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Speaker 2: responsible gambling resources. All right, welcome to hoops tonight here

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Speaker 2: at the Volume. Happy Monday, everybody helpe. All of you

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Speaker 2: guys had an incredible weekend. We got a jam pack

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Speaker 2: show for you today. Normally we do power Rankings on Monday,

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Speaker 2: but tomorrow evening I am flying to Salt Lake City

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Speaker 2: to do some skiing in Park City, first key trip

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Speaker 2: of the year. Very very excited, But because I want

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Speaker 2: to have some content coming out during the week, at

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Speaker 2: the end of tomorrow's show, I'm gonna do power Rankings

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Speaker 2: in a mail bag so that we can kind of

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Speaker 2: have some stuff while I'm out of town. So tonight

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Speaker 2: we're just gonna do today. We're just going to do

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Speaker 2: four instant reactions to games from over the weekend. We're

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Speaker 2: gonna start with Clippers Lakers from last night. After that

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Speaker 2: we're gonna go into the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Dallas

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Speaker 2: Mavericks is the Mavericks have a great game on a

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Speaker 2: great performance from Kyrie Irving to come back and win

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Speaker 2: that game late. The Celtics and the Pacers. The Pacers

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Speaker 2: have been red hot. The Celtics cooled them off in

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Speaker 2: a big way last night. Gonna talk about Jason Tatum

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Speaker 2: in his red hot pull up shooting in what that means.

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Speaker 2: And then at the end we're gonna talk Bucks Rockets,

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Speaker 2: some early encouraging defensive stuff from Houston, and then what's

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Speaker 2: wrong with the Bucks who have lost four out of seven?

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Speaker 2: So we're gonna do four instant reactions. Then tomorrow will

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Speaker 2: get to our power rankings. You guys are the Joe

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Speaker 2: four We get started to subscribe to our brand new

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Speaker 2: YouTube channel mean a lot to me if you guys

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Speaker 2: wild take a second to scroll down and hit that

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Speaker 2: subscribe button. Don't forget about our podcast feeds wherever you

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Speaker 2: get your podcast under Hoops Tonight. Follow me on Twitter

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Speaker 2: at underscore Jason lt so you guys don't miss the

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Speaker 2: film threads that I do from time to time or

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Speaker 2: show announcements. And then, last but not least, keep dropping

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Speaker 2: mail bag questions in the YouTube comments so that we

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Speaker 2: can hit a good mail bag at the end of

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Speaker 2: tomorrow's show. All right, let's talk some basketball. So the

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Speaker 2: Lakers have been stuck in the mud ever since the

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Speaker 2: n season tournament, but they brought it in a big

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Speaker 2: way last night against the Clippers.

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Speaker 1: It was interesting.

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Speaker 2: It was kind of one of those games where like

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Speaker 2: one of two things was going to happen. The Lakers

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Speaker 2: were either going to let go of the rope in

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Speaker 2: this pursuit they seem to be in to get their

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Speaker 2: coach fired and just get obliterated by a red hot

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Speaker 2: Clippers team and that would be all there is. Or

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Speaker 2: they were gonna show up and play. And like, I know,

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Speaker 2: the vast majority, I shouldn't say the fast majority, a

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Speaker 2: good chunk of the people who listen to this show

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Speaker 2: don't think the Lakers are good and think that I'm,

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Speaker 2: you know, allowing my bias to seep in and in

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Speaker 2: my positive, you know, interpretation of that team in terms

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Speaker 2: of their big picture potential. And I'm not here to

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Speaker 2: tell you guys, you guys are wrong. I think it's

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Speaker 2: a debatable thing. It's been such a weird Lakers season

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Speaker 2: that if you want to call them great. There's things

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Speaker 2: you can point to, right like won the nd season tournament,

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Speaker 2: beat the shit out of the Thunder in Oklahoma City,

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Speaker 2: you know, beat the Clippers twice.

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Speaker 1: You could point to.

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Speaker 2: Key wins and and kind of identify them as to

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Speaker 2: build your case for the Lakers are good. And then

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Speaker 2: God knows, there's a ton of evidence that the Lakers

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Speaker 2: are bad. That said, I'm a big believer that when

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Speaker 2: this team gives a shit, they're at the very least

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Speaker 2: in that second tier of contenders. They're not as good

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Speaker 2: as Boston or Denver. But when they try hard and

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Speaker 2: they're locked in into the details on both ends of

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Speaker 2: the floor, I think they're every bit as good as

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Speaker 2: any other team in the league. And I think you

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Speaker 2: saw it in big way against the Clippers last night.

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Speaker 2: The Clippers are red hot right now.

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Speaker 1: On offense.

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Speaker 2: They have been the second best offense in the league

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Speaker 2: over the course their last fifteen games, and the Lakers

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Speaker 2: shut them down, held them to a one to oh

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Speaker 2: three offensive rating last night. You get another example of

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Speaker 2: what the Lakers defensive ceiling is capable of. I wanted

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Speaker 2: to talk about some specific performances on the Laker defense.

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Speaker 2: You know, one of the things that I talk about

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Speaker 2: a lot on this show is the difference between like

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Speaker 2: I shouldn't say the difference, but I hate it. It's

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Speaker 2: pet peeve of mine when people constantly say shot variance,

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Speaker 2: shot variants, like oh, these guys just missed or oh,

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Speaker 2: these guys just made shots. To me, is like a

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Speaker 2: kind of a loser mentality from the same point of

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Speaker 2: like controlling your own destiny. I do think that shot

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Speaker 2: variance is a thing in basketball. I just think it's

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Speaker 2: too commonly used as a crutch and more often than not.

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Speaker 2: I think I think in a small sample like if

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Speaker 2: your offense generates three good looks at the end of

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Speaker 2: a game and they just happen to miss, that's one thing,

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Speaker 2: But any sort of large sample size, like if you're

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Speaker 2: the Lakers, the Lakers, Lakers fans keep going, man, I

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Speaker 2: can't believe this guy keeps hitting making shots. I can't

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Speaker 2: believe these guys keep coming into our building and shooting well.

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Speaker 2: And it's like, Okay, either you're just really unlucky or you're.

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Speaker 1: Playing that defense.

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Speaker 2: Guys are making shots, And to me, it's better to like,

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Speaker 2: even just even if we just look at it, what's

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Speaker 2: better mentally as an approach, I would argue focusing on

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Speaker 2: process is the only way you're actually gonna turn your

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Speaker 2: outcome around anyway. But I actually, even above and beyond that,

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Speaker 2: believe process is what determines those sorts of things. I

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Speaker 2: think that the defensive process of a team is what

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Speaker 2: leads to shot result. And I wanted to give an

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Speaker 2: example because last night Lebron James was on Kawhi Leonard

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Speaker 2: Kwhi Leonard finished six for seventeen with more turnovers than assists.

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Speaker 2: This is a Kawhi Leonard who shot sixty percent from

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Speaker 2: the field over his previous fourteen games. Only once in

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Speaker 2: that span was he held under fifty percent, and he

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Speaker 2: was like forty seven percent from the field. This is

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Speaker 2: Kawhi who has been laser efficient all season long. One

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Speaker 2: of the things that Kawhi did last night. The Clippers

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Speaker 2: run a lot of sets where they'll have like James

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Speaker 2: Harden operating with the ball on like the right wing,

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Speaker 2: and he's kind of orchestrating things, and they'll have Zubac

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Speaker 2: Zubat's set like a wide pin down for Kawhi Leonard

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Speaker 2: so that he's coming around with the curl to get

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Speaker 2: to basically give him an opportunity to attack with an advantage,

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Speaker 2: just smart offensive process. Right from the jump, Lebron is

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Speaker 2: top blocking that. So Anthony Davis is sitting back in

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Speaker 2: the paint so that if Kawhi cuts back door, he's

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Speaker 2: not cutting into a place where he can easily finish.

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Speaker 2: And Lebron was literally what is top blocking mean. It

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Speaker 2: means he's literally positioning himself between the offensive player and

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Speaker 2: the screen. So if you're the offensive player and I'm

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Speaker 2: looking to set a screen for you, you're looking to

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Speaker 2: brush off on my left shoulder. Here, Lebron was sitting

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Speaker 2: right in between and facing Kawhi and forcing him to

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Speaker 2: take weird routes to try to get the basketball. So

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Speaker 2: as a result, now instead of catching the ball in

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Speaker 2: his usual spots, he's catching it in different spots. Instead

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Speaker 2: of catching the ball with the defender and trail position,

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Speaker 2: he's often catching it in a different position on the floor.

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Speaker 2: Lebron in general was applying a lot of physical ball pressure,

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Speaker 2: and then in addition to that, Lebron's one of the

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Speaker 2: few guys in the league like there are certain types

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Speaker 2: of matchups that, like even in Lebron's old age, He's

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Speaker 2: a perfect matchup for So, it's like Zion Williamson. Zion

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Speaker 2: Williamson is a bullyball player that can be a little

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Speaker 2: predictable with his driving angles, and so Lebron, a really

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Speaker 2: smart player who happens to be big and strong enough

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Speaker 2: to hold up under Zion's bullyball, can beat him to spots,

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Speaker 2: force him to misshots, cause problems. Right, Kawhi Leonard is

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Speaker 2: a guy that uses his strength to get to spots,

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Speaker 2: and Lebron's just every bit is strong, if not stronger

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Speaker 2: than it, and so it's harder for him to get

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Speaker 2: to those spots. And that's just one example, but I've

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Speaker 2: pointed out these types of examples all over the place.

