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Speaker 1: in West Virginia. All right, Welcome to Hoops Tonight, presented

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Speaker 1: by Fan Duel here at the volume. Happy Halloween, everybody.

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Speaker 1: I hope you guys had some fun over the weekend

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Speaker 1: and or tonight, depending on how your schedule all worked out.

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Speaker 1: We have a ton of basketball to get to today.

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Speaker 1: The Golden State Warriors lost back to back games in

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Speaker 1: Charlotte in Detroit over the weekend. We're gonna get into

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Speaker 1: specifically Detroit. I'm gonna dive into some of their young

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Speaker 1: players as well, because I had so much fun watching

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Speaker 1: them this morning. They have some of my favorite young

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Speaker 1: players in the league. The Cleveland Cavaliers have been one

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Speaker 1: of the most impressive teams to start this season. They

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Speaker 1: beat the Knicks yesterday to get up to five and one,

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Speaker 1: but they also had a super impressive road win in

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Speaker 1: Boston that we're gonna cover. We'll also be covering them

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Speaker 1: again this Wednesday live on AMP after they have their

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Speaker 1: rematch with the Celtics. The Los Angeles Lakers finally won

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Speaker 1: a basketball game at home against the Denver Nuggets a

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Speaker 1: lot to get into there. And then last but not least,

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Speaker 1: the Brooklyn Nets are experiencing more drama that I hope

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Speaker 1: then I think they could have hoped for at this

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Speaker 1: point in the season with Kyrie Irving re I don't know,

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Speaker 1: renewing his yearly shenanigans, which are always a lot harder

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Speaker 1: to handle when you're losing basketball games than when you're winning. Um,

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

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Speaker 1: to the Volumes YouTube channel so you don't miss any

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Speaker 1: more of our videos. Follow me in on Twitter at

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Speaker 1: Underscore Jason lt s you guys don't miss any show announcements.

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Speaker 1: That's also where I put footage breakdowns because of some

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Speaker 1: of the limitations we have on YouTube. And then, last

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Speaker 1: but not least, for whatever reason, you miss one of

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Speaker 1: these shows and you can't get back over to YouTube

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Speaker 1: to finish, you can find them wherever you get your podcasts.

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Speaker 1: Under Hoops tonight. So Golden State dropping games in Charlotte

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Speaker 1: Detroit obviously not a good thing. Detroit and Charlotte are

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Speaker 1: two pretty bad basketball teams. Some of its poor shooting. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: I'm sure Warriors fans have been thinking about that a lot. Uh.

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Speaker 1: Steph was seven for twenty seven from three over the weekend.

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Speaker 1: That's an anomaly. Andrew Wiggins was another guy who had

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Speaker 1: a nightmare shooting weekend. He was eighty eight from the field.

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Speaker 1: But don't let that distract from the reality, which is

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Speaker 1: that the Warriors problems are on the defensive end and

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Speaker 1: primarily with their bench. So I wanted to kind of

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Speaker 1: dive into those two concepts a little bit. So, first

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Speaker 1: of all, these are two average offenses in Detroit and Charlotte,

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Speaker 1: and in the two games, the Golden State Warriors had

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Speaker 1: a defensive rating of almost a hundred and twenty, meaning

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Speaker 1: they were giving up almost a hundred and twenty points

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Speaker 1: per one hundred possessions. Regardless of what you think factors

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Speaker 1: might be working against you in any sort of road trip,

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Speaker 1: or a guy being out of the lineup like Clay

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Speaker 1: Thompson missing, you know, or Dante deve di Vincenzo being

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Speaker 1: out of the game. Regardless of how you feel about

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Speaker 1: any of those things. You should be able to go

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Speaker 1: into Detroit and get stops as the Golden State Warriors.

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Speaker 1: And you should be able to go into the Charlotte

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Speaker 1: to Charlotte, especially Charlotte because they don't have the level

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Speaker 1: of offensive talent that Detroit has, and you should be

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Speaker 1: able to get stops. You know, I was listening to

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Speaker 1: the Warriors broadcast that Pistons game this morning, and you know,

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Speaker 1: you keep hearing they're just flummixed and that I can't

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Speaker 1: believe that he made that shot. Like these guys are playing,

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Speaker 1: that they've lost five straight games, how is it that

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Speaker 1: they're this they're having the night of their life and

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Speaker 1: and and it's so easy as a fan, and I

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Speaker 1: get that. I know, I too, am a fan. I

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Speaker 1: We're all fans in one way or another, whether it's

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Speaker 1: a specific players or specific teams. And when you're a fan,

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Speaker 1: you jump to rationalizations like this this explains why this happened,

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Speaker 1: or that explains why it happened, and a lot of

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Speaker 1: times we do that ignoring obvious evidence that something more

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Speaker 1: serious is taking place. Um, you're right, Detroit is not

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Speaker 1: very good. They're not a very good basketball team, but

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Speaker 1: they are super talented. Charlotte is not a very good

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Speaker 1: basketball team, but they have some talent. And it's not

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Speaker 1: about being good in a vacuum, because of course the

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Speaker 1: Warriors are good in a vacuum. You have to be

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Speaker 1: good against the basketball players you're playing that night, and

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Speaker 1: if you don't bring it on that night, you'll get beat.

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Speaker 1: This is what I meant when I was saying unforgiving league.

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Speaker 1: I had somebody in the comments say, Jason unforgiving league,

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Speaker 1: tim because I've dropped it like three times in the

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Speaker 1: last week. But I've been saying that for a reason.

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Speaker 1: It's something I've been preaching all summer. The league is

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Speaker 1: deeper with talent than it's ever been, but that still

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Speaker 1: means that there's gonna be good teams, mediocre teams, and

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Speaker 1: bad teams. Because your team isn't about the talent, it's

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Speaker 1: relative to the other teams around the league. A bad

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Speaker 1: team now might have been a good team ten years

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Speaker 1: ago based on the talent, but that doesn't matter. It

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Speaker 1: only matters within this season. The truth of the matter

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Speaker 1: is that if you know, Steph slides his feet and

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Speaker 1: gets a stop on the final possession against Dennis Smith Jr.

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Speaker 1: You get a win in Charlotte. But Dennis Smith Jr.

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Speaker 1: Is a pretty damn athletic quick guard, a guard that

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Speaker 1: in this league kind of seems like a bad guard, right,

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Speaker 1: But he's a freak athlete that can dribble. He's been

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Speaker 1: knocking down more pull up jump shots this year than

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Speaker 1: he has in years past. He's a guy that if

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Speaker 1: you don't slide your feet, he's gonna be to the

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Speaker 1: basket and make a layup. And that sent the game

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Speaker 1: to overtime where they lost. You know, if you leave

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Speaker 1: your feet jumping at a Saedique Bay pump fake the

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Speaker 1: way that Jordan Pool did, you know in the second

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Speaker 1: half against Detroit, like he's gonna go to the basket

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Speaker 1: and get a layup because side Bay is a big, strong,

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Speaker 1: athletic wing and a damn good basketball player. He doesn't

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Speaker 1: care that it says Detroit Pistons on the front of

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Speaker 1: his Jersey or that his team lost five straight games.

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Speaker 1: He's a good basketball player and if you don't bring effort,

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Speaker 1: you're gonna lose. And in this particular game, there was

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Speaker 1: just a whole lot of sloppiness from the Warriors. There's

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Speaker 1: a play where Jade and Ivy with a live dribble,

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Speaker 1: just brought the ball up the floor and transition and

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Speaker 1: nobody picked him up. So guess what he did. He

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Speaker 1: elevated above the rim and dunked it. I watched Jade

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Speaker 1: and I be in summer League. He's my second favorite

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Speaker 1: player in this entire class. He's damn good. He's a

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Speaker 1: damn good basketball player, and if you don't play him

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Speaker 1: with respectable effort, you're gonna lose games. And then Kate.

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Speaker 1: You know Kate Cunningham, and he's becoming one of my

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Speaker 1: favorite young players in the league too. He was getting

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Speaker 1: downhill too easily and pick and roll. And he's a big,

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Speaker 1: strong wing that has a very high level passing field.

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Speaker 1: He's got these big hands. You can palm the basketball

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Speaker 1: and throw these cross court passes and and swing like

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Speaker 1: slingshot passes and things along those lines. And if you

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Speaker 1: let him get downhill and force your help to come in.

