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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, Well, good to Hoops Tonight. Here

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Speaker 1: at the volume heavy Wednesday, everybody. Hope all you guys

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Speaker 1: are having a great week. We are hitting two players today.

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Speaker 1: I had originally thought about going three and then two

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Speaker 1: and one, but since two and three are going to

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Speaker 1: be by far the biggest debate out of that trio,

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Speaker 1: I figured what we do and I also want to

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Speaker 1: get to some of our mail bag questions. So what

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna do is I'm gonna do three and two

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Speaker 1: today and we'll specifically dive into the debate between those

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Speaker 1: two off the top, and then in our number one

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Speaker 1: video with Nicola Jokic on Friday, we'll hit some of

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Speaker 1: your guys's mail bag questions at the tail end. There,

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Speaker 1: you guys owe the joke before we get started. Subscribed

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Speaker 1: to Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any more

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Speaker 1: of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore j

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Speaker 1: con Ltis, you guys, don't miss you announcements. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: about a podcast fee wherever we get your podcast under

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Speaker 1: Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave a

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Speaker 1: rating in a review on that front. Jackson's doing incredible

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Speaker 1: work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook,

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Speaker 1: and TikTok. Make sure you guys follow us there. In

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Speaker 1: last but not least, keep dropping those mailbag questions in

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Speaker 1: the YouTube comments and we'll get to them in our

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Speaker 1: Friday mail bags throughout the remainder of the summer. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So I have shay Giljes Alexander

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Speaker 1: at number three and Luka Doncic at number two. This

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Speaker 1: is I'm certain the player ranking that I will catch

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Speaker 1: the most shit for in this year's list, just because

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Speaker 1: of what happened last season. But it's very important that

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Speaker 1: we remember the parameters for this list. Three years ago,

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Speaker 1: this list used to be more of a reflection of

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Speaker 1: what happened in the previous season. But for the last

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Speaker 1: two years, the criteria of this list has simply been

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Speaker 1: who do I think will be the best player to

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Speaker 1: lead your team from this coming October all the way

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Speaker 1: through this coming June and under those criteria. Under that criteria,

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Speaker 1: I should say I have look at two an SGA

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Speaker 1: at three. Before we even get started. I'm sure there

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Speaker 1: will be plenty of people will say Jason roots for

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Speaker 1: the Lakers. That's why he has Luke at number two.

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Speaker 1: But I had Luke at number two last year, long

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Speaker 1: before any of us had any idea that he would

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Speaker 1: be a Laker. So let's get into the Luca SGA

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Speaker 1: debate right off the top, and then we'll divide into

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Speaker 1: the specifics of where each guy is as a basketball player.

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Speaker 1: Right now, Again, two things are true. One, SGA definitely

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Speaker 1: had a way better season than Luca did last year.

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Speaker 1: I would even take it so far as to say

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Speaker 1: Luca was more like a second tier superstar last year

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Speaker 1: with his injury issues in the substantial declines he experienced

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Speaker 1: in some key areas because he was a particularly fat

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Speaker 1: version of himself, right, and that coincided with SGA winning

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Speaker 1: MVP and Finals MVP. So like, if that's what you're arguing,

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Speaker 1: that Shay was a better player than Luca last year,

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Speaker 1: I would just simply agree with you. There'd be no

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Speaker 1: more reason for us to argue. But the second truth

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Speaker 1: here is the set of parameters I set up at

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Speaker 1: the very beginning of this list. I've been very clear

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Speaker 1: that this list is designed to reflect who I will believe,

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Speaker 1: who I believe will be the best player in this

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Speaker 1: coming season, and irrespective of surrounding circumstances, Shay did an

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Speaker 1: admirable super bar an admirable superstar job leading that Oklahoma

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Speaker 1: City team last year, right and he hoisted two trophies

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Speaker 1: for his efforts. I'll be very clear right off the

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Speaker 1: top here, I believe that if you took Luka Doncicz

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Speaker 1: right now, the Luca that we're watching play in EuroBasket,

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Speaker 1: and you picked him up and you dropped him on

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Speaker 1: last year's Oklahoma City team, I think he wins MVP,

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Speaker 1: and I think he wins finals MVP. So for the

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Speaker 1: purposes of this debate, I want to focus on each

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Speaker 1: basketball player completely in a vacuum. That is the purpose

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Speaker 1: of this list. It is not who's playing on the

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Speaker 1: best team right now. It's not who accomplished the most

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Speaker 1: in a team context last season. I'm looking at shake

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Speaker 1: Yields Alexander in a vacuum as a basketball player, versus

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Speaker 1: Luka Doncic in a vacuum as a basketball player looking forward,

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Speaker 1: not looking backwards. The specific argument I am making is

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Speaker 1: that if we set up those circumstances, if we put

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Speaker 1: Luka Doncic on the best roster in the league, the Thunder,

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Speaker 1: I think they would have won more easily. I think

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Speaker 1: they would have avoided the massive offensive goals that they

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Speaker 1: dealt with in their playoff run. I think they would

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Speaker 1: have gotten rid of Denver in Indiana more quickly than

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Speaker 1: they did under Shay because I believe that Luca is

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Speaker 1: a better basketball player than Shay. The question is why now.

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Speaker 1: The first basketball argument in favor of SGA, and the

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Speaker 1: argument that many folks will make, is that, well, Sja's

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Speaker 1: the best scorer in the league right now, right and

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Speaker 1: he very much was. Last season. He averaged thirty three

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Speaker 1: points per game sixty four percent true shooting. He had

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Speaker 1: forty nine thirty point games, he had thirteen forty point games,

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Speaker 1: and he had three fifty point games. The problem with

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Speaker 1: making this case is that Luka Dancits, just one season prior,

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Speaker 1: had an even more impressive scoring season. He played seventy

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Speaker 1: games in twenty twenty four. He averaged thirty four points

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Speaker 1: per game on sixty two percent true shooting. He had

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Speaker 1: fifty thirty point games, he had thirteen forty point games,

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Speaker 1: he had two fifty point games, and he had a

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Speaker 1: seventy three point game. Even when we get down into

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Speaker 1: the nitty gritty, like we talk about reliable short range scoring.

