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Speaker 1: All right, welcome to hoops tonight here at the volume
Speaker 1: heavy Thursday. Everybody in Happy New Year. I hope ball.
Speaker 1: If you guys had a great celebration, got a jam
Speaker 1: pack show for you today. The Cleveland Cavaliers off the
Speaker 1: top are three and zero so far in the West
Speaker 1: Coast road trip. They're riding an eight game winning streak
Speaker 1: where they've won every single game by double figures. Really
Speaker 1: impressive basketball from them. We're going to do a deep
Speaker 1: dive into them off the top. I've been really keyed
Speaker 1: in on the calves over the last couple of weeks
Speaker 1: as their schkeed jewel has gotten tougher and I got
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff that I want to get into
Speaker 1: on that front. I'm also finally I told you guys
Speaker 1: I wanted to watch more games. First, I'm finally ready
Speaker 1: to officially place the Cleveland Cavaliers in my contender rankings.
Speaker 1: We're going to do that at the tail end of
Speaker 1: that segment. After that, I want to talk about the
Speaker 1: Milwaukee Bucks. I had a big impressive comeback win on
Speaker 1: Tuesday against the Indiana Pacers. I want to talk a
Speaker 1: little bit about Giannis and some stuff with the guard rotation.
Speaker 1: After that, Golden State Warriors fans are depressed right now,
Speaker 1: and I want to help offer some perspective as someone
Speaker 1: who's been equally depressed about my team at an earlier
Speaker 1: point in the season and talk about why I still
Speaker 1: believe that team is worth investing in. And then the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Lakers at the tail end of the show,
Speaker 1: I just want to talk briefly about their showdown with
Speaker 1: the Cleveland Cavaliers and some of my takeaways. You guys
Speaker 1: know the job before we get started. Subscribe to the
Speaker 1: Hoops and Night YouTube channel. You don't miss any more
Speaker 1: of our videos, follow me on Twitter and underscore JSNLT
Speaker 1: so you guys don't miss announcements. So forget about a
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Speaker 1: It's also helpful if you leave a rating and a
Speaker 1: review on that front. We also have brand new social
Speaker 1: media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We're releasing content
Speaker 1: throughout the year under the Hoops Tonight banner. Makes sure
Speaker 1: you guys follow us there. In the last not least,
Speaker 1: keep dropping mail back questions in the YouTube comments. Schedule's
Speaker 1: gonna be a little weird over the course of this
Speaker 1: weekend because I'm going on my first ski trip of
Speaker 1: the year Sunday through Tuesday, So I'm probably going to
Speaker 1: work on Saturday and maybe even Sunday morning as well.
Speaker 1: But then we won't be working on Monday and Tuesday,
Speaker 1: so the mail bag might not be on Friday this week.
Speaker 1: It might be on like Saturday or Sunday. I'll let
Speaker 1: you guys know, but make sure you guys keep dropping
Speaker 1: mail back questions in those YouTube comments. All right, let's
Speaker 1: talk some basketball. So, as I said, I've been really
Speaker 1: keyed in on the Cavs over the course of the
Speaker 1: last two weeks as their schedules gotten tougher. It's just tough.
Speaker 1: They had been playing the easy literally the thirtieth ranked
Speaker 1: schedule in the league. Just part of that's the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 1: Part of that's just the way things kind of broke.
Speaker 1: They were on some tough travel schedule at times, but
Speaker 1: like in terms of the quality opponents they were playing,
Speaker 1: they were playing a lot of lesser teams out in
Speaker 1: the East, and they've played a bunch of really good
Speaker 1: teams as of layer. I shouldn't say they haven't played
Speaker 1: the great teams, like the top tier teams like Boston
Speaker 1: and Oklahoma City, but they've played a bunch of really
Speaker 1: good teams in the last couple of weeks. They played
Speaker 1: the Bucks, they played the Sixers, albeit down Stars, but
Speaker 1: they played the Nuggets, they played the Lakers, they played
Speaker 1: the Warriors, and they've just been ripping through all of them.
Speaker 1: They're three to zero on the West Coast road trips
Speaker 1: so far. They've won every game of this eight game
Speaker 1: winning streak by double figures. In this eight game span,
Speaker 1: they have a won twenty four offensive rating, which is
Speaker 1: best in the league. One oh seven defensive rating in
Speaker 1: that span, which is fifth best in the league. I
Speaker 1: want to zoom in on Darius Garland to start, because
Speaker 1: he's just become one of my favorite players to watch
Speaker 1: in the league this year. He has this confidence about
Speaker 1: him now that wasn't there in years past as it
Speaker 1: pertains to getting to his spots. And remember, getting to
Speaker 1: your spots is very much like a combination of a
Speaker 1: bunch of factors, right, Like it's vector of your a
Speaker 1: combination of like your athletic traits, like are you big
Speaker 1: and strong? Are you mobile? Like a combination of those
Speaker 1: sorts of traits. Right. Darius Garland in particular, is incredibly
Speaker 1: quick footed. He can start, stop, and change direction incredibly quickly, right,
Speaker 1: and so that allows him to get to his spots.
Speaker 1: The second piece of it is like ball handling, the
Speaker 1: ability to control the basketball while you're getting to those spots.
Speaker 1: And then the third piece of it is footwork, right,
Speaker 1: that's the ability to actually weaponize your athleticism to get
Speaker 1: to spots. Right. Great example of that is like in
Speaker 1: the Lakers game, every when he did that step through
Speaker 1: move where he like kind of pivoted like he was
Speaker 1: going to shoot over his left shoulder, but then he
Speaker 1: stepped back through to the left and then took that
Speaker 1: extra step to engage ad just to drop it off
Speaker 1: to Jared Allen so that he could get a dunk.
Speaker 1: Like that's a footwork piece that allowed him even though
Speaker 1: the defender cut him off, it allowed him to get
Speaker 1: even more penetration into the lane to engage the rim
Speaker 1: protect protector for him to get a drop off pass.
Speaker 1: I have really enjoyed watching him because it actually kind
Speaker 1: of reminds me of watching like a really really good
Speaker 1: running back in tight space environments. The way he can
Speaker 1: kind of like just change direction and just weave through
Speaker 1: those situations and get where he needs to go. And
Speaker 1: that's been one of the primary driving forces of the calves,
Speaker 1: getting defenses in rotation all the time, which is a
Speaker 1: great which is a great driving force behind the quality
Speaker 1: three point shots that they get, as well as the
Speaker 1: quality rollman touches that they get. And it's kind of
Speaker 1: funny because, like, there are a dozen reasons why the
Speaker 1: calves are so much better now than they were last year,
Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about a bunch of them today.
Speaker 1: But if I had to simplify it down, if someone
Speaker 1: said Hey, Jason in one sentence, won quick sentence, tell
Speaker 1: me why the Cleveland Cavaliers are so much better this
Speaker 1: year than they were last year. I would just say
Speaker 1: Darius Garland and Evan Mobley are both way better than
Speaker 1: they've ever been. That is a influx of talent that
Speaker 1: has turned this into like a two rock solid player team.
