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Speaker 1: see dkang dot co slash b ball. All right, welcome

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Speaker 1: to Hoops to Night. You're at the volume heavy Friday. Everybody,

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Speaker 1: Hope ball. If you guys have had a great week

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Speaker 1: so far, got a jampackshow for you today. It is

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Speaker 1: a mail bag day. Got about a dozen questions. We're

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Speaker 1: me going all around the league. Thank you to those

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Speaker 1: of you guys who submitted questions. You guys are the

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Speaker 1: job before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops to

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Speaker 1: Night YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of these videos.

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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore JCNLT so you guys

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Speaker 1: don't misshow announcements don't forget about our podcast feed. Wherever

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Speaker 1: you get your post under Hoops Tonight, don't forget. It's

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Speaker 1: also helpful if you leave a rating and a review

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Speaker 1: on that front. Also, we have brand new social media

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Speaker 1: feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for the Hoops Tonight

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Speaker 1: channel where we're going to be releasing some reels and

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Speaker 1: stuff like that. To make sure you guys follow those feeds.

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Speaker 1: And the last, but not least, if you want to get

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Speaker 1: a mailbag question into our mailbags that we do on

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Speaker 1: Friday and occasionally an additional time during the week, we

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Speaker 1: drop them in the YouTube comments. Make sure you get

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Speaker 1: the questions there and we'll hit them at least every Friday.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. First question, Hey, Jason,

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Speaker 1: I'm a longtime listener and a few times recently it

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Speaker 1: feels like the mail bag has become responding to crybabies

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Speaker 1: instead of answering thoughtful questions, having unique conversations, etc. You

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Speaker 1: don't need to defend yourself against people aren't listening to

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Speaker 1: the show or delusional fans. Maybe using it to touch

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Speaker 1: on some younger, less talked about teams would be cool.

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Speaker 1: To love what you do. Man. First of all, thank

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Speaker 1: you for the kind words and the support. You're absolutely right,

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Speaker 1: and I owe you guys better than that. I shouldn't

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Speaker 1: be stooping to the level of responding to people that

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Speaker 1: are either trolls or people that are having arguments and

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Speaker 1: bad faith, and so I'm going to do a much

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Speaker 1: better job. I appreciate you calling me out on it.

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Speaker 1: You're right, I got to do better. I think you're right.

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Speaker 1: This mail bag should be more for getting into some

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Speaker 1: of the younger teams that we don't talk about as much,

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Speaker 1: talking about big picture basketball concepts, and getting to those

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Speaker 1: of you guys who have well meaning, well thought out questions.

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Speaker 1: So you guys have my word. I'll do better again.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate you calling me out on it. Next question, Hey, Jason,

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Speaker 1: I've been watching since the beginning. I have a little complaint,

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Speaker 1: and I know real life gets busy, but it seems

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Speaker 1: like we aren't getting as many videos as we did

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Speaker 1: last season. Last season, it felt like every night there

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Speaker 1: would be a quick reaction video. So far this season

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Speaker 1: there have been days with no videos. I just appreciate

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Speaker 1: your videos, brother, You're doing great. Just a fan complaint,

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Speaker 1: so I was just curious because I feel like, all

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Speaker 1: I do is work, but obviously I want to hear

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Speaker 1: you guys out, so I just dug into it. Tomorrow

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Speaker 1: is one month since the start of the season, or I

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Speaker 1: should say today, since it's airing on Friday. I'm recording

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Speaker 1: this on Thursday. But today, this Friday, represents exactly one

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Speaker 1: month since the start of the season. And I went

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Speaker 1: and looked, and we've done twenty four full episodes, which

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Speaker 1: means we're going more than once more than five times

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Speaker 1: a week. The general rule of thumb is in a month,

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Speaker 1: if you do if you work twenty two days, you're

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Speaker 1: working on average five days a week. Right, So like

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Speaker 1: we're going over five days a week, which is pretty

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Speaker 1: much in line with what we do during the regular season.

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Speaker 1: Right Generally speaking, we're going to release five new episodes

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Speaker 1: on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then usually about

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Speaker 1: one night a week, I'm going to pick a primetime

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Speaker 1: game and do an instant reaction, which we've done about

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Speaker 1: five times this season. Now, you're right. The very first season,

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Speaker 1: when I first started with the volume, we were going

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Speaker 1: every night. It was a nightly show, but obviously we

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Speaker 1: transitioned into hitting the big games, but having the shows

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Speaker 1: during the day, which I prefer because then I get

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Speaker 1: to really pour over the film. Like my opinion is

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Speaker 1: that the show is better in its current format because

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Speaker 1: I can really dig into the film methodically and meticulously

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Speaker 1: and give you guys better information. Even in the playoffs

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Speaker 1: when we go every night, I also go almost every

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Speaker 1: day because even though we're going every night and that's

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Speaker 1: the instant reaction and capitalizing on the urgency, I also

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Speaker 1: just need to watch the film. That's something that is

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Speaker 1: very important to me. It's been like that since I

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Speaker 1: played in college. It's just what you do. It's just

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Speaker 1: I like pouring over the film the day after the game. So, like,

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Speaker 1: the general thing you can expect from me on the

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Speaker 1: show is that from about the beginning of October usually

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Speaker 1: it's like mid September because I do so much season

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Speaker 1: preview content. From about the middle of September to about

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Speaker 1: the middle of April, you can count on me for

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Speaker 1: Monday through Friday, five days a week, plus about one

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Speaker 1: nightly show a week, usually geared around a big national

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Speaker 1: TV game. Then from the mid April to mid June,

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Speaker 1: you guys can count on me to go basically every

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Speaker 1: night and every day. Like those of you guys who've

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Speaker 1: been around during the playoffs, you know what it's like

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Speaker 1: we do. Last year, we averaged about like twelve brand

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Speaker 1: new episodes per week during the playoffs. Then after that,

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Speaker 1: during free agency, in Summer League and the trade market

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Speaker 1: and all that stuff, I go down to about five

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Speaker 1: days a week, and then in that August September stretch,

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Speaker 1: I'm going to go down to about three days a

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Speaker 1: week because it's the summer and that's when I'm going

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Speaker 1: to take a break. But that's been the cadence we've

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Speaker 1: been following for the last couple of years, and that's

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Speaker 1: pretty much what you can expect from the Channel moving forward.

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Speaker 1: But I understand, I know you just I know. I

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Speaker 1: just wanted to kind of dig into it, make sure

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Speaker 1: I was giving you guys what you guys expect from

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Speaker 1: me on the channel. Next question, Piston super fan here.

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Speaker 1: I believe the Pistons have hit on multiple draft picks

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Speaker 1: over the last three to four years and that cad

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Speaker 1: Ivy Duran is a good core to build around. We

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Speaker 1: have tried to be young and fun and ended up

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Speaker 1: being one of the worst teams in NBA history. We're

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Speaker 1: now trying to add some playable vets and win, but

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Speaker 1: will likely waffle under five hundred this year. All star

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Speaker 1: caliber free agents do not want to come to Detroit.

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Speaker 1: So what would be your suggestion? Suggestion? What would your

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Speaker 1: suggestion be to build this team without getting outrageously lucky

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Speaker 1: in the draft? Thanks love the show. Longtime listener, Again,

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Speaker 1: thank you for the kind words and for supporting the show.

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Speaker 1: A couple of things. First of all, I want get

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Speaker 1: too hung up on this year's results. As of right

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Speaker 1: now Thursday, when I'm recording this, you guys are the

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Speaker 1: sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. I think if I

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Speaker 1: told you that coming into the season, given what we

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Speaker 1: expected out of teams like Philly and Milwaukee and Indiana,

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Speaker 1: you'd probably be pretty stoked about being up at number six,

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Speaker 1: two out the gates. The schedule was really tough, and

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Speaker 1: you drop some games, but you've been a pretty serious

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Speaker 1: basketball team since then. I've watched about three or four

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Speaker 1: Pistons games, and when I watch them, they look big,

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Speaker 1: they look athletic, and they've got some smart young shot

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Speaker 1: creators and some talent that could pan out in the

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Speaker 1: long run. Even with that being the case, even with

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Speaker 1: me admitting and pointing out that I think that the

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Speaker 1: Pistons are having a pretty successful season to start. I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't get too hung up on this year's results. This

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Speaker 1: kind of goes back to some of the concept that

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Speaker 1: I've gone with with a bunch of different teams that

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Speaker 1: I've talked about over the last few years, in the

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Speaker 1: sense that you stand to gain a lot through natural

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Speaker 1: improvement over the years, right, like Jade and Ivy showing

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Speaker 1: a lot more flash as, like a downhill shot creator

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Speaker 1: knocking down shot at a higher level, Like having a

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Speaker 1: good season, Kay Cunningham having a good season. He's gonna

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Speaker 1: get better. Jayden's gonna get better. Jalen Duran right now,

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Speaker 1: he's kind of matchup dependent, right, Certain matchups he does

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Speaker 1: really well. Certain teams that can spread him out and

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Speaker 1: make him work more on the perimeter he can struggle with, right,

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Speaker 1: But he's I like that core a lot, and you

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Speaker 1: stand to get dramatic improvement from that core year over

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Speaker 1: year over the next few years, And so I wouldn't

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Speaker 1: get too hung up on this year's results as far

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Speaker 1: as the roster bill goes, this is where again, if

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Speaker 1: you like your build, you like your guards, you your

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Speaker 1: you have your shot creators, you like your defensive anchor. Okay,

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Speaker 1: the next step now is trying to find high level

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Speaker 1: role players in the draft, which, by the way, I

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Speaker 1: feel like the Pistons have done. That's what the SR.

