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Speaker 1: goon to hoops toight here at the volume heavy Friday. Everybody,

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Speaker 1: hope all of you guys have had a great week.

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Speaker 1: On a Jampacks show for you today. The Minnesota Timberwolves

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Speaker 1: got a huge winner of the Oklahoma City Thunder last night.

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Speaker 1: They've won nine out of thirteen and Anthony Edwards is

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Speaker 1: showing a very interesting side of his game, aim that

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Speaker 1: wasn't on display in the early part of the year

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Speaker 1: thanks to some offensive production out of the front court.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna be talking about that. After that, we're gonna

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Speaker 1: get into the Golden State Warriors getting a huge win

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Speaker 1: on the road against the Houston Rockets. I'm gonna talk

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Speaker 1: a little bit about Moses Moody and Brandon Pajemski in

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Speaker 1: the way that their roles have become more defined and

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Speaker 1: how that has helped them. And then after that, like

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Speaker 1: we do always on Fridays, a mail bag gonna be

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Speaker 1: bouncing around the league, a bunch of Laker stuff, bunch

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Speaker 1: nick stuff, a bunch of other stuff from other teams

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Speaker 1: around the league. You guys know the joke before we

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Speaker 1: get started, a subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel

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Speaker 1: so you don't miss any more of our videos, follow

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter and underscore jcnlts. You guys, don't miss

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Speaker 1: ShW announcements. Don't forget about our podcast feet wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcast under Hoops Tonight, and it's also super

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Speaker 1: helpful if you leave a rating and a review on

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Speaker 1: that front. Don't forget about a brand new social media

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Speaker 1: feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We're releasing content throughout

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Speaker 1: the year and last but not least, if you want

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Speaker 1: to get questions in these mail bags in the YouTube comments,

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Speaker 1: the word mail bag with a colon, write your question.

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Speaker 1: That's how I sift them out of all those comments.

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Speaker 1: Drop the mail bag questions in those YouTube comments and

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Speaker 1: we'll get to them on Fridays throughout the remainder of

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Speaker 1: the season. All right, let's talk in basketball. So Timberwolves

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Speaker 1: get a huge win against the Thunder last night. They've

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Speaker 1: won nine out of thirteen. They are eighth in offense

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Speaker 1: over that span, to go with also being fifth in

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Speaker 1: defense six to net Ratings. Several quality wins in that

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Speaker 1: span too, against Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix, Houston, and then

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Speaker 1: last night, culminating with the win against Oklahoma City. That's

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Speaker 1: a hell of a run and most of it is

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Speaker 1: centered around they're scoring the ball and a much more

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Speaker 1: efficient clip to allow their defense to push them over

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Speaker 1: the top. And that's come down to the recent surge

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Speaker 1: of Jaden McDaniels and nas Red. Jaden McDaniels in this span.

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Speaker 1: In this thirteen game stretch, sixteen points per game to

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Speaker 1: go with seven rebounds thirty seven percent from three on

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Speaker 1: four attempts per game. He's finally starting to hit some shots.

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Speaker 1: He's also doing more self creation. In the last four games,

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Speaker 1: Jada McDaniels has scored sixteen points as the ball handler

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Speaker 1: in ball screens, so he's doing some stuff on the

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Speaker 1: ball as well. Naz Reid since Julius Randall went down

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Speaker 1: in his last seven games, twenty one points, ten rebounds,

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Speaker 1: four assists, sixty percent true shooting, just frying teams and

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Speaker 1: picking pop action. He's scoring out of the post. He's

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Speaker 1: up to one point two to three points per post

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Speaker 1: up including passes this year only fifty three reps. But

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Speaker 1: he's been doing it a lot more obviously as of late,

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Speaker 1: as they've been leaning on him more. Just a bunch

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Speaker 1: of excellent footwork and finishing moves going both directions. You know,

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Speaker 1: I always talk about with big guys there being like

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Speaker 1: a heavy emphasis on short range shot making like hook

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Speaker 1: shots and floaters. Nasrid is fifty for ninety four this

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Speaker 1: season on floaters and hooks. That's fifty three percent. He's

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Speaker 1: been really really effective in that range, and he's been

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Speaker 1: one of the very best jump shooters in the entire

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Speaker 1: NBA this year. A Nasried jump shot of any kind

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Speaker 1: has been worth one point two to one points per

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Speaker 1: shot this year. Among the eighty two players in the

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Speaker 1: NBA to take at least three hundred jump shots this season,

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Speaker 1: Nasrid ranks third in overall efficiency. A little trivia for

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Speaker 1: you guys, who do he thinks above them? Number two

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Speaker 1: is Norman Powell. Number one, the guy who's been super

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Speaker 1: hot as of late. Gary Trent Junior, the best jump

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Speaker 1: shooter in the league at volume this year. But this

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Speaker 1: is the important detail. Obviously, nas Reed's been incredible. It's

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Speaker 1: been a revelation. He was the guy who's getting a

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Speaker 1: lot of the big buckets. The two guys that really

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Speaker 1: stood out to me at the end of the Thunder

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Speaker 1: game where nas Reed scoring the ball and then Luca

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Speaker 1: Garza just kicking the thunders ass on the glass there

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Speaker 1: underneath the basket, doing a bunch of damage during their

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Speaker 1: late game run. But the extra production out of the

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Speaker 1: front court offensively has opened things up for Aunt to

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Speaker 1: be more of a downhill score and he's been playing

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Speaker 1: his best ball of the season. Anthony Edwards' last ten

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Speaker 1: games thirty three points per game, six rebounds and five assists,

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Speaker 1: sixty percent true shooting. And here's the big difference. Here's

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Speaker 1: the obvious difference between before and how things look now.

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Speaker 1: He's getting to the basket more. In the previous forty

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Speaker 1: four games. Before this ten game stretch to start the season,

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Speaker 1: he was getting to the restricted area for a shot

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Speaker 1: just four point one times per game. In the last

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Speaker 1: ten games, he's at six point one, so literally a

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Speaker 1: fifty percent increase there. Get this, his free throw attempts

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Speaker 1: per game in this ten game span have doubled. He

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Speaker 1: was at five free throws per game in the first

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Speaker 1: forty four games of the season. He's at ten free

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Speaker 1: throws per game in the last ten games, so a

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Speaker 1: legit fifty percent increase in attempts at the rim in

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Speaker 1: doubling his free throw attempts. An interesting case study and

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Speaker 1: something I've been talking about for years now, which is like,

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Speaker 1: what would it look like if we just gave Anthony

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Speaker 1: Edwards better space. By the way, that's with Rudy Gobert

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Speaker 1: playing for the most part, but because Jadon McDaniels is

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Speaker 1: scoring the basketball knocking down spot of jump shots at

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Speaker 1: a higher clip because nasried is shooting better than anybody

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Speaker 1: in the league except for a handful of guys this year.

