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Happy Thursday, everybody, 29 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: hopefull If you guys are having a great NBA opening week. 30 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: This is the second of three shows tonight for those 31 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: are guys you missed it earlier, we hit two more 32 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: of the league pass games from Wednesday night's slate. We 33 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,519 Speaker 1: hit the Zion Williamson return to the New Orleans Pelicans 34 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: as they went into Memphis and beat the Grizzlies. And 35 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: then we also hit the Cavs NETS game where Donovan 36 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:18,959 Speaker 1: Mitchell hit the game winners. If you're looking for those, 37 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: you can find them a little bit further back on 38 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: the feed. This video, we're hitting Bucks sixers from the 39 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: perspective of both teams and that officiating fiasco in the 40 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:28,680 Speaker 1: fourth quarter. And then come back to the feeds later 41 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: tonight we're gonna have a breakdown of Lakers suns as well. 42 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: You guys are the job before we get started. This 43 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:34,800 Speaker 1: is our brand new YouTube channel. It would mean a 44 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: lot to me if you guys would take a second 45 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: to scroll down and hit that subscribe button as we 46 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: try to get this channel off the ground. Don't forget 47 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: about our podcast feed. Wherever you get your podcast under 48 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: hoops tonight. Follow me on social media Twitter, TikTok, Instagram. 49 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:49,840 Speaker 1: That's where I'm posting video content, film breakdowns, and show 50 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: announcements throughout the year and the last but out least, 51 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: keep dropping mail back questions and the YouTube comments. We're 52 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: gonna be hitting them at the tail end of shows 53 00:02:56,200 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: throughout the season as well. All right, let's talk some basketballs. 54 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: So you know, Damian Lillard came into camp. I thought 55 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: a little bit out of shape. He was missing a 56 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: lot of his pull up jump shots short on the 57 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: front of the rim in preseason. Kind of did that 58 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,360 Speaker 1: again tonight until the end. I mean, even that three 59 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: he hit out of pick and roll in the second quarter, 60 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:18,080 Speaker 1: he left short on the front of the rim, but 61 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: it bounced in. And you know, it's hard to explain 62 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 1: all of you guys who are heavy duty ball handlers, 63 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: pull up shooters at whatever respective level you play, you 64 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: know that ebb and flow between. Like when you're really 65 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:30,959 Speaker 1: in a groove and you're in basketball shape and you 66 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 1: do all the things that you do and you're getting 67 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: good lyft and you have a specific spot where you 68 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: make shots. Usually it's off the back of the rim 69 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: or some people primarily swish when they're locked in right. 70 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 1: But then like when you have an injury or you 71 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: go on vacation and you come back and you're just 72 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: not quite the type of you know, in rhythm player 73 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: that you're accustomed to being. And I think there's gonna 74 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: be a little bit of a process there that's magnified 75 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: by the fact that you know, he's trying to figure 76 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: out where he fits in in this Bucks team. And 77 00:03:57,520 --> 00:03:59,320 Speaker 1: I mean you could really see it in that first 78 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: quarter and then get in that third quarter. Not enough 79 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: dame way too much Giannis way too much other guys 80 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: getting involved, and you could It's just it's one of 81 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: those things where at the end of the day, especially 82 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: when they get into half court situations, I think the 83 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: more they kind of simplify their offensive hierarchy and lean 84 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: on Damian Lillard, the better, you know. I mean, Jannis 85 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: is at his best when he's in transition. That was 86 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: one of the stories of this game is that he 87 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: really struggled with Joel Embiid's rim protection in the half court, 88 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: but then whenever he got out in transition, good things happen. 89 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:31,119 Speaker 1: And it's one of those things where like you almost 90 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:33,640 Speaker 1: want to see this team slot in a way where 91 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,160 Speaker 1: Dame kind of functions as the primary ball handler, Jannis 92 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: operates as basically a ball screen fulkrum and then a 93 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: you know, obviously a mismatch attacker whenever he has an 94 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:45,279 Speaker 1: opportunity or when Dame's off the floor, you can go 95 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: back into your traditional kind of yanis spearheaded offense, right 96 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: and then from there you want guys playing off the 97 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: ball and you want to lean into that action as 98 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: much as possible. No different than the way the Nuggets 99 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,280 Speaker 1: lean into Jamal Murray and Nikole Jokic as as much 100 00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: as possible. Not not only do you want to do 101 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 1: that in the big picture, but it also will help 102 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: you the more you do it to build chemistry between 103 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: those two. And I mean it was one of those 104 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: things where you can kind of tell in that second 105 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: quarter Dame started to get it going. Now, Nick Nurse 106 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: is famously those are guys who followed the show for 107 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: a while. We talk a lot about Nick Nurse and 108 00:05:18,279 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: his overly aggressive defensive approach. Tons of ball pressure, tons 109 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 1: of help. He's gapping, he's in play passing lanes, he's 110 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,760 Speaker 1: trying to force your primary ball handlers to get rid 111 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: of the basketball. And one of the things that the 112 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: Bucks did to counter that in that second quarter was 113 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: just set the ball screen way further out, like thirty 114 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:39,280 Speaker 1: five feet forty feet away from the basket. It's kind 115 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: of like the inverse of that concept we were talking 116 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:45,039 Speaker 1: about with Anthony Davison nikola Jokic yesterday. Remember I talked 117 00:05:45,040 --> 00:05:47,360 Speaker 1: about how the closer you get to the rim, your 118 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: angles are off. Imagine the defender is like a square, 119 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: and imagine the basket over here, and your point is 120 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: right here. With the square right the closer you already 121 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: the basket, your driving lanes get kind of flattened out 122 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: to the side. Right when you're further away from the basket, 123 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:03,839 Speaker 1: there's kind of like more angles for you to go 124 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: around a player, right, And that's the thing Damian Lillard. 