Speaker 1: Because Jared Allen's rock solid. You know, it's like a
Speaker 1: role player center. Although he's kicked eights ass again and
Speaker 1: he keeps out playing some of the better centers in
Speaker 1: the league. So there's that that we have to contend with.
Speaker 1: Maybe Jared Allen is just needs to be ranked a
Speaker 1: lot higher among centers, right, But Jared Allen was rock solid.
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell was rock solid. But it's just kind of
Speaker 1: like Mobiley and Garland and just kind of depended on
Speaker 1: the night With those guys, right, both of them have
Speaker 1: become way more reliable and their ceilings are higher. That
Speaker 1: is the simplest way that I can describe the improvement
Speaker 1: in this team. I want to start with Darius. So,
Speaker 1: Darius is at sixty three percent true shooting this year.
Speaker 1: That's four percent higher than he's ever been in his career.
Speaker 1: In this eight game stretch, twenty one points and eight
Speaker 1: assists per game, with one point eight steals per game,
Speaker 1: fifty one percent from the field, forty four percent from three.
Speaker 1: That's a sixty five percent true shooting percentage. His efficiency
Speaker 1: is off the chart. And again, what stands out to
Speaker 1: me on film, and this is the part that I
Speaker 1: enjoy watching so much, is his ability to get to
Speaker 1: his spots. I'm watching him against good perimeter defenders a
Speaker 1: lot of the times, like you're seeing athletes in front
Speaker 1: of Darius Garland, and he's just confidently, almost like with
Speaker 1: a pep in his step, dribbling past these guys and
Speaker 1: getting wherever he wants to on the floor. Once you
Speaker 1: have the ability to get wherever you want to on
Speaker 1: the floor, it becomes about two things. The ability to
Speaker 1: make shots and the ability to make the passing reads.
Speaker 1: And he's always been a great passer, but his shot
Speaker 1: making has been the piece that's been inconsistent with him
Speaker 1: in the past, and his shot making is on another
Speaker 1: level this year. Listen to some of these numbers, it's crazy,
Speaker 1: Like I said, four percent higher and true shooting percentage
Speaker 1: than any season in his career, forty six percent on
Speaker 1: catch and shoot jump shots field goal percentage forty six percent.
Speaker 1: He's making almost half of them forty two percent off
Speaker 1: the dribble waited for threes. He's getting one point one
Speaker 1: zero points per shot in off the dribble situations. Out
Speaker 1: of the thirty two players in the league to attempt
Speaker 1: at least one hundred and fifty pull up jump shots,
Speaker 1: Darius Garland ranks fifth out of those thirty two guys.
Speaker 1: He's become a deadly pull up jump shooter. This is
Speaker 1: the crazy one. He's shooting sixty four percent on floaters.
Speaker 1: That's Jokic territory. He's fifth in the league in total
Speaker 1: floaters made. By the way, for those of who are curious,
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson's number one total floaters made, LaMelo balls number two.
Speaker 1: Interesting one here Jared Jackson at three and then Darren
Speaker 1: Fox at four before we get to Garland at five.
Speaker 1: But sixty four percent on floaters is ridiculous. He's a
Speaker 1: little lower at the ram. He's like fifty four percent
Speaker 1: at the rim, but that's somewhat to be expected with
Speaker 1: a small guard. But the shot making is vital to
Speaker 1: opening up the passing reads. Right Like in the past,
Speaker 1: Darius Garland used to be the kind of guy you
Speaker 1: could run a deeper drop coverage against because one he
Speaker 1: was a capable pull up shooter and a capable floater maker.
Speaker 1: But he was a little more inconsistent and the aggression
Speaker 1: wasn't always there. It wasn't always willing to take those shots.
Speaker 1: That's been a big part with Kenny Atkinson. He's getting
Speaker 1: him to be more willing to take that pull up
Speaker 1: three when it's there, even if it's a little bit
Speaker 1: earlier in the possession, right, But like the aggression in
Speaker 1: the shot making is there. What that has done is
Speaker 1: forced teams to come up to the level. And like
Speaker 1: you want to know why Jared Allen is always wide
Speaker 1: open on the pocket. You want to know why his
Speaker 1: roleman efficiency is up. You want to know why he's
Speaker 1: fourth in the entire league and role man field goals
Speaker 1: made A big part of that is Darius Garland is
Speaker 1: now bringing aggressive pick and roll coverages out to the
Speaker 1: perimeter because of his shot making. He had Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: out at the perimeter that entire game. Every time he
Speaker 1: hit Jared Allen in the pocket, He's rolling downhill and
Speaker 1: it's like Max Christy on the back line, or you
Speaker 1: know Lebron at times who you know doesn't make those
Speaker 1: rotations all the time during the regular season, and he's
Speaker 1: just bigger and he's just finishing over those guys. But
Speaker 1: the only way you're pulling Anthony Davis out to the
Speaker 1: perimeter there is if you are that scoring threat. Darius
Speaker 1: Garland has been the second pick and roll ball handler
Speaker 1: in the entire league this year with a minimum of
Speaker 1: four hundred reps. Number one is Tyree Slliburton. Number two
Speaker 1: is Darius Garland. He's become one of my favorite players
Speaker 1: to watch in the league. It's a joy to watch
Speaker 1: him dribble around the floor and get wherever he wants.
Speaker 1: He's picking teams apart right now while scoring on him
Speaker 1: to can't say enough about Darius Garland. Well, Evan Mobley.
Speaker 1: It comes down to two things. It's a change in
Speaker 1: the way he's been used on offense. We talked about
Speaker 1: this a lot in the earlier part of the season.
Speaker 1: Right Like, his roleman touches are down, which is good
Speaker 1: because he's not very good at the roleman touches, and
Speaker 1: then his ball handling touches are up, which is good
Speaker 1: because he's a good playmaker, and he's at his best
Speaker 1: when he's trying to get his momentum going towards the
Speaker 1: rim with the ball in his hands. Off the dribble.
Speaker 1: He's run eighty eight ISOs and pick and rolls this year,
Speaker 1: including passes for eighty nine points. That's over a point
Speaker 1: per possession, so he's generating offense there. And then the
Speaker 1: big one is his spot up shooting. He's shooting fifty
Speaker 1: percent on threes during this win streak, this eight game
Speaker 1: win streak on three point four attempts per game, that's
Speaker 1: pretty solid volume, and he's up to forty three percent
Speaker 1: on the season. Teams are leaving him open and he's
Speaker 1: just making them, and he's making them at a great rate.
Speaker 1: So as a result, you're getting real offensive firepower out
Speaker 1: of Evan Mobley. Nineteen points per game that's functional both
Speaker 1: on the ball and off the ball, with four assists
Speaker 1: per game during this eight game streak, that's a real uptick.
