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Speaker 2: The NBA eighty two game grind is done, and now

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Speaker 3: Slash audio. All right, welcome to Hoops tonight. You're at

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Speaker 3: the ball.

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Speaker 2: You have you Tuesday, buddy, hopeball. You guys are having

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Speaker 2: a great start for your week. Got a jam packed

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Speaker 2: show tonight. We had a four game night on a weekday.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely insane, all sorts of crazy drama, all sorts of

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Speaker 2: crazy results. We had a game winner. We have a

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Speaker 2: bunch of stuff we're going to be getting into today.

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Speaker 2: You guys are the joke before we get started. Subscribe

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Speaker 2: to the Hoops and I YouTube channels. You don't miss

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Speaker 2: any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter, I

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Speaker 2: Underscore json LTC. You guys, don't miss show announcements. Don't

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Speaker 2: forget a better podcast for you where you get your

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Speaker 2: podcast on our Hoops tonight. It's also super helpful if

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Speaker 2: you leave your rating and a review on that front.

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Speaker 2: We also have social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and

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Speaker 2: Facebook where Jackson's doing great work. Make sure you guys

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Speaker 2: follow us there. The last but not least, keep dropping

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Speaker 2: mail bag questions in those YouTube comments and we can get.

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Speaker 3: To them in our mail bags. Moving forward.

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Speaker 2: At the tail end of the show tonight, we're gonna

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Speaker 2: take more questions from the chat, so make sure you

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Speaker 2: guys drop your questions there in the chat. All right,

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Speaker 2: let's talk some basketball quickly before I get to Clippers Nuggets.

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Speaker 2: The Celtics game is the game I didn't get to

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Speaker 2: watch tonight, so we're not gonna get around to that one.

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Speaker 2: But I saw Jason Tatum thirty five, eight and ten

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Speaker 2: on just sixteen shots to close out the Magic, his

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Speaker 2: third consecutive thirty five point game in the entire playoff run.

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Speaker 2: Last year, he had two thirty five point games total,

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Speaker 2: and that is the biggest difference between this year's Celtics

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Speaker 2: and last year's Celtics. Last year, Celtics did not have,

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Speaker 2: in my opinion, a player that can reach that top tier,

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Speaker 2: superstar level. Jason Tatum was incredibly versatile in that playoff run.

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Speaker 2: He did a ton to make that team championship caliber.

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Speaker 2: But now he's bringing that extra level of shot making

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Speaker 2: and half court surgery that makes him one of the

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Speaker 2: very best players in the entire NBA and it just

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Speaker 2: makes that Celtics team that much more difficult to deal

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Speaker 2: with in this sort of setting. Again, no more thoughts

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Speaker 2: on that game, Beau, I didn't get to watch it.

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Speaker 2: When I saw that number. Again, he already has more

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Speaker 2: thirty five point games in the first round that he

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Speaker 2: did in the entire playoff run last year. Great sign

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Speaker 2: for Celtics fans. We're gonna start with Clippers Nuggets, and

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Speaker 2: for two games in a row now it has felt

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Speaker 2: like the Nuggets have had the Clippers. They're bringing late

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Speaker 2: help on Kawhi when he gets into the mid range

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Speaker 2: and preventing him from really getting into a good scoring

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Speaker 2: rhythm as a shot maker there in that short to

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Speaker 2: mid range where he.

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Speaker 3: Loves to work.

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Speaker 2: Although Kawhi did have one of his better passing playoff

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Speaker 2: games that I've ever seen from him tonight, But Kawhi

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Speaker 2: has managed to score over twenty five points just once

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Speaker 2: in this entire series. They're putting a ton of pressure

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Speaker 2: on Harden. Christian Brown is applying a lot of full

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Speaker 2: court ball pressure, like just attacking the basketball and making

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Speaker 2: him uncomfortable. They're bringing Jokic aggressively out to the level

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Speaker 2: on him, and as the intensity of the series is

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Speaker 2: picked up, James Harden has looked completely caught off guard

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Speaker 2: by it. I was joking with my buddy Jason Maples

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Speaker 2: on Twitter earlier, like, it's still shocking to me even

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Speaker 2: with James Harden's playoff history, and when you're watching it happen,

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Speaker 2: it's still jarring to see because like the game has

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Speaker 2: this level of intensity and you can see it in

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Speaker 2: all these different ways. Right, it's two to two, game

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Speaker 2: five of a series, basically a must win for both

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Speaker 2: team games for obvious reason, it's just very difficult to

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Speaker 2: put yourself in a situation where you have to win

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Speaker 2: two games in a row just to survive, right, And

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Speaker 2: you're seeing like the yelling and screaming of Russell Westbrook,

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Speaker 2: the yelling and screaming of Christian Brown, even the intensity

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Speaker 2: from like Nicole Jokicic just like barking at his teammates,

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Speaker 2: barking at officials, getting super excited every time one of

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Speaker 2: his teammates makes a play. There's like this emotional momentum

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Speaker 2: with the team as they're bringing the requisite intensity to

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Speaker 2: meet the moment. The transition pushes from jokis just his

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Speaker 2: eyes light up every time he sees an opportunity to

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Speaker 2: make the defense pay for something. There's a level of

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Speaker 2: like mental and physical intensity that is president in all

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Speaker 2: of these series. But you can see in the game tonight,

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Speaker 2: and then you're watching James Harden and it looks like

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Speaker 2: he'd much rather be playing in like kind of a

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Speaker 2: chill pickup game, Like he's operating at a level of

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Speaker 2: intensity that is just several levels below what the team

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Speaker 2: needs from him in that moment. And it always again,

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Speaker 2: this has happened a lot over the course of his career,

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Speaker 2: and it often comes in this phase of the series,

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Speaker 2: towards the end of the series, when the team has

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Speaker 2: been scouted out really well and the defender guarding James

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Speaker 2: Harden has started to pick up on some of his

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Speaker 2: cues and some of his little tips that he uses

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Speaker 2: to tip off the moves that he's going to use,

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Speaker 2: and the physical intensity and the overall urgency of the

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Speaker 2: moment picks up, and as it gets crazier and crazier,

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Speaker 2: he struggles back to back very important games for the Clippers.

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Speaker 2: James Harden had twenty six points total in the two games.

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Speaker 2: I do want to credit the Nuggets defense, though, with

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Speaker 2: exception of the fourth quarter in Game four when they

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Speaker 2: kind of lost control of things in transition, and then

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Speaker 2: you could tell just in general the Nuggets got out

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Speaker 2: of their defensive groove. The Nuggets have looked like the

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Speaker 2: more intense team. They look like they want to win

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Speaker 2: the series more. They have pretty quickly recaptured a level

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Speaker 2: of defensive intensity much closer to what they had in

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Speaker 2: the playoffs in twenty twenty three. It all starts with

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Speaker 2: the bracket and the ball screens, the ball pressure that

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Speaker 2: Christian Brown is applying on James Harden and Jokic getting

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Speaker 2: out and making sure that Harden is not having an

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Speaker 2: easy time getting the pass out from those situations. And

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Speaker 2: you could see James Harden get flummixed that he's like

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Speaker 2: trying to force a pass to the role man when

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Speaker 2: the skip passes open. But the guy Garden the skip

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Speaker 2: pass is like on the role man and it's a

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Speaker 2: turnover because he's getting sped up and he's struggling to

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Speaker 2: deal with the physicality and he's not making the same

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Speaker 2: reads that James Harden can make when things are just

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Speaker 2: a little less intense or when he is more intense

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Speaker 2: and ready and engaged in the moment. But it all

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Speaker 2: starts with those two at the level, Christian Brown and

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Speaker 2: Nicola Jokic, the two of them are the guys that

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Speaker 2: have stabilized this defense with what they've done in pick

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Speaker 2: and roll and then the backside rotations. That's the third

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Speaker 2: piece of it that they've managed to recapture. Again, the

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Speaker 2: goal of your defense in the playoffs is to make

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Speaker 2: opposing stars uncomfortable. Have they done that with Kawhi, Yes,

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Speaker 2: they've kept him from volume scoring. Have they done that

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Speaker 2: with James Harden. Yes, they've kept him from picking them

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Speaker 2: apart in pick and roll. And for as much as

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Speaker 2: we've talked about the Nuggets defense down the stretch of

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Speaker 2: the season, which was a major storyline, it was the

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Speaker 2: main reason so many people, including most of the Nuggets

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Speaker 2: fans that I follow, picked the Clippers to win the

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Speaker 2: series was because their defense was in such a bad place.

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Speaker 2: But they've been operating at an insanely high level on

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Speaker 2: offense for months. I thought Jokic was so much better

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Speaker 2: than his box score looked tonight like he's four for

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Speaker 2: thirteen from the field, But I thought he had complete

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Speaker 2: command of the pace and flow of the game. He

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Speaker 2: generated countless advantages. His transition pushes kept everybody out of

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Speaker 2: position throughout the game. The team was playing out of those.

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Speaker 2: A lot of the looks that Jamal Murray got were

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Speaker 2: out of those transition pushes, out of those Jokic post

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Speaker 2: ups and Jokic high post kind of fulcrum situations where

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Speaker 2: he's just setting these guys up with great advantages. It

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Speaker 2: kept everyone in rhythm. As I mentioned earlier, I thought

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Speaker 2: Yokich was fantastic defensively tonight, a way better game than

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Speaker 2: the box score would to lead you to believe. And

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Speaker 2: then Jamal Murray the sixth forty point playoff game of

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Speaker 2: his career. That's kind of a crazy stat dating back

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Speaker 2: to his awesome shootout that he had with Donovan Mitchell

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Speaker 2: back in the bubble. Jamal Murray looked fantastic tonight. Out

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Speaker 2: of everything we saw, and we saw a ton of

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Speaker 2: three point shot making. His three point shot was just

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Speaker 2: dead eye tonight. He was getting separation on his moves,

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Speaker 2: he was getting great lift all over the floor. But

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Speaker 2: I thought the most exciting play for Denver's playoff chances

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Speaker 2: was the transition Dunky had at the end of the game.

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Speaker 2: He got up and he ammed that thing, and you

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Speaker 2: could tell he knew it too, and he was like

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Speaker 2: he was pumped, and you could tell he was feeling

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Speaker 2: great physically. And that bodes extremely well for the big

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Speaker 2: picture with this Nuggets team. That really was the story

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Speaker 2: of the series to this point, in my opinion, the

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Speaker 2: Nuggets had some other big country since tonight. Russell Westbrook

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Speaker 2: was amazing in the first half. Vintage like not just

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Speaker 2: knocking down spot up threes and scoring as a hutter.