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Speaker 2: And we have another one later in the show. We're

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Speaker 2: gonna talk about Damian Lillard h his struggles with the

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Speaker 2: Bucks and the job that Houston did, like from the

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Speaker 2: jump with ball pressure, switching with physicality, stunting at the basketball,

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Speaker 2: finding ways to make Damian Lillard uncomfortable. And this Lebron

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Speaker 2: just top blocking and applying physical ball pressure went a

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Speaker 2: long way. And you know what, Like Kawi missed a

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Speaker 2: corner three late in the game against the Lakers, and

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Speaker 2: I saw a lot of Clippers fans like, oh, I

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Speaker 2: can't believe you missed that shot, and you're right, like,

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Speaker 2: this is our Like, if Kawhi gets a wide up

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Speaker 2: in corner three, it's got a good percentage chance of

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Speaker 2: going in. But again, if you ask yourself, what is

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Speaker 2: the difference between a six for seventeen shooting night and

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Speaker 2: a thirteen for seventeen shooting night. If you think it's

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Speaker 2: just luck, I'm gonna disagree with you. I think that

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Speaker 2: process is what leads to it, so that when Kawhi

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Speaker 2: catches that ball in the corner, he's having a tough night,

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Speaker 2: and so he's not feeling as confident and comfortable as

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Speaker 2: he's going up into that shot. I think those things

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Speaker 2: are connected and related. That's a consistent theme that you

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Speaker 2: hear from me on this show. And I feel the

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Speaker 2: same way with the Lakers when it pertains to defense. Oh,

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Speaker 2: I can't believe Dante Exam keeps making shots. Oh, how

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Speaker 2: is it that Marcus Smart? I saw Lakers fans like, oh,

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Speaker 2: Marcus Smart is shooting twenty six percent from three and

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Speaker 2: then he makes eight threes. You were giving him wide

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Speaker 2: open shots, and this is the same Marcus Smart that's

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Speaker 2: made two threes a game for the majority of his

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Speaker 2: career and loves to take them. So what that usually

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Speaker 2: means for a guy that like takes five six threes

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Speaker 2: a game and shoots like in the you know, thirty

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Speaker 2: three thirty four range for his career, what that means

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Speaker 2: is like, he takes a ton of them, and sometimes

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Speaker 2: he goes one for six and sometimes he goes four

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Speaker 2: for six, And generally speaking, the four for six nights

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Speaker 2: are gonna be on the nights when he has all

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Speaker 2: damn day and he feels great about his shot. And

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Speaker 2: so it goes both ways as it pertains to the Lakers,

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Speaker 2: But it's a consistent theme you'll see for me on

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Speaker 2: this show. I'm a big believer in process when it

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Speaker 2: comes to shot results, and I think the Lakers defended

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Speaker 2: the Clippers into having a rough shooting night, not vice versa.

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Speaker 2: That's a consistent theme you'll see for me on the show.

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Speaker 2: A couple other things I thought Cam Reddish, Toryan Prince,

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Speaker 2: and Jared Vanderbilt all did a great job on the

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Speaker 2: Clipper wings. The Lakers did a lot of switching to

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Speaker 2: where like if there was some sort of situation where

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Speaker 2: a guy got caught out of position, or if Lebron

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Speaker 2: is top locking and then Kawhi cut back door, he

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Speaker 2: might signal for a switch and then go and grab

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Speaker 2: Paul George.

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Speaker 1: They're switching all over the floor.

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Speaker 2: One of the things that kind of makes the Clippers

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Speaker 2: a good matchup for the Lakers is the Clippers are

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Speaker 2: not a heavy slashing team. They're a pull up jump

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Speaker 2: shooting team. And the Lakers are not an over fast team,

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Speaker 2: but they are a long team and so they can

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Speaker 2: contest pull up jumper as well, and I think that's

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Speaker 2: a big part of why they can cause like a big,

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Speaker 2: pull up jump shooting team like the Clippers to have

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Speaker 2: some offensive problems. I thought Anthony Davis was awesome in

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Speaker 2: this game. Too active with his hands. He had three steals.

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Speaker 2: They got some key contributions on offense from Christian Wood

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Speaker 2: and D'Angelo Russell. Christian Wood was just just a monster

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Speaker 2: at this at the end of this game, both on

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Speaker 2: the glass, knocked down some big threes. That Tip Donkey

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Speaker 2: had at the beginning of the fourth quarter was nasty. D'

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Speaker 2: Angela Russell huge spot up shooting. It took one of

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Speaker 2: those textbook pull up transition threes that he likes to take.

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Speaker 2: It was just a great all around performance from the

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Speaker 2: Lakers that they came around and then crunch time just

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Speaker 2: a steady diet of Anthony Davis in the post and

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Speaker 2: Lebron James and pick and roll. This is a continuing

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Speaker 2: theme we've seen from the Lakers this year whenever they're

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Speaker 2: playing against a team that has to run drop coverage

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Speaker 2: at the end of games because they don't have a

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Speaker 2: big that they feel comfortable switching with. Saw this with

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Speaker 2: the Suns, saw it again with the Clippers last night.

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Speaker 2: It's gonna be Lebron ad pick and roll, Lebron James.

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Speaker 2: Ice is the game. In the final minute, three point game,

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Speaker 2: has Zubac in drop coverage, snakes the pick and roll,

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Speaker 2: gets back to the left and takes his little patented

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Speaker 2: little right shoulder fade as he's kind of drifting towards

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Speaker 2: the baseline. He took a similar shot earlier in the

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Speaker 2: game and made it so it's one that he was

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Speaker 2: comfortable with and that basically ice to the game. But

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Speaker 2: I thought Ad hit a couple of big hook shots

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Speaker 2: light and that's a huge piece too, and it's a

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Speaker 2: big part of why I've maintained confidence with the Lakers

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Speaker 2: despite some of their struggles this year. Like Anthony Davis,

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Speaker 2: ten of his twenty points last night were on over

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Speaker 2: the top shots, hook shots and jump shots. He was

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Speaker 2: hitting that pick and pop jumper at the elbow confidently,

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Speaker 2: like eighty looks great, Lebron looks great. They both look

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Speaker 2: better than they did last year. Yeah, there's shit on

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Speaker 2: the margins that they have to work out, and yeah

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Speaker 2: they have effort and focus and consistency issues, but Lebron

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Speaker 2: and Ady being this good is super encouraging. And once again,

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Speaker 2: down the stretch, which has been another consistent theme for

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Speaker 2: the Lakers, five minutes of clutch time meaning within five

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Speaker 2: points with less than five minutes left, five minutes of

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Speaker 2: clutch time against the the Clippers last night, Lakers had

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Speaker 2: a one to twenty offensive rating and a one hundred

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Speaker 2: defensive rating. That's excellent on both ends of the floor,

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Speaker 2: and they got a win. So once again, because of

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Speaker 2: how well Lebron James and Anthony Davis are playing in

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Speaker 2: that slow down half court environment at the end of

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Speaker 2: the game, they can thrive when they need to, and

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Speaker 2: that is encouraging. Now big picture with the Lakers because

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Speaker 2: they've been sucking horribly since the n season tournament, and

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Speaker 2: I don't want to gloss over that. As we talked

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Speaker 2: about last night's win, I tweeted after the loss to

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Speaker 2: the Grizzlies. Those of you guys who follow me on

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Speaker 2: Twitter will remember this. I said, I thought it was

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Speaker 2: the funniest Laker game of the season because it was

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Speaker 2: an unseious effort. There was game plan stuff like we

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Speaker 2: talked about with Marcus Smart. They were ducking under picks

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Speaker 2: and giving him catch and pull up threes. They were

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Speaker 2: helping way off of him off the ball and giving

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Speaker 2: him wide open catch and shoot threes. In general, they

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Speaker 2: were doing the same thing with Jaron Jackson as well,

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Speaker 2: like they just the game plan was bad, but there

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Speaker 2: was also execution stuff like Lebron and Austin in particular,

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Speaker 2: We're getting lost off the ball a lot in the

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Speaker 2: fourth quarter on guys they shouldn't have lost, and just

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Speaker 2: in general it looked like an unseious game. He had

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Speaker 2: like Cam red Is dribbling into traffic, trying to do stuff.

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Speaker 2: Lebron hitting the corner of the backboard and then throwing

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Speaker 2: the getting rebound and throwing the pass out of bounds,

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Speaker 2: like they just looked unserious, and like I kind of

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Speaker 2: saw this coming. Those of you guys who remember the

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Speaker 2: MAVs game after the N Season Tournament when they lost

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Speaker 2: that game, I said to Lakers fans, I said, prepare

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Speaker 2: yourself for a really frustrating season, because they already were

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Speaker 2: one of the worst effort and focused teams before the

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Speaker 2: N Season Tournament, and then winning the N Season Tournament

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Speaker 2: gave that team like a sense of positive reinforcement that

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Speaker 2: almost made that whole effort and energy thing even worse.

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Speaker 2: And since the Ncason Tournament, they've been one of the

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Speaker 2: worst teams in the league. And here's the thing. Say

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Speaker 2: what you want about the Lakers, and if you don't

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Speaker 2: believe they're a contender, I'm not gonna say you're wrong.

