1
00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:16,760
Speaker 1: The volume. All right, we'll go to him to night

2
00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:18,800
Speaker 1: here at the volume Heavy Monday, everybody, hope all of

3
00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:21,360
Speaker 1: you guys had an incredible weekend. Got a jam pack

4
00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,800
Speaker 1: show for you guys today. The Houston Rockets, after getting

5
00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,920
Speaker 1: a season defining win on Saturday in Denver against the Nuggets,

6
00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,880
Speaker 1: have sandwiched that with two losses to two of the

7
00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,960
Speaker 1: worst teams in the Western Conference, involving crunch time isshoots,

8
00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:36,479
Speaker 1: which I want to dive into. After that, the Minnesota

9
00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:40,040
Speaker 1: Timberwolves got their season defining win on Friday night against

10
00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:41,960
Speaker 1: the Oklahoma City Thunder. I want to dive into that game.

11
00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:45,320
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson's leap into top tiers superstardom I want to

12
00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:47,720
Speaker 1: talk about. And then, as always on Monday, we have

13
00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:50,760
Speaker 1: our weekly power rankings. Also a little bit of a

14
00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:52,800
Speaker 1: funky schedule this week because of Christmas. As you guys

15
00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,080
Speaker 1: can tell, I am in Tucson. I am no longer

16
00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,800
Speaker 1: up in Colorado visiting for Christmas. Kind of an unusual

17
00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:00,640
Speaker 1: thing there, but I'm very I to be here to

18
00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,320
Speaker 1: see some family and see some friends. And our schedule

19
00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:05,640
Speaker 1: is a little bit tricky this week because of the holidays.

20
00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,280
Speaker 1: So because we have Friday being a day that we're

21
00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:10,920
Speaker 1: gonna be reacting to the Christmas Day games. We will

22
00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:12,959
Speaker 1: not have a mail bag on Friday, so we're gonna

23
00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:15,080
Speaker 1: have a mail bag coming out tomorrow. So obviously today's

24
00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,399
Speaker 1: episode mail Bag tomorrow. No show on Wednesday and Thursday

25
00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:21,040
Speaker 1: for the holiday, and then back on Friday to react

26
00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:22,920
Speaker 1: to the Christmas Day games. You guys are the joke

27
00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:24,480
Speaker 1: before we get started to subscribe to the Hoops in

28
00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:25,960
Speaker 1: out YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of

29
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,920
Speaker 1: our videos. Don't forget to like this video. That helps

30
00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:30,800
Speaker 1: us a lot. And then at the tail end there

31
00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,039
Speaker 1: drop your mail bag questions underneath this video in the

32
00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,640
Speaker 1: comments and we'll get to them on Fridays throughout the

33
00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,640
Speaker 1: remainder of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball.

34
00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,880
Speaker 1: So kind of a weird week of Houston Rockets hoops.

35
00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:46,760
Speaker 1: They go on the road on Saturday. They get a

36
00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:49,640
Speaker 1: huge win in Denver against the Nuggets, and it was

37
00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,200
Speaker 1: a need they It was a win that they absolutely needed.

38
00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,560
Speaker 1: This was a series that they had been down two

39
00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:57,600
Speaker 1: to oh so far this season. This is a major

40
00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,120
Speaker 1: potential playoff matchup, probably second round that you could see

41
00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,440
Speaker 1: these two teams battling for a couple of weeks, and

42
00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,200
Speaker 1: you need to bank some sort of confidence in your

43
00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:10,560
Speaker 1: team that you're capable of winning a series against this

44
00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,280
Speaker 1: team after dropping two to oh and they got that

45
00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:17,079
Speaker 1: win much needed on Saturday. It wasn't like definitive. None

46
00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,280
Speaker 1: of these three games have been definitive or anything like that.

47
00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,080
Speaker 1: Both of these teams are going to look very different

48
00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:23,959
Speaker 1: when they face each other if they face each other

49
00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,000
Speaker 1: in May. Denver will obviously have a couple of starters

50
00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:29,800
Speaker 1: back in Christian Brown and Aaron Gordon. I also thought

51
00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,839
Speaker 1: Denver generally didn't shoot very well in this particularly game,

52
00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:35,120
Speaker 1: especially in like the late second quarter. I thought they

53
00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,600
Speaker 1: missed a lot of looks that they typically make during

54
00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:39,680
Speaker 1: that stretch that Houston won on a run. Credit Houston.

55
00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:41,520
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about it in a minute. Showed up

56
00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:45,680
Speaker 1: in the numbers two. Houston was seven for twelve on open,

57
00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,519
Speaker 1: unguarded catch and shoot threes. Denver was three for thirteen.

58
00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,680
Speaker 1: That's obviously gonna color things a little bit. Reed Shepherd

59
00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:54,680
Speaker 1: straight up out play Jamal Murray. Like if that kind

60
00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:56,880
Speaker 1: of thing happens two or three times in a series,

61
00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,359
Speaker 1: Houston's probably gonna knock Denver out right. On the other

62
00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,160
Speaker 1: end of it, Houston will probably have a Tarry Easton

63
00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:05,440
Speaker 1: or a Dorian Finney Smith. Maybe they'll end up making

64
00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,200
Speaker 1: some sort of trade. They'll have that go to fifth

65
00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:10,520
Speaker 1: guy that they haven't really been able to find so

66
00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:12,600
Speaker 1: far this season. And I think Houston has a ton

67
00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:16,079
Speaker 1: of room to improve between now in early May when

68
00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,359
Speaker 1: a series like this could take place. So none of

69
00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,200
Speaker 1: these games are definitive to a potential playoff result between

70
00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:24,840
Speaker 1: these two teams, but I did think that that win

71
00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,040
Speaker 1: was at least proof of concept that Houston can win

72
00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,600
Speaker 1: a series against a team like Denver. I thought their

73
00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:35,160
Speaker 1: size was a real problem for Denver. You guys know me.

74
00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,560
Speaker 1: I don't like focusing on shooting variants when we talk

75
00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,200
Speaker 1: about shots going in or not going in. It's a factor,

76
00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:45,040
Speaker 1: but I think there are several elements that lead to it.

77
00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:47,560
Speaker 1: What the defense is doing, how fatigued are you, what's

78
00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:49,600
Speaker 1: the flow and rhythm of the game. Like anybody who's

79
00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:52,400
Speaker 1: ever played basketball to any extent will know when you

80
00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,200
Speaker 1: have an open shot and you've been comfortable all game

81
00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,200
Speaker 1: and you've been playing really well, you stand there and

82
00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:00,400
Speaker 1: you're like, oh, you messed up. You left me open.

83
00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:02,320
Speaker 1: This thing's going in. But if a dude's been in

84
00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:04,320
Speaker 1: your jersey all game and you haven't gotten any open

85
00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,160
Speaker 1: looks and the flow of the rhythm of the game

86
00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,040
Speaker 1: is really janky and clunky and it's physical and you're

87
00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,000
Speaker 1: not feeling confident, that open shot can feel different, right.

88
00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:14,880
Speaker 1: And I thought it specifically in that late second quarter run.

89
00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:17,360
Speaker 1: I thought Denver looked a little shell shocked by what

90
00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,200
Speaker 1: Houston was doing to them, which can affect your shot result.

91
00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:24,080
Speaker 1: And Houston was big and swarming, and Denver looked uncomfortable,

92
00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:26,000
Speaker 1: and that sort of thing can lead to misshots, and

93
00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:29,479
Speaker 1: so I want to give Houston credit there. The second

94
00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,000
Speaker 1: concept that I thought was interesting in this game was

95
00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:36,640
Speaker 1: Reied Shepherd's shooting, especially against Jonas Valenciunas in drop coverage.

96
00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:40,040
Speaker 1: In those bench looks, he did a ton of damage,

97
00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,080
Speaker 1: catching Yonas too far back on screens, just coming over

98
00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:45,839
Speaker 1: the top and knocking down shots off the dribble. Reid

99
00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,240
Speaker 1: is shooting forty one percent on pull up threes this

100
00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,600
Speaker 1: year off the dribble, twenty one for fifty one. That's

101
00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,039
Speaker 1: the kind of thing that could be a semi reliable

102
00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,799
Speaker 1: source of offense for Houston in a potential playoff series

103
00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:00,640
Speaker 1: against Denver. I thought it was a really ie win

104
00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:03,200
Speaker 1: for Houston and again, like I said, proof of concept

105
00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:05,800
Speaker 1: that they can win a series like this. I hope

106
00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:07,440
Speaker 1: we do get to see these two teams play in

107
00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:09,360
Speaker 1: the playoff series. You could tell they don't like each other.

108
00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:11,000
Speaker 1: I think it would be a ton of fun. We

109
00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:13,640
Speaker 1: got a little trash talking match between Bruce Brown and

110
00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,240
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant. I thought it was great. But surrounding that

111
00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:20,839
Speaker 1: big win, there were two really embarrassing losses to the

112
00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,760
Speaker 1: two very worst teams in the Western Conference. Both that

113
00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,880
Speaker 1: started with blown leads. So they blew a fourteen point

114
00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:30,000
Speaker 1: fourth quarter lead against the Kings and then they blew

115
00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,720
Speaker 1: a twenty five point lead against the Pelicans, and each

116
00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:35,960
Speaker 1: one of those games ended up kind of degrading down

117
00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,480
Speaker 1: into a clutch battle that Houston ended up losing in

118
00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,080
Speaker 1: overtime in both cases. And this is now officially becoming

119
00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:45,200
Speaker 1: a real problem for the Rockets, a problem that we

120
00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:47,160
Speaker 1: have to talk about. The Rockets are now six and

121
00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:51,719
Speaker 1: eight in clutch games this season. Now, when you see

122
00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:53,720
Speaker 1: a crazy result like that, a team that has as

123
00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:58,200
Speaker 1: much talent as Houston has and they drop eight games

124
00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:03,040
Speaker 1: before Christmas. In clutch situations, you can't just synthesize it

125
00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:05,760
Speaker 1: down to one thing. It's not any one player's fault.