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Speaker 2: He was like getting buckets and causing actual problems for

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Speaker 2: the Clippers on the ball. Michael Porter and Aaron Gordon

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Speaker 2: were both excellent tonight. Christian Brown was great on both ends.

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Speaker 2: Hit that huge three at the end of the third

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Speaker 2: quarter that built that extra bit of margin going into

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Speaker 2: the fourth. But at the end of the day, Jamal

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Speaker 2: Murray and Nikol Jokic have badly outplayed James Harden and

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Speaker 2: Kawhi Leonard. That's the series. Everything else flows down from there.

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Speaker 2: That's what dictates the types of advantages the role players

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Speaker 2: are getting. James Harden is the guy on the Clippers

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Speaker 2: that can consistently set people up with advantages. He hasn't

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Speaker 2: done a very good job of that. Nikolejokic, even in

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Speaker 2: a poor shooting night, set up his team with countless

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Speaker 2: advantages throughout the game. And again, when I keep talking

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Speaker 2: about creating advantages, it's a very basic concept. Every basketball player,

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Speaker 2: even the best basketball players in the world, are going

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Speaker 2: to be more successful when they have a defender sprinting

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Speaker 2: at them, versus when they have a defender set on

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Speaker 2: them when the health defense is out of position and

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Speaker 2: sprinting into help versus when the help is already pre loaded.

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Speaker 1: Up.

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Speaker 2: That's why advantage creation is so important. That's why I

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Speaker 2: tend to be very predisposed, so to speak, as a fan,

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Speaker 2: as a basketball fan, towards players that naturally create a

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Speaker 2: ton of advantages in games. So I've always liked the

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Speaker 2: big forwards, the Lebron's, the Lucas, the Nikola Jokic's.

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Speaker 3: I've liked the.

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Speaker 2: Deadly high pick and roll playmakers, the guys like Tyrese Halliburton,

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Speaker 2: for instance. I've always liked the guys that just I mean,

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Speaker 2: Steph is kind of a unicorn in this regard, but

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Speaker 2: he can just create a ton of advantages just by

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Speaker 2: running around the floor and everybody reacting to him Gehannest,

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Speaker 2: just by being this battering ram that you have to

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Speaker 2: account for by packing up the paint. Those guys that

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Speaker 2: can consistently set their teammates up with advantages, they're gonna

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Speaker 2: have a really high offensive floor. Everything flows down from

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Speaker 2: those guys, and again the intensity, Like I don't think

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Speaker 2: it's a coincidence that Nikola Jokic has looked like psychopathically

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Speaker 2: competitive in these two games and his team has met

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Speaker 2: the moment and been a buzzsaw versus a Clippers team

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Speaker 2: that's had a lethargic James Harden and a generally quiet

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Speaker 2: and like like Kawhi Leonard is not the type of

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Speaker 2: personality that is going to galvanize a group with energy.

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Speaker 2: He's he gets called a robot for a reason. Now, Kawhi,

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Speaker 2: I thought was pretty good tonight, and Kawhi in general

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Speaker 2: is going to have a certain floor because he is

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Speaker 2: going to bring the requisite intensity. But Kawhi is not

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Speaker 2: the kind of guy that's gonna, like legitimately galvanize a

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Speaker 2: group emotionally and be like, hey, like, wake the fuck up,

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Speaker 2: It's time to go. What are we doing?

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Speaker 3: You know what I mean?

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Speaker 2: You're gonna see Kawhi do what Nikola Jokic did in

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Speaker 2: the huddle after Game two, or he's screaming at his guys.

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Speaker 2: This is unacceptable what we're doing right here. The Clippers

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Speaker 2: just got punched in the face twice, like badly. You

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Speaker 2: don't see that too often in a playoff series. Won

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Speaker 2: this competitive or you the regardless of arena, regardless of

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Speaker 2: where you're at, one team just looks like they're genuinely

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Speaker 2: playing harder. It usually goes back and forth based on

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Speaker 2: who won the previous game. Any chance for the Clippers

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Speaker 2: to reverse the trend of this series is going to

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Speaker 2: come down to those two flipping the script. Same thing

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Speaker 2: I said about the Lakers versus the Wolves. Can the

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Speaker 2: Lakers beat the Wolves? Yes, it starts with Luka doncicin

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Speaker 2: Lebron James not getting completely outclassed by Anthony Edwards and

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Speaker 2: naseried and Julius Randall at the end of games. Until

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Speaker 2: they flip that dynamic, that nothing's gonna change. Same thing

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Speaker 2: goes here. Until James Harden can bring the requisite intensity

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Speaker 2: and create the advantages necessary to get this offense to

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Speaker 2: hum and until Kawhi Leonard can bring that volume scoring

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Speaker 2: that he brought in Game two, they're going to struggle

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Speaker 2: to flip this dynamic.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 2: I picked the Clippers to win this series, as I mentioned,

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Speaker 2: like most people did, given what we'd seen from the

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Speaker 2: Nuggets and the time leading up to the series. But

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Speaker 2: one of the things I said after Game two, and

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Speaker 2: it's something that I feel very strongly at this point,

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Speaker 2: is as a fan, I would like to see Denver

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Speaker 2: advance because I think they have a much better chance

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Speaker 2: to deal with Oklahoma City. The Denver Nuggets hung one

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Speaker 2: hundred and forty points on the Thunder the last time

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Speaker 2: that they played them. They have the ability to break

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Speaker 2: down the Thunder defense with their aggregate playmaking. One of

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Speaker 2: the specific reasons that I've not been as high on

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Speaker 2: this Clippers team is their lack of playmaking. Once you

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Speaker 2: get past James and James, Harden can have some issues

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Speaker 2: as the intensity gets leveraged.

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Speaker 3: Right, I am.

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Speaker 2: Worried that the Clippers would go into the Thunder series

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Speaker 2: and just really fall apart offensively, and so I'm personally

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Speaker 2: hoping that the Nuggets can close this deal because I

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Speaker 2: think that they present a very interesting type of challenge

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Speaker 2: for OKAC even on defense. Their ability to load up

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Speaker 2: against an Oklahoma City Thunder offense is something that I

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Speaker 2: think is a favorable matchup for them too. I think

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Speaker 2: that would be a really fun series, a Thunder Nuggets series,

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Speaker 2: a series that obviously the Thunder would be rightfully favored,

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Speaker 2: but I think it would be a really fun example

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Speaker 2: of two very different styles, a very experienced team versus

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Speaker 2: an inexperienced team. That's what I'll be rooting for moving

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Speaker 2: forward in the series.

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Speaker 3: It's not over.

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Speaker 2: The Clippers absolutely can win Game six, and they absolutely

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Speaker 2: have the talent to come back to Denver and win

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Speaker 2: Game seven, but they put themselves in a buying and

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Speaker 2: it's really hard for me to imagine something different happening

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Speaker 2: when their leaders haven't seemed to bring the requisite intensity

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Speaker 2: and to be able to meet them, to meet the

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Speaker 2: competition that Jamal Murray and NICOLEA yok Which are bringing

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Speaker 2: straight to them. Before we move on to Pistons Nicks,

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna do a very short version of the announcement

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Speaker 2: we made last night. We did just start a new

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Speaker 2: partnership with Playback. It's a app that I feel very

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Speaker 2: passionate about. It's an opportunity for you guys to be

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Speaker 2: more interacted, interactive with us on the show. And so

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Speaker 2: starting tomorrow tomorrow, after the final buzzer of the Lakers

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Speaker 2: Wolves game, right after we do our YouTube show, we're

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Speaker 2: gonna do our normal YouTube show here. When we're done,

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Speaker 2: we're gonna go immediately after to what we're calling the

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Speaker 2: Hoops tonight after show, and at the Hoops the night

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Speaker 2: after show over on Playback, We're gonna take questions from

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Speaker 2: you guys. We're gonna be able to actually bring you

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Speaker 2: up on the stage. We're gonna be able to actually

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Speaker 2: go through film live, so we'll be able to do

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Speaker 2: a lot of like the actual visual examples of the

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Speaker 2: stuff that we talked about on the show. It's gonna

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Speaker 2: be super interactive, a little bit more informal, something I'm

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Speaker 2: really excited about. It's gonna be with the after show

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Speaker 2: in this playoff run, and then we have some big

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Speaker 2: picture goals for next year to start doing some live

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Speaker 2: watch alongs where like we can watch big NBA League

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Speaker 2: Pass games together and actually go through the games as

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Speaker 2: they're happening live together, something I'm really excited about. But

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Speaker 2: for this season, we're just doing these after shows after

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Speaker 2: our live YouTube shows. So when you guys have an opportunity,

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Speaker 2: hit the link in the description, head over to the

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Speaker 2: Hoops Tonight playback feed. Get set up so that you

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Speaker 2: guys are ready to go tomorrow night again after the final,

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Speaker 2: after we finished the live show tomorrow night on YouTube,

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Speaker 2: we're all gonna head over to playback to start that

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Speaker 2: new venture I'm super excited about. I hope to see

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Speaker 2: you guys over there. All right, let's talk Pistons Nicks.

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Speaker 2: So the Nicks had a chance to close out the

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Speaker 2: Pistons in the same fashion that they took a three

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Speaker 2: to one lead with keep things close until you can

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Speaker 2: out execute them down the stretch, but instead it ended

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Speaker 2: up being Kate Cunningham and the Pistons that played better

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Speaker 2: down the stretch and sent the series back to Detroit

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Speaker 2: for Game six by quickly capitalizing on a late injury

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Speaker 2: to Jalen Brunson. So it was a crazy seat. Pistons

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Speaker 2: are up ninety five ninety two, Jalen Brunson tweaks his

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Speaker 2: ankle on a close out along the left wing. Kat

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Speaker 2: literally goes down in a four on five and drops

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Speaker 2: a bomb like a forty foot three from almost the

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Speaker 2: logo that ties the game at one oh five. Just

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Speaker 2: a huge shot, but Kate, very smartly, while Brunson is

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Speaker 2: still on the floor limping around, immediately looks to attack him. Now,

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Speaker 2: Kid had been attacking Brunson throughout the series, and in

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Speaker 2: that fourth quarter stretch already he had just hit a

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Speaker 2: three against a hedge gap on like two or three

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Speaker 2: possessions earlier. And again, a hedge gap is like when

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Speaker 2: Caid's coming off the screen and Jalen Brunson tries to

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Speaker 2: hedge or throw his body out to force Kaid to

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Speaker 2: retweet retreat. Ojananobi's going underneath the screen to try to

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Speaker 2: meet him on the other side, and so there's a

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Speaker 2: gap when right when Brunson's pulling back and OG's coming up.

