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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, Well, good to hoops tonight. Here

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Speaker 1: at the volume heavy Wednesday. Everybody hopeful. If you guys

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Speaker 1: are having a great week on a Jampak show for

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Speaker 1: you guys today, we had a fun Tuesday Night slate

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Speaker 1: and so I'm gonna bounce around to that slate of

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Speaker 1: games with five big takeaways. You guys are the Joe

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Speaker 1: Portrigan started subscribe to Hoops to Night YouTube channels so

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Speaker 1: we don't miss any more of our videos. Make sure

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Speaker 1: you like this video as well as sign up for

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Speaker 1: post notifications. That helps us a lot. And then if

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Speaker 1: you want to get mailbag questions into our Friday mail bag,

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Speaker 1: drop them in our full episodes on YouTube and the

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Speaker 1: comments right mailbag colon retro question. We'll get to them

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Speaker 1: on Fridays throughout the remainder of the season. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. Our first big takeaway from the

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Speaker 1: Tuesday Night slate. The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to look like

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Speaker 1: the best team in the East while still having so

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Speaker 1: much that they can improve on. They dominated the Knicks

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Speaker 1: from star to finish last night. A little bit of

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Speaker 1: a sloppy game. There were nineteen turnovers between the two

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Speaker 1: teams in the first half. I don't think I've ever

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Speaker 1: seen a game with as many botched fast breaks as

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Speaker 1: we saw last night, whether it was like kick ahead

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Speaker 1: passes that went too long, throwing the ball right to

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Speaker 1: the other team. There were forty transition possessions between the

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Speaker 1: Calves and the Knicks last night for the game, and

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Speaker 1: they totaled just twenty eight points on those forty possessions,

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Speaker 1: which is legitimately hard to do where you're typically expecting

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Speaker 1: that number to be almost double that because that's how

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Speaker 1: efficient transition offenses tend to be. But anyway, it was

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Speaker 1: sloppy game. But Josh Hart gets a little basket on

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Speaker 1: a cut in the middle of the lane on the

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Speaker 1: one of the first possessions of the game, and the

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Speaker 1: Calves responded with an evanimobily catch and shoot three in

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Speaker 1: the left corner, and the Calves never trailed the rest

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Speaker 1: of the way. They cruised. They took a double digit

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Speaker 1: lead early where Dean Wade got super hot and ended

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Speaker 1: up hitting back to back to back threes. They worked

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Speaker 1: their way back into it, cat has a little run

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Speaker 1: in the second quarter. They end up cutting the lead

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Speaker 1: to one, but the Cavs basically cruise From there, they

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Speaker 1: go by as much as twenty in the fourth quarter

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Speaker 1: before finishing with a fifteen point win. It was a

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Speaker 1: defensive run in the third quarter. I thought Jared Allen

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Speaker 1: and Evan Mobley in particular did a phenomenal job on

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Speaker 1: the back line all game. Donovan Mitchell for having a

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Speaker 1: rough shooting night, I thought he came out with a

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Speaker 1: great deal of intensity defensively, especially playing in passing lanes

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Speaker 1: and making plays, you know, attacking the basketball. He had

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Speaker 1: three steals. The Calves held the Knicks to just eleven

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Speaker 1: points in the third quarter as they pulled away, and

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Speaker 1: again a couple of just key scoring bursts. We talked

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Speaker 1: about the Dan Wade one early. I thought Jalen Tyson

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Speaker 1: had a really nice person the middle third quarter, there's

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Speaker 1: kind of this weird stretch where neither team could score

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Speaker 1: for a little while and the lead was hanging right

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Speaker 1: around I think, like nine, and they end up going

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Speaker 1: on a run. James Harden hits a catch and shoot

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Speaker 1: three off of the right wing, and then Jalen Tyson

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Speaker 1: makes a couple of really nice plays. He has a

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Speaker 1: relocation off the right corner to the right wing, a

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Speaker 1: skip pass from Dennis Schroeder where he hits a three,

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Speaker 1: and then a nice little two man game was Sam

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Speaker 1: Merrill where he kind of sets the screen, slips out

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Speaker 1: of it, guys linger with Meryl for a second. Meryl

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Speaker 1: throws a really nice pass over the top, and Tyson

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Speaker 1: hits just a sky high floater in the lane. Jalen

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Speaker 1: Tyson's actually becoming one of my favorite young role players

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Speaker 1: in the league. He got pulled from the starting lineup

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Speaker 1: as the team has gotten healthier. He had a handful

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Speaker 1: of not so great games and occasionally he was trying

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Speaker 1: to do a little bit too much off the bounce.

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Speaker 1: Don't blame him. He's had some big offensive bursts this year,

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Speaker 1: you know, so like a lot of that is just

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Speaker 1: confidence in him trying to dive into that part of

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Speaker 1: his game. But again, this team is so talented and

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Speaker 1: as such, big goals this season. When he plays in

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Speaker 1: the flow like he did yesterday, that's where he can

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Speaker 1: be a profoundly useful player because he's a knockdown, catch

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Speaker 1: and shoot guy who also understands off ball movement. On

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Speaker 1: that third quarter kickout three, for example, Mohama Diawara is

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Speaker 1: the one is guarding him. He's kind of like sinking

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Speaker 1: into the lane in low man help. He relocates up

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Speaker 1: to the right wing because the right wing was vacated

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Speaker 1: off of the way that that action had set up,

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Speaker 1: and it just created a longer closeout, and that longer

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Speaker 1: close out harder to make. He ends up getting a

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Speaker 1: really good look from three and he knocks it down.

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Speaker 1: As we know, Jalen Tyson has been absolutely deadly on

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Speaker 1: wide open catch and shoot threes this year. Dennis Schroeder,

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Speaker 1: by the way, I want to shout him out here,

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Speaker 1: his drives have been immensely valuable to the Cavs already

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Speaker 1: in this segment of the season since he made the

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Speaker 1: move over. He was the one who drew that low

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Speaker 1: man help with his drive off of the left wing.

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Speaker 1: He had a couple of really nice drop off passes

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Speaker 1: to both Donovan Mitchell and Jalen Tyson for dunks in

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Speaker 1: this game, cutting along the baseline once again off the

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Speaker 1: attention drawn from his drives. That cut is another great

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Speaker 1: example of that off ball movement from Jalen Tyson, just

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Speaker 1: kind of slipping along the baseline when he sees that

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Speaker 1: runway slipping out of that screen with Meryl, like I

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Speaker 1: talked about. That's a really nice little spacing read. He

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Speaker 1: had a really nice roll to the basket on a

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Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell kind of guard guard screen in the first

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Speaker 1: half where he got down the lane, slipped and ended

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Speaker 1: up making a little right handed layup. And then he

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Speaker 1: just does so many little things. He's an absolute scrapper

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Speaker 1: who rebounds like a machine. He's a capable perimeter defender

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Speaker 1: as long as he keeps that at the top of

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Speaker 1: his mind. When he's in this role where he's just

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Speaker 1: focusing on playing in the flow on both ends of

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Speaker 1: the floor and just doing his job, he's becoming one

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Speaker 1: of the most useful young role players in the league.

