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Speaker 1: The volume. Get ready for more must watch TV from

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Speaker 1: Vice Sports. They have the show called The Grudge. It's

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Speaker 1: a new series that's going to relive and unpack many

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Speaker 1: a sports most intense personal and team rivalries, exploring ego's history,

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Speaker 1: high stakes drama that turn ordinary game play into unforgettable battles,

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Speaker 1: delivering something for everybody. Each controversy laced episode of The

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Speaker 1: Grudge digs into the grievances between teams and top sports

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Speaker 1: personalities and football, basketball, mma, baseball, hockey, golf. Narrator Will Compton,

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Speaker 1: former NFL linebacker and co host of Buston with the Boys,

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Speaker 1: is going to be joined by a cast of personalities

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Speaker 1: including retired NFL wide receiver Steve Smith, senior, four time

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Speaker 1: Stanley Cup champ Darren McCarty, Bobby Valentine, renowned NBA journalist

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Speaker 1: Howard Beck, and others. Tell the stories of these animosities,

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Speaker 1: so you'll also see nostalgic archival footage witnesses, fans, players,

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Speaker 1: coaches connected to that week's story. New episodes of The

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Speaker 1: Grudge are every Wednesday at ten pm Eastern only on

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Speaker 1: Vice DV. Go to vicetv dot com to find your

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Speaker 1: cable channel. All right here we go. Jason Timpf, podcaster

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Speaker 1: the volume Hoops Tonight. Okay, so I picked the You know,

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Speaker 1: it's really funny. I mean, the series is pretty predictable.

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Speaker 1: One team can shoot, that's the Warriors.

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Speaker 2: The other is.

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Speaker 1: Big, long, athletic and struggles sometimes when you take away

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Speaker 1: the transition baskets for the Rockets and you take their

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Speaker 1: athleticism and you mute it to some degree in the

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Speaker 1: playoffs because you're not going to get freebies. You know,

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Speaker 1: you get them on a Tuesday night in Orlando, you're

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Speaker 1: not getting them against the veteran NBA playoff team. The

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Speaker 1: Warriors played really good defense and Houston couldn't shoot. So

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Speaker 1: I know what the series is youth inexperienced athletic ability

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Speaker 1: length against this old veteran team that's incredibly well coached

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Speaker 1: with Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler. But I've got to

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Speaker 1: be honest. Show to a stat at the end of

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Speaker 1: the year where Jalen Green wasn't scoring. And Jalen Green's fascinating.

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Speaker 1: He's almost a case study for me. So I think

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Speaker 1: everybody should go to college at least for a year,

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Speaker 1: probably two. But he goes to the G League. I

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Speaker 1: watch his game. He can't play up your point, can't

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Speaker 1: really shoot super athletic and long, but sometimes you kind

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Speaker 1: of leans on that athletic ability around the basket and

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Speaker 1: puts a wild shots. Was invisible in this game. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he was just invisible. And they have more than enough

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Speaker 1: size and athletic ability, and I'm looking at this guy's career.

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Speaker 1: He's obviously an absolutely dynamic player. But I feel like

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Speaker 1: when I watched him tonight, it's like, Okay, in playoff basketball,

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Speaker 1: you have to sort of define your offense. You just

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Speaker 1: can't come down and wing it right. You can't just

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Speaker 1: have You see this in college basketball adjacent all the time,

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Speaker 1: where you just have lost possessions. In college you'll have

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Speaker 1: eight or nine in a row. And I felt a

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Speaker 1: lot of times I didn't know what Houston was doing

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Speaker 1: in the half court set when you took away the

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Speaker 1: transition baskets.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's half the battle.

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Speaker 3: You gotta have a pet action or preferably multiple pet

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Speaker 3: actions that you trust to at least either get you

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Speaker 3: a good shot or get a close out for somebody,

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Speaker 3: so you can start the tic tac toe of trying

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Speaker 3: to break a defense down and Honestly, I'm glad you

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Speaker 3: love Jalen Green, because I thought that was the difference

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Speaker 3: in tonight's game. This has been a recurring theme for

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Speaker 3: the Rockets throughout the season. It kind of stems around

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Speaker 3: Fred and Jalen. When the two of them are both great,

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Speaker 3: they're basically impossible to beat. When one of them is great,

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Speaker 3: they almost always win. As a matter of fact, one

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Speaker 3: of the craziest stats I encountered as I was prepping

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Speaker 3: for the series is that when Jalen Green scores at

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Speaker 3: least thirty points, the Rockets worth thirteen and one this season,

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Speaker 3: Like they just win when they get scoring.

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Speaker 2: So first of all, we should take that little.

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Speaker 3: Note and just file it away in case the Rockets

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Speaker 3: get Kevin Durant this summer, because that's where it could

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Speaker 3: get really scary, is if they have that reliable type

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Speaker 3: of scoring. But Jalen, as you put, is just so

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Speaker 3: in consistent. He's just as likely to go for seven

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Speaker 3: points in a game and be mostly ineffective as he

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Speaker 3: is to be effective. As a matter of fact, it

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Speaker 3: kind of comes down to he's very athletic getting to

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Speaker 3: the basket, and he's a very capable pull up shooter. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: but if those two things aren't going, it's gonna be

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Speaker 3: a lot of him forcing the action. Yeah, looking really ugly. Honestly,

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Speaker 3: Udoka has bailed on him often this year. Yeah, and

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Speaker 3: I wouldn't be surprised if he bails on him over

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Speaker 3: the course of this series. If you can't show.

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Speaker 1: More, if you and I talked, if you and I,

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Speaker 1: you know it's the closure eyes test. Jordan, Kobe, bird Yokich,

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Speaker 1: Lebron take great offensive players.

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Speaker 2: I'll go back to.

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Speaker 1: My day of George Gervin Alex English. When you think

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Speaker 1: of really profound scores, you can close your eyes and

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Speaker 1: you can picture their best move. There's certain stock foundational

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Speaker 1: moves Michael went to. He had about four, and you know,

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Speaker 1: just like he could get to he six in his sleep.

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Speaker 1: Kobe was more creative with fewer stock moves. He was

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Speaker 1: more creative than Michael with better range. But there were

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Speaker 1: certain things Kobe liked to do. Jalen Green's athletic, like

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Speaker 1: I feel like he has to develop two or three

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Speaker 1: foundational moves that he just uses and it's not a

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Speaker 1: knock steph Chris Paul. I mean, like Chris Paul has

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Speaker 1: just that behind the back through the leg, you know,

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Speaker 1: right angle of the free throw line, and close my

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Speaker 1: eyes and see it in my sleep. He scored eight

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Speaker 1: thousand points on one move. And I just feel like

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Speaker 1: with Jalen Green, I'm like, bro, it's not you got

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Speaker 1: to get past athletic ability, like you have to create

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Speaker 1: some absolute guarantees. The other thing here, listen, offensive rebounding,

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Speaker 1: Houston's going to dominate. They're so damn big. I thought

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Speaker 1: down the stretch the Warriors offensive rebounding, they were just

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Speaker 1: getting second looks.

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Speaker 2: A lot of it was effort.

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Speaker 1: Down the stretch. I thought Houston looked like a beaten

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Speaker 1: team with about four to five minutes left. Golden State

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Speaker 1: the old guys outworked him.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it was super interesting to see the flow of

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Speaker 3: the game as Steph, We've talked about Jalen and Fred

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Speaker 3: weren't producing anything on offense, so that that was really

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Speaker 3: the difference. Like you get seventeen combined points on thirty

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Speaker 3: four shots from Fred and Jalen, so literally half of

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Speaker 3: a point a shot. Right on the other side, you

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Speaker 3: get thirty one from Steph on nineteen shots, and just

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Speaker 3: I thought Steph was absolutely amazing tonight. I thought I'd

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Speaker 3: have to really think and start ranking. But when you

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Speaker 3: factor in the degree of difficulty, that was one of

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Speaker 3: his more impressive playoff games that I've watched. He was

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Speaker 3: really special. He was smothered all over the place and

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Speaker 3: he kept making it work. But like, honestly, to bring

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Speaker 3: it back to Jalen Green, Like, what I thought was

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Speaker 3: fascinating was Steph found Jalen to be his favorite target.

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Speaker 3: On the other end, that's really the issue with Jalen

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Speaker 3: is that when he doesn't have anything going offensively, he's

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Speaker 3: a weak defensive player when he should be better for

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Speaker 3: being a great athlete, and then on offense he doesn't

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Speaker 3: have the read and react game to make up for it.

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Speaker 3: But it was funny seeing the flow the game. Steph

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Speaker 3: is carrying the offense there, but you see Houston just

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Speaker 3: slowly chip away and there's nothing else going for Golden State.

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Speaker 3: But ironically, it was everybody else in the starting lineup

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Speaker 3: that kind of stepped up down the stretch.

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Speaker 2: I thought Pods was fantastic. Yeah, I thought mood I

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Speaker 2: thought Moody was fantastic.

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Speaker 3: Moody hit two massive jump shots that step back shit

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Speaker 3: at the end of the shot clock. That little mid ranger.

