months. Right, I've done this list. This

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Speaker 2: is my third time doing this list since I got

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Speaker 2: with the volume. The first two times we did it,

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Speaker 2: that was kind of what it was. More like. It

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Speaker 2: was more of like a bragging rights type of list, right,

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Speaker 2: But that has flaws, right, because as soon as you

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Speaker 2: pass out the Larry O'Brien Trophy in mid June, it's like,

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Speaker 2: now we're starting over again. Now let's look forward. And

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Speaker 2: so I have tweaked it to this third kind of format,

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Speaker 2: which is what we're using this year, which is like,

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Speaker 2: if we were just doing a draft of all the

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Speaker 2: players in the NBA for a season that starts October

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Speaker 2: first for training camp and goes all the way through

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Speaker 2: mid June for the NBA Finals, who is the best

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Speaker 2: player that brings me the most overall winning impact regular

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Speaker 2: season kind of like durability and greatness combined with the

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Speaker 2: playoff translatability, like how well their game translates to the playoffs.

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Speaker 2: But also I have to build a team around them

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Speaker 2: from scratch in this scenario, and so versatility plays a

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Speaker 2: role at that point, and so all of those things

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Speaker 2: are kind of wrapped up in like this theoretical basically

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Speaker 2: like a theoretical fantasy draft, right for a season that

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Speaker 2: involves everything from October to June. That's the way I'm

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Speaker 2: looking at this particular list. So like, there are a

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Speaker 2: lot of people that it's like no way, Anthony Edwards

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Speaker 2: is top five, and it's like, okay, well, let's talk.

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Speaker 2: Is he top five in bragging rights?

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Speaker 1: I don't know.

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Speaker 2: He had a pretty impressive season last year, but I'd

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Speaker 2: have to look at that again. Is he top five

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Speaker 2: in a vacuum for like a game that starts tomorrow, Like, no,

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Speaker 2: I'm taking other players over him. I've seen people be like,

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Speaker 2: there's no way Aunt should be over Steph, and it's like, yeah, Like,

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Speaker 2: if I have an NBA Finals game that I got

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Speaker 2: to play tomorrow, I think I'd rather have Steph. You know,

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Speaker 2: I'd rather have Lebron. There's a lot of guys that

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Speaker 2: I would rather have right now, like even a guy

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Speaker 2: like Jason Tatum, Like for a game that's tomorrow, I

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Speaker 2: might just barely rather have Tatum. But that's not the

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Speaker 2: purpose of this list. The purpose of this list is

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Speaker 2: October to June, like kind of a fantasy draft kind

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Speaker 2: of concept. I thought that was just kind of the

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Speaker 2: way to best capture everything that you need from a

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Speaker 2: player for an actual NBA season, because at the end

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Speaker 2: of the day, that's what this is. This is an

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Speaker 2: actual NBA season that's about to start. They're gonna hand

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Speaker 2: out an actual Larry Larry O'Brien Trophy, And the way

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Speaker 2: they're gonna hand it out is they're gonna give it

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Speaker 2: to the team that wins four playoff series that are

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Speaker 2: based off seating based on how they perform over an

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Speaker 2: eighty two game sample. That's how you get the Larry

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Speaker 2: O'Brien Trophy. And so that's the way I want to

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Speaker 2: use a kind of like our format in terms of

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Speaker 2: player rankings as we move forward, at least for this year.

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Speaker 2: Who knows, maybe I'll have some massive change of heart

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Speaker 2: by next year, but that's what we're looking at. So

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Speaker 2: without any further ado. Number five Anthony Edwards last year

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Speaker 2: seventy nine games play. This is back back seasons, playing

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Speaker 2: seventy nine games, twenty five point six points per game.

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Speaker 2: One of the things you'll notice too is ants leap

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Speaker 2: kind of took place in the postseason run. So these

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Speaker 2: regular season numbers are still really good, but relatively Podesta

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Speaker 2: and compared to the way he performed in the postseason

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Speaker 2: and the way that his peers performed in the postseason.

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Speaker 2: But twenty six points per game, five point four rebounds

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Speaker 2: per game, five point one assists per game, He's one

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Speaker 2: of only seven players in the entire NBA last year

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Speaker 2: to average at least twenty five to five and five

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Speaker 2: in at least seventy games played, So in terms of

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Speaker 2: just production over a long NBA season, he's in some

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Speaker 2: rare company there, one point eight stocks per game. He

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Speaker 2: finished seventh in MVP voting at age twenty two. The

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Speaker 2: next guy I have on this list as a young

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Speaker 2: guard Shay gild Alexander, and he didn't get his first

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Speaker 2: MVP vote until he was twenty four, So that goes

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Speaker 2: to show you, just like in terms of like how

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Speaker 2: ahead of schedule Ant is now. Mind you, he's not

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Speaker 2: a better team at age twenty two than Shay was,

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Speaker 2: but he's had a lot of success earlier than most

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Speaker 2: of his peers do. Right, shooting splits forty six percent

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Speaker 2: from the field, thirty six percent from three to eighty

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Speaker 2: four percent from the line. That comes out to fifty

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Speaker 2: two percent in effective field goal percentage, but fifty eight

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Speaker 2: percent in true shooting, which is totally respectable. He's increased

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Speaker 2: his scoring volume and efficiency every season of his career

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Speaker 2: to this point. He also just increased his assist total

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Speaker 2: again every year of his career up to five point

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Speaker 2: one as a career high, while dropping his turnovers year

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Speaker 2: over year. He had a little stat to kind of

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Speaker 2: demonstrate that he had twelve games with at least eight

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Speaker 2: assists this year. That's double what he had in the

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Speaker 2: previous season. He had only six shooting numbers per sentergy

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Speaker 2: just zero point nine to four points per jump shot.

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Speaker 2: Not a great jump shooting season, but again, it really

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Speaker 2: seemed to take off in that postseason run. We'll get

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Speaker 2: a little bit deeper into that here in a few minutes,

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Speaker 2: and it was kind of he kind of had a

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Speaker 2: similar type of season to Jason Tatum. He was really

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Speaker 2: good off the catch one point one six points per

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Speaker 2: jump shot when he was unguarded, one point five to

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Speaker 2: eight points per catch and two jump shot. That's fifty

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Speaker 2: three percent field goal percentage, seventy nine percent weighted for threes,

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Speaker 2: which is insane, very very good off ball, catch and

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Speaker 2: shoot type of player, but similar to Jayson Tatum, had

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Speaker 2: a rough off the dribble regular season, just zero point

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Speaker 2: eight eight points per shot off the dribble, just thirty

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Speaker 2: five percent overall, just forty four percent weighted for threes.

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Speaker 2: He also takes a lot of like jab step face

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Speaker 2: up jump shots. He took one hundred and five of

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Speaker 2: them this year and got zero point nine to five

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Speaker 2: points per shot. I'm not even gonna get into the

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Speaker 2: playoff numbers until we kind of look at that in

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Speaker 2: totality here in a few minutes, shot forty four percent

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Speaker 2: on floaters, about one and a half attempts per game,

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Speaker 2: sixty three percent of the rim, which is awesome for

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Speaker 2: a guard in really good volume. He made three point

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Speaker 2: seven shots in the restricted area per game. That was

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Speaker 2: the most in the league among guards or any players

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Speaker 2: for that matter that are six five or smaller. And

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Speaker 2: one of the things you got to remember there is

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Speaker 2: that's with Rudy Gobert clogging everything up in the paint,

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Speaker 2: and that's you know, that became a major issue in

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Speaker 2: the Dallas series, which we're going to talk about in

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Speaker 2: a little bit. But like for him to be basically

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Speaker 2: the highest volume small guard or smaller NBA player in

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Speaker 2: the anything below six five, six five or shorter, to

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Speaker 2: be in the paint as much as he was given

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Speaker 2: his circumstances, Like to have a guy that really can't

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Speaker 2: catch and finish around the rim to kind of clog

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Speaker 2: things up, allowing opposing teams to to really jank things

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Speaker 2: up for their offense. Like I thought, that was really impressive.

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Speaker 2: Play type data per Synergy nine hundred and ninety pick

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Speaker 2: and roll. So he just barely missed our high volume

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Speaker 2: list by ten reps. He would have ranked eighth on

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Speaker 2: that list had he had those additional ten reps. One

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Speaker 2: point zero six points per possession including passes. That's in

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Speaker 2: the eightieth percentile. He ran four hundred and sixty nine

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Speaker 2: ISOs for four hundred and sixty nine points. You guys

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Speaker 2: can do the math on what that efficiency is. Ranked

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Speaker 2: sixteenth out of twenty four players on our High volume list.

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Speaker 2: Really good post up season though, one hundred and two

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Speaker 2: post ups. One point one seven points per possession. That's

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Speaker 2: in the eighty third percentile. When he likes his matchup,

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Speaker 2: he'll just dribble the ball up the side of the floor,

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Speaker 2: doesn't really matter, right side or left side. He definitely

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Speaker 2: likes that lefts that right side of the floor. She

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Speaker 2: can drible in his left hand for that right shoulder fade.

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Speaker 2: That's like his preferred side. But he'll bring the ball

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Speaker 2: off the floor and if he likes his matchup, he'll

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Speaker 2: just wave everybody through and like like it'll it's so funny.

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Speaker 2: You'll see go bare like come over sometimes, so like

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Speaker 2: try to set a screen for him and it's like, dude,

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Speaker 2: I'm posting up, like get the hell out of here,

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Speaker 2: and he'll take that kind of cleared side and he'll

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Speaker 2: just got to sit in that high hesitation. If he

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Speaker 2: likes his separation going over his right shoulder, he loves

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Speaker 2: to go to that right shoulder fade, but he can

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Speaker 2: also fade over his left shoulder. He also see him

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Speaker 2: to make aggressive moves with his left shoulder to go

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Speaker 2: into more like hooks and floaters kinds of things. He'll

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Speaker 2: draw some valves that way as well. But really really

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Speaker 2: impressive post up season for a guard. That turned into

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Speaker 2: a reliable direction for him to go in the postseason

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Speaker 2: as well. Already at age twenty two, one of the

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Speaker 2: most efficient high volume ball handlers in the league. Again

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Speaker 2: fifteen hundred and sixty one reps for one six hundred

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Speaker 2: and thirty five points in total including passes. That's all

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Speaker 2: pick and rolls, ISOs and post ups, one point zero

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Speaker 2: five points per possession on massive volume for a twenty

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Speaker 2: two year old on a team that kind of can

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Speaker 2: have some issues on the offensive end because of all

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Speaker 2: of their defensive minded personnel. Like there's a lot of

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Speaker 2: people comparing Tatum and Ant and we're gonna get a

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Speaker 2: lot into that when we get into the mailbag, and

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Speaker 2: it's like it's like it it's a little bit different

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Speaker 2: playing with Drew Holliday, Derek White and Jalen Brown and

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Speaker 2: Chris ops Porzingis and Al Horford, all guys that can

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Speaker 2: play both ends of the floor at a high level

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Speaker 2: than it is playing with Jade McDaniels who's a defensive specialist,

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Speaker 2: Rudy Gobert who's a defensive specialist, Nikaile Alexander Walker who's

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Speaker 2: a defensive specialist, Mike Conley who's an offensive specialist, and

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Speaker 2: Karl Anthony Towns who's an offensive specialist. Like, it's a

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Speaker 2: different it's a completely fundamentally different challenge to operate in

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Speaker 2: that setting. And again with all those circumstances, with all

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Speaker 2: those defensive minded personnel that most good teams are just

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Speaker 2: comfortable conceding catches to both on the role for Rudy

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Speaker 2: or on the perimeter for Jaden, Like to get in

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Speaker 2: massive volume one point zero five points per possession. That's

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Speaker 2: really impressive shot creation, and all of those numbers pale

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Speaker 2: in comparison to the player that Anthony Edwards became when

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Speaker 2: he got to the postseason. And to be clear, he

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Speaker 2: has consistently become this guy in the postseason. And finished

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Speaker 2: his last Western Conference Finals game at just twenty two

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Speaker 2: years old. At that point he had played in twenty

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Speaker 2: six career playoff games, and in twenty six career playoff games,

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Speaker 2: he's averaging twenty eight points, six rebounds, and six assists

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Speaker 2: on sixty percent of shooting. Twenty two years old, twenty

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Speaker 2: six games under his belt at those averages, that's insane,

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Speaker 2: And the most impressive part is he has consistently shot

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Speaker 2: his jump shot, especially off the dribble, really well in

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Speaker 2: the postseason. And that's really the fundamental kind of like

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Speaker 2: genesis of what makes Aunt such an exciting player to

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Speaker 2: build around. In terms of guards, I think you gotta

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Speaker 2: go all the way back at like man, I don't.

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Speaker 2: I can't. Like even with Dwayne Wade, he just wasn't

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Speaker 2: the shooter that ant that ant is, But like true

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Speaker 2: downhill force combined with elite pull up shooting as a

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Speaker 2: counter that's just a really rare duo and you don't

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Speaker 2: see it a lot in the NBA at all. It's

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Speaker 2: it's why I really like players like Jayden or excuse me,

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Speaker 2: like Jalen Williams for instance with Oklahoma City, when I

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Speaker 2: see players that have like legitimate like guys are on

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Speaker 2: the heels because they're worried about getting beat off the dribble,

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Speaker 2: but at the same time, like he can just settle

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Speaker 2: into that high hesitation pull up jump shot or a

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Speaker 2: quick step back or quick dribble combination and hit it

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Speaker 2: at a really high rate. Like that's super exciting and

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Speaker 2: that's ant superpower. He's like the best at getting to

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Speaker 2: the rim among players below sixty six, and he is

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Speaker 2: an elite pull up shooter in the playoff setting. And again,

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Speaker 2: like his jump shot is con it's continued to be

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Speaker 2: deadly in a pretty large sample at this point. Like,

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Speaker 2: first of all, he did it in the postseason before.

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Speaker 2: He was one point one to five points per jump

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Speaker 2: shot in twenty twenty two, one point zero two points

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Speaker 2: per jump shot in twenty twenty three, including one point

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Speaker 2: zero nine on pull ups, which is really good. This

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Speaker 2: Western Conference Finals run one point one zero points per

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Speaker 2: jump shot on volume, he took one hundred and eighty

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Speaker 2: four jump shots in total, took one hundred and fifty

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Speaker 2: one pull up jump shots, shot forty three percent on them,

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Speaker 2: and shot so many threes that it amounted to one

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Speaker 2: point zero eight points per pull up jump shot. That's

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Speaker 2: like insane good. He also took fourteen face up jumpers,

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Speaker 2: hit forty three percent of those, but because most of

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Speaker 2: them were threes, it amounted to one point twenty nine

335
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Speaker 2: points per shot attempt. Like he just deadly. And then

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Speaker 2: he continued it into the Olympics. He took sixty nine

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Speaker 2: jump shots with Team USA through the five exhibitions and

338
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Speaker 2: Olympics and Olympics play made thirty of them. That's one

339
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Speaker 2: point one four points per jump shot, one point one

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Speaker 2: three points per pull up jump shot. That's insane. Five

341
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Speaker 2: for nine on face up jump shots, four of which

342
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Speaker 2: were threes, that amounts to one point five six points

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Speaker 2: per shot. This is an extended run of deadly jump

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Speaker 2: shooting from a player who's also arguably the best athlete

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Speaker 2: in the league. And that was the real thing that

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Speaker 2: stood out to me in uh in that playoff run

347
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Speaker 2: was he proved to be basically unguardable one on one.

