1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:17,080 Speaker 1: The volume. All right, welcome to Hoops tonight. You're at 2 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,239 Speaker 1: the volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody. Hope all of you guys 3 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: are having a great week. It feels amazing to be 4 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: back from Alaska. Just an absolutely unbelievable trip. If you 5 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: stick around to the end of the show today, I'll 6 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: tell you guys about it, just because it just I 7 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: can't imagine it going any better than it did. You 8 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: know how, anybody who has ever been to Alaska knows 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: there's a little bit of a crap shoot with weather, 10 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: and we just got so lucky and I got to 11 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: see so many cool things. I'll talk about that trip 12 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: more at the tail end of the show today. We're 13 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: getting back into our player rankings with number twelve and 14 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: number eleven, the beginning of a segment of this list 15 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 1: that was far and away the hardest segment for me 16 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: to rank. But we're getting to two more players today. 17 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: You guys know the joke before we get started to 18 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: subscribe to the Hoops and Not YouTube channel so you 19 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on 20 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: Twitter at underscore JCNLT so you guys don't miss show announcement. 21 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: SOTI forget about a podcast feed where you get your 22 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: podcast on our Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if 23 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: you leave a rating and a review on that front. 24 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: Jackson's doing great work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, 25 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,680 Speaker 1: and TikTok. Make sure you guys follow us there. The last, 26 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: but not least, if you guys want to get questions 27 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: into the mail bags, we're doing Friday mail bags geared 28 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: around the player rankings here for the next month or so. Again, 29 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:23,280 Speaker 1: if you disagree with the ranking, if you think a 30 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: guy should be higher, lower, should have made the list, 31 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: shouldn't have made the list, whatever it is you disagree with, 32 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 1: just lay that out as concisely as you can. A 33 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:34,040 Speaker 1: little elevator. Pitch in a comment under this video that 34 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: says mail bag with a colon, and we'll get to 35 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: it in our mail bags at on Fridays throughout the 36 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:45,199 Speaker 1: remainder of this list. All right, let's talk some basketball, 37 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,520 Speaker 1: all right, So this was by far the hardest section 38 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,920 Speaker 1: of this list for me to rank. Kawhi Leonard and 39 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: Joel Embiid are very clearly at the bottom. Right, Like, 40 00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: we all know that Kawhi can outplay the top players 41 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: in the league. We saw him do it against Jokichen 42 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: in Game two, if I remember correctly, in that first 43 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: round series, he's capable of reaching that level. We know 44 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: Joelmbi when he's healthy, could very well be one of 45 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:10,799 Speaker 1: the top two or three players in the entire NBA, right, 46 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: But they both obviously have this injury history that pushes 47 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: them towards the bottom, and Kawi is obviously in better 48 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: shape now as someone who was able to finish his 49 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:21,519 Speaker 1: last playoff run, so he got the nod for number thirteen. 50 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 1: Joel was at number fourteen. That was pretty straightforward, right, 51 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:29,799 Speaker 1: But there is an incredibly minuscule gap between number twelve 52 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: on this list and number five. For example, I'll just 53 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: go ahead and spoil today's rankings. I have Donovan Mitchell 54 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:39,000 Speaker 1: at number twelve and Kevin Durant at number eleven. We'll 55 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,639 Speaker 1: obviously do deep dives into both of those players today. 56 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell was just the best player on the second 57 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: best team in the league this year. He averaged thirty 58 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: points per game on fifty seven percent true shooting in 59 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: this year's playoff run. He made first team All NBA 60 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: and he finished fifth and MVP voting. He had a 61 00:02:56,880 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: forty eight point playoff game, Andy forty three point playoff 62 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: game just in this last playoff front and there isn'take 63 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,080 Speaker 1: case for him to be above of anybody that I 64 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,200 Speaker 1: have ahead of him on this list. For me, at 65 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: least personally, I think you could argue him to be higher. 66 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: But for me, I couldn't find a case to move 67 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: him up from twelve, top five in MVP voting, first 68 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,800 Speaker 1: Team All NBA, and I struggle to put him higher 69 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: than twelve. That's the nature of this part of the list. 70 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: And Kevin Durant is Kevin Durant. KD catches a ton 71 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: of crap online and I disagree with most of it. 72 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: I don't blame him for what went wrong in Phoenix. 73 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: He was getting crap online for not leading his team 74 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: in shot attempts since twenty eighteen. I don't view that 75 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,640 Speaker 1: as a negative for KD. Of you, that is a positive. 