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Speaker 3: That was a big shot, the huge shot he hit

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Speaker 3: in the left corner right after Fred van Vliet hit

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Speaker 3: his shot. They just had a response for everything. Jimmy

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Speaker 3: Butler did some beautiful matchup attacking down the stretch. They

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Speaker 3: were brilliant defensively. You saw a really cohesive Warrior starting

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Speaker 3: unit down the stretch. And honestly, if there's one thing

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Speaker 3: to take away from the Jimmy Butler trade, it really

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Speaker 3: just lined up their best five perfectly. They know who

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Speaker 3: their five is and it just crystallized all of that

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Speaker 3: and it ended up working out. I actually thought it

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Speaker 3: was interesting that they didn't try Kaminga tonight. Nope, especially

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Speaker 3: considering how poorly they were rebounding for stretches. But at

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Speaker 3: the same time, like you got steady, mistake free basketball

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Speaker 3: down the roster, which I think is what Steve Kerr

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Speaker 3: was shooting forward to avoid Houston getting out in transition.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you could argue if you combine these two rosters,

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Speaker 1: the most athletic guys are Jalen Green, i'm On Thompson,

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Speaker 1: and Jonathan Kaminga. None of them did anything tonight because

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Speaker 1: I mean, seriously, Jason, because that's playoff basketball. You don't

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Speaker 1: get the easy transition transition baskets. You're gonna play the

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Speaker 1: same team over and over. You get the best coaches,

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Speaker 1: so you don't get cheap points. Which, listen, we always

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Speaker 1: we've always known this. They were talking about this on

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Speaker 1: the broadcast tonight, is that you're they're not gonna blow

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Speaker 1: the whistle. It gets very physical. I mean you could

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Speaker 1: see the Warriors late in the game, pushy Chippy and

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Speaker 1: the three most athletic guys and these two you could

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Speaker 1: argue the three most athletic guys didn't do anything tonight.

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Speaker 1: I did think Pods. You know, again, he's not a kid,

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Speaker 1: played a couple of years in college now this I

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Speaker 1: think this is his second year in the NBA. So

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Speaker 1: he's a class example where you know, he's not this

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Speaker 1: five star recruit who they rushed through a g league

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Speaker 1: of rushes And what does that mean? He really has

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Speaker 1: a place. Pods really has a place in this offense

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Speaker 1: from what I can see.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I was talking with my buddy Samus Fondiari about

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Speaker 3: this over the course of the last week because we've

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Speaker 3: been amazed to just see over the years how often

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Speaker 3: Steve Kerr has been right about who is a winning

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Speaker 3: basketball player, Like, for instance, like Ty Jerome, who was

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Speaker 3: incredible today for the Calves. Like that was the guy

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Speaker 3: that Steve Kerr had a lot of trust in Brandon Pajemski.

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Speaker 3: There were some downs colin over the last couple of

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Speaker 3: years where Warriors fans really wanted to bail on Brandon Pajemski,

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Speaker 3: and Steve Kurg just never gave up on him because

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Speaker 3: he believed in him as a winning player. The reverse

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Speaker 3: happened with Kaminga. There were stretches where there's a stretch

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Speaker 3: last year it was like a half dozen games in

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Speaker 3: a row, Kminga went for twenty plus and it was like,

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Speaker 3: oh man, we might have a future All Star in

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Speaker 3: our hands. But Steve Kerr saw through it and was

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Speaker 3: like this, there's not a lot of replicable winning basketball

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Speaker 3: that I'm getting out of this. There's just so much

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Speaker 3: there's so much emphasis in that organization. I'm bringing in

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Speaker 3: like the right types of dudes and like pods. The

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Speaker 3: way he impacted winning down the stretch was actually really

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Speaker 3: fascinating because it wasn't through any sort of, you know,

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Speaker 3: super talent based type of play. It was just smart basketball.

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Speaker 3: He beats a close out against Jabari Smith on the

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Speaker 3: left wing, traps him on his backside, baits Steven Adams

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Speaker 3: into stepping up, and throws a perfect bounce pass to

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Speaker 3: Gary Payton, who gets the easy layup under the basket.

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Speaker 3: The player Jimmy Butler got the put back, or I

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Speaker 3: think it was Draymond actually got to put back. Pods

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Speaker 3: didn't even get the put back. He just came flying

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Speaker 3: in and hit the basketball, but he kept it alive

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Speaker 3: long enough for it to pop right into Draymond's hands

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Speaker 3: and to go into the basket. He just does the

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Speaker 3: right thing every single time, which creates an environment of

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Speaker 3: factors that Steve Kirk can depend on to elevate the

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Speaker 3: situation for his stars to carry him over the top.

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Speaker 3: I think they just they just always seem to find

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Speaker 3: these guys calling it's crazy. It's an organizational thing for them.

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Speaker 1: Well, And you know, I was thinking about Jimmy Butler,

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Speaker 1: who finished forty two minutes, twenty five points, forty two

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Speaker 1: minutes frickin' and he plays both ends. And I was

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Speaker 1: thinking about this watching Jimmy Butler, is that he's a

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Speaker 1: very intentional basketball player, Like you remember his points and

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Speaker 1: I always said this about Andrew Wiggins, like he'd score

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Speaker 1: twenty six. I didn't remember a bucket, and like Jimmy

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Speaker 1: Butler can score sixteen, I remember all of them. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's like he's just an intentional player. And there were

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Speaker 1: a couple of times tonight where you know they were

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Speaker 1: in the control.

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Speaker 2: Of the game.

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Speaker 1: I mean this this well you could that's after that

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Speaker 1: that second quarter of basketball, it's like, oh, Houston's in trouble,

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Speaker 1: like they're they're they're completely out of rhythm, which the

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Speaker 1: Lakers were. We'll get to in a few minutes. But

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Speaker 1: the difference is the Lakers you kept thinking, well, I've

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Speaker 1: seen them in rhythm, they'll be good in the half court.

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Speaker 1: They never were, whereas with Houston you're like, oh, this

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Speaker 1: is this is a problem, Like they're just not they're young,

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Speaker 1: they're long, Jalen Green is lost and now he's a

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Speaker 1: little panicky. But Butler, you know, this is where I

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Speaker 1: love analytics, but sometimes I us need a bucket. And

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Speaker 1: there were about three to four times to night with

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler and it's like, no, he's not going to

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Speaker 1: shoot a three, He's just gonna work a guy and

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Speaker 1: give you that right angle, free throw, a line. He's

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Speaker 1: just in playoff games. So much of it is the

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Speaker 1: games are sold out, the crowds are lubricated and completely

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Speaker 1: into it. This is not people arriving from work late

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Speaker 1: on a Wednesday or Thursday. These are Saturday Sunday games.

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Speaker 1: Everybody is there. It's almost like tailgate and the lounge.

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Speaker 1: You go to your seat that are allowed, and those

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Speaker 1: ten point lead go down to four really fast, and

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Speaker 1: Butler just ends, he just gets you. He's got that

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Speaker 1: Kawhi thing. It's not about three. Sometimes you just need

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Speaker 1: a basket to quiet the crowd. And when I watch him,

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Speaker 1: I'm like, that's just playoff basketball. He's just you know,

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Speaker 1: he really senses oh shit, the crowd's back into it.

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Speaker 1: This is a this is a really big possession. And

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Speaker 1: I think Draymond does that and Steph feels that, and

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Speaker 1: I saw the Warriors do that half a dozen times

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Speaker 1: in the second half to night. You could just sense, hey, guys,

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Speaker 1: this is a huge possession. Even though we leave by

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Speaker 1: eight to your point.

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Speaker 3: Every single time Houston got it to four, got it

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Speaker 3: to three, the Warriors would go like stop bucket, stop bucket,

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Speaker 3: and it would be back up to eight, like they

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Speaker 3: just they always were able to regain control of the situation.

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Speaker 3: You were talking about go to moves earlier with Jalen Green.

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Speaker 3: That is, like Jimmy's patented go to move is the

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Speaker 3: hard in and out dribble with the right hand to

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Speaker 3: step back towards his right hand side. He added that

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Speaker 3: back in Minnesota, and I remember that was the reason

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Speaker 3: Philly traded for him. They were like, we need a

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Speaker 3: guy to get us a bucket. And then like it

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Speaker 3: was like the first or second game after he got

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Speaker 3: traded there, he hit a game winner on that exact

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Speaker 3: same move off the right wing. That's Jimmy's go to

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Speaker 3: move is he can just do a hard in and

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Speaker 3: out with that right hand to get some separation. And again,

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Speaker 3: to your pointctice that shot so much. And then when

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Speaker 3: you end up in these situations where it's like you've

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Speaker 3: got to create something out of nothing, it's great to

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Speaker 3: have a staple, something that you can depend on that's

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Speaker 3: going to give you a decent shot at knocking something down.

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Speaker 3: And you talked about the three versus mid range thing.

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Speaker 3: You know, when you get into a large sample, that

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Speaker 3: extra point matters because you're you know, over the course

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Speaker 3: of one hundred shots. If you get an extra point,

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Speaker 3: then you know that can make a huge difference, right,

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Speaker 3: But at the end of a game, no one cares

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Speaker 3: what your per one hundred efficiency is. It's about that possession.

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Speaker 3: You got to get a bucket on that possession. And

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Speaker 3: if Jimmy can hit that step back at fifty percent,

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Speaker 3: that's actually a better shot in that situation then even

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Speaker 3: like even a step three that's thirty nine percent, right,

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Speaker 3: because there's a sixty one percent chance that it's going

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Speaker 3: to miss. And so it's really nice to have a

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Speaker 3: big forward for them that they can go to in

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Speaker 3: those situations that can create a shot that has a

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Speaker 3: little bit less variance closer to the basket.