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Speaker 1: You're getting a lot of space for Ant to operate,

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Speaker 1: and he is getting downhill and getting to the free

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Speaker 1: throw line more than he had by a substantial margin

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Speaker 1: compared to the beginning of the season. That's the exciting part,

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Speaker 1: and that's what I kind of envision is the big

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Speaker 1: picture goal for this team as we get into like

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Speaker 1: further iterations of it. I want to see Ant play

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Speaker 1: with space. That's his superpower, superpowers downhill, and I understand

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Speaker 1: he cand settle from tough shots sometimes, Like it was

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Speaker 1: interesting I saw a bunch of Wolves fans molenting the

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Speaker 1: step back three that he took late in the game

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Speaker 1: against the Bucks, and like, I get it, under the circumstances,

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Speaker 1: you prefer the better shot. But like he was attacking,

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Speaker 1: he got a like a really clean look at a

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Speaker 1: mid range jump shot a couple possessions earlier, or a

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Speaker 1: pump faked, and the dude ran by and he was like,

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Speaker 1: stand still fourteen feet from the basket. That's just a

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Speaker 1: great look. He had a beautiful driving skip pass to

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Speaker 1: nas Reid in the corner for the shot that it

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Speaker 1: would either tie the game or game in the lead.

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Speaker 1: I can't remember exactly. I think it put him up

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Speaker 1: by two if I remember correctly. Like Ant is doing

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Speaker 1: some attacking, he is doing getting closer, better shots in

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Speaker 1: those situations. He just didn't love the shot that he

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Speaker 1: got at the very end of the game. But at

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Speaker 1: the same time, like I kind of like we're spect

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Speaker 1: in that situation in the sense that like he's been

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Speaker 1: working relentlessly on that shot. It's been one of the

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Speaker 1: most efficient shots in all of basketball this year. Is

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Speaker 1: just Anthony Edwards taking a three of any kind. I

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Speaker 1: think you had an opportunity there to go for the win. Again,

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Speaker 1: ideally you get something a little more reliable. But I

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Speaker 1: have a feeling Ant's gonna hit some big ones like

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Speaker 1: that over the years, and he has by the way

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Speaker 1: that there was several examples this year where he's been

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Speaker 1: able to go to that shot and knock it down

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Speaker 1: when it matters. It just he's he's leaning a little

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Speaker 1: much on variants there, and that's where him working closer

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Speaker 1: to the basket, he can compete or contend against his

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Speaker 1: own variants and rely a little bit less on long

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Speaker 1: distance shot making. But I mean, he's one of the

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Speaker 1: best three point shooters in the league this year, So

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Speaker 1: I can't like just say it's a terrible shot, you know,

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Speaker 1: you could just argue that he could have gotten something better.

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Speaker 1: But again, well you're getting some of the best basketball

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Speaker 1: of Anthony Edwards's career just by virtue of him getting

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Speaker 1: real scoring pop out of the three and four spot. Again,

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Speaker 1: you're getting, like, damn, youre, what, thirty seven points a

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Speaker 1: game out of those guys in the last month. Like that,

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Speaker 1: That's gonna just make life so much easier compared to

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Speaker 1: the early part of the season when there was just

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Speaker 1: very little in the way of shot making in that

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Speaker 1: front court. But I had one more note I wanted

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Speaker 1: to hit on before we move on from the Wolves.

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Speaker 1: I thought Minnesota really mauled Oklahoma City physically in that

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter. They held him to just fourteen points, They

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Speaker 1: flipped the game into a blowout when it was tied

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Speaker 1: in the third quarter. They chewed them up on the glass.

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Speaker 1: They had twenty offensive rebounds. I talked earlier about how

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Speaker 1: Luca Garza just absolutely destroyed them on the offensive glass

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Speaker 1: there in that run that they went on in the

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter and they guarded Shae better than anyone has

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Speaker 1: all year. It was the first time this entire season

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Speaker 1: that anyone has held Shay to below twenty five points

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Speaker 1: on less than thirty percent shooting. It's only the second

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Speaker 1: time this year at all that any team held them

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Speaker 1: below thirty percent shooting. They did a number on him.

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Speaker 1: It reminded It reminded me of what happened in the

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Speaker 1: Denver Game seven last year. If you guys remember, Minnesota

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Speaker 1: really ratcheted up the physical intensity and just basically ran

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Speaker 1: them over the rest of the way on both ends

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Speaker 1: of the floor. And he got me thinking as I

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Speaker 1: was watching last night and I was recording with the

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Speaker 1: Nerd Sash guys earlier today, was a fun one. You

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Speaker 1: guys will get to see that if you go to

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Speaker 1: the Nerd Sash channel. Carson and I vehemently disagreed about

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Speaker 1: I had the Lakers on the same tier with Denver,

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Speaker 1: and he just views there as a gap then there

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Speaker 1: being a gap there, and we got into this like

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Speaker 1: debate for like twenty five minutes about it. You guys

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Speaker 1: will enjoy that. But I got me thinking about the

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Speaker 1: contender tiers. And then after I finished that recording, I

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Speaker 1: went and watched Minnesota Oklahoma City, and as I'm watching that,

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Speaker 1: I'm just sitting there thinking, like, are we underrating Minnesota

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Speaker 1: because we're forgetting that when we get to the postseason,

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Speaker 1: their physicality is just a huge problem. Do you guys

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Speaker 1: remember how the Suns just killed the Wolves last year

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Speaker 1: in the regular season, including on like two days before

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Speaker 1: the series started. Then what happened. They got absolutely annihilated

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs. They beat the shit out of Phoenix

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Speaker 1: in large part because they ratchet up that physicality, and

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Speaker 1: that's the environment where that trait becomes the most valuable.

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Speaker 1: They're tricky things here, like you got to figure out

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Speaker 1: where Julius Randall fits into all of this. But to me,

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Speaker 1: Minnesota has shown some real upside. They have eleven wins

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Speaker 1: now against teams in the top ten and point differential.

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Speaker 1: That's the fourth most in the entire NBA top six

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Speaker 1: in both offense and defensive rating in those matchups against

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Speaker 1: top ten point differential teams, and that top six offense

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Speaker 1: is interesting to me, and it just goes to show you,

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Speaker 1: like their athletes can get to spots and can score

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Speaker 1: even when the intensity ratchets up. Wolves playing some great basketball.

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Speaker 1: Moving on to the Warriors versus the Rockets. Really good

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Speaker 1: defensive effort from the Warriors in this one. They were

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Speaker 1: doubling Alpern Shangoun and rotating out of it well without

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Speaker 1: giving up any advantage. They were doing a lot of

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Speaker 1: short closing out, like baiting on the indecisive shooters from

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Speaker 1: Houston that will shoot when they're wide open, but if

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Speaker 1: you kind of stunt at them, they might pump fake

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Speaker 1: and try to drive. And they were just focusing more

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Speaker 1: on containing the ball instead of chasing people off the

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Speaker 1: three point line, keeping the ball in front, making used

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Speaker 1: to make jump shots. But I thought the story of

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Speaker 1: the game was the role player contributions. They got twenty

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Speaker 1: eight points, eleven rebounds, and five assists with only one

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Speaker 1: turnover from Moses Moody and Brandon Pajemski. And so I

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Speaker 1: wanted to kind of zoom in on this concept of

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Speaker 1: role player depth because this was something I was harping

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Speaker 1: on a lot before the Jimmy Butler trade. I talked

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Speaker 1: a lot leading into the Jimmy Butler trade about the

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Speaker 1: idea that you can afford to lose some role player

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Speaker 1: depth with this group if all fifteen of your guys

