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Speaker 1: All right, welcome to hoops tonight. You're at the volume.

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Speaker 1: Happy Wednesday, everybody. I hope all of you guys are

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Speaker 1: having a great week so far. We are live on AMP.

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Speaker 1: Don't forget if you're watching on YouTube or listening on

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Speaker 1: our podcast feeds that AMP is the very first place

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Speaker 1: that you guys can get these shows. So the Los

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Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers decided shockingly to play Lebron James and Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davis on the tail end of a back to back,

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Speaker 1: But they showed up to the arena and didn't bring

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Speaker 1: their games with them until the second half, and unfortunately,

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Speaker 1: they dug themselves in way too big of a hole.

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Speaker 1: The Clippers notch a very important win for seeding in

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Speaker 1: the Western Conference, putting them in the poll position to

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Speaker 1: get that five seed and end up in a matchup

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Speaker 1: with the Phoenix Suns in the first round, and suddenly

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Speaker 1: the Lakers are looking at potentially a trip through the

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Speaker 1: play in tournament, which always carries a certain amount of risk.

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Speaker 1: And then we're also going to touch on the Dallas

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Speaker 1: Mavericks down thirteen in the second half against the Sacramento

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Speaker 1: Kings team that also kind of surprisingly played all their

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Speaker 1: guys and they ended up notching a huge win on

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Speaker 1: the strength of an improved defensive effort in the third

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Speaker 1: quarter and Kyrie irving in some shot making heroics in

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Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. So we're going to dive into both

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Speaker 1: those games and all the ramifications. You guys know the

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Speaker 1: drill before we get started. Subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channels.

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Speaker 1: You don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me

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Speaker 1: on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you guys don't

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Speaker 1: miss any show announcements. And for whatever reason, you guys

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Speaker 1: miss one of these shows and you can't get back

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Speaker 1: over to YouTube to finish, don't forget. You can find

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Speaker 1: them wherever you get your podcasts. Under Hoops tonight, All right,

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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So there was a very specific

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Speaker 1: reason why I thought Lebron James and Anthony Davis should

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Speaker 1: play in this particular game. I don't believe in playing

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Speaker 1: with fate. I mean, the Warriors were playing damn good

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Speaker 1: basketball in twenty one going into the play in tournament,

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Speaker 1: very similar to this Lakers team. They finally ditched playing

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Speaker 1: specific lineups that were giving them problems. They went back

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Speaker 1: to their core Draymond at the five, and had a

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Speaker 1: ton of success and won fifteen of their last twenty games,

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Speaker 1: getting healthy going into that playoff run after kind of

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Speaker 1: a bizarre steph Curry tailbone injury put them into a

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Speaker 1: predicament in the standings, and you know, everyone would have

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Speaker 1: thought the Warriors were the most dangerous team going into

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Speaker 1: that tournament. The Lakers kind of limped into that tournament.

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Speaker 1: Lebron had just barely got returned to the court, Anthony Davis,

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Speaker 1: that just barely returned to the court. But here's the thing.

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Speaker 1: It was a wild, crazy game and Lebron ended up

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Speaker 1: hitting a three to win it, and then all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden, they're in this do or die game against Memphis,

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Speaker 1: who's just a big, physically imposing team, and next thing

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Speaker 1: you know, the Warriors are home on their couch. That's

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Speaker 1: the risk of the play in tournament, even though the

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Speaker 1: Warriors were arguably the best team in that play in tournament.

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Speaker 1: But that's just you know, single game sample sizes, crazy

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Speaker 1: things can happen. You just saw that in the NC

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Speaker 1: Double A tournaments. Too much shooting variants, especially in the

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Speaker 1: modern NBAS with the way that teams rely on ball

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Speaker 1: handling and shooting, there's just a lot of risk, and

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Speaker 1: I thought Lebron and Anthony David were uniquely equipped to

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Speaker 1: win this game against the Clippers. I do not think

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Speaker 1: the Clippers are very good. I took them off of

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Speaker 1: my top tier of contenders. I took them off of

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Speaker 1: my teams that I believed could win a championship. I

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Speaker 1: had eight teams, I shrunk at to seven and took

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Speaker 1: the Clippers off of their A couple of reasons. They

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Speaker 1: have no real rim protection. That was a problem, Paul

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Speaker 1: George being out obviously a significant issue for them in

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Speaker 1: shot creation. And they just especially with the aging of

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Speaker 1: that roster and a lot of their perimeter players not

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Speaker 1: being overly quick. They've got a lot of wings, but

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Speaker 1: guys that can't really move their feet very well. Their

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Speaker 1: wings more in name only rather than in actual performance.