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Speaker 1: So I picked I picked the Rockets in seven in

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Speaker 1: this one, and I don't want to overreact, but there

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Speaker 1: were just were things I saw tonight, like Imoduko will obviously,

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Speaker 1: I mean, this is the playoffs the Lakers. Obviously you're

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Speaker 1: going to get a much more physical, intense Laker team

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Speaker 1: in Game two. But there are some things I'm not

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Speaker 1: sure they're correctable. I think I think the Rocket staff

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Speaker 1: has lost confidence in Jalen Green, and that's a problem.

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Speaker 1: Nobody in LA has lost confidence in Austin Reeves cause

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Speaker 1: he didn't play particularly well. So I mean, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I just watched that game tonight and I'm like, man,

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Speaker 1: Jalen Green is a non factor and is a little

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Speaker 1: bit wild now, and like he had a couple open

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Speaker 1: looks in the second half, You're like, oh, no, he

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Speaker 1: didn't want to shoot, Like he didn't trust this at all.

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Speaker 1: It's hard to snap out of that in a series.

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Speaker 1: So I'm I'm going to watch one more game. But

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Speaker 1: I think I was on the wrong side of this.

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Speaker 1: Do you still like the Warriors?

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Speaker 3: I you know, if I still like the Warriors? To

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Speaker 3: say this, though, Colin, I think if you're a Rockets fan,

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Speaker 3: you could be sitting here and saying the Guard Battle

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Speaker 3: could not have gone worse in our favor, Like Fred

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Speaker 3: and Jalen laid absolute stinkers, and Steph played, like we

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Speaker 3: talked about earlier, one of the better playoff games of

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Speaker 3: his career, and it was a three point game with

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Speaker 3: a few minutes left, And so there is a lot

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Speaker 3: of potential for Steph to have a little bit more

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Speaker 3: variance and have a poor shooting night. For Jalen Green

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Speaker 3: to have those great nights. I talked about him going

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Speaker 3: thirteen and one. He did that against a lot of

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Speaker 3: good teams too. There were Knights in the regular season

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Speaker 3: where Houston played a good team and Jalen was good

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Speaker 3: and they won. So like, there's a lot of variance.

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Speaker 3: So that's why I still think. I still think there's

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Speaker 3: a good chance this series goes longer, like it goes

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Speaker 3: a solid six games. But yeah, it's just it's really

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Speaker 3: difficult for me to imagine a scenario where the Rockets

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Speaker 3: out execute the Warriors in the half court or in

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Speaker 3: the offense part of the part of their attack for

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Speaker 3: four times and two weeks, like it just seems too

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Speaker 3: unlikely to me.

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Speaker 1: The NBA eighty two game grind is done. Now the

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Speaker 1: All Right, the Lakers, let's talk about that laid in egg.

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Speaker 1: This was a pretty easy game to watch. I kept

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Speaker 1: waiting for them to snap out of it. Timberwolves were

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Speaker 1: much more physical, and then they're a physical team, and

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Speaker 1: you knew they were going to ugly it up. That

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Speaker 1: was I mean, it was just like, guys, we're not

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Speaker 1: winning our two to matchups with this team. We're not

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Speaker 1: going to be pretty. And they have players who can

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Speaker 1: play ugly. Nazrid, Julius Randall, Golbert, they can play that game.

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Speaker 1: And I'll get to ant in the second because I

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Speaker 1: think he's really getting to be a really refined, really

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Speaker 1: smart player. But I was really shocked by the lack

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Speaker 1: of energy, little criticism to jj Reddick. I kept thinking

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Speaker 1: they played with a little bit more energy in the

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Speaker 1: second half. I thought for spurts, but I mean this

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Speaker 1: was in football terminology. This was kind of a butt

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Speaker 1: kicking like physicality intensity. I mean, Minnesota took it to

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Speaker 1: the Lakers. They just were a much more energized team.

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Speaker 1: And little surprised the Lakers didn't shift into another gear.

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Speaker 1: I really never felt they were the more physical team.

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Speaker 1: Didn't even fake it. Were you surprised by that?

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Speaker 2: I was super surprised.

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Speaker 3: This Lakers team has always had a little bit of

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Speaker 3: a tendency to have, you know, inconsistent intensity from game

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Speaker 3: to game. But I've always felt like championship teams know

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Speaker 3: when it's time to go. And I would be lying

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Speaker 3: to you if I'm not if I said I wasn't

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Speaker 3: super discouraged that, Like you look at a team like Oka,

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Speaker 3: see that is just like we're going to come out

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Speaker 3: and we're going to embarrass Memphis today because this is

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Speaker 3: step one of this two month long journey where we're

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Speaker 3: trying to.

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Speaker 2: Get the trophy.

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Speaker 3: And there were three teams I watched yesterday or I

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Speaker 3: should say over the weekend that looked like really unprepared

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Speaker 3: for playoff intensity, and it was the Bucks the Grizzlies

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Speaker 3: and the Lakers. They looked just really unprepared for the intensity,

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Speaker 3: stretching even down to Lebron in Austin. And so I

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Speaker 3: want to start here. I want to give credit to Minnesota.

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Speaker 3: I thought they threw an incredible punch yesterday. I thought

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Speaker 3: Aunt was super measured and didn't play into the game

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Speaker 3: plan making stupid forced decisions around the rim. He took

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Speaker 3: the kickout opportunities that were there. Everyone defended. Julius Randall

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Speaker 3: did a wonderful job defending both Luca and Lebron. The

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Speaker 3: bigs did really good on switches against everybody but Luca.

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Speaker 3: I thought they they're spot up shooters, shot really confidently

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Speaker 3: from all over the floor. As things got tighter late,

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Speaker 3: Julius Randall and Ant both showed really high level tough

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Speaker 3: shot making. Minnesota threw a great punch. But when I

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Speaker 3: went to watch the film this morning, and for anybody listening,

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00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:29,760
Speaker 3: there's a film session on our YouTube channel that you

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Speaker 3: guys can check out. In that film session, I came

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Speaker 3: away feeling a little better in the sense that there

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Speaker 3: were just so many obvious things that the Lakers could

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Speaker 3: do better. That said, I also think there's a version

430
00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:43,679
Speaker 3: of this colin where the Lakers bring a more intense

431
00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,280
Speaker 3: effort and it's not enough. And so that's what I'm

432
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:50,000
Speaker 3: really curious about with Game two. I feel relatively certain

433
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,200
Speaker 3: that they're going to come out on Tuesday ready to fight,

434
00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:55,639
Speaker 3: and they're going to be ready, and I'll have my

435
00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,680
Speaker 3: eyes on that first quarter because if the Lakers come

436
00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,639
Speaker 3: out and they control things and it's like, here we go,

437
00:22:01,720 --> 00:22:03,320
Speaker 3: this is our team, this is what we look like

438
00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:05,399
Speaker 3: when we're engaged, and we're better than these guys and

439
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:07,960
Speaker 3: we can show it, I'll feel better about kind of

440
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,840
Speaker 3: chalking up what happens Saturday night is a lack of intensity,

441
00:22:10,880 --> 00:22:13,560
Speaker 3: a lack of being ready. But if it's halftime calling

442
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,680
Speaker 3: and Minnesota is up by like three and Lebron and

443
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,480
Speaker 3: Austin are still struggling, That's where I'm going to be

444
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:21,560
Speaker 3: sitting there, like the Lakers are in a world of

445
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:23,960
Speaker 3: trouble because this is as we saw in the Denver

446
00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:27,600
Speaker 3: series last year. The Minnesota physicality never lets up. It

447
00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,119
Speaker 3: just keeps coming until the end of Game seven, and

448
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:32,399
Speaker 3: you have to find a way to survive it.

449
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:34,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, listen, Denver didn't have a good first

450
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,840
Speaker 1: half Boston didn't have a good first half. The Knicks

451
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:39,080
Speaker 1: did not have a good first half, like it happens

452
00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,199
Speaker 1: where the favorite comes in or a team that's you know,

453
00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:44,919
Speaker 1: got a ring and Denver comes in, and you know,

454
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,560
Speaker 1: the Clippers outplayed them, and the Pistons outplayed the Knicks

455
00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:49,720
Speaker 1: early in Orlando. You know, Ben.

456
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:50,800
Speaker 2: Carrol's a great player.

457
00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:53,560
Speaker 1: Oh, just a great player. Now. He by the way,

458
00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:55,879
Speaker 1: has a couple of stock moves like you. There are

459
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,240
Speaker 1: things he does consistently every time I watch him play

460
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,840
Speaker 1: and half court. He's a really good player. Also went

461
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:06,480
Speaker 1: to Duke, had great coaching, you know, briefly, but great coaching.

462
00:23:09,040 --> 00:23:12,080
Speaker 1: But I just kept waiting for the Lakers. And let's

463
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:17,720
Speaker 1: throw this out there, JJ Reddick's first playoff coaching game.

464
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,560
Speaker 1: And Chris Finch is a veteran, and Chris Finch is

465
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,840
Speaker 1: a really smart guy. And I said this yesterday on

466
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:27,879
Speaker 1: my postgame that Minnesota is a highly functional and well

467
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,040
Speaker 1: coached Memphis where you've got a defensive presence at the

468
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:35,080
Speaker 1: rim zach Edie and Gobert, you have a hyper athletic

469
00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:39,640
Speaker 1: star in John Morant and an aunt Ant now is separated.