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Speaker 1: can realistically play a role, but only one guy can

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Speaker 1: play a lead role, you're gonna get diminishing returns. It's

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Speaker 1: obvious in the rotation pods is averaging thirty three minutes

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Speaker 1: per game since the Jimmy Butler trade. As a result,

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Speaker 1: he's in more of a rhythm. He's averaging fifteen points,

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Speaker 1: six rebounds, and five assists with two steals per game

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Speaker 1: in that span. That's an excellent set of production. Before

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Speaker 1: the trade, his minutes were all over the place, averaged

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Speaker 1: twenty four minutes. He had ten games where he didn't

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Speaker 1: even get to twenty minutes. Why because they had a

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Speaker 1: million rotation players. Skurrz always trying new things. Oh this

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Speaker 1: guy's not playing well, I'll try somebody else, and like

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Speaker 1: there was a shorter leash on everybody. The rotation was

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Speaker 1: bouncing around. It was tricky, and that's what happens when

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Speaker 1: you have so many guys that can play. Now he's

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Speaker 1: averaging thirty three minutes per game. He's getting starter minutes consistently,

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Speaker 1: Big Shot, he's playing his best basketball this season. Moses

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Speaker 1: Moody was like a redundancy with Andrew Wiggins before the

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Speaker 1: Jimmy trade. His minutes were crazy sporadic before the trade,

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Speaker 1: eighteen minutes per game. He had four games where he

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Speaker 1: didn't even reach ten minutes. He was a garbage time

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Speaker 1: guy some nights. He had twenty five games this season

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Speaker 1: where he failed to reach twenty minutes. You could argue

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Speaker 1: that's a waste of Moses Moody. He's capable of doing more.

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Speaker 1: The Jimmy Butler trade balanced the roster more gave him

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Speaker 1: a more clear cut roll. He's averaging thirty minutes per

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Speaker 1: game since the trade, and he's struggling to shoot the

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Speaker 1: ball a little bit. And by the way, that's part

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Speaker 1: of what happens when your workload increases, you lose your

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Speaker 1: legs a little bit. I think the shots will fall

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Speaker 1: once he gets more used to his higher minute load.

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Speaker 1: But I think he's been fantastic overall. As like a defender,

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Speaker 1: closeout attacker. He's contributing well. I think he's giving you

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Speaker 1: a reasonable facsimile of what Andrew Wiggins did. Everyone was

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Speaker 1: so concerned about gutting the team's depth. Last night, Gary

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Speaker 1: Payton the Second didn't play. Tray Sjackson Davis is still

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Speaker 1: completely out of the rotation because Quinton Post is playing

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Speaker 1: so much better than him. Kurran a ten man rotation

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Speaker 1: last night, and you had two guys that absolutely could

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Speaker 1: play that were out. I guess I mean Gary Payton's hurt.

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Speaker 1: But the point is is like you still have depth,

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Speaker 1: you still have guys that can play, except for now

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Speaker 1: you have Jimmy Butler on your team, and you've won

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Speaker 1: three out of four while on a really tough road trip,

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Speaker 1: including beating the Bucks in Milwaukee and beating the Rockets

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Speaker 1: in Houston. It was just about balancing things out. There

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Speaker 1: were a lot of guys in Golden State Warriors jerseys

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Speaker 1: that were capable of doing more role player stuff, but

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Speaker 1: instead you were asking those role players to do more

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Speaker 1: star starf and then bitching that they were all inconsistent.

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Speaker 1: Of course they are. They're being asked to do stuff

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Speaker 1: that's beyond their pay grade. Now you've balanced things out better,

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Speaker 1: and I think we will continue to see the rewards

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Speaker 1: being reaped by Golden State throughout the rest of the season.

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Speaker 1: As a result of that, they ended up going up

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Speaker 1: by twenty four in this game, and the inevitable Houston

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Speaker 1: ball pressure and physicality ran came right like they always bring. That.

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Speaker 1: That's part of beating Houston and Houston that's just how

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Speaker 1: it goes. They do to everybody. Their bench guys come in,

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Speaker 1: they just start playing super hard. They're big, they're athletic,

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Speaker 1: they can make a mess of things in a good way.

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Speaker 1: For Houston, I thought you could see Golden State's younger

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Speaker 1: players get a little sped up and start making some mistakes.

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Speaker 1: The one that was the dead giveaway to me was

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Speaker 1: when Gies Santos got that pretty open three in the

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Speaker 1: left corner, but there was a pretty hard close out

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Speaker 1: and he like panicked and shot it off the corner

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Speaker 1: of the backboard. That's kind of an example of what

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Speaker 1: it looks like when players are rushing right. But I've

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Speaker 1: always found it fascinating how the best players in the

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Speaker 1: world just somehow seem to slow down when things speed

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Speaker 1: up like that, Steph just kept making plays by weaponizing

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Speaker 1: their aggression against them. He had a huge three on

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Speaker 1: the left wing off of a pump fake or he

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Speaker 1: just pump faked, waited for the guy to go by,

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Speaker 1: and then just calmly settled into that three above the

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Speaker 1: break on the left wing and knocked it down. It's

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Speaker 1: a huge shot in the game that put him backed

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Speaker 1: up seven and then the action that ice the game,

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Speaker 1: a play I loved. They put pods in Moody on

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Speaker 1: the right wing in corners out of the way, and

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Speaker 1: Draymond Green's in the left corner. Steph's right under the basket.

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler's got the ball on the left wing, and

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Speaker 1: all he does is just pitch it to Draymond and

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Speaker 1: back cut off of Steph and Jay Chon Taate like

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Speaker 1: hesitates because he's not sure if they're switching or not, which,

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Speaker 1: by the way, that's what happens when you're playing against

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry. He's gonna cause confusion with your switching because

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Speaker 1: you don't want to leave Steph. Draymond throws a beautiful

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Speaker 1: bounce past to Jimmy Butler for dunk. Every time I

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Speaker 1: watched that group, it just seems like such a more

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Speaker 1: dynamic trio to run three man action and just to

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Speaker 1: have versatility on both ends of the floor. It just

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Speaker 1: it makes a lot of sense for me. It's impressive

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Speaker 1: one on the road, the three and one so far

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Speaker 1: with Jimmy fifteenth and offense fourth and defense on the rockets.

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Speaker 1: It's just a tough matchup for them without Fred van Vliet.

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Speaker 1: Draymond Green gave Shangun all sorts of issues album to

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Speaker 1: four for ten, shooting only four assists and three turnovers.

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Speaker 1: The Warriors just swarmed every Jalen Green drive, and of

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Speaker 1: course Jalen Green just never wants to pass out of

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Speaker 1: those drives. I thought Aaron Holliday did an admirable job

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Speaker 1: of trying to fill the Fred van Vliet role. But

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Speaker 1: this team just really needs advantages to succeed, and they

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Speaker 1: didn't have anybody who could consistently generate advantages except through

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Speaker 1: the strength of their defense and trying to run out

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Speaker 1: and transition, which worked until Steph, Jimmy and Draymond just

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Speaker 1: reasserted control because they're the grown ups that can slow

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Speaker 1: down and play patient discipline basketball. Little shout outs for

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Speaker 1: Jock Landale and Nate Williams. I thought they did the

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Speaker 1: majority of the damage during that run, just but playing hard,

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Speaker 1: grabbing rebounds, pressuring the rim. Jock Landell's shooting was valuable

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Speaker 1: in that run as well. Again, they're gonna be fine.