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Speaker 1: He's gonna hit open shooters on the other side of

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Speaker 1: the court all day long. And if you don't box out,

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Speaker 1: you'll get beat on the offensive glass by two really

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Speaker 1: athletic teams like the Detroit Pistons and the Charlotte Hornets,

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Speaker 1: and the Warriors gave up twenty seven offensive rebounds in

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Speaker 1: these two games. The Warriors now are down to t

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Speaker 1: in the NBA in rebounding percentage, So they're twenty three

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Speaker 1: and deep pens and twenty seven and rebounding percentage. They're

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Speaker 1: they're how in terms of a title defense, that's not

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Speaker 1: a good start. If you can't defend and you can't

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Speaker 1: get rebounds, even against bad teams, then you're not good

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Speaker 1: enough to be able to win at the highest levels. Now,

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Speaker 1: let's zoom out a little bit, because it's not like

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Speaker 1: Steph and Clay and Draymond and Andrew Wiggins all forgot

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Speaker 1: how to play basketball. That's not what happened. The problem

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Speaker 1: is with their bench um. According to Cleaning the Glass,

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Speaker 1: when Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, and

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Speaker 1: Kevan Luny are on the floor, this is their starting

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Speaker 1: lineup they are whooping everyone's ass. They have a hundred

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Speaker 1: and twenty seven offensive rating, which is outstanding, in a

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Speaker 1: one hundred defensive rating, which is outstanding. So the silver

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Speaker 1: lining for Warriors fans to cling to is like, our

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Speaker 1: core five guys are excellent. The problem is that they're

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Speaker 1: getting destroyed almost everywhere else. Six of their top eight

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Speaker 1: lineups in terms of total minutes played without Stephen Draymond

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Speaker 1: on the floor are getting out scored, and most of

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Speaker 1: them are getting badly outscored. They just fall apart when

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Speaker 1: those guys go to the bench, and there's you know,

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Speaker 1: some of it is weak perimeter defense, and we'll talk

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Speaker 1: more about this in a minute, but the big glaring

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Speaker 1: one that's been standing out to me in the last

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Speaker 1: few games is James Wiseman. He's getting absolutely destroyed in

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Speaker 1: his minutes, or at least the team is. And yes,

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Speaker 1: some of it is like, yeah, he's playing with Moses

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Speaker 1: Moody guarding really good perimeter players, and Moses is not

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Speaker 1: quite ready for that yet. Jordan Pool is having a

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Speaker 1: really bad defensive season to start. Dear Jonathan Cominga who

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Speaker 1: is better defensive player than Moses Moody, I thought, and

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Speaker 1: he hasn't been defending well to start this season. But

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Speaker 1: the reality is is in a hundred and two minutes

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Speaker 1: with James Wiseman on the floor, their minus forty eight.

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Speaker 1: That's destructive. That's really really bad. The most frequently used

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Speaker 1: James Wiseman line up right now is Jordan Pool with

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Speaker 1: Dante DiVincenzo, Jonathan Comingo, jam Michael Green and James Wiseman.

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Speaker 1: That's the most used, like the most minutes, most possessions

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Speaker 1: line up with James Wiseman on the floor, they have

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Speaker 1: an offensive rating of fifty nine points per one hun

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Speaker 1: possessions and a defensive rating of a hundred and eleven.

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Speaker 1: They're getting outscored by fifty two points per one hund

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Speaker 1: possessions in the most frequently used James Wiseman lineup. And

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Speaker 1: again like it's I want to blame the weak perimeter defense,

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Speaker 1: but it's not just that. You know, even with Steph Clay,

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Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins and Draymond on the floor with James Wiseman,

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Speaker 1: dave a minus eighty two net rating in eleven possessions. Again,

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Speaker 1: small sample size, but they got absolutely destroyed in that

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Speaker 1: particular lineup. The reality is is that's it's kind of

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Speaker 1: a clunky fit. First of all, he's a big guy

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Speaker 1: who's learning how to play the game. And he as

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Speaker 1: we've said throughout the season, he's really good at some

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Speaker 1: things already, Like he's got he's a legit vertical spacer,

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Speaker 1: although he can fumble the basketball sometimes. He had a

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Speaker 1: pretty a bad missed lob in the second half against

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Speaker 1: Detroit that was kind of a big momentum play because

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Speaker 1: they ran out the other way and got side. Bay

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Speaker 1: hit a three on the left wing and it was

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Speaker 1: like a five point swing um. But he's pretty good

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Speaker 1: vertical spacer right and like he uh, if he catches

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Speaker 1: with an advantage around the ram, he'll finish. I think

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Speaker 1: he's I think he's shooting like in the restricted area

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Speaker 1: this year, which is fine. You know, defensively, when he's

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Speaker 1: around the rim and guys are coming at him, his

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Speaker 1: length can be a problem, which is good when he's

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Speaker 1: in drop coverage. You know, he makes some good reads

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Speaker 1: from time to time, and his length can be a problem.

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Speaker 1: But he's really struggling with physicality and it hurts the

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Speaker 1: Warriors in particular on to two spots on the floor

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Speaker 1: on offense. It's so important to be a really good

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Speaker 1: screener as a big and Golden State's offense and Draymond

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Speaker 1: Green and Kevan Luniar are excellent screeners. But but James

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Speaker 1: Wiseman is the biggest weakness that he has right now

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Speaker 1: is physicality struggles in the physical battles of the game.

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Speaker 1: And if you don't set big, physical screens, then you're

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Speaker 1: not getting as much separation for the Golden State guards

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Speaker 1: coming off those actions. And then it just it's like

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Speaker 1: a missing cog in the engine and then everything stops

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Speaker 1: working right. And then on the defensive end, it's like

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Speaker 1: like Isaiah Stewart was just bullying James Wiseman, especially on

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Speaker 1: the offensive glass, and and that's a problem. And so

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Speaker 1: when I really look at it, like what James Wiseman

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Speaker 1: does as a big in this league is less valuable

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Speaker 1: to Golden State than it is to other teams. His

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Speaker 1: vertical spacing, even though it's a unique touch on this roster,

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Speaker 1: is less valuable for Golden State because vertical spacing matters

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Speaker 1: more when the paint is clogged and you need an

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Speaker 1: escape route to throw the ball up towards the rim.

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Speaker 1: Golden States spacing is inverted. They're spacing around the rim

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Speaker 1: is always good because they have all these guys and

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Speaker 1: Steph Clay and and Jordan Poole flying off of these screens,

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Speaker 1: and Andrew Wiggins shoots the balls so well that for

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Speaker 1: the most part, their spacing is inverted. The congestion for

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Speaker 1: the Warriors is on the perimeter, and so vertical spacing

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Speaker 1: brings less value. What they actually need out of that

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Speaker 1: position is a guy who can screen really really well,

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Speaker 1: and that is a really smart decision maker that's hitting

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Speaker 1: guys cutting out of the week side corner things along

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Speaker 1: those lines. They want you to succeed in four on

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Speaker 1: three settings. And so part of me feels bad for

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Speaker 1: Wiseman because he's a young player that's learning how to

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Speaker 1: play the game. He's played something crazy like fifty five

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Speaker 1: NBA games or something. I don't quote me on that,

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Speaker 1: but he's played less than a hundred NBA games before that.

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Speaker 1: He didn't really play much at Memphis, Like the dude

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Speaker 1: hasn't had much of an opportunity to learn how to

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Speaker 1: play the game, and he's learning to play in a

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Speaker 1: system or his specific archetype is kind of less valuable.

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Speaker 1: You have to almost play a different style. They just

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Speaker 1: basically run a lot of high pick and roll with

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Speaker 1: with Jordan Pool when he's out there. And so at

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Speaker 1: the end of the day, like like, it'll be a

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Speaker 1: really interesting decision for the for the Warriors brass to

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Speaker 1: make because you know when we're looking like, yes, Clay

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Speaker 1: Thompson's gonna come back. He didn't play on Sunday, He's

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Speaker 1: gonna come back. That's gonna alleviate some of your bench concerns.

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Speaker 1: Andrea Gudala eventually, especially as we get deeper in the season,

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Speaker 1: will start being used a little bit more frequently. He's

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Speaker 1: a better perimeter defender than a Moses Moody or someone

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Speaker 1: along those lines. There there will be some reinforcements, there'll

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Speaker 1: be a candidate for buy out players as we get

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Speaker 1: past the deadline. All that's true, but one of two

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Speaker 1: things needs to happen. They either need these young guys

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Speaker 1: to get better to the point where they're dependable playoff

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Speaker 1: rotation players, or they need to consider flipping them for

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Speaker 1: players who will be And that's gonna be a tough

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Speaker 1: decision because right now, Moses Moody is making progress and

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Speaker 1: might be that guy. Jonathan Cominga is definitely not ready

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Speaker 1: like he's just not ready and he will not be

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Speaker 1: ready this year. And James Wiseman is very very far

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Speaker 1: away from becoming a positive player on this team. So

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Speaker 1: the question is is it do you bank on that,

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Speaker 1: on the fact that Wiseman will eventually figure that stuff

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Speaker 1: out during this season, or do you do something like

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Speaker 1: take Wiseman and Kaminga or maybe Wiseman, Kominga and Moody

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Speaker 1: in combine them and try to get something back that

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Speaker 1: can actually contribute within this season. And again, it's early,

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of basketball left, and it's possible that

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Speaker 1: these guys do make monumental improvements. That's just the risk.

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Speaker 1: Right now, You're a dominant starting lineup and everyone else

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Speaker 1: is killing you, and you lost Otto Porter Jr. And

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Speaker 1: Gary Payton, the second two players that were very productive

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Speaker 1: for you in these roles. Gary Payton the second in particular,

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Speaker 1: the Warriors were positive with him on the court in

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Speaker 1: the playoffs and negative without him. And so it's very

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Speaker 1: important as the Warriors go to their bench to have

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Speaker 1: an additional really good perimeter to ender that can operate

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Speaker 1: in the short role and that can knock down the

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Speaker 1: occasional corner three, and that does smart is a smart

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Speaker 1: basketball player that doesn't make mistakes that can hurt your team,

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Speaker 1: and it's it's gonna be an interesting conundrum for them.

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Speaker 1: I did want to shout out Jordan Pool. Holy cow,

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Speaker 1: did he have an explosive second half in that Pistons game.

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Speaker 1: He had like a transition three on the right wing

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Speaker 1: and then a steel that led to another transition three

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Speaker 1: on the right wing, and then he hit another transition

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Speaker 1: three on the left wing on a pass from Steph

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Speaker 1: and then he started barbecuing Boy and Bogdanovich in isolation

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Speaker 1: at the top of the key. Hit a disgusting step

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Speaker 1: back move there. He's got a mile to go defensively, obviously,

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Speaker 1: but while everyone else was struggling offensively this weekend, uh,

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Speaker 1: Jordan Pool was really really impressive and that that's he's

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Speaker 1: been a huge bright spot here early in the season

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Speaker 1: in my opinion. Well, tough one tomorrow in Miami for

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Speaker 1: the Warriors to get back on track, um and we'll

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Speaker 1: be covering that game on amp right after the final buzzer.