470
00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:42,760
Speaker 1: I think of the two players much more sure. Then

471
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,080
Speaker 1: you have kind of a physicality with length, you have

472
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,719
Speaker 1: kind of a tough guy and Julius Randall, you know,

473
00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,399
Speaker 1: Memphis has a couple of tough guys Bane, you know,

474
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:57,479
Speaker 1: so a physical presence. And the difference is Minnesota's more

475
00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:01,679
Speaker 1: mature and they're better coached. And I think Ant really

476
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,720
Speaker 1: become a refined player. Like you know, it was funny

477
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:06,560
Speaker 1: they led by eleven and half he had eight, and

478
00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,000
Speaker 1: it was just like I thought, the word you used,

479
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,240
Speaker 1: he let the game come to him. He's a very

480
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:16,360
Speaker 1: measured player now. And it's like, and I think that's

481
00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:18,439
Speaker 1: really hard. I think that's hard when you're in that

482
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,120
Speaker 1: you know, you're in those prime, early show off years

483
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,560
Speaker 1: where you can do a lot of things. Your energy

484
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:26,919
Speaker 1: is through the roof compared to half the guys, the

485
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,800
Speaker 1: veterans you play. And I think that comes down to

486
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,960
Speaker 1: a kid. Every time I watch AUNT every year, Jason,

487
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,240
Speaker 1: I see a better player, and I don't with Ja

488
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,159
Speaker 1: Morant like a Ja Moran, I'm like, Okay, I know

489
00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,080
Speaker 1: you're athletic, bro, but your shooting's getting worse. I think

490
00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:46,920
Speaker 1: Ant's really becoming I guess this is the way I

491
00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:49,600
Speaker 1: would put it. I can see the work Ant puts

492
00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,440
Speaker 1: into his game, and I can see what the staff

493
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,040
Speaker 1: the work they put into Ant in the offense. I

494
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:55,719
Speaker 1: can see it.

495
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,159
Speaker 3: To your point, these two guys faced off in a

496
00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,720
Speaker 3: playoff series in twenty twenty two where Jaw looked like

497
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:06,600
Speaker 3: the better player, and what has happened since then. Aunt

498
00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:11,880
Speaker 3: has demonstrably massively improved year over year, and Joe, i'd argue,

499
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:14,120
Speaker 3: is worse than the player he was in twenty twenty two.

500
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,359
Speaker 3: He's not able to inflict himself on the game the

501
00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:19,240
Speaker 3: way he used to it. Again, the Grizzlies are a

502
00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,680
Speaker 3: whole other thing. I have so many thoughts there calling

503
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:23,480
Speaker 3: we could have a fun conversation about them at some

504
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:26,520
Speaker 3: point in the future. But like with Aunt, I want

505
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 3: to credit him for pushing through some of the reps

506
00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:30,879
Speaker 3: that he had to work through. Like I don't know

507
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:32,800
Speaker 3: if you know this, Colin, but Ant was the most

508
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:36,000
Speaker 3: blitzed player in the NBA this year, and what that

509
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:37,880
Speaker 3: means is every time he went into pick and roll,

510
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,440
Speaker 3: the guy who was screening him, his defender would double

511
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:43,359
Speaker 3: team Ant as he was coming off of the screen.

512
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:46,480
Speaker 3: So one of the reasons why they're not blitzing him

513
00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:48,480
Speaker 3: for the reason you blit Steph Curry. You blit Steph

514
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 3: Curry because you don't want Steph to get a three

515
00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:52,960
Speaker 3: coming off the screen. They're blitzing Ant because they don't

516
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,080
Speaker 3: think he can pass Colin. They're double teaming Aunt at

517
00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:58,119
Speaker 3: the end of games because they don't think he can pass.

518
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,680
Speaker 3: It was the narrative all season coming into this series.

519
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:03,720
Speaker 3: It was all everybody would talk about. And so I

520
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:05,960
Speaker 3: want to I want to give Chris Finch some credit

521
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,000
Speaker 3: here too, because I think him and his staff literally

522
00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,040
Speaker 3: went up to Aunt and they were like, you cannot

523
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:12,880
Speaker 3: shoot your way through this series. You have to pass

524
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,040
Speaker 3: your way through the series. And I thought he did

525
00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:16,840
Speaker 3: a wonderful job letting the game come to him. He like,

526
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:19,040
Speaker 3: wouldn't take a three early in the game. He was

527
00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:20,919
Speaker 3: like letting the game come to him. But then all

528
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,040
Speaker 3: of a sudden, in that second quarter run, he starts.

529
00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,440
Speaker 3: In the third quarter run, he starts letting it fly.

530
00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:27,960
Speaker 3: In transition, as the momentum is going, he gets started

531
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:31,000
Speaker 3: to get aggressive when the game called for it. But

532
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:32,800
Speaker 3: he just took what was coming to him there in

533
00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,080
Speaker 3: the first half, and I just thought, he's you know,

534
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:38,000
Speaker 3: we've talked a lot about where aunt rakes in the league,

535
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:39,439
Speaker 3: and at the beginning of the season I put him

536
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:42,320
Speaker 3: at number five, and that might have been too high

537
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:45,000
Speaker 3: at the time, but really, Colin, is he not the

538
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,320
Speaker 3: fifth best player in the league now? I mean, you know,

539
00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:50,440
Speaker 3: Tatum and Giannis and Luca or Tatum and Yiannis.

540
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:51,840
Speaker 2: And Sga and Yokis are the top four.

541
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 3: Luca hasn't really been able to regain his footing since

542
00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:57,000
Speaker 3: he got hurt earlier this year. I don't know of

543
00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,280
Speaker 3: a player who's playing better basketball other than a maybe

544
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:04,320
Speaker 3: Steph Like like that, there's ants crawled right back up

545
00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:08,200
Speaker 3: that list after getting kind of like, you know, criticized

546
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,520
Speaker 3: all year for not managing those double teams very well.

547
00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was. It was such a strange game because

548
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:16,680
Speaker 1: you know, it just lacked. You know, you watch and

549
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,440
Speaker 1: let's talk about the Nuggets and Clippers. That game was great,

550
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,520
Speaker 1: and I mean the intensity of that game from the

551
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:30,240
Speaker 1: first minute was just insane. And I really thought the Clippers.

552
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:32,000
Speaker 1: I picked the Clippers, I think in six or seven

553
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,920
Speaker 1: games in this series. Better coach, better defense, I thought

554
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,560
Speaker 1: they'd and by the way, I think I still like

555
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:40,560
Speaker 1: the Clippers, but I thought the last. You know, it's

556
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:44,720
Speaker 1: funny about Jokic. He's not a very good defender. But

557
00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:46,280
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this. I went on a long

558
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:48,439
Speaker 1: walk today and I was thinking about that series in

559
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:54,240
Speaker 1: the game. Is that historically it's not just that he scores,

560
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:58,439
Speaker 1: he rebounds. He's got the ball in his hands. You

561
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 1: cannot ask a seven foot guy that's two sixty five

562
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:08,280
Speaker 1: to honestly carry the offense, including the ball handling in

563
00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:11,880
Speaker 1: the passing. You know, Kareem could score thirty, wasn't handling

564
00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:16,159
Speaker 1: the ball right, And so it's like Joki isn't. He

565
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,680
Speaker 1: doesn't put a lot of effort. I mean, Harden blew

566
00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:21,480
Speaker 1: past him about six times in the first half. But

567
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:25,320
Speaker 1: I will say this, in the last five minutes he

568
00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:29,280
Speaker 1: does lock in. He's not a great defender, but the

569
00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:32,399
Speaker 1: last five minutes the game, everybody on the Nuggets was

570
00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:35,439
Speaker 1: playing real defense. They were locking in. He was putting

571
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:36,560
Speaker 1: bodies on people.

572
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:38,160
Speaker 2: But as I watched.

573
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,400
Speaker 1: Jokis, I'm like, listen, man, look at the size of him.

574
00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:45,600
Speaker 1: Nobody asked Kareem or Shack or a Keem to bring

575
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:50,120
Speaker 1: the ball up, set the screens, direct traffic. I almost

576
00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:53,520
Speaker 1: give him a pass. Defensively, because I do think late

577
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:56,800
Speaker 1: in games he's much more engaged on that end.

