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Speaker 1: The Volume. All right, welcome to him to night here

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Speaker 1: at the Volume. Happy Monday, everybody, hop all of you

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Speaker 1: guys had an incredible weekend. You got a jam pack

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Speaker 1: show for you guys today. The New York Knicks won

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Speaker 1: their fourth consecutive game last night with a wire to

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Speaker 1: wire dominance of the Toronto Raptors. I want to really

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Speaker 1: zoom in on their three point shooting this year, as

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Speaker 1: they have dramatically increased their three point volume as a

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Speaker 1: big product of the work that Mike Brown has done

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Speaker 1: revamping this offense. After that, we got to talk about

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Speaker 1: Austin Reeves. Man. I went through an exercise thinking about

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Speaker 1: how many players in the NBA have played better basketball

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Speaker 1: than Austin Reeves to start this season, and it's a

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Speaker 1: very short list. So I want to talk a little

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Speaker 1: bit about Austin Reeves, his development, the trajector he's been on,

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Speaker 1: just how insanely good he has been this season, and

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Speaker 1: again where he would rank in the NBA if you

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Speaker 1: ended the season today. And then at the tail end

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Speaker 1: of the show, like we always do on Mondays, our

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Speaker 1: weekly power rankings, some new exciting teams that I want

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Speaker 1: to hit in the bottom part of the top ten.

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Speaker 1: That middle chunk of the season of standings is really fascinating.

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Speaker 1: This year's NBA standings picture has looked very different than

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Speaker 1: recent years. We've had a lot more bad teams, like

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Speaker 1: really bad teams at the bottom, but there's this very

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Speaker 1: very deep middle, a bunch of teams right in that

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Speaker 1: like twelve and eight kind of range that are fighting.

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Speaker 1: And so the bottom of our power rankings is going

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Speaker 1: to experience a lot of turnover week to week, but

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Speaker 1: a lot of interesting stuff to get into there. You

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Speaker 1: guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to

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Speaker 1: the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any more

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Speaker 1: of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore jcnlt

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Speaker 1: so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about

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Speaker 1: our podcast feed. Wherever you get your podcast uner Hoops

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Speaker 1: Tonight it's always. It's also super helpful with you leave

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Speaker 1: a rating and a review. On that front, Jackson is

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Speaker 1: doing incredible work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram,

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Speaker 1: Facebook and TikTok. Make sure you guys keep following us

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Speaker 1: there for content throughout the season, and then we will

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Speaker 1: be back to our normal mailbag routine. This Friday, we'll

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Speaker 1: have a mailbag, so if you want to get questions

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Speaker 1: and the mail bags, go to our full episodes on YouTube,

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Speaker 1: going too the comments right mail bag with a colon

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Speaker 1: that helps me find the questions and we'll get to

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Speaker 1: them on Fridays throughout the remainder of the season. A

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Speaker 1: couple other quick notes like this video really helps us

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Speaker 1: if you could take a second, just a quick scroll down,

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Speaker 1: hit that like button, and our playback schedule for this week,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna be hitting a couple of games on the

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Speaker 1: Lakers road trips, so on Thursday night in Toronto and

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Speaker 1: then on Friday night a really fun one against the

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Speaker 1: Boston Celtics. So Lakers Raptors Lakers Celtics on Thursday and

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Speaker 1: Friday this week on playback. If you guys want to

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Speaker 1: come hang out, I'm gonna reach out to some guys

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Speaker 1: who cover those teams too and see if we can't

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Speaker 1: get someone to come hang out during the stream. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So we're gonna start with the Nicks.

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Speaker 1: They won their fourth straight game last night, again dominating

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Speaker 1: the Toronto Raptors on tailing of back to back so

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Speaker 1: that they were without Yaka Pertl, but obviously the Knicks

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Speaker 1: without Og and Nanobi. You know, I run into this

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Speaker 1: issue every single time I cover a game on here.

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Speaker 1: Everyone's like, well, this guy's out, that guy's out. Just

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Speaker 1: there's people out all the time. That's just the NBA

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Speaker 1: regular season, And so more often than not, these are

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Speaker 1: becoming examples and demonstrations of your team's culture from the

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Speaker 1: top down, so that you can maintain some semblance of

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Speaker 1: success with guys in and out of the lineup. And

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Speaker 1: the Knicks came out absolutely guns blazing from three. Deuce

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Speaker 1: McBride has been on a special heater over the last

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Speaker 1: few games. He's fourteen for twenty from three over his

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Speaker 1: last three games, hit four more of them against the Raptors.

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Speaker 1: Got hot in the first half. Josh Hart had one

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Speaker 1: of his best games of the season. Scored twenty points,

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Speaker 1: hit four threes of his own twelve rebounds, really killed

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Speaker 1: the Raptors on the offensive glass during their third quarter run.

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Speaker 1: That was kind of the story of the game in

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Speaker 1: a lot of ways. The first quarter was Knicks three

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Speaker 1: point shooting. The third quarter was Knicks offensive rebounding and

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Speaker 1: getting out in transition, And those were the two kind

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Speaker 1: of stretches where they assumed control and Toronto made a

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Speaker 1: couple of runs. Scotty Barnes got randomly super hot and

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Speaker 1: hit back to back to back threes in the first

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Speaker 1: half that kind of shrunk the lead. There was another

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Speaker 1: early third quarter run where Emanuel quickly got super hot

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Speaker 1: had like an eight to zero run by himself that

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Speaker 1: dragged Toronto closer. But other than that, the Knicks basically

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Speaker 1: completely shut down the Raptors offense. McHale Bridges did an

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Speaker 1: absolute number on brandon Ingram from the opening tip he

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Speaker 1: got to steal, chasing him over the top of the screen,

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Speaker 1: and all night long he was fighting him off the spots,

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Speaker 1: fighting him through screens, making his catches tough, attacking his base,

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Speaker 1: attacking his dribble. He looked visibly uncomfortable, had some really

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Speaker 1: ugly misses, had five turnovers, and again in this four

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Speaker 1: game winning streak, the Knicks have logged a one h

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Speaker 1: six defensive rating, and it really starts with that defensive

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Speaker 1: pressure on the perimeter from guys like McHale Bridges, guys

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Speaker 1: like Deuce McBride, and guys like Josh Hart. Kind of

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Speaker 1: an old school Nicks win streak. This four game streak

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Speaker 1: like playing great defense, bludgeoning teams on the offensive glass,

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Speaker 1: a lot of stuff that became a regular part of

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Speaker 1: the Knicks identity a few years ago. I want to

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Speaker 1: zoom in on the three point shooting though for a minute,

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Speaker 1: there was a big part of why they got their

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Speaker 1: initial separation against Toronto. Obviously there was multiple runs to

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Speaker 1: control that game, but it was a big part of

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Speaker 1: their first quarter run when they went up twenty. And

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Speaker 1: it's been a major statistical marker for the Knicks this year,

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Speaker 1: and I personally think it's directly connected to the job

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Speaker 1: that Mike Brown has done to revamp this offense. For

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Speaker 1: some basic stats, last year, the Knicks averaged just thirty

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Speaker 1: four to three point attempts per game that ranked twenty

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Speaker 1: seventh in the NBA. This year, the Knicks are averaging

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Speaker 1: forty one three point attempts per game, which ranks fifth

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Speaker 1: in the NBA, all while increasing their efficiency from running

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Speaker 1: around thirty six percent as a team to a little

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Speaker 1: over thirty seven percent, so from bottom five and three

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Speaker 1: point volume to top five, all while increasing percentage. And

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Speaker 1: this is where Mike Brown deserves a ton of credit

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Speaker 1: for changing the team's approach. There is a very intentional

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Speaker 1: effort to use drives to get the defense in rotation

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Speaker 1: early in possessions so that they can play drive and kick.

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Speaker 1: And it's not any just one thing, like, yes, they're

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Speaker 1: pushing in transition. More it's kind of a game to

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Speaker 1: game thing. They'll have some games where they just are

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Speaker 1: flying up and down the floor. They'll have other games

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Speaker 1: where they're a little bit more stuck in the half court.

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Speaker 1: But it's a mentality starting with those transition pushes and

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Speaker 1: then in the half court early action that gets one

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Speaker 1: of their players downhill. Brunson himself, and I think Brunson

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Speaker 1: deserves a lot of credit for his leadership and for

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Speaker 1: his versatility by really not just buying into this style,

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Speaker 1: but like being one of the driving forces of this style.

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Speaker 1: You know, one of those early threes for duce McBride

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Speaker 1: was just Jalen Brunson on the right side of the floor.