76 00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: We're going to talk about that today. I think he's 77 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: going to massively improve Houston's ability to compete for a championship, 78 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: and I think he firmly meets the criteria of this tier, 79 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: which again this tier, the criteria is a player who 80 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: on any given night can outplay the very best players 81 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: in the world. They just struggle to consistently get to 82 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: that level. Kdi very much is in that tier, and 83 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 1: like I don't have him in my top ten. It's 84 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:17,160 Speaker 1: just a testament to how deep this league is. The 85 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: top twelve is completely insane. I moved the names around 86 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 1: a half dozen times. Multiple guys went up and down 87 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: several spots in different versions of this list before I 88 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,160 Speaker 1: landed where I landed. The point is, we are very 89 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:36,479 Speaker 1: much splitting hairs at this point, and if you disagree 90 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: with me and you go, Jason, I have KD at five, Jason, 91 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: I have Donovan Mitchell at five. I know I'm going 92 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: to argue against it, but I'm not. There's such a 93 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,600 Speaker 1: small gap there that I think it's at least defensible. 94 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,039 Speaker 1: The guys that I have above these guys at this 95 00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: point in the list, I just viewed having a more 96 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: liable night tonight trade. So maybe an apex athlete who 97 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: brings insane motor every night, or an offensive engine. You 98 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:09,920 Speaker 1: guys know how I feel about offensive engines. I don't 99 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:13,919 Speaker 1: think Durant or Mitchell kind of fall into that specific category. 100 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,600 Speaker 1: Guys who make offense easier for everyone on the roster 101 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: every single night. Or a defensive monster, like a guy 102 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: who's just an absolute pain in the ass athlete with 103 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: super long arms that no one can deal with on 104 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 1: the defensive end of the floor. That just sets a 105 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:29,279 Speaker 1: super high floor for everybody. Those are the kinds of 106 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:32,359 Speaker 1: guys that I ended up favoring over Donovan Mitchell and 107 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:35,919 Speaker 1: Kevin Durant. But these gaps are incredibly close. I just 108 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: wanted to emphasize that from five to twelve, I mean, 109 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:44,000 Speaker 1: you could just shake it up and like a bunch 110 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: of yachtzi dice and just kind of see how it lands, 111 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: and you're gonna be able to make a decent case 112 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,040 Speaker 1: for that rank. But let's get started. But number twelve, 113 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell UFC three nineteen is blowing back to the 114 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: Windy City for the first time in six years. 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He averaged 142 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: twenty four points, five rebounds, and five assists, one point 143 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: five stocks, forty four percent from the field, thirty seven 144 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: percent from three to eighty two percent from the line 145 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: fifty three percent, and effective field goal percentage that's just 146 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: field goal percentage waited for threes in fifty eight percent 147 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 1: in true shooting. Really stacked up the accolades this year. 148 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: He finished his sixth consecutive All Star appearance, first Team 149 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: All NBA in fifth, and MVP voting for me like 150 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: a classic example of why box score watching is so silly, Donovan, 151 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: his numbers were down across the board year over year. 152 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: Points per game down, rebounds per game down. It's this 153 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: per game down, field goal percentage down, block steals down, 154 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: three point percentage down, free throw percentage down. Everything was 155 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: down year over year, and he was flat out better 156 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: this year than he was the previous year. Keep that 157 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: in mind when we get to KD and we start 158 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: talking about his field goal numbers, because it's the same 159 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: kind of idea that I think a lot of people 160 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: get hung up on now. To be clear, yes, box 161 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: score production is an important manifestation of how you're producing 162 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: for a basketball team, but it is not the only 163 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 1: manifestation of how well a basketball player is playing. The 164 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: evidence is in the play type data. Even though Donovan 165 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: Mitchell's individual statistics weren't as impressive as the previous season, 166 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,560 Speaker 1: when Donovan did more with the basketball and when Donovan 167 00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: had you know, he's running a lot more pick and 168 00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: roll every game. He's just he was just more on 169 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: the right. Even though his numbers came down, even though 170 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:09,240 Speaker 1: his individual statistics weren't as impressive, Donovan did things that 171 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: helped the Cleveland Cavaliers as a team score more points 172 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: just shot creation data. In twenty twenty four, Donovan ran 173 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: one thousand and sixty two pick and rolls, ISOs and 174 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:23,839 Speaker 1: post ups including passes, got one thousand and eighty three points. 