578
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,920
Speaker 3: I thought he was pretty great on defense for the

579
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,120
Speaker 3: entire second half of that game and most of the

580
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,560
Speaker 3: second part of the second quarter. There was a timeout

581
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:09,360
Speaker 3: right when the Clippers went up I think fifty one

582
00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:12,800
Speaker 3: to thirty six, and Jokic came out right out of

583
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:14,960
Speaker 3: the timeout and just started pressuring the heck out of

584
00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,400
Speaker 3: Zoo and was just flying around making extra efforts. And

585
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,200
Speaker 3: he was brilliant in his pick and roll defense in

586
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:24,000
Speaker 3: the second half, getting deflections, forcing turnovers. And while I

587
00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:28,640
Speaker 3: agree with you Colin that it's ridiculous task Nicole Jokic

588
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,840
Speaker 3: to be the most high usage player that we've seen,

589
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:35,560
Speaker 3: really in recent NBA history, while also having to be

590
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:38,240
Speaker 3: such an important part of their defense. It is a

591
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:40,480
Speaker 3: lot to ask, and I totally agree with you, but

592
00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:42,520
Speaker 3: the Nuggets need him to be if they're going to win,

593
00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:44,960
Speaker 3: and to his credit, that's what he was. It's what

594
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,440
Speaker 3: he became in the second half of that game. And

595
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:49,960
Speaker 3: I also thought he did a really nice job of

596
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:52,680
Speaker 3: just taking what the defense was giving him at late

597
00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:56,719
Speaker 3: in the game, like he was trusting Russell Westbrook repeatedly

598
00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:58,720
Speaker 3: over and over again on these kickouts and on these

599
00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,320
Speaker 3: cuts to be the guy that can make the defense

600
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:03,760
Speaker 3: pay for ignoring him. And I just thought, I just

601
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,640
Speaker 3: thought was amazing. And honestly, Colin, like, I will never

602
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:09,920
Speaker 3: change my pick after one game. I'm with you, you

603
00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,440
Speaker 3: need to get two games worth of evidence. But I

604
00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:17,720
Speaker 3: was really disappointed in the Clippers and their overall just

605
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,520
Speaker 3: kind of like connective playmaking. You know, Kawhi Leonard, as

606
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:24,800
Speaker 3: amazing as he is, it can be a robotically efficient scorer,

607
00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,160
Speaker 3: but he's never been good at managing double teams.

608
00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:28,720
Speaker 2: He's never been a very good passer.

609
00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:29,000
Speaker 1: No.

610
00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:32,000
Speaker 3: I remember for the first decade of his career or

611
00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:33,360
Speaker 3: not quite, it was like the first like seven or

612
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 3: eight years of his career, he never logged a single

613
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:36,240
Speaker 3: game with seven assists.

614
00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:38,640
Speaker 2: Like he just struggled to degenerate shots.

615
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,280
Speaker 1: First team averaged one or two for several years.

616
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:46,680
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like, he's never been a great playmaker. The connective

617
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,920
Speaker 3: playmakers like Chris Dunn, an elite defensive player, a guy

618
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:52,200
Speaker 3: that can knock down those shots in the corner, but

619
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:54,840
Speaker 3: you start making him make decisions that could get tough.

620
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:56,960
Speaker 3: There was plays where Nick Patum was fumbling the ball

621
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,560
Speaker 3: around even Zoo a little bit. The read and react

622
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,680
Speaker 3: stuff can slow down. And so, honestly, like Denver, I

623
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,240
Speaker 3: think has a more realistic pathway to win this series

624
00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:07,760
Speaker 3: than people think, because I don't think they have to

625
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,720
Speaker 3: be that great defensively to slow down this Clippers team.

626
00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,240
Speaker 3: They just have to be good enough to pray on

627
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,160
Speaker 3: that indecision that they have to prey on those mistakes,

628
00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:19,280
Speaker 3: like you can double Kawhi Colin, you can double Kawhi

629
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:21,840
Speaker 3: and he's gonna make some mistakes. And so I do

630
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:24,440
Speaker 3: think they have some advantages here. And I came away

631
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:26,360
Speaker 3: from that game feeling like Denver had a better chance

632
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:28,040
Speaker 3: to win the series than I thought beforehand.

633
00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:30,920
Speaker 1: You know, it's really interesting. So I've never been a

634
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,680
Speaker 1: huge fan of Westbrook, and I say this, I'm not

635
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,480
Speaker 1: a huge fan of basketball players that are hyper athletic

636
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,960
Speaker 1: six four and under and can't shoot because without the

637
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,840
Speaker 1: hand check, they will get to the basket and eventually

638
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:49,440
Speaker 1: get hurt. Derek Rose, John Wall, John Morant like, it's

639
00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:51,280
Speaker 1: just a cliche. You can't get You can't stand in

640
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,360
Speaker 1: front of these guys. They get to the basket and

641
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,400
Speaker 1: just get clobbed. And that's why guys like Steve Nash

642
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,440
Speaker 1: or Curry can last longer because they can up and

643
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:03,400
Speaker 1: they don't have to oways finish at the rim. And

644
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:07,280
Speaker 1: Westbrook when they put him in late in the game

645
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:10,840
Speaker 1: with the announcer said, you know it's you get it.

646
00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:13,640
Speaker 1: It's the full experience with Russell Westbrook. And he did

647
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: not shoot well. He hit a big three. But I

648
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:19,760
Speaker 1: got to tell you something. His the one thing I

649
00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:23,760
Speaker 1: will defend him forever. When he's on the floor. You

650
00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:28,760
Speaker 1: know he's on the floor, he jumps. His energy is profound.

651
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:33,840
Speaker 1: I mean he he is a tremendous rebounder for his size,

652
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:38,120
Speaker 1: like a tram. He plays way bigger than his size.

653
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:40,200
Speaker 2: And I was judge.

654
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:42,320
Speaker 1: I came out of that and I'm like, listen, man,

655
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:45,200
Speaker 1: he didn't shoot well. He had one big three. He

656
00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:48,440
Speaker 1: was a big deal down the stretch. It's he just

657
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,320
Speaker 1: he's just going so fast. You know, he didn't have

658
00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:53,960
Speaker 1: a ton of self awareness. I mean he's kind of

659
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:59,760
Speaker 1: like blinders on going to the basket and you're like, Russ, no, no, no, no. No. Situationally,

660
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,360
Speaker 1: some times he can drive me crazy. I thought he

661
00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:05,960
Speaker 1: was so important down the stretch for them.

662
00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:07,560
Speaker 3: The biggest weakness that Russ has had in his career

663
00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:09,600
Speaker 3: is he only has one speed and that's like just

664
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,200
Speaker 3: balls to the walls, like at like one hundred percent intensity.

665
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:13,600
Speaker 3: He doesn't know how to play any other way, and

666
00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:15,880
Speaker 3: so that just manifests and a lot of mistake making.

667
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,040
Speaker 3: But it also can manifest in a lot of playmaking. Yes, Like,

668
00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,120
Speaker 3: like I thought, like you know, there's always this scale

669
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:24,800
Speaker 3: with Russ where it's like, well, the damaging plays out

670
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:29,840
Speaker 3: weigh the good plays acts and last, that game yesterday

671
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:32,400
Speaker 3: was such a perfect example of what happens when the

672
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:36,520
Speaker 3: good badly or greatly outweighs the bad. Like he was

673
00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:38,800
Speaker 3: fantastic down the stretch of that game. He like straight

674
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,000
Speaker 3: up bullied Kawhi Leonard one on one and got an

675
00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,440
Speaker 3: offensive rebound put back. He had the big steal at

676
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:45,960
Speaker 3: the end when the Clippers cut it to three and

677
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:47,640
Speaker 3: they had a chance to tie the game. At the end,

678
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:50,800
Speaker 3: hits the big three in the left corner, repeatedly found

679
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:54,400
Speaker 3: himself available as a cutter under the basket with Jokic.

680
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:57,600
Speaker 3: He you mentioned the rebounding like, I think Russ is

681
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:02,360
Speaker 3: one of the better defensive plays in the NBA. He

682
00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 3: is not a disciplined defender. He will make a lot

683
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:07,840
Speaker 3: of mistakes and he'll gamble a lot, but if he

684
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:11,000
Speaker 3: gambles and gets right a couple times in a row,

685
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:14,279
Speaker 3: they can be massive momentum swings and dating all the

686
00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:16,279
Speaker 3: way back. I mean colin that first year that he

687
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:20,280
Speaker 3: went from the Lakers to the Clippers before Kawhi got hurt.

688
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:22,600
Speaker 3: If you remember, in that first couple of games, the

689
00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:25,640
Speaker 3: Clippers looked really good against the Suns. Kawhi was like

690
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:29,120
Speaker 3: kicking Kadi's butt head to head, and Russ was amazing.

691
00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:31,440
Speaker 3: He was a wrecking ball in the early part of

692
00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:34,480
Speaker 3: that series. Did an amazing job defending Devin Booker because

693
00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:37,480
Speaker 3: he's just this big athlete that just never has an

694
00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:41,400
Speaker 3: off button, and he can be a devastating playmaker. The

695
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:44,440
Speaker 3: key is keeping him in a very small role. And

696
00:34:44,480 --> 00:34:46,359
Speaker 3: that's the beauty of what the Nuggets can do with him,

697
00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:48,040
Speaker 3: is they can keep him in a very small role.

698
00:34:48,200 --> 00:34:50,560
Speaker 3: They could even be like, hey, Russ's head is not

699
00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:53,720
Speaker 3: in it, tonight sit him, bring in Michael Porter Junior.

700
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:54,319
Speaker 2: Like they can.

701
00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:57,560
Speaker 3: They have the ability to play Russ when he's hot

702
00:34:57,760 --> 00:34:59,520
Speaker 3: and to pull him when he's not. And that's the

703
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:01,719
Speaker 3: flexibilit What do you need to benefit from that? Playmaking

704
00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:04,040
Speaker 3: all right?

705
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:07,080
Speaker 1: Baseball seasons in full swing and game Time makes getting

706
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712
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713
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714
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715
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716
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727
00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:16,040
Speaker 1: the things that was great about that game, there were

728
00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:20,640
Speaker 1: so many years in the NBA, I mean Harden and Kawhi,

729
00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:24,800
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean that center for the Clippers ten years,

730
00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:27,040
Speaker 1: I think, isn't it for Zoo Bouts?