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Speaker 1: They're playing a lot of weird lineups right now. We

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Speaker 1: saw Jeff Green last night. Red Shepherd, who's been bad,

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Speaker 1: is still playing a lot like they're the Rockets are

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Speaker 1: just in a little bit of a funk right now.

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Speaker 1: That has to do with injuries to core guys in

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Speaker 1: their rotation. All right, let's get to our mail bag

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Speaker 1: first thing. Before we get in any questions. I always

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Speaker 1: have to clarify this, guys, I don't make the thumbnails.

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Speaker 1: I am in charge of content. The volume is in

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Speaker 1: charge of distribution. They are got the people that come

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Speaker 1: up with the marketing strategy for the show. If you

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Speaker 1: see a thumbnail, that's not something that or or a

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Speaker 1: title or something like that, I had no take. I

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Speaker 1: have no say in anything like that. I'm just here

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Speaker 1: making the content. So like I just say. I just

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Speaker 1: say that because I constantly see comments of people freaking

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Speaker 1: out about the thumbnails, and that's that's just not something

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Speaker 1: I have anything to do with. It seems more likely

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Speaker 1: than not that Mitchell, Robinson and og And and Obi will

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Speaker 1: return to the Knicks after the All Star break. Does

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Speaker 1: it make sense for the Knicks to experiment with Mitch

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Speaker 1: in the starting lineup alongside Kat or should he continue

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Speaker 1: to come off the bench Considering how well the current

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Speaker 1: starting lineup has been performing. I think you absolutely have

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Speaker 1: to experiment with Karl Anthony Towns alongside Mitchell Robinson. There's

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Speaker 1: several reasons for this one. It's a matchup thing. I've

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Speaker 1: always just been a big believer that you want to

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Speaker 1: have different looks when you get into the postseason if

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Speaker 1: you can afford it. It's one of the big reasons

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Speaker 1: why I'm bummed out about the Lakers not getting a center,

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Speaker 1: like I believe in their small ball looks. I think

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Speaker 1: their small ball looks are going to be tough to

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Speaker 1: contend with, but I think it's advantageous if the situation

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Speaker 1: arises in the postseason and you need to go bigger

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Speaker 1: that you're able to do so. Right like not the

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Speaker 1: least of which is for Nikola Jokich. Right as far

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Speaker 1: as New York goes like, there's not necessarily a team

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Speaker 1: in the there are certain teams. Milwaukee is an example

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Speaker 1: of the team, especially with Kyle Kuzman now, that can

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Speaker 1: provide a very big frontline to where you might want

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Speaker 1: to try to match size for size. I think a

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Speaker 1: big part of it is the defense of flexibility. A

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Speaker 1: big part of what's caused problems for the Knicks defense

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Speaker 1: over the course of the season is teams picking on

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Speaker 1: Brunson and Cat, usually at the same time, getting Cat

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Speaker 1: into the screening action after they bring Brunson in onto

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Speaker 1: the primary ball handler as a defender by just setting

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Speaker 1: an early screen with a go or something along those lines. Right,

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Speaker 1: But if you have a legitimate rim protector like Mitchell

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Speaker 1: Robinson behind the play, or if you can bring Mitchell

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Speaker 1: Robinson up into action and have Karl Anthony Towns operate

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Speaker 1: as a low man, that's just a more achievable defensive

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Speaker 1: role for Kat. If Kat knows I've got help on

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Speaker 1: the back line, or I don't have to be the

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00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:21,520
Speaker 1: guy that's coming up into these ball screens, that goes

431
00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:26,200
Speaker 1: a long way towards towards giving you an easier job

432
00:20:26,280 --> 00:20:29,359
Speaker 1: for Kat to do. Like, for instance, right now, Kat

433
00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,520
Speaker 1: is pretty much guarding the center as often as you

434
00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,880
Speaker 1: can imagine to try to give him an achievable defensive role.

435
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,360
Speaker 1: You can tuck him away on a week forward. If

436
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:41,480
Speaker 1: you have a center that can guard the opposing center,

437
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,560
Speaker 1: I think it's absolutely worth trying to build out that look,

438
00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:47,000
Speaker 1: even though, yeah, you're obviously going to stagger them a

439
00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,679
Speaker 1: lot throughout the game. It's only been two games. But

440
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:51,439
Speaker 1: if you've seen any differences in how the Lakers are

441
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,080
Speaker 1: using Luca as opposed to Dallas. Here's the thing. Luke

442
00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:56,680
Speaker 1: has been very unaggressive over the course of the first

443
00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:59,440
Speaker 1: two games. That's been especially the first like the game

444
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:01,800
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, it was just like one of the worst

445
00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,239
Speaker 1: Laker efforts of the season. I basically just crumple up

446
00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:07,520
Speaker 1: that game and throw it away. The Monday game, though,

447
00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,720
Speaker 1: like Lebron and Austin were super aggressive, like right out

448
00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:13,080
Speaker 1: the gates, and Luca was kind of passive and just

449
00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:15,920
Speaker 1: kind of watching things and not really getting very involved

450
00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,200
Speaker 1: in the offense. I don't think either of those games

451
00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:20,600
Speaker 1: represent what this is going to look like. My guess

452
00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:22,720
Speaker 1: is that JJ Reddick, over the course of this weekend

453
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,000
Speaker 1: and running into practice on Monday and Tuesday, is going

454
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:29,720
Speaker 1: to heavily emphasize at least either specific lineups that will

455
00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,719
Speaker 1: flow through Luca, or even with the starting lineup, asking

456
00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,280
Speaker 1: Lebron and Austin to just play off of Luca more

457
00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,200
Speaker 1: and let Luca get the ball, because, like again, Luca's

458
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:41,840
Speaker 1: best asset to this team is shot creation. You could

459
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,240
Speaker 1: argue the more you put on Luca offensively, the more

460
00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:47,479
Speaker 1: you can rely on Lebron as a defender and as

461
00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:50,480
Speaker 1: a rebounder, the more you can rely on Austin as

462
00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:53,960
Speaker 1: like a close out attacker, as like a guess what

463
00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,080
Speaker 1: Austin is a capable defender. This is one of the

464
00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,720
Speaker 1: things Carson and I got into an argument with about

465
00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:03,000
Speaker 1: earlier today. But like you, Austin, when he doesn't have

466
00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:05,639
Speaker 1: to do everything on offense, he actually can be a

467
00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,399
Speaker 1: dependable defensive player at the guard position. Not a great defender,

468
00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:10,320
Speaker 1: but he can be a good defender. Shouldn't be guarding

469
00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:12,560
Speaker 1: the other team's best player, but he can guard. And

470
00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:15,320
Speaker 1: so like putting him in a situation where he doesn't

471
00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:19,199
Speaker 1: have to do as much offensively as advantageous in this situation, right, So,

472
00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:21,679
Speaker 1: like I think we will see a lot more Luca

473
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,000
Speaker 1: helio centric type of stuff coming out of the All

474
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:28,000
Speaker 1: Star Break. But the flip side of that is what

475
00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:30,440
Speaker 1: I talk about after the Finals with Dallas, I talked

476
00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,440
Speaker 1: about how there's certain limitations on Helio centric basketball, and

477
00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:37,960
Speaker 1: there is an upside to Luca being more of a

478
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,159
Speaker 1: willing like cog in an offensive system rather than just

479
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,320
Speaker 1: the head of the stake, because it'll give them more

480
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:46,919
Speaker 1: versatility against the best defenses. And here's the bottom line,

481
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,199
Speaker 1: Like when they play against the best defenses, like when

482
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:51,840
Speaker 1: they play against Oklahoma City, it's not gonna be Luca

483
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:54,280
Speaker 1: picking them apart and just throwing out for catching shoot threes.