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Speaker 2: It's very similar to his switch interchange gap, which we've

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Speaker 2: talked about a lot on this show. And Kate was

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Speaker 2: able to hit a three in that situation against the hedge,

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Speaker 2: but after Jalen Brunson sprained his ankle, he didn't want

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Speaker 2: to hedge anymore because he didn't want to, like have

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Speaker 2: to throw his body into a lateral quickness situation, so

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Speaker 2: instead he just hugged up on the screener. That put

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Speaker 2: Kate in a situation where he had no hedge. And

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Speaker 2: what happens if you set a good screen and there's

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Speaker 2: no hedge, You're gonna get downhill. He goes flying downhill,

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Speaker 2: challenges the rim protector and misses a layup, but in

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Speaker 2: the process occupies the rim protector, which allows Jalen Duran

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Speaker 2: to fill the gap from behind and get the dunk

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Speaker 2: right under the basket. There's a lot of that down

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Speaker 2: the stretch. Jalen Brunson had a very similar play that

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Speaker 2: led to Mitchell Robinson and one where he like when

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Speaker 2: you get to the basket, even if you miss a layup,

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Speaker 2: if you engage the rim protector, if you force the

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Speaker 2: rim protector to leave his feet and get out of position,

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Speaker 2: you're gonna have your center rolling down the lane with

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Speaker 2: nobody who's even remotely physical capable, physically capable of hanging

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Speaker 2: with him on the offensive glass. That's the lenge with

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Speaker 2: the drop coverage big and that's why you'll see drop

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Speaker 2: coverage bigs do so much stunting at the ball because

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Speaker 2: they don't want to leave their feet because if they do,

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Speaker 2: their out of position to box out and deal with

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Speaker 2: the big man rolling down the lane, or to even

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Speaker 2: deal with a lob right and we saw a bunch

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Speaker 2: of that Jalen Brunson got. Mitchell Robinson opened that way

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Speaker 2: had on the first possession. After Jalen Brunson's injury, takes

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Speaker 2: advantage of the lack of a hedge, gets downhill ends

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Speaker 2: up getting the miss that Jalen Duran cleans up. On

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Speaker 2: the other end of the floor, Tobias Harris gets a

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Speaker 2: massive stop against Karl Anthony town So after Jalen Brunson

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Speaker 2: gets hurt, they have to sub induce McBride right, and

408
00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,000
Speaker 2: Josh Hart ended up getting hurt as well, and so

409
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Speaker 2: we saw we saw a campaign end up coming in

410
00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:46,440
Speaker 2: the game as well at one point, but it was

411
00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:50,040
Speaker 2: definitely an unfortunate set of circumstances for the Knicks. But Kat,

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00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:52,320
Speaker 2: as we saw it in many points in this series,

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00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:54,200
Speaker 2: has been able to create his own offense when needed.

414
00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:56,399
Speaker 2: He's hit a couple of big left shoulder fades in

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00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,920
Speaker 2: crunch time, he had that crazy step back three against

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Speaker 2: Jalen durn in game four or so. In theory, well

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00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:03,960
Speaker 2: we just go to Kat here he can create offense.

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Speaker 2: Tobias Hairs excellent individual defense against Kat forces him into

419
00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,840
Speaker 2: a tough fade away, nearly blocks it and actually forces

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00:21:10,920 --> 00:21:13,520
Speaker 2: him into a really tough like a really bad miss,

421
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:16,560
Speaker 2: like a bad bad miss. Kid goes down the other end,

422
00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,600
Speaker 2: the Knicks are all scrambled and transition defense. Jalen Duran

423
00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:21,560
Speaker 2: ends up setting like a little brush screen for Kate

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00:21:21,600 --> 00:21:23,960
Speaker 2: at the top of the key, same exact thing. Kid

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00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:29,080
Speaker 2: goes flying downhill misses but occupies all the help defenders,

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Speaker 2: and there's Jalen Duran just standing under the basket ready

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00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,480
Speaker 2: for another finish. So more value in the form of

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00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,800
Speaker 2: rim pressure from Kate, and his rim pressure was fantastic

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00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:39,600
Speaker 2: down the stretch of this game. He got a transition

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Speaker 2: push for a scoop shot. He was downhill non stop

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00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,640
Speaker 2: down the stretch, none of this tough mid range fade

432
00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:48,680
Speaker 2: away shit that he was settling for in Game four.

433
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:51,520
Speaker 2: Caid was going to the bucket down the stretch in

434
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:53,320
Speaker 2: this game and had a lot of success that way.

435
00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:56,560
Speaker 2: So Kate goes down the hill, gets the miss that

436
00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:58,280
Speaker 2: leads to the Jalen dura and put back. Now the

437
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,679
Speaker 2: pissons are up for Tim Hart, but the way Junior's

438
00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:02,320
Speaker 2: turn to get a big stop. This time they go

439
00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:06,080
Speaker 2: to McHale, bridges Tim hardaway, forces him into like a

440
00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:09,280
Speaker 2: tough leaning fade away along the right lane line, ends

441
00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,359
Speaker 2: up missing, and then Cad closes the deal with a

442
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:15,280
Speaker 2: textbook drop coverage attack where he gets Juce McBride trapped

443
00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:17,840
Speaker 2: on his side, puts him in jail, hits a little floater,

444
00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,800
Speaker 2: and then on the very next possession a post fade

445
00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:23,560
Speaker 2: where he turns over the double team and Asar Thompson

446
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:27,240
Speaker 2: just slips along the baseline right behind Karl Anthony Towns

447
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,679
Speaker 2: and Cad rifles a perfect pass right to him underneath

448
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,400
Speaker 2: the basket for the easy layup. Cade was brilliant down

449
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:37,119
Speaker 2: the stretch of this game. And by the way, during

450
00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:40,399
Speaker 2: that whole run, Tom Tibodau was never able to get

451
00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:43,840
Speaker 2: Jalen Brunson back into the game. Now I understood the

452
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,320
Speaker 2: idea from Tim's He had one time out left, and

453
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,080
Speaker 2: the ability to advance the ball is it could make

454
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,720
Speaker 2: a huge difference in a comeback, right. So, like, first

455
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,400
Speaker 2: of all, you gotta remember Brunson was stepped out because

456
00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:55,680
Speaker 2: he was.

457
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,040
Speaker 3: Having an ankle in jo injury. He needed a minute, right.

458
00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,520
Speaker 2: Cad scores or generates bucket on three straight possessions, so

459
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,560
Speaker 2: it gets to six quickly, all right. So it's already

460
00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:06,959
Speaker 2: in a situation where the Knicks basically need to go

461
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:11,119
Speaker 2: like like perfect basketball down the stretch, right, And in

462
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,439
Speaker 2: that scenario, it's very possible that you do hit a

463
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,400
Speaker 2: shot that forces you to call a timeout after fouling

464
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:19,639
Speaker 2: to advance the ball so that you can get another

465
00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 2: shot up with like two seconds left on the game

466
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 2: clock if you run into that scenario. So I think

467
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:27,119
Speaker 2: what Tibbs was thinking is someone's gonna get fouled. Something's

468
00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:29,439
Speaker 2: gonna go out of Bound's worst case scenario. This is

469
00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,240
Speaker 2: why we have Kat, This is why we have Mikhale Bridges,

470
00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 2: so that they can run offense if we need to

471
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,240
Speaker 2: need them to in a situation. In theory, we have

472
00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:39,920
Speaker 2: a better defensive lineup out there, maybe we can buy

473
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,880
Speaker 2: Jalen Brunson a few possessions. So I understood, But then

474
00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:44,720
Speaker 2: it just by the time you got a chance to

475
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,359
Speaker 2: use the timeout, it was too late. But like at

476
00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,359
Speaker 2: the end of the day, the damage was done in

477
00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:53,040
Speaker 2: those first couple of possessions after Jalen Brunson got hurt.

478
00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:54,919
Speaker 2: And so I don't want to hyper focus on that

479
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,119
Speaker 2: decision there. From Tibbs, I could see what he was thinking.

480
00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:59,480
Speaker 2: He just wanted to save that time out for a

481
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 2: final passe ession should they need it. But the story

482
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:04,480
Speaker 2: of the game, and easily the most interesting storyline for

483
00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:07,320
Speaker 2: the rest of the series, was Aasar Thompson's individual defense

484
00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:11,320
Speaker 2: on Jalen Brunson. Pistons fans had been clamoring for this

485
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,000
Speaker 2: adjustment for the entire series. There was some pretty strong

486
00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:18,560
Speaker 2: lineup data that the Pistons were about the same on

487
00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:23,320
Speaker 2: offense and considerably better on defense. When Aasar Thompson was

488
00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:25,439
Speaker 2: on the floor. I was a little bit more on

489
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,119
Speaker 2: the fence down the stretch. In Game four, a SAR

490
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,080
Speaker 2: made a couple of classic young guy mistakes on offense,

491
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:33,879
Speaker 2: so I thought it was at least defensible to at

492
00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:37,480
Speaker 2: least in crunch time for excuse me, for the Pistons

493
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:39,520
Speaker 2: to go with like a more experienced and more polished

494
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:44,160
Speaker 2: offensive player. But down three to one, JB. Bickerstaff finally

495
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:47,680
Speaker 2: leans fully into a SAR. He plays a series high

496
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,879
Speaker 2: twenty nine minutes. He was plus nine in those minutes.

497
00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,760
Speaker 2: Jalen Brunson finishes the game four for sixteen from the field.

498
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:57,960
Speaker 2: Now as a team effort, several guys got big stops

499
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 2: on Brunson on an island, Heyde got stops. Dennis Schroeder

500
00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,480
Speaker 2: got stops. Guys did It was a team effort on Brunson.

501
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:08,800
Speaker 2: But Asar applied constant ball pressure. Was closing off driving

502
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:11,720
Speaker 2: angles by beating him to spots, was bumping him off

503
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,080
Speaker 2: his base on his fade away, got great contests on

504
00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,119
Speaker 2: his mid range, was pursuing him over the top of

505
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,880
Speaker 2: ball screens and getting contests from behind those rear view contests.