348
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Speaker 2: Like he got one hundred and seventy nine post ups

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Speaker 2: in ISOs including passes in the Western Conference Finals round

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Speaker 2: that's strictly in the playoffs, and got one point zero

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Speaker 2: nine points per possession including passes. That's insane, And like,

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Speaker 2: I want to get a little bit further into that

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Speaker 2: concept because he ended up running into some issues against Dallas,

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Speaker 2: and we're gonna talk about that extensively here in a minute,

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Speaker 2: but I want to get before we get to the

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Speaker 2: that part, I want to talk about the defensive end.

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Speaker 2: The defensive end is definitely a mixed back, clearly a

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Speaker 2: result of energy usage in my opinion, Like he's a

359
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Speaker 2: a plus ISO defender when you are like matched up

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Speaker 2: with Ant one on one, that's just a problem. He's

361
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Speaker 2: arguably the quickest lateral player, lateral movement guy in the league.

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Speaker 2: Like he's he's gonna beat you to a spot. You're

363
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Speaker 2: not gonna dribble around him. And he's built like a

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Speaker 2: fire hydrant, so you're not going through him. He's got

365
00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,240
Speaker 2: the athleticism to contest. So like you just you just

366
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Speaker 2: don't even try to score on Ant and ISO unless

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Speaker 2: you're like Yokic, right, like unless you're just way, way

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Speaker 2: way bigger than him, right, because it's you're probably just

369
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Speaker 2: gonna get ripped and he's gonna go down the other

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Speaker 2: end and get a dunk. But he's mostly a bad

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Speaker 2: screen navigator, to be clear. He can do it, and

372
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Speaker 2: he can do it really well, but the good possessions

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Speaker 2: are just too few and far and few and far between. Sorr,

374
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Speaker 2: I'm butchering the expression there. He's a big target, Like,

375
00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:13,840
Speaker 2: he's a big body, so he's a big target for

376
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Speaker 2: guys to actually set screens on it. When he gets picked,

377
00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:19,400
Speaker 2: he basically just dies on it. But to be clear,

378
00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:21,240
Speaker 2: it is mostly an energy and effort thing. And the

379
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Speaker 2: reason why we know that is you go go guys.

380
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Speaker 2: I rewatched it and did a whole film session on

381
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Speaker 2: it when we were in the postseason run, so you

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00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:29,920
Speaker 2: can actually find it if you go back into our feed.

383
00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:34,439
Speaker 2: But during the Minnesota comeback in Game seven against Denver,

384
00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,440
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray didn't score a single point and Anthony Edwards

385
00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:41,160
Speaker 2: literally had him in jail, and like I think, I think,

386
00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,080
Speaker 2: I think Ant ended up talking shit after the game

387
00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:45,159
Speaker 2: saying he had him in handcuffs and he's right, like

388
00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:49,280
Speaker 2: Jamal like straight up didn't score a single point. So like,

389
00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,080
Speaker 2: and Ant's just on him, ball pressure, chasing him over

390
00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:55,760
Speaker 2: the top of screens, getting deflections, like Ant was all

391
00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:58,040
Speaker 2: over him, so we know it's there, like we know

392
00:18:58,119 --> 00:18:59,879
Speaker 2: it's in there. But then he turned around in the

393
00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,320
Speaker 2: series and did a really bad job agains Kyrie irving

394
00:19:02,359 --> 00:19:05,320
Speaker 2: and many times looked lazy and was dying on screens.

395
00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:07,280
Speaker 2: And I actually set called that out before the series.

396
00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,160
Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, like, okay, you want Kyrie, that's great,

397
00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:12,960
Speaker 2: but like you know, Kyrie's really damn good, just like

398
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,800
Speaker 2: Jamal Murray. And if you don't bring Game seven intensity

399
00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:17,960
Speaker 2: from the start like Kyrie, o'cok your ass. And guess

400
00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,200
Speaker 2: what Kyrie cooked him in Game one right, So like that,

401
00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,040
Speaker 2: like my guess is just like every other star of

402
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,760
Speaker 2: his ILK, which is like the supreme athlete archetype. I

403
00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,080
Speaker 2: think Aunt eventually will become a great defender. I think

404
00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:34,480
Speaker 2: the just his competitiveness, his hatred of losing that scar

405
00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:36,600
Speaker 2: tissue that I always talked about, that like builds up

406
00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:40,199
Speaker 2: on your psyche as a result of tough losses. I

407
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:42,359
Speaker 2: think Ant will become an elite defender, but it's worth

408
00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:45,080
Speaker 2: mentioning at this point that he's kind of a mixed bag,

409
00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:46,359
Speaker 2: Like it's a lot of good and it's a lot

410
00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:49,639
Speaker 2: of bad eleidio defender, bad screen navigator and consistent effort

411
00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,320
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. I think we're a little ways

412
00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:54,560
Speaker 2: away from aunt being I think he's going to continue

413
00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,040
Speaker 2: to take leaps every year, but we're still a ways

414
00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,200
Speaker 2: from from where he needs to be on the defensive

415
00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:01,919
Speaker 2: end of the four. Talking about the Dallas series, right, So,

416
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:06,600
Speaker 2: Ann had a pretty damn impressive playoff run offensively outside

417
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,960
Speaker 2: of a couple of stretches, and it really started to

418
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,919
Speaker 2: come to the surface at the tail end of the

419
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:15,960
Speaker 2: Denver series, and then Dallas kind of piggybacked off that

420
00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:18,320
Speaker 2: game plan and kind of took it to a greater

421
00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,159
Speaker 2: extent in the in that Western Conference Final series. And

422
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:24,480
Speaker 2: the main thing there was just bringing the bigs up

423
00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,199
Speaker 2: to the level of the screen and really getting aggressive

424
00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:29,879
Speaker 2: as Ant was coming off of ball screens to basically

425
00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,560
Speaker 2: force him to get rid of the ball. And there's

426
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,119
Speaker 2: a bunch of different factors here. Some of this was

427
00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:37,920
Speaker 2: like there, like Denver was running a little bit more

428
00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:40,520
Speaker 2: passive coverages in the early part of the series, and

429
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:42,720
Speaker 2: Ant was able to get ahead of Steam, and after

430
00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:45,280
Speaker 2: I got ahead of Steam, Jokicic just couldn't keep him

431
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:47,920
Speaker 2: from the rim, right But like, it's hard to get

432
00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:50,040
Speaker 2: ahead of Steam to like to actually get your momentum

433
00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:53,680
Speaker 2: going if that runway is taken away by you coming

434
00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,119
Speaker 2: off the screen and just running into another defender right away.

435
00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:59,040
Speaker 2: And so Dallas just took this to the next level.

436
00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,560
Speaker 2: And we saw him struggle a little bit in that

437
00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:05,920
Speaker 2: late portion, middle late portion of the Denver series, and

438
00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:08,639
Speaker 2: like two Ant's credit, he made plays. He made some

439
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:10,880
Speaker 2: big plays in Game seven, he kind of cracked through,

440
00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,760
Speaker 2: did just enough to win that series and get into

441
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,560
Speaker 2: the next series. But Dallas basically doubled down on that

442
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,240
Speaker 2: game plan guard guard screens. He was getting doubled a

443
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,360
Speaker 2: lot of the time in actual big man screens. Gafford

444
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:25,440
Speaker 2: and Lively were both coming way out and forcing Aunt

445
00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,880
Speaker 2: to get rid of the basketball. And like it's two factors.

446
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,480
Speaker 2: Ant wasn't doing enough of a job trying to counter that.

447
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:34,240
Speaker 2: And I'm gonna get into some specific cent a minute,

448
00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:36,119
Speaker 2: And the second factor of it was go bear, Like

449
00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:39,240
Speaker 2: you're just running a lot of four on threes and

450
00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:41,480
Speaker 2: there are four on threes with Jada McDaniels and Rudy

451
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:43,920
Speaker 2: Gobert on the floor and sometimes Nikile Alexander Walker on

452
00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,080
Speaker 2: the floor and sometimes Kyle Anderson on the floor, and

453
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:50,800
Speaker 2: like those are just really limited offensive players specifically, go

454
00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:54,240
Speaker 2: Bear is often the decision maker in those situations, Like you,

455
00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:57,560
Speaker 2: like Dallas just knew they could get because what's the

456
00:21:57,640 --> 00:21:59,560
Speaker 2: fear if you send your big up to the level

457
00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:01,400
Speaker 2: of the screen, what you're scared of is their big

458
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,800
Speaker 2: getting behind because if he gets behind, you can throw

459
00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:06,000
Speaker 2: it up to him. And all the really good role

460
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:07,920
Speaker 2: men in the league are gonna score that every single

461
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:09,880
Speaker 2: time or make a pass out of it every single time.

462
00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:12,560
Speaker 2: And like Gobert will occasionally make a decent read in

463
00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,760
Speaker 2: a four on three, but he's certainly not great at it,

464
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:18,080
Speaker 2: and he's definitely one of the worst pick and roll

465
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,159
Speaker 2: like catch and finish and traffic guys that we have

466
00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:22,879
Speaker 2: in the league. And so it just it was one

467
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,119
Speaker 2: of those things where, like I thought it specifically with

468
00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:28,160
Speaker 2: pick and roll, there wasn't a whole lot that Aunt

469
00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,600
Speaker 2: could do. Now where I do get really critical of

470
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:34,679
Speaker 2: ant is it led to him being passive instead of

471
00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,080
Speaker 2: like getting rid of the ball and then immediately trying

472
00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,080
Speaker 2: to become a threat again to make something else happen,

473
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,080
Speaker 2: or hey, maybe don't attack with the ball screen anymore.

474
00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:44,280
Speaker 2: Like one of the things that really bothered me about

475
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,080
Speaker 2: ants play in that specific series is he didn't look

476
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:50,399
Speaker 2: confident going against Derek Jones Junior. Now, Derek Jones Junior

477
00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:52,800
Speaker 2: is a very good athlete, and so I understand why,

478
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:54,720
Speaker 2: Like it's not the same type of advantage as he

479
00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:58,000
Speaker 2: had in earlier series, Like KCP is just way too small,

480
00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:01,600
Speaker 2: not athletic enough to hang with him. Like Christian Brown

481
00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:03,960
Speaker 2: was big and strong enough to kind of hang with Ant,

482
00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:06,119
Speaker 2: and he had some good reps against Aunt. But Christian

483
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,760
Speaker 2: Brown also has his offensive limitations. And you know when

484
00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,119
Speaker 2: you go from KCP to Christian Brown, you take some

485
00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 2: damage on the defense or on the offensive end, right

486
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,159
Speaker 2: if you're Denver. But Derek Jones Junior, like for as

487
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:18,200
Speaker 2: athletic as he is, and it was a lot bigger

488
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,560
Speaker 2: and stronger than him, And so I wanted to see

489
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:21,920
Speaker 2: Ant like do more of what he did in the

490
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:23,600
Speaker 2: regular season, like bring the ball up the right side

491
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:25,879
Speaker 2: of the floor, like clear the side and like just

492
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,760
Speaker 2: go to work against Derek Jones Junior, Like, get go

493
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,359
Speaker 2: to work and try to bring a second defender in

494
00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:33,880
Speaker 2: a clear, straight up double team on a cleared side,

495
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,640
Speaker 2: see if you can't get some better opportunities there, rather

496
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:38,439
Speaker 2: than doing it in the ball screens where like it

497
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,639
Speaker 2: was really easy for Denver for Dallas, excuse me, to

498
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:43,240
Speaker 2: make him get rid of the ball and then just

499
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,479
Speaker 2: run really basic rotations on the weak side to make

500
00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,040
Speaker 2: sure that it was like Jaden McDaniels trying to knock

501
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 2: down a three or Rudy Gobaert trying to like catch

502
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:53,959
Speaker 2: and finish in traffic which wasn't working very well. Like

503
00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:55,919
Speaker 2: that's really the main thing is, Like I think he

504
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,600
Speaker 2: only took something like thirty three shots in game one

505
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:00,679
Speaker 2: in game two of that series, and I think he

506
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:03,879
Speaker 2: only had like forty points if I remember correctly. Like

507
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,119
Speaker 2: that that was the real disappointing part was Ant faced

508
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:09,760
Speaker 2: an aggressive coverage that made him get rid of the ball,

509
00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:11,880
Speaker 2: and so he was like fine, and he just got

510
00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:13,560
Speaker 2: rid of the ball and then he backed off. Now

511
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,400
Speaker 2: I don't think people realize like he really did respond

512
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:18,320
Speaker 2: to that well over the last three games of the

513
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:22,240
Speaker 2: Western Conference Finals. Anthony Edwards averaged twenty eight points, nine rebounds,

514
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,240
Speaker 2: and eight assists. That's right back to like top tier

515
00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:28,639
Speaker 2: superstar level production in those last three games of the series.

516
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:29,879
Speaker 2: But at that point I thought it was too late.

517
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:32,000
Speaker 2: They went down two on the road, and as we

518
00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,600
Speaker 2: all know, Luca went in there in game in game

519
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:39,000
Speaker 2: five and just landed the executing blow in that first quarter,

520
00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:42,159
Speaker 2: and then the series was basically over. But you know

521
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,440
Speaker 2: what really bothers me is that playoff run is discussed

522
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:49,359
Speaker 2: as though Ant got exposed, like so many people, it

523
00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,879
Speaker 2: was so interesting to watch as a fan, as like,

524
00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,080
Speaker 2: as we headed into that Western Conference final series, there

525
00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:58,040
Speaker 2: was all this hype around Ant and it was like,

526
00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,080
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, rise of the next great superstar. This

527
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,399
Speaker 2: is gonna be crazy. And then like he had a

528
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:08,440
Speaker 2: couple of bad games in a series against a much

529
00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,280
Speaker 2: more established superstar who is the second best player in

530
00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,280
Speaker 2: the league in my opinion, in Luka Doncic and had

531
00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:17,840
Speaker 2: some issues and it's like, okay, like I get it,

532
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:21,920
Speaker 2: he had some issues, but like everyone immediately jumped off

533
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,159
Speaker 2: the bandwagon and it's like it's not even close to ready,

534
00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:27,880
Speaker 2: Like this guy's like got exposed and it's like did

535
00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:30,160
Speaker 2: he get exposed because he had a couple of really

536
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,000
Speaker 2: bad games, and that sort of thing happens, like guess what,

537
00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:36,639
Speaker 2: Like the majority of stars have bad playoff games and

538
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,280
Speaker 2: as we like kind of zoom out, it's like, okay, wait,

539
00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,040
Speaker 2: he just played a sixteen game playoff run where he

540
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:45,800
Speaker 2: made it to the conference finals where he swept a

541
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,639
Speaker 2: team with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal on it,

542
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:51,600
Speaker 2: where he eliminated the defending champs led by the best

543
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,919
Speaker 2: player in the world, where he like single handedly removed

544
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 2: their second best player from the game in the second

545
00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:58,840
Speaker 2: half during their run with what he could do on

546
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:01,600
Speaker 2: the defensive end. And he wrapped up his playoff run

547
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,439
Speaker 2: averaging twenty eight points, seven rebounds, and seven assists on

548
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,399
Speaker 2: sixty percent through shooting. And everyone's talking about how he's exposed,

549
00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,080
Speaker 2: Like I don't get that. That's not being exposed. That's

550
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:17,240
Speaker 2: just a tiny taste of a dominant basketball player starting

551
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:22,159
Speaker 2: to realize his potential, which is literally astronomical. So and

552
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,920
Speaker 2: that takes us to the big question here, why do

553
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,359
Speaker 2: I have ant this high? And I have five reasons

554
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:30,560
Speaker 2: for you guys. I'll go through them quick and then

555
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:32,720
Speaker 2: we'll move on to our next player. Reason number one.