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Speaker 2: But they're not the worst team in the league either, Okay, So, like,

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Speaker 2: clearly they were playing some trash basketball or trash ketball

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Speaker 2: or whatever you want to talk to call it. They

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Speaker 2: playing bad basketball, and like I expect that to continue

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Speaker 2: for the record, because I thought last week was the

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Speaker 2: pinnacle between the Grizzlies game and the loss to the Heat,

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Speaker 2: which was one of the ugliest games of the season.

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Speaker 2: To me, they look like a team that wants to

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Speaker 2: get their coach fired. I've been hearing all kinds of

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Speaker 2: stuff behind the scenes about just how bad the rift

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Speaker 2: is in the locker room between the players and the coach.

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Speaker 2: I saw a report two days ago that multiple player

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Speaker 2: agents have been contacting Rob Polinka with frustration with their

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Speaker 2: players minutes.

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Speaker 1: I've heard that.

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Speaker 2: You know, we talked with Jovann Buja about some of

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Speaker 2: the internal frustrations with Darvin Hand that came out in

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Speaker 2: the athletics report. Seam Sharania has addressed that as well. So, like,

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Speaker 2: I think that team's trying to get their coach fired.

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Speaker 2: But like every once in a while, kind of like

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Speaker 2: the OKC game a couple of weeks ago and then

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Speaker 2: that Clippers game last night, Every once in a while,

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Speaker 2: the guys are.

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Speaker 1: Like, let's let's go out.

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Speaker 2: Let's let's let's see what we can do in this

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Speaker 2: game against a real opponent. I think specifically they're struggling

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Speaker 2: with opponents that they don't particularly respect in terms of

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Speaker 2: a postseason threat, right, And because that's the case, Like,

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Speaker 2: I don't think this Clippers game is any sort of

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Speaker 2: like sign that they're about to come out the other side.

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Speaker 2: I think the Lakers are gonna continue down this path

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Speaker 2: of really frustrating, ugly, embarrassing losses and occasional super impressive

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Speaker 2: wins for the rest of the month. That's what I

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Speaker 2: expect in January, like when we get past February.

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Speaker 1: One of two.

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Speaker 2: Like when we get past February, if they do fire

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Speaker 2: Darvin Ham, they'll have a new coach and the players

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Speaker 2: in the locker room or the players in the locker room,

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Speaker 2: and I expect the Lakers to lock in and play

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Speaker 2: a more serious brand of basketball the rest of the year.

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Speaker 2: If they get through the deadline and they don't fire

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Speaker 2: Darvin Ham, I expect Lebron and ad to sit down

362
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Speaker 2: and be like, hey man, Darvin's our coach this year.

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Speaker 2: We can deal with this in the summer. We got

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Speaker 2: to just lock in and get this done. And I

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Speaker 2: expect the Lakers to lock in and look more serious

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Speaker 2: after the deadline.

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Speaker 1: But I thoroughly.

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Speaker 2: Expect a roller coaster of inconsistent effort and focus and

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Speaker 2: success for the Lakers for the next four weeks. That's

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Speaker 2: what I expect. I don't think we'll see anything different

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Speaker 2: than that. I mean, this is just I've seen this

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Speaker 2: with Lebron teams a lot. Lebron gets kind of poudy

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Speaker 2: and passive, aggressive and doesn't play well. I've said this

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Speaker 2: before on the show. I kind of look at him

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Speaker 2: as a little bit of a fair weather leader. He's

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Speaker 2: not a guy that handles bad basketball well. And we've

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Speaker 2: seen stretches like this before last night. In Lebron's previous

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Speaker 2: six games, twenty three points per game, forty five percent

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Speaker 2: from the field. Last night, he was by far the

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Speaker 2: best player on the floor with Kawhi Leonard who's been

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Speaker 2: playing like an MVP, and Anthony Davis who's been playing

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Speaker 2: incredible lately, like Lebron's best player on the floor. What

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Speaker 2: was before those six games? Forty points for Lebron? And oksee,

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Speaker 2: like that's what we're getting from Lebron, Like he's he's

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Speaker 2: just getting through the season at this point. I've seen

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Speaker 2: this a bunch of times. I remember in twenty eighteen

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Speaker 2: before the deadline, there was a long, extent ended stretch

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Speaker 2: before the Minnesota game. It was like, I want to say,

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Speaker 2: it was like fifteen games, seventeen games, I think, where

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Speaker 2: he's at twenty two points per game on forty seven

391
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Speaker 2: percent shooting that sounded like the same Lebron that murdered

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Speaker 2: everybody in that playoff run. Was twenty two points on

393
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Speaker 2: forty seven points percent from the field before the deadline.

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Speaker 2: And then if you remember that Minnesota game, the Minnesota

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Speaker 2: game where he hit the game winner over Jimmy Butler,

396
00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,600
Speaker 2: the one leg fadeaway. Rest of the season, Lebron thirty points,

397
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Speaker 2: ten rebounds, ten assists on fifty four percent from the

398
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Speaker 2: field and thirty nine percent from three. Now, Lebron's not

399
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Speaker 2: as good now as he was then, to be clear,

400
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Speaker 2: but this idea of like a Lebron team that definitely

401
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Speaker 2: has championship aspirations but clearly needs some change before the deadline,

402
00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:47,200
Speaker 2: and like them just floundering in January super like super

403
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Speaker 2: common Ever since Lebron left Miami. It's happened like on

404
00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:54,800
Speaker 2: like four different seasons, right Like it's it's not exactly

405
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Speaker 2: unheard of.

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Speaker 1: Now.

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Speaker 2: I've seen better leadership from Lebron in these moments in

408
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Speaker 2: the past. I thought last year preadline, Lebron was a

409
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Speaker 2: lot more locked in. I think he was more invested

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Speaker 2: in trying to carry them there, but they were in

411
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Speaker 2: a much more precarious position in the standings, if you

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Speaker 2: remember correctly, that might have been the primary driving force there.

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Speaker 2: But I do think it's getting kind of serious. And

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Speaker 2: that's the one thing that's gonna be tricky for the

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Speaker 2: Lakers is we are four weeks from the deadline, and

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Speaker 2: if they're gonna play unserious basketball until then, they could

417
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Speaker 2: drop three four games below five hundred and then be

418
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Speaker 2: in a situation where they're struggling post deadline. So I'm

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Speaker 2: not sure it's the best strategy. And it's kind of

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Speaker 2: a catch twenty two for the Lakers because if Lebron

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Speaker 2: and ad want to pout their way to Darvin Ham

422
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Speaker 2: getting fired, I don't think that that necessarily is a.

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Speaker 1: Smart move for the standings.

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Speaker 2: So but if they lock in and play really well,

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Speaker 2: like Darvin's not gonna get fired. So it gets really

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Speaker 2: really tricky in terms of the kind of catch twenty

427
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Speaker 2: two they have there. But yeah, like I'll be clear,

428
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Speaker 2: like I don't think we're gonna learn much about the

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Speaker 2: Lakers and what they really can do in terms of

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Speaker 2: competition against the best teams in the league until we

431
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:00,959
Speaker 2: get past the deadlin and we know for sure if

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Speaker 2: Darvin Ham's the coach and Once that's solidified, then everybody

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Speaker 2: in the locker room has no real choice but to

434
00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:09,120
Speaker 2: focus on the ultimate goal. And I think they'll get

435
00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:11,440
Speaker 2: more serious there. But there is no team that has

436
00:20:11,480 --> 00:20:14,359
Speaker 2: a larger gap between their day to day effort and

437
00:20:14,440 --> 00:20:18,960
Speaker 2: like floor versus their ceiling than the Lakers. And that's

438
00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,920
Speaker 2: why you can make the case that they're championship contender,

439
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:23,720
Speaker 2: and you can make the case that they suck and

440
00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:26,560
Speaker 2: they're gonna miss the playoffs, and neither side's really wrong

441
00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,399
Speaker 2: at this point. It's more about you know whether or

442
00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:31,400
Speaker 2: not you believe in what they can do in the postseason.

443
00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:38,520
Speaker 2: Moving on to the Clippers, I said the other day

444
00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:40,479
Speaker 2: I wanted to wait until I saw a few more

445
00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:43,240
Speaker 2: high leverage games before I put them into my contenders list.

446
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,159
Speaker 1: They had a lot of quality.

447
00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:46,840
Speaker 2: Wins in their right, like they just recently went down

448
00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:48,640
Speaker 2: to New Orleans and beat the shit out of the Pelicans,

449
00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:50,760
Speaker 2: who have been red hot. They did have this one

450
00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,320
Speaker 2: signature win back on December sixth, a little over a

451
00:20:53,359 --> 00:20:56,520
Speaker 2: month ago, they beat the Denver Nuggets in Los Angeles,

452
00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,760
Speaker 2: But then Kawhi was out for the OKC loss, and

453
00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:01,920
Speaker 2: then he was out for the Boston loss. And last

454
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:04,200
Speaker 2: night felt like a good opportunity for them to crush

455
00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:06,880
Speaker 2: the Lakers and send a message. And for the record,

456
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:08,320
Speaker 2: like I mentioned earlier, I think the Lakers are a

457
00:21:08,359 --> 00:21:10,320
Speaker 2: little bit of a bad matchup for the Clippers because

458
00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:12,040
Speaker 2: they're a pull up jump shooting team and the Lakers

459
00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:14,760
Speaker 2: have length to contest. And then also when they close

460
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:17,640
Speaker 2: with Zubots, they just can run their pick and roll

461
00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:19,399
Speaker 2: the lebron ad pick and roll and they can get

462
00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,120
Speaker 2: great shots out of it, which is a consistent theme

463
00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:24,520
Speaker 2: we've seen over the course of the season. Right but

464
00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:29,000
Speaker 2: since November seventeenth, make no mistake, Clippers are nineteen and six,

465
00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:32,160
Speaker 2: second best record in basketball over that span, second to Boston,

466
00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,200
Speaker 2: sixth in offense, eleventh in defense, ninth and rebounding.

