1
00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:17,080
Speaker 1: The volume. All right, we'll go to Hoops Tonight. You're

2
00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,000
Speaker 1: at the volume, Hay Friday and everybody. I hope all

3
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:20,800
Speaker 1: of you guys are having a great end to your week.

4
00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,320
Speaker 1: As usual, today is mail bag Day. I have a

5
00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:25,599
Speaker 1: ten pack of questions from you guys. If you ever

6
00:00:25,680 --> 00:00:27,280
Speaker 1: want to get questions into the mail bags, all you

7
00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:29,240
Speaker 1: gotta do is go to our full episodes on YouTube

8
00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,320
Speaker 1: the comments underneath right mail bag with the colon write

9
00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:34,080
Speaker 1: your question. That helps me sort through it when I'm

10
00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:36,199
Speaker 1: looking through the comments. We'll get to them on Fridays

11
00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:37,280
Speaker 1: throughout the remainder of the season.

12
00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:37,919
Speaker 2: You guys are the joke.

13
00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:39,560
Speaker 1: Before we get started, to subscribe to the Hoops Tonight

14
00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:41,839
Speaker 1: YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos.

15
00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:44,599
Speaker 1: Don't forget to like this video as well as sign

16
00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:45,640
Speaker 1: up for post notifications.

17
00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:46,600
Speaker 2: That helps us a lot.

18
00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:48,800
Speaker 1: And then, as mentioned, drop your mail bag questions if

19
00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:50,199
Speaker 1: you want to get in the future mail bags. All right,

20
00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:52,040
Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball now before we get to our

21
00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,840
Speaker 1: actual mail bag questions. Jason Tatum is making his return

22
00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:02,480
Speaker 1: tonight against the Dallas Maps, an incredible show of resilience

23
00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,360
Speaker 1: and dedication to recover as quickly as he did. I

24
00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,679
Speaker 1: think that's less than ten months on an achilles repair.

25
00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:12,199
Speaker 1: That's really really impressive work behind the scenes from Jason

26
00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,480
Speaker 1: Tatum to make it back. I just imagine for any

27
00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:19,640
Speaker 1: basketball player, that's probably the most discouraging injury that you

28
00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,720
Speaker 1: can possibly suffer. And so to keep your head down

29
00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:24,679
Speaker 1: and stay focused on the work and to get through

30
00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:26,280
Speaker 1: it the way that he did, I just think is

31
00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,240
Speaker 1: super impressive. Now, I was talking about this with Colin

32
00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,880
Speaker 1: Coward yesterday, but you know, culture is a thing that

33
00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:38,600
Speaker 1: I think is a foundational part of any perennially successful

34
00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,399
Speaker 1: basketball program of any kind, whether it's a college, in

35
00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:43,200
Speaker 1: high school or in the pros. Right Like, if you

36
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:46,200
Speaker 1: have a strong basketball culture, it's going to be the

37
00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:50,480
Speaker 1: thing that helps you be competitive when you have a

38
00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:54,120
Speaker 1: roster that's limited in one reason or another, or to

39
00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,680
Speaker 1: meet your absolute potential when you do have a lot

40
00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,280
Speaker 1: of talent. Right Like, there's just the culture is the

41
00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:03,360
Speaker 1: foundational skill, the foundational thing that allows you to be

42
00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,840
Speaker 1: successful year in year out. But it only can go

43
00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,760
Speaker 1: so far. And I think that the Celtics this season

44
00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:10,560
Speaker 1: have been an example of that in the sense that

45
00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,160
Speaker 1: they've been one of the most impressive teams statistically, a

46
00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:16,400
Speaker 1: lot of the metrics coming out of them are super impressive.

47
00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:17,640
Speaker 1: Like I was talking, I'm gonna talk a little bit

48
00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:20,360
Speaker 1: about this with Wemby later, the net rating data. When

49
00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:22,160
Speaker 1: you pulled players with net rating at the top of

50
00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:24,160
Speaker 1: the league, it's a lot of Celtics and it's a

51
00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:26,640
Speaker 1: lot of thunder players. The Celtics have been a team

52
00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:29,880
Speaker 1: that on the scoreboard, because of their strong culture, have

53
00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:31,400
Speaker 1: done a lot of damage this year, and they've been

54
00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:34,480
Speaker 1: very successful in the stainings. I view them as every

55
00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:36,679
Speaker 1: bit as good as the other teams in that top

56
00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:38,959
Speaker 1: tier in the East, like I view them more or

57
00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:41,560
Speaker 1: less on the same level as Cleveland or Detroit or

58
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,519
Speaker 1: New York. Now, I personally have Cleveland and New York

59
00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,880
Speaker 1: a tiny bit above them as of right this second,

60
00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:48,840
Speaker 1: but that's because of the same thing that I was

61
00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:52,119
Speaker 1: just discussing. I viewed this season as an incredibly impressive

62
00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:54,920
Speaker 1: demonstration of the culture that Joe Missoula and Brad Stevens

63
00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:58,880
Speaker 1: have built in Boston, But ultimately you need talent. One

64
00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:02,760
Speaker 1: of the consistence they distant things that has shown up

65
00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,120
Speaker 1: for me this season when Boston is run into certain

66
00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:10,000
Speaker 1: types of defense the certain types of opponents, the limitation

67
00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:12,400
Speaker 1: in some of their personnel group starts to show up. So,

68
00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,959
Speaker 1: for instance, take the Charlotte game from Wednesday night. For example,

69
00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:19,480
Speaker 1: they're bigs, they were sitting back in a deep drop,

70
00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,200
Speaker 1: and they're not really fast enough to really get into

71
00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:24,799
Speaker 1: some aggressive coverages out on the perimeter. Boston will have

72
00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,200
Speaker 1: some small ball looks, especially with Tatum coming back, but

73
00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,800
Speaker 1: like they had some scheme versatility problems against the Hornets

74
00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:33,320
Speaker 1: as they just barbecued their deep drop coverage with a

75
00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,920
Speaker 1: variety of short range, mid range jump shots, floaters, six

76
00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,200
Speaker 1: pull up threes in that game, four of which were

77
00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:44,360
Speaker 1: directly at a ball screens into deep drop situations. And

78
00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:46,040
Speaker 1: so one of the things I noticed when I was

79
00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:47,520
Speaker 1: watching that game was like, this is the kind of

80
00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:49,760
Speaker 1: thing that Jason Tatum used to be a solution for.

81
00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:52,840
Speaker 1: You know, like a lot of teams, they're pick and

82
00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:57,440
Speaker 1: roll geometry is predicated on either having a center that

83
00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,320
Speaker 1: can roll or maybe a guard who can flip in

84
00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:02,200
Speaker 1: and out of screens. And so if you can place

85
00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,160
Speaker 1: your center on someone else, you can put the defense

86
00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:08,520
Speaker 1: or the offense into a situation where they have to

87
00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:10,200
Speaker 1: do a lot of things that they don't usually do.

88
00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,320
Speaker 1: The problem is if you do that, someone else has

89
00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,599
Speaker 1: to guard their center. And if you end up with

90
00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,080
Speaker 1: someone that's too small or physically incapable of hanging with

91
00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,320
Speaker 1: that center, you can have all sorts of problems on

92
00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,520
Speaker 1: the offensive glass. Certain centers will do issues or do

93
00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,840
Speaker 1: damage to you in the post. There's a problem if

94
00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,240
Speaker 1: you don't have someone that can guard that center. Take

95
00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,880
Speaker 1: this Hornets matchup for example, Jason Tatum is healthy, as

96
00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,000
Speaker 1: we saw so much last year, He's physically capable of

97
00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:40,960
Speaker 1: guarding opponent centers because he can keep them off the glass,

98
00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,440
Speaker 1: and he's not a significant target as a post mismatch, right,

99
00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:46,960
Speaker 1: So if he's able to guard Mussa diabat, and I

100
00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,760
Speaker 1: think Jason Tatum with Romos Diabate around, he's got like

101
00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:52,160
Speaker 1: a legit strength advantage there, a low center of gravity

102
00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,599
Speaker 1: advantage there. Maybe you tuck your center onto Miles Bridges.

103
00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,640
Speaker 1: Miles Bridges, who's shooting thirty three percent from three this year,

104
00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,520
Speaker 1: who has specifically struggled on threes slipping out of ball screens.