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Speaker 1: It's a piece of scoring that I always talk that's

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Speaker 1: the most important part of crunch time scoring, like being

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Speaker 1: able to score at the end of games, being able

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Speaker 1: to get close to the basket for a shot you

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Speaker 1: can make more than half the time. In that twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty four season, Luca made one hundred and eighty nine

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Speaker 1: floaters in short jump shots inside of seventeen feet at

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Speaker 1: fifty one point four percent. He is every bit the

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Speaker 1: short range scorer that Sga is, and the reason why

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Speaker 1: Luca was actually able to hit higher scoring totals like

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Speaker 1: the seventy three point game that he did is Luca

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Speaker 1: is a guy that brings more high volume three point

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Speaker 1: shooting to the table. So in short, yes, Shay had

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Speaker 1: a fantastic scoring season last year, and within the confines

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Speaker 1: of just that season, he was way better than Luca,

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Speaker 1: especially as a scorer. But I view Luka Doncic heading

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Speaker 1: into this coming season as every bit the scoring talent

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Speaker 1: that Shay Geldess Alexander is, if not a little bit

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Speaker 1: better as he demonstrated just one year prior. Now. One

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Speaker 1: final note here, that does not mean that he'll put

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Speaker 1: up higher points per game in an average This year

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Speaker 1: than SGA. That is something that depends on the role

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Speaker 1: that you're in, and these guys are both in very

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Speaker 1: different roles. SGA is playing on a team that doesn't

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Speaker 1: have a ton of ball handling and really only has

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Speaker 1: one other player that's going to take high volume usage

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Speaker 1: in the form of Jada. Right Luka Doncic is now

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Speaker 1: going to play with Lebron James and Austin Reeves for

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Speaker 1: an entire season. Similar to Shay, He's got a guy

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Speaker 1: who's going to put up pretty good sized scoring numbers

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Speaker 1: at the center position, and DeAndre Ayton as well. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: there's a chance that the points per game average might

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Speaker 1: be slightly lower than Luca or excuse me for Luca

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Speaker 1: than SGA this season because of their team circumstances. But

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Speaker 1: going into this season healthy in shape, Luca, I view

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Speaker 1: him as much closer to the twenty twenty four version,

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Speaker 1: if not better, because he'll be older and more skilled

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Speaker 1: as time and his experience continues to add up. I

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Speaker 1: don't look at there as being a scoring gap between

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Speaker 1: Shay and Luca coming into this season. I am saying

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Speaker 1: that if Luca and SGA each played in the same

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Speaker 1: role in this upcoming season, I think their production would

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Speaker 1: be about the same. I think they'd both average somewhere

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Speaker 1: between thirty two and thirty four points per game on

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Speaker 1: somewhere between sixty two and sixty four percent true shooting.

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Speaker 1: So no, I don't view scoring as an advantage for

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Speaker 1: Shaye in this debate at all. I view it as

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Speaker 1: a dead heat, and that takes us to the playmaking

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Speaker 1: and advantage creation piece, something that I view as a

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Speaker 1: massive advantage towards Luca in this debate, and it's the

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Speaker 1: thing that I think makes Luca a much better offensive

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Speaker 1: player overall, and it's the main reason why I say

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Speaker 1: a healthy Luca is a better player than Sga and

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Speaker 1: would have done better in that role that Shae had

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Speaker 1: with Oklahoma City last year. I'm gonna start with a

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Speaker 1: very basic stat. Sga has twenty one games in his

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Speaker 1: entire career including the playoffs, or he logged at least

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Speaker 1: ten assists in a single game. Luca's done it one

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Speaker 1: hundred and sixty eight times. One hundred and sixty eight.

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Speaker 1: It's pretty clean math. Actually that's eight times as many.

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Speaker 1: So for every one time that Shay has put up

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Speaker 1: tennisists in an NBA game, including the playoffs, Luca's done

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Speaker 1: it eight times. He's in an entirely different class as

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Speaker 1: a playmaker and advantage creator than SGA. Thunder fans actually

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Speaker 1: experienced this directly in twenty twenty four. Still to this day,

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Speaker 1: I hear Thunder fans complain about PJ Washington knocking down shots.

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Speaker 1: Thunder players have even vented in press conferences about PJ

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Speaker 1: Washington killing them in that series. It actually kind of

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Speaker 1: reminds me of the Andre Guidala situation in twenty fifteen.

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Speaker 1: Everyone was so confused by what was happening that Andre

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Speaker 1: Gudala literally won a finals MVP he had no business winning.

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Speaker 1: The reality was Steph's advantage creation was spoon feeding Andre

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Speaker 1: Gudala fantastic opportunities. That's what happened with PJ Washington against

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Speaker 1: the Thunder in twenty twenty four. You Thunder fans will

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Speaker 1: clearly remember and probably have some PTSD about PJ Washington

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Speaker 1: hitting twenty three threes in that six game series, almost

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Speaker 1: four per game. I went back and watched every single

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Speaker 1: one of them this morning. Of those twenty three made

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Speaker 1: threes by PJ, fourteen of them were either directly assisted

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Speaker 1: by Luka doncic Or came off of an extra pass

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Speaker 1: after Luca generated some crazy advantage for someone else that

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Speaker 1: got PJ Washington a good look. It was the same

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Speaker 1: thing over and over again, Luca driving at ISO or

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Speaker 1: post ups and drawing double teams, kicking the PJ, Luca

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Speaker 1: beating low man help and pick and roll by hitting

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Speaker 1: the corner, hitting PJ wide open, you know, hitting that

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Speaker 1: first advantage in that extra pass to PJ. Just routinely

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Speaker 1: setting up PJ with fantastic looks that went in because

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Speaker 1: Luca is the sort of relentless playmaker that will make

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Speaker 1: you pay every single time when you leave someone open.

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Speaker 1: And by the way, thunderfans, guess who the guy was

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Speaker 1: that was guarding PJ Washington for most of that series,

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Speaker 1: The guy that Luca kept burning every time he turned

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Speaker 1: his head or lost focus or threw an aimless double team.