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Speaker 1: I've really really enjoyed rooting for him. And again, like

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Speaker 1: the Caves are just one of the best cutting and

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Speaker 1: spacing teams in the league. This is a big part

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Speaker 1: of why James Harden has been such an efficient ball

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Speaker 1: handler for them, which we're going to talk about in

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Speaker 1: a minute. This is a big part of why Dennis

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Speaker 1: Schroeder's drives have brought a ton of value to this

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Speaker 1: particular team. Dennis Schroeder has thirty three assists to just

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Speaker 1: eleven turnovers so far into calves Jersey and the Caves

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Speaker 1: are crushing teams. They're plus sixteen points per one hundred

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Speaker 1: possessions when Dennis Schroeder is on the floor. To this

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Speaker 1: point in the season, Dono Mitchell again had a rough

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Speaker 1: night shooting the ball. I thought he had some pretty

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Speaker 1: good looks that he missed. There's a run there in

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Speaker 1: the middle of the game where he got a couple

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Speaker 1: of really good looks at step back jump shots that

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Speaker 1: he just happened to miss. He's been in a little

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Speaker 1: bit of a three point shooting slump lately. But again

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Speaker 1: I appreciated his defensive activity and then got to the

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Speaker 1: foul line a lot because of just his physical aggression

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Speaker 1: in getting defenders out of position. And then I thought

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Speaker 1: James Hardy had a couple of sloppy turnovers early in

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Speaker 1: the game. He was part of that kind of sloppiness

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Speaker 1: that I was talking about, but he was fantastic after that.

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Speaker 1: Just creates so many advantage advantages for this offense and

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Speaker 1: his play type data with the Cavs so far as

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Speaker 1: off the charts, He's run one hundred and fifty seven

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Speaker 1: pick and rolls, ISOs and post ups. He's generated one

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Speaker 1: hundred and eighty points including passes on those possessions. That's

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Speaker 1: one point one p five points per possession, which is

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Speaker 1: about as good as you'll see in the league for

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Speaker 1: high volume shot creation. Not the least bit surprising considering

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Speaker 1: how talented this team is. This is a team that

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Speaker 1: is stacked with play finishing, and Kenny Atkinson has them

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Speaker 1: as as tuned as you could possibly be in terms

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Speaker 1: of understanding where to space and relocate when to cut.

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Speaker 1: This is a team that is consistently one of the

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Speaker 1: best cutting teams in the NBA. Not the least bit

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Speaker 1: surprised that they've had as much success with James Harden

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Speaker 1: and with Dennis Schroeder, and with guys that can create

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Speaker 1: advantage and pass the ball as well as those two

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Speaker 1: guys can. James has been shooting the lights out so

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Speaker 1: far with the Calves. Yesterday was more catch and shoot stuff,

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Speaker 1: and he's been great on catch and shoots all season.

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Speaker 1: But he's also thirteen for twenty seven so far on

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Speaker 1: his off the dribble threes with the Calves. That's obviously

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Speaker 1: insanely good. I know it's the honeymoon phase right now,

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Speaker 1: but the fit I think made sense before the trade

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Speaker 1: and I'm not surprised that it's going well because it

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Speaker 1: really is a picture perfect fit for a team that

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Speaker 1: is built with a ton of play finishing and spacing

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Speaker 1: concepts that will capitalize on advantage creators. And now this

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Speaker 1: Calves team has a bunch of them, between the additions

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Speaker 1: of healthy James Harden to a team that couldn't keep

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Speaker 1: Darius Garland on the floor, and then obviously the addition

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Speaker 1: of Dennis Schroeder, who has just been a much better

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Speaker 1: backup guard than Lonzo Ball ended up being. I was

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Speaker 1: high in the Lonzo Ball moved before the season. It

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Speaker 1: just didn't pan out because he just couldn't shoot the basketball.

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Speaker 1: That has been something that has been an issue for

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Speaker 1: him as of late. Again, I also just want to

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Speaker 1: shout out Jared Allen and Evan Mobley. Jared Allen's been

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Speaker 1: absolutely killing it statistically since James Harden came over, and

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Speaker 1: his last his last nine games he's averaging over a

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Speaker 1: twenty ten double double. That's insane. Him and Evan Mobley

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Speaker 1: did a great job defensively last night. The Caves are

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Speaker 1: thirteen and two in their last fifteen games. The offense

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Speaker 1: with James Harden on the floor This is an insane stat.

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Speaker 1: The Cavs are scoring one hundred and twenty seven points

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Speaker 1: per one hundred possessions so far with James Harden on

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Speaker 1: the floor. That's an off the charts offensive rating. That's

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Speaker 1: a pretty large sample so far already for hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty six possessions because James just plays in every single game.

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Speaker 1: The defense has been great, they've been top ten. Really.

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Speaker 1: The only thing that I can like nitpick is the

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Speaker 1: defensive rebounding. They're giving up an offensive rebound on about

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Speaker 1: a third of their opponent's misses, and that's something that

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Speaker 1: has been kind of a recurring issue over the mobiley

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Speaker 1: Allen era. I'm curious as to whether or not that's

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Speaker 1: why Atkinson's been leaning towards Dean Wade with the starters,

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Speaker 1: just trying to give him a little bit more size.

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Speaker 1: Although Jalen Tyson is such a good rebounder, I'm not

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Speaker 1: necessarily sure that that's a huge upgrade there. But Dean

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Speaker 1: Wade did have a great rebounding game last night in

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Speaker 1: the Beautiful Thing is is one of the things that

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Speaker 1: I've seen with all of the great, you know, modern coaches,

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Speaker 1: is they confront margins by attacking the other side of

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Speaker 1: the margin. So for instance, like Boston bad defensive rebounding team,

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Speaker 1: but they're so good on the offensive glass, they actually

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Speaker 1: have a positive margin there, right, Or like teams like

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Speaker 1: Goklahoma City, they commit a lot of fouls and they

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Speaker 1: give up a lot of catch and shoot threes. But

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Speaker 1: the flip side of that is they attack the margin

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Speaker 1: on the opposite side by getting a lot of turnovers

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Speaker 1: and scoring in transition a ton, right. Like a lot

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Speaker 1: of times, a lot of people will think about attacking

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Speaker 1: a weakness by addressing the weakness when there's an alternative method,

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Speaker 1: which is playing more into your strengths and trying to

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Speaker 1: attack the opposite end of the margin to cancel out

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Speaker 1: that issue. And so, for example, despite the fact that

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Speaker 1: the Cavs been such a bad defensive rebounding team in

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Speaker 1: their last fifteen games, they're actually getting out scored and

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Speaker 1: second chance points by just zero point one points per

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Speaker 1: game because of how good they've been with their corner

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Speaker 1: crashes with Mobile and Allen under the basket. Again, a

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Speaker 1: lot of that also is the vantages created by their stars,

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Speaker 1: which will keep defenses in rotation, which will keep them

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Speaker 1: out of rebounding positioning, but they're actually doing pretty well

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Speaker 1: in that particular margin because they're canceling it out on

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Speaker 1: the offensive glass. But again, thirteen to two in their

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Speaker 1: last fifteen games, that's the best record in the league

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Speaker 1: in that span. Some big wins. Again. That was a

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Speaker 1: red hot Hornets team that they handled the other night. Again,

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Speaker 1: a huge win over a NIXT team that have been

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Speaker 1: playing some pretty good basketball as of late. And there's

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Speaker 1: just still so much they can improve on. Donovan Mitchell's

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Speaker 1: in this like three point shooting slump that's eventually going

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Speaker 1: to turn around. Kean Ellis has been making all sorts

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Speaker 1: of hustle plays, but he hasn't really started hitting his

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Speaker 1: catch and shoot three yet. That's something that I think

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Speaker 1: will turn around over the course of the next couple

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Speaker 1: of weeks. We mentioned the defensive rebounding, I think that'll

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Speaker 1: get cleaned up at least a little bit. Max Struce,

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Speaker 1: if he can return, will provide more movement shooting for

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Speaker 1: a team that really only gets that from Sam Merrill.