105
00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:06,400
Speaker 1: All of a sudden, you make the Hornets do something

106
00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,320
Speaker 1: that they don't necessarily want to do. That is a

107
00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,239
Speaker 1: coverage option that was unavailable to the Celtics the season

108
00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,080
Speaker 1: because their forwards weren't big and strong enough. And so

109
00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:20,200
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum coming back immediately gives you that optionality, that flexibility,

110
00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,239
Speaker 1: that versatility in your defensive scheming because of his ability

111
00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:25,600
Speaker 1: to guard centers. Not to mention, if you're going to

112
00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,600
Speaker 1: play small ball looks, you need a really strong defensive,

113
00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,280
Speaker 1: rebounding forward somewhere in there, and Jason Tatum can play

114
00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:33,480
Speaker 1: that role. The second piece of it is the shot

115
00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:35,720
Speaker 1: creation element. We talked about this a lot over the

116
00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:39,920
Speaker 1: course of this season in specific matchups, like I talked

117
00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:44,159
Speaker 1: about how Denver, for example, used deep drop on Jalen

118
00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,240
Speaker 1: Brown to cause problems Charlotte, you know, was a mix

119
00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,560
Speaker 1: Diabate did some switching. Jalen had some success against those

120
00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,400
Speaker 1: switches in the early fourth quarter, but for the most part,

121
00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,440
Speaker 1: in drop coverage looks, Jalen was running into problems backpet

122
00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,200
Speaker 1: pressure kind of funneling him into the lane. He was

123
00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:04,360
Speaker 1: rushing things over, penetrating missing shots around the basket. It

124
00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:06,479
Speaker 1: was not a great game for Jaylen Brown as a

125
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:07,040
Speaker 1: shot creator.

126
00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:07,280
Speaker 2: Right.

127
00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:09,919
Speaker 1: The only other option you have, really, you know, is

128
00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,480
Speaker 1: these lower level guards that on. Some Knights have it

129
00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:14,720
Speaker 1: and some Knights no. Some Knights Peyton Pritchard has it,

130
00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:17,839
Speaker 1: sometimes he doesn't. Sometimes Derek White has it, sometimes he doesn't.

131
00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,320
Speaker 1: Putting Jason Tatum into the equation, and I don't think

132
00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:21,960
Speaker 1: it'll be perfect right away. I think there will be

133
00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,760
Speaker 1: some kind of like growing pains as they try to

134
00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:27,680
Speaker 1: implement him into an offense that has such a different

135
00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:30,520
Speaker 1: rhythm this year, with a different kind of set of

136
00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:31,520
Speaker 1: usage distribution.

137
00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:33,320
Speaker 2: Right So it won't be perfect right.

138
00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:35,920
Speaker 1: Away, But in the long run, Jason Tatum gives you

139
00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:38,320
Speaker 1: a different vehicle with which to break down the defense,

140
00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,279
Speaker 1: a different way to attack drop coverage, a different way

141
00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:44,880
Speaker 1: to attack specific matchups on the floor. Jason Tatum is

142
00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,240
Speaker 1: a better passer than Jylen Brown is. Like you guys

143
00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:50,000
Speaker 1: know how I feel, generally speaking, As long as you

144
00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:52,240
Speaker 1: guys are actually willing to take catch and shoot threes,

145
00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:55,040
Speaker 1: which I think both Tatum and Brown are, this can

146
00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:57,280
Speaker 1: work and everyone can coexist, and I mean they want

147
00:06:57,279 --> 00:06:59,600
Speaker 1: a championship together, so we don't need to overthink that.

148
00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,160
Speaker 1: I just think Jason Tatum comes in and provides variety

149
00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:07,000
Speaker 1: and flexibility and their shot creation and variety in flexibility

150
00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:09,520
Speaker 1: in their defensive scheming, and immediately it's going to make

151
00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,000
Speaker 1: them a lot better. Is it going to manifest in

152
00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,120
Speaker 1: some massive improvement in the metrics that are coming out

153
00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:16,760
Speaker 1: of this team. No, because there are already some of

154
00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,520
Speaker 1: the strongest metrics in the league. All it is is

155
00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:21,680
Speaker 1: going to give them a level of resilience against the

156
00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:25,120
Speaker 1: upper level competition where they've had some issues. They got

157
00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:27,080
Speaker 1: chewed up and spit out by Charlotte, they got their

158
00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:29,680
Speaker 1: ass beat. They got chewed up and spit out by Denver.

159
00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:31,840
Speaker 1: They got their ass beat. These are teams that have

160
00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:33,280
Speaker 1: you know, Charlotte's been the best team in the league

161
00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,040
Speaker 1: for the last you know, since January twenty second. Denver

162
00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,040
Speaker 1: obviously is the team I have second in my list

163
00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:42,200
Speaker 1: of championship contenders. So like, there's an upper echelon in

164
00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:45,320
Speaker 1: the league that Boston's really gonna need Jason Tatum for

165
00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:47,960
Speaker 1: and I'm just really glad that he's back. All right,

166
00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,200
Speaker 1: let's get to our mail back questions. I'm super excited

167
00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:53,760
Speaker 1: to tell you guys about our partnership with VIORI. Those

168
00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:55,640
Speaker 1: are you guys who are familiar with VIORI have noticed

169
00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:57,360
Speaker 1: I've been wearing it on the show a ton over

170
00:07:57,360 --> 00:07:59,560
Speaker 1: the last few years. It's become a workhorse for me. Today,

171
00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,880
Speaker 1: I'm wearing the Seaside pullover, a hoodie one that I

172
00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:04,680
Speaker 1: just got that I've really enjoyed. I wore it out

173
00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:06,920
Speaker 1: on a cold, windy day the other day and it

174
00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,720
Speaker 1: was super warm and comfortable throughout. They make all sorts

175
00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:11,560
Speaker 1: of stuff. I love their ath leisure stuff. I wear

176
00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:13,000
Speaker 1: that stuff on the show all the time. You've seen

177
00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:15,720
Speaker 1: me wear the Ponto Performance T shirt, an excellent T shirt.

178
00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:17,080
Speaker 1: I think it's the best T shirt in the game

179
00:08:17,160 --> 00:08:19,800
Speaker 1: right now. I also wear some of their Ponto Performance

180
00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,520
Speaker 1: hoodies and sweatpants when I go to the gym. There's

181
00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,760
Speaker 1: a lot of versatility with Viory clothing. It's super durable.

182
00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:28,800
Speaker 1: You can wash it a million times, and it maintains

183
00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,560
Speaker 1: the same quality that you expect when you purchase a

184
00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:33,959
Speaker 1: piece of Viory clothing. But it's versatile. I can wear

185
00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,280
Speaker 1: it in casual settings like around my house. I can

186
00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,320
Speaker 1: wear it here on the show. I can also wear

187
00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:40,200
Speaker 1: it when I go out to lunch with my wife,

188
00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:41,880
Speaker 1: or when I go out shopping or go out and

189
00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:45,160
Speaker 1: run errands with her. There's a ton of versatility and

190
00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,880
Speaker 1: utility in your wardrobe when you go through Vieury. Viory

191
00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,560
Speaker 1: is an investment in your happiness. For our listeners, they

192
00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:55,520
Speaker 1: are offering twenty percent off your first purchase. Get yourself

193
00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:57,600
Speaker 1: some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the

194
00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:02,480
Speaker 1: planet at viory dot com slashops. That's Vuo ri I

195
00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:08,480
Speaker 1: dot com slash hoops. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for

196
00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,840
Speaker 1: full terms and conditions. Not only will you receive twenty

197
00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,600
Speaker 1: percent off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on

198
00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:17,120
Speaker 1: any US orders over seventy five dollars in free returns.

199
00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:20,240
Speaker 1: Go to viory dot com slash hoops and discover the

200
00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:24,400
Speaker 1: versatility of Yori clothing. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for

201
00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:29,720
Speaker 1: full terms and conditions. Jason, thanks for all the great work.

202
00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:32,480
Speaker 1: My question is is it time to acknowledge Cam Johnson

203
00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,160
Speaker 1: doesn't have that competitive gene to show up in big

204
00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,920
Speaker 1: games or in the playoffs. I don't think I would

205
00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:41,880
Speaker 1: go that far, but I do think it's time to

206
00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:44,200
Speaker 1: acknowledge that, at least to this point. At least to

207
00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:46,560
Speaker 1: this point in the regular season, the Cam Johnson trade

208
00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:47,640
Speaker 1: looks like a disaster.