Speaker 1: And then most importantly, both Evan Mobley and Darius Garland
Speaker 1: have addressed their biggest weaknesses, which are weaknesses that got
Speaker 1: them beat in the pass. Like with Mobley, it was
Speaker 1: how do we use this guy on offense right when
Speaker 1: he was in pick and roll, his shortcomings and making
Speaker 1: decisions on the role became a problem. Now where he's
Speaker 1: still getting the occasional role man touch, but now that
Speaker 1: he's doing more of his work offensively as a spot
Speaker 1: up guy and hitting shots and on the ball generating shots,
Speaker 1: it's made him into a useful offensive player in a
Speaker 1: way that he wasn't in years past. With Garland, it
Speaker 1: was two things. It was can he be aggressive as
Speaker 1: a scorer and successful as a scorer in big spots,
Speaker 1: which we'll talk about in a minute, and then the
Speaker 1: defensive end of the floor. And here's the deal. Teams
Speaker 1: are attacking Darius Garland. They are, but he's fighting and
Speaker 1: he's not as easy to target as he looks. I
Speaker 1: think he's at his best when he's trying to be disruptive.
Speaker 1: When he can be passive, it can be an issue
Speaker 1: with his size, But when he's aggressive and he's attacking
Speaker 1: the basketball, he can force turnovers and speed guys up.
Speaker 1: That's the real Those are the reps that I see
Speaker 1: with him that look best. But on offense, he's demonstrated
Speaker 1: a clear step forward, but the next step is doing
Speaker 1: it in the postseason, and this is Cavs fans worry
Speaker 1: about this sometimes, this is what a lot of people
Speaker 1: around the league are thinking about, right Like, the next
Speaker 1: step is doing it in the postseason. He's averaging fourteen
Speaker 1: points per game inefficiently in seventeen playoff games in his career.
Speaker 1: That said, I am optimistic. I think Darius Garland is
Speaker 1: gonna have a very successful playoff run this year. The
Speaker 1: main reason why is because there are clear signs that
Speaker 1: he's just improving. Like, he's way better in the postseason.
Speaker 1: He was way better last year than he was the
Speaker 1: first year, right like in the knixt Series he was
Speaker 1: so bad, then not as good as you want him
Speaker 1: to be in the Orlando Series, but better. And then
Speaker 1: he's obviously way better this year than he was last year.
Speaker 1: So there are these clear signs of improvement, which to
Speaker 1: me are like a clear sign that the guy's working
Speaker 1: his ass off behind the scenes, and that to me
Speaker 1: means you're destined for improvement. So my guess is we
Speaker 1: get another big leap forward for Garland this year in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Does that mean he's going to be just
Speaker 1: as efficient in volumess with the scoring as he was
Speaker 1: in the regular season, not necessarily, but I think he's
Speaker 1: going to be better than he has been. Now. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we focused in a lot on Darius Garland and Evan
Speaker 1: Mobley today, but I want to talk about some team
Speaker 1: wide stuff and then I want to talk about Donovan
Speaker 1: Mitchell and how he fits into all this. First of all,
Speaker 1: this is one of the hardest playing teams that I've
Speaker 1: seen in my entire time watching the NBA. Do you
Speaker 1: know how hard it is to win eight consecutive games
Speaker 1: by double figures with the EBB and flow of effort
Speaker 1: in the NBA? And when teams do finally kick in
Speaker 1: with desperation late and they can get a game close,
Speaker 1: it's that fake comeback thing that all of us fans
Speaker 1: have seen with our favorite teams right like, it is
Speaker 1: hard to do this. The main reason why is they
Speaker 1: have incredible running habits on both ends of the floor.
Speaker 1: When the possession ends either way, whether they get a
Speaker 1: stop or they miss a shot on offense, all five
Speaker 1: guys quickly disengage from whatever they're doing and they start
Speaker 1: sprinting their lanes. This is how they generate somebody transition threes.
Speaker 1: This is something I've been talking a lot about they're
Speaker 1: shooting forty four percent on transition threes this year, and
Speaker 1: I think they're third in makes in terms of transition
Speaker 1: threes per game. And a big part of that is
Speaker 1: everyone's running their lanes so that when they throw those
Speaker 1: kick ahead passes or when the ball handler attempts to
Speaker 1: pressure the rim, there are kickout options. If you don't
Speaker 1: run the floor, there are no kickout options, right, And
Speaker 1: like a lot of times, these are rotation situations. Driving
Speaker 1: kick basketball is how we get wide up in threes, right, Like, oh,
Speaker 1: beat this guy off the dribble, draw help kick. Oh
Speaker 1: he gets a close out, but you make an extra pass,
Speaker 1: so that guy drives a close out. There's another guy
Speaker 1: someone's wide open finally and they shoot the three. Right.
Speaker 1: That's how you do it in the half court. In transition.
Speaker 1: It's the same concept. You throw a kick ahead pass,
Speaker 1: that dude drops it off to the trailer, guy closes
Speaker 1: out at himy pump fakes and he rips. There needs
Speaker 1: to be a guy in the right corner. There needs
Speaker 1: to be a guy in the corner ready for that
Speaker 1: kickout pass, and if he misses, there needs to be
Speaker 1: another or if he gets closed out at there needs
Speaker 1: to be another option, right, Like those options are available
Speaker 1: in transition when you run the floor, and it is
Speaker 1: just habitual for this team. Everybody runs all game and
Speaker 1: most importantly, they do it every possession of every game.
Speaker 1: This is why most of their games end in blowouts.
Speaker 1: Teams no Cleveland likes to run, so they start games
Speaker 1: all sharp and focused and they're playing hard and they're
Speaker 1: getting back in transition and they hang around, but the
Speaker 1: onslaught never stops, and eventually that team like, let's go
Speaker 1: of the rope, and then the Calves blow you out
Speaker 1: because they just keep running. The Warriors game was a
Speaker 1: great example of that. The Warriors were hanging for the
Speaker 1: most part, and then in that third quarter stretch they
Speaker 1: let go of the rope for a minute. It was
Speaker 1: like bam transition, three, bam transition three bam transition three.
Speaker 1: Oh shit, we're down twenty. The game's over, right, Like
Speaker 1: that's what they do. The second reason I wanted to
Speaker 1: talk about is the shooting. The Calves are shooting preposterously well,
Speaker 1: two percent better than anyone else from three, two percent
Speaker 1: better than anyone else on wide open threes, five percent
Speaker 1: better than anyone else on clutch threes, and they're making
Speaker 1: the most opthagibble threes in the league. Now I want
Speaker 1: to focus more on what the Calves themselves can control.