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Speaker 1: Right now, things are on the up and up in Cleveland.

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Speaker 1: It's a team that I have currently as my favorite

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Speaker 1: to win the Eastern Conference. I think they're the most

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Speaker 1: complete team in that Eastern Conference right now. I love

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Speaker 1: the quote from James Harden about what they're trying to

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Speaker 1: build after the game last night, Like they just seem

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Speaker 1: like their heads are in the right place. They see

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Speaker 1: the opportunity that's in front of them. They're playing some

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Speaker 1: special basketball. This kind of even started before the trades

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Speaker 1: went down, and they're just kind of following that thought

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Speaker 1: through to fruition really playing some special basketball in Cleveland

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Speaker 1: right now. As you guys know, I've been playing basketball

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Speaker 1: my entire life, and it's safe to say my energy

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Speaker 1: and recovery isn't the same as it was ten years ago,

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Speaker 1: fifteen years ago when I was playing in college, and

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Speaker 1: Please support our show and tell them our shows sent you.

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Speaker 1: Second big takeaway from last night, Zach Lowe is right.

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Speaker 1: Luca has been a hard watch this year and he

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Speaker 1: absolutely needs to stop grifting and complaining as much as

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Speaker 1: he has. So the Lakers end up losing a heartbreaker

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Speaker 1: to the Magic last night, a rare clutch loss for them.

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Speaker 1: Clutch basketball is all about execution. When you cut it

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Speaker 1: down to a handful of possessions, it usually just comes

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Speaker 1: down to limiting mistakes and then executing your offense. In

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Speaker 1: the half court to generate quality shots. All of the

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Speaker 1: Lakers stars had huge fuck ups down the stretch of

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Speaker 1: that Magic game last night. Lebron inexplicably leaves Desmond Bane

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Speaker 1: off of the left wing to send unnecessary overhelp on

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Speaker 1: a Pala Bunco drive that leads to Desmond Bane hitting

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Speaker 1: a wide open catch and shoot three that puts the

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Speaker 1: Magic up two. The Lakers end up going up one

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Speaker 1: on a After a sequence of plays, Lebron draws a

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Speaker 1: foul and a little post up. Then he ends up

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Speaker 1: getting a back cut dunk on a baseline out of

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Speaker 1: bounds play where really nice backscreen gets some wide open

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Speaker 1: he gets a dunk that puts the Lakers back up

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Speaker 1: by one. Pallo goes down and forces a tough mid

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Speaker 1: range jump shot and he misses it. Austin Reeves inexplicably

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Speaker 1: just stands there not paying attention, and Anthony Black just

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Speaker 1: cuts right past him, gets an offensive rebound, This ball

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Speaker 1: gets stripped away from him, goes to Wendell Carter underneath

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Speaker 1: the basket. Wendell Carter Junior ends up hitting the game winner,

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Speaker 1: and then on the final play, Luca they run this

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Speaker 1: kind of like weird football wide receiver route concept thing

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Speaker 1: that ends up getting Luca the ball pretty much wide

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Speaker 1: open thirty feet from the basket, and instead of taking

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Speaker 1: the wide open thirty footer, he just throws a grenade

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Speaker 1: to Lebron with two seconds left in the game, and

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Speaker 1: Lebron has no choice but to just turn over his

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Speaker 1: right shoulder and take an impossible three, which is like, okay,

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Speaker 1: Lucas said after the game, like I thought it was

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Speaker 1: a bit far away. Yeah, I get that, but like,

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Speaker 1: what did Lebron have that was better than what you

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Speaker 1: had right there? Especially since like Luca when he's in

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Speaker 1: his groove, seems to like those deeper off the dribble threes.

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Speaker 1: And so just like again, winning clutch games is all

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Speaker 1: about not making mistakes and creating good looks. And again,

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Speaker 1: if Lebron stays home on Desmond bayin does Palo have

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Speaker 1: a shot attempt at the rim in traffic, Yeah, but

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Speaker 1: it's a lower percentage shot, and then after the shot

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Speaker 1: goes up, Lebron can crash and try to get the rebound.

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Speaker 1: Maybe at that point, but leaving leaving Desmond Bain like that,

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Speaker 1: that's a really poor defensive decision. That's a mistake that

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Speaker 1: contributed to costing your team the game. Austin put a

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Speaker 1: body on Anthony Black, you get a defensive rebuk, you're

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Speaker 1: getting fouled, you're going down to the other end. Now

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Speaker 1: you're making two free throws, and you're probably gonna win

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Speaker 1: that game. That's a simple, basic thing that Austin didn't

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Speaker 1: do that costs his team the game. And then lastly, Luca, like,

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Speaker 1: the one thing that you do better than basically everybody

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Speaker 1: in the league is create a shot for yourself in

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Speaker 1: the half court, and that was what you were asked

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Speaker 1: to do on that final possession. You didn't seem interested

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Speaker 1: in doing it. So a lot of just mistakes down

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Speaker 1: the stretch that ended up costing them the game. I

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Speaker 1: have some other frustrations, like I don't understand why JJ

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Speaker 1: Reddick closed with Ruey Hatchamura, who had zero rebounds in

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Speaker 1: that game despite it being a bloodbath. We need to

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Speaker 1: get a rebound kind of game when Marcus Smart was

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Speaker 1: the obvious fifth man to go there, just more of

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Speaker 1: a scrapper. Not to mention that starting lineup that they've

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Speaker 1: run with Ruy Lebron Austin eight and Luca has been

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Speaker 1: one of their worst lineups. All season just consistently gets crushed,

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Speaker 1: so that didn't make any sense. I don't understand why

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Speaker 1: they didn't play more through Austin down the stretch. Austin

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Speaker 1: had some good rhythm in the second half, Luca didn't

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Speaker 1: really have it going, Lebron didn't really have it going.

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Speaker 1: They kind of played too much through Lebron and Luca

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Speaker 1: down the stretch. So I didn't understand that either. But

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Speaker 1: all those are conversations for another day. Zach Loow someone

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Speaker 1: that I really look up to in this business and

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Speaker 1: someone that I have a great amount of respect and

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Speaker 1: admiration for. He created some waves yesterday with some criticism

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Speaker 1: of Luka Doncic that I think is worth digging into

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Speaker 1: a little bit. And he basically just went off about

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Speaker 1: how Luca's complaining to the refs is at an all

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Speaker 1: time high and that it's been really hard to watch,

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Speaker 1: and then he also said that his impact has not

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Speaker 1: lined up with his statistical production this year, and I

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Speaker 1: completely agree with everything that he said. I want to

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Speaker 1: dig into each of those ideas individually for a second.