209
00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:49,680
Speaker 2: I am not.

210
00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:52,760
Speaker 1: Trying to preach at any point here, because you guys

211
00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:54,720
Speaker 1: know that I advocated for this trade. This is a

212
00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,280
Speaker 1: trade that I really liked. The specific thought process I

213
00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:00,679
Speaker 1: had was pretty simple. I thought Denver was rocking two

214
00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:03,920
Speaker 1: power forwards, and I thought that having a small forward,

215
00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:08,200
Speaker 1: a traditional small forward who has more perimeter utility, especially defensively,

216
00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:10,960
Speaker 1: the ability to guard on the perimeter more and just

217
00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:12,920
Speaker 1: more foot speed, it would increase the foot speed of

218
00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:15,920
Speaker 1: their lineup, give them more perimeter defenders in their lineup.

219
00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,240
Speaker 1: It wouldn't be as good of a defensive rebounder or

220
00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:20,880
Speaker 1: secondary rim protector as Michael Porter Junior, but he'd be

221
00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:22,720
Speaker 1: able to bring a lot of the jump shooting. And

222
00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:25,200
Speaker 1: what's ended up happening is Cam just hasn't shot the

223
00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,480
Speaker 1: ball well enough, and that's really been the disaster. Say

224
00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:30,120
Speaker 1: what you want, like even the like, I would argue

225
00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:34,959
Speaker 1: that the the like off the dribble coming off of

226
00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:38,719
Speaker 1: screens type stuff that Michael Porter Junior did, Cam has

227
00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,040
Speaker 1: kind of made up for with those things, meaning the

228
00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,880
Speaker 1: foot speed, the perimeter defense, things along those lines. Cam

229
00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:47,560
Speaker 1: Johnson has been a very useful player for Denver this year.

230
00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:50,840
Speaker 1: He just hasn't had anything close to Michael Porter Junior's upside,

231
00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:53,440
Speaker 1: and then when you add into that the fact that

232
00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:55,160
Speaker 1: he hasn't been able to hit a catch and cheo jumper,

233
00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:57,160
Speaker 1: it's been a disaster. So like, we don't need to

234
00:10:57,200 --> 00:10:59,280
Speaker 1: overthink this. You send out a first round pick for

235
00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,040
Speaker 1: a player that you can expect to be an upgrade

236
00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,360
Speaker 1: and instead he's been a downgrade. Of course, it's been

237
00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:07,520
Speaker 1: a disaster to this point. However, it's not over all.

238
00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:10,520
Speaker 1: I mean by that is the thing with shooting slumps

239
00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:12,839
Speaker 1: is eventually you get out of them, especially if you're

240
00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:14,880
Speaker 1: working hard behind the scenes and you're staying strong and

241
00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:17,680
Speaker 1: cam by all indications from everybody I talked to, is

242
00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:19,920
Speaker 1: working his butt off and doing everything he can to

243
00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:22,320
Speaker 1: get out of the shooting slump. And all you have

244
00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:24,640
Speaker 1: to do is go into a postseason series and have

245
00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:26,640
Speaker 1: a big game in a big spot, hit a couple

246
00:11:26,640 --> 00:11:30,079
Speaker 1: of big shots, and guess what. Michael Porter Junior did

247
00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:31,840
Speaker 1: hit a lot of catch and shoot threes, did put

248
00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:34,839
Speaker 1: up better numbers, did have all this utility as a

249
00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,280
Speaker 1: secondary room protector and defensive rebounder. But guess what in

250
00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:39,200
Speaker 1: the big spots against Oklahoma City, he couldn't hit a

251
00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,880
Speaker 1: catch and shoot three, So all of it didn't matter

252
00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:43,760
Speaker 1: because he couldn't hit a catch and shoot three against

253
00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:46,600
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City, which is why they traded him. Right, So,

254
00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,560
Speaker 1: like Cam has the like, I'm not going to sit

255
00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,200
Speaker 1: here and pretend and try to propagandize this idea that

256
00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,160
Speaker 1: Cam Johnson's been good when he hasn't. He's been a disappointment.

257
00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,600
Speaker 1: There's no way around it. He's been a disappointment. I

258
00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:01,800
Speaker 1: thought he'd be a slam dunk movie. I've been wrong

259
00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:04,360
Speaker 1: to this point. But all you have to do is

260
00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:06,360
Speaker 1: play well in the postseason and no one's gonna give

261
00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,160
Speaker 1: a shit what happened in February and March. So it's

262
00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:11,280
Speaker 1: incumbent on Cam to just continue to put that work

263
00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:14,920
Speaker 1: in and to get ready for this postseason run. And

264
00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:17,760
Speaker 1: if he can make an impact in that stage, no

265
00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:19,640
Speaker 1: one will give a damn. No one will be talking

266
00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:23,400
Speaker 1: about Michael Porter Junior anymore. Next question, Hey, Jason love

267
00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:25,840
Speaker 1: the show. As a Brazilian. I've been really surprised by

268
00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,199
Speaker 1: GUIs Santos's play this season. He made a big leap

269
00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:29,800
Speaker 1: and got a new contract. I think he's been a

270
00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:33,280
Speaker 1: very competent role player. He crashes the offensive glass, shoots

271
00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:35,600
Speaker 1: the three effectively, plays hard on defense, and can dribble

272
00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:36,040
Speaker 1: in pass.

273
00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:38,120
Speaker 2: Have you watching Golden State games? What do you think

274
00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:38,480
Speaker 2: of him?

275
00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,360
Speaker 1: Can he become an important player on a contender in

276
00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:43,800
Speaker 1: a winning context or is he just getting those numbers

277
00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:45,760
Speaker 1: because the Warriors are a bad.

278
00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:46,280
Speaker 2: Team right now.

279
00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:47,880
Speaker 1: I had been tuned out on Golden State for a

280
00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,480
Speaker 1: little bit, but I went on the sports radio in

281
00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:53,559
Speaker 1: the Bay Area, I think yesterday or the day before,

282
00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,600
Speaker 1: and so I did a bunch of prep for that,

283
00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:57,959
Speaker 1: and I ended up catching up on a bunch of

284
00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:00,360
Speaker 1: the Warriors games that I had been missing. And here's

285
00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,120
Speaker 1: the thing. I like Gis Santos a lot. He plays

286
00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:05,400
Speaker 1: that power forward spot in the way you're supposed to

287
00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,080
Speaker 1: in the modern MBA, simple and effective. He rebounds very well.

288
00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,360
Speaker 1: He has a career eight rebounds per thirty six minutes.

289
00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:14,120
Speaker 1: That's an outstanding number. He's a good catch and shoot

290
00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,360
Speaker 1: player who's equally proficient both when he's wide open and

291
00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,920
Speaker 1: under duress. He's about thirty nine percent in both cases

292
00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,080
Speaker 1: the season, about sixty reps in both cases the season.

293
00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:26,520
Speaker 1: So I love that balance when you're not just taking

294
00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:28,559
Speaker 1: the open ones, you're taking both and you're able to

295
00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,280
Speaker 1: hit both. He cuts baseline when the opening is there.

296
00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:33,480
Speaker 1: He's been over a cut per game this season. He

297
00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:35,199
Speaker 1: makes good decisions in the middle of the floor when

298
00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,480
Speaker 1: he's driving closeouts or when he's slipping out of screens.

299
00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:41,640
Speaker 1: Like all of this stuff is just basic things that

300
00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:44,400
Speaker 1: make a huge difference at that power forward spot when

301
00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:48,000
Speaker 1: you're playing alongside stars, because again, you're functioning as a cog.

302
00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:51,280
Speaker 1: You're not relied upon to break down the defense. He's

303
00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:54,760
Speaker 1: been an attentive defender that does his job. Like the

304
00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,000
Speaker 1: simplest way I could describe it to Warriors fans is

305
00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,599
Speaker 1: like I'd much rather pay Gis Santo's five million a

306
00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:02,800
Speaker 1: year than pay Ruy hachimurat eighteen million a year, and

307
00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:06,160
Speaker 1: they play the same position. Ruy's a better wide open

308
00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:09,720
Speaker 1: three point shooter shot, shooting over fifty percent on wide

309
00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,559
Speaker 1: open threes, but he only shoots when he's wide open.