467
00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:37,520
Speaker 1: Kawhi has been.

468
00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:39,440
Speaker 2: Playing like an MVP. Like I said, sixty percent from

469
00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:43,320
Speaker 2: the field in his previous fourteen games. All three of Harden, Kawhi,

470
00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:46,600
Speaker 2: and Paul George are shooting well over forty percent from three.

471
00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:50,479
Speaker 2: James Harden has been super efficient. Norman Powell has been

472
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,959
Speaker 2: giving them really consistent production off the bench. He got

473
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:54,280
Speaker 2: a decent look at the end of the game to

474
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,280
Speaker 2: potentially tie it Zubots has been really good. He gave

475
00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:59,560
Speaker 2: Ad a bunch of issues again last night with his physicality.

476
00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:02,200
Speaker 2: That's assistant problem that AD's had is like, this is

477
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,920
Speaker 2: why he struggles with Jokic too, is like those big

478
00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:08,280
Speaker 2: body centers that are really like like push and pull

479
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 2: on you and try to knock you off your center

480
00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:12,680
Speaker 2: of gravity. Like he had a big offensive rebound over

481
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,480
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis late in this game. He had a big

482
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,600
Speaker 2: hook shot late that that cut it to one point

483
00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:19,320
Speaker 2: where eighty tried to block him and he just leaned

484
00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:21,720
Speaker 2: into him and reached out and around and and and

485
00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,720
Speaker 2: put it up in And they they're the thing with

486
00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,040
Speaker 2: the the thing with this Clippers team, and they kind

487
00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:29,919
Speaker 2: of remind me of Minnesota in this sense. They're not

488
00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:33,119
Speaker 2: as imposing physically, but they do have the ability to

489
00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,400
Speaker 2: really contain on the perimeter at the end of games.

490
00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:39,520
Speaker 2: And again that that's where the Zubac lebron dropped coverage

491
00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:41,639
Speaker 2: late game pick and roll thing was something that they

492
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:44,000
Speaker 2: could go to. And then obviously the Lakers have the

493
00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,080
Speaker 2: ability just to throw the ball to Anthony Davis in

494
00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:48,480
Speaker 2: the post too late in the game. But like other

495
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 2: teams that like to run a lot of like like

496
00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:55,959
Speaker 2: perimeter initiator ball handler types, the Clippers just match up

497
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,520
Speaker 2: really well with them. And then similar to Minnesota, and

498
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:00,360
Speaker 2: we saw this in the Dallas Mavericks game, which we're

499
00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,639
Speaker 2: going to talk about. When they stick their perimeter defenders

500
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:05,119
Speaker 2: on you and they really lock in, you can go

501
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,760
Speaker 2: really stagnant and have a lot of issues. Except for

502
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:09,960
Speaker 2: differently from Minnesota on the other end of the floor,

503
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,320
Speaker 2: the Clippers, after really struggling on offense to start this

504
00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,919
Speaker 2: after the trade, they even cook it on offense and

505
00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:18,720
Speaker 2: they've been second best offense in the league over the

506
00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:23,400
Speaker 2: last month. So like when you combine, when you combine

507
00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:27,119
Speaker 2: that elite half court two way potential, the biggest concern

508
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:30,000
Speaker 2: for me still remains just overall size on the interior.

509
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:33,479
Speaker 2: Can you play zubots in particular matchups when you go small,

510
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,120
Speaker 2: do you have enough aggregate size to hang physically. We've

511
00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:39,199
Speaker 2: seen them struggle in that instance in some moments this season.

512
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:41,480
Speaker 2: They do have a couple more chances on the horizon

513
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:45,520
Speaker 2: for signature wins. The fourteenth they play the Timberwolves down

514
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,280
Speaker 2: in Minnesota, and then on the sixteenth they play the

515
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,040
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City Thunder in Los Angeles and then they have

516
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,480
Speaker 2: the Lakers again on the twenty third. So here in

517
00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:55,040
Speaker 2: the next couple of weeks, I think we're gonna learn

518
00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:57,760
Speaker 2: a lot about the Clippers in some more high leverage matchups.

519
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,240
Speaker 2: I've decided, because I feel like I'm holding them to

520
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,359
Speaker 2: an unfair standard, I am going to add them to

521
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,000
Speaker 2: my list of contenders. I have too much confidence in

522
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:10,040
Speaker 2: Kawhi as a playoff player. Obviously health is a concern,

523
00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:11,919
Speaker 2: but they're playing at too high of a level to

524
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,880
Speaker 2: ignore anymore. It's just a matter of where I'm gonna

525
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:16,480
Speaker 2: put them on that list, and I want to wait

526
00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,680
Speaker 2: until after those two games on the fourteenth and the sixteenth,

527
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,040
Speaker 2: when they play Minnesota, and Okay, see, I want to

528
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:24,560
Speaker 2: see those two games and kind of see how they

529
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,040
Speaker 2: shake out, and then we'll pick where we're gonna put

530
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,560
Speaker 2: them on that contender tier. We'll do some sort of

531
00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:34,639
Speaker 2: like contender update list when I get back from Park City. Alright,

532
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:38,879
Speaker 2: moving onto Wolves MAVs. The Wolves end up making a

533
00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:40,280
Speaker 2: late run in a similar way to what I was

534
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,800
Speaker 2: talking about with the Clippers earlier. They had Jade McDaniels

535
00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:46,080
Speaker 2: on Luka Doncic and they had Anthony Edwards on Kyrie Irving.

536
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,080
Speaker 2: They actually both spend some time on each guy down

537
00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:50,159
Speaker 2: the stretch of the game, but they were really locking

538
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:52,760
Speaker 2: in defensively and stagnating Dallas. And then on the other

539
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:54,560
Speaker 2: end of the floor is the steady diet of jump

540
00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,680
Speaker 2: shots from Anthony Edwards and from Carl Towns. Carl Towns

541
00:24:57,720 --> 00:24:59,600
Speaker 2: hid a couple of pick and pop threes off of

542
00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,040
Speaker 2: Mike Conley, picking pot to the top of the key.

543
00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:05,720
Speaker 2: Anthony Edwards was just hitting these tough pull up jump shots.

544
00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,080
Speaker 2: He had a one leg pull up on the left side,

545
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:09,840
Speaker 2: I think that was in Luca's face. And then he

546
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,760
Speaker 2: hit like a against Tim Hardaway Junior, like a body bump,

547
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:14,960
Speaker 2: little bank shot on the right side that he hit,

548
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:17,399
Speaker 2: and they take this six point lead. It's one oh

549
00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:20,360
Speaker 2: six to one hundred, and then late in the game

550
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:22,520
Speaker 2: the MAVs get it back. There was one tough shot

551
00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:24,520
Speaker 2: from one O six to one o three. Kyrie hit

552
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,600
Speaker 2: like a jab step jumper in Jaden McDaniel's face from

553
00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:28,879
Speaker 2: the top of the key that tied it.

554
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:30,600
Speaker 1: But every other bucket.

555
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:33,720
Speaker 2: The MAVs got down the stretch was from Luka Doncic

556
00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:37,919
Speaker 2: pick and roll drawing the second defender up because for

557
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,159
Speaker 2: whatever reason, the Wolves we were trapping Uh Luca in

558
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,840
Speaker 2: these pick ball screens, even sometimes like forty feet away

559
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:46,000
Speaker 2: from the basket, which was a strategy I disagreed with,

560
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:47,159
Speaker 2: which we'll get to in a minute.

561
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:48,879
Speaker 1: But they were scoring out of the slip.

562
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:53,119
Speaker 2: So the first one they blitz Luca hits Norman Powell

563
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,440
Speaker 2: or not Norman pal excuse me, Dwight Powell on the

564
00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:58,000
Speaker 2: roll to the rim and he gets an and one

565
00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:01,440
Speaker 2: at the basket. Then Kyrie hits the jab step three

566
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:04,000
Speaker 2: to tie it at one o six. The following possession,

567
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,760
Speaker 2: once again I think it was Derek Jones Junior slips,

568
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,760
Speaker 2: as Carl Towns shows, they hit Derek Jones Jr. He

569
00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:11,480
Speaker 2: rolls down the lane and makes a kickout pass to

570
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,080
Speaker 2: Kyrie irving in the corner for a relatively open three.

571
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:16,760
Speaker 2: He knocks that one down and then they ice the

572
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:18,920
Speaker 2: game from one o nine one oh six with Derek

573
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:24,560
Speaker 2: Jones slipping. Another trap bounce pass from Luca hits Derek

574
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:26,399
Speaker 2: Jones Jr. And he just goes up and dunks it

575
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,920
Speaker 2: with two hands, and that effectively ice is the game.

576
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:30,679
Speaker 2: But I want to I want to get back to

577
00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:32,600
Speaker 2: that in a minute when we talk about the Wolves,

578
00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:34,440
Speaker 2: because defensively, I don't agree.

579
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:35,080
Speaker 1: With that strategy.

