Speaker 1: Welcome into NBA pulsa production of I Heart Radio in
Speaker 1: the NBA. I'm Saracustack, NBA analysts for the S Network,
Speaker 1: and today is Friday, January twenties, and from our incredible
Speaker 1: core group of NBA journalists, I'm joined by NBA dot
Speaker 1: Com senior writer Michael C. Wright. In Uh, Michael're gonna
Speaker 1: talk your m v P Ladder, which there is some
Speaker 1: movement this week. Of course, Nicola Yoki stays in that
Speaker 1: one spot, but up from number three, Jason Tatum is
Speaker 1: that number two. Up from number five is Joel and
Speaker 1: Beat at three, Luca don Che drops a little bit
Speaker 1: down to the fourth spots, and Jana Sideta Kumpo is
Speaker 1: at five. UM. So, first though, Michael, I want to
Speaker 1: talk about Luca Luke and the MAVs. MAVs now have
Speaker 1: lost three in a row, five of their last six,
Speaker 1: the only win with that double overtime win at the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Lakers. UM big picture of you more so
Speaker 1: of what's happening with them defensively, because that's something Jason
Speaker 1: Kidd talks about quite at it after the last loss
Speaker 1: or fifth and offensive rating, but twenty fifth and defense,
Speaker 1: what do you see as some of the issues in
Speaker 1: particular in that area, Sarah is just plain effort. If
Speaker 1: you talk to Jason Kidd and and even the guys
Speaker 1: on the team. But you know, they've had a couple
Speaker 1: of guys out for while, Max and Cleber, and he's
Speaker 1: actually been one of their defensive closers. Versatile dude, you know,
Speaker 1: can shoot the three, but like I said, you can
Speaker 1: play some defense, tou But they haven't had him for
Speaker 1: a while. Dorian Finney Smith and Josh Breen just returned
Speaker 1: to the lineup, and both those guys missed over ten
Speaker 1: games a piece, and so you know, with all these
Speaker 1: these you know, guys coming in and guys coming out,
Speaker 1: there's an adjustment period, and I think that's what we're
Speaker 1: seeing with the Mavericks there. I think they're gonna get
Speaker 1: better defensively, but man, I mean, you can't get any
Speaker 1: worse than they are right now. I think their last
Speaker 1: three games they've given up an average of one thirty
Speaker 1: five point three. That's crazy, second worst defensive ratings since
Speaker 1: Christmas rolling to Dallas. And so it's a problem right now.
Speaker 1: And you know how it goes if you if you're
Speaker 1: in that m VP conversation and your team is losing
Speaker 1: that that diminished your chances. And I think that's sort
Speaker 1: of what's happening with Luca Dodges right now. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's putting up just all the offensive numbers as usual,
Speaker 1: but it's just not there on the defensive end. And
Speaker 1: I think that's a problem for him right now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: not there on the defensive end currently, Dallas sitting in
Speaker 1: fifth place, and that's always kind of been something we've
Speaker 1: looked at with Luca. However, I think his sheer size
Speaker 1: and just the the ability to use that size and
Speaker 1: coverage um sometimes has overshadowed some of those issues, but
Speaker 1: it's becoming glaring now. And and obviously he's carrying a
Speaker 1: ton of the load on the offensive side on his
Speaker 1: thirty four points per game, nine rebounds, not assists. But
Speaker 1: how big of an issue do you think in in
Speaker 1: the short term and just long term that maybe for
Speaker 1: don as a player and how he contributes to a
Speaker 1: two true title contending team. Oh, you know, Sarah, I,
Speaker 1: I actually I just had to look it up for
Speaker 1: myself this morning, because you know, you look at what
Speaker 1: Luka Dont just doing, and you know, we talked about
Speaker 1: narrative when we are discussing, you know, the m v
Speaker 1: P conversation and last year Nicola Yoki, you know, he
Speaker 1: was missing his top two offensive players behind you know,
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. You're missing both those guys,
Speaker 1: and Nicola Yokes carried them all the way to the
Speaker 1: six seed by himself pretty much. Well, if we're going
Speaker 1: to use that narrative when we're talking about NICOLEA. Yoke,
Speaker 1: I think it's got to apply to Luca Dodgers too.