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Speaker 1: Number one, has Luca been less impactful than his individual

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Speaker 1: statistical performance this year? Yes, and there are clear statistical

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Speaker 1: markers for that despite him putting up insane individual numbers

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Speaker 1: in both the box score and also in his individual

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Speaker 1: play types, there are two obvious indicators that show it

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Speaker 1: hasn't been as productive as it should be. One is

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Speaker 1: the turnovers. Luca leads the entire NBA in turnovers per

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Speaker 1: game at four point one, twice as much as Shake

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Speaker 1: gild As Alexander for comparison, and the Lakers are so

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Speaker 1: unathletic that they allow one of the worst transition offensive

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Speaker 1: ratings off of turnovers in the league. They allow one

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Speaker 1: to thirty nine offensive rating and transition off of turnovers,

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Speaker 1: which ranks twentieth in the NBA. So with how unathletic

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Speaker 1: they are, taking care of the basketball is incredibly important

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Speaker 1: to this Lakers team, and Luca just hasn't done that

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Speaker 1: compared to his peers around the league at the top

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Speaker 1: of the league and then two team success. Believe it

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Speaker 1: or not, the goal of an offensive engine isn't to

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Speaker 1: average thirty five points per game. It's not to average

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Speaker 1: tennisists per game. It's not to have a really efficient

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Speaker 1: points per possession on pick and roll. It's to create

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Speaker 1: quality offense for a five man unit. And the Lakers

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Speaker 1: with Luca on the floor this year score just one

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Speaker 1: to seventeen point eight points per one hundred possessions. This

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00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:02,280
Speaker 1: is crazy stat There are thirteen players in the NBA

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Speaker 1: of the season who have played in at least thirty

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Speaker 1: games and who have usage rates over thirty. So guys

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Speaker 1: who've played for the majority of the season and have

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Speaker 1: a usage rate and are super high usage players. There's

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Speaker 1: thirteen of them. Lucas tied for last on that list

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Speaker 1: in team offensive rating when he's on the floor. And

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Speaker 1: before you just go, oh, this Lakers roster has issues,

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Speaker 1: and by the way I've taught those Laker roster issues

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Speaker 1: are well documented, and by the way, I think it's complicated,

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00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:32,159
Speaker 1: the role players are limited, but Luca's pretty regularly playing

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Speaker 1: with a better co star than just about anybody on

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Speaker 1: that list. And before you just blame the offensive talent,

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Speaker 1: Kate Cunningham has led a more efficient offense with really

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Speaker 1: limited offensive talent in Detroit. Shay Givess Alexander has probably

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Speaker 1: a little bit more offensive talent than the Lakers, but

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Speaker 1: not by much. And the thunder have been way more

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Speaker 1: efficient with she on the floor than the Lakers have

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00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,080
Speaker 1: been with Luca Jannis has posted over a one to

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Speaker 1: twenty offensive rate this season, and he's playing with a

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Speaker 1: bunch like arguably the worst roster in the league for

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00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,679
Speaker 1: a star, Victor Weimanyama is not exactly playing with a

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Speaker 1: ton of offensive talents, a lot of young, still pretty

407
00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,480
Speaker 1: flawed offensive players. He's got a better offensive raiding this

408
00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,800
Speaker 1: year than Luca does. Steph Curry is literally in like

409
00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,960
Speaker 1: basketball purgatory in Golden State. That offense has produced more

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00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:27,359
Speaker 1: than this Lakers Luca offense. The guy he's tied with

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Speaker 1: at the bottom of the league is Kawhi Leonard, playing

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Speaker 1: with less offensive talent than Luca's been playing with. The

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Speaker 1: bottom line is is that in this season, the Lakers

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Speaker 1: offense has been mediocre. I talked before the season about

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Speaker 1: how I thought they'd be top five. They haven't even

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Speaker 1: been top ten, even though Luca has put up big

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Speaker 1: individual numbers. Part of it is he doesn't play in

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Speaker 1: transition much at Also, it doesn't capitalize on that margin.

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Speaker 1: Part of it is he does, he just dribbles the

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Speaker 1: air out of the basketball and that can kind of

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Speaker 1: disrupt the rhythm of his teammates. Part of it is

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Speaker 1: he's had a lot of bad games this year relative

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Speaker 1: to his peers. After his baby was born, he had

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00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:06,000
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks where he was really bad, and

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00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:08,399
Speaker 1: he's in another really bad stretch right now. He's been

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Speaker 1: awful in the last two games. But it is what

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Speaker 1: it is. The bottom line is his individual performance has

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00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:19,239
Speaker 1: not led to team success. Zach Low was correct in

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Speaker 1: pointing that out number two. Has it been hard to watch? Yes,

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Speaker 1: it just has. I talk to a lot of Lakers

431
00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:32,240
Speaker 1: fans and people who cover the team. Most of them

432
00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:37,720
Speaker 1: haven't enjoyed the Luka Doncics viewing experience. They all, including myself,

433
00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:41,959
Speaker 1: have tremendous respect for his talent. We're all aware of

434
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,720
Speaker 1: his upside. I said on the Calling Coward podcast on Monday,

435
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:47,640
Speaker 1: and I've said on my show before, like I think

436
00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,320
Speaker 1: his ceiling is the highest in the league. When he

437
00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,440
Speaker 1: has all the parts of his game going, when he's

438
00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:54,879
Speaker 1: like taking care of the basketball and he's hitting his

439
00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:56,680
Speaker 1: step back three, and he's got his mid to short

440
00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:00,760
Speaker 1: range game going, and he's talking shit and playing good defense,

441
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:06,400
Speaker 1: he's legitimately the best player Whenever he's in that type

442
00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,199
Speaker 1: of game. No one can meet that level because he

443
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,119
Speaker 1: can create his own shot from three. So it's like

444
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:15,040
Speaker 1: this weird Steph Curry efficiency piece from three mixed with

445
00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:17,280
Speaker 1: like the short range shot making that you get from Shay,

446
00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:19,760
Speaker 1: mixed with the playmaking you get from Jokic. You get

447
00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:23,280
Speaker 1: it all with Luca when he's at his best. But

448
00:21:23,359 --> 00:21:27,080
Speaker 1: he's not at his best enough, and the overall experience

449
00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,280
Speaker 1: has not been fun. It's been dribbling the air out

450
00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:34,080
Speaker 1: of the basketball. He's not a high motor player who's

451
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:37,199
Speaker 1: gonna invigorate the crowd with effort plays or hustle plays.

452
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,160
Speaker 1: In watching him work down the lane line and pick

453
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:43,520
Speaker 1: and roll and torque for fouls and then bitch at

454
00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,000
Speaker 1: the refs all damn game and not get back on defense,

455
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:50,840
Speaker 1: it's downright infuriating. At times, I have not been having

456
00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:55,560
Speaker 1: fun rooting for Luka Dancis, which takes us to the

457
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:59,480
Speaker 1: third piece. Yeah, Luca has to stop worrying so much

458
00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:05,159
Speaker 1: about and bitching at the refs. It is horrible to watch.