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Speaker 1: It was shake Yodas Alexander. Luca literally fried Shay and

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Speaker 1: Help over and over and over again. This is the

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Speaker 1: foundational case for why I have Luca above SGA going

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Speaker 1: into this season. I think Luca is every bit as

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Speaker 1: good as Shay as a score, and I think he's

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Speaker 1: just miles and miles ahead of him as a playmaker

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Speaker 1: and offensive engine. Flatley, I just think Luca is a

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Speaker 1: better offensive player than Shay. So the natural continuation of

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Speaker 1: this line of thinking would be, well, Jason, if Luca

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Speaker 1: is clearly better on offense, why is this even a

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Speaker 1: debate and why isn't Luca on a separate tier? And

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Speaker 1: this is where we have to talk about defense. I

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Speaker 1: don't think Shae is some elite defensive player. We just

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Speaker 1: talked about Luca torching his lack of offtball focus in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. Luca has some similar issues with offtball

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Speaker 1: focus at time. I actually view both of them as

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Speaker 1: guys who are smart enough and big enough or long

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Speaker 1: enough to lock in and play useful defense off the

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Speaker 1: ball and to be a functioning part of a great defense.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we literally saw that Dallas was a great defense.

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma City was a great defense. They were able to

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Speaker 1: fill roles there. They're both actually really good defensive playmakers.

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Speaker 1: They're great at playing passing lanes, using their IQ to

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Speaker 1: kind of suss out what the offense is doing and

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Speaker 1: get in front of it and blow plays up. Luca

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Speaker 1: averaged one point eight steals per game last year. That's

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Speaker 1: a super high number. Shay averaged one point seven steals

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Speaker 1: per game last year. That's a super high number. Shay

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Speaker 1: also gets a lot of blocks around the rim compared

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Speaker 1: to most guards because of his length and his ability

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Speaker 1: to kind of read plays and make plays there where

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Speaker 1: Sga makes up a lot of ground here and where

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Speaker 1: he closes the gap with Luca and makes this more

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Speaker 1: of a debate. Is more situational defensively, I find Luca

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Speaker 1: to be much more susceptible to switch attacking than Shay is.

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Speaker 1: Both players are susceptible, like Shae can get targeted by

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Speaker 1: bigger players on like ducans or post ups on the

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Speaker 1: offensive glass shake and have some issues there too because

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Speaker 1: he's just not particularly big. But Luca is incredibly susceptible

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Speaker 1: to quick athletes on the perimeter that can beat him

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Speaker 1: off the dribble, and it played a major role in

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Speaker 1: each of his last two playoff series exits against Boston

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Speaker 1: and Minnesota. I think that makes Sga clearly a better

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Speaker 1: defensive player than Luca is, and that closes the gap

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Speaker 1: to a certain extent. And we'll talk about this in

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Speaker 1: the Lucas specific segment. But I'm curious as to how

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Speaker 1: much his improved conditioning and his new body that he's

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Speaker 1: building will help him be better on the ball. But

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Speaker 1: we'll talk about that when we get to Luca later.

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Speaker 1: But in short, I put Luca at number two for

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Speaker 1: the same reason I put him at number two last year.

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Speaker 1: I think him and Jokic are the two best offensive

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Speaker 1: engines in the sport. They are the only two guys

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Speaker 1: that can bring transcendently great scoring and transcendently great playmaking

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Speaker 1: and an advantage creation to the table. They're the only

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Speaker 1: two in the entire league that can say that. And again,

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Speaker 1: Luca's situational defensive limitations keep guys like Shae and Giannis

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Speaker 1: close and in the same tier as him. But I'm

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Speaker 1: a huge believer in Luca as one of the very

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Speaker 1: best offensive players in the game today, and it was

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Speaker 1: pretty easy as a decision for me to put him

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Speaker 1: ahead of Sga in that number two spot. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's look at each of these two players individually for

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Speaker 1: in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia.

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Speaker 1: Number three Shay Gildas Alexander. This last season in review,

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Speaker 1: he played in seventy six games, thirty three points, five

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Speaker 1: rebounds and six assists per game, fifty two percent from

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Speaker 1: the field, thirty eight percent from three to ninety percent

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Speaker 1: from the line that amounted to sixty four percent, and

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Speaker 1: true shooting two point seven stocks per game. We talked

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Speaker 1: about this in the last segment, but Shay is a

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Speaker 1: very good defensive playmaker. He's got high IQ, he's got

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Speaker 1: long arms. He can do a lot of damage in

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Speaker 1: passing lanes and in help side situations at the rim

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Speaker 1: as a defensive player. This was an award heavy season

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Speaker 1: for him. It was the rare regular season MVP and

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Speaker 1: finals MVP for Shay first team All NBA selection and

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Speaker 1: made the All Star Team. His playtype data, Shay was

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Speaker 1: extremely productive last year, fueled by his incredible scoring ability.

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Speaker 1: His numbers passing out of pick and roll in ice

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Speaker 1: own post up situations were fine, but that's not really

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Speaker 1: his game. He didn't put up elite playmaking numbers out

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Speaker 1: of action. His shooting numbers out of those situations were

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00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,359
Speaker 1: transcendently great. He was the only player in the league

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Speaker 1: last year to shoot out of pick and roll at

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Speaker 1: least five hundred times and to make more than half

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Speaker 1: of those shots. He was at fifty one percent, and

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Speaker 1: he in the second place guy on that list Darius

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Speaker 1: Garland again minimum five hundred reps forty seven percent, so

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Speaker 1: four percent better than the rest of the pack. In

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Speaker 1: high volume pick and roll shooting, he was thirty five

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Speaker 1: percent on pull up threes, which is good enough that's

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Speaker 1: one point zero five points per shot. But he shot

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Speaker 1: fifty six percent on twos out of pick and roll,

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Speaker 1: fueled by deadly midrange shooting and a floater that he

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Speaker 1: hits about forty nine percent of the time. He shot

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Speaker 1: the best percentage on twos out of ball screens in

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Speaker 1: the league by a wide margin. He was two point

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Speaker 1: five percent better than the second place guy on that list,

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Speaker 1: Damian Lillard. The data in his one on ones was

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Speaker 1: every bit as impressive. He got one point one points

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Speaker 1: per possession shooting out of ISO. That was second place

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Speaker 1: behind Kevin Durant out of the twenty two players who

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Speaker 1: logged at least two hundred shot attempts out ISO. He

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Speaker 1: got one point zero eight points per possession out of

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Speaker 1: the post as a shooter, hitting fifty four percent of

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Speaker 1: his shots there on eighty eight reps. That was seventh

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Speaker 1: out of the thirty seven players to log at least

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Speaker 1: seventy five shot attempts out of the post. He's just

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Speaker 1: deadly as a score. I find Shase's success as a

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Speaker 1: score to be incredibly fascinating from like a basketball technique

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Speaker 1: and skill development perspective, It all starts with the threat

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Speaker 1: of the drive. Shaye doesn't have an insanely quick first step,

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Speaker 1: but he does have a quick first step, and he's

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Speaker 1: got really long strides, so once he actually gets an

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Speaker 1: angle and hits the gas, he can get past you

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00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:29,840
Speaker 1: quick and he's a master of change of pace. He

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Speaker 1: lulls you to sleep with relaxed dribbles before exploding forward.