731
00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:29,480
Speaker 2: I think, yeah, it's ten years for a while.

732
00:36:29,560 --> 00:36:34,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, Lakers, Clippers. You know, Jamal Murray, Jokic, Michael Porter's

733
00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:38,000
Speaker 1: been around. I mean, Christian Brown's a young guy obviously,

734
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:42,680
Speaker 1: but Toomb's been around forever. And it was it was

735
00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:45,960
Speaker 1: really cool. It was a it was a veteran NBA

736
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:49,840
Speaker 1: tuggle war. Both rosters knew they're gonna let us play.

737
00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:52,520
Speaker 1: They're gonna let us play, you know, like some of

738
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:57,839
Speaker 1: these young teams, like they're like, whoa, there's no there's

739
00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:00,879
Speaker 1: no whistles like these. I mean, it's just a whole

740
00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:04,279
Speaker 1: different ballgame. And I mean you and I have discussed this,

741
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:06,160
Speaker 1: like they're just gonna let guys play and the further

742
00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:08,279
Speaker 1: you go. But it was like the Clippers and the

743
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:12,040
Speaker 1: Nuggets was like, that was grown up men's basketball. First,

744
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:15,399
Speaker 1: everybody knew they could push a little more and they

745
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:18,040
Speaker 1: could lean on you a little bit more, and the

746
00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:22,160
Speaker 1: physicality just I was just sitting there. I didn't miss

747
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:26,480
Speaker 1: a second. I thought, this is great basketball. And I

748
00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:30,160
Speaker 1: said this, I don't you have to understand and football

749
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,360
Speaker 1: or hockey you can't take. You can't take a playoff,

750
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:36,640
Speaker 1: you can get hurt. In baseball, it's pitcher against batter.

751
00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:39,719
Speaker 1: Nobody wants to be embarrassed. There's an intensity that's guaranteed

752
00:37:39,719 --> 00:37:42,759
Speaker 1: between the pitcher and the batter. But in basketball, there's

753
00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:45,560
Speaker 1: a lot of games and these are big bodies. And

754
00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:48,560
Speaker 1: if you've ever seen a retired six foot ten NBA player,

755
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:50,680
Speaker 1: you know they look like they got tackled. I mean

756
00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:51,520
Speaker 1: they're just walking.

757
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:52,320
Speaker 2: They have bad.

758
00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:55,920
Speaker 1: Backs, and it's like, you cannot expect these guys to

759
00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:58,879
Speaker 1: play thirty eight to forty four minutes eighty two games

760
00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:00,920
Speaker 1: in the regular season and play this kind of intensity.

761
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:05,040
Speaker 1: They're traveling constantly, But you get into the playoffs and

762
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:10,520
Speaker 1: Denver and the Clippers was like, oh, snap, first possession,

763
00:38:11,360 --> 00:38:13,880
Speaker 1: and it's like, I think it has the makings of

764
00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:20,640
Speaker 1: a an incredible series. Just all these veteran players. I

765
00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:22,319
Speaker 1: don't know. I just sat there and I was like, damn,

766
00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:23,799
Speaker 1: this is great basketball.

767
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,080
Speaker 3: We know how everybody plays, like we know Kawhi's games

768
00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:30,920
Speaker 3: so well. Now we know James Harden's game so well.

769
00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:33,680
Speaker 3: Now we know what the Murray Jo Kitch two man

770
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,359
Speaker 3: game looks like. Aaron Gordon, what he can do, like

771
00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:39,840
Speaker 3: I think the most fascinating chess match so to speak

772
00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:42,719
Speaker 3: of this series, or or like kind of subplot of

773
00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:45,400
Speaker 3: this series. I do think the Clippers are more talented.

774
00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:48,200
Speaker 3: I think they're top four when you factor in all

775
00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:51,719
Speaker 3: that stuff. I think that the Nuggets looked like the

776
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:55,640
Speaker 3: smarter team in that game. Now, this is an interesting

777
00:38:55,680 --> 00:38:57,560
Speaker 3: example of how can come down to the players. Because

778
00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:01,080
Speaker 3: David Adelman obviously a rookie a coach his first opportunity.

779
00:39:01,120 --> 00:39:03,520
Speaker 3: We have ty lu who's a championship winning coach, is

780
00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:06,160
Speaker 3: well respected as a top five coach in this league.

781
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:08,760
Speaker 3: But you get into the game and it's like Aaron

782
00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:10,959
Speaker 3: Gordon has James Harden on him and he just knows

783
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:14,120
Speaker 3: all these little ways to punish James Harden for not

784
00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:17,560
Speaker 3: having the size, and the Nuggets know when Aaron Gordon

785
00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:20,080
Speaker 3: has that type of matchup, how they can capitalize on

786
00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:22,239
Speaker 3: it with his offensive rebounding or in two man game

787
00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:25,560
Speaker 3: with Yokich, they know, Like even Jamal Murray, it's like, oh,

788
00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:28,160
Speaker 3: his mid range jump shot was just terrible in that game.

789
00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:30,640
Speaker 3: He could not buy a mid ranger right in clutch time,

790
00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:33,000
Speaker 3: he just switches to taking threes and hits two massive

791
00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:36,040
Speaker 3: threes down the stretch. The two man game with Yokich

792
00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:38,160
Speaker 3: and Murray was so effective down the stretch that the

793
00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:40,640
Speaker 3: Clippers started triple teaming it. They brought a third defender

794
00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:42,759
Speaker 3: over every single time. They knew how to get the

795
00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:44,360
Speaker 3: ball to Christian Brown, they knew how to get the

796
00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:49,160
Speaker 3: ball to Russell Westbrook. The Nuggets are just so sure

797
00:39:49,239 --> 00:39:51,680
Speaker 3: of how they want to play every single possession. Yeah,

798
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:54,759
Speaker 3: Like they are just more reliably going to get to

799
00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:57,520
Speaker 3: their ceiling than the Clippers, who I think can suffer

800
00:39:57,560 --> 00:39:59,719
Speaker 3: from a little bit of inconsistent basketball like you on

801
00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:02,720
Speaker 3: the right, and they can have more variants in their performance,

802
00:40:02,719 --> 00:40:04,279
Speaker 3: and there will be games where the Clippers just look

803
00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:06,760
Speaker 3: like they outgun him, because it's like Zoo has twenty

804
00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:09,200
Speaker 3: five hard in his twenty seven. Kawhi is thirty in

805
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:12,040
Speaker 3: Norman Powell Portson eighteen or you know, six for six

806
00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:14,480
Speaker 3: from three. They'll have games like that, but I think

807
00:40:14,480 --> 00:40:17,360
Speaker 3: that they'll have more variants throughout the series because the Nuggets,

808
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:18,360
Speaker 3: I think are a little bit smarter.

809
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:21,319
Speaker 1: Well. I also think there's an advantage Jason, Like when

810
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:26,359
Speaker 1: you have an elite score Yokich sga Jason Tatum this year,

811
00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:31,440
Speaker 1: like Luca. The advantage is if a play gets loose,

812
00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:34,759
Speaker 1: if it's possession, the ball gets kicked around, you know

813
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:36,239
Speaker 1: who get the ball, you know who to get the

814
00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:38,799
Speaker 1: ball to. Like the Warriors had a couple of bad possessions,

815
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:41,720
Speaker 1: you know, and here comes Houston back. It's like okay,

816
00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 1: every guy running up the court, like, let's get it

817
00:40:43,719 --> 00:40:47,000
Speaker 1: to Steph Let's get it to Jimmy, And like Houston

818
00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:51,600
Speaker 1: is just athletic, and it's like, well, Fred van Viet

819
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:57,800
Speaker 1: it's not playing well. And Jalen Green's lost. Now obviously

820
00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:00,760
Speaker 1: they're big. He from Turkey is just a fantastic player.

821
00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:11,319
Speaker 1: Sengoon is a fascinating player to me because first of all,

822
00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:16,719
Speaker 1: very highly skilled. He's got a beautiful touch. I mean,

823
00:41:16,760 --> 00:41:20,480
Speaker 1: it's just crazy how easy he makes the game look

824
00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:23,840
Speaker 1: from like eight feet in it just both hands. It's like, God,

825
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:26,600
Speaker 1: damn that guy. And he was like the sixteenth pick

826
00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:28,840
Speaker 1: or something. He was like middle of the first round.

827
00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:31,680
Speaker 1: But I guess going back to the point is that

828
00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:35,120
Speaker 1: I think the reason Denver when you have Jokic or

829
00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:40,040
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City with SGA, it's like anytime you're kind of sputtering,

830
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:44,000
Speaker 1: it's just okay. Everybody walking the ball up the floor

831
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:47,879
Speaker 1: knows where you're going. And I thought Houston was kind

832
00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:52,360
Speaker 1: of paralyzed by they didn't trust their backcourt, like who's

833
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:55,640
Speaker 1: taking shots and you just watch it's almost a panic.

834
00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:58,360
Speaker 1: When I watch Houston late in this game, it's like

835
00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:00,960
Speaker 1: they're not sure who to go to. And I thought

836
00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:03,920
Speaker 1: Denver down the stretch really knew who to run the

837
00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:04,600
Speaker 1: offense through.