126
00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,159
Speaker 1: It's not just who's the fifth guy in the lineup.

127
00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:10,760
Speaker 1: It's not just you know, can they handle four on

128
00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,479
Speaker 1: threes or is this a problem. It's a combination of

129
00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,760
Speaker 1: all of those things that are leading to this kind

130
00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:18,680
Speaker 1: of problem. Now it's our to the lineup. So Emai

131
00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:23,200
Speaker 1: Udoka has basically tried three different directions at the end

132
00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:26,400
Speaker 1: of these games. From a lineup perspective, obviously your core

133
00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:29,479
Speaker 1: four are Kevin Durant, Albert Shangunam and Thompson and Jabari Smith.

134
00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,719
Speaker 1: But then he's tried Reed Sheppard, Steven Adams and Josha

135
00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,640
Speaker 1: Kogi is the main fifth guys in those groups. And

136
00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:39,160
Speaker 1: then we saw a little bit of Tarry Easton last night,

137
00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:41,280
Speaker 1: although he ended up being the guy who made the

138
00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,960
Speaker 1: critical mistake late in the game overhelping on a DeMar

139
00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,160
Speaker 1: de Rosen drive and leaving Dennis Schroeder open on the

140
00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,600
Speaker 1: left wing, which ended up being the game winner. Now,

141
00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,240
Speaker 1: as we kind of look at all these options, the

142
00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:55,520
Speaker 1: Steven Adams attempts that we saw against New Orleans. That

143
00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,240
Speaker 1: was a disaster. I doubt we see that again anytime soon.

144
00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:01,600
Speaker 1: He was the guy that was catching the ball in

145
00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:03,800
Speaker 1: the short roll on most of those KD traps and

146
00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,600
Speaker 1: leading the four on three, and the advantage kept dying

147
00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:11,480
Speaker 1: because Adams was bringing a bad combination of unaggressiveness like

148
00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:15,360
Speaker 1: just catching and turning and looking immediately to pass. But

149
00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,880
Speaker 1: then also in that situation, he's not a great passer,

150
00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:20,800
Speaker 1: or even if he looks to be aggressive, he's not

151
00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,120
Speaker 1: a great score and so the essentially he would just

152
00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:25,120
Speaker 1: catch the ball around the top of the key, and

153
00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:27,240
Speaker 1: then New Orleans would just rotate right back out of it,

154
00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:31,000
Speaker 1: the advantage would be gone. Then essentially that trap of

155
00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:33,120
Speaker 1: KD is worth nothing, right, And then on the other

156
00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:35,000
Speaker 1: end of the floor, he was getting cooked and drop coverage,

157
00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,840
Speaker 1: particularly by Trey Murphy. So I don't think we're gonna

158
00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:42,240
Speaker 1: see the Steven Adams fifth man look anytime soon. With

159
00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:45,760
Speaker 1: Ree Shepherd and Joshakogi, it's your classic offense defense conundrum,

160
00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:49,480
Speaker 1: right Like when Joshakogi is on the floor, you're fine

161
00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,280
Speaker 1: defensively and you're faster afoot a theme that I think

162
00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:55,720
Speaker 1: is particularly important to Houston this year because they can

163
00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:57,800
Speaker 1: be pretty slow in their front court when you've got KD.

164
00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,680
Speaker 1: Shangoun and Jabari Smith out there. But he's not a

165
00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,160
Speaker 1: guy who's a you know, knockdown super confident. He's shooting

166
00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,120
Speaker 1: decently on he's shooting like just over forty percent on

167
00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:10,040
Speaker 1: threes this year, but he's not a guy that's being

168
00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,640
Speaker 1: guarded like a forty percent three point shooter. He's shooting

169
00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:17,080
Speaker 1: that on absolute completely like conceited, wide open corner threes.

170
00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,360
Speaker 1: And he's not a guy that's like super confident in

171
00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:22,840
Speaker 1: that sort of situation. Right, So then you try Reid,

172
00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,520
Speaker 1: and Reid is has been legitimately awful on defense in

173
00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:29,840
Speaker 1: some of these situations, and the Kings game in particular,

174
00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:32,199
Speaker 1: I thought he was brutally bad. I turned to clip

175
00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:33,520
Speaker 1: that you guys can see on my Twitter feed at

176
00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,800
Speaker 1: underscore JSNLT where he was picking up Demarta Rosen on

177
00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:39,560
Speaker 1: a drive on the right wing and just like Matt

178
00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:41,280
Speaker 1: adored him, just let him go right around and just

179
00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:43,680
Speaker 1: kind of like haplessly swiped at the basketball as he

180
00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,240
Speaker 1: was going by. That's not going to get the job done.

181
00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,360
Speaker 1: He gave an easy angle to Dennis Schroeder on a

182
00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,400
Speaker 1: drive he fouled, to Marta Rozen on another pull up

183
00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,400
Speaker 1: around the foul line. They were just relentlessly targeting him.

184
00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:57,760
Speaker 1: And you know, here's the thing with Reid, I think

185
00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:00,120
Speaker 1: he's proven that he's more than capable of being a

186
00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:04,000
Speaker 1: legitimate rotation piece, like a guy who could be her sixth, seventh,

187
00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:06,920
Speaker 1: eighth man, first serious team because of how gifted he

188
00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:08,440
Speaker 1: is as a shooter, like you can really shoot the

189
00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:10,559
Speaker 1: ball off the dribble and off the catch. But I

190
00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:13,560
Speaker 1: don't think he's even close to ready to being like

191
00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,160
Speaker 1: the fifth guy that's going to be alongside Kevin Durant

192
00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,920
Speaker 1: Albern Shangun in like the final five minutes of a

193
00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,240
Speaker 1: pivotal playoff game. Like, I don't think that's the look.

194
00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,960
Speaker 1: So obviously getting a better fifth guy will go a

195
00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:28,800
Speaker 1: long way to helping them, right, maybe that ends up

196
00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,560
Speaker 1: being Dorian Finney Smith. He's a solid defender, very good

197
00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:34,760
Speaker 1: catch and shoot player. My issue with Dorian Phinney Smith

198
00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,680
Speaker 1: is he's not particularly fast, and we saw some issues

199
00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:39,760
Speaker 1: especially in the Pelicans game, where speed was like a

200
00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:42,480
Speaker 1: problem for them. So, like, when you already have Kevin

201
00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:44,800
Speaker 1: Durant Shangun and Jabari Smith out there, and they're pretty

202
00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,640
Speaker 1: slow footed. You add an older Dorian Finney Smith out there,

203
00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:52,520
Speaker 1: that's a pretty bad foot speed deficit that you're going

204
00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:55,640
Speaker 1: to be operating at against most of these teams, especially

205
00:09:55,720 --> 00:09:58,760
Speaker 1: against some teams that have faster guards. Tarry Easton's an

206
00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:01,560
Speaker 1: interesting option. He's been shooting the absolute seams off the

207
00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:05,000
Speaker 1: basketball this series over over fifty percent from three. Although

208
00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:09,040
Speaker 1: I'd kind of argue that I'm not necessarily convinced that

209
00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:10,880
Speaker 1: he's going to just be a knockdown guy in the playoffs.

210
00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:14,320
Speaker 1: We'll see, but I have my skepticism surrounding that. But

211
00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,520
Speaker 1: Tari is at least like a big, fast athlete on

212
00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:19,640
Speaker 1: the perimeter that can add to the foot speed dynamic.

213
00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,240
Speaker 1: But again, Tari makes a big mistake late in the

214
00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,480
Speaker 1: game overhelping on a Dennis Schroeder drive gives up the

215
00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:27,880
Speaker 1: game winner. Maybe it ends up being a guy they

216
00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,440
Speaker 1: trade for. I don't know, But regardless of who it

217
00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:32,280
Speaker 1: ends up being as that fifth guy, there are at

218
00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,680
Speaker 1: least some issues we have to dive into on both

219
00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:37,800
Speaker 1: ends of the floor that will need to be dealt with.

220
00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,880
Speaker 1: Regardless of whether or not they find the perfect fifth

221
00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,840
Speaker 1: man or not. Now, the offensive end, I'm less worried

222
00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:47,320
Speaker 1: about than the defensive end, but they do need work there.