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Speaker 1: Thompson pick is, That's what the Ron Holland pick is, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: these are athletes that you can count on to do

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Speaker 1: the dirty work around your best players. Now. The thing

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Speaker 1: with us are in Ron Holland is they were both

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Speaker 1: so young that there's gonna be a little bit more

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Speaker 1: of a long development kind of trajectory for those guys. Right,

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Speaker 1: But this is one of those things where you can

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Speaker 1: also look at in the draft drafting some older players.

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Speaker 1: Because you are correct, especially because of having to pay

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Speaker 1: kid Ivy and Duran, you're not going to get this.

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Speaker 1: Last summer was pretty much your last chance to get

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Speaker 1: like really high level role players through free agency, right,

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Speaker 1: And like to your point, I think that finding that

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Speaker 1: additional talent through the draft is the way to go.

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Speaker 1: I don't think you have to necessarily get very lucky though,

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Speaker 1: because when you're drafting, a lot of teams are looking

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Speaker 1: for substantial, splashy pieces. They're looking for a secondary shot creator.

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Speaker 1: They're looking for potentially the next star to run their franchise.

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Speaker 1: There are guys that end up in the draft that

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Speaker 1: are role player prospects. How the number one pick last year,

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Speaker 1: Zachary Risache was a role player type of prospect, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: there's older guys that end up in the draft, older

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Speaker 1: guys that don't have as much upside, but that can

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Speaker 1: do NBA ready things right away that kind of fit

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Speaker 1: the mold of what Detroit's trying to do. Dalton connect

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Speaker 1: falling to the Lakers is a classic example of that.

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Speaker 1: They're drafting at seventeen and they get a legitimate rotation piece,

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Speaker 1: right So that's the thing. It's like, you've got some

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Speaker 1: really athletic long term prospects and Ron holland Nsar Thompson,

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Speaker 1: maybe you start looking for, like some older players in

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Speaker 1: the draft that are a little bit like more of

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Speaker 1: like NBA ready type of guys, because that is where

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Speaker 1: in the draft you can get some discounted role players

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Speaker 1: relative to the overpaying that you have to do in

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Speaker 1: free agency a lot of the time. And so again,

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Speaker 1: I like the core, I like the direction this is going.

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Speaker 1: I think this season has actually been off to a

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Speaker 1: better start than people think. Our people are willing to admit.

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Speaker 1: I understand that, like under five hundred is never a

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Speaker 1: reason to be like super super excited. But the NBA

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Speaker 1: has like twenty really good teams, and the NBA schedule's tough.

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Speaker 1: The Pistons played a tough schedule out the gate. They're

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Speaker 1: gonna be fine. It looks like they're gonna get their

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Speaker 1: first chance to play some real meaningful either at least

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Speaker 1: a play in game or maybe even a full playoff

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Speaker 1: series this year. They're on the right track. It's just

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Speaker 1: about a couple of specific types of draft picks they

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Speaker 1: need to hit in the future, and then the player

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Speaker 1: development in house. Next question. This is in regards to

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Speaker 1: the warriors eleven man rotation. Part of that also is

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Speaker 1: helped by playing twelve guys because like ice hockey, you

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Speaker 1: need more shifts of bodies to constantly push at that pace.

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Speaker 1: It's a huge etch. And Steph is as an offensive engine.

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Speaker 1: Steph as is is a typo here. Steph is an

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Speaker 1: offensive engine that makes all eleven of those guys playable

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Speaker 1: in high efficiency offense. And Raymond as an enhancer allows

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Speaker 1: them to play against Draymond as an enhancer allows them

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Speaker 1: to play against big lineups. This makes perfect sense to me,

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Speaker 1: And this is something that I've been kind of keyed

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Speaker 1: in on a little bit. I think it's delicate because

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Speaker 1: it has to a lot of it depends on how

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Speaker 1: many good basketball players you have, right, Like if the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: for instance, started running an eleven man rotation, it could

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Speaker 1: get a little tricky with some of the guys that

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Speaker 1: they have at the tail end of their rotation right now. Right.

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Speaker 1: But the flip side of that is like when you

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Speaker 1: play this style though, style that the Warriors play heavy

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Speaker 1: transition both ways. That's the thing. Like the Warriors, as

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Speaker 1: of like two nights ago, the last time I checked,

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Speaker 1: had the best transition defense in the league, per cleaning

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Speaker 1: the glasses defensive points added per one hundred possessions metric. Right, So,

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Speaker 1: like that's a lot of work. That's a lot of

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Speaker 1: sprinting back in transition and like making sure that you're

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Speaker 1: flying around in the open floor. What they do in

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Speaker 1: offense in transition, the way they run around. I had

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Speaker 1: a play that I put in Tim's tape earlier on

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Speaker 1: Thursday where you guys got to see like how quickly

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Speaker 1: they run in the half court when they're trying to

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Speaker 1: run their action. So, like it's one of those things

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Speaker 1: where if you have eleven good basketball players, it does

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Speaker 1: make sense to me that you would go with a

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Speaker 1: bigger rotation in the regular season. Ice hockey's a great

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Speaker 1: comp it's the line shifts and the fact that your

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Speaker 1: best player might only play twenty two to twenty five

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Speaker 1: minutes a game because he's just cause skating is so

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Speaker 1: damn hard in terms of the cardio, right, And like

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Speaker 1: that's the thing like playing this brand of basketball, and

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Speaker 1: it extends to the half court too, with all the

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Speaker 1: ground that you have to cover in rotation, closing out

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Speaker 1: at great three point shooters that are spotting up twenty

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Speaker 1: five feet from the basket, right, So like, yeah, I'm

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Speaker 1: actually I'm actually kind of into this concept. Like the

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Speaker 1: the Lakers run a nine man rotation, but they play

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Speaker 1: at a slower pace and they've got some guys that

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Speaker 1: are a little bit more lethargic. But like, I'm with you.

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Speaker 1: I think if you've got ten eleven good basketball players,

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Speaker 1: you should run a longer rotation. Warriors fan, I'm grateful

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Speaker 1: for Kerr. I'm grateful to curR for the last decade,

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Speaker 1: but I'm also pissed at the way he's handling our

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Speaker 1: next generation. Why is Lindy Waters getting more playing time

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Speaker 1: than Moody and Jonathan Kaminga. It feels like two years

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Speaker 1: ago when Ty Jerome and Jeremy Lamb got playing time

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Speaker 1: over Moody and Jonathan Kaminga. I don't mean to hate

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Speaker 1: on Waters. I love having him, but I'm more interested

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Speaker 1: in seeing what Moody can do. And the last time

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Speaker 1: jk played crunch time, he won the game in overtime

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Speaker 1: against the Rockets. So this is one of those things where,

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Speaker 1: after all these years watching Steve Kerr, we just have

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Speaker 1: to understand his philosophy as a basketball coach. Why do

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Speaker 1: you everyone wants to cling to this narrative that like,

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Speaker 1: Steve Kerr hates Jason Tatum because they beat him by

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Speaker 1: fifty in a regular season game last year, or because

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Speaker 1: of what happened in the NBA Finals in twenty twenty two,

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Speaker 1: or something like that, And it's like, actually, the reason

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Speaker 1: why Steve Kerr played Derek White and Drew Holliday over

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Speaker 1: Jason Tatum is he kind of looks at the guard