125 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 1: When he beats somebody off the dribble thirty five feet 126 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:11,279 Speaker 1: from the basket, it doesn't matter how far you're playing 127 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: off a shooter or anything like that. Everything is so 128 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: spaced out at that point that it just gives you 129 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 1: that much more time to get ahead of steam, to 130 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: make decisions based on how help defenders are reacting. And 131 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: he really got going downhill. And again, like even when 132 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: he was missing his pull up three point shot in 133 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 1: preseason and missing them early in this game, you know 134 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 1: he was getting guarded as though he was making those shots, right, 135 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: and so the perfect counter to that is to try 136 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,280 Speaker 1: to get going downhill. He definitely got going towards the 137 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: rim in that second quarter, did hit a pull up 138 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:45,480 Speaker 1: three short off the front of the rim, but somehow 139 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: still went in in that in that second quarter run right, 140 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:50,919 Speaker 1: so like gets going, starts to get into the flow. 141 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,040 Speaker 1: Then in that third quarter it kind of felt like 142 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: Dame kind of got uninvolved from the offense again, and 143 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:58,479 Speaker 1: that's one of those things that I'd like to see 144 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: in the big pictures them just leaning more on Dame now. 145 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 1: Down the stretch of that game, it was a steady 146 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:05,280 Speaker 1: diet of Dame and that's exactly what it should be 147 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:07,640 Speaker 1: more frequently throughout the game. I don't think it's a 148 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: coincidence that the big Bucks runs were that second quarter 149 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: run Dame running the offense and that late fourth quarter 150 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: run Dame running the offense. He's by far your best 151 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: offensive player. He's the guy. He's the reason why you 152 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: made that trade. You didn't make that trade to have 153 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,360 Speaker 1: him functionally operate as Drew Holliday on the offensive end 154 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: of the floor. You brought him in because he's one 155 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:29,880 Speaker 1: of the best half court shot creators in the NBA, 156 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:31,680 Speaker 1: in the history of the NBA, and you need to 157 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 1: lean on that more. And you saw some of the 158 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 1: upside there right like they ran a horn set down 159 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: the stretch. It was the play I want to say, 160 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: it was the one after the kind of officiating fiasco 161 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: before he got the when he got the three free throws. 162 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 1: Was after that they run a horn set. Giannis sets 163 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:51,239 Speaker 1: the screen. PJ. Tucker's guarding Giannis. Why because PJ Tucker's 164 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:54,040 Speaker 1: a fire hydrant that can kind of contain Giannis's bully 165 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 1: ball a little bit, right. So on the play, Damian 166 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: Lillard comes off the screen and Giannis rolls hard to 167 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:01,280 Speaker 1: the front. But those of you guys want to see 168 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: a video of this play, I put it on my 169 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: Twitter feed talking about PJ. Tucker's staying glued to the roller. 170 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: Now again, Yannis brings real role gravity to these situations. 171 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: So again we talked about the two different ways you 172 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: can guard it. Right, If you blit Stame, you give 173 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: the ability for Yannis to work downhill in a four 174 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: on three. If you don't blitz Dame, what's gonna happen? 175 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: If Jannis rolls downhill and PJ. Tucker stays with Yannis 176 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 1: and Kelly Ubre is in a trail position as he's 177 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: chasing over the top of the screen, Dame's gonna be 178 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: able to get downhill. So in this play, Dame drives 179 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 1: down the left lane line he sees PJ. Tucker glued 180 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 1: up to Jannis knows he has an opportunity at the rim. 181 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: By the time PJ. Tucker realizes what's happening in turns 182 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:42,079 Speaker 1: to contest. It's way too late, and he lays it up. 183 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: I want to say it was the very next possession, 184 00:08:44,160 --> 00:08:47,559 Speaker 1: the ISO three against Kelly Ubre. That's that like top 185 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 1: tier shot creation, that rescue possession stuff that I always 186 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 1: talk about. That's the difference between a one to eleven 187 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 1: offensive rating and a one to nineteen offensive rating. It's 188 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: usually the three or four possessions of game, whether it's 189 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: a late shot clock situation, a late quarter situation, or 190 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: an end of game situation where the defense is locked in, 191 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: nothing's open and you just need your guy to make 192 00:09:08,640 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: a shot. And Dame hit a dribble combination step back 193 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: three over Kelly Ubray. That was effectively the dagger. And 194 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,400 Speaker 1: again like that's the kind of stuff that you never 195 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 1: had with this team in the past. Now, this was 196 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: a really ugly game for the Bucks for the most part. 197 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 1: Yannis struggled mightily with Joel Embiid's rim protection. Again, like, 198 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:29,599 Speaker 1: that's the thing with Giannis right now, And this is 199 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:31,360 Speaker 1: why you had to make the Dame trade. I talked 200 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 1: a lot about after the Dame trade how it was 201 00:09:33,120 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: an indicator of self awareness for the Bucks front office 202 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: understanding that here we are in the year twenty twenty 203 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 1: three and kind of like Ad in the Bubble in 204 00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:44,839 Speaker 1: twenty twenty that Giannis playoff run in twenty twenty one 205 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:46,599 Speaker 1: with free throw shooting kind of looks like it was 206 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: a little bit of a fluke, right. Since then, his 207 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: jump shooting has declined, his free throw shooting has declined. 208 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: Last year, he shot thirty percent on all field goal 209 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: attempts outside of the restricted area. Like Yannis can't shoot 210 00:09:58,120 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: outside of the paint. You know, he did make a 211 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: big hook shot down the stretch of this game where 212 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:03,800 Speaker 1: I want to say it was against PJ. Tucker where 213 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: he kind of bullied his way inside and he made 214 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,559 Speaker 1: that little push shot in the lane. That's the one 215 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: I want to see him continue to work on because that, 216 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: to me, should be his over the top shot that 217 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:13,839 Speaker 1: he goes to. But outside of that one shot, you're 218 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:15,520 Speaker 1: not really getting anything at the end of this game 219 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:18,720 Speaker 1: from Yannis in the half court in terms of shot creation. 