580
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 2: But I want to talk about Dallas' defense for a second,

581
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:39,440
Speaker 2: because they were awesome down the stretch of this game.

582
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:43,560
Speaker 2: After Ant and and Kat got them back into the

583
00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,399
Speaker 2: lead with jump shots, they fell apart with jump shots.

584
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:49,359
Speaker 2: Ant took a bunch of pull up jump shots late.

585
00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:54,320
Speaker 2: He missed them all, missed them all. Carl Towns had

586
00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:57,400
Speaker 2: back to back picking pops where Luca made really nice

587
00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 2: rotations the top of the key to get contests fort

588
00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:02,840
Speaker 2: to rush the shot, and he missed them both. They

589
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,200
Speaker 2: forced a team with a lot of size and power

590
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:07,240
Speaker 2: and one of the best downhill athletes in the league

591
00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,120
Speaker 2: and Ant to take a bunch of jump shots down

592
00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:11,879
Speaker 2: the end of the game. And then this is a

593
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,600
Speaker 2: Mavericks team that struggled with rebounding and Derek Jones Junior

594
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,560
Speaker 2: came flying in for a bunch of big defensive rebounds

595
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,840
Speaker 2: to finish the game with ten rebounds the Mavericks. This

596
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:22,879
Speaker 2: is a crazy stat for you guys. Over the last

597
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,280
Speaker 2: ten games, the Mavericks have the third best defense in

598
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:28,639
Speaker 2: the league. They have guys competing at the point of attack.

599
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 2: Guys are rotating, they've got their stars locked in on defense,

600
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,960
Speaker 2: and they're grabbing important defensive rebounds at the end of games.

601
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,600
Speaker 2: That's a curious trend to see if it continues, because

602
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:41,399
Speaker 2: if the MAVs end up getting into that like twelve

603
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:44,880
Speaker 2: eleven to ten range defensively for an extended stretch, where

604
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,439
Speaker 2: like they're an above average defense going into the postseason

605
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:53,680
Speaker 2: and you have Kyrie and Luca as like outstanding perimeter initiators,

606
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:55,960
Speaker 2: That's where we get to what could be a better

607
00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:58,359
Speaker 2: version of the MAVs that made the conference finals a

608
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,160
Speaker 2: couple of years ago. It's not the same team. They're

609
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,240
Speaker 2: not as fast in terms of like their wing defense, right,

610
00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 2: Like I like Derek Jones junior and he's doing a

611
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,440
Speaker 2: good job. Tim Hardaway Junior, Derek Jones Junior, and Kyrie

612
00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:12,359
Speaker 2: Irving all had key possessions late where they forced Ant

613
00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:14,280
Speaker 2: into jump shots. So I want to credit those guys.

614
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:17,160
Speaker 2: But like obviously Dorian Finney Smith was a little bit

615
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,440
Speaker 2: more of a versatile defensive player. They don't have that

616
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:21,320
Speaker 2: type of thing, but I think they have a little

617
00:28:21,320 --> 00:28:22,720
Speaker 2: bit more offensive.

618
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:23,440
Speaker 1: Firepower off the ball.

619
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:25,880
Speaker 2: Like Grant Williams had a couple of big plays late

620
00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:27,919
Speaker 2: in the game offensively, where like he just has that

621
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:30,399
Speaker 2: savvy ability to finish at the ram he had to

622
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:32,320
Speaker 2: play where he got into Go Bear's body and kind

623
00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:34,159
Speaker 2: of leaned out with his left hand to finish with

624
00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:36,479
Speaker 2: his left that I think this team is just a

625
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:41,280
Speaker 2: little bit more dynamic offensively than that particular MAVs team was.

626
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:44,520
Speaker 2: And if this defensive trend continues, it could be it

627
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 2: could be a sign of them entering into the contender

628
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:49,880
Speaker 2: tier themselves. If they can just give me another month

629
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 2: or two of legitimate defense to demonstrate that it's real

630
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:56,000
Speaker 2: and now we're talking about a serious team down Kyrie

631
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,479
Speaker 2: Irving was incredible down the stretch. We talked about him

632
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:00,520
Speaker 2: hitting the game tying three in ice so and then

633
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:02,800
Speaker 2: the eventual what basically amounted to the game winner in

634
00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:05,560
Speaker 2: the right corner. But in the last three games, twenty

635
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:08,600
Speaker 2: nine points, nine rebounds, and five assists, fifty three percent

636
00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,600
Speaker 2: from the field, fifty seven percent from three to eighty

637
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:13,720
Speaker 2: eight percent from the line. So after being a little

638
00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:15,920
Speaker 2: iffy in that first game, as he's getting his rhythm back,

639
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,640
Speaker 2: Kyrie is cooking with gas now on the Wolves front. Again,

640
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:22,240
Speaker 2: My main concern with them all year has been half

641
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,040
Speaker 2: court offense. I'm a little worried about the types of

642
00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,000
Speaker 2: shots they can generate. It's pretty much Ant pick and

643
00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:31,120
Speaker 2: roll with Go Bear and then Conley pick and pop

644
00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:33,280
Speaker 2: with Towns. It's pretty much like the two pet actions

645
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:35,280
Speaker 2: that you'll see them run a lot. But like when

646
00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:37,720
Speaker 2: they throw bodies at Ant. You saw that play, Like

647
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,320
Speaker 2: Ant feeds Go Bear on the roll and he gets

648
00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:42,160
Speaker 2: kind of caught no man's land and he doesn't know

649
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,040
Speaker 2: how to read the floor, so he just makes a

650
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,960
Speaker 2: weird one hand a one foot jumping pass where he

651
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:48,280
Speaker 2: just turns the basketball over.

652
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:50,760
Speaker 1: They're allowed.

653
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:53,720
Speaker 2: They're able to basically force Ant into pull up jump

654
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,240
Speaker 2: shots in those situations by offering help and ducking underneath

655
00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:02,760
Speaker 2: picks right, and then the Conley Carl Towns one. It's

656
00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:05,920
Speaker 2: one of those things where like Kat can make that

657
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:07,960
Speaker 2: shot and he, like I said, they got back into

658
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,280
Speaker 2: the lead with him making that shot, but Dallas was

659
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:11,840
Speaker 2: able to rotate out of it and turn him into

660
00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:14,680
Speaker 2: contested threes late. This is not a team that generates

661
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:17,160
Speaker 2: super super high quality shots in the half court. They're

662
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,160
Speaker 2: still at eighteenth in half court offense for the season.

663
00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:23,200
Speaker 2: In their last seven games. They're now three and four,

664
00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 2: so starting to show some cracks in the armor after

665
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:30,360
Speaker 2: heading into a tougher stretch of their schedule. They're nineteenth

666
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:33,160
Speaker 2: in offense over that span and twelfth in defense. Their

667
00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:36,400
Speaker 2: defense is slipping as well. Everything just comes down to

668
00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:39,080
Speaker 2: their shot making. And this is a team that is

669
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:43,080
Speaker 2: now twentieth in spot up efficiency. Like they convert spot

670
00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:46,840
Speaker 2: up possessions the eleventh worst mark in the league. The

671
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:50,640
Speaker 2: mass in particular, were completely ignoring Gobert. They were conceding

672
00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,680
Speaker 2: shots to Jaden McDaniels two, actually is a capable shooter,

673
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,760
Speaker 2: but they're not guarding him like he is right Anthony

674
00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:58,600
Speaker 2: Edwards are forcing him in to pull up jump shots.

675
00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,240
Speaker 2: On the season, he's thirty seven percent. That's zero point

676
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:04,000
Speaker 2: nine to two points per pull up jump shot for

677
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:06,440
Speaker 2: Anthony Edwards. And so that's a big part of what's

678
00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:09,400
Speaker 2: holding them back in the half court and that's only

679
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:11,760
Speaker 2: going to become a bigger problem when they get into

680
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,640
Speaker 2: the postseason. And then lastly, I really did not like

681
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,400
Speaker 2: the defensive scheme against Dallas. So like one of the

682
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,840
Speaker 2: things that I loved about Minnesota last year is like

683
00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:22,040
Speaker 2: at the end of these games, it's Jaden on an

684
00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,000
Speaker 2: island and on an island, and like we got this,

685
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:29,080
Speaker 2: Like you see Kyrie Irving trying to iso Anthony Edwards

686
00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:30,840
Speaker 2: and he goes to a right shoulder fade and Anthony

687
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:34,200
Speaker 2: as Edwards just blocks it into oblivion. Or Kyrie tried

688
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:36,240
Speaker 2: to iso Jada McDaniel's late in the game and ended

689
00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:39,760
Speaker 2: up turning it over. Like Luca made a tough step

690
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:42,120
Speaker 2: back jump shot over Jayden about like halfway through the

691
00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,520
Speaker 2: fourth quarter, but like make it make more shots. What

692
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:48,719
Speaker 2: I don't understand is like your defense's strength is on

693
00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:52,160
Speaker 2: the perimeter in those individual matchups overall, foot speed is

694
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:53,920
Speaker 2: not a strength of that lineup because you have two

695
00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,240
Speaker 2: bigs on the floor. So when you get into rotation

696
00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,440
Speaker 2: and they're running these four on threes, suddenly that defensive

697
00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:02,080
Speaker 2: personnel you on the perimeters not as valuable. And so

698
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:06,520
Speaker 2: why concede four on threes to Dallas when you can

699
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:10,760
Speaker 2: force Luca into tough, difficult, contested pull up jump shots

700
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,960
Speaker 2: over In my opinion, Jaden McDaniels the best perimeter defender

701
00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:15,600
Speaker 2: in the league, are one of the very best perimeter

702
00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,840
Speaker 2: defenders in the league, and so they allowed the MAVs

703
00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,000
Speaker 2: to play four on three basketball late in the game,

704
00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,520
Speaker 2: and they got open catch and shoot shot for Kyrie,

705
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:26,360
Speaker 2: easy roll to the basket for Dwight Powell, easy roll

706
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:28,880
Speaker 2: to the basket for Derek Jones Junior, and that's how

707
00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:30,800
Speaker 2: they ended up losing the game late. And so I

708
00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,680
Speaker 2: didn't really agree with that strategy. I think they're capable

709
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,800
Speaker 2: of being a better defense than they've shown in this

710
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 2: recent stretch. But they got a couple of tough games

711
00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,400
Speaker 2: coming up, and then they're out of this tough part

712
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:44,760
Speaker 2: of their schedule. Their next two games at Orlando and

713
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,880
Speaker 2: at Boston, they can get through that. Things lighting up

714
00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:51,880
Speaker 2: a little bit more with their schedule, all right, Celtics Pacers.