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Speaker 1: I think he had I think it was Scottie Barnes

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Speaker 1: I remember correctly, on like a transition cross match, just

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Speaker 1: a really heavy right hand drive early in the possession,

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Speaker 1: collapse of defense, kick out the duce McBride wide open,

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Speaker 1: just kind of embracing the emphasis on getting dribble penetration

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Speaker 1: early in possessions, either through transition, semi transition, or that

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Speaker 1: first action to just unlock the aggregate talent on the

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Speaker 1: team with their driving kick play right. As a team,

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Speaker 1: last year, they were sixteenth in drives per game. According

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Speaker 1: to NBA dot Com. They're up to seventh in drives

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Speaker 1: per game this year. More drives means more help. More

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Speaker 1: help means easier kickouts. Easier kickouts means more kickouts. More

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Speaker 1: kickouts means more threes. The Knicks are generating thirty five

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Speaker 1: point four spot up opportunities per game this season. That's

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Speaker 1: the second most in the entire NBA, behind the Miami Heat.

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Speaker 1: Last year they generated just twenty six point three, so

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Speaker 1: more than nine additional spot up opportunities every game compared

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Speaker 1: to last year. I wanted to dig into the play

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Speaker 1: type data on Synergy because I wanted to come up

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Speaker 1: with like a way of kind of expressing the difference

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Speaker 1: in the approach, the difference and the balance of the

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Speaker 1: way the Knicks are attacking on offense. So the Knicks

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Speaker 1: are shooting the ball as the primary ball handler out

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Speaker 1: of iso, pick and roll or post up situations. Three

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Speaker 1: point six fewer times per game than they did last year,

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Speaker 1: and instead they're generating again, we know they're generating nine

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Speaker 1: more spot ups, which is coming out of all sorts

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Speaker 1: of different types of actions. But let's zoom in on

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Speaker 1: those spot ups specifically to unguarded catch and shoot threes.

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Speaker 1: They are generating as a team an additional three point

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Speaker 1: one unguarded catch and shoot threes per game compared to

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Speaker 1: last year. So you're taking, you know, roughly three three

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Speaker 1: and a half one on one shot attempts and you're

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Speaker 1: turning them into three to three and a half staying

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Speaker 1: still unguarded catch and shoots. And to put it very simply,

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Speaker 1: I don't care if you have Shay or Luca on

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Speaker 1: your team. There isn't a one on one play in

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Speaker 1: the league that is going to be nearly as efficient

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Speaker 1: as an unguarded catch and shoe three. The Knicks as

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Speaker 1: a team are getting one point two five points per

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Speaker 1: unguarded catch and shoot attempt this season. So, to put

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Speaker 1: it very simply, the Knicks are driving the basketball more,

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Speaker 1: both in transition and in the half court earlier in possessions,

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Speaker 1: which is helping them to avoid as much one on

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Speaker 1: one play and it's caused them to completely flip their

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Speaker 1: shot diet from a bottom five three point volume team

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Speaker 1: to a top five three point volume team. So as

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Speaker 1: a result, I mean, this was a Knicks team last

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Speaker 1: year that had a one to seventeen point three offensive rating,

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Speaker 1: which was good, but this year their offensive rating is

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Speaker 1: over one twenty. This year they've gone up a level

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Speaker 1: from a very good offense to a great offense. And again,

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Speaker 1: I really they want to shout out Jalen Brunson here,

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of like, you know, narrative and like

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Speaker 1: this is the truth. Like the way they were playing

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Speaker 1: in the past was a lot of Jalen Brunson kind

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Speaker 1: of dribbling the air out of the basketball. It's not

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Speaker 1: his fault, just the way the team was put together

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Speaker 1: and the way that they were playing under Tom Thibodeaux. Right,

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Speaker 1: But it wasn't a Brunson problem. It was a style problem.

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Speaker 1: And what Brunson has shown is that he can still

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Speaker 1: put up the numbers that were accustomed to him putting

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Speaker 1: up while also playing and buying into this style which

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Speaker 1: empowers the rest of the group and generates better quality

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Speaker 1: shots and scores more points per one hundred possessions. This

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Speaker 1: is a simple stat to demonstrate this. Jalen Brown out

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Speaker 1: of an ISO, drove and kicked to a player to

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Speaker 1: knock down a three just fifteen times all season last year.

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Speaker 1: He's done it eleven times already this year. That's again

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Speaker 1: sequences like that early kick out to Douce McBride just

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Speaker 1: beat his man off the dribble draw and help make

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Speaker 1: the kick pass early in the clock. Brunson has been

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Speaker 1: not just buying in but a driving force behind the

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Speaker 1: success of this new offensive approach. Some other good news

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Speaker 1: for Knicks fans Kat starting to get his footing. Another

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Speaker 1: nice game from him yesterday, averaging twenty four points and

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Speaker 1: eleven rebounds in his last eight games. And again, these

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Speaker 1: four straight wins have moved the Knicks up to number

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Speaker 1: two in the Eastern Conference, and with Cleveland faltering, I mean,

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Speaker 1: as you look out at the East, my issues with

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Speaker 1: the Knicks were things all that over the last couple

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Speaker 1: of years that put me below teams like Cleveland, or

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Speaker 1: below teams like Boston, although they ended up beating Boston

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Speaker 1: as we know. But as Cleveland is faltered, and it

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Speaker 1: doesn't appear to be like there's this clear best team

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Speaker 1: in the Eastern Conference. As you start to look around

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Speaker 1: Orlando pretty young, you know they've improved as a jump

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Speaker 1: shooting team. Not great, Detroit young, mistake prone, turns the

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Speaker 1: ball over a lot, Cleveland obviously not looking like the

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Speaker 1: juggernaut they were last year. You could make the case

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Speaker 1: that the Knicks are the safest bet out in the

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Speaker 1: Eastern Conference. With the way things are shaping up out there,

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Speaker 1: so really really impressive stretch of basketball out in New York,

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Speaker 1: it's time to have a serious conversation about the player

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Speaker 1: that Austin Reeves has become in the league. There has

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Speaker 1: been this incremental improvement with Austin ever since he entered

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Speaker 1: the league. But the thing is is, every time you

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Speaker 1: think he's reached his ceiling, you look up and somehow

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Speaker 1: he's even better yet again. Started with him being kind

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Speaker 1: of just a capable off ball score, a guy that

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Speaker 1: could knock down a catching shoot three, drive a close out,

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Speaker 1: you know, make a playoff the bounce, paying like essentially

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Speaker 1: benefiting from the attention that Lebron and ad drew. Right

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Speaker 1: then he started to flash some higher level bucket getting

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Speaker 1: like a crazy move in the mid range for a

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Speaker 1: pull up jump shot that would make a highlight reel.

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Speaker 1: Really started to showcase his ability to get defenders out

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Speaker 1: of position and get to the foul line. Then there

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Speaker 1: was Game one against Memphis three years ago down the stretch.

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Speaker 1: The Lakers were like, you run the offense, spread, pick

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Speaker 1: and roll, and he closed a playoff game and he

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Speaker 1: did it. You know, you guys remember screaming I'm him

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Speaker 1: at the top of his lungs to the rafters as

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Speaker 1: he literally won a playoff game for the Lakers. Then

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Speaker 1: you look up and he had eight twenty point games

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Speaker 1: in that single playoff runt. Then JJ makes him the

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Speaker 1: starting point guard and it wasn't perfect at first, but

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Speaker 1: he just kept getting better at it. And then suddenly,

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Speaker 1: by the middle of last season, he looks like a

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Speaker 1: bona fide running mate alongside Lebron James and the Lakers

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Speaker 1: were winning consistently. Then naturally started to get some opportunities

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Speaker 1: to run the show, whether it was like Luca and

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Speaker 1: Lebron out last year against the Pacers and he goes

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Speaker 1: for forty five, seven and seven in a win, or

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Speaker 1: that road game in Denver which the Lakers ended up losing,

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Speaker 1: but they were right there. Dan thirty seven points, eight rebounds,

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Speaker 1: and thirteen assists for Austin in that game. But then again,

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Speaker 1: doing it every now and then is you know, when

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Speaker 1: you're surprising teams and you haven't been scouted really all

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Speaker 1: that well, that's very different from doing it every single night.

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Speaker 1: Austin is a known commodity. People know that he can hoop.

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Speaker 1: There is a game plan. Ball pressure him right, try

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Speaker 1: to rush him with physicality and ball pressure right, like

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Speaker 1: teams know what to do with him now. And yet

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Speaker 1: this year, regardless of circumstance, night after night, Austin is

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Speaker 1: frying everybody in the NBA, No Lebron and Luca. He's

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Speaker 1: got a forty point game and a fifty point game

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Speaker 1: this year, getting wins alongside Luca, consistent production alongside Lebron

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Speaker 1: and Luca. He's played four games with both of them

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Speaker 1: so far this season. How about twenty nine points per

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Speaker 1: game on six sixty three percent from the field, forty

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Speaker 1: two percent from three to ninety two percent from the line.

