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Speaker 1: net in West Virginia. All right, Welcome to Hoops Tonight,
Speaker 1: presented by Fan Duel here at the volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody.
Speaker 1: I hope all of you guys are having a great week.
Speaker 1: We gotta jam packed show for you tonight. The Warriors
Speaker 1: once again struggling on the road in the Minnesota Timberwolves
Speaker 1: picking up their sixth win in eight tries without Rudy Gobert.
Speaker 1: We're gonna spend some time talking about the Wolves, their
Speaker 1: overall team structure, the Warriors, how what to make of
Speaker 1: these struggles continuing on the road. Uh Draymond Green somehow
Speaker 1: slipping beneath the radar with a quote to Taylor Taylor
Speaker 1: Rooks a couple of weeks ago about his free agency.
Speaker 1: I have some thoughts there. We're gonna do do a
Speaker 1: little bit of a deep dive on the Portland Trailblazers
Speaker 1: and how I think they can make one last attempt
Speaker 1: to try to get Damian Lillard in a position where
Speaker 1: he can compete for championship, and then Last but not Least,
Speaker 1: George Jamal Crawford had some thoughts about Luca and James
Speaker 1: Harden that I wanted to dive into. You guys know
Speaker 1: the drill before we get started. Subscribed to the Volumes
Speaker 1: YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos.
Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at Underscore Jason lts you guys
Speaker 1: don't miss any show announcements. And for whatever reason, you
Speaker 1: guys miss one of these shows and you can't get
Speaker 1: back over to YouTube to finished. Remember you can find
Speaker 1: them wherever you get your podcasts Under Hoops Tonight and
Speaker 1: The Last but not Least UM. Today actually marks one
Speaker 1: year since I started with the volume. UM, I am
Speaker 1: gonna be here for a while longer. I want to
Speaker 1: just take a second to thank you guys for supporting
Speaker 1: the show. It's been a wild year. It's been a
Speaker 1: ton of fun. It's been super fun to see it
Speaker 1: grow and I've really enjoyed interacting with you guys and
Speaker 1: finding out what you guys like in building the show
Speaker 1: around the way that we like to talk about basketball.
Speaker 1: And I'm really excited to continue to build that with
Speaker 1: you guys over the next couple of years. So cheers
Speaker 1: to one year and cheers to hopefully many more years
Speaker 1: to come. Um, all right, let's talk some basketball. So
Speaker 1: I thought the Warriors soundly outplayed the Wolves for the
Speaker 1: most part tonight, but then they're right in the middle
Speaker 1: of the fourth quarter, De'angelo Russell got just obnoxiously hot
Speaker 1: from three to the point where it didn't matter what
Speaker 1: defense the Warriors were playing. That last step three hit
Speaker 1: was very well contested, and he just knocked it down.
Speaker 1: And it's funny because, you know, as the league has changed,
Speaker 1: one of the super unique ways that the league has
Speaker 1: changed is because of the high volume of three point shots,
Speaker 1: not just in catch and shoot situations, but primarily in uh,
Speaker 1: you know, primary ball handler situations, pull up threes, or
Speaker 1: the ability to get too spots and kick to wide
Speaker 1: open shooters. No game is ever over. You know, a
Speaker 1: team that defends as well as Golden State does, and
Speaker 1: I thought Golden State for the most part defended really
Speaker 1: well tonight. For a team that defends as well as
Speaker 1: they do, you expect that game to be over. If
Speaker 1: you're up double digits in the fourth quarter in control
Speaker 1: but in the n b A, all it takes now
Speaker 1: is one guy getting hot. And that's the weird thing
Speaker 1: is like, these shots are so difficult, but when the
Speaker 1: footwork is dialed in, when the rhythm and the energy
Speaker 1: transfers dialed in, when that release is dialed in, there's
Speaker 1: not really anything you can do. And the Warriors basically
Speaker 1: had their hands tied of buying their back is Dangel
Speaker 1: Russell slapped them, uh to get back into the game.
Speaker 1: And then from there that's where they snapped into those
Speaker 1: old Warriors where they were sloppy, you know, turning the
Speaker 1: basketball over, taking bad shots. Um, a couple of missed
Speaker 1: key rebounds there down the stretch. That's where it started
Speaker 1: to look, you know, because I had one of my
Speaker 1: friends swipe. But who covers the Denver Nuggets huge Nicola
Speaker 1: Yokich fan I went on his show last week. He said,
Speaker 1: he asked me after the game, he goes, at what
Speaker 1: point is this who the Warriors are? And it's funny because,
Speaker 1: you know, generally speaking, one of evaluating teams that don't
Speaker 1: have a championship pedigree, I look a lot at what
Speaker 1: you do during the regular season, But with the Warriors,
Speaker 1: I do want to give them a lot more benefit
Speaker 1: of the doubt. I feel like they've earned that over
Speaker 1: the course of the last decade or so. Um. But
Speaker 1: you know, the reality is that it is concerning that
Speaker 1: given the situation with the urgency, given the opportunity to
Speaker 1: string together a wind streak that you know, basic details
Speaker 1: at the end of the game got sloppy for the
Speaker 1: Warriors and what was a very winnable game. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: talk a lot about the Wolves, and the Wolves I
Speaker 1: thought out played Golden State from an effort standpoint down
Speaker 1: the stretch, I thought they deserved to win. And we're
Speaker 1: gonna talk a little bit about their team structure, and
Speaker 1: they have a lot of reasons to be optimistic. But
Speaker 1: the reality is is like that, like Delo fouled out,
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards more or less had an off night. You know,
Speaker 1: Rudy go bears out, nobody really can create a shot.