175 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: That's one point zero two points per possession, which is 176 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 1: decent FIR star guard, but it's nothing to write home about. 177 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,839 Speaker 1: In twenty twenty five, he ran one thousand, three hundred 178 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,079 Speaker 1: and sixteen pick and rolls, ISOs and post ups, obviously 179 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,840 Speaker 1: higher volume with him being healthier, but fourteen hundred and 180 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:44,960 Speaker 1: five points. That's one point zero seven points per possession. 181 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,120 Speaker 1: That's five points better per one hundred possessions than he 182 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: was the previous year. That puts him into an elite 183 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: tier as a high volume shot creator. The Cleveland Cavaliers 184 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: functioned better as an offense with Donovan Mitchell this year 185 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 1: than they did last year, even though his individual scoring 186 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: volume in percentages went down. So the question is how 187 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: how did Donovan Mitchell help the Calves this year compared 188 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:12,680 Speaker 1: to last year? And the short answer is he bought 189 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: him to what Kenny Atkinson was trying to do with 190 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: that Calves offense, getting them to play more fast paced, 191 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: more in transition, more ball in player movement. It required 192 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 1: quicker decision making, and most importantly, it required Donovan to 193 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 1: give up the basketball more and to play more in 194 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,240 Speaker 1: the flow of the offense, and he did just that. 195 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,880 Speaker 1: Here's a simple stat to demonstrate how much Donovan Mitchell 196 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 1: gave up the basketball last year premba dot COM's tracking 197 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,400 Speaker 1: data in twenty twenty four, Donovan Mitchell averaged six point 198 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: three minutes of possession time per game. In twenty twenty five, 199 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:52,559 Speaker 1: That dropped from six point three to four point nine. 200 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,440 Speaker 1: Another way to put it is, Donovan's time of possession 201 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: dropped by twenty two point three per year over year. 202 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: That's a significant a decrease there. And yet despite a 203 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: twenty two point three percent decrease in his time of possession, 204 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 1: his scoring volume only dropped by less than ten percent, 205 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:21,320 Speaker 1: a little over nine percent, from twenty six point six 206 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: points per game to twenty four points per game. He 207 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: basically refined his role to fit exactly what the team needed. 208 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: He took a step back and allowed the finally healthy 209 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,440 Speaker 1: version of Darius Garland to do more of what Darius 210 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:38,800 Speaker 1: does best, which is initiate the offense with his drivele penetration, 211 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: and that advantaged creation just greased the wheels in so 212 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: many different ways for the Cavs as we know. And 213 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 1: then in shorter bursts when the situation called for it, 214 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:55,120 Speaker 1: Donovan stepped in and was super aggressive. He actually shot 215 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:57,840 Speaker 1: the ball, or I should say, passed the ball less 216 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: per touch last year than the year before, So he 217 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: actually passed the ball less when he had it. But 218 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: that was what the team needed. The team needed him 219 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: to seed control of a large portion of the offense 220 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 1: to Darius in a larger extent than he did in 221 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: previous years, and for him to win, he had the 222 00:12:16,040 --> 00:12:19,479 Speaker 1: ball do what Donovan Mitchell does best, score the damn basketball. 223 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,680 Speaker 1: The team needed him to be a score, and so 224 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:27,440 Speaker 1: he took back some of his touches and refined and 225 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: simplified his approach to being more of a score. In short, 226 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: he cut down on his touches but focused on what 227 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:36,240 Speaker 1: he does best and that led to a explosive scoring 228 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 1: season for the Cavs offense. Donovan was lethally efficient in 229 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: pick and roll this year. He's actually more efficient as 230 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: a scorer in pick and roll this year than he 231 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: was the year before, despite his shooting percentages being down 232 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: across the board. Overall, he was one of only six 233 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 1: players in the entire NBA last year to attempt at 234 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 1: least five hundred shots in pick and roll and to 235 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 1: get over a point per shot. He did this by 236 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: shooting fifty percent on twos. Again, that's a big part 237 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 1: of that shot making and pick and roll right fueled 238 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:09,560 Speaker 1: by a deadly floater. He shot fifty two percent on 239 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: over one hundred and fifty floaters this year. Donovan was 240 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:14,320 Speaker 1: one of only eight players in the NBA to attempt 241 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: at least one hundred and fifty floaters and make more 242 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: than half of them. We're gonna talk about it more 243 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:21,080 Speaker 1: and when we get to here in just a second. 