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Speaker 1: This is too large of his sample's eyes for us

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Speaker 1: to ignore anymore, and it's all in a winning context.

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Speaker 1: Last year, over his last thirty two regular season games,

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Speaker 1: he averaged a super efficient twenty three points per game,

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Speaker 1: and the Lakers went twenty one and eleven in those games.

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Speaker 1: This year twenty nine points, six rebounds, seven assists, sixty

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Speaker 1: eight percent true shooting for a game. That is for

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Speaker 1: a team that is currently a half game back of

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Speaker 1: the second best record in the NBA, and he surgically consistent.

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Speaker 1: Guess how many times this year Austin hasn't scored twenty

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Speaker 1: points in sixteen tries once the OKC game. Every other

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00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:55,720
Speaker 1: game he has at least twenty. The shot making is

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Speaker 1: outrageous seventy five percent at the rim, which is just

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00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:01,960
Speaker 1: stupid for a guard of his build. Four makes per game,

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Speaker 1: which is thirty sixth in the entire NBA as a guard,

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00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,600
Speaker 1: fourteen for eighteen on floaters. One of those was a

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Speaker 1: game winner. And again, as I've talked, one of the

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Speaker 1: most important, like pivotal pieces for this Lakers team and

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Speaker 1: their big picture goals are him knocking down unguarded catch

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Speaker 1: and shoot threes. He's been deadly on the catch and

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Speaker 1: shoot threes. In the last week. He's up to forty

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Speaker 1: six percent this season on unguarded catch and shoots, which,

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Speaker 1: as we know, was the major weakness that he showed

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Speaker 1: in the Timberwolve series in particular, and one of the

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00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:40,360
Speaker 1: crazy things is he's not just scoring the basketball. He

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00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:44,840
Speaker 1: showcased extremely high level playmaking ability, especially in the games

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Speaker 1: where Lebron is out or Luca as well. He can

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00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:51,040
Speaker 1: scale up his shot creation as a passer. His three

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00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,280
Speaker 1: games this year with at least eleven assists. You know

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00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,000
Speaker 1: how many players in the NBA this season are averaging

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Speaker 1: at least twenty eight points per game and at least

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Speaker 1: six and a halfphecists seven total, Lukasha, Giannis Jokich. You're

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00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:11,760
Speaker 1: mount rushmore of the NBA currently, Kay Cunningham, Tyre Smaxy,

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Speaker 1: and Austin Reeves. That's it. That's the end of the list.

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Speaker 1: And he's doing it next to Luca in lower usage.

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Speaker 1: His playtype data is off the charts. There are twenty

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Speaker 1: two players in the NBA this year to have run

316
00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:29,600
Speaker 1: at least two hundred pick and rolls including passes. Austin's

317
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:32,800
Speaker 1: getting one point one seven points per possession. That's second

318
00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:37,879
Speaker 1: in the entire NBA at high volume, even ahead of Luca.

319
00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:42,520
Speaker 1: Inefficiency there, and he's an incredibly well rounded player. I

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Speaker 1: was listening to the Laker film room podcast over this

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Speaker 1: weekend and shout out to Pete and Darius. I think

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00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:50,000
Speaker 1: they do amazing work. And Darius was making a point

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Speaker 1: comparing Austin to guys like Jimmy Butler, guys who came

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Speaker 1: up in the league more as role players and then

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Speaker 1: became stars, essentially forcing them to become well rounded players.

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Speaker 1: They had to be good at on and off ball defense.

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00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:07,600
Speaker 1: They had to be good rebounders, they had to have

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Speaker 1: strong fundamentals on the glass. They had to have an

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Speaker 1: overall willingness to scrap because that's how they stayed on

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Speaker 1: the floor early in their career. And I think Darius

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Speaker 1: is dead on with that. Austin isn't like some of

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Speaker 1: these other high scoring players at the top of the

333
00:18:22,440 --> 00:18:24,719
Speaker 1: league who give up a good amount of their production

334
00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:30,040
Speaker 1: on the margins. Around the floor. He can guard, He

335
00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:33,040
Speaker 1: always knows where to be in the scheme. He rebounds

336
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,560
Speaker 1: well for his size. He has some athletic limitations and

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00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,560
Speaker 1: they can show up situationally here and there. But because

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00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,560
Speaker 1: he's scrapped so hard and because he's got such strong fundamentals,

339
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Speaker 1: I think he's overwhelmingly a positive player on the margins.

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Speaker 1: As a consistent motor plays super hard. This is very

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Speaker 1: simply one of the best basketball players in the world

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Speaker 1: right now. I was thinking about it this morning. How

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00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:02,119
Speaker 1: many players in the NBA are playing better basketball than

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Speaker 1: Austin Reeves right now. So take reputation and set it

345
00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:10,680
Speaker 1: aside and just zoom in on this season. Everyone's anonymous

346
00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:14,520
Speaker 1: who's playing better basketball than Austin Reeves. The top tier guys,

347
00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,280
Speaker 1: right Luka sha jokichianis got to put them up there,

348
00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:20,680
Speaker 1: the up and coming superstars. Cade's been better. I think

349
00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,480
Speaker 1: Wemb's been better, Anthony Edwards has been better. Some of

350
00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:27,800
Speaker 1: the established guys. Donovan Mitchell has been excellent this season.

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00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:30,640
Speaker 1: Steph Curry still is still with all of the shit

352
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,639
Speaker 1: happening with Golden State, the Warriors have a one to

353
00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:35,320
Speaker 1: nineteen offensive rating with Steph Curry on the floor per

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Speaker 1: cleaning the glass, just insane advantage creation still to this day.

355
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,479
Speaker 1: After that, though, it's a whole lot of guys that

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Speaker 1: you would only put over Austin due to their reputation,

357
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Speaker 1: Like Austin has been flat out better to start this

358
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Speaker 1: season than guys like Jalen Brunson, Jalen Brown, James Harden,

359
00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:04,240
Speaker 1: Devin Booker, Kawhi Leonard. Now, to be clear, that doesn't

360
00:20:04,280 --> 00:20:06,800
Speaker 1: mean anything with respect to those guys. Those guys have

361
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,160
Speaker 1: extended track records of success. It's only been sixteen games.

362
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Speaker 1: No one's about to shake up the hierarchy of the league.

363
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Speaker 1: I'm just saying Austin has been the tenth best player

364
00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:21,400
Speaker 1: in the entire NBA this season through sixteen games. Now

365
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,639
Speaker 1: he'll have to maintain that for years in order to

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Speaker 1: get that established reputation that some of those other guys have.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, if you ask me, like, do i think

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Speaker 1: when we get to June that I'm gonna view Austin

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Speaker 1: as the tenth best player in the NBA. Probably not.

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Speaker 1: I think he's gonna land somewhere below that, probably somewhere

371
00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:43,520
Speaker 1: in that, like, you know, twelve to twenty range, right,

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Speaker 1: depending on how well he's able to maintain this level

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Speaker 1: of play. But this is just a truly remarkable development

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Speaker 1: an NBA star who's currently playing firmly at the level

375
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:05,040
Speaker 1: of a star, and it gives the Lakers a solid

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00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:09,840
Speaker 1: foundation for their future. You have a player in Luca

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Speaker 1: who's competing for the title of best player in the

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00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:16,080
Speaker 1: world currently, and now you have a bona fide all

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Speaker 1: NBA caliber running mate that compliments him perfectly. Now, I'll

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Speaker 1: admit part of me is a bit scarred by the

381
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Speaker 1: Minnesota Series. Austin wasn't good in that series. It was

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Speaker 1: a big part of how the Lakers ended up getting

383
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,480
Speaker 1: dominated the way they did, and ultimately Austin will have

384
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Speaker 1: to carry that with him until he can get another

385
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Speaker 1: shot in this year's postseason. That's the burden of being

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Speaker 1: as good as he is. He's so good now that

387
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:42,320
Speaker 1: he can have fifty points in a regular season game

388
00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:45,320
Speaker 1: and everyone goes like, that's awesome, Let's see you do

389
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,399
Speaker 1: it when we get to April. That is the burden

390
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,080
Speaker 1: of the expectation that comes with being viewed as a

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00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:55,199
Speaker 1: guy who is a potential All NBA level player. But

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Speaker 1: I would just bet on this guy figuring things out.