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Speaker 1: And you know, I just don't really think the Clippers

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Speaker 1: are that good, even with as well as Kawhi Leonard

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Speaker 1: has been playing, and even with the natural basketball fit

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Speaker 1: of Russell Westbrook. And I just thought the Lakers could

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Speaker 1: win this game. I thought if Lebron James and Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davis played even with fatigue, that if they brought the

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Speaker 1: necessary effort, they could win. And they just completely and

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Speaker 1: utterly totally mailed. In the first half of this game,

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Speaker 1: Lebron James played literally what I believe to be the

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Speaker 1: worst half of basketball he's ever played. He had three points,

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Speaker 1: four turnovers. All four of his turnovers were pick sixes

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Speaker 1: that immediately led to buckets on the other end for

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Speaker 1: the Clippers. From a schematic standpoint, there was a very

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Speaker 1: specific thing that happened to the Lakers that happens to

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Speaker 1: the Lakers every once in a while. The Lakers are

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Speaker 1: one of the best equipped teams to beat switching defenses.

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Speaker 1: Why because when you can beat switching defenses at the

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Speaker 1: rim versus through pull up shooting, you're gonna win those

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Speaker 1: battles more times than not because it's just higher percentage

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Speaker 1: shots around the rim. And when you can get switched

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Speaker 1: on too smaller defenders and back them down into the basket,

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Speaker 1: and now you're either finishing at the rim over smaller

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Speaker 1: defenders or kicking to wide open shooters as they're having

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Speaker 1: to double and swarm you around the rim. You can

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Speaker 1: have a lot of success against switching defenses as the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: but it requires Lebron James and Anthony Davis attacking those

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Speaker 1: switches with physicality and trying to get to the rim,

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Speaker 1: which requires effort. Those of you guys who remember the

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Speaker 1: game that Lebron hurt his foot in the game where

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Speaker 1: he kind of popped his foot, finished the game, dominated

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Speaker 1: the Dallas Mavericks in the post, and then ended up

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Speaker 1: taking a month off. If you guys remember, in that game,

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Speaker 1: it was a very similar dynamic. Dallas came out switching

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Speaker 1: a ton of screens and Lebron James and Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: refused to actively attack those switches at the rim. Instead,

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Speaker 1: they passed out of those switches and lesser players tried

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Speaker 1: to take shots. Very similar dynamic in this game. The

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Speaker 1: Clippers were constantly putting smaller defenders onto Lebron James and

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Speaker 1: he would not back them down to the post. He

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Speaker 1: was just trying to float through the game, hoping that

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Speaker 1: the strength of the roster, and that's just never going

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Speaker 1: to be the case. And so that's why it was

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Speaker 1: super disappointed, because again, like, look, the Clippers won this game,

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Speaker 1: and I want to give them a ton of credit.

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Speaker 1: They attacked the Lakers from the opening tip, immediately came

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Speaker 1: out to a big lead. Russell Westbrook was playing with

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Speaker 1: a ton of energy, as you would have expected in

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Speaker 1: this situation, and Norman Powell was fantastic. He was arguably

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Speaker 1: the best player on the floor in this game, and

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Speaker 1: they had a lot of good But the reality is,

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Speaker 1: it's like I said earlier, I don't really view the

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Speaker 1: Clippers as much of a threat, and I think this

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Speaker 1: is a team that, without Paul George and with some

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Speaker 1: of the other weaknesses on the roster, that the Lakers

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Speaker 1: can beat when they play. And that was what was frustrating.

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Speaker 1: You saw that in the second half. Suddenly Lebron's like, okay,

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Speaker 1: now I'll start trying, and the Lakers locked in defensively.

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Speaker 1: They were ignoring Russell Westbrook and he started to miss

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Speaker 1: those same shots that he made in the first half.

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis lingering around the rim on Zoobach. They were

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Speaker 1: able to press up with Jared Vanderbilt onto Kawhi Leonard

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Speaker 1: and kind of get the ball out of his hands.

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Speaker 1: There was a late run in the third quarter where

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Speaker 1: Lebron switched on to Kawai and had some success defending

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Speaker 1: him in individual defense, and they went on a massive

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Speaker 1: run and turned a twenty four point lead into a

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Speaker 1: seven point lead in a matter of minutes, and it

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Speaker 1: just didn't matter because they had dug themselves in too

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Speaker 1: big of a hole. And that's what was so frustrating.

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Speaker 1: I really genuinely felt like the Lakers were in a

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Speaker 1: good position to win this game and they mailed it in.

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Speaker 1: And what's annoying about that is the only purpose to

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Speaker 1: playing Lebron James and Anthony Davis because there was risk.

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Speaker 1: There was enormous risk. They're older, Lebron's older, They're both

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Speaker 1: dealing with injuries. By playing them, you actively risk their bodies.

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Speaker 1: But it was a risk reward factor. You're better than

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Speaker 1: the Clippers, go beat the Clippers, then you get a

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Speaker 1: week off because then you probably get to rest against

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Speaker 1: the Jazz, and you could take Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,

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Speaker 1: and maybe even Saturday off. That was the trade off.

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Speaker 1: But if you were going to mail it in, now

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Speaker 1: you're taking all the risk on the body without any

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Speaker 1: of the advantage down the line. And now they might

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Speaker 1: have taken that risk in this Clippers game only to

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Speaker 1: have to play in the play in tournament anyway, if

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Speaker 1: they can't go beat Phoenix on Friday and beat the Jazz,

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Speaker 1: on Sunday Lebron James after he checked out of the

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Speaker 1: game there in the late fourth quarter, he went down

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Speaker 1: and he sat down next to Anthony Davis and you

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Speaker 1: can visibly see him multiple times say that's my fault,

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Speaker 1: and he's right again, he's the leader of the team

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Speaker 1: and it's I don't just blame Lebron. I thought Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davis also wasn't overly physically engaged in that first half.

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Speaker 1: The Clippers double teamed him on hilmost every catch. Tylu

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Speaker 1: I thought had a really good game plan in this

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Speaker 1: particular game, the way he doubled Anthony Davis on his

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Speaker 1: face side. We talked about this a lot. Double Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davis in the face. He won't beat your defense by

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Speaker 1: making the kill pass. He'll just make that quick pass

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Speaker 1: right back out to the wing. And he did that

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Speaker 1: a lot. D'angela Russell would like make the post entry,

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Speaker 1: they'd trap him in, double him on his face. He'd

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Speaker 1: just kick it back out Tod Low and there's no advantage.

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Speaker 1: Right Meanwhile, Austin Reeves is standing completely unguarded in the

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Speaker 1: week side corner. And if Anthony Davis handles the double

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Speaker 1: with strength and makes that pass. He can beat the

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Speaker 1: double team. We talked about that, like the difference between

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Speaker 1: kind of sneaking and doubling Anthony Davis from behind and

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Speaker 1: the way he can kill that versus doubling Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: from the front and the way that he can really

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Speaker 1: struggle with that. Also, Tylo made a really smart adjustment

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Speaker 1: going completely away from Russell Westbrook in the second half.

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Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook came out guns blazing in that first quarter,

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Speaker 1: started four for seven, had some assists, but then he

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Speaker 1: started turning the basketball over. Then he started missing all

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Speaker 1: those same shots because he's not a very good jump shooter.

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Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook was actually a minus one in this game.

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Speaker 1: It was a big part of the run that the

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Speaker 1: Lakers went on in the third quarter. Tylo went away

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Speaker 1: from him, went to Norm Powell, didn't go back to

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Speaker 1: Russ the rest of the game. It's a very well

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Speaker 1: coached game, solid win for Tylu. But again, if the

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Speaker 1: Lakers approached that with the requisite effort, energy and focus

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Speaker 1: to start the game, they are a better basketball team

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Speaker 1: than the Clippers. I feel very strongly about that. I

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Speaker 1: know some of y'all might not might not agree, but

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Speaker 1: I feel very strongly about that, and they mailed this

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Speaker 1: one in and it's really unfortunate. I do want to

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Speaker 1: talk about one bass keball thing that I thought was

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Speaker 1: glaring from this particular game, and that was the Lakers

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Speaker 1: point of attack defense, because they go on this massive

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Speaker 1: run right in the third quarter, they cut it down

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Speaker 1: to seven or eight points or whatever it was, and

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Speaker 1: then Norman Powell comes into the game and just starts

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Speaker 1: obliterating the Lakers defense at the point of attack. Now,

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Speaker 1: when we talk about point of attack defense, that has

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Speaker 1: to do with stopping dribble penetration, and there's two different

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Speaker 1: ways to do that, because it's in pick and roll

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Speaker 1: or an ISO and ISO more frequently you'll see it

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Speaker 1: in semi transition. A lot of Laker missed shots would

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Speaker 1: lead to Norman Powell dribbling the ball up the floor

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Speaker 1: and then just hitting the jets and beating someone off

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Speaker 1: the dribble. Right, But it's in individual defense. Point of

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Speaker 1: attack defense is sliding your feet and flattening out drives. Right,

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Speaker 1: You're not going to completely contain the ball, but if

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Speaker 1: you can force it to be a diagonal route that

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Speaker 1: kind of cuts through the paint but kind of goes

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Speaker 1: back out to the perimeter. That's great defense. But if

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Speaker 1: it's a straight line drive and they get a head

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Speaker 1: of steam going downhill, you're gonna engage Anthony Davis at

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Speaker 1: the rim, which is going to cause all sorts of

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Speaker 1: havoc on the backside, whether that's kicking the shooters. Zoobak

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Speaker 1: killed them on the offensive glass in this game, and

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Speaker 1: usually he kills Anthony Davis by burying him in position battles.

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Speaker 1: That wasn't the case in this game. He killed the

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Speaker 1: Lakers on the glass in large part because of Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davis getting pulled away from the rim in rim protection

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Speaker 1: situations because of dribble drives. And then the second part

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Speaker 1: of it is in pick and roll, and it's about

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Speaker 1: fighting over the top of screens with physicality once again,

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Speaker 1: so guys can't get completely downhill. The Lakers had a

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Speaker 1: horrible point of attack defense in this game, and the

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Speaker 1: reality is, as we look closer at it, that's their

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Speaker 1: one big weakness. I talked a lot about how after

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Speaker 1: the deadline we have to learn about the Lakers from scratch.

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Speaker 1: They're effectively a brand new team. Still to this day,

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Speaker 1: I see people on Twitter complaining, Oh, why are the

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Speaker 1: Lakers getting so much attention. Why are the Lakers getting

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Speaker 1: so much attention? They're different team now, So whatever you

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Speaker 1: thought over the previous year and a half about what

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Speaker 1: they could and could not do, is it completely irrelevant anymore?

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Speaker 1: They have coming into night tonight. They have the second

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Speaker 1: best record in the league post deadline. They were seven

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Speaker 1: and one when Lebron James played seven and one in

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Speaker 1: their last eight games, best defense in the league, and

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Speaker 1: a top five rebounding team, and they had two guys

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Speaker 1: like coming in this back to back Lebron James played

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Speaker 1: at a top ten level and then Anthony Davis has

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Speaker 1: been playing at a top ten level for over a

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Speaker 1: month now. They are a legitimate, bona fide championship contender.

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Speaker 1: That's why they're getting talked about. And yes, also they're

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Speaker 1: the Lakers, and they get a lot of attention obviously,

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Speaker 1: but they're playing at an extremely high level. But in

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Speaker 1: this stretch I've been trying to learn about them, and

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Speaker 1: there's been a lot of good Jared Vanderbilt and what

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Speaker 1: he can do defensively, Ruby Hotchemer as kind of a

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Speaker 1: mix up that can guard some of the bigger forwards,

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Speaker 1: and a better offensive option. The offensive skill in the

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Speaker 1: backcourt and the different punches that Austin Reeves and D'angela

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Speaker 1: Russell and Dennis Schroeder can throw. The dynamic of Lebron

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Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis that we've been seeing for years,

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Speaker 1: and what they can do when they're both engaged on

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Speaker 1: both ends of the floor. Tons of good. But there's

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Speaker 1: one thing that has stood out bad to me from

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Speaker 1: the beginning. They have one guy on the roster at

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Speaker 1: the guard position that can consistently stay in front of

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Speaker 1: the basketball, and that's Dennis Schroeder, and he had a

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Speaker 1: pretty rough night tonight. But Deangela Russell not a good

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Speaker 1: point of attack defender, Austin Reeves average at best point

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Speaker 1: of attack defender, Maliked Beasley not a good point of

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Speaker 1: attack defender. Troy Brown Junior not a good point of

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Speaker 1: attack defender. And so they're constantly giving up these driving

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Speaker 1: lanes and it's blowing up their defense and causing them

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Speaker 1: all sorts of problems. Now, to be clear, every team

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Speaker 1: has weaknesses. The Milwaukee Bucks they really struggle with half

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Speaker 1: court shop making, so they're not a very good half

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Speaker 1: court offense. That issue gets exacerbated for them in the

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Speaker 1: playoffs when teams are allowed to be more physical with Jannis.

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Speaker 1: We've seen that time and time again. We saw that

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Speaker 1: big time hurt them in the Boston Celtics series whenever

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Speaker 1: they couldn't get out in transition. The Boston Celtics still

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Speaker 1: to this day struggle with decision making and execution decision making.

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Speaker 1: In the flow of the game, they're making good rim decisions.

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Speaker 1: They have a lot of guys that are capable of

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Speaker 1: making good decisions, but too frequently the entire team loses

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Speaker 1: sight of the right way to play and they can

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Speaker 1: spiral into a really negative direction, and then they can

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Speaker 1: really struggle with execution at the end of games from

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Speaker 1: time to time. Although they've had a better season than

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Speaker 1: they did last year. The Sixers, just like the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: really bad at the point of attack and bad in

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Speaker 1: transition defense. The Nuggets bad defensive personnel at every single level.

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Speaker 1: The Sun's extremely thin on the wing, and they're bad

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Speaker 1: at the point of attack. Joshua cogis really their only there.

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Speaker 1: They're only good point of attack defender. The Warriors, they

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Speaker 1: are an incredibly small and unathletic team compared to the

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Speaker 1: rest of the league. And then the Lakers, like we've

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Speaker 1: been talking about bad point of attack defense, and they

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Speaker 1: also can struggle in transition. So it's not a death sentence.

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Speaker 1: It's not a death sentence because all of these teams

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Speaker 1: have weaknesses. We haven't had a perfect team in the

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Speaker 1: NBA really since since the Warriors in twenty seventeen, in

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Speaker 1: two and eighteen, right, all these teams have weaknesses. You

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Speaker 1: go down the line, you know, the twenty nineteen Raptors

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Speaker 1: not a great playmaking team. The twenty twenty Lakers had

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Speaker 1: were really poor three point shooting and half court offense team.

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Speaker 1: Twenty twenty one Bucks poor three point shooting and half

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Speaker 1: court offense team. You get the drill. Win a title

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Speaker 1: with a weakness, but you have to have your strengths

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Speaker 1: overcome that weakness. And when you mail it in and

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Speaker 1: dig yourself in that big of a hole, you're gonna

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Speaker 1: run into that problem. It's hard to overstate how much

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Speaker 1: the simple dynamic of the Lakers being incapable of containing

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Speaker 1: Norman Powell on the drive and that third quarter ruined

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Speaker 1: their comeback because they had they had complete control of

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Speaker 1: that game, They had solved Kawai, they had pressured the

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Speaker 1: shooters enough to get them to start missing shots. They

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Speaker 1: had a lot of stuff figured out except for the

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Speaker 1: simple fact that they couldn't guard Norman Powell. And then

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Speaker 1: guess what incomes Bones Highland and he starts causing them

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Speaker 1: the same exact problems in pick and roll, getting downhill

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Speaker 1: too easily and knocking down shots and layups as he

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Speaker 1: gets downhill towards the wren. So again, they can overcome it.

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Speaker 1: It's not a death sentence, but that's their weakness. If

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Speaker 1: the Lakers end up losing a playoff series, I believe

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Speaker 1: it will in large part come down to their guards

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Speaker 1: and their inability to contain the basketball. And that's matchups

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Speaker 1: become an issue right as they're starting to look at

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Speaker 1: specific teams that they might have to play. You know,

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Speaker 1: if they end up in that sixth seed, that's a

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Speaker 1: big point of attack team. That's a lot of deer,

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Speaker 1: in fact, deer and fox attacking you downhill. That's a

337
00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:18,080
Speaker 1: lot of Molique monk attacking you downhill. That's something that

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00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:19,920
Speaker 1: they're going to have to deal with, right So it's

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00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:22,160
Speaker 1: something to keep an eye on with them. As is

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Speaker 1: always the case with basketball, matchups end up determining everything

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00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,640
Speaker 1: and if you end up catching a matchup where your

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00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,640
Speaker 1: strengths aren't as strong as they usually are, and your

343
00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,760
Speaker 1: weaknesses are on display and can get attacked. You can

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Speaker 1: end up in a lot of trouble in a seven

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Speaker 1: game series. Last note on the Lakers before we move on,

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Speaker 1: if I wanted to go glass half full, their defense

347
00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:47,840
Speaker 1: was frightening in that third quarter with Anthony Davis on

348
00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,040
Speaker 1: the floor again, they bought a lot of leeway in

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Speaker 1: the point of attack when they're with their starting groups

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Speaker 1: right because with Lebron, Anthony Davis and Jared Vanderbuilt on

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Speaker 1: the floor, they're so long and athletic, and they have

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Speaker 1: such a high basketball like you on that back line

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Speaker 1: that even if the guards are having problems, they can

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Speaker 1: contain that. All that is why the Lakers have the

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Speaker 1: number one defense post deadline despite having a bad point

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Speaker 1: of attack defense. They're excellent everywhere else defensively, they're excellent

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Speaker 1: on the wing defensively, and they're an excellent rim protection

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Speaker 1: team with good health defenders. So they're gonna they're gonna

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00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:22,160
Speaker 1: still be an effective defense, but that point of attack

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00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:24,160
Speaker 1: thing is going to become an issue. The other big

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Speaker 1: positive once again, Lebron James in that second half, I

362
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Speaker 1: thought looked fantastic after what was the worst half that

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00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:31,960
Speaker 1: I've seen him play in ages. In the first half,

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00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,840
Speaker 1: he was knocking down jump shots all over the floor.

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00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,840
Speaker 1: He was bullying all of the Clippers players to the rim.

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Speaker 1: You saw that dynamic like again against switching defense is

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Speaker 1: just attack the rim. That's literally all you have to do.

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Speaker 1: You're bigger, you're stronger, you're more athletic. You're gonna cause

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Speaker 1: them a boatload of problems there. It was just too little,

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Speaker 1: too late. They didn't get into that until late in

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Speaker 1: the game. But Lebron does look good. I'm still optimistic

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Speaker 1: about the Lakers. I'm just genuinely disappointed at having made

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Speaker 1: the decision to put their bodies on the line tonight.

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00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,040
Speaker 1: They didn't actually bring the effort to make that worthwhile.

375
00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,720
Speaker 1: But show out to the Clippers. They wanted their revenge game.

376
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Speaker 1: You know that they've dominated this matchup for a long time.

377
00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,040
Speaker 1: There's no rivalry between the Lakers and the Clippers because

378
00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,240
Speaker 1: the Clippers just whooped the Lakers ass every single time.

379
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,040
Speaker 1: I genuinely believe the Lakers are a better team now

380
00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:23,320
Speaker 1: post deadline, but they need to demonstrate that on the court,

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Speaker 1: you want to flip the script with your rivalry with

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Speaker 1: the Clippers, Go beat them. You're better than them, Go

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Speaker 1: beat them. So maybe maybe don't just float through a

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Speaker 1: basketball game and put yourself in a position where you're

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00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:37,960
Speaker 1: gonna lose. But I mean, the Clippers are destined for

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Speaker 1: a first round exit against Phoenix. They just they just

387
00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,760
Speaker 1: don't have enough advantages in that series. Good on them

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00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:46,080
Speaker 1: for winning this battle for the five seed. I'm impressed

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00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:49,280
Speaker 1: with their competitiveness and their want and fire to get

390
00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:52,600
Speaker 1: this done. But they're they're headed for a quick loss

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Speaker 1: in that first round series in my opinion. Also, I mean,

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Speaker 1: I talked a lot about bad Lakers in this one.

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00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,960
Speaker 1: I want to cut them slack. Kawhi Leonard played twenty

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00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,880
Speaker 1: four minutes in that second half. He did so because

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00:19:05,880 --> 00:19:09,840
Speaker 1: he hasn't played since Saturday. Okay, the Lakers have played

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00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,280
Speaker 1: what that was, I believe, their fifth game in seven

397
00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:14,240
Speaker 1: nights or fifth game and eight nights, I believe. So

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Speaker 1: it's been a different level of physical exertion for the Lakers.

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00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,760
Speaker 1: That certainly played a role. But that's how much better

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00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:22,320
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers are than the Clippers. I think

401
00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,320
Speaker 1: there's so much better than the Clippers that if they

402
00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:26,880
Speaker 1: actually brought even just a portion of effort with all

403
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:28,680
Speaker 1: that fatigue, they should have been able to beat them.

404
00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:30,800
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on to Kings MAVs. So this

405
00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:33,560
Speaker 1: was looking like trouble for the Mavericks in that early

406
00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,720
Speaker 1: second half. Once again, the Kings in a game you

407
00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:38,520
Speaker 1: wouldn't have thought so on the tail end of a

408
00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:40,720
Speaker 1: back to back this late in the season. The Kings

409
00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:43,280
Speaker 1: beat the crap out of the Pelicans last night, you

410
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:45,680
Speaker 1: would have expected them to rest their guys tonight. Nope,

411
00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:48,240
Speaker 1: played everybody and tried to beat the MAVs, and they

412
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:49,960
Speaker 1: were up thirteen in the second half, and it was

413
00:19:50,040 --> 00:19:52,320
Speaker 1: this close to look him like they were gonna let

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00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,720
Speaker 1: go of the rope. But honestly, I was really impressed,

415
00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:58,399
Speaker 1: especially like the story of this game is Kyrie Irving

416
00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,520
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter, his shot making, bombing threes, that

417
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,919
Speaker 1: super crazy hierarching three in the left corner right in

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00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,360
Speaker 1: front of the King's bench. Obviously, Kyrie's fantastic, We're gonna

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Speaker 1: talk about him here in just a minute. But I

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00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:12,919
Speaker 1: thought the game turned in that third quarter on the

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Speaker 1: defensive end of the floor. If they just swarmed on

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00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:20,040
Speaker 1: the basketball. They every time Demonus Sabonis caught the ball

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Speaker 1: in the post, they just swarmed him and did a

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00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,160
Speaker 1: good job of flipping the angles that they were double

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Speaker 1: teaming from. Because Sabonis is such a smart player, he

426
00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:29,639
Speaker 1: always has a feel for where the doubles are coming from,

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00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:32,200
Speaker 1: Sabonis was confused. He was constantly looking around trying to

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Speaker 1: identify where the ball, where the doubles were coming from.

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Speaker 1: He was getting the ball knocked loose, so he wasn't

430
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,159
Speaker 1: putting the passes on time, on target. And then you know,

431
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,280
Speaker 1: you saw some of that back to back affecting their

432
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:43,919
Speaker 1: legs as well when they just couldn't knock down the

433
00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,800
Speaker 1: open threes that they were generating. Dead giveaway for fatigue

434
00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:48,919
Speaker 1: on wide open threes is hitting the front rim, and

435
00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:51,480
Speaker 1: you'd see Kevin Herder hit the front rim on a shot.

436
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,560
Speaker 1: You'd see Davion Mitchell hit the front rim on a shot.

437
00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:55,560
Speaker 1: You'd see Keegan Murray hit the front rim. Right, That's

438
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:57,920
Speaker 1: that's always the dead giveaway. They ended up shooting just

439
00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,439
Speaker 1: thirty two percent from three in the game, and then

440
00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,760
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving just an absolute masterclass in that fourth quarter

441
00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:09,720
Speaker 1: nineteen points you know, I saw once again people talking

442
00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:13,919
Speaker 1: about the Kyrie Irving trade, and again there's always a

443
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:16,840
Speaker 1: difference between the trade and the player. I came into

444
00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:19,200
Speaker 1: the same issue with the Russell Westbrook thing like, don't

445
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:22,920
Speaker 1: get me wrong, Russell Westbrook and his struggles certainly exacerbated

446
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,919
Speaker 1: some problems for the Lakers because you couldn't bring a

447
00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:29,800
Speaker 1: certain level of talent to overcome the talent that went out.

448
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,479
Speaker 1: But it was the outgoing talent that damaged the Lakers.

449
00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,080
Speaker 1: Just It's plain and simple. It was the loss of Kuzma,

450
00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,399
Speaker 1: the loss of KCP, the loss of Alex Carusoe that

451
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,440
Speaker 1: undercut the Lakers to the point where they couldn't even

452
00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:46,399
Speaker 1: hover around five hundred with Lebron James and Anthony Davis

453
00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,640
Speaker 1: on the floor. That was the biggest problem. Similar thing

454
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,040
Speaker 1: with the MAVs has nothing to do with Kyrie Irving.

455
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,720
Speaker 1: Just like how the you take Andrew Wiggins off the Warriors,

456
00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,760
Speaker 1: suddenly they become an untenable, small and unathletic team. Right

457
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:02,240
Speaker 1: you take Doria Finney Smith off of the Mavericks, they

458
00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:06,720
Speaker 1: overnight become an untenable, unathletic and undersized team. It's just

459
00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,159
Speaker 1: a fact and you know, I get the one thing

460
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,760
Speaker 1: I want to point out here. Kyrie Irving has been

461
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:18,360
Speaker 1: fantastic since coming to the MAVs. He's been undeniably their

462
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:23,119
Speaker 1: best player. He has resoundingly outplayed Luca since coming to

463
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,959
Speaker 1: the MAVs. He has played like a bonafide superstar, and

464
00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,200
Speaker 1: I'd argue he's been their best defender on the perimeter

465
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,119
Speaker 1: since coming to the MAVs. In the games that I've watched,

466
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:38,080
Speaker 1: and you see it in the numbers, they have been

467
00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:42,760
Speaker 1: outscoring teams resoundingly with Kyrie Irving on the floor since

468
00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:46,080
Speaker 1: the trade and just getting bludgeoned every time he's off

469
00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:50,760
Speaker 1: the floor. He's won three games for the MAVs without

470
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:55,960
Speaker 1: Luca Entirely. Kyrie has played like a bonafide superstar and

471
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:58,280
Speaker 1: has done everything that he's been asked to do since

472
00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,200
Speaker 1: coming to the Mavericks. So if you're telling their story,

473
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,679
Speaker 1: you talk about ownership, you talk about the front office.

474
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:07,360
Speaker 1: Mark Cuban had this lame ass quote that he put

475
00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:11,280
Speaker 1: out today basically saying that he blamed Jalen Brunson's parents

476
00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:13,840
Speaker 1: for the fact that he didn't sign with them. No,

477
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,680
Speaker 1: you tried to pay him like twenty million a year

478
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,600
Speaker 1: when he is a bona fide all star guard that

479
00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:24,359
Speaker 1: even the Nicks goot for a discount at the whatever

480
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,879
Speaker 1: it was twenty five million a year average. Like in

481
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,959
Speaker 1: the NBA, if you do what Jalen Brunson can do,

482
00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,520
Speaker 1: you're worth thirty million. End of story. Ask you know,

483
00:23:37,359 --> 00:23:40,320
Speaker 1: ask Jamal Murray. Jalen Brunson is every bit as good

484
00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,400
Speaker 1: as Jamal Murray, if not better. And Jamal Murray's making

485
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 1: thirty plus million a year no matter what you make,

486
00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:54,199
Speaker 1: you sign him because you can trade him. Losing the

487
00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:58,520
Speaker 1: asset for nothing was completely inexcusable. That was step one

488
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:03,919
Speaker 1: in their demise. And then obviously they gave up a

489
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:05,920
Speaker 1: ton of assets for christeps person because there's been other

490
00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 1: mistakes along the way, but that Jalen Brunson one was

491
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:12,200
Speaker 1: a gigantic mistake. And then as a result, you had

492
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:15,080
Speaker 1: to go get a replacement for Brunson. In the process

493
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:18,160
Speaker 1: give out, give up your best athlete and your best

494
00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:21,160
Speaker 1: perimeter defender who also can knock down a three point

495
00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:23,919
Speaker 1: shot when he's wide open. That's what did them in.