459
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,520
Speaker 1: When I was younger, when I was in my early twenties,

460
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:10,360
Speaker 1: I also used to bitch at the refs a ton

461
00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:12,560
Speaker 1: when I would play in like men'sley games in summer

462
00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,639
Speaker 1: leagues and things like that. Pro ams, and my wife

463
00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:19,440
Speaker 1: literally started having these like intense conversations with me where

464
00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:21,080
Speaker 1: she was like, I'm not gonna go watch you anymore.

465
00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,960
Speaker 1: If you're gonna do this, it's it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing

466
00:22:23,960 --> 00:22:26,480
Speaker 1: to watch you do that. It's not fun to watch.

467
00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:27,880
Speaker 1: I don't want to come to these games if you're

468
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:30,639
Speaker 1: doing that. Thankfully I grew out of it, but like

469
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:33,920
Speaker 1: that's what we're all thinking when we're watching Luca. It's embarrassing,

470
00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:38,359
Speaker 1: it's not fun to watch, And most importantly, what you're

471
00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:41,159
Speaker 1: doing in the basketball side, remove all the fans from

472
00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:45,520
Speaker 1: the equation. Look just at the basketball. When you index

473
00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:50,560
Speaker 1: your approach towards something that is out of your control,

474
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,560
Speaker 1: like the whistle versus something that is in your control,

475
00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:59,040
Speaker 1: like putting the damn ball in the basket, you're going

476
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,400
Speaker 1: to be in a situation where you're gonna be frustrated

477
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,000
Speaker 1: when the thing that is out of your control doesn't

478
00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:07,760
Speaker 1: go your way. If you go down the lane line,

479
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:10,440
Speaker 1: like I'll just take a single example from the Celtics

480
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:14,640
Speaker 1: game two nights ago, Luca works down the lane line.

481
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,000
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown is back pressuring and he's kind of like

482
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,840
Speaker 1: hugging up on Luca, and Luca just kind of jumps

483
00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,520
Speaker 1: backwards into him, and Jalen stopped right before he did it,

484
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:26,440
Speaker 1: and he might have been semi moving, but I thought

485
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,840
Speaker 1: it was a good no call. Luca jumps back into him,

486
00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,800
Speaker 1: kind of bumps Jalen in the shoulder, shoots the shot,

487
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:33,479
Speaker 1: doesn't get the call of the Celtics are running out

488
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:38,160
Speaker 1: the other way. Have I seen that get called before? Yes?

489
00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:41,720
Speaker 1: And by the way, you want to know why Luca

490
00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,359
Speaker 1: and Shay and Jalen Bronson and all of these dudes

491
00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:49,000
Speaker 1: tork along the laneline for fouls because it has worked

492
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:54,439
Speaker 1: in the past. I have personally noticed, especially post All

493
00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:56,840
Speaker 1: Star Break, there's been a little bit of a of

494
00:23:56,920 --> 00:23:59,719
Speaker 1: an indexing in terms of the league's officiating away from

495
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 1: a and grifting. I think that's great. I think the

496
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,800
Speaker 1: league should just completely stop all that stuff. All these

497
00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:07,360
Speaker 1: dudes would stop. But what ends up happening is every

498
00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,600
Speaker 1: once in a while, like once or twice a week,

499
00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:11,600
Speaker 1: Luca will have a game where he gets twelve fourteen

500
00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:15,040
Speaker 1: free throw attempts because of his ability to torque along

501
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,439
Speaker 1: the lane line for fouls, and it keeps him in

502
00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:22,240
Speaker 1: that frame of mind. But most often when you get

503
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,199
Speaker 1: into a big game, and we see this all the

504
00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:26,400
Speaker 1: time in the postseason, but we see it a lot

505
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,200
Speaker 1: in the regular season. When you end up in these

506
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:31,760
Speaker 1: games where you're playing against one of the better teams

507
00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:33,800
Speaker 1: in the league and the ball gets thrown up at

508
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,720
Speaker 1: center court and everybody starts kicking ass physically from the

509
00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,439
Speaker 1: opening tip. It sets a tone. And when that tone

510
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,280
Speaker 1: gets set, the refs aren't gonna slow the flow of

511
00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:47,280
Speaker 1: the game down and blow the whistle on some grifty bullshit.

512
00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,000
Speaker 1: And so what happens is in lower profile games with

513
00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,320
Speaker 1: less physicality, Luca draws a lot of fouls. Clippers game

514
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:57,199
Speaker 1: classic example, down the stretch. Kuhi is not even on

515
00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:58,920
Speaker 1: the floor. You're playing against a team that's in the

516
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:01,240
Speaker 1: bottom of the play in. Yeah, you can get away

517
00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:03,280
Speaker 1: with some stuff. And also the Clippers did some favors

518
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 1: with the Ben Mathern reaching in all the time. But

519
00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:09,000
Speaker 1: like you, when you're in a situation like that, it works.

520
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:12,720
Speaker 1: Then you run into a better team who brings the

521
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,399
Speaker 1: physicality from the opening tip and sets a different tone.

522
00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:20,240
Speaker 1: Those calls aren't getting made and now it's not going

523
00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:22,719
Speaker 1: your way, and the Celtics are running it down your

524
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,640
Speaker 1: throat while you bitch and moan at the refs, it's

525
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,080
Speaker 1: out of your control. If Luca jumps back into Jalen

526
00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 1: Brown in a pickup game and he wants to call

527
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,159
Speaker 1: a foul, yeah, they'll give you the ball after they

528
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,600
Speaker 1: all yell at you and call you all sorts of

529
00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:37,879
Speaker 1: names for trying to ruin the game doing that. But

530
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,240
Speaker 1: that's because you're in control of the whistle when you're

531
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,600
Speaker 1: playing pickup. When you're playing in real organized basketball, it's

532
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:46,080
Speaker 1: the dude with the whistle. He is not someone you

533
00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:49,400
Speaker 1: have control over. If you approach the game more towards

534
00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 1: what you can control, which is Jalen Brown's on your backside,

535
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:56,800
Speaker 1: go make a damn shot. And if you make a

536
00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:00,679
Speaker 1: regular basketball shot instead of twerking, it's going to be

537
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:06,119
Speaker 1: a higher percentage shot. Play towards what you can control.

538
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 1: Luca needs to completely shift his approach offensively away from

539
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:14,080
Speaker 1: the foul drifting in towards trying to get the ball

540
00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:17,720
Speaker 1: in the basket. It will make him better in these

541
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,159
Speaker 1: higher profile matchups. It will make him a better playoff player,

542
00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:25,200
Speaker 1: and he's already a damn good playoff player. To kind

543
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,720
Speaker 1: of tie this up. It's not over for Luca. I'm

544
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:31,680
Speaker 1: still a huge believer in his upside. But the version

545
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:36,520
Speaker 1: of Luca, who can win MVP, who can hoist hilario'brien Trophy,

546
00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:40,400
Speaker 1: who can be a player that every casual basketball fan

547
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:44,679
Speaker 1: enjoys watching when they're on TV, that version of Luca

548
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,400
Speaker 1: is on the other side of some kind of wake

549
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:50,879
Speaker 1: up call. And I don't know when or if that

550
00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 1: wake up call is coming. Getting traded less than a

551
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,200
Speaker 1: year after making the Finals should have been that wake

552
00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,679
Speaker 1: up call, and it just hasn't been. And again, like

553
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,800
Speaker 1: Luca has been very good this year, there's been bad

554
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:07,240
Speaker 1: parts of his game. There's been things that again, all

555
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:10,159
Speaker 1: that stuff I'm talking about, that's what puts him somewhere

556
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,240
Speaker 1: in the third to fourth best player in the league

557
00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 1: range instead of the first to second. Shay and Jokic

558
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,239
Speaker 1: have just been better. I'm not trying to sit here

559
00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,480
Speaker 1: and pretend like he hasn't been a top tier superstar

560
00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,399
Speaker 1: this year. He has, but he hasn't been fun to watch.