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Speaker 1: position in his offense as a as a quick rate

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Speaker 1: and react player that has to be able to shoot

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Speaker 1: on the move. And if you remember, Jason Tatum was

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Speaker 1: not shooting the ball well at the time. And Jayson

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Speaker 1: Tatum isn't exactly a movement shooter either. He's a kind

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Speaker 1: of more of an ISO shooter, Like he's a guy

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Speaker 1: that you kind of want initiating the offense. Right. And

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Speaker 1: and the Olympic team they had already decided they were

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Speaker 1: going to be running through Lebron at the top of

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Speaker 1: the key, and they needed players that were going to

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Speaker 1: be more running in that action, in that Steve Kerr system. Right,

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Speaker 1: this is the same thing that's been happening happening with

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Speaker 1: the Warriors forever. It's like, oh, Brandon pazemskis getting all

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Speaker 1: these minutes, like all these guards are getting all these minutes,

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Speaker 1: while Moody is not getting as much, or Jonathan Kaminga's

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Speaker 1: minutes are less consistent. And that's all it is. Steve

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Speaker 1: Kerr trusts Lyndy Waters to be a threat off the

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Speaker 1: move as a shooter and to make decisions coming off

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Speaker 1: of those actions at a higher level than Moses Moody. Now,

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Speaker 1: Moses Moody to me is a very good player that

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Speaker 1: just kind of is a little bit of a clunky

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Speaker 1: fit in the Warrior system in the sense that he's

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Speaker 1: a good physical perimeter defender with size, which is like

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Speaker 1: there's a lot of value there. And I actually think

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Speaker 1: he's a pretty solid shooter when he can get his

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Speaker 1: feet set and he's open. He's worked hard as a

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Speaker 1: movement shooter. He's a better movement shooter than he was

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Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. He's a better movement shooter

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Speaker 1: than a lot of the guys that have come through

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Speaker 1: other development programs around the NBA. Right, but specifically within

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Speaker 1: the Warriors offense, Lindy Waters is a better movement shooter

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Speaker 1: who is a better decision maker in the decision zone,

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Speaker 1: which is like you come off the screen, you have

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Speaker 1: to immediately read the screen defender. He's too far back.

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Speaker 1: I and my guy's caught on the screen. I'm shooting

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Speaker 1: this thing. He's too far back and my guy's trailing,

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Speaker 1: but he's not completely attached. I want to methodically work

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Speaker 1: down into the lane and see if I can't warp

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Speaker 1: the defense a little bit. Once I get in there

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Speaker 1: the decision zone around that elbow, I need to make

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Speaker 1: quick reads based on what the health defense is doing,

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Speaker 1: and like Steve Kerr has traditionally trusted players that are

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Speaker 1: better and read and react situations in those rotation minutes,

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Speaker 1: and guards tend to be better read and react players

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Speaker 1: because they've been handling the ball since they were younger.

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Speaker 1: But like that's the thing is, Like I think Kuminga

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Speaker 1: still gets his opportunities and he's playing in this bench

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Speaker 1: role where he gets to come in and be more aggressive.

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Speaker 1: But I don't think it's like any sort of personal

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Speaker 1: vendetta or like philosophy involving wanting to be small. I

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Speaker 1: think it's literally just about that read and react decision

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Speaker 1: making and Steve Kerr trusting some of his guards over

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Speaker 1: the years more than he's trusted some of his forwards.

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Speaker 1: Last Warrior's question, and then we'll move on d Anthony Melton

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Speaker 1: being out for the season is a tough blow for

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Speaker 1: the Duves as he was the perfect off guard to

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Speaker 1: step and they're only real two way small perimeter player.

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Speaker 1: What should they do to make up for it? Regarding

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Speaker 1: their front court and secondary production issues. Do you think

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Speaker 1: there are any realistic chance that the heat would part

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Speaker 1: weighs with BAM and if so, could they get him

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Speaker 1: without completely gutting their roster. I think he'd be a

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Speaker 1: much better fit than someone like Giannis, and his contract

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Speaker 1: is more modest too, So obviously bad news about the

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Speaker 1: Anthony Melton. I'm just as bummed for him as I

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Speaker 1: am for the Warriors, just because that guy's just had

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Speaker 1: a nightmare stretch of injury luck over the last couple

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Speaker 1: of years. But I'm not as concerned about it in

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Speaker 1: their rotation, because, yeah, you're right, d Anthony Melton might

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Speaker 1: have been the best two way guard next to stef

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Speaker 1: maybe in terms of his defensive ability and his ability

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Speaker 1: to shoot and make plays in action, but you're so

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Speaker 1: deep at the guard that I just am not worried

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Speaker 1: about it. There's just so many other guys that can

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Speaker 1: do that job. It's really the front court that where

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Speaker 1: I think that they could use a real talent upgrade.

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Speaker 1: Bam would be a like, literally a dream fit, but

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Speaker 1: I just think he's going to be way too expensive,

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Speaker 1: and I also doubt that Miami moves him in a rebuild.

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Speaker 1: Like to me, if Miami continues to spiral and they're

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Speaker 1: not doing that bad, they're six and seven and Eric

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Speaker 1: Spolstra have botched a game where they could easily be

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Speaker 1: above five hundred right now in an Eastern Conference that

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Speaker 1: doesn't have many above five hundred teams. But let's say

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Speaker 1: that they keep spiraling. I think even if the Heat

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Speaker 1: looks to rebuild, they would still rebuild around Bam. He

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Speaker 1: kind of feels like the heart and soul of the

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Speaker 1: franchise in a lot of ways. He plays a very

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Speaker 1: specific position that is an anchor on both ends, which

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Speaker 1: is like, he's the guy that can anchor a defense

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Speaker 1: at the five spot as a drop big and a

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Speaker 1: switch big in a rebounder, and then on the other

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Speaker 1: end of the floor. He's kind of like the quintessential

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Speaker 1: five out big in the sense that he's really good

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Speaker 1: at dribble handoff action at the top of the key.

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Speaker 1: So like, even with his offensive limitations, he's still a

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Speaker 1: really good fulcrum on the offensive end, and he's a

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Speaker 1: defensive anchor, and he's at the right age, still has

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Speaker 1: a long a lot of good basketball left. Have a

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Speaker 1: hard time believing that they're going to move on from Bam.

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Speaker 1: I also think that they're kind of betting that BAM's

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Speaker 1: development is a shooter in the long run, and a

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Speaker 1: guy like kell El Ware is like a stretch five

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Speaker 1: next to him, that they might be able to play

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Speaker 1: him at the four and have a bigger front line.

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Speaker 1: So I don't think BAM is the option. Now. I

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Speaker 1: talked about Jimmy Butler a little bit yesterday and I

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Speaker 1: had some Warriors fans complain, like, oh, you can't give

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Speaker 1: up Andrew Wiggins for Jimmy Butler. For the record, I

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Speaker 1: don't think you should do it unless you have to. Like,

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Speaker 1: if you have the opportunity to get a guy like

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler without including Andrew Wiggins, you do it ten

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Speaker 1: times out of ten. I mean, I'd imagine a lineup

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Speaker 1: with Steph Curry, and you know, I think you could.

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Speaker 1: You can maybe even consider getting away with a buddy

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Speaker 1: heeled in that lineup if you have Jimmy and Andrew

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Speaker 1: at the three four next to Draymond but Like, there's

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Speaker 1: a version of it where the Warriors just ask for

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Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins if you want to make that deal. Now,

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Speaker 1: the reason why I said I would consider it, Let's

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Speaker 1: take a little bit deeper. One. The Warriors have been

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Speaker 1: going big in the starting lineup anyway, so there's kind

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Speaker 1: of like this one spot for Ford, which is at

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Speaker 1: the three with Andrew Wiggins, right, And in the event

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Speaker 1: that you have to flip at Wiggins for Jimmy Butler,

429
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,199
Speaker 1: you still have Jonathan kaminga for when you go small, right,

430
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,120
Speaker 1: you can imagine a Jimmy Jonathan Draymond type of look

431
00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:15,280
Speaker 1: with Draymond at the five. Right. But I'm not saying

432
00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,080
Speaker 1: you flip Andrew Wiggins for Jimmy Butler right now. The

433
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:22,080
Speaker 1: Warriors are a trade at the deadline type of team.

434
00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:26,600
Speaker 1: Why because there's no version of this where they're desperate. Yeah,

435
00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,119
Speaker 1: I have the perfect deal fell into their lap right now.