556
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,720
Speaker 2: It fits my tiers perfectly. I think Ant is a

557
00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,960
Speaker 2: perennial MVP candidate. He averages so far in his four

558
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,919
Speaker 2: year NBA career seventy six games played per season. He

559
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,480
Speaker 2: played seventy nine games in each of the last two years,

560
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,320
Speaker 2: so he's basically the most available superstar in the league

561
00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 2: right now. I think he's gonna average somewhere around twenty

562
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:52,960
Speaker 2: eight six and six on sixty percent true shooting this year.

563
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:54,400
Speaker 2: I think he's gonna get there. I think he's gonna

564
00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,480
Speaker 2: have I think he's going to translate that jump shooting

565
00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:58,879
Speaker 2: to the regular season sample this year. His team is

566
00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,400
Speaker 2: set up for regular seasons. Like they're not as talented

567
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,600
Speaker 2: as the as the Boston's and Denvers of the world,

568
00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,280
Speaker 2: but like they're young, they're athletic, they're huge on the

569
00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:08,840
Speaker 2: front line, and that's gonna keep in a lot of

570
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,360
Speaker 2: close games where he can push his team over the top.

571
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:13,119
Speaker 2: So I think they're gonna be a top four seed.

572
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,600
Speaker 2: He already finished seventh in MVP voting last year before

573
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,160
Speaker 2: he took his leap, so I think An's gonna finish

574
00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:20,960
Speaker 2: top five in MVP voting, and I think he's gonna

575
00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:23,719
Speaker 2: continue to do so for the next five years or so.

576
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:25,360
Speaker 2: So that was reason number one. He kind of fit

577
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:28,520
Speaker 2: my tiers perfectly as a perennial MVP candidate. Reason number two,

578
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 2: he's a twenty three year old high motor athlete. Again,

579
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,119
Speaker 2: this is not about a series that starts tomorrow. Guys

580
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:38,000
Speaker 2: like Anthony Edwards and Jason Tatum, they're gonna be much

581
00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:41,000
Speaker 2: closer to eleven on this list for a series that

582
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:43,320
Speaker 2: starts tomorrow. I think there are better guys. If like

583
00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:46,119
Speaker 2: everyone's healthy and we're already there, there are guys that

584
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:48,399
Speaker 2: I would take over them. But both Jason Tatum and

585
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:51,440
Speaker 2: Anthony Edwards are safe bets to give you seventy five

586
00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:55,040
Speaker 2: plus games of Superstar production this year, and the guys

587
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:56,840
Speaker 2: below them on this list are just not a safe

588
00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,399
Speaker 2: bet for that, And so that was the second reason

589
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:02,439
Speaker 2: for me. He's available to play every night. He's a

590
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:05,440
Speaker 2: freaky athletic player, is gonna apply a ton of rim

591
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:09,119
Speaker 2: pressure and have bursts of defensive dominance mixed in with

592
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,320
Speaker 2: obviously his his sketchy defense. But all that other stuff

593
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,920
Speaker 2: is stuff that older guys struggle with over eighty two games,

594
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:18,760
Speaker 2: and I just I don't have to worry about that.

595
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:20,760
Speaker 2: With An, I don't have to worry like there's gonna

596
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:22,439
Speaker 2: be a game this year where I'm watching Lebron on

597
00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:24,719
Speaker 2: a Tuesday in February, and I'm like, Lebron's straight up

598
00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,920
Speaker 2: like just not trying, like that's going to happen, Whereas

599
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:31,560
Speaker 2: like with Ant, like that'll happen, but it'll be like

600
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:35,040
Speaker 2: maybe three or four times the entire season. Like he's young,

601
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,959
Speaker 2: He's got a ton of energy that brings a lot

602
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,920
Speaker 2: of value in the eighty two game sample reason number three.

603
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 2: He has a proven playoff superpower. Already has a lightning

604
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:46,800
Speaker 2: quick first step that can beat just about anybody off

605
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,560
Speaker 2: the dribble, combined with a deadly pull up jumper. That's

606
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,680
Speaker 2: the push and pull right when you're a defensive player.

607
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 2: Are you on your toes getting ready to contest or

608
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,360
Speaker 2: on your heels getting ready to retreat? And Ant's one

609
00:28:57,400 --> 00:28:59,360
Speaker 2: of the rare guys that puts you in a position

610
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,680
Speaker 2: where you have to make decision there, and neither decision

611
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:03,840
Speaker 2: is a great decision. Most teams are going to back

612
00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:05,640
Speaker 2: off and try to make Ant shoot. We have a

613
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:07,920
Speaker 2: pretty large sample size here now of Ant just being

614
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,680
Speaker 2: a flat out deadly pull up jump shooter, so that

615
00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:14,240
Speaker 2: makes him basically impossible to guard one on one. Again,

616
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,240
Speaker 2: as we looked at his struggles, his struggles that he

617
00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:19,920
Speaker 2: had in the postseason, they stemmed mainly from team related

618
00:29:19,920 --> 00:29:25,080
Speaker 2: issues combined with his passivity. After Dallas like straight up

619
00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:28,200
Speaker 2: double teamed him everywhere and Denver did the same thing,

620
00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:32,200
Speaker 2: like they handled him with aggressive coverages. It wasn't like

621
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,960
Speaker 2: he'd like struggled to have success in a one on

622
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,240
Speaker 2: one setting. It's just he and it's his fault too,

623
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:41,479
Speaker 2: But him and the team couldn't solve the puzzle of

624
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:44,000
Speaker 2: the four on threes on the back end. When Ant

625
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,680
Speaker 2: would draw that second defender, that was a that's not

626
00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:48,680
Speaker 2: just on Ant, It's also on Ant, but it's not

627
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:53,520
Speaker 2: just on Ant. Number four, he will, in all likelihood

628
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:57,320
Speaker 2: experience the largest individual improvement on this list other than

629
00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:00,840
Speaker 2: maybe Wemby, by the time the playoffs come back around

630
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,040
Speaker 2: next April. Again, as I've mentioned many times, this list

631
00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 2: is not about a series that starts tomorrow. If you

632
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,680
Speaker 2: can get through the regular season in a position to succeed,

633
00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,280
Speaker 2: which we know Aunt will, then it's about a playoff

634
00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:16,360
Speaker 2: series that starts in April, that is seven and a

635
00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:20,280
Speaker 2: half months away. That's a lot of time for Aunt

636
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:24,480
Speaker 2: to continue this path where he is improving exponentially. And

637
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,960
Speaker 2: then lastly, number five, he is already a proven playoff

638
00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 2: riser his last three regular seasons twenty four, five, and

639
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,480
Speaker 2: five on fifty seven percent through shooting, his last three

640
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,960
Speaker 2: postseasons twenty eight, six, and six on sixty percent through shooting. Now,

641
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,240
Speaker 2: for the record, this is relatively common in NBA history

642
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 2: among the dominant athlete archetype, the guys that are like

643
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:52,480
Speaker 2: truly transcendently great athletes. The playoffs become more intense, more physical,

644
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:56,360
Speaker 2: right all of a sudden. That's where the supreme athletes

645
00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:59,080
Speaker 2: can really flex their muscles and in many cases actually

646
00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:01,960
Speaker 2: further the gap between them and their peers. And so

647
00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,080
Speaker 2: that I don't think it's hard to figure out, Like

648
00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 2: his scoring volume and efficiency goes up, his rebounding goes up,

649
00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,120
Speaker 2: his playmaking goes up. It's all just a product of

650
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,880
Speaker 2: the fact that he's a supreme athlete in a setting

651
00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:15,959
Speaker 2: that is advantageous for supreme athletes. So to put it simply,

652
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,960
Speaker 2: he's one of the most available and productive regular season

653
00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,520
Speaker 2: players in the NBA, who is a proven playoff riser

654
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:23,920
Speaker 2: and who's likely to be a substantially better player by

655
00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:26,760
Speaker 2: the time we get to April. And when you factor that,

656
00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:30,200
Speaker 2: I also view him as a perennial MVP candidate, which

657
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,920
Speaker 2: is literally the name of this tier, and it got

658
00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,640
Speaker 2: the number five spot for me going into the season.

659
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,120
Speaker 2: Number four Shake Gildas Alexander. Speaking of perennial MVP candidates,

660
00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:54,840
Speaker 2: he's coming off of back to back seasons with top

661
00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:59,000
Speaker 2: five MVP finishes. Finished second last year, played seventy five games,

662
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:02,160
Speaker 2: thirty points per game, six rebounds, six assists per game,

663
00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:05,480
Speaker 2: two point nine stocks per game. Only Daron Fox had

664
00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:08,680
Speaker 2: more steals per game than Shay Gills of Alexander. Last year,

665
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:11,200
Speaker 2: Eshay was one of only three players in the entire

666
00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:13,760
Speaker 2: NBA to average at least thirty points per game and

667
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 2: at least six assists per game. You guys can guess

668
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:19,920
Speaker 2: who the other two are. Luka Doncic and Jannis Antennakumpo.

669
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,840
Speaker 2: Shooting splits fifty four percent from the field, thirty five

670
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,320
Speaker 2: percent from three to eighty seven percent from the line.

671
00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:28,520
Speaker 2: That comes out to fifty seven percent effective field goal

672
00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:33,520
Speaker 2: percentage waited for threes, sixty four percent waited for free throws.

673
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:36,520
Speaker 2: With true shooting percentage, only three players in the entire

674
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:40,360
Speaker 2: league last year had a usage rate of at least

675
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:42,920
Speaker 2: thirty percent, meaning they were of the the top tier

676
00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:45,960
Speaker 2: of high usage players in the league, while also having

677
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:48,760
Speaker 2: a true shooting percentage of at least sixty two percent.

678
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:51,800
Speaker 2: Jannis and Joel Embid were the other two. So basically

679
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:56,120
Speaker 2: among guards, the only guy among primary perimeter players, the

680
00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:58,800
Speaker 2: only guy that had was that efficient at that level

681
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:02,720
Speaker 2: of usage shooting numbers per Synergy one point zero three

682
00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,280
Speaker 2: points per jump shot, one point zero five off the catch,

683
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:07,800
Speaker 2: only took seventy four off the catch jump shots all season.

684
00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:11,479
Speaker 2: Was a little iffy of a spot up player. You know,

685
00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:14,160
Speaker 2: Shay's so good in the other areas that it didn't

686
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,160
Speaker 2: play as much of a role for me. But in

687
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 2: terms of versatility, Shay kind of tends a little closer

688
00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:21,000
Speaker 2: to the Luka Doncics, Like I'm not sure he could

689
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:26,160
Speaker 2: play in like a a real equal opportunity type of system,

690
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:28,200
Speaker 2: not as bad as Luca, but he's kind of in

691
00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 2: that direction a little bit, And it just stems from

692
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:32,840
Speaker 2: the fact that he's like not a great off ball

693
00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:35,920
Speaker 2: player at this point in his career. Now that said that,

694
00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:38,080
Speaker 2: who knows what's gonna happen in the long run, Like

695
00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:41,600
Speaker 2: Chet can get way better and Jalen Williams, you guys

696
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,880
Speaker 2: know how much I believe in him. So, like we're

697
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,200
Speaker 2: we're gonna learn more about Shay as an off ball

698
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:48,080
Speaker 2: player over the next couple years, and I'm just curious

699
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,040
Speaker 2: to see how that part of his game develops. But

700
00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:53,600
Speaker 2: it's definitely not a strength of his right now. Interestingly enough,

701
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:55,800
Speaker 2: one point two to four points per shot when he

702
00:33:55,880 --> 00:33:59,000
Speaker 2: was unguarded on catch and shoots, just zero point five

703
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:01,680
Speaker 2: to five when he was guarded. I thought that was

704
00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:03,560
Speaker 2: interesting because he has a real set shot, kind of

705
00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:05,600
Speaker 2: loaded the ground when he's in catch and shoot situation,

706
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:07,719
Speaker 2: so kind of makes some sense that he would struggle

707
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:10,560
Speaker 2: when he's contested. One point zero three points per shot

708
00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:12,799
Speaker 2: off the dribble, though seven hundred and thirty attempts, which

709
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:16,320
Speaker 2: is insane volume. Forty seven percent in field goal percentage

710
00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,680
Speaker 2: fifty two percent waited for threes. Only Kevin Durant and

711
00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 2: Devin Booker had to higher field goal percentage jump pull

712
00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:27,000
Speaker 2: up jump shots among players to attempt at least five hundred,

713
00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:29,440
Speaker 2: so that's some rare company that he's in there. And

714
00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:31,560
Speaker 2: when you wait it for threes. Out of the sixteen

715
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:34,000
Speaker 2: players to attempt at least five hundred pullup jump shots,

716
00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:37,040
Speaker 2: Shay finished sixth inefficiency, so one of the best pull

717
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:39,279
Speaker 2: up jump shooters in the league. He also got one

718
00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:42,439
Speaker 2: point zero six points per face up jumper only took

719
00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:44,719
Speaker 2: about like a little under one per game though, so

720
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:45,960
Speaker 2: not a huge part of his game, but he does

721
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,480
Speaker 2: occasionally do that. Fifty four percent on floaters, although only

722
00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:52,480
Speaker 2: fifty nine attempts the season, and then sixty four percent

723
00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 2: at the rim, which is awesome for a guard and

724
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,840
Speaker 2: awesome volume two, he attempted six point three shot attempts

725
00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,600
Speaker 2: in the restricted area per game, which is out standing.

726
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:03,640
Speaker 2: You know what's really fascinating to me about Shae with

727
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:05,239
Speaker 2: the way that he gets to the rim, because like

728
00:35:05,719 --> 00:35:10,000
Speaker 2: Shay is different than a guy like Aunt, where like

729
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:12,200
Speaker 2: the way Ant gets to the rim is like he's

730
00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:16,080
Speaker 2: just hitting the gap, like he just sees an opening

731
00:35:16,120 --> 00:35:18,360
Speaker 2: and he shoots it, and he's so damn fast that

732
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:20,520
Speaker 2: there's just nothing you can do, right, so damn fast

733
00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:22,480
Speaker 2: on him strong, you can't knock him off his line.

734
00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:26,120
Speaker 2: Like it's very much a power rim pressure kind of concept.

735
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:29,640
Speaker 2: Shae gets to the rim a totally different way. It's

736
00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:31,480
Speaker 2: all about a couple. It's a couple of different things

737
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:34,399
Speaker 2: that combine into like a very difficult player to guard

738
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:36,480
Speaker 2: in space. So like, first of all, it's the fear

739
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:38,000
Speaker 2: of the pull of jump shot. As we mentioned, among

740
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,279
Speaker 2: players to shoot at least five hundred, the only guys

741
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:42,880
Speaker 2: that actually hit a higher percentage of them on a

742
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:45,600
Speaker 2: field goal percentage basis are Katie and Devin Booker. So like,

743
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:48,719
Speaker 2: as you're guarding Shaye, you're constantly worried, as we talked

744
00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:50,440
Speaker 2: about earlier about being on your toes or being on

745
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:54,160
Speaker 2: your heels, You're constantly worried on your toes that Shaye's

746
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:56,200
Speaker 2: about to rise into a pull of jump shot that

747
00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,360
Speaker 2: keeps you off balance. That combined with a change of pace.