220 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: He just for what And you know, it's funny because 221 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,959 Speaker 1: with Joel Embiid, he I don't think Joel Embiid is 222 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: a top tier defender. I don't think he's good enough 223 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 1: on the perimeter, but his immense physical size kind of 224 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 1: uniquely equips him to deal with the guys like Jannis 225 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: and Nikole Jokic. Like that's what's wild. Like no one 226 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:40,679 Speaker 1: thinks Joel Embids as good a defender as Anthony Davis, 227 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: but Yannis eats Anthony Davis up, and Nicole Jokic eats 228 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: Anthony Davis up in a lot of cases because he's 229 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: just too damn big, right, And the flip side there 230 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,600 Speaker 1: is like Embiid's just physically capable of absorbing those blows 231 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: and standing his ground, and he gave Yannis a ton 232 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:57,559 Speaker 1: of trouble at the rim in this game. That's a 233 00:10:57,600 --> 00:10:59,719 Speaker 1: game where you know, if they play the exact same 234 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,200 Speaker 1: way they played but Dame's not out there, they lose 235 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 1: because Dame is what brings that top tier shot creation 236 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,480 Speaker 1: to the situation. But I mean, this is a super 237 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 1: encouraging one because it was ugly, the rhythm seemed off 238 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: for the most part. Dame didn't really even know when 239 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:16,880 Speaker 1: he was supposed to be aggressive outside of the end 240 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 1: of the game, and he still did Dame shit at 241 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: the end and you won. And so that's what's encouraging 242 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: because over the course of the season that that continuity 243 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:29,679 Speaker 1: will improve, that hierarchy will be simplified. Those guys will 244 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 1: know what they're supposed to do on both ends of 245 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:32,959 Speaker 1: the floor, and they'll look better. This is, for all 246 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 1: intents and purposes, kind of a new basketball team. When 247 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: you look at guys like Malik Beasley playing a significant role, 248 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,840 Speaker 1: who you know, wasn't all that impactful as a shooter tonight, 249 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 1: but I thought he was pretty good defensively, if one 250 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:45,560 Speaker 1: of his better defensive games that I've seen him play. 251 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: And obviously Damian Lillard brings an entirely different vibe to 252 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: this team offensively, So first outing ugly definitely got some 253 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: fortunate whistles in the fourth quarter. But a win is 254 00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 1: a win is a win. Now, I want to talk 255 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,200 Speaker 1: about the the Sixers for a second. I legit feel 256 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:05,040 Speaker 1: bad for them in this one. You guys know how 257 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: I feel about officiating. I think pretending there's a conspiracy 258 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:11,320 Speaker 1: is a loser mentality. No one's targeting your favorite player, 259 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 1: no one's targeting your favorite team. The officials take their 260 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: job very seriously. Yes, of course there's bad apples among 261 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: the officiating community. Guys who have taken it personally or 262 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 1: that are too invested in them being part of the show. 263 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: But for the most part, the body officials do the 264 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: best they can with the rules that they have to 265 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,000 Speaker 1: kind of interpret those within the game. And usually when 266 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: I see people complaining about officiating or specific types of calls, 267 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:36,960 Speaker 1: to me, it's more of a big picture issue for 268 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,679 Speaker 1: the entire league rather than targeting your individual team. That said, 269 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:46,200 Speaker 1: it is very possible for one game to randomly go 270 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: horribly wrong for one team, and I thought this was 271 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 1: one of those games. I thought there were several key 272 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:53,720 Speaker 1: calls down the stretch of this game that went directly 273 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:57,599 Speaker 1: against Philly. That dribble hand off with Kelly ubray or 274 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: they called the offensive foul, Like all he did was 275 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:02,880 Speaker 1: do a dribble handoff and then keep running in the 276 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: same direction he had been running. An offensive player is 277 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: allowed to run. That's just two players running into each other. 278 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: That's part of the game. When I see calls like that, 279 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,000 Speaker 1: I'm wondering if that official has ever played a basketball 280 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: game in his life. Right down on the other end 281 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,760 Speaker 1: of the floor, Yannis clearly airballs a hook shot and 282 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: then catches his own miss. That's a travel. You can't 283 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: do that. That directly led to the Damian Lillard catch 284 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:27,840 Speaker 1: and shoot three on the left wing that changed the 285 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: lead in the game. I thought the three point foul 286 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:34,080 Speaker 1: that Damian Lillard got when Kelly Eubray contested him kind 287 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: of on his left side, that's a bad call. Like 288 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: that's that is a foul, grifty bullshit call. I So 289 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: like I again, the Sixers are not victims here in 290 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:47,880 Speaker 1: the big picture, but in any sort of one single 291 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:50,959 Speaker 1: game sample size, it's very possible for just a handful 292 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: of random calls to go against you, And so that 293 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: would be the silver lining if you're the Sixers, is 294 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: like you basically had what I think they counted that d' 295 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: Anthony Milton bank in three at the buzzer, So you 296 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: lost by one, you know, and effectively were within one 297 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 1: possession for the most part at the end late despite 298 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:10,840 Speaker 1: getting some rough calls, despite them also dealing with some 299 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:14,680 Speaker 1: issues in terms of their offensive organization throughout the game. 300 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 1: This is a team that's used to James Harden setting 301 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:19,320 Speaker 1: them up for the most part over the course of 302 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: the season in terms of just offensive organization, right, and 303 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:23,680 Speaker 1: you could tell like it's kind of similar to the 304 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: Dame thing. Like Tyree s Maxey was a little too 305 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:28,560 Speaker 1: passive early in the game. When he started really looking 306 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: to be aggressive, that's when the Sixers offense took over. 307 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 1: When mb looked to be aggressive, that's when the Sixers 308 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: offense took over. So like again, they have some stuff 309 00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 1: that they're sorting out to and they had lots of 310 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: encouraging performances right like Joel Embiat's three point shot looks amazing. 311 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: Tyres Maxie still way too damn fast. No one can 312 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: keep him in front off the dribble. Kelly you Bray 313 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:50,080 Speaker 1: brought a lot of athleticism, point of attack, defense, and 314 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 1: timely three point shooting to the table. Even Jadon Springer 315 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: had a really interesting kind of perimeter defense sequence in 316 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 1: that in that first half. So like a lot of 317 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 1: encouraging stuff for this despite unfortunate circumstances. Again, a win 318 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: is a win is a win. And you could tell 319 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:07,120 Speaker 1: that the Sixers kind of got down on themselves as 320 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: the calls weren't going their way. But at the end 321 00:15:09,480 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 1: of the day, if I'm a Sixers fan or a 322 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: Sixers player, I'm feeling pretty good about where we're at 323 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:18,120 Speaker 1: right now. Because Tyres looks ready. Joel Embiid outplayed Giannis 324 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: in this game. I thought pretty soundly again that ability 325 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 1: for Mbid to protect the rim against the freaky athletes 326 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 1: in this league is a real weapon, and so there's 327 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:29,480 Speaker 1: a lot to be encouraged about for the Sixers. One 328 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:31,480 Speaker 1: other note, I wanted to hit on the Sixers really quick, 329 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: a very similar thing to what I was talking about 330 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:36,920 Speaker 1: with Anthony Davis and Nicole Jokic and the transition battle. 