244 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,960 Speaker 1: But he had a really useful set of counter moves 245 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: in the mid range, and he's always had these, but 246 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: he's really refined it into a super efficient part of 247 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:30,679 Speaker 1: his game. We'll get to that in a second. Then 248 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: he shot thirty six point four percent on pull up threes, 249 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: and that's a very good number because of the efficiency 250 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,080 Speaker 1: boost that you get from that three point shot. That 251 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 1: was one point zero nine points per pull up three 252 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: in pick and roll. That's very good. Classic for Donovan 253 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:47,600 Speaker 1: Mitchell is a combination of what we've talked about with 254 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: a lot of the athletic guards in the league. The 255 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: combination of that downhill burst mixed with the pull up 256 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 1: jumper that can get defenders either on their heels or 257 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: he can easily pull up or up on their toes, 258 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: or he can ease the league go past them. And 259 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: again this is where the mid range counters come in. 260 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 1: Donovan had this ridiculous over the top gather, I should 261 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: say has. He's had it for years. This ridiculous over 262 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 1: the top gather that he would pull over a defender 263 00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: that would step underneath him, and he'd step into a 264 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 1: floater out of that, and then he was really nasty 265 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: with that eurostep. Those little moves in the mid range 266 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 1: allowed him to quickly get separation, almost like John Morant esque, 267 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: with his ability to quickly get separation in that short range, 268 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: that five to ten foot range where he could get 269 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: to an easy shot that he could make over fifty 270 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: percent from of the time, which removed some of that 271 00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 1: variants and gave him a reliable piece of shot making 272 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: that gave him the ability to be one of only 273 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: six players in the NBA a shot over fifty percent 274 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:47,240 Speaker 1: pick and roll on a massive volume with that or 275 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: over a point per possession, I should say on that 276 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 1: massive volume of over five hundred attempts in pick and roll. 277 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,280 Speaker 1: He also scored really efficiently off the ball. Donovan got 278 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: one point one one points per possession and spot up 279 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: situations fueled by him shooting a crazy forty seven percent 280 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,360 Speaker 1: on unguarded catch and shoot threes and then some really 281 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: good close out attacking when guys would chase him off 282 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: the line. The biggest boost for Donovan Mitchell on this list. 283 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 1: The reason why he is higher than many of the 284 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:20,440 Speaker 1: guys who scored more points per game than him this 285 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 1: year is the simple fact that Donovan is one of 286 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 1: the best playoff risers in the NBA. Darius Garland, who 287 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: did not make my list this year, he hits many 288 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 1: of the similar markers that Donovan hits that we've talked 289 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: about in this segment. Darius was excellent shooting in pick 290 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 1: and roll, had an excellent floater. He shot like forty 291 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:47,920 Speaker 1: three percent unpull up threes in pick and roll. Darius, 292 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:51,000 Speaker 1: I would actually argue, in terms of just the regular season, 293 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: is a better offensive engine than Donovan Mitchell because of 294 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: his ability to consistently cut teams to pieces with his 295 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 1: dribble penetration in pass effectively out of it. It really 296 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:03,200 Speaker 1: greased the wheels for this Caps team. Their offense was 297 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 1: actually four points better per one hundre possessions this year 298 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: when Darius was on versus off, but consistently every single year, 299 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: whether it be because of health or him struggling in 300 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:18,040 Speaker 1: that environment, or a combination of both, Darius just kind 301 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:21,560 Speaker 1: of falls apart in the postseason relative to his regular 302 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 1: season impact. Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell is like straight up one 303 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 1: of the very best playoff scorers of this era. Once 304 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: again last year, thirty points per game in the postseason 305 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 1: on fifty seven percent true shooting. For six consecutive playoff 306 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: runs spanning forty seven games, Donovan Mitchell is good for 307 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: thirty five and five on fifty nine percent truugh shooting 308 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: in the playoffs. To put it very simply, he is 309 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: one of the very best playoff scorers in the entire NBA, 310 00:16:57,440 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: and that puts him in this special tier of players 311 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:04,440 Speaker 1: who is capable of out playing any top tier superstar 312 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,480 Speaker 1: on any given night, which is what put him in 313 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:11,440 Speaker 1: this grouping now, defense has always been a bit complicated 314 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: for Donovan, But I actually think Donovan's made real strides 315 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,560 Speaker 1: over the last couple of years. He's ever been good 316 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 1: on the ball. He competes there better than he used to. 317 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:23,359 Speaker 1: You guys remember how bad it was in Utah. Was 318 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,920 Speaker 1: just a disaster on the ball there. But nowadays he 319 00:17:26,960 