748
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:05,040
Speaker 2: Shay isn't particularly fast, but he changes his speed from

749
00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:07,680
Speaker 2: stop to go to stop to go multiple times on

750
00:36:07,719 --> 00:36:10,320
Speaker 2: the same drive, which will catch you as a defender

751
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,480
Speaker 2: in between steps or with where you step out of

752
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:15,839
Speaker 2: your stance just barely as you kind of like rise

753
00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:18,160
Speaker 2: up to maybe contest a shot and then he'll shoot

754
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:21,960
Speaker 2: the gap and get around you protected dribble combinations. This

755
00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:24,560
Speaker 2: is something that's always been really fascinating to me about Shay.

756
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:26,879
Speaker 2: He'll sit in what I call a high hesitation, which

757
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,160
Speaker 2: is basically just the bridge move right. So like if

758
00:36:29,200 --> 00:36:30,640
Speaker 2: I go through the legs and I end up in

759
00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:33,120
Speaker 2: this in my left hand, and I hesitate in the

760
00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:36,279
Speaker 2: high hesitation dribble, from there, I can rise up into

761
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:38,879
Speaker 2: a jump shot, I can cross back over, I can

762
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:40,880
Speaker 2: go behind the back, or I can push forward, or

763
00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:42,560
Speaker 2: I can throw it in and out, like I can

764
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:46,640
Speaker 2: chain any dribble combination together from that high hesitation. The

765
00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:49,600
Speaker 2: second piece of it is dribbling in contact. So like

766
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:51,480
Speaker 2: a lot of guys can dribble through cones, but then

767
00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,480
Speaker 2: they run into physical defense and then they lose control

768
00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:55,960
Speaker 2: of the basketball. That was one of the major issues

769
00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:58,160
Speaker 2: with Jaylen Brown over the last few years in the

770
00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:00,839
Speaker 2: postseason before this year where he kind of had a

771
00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:04,279
Speaker 2: more successful season in that regard. Shake yildess. Alexander is

772
00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:07,279
Speaker 2: constantly contacted you, He's got his shoulder on you, and

773
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:11,200
Speaker 2: he's dribbling and making those those changes of direction while

774
00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:14,080
Speaker 2: dealing with contact, which is a rare ability and so

775
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:16,759
Speaker 2: what that all amounts to because he can get in

776
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:19,319
Speaker 2: that high hesitation and have you out of position because

777
00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:21,640
Speaker 2: you're worried about that pull up jump shot, and because

778
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:25,000
Speaker 2: he can chain multiple changes of direction and multiple moves

779
00:37:25,040 --> 00:37:28,360
Speaker 2: in the same dribble drive, and because he can handle

780
00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:31,640
Speaker 2: the contact, he's basically just gonna dribble at you until

781
00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:33,560
Speaker 2: you cut him off, and then he's gonna fake the

782
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:35,200
Speaker 2: pull up jump shot. Then he's gonna find a way

783
00:37:35,239 --> 00:37:37,360
Speaker 2: to counter back the other way, and he's just gonna

784
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:40,239
Speaker 2: keep countering back and forth until you fuck up. And

785
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:42,359
Speaker 2: then once you fuck up, he's pasted you, and he's

786
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:43,719
Speaker 2: all the way at the rim. And when he gets

787
00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:45,480
Speaker 2: to the rim, he's got such good size and length.

788
00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:47,360
Speaker 2: I mean, he's sixty six with a six to eleven

789
00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:49,800
Speaker 2: wingspan that he can just kind of finish in traffic

790
00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:53,240
Speaker 2: and he gets good finishing angles there, right, and obviously

791
00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:56,440
Speaker 2: benefits from the five out spacing and the chet homegun

792
00:37:56,480 --> 00:37:58,880
Speaker 2: factor as well getting to the rim. But again, for

793
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:02,520
Speaker 2: a guy that doesn't necessarily have like peak athletic traits

794
00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:04,040
Speaker 2: to get to the rim as often as he does

795
00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:06,200
Speaker 2: is super impressive. And to me, it all is just

796
00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:09,640
Speaker 2: like straight skill like fear of that pull up jump shot,

797
00:38:09,920 --> 00:38:13,600
Speaker 2: always being able to daisy chain multiple dribble combinations together

798
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:18,200
Speaker 2: even in traffic, and also having that like ability to

799
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:21,480
Speaker 2: deal with contact, and when you piece all of that together,

800
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:24,480
Speaker 2: it just makes him really really damn hard to guard.

801
00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:27,880
Speaker 2: Play type data pers energy pick and roll. Shaye was

802
00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:30,360
Speaker 2: the second best high volume pick and roll player in

803
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:32,200
Speaker 2: the league last year, one point one to six points

804
00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:34,680
Speaker 2: per possession including passes, that ranked second out of the

805
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,480
Speaker 2: fifteen players to log at least one thousand reps. He

806
00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:40,880
Speaker 2: shot fifty four percent field goals on his own shot

807
00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:43,960
Speaker 2: attempts in pick and roll, so I Shay shot anything

808
00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:46,680
Speaker 2: and pick and roll had more than half more than

809
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:50,160
Speaker 2: half of them went in, which is insane as we know.

810
00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:53,600
Speaker 2: Number one on that list was Tyreselliburton, but Shae second

811
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:55,120
Speaker 2: best pick and roll player in the league last year

812
00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:57,960
Speaker 2: super impressive ISO one point one to two points per

813
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:01,040
Speaker 2: possession on six hundred and five fifty six reps. That

814
00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:05,880
Speaker 2: is massive volume. Only Luka Doncic had more ISO reps

815
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:09,319
Speaker 2: and to be precise, eighty additional ones. So it goes

816
00:39:09,360 --> 00:39:11,840
Speaker 2: to show you, like six hundred and fifty six for

817
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,319
Speaker 2: Shae feels insane, and Luca had eighty more ISOs than that.

818
00:39:16,040 --> 00:39:19,400
Speaker 2: He was fourth on our high volume list out of

819
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:21,279
Speaker 2: the twenty four players to run at least two hundred

820
00:39:21,280 --> 00:39:24,880
Speaker 2: and fifty ISOs. SHA's efficiency ranked fourth, and then also

821
00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:27,200
Speaker 2: had a really interesting post up season similar to what

822
00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:30,160
Speaker 2: we were talking about with Anthony Edwards. One hundred and

823
00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:32,640
Speaker 2: forty four post ups FO one hundred and seventy points

824
00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:35,160
Speaker 2: one point one point eight points per possession. That is

825
00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:37,799
Speaker 2: in the eighty third percentile. So in total, for those

826
00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:40,520
Speaker 2: of you guys who are doing the math, one eight

827
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:43,800
Speaker 2: hundred and ninety one possessions of half court shot creation

828
00:39:43,920 --> 00:39:46,240
Speaker 2: that's all post ups, ISOs and pick and rolls, including

829
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:50,440
Speaker 2: passes one point one five points per possession. That's insane.

830
00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:55,040
Speaker 2: I think Shay is the third best shot creator in

831
00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:57,879
Speaker 2: the league right now. So when it comes strictly down

832
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,040
Speaker 2: to the concept of generating qualit shots for your team

833
00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:04,080
Speaker 2: in the half court, only Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic

834
00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,080
Speaker 2: are better than Shay in my opinion at this point

835
00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:08,279
Speaker 2: in time. And you can combine that with him being

836
00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:11,280
Speaker 2: a really useful defensive player. He actually holds up pretty

837
00:40:11,280 --> 00:40:13,080
Speaker 2: well on the ball though he doesn't log too many

838
00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:17,920
Speaker 2: reps there. Oklahoma City has really really talented perimeter defensive personnel,

839
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:19,400
Speaker 2: so they can kind of keep him off of that

840
00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:22,719
Speaker 2: type of role. Can be overpowered by some bigger forwards,

841
00:40:22,760 --> 00:40:25,719
Speaker 2: for sure, that's to be expected by most guards, and

842
00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:27,840
Speaker 2: he's a little on the thin side, but Shay is

843
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:31,120
Speaker 2: a super useful help side defender. He has really good

844
00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:33,640
Speaker 2: length for the position, as we mentioned earlier sixty six,

845
00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:36,399
Speaker 2: with a six to eleven wingspan. He's particularly good at

846
00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:39,400
Speaker 2: swiping over the top of players as they gather in

847
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:42,319
Speaker 2: traffic and digging down. It's like he comes from off

848
00:40:42,320 --> 00:40:44,560
Speaker 2: the ball, and he just gets a lot of deflections

849
00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:48,400
Speaker 2: in blocks just using his length actually closer to the baseline,

850
00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,600
Speaker 2: which is unique among guards. In situations where Shay ends

851
00:40:51,680 --> 00:40:53,439
Speaker 2: up as the low man, meaning where he's the guy

852
00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:56,440
Speaker 2: that's kind of in charge of the big man rolling

853
00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:59,040
Speaker 2: to the basket as well as the corner, he gets

854
00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:01,200
Speaker 2: a lot of deflection and makes a lot of plays,

855
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:04,160
Speaker 2: gets a lot of stops in those situations, probably better

856
00:41:04,200 --> 00:41:07,200
Speaker 2: than most guards in the league, and certainly better than

857
00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:09,799
Speaker 2: most of the star guards that are in the league.

858
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:13,960
Speaker 2: Shay has turned him into a legitimate two way player

859
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:15,560
Speaker 2: at this point, and that's what makes him a bona

860
00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:18,239
Speaker 2: fide top tier superstar. He's a top three offensive engine

861
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:20,520
Speaker 2: in the league, a legit two way player who's a

862
00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:23,239
Speaker 2: net positive on the defensive end of the flour. And

863
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:26,440
Speaker 2: he's durable and dependably great on a night to night

864
00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:28,520
Speaker 2: basis in the regular season, which is obviously going to

865
00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:30,640
Speaker 2: put you very high on a list like that. And

866
00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:33,439
Speaker 2: I thought his first postseason run as a legit number

867
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:36,600
Speaker 2: one went pretty well all things considered. Average thirty point

868
00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:40,320
Speaker 2: seven rebound, six assists, totally respectable, fifty eight percent true shooting.

869
00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:44,040
Speaker 2: It's obviously down it ran into a couple of issues.

870
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:46,560
Speaker 2: He failed to reach his regular season free throw attempt

871
00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:48,800
Speaker 2: average in six of the ten games. That's to be expected,

872
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:50,440
Speaker 2: you're going to get a tighter whistle. He had some

873
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:52,000
Speaker 2: games where it was like the regular season, he was

874
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:54,759
Speaker 2: getting every call, but several of the games where he

875
00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:57,360
Speaker 2: wasn't getting the same whistle. He missed some driving kick reads.

876
00:41:57,360 --> 00:41:59,600
Speaker 2: That was kind of a big problem for the entire

877
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:02,240
Speaker 2: Oclame City roster. But you can say that about basically

878
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:04,480
Speaker 2: every player in the league, aside from a small handful

879
00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:07,640
Speaker 2: like the Jokich, Luca Lebron Tier, like those guys that

880
00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:10,000
Speaker 2: are elite passers at the top of the league. They

881
00:42:10,040 --> 00:42:12,600
Speaker 2: never miss a read. It's extremely rare that they'll miss

882
00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:15,840
Speaker 2: a Reid, but pretty much everyone else misses Reid's on occasion.

883
00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:17,759
Speaker 2: And so Shay ran into some of that. But it's

884
00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:20,960
Speaker 2: not too hard to believe. And they had Dallas on

885
00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:24,279
Speaker 2: the ropes, Like, had Shae not fouled PJ. Washington in

886
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:26,759
Speaker 2: the left corner of Game six, they probably get a

887
00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:29,879
Speaker 2: Game seven at home, and they're probably favored to win

888
00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:33,040
Speaker 2: that game. And now obviously Luca Game seven on the road.

889
00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:35,720
Speaker 2: Anything can happen, but they're probably favored to win that game.

890
00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:37,759
Speaker 2: So like, that's how close they were to being a

891
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:41,040
Speaker 2: Western Conference Finals team. And Shay had some real moments too,

892
00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:44,280
Speaker 2: Like he had the game winner in Game one against

893
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:46,239
Speaker 2: New Orleans, that little and one he got to think

894
00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:48,560
Speaker 2: it was against CJ. McCollum in the in the mid range.

895
00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:52,080
Speaker 2: He had fifteen points in the final fourteen minutes of

896
00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:56,120
Speaker 2: Game six against Dallas, just kept hitting tough pull up

897
00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:59,200
Speaker 2: jumper after tough pull up jumper, the kind of big

898
00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:01,960
Speaker 2: playoff moment you kind of imagined was Shae considering his

899
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:03,759
Speaker 2: skill set as you just imagined him hitting a ton

900
00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:06,520
Speaker 2: of really tough pull of jumpers, and he did, and

901
00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:08,520
Speaker 2: he had what could have been the game winning assists,

902
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:11,200
Speaker 2: a driving lob to chet Holmgren. But he just made

903
00:43:11,239 --> 00:43:14,319
Speaker 2: that one mistake, just came one play short and ended

904
00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:17,040
Speaker 2: up fouling PJ. Washington in the left corner, and they

905
00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:19,440
Speaker 2: got eliminated in the second round. Now, I don't think

906
00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:21,279
Speaker 2: Shaye will ever be what we'd consider to be a

907
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:24,520
Speaker 2: playoff riser the way that ant is just because he's

908
00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:27,000
Speaker 2: so damn efficient in the regular season that it's actually

909
00:43:27,040 --> 00:43:30,120
Speaker 2: kind of impossible to replicate in the playoffs, and also

910
00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:33,040
Speaker 2: because he relies on the whistle a little bit. That said,

911
00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:35,239
Speaker 2: I was really impressed by Shae, and I thought he

912
00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:37,840
Speaker 2: held up better than it could have been. There are

913
00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:42,399
Speaker 2: versions of that, the heliocentric, you know, foul grifting, pull

914
00:43:42,480 --> 00:43:45,360
Speaker 2: up shooter. There are versions of that that doesn't translate

915
00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:48,400
Speaker 2: well to the playoffs. But Shay has so much versatility

916
00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:50,920
Speaker 2: in the way that he attacks. No two possessions look alike,

917
00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:53,680
Speaker 2: so many different drible combinations, so many different spots on

918
00:43:53,719 --> 00:43:56,160
Speaker 2: the floor where he can be a shot maker. That

919
00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:59,600
Speaker 2: he and guys like Luca just have more resilience than

920
00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:01,640
Speaker 2: the James Harden types where it's like all step back

921
00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:04,520
Speaker 2: thor hees left hand drives and you know that's pretty

922
00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:07,560
Speaker 2: much it, right, Like, there's definitely enough variety in there

923
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:11,799
Speaker 2: to keep some resiliency. So, in summary, Shay is a

924
00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:16,040
Speaker 2: top three offensive engine. He is a reliable and dependably

925
00:44:16,080 --> 00:44:19,680
Speaker 2: great regular season foundation. He's not the most versatile offensive player,

926
00:44:19,680 --> 00:44:21,400
Speaker 2: as we talked about earlier. He struggles a bit off

927
00:44:21,440 --> 00:44:23,719
Speaker 2: the ball, but not enough to move him down this

928
00:44:23,800 --> 00:44:25,680
Speaker 2: list substantially, and I am curious to see how that

929
00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:28,239
Speaker 2: develops over the next few years as his teammates get better.