331 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,520 Speaker 1: So in the half court, I'll be really curious to 332 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 1: see the numbers when cleaning the glass updates in the morning. 333 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 1: But like when Embiid was at the rim, in the 334 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:47,320 Speaker 1: half court, he had a ton of success slowing down 335 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,280 Speaker 1: the Yannis rim pressure and just in general stalling the 336 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 1: Milwaukee Bucks half court offense. But there was a key 337 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:56,080 Speaker 1: play late that you guys might remember, where Embiid drove 338 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 1: left on brook Lopez and threw up an incredibly difficult, 339 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 1: kind of like floating bank shot on the left side 340 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: of the rim against brook Lopez that he missed. And 341 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: when he missed, the first thing he did is he 342 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,400 Speaker 1: looked over at the official and he stopped kind of 343 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: in his tracks. Meanwhile, Jannis is barreling down the other 344 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 1: way for an and one layup, right, And those are 345 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: the kinds of things that now the Philadelphia seventy six 346 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: are similar to the Los Angeles Lakers. They are a 347 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: very good half court defense, but they suck guarding in transition. 348 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: And this all comes down to the Anthony Davis and 349 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: Joel Embid running the floor thing. And that's why like 350 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: those kind of like perimeter based drives where they're slashing 351 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,840 Speaker 1: to the rim and throwing up difficult layups, both of 352 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: them could stand to remove that from their game entirely 353 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,640 Speaker 1: because when they do that, they neither of them are 354 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 1: particularly great at making those kind of foul grifty shots, 355 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: and when they don't get the call, they're always out 356 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,800 Speaker 1: of position in transition defense. And for both of those teams, 357 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 1: when they're not at the rim, their defense falls to pieces. 358 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: And so that's just something for them to for both teams, 359 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: but specifically we're talking about the Sixers here to work 360 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 1: on that specific element of kind of like catering your 361 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: shot selection around floor balance and making sure that embiads 362 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: in a position to get back on defense is an 363 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: important part of them polishing up their transition defense over 364 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 1: the course of the season, but entertaining game. Bucks got 365 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: the win. Again. When I was talking about the officiating, 366 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:14,359 Speaker 1: I'm not trying to take away from that. It's part 367 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: of the deal. It's part of the game. Officiating is 368 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:19,479 Speaker 1: a variable, and if you want to make it so 369 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,360 Speaker 1: that officials cannot determine the outcome of games, you need 370 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: to outplay the other team with enough margin for that 371 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: kind of air. So congrats to the Bucks. Both teams though, 372 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 1: a lot of stuff to be encouraged about, and a 373 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:32,360 Speaker 1: lot of stuff for them both to get better at. 374 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: We haven't had Lebron James and Kevin Durant play each 375 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,680 Speaker 1: other in a meaningful basketball game since the twenty eighteen 376 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,120 Speaker 1: NBA Finals, right, Actually, I think it was Christmas Day. 377 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,200 Speaker 1: The following year, twenty nineteen, they played a regular season game. 378 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:47,679 Speaker 1: At least, that was the last time they played in 379 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 1: the regular season. It's been a very long time. We 380 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 1: had a little bit of a teaser with their preseason 381 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:55,920 Speaker 1: game last week, but both of them did not disappoint 382 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:00,120 Speaker 1: in this particular game. Kevin Durant thirty nine points, facing 383 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: every single conceivable, ridiculous coverage from the Lakers. They're zoning 384 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: him up on his post ups, meaning they're just having 385 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: Anthony Davis just ignore his man and come over on 386 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 1: the other side of the block to basically soft double. 387 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: They're trapping him on ball screens, they're ball pressuring him, 388 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 1: they're outright doubling him in a lot of cases. They 389 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,480 Speaker 1: just throw the kitchen sink at Kevin Durant, with Devin 390 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:25,160 Speaker 1: Booker and with Bradley Beal out, and yet he still 391 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,680 Speaker 1: puts up thirty nine points on fifty percent shooting, because 392 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:29,920 Speaker 1: he's the greatest scorer of all time in my opinion. 393 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 1: And then Lebron James, not to be outdone, takes over 394 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,560 Speaker 1: the game late in the fourth quarter, basically takes the 395 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:39,359 Speaker 1: keys of the offense as things were falling apart, and 396 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: makes a bunch of key plays down the stretch as 397 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:43,880 Speaker 1: the Lakers get the win. So I want to dive 398 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,960 Speaker 1: into first Lebron taking control of the offense. Now, there's 399 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,159 Speaker 1: a very specific reason why I feel like he needed to, 400 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: and we're gonna get to that in a minute. But 401 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,399 Speaker 1: about halfway through the fourth quarter, Lebron essentially just takes 402 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: over most of the primary decision making. Right around the 403 00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:00,520 Speaker 1: time Dangel Russell left the game and they brought Reeves 404 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: back into the game. And then immediately Lebron James basically 405 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:06,399 Speaker 1: does two things. He starts force feeding Ad in the 406 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 1: post whenever he sees him get a clean look where 407 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: he's got good position and they aren't doubling or three 408 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 1: quarter front thing or anything like that. Right so you 409 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: saw him feed that, Make that feed to Eric Gordon. 