Speaker 1: You should win that game, and you didn't. And I thought,
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways that came down to those
Speaker 1: specific details. I wanted to shout out a couple of
Speaker 1: specific Wolves, and then we're gonna talk about um A,
Speaker 1: Minnesota's team structure a little bit. Nazri when it was
Speaker 1: getting trapped and being forced to give up a basketball
Speaker 1: a lot. And then when Dillo finally cooled off after
Speaker 1: his hot streak, somebody needed to create a shot for Minnesota,
Speaker 1: and Nazare did. He had a really nice post move
Speaker 1: on Draymond Green, a really nice left handed hook in
Speaker 1: the lane, and then a picking pop possession on the
Speaker 1: left wing. He pumped, baked, got Draymond to fly by,
Speaker 1: and knocked down a three. It was a huge play.
Speaker 1: And then unfortunately for Nasred, he got three additional wide
Speaker 1: open looks, two at the end of regulation and one
Speaker 1: in ot that he missed, and I'm sure he was
Speaker 1: kicking himself and he missed that last three there in
Speaker 1: the corner, but Draymond missed the box out and Nazrie
Speaker 1: got the basketball, and I'm sure it felt good to
Speaker 1: have that vicious one handed dunk along the baseline to
Speaker 1: tie things off. I think Nazrie has done a really
Speaker 1: nice job from Minnesota this year. It hasn't always showed
Speaker 1: up on the scoreboard, but this team does have a
Speaker 1: lot of funkiness going on, and don't I don't put
Speaker 1: it all on him, um. And then Anthony Edwards in
Speaker 1: ot again after d Low fouled out. Even despite the traps,
Speaker 1: he just said screw it, I'm just gonna attack Andrew
Speaker 1: Wiggins and made a play to avoid those traps. When
Speaker 1: you call in those screening actions, you know, there's a
Speaker 1: one way to look at it, which is like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm creating an advantage for my team because I'm drawing
Speaker 1: a second defender that gives me the ability to put
Speaker 1: the other team in rotate in a four on three.
Speaker 1: But you know, sometimes in a situation like that, especially
Speaker 1: for a really good defensive team like the Warriors, you're
Speaker 1: not gonna get great stuff out of that four on three.
Speaker 1: So you're almost better off with your With Anthony Edwards,
Speaker 1: you're superstar going head to head with their best perimeter
Speaker 1: defender and trying to make a play. And he did,
Speaker 1: and then he had another really nice left handed layup
Speaker 1: uh in transition again, and with everything with him, I
Speaker 1: think it's gonna come down to his pull up jump
Speaker 1: shot in the long run. I think he's going to
Speaker 1: have to get to the point where he is reliable
Speaker 1: with that pull up jump shot. It has not been
Speaker 1: this season, after it was towards the end of last
Speaker 1: season and after he knocked down a bunch of him
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. That's the thing. I'm gonna keep an
Speaker 1: eye on him with his development. So Minnesota's one six
Speaker 1: out of eight. You know, a lot of times when
Speaker 1: I'm doing the show, I come up with a theme
Speaker 1: that kind of ties a bunch of specific topics together.
Speaker 1: Like yesterday we were talking about talent when teams have
Speaker 1: to put their foot on the gas. Tonight, I want
Speaker 1: to talk about defensive front courts and um, you know,
Speaker 1: when we when we look at Minnesota in particular, they
Speaker 1: made a trade that I actually kind of fundamentally agree
Speaker 1: with from the standpoint of strategy, which is we need
Speaker 1: to get a lockdown, you know, anchor, like a foundational anchor.
Speaker 1: With Rudy Gobert. I just disagreed in the sense that
Speaker 1: I thought they overpaid, And then the actual structure of
Speaker 1: the team around Gobert reminded me of a bunch of
Speaker 1: the Utah Jazzy. They their core lineup still featured a
Speaker 1: bunch of poor perimeter defensive players, and I didn't think
Speaker 1: they had the level of offensive skill they needed to
Speaker 1: thrive with two bigs on the floor. But the Rudy
Speaker 1: Gobert piece is very important. And this is where I
Speaker 1: want to take a look back, because we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: about Rudy Gobert, We're gonna talk about um Draymond Green,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna talk about Usef Nurkics. Three centers in
Speaker 1: the NBA today. And you know what's funny is if
Speaker 1: you look back through NBA history and he's just look
Speaker 1: at champions, Every single champion in recent NBA history has
Speaker 1: a very very very good defensive front court, either at
Speaker 1: the center position or both the center and the power
Speaker 1: forward position. Right last year, I've got Draymond Green, one
Speaker 1: of the top, you know, four or five defensive players
Speaker 1: of all time, alongside Kevon Looney. The year before, I've
Speaker 1: got Brook Lopez and Jana Santenna Coupo, two of the
Speaker 1: best rim protectors in the NBA. The year before that,
Speaker 1: i've got Lebron James and Anthony Davis. The year before that,
Speaker 1: I've got Kawhi Leonard, Serge Ibaka and Marcusol when they
Speaker 1: would play big. The year before that, i've got Katie
Speaker 1: and Draymond. The year before that, I've got Katie and Draymond.