436
00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:32,000
Speaker 1: I would expect them to jump on it. But that's

437
00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:34,800
Speaker 1: not how teams trade. Usually. Teams usually want to wait

438
00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:37,800
Speaker 1: till the deadline because they want to weaponize the market. Right.

439
00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:39,800
Speaker 1: They want to get multiple teams bidding to drive up

440
00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:42,320
Speaker 1: the price. Right, That's how that works. So when we

441
00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:44,639
Speaker 1: get to February, you make a call. At that point,

442
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:46,879
Speaker 1: we're going to know a lot in February. We're going

443
00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,760
Speaker 1: to know that Andrew Wiggins is either having a flashback

444
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:54,520
Speaker 1: season like twenty twenty two, or he's more or less

445
00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:56,399
Speaker 1: the same player than he was last year. Right, Like

446
00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:58,480
Speaker 1: we have this like roughly I can't remember how many

447
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:00,240
Speaker 1: games of Warriors to play, maybe fifteen at this point,

448
00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,880
Speaker 1: so you have like a roughly fifteen game sample. It's

449
00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:05,440
Speaker 1: a small sample still, but like when we get to Jane,

450
00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:07,720
Speaker 1: when we get to mid late January, we're gonna know,

451
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:10,600
Speaker 1: like this is Wiggins is back. We're in good shape.

452
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,080
Speaker 1: All right, let's do this. We're also gonna where Jimmy

453
00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:16,600
Speaker 1: Butler's at. He's been kind of rough to start this year, right,

454
00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:19,160
Speaker 1: but like we'll have a better idea of where Jimmy

455
00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,280
Speaker 1: Butler's at in mid January. So let's just paint a

456
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:27,199
Speaker 1: picture here for a second. Let's pretend that Jimmy Butler

457
00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:31,360
Speaker 1: looks great in mid January, like really starting to get

458
00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:33,760
Speaker 1: his legs back underneath him. He looks great, he looks healthy,

459
00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:36,760
Speaker 1: he looks ready to go. Let's say that the Heat

460
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:41,359
Speaker 1: are still foundering in the playing area around like the

461
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 1: seven eight seed, okay, and the Heat front office looks

462
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,439
Speaker 1: at the situation and they goes, they go, we can't

463
00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:52,760
Speaker 1: beat Boston. Maybe they get their butts kicked by Cleveland

464
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,440
Speaker 1: at some time around that uh, around that time too,

465
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,600
Speaker 1: And so then the Heat start to have some serious conversations,

466
00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:00,520
Speaker 1: and they're like, Okay, our best past way to kind

467
00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,040
Speaker 1: of resetting here is why don't we make a deal

468
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,920
Speaker 1: with Jimmy and let's say that the Warriors can pull

469
00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,040
Speaker 1: it off. And for the record, forget about Andrew Wiggins

470
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:10,560
Speaker 1: for a second. Let's just set him aside. Let's just

471
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,200
Speaker 1: say that the Warriors are able to make the deal

472
00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,880
Speaker 1: even without Andrew. But let's just say that they they're

473
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,119
Speaker 1: able to get Jimmy Butler. Okay, all I want you

474
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:21,040
Speaker 1: to think about is a big playoff game. Okay, don't

475
00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:23,600
Speaker 1: think about the regular season. As I talked about. As

476
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:25,720
Speaker 1: soon as they got those two wins against the Pelicans

477
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:27,919
Speaker 1: when Steph was out, I was all in on this

478
00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,320
Speaker 1: team as a regular season wins juggernaut. They're gonna win

479
00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:33,000
Speaker 1: a lot of regular season games because they're deep, they're fast,

480
00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,520
Speaker 1: they're well coached, they've got great leadership on the court

481
00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:37,480
Speaker 1: with Stephan Draymond. They're just gonna win a lot of

482
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,359
Speaker 1: regular season games. Okay, So we get to mid January,

483
00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:43,440
Speaker 1: you already know you're going to be a home court

484
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,320
Speaker 1: team in the first round, or more or less, that's

485
00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,200
Speaker 1: the trajectory you're on now. Just think about a big

486
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,000
Speaker 1: playoff series. I want you to think about a second

487
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 1: round series against the Dallas Mavericks. They've got it together,

488
00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:02,919
Speaker 1: Dallas Mavericks are cooking with their system with Clay Lucas,

489
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:07,240
Speaker 1: got his legs underneath him, Kyrie's hoopin, and it's a

490
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:11,119
Speaker 1: two to two series and you're going into Golden State

491
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,680
Speaker 1: for a pivotal game five or hell, you're in a

492
00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,159
Speaker 1: road game, whatever it is, big playoff game, big moment.

493
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,560
Speaker 1: I'd want Jimmy Butler out there with Steph. You get

494
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:29,440
Speaker 1: into those games and everyone's uncomfortable and everything's a rock

495
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:35,840
Speaker 1: fight and everything's nasty, and having a big, strong forward

496
00:23:36,359 --> 00:23:40,400
Speaker 1: who has an alpha dog mentality, who is highly versatile

497
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:44,120
Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor, a savage competitor that's

498
00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 1: going to bring it. You just know he's going to

499
00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:51,760
Speaker 1: bring it, A true foxhole guy that competitively will match

500
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,480
Speaker 1: Steph in those moments that could be the difference between

501
00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,400
Speaker 1: you getting the trophy and not getting the trophy. Flat out.

502
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 1: So I get it. Wiggins looks great, Jimmy looks old.

503
00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:06,480
Speaker 1: If they both look to this way in February, No

504
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 1: way I'm making that deal. I'm just saying you make

505
00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,320
Speaker 1: the call when you get to February. And if you

506
00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:15,000
Speaker 1: get to February and you look like a really good

507
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:17,560
Speaker 1: regular season team that just lacks some top end firepower,

508
00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:20,439
Speaker 1: and a certain type of player becomes available in this

509
00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,120
Speaker 1: case talking about a Jimmy Butler, I do think you've

510
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,639
Speaker 1: got to make that deal because that's the type of

511
00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:28,080
Speaker 1: deal that gives you the guy that you need next

512
00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 1: to Steph, next to Draymond, that can be a foxhole

513
00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:34,960
Speaker 1: guy in that big moment, and he's the like I

514
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,080
Speaker 1: wouldn't trade Wiggins for any other guy I wouldn't trade

515
00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 1: Wiggins for I don't think. I don't think Brandon Ingram

516
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:42,480
Speaker 1: is the guy that's good enough for a Wiggins deal.

517
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:44,960
Speaker 1: I don't think Levine is good enough for a Wiggins

518
00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,800
Speaker 1: deal with the way he's playing right now. But Jimmy's

519
00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,200
Speaker 1: the one guy where I'm like, we have routinely seen

520
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,879
Speaker 1: this guy when he is healthy in a playoff series.

521
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:57,320
Speaker 1: He is regularly outplayed players that are viewed as above

522
00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:00,959
Speaker 1: him in the NBA hierarchy. I just would want him.

523
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:02,960
Speaker 1: I'd want him in the battle with me if I

524
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:06,679
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to have him in that situation. The

525
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:08,879
Speaker 1: reason it's a mismatch is that speed gets slower and

526
00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:12,479
Speaker 1: size never gets smaller. Fatigue always favors the larger fighter

527
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,119
Speaker 1: or basketball player as long as they're at similar levels

528
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:19,400
Speaker 1: of fitness. So I actually don't think I agree with this.

529
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:21,359
Speaker 1: The thing with the fight is you're trapped in a

530
00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:23,359
Speaker 1: ring on a basketball court. There's just a lot of

531
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:27,040
Speaker 1: space to cover. And I actually tend to think that like, yes,

532
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,320
Speaker 1: the bigger team in a rock fight when everyone's tired,

533
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:33,560
Speaker 1: will have the advantage in the half court. But if

534
00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,040
Speaker 1: the faster team can spread you out and keep you

535
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: in transition, I think they can still do a lot

536
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,320
Speaker 1: of damage. And more or less, I just think they

537
00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:43,280
Speaker 1: are generally in better physical condition. Now, to your point,

538
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:46,800
Speaker 1: similar levels of fitness, that's fine, but they're faster and

539
00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,520
Speaker 1: so that they can have some success in transition. And

540
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,280
Speaker 1: so if you again, yeah, if you're the bigger team

541
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:54,199
Speaker 1: and you can keep things in the half court, I

542
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:56,040
Speaker 1: do agree with you. But I just think that it

543
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:57,919
Speaker 1: requires a certain type of big team, and a lot

544
00:25:57,960 --> 00:25:59,880
Speaker 1: of the big teams out there, teams like the six,

545
00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 1: they're they're just so slow in transition. It just doesn't matter, right, Hey, Jason,

546
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:07,280
Speaker 1: thoughts on the Magic winning six straight games. I thought

547
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,359
Speaker 1: after Palo went down they were toast, but Franz and

548
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:10,800
Speaker 1: the rest of the team seem to have stepped it

549
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:12,800
Speaker 1: up in a big way. Now, the Magic did lose

550
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,760
Speaker 1: to the Clippers on Wednesday night, but they won six

551
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,359
Speaker 1: in a row before that. Franz Wagner has been leading

552
00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:20,280
Speaker 1: the charge. His jumper has been a little better. Last

553
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:22,600
Speaker 1: year was at zero point eight three points per attempt.

