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Speaker 1: to Hoops to Night. You're at the volume heavy Friday. Everybody,
Speaker 1: Hope ball. If you guys have had a great week
Speaker 1: so far, got a jampackshow for you today. It is
Speaker 1: a mail bag day. Got about a dozen questions. We're
Speaker 1: me going all around the league. Thank you to those
Speaker 1: of you guys who submitted questions. You guys are the
Speaker 1: job before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops to
Speaker 1: Night YouTube channels. You don't miss any more of these videos.
Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore JCNLT so you guys
Speaker 1: don't misshow announcements don't forget about our podcast feed. Wherever
Speaker 1: you get your post under Hoops Tonight, don't forget. It's
Speaker 1: also helpful if you leave a rating and a review
Speaker 1: on that front. Also, we have brand new social media
Speaker 1: feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for the Hoops Tonight
Speaker 1: channel where we're going to be releasing some reels and
Speaker 1: stuff like that. To make sure you guys follow those feeds.
Speaker 1: And the last, but not least, if you want to get
Speaker 1: a mailbag question into our mailbags that we do on
Speaker 1: Friday and occasionally an additional time during the week, we
Speaker 1: drop them in the YouTube comments. Make sure you get
Speaker 1: the questions there and we'll hit them at least every Friday.
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. First question, Hey, Jason,
Speaker 1: I'm a longtime listener and a few times recently it
Speaker 1: feels like the mail bag has become responding to crybabies
Speaker 1: instead of answering thoughtful questions, having unique conversations, etc. You
Speaker 1: don't need to defend yourself against people aren't listening to
Speaker 1: the show or delusional fans. Maybe using it to touch
Speaker 1: on some younger, less talked about teams would be cool.
Speaker 1: To love what you do. Man. First of all, thank
Speaker 1: you for the kind words and the support. You're absolutely right,
Speaker 1: and I owe you guys better than that. I shouldn't
Speaker 1: be stooping to the level of responding to people that
Speaker 1: are either trolls or people that are having arguments and
Speaker 1: bad faith, and so I'm going to do a much
Speaker 1: better job. I appreciate you calling me out on it.
Speaker 1: You're right, I got to do better. I think you're right.
Speaker 1: This mail bag should be more for getting into some
Speaker 1: of the younger teams that we don't talk about as much,
Speaker 1: talking about big picture basketball concepts, and getting to those
Speaker 1: of you guys who have well meaning, well thought out questions.
Speaker 1: So you guys have my word. I'll do better again.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you calling me out on it. Next question, Hey, Jason,
Speaker 1: I've been watching since the beginning. I have a little complaint,
Speaker 1: and I know real life gets busy, but it seems
Speaker 1: like we aren't getting as many videos as we did
Speaker 1: last season. Last season, it felt like every night there
Speaker 1: would be a quick reaction video. So far this season
Speaker 1: there have been days with no videos. I just appreciate
Speaker 1: your videos, brother, You're doing great. Just a fan complaint,
Speaker 1: so I was just curious because I feel like, all
Speaker 1: I do is work, but obviously I want to hear
Speaker 1: you guys out, so I just dug into it. Tomorrow
Speaker 1: is one month since the start of the season, or I
Speaker 1: should say today, since it's airing on Friday. I'm recording
Speaker 1: this on Thursday. But today, this Friday, represents exactly one
Speaker 1: month since the start of the season. And I went
Speaker 1: and looked, and we've done twenty four full episodes, which
Speaker 1: means we're going more than once more than five times
Speaker 1: a week. The general rule of thumb is in a month,
Speaker 1: if you do if you work twenty two days, you're
Speaker 1: working on average five days a week. Right, So like
Speaker 1: we're going over five days a week, which is pretty
Speaker 1: much in line with what we do during the regular season.
Speaker 1: Right Generally speaking, we're going to release five new episodes
Speaker 1: on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then usually about
Speaker 1: one night a week, I'm going to pick a primetime
Speaker 1: game and do an instant reaction, which we've done about
Speaker 1: five times this season. Now, you're right. The very first season,
Speaker 1: when I first started with the volume, we were going
Speaker 1: every night. It was a nightly show, but obviously we
Speaker 1: transitioned into hitting the big games, but having the shows
Speaker 1: during the day, which I prefer because then I get
Speaker 1: to really pour over the film. Like my opinion is
Speaker 1: that the show is better in its current format because
Speaker 1: I can really dig into the film methodically and meticulously
Speaker 1: and give you guys better information. Even in the playoffs
Speaker 1: when we go every night, I also go almost every
Speaker 1: day because even though we're going every night and that's
Speaker 1: the instant reaction and capitalizing on the urgency, I also
Speaker 1: just need to watch the film. That's something that is
Speaker 1: very important to me. It's been like that since I
Speaker 1: played in college. It's just what you do. It's just
Speaker 1: I like pouring over the film the day after the game. So, like,
Speaker 1: the general thing you can expect from me on the
Speaker 1: show is that from about the beginning of October usually
Speaker 1: it's like mid September because I do so much season
Speaker 1: preview content. From about the middle of September to about
Speaker 1: the middle of April, you can count on me for
Speaker 1: Monday through Friday, five days a week, plus about one
Speaker 1: nightly show a week, usually geared around a big national
Speaker 1: TV game. Then from the mid April to mid June,
Speaker 1: you guys can count on me to go basically every
Speaker 1: night and every day. Like those of you guys who've
Speaker 1: been around during the playoffs, you know what it's like
Speaker 1: we do. Last year, we averaged about like twelve brand
Speaker 1: new episodes per week during the playoffs. Then after that,
Speaker 1: during free agency, in Summer League and the trade market
Speaker 1: and all that stuff, I go down to about five
Speaker 1: days a week, and then in that August September stretch,
Speaker 1: I'm going to go down to about three days a
Speaker 1: week because it's the summer and that's when I'm going
Speaker 1: to take a break. But that's been the cadence we've
Speaker 1: been following for the last couple of years, and that's
Speaker 1: pretty much what you can expect from the Channel moving forward.
Speaker 1: But I understand, I know you just I know. I
Speaker 1: just wanted to kind of dig into it, make sure
Speaker 1: I was giving you guys what you guys expect from
Speaker 1: me on the channel. Next question, Piston super fan here.
Speaker 1: I believe the Pistons have hit on multiple draft picks
Speaker 1: over the last three to four years and that cad
Speaker 1: Ivy Duran is a good core to build around. We
Speaker 1: have tried to be young and fun and ended up
Speaker 1: being one of the worst teams in NBA history. We're
Speaker 1: now trying to add some playable vets and win, but
Speaker 1: will likely waffle under five hundred this year. All star
Speaker 1: caliber free agents do not want to come to Detroit.
Speaker 1: So what would be your suggestion? Suggestion? What would your
Speaker 1: suggestion be to build this team without getting outrageously lucky
Speaker 1: in the draft? Thanks love the show. Longtime listener, Again,
Speaker 1: thank you for the kind words and for supporting the show.