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Speaker 1: So Detroit. I was really impressed just in general by

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Speaker 1: how good they were getting downhill towards the rim with

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Speaker 1: all of their young players that they have. Cede Bay

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Speaker 1: is kind of like your classic mismatch attacking forward. Not

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Speaker 1: quite as skilled as some of the other ones around

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Speaker 1: the league, but he is huge and there were a

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Speaker 1: lot of plays where he just ripped through to the

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Speaker 1: basket and guys were just shedding off of him as

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Speaker 1: he was getting to the rim. Kate Cunningham is really

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Speaker 1: good at leveraging his body to get the defender on

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Speaker 1: his back side as he's coming through on pick and roll.

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Speaker 1: We talked about earlier how good he is at making

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Speaker 1: those cross court passes and things along those lines, those

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Speaker 1: high level reads. He had another transition pass two to

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Speaker 1: Killing and Hayes like cutting out of the backside corner

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Speaker 1: that I didn't even see as I was watching. I

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Speaker 1: didn't even see Killing in there. That's always to me

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Speaker 1: like one of the UH indicators of a high level passers.

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Speaker 1: If us the fans, as we're watching, we can see

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Speaker 1: the basic reads. We can see strong side help and

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Speaker 1: an easy kick out. We can see, you know, a

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Speaker 1: drop off past to the dunker spot when the big

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Speaker 1: guy steps up. Those are normal things, but like it's

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Speaker 1: hard unless you're on a rewatch when you're watching all

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Speaker 1: the things moving to see the higher level reads like

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Speaker 1: skips to the weak side corner and things that you

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Speaker 1: might not see, and kids all over that stuff. Jade

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Speaker 1: and Ivy Uh is still, in my opinion, one of

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Speaker 1: the hardest guards in the league, keeping front, which is

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Speaker 1: insane for how young he is. Um. You can see

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Speaker 1: that attacking closeouts and in transition. Um. And then both

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Speaker 1: Isaiah Stewart and Jalen During are just monsters on the

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Speaker 1: offensive class They the two combined for eight offensive rebounds

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Speaker 1: against Golden State. This is one of the most exciting

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Speaker 1: young cores in basketball. And they just extended boy and

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Speaker 1: Magdanovitch for two additional years. So you've got a veteran

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Speaker 1: president of PREV presidents that can shoot the basketball, defend

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Speaker 1: the bigger wings, although he's not quick enough to defend

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Speaker 1: quicker players. But I like that move for them. There's

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Speaker 1: no reason to uh. Um, you know, as long as

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Speaker 1: you can afford him for the next couple of years.

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Speaker 1: It's not like you're gonna be big players in the

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Speaker 1: free agent market. So I like to move Detroit. It's

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Speaker 1: gonna be fun to watch. I enjoyed watching that game

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Speaker 1: and Um again, it's like it's just the story of

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Speaker 1: the NBA these days. What you what you anticipate to

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Speaker 1: be an easy game just isn't an easy game anymore.

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Speaker 1: So let's move on to the Calves. So, the Calves

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Speaker 1: beat the Nix yesterday to get to five and one. So, uh,

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Speaker 1: the game I actually watched. I did not watch the

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Speaker 1: Knicks game. I watched the Celtics game from a couple

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Speaker 1: of nights prior, epic back and forth game, and ot uh.

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Speaker 1: Celtics should have won that game, but the kind of

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Speaker 1: classic Celtics did at the end with some poor decision

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Speaker 1: making down the stretch and crunch time in and ot um. Also,

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Speaker 1: you just kind of handed to the Calves like Donovan

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Speaker 1: Mitchell and Carris LeVert just time and time again made

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Speaker 1: gigantic shots like tough off the dribble pull up jump

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Speaker 1: shots in that game. But the two of them have

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Speaker 1: been making them all season long. They are fit in

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Speaker 1: offense to start the year third in defense, second in

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Speaker 1: net rating. What's really interesting about him being third in

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Speaker 1: defense is if I ask you what the Calves would

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Speaker 1: be great at defensively, you would say, oh, well, they

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Speaker 1: got Jared Allen and Evan Mobley. They're going to shut

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Speaker 1: down the paint, but that it could not be further

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Speaker 1: from the truth. They are eighteen and opponent paint points

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Speaker 1: allowed per one possessions and opponents are shooting six against

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Speaker 1: them in the paint, which is bottom ten excuse me,

399
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Speaker 1: in the restricted area, which is bottom ten in the league.

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Speaker 1: The reason why their defense is so good is they

401
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Speaker 1: are not allowing teams to get off three point shots.

402
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Speaker 1: They are allowing the fewest three point attempts in the

403
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Speaker 1: league at just twenty eight point three per one possessions.

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Speaker 1: Team teams are shooting right around just just under thirty

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Speaker 1: six on those shots, which is pretty normal. Um. You

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Speaker 1: can also see it on tape. They just they pressure

407
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Speaker 1: the ball, which is what you expect from a team

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Speaker 1: that has great back line help. They're chasing guys off

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Speaker 1: the line. They're not over helping. They're willing to allow

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Speaker 1: a guy to challenge a player that's on his hip

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Speaker 1: at the rim rather than sending help that you don't

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Speaker 1: need to send. And then there This is a huge

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Speaker 1: part of it. Both Jared Allen and Mobile are good

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Speaker 1: at defending on the perimeter, but the biggest driving force.

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Speaker 1: Without a doubt of their early season success because Darius

416
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,840
Speaker 1: Garland went down in the first game against Toronto with

417
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:11,520
Speaker 1: like a scratch to the eye or something, and we

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Speaker 1: haven't seen him since. But Donovan Mitchell has just been

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Speaker 1: otherworldly good. He's playing the best basketball of his career

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Speaker 1: and it's not particularly close. I was listening to the

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Speaker 1: Celtics broadcast for this particular game and they were one

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Speaker 1: of the announcers said that they noticed that pep in

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00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:31,520
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell's step since he came to Cleveland, and I'm

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Speaker 1: not surprised. I mean, there was kind of like a

425
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,720
Speaker 1: negative energy lingering around that Utah team for a while

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00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,359
Speaker 1: and just getting that change of scenery. Um, you know,

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Speaker 1: I think I think Rudy Gobert can grate on people

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Speaker 1: a little bit. He's with younger, probably more energetic people

429
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:50,360
Speaker 1: that it's just he just looks happy. And and obviously,

430
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,000
Speaker 1: with Darius Garland being out, the whole your turn, my

431
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,320
Speaker 1: turn thing has just been almost thrown out of the window,

432
00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:57,840
Speaker 1: and he kind of has like a really natural given

433
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,240
Speaker 1: take with Carris Laverte already and dude, you could you

434
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:02,760
Speaker 1: could just you could just see it in his in

435
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,560
Speaker 1: his in the way he plays his uh. Um, He's

436
00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:07,760
Speaker 1: still one of the most athletic guards in the league.

437
00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:11,359
Speaker 1: He had a disgusting blowby on Marcus Smart in the

438
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,800
Speaker 1: fourth quarter of that game where he kind of like, uh.

439
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,040
Speaker 1: The announcers called it an overhand crossover, and I thought

440
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:21,120
Speaker 1: it was interesting that he called that because I've always

441
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,359
Speaker 1: thought of that as just like more of a body crossover.

442
00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:27,000
Speaker 1: You're not just you're not actually doing anything to sway

443
00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,400
Speaker 1: the defender with the ball. What it is is your

444
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,600
Speaker 1: body is pointed to the right and then you're literally

445
00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:34,680
Speaker 1: turning your body to the left. And it's one of

446
00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:37,359
Speaker 1: the biggest things that I teach young players when I

447
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,280
Speaker 1: coach skills from my high school team is it's not

448
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,520
Speaker 1: about what you do with the basketball with the move,

449
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 1: it's what you do with your body. If you can

450
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,679
Speaker 1: sell with your body that you're going one direction and

451
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:52,440
Speaker 1: then change direction while protecting the basketball from getting swiped at,

452
00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:54,760
Speaker 1: you will get by the defender. It's not about doing

453
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,960
Speaker 1: some big sweeping crossover. You can just push the ball

454
00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,240
Speaker 1: out to your left as long as you sell that

455
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:02,800
Speaker 1: you're going right, and you'll beat someone off the dribble.

456
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,480
Speaker 1: And on this play, Donovan Mitchell did that to Marcus Smart.

457
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:08,240
Speaker 1: He buckled and he went all the way to the

458
00:24:08,320 --> 00:24:10,800
Speaker 1: rim and dunked it. He had another one in overtime

459
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,760
Speaker 1: um where he hit Malcolm Broggden with a hard right

460
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:15,520
Speaker 1: to left move. I think he went through his legs

461
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:19,360
Speaker 1: on this one, but Malcolm Brogden literally got just utterly toasted.

462
00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:21,400
Speaker 1: Didn't even get a hand on him as he went

463
00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,400
Speaker 1: all the way to the room for the layup. He's just,

464
00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:28,959
Speaker 1: He's just He's a really unique combination of freaky downhill

465
00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,560
Speaker 1: athleticism to get to the rim and one of the

466
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:35,160
Speaker 1: best pull up jump shooters in the league. I talked

467
00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:36,920
Speaker 1: to you guys about this over the summer. One of

468
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:40,000
Speaker 1: the biggest reasons why I was excited for Cleveland is

469
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,080
Speaker 1: is he has the offensive skill set that translates to

470
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:45,719
Speaker 1: the postseason, and he is one of the most successful

471
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,880
Speaker 1: postseason scorers of the last few years. He's just been

472
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:51,960
Speaker 1: so bad defensively in the Utah Jazz were so bad

473
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:54,359
Speaker 1: and so disappointing that we kind of just look at

474
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,560
Speaker 1: him as out of sight or out of mind. But

475
00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,000
Speaker 1: I want to say he was like on like eleven

476
00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,320
Speaker 1: three point eleven pull up three point attempts per game

477
00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,320
Speaker 1: or something crazy like that over the last few post seasons.