Speaker 1: It's the same thing. And you know, I sort of
Speaker 1: want to check my old hypocrisy when I'm looking at this,
Speaker 1: and so, you know, I think that he's still a
Speaker 1: viable contender, and if he continues to put up the
Speaker 1: numbers he's he's putting up, and he carries the man
Speaker 1: up to the playoffs there in the fifth see right
Speaker 1: now rebounds forty seven minutes played and now sixty points
Speaker 1: for the first time in Neverick's history. To me, that's
Speaker 1: the same argument that we made last year from NICOLEA. Yoki.
Speaker 1: So I think that he's just he's just got to
Speaker 1: keep doing what he's doing. But I will say it
Speaker 1: is I remember last year Jason Kidds saying that you know,
Speaker 1: all he wanted was for Luka Dodge just to participate
Speaker 1: on defense. Just participate, It's all we need from you. Well,
Speaker 1: with him doing that, the MAVs ended up somewhere like
Speaker 1: seventh last year in defensive rating, and so you know
Speaker 1: we need that participation from Luka Dodges at this point.
Speaker 1: I remember that press conference. I had a little chuckle
Speaker 1: to myself. But but to your point to when you
Speaker 1: brought up earlier, I think Dorian Phinney, Smith, Josh Greendos,
Speaker 1: guys coming back, other defensive players, UM, different different individuals
Speaker 1: getting healthy UH may contribute to help. I'm glad you
Speaker 1: brought up NICOLEA. Yokich. The Denver Nuggets still holding on
Speaker 1: to that number one seed. Yoki still holding on to
Speaker 1: that one spot in your m v P Ladder seems
Speaker 1: to be the front runner. He is someone that it's
Speaker 1: fascinating how we view him and how we think of
Speaker 1: him on the defensive side. Nuggets this season currently first
Speaker 1: an offensive rating eighteenth and defensive rating. But for Yokis,
Speaker 1: for as much as you put stock into these defensive metrics,
Speaker 1: UH tenth in the NBA in defensive wind shares nineteenth
Speaker 1: and individual defensive rating. Has he improved on that end
Speaker 1: in ways that you think we may not give him
Speaker 1: credit for, or does things in the um in the
Speaker 1: context of how a team is structured defensively, that um
Speaker 1: maybe better than how we typically have have viewed him
Speaker 1: as a defensive player. I think, you know, we we
Speaker 1: send to look at his athleticism and think he's just
Speaker 1: this big, slow guy. And you know, first off, let
Speaker 1: me preface this by saying, I am not comparing Nicola
Speaker 1: Yokis to Tim Duncan. But what I am saying is
Speaker 1: that Tim Duncan was sort of the center of everything
Speaker 1: the Spurs did defensively, and even when he started to
Speaker 1: lose the step, he sort of just knew where to be.
Speaker 1: He knew how the best help his teammates. And I
Speaker 1: think that's what we see with Nicola Yokich. I think
Speaker 1: is he's gotten older, he's gotten better at defense, but
Speaker 1: I think a lot of that is just his his
Speaker 1: his basketball, like you, that's making him better. And so
Speaker 1: you know, we don't talk a lot about what he's
Speaker 1: doing defensively, and that's because of what he does offensively
Speaker 1: and what he does just overalls help the team win.
Speaker 1: I mean, think about this, his last five games, he
Speaker 1: shot the ball six better. So those are the things
Speaker 1: you pay attention and that's the things you pay attention to.
Speaker 1: I mean, he had a triple double, thirty point triple
Speaker 1: double recently, and he shot something like from the floor
Speaker 1: when the triple for the fifth time in his last
Speaker 1: six games. So you can't help but look at those numbers.