506
00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:23,800
Speaker 2: And I thought his ball pressure in particular caused Brunson

507
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,280
Speaker 2: to play faster than usual. It sped him up throughout

508
00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:28,040
Speaker 2: the entire game. He missed a couple of shots that

509
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,880
Speaker 2: he usually makes, like easy shots right at the rim.

510
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,520
Speaker 2: He took some unusual shots, like there was one where

511
00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:35,720
Speaker 2: he had a catch in the left corner and Aasar

512
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:38,760
Speaker 2: Thompson closed out on him textbook closed out, closes out

513
00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,160
Speaker 2: on the high side shoulder to funnel him towards the baseline.

514
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,439
Speaker 2: Brunson rips baseline and ends up taking kind of like

515
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,919
Speaker 2: a eurostep floater. But Tobias Harris was like right there,

516
00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 2: like right there, and Brunson just shot the floater directly

517
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,119
Speaker 2: into Tobias's hands, like it barely got out of his

518
00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:57,399
Speaker 2: hands before he got before he got blocked, and like

519
00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:00,680
Speaker 2: Brunson usually sees that sort of thing, but I thought

520
00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:02,760
Speaker 2: he was just a little bit rushed, just a little

521
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:06,920
Speaker 2: bit uncomfortable compared to what he looked like at other

522
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:09,760
Speaker 2: points in the series. And so, I mean, especially with

523
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:12,679
Speaker 2: where the situation is gone to this point in the series,

524
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:15,880
Speaker 2: I think it was a worthwhile gamble from Jav Bickersoft

525
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:17,720
Speaker 2: to lean into a sar and more and it paid off.

526
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,240
Speaker 2: And that will be the biggest key in game six.

527
00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:25,920
Speaker 2: Back in Detroit, Canon Brunson solved the SR. Thompson problem

528
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,560
Speaker 2: and get more comfortable throughout the game. I think the

529
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:31,200
Speaker 2: Knicks are going to go into Detroit in Game six

530
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,600
Speaker 2: and play like a veteran team that knows they need

531
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,440
Speaker 2: to win. They had a similar game last year where

532
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:37,679
Speaker 2: they went into Philly, I think, and beat them in

533
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,720
Speaker 2: game six, where they kind of like looked a little sketchy,

534
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:42,159
Speaker 2: but then they were able to rise up on the

535
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:44,280
Speaker 2: road and get the job done. My guess is it'll

536
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:46,320
Speaker 2: look a little bit like that, but it'll probably still

537
00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 2: be a close game because this Pistons team has had

538
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:51,320
Speaker 2: a lot of success with them again against them with

539
00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 2: their physicality, So I think it'll be a close game

540
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:55,159
Speaker 2: and it'll come down to a late game execution and

541
00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,000
Speaker 2: if the Knicks can be what the Knicks are capable

542
00:26:58,000 --> 00:26:59,640
Speaker 2: of beating and Jalen Brunson can stay on the floor,

543
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:01,200
Speaker 2: they should be able to close out the deal there.

544
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:05,800
Speaker 2: But really impressive moment of growth there from Cad Cunningham

545
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,199
Speaker 2: and the Detroit Pistons. All Right, we'll talk quickly on

546
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:10,639
Speaker 2: Pacers Bucks and then we'll do a mail bag and

547
00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:13,800
Speaker 2: then we'll get out of here Milwaukee through a hell

548
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:17,919
Speaker 2: of a punch. Tonight, Giannis played another amazing game in

549
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,160
Speaker 2: that like kind of point center role where he's next

550
00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,479
Speaker 2: to Bobby Portis and he just kind of determines everything

551
00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:25,680
Speaker 2: as the half court shot creator. Thirty points, twenty rebounds,

552
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,760
Speaker 2: and thirteen assists with two steals and two blocks and

553
00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,600
Speaker 2: absolutely insane stat line. I tweeted this earlier, like I

554
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:35,720
Speaker 2: was obviously wrong to pick the Bucks to beat the

555
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:39,440
Speaker 2: Pacers for a myriad of reasons, and obviously the Dame

556
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,800
Speaker 2: injury was a psychological punch to the gut for the

557
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 2: Bucks in the middle of the series. But I don't

558
00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:48,320
Speaker 2: have any regrets for believing in Giannis and his ability

559
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:52,639
Speaker 2: to potentially win this series, like he is just he

560
00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,879
Speaker 2: is amazing, and he's gonna go play somewhere else this summer,

561
00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:00,399
Speaker 2: and some team is going to become frightening when they

562
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,160
Speaker 2: add Giannis to the mix, And there are a couple

563
00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:03,960
Speaker 2: teams out there that have the assets to make a

564
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,080
Speaker 2: move for him, that are already really fucking good, and

565
00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,880
Speaker 2: it could get incredibly scary. But Giannis played amazing. Gary

566
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,199
Speaker 2: Trent Junior and AJ Green go nuclear from three. They

567
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,399
Speaker 2: hit fourteen of them, including Gary Trent hitting five of

568
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:19,480
Speaker 2: his eight threes in crunch time. But Tyre's Halliburton was

569
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 2: even better. Think about how good you thought Gary Trent

570
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,359
Speaker 2: Junior was down the stretch, Like did it feel like

571
00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:26,200
Speaker 2: when you were watching the game that Gary Trent was

572
00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:30,000
Speaker 2: scoring every single time? He had fifteen points in crunch time.

573
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,240
Speaker 2: Tyres Haliburton had fourteen of his own in crunch time

574
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:38,080
Speaker 2: to go with two assists. The Pacers overcame a seven

575
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:40,240
Speaker 2: point deficit no tee. With a little over a half

576
00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:43,240
Speaker 2: minute left, Andrew Nemhard hits a ball bomb coming off

577
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:46,080
Speaker 2: of ball screen like a deep like thirty foot three

578
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:48,640
Speaker 2: off the dribble at the top, and then Tyre's Halliburton

579
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:50,880
Speaker 2: beats his man off the dribble twice, once against aj

580
00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,720
Speaker 2: Green on the right wing, once against Giannis on Tanakoompo

581
00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:55,840
Speaker 2: on the left wing for the win, and on both

582
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 2: of them like Aj Green physicality bumping up on Halliburton,

583
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,080
Speaker 2: He's Shiel turns the corner, he bumps him at the

584
00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:05,080
Speaker 2: rim and he still gets enough lift to power through

585
00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:07,640
Speaker 2: the contact for a soft left handed finish off the

586
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,760
Speaker 2: glass and one and then attacking Giannis in a switch

587
00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,560
Speaker 2: the nasty left to right crossover turns the corner and

588
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,280
Speaker 2: for the second time in crunch time, he elevates and

589
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:20,400
Speaker 2: actually gets an up and under to avoid rim protection

590
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,600
Speaker 2: and cleanly lay it down off the glass like that

591
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:29,080
Speaker 2: is the most athletic Tyrese has looked on his dribble

592
00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:32,480
Speaker 2: drive and rim finishing attacks, especially out of one one

593
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,719
Speaker 2: on ones, since the beginning of last year when he

594
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:40,239
Speaker 2: was kicking everybody's ass before he pulled his hamstring like.

595
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:44,160
Speaker 2: There has been a consistent theme with Tyre's Halliburton in

596
00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,280
Speaker 2: his range of potential outcomes, and it pretty much comes

597
00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:52,240
Speaker 2: down to he can make all the reads, but in

598
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:54,880
Speaker 2: order to beat switches, he's got to be able to

599
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:56,720
Speaker 2: beat people off the dribble and hit stuff at the

600
00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:00,479
Speaker 2: rim in traffic, and in order to dick take the

601
00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,560
Speaker 2: type of coverage necessary to generate all the kinds of

602
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,000
Speaker 2: openings that he can kill teams with, he's got to

603
00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:07,959
Speaker 2: be able to hit his three. If he can hit

604
00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:10,960
Speaker 2: his three off the dribble, that's the other ceiling raising

605
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 2: piece that unlocks everything that he does, because if he

606
00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,920
Speaker 2: can score effectively enough and drop coverage and he can

607
00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:21,560
Speaker 2: score effectively enough and switches that unlocks his his peak trait,

608
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,880
Speaker 2: which is that he sees every he sees every read

609
00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:28,440
Speaker 2: as it's happening, and he makes those reads on time,

610
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:31,200
Speaker 2: on target. The pass is always in the right place.

611
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,440
Speaker 2: That's the ceiling raising piece. But it depends on his

612
00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 2: ability to be explosive in one on one situations and

613
00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,080
Speaker 2: to knock down shots and drop coverage and so like, honestly,

614
00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:45,840
Speaker 2: we're recording a Pacers Calves preview tomorrow morning, so keep

615
00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:48,640
Speaker 2: an eye on the feeds early ish in the day

616
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,200
Speaker 2: tomorrow for that. But the main thing that I want

617
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:53,800
Speaker 2: to focus on is that they're going to need Tyrese

618
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,960
Speaker 2: Halliburton to be amazing to be able to win that series.

619
00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,520
Speaker 2: And this is the best that he's looked since the

620
00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:03,000
Speaker 2: time that he came onto the scene early last year

621
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 2: and everyone was like, oh my god, what are we watching?

622
00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:09,560
Speaker 2: Like evolutionary Steve Nash here, Like he's showing that upside again.

623
00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:12,440
Speaker 2: The first step on the move on Giannis was crazy,

624
00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,840
Speaker 2: Everyone's slaying Giannis, and I mean, the dude had to

625
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,240
Speaker 2: do everything for his team, So like, I'm just not

626
00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:21,600
Speaker 2: going to be super critical of him in that situation.

627
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,680
Speaker 2: This is not like the Luka Doncic situation where he's

628
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:28,080
Speaker 2: being anchored by Lebron James and Austin Reeves and and

629
00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:30,240
Speaker 2: somehow still running out of gas at the end of games.

630
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,960
Speaker 2: Like Giannis is the engine for everything this team does.

631
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,640
Speaker 2: Like who's the second best player on Gianni's team tonight.

632
00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:42,239
Speaker 2: It's scary Trent Junior. It's Kevin Porter Junior. You know,

633
00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,640
Speaker 2: like like he took a bunch of league, like a

634
00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:48,600
Speaker 2: replacement level players in the NBA and went in Indiana,

635
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:52,680
Speaker 2: very good Indiana Pacers team and nearly got the job done.

636
00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:58,480
Speaker 2: But like in that last iso, Tyree's he toasted him

637
00:31:58,520 --> 00:32:01,280
Speaker 2: on that move. He looked expl on that move and

638
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,240
Speaker 2: it wasn't like a high hesitation, just shoot the gap.