223
00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:49,920
Speaker 1: The big thing that kept bothering me in the King's

224
00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,839
Speaker 1: game last night is they seem to be surprised every

225
00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:55,360
Speaker 1: time the doubles come to Shangun on a post up

226
00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:57,680
Speaker 1: or on a kadie ISO or a trap and a

227
00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:00,840
Speaker 1: ball screen. There was one in particular, and regulation it

228
00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,280
Speaker 1: was the one that led to the runout for Russell

229
00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,839
Speaker 1: Westbrook's game tying three. Kevin Duran gets trapped right off

230
00:11:06,840 --> 00:11:11,120
Speaker 1: the right wing. Westbrook ends up jumping that first pass

231
00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:13,280
Speaker 1: to Alburn Shangun, who is wide open on the left wing,

232
00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,199
Speaker 1: and I freeze frame this and pause it. You guys

233
00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:17,560
Speaker 1: can see it on my Twitter feed in the same

234
00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,280
Speaker 1: thread with that clip with Reed Shephard. But you can

235
00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:23,680
Speaker 1: see a kogie, Thompson and Smith all standing down on

236
00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:25,800
Speaker 1: the baseline, either with their hands on their knees or

237
00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,040
Speaker 1: their hands on their hips. Now I get it, you're tired, whatever,

238
00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:31,760
Speaker 1: But like you know, the double team's coming and they

239
00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:34,880
Speaker 1: just jumped the first pass. As a result, they're late

240
00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,960
Speaker 1: to flash up. The possession completely falls apart and Shanegun

241
00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,840
Speaker 1: ends up jacking up a kind of like a foul

242
00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:43,839
Speaker 1: grifty type of three on the left wing that has

243
00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,600
Speaker 1: no chance of going in run out. Russell Westbrook ties

244
00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:49,200
Speaker 1: the game, and it's like Kevin Durant's been getting trapped

245
00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,920
Speaker 1: by everybody. The book is out now. These teams know

246
00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,440
Speaker 1: that Houston struggles with doubles and traps, so that's what

247
00:11:56,480 --> 00:11:59,800
Speaker 1: they're gonna see in these situations almost every single time.

248
00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:02,559
Speaker 1: Guys need to be on their toes and they need

249
00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:05,760
Speaker 1: to be ready to attack that situation. If they don't

250
00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:08,640
Speaker 1: jump the short roll pass, the guy who catches there

251
00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,760
Speaker 1: needs to turn in immediately attack. They had bad reps

252
00:12:12,760 --> 00:12:15,880
Speaker 1: in the Pells game where Adams would catch there and

253
00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:18,920
Speaker 1: not look to attack right and the advantage would die.

254
00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:21,520
Speaker 1: They had good reps in the Kings game last night

255
00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:25,240
Speaker 1: where Shanegun caught there, attacked, got into his little left

256
00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,440
Speaker 1: shoulder hook, attacked, got a little lob to Aman Thompson.

257
00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,040
Speaker 1: When the guy catches there and looks to attack, good

258
00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,840
Speaker 1: things happen if you attack. The next read is easy.

259
00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:38,400
Speaker 1: If you don't attack, then they prey on your indecisiveness

260
00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:40,840
Speaker 1: by splitting the difference, and that buys them a chance

261
00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:44,640
Speaker 1: to rotate right now, if teams jump the short roll

262
00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:46,680
Speaker 1: pass like what happened with Russell Westbrook on that play

263
00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:48,640
Speaker 1: with Shangud at the top of the key, you need

264
00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,960
Speaker 1: those other dudes to be on their toes quickly reading

265
00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,439
Speaker 1: where that jump is coming from, and then the next

266
00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:58,840
Speaker 1: guy needs to flash, and that ignites the exact same

267
00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,959
Speaker 1: sequence of events you see where that second that third

268
00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,560
Speaker 1: defenders run into Shangoon, that guy needs to immediately flash

269
00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:08,240
Speaker 1: up to the ball, be ready for it so that

270
00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:11,439
Speaker 1: it's quick, and then immediately turn to attack, and then

271
00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:14,320
Speaker 1: wait for the defense to react to that attack. These

272
00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:17,520
Speaker 1: are the kinds of things that, again, they've been seeing

273
00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:20,880
Speaker 1: every single game in these situations, They've got to be

274
00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,800
Speaker 1: more ready for it now. The reason that I'm less

275
00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:26,520
Speaker 1: worried about this specific end of the floor, the floor

276
00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,480
Speaker 1: is twofold one. They're just gonna have so many reps.

277
00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,480
Speaker 1: Everyone's doing it, no one's gonna stop. It's the best

278
00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:34,240
Speaker 1: way to guard this team at the end of a game.

279
00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:36,840
Speaker 1: So they're just gonna get between now in mid April,

280
00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:39,520
Speaker 1: a million opportunities to kind of straighten this out and

281
00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:42,080
Speaker 1: figure out how to do it better. Also, I would

282
00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:44,600
Speaker 1: argue four on three basketball is some of the easiest

283
00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:47,240
Speaker 1: basketball you'll play. I've seen a lot of talk about, oh,

284
00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:48,880
Speaker 1: the Rockets need to point guard, the Rockets need a

285
00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:52,560
Speaker 1: point guard, and like there's some validity there in the

286
00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:54,920
Speaker 1: sense that, like, sometimes I wish there was a steady

287
00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,080
Speaker 1: ball handler who'd be like, hey, let's find a way

288
00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:58,680
Speaker 1: to get this ball to KD, because there will be

289
00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:00,920
Speaker 1: these possessions where Katie does and get the basketball for

290
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:02,920
Speaker 1: you know, two three possessions in a row, and that

291
00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,240
Speaker 1: can feel silly, but that, to me is really the

292
00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:09,079
Speaker 1: only advantage there, because you know, a point guard is

293
00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:11,520
Speaker 1: going to be smaller, he's going to give things up defensively,

294
00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,480
Speaker 1: he's not going to have as much of an athletic

295
00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:16,760
Speaker 1: imposition on the game. And let's say he does get

296
00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:19,480
Speaker 1: the ball to KD. What happens next a trap? So

297
00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:22,360
Speaker 1: it's like so like, to me, the point guard thing

298
00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,400
Speaker 1: is overstated. The entire purpose of a point guard, in

299
00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,600
Speaker 1: the most valuable sense of the word, is if he

300
00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:32,160
Speaker 1: can create advantage for you. And the Rockets don't need

301
00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,480
Speaker 1: help with that. They've got lots of dudes who can

302
00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:37,400
Speaker 1: create advantage, and they got two dudes who are consistently

303
00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,040
Speaker 1: drawing two to the ball in crunch time, So like

304
00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:42,520
Speaker 1: you've won the battle there. Once you've brought two to

305
00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:46,720
Speaker 1: the ball, you've officially broken the defense. Your job there

306
00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:50,000
Speaker 1: is to then capitalize on that. The Rockets, in my opinion,

307
00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,520
Speaker 1: have a lot more to gain by figuring out how

308
00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:56,280
Speaker 1: to to keep capitalizing on these four on threes than

309
00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:58,240
Speaker 1: they do by having someone who's going to do a

310
00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:00,760
Speaker 1: better job of getting the ball to Kevin Durant where

311
00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,720
Speaker 1: he's just gonna immediately draw another double team anyway, So

312
00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:05,720
Speaker 1: I'm not sitting there saying like, if you can't get

313
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:07,760
Speaker 1: a big point guard who can also be good on

314
00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,440
Speaker 1: defense and also help this team, and it makes sense

315
00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:12,400
Speaker 1: in the trade market that you don't jump on something

316
00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:14,520
Speaker 1: like that. And certainly Fred van Vliet would help. He'd

317
00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,000
Speaker 1: probably be the perfect fifth guy because he's a good defender,

318
00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:18,760
Speaker 1: because he can hitt to catch and shoot three, because

319
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:20,360
Speaker 1: he can run some action and he can actually make

320
00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:22,280
Speaker 1: sure the ball gets to KD. And you know, that'd

321
00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:23,960
Speaker 1: be great if you can find a Fred van Vliet.

322
00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,520
Speaker 1: But in terms of the asset that you'd have to

323
00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,120
Speaker 1: send out to achieve that type of player. All you're

324
00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:31,040
Speaker 1: really doing is getting a player that's gonna get the

325
00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:33,440
Speaker 1: ball to KD or he's gonna get doubled or trapped,

326
00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:35,400
Speaker 1: and you're gonna have the exact same four on three

327
00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,520
Speaker 1: problem that you've been having all season. Again, I'm less

328
00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,760
Speaker 1: worried about that because they're just gonna have so many reps.

329
00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:44,760
Speaker 1: This is the easiest basketball you can play. I think

330
00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,560
Speaker 1: they're gonna find a way to score over the course

331
00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:49,160
Speaker 1: of the season. Now on the defensive end, I think

332
00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:52,080
Speaker 1: it's a little more tricky. One of the consistent issues

333
00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:54,960
Speaker 1: they've been facing in all of these clutch losses is

334
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,120
Speaker 1: getting picked on and drop coverage alprinshangon has become an

335
00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,920
Speaker 1: easy target for teams at the end of games in

336
00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:03,840
Speaker 1: screening action, and we've seen it in all of them.

337
00:16:04,360 --> 00:16:06,560
Speaker 1: In the Pelicans game, we saw it as more of

338
00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,400
Speaker 1: a Steven Adams issue, but it was just because Steven

339
00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:10,080
Speaker 1: was out there. If Stephen wasn't out there, they would

340
00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:12,160
Speaker 1: have attacked Shangun in the exact same way. But it's

341
00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,360
Speaker 1: more or less the same schematic problem. In the first

342
00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,320
Speaker 1: Denver game, we saw it with Yokic popping out of

343
00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:21,200
Speaker 1: ball screens. We saw it with Yokic on the roll,

344
00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:26,800
Speaker 1: hitting Spencer Jones in the right corner for threes. Shanegun

345
00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:28,480
Speaker 1: came up to the level and got toasted off the

346
00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:31,480
Speaker 1: dribble by Jamal Murray for a layup. In the Sacramento game.