930
00:44:28,440 --> 00:44:31,080
Speaker 2: And to his credit, he is a versatile defensive player.

931
00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:33,480
Speaker 2: I think you can find a bunch of useful defensive

932
00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:36,719
Speaker 2: roles for him on many different types of rosters, which

933
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:39,799
Speaker 2: gives in this case a theoretical GM like myself in

934
00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:43,680
Speaker 2: this theoretical draft, gives me some leeway in terms of

935
00:44:43,719 --> 00:44:46,359
Speaker 2: the types of defensive looks that I can build around him.

936
00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:49,600
Speaker 2: And then lastly, his games translate. His game translates well

937
00:44:49,800 --> 00:44:51,920
Speaker 2: to the playoff setting, so that makes him a clear

938
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:54,840
Speaker 2: cut top tier superstar and currently the fourth best player

939
00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:57,640
Speaker 2: in the NBA to start a full season with in

940
00:44:57,680 --> 00:45:21,320
Speaker 2: my opinion. All right, let's get to the mailbag. Lots

941
00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:23,600
Speaker 2: of people mad about Ant being this high, So let's

942
00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:26,800
Speaker 2: get into some of your guys's comments. First, kind of

943
00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:29,320
Speaker 2: a big picture one and then I really really good,

944
00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:32,200
Speaker 2: well thought out basketball case I'm gonna read you, guys.

945
00:45:32,640 --> 00:45:35,640
Speaker 2: I don't understand how a dude has one conference finals,

946
00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:39,719
Speaker 2: has one playoff conference run, and e leap Frog's a

947
00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:42,560
Speaker 2: dude that's been to five conference finals, two NBA Finals,

948
00:45:42,600 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 2: and has a championship so far. Remember, this list is

949
00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:48,920
Speaker 2: not about credit. Tatum has certainly had a more productive

950
00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:52,040
Speaker 2: and celebrated NBA career so far. If we were using

951
00:45:52,120 --> 00:45:55,880
Speaker 2: last year's criteria, where it was mostly about credit, Tatum

952
00:45:55,920 --> 00:45:58,520
Speaker 2: is going to be well over Ant, right, But that's

953
00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:02,719
Speaker 2: just not the way at this particular list works. I'm

954
00:46:02,719 --> 00:46:05,480
Speaker 2: talking about guys to build a team around for this

955
00:46:05,640 --> 00:46:09,000
Speaker 2: coming season. I'm saying that I like my chances to

956
00:46:09,080 --> 00:46:13,359
Speaker 2: win the title building from scratch a little bit more

957
00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:16,840
Speaker 2: with Ant than I do with Tatum. All that said,

958
00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:20,040
Speaker 2: Ant made my perennial MVP candidate list, but I do

959
00:46:20,239 --> 00:46:23,720
Speaker 2: view him a little bit. I view a gap between

960
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:26,439
Speaker 2: four and five, meaning like I view one through four

961
00:46:26,480 --> 00:46:29,600
Speaker 2: as like the top tier superstars, and going from five

962
00:46:29,640 --> 00:46:31,759
Speaker 2: to eleven, I think those guys are kind of bunched up.

963
00:46:31,760 --> 00:46:33,640
Speaker 2: So I don't see much of a gap between five

964
00:46:33,640 --> 00:46:36,480
Speaker 2: and eleven. So to be clear, I'm not saying I

965
00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:38,680
Speaker 2: think Ant is much better than Tatum. I think he's

966
00:46:38,960 --> 00:46:42,439
Speaker 2: barely better than Tatum, even though Tatum, even though Ant

967
00:46:42,520 --> 00:46:44,200
Speaker 2: is all the way up at number five. We're gonna

968
00:46:44,200 --> 00:46:46,880
Speaker 2: get into some of the basketball specifics in this next question.

969
00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:50,440
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I can't understand Ant over Tatum. Ant has

970
00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:53,400
Speaker 2: the exact same key weakness that Tatum does less than

971
00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:55,799
Speaker 2: elite efficiency as a jump shooter, but still shoots them

972
00:46:55,800 --> 00:46:58,640
Speaker 2: at volume, but he has that weakness as a guard.

973
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:01,280
Speaker 2: Tatum was twenty six seven, eight and five on sixty

974
00:47:01,320 --> 00:47:04,319
Speaker 2: percent through shooting last year turnover rate of eight point

975
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:07,000
Speaker 2: six percent, and it was twenty six five and five

976
00:47:07,040 --> 00:47:10,560
Speaker 2: on fifty eight percent through shooting turnover rate of ten percent.

977
00:47:10,960 --> 00:47:13,799
Speaker 2: So Tatum put up superior offensive numbers despite having lower

978
00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:16,759
Speaker 2: usage than Ant does. And then defensively, as much as

979
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:19,600
Speaker 2: Ant is an elite perimeter defender, Tatum is unquestionably a

980
00:47:19,680 --> 00:47:22,680
Speaker 2: higher impact defensive player overall. This is mainly because he

981
00:47:22,719 --> 00:47:26,680
Speaker 2: offers legitimate secondary rim protection, which was exactly why the

982
00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:29,879
Speaker 2: Celtics were able to successfully shut down some the same

983
00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:32,719
Speaker 2: MAVs attack that the wolves vaunted defense couldn't figure out.

984
00:47:33,160 --> 00:47:37,120
Speaker 2: Tatum's size and athleticism offers unique versatility when scheming on

985
00:47:37,160 --> 00:47:40,399
Speaker 2: defense in general that Ant does not. But on top

986
00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:44,440
Speaker 2: of all that, Tatum is likely the superior perimeter defender

987
00:47:44,480 --> 00:47:47,200
Speaker 2: as well. Think about that game this year where SGA

988
00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:49,680
Speaker 2: was cooking Derek White and Drew Holliday because they didn't

989
00:47:49,719 --> 00:47:52,040
Speaker 2: have the length to stop him. Then Tatum switched on

990
00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:54,320
Speaker 2: to him for the fourth quarter and shut off the faucet.

991
00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:57,080
Speaker 2: Think about the Net series two years ago where Tatum

992
00:47:57,080 --> 00:47:59,880
Speaker 2: clamped Durant and was getting legit blocks on his jumper.

993
00:48:00,320 --> 00:48:03,920
Speaker 2: I highly doubt Anthony Edwards can contain longer perimeter stars

994
00:48:03,960 --> 00:48:07,440
Speaker 2: like that at the same level Tatum can. It's just

995
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:10,360
Speaker 2: Tatum isn't asked to be on the perimeter night in

996
00:48:10,440 --> 00:48:12,319
Speaker 2: and night out. The Celtics also had eight more wins

997
00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:14,680
Speaker 2: in the regular season than the Wolves and took home

998
00:48:14,719 --> 00:48:17,279
Speaker 2: the chip, so Tatum is a better player on both

999
00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:20,360
Speaker 2: ends of the floor, higher efficiency, more experience in every aspect,

1000
00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:23,120
Speaker 2: plays as many games, more versatile for scheming on both

1001
00:48:23,239 --> 00:48:25,719
Speaker 2: ends because of his size and strength, and just coming

1002
00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:28,120
Speaker 2: off of a title which Ant has never won. How

1003
00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:30,239
Speaker 2: can Ant then be the better player to build around

1004
00:48:30,280 --> 00:48:32,919
Speaker 2: for twenty four to twenty five. You've admitted multiple times

1005
00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:35,200
Speaker 2: during Ant's hot streak last year that he was becoming

1006
00:48:35,200 --> 00:48:37,040
Speaker 2: one of your favorite players in the league. I think

1007
00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:39,040
Speaker 2: you've got to own up to a little bias coming

1008
00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:41,719
Speaker 2: into play here due to Ant being such a charismatic

1009
00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:45,200
Speaker 2: dog and a fun player to watch. Respect everything you

1010
00:48:45,200 --> 00:48:48,080
Speaker 2: do on this channel. My experience of the NBA has

1011
00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:51,960
Speaker 2: been much richer for listening to your content. That is

1012
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:55,040
Speaker 2: probably the best comment that I've received in terms of

1013
00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:57,520
Speaker 2: like making a basketball case since I started doing this list.

1014
00:48:57,560 --> 00:48:59,680
Speaker 2: So I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to write that.

1015
00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:01,840
Speaker 2: I'll out that's a damn good case. You did a

1016
00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:04,680
Speaker 2: very good job. That's how you argue about basketball. You

1017
00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:07,000
Speaker 2: don't just call someone a jackass and say they're wrong.

1018
00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:09,160
Speaker 2: You tell them why. And I really appreciate you taking

1019
00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:11,000
Speaker 2: the time to do that. That's what makes this sort

1020
00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:12,600
Speaker 2: of thing fun. These are the kinds of debates that

1021
00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:15,720
Speaker 2: I love having. When I was a plane in college

1022
00:49:15,719 --> 00:49:18,120
Speaker 2: and we were done at practice and we were taking

1023
00:49:18,120 --> 00:49:19,680
Speaker 2: our shoes off and stuff, just sitting down on the

1024
00:49:19,719 --> 00:49:22,680
Speaker 2: sidelines talking shit, or on the bus or on the

1025
00:49:22,719 --> 00:49:24,600
Speaker 2: plane or at the restaurant or whatever. These are the

1026
00:49:24,680 --> 00:49:27,040
Speaker 2: kinds of conversations we would have. And you know, obviously

1027
00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:29,200
Speaker 2: we weren't as much into the statistical weeds as I

1028
00:49:29,239 --> 00:49:31,279
Speaker 2: am now, but that was the kind of conversations that

1029
00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:33,319
Speaker 2: we had, and that's what I enjoy doing as a

1030
00:49:33,360 --> 00:49:36,279
Speaker 2: basketball fan. Also, before we get to Aunt, one of

1031
00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:38,400
Speaker 2: the things that I thought was really fascinating is you

1032
00:49:38,440 --> 00:49:42,759
Speaker 2: talked about how Tatum's secondary rim protection is how they

1033
00:49:42,760 --> 00:49:45,760
Speaker 2: shut down the MAVs and specifically putting Tatum on the center,

1034
00:49:46,360 --> 00:49:50,080
Speaker 2: and you put that the Wolves vaunted defense couldn't figure

1035
00:49:50,080 --> 00:49:52,200
Speaker 2: it out. The reason why I'm singling this out first

1036
00:49:52,239 --> 00:49:53,719
Speaker 2: is I don't think it has anything to do with AUNT.

1037
00:49:54,520 --> 00:49:58,320
Speaker 2: I was really fascinated after that series, after watching the finals,

1038
00:49:58,719 --> 00:50:02,279
Speaker 2: that Minnesota didn't try, that Minnesota didn't try putting just

1039
00:50:02,320 --> 00:50:06,319
Speaker 2: like putting Gobart on PJ. Washington or on Derek Jones

1040
00:50:06,400 --> 00:50:11,839
Speaker 2: junior and letting someone like Cat guard the center. So

1041
00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:13,960
Speaker 2: that they But the thing is is Cat can't guard

1042
00:50:14,040 --> 00:50:15,960
Speaker 2: in space, so it have to be like Jayden. But

1043
00:50:16,000 --> 00:50:18,080
Speaker 2: then again, it's like I don't think I don't think

1044
00:50:18,080 --> 00:50:22,960
Speaker 2: Gafford and Gafford and Lively didn't get enough offensive rebounds

1045
00:50:22,960 --> 00:50:24,920
Speaker 2: in the finals, And I'd be curious to see, like

1046
00:50:24,960 --> 00:50:28,360
Speaker 2: if Jayden McDaniels was there, and you like just tried

1047
00:50:28,400 --> 00:50:31,200
Speaker 2: switching that maybe with a bigger look with Kyle Anderson

1048
00:50:31,239 --> 00:50:33,120
Speaker 2: on the floor, and you put like Kyle Anderson on Luca,

1049
00:50:33,440 --> 00:50:35,839
Speaker 2: or maybe Jaden on Luca and Kyle Anderson on the

1050
00:50:35,880 --> 00:50:39,920
Speaker 2: center and tried switching that with Gobert roaming off PJ. Washington.

1051
00:50:40,160 --> 00:50:43,520
Speaker 2: I'm just curious, Like, I'm not curious why we didn't

1052
00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:46,359
Speaker 2: see it, because it was kind of a new look.

1053
00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:49,600
Speaker 2: Like this concept of like putting your centers on opposing

1054
00:50:50,239 --> 00:50:53,279
Speaker 2: week above the breakshooters and guarding their center with a

1055
00:50:54,200 --> 00:50:58,000
Speaker 2: like a Ford that's still a relatively new NBA concept.

1056
00:50:58,160 --> 00:51:02,400
Speaker 2: And so give the credit to Joe Mizzoula for conceptualizing

1057
00:51:02,560 --> 00:51:06,560
Speaker 2: just a really good defensive game plan against Dallas. But

1058
00:51:06,640 --> 00:51:08,360
Speaker 2: there is some truth to the fact that you have

1059
00:51:08,400 --> 00:51:10,359
Speaker 2: to have a big forward like Tatum that can wrun

1060
00:51:10,440 --> 00:51:14,160
Speaker 2: guard centers and switch on to switch onto the ball

1061
00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:16,080
Speaker 2: handler in order for that look to make sense. But

1062
00:51:16,120 --> 00:51:18,200
Speaker 2: there's another side of that too, like you also have

1063
00:51:18,239 --> 00:51:19,759
Speaker 2: to have your on ball guy be big enough. Like

1064
00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:22,120
Speaker 2: it only works if Jalen Brown can also switch on

1065
00:51:22,160 --> 00:51:24,719
Speaker 2: to centers, because you're gonna switch that Lucas center pick

1066
00:51:24,760 --> 00:51:27,560
Speaker 2: and roll in that case. And so I know we're

1067
00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:30,200
Speaker 2: not talking about ant at this point, but like just

1068
00:51:30,239 --> 00:51:32,879
Speaker 2: strictly talking about defensive game planning, that is a really

1069
00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:36,719
Speaker 2: interesting point, Like that concept of putting your forward on

1070
00:51:36,760 --> 00:51:39,280
Speaker 2: the opposing center and putting your center on their weakest

1071
00:51:39,320 --> 00:51:41,400
Speaker 2: above the break shooter. I think we're gonna see a

1072
00:51:41,480 --> 00:51:44,120
Speaker 2: lot more of that in the NBA in the coming

1073
00:51:44,200 --> 00:51:47,919
Speaker 2: years because it's copycat league and Joe Mizula leaned hard

1074
00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:49,560
Speaker 2: into it most of the season too, Like you go

1075
00:51:49,600 --> 00:51:51,960
Speaker 2: back in the regular season, Tatum's guarding centers a lot,

1076
00:51:52,480 --> 00:51:54,080
Speaker 2: and so like, I think that it's gonna be just

1077
00:51:54,120 --> 00:51:56,120
Speaker 2: a really interesting concept to see over the next couple

1078
00:51:56,160 --> 00:51:58,480
Speaker 2: of years as more teams try to adapt that. But

1079
00:51:58,560 --> 00:52:01,880
Speaker 2: there is a personnel element to it that extends beyond

1080
00:52:02,360 --> 00:52:04,640
Speaker 2: one player. You have to have like a group of

1081
00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:07,240
Speaker 2: personnel that is capable of executing that type of coverage.