554
00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,719
Speaker 1: This year it's at zero point ninety four. His passing

555
00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 1: and pick and roll has been awesome. He does a

556
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,600
Speaker 1: really nice job of like after he gets into you

557
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:32,960
Speaker 1: know that like elbow area, right, so like after he

558
00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,719
Speaker 1: comes off of the screen and he's you know in

559
00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:38,520
Speaker 1: that like between fifteen and twenty feet from the rim,

560
00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:41,719
Speaker 1: he slows down in there and he gets really methodical.

561
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:43,919
Speaker 1: And what ends up happening when he does that is

562
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,399
Speaker 1: like there's a guy dribbling with a live dribble, you know,

563
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:49,880
Speaker 1: in like around the paint. Close to the paint. There's

564
00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,480
Speaker 1: like an inherent like natural tendency of help defenders to

565
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:54,240
Speaker 1: kind of suck in. And he's just done a really

566
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:58,639
Speaker 1: nice job throwing rifles, kickout passes and generating good spot

567
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:02,480
Speaker 1: up opportunities. Again, like, the league average in spot ups

568
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:04,560
Speaker 1: is like something like it's like around like one point

569
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,320
Speaker 1: zero seven, one point zero eight points per possession, and

570
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:10,560
Speaker 1: in the half court a one oh seven one o

571
00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,600
Speaker 1: eight offensive rating is awesome compared to what most teams

572
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:15,000
Speaker 1: get in the half court. The majority of teams in

573
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:16,600
Speaker 1: the league don't even get a point per possession in

574
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,239
Speaker 1: the half court, right, So, like, he's just really good

575
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 1: at generating spot up opportunities by being methodical in the

576
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:23,879
Speaker 1: mid range and his ball screens. He's run one hundred

577
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:25,800
Speaker 1: and seventy ball screens this year that have amounted to

578
00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,720
Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy nine points. He's getting one point

579
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,399
Speaker 1: zero five points per possession out of the thirty players

580
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:32,920
Speaker 1: in the NBA that have run at least one hundred

581
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:36,480
Speaker 1: and fifty ball screens this year. That ranks eleventh, ahead

582
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,240
Speaker 1: of guys like Damian Lillard, K Cunningham, Donovan, Mitchell Franz

583
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,959
Speaker 1: is having an excellent shot creation season, and then Anthony

584
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:44,920
Speaker 1: Black is having a really nice season. Now, he's only

585
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:47,960
Speaker 1: shooting thirty two percent from three, but he's shooting forty

586
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,680
Speaker 1: two percent on unguarded catch and shoots, which is important

587
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:53,520
Speaker 1: because that's when you're open, right when the defense is

588
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:55,840
Speaker 1: playing off of you. And he's had some really important

589
00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:59,240
Speaker 1: threes this year, including a game winner. He's converting spot

590
00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:01,400
Speaker 1: ups even though he's shooting only thirty two percent from three,

591
00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:04,200
Speaker 1: he's converting spot ups at one point zero eight points

592
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,320
Speaker 1: per possession, which is a little bit above average, and

593
00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:08,119
Speaker 1: a big part of that is his closeout attacking. He's

594
00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:10,160
Speaker 1: a good athlete and once he gets his head of steam,

595
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,160
Speaker 1: I mean, his finger rolls damn near above the rim.

596
00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:15,480
Speaker 1: Like he's just a good athlete in that situation. But

597
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,160
Speaker 1: he's also just been a legitimate secondary creator. I remember,

598
00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:19,959
Speaker 1: I can't remember which game it was that I was watching,

599
00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:22,440
Speaker 1: it was the one where he hit the game winner,

600
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,359
Speaker 1: where earlier in the same fourth quarter, he ran like

601
00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,160
Speaker 1: a little ball screen with Wendell Carter Junior and came

602
00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:31,600
Speaker 1: off engaged the screen defender. Perfect pocket pass, easy bucket

603
00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:33,919
Speaker 1: in crunch time, and like he's been doing that all season.

604
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,680
Speaker 1: Just he's athletic enough to kind of really pressure the

605
00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:38,360
Speaker 1: rim when he's coming over the top of that screen,

606
00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,080
Speaker 1: and he just makes the basic passing raids that are available.

607
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:43,520
Speaker 1: He's run one hundred and eighteen ball screens this year,

608
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:46,280
Speaker 1: and he's over a point per possession. That's awesome for

609
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,400
Speaker 1: a young guard, especially one that coming into the draft

610
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:50,080
Speaker 1: was a guy that some guys had some some people

611
00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:52,800
Speaker 1: had some skill concerns about, right, But what has made

612
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:54,479
Speaker 1: the Magic be able to go on a six game

613
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:56,560
Speaker 1: winning streak without Pallow is the same thing that's made

614
00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 1: them great for the last two years, which is their

615
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:01,400
Speaker 1: defense and their rebounding. They've had a ninety six defensive reading.

616
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:03,320
Speaker 1: They had a ninety six defensive rating in the six

617
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:06,400
Speaker 1: game win streak. That's awesome. They grabbed fifty two percent

618
00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,520
Speaker 1: of available rebounds in that span, that's awesome. They did

619
00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:11,720
Speaker 1: a bunch of scoring in transition and off of turnovers.

620
00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:14,160
Speaker 1: They forced over seventeen turnovers per game in that six

621
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:16,200
Speaker 1: game win streak, So like that's their bread and butter,

622
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:18,960
Speaker 1: and then it's a high offensive floor brought by Franz

623
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:21,440
Speaker 1: and Anthony Black doing a good job and then scoring

624
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:23,600
Speaker 1: in transition off of those turnovers. They had a one

625
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:26,640
Speaker 1: to fifteen offensive rating over that six game span. That's

626
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,560
Speaker 1: pretty solid being down your best offensive player. Right, I'm

627
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,480
Speaker 1: actually really worried about the Lakers tonight again. By the

628
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:34,040
Speaker 1: time you guys hear this, this game will be over

629
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:35,920
Speaker 1: and will know what happened, and hopefully the Lakers can

630
00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:38,160
Speaker 1: pull it out. They're favored, so maybe they can get

631
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,200
Speaker 1: it done anyway. But this is the type of team

632
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,080
Speaker 1: that always has given the Lakers problems. Really athletic guards

633
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 1: that can ball pressure d Loo and Austin and make

634
00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,360
Speaker 1: them uncomfortable picking them up full court, just bogging down

635
00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:50,880
Speaker 1: the Lakers' offense with ball pressure, which is something that

636
00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,400
Speaker 1: has happened all season. They have a lot of bigger

637
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:57,040
Speaker 1: front court players that can switch Lebron ad action, So

638
00:29:57,200 --> 00:30:00,280
Speaker 1: like that sort of switching has always caused problems for

639
00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 1: the Lakers. Now, with Palo being out and Wendell Carter

640
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:05,320
Speaker 1: Junior did not play against the Clippers in the in

641
00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,640
Speaker 1: the the first front half of the back to back,

642
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:09,960
Speaker 1: he might he might end up playing in the Laker game.

643
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:12,200
Speaker 1: We'll see, But like, maybe they're down too many bodies

644
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:13,480
Speaker 1: in the front court and it'll just be a little

645
00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: bit easier for the Lakers to get some drible penetration

646
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,320
Speaker 1: in their screening actions. But I'm worried about the magic

647
00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:20,520
Speaker 1: our team that force a lot of turnovers. They pressure

648
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:22,440
Speaker 1: the ball well, and they get out in transition, and like,

649
00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:24,440
Speaker 1: what are the two main weak points for the Lakers.

650
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:28,760
Speaker 1: They're like guard athleticism in transition and guard athleticism handling

651
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:31,560
Speaker 1: ball pressure. And so like, I'm worried about the Lakers tonight.