Speaker 1: The year before that, I've got Lebron James and Tristan
Speaker 1: Thompson and Kevin Love, and Lebron obviously defensively at that point,
Speaker 1: was a much better player. Before that, I've got Draymond
Speaker 1: Green before that. I've got Tim Duncan before that. I've
Speaker 1: got Lebron and Chris Bosh before that, I've got Tyson
Speaker 1: Schaidler before that, Pau Gasol. You know, It's just the
Speaker 1: reality is, as we go back through NBA history, you
Speaker 1: need to be not just good defensively in the front court,
Speaker 1: but you need to be great defensively in the front court.
Speaker 1: And that's an important theme that we're gonna keep coming
Speaker 1: back to during tonight's show. So I understand and I
Speaker 1: respect the move to go after Rudy Gobert. I just
Speaker 1: disagreed with the overall team plan, and I'm really curious
Speaker 1: to see which direction they go at this deadline and
Speaker 1: moving forward in the coming summers, because there's a bunch
Speaker 1: of things As a Wolves fan to be very excited about.
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards is one of my favorite young players in
Speaker 1: the league, and I think he is on a superstar trajectory.
Speaker 1: He reminds me of the two guard version of Lebron
Speaker 1: just an unstoppable, bullyball downhill player that hopefully we'll pick
Speaker 1: up enough pull up shooting to be able to balance
Speaker 1: it all out when it comes to slow down half
Speaker 1: court environments. But then I've also got that foundational defensive
Speaker 1: center and Rudy Gobert. And yes, he's got offensive limitations,
Speaker 1: We've talked about that, but he's so damn good defensively
Speaker 1: that I think it's you know, worth it in the
Speaker 1: aggregate as long as you have the right players around it.
Speaker 1: And then we look at the rest of the roster,
Speaker 1: and you know, look at the job that Kyle Anderson
Speaker 1: did tonight blocking shots at the rim and using his
Speaker 1: length to cause problem for the problems for the Warriors.
Speaker 1: Look at the job Jada McDaniels did tonight on Steph Curry.
Speaker 1: You know, by the end of that game, Steph was exhausted.
Speaker 1: That last three that he took that could have tied
Speaker 1: the game in overtime didn't get any lift on it.
Speaker 1: You could see it look funky from the standpoint of
Speaker 1: his energy transfer. Now, a lot of that's because his
Speaker 1: injury and he doesn't have the uh, you know, the
Speaker 1: conditioning that he had before his injury. That's gonna take
Speaker 1: another week or two. That's normal. But a lot of
Speaker 1: it was that physicality and the ball pressure that Jada
Speaker 1: McDaniels applied all night long. Both of those guys too,
Speaker 1: represents two specific types of forwards that I always talked about,
Speaker 1: Jade McDaniels that skinnier, faster forward and Kala Anderson a
Speaker 1: little bit slower but bigger, taller, longer. They've got a
Speaker 1: lot of things tied together. But you know, you guys know,
Speaker 1: I'm not a huge d'angela Russell fan. His pull up
Speaker 1: jump shot, you know, tends to fail him against really
Speaker 1: good defenses, in large part because he's got a low release.
Speaker 1: He doesn't elevate very high. He's kind of a set shooting, uh,
Speaker 1: pull up jump shooters. So that's that's and then I
Speaker 1: don't think he's very good defensive players. So I think
Speaker 1: D'Angel Russell is a kind of a funky fit. And
Speaker 1: then you've got this Carl Town's thing. But the way
Speaker 1: that I would look at it, foundationally, I've got aunt
Speaker 1: found Nationally, i've got Rudy Gobert, I've got my wings.
Speaker 1: I need backup ball handling and shooting that fits within
Speaker 1: what we what the Wolves are trying to do, within
Speaker 1: their scheme. That's why I'd be looking at this deadline
Speaker 1: for you know, there's a bunch of guys that are available.
Speaker 1: Be looking at guys like Jordan Clarkson from the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 1: I think he can be got um, you know, I
Speaker 1: think he's achievable, like guys like Terry Rogier. You know. Um.
Speaker 1: The other thing you could do is you could look
Speaker 1: to be much more aggressive. I don't know if you're
Speaker 1: gonna be able to do it at this deadline, but
Speaker 1: maybe at some point in the future for a star
Speaker 1: level ball handler and flip Carl Towns for him. There's
Speaker 1: going to be some team around the league that's gonna
Speaker 1: value what Carl Town's does. Um. That team will then
Speaker 1: be dealing with the same front core defense problems that
Speaker 1: we're talking about. But maybe they don't see it that
Speaker 1: way and they see a bunch of value on Carl Towns.
Speaker 1: But that type of flip might be something that allows
Speaker 1: for the right amount of ball handling and shooting alongside
Speaker 1: that core to make it work. But make no mistake
Speaker 1: those two pieces that that uh Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert.