393
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,119
Speaker 1: He just keeps getting better and there isn't any sign

394
00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,240
Speaker 1: of him slowing down. All right, let's get into our

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429
00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:56,760
Speaker 1: start starting to rack up some really impressive wins. To

430
00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,359
Speaker 1: a win against a red hot Pistons team, a complete

431
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,160
Speaker 1: and utter distry production of the seventy six ers, fueled

432
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:06,280
Speaker 1: by their defense, just like strangling Philly in the second

433
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:09,080
Speaker 1: quarter as they ran away with that game. Wins against

434
00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:11,520
Speaker 1: the Knicks, wins against the Clippers, wins against the Warriors,

435
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,320
Speaker 1: and in that fifteen game span. This is easily the

436
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:17,919
Speaker 1: most exciting development of this era of Orlando basketball. They

437
00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,400
Speaker 1: have a one to twenty offensive rating in this fifteen

438
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,199
Speaker 1: game span. They're moving the ball like they never have

439
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,679
Speaker 1: before in the last few years. Sixty four percent of

440
00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,680
Speaker 1: their makes have been assisted. In this fifteen game span,

441
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,359
Speaker 1: they're making thirty six percent of their threes. Now, that

442
00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:35,439
Speaker 1: may seem like a mediocre number, and it is. It

443
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,119
Speaker 1: was like sixteenth in the league over that span. But

444
00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,920
Speaker 1: let's not forget this was quite literally the very worst

445
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,760
Speaker 1: jump shooting team in the entire NBA by a mile

446
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:49,760
Speaker 1: last year. So average is an exciting development in that context.

447
00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,280
Speaker 1: It's fueled by some leaps from some key players. Tristan

448
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,280
Speaker 1: to Silva in his second year, has become a over

449
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:58,159
Speaker 1: forty percent from three type of guy. Wendell Carter Junior

450
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,880
Speaker 1: shooting a career high forty five percent from three. Anthony

451
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:04,679
Speaker 1: Black has been shooting it much better as of late.

452
00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:08,000
Speaker 1: Jet Howard is hitting forty percent. So they're moving the

453
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,000
Speaker 1: ball better than ever and they're paying off more of

454
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:15,280
Speaker 1: those sequences with makes than they ever have before. That's

455
00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:19,040
Speaker 1: breeding the one to twenty offensive rating, all while maintaining

456
00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:23,000
Speaker 1: the physical dominance that made them so dangerous even when

457
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,720
Speaker 1: their offense was limited. Top five in defense, top five

458
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:30,480
Speaker 1: in defensive rebounding over this fifteen game span, and eighth

459
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:34,399
Speaker 1: in offensive rebounding, so really controlling the physicality areas of

460
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,120
Speaker 1: the game. I want to zoom in on Anthony Black

461
00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:41,520
Speaker 1: for a second. His explosion this season into like a

462
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 1: really devastating two way weapon adds yet another layer of

463
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,080
Speaker 1: talent to this team that is already so difficult to

464
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 1: deal with. He's a wrecking ball on defense. In the

465
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,879
Speaker 1: Detroit game, did an incredible job on Ky Cunningham, like

466
00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:59,800
Speaker 1: legitimately frustrated him, made him look really uncomfortable. Was a

467
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,120
Speaker 1: bit part of the eight turnovers they forced him into.

468
00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:05,399
Speaker 1: He's got super long arms while also maintaining the strength

469
00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,280
Speaker 1: so he can absorb the bump, while then also getting

470
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 1: his arm around and attacking the basketball, getting deflections, disrupting

471
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:16,840
Speaker 1: the pocket, disrupting rhythm. He's a really really gifted defensive player,

472
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:21,199
Speaker 1: and he's become a real offensive weapon to counter that.

473
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,960
Speaker 1: He's constantly beating teams down the floor in transition for dunks,

474
00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:28,600
Speaker 1: just out running people and just you know, has that

475
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:31,000
Speaker 1: vertical pop off two feet and off one foot that

476
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,560
Speaker 1: can make him really devastating in the open floor. He's

477
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,920
Speaker 1: hitting his open corner threes, especially out of the left

478
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:41,000
Speaker 1: corner this year fifty four percent out of that left corner.

479
00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,320
Speaker 1: And the on ball stuff. It's not super efficient yet,

480
00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,399
Speaker 1: but he keeps showing little bits of upside there, like

481
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:50,560
Speaker 1: a crafty drive all the way to the basket, or

482
00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,280
Speaker 1: like a little floater in the mid range after he

483
00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:56,600
Speaker 1: beats a defender over the top of the screen. In action.

484
00:26:57,119 --> 00:26:59,879
Speaker 1: It's the kind of like development trajectory that makes you

485
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,480
Speaker 1: feel much better if you have to start shedding salary.

486
00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,520
Speaker 1: And if you look at the Magic's cap sheet, it's

487
00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:07,600
Speaker 1: it is. There's a lot of guys who make a

488
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,080
Speaker 1: lot of money in there. Someone's gonna get squeezed at

489
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:12,960
Speaker 1: some point here. And you know, let's say, for instance,

490
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,120
Speaker 1: you want to move off of a guy like Jalen Suggs,

491
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,760
Speaker 1: and Jalen Suggs it's a mixed bag with him, like

492
00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:21,400
Speaker 1: the Pistons games classic example, just can't make a shot

493
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,320
Speaker 1: all game, but then like makes the pivotal stretch of

494
00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:26,480
Speaker 1: the game there in the mid fourth that puts Orlando

495
00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:30,280
Speaker 1: up ten, like hits a pull up three, goes down

496
00:27:30,320 --> 00:27:32,679
Speaker 1: and gets a steal, hits a pull up three, all

497
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:34,600
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you're like, holy shit, this game looks

498
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:36,960
Speaker 1: very different now. Jalen Suggs still has a lot of talent,

499
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:38,879
Speaker 1: but like, if you had to lose a guy like

500
00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:43,280
Speaker 1: Jalen Suggs for salary purposes, you become a lot more

501
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,400
Speaker 1: comfortable with that with the development trajectory of a guy

502
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,080
Speaker 1: like Anthony Black, especially in the context of having Desmond

503
00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:52,119
Speaker 1: Bane as that shooter, since Jalen Suggs was so often

504
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,919
Speaker 1: used as that kind of inverted screening partner for Orlando's

505
00:27:55,960 --> 00:28:01,000
Speaker 1: big forwards. One last thing, I I know there's this

506
00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:06,720
Speaker 1: tendency to jump on the Palo Bancaro like shit talk

507
00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:10,760
Speaker 1: fest after the team once again looks great when he's out,

508
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:13,160
Speaker 1: But there are a lot of things that the team

509
00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:15,880
Speaker 1: is doing that they started doing when Palo was there,

510
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,159
Speaker 1: and they were playing good in that last couple of

511
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,919
Speaker 1: weeks before Palo got hurt, and ultimately I think he

512
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:24,760
Speaker 1: can only help this situation as he comes back, So

513
00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:28,439
Speaker 1: I wouldn't view this success as some sort of like,

514
00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:32,440
Speaker 1: you know, retroactive evaluation of Palo. I didn't like the

515
00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:34,040
Speaker 1: way he started the year. I thought he was really

516
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,760
Speaker 1: bad in that first couple of weeks. He has been

517
00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:40,040
Speaker 1: a contributed or some of their offensive issues over time,

518
00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:42,360
Speaker 1: But ultimately I do think he'll buy in when he

519
00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:44,520
Speaker 1: comes back, and I want to see what this looks

520
00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:47,720
Speaker 1: like with him integrated into the system. In short, though,

521
00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,720
Speaker 1: a lot of the reasons that I was excited about

522
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,920
Speaker 1: with Orlando before the season are coming to fruition. But

523
00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 1: it's also coming with this added layer of them being

524
00:28:57,080 --> 00:28:59,920
Speaker 1: much better on offense than I expected them to be.

525
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 1: Definitely consider them to be not on the top tier

526
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:06,480
Speaker 1: with obviously the Denver OKSE Houston set out west, but

527
00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:09,320
Speaker 1: in that Eastern Conference, I view them as every bit

528
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 1: as good as the other teams at the top of

529
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:14,640
Speaker 1: the conference, like New York, like Cleveland, and like Detroit.