652
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:33,280
Speaker 1: Hopefully they can get the win, but that that's the

653
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,920
Speaker 1: type of matchup, that problem that the Orlando Magic can present.

654
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,280
Speaker 1: And again, like this is just I think they're I

655
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,560
Speaker 1: think they're on a really good trajectory because they're just

656
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:43,640
Speaker 1: super talented. Franz is having a better season than he

657
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,840
Speaker 1: did last year. Pallow was playing great before he got hurt,

658
00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:49,440
Speaker 1: and he will eventually be back. They've got sized, they've

659
00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:53,080
Speaker 1: got defense, They've they're they're they're serious basketball team and

660
00:30:53,120 --> 00:31:09,960
Speaker 1: a real threat I think in the Eastern Conference. Hey, Jason,

661
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:11,920
Speaker 1: love the show. I think a great trade for the

662
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,400
Speaker 1: Lakers would be to somehow get Cam Johnson and Dorian

663
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:16,360
Speaker 1: Finney Smith out of Brooklyn. It would solve their shooting

664
00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:18,880
Speaker 1: and athleticism issues. What do you think that would take?

665
00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:22,880
Speaker 1: I you know, I'm kind of zeroed in on the

666
00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,000
Speaker 1: three as the upgrade now too. It's it's ironic because

667
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,200
Speaker 1: Originally I was zeroed in on the two. I was like, well,

668
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,560
Speaker 1: you know, Rui's your three, Austin's your one. Just put

669
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:34,720
Speaker 1: a really good athlete at the two. But the rise

670
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:37,960
Speaker 1: of Dalton connect has changed my opinion on this. I

671
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,479
Speaker 1: think the ultimate version of this team is Dalton as

672
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:44,840
Speaker 1: a starter. I like Dalton as a starter for several reasons. One,

673
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:47,640
Speaker 1: he is an off ball score, meaning like he doesn't

674
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:49,480
Speaker 1: need the ball in his hands to be a real

675
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:51,000
Speaker 1: threat on the offensive end of the four, which is

676
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:53,280
Speaker 1: important because the Lakers run a lot of their offense

677
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:55,880
Speaker 1: in the starting group through Austin and Lebron and even

678
00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:58,880
Speaker 1: through ad In like post ups and like high post stuff. Right,

679
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:02,600
Speaker 1: So Dalton is an off ball score that compliments them perfectly.

680
00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:04,760
Speaker 1: Two terms of the defensive end of the floor, I

681
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,200
Speaker 1: want Dalton playing with the highest IQ defensive players on

682
00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:10,880
Speaker 1: the court because that'll just make for an easier defensive

683
00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,520
Speaker 1: role for him, right, So, I think that makes a

684
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:16,800
Speaker 1: part makes a good amount of sense. Three, he's super athletic,

685
00:32:17,080 --> 00:32:19,960
Speaker 1: right and so in the event that like let's say,

686
00:32:19,960 --> 00:32:22,200
Speaker 1: for instance, that you get a Dorian Finney Smith at

687
00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:25,080
Speaker 1: the three, then you're running out of lineup that has

688
00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:28,000
Speaker 1: Dorian Finney Smith, Dalton, connect Lebron, James Anthony Davis. Now

689
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,040
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves is your fifth best athlete in the lineup.

690
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:34,000
Speaker 1: When he's your fifth best athlete in the lineup, you're

691
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,480
Speaker 1: an athletic team. If he's your third best athlete in

692
00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:38,920
Speaker 1: the lineup, you're not a very athletic team, right, which

693
00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:40,160
Speaker 1: is some of the issues that they've had over the

694
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,360
Speaker 1: last couple of years. And so to me, like originally

695
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,440
Speaker 1: I was thinking between Ruey and Dilo, ruis the better

696
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,200
Speaker 1: player and a better fit with the starter, So like,

697
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:51,720
Speaker 1: why don't we just go Ruey and then we'll find

698
00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:54,120
Speaker 1: somebody that's an athlete to fill in at the two, right,

699
00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,360
Speaker 1: And by the way, that was the decision that JJ

700
00:32:56,440 --> 00:32:58,720
Speaker 1: Reddick made with the rotation right bringing in a Cam

701
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 1: Reddish into that spot. But now that I see Dalton

702
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:03,280
Speaker 1: as kind of the shoe in starter at the two

703
00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,480
Speaker 1: in the long run, now I'm thinking, like the even

704
00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:10,640
Speaker 1: post Lebron, post Lebron, you're looking at Austin Dalton ad

705
00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:13,200
Speaker 1: as the foundation of the franchise, right, So like it's

706
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:15,840
Speaker 1: forwards that you're looking at as upgrades. And to me,

707
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:20,280
Speaker 1: like Jared Vanderbilt is very much a theoretical player at

708
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:22,200
Speaker 1: this point. Got another report that he's gonna be out

709
00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:23,959
Speaker 1: at least another two weeks the other day. So, like

710
00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:28,160
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt's got a long way to go. But as

711
00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:31,400
Speaker 1: far as as far as like a cam Reddish goes,

712
00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:35,040
Speaker 1: there's severe offensive limitations. I also don't think he's necessarily

713
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:37,920
Speaker 1: big enough to be the three. I prefer him kind

714
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,959
Speaker 1: of playing at the two. Jared Vanderbilt, he's I think

715
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:43,200
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt is the right decision when he gets healthy

716
00:33:43,200 --> 00:33:45,120
Speaker 1: for the starters, like if I was coaching the Lakers,

717
00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:48,960
Speaker 1: and eventually, like I think, I think what JJ's doing

718
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,840
Speaker 1: makes sense to me, like going Austin cam Ruey for

719
00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:54,520
Speaker 1: the short term, but then when Jared Vanderbilt's healthy, I

720
00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:58,000
Speaker 1: would go Austin Dalton Van do again. I think Jared

721
00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:01,880
Speaker 1: Vanderbilt he's surrounded by incredible offensive talent which can make

722
00:34:01,960 --> 00:34:05,040
Speaker 1: up for his offensive limitations, and Dalton is surrounded by

723
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,920
Speaker 1: incredible defensive talent that can make up for his defensive limitations. Also,

724
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:11,680
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, a very athletic group like Dalton

725
00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:14,520
Speaker 1: Vando lebron A d is an absurdly athletic two through five,

726
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:16,440
Speaker 1: So like that makes some sense to me. I think

727
00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:20,160
Speaker 1: that would be like again, short term cam Ruey Vando

728
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:24,439
Speaker 1: gets healthy Dalton vand do long term upgrade at the three,

729
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:28,280
Speaker 1: it goes Austin Dalton. Whoever that future three is Lebron

730
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:30,880
Speaker 1: and Ad Dorian Phinney Smith would be a perfect example

731
00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:33,960
Speaker 1: for me. He's like a stereotypical defensive three. He's a

732
00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:36,400
Speaker 1: very basic offensive player in terms of like shooting and

733
00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:38,840
Speaker 1: driving closeouts, which I think makes some sense in that

734
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:41,520
Speaker 1: Laker starting group because again one of the important things

735
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,840
Speaker 1: about Dalton. Dalton is a legitimate threat coming off of

736
00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:48,120
Speaker 1: screens that is going to grab a show, meaning like

737
00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:49,880
Speaker 1: when he comes off the screen, the screen defender is

738
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:52,680
Speaker 1: gonna have to show on him. We've already seen a

739
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,880
Speaker 1: lot of opportunity for Ad in particular to get open

740
00:34:56,160 --> 00:34:58,279
Speaker 1: off of those actions and to get switches where he

741
00:34:58,320 --> 00:35:00,120
Speaker 1: gets smaller defenders on. I did a whole break on

742
00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:02,160
Speaker 1: the Lakers offense and the Thursday Show that I recommend

743
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,920
Speaker 1: you guys check out. But like to me, Dalton's offensive

744
00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:07,719
Speaker 1: ability to fly off of a screen and make a

745
00:35:07,719 --> 00:35:10,880
Speaker 1: play makes it less important for the three man to

746
00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:12,239
Speaker 1: be the kind of guy that can fly off of

747
00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:13,880
Speaker 1: the screen and make a play. So like, to me,

748
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,120
Speaker 1: Dorian Phinney Smith makes a lot of sense. I think,

749
00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:18,000
Speaker 1: you know, Cam Johnson would be interesting. But like, I

750
00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:21,160
Speaker 1: still really like Dennis Schroeder. Like I've always liked Dennis.

751
00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:23,480
Speaker 1: He's a good ball, pressure player. He brings something to

752
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:25,160
Speaker 1: that the Lakers don't really have, which is a guard

753
00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:26,719
Speaker 1: that can beat people off the dribble, which I think

754
00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:28,680
Speaker 1: would be really helpful. So like I think I'd look

755
00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:31,399
Speaker 1: for more of like a Dennis Dorian Phinney Smith type

756
00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:34,120
Speaker 1: of upgrade. I think Dennis Schroder would be a massive

757
00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:36,880
Speaker 1: upgrade over at Gabe Vincent for instance, which I was

758
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,040
Speaker 1: wrong about when they went after Gabe instead of Dennis.

759
00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:41,440
Speaker 1: Mind you, Gabe was a different player in Miami than

760
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:44,480
Speaker 1: he was with the Lakers. But Gabe I thought Gabe

761
00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:46,400
Speaker 1: was an upgrade over Dennis. I was wrong. Dennis is

762
00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:48,759
Speaker 1: a better player. He'd be an upgrade. So, like, the

763
00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,080
Speaker 1: Nets are gonna be fire sailing people, And if they

764
00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:53,080
Speaker 1: were able to get Dorian Phinney Smith and a guy

765
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:54,920
Speaker 1: like Dennis, then it starts to make sense to me

766
00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:57,600
Speaker 1: where you can kind of see a rotation where it's like, Okay,

767
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:01,959
Speaker 1: we have Austin Dalton dfs, yes, Lebron ad the bench

768
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:05,600
Speaker 1: group is you know, you have Dennis leading the bench group.

769
00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:08,360
Speaker 1: It's hard to tell who goes out in a trade

770
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:10,439
Speaker 1: like that, but let's say it's Dennis. Let's say it's

771
00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:14,680
Speaker 1: Max Ruy, you know, Jackson Hayes or Christian Kolocos. You'r

772
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:16,719
Speaker 1: a nine man rotation, right, So, like, I think that

773
00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:19,920
Speaker 1: kind of tends to make more sense in terms of

774
00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:23,120
Speaker 1: the strengths and weaknesses of the team. Hello, Jason, can

775
00:36:23,160 --> 00:36:26,080
Speaker 1: you please explain your preference for offensive Swish army knifs

776
00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:28,960
Speaker 1: that average thirty points per game versus defensive juggernauts that

777
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,319
Speaker 1: average thirty points a game. Personally, I prefer what Ad

778
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:33,319
Speaker 1: and Yannis bring to the table versus what Luka and

779
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:35,799
Speaker 1: Jokic bring. I find more value in players that can

780
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:38,920
Speaker 1: score while single handedly anchoring a defense, especially in the

781
00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:40,319
Speaker 1: case of Ad, where he makes one of the worst

782
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,919
Speaker 1: defenses in the league competitive just by virtue of being

783
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,480
Speaker 1: on the floor while putting up thirty eleven in three.

784
00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:47,400
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for the content, and please ignore us

785
00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:51,000
Speaker 1: Warriors fans. It'll be better for your mental health. Again, overwhelmingly,

786
00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:53,160
Speaker 1: you guys are positive. I've done a bad job of

787
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:55,719
Speaker 1: shining too much of a light on the negativity. That's

788
00:36:55,719 --> 00:36:58,120
Speaker 1: not gonna happen anymore. I do appreciate you guys. So,

789
00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:01,360
Speaker 1: first of all, there's no exact science. I personally believe

790
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:06,919
Speaker 1: that I'd rather have the offensive like just surgical half

791
00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:09,520
Speaker 1: court shot creator because I believe it's easier as a

792
00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:12,000
Speaker 1: coaching staff and as a front office to make up

793
00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:15,840
Speaker 1: for defensive stuff elsewhere. Right, Like, are a lot of

794
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:18,480
Speaker 1: these guys that are Anthony Davis and Giannis, They end

795
00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:21,520
Speaker 1: up having to cover for a week defensive players anyway, Right,

796
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:24,440
Speaker 1: So Like, it's okay for your star to be that

797
00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:26,759
Speaker 1: weak defensive player if he's anchored by a ton of

798
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 1: defensive talent, as long as he does his job. Right,

799
00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:34,680
Speaker 1: that's the key. Right, Both archetypes have won. Anthony Davis

800
00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:39,479
Speaker 1: and Yannis are champions. Nikole jokicch and Steph Curry are champions. Right,

801
00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:42,120
Speaker 1: But what I do think is fascinating is the Hardin

802
00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:45,600
Speaker 1: and Luca types have not won a championship yet. And

803
00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:48,080
Speaker 1: the reason why, in my opinion, is the offensive guys.

804
00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:51,080
Speaker 1: The Steph and the Jokic types. They at least did

805
00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:53,920
Speaker 1: their job on defense. They competed on defense, they just

806
00:37:53,960 --> 00:38:00,359
Speaker 1: had athletical limitations. They won the title being solid defensive players, right,

807
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:03,239
Speaker 1: So like that's really the key, but there is no

808
00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:06,560
Speaker 1: exact science. I have my personal preference. The reason why

809
00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:08,720
Speaker 1: I believe it is because I think I can anchor

810
00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:12,279
Speaker 1: a good offensive player through good coaching and management at

811
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:15,799
Speaker 1: the in the front office. Right. But I mean, I'm

812
00:38:15,800 --> 00:38:18,799
Speaker 1: not saying you're wrong necessarily because there's versions of it

813
00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:20,759
Speaker 1: where Ad and Giannis have won, and so it really

814
00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:23,000
Speaker 1: is a matter of personal preference. And by the way,

815
00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:24,960
Speaker 1: this is one of the things that frustrates me as

816
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 1: far as like the guy's doing their job, like Stefan

817
00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:29,640
Speaker 1: yokis doing their job. There's this thing that happens in

818
00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:32,000
Speaker 1: the NBA where it's like a guy gets better at

819
00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:34,400
Speaker 1: something and then wins, and then everyone goes like you

820
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:36,640
Speaker 1: owe him an apology, and it's like he won because

821
00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:41,120
Speaker 1: he changed, Right, Like that's that's the difference, right when Luke,

822
00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:44,719
Speaker 1: I think Luca will eventually win a title. He's not

823
00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:46,719
Speaker 1: my favorite player, but I think he's too freaking good.

824
00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:49,200
Speaker 1: Like I think I think Luca's gonna win a title eventually.

825
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:53,200
Speaker 1: When he does, he will defend better, he'll be in

826
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:55,239
Speaker 1: better shape, and he'll work harder on the defensive end.

827
00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:57,279
Speaker 1: He'll be less of a sive compared to what he's

828
00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:59,680
Speaker 1: been in the past. So what'll be funny is Luca

829
00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:02,680
Speaker 1: will win and then everyone will be like, oh, everyone

830
00:39:02,680 --> 00:39:06,359
Speaker 1: owes Luca an apology. He proved everybody wrong. Where are

831
00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:08,840
Speaker 1: the haters now? And it's gonna be like, actually, the

832
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:12,520
Speaker 1: haters were right because Luca did need to improve on defense,

833
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:14,560
Speaker 1: and he did eventually improve on defense, and now he

834
00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:16,719
Speaker 1: has the trophy, right, Like I can already just see

835
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,000
Speaker 1: it happening. Luca. Eventually he's gonna win, and he's gonna

836
00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:21,880
Speaker 1: win because he's improved. And then everybody who was critical

837
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:23,600
Speaker 1: in the past is gonna get criticism, which doesn't make

838
00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:25,640
Speaker 1: any sense to me. I two more and then we're

839
00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:27,759
Speaker 1: out here. This first one's a double to mail. That

840
00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:30,440
Speaker 1: question is from a pure entertainment standpoint. Who do you

841
00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:33,440
Speaker 1: think are the five most exciting players and teams to watch?

842
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:35,680
Speaker 1: And two? What do you think about Daron Fox's breakout

843
00:39:35,680 --> 00:39:38,359
Speaker 1: games this weekend and his overall outlook So Okay, five

844
00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:42,799
Speaker 1: most exciting players, no particular order. Steph Curry. I just

845
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:47,040
Speaker 1: love his combination of skilled, motor and competitiveness. Anthony Edwards

846
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:50,120
Speaker 1: after the Lebron' Steph era, He's gonna be my favorite player.