Speaker 1: With the type of wing defense that they have, They're close.
Speaker 1: They just need to figure out their backup ball handling.
Speaker 1: So um, talking a little bit of Warriors again, I
Speaker 1: thought the Warriors actually played a great game until D'Angelo
Speaker 1: Russell's hot streaks. So I don't want to be too
Speaker 1: negative as it pertains to their road struggles, because I
Speaker 1: think they were a little shell shocked and then a
Speaker 1: bunch of things didn't go their way down the stretch.
Speaker 1: I mean, even at the end of regulation, Steph comes
Speaker 1: over a pick and roll gets a wide open pull
Speaker 1: up fifteen foot or they got a lot of wide
Speaker 1: open shots down the stretch in the fourth quarter for
Speaker 1: Steph because of guard to guard actions and the fact
Speaker 1: that UH Minnesota really did not want to switch Jaden
Speaker 1: McDaniels in those screens because they weren't switching. He was
Speaker 1: getting caught on those little ghost screens or guard to
Speaker 1: guard screens, and Steff was getting a lot of really
Speaker 1: good looks. I would venture to guess that on that
Speaker 1: type of separation, Steff is shooting close to if not better,
Speaker 1: on pull up twos when he's that open. So again,
Speaker 1: I want to stay positive. He that's as good a
Speaker 1: look as you're gonna get at the end of a game.
Speaker 1: It just didn't go in, you know, and and it
Speaker 1: sometimes it goes like that. But I am disappointed been
Speaker 1: their overall execution down the stretch. But to um that question,
Speaker 1: at what point do we accept the Warriors are the
Speaker 1: Warriors are who they show us during the regular season.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna wait till the playoffs. I'm sorry, as long
Speaker 1: as they're in there. If they're in the I don't care.
Speaker 1: If they're the eight seed, I don't care if they
Speaker 1: have to win a playing game. If they're going on
Speaker 1: the road and they're playing Denver and they're at full health,
Speaker 1: I'll be picking Golden State to win that series. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: I've seen too much from Steph Clay, Jordan Pool, Draymond Green,
Speaker 1: Kavan Looney, and Andrew Wiggins. I've seen too much from
Speaker 1: that group to think that suddenly in the last year
Speaker 1: they forgot how to play basketball. They have some urgency issues,
Speaker 1: they got some execution issues, they got some things they
Speaker 1: got ironed out, Make no mistake. But if if you
Speaker 1: want to bet against them, be my guest. I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna be that guy. I'm going to continue to give
Speaker 1: the benefit of the doubt to the team that I've
Speaker 1: seen time and time again do what it takes to
Speaker 1: get the trophy. That said, there was a little interview
Speaker 1: that was going around earlier today. It was either today
Speaker 1: or yesterday, but Bob Myers is on local Golden State
Speaker 1: Radio and uh, a really good interview question. Um, I
Speaker 1: wish I should have wrote down who the gentleman was,
Speaker 1: so I apologize on that front. But he said, do
Speaker 1: you want to make a trade at the deadline or
Speaker 1: do you need to make a trade at the deadline?
Speaker 1: And Bob Meyer's basically said both, But when he elaborated
Speaker 1: on it, what he said is I don't like our
Speaker 1: margin for error right now. And you've heard me use
Speaker 1: that phrase a lot on this show, and the concept
Speaker 1: behind that phrases these teams are all super good. Boston's amazing,
Speaker 1: Milwaukee is amazing, Brooklyn when they're healthy is amazing, Philly
Speaker 1: is amazing, Denver is amazing. All these teams are good.
Speaker 1: You're you're going to have to be very very good
Speaker 1: to win, and even if you are, you're probably gonna
Speaker 1: win by this much. So there is not a lot
Speaker 1: of margin for error and what he talked about was
Speaker 1: like back in two thousand seven and seventeen and two
Speaker 1: thousand eighteen, if you would have asked me that same question,
Speaker 1: I would have said, no, we don't need to make
Speaker 1: a trade because our margin for error was where he
Speaker 1: was comfortable. And so that's where I look at this, Like,
Speaker 1: even if Steph and Raymond and Kevon Looney and Andrew
Speaker 1: Wiggins and all those guys get it together, they're not
Speaker 1: as deep as they were last year, and some of
Speaker 1: the teams they played have gotten better, and some of
Speaker 1: the teams they're going to play weren't in the mix
Speaker 1: last year, so their margin for air is significantly smaller.
Speaker 1: And that's why, like one bench piece here, I saw
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt get thrown out as an option in the
Speaker 1: trade market for the Warriors. I love that idea, just
Speaker 1: another big lanky, athletic forward, that big power forward mold
Speaker 1: that can help them a lot in their bench lineups
Speaker 1: defensively and grabbing rebounds. I would like to see them
Speaker 1: make a deal because this margin for error isn't something
Speaker 1: that I would be comfortable with, and I understand why
Speaker 1: Bob Myers feels that way, but it is time for
Speaker 1: them to pick it up, because again, your margin for
Speaker 1: air shrinks based on your matchup quality. I would pick
Speaker 1: Golden State to win against Denver in a one eight matchup,
Speaker 1: but that's a tough series. Maybe you come out of
Speaker 1: that series a little banged up, and now you gotta
Speaker 1: go play Memphis, a big, physical team, and you could
Speaker 1: have some problems there, right, So like if fatigue can
Speaker 1: pile up and things can get harder and harder as
Speaker 1: thing goes along, things go along. Now, I tweeted this
Speaker 1: this morning, and I truly believe it. I think Golden
Speaker 1: State has more talent, the Clippers have more talent, the
Speaker 1: Lakers have more talent, and the Kings have built a
Speaker 1: little bit of a gap. So my guess is that
Speaker 1: the final six in the conference will go something like Denver, Memphis, Sacramento,
Speaker 1: Golden State, the Clippers, and the Lakers, because those teams
Speaker 1: are all gonna have to hit the jets here down
Speaker 1: the stretch, and they all have the requisite talent. But
Speaker 1: it needs to happen eventually, and tonight you would have
Speaker 1: expected it to happen. So it's a little discouraging and
Speaker 1: I get that. Um I want to talk Draymond for
Speaker 1: a second. Somehow this one under the radar. I I
Speaker 1: saw it somewhere on Twitter randomly and I said it
Speaker 1: to Ryan, our producer, and he was like, how did
Speaker 1: we not see this over the last couple of weeks,
Speaker 1: And I was like, I don't know. The uh somehow
Speaker 1: I didn't see it. But Taylor Rooks did an interview
Speaker 1: with Raymond Green and he said, quote unquote, she asked
Speaker 1: him to like basically about his pending free agency, and
Speaker 1: he said, quote quite frankly, the writings on the wall,
Speaker 1: I understand the business end quote. He elaborated after that
Speaker 1: to say, I would love to be a warrior. So
Speaker 1: he wants to stay, but it seems like he's expecting,
Speaker 1: or at least preparing himself for emotional, emotionally for something
Speaker 1: for him to potentially have to go elsewhere. And just
Speaker 1: in terms of life advice, I thought it was a
Speaker 1: really really interesting clip from Draymond. He basically talked about how,
Speaker 1: like you, you set yourself up for disappointment when you
Speaker 1: expect things, when you feel like you deserve things, And
Speaker 1: the reality is, it is a business, and it's better
Speaker 1: for you to learn the business so you can be
Speaker 1: prepared to fight for yourself. Then it is for you
Speaker 1: to just expect that you deserve something and to have
Speaker 1: it come your way. You're gonna get heartbroken if that happens,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. And so I thought that
Speaker 1: was a really interesting bit from Draymond Um. But anyway,
Speaker 1: this is why I wanted to bring this up tonight
Speaker 1: to come back to our original topic. Be as we
Speaker 1: were talking about front court. Here's the reality. If you
Speaker 1: let Draymond go, you're gonna be running back next year
Speaker 1: with what James Wiseman and Covan Luney. And he is
Speaker 1: a good defensive player. I think he's better on switches.
Speaker 1: He holds up better on switches compared to most centers
Speaker 1: as opposed to as a shot blocker. I had a
Speaker 1: big block down the stretch Toady against Jay McDaniels, But
Speaker 1: he's not the best shot blocker in the world. But
Speaker 1: no matter what, a Wiseman Louney front court is going
Speaker 1: to overnight be one of the middle of the pack,
Speaker 1: if not worst defensive front courts in the Western Conference.
Speaker 1: And all we have to do is look at NBA
Speaker 1: history to know that that's not winning anything. And the
Speaker 1: reason why it's so important foundationally, we talked about this
Speaker 1: all time. Most NBA possessions begin with a pick and roll.
Speaker 1: Your big man is the captain of the defense. He's
Speaker 1: quarterback and calling out the plays, getting guys in the
Speaker 1: right spot, calling out the coverages. His job in pick
Speaker 1: and roll is extremely difficult. He has to guard multiple defenders.
Speaker 1: He has to contain a ball handler why dealing with
Speaker 1: the rim threat. He's gotta win contested rebound battles. He's
Speaker 1: got to run up and down the floor and transition.
Speaker 1: There's so many things that a big nan has to
Speaker 1: do is vitally important. Joel Embiid, you're think last year
Speaker 1: went on with J. J. Reddick and talked about how
Speaker 1: he thought as center absolutely must win defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year of a year because of their intellectual responsibilities
Speaker 1: in the defense. That's why we see those names as
Speaker 1: I'm listing the champions in in NBA history. But here's
Speaker 1: the thing, Kef, I'm Luni's fine, but the Warriors this
Speaker 1: year with Loney on the floor and no Draymond, gave
Speaker 1: up a one eight teen defensive rating. So if that's
Speaker 1: your plan, it's gonna go poorly right now. So Here's
Speaker 1: the thing lake Up is probably thinking man like Draymond
Speaker 1: probably wants four years, twenty five million a year or
Speaker 1: something like that. I don't know exactly what he wants,
Speaker 1: but I would imagine Draymond would be comfortable around a
Speaker 1: hundred million in a four year deal. The thing that's
Speaker 1: tricky with that is like lake Ups just thinking about
Speaker 1: luxury tax and how you know, maybe it's time to
Speaker 1: move on. But the reality is is right now, Draymond
Speaker 1: is still a top three defender in the world. That's
Speaker 1: a fact. He and Steph alone automatically make you a
Speaker 1: championship contender. If there is a point where he declines
Speaker 1: and he's no longer worth twenty five million, it will
Speaker 1: probably be in the second half of that deal, third year,
Speaker 1: fourth year, and there's and it's not like you're not
Speaker 1: gonna be able to trade it. That's not a There's
Speaker 1: no such thing as a bad contract to million in
Speaker 1: the modern NBA because that's just salary filler. That is
Speaker 1: a vehicle with which to obtain other players. Now, if
Speaker 1: it's forty five million, yeah, that could be an albatross
Speaker 1: and cause a bunch of problems. But Draymond, I don't know,
Speaker 1: but I doubt Draymond is out here thinking he's gonna
Speaker 1: get forty five million year. So sign the damn guy signed.
Speaker 1: He deserves it. He's still good enough, and it's the
Speaker 1: smart asset management decision. Sign him for whatever he needs,
Speaker 1: four years a hundred, twenty four years, a hundred, whatever.
Speaker 1: It's a tradeable deal. He keeps you viable as a
Speaker 1: defensive front court in the immediate future. And if, for
Speaker 1: whatever reason it goes south, all you've paid some luxury
Speaker 1: tax because he's just gonna be a vehicle with which
Speaker 1: you can get another player, like the Warriors have first
Speaker 1: round draft picks. He's a perfect salary vehicle to make
Speaker 1: a trade. I just don't understand, uh, even considering letting
Speaker 1: him walk, Joe Lacob cannot make this mistake. You have.
Speaker 1: You have to pay Draymond and keep him around. All right,
Speaker 1: We're gonna move on to the Blazers. So the Blazers
Speaker 1: one in Memphis tonight twelve kind of a shocking outcome.
Speaker 1: I saw this one going an entirely different way. Memphis
Speaker 1: finally ended their losing street the other night. I thought
Speaker 1: they were gonna be ready to kind of play some
Speaker 1: more serious basketball. But what's funny is ever since, ever
Speaker 1: since John Murand said nobody in the West scares him,
Speaker 1: all they've done is is games to the Western Conference,
Speaker 1: which is a whole other thing. Memphis I continue to
Speaker 1: just view as an un serious basketball team that is
Speaker 1: destined for a second round exit. But we will see
Speaker 1: what happens. Maybe they'll prove me wrong. But Dames and
Speaker 1: I goes for eight and ten in his last eleven games.
Speaker 1: He's averaging thirty nine points per game in eight assists
Speaker 1: per game. But despite that absurd level of play, the
Speaker 1: Blazers are just six and five in the eleven game span.
Speaker 1: They're still below five hundred, and they're still out of
Speaker 1: the West, playing game at the eleven seat. And this
Speaker 1: is not a team like the Lakers, where you're like,
Speaker 1: it's cool. Anthony Davis is on the way, No, no,
Speaker 1: no Dame has played in every game in this eleven
Speaker 1: game stretch. Anthony Simons is played in every game in
Speaker 1: this eleven game stretch. Jeremy Grant has played in every
Speaker 1: game in this eleven game stretch. Gary Payton the Second
Speaker 1: is played in almost every game. Josh Hard has played
Speaker 1: in almost every game. Use if Turkey has played in
Speaker 1: almost every game. They are whole and bad. If you
Speaker 1: guys remember about a week or so ago, it is
Speaker 1: either a week or two go. I can't remember, but
Speaker 1: I basically talked about how if there, if there was
Speaker 1: any way that Portland could try to save this thing,
Speaker 1: it needed to start with Narkis. And again it goes
Speaker 1: back to everything I was just talking about with that
Speaker 1: defensive front court, Dame. They have all the boxes checked
Speaker 1: except for that. They've got a super duper star. They
Speaker 1: can go toe to toe with any star in the league.
Speaker 1: Damian Lillard. We've seen him do it time and time again.
Speaker 1: They've got a good backup shot creator and Anthony Simmons.
Speaker 1: They've got another shot creator who's also that rim, pressuring
Speaker 1: forward that you guys know I like so much. And
Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant. They have outstanding perimeter defensive wings, Gary Payton
Speaker 1: the second one of the best in the league. Jeremy
Speaker 1: Grant very very good, Josh Hart very very good defensive
Speaker 1: wing in this league. So why can't they get stops?
Speaker 1: Because of everything that we talked about earlier in the
Speaker 1: show and the responsibilities that the big man has on
Speaker 1: the floor. Now there's a couple of different names that
Speaker 1: I mentioned in that specific pod, but I keep coming
Speaker 1: back to one guy. They have to be the team
Speaker 1: that gets super aggressive with Miles Turner. The way that
Speaker 1: Indiana structured his extension um is set up in a way,
Speaker 1: and it has something to do with the way they
Speaker 1: set up his declining salary structure. And I'm not a
Speaker 1: topologist um, but the you know, like essentially, the way
Speaker 1: they structured it makes it so that he's still trade
Speaker 1: eligible before this deadline. Now, Rick har Lyle is reported
Speaker 1: didn't even report, just came out and said in a
Speaker 1: press conference that he's off the trading block. But you know,
Speaker 1: it's very clear that they set up the contract in
Speaker 1: a way that you know, makes him tradeable. And while
Speaker 1: I do think they view him as a solid defensive
Speaker 1: centerpiece for their guard heavy rotation, I also think that
Speaker 1: if they were given the right off or that they
Speaker 1: would still pull the triggers. So whether it's at this
Speaker 1: deadline or it's this summer, I think that Portland has
Speaker 1: to put everything down to try to go get Myles Turner.
Speaker 1: I think he's the best readily available guy in that category.
Speaker 1: Or hey, maybe they're the team that ends up going
Speaker 1: for Draymond Grain if your lake up is foolish enough
Speaker 1: to let him go um. But they need to have
Speaker 1: somebody in that specific spot. Now, if you put Damian Lillard,
Speaker 1: Anthony Simon's, Josh Hart, Jeremy Grant, and Draymond or Miles Turner,
Speaker 1: now you're a serious basketball team. Not only that, you
Speaker 1: know they're really bad defensively in the backcourt. Right Dame
Speaker 1: is one of the worst guard defenders in the league.
Speaker 1: Anthreonny Simon's is only okay, you know, but you simplify
Speaker 1: their responsibilities with a really good center. The problem is
Speaker 1: is when Damon, Anthony or basically just porous on the
Speaker 1: backcourt defensively, they don't have anybody on the back line
Speaker 1: they can clean things up. But when you have a
Speaker 1: real back line defensive player, defensive anchor, you actually simplify
Speaker 1: the defensive responsibilities for Damon for anfreny. Now they can
Speaker 1: ball pressure knowing that they have safety on the back
Speaker 1: line as long as they're willing to make rotations after
Speaker 1: the fact. That's simple, Like just pressure the ball and
Speaker 1: then rotate when you get beat is a lot easier
Speaker 1: than like, if you get beat, it's game over because
Speaker 1: Usef Nurkic isn't stopping anybody at the rim. But from
Speaker 1: there then they would cross every box. They'd have the superstar,
Speaker 1: they'd have the backup shot creation, they'd have the rim
Speaker 1: pressuring forward, they have the wing defenders, and they'd have
Speaker 1: the defensive anchor, and they have plenty of shooting. So
Speaker 1: I think that needs to be the strategy that they
Speaker 1: go with, either at this deadline or heading into next offseason.
Speaker 1: They have to at one point give Dame a shot
Speaker 1: with a real rim protector. All right, last take before
Speaker 1: we get out here tonight, Jamal Crawford basically came out
Speaker 1: and said that, um, James Harden was doing all the
Speaker 1: same stuff Luca don Chech was doing back in two
Speaker 1: thousand and eighteen and didn't get this kind of love. Um,
Speaker 1: And this, to me is one of my least favorite
Speaker 1: takes that I see flying around and and Jamal Crawford
Speaker 1: is not the first to do it, but I see
Speaker 1: the I see the beginning of it. There are similarities
Speaker 1: in their approach, Like James Harden is a dribble the
Speaker 1: ball off the floor, spread floor, perfect spacing principles. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna beat my man off the dribble with is so
Speaker 1: Er and can roll and basically determine the outcome of
Speaker 1: every single possession, and Luca does the same thing, although
Speaker 1: I do think Luca does it a little bit more
Speaker 1: out of necessity because of the roster. And I'm really
Speaker 1: curious to see a phase of Luca's career where he's
Speaker 1: playing alongside a bona fide co star, which all the
Speaker 1: reporting is that Mark Cuban is basically willing to sell
Speaker 1: his soul for a star at this deadline, and that
Speaker 1: everybody's available not named Luca, to try to get that done.
Speaker 1: So we'll see what ends up happening. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: which specific star they'd be targeting. Um, I don't think
Speaker 1: O g n and Obi moves the needle enough for them,
Speaker 1: and and He's not good enough offensively to really justify it.
Speaker 1: But we'll see what they end up doing. But like
Speaker 1: the reality is is that's the only similarity. Luca controls
Speaker 1: every possession, James Harden controls every possession. The reason why
Speaker 1: I see a huge chasm between those two guys is
Speaker 1: James Harden in those years two thousand eighteen two thousand nineteen,
Speaker 1: he only did four things ever with the basketball, he
Speaker 1: would either make a read, make a pass right, or
Speaker 1: you should a step back three, or you get all
Speaker 1: the way the rain for la up, or you take
Speaker 1: a short floater in the land. That was really more
Speaker 1: kind of starting in that two thousand nineteen season when
Speaker 1: he added the floater, but it was extremely repetitive, and
Speaker 1: so as a result, when they get to the postseason,
Speaker 1: it's different when you're on a random Tuesday in January
Speaker 1: showing up in Houston to play the Rockets, and you
Speaker 1: know and you're you know, you're you know, a wing
Speaker 1: defender who has that that responsibility, and it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: I gotta guard James Harden tonight. It's gonna be paid
Speaker 1: in the ads. But in a seven game playoff series,
Speaker 1: what happens. You see him in game one, then you
Speaker 1: see him in game two, then you see him in
Speaker 1: game three, then you see him in Game four, and
Speaker 1: in a hundred possession game, James Harden is starting eighty
Speaker 1: of those possessions in a playoff series, and you're seeing
Speaker 1: the same thing every single time, and so you start
Speaker 1: to kind of pick up on the little body language
Speaker 1: cues that set up specific shots or specific moves and
Speaker 1: you start to guard him better. We think of James
Speaker 1: Harden as a playoff underperformer or someone who struggles. But
Speaker 1: look a little deeper. I want you guys to go,
Speaker 1: just for fun, go to James Harden's game logs in
Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen and two thousand nineteen. Look at how
Speaker 1: well he performs in game one of a playoff series
Speaker 1: compared to the rest of the series. That's exactly that effect.
Speaker 1: Early in the series, he's got the advantage. As the
Speaker 1: series progresses, he becomes more predictable. People solve him, and
Speaker 1: that's why he has so many catastrophic flameouts late in
Speaker 1: playoff series, especially when the series on the line. Now
Speaker 1: we look at Luca, he actually goes up a level
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Why do you guys think that is? Now?
Speaker 1: Luca takes step back threes, Luca goes all the way
Speaker 1: to the rim. Luca takes floaters, but he also takes
Speaker 1: dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of other shots.
Speaker 1: He's got post up fadeaways over both shoulders. He's got
Speaker 1: like seventeen different types of push shots and pop shots,
Speaker 1: shots and hook shots and things in the short range.
Speaker 1: He can straight up just take a step back jumper
Speaker 1: in the mid range, a lot in ISOs. If you
Speaker 1: actually look at shot charts from Luca don John any
Speaker 1: given game. Just take a random Luca Donte shot chart
Speaker 1: from last week and compare it to a random shot
Speaker 1: chart of James Harden in two thousand nineteen. And in
Speaker 1: James Harden, you see a lot of dots around the
Speaker 1: three point line, and you're gonna see a lot of
Speaker 1: dots right around the rim, and you're gonna see one
Speaker 1: or two dots in the paint from his floaters. Feel
Speaker 1: like a Luca. You're gonna see a bunch of shots
Speaker 1: around the top of the key. You're gonna see a
Speaker 1: few in that twenty foot range, You're gonna see a
Speaker 1: few in that fifteen foot range, You're gonna see a
Speaker 1: few in that ten foot range, and then you're gonna
Speaker 1: see a few in the restricted area. There's variety in
Speaker 1: what he does. Now, A lot of people will say
Speaker 1: that play style can't win. I disagree. He just went
Speaker 1: to the conference finals in his early twenties without a
Speaker 1: legitimate co star Lebron James has done it several times
Speaker 1: in his career with a similar style. I think every
Speaker 1: single one of those guys when they win, has a
Speaker 1: legit backup option. Lebron could throw down Anthony Davis, he
Speaker 1: could get a basket. He could throw it to Kyrie Irving,
Speaker 1: he could get a basket. He could throw to Bosh
Speaker 1: your Wade, they could get baskets. There's nobody at near
Speaker 1: those levels playing for Dallas, and he still has had
Speaker 1: the playoff success that he has had. James Harden has
Speaker 1: been on extremely good teams with Chris Paul at the
Speaker 1: peak of his powers flanking him, and those series were
Speaker 1: lost because James Harden could not mimic his regular season success.
Speaker 1: That's why I look at variety a lot in that
Speaker 1: intricate shot making, that improvisational shot making with the superstars,
Speaker 1: because if you're improvisational, you're not predictable. If you're not predictable,
Speaker 1: you'll actually excel as series go longer because now you're
Speaker 1: going to solve the defensive player instead of the defensive
Speaker 1: players solving you. That's what makes Luca Donche and James
Speaker 1: Harden so different, and I really don't feel the comparisons
Speaker 1: with them like I I feel, we'll see what happens,
Speaker 1: but I feel almost certain that Luka Dante is just
Speaker 1: gonna win multiple NBA championships. He's just too good, and
Speaker 1: he's got so many areas that he can easily improve
Speaker 1: as he matures, with his conditioning, with his effort on
Speaker 1: the defensive end. Imagine right now he's doing all this
Speaker 1: with an absurd usage rate. Imagine what will happen when
Speaker 1: he has a legitimate flanking co star and he can
Speaker 1: be more selective with his shots and when he's tired,
Speaker 1: Like there are possessions where lucas exhausted and everyone's looking
Speaker 1: at him like you gotta make the play. If he's
Speaker 1: on the right type of roster, he won't have to
Speaker 1: do that. If he's with Chris Paul in two thousand eighteen,
Speaker 1: he doesn't have to do that. So I I think
Speaker 1: that I don't think it's fair to put those two
Speaker 1: guys together, and I wanted to elaborate on that a
Speaker 1: little bit. All Right, guys, that is all I have
Speaker 1: for tonight. We may or may may not be back
Speaker 1: tomorrow night covering Clippers, Bucks and Nuggets Warriors. It depends
Speaker 1: on a couple of things. Because I'm getting ready to
Speaker 1: head out of town on Friday morning. But I'll keep
Speaker 1: you guys posted. Just keep an eye on my Twitter feed.
Speaker 1: As always, I appreciate you guys support. I'll see you
Speaker 1: guys tomorrow or later this week. The volume