347
00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:33,440
Speaker 1: The reason why the Kings got back in that game

348
00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:35,880
Speaker 1: is down the stretch of the fourth quarter, they kept

349
00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,680
Speaker 1: spamming little screening actions for Keegan Murray to go downhill

350
00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:41,640
Speaker 1: and he'd come over the top of the screen and

351
00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:45,240
Speaker 1: there's Shanegun in the super deep drop and Keegan Murray's

352
00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,720
Speaker 1: hitting jump shots and hitting floaters, and honestly, they got

353
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,800
Speaker 1: a little lucky because Keegan missed two very easy ones

354
00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:54,480
Speaker 1: late in that fourth quarter curling over those screens as

355
00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,680
Speaker 1: Shanegun was in drop. That issue is not going away

356
00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,920
Speaker 1: even if you do find the perfect fifth man. So

357
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,280
Speaker 1: you basically have two directions you can go there. You

358
00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:07,200
Speaker 1: can try to switch more with Shangun that shuts off

359
00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,840
Speaker 1: the automatic advantage that comes from putting two on the ball,

360
00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:13,520
Speaker 1: or by giving that easy little gap between the bracket

361
00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:15,240
Speaker 1: of the drop for the guy to look to score.

362
00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,040
Speaker 1: But the downside there, Shanegun's been pretty bad statistically against

363
00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:21,560
Speaker 1: ISO this year. I would like to see that a

364
00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,000
Speaker 1: little bit more though, because Shanegun is a decent athlete,

365
00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:25,920
Speaker 1: so maybe you can get him to like sag Off

366
00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,960
Speaker 1: a little bit. Contest pull up jump shots contain the ball.

367
00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,000
Speaker 1: It's worth at least experimenting with a little bit. But

368
00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:34,719
Speaker 1: the other direction you can go is the Denver Nuggets route.

369
00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,280
Speaker 1: Denver has been contending with this exact same issue for

370
00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:40,720
Speaker 1: years with Yokichen drop coverage, and they've been okay. They

371
00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,199
Speaker 1: have two main encounters to this problem. One, they do

372
00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:47,399
Speaker 1: a ton of pre switching, so you'll see Jokichen. Houston

373
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,040
Speaker 1: saw this in the game, and that was when Shangun

374
00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:52,480
Speaker 1: was attacking Cam Johnson and Spencer Jones and post ups.

375
00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,119
Speaker 1: If you guys remember those are screening actions where they

376
00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:58,000
Speaker 1: were trying to target Yokic, but Jokic just stays in

377
00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:00,639
Speaker 1: the weak side corner. He waves a din defender in

378
00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,520
Speaker 1: this case, Cam or Spencer to go actually follow Shangoon

379
00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:05,840
Speaker 1: up into the screen and then they can switch the

380
00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,520
Speaker 1: ball screen or force Shangun to try to post up right. So,

381
00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:11,560
Speaker 1: like that's one thing you can do to try to

382
00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:14,760
Speaker 1: consistently protect Shangoon is keep him tucked away off the

383
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,720
Speaker 1: ball in the corner, and if Shangun's man ever goes

384
00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:20,400
Speaker 1: up to go set a screen, you just send one

385
00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:22,720
Speaker 1: of your wings up with him so that you can

386
00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,320
Speaker 1: switch that action. Keep your best primary defenders on the

387
00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,800
Speaker 1: ball as much as possible, but inevitably teams are going

388
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:30,720
Speaker 1: to find a way to get your man into the screen.

389
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:33,040
Speaker 1: And one of the things the Nuggets have done over

390
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:35,400
Speaker 1: the years is when Yokic gets into the screen, they

391
00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:37,960
Speaker 1: bring him aggressively up to the level to make the

392
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,560
Speaker 1: ball handler give it up. And then they've gotten very

393
00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:42,720
Speaker 1: good at rotating out on the four on threes in

394
00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:45,399
Speaker 1: the back end. But Houston is going to have to

395
00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,119
Speaker 1: figure out some combination of counters there because again the

396
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,840
Speaker 1: book is out. If Reed Shepherd's on the floor, they're

397
00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:55,840
Speaker 1: attacking him with their guards, and if he's off the floor,

398
00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,719
Speaker 1: they're attacking Shangoon in his drop coverage. Again, this one

399
00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,439
Speaker 1: I'm a little less optimistic about than the offensive end,

400
00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:04,320
Speaker 1: because it's just really difficult to handle. Remember when I

401
00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:06,280
Speaker 1: was talking about how four on three offense is the

402
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:10,120
Speaker 1: easiest form of basketball to play, well, three on four

403
00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:14,119
Speaker 1: defense is some of the hardest basketball to play. And

404
00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,760
Speaker 1: one of the differences between Denver and Houston because guess

405
00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,040
Speaker 1: what Denver did give up buckets on the four on threes.

406
00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,840
Speaker 1: Jabari Smith got a wide open three in the left

407
00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:25,440
Speaker 1: corner in the Again, there was two Denver games last week,

408
00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:27,399
Speaker 1: so I'm talking about the first one there. Jabari got

409
00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:29,199
Speaker 1: a big three in the corner off of one of

410
00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:33,560
Speaker 1: those four on threes. But the difference is Denver knows

411
00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,320
Speaker 1: that even though they have Jokich as an entry point

412
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,359
Speaker 1: into their clutch defense, they feel pretty good about their

413
00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:42,359
Speaker 1: ability to outscore you because they have one of the

414
00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:44,639
Speaker 1: best half court offenses in the history of the league.

415
00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,520
Speaker 1: I'm not sure Houston's at that level right. So again,

416
00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:50,320
Speaker 1: the good news is for Houston they have a ton

417
00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:52,640
Speaker 1: of time to figure things out between now and May.

418
00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:55,600
Speaker 1: But I don't care what they get is that fifth guy.

419
00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:58,800
Speaker 1: I don't care if it's the dream point guard they've

420
00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,680
Speaker 1: been looking for. I don't care if it's Dorianfinny Smith,

421
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:03,920
Speaker 1: or it's Tarry Easan or some other player that they

422
00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:06,080
Speaker 1: trade for. They're gonna have to be able to figure

423
00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:09,680
Speaker 1: out how to protect Shangoon and drop coverage, and they're

424
00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,120
Speaker 1: gonna have to figure out how to quickly process those

425
00:20:12,119 --> 00:20:13,760
Speaker 1: four on threes because I don't care who that fifth

426
00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,440
Speaker 1: guy is. They're gonna keep doubling Shangoon, and they're gonna

427
00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:21,160
Speaker 1: keep doubling Kevin Durant, especially in his ball screens. Want

428
00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,399
Speaker 1: to know where I bet on basketball during the holiday season.

429
00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:25,959
Speaker 1: It's Hard Rock Bet, not just because it's the presenting

430
00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:27,840
Speaker 1: sponsor of our show, but because they make it easy

431
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,040
Speaker 1: to bet before tip off and in the middle of

432
00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,240
Speaker 1: the action with just a few simple taps. I open

433
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,639
Speaker 1: the app, find a bet I like, and then bam,

434
00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:37,199
Speaker 1: my bet is placed, just in time for me to

435
00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:40,320
Speaker 1: get back to wrapping presence and enjoying my favorite Christmas movie.

436
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,760
Speaker 1: Sign up today and bet five dollars on any game,

437
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,239
Speaker 1: and if it wins, you also score one hundred and

438
00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:48,600
Speaker 1: fifty dollars in bonus bets a dub plus an extra

439
00:20:48,640 --> 00:20:52,119
Speaker 1: one to fifty to bet with. Now that's spreading holiday cheer. Plus.

440
00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:54,840
Speaker 1: Hard Rock Bet fills your stockings with new promos daily,

441
00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:58,240
Speaker 1: so whenever you're listening, just open the app and check

442
00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:00,680
Speaker 1: out what you've got. Any day of the week, Download

443
00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:03,200
Speaker 1: the hard Rock Bed app and make your first deposit today.

444
00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:07,760
Speaker 1: Payble and bonus bets not a cash offer offered by

445
00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,480
Speaker 1: the Seminole Tribe of Florida. In Florida, offered by Seminal

446
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:12,879
Speaker 1: Hard Rock Digital LLC. In all other states. Must be

447
00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:17,240
Speaker 1: twenty one plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,

448
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,359
Speaker 1: New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia to play. Terms and

449
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,280
Speaker 1: conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida called one eight

450
00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:26,399
Speaker 1: three three play wise. In Indiana, if you or someone

451
00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,760
Speaker 1: else you know has a gambling problem and wants help,

452
00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:32,480
Speaker 1: call one eight hundred and nine with it. Gambling problem

453
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,440
Speaker 1: called one eight hundred gambler in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan,

454
00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:41,520
Speaker 1: New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia. All right, let's move

455
00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,480
Speaker 1: on to Minnesota. I said early in the season, as

456
00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:47,639
Speaker 1: Minnesota was struggling that I will never make the mistake

457
00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,879
Speaker 1: of underestimating the Minnesota Timberwolves. And I think they demonstrated

458
00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,680
Speaker 1: why in a big way on Friday Night. Again. They've

459
00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,960
Speaker 1: had a weird season. They're sitting at nineteen to ten.