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Speaker 1: And you can't like play one side of him because

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Speaker 1: he's got really good balance driving right and left. As

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Speaker 1: a matter of fact, according to Synergy, he drove left

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Speaker 1: just twenty one more times all season than he did

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Speaker 1: going right. And then lastly, he's one of the very

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Speaker 1: best players in the league at chaining together counter moves.

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Speaker 1: This is something we've talked about a lot on the show.

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Speaker 1: He can dribble through contact really well. If you managed

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Speaker 1: to beat him to the spot once or twice, he'll

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Speaker 1: just smoothly transition into another forward attacking move. Whether it's

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Speaker 1: on a scissor dribble or behind the back dribble, He's

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Speaker 1: just gonna keep going at you even if you beat

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Speaker 1: him to the spot once or twice. This allowed Shay

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Speaker 1: to generate a crazy amount of dribble penetration. According to

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Speaker 1: NBA dot Com, Shae logged fifteen hundred and sixty seven

357
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Speaker 1: drives last season. That's by far the most in the league.

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Speaker 1: Second place on the list was Trey Young with thirteen

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00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,280
Speaker 1: hundred and two, so one hundred and sixty five more

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Speaker 1: drives than anyone else in the entire MBA. And then

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Speaker 1: he finishes extremely well at the rim in traffic, on

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Speaker 1: insane volume and on pretty high difficulty considering some of

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Speaker 1: the spacing issues the Thunder had at times. Shay shot

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00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:46,560
Speaker 1: sixty percent on layups, not dunks, layups. Once again, for

365
00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,560
Speaker 1: a guard, and at that volume and degree of difficulty,

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00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:54,840
Speaker 1: that's a super impressive number. That's the foundational piece his

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Speaker 1: ability to get to the basket. From there, Shay had

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00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:04,160
Speaker 1: two very useful counters to his dribble penetration, deadly short

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Speaker 1: range shot making and the ability to grift his way

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Speaker 1: to the line. Let's start with the short range shot making.

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Speaker 1: Shay shot fifty four percent on twos inside of seventeen

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Speaker 1: feet jump shots inside of seventeen feet last year, I mean,

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Speaker 1: two hundred and sixteen of them, which was the most

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Speaker 1: in the league by a pretty wide margin, and only

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00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:25,040
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant and Bradley bual a Bial had a higher

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Speaker 1: percentage on those short twos on a minimum of one

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Speaker 1: hundred attempts. And again, as I always talk about, there's

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Speaker 1: a ton of value in short range scoring because of

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Speaker 1: the way it translates in physicality to the playoffs and

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Speaker 1: in clutch situations. A lot of times those deeper jump

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Speaker 1: shots that are less likely to go in when everyone's tired,

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00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,440
Speaker 1: the whistles being swallowed, things are super physical. You need

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Speaker 1: something closer to the basket to be reliable in those situations, right.

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Speaker 1: And what's interesting is if you look at Shay's efficiency

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Speaker 1: numbers last year in the postseason, he experienced some substantial

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Speaker 1: drop offs in Kiev areas, like his rim finishing dropped

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00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:05,520
Speaker 1: by six percent overall according to Synergy, his three point

388
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:10,400
Speaker 1: shooting dropped by nine percent, his overall true shooting percentage

389
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:15,159
Speaker 1: dropped by seven percent relative to the regular season. But

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Speaker 1: he was able to avoid the precipitous dropoffs that guys

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00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,679
Speaker 1: like James Harden have experienced in the past, especially in

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00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,720
Speaker 1: like big late series moments, because Shay had a part

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00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:30,119
Speaker 1: of his game that he was able to stabilize, and

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00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:34,160
Speaker 1: he was that short range scoring piece. He hit fifty

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Speaker 1: one point four percent of his two point jump shots

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Speaker 1: inside of seventeen feet. This is a big part of

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Speaker 1: how he was able to maintain his status as a

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00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,960
Speaker 1: reliable playoff score night to night as he went through

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Speaker 1: those four rounds, even if he wasn't quite as good

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Speaker 1: as he was in the regular season, and it showed

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00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:57,359
Speaker 1: up in the in clutch. In particular, Shay was the

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Speaker 1: only player in the playoff field last year to make

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Speaker 1: at least ten clutch shots on at least fifty percent shooting.

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00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 1: Is fourteen for twenty eight to be exact. But what's

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Speaker 1: really fascinating to me is if you actually look back

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00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:12,560
Speaker 1: at every pivotal shot, you can say what you want

407
00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:15,359
Speaker 1: about the Thunder. I'd argue they made it like it

408
00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,359
Speaker 1: was more difficult than it should have been for them

409
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Speaker 1: through that postseason run. Of the stuff that I talked

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Speaker 1: about all season, their youth, their inexperience, their inconsistencies on

411
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Speaker 1: offense fueled by their youth. It manifested in those longer

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Speaker 1: series against Denver in Indiana. But two Cha's credit, what

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00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:37,560
Speaker 1: iced those series is short range shot making. Obviously in

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Speaker 1: the Memphis series in Game four is a deeper two,

415
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:42,520
Speaker 1: but he hits a two. That ice is that series.

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Speaker 1: Look at Denver Game five, late in the game tied,

417
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:52,000
Speaker 1: gets Jamal Murray on a switch hits a little fifteen

418
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:53,760
Speaker 1: footer for an and one over the top is the

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Speaker 1: lead changing shot in that game. Game four the NBA

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Speaker 1: Finals literally one of the most pivotal shots in the

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00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,480
Speaker 1: entire playoff runt, Indiana has a one point lead. He

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Speaker 1: hits a short step back jump shot along the left

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00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:09,439
Speaker 1: baseline after pushing off Aaron Nee Smith. All of the

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Speaker 1: most pivotal moments for Oklahoma City offensively in this playoff

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00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:17,800
Speaker 1: run swung on Shay's ability to get to close range

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Speaker 1: jump shots and to hit them at a high percentage.