Speaker 1: There's gonna be a lot of discussions surrounding will Cleveland
Speaker 1: make threes when they get to the playoffs, And that's
Speaker 1: a real factor, right, Will they make threes could play
Speaker 1: a huge role in whether or not they end up
Speaker 1: getting where they want to go. But I find that
Speaker 1: conversation kind of pointless because we don't know. It's all
Speaker 1: speculation and there's only one way to find out, which
Speaker 1: is let's go to the playoffs and let's see what happens. Right,
Speaker 1: But we're not gonna be able to do that for
Speaker 1: the short term. I think it's important to discuss the
Speaker 1: way that Cleveland generates their threes. And there's two things
Speaker 1: that I want to get into there. First of all,
Speaker 1: is the transition piece. Right, we already broke that down,
Speaker 1: running your lanes, kick ahead passes, pressuring the rim, playing
Speaker 1: quick driving, driving kick sequences in the chaos of the
Speaker 1: transition situations. But it's also in the half court. This
Speaker 1: team is addicted to making the right reads, making the
Speaker 1: extra pass, and hunting the great shots. On every single possession.
Speaker 1: Talked to earlier about transition, their top five and transition
Speaker 1: threes generated and number one and transition three percentage. But
Speaker 1: over the course of games, they generate twenty point four
Speaker 1: wide open threes per game, that's ninth in the NBA.
Speaker 1: And they generate fifteen point three open threes per game.
Speaker 1: So wide open is defender at least six feet away.
Speaker 1: Open is defender between four and six feet away. So
Speaker 1: all threes where the defenders at least four feet away.
Speaker 1: They're generating thirty five point seven per game, which is
Speaker 1: in the top ten in the NBA. They do that
Speaker 1: through their decision making. They do that through making the
Speaker 1: extra pass. They do that through hunting the right closeout
Speaker 1: reads no one is there. It was so funny watching
Speaker 1: that Lakers Calves game because you'd see Ruy Hachimura drive
Speaker 1: and Evan Mobley disengage off of Day and Finney Smith
Speaker 1: and come to double Ruey Hachimura from behind, and he
Speaker 1: just doesn't see it, and so Evan Mobley blocks him.
Speaker 1: Now the Calves are running out the other way, Whereas
Speaker 1: every single time a Laker would offer help in a
Speaker 1: situation like that, the Calves are making that extra pass
Speaker 1: they're making that kickout pass. It was stark to see
Speaker 1: the difference between the guys like Ruy Max Christy Dalton
Speaker 1: connect on their driving kick reads compared to the driving
Speaker 1: kick reads that guys for Cleveland were making. It was
Speaker 1: really stark and that's something to call out because that's
Speaker 1: part of the identity of this team. Lastly, the defense.
Speaker 1: Calves aren't a perfect defense. They're currently eighth in the NBA.
Speaker 1: They have some entry points that you can attack. They
Speaker 1: still struggle on the defensive glass from time to time
Speaker 1: like they have in the past, but they compete. This
Speaker 1: actually reminds me of Boston in the sense that there's
Speaker 1: an organizational pride to where every individual competes defensively, even
Speaker 1: the lesser defenders. When they get hunted, they take it
Speaker 1: personally and they compete in the slide their feet. You
Speaker 1: see Georgia kneeing sliding his feet in trying to get stop.
Speaker 1: You see Sam Merril sliding his feet. You see Darius
Speaker 1: Garland sliding his feet. Those guys do their best, and
Speaker 1: then schematically they're really smart with their help and recover.
Speaker 1: When they see a ball handler has his back turned
Speaker 1: or he's now seeing the floor. They're digging, they're doubling,
Speaker 1: they're being aggressive, but they stay home when it comes
Speaker 1: to the easy kickout reads, which is a big part
Speaker 1: of how they force turnovers. Again, they're one of the best.
Speaker 1: They're second in the league in scoring off of opponent turnovers.
Speaker 1: All of those things are team wide details that Cleveland
Speaker 1: is excellent with every single night, which always gives them
Speaker 1: a great chance to win the game. Again, if you
Speaker 1: look at a basketball team as a combination of like
Speaker 1: your talent, what they're capable of, and then the basketball
Speaker 1: character the brand of basketball you're playing. Even if we
Speaker 1: just remove talent from the equation, which, like we talked about,
Speaker 1: Darius is awesome. Excuse me, Donovan's awesome, Jared Allen's awesome,
Speaker 1: Darius Garland's way better than he's ever been. Evan Mobley's
Speaker 1: way better than he's ever been. It's like a big four.
Speaker 1: So they're talented. I'm not trying to undercut that. But
Speaker 1: on the side, they're also just playing the best overall basketball. Like,
Speaker 1: irrespective of talent, they're playing the best basketball that anyone's
Speaker 1: playing in the league right now. And what that's done
Speaker 1: is it slotted Donovan Mitchell as the perfect tip of
Speaker 1: a spear that you need him to be rather than
Speaker 1: asking him to do too much. I've loved his role
Speaker 1: on this team. His usage is the lowest it's been
Speaker 1: since his rookie year. He just gets to pick his spots.
Speaker 1: I thought the Warriors game was the perfect example of this.
Speaker 1: He's kind of just floating through the game, letting things
Speaker 1: go the way they're going to go. And then in
Speaker 1: the third quarter the Warrior the Calves are up like
Speaker 1: eleven or something like that, and Donovan Mitchell's like, I
Speaker 1: smell blood in the water. I think these dudes are
Speaker 1: about to quit if I hit a couple of big
Speaker 1: shots here and he gets hyper aggressive and he hits
Speaker 1: two or three pull up threes in a row, all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you're up twenty and the game is over, right,
Speaker 1: Like that's the type, Like that's a great way to
Speaker 1: use Donavan Mitchell is as this tip of a spear
Speaker 1: who can be hyper aggressive in these shorter spurts, but
Speaker 1: you're not depending on him to be Luka Doncic for
Speaker 1: the entire game. Right. So, as I look at this
Speaker 1: team in the big picture, I think I'm ready to
Speaker 1: place them in my contender rankings. Finally, before the show,
Speaker 1: I had Boston number one, Oklahoma City number two, in
Speaker 1: Dallas number three. I want to move them above Dallas.