484
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,560
Speaker 1: It's gonna have to be against an elite defense like

485
00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:00,239
Speaker 1: that that skip pass, driving a close out, really good

486
00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:03,800
Speaker 1: driving kick possessions, deliberate offense to get great shots. And

487
00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,159
Speaker 1: that is going to require all three of them. It

488
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,520
Speaker 1: might be Luca running the first ball screen, but I

489
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:12,920
Speaker 1: might be Lebron attacking on the skip or Austin cutting

490
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:16,040
Speaker 1: along the baseline after Lebron attacks off the skip. It

491
00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,640
Speaker 1: might be three, four or five attacks on a possession

492
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:20,639
Speaker 1: before they actually get what they want out of it.

493
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,040
Speaker 1: And so again, like I think it'll be a lot

494
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,400
Speaker 1: more heliocentric post All Star Break, but I do think

495
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,440
Speaker 1: we're gonna see a good amount of equal opportunity basketball

496
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,359
Speaker 1: from them against the best teams in the league. Hey Jason,

497
00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:33,359
Speaker 1: longtime listener, congrats on all your success. I noticed a

498
00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:35,560
Speaker 1: few months ago you tweeted out a Stanley Johnson and

499
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:37,880
Speaker 1: how he should be on an NBA roster. Sure enough,

500
00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:39,760
Speaker 1: the Lakers get him on their G League team. Are

501
00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:41,520
Speaker 1: you someone that ever watches the G League? And if so,

502
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:43,160
Speaker 1: would you ever do a segment on G League guys

503
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,119
Speaker 1: or out of country guys we should watch or you

504
00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:47,360
Speaker 1: think are ready to play in the NBA. So I've

505
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,080
Speaker 1: just found that the NBA itself is so damn difficult

506
00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,679
Speaker 1: to cover just because of the sheer amount of games,

507
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,760
Speaker 1: the seer amount of teams that like, I don't focus

508
00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,200
Speaker 1: on scouting much at all, Like when we get into

509
00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,320
Speaker 1: July or late August or excuse me, late June, I

510
00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:06,840
Speaker 1: should say I will spend time learning as much as

511
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,560
Speaker 1: I can about draft prospects in that short period of time.

512
00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,160
Speaker 1: But like, there are people that devote a lot more

513
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,600
Speaker 1: time and energy to scouting outside of the NBA, and

514
00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:17,240
Speaker 1: those people are just going to do a much better

515
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:19,159
Speaker 1: job than ever I than I can ever hope to do.

516
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:21,240
Speaker 1: So I'm a big believer and like I'd rather be

517
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:24,960
Speaker 1: great at this than try to be have my hands

518
00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,800
Speaker 1: in like you know, six different pots, but that I'm

519
00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:30,040
Speaker 1: not particularly good at any of them, right, So, like

520
00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:33,200
Speaker 1: I'm I really like to focus on NBA basketball. That said,

521
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,080
Speaker 1: Stanley Johnson, I do think is a guy that could

522
00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:38,680
Speaker 1: play at the NBA level. He's a career six rebounds

523
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:41,560
Speaker 1: and two stocks per thirty six minutes in the NBA.

524
00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:45,240
Speaker 1: Like he's a useful athlete, he does have switchability. He's

525
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,000
Speaker 1: a fire hydrant that's difficult to go through. And the

526
00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,040
Speaker 1: biggest issue was he couldn't shoot, and over the course

527
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:51,520
Speaker 1: of the last two seasons in the G League, he's

528
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 1: shooting forty one percent from three on five attempts per game.

529
00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:56,119
Speaker 1: I don't think the Lakers are gonna pick him up.

530
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:58,320
Speaker 1: I think if they converted a wing, it'll be Jordan Goodwin.

531
00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:00,639
Speaker 1: But like if you told me stan only Johnson was

532
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:02,400
Speaker 1: on this roster, I would be happy with it because

533
00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:06,040
Speaker 1: I like Stanley. And I'm a little biased too because

534
00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,399
Speaker 1: I'm from Tucson, Arizona. He came through Arizona. Stanley and

535
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:10,440
Speaker 1: I played against and with each other at times while

536
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:12,560
Speaker 1: he was here, just playing pickup and stuff. So I'm

537
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,239
Speaker 1: a big fan of Stanley. But that said, I do

538
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,040
Speaker 1: think that he can help and I hope he gets

539
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:19,879
Speaker 1: another opportunity in the NBA at some point, and with

540
00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:22,320
Speaker 1: the growth as a shooter and with his impactfulness as

541
00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,439
Speaker 1: an athlete, I think he should get that opportunity. With

542
00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,720
Speaker 1: Mataspizzellis now hitting the double digit scoring mark eight games

543
00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,320
Speaker 1: in a row and Zach Lavine gone, what can Slash

544
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:33,919
Speaker 1: should the Bulls do this season to ensure they are

545
00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,160
Speaker 1: rebuilding the right way? Continue to give him the ball

546
00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:40,240
Speaker 1: as much as possible. Everything about being bad with a

547
00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:46,760
Speaker 1: purpose has big picture goals, right, Like, if you're going

548
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,760
Speaker 1: to be bad, you want to be bad while accumulating assets,

549
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:52,639
Speaker 1: and you want to be bad while evaluating young talent.

550
00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:55,359
Speaker 1: I've joked about how like a lot of times when

551
00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,760
Speaker 1: you're rebuilding, you'll take on bad contracts with draft compensation

552
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,520
Speaker 1: being the reward for the bad contracts. Then what ends

553
00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 1: up happening is you have a bunch of guys on

554
00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:06,199
Speaker 1: these rookie deals where they're making somewhere between you know,

555
00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,760
Speaker 1: two and eight million a year that are on these

556
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,480
Speaker 1: like cost controlled contracts that you're actually playing while you

557
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:18,159
Speaker 1: take those guys, you need to determine which ones of

558
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:22,160
Speaker 1: those guys can be extended, should be extended, are part

559
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:24,240
Speaker 1: of your big picture goals as a franchise and the

560
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 1: team that you're trying to build. You need to find

561
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,840
Speaker 1: out what modest Bozellis is? Is he just like a

562
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,600
Speaker 1: Michael Porter Junior week side wing defender, rebounder, guy who

563
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,960
Speaker 1: attacks with an advantage, or see a guy that can

564
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,399
Speaker 1: run action and run a lot of it, right, Like,

565
00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:41,240
Speaker 1: that's the kind of stuff that you got to figure

566
00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:43,840
Speaker 1: out because which one of those two players he becomes