715
00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:54,720
Speaker 2: So one of the themes that I talked about a

716
00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:56,760
Speaker 2: couple of weeks ago is this idea of Jason Tatum

717
00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:58,800
Speaker 2: and hunting pull up threes and whether or not it's

718
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,120
Speaker 2: a smart shot for him. Well, the last four games,

719
00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:05,440
Speaker 2: Jason Tatum is twelve for twenty one on pull up threes,

720
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,200
Speaker 2: which is awesome. Think about that. That's thirty six points

721
00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 2: on twenty one shots. That's what right around one and

722
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:14,040
Speaker 2: a half points per shot, So super efficient play for him.

723
00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:16,080
Speaker 2: In the last week and a half or so, he

724
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,959
Speaker 2: was hunting Obi Toppin and Jalen Switch, Jalen switch Jalen

725
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:22,880
Speaker 2: Smith in mismatches at the end of that Pacers game

726
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:24,680
Speaker 2: or in the fourth quarter of that Pacers game. And

727
00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:26,800
Speaker 2: then literally once he get him on the switch, gave

728
00:33:26,880 --> 00:33:30,240
Speaker 2: him space and he was hunting that pull up three.

729
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,800
Speaker 2: And then after that, Indiana started throwing multiple defenders at

730
00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,120
Speaker 2: Tatum when he would get those guys in his switch

731
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:38,240
Speaker 2: and he was making the pass out of it. Oshae

732
00:33:38,280 --> 00:33:40,720
Speaker 2: Brissette ended up getting making a couple of plays on

733
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,120
Speaker 2: offense out of that. He smoked a layup that led

734
00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:44,719
Speaker 2: to a Luke Cornett tip in, and then he had

735
00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:47,880
Speaker 2: another driving layup driving out of the left corner where

736
00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:49,239
Speaker 2: he got all the way to the rim. But like

737
00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:53,560
Speaker 2: that is where I like the Tatum pull up three.

738
00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,560
Speaker 2: It's not about the pull up three in a vacuum

739
00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:00,000
Speaker 2: Steph Curry. His go to move is a pull up three, right.

740
00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,360
Speaker 2: The difference is he's so damn good at it that

741
00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:06,400
Speaker 2: it's consistently so efficient that he's always drawing multiple defenders

742
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:09,520
Speaker 2: into the situation, which is allowing him to make it

743
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:13,960
Speaker 2: a consistently high value shot for his team, either him

744
00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:16,720
Speaker 2: taking it or him drawing the multiple defenders and starting

745
00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:17,640
Speaker 2: those four on threes.

746
00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:21,320
Speaker 1: Right with Tatum, it's three years.

747
00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:23,680
Speaker 2: Of recent evidence of him not being able to make

748
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:25,960
Speaker 2: that shot more than about one out of every three times,

749
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:29,560
Speaker 2: more than actually like more like three out of ten times,

750
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,200
Speaker 2: and so as a result of that, it's become a

751
00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:34,239
Speaker 2: thing that hasn't been super efficient. But if he can

752
00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:36,520
Speaker 2: get to the point where, now here's the thing, he's

753
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 2: six 's nine and completely ripped, I'd rather have him

754
00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:42,120
Speaker 2: look for a go to move closer to the rim

755
00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:44,160
Speaker 2: and have him use the pull up three as more

756
00:34:44,160 --> 00:34:46,919
Speaker 2: of a counter. But that doesn't mean it's the only

757
00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,040
Speaker 2: way to do it. That can be a bread and

758
00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:51,200
Speaker 2: butter for him. It just has to be like this,

759
00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:53,920
Speaker 2: not necessarily twelve for twenty one, but he's got to

760
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:55,560
Speaker 2: be in the forties on it. If he can get

761
00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:58,359
Speaker 2: to the point where he's shooting forty percent on pull

762
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:01,320
Speaker 2: up threes and it's worth one point two points per shot,

763
00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,120
Speaker 2: that's where it starts to become something that can be

764
00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:07,239
Speaker 2: his bread and butter. It's just a matter of efficiency,

765
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,560
Speaker 2: because that three point shot is a high value shot.

766
00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:12,680
Speaker 2: The only thing I'd say though, is again one of

767
00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:15,840
Speaker 2: the reasons why Steph has to do that is he

768
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:19,160
Speaker 2: does not have the physical tools to play bullyball and

769
00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:21,880
Speaker 2: get closer to the rim. Jason Tatum does, and so

770
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:23,879
Speaker 2: I'd like to see him balance that out a little

771
00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:26,160
Speaker 2: bit better. But I do think these last four games

772
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:29,600
Speaker 2: are a great indicator of just how dynamic Tatum is.

773
00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:32,440
Speaker 2: When he's making that pull up jump shot. The Boston

774
00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:36,280
Speaker 2: offense has been like scorching hot since then. The Pacers

775
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:38,799
Speaker 2: are completely helpless guarding him. At the end of the game,

776
00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:41,880
Speaker 2: he had another drive on a close out for a layup.

777
00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:43,680
Speaker 2: He had another play where he got Ben Mathurin and

778
00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:46,319
Speaker 2: an Iso and INDIANAFL sleeper and they were glued up

779
00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:48,840
Speaker 2: off the ball and Tatum just took him right to

780
00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:52,560
Speaker 2: the basket bullyball style and got an and one. So

781
00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:54,759
Speaker 2: he's cooking now. It's just a question of whether or

782
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:57,120
Speaker 2: not he can maintain this trend in the long run,

783
00:35:57,160 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 2: but it does look good when the shots are falling.

784
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:02,560
Speaker 2: Boston can completely dominated the fourth quarter on Jason Tatum's

785
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:04,799
Speaker 2: shot making. He finished with thirty eight points, but it

786
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,280
Speaker 2: was their defense that impressed me the most. Tyree's Halliburton

787
00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:10,560
Speaker 2: has been busting everyone's ass for a month, and Boston

788
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:14,240
Speaker 2: straight up locked him up. He was taking bad shots,

789
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:16,759
Speaker 2: he was turning the ball over. The dead giveaway to

790
00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:18,480
Speaker 2: me was he was kind of like forcing things, which

791
00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:20,440
Speaker 2: is not something you see Tyree Sliburton too. When he

792
00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,000
Speaker 2: checked back in in the fourth quarter, the very first

793
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:25,160
Speaker 2: shot he took was an early clock step back three

794
00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:27,799
Speaker 2: over Jason Tatum, and it's like, whoa, that's like just

795
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:31,160
Speaker 2: not a good decision, which is so unlike Tyres Halliburton. Right,

796
00:36:31,200 --> 00:36:33,319
Speaker 2: And then like two possessions later, he tried to work

797
00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:35,400
Speaker 2: and pick and roll and was kind of smothered by

798
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:37,279
Speaker 2: Derek White and tried to force a floater and ended

799
00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:41,240
Speaker 2: up getting blocked. When you see a really smart offensive

800
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,480
Speaker 2: player start to get a little discombobulated taking bad shots.

801
00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:46,640
Speaker 2: He had four turnovers in this game too. That's very

802
00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:50,040
Speaker 2: unlike Tyres Alliburton. That's a testament to the quality perimeter

803
00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:52,200
Speaker 2: defense of Boston and what they're capable of when they're

804
00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:55,560
Speaker 2: really locked in. The Celtics have won thirteen of their

805
00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,319
Speaker 2: last fifteen. That is the best record in the league

806
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:03,000
Speaker 2: over that span. A one twenty six offensive rating in

807
00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:05,880
Speaker 2: that span, best in the league. That's outrageous. One twelve

808
00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:09,560
Speaker 2: defensive rating. I think that'll be better to when Porzingis

809
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:11,360
Speaker 2: actually can get on the floor and stay healthy for

810
00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:14,120
Speaker 2: an extended stretch. But like, here's the thing, man, Like,

811
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:16,600
Speaker 2: if Tatum can get that pull up jump shot going

812
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,040
Speaker 2: the way he had it going this last week, now

813
00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:21,839
Speaker 2: we got to reevaluate Boston because a lot of our

814
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:24,520
Speaker 2: kind of approach with Boston has been geared around him

815
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:27,240
Speaker 2: being a guy who deliberately takes and hunts inefficient shots.