Speaker 1: A couple of things. First of all, I want get
Speaker 1: too hung up on this year's results. As of right
Speaker 1: now Thursday, when I'm recording this, you guys are the
Speaker 1: sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. I think if I
Speaker 1: told you that coming into the season, given what we
Speaker 1: expected out of teams like Philly and Milwaukee and Indiana,
Speaker 1: you'd probably be pretty stoked about being up at number six,
Speaker 1: two out the gates. The schedule was really tough, and
Speaker 1: you drop some games, but you've been a pretty serious
Speaker 1: basketball team since then. I've watched about three or four
Speaker 1: Pistons games, and when I watch them, they look big,
Speaker 1: they look athletic, and they've got some smart young shot
Speaker 1: creators and some talent that could pan out in the
Speaker 1: long run. Even with that being the case, even with
Speaker 1: me admitting and pointing out that I think that the
Speaker 1: Pistons are having a pretty successful season to start. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't get too hung up on this year's results. This
Speaker 1: kind of goes back to some of the concept that
Speaker 1: I've gone with with a bunch of different teams that
Speaker 1: I've talked about over the last few years, in the
Speaker 1: sense that you stand to gain a lot through natural
Speaker 1: improvement over the years, right, like Jade and Ivy showing
Speaker 1: a lot more flash as, like a downhill shot creator
Speaker 1: knocking down shot at a higher level, Like having a
Speaker 1: good season, Kay Cunningham having a good season. He's gonna
Speaker 1: get better. Jayden's gonna get better. Jalen Duran right now,
Speaker 1: he's kind of matchup dependent, right, Certain matchups he does
Speaker 1: really well. Certain teams that can spread him out and
Speaker 1: make him work more on the perimeter he can struggle with, right,
Speaker 1: But he's I like that core a lot, and you
Speaker 1: stand to get dramatic improvement from that core year over
Speaker 1: year over the next few years, And so I wouldn't
Speaker 1: get too hung up on this year's results as far
Speaker 1: as the roster bill goes, this is where again, if
Speaker 1: you like your build, you like your guards, you your
Speaker 1: you have your shot creators, you like your defensive anchor. Okay,
Speaker 1: the next step now is trying to find high level
Speaker 1: role players in the draft, which, by the way, I
Speaker 1: feel like the Pistons have done. That's what the SR.
Speaker 1: Thompson pick is, That's what the Ron Holland pick is, right, Like,
Speaker 1: these are athletes that you can count on to do
Speaker 1: the dirty work around your best players. Now. The thing
Speaker 1: with us are in Ron Holland is they were both
Speaker 1: so young that there's gonna be a little bit more
Speaker 1: of a long development kind of trajectory for those guys. Right,
Speaker 1: But this is one of those things where you can
Speaker 1: also look at in the draft drafting some older players.
Speaker 1: Because you are correct, especially because of having to pay
Speaker 1: kid Ivy and Duran, you're not going to get this.
Speaker 1: Last summer was pretty much your last chance to get
Speaker 1: like really high level role players through free agency, right,
Speaker 1: And like to your point, I think that finding that
Speaker 1: additional talent through the draft is the way to go.
Speaker 1: I don't think you have to necessarily get very lucky though,
Speaker 1: because when you're drafting, a lot of teams are looking
Speaker 1: for substantial, splashy pieces. They're looking for a secondary shot creator.
Speaker 1: They're looking for potentially the next star to run their franchise.
Speaker 1: There are guys that end up in the draft that
Speaker 1: are role player prospects. How the number one pick last year,
Speaker 1: Zachary Risache was a role player type of prospect, right, Like,
Speaker 1: there's older guys that end up in the draft, older
Speaker 1: guys that don't have as much upside, but that can
Speaker 1: do NBA ready things right away that kind of fit
Speaker 1: the mold of what Detroit's trying to do. Dalton connect
Speaker 1: falling to the Lakers is a classic example of that.
Speaker 1: They're drafting at seventeen and they get a legitimate rotation piece,
Speaker 1: right So that's the thing. It's like, you've got some
Speaker 1: really athletic long term prospects and Ron holland Nsar Thompson,
Speaker 1: maybe you start looking for, like some older players in
Speaker 1: the draft that are a little bit like more of
Speaker 1: like NBA ready type of guys, because that is where
Speaker 1: in the draft you can get some discounted role players
Speaker 1: relative to the overpaying that you have to do in
Speaker 1: free agency a lot of the time. And so again,
Speaker 1: I like the core, I like the direction this is going.
Speaker 1: I think this season has actually been off to a
Speaker 1: better start than people think. Our people are willing to admit.
Speaker 1: I understand that, like under five hundred is never a
Speaker 1: reason to be like super super excited. But the NBA
Speaker 1: has like twenty really good teams, and the NBA schedule's tough.
Speaker 1: The Pistons played a tough schedule out the gate. They're
Speaker 1: gonna be fine. It looks like they're gonna get their
Speaker 1: first chance to play some real meaningful either at least
Speaker 1: a play in game or maybe even a full playoff
Speaker 1: series this year. They're on the right track. It's just
Speaker 1: about a couple of specific types of draft picks they
Speaker 1: need to hit in the future, and then the player
Speaker 1: development in house. Next question. This is in regards to
Speaker 1: the warriors eleven man rotation. Part of that also is
Speaker 1: helped by playing twelve guys because like ice hockey, you
Speaker 1: need more shifts of bodies to constantly push at that pace.
Speaker 1: It's a huge etch. And Steph is as an offensive engine.
Speaker 1: Steph as is is a typo here. Steph is an
Speaker 1: offensive engine that makes all eleven of those guys playable
Speaker 1: in high efficiency offense. And Raymond as an enhancer allows
Speaker 1: them to play against Draymond as an enhancer allows them
Speaker 1: to play against big lineups. This makes perfect sense to me,
Speaker 1: And this is something that I've been kind of keyed
Speaker 1: in on a little bit. I think it's delicate because
Speaker 1: it has to a lot of it depends on how
Speaker 1: many good basketball players you have, right, Like if the Lakers,
Speaker 1: for instance, started running an eleven man rotation, it could
Speaker 1: get a little tricky with some of the guys that
Speaker 1: they have at the tail end of their rotation right now. Right.