1082
00:52:07,400 --> 00:52:11,640
Speaker 2: On that note, let's get into your some of your points. One,

1083
00:52:11,680 --> 00:52:15,120
Speaker 2: you were talking about his regular season production. I've said

1084
00:52:15,120 --> 00:52:18,160
Speaker 2: in this episode, and obviously you wrote this comment before

1085
00:52:18,160 --> 00:52:20,600
Speaker 2: I wrote this episode, but ant Lee took place in

1086
00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:23,759
Speaker 2: the postseason runs. He just turned twenty three, So like,

1087
00:52:24,239 --> 00:52:26,200
Speaker 2: that's the way this is going to work. Is going

1088
00:52:26,239 --> 00:52:29,680
Speaker 2: to be much more of like a like Ant is

1089
00:52:29,800 --> 00:52:32,000
Speaker 2: at a different phase of his career where he's improving

1090
00:52:32,120 --> 00:52:35,640
Speaker 2: exponentially on a year over year basis right, And he's

1091
00:52:35,680 --> 00:52:38,280
Speaker 2: a different player now than he was in the regular season.

1092
00:52:38,560 --> 00:52:42,840
Speaker 2: He's been a flat out deadly shooter his entire postseason

1093
00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:46,360
Speaker 2: career and just had a really good summer shooting the

1094
00:52:46,360 --> 00:52:49,440
Speaker 2: basketball through both his playoff run and with Team USA.

1095
00:52:49,560 --> 00:52:51,920
Speaker 2: So like, I agree with you that last year in

1096
00:52:51,960 --> 00:52:54,600
Speaker 2: the regular season, Ant had the same issue as Tatum,

1097
00:52:54,640 --> 00:52:58,080
Speaker 2: which was high volume, inefficient pull up jump shooting. But

1098
00:52:58,480 --> 00:53:01,520
Speaker 2: Ant seems to be kicking that ish and shooting at

1099
00:53:01,520 --> 00:53:05,120
Speaker 2: a really high rate in a large sample size. And again,

1100
00:53:05,160 --> 00:53:07,000
Speaker 2: who knows what's gonna happen in the long run. Maybe

1101
00:53:07,000 --> 00:53:10,000
Speaker 2: ant will take a huge downturn in shooting, and maybe

1102
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:13,720
Speaker 2: Tatum will take a huge upswing. But I am betting.

1103
00:53:13,960 --> 00:53:16,560
Speaker 2: I am saying that I believe Ant's jump shooting is real.

1104
00:53:16,840 --> 00:53:18,680
Speaker 2: He's also a great free throw shooter. He's got eighty

1105
00:53:18,680 --> 00:53:21,240
Speaker 2: four percent on free throws last year. That is always

1106
00:53:21,600 --> 00:53:24,400
Speaker 2: a strong indicator of shooting touch. And then lastly, he

1107
00:53:24,400 --> 00:53:26,520
Speaker 2: gets better looks than everyone else because his first step

1108
00:53:26,600 --> 00:53:28,960
Speaker 2: is so crazy it has everyone on their heels. So like,

1109
00:53:29,000 --> 00:53:30,480
Speaker 2: I think a big part of why he shoots so

1110
00:53:30,520 --> 00:53:33,160
Speaker 2: well is he just gets a lot of really good looks.

1111
00:53:33,560 --> 00:53:36,040
Speaker 2: So to put it simply, like, I think Ant is

1112
00:53:36,080 --> 00:53:40,600
Speaker 2: a more useful offensive player in a vacuum because he's

1113
00:53:40,640 --> 00:53:44,240
Speaker 2: a substantially better athlete with a much quicker first step,

1114
00:53:44,480 --> 00:53:47,279
Speaker 2: who's also a better shooter both off the catch and

1115
00:53:47,320 --> 00:53:49,400
Speaker 2: off the dribble. So he's giving me more rim pressure

1116
00:53:49,480 --> 00:53:52,400
Speaker 2: and more jump shooting to counter it. So, like building

1117
00:53:52,440 --> 00:53:56,120
Speaker 2: from scratch as a GM, I think that's easier for

1118
00:53:56,160 --> 00:53:57,840
Speaker 2: me to work with. Now let's get into Tatum a

1119
00:53:57,880 --> 00:54:01,319
Speaker 2: little bit. Tatum is definitely a better place, but he's

1120
00:54:01,320 --> 00:54:04,680
Speaker 2: not an elite passer either. He's just better than Ant,

1121
00:54:05,480 --> 00:54:08,240
Speaker 2: and that carries a lot of value in the Celtics roster,

1122
00:54:08,600 --> 00:54:11,480
Speaker 2: where they're surrounded by all these really good players, Right,

1123
00:54:11,880 --> 00:54:16,080
Speaker 2: but this list implies I'm not getting Tatum, Jylen Brown,

1124
00:54:16,400 --> 00:54:20,279
Speaker 2: Derek White, Drew Holliday, Chrisops, Porzingis, and Al Horford, like

1125
00:54:20,360 --> 00:54:24,080
Speaker 2: I'm likely getting in this scenario where we're drafting, chances

1126
00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:26,840
Speaker 2: are all the teams are gonna be relatively even with talent,

1127
00:54:27,239 --> 00:54:30,720
Speaker 2: and so chances are instead of Tatum playing with five

1128
00:54:30,880 --> 00:54:33,960
Speaker 2: other great two AA players, He's probably gonna play with

1129
00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:38,440
Speaker 2: maybe like one really great two A player and probably

1130
00:54:38,440 --> 00:54:42,239
Speaker 2: like two offensive specialists and then probably like two defensive specialists. Right, Like,

1131
00:54:42,280 --> 00:54:44,520
Speaker 2: it's gonna be much more of like a mix of

1132
00:54:44,560 --> 00:54:47,879
Speaker 2: different types of talent, which at that point, Tatum's lack

1133
00:54:47,920 --> 00:54:51,600
Speaker 2: of offensive high end becomes more of a problem and

1134
00:54:51,680 --> 00:54:55,400
Speaker 2: his playmaking becomes less valuable in that specific regard. And

1135
00:54:55,640 --> 00:54:58,319
Speaker 2: that's really the thing is, like Tatum is kind of

1136
00:54:58,360 --> 00:55:02,560
Speaker 2: hard to build around from ratch because he's kind of

1137
00:55:02,600 --> 00:55:06,120
Speaker 2: like a B minus to B plus on everything when

1138
00:55:06,120 --> 00:55:08,359
Speaker 2: it comes to the offensive end of the floor. Right, Like,

1139
00:55:08,719 --> 00:55:12,920
Speaker 2: his durability on offense is impressive. He's always available, and

1140
00:55:12,960 --> 00:55:14,960
Speaker 2: he shoots enough threes and gets to the foul line

1141
00:55:15,040 --> 00:55:17,719
Speaker 2: enough that he can maintain efficiency and volume. That's why

1142
00:55:17,719 --> 00:55:19,400
Speaker 2: he's always going to be like twenty seven points per game,

1143
00:55:19,440 --> 00:55:21,600
Speaker 2: sixty per century shooting, twenty seven points per game, sixty

1144
00:55:21,600 --> 00:55:24,600
Speaker 2: per century shooting, but he doesn't have an elite first step.

1145
00:55:25,200 --> 00:55:27,239
Speaker 2: He's got good size for the position, but he's not

1146
00:55:27,320 --> 00:55:29,960
Speaker 2: like physically dominant on offense the way guys like Kawhi

1147
00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:32,880
Speaker 2: Leonard or Lebron James are. He's a good shooter, like

1148
00:55:33,040 --> 00:55:35,319
Speaker 2: I genuinely think he's a good shooter, is just in

1149
00:55:35,360 --> 00:55:38,400
Speaker 2: a bad slump, like I've said that many times. But

1150
00:55:38,440 --> 00:55:41,600
Speaker 2: he's certainly not a great shooter. And he's a good passer,

1151
00:55:41,680 --> 00:55:43,880
Speaker 2: but he's certainly not a great passer. So like, he

1152
00:55:43,880 --> 00:55:47,279
Speaker 2: doesn't really have an A plus offensive trade, and so

1153
00:55:47,440 --> 00:55:49,359
Speaker 2: like when I have Aunt, where I have this real

1154
00:55:49,400 --> 00:55:52,120
Speaker 2: A plus offensive trade, which is like among players below

1155
00:55:52,160 --> 00:55:53,759
Speaker 2: six to six, he's the best at getting to the rim.

1156
00:55:53,960 --> 00:55:56,719
Speaker 2: Definitely gets to the ring more than Tatum despite significantly

1157
00:55:56,760 --> 00:55:59,520
Speaker 2: inferior spacing, And when I combine that with him also

1158
00:55:59,560 --> 00:56:01,879
Speaker 2: being a much better jump shooting threat, I just think

1159
00:56:01,920 --> 00:56:04,160
Speaker 2: that that top end ability is something that I can

1160
00:56:04,200 --> 00:56:08,280
Speaker 2: build around easier as a kind of a vacuum draft

1161
00:56:08,320 --> 00:56:10,360
Speaker 2: sort of situation where I'm not going to have like

1162
00:56:10,400 --> 00:56:13,200
Speaker 2: massive talent advantages the way that Tatum does. Within Boston.

1163
00:56:14,120 --> 00:56:17,600
Speaker 2: I do think Tatum is a better defensive player. You

1164
00:56:17,920 --> 00:56:20,120
Speaker 2: broke it down at length. We went into it a

1165
00:56:20,160 --> 00:56:22,880
Speaker 2: little bit earlier, but I do expect that gap to

1166
00:56:22,920 --> 00:56:25,799
Speaker 2: continue to shrink as the years go by. Again, as

1167
00:56:25,840 --> 00:56:29,200
Speaker 2: we know, Ant does have all world defensive potential that

1168
00:56:29,239 --> 00:56:32,160
Speaker 2: we do see in spurts, like we saw with Jamal

1169
00:56:32,239 --> 00:56:35,640
Speaker 2: Murray in Game seven, but it's definitely too inconsistent at

1170
00:56:35,640 --> 00:56:38,280
Speaker 2: this point. I also definitely agree with you that Tatum

1171
00:56:38,320 --> 00:56:42,120
Speaker 2: is much more versatile defensively. I can do more with him,

1172
00:56:42,160 --> 00:56:44,880
Speaker 2: I can plug him into different types of roles. So

1173
00:56:45,280 --> 00:56:47,439
Speaker 2: if you were making the case for Tatum over Ant,

1174
00:56:47,560 --> 00:56:50,919
Speaker 2: like if I, like, if you were making a list

1175
00:56:50,960 --> 00:56:53,160
Speaker 2: and you had Tatum at five and Aunt at seven,

1176
00:56:53,840 --> 00:56:56,040
Speaker 2: then that would be the angle I would take. Like,

1177
00:56:56,800 --> 00:56:59,080
Speaker 2: that defensive angle is the one that makes a lot

1178
00:56:59,120 --> 00:57:00,399
Speaker 2: of sense to me, and you're making in a really

1179
00:57:00,440 --> 00:57:04,200
Speaker 2: good case. Comparing the Celtics to the Wolves is pointless

1180
00:57:04,200 --> 00:57:07,320
Speaker 2: in my opinion. One the record is thrown off a

1181
00:57:07,360 --> 00:57:09,279
Speaker 2: little bit by the fact that the Western Conference just

1182
00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:12,000
Speaker 2: was significantly more talented. I can't remember that the stat

1183
00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:14,000
Speaker 2: off the top of my head. But the West kicked

1184
00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:15,880
Speaker 2: the shit out of the Eastern Conference and head to

1185
00:57:15,880 --> 00:57:18,120
Speaker 2: head matchups this year, and then the Celtics just had

1186
00:57:18,120 --> 00:57:21,560
Speaker 2: a lot more talent. Like again, like Datum was surrounded

1187
00:57:21,560 --> 00:57:23,520
Speaker 2: by five legitimate two way players. If you want to

1188
00:57:23,520 --> 00:57:28,360
Speaker 2: say Porzingis is in Horford are somewhat one dimensional defensive

1189
00:57:28,400 --> 00:57:30,840
Speaker 2: league because Horford's not as big and Porzingis can't garden

1190
00:57:30,880 --> 00:57:33,440
Speaker 2: space as well, I'll give you that. But at least

1191
00:57:33,600 --> 00:57:37,320
Speaker 2: four awesome two way players around him, right, so like

1192
00:57:37,400 --> 00:57:39,680
Speaker 2: or at least three, i should say, between Jalen Brown,

1193
00:57:39,720 --> 00:57:43,200
Speaker 2: Drew holiday In, Derek White. Most teams in the league

1194
00:57:43,200 --> 00:57:45,520
Speaker 2: don't have that type of two way talent. Like that's

1195
00:57:45,800 --> 00:57:48,080
Speaker 2: like the other team that does is like is like

1196
00:57:48,120 --> 00:57:50,360
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City, right, and that's the team that you're looking at.

1197
00:57:50,360 --> 00:57:53,240
Speaker 2: But most teams don't have that luxury. And most teams

1198
00:57:53,280 --> 00:57:56,400
Speaker 2: don't have the luxury of like every guy can shoot well,

1199
00:57:56,720 --> 00:58:01,080
Speaker 2: pass well and defend well. That's that's really you know,

1200
00:58:01,360 --> 00:58:03,240
Speaker 2: And like to put it simply, like if you put

1201
00:58:03,280 --> 00:58:08,240
Speaker 2: Anthony Edwards on that Celtics team, he's getting he's getting

1202
00:58:08,280 --> 00:58:11,520
Speaker 2: to the rim a dozen times a game, or you're

1203
00:58:11,520 --> 00:58:13,040
Speaker 2: gonna have to double him every time at the rim,

1204
00:58:13,040 --> 00:58:15,800
Speaker 2: where he's gonna generate a bunch of driving kick opportunities

1205
00:58:15,840 --> 00:58:20,760
Speaker 2: like Anthony Edwards with real true five out spacing where

1206
00:58:20,800 --> 00:58:24,000
Speaker 2: everyone can shoot, would be a terrifying thing to deal

1207
00:58:24,040 --> 00:58:27,280
Speaker 2: with for any defense. And like that's the thing when

1208
00:58:27,320 --> 00:58:28,960
Speaker 2: you look at that Wolves roster, like they had elite

1209
00:58:29,000 --> 00:58:31,640
Speaker 2: defensive personnel. That's a good roster, really big on the

1210
00:58:31,640 --> 00:58:36,120
Speaker 2: front line, some really interesting talented players, but everyone's got flaws, right,

1211
00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:39,280
Speaker 2: Like everyone there. It's like Mike Conley is a really

1212
00:58:39,360 --> 00:58:41,840
Speaker 2: interesting offensive player to help kind of grease the wheels

1213
00:58:41,880 --> 00:58:44,520
Speaker 2: and run pick and roll with Rudy Gobert and to

1214
00:58:44,800 --> 00:58:48,280
Speaker 2: spot up shoot and to hit his textbook, you know,

1215
00:58:48,360 --> 00:58:50,560
Speaker 2: kind of famous right handed floater that he makes. And

1216
00:58:50,800 --> 00:58:52,680
Speaker 2: Karl Anthony Towns is gonna have his games where he

1217
00:58:52,680 --> 00:58:56,200
Speaker 2: gets twenty six points and the But like neither of

1218
00:58:56,200 --> 00:58:59,360
Speaker 2: those guys are are truly useful defensive players. And Jade

1219
00:58:59,400 --> 00:59:01,439
Speaker 2: McDaniels might be the best perimeter defender in the league.