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 1: still struggles a little bit, even though he competes better 320 00:17:28,880 --> 00:17:30,479 Speaker 1: because he can get too handsy. He commits a lot 321 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:32,439 Speaker 1: of fouls. He's just overly physical on the ball. As 322 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:36,000 Speaker 1: a defender, but he's made major strides over the last 323 00:17:36,040 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: couple of years as an off ball defender. The main 324 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:40,960 Speaker 1: thing is is it's an excellent opportunity for him to 325 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 1: weaponize that trait that he loves to be physically aggressive 326 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,439 Speaker 1: and go after the basketball well on the ball that 327 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 1: can give up drill penetration too easily. Off the ball, 328 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: it actually is useful for him digging down on driving 329 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: lanes or digging down on cutters, and so Donovan has 330 00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: gotten really good at like digging down into the lane 331 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: attacking the back basketball, but having the foot speed and 332 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:05,960 Speaker 1: the fundamentals in terms of his closeouts to get back 333 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: out to the perimeter to a shooter, and that's made 334 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:11,119 Speaker 1: him a very good help and recover player. So as 335 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,159 Speaker 1: a result, like the Cavs defense was actually better this 336 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:16,679 Speaker 1: year with Donovan Mitchell on the ball versus off and 337 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: it's given him the ability to meet that mandatory minimum 338 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,600 Speaker 1: which we always talk about, like in order to be 339 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,280 Speaker 1: one of these guys in this tier, you have to 340 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:29,199 Speaker 1: be able to at least fill a role on a 341 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: team as a useful defender. You have to be able 342 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:35,840 Speaker 1: to do something that helps your team on that end 343 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:38,480 Speaker 1: of the floor, and Donovan has found that role off 344 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,119 Speaker 1: the ball. He can dig down into the lane, attack 345 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: the basketball, and he can recover out to the perimeter 346 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:49,000 Speaker 1: with really quality closeouts for a star player at that position. 347 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:52,199 Speaker 1: You look at Darius Garland and we talked about it. 348 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 1: Like Darius Garland, He's not a better score than Donovan Mitchell. 349 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,159 Speaker 1: I don't even think he's a better playoff offensive player 350 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: overall than Donovan Mitchell. But in the regular season, Darius 351 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,080 Speaker 1: Garland is a better offensive engine than Donovan Mitchell. But 352 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,959 Speaker 1: even in that context, the Cavs defense was five points 353 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:12,680 Speaker 1: worse per one hundred possessions with Darius on versus off, 354 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 1: and it undercut a lot of his success. It's a 355 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:17,520 Speaker 1: big part of why he didn't make this list this year. 356 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:19,600 Speaker 1: In addition to the playoff struggles that we talked about, 357 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: Donovan has become a useful defender for a good defense. 358 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:26,800 Speaker 1: That was the mandatory minimum that he needed to reach 359 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,880 Speaker 1: as a small guard and he got there. So now, 360 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 1: why isn't Donovan Mitchell higher on this list? Jason, He's 361 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:36,359 Speaker 1: fifth in MVP voting, he made First Team All NBA. 362 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:40,080 Speaker 1: Why is he all the way down at twelve? The 363 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: big thing for Donovan is I just don't think he 364 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:46,560 Speaker 1: has enough of that like game management, flow of the 365 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:50,639 Speaker 1: game piece, that offensive engine piece that you need to 366 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: compete with the elite offensive players that are above him 367 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: on this list. So let's look at last year. In 368 00:19:56,800 --> 00:20:01,360 Speaker 1: the playoffs, the injuries start to stack up. Darius Garland's 369 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:03,719 Speaker 1: got the bad toe. He's not moving as well as 370 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: he used to, He's not cutting the defense up the 371 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: way he used to. He's sitting out for entire games. 372 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 1: A lot of their shooters go cold in large part 373 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,200 Speaker 1: because of that lack of advantage creation. And so Donovan 374 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:16,680 Speaker 1: Mitchell like kind of flashed a lot of the old 375 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:20,439 Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell right, really taking control of the offense and 376 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 1: more to a heliocentric manner in the excuse me. In 377 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: the regular season, his usage rate was below thirty one percent. 378 00:20:26,960 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: In the postseason it was over thirty seven percent. So 379 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 1: he kind of like reverted back to that hyper aggressive 380 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:37,400 Speaker 1: on ball, heliocentric, kind of ball hoggy type of player, right. 