Speaker 1: But like I said, defensively, he's a lot better than
Speaker 1: we give him credit for. For sure. Well what about
Speaker 1: just Denver in the in the thoughts of Okay playoffs
Speaker 1: winning a championship, I said, kind the middle of the
Speaker 1: pack here, just below middle of the pack, eighteenth in
Speaker 1: defensive rating. But you think about the team, so maybe
Speaker 1: playing could be playing, whether it's a group like the
Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors. How much turns into half court defense
Speaker 1: in in the postseason, you got so much switching that
Speaker 1: takes place, all the pick and roll actions. What does
Speaker 1: Denver do to try and best help him? I guess
Speaker 1: you could say, um, when it does get to the
Speaker 1: time that it's the postseason and he needs to be
Speaker 1: on the floor, uh, for for those closing minutes of games,
Speaker 1: I think what what I'm really liking about the Denver
Speaker 1: Nuggets this season is that Michael Mallowe knows like he's
Speaker 1: he said it that you know, we can't get to
Speaker 1: where we need to get sitting where we are right now. Defensively,
Speaker 1: I think there's something like eighteen or something they're down,
Speaker 1: and so you know, those are the things you work
Speaker 1: on now. And the Nuggets have won something like with
Speaker 1: eight in a row something like that. At home, they're
Speaker 1: like unbeatable and three at home six sixty ten seconds ago.
Speaker 1: Gotta go Jamal Murder you catch, he'll catch backs up
Speaker 1: the God. Yeah, it's ridiculous. And I think throughout the
Speaker 1: course of the season they're gonna get better and better
Speaker 1: and better defensively. But I think it's just more of
Speaker 1: just learning what you have to do. And we also
Speaker 1: have to look at this. Jamal Murray is just now
Speaker 1: starting to hit his stride, you know. I mean he's
Speaker 1: coming back from that knee injury and you know, like
Speaker 1: those are two year injuries essentially, and so I think
Speaker 1: this is just a matter of everybody collectively being together
Speaker 1: on the floor more. And the Nuggets have figured out
Speaker 1: some some just great reserve guys, you know, Zeke Nazi,
Speaker 1: you got Bows Highland. Those guys are are you know,
Speaker 1: becoming like key rotation players and that that's gonna help
Speaker 1: them too. So I think they're gonna get better defensively.
Speaker 1: I'm just not sure they'll be good enough when when
Speaker 1: when that time come, because they're gonna facing big guns
Speaker 1: in the West, I mean teams that can score the Mavericks,
Speaker 1: you know, uh, the Golden State, as you alluded to earlier.
Speaker 1: So they they've got their work cut out for him. Still, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be really interesting, especially how wide open the
Speaker 1: West seems in particular towards the top and opportunities for others.
Speaker 1: All Right, we're gonna take a quick break and the
Speaker 1: other side talk about another team that has been rolling
Speaker 1: to Philadelphia seventies Sixers have won four in a row
Speaker 1: and Joel Embiid obviously a big part of that. Don't
Speaker 1: go any market, Welcome back to NBA Pulse. Saracousta joined
Speaker 1: by Michael C. Wright and Uh Michael the seventies Sixers.
Speaker 1: They're tied for second in the East with the Milwaukee Bucks. Uh.
Speaker 1: They've been playing really well as of late. They've won
Speaker 1: four in a row. And Joel embiid obviously a huge
Speaker 1: factor in that he jumped up from the number five
Speaker 1: spots in the number three spot in your m v
Speaker 1: P ladder. And obviously we can talk about a lot
Speaker 1: of things when it comes to him, but I think
Speaker 1: just what he does on both sides of the floor. Uh,
Speaker 1: the impact that he's made. What have you seen out
Speaker 1: of him when he's been able to consistently be on
Speaker 1: the floor and and be healthy and be available for
Speaker 1: the seventies sixers, What have you seen out of him
Speaker 1: as of late? Um, that's that's impressed you in a
Speaker 1: different way potentially. Just it really is just two way dominds.
Speaker 1: I mean, when Joel Embi is healthy and he is
Speaker 1: the type he's a generational player, em beat the fly
Speaker 1: by the fuzz shoe well, embad bottom and you see
Speaker 1: that night in the night out. I mean, you know
Speaker 1: he does so much for them offensively and defensively. Herself.
Speaker 1: Drolling Bed could have easy just laid back in the
Speaker 1: backcourt and not went after this. But when your leader
Speaker 1: does this on the defensive van he carries such a
Speaker 1: heavy load that you know that to me lends itself
Speaker 1: to the injuries. But I think that, like you know,
Speaker 1: with with James Harden's starting to play better and we
Speaker 1: talked about this last week. James Harden has been better
Speaker 1: and you know he's back to triple double James Harden,
Speaker 1: and I think that that chemistry between those two being
Speaker 1: on the floor together more. I think you're starting to
Speaker 1: see it. I mean what I think in just this
Speaker 1: last month they had ten games and they want eight
Speaker 1: on them. They're rolling right now. Dr Riffer said. He
Speaker 1: said something like, uh, right now, I think we're good,
Speaker 1: but we can be really really good. And he's not lying, no,
Speaker 1: And I'm glad you mentioned that because with James Harden,
Speaker 1: I think that's been just an interesting watch of how
Speaker 1: they fit, how they're trying to find ways to complement
Speaker 1: one another. Um with the time and the consistency on
Speaker 1: the floor together. When it comes to embiide, where do
Speaker 1: you think he can thrive best with how he plays
Speaker 1: with an off of James Harden, uh, in particular on
Speaker 1: that offensive side. So they so they both can be
Speaker 1: at their peak and optimum um for being impactful. Well
Speaker 1: that picking roll as a monster. Uh, and that's that's
Speaker 1: gonna be you know, part of the bread and butter
Speaker 1: for them. And you know, like what I like about
Speaker 1: Joel and Vitn is just that like people look at
Speaker 1: him as just this this big guy that that's just
Speaker 1: you know, barreling over people in the pain. No dude
Speaker 1: can take you off the dribble. He can hit you
Speaker 1: with step back three. You know, he's got He's got
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of offensive game that I
Speaker 1: don't think we get him credit for because we see
Speaker 1: how dominant he is inside. And so I think that
Speaker 1: versatility and what you you you pair that with what
Speaker 1: James Harden is doing, and you know, I think that's
Speaker 1: a just a couple of ingredients for greatness moving forward.
Speaker 1: And you know, before we came on, you know, I
Speaker 1: was curious as to you know, where Philly ranges both
Speaker 1: offensively and defensively. And they've got the main two ingredients
Speaker 1: to go win championships. You know, you're in the top
Speaker 1: ten on both sides. That's that's what you need, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean we were just talking about the Denver Nuggets
Speaker 1: and how they're so low defensively, Well, Denver would love
Speaker 1: to be in Phillies position right now. And you know,
Speaker 1: you can sort of see the Sixers just surging up
Speaker 1: the East standings, and you know, I know some of
Speaker 1: that is because Katie is out, but you know, they
Speaker 1: definitely moved up and they're what tide with Milwaukee right
Speaker 1: now for second and the East tied with Milwaukee for
Speaker 1: second in the East. And also, like you said, mean
Speaker 1: fourth and defensive ratings seventh and offensive rating. Um. I
Speaker 1: think for all those reasons, it's been in present and
Speaker 1: Bead has been shooting the midrange really well too, and
Speaker 1: I think that's where playing off the heart and how
Speaker 1: you're finding space in on the floor. He's got some footwork,
Speaker 1: You're right, you watch him around the but he can
Speaker 1: be light on his feet, that big man. Everything, everything well,
Speaker 1: he has been fun to watch. Philadelphia obviously has been
Speaker 1: and uh Michael has always We appreciate, appreciate your time
Speaker 1: and excited to check everything out on NBA dot com,
Speaker 1: in particular the m v P Ladder for this week,
Speaker 1: Join us again on Monday. NBA Pulse with Sarahkustack is
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