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00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,439
Speaker 1: And then the final counter to Shay's driving ability is

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Speaker 1: the ability to get to the foul line. He just

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00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,840
Speaker 1: has every foul drifting trick in the book, the low gather,

430
00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:34,280
Speaker 1: the arm grab, the pump fakes, the weird release angles,

431
00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:36,359
Speaker 1: the flopping, the yelling. He's got it all. And by

432
00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:39,280
Speaker 1: the way, the same exact thing is true about Luca,

433
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,119
Speaker 1: and Luca's every bit is bad. And again, as I

434
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:46,000
Speaker 1: always say, I don't blame the players for this stuff,

435
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:49,159
Speaker 1: I blame the league. If he didn't get rewarded with

436
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,520
Speaker 1: free throws, the other guys wouldn't do it. Shay got

437
00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:54,679
Speaker 1: eight point eight free throw attempts per game last year.

438
00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:57,840
Speaker 1: That was the second most in the NBA behind Yannisntenankombo.

439
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:00,240
Speaker 1: All of that amounted to Shae being the best scorer

440
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:04,320
Speaker 1: in the league last year by good margin. The playmaking

441
00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:06,200
Speaker 1: piece with Shay is all about his frame of mind.

442
00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:10,360
Speaker 1: Shay is wired as his score, and at many points

443
00:25:10,440 --> 00:25:11,960
Speaker 1: during this playoff run, and he hurt his team on

444
00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:14,639
Speaker 1: offense by just coming out guns blazing as a shooter,

445
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:16,639
Speaker 1: kind of overdoing it and taking the rest of his

446
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:19,199
Speaker 1: team out of rhythm. But to his credit, and I

447
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 1: talked about this in the playoff run, every single time

448
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:24,880
Speaker 1: the Thunder ended up in a do or die type

449
00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:27,600
Speaker 1: of game, with exception a Game four of the finals.

450
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:29,080
Speaker 1: The game four of the finals was the one night

451
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,880
Speaker 1: where like, obviously he made a couple of bit plays late,

452
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:33,800
Speaker 1: but I thought he that was the zero assist game.

453
00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:35,600
Speaker 1: I thought he had a really poor job manage it,

454
00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:37,480
Speaker 1: Like his floor game was poor in that game. But

455
00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:42,240
Speaker 1: in every other pivotal game in that playoff run, he

456
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:45,480
Speaker 1: came out and played a really good floor game, properly

457
00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:49,280
Speaker 1: balancing his attacks and advantage creation, taking easy kickout reads

458
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,600
Speaker 1: when they were available, setting the table for his team

459
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:57,080
Speaker 1: to have a successful night on offense. Again, he is

460
00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:01,200
Speaker 1: not a top tier play maker in this league. He's

461
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,720
Speaker 1: never going to be that type of guy, but he

462
00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,439
Speaker 1: was able to figure out the proper balance in the

463
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,480
Speaker 1: big spots the way he needed to. Now, it's just

464
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,440
Speaker 1: for him in the future about fighting his natural tendencies.

465
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:16,840
Speaker 1: I do expect him to get better at that each

466
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:19,040
Speaker 1: passing year. We talked about this after they won the title.

467
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,800
Speaker 1: That was why I viewed Oklahoma City as vulnerable, and

468
00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:23,919
Speaker 1: they proved to be vulnerable as they were pushed to

469
00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:28,800
Speaker 1: seven twice. They're young, they struggle to replicate successes and

470
00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:33,200
Speaker 1: minimize failures. But Shay, with each passing year, I expect

471
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,280
Speaker 1: him to get better at understanding the importance of his

472
00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:38,800
Speaker 1: floor game on a night's night basis. That will be

473
00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:42,199
Speaker 1: a bigger deal as they head into the future of

474
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:47,080
Speaker 1: this franchise. Right like in the coming years, three or

475
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:50,760
Speaker 1: four years from now, and Shay's on his Max, Jdub's

476
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,640
Speaker 1: on his Max chats on his Max, Oklahoma City won't

477
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 1: be able to surround him with as much talent as

478
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,240
Speaker 1: they can right now. They're not going to be able

479
00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:02,119
Speaker 1: to make offseason moves for Alex Crusoe and Isaiah Hartenstein

480
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,199
Speaker 1: the way that they did last summer. The margin for

481
00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:07,120
Speaker 1: error will be much smaller, and that's where Shay's development

482
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:09,320
Speaker 1: is a game manager will become a bigger deal. Than

483
00:27:09,359 --> 00:27:12,600
Speaker 1: it was last year. I should also mention that chet

484
00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:14,520
Speaker 1: and Jadub's development will play role there as well, But

485
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:17,480
Speaker 1: there was a massive difference between Oklahoma City's half court

486
00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:20,440
Speaker 1: offense performance and wins and losses in the playoffs this year.

487
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,080
Speaker 1: They locked an eighty nine point three offensive rating in

488
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:25,399
Speaker 1: the half court in their losses and a one hundred

489
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,639
Speaker 1: point two in their wins. That often was tied to

490
00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:31,960
Speaker 1: the job that Shay was doing kind of managing the

491
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:37,880
Speaker 1: flow of these games. Bottom line, Shay's the top tier

492
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,400
Speaker 1: superstar because he's an absolute S tier score with reliable

493
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,199
Speaker 1: short range shot making that makes him super dependable night

494
00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:48,520
Speaker 1: tonight and in clutch situations, more so than any other

495
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:52,480
Speaker 1: star in the NBA last year. And he's a good

496
00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:56,080
Speaker 1: enough defensive playmaker as well as switch defender to be

497
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:58,480
Speaker 1: an above average defender at his position in the NBA.

498
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,760
Speaker 1: He has his inconsistencies as a game manager and playmaker,

499
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:05,359
Speaker 1: but they're just what separates him from the two guys

500
00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:07,159
Speaker 1: that have above him, and to his credit, he was

501
00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:09,400
Speaker 1: able to come through in those areas in big moments

502
00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,359
Speaker 1: in this year's playoff run. For right now, I have

503
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:20,880
Speaker 1: Shay at number three. All right, number two Luka Doncic.

504
00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:23,840
Speaker 1: Let's start by going over his last season, and then

505
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:25,840
Speaker 1: we'll talk about what Luca is as a basketball player

506
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:27,480
Speaker 1: at this point and what I expect from him this

507
00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:32,439
Speaker 1: coming season. Luca followed up his unbelievable breakout season in

508
00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four with the most embarrassing season of his career.