478
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,360
Speaker 1: He's just a knockdown, pull up shooter that can get

479
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,880
Speaker 1: to the rim, and that that that combination just makes

480
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,400
Speaker 1: him incredibly difficult to guard. He's averaging thirty two, five

481
00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:20,360
Speaker 1: and seven this season so far on sixty true shooting

482
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:24,280
Speaker 1: career highs and points and efficiency at this point obviously

483
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:27,320
Speaker 1: early career high and assists as well at seven per game.

484
00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,960
Speaker 1: He's shooting forty six percent on eleven pull up jumpers

485
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,359
Speaker 1: per game, including fifty three percent on pull up threes.

486
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:40,400
Speaker 1: Just absolutely insane shot making. And he's been better defensively

487
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,320
Speaker 1: than he was in Utah. I haven't seen enough to

488
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,680
Speaker 1: just be like, oh, he's seen the light, because I've

489
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:46,639
Speaker 1: only seen like three or four of the Cavs games

490
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:49,120
Speaker 1: this year, But in the games that I've watched, he's

491
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,440
Speaker 1: been impressive. Um, he's been one of the most impressive

492
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:54,840
Speaker 1: players in the league to start the season. So you

493
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:56,800
Speaker 1: have to you have to tip the cap to Kobe

494
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:59,240
Speaker 1: Altman and the Calves for a really smart move over

495
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,480
Speaker 1: the summer. Carris Lavert has also been a lot better

496
00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:04,480
Speaker 1: than I expected that I called him the odd man

497
00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:06,680
Speaker 1: out to start the season, and who knows maybe he

498
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:08,840
Speaker 1: still will be the odd man out when Darius Garland

499
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,119
Speaker 1: comes back. But I could not have been more wrong

500
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,800
Speaker 1: about how he fits, at least with this iteration of

501
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,080
Speaker 1: the calves. His shotmaking has been all over the place.

502
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,119
Speaker 1: He's basically hitting everything from deep and nothing else. He's

503
00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,680
Speaker 1: shooting fift on pull up threes so far this season.

504
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:26,840
Speaker 1: He had a massive step back three I think it

505
00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 1: was over Jalen Brown and overtime that basically amounted to

506
00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,120
Speaker 1: be the game winner. Um the Celtics went down and tied,

507
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:35,679
Speaker 1: and they had kind of a bad possession where it

508
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:37,680
Speaker 1: was a little stagnant and Caris Lavert just hit like

509
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,000
Speaker 1: a pound dribble between his legs into his step back

510
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,919
Speaker 1: and he knocked it down. But the most impressive thing

511
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,600
Speaker 1: to me from Carris Lavert has been his playmaking out

512
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:46,960
Speaker 1: of high pick and roll. It's kind of similar to

513
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,680
Speaker 1: what we were talking about Kate Cunningham. You know, he's

514
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:54,240
Speaker 1: not a the downhill, you know, speedy threat that Donovan

515
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,720
Speaker 1: Mitchell is. It's kind of a really interesting different type

516
00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:00,919
Speaker 1: of attack to the Donovan Mitchell attack because Carris LeVert

517
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 1: is moving in slow motion a lot of the time.

518
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:04,879
Speaker 1: He's trying to get you pinned on his on on

519
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:06,760
Speaker 1: his back side, he's a lot more willing to shoot

520
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:10,479
Speaker 1: in the mid range. And even though both guys are

521
00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:14,560
Speaker 1: averaging seven assists per game, it's uncharacteristics for Donovan Mitchell.

522
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,000
Speaker 1: You know, Carris LeVert has always had a little bit

523
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,600
Speaker 1: of that, you know, uh, pick you apart type of

524
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:21,400
Speaker 1: game and high pick and roll. And he's getting high

525
00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:25,960
Speaker 1: usage because of Darius Garland being out, and he's producing

526
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 1: in that specific role at a career high seven assist

527
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,199
Speaker 1: per game right now, this early in the season. And

528
00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:35,440
Speaker 1: then I think he's been again, I need to see more,

529
00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:37,800
Speaker 1: but I think he's been pretty damn solid defensively, and

530
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:39,960
Speaker 1: I thought he was really impressive defensively in the games

531
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,920
Speaker 1: that I watched. Um, the rim defense for the Calves

532
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,520
Speaker 1: should improve, Like I said, even though they defended the

533
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:48,879
Speaker 1: three point line really well, just having Mobile and Allen

534
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:50,600
Speaker 1: out there, I do think that will kind of trend

535
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,399
Speaker 1: back in their direction. Darius Garland will bring a different

536
00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:55,600
Speaker 1: dynamic to the offense, but it will also take something

537
00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,760
Speaker 1: away defensively, so that'll be an interesting kind of dynamic

538
00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:00,880
Speaker 1: when he comes back. Obviously, that kind of throws off

539
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:03,880
Speaker 1: the give and take between LeVert and Mitchell and kind

540
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:06,480
Speaker 1: of shift some rolls around. So they got some they

541
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,560
Speaker 1: got some stuff that they'll have to figure out. But overall,

542
00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:10,280
Speaker 1: they've been one of the most impressive teams to start

543
00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:13,600
Speaker 1: the season and we're gonna be covering them again on

544
00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:18,200
Speaker 1: Wednesday when they host the Calves live on AMP after

545
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,520
Speaker 1: the final buzzer of that game, but I definitely wanted

546
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:23,639
Speaker 1: to spend some time shouting out the Calves this morning.

547
00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,879
Speaker 1: So the Lakers finally not to win at home against Denver,

548
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:31,480
Speaker 1: I did a TikTok uh for for Carson. He's the

549
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:33,760
Speaker 1: guy here at the volume that helps with our TikTok

550
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:35,280
Speaker 1: and he also helps out on this show. You guys,

551
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:37,359
Speaker 1: you guys know him, And he was like, Hey, can

552
00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:39,400
Speaker 1: you send me a video three things that you think

553
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,040
Speaker 1: would fix the Los Angeles Lakers, And I said, you know,

554
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:45,640
Speaker 1: obviously a targeted management, like they need to do something

555
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:47,920
Speaker 1: with Russ. But then the other two things I said

556
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:52,280
Speaker 1: were they needed to um actually have Lebron James and

557
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,640
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis played to their capability, meaning Lebron like a

558
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:57,600
Speaker 1: top five player, a d like a top ten player.

559
00:28:58,080 --> 00:28:59,840
Speaker 1: And then I said they needed to knock down some

560
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,680
Speaker 1: him ter jump shots, because if you're shooting blow, you're

561
00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:05,200
Speaker 1: just not gonna be able to be competitive in the

562
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,800
Speaker 1: n b A. And yeah, they I never expected to

563
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 1: the Lakers to be a good um three point shooting

564
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:13,200
Speaker 1: team this year. They just don't have the roster for that.

565
00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:16,360
Speaker 1: But they certainly are better than what they were. And

566
00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,560
Speaker 1: so two of those three were rectified essentially in that

567
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:21,360
Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets game. And what do you know, they want

568
00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:24,400
Speaker 1: a basketball game? They shot forty three from three. Big

569
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:26,959
Speaker 1: part of that was shot quality. Uh, they only had

570
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,920
Speaker 1: thirty attempts, but only one, according to NBA dot Com,

571
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:34,040
Speaker 1: was tracked as either tightly contested or very tightly contested.

572
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:37,200
Speaker 1: So they just took smarter threes um. And then also

573
00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,320
Speaker 1: some of that's just positive regression again, like they're not

574
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 1: a good shooting team, but they were nowhere near as

575
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,200
Speaker 1: bad as they looked, and so it was inevitable that

576
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:46,000
Speaker 1: they were going to have some good shooting games, and

577
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,800
Speaker 1: they happen to have one, going thirteen for thirty against

578
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:52,400
Speaker 1: the Nuggets. And then Anthony Davis, like, okay, Anthony Davis

579
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,560
Speaker 1: got soundly outplayed by Nicola Yoki up in Denver. I

580
00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,400
Speaker 1: did a whole video talking about how is transition defense

581
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:02,760
Speaker 1: in particular A destroyed the Lakers in that particular game,

582
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:07,040
Speaker 1: And I was very critical of Anthony Davis. And you know, again,

583
00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:10,320
Speaker 1: like when when it comes to the criticism of players,

584
00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,080
Speaker 1: everything is like relative to what your talent level is,

585
00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:16,400
Speaker 1: and you know, it's it's kind of like an expectations

586
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,920
Speaker 1: versus results type of thing. Like you know what frustrates

587
00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 1: me about Anthony Davis is he should be one of

588
00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,240
Speaker 1: the top five basketball players in the world. That's how

589
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:30,640
Speaker 1: talented he is. He's, you know, obviously constructed like Rudy

590
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:35,600
Speaker 1: Gobert defensively, but he's got the shooting touch. He's demonstrated

591
00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,480
Speaker 1: over the course of his career stretches of outstanding shooting touch.