310
00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:14,080
Speaker 1: You can chase him off the line with a hard

311
00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,360
Speaker 1: close out. He does have a mid range jump shot

312
00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,200
Speaker 1: that he can go to, like Ruy's got a you know,

313
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:20,880
Speaker 1: Ruy'll have nights where he's hitting everything, and there's a

314
00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:24,120
Speaker 1: certain ceiling there, but he only shoots when he when

315
00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:26,480
Speaker 1: he's wide open. He can be chased off the line

316
00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,640
Speaker 1: or played into misses when he's against like really good

317
00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:32,640
Speaker 1: defenses are in big playoff spots. He's a ruey, is

318
00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:36,120
Speaker 1: a terrible rebounder for his position, and he's incredibly prone

319
00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,600
Speaker 1: to defensive mistakes. And so with Gee, you know, it's

320
00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,640
Speaker 1: a lower ceiling type of option, but you're paying a

321
00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:45,400
Speaker 1: tiny fraction of it, and there's actually a possession to

322
00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:48,640
Speaker 1: possession dependability that matters more when it comes to the

323
00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:53,000
Speaker 1: winningest levels of basketball in the NBA. Last thing with Gee,

324
00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:55,400
Speaker 1: he's shown me quite a bit this year putting the

325
00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,960
Speaker 1: ball on the floor in situations where he's had to.

326
00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:03,080
Speaker 1: He kind of like in sometimes in ISO situations, the

327
00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:05,880
Speaker 1: Warriors will be running off ball action, you know, Staph

328
00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:08,000
Speaker 1: will be running off of a screen or something, and

329
00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:10,800
Speaker 1: Gee will just rip through, and on the rip through,

330
00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:12,320
Speaker 1: he'll beat his man and then he'll like kind of

331
00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:14,120
Speaker 1: body him and knock him off his base and be

332
00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,080
Speaker 1: able to get to little scoop shots or finger rolls

333
00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:18,640
Speaker 1: around the basket. He's got a little bit of utility

334
00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:20,280
Speaker 1: off the bounce that I think is going to continue

335
00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:23,200
Speaker 1: to get better. I think his playmaking chops are stronger

336
00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,360
Speaker 1: than most role players that you'll see in this phase

337
00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:27,920
Speaker 1: of their development. Just I think he projects to be

338
00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,720
Speaker 1: a guy who can be a completely useful rotation power

339
00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,360
Speaker 1: forward on a serious team. And I think that getting

340
00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:35,800
Speaker 1: that on the margins the way that Golden State did

341
00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:37,880
Speaker 1: is just a testament to their culture and the types

342
00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:39,920
Speaker 1: of guys that they continue to find year in and

343
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,240
Speaker 1: year out. Next question, we talked a lot about the

344
00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,600
Speaker 1: hypotheticals of players playing in different eras. What about coaches?

345
00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:48,520
Speaker 1: Do you think all the great coaches could coach in

346
00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:51,000
Speaker 1: any era? Is there any past coaches you think that

347
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,360
Speaker 1: would be even more exceptional? Now, love the show and

348
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:55,640
Speaker 1: excited to hear your thoughts. Thanks, thank you for supporting

349
00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:58,160
Speaker 1: the show. So I think that there are certain things

350
00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:00,320
Speaker 1: that work in any era no matter what. But like

351
00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,520
Speaker 1: I would say, the motivational part of it, like this

352
00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:05,920
Speaker 1: is boring because it's not really something that has a

353
00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:10,840
Speaker 1: lot of tangible subject matter to discuss in terms of

354
00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:15,520
Speaker 1: you know, x's and o's or basketball philosophies. But when

355
00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:18,200
Speaker 1: a coach is able to get buy in from his

356
00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:20,560
Speaker 1: team just on a very basic level in terms of

357
00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:25,760
Speaker 1: like playing hard, I would add to that like selflessness,

358
00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:30,040
Speaker 1: getting guys to believe in each other and believe in

359
00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,840
Speaker 1: the roles that they have, and to play for each other,

360
00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,840
Speaker 1: and to set individual goals aside in the pursuit of

361
00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,200
Speaker 1: team goals. Play like all of that stuff, I think

362
00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:43,080
Speaker 1: is like it's independent of the era that you're playing,

363
00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:47,480
Speaker 1: And that's just a fundamental basketball or fundamental coaching thing

364
00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,080
Speaker 1: that matters in basketball, matters in football, matters in any

365
00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,200
Speaker 1: team sport out there in the world. Can you get

366
00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:54,560
Speaker 1: you guys to play hard, and can you get them

367
00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:56,960
Speaker 1: to play for each other? And so I think that part,

368
00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,560
Speaker 1: I think is indiscriminate of the eras. But the part

369
00:17:00,560 --> 00:17:02,720
Speaker 1: of it that I think is important in terms of

370
00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:06,119
Speaker 1: transitioning between eras or being a coach that has its

371
00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:09,480
Speaker 1: skill set that translates between eras, comes down to being

372
00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:13,280
Speaker 1: open minded and willing to embrace change and paying attention

373
00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,120
Speaker 1: to league wide trends. The best example I can think

374
00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,480
Speaker 1: of with this is Greg Popovich. There was a phase

375
00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,199
Speaker 1: there with the Spurs about ten years ago where they

376
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,000
Speaker 1: were shooting a ton of threes, just a shit a

377
00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:25,879
Speaker 1: ton of threes compared to the rest of the league,

378
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,960
Speaker 1: and he was interviewed about it, and Popovich is sitting

379
00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:30,480
Speaker 1: there and he's like, I don't like this. He's like,

380
00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:32,639
Speaker 1: I don't like shooting a ton of threes, Like this isn't,

381
00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:35,800
Speaker 1: in my opinion, good for the game of basketball. But

382
00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:38,399
Speaker 1: this is what you gotta do to win. It's a

383
00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:40,960
Speaker 1: simple math problem, right, And like that's the thing. Greg

384
00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:45,600
Speaker 1: Popovich had that basketball philosophy, but he wasn't stubbornly tied

385
00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:47,720
Speaker 1: to that. He was willing to read the room, pay

386
00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:49,960
Speaker 1: attention to what was happening around the rest of the league,

387
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,560
Speaker 1: and make a change in his approach that gave him

388
00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:56,479
Speaker 1: a better chance to win. And so I'd argue, in

389
00:17:56,520 --> 00:18:00,480
Speaker 1: this era, it's the possession battle. It's emphasis on ball pressure,

390
00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,879
Speaker 1: emphasis on corner crashing, emphasis on running your lanes and

391
00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,119
Speaker 1: transition to get easy opportunities there, like all of the

392
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,960
Speaker 1: little things that can increase your possession margin that give

393
00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,000
Speaker 1: you a better chance to win. If you're a coach,

394
00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,320
Speaker 1: that's not finding you like and that doesn't mean every

395
00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:20,960
Speaker 1: team can do that, Like I it wouldn't matter if

396
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,840
Speaker 1: you got you know, the greatest coach in the history

397
00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,520
Speaker 1: of world of the world that could ever be conceived.

398
00:18:27,320 --> 00:18:29,280
Speaker 1: If you put them in charge of the Los Angeles Lakers,

399
00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:30,880
Speaker 1: They're not going to go force a ton of turnovers.

400
00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:33,879
Speaker 1: They don't have the personnel for it, right. But like

401
00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:36,719
Speaker 1: every coach needs to be sitting down and looking at

402
00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:40,280
Speaker 1: their roster, looking at what they're good at, what they're

403
00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:43,159
Speaker 1: bad at, and being like, where can I generate margin?

404
00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:46,840
Speaker 1: Where can I generate you know, two or three extra

405
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:48,960
Speaker 1: possessions a game that might give me a better chance

406
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,480
Speaker 1: to win outside of just the static half court environment.