496
00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:29,359
Speaker 1: But I mean, like the Kyrie fit is perfect. Luca

497
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:32,520
Speaker 1: obviously has a lot to kind of look back at

498
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,879
Speaker 1: after this season in terms of his attitude, in terms

499
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:37,920
Speaker 1: of his defensive approach, in terms of the way he

500
00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,280
Speaker 1: cares for his body. There's a bunch of stuff that

501
00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:42,960
Speaker 1: Luca's got to evaluate after the season because he's plateauing.

502
00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:47,119
Speaker 1: Luca is plateauing for sure as a player. There's stuff

503
00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:50,160
Speaker 1: that he's got to figure out. But the Luca Kyrie

504
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:55,720
Speaker 1: partnership is perfect basketball fit. And you've seen that offensively

505
00:24:56,280 --> 00:24:58,240
Speaker 1: with how well this team can score the basketball with

506
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:00,359
Speaker 1: the two of them on the floor. They all they

507
00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:02,760
Speaker 1: have to do is supply them with the requisite sizing

508
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:06,280
Speaker 1: athleticism in the front court. This year's pointless. I mean,

509
00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 1: they're not completely out of it. They've got a tough

510
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:11,320
Speaker 1: game against the Bulls coming up, I think on Friday,

511
00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:14,320
Speaker 1: and then they play the Spurs, So you've got to

512
00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:18,120
Speaker 1: find a way to beat the Bulls. And then Oklahoma

513
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:20,360
Speaker 1: City has Utah and Memphis, so you've got to beat

514
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:22,639
Speaker 1: the Bulls and then beat the Spurs, and then you

515
00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,520
Speaker 1: need okayc to lose to at least one of Utah

516
00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:27,479
Speaker 1: and Memphis for them to get in. But even if

517
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:29,320
Speaker 1: they do get in, they get in as the ten seed.

518
00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:30,920
Speaker 1: Then you run into the issue where you've got to

519
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,280
Speaker 1: go on the road in the playoffs against either Minnesota

520
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,520
Speaker 1: or New Orleans, which is going to be two teams

521
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 1: that are gonna have massive physical advantages over Dallas. So

522
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,000
Speaker 1: it doesn't really bode well for them there either. But

523
00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:44,800
Speaker 1: I am not down on the Mavericks long term because

524
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:46,520
Speaker 1: they have two of the best offensive players in the

525
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,399
Speaker 1: league in a straightforward path to fix this roster. But

526
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:52,199
Speaker 1: make no mistake, they are in this predicament because of

527
00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:54,560
Speaker 1: Mark Cuban, and they are in this predicament because of

528
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 1: the front office. It is not because of Kyrie Irving.

529
00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,800
Speaker 1: And if you're blaming Kyrie, it's because of some other

530
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,520
Speaker 1: narrative goal that you have. He has been so freaking

531
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,360
Speaker 1: good since coming to the MAVs. Ask any MAVs fan,

532
00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,879
Speaker 1: anybody who's actually watching that team do you blame Kyrie?

533
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:13,639
Speaker 1: You won't find a single one because because he's held

534
00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,840
Speaker 1: up his end of the bargain. All right, guys, that

535
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:18,560
Speaker 1: is all I have for tonight. The game plan is

536
00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:20,719
Speaker 1: of right now, we're taking tomorrow off. We're gonna be

537
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:25,080
Speaker 1: back with Friday. On Friday with Carson to kind of

538
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:27,360
Speaker 1: break down a bunch of scenarios going into the weekend,

539
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:31,720
Speaker 1: and then if I'm not mistaken, we're going Saturday morning

540
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:35,200
Speaker 1: covering the Friday night slate, and then on Sunday afternoon.

541
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,680
Speaker 1: We're not one hundred percent sure exactly what we're doing,

542
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:40,399
Speaker 1: but we're gonna do some kind of live show after

543
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,959
Speaker 1: the end of the slate on Sunday. I believe all

544
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,000
Speaker 1: the games end at about three pm Pacific times. To

545
00:26:45,119 --> 00:26:46,840
Speaker 1: keep an eye on that, don't don't forget to follow

546
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:48,680
Speaker 1: me on Twitter to get show announcements. Just you guys

547
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:50,880
Speaker 1: know when it's coming. But yes, I appreciate you guys

548
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:52,720
Speaker 1: so much, and I will see you guys on Friday morning.

549
00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:15,120
Speaker 1: The volume