509
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:39,560
Speaker 1: There's no way to describe it other than to use

510
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,960
Speaker 1: the word embarrassing. Now we can all agree that Nico

511
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 1: Harrison trading Luka Doncic was the dumbest trade in the

512
00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:50,800
Speaker 1: history of sports. But even in that context, it's worth

513
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:54,080
Speaker 1: mentioning that Nico had a reason. It wasn't nearly enough

514
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,200
Speaker 1: of a reason to justify the trade, but the reason

515
00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:02,720
Speaker 1: was there. Luca came into camp, he got hurt, he

516
00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:07,080
Speaker 1: came back fatter, got hurt again, then he got traded,

517
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,520
Speaker 1: came back to the Lakers the fattest I've ever seen him,

518
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:12,920
Speaker 1: and then he got flatly outplayed by Anthony Edwards in

519
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,520
Speaker 1: the first round as Aunt continually came on strong and

520
00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,320
Speaker 1: fourth quarters while Luca looked exhausted at the end of

521
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:21,000
Speaker 1: every game because it wasn't in nearly as good as shape,

522
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:24,080
Speaker 1: and he put together the worst defensive series of his career,

523
00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,920
Speaker 1: somehow eclipsing a pretty rough defensive series in the twenty

524
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:31,240
Speaker 1: twenty four finals. I'm being very blunt here on purpose.

525
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,800
Speaker 1: I obviously hold Luca in very highest team as a

526
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:36,440
Speaker 1: basketball player. He's number two on my list for the

527
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:39,120
Speaker 1: second year in a row. That means I hold him

528
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:42,480
Speaker 1: to a very high standard. And his last season was

529
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:46,080
Speaker 1: an embarrassing step backwards for a player that had had

530
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:48,040
Speaker 1: one of the most impressive starts to a career in

531
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:52,720
Speaker 1: the history of the NBA. It was embarrassing. There's no

532
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:56,200
Speaker 1: way around it. But let's go through the numbers from

533
00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:59,240
Speaker 1: last year first, and then we'll start looking forward. Luca

534
00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:02,160
Speaker 1: played in fifty t total games spanning his time with

535
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:05,000
Speaker 1: the MAVs and the Lakers, twenty eight points, eight rebounds,

536
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,240
Speaker 1: and eight assists, forty five percent from the field, thirty

537
00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,240
Speaker 1: seven percent from the line. Excuse me from three seventy

538
00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:12,120
Speaker 1: eight percent from the line. That amounted to fifty four

539
00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,240
Speaker 1: percent in effective field goal percentage, fifty nine percent true shooting,

540
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:17,920
Speaker 1: two point two stocks per game, fueled by a career

541
00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 1: high one point eight steals per game. As we talked

542
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 1: about in the first segment today, Luca is a good

543
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,320
Speaker 1: defensive playmaker off the ball, and he could play passing

544
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:26,360
Speaker 1: lanes and sniff out actions there and blow them up.

545
00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,520
Speaker 1: So obviously a testament to how amazing Luca is that

546
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:32,840
Speaker 1: twenty eight to eight to eight on fifty nine percent

547
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:37,040
Speaker 1: true shooting is an embarrassing step backwards for him. But literally,

548
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,840
Speaker 1: just one year prior, he played in twenty more games

549
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:45,840
Speaker 1: averaged thirty four to nine to ten on sixty two

550
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:49,680
Speaker 1: percent true shooting. That's what Luca is capable of. That's

551
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:54,040
Speaker 1: the standard. That's closer to what I expect from Luca

552
00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:57,240
Speaker 1: moving forward. Again, like we talked about earlier, maybe not

553
00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 1: the same points per game alongside Lebron Jay and Austin Reeves,

554
00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:07,200
Speaker 1: but that's the standard. Lucas playtype data last year good,

555
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:10,160
Speaker 1: not great by his standards in Dallas one point one

556
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:12,520
Speaker 1: to one points per possession in pick and roll including passes,

557
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:15,840
Speaker 1: that's obviously very good, zero point eight to nine points

558
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:18,480
Speaker 1: possession including passes in one on ones, which is obviously

559
00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,400
Speaker 1: not great. And Los Angeles was a little more balanced

560
00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:23,320
Speaker 1: one point zero eight points per possession and pick and roll.

561
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:24,840
Speaker 1: Not quite as good as he was in Dallas, but

562
00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,720
Speaker 1: still above average one point zero four points per possession

563
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:29,959
Speaker 1: in his one on ones, which was better than Dallas,

564
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:34,040
Speaker 1: but still not great so across the board, last year

565
00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,120
Speaker 1: as a shot creator, just not a great year for

566
00:31:36,200 --> 00:31:40,680
Speaker 1: him by his standards. The strangest thing for Luca last

567
00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:43,160
Speaker 1: year was his dip in short range scoring, which again

568
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,800
Speaker 1: has been one of his biggest strengths as an NBA player,

569
00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:48,680
Speaker 1: and it happened like right when he went to LA.

570
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:51,960
Speaker 1: In Dallas last year, he shot fifty four percent on

571
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:54,840
Speaker 1: jumpers inside his seventeen feet and forty six percent on floaters,

572
00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:57,600
Speaker 1: more in line with what his recent career performance is.

573
00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:01,560
Speaker 1: But in Los Angeles he dropped to just thirty seven

574
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:04,120
Speaker 1: percent on jump shots inside of seventeen feet and just

575
00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:07,280
Speaker 1: thirty six percent on floaters. He's been a little better

576
00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:10,360
Speaker 1: with Slovenia this summer, seven for sixteen on twos inside

577
00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:13,560
Speaker 1: of seventeen feet. That's forty four percent. I think. I

578
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:15,880
Speaker 1: think he's only taken like two floaters. But this is

579
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,200
Speaker 1: the big category I have my eye on heading into

580
00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:21,560
Speaker 1: this coming season. I really want to see Luca get

581
00:32:21,600 --> 00:32:25,040
Speaker 1: back to being that high volume, high efficiency short range

582
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:29,600
Speaker 1: score that he was before joining the Lakers. But let's

583
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,000
Speaker 1: look forward and let's talk about what I expect from

584
00:32:32,080 --> 00:32:37,680
Speaker 1: Luca this coming season. Predictably, the immense criticism that Luca

585
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 1: has received over the last year has motivated him and

586
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:41,719
Speaker 1: to getting into the best shape he's been in at

587
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,680
Speaker 1: this phase in his career. I've seen two very important

