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Speaker 1: All right, welcome to hoops tonight here at the Volume.

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Speaker 1: Happy Tuesday, everybody, hope all if you guys are having

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Speaker 1: a great week so far. We are going to break

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Speaker 1: down the return of Ben Simmons with the Brooklyn Nets,

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Speaker 1: as well as the Los Angeles Lakers making their first

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Speaker 1: appearance in preseason with both Lebron James Anthony Davis in

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Speaker 1: the lineup and Austin Reeves first appearance with the Lakers.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna break that game down, and then in the

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Speaker 1: second half of the show, we're gonna do our season

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Speaker 1: preview for the Los Angeles Lakers. They are up next

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Speaker 1: in our power rankings at number four, so we'll do

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Speaker 1: the usual routine of a season preview on the Los

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Speaker 1: Angeles Lakers, and then I have two mail bag questions

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Speaker 1: for the end of the show as well. You guys

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Speaker 1: are the jope for we get started. Subscribe to the

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Speaker 1: YouTube channel, don't forget about our podcast feed wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcast under Hoops tonight, and then follow me

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Speaker 1: on Twitter at Underscore Jason lt And don't forget any

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Speaker 1: more mailbag questions. Keep dropping those in the YouTube comments.

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Speaker 1: All right, So, in the never ending saga of Lakers

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Speaker 1: fans trying to figure out who's gonna start at the

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Speaker 1: three between Anthony Davis, Lebron, James D'Angelo, Russell, and Austin

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Speaker 1: Reeves ended up being Tory and Prince against the Brooklyn Nets.

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Speaker 1: Now doesn't really give us much clarity because Jared Vanderbilt,

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Speaker 1: the guy who most of us think is gonna start

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Speaker 1: at the three, was out with heel soreness, and that

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Speaker 1: might have just been a move to essentially keep Ruiy

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Speaker 1: Hatcha Mura coming off the bench. They will likely use

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Speaker 1: him at the start of the season, So no real

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Speaker 1: clarity there, But my guess is they're gonna end up

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Speaker 1: going with Jared Vanderbilt. The Lakers dominated the starters did

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Speaker 1: at least Anthony Davis on the floor was a plus sixteen.

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Speaker 1: They did have a unit they went to at the

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Speaker 1: end of the first quarter with Christian Wood at the

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Speaker 1: center with Lebron that got blitzed. We'll talk about that

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Speaker 1: in a little bit, but the main thing that was

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Speaker 1: killing the Nets early on is they were ducking under picks.

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Speaker 1: And this is a big thing that I'm confused about

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Speaker 1: just from the strategy standpoint with Brooklyn. They're so athletic,

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Speaker 1: and they have so many switchable guys that have length

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Speaker 1: and athleticism that can bother ball handlers. I don't understand

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Speaker 1: why they're not opting to use more ball pressure. They

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Speaker 1: were letting Dangel Russell, Austin Reeves, Lebron James, really everybody

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Speaker 1: settle into comfortable pull up jump shots over the top

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Speaker 1: of drop coverage and pick and roll, and they, like

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Speaker 1: Dangel Russell in particular, got red hot at the start

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Speaker 1: of this game. As a team, the Lakers struggled to

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Speaker 1: make their pull up jump shots against Golden State, but

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Speaker 1: they were making them in a big way against Brooklyn.

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Speaker 1: Bakers scored thirty three points last night just on pull

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Speaker 1: up jump shots, even in catch and shoot situations, like

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Speaker 1: you'd see Ruey Hatchamura or Lebron James come off of

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Speaker 1: a double wide pin down on the right side of

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Speaker 1: the floor and they were just coming up and catching

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Speaker 1: pretty much unguarded. And you know, you'd see Spencer Dinwood

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Speaker 1: he kind of offer a soft close out at Rui,

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Speaker 1: but Ruy's just rising up comfortably into shots. And so again,

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Speaker 1: like this NETS team doesn't have the offensive talent to

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Speaker 1: not be a dominant defensive team. So I did think

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Speaker 1: that was interesting. Again, it's early in preseason and we'll

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Speaker 1: see over time. There's been a lot of talk from

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Speaker 1: the NETS players about how they want to be an

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Speaker 1: elite defensive team, but I wasn't super impressed with them

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Speaker 1: last night. They got lit on fire. Dangel Russell was awesome.

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Speaker 1: Like we said, he got red hot at the start

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Speaker 1: of the game. Now, we've all seen de Lo get

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Speaker 1: red hot before, but he's been especially good in these

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Speaker 1: two preseason games, and hopefully it's a sign of him

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Speaker 1: taking that ass kicking at the hands of Bruce Brown

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Speaker 1: and the Denver Nuggets last year. Personally in the work

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Speaker 1: that he put in over the summer. He was very

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Speaker 1: He talked a lot on media day about him working

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Speaker 1: hard as a help defender. You're seeing some of that

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Speaker 1: show up as he's positioned himself really well in passing lanes.

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Speaker 1: He's gotten two steals just by being positioned properly as

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Speaker 1: three steals total over the course of the preseason so far.

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Speaker 1: But he's been awesome in pick and roll. D'Angelo Russell

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Speaker 1: has run twenty three pick and rolls, leading to thirty

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Speaker 1: three points for the Lakers so far in preseason. That's

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Speaker 1: one point four to four points per possession. That's ridiculous,

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Speaker 1: really nice passing to the roll man. He actually has

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Speaker 1: a decent chemistry already with Jackson Hayes, which is an

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Speaker 1: interesting thing for bench lineups in the future. His pull

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Speaker 1: up jump shots been helping. He's even helping in spot

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Speaker 1: up situations. He's three for four so far this preseason

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Speaker 1: and catch and shoot threes. So again, just talk at

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Speaker 1: media day, but he's so far through two preseason games.

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Speaker 1: Delos putting his money where his mouth is. Austin Reeves

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Speaker 1: and Ruyhacha Mura both were great. Austin Reeves put up eighteen.

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Speaker 1: He got into a good old fashioned shootout with Cam

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Speaker 1: Thomas there in the second half, hitting a bunch of threes.

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Speaker 1: He's you could tell the confidence is showing up with Austin.

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Speaker 1: He had the first bucket of the game for the

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Speaker 1: Lakers was a pull up three in transition with Lebron

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Speaker 1: running the wing next to him, Like, you know what

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Speaker 1: confident you'd have to be to be at his age

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Speaker 1: dribbling down the floor in an NBA game with Lebron

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Speaker 1: freaking James running the left wing and You're like, nah, dude,

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Speaker 1: I got this. I'm shooting a pull up three Like that,

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Speaker 1: You could just tell all of the success that he

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Speaker 1: had last year at the end of the regular season

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Speaker 1: into the postseason into what happened with Team USA is

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Speaker 1: flowing into the start of this season, which is exciting.

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Speaker 1: Ruy Hachimura putting nineteen points off the bench. His catch

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Speaker 1: and shoot three looks great, which once again is going

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Speaker 1: to be a vitally important part of his ability to

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Speaker 1: stay on the court, especially when they get into the postseason.

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Speaker 1: Lebron and AD's jump shooting, this is the most exciting

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Speaker 1: part of what I've seen from Lebron and Ad so

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Speaker 1: far in the preseason. Those two players have combined to

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Speaker 1: take sixteen jump shots so far, and they've scored eighteen

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Speaker 1: points on them. Seven points on seven shots for Lebron.

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Speaker 1: AD's obviously been a little bit more efficient. But that's

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Speaker 1: between the two of them one point one to three

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Speaker 1: points per jump shot. Why is that exciting? Because last

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Speaker 1: year Lebron in the regular season zero point nine points

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Speaker 1: per jump shot, Anthony Davis zero point seven to eight.

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Speaker 1: They were both bad jump shooters last year. Now, like Ad,

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Speaker 1: it's been several years in a row. Lebron, he has

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Speaker 1: a couple of random years last year in the twenty

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Speaker 1: fifteen where he shot really poorly. One of the biggest

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Speaker 1: questions coming into this year is are they ever going

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Speaker 1: to figure that part out? Again? Really small sample size,

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Speaker 1: but a good start for the Lakers. If they get

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Speaker 1: one point one points per jump shot out of Lebron

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Speaker 1: and Ad this year, that solves one of the biggest

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Speaker 1: problems on this particular roster, which is over the pop,

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Speaker 1: over the top shot making, like they need to bolster

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Speaker 1: their offense with rescue possessions and tough shot making in

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Speaker 1: half court situations. Lebron James hitting a pull up three

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Speaker 1: and pick and roll like he did in that first half,

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Speaker 1: that's important. He had a one leg fadeaway out of

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Speaker 1: a post up on the right block where he kind

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Speaker 1: of like took that hard step towards the middle and

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Speaker 1: then leaned back off one foot knocked it down. That's

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Speaker 1: over the top shot again like that. We talked about

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Speaker 1: this a lot on the show, but rescue possessions and

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Speaker 1: tough shot making and things like that, those are the

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Speaker 1: difference between a bottom tier offense and a top tier offense.

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Speaker 1: That's the you know, the three or four shots you

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Speaker 1: make every game that the defense is literally giving you

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Speaker 1: in a late clock situation or in a coverage situation.

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Speaker 1: Those are the shots that could be the difference between

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Speaker 1: you being elite and being pretty pedestrian on the offensive.

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Speaker 1: Ended four, Anthony Davis has only taken two pull up

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Speaker 1: jump shots so far in preseason, and he's missed him both.

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Speaker 1: But he's making his threes, and I would argue for

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis that's every bit as important as shot making

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Speaker 1: because those are shots that defenses are going to concede.

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Speaker 1: They're gonna help off of Ad when he's spotting up

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Speaker 1: in the corner. They're gonna help off of Ad when

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Speaker 1: he picks and pops to the three point line. Him

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Speaker 1: making that shot is every bit is important, if not

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Speaker 1: more important than the shots that even Lebron James will

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Speaker 1: be taking over the top. So again, only two games

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Speaker 1: only preseason, a lot of stuff they got to prove

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Speaker 1: over the course of the regular season in the postseason,

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Speaker 1: but that's a good start. Last note on the Lakers

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Speaker 1: in this game, Christian Wood versus Jackson Hayes. So these

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Speaker 1: are the two backup centers that the Lakers signed over

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Speaker 1: the offseason, and so far, again through two games, Jackson

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Speaker 1: Hayes has just looked way better. The one lineup that

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Speaker 1: didn't play well for the Lakers in the first half

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Speaker 1: against the Nets yesterday when Lebron and ad were playing,

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Speaker 1: was that Christian Wood at the center lineup with Lebron James.

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Speaker 1: He just looks significantly slower than Christian Wood. He's not

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Speaker 1: running the ball or running the floor super well. And

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Speaker 1: one of the biggest things is is Jackson Hayes is

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Speaker 1: a much like a much more fluid offensive player for

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Speaker 1: the Lakers. That doesn't sound right right because Christian Wood

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Speaker 1: is the guy that put up big numbers last year,

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Speaker 1: but it mainly has to do with the fact that

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Speaker 1: the four players around him have an easier time playing

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Speaker 1: with him. Why, because he's super predictable, and I mean

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Speaker 1: that in a good way. Offensively, if you hit him

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Speaker 1: on the roll, he's gonna go up and try to

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Speaker 1: shoot right. If you hit him on the perimeter, he's

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Speaker 1: going to quickly turn and run a dribble handoff going

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Speaker 1: the other way to the other guard coming from the

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Speaker 1: other side of the floor. As a result, there's a

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Speaker 1: real flow to the offense when Jackson Hayes is on

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Speaker 1: the floor. Right now, Christian Wood is being super aggressive

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Speaker 1: offensively and trying really hard to get his offense going.

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Speaker 1: And so he's catching and he's holding, and he's catching

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Speaker 1: and he's isoing, and he's slower to make decisions, and

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Speaker 1: it's actually kind of slowing down the flow of the offense.