567
00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:45,960
Speaker 1: plays a big role. You might find out, Oh, he'll

568
00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:48,080
Speaker 1: never be good enough defensively for this to work. Okay,

569
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:49,400
Speaker 1: well we need to find out. We need to play

570
00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,520
Speaker 1: him a large amounts of minutes, give him lots of repetition, right,

571
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:54,280
Speaker 1: and so the best thing you could do is put

572
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:56,760
Speaker 1: the ball in his hands and just find out what

573
00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,200
Speaker 1: this kid is capable of in these moments where where

574
00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:03,840
Speaker 1: you can afford to give them that opportunity as currently constructed,

575
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,080
Speaker 1: Where do you believe that the expectations should be for

576
00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:09,159
Speaker 1: the Lakers this postseason? I'm borderline wanting to consider them

577
00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:11,080
Speaker 1: contenders because of the sheer fact that they have Luca

578
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,240
Speaker 1: and Lebron, who are two of the most consistent guys

579
00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:15,120
Speaker 1: in the league. But I want to be cautious. I'm

580
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:16,880
Speaker 1: going to say exactly what I said to the Nerd

581
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:19,040
Speaker 1: Sesh guys earlier today. I don't know what the Lakers

582
00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:20,800
Speaker 1: are going to be I haven't seen them play nearly

583
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,200
Speaker 1: enough basketball. I need to see a lot more. That said,

584
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:26,920
Speaker 1: there's somewhere between, in my opinion, a second tier contender

585
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 1: and a third tier contender. To me, right now, I

586
00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 1: kind of you as of like Boston Oka. See at

587
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,600
Speaker 1: the top, I'm starting to slot Cleveland in that second

588
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:39,119
Speaker 1: tier these days. Denver to me, is in that second tier.

589
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,399
Speaker 1: The Lakers are either going to be in that second

590
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,639
Speaker 1: tier with Denver and Cleveland or in the tier right below.

591
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,400
Speaker 1: But we need to watch them play a lot more basketball.

592
00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:49,959
Speaker 1: I think here's the thing. If they're a second tier contender,

593
00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:51,439
Speaker 1: let's say that we end up putting them in that

594
00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:56,240
Speaker 1: second tier. I'm still worried about a Yokich matchup. I'm

595
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,199
Speaker 1: still really worried about a Celtics matchup because it's the

596
00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,960
Speaker 1: same reasons that Dallas struggled last year trying to guard

597
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,919
Speaker 1: Boston at times. Right, So, like, I think they have

598
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,840
Speaker 1: matchup weaknesses. But I also just put this like simple,

599
00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:12,200
Speaker 1: I've presented this Carson today. If it's Lebron, Luca Austin,

600
00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,720
Speaker 1: Dorian Phinney, Smith, and Ruey, how are you getting stops

601
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,400
Speaker 1: against the Lakers in a big spot, Like, how who

602
00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:20,200
Speaker 1: are you helping off of? Dorian Phinney. Smith is a

603
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,560
Speaker 1: knockdown three point shooter. Ruey can drive close outs, Austin

604
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,680
Speaker 1: can drive close outs, Lebron can drive close outs, Luca

605
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:27,200
Speaker 1: can drive close out. So you can't leave any of

606
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:31,320
Speaker 1: them open. Like they're gonna have legitimate five out spacing

607
00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:34,359
Speaker 1: with that group, Like Lebron and Lucas should be able

608
00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:36,879
Speaker 1: to get to the room whenever they want. Okay, you

609
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,040
Speaker 1: have a big enough let's take Oklahoma City for example,

610
00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:40,920
Speaker 1: to have lou Dort. They're gonna put lou Dort on

611
00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:43,240
Speaker 1: Luca and it's gonna make life really difficult for Luca. Okay,

612
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 1: who's guarding Lebron Jalen Williams? Like Lebron's gonna do a

613
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:48,560
Speaker 1: lot of damage to Jalen Williams, you know what I mean.

614
00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 1: So like that, that's not to say that I wouldn't

615
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:52,320
Speaker 1: that I would pick the Lakers over the Thunder. I

616
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,520
Speaker 1: don't know. I honestly got him. Not going to give

617
00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,120
Speaker 1: you guys my like contender ranking for the Lakers until

618
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 1: I watched them play a lot more basketball. They're brand

619
00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:03,000
Speaker 1: new theoretical team right now that's played the Utah Jazz twice.

620
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:04,680
Speaker 1: They tried in one game and kick the shit out

621
00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:06,040
Speaker 1: of them. They didn't try in the next game and

622
00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:08,240
Speaker 1: got their shit kicked out of them. So, like, I

623
00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:10,360
Speaker 1: don't know exactly what they're going to be yet. We

624
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:14,160
Speaker 1: will find out. But like I mean, Lebron is forty

625
00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:16,520
Speaker 1: years old and he's a championship or bust kind of guy,

626
00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:18,480
Speaker 1: and I'm sure that he thinks that they can win,

627
00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:20,560
Speaker 1: and I would imagine they're gonna view anything other than

628
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:24,160
Speaker 1: them winning as a failure. But like, I don't know

629
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:25,760
Speaker 1: what they're going to be, and we just need to

630
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:27,360
Speaker 1: see a lot more basketball before we can make that

631
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:30,440
Speaker 1: kind of decision. So with the Mark Williams trade falling through,

632
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,960
Speaker 1: the Lakers are obviously aiming for free agency to grab

633
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,240
Speaker 1: that lob threat big. How would you feel about Jalen

634
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,200
Speaker 1: Duran to the Lakers. He's only twenty one years old,

635
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:39,840
Speaker 1: six ten, two hundred and fifty pounds and is a

636
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 1: lot threat and is a free agent this summer. He's

637
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:43,800
Speaker 1: also averaging seventy percent from the field. And I know

638
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,040
Speaker 1: it's early, but any for realistic free agents you see

639
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:49,479
Speaker 1: on the Lakers, I have a hard time believing Detroit

640
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:52,080
Speaker 1: is gonna give up on Jaalen Duran. He's had some

641
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:56,520
Speaker 1: issues with like guarding on the perimeter against stretch fives,

642
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 1: but I think he's been really good outside of that,

643
00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:02,280
Speaker 1: and he's a really nice fit with Kate, got good hands,

644
00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:05,920
Speaker 1: finishes everything around the basket. So I mean, when I

645
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:07,320
Speaker 1: look at this summer for the Lakers, I think they're

646
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:12,360
Speaker 1: gonna be keyen in on guys like Rob Williams, Nick Klaxton,

647
00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:15,960
Speaker 1: guys in that like less than twenty five million a

648
00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:19,440
Speaker 1: year range that they think they can piece together a

649
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,840
Speaker 1: couple of guys to just match salary and get I

650
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,280
Speaker 1: inclined to say Robert Williams because he's a little bit

651
00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:29,760
Speaker 1: more affordable, but Nick Claxon would be a little bit

652
00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:33,200
Speaker 1: more of a big picture option because he's younger and

653
00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:35,200
Speaker 1: it doesn't have the injury history. Actually, I think Nick

654
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:36,920
Speaker 1: Claxon might be a little older than Rob Williams. I'm

655
00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:38,480
Speaker 1: actually not sure which one of those guys is younger,

656
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,040
Speaker 1: but his body's younger. He has men is injured in

657
00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:43,240
Speaker 1: his career, as Robert Williams has been. But my guess

658
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:44,600
Speaker 1: is that they're kind of key in on those two

659
00:30:44,600 --> 00:30:47,600
Speaker 1: guys this summer, Nuggets in four, just kidding, but not

660
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,680
Speaker 1: so much. Without Ad, I don't see how the Lakers

661
00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:51,520
Speaker 1: stand a chance against Yokic. How do you feel about

662
00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,840
Speaker 1: the Lakers vers Nuggets playoffs with the current rosters injuries aside?

663
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:57,720
Speaker 1: Got into this with Carson today extensively. Like I said,

664
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,400
Speaker 1: so you guys can find that on the nerd set feed.

665
00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,120
Speaker 1: But like, again, the way I look at it, like

666
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:05,040
Speaker 1: I don't think the Lakers are gonna be able to

667
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:07,680
Speaker 1: guard Denver, but I also don't think Denver's gonna be

668
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:11,400
Speaker 1: able to guard the Lakers. So if neither team can

669
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:13,720
Speaker 1: stop the other team from getting good shots, it's gonna

670
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:15,720
Speaker 1: be a shot making series. So I think it'll be

671
00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:19,080
Speaker 1: it'll come down to like game planning, Like will Mike

672
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,680
Speaker 1: Malone be able to punish the Lakers for playing guys

673
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:27,560
Speaker 1: like Jackson Hayes Jared Vanderbilt? Right? Will jj Reddick be

674
00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:31,560
Speaker 1: able to punish Mike Malone for playing guys like Christian

675
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,840
Speaker 1: Brown or Russell Westbrook, right, And both of those guys

676
00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,520
Speaker 1: have been awesome this year, right, and and so like

677
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:39,440
Speaker 1: it's it's it's one of those things where like I

678
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:41,280
Speaker 1: don't think either team has an answer like he was

679
00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:43,800
Speaker 1: the Carson was saying, like, there's nobody on this team

680
00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,040
Speaker 1: that can stop Jokics from getting great shot. You're absolutely right,

681
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:47,880
Speaker 1: But I'm gonna present you the exact same thing I

682
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,320
Speaker 1: just said earlier. If Denver has to guard a lineup

683
00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:54,560
Speaker 1: with Lebron, Luca Austin, Dorian Finney Smith, and Ruby Hotcha Mura,

684
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,680
Speaker 1: how are they going to stop the Lakers from getting

685
00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:01,000
Speaker 1: good shots? How they're not going to be able to So, like,

686
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,200
Speaker 1: I think it would be a very very high scoring

687
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 1: series relative to other playoff series. Is I think it

688
00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,520
Speaker 1: would be a very interesting playoff series. I will admit

689
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:12,560
Speaker 1: freely that as as a Lakers fan, when I saw

690
00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 1: this trade go down in the aftermath, the two teams

691
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,000
Speaker 1: that I got legitimately concerned about were Denver and Boston.

692
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 1: So like, for the record, I would be scared in

693
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,760
Speaker 1: that kind of matchup, But I just think, given how

694
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:25,880
Speaker 1: theoretical the Lakers are, I think it'd be foolish just

695
00:32:25,880 --> 00:32:29,960
Speaker 1: to completely write them off. Four more, Hey, Jason, with

696
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 1: the Spurs now fall into twenty three and twenty nine,

697
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:33,720
Speaker 1: in the refusal to replace Chris Paul in the starting

698
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:36,160
Speaker 1: lineup with Stefan Cassel. Do you think the Spurs should

699
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:38,320
Speaker 1: semi tank the rest of the season to secure two

700
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:42,520
Speaker 1: lottery picks other via Atlanta to help complete their rebuild.

701
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:46,200
Speaker 1: I think that the entire purpose behind making a Deer

702
00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 1: and Fox move is to advance the timeline, specifically to

703
00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:53,640
Speaker 1: appease Victor Weminyama and his competitive nature, but also to

704
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:55,640
Speaker 1: get these guys reps so you can start to learn

705
00:32:55,720 --> 00:33:01,160
Speaker 1: you have a core. Now your core is Fox, Vecel Castle,

706
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:05,120
Speaker 1: wemb soh right, Like that's your core, five guys that

707
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:07,240
Speaker 1: you're building around. You need to get those guys into

708
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:09,240
Speaker 1: a high leverage situation against an elite team in a

709
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:12,240
Speaker 1: playoff series so that you can learn about what they

710
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:14,680
Speaker 1: need to be supported with over the course of the

711
00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:17,280
Speaker 1: next few years. So again, they're in a tough spot,

712
00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:19,320
Speaker 1: but you go for it. You absolutely go for it.

713
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:21,240
Speaker 1: You want to find as much high leverage basketball for

714
00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 1: these guys as early as possible. That was the entire

715
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:25,440
Speaker 1: purpose behind the Daron Fox trade. Do you think that

716
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:27,720
Speaker 1: Lebron and Yokiic are the only players in NBA history

717
00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 1: to have seen every adjustment, every coverage, every double or

718
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:33,200
Speaker 1: blitz thrown and have always found new angles to dominate

719
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:35,200
Speaker 1: the game at the level they've dominated for so long

720
00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,320
Speaker 1: and with such offensive consistency. I don't think it's only

721
00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:40,800
Speaker 1: those two. I generally think that all basketball players have

722
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,360
Speaker 1: gotten better, even just in this era. I think Steph

723
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:47,360
Speaker 1: Curry is another guy where like he's competed against switching

724
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,520
Speaker 1: by just running around like crazy and forcing teams to

725
00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:54,240
Speaker 1: make mistakes when they're switching. He's beat switching big looks

726
00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:57,200
Speaker 1: by just attacking them off the bounce. Famously did a

727
00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:59,280
Speaker 1: lot of picking on Horford and Robert Williams in the

728
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:02,520
Speaker 1: NBA Finals twenty twenty two. He's a drop coverage killer.

729
00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,920
Speaker 1: He annihilated the Celtics drop coverage for the most part

730
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,080
Speaker 1: over the course of that series, which is a big

731
00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:10,080
Speaker 1: part of why they had to switch at times. Right, Like,

732
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,759
Speaker 1: he's done a ton of days it blitz him. Yeah, yeah,

733
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:15,600
Speaker 1: be my guest. That was literally how they won the

734
00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:18,759
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen finals. Like that was how Andre Gudalla got

735
00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:21,480
Speaker 1: Finals MVP. So like, I think he's countered all these

736
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:24,760
Speaker 1: different coverages as well. Again, like when I think about

737
00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:28,719
Speaker 1: like peaks, I think Jokich has reached an offensive peak

738
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,320
Speaker 1: that no player ever has. I think Lebron has reached

739
00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:33,840
Speaker 1: a two way peak that no player ever has. And

740
00:34:33,880 --> 00:34:37,160
Speaker 1: I think at Lebron's peak, Steph was also about as

741
00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:39,719
Speaker 1: good on the offensive end of the floor when he

742
00:34:39,760 --> 00:34:41,680
Speaker 1: was at that point. So like again, they all have

743
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,680
Speaker 1: like these different kind of calling cards, But there are

744
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:46,680
Speaker 1: definitely a lot of players in NBA history that have

745
00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:50,120
Speaker 1: overcome anything a coach can do, Like Michael Jordan wasn't

746
00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:53,120
Speaker 1: a guy that in the nineties was struggling with any

747
00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:56,759
Speaker 1: specific coverage. If that makes sense, Why aren't people, including you,

748
00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:58,440
Speaker 1: talking about what the Thunder are doing at the All

749
00:34:58,480 --> 00:35:00,359
Speaker 1: Star break? They have the best net rating of time,

750
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:02,640
Speaker 1: as well as the best relative defense ever. I just

751
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:04,480
Speaker 1: don't understand why they're not being talked about at all,

752
00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:06,560
Speaker 1: much less like the all time great team they've been

753
00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:08,720
Speaker 1: to this point. It's not a small sample size anymore.

754
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:13,080
Speaker 1: A couple of things. I did just talk about them yesterday.

755
00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:16,400
Speaker 1: I think we just got into them in the defensive

756
00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:18,319
Speaker 1: run that they went on at the tail end of

757
00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,840
Speaker 1: the game against was it the Mimay Heat, Yeah, Miami Heat,

758
00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:23,759
Speaker 1: and I talked about their defense now it was so

759
00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:27,600
Speaker 1: exceptionally great. The other thing, too, is like the dominant

760
00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:32,320
Speaker 1: regular season team is always the least interesting NBA regular

761
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,840
Speaker 1: season story. It's unfair that it works that way, but

762
00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:38,799
Speaker 1: it's just the reality. Like there's no debate about it.

763
00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:42,560
Speaker 1: There is debate surrounding bad teams or teams that have

764
00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:44,960
Speaker 1: more significant flaws, because then you can argue these are

765
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,279
Speaker 1: their flaws or these are their strengths, right, Like, it's

766
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:48,920
Speaker 1: kind of weird out works in the NBA how the

767
00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:52,160
Speaker 1: teams that dominate kind of disappear into the top, and

768
00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:54,160
Speaker 1: the teams that suck disappear into the bottom, and then

769
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:57,120
Speaker 1: we spend all this time debating the middle tier. Like

770
00:35:57,160 --> 00:35:59,840
Speaker 1: that's kind of like how it works for whatever reason.

771
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:01,959
Speaker 1: So I understand that I don't talk about the Thunder

772
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:03,440
Speaker 1: as much as I do some of the other teams

773
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,640
Speaker 1: in the league, but we do talk about them. We

774
00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:07,799
Speaker 1: hit them a few times a month, and we just

775
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:10,799
Speaker 1: hit them earlier this week. I again, I have a

776
00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:14,120
Speaker 1: similar type of response to the all time great stuff

777
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:17,680
Speaker 1: that I do with Boston, Like, I don't think all

778
00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:20,360
Speaker 1: time great is something you accomplished in the regular season.

779
00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:23,000
Speaker 1: I don't think it's something you accomplished with advanced metrics.

780
00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:27,840
Speaker 1: I think it's something you accomplished with multiple deep playoff

781
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:32,040
Speaker 1: runs where you win multiple championships. That's how you achieve

782
00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:34,799
Speaker 1: all time great that is, it's just a different kind

783
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,600
Speaker 1: of like goalpost for me. I guess I view the

784
00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 1: Thunder as kind of like a combination of a legitimate

785
00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,600
Speaker 1: championship contender while also being a little bit Houston Rocket

786
00:36:44,640 --> 00:36:47,520
Speaker 1: see in the sense that, like they're young and freakishly athletic,

787
00:36:47,520 --> 00:36:49,600
Speaker 1: and they're playing harder than everybody every night. That's going

788
00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:51,680
Speaker 1: to go a long way in the eighty two. So

789
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,279
Speaker 1: like on one hand, on the one hand, I viewed

790
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:56,200
Speaker 1: them as a legitimate contender, but I don't think they're

791
00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:58,160
Speaker 1: as good as their record or their net rating would

792
00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:00,319
Speaker 1: lead you to believe. And they still have some big

793
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:02,399
Speaker 1: question marks to me, Like Minnesota kind of mauled them

794
00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:04,520
Speaker 1: in the in the fourth quarter yesterday, got a bunch

795
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:06,080
Speaker 1: of stops, ate them up on the offense. They had

796
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:09,400
Speaker 1: twenty offensive rebounds in that game. And like I do

797
00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,200
Speaker 1: think about certain teams that have physical size mismatches that

798
00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:15,600
Speaker 1: they can present. I do worry about the multiple times

799
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,439
Speaker 1: this year in big spots, whether it's against a good

800
00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:20,160
Speaker 1: team on the road or whether it's in the n

801
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:23,239
Speaker 1: Ceason Tournament championship where their offense just falls apart and

802
00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:26,080
Speaker 1: it becomes can Shay make shots? And he takes a

803
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:27,560
Speaker 1: lot of mid range shots that he just has to

804
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:29,520
Speaker 1: hit at a super high efficiency for them to be

805
00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:32,359
Speaker 1: worth it, right, and he does for the record, But like,

806
00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:35,439
Speaker 1: there's a certain amount of like frail tea with them

807
00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:37,360
Speaker 1: that I see with every team in the league except

808
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,359
Speaker 1: for basically Boston, and even then there's there's a little

809
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:44,479
Speaker 1: bit of frailty just in there defending championship itis where

810
00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:46,759
Speaker 1: they've been so sloppy with their shot selection at times

811
00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:50,279
Speaker 1: this year last. Actually, we already that's my bad. I

812
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:51,719
Speaker 1: have the Mitchell Robinson one in here again, so I

813
00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:53,399
Speaker 1: already hit that one. So we're actually done for the day.

814
00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:55,000
Speaker 1: All right, guys, It's all I have for today is

815
00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:57,120
Speaker 1: always to sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and

816
00:37:57,120 --> 00:37:59,080
Speaker 1: supporting the show. I hope you guys enjoy the weekend.

817
00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:02,239
Speaker 1: We'll be back on We'll enjoy the All Star break.

818
00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:04,360
Speaker 1: We're gonna do. We're gonna do some stuff that the

819
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:06,719
Speaker 1: games get started back up on Wednesday, but we're gonna

820
00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:11,040
Speaker 1: do some stuff on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, like contender rankings,

821
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:12,960
Speaker 1: maybe a check in with the nerd Sash guys. We'll see.

822
00:38:12,960 --> 00:38:14,680
Speaker 1: We're gonna do some stuff in early next week to

823
00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:16,720
Speaker 1: kill time before we get into the rest of the season.

824
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:19,239
Speaker 1: But again, as always, I appreciate you, guys, and I'll

825
00:38:19,239 --> 00:38:24,440
Speaker 1: see you next week the volume. What's up guys? As always,

826
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:27,480
Speaker 1: I appreciate you for listening to and supporting OOPS tonight.

827
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:29,600
Speaker 1: It would actually be really helpful for us if you

828
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,319
Speaker 1: guys would take a second and leave a rating and

829
00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:34,560
Speaker 1: a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us,

830
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,000
Speaker 1: but if you could take a minute to do that,

831
00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:37,520
Speaker 1: I'd really appreciate it.