530
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,840
Speaker 1: Number nine. The Atlanta Hawks currently plus six thousand to

531
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:22,600
Speaker 1: win the title on hard Rock Bet. Another casual forty one,

532
00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:25,480
Speaker 1: fourteen and seven for Jalen Johnson last night in double

533
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 1: overtime in a win over the seventy six ers. Ice

534
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,880
Speaker 1: the game with back to back catch and shoot threes,

535
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,000
Speaker 1: one off the left wing and one kind of the

536
00:29:33,360 --> 00:29:36,280
Speaker 1: high part of the right corner. The Hawks, you know

537
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,280
Speaker 1: they've kind of figured out this little offensive sequence that

538
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 1: they can run at the end of games. They've been

539
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:42,240
Speaker 1: a very good late game offense this year. As a

540
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,000
Speaker 1: matter of fact, they've been the sixth best clutch offense

541
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:47,480
Speaker 1: in the NBA to start the season, getting a one

542
00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,760
Speaker 1: to seventeen offensive rating. And basically what they figured out

543
00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:54,200
Speaker 1: is and Dakil Alexander Walker, who's really developed into a

544
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,280
Speaker 1: decent little pick and role player for them. That's kind

545
00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,320
Speaker 1: of helped fill the void of having Trey Young out right.

546
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,640
Speaker 1: But they can run action, whether it's you know, a

547
00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:07,680
Speaker 1: ball screen with a Congou and Nikiel with Jalen spacing

548
00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,440
Speaker 1: on the opposite wing where teams like to dig down

549
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:12,160
Speaker 1: and he can hit a shot. It's basically what happened

550
00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,800
Speaker 1: on his first DAG or three last night, or three

551
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:16,920
Speaker 1: man action where all three of them are involved. But

552
00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,560
Speaker 1: because in Congou and Jalen Johnson are both shooting the

553
00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:21,840
Speaker 1: ball better from three, they can pop out of those actions.

554
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:23,640
Speaker 1: Nikkeil can get all the way to the basket and

555
00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:25,720
Speaker 1: he can make the passing raads out of it. They've

556
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:29,280
Speaker 1: got a nice little action that they can run at

557
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:31,880
Speaker 1: the end of games that is giving them some success.

558
00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 1: Jalen Johnson is now up to twenty three points, ten rebounds,

559
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:39,880
Speaker 1: and seven assists per game for the season. It's not

560
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,200
Speaker 1: a short run, that's the entire season. Fifty four percent

561
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:47,280
Speaker 1: from the field, forty percent from three, sixty three percent

562
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:50,360
Speaker 1: true shooting. The team is defending well, continuing to force

563
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:52,520
Speaker 1: turnovers and get out and transition, and as we mentioned,

564
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:54,240
Speaker 1: they have a little bit of a half court set

565
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,560
Speaker 1: that they can get into to just you know, give

566
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,000
Speaker 1: them some high floor on the offensive end of the floor.

567
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,760
Speaker 1: Are really really exciting basketball coming out of Atlanta. A

568
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:06,920
Speaker 1: big showdown with the Pistons in Detroit tonight gonna be

569
00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:11,320
Speaker 1: an interesting challenge for them. Number eight, the Boston Celtics

570
00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,320
Speaker 1: currently plus seventy five hundred to win the title on

571
00:31:14,360 --> 00:31:16,920
Speaker 1: hard Rock Bet. They are seven to three in their

572
00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:20,320
Speaker 1: last ten games. Some big wins wins against the Cavs,

573
00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:23,160
Speaker 1: wins against the Pistons, two against the Orlando Magic. In

574
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:26,440
Speaker 1: that span. The story has been offense. They have a

575
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:30,960
Speaker 1: one twenty two offensive rating in those ten games, third

576
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,520
Speaker 1: best mark in the entire NBA over that ten game span.

577
00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:37,160
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown has been fantastic, fueled by a deadly mid

578
00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:40,400
Speaker 1: range pull up. He's making a league best three mid

579
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,480
Speaker 1: range jump shots per game to start this season. He's

580
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,640
Speaker 1: the This was actually really surprising to me, you know,

581
00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:49,440
Speaker 1: because we think of Shay and KD as the guys

582
00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:51,080
Speaker 1: that are typically at the top of this list. But

583
00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,120
Speaker 1: Jalen's the only player in the NBA this year to

584
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,160
Speaker 1: be making at least two mid range jump shots per

585
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:01,240
Speaker 1: game and shooting over fifty percent on them. He's at

586
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,960
Speaker 1: fifty one point seven percent. I was surprised. Shay's only

587
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:07,520
Speaker 1: at forty nine percent from mid range and Kevin Durant

588
00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:11,160
Speaker 1: is at forty seven percent from mid range according to

589
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:13,640
Speaker 1: NBA dot Com tracking data, so both down a little

590
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:15,760
Speaker 1: bit from where they usually are. But Jalen Brown number

591
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:17,640
Speaker 1: one on that list. He's getting to the rim more

592
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,520
Speaker 1: often than he did last year and hitting a higher percentage.

593
00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:23,560
Speaker 1: I think he's up from about four rim attempts makes

594
00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:25,640
Speaker 1: per game to four and a half and he's up

595
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:27,720
Speaker 1: over sixty percent at the rim this year when he

596
00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:30,800
Speaker 1: was below sixty percent last year. We were wondering what

597
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:32,800
Speaker 1: it would look like with Jalen Brown moving to the

598
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:36,160
Speaker 1: top of the scouting report, and how about over twenty

599
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:38,680
Speaker 1: eight points per game on fifty eight percent for shooting

600
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:42,160
Speaker 1: some really really impressive stuff from Jalen Brown. Derek White

601
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,000
Speaker 1: and Peyton Pritchard had both found an ice grouve. Peyton

602
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 1: Pritchard was the hero yesterday in the winning Cleveland forty

603
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,160
Speaker 1: two points, and then Derek was the hero in the

604
00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:53,280
Speaker 1: Pistons game and a massive second half at like fourteen

605
00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:55,760
Speaker 1: something like that in the third quarter, hit a bunch

606
00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:57,200
Speaker 1: of pull up threes and then hit a couple of

607
00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:02,040
Speaker 1: huge threes late in the game. Ended icing that, icing

608
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,880
Speaker 1: that one in crunch time. Again, Like Derek White loves

609
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,640
Speaker 1: those little kind of switch interchange threes, right, so like

610
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:09,960
Speaker 1: he comes off of like a guard guard screen or

611
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:12,320
Speaker 1: any type of screen, and as the team is switching,

612
00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:15,440
Speaker 1: there's like this gap right as the on ball defender

613
00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:17,840
Speaker 1: kind of drops back to try to get inside position

614
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:19,920
Speaker 1: to avoid any sort of issue with a slip, and

615
00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:23,040
Speaker 1: then the screening defender, you know, closes out to the

616
00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:25,560
Speaker 1: shooter and there's a gap in that interchange. And Derek

617
00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,360
Speaker 1: White loves taking that pull up three right in that gap.

618
00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:31,360
Speaker 1: Hit a bunch of those in the Pistons games. He's

619
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:33,719
Speaker 1: really started to find a groove. We also had one

620
00:33:33,720 --> 00:33:36,400
Speaker 1: of Baylor Shireman's best games as a pro in the

621
00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:38,840
Speaker 1: Pistons game. In particular, he's scoring out of the corner,

622
00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:42,400
Speaker 1: hitting catch and shoot threes, driving closeouts, hit a nice

623
00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:45,320
Speaker 1: little turnaround over his left shoulder when he got cut

624
00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:48,240
Speaker 1: off on a drive in there. Celtics are really starting

625
00:33:48,240 --> 00:33:50,720
Speaker 1: to reach a nice groove on the offensive end of

626
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:54,120
Speaker 1: the floor. Nothing dramatically impressive on the margins. They're a

627
00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,080
Speaker 1: little bit better in their defensive rebounding than they were

628
00:33:57,120 --> 00:33:59,960
Speaker 1: to start the season. It's not like they're winning game

629
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:02,360
Speaker 1: with defense that are winning games on the glass. They're

630
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,040
Speaker 1: just running extremely high level offense and starting to convert

631
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,480
Speaker 1: some of these clutch games into wins that they were

632
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:11,600
Speaker 1: dropping early in the season. The Celtics are playing some

633
00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:16,960
Speaker 1: really good basketball. Number seven the Denver Nuggets currently plus

634
00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:20,000
Speaker 1: five hundred to win the title on hard Rock Bet.

635
00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:22,840
Speaker 1: They are just four and three in their last seven games.