407
00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:56,119
Speaker 1: So again, I think I think it's it's just a

408
00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:58,359
Speaker 1: combination of can you get guys to play hard and

409
00:18:58,359 --> 00:19:00,960
Speaker 1: play for each other and can be open minded and

410
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,159
Speaker 1: willing to change as the league changes around you. If

411
00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,800
Speaker 1: it's those two things, I think that you're going to

412
00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:08,960
Speaker 1: be successful regardless of what era you're in, And I

413
00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:10,760
Speaker 1: think all of the top coaches in the NBA kind

414
00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:14,720
Speaker 1: of fall into that category. There's a lot of talk

415
00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:17,560
Speaker 1: about offense being better than ever, but defensive schemes are

416
00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,120
Speaker 1: also more sophisticated than ever. Which one do you think

417
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:23,359
Speaker 1: has a harder time adjusting to the other. Is it

418
00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:25,679
Speaker 1: harder for offenses to find new ways to score against

419
00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,480
Speaker 1: those new defensive schemes, or is it harder for defenses

420
00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:30,520
Speaker 1: to find ways to stop the offensive talent that we

421
00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:32,840
Speaker 1: have in our league now? In a sense, is the

422
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,159
Speaker 1: evolution of the game more dictated by offensive development or

423
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,359
Speaker 1: defensive development? This is a really good question. I would

424
00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:43,479
Speaker 1: argue that it's gone back and forth throughout NBA history.

425
00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,439
Speaker 1: This is something I've talked about on the show in

426
00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:49,080
Speaker 1: the distant past. It's been years since I've talked about it,

427
00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:53,160
Speaker 1: But just to give you some perspective, as you look

428
00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,920
Speaker 1: at NBA history, offensive ratings go up, and they go down,

429
00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:58,800
Speaker 1: and they go up and they go down. Now, in

430
00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:02,080
Speaker 1: the big picture, there's still trending upwards because of the

431
00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:05,280
Speaker 1: fact that the three point shot has just undergone this

432
00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,440
Speaker 1: massive inflation in attempts, and it's just a simple math

433
00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:12,080
Speaker 1: problem that early generations of the NBA could never hope

434
00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:15,920
Speaker 1: to keep up with. Right, But inside of that trend,

435
00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,800
Speaker 1: they're still up and down the season. This season, the

436
00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:24,760
Speaker 1: league average for offensive rating is one fifteen point three.

437
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:27,520
Speaker 1: So if you took all thirty NBA teams and you

438
00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:30,800
Speaker 1: just added all their possessions and all their points, what

439
00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,399
Speaker 1: would be their points per one hundred possessions one to

440
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,840
Speaker 1: fifteen point three. That's the highest ever in the recorded

441
00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,040
Speaker 1: history of the league. But it's kind of certain to plateau.

442
00:20:40,119 --> 00:20:42,639
Speaker 1: I think we're getting ready to have a downturn. I

443
00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:44,520
Speaker 1: would not be surprised if that happened in the next

444
00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:46,960
Speaker 1: year or two. So we're still on the way out.

445
00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:50,760
Speaker 1: But it does go back and forth. So famously, it

446
00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:54,359
Speaker 1: peaked about seventeen years ago in two thousand and nine.

447
00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:56,679
Speaker 1: It peaked right around like one oh eight, and then

448
00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:58,440
Speaker 1: it went through a decline phase and it went down

449
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:02,480
Speaker 1: for several years, peaked back in nineteen ninety five, peaked

450
00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,399
Speaker 1: I think right around like one oh five I remember correctly,

451
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,159
Speaker 1: and then it declined for several years. So, like it

452
00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:13,200
Speaker 1: is part of that process around the NBA is it's

453
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:15,720
Speaker 1: not just the schematics, So like part of it is

454
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:20,520
Speaker 1: like offensive schemes go one way, defensive schemes respond, or

455
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:25,000
Speaker 1: defensive schemes enter the equation and offensive struggle for a

456
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:27,359
Speaker 1: little while, but then they respond one of those two.

457
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,159
Speaker 1: But there's also like a physicality piece with officiating. I

458
00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:34,200
Speaker 1: think that as the league starts to trend towards really

459
00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,400
Speaker 1: high scoring totals, I think there's phone calls that take

460
00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,439
Speaker 1: place from Adam Silver or David Stern in the distant

461
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,040
Speaker 1: pass where it's like, hey, can we tighten this up

462
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:44,520
Speaker 1: a little bit, make it, make it a little more physical.

463
00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:46,480
Speaker 1: All of a sudden, offensive ratings go down. And then

464
00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:48,720
Speaker 1: sometimes I think it gets too stuck in the mud,

465
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,000
Speaker 1: and you have times like the early two thousands where

466
00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:53,960
Speaker 1: David Stern's making a very different phone call and it's like, hey,

467
00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,560
Speaker 1: like we can't be having dudes grabbing and hold in

468
00:21:56,600 --> 00:22:00,719
Speaker 1: every offensive player. The game is too ugly low scoring.

469
00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:02,480
Speaker 1: We need to open it up. So like it's a

470
00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:06,719
Speaker 1: combination of the officiating and the schematics, but ultimately like

471
00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:11,199
Speaker 1: it's just that it's that battle of schematic proficiency, right, So,

472
00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,720
Speaker 1: like you know you have a team that's switching, well,

473
00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:17,359
Speaker 1: the offense gets really good at hunting your smaller or

474
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:20,639
Speaker 1: slower defenders. Okay, well, now that you're good at hunting smaller,

475
00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,720
Speaker 1: slower defenders, the really good defenses get good at pre

476
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,479
Speaker 1: switching or scram switching different things to get guys out

477
00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:28,640
Speaker 1: of those matchups. Or they get really good at doubling

478
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,959
Speaker 1: and gapping to make the floor feel smaller than it is.

479
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,320
Speaker 1: And then with the doubling and the gapping, you have

480
00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:37,320
Speaker 1: teams working on things like pinin flares and different ideas

481
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:41,000
Speaker 1: to try to create openings out of out of what

482
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,960
Speaker 1: is a very difficult defensive coverage to go against. Right, So,

483
00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,359
Speaker 1: like that battle is constantly going back and forth. It'll

484
00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:49,040
Speaker 1: always go back and forth. But like, I think we're

485
00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,040
Speaker 1: seeing kind of a renaissance of deep drop coverage this year,

486
00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:54,159
Speaker 1: like really deep drop coverage this year, because teams are

487
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,320
Speaker 1: realizing that actually, like on many nights, guys just won't

488
00:22:57,359 --> 00:22:59,639
Speaker 1: make enough shots against the deep drop coverage to beat you.

489
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,040
Speaker 1: And so like I've seen a lot more of that,

490
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:05,360
Speaker 1: particularly this season. So there's always going to be that

491
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,720
Speaker 1: kind of chess match back and forth going between the

492
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,080
Speaker 1: two sides, and it'll always kind of go up and

493
00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:12,760
Speaker 1: down as the two sides react to each other, mixed

494
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,400
Speaker 1: in with the physicality that the referees allow.

495
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:17,480
Speaker 2: Today's show is.

496
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:19,720
Speaker 1: Brought to you by a presenting sponsor, hard Rock Bet

497
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,480
Speaker 1: Florida's sports book March is here, and that means college

498
00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:26,760
Speaker 1: basketball takes center stage. The stakes are rising, the shots

499
00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,000
Speaker 1: are falling, and now's the time to hit the hardwood

500
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:31,880
Speaker 1: with hard Rock bet with hoops on every night. Every

501
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:33,760
Speaker 1: night is a shot to build the same game parlay

502
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:36,640
Speaker 1: and score a major bucket. If you ever misstip off

503
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:39,040
Speaker 1: of that big game, don't worry. Hard Rock Bet lets

504
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,479
Speaker 1: you live bet all game long, from the first bucket

505
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:43,600
Speaker 1: to the final buzzer, so you're never too late to

506
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:45,879
Speaker 1: find a winner or grab that player prop that you

507
00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,560
Speaker 1: had circled. Sign up today and double your winnings on

508
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,520
Speaker 1: your first ten bets smacks fifty dollars.

509
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:50,960
Speaker 2: That's right.

510
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:52,719
Speaker 1: If you would have won a hundred bucks on your

511
00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,440
Speaker 1: same game parlay, make that two hundred bucks. The hard

512
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:57,800
Speaker 1: Rock Bet sports book GAP is the only legal sports

513
00:23:57,840 --> 00:23:59,919
Speaker 1: book for whenever you're in Florida, and it's also lit

514
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:05,000
Speaker 1: in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado,

515
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:05,840
Speaker 1: and Michigan.

516
00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:07,240
Speaker 2: Coming soon to more states too.