410 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:19,400 Speaker 1: There's a couple baseline feeds as well. He's feeding Ad 411 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: when he has those post ups. Then secondly, whenever he 412 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:24,840 Speaker 1: doesn't see an opportunity to get the ball to Ad 413 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 1: in the post, he's calling Anthony Davis up to set 414 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,960 Speaker 1: a screen so that he can bring Usef Nurkic into 415 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,480 Speaker 1: pick and roll. Now usif Nurkic is a player that 416 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,280 Speaker 1: the Sun's brought in for two reasons. One Deandreyton was 417 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: a malcontent and they had to get him out. He 418 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:38,639 Speaker 1: wanted to go. They didn't like him anymore, had to go, 419 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: even though he's probably a better player, right useif Nurkic 420 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: is also a better passer in the short role, they 421 00:19:43,320 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: want for all the times that the Sons are going 422 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:47,120 Speaker 1: to get two defenders on the ball, they want someone 423 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: who can make decisions in the four on threes in 424 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:53,200 Speaker 1: the back line. However, Yusif Nurkic is not a good 425 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: rim protector, not a good drop coverage big, and someone 426 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:59,480 Speaker 1: that Lebron James basically sees food when he's attacking him 427 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:02,240 Speaker 1: in pick. Now. It started on the right side when 428 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:06,520 Speaker 1: Lebron actually split the pick and roll Eric Gordon's guarding him. 429 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 1: He gets the ball screen from Adi and splits the 430 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: action and then goes and makes the layup on the 431 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,360 Speaker 1: right side. But then he hits it two additional times 432 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:17,879 Speaker 1: in the final two minutes where he attacks Nurkic in 433 00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:20,399 Speaker 1: pick and roll and gets downhill and makes easy layups. 434 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 1: Lebron is huge, like six foot nine, really long wing 435 00:20:24,359 --> 00:20:26,160 Speaker 1: span two hundred and seventy pounds or whatever the hell 436 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: he is, and so like, as long as he gets 437 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: enough of an angle and he's not going against real 438 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:33,240 Speaker 1: length that he can struggle with at this phase in 439 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,120 Speaker 1: his career, he's gonna be one of the best rim 440 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 1: finishers in the NBA. He I haven't seen the numbers 441 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 1: from this particular game, but he was nine to ten 442 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:42,719 Speaker 1: from the rim at the rim against the Nuggets. He's 443 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:44,399 Speaker 1: still one of the very best rim finishers in the 444 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 1: league when he doesn't see really imposing rim protection. And 445 00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: so again there's two different ways to look at that. 446 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 1: The first side is the Sun's side, essentially like, this 447 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,520 Speaker 1: is what happens when you are a team that desperately 448 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 1: needs defense and you're investing in a who can't protect 449 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:02,960 Speaker 1: the rim. But the other side of that is this 450 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,880 Speaker 1: is what smart decision making looks like. We talked about 451 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,160 Speaker 1: this in one of our shows in the last couple 452 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: of days, and I can't even remember which one we 453 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,160 Speaker 1: talked about. The Oh, it was the Mavericks one. We 454 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 1: were talking about Luca and Kyrie. When you get to 455 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:17,840 Speaker 1: the end of games, it's a decision making sport. It's 456 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 1: all about like identifying where your best advantages are, making 457 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:24,200 Speaker 1: the right reads from there, and then your talent carrying 458 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: you over the top. At the end of games, physicality 459 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,320 Speaker 1: increases and the whistle gets swallowed. They're gonna probably switch 460 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:33,439 Speaker 1: most actions. Obviously you can't switch nur kitchen pick and roll, 461 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:34,959 Speaker 1: but they're gonna do a lot more switching and your 462 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,080 Speaker 1: off ball stuff, so you're not gonna get as easy 463 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:39,679 Speaker 1: looks there. It just in general is gonna get harder 464 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 1: to do anything, and so you have to have a 465 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: really smart basketball mind running the show for you that 466 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 1: can identify where the weak point is and then attack 467 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:54,119 Speaker 1: that weak point consistently. For instance, like the Suns down 468 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: the stretch kept trying to get Austin Reeves onto Kevin 469 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:01,640 Speaker 1: Durant in isolation situations. Now the Lakers Counterdap by basically 470 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,639 Speaker 1: just doubling and trapping him every single time. Right. But again, 471 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: like Kd's identifying, this is my weak point, Osiris is 472 00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:10,920 Speaker 1: probably my best chance to score. I'm trying to attack there, right, 473 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:13,600 Speaker 1: That's what Lebron's doing. On the other end. Nurkic is 474 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:16,200 Speaker 1: my weak point. I gotta get Nurkic into this action 475 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,240 Speaker 1: so that I can get downhill and make easy things 476 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:22,880 Speaker 1: happen at the rim for the Lakers. Now, what's interesting 477 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,719 Speaker 1: is we completely changed the whole narrative surrounding the minutes restriction. 478 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:29,400 Speaker 1: I'm looking up the minutes right now because I can't 479 00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 1: remember exactly, but he only played like, what twenty nine 480 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:35,960 Speaker 1: minutes in the Nuggets game tonight. He plays thirty five minutes, 481 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 1: And you know it's funny. Ryan, the lead producer of 482 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: the show shout out to Ryan. He just had his 483 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 1: first kid, He just became a dad. Ryan said that 484 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: he was shocked, utterly shocked that Lebron's minute restriction only 485 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:53,239 Speaker 1: lasted one day. And you know what's funny is is like, 486 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 1: I genuinely believe they want to do that, and I 487 00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,199 Speaker 1: also believe that as much as Lebron enjoys playing that 488 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,480 Speaker 1: he would be on with that. I've actually advocated after 489 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: the Tuesday game. I think it'd be good for Lebron 490 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,120 Speaker 1: because Lebron has a tendency when you play him thirty five, 491 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,600 Speaker 1: thirty six minutes a night, to have extended stretches where 492 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,439 Speaker 1: he kind of coasts through games, and that's just not 493 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 1: good that can now, honestly, like Lebron at this phase 494 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: in his career, when he's not engaged, can actually sometimes 495 00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: hurt his team a little bit with when he's when 496 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: he's being lazy. And so I kind of like the 497 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 1: idea of playing basically four seven minute shifts, or I 498 00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:26,760 Speaker 1: guess they actually kind of break it up so he 499 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,639 Speaker 1: plays three shifts a half, but call that, you know, 500 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:35,320 Speaker 1: three five minute shifts, three four minute shifts a half. 501 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: I almost like the idea of him doing that sort 502 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: of thing and then like just playing really freaking hard 503 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 1: for those five minute shifts, because he can be deeply 504 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,880 Speaker 1: impactful still at this phase in his career when he's 505 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: engaged in focused and actually giving his shit on both 506 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:51,640 Speaker 1: ends of the floor. But the reality is is they're 507 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: never going to actually be able to do that until 508 00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 1: they can be a functional basketball team when he's not 509 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,439 Speaker 1: on the floor. Now, as we know, they were a 510 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: functional basketball team when he wasn't on the floor. Towards 511 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 1: the tail end of last season. We saw that a 512 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 1: post deadline when Lebron missed a bunch of time, and 513 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,640 Speaker 1: we saw that in the playoffs. But so far this year, 514 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:13,959 Speaker 1: through two games, the Lakers are plus twenty nine when 515 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:18,399 Speaker 1: Lebron James is on the floor in minus thirty six 516 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:23,359 Speaker 1: when he's off the floor, And so that dynamic needs 517 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: to be fixed in some way, shape or form, or 518 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: they're never going to be able to really cut Lebron's 519 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: minutes down to twenty eight per game. Now, the question 520 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,840 Speaker 1: is why are the Lakers struggling so much with Lebron 521 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,879 Speaker 1: James off the floor so far through two games. I 522 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 1: think it comes down to a couple of different things. 