639
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:08,200
Speaker 2: He changed direction with a sweeping left to right crossover

640
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:11,360
Speaker 2: and then hit the jet moving forward. They're gonna need

641
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:14,080
Speaker 2: him to be incredible to beat the Calves, and I

642
00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:16,120
Speaker 2: thought that was a really good sign, how explosive he

643
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:18,640
Speaker 2: looked down the stretch. We had a really weird altercation

644
00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:20,440
Speaker 2: at the end of the game with Tyres Alberton's dad,

645
00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,320
Speaker 2: like walking onto the court to just shit Takianus on

646
00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:26,560
Speaker 2: the floor. That was super bizarre, But I thought both

647
00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:29,560
Speaker 2: Tyrese and Jannis handled it really well in their postgame pressers,

648
00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:32,720
Speaker 2: and that kind of took some of the uh, the

649
00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,000
Speaker 2: weirdness away because you could see, like, I'm so glad

650
00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,680
Speaker 2: that we've seen this from Tyrese. Like shit talk can

651
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:43,200
Speaker 2: get nasty sometimes, but there is something to be said

652
00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:47,880
Speaker 2: about high level competition and the ability to separate what

653
00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:50,600
Speaker 2: is high level competition from what things are like off

654
00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:53,200
Speaker 2: the court. And there are a lot of people out

655
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,680
Speaker 2: there that, like I mean, we were talking about this

656
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,840
Speaker 2: last night, Like I I like to think I'm a

657
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,760
Speaker 2: reasonably nice guy. I have been awful to people in

658
00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,360
Speaker 2: the basketball court before, Like awful to the point where,

659
00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:06,520
Speaker 2: like I think about it all week until I see

660
00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:09,160
Speaker 2: that person and I can apologize to them. Like there

661
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:12,440
Speaker 2: is a when you get out there and the competitive

662
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:15,680
Speaker 2: juice to start flowing, Like there is it is important

663
00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,880
Speaker 2: to separate the competition from what things are like off

664
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,480
Speaker 2: the court. And like Giannis had a chance to go

665
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:25,360
Speaker 2: into that press conference and just rip Tyrese and talk

666
00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:27,360
Speaker 2: all sorts of shit about who he thinks he is

667
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:31,000
Speaker 2: as a person. Nope, tyres is a competitor, wish him

668
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:34,040
Speaker 2: all the best, but then calling attention to the obvious

669
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:36,479
Speaker 2: behavior from his dad, and same thing with Tyres Halliburn.

670
00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:37,960
Speaker 2: He could have gone into the presser and been like,

671
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,800
Speaker 2: those boys talk shit the entire series and we busted

672
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:43,520
Speaker 2: their ass. Nope, he went up there and he was like, look,

673
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 2: we're outside of the lines now, time to be a

674
00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:46,360
Speaker 2: grown up.

675
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:46,959
Speaker 3: You know.

676
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:49,040
Speaker 2: I respect the hell out of Giannis, I respect the

677
00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:50,600
Speaker 2: hell out of Dame. This is just what we do

678
00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:53,560
Speaker 2: when we compete, and and I just I just want

679
00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:56,760
Speaker 2: to applaud those those guys for handling that really sticky

680
00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:00,680
Speaker 2: situation with class. All Right, let's hit a couple. Let's

681
00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:02,200
Speaker 2: do about ten minutes of mail back questions and then

682
00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:02,959
Speaker 2: we'll get out of here for them.

683
00:34:03,160 --> 00:34:04,000
Speaker 3: Let's do it.

684
00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:07,200
Speaker 1: First question. Uh, you allude to this a little bit

685
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,560
Speaker 1: in the Nuggets Clipper supports for the show, but Jokic

686
00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:12,840
Speaker 1: seems to have really stepped up on the defensive end.

687
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:14,759
Speaker 1: So not great by any means, but it does feel

688
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:17,160
Speaker 1: like a massive improvement from the regular season. Is that

689
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:17,760
Speaker 1: what you're saying?

690
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:24,880
Speaker 2: Yes, part of it is like the juxtaposition, and what

691
00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:27,280
Speaker 2: I mean by that is like they were so bad

692
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:30,840
Speaker 2: on defense to end of the season, they were so

693
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:35,520
Speaker 2: so bad, like everybody was bad, and so like there's

694
00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:37,440
Speaker 2: a certain amount of like they're just kind of like

695
00:34:37,640 --> 00:34:40,400
Speaker 2: competing now and that's making the world of difference and

696
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:43,840
Speaker 2: they just weren't competing earlier. But I mean, like everything

697
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:46,400
Speaker 2: comes down to because of the way that Denver guards,

698
00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:49,880
Speaker 2: Everything comes down to just the three parts of their

699
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:52,160
Speaker 2: pick and roll coverage, the ball pressure of Christian Brown,

700
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:54,799
Speaker 2: Nicole Jokic, at the level in their backside rotations, and

701
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:57,120
Speaker 2: they're just substantially sharper on all three fronts than they

702
00:34:57,120 --> 00:34:58,080
Speaker 2: were in the regular season.

703
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:01,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I feel like they're a lot sharper

704
00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:02,880
Speaker 1: in the regular season. That feels obvious. It feels like

705
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,480
Speaker 1: he's been sharper just since Game one and two. I mean,

706
00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:10,040
Speaker 1: the the at the the intensity and I was about

707
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:11,799
Speaker 1: to say foot speed and that felt like the wrong

708
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:14,440
Speaker 1: word to use for yokch but uh in the the

709
00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:17,600
Speaker 1: intensity and sort of purpose with Wick at least he's

710
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:21,279
Speaker 1: guarding out there feels notable. It certainly feels a lot

711
00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,000
Speaker 1: more like their championship run than it did last season.

712
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:26,840
Speaker 2: You know, by comparison, he's big and he's smart, so

713
00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,319
Speaker 2: like if he does, like think of it like this,

714
00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:35,440
Speaker 2: he his speed is more useful because he's usually early,

715
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:39,240
Speaker 2: but he's gotta be bringing the requisite intensity. But like, dude,

716
00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:42,800
Speaker 2: I thought Jokic's intensity was like palpable, palpable on the

717
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 2: screen tonight, Like you could tell he was like I'm

718
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,680
Speaker 2: winning this fucking game, Like like I'm winning this fucking game.

719
00:35:47,719 --> 00:35:49,520
Speaker 2: And it just was like the exact opposite of the

720
00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:51,640
Speaker 2: energy we were seeing from James Harden, and it was crazy.

721
00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:54,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is funny when people like to do the

722
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:57,239
Speaker 1: whole does Yokuchi even care about basketball? Thing? Like when

723
00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,400
Speaker 1: you watch the dude in the playoffs, I mean he

724
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:01,360
Speaker 1: is as an tens of the competitors anybody.

725
00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:02,760
Speaker 3: Dude, it's such bullshit.

726
00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:04,319
Speaker 2: But I was like when I was like when I

727
00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:06,360
Speaker 2: heard it was like, oh, Yokich like did this like

728
00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:09,319
Speaker 2: you know, four hour coaching class back when he was

729
00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:11,640
Speaker 2: in Europe this summer. I'm literally sitting there thinking like

730
00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:17,320
Speaker 2: this dude's a basketball nutshob. This dude loves basketball. Let's yeah. Uh.

731
00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:21,480
Speaker 1: On the hardened question, are Harden's late series struggles more

732
00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:25,120
Speaker 1: about a lack of intensity or being overly scouted by

733
00:36:25,120 --> 00:36:27,360
Speaker 1: that point, sort of familiarity with the opponent at that point.

734
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:32,040
Speaker 2: You know, I've been thinking a lot about this tonight

735
00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:34,960
Speaker 2: over the course of the game, like what what is

736
00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:39,920
Speaker 2: it that's causing him to do this? And I think

737
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:41,520
Speaker 2: there's a couple of different things. I think there are

738
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,799
Speaker 2: some obvious skill things like James Harden has always had

739
00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:47,600
Speaker 2: a little bit a little bit of a like a

740
00:36:49,640 --> 00:36:53,320
Speaker 2: his bag, has several very reliable moves, but he doesn't

741
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:57,520
Speaker 2: necessarily have like a gigantic variety of shot making. It's

742
00:36:57,560 --> 00:37:00,640
Speaker 2: a lot of like the same three or four types

743
00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:02,359
Speaker 2: of moves, And so I think there's a certain amount

744
00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:03,960
Speaker 2: of like guys pick up on his cues.

745
00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:05,479
Speaker 3: But also, like.

746
00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:11,520
Speaker 2: I genuinely think that part of the NBA playoff process

747
00:37:11,960 --> 00:37:16,560
Speaker 2: is like overcoming the adversity of a defense kind of

748
00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:21,760
Speaker 2: figuring you out throughout NBA history, even the greatest basketball

749
00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:25,080
Speaker 2: players that I've watched, Because in the playoffs, you have

750
00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:27,840
Speaker 2: to beat four teams over the course of two months,

751
00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:33,799
Speaker 2: generally at progressively more difficult levels, right and once you

752
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:36,600
Speaker 2: get into like second third round, you're consistently running into

753
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:40,200
Speaker 2: great defenses. I think what ends up happening is like

754
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:43,360
Speaker 2: over the course of a series, you get tons of tape,

755
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,440
Speaker 2: and teams are pretty good at taking away what you

756
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:50,200
Speaker 2: like to do, and like you will find yourself in

757
00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:53,839
Speaker 2: a basketball game where you're like, shit, the thing I

758
00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:55,320
Speaker 2: like to do is not working.

759
00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:57,560
Speaker 3: What am I gonna do now?

760
00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:03,080
Speaker 2: And like there's it's like a intensity, like confronting the

761
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:06,080
Speaker 2: problem with intensity, which is like, well, if I just

762
00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:10,320
Speaker 2: play really fucking hard, I can make these things happen

763
00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:12,880
Speaker 2: that are positives for me and my team, and I

764
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:16,360
Speaker 2: can build momentum in the form of confidence that comes

765
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:19,560
Speaker 2: from that, and and I can try to turn this

766
00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:23,200
Speaker 2: thing around. And then there's the it's just not my night,

767
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:27,160
Speaker 2: you know, Like I know it does it almost like

768
00:38:27,239 --> 00:38:29,000
Speaker 2: feels like that kind of energy from him where he

769
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:31,600
Speaker 2: almost like succumbs to it, and it's like, dude, James,

770
00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:35,040
Speaker 2: this happens to everybody. This happens literally everybody in these games.