Speaker 1: I think they represent a better version of Dallas in
Speaker 1: a lot of ways. Like they also have excellent rimp
Speaker 1: protection in the front court. I think Mobiley and Allen
Speaker 1: is just a better front court than like PJ. Washington,
Speaker 1: Derek Lively and Daniel Gafford. They have two great shot creators. Now,
Speaker 1: obviously Luca and Kyrie is a better duo for sure
Speaker 1: than Donovan mitchell On and Darius Garland. But I do
Speaker 1: think I like Cleveland's overall offensive skill more. They have
Speaker 1: more shooting. I think Ty Jerome is a better backup
Speaker 1: backup guard than going with someone like Spencer Dinwoodie for
Speaker 1: who's been getting a lot of those reps for Dallas
Speaker 1: as of late. In general with Lavert too, like I
Speaker 1: just think Cleveland's overall ball handling is better. I think
Speaker 1: Luca is also a bigger weak point in a defense
Speaker 1: than Garland. The main reason why is one Garland competes
Speaker 1: more on the defensive end, and two Garland is fast
Speaker 1: enough for some schematic flexibility you can't hedge and recover
Speaker 1: with Luca because he's too slow. You can hedge and
Speaker 1: recover with Darius and try to avoid him getting into
Speaker 1: switches because he's fast enough and capable of closing out
Speaker 1: and existing in that rotation type of situation where you're
Speaker 1: sprinting around. And then lastly, the basketball character piece. I
Speaker 1: think Cleveland is a sharper basketball team. That's no offense
Speaker 1: to Dallas. They're the sharpest basketball team in the league
Speaker 1: when it comes to details and execution. No one's doing
Speaker 1: it better than Cleveland right now. So I want to
Speaker 1: move them above Dallas, and then I want to move
Speaker 1: them above OKAC. And the main reason why there is
Speaker 1: their shooting. I think Cleveland's offense is more resilience. As
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, between all the units Cleveland's offense,
Speaker 1: Cleveland's defense, Oklahoma City's offense, Oklahoma City's defense, I think
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City's offense is easily the least trustworthy of any
Speaker 1: of those groups. We've seen just too many times how
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City's offense can literally bog down into nothing. Shay
Speaker 1: I think is a better player than Donovan Mitchell, but
Speaker 1: I think the overall shot creation is also better for Cleveland. Like,
Speaker 1: take Shay and Donovan out, who do you trust Darius Garland,
Speaker 1: Ty Jerome and a Karris Lavert or Jalen Williams who's
Speaker 1: really young, and Chet Holmgren who's really young. Right, Like,
Speaker 1: That's why I lean, now Oklahoma City can end up
Speaker 1: making a trade and making this more complicated. But I
Speaker 1: think I trust Cleveland's shot creators more too. Now I'm
Speaker 1: not ready to move them ahead of Boston because I
Speaker 1: think Boston still has more versatility on both ends of
Speaker 1: the floor. They have more defensive looks they can go
Speaker 1: to in more ways. They can attack you on offense
Speaker 1: by virtue of them having five dudes who make thirty
Speaker 1: million dollars a year, that's just kind of their talent advantage, right.
Speaker 1: I also think Boston schematically has the ability to turn
Speaker 1: Allan Jared Allen into more of a dunker spot guy
Speaker 1: than a roleman. This is the Jason Tatum luxury, right.
Speaker 1: He can guard and make that action switchable, which could
Speaker 1: force Cleveland into using Evan Mobley as a roleman more,
Speaker 1: which is something that we know that he can struggle
Speaker 1: with at times. And so I actually think that Boston
Speaker 1: still has some significant advantages there. Now, I will say this,
Speaker 1: and this is a message to the Boston Celtics. The
Speaker 1: Cleveland Cavaliers are coming for you. They're addicted to winning,
Speaker 1: and at this specific point in time, they're playing better
Speaker 1: basketball than the Celtics. That's not really up for debate
Speaker 1: if you just look at the results. I'm not saying
Speaker 1: they're a better team, but right now they're playing better basketball.
Speaker 1: And while Cleveland has been attacking this season from start
Speaker 1: to finish, the Celtics have been relaxing and playing some
Speaker 1: of the worst basketball that they've played in this era.
Speaker 1: Now here's the deal. You are better than Cleveland. The
Speaker 1: Celtics are better than Cleveland. You have more talent, you
Speaker 1: have more experience, but Cleveland right now is sharper than you.
Speaker 1: The question will be, is your talent advantage bigger than
Speaker 1: the deficit you have and how sharp you are compared
Speaker 1: to Cleveland. If the Cleveland Cavaliers are sharper to a
Speaker 1: greater extent than you are more talented, they will beat you.
Speaker 1: Right now, I lean Boston, but Cleveland absolutely can win
Speaker 1: that series. And the challenge, and this is the challenge,
Speaker 1: like Boston has to take this seriously because if they don't,
Speaker 1: they need to have the appropriate amount of fear, is
Speaker 1: my point. You have to have a goal now between
Speaker 1: now and April of becoming sharper to minimize that gap
Speaker 1: so that your talent gap can carry you over the top.
Speaker 1: And that sort of matchup again, it's just a challenge.
Speaker 1: The Boston Celtics deserve to be favored, but they need
Speaker 1: to have the appropriate fear of this matchup. But shout
Speaker 1: out to the Cleveland Cavaliers at this point second place
Speaker 1: in my contender's list. All right, let's go on. I
Speaker 1: want to talk briefly about that Indiana Milwaukee game. The
Speaker 1: late game chess match was really interesting to see the
Speaker 1: way the two offenses were playing all ball screens for
Speaker 1: Giannis but like on ball, so he was running like
Speaker 1: ball screens with Bobby Portis and really picking on Miles Turner.
Speaker 1: It's been fun watching Giannis's playmaking continue to level up
Speaker 1: over the years. One of the things that Miles Turner
Speaker 1: was doing is he was kind of like showing up
Speaker 1: high to stop Giannis from turning the corner as so
Speaker 1: that he wouldn't get ahead of steam in those ball screens,
Speaker 1: forcing him to kind of like come up with a
Speaker 1: hesitation dribble rather than just attacking. But in the process
Speaker 1: he would then turn around and then run back to
Speaker 1: Bobby Portis or Brook Lopez and Jannis got brooked with
Speaker 1: it once and Bobby with it once, but literally just
Speaker 1: as soon as Miles Turner would turn his head, Jiannis
Speaker 1: would then throw the pass just right over his head,
Speaker 1: right to the role man and get a layup. And
Speaker 1: I'm like, that's such a cool little like like a
Speaker 1: development in Gianni's playmaking where it's not even just about
Speaker 1: reading where the defender is, but whether or not the
Speaker 1: defender's paying attention. That's a huge difference, Like the like,
Speaker 1: if a defender is not paying attention, that's the best
Speaker 1: time to throw that pass because you have that split
Speaker 1: second before they even realize what's happening and can try
Speaker 1: to make a rotation or try to get an arm
Speaker 1: up or something along those lines. But there's a lot
Speaker 1: of that. It was also a lot of inverted ball screens,
Speaker 1: a lot of like aj Green screening for Yannis and
Speaker 1: then slipping out of it, Damian Lillard screening for Yannis
Speaker 1: and slipping out of it, and Giannis was doing a
Speaker 1: ton of damage there. But then on the other end
Speaker 1: of the floor, the Pacers were running the exact same
Speaker 1: thing every time. They were running a pick and pop
Speaker 1: with Turner in Halliburton. And as I've told you, guys,
Speaker 1: the pick and pop is always open against the drop coverage.