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Speaker 1: And then right now, Jackson Hayes is just a much

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Speaker 1: more aware and engaged defensive player. Now. Jackson Hayes had

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Speaker 1: a kind of a mixed bag defensively last year with

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Speaker 1: the Pelicans. Statistically, he was one of the best pick

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Speaker 1: and roll defenders in the league percentergy, but on tape

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Speaker 1: it was a lot of high and low, and then

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Speaker 1: he really struggled and switches. So like again, like Christian

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Speaker 1: Wood can make up this gap, and he's gonna need

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Speaker 1: a long runway too, because he's clearly just you know,

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Speaker 1: learning how to fit in with this group in a

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Speaker 1: way that Jackson Hayes is more naturally figuring out. So

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Speaker 1: I'm not trying to write, you know, the death sentence

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Speaker 1: on Christian Wood here in the rotation. That's not what

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Speaker 1: I'm saying. And over the course of the season, Lebron

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Speaker 1: and ad are gonna miss him enough time that they're

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Speaker 1: gonna play a lot, both of them. I mean, they

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Speaker 1: both will play together and they and they did so

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Speaker 1: last night. So like all I'm saying is is that

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Speaker 1: in the shorter version of the rotation you give the

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Speaker 1: advantage to Jackson Hayes at this point because he's better

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Speaker 1: defensively and he flows better with the offense. And you

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Speaker 1: see that on the scoreboard. By the way, the Lakers

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Speaker 1: are minus nineteen so far in Christian Wood's minutes in

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Speaker 1: the preseason, in plus nineteen in Jackson Hayes's minutes in

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Speaker 1: the preseason, So they're just better so far with Jackson

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Speaker 1: Hayes a lot of basketball left. But what that tells

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Speaker 1: me is the early indications are that Jackson Hayes looks

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Speaker 1: like a guy that you can play two shifts, you know,

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Speaker 1: in an important setting as a backup center. There's some

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Speaker 1: potential there. Christian Wood looks like a long way away

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Speaker 1: from that, and he's going to have to take advantage

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Speaker 1: of his opportunities the rest of preseason and in the

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Speaker 1: season to prove that he needs that sp that he

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Speaker 1: deserves that spot if he wants his offense to have

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Speaker 1: a chance to sign through shine through. I should say

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Speaker 1: with the nets, Ben Simmons, I thought he looked to

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Speaker 1: really spry athletically. He beat Lebron early on a drive

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Speaker 1: to his right hand and scooped off the glass when

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Speaker 1: Lebron tried to block him. He had a kind of

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Speaker 1: runout like a steel where he looked really athletic. Where

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Speaker 1: the dead giveaway is like, look at the angle of

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Speaker 1: the arms when the guy's dunking the basketball. If he's

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Speaker 1: dunking up here, you know he's having to reach for it.

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Speaker 1: He's dunking out here. That usually means that his head

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Speaker 1: is up and around the rim. And Ben Simmons had

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Speaker 1: like that two handed dunkin transition where his arms were

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Speaker 1: out in front of him and you're like, oh, like

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Speaker 1: he's getting up like he used to. He took a

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Speaker 1: little jump shot on the right elbow and he missed

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Speaker 1: it long off the left side of the rim. But

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Speaker 1: I literally just don't care about his jump shot. I mean,

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Speaker 1: at this point that ship has sailed. Ben's never going

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Speaker 1: to be an offensive star. What he has to be

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Speaker 1: for the Nets is the Ford version of Draymond Green.

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Speaker 1: He needs to be an athletic wrecking ball on both

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Speaker 1: ends of the floor, a connective piece on offense that

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Speaker 1: primarily operates running dribble handoffs and operating out of the

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Speaker 1: high post as other guys are running action and he's distributing,

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Speaker 1: screening and rolling hard to the rim, making plays as

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Speaker 1: he's rolling to the rim, because he does have the

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Speaker 1: ability to finish at the rim and pass. And then

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Speaker 1: on the defensive end of the or, he needs to

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Speaker 1: be the defensive Player of the Year candidate that he's

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Speaker 1: capable of being as one of the most versatile backline

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Speaker 1: and perimeter defenders that we have in the NBA when

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Speaker 1: he's healthy. But that's the key. He needed to get

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Speaker 1: his back straight. He needed to get healthy to get

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Speaker 1: near at least his former athleticism, and he looks at

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Speaker 1: least near at this point. Again, it's early, it's preseason,

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Speaker 1: but Ben looks very athletic and that's super encouraging. Cam

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Speaker 1: Thomas twenty six points, took twelve jump shots last night,

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Speaker 1: May eight of them six for nine on pull up

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Speaker 1: jump shots. And you know, I heard the announcers talking about,

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Speaker 1: you know, how Cam Thomas can stay in the rotation,

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Speaker 1: and I don't know, Like, as I look at the

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Speaker 1: NETS roster, I don't really see universe where he falls

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Speaker 1: out of the rotation. I mean, once you get past

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Speaker 1: bencer Dinwoodie and Michale Bridges, it's a pretty big drop

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Speaker 1: off to the rest of the shot creation on that roster,

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Speaker 1: especially with Ben simmons limitations as a shooter. And so

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Speaker 1: I mean, even if you do include Ben Simmons and there,

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Speaker 1: Cam Thomas is unquestionably, no, no worse than their fourth

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Speaker 1: best shot creator and probably their third best shot creator. So, like,

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Speaker 1: I think he's gonna play a lot. And I mean,

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Speaker 1: here's the thing. He if he shoots this well, he's

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Speaker 1: gonna be an impactful player. I mean, there's a lot.

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Speaker 1: There were a lot of there's a lot of talk

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Speaker 1: on the on the broadcast about how he needs to

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Speaker 1: defend to stay in the rotation and things along those lines. Again,

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Speaker 1: like they might not necessarily need him to earn a

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Speaker 1: spot in the rotation just because they're gonna need his

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Speaker 1: shot creation, all right, Moving on to my Lakers season previews,

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Speaker 1: so I have them at number four in my power

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Speaker 1: rankings quick offseason recap. They lost Mobamba, Malik Beasley, Troy Brown, Junior,

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Speaker 1: Nyan Gabriel, Dennis Schroeder, and Lonnie Walker. They added Jalen

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Speaker 1: Hood Chafino and Maxwell Lewis and the draft, And for

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Speaker 1: you Lakers fans haven't seen my draft scouting report on them,

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Speaker 1: go back in my feed to right around the draft,

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Speaker 1: and I actually did full scouts on both Jaleno, Chafino

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Speaker 1: and Maxwell Lewis at that point, and then I did

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Speaker 1: additional scouts of them at summerly. So if you're looking

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Speaker 1: for more content on them, you'll find that back in

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Speaker 1: the feed. Jackson Hayes, Christian Wood, the two backup centers

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Speaker 1: they brought in, Tory and Prince cam Reddish. Toryan Prince

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Speaker 1: is what I think is a really interesting option to

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Speaker 1: have is forward depth from the standpoint of the fact

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Speaker 1: that he kind of functionally operates as a three. Vanderbilt

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Speaker 1: can defend like a three and can defend like a one,

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Speaker 1: but can defend like a three, which requires what do

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Speaker 1: I mean by that. Let's let's let's dig into this

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Speaker 1: a little bit. So we've talked about the defensive assignments

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Speaker 1: on the show before, and the way I look at it,

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Speaker 1: like most teams have two or three shot creators, right,

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Speaker 1: these are the guys that have the live dribble that

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Speaker 1: are creating shots from the perimeter. Okay, then they're gonna

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Speaker 1: have dudes that they they use primarily for defense that

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Speaker 1: they're gonna try to tuck away in the weak side

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Speaker 1: corner as a way that they can try to not

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Speaker 1: gum up the offense a ton. And then they're gonna

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Speaker 1: have a screen and roll either fulkroom or threat. So

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Speaker 1: either a guy who comes up in set screens and

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Speaker 1: rolls to the basket, a guy like Nick Claxton, right,

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Speaker 1: or a folkrum a guy like Demana Sabonis, bam Adebayo,

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Speaker 1: Nikola Jokic who's going to actually be running most of

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Speaker 1: the action. Which are handoffs some screens at the top

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Speaker 1: of the key, right, So as you match up with

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Speaker 1: them defensively, you need a guy who can guard in

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Speaker 1: two man game, right, So let's call that Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: in this case. You need a guy who can guard

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Speaker 1: the lowman. In this case, let's call that Lebron James,

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Speaker 1: because he's going to be the guy that's going to

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Speaker 1: want to rest on a lot of possessions. And he

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Speaker 1: actually is at his best defensively in year twenty one

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Speaker 1: as a lowman defender, using his IQ in his ability

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Speaker 1: to make plays at the rim defensively, right. So now

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Speaker 1: I've got to guard these other three perimeter players, and

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Speaker 1: these other three perimeter players are probably all shot creators,

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Speaker 1: and so I've got to match up with them with

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Speaker 1: point of attack defense. And so that is going to

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Speaker 1: be different because now those defenders are going to have

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Speaker 1: to navigate screens. Lebron is the low man, probably not

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Speaker 1: gonna have to navigate too many screens. Anthony Davis as

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Speaker 1: the screen defender, probably not gonna have to navigate too

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Speaker 1: many screens. So bigger bodies do better in that position

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Speaker 1: because it's more about dealing with physicality, jumping for contested rebounds,

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Speaker 1: protecting the rim, that kind of thing, right, that's what

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Speaker 1: those guys do on the perimeter. It's very much about

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Speaker 1: foot speed and quickness and the ability to navigate ball

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Speaker 1: screens and cause problems at the point of attack. And

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Speaker 1: so let's look at Ruy Hatcha Mura and Jared Vanderbilt.

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Speaker 1: Ruey Hatchi Mura kind of fits more into that Lebron

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Speaker 1: James Mold. He's big, strong, good athlete, but he's a

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Speaker 1: little top heavy, not a very laterally quick player. So

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Speaker 1: he can be impactful as a defensive rebounder, as a

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Speaker 1: help defender, as a guy switching on to bigger players

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Speaker 1: in general, banging with bigger bodies, right, that's where he

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Speaker 1: can be most useful defensively. But if you ask ruyat

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Speaker 1: Tcha Mura to start running around screens, there can be

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Speaker 1: some issues there because he's a big body, doesn't slide

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Speaker 1: his feet super super well. Right. But then on the

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Speaker 1: offensive end, Ruy Hatcha Mura does function like a three

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Speaker 1: because he's been shooting the shit out of the basketball

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Speaker 1: since he came to the Lakers, and he can attack

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Speaker 1: close outs and hit pull up jump shots and then

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Speaker 1: he can also do some for stuff offensively in the

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Speaker 1: post and duckins and things along those lines. Right, So

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Speaker 1: Ruey Hatchamura defensively functions as a four and offensively functions

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Speaker 1: as a three to four. Right, then we look at

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Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt offensively, he also functions as a four. He's

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Speaker 1: not a guy that can run, drive and kick basketball

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Speaker 1: or reliably knocked down shots from above the break. You

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Speaker 1: have to either tuck him in the corner and pray

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Speaker 1: he makes thirty six percent of him or he has

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Speaker 1: to work out of the dunker spot where he can struggle.

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Speaker 1: You saw that against Golden State when he had a

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Speaker 1: couple of catches under the basket that he fumbled, right.

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Speaker 1: And so the problem with Jared Vanderbilt is he is

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Speaker 1: an outstanding perimeter defender. He does defend like a three.

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Speaker 1: He can navigate screens. Actually, Jared Vanderbilt, in my opinion,

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Speaker 1: is either a top tier or second tier perimeter defender

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Speaker 1: in the league. That's how impactful he can be in

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Speaker 1: that position. But he just has severe limitations on the

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Speaker 1: offensive end of the floor. And so what I like

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Speaker 1: about Torrian Prince is he basically brings kind of like

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Speaker 1: the genuine three approach. He's a guy who can knock down,

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Speaker 1: catch and shoot threes at a high rate and attack

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Speaker 1: close out, so he can functionally operate on offense like

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Speaker 1: a three, and then on defense he's not as good

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Speaker 1: defense is Jared Vanderbilt, to be clear, but he can

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Speaker 1: navigate over the top of screens and provide back pressure.

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Speaker 1: That's his particular strength defensively. But you saw against Jonathan

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Speaker 1: Kaminga he can get punished in the post, so he

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Speaker 1: can't defend like a four. Right if you put a

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Speaker 1: bigger athlete attacking him down low by the basket, he

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Speaker 1: can struggle a little bit. So what I like about

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Speaker 1: the Torrean Prince acquisition is it kind of gives you

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Speaker 1: a more well rounded group of forwards. Now you've got

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Speaker 1: two options to defend at the three in Jared Vanderbilt

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Speaker 1: and Ruy Hatchamura, or excuse me, Jared Vanderbilt and Torrian Prince.