771
00:38:35,080 --> 00:38:37,719
Speaker 2: It gets really fucking hard, Like you just have to

772
00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:42,080
Speaker 2: find a way to contribute, Just find a way, you know,

773
00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:44,200
Speaker 2: And like for him, it could have literally just been

774
00:38:44,239 --> 00:38:47,360
Speaker 2: creating advantages in ball screens by like getting downhill with

775
00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:49,160
Speaker 2: the same verve that he brought in the fourth quarter

776
00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:49,480
Speaker 2: a game.

777
00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:53,400
Speaker 1: Fo Yeah, it's this is probably a bit of an

778
00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:55,719
Speaker 1: unfair comparison because it's, you know, one of the best

779
00:38:55,719 --> 00:38:58,520
Speaker 1: players of all time. But you think Steph Curry likes

780
00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:02,359
Speaker 1: being top locked, he likes being fucking face guarded like.

781
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:05,520
Speaker 3: He hates it. He hates it, but he at least

782
00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:06,600
Speaker 3: puts in.

783
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,000
Speaker 1: The requisit effort required to try to beat it other

784
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,000
Speaker 1: ways and create advantage for his team when defenses are

785
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:15,359
Speaker 1: playing gimmicky defenses or trying to do everything they can

786
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:17,759
Speaker 1: to take away your best option, right, Like, that's part

787
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:19,080
Speaker 1: of the equation that you're describing.

788
00:39:19,239 --> 00:39:22,600
Speaker 2: No, you're absolutely right to put it simply like Steph

789
00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:26,960
Speaker 2: had a poor shooting night relative to what he's capable

790
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:30,440
Speaker 2: of in Game four, but his impact came in the

791
00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:32,240
Speaker 2: form of his intensity throughout the game.

792
00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:34,560
Speaker 1: Right, And you can say the exact same for Yokic tonight.

793
00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:41,120
Speaker 1: And on that Jokic point, James Harden was tasked with

794
00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:43,560
Speaker 1: the at least point of attack defense on Jokic a

795
00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:45,239
Speaker 1: lot in the second half. It did seem to have

796
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,080
Speaker 1: some success at least, you know, he wasn't yok wasn't

797
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:50,800
Speaker 1: as much of a scorer certainly tonight. Is that something

798
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:54,040
Speaker 1: that you think the Clippers can use next game. Is

799
00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:58,240
Speaker 1: a reasonable thing that could affect Jokic and change the series,

800
00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:00,640
Speaker 1: or is it's sort of like a gimmicky thing they

801
00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:01,400
Speaker 1: tried to do tonight.

802
00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:04,080
Speaker 2: It's gimmicky in the sense that, like Jokich was doing

803
00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:05,359
Speaker 2: a lot of work at the top of the key,

804
00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:07,480
Speaker 2: and it gave them some flexibility in terms of the

805
00:40:07,520 --> 00:40:10,520
Speaker 2: ability to switch. And there's also the reality that like

806
00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:13,560
Speaker 2: this is teams have been trying this forever, which is basically,

807
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:16,680
Speaker 2: let's put our bigger forward that's not very good on

808
00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:19,640
Speaker 2: the perimeter, Let's put him on Jokic, and then let's

809
00:40:19,680 --> 00:40:21,880
Speaker 2: put our center on the back line. And it's just

810
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,120
Speaker 2: really as you look through the Clippers roster, they don't

811
00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:28,880
Speaker 2: really have like Kawhi effectively is that big forward, but

812
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:32,520
Speaker 2: he's better deployed on the perimeter. So basically, James Harden

813
00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:35,399
Speaker 2: is playing the same role that you see so many

814
00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:38,839
Speaker 2: teams use against Denver, which is he's basically their defensive four.

815
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:41,520
Speaker 2: I mean, who was this primary matchup earlier in the series.

816
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,160
Speaker 2: It was literally Aaron Gordon or Michael Porter Junior for

817
00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:47,520
Speaker 2: the most part. So like the idea there though, is

818
00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:52,120
Speaker 2: like what James Harden is doing. Getting super aggressive up

819
00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:55,960
Speaker 2: underneath Jokic is one part of the team defensive scheme

820
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:58,600
Speaker 2: of handling him, which really involves packing things on the

821
00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:02,040
Speaker 2: back line and like making difficult passing reads as you

822
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:03,520
Speaker 2: have some non shooters on the floor.

823
00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:07,040
Speaker 1: For sure. I agree. All right, let's move away from

824
00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,680
Speaker 1: the series to a couple other questions. Given the Knicks

825
00:41:09,719 --> 00:41:12,439
Speaker 1: Piston series has been dead even or close to debt,

826
00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:15,319
Speaker 1: even are you does that make you lower on the

827
00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:18,439
Speaker 1: New York Knicks ceiling or higher on Detroit's presence last

828
00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:21,080
Speaker 1: future Given the fact they're doing all this also without

829
00:41:21,239 --> 00:41:22,440
Speaker 1: Isaiah Stewart and Jade and.

830
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:26,560
Speaker 2: Ivy, I think that there's I mean, you texted me

831
00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:28,560
Speaker 2: during the game, Jackson, You're like, I think this is

832
00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:30,200
Speaker 2: going to be a series that the Knicks will win,

833
00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:32,160
Speaker 2: but that we will look back on one day and

834
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:33,960
Speaker 2: be like, hey, this is one of the series where

835
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:36,520
Speaker 2: Caid kind of like showed some of what he's capable of,

836
00:41:36,600 --> 00:41:38,719
Speaker 2: like an important part of his story, so to speak.

837
00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:41,920
Speaker 2: It's like the old Lebron Wizard series for instance, you know,

838
00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:45,719
Speaker 2: and like it's one of those things where you know,

839
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:48,080
Speaker 2: Kate has learned some valuable lessons over the course of

840
00:41:48,120 --> 00:41:51,640
Speaker 2: this series. Caid early in the series was like not

841
00:41:51,800 --> 00:41:54,680
Speaker 2: being as deliberate with hunting, screening actions in crunch time.

842
00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:57,360
Speaker 2: It was attacking too much one on one in the

843
00:41:57,360 --> 00:41:59,440
Speaker 2: middle of the series, made some bad reads where it's

844
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:02,480
Speaker 2: like trying to like split double teams and stuff and

845
00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:06,240
Speaker 2: turning the basketball over tonight. Very decisive in the actions

846
00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:09,600
Speaker 2: that he was attacking and was relentlessly getting downhill, wasn't

847
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:11,360
Speaker 2: settling for some of the mid range jump shots that

848
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:14,840
Speaker 2: he was settling earlier in the series. For like, Caid

849
00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:18,359
Speaker 2: has shown growth over the course of this series, He's

850
00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,840
Speaker 2: been really good defensively for stretches in this series, Like

851
00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:24,280
Speaker 2: you're seeing a lot of stuff come to the surface

852
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:26,120
Speaker 2: of sar Thompson and what he's shown you as like

853
00:42:26,200 --> 00:42:28,480
Speaker 2: kind of the literally the m N Thompson role just

854
00:42:28,480 --> 00:42:30,359
Speaker 2: guard the other team's best guard and then operate as

855
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:34,799
Speaker 2: a baseline vertical spacer like the there's obviously a lot

856
00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:38,719
Speaker 2: of exciting stuff there. I personally was never very high

857
00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:40,840
Speaker 2: on the Knicks at any point this season, Like there

858
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:43,719
Speaker 2: was not a single day from from the day they

859
00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:45,600
Speaker 2: got the shit kicked out of him by the Celtics

860
00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:47,480
Speaker 2: there was never a single day that I really took

861
00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:51,440
Speaker 2: the Knicks that seriously as a championship contender. We'll see,

862
00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:54,280
Speaker 2: we'll see if they can flip that script going against

863
00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:56,719
Speaker 2: the Knicks, but like Eric going against the Celtics. But

864
00:42:56,760 --> 00:42:58,520
Speaker 2: like it also is a little tricky to me with

865
00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:02,080
Speaker 2: this Jalen Brunson ankle thing, Like if he's not super

866
00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:04,920
Speaker 2: explosive in game six and he deals with another game

867
00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:07,479
Speaker 2: of Asar Thompson all over him, I could see things

868
00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:10,040
Speaker 2: going south. Like I think the Knicks are gonna win,

869
00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:13,560
Speaker 2: and I think they'll probably win in six, but there's

870
00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:16,760
Speaker 2: like a hefty, like twenty percent chance that the Pistons

871
00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:20,080
Speaker 2: get this done. Like they are a real problem for

872
00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:21,520
Speaker 2: the Knicks on a bunch of different levels.

873
00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:25,399
Speaker 1: Yeah, one hundred percent. I mean, it's crazy watching these

874
00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:28,080
Speaker 1: playoffs with this sort of extra level of scrutiny that

875
00:43:28,120 --> 00:43:30,840
Speaker 1: we're watching it with. And it's crazy how much the

876
00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:35,000
Speaker 1: Thompson Twins jump off the screen still as rookies to

877
00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:37,359
Speaker 1: have to be the best athletes on the floor every

878
00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:39,920
Speaker 1: time they're on the floor to be it's rare to

879
00:43:39,960 --> 00:43:43,560
Speaker 1: see a defender have the this kind of size. Also,

880
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:46,160
Speaker 1: they're kind of huge and have the lateral quickness to

881
00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:48,440
Speaker 1: constantly be beating people to the spots that they want

882
00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:50,280
Speaker 1: to be getting to. All the time.

883
00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:53,400
Speaker 2: I've been thinking about this a lot within the context

884
00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:56,400
Speaker 2: of like, okay, so like why there was a reason

885
00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:58,359
Speaker 2: why I was disagreeing with a lot of people talking

886
00:43:58,400 --> 00:44:02,160
Speaker 2: about the Luka Doncicic like roster structure with the Lakers,

887
00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:04,640
Speaker 2: and like there's a obvious thing where it's like you you,

888
00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:06,719
Speaker 2: of course want to have Luca with a rim, like

889
00:44:06,719 --> 00:44:10,880
Speaker 2: a like a vertical spacer, like obviously, and the Lakers

890
00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:14,560
Speaker 2: will get one this summer, I'm sure. But outside of that,

891
00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:19,600
Speaker 2: like I like the idea of Luca being surrounded with

892
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:22,280
Speaker 2: guys that don't just finish plays, but that can extend

893
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:25,360
Speaker 2: advantages and play out of like like kind of complex

894
00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:27,920
Speaker 2: clothes out attacking and connective playmaking and all that kind

895
00:44:27,960 --> 00:44:31,120
Speaker 2: of stuff. I you know, I've had this like vision

896
00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:33,839
Speaker 2: for what the Lakers can be that has never really

897
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:38,400
Speaker 2: come to fruition yet, which involves basically Luca creating advantage

898
00:44:39,040 --> 00:44:41,600
Speaker 2: and then Lebron and Austin and everyone else just playing

899
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:43,640
Speaker 2: off of that advantage and having a ton of success.