636
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,279
Speaker 1: Dropped another really frustrating one against the Spurs in a

637
00:34:26,280 --> 00:34:29,000
Speaker 1: game where they really struggled to deal with San Antonio's guards,

638
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,600
Speaker 1: handling the dribble penetration from Deeran Fox, who picked them

639
00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,200
Speaker 1: apart as a passer in that game, and then Devin Vessel,

640
00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:38,040
Speaker 1: who burned them all night long with those winging threes

641
00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:41,640
Speaker 1: off the catch, kept like igniting these quick burst runs

642
00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:43,719
Speaker 1: by just hitting a couple of them and burned them

643
00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:46,200
Speaker 1: late in the game with a couple more that ended

644
00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,000
Speaker 1: up giving San Antonio six point lead late that they

645
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,200
Speaker 1: did not give up. Big win for San Antonio, But

646
00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:56,399
Speaker 1: Denver has a one twenty two point four defensive rating

647
00:34:57,000 --> 00:34:59,600
Speaker 1: in that seven game span. Really starting to feel the

648
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,760
Speaker 1: loss of Aaron Gordon and Christian Brown on the defensive

649
00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:05,520
Speaker 1: end of the floor, and you know, I think they're

650
00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:08,080
Speaker 1: capable of defending better than they have been with the

651
00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:10,480
Speaker 1: guys that are stepping into those spots. It's a team

652
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:12,680
Speaker 1: wide little bit of slippage there compared to where they

653
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:14,919
Speaker 1: were to start the season. On the bright side, though,

654
00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:19,160
Speaker 1: Nikola jokicch and Jamal Murray continue to look literally as

655
00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:21,719
Speaker 1: good as they've ever been. Jamal Murray's been on an

656
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:25,520
Speaker 1: absolute heater as of late, and then Cam Johnson, like

657
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:30,399
Speaker 1: over the last couple of weeks, he's been a dependably

658
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,440
Speaker 1: good scorer for them, has really found a groove, especially

659
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,760
Speaker 1: as a three point shooter, is just really confidently stepping

660
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,080
Speaker 1: into that three point shot. He's been hitting like well

661
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:40,160
Speaker 1: over half of them over the course of the last

662
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:42,840
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. And that's again the bright spot I

663
00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:46,120
Speaker 1: d if you're looking at a statistical marker, that shows

664
00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,480
Speaker 1: that Denver's upside is still there. They have a one

665
00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:53,120
Speaker 1: twenty six offensive rating in that seven game span despite

666
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:55,560
Speaker 1: them going just four and three. So again, figure out

667
00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:57,520
Speaker 1: a way to get some more stops and they'll be

668
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:07,800
Speaker 1: in much better shape. Number six. The San Antonio Spurs

669
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:11,600
Speaker 1: currently plus five thousand to win the title according to

670
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,520
Speaker 1: hard Rock Bett. As before mentioned the incredible game from

671
00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:16,720
Speaker 1: Devin Vesselle. It's beat Denver, but I want to assume

672
00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:19,600
Speaker 1: it on Darren Fox here for a minute. So Wemby

673
00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:22,359
Speaker 1: goes down seven games ago, Steph Cassel goes down six

674
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:25,640
Speaker 1: games ago, and in that seven game span the Spurs

675
00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:28,800
Speaker 1: are five and two, and Darren Fox is the biggest

676
00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:32,440
Speaker 1: reason why, s averaging twenty six points and seven assists

677
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:35,239
Speaker 1: of forty nine percent from the field and thirty nine

678
00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:38,319
Speaker 1: percent from three in that seven game span, and he

679
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,600
Speaker 1: is just killing teams with his dribble penetration. I always

680
00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:43,600
Speaker 1: think he's been a little bit of an underrated passer

681
00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:46,640
Speaker 1: he's very good at reading that lowman and making the

682
00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:48,759
Speaker 1: skip pass, which is like that pass that is like

683
00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:51,680
Speaker 1: there for the taking for most NBA passers, but just

684
00:36:51,719 --> 00:36:54,719
Speaker 1: a lot of guys don't see it or they're athletically

685
00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,120
Speaker 1: incapable of making the pass. But if you can skip

686
00:36:57,160 --> 00:37:00,279
Speaker 1: the ball against an engaged lowman, you can just rate

687
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:02,560
Speaker 1: some really high level close out opportunities which are either

688
00:37:02,600 --> 00:37:04,320
Speaker 1: going to give you wide open catch and shoot threes

689
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,920
Speaker 1: or opportunities for guys to drive closeouts. The driving of

690
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:10,560
Speaker 1: those closeouts can even further compromise the defense. You can

691
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:13,200
Speaker 1: all sorts of really good stuff out of those, right,

692
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,439
Speaker 1: but you have to have a guard who can drive

693
00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:18,120
Speaker 1: the basketball well enough to effectively engage the low man,

694
00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:20,920
Speaker 1: or shoot the ball well enough to effectively bring the

695
00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:23,839
Speaker 1: big up to the level, which then engages the low man,

696
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,319
Speaker 1: right some sort of scoring dynamic in pick and roll

697
00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:31,480
Speaker 1: that will bring that third defender over, but also have

698
00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:34,200
Speaker 1: the ability to make the kickout passes that get the

699
00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:36,800
Speaker 1: defense in rotation. Darren Fox has run one hundred and

700
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,919
Speaker 1: seventy pick and rolls this year, including passes, and he's

701
00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:44,080
Speaker 1: generating one hundred and ninety seven points in those one

702
00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:46,680
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy pick and rolls. That's one point one

703
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:50,719
Speaker 1: six points per possession. That's extremely good. Devin Ifsel has

704
00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:53,839
Speaker 1: been fantastic. Keldon Johnson has been excellent in this run

705
00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:57,400
Speaker 1: as well. They continue to be just very athletically imposing,

706
00:37:57,760 --> 00:37:59,879
Speaker 1: like they can be very good defensively when they need

707
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:02,360
Speaker 1: because they can just ratchet up with their physicality on

708
00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:04,439
Speaker 1: the perimeter. That's helped them win a couple of close

709
00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:07,759
Speaker 1: games in this stretch. They're doing damage and transition. Luke

710
00:38:07,800 --> 00:38:11,239
Speaker 1: Cornett is back and playing extremely well. Really just a

711
00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:15,080
Speaker 1: super impressive stretch of basketball considering the injuries from the

712
00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:18,120
Speaker 1: San Antonio Spurs. And I will freely admit we're going

713
00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:19,799
Speaker 1: to do an episode at some point over the course

714
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:21,319
Speaker 1: the next couple weeks where I kind of look at

715
00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:24,239
Speaker 1: all of my preseason predictions and there are things that

716
00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:26,359
Speaker 1: I have been dead on right about. There have been

717
00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:29,960
Speaker 1: things that I've been extremely wrong about, and I will

718
00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:33,080
Speaker 1: freely admit I was wrong about this Spurs team before

719
00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:36,600
Speaker 1: the season. I really underestimated the talent on this roster.

720
00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:39,160
Speaker 1: A couple of key leaps from a couple of key

721
00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:42,000
Speaker 1: younger guys getting this level of play out of Deer

722
00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:44,840
Speaker 1: and Fox. How good Victor webin Yama looked before we

723
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:48,600
Speaker 1: got hurt. How wonderful the Luke Cornett fit has been,

724
00:38:48,719 --> 00:38:52,920
Speaker 1: the contributions from key role players like Julian Champagne and

725
00:38:53,520 --> 00:38:57,200
Speaker 1: Harrison Barnes. This is a very good basketball team. And

726
00:38:57,400 --> 00:38:59,279
Speaker 1: I mean, if they're going to go five and two

727
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:01,440
Speaker 1: with Wemby and Steph Castle down, we would all be

728
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,719
Speaker 1: foolish to think that they're just going to suddenly dip

729
00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:06,400
Speaker 1: down into being a five hundred basketball team at some point.

730
00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:09,799
Speaker 1: They look like one of those established perennial contenders out

731
00:39:09,800 --> 00:39:13,240
Speaker 1: in the West already. I was wrong about the Spurs

732
00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:16,760
Speaker 1: coming into this season. Number five. The New York Knicks

733
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:20,040
Speaker 1: currently plus seventeen fifty to win the title on Hard

734
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,040
Speaker 1: Rock Bet. Not going to spend too much time here

735
00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:24,360
Speaker 1: because we just had a Nick segment earlier in the show.

736
00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:26,640
Speaker 1: So if you want to hear more Knicks, just go

737
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:28,640
Speaker 1: to our full episode on YouTube. And it's actually our

738
00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:30,719
Speaker 1: opening segment in this one. But the Knicks have one

739
00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:33,840
Speaker 1: four in a row. The offenses look fantastic. They're generating

740
00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:36,480
Speaker 1: way more threes this year with an emphasis on driving

741
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:40,160
Speaker 1: the ball early in possessions transition semi transition that first

742
00:39:40,239 --> 00:39:44,280
Speaker 1: action starting those driving kick sequences to unlock their driving

743
00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:46,840
Speaker 1: kick talent, of which they have plenty on the roster.