Speaker 1: It's just quite literally always open. So Milwaukee had no
Speaker 1: choice but to rotate from the weak side. So basically,
Speaker 1: like the Pacers were just running the pick and pop,
Speaker 1: pitching it back to Turner, Milwaukee was rotating. Then they'd
Speaker 1: swing it to the Wayne and Andrew and Emhart whoever
Speaker 1: it was that was over there, and then they would
Speaker 1: just play driving kick out of it. And so they
Speaker 1: were consistently having those advantage situations. So it kind of
Speaker 1: turned into this interesting contest of like Yannis surgical in
Speaker 1: the half court versus like, how well do the Bucks
Speaker 1: rotate when they're dealing with all these guys driving and
Speaker 1: kicking on them? And you know, I have to say,
Speaker 1: like I thought, the Bucks did a really good job
Speaker 1: in their defensive rotations the entire second half, even in
Speaker 1: their zone. Look when they were getting pulled into all
Speaker 1: these different directions, guys are just sprinting and making those
Speaker 1: efforts even guys that were not making those efforts earlier
Speaker 1: in the season, like Damian Lillard and Gary Trent Junior.
Speaker 1: They were making those efforts and then kind of came
Speaker 1: down to this like crazy sequence where Gary Trent ends
Speaker 1: up saving the day with a couple of rescue possessions.
Speaker 1: He hits like a off of this crazy sequence. He
Speaker 1: hits a catch and shoot three on the left wing,
Speaker 1: and then he hits like a smothered, wonderable like push
Speaker 1: shot out of the right corner that he knocked down
Speaker 1: that ended up being kind of the dagger in this one.
Speaker 1: But then Yannis the other thing that was big in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, Jannis is off the dribble shot making.
Speaker 1: He hit like a turnaround jump shot over his right
Speaker 1: shoulder during the stretch of the game where he was
Speaker 1: just absolutely frying Jaris Walker, and then he had a
Speaker 1: won like fade away over Jarifs Walker he hit to
Speaker 1: ice the game. He had like this nasty step back
Speaker 1: jump shot out by like the left elbow extended that
Speaker 1: put him up by seven in the final minute. The
Speaker 1: biggest thing that stood out to me there was his confidence,
Speaker 1: like he's talking shit, he's hunting those shots, and it
Speaker 1: didn't even feel like settling. It felt like the right
Speaker 1: balance to what he was doing off the dribble in
Speaker 1: those situations, like he was attacking in those ball screens
Speaker 1: and getting downhill NonStop. But it was such a good
Speaker 1: balance between not over penetrating when the coverage dictated it
Speaker 1: and making the right passing raid like those passing raads
Speaker 1: in pick and roll, the ending late clock situations with
Speaker 1: off the dribble, shot making when he needed to, getting
Speaker 1: downhill to the rim, and being that wrecking ball that
Speaker 1: we all know that he can be. It was such
Speaker 1: a magnificent offensive second half from Giannis as he pulled
Speaker 1: them back. He just refused to let his team lose
Speaker 1: that game. And then again, one of the big things
Speaker 1: that's been standing out to me all season is the
Speaker 1: Bucks having kind of like an interesting guard rotation now
Speaker 1: in a way that was a huge problem all of
Speaker 1: last year and looked like a problem to start this year.
Speaker 1: And they have so many options right like aj Green's
Speaker 1: the best shooter, and his shooting was huge in the
Speaker 1: second half of this game. He had like this crazy
Speaker 1: three off of an offensive rebound in the off the
Speaker 1: left wing that was like a twenty eight footer hit
Speaker 1: a big right corner three in another chaos situation. Late,
Speaker 1: AJ's your shooter. Andre's your best athlete and your best defender.
Speaker 1: So like, if you just need a wrecking ball at
Speaker 1: the spot, Andre's the way to go. Gary Trent Junior
Speaker 1: is probably the best overall offensive player in terms of
Speaker 1: ball handling and shot making. He ended up getting the
Speaker 1: nod late in this game, right, and it was the
Speaker 1: right call. Doc has all season long, has had a
Speaker 1: great feel for like, am I going with Gary Trent
Speaker 1: or am I going with Aj Green? Am I going
Speaker 1: with Andre Jackson, am I going with Bobby Portis, or
Speaker 1: am I going with Brook Lopez? Right? Like, He's had
Speaker 1: a great feel for that all year. Even Ryan Rolin
Speaker 1: seems to be kind of an interesting future option for
Speaker 1: the Bucks at that two guard spot. He's a good
Speaker 1: perimeter athlete that can shoot the ball. He's shooting really
Speaker 1: well and catch and shoot situations. This year, I've seen
Speaker 1: him make some pretty impressive athletic plays. He had this
Speaker 1: play where he was against the Bulls where he's chasing
Speaker 1: Kobe White over the top of his screen and blocked
Speaker 1: him on a rear view contest. He had this kind
Speaker 1: of a garbage time play against the Wizards where he
Speaker 1: got Alex sar in Iso and just hit him with
Speaker 1: the between the legs crossover, toasted him off the dribble,
Speaker 1: and just dunked all over him with his left hand,
Speaker 1: like he's an interesting option for the future. They just
Speaker 1: have a lot more options in those spots than it
Speaker 1: appeared to be at the beginning of the season, and
Speaker 1: certainly a hell of a lot more than last year.
Speaker 1: You anchor that with how these guys have been playing
Speaker 1: like since the n Season tournament ended their three and
Speaker 1: three all three of their losses. Jana stam Or both
Speaker 1: were out for those games. They're fourth in defensive rating
Speaker 1: over that six game span, a one zero six defensive rating,
Speaker 1: which means even when their talent has been out, they've
Speaker 1: been competing. And again, and I talked about their defensive
Speaker 1: rotations against Indiana, they are committed. That's the most exciting
Speaker 1: development like the Bucks to me, look like a team
Speaker 1: that is now fully committed to the work. They are
Speaker 1: bought into the daily process of being the best basketball
Speaker 1: team that they can be. And so I really want
Speaker 1: to shout out Doc rivers, Damian Lillard and Jannison Tannakoombo.
Speaker 1: All three of them have just been so locked in
Speaker 1: and doing some of their best work. And again, like
Speaker 1: I talk about this all the time, but this is
Speaker 1: a non negotiable part of the championship process, especially for
Speaker 1: teams that don't have overwhelming talent. Milwaukee's a lot more
Speaker 1: talented than I thought they were to start the year,
Speaker 1: but they are not overwhelmingly talented, like Boston has been
Speaker 1: relaxing a lot this year, but they have a huge
Speaker 1: talent advantage. And even with Boston, I feel like they're
Speaker 1: playing a dangerous game with respect to Cleveland, like they
Speaker 1: if they're not sharp enough, Cleveland can beat them. Like
Speaker 1: sharp sharpness is the difference in a lot of cases.