460
00:21:57,080 --> 00:21:59,800
Speaker 1: They've won nine of their last eleven games, but they've

461
00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,080
Speaker 1: been awful against teams that are five hundred are better

462
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,679
Speaker 1: in that span, and they've lacked like that signature win

463
00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,040
Speaker 1: that demonstrates their upside. We finally got that on Friday,

464
00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:12,600
Speaker 1: and it ended in a iconic moment from Anthony Edwards

465
00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,040
Speaker 1: down the stretch. It was just a demonstration for a battle.

466
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,320
Speaker 1: It happened fast too. It was like a minute of

467
00:22:19,359 --> 00:22:24,160
Speaker 1: the absurd stier athleticism that Anthony Edwards has. On both

468
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:27,560
Speaker 1: ends of the floor, he hits this nasty step back

469
00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:29,639
Speaker 1: three against Cason Wallace on the left wing, where he

470
00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,240
Speaker 1: gets amazing separation and lyft against one of the best

471
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,280
Speaker 1: perimeter defenders in the league. Then on the other end

472
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:37,560
Speaker 1: of the floor, he late peels off his man and

473
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:42,119
Speaker 1: blocks Shay at the rim. Then he on the ensuing

474
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,919
Speaker 1: kind of chaos, he gets a huge defensive rebound, a

475
00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,080
Speaker 1: contested rebound in the middle of the lane, just flies

476
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:50,399
Speaker 1: over everybody and gets it. Then after knocking down the

477
00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:51,840
Speaker 1: free throws, he goes down to the other end of

478
00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:55,280
Speaker 1: the floor, picks up Shay and Iso locks him up

479
00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,040
Speaker 1: and strips him clean to seal the game. And again

480
00:22:58,119 --> 00:23:01,000
Speaker 1: it happened in like a minute. It was just an

481
00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:05,760
Speaker 1: avalanche of athletic superpower. And it was a reminder of

482
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 1: just how special Anthony Edwards is in a league full

483
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:14,600
Speaker 1: of special players. And I think he's particularly important too,

484
00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,879
Speaker 1: because that was unbelievable to watch. He is must see television.

485
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,120
Speaker 1: And we're in a league right now that at the top.

486
00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:27,320
Speaker 1: When you look at the stars, it lacks that must

487
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,920
Speaker 1: see TV superstar. And this league has always been about

488
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:35,720
Speaker 1: that kind of guy, whether it was Michael Jordan or

489
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,520
Speaker 1: is Kobe Bryant, or it was Lebron and Steph in

490
00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:41,720
Speaker 1: the last era. Obviously, with MJ, Kobe and Lebron, you

491
00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,680
Speaker 1: have these apex athletes that do things we never had

492
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:47,560
Speaker 1: seen before above the rim and you know, moving their

493
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:50,639
Speaker 1: bodies in ways you just don't see. And then Steph,

494
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,119
Speaker 1: I'd argue when he's on a heart When when Steph

495
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 1: is on a hot streak, I'd argue, he's the greatest

496
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,480
Speaker 1: show in the history of sports. It's unbelievable when he's

497
00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,640
Speaker 1: on a hot streak. But right now you're top four

498
00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,760
Speaker 1: are Jokic, who plays a below the rim style. It's

499
00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,159
Speaker 1: ruthlessly effective, and you know, it can be fun to

500
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,280
Speaker 1: watch for US basketball nerds, but it's it's not exactly

501
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:12,520
Speaker 1: must see television in terms of what he's doing aesthetically

502
00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:16,320
Speaker 1: at his position. Shaye and Luca are literally both below

503
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:19,639
Speaker 1: the rim shooting guards who rely heavily on foul grifting

504
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:23,280
Speaker 1: and contested jump shots. And Giannis, I think he's a

505
00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,640
Speaker 1: remarkable athlete, but he does not bring that same aesthetic

506
00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:31,840
Speaker 1: flair as his athletic predecessors. Now, before you all get

507
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,160
Speaker 1: pissed off at me, I'm not talking about us. I'm

508
00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,320
Speaker 1: not talking about the hoopeads like me or you guys,

509
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:39,879
Speaker 1: most of the people who listen to this show, we

510
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:45,040
Speaker 1: all love basketball so much that we find joy watching

511
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,439
Speaker 1: the beautiful brand of basketball that Nicola Jokic plays, Like

512
00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:50,159
Speaker 1: I think the Nuggets are one of my favorite watches

513
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:51,960
Speaker 1: in the league right now. They play a beautiful brand

514
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:56,400
Speaker 1: of basketball for basketball nerds like us, or like when

515
00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:00,760
Speaker 1: we watch Shane Luca we appreciate the insane refufe skill

516
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 1: that leads to their massive scoring totals. Or we've watched

517
00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:08,720
Speaker 1: Giannis develop into a more polished, dominant two way player

518
00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:10,879
Speaker 1: in this league. But I'm not talking about us. I'm

519
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:15,760
Speaker 1: talking about the masses, the millions and millions of casual

520
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:19,720
Speaker 1: fans out there. They always seem to resonate with the

521
00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:24,320
Speaker 1: must see TV stars of years past. Go look up

522
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 1: the finals ratings. Go look up the Kobe finals in

523
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:29,880
Speaker 1: the late two thousands. Go look up the Lebron finals

524
00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:32,679
Speaker 1: with the heat. Go look up the Lebron Steph battles

525
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,439
Speaker 1: in the mid twenty tens. Hell, even of this recent

526
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:37,920
Speaker 1: run and in these recent finals, we've seen Shay in

527
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 1: the finals. We've seen Luca in the finals. We've seen

528
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 1: yokichen the finals. We've seen Tatum in the finals, We've

529
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,040
Speaker 1: seen Giannis in the finals. None of them came close

530
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:52,119
Speaker 1: to the ratings that Steph put up in twenty twenty two. Like, ultimately,

531
00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,520
Speaker 1: this league at the top and the top tier superstars

532
00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 1: does not have a star that is resonating with the masses.

533
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,399
Speaker 1: And I think that's why the league needs Ant to pop.

534
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:05,520
Speaker 1: Him and Wemby. Those are the next two up and

535
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:10,639
Speaker 1: coming stars that actually bring real musty TV potential for

536
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,920
Speaker 1: the masses that can drive the next era of NBA popularity.

537
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,399
Speaker 1: Ant because of what he did on Friday Night, this

538
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,560
Speaker 1: minute long stretch where you're just like just in awe

539
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:26,520
Speaker 1: watching the screen because of his apex athleticism, or Wemby

540
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,200
Speaker 1: because he's this freaky alien that does things we've never

541
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:33,480
Speaker 1: seen before. Just after that run from Aunt against Shay,

542
00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,160
Speaker 1: I just found myself thinking about this idea after the game,

543
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,480
Speaker 1: like Ants staying in there, he's yelling, he's just big

544
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,359
Speaker 1: old smile on his face. He's looking at the crowd

545
00:26:41,400 --> 00:26:43,480
Speaker 1: like I'm on his ass. I'm on his ass. After

546
00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,040
Speaker 1: he just strips Shay in front of everybody to seal

547
00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:48,080
Speaker 1: the game, and it's like, you can't take your eyes

548
00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:50,760
Speaker 1: off the screen, And I think it's just kind of

549
00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:53,880
Speaker 1: like a again, a big I think it's a very

550
00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:57,399
Speaker 1: important future for this league for a guy like Ant

551
00:26:57,440 --> 00:26:59,639
Speaker 1: to achieve his potential. And again, it's on Ant. Ant's

552
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,240
Speaker 1: gonna have to do the work, and he demonstrated it

553
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:04,000
Speaker 1: in a big way against Shay in that game. And

554
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:05,960
Speaker 1: that's just one regular season game. No one's giving you

555
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,639
Speaker 1: a title, no one's sending Aylklahoma City home over one

556
00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,399
Speaker 1: game on a Friday night in December. But achieving his

557
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:14,359
Speaker 1: potential I think is very important for the future of

558
00:27:14,359 --> 00:27:17,280
Speaker 1: this league. Well, let's dig into the basketball for just

559
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:18,600
Speaker 1: a little bit with that game, because I thought it

560
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 1: was fascinating. Minnesota won several physical battles in that game

561
00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: that I thought swung things in their favor. They had

562
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 1: eighteen offensive rebounds. Gobert kicked Chet's ass in that game

563
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,640
Speaker 1: on the glass, including a big offensive rebound tap out

564
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,080
Speaker 1: that led directly to the Anthony Edwards game winner. He

565
00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:36,639
Speaker 1: was killing Chet just by burying him and then reaching

566
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 1: over the top and tapping the ball out to the

567
00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:41,040
Speaker 1: perimeter where the Minnesota athletes were able to go get it.

568
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:44,040
Speaker 1: That's a real physical advantage for Minnesota. Rudy is bigger

569
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,160
Speaker 1: and stronger than Chet. I thought Minnesota did a great

570
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:49,880
Speaker 1: job of flattening out Oklahoma City's drives in that fourth quarter.

571
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:51,520
Speaker 1: We talked about this a lot, like when you have

572
00:27:51,560 --> 00:27:53,760
Speaker 1: a direct line drive to a layup, that thing's going

573
00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:55,760
Speaker 1: in one hundred percent of the time. But if you're

574
00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,000
Speaker 1: hip to hip with the guy and he's now contending

575
00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:00,480
Speaker 1: with you and kind of drifting sideways going up for

576
00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 1: a layup, those percentages plummet. And there were misses for

577
00:28:03,760 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 1: JDub and AJ Mitchell in particular in that fourth quarter

578
00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,439
Speaker 1: where guys were flattening the drives and staying attached and

579
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,960
Speaker 1: forcing those to be much tougher shots that ended up missing.

580
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:16,200
Speaker 1: This is an Oklahoma City offense that I rarely see

581
00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,400
Speaker 1: get rushed on that end of the floor, and Oklahoma

582
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:23,119
Speaker 1: City was rushing in that game. That's the sort of

583
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:25,760
Speaker 1: thing that leads to the misses like you saw from

584
00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,679
Speaker 1: Dort and Crusoe down the stretch of that game. Julius

585
00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:31,320
Speaker 1: Randall had a rough box score game, but I thought

586
00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:33,440
Speaker 1: both him and nos Reid were huge in that fourth

587
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,440
Speaker 1: quarter because they have size advantages. Nas had a big

588
00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 1: post bucket against Jadub on the left block. He had

589
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:41,719
Speaker 1: another big offensive rebound put back and one in that stretch.

590
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,560
Speaker 1: Julius hits a three over the top of Case in Wallas.

591
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,120
Speaker 1: He can shoot over Case and he's small. He had

592
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,520
Speaker 1: a big drive off the right wing, a big play

593
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:53,080
Speaker 1: late in the game where naz Reid ended up flashing

594
00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,160
Speaker 1: middle because Julius drew a second defender. Because he's big

595
00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,480
Speaker 1: and strong drive into the basket, Naz hit like a

596
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:00,760
Speaker 1: little floater in the lane there. I have size in

597
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,760
Speaker 1: physical advantages all over the floor in this matchup. Those

598
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:09,400
Speaker 1: physical advantages kept the game close enough that Aunt had

599
00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:12,120
Speaker 1: a chance to go toe to toe with Shae and

600
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:14,600
Speaker 1: win that matchup, which he was able to do on

601
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,800
Speaker 1: Friday Night. There are things I don't love about this

602
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,240
Speaker 1: matchup for Minnesota in the playoffs. I think that combination

603
00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:22,600
Speaker 1: of athleticism and rim protection is really tough for their

604
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:25,480
Speaker 1: offense at times. I do not like how they always

605
00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: pick up Shae forty feet from the basket with Jaden McDaniels,

606
00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:30,600
Speaker 1: so they can just set ball screens out there and

607
00:29:30,600 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 1: Shaye's just constantly getting downhill into the lane. I think

608
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 1: Shae obviously is a better player than it right now

609
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:38,920
Speaker 1: and is further along in his development. That's hard. I

610
00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:40,640
Speaker 1: think you need Aunt to be better than Shaye in

611
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:42,480
Speaker 1: a playoff series, and that's just a lot to ask

612
00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:46,720
Speaker 1: with how much more experience Shay has. But what Minnesota

613
00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:50,240
Speaker 1: does bring is the size and athleticism that can really

614
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:53,560
Speaker 1: cause Oklahoma City problems on the margins. They won the

615
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:57,000
Speaker 1: possession battle in that game, which is something you almost

616
00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:00,760
Speaker 1: never see against Oka s else. It was just a

617
00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:02,960
Speaker 1: great reminder of why I viewed Minnesota as such a

618
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,760
Speaker 1: dangerous playoff team, despite the fact that they've had an

619
00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 1: uneven start to the season. They may not reach that

620
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:12,640
Speaker 1: level very often in a November, December, January, but they

621
00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: have the ability to really ratchet up the size and

622
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,400
Speaker 1: athleticism to a level that's capable of breaking any team

623
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:24,720
Speaker 1: in the NBA, including Denver, including Oklahoma City. Has Jalen

624
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:29,640
Speaker 1: Brunson taken a leap? I was watching this morning film

625
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,560
Speaker 1: of Jalen lighting up the Miami Heat this morning from

626
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,720
Speaker 1: yesterday's game in Madison Square Garden, and he's just on

627
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,680
Speaker 1: an incredible run of scoring against some really high level

628
00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,680
Speaker 1: defensive guards like we saw on the tournament, what he

629
00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:44,560
Speaker 1: did to San Antonio's guards, what he did to Orlando's guards,

630
00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:48,720
Speaker 1: what he did to Toronto's guards. Davion Mitchell looked completely

631
00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:52,480
Speaker 1: overmatched against him yesterday. Jalen was first of all getting

632
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:54,480
Speaker 1: him off balance and not being bothered by his ball

633
00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:56,160
Speaker 1: pressure at all. But he was also able to just

634
00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:58,080
Speaker 1: easily shoot over the top of him because of his

635
00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:02,360
Speaker 1: size advantage. Forty seven points and eight assists with zero

636
00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:05,520
Speaker 1: turnovers in that command of the game, the lack of mistakes,

637
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:08,440
Speaker 1: the lack of misshots, and the lack of turnovers looks

638
00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,800
Speaker 1: different than it did in the past. There's a level

639
00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:16,040
Speaker 1: of comfort, a level of command with Jalen Brunson in

640
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:18,400
Speaker 1: his game that seems to be above what we've seen

641
00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:20,840
Speaker 1: in recent years, and it shows pretty clearly in the numbers.

642
00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,240
Speaker 1: So obviously he's averaging a career high twenty nine points

643
00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:27,400
Speaker 1: per game, sixty percent true shooting. But in this recent

644
00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:31,520
Speaker 1: run in his last seven games, thirty three points and

645
00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:36,520
Speaker 1: seven assists, just one point four turnovers per game. That

646
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,320
Speaker 1: that shake gives us Alexander level of hoops right there,

647
00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:42,120
Speaker 1: the same kind of stuff we've been seeing from Shay

648
00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 1: and calling it one of the best two guard seasons ever.

649
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:46,920
Speaker 1: That's what Jalen Brunson's been doing the last few weeks.

650
00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,520
Speaker 1: Fifty one percent from the field, forty three percent from

651
00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:55,040
Speaker 1: the line, sixty four percent true shooting, with less than

652
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:58,840
Speaker 1: one and a half turnovers. Again, the level he's been

653
00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:00,800
Speaker 1: at for three weeks now is that of a top

654
00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:06,760
Speaker 1: tier superstar, not a second tier superstar. There's obviously a

655
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,120
Speaker 1: level of large sample consistency that he'll have to maintain

656
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:13,120
Speaker 1: if he wants to like really enter into that conversation.

657
00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,840
Speaker 1: But this just looks different to me, and it's one

658
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:18,480
Speaker 1: of the main reasons why I'm really starting to buy

659
00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:21,160
Speaker 1: Nick stock. Like, in addition to Brunson looking like a

660
00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:24,240
Speaker 1: top tier superstar, the Knicks just continue to put together

661
00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:27,320
Speaker 1: these defensive runs that shut down games, like they had

662
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:29,600
Speaker 1: one in the second quarter against Miami yesterday where they're

663
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:31,400
Speaker 1: flying around and they shut down that offense and turn

664
00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:33,360
Speaker 1: the game around. They had one in the fourth quarter

665
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:37,920
Speaker 1: against the Spurs. They've been consistently way better at the

666
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,640
Speaker 1: end of games. They're defensive rating in clutch situations this

667
00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:44,680
Speaker 1: year is almost twelve points per one hundred possessions better

668
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:48,520
Speaker 1: than it was last year. It's really that simple. Like

669
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:50,600
Speaker 1: you want to know why the Knicks to me are

670
00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,960
Speaker 1: right now my favorite to win the Eastern Conference, It's

671
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,200
Speaker 1: because they're a good bit better on both ends of

672
00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:01,520
Speaker 1: the floor. Jalen Brunson's better, they're better in crunch time,

673
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:04,920
Speaker 1: and those top end opponents that they had to contend

674
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:07,920
Speaker 1: with last year just aren't there, and so they're poised

675
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:11,040
Speaker 1: for their best shot at the finals since nineteen ninety nine.

676
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:13,480
Speaker 1: All right, let's get into our power rankings before we

677
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:22,120
Speaker 1: call it today again. All of our lines are provided

678
00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:26,040
Speaker 1: by our partner, hard Rock Bet. Number ten, the Philadelphia

679
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:28,480
Speaker 1: seventy six ers currently plus six thousand to win the

680
00:33:28,480 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 1: title on hard Rock Bet. They're six and two in

681
00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:32,880
Speaker 1: their last eight games, continuing to win with their defense

682
00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:34,800
Speaker 1: their fourth and defense rating in that span up to

683
00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,360
Speaker 1: eleventh on the season, doing a really good job of

684
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:39,360
Speaker 1: using their speed to chase teams off the three point

685
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:41,760
Speaker 1: line and finnel them into their bigs. And they're also

686
00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:43,560
Speaker 1: starting to turn their opponents over and get out and

687
00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:46,200
Speaker 1: transition more as a result of that than they did

688
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:48,200
Speaker 1: to start the year. They have in their last ten games,

689
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 1: they're averaging nineteen points off of turnovers, which is the

690
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:53,520
Speaker 1: fifth most in the NBA. Before that, in their first

691
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:56,120
Speaker 1: seventeen games, they were getting just sixteen and a half

692
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,840
Speaker 1: points off of turnovers per game, which was twenty third

693
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:01,680
Speaker 1: in the NBA, so generating margin there. Starting to get

694
00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:04,080
Speaker 1: some real build up from their older stars, and Beat

695
00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:06,080
Speaker 1: and Paul George are both moving better and shooting the

696
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,319
Speaker 1: ball better from three than they did to start the year.

697
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:10,919
Speaker 1: Tyres Maxie is still playing like an MVP candidate. VJ.

698
00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:14,120
Speaker 1: Edgecomb is like stroking it from three. He's been deadly

699
00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:15,879
Speaker 1: in this six and two stretch. He's up to thirty

700
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:18,000
Speaker 1: eight percent on the season. The Philadelphia seventy six Ers

701
00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:21,960
Speaker 1: played some really good basketball. Number nine the Boston Celtics

702
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,000
Speaker 1: currently plus three thousand to win the title on hard

703
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,840
Speaker 1: Rock Bet. Took a couple of tough losses to Milwaukee

704
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:29,560
Speaker 1: without Giannis and then the Pistons game we covered that

705
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:32,680
Speaker 1: on Tuesday last week. A brilliant closing run from Cad Cunningham,

706
00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:34,720
Speaker 1: and they really struggled with some of those Pistons perimeter

707
00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:38,239
Speaker 1: defenders as they couldn't generate a quality look there down

708
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:40,680
Speaker 1: the stretch, and especially in the Milwaukee game, they showed

709
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:42,160
Speaker 1: some of their old demons where they can just go

710
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,400
Speaker 1: super cold from three and stop attacking the basket. But

711
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:48,000
Speaker 1: a couple of really nice bounce back wins, including a

712
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,440
Speaker 1: game in Toronto last night where their deep bench just

713
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:55,840
Speaker 1: completely flipped the game. Luca Garza was like protecting the

714
00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:58,879
Speaker 1: rims super well, like you wouldn't expect from him. Hugo

715
00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:02,200
Speaker 1: Gonzales and Baylor shot iremen were driving closeouts and getting layups.

716
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,920
Speaker 1: Anthronty Simons and Peyton Pritchrick were literally like just ripping

717
00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:07,000
Speaker 1: the cord from mid range, like not even touching the rim.

718
00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:08,960
Speaker 1: There was about a three minute stretch from the end

719
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:11,000
Speaker 1: of the third quarter of the early fourth quarter where

720
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,359
Speaker 1: the Celtics just completely flipped that game, and then they

721
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,600
Speaker 1: were able to close things from there. Again, like the

722
00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:19,280
Speaker 1: NBA regular season is long and difficult, and you're gonna

723
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,360
Speaker 1: have adversity, You're gonna have straight I mean, the thunder

724
00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:24,560
Speaker 1: are arguably the best team ever and they're one and

725
00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:26,840
Speaker 1: two in their last three games. You're gonna find adversity.

726
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:29,879
Speaker 1: It's been how you respond as much as anything else.

727
00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:31,680
Speaker 1: I thought it was a really nice response from the

728
00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:33,480
Speaker 1: Celtics last week and a big win on the road

729
00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:37,200
Speaker 1: in Toronto. Number eighth the Houston Rockets currently plus one

730
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:39,560
Speaker 1: thousand to win the title on Hard Rock Bet. We

731
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:41,200
Speaker 1: did a full segment on them early in the show,

732
00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:42,880
Speaker 1: so I won't stay here long. They had their biggest

733
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:44,960
Speaker 1: win of the season on Sunday or Saturday excuse me,

734
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:47,400
Speaker 1: against the Nuggets, but surrounded that with three losses and

735
00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:49,640
Speaker 1: clutch situations, two of which were against two of the

736
00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:51,920
Speaker 1: worst teams in the West, shining a light on some

737
00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,480
Speaker 1: flaws that they'll absolutely have to fix if they want

738
00:35:54,520 --> 00:35:56,280
Speaker 1: to reach their goals. I still believe in the Rockets

739
00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:57,759
Speaker 1: is a real contender, that they have a lot of

740
00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:01,680
Speaker 1: work to do between now in April. Number seven, the

741
00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:05,000
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Lakers currently plus thirteen hundred to win the

742
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,279
Speaker 1: title on hard Rock Bet. They still haven't lost two

743
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:09,080
Speaker 1: games in a row this season, but they're four and

744
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:11,520
Speaker 1: four in their last eight games, and now their depth

745
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,359
Speaker 1: is starting to get tested. They finished that Clippers game

746
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:17,160
Speaker 1: with Lebron James as their only healthy starter after Luca

747
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:20,600
Speaker 1: left in the first half. I kind of was weirdly

748
00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:23,439
Speaker 1: happy with how they played in that game. Like their

749
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:26,879
Speaker 1: early deficit, it was primarily a product of Zubats just

750
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,520
Speaker 1: destroying Jackson Hayes, which again, like that's gonna be Deandrayton typically,

751
00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:32,560
Speaker 1: it's a tough matchup for Jackson. He's just giving up

752
00:36:32,600 --> 00:36:34,719
Speaker 1: so much weight there. His first shift, he just got

753
00:36:34,719 --> 00:36:38,280
Speaker 1: destroyed before Zubats turned his ankle pretty bad. And then Luca,

754
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,320
Speaker 1: I that might literally be the worst stretch of basketball

755
00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:43,400
Speaker 1: I've ever seen him play in that first in that

756
00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:46,560
Speaker 1: first quarter in particular, just jacking up bad shots and

757
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:50,880
Speaker 1: missing turning the ball over. Playing matador defense. From that

758
00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:53,320
Speaker 1: point forward, though, I was impressed by their fight, especially

759
00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 1: in that second half. Like I thought, Lebron and the

760
00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:58,560
Speaker 1: Lakers bench just put an admirable fight forward, like they

761
00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:01,600
Speaker 1: continue to get good defensever turns out of that LA

762
00:37:01,719 --> 00:37:05,520
Speaker 1: Ravia Vanderbilt Jackson Hayes trio. When you have him alongside Lebron,

763
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:08,440
Speaker 1: they just compete really hard and they stay attached to

764
00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:10,719
Speaker 1: their opponents. And I thought it was by far the

765
00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:14,120
Speaker 1: most explosive Lebron's looked all season, just getting dribble penetration

766
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,320
Speaker 1: whenever he wanted. He generated a ton of good looks

767
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:18,239
Speaker 1: like I actually thought the Lakers could have had a

768
00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:19,920
Speaker 1: decent chance to win that game if they were to

769
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:24,080
Speaker 1: just shot the ball better. They generated fifteen wide open

770
00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:25,880
Speaker 1: catch and shoot threes in that game and made just

771
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:29,640
Speaker 1: two of them. Just a brutally bad shooting performance. But

772
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:32,680
Speaker 1: despite the encouraging fight I saw from the depleted Lakers

773
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:35,160
Speaker 1: in that second half, I actually find myself getting lower

774
00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:38,920
Speaker 1: and lower on them as the weeks go by. Luca

775
00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:41,279
Speaker 1: hasn't been playing at a top five level for like

776
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:44,319
Speaker 1: about a month now. He's putting up massive numbers because

777
00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:46,680
Speaker 1: of his high usage rate. He's at thirty seven percent usage,

778
00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:49,720
Speaker 1: which is the highest usage rate in the entire NBA,

779
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,200
Speaker 1: but his efficiency has sorely lacked behind his peers at

780
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:56,120
Speaker 1: the top of the league. He simply misses more shots

781
00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:59,080
Speaker 1: and turns the ball over far more than any of

782
00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:00,799
Speaker 1: those dudes at the top of the league do Shay

783
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:04,400
Speaker 1: Giannis Oriokic, Andy's the weakest defender in that group. So,

784
00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:07,239
Speaker 1: to put it very simply, the Lakers need Luca to

785
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,359
Speaker 1: be much much better or they're not winning anything this year.

786
00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:13,160
Speaker 1: And the team is really starting to fall apart physically.

787
00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:16,439
Speaker 1: Austin's hurt, Ruey's hurt, Luca left the last game, hurt,

788
00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:18,840
Speaker 1: Gabe is hurt, and they're about to head into a

789
00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:21,279
Speaker 1: brutal stretch of their schedule as they have Phoenix and

790
00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:24,560
Speaker 1: Houston this week. To me, they feel like the sixth

791
00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:26,879
Speaker 1: best team in the West right now. Like I think

792
00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:31,040
Speaker 1: Minnesota looks better, San Antonio looks better, Houston looks better,

793
00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:34,920
Speaker 1: Denver looks better, Oklahoma City looks better. Like I'm not

794
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:36,960
Speaker 1: saying that's the end of the story, Like the Lakers

795
00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:39,640
Speaker 1: have a lot of potential to improve between now and then,

796
00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:41,759
Speaker 1: and they could certainly make a trade to kind of

797
00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:44,719
Speaker 1: anchor things and be better. But like at a stat

798
00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:47,680
Speaker 1: top six in the Western Conference, they feel like the

799
00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:49,680
Speaker 1: sixth best team to me right now, and a big

800
00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:52,440
Speaker 1: part of that is, you know, Luca has not been

801
00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,480
Speaker 1: able to reach the level of the top tier superstars

802
00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:57,000
Speaker 1: in the league for a solid month now. They don't

803
00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:00,120
Speaker 1: look very athletic. They look really bad on defense. It

804
00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,800
Speaker 1: just isn't looking good for me in Lakerland. I'm hoping

805
00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:06,279
Speaker 1: because I root for this team. I'm hoping that I'm

806
00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:08,640
Speaker 1: just being overly pessimistic. But we'll see how things go

807
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:10,920
Speaker 1: over the course of the next few weeks. Number six

808
00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:12,960
Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets currently plus seven hundred to win the

809
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,239
Speaker 1: title on hard Rock Bet. The loss to Houston doesn't

810
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:17,960
Speaker 1: concern me much. It's really hard to beat a team

811
00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:21,680
Speaker 1: three times in a row, let alone a legit championship contender,

812
00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:23,800
Speaker 1: so it is what it is. They had a miserable

813
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:26,600
Speaker 1: shooting night too. They're down just so much of their athleticism.

814
00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:29,640
Speaker 1: Peyton Watson ended up getting like a contusion, so him,

815
00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:32,160
Speaker 1: Christian Brown, and Aaron Gordon are all out. They had

816
00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:34,080
Speaker 1: won six games in a row before that game, which

817
00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:37,239
Speaker 1: is super impressive. And then another significant bright spot once

818
00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,560
Speaker 1: again going plus six in that Rockets game without Jokic

819
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:43,760
Speaker 1: despite a crazy hot shooting performance from Reed Shepherd against

820
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,080
Speaker 1: Jonas found Schottis and drop Coverage. They are now up

821
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:48,080
Speaker 1: continuing to tick up. They're up to negative three and

822
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,919
Speaker 1: a half points negive three point five per one hundred

823
00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:53,040
Speaker 1: possessions per cleaning the glass with Jokic off the floor.

824
00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:55,200
Speaker 1: That's considerably better than it was to start the season,

825
00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:58,240
Speaker 1: and way way way better than it was in previous seasons.

826
00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:01,000
Speaker 1: They're even having success with these groups that have Jokic

827
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:05,200
Speaker 1: and Murray off geared around defense. Most recently A Picket Brown,

828
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:09,440
Speaker 1: Tim Hardaway, Cam Johnson, and Yonas found tunis look just

829
00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:12,000
Speaker 1: getting some really high level defense and shooting from Jalen Pickett,

830
00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:15,719
Speaker 1: and then all those guys competing defensively Yonas giving them

831
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:18,719
Speaker 1: an offensive fulcrum to play around. Those groups are plus

832
00:40:18,800 --> 00:40:20,920
Speaker 1: two and a half points per one hundred possessions this season.

833
00:40:21,320 --> 00:40:24,120
Speaker 1: All the groups that have that have Jokic and Jamal

834
00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:27,719
Speaker 1: Murray off the court. Number five Minnesota Timberwolves plus three

835
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:29,600
Speaker 1: thousand to win the title. According to hard Rock Bet.

836
00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:30,719
Speaker 1: We hit them early in the show, so I'm not

837
00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:32,680
Speaker 1: going to stay here long. They're nine to two in

838
00:40:32,719 --> 00:40:35,840
Speaker 1: their last eleven games. Got a signature win against the Thunder,

839
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:39,200
Speaker 1: a team that I'm seriously considering moving into my top

840
00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:41,719
Speaker 1: tier contenders list. Next week we have Sam Vasini coming

841
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,320
Speaker 1: on the show, and we're going to dig into those contenders.

842
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:46,839
Speaker 1: We'll dive further into that concept when we get there.

843
00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:50,359
Speaker 1: Number four, the San Antonio Spurs, currently plus twenty five

844
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:52,839
Speaker 1: hundred to win the title on hard Rock Bet. Had

845
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:55,600
Speaker 1: a relatively light schedule last week after a brutal stretch

846
00:40:55,600 --> 00:41:00,440
Speaker 1: like they just ran a Nuggets, Wolves, Magic, Calves, Lakers, Thunder, Nicks,

847
00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:02,600
Speaker 1: so like they were do a break. We got a

848
00:41:02,600 --> 00:41:05,480
Speaker 1: couple of games against Washington last week. They won those games,

849
00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:07,440
Speaker 1: and then they had a dominant defensive performance on the

850
00:41:07,480 --> 00:41:09,520
Speaker 1: road in Atlanta where they just completely shut them down

851
00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:11,960
Speaker 1: in the first half to take a twenty four point lead.

852
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:14,320
Speaker 1: They have a playoff style home and home with the

853
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:16,799
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City Thunder this week on Tuesday and Thursday, though

854
00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:19,359
Speaker 1: a potential second round preview that I'm super excited for.

855
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:21,479
Speaker 1: Those are going to be really fun games. Looking forward

856
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:23,920
Speaker 1: to diving into those ones with you guys when we

857
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:27,760
Speaker 1: get to Friday. Number three the New York Knicks currently

858
00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:30,080
Speaker 1: plus thirteen hundred to win the title on hard Rock Bet.

859
00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:31,200
Speaker 1: We hit them early in the show, so I'm not

860
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:33,320
Speaker 1: going to stay here long, but they're just better across

861
00:41:33,360 --> 00:41:36,240
Speaker 1: the board. Josh hart og And and Obi and McHale. Bridges

862
00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:38,120
Speaker 1: are all better on both ends of the floor than

863
00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:40,839
Speaker 1: they were last year. Brunson is taking an apparent leap

864
00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:43,440
Speaker 1: into superstardom. This looks like a Knicks team on a

865
00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:47,080
Speaker 1: mission to go to the finals. Number two. The Detroit Pistons,

866
00:41:47,080 --> 00:41:49,080
Speaker 1: currently plus two thousand to win the title on hard

867
00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:52,040
Speaker 1: rock Bet, lost a tough game in Dallas for Cooper

868
00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:54,440
Speaker 1: Flagg just torched them with drives over and over again,

869
00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:57,279
Speaker 1: either making shots at the rim or engaging Jalen Duran there,

870
00:41:57,280 --> 00:41:59,359
Speaker 1: which opened up a lane for Anthony Davis to fill

871
00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:02,440
Speaker 1: in behind for put backs. We saw Kid get targeted

872
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:04,600
Speaker 1: a little bit in that game and guard guard screens.

873
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:07,040
Speaker 1: The Pistons kind of struggled with their heads and recovery.

874
00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:09,520
Speaker 1: Look they had a botched hedge that led to another drive.

875
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:12,759
Speaker 1: They tried switching, and Cooper was just getting downhill on

876
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:14,440
Speaker 1: Kids like something to keep an eye on there. We

877
00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:16,960
Speaker 1: saw Kaide get targeted a little bit. Overall a solid

878
00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:19,440
Speaker 1: week though. They beat the Celtics behind a brilliant crutch

879
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:23,399
Speaker 1: time performance from Kid and some stifling perimeter defense. They

880
00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:26,520
Speaker 1: just bring these waves of elite perimeter defenders that can

881
00:42:26,560 --> 00:42:28,560
Speaker 1: really wear you down. They just beat the absolute crap

882
00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:31,240
Speaker 1: out of the Hornets the other night. I'm just loving

883
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:33,440
Speaker 1: how physically imposing this team is at every level, and

884
00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:36,319
Speaker 1: I think they're a trade away from being a substantial

885
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:38,279
Speaker 1: favorite in the Eastern Conference if they can pull off

886
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:42,600
Speaker 1: that big upgrade at the power forward spot. Number one

887
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:45,440
Speaker 1: the Oklahoma City Thunder currently even Odd's plus one hundred

888
00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:47,560
Speaker 1: to win the title on hard rock Bet. Finally, a

889
00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:50,000
Speaker 1: little adversity for the Thunder. They lost two of their

890
00:42:50,080 --> 00:42:53,520
Speaker 1: last three games. Three of their old demons popped up

891
00:42:53,600 --> 00:42:56,040
Speaker 1: in these losses. Turnovers they had twenty seven of them,

892
00:42:56,040 --> 00:42:58,640
Speaker 1: and the two losses, Shay's turnovers have ticked up considerably

893
00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:01,800
Speaker 1: since he started playing tougher competition. Missing threes they're just

894
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:04,400
Speaker 1: twenty six percent from three in those two losses. And

895
00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:07,360
Speaker 1: then offensive rebounds. They allowed the Spurs and the Timberwolves

896
00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:10,200
Speaker 1: to grab thirty five percent of their own misses in

897
00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:13,799
Speaker 1: those two games. No, this guy isn't falling, but it's

898
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:15,680
Speaker 1: just a nice little wake up call for a Thunder team,

899
00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:17,840
Speaker 1: and it's a reminder that winning a championship in the

900
00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:20,439
Speaker 1: NBA is never easy, no matter how talented you are.

901
00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:22,920
Speaker 1: It's gonna take a lot of work, and they have

902
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:25,360
Speaker 1: another chance this week to send a message with a

903
00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:28,120
Speaker 1: home and home against the San Antonio Spurs again. We'll

904
00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:31,000
Speaker 1: be covering those games on Friday. All right, guys, It's

905
00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:32,840
Speaker 1: all I have for today is always sincerely appreciate you

906
00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:34,680
Speaker 1: guys for supporting us and supporting the show. We'll be

907
00:43:34,719 --> 00:43:36,960
Speaker 1: back tomorrow morning with a mailbag, and then on Friday

908
00:43:37,000 --> 00:43:39,440
Speaker 1: for Christmas Day reaction. I will see you guys then