838
00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:08,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's been steady for them forever. And you know

839
00:42:08,239 --> 00:42:12,000
Speaker 3: to your point that that's the organizational you know, uh

840
00:42:12,239 --> 00:42:15,239
Speaker 3: thing that Houston is missing. It's just that overall decision

841
00:42:15,280 --> 00:42:18,560
Speaker 3: making IQ. You cut the lead down to four and

842
00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:20,640
Speaker 3: then Jalen Green tries to shoot a lay up through

843
00:42:20,680 --> 00:42:23,360
Speaker 3: five guys, which goes exactly how you would have expected

844
00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:25,879
Speaker 3: it would go. A men Thompson shot a layup into

845
00:42:25,960 --> 00:42:27,960
Speaker 3: the bottom of the rim, like literally threw it up

846
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:30,120
Speaker 3: into the bottom of the rim. Like the like there's

847
00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:34,360
Speaker 3: there's a there's this ruthless execution you get with the

848
00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:38,120
Speaker 3: good teams where it's like, if you're gonna beat the Warriors,

849
00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:42,520
Speaker 3: you're gonna have to hope that Jimmy and Steph miss

850
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:45,759
Speaker 3: basically like they're they're gonna make sure that they get

851
00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:47,719
Speaker 3: the ball to their best players and that they get

852
00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:50,200
Speaker 3: stuff that they like, Like they're not gonna they're not

853
00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:53,680
Speaker 3: gonna bail a possession where a men Thompson's looking around,

854
00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:54,879
Speaker 3: it's like, no one wants the ball.

855
00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:56,759
Speaker 2: Wait, so you guys want me to do it? Yeah,

856
00:42:56,760 --> 00:42:58,600
Speaker 2: all right, okay, then I'll go do it, you know.

857
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:00,160
Speaker 3: And it's like there was a bunch of those he

858
00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:01,759
Speaker 3: took a shot over Steph that he made a little

859
00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:04,840
Speaker 3: post up shot like there's no like rhyme or reason

860
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:07,040
Speaker 3: to the offensive process for you see. And by the way,

861
00:43:07,239 --> 00:43:09,640
Speaker 3: Cotton Newdy does play a role there. Denver's been playing

862
00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:12,560
Speaker 3: with roughly the same group of guys forever. They just

863
00:43:12,680 --> 00:43:14,719
Speaker 3: know how they want to play. Now, there's no there's

864
00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:17,239
Speaker 3: no indecision in that organization.

865
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:20,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I think that's perfectly put. You just forget

866
00:43:20,239 --> 00:43:23,920
Speaker 1: how many possessions in the fourth quarter with four minutes

867
00:43:23,960 --> 00:43:26,520
Speaker 1: to go Denver has had over the last eight years

868
00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:29,880
Speaker 1: with Stephen Draymond on the floor, and now Moody's got

869
00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:32,000
Speaker 1: a lot of games involved in it. Like you've got

870
00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:34,239
Speaker 1: your new guys. You've got Jimmy and Post and there's

871
00:43:34,280 --> 00:43:37,400
Speaker 1: some new guys, but it's you're just watching them, and

872
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:41,239
Speaker 1: it's like you watched I mean, the Knicks, you know,

873
00:43:41,239 --> 00:43:44,080
Speaker 1: and you've got veteran players Jalen Brunson and kat They

874
00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:47,759
Speaker 1: had a really good last eight minutes the Celtics in

875
00:43:47,800 --> 00:43:50,120
Speaker 1: the second half. There's a lot of guests, like guys,

876
00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:52,280
Speaker 1: they've had a lot of practices and a lot of reps.

877
00:43:52,320 --> 00:43:55,760
Speaker 1: They know where the ball's going. By the way, Jason

878
00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:58,680
Speaker 1: Tatum kind of fell on his wrist when he came

879
00:43:58,719 --> 00:44:02,439
Speaker 1: back and played. They're gonna win this series. They're probably

880
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:05,000
Speaker 1: gonna sweep the series. Okay, see, looks like they'll definitely

881
00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:13,080
Speaker 1: probably sweep the series. I watched the Orlando and I

882
00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:19,120
Speaker 1: thought to myself, there, they're the kind of team that

883
00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:22,839
Speaker 1: athletically like they've got a couple of players where they

884
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:26,799
Speaker 1: come down, they get really good looks they got. They

885
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:30,080
Speaker 1: get in that game a couple of times. I'm like, like,

886
00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:33,000
Speaker 1: they may not be as long or as athletic as Houston,

887
00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:37,800
Speaker 1: but I felt Orlando came down and got really good

888
00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:42,080
Speaker 1: looks against a very good Boston team. Is it coaching?

889
00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:46,359
Speaker 1: Maybe it's just Ben Carrol w Ogner, But I don't know.

890
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:48,640
Speaker 1: I look at Orlando and I'm like, it feels like

891
00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:52,560
Speaker 1: they're just missing a piece. You think they win a

892
00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:54,640
Speaker 1: game in this series, you.

893
00:44:54,600 --> 00:44:55,440
Speaker 2: Know, I came away.

894
00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:58,279
Speaker 3: I picked a sweep in that one because it's like

895
00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:02,560
Speaker 3: exactly like the Rockets or your series where Orlando. Orlando

896
00:45:02,640 --> 00:45:04,840
Speaker 3: has been so far and away the worst jump shooting

897
00:45:04,840 --> 00:45:08,040
Speaker 3: team in the league that out of one hundred Orlando

898
00:45:08,080 --> 00:45:11,880
Speaker 3: Magic jump shots, they are five points worse than the

899
00:45:11,920 --> 00:45:14,760
Speaker 3: twenty ninth ranked team, Like they are five percent worse

900
00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:17,480
Speaker 3: jump shooting than the worst team in the league above them.

901
00:45:17,520 --> 00:45:18,640
Speaker 2: Like they cannot shoot.

902
00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:21,080
Speaker 3: So I thought for sure they would have just a

903
00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:24,840
Speaker 3: really hard time scoring in this series. But what Orlando

904
00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:28,919
Speaker 3: presents to Boston that makes things really difficult for them

905
00:45:29,440 --> 00:45:32,360
Speaker 3: is they can switch their screening actions and they're really

906
00:45:32,400 --> 00:45:35,720
Speaker 3: big and physical, So Tatum and Brown can't just bully

907
00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:37,680
Speaker 3: their way to the basket against them like they can

908
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:39,920
Speaker 3: against some other teams, and so they can keep the

909
00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:42,359
Speaker 3: ball in front and bait Tatum and Brown into really

910
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:44,319
Speaker 3: tough shot making, which they more or less did. It

911
00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:46,200
Speaker 3: was Derek White that kind of blew the lay off

912
00:45:46,200 --> 00:45:49,799
Speaker 3: of the arena, and Peyton Pritchard and all those Derek

913
00:45:49,800 --> 00:45:52,120
Speaker 3: White threes were so difficult too. It's like, I don't

914
00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:54,360
Speaker 3: they got to feel like a shotgun blast to the

915
00:45:54,440 --> 00:45:56,680
Speaker 3: chest when you're an Orlando Magic fan with Derek White

916
00:45:56,719 --> 00:45:58,799
Speaker 3: just hits a contested twenty seven footer at the end

917
00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:01,200
Speaker 3: of the shot clock. But you know, honestly con like

918
00:46:01,239 --> 00:46:04,200
Speaker 3: they have a bright future because Franz and Pallo are

919
00:46:04,239 --> 00:46:07,359
Speaker 3: getting better and better every year. Jalen Suggs is out

920
00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:10,280
Speaker 3: of the lineup right now with an injury. Jalen Suggs

921
00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:14,480
Speaker 3: when healthy is the best guard defender in the league

922
00:46:15,239 --> 00:46:18,040
Speaker 3: and a guy that is a very effective two man

923
00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:20,840
Speaker 3: game partner with Palo and Caro, setting inverted ball screens

924
00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:22,960
Speaker 3: and slipping out of it. Imagine him as like a

925
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:26,960
Speaker 3: combination of KCP and Christian Brown, like a really really

926
00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:31,040
Speaker 3: good movement shooter, but also like a big, strong athlete

927
00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:33,640
Speaker 3: at the position, and he's the guy that ties it

928
00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:36,279
Speaker 3: all together for them because when you put him and

929
00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:40,319
Speaker 3: Jonathan Isaac and Franz and Paalo with Wendell Carter out there,

930
00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:44,000
Speaker 3: they can switch one through five. They're massive, They've got

931
00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:47,120
Speaker 3: plenty of offensive talent. That's the group where like I

932
00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:50,280
Speaker 3: could see in a year or two being a major

933
00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:52,239
Speaker 3: upset threat for some of these top teams in the

934
00:46:52,239 --> 00:46:53,320
Speaker 3: Eastern corriger Yeah, that's.

935
00:46:53,200 --> 00:46:55,520
Speaker 1: How I felt. I just watched them and I thought,

936
00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:59,200
Speaker 1: this is a real team. These guys have. They're big,

937
00:46:59,280 --> 00:47:03,279
Speaker 1: they're strong. Ben Caro's a tremendous player. He is. He's

938
00:47:03,320 --> 00:47:04,480
Speaker 1: just gonna get you buckets.

939
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:07,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, really quick calling you. We talked about this on Wednesday.