561
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:26,360
Speaker 1: He hasn't been as impactful as the statistics would lead

562
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:28,840
Speaker 1: you to believe. And this business with him dealing with

563
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,720
Speaker 1: the refs is becoming a problem. It's been a problem,

564
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:37,439
Speaker 1: and again, there is a version of Luca that we

565
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:40,000
Speaker 1: would all turn on the TV and watch and enjoy.

566
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,240
Speaker 1: There's a version of Luca that actually can win the

567
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,119
Speaker 1: MVP instead of just getting promoted before the season before

568
00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:48,119
Speaker 1: he finishes way outside of the MVP picture. There's a

569
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,000
Speaker 1: version of Luca that can hoist Hilary O'Brien trophy, but

570
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:55,880
Speaker 1: it's going to require him making these changes. Today's show

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Speaker 1: way to success for Pala Moncao. Palo was the best

604
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:34,320
Speaker 1: player in the four last night versus the Lakers. I

605
00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:36,280
Speaker 1: want to shout out some other magic players that Desmond

606
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,840
Speaker 1: Bain was phenomenal in the fourth quarter. Their center rotation

607
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:42,720
Speaker 1: kicked ass like I thought. Wendo Carter Junior was a

608
00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:44,920
Speaker 1: beast under the rim all night early in the game

609
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,320
Speaker 1: as a driver and as a cutter some critical offensive rebounds,

610
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,200
Speaker 1: including the game winner. Last night. Mo Wagner had a

611
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,760
Speaker 1: great second half shift where he just kicked DeAndre Aydon's

612
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:56,680
Speaker 1: ass on the offensive glass. Anthony Black had a rough

613
00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:58,440
Speaker 1: shooting night, but again made the biggest play of the game,

614
00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:01,680
Speaker 1: cutting pass Ausin Reeves for that huge offensive rebound. I

615
00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,400
Speaker 1: thought their defense was fantastic down the stretches. They basically

616
00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:06,880
Speaker 1: prevented the Lakers from getting into anything they want. I'm

617
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:11,280
Speaker 1: really smart switching, really good individual defense against switches. But again,

618
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:14,680
Speaker 1: Pollo was the best player on the floor. He's had

619
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:17,080
Speaker 1: a very up and down season, but there was a

620
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 1: specific pattern to his success last night that I thought

621
00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:21,840
Speaker 1: was revealing as to the path he needs to be

622
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,520
Speaker 1: on both in his individual skill development and in his

623
00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:28,600
Speaker 1: approach when he's attacking with the basketball. He did almost

624
00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,880
Speaker 1: all of his damage in the short range last night.

625
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 1: He did hit a couple of threes, He had a

626
00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:36,720
Speaker 1: little ISO three against Luka Doncic on the left wing,

627
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,000
Speaker 1: hit a huge catching shoot three out of the right

628
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:43,720
Speaker 1: corner in crunch time, but everything else was within fourteen

629
00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,520
Speaker 1: feet of the rimt When you look at a breakdown

630
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,320
Speaker 1: of Pallo's shot making last night, it's five for seven

631
00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:53,960
Speaker 1: in the restricted area, five for six on twos that

632
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,280
Speaker 1: were outside of the restricted area, but inside of fourteen feet,

633
00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:01,040
Speaker 1: then he was two for nine outside to fourteen feet.

634
00:31:02,360 --> 00:31:04,960
Speaker 1: That close range shot making is an area where he

635
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:09,000
Speaker 1: can be downright impossible to deal with. When he was

636
00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:11,560
Speaker 1: getting to those looks, those little short twos, there's really

637
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,800
Speaker 1: nothing the Lakers could do with him. He's had a

638
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:17,880
Speaker 1: hard time with that this season. Synergy inside of seventeen

639
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:20,960
Speaker 1: feet has Palo at just thirty six percent on jump

640
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,000
Speaker 1: shots this year on short range jump shots, so he

641
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:25,440
Speaker 1: hasn't been making them this season. He's been just forty

642
00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:28,320
Speaker 1: three percent on floaters and hooks, but we have seen

643
00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:30,800
Speaker 1: him be more efficient on those shots in the past,

644
00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 1: and again that's the piece that I think is the

645
00:31:33,440 --> 00:31:36,760
Speaker 1: ultimate counter to his power game, which like, when he's

646
00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,120
Speaker 1: healthy and he's attacking the basket, he's a lot to handle.

647
00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:44,880
Speaker 1: I used to talk about this with Giannis. There's this belief,

648
00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:47,760
Speaker 1: especially with some of these really big driving forwards, that

649
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:50,880
Speaker 1: the counter to their driving power should be some sort

650
00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:53,360
Speaker 1: of long distance jump shot. And I'm not sitting here

651
00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,360
Speaker 1: and pretending like, yeah, like if you can take and

652
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,640
Speaker 1: make threes, if you can add that to your game,

653
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,600
Speaker 1: you should. It's such a huge value when you're getting

654
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:04,560
Speaker 1: an extra point per shot. It unlocks a lot of

655
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,520
Speaker 1: off ball utility. Like if you're not able to hit

656
00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:09,800
Speaker 1: catch and shoot threes, it makes it really difficult to

657
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:11,600
Speaker 1: play you on the perimeter. All of a sudden, you

658
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:13,400
Speaker 1: become like a small ball five or a guy that

659
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:16,240
Speaker 1: can cause some real spacing concerns when you're playing on

660
00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,840
Speaker 1: the perimeter. So like, yeah, if you can build out

661
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:20,920
Speaker 1: the three, work on it. I don't I want Palo

662
00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:23,000
Speaker 1: to take wide open catch and shoot threes like that

663
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:24,800
Speaker 1: one he took in the corner in the fourth quarter

664
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:28,400
Speaker 1: last night. But when it comes to his on ball work.

665
00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:32,880
Speaker 1: The counter to his power needs to be that short

666
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:37,760
Speaker 1: range scoring, turning over each shoulder for little ten twelve

667
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,600
Speaker 1: foot jump shots, that little hook in the lane or

668
00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:43,480
Speaker 1: a little kind of like eurostep floater in the lane.