588
00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:49,120
Speaker 1: things from Luca so far in EuroBasket. One, he's far

589
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:53,640
Speaker 1: more explosive athletically. His first step is quicker, he's changing

590
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:57,440
Speaker 1: directions more smoothly. I'm seeing explosiveness in transition. I was

591
00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,640
Speaker 1: watching a clip of him in a coast to coast

592
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:02,280
Speaker 1: drive against Israel the other day where he just took

593
00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,080
Speaker 1: the ball, exploded forward in the open court, powered through

594
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:06,920
Speaker 1: a dude with his left shoulder, and finished with his

595
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,880
Speaker 1: right hand at the basket. That's not anything I saw

596
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,080
Speaker 1: out of him last year. He's got side to side

597
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:15,560
Speaker 1: pop on his spins and his euros that wasn't there

598
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 1: last year. He's simply far more athletic than he was

599
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:22,880
Speaker 1: last year. But the second piece of it is that

600
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,520
Speaker 1: he's retained most of his strength. I was worried about

601
00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:30,360
Speaker 1: this when I heard about him losing weight. Strength is

602
00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:32,240
Speaker 1: such a huge part of Luca's game, which we're about

603
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:34,720
Speaker 1: to talk about more in a little bit here. In

604
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:38,640
Speaker 1: just a second, you can tell that through this process

605
00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,520
Speaker 1: he has stayed dedicated in the weight room, and I'm

606
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:44,400
Speaker 1: seeing a lot of power on his drives and on

607
00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:46,560
Speaker 1: his post ups, on his bumps when he's handling ball

608
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,240
Speaker 1: pressure and box outs. I just think Luca looks great physically,

609
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:52,320
Speaker 1: and I think we're going to get the best season

610
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:54,400
Speaker 1: of his career from him this year on both ends

611
00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:57,920
Speaker 1: of the floor. So what does that look like. Luca's

612
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,120
Speaker 1: approached offenses very different than Shay's and that it relies

613
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,280
Speaker 1: heavily on his ability to generate dribble penetration through strength

614
00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:08,759
Speaker 1: rather than speed in finesse. To be clear, Luca has

615
00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:11,480
Speaker 1: excellent fundamentals, as we've discussed often on the show. He

616
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:13,600
Speaker 1: sells his fakes well. I think he's a great ball

617
00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:16,080
Speaker 1: handler for young players to watch because it's all eyes

618
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:19,600
Speaker 1: and like selling every part of his move with every

619
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:22,800
Speaker 1: part of his body before he changes direction. He's very

620
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:26,480
Speaker 1: good at getting that first tiny bit of an angle

621
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:30,720
Speaker 1: on even the elite defenders in the NBA. From there, though,

622
00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:34,920
Speaker 1: that's where the difference is. It's about strength. He gets

623
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:37,480
Speaker 1: you on that shoulder. He gets you on his back,

624
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,040
Speaker 1: and he uses his size and strength to rumble downhill

625
00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:44,520
Speaker 1: to whatever spot he wants on the floor. That's what

626
00:34:44,520 --> 00:34:46,319
Speaker 1: gives him the ability to be so effective in pick

627
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:49,120
Speaker 1: and rolling. In his one on ones in pick and roll,

628
00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:52,400
Speaker 1: he sets his man up for screen, gets him trapped

629
00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:54,960
Speaker 1: on his backside, and slowly works his way downhill. It's

630
00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:56,439
Speaker 1: a big part of why I'm not as worried about

631
00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 1: the screening in the eight and partnership remains to be seen.

632
00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,960
Speaker 1: But Luke is really gifted at getting dribble penetration even

633
00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:06,600
Speaker 1: without necessarily needing a screen because of his strength. But

634
00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:08,680
Speaker 1: once he gets you downhill, he's just waiting for the

635
00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:12,720
Speaker 1: defense to react. Right, big man steps up, low man doesn't.

636
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:14,920
Speaker 1: He's hitting the big either with a bounce pass or

637
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,600
Speaker 1: he's got unbelievable touch on lobs. He's probably the best

638
00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:21,879
Speaker 1: lob thrower in the NBA. Right now, Right lowman steps over,

639
00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,880
Speaker 1: he can whip cross court passes left hand, right hand

640
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:28,759
Speaker 1: to either corner easily. Right, he beats low man help

641
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:32,280
Speaker 1: extremely well. You stay back. He's got the short range shot,

642
00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:34,959
Speaker 1: making the little short jumpers off the bump or little

643
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:38,000
Speaker 1: floaters things along that those lines you die on the screen.

644
00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:40,319
Speaker 1: He can hit the pull up three. He is, in

645
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:44,160
Speaker 1: my opinion, the best pick and roll passer in the NBA.

646
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,440
Speaker 1: I think Jokich is a better overall passer, but strictly

647
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,400
Speaker 1: within on ball pick and roll play. I think Luca's

648
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,839
Speaker 1: passing ability is transcendent. I think he's the best at it.

649
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:57,000
Speaker 1: In post up situations. He's also good. He can eat

650
00:35:57,040 --> 00:35:59,359
Speaker 1: up double teams. I saw a lot of examples of that,

651
00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:03,000
Speaker 1: generating those threes for PJ. Washington in the Oklahoma City

652
00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:06,120
Speaker 1: series last year. He can look defenders off with his eyes.

653
00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:10,560
Speaker 1: He is a profoundly good playmaker and advantage creator on

654
00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:12,759
Speaker 1: the offensive end. Out of every single type of action,

655
00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:16,320
Speaker 1: the key is going to be regaining his shot making.

656
00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:21,160
Speaker 1: The playmaking is s tire. I talked about the foul

657
00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:24,000
Speaker 1: drifting earlier with Shay Lucas the exact same. He's got

658
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:27,880
Speaker 1: all the low gatherers and pump fakes, weird shot angles,

659
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,960
Speaker 1: weird driving angles, the flops, the yelling. He's got it

660
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:33,600
Speaker 1: all right. But the piece in the middle that he's

661
00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:36,480
Speaker 1: got to get back is that shot making piece. If

662
00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:38,680
Speaker 1: he can regain that shot making in twenty twenty four,

663
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:42,239
Speaker 1: he was thirty seven percent on pull up threes. That's

664
00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:45,480
Speaker 1: a good number. We talked about the short range scoring.