592
00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 1: He can dribble the basketball. The dude is an unbelievable

593
00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:46,160
Speaker 1: freak talent, and I've seen what it looks like when

594
00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:48,080
Speaker 1: he's dialed in on both ends of the floor. I

595
00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:51,920
Speaker 1: saw it in he was so damn impressive. I used

596
00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:53,680
Speaker 1: I was joking about this in a in a group

597
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,280
Speaker 1: chat the other day. He was so damn impressive in

598
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 1: the season that when he would have a bad first half.

599
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:05,840
Speaker 1: I would tweet out like, oh, big second half incoming,

600
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:09,080
Speaker 1: because a D was like that was his rough game,

601
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:11,200
Speaker 1: Like a rough a D game would be he'd have

602
00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:13,440
Speaker 1: a bad first half and then he'd come out in

603
00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:15,920
Speaker 1: the second half and destroy everybody. The dude was a

604
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:19,280
Speaker 1: night in, night out monster that killed everybody that was

605
00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:21,840
Speaker 1: in his path. He became one of my favorite players.

606
00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:24,080
Speaker 1: He I ranked him as the fourth best player in

607
00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:29,120
Speaker 1: the world. After that season. He was a monster, and

608
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,120
Speaker 1: then he just lost it. Some of it was injuries,

609
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:34,240
Speaker 1: a lot of it is him coming into the season

610
00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:36,160
Speaker 1: out of shape. A lot of it is he put

611
00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,920
Speaker 1: on too much muscle and he's too heavy. Now, I mean,

612
00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:40,960
Speaker 1: look this back spasm thing that's been acting up for

613
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,280
Speaker 1: a while. The reality is is like that's just part

614
00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:46,800
Speaker 1: of the Anthony Davis experience. Now, you can't just blame

615
00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,320
Speaker 1: bad luck. You're he's stiff as a board because he's

616
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:54,000
Speaker 1: incredibly overweight in terms of just too much muscle mass

617
00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:56,440
Speaker 1: for what he needs for the position. And guess what

618
00:31:56,520 --> 00:31:58,920
Speaker 1: happens a lot when you get stiff and lack of

619
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:02,040
Speaker 1: mobility because you over build, your back gets tight. And

620
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:04,880
Speaker 1: that's what he's dealing with now and like it's I

621
00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:07,920
Speaker 1: have all that. There's just a lot of reasons for

622
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 1: all Laker fans or Anthony Davis fans to be frustrated

623
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:13,680
Speaker 1: with the way that he's played over the years, the

624
00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:16,120
Speaker 1: last couple of years. And you know what, he went

625
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:20,040
Speaker 1: out with his bad back, with the same lack of

626
00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:22,800
Speaker 1: mobility that he's had over the last couple of years,

627
00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:28,320
Speaker 1: and he soundly outplayed Yoki last night, soundly outplayed him,

628
00:32:28,520 --> 00:32:32,520
Speaker 1: completely erased that transition stuff, sprinting back. Instead of having

629
00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:34,560
Speaker 1: thirty five fast break points like they did in the

630
00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,520
Speaker 1: game in Denver, they only had nine, did a great

631
00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 1: job in isolation defense. Even the shots that Yokis made

632
00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:43,360
Speaker 1: in that game were immensely difficult because Anthony Davis was

633
00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:47,280
Speaker 1: draped all over him. Anthony Davis was making his jump shot,

634
00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:50,200
Speaker 1: particularly his two point jump shot, and then on the

635
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:52,680
Speaker 1: other end of the floor, Yokich can't shoot anymore, which

636
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:54,600
Speaker 1: we're gonna get to. That's a whole other thing. But

637
00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:57,480
Speaker 1: a d was ignoring Yokis and dropping back into the

638
00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:00,240
Speaker 1: paint to contain things and shut down a out of

639
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:03,160
Speaker 1: Denver stuff. He was the better player in that game.

640
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,640
Speaker 1: Now Yokis is a better player overall. Do I expect

641
00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:09,120
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis to outplay Yokis every single night. No, not

642
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:11,840
Speaker 1: until he gets back to form. But if he can

643
00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:15,960
Speaker 1: play like a top ten player and outplay Nicola Yokich

644
00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,840
Speaker 1: in a random game like this, when he plays up

645
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:22,400
Speaker 1: to that level where he's an all World defensive player

646
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,600
Speaker 1: that also has the ability to make big time offensive plays.

647
00:33:25,720 --> 00:33:28,880
Speaker 1: He hit back to back isolation jumpers over Nicola Yokichen

648
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:32,280
Speaker 1: crunch time in this game, a nasty fade away over

649
00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:35,280
Speaker 1: his left shoulder into the lane, and then a one

650
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:37,760
Speaker 1: of those easy breezy jab step pull up jump shots

651
00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:39,960
Speaker 1: on the left wing, and then he had a huge

652
00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,880
Speaker 1: offensive rebound put back on a missed Lebron jump shot

653
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,560
Speaker 1: in crunch time. When he's making superstar offensive plays and

654
00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:49,120
Speaker 1: he's the all world defender that he is, he's a

655
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:51,960
Speaker 1: top ten player. When he plays like a top ten player,

656
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:55,160
Speaker 1: the Lakers are a better team. Big shock. You know.

657
00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:57,800
Speaker 1: That's that's why I've been trying to hold him to

658
00:33:57,840 --> 00:34:01,240
Speaker 1: that standard. I know that's what he's capable. Love. He's

659
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:03,360
Speaker 1: capable of being a top ten player in this league.

660
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:06,680
Speaker 1: He hasn't been for this entire season up till last night,

661
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:08,560
Speaker 1: and for the most part over the course of the

662
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:11,400
Speaker 1: previous two years. If he plays to that standard, a

663
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:13,960
Speaker 1: lot of the Lakers problems go from being big problems

664
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:16,880
Speaker 1: to being smaller problems. That's why it was so important

665
00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:19,480
Speaker 1: for him to get up to that level. And then,

666
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:21,920
Speaker 1: you know, Lebron, he had a rough night, particularly in

667
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,080
Speaker 1: the first half, really struggled to finish around the ram,

668
00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:27,120
Speaker 1: had some sloppy turnovers. But he came out and was

669
00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:29,960
Speaker 1: excellent in the second half, and he had a bunch

670
00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:32,400
Speaker 1: of tough isolation jumpers. He made some huge plays at

671
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,360
Speaker 1: the end of the game. There's a play where Yokich

672
00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:36,440
Speaker 1: had Anthony Davis kind of pinned under the rim and

673
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:38,319
Speaker 1: got an offensive rebound and was holding it in his

674
00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:41,600
Speaker 1: right hand and Lebron just came flying in and snatched

675
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:43,520
Speaker 1: it out of his hand, dribbled the ball up the

676
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,439
Speaker 1: floor and hit a transition three. It was a five

677
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:48,640
Speaker 1: point swing essentially because Yokis probably gets fouled there or

678
00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:50,600
Speaker 1: makes a layup. It's a five point swing. That was

679
00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:53,120
Speaker 1: a huge impact play in this game. And then there

680
00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:55,480
Speaker 1: was another play where he got switched on to Yokich

681
00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:58,840
Speaker 1: and he denied Yokich the post entry the entire possession

682
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,440
Speaker 1: just by fronting him, and when he did, the Nuggets

683
00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:02,960
Speaker 1: kind of passed it around the perimeter for a while,

684
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:04,799
Speaker 1: didn't know what to do and Michael Porter Jr. Ended

685
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:07,120
Speaker 1: up jacking up a bad three at the top of

686
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,160
Speaker 1: the key and it was a huge stop in the game.

687
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:14,560
Speaker 1: And what's funny is like, like, uh, like Lebron, That's

688
00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:18,320
Speaker 1: that's all you're asking for from Lebron. Top five players

689
00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,879
Speaker 1: are going to have bad games, They're going to have

690
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:26,239
Speaker 1: bad halves. That happens, but more often than not, they

691
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:28,719
Speaker 1: bring their a game and when they do have a

692
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,160
Speaker 1: rough half, they usually come out in the second half

693
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:34,399
Speaker 1: and they make big place And in this particular game,

694
00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,880
Speaker 1: when Lebron was a little bit uneven, they happened to

695
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:40,080
Speaker 1: get a great Russell westper performance that helped kind of

696
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:42,239
Speaker 1: bolster that. But it was funny. There was a moment

697
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,160
Speaker 1: in the first half or Lebron um I want to

698
00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:46,800
Speaker 1: say it was either a turnover. I think it was

699
00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:48,799
Speaker 1: a turnover. He turned the ball over in transition, I

700
00:35:48,840 --> 00:35:51,960
Speaker 1: believe um and they went down the other way and

701
00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:53,759
Speaker 1: there was a foul. I think Aaron Gordon got foul

702
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:55,799
Speaker 1: or something, and he was sitting and he kind of

703
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:58,520
Speaker 1: had his head down and the camera was right on

704
00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:00,799
Speaker 1: his face, and he just kind of shook his head

705
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:02,799
Speaker 1: and then he went back to the game, and it

706
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:04,279
Speaker 1: was right before I think it was right before the

707
00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:06,600
Speaker 1: end of the first half. I remember sitting there thinking, like,

708
00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:10,320
Speaker 1: he's the one guy that I don't worry about freaking

709
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:14,720
Speaker 1: uh uh, don't worry about figuring it out, like Anthony Davis,

710
00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:16,960
Speaker 1: who knows last night it might be an anomaly or

711
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:18,640
Speaker 1: he might play like that the rest of the season.

712
00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:21,400
Speaker 1: I literally have no idea. I have no idea what

713
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:24,520
Speaker 1: to make of what that performance was last night, if

714
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:26,960
Speaker 1: that's the usual thing for him moving forward, or if

715
00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,600
Speaker 1: it was an anomaly. But with Lebron, he will figure

716
00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:32,560
Speaker 1: out a way to be one of the five best

717
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:35,040
Speaker 1: players in the world this year. His body is still

718
00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 1: moving well enough. It's mainly like sloppiness that's been undercutting

719
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:43,440
Speaker 1: him to this point. And most importantly, he's wired that way.