669
00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,400
Speaker 1: He was five for six on those last night. Those

670
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:48,680
Speaker 1: are the kinds of shots that will carry you to

671
00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:53,440
Speaker 1: a level of offensive volume and efficiency at his position

672
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:59,040
Speaker 1: as his archetype of player. Not spamming threes, not spamming

673
00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:03,120
Speaker 1: seventeen foot eighteen footers, nineteen footers. Those are just really

674
00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,680
Speaker 1: tough shots, and they're the shot that the defense wants

675
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:09,000
Speaker 1: you to take. It's bailing you out at that point. Again,

676
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:11,760
Speaker 1: Pallo was his best version of himself last night and

677
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:14,959
Speaker 1: outplayed Luka Doncic in a game because he lived at

678
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,000
Speaker 1: the rim, he made some quality reads out of action,

679
00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:22,560
Speaker 1: and because he scored effectively inside of the kind of

680
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:25,360
Speaker 1: like short range area when he did get cut off

681
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 1: from the basket. Number four Jonathan Kaminga is going to

682
00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:34,840
Speaker 1: have some big nights in an Atlanta Hawk's jersey. I

683
00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,240
Speaker 1: still have my big picture concerns about the half court

684
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:40,400
Speaker 1: fit with Jalen Johnson. Jalen Johnson did leave the game

685
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:42,720
Speaker 1: with a hip injury last night, which opened up some

686
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:45,840
Speaker 1: opportunity for Kamena to play bigger minutes. Obviously, that was

687
00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:47,920
Speaker 1: his first game with Atlanta. I do think there will

688
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:50,480
Speaker 1: be some games when Jalen Johnson's healthy where Kaminga doesn't

689
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:53,320
Speaker 1: play as much. I don't see a universe where they

690
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:57,880
Speaker 1: play together super effectively. Kamina has some half court issues

691
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,520
Speaker 1: in terms of processing like regardless, so I still don't

692
00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:04,680
Speaker 1: love that fit. But one of the things that is

693
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,360
Speaker 1: fun about this particular dynamic is especially when Jalen Johnson

694
00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:10,200
Speaker 1: is out of the lineup and Kaminga can pump his

695
00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:13,680
Speaker 1: minutes up. This is an Atlanta Hawks team that generates

696
00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,200
Speaker 1: a lot of runways. What I mean by that is

697
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:20,720
Speaker 1: lanes or advantages where guys with athleticism can attack the basket.

698
00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:23,960
Speaker 1: The Hawks generate the fourth most transition possessions in the

699
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,280
Speaker 1: NBA off of their speed and just with their defense

700
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,040
Speaker 1: and how they can force turnovers and get out off

701
00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,719
Speaker 1: of them. And then two, they generate the seventh most

702
00:34:31,760 --> 00:34:37,440
Speaker 1: made baskets on cuts in the NBA. In that game,

703
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,799
Speaker 1: just three of Jonathan Kaminga's twenty seven points came as

704
00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:44,759
Speaker 1: an initiator. A couple of post ups a little lefty

705
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,439
Speaker 1: hook and another play a left shoulder hook, and another

706
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:49,799
Speaker 1: play where he drew a foul. Twenty four of his

707
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:54,640
Speaker 1: twenty seven either came in transition or as a cutter

708
00:34:55,400 --> 00:35:00,360
Speaker 1: or attacking a closeout. That is the kind thing that

709
00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:03,759
Speaker 1: Johnathan Kaminga has always been good at. We had a

710
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:05,560
Speaker 1: video last year. I don't know if you guys remember,

711
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:08,360
Speaker 1: Jackson did a fund of the animation where he actually

712
00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:11,840
Speaker 1: put literal runways on the screen when we talked about

713
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:16,200
Speaker 1: how when Jonathan Kaminga focuses primarily on attacking the basket

714
00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:20,280
Speaker 1: when the windows do show up and taking the occasional

715
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:21,959
Speaker 1: catch and shoot three. Took a couple catch and shoot

716
00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,680
Speaker 1: threes out of the right corner in the game last night.

717
00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:29,320
Speaker 1: When he focuses primarily on quick decision making with the basketball,

718
00:35:29,680 --> 00:35:32,840
Speaker 1: primarily attacking every time he sees a lane and taking

719
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:35,080
Speaker 1: a handful of catch and shoot threes when he sees

720
00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:38,600
Speaker 1: those opportunities, he can be a very useful offensive player.

721
00:35:39,680 --> 00:35:41,839
Speaker 1: There's a world where he can become a better on

722
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:44,000
Speaker 1: ball player out of the post. We've seen that in

723
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:47,920
Speaker 1: the past, where like he could cause some problems one

724
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:49,680
Speaker 1: on one with his quickness and his ability to get

725
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:51,200
Speaker 1: to the foul line. But the league is kind of

726
00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:54,640
Speaker 1: game planned how to attack the basketball, especially when it's

727
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:56,239
Speaker 1: in his left hand or when he turns his back,

728
00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:58,560
Speaker 1: and he's really started to struggle in terms of his

729
00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:01,560
Speaker 1: large stample efficiency in his one on ones. That's an

730
00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:03,920
Speaker 1: area of development that he needs to build out over

731
00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:06,759
Speaker 1: the next few years. Right now, he can be a

732
00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:10,440
Speaker 1: useful player attacking in transition, attacking off of these types

733
00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:13,160
Speaker 1: of advantages. What we saw last night with him in

734
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:16,640
Speaker 1: Atlanta was not some sort of like indicator of him

735
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:20,600
Speaker 1: finally being unleashed from the shackles of Golden State. It

736
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:22,880
Speaker 1: was him doing the same things that he used to

737
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:26,520
Speaker 1: do when he would have success in Golden State, and

738
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:29,920
Speaker 1: an opportunity happened to open up because the player that

739
00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:32,840
Speaker 1: he's competing with in this particular situation as a power

740
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:36,240
Speaker 1: forward left the game with a hip injury. That said,

741
00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:40,440
Speaker 1: Jalen Johnson is a little injury prone, and the Hawks

742
00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:42,759
Speaker 1: do play so much in transition and they generate so

743
00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:46,480
Speaker 1: many cut opportunities that I do think Kaminga is going

744
00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:49,200
Speaker 1: to have some big games like this where he just

745
00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:51,360
Speaker 1: gets like six or seven dunks off of cuts and

746
00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:53,920
Speaker 1: in transition, and he's just playing with an advantage and

747
00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:58,640
Speaker 1: he puts up some impressive statistical performances. Number five, last

748
00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:03,040
Speaker 1: one for today, Cason Wallace's development into an on ball guard.