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Speaker 1: And you've got two options to defend at the four,

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Speaker 1: which is Ruy Hatchamura and Jared Vanderbilt, who can do

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Speaker 1: both because he's also pretty big and strunk. So you've

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Speaker 1: got a little bit more defensive versatility. And on the

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Speaker 1: offensive end of the four. If Ruy doesn't have it

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Speaker 1: going defensively and you literally can't play him because of

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Speaker 1: a specific matchup where he's navigating screens too much. But

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Speaker 1: on the other end, you can't afford to have Vanderbilt

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Speaker 1: get ignored. You have Torrian Prince as an option, and

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Speaker 1: so I really like that pick up, especially the Biannual exception,

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Speaker 1: which is an affordable contract range as just a guy

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Speaker 1: who can just kind of give them more depth at

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Speaker 1: the forward position and versatility in some ways that Ruy

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Speaker 1: and Van do have some holes. Cam Reddish, I don't

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Speaker 1: expect him to play much this year. I think he

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Speaker 1: is still a player who's learning how to play winning

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00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,000
Speaker 1: basketball and his far way away from that. But he

429
00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,440
Speaker 1: will have his moments and he will score points when

430
00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,040
Speaker 1: he does get minutes. And then Gabe Vincent, who I

431
00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:28,080
Speaker 1: thought was an intentional move away from the Dennis Schroeder archetype,

432
00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:32,320
Speaker 1: which we'll talk about in a little bit. So kind

433
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,440
Speaker 1: of recapping the offseason, they also re signed or extended Ruey, Hatchamura,

434
00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,920
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves, Dangela Russell, Jared Vanderbilt, Anthony and Anthony Davis,

435
00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:42,640
Speaker 1: and now as a result all five of those guys

436
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:44,439
Speaker 1: are locked up for at least the next two years,

437
00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:46,760
Speaker 1: and all of them except for Dangela Russell, are locked

438
00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:49,720
Speaker 1: up for at least the next three years. So there's

439
00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:53,040
Speaker 1: going to be continuity. There is security in the group

440
00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:54,840
Speaker 1: of guys that's going to be coming to work every

441
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,000
Speaker 1: day for this team for the next few years. That's

442
00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,280
Speaker 1: an advantage that the Lakers have lacked over the last

443
00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:01,119
Speaker 1: few years with all the roster turnover that they've been

444
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:03,280
Speaker 1: going with. Now, there was a big kind of like

445
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:07,560
Speaker 1: narrative split in the public over what really happened in

446
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,560
Speaker 1: this Laker off season. You had a lot of people

447
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:11,760
Speaker 1: saying the Lakers had a great off season, and then

448
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:13,600
Speaker 1: you had a lot of other people saying, like, well,

449
00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,280
Speaker 1: they didn't get any better in the key areas. And like,

450
00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:19,880
Speaker 1: the thing that's funny with that is like they're both right,

451
00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:24,880
Speaker 1: They're just arguing about different things, right, So, like, you're right,

452
00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:26,679
Speaker 1: did they get better at the things they needed to

453
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,080
Speaker 1: beat Denver? Did they get more athletic in the backcourt

454
00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:31,560
Speaker 1: and better at the point of attack? No? Did they

455
00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:34,760
Speaker 1: get better at backup center? I mean, we'll see, did

456
00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:37,359
Speaker 1: they get better with shot making? Definitely not unless Lebron

457
00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:41,159
Speaker 1: and ad magically improve. So, like, did they fix those problems? No,

458
00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:43,639
Speaker 1: So I agree with these people, But the point is is,

459
00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,680
Speaker 1: like those weren't really capable of being fixed this offseason.

460
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:48,960
Speaker 1: Like they made a run at Bruce Brown to improve

461
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,160
Speaker 1: their backcourt athleticism. He was too expensive, He's twenty plus

462
00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:56,120
Speaker 1: million a year. He went to the to the Pacers. Right.

463
00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:59,560
Speaker 1: They made a run at brook Lopez. They needed a

464
00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,199
Speaker 1: legit center. They went after brook Lopez. They couldn't get him,

465
00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:03,800
Speaker 1: he was twenty plus million a year, went back to

466
00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,320
Speaker 1: the Bucks. Right, And then they didn't have the tradable

467
00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:09,920
Speaker 1: salaries to get involved in the Dame sweepstakes or the

468
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,080
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday sweepstakes and probably didn't have the assets to

469
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,400
Speaker 1: get it done anyway. So like, if you really look

470
00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,560
Speaker 1: at it, the magical top end improvement wasn't there for

471
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:23,800
Speaker 1: the Lakers in the off season. But they did improve

472
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:26,399
Speaker 1: the things they could do. They had the best offseason

473
00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,400
Speaker 1: they could have had under their set of circumstances. They

474
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:31,600
Speaker 1: didn't get cute. They brought back all of their important

475
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:36,880
Speaker 1: playoff rotation players on affordable deals, and that continuity is valuable, right,

476
00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,439
Speaker 1: They brought in useful depth at positions where they needed it,

477
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:43,960
Speaker 1: depth at forward Victorian Prince. They have two backup centers

478
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,720
Speaker 1: now when last year they had won who got hurt

479
00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,520
Speaker 1: in Mobamba, right, and one of which in Jackson Hayes

480
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,439
Speaker 1: has been winning his minutes in preseason and looks pretty solid.

481
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:56,679
Speaker 1: So like they did the best they could with what

482
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,560
Speaker 1: was available to them this offseason. Even the Gabe Vincent

483
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:02,040
Speaker 1: for Denil Schroder switch made sense to me, Like Gabe

484
00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:04,560
Speaker 1: is a downgrade at the point of attack by some amount.

485
00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:06,600
Speaker 1: I still think Gabe's a decent point of attack defender,

486
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:10,560
Speaker 1: but he's a downgrade from Dennis Schroeder theoretically, right, But

487
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 1: it makes more sense on this roster because with Ruey

488
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,399
Speaker 1: and Lebron and Anthony Davis and D'Angel Russell and Ossin Reeves,

489
00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,040
Speaker 1: they actit need someone who's more comfortable playing without the basketball,

490
00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 1: and Gave Vincent's just a better off ball guard than

491
00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:24,119
Speaker 1: Dennis Schroeder is right, So I kind of like that

492
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,959
Speaker 1: move too. So it wasn't like some massive ceiling raising

493
00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,600
Speaker 1: off season like Milwaukee bringing in Damian Lillard, but that

494
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,080
Speaker 1: wasn't available. They did the best with what was available

495
00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:36,960
Speaker 1: and they improved. I look at it as an excellent

496
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:40,080
Speaker 1: offseason for the Lakers on two fronts. They became a

497
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:43,840
Speaker 1: regular season they became a better regular season team through

498
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:49,840
Speaker 1: continuity and depth right, and then two, they maintained flexibility

499
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,520
Speaker 1: if the right trade becomes available down the line. They

500
00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 1: have four salaries now between ten million and twenty million

501
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,159
Speaker 1: that can be pieced together in any way to target

502
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,560
Speaker 1: a player. And they also have the depth at forward

503
00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:05,760
Speaker 1: to where if they need to get rid of a forward,

504
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:07,840
Speaker 1: they can, like if they have to use a forward

505
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,000
Speaker 1: a salary filler, they can because they've got two others left. Right,

506
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:13,160
Speaker 1: So I'll give you an example. Let's say, and again,

507
00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,439
Speaker 1: Lakers fans love Rui. I love Rui. Maybe it all

508
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:18,440
Speaker 1: works out and he stays with the Lakers forever. That'd

509
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:20,399
Speaker 1: be great. But what I'm saying is, let's say a

510
00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,320
Speaker 1: great player comes available in the trade market and you

511
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,159
Speaker 1: have to use ruy salary. You can get to thirty

512
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:30,200
Speaker 1: three million in salary filler with D'Angelo Russell and Ruey

513
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,760
Speaker 1: hat Schimura, and you can do that and still have

514
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,320
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt and Torrian Prints at forward for the rest

515
00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:40,399
Speaker 1: of the season. Right, So like some star guard becomes

516
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,960
Speaker 1: available that monumentally improves the Lakers' chances with shot making

517
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,840
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, and you can get it done with

518
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,880
Speaker 1: D'Angelo Russell, ruy hat Chimura and two first round picks.

519
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,400
Speaker 1: Now you have the ability to make a move like that.

520
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:58,640
Speaker 1: That is flexibility that they brought in this particular offseason

521
00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 1: with their strategy. So I thought that was a good strategy. Now, like, again,

522
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:03,880
Speaker 1: the process from Rob Polink has been great. The only

523
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:07,199
Speaker 1: real question is, and this is the thing, Lebron had

524
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,320
Speaker 1: his first real decline last year in the postseason, right now,

525
00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:13,879
Speaker 1: that was injury, but injuries related to age. He's now

526
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,359
Speaker 1: in his twenty first season. If the Lakers make it

527
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:18,680
Speaker 1: to the Western Conference Finals again this year, Lebron James

528
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:20,600
Speaker 1: will be thirty nine years old, thirty nine and a

529
00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:23,800
Speaker 1: half years old at the time of that series. So, like,

530
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,239
Speaker 1: the real question is is, like Rob's figured out his

531
00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:31,160
Speaker 1: mistakes and he's rectified them, But did you the risk

532
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 1: here was that you know, Lebron's age thirty seven and

533
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:37,960
Speaker 1: thirty eight seasons basically went to waste, right, and now

534
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,159
Speaker 1: you're an aged thirty nine season, right, So again I

535
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:45,000
Speaker 1: want to pay the compliment to Rob for the excellent

536
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:46,760
Speaker 1: job that him in his front office has done this

537
00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:49,640
Speaker 1: offseason and really since the ruy Haacha Mura trade last

538
00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,240
Speaker 1: year before the deadline. But there is it's important to

539
00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:55,360
Speaker 1: tell the full story, and the cost here is that

540
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:59,960
Speaker 1: Lebron's a lot older as a result, but who knows,

541
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:01,959
Speaker 1: maybe it'll all work out because of other improvements we'll

542
00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,000
Speaker 1: talk about in a little bit. So the depth chart

543
00:26:04,040 --> 00:26:07,280
Speaker 1: as of right now at guard, D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reeves,

544
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,640
Speaker 1: Gave Vincent and Jalen Chafino. At ford Lebron, James Ruyatcha Murra,

545
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,840
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt, Torrian Prince, Max Christi, Cam Reddish, and Maxwell Lewis.

546
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,920
Speaker 1: And at center Anthony Davis, Jackson, Hayesen, Christian Woods. So

547
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,400
Speaker 1: obviously a lot of depth at forward and center, which

548
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:22,920
Speaker 1: is weird compared to what they've had in earlier seasons.

549
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,159
Speaker 1: And they have three starting caliber guards, but they are

550
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:27,960
Speaker 1: a little thin at guard. Now, that's a good spot

551
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:30,560
Speaker 1: to be in because the three guards they have are

552
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:34,480
Speaker 1: all capable of starting for a legit NBA Championship contender,

553
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,720
Speaker 1: right But the problem is is it's a big drop

554
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,280
Speaker 1: off to Jalen hoo Chafino there and you know, maybe

555
00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 1: you look at Damoy Hodge there, maybe you can play

556
00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,840
Speaker 1: Max Christy as a as a two guard, but like

557
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,480
Speaker 1: it is a pretty big drop off, and so essentially,

558
00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:50,199
Speaker 1: like they are a little bit thin at guard, and

559
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:52,080
Speaker 1: that's something to keep an eye on over the course

560
00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:54,639
Speaker 1: of the season, just from the standpoint of injuries, like

561
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:57,840
Speaker 1: a significant injury to D'Angelo Russell or Austin Reeves could

562
00:26:57,840 --> 00:26:59,639
Speaker 1: cause some problems for the Lakers with their lack of

563
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:05,080
Speaker 1: backoin depth after those top three guys. Now, there are

564
00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:09,160
Speaker 1: four playoff weaknesses that I see in this particular roster,

565
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 1: and I want to dive into each of them for

566
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:15,320
Speaker 1: a second. So the first one is backcourt athleticism. Austin

567
00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,560
Speaker 1: Reeves and di'angelo Russell are both reasonably tall, right, like

568
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,080
Speaker 1: six four sixty five between the two of them, but

569
00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:24,480
Speaker 1: neither of them are particularly strong or athletic, and so

570
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 1: they really struggled with Bruce Brown, especially D'Angelo Russell, like

571
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,920
Speaker 1: really struggled with Bruce Brown. It was one of the

572
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,800
Speaker 1: biggest swing factors in that series. Bruce average twelve four

573
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,720
Speaker 1: and three, but most importantly he sapped de Lo of

574
00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:40,080
Speaker 1: his confidence. D'Angelo Russell scored six points per game in

575
00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:43,600
Speaker 1: that series. I'm thirty two percent shooting and basically got

576
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:45,800
Speaker 1: removed from the floor by Darvin Hamm. There's a big

577
00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:48,639
Speaker 1: swing factor. And how did he do it? Because he

578
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:51,160
Speaker 1: was too big, strong and athletic for him on one

579
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,440
Speaker 1: end of the floor, just too physical at the point

580
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:55,840
Speaker 1: of attack, just basically taking Delo out of rhythm and

581
00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:57,439
Speaker 1: sapping him of his confidence. And then on the other

582
00:27:57,520 --> 00:27:59,840
Speaker 1: end of the floor just straight line drives. And so

583
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:03,119
Speaker 1: my transition hard Dribble moves to his right, knowing that

584
00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:06,359
Speaker 1: Delo is not capable physically of sliding his feet and

585
00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:10,920
Speaker 1: staying in front. Again, like the Lakers backcourt is super skilled,

586
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:15,000
Speaker 1: super skilled, but athleticism is not a strong point. Now,

587
00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:18,800
Speaker 1: the counterpoint here is the Nuggets lost Bruce Brown, and

588
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 1: I really like Christian Brown, but he's not as good

589
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,800
Speaker 1: as Bruce Brown, right, So, like, I don't think the

590
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:25,800
Speaker 1: Nuggets are going to be able to capitalize on that

591
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,520
Speaker 1: specific advantage nearly as much in this offseason or this postseason.