523 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,360 Speaker 1: There's basically two main things that I want to hit here. 524 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,119 Speaker 1: One is one that we've talked about at length already 525 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,359 Speaker 1: in two separate videos on the show, which is the 526 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,959 Speaker 1: convoluted nature of the ball handling situation, which is like 527 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:53,719 Speaker 1: way too much Gabe Vincent, way too much D'Angelo Russell, 528 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 1: nowhere near enough Austin Reeves, Lebron, James Anthony Davis, the 529 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,679 Speaker 1: three players who are actually the best players on your team. 530 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,160 Speaker 1: And so as you kind of lean more on inferior players, 531 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:06,800 Speaker 1: it hurts you in two ways. The inferior players are 532 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: going to make inferior plays, and then your three main 533 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:12,360 Speaker 1: players are going to be out of rhythm. And that's 534 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,320 Speaker 1: kind of like the tradeoff that happens there. And so 535 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 1: as I would like to see the Lakers in the 536 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 1: long run simplify that order of operations, lean more on 537 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: Austin and Lebron as their primary ball handlers, lean more 538 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 1: on Anthony Davis in the post, try to find ways 539 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,119 Speaker 1: to keep those guys in rhythm and then kind of 540 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,400 Speaker 1: put Gay, Vincent and Dangelo Russell where they can still 541 00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:32,240 Speaker 1: be deeply impactful, which is off the ball. Now. The 542 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: second big problem is and the reason why when even 543 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:37,639 Speaker 1: this applies to Austin as well, although I think Austin 544 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,200 Speaker 1: is better at it than both d Lo and Gabe. 545 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,399 Speaker 1: But Dlo and Gabe are both skill guards. Neither of 546 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,640 Speaker 1: them are above at even average NBA athletes. They're both 547 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 1: below average NBA athletes. Austin is also a below average 548 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:55,439 Speaker 1: NBA athlete, but he's shifty and actually good at beating 549 00:25:55,440 --> 00:25:57,720 Speaker 1: people off the dribble and getting downhill pressure, and so 550 00:25:57,760 --> 00:25:59,840 Speaker 1: he's a little bit better in that regard. But when 551 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: you have the ball running through Gabe in D'Angelo Russell, 552 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: they're not really beating people off the dribble with a 553 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: lot of pace and downhill force, and so what happens 554 00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:13,080 Speaker 1: is they're not getting the defense into rotation because they're 555 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,240 Speaker 1: not actually collapsing the defense. If they're not actually collapsing 556 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:19,640 Speaker 1: the defense, then you're not getting high quality kickout opportunities 557 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,119 Speaker 1: for your skilled players. If you're not getting high quality 558 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,399 Speaker 1: kickout opportunities for your skilled players, now they're attacking against 559 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,160 Speaker 1: a set defense. If they're attacking against a set defense, 560 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 1: then their athleticisms shortcomings rise to the surface. As you 561 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:35,280 Speaker 1: see guys like Jordan Goodwin and Eric Gordon and Joshakogi 562 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: hold them in place on the perimeter as they struggle 563 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 1: to generate quality looks. No big secret that in the 564 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:44,800 Speaker 1: fourth quarter when they started running everything through Lebron in 565 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 1: Austin and Ad in the late fourth quarter, that was 566 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:49,919 Speaker 1: when they started to get real downhill pressure. That was 567 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 1: when they started to get higher quality looks. Right, and 568 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: again you start to imagine a better basketball team. It's 569 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 1: one of those things where if it's not Nurkic, it's 570 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,239 Speaker 1: higher quality defensive players, it'll be a little more complicated. Right. 571 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:04,879 Speaker 1: Lebron's not just gonna be able to drive down the 572 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:06,880 Speaker 1: lane for layups, but he's gonna be able to drive 573 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 1: down the lane and generate high quality close out opportunities. 574 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,919 Speaker 1: And that's the thing. Like Dangela Russell is capable of 575 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:15,680 Speaker 1: being a very good off ball player, so is Gabe Vincent. 576 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: So I'd like to see them simplify the order of operations, 577 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:20,679 Speaker 1: get the ball in the hands of their better players 578 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 1: more frequently. And then that second part, that's a roster deficiency. 579 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,879 Speaker 1: It's a problem that only Lebron, James and Anthony Davis 580 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:31,400 Speaker 1: can consistently generate rim pressure and Austin Reeves right now 581 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: is your best guard at generating rim pressure, and he's 582 00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: getting the fewest on ball touches of all your guards. 583 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 1: This is where the absence of Dennis Schroeder becomes an issue. 584 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,520 Speaker 1: As much as we talk about Dennis Schroder in his shortcomings, 585 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:43,920 Speaker 1: because he wasn't as good off the ball and obviously 586 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:45,480 Speaker 1: as good as he was as a ball pressure guard, 587 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: he was also a little bit undersized and that could 588 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: cause problems. What Dennis Shruder could do is beat people 589 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: off the dribble and get the defense into rotation, which 590 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:55,679 Speaker 1: could get the Laker offense moving. And so again, like 591 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,840 Speaker 1: you know, we've talked a lot about potential D'Angelo Russell 592 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 1: trades over the course of the seas. This is why 593 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 1: I've pitched things like, hey, packaged D'anngela Russell with Ruby 594 00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: hatcha Mura at the deadline for some sort of higher 595 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,199 Speaker 1: level athlete on the perimeter that can slash and generate 596 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:14,119 Speaker 1: real rim pressure and guard and knock down threes. The 597 00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: reason why I've talked about that is simply because right 598 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,880 Speaker 1: now you have a redundancy. You have three skill guards, 599 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,879 Speaker 1: Austin Reeves, d Angela Russell and Gabe Vincent Austin is 600 00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: effectively the same type of player as d Lo, just 601 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:28,000 Speaker 1: a better version of him. So it doesn't make sense 602 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,400 Speaker 1: to have your backcourt with two kind of redundant similar players. 