816
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,160
Speaker 2: So that's the question, was this small sample size of

817
00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:32,480
Speaker 2: Tatum being hot or a sign of his hard work

818
00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:34,319
Speaker 2: paying off? Because we had a mailbag question last week.

819
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:37,200
Speaker 2: People were like, hey, why why isn't Tatum, you know,

820
00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:39,000
Speaker 2: adjusting from these pull up threes? And one of the

821
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,600
Speaker 2: things I said was, I think he's trusting his work.

822
00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:44,640
Speaker 2: I think he believes that he's worked hard enough on

823
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:46,879
Speaker 2: that shot for it to be his bread and butter,

824
00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:49,120
Speaker 2: and that's why he hunts it. If that's the case,

825
00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:52,160
Speaker 2: then this twelve of twenty one could potentially be the

826
00:37:52,239 --> 00:37:55,680
Speaker 2: first step in a new era of Tatum being a

827
00:37:55,719 --> 00:38:00,440
Speaker 2: more efficient pull up jump shooter. All right, buck rockets,

828
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:03,319
Speaker 2: and then we're out of here for the day. So

829
00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:04,719
Speaker 2: the big thing that stood out to me early on

830
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:06,840
Speaker 2: in this game was the difference in ball pressure between

831
00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,080
Speaker 2: the two teams. So I'm not going to talk about

832
00:38:09,400 --> 00:38:12,680
Speaker 2: Milwaukee's perimeter defense defense in this particular video, just because

833
00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,160
Speaker 2: we've done that like three times in the last two weeks,

834
00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:16,880
Speaker 2: and I don't want to beat a dead horse. But

835
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:18,719
Speaker 2: I wanted to show you guys the juxtaposition of this,

836
00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:20,880
Speaker 2: and I clipped a bunch of clips that demonstrate this.

837
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:22,640
Speaker 2: You can find him in my Twitter feed out Underscore

838
00:38:22,719 --> 00:38:25,719
Speaker 2: Jason lt I did it, I think on Saturday or

839
00:38:25,719 --> 00:38:29,960
Speaker 2: Sunday morning. I think I did on Sunday morning. But

840
00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:33,400
Speaker 2: early on in the game, Houston was applying aggressive and

841
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:34,759
Speaker 2: physical ball pressure.

842
00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:36,840
Speaker 1: On Damian Lillard. A lot of Jayshon Tate.

843
00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:40,800
Speaker 2: And Fred van Vliet being like physical with him, physical

844
00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:42,960
Speaker 2: switches to or like when he's going into his screen,

845
00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:46,279
Speaker 2: like Jashon Tate's like grabbing Dame and almost like physically

846
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:48,319
Speaker 2: like throwing him. To Fred Van vlieta like grabs and

847
00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,800
Speaker 2: catches him. They're just being handsy with him. There's a

848
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:53,000
Speaker 2: play where Jabari Smith got switched on to him, and

849
00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:56,200
Speaker 2: he's swiping at the basketball and like pushing out at

850
00:38:56,280 --> 00:38:58,680
Speaker 2: him on thirty five and like thirty feet from the basket.

851
00:38:59,160 --> 00:38:59,960
Speaker 1: And again, I.

852
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:03,760
Speaker 2: Want to continue to draw a line between shot result

853
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:07,640
Speaker 2: and process rather than shot result and luck. And this

854
00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:10,279
Speaker 2: is a consistent theme that you'll we've talked about on

855
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:11,840
Speaker 2: this show. And I don't want to harp on it

856
00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:13,759
Speaker 2: for too long because we did it earlier today in

857
00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 2: the Lakers video. But I'm a big believer that that's

858
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:18,239
Speaker 2: a big part of what leads a guy like dam

859
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,839
Speaker 2: into having a bad shooting night. I wanted to shout

860
00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:22,800
Speaker 2: out Albert and Shangun. He didn't have a great shooting

861
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:24,719
Speaker 2: night against the Bucks. He was seven for twenty one

862
00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:26,640
Speaker 2: from the field, but he still had twenty one points

863
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:30,720
Speaker 2: and eleven rebounds. He had just super aggressive and confident

864
00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:32,960
Speaker 2: in the post. Like Brook, Lopez has given him issues

865
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:35,400
Speaker 2: finishing around the rim, which is why shooting percentage was down,

866
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:37,279
Speaker 2: but he was going right at him. He's going right

867
00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:39,719
Speaker 2: at Giannis in the post and giving him buckets. I

868
00:39:39,719 --> 00:39:41,879
Speaker 2: want to shout out Shangun in the big picture because

869
00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:45,160
Speaker 2: in his last eight games, twenty seven points, eight rebounds

870
00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:47,480
Speaker 2: and five assists on fifty five percent from the field.

871
00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:50,880
Speaker 2: He's the best player on that team, one of the

872
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:54,120
Speaker 2: better offensive engine bigs that we have in the league

873
00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:56,799
Speaker 2: right now, which is becoming a very valuable thing with

874
00:39:56,880 --> 00:39:59,239
Speaker 2: the way that NBA defenses are run, like so many

875
00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:02,520
Speaker 2: NBA defenses geared around the ball handler and chasing in

876
00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:04,759
Speaker 2: the screen defender being in a position to deal with

877
00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,960
Speaker 2: the ball handler. That having that guy be an offensive

878
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,560
Speaker 2: thread is just such a huge value. And you're seeing

879
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:13,000
Speaker 2: Shane gun Be in the next in a long line

880
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,759
Speaker 2: of guys who have thrived in that way. Jabari Smith

881
00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:18,799
Speaker 2: Junior I thought he was incredible on defense in this game.

882
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:21,600
Speaker 2: He had a bunch of good possessions on Dame. He

883
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:23,920
Speaker 2: was doubling Giannis and rotating out of it. He was

884
00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:27,879
Speaker 2: cleaning up the defensive glass. There's this possession where he's

885
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:29,880
Speaker 2: guarding Bobby Portis at the top of the key and

886
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:32,719
Speaker 2: he digs down and hard doubles Giannis. Giannis makes the

887
00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:35,920
Speaker 2: kickout pass. Jabari is such a great athlete. He actually

888
00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:38,719
Speaker 2: gets back out from a hard double Giannis and chases

889
00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:41,359
Speaker 2: Bobby Portis off the line, forces him into a pull

890
00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:44,520
Speaker 2: up fifteen footer at the foul line misses. Jabari Smith

891
00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:47,680
Speaker 2: comes flying back in from out by the three point line,

892
00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:50,600
Speaker 2: grabs the defensive rebound, dribbles down the floor, and hits

893
00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:53,400
Speaker 2: a pull up three in Yannis's face. This was a

894
00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:58,240
Speaker 2: guy who couldn't dribble when he came out of the draft,

895
00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:03,160
Speaker 2: and he's just continually massively improving on a month by

896
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:07,320
Speaker 2: month basis. I'm super super excited about how good Jabari

897
00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:10,040
Speaker 2: Smith Junior can be and what a good partner too

898
00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:13,680
Speaker 2: to have alongside Alpera and Shangun in that in that

899
00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:16,759
Speaker 2: front court. The Rockets, by the way, are now eighth

900
00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:19,120
Speaker 2: in the standings, and they're fifth in defensive rating for

901
00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:22,880
Speaker 2: the entire season. The Bucks we've lost four out of seven,

902
00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:26,040
Speaker 2: twenty fifth in defense over that span, giving up one

903
00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:29,720
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty points per one hundred possessions, a couple

904
00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:32,800
Speaker 2: of major issues. We've talked about the point of attack defense,

905
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:34,200
Speaker 2: so I don't want to do it again here, but

906
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:37,520
Speaker 2: that defense is being causing problems. I want to turn

907
00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:40,479
Speaker 2: the attention to the offense today with Milwaukee, just because

908
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:44,000
Speaker 2: we've talked so much about Milwaukee's defense already. This Dame

909
00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:47,120
Speaker 2: thing is starting to get weird. We had this three

910
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:49,920
Speaker 2: game stretch in mid December where he was hot, right

911
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:51,719
Speaker 2: because we had the first twenty two games of the

912
00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:56,120
Speaker 2: season he was pretty mediocre. Twenty two games, twenty five

913
00:41:56,160 --> 00:41:58,560
Speaker 2: points per game, forty two percent from the field, thirty

914
00:41:58,560 --> 00:41:59,439
Speaker 2: five percent from three.

915
00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:00,440
Speaker 1: Not bad.

916
00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:03,200
Speaker 2: Dan gets to the foul line a lot too, which

917
00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:05,520
Speaker 2: bumps up his true shooting percentage. In efficiency, which I

918
00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:07,560
Speaker 2: mean is which I mean is a compliment, like get it.

919
00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:09,920
Speaker 2: I may hate the way the game is officiated, but

920
00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:12,000
Speaker 2: that doesn't mean it's not good for a basketball team.

921
00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:13,319
Speaker 2: Like a guy that can get to the foul line

922
00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:15,120
Speaker 2: a lot. Dame gets to the foul line a lot,

923
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:17,359
Speaker 2: so it actually increases his impact there in a lot

924
00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:20,520
Speaker 2: of ways. But after that twenty two games, I remember

925
00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:22,560
Speaker 2: I was telling you guys like, eventually Dame's gonna get

926
00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:24,320
Speaker 2: his rhythm and this is gonna look better. Well, he

927
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:28,360
Speaker 2: went three games in a row where he averaged thirty

928
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:31,200
Speaker 2: seven points per game, fifty seven percent from the field

929
00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:33,600
Speaker 2: and fifty three percent from three, ninety six percent from

930
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:34,280
Speaker 2: the line, and it's.