900
00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:46,000
Speaker 2: But here we are the Lakers, are down three to one,

901
00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:49,480
Speaker 2: and last year a team of Luca surrounded with play

902
00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:53,760
Speaker 2: finishing was more successful. So then I look at why

903
00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:58,399
Speaker 2: why were they more successful? And I keep coming back

904
00:44:58,440 --> 00:45:01,600
Speaker 2: to Derek Jones Junior and Derek and Daniel Gafford.

905
00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:04,080
Speaker 3: And the specific.

906
00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:08,600
Speaker 2: Dynamic of having a legitimate guy like what Jaden's doing

907
00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:12,399
Speaker 2: to Luca, which is having a legitimate on ball guy

908
00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:15,560
Speaker 2: that can be a pest that you that will switch

909
00:45:15,719 --> 00:45:19,200
Speaker 2: if needed, but that is really hard to get to

910
00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:24,200
Speaker 2: switch because he's so nifty getting around screens that can

911
00:45:24,239 --> 00:45:27,160
Speaker 2: make a guy uncomfortable all game and that can be

912
00:45:27,239 --> 00:45:31,600
Speaker 2: bracketed by rim protection on the backside. I think that's

913
00:45:31,640 --> 00:45:34,680
Speaker 2: how they beat the Thunder, That's how they beat Minnesota.

914
00:45:34,719 --> 00:45:37,880
Speaker 2: They press up, like Derek Jones was able to press

915
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:40,319
Speaker 2: up on Ant's pull up jump shot enough that he

916
00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:43,839
Speaker 2: wasn't very comfortable with it, and Ant was dealing with

917
00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:45,839
Speaker 2: a ton of rim protection when he would get past

918
00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:48,800
Speaker 2: that first layer. And I want to be clear, and

919
00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:51,759
Speaker 2: deserves more credit. He's not just beating the Lakers because

920
00:45:51,760 --> 00:45:53,640
Speaker 2: of a lack of rimp protection. He has beat them

921
00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:55,880
Speaker 2: with his passing and his three point shooting, which is

922
00:45:56,320 --> 00:45:59,160
Speaker 2: just a testament to his development. But I think there's

923
00:45:59,160 --> 00:46:01,520
Speaker 2: something to be said about these types of guys. You're

924
00:46:01,600 --> 00:46:05,879
Speaker 2: watching a Men Thompson have some success defensively, You're watching

925
00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:09,560
Speaker 2: Asar Thompson have a lot of success defensively. You're like

926
00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:15,880
Speaker 2: these Like, I think it's actually better to surround your

927
00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:23,239
Speaker 2: supremely gifted offensive player with defense than offense. And one

928
00:46:23,280 --> 00:46:25,800
Speaker 2: of the big reasons why I'm thinking that way, Jackson,

929
00:46:26,719 --> 00:46:30,879
Speaker 2: is these these shooters that don't make shots. There's all

930
00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:34,160
Speaker 2: these shooters that don't make shots out there, and it's like,

931
00:46:34,719 --> 00:46:37,120
Speaker 2: so it's like, what good is the shooter that doesn't

932
00:46:37,120 --> 00:46:41,160
Speaker 2: make shots compared to the athlete that's athletic every single night,

933
00:46:41,920 --> 00:46:44,640
Speaker 2: And so like at a certain point, I almost look

934
00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:49,160
Speaker 2: at it and I go, like, how much different is

935
00:46:49,400 --> 00:46:53,359
Speaker 2: the average like non athletic skill guard shooting on wide

936
00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:55,560
Speaker 2: open catch and shoots in this series than some of

937
00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:58,280
Speaker 2: the better athletes who maybe aren't as good as shooters,

938
00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:00,520
Speaker 2: but they feel fresher, they get more lift on their

939
00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:02,359
Speaker 2: jump shot, and they can impact the game in all

940
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:03,200
Speaker 2: these other ways.

941
00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:07,759
Speaker 1: It's really interesting shooters not making shots, because that's what

942
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:10,240
Speaker 1: I have been thinking many of the games watching the Pistons,

943
00:47:10,239 --> 00:47:12,360
Speaker 1: where I'm like, can their shooters just hit a shot?

944
00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:15,439
Speaker 1: What the hell is going on? And not that these

945
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:17,120
Speaker 1: two are the same caliber of player, because I think

946
00:47:17,160 --> 00:47:21,279
Speaker 1: we can all agree that overall, Jaden McDaniels is, you know,

947
00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:23,960
Speaker 1: a tier or two above someone like Malik Beasley. But

948
00:47:24,719 --> 00:47:27,920
Speaker 1: from a just a conceptual standpoint, Jaden's gonna have some

949
00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:30,399
Speaker 1: games where he hits three. It's like Malik Beasley. Yeah,

950
00:47:30,520 --> 00:47:32,080
Speaker 1: he's not gonna do it every game, maybe one out

951
00:47:32,080 --> 00:47:34,040
Speaker 1: of every five or two out of every five or whatever,

952
00:47:34,239 --> 00:47:36,000
Speaker 1: but he is going to do that on occasion. And

953
00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:38,759
Speaker 1: he's every single night going to bring the athleticism in

954
00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:41,719
Speaker 1: size and speed and strength that someone like you know,

955
00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:44,080
Speaker 1: just for the example, Malik Beasley is not providing.

956
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:48,640
Speaker 2: And when they do make shots, it makes them like

957
00:47:48,719 --> 00:47:52,280
Speaker 2: kind of unbeatable, kind of like they looked in Game one,

958
00:47:52,360 --> 00:47:54,919
Speaker 2: and then they can have a game like Jayden didn't

959
00:47:54,960 --> 00:47:58,360
Speaker 2: shoot particularly well in Game four, but was like super

960
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:02,080
Speaker 2: super impactful defensively. It's just, you know, every single year

961
00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:03,400
Speaker 2: I cover the league, I feel like I learned a

962
00:48:03,440 --> 00:48:07,719
Speaker 2: little bit more, and you always are everything's also about

963
00:48:07,719 --> 00:48:13,279
Speaker 2: the context, Like you you also, we've seen teams like

964
00:48:13,360 --> 00:48:17,240
Speaker 2: Denver pull it off to where they can win without

965
00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:20,040
Speaker 2: a ton of supreme athleticism on the floor just by

966
00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:23,320
Speaker 2: overwhelming skill and size, or Golden State, where it's like

967
00:48:23,840 --> 00:48:27,800
Speaker 2: Golden State has continued to win without much physical size

968
00:48:27,840 --> 00:48:31,840
Speaker 2: on the floor repeatedly over the course of the last decade,

969
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:35,520
Speaker 2: and so like there I there is no harder fast rule,

970
00:48:35,719 --> 00:48:39,359
Speaker 2: to be clear, But as I'm looking specifically, like as

971
00:48:39,400 --> 00:48:41,319
Speaker 2: a fan of the Lakers, for instance, as I look

972
00:48:41,360 --> 00:48:44,080
Speaker 2: at that team I've been, all I can think about

973
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:45,520
Speaker 2: for the summer is getting more athletic.

974
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:47,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, It's all I can think about.

975
00:48:47,440 --> 00:48:50,040
Speaker 1: And just thinking about it more really just in real time,

976
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:55,680
Speaker 1: as in the playoffs, specifically, when defenses are so you know,

977
00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:58,400
Speaker 1: focused on the guys who are the best players obviously,

978
00:48:58,400 --> 00:49:00,839
Speaker 1: but then they're also very focused on the elite, the

979
00:49:00,920 --> 00:49:03,440
Speaker 1: elite level play finishers like a Malik Beasley. They are

980
00:49:03,800 --> 00:49:06,880
Speaker 1: on that dude's hip, right, Milik Beasley is not getting

981
00:49:06,920 --> 00:49:11,239
Speaker 1: many half court remotely open three pointers, while Jaden McDaniels,

982
00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:15,719
Speaker 1: someone of that sort of ILK is getting open three

983
00:49:15,760 --> 00:49:18,640
Speaker 1: pointers because defense are like, we will live with that,

984
00:49:18,800 --> 00:49:21,200
Speaker 1: we will live with him shooting threes, and so then

985
00:49:21,400 --> 00:49:24,200
Speaker 1: the equation changes even further where it's like, what would

986
00:49:24,200 --> 00:49:27,239
Speaker 1: you prefer a contested in Malik Beasley three or a

987
00:49:27,320 --> 00:49:30,120
Speaker 1: wide open Jayden McDaniels three, And the numbers probably I

988
00:49:30,120 --> 00:49:32,000
Speaker 1: don't even know what the numbers say. They would probably

989
00:49:32,040 --> 00:49:34,400
Speaker 1: still land in Malik Beasley. But it's a lot closer.

990
00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:37,839
Speaker 1: You're not actually comparing contested three for contested three. You're

991
00:49:37,840 --> 00:49:40,800
Speaker 1: comparing contest for much of the game. You're comparing contested

992
00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:43,960
Speaker 1: three from shooter versus open three from quote unquote non shooter.

993
00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:47,000
Speaker 2: It's a little more complicated than that, because I think

994
00:49:47,040 --> 00:49:49,359
Speaker 2: there's value in being guarded a certain type of way.