603 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:33,760 Speaker 1: It might be fine over the course of the regular season, 604 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: but you're gonna run into bad matchups whenever they run 605 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: into super athletic guards KCP and Jamal Murray. Jamal Murray's 606 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 1: not super athletic, but he's super strong, KCP is a 607 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: freak athlete, Jordan Goodwin and Josha Kogi. When they run 608 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,320 Speaker 1: into those types of matchups, they're gonna have a lot 609 00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:52,040 Speaker 1: of problems. Now Again, like I was, even if this 610 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: Lakers had lost this game, I wouldn't have been like, oh, 611 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:55,760 Speaker 1: they're gonna miss the play. I still think this team's 612 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: gonna win fifty games. They just have too much talent, 613 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 1: but they do have that specific weakness and bad court athleticism, 614 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: and as often as they run into athletic backcourts, they're 615 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:07,440 Speaker 1: gonna have problems, especially when those guys are running the show. 616 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 1: And so I would look at it as like a 617 00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 1: consolidation type of move. At the deadline, I would look 618 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,000 Speaker 1: to move D'Angelo Russell with Ruey Hachamura, to bring in 619 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 1: some more athleticism in the backcourt, to bring in somebody 620 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 1: who can do some more slashing, to help get the 621 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:22,880 Speaker 1: defense in rotation more often so that they can get 622 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: higher quality looks for their skilled players. And again, like, 623 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:28,560 Speaker 1: it's not a now problem, it's a February problem. But 624 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:30,239 Speaker 1: this is why you have to look at that as 625 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,640 Speaker 1: an option for the record. This isn't something that I'm 626 00:29:32,720 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 1: like conceiving out of thin air. I would imagine if 627 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: you talk to all the parties involved, D'Angelo Russell's agent, 628 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,840 Speaker 1: Rob Polenka, you know, Lebron, James, Darvin Ham all that 629 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:43,320 Speaker 1: they all probably know that this is kind of like 630 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 1: a temporary sort of situation. It was the best way 631 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 1: to get D'Angelo Russell the money that he wanted, and 632 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,200 Speaker 1: it's gonna end with him inevitably getting moved when they 633 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:54,040 Speaker 1: get to the deadline. But at the bottom line is 634 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,160 Speaker 1: until they sort all those problems out and get to 635 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:57,960 Speaker 1: the point where they can be functional the way they 636 00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:00,480 Speaker 1: were without Lebron at the end of the at the 637 00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: end of last season, they're never gonna be able to 638 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,959 Speaker 1: cut his minutes last year. It was outstanding defense, hillacious 639 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: defense combined with Dennis Schroeder's rim pressure with Austin Reeves 640 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:12,800 Speaker 1: is the perfect complimentary guard, and Anthony Davis playing at 641 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,000 Speaker 1: an MVP level down the stretch of the season. That's 642 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,680 Speaker 1: how they won games without Lebron, and right now they're 643 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:21,600 Speaker 1: not capable of replicating that when Lebron's off the floor. 644 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 1: They're gonna have to figure that out if they're gonna 645 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 1: keep his minutes down. I was really impressed by the 646 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:28,240 Speaker 1: Laker defense they allowed. You can kind of see how 647 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:30,120 Speaker 1: the flow of this game went. They went up seven 648 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:32,000 Speaker 1: to zero to start the game, came out guns blazing 649 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:35,120 Speaker 1: right then they immediately relax. Suns jump them the rest 650 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 1: of the first quarter. They go up double figures. Right 651 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 1: then the Lakers lock in. In the second quarter, they fight, 652 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: They only allowed twenty two points. They make it a game. 653 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,160 Speaker 1: It's fifty two to forty eight at halftime. Right then 654 00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: they come out in the third quarter and they start 655 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:47,880 Speaker 1: bullshitting again. The Suns build a big lead. Then you 656 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: go into that fourth quarter, desperation kicks in and suddenly 657 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,240 Speaker 1: the Lakers allow eleven points, which is what they should 658 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 1: have been doing all game when you really factor in 659 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:58,560 Speaker 1: the fact that Kevin Durant was the only player on 660 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,480 Speaker 1: the Suns that was capable of really consistently getting to 661 00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:03,800 Speaker 1: his spots and making plays. A lot of the other 662 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: guys that were succeeding it was hustle related. It was 663 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 1: either like Eric Gordon or Joshakogi or Jordan Goodwin just 664 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: bullying the smaller, less athletic Laker guards. Or it was 665 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:17,360 Speaker 1: like crashing the offensive glass when guys weren't playing hard, 666 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 1: getting out in transition, all of that kind of stuff, right, 667 00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:24,240 Speaker 1: and so again, like they were capable of strangling the 668 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,200 Speaker 1: Sun's offense really at any point they wanted to, but 669 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:29,640 Speaker 1: they were bullshitting too often. But I was impressed by 670 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: the amount of effort they put in that fourth quarter 671 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,880 Speaker 1: to put them away. I thought Christian Wood playing in 672 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,080 Speaker 1: the closing lineup was super interesting. He Again, what did 673 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 1: I say after the Christian Wood signing. I agree, he's 674 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,640 Speaker 1: a bad defensive player. That's pretty much proven over the 675 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: course of his NBA career. Right, However, if you look 676 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:48,880 Speaker 1: at the highlights, what is the first thing I do? 677 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 1: Every single time a team signs a player. It's not 678 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 1: just the Lakers it's everybody. I start scouting them, and 679 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:56,360 Speaker 1: I watched hundreds of possessions of Christian Wood defending in 680 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:58,240 Speaker 1: pick and roll, and there were a lot of ugly 681 00:31:58,280 --> 00:31:59,880 Speaker 1: ones in there, but you know what else, there was 682 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: a lot of really good ones. You know why, because 683 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: Christian Wood has really good physical tools and he's actually 684 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:08,800 Speaker 1: capable of being an impact defensive player when he's in shape, 685 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:11,640 Speaker 1: when he's engaged, when he's focused right, And so you 686 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: kind of saw that by giving him a really dedicated job, like, hey, Chase, 687 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: Kevin dran around on these screens. As soon as the 688 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 1: ball screen comes, we're going to like offer immediate, strong, 689 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 1: hard help or even double in some cases. So just 690 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:25,360 Speaker 1: use your length to bother him. At that point. It 691 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 1: was an easy job and Christian Wood excelled at it. 692 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:29,320 Speaker 1: And what was interesting is I think he was only 693 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:31,000 Speaker 1: like two for seven or two for nine from the field. 