592
00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:32,040
Speaker 1: And I don't see that as an issue with any

593
00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:33,679
Speaker 1: of the other teams they really could face in the

594
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,520
Speaker 1: West except for the Clippers. The Clippers with Terrence Mann

595
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:41,360
Speaker 1: and Russell Westbrook could cause serious problems for the Lakers

596
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:44,800
Speaker 1: with their backcourt athleticism. But again, like the Clippers are

597
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:46,720
Speaker 1: too hard to take seriously as a threat because of

598
00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 1: their injury history, So I'm not super concerned about the

599
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,680
Speaker 1: backcourt athleticism. But that is definitely a weakness on this roster.

600
00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:57,080
Speaker 1: The backup center position. None of the Lakers backup centers

601
00:28:57,160 --> 00:28:59,280
Speaker 1: last year in the postseason were playable. Whnyion Gabriel is

602
00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:01,880
Speaker 1: way too small, so he basically was just another forward,

603
00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,360
Speaker 1: and Lebron basically ended up playing center. And then Mobamba,

604
00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:08,040
Speaker 1: who sprained his ankle right before the postseason and then

605
00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,760
Speaker 1: when he was healthy, was not in a position to play. Now,

606
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:12,560
Speaker 1: will Jackson Hayes and Christian would be up to it,

607
00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 1: We'll see again. Early through two preseason games, Jackson Hayes

608
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,080
Speaker 1: looks like the better option. They're plus nineteen in his minutes.

609
00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,560
Speaker 1: That's encouraging. You want to be positive. With Anthony Davis

610
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:23,840
Speaker 1: off the floor right now, some of those minutes were

611
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,120
Speaker 1: with Jackson Hayes. But Jackson's played well, But it's too

612
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:28,960
Speaker 1: early to tell, so I'm gonna put a big question

613
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:31,680
Speaker 1: mark by that one. The third biggest weakness of this

614
00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:34,040
Speaker 1: roster for the postseason is over the top shot making.

615
00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:37,240
Speaker 1: The Lakers were twenty ninth and pull up jump shot

616
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:40,680
Speaker 1: efficiency in the regular season last year, so literally second

617
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:42,720
Speaker 1: worst in the league. They also had a one toh

618
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,760
Speaker 1: one offensive rating in the clutch in the playoffs. Not good.

619
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:50,320
Speaker 1: That comes down to Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Those

620
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,520
Speaker 1: two guys were awful last year making shots over the

621
00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,600
Speaker 1: top of the defense. Look what happened in the Denver series.

622
00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,120
Speaker 1: All those games were close, right. Three of the four

623
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:02,160
Speaker 1: games came down to crunch time. The other the only

624
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:03,760
Speaker 1: one that didn't come down to crunch time. The Lakers

625
00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,040
Speaker 1: had a double digit second alf lete and really the

626
00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:08,720
Speaker 1: Nuggets just did basically a clutch time blitz at the

627
00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,200
Speaker 1: start of the fourth quarter. Right. But what happened in

628
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,600
Speaker 1: that series every time the game slowed down, Nikola Jokic

629
00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:18,120
Speaker 1: and Jamal Murray were able to make over the shot

630
00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:23,640
Speaker 1: over the tough over the top shots, right, But Lebron

631
00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:26,720
Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis were not. That was literally the series.

632
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 1: They were neck and neck basically the rest of the

633
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,120
Speaker 1: games until it slowed down at the end, and then

634
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:35,240
Speaker 1: the Nuggets out executed them every single time. Now, so

635
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:39,480
Speaker 1: far in preseason, they're shooting well. Right, Lebron and Ad

636
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,640
Speaker 1: have taken sixteen jump shots in preseason and they've scored

637
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:46,160
Speaker 1: eighteen points on them. That's well over a point possession.

638
00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:50,400
Speaker 1: That's really good. But it's early, and that's something that

639
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,360
Speaker 1: they're gonna need to clearly demonstrate throughout the regular season

640
00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,160
Speaker 1: and throughout the postseason in ordering to fix. In order

641
00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 1: to fix now, like unless there's a personnel move, a

642
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,000
Speaker 1: specific trade to make, it's up to Lebron or Ad,

643
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,000
Speaker 1: but certainly from a roster standpoint, over the offseason they

644
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,720
Speaker 1: did not get any better there. And then lastly, point

645
00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:10,160
Speaker 1: of attack defense. Now, point of attack defenses have always

646
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:11,960
Speaker 1: said is one of the most important parts of modern

647
00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:15,360
Speaker 1: NBA defense because of the team's spamming pick and roll

648
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,720
Speaker 1: and how good pull up jump shooters are. Now you

649
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:19,840
Speaker 1: need a guy who can navigate over the top of

650
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:23,000
Speaker 1: screens and bother players from behind so that your back

651
00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:27,640
Speaker 1: line can be impactful defensively. It's vitally important. Last year

652
00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:29,720
Speaker 1: they had two really good options. They had Dennis Schroder

653
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,960
Speaker 1: and Jared Vanderbilt, Right, But Dennis Schroeder was a little

654
00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:36,880
Speaker 1: too small, particularly struggled with Jamal Murray, and then offensively

655
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,120
Speaker 1: he was hit or miss, especially off the ball. Jared

656
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:42,719
Speaker 1: Vanderbilt was outstanding, like just an excellent point of attack defender,

657
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:47,080
Speaker 1: but had the offensive limitations that caused problems in the postseason. Right,

658
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,120
Speaker 1: And now you've downgraded Dennis to Gabe, who is just

659
00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:51,720
Speaker 1: going to be a lesser version of Dennis with the

660
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:57,280
Speaker 1: same small weaknesses. Right, So a man again, like if

661
00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:03,640
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt makes a significant offensively that helps to mitigate

662
00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:06,760
Speaker 1: this problem, but even if that does happen, he's really

663
00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 1: your only guy. So this is a roster that has

664
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,040
Speaker 1: a significant weakness in point of attack defense. In my opinion,

665
00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:16,560
Speaker 1: they're excellent back line defense and a lot more athletic

666
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:19,040
Speaker 1: than I think people think, but they're going to struggle

667
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:21,880
Speaker 1: at the point of attack. So in summary, it's backcourt

668
00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:24,840
Speaker 1: trained and athleticism. Athleticism which I don't think will matter

669
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,280
Speaker 1: much this year. And then the backup center position, which

670
00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:29,040
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers will figure out before the end

671
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:30,400
Speaker 1: of the season, and I think Jackson as is a

672
00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:32,720
Speaker 1: good chance so it really comes down to shot making

673
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 1: and point of attack defense. Those are the two biggest

674
00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:38,520
Speaker 1: weaknesses that could will most likely get them beat at

675
00:32:38,520 --> 00:32:40,920
Speaker 1: this point. So the question is is which is more

676
00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,440
Speaker 1: important because they do not have the assets to address

677
00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:48,120
Speaker 1: both in my opinion. So if you could bring in

678
00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 1: a above average starter who is an elite point of

679
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:59,120
Speaker 1: attack defender or an outstanding over the top shot maker,

680
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,280
Speaker 1: which direction do you go? That's the big question. And

681
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,000
Speaker 1: to me, it really comes down to who the shot

682
00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,600
Speaker 1: maker is. So if I was running the Lakers and

683
00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:10,000
Speaker 1: we get to the deadline and those two options are

684
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,800
Speaker 1: on the table, it depends what the options are. If

685
00:33:12,800 --> 00:33:17,000
Speaker 1: the shot maker is let's say, you know, someone like

686
00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:22,280
Speaker 1: Jordan Clarkson, Like, I don't think that's worth it. Right,

687
00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:26,960
Speaker 1: If it's James Harden, I don't think that's worth it.

688
00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:32,680
Speaker 1: But if it's like a real top tier guy, like

689
00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:39,000
Speaker 1: let's say the Mavericks completely self implode this year and

690
00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:43,360
Speaker 1: at the deadline, you know, Luca gets hurt and Kyrie's

691
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,280
Speaker 1: super upset and he just wants to get out, and

692
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,600
Speaker 1: you can make a move for someone like Kyrie. Hell, yeah,

693
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:52,640
Speaker 1: you do that. You find the salaries. I think it

694
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:54,040
Speaker 1: would have to take Ruey, it would take de Lo.

695
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:57,320
Speaker 1: You probably have to use another contract in there as well.

696
00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:01,760
Speaker 1: But like you do that, but if it's anybody below

697
00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:04,000
Speaker 1: that tier, I don't think it's worth it. And the

698
00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:07,400
Speaker 1: reason why is you're not going to beat Denver in

699
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:10,440
Speaker 1: shot making with a mid level shot creator. You're not

700
00:34:10,480 --> 00:34:14,280
Speaker 1: gonna beat Damon Milwaukee with a mid level shot creator.

701
00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:17,360
Speaker 1: It has to be one of the guys, and so

702
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:19,000
Speaker 1: if you can get one of the guys, you go

703
00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:21,479
Speaker 1: for it. That's why I lean more towards the point

704
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:25,080
Speaker 1: of attack position. Be great at what you're great at.

705
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:27,960
Speaker 1: Don't try to beat Denver at shot making. Don't try

706
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:30,439
Speaker 1: to beat Milwaukee at shot making. Beat them by being

707
00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:34,359
Speaker 1: the best defense in the NBA. And if you get

708
00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:38,759
Speaker 1: another outstanding point of attack defender out there, with that

709
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:43,000
Speaker 1: front line and with commitment from the rest of the roster,

710
00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:46,680
Speaker 1: you can be downright destructive defensively. I know the GMS

711
00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:52,480
Speaker 1: all overlooked AD and the best defender category, but like,

712
00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,120
Speaker 1: he's the best defender in the league. How do you

713
00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:59,440
Speaker 1: not see that by watching the postseason last year and

714
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:01,440
Speaker 1: everything you in the second half of the regular season,

715
00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:04,680
Speaker 1: he's the best defender. So if you give him real

716
00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:07,400
Speaker 1: support on the perimeter, that's where you can go up

717
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:09,520
Speaker 1: against teams like Denver and be like, yeah, you're great

718
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:13,919
Speaker 1: at that, but we're great at this. Deal with it, right.

719
00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:15,799
Speaker 1: That's the way that I would go about it if

720
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:17,759
Speaker 1: I was running the Lakers, unless it was a top

721
00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:21,040
Speaker 1: tier shot maker at the deadline, I'd be looking at

722
00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:25,880
Speaker 1: a point of attack guy, And honestly, you don't do

723
00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:27,880
Speaker 1: anything like that unless you need to. It's a judgment

724
00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,640
Speaker 1: call you make at that point. If you get to

725
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:33,680
Speaker 1: February and Lebron, James and Anthony Davis are making their

726
00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:38,440
Speaker 1: jump shots and Jared Vanderbilt is a little more efficient

727
00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 1: from three and a little more efficient from the dunker spot,

728
00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:43,160
Speaker 1: you don't mess with it, and you run it with

729
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,759
Speaker 1: that group, right, It's a judgment call you make at

730
00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:49,800
Speaker 1: the deadline. My prediction for this year, I think the

731
00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:52,719
Speaker 1: Lakers are well positioned for a successful regular season. I

732
00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:54,759
Speaker 1: think they'll be a top four seed in the standings

733
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:57,919
Speaker 1: in the West, barring like a catastrophic injury to Ad.

734
00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:00,200
Speaker 1: I think they can afford for eighty and Lebron each

735
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:03,520
Speaker 1: to miss twenty games. They're deep now and they're deep

736
00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:05,799
Speaker 1: at the important positions you need to win in the NBA. Like,

737
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,640
Speaker 1: they're actually deep, young and athletic in the front court, right,

738
00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:11,839
Speaker 1: Like eighty and Lebron can both be out, and they

739
00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:14,400
Speaker 1: can run a starting lineup with Austin Reeves, Dangela Russell,

740
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,640
Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt, Ruy Hatchamurra, and Jackson Hayes. That's a functional

741
00:36:17,680 --> 00:36:19,840
Speaker 1: basketball team that has a real chance to win games,

742
00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:22,360
Speaker 1: especially against bad teams. So you might be able to

743
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:24,799
Speaker 1: buy rest time there. They didn't have that last year.

744
00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:28,080
Speaker 1: Everyone on the roster other than Lebron, James and Anthony

745
00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:32,800
Speaker 1: Davis is in their twenties. Is a young, athletic team.

746
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,520
Speaker 1: So I don't think that Lebron missing twenty games or

747
00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,040
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis missing twenty games is a problem. It's if

748
00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:42,040
Speaker 1: Ads mis fifty games. Now we're talking about a much

749
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:47,040
Speaker 1: more serious issue. Right. But barring that sort of catastrophic injury,

750
00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,080
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers are going to be a top

751
00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:52,160
Speaker 1: four seed. But in the playoffs, I think they're clearly

752
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:55,800
Speaker 1: behind Denver, Milwaukee, and Boston unless they have a significant upgrade,

753
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:58,960
Speaker 1: and that upgrade can come from two places. An upgrade

754
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,200
Speaker 1: in offensive pote hot and see from Lebron James and

755
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:03,760
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis right, Lebron and Ad improving his jump shooters,

756
00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:06,919
Speaker 1: or a roster upgrade either targeting a high level shot

757
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:09,440
Speaker 1: creator or a point of attack defender. If they don't

758
00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:12,680
Speaker 1: upgrade in one of those two ways, I think they're

759
00:37:12,719 --> 00:37:15,560
Speaker 1: destined to lose in the semis of the conference finals. Again,

760
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,600
Speaker 1: all right, let's move on the mailback. First question in

761
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:23,120
Speaker 1: your video a year ago is Steph Curry top five

762
00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:25,440
Speaker 1: player at NBA history. You divided players into bigs and

763
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:27,680
Speaker 1: perimeter players. What changed this year and why do you

764
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:29,640
Speaker 1: have bigs like Ad and Jokic in the rankings with

765
00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:32,439
Speaker 1: other guards and forwards. It's just really the difference between

766
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:35,400
Speaker 1: ranking all time versus in the league right now all time.

767
00:37:35,680 --> 00:37:37,640
Speaker 1: It's more about how we rank them with their peers,

768
00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:41,480
Speaker 1: and it's purely for fun, right Like ranking them now,

769
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,000
Speaker 1: you're almost looking at it from the perspective of like

770
00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:47,400
Speaker 1: a general manager. Like at the end of the day,

771
00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:51,600
Speaker 1: if you're picking teams, you can pick a center or

772
00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:54,879
Speaker 1: a perimeter player, and if it's a better center, you're

773
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,480
Speaker 1: gonna take the better center over the lesser perimeter player,

774
00:37:57,560 --> 00:38:01,719
Speaker 1: right like you're gonna take Joel Embiid over a guy

775
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,719
Speaker 1: like Jamal Murray, right, for instance, Whereas like if I

776
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:07,880
Speaker 1: had just guards in a list, you know, Jamal Murray's

777
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:11,200
Speaker 1: gonna be higher on the list, right, and and and

778
00:38:11,320 --> 00:38:13,800
Speaker 1: beads not even in consideration. So that's the thing, Like

779
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:17,040
Speaker 1: when Jamal m Murray's career is over, I'm gonna look

780
00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:18,759
Speaker 1: at him and the way he stacks up to other

781
00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:23,719
Speaker 1: two guards. Right. But like in the bigger picture, obviously,

782
00:38:24,239 --> 00:38:27,760
Speaker 1: you know, if I'm running a team and centers are available,

783
00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:31,279
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna consider that. So essentially, what I'm

784
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:35,280
Speaker 1: saying is is that, like right now, looking at the league,

785
00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:37,879
Speaker 1: centers and players have to be ranked with each other.

786
00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:40,080
Speaker 1: But in the all time sense, it makes sense to

787
00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:42,799
Speaker 1: separate them because they effectively play different positions and it's

788
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:46,759
Speaker 1: really hard to compare them all. Right, Last one, what

789
00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:50,120
Speaker 1: team do you think will perform worse than the majority expects?

790
00:38:50,239 --> 00:38:52,600
Speaker 1: This is a great question. I thought really long and

791
00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:54,960
Speaker 1: hard about this one. I have two teams that I'll

792
00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:58,080
Speaker 1: throw out there. First of the Sacramento Kings. A couple

793
00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:00,680
Speaker 1: of reasons why the West is insanely deep this year,

794
00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,520
Speaker 1: and they got super lucky with injuries last year. They

795
00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:06,359
Speaker 1: were the least injured team in the league last year.

796
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:08,920
Speaker 1: So as a result of that, I expect them to

797
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:10,880
Speaker 1: dip down into the bottom half of the Western Conference

798
00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:12,920
Speaker 1: standings finished, you know, five to six, seven eight in

799
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:15,520
Speaker 1: that range. The second team I put in there was

800
00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:17,400
Speaker 1: the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, to be clear, don't take this

801
00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:20,320
Speaker 1: the wrong way. I'm a huge believer in their playoff ceiling,

802
00:39:20,719 --> 00:39:23,000
Speaker 1: but they gave up a lot of depth and they're

803
00:39:23,080 --> 00:39:27,279
Speaker 1: really bad at the point of attack. And so like

804
00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:29,480
Speaker 1: any injury to one of their core four players, like

805
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:31,320
Speaker 1: if Jannis misses time, they're not gonna be able to

806
00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:32,800
Speaker 1: float the ship the way they did in the past.

807
00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:35,000
Speaker 1: If brook Lopez miss his time, they're not gonna be

808
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:36,200
Speaker 1: able to float the ship the way they did in

809
00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:39,280
Speaker 1: the past. God forbid Dame misses time, like, you're gonna

810
00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:41,640
Speaker 1: really miss what Drew Holliday brought at that point. So, like,

811
00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:45,880
Speaker 1: don't be surprised if there are several games behind Boston

812
00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:48,800
Speaker 1: in the standings, like a solid five to six games

813
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:51,359
Speaker 1: behind Boston in the in the in the standings when

814
00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:53,319
Speaker 1: we get to the end of the regular season. But

815
00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:56,799
Speaker 1: obviously I'm very much pro the Dame trade, and I

816
00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:59,000
Speaker 1: think it will pay dividends when they get to May.

817
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,040
Speaker 1: I just think they a little bit of a regular

818
00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:07,600
Speaker 1: season sacrifice this season for a postseason increase in potential.

819
00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:10,600
Speaker 1: And so again, I think the majority probably viewsed the

820
00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:12,359
Speaker 1: Bucks and Celtics at the top of the East again

821
00:40:12,400 --> 00:40:14,600
Speaker 1: all conference. And don't get me wrong, the Bucks might

822
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:16,520
Speaker 1: still finish two. I just think it's more gonna be

823
00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:18,600
Speaker 1: like the Celtics runaway with the conference and then everyone

824
00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:21,680
Speaker 1: else is behind them at that point. At the start

825
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:24,000
Speaker 1: of the NBA season is still about two weeks away,

826
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:26,160
Speaker 1: two weeks from tonight to be exact. But there's no

827
00:40:26,239 --> 00:40:29,480
Speaker 1: shortage of events to attend in the meantime. All summer long,

828
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:32,640
Speaker 1: we've had concerts, comedy shows in baseball, but now we

829
00:40:32,680 --> 00:40:35,480
Speaker 1: have the return of the NFL and of college football,

830
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:37,080
Speaker 1: and the best way to get tickets to any of

831
00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:39,800
Speaker 1: these is on game Time, the fastest growing ticketing app

832
00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:42,520
Speaker 1: in the United States. For amazing last minute deals on

833
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:45,480
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834
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,400
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835
00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:51,160
Speaker 1: still plenty of concerts and comedy shows still touring around

836
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:53,239
Speaker 1: the country, and game Time has your tickets to those

837
00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:55,280
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838
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:59,160
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839
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:03,600
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840
00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:06,160
Speaker 1: twenty dollars off. No matter where you live, get out

841
00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:08,040
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842
00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:13,200
Speaker 1: last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, let's talk

843
00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:17,600
Speaker 1: some basketball. So Victor goes for twenty and five with

844
00:41:17,680 --> 00:41:20,160
Speaker 1: two steals in a block in nineteen minutes. He played

845
00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:21,719
Speaker 1: a shift at the beginning of the third quarter that

846
00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:25,240
Speaker 1: Chet didn't play. Chet goes for twenty one and nine

847
00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:29,279
Speaker 1: with a block in sixteen minutes. I was watching the

848
00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,240
Speaker 1: game this morning. Alien shit is happening all over the court,

849
00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:36,240
Speaker 1: Like Victor hit this spin move up and under lefty

850
00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:39,920
Speaker 1: scoop shot off the glass that literally like you're thinking

851
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,640
Speaker 1: to yourself, this guy's just gonna throw. You see any

852
00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,120
Speaker 1: other NBA player do that that's at that size and

853
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,640
Speaker 1: you're half expecting them just to launch it off the

854
00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:51,000
Speaker 1: backboard as a brick. But he has that soft touch

855
00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:54,080
Speaker 1: to be able to finish while moving with that crazy

856
00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:57,440
Speaker 1: spin move in through the lane. Chet holmguns running inverted

857
00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:00,919
Speaker 1: pick and rolls and elevating and taking taking the hit

858
00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:03,600
Speaker 1: and double pump finishing like he's a two guard in

859
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:06,360
Speaker 1: the nineties. It was crazy. The biggest thing that stood

860
00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:09,239
Speaker 1: out to me, just in a big picture sense was

861
00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:12,320
Speaker 1: the level of dexterity. Again, like we see big guys

862
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:15,239
Speaker 1: try to do little guy stuff right around the league.

863
00:42:15,239 --> 00:42:18,560
Speaker 1: We see Andre Drummond take a step back three occasionally

864
00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:22,279
Speaker 1: we see Javail McGee go with some aggressive move through

865
00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:24,440
Speaker 1: the lane, and as it's happening, you're watching and you're like,

866
00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:27,000
Speaker 1: this is gonna end badly, and it'll Drummonds shot will

867
00:42:27,040 --> 00:42:29,040
Speaker 1: go three feet over the back of the rim, right,

868
00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:31,600
Speaker 1: or Javail will go to that hook shot and literally

869
00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:33,879
Speaker 1: just put a hole on the backboard, right, Like that's

870
00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:36,239
Speaker 1: what you expect from players of that size. But these

871
00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:38,560
Speaker 1: dudes just have the touch and the dexterity and the

872
00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:42,160
Speaker 1: footwork and the polish that you expect to see from guards.

873
00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:45,240
Speaker 1: And that's the thing that's crazy about them as archetypes

874
00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:48,319
Speaker 1: to add to their teams, they're basically wings that can

875
00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:51,080
Speaker 1: provide the defense and rebounding support that you get from

876
00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:54,479
Speaker 1: big old rim protectors right, and both teams are gonna

877
00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:56,719
Speaker 1: be much better as a result. So let's start with

878
00:42:56,800 --> 00:43:00,440
Speaker 1: Victor and on the offensive or on the defensive into

879
00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:03,399
Speaker 1: the four. So on defense, as was the intel going

880
00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:06,560
Speaker 1: into camp, they ended up playing him at the four

881
00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:09,279
Speaker 1: alongside Zach Collins and using him as the lowman, kind

882
00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:12,000
Speaker 1: of similar to the way that the Bucks use Giannis right.