995
00:49:50,960 --> 00:49:54,080
Speaker 2: But I think, like I think Malik Beasley is a

996
00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:58,040
Speaker 2: class of shooter that get that that gets guarded that

997
00:49:58,120 --> 00:50:00,719
Speaker 2: type of I'll give you an example like bogged In Agdanovich,

998
00:50:02,400 --> 00:50:04,719
Speaker 2: you know, or like when you're looking at like like

999
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,440
Speaker 2: Tim Hardaway Junior is a great example. Tim Hardaway Junior

1000
00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:09,319
Speaker 2: at stretches in this series has not been able to

1001
00:50:09,360 --> 00:50:13,040
Speaker 2: make shots. Like to me, it's that's that tier below

1002
00:50:13,160 --> 00:50:15,600
Speaker 2: Malik Beasley where it's like that where the other team

1003
00:50:15,680 --> 00:50:17,719
Speaker 2: just puts a decent lock and trail defender on them

1004
00:50:17,719 --> 00:50:19,640
Speaker 2: that takes away the easy ones. And then like all

1005
00:50:19,640 --> 00:50:22,640
Speaker 2: of a sudden he becomes a useless player. Like but

1006
00:50:22,680 --> 00:50:26,200
Speaker 2: there's it's just it's just the volatility, because like I

1007
00:50:26,200 --> 00:50:28,480
Speaker 2: feel like Buddy Healed was this guy, and Buddy.

1008
00:50:28,160 --> 00:50:29,879
Speaker 3: Heeld's had a couple of good games in a row,

1009
00:50:30,120 --> 00:50:30,600
Speaker 3: so like it.

1010
00:50:30,880 --> 00:50:34,480
Speaker 2: But my point is, though, is like like Buddy Healed,

1011
00:50:34,520 --> 00:50:36,279
Speaker 2: when he's got the shot going the way he did

1012
00:50:36,280 --> 00:50:38,160
Speaker 2: in the last two games, looks like a good player.

1013
00:50:38,239 --> 00:50:41,279
Speaker 2: But like Buddy's looked really bad in the games when

1014
00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:43,839
Speaker 2: he hasn't been hitting shots. And so that that's where

1015
00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:45,600
Speaker 2: it just gets stricky. And I think that there's something

1016
00:50:45,600 --> 00:50:49,400
Speaker 2: to be said about the dependability of athleticism and like

1017
00:50:49,840 --> 00:50:52,080
Speaker 2: ideally that guy can hit a catch and shoot three.

1018
00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:54,080
Speaker 2: But like to me, it'd be like a guy like

1019
00:50:54,120 --> 00:50:55,759
Speaker 2: Chris Dunn, like how much value is there and a

1020
00:50:55,760 --> 00:50:58,919
Speaker 2: guy like Chris Dunn versus a guy like a Tim

1021
00:50:58,960 --> 00:51:01,520
Speaker 2: Hardaway junior, you know, And it's a complicated discussion, and like,

1022
00:51:01,760 --> 00:51:03,560
Speaker 2: you know, there are other times. There are other times

1023
00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:04,759
Speaker 2: I watch a game and I'm like, oh my god,

1024
00:51:04,800 --> 00:51:07,560
Speaker 2: shot making is the only thing that matters, Like it's

1025
00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:11,120
Speaker 2: all I feel like it all depends on like having

1026
00:51:11,160 --> 00:51:15,200
Speaker 2: the perfect mixture of things. It's just I tend to

1027
00:51:15,239 --> 00:51:18,200
Speaker 2: think of it like like having Luka Doncic as like

1028
00:51:18,239 --> 00:51:21,360
Speaker 2: this supremely gifted offensive player that can create advantages.

1029
00:51:21,880 --> 00:51:24,120
Speaker 3: I just want to put him in.

1030
00:51:24,040 --> 00:51:28,239
Speaker 2: A situation where his athletic job is really easy, so

1031
00:51:28,280 --> 00:51:30,720
Speaker 2: that over the course of games, he can just focus

1032
00:51:30,719 --> 00:51:33,799
Speaker 2: on creating shots. There's something to be said about being

1033
00:51:33,840 --> 00:51:36,520
Speaker 2: problematic how much they switch with him. And this is

1034
00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:39,239
Speaker 2: why his conditioning is so important, because it would be

1035
00:51:39,280 --> 00:51:40,879
Speaker 2: good for him to be able to add a hedge

1036
00:51:40,920 --> 00:51:42,799
Speaker 2: and recover look to what he can do, but he

1037
00:51:42,920 --> 00:51:44,400
Speaker 2: just needs to get faster and he needs to be

1038
00:51:44,440 --> 00:51:46,480
Speaker 2: able to cover ground more over the course of games.

1039
00:51:46,520 --> 00:51:48,480
Speaker 2: But yeah, I've just been I've been very keyed in

1040
00:51:48,520 --> 00:51:50,360
Speaker 2: on the athletes, and we've just seen a lot of

1041
00:51:50,440 --> 00:51:52,759
Speaker 2: examples of the athletes kind of having big impact at

1042
00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:53,160
Speaker 2: this point.

1043
00:51:53,760 --> 00:51:56,800
Speaker 1: For sure, Let's do one more question in a caz

1044
00:51:56,880 --> 00:52:00,800
Speaker 1: Verus Celtics potential Eastern Conference matchup, assuming that that does happen,

1045
00:52:01,239 --> 00:52:03,759
Speaker 1: does Donovan Mitchell need to reach the level of a

1046
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:06,279
Speaker 1: top five player and do you think he's capable of

1047
00:52:06,280 --> 00:52:07,320
Speaker 1: reaching that type of ceiling.

1048
00:52:08,800 --> 00:52:11,920
Speaker 2: I think where Donovan Mitchell is going to become incredibly

1049
00:52:11,960 --> 00:52:15,480
Speaker 2: important for the Caves Celtics matchup is crunch time when

1050
00:52:15,520 --> 00:52:18,319
Speaker 2: it turns into the matchup hunting, slow down type of thing,

1051
00:52:18,480 --> 00:52:20,480
Speaker 2: because the Calves, I think, are gonna have a lot

1052
00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:22,719
Speaker 2: of success in that series just with their blender and

1053
00:52:22,760 --> 00:52:25,680
Speaker 2: what I mean by that is just the incessant transition pushes,

1054
00:52:25,719 --> 00:52:30,000
Speaker 2: the quick, decisive attacks, the diversity in the way that

1055
00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:34,440
Speaker 2: they attack. But at the end of games, the Celtics

1056
00:52:34,480 --> 00:52:36,200
Speaker 2: will be able to strangle the pace and it's going

1057
00:52:36,239 --> 00:52:39,040
Speaker 2: to become about picking on matchups and there's no doubt

1058
00:52:39,040 --> 00:52:40,880
Speaker 2: that Donovan Mitchell is gonna have to go toe to toe.

1059
00:52:40,760 --> 00:52:41,280
Speaker 3: With those guys.

1060
00:52:41,680 --> 00:52:43,800
Speaker 2: The key there is, though, is like hand the Calves

1061
00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:45,839
Speaker 2: get so for instance, I'm one of the reasons why

1062
00:52:45,880 --> 00:52:47,560
Speaker 2: I view in that series is more of a coin flip,

1063
00:52:47,600 --> 00:52:50,279
Speaker 2: is like the home court advantage piece, Like what if

1064
00:52:50,440 --> 00:52:53,399
Speaker 2: if the Calves win Game one or Game two by

1065
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:56,919
Speaker 2: fifteen eighteen points and it doesn't come down to crunch time,

1066
00:52:57,360 --> 00:52:59,719
Speaker 2: they could put themselves themselves in a situation where like

1067
00:52:59,719 --> 00:53:02,080
Speaker 2: if they win two games like that in a series,

1068
00:53:02,560 --> 00:53:05,239
Speaker 2: then Donovan Mitchell might only need to out execute the

1069
00:53:05,239 --> 00:53:07,719
Speaker 2: Celtics and crunch time you know twice, you know, Like

1070
00:53:08,600 --> 00:53:10,160
Speaker 2: that's really the key to me is like I think

1071
00:53:10,160 --> 00:53:11,480
Speaker 2: if the I think if the Calves are going to

1072
00:53:11,520 --> 00:53:14,439
Speaker 2: beat the Celtics, they need like a couple of those

1073
00:53:14,480 --> 00:53:17,080
Speaker 2: games to be like run like between game one, two

1074
00:53:17,080 --> 00:53:18,640
Speaker 2: and five, they would need to win two of those

1075
00:53:18,680 --> 00:53:21,040
Speaker 2: games by like ten fifteen points, because I think it'd

1076
00:53:21,080 --> 00:53:22,759
Speaker 2: be I think it would be really difficult to ask

1077
00:53:22,840 --> 00:53:25,600
Speaker 2: Mitchell to out execute Tatum four times in a series

1078
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:28,200
Speaker 2: in a crunch time, you know, slow down type of game.

1079
00:53:28,800 --> 00:53:29,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I'm with you.

1080
00:53:30,560 --> 00:53:31,040
Speaker 3: All right, guys.

1081
00:53:31,080 --> 00:53:32,680
Speaker 2: That's all we have for tonight is always be sincerely

1082
00:53:32,719 --> 00:53:34,920
Speaker 2: appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show.

1083
00:53:35,000 --> 00:53:37,400
Speaker 2: As mentioned tomorrow, we are going to be doing our

1084
00:53:37,440 --> 00:53:41,640
Speaker 2: series preview on Pacers Calves with Carter Rodriguez tomorrow night

1085
00:53:41,920 --> 00:53:45,239
Speaker 2: Live after the final buzzer of Lakers Timberwolves. Don't forget,

1086
00:53:45,239 --> 00:53:48,520
Speaker 2: we're also doing our first hoops tonight after show on playback,

1087
00:53:48,680 --> 00:53:50,799
Speaker 2: So make sure you guys get down there on the

1088
00:53:50,840 --> 00:53:52,520
Speaker 2: to the link in the description and head over to

1089
00:53:52,560 --> 00:53:55,280
Speaker 2: playback and get signed up and get subscribed to our channel,

1090
00:53:55,520 --> 00:53:57,279
Speaker 2: Jampack Day for the show tomorrow. We'll see you guys

1091
00:53:57,280 --> 00:53:59,560
Speaker 2: in the morning, what some guys. As always, I appreciate

1092
00:53:59,600 --> 00:54:02,399
Speaker 2: you for listening to and supporting OOPS tonight. It would

1093
00:54:02,400 --> 00:54:04,520
Speaker 2: actually be really helpful for us if you guys would

1094
00:54:04,520 --> 00:54:07,360
Speaker 2: take a second and leave a rating and a review.

1095
00:54:07,400 --> 00:54:08,720
Speaker 3: As always, I appreciate you guys.

1096
00:54:08,520 --> 00:54:10,120
Speaker 2: Supporting us, but if you could take a minute to

1097
00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:13,920
Speaker 2: do that, I'd really appreciate it.

1098
00:54:14,040 --> 00:54:14,719
Speaker 3: The volume