694 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:33,920 Speaker 1: He didn't have a good offensive game, but he did 695 00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 1: his job defensively and he secured a bunch of huge 696 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,160 Speaker 1: contested rebounds. That's one of his individual gifts. He's good 697 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,520 Speaker 1: at high pointing the ball and he's a very long 698 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,400 Speaker 1: athletic player, and so when he goes for you know, 699 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:48,440 Speaker 1: contested rebounds. He's capable of out jumping everybody. But I 700 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 1: thought he played a huge role in that defensive flurry 701 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 1: for the Lakers in the fourth because when you put 702 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:54,840 Speaker 1: him out there with Gabe, Vincent and Austin and Lebron 703 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,200 Speaker 1: and Ad, they're kind of a huge team, and like 704 00:32:57,400 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 1: Gabe gives you that traditional kind of ball pressure guard look, 705 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:02,560 Speaker 1: and then you have three dudes that are six nine 706 00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: or taller and really athletic, and you're gonna get a 707 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:06,600 Speaker 1: lot of You're gonna make a lot of defensive players 708 00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:08,440 Speaker 1: and get a lot of defensive rebounds. In that situation, 709 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,480 Speaker 1: Anthony Davis kind of on the back burner tonight was 710 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:17,440 Speaker 1: freaking unbelievable. Thirty points, thirteen rebounds, three blocks, and three steals. 711 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:21,160 Speaker 1: How about that six stocks in this game? I thought 712 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:25,520 Speaker 1: he was unbelievably good defensively in that fourth quarter, just 713 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,640 Speaker 1: flying around, grabbing contested rebounds, guarded KD on a bunch 714 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:32,840 Speaker 1: of key possessions. Watching those Kdad one on one face 715 00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:35,120 Speaker 1: offs are actually pretty wild because it's like it's like 716 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,840 Speaker 1: you're watching two NBA two K created players playing in 717 00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:42,000 Speaker 1: the post against each other. I thought Anthony Davis was fantastic. Again, 718 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:44,800 Speaker 1: Usually you don't look at the box score with ad 719 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:47,640 Speaker 1: because his defensive impact goes so far beyond that. But 720 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,000 Speaker 1: when you get that defensive impact in the thirty thirteen 721 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,800 Speaker 1: with three blocks and three steals, that's an MVP level 722 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:55,800 Speaker 1: performance out of Anthony Davis as well. I wanted to 723 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:59,520 Speaker 1: shout I just wanted to make sure that we gave 724 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 1: him his shout out because just because Lebron took over 725 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:04,240 Speaker 1: at the end of the game, again, in the big 726 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,560 Speaker 1: picture of what's happening down the stretch there, Anthony Davis 727 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:09,720 Speaker 1: is still controlling the game defensively. On the Sun's front, 728 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:14,439 Speaker 1: Kevin Durant is literally amazing. I've just completely blown away 729 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:16,920 Speaker 1: by him. Like, how many players could you put in 730 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:19,280 Speaker 1: a situation like that with that group of role players 731 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,960 Speaker 1: and have a realistic chance to defeat a team as 732 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:24,879 Speaker 1: good as the Lakers are on the road. I mean, 733 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:26,880 Speaker 1: even though the Lakers didn't play particularly well in this 734 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,840 Speaker 1: game for the most part, I still thought it was 735 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:32,880 Speaker 1: an incredibly impressive performance. Really, the only knock was the 736 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:34,960 Speaker 1: eight turnovers, but I thought he ran out of gas 737 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:36,279 Speaker 1: and you could tell just towards the end of the 738 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:38,920 Speaker 1: game like he's just he's having to create every single 739 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:41,319 Speaker 1: possession for them, and he's still, in spite of all 740 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:43,879 Speaker 1: of that, had them with the one had a free 741 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:46,080 Speaker 1: throw to potentially give them a one point lead late, 742 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:48,360 Speaker 1: which he missed. I thought he was incredible. Again, the 743 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:50,360 Speaker 1: Nurkic on defense piece is something they're gonna have to 744 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:54,000 Speaker 1: keep an eye on when you have him operating in 745 00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:56,799 Speaker 1: drop coverage. Guys are just gonna see food. They're not 746 00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:58,960 Speaker 1: gonna see him as someone who really bothers them at 747 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:03,840 Speaker 1: the rim. And so yeah, like Lebron at this phase 748 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,040 Speaker 1: in his career is still capable, but there are even 749 00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 1: there are several better pick and roll ball handlers that 750 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 1: they're gonna face at various points over the course of 751 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,240 Speaker 1: the season, especially guys that can beat people off the dribble. 752 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 1: And I'm pretty concerned about Nurkic anchoring a defense even 753 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,480 Speaker 1: with Frank Vogel at the helm. But I want to 754 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:24,840 Speaker 1: shout out I want to shout out the Suns in 755 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:27,960 Speaker 1: general for just how good they look at this point 756 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:30,640 Speaker 1: in the season. In specific areas they've hit on some 757 00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:33,680 Speaker 1: betteran minimum signings. I thought Jordan Goodwin, it was fantastic 758 00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:37,799 Speaker 1: tonight when you kind of pair him with Joshakogi at 759 00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:39,920 Speaker 1: every single phase of the game, you just have this 760 00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: kind of bulldog, small but a short, somewhat short wing 761 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:47,719 Speaker 1: that's just freakishly strong, that is more athletic than most 762 00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:49,680 Speaker 1: of the other guards that they're going to play, that 763 00:35:49,719 --> 00:35:52,680 Speaker 1: can apply physical ball pressure, which is such an important 764 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:57,279 Speaker 1: element of any Frank Vogel at defense in general, I've 765 00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:00,759 Speaker 1: just been impressed with their overall commitment and competitiveness and 766 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:03,239 Speaker 1: they're just gonna win a lot of damn games when 767 00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:06,760 Speaker 1: they get their group together and healthy. Obviously, that's the question. 768 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:09,239 Speaker 1: Devin Booker's experiencing pain in the middle of his foot. 769 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:12,239 Speaker 1: That's always concerning. Stress injuries can be a problem, so 770 00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:14,919 Speaker 1: you have to manage that with rest, which can cause 771 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:18,319 Speaker 1: problems with the rhythm and kind of continuity of your 772 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:21,040 Speaker 1: roster as well. And Bradley Beal's dealing with back issues. 773 00:36:21,080 --> 00:36:23,680 Speaker 1: Those are never fun right. So again, like there's some 774 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:26,560 Speaker 1: question marks surrounding the team, but the main question marks 775 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:29,960 Speaker 1: at this point for me are injuries and the rim 776 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,640 Speaker 1: protection of use of Nurkic. I actually do think with 777 00:36:32,719 --> 00:36:36,680 Speaker 1: Frank Vogel and what they have in athletes surrounding their core. 778 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:39,200 Speaker 1: They are capable of defending at a high enough level. 779 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:41,400 Speaker 1: They just might have to consider making some sort of 780 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:43,840 Speaker 1: move at the deadline for a better rim protector to 781 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,120 Speaker 1: put alongside these guys. All right, that's all I have 782 00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,240 Speaker 1: for tonight. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys supporting 783 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:52,120 Speaker 1: the show. Nothing going on during the day tomorrow. I 784 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:55,319 Speaker 1: will be breaking down the Friday Night slate on Saturday morning, though, 785 00:36:55,360 --> 00:37:28,040 Speaker 1: so keep an eye on the feeds. On Saturday. The 786 00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:28,600 Speaker 1: volume