381 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: And for the record, I don't blame him for that. 382 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: It was the right thing for him to do in 383 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:46,439 Speaker 1: that situation. Darius didn't have it. He needed to be 384 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:50,400 Speaker 1: more in control of things. I do not blame Donovan 385 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,680 Speaker 1: for that. It was the best chance that Cleveland had 386 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: to survive their set of circumstances. But when Donovan goes 387 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:01,359 Speaker 1: that route, he this is a lot of the easy 388 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: reads that are available to him, and it can be 389 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: a lot of make or miss, feast or famine type 390 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: of stuff, and it can lead to him not having 391 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 1: the same level of offensive impact as the guys that 392 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,199 Speaker 1: are above him on this list. For example, in this 393 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: postseason run, when Donovan Mitchell was on the floor, the 394 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: Caves managed one hundred and seventeen points six points per 395 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,680 Speaker 1: one hundred possessions, which is fine, but it's well below 396 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:26,439 Speaker 1: what the Cavs are producing in the regular season, and 397 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: it's well below what they did when Darius Garland was 398 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,159 Speaker 1: in control, especially in the regular season. Right. So, like, 399 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:36,400 Speaker 1: I just don't see Donovan as that overall offensive engine 400 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:39,160 Speaker 1: that you get from the offensive players that have above 401 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:40,440 Speaker 1: him on this list. I have a couple of guys 402 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:42,920 Speaker 1: on the list above him that are more defensive minded players, 403 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:45,960 Speaker 1: but are defensive weapons, I should say, But among the 404 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,879 Speaker 1: offensive players in this tier, Donovan's lack of that high 405 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:54,760 Speaker 1: level playmaking talent is what kept him kept him below. 406 00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:58,520 Speaker 1: The next step for Donovan if he wants to move 407 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:01,440 Speaker 1: up this list and get into the top seven top eight, 408 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,400 Speaker 1: for me, is that game management piece becoming the type 409 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: of guy who you can give control of the offense 410 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:11,160 Speaker 1: to and he's gonna average eight nine assists per game 411 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 1: like the Damian Lillards of the world, right, because he 412 00:22:15,640 --> 00:22:19,960 Speaker 1: weaponizes that downhill force to generate advantages early in possession. 413 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 1: That greased the wheels for his offense. That's the next step. 414 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 1: But for right now, I have Donovan as the twelfth 415 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:36,720 Speaker 1: best player in the NBA. Number eleven Kevin Durant. This 416 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: was an impossible one for me. I'm just such a 417 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: huge fan of Kevin Durant and his game, and I 418 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: really do believe he's gonna be amazing for Houston this year. 419 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,159 Speaker 1: But again, every time I looked at a guy above him, 420 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:52,200 Speaker 1: I just personally couldn't unseat one of those guys. But again, 421 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 1: if you argued KDE as high as five, I could 422 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 1: at least respect the case there. Same goes for Donovan. 423 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: Is this more again a testament to how talented the 424 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 1: rest of the NBA is. Our top twelve is insane, right, now, 425 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: as you guys will see as we continue to work 426 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: through this list. Last season in review, for KD sixty 427 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:17,640 Speaker 1: two games played, he averaged twenty seven point six rebounds 428 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:22,000 Speaker 1: and four assists two stocks per game. Fifty three percent 429 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 1: from the field, fifty seven percent on two is just 430 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:26,639 Speaker 1: outrageous from two. We're gonna talk more about that in 431 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,320 Speaker 1: a minute, because that's considering almost no rim attempts relative 432 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 1: to his peers. Forty three percent from three, eighty four 433 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: percent from the line for a sixty percent effective field 434 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:40,480 Speaker 1: goal percentage, and sixty four percent in true shooting. The 435 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: shot making from KD is just completely outrageous. Like, just 436 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 1: just listen to these numbers. KD was the best jump 437 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: shooter in the entire NBA last year. He shot over 438 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,880 Speaker 1: fifty percent on all jump shots, even if you wait 439 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,880 Speaker 1: it for threes. He got one point two to one 440 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,439 Speaker 1: points per attempt. That ranked number one out of the 441 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:05,199 Speaker 1: fifty eight players to attempt at least five hundred jump shots. 442 00:24:05,359 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: Kevin Durant best jump shooter in the NBA last year. 443 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:14,640 Speaker 1: End of story, forty eight percent off the catch, fifty 444 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:21,679 Speaker 1: one percent one unguarded, fifty two percent on off the 445 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:24,840 Speaker 1: dribble jump shots. He had a rough year and pull 446 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: up three he didn't take very many. He took seventy three. 447 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: All years shot just below thirty three percent. But Kevin 448 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:36,680 Speaker 1: Durant shot fifty six percent on pull up mid range 449 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: jump shots. In short range when he got inside of 450 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:47,199 Speaker 1: seventeen feet he hit fifty eight percent. That's that's one 451 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:49,400 Speaker 1: of the most reliable shots in the NBA right now. 452 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:54,120 Speaker 1: It's encroaching on that Yokich territory of like mid sixties, 453 00:24:54,200 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: high sixties, of like unbelievable reliability and immunity to variant. 454 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:04,639 Speaker 1: Kd's become so incredibly deadly on those short range jump shots. 