720
00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:47,239
Speaker 1: He is the psychotic competitor that does not get complacent.

721
00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:50,480
Speaker 1: He sees what's happening around him on the team, and

722
00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:53,840
Speaker 1: he knows he hasn't been good enough. I expect him

723
00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:56,439
Speaker 1: to get I expect over the course the next few

724
00:36:56,440 --> 00:37:00,399
Speaker 1: weeks for Lebron to steadily improve into eventually he looked

725
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,080
Speaker 1: like a sure fire top five player in the league.

726
00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:06,520
Speaker 1: So we gotta shout out Russ. Russ had one of

727
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:09,759
Speaker 1: one of his very good games, not just a good game,

728
00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:12,279
Speaker 1: a very good game from Russ, and like I said,

729
00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:14,640
Speaker 1: it helps kind of balance out some of Lebron's uneven

730
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:18,439
Speaker 1: performance a couple of things. He had good games last year.

731
00:37:18,719 --> 00:37:23,600
Speaker 1: This is not incredibly unheard of, um in the way

732
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,719
Speaker 1: these good games for Russ look are a lot like

733
00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:29,160
Speaker 1: what you saw last night, which is bad Russ plays,

734
00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,799
Speaker 1: just with more good Russ plays, like he missed four

735
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:37,600
Speaker 1: more layups in that game. He's now shooting under in

736
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:39,960
Speaker 1: the restricted area for the season, which is insane. He

737
00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:42,600
Speaker 1: had three more turnovers. He had a bad missed box

738
00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:44,640
Speaker 1: out in the second half on Bruce Brown that led

739
00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:47,800
Speaker 1: to a three point shot at he um Bruce Barron

740
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:49,319
Speaker 1: went up and grabbed the rebound of kicked a te

741
00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:51,880
Speaker 1: Thinkentavious called up Pope in the right corner and he

742
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:55,920
Speaker 1: made a three. Bad Russ plays are every night, but

743
00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:59,520
Speaker 1: at the differences in this particular game, he had all

744
00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:03,360
Speaker 1: of his great russ plays working and as a result,

745
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:06,520
Speaker 1: the balance skipped heavily in the favor of him impacting

746
00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:10,560
Speaker 1: winning he was punishing the smaller Denver guards, particularly Jamal Murray,

747
00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:13,960
Speaker 1: just had no chance against him in the UH. I

748
00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:17,560
Speaker 1: believe it was in the first half, hitting Nasty really

749
00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:20,480
Speaker 1: low between the legs, cross over to his right where

750
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:22,440
Speaker 1: he got Like again, when you're trying to beat a

751
00:38:22,480 --> 00:38:24,480
Speaker 1: person off the dribble, one of the best ways to

752
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:27,160
Speaker 1: do that is to get lower than them because there's

753
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:29,320
Speaker 1: inevitably going to be some contact as you're trying to

754
00:38:29,320 --> 00:38:31,520
Speaker 1: go around their shoulder, and then from there it's just

755
00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:35,360
Speaker 1: a challenge of leverage, and you're gonna have better leverage

756
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:37,239
Speaker 1: if you're lower to the ground and your legs are

757
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:40,719
Speaker 1: bent and you can power up through that contact. Then

758
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,279
Speaker 1: if you're up higher and the defender is lower than you,

759
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:45,040
Speaker 1: he can push you off of your line. And he

760
00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:48,200
Speaker 1: got super low and got past Jamal Murray's shoulder and

761
00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:50,560
Speaker 1: finished with the right hand layup, kind of talk some

762
00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:52,680
Speaker 1: ship to Jamal in his face, and then the game

763
00:38:52,719 --> 00:38:54,840
Speaker 1: ceiling one same thing. Just put his head down and

764
00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:57,399
Speaker 1: went right around Jamal Murray to the right then, he's

765
00:38:57,400 --> 00:38:59,319
Speaker 1: gonna be having nightmares about that because you could tell

766
00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:02,839
Speaker 1: it bothered Jim Ball when Russ was talking shit at

767
00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:05,239
Speaker 1: his expense. I don't blame him. Russ has been one

768
00:39:05,239 --> 00:39:06,719
Speaker 1: of the worst players in the league over the last

769
00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:08,400
Speaker 1: couple of years, so if he talks trash to you,

770
00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:12,759
Speaker 1: can I assume that would be kind of frustrating. Um,

771
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,040
Speaker 1: But yeah, like like that's always gonna be one of

772
00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:18,440
Speaker 1: Russ's strengths, as him being a huge, strong guard that

773
00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:21,800
Speaker 1: has the ability to overpower smaller guards around the league.

774
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:24,479
Speaker 1: He had four offensive rebounds in this game, including a

775
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,560
Speaker 1: massive offensive rebound in the fourth quarter where Matt Ryan

776
00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:29,400
Speaker 1: kind of drove to the baseline and air ball to

777
00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:32,520
Speaker 1: short jump shot and Russ came flying in from the

778
00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:34,520
Speaker 1: other side and grab the rebound and like pitched it

779
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:36,680
Speaker 1: back out to Matt Ryan in the corner and he

780
00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:39,560
Speaker 1: knocked down a three. UM. He had to high level

781
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:43,120
Speaker 1: Russ playmaking that we've grown accustomed to over the years. Specifically,

782
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:46,040
Speaker 1: there was one where he drove along the left wing

783
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:49,800
Speaker 1: to the baseline and made a ridiculous cross court pass

784
00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:52,760
Speaker 1: to Austin Reeves in the right corner at the last second.

785
00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:54,480
Speaker 1: Like he was in the air for like a second

786
00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:57,960
Speaker 1: before he did this, Denver completely collapsed, kicked out to Austin,

787
00:39:58,239 --> 00:40:01,239
Speaker 1: Austin pump fake and went to the ram and got

788
00:40:01,239 --> 00:40:03,959
Speaker 1: an and one. This was during a seventeen oh run

789
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:06,479
Speaker 1: from the Lakers, which I'm pretty sure for the most

790
00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:09,840
Speaker 1: part was just Russ and Anthony Davis. A massive winning

791
00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:11,880
Speaker 1: effort from Russ in this game. And then he was

792
00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,440
Speaker 1: good defensively, held up well and closeouts. He had a

793
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:16,600
Speaker 1: big block on Michael Porter Jr. Under the rim late

794
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:19,920
Speaker 1: in the game. Overall, he's just been Uh. In this

795
00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:22,360
Speaker 1: particular game, he was just a force of positive energy

796
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:26,160
Speaker 1: and uh. And that's what a good Russ game is

797
00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:29,360
Speaker 1: going to look like. And again, like I do I

798
00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:31,839
Speaker 1: like Russ on this team? No? Do I dislike him

799
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:34,960
Speaker 1: as a person? No, to have I been frustrated rooting

800
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:36,920
Speaker 1: for him over the last couple of years, Yes, because

801
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:39,279
Speaker 1: he's a very frustrating basketball player to root for, But

802
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:42,440
Speaker 1: there is no personal beef here. And I will always

803
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:45,320
Speaker 1: point out when he plays well, um off the bench

804
00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:48,000
Speaker 1: is definitely the best way to use him because he

805
00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:50,360
Speaker 1: gets to be more aggressive when he has the basketball.

806
00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:53,040
Speaker 1: But the reality is is his good nights like the

807
00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:56,239
Speaker 1: one last night are way too inconsistent to bank on,

808
00:40:56,719 --> 00:40:58,960
Speaker 1: So as Laker fans, I hope you don't get your

809
00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:00,880
Speaker 1: hopes up that that's what it's gonna look like every night,

810
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:02,600
Speaker 1: because it's just not going to And at the end

811
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:05,480
Speaker 1: of the day, they're better off flipping Russ for players

812
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:09,640
Speaker 1: that have more night tonight impact on winning, zooming out

813
00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:11,680
Speaker 1: a little bit from the Lakers their second in defense

814
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:13,319
Speaker 1: in the entire league right now, and a D just

815
00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:15,840
Speaker 1: played his best game, and Lebron, like I said earlier,

816
00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:18,399
Speaker 1: is the last guy worry about figuring things out. So

817
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,759
Speaker 1: if a D can kind of translate this into more

818
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:24,920
Speaker 1: consistent success, if Lebron continues to improve offensively over the

819
00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:26,720
Speaker 1: course of the next couple of weeks and their defense

820
00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:29,880
Speaker 1: holds up the way it has through a very tough schedule,

821
00:41:30,719 --> 00:41:32,680
Speaker 1: this team is gonna start ripping off some wins. I

822
00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:34,680
Speaker 1: just think the biggest thing that I'd watch out for

823
00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:37,360
Speaker 1: his health, because if Anthony Davis is back has to

824
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:39,759
Speaker 1: requires him to miss one or two games every week,

825
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:43,000
Speaker 1: they they'll lose those games because without him they just

826
00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:46,200
Speaker 1: don't have enough talent. And then obviously, in terms of continuity,

827
00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:50,359
Speaker 1: just not having enough UMU, the continuity in lineups from

828
00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,040
Speaker 1: night tonight. A couple of quick notes on the Nuggets.

829
00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:56,760
Speaker 1: They're down to defense now. The influx of Michael Porter Jr.

830
00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:59,080
Speaker 1: And Jamal Murray was always going to limit them defensively.