931
00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:36,480
Speaker 1: Like, okay, Dame is back right.

932
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:41,120
Speaker 2: Well, nine games since then, twenty two points per game,

933
00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:43,800
Speaker 2: thirty nine percent from the field in twenty eight percent

934
00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:46,160
Speaker 2: from three So outside of that three game stright, he

935
00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:49,000
Speaker 2: just hasn't been very good by his standards. And that's

936
00:42:49,239 --> 00:42:52,280
Speaker 2: We're now thirty four games of Dame into the season,

937
00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:54,920
Speaker 2: and the weird thing is, I don't think it's his legs.

938
00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:56,799
Speaker 2: I think it's rhythm. Yeah, the other day had a

939
00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:59,920
Speaker 2: nasty left handed dunk driving down the lane. Like day

940
00:43:00,280 --> 00:43:02,759
Speaker 2: looks like his legs are there. I think he just

941
00:43:02,800 --> 00:43:06,960
Speaker 2: looks a little hesitant to be aggressive with the way

942
00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:09,239
Speaker 2: that that lineup is put together. Like the Bucks are

943
00:43:09,239 --> 00:43:12,520
Speaker 2: weird in the sense that, like I think specifically Brook

944
00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:15,120
Speaker 2: Lopez and Chris Middleton have a little bit of an

945
00:43:15,120 --> 00:43:18,799
Speaker 2: outsized opinion of how big their role should be. Like

946
00:43:19,040 --> 00:43:21,520
Speaker 2: Giannis is playing at an MVP level, you need him

947
00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:24,520
Speaker 2: doing all his wrecking ball Yannis stuff, but like Dame

948
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:26,919
Speaker 2: is the guy you gotta get going, And like I'd

949
00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:29,520
Speaker 2: like to see Chris and Brooke play more like in

950
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:32,799
Speaker 2: the flow of the offense and less initiating possessions, Like

951
00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:36,200
Speaker 2: there was a possession there in the Rockets game where

952
00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:39,080
Speaker 2: it was like middle of the shot clock and Brook

953
00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:41,680
Speaker 2: is like taking a spinning one leg fade away like

954
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:43,719
Speaker 2: fifteen feet from the basket. I'm like, what are we

955
00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:46,799
Speaker 2: even doing here? And like Brook's a great basketball player

956
00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:48,719
Speaker 2: and I'm not trying to undercut him, but like it

957
00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:52,480
Speaker 2: made more sense for Brooke and Chris and Drew to

958
00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:53,799
Speaker 2: be aggressive when you.

959
00:43:53,760 --> 00:43:55,520
Speaker 1: Didn't have a Dame. You have a Dame.

960
00:43:55,560 --> 00:43:58,560
Speaker 2: Now you traded for Dame. Don't trade for Dame, and

961
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:01,680
Speaker 2: then don't let Dame do what Dame does. To give

962
00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:06,560
Speaker 2: you an idea he hasn't taken. Dame has not taken

963
00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:09,759
Speaker 2: twenty shots in a game since Christmas. He's done it

964
00:44:09,800 --> 00:44:12,920
Speaker 2: only eight times in thirty four games this year. He

965
00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:16,520
Speaker 2: did it thirty five times in fifty eight games last year.

966
00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:19,239
Speaker 2: So just in general, how often the ball is in

967
00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:22,759
Speaker 2: his hands as an opportunity to initiate possessions is that

968
00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:24,920
Speaker 2: it is at a much lower level this year, and

969
00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:26,920
Speaker 2: I do think that he's struggling to adjust to that.

970
00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:31,319
Speaker 2: And one of those things too, like if we can

971
00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:36,080
Speaker 2: get to the point where where Dame is basically running

972
00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:38,960
Speaker 2: like a heliocentric your turn, my turn thing with Giannis,

973
00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:42,000
Speaker 2: I think it's gonna end up leading to more opportunities

974
00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:44,640
Speaker 2: for Brook and for Chris Middleton anyway, and that we

975
00:44:44,719 --> 00:44:47,120
Speaker 2: have data with Brooke in particular that shows that he's

976
00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:49,400
Speaker 2: just better when he takes shots in the flow. Brook

977
00:44:49,400 --> 00:44:52,800
Speaker 2: Lopez unguarded catch and shoot jump shots thirty eight percent

978
00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:57,439
Speaker 2: one point one points per possession. That's great. Any other

979
00:44:57,560 --> 00:45:01,080
Speaker 2: type of off the dribble or guarded jumps shot thirty

980
00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:03,680
Speaker 2: five for one hundred and eighteen that's below thirty percent.

981
00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:08,880
Speaker 2: He's also taking almost three and a half contested or

982
00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:12,359
Speaker 2: pull up jump shots per game. So like, what if

983
00:45:12,600 --> 00:45:16,200
Speaker 2: instead of that, Brooke never took a contested shot except

984
00:45:16,239 --> 00:45:18,759
Speaker 2: for at the end of a shot clock situation, and

985
00:45:18,840 --> 00:45:21,239
Speaker 2: you just gave Dame the opportunity to take two more

986
00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:25,319
Speaker 2: pull up threes in pick and roll like that could

987
00:45:25,320 --> 00:45:27,760
Speaker 2: be the thing that helps get him into rhythm, especially

988
00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:31,440
Speaker 2: early in games. And because the gist of the problem

989
00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:34,640
Speaker 2: is this, you made a trade that sapped you of

990
00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:38,880
Speaker 2: your best and most versatile perimeter defender and brought back

991
00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:45,320
Speaker 2: a superstar offensive player. But that offensive player hasn't played

992
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:47,960
Speaker 2: nearly as well as he's capable of. So now you're

993
00:45:48,040 --> 00:45:50,560
Speaker 2: bad at defense and you're good at offense, but not

994
00:45:50,560 --> 00:45:52,919
Speaker 2: good enough to make up for it. Right, Like over

995
00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:55,000
Speaker 2: this last seven game stretch where they're three and four,

996
00:45:55,239 --> 00:45:57,480
Speaker 2: they're seventh in offense and scoring one hundred and twenty

997
00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:01,239
Speaker 2: points per one hundred possessions. Really good, but not good

998
00:46:01,400 --> 00:46:04,640
Speaker 2: enough if you're gonna be that bad on defense. And

999
00:46:04,680 --> 00:46:06,799
Speaker 2: that's the thing is, like, I don't think the Bucks

1000
00:46:06,800 --> 00:46:08,680
Speaker 2: are gonna be able to make a significant upgrade in

1001
00:46:08,719 --> 00:46:10,319
Speaker 2: their point of attack defense. I think they'll be able

1002
00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:12,160
Speaker 2: to make a minor upgrade. I think they'll be able

1003
00:46:12,239 --> 00:46:14,920
Speaker 2: to make some sort of minor upgrade that sends Malik

1004
00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:17,320
Speaker 2: Beasley to the bench and puts a better perimeter defender

1005
00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:21,719
Speaker 2: at the two, but it's only going to be a

1006
00:46:21,800 --> 00:46:25,960
Speaker 2: mediocre upgrade. So I think it's vitally important that this

1007
00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:29,279
Speaker 2: team reaches their offensive ceiling. And the only way they're

1008
00:46:29,280 --> 00:46:31,680
Speaker 2: gonna do that is if they get Dame back to

1009
00:46:31,719 --> 00:46:34,400
Speaker 2: where he closer to where he was last year. With

1010
00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:36,600
Speaker 2: the level Giannis is playing at this year, if you

1011
00:46:36,640 --> 00:46:40,520
Speaker 2: can combine that with Dame from last year, you could

1012
00:46:40,560 --> 00:46:43,600
Speaker 2: do some really special things in this playoff run. But

1013
00:46:43,640 --> 00:46:46,080
Speaker 2: they've got to figure out that balance. All right, guys,

1014
00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:47,480
Speaker 2: That is all I have for today. We'll be back

1015
00:46:47,520 --> 00:46:49,680
Speaker 2: tomorrow with an instant reaction to one or two games

1016
00:46:49,719 --> 00:46:51,560
Speaker 2: from last night, as well as power rankings and a

1017
00:46:51,600 --> 00:46:53,719
Speaker 2: mail bag. And then, like I said, I'm gonna be

1018
00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:56,960
Speaker 2: in Park City. I'll bring my gear with me just

1019
00:46:57,000 --> 00:47:00,440
Speaker 2: in case like Darwin Am gets fired or if Pascal

1020
00:47:00,440 --> 00:47:02,840
Speaker 2: Siakam gets traded because he almost got traded last week.

1021
00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:05,040
Speaker 2: But other than that, we'll plan on taking the rest

1022
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:06,839
Speaker 2: of the week off and then we have one more

1023
00:47:06,880 --> 00:47:08,640
Speaker 2: I have one more ski trip at the end of

1024
00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:10,840
Speaker 2: the following week when I which is mostly over the weekend,

1025
00:47:10,920 --> 00:47:13,760
Speaker 2: and then when I get back it's grind time until playoffs.

1026
00:47:14,000 --> 00:47:16,000
Speaker 2: As always, I appreciate you guys, and I'll see you tomorrow.

1027
00:47:43,239 --> 00:47:43,920
Speaker 2: The volume