455 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:10,440 Speaker 1: That shot making led to insanely efficient isolation numbers. KD 456 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:12,680 Speaker 1: was the best ISO player in the NBA last year 457 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 1: by a mile. There were twenty two players that shot 458 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:22,160 Speaker 1: out of ISO at least two hundred times. Kd's one 459 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:26,160 Speaker 1: point one six points per possession was far and away 460 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:30,040 Speaker 1: number one. Give you an idea. Shay was in second place, 461 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,680 Speaker 1: and he was a full six points per one hundred 462 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,239 Speaker 1: possessions less efficient shooting out of ISO than KD was 463 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 1: on twos In ISO. Last year, KD shot fifty nine 464 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:49,840 Speaker 1: percent one hundred and nine for one eighty six. He's 465 00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:53,240 Speaker 1: just the best to ever do it. When you need 466 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:56,360 Speaker 1: a bucket, There's never been a better guy to give 467 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,119 Speaker 1: the ball to. I've seeing the clips going around on 468 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,640 Speaker 1: social media the other day while I was gone of 469 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:06,440 Speaker 1: that Serbia USA game, and that still to this day 470 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:10,439 Speaker 1: is my very favorite basketball memory that I can think of. 471 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: Just the intensity, the stakes, the fear, the legitimate fear 472 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:18,639 Speaker 1: that they were going to lose, and then seeing everyone 473 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 1: step up and specifically Katie, Steph and Lebron run the 474 00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: show down the stretch, and each one of those three 475 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 1: guys show their greatness and unique ways, from like Steph 476 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,480 Speaker 1: keeping the team afloat early in the game with his 477 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,160 Speaker 1: shooting and then late in the game hitting that three 478 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,520 Speaker 1: coming off the left wing that was the lead changing shot. 479 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,520 Speaker 1: He had the transition layup as well. Lebron James showcasing 480 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 1: his versatility. He's guarding Yolkic on one end of the floor, 481 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,360 Speaker 1: having those two somehow having the leg strength to get 482 00:26:44,359 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: those two crazy transition finishes in crunch time, and then 483 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:51,240 Speaker 1: in the final minutes I think they were up to 484 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:54,440 Speaker 1: at the time super important possession. I think it was 485 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: under a minute. If I remember quickly, they desperately need 486 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:01,680 Speaker 1: a bucket, and Steph Lebron, all those dudes they turn 487 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: to Kevin Durant and they say, get us a bucket. 488 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:08,480 Speaker 1: I'm staying off my couch screaming at the TV, like, 489 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,720 Speaker 1: get a bucket, KD, we need a bucket. And he 490 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:14,640 Speaker 1: hits that left to right crossover and hits that pull 491 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,919 Speaker 1: up jumper and knocks that shit down to send him 492 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: to the gold medal game. It wasn't a fluke. He's 493 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:25,600 Speaker 1: literally the very best player in the NBA still at 494 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: it today, and he's been the very best player at 495 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 1: it that I've ever seen. This is where I want 496 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,359 Speaker 1: to touch on that shot attempts thing. So KD has 497 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: been very active on social media in the last couple 498 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:42,439 Speaker 1: of days regarding several things, but the big one was 499 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:44,840 Speaker 1: this idea that KD hasn't led a team in shot 500 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:48,120 Speaker 1: attempts since twenty eighteen. As if it's a bad thing. 501 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,159 Speaker 1: I think this is one of Kadi's strengths. This is 502 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,200 Speaker 1: where we have to get away from box score watching. Look, 503 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:59,199 Speaker 1: scoring the basketball is a very important basketball trade, and 504 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:01,040 Speaker 1: I'm not going to roll my eyes a guys, who 505 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:03,640 Speaker 1: are putting up big points per game numbers. It's too 506 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,320 Speaker 1: hard to score in the NBA to just gloss over that, 507 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,920 Speaker 1: But we had twenty five players in the NBA last 508 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:13,560 Speaker 1: year average at least twenty four points per game. Not 509 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:17,920 Speaker 1: all points per game totals are the same. The goal 510 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: of an NBA offense is for the team to score points, 511 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: not for an individual player to score points. And there 512 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,080 Speaker 1: are a lot of guys in the NBA that can 513 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,160 Speaker 1: score the basketball, but at the expense of the rhythm 514 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:33,560 Speaker 1: and flow of their teammates and of the offense overall. 515 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:37,240 Speaker 1: Kevin Durant is the best I've ever seen at scoring 516 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:41,760 Speaker 1: the basketball in the flow of an offense, meaning doing 517 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,400 Speaker 1: so without disrupting the rhythm of his teammates, without stopping 518 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:49,720 Speaker 1: ball in player movement. This is what makes him so 519 00:28:49,800 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: easy to fit in any basketball situation. Every time he 520 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 1: changes teams, it just looks like such a natural fit 521 00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 1: on the offensive end of the floor. This is why 522 00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 1: I think it's gonna fit so great for him in Houston. 523 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:02,720 Speaker 1: I think it comes down to how comes down to 524 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 1: two things. First of all, Katie is excellent at scoring 525 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 1: off the ball, both in spot up situations, and attacking 526 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: in the action that NBA offense runs. So like driving closeouts. 