665
00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:48,360
Speaker 1: He was well over fifty percent on floaters and jumpers

666
00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:51,360
Speaker 1: inside of seventeen feet. If he can get all that back,

667
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,920
Speaker 1: that's what ties everything together and puts Luca in that position.

668
00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:58,319
Speaker 1: And that is a big part of it. As why

669
00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:01,319
Speaker 1: why I am percting him to be the second best

670
00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:03,640
Speaker 1: player in the league this coming season. This is not

671
00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:05,799
Speaker 1: going to be the fat Luca, out of shape Luca

672
00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:08,080
Speaker 1: that we got last year. This is an in shape,

673
00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:11,440
Speaker 1: strong and motivated Luca that should look like a better

674
00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:14,040
Speaker 1: version of what we saw in twenty twenty four, the

675
00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:16,319
Speaker 1: guy who dragged the Dallas Mavericks all the way to

676
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:21,120
Speaker 1: the NBA Finals. To put it very simply, even though

677
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:23,160
Speaker 1: his point per game averages won't look like they did

678
00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:25,759
Speaker 1: in Dallas because of how different the Lakers roster is,

679
00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:28,800
Speaker 1: I expect this will be the best offensive season of

680
00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:33,280
Speaker 1: Luca's career. I expect their resurgence in mobility. I expect

681
00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,920
Speaker 1: their resurgen, resurgence in shot making. I expect him to

682
00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:39,560
Speaker 1: be one of the top tier shot creators in the league.

683
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:44,719
Speaker 1: Another career like kind of like specific area where I

684
00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:46,560
Speaker 1: expect Luca to improve this year is at the end

685
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:51,080
Speaker 1: of games. Luca had some issues fatiguing last year in

686
00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:52,960
Speaker 1: the playoffs. This last year he was just six for

687
00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:55,480
Speaker 1: twenty and fourth quarters and was pretty badly outplayed by

688
00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,359
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards in those spots. I think we'll see Luca

689
00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:01,120
Speaker 1: do a better job of maintaining his level of impact

690
00:38:01,560 --> 00:38:05,800
Speaker 1: later into games this season. But lastly, we have to

691
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:09,600
Speaker 1: talk about the defensive end. The conversation around Luca as

692
00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:12,680
Speaker 1: a defender has been fascinating over the last couple of

693
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:17,240
Speaker 1: years because it's complicated for starters. He's an excellent defensive rebounder,

694
00:38:17,280 --> 00:38:19,840
Speaker 1: closing out defensive possessions is a key part of defense.

695
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:22,680
Speaker 1: He's also a good defensive playmaker off the ball, as

696
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:26,240
Speaker 1: we discussed earlier. Those are useful traits that help a defense.

697
00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:31,240
Speaker 1: But he just has this gaping situational weakness with handling

698
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:35,840
Speaker 1: dribble penetration. He gets picked on by quicker perimeter players

699
00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:38,880
Speaker 1: and he can give up super easy straight line drives.

700
00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:41,640
Speaker 1: And when you get compromised that badly at the point

701
00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:44,400
Speaker 1: of attack, it puts you in these really tough rotation

702
00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:47,080
Speaker 1: situations that they can be really hard to recover from.

703
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:49,600
Speaker 1: It played a big role in their losses to Boston

704
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:55,040
Speaker 1: and Minnesota. The question is what does Luca have to

705
00:38:55,080 --> 00:38:57,480
Speaker 1: get to, what does he have to become in order

706
00:38:57,520 --> 00:39:02,000
Speaker 1: to directify that issue. He doesn't need to become prime

707
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:08,320
Speaker 1: Patrick Beverley or Daveon Mitchell. He doesn't need like drim a.

708
00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:12,440
Speaker 1: Penetration is a part of basketball. Every player is capable

709
00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:14,480
Speaker 1: of giving up drives from time to time, even the

710
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:17,560
Speaker 1: best defenders in the league. Luca just has to find

711
00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:20,399
Speaker 1: a way to make it way harder than it has been.

712
00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:30,480
Speaker 1: More cutoffs, more flattened drives, fewer straight line drives. We

713
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:32,920
Speaker 1: talk about it all the time, like if you flatten

714
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:35,080
Speaker 1: out a drive, meaning like okay, you got past me,

715
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:37,560
Speaker 1: but you had to make multiple counter moves and instead

716
00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:39,920
Speaker 1: of going directly towards the rim, it's kind of frayed

717
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:42,399
Speaker 1: off to the side a little bit. You do that,

718
00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:46,040
Speaker 1: it makes it much easier for the defense around you

719
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:50,799
Speaker 1: to rotate and help and recover. He doesn't need to

720
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:55,600
Speaker 1: become an all world defensive player. He just simply needs

721
00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:58,920
Speaker 1: to be able to slide his feet and anticipate better.

722
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:02,640
Speaker 1: The point where he can flatten out more of those drives.

723
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:07,560
Speaker 1: Improved quickness and improved conditioning should help him in that department.

724
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:11,480
Speaker 1: This is the weakness that Luca has to address, and

725
00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:13,359
Speaker 1: I do believe that this season we will get his

726
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:18,279
Speaker 1: best performance in that particular facet of defense. So to

727
00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:20,960
Speaker 1: wrap everything up, I have Luke at number two because

728
00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:24,120
Speaker 1: despite his embarrassing previous season, I expect him to return

729
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,480
Speaker 1: to the level he was at the season before, which

730
00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:29,600
Speaker 1: was the only player in the league other than Jokic

731
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:33,319
Speaker 1: to be both a transcendently great scorer and a transcendently

732
00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:36,960
Speaker 1: great playmaker. It makes him the second best offensive engine

733
00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:41,080
Speaker 1: currently on the planet playing basketball. I also think is

734
00:40:41,120 --> 00:40:44,040
Speaker 1: improved conditioning will manifest with the best defensive season of

735
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:46,680
Speaker 1: his career and better performance at the end of games

736
00:40:46,719 --> 00:40:49,120
Speaker 1: where he has struggled with fatigue in the past. And

737
00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:52,400
Speaker 1: that's why I have with Luca at number two this season.

738
00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:54,200
Speaker 1: All right, guys, It's all I have for today is

739
00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:56,360
Speaker 1: always to sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and

740
00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:58,440
Speaker 1: supporting the show. We will be back on Friday with

741
00:40:58,520 --> 00:41:01,480
Speaker 1: number one Nikole Jokich as well well as our mail bag.

742
00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:10,239
Speaker 1: I will see you guys though h