744
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:50,560
Speaker 1: McHale Bridges has spearheaded an impressive stretch of defense in

745
00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:52,880
Speaker 1: that span as well guarding the ball again. If you

746
00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:55,080
Speaker 1: want to hear more Nicks go earlier in the episode

747
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:59,000
Speaker 1: number four. The Detroit Pistons currently plus twenty five hundred

748
00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:00,640
Speaker 1: to win the title on hard Rock. I bet a

749
00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:03,440
Speaker 1: couple of tough losses to the Celtics and the magic

750
00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,719
Speaker 1: turnovers and points allowed off of turnovers were the real

751
00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:09,960
Speaker 1: issues in both of those games. Boston also had some

752
00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,000
Speaker 1: success attacking Duncan Robinson in action late in that game.

753
00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:15,600
Speaker 1: Just something to keep an eye on as they get

754
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:19,120
Speaker 1: into some potential playoff circumstances, but a really nice bounce

755
00:40:19,160 --> 00:40:21,480
Speaker 1: back win in Miami against the Heat, similarly doing some

756
00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:24,719
Speaker 1: damage attacking Tyler Harrow in action. I've watched a lot

757
00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:26,560
Speaker 1: of Pistons in the last week as their schedule has

758
00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:30,280
Speaker 1: gotten tougher, and I've landed on them being completely legit

759
00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:33,239
Speaker 1: as one of the top tier teams in the East. Again,

760
00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:34,919
Speaker 1: none of those teams I view in the same tier

761
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,960
Speaker 1: as Denver, Houston, Okasee. But in that group there at

762
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:41,719
Speaker 1: the top of the east, Orlando, New York, Cleveland. To me,

763
00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:44,879
Speaker 1: Detroit is right up there with them. Kate is only

764
00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:47,440
Speaker 1: going to continue to get better. He's obviously had issues

765
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:50,600
Speaker 1: finishing at the rim and had issues with turnovers. Turnovers

766
00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:53,000
Speaker 1: were a big problem in the Orlando games. He struggled

767
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:54,840
Speaker 1: with Anthony Black and just some of the swarming that

768
00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:58,320
Speaker 1: Orlando was doing. But overall, all those reps are just

769
00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:00,760
Speaker 1: going to continue to make Kaid better. There's this idea

770
00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:03,080
Speaker 1: that Kaid's like not going to be able to become

771
00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:06,520
Speaker 1: a better rim finisher. I watched him on tape and

772
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:08,719
Speaker 1: I see a lot of layups that I think he

773
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:11,080
Speaker 1: can make, and so I get it that it's a

774
00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:13,200
Speaker 1: very large sample size of him not being very good

775
00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:15,480
Speaker 1: at that. But ultimately it's just to me, he's just

776
00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:20,239
Speaker 1: there's like a like just a little bit of slowing

777
00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:22,120
Speaker 1: down that he needs to do when he gets all

778
00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:23,759
Speaker 1: the way to the rim, where I think he's kind

779
00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:26,279
Speaker 1: of rushing stuff and fumbling the basketball a little bit,

780
00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:28,080
Speaker 1: And that stuff is going to come as he gets

781
00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:30,440
Speaker 1: more and more comfortable with every single type of coverage

782
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:33,440
Speaker 1: that he sees, so like, I ultimately view him as

783
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:35,319
Speaker 1: a guy that's going to be a better than that

784
00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:37,239
Speaker 1: type of rim finisher. Like I think he's going to

785
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:39,640
Speaker 1: be able to get up around sixty percent at the

786
00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:42,719
Speaker 1: rim as the years go by and the turnovers those are, Like,

787
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:45,560
Speaker 1: he's facing a lot of aggressive coverages this year. That's

788
00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:47,560
Speaker 1: more stuff that he's just going to get more reps

789
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:51,279
Speaker 1: dealing with and get better at diagnosing and beating those

790
00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:54,080
Speaker 1: types of coverages. And then looking at the team, they're big,

791
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:56,640
Speaker 1: they're physical, they play super hard, They're built for that

792
00:41:56,719 --> 00:42:00,360
Speaker 1: postseason environment where you have to be physical. I just

793
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:03,480
Speaker 1: am a believer in this Pistons team. Cade's last eleven

794
00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:09,480
Speaker 1: games thirty three points, seven rebounds in nine assists number

795
00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:12,880
Speaker 1: three the Los Angeles Lakers currently plus fourteen hundred to

796
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:15,319
Speaker 1: win the title according to hard Rock Bet. We hit

797
00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:16,719
Speaker 1: them in the early part of the show as well,

798
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:18,439
Speaker 1: So I'm not going to spend too much time here,

799
00:42:18,480 --> 00:42:20,759
Speaker 1: but we focused on Austin, So I briefly wanted to

800
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:22,759
Speaker 1: bring up this kind of hilarious trend that we've seen

801
00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:24,680
Speaker 1: over the course of their last few games and something

802
00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:27,440
Speaker 1: that's become kind of part of their progression in games

803
00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:30,719
Speaker 1: throughout the year. So Luca will come out in the

804
00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:34,440
Speaker 1: opening quarter and he'll just abuse whatever the opening scheme is.

805
00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:36,680
Speaker 1: And sometimes he's facing doubles. We saw the Dallas game,

806
00:42:36,719 --> 00:42:39,319
Speaker 1: they like doubled him behind half court literally right off

807
00:42:39,360 --> 00:42:41,640
Speaker 1: of the jump ball. But like, and he's been facing

808
00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:43,719
Speaker 1: a ton of double teams, but there's been a lot

809
00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:46,799
Speaker 1: of these like first quarters where he's coming out and

810
00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:50,560
Speaker 1: he's just looking to score relentlessly. As a matter of fact,

811
00:42:50,600 --> 00:42:53,400
Speaker 1: he's averaging thirteen first quarter points this year, which is

812
00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:55,799
Speaker 1: far and away the most in the NBA. And what

813
00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:59,440
Speaker 1: he's doing is he's like making a point at proving

814
00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:02,680
Speaker 1: early in the game, your main on ball guy can't

815
00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:05,920
Speaker 1: guard me, and if you cover me in a two

816
00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:08,800
Speaker 1: on two pick and roll, I'm gonna pick you apart

817
00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:12,319
Speaker 1: scoring the basketball. And then what happens is, like the

818
00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:15,279
Speaker 1: rest of the game, he's getting blitzed and doubled all

819
00:43:15,280 --> 00:43:17,560
Speaker 1: over the place. And so then the Lakers are just

820
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:20,040
Speaker 1: playing four on three when Luca's on the floor for

821
00:43:20,239 --> 00:43:23,840
Speaker 1: like three quarters every single game. And so you know,

822
00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:26,040
Speaker 1: it was a little sloppy early in the year, but

823
00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:28,319
Speaker 1: with each passing game. They're just getting a little bit

824
00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:31,640
Speaker 1: better at it right, Like they're not rolling too hard

825
00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:35,279
Speaker 1: out of blitzes and creating turnover situations where Luca has

826
00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:37,600
Speaker 1: to make a long pass. They're short rolling in the

827
00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:40,560
Speaker 1: short roles. Guys are making reads. Jackson's been fantastic with

828
00:43:40,600 --> 00:43:43,120
Speaker 1: it all season. DeAndre Ayton had another monster game last night.

829
00:43:43,160 --> 00:43:45,640
Speaker 1: DeAndre Ayden is getting better at those little reads in

830
00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:48,640
Speaker 1: the middle of the floor. They're paying off the sequences

831
00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:50,919
Speaker 1: on the kickouts. They missed a lot of good looks

832
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:53,520
Speaker 1: last night too. Jake Lreva had a nightmare night struggling

833
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:55,600
Speaker 1: to knock down the wide open kickout threes. But they're

834
00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:59,440
Speaker 1: getting good looks out of those sequences consistently, a lot

835
00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:02,240
Speaker 1: of opportunity for guys like Lebron and Austin to attack

836
00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:04,759
Speaker 1: with an advantage out of those four on threes, and again,

837
00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:07,120
Speaker 1: they're gonna just continue to get reps there, similar to

838
00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:10,480
Speaker 1: what we were talking about with Detroit, because ultimately the

839
00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:13,720
Speaker 1: Lakers have to beat Oklahoma City. That's their their big,

840
00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:17,440
Speaker 1: you know, goal, the big measuring stick that they have

841
00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:21,160
Speaker 1: to reach at some point this season, right, And what

842
00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:24,040
Speaker 1: is okayc gonna do they're gonna blitz, they're gonna double,

843
00:44:24,040 --> 00:44:26,040
Speaker 1: they're gonna pressure the ball, they're gonna try to speed