527 00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:21,600 Speaker 1: Kd when he drove closeouts shot sixty four percent on 528 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:26,800 Speaker 1: twos last year. That's insane. That was on eighty one attempts, 529 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: so once a game, more than once a game, he'd 530 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,360 Speaker 1: put the ball on the floor against the closeout and 531 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:37,720 Speaker 1: shoot and make almost two thirds of them. Like that 532 00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 1: goes in hand in hand with him shooting over fifty 533 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:45,880 Speaker 1: percent on unguarded catch and shoot jump shots. So you 534 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 1: just an incredibly useful spot up player if you can 535 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: create an advantage for him. But then he also could 536 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,400 Speaker 1: score out of action. He shot sixty percent out of 537 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: dribble handoffs. He shot forty eight percent coming off of 538 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:02,640 Speaker 1: off ball screens. He's excellent at scoring in the flow 539 00:30:02,680 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 1: of NBA offense, and then when he's on the ball, 540 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: he's always super decisive and super efficient with his dribbles. 541 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 1: Kadi averaged just three point three seconds per touch last 542 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:21,640 Speaker 1: year and just two dribbles per touch. That's per NBA 543 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: dot COM's tracking data. Now compare that to a guy 544 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 1: like Luka Doncic, who averaged seven seconds per touch and 545 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:32,320 Speaker 1: four dribbles per touch. Now, Luca is a better player 546 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,800 Speaker 1: than KD. But I'm trying to show the difference in 547 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:38,400 Speaker 1: just the quickness, how quickly and how efficiently Katie attacks 548 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:40,080 Speaker 1: when he has the ball. And even though I do 549 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: believe in Luca and his supreme ability, I have talked 550 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,400 Speaker 1: about how him dribbling the air out of the basketball 551 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,240 Speaker 1: can disrupt the rhythm and flow for other players. It's 552 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: been part of the reason why I've talked so much 553 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: about Lebron and Austin and how they have to become 554 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,479 Speaker 1: better catch and shoot players, because a lot of Lebron 555 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,160 Speaker 1: and Austin's on ball ability can get a little bit 556 00:30:57,160 --> 00:30:59,400 Speaker 1: of a diminishing return in the context of a Luca 557 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,880 Speaker 1: led offense because he can dribble the air out of 558 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 1: the basketball Kadi. Him being hyper efficient, him taking less 559 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: than half as much time per touch and less than 560 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,520 Speaker 1: half as many dribbles per touch as a Luka Doncic 561 00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:16,040 Speaker 1: is what makes him super easy to play with. You 562 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:19,480 Speaker 1: know what he's gonna do. He's predictable in a good 563 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:23,440 Speaker 1: way to play an offense alongside of you know when 564 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: to cut, when to relocate, when to screen because he's 565 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 1: not pausing. He's super decisive. We've all played with guys 566 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:35,480 Speaker 1: like that before that dribble the air out of the 567 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: basketball and you don't know what to do. You don't 568 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: know if you're gonna cut a relocate. You don't even 569 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:41,600 Speaker 1: know if he's looking at you. You don't know if 570 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,719 Speaker 1: he's trying to set something else up. That unpredictability can 571 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:48,760 Speaker 1: be difficult to play off of. If you're playing basketball 572 00:31:48,760 --> 00:31:51,880 Speaker 1: with Kevin Durrant and you pass him the ball and 573 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,520 Speaker 1: he has an advantage he likes with some good spacing, 574 00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 1: you can count on him to quickly put the ball 575 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:02,040 Speaker 1: down or throw a jab stet and do something super efficient. 576 00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: One or two dribbles, rise and fire within a like 577 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: two or three seconds max. He's not gonna stop and stare. 578 00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:14,560 Speaker 1: He's gonna attack quickly. And that makes him super easy 579 00:32:14,600 --> 00:32:17,440 Speaker 1: to play with. And it's not like, you know, I 580 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:19,760 Speaker 1: saw some of the criticisms because KD doesn't want all 581 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: that response bullshit. Yeah, Like, every time the game's on 582 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:26,880 Speaker 1: the line, KDI wants the ball. He's always been that guy. 583 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:29,400 Speaker 1: He's literally one of the best clutch players ever. I 584 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:32,440 Speaker 1: mean he literally the whole beef he had with Draymond 585 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: literally stemmed from him wanting the basketball at the end 586 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:40,760 Speaker 1: of a game. It's it is this hyper efficient, quick, 587 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:46,520 Speaker 1: decisive scoring that fits extremely well in the team context. 588 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,800 Speaker 1: We've talked a lot about this idea, the scoring player 589 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 1: versus the offensive engine, and how scorers can be susceptible 590 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:57,160 Speaker 1: to variance and scorers can disrupt the flow. A bad 591 00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: game for a score is way worse than a bad 592 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: game for an advantage creator. Not as much so for 593 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: a guy like Kevin Durant, who shoots well over fifty 594 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:08,760 Speaker 1: percent from two and on his pull up jump shots 595 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:10,600 Speaker 1: he makes over half of his jump shots, so he's 596 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,640 Speaker 1: less susceptible to variance, and he's so quick and so 597 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,400 Speaker 1: decisive that he's just super easy to play with and 598 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 1: he's never going to disrupt the flow of your offense. Now, 599 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:24,080 Speaker 1: why did I leave Katie down at eