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Speaker 1: net in West Virginia. All right, Welcome TOOPS Tonight, presented

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Speaker 1: by Fan Duel here at the volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody.

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Speaker 1: I'm recording this on Tuesday night. By the time you're

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Speaker 1: listening to this, I will be well on my way

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Speaker 1: to Lake Tahoe in California, where there's record snowpack to

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Speaker 1: do a few days of skiing. I'm very excited tonight.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna be talking about the Clippers delivering a little

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Speaker 1: bit of an ass kicking to the Lakers an impressive

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Speaker 1: display of jump shooting. We're also going to talk Celtics heat,

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Speaker 1: the MAVs and the Wizards and the Calves and the Nicks.

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Speaker 1: And then I also have a couple of quick hitters

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Speaker 1: for you take on the dunk contest, and then a

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Speaker 1: little follow up on some of the fallout from the

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Speaker 1: Ruby Hatch and Murray trade and some of the conversation

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Speaker 1: surrounding Rob Blinka. You guys know the drill before we

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Speaker 1: get started, subscribed to the Volumes YouTube channels. You don't

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Speaker 1: miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter

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Speaker 1: at underscore Jason lt s you guys don't miss any

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Speaker 1: show announcements. And if, for whatever reason, you guys miss

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Speaker 1: one of these videos and you can't get back over

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Speaker 1: get to your podcasts under Hoops Tonight. And then, lastly,

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Speaker 1: price guaranteed. All right, let's talk some basketball. So the

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Speaker 1: Clippers beat the Lakers one thirty three to one fift

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Speaker 1: team writing, I mean, quite frankly, just impossibly hot shooting.

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Speaker 1: They shot fifteen for twenty three from three in the

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Speaker 1: first half. That's one of the hottest shooting halfs I've

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Speaker 1: ever seen. That six on Massive Volume, they scored seventy

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Speaker 1: seven points. And even though the Lakers really battled back

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Speaker 1: in the second half, Lebron just left everything he had

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Speaker 1: out there on the floor to try to get him

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Speaker 1: back in the game. It just was too big of

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Speaker 1: a hole for them to dig for them to dig

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Speaker 1: out of. And you know, honestly, there's been a ton

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Speaker 1: of Clippers pessimism this year. Some of that is, like,

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Speaker 1: as you guys know, before I started with the Volume,

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Speaker 1: I covered the Lakers exclusively and so I've got a large,

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Speaker 1: uh most a lot of the people that I follow

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Speaker 1: on Twitter are Lakers fans, and so I've got a

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Speaker 1: little bit of a Lakers window in terms of the

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Speaker 1: stuff that I see on the Twitter feed. Um so

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Speaker 1: a lot of it is probably Lakers fans just having

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Speaker 1: moments at the Clippers expense. But I'm glad that I

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Speaker 1: never jumped off of the Clippers bandwagon. I did drop

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Speaker 1: them from my top tier of contenders, but that was

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Speaker 1: just because of health and honestly because Brooklyn had just

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Speaker 1: demonstrated to be better than the Clippers to this point

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Speaker 1: in the season. But I never stopped believing in the

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Speaker 1: ceiling of this team when they are completely healthy. I'm

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Speaker 1: just a huge believer and their specific brand of basketball.

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Speaker 1: They've prioritized the right types of players to put around

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Speaker 1: their stars, and they never succumb to that, you know,

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Speaker 1: that need that a lot of teams have their like

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Speaker 1: the Lakers, had to try to flip quality role players

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Speaker 1: for that third star. Like the Lakers did when they

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Speaker 1: flipped three of their most important role players for Russell Westbrook.

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Speaker 1: The Clippers have never fallen for that. They've understood the model,

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Speaker 1: which is, you know, we have two star ball handlers,

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Speaker 1: but you also have star band ball handlers that contribute

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Speaker 1: in the physical in the physical areas of the game,

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Speaker 1: like defense and rebounding, like tonight Kawhi Leonard and Paul

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Speaker 1: George had eighteen rebounds to go with their great defense.

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Speaker 1: You guys know what, You've heard me talk about that

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Speaker 1: with like Chicago for instance, teams that don't compete on

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Speaker 1: the defensive end, and it doesn't necessary or stars that

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Speaker 1: don't compete on the defensive end, and it doesn't necessarily

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Speaker 1: have to do with position, because even Stephan Clay with

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Speaker 1: the Warriors really compete on the defensive end of the floor,

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Speaker 1: which allows that core to work. But Kawai and Paul

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Speaker 1: George two star ball handlers that also compete defensively and

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Speaker 1: on the glass. And then year after year the Clippers

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Speaker 1: have hunted role players with size. You guys know how

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Speaker 1: much I value perimeter size, but guys that can shoot

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Speaker 1: and dribble as well, and getting those guys to buy

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Speaker 1: into their defensive scheme, and then from there it's driving

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Speaker 1: kick basketball with good spacing principles. I get that it

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Speaker 1: can get ugly sometimes during the regular season when they're

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Speaker 1: just isoing and pick and rolling every time, but like

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Speaker 1: I say, that brute force type of offense actually translates

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Speaker 1: to the playoffs better than most offensive styles. And we've

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Speaker 1: seen the Clippers offense obliterate teams in the postseason even

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Speaker 1: without Kawhi Leonard as we saw in season. So I'm

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Speaker 1: a huge believer in their offensive play style. And then overall,

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Speaker 1: they have a good amount of versatility because they can

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Speaker 1: go big with Zoo back at center, but they can

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Speaker 1: also play small with five wings and do a real

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Speaker 1: five out, you know, supermodern type of basketball. All their

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Speaker 1: issues this year were based on health. Yes, those role

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Speaker 1: players are very skilled. Marcus Moore is very skilled, you know,

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Speaker 1: Luke Nard very skilled, Reggie Jackson very skilled. But if

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Speaker 1: you put them in set half court environments, an attack,

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Speaker 1: set NBA defenses, and set NBA defenders, they're gonna struggle

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Speaker 1: to create their own shot. You need that initial advantage

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Speaker 1: from Kawai and Paul George to put those guys in

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Speaker 1: positions where their offensive skill allows them to expand the

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Speaker 1: advantage and eventually finish the play. When you have half

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Speaker 1: of your season, well, your two primary advantage creators are

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Speaker 1: just gone. It's just gonna stack the deck against a

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Speaker 1: lot of teams around the NBA, so I never was

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Speaker 1: really concerned with them on the offensive end of the floor,

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Speaker 1: and now they're getting healthy. They've won three games in

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Speaker 1: a row. Paul George and Kahi Enterd both look incredible.

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Speaker 1: Norman Powell, you guys have heard me talk a lot

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Speaker 1: about him in recent weeks. He continued his outrageously good

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Speaker 1: plays four for five again from three tonight. He I

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Speaker 1: think has a much better case for sixth Man of

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Speaker 1: the Year than Russ. He doesn't have the top end

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Speaker 1: that you've gotten from Russ, Like there have been five

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Speaker 1: or six games this year from Russ that Norman Pale

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Speaker 1: could never touch, because Russ has managed to occasionally capture

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Speaker 1: some of that m v P type of impact. But

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Speaker 1: in terms of the night and night out lack of

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Speaker 1: volatility that you get a guy from Norman Powell. And

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Speaker 1: then actually you can play Norman Powell in your closing

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Speaker 1: groups because he actually compliments your superstars because he's one

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Speaker 1: of the best spot up players in the entire league,

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Speaker 1: Whereas Russell Westbrook gets into that closing group and he

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Speaker 1: actually hurts the Laker star players because of his inability

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Speaker 1: to play off the basketball. So I look at Norman

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Speaker 1: Powell is a better candidate for six Man of the

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Speaker 1: Year than Russ based on that versatility. You can use

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Speaker 1: him to be aggressive on the ball in the middle

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Speaker 1: portions of the game. Not quite as much top end,

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Speaker 1: but much higher floor, less volatile, and he can play

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Speaker 1: with your closing group. He's just a better basketball player. Um.

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Speaker 1: The Clippers check every box. They have the top end talent,

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Speaker 1: They're a top ten defense, they have tons of shooting

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Speaker 1: and ball handling around their stars. They have an offensive

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Speaker 1: rating over one hundred in the half court when Kawai

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Speaker 1: and Paul George are both on the court, which would

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Speaker 1: rank in the top ten in the league for teams.

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Speaker 1: And they have scheme versatility. Like we talked about earlier.

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Speaker 1: They are a bona fide championship contender. End of story.

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Speaker 1: You don't want your team to have to beat the

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Speaker 1: Clippers four times in a week. That doesn't mean you can't.

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Speaker 1: I don't think they're top tier contender right now, but

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Speaker 1: don't write that team off. They're gonna be a pain

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Speaker 1: in the ask for whoever gets them. On the Lakers front,

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Speaker 1: Lebron was amazing again and seven UH. Dave mcmeneman reported

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Speaker 1: right after the game that Anthony Davis is planning to

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Speaker 1: return tomorrow against the Spurs, as well as Ruey hatch

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Speaker 1: Mura making his debut after the trade from the Wizards.

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Speaker 1: UM So I wanted to now that we know that

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Speaker 1: the A D injury era is officially over here, let's

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Speaker 1: take a look at this because a D went down

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Speaker 1: in the first half of the Nuggets game back on

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Speaker 1: December sixt and he missed the rest of that game

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Speaker 1: and twenty additional games. If you would have told Lakers

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Speaker 1: fans at the time that a D was gonna miss

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Speaker 1: twenty games, almost all of them would have told you

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Speaker 1: that the season was over. But there was no hope

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Speaker 1: to float things for that long. But thanks to m

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Speaker 1: v P level play from Lebron and key contributions from

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Speaker 1: role players and kind of like a new helter skelter

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Speaker 1: ball pressure transition hunting identity courtesy of Darvin Ham and

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Speaker 1: the players that are available in that locker room, they

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Speaker 1: kind of took on a unique style and floated the ship.

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Speaker 1: They went eleven and ten in that stretch. How many

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Speaker 1: of you would have guessed that the Lakers would have

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Speaker 1: gone over five hundred and twenty one games without Anthony Davis.

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Speaker 1: It was an unbelievable season saving effort from that group.

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Speaker 1: So I wanted to tip the cap to the Lakers

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Speaker 1: in a special tip of the capital Lebron, because this

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Speaker 1: has been one of the most remarkable stretches of his career.

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Speaker 1: During this stretch without Anthony Davis, Lebron average thirty four

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Speaker 1: point three points per game, eight point three rebounds, seven

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Speaker 1: point four assists, sixty three percent true shooting despite being

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Speaker 1: incapable of hitting his three consistently, and the Lakers were

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Speaker 1: plus one eleven with Lebron on the floor and minus

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Speaker 1: one twenty six with him off the floor. I've levied

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Speaker 1: a good amount of criticism over Lebron's career, especially in

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Speaker 1: the Calves days, for him being a fair weather leader,

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Speaker 1: essentially the kind of guy that like, when the team

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Speaker 1: has a real chance to win the title, he's the

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Speaker 1: perfect guy to captain that ship. But when things start

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Speaker 1: to go south, he used to get powdy. He'd get

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Speaker 1: passive aggressive, he would tweet weird stuff. He would like

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Speaker 1: actively just not try. In two thousand eighteen, before the

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Speaker 1: trade deadline, Lebron was damn near point shaving because as

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Speaker 1: soon as he found out that trades were in the works,

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Speaker 1: he locked back in and and and and went to

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Speaker 1: work the cash GM at the time. I'll never forget

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Speaker 1: he did like like an on Kobe Altman did like

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Speaker 1: an interview during a game, and he was like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: like we like the trades, we like the players, but

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Speaker 1: make no mistake, we traded for a re engaged Lebron James.

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Speaker 1: That's literally what he said. That's the type of guy

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Speaker 1: Lebron used to be. So credit to Lebron for ditching

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Speaker 1: that ugly part of his little career resume, because he's

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Speaker 1: done an outstanding job this season and last season of

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Speaker 1: keeping a positive attitude and galvanizing the group when guys

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Speaker 1: have been out of the lineup. Um, I think that,

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Speaker 1: you know, my dad used to say that people would

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Speaker 1: never change when they get into their thirties and stuff. Um,

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Speaker 1: because you're kind of really set in your ways and

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Speaker 1: who you are. And so credit to Lebron for making

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Speaker 1: a late career shift in his approach to how he

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Speaker 1: handles adversity. And I don't think you can call Lebron

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Speaker 1: a fair weather leader anymore. I think he's just a

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Speaker 1: damn good leader. And that didn't used to be the case,

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Speaker 1: he put his foot down and he saved the season.

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Speaker 1: Really is that simple. But now we're gonna get to

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Speaker 1: see Lebron with conventional lineups alongside a real NBA forward

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Speaker 1: and Anthony a Us again, and hopefully I'm shooting if

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Speaker 1: Rob and Genie or feeling frisky at the deadline. Um

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Speaker 1: all right, before we move on to the next game,

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Speaker 1: my first COI hitter is also Lakers related. A lot

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Speaker 1: of Lakers fans were, you know, and we see this

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Speaker 1: a lot on Twitter because Twitter is just devolved discourse

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Speaker 1: in so many different ways. But um, Rob made a

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Speaker 1: good trade, and so obviously the apologists of the NBA,

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Speaker 1: of the Lakers front office are now coming out and

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Speaker 1: they're like, oh, we all owe Rob an apology, and

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Speaker 1: I I hate and I haven't seen too much of

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Speaker 1: this directed at me and mostly at some of the

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Speaker 1: other more loud Laker fans that I follow, But you

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Speaker 1: know this, this particular concept always has annoyed me, and

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Speaker 1: I wanted to just kind of set something straight. This

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Speaker 1: is how objective analysis works. You point out when they

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Speaker 1: do good things, and you point out when they do

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Speaker 1: bad things. The Ruey hot Schermer trade was a good trade.

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Speaker 1: There's a great trade, in my opinion, but it's not

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Speaker 1: the first good trade Rob has made, and I've pointed

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Speaker 1: out the they're good moves that he's made. I thought

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Speaker 1: he did an excellent job in the two thousand nineteen

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Speaker 1: summer after Kuai signed with the Clippers at audible NG

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Speaker 1: and having a good backup plan to surround Lebron and

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis with good role players. I've been consistent about that.

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Speaker 1: I thought he did a good job last summer, at

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Speaker 1: least fundamentally, even though he ignored the forward position, which

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Speaker 1: we'll get to. I liked his switch from going from

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Speaker 1: veteran veteran minimum contracts to younger veteran minimum contracts uh

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Speaker 1: younger players that had high motor so that they could

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Speaker 1: fix some of the ugly malaise from last year and

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Speaker 1: infused real effort and energy into this team. I thought

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Speaker 1: that was really smart. But he also completely destroyed a

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Speaker 1: championship contending roster by flipping three of their best three

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Speaker 1: and D players for a player that everyone in the

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Speaker 1: world knew in the moment was a bad fit for

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Speaker 1: Lebron James and a bad playoff player and a player

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Speaker 1: that would struggle in crunch time, and then after completely

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Speaker 1: emptying emptying the roster of forwards, he took eighteen months

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Speaker 1: to find another forward, and in that process, in that

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Speaker 1: stretch without forwards, the Lakers lost a lot of games,

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Speaker 1: in many of the games a direct result of personnel shortcomings.

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Speaker 1: And then he ran it back with Russ this year,

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Speaker 1: And I get that it's been a little bit better

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Speaker 1: this year than it was last year. I would even

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Speaker 1: say it's been a lot better this year than it

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Speaker 1: was last year. Last year was a complete unmitigated disaster,

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Speaker 1: and this year has been like good stretches and bad stretches.

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Speaker 1: Right before Anthony Davis got hurt, really good stretch of Russ,

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Speaker 1: but then that was immediately followed by a bad stretch

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Speaker 1: of Russ. But then recently it's been like ten straight

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Speaker 1: games of him being good, but then the last two

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Speaker 1: games he's been a complete disaster again, and he can't

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Speaker 1: play crunch time, and he probably won't be able to

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Speaker 1: play much in the playoffs. So that we and we

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Speaker 1: all knew that after we saw it. We knew it

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Speaker 1: before the Rush trade, we knew it all last season,

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Speaker 1: we knew it after last season, We knew it all

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Speaker 1: summer and he chose to run it act. So like

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Speaker 1: in the aggregate, as I look at everything, yeah, there's

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Speaker 1: been some good moves. There's been some bad moves, but

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Speaker 1: there's been a lot more bad. And here we are

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Speaker 1: January three, and the Lakers, who won the title in

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Speaker 1: twenty and dominant fashion have been below five hundred for

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Speaker 1: a year and a half. That's the reality. And yeah,

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Speaker 1: there has been some injuries, but the Lakers used to

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Speaker 1: be able to win when Lebron and Anthony Davis were

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Speaker 1: out of the lineup. That's what happened in one when

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Speaker 1: they had the good role players. So in the aggregate,

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Speaker 1: it's been a rough go of things for Rob Polinka.

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Speaker 1: But look, I'm gonna point out the moves that I

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Speaker 1: agree with, and I'm gonna point out the moves that

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Speaker 1: I disagree with. Objectivity goes both ways. I'm not gonna

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Speaker 1: blindly praise somebody and I'm not gonna blindly criticize him. Recently,

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Speaker 1: Rob Polinka made a really good trade. If he continues

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Speaker 1: to make really good trades from here on out, or

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Speaker 1: for the most part, really good trades, free agent signings,

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Speaker 1: savvy moves, it's gonna change my opinion of Rock. I'm

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Speaker 1: always looking at everything is another opportunity to learn about

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Speaker 1: a player, or to learn about a coach, or to

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Speaker 1: learn about an executive, not just another opportunity to you know,

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Speaker 1: reinvigorate some existing opinion that I have about the person.

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Speaker 1: Tip off the new year with fan Duel, America's number

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00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:47,520
Speaker 1: integrating Ruey Hatchamura in that game, and it's gonna dramatically

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00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:49,880
Speaker 1: shift the Lakers rotation around, which I think is gonna

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00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:51,919
Speaker 1: make it a very weird game and a lot of

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00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:53,560
Speaker 1: guys are gonna be out of rhythm. So I like

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Speaker 1: the Clippers in that game. Plus fand will even lets

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Speaker 1: the official sports book partner of the NBA. Alright, moving

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Speaker 1: on to Celtics Heat. The Heat won. The Celtics were

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Speaker 1: actually up eighties seven and seventy seven in this game.

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Speaker 1: You've probably seen this story before for Celtics fans. And

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Speaker 1: then the Heat went on a fifteen oh run, Heyweed,

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Speaker 1: Heywood Highsmith knockdown back to back corner three's, and then

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Speaker 1: Bam took over at a really nice driving bank shot

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Speaker 1: going to his right, this nasty transition, dunk this two

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Speaker 1: hand jam in traffic that was ridiculous, and then he

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Speaker 1: had a nice pull up jumper at the foul line,

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Speaker 1: and then Tyler Harrow and Pick and Roll had a

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Speaker 1: really nice three that was your fifteen oh run put

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Speaker 1: the Heat up five. But then the Celtics battle back.

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Speaker 1: Jayson Tatum hit an and one floater, Grant Williams hit

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Speaker 1: a corner three to tie the game, and then Bam

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Speaker 1: hit essentially the game winner on a short on a

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Speaker 1: short roll pass from Tyler Harrold. The Heat were really

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Speaker 1: spamming hick and roll at the end of this game

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Speaker 1: with Bam and Tyler Harrow. Um the uh the The

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Speaker 1: Celtics ended up trapping Harrow on this play. They hit

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Speaker 1: the drop past to Bam. Bam cot at the foul

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Speaker 1: and Payton Pritchard came over and actually tagged Bam, and

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Speaker 1: Bam just was patient and just kind of like kind

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Speaker 1: of brought the ball high like he was gonna throw

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Speaker 1: a swing pass. Payton Pritchard recovered back out to the

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Speaker 1: wing and in that little gap right as Grant Williams

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Speaker 1: was recovering, there was that brief opening and Bam just

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Speaker 1: elevated and knocked down the jump shot. And then on

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Speaker 1: the other end of the floor, they double team Jayson

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Speaker 1: Tatum and he turned it over um, which we'll get

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Speaker 1: to in a second. But I have three quick things

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Speaker 1: I want to hit on this game. One Bam shot

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Speaker 1: creation once again down the stretch carried this team. That

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Speaker 1: is everything for this team. If he can look to

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Speaker 1: score this aggressively and this confidently and this frequently, it

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Speaker 1: adds a dimension to the Heat that they haven't had.

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Speaker 1: And it significantly raises their playoffs ceiling. Secondly, Tyler Harrow

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Speaker 1: and pick and roll. I've said consistently Tyler struggles against

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Speaker 1: the set defensive player. He's not going to create off

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Speaker 1: the bounce against the defender right in front of him.

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Speaker 1: He's just a little too thin and doesn't quite get

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Speaker 1: enough separation. You're seeing that again in ISO this year.

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Speaker 1: He's just zero point seven three points per possession in

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Speaker 1: ISO including passes, which is obviously bad. But what I've

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Speaker 1: always said about Tyler Harrow, give him a screen and

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Speaker 1: give him some drop coverage and he's going to barbecue you.

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Speaker 1: And he's having an incredible pick and roll season. Forty

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Speaker 1: two players in the NBA this year have run at

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Speaker 1: least four hundred picking rolls including passes. Tyler Harrow is

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Speaker 1: fifth out of forty two in the entire NBA in

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Speaker 1: points per possession and pick and roll including passes at

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Speaker 1: one point one three points per possession. Made a bunch

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Speaker 1: of key plays down the stretch of this one, and

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Speaker 1: then Jayson Tatum one for four with two turnovers in

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Speaker 1: the fourth quarter tonight. A couple of key turnovers late

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Speaker 1: through a Lobb pass that Bam at a Bio was

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Speaker 1: already dropping back. It was just a really bad decision

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Speaker 1: and Bam stole it. And then late in the game

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Speaker 1: and this one, it kind of it's not all on Tatum,

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Speaker 1: but they trapped him and ended up turning it over.

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Speaker 1: I took a screenshot at this place. You can find

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Speaker 1: it on my Twitter, your feed. But on the play,

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Speaker 1: you know, one of the things I always talk about

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Speaker 1: with trapping is if you apply good ball pressure, you

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Speaker 1: have to throw a looping cross court pass. Because obviously,

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Speaker 1: if it's a lazy trap, I can just throw a

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Speaker 1: dart like a like a laser beam across the court

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Speaker 1: that's gonna hit a shooter in the pocket and it's

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Speaker 1: game over, right, But if you apply ball pressure, now

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Speaker 1: I'm fighting to protect the basketball and I'm trying to

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Speaker 1: find a place to throw it, I'm gonna have to

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Speaker 1: throw it kind of high in in looping fashion. That

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Speaker 1: allows the heat to basically ignore the guy in the

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Speaker 1: far corner and guard everyone else and so no one's open.

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Speaker 1: And that's what happened on that particular play. It's an

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Speaker 1: impossible cross court pass against ball pressure, right, So what

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Speaker 1: you have to do in that situation is you have

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Speaker 1: to flash somebody to the high post. One of the

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Speaker 1: players that's not being guarded has to flash because you're

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Speaker 1: creating an easy outlet that that player can then turn

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Speaker 1: in the four on three and make a play. And

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Speaker 1: on this play, Robert Williams was kind of in the middle,

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Speaker 1: but he just kept jogging down towards the bat ask

431
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,080
Speaker 1: it and eventually there was nobody there and there was

432
00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:05,000
Speaker 1: no good option for Tatum. But the reality was is

433
00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:09,040
Speaker 1: it was still a turnover, and eventually Jayson Tatum is

434
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:10,520
Speaker 1: going to have to figure out how to be comfortable

435
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,120
Speaker 1: and confident in these late game scenarios. He's getting good reps,

436
00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:15,800
Speaker 1: but it has to click eventually. This is becoming a

437
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:18,760
Speaker 1: consistent issue al right, before we move on to our

438
00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:20,760
Speaker 1: last two games, my last quick hitter of the night

439
00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:24,800
Speaker 1: non NBA players and the dunk contest. So I was

440
00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:26,800
Speaker 1: talking to my father in law the other day and

441
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,320
Speaker 1: he said that he had listened to UH. I think

442
00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,560
Speaker 1: he was listening to like Sirius XM radio and some

443
00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:36,120
Speaker 1: NBA channel and uh, my father in laws, a big

444
00:22:36,119 --> 00:22:37,800
Speaker 1: basketball guys, is one of my favorite people in my

445
00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:40,920
Speaker 1: family to talk basketball with. And he goes, yeah, like

446
00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:44,440
Speaker 1: they were talking about potentially bringing in professional dunkers into

447
00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:47,560
Speaker 1: the dunk Contest, and I haven't actually seen this reported,

448
00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:49,719
Speaker 1: so I don't want to confirm that, but I do

449
00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,560
Speaker 1: think it's relevant because the NBA is allowing Mac McClung,

450
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:56,280
Speaker 1: a G League player, to participate in the dunk contest.

451
00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:58,920
Speaker 1: So there were two kind of things that I wanted

452
00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:02,200
Speaker 1: to hit on here, because I personally am not okay

453
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 1: with non NBA players participating in the dunk contest. Um.

454
00:23:06,560 --> 00:23:09,440
Speaker 1: I am a basketball player, pretty good one was good

455
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:13,200
Speaker 1: college basketball player. I'm not a pro. Um. I had

456
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:16,800
Speaker 1: several options to go overseas for little bits of money,

457
00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 1: but I was married and had two dogs and had

458
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,399
Speaker 1: no interest in leaving my good paying job to go

459
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:24,760
Speaker 1: overseas to make three hundred bucks a week to grind

460
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:27,119
Speaker 1: up the overseas ladder. I'm at peace with it. It

461
00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:29,440
Speaker 1: is what it is. But I have never in my

462
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:33,479
Speaker 1: life uh insinuated that I'm an NBA player, or that

463
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,320
Speaker 1: I'm as good as those guys, or or that they

464
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:38,560
Speaker 1: have my spot in the league or anything like that.

465
00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,240
Speaker 1: And the main reason why is because I think that

466
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:47,240
Speaker 1: it's sacred. As a basketball fan, I think the achievement

467
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,640
Speaker 1: of being an NBA player is sacred to me. It's

468
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:54,919
Speaker 1: such an incredible accomplishment that I would never in a

469
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:56,960
Speaker 1: million years put myself in their shoes. If you see

470
00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:59,200
Speaker 1: me talk about me and myself as a player, or

471
00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:02,879
Speaker 1: you see me post a video of me playing in

472
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,719
Speaker 1: some basketball event here in Tucson, it's just my expression

473
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:08,600
Speaker 1: of my love for the game and has nothing to

474
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,520
Speaker 1: do with me being like, hey, look at me, I'm

475
00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:13,359
Speaker 1: an NBA player. I've never been like that because those

476
00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 1: guys are sacred to me. And that extends to this

477
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,639
Speaker 1: dunk contest situation, because, yeah, is there an issue with

478
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:23,560
Speaker 1: the dunk contest and getting stars to participate, Sure, but

479
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,879
Speaker 1: that's I mean, that's that's a problem that is probably

480
00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:31,080
Speaker 1: not going away anytime soon. But there are plenty of

481
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,280
Speaker 1: NBA players that are willing to participate in the dunk contest.

482
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,479
Speaker 1: I don't know about you, guys, but I'm really excited

483
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:39,080
Speaker 1: to see Shaden Sharp in this dunk contest. I think

484
00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,680
Speaker 1: he has an opportunity to put put forth one of

485
00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,520
Speaker 1: the best free throw line dunks in NBA history this year.

486
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:48,400
Speaker 1: I'm excited to see it. But like putting in, let's

487
00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:50,840
Speaker 1: start with mc mclung for instance. Yeah, mc mclung is

488
00:24:50,880 --> 00:24:53,600
Speaker 1: gonna be interesting to see in that dunk contest, but

489
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:56,879
Speaker 1: he's not an NBA player, and so to me, it

490
00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:00,520
Speaker 1: kind of defiles the sacred nature of what the MBA

491
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:06,359
Speaker 1: Dunk Contest is that extends tenfold for bringing in professional dunkers. Now,

492
00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,199
Speaker 1: some of you basketball players out there that listen to

493
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:11,919
Speaker 1: the show will relate to me on this, and a

494
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,080
Speaker 1: lot of this might go over some of your guys head,

495
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,720
Speaker 1: but bear with me, um. I've run into my share

496
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,160
Speaker 1: of professional dunkers in my life, and most of them

497
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:21,800
Speaker 1: are nice guys. Some of them are a little bit

498
00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,080
Speaker 1: more arrogant. But what has always bothered me is like,

499
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:29,639
Speaker 1: they're not basketball players. They're athletes. It's like a track

500
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:32,399
Speaker 1: and field competition at that point to do all this

501
00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:35,919
Speaker 1: crazy acrobatic stuff with dunking. Some of the best professional

502
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,080
Speaker 1: dunkers that I've ever played with were parable basketball players,

503
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:43,680
Speaker 1: and that's not again. What they do is a marvel

504
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,800
Speaker 1: of human athleticism, and I do enjoy every once in

505
00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:49,640
Speaker 1: a while and I'm scrolling through Instagram and I see

506
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,800
Speaker 1: a video of, you know, some professional dunker doing something crazy.

507
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:57,959
Speaker 1: I I watch it, but to me, that's separate, and

508
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,000
Speaker 1: what makes the NBA dunk content so damn cool is

509
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,920
Speaker 1: those are real life NBA players, damn good basketball players,

510
00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 1: doing those athletic feats. I have no question that if

511
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,360
Speaker 1: you brought professional dunkers into the NBA Dunk Contest, you'd

512
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:15,800
Speaker 1: see some of the most amazing dunks in NBA Dunk

513
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:19,600
Speaker 1: contest history. But again, it would be defiling that sacred

514
00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 1: nature of what an NBA player is and what that

515
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 1: means to be an NBA player. So please look after

516
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,640
Speaker 1: this mc McClung experiment. No disrespect to mc McClung. He's

517
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:32,639
Speaker 1: a far more accomplished basketball player than me, a damn

518
00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:34,800
Speaker 1: good one, and he probably will play in the NBA

519
00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,320
Speaker 1: again one day, and he has in the past. But

520
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:40,639
Speaker 1: you shouldn't be in the dunk contest. That's that's just

521
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,879
Speaker 1: my opinion that that is a sacred event for NBA players.

522
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:46,040
Speaker 1: All Right, two more games then we're out of here.

523
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:48,640
Speaker 1: We're gonna go quick. Calv's Knicks. The Knicks win one

524
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:50,359
Speaker 1: oh five to one of the rae Julius Randall hit

525
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:51,800
Speaker 1: the shot of the nights tied at one on one

526
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:53,920
Speaker 1: or one d to one hundred, and there's kind of

527
00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:56,480
Speaker 1: a stagnant possession where he was standing unguarded in a

528
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,439
Speaker 1: triple that threat at the top of the key finally

529
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:00,760
Speaker 1: just rose up and knocked it down. Um. And then

530
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:02,320
Speaker 1: on the other end of the floor, Calves are on

531
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 1: pick and roll draw some help kick out past to

532
00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,119
Speaker 1: Isaac Cora on the left wing, wide open three, and

533
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:11,359
Speaker 1: he missed it. But Isaaca Coro is shooting thirty percent

534
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,280
Speaker 1: on catch and shoot threes this season. He's gonna miss

535
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:15,720
Speaker 1: two out of three, two out of three of those.

536
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,040
Speaker 1: That position continues to be the biggest weak point on

537
00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:21,639
Speaker 1: the Calves roster, and you're seeing it regularly at the

538
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,119
Speaker 1: end of games where Calves have really struggled. But then

539
00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:27,000
Speaker 1: the Calves got a couple of stops, but Donovan Mitchell

540
00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:29,879
Speaker 1: made two really bad reads, driving into traffic and getting

541
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:32,840
Speaker 1: blocked on consecutive possessions at the rim. He did hit

542
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:34,760
Speaker 1: some huge shots late in the game to get the

543
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:38,159
Speaker 1: Calves back into this game, but he can get tunnel

544
00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:39,760
Speaker 1: vision sometimes. He got a little bit of that West

545
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:42,120
Speaker 1: broken him, uh, and it hurt the Calves and crunch

546
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,920
Speaker 1: time tonight. The Caves have now lost fourteen games involving

547
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:48,720
Speaker 1: clutch situations, which is bottom ten in the league. Both

548
00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:52,040
Speaker 1: their offense and defense fall apart their fourteen in both

549
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:56,399
Speaker 1: offense and defense and clutch situations despite being the second

550
00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,600
Speaker 1: best defense in the league overall. UM. On defense, they

551
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:01,640
Speaker 1: played two small guards that don't defend. You have plenty

552
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,919
Speaker 1: of entry points to attack their defense. And then on offense,

553
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:07,040
Speaker 1: they are the fourth worst spot up team in the

554
00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:10,919
Speaker 1: NBA converting spot up opportunities to the clue to the

555
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,320
Speaker 1: clip of just zero point nine eight points per possession,

556
00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:15,119
Speaker 1: which is just not gonna get it done. So you

557
00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 1: can dig off of their role players, just like the

558
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,960
Speaker 1: NIXT did with Isaac Akorro and help on their stars,

559
00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:21,520
Speaker 1: and you're gonna get a lot of stops that way

560
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:24,440
Speaker 1: because they're just not gonna make shots. UM. At this point,

561
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:26,000
Speaker 1: I think the Calves are staring down the barrel of

562
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:27,840
Speaker 1: a five game exit in the first round this year.

563
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,440
Speaker 1: I think this roster is fundamentally flawed into catastrophic ways.

564
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:36,160
Speaker 1: Two small guards that you can't account for defensively and

565
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:40,560
Speaker 1: the small forward position. UM. And I hope for the

566
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:42,120
Speaker 1: sake of Cavs fans, and I know this is gonna

567
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,600
Speaker 1: suck to here, but I actually hope it's embarrassing for you,

568
00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:49,680
Speaker 1: because Cavs fans are the Cavs organization, and Cavs fans

569
00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 1: are very attached to Darius Garland, and I have Darius

570
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,720
Speaker 1: Garland's a great young player, and he's a phenomenal human being,

571
00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:00,840
Speaker 1: and all indications are that he's earned a great deal

572
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:04,400
Speaker 1: of love from that fan base. But as long as

573
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:07,760
Speaker 1: that Donovan Mitchell is better than him, and as long

574
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:10,480
Speaker 1: as Darius Garland is there next to Donovan Mitchell, it

575
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:14,160
Speaker 1: fundamentally hampers the team. So I hope they lose an

576
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:16,880
Speaker 1: embarrassing fashion because that will be the trigger that they

577
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,040
Speaker 1: need this summer to move Darius Garland for a legit

578
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,560
Speaker 1: forward that you can put next to Evan Mobley and

579
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:25,400
Speaker 1: Jared Allen that can score and defend at an extremely

580
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,080
Speaker 1: high level, which will allow the Calves to have a

581
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:31,440
Speaker 1: better playoffs ceiling. That UM is all that matters in

582
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:36,040
Speaker 1: the end anyway. UM goodwin for the Knicks, though they

583
00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:37,960
Speaker 1: just have not been good against good teams this year.

584
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:40,200
Speaker 1: Before tonight they were just seven and fourteen against teams

585
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:41,880
Speaker 1: that were five or better. But they did have a

586
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,360
Speaker 1: good game plan tonight, helping off of those spot up shooters.