883
00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:14,600
Speaker 1: So have Zach Collins run up and down in that

884
00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:16,400
Speaker 1: yo yo and pick and roll right. So he's got

885
00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:18,880
Speaker 1: to show high on the on the the guys that

886
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:20,360
Speaker 1: can shoot off the dribble, and then he's got to

887
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:23,279
Speaker 1: recover back to the role man. And then basically you

888
00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:26,680
Speaker 1: tuck Victor Wembanyamo away on their worst shooter so that

889
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:28,200
Speaker 1: he can help in the paint. And this in this

890
00:43:28,239 --> 00:43:30,840
Speaker 1: particular game that ended up being lou Dort, and it

891
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:33,080
Speaker 1: worked in its own way. There's a play in the

892
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:35,520
Speaker 1: late second, late first half that kind of I thought

893
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:38,480
Speaker 1: demonstrated this really well where Josh Giddy ran a ghost

894
00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:41,600
Speaker 1: screen I believe with Jalen Williams could have been Case

895
00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:43,320
Speaker 1: on Wallace. I can't remember he was Case on Wallace.

896
00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:45,760
Speaker 1: So Case Wallace comes up and runs a ghost screen

897
00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:49,160
Speaker 1: and on the action, Josh Giddy actually hits Trey Jones

898
00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:52,280
Speaker 1: with this like disgusting behind the back dribble and gets

899
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:56,080
Speaker 1: just barreling downhill at the lane like nobody in his way,

900
00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:58,440
Speaker 1: and Victor wemen Yama is guarding Dort in the corner

901
00:43:58,480 --> 00:44:01,040
Speaker 1: and he just comes over and just spreads his arms

902
00:44:01,080 --> 00:44:04,879
Speaker 1: wide and makes a big, you know, obstacle in front

903
00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:06,759
Speaker 1: of the rim. Josh Giddy has to kind of go

904
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:08,520
Speaker 1: up and under with his left hand on the left

905
00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:10,480
Speaker 1: side and he smokes the layup. Those are the types

906
00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:15,880
Speaker 1: of advantages you're gonna see with with Victor Wenbinyama in

907
00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:18,160
Speaker 1: a help side role like that. I think it depends

908
00:44:18,200 --> 00:44:21,080
Speaker 1: on the matchup. Like against outstanding pull up shooters where

909
00:44:21,120 --> 00:44:22,880
Speaker 1: you need people up at the level of the screen,

910
00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:25,000
Speaker 1: he's gonna be able to stay at the rim a lot.

911
00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:28,880
Speaker 1: But obviously in situations where you've got guys rolling downhill

912
00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:30,600
Speaker 1: towards the rim, it could be a little bit trickier

913
00:44:30,640 --> 00:44:32,440
Speaker 1: because Zach Collins is going to be in the way

914
00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:34,040
Speaker 1: there and it's going to be harder for Victor to

915
00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:36,840
Speaker 1: load up and come over into help, right. So it

916
00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:39,359
Speaker 1: depending on the matchup, it'll work really well and then

917
00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:41,640
Speaker 1: in other situations, you're just gonna see really quickly that

918
00:44:41,760 --> 00:44:43,759
Speaker 1: Zach Collins is not nearly as good as a pick

919
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:47,279
Speaker 1: and roll defender as Victor Wenbnyam is. So like, again,

920
00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:50,000
Speaker 1: I get it. For now. It makes Wemby's job easier,

921
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:51,799
Speaker 1: and in certain matchups it'll help. But at the end

922
00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:53,400
Speaker 1: of the day, I hope he gets a lot of

923
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:56,480
Speaker 1: reps this year at center because in the big picture,

924
00:44:56,640 --> 00:44:59,040
Speaker 1: the Spurs will be at their best when Victor Wembinyama

925
00:44:59,040 --> 00:45:01,400
Speaker 1: is defending in pick and roll because he is uniquely

926
00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:04,080
Speaker 1: capable of bothering people up at the level of the

927
00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:07,719
Speaker 1: screen while still staying back far enough to defend the rim.

928
00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:10,720
Speaker 1: That's his superpower, and so I'll be interested to see

929
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:13,800
Speaker 1: how that looks in the long run. The dig downs

930
00:45:13,840 --> 00:45:17,160
Speaker 1: were crazy. So dig down to me is like if

931
00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:19,080
Speaker 1: I'm in a helpside role and a guy's driving, So

932
00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:22,239
Speaker 1: pretend like the basketball is where the camera is, and

933
00:45:22,239 --> 00:45:25,120
Speaker 1: I'm defending a guy over here and I'm kind of

934
00:45:25,120 --> 00:45:27,520
Speaker 1: like sitting in help and you're trying to drive to

935
00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:31,680
Speaker 1: your right. That goes in my general vicinity. A dig

936
00:45:31,719 --> 00:45:34,680
Speaker 1: down is my ability to reach down in a lunch

937
00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:38,600
Speaker 1: stance and just swipe down at the basketball. Right A

938
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:41,440
Speaker 1: dig down is my ability to literally just take a

939
00:45:41,520 --> 00:45:44,400
Speaker 1: lunch step and reach down and swipe at the basketball

940
00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:46,759
Speaker 1: while not getting too far away from my shooter so

941
00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:49,000
Speaker 1: I can rotate. And there was a play in particular

942
00:45:49,040 --> 00:45:51,959
Speaker 1: where Cason Wallace was driving towards his right and Victor

943
00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:53,840
Speaker 1: women Yama's defending at the top of the key. His

944
00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:56,600
Speaker 1: left foot is literally at the three point line and

945
00:45:56,680 --> 00:45:59,239
Speaker 1: he does a single step dig down, so he like

946
00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:02,840
Speaker 1: basically goes with his right leg into a lunch step

947
00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:06,160
Speaker 1: and swipes down at the basketball. He makes contact with

948
00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:09,200
Speaker 1: the basketball south of the free throw line with his

949
00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:12,160
Speaker 1: left foot starting at the three point line at the

950
00:46:12,239 --> 00:46:15,120
Speaker 1: NBA three point line at almost twenty four feet right

951
00:46:15,239 --> 00:46:18,680
Speaker 1: or twenty three feet, so like basically he's digging down

952
00:46:18,760 --> 00:46:21,880
Speaker 1: like nine feet away from where he's staining, swipes the

953
00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:25,080
Speaker 1: ball away and gets out in transition for a dunk.

954
00:46:25,120 --> 00:46:27,720
Speaker 1: What's crazy about that is the shooter is not open.

955
00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:31,759
Speaker 1: That's the superpower there. He's not leaving his man. He's

956
00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:35,080
Speaker 1: taking one simple lunch step, a lunch step and swipe,

957
00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:38,560
Speaker 1: and he's forcing a turnover effectively being in two places

958
00:46:38,560 --> 00:46:43,000
Speaker 1: at once. That's deeply impactful defensively. Yet another steal that

959
00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:44,799
Speaker 1: was kind of similar where he got his arms in

960
00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:47,399
Speaker 1: the way and picked the ball free. He was all

961
00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:49,600
Speaker 1: over the place and on the defensive end. He's going

962
00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:53,120
Speaker 1: to be deeply impactful on offense. Now, what was interesting

963
00:46:53,200 --> 00:46:55,359
Speaker 1: is they basically use Victor wembin Yama as a wing.

964
00:46:55,920 --> 00:46:58,480
Speaker 1: It was at Collins that was operating as that folkrum

965
00:46:58,520 --> 00:47:00,120
Speaker 1: at the top of the key, that was setting ball

966
00:47:00,120 --> 00:47:02,680
Speaker 1: screens and popping to the top and things along those lines.

967
00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:06,120
Speaker 1: There wasn't a single shot attempt from Victor webin yam

968
00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:08,680
Speaker 1: in this game that you would expect from a modern center.

969
00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:12,520
Speaker 1: There were no picking pops, there was no dribble handoffs

970
00:47:12,560 --> 00:47:14,680
Speaker 1: and two man game like what you're accustomed to seeing

971
00:47:14,680 --> 00:47:17,440
Speaker 1: the skilled centers in the league do right like Sabonis

972
00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:20,919
Speaker 1: and Nicole Jokic, like even Anthony Davis and when he's

973
00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:23,000
Speaker 1: done is so far in preseason for the Lakers, kind

974
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:24,560
Speaker 1: of operating out there out of the top of the

975
00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:27,600
Speaker 1: key like Victor just didn't do any of that. It

976
00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:31,800
Speaker 1: was all, you know, spotting up on the weak side

977
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:34,880
Speaker 1: and attacking closeouts, giving him the ball straight up with

978
00:47:34,920 --> 00:47:38,759
Speaker 1: a live dribble attacking his set defense. He literally operated

979
00:47:39,080 --> 00:47:41,800
Speaker 1: as a wing. There were post ups, there were ISOs.

980
00:47:41,360 --> 00:47:43,560
Speaker 1: It was it was very, very interesting, and you know

981
00:47:43,600 --> 00:47:46,239
Speaker 1: what's funny, it worked like he still went eight for

982
00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:49,239
Speaker 1: thirteen from the field. Even the three point shots he

983
00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:51,920
Speaker 1: took were like wing threes. Right, Like there was that

984
00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:55,400
Speaker 1: sideline out of bounds on the where the inbounderies on

985
00:47:55,440 --> 00:47:57,920
Speaker 1: the left side comes off of a pin down, runs

986
00:47:57,920 --> 00:48:00,000
Speaker 1: to the top of the key, puts his right left

987
00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:02,960
Speaker 1: footwork down and elevates on the move straight up and

988
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:04,719
Speaker 1: down into a three, which is like the kind of

989
00:48:04,719 --> 00:48:08,760
Speaker 1: shot you expect from Klay Thompson, and Victor's taking that right.

990
00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:11,120
Speaker 1: There was another his other three that he made literally

991
00:48:11,120 --> 00:48:12,759
Speaker 1: came off of a dribble hand off at the top

992
00:48:12,800 --> 00:48:14,560
Speaker 1: of the key and took an escape dribble to his

993
00:48:14,600 --> 00:48:17,000
Speaker 1: side and was drifting to his left and elevated and

994
00:48:17,040 --> 00:48:19,719
Speaker 1: knocked it down. Those are guys you remember when when

995
00:48:19,960 --> 00:48:21,840
Speaker 1: him and Scoot Henderson had that showdown with the G

996
00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:24,279
Speaker 1: League Knight last year. One of the big things that

997
00:48:24,320 --> 00:48:25,920
Speaker 1: stood out to me is I was telling you guys like,

998
00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:28,360
Speaker 1: don't be surprised if he takes five to seven threes

999
00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:31,360
Speaker 1: a game and literally is taking him like Klay Thompson

1000
00:48:31,680 --> 00:48:33,640
Speaker 1: because that's the type of three point shot he likes

1001
00:48:33,680 --> 00:48:37,319
Speaker 1: to take. He gets his rhythm by doing difficult shit

1002
00:48:37,560 --> 00:48:40,279
Speaker 1: when he's taking three point shots. He missed his catch

1003
00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:42,719
Speaker 1: and shoot threes in this game, So that's kind of

1004
00:48:42,719 --> 00:48:46,000
Speaker 1: the interesting thing is like he literally operates as a wing.