517
00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,080
Speaker 1: Plus hard Rock Bet offers new promos daily, so whenever

518
00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:11,919
Speaker 1: you're listening, just open up the app and check out

519
00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:13,960
Speaker 1: what you've got. Any day of the week, download the

520
00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,760
Speaker 1: hard Rock Bet app and make your first deposit. Offered

521
00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:19,040
Speaker 1: by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. In Florida, offered by

522
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:21,920
Speaker 1: Seminal Hard Rock Digital LLC in all other states. Must

523
00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:26,440
Speaker 1: be twenty one plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,

524
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,320
Speaker 1: New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia to play. Terms and

525
00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:33,200
Speaker 1: conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida called one eight

526
00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:35,720
Speaker 1: three to three play wise. In Indiana, if you or

527
00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:37,680
Speaker 1: someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help,

528
00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:40,800
Speaker 1: call one eight hundred and nine with it. In Ohio,

529
00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,280
Speaker 1: call one eight hundred my reset gambling problem called one

530
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:48,160
Speaker 1: eight hundred gambler In Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Tennessee,

531
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:53,440
Speaker 1: or Virginia. Hey, Jason, why don't you think assists get

532
00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,160
Speaker 1: as much importance in MVP conversations as point per game?

533
00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:58,960
Speaker 1: Player like Shay averages six more points per game than

534
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:01,240
Speaker 1: k with kad to averag just three more assists per games.

535
00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:03,880
Speaker 1: So whatuldn't that mean they contribute the same number of points,

536
00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,120
Speaker 1: but Kai gets his team more involved, aka more valuable

537
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,320
Speaker 1: to his team. So I don't really look at just

538
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,439
Speaker 1: straight counting stats very much at all. I tend to

539
00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:19,240
Speaker 1: think that they are a product of play style and usage.

540
00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,680
Speaker 1: Distribution and all these like different things. I look at

541
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,760
Speaker 1: a lot of like play type data, like how efficient

542
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:27,919
Speaker 1: is a Cad pick and roll on a points per

543
00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:31,760
Speaker 1: possession basis? How efficient is a Shai Gilgess Alexander pick

544
00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,760
Speaker 1: and roll on a per possession basis? Those are usually

545
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:36,920
Speaker 1: the kinds of things I look at, or like team

546
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,600
Speaker 1: wide stats, like your job as a as a offensive

547
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,280
Speaker 1: engine is to create offense for your entire team, right,

548
00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:45,719
Speaker 1: It's not just to create offense for yourself. I've been

549
00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,719
Speaker 1: critical about this, specifically with with Luca this season, Like

550
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:52,199
Speaker 1: there are times where I feel like Lucas putting up

551
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:56,200
Speaker 1: his numbers, but it's not necessarily leading to success team

552
00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 1: wide in the in the goal of the team to

553
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:03,439
Speaker 1: generate as much as much team offense as possible. I'm

554
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:05,520
Speaker 1: pulling up the pick and roll efficiency numbers right now.

555
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,240
Speaker 1: So like for example, Shay, when Shae runs a ball screen,

556
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:12,440
Speaker 1: it's worth one point one to two points per possession

557
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,480
Speaker 1: including passes. When Kaid runs a ball screen, it's worth

558
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:20,320
Speaker 1: one point zero three points per possession including passes. Now

559
00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,280
Speaker 1: that gets a little bit more complicated because the the

560
00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:24,840
Speaker 1: off ball personnel is different for it.

561
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:26,080
Speaker 2: So there's no harder fast rule.

562
00:26:26,160 --> 00:26:28,239
Speaker 1: I say talk about this all the time with some

563
00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:31,200
Speaker 1: of the people that I've debated about analytics with. I've

564
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:34,440
Speaker 1: talked to people who have NBA like actual media votes

565
00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 1: who are like, oh, I have to use numbers because

566
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,000
Speaker 1: otherwise my biases will get in the way. And I'm like,

567
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,399
Speaker 1: that would make sense if the numbers actually were like

568
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,359
Speaker 1: a harder fast rule to interpret the value of a

569
00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:46,040
Speaker 1: basketball player.

570
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:46,679
Speaker 2: But it's just not.

571
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:50,479
Speaker 1: Ultimately, basketball is more art than science. Ultimately, there are

572
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 1: too many moving parts for it to be synthesized down

573
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:57,080
Speaker 1: to a single number or even a set of numbers,

574
00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:00,240
Speaker 1: and so the data as value. But I'm all always

575
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,280
Speaker 1: going to trust my eyes and like, just very simply,

576
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:05,720
Speaker 1: how many times have you watched Caid or Shay this

577
00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:08,280
Speaker 1: year and been like, man, kid's a better player than Shay.

578
00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 1: It's not something you're thinking when you're watching the two games.

579
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,280
Speaker 1: Kate's having an incredible season. To your point about the MVP, like,

580
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 1: I think there's a version of this. Actually I'll skip

581
00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:19,240
Speaker 1: ahead to another question because it meant mentions this specifically

582
00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:21,919
Speaker 1: big fan and watch it from Australia. Is it just

583
00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,840
Speaker 1: me or is Kate Cunningham's MVP hype really overrated. That's

584
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,000
Speaker 1: twice in the last two weeks he's been taken completely

585
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 1: out of the game with good game plans. Harden had

586
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,200
Speaker 1: a terrible game by his standards, and still the Cavs

587
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,200
Speaker 1: looked well in control with no Donovan. So that's the

588
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,080
Speaker 1: thing I talked about with Kaid, like there was a

589
00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:38,240
Speaker 1: chance for him to get MVP right around the All

590
00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:40,119
Speaker 1: Star break if he would have come out and just

591
00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,280
Speaker 1: kicked everyone's ask. The rest of the season averaged like

592
00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:45,360
Speaker 1: twenty eight point triple double and like sixty two percentury shooting,

593
00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:47,800
Speaker 1: and the Pistons finished with the best record in the league.

594
00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:49,840
Speaker 1: I think Cad would have had a case, but ultimately,

595
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:51,120
Speaker 1: you have to play the games, and when you play

596
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:54,679
Speaker 1: the games, CAD's had some bad games, particularly against teams

597
00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,240
Speaker 1: that can really protect the rim and they can put big,

598
00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,960
Speaker 1: physical perimeter defenders on him. With Kate, he's in this

599
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,480
Speaker 1: phase of his career right now that you see with

600
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:08,800
Speaker 1: a lot of stars where they're really putting out wow performances.

601
00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,160
Speaker 1: The big picture numbers look really good, the team's success

602
00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 1: is there, but there's the lack of, like the really

603
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,879
Speaker 1: refined stuff you need to succeed at the highest levels.

604
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:20,320
Speaker 1: That usually comes a few years later. That's kind of

605
00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,040
Speaker 1: where we're at with Kate. Like Shay's numbers look more

606
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 1: or less the same as they have. His efficiency has

607
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:26,960
Speaker 1: gone up with the addition of the three point shot

608
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 1: this year, But with Shay, it's it's it's less about

609
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,000
Speaker 1: the big picture numbers or even the team success. The

610
00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 1: Thunder haven't been as good as they were last year.

611
00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 1: But what it comes down to is in any big game,

612
00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,240
Speaker 1: Shay just looks so in command and in control. He's

613
00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:45,200
Speaker 1: like he have bad games, but there's so much more

614
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:47,320
Speaker 1: rare than they used to be. And like you, like

615
00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,360
Speaker 1: if you were going into a big let's say that

616
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:55,760
Speaker 1: you have a like a Thunder, a big game game

617
00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:59,040
Speaker 1: five between the Thunder and you know, some second round

618
00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:02,240
Speaker 1: opponent like Houston, and you go into the gamer, do

619
00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:04,520
Speaker 1: you go into that game thinking like, man, I wonder

620
00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:06,800
Speaker 1: if Shay's gonna have it tonight? Like, no, You're like,

621
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,280
Speaker 1: Shay's probably gonna have it tonight because he's just he

622
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,000
Speaker 1: seems to have figured out so much over the years.