831
00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:01,120
Speaker 1: We talked about this a lot this summer, but I

832
00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:02,640
Speaker 1: said that they would be the number one offense in

833
00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:04,279
Speaker 1: the league, and they just simply haven't been. They've been

834
00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:06,560
Speaker 1: fifteenth in offense. And there's a couple of big reasons

835
00:42:06,560 --> 00:42:09,200
Speaker 1: for that. Jamal Murray in particular, has a ways to

836
00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:11,520
Speaker 1: go to get back to what he was. Although he

837
00:42:11,600 --> 00:42:15,160
Speaker 1: was hitting some wild shots um against the Lakers. In

838
00:42:15,200 --> 00:42:17,280
Speaker 1: this game, he had a late shot clock one against

839
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:19,279
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis on the left wing where like Pump faked

840
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:21,120
Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis was draped all over him and he

841
00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:23,640
Speaker 1: like leaned into the right and made it a couple

842
00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:26,680
Speaker 1: of nasty stepped backs to uh. So those are good signs.

843
00:42:26,719 --> 00:42:29,080
Speaker 1: But his scoring, he's he's averaging right around like, I think,

844
00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:30,799
Speaker 1: four teen points per game, and you'd like to see

845
00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:33,680
Speaker 1: him over twenty. Aaron Gordon hasn't shot the ball well,

846
00:42:33,719 --> 00:42:36,120
Speaker 1: that's not helping. And then their bench is just really,

847
00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:40,719
Speaker 1: really bad. DeAndre Jordan's is, in my opinion, like probably

848
00:42:40,719 --> 00:42:43,320
Speaker 1: the worst NBA player that gets rotation minutes in the NBA.

849
00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:46,080
Speaker 1: I've thought that when he was on the Lakers, thought

850
00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:50,040
Speaker 1: that when he was on the Sixers. Think that now, um,

851
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:53,560
Speaker 1: this particular game, because Bones Highland was out, they were

852
00:42:53,640 --> 00:42:55,480
Speaker 1: running like it was funny. There was a late game

853
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:57,239
Speaker 1: I want to say it was either late third or

854
00:42:57,239 --> 00:42:59,000
Speaker 1: early fourth. I wanted I think it was late third

855
00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:02,839
Speaker 1: where the nets are. The Nuggets had a half court

856
00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:06,600
Speaker 1: possession where the Lakers run to run and Bruce Brown

857
00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:09,320
Speaker 1: like came off of a high ball screen from DeAndre

858
00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:12,120
Speaker 1: Jordan's and just pulled up and shot a pull up

859
00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:15,040
Speaker 1: off the dribble three early in the shot clock that

860
00:43:15,120 --> 00:43:17,560
Speaker 1: he missed. And I remember thinking, like, why in the

861
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:20,480
Speaker 1: world is Bruce Brown taking that shot? And then I

862
00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:22,960
Speaker 1: looked around at the lineup and it was like, uh,

863
00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:27,280
Speaker 1: DeAndre Jordans, Devon Reid, Jeff Green, Christian Braun and and

864
00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:30,040
Speaker 1: and Bruce Brown. I'm like, Oh, that's why. It's because

865
00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:32,719
Speaker 1: they literally don't have anybody in that lineup that can

866
00:43:32,719 --> 00:43:35,480
Speaker 1: create their own shot. But Bones Highland was out in

867
00:43:35,520 --> 00:43:37,359
Speaker 1: that particular game. But a big part of why their

868
00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:40,160
Speaker 1: bench scoring hasn't been good all season is Bones Highland.

869
00:43:40,719 --> 00:43:43,160
Speaker 1: His efficiency has fallen off of a cliff this year,

870
00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:47,600
Speaker 1: despite him shooting from three. I had the Nuggets down

871
00:43:47,600 --> 00:43:50,640
Speaker 1: at eight in my power rankings because even though there

872
00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:53,879
Speaker 1: was there's a ton of optimism surrounding the Nuggets. They

873
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:57,000
Speaker 1: killed everybody when they made Aaron Gordon trade two years

874
00:43:57,040 --> 00:43:59,440
Speaker 1: ago before Jamal Murray came back, so there was a

875
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:01,120
Speaker 1: lot like, oh, they'll just come back and just start

876
00:44:01,160 --> 00:44:03,880
Speaker 1: killing everybody again. But the truth is, is there a

877
00:44:03,880 --> 00:44:06,239
Speaker 1: team that has great strengths and great flaws, which is

878
00:44:06,239 --> 00:44:07,839
Speaker 1: true for a lot of the teams around the league

879
00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:11,399
Speaker 1: right now, but for Denver in particular. There they got

880
00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:13,840
Speaker 1: worse defensively and their offense hasn't been good enough to

881
00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:15,479
Speaker 1: make up for it, and they've got to figure that out.

882
00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:17,480
Speaker 1: And then the last part here, and this is something

883
00:44:17,520 --> 00:44:20,120
Speaker 1: I was on over the course of last year. So

884
00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:23,040
Speaker 1: if you guys remember I talked about how yoki Is

885
00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:25,520
Speaker 1: perimeter shooting was concerning to me, and over the course

886
00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:28,120
Speaker 1: of the last chunk of the season and into the postseason,

887
00:44:28,520 --> 00:44:31,040
Speaker 1: his inability to knock down a pick and pop three

888
00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:34,520
Speaker 1: point shot was causing some problems for Denver's offense because

889
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:37,000
Speaker 1: the big man could sit back into the lane in

890
00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:40,960
Speaker 1: those situations, and I thought it was like a legitimate regression.

891
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:43,120
Speaker 1: I was like, this is a huge sample size spanning

892
00:44:43,120 --> 00:44:45,360
Speaker 1: over months and months, and this dude's just not making

893
00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:48,640
Speaker 1: any shots. Something's up. But then I talked to somebody

894
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:52,200
Speaker 1: who covers the Nuggets and and he told me that, uh,

895
00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:54,520
Speaker 1: he had a wrist issue. And a lot of you

896
00:44:54,600 --> 00:44:57,760
Speaker 1: Laker fans probably are immediately like I remember this excuse

897
00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:01,359
Speaker 1: because Anthony Davis said something similar over the course the summer. Well,

898
00:45:01,680 --> 00:45:04,040
Speaker 1: whatever risk issue was there last season is gone, and

899
00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:07,000
Speaker 1: Yogi has missed one of his last thirteen or excuse me,

900
00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:10,719
Speaker 1: he's made one of his last thirteen three point attempts,

901
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:14,560
Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis just completely ignored him when he was

902
00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:16,920
Speaker 1: that far away from the rim and sagged back and

903
00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:18,320
Speaker 1: he was unable to make him pay. And it was

904
00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:21,200
Speaker 1: a big part of why Denver had some stretches of

905
00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:23,680
Speaker 1: ugly offense in this game. Um, so Denver has got

906
00:45:23,719 --> 00:45:25,400
Speaker 1: a lot to work it out too. As we're zooming

907
00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:27,480
Speaker 1: out here. I mean, like the Clippers have been really

908
00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:29,279
Speaker 1: bad to start the season. The Nets have been really

909
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:31,040
Speaker 1: bad to start the season, the Sixers have been really

910
00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:33,319
Speaker 1: bad to start the season, and the Warriors have been

911
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:36,279
Speaker 1: really bad to start the season relative to their expectations.

912
00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:38,799
Speaker 1: Those are four of my top six teams in the

913
00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:42,440
Speaker 1: power rankings, the only and and the Celtics I think

914
00:45:42,520 --> 00:45:44,520
Speaker 1: they have I'm going off the top of my head here,

915
00:45:44,560 --> 00:45:46,440
Speaker 1: but I think they might have three losses at this point.

916
00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:49,600
Speaker 1: So when I'm zooming out here, like got like really,

917
00:45:49,640 --> 00:45:51,480
Speaker 1: the Bucks are the only one of the top tier

918
00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:55,040
Speaker 1: teams that is really excelling right now, and their offense

919
00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:59,719
Speaker 1: isn't uh their uh um offense isn't as good as

920
00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:01,719
Speaker 1: it needs to be because they're missing all their spot

921
00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:05,279
Speaker 1: up shooters. So like, there is no perfect team right now,

922
00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:07,360
Speaker 1: and so I'm really curious to see if there is

923
00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:09,120
Speaker 1: a team out there that decides to go all in

924
00:46:09,239 --> 00:46:11,520
Speaker 1: or make some sort of more aggressive trade, because the

925
00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:13,759
Speaker 1: truth is is there's just a whole lot of a

926
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:17,359
Speaker 1: whole lot of uh uh mid level basketball going on

927
00:46:17,400 --> 00:46:19,560
Speaker 1: around the league right now. All Right, We've been going

928
00:46:19,600 --> 00:46:20,879
Speaker 1: for a while, so I'm gonna get out of here

929
00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:24,360
Speaker 1: pretty quick. The uh A couple of notes on the

930
00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:28,480
Speaker 1: Nets I was stunned when they decided to bring everyone back.

931
00:46:28,520 --> 00:46:31,920
Speaker 1: If you remember we I there was literally two videos

932
00:46:31,960 --> 00:46:33,480
Speaker 1: one day apart. One was on a Monday, one was

933
00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:38,240
Speaker 1: on her Tuesday. One was on Monday. I was like, uh,

934
00:46:38,440 --> 00:46:41,360
Speaker 1: Katie's gonna get traded. There's no way they decided to

935
00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:44,480
Speaker 1: move forward with this group. And it was after everything

936
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:47,600
Speaker 1: that happened with like Joe sigh and and uh, you know,

937
00:46:47,719 --> 00:46:50,759
Speaker 1: and talking about wanting Steve Nash out, and then like

938
00:46:50,840 --> 00:46:55,000
Speaker 1: Tuesday morning, the Kevin Durant report came that he's going

939
00:46:55,040 --> 00:46:57,480
Speaker 1: to be returning to the team, like in his recommitted

940
00:46:58,080 --> 00:46:59,520
Speaker 1: and I and I came out that day and I

941
00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:02,920
Speaker 1: was stunned. I was stunned. And I had a lot

942
00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:05,560
Speaker 1: of people in the comments like, you were so confident

943
00:47:05,600 --> 00:47:07,160
Speaker 1: that that was gonna happen. You were wrong, bo By.