Speaker 1: But the flip side of that is like when you
Speaker 1: play this style though, style that the Warriors play heavy
Speaker 1: transition both ways. That's the thing. Like the Warriors, as
Speaker 1: of like two nights ago, the last time I checked,
Speaker 1: had the best transition defense in the league, per cleaning
Speaker 1: the glasses defensive points added per one hundred possessions metric. Right, So,
Speaker 1: like that's a lot of work. That's a lot of
Speaker 1: sprinting back in transition and like making sure that you're
Speaker 1: flying around in the open floor. What they do in
Speaker 1: offense in transition, the way they run around. I had
Speaker 1: a play that I put in Tim's tape earlier on
Speaker 1: Thursday where you guys got to see like how quickly
Speaker 1: they run in the half court when they're trying to
Speaker 1: run their action. So, like it's one of those things
Speaker 1: where if you have eleven good basketball players, it does
Speaker 1: make sense to me that you would go with a
Speaker 1: bigger rotation in the regular season. Ice hockey's a great
Speaker 1: comp it's the line shifts and the fact that your
Speaker 1: best player might only play twenty two to twenty five
Speaker 1: minutes a game because he's just cause skating is so
Speaker 1: damn hard in terms of the cardio, right, And like
Speaker 1: that's the thing like playing this brand of basketball, and
Speaker 1: it extends to the half court too, with all the
Speaker 1: ground that you have to cover in rotation, closing out
Speaker 1: at great three point shooters that are spotting up twenty
Speaker 1: five feet from the basket, right, So like, yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: actually I'm actually kind of into this concept. Like the
Speaker 1: the Lakers run a nine man rotation, but they play
Speaker 1: at a slower pace and they've got some guys that
Speaker 1: are a little bit more lethargic. But like, I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I think if you've got ten eleven good basketball players,
Speaker 1: you should run a longer rotation. Warriors fan, I'm grateful
Speaker 1: for Kerr. I'm grateful to curR for the last decade,
Speaker 1: but I'm also pissed at the way he's handling our
Speaker 1: next generation. Why is Lindy Waters getting more playing time
Speaker 1: than Moody and Jonathan Kaminga. It feels like two years
Speaker 1: ago when Ty Jerome and Jeremy Lamb got playing time
Speaker 1: over Moody and Jonathan Kaminga. I don't mean to hate
Speaker 1: on Waters. I love having him, but I'm more interested
Speaker 1: in seeing what Moody can do. And the last time
Speaker 1: jk played crunch time, he won the game in overtime
Speaker 1: against the Rockets. So this is one of those things where,
Speaker 1: after all these years watching Steve Kerr, we just have
Speaker 1: to understand his philosophy as a basketball coach. Why do
Speaker 1: you everyone wants to cling to this narrative that like,
Speaker 1: Steve Kerr hates Jason Tatum because they beat him by
Speaker 1: fifty in a regular season game last year, or because
Speaker 1: of what happened in the NBA Finals in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: or something like that, And it's like, actually, the reason
Speaker 1: why Steve Kerr played Derek White and Drew Holliday over
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum is he kind of looks at the guard
Speaker 1: position in his offense as a as a quick rate
Speaker 1: and react player that has to be able to shoot
Speaker 1: on the move. And if you remember, Jason Tatum was
Speaker 1: not shooting the ball well at the time. And Jayson
Speaker 1: Tatum isn't exactly a movement shooter either. He's a kind
Speaker 1: of more of an ISO shooter, Like he's a guy
Speaker 1: that you kind of want initiating the offense. Right. And
Speaker 1: and the Olympic team they had already decided they were
Speaker 1: going to be running through Lebron at the top of
Speaker 1: the key, and they needed players that were going to
Speaker 1: be more running in that action, in that Steve Kerr system. Right,
Speaker 1: this is the same thing that's been happening happening with
Speaker 1: the Warriors forever. It's like, oh, Brandon pazemskis getting all
Speaker 1: these minutes, like all these guards are getting all these minutes,
Speaker 1: while Moody is not getting as much, or Jonathan Kaminga's
Speaker 1: minutes are less consistent. And that's all it is. Steve
Speaker 1: Kerr trusts Lyndy Waters to be a threat off the
Speaker 1: move as a shooter and to make decisions coming off
Speaker 1: of those actions at a higher level than Moses Moody. Now,
Speaker 1: Moses Moody to me is a very good player that
Speaker 1: just kind of is a little bit of a clunky
Speaker 1: fit in the Warrior system in the sense that he's
Speaker 1: a good physical perimeter defender with size, which is like
Speaker 1: there's a lot of value there. And I actually think
Speaker 1: he's a pretty solid shooter when he can get his
Speaker 1: feet set and he's open. He's worked hard as a
Speaker 1: movement shooter. He's a better movement shooter than he was
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. He's a better movement shooter
Speaker 1: than a lot of the guys that have come through
Speaker 1: other development programs around the NBA. Right, but specifically within
Speaker 1: the Warriors offense, Lindy Waters is a better movement shooter
Speaker 1: who is a better decision maker in the decision zone,
Speaker 1: which is like you come off the screen, you have
Speaker 1: to immediately read the screen defender. He's too far back.
Speaker 1: I and my guy's caught on the screen. I'm shooting
Speaker 1: this thing. He's too far back and my guy's trailing,
Speaker 1: but he's not completely attached. I want to methodically work
Speaker 1: down into the lane and see if I can't warp
Speaker 1: the defense a little bit. Once I get in there
Speaker 1: the decision zone around that elbow, I need to make
Speaker 1: quick reads based on what the health defense is doing,
Speaker 1: and like Steve Kerr has traditionally trusted players that are
Speaker 1: better and read and react situations in those rotation minutes,
Speaker 1: and guards tend to be better read and react players
Speaker 1: because they've been handling the ball since they were younger.
Speaker 1: But like that's the thing is, Like I think Kuminga
Speaker 1: still gets his opportunities and he's playing in this bench
Speaker 1: role where he gets to come in and be more aggressive.
Speaker 1: But I don't think it's like any sort of personal
Speaker 1: vendetta or like philosophy involving wanting to be small. I
Speaker 1: think it's literally just about that read and react decision
Speaker 1: making and Steve Kerr trusting some of his guards over
Speaker 1: the years more than he's trusted some of his forwards.
Speaker 1: Last Warrior's question, and then we'll move on d Anthony Melton
Speaker 1: being out for the season is a tough blow for
Speaker 1: the Duves as he was the perfect off guard to
Speaker 1: step and they're only real two way small perimeter player.
Speaker 1: What should they do to make up for it? Regarding
Speaker 1: their front court and secondary production issues. Do you think
Speaker 1: there are any realistic chance that the heat would part
Speaker 1: weighs with BAM and if so, could they get him
Speaker 1: without completely gutting their roster. I think he'd be a
Speaker 1: much better fit than someone like Giannis, and his contract
Speaker 1: is more modest too, So obviously bad news about the
Speaker 1: Anthony Melton. I'm just as bummed for him as I
Speaker 1: am for the Warriors, just because that guy's just had
Speaker 1: a nightmare stretch of injury luck over the last couple
Speaker 1: of years. But I'm not as concerned about it in
Speaker 1: their rotation, because, yeah, you're right, d Anthony Melton might
Speaker 1: have been the best two way guard next to stef
Speaker 1: maybe in terms of his defensive ability and his ability
Speaker 1: to shoot and make plays in action, but you're so
Speaker 1: deep at the guard that I just am not worried
Speaker 1: about it. There's just so many other guys that can
Speaker 1: do that job. It's really the front court that where
Speaker 1: I think that they could use a real talent upgrade.
Speaker 1: Bam would be a like, literally a dream fit, but
Speaker 1: I just think he's going to be way too expensive,
Speaker 1: and I also doubt that Miami moves him in a rebuild.
Speaker 1: Like to me, if Miami continues to spiral and they're
Speaker 1: not doing that bad, they're six and seven and Eric
Speaker 1: Spolstra have botched a game where they could easily be
Speaker 1: above five hundred right now in an Eastern Conference that
Speaker 1: doesn't have many above five hundred teams. But let's say
Speaker 1: that they keep spiraling. I think even if the Heat
Speaker 1: looks to rebuild, they would still rebuild around Bam. He
Speaker 1: kind of feels like the heart and soul of the
Speaker 1: franchise in a lot of ways. He plays a very
Speaker 1: specific position that is an anchor on both ends, which
Speaker 1: is like, he's the guy that can anchor a defense
Speaker 1: at the five spot as a drop big and a
Speaker 1: switch big in a rebounder, and then on the other
Speaker 1: end of the floor. He's kind of like the quintessential
Speaker 1: five out big in the sense that he's really good
Speaker 1: at dribble handoff action at the top of the key.
Speaker 1: So like, even with his offensive limitations, he's still a
Speaker 1: really good fulcrum on the offensive end, and he's a
Speaker 1: defensive anchor, and he's at the right age, still has
Speaker 1: a long a lot of good basketball left. Have a
Speaker 1: hard time believing that they're going to move on from Bam.
Speaker 1: I also think that they're kind of betting that BAM's
Speaker 1: development is a shooter in the long run, and a
Speaker 1: guy like kell El Ware is like a stretch five
Speaker 1: next to him, that they might be able to play
Speaker 1: him at the four and have a bigger front line.
Speaker 1: So I don't think BAM is the option. Now. I
Speaker 1: talked about Jimmy Butler a little bit yesterday and I
Speaker 1: had some Warriors fans complain, like, oh, you can't give
Speaker 1: up Andrew Wiggins for Jimmy Butler. For the record, I
Speaker 1: don't think you should do it unless you have to. Like,
Speaker 1: if you have the opportunity to get a guy like
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler without including Andrew Wiggins, you do it ten
Speaker 1: times out of ten. I mean, I'd imagine a lineup
Speaker 1: with Steph Curry, and you know, I think you could.
Speaker 1: You can maybe even consider getting away with a buddy
Speaker 1: heeled in that lineup if you have Jimmy and Andrew
Speaker 1: at the three four next to Draymond but Like, there's
Speaker 1: a version of it where the Warriors just ask for
Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins if you want to make that deal. Now,
Speaker 1: the reason why I said I would consider it, Let's
Speaker 1: take a little bit deeper. One. The Warriors have been
Speaker 1: going big in the starting lineup anyway, so there's kind
Speaker 1: of like this one spot for Ford, which is at
Speaker 1: the three with Andrew Wiggins, right, And in the event
Speaker 1: that you have to flip at Wiggins for Jimmy Butler,
Speaker 1: you still have Jonathan kaminga for when you go small, right,
Speaker 1: you can imagine a Jimmy Jonathan Draymond type of look
Speaker 1: with Draymond at the five. Right. But I'm not saying
Speaker 1: you flip Andrew Wiggins for Jimmy Butler right now. The
Speaker 1: Warriors are a trade at the deadline type of team.
Speaker 1: Why because there's no version of this where they're desperate. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I have the perfect deal fell into their lap right now.
Speaker 1: I would expect them to jump on it. But that's
Speaker 1: not how teams trade. Usually. Teams usually want to wait
Speaker 1: till the deadline because they want to weaponize the market. Right.
Speaker 1: They want to get multiple teams bidding to drive up
Speaker 1: the price. Right, That's how that works. So when we
Speaker 1: get to February, you make a call. At that point,
Speaker 1: we're going to know a lot in February. We're going
Speaker 1: to know that Andrew Wiggins is either having a flashback
Speaker 1: season like twenty twenty two, or he's more or less
Speaker 1: the same player than he was last year. Right, Like
Speaker 1: we have this like roughly I can't remember how many
Speaker 1: games of Warriors to play, maybe fifteen at this point,
Speaker 1: so you have like a roughly fifteen game sample. It's
Speaker 1: a small sample still, but like when we get to Jane,
Speaker 1: when we get to mid late January, we're gonna know,
Speaker 1: like this is Wiggins is back. We're in good shape.
Speaker 1: All right, let's do this. We're also gonna where Jimmy
Speaker 1: Butler's at. He's been kind of rough to start this year, right,
Speaker 1: but like we'll have a better idea of where Jimmy
Speaker 1: Butler's at in mid January. So let's just paint a
Speaker 1: picture here for a second. Let's pretend that Jimmy Butler
Speaker 1: looks great in mid January, like really starting to get
Speaker 1: his legs back underneath him. He looks great, he looks healthy,
Speaker 1: he looks ready to go. Let's say that the Heat
Speaker 1: are still foundering in the playing area around like the
Speaker 1: seven eight seed, okay, and the Heat front office looks
Speaker 1: at the situation and they goes, they go, we can't
Speaker 1: beat Boston. Maybe they get their butts kicked by Cleveland
Speaker 1: at some time around that uh, around that time too,
Speaker 1: And so then the Heat start to have some serious conversations,
Speaker 1: and they're like, Okay, our best past way to kind
Speaker 1: of resetting here is why don't we make a deal
Speaker 1: with Jimmy and let's say that the Warriors can pull
Speaker 1: it off. And for the record, forget about Andrew Wiggins
Speaker 1: for a second. Let's just set him aside. Let's just
Speaker 1: say that the Warriors are able to make the deal
Speaker 1: even without Andrew. But let's just say that they they're
Speaker 1: able to get Jimmy Butler. Okay, all I want you
Speaker 1: to think about is a big playoff game. Okay, don't
Speaker 1: think about the regular season. As I talked about. As
Speaker 1: soon as they got those two wins against the Pelicans
Speaker 1: when Steph was out, I was all in on this
Speaker 1: team as a regular season wins juggernaut. They're gonna win
Speaker 1: a lot of regular season games because they're deep, they're fast,
Speaker 1: they're well coached, they've got great leadership on the court
Speaker 1: with Stephan Draymond. They're just gonna win a lot of
Speaker 1: regular season games. Okay, So we get to mid January,
Speaker 1: you already know you're going to be a home court
Speaker 1: team in the first round, or more or less, that's
Speaker 1: the trajectory you're on now. Just think about a big
Speaker 1: playoff series. I want you to think about a second
Speaker 1: round series against the Dallas Mavericks. They've got it together,
Speaker 1: Dallas Mavericks are cooking with their system with Clay Lucas,
Speaker 1: got his legs underneath him, Kyrie's hoopin, and it's a
Speaker 1: two to two series and you're going into Golden State
Speaker 1: for a pivotal game five or hell, you're in a
Speaker 1: road game, whatever it is, big playoff game, big moment.
Speaker 1: I'd want Jimmy Butler out there with Steph. You get
Speaker 1: into those games and everyone's uncomfortable and everything's a rock
Speaker 1: fight and everything's nasty, and having a big, strong forward
Speaker 1: who has an alpha dog mentality, who is highly versatile
Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor, a savage competitor that's
Speaker 1: going to bring it. You just know he's going to
Speaker 1: bring it, A true foxhole guy that competitively will match
Speaker 1: Steph in those moments that could be the difference between
Speaker 1: you getting the trophy and not getting the trophy. Flat out.
Speaker 1: So I get it. Wiggins looks great, Jimmy looks old.
Speaker 1: If they both look to this way in February, No
Speaker 1: way I'm making that deal. I'm just saying you make
Speaker 1: the call when you get to February. And if you
Speaker 1: get to February and you look like a really good
Speaker 1: regular season team that just lacks some top end firepower,
Speaker 1: and a certain type of player becomes available in this
Speaker 1: case talking about a Jimmy Butler, I do think you've
Speaker 1: got to make that deal because that's the type of
Speaker 1: deal that gives you the guy that you need next
Speaker 1: to Steph, next to Draymond, that can be a foxhole
Speaker 1: guy in that big moment, and he's the like I
Speaker 1: wouldn't trade Wiggins for any other guy I wouldn't trade
Speaker 1: Wiggins for I don't think. I don't think Brandon Ingram
Speaker 1: is the guy that's good enough for a Wiggins deal.
Speaker 1: I don't think Levine is good enough for a Wiggins
Speaker 1: deal with the way he's playing right now. But Jimmy's
Speaker 1: the one guy where I'm like, we have routinely seen
Speaker 1: this guy when he is healthy in a playoff series.
Speaker 1: He is regularly outplayed players that are viewed as above
Speaker 1: him in the NBA hierarchy. I just would want him.
Speaker 1: I'd want him in the battle with me if I
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to have him in that situation. The
Speaker 1: reason it's a mismatch is that speed gets slower and
Speaker 1: size never gets smaller. Fatigue always favors the larger fighter
Speaker 1: or basketball player as long as they're at similar levels
Speaker 1: of fitness. So I actually don't think I agree with this.
Speaker 1: The thing with the fight is you're trapped in a
Speaker 1: ring on a basketball court. There's just a lot of
Speaker 1: space to cover. And I actually tend to think that like, yes,
Speaker 1: the bigger team in a rock fight when everyone's tired,
Speaker 1: will have the advantage in the half court. But if
Speaker 1: the faster team can spread you out and keep you
Speaker 1: in transition, I think they can still do a lot
Speaker 1: of damage. And more or less, I just think they
Speaker 1: are generally in better physical condition. Now, to your point,
Speaker 1: similar levels of fitness, that's fine, but they're faster and
Speaker 1: so that they can have some success in transition. And
Speaker 1: so if you again, yeah, if you're the bigger team
Speaker 1: and you can keep things in the half court, I
Speaker 1: do agree with you. But I just think that it
Speaker 1: requires a certain type of big team, and a lot
Speaker 1: of the big teams out there, teams like the six,
Speaker 1: they're they're just so slow in transition. It just doesn't matter, right, Hey, Jason,
Speaker 1: thoughts on the Magic winning six straight games. I thought
Speaker 1: after Palo went down they were toast, but Franz and
Speaker 1: the rest of the team seem to have stepped it
Speaker 1: up in a big way. Now, the Magic did lose
Speaker 1: to the Clippers on Wednesday night, but they won six
Speaker 1: in a row before that. Franz Wagner has been leading
Speaker 1: the charge. His jumper has been a little better. Last
Speaker 1: year was at zero point eight three points per attempt.
Speaker 1: This year it's at zero point ninety four. His passing
Speaker 1: and pick and roll has been awesome. He does a
Speaker 1: really nice job of like after he gets into you
Speaker 1: know that like elbow area, right, so like after he
Speaker 1: comes off of the screen and he's you know in
Speaker 1: that like between fifteen and twenty feet from the rim,
Speaker 1: he slows down in there and he gets really methodical.
Speaker 1: And what ends up happening when he does that is
Speaker 1: like there's a guy dribbling with a live dribble, you know,
Speaker 1: in like around the paint. Close to the paint. There's
Speaker 1: like an inherent like natural tendency of help defenders to
Speaker 1: kind of suck in. And he's just done a really
Speaker 1: nice job throwing rifles, kickout passes and generating good spot
Speaker 1: up opportunities. Again, like, the league average in spot ups
Speaker 1: is like something like it's like around like one point
Speaker 1: zero seven, one point zero eight points per possession, and
Speaker 1: in the half court a one oh seven one o
Speaker 1: eight offensive rating is awesome compared to what most teams
Speaker 1: get in the half court. The majority of teams in
Speaker 1: the league don't even get a point per possession in
Speaker 1: the half court, right, So, like, he's just really good
Speaker 1: at generating spot up opportunities by being methodical in the
Speaker 1: mid range and his ball screens. He's run one hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy ball screens this year that have amounted to
Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy nine points. He's getting one point
Speaker 1: zero five points per possession out of the thirty players
Speaker 1: in the NBA that have run at least one hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty ball screens this year. That ranks eleventh, ahead
Speaker 1: of guys like Damian Lillard, K Cunningham, Donovan, Mitchell Franz
Speaker 1: is having an excellent shot creation season, and then Anthony
Speaker 1: Black is having a really nice season. Now, he's only
Speaker 1: shooting thirty two percent from three, but he's shooting forty
Speaker 1: two percent on unguarded catch and shoots, which is important
Speaker 1: because that's when you're open, right when the defense is
Speaker 1: playing off of you. And he's had some really important
Speaker 1: threes this year, including a game winner. He's converting spot
Speaker 1: ups even though he's shooting only thirty two percent from three,
Speaker 1: he's converting spot ups at one point zero eight points
Speaker 1: per possession, which is a little bit above average, and
Speaker 1: a big part of that is his closeout attacking. He's
Speaker 1: a good athlete and once he gets his head of steam,
Speaker 1: I mean, his finger rolls damn near above the rim.
Speaker 1: Like he's just a good athlete in that situation. But
Speaker 1: he's also just been a legitimate secondary creator. I remember,
Speaker 1: I can't remember which game it was that I was watching,
Speaker 1: it was the one where he hit the game winner,
Speaker 1: where earlier in the same fourth quarter, he ran like
Speaker 1: a little ball screen with Wendell Carter Junior and came
Speaker 1: off engaged the screen defender. Perfect pocket pass, easy bucket
Speaker 1: in crunch time, and like he's been doing that all season.
Speaker 1: Just he's athletic enough to kind of really pressure the
Speaker 1: rim when he's coming over the top of that screen,
Speaker 1: and he just makes the basic passing raids that are available.
Speaker 1: He's run one hundred and eighteen ball screens this year,
Speaker 1: and he's over a point per possession. That's awesome for
Speaker 1: a young guard, especially one that coming into the draft
Speaker 1: was a guy that some guys had some some people
Speaker 1: had some skill concerns about, right, But what has made
Speaker 1: the Magic be able to go on a six game
Speaker 1: winning streak without Pallow is the same thing that's made
Speaker 1: them great for the last two years, which is their
Speaker 1: defense and their rebounding. They've had a ninety six defensive reading.
Speaker 1: They had a ninety six defensive rating in the six
Speaker 1: game win streak. That's awesome. They grabbed fifty two percent
Speaker 1: of available rebounds in that span, that's awesome. They did
Speaker 1: a bunch of scoring in transition and off of turnovers.
Speaker 1: They forced over seventeen turnovers per game in that six
Speaker 1: game win streak, So like that's their bread and butter,
Speaker 1: and then it's a high offensive floor brought by Franz
Speaker 1: and Anthony Black doing a good job and then scoring
Speaker 1: in transition off of those turnovers. They had a one
Speaker 1: to fifteen offensive rating over that six game span. That's
Speaker 1: pretty solid being down your best offensive player. Right, I'm
Speaker 1: actually really worried about the Lakers tonight again. By the
Speaker 1: time you guys hear this, this game will be over
Speaker 1: and will know what happened, and hopefully the Lakers can
Speaker 1: pull it out. They're favored, so maybe they can get
Speaker 1: it done anyway. But this is the type of team
Speaker 1: that always has given the Lakers problems. Really athletic guards
Speaker 1: that can ball pressure d Loo and Austin and make
Speaker 1: them uncomfortable picking them up full court, just bogging down
Speaker 1: the Lakers' offense with ball pressure, which is something that
Speaker 1: has happened all season. They have a lot of bigger
Speaker 1: front court players that can switch Lebron ad action, So
Speaker 1: like that sort of switching has always caused problems for
Speaker 1: the Lakers. Now, with Palo being out and Wendell Carter
Speaker 1: Junior did not play against the Clippers in the in
Speaker 1: the the first front half of the back to back,
Speaker 1: he might he might end up playing in the Laker game.
Speaker 1: We'll see, But like, maybe they're down too many bodies
Speaker 1: in the front court and it'll just be a little
Speaker 1: bit easier for the Lakers to get some drible penetration
Speaker 1: in their screening actions. But I'm worried about the magic
Speaker 1: our team that force a lot of turnovers. They pressure
Speaker 1: the ball well, and they get out in transition, and like,
Speaker 1: what are the two main weak points for the Lakers.
Speaker 1: They're like guard athleticism in transition and guard athleticism handling
Speaker 1: ball pressure. And so like, I'm worried about the Lakers tonight.
Speaker 1: Hopefully they can get the win, but that that's the
Speaker 1: type of matchup, that problem that the Orlando Magic can present.
Speaker 1: And again, like this is just I think they're I
Speaker 1: think they're on a really good trajectory because they're just
Speaker 1: super talented. Franz is having a better season than he
Speaker 1: did last year. Pallow was playing great before he got hurt,
Speaker 1: and he will eventually be back. They've got sized, they've
Speaker 1: got defense, They've they're they're they're serious basketball team and
Speaker 1: a real threat I think in the Eastern Conference. Hey, Jason,
Speaker 1: love the show. I think a great trade for the
Speaker 1: Lakers would be to somehow get Cam Johnson and Dorian
Speaker 1: Finney Smith out of Brooklyn. It would solve their shooting
Speaker 1: and athleticism issues. What do you think that would take?
Speaker 1: I you know, I'm kind of zeroed in on the
Speaker 1: three as the upgrade now too. It's it's ironic because
Speaker 1: Originally I was zeroed in on the two. I was like, well,
Speaker 1: you know, Rui's your three, Austin's your one. Just put
Speaker 1: a really good athlete at the two. But the rise
Speaker 1: of Dalton connect has changed my opinion on this. I
Speaker 1: think the ultimate version of this team is Dalton as
Speaker 1: a starter. I like Dalton as a starter for several reasons. One,
Speaker 1: he is an off ball score, meaning like he doesn't
Speaker 1: need the ball in his hands to be a real
Speaker 1: threat on the offensive end of the four, which is
Speaker 1: important because the Lakers run a lot of their offense
Speaker 1: in the starting group through Austin and Lebron and even
Speaker 1: through ad In like post ups and like high post stuff. Right,
Speaker 1: So Dalton is an off ball score that compliments them perfectly.
Speaker 1: Two terms of the defensive end of the floor, I
Speaker 1: want Dalton playing with the highest IQ defensive players on
Speaker 1: the court because that'll just make for an easier defensive
Speaker 1: role for him, right, So, I think that makes a
Speaker 1: part makes a good amount of sense. Three, he's super athletic,
Speaker 1: right and so in the event that like let's say,
Speaker 1: for instance, that you get a Dorian Finney Smith at
Speaker 1: the three, then you're running out of lineup that has
Speaker 1: Dorian Finney Smith, Dalton, connect Lebron, James Anthony Davis. Now
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves is your fifth best athlete in the lineup.
Speaker 1: When he's your fifth best athlete in the lineup, you're
Speaker 1: an athletic team. If he's your third best athlete in
Speaker 1: the lineup, you're not a very athletic team, right, which
Speaker 1: is some of the issues that they've had over the
Speaker 1: last couple of years. And so to me, like originally
Speaker 1: I was thinking between Ruey and Dilo, ruis the better
Speaker 1: player and a better fit with the starter, So like,
Speaker 1: why don't we just go Ruey and then we'll find
Speaker 1: somebody that's an athlete to fill in at the two, right,
Speaker 1: And by the way, that was the decision that JJ
Speaker 1: Reddick made with the rotation right bringing in a Cam
Speaker 1: Reddish into that spot. But now that I see Dalton
Speaker 1: as kind of the shoe in starter at the two
Speaker 1: in the long run, now I'm thinking, like the even
Speaker 1: post Lebron, post Lebron, you're looking at Austin Dalton ad
Speaker 1: as the foundation of the franchise, right, So like it's
Speaker 1: forwards that you're looking at as upgrades. And to me,
Speaker 1: like Jared Vanderbilt is very much a theoretical player at
Speaker 1: this point. Got another report that he's gonna be out
Speaker 1: at least another two weeks the other day. So, like
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt's got a long way to go. But as
Speaker 1: far as as far as like a cam Reddish goes,
Speaker 1: there's severe offensive limitations. I also don't think he's necessarily
Speaker 1: big enough to be the three. I prefer him kind
Speaker 1: of playing at the two. Jared Vanderbilt, he's I think
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt is the right decision when he gets healthy
Speaker 1: for the starters, like if I was coaching the Lakers,
Speaker 1: and eventually, like I think, I think what JJ's doing
Speaker 1: makes sense to me, like going Austin cam Ruey for
Speaker 1: the short term, but then when Jared Vanderbilt's healthy, I
Speaker 1: would go Austin Dalton Van do again. I think Jared
Speaker 1: Vanderbilt he's surrounded by incredible offensive talent which can make
Speaker 1: up for his offensive limitations, and Dalton is surrounded by
Speaker 1: incredible defensive talent that can make up for his defensive limitations. Also,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, a very athletic group like Dalton
Speaker 1: Vando lebron A d is an absurdly athletic two through five,
Speaker 1: So like that makes some sense to me. I think
Speaker 1: that would be like again, short term cam Ruey Vando
Speaker 1: gets healthy Dalton vand do long term upgrade at the three,
Speaker 1: it goes Austin Dalton. Whoever that future three is Lebron
Speaker 1: and Ad Dorian Phinney Smith would be a perfect example
Speaker 1: for me. He's like a stereotypical defensive three. He's a
Speaker 1: very basic offensive player in terms of like shooting and
Speaker 1: driving closeouts, which I think makes some sense in that
Speaker 1: Laker starting group because again one of the important things
Speaker 1: about Dalton. Dalton is a legitimate threat coming off of
Speaker 1: screens that is going to grab a show, meaning like
Speaker 1: when he comes off the screen, the screen defender is
Speaker 1: gonna have to show on him. We've already seen a
Speaker 1: lot of opportunity for Ad in particular to get open
Speaker 1: off of those actions and to get switches where he
Speaker 1: gets smaller defenders on. I did a whole break on
Speaker 1: the Lakers offense and the Thursday Show that I recommend
Speaker 1: you guys check out. But like to me, Dalton's offensive
Speaker 1: ability to fly off of a screen and make a
Speaker 1: play makes it less important for the three man to
Speaker 1: be the kind of guy that can fly off of
Speaker 1: the screen and make a play. So like, to me,
Speaker 1: Dorian Phinney Smith makes a lot of sense. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, Cam Johnson would be interesting. But like, I
Speaker 1: still really like Dennis Schroeder. Like I've always liked Dennis.
Speaker 1: He's a good ball, pressure player. He brings something to
Speaker 1: that the Lakers don't really have, which is a guard
Speaker 1: that can beat people off the dribble, which I think
Speaker 1: would be really helpful. So like I think I'd look
Speaker 1: for more of like a Dennis Dorian Phinney Smith type
Speaker 1: of upgrade. I think Dennis Schroder would be a massive
Speaker 1: upgrade over at Gabe Vincent for instance, which I was
Speaker 1: wrong about when they went after Gabe instead of Dennis.
Speaker 1: Mind you, Gabe was a different player in Miami than
Speaker 1: he was with the Lakers. But Gabe I thought Gabe
Speaker 1: was an upgrade over Dennis. I was wrong. Dennis is
Speaker 1: a better player. He'd be an upgrade. So, like, the
Speaker 1: Nets are gonna be fire sailing people, And if they
Speaker 1: were able to get Dorian Phinney Smith and a guy
Speaker 1: like Dennis, then it starts to make sense to me
Speaker 1: where you can kind of see a rotation where it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: we have Austin Dalton dfs, yes, Lebron ad the bench
Speaker 1: group is you know, you have Dennis leading the bench group.
Speaker 1: It's hard to tell who goes out in a trade
Speaker 1: like that, but let's say it's Dennis. Let's say it's
Speaker 1: Max Ruy, you know, Jackson Hayes or Christian Kolocos. You'r
Speaker 1: a nine man rotation, right, So, like, I think that
Speaker 1: kind of tends to make more sense in terms of
Speaker 1: the strengths and weaknesses of the team. Hello, Jason, can
Speaker 1: you please explain your preference for offensive Swish army knifs
Speaker 1: that average thirty points per game versus defensive juggernauts that
Speaker 1: average thirty points a game. Personally, I prefer what Ad
Speaker 1: and Yannis bring to the table versus what Luka and
Speaker 1: Jokic bring. I find more value in players that can
Speaker 1: score while single handedly anchoring a defense, especially in the
Speaker 1: case of Ad, where he makes one of the worst
Speaker 1: defenses in the league competitive just by virtue of being
Speaker 1: on the floor while putting up thirty eleven in three.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for the content, and please ignore us
Speaker 1: Warriors fans. It'll be better for your mental health. Again, overwhelmingly,
Speaker 1: you guys are positive. I've done a bad job of
Speaker 1: shining too much of a light on the negativity. That's
Speaker 1: not gonna happen anymore. I do appreciate you guys. So,
Speaker 1: first of all, there's no exact science. I personally believe
Speaker 1: that I'd rather have the offensive like just surgical half
Speaker 1: court shot creator because I believe it's easier as a
Speaker 1: coaching staff and as a front office to make up
Speaker 1: for defensive stuff elsewhere. Right, Like, are a lot of
Speaker 1: these guys that are Anthony Davis and Giannis, They end
Speaker 1: up having to cover for a week defensive players anyway, Right,
Speaker 1: So Like, it's okay for your star to be that
Speaker 1: weak defensive player if he's anchored by a ton of
Speaker 1: defensive talent, as long as he does his job. Right,
Speaker 1: that's the key. Right, Both archetypes have won. Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: and Yannis are champions. Nikole jokicch and Steph Curry are champions. Right,
Speaker 1: But what I do think is fascinating is the Hardin
Speaker 1: and Luca types have not won a championship yet. And
Speaker 1: the reason why, in my opinion, is the offensive guys.
Speaker 1: The Steph and the Jokic types. They at least did
Speaker 1: their job on defense. They competed on defense, they just
Speaker 1: had athletical limitations. They won the title being solid defensive players, right,
Speaker 1: So like that's really the key, but there is no
Speaker 1: exact science. I have my personal preference. The reason why
Speaker 1: I believe it is because I think I can anchor
Speaker 1: a good offensive player through good coaching and management at
Speaker 1: the in the front office. Right. But I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: not saying you're wrong necessarily because there's versions of it
Speaker 1: where Ad and Giannis have won, and so it really
Speaker 1: is a matter of personal preference. And by the way,
Speaker 1: this is one of the things that frustrates me as
Speaker 1: far as like the guy's doing their job, like Stefan
Speaker 1: yokis doing their job. There's this thing that happens in
Speaker 1: the NBA where it's like a guy gets better at
Speaker 1: something and then wins, and then everyone goes like you
Speaker 1: owe him an apology, and it's like he won because
Speaker 1: he changed, Right, Like that's that's the difference, right when Luke,
Speaker 1: I think Luca will eventually win a title. He's not
Speaker 1: my favorite player, but I think he's too freaking good.
Speaker 1: Like I think I think Luca's gonna win a title eventually.
Speaker 1: When he does, he will defend better, he'll be in
Speaker 1: better shape, and he'll work harder on the defensive end.
Speaker 1: He'll be less of a sive compared to what he's
Speaker 1: been in the past. So what'll be funny is Luca
Speaker 1: will win and then everyone will be like, oh, everyone
Speaker 1: owes Luca an apology. He proved everybody wrong. Where are
Speaker 1: the haters now? And it's gonna be like, actually, the
Speaker 1: haters were right because Luca did need to improve on defense,
Speaker 1: and he did eventually improve on defense, and now he
Speaker 1: has the trophy, right, Like I can already just see
Speaker 1: it happening. Luca. Eventually he's gonna win, and he's gonna
Speaker 1: win because he's improved. And then everybody who was critical
Speaker 1: in the past is gonna get criticism, which doesn't make
Speaker 1: any sense to me. I two more and then we're
Speaker 1: out here. This first one's a double to mail. That
Speaker 1: question is from a pure entertainment standpoint. Who do you
Speaker 1: think are the five most exciting players and teams to watch?
Speaker 1: And two? What do you think about Daron Fox's breakout
Speaker 1: games this weekend and his overall outlook So Okay, five
Speaker 1: most exciting players, no particular order. Steph Curry. I just
Speaker 1: love his combination of skilled, motor and competitiveness. Anthony Edwards
Speaker 1: after the Lebron' Steph era, He's gonna be my favorite player.
Speaker 1: I can just already tell. I love how psycho competitor
Speaker 1: he is. I love just the athleticism. I find him
Speaker 1: to be a very aesthetically appealing player. Kyrie Irving still
Speaker 1: to me, like just just amazing the show that he
Speaker 1: put on in that Warriors game that I covered last week.
Speaker 1: Just his shot making still is one of the most
Speaker 1: aesthetically appealing players in the league. Lebron James is still
Speaker 1: someone that I really enjoy watching. I think he's just
Speaker 1: a showman. He's got a gift for just being an
Speaker 1: entertaining player to watch. Also, like it just feels surreal
Speaker 1: to me to watch Lebron. I Like, I have a
Speaker 1: friends giving thing tonight, so I can't watch the Magic game.
Speaker 1: But like there's I'm so thankful that like seventy times
Speaker 1: this year and I get to watch the games in
Speaker 1: the morning for my job, right, But like it's funner
Speaker 1: to watch it as a fan live, Like that's kind
Speaker 1: of the other thing we talked earlier about the schedule.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons why I like working in the
Speaker 1: morning too is in addition to being able to put
Speaker 1: on a more detailed show, it also allows me to
Speaker 1: watch more as a fan the night of right. But like,
Speaker 1: every time I sit down and like watch a Laker game,
Speaker 1: I'm like, I just feel lucky. I'm like, it's the
Speaker 1: year twenty twenty four, it's about to be twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: and we still get to watch Lebron James play like
Speaker 1: serious basketball, Like it just feels like historic to even
Speaker 1: be watching it. And then John Morant, specifically when he's
Speaker 1: in Memphis, he just is such a showman. It just
Speaker 1: it feels like every time John Morant plays in Memphis,
Speaker 1: it's like an event and like you're gonna get four
Speaker 1: to five ridiculous highlights. He's gonna light the crowd on
Speaker 1: fire an additional ten times. John Moran's in that top
Speaker 1: five for me as far as teams, Celtics and Warriors
Speaker 1: because they run really beautiful modern basketball concepts that I enjoy.
Speaker 1: Specifically the Celtics I really grew to appreciate over about
Speaker 1: the second half of last season. The Lakers on offense.
Speaker 1: They're my favorite team obviously, so that's part of it.
Speaker 1: But two, they run a really pretty brand of offense.
Speaker 1: I did a video breakdown in the show on Thursday
Speaker 1: where like, they generated seventeen easy shots easy makes in
Speaker 1: the second half just with awesome ball in player movement.
Speaker 1: I find their offense to be very visually appealing Nuggets,
Speaker 1: same sort of thing. I think Mike Malone does a
Speaker 1: lot of really fascinating stuff to capitalize on Jokic double
Speaker 1: teams and just how they are with their cuts in
Speaker 1: their spacing. And then lastly the Suns when KD was healthy,
Speaker 1: I thought they were playing a fun brand of basketball.
Speaker 1: KD was playing incredible on both ends of the floor.
Speaker 1: They were kind of surgical in the half court at
Speaker 1: the end of games, and the shot making is always
Speaker 1: really pretty with that group. So those are my five
Speaker 1: most exciting players and teams in no particular order. And
Speaker 1: then Darren Fox. I had him in my top twenty
Speaker 1: five this year. I had him over Kyrie, And one
Speaker 1: of the big reasons why I had him over Kyrie
Speaker 1: is like I just trust him as a Number one
Speaker 1: to be able to generate more rim pressure and more
Speaker 1: quality shots for his team over the course of the game,
Speaker 1: and he's really taken off over the course of more
Speaker 1: than just this last year with a jump shot, and
Speaker 1: it kind of reminds me of some of the stuff
Speaker 1: with Aunt, where it's like, when you combine true elite
Speaker 1: downhill athleticism with elite jump shooting, you become incredibly difficult
Speaker 1: to guard. And I think that he's just kind of
Speaker 1: entering a point right now where he kind of everything's
Speaker 1: coming together for him and he's becoming a little bit
Speaker 1: on the unguardable side, and he's on a pretty fun trajectory.
Speaker 1: Darren Fox has become a really great player in this league.
Speaker 1: Last question. Look as bad as the MAVs record is,
Speaker 1: they are still top ten in both offensive and defensive rating.
Speaker 1: What's the unwritten rule? Teams that are in the top
Speaker 1: ten are in both our contenders MAVs are just like
Speaker 1: the Bengals, slow start, but trust me, by the end
Speaker 1: of the season, they're going to be a threat. PS.
Speaker 1: I know the Bengals aren't doing good this year, laughing
Speaker 1: my ass off. I have a feeling this year's MAVs
Speaker 1: are going to look a lot like last year's MAVs.
Speaker 1: It's going to be more because of health and continuity
Speaker 1: as opposed to the trade market. But I think they're
Speaker 1: going to have to go on a run at the
Speaker 1: tail end of the season, and that's kind of what
Speaker 1: I expect. I expect them to be one of those
Speaker 1: teams that wins like twenty two of their last thirty
Speaker 1: games and goes into the playoffs as a serious threat.
Speaker 1: They're a team that, like you do, I think they
Speaker 1: can win a championship without getting an up or seed.
Speaker 1: Probably not just because that's what NBA history tells us,
Speaker 1: but I do view them as a substantial playoff threat,
Speaker 1: and no awkward start is going to change my opinion
Speaker 1: on that. A lot of this is just Luca has
Speaker 1: been hurt, he's hurt again, and Klay Thompson is a
Speaker 1: different type of piece, a lot of different types of
Speaker 1: pieces that or incorporating, which takes time to build dot continuity.
Speaker 1: All right, guys, that's all have for today. I always
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show.
Speaker 1: We'd be back on Monday with power rankings. I will
Speaker 1: see you guys then the volume. What's up guys. As always,
Speaker 1: I appreciate you for listening to and supporting OOPS tonight.
Speaker 1: It would actually be really helpful for us if you
Speaker 1: guys would take a second and leave a rating and
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