749
00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:06,080
Speaker 1: It's going to pay dividends for the Thunder in the

750
00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:09,680
Speaker 1: coming seasons. The Thunder get a big win on the

751
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:12,640
Speaker 1: road in Toronto last night. Yet another big win against

752
00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:17,760
Speaker 1: a good team without aj Mitchell, without Jalen Williams, without

753
00:37:18,040 --> 00:37:20,560
Speaker 1: Shay Gilgess Alexander, which is just a testament to how

754
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:23,799
Speaker 1: strong the foundation is with this team. Now, as we've

755
00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:26,919
Speaker 1: talked about so much over the course of the last

756
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:31,120
Speaker 1: couple of years, the Oklahoma City offense is pretty much

757
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:36,760
Speaker 1: predicated on two things. Defense to transition, like just getting

758
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,800
Speaker 1: all those openings up the floor off of the strength

759
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:41,960
Speaker 1: of your defense, your ability to force turnovers and force

760
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:47,920
Speaker 1: bad misses, and then drible penetration. The Thunder also a

761
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:51,440
Speaker 1: very smart spacing team understands where to cut and relocate

762
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:54,680
Speaker 1: off the ball. They have multiple vertical spacing threats who

763
00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:57,279
Speaker 1: can finish around the rim really well. All of their

764
00:37:57,320 --> 00:38:01,200
Speaker 1: players are actually pretty solid on wide open, unguarded catch

765
00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:04,000
Speaker 1: and shoot threes and They're a pretty good read and

766
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,200
Speaker 1: react team in terms of driving closeouts and making decisions

767
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:08,560
Speaker 1: when they get into the middle of the floor that

768
00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:11,680
Speaker 1: kind of like decision zone. Right. All that sounds great,

769
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:15,480
Speaker 1: None of it matters if you can't break the defense down. Again,

770
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:17,920
Speaker 1: the two ways they break the defense down are defense

771
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:22,120
Speaker 1: to transition in drible penetration. One of the reasons why

772
00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:24,520
Speaker 1: their offense has struggled so much when those top three

773
00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:26,919
Speaker 1: guys have been out is because when they get stuck

774
00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:29,160
Speaker 1: in the half court, they haven't been able to generate

775
00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:33,760
Speaker 1: as much drible penetration. Their offense has been substantially better

776
00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:37,640
Speaker 1: as of late, in large part because of what Cason

777
00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:39,759
Speaker 1: Wallace has done on the ball. I'd add some other

778
00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:41,920
Speaker 1: guys in there. I think the movement shooting of guys

779
00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:44,960
Speaker 1: like Isaiah Joe and Jared McCain they deserve some credit

780
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:46,360
Speaker 1: for that as well. There's a handful of guys that

781
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:48,520
Speaker 1: have done some better work off the bounce in this

782
00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:51,040
Speaker 1: stretch than they did earlier in the season, but caaseon

783
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:52,960
Speaker 1: Wallace is the primary driver of it for me. In

784
00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:55,560
Speaker 1: the last four games. This is the four game stretch

785
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,880
Speaker 1: recently since JDub left the lineup. All games without JDub,

786
00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:03,400
Speaker 1: without Shay, without a Mitchell, Cason Wallace has fifty seven

787
00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:08,320
Speaker 1: drives in those four games. That's insane. That's over fourteen

788
00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:13,160
Speaker 1: per game. That's like a really really impressive amount of

789
00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:16,279
Speaker 1: like breaking the defense down from Cason Wallace. And then

790
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:20,120
Speaker 1: he's also countered it with this three point shooting, which

791
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,480
Speaker 1: has been off the charts. He's started really poorly on

792
00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:26,000
Speaker 1: off the dribble threes this season, but he's made five

793
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:28,320
Speaker 1: of five over the course of the last two games

794
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:31,400
Speaker 1: on off the dribble threes. Hit a couple disgusting ones.

795
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:33,279
Speaker 1: Last night in the second quarter, he had this like

796
00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:36,719
Speaker 1: snatchback dribble off of like a full speed transition drive

797
00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,120
Speaker 1: up the right wing, snatch back off the right wing,

798
00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:41,359
Speaker 1: just got tons of separation which straight up and down

799
00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:43,560
Speaker 1: and knocked it down. There is a level of on

800
00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:47,720
Speaker 1: ball creation that is driving this recent run of wins

801
00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:50,520
Speaker 1: for the Thunder that Cason deserves a lot of credit for.

802
00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:53,360
Speaker 1: And again, like as you look at the coming seasons,

803
00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:58,960
Speaker 1: like having redundancies are good. When Sam Presty's going to

804
00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:01,800
Speaker 1: have to make some tough decisions about who to keep

805
00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:04,879
Speaker 1: and who to let go, so, for instance, adding Jared

806
00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:07,359
Speaker 1: McCain so that you have two movement shooters between him

807
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:09,600
Speaker 1: and Isaiah Joe, so you can make a decision if

808
00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:11,759
Speaker 1: cost cutting comes into the equation on which one you

809
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:13,680
Speaker 1: want to move forward with. I guess is it'll be

810
00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:18,000
Speaker 1: Jared McCain. If you have such a need for dribble

811
00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:21,960
Speaker 1: penetration and you need to have, like you know, in

812
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:24,959
Speaker 1: any given game, two to three guys on the floor

813
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:27,520
Speaker 1: that can consistently break the defense down off the dribble,

814
00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:30,640
Speaker 1: Adding Cason Wallace to that mix. Adding aj Mitchell to

815
00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:33,680
Speaker 1: that mix gives you some flexibility in which direction you

816
00:40:33,719 --> 00:40:37,680
Speaker 1: want to go. Cason Wallace's improvement as a development into

817
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:40,160
Speaker 1: one of the better perimeter defenders in the league gives

818
00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:44,560
Speaker 1: you a redundancy With lou Dort. I'd add Jay will

819
00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:47,319
Speaker 1: and the success he's had this season as a backup center.

820
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:49,279
Speaker 1: He's been awesome this season. Is just so good at

821
00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,560
Speaker 1: so many little things that makes you more able to

822
00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:55,919
Speaker 1: Let's say you go into this offseason and you're like, hey,

823
00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:59,799
Speaker 1: Isaiah Hartenstein, we'd love to keep you at this discounted

824
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,080
Speaker 1: and then some stupid team like the Lakers comes in

825
00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:06,719
Speaker 1: and offers him thirty million a year and you end

826
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:10,520
Speaker 1: up losing Isaiah Hartenstein. That's where having Jay Will gives

827
00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:12,960
Speaker 1: you the redundancy you need to maintain talent as this

828
00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:15,800
Speaker 1: moves forward. There have just been so many hits down

829
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:19,040
Speaker 1: the roster in specific position groups that the Thunder have

830
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:21,960
Speaker 1: a lot of redundancy, which not only is what allows

831
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:23,799
Speaker 1: them to win as guys have been in and out

832
00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,120
Speaker 1: of the lineup this year, but it's also what's gonna

833
00:41:26,120 --> 00:41:28,560
Speaker 1: give them that roster flexibility. Is Sam Presty has to

834
00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:31,719
Speaker 1: make some really tough decisions in the coming seasons. All Right, guys,

835
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:33,400
Speaker 1: It's all I have for today is always to sincerely

836
00:41:33,440 --> 00:41:35,920
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show.

837
00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:38,880
Speaker 1: Got a really fun slate again tonight. The Pistons have

838
00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:41,080
Speaker 1: another big challenge. I think Oklahoma City's coming to town

839
00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:45,760
Speaker 1: for them, and then we have We've got Celtics Nuggets

840
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:47,799
Speaker 1: tonight too. That's a really fun one of Celtics team

841
00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:49,839
Speaker 1: that's red hot and a Nuggets team that desperately needs

842
00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:51,919
Speaker 1: to win. Really jam pack slate tonight. So we're gonna

843
00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:54,200
Speaker 1: have some more game reaction tomorrow and then we'll have

844
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,200
Speaker 1: a mail bag on Friday. I will see you guys

845
00:41:57,200 --> 00:42:01,920
Speaker 1: tomorrow morning.