1220
00:59:01,560 --> 00:59:04,080
Speaker 2: It's it's I don't necessarily think i'd pick him, but

1221
00:59:04,120 --> 00:59:07,120
Speaker 2: he's in the top tier, you know, And Rudy Gobert

1222
00:59:07,160 --> 00:59:09,880
Speaker 2: is not that He's certainly in the top tier of

1223
00:59:09,920 --> 00:59:11,840
Speaker 2: defensive players in the league, is in the top five

1224
00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:15,120
Speaker 2: of all all around defensive talent in the league. But

1225
00:59:15,160 --> 00:59:17,760
Speaker 2: both of those guys have some real limitations on the

1226
00:59:17,800 --> 00:59:20,440
Speaker 2: offensive end of the floor. Like you're the concept that

1227
00:59:20,560 --> 00:59:23,480
Speaker 2: the Celtics. The thing of it just simply through this lens,

1228
00:59:24,040 --> 00:59:28,000
Speaker 2: Like the game plan for Dallas against Dallas, for Boston

1229
00:59:28,160 --> 00:59:31,880
Speaker 2: was to concede wide open above the break threes to

1230
00:59:31,960 --> 00:59:35,960
Speaker 2: if he shooters like Derek Jones or PJ. Washington, if

1231
00:59:36,000 --> 00:59:38,320
Speaker 2: you tried that against Boston, they would light you on

1232
00:59:38,400 --> 00:59:41,360
Speaker 2: fire because all of them can shoot so well. So

1233
00:59:41,520 --> 00:59:45,160
Speaker 2: like again, like I again, I still tat him at seven.

1234
00:59:45,360 --> 00:59:46,880
Speaker 2: You guys know how much I valuate him in his

1235
00:59:46,960 --> 00:59:49,920
Speaker 2: defensive versatility and how well he fits in with that group.

1236
00:59:50,280 --> 00:59:53,800
Speaker 2: But like guys, that Celtics roster is like other than

1237
00:59:53,880 --> 00:59:57,400
Speaker 2: like true superstar laiden rosters like the twenty seventeen Warriors,

1238
00:59:57,480 --> 01:00:01,000
Speaker 2: or like the twenty thirteen heat or like the Onekers,

1239
01:00:01,040 --> 01:00:03,439
Speaker 2: like aside from the teams that just have insane top

1240
01:00:03,520 --> 01:00:06,880
Speaker 2: end talent, like that's that's damn near a perfect roster

1241
01:00:07,400 --> 01:00:09,880
Speaker 2: that Brad Stevens is put together, and it makes basketball

1242
01:00:09,920 --> 01:00:12,160
Speaker 2: a lot easier for guys like Tatum than it does

1243
01:00:12,400 --> 01:00:15,720
Speaker 2: for other guys around the league. The last bit, I

1244
01:00:15,760 --> 01:00:20,160
Speaker 2: will freely admit that I, as a fan of basketball,

1245
01:00:20,800 --> 01:00:24,120
Speaker 2: like ant more than I like Jason Tatum. He's quickly

1246
01:00:24,160 --> 01:00:26,560
Speaker 2: becoming one of my favorite players. That's just, that's just,

1247
01:00:26,720 --> 01:00:28,520
Speaker 2: that's just I'm just being honest with you. It's just

1248
01:00:28,560 --> 01:00:31,439
Speaker 2: it's I don't go into it with the preconceived notion.

1249
01:00:31,520 --> 01:00:33,040
Speaker 2: I watch the games and there are certain players that

1250
01:00:33,080 --> 01:00:34,560
Speaker 2: I really like from certain players that I don't like

1251
01:00:34,560 --> 01:00:36,600
Speaker 2: as much. It's all just normal. It's the same way

1252
01:00:36,600 --> 01:00:38,600
Speaker 2: you guys feel when you watch You guys probably just

1253
01:00:38,640 --> 01:00:41,240
Speaker 2: have different players that you like or dislike, right. But

1254
01:00:41,360 --> 01:00:43,720
Speaker 2: to be clear, I try very hard to fight my

1255
01:00:43,760 --> 01:00:46,400
Speaker 2: biases on these lists, and you kind of just have

1256
01:00:46,480 --> 01:00:48,240
Speaker 2: to take my word for it that I'm being objective.

1257
01:00:48,280 --> 01:00:49,880
Speaker 2: I understand that some of you guys don't believe me,

1258
01:00:49,920 --> 01:00:51,400
Speaker 2: and then I'll never be able to change your mind.

1259
01:00:51,520 --> 01:00:53,640
Speaker 2: But I really am trying. I really am trying the

1260
01:00:53,680 --> 01:00:55,600
Speaker 2: best I can to be objective. But to be clear,

1261
01:00:55,640 --> 01:00:58,439
Speaker 2: that comment was the best and most well thought one,

1262
01:00:58,880 --> 01:01:00,680
Speaker 2: well thought out one that I've seen since we started

1263
01:01:00,680 --> 01:01:02,280
Speaker 2: this list. So I really appreciate you taking the time

1264
01:01:02,280 --> 01:01:06,600
Speaker 2: to write that down, Hey, Jason, love the show. In

1265
01:01:06,640 --> 01:01:11,000
Speaker 2: the ranking segment, Tatum should be way higher, specifically over Shay.

1266
01:01:11,080 --> 01:01:12,760
Speaker 2: He's the most versatile player in the league right now.

1267
01:01:12,800 --> 01:01:15,080
Speaker 2: During this playoff run, he was the primary offensive initiator

1268
01:01:15,080 --> 01:01:17,840
Speaker 2: while drawing the toughest defensive assignment. He finished the playoff

1269
01:01:17,880 --> 01:01:20,440
Speaker 2: run leading his team in points, rebounds, assists against Bam

1270
01:01:20,560 --> 01:01:23,680
Speaker 2: Mobley and double teams from Indiana and Dallas. On defense,

1271
01:01:23,720 --> 01:01:26,040
Speaker 2: he can guard one through five and through everyone's offensive

1272
01:01:26,040 --> 01:01:29,000
Speaker 2: game plan. Off by guarding centers against Dallas specifically, he

1273
01:01:29,080 --> 01:01:32,520
Speaker 2: shut down the lob threat completely. His shooting slump was brutal,

1274
01:01:32,760 --> 01:01:35,840
Speaker 2: but he still contributed at the highest level. Shay is

1275
01:01:35,880 --> 01:01:38,120
Speaker 2: a more efficient scorer, but that's really it. He takes

1276
01:01:38,120 --> 01:01:40,600
Speaker 2: the fourth assignment on defense and can operate can only

1277
01:01:40,600 --> 01:01:42,000
Speaker 2: operate with the ball in his hands. It seems like

1278
01:01:42,040 --> 01:01:44,200
Speaker 2: your ranking is a lot on projection, but Shay is

1279
01:01:44,240 --> 01:01:46,240
Speaker 2: only a year younger than Tatum and the bodies of

1280
01:01:46,280 --> 01:01:49,160
Speaker 2: work aren't comparable. Tatum has won more playoff series than

1281
01:01:49,160 --> 01:01:52,560
Speaker 2: Shay has won playoff games. That's a crazy stat. He's

1282
01:01:52,680 --> 01:01:55,960
Speaker 2: gone toe to toe with Giannis Embiid, Butler, Durant, Curry, Lebron,

1283
01:01:56,080 --> 01:01:58,640
Speaker 2: and Luca in huge games and come out on top consistently.

1284
01:01:58,680 --> 01:02:01,520
Speaker 2: Shay's best playoff run was a second round exit, and

1285
01:02:01,560 --> 01:02:03,600
Speaker 2: the only series he's won was against the Pelicans team

1286
01:02:03,640 --> 01:02:05,760
Speaker 2: without Zion. His team is poised to have a lot

1287
01:02:05,800 --> 01:02:08,240
Speaker 2: of success in these next few years. But if Boston

1288
01:02:08,240 --> 01:02:10,919
Speaker 2: beating the finals, I'll take Tatum's experience and resume every time.

1289
01:02:11,120 --> 01:02:12,360
Speaker 2: So I'm not going to get into some of the

1290
01:02:12,520 --> 01:02:14,760
Speaker 2: specifics with Tatum because I just did that with the

1291
01:02:14,800 --> 01:02:18,600
Speaker 2: previous comment, But to really simply respond, I think Shay

1292
01:02:18,720 --> 01:02:22,040
Speaker 2: is in like a completely different stratosphere than Tatum as

1293
01:02:22,080 --> 01:02:25,880
Speaker 2: an offensive player, specifically as an offensive engine while also

1294
01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:28,960
Speaker 2: being a legitimately good two way player. So to be honest,

1295
01:02:29,000 --> 01:02:32,840
Speaker 2: I never even considered Tatum to be over SGA. I

1296
01:02:33,280 --> 01:02:36,800
Speaker 2: just never gave that a real Look. What's wild is

1297
01:02:36,800 --> 01:02:39,640
Speaker 2: you said Aunt over Tatum mid playoff run, then you

1298
01:02:39,680 --> 01:02:41,680
Speaker 2: came back after he was eliminated and said you were

1299
01:02:41,680 --> 01:02:43,520
Speaker 2: caught in the moment and that Tatum is better right now,

1300
01:02:43,600 --> 01:02:45,840
Speaker 2: but you wouldn't be surprised if Aunt passes him even

1301
01:02:45,920 --> 01:02:48,439
Speaker 2: next season. Then Boston wins a ring and now Ant

1302
01:02:48,480 --> 01:02:50,880
Speaker 2: is back over Tatum. You do realize Ant hasn't done

1303
01:02:50,880 --> 01:02:53,880
Speaker 2: anything Tatum hasn't already done even when he was Aunt's age.

1304
01:02:54,200 --> 01:02:56,000
Speaker 2: So I understand that this can be confusing, And I

1305
01:02:56,040 --> 01:02:58,200
Speaker 2: kind of talked about this a little bit earlier in

1306
01:02:58,240 --> 01:03:01,640
Speaker 2: the show. But like talking about who better is all

1307
01:03:01,680 --> 01:03:04,360
Speaker 2: about what criteria we're using. Like if I was just

1308
01:03:04,400 --> 01:03:06,760
Speaker 2: sitting here and I was like, I was like, well,

1309
01:03:08,720 --> 01:03:14,880
Speaker 2: I think that Lebron's better than Tatum, Like what do

1310
01:03:14,920 --> 01:03:18,560
Speaker 2: you mean, like for tomorrow, Like, because like, yeah, I

1311
01:03:18,640 --> 01:03:21,480
Speaker 2: probably agree, but like for starting a season tomorrow, like

1312
01:03:21,520 --> 01:03:23,720
Speaker 2: a full season, it's a completely different conversation, right, Like

1313
01:03:23,880 --> 01:03:27,000
Speaker 2: when someone says who's better at basketball, it's usually one

1314
01:03:27,040 --> 01:03:29,120
Speaker 2: of three things, right, Like, it's of which I went

1315
01:03:29,120 --> 01:03:30,840
Speaker 2: over at the beginning of the show, best for a

1316
01:03:30,880 --> 01:03:34,480
Speaker 2: gamer series or starts tomorrow, best for an entire season

1317
01:03:34,480 --> 01:03:37,480
Speaker 2: from start to finish, or the bragging rights piece, right Like,

1318
01:03:37,520 --> 01:03:39,400
Speaker 2: that's the the bragging rights piece is tough, Right, That's

1319
01:03:39,440 --> 01:03:41,240
Speaker 2: what a lot of Celtics fans are playing right now.

1320
01:03:41,320 --> 01:03:43,120
Speaker 2: That's what a lot of the people have been done

1321
01:03:43,160 --> 01:03:46,240
Speaker 2: doing in these comments, like Tatum just won the title,

1322
01:03:47,000 --> 01:03:50,360
Speaker 2: Why isn't he higher. Okay, So that's bragging rights. You're saying,

1323
01:03:50,760 --> 01:03:53,600
Speaker 2: regardless of what all the team circumstances and other things

1324
01:03:53,640 --> 01:03:56,600
Speaker 2: going on are, Tatum has the trophy. Therefore he should

1325
01:03:56,640 --> 01:04:00,560
Speaker 2: be number one. That's bragging rights. Right. For a game

1326
01:04:00,560 --> 01:04:05,240
Speaker 2: that starts tomorrow, totally different conversation. Best for an entire

1327
01:04:05,360 --> 01:04:09,000
Speaker 2: season that goes from start to finish, totally different conversation.

1328
01:04:09,160 --> 01:04:12,760
Speaker 2: Adding the modifier that we're doing a whole draft from scratch,

1329
01:04:13,600 --> 01:04:16,560
Speaker 2: that's a different conversation, right, And so like, yeah, at

1330
01:04:16,600 --> 01:04:19,680
Speaker 2: the moment when Ant lost, and I'll even extend it

1331
01:04:19,680 --> 01:04:22,840
Speaker 2: to today, if I had to start a playoff series

1332
01:04:22,920 --> 01:04:28,080
Speaker 2: two tomorrow, I'm giving Tatum a slight edge over Ant.

1333
01:04:28,840 --> 01:04:31,320
Speaker 2: And that's with me giving him grace because of his

1334
01:04:31,360 --> 01:04:33,479
Speaker 2: poor jump shooting, Like that's me thinking that he would

1335
01:04:33,480 --> 01:04:36,479
Speaker 2: shoot better if he was like the number one option

1336
01:04:36,520 --> 01:04:38,080
Speaker 2: on the team and everything was falling through him, which,

1337
01:04:38,120 --> 01:04:39,360
Speaker 2: by the way, he just did in the playoffs and

1338
01:04:39,360 --> 01:04:41,600
Speaker 2: didn't shoot very well. But giving him that grace, Yeah,

1339
01:04:41,640 --> 01:04:44,720
Speaker 2: I'd give Tatum a slight edge over Ant right now.

1340
01:04:45,600 --> 01:04:48,880
Speaker 2: But I think that by next April, Ant's gonna pass him.

1341
01:04:49,640 --> 01:04:51,680
Speaker 2: And I also think that Ant in the regular season

1342
01:04:51,720 --> 01:04:54,840
Speaker 2: is a really useful offensive engine. And I think specifically,

1343
01:04:54,880 --> 01:04:57,480
Speaker 2: if I was building a roster from scratch, Ant's a

1344
01:04:57,640 --> 01:05:01,280
Speaker 2: plus offensive trait, which is elite downhill athlet um combined

1345
01:05:01,320 --> 01:05:03,000
Speaker 2: with his pull up shooting, which has been far more

1346
01:05:03,040 --> 01:05:06,600
Speaker 2: deadly than Jason Tatum, especially as of late. I want

1347
01:05:06,600 --> 01:05:09,480
Speaker 2: Aunt and so again, that's where these conversations get a

1348
01:05:09,520 --> 01:05:12,680
Speaker 2: little bit tougher. Bragging rights. Yeah it's Tatum best for

1349
01:05:12,720 --> 01:05:14,760
Speaker 2: a game tomorrow. Yeah it's Tatum. But that's not the

1350
01:05:14,800 --> 01:05:17,400
Speaker 2: purpose of this particular list. And that's why I broke

1351
01:05:17,400 --> 01:05:20,120
Speaker 2: down the criteria at the beginning. That's why I've re

1352
01:05:20,240 --> 01:05:22,840
Speaker 2: emphasized and gone over the criteria like thirty five times

1353
01:05:22,840 --> 01:05:24,640
Speaker 2: over the course of this list, because I think that's

1354
01:05:24,680 --> 01:05:30,040
Speaker 2: where most of the gap in our perspective has come from.