623
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,760
Speaker 1: He's clicked into a different phase of his career in

624
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,960
Speaker 1: terms of confidence and consistency, cad Big Game five, You're like,

625
00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:21,920
Speaker 1: man like, maybe he'll be great, maybe he won't. Right,

626
00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:24,600
Speaker 1: I grew up as a Lebron fan. That was how

627
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:26,680
Speaker 1: I felt in his first calv stint. I was like,

628
00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,200
Speaker 1: I wonder if Lebron's gonna have it tonight, right towards

629
00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:33,720
Speaker 1: the like by twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, I used to

630
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,400
Speaker 1: talk about it all the time, like like there was

631
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:38,800
Speaker 1: no safer bet in the NBA to play great in

632
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,040
Speaker 1: a big game than Lebron. It was just like the

633
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:44,680
Speaker 1: big playoff game tonight. Lebron's gonna have at least a

634
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:46,840
Speaker 1: twenty eight eight to eight, and he's gonna be efficient,

635
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:48,240
Speaker 1: and he's gonna look like the best player on the floor,

636
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:50,440
Speaker 1: and he's gonna look in complete command and control of

637
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:54,400
Speaker 1: everything even if they lose. There's just like a level

638
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:56,280
Speaker 1: of consistency that you get to when you reach that

639
00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 1: later phase. So, to make a long story short, yeah,

640
00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:01,960
Speaker 1: Caide's averaging more assists than Shaye this year. Doesn't mean

641
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,360
Speaker 1: he's been better at creating shots for himself or for

642
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,600
Speaker 1: his team. Doesn't mean he's better than Shaye as a

643
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,240
Speaker 1: basketball player. Doesn't mean Kay can't win MVP one day.

644
00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:10,800
Speaker 1: It's just gonna be a little while. He's got some

645
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:14,600
Speaker 1: stuff he's got to figure out before then. While the

646
00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:16,800
Speaker 1: Spurs are clearly an elite regular season team, it would

647
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 1: be unprecedented for them to win a championship with a

648
00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:21,360
Speaker 1: small amount of playoff experience on this roster. Do you

649
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:23,320
Speaker 1: believe this is a factor that will hinder their ability

650
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:25,520
Speaker 1: to be actually a threat to win the championship this year?

651
00:30:26,320 --> 00:30:28,360
Speaker 1: So what happens with these kinds of teams is you

652
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,040
Speaker 1: end up looking at the discussion and you go, Okay,

653
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,360
Speaker 1: they have all just the things that you would want

654
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:34,880
Speaker 1: to see with a championship contender.

655
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:35,920
Speaker 2: Like let's go back to.

656
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:41,240
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty four Oka, see like number one overall seed

657
00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:45,480
Speaker 1: Shae looks like one of the best players in the world.

658
00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 1: All the role players are putting it together, really strong

659
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 1: net rating data, like all these really strong indicators, right,

660
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:58,120
Speaker 1: But there's an age kind of like inexperienced factor that

661
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:00,000
Speaker 1: you want to consider. And so what ends up happing

662
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,120
Speaker 1: they get into the postseason, they run into it an

663
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:07,800
Speaker 1: older veteran, more experienced Golden Dallas excuse me, Dallas Mavericks

664
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,320
Speaker 1: team LUKEA has already been on a conference finals run.

665
00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,360
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving has literally been to the NBA Finals four

666
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:18,480
Speaker 1: times and won a championship in twenty sixteen. Like, they're better,

667
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,440
Speaker 1: they're more comfortable. They end up getting out of there

668
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,200
Speaker 1: with the win. Right, But then okay, see the following year.

669
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 1: Off of the experience that they gained in that season,

670
00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,960
Speaker 1: even though they won seed, they come back to next season,

671
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,240
Speaker 1: they kick everyone's ass to the runaway one seed. They

672
00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:34,880
Speaker 1: end up winning the championship, and even with their youth,

673
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:38,320
Speaker 1: they still flirted with disaster against Denver and Indiana. Right,

674
00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:40,760
Speaker 1: so with San Antonio, like they're gonna be the two

675
00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:42,960
Speaker 1: seed this year, this is that they're in there. Like

676
00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:47,080
Speaker 1: OKAC twenty twenty four season, they're super talented. It's abundantly

677
00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:50,600
Speaker 1: clear that their star is super legit as like a

678
00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:53,480
Speaker 1: foundational guy who can win a championship. All the metrics

679
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:57,880
Speaker 1: that you want to see, offense, defense, rebounding, controlling margins.

680
00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:59,000
Speaker 2: All that kind of stuff. Everything looks good.

681
00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:02,400
Speaker 1: But they're young, and so that's what leads you to

682
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:04,880
Speaker 1: believe that they're likely headed to something like a second

683
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,440
Speaker 1: round exit. But the one thing I'll say that makes

684
00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:13,000
Speaker 1: this Spurs team a little different. Victor Wmenyama doesn't resemble

685
00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:15,800
Speaker 1: any other young player that came before. There are parts

686
00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,240
Speaker 1: of his game that don't need experience. There are parts

687
00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:20,680
Speaker 1: of his game that don't need playoff reps in order

688
00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:24,080
Speaker 1: to be impactful, and that's the defensive end of the floor.

689
00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:26,400
Speaker 1: I was looking at these numbers the other day because

690
00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:28,440
Speaker 1: I think Underdog ended up tweeting them out, and I

691
00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:30,520
Speaker 1: thought it was really fascinating. They had a tweet where

692
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,840
Speaker 1: they just listed all of the top net ratings in

693
00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:37,440
Speaker 1: the league among players. Of the top eight, seven of

694
00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,600
Speaker 1: them were Celtics or Thunder players, and then fifth on

695
00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:45,120
Speaker 1: that list was Victor Wemenyama. Victor is a game breaking

696
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 1: talent on the defensive end of the floor in a

697
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,920
Speaker 1: way that we've never seen before. So while all those

698
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,600
Speaker 1: things I said about young teams are true, I wouldn't

699
00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,280
Speaker 1: be surprised if San Antonio won the title this year.

700
00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:01,520
Speaker 1: I can't write them out or write them off because

701
00:33:01,560 --> 00:33:04,200
Speaker 1: this Victor thing is such a strange variable. It's such

702
00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 1: a different variable. So like, honestly, it's really as simple

703
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:09,360
Speaker 1: to me. I could see them losing in the second round.

704
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 1: I don't think they'll lose a first round series because

705
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:12,200
Speaker 1: they'll get a play in team and I think they'll

706
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:13,880
Speaker 1: beat whoever gets at it, Like even if it's the Clippers,

707
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,000
Speaker 1: I think the Spurs will beat the Clippers. But like,

708
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,160
Speaker 1: whatever they get out of the once they get out

709
00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 1: of the first round, whoever they play in the second round,

710
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:22,680
Speaker 1: I could see them losing there. I could see them

711
00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:24,800
Speaker 1: beating Oklahoma City in the conference finals and making it

712
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:27,360
Speaker 1: to the finals and you know, losing to the Knicks

713
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:29,280
Speaker 1: or beating one of the other Eastern Conference teams. Like,

714
00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,560
Speaker 1: there's really not a playoff outcome with San Antonio this

715
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,360
Speaker 1: year that I feel off the table, whereas with other

716
00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:39,040
Speaker 1: examples of young teams, like take Charlotte for example, Charlotte's

717
00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:40,360
Speaker 1: been the best team in the league for the last

718
00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:44,120
Speaker 1: month and a half. You know, like Charlotte just kicked

719
00:33:44,120 --> 00:33:47,680
Speaker 1: Boston's ass. But if Charlotte played Boston in the playoff series,

720
00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:51,360
Speaker 1: I'd pick Boston because they Charlotte, as good as they are,

721
00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:53,600
Speaker 1: they don't have a victor women Ya'm a game breaking

722
00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 1: type of talent. They're just a really good young team,

723
00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:58,120
Speaker 1: and really good young teams tend to run into really

724
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:00,160
Speaker 1: good veteran teams and get beat when they get to

725
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,960
Speaker 1: the postseason Two more, Jason, is it possible for the

726
00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:06,360
Speaker 1: Pelicans to build a defense around Derek Queen in the

727
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:08,880
Speaker 1: same way that the Nuggets have built a defense around Jokic.