Speaker 1: The team that runs and rotates and executes and is
Speaker 1: the right thing every single possession puts themselves in a
Speaker 1: position where their talent can push them over the top,
Speaker 1: especially when you have guys like Giannis and Name. I've
Speaker 1: just been really impressed by them. And again, like it
Speaker 1: could not have looked worse than it did in that
Speaker 1: two and eight start, but this team looks completely engaged
Speaker 1: and completely bought into that process. All right. A couple
Speaker 1: things I wanted to get into before we get out
Speaker 1: of here. The Warriors. I've since a lot of negativity
Speaker 1: for Warriors fans. I did a radio hit in the
Speaker 1: San Francisco area on Tuesday where there was quite a
Speaker 1: bit of negativity as well. Like I understand the sentiment,
Speaker 1: like this is a remarkably long slump. You were twelve
Speaker 1: and three at one point in time and now you're
Speaker 1: five hundred, Like, I get it, But I do really
Speaker 1: think that mostly this is a slump, like nobody is
Speaker 1: playing well for the Warriors right now. The team as
Speaker 1: a team against Cleveland was oh for fourteen on wide
Speaker 1: open threes, meaning the defender was at least six feet away.
Speaker 1: They were oh for fourteen. Steph Curry and Buddy Heeld,
Speaker 1: your two best shooters, were oh for seven on wide
Speaker 1: open threes. Even if you think Steph is losing his step,
Speaker 1: Even if you think he's not as capable of getting
Speaker 1: separation as he used to, He's gonna shoot better than
Speaker 1: oh for four on wide open threes like he did
Speaker 1: against Cleveland. Buddy Held will play better, Andrew Wiggins will
Speaker 1: play better. Gary Paynon, the second will get healthy. Role
Speaker 1: players will make more shots. A lot of this is
Speaker 1: just the reality of the nature of the regular season
Speaker 1: in the Western Conference. Denver just had a stretch where
Speaker 1: they lost three out of five and things were looking bleak.
Speaker 1: Now they've won three in a row. They have the
Speaker 1: seventh best record in the league. Earlier the season, the
Speaker 1: Nuggets lost seven out of eleven. Here's where they're at now.
Speaker 1: So there have been two separate points already this season
Speaker 1: where I've seen Nuggets fans, Nuggets fans that I follow
Speaker 1: and talked to, are like, this shit looks bleak. Now
Speaker 1: it looks good again. The Lakers. You remember I had
Speaker 1: a complete meltdown three weeks ago about the Lakers, and
Speaker 1: they've currently won five out of seven and things have
Speaker 1: stabilized for them. This is the nature of the Western Conference.
Speaker 1: You're always two good weeks from being the five seed,
Speaker 1: in two bad weeks from being the eleven seed. That
Speaker 1: is how this goes. You're in one of the downstretches
Speaker 1: right now, and exceptionally downstretch. I get it, but that's
Speaker 1: all this is. It's a downstretch in my opinion. The
Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors right now are three games back from
Speaker 1: the seventh best record in the league. You're two good
Speaker 1: weeks from the seventh best record in the league. But Jason,
Speaker 1: we can't beat the tough teams in the league, so
Speaker 1: why should we try to improve this roster. Well, first
Speaker 1: of all, that's a loser mentality. If the cases we
Speaker 1: can't beat Boston, Cleveland, or Oklahoma City then or those
Speaker 1: three teams are obviously better us, then twenty seven teams
Speaker 1: in the league should just pack it up and quit.
Speaker 1: That's foolishness. You go for it because anything can happen.
Speaker 1: A star gets hurt, a team gets upset. What if
Speaker 1: a lesser team gets out of the East, like a
Speaker 1: team that's not Boston or Cleveland gets out of the
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference, and then suddenly it's like, if we beat
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City, we have a chance to win the title.
Speaker 1: You guys have all seen how Oklahoma City's offense can crumble.
Speaker 1: Milwaukee is a team that if you ask Golden State fans, like,
Speaker 1: how much better is Milwaukee than you, most of you
Speaker 1: guys aren't going to think they're that much better. They've
Speaker 1: had big down stretches this year. Milwaukee handled Oklahoma City
Speaker 1: because they're veteran, they're older, they're more experienced than they
Speaker 1: were able to defend the way they needed to do.
Speaker 1: You think Golden State's older in experience and capable of
Speaker 1: defending the way they needed to. I think everybody in
Speaker 1: the Western Conference is beatable. Oklahoma City's offense can fall apart.
Speaker 1: We talked about that, so can Memphis is because they're
Speaker 1: spot up shooting. Their ability to convert spot up possessions
Speaker 1: is really poor in this league. Houston's offense sucks. Denver
Speaker 1: is the weakest they've been since twenty twenty one. Dallas
Speaker 1: has injury issues. I like Dallas, but they have injury issues.
Speaker 1: The Clippers are depending on James Harden and Kawhi Leonard.
Speaker 1: The Lakers are depending on forty year old Lebron and
Speaker 1: still don't have a starting two guard. Minnesota, their entire three,
Speaker 1: four five just can't shoot. So now follow this through
Speaker 1: with me to conclusion. What if you make a deal
Speaker 1: for a higher level offensive player and that comes in
Speaker 1: and helps screeze the wheels for you offensively. Now, for
Speaker 1: the record, before you say, Jason, why are you trying
Speaker 1: to trade Jonathan Kaminga? This is an important clarification because
Speaker 1: I've seen this on Twitter and on YouTube comments. I
Speaker 1: am not advocating for the Warriors to trade Jonathan Kaminga.
Speaker 1: I am advocating for the Warriors to make a trade
Speaker 1: like Jonathan Kaminga. As good as he is, he is young,
Speaker 1: he's mistake prone, he's inconsistent. That doesn't mean you just
Speaker 1: get rid of him. If you can make a deal,
Speaker 1: if you can go get if you can go get
Speaker 1: a good offensive player and not include Jonathan Kaminga by
Speaker 1: all means do it. I'm just saying, if that's the
Speaker 1: if that's the sticking point, you got it, include it.
Speaker 1: The numbers are pretty clear. As good as Jonathan Kaminga is,
Speaker 1: he doesn't really impact winning that much at this point
Speaker 1: in his career. He can't consistently knock down spot up shots,
Speaker 1: and he's a bad off ball defender. Those are two
Speaker 1: things that will be crippling in a postseason series. If
Speaker 1: you're getting lost off the ball and you're not following
Speaker 1: the game plan defensively, and you can't knock down a
Speaker 1: wide open shot when a defense is daring you to
Speaker 1: do it, those are things that are going to be
Speaker 1: a problem in a postseason matchup. As good as you
Speaker 1: I have a big believer in Jonathan Kamina. In the
Speaker 1: big picture, I don't even care that he's mistake prone.