844
00:44:26,080 --> 00:44:29,359
Speaker 1: you up. And the more reps that the Lakers get

845
00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:32,880
Speaker 1: against blitzes and doubles and aggressive coverages throughout the season,

846
00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:35,399
Speaker 1: the better chance they're gonna have to navigate that Okay

847
00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:38,719
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City problem when they get there. I personally am

848
00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:42,080
Speaker 1: very glad that the Lakers and the Thunder ended up

849
00:44:42,120 --> 00:44:44,200
Speaker 1: making it to the nd season Tournament. I did not

850
00:44:44,280 --> 00:44:46,640
Speaker 1: want to wait till February to see Oka See versus

851
00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:49,000
Speaker 1: the Lakers again. If the Lakers can take care of

852
00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:51,239
Speaker 1: business against Phoenix, and if oka See can take care

853
00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:53,640
Speaker 1: of business, I think against San Antonio if I remember correctly,

854
00:44:53,719 --> 00:44:56,080
Speaker 1: or there might be inverted. Actually I think Phoenix plays

855
00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:58,839
Speaker 1: okay See, san Antonio plays the Lakers. But as long

856
00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:00,720
Speaker 1: as though those two teams can take care of business,

857
00:45:00,760 --> 00:45:03,759
Speaker 1: and San Antonio could very easily beat the Lakers. So

858
00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:05,640
Speaker 1: I don't want to sit there and pretend like that's

859
00:45:06,120 --> 00:45:08,319
Speaker 1: a done deal, but like would love to see the

860
00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:11,000
Speaker 1: Lakers get a shot against OKAC again in a couple

861
00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:13,000
Speaker 1: of weeks. Here as an opportunity to kind of take

862
00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:15,240
Speaker 1: that measuring stick as they've won I think like seven

863
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:18,319
Speaker 1: in a row since that destructive blowout to Oka se

864
00:45:18,920 --> 00:45:22,400
Speaker 1: number two. The Houston Rockets currently plus nine hundred to

865
00:45:22,440 --> 00:45:25,040
Speaker 1: win the title on hard rock Bet didn't miss a

866
00:45:25,080 --> 00:45:27,600
Speaker 1: beat without KD as he missed a little bit of

867
00:45:27,600 --> 00:45:30,880
Speaker 1: time with a personal issue strangled Phoenix and Golden State

868
00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:33,880
Speaker 1: with their defense played Steph into one of his worst

869
00:45:33,880 --> 00:45:36,719
Speaker 1: games of the season, and set's been fantastic against just

870
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:39,520
Speaker 1: about everybody. In that Golden State game and then in

871
00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:42,640
Speaker 1: each of the two games, high level shot creation from

872
00:45:42,680 --> 00:45:44,719
Speaker 1: one of their two young stars. In the Phoenix game

873
00:45:44,760 --> 00:45:48,640
Speaker 1: in particular, it was a men Thompson doing damage off

874
00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:50,920
Speaker 1: of those slot drives in those slot pick and rolls,

875
00:45:51,200 --> 00:45:54,759
Speaker 1: showing that short range shot making, getting into the seven

876
00:45:54,840 --> 00:45:56,800
Speaker 1: to ten foot range, popping up off the ground for

877
00:45:56,880 --> 00:45:59,719
Speaker 1: little floaters, hitting you know, mid range pull ups against

878
00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:01,680
Speaker 1: drop coverage, doing a ton of damage in the middle

879
00:46:01,680 --> 00:46:03,239
Speaker 1: of the floor as a play finisher and as a

880
00:46:03,239 --> 00:46:06,200
Speaker 1: play connector. Hit a corner three in that game as well,

881
00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:09,400
Speaker 1: right like dominant performance from Amn Thompson, and then in

882
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:12,400
Speaker 1: the Golden State game, Reach shepperd as one of his

883
00:46:12,480 --> 00:46:15,560
Speaker 1: best games as a pro, probably his probably his very

884
00:46:15,560 --> 00:46:18,320
Speaker 1: best game as a pro to this point, thirty one points,

885
00:46:18,640 --> 00:46:21,560
Speaker 1: nine rebounds, and five assists, doing a lot of damage

886
00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:24,160
Speaker 1: to the Warriors in pick and roll. And then Kevin

887
00:46:24,239 --> 00:46:26,600
Speaker 1: Durant comes back against Utah and pours in like the

888
00:46:26,640 --> 00:46:30,480
Speaker 1: easiest twenty five points you'll ever see in a blowout win.

889
00:46:31,360 --> 00:46:33,400
Speaker 1: The Golden State game was funny too because Alburn Schangun

890
00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:36,040
Speaker 1: didn't have an impressive statistical game, but he had like

891
00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:38,880
Speaker 1: three or four plays where he went right at Draymond

892
00:46:38,920 --> 00:46:40,960
Speaker 1: and scored on him one on one that were just

893
00:46:41,040 --> 00:46:44,400
Speaker 1: examples of just what an absurd offensive talent Shangun continues

894
00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:48,040
Speaker 1: to demonstrate himself to be, again still in his early twenties.

895
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:51,279
Speaker 1: Nice little three game win streak in response to the

896
00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:54,880
Speaker 1: disappointing loss to Denver from the Houston Rockets and then

897
00:46:54,920 --> 00:46:57,680
Speaker 1: number one the Oklahoma City Thunder currently plus one eighty

898
00:46:57,760 --> 00:47:00,040
Speaker 1: to win the title. According to hard Rock bet I

899
00:47:00,040 --> 00:47:02,040
Speaker 1: only had a couple of games against above five hundred

900
00:47:02,080 --> 00:47:05,759
Speaker 1: teams last week against Phoenix and Minnesota, and both were

901
00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:09,840
Speaker 1: actually super interesting and super competitive games. In both cases,

902
00:47:10,239 --> 00:47:15,799
Speaker 1: Shay once again just absolutely brilliant down the stretch, refusing

903
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:18,920
Speaker 1: to allow his teams to lose running the offense. His

904
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:22,680
Speaker 1: step back three is becoming a super reliable look for

905
00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:24,759
Speaker 1: him to go to at the end of games, and

906
00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:27,200
Speaker 1: he's like getting hyped on it. He's hitting these tough

907
00:47:27,200 --> 00:47:31,200
Speaker 1: step backs and he's running back to the bench showing

908
00:47:31,239 --> 00:47:34,439
Speaker 1: like a level of emotion that reveals that he very

909
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:36,840
Speaker 1: clearly has put in a ton of work behind the

910
00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:40,440
Speaker 1: scenes to add that to his game. And it's literally

911
00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:42,719
Speaker 1: helping the Thunder continue to rack up wins here and

912
00:47:42,760 --> 00:47:44,320
Speaker 1: the chet Holm runs right there with him at the

913
00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:46,839
Speaker 1: end of these games making big shots. They just look

914
00:47:46,920 --> 00:47:49,640
Speaker 1: unbeatable right now. And now j dub is back so

915
00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:52,560
Speaker 1: and look, look he's been sloppy a little bit in

916
00:47:52,600 --> 00:47:54,480
Speaker 1: the early going, which is to be expected, but he's

917
00:47:54,520 --> 00:47:57,040
Speaker 1: getting to the rim like crazy in his two games

918
00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:01,160
Speaker 1: nineteen shot attempts at the rim, which is an exciting

919
00:48:01,200 --> 00:48:04,040
Speaker 1: continuation of the trend we saw in the second half

920
00:48:04,040 --> 00:48:06,120
Speaker 1: of last year's playoff run when he was getting to

921
00:48:06,120 --> 00:48:09,719
Speaker 1: the rim consistently. So much tougher schedule in December from

922
00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:12,200
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City, they're gonna have at least two showdowns with

923
00:48:12,239 --> 00:48:14,760
Speaker 1: San Antonio, maybe a third of the San Antonio if

924
00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:17,279
Speaker 1: the Spurs beat the Lakers. If the Lakers get them,

925
00:48:17,440 --> 00:48:20,520
Speaker 1: they'll get another shot against that team. A lot of

926
00:48:20,800 --> 00:48:24,359
Speaker 1: tougher games in this month, and I'm just honestly really

927
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:26,680
Speaker 1: excited to see if they can run that gauntlet, because

928
00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:29,799
Speaker 1: they're certainly capable of it. All right, guys, It's all

929
00:48:29,840 --> 00:48:31,680
Speaker 1: I have for today is always to sincerely appreciate you

930
00:48:31,719 --> 00:48:33,960
Speaker 1: guys for supporting us and supporting the show. We will

931
00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:36,960
Speaker 1: be back tomorrow with some game reaction to the Monday

932
00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:38,680
Speaker 1: Night Slate. I will see you guys then,