728
00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,040
Speaker 1: If not, will Queen ever be able to truly be

729
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,759
Speaker 1: an effective star or All Star with the holes in

730
00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,680
Speaker 1: his defense. So the big difference between Derek Queen and

731
00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:23,640
Speaker 1: Nikola Jokic is there is the lack of the strong

732
00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:28,280
Speaker 1: defensive foundation that comes from Yokic's defensive rebounding. So Jokic

733
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:30,400
Speaker 1: is such a good defensive rebounder, and he's such a

734
00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:34,560
Speaker 1: big body that like, he's a bonafide center, And there's

735
00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:36,200
Speaker 1: a way to build around a bona fide center with

736
00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:39,560
Speaker 1: his defensive limitations, and that's usually with a big, athletic

737
00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:41,920
Speaker 1: forward behind him, a guy like Aaron Gordon that can

738
00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:43,960
Speaker 1: operate as the other side of the bracket and his

739
00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:45,799
Speaker 1: pick and roll coverages, right, like a guy who can

740
00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:47,960
Speaker 1: be a secondary rim protector who could be a low

741
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,279
Speaker 1: man when Nikola Jokic comes up to the level. Those

742
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:52,680
Speaker 1: are all the things that work. But Jokic is just

743
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:56,080
Speaker 1: an unbelievable defensive rebounder that's a really strong defensive trade.

744
00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:58,959
Speaker 1: He's also a very high IQ defender. Derek Queen could

745
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:02,080
Speaker 1: become a very high IQ defender. He's never going to

746
00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:04,960
Speaker 1: be a good enough defensive rebounder, I think for that

747
00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:07,560
Speaker 1: to be the one thing he's great at on defense,

748
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:10,319
Speaker 1: and so I think if your goal is to view

749
00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:15,840
Speaker 1: Derek Queen as a legitimate, like foundational player, not like

750
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:18,400
Speaker 1: a backup center who can kill teams for fifteen minutes

751
00:35:18,400 --> 00:35:20,879
Speaker 1: a night, but like a real foundational player, I think

752
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:22,799
Speaker 1: he's got to be alongside a guy who can both

753
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:25,520
Speaker 1: shoot threes and protect the rim, like he's got to

754
00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:28,640
Speaker 1: essentially play the four, and like, I think more like

755
00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:31,160
Speaker 1: Carl Anthony Towns, right, Karl Anthony Towns is the guy

756
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:32,839
Speaker 1: that you're looking at in that specific case.

757
00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:33,880
Speaker 2: But that's hard to do.

758
00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,319
Speaker 1: It's really hard to find a rim protecting center that

759
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:39,200
Speaker 1: can really shoot, Like we're talking about Victor wimen Yama

760
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,960
Speaker 1: and Chet and then Christops Porzingis who can't stay healthy,

761
00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:44,560
Speaker 1: you know, Like there's very few of these guys in

762
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:47,160
Speaker 1: the league, and most of them are considered all of

763
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:49,160
Speaker 1: them are considered stars.

764
00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:51,880
Speaker 2: When they're healthy. So it's it's just going to be really.

765
00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:56,440
Speaker 1: Hard from that specific standpoint, but there's always that opportunity

766
00:35:56,840 --> 00:35:58,759
Speaker 1: for him as a bench guy who can score in

767
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:01,440
Speaker 1: bunches and short shifts off the bench against units that

768
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:04,840
Speaker 1: are smaller and don't have the same issues that starting lineups.

769
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:07,080
Speaker 1: Percent just gonna be really hard for him to anchor

770
00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:08,520
Speaker 1: as a five because I don't think he's a good

771
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:12,799
Speaker 1: enough defensive rebounder. Last question, has the problem of how

772
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:15,839
Speaker 1: to guard Yokic been solved? Sandwich him, grapple him, hold

773
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:17,759
Speaker 1: on to him knowing you won't get many foul calls,

774
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:19,000
Speaker 1: or do you think there's a way that you can

775
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:21,040
Speaker 1: work around it? And yes, I do concede that he's

776
00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:22,920
Speaker 1: flopping a lot. Thanks for having a great show as always,

777
00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:25,440
Speaker 1: thanks for supporting the show. I don't think he's been solved.

778
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:27,200
Speaker 1: I just think he's in a really bad shooting slump

779
00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:29,279
Speaker 1: and the numbers are actually crazy. So since he came

780
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,080
Speaker 1: back from his injury, he's shooting just twenty four percent

781
00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:35,160
Speaker 1: from three, shooting just forty percent from mid range, and

782
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:39,360
Speaker 1: he's shooting forty nine percent on non restricted area twos.

783
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:42,360
Speaker 1: So like in the paint, so like short range shots,

784
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:46,279
Speaker 1: floaters hooks things along those lines typically like before all

785
00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:49,279
Speaker 1: that he's about forty five percent from three, he's about

786
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:52,440
Speaker 1: fifty five percent from mid range, and he's like sixty

787
00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:55,319
Speaker 1: five percent on those non restricted area paint twos. So

788
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:59,120
Speaker 1: like we're talking about a dramatic shooting slump from Nikola Jokich,

789
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,960
Speaker 1: they would not overthink it. I think this is gonna

790
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:05,840
Speaker 1: eventually come back around for him, and I would imagine

791
00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:07,239
Speaker 1: that by the time we get to the postseason, he's

792
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:10,120
Speaker 1: gonna look very much like Nikola Jokic. I'm recording this

793
00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:12,920
Speaker 1: on Thursday. I'm actually going tonight to Laker's Nuggets, which

794
00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:15,760
Speaker 1: I'm very very excited about, sitting a couple rows behind

795
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:20,240
Speaker 1: the Lakers bench. And I've been to three NBA games before,

796
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:23,360
Speaker 1: but they were all kind of lower profile games. It

797
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,359
Speaker 1: was a random Pelican Suns game back in the day

798
00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:30,480
Speaker 1: when Anthony Davis was with the Pelicans. AD got a

799
00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:32,759
Speaker 1: game winner in that game, like an offensive rebound put back.

800
00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:36,840
Speaker 1: I saw Kyrie Irving's first game back from his pateller

801
00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:38,880
Speaker 1: injury in the year that they won the title in

802
00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:42,040
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. It's actually in December of twenty fifteen. It

803
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:47,960
Speaker 1: was before before Tyleru became the coach and Kyrie's first

804
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:50,120
Speaker 1: came back. He didn't really play great, but he ended

805
00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:52,439
Speaker 1: up hitting a huge clutch three off of the left wing.

806
00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:56,480
Speaker 1: And then I watched Lebron in the Cavs in twenty

807
00:37:56,640 --> 00:38:00,400
Speaker 1: seventeen in Charlotte against a really bad Hornets team. Lebron

808
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:02,160
Speaker 1: went off for like thirty eight points and hit a

809
00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:03,959
Speaker 1: bunch of threes. It was a big game from him there.

810
00:38:04,160 --> 00:38:05,600
Speaker 1: But so like the three games I've been to are

811
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:10,280
Speaker 1: are like like either two bad teams playing or Lebron

812
00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:13,319
Speaker 1: Cavs teams playing against bad teams. So like tonight, I'm

813
00:38:13,320 --> 00:38:15,959
Speaker 1: gonna get to see, you know, two of the best

814
00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:17,880
Speaker 1: teams in the Western Conference, at least by record. I

815
00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:19,760
Speaker 1: think the Lakers kind of stick out like a sore thumb,

816
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:21,840
Speaker 1: but two of the best teams in the Western Conference.

817
00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:23,319
Speaker 1: I don't think either team's gonna be able to guard

818
00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:25,640
Speaker 1: each other. The star power is gonna be crazy, Luca Lebron,

819
00:38:25,719 --> 00:38:29,839
Speaker 1: Nicole Jokic, Jamal Murray, the crowd should be insane. Both

820
00:38:29,880 --> 00:38:33,880
Speaker 1: teams really really need this game. The Nuggets have been

821
00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,680
Speaker 1: slipping for a while. The Lakers desperately need to win

822
00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:39,080
Speaker 1: against a good team. So like, I'm really really excited

823
00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:40,399
Speaker 1: to go watch that. I know you guys are hearing

824
00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 1: this on Friday, so you already know what happens, but

825
00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:45,799
Speaker 1: I will be I'll be going on for those of

826
00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:47,960
Speaker 1: you guys listening to the mail bag. I'll be going

827
00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:51,160
Speaker 1: on with the Lakers Collective guys at eleven am Pacific

828
00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:54,720
Speaker 1: on Friday today, so you'll get to hear my reaction

829
00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:56,840
Speaker 1: to the game then, and I'll also talk about it

830
00:38:56,880 --> 00:38:59,279
Speaker 1: in more detail when we get some Monday. But thanks,

831
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:01,560
Speaker 1: as always for important the show guys. I will see

832
00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:04,520
Speaker 1: you guys on Monday for our power rankings.

833
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:05,800
Speaker 2: Have a great weekend.