Speaker 1: He's a young forward. He's a young athletic forward who
Speaker 1: is raw. I would love for him to have an
Speaker 1: opportunity to go to some team or even with the Warriors,
Speaker 1: to have lots of usage, lots of shots, to make
Speaker 1: a lot of mistakes and learn to play on the
Speaker 1: fly and not have that kind of pressure. That's not
Speaker 1: this situation. You're on a roster with Steph Curry and
Speaker 1: Draymond Green. He's not gonna get that leash here. So
Speaker 1: my thing is, if push comes to shove and a
Speaker 1: team goes, yeah, you can have this player, but you
Speaker 1: gotta give us Jonathan Kaminga, I would give him up.
Speaker 1: That's all I'm saying. I'm not saying you give him
Speaker 1: up just because I'm not saying you trade him just
Speaker 1: because you want to get him off the roster. If
Speaker 1: you can have his upside and play him on the
Speaker 1: games he's playing well, and sit him in the games
Speaker 1: he's not, that's the ideal outcome. But I'm just saying,
Speaker 1: if it push comes to shove and the team goes,
Speaker 1: we want Jonathan, you gotta include Jonathan. But follow me
Speaker 1: through this. Through with this to conclusion. If you make
Speaker 1: a deal for a higher level offensive player, that guy
Speaker 1: comes in and helps squeze the wheels. What if Steph
Speaker 1: starts playing better, which I believe he will. What if
Speaker 1: that reinvigorates your defense and you get to the level
Speaker 1: you were at earlier in the season. What if that
Speaker 1: creates smaller roles for everyone else that they can suddenly
Speaker 1: thrive in. I know it's hard to imagine right now,
Speaker 1: but remember this isn't the only Warriors team we've seen
Speaker 1: this year. This same group went into Boston and beat
Speaker 1: the Celtics. The same group went into Oklahoma City and
Speaker 1: beat the Thunder. They are capable. You're seeing the bottom
Speaker 1: version of them right now. Now Again, Jason, it's insane
Speaker 1: for you to think that they're a championship contender. I
Speaker 1: don't think they're on the same level as Cleveland, Boston
Speaker 1: or Oklahoma City. But I think if they make a trade,
Speaker 1: they can get into that second tier. And if you're
Speaker 1: in that second tier, anything can happen. And as a
Speaker 1: competitor who has Steph Curry on their team, you owe
Speaker 1: it to him to give him that shot, especially when
Speaker 1: you're destined to tank no matter what I've said this before,
Speaker 1: but the Warriors offense with kaminga off the floor and
Speaker 1: Steph on is dogshit, it's terrible. You're not going to
Speaker 1: compete in the Western Conference post Steph, not unless you
Speaker 1: trade Steph and get a boatload of good players back,
Speaker 1: and that's not gonna happen. You're not trading Steph. So
Speaker 1: I do think that this team is better than they
Speaker 1: look right now. I do think with the right trade,
Speaker 1: they could enter in to that second tier of contention.
Speaker 1: I do think with the second tier of contention, anything
Speaker 1: can happen, and you might find yourself in that spot.
Speaker 1: I do think Steph is better. I will be better,
Speaker 1: and I think that Steph is still a guy that
Speaker 1: can be difficult to contend with in a playoff setting.
Speaker 1: And yes, if it came down to trading kaming guy,
Speaker 1: I would do it. That doesn't mean I would do
Speaker 1: it just because. Lastly, before I get out of here,
Speaker 1: just had a couple thoughts on the Lakers. Two thoughts
Speaker 1: from the Caves game. One one of my biggest fears
Speaker 1: going into that game is the Lakers are not used
Speaker 1: to running that much, and what ends up happening is
Speaker 1: like as a competitor, you end up in that situation
Speaker 1: and you do. And by the way, I'm proud of
Speaker 1: the Lakers as a fan for the way they fought
Speaker 1: that entire that entire game. They never let go of
Speaker 1: the rope. I pulled this. I saw this stat earlier
Speaker 1: the Calves had. I'm gonna try to pull it up
Speaker 1: right here so I can give you the exact numbers.
Speaker 1: The Calves had scored over thirty points in transition in
Speaker 1: like five consecutive games going into that matchup. I'm pulling
Speaker 1: it up right now. But they were running everybody out
Speaker 1: the gym, and the Lakers were the first team to
Speaker 1: kind of contain them in transition. To their credit, they
Speaker 1: had here. I got the numbers right here. They had
Speaker 1: thirty six points in transition against Philly, thirty two points
Speaker 1: in transition against Utah, thirty six points in transition against Denver,
Speaker 1: thirty points in transition in Golden State, only nineteen against
Speaker 1: the Lakers. They battled, They did their job. But one
Speaker 1: of the problems there is the Lakers couldn't make shots.
Speaker 1: And it's because the Calves are used to running all
Speaker 1: damn day and making shots while doing it. The Lakers
Speaker 1: are not. And when you start running like that, you
Speaker 1: lose your legs. When you lose your legs, you don't
Speaker 1: make shots. Point being all I'm saying, I don't think
Speaker 1: the Lakers are capable of being better than the Calves.
Speaker 1: I think the Calves are a better team. My point is, hey, Lakers,
Speaker 1: if you play like that every day, if you play
Speaker 1: that hard, You're going to condition yourself to be able
Speaker 1: to play in that setting and to make shots and
Speaker 1: give yourself a better chance to compete. It's just something
Speaker 1: to keep in mind. That's why you practice playing championship
Speaker 1: basketball every day instead of playing it only when you
Speaker 1: feel like it. And then, lastly, I thought last night
Speaker 1: that game was another great example of why they need
Speaker 1: that upgrade at the two. One just way too comfortable
Speaker 1: Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell getting to their spots, and
Speaker 1: then two, how many possessions like that late kickout three
Speaker 1: to Cam Reddish in the left corner. It's like, as
Speaker 1: I'm watching, I'm like, I just wish that was a
Speaker 1: better player than Cam Reddish. The biggest issue for this
Speaker 1: team is they need a starting caliber two that can
Speaker 1: defend at the point of attack and be a functional
Speaker 1: part of their offense. That's why I'm keed in on
Speaker 1: a guy like Bruce Brown. I've seen some other examples.
Speaker 1: I had a buddy pitch me an idea for a
Speaker 1: trade for like Robert Williams and Anferny Simons and Fortiez.
Speaker 1: Simons can't really defend it's a move towards offense, but
Speaker 1: like there's a bunch of different directions they can go there.
Speaker 1: But you need a higher level player at the two
Speaker 1: than what they've had access to over the course of
Speaker 1: this season. That's something that they have to address. All right, guys,
Speaker 1: that's all I have for today. As always, a sincerely
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show.
Speaker 1: Will be back tomorrow with a breakdown of a jam
Speaker 1: of Jam packed a Thursday Night Slate. I will see
Speaker 1: you guys then the volume. What's up guys. As always,
Speaker 1: I appreciate you for listening to and supporting Hoops tonight.
Speaker 1: It would actually be really helpful for us if you
Speaker 1: guys would take a second and leave a rating and
Speaker 1: a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us,
Speaker 1: but if you could take a minute to do that,
Speaker 1: I'd really appreciate it,