1355
01:05:30,360 --> 01:05:34,080
Speaker 2: Two more eighty Shay and Aunt over Tatum is hilarious.

1356
01:05:34,160 --> 01:05:36,240
Speaker 2: Only one of those players has proven that they can

1357
01:05:36,280 --> 01:05:38,920
Speaker 2: be the best player on a team and win a championship. Tatum,

1358
01:05:38,920 --> 01:05:40,840
Speaker 2: being a team player and all about winning while taking

1359
01:05:40,880 --> 01:05:43,120
Speaker 2: a hit to his counting stats is exactly why he'd

1360
01:05:43,160 --> 01:05:45,560
Speaker 2: be the perfect player to build around. He's already shown

1361
01:05:45,600 --> 01:05:48,160
Speaker 2: he can average thirty in a season dude just played

1362
01:05:48,160 --> 01:05:50,600
Speaker 2: point guard on offense and guarded the other team center

1363
01:05:50,640 --> 01:05:53,240
Speaker 2: on defense. So first of all, like this is where

1364
01:05:53,240 --> 01:05:55,200
Speaker 2: it gets triggy with the bragging rights thing, and this

1365
01:05:55,240 --> 01:05:57,040
Speaker 2: is why I don't do bragging rights anymore. We do

1366
01:05:57,040 --> 01:05:59,200
Speaker 2: bagging rights. I'm gonna do a video, so like after

1367
01:05:59,240 --> 01:06:02,000
Speaker 2: this week, next week Monday, I'm gonna do one video

1368
01:06:02,600 --> 01:06:05,560
Speaker 2: where I rank like the top five bragging rights guys

1369
01:06:05,600 --> 01:06:07,800
Speaker 2: from last year. But so we're gonna do it. But

1370
01:06:07,920 --> 01:06:10,360
Speaker 2: like for the purpose of this list, I don't like

1371
01:06:10,400 --> 01:06:12,040
Speaker 2: to do that anymore. I think that that we made

1372
01:06:12,040 --> 01:06:13,920
Speaker 2: some mistakes, and one of the biggest mistakes was last

1373
01:06:13,960 --> 01:06:16,720
Speaker 2: year I had Luca at ten because he missed the playoffs,

1374
01:06:16,840 --> 01:06:18,920
Speaker 2: so for bragging rights I had to have him lower.

1375
01:06:19,240 --> 01:06:21,200
Speaker 2: But then like he went and kicked everyone's ass this

1376
01:06:21,280 --> 01:06:22,480
Speaker 2: year and got all the way to the playoffs or

1377
01:06:22,520 --> 01:06:24,520
Speaker 2: all the way to the finals. So like that's where

1378
01:06:24,560 --> 01:06:26,520
Speaker 2: that that type of list has a certain amount of

1379
01:06:26,560 --> 01:06:31,520
Speaker 2: flaw to it. Right, Let's put it this way, this

1380
01:06:31,600 --> 01:06:34,040
Speaker 2: is why the bragging rights thing is silly. Tatum won

1381
01:06:34,080 --> 01:06:37,400
Speaker 2: the trophy and he just played the worst playoff basketball

1382
01:06:37,440 --> 01:06:40,720
Speaker 2: of his prime by far, Like he was in close

1383
01:06:41,280 --> 01:06:43,080
Speaker 2: to as good as he was in twenty twenty two

1384
01:06:43,400 --> 01:06:46,640
Speaker 2: when he lost. So that's what's kind of ridiculous, like

1385
01:06:46,680 --> 01:06:49,160
Speaker 2: to put it. Here's another angle for it, like you

1386
01:06:49,160 --> 01:06:51,480
Speaker 2: know who else won a title and didn't win finals?

1387
01:06:51,560 --> 01:06:56,480
Speaker 2: MVP Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis's two way play in the

1388
01:06:56,520 --> 01:07:01,400
Speaker 2: twenty twenty playoffs was infinitely more than Jason Tatum. He's

1389
01:07:01,440 --> 01:07:03,080
Speaker 2: better than Tatum on both ends of the floor in

1390
01:07:03,120 --> 01:07:06,760
Speaker 2: that playoff run by a wide margin. So that's why

1391
01:07:06,880 --> 01:07:10,120
Speaker 2: I don't I think just pointing to this particular playoff

1392
01:07:10,200 --> 01:07:12,640
Speaker 2: run and them winning the trophy is just a weak

1393
01:07:12,760 --> 01:07:17,120
Speaker 2: case to put Tatum over people over people. For last question,

1394
01:07:17,720 --> 01:07:21,040
Speaker 2: why can't the Lakers make the playoffs outright with two

1395
01:07:21,160 --> 01:07:23,760
Speaker 2: top ten players? That's weird. I get versions of this

1396
01:07:23,840 --> 01:07:26,440
Speaker 2: question all the time. It's really as simple. The Lakers

1397
01:07:26,480 --> 01:07:28,360
Speaker 2: were a hell of a lot better than their record

1398
01:07:28,400 --> 01:07:30,320
Speaker 2: would lead you to believe, because they had one bad

1399
01:07:30,400 --> 01:07:33,960
Speaker 2: stretch over about three weeks in late December and early January.

1400
01:07:34,120 --> 01:07:35,480
Speaker 2: They were one of the best teams in the league

1401
01:07:35,480 --> 01:07:36,480
Speaker 2: to start the year, and they were one of the

1402
01:07:36,520 --> 01:07:38,520
Speaker 2: best teams in the league to end the year. Also,

1403
01:07:38,600 --> 01:07:42,120
Speaker 2: the Western Conference is super super deep, with talent. We

1404
01:07:42,200 --> 01:07:44,840
Speaker 2: actually just look through the Western Conference standings, there's just

1405
01:07:44,880 --> 01:07:47,360
Speaker 2: not much of a gap in that middle portion. All

1406
01:07:47,360 --> 01:07:49,120
Speaker 2: of them are just kind of jammed up on each other,

1407
01:07:49,400 --> 01:07:51,720
Speaker 2: like there's just more good teams in the West. When

1408
01:07:51,760 --> 01:07:53,520
Speaker 2: there are more good teams in the West, it's going

1409
01:07:53,560 --> 01:07:55,240
Speaker 2: to be more competitive. It's going to be harder to

1410
01:07:55,280 --> 01:07:57,320
Speaker 2: jockey for playoff positioning, it's going to be harder to

1411
01:07:57,360 --> 01:08:00,800
Speaker 2: put up bigger win totals. That's just to be expected.

1412
01:08:01,120 --> 01:08:03,720
Speaker 2: The West, head to head, kicked the shit out of

1413
01:08:03,760 --> 01:08:07,000
Speaker 2: the Eastern Conference this year. Even Boston, for as good

1414
01:08:07,040 --> 01:08:09,880
Speaker 2: as they were, they were just three and five in

1415
01:08:09,920 --> 01:08:12,200
Speaker 2: their eight matchups against the top four seeds in the

1416
01:08:12,200 --> 01:08:15,000
Speaker 2: Western Conference. The Western Conference was just an entirely different battle.

1417
01:08:15,480 --> 01:08:18,760
Speaker 2: Other little known fact, like if you take out that

1418
01:08:18,800 --> 01:08:20,880
Speaker 2: three and ten stretch, the Lakers just looked like an

1419
01:08:20,920 --> 01:08:24,120
Speaker 2: awesome team. Like again, awesome to start the year, won

1420
01:08:24,160 --> 01:08:27,599
Speaker 2: the n season Tournament. From January seventh on, they were

1421
01:08:27,640 --> 01:08:29,439
Speaker 2: like one of the top four records in the league.

1422
01:08:29,439 --> 01:08:31,000
Speaker 2: I can't remember exactly off the top of my head,

1423
01:08:31,040 --> 01:08:32,680
Speaker 2: I'll pull it up in a minute, but like they

1424
01:08:32,680 --> 01:08:35,240
Speaker 2: were one of the top records in the league. They

1425
01:08:37,120 --> 01:08:40,320
Speaker 2: they had seventeen wins according to Cleaning the Glass against

1426
01:08:40,360 --> 01:08:43,480
Speaker 2: teams that were in the top ten in point differential,

1427
01:08:44,520 --> 01:08:46,920
Speaker 2: would the only team that had that many wins other

1428
01:08:47,000 --> 01:08:50,559
Speaker 2: than the Lakers was Boston, So that like the Lakers,

1429
01:08:51,000 --> 01:08:53,000
Speaker 2: and then they went and played the defending champs and

1430
01:08:53,040 --> 01:08:55,200
Speaker 2: outplayed them the majority of the series. They just got

1431
01:08:55,240 --> 01:08:58,000
Speaker 2: gamed by Jamal Murray twice, which ended up costing them

1432
01:08:58,000 --> 01:09:01,320
Speaker 2: the series. Like they they went blow blow with the

1433
01:09:01,360 --> 01:09:04,439
Speaker 2: team that hoisted the trophy last year. So like again,

1434
01:09:04,520 --> 01:09:06,400
Speaker 2: like were the like. I didn't think the Lakers were

1435
01:09:06,439 --> 01:09:10,160
Speaker 2: a top tier championship contender. I had I had Denver one,

1436
01:09:10,200 --> 01:09:13,080
Speaker 2: and I had Boston two, and then I had a gap,

1437
01:09:13,439 --> 01:09:15,200
Speaker 2: and then I had everyone else, and I think I

1438
01:09:15,240 --> 01:09:18,160
Speaker 2: had the Lakers sixth. I had him like fifth or sixth.

1439
01:09:18,439 --> 01:09:20,040
Speaker 2: So no, I don't think the Lakers were gonna win

1440
01:09:20,080 --> 01:09:22,720
Speaker 2: the title. I don't think the Lakers were gonna beat Boston.

1441
01:09:23,120 --> 01:09:24,640
Speaker 2: I didn't think the Lakers were gonna be Denver. I

1442
01:09:24,680 --> 01:09:26,920
Speaker 2: picked them to lose that series. But I do think

1443
01:09:26,960 --> 01:09:29,160
Speaker 2: the Lakers were a hell of a lot better than

1444
01:09:29,200 --> 01:09:33,120
Speaker 2: their uh uh than their than their uh position in

1445
01:09:33,160 --> 01:09:35,799
Speaker 2: the standings would lead you to believe and quite frankly

1446
01:09:36,880 --> 01:09:40,839
Speaker 2: like for Lebron and AD to be what I considered

1447
01:09:40,880 --> 01:09:44,519
Speaker 2: to be the sixth best team in the league. Uh

1448
01:09:44,960 --> 01:09:46,880
Speaker 2: to be the sixth sixth best team in the league

1449
01:09:46,960 --> 01:09:49,400
Speaker 2: with Lebron and Ad on the roster, that goes to

1450
01:09:49,439 --> 01:09:52,240
Speaker 2: show you they overcame a lot. That was with the

1451
01:09:52,280 --> 01:09:54,599
Speaker 2: limitation of Darvin Ham as the coach, that was with

1452
01:09:55,000 --> 01:09:57,840
Speaker 2: the lack of two way role players. Like, honestly, I

1453
01:09:57,840 --> 01:10:00,439
Speaker 2: thought Lebron and Ad did more than pulling the and

1454
01:10:00,479 --> 01:10:02,439
Speaker 2: like when people say, like, why didn't they make the

1455
01:10:02,439 --> 01:10:06,000
Speaker 2: playoffs outright, despite the fact that Lebron and Ad are

1456
01:10:06,080 --> 01:10:08,400
Speaker 2: top ten players, and it's like, did you watch them play?

1457
01:10:08,760 --> 01:10:11,479
Speaker 2: They were awesome every night. They were literally awesome all

1458
01:10:11,520 --> 01:10:15,400
Speaker 2: the time. And the issue was some rotation stuff in

1459
01:10:15,400 --> 01:10:17,360
Speaker 2: the middle of the season. And then the fact that

1460
01:10:17,400 --> 01:10:20,840
Speaker 2: they literally do not have like their starting five is

1461
01:10:20,880 --> 01:10:24,720
Speaker 2: Austin Reeves, d Low and Rui good players, but it's

1462
01:10:24,760 --> 01:10:27,680
Speaker 2: poorly balanced. There's nobody in None of those guys are

1463
01:10:27,720 --> 01:10:31,600
Speaker 2: above average defensive players. That's the problem. And so like

1464
01:10:31,640 --> 01:10:33,519
Speaker 2: they were constantly trying to overcome that. But by the way,

1465
01:10:33,520 --> 01:10:35,880
Speaker 2: I pulled up the number over their final forty six

1466
01:10:36,000 --> 01:10:38,080
Speaker 2: games of the year, which was from January seventh on,

1467
01:10:38,120 --> 01:10:40,080
Speaker 2: they were thirty and sixteen. That was the fourth best

1468
01:10:40,120 --> 01:10:42,519
Speaker 2: record in the league. Like, that was more than half

1469
01:10:42,560 --> 01:10:44,439
Speaker 2: the season sample size. They were one of the best

1470
01:10:44,439 --> 01:10:46,559
Speaker 2: offenses in the league. So, like a lot of people

1471
01:10:46,880 --> 01:10:48,559
Speaker 2: like to be clear, Like if you were under the

1472
01:10:48,560 --> 01:10:50,960
Speaker 2: impression that the Lakers were a bad basketball team, that's

1473
01:10:50,960 --> 01:10:52,920
Speaker 2: just not accurate. That's just not accurate to what was

1474
01:10:52,960 --> 01:10:56,120
Speaker 2: actually happening last year. Were they a top tier championship contender. No,

1475
01:10:56,479 --> 01:10:58,760
Speaker 2: but they were firmly in the mix in that next

1476
01:10:58,800 --> 01:11:01,240
Speaker 2: group that was below. All right, guys, that is all

1477
01:11:01,240 --> 01:11:03,200
Speaker 2: I have for today is always sincerely appreciate you for

1478
01:11:03,240 --> 01:11:04,880
Speaker 2: sporting the show. Don't forget to argue and tell me

1479
01:11:04,920 --> 01:11:06,800
Speaker 2: how I'm wrong in the comments. Make a basketball case.

1480
01:11:06,800 --> 01:11:08,760
Speaker 2: You have a much higher chance of getting picked in

1481
01:11:08,800 --> 01:11:11,360
Speaker 2: the comments. We'll be back on Wednesday with number three

1482
01:11:11,439 --> 01:11:13,040
Speaker 2: and number two. I'll see you guys.

1483
01:11:13,080 --> 01:11:20,240
Speaker 1: Then the volume the NFL season's right around the corner.

1484
01:11:20,280 --> 01:11:22,760
Speaker 1: We'll be breaking down all the off season storylines on

1485
01:11:22,800 --> 01:11:26,160
Speaker 1: the Colin Cowherd podcast. My best takes guests like my

1486
01:11:26,160 --> 01:11:28,960
Speaker 1: buddy Nick Wright. Check out the Colin Coward Podcast Part

1487
01:11:28,960 --> 01:11:34,040
Speaker 1: of the Volume Network available on Apple, Spotify, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you get your podcasts.