940
00:47:07,960 --> 00:47:12,280
Speaker 3: If you remember, the big dudes who have some skill

941
00:47:12,600 --> 00:47:15,560
Speaker 3: are really crushing in the modern NBA. Shane Goon's a

942
00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:17,440
Speaker 3: great example. Pallo's a great example.

943
00:47:18,040 --> 00:47:22,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, Shangon is God. It's just watching him. And he

944
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:24,200
Speaker 1: was an All Star this year.

945
00:47:24,040 --> 00:47:25,640
Speaker 2: Wasn't he? I believe so?

946
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:27,839
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, yeah, he was an All Star. And it's

947
00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:30,399
Speaker 1: like when you watch him, you're like, his game can

948
00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:32,280
Speaker 1: be pretty I mean he can bounce. He and Draymond

949
00:47:32,280 --> 00:47:34,399
Speaker 1: are bouncing back and forth, and he wouldn't play into

950
00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:38,279
Speaker 1: Draymond's green. Draymond was huking him and just trying to

951
00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:40,479
Speaker 1: irritate him, and he was just like, what are you doing?

952
00:47:41,080 --> 00:47:45,200
Speaker 1: But man, there is something you know, these international bigs man,

953
00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:49,440
Speaker 1: they're pretty. He's got a beautiful touch around the basket,

954
00:47:49,920 --> 00:47:53,239
Speaker 1: and he's not jumping over people. He's nut. He's just

955
00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:56,200
Speaker 1: I watch his game and I'm like, it's just he's

956
00:47:56,239 --> 00:47:58,120
Speaker 1: a He's the classic guy that you luck up and

957
00:47:58,160 --> 00:47:59,960
Speaker 1: you're like, oh, he had he had twenty three points.

958
00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:05,920
Speaker 1: It's just pretty. And again with guard play being awful,

959
00:48:06,160 --> 00:48:09,360
Speaker 1: like he was really the offense for most of the

960
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:12,120
Speaker 1: game for Houston, like he was it so.

961
00:48:13,520 --> 00:48:13,840
Speaker 2: Well.

962
00:48:14,120 --> 00:48:16,520
Speaker 1: I thought it was a really fun first weekend. I'm

963
00:48:16,520 --> 00:48:21,279
Speaker 1: going to watch one more Rockets Warriors game, but yeah,

964
00:48:21,320 --> 00:48:23,520
Speaker 1: that was an eye opener. Holy crap, was that an

965
00:48:23,560 --> 00:48:27,319
Speaker 1: eye opener. Sometimes you see things and you're like, like

966
00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:30,560
Speaker 1: the Lakers, You're like, they'll make adjustments, they'll be more physical.

967
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:34,680
Speaker 1: They kind of were lost. And it was JJ Reddick's

968
00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:39,000
Speaker 1: first playoff game against a really good coach and Chris

969
00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:41,759
Speaker 1: Finch and Chris you know, they had a more obvious

970
00:48:41,840 --> 00:48:46,000
Speaker 1: game plan. I'm not sure what the gear is because

971
00:48:46,080 --> 00:48:48,719
Speaker 1: I don't think in a half court offense. I don't

972
00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:52,600
Speaker 1: know what I get from Houston, but I'll tell you athletes,

973
00:48:53,200 --> 00:48:56,000
Speaker 1: Like again, they could get Kadi easily. I mean, they

974
00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:59,480
Speaker 1: could move off guys and with draft picks easily and

975
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:02,640
Speaker 1: not lose a lot of their athleticism. Seriously, I mean,

976
00:49:02,680 --> 00:49:05,880
Speaker 1: they've got so many, so much length and athleticism. If

977
00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:08,480
Speaker 1: you know, if the Knicks make a move, what do

978
00:49:08,520 --> 00:49:11,960
Speaker 1: the Knicks have that Phoenix wants? What they have is

979
00:49:11,960 --> 00:49:14,840
Speaker 1: what the Knicks don't want to surrender. But god, I

980
00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:17,719
Speaker 1: mean Houston is just I mean, like one through nine,

981
00:49:17,719 --> 00:49:22,440
Speaker 1: they're just dudes, athletes everywhere. That Katie to Houston feels

982
00:49:22,480 --> 00:49:24,239
Speaker 1: like a real thing when you and when you watch

983
00:49:24,280 --> 00:49:26,120
Speaker 1: them in this game, you're like, dude, they got to

984
00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:30,360
Speaker 1: have a bucket. They need a second bucket on this offense,

985
00:49:30,480 --> 00:49:33,880
Speaker 1: and uh and when and so you can't rely on

986
00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:38,160
Speaker 1: Jalen Green. So as I'm watching this game, I'm thinking, yeah, KD,

987
00:49:38,760 --> 00:49:43,239
Speaker 1: Miami could use him and Houston could use him. That's

988
00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:44,200
Speaker 1: what it feels like to me.

989
00:49:45,160 --> 00:49:49,200
Speaker 3: I hope that KD has learned from what happened in

990
00:49:49,239 --> 00:49:52,359
Speaker 3: Brooklyn and what happened in Phoenix, which is that he

991
00:49:52,440 --> 00:49:54,960
Speaker 3: does not need to surround himself with guys like him.

992
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:57,680
Speaker 3: He needs to surround himself with guys that do the

993
00:49:57,760 --> 00:50:01,560
Speaker 3: stuff that helps you win games and allows his greatness

994
00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:04,239
Speaker 3: to lift them over the top. And so honestly, that's

995
00:50:04,280 --> 00:50:07,160
Speaker 3: why I'm hoping that KD looks at the situation in

996
00:50:07,200 --> 00:50:10,120
Speaker 3: Houston and goes, this is the place where I can

997
00:50:10,120 --> 00:50:13,839
Speaker 3: have a renaissance in my career because frankly, they have

998
00:50:13,920 --> 00:50:16,280
Speaker 3: the setup to do it. They've got the assets. Jalen

999
00:50:16,320 --> 00:50:19,200
Speaker 3: Green is a perfect little salary filler piece to try

1000
00:50:19,200 --> 00:50:22,360
Speaker 3: to make that sort of deal happen. And he would

1001
00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:25,040
Speaker 3: be a force multiplier for their defense because as you

1002
00:50:25,080 --> 00:50:27,680
Speaker 3: saw Jabari Smith Jr. He's the guy that has the

1003
00:50:27,760 --> 00:50:29,839
Speaker 3: length for them on the wing. KD is a guy

1004
00:50:29,880 --> 00:50:32,239
Speaker 3: that could be a guy next to Shangoon that makes

1005
00:50:32,280 --> 00:50:36,880
Speaker 3: him better defensively. He's a guy that is an underrated playmaker.

1006
00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:39,279
Speaker 3: Over the years, dating back to his Brooklyn days, KDI

1007
00:50:39,440 --> 00:50:42,920
Speaker 3: was really good at just generating offense by coming off

1008
00:50:42,960 --> 00:50:45,360
Speaker 3: of ball screens and making passes out of it. I

1009
00:50:45,400 --> 00:50:48,960
Speaker 3: think KD is like the obvious ceiling raising move for Houston,

1010
00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:52,359
Speaker 3: and I think the numbers pretty clearly state that they

1011
00:50:52,360 --> 00:50:55,160
Speaker 3: can like call it like there's a lot of basketball

1012
00:50:55,239 --> 00:50:58,759
Speaker 3: left in this series. Houston's athleticism does travel. They're not

1013
00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:00,319
Speaker 3: a team that's going to go on the road and

1014
00:51:00,320 --> 00:51:03,200
Speaker 3: come out flat because they're older veterans, Like they're gonna

1015
00:51:03,200 --> 00:51:04,839
Speaker 3: come out in Game three, even if they're down two

1016
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:06,680
Speaker 3: oh and be like we're beating the Warriors tonight, like

1017
00:51:06,680 --> 00:51:08,600
Speaker 3: that that's gonna be their attitude. This is gonna be

1018
00:51:08,600 --> 00:51:11,680
Speaker 3: a long chore of a series. And can you just

1019
00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:16,839
Speaker 3: imagine that leveraged to another level with the player as

1020
00:51:16,840 --> 00:51:20,440
Speaker 3: polished offensively as Kevin Durant and talk about like having

1021
00:51:20,560 --> 00:51:22,719
Speaker 3: no ifens or butts about where the ball is gonna go.

1022
00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:24,799
Speaker 3: You give it to him every damn time you get

1023
00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:26,960
Speaker 3: the hell out of the way. So, like, I think

1024
00:51:27,200 --> 00:51:28,360
Speaker 3: it's the kind of thing that I think would be

1025
00:51:28,400 --> 00:51:29,640
Speaker 3: really exciting for that team.

1026
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:33,440
Speaker 1: Jason Timpf hoops tonight. He's gonna be all over these playoffs.

1027
00:51:34,800 --> 00:51:35,239
Speaker 2: All right.

1028
00:51:35,920 --> 00:51:39,160
Speaker 1: That's a good first Sunday under playoff action. I had

1029
00:51:39,160 --> 00:51:42,520
Speaker 1: a lot of fun watching it. I'll still take the

1030
00:51:42,520 --> 00:51:45,359
Speaker 1: Clippers over the Nuggets, but I need to watch Game

1031
00:51:45,400 --> 00:51:50,240
Speaker 1: two Warriors and the Rockets. Good talking to you, Bud.

1032
00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:56,000
Speaker 2: Good to see you Colin. Until next time, the volume