847
00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:52,680
Speaker 1: I can just already tell. I love how psycho competitor

848
00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:55,400
Speaker 1: he is. I love just the athleticism. I find him

849
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,439
Speaker 1: to be a very aesthetically appealing player. Kyrie Irving still

850
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,759
Speaker 1: to me, like just just amazing the show that he

851
00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:03,719
Speaker 1: put on in that Warriors game that I covered last week.

852
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:05,719
Speaker 1: Just his shot making still is one of the most

853
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:08,759
Speaker 1: aesthetically appealing players in the league. Lebron James is still

854
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:10,680
Speaker 1: someone that I really enjoy watching. I think he's just

855
00:40:10,719 --> 00:40:13,880
Speaker 1: a showman. He's got a gift for just being an

856
00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:17,480
Speaker 1: entertaining player to watch. Also, like it just feels surreal

857
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:20,600
Speaker 1: to me to watch Lebron. I Like, I have a

858
00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:23,960
Speaker 1: friends giving thing tonight, so I can't watch the Magic game.

859
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:27,760
Speaker 1: But like there's I'm so thankful that like seventy times

860
00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:29,920
Speaker 1: this year and I get to watch the games in

861
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:32,160
Speaker 1: the morning for my job, right, But like it's funner

862
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:33,759
Speaker 1: to watch it as a fan live, Like that's kind

863
00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:35,760
Speaker 1: of the other thing we talked earlier about the schedule.

864
00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:37,759
Speaker 1: One of the reasons why I like working in the

865
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:40,200
Speaker 1: morning too is in addition to being able to put

866
00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:42,680
Speaker 1: on a more detailed show, it also allows me to

867
00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:46,239
Speaker 1: watch more as a fan the night of right. But like,

868
00:40:47,239 --> 00:40:49,839
Speaker 1: every time I sit down and like watch a Laker game,

869
00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:52,040
Speaker 1: I'm like, I just feel lucky. I'm like, it's the

870
00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:54,879
Speaker 1: year twenty twenty four, it's about to be twenty twenty five,

871
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:57,440
Speaker 1: and we still get to watch Lebron James play like

872
00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:01,200
Speaker 1: serious basketball, Like it just feels like historic to even

873
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:04,120
Speaker 1: be watching it. And then John Morant, specifically when he's

874
00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:07,799
Speaker 1: in Memphis, he just is such a showman. It just

875
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,360
Speaker 1: it feels like every time John Morant plays in Memphis,

876
00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:12,879
Speaker 1: it's like an event and like you're gonna get four

877
00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:16,080
Speaker 1: to five ridiculous highlights. He's gonna light the crowd on

878
00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:19,600
Speaker 1: fire an additional ten times. John Moran's in that top

879
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:22,360
Speaker 1: five for me as far as teams, Celtics and Warriors

880
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:25,480
Speaker 1: because they run really beautiful modern basketball concepts that I enjoy.

881
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:28,600
Speaker 1: Specifically the Celtics I really grew to appreciate over about

882
00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:31,720
Speaker 1: the second half of last season. The Lakers on offense.

883
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:34,480
Speaker 1: They're my favorite team obviously, so that's part of it.

884
00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:37,440
Speaker 1: But two, they run a really pretty brand of offense.

885
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:41,640
Speaker 1: I did a video breakdown in the show on Thursday

886
00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:47,000
Speaker 1: where like, they generated seventeen easy shots easy makes in

887
00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:50,080
Speaker 1: the second half just with awesome ball in player movement.

888
00:41:50,880 --> 00:41:53,800
Speaker 1: I find their offense to be very visually appealing Nuggets,

889
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:56,200
Speaker 1: same sort of thing. I think Mike Malone does a

890
00:41:56,239 --> 00:41:58,840
Speaker 1: lot of really fascinating stuff to capitalize on Jokic double

891
00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:01,120
Speaker 1: teams and just how they are with their cuts in

892
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:05,080
Speaker 1: their spacing. And then lastly the Suns when KD was healthy,

893
00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:06,920
Speaker 1: I thought they were playing a fun brand of basketball.

894
00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:09,320
Speaker 1: KD was playing incredible on both ends of the floor.

895
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:11,239
Speaker 1: They were kind of surgical in the half court at

896
00:42:11,239 --> 00:42:13,440
Speaker 1: the end of games, and the shot making is always

897
00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:15,600
Speaker 1: really pretty with that group. So those are my five

898
00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:18,799
Speaker 1: most exciting players and teams in no particular order. And

899
00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:20,760
Speaker 1: then Darren Fox. I had him in my top twenty

900
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:24,120
Speaker 1: five this year. I had him over Kyrie, And one

901
00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:25,720
Speaker 1: of the big reasons why I had him over Kyrie

902
00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:28,120
Speaker 1: is like I just trust him as a Number one

903
00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:30,080
Speaker 1: to be able to generate more rim pressure and more

904
00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:32,160
Speaker 1: quality shots for his team over the course of the game,

905
00:42:32,239 --> 00:42:35,719
Speaker 1: and he's really taken off over the course of more

906
00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:38,239
Speaker 1: than just this last year with a jump shot, and

907
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:39,600
Speaker 1: it kind of reminds me of some of the stuff

908
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:43,200
Speaker 1: with Aunt, where it's like, when you combine true elite

909
00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:48,880
Speaker 1: downhill athleticism with elite jump shooting, you become incredibly difficult

910
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:52,400
Speaker 1: to guard. And I think that he's just kind of

911
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:55,480
Speaker 1: entering a point right now where he kind of everything's

912
00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:57,799
Speaker 1: coming together for him and he's becoming a little bit

913
00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:00,480
Speaker 1: on the unguardable side, and he's on a pretty fun trajectory.

914
00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:02,880
Speaker 1: Darren Fox has become a really great player in this league.

915
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:05,600
Speaker 1: Last question. Look as bad as the MAVs record is,

916
00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:08,800
Speaker 1: they are still top ten in both offensive and defensive rating.

917
00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:11,239
Speaker 1: What's the unwritten rule? Teams that are in the top

918
00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:13,840
Speaker 1: ten are in both our contenders MAVs are just like

919
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:15,960
Speaker 1: the Bengals, slow start, but trust me, by the end

920
00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:17,399
Speaker 1: of the season, they're going to be a threat. PS.

921
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:19,040
Speaker 1: I know the Bengals aren't doing good this year, laughing

922
00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:21,399
Speaker 1: my ass off. I have a feeling this year's MAVs

923
00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:23,040
Speaker 1: are going to look a lot like last year's MAVs.

924
00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:26,120
Speaker 1: It's going to be more because of health and continuity

925
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:28,440
Speaker 1: as opposed to the trade market. But I think they're

926
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:29,600
Speaker 1: going to have to go on a run at the

927
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:31,040
Speaker 1: tail end of the season, and that's kind of what

928
00:43:31,080 --> 00:43:32,600
Speaker 1: I expect. I expect them to be one of those

929
00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:36,040
Speaker 1: teams that wins like twenty two of their last thirty

930
00:43:36,080 --> 00:43:39,080
Speaker 1: games and goes into the playoffs as a serious threat.

931
00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:41,719
Speaker 1: They're a team that, like you do, I think they

932
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:43,880
Speaker 1: can win a championship without getting an up or seed.

933
00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:46,520
Speaker 1: Probably not just because that's what NBA history tells us,

934
00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:49,720
Speaker 1: but I do view them as a substantial playoff threat,

935
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:52,760
Speaker 1: and no awkward start is going to change my opinion

936
00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:54,880
Speaker 1: on that. A lot of this is just Luca has

937
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:57,759
Speaker 1: been hurt, he's hurt again, and Klay Thompson is a

938
00:43:57,800 --> 00:43:59,520
Speaker 1: different type of piece, a lot of different types of

939
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:03,040
Speaker 1: pieces that or incorporating, which takes time to build dot continuity.

940
00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:05,600
Speaker 1: All right, guys, that's all have for today. I always

941
00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:07,919
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show.

942
00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:10,440
Speaker 1: We'd be back on Monday with power rankings. I will

943
00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:16,440
Speaker 1: see you guys then the volume. What's up guys. As always,

944
00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:19,480
Speaker 1: I appreciate you for listening to and supporting OOPS tonight.

945
00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:21,600
Speaker 1: It would actually be really helpful for us if you

946
00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:24,319
Speaker 1: guys would take a second and leave a rating and

947
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:26,520
Speaker 1: a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us,

948
00:44:26,560 --> 00:44:28,000
Speaker 1: but if you could take a minute to do that,

949
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:29,520
Speaker 1: I'd really appreciate it.