587
00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 1: They wrote some hot shooting in this game and good

588
00:29:47,320 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 1: late defense to build a solid win to break their

589
00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,320
Speaker 1: four game losing streak, and then quickly before we get

590
00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:56,720
Speaker 1: out of here tonight Wizards MAVs. The Wizards won six.

591
00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:58,920
Speaker 1: Just watch the end of this one beal hit. The

592
00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:00,560
Speaker 1: biggest shot of the game is step act three over

593
00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:03,400
Speaker 1: Luca on the left wing. Uh, and then Kuzma wanted

594
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:05,120
Speaker 1: at the free throw line drawn a blocking foul on

595
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:09,360
Speaker 1: the right sideline. UM. Luca was great overall and six,

596
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,720
Speaker 1: but three deadly mistakes down the stretch. He missed the

597
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: free throw that allowed the game to be tied for

598
00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,239
Speaker 1: Kuzma to break the tie. Then he was the one

599
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 1: who committed the silly blocking foul and a tied on game.

600
00:30:23,400 --> 00:30:26,400
Speaker 1: Kuzma was just dribbling up the right sideline doing some

601
00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,600
Speaker 1: stupid stuff and Luca just cut him off and bumped

602
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,560
Speaker 1: him for no particular reason at all whatsoever. Um. And

603
00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:34,000
Speaker 1: then on the other end of the floor, down one

604
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:38,040
Speaker 1: twenty six, he turned it over. The maps are spiraling now,

605
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,479
Speaker 1: they've lost seven out of nine. I do think that

606
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:43,520
Speaker 1: things will stabilize a little bit when they get fully

607
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:45,440
Speaker 1: healthy and back into rhythm, like they didn't have Christian

608
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,280
Speaker 1: would tonight. But this team is not good enough right now,

609
00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:50,840
Speaker 1: and I don't know, they're in kind of that weird

610
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:53,600
Speaker 1: position where like you can look at it like be

611
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,240
Speaker 1: aggressive at the deadline and try to get something around Luca,

612
00:30:56,320 --> 00:31:00,080
Speaker 1: but Lucas so young that like, you know, you know,

613
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,360
Speaker 1: Rob Polinka after the Ruby had to mr trade. Uh,

614
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:05,360
Speaker 1: he did a little press conference today and he basically

615
00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:09,200
Speaker 1: laid out his case for why the Lakers should be

616
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:11,600
Speaker 1: patient and how you know, he wanted to get that

617
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:15,440
Speaker 1: you know, truly great trade with the with the assets

618
00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 1: that they have and in a vacuum. That's such good reasoning.

619
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,960
Speaker 1: But it doesn't make sense for the Lakers because Lebron's

620
00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,760
Speaker 1: in his twentieth season. And so even if like you

621
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 1: wait till this summer and you make a better trade,

622
00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:33,200
Speaker 1: like and if it works out, you're in the NBA Finals.

623
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:36,480
Speaker 1: Lebron will be thirty nine and a half in next

624
00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:40,360
Speaker 1: year's NBA Finals. So even if you get thirty percent

625
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:43,280
Speaker 1: more out of the that individual player, Like, how much

626
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:45,480
Speaker 1: of a decline are you looking at from Lebron over

627
00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:48,600
Speaker 1: the course of the next fifteen, sixteen months or whatever,

628
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:50,720
Speaker 1: so that I've never seen that as sound reasoning, Like

629
00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:52,280
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers have to pour it into this

630
00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:55,040
Speaker 1: season because I don't know how long Lebron is gonna

631
00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:57,000
Speaker 1: stay at this level, but probably not for much longer.

632
00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:01,960
Speaker 1: And you know, but for Luca, I actually see that

633
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:05,800
Speaker 1: as the appropriate strategy. You don't want to make the

634
00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,440
Speaker 1: mistake that the early Calves did with Lebron, where they

635
00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 1: kept going all in every single year and they never

636
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,200
Speaker 1: got that truly great piece next to Lebron. The next

637
00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:17,360
Speaker 1: thing you know, he's leaving. So I would pitch it

638
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:20,680
Speaker 1: to Luca like, hey, man, like it might take us

639
00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,600
Speaker 1: two or three years, but we're gonna get you a guy,

640
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:27,000
Speaker 1: like a real guy, like a real co star, and

641
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:29,760
Speaker 1: we're gonna build a real championship roster around you. Because

642
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:34,080
Speaker 1: I'd rather be truly great when you're seven, then a

643
00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:37,600
Speaker 1: little bit better this year. That is a good strategy

644
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,280
Speaker 1: for Luca because of his age. You guys can probably

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00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:43,320
Speaker 1: see the difference there. Alright, guys, that's all I have

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00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:45,640
Speaker 1: for tonight. So, like I said, I'm in Lake Tahoe,

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00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:48,000
Speaker 1: but I am bringing my stuff and we're gonna be

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00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,920
Speaker 1: covering Grizzlies Warriors on Thursday morning, so keep an eye

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00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:54,960
Speaker 1: on the feeds on Thursday for a video. And then

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00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:57,040
Speaker 1: when I get back on Saturday night, I think is

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00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:00,480
Speaker 1: Laker Celtics. I get back late Saturday, right, but I'll

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00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,800
Speaker 1: be working and covering those games on Sunday morning. As always,

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Speaker 1: I sincerely appreciate you guys as support and I will

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Speaker 1: see you next time. The volume