944
00:47:07,480 --> 00:47:09,480
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be wrong all the time. Anytime you make predictions,

945
00:47:09,480 --> 00:47:12,120
Speaker 1: you're gonna be wrong. But I was really stunned, And

946
00:47:12,160 --> 00:47:14,560
Speaker 1: there was a reason why I came out so strong

947
00:47:14,640 --> 00:47:18,040
Speaker 1: with that take on that Monday. I could not figure

948
00:47:18,080 --> 00:47:21,120
Speaker 1: out because like I believe in Kevin Durant as a

949
00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:26,560
Speaker 1: foundational piece for a franchise. I believe in Kyrie Irving's capability.

950
00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:29,080
Speaker 1: I believe in the fit that they have naturally with

951
00:47:29,160 --> 00:47:32,160
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons, they you know, obviously said Curry has been out,

952
00:47:33,600 --> 00:47:36,080
Speaker 1: t J. Warren has been out. They have more talent

953
00:47:36,160 --> 00:47:38,759
Speaker 1: that's not available yet. But I had them as a

954
00:47:39,120 --> 00:47:42,080
Speaker 1: if things go right, contender, but I did not have

955
00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:44,279
Speaker 1: them as a top tier contender, and there was a

956
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:48,640
Speaker 1: big gap between those And specifically, I just was looking

957
00:47:48,680 --> 00:47:51,960
Speaker 1: at that situation and I'm thinking Katie doesn't like the

958
00:47:51,960 --> 00:47:55,960
Speaker 1: GM or the coach. Kyrie Irving is is literally a

959
00:47:56,000 --> 00:47:59,400
Speaker 1: disaster for a basketball team to deal with every single season,

960
00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:02,040
Speaker 1: with all the draw that he brings. And they're not

961
00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:04,279
Speaker 1: talented enough to be a top tier contender. So like,

962
00:48:04,680 --> 00:48:07,879
Speaker 1: what's the point? Like, you need everything to go right

963
00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:10,760
Speaker 1: in order for you to win a title, and chances

964
00:48:10,760 --> 00:48:13,440
Speaker 1: are things won't go right. And so I was I

965
00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:16,560
Speaker 1: came out strongly thinking there's no way, and then they

966
00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:19,000
Speaker 1: decided to bring everybody back. And if you guys, remember

967
00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:20,560
Speaker 1: what did I say at that point? I said, they

968
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:24,120
Speaker 1: are very talented and so if they win games, this

969
00:48:24,160 --> 00:48:26,480
Speaker 1: will all be fine. But if you remember, I said,

970
00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:31,280
Speaker 1: if they start losing games, the wounds from this summer

971
00:48:31,680 --> 00:48:35,720
Speaker 1: will come back to the surface. And that's literally what's happened.

972
00:48:36,080 --> 00:48:39,880
Speaker 1: They're sitting at one in five, and all of a sudden,

973
00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:42,600
Speaker 1: when a team that's not playing hard, like not grabbing

974
00:48:42,719 --> 00:48:45,680
Speaker 1: rebounds and not defending, you start to think, oh, they're

975
00:48:45,680 --> 00:48:49,319
Speaker 1: not bought into their coach. Well, the best player said

976
00:48:49,360 --> 00:48:52,920
Speaker 1: he didn't want that coach. That's something that you're gonna

977
00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:56,520
Speaker 1: start thinking about. Kyrie Irving I said, oh, well, he's

978
00:48:56,520 --> 00:48:59,960
Speaker 1: gonna buy back in and try to earn that contract

979
00:49:00,040 --> 00:49:03,960
Speaker 1: extension this summer. And he has on the court been available,

980
00:49:04,040 --> 00:49:05,680
Speaker 1: which is a lot more than you could say over

981
00:49:05,719 --> 00:49:07,920
Speaker 1: the last two seasons. But now we have all this

982
00:49:08,080 --> 00:49:10,879
Speaker 1: drama with all the anti Semitic stuff that he's been

983
00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:14,160
Speaker 1: promoting and and him having back back and forth with

984
00:49:14,239 --> 00:49:17,320
Speaker 1: Nique fredell uh Nick fredell In in the postgame presser.

985
00:49:17,840 --> 00:49:19,960
Speaker 1: That stuff is a lot easier to deal with when

986
00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:22,200
Speaker 1: you're five and one than it is when you're one

987
00:49:22,239 --> 00:49:25,000
Speaker 1: in five. And as these losses start to pile up,

988
00:49:25,000 --> 00:49:27,560
Speaker 1: and that last one against the Pacers was really, really,

989
00:49:27,800 --> 00:49:31,600
Speaker 1: really embarrassing, the reality is is all of these things

990
00:49:31,640 --> 00:49:34,000
Speaker 1: are gonna start to bubble to the surface. Are they

991
00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:36,480
Speaker 1: bought into the coach? You know Ben Simmons and his

992
00:49:36,520 --> 00:49:38,320
Speaker 1: mental health, is that going to be an issue? Kyrie

993
00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:41,280
Speaker 1: Irving and his shenanigans. You know, all of that stuff

994
00:49:41,320 --> 00:49:44,759
Speaker 1: starts to bubble to the surface, and I honestly don't

995
00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:48,399
Speaker 1: know what ends up happening here. I really thought they'd

996
00:49:48,440 --> 00:49:50,560
Speaker 1: want to move on from this group over the summer,

997
00:49:50,560 --> 00:49:53,040
Speaker 1: and they did not. They wanted to continue to push forward.

998
00:49:53,719 --> 00:49:57,680
Speaker 1: I see k D as a foundational m v P piece,

999
00:49:58,280 --> 00:50:01,879
Speaker 1: but nothing else around this to me, is worth this

1000
00:50:02,239 --> 00:50:05,160
Speaker 1: everything else, And you don't have the means with which

1001
00:50:05,200 --> 00:50:08,600
Speaker 1: to turn the surrounding pieces into players that compliment k

1002
00:50:08,719 --> 00:50:12,160
Speaker 1: D well enough to win a title. And he's getting older.

1003
00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:13,880
Speaker 1: So like, at the end of the day, like you

1004
00:50:13,960 --> 00:50:17,760
Speaker 1: really only have two options. You can cross your fingers

1005
00:50:17,760 --> 00:50:20,160
Speaker 1: and just hope this all works out, and they suddenly

1006
00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:23,799
Speaker 1: start playing defense, and they suddenly start grabbing rebounds, and

1007
00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:26,120
Speaker 1: Seth Curry and T. J. Warren come in and and

1008
00:50:26,120 --> 00:50:28,080
Speaker 1: and just kind of give them an influx of talent

1009
00:50:28,200 --> 00:50:32,959
Speaker 1: and everything is fine. Or you can sell the farm.

1010
00:50:33,000 --> 00:50:35,600
Speaker 1: And I'm really curious to see which direction they end

1011
00:50:35,680 --> 00:50:38,120
Speaker 1: up going. Um My guests as they stick it out

1012
00:50:38,160 --> 00:50:40,799
Speaker 1: for a little while longer until Seth Curry and t J.

1013
00:50:40,840 --> 00:50:44,439
Speaker 1: Warren get into the offense. But right now, like man,

1014
00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:46,600
Speaker 1: this could not have gone worse to start the season.

1015
00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:50,640
Speaker 1: They've lost some winnable games in this chunk, all right,

1016
00:50:50,760 --> 00:50:52,359
Speaker 1: So that's all I have for today. Here's the plan

1017
00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:54,640
Speaker 1: for the rest of this week. Tomorrow night, we're going

1018
00:50:54,719 --> 00:50:57,920
Speaker 1: live UM after the final buzzer if I believe Golden

1019
00:50:57,960 --> 00:51:01,399
Speaker 1: State Miami. That's gonna be on AMP. So you're gonna

1020
00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:02,840
Speaker 1: want to go to my Twitter feed and find the

1021
00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:05,839
Speaker 1: AMPLE links so you can download that AMP uh at

1022
00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:08,520
Speaker 1: that app and listen to the show there. If you

1023
00:51:08,640 --> 00:51:10,960
Speaker 1: miss that for whatever reason, it will be redistributed on

1024
00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:14,719
Speaker 1: YouTube later in the evening. Then Wednesday AMP after the

1025
00:51:14,719 --> 00:51:18,239
Speaker 1: early morning or the early evening game Cavs Celtics, and

1026
00:51:18,280 --> 00:51:23,520
Speaker 1: then live on YouTube after the Lakers game on Wednesday night,

1027
00:51:23,680 --> 00:51:26,480
Speaker 1: which I believe is against the Pelicans. Thursday night we're

1028
00:51:26,520 --> 00:51:30,160
Speaker 1: live on AMP after Warriors Magic, and then Friday we're

1029
00:51:30,160 --> 00:51:33,560
Speaker 1: just doing a normal YouTube film breakdown sometime during the day.

1030
00:51:33,800 --> 00:51:35,520
Speaker 1: So that's our schedule for this week. As always, I

1031
00:51:35,560 --> 00:51:38,040
Speaker 1: appreciate your guys support and I will see you tomorrow

1032
00:52:04,880 --> 00:52:28,680
Speaker 1: s s the volume