1005
00:48:46,719 --> 00:48:49,160
Speaker 1: The only real big man offensive stuff he was doing

1006
00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:51,560
Speaker 1: is obviously had that one post up where he kind

1007
00:48:51,600 --> 00:48:54,000
Speaker 1: of got smothered, and then he had two offensive rebounds,

1008
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:55,719
Speaker 1: one over chet Holmgrin on a free throw where he

1009
00:48:55,760 --> 00:48:57,480
Speaker 1: just reached over the top and grabbed it. And then

1010
00:48:57,480 --> 00:48:58,800
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the second half there was a

1011
00:48:58,840 --> 00:49:00,680
Speaker 1: rebound off the back of the rim and he's standing

1012
00:49:00,719 --> 00:49:02,399
Speaker 1: in the middle of the floor. No one else even

1013
00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:04,080
Speaker 1: tried to go for it. They're like, ah, I'm not

1014
00:49:04,080 --> 00:49:06,000
Speaker 1: gonna be able to jump with this guy just jumped

1015
00:49:06,040 --> 00:49:08,560
Speaker 1: over everybody, caught it, kept it high, and shot that

1016
00:49:08,600 --> 00:49:11,279
Speaker 1: little flip shot into the basket. That's what's crazy, is

1017
00:49:11,320 --> 00:49:16,240
Speaker 1: like he was playing a more difficult brand of offense

1018
00:49:16,280 --> 00:49:19,279
Speaker 1: than he probably should have, and he still went eight

1019
00:49:19,320 --> 00:49:21,880
Speaker 1: for thirteen from the field, And in the long run,

1020
00:49:22,040 --> 00:49:24,040
Speaker 1: he's gonna start doing that easier stuff. We're gonna talk

1021
00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:26,520
Speaker 1: about it in a minute with Chet, and it's only

1022
00:49:26,560 --> 00:49:29,239
Speaker 1: gonna go up from there. The one thing that kind

1023
00:49:29,239 --> 00:49:32,239
Speaker 1: of stood out to me offensively is he's difficult. He's

1024
00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:34,200
Speaker 1: more difficult to handle off the dribble from the three

1025
00:49:34,200 --> 00:49:36,080
Speaker 1: point line than he is from the mid post. Right now,

1026
00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:38,719
Speaker 1: his mid post catches were not productive and he didn't

1027
00:49:38,719 --> 00:49:41,200
Speaker 1: get good looks, and in large part because dudes at

1028
00:49:41,200 --> 00:49:43,880
Speaker 1: that point can press up on him because they're closer

1029
00:49:43,920 --> 00:49:46,080
Speaker 1: to the basket and he doesn't have the space to

1030
00:49:46,160 --> 00:49:48,680
Speaker 1: really mix up off the dribble. You can press up

1031
00:49:48,680 --> 00:49:50,880
Speaker 1: on him, and that's where your physicality can be an advantage.

1032
00:49:50,880 --> 00:49:52,759
Speaker 1: You struggled a little bit there, not a big thing.

1033
00:49:52,840 --> 00:49:54,399
Speaker 1: I'm sure he'll figure that out in the long run,

1034
00:49:54,440 --> 00:49:56,480
Speaker 1: but that's definitely the rub on him initially is like

1035
00:49:56,800 --> 00:50:00,000
Speaker 1: he's more comfortable with a live dribble from twenty five

1036
00:50:00,120 --> 00:50:03,120
Speaker 1: feet and beating people off the dribble against a slower

1037
00:50:03,120 --> 00:50:05,640
Speaker 1: footed big man than trying to post up somebody in

1038
00:50:05,640 --> 00:50:07,520
Speaker 1: the mid post where guys can really get up underneath

1039
00:50:07,600 --> 00:50:11,480
Speaker 1: him and cause them some issues. Let's talk about Chet.

1040
00:50:12,520 --> 00:50:15,480
Speaker 1: So Chet was used much more like a modern NBA center.

1041
00:50:15,960 --> 00:50:18,000
Speaker 1: He was operating at the top of the key in

1042
00:50:18,040 --> 00:50:21,239
Speaker 1: that five out system. He's running dribble handoffs, and he's

1043
00:50:21,280 --> 00:50:24,000
Speaker 1: popping of the three point line, and he's running ball screens,

1044
00:50:24,040 --> 00:50:25,920
Speaker 1: and when the ball gets kicked out to him and

1045
00:50:25,920 --> 00:50:28,120
Speaker 1: he doesn't have an easy look, he's looking to reverse

1046
00:50:28,160 --> 00:50:30,320
Speaker 1: the ball to the other side and run a dribble handoff.

1047
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:32,600
Speaker 1: The same kind of stuff that you expect to see

1048
00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:36,279
Speaker 1: from the modern NBA center. That's what Demanda Sabonis does,

1049
00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:38,719
Speaker 1: That's what Nikola Jokic does, right, Like, that's what we

1050
00:50:38,800 --> 00:50:42,400
Speaker 1: see bam Adebayo do. Those are that's the modern NBA

1051
00:50:42,520 --> 00:50:46,759
Speaker 1: center attack position, and like it just it was working really,

1052
00:50:46,840 --> 00:50:48,600
Speaker 1: really well, and he was super efficient with it. He

1053
00:50:48,640 --> 00:50:52,000
Speaker 1: did have a couple of those like slot drives. You

1054
00:50:52,080 --> 00:50:54,919
Speaker 1: remember when I was talking about Anthony Davis against Kevon Looney,

1055
00:50:55,000 --> 00:50:57,839
Speaker 1: where like they're kind of set up in five out

1056
00:50:57,840 --> 00:50:59,759
Speaker 1: and you have shooters in the corners and guy on

1057
00:50:59,760 --> 00:51:01,200
Speaker 1: the wing, guy at the top of the key, and

1058
00:51:01,239 --> 00:51:03,920
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis is kind of in that right wing slot

1059
00:51:03,960 --> 00:51:07,040
Speaker 1: area and everyone's spaced out and everybody can shoot, and

1060
00:51:07,080 --> 00:51:11,719
Speaker 1: so AD's just taking Looney off the dribble and just

1061
00:51:11,760 --> 00:51:14,160
Speaker 1: going right at him into the lane and finishing layups

1062
00:51:14,200 --> 00:51:16,640
Speaker 1: and spin moves. Right. Well, you got to see Chet

1063
00:51:16,680 --> 00:51:18,719
Speaker 1: basically do that to Zack Collins when he would catch

1064
00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:20,560
Speaker 1: and he'd be in the slot and the floor wid

1065
00:51:20,600 --> 00:51:22,759
Speaker 1: be spaced, he would just put his head down and

1066
00:51:22,880 --> 00:51:26,120
Speaker 1: drive at Zach Collins. And he actually had two fouls

1067
00:51:26,120 --> 00:51:28,799
Speaker 1: that he drew just by hitting that spin move and

1068
00:51:28,800 --> 00:51:31,960
Speaker 1: basically catching Zach reaching down across his arms. And so

1069
00:51:32,400 --> 00:51:35,480
Speaker 1: that's kind of like more wing like behavior, but everything

1070
00:51:35,480 --> 00:51:39,640
Speaker 1: else was pretty much out of traditional big man actions, right,

1071
00:51:40,320 --> 00:51:42,120
Speaker 1: I take that back. There's one other kind of like

1072
00:51:42,280 --> 00:51:44,000
Speaker 1: high level thing he did. It was the inverted pick

1073
00:51:44,040 --> 00:51:47,920
Speaker 1: and roll. So right right after Wemby gets the the

1074
00:51:47,960 --> 00:51:51,560
Speaker 1: and one on I think it was after the dunk,

1075
00:51:51,600 --> 00:51:53,120
Speaker 1: actually when he got the steel in the dunk. Yeah,

1076
00:51:53,120 --> 00:51:55,000
Speaker 1: that's what it was. So he gets the steal, he

1077
00:51:55,360 --> 00:51:57,439
Speaker 1: rips down in case On Wallace gets the steal, Victor

1078
00:51:57,480 --> 00:51:59,560
Speaker 1: goes down and dunks it. Chet comes down the right

1079
00:51:59,600 --> 00:52:02,080
Speaker 1: side of the floor and they run an inverted pick

1080
00:52:02,080 --> 00:52:04,040
Speaker 1: and roll. What do I always talk about inverted pick

1081
00:52:04,040 --> 00:52:07,640
Speaker 1: and rolls. With inverted pick and rolls, you're taking the

1082
00:52:07,680 --> 00:52:11,120
Speaker 1: defenders and putting them into roles that they're uncomfortable with. Right,

1083
00:52:11,480 --> 00:52:15,680
Speaker 1: So now the big man who's used to being the

1084
00:52:15,719 --> 00:52:19,200
Speaker 1: screen defender now has to navigate a screen. Right, that's

1085
00:52:19,239 --> 00:52:22,400
Speaker 1: not something he's used to doing. The guard or wing

1086
00:52:22,600 --> 00:52:25,000
Speaker 1: who's used to being the on ball defender and is

1087
00:52:25,080 --> 00:52:28,520
Speaker 1: used to navigating screens, is now guarding the screener. And

1088
00:52:28,560 --> 00:52:33,040
Speaker 1: so as Dort goes up to set the screen. As

1089
00:52:33,040 --> 00:52:35,719
Speaker 1: Dort goes to set the screen, literally, Malachi Branham, I

1090
00:52:35,760 --> 00:52:38,080
Speaker 1: think it was, was literally hugged up to Dort on

1091
00:52:38,160 --> 00:52:40,920
Speaker 1: the backside. Look at him. He's literally like just trailing

1092
00:52:41,000 --> 00:52:44,080
Speaker 1: him in a trail position, not hedging, not helping, not anything,

1093
00:52:44,320 --> 00:52:47,400
Speaker 1: just staying glued to Dort because that's what perimeter players

1094
00:52:47,400 --> 00:52:50,200
Speaker 1: are used to doing. Don't let your perimeter guy get open.

1095
00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:53,040
Speaker 1: And as a result, he basically sets a double screen

1096
00:52:53,080 --> 00:52:55,680
Speaker 1: on Zach Collins. Zac Collins has to duck way underneath

1097
00:52:55,719 --> 00:52:58,040
Speaker 1: the pick and as a result chet Holmer and gets

1098
00:52:58,080 --> 00:53:00,839
Speaker 1: ahead of Steam going downhill. And I don't care how

1099
00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:02,600
Speaker 1: good you are, Devent. So that's a really hard play

1100
00:53:02,640 --> 00:53:04,720
Speaker 1: to defend when you're kind of in a back pedal

1101
00:53:04,719 --> 00:53:07,759
Speaker 1: position at the rim and the offensive players coming right

1102
00:53:07,800 --> 00:53:10,120
Speaker 1: at you with a head of steam with a live dribble,

1103
00:53:10,640 --> 00:53:12,600
Speaker 1: and he ended up elevating over the top, taking that

1104
00:53:12,640 --> 00:53:15,400
Speaker 1: bump and finishing over the top. That's super high level stuff,

1105
00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:18,960
Speaker 1: but everything else is pretty standard what you'd expect from

1106
00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:21,080
Speaker 1: a big man, right. He had two offensive rebound put

1107
00:53:21,080 --> 00:53:23,360
Speaker 1: back similar to Wemby just jumping over the top of

1108
00:53:23,400 --> 00:53:25,960
Speaker 1: everybody and putting it in. Even the threes he took

1109
00:53:26,640 --> 00:53:29,400
Speaker 1: were what you'd expect from a modern big man, right Like,

1110
00:53:29,440 --> 00:53:32,400
Speaker 1: there was that play where Josh Giddy posts up on

1111
00:53:32,440 --> 00:53:34,239
Speaker 1: the left side of the floor. I think it was

1112
00:53:34,239 --> 00:53:36,160
Speaker 1: against Trey Jones if I remember correctly, but it's posting

1113
00:53:36,280 --> 00:53:38,120
Speaker 1: up on the left side of the floor. Chet just

1114
00:53:38,160 --> 00:53:40,640
Speaker 1: goes and spots up in the weak side corner and

1115
00:53:40,760 --> 00:53:43,000
Speaker 1: Zach Collins kind of gets sucked in into help position

1116
00:53:43,080 --> 00:53:46,200
Speaker 1: right around the block, and Josh just throws a rifle

1117
00:53:46,280 --> 00:53:48,719
Speaker 1: pass right into the shooting pocket. Chet rises up and

1118
00:53:48,800 --> 00:53:51,080
Speaker 1: knocks it down. That's going to be super useful when

1119
00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:53,879
Speaker 1: teams switch against the Thunder because they've got all these

1120
00:53:53,880 --> 00:53:56,840
Speaker 1: matchup attacking players like Shay Gildas, Alexander and Jalen Williams,

1121
00:53:56,840 --> 00:54:01,400
Speaker 1: who was freaking amazing last night, and and Josh gitty,

1122
00:54:01,560 --> 00:54:04,560
Speaker 1: and so when you're in that situation, like when they

1123
00:54:04,600 --> 00:54:07,319
Speaker 1: switch screens, having the big man be able to go

1124
00:54:07,360 --> 00:54:08,880
Speaker 1: spot up on the week side of the floor and

1125
00:54:08,920 --> 00:54:11,040
Speaker 1: be a legitimate threat to knock that shot down is

1126
00:54:11,040 --> 00:54:13,759
Speaker 1: a huge asset. Then the other three he took was

1127
00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:16,279
Speaker 1: a trailer three. Now, trailing threes are one of the

1128
00:54:16,320 --> 00:54:19,000
Speaker 1: most common threes you'll see coaches ask big men to take.

1129
00:54:19,120 --> 00:54:22,200
Speaker 1: Why because of transition defense principles. What is the thing

1130
00:54:22,239 --> 00:54:24,680
Speaker 1: you're preaching to your big man and transition defense all

1131
00:54:24,719 --> 00:54:27,279
Speaker 1: the time? Sprint back, get to the rim. Sprint back,

1132
00:54:27,320 --> 00:54:29,160
Speaker 1: get to the rim. We call rim running, right like

1133
00:54:29,400 --> 00:54:31,279
Speaker 1: a big man is supposed to run the rim. The

1134
00:54:31,360 --> 00:54:34,200
Speaker 1: traditional big man is supposed to run the rim both

1135
00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:36,640
Speaker 1: ends of the floor. And now as the modern offensive

1136
00:54:36,640 --> 00:54:39,040
Speaker 1: game has changed, they don't necessarily run to the rim

1137
00:54:39,120 --> 00:54:41,120
Speaker 1: every time, but on defense they still do the same thing.

1138
00:54:41,160 --> 00:54:42,520
Speaker 1: You run to the rim because you have to build

1139
00:54:42,560 --> 00:54:44,799
Speaker 1: a wall to stop whatever the transition attack is. So

1140
00:54:44,800 --> 00:54:47,919
Speaker 1: when you're the trailing big offensively, there's usually a little

1141
00:54:48,000 --> 00:54:50,759
Speaker 1: gap there between when the big man defensively gets back

1142
00:54:50,760 --> 00:54:52,880
Speaker 1: to the rim and then when he recovers back to

1143
00:54:52,880 --> 00:54:55,680
Speaker 1: the perimeter. After all of his teammates are back on defense,

1144
00:54:55,920 --> 00:54:57,560
Speaker 1: and Chet ended up hitting a three off of a

1145
00:54:57,600 --> 00:55:00,239
Speaker 1: pass from Josh Gidty right on the right wing. Same

1146
00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:03,080
Speaker 1: type of situation. Zach Collins gets back in transition defense,

1147
00:55:03,360 --> 00:55:06,640
Speaker 1: he's considered protecting the paint. Chet runs up in the

1148
00:55:06,719 --> 00:55:10,120
Speaker 1: trailing to play knocks down the three, and that's all

1149
00:55:10,440 --> 00:55:13,839
Speaker 1: allowing him to be super efficient. He made twenty mad

1150
00:55:14,400 --> 00:55:17,960
Speaker 1: He's scored twenty one points on ten shots. That's insane

1151
00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:20,840
Speaker 1: now like, and that's what I'm saying on the wemb front.

1152
00:55:21,160 --> 00:55:23,279
Speaker 1: I just like to see him do more of that

1153
00:55:23,880 --> 00:55:26,440
Speaker 1: because he can do the same stuff right like, and

1154
00:55:26,880 --> 00:55:29,760
Speaker 1: he can show all of that high level wing skill

1155
00:55:30,120 --> 00:55:32,600
Speaker 1: out of that position, so he can pick and pop

1156
00:55:32,960 --> 00:55:35,319
Speaker 1: and on the catch show all of that high level

1157
00:55:35,320 --> 00:55:38,640
Speaker 1: ISO skill, pump, fake jab, step hard step to his left,

1158
00:55:38,680 --> 00:55:41,600
Speaker 1: step back three, you know, driving to his left, spinning

1159
00:55:41,760 --> 00:55:44,279
Speaker 1: all of the high level shot making stuff he's capable of.

1160
00:55:44,600 --> 00:55:48,319
Speaker 1: He can do that with an advantage more frequently out

1161
00:55:48,320 --> 00:55:51,560
Speaker 1: of picking pops than attacking out of a stagnant wing

1162
00:55:51,640 --> 00:55:55,280
Speaker 1: ISO right or like just off of a live dribble.

1163
00:55:55,360 --> 00:55:57,799
Speaker 1: So it just there are other ways to do it.

1164
00:55:57,800 --> 00:56:00,440
Speaker 1: That dribble handoff keepers right, So like Victor at the

1165
00:56:00,480 --> 00:56:02,759
Speaker 1: top of the key faking a dribble handoff and then

1166
00:56:02,800 --> 00:56:04,759
Speaker 1: making a move, he can show all that same high

1167
00:56:04,840 --> 00:56:07,200
Speaker 1: level stuff, those trailing big plays that I just talked

1168
00:56:07,200 --> 00:56:10,640
Speaker 1: about chet Holmgren, Like obviously, if Zach Collin closes out

1169
00:56:10,680 --> 00:56:12,640
Speaker 1: on him, he can rip through and beat somebody off

1170
00:56:12,680 --> 00:56:15,200
Speaker 1: the dribble and make a play the slot drives the

1171
00:56:15,239 --> 00:56:17,840
Speaker 1: plays that chet Holmgren was making against Zach Collins in

1172
00:56:17,880 --> 00:56:20,080
Speaker 1: the first few possessions of the game. Wemby can do

1173
00:56:20,160 --> 00:56:22,000
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. Like I'd like to see him

1174
00:56:22,040 --> 00:56:24,440
Speaker 1: operate a little bit more as a big because it's

1175
00:56:24,480 --> 00:56:28,440
Speaker 1: easier there. He will score more effectively against the other

1176
00:56:28,520 --> 00:56:31,600
Speaker 1: team's big man than he will against another team's wing,

1177
00:56:31,920 --> 00:56:34,080
Speaker 1: and if he's lined up at center, he will draw

1178
00:56:34,120 --> 00:56:37,879
Speaker 1: the other team's big man in most cases. So it's

1179
00:56:37,880 --> 00:56:39,279
Speaker 1: just something to keep in mind. I'm not saying they're

1180
00:56:39,280 --> 00:56:41,840
Speaker 1: doing it wrong, because obviously the Victor went eight for

1181
00:56:41,880 --> 00:56:43,800
Speaker 1: thirteen with twenty one points or twenty points. I'm not

1182
00:56:43,800 --> 00:56:45,560
Speaker 1: trying to say he did wrong. I'm just saying in

1183
00:56:45,600 --> 00:56:48,560
Speaker 1: the big picture, and when I imagine the future of the Spurs,

1184
00:56:48,760 --> 00:56:51,040
Speaker 1: I look at him operating like most modern bigs do.

1185
00:56:51,120 --> 00:56:53,520
Speaker 1: And for the record, you can literally be the best

1186
00:56:53,520 --> 00:56:56,040
Speaker 1: player in the league doing that. That's what Jokic does.

1187
00:56:56,239 --> 00:56:59,759
Speaker 1: That's Jokic's role. He is a folkrum from the top

1188
00:56:59,760 --> 00:57:02,120
Speaker 1: of the He primarily is a screener run in two

1189
00:57:02,160 --> 00:57:04,360
Speaker 1: man game, but he's such a threat to score that

1190
00:57:04,400 --> 00:57:07,759
Speaker 1: it makes it impossible to guard. And that's what I like.

1191
00:57:08,080 --> 00:57:10,239
Speaker 1: Wemb can add his own flair. He can add the

1192
00:57:10,280 --> 00:57:13,160
Speaker 1: wing scoring stuff too. I just think in terms of

1193
00:57:13,200 --> 00:57:15,239
Speaker 1: the alignment of the team, it makes the most sense

1194
00:57:15,280 --> 00:57:18,680
Speaker 1: for him to be that way. Chet on defense, fine,

1195
00:57:18,800 --> 00:57:21,240
Speaker 1: not overly impactful, but it wasn't a great defensive effort

1196
00:57:21,280 --> 00:57:25,240
Speaker 1: from either team. He defended five pick and rolls and

1197
00:57:25,280 --> 00:57:27,640
Speaker 1: gave up five points, but there was like a player

1198
00:57:28,160 --> 00:57:30,720
Speaker 1: dort foul a three point shooter. The one play where

1199
00:57:30,760 --> 00:57:32,440
Speaker 1: I thought he kind of could have done better. There

1200
00:57:32,480 --> 00:57:35,400
Speaker 1: was a pick and roll where Trey Jones got downhill

1201
00:57:35,400 --> 00:57:37,520
Speaker 1: and made a floater and right at the last second,

1202
00:57:37,560 --> 00:57:40,160
Speaker 1: Check kind of backed away. And I'd like to see

1203
00:57:40,240 --> 00:57:41,920
Speaker 1: him just be a little bit more active with his hands.

1204
00:57:41,960 --> 00:57:44,400
Speaker 1: But this is super nitpicky stuff, Like he's gonna be

1205
00:57:44,440 --> 00:57:47,560
Speaker 1: a plus defender almost immediately in the NBA. But that

1206
00:57:47,600 --> 00:57:49,480
Speaker 1: was a lot of fun and both of those players

1207
00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:52,160
Speaker 1: are insane. I've been trying to tell you guys about

1208
00:57:52,200 --> 00:57:55,439
Speaker 1: Chet all the intel this summer is that the dude

1209
00:57:55,560 --> 00:57:57,920
Speaker 1: is working harder than just about anybody, and that he

1210
00:57:58,080 --> 00:58:00,160
Speaker 1: really really really wants to be good and all the

1211
00:58:00,240 --> 00:58:02,240
Speaker 1: right stuff that you hear that you want to hear

1212
00:58:02,280 --> 00:58:05,360
Speaker 1: from a young talented player, and so especially since he

1213
00:58:05,440 --> 00:58:08,440
Speaker 1: kind of like fits a specific need for OKC. Like

1214
00:58:08,640 --> 00:58:11,240
Speaker 1: there was a Jalen Williams finger roll and one I

1215
00:58:11,320 --> 00:58:12,960
Speaker 1: posted a video of it on my Twitter feed. You

1216
00:58:13,000 --> 00:58:15,280
Speaker 1: guys can see or Chet rolled hard to the rim

1217
00:58:15,480 --> 00:58:17,560
Speaker 1: and when he rolled hard to the rim, Zack Collins

1218
00:58:17,600 --> 00:58:21,120
Speaker 1: had to take two hard steps backwards to recover at

1219
00:58:21,160 --> 00:58:23,160
Speaker 1: the rim and as a result, Jalen Williams had a

1220
00:58:23,160 --> 00:58:25,120
Speaker 1: wide open kind of finger roll at the end and

1221
00:58:25,200 --> 00:58:28,240
Speaker 1: Chet Zack Collins kind of slapped him at the end

1222
00:58:28,240 --> 00:58:30,120
Speaker 1: for the end one, but he was way out of position.

1223
00:58:30,320 --> 00:58:33,600
Speaker 1: Because of the role man gravity that Chet Holmgren has,

1224
00:58:33,920 --> 00:58:36,680
Speaker 1: they have never had that, at least not in recent

1225
00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:40,080
Speaker 1: seasons in Oka. See they have a real vertical spacer,

1226
00:58:40,200 --> 00:58:44,600
Speaker 1: a real role gravity creator in Chet Holmgren, And I

1227
00:58:44,960 --> 00:58:47,880
Speaker 1: look forward to watching both of these guys. I think

1228
00:58:47,880 --> 00:58:49,520
Speaker 1: the Spurs are actually going to be a little better

1229
00:58:49,560 --> 00:58:55,240
Speaker 1: than we expect, just because of how impactful Victor is

1230
00:58:55,240 --> 00:58:56,520
Speaker 1: going to be right away in a way that I

1231
00:58:56,520 --> 00:58:59,720
Speaker 1: don't think people expect. But that was fun, and that's

1232
00:58:59,720 --> 00:59:01,680
Speaker 1: all I for today. We're gonna be coming back either

1233
00:59:01,680 --> 00:59:04,240
Speaker 1: this afternoon or tomorrow morning with our next season preview,

1234
00:59:04,240 --> 00:59:07,000
Speaker 1: which is number four, the Los Angeles Lakers in our

1235
00:59:07,480 --> 00:59:09,920
Speaker 1: in our power rankings, and then we have three more

1236
00:59:09,960 --> 00:59:11,680
Speaker 1: teams that we're gonna get to kind of depending on

1237
00:59:11,720 --> 00:59:14,000
Speaker 1: what the preseason schedule looks like over the next few days.

1238
00:59:14,040 --> 00:59:15,640
Speaker 1: All Right, guys, that's all I have. I appreciate you,

1239
00:59:15,720 --> 00:59:38,880
Speaker 1: and I'll see either later today or tomorrow. The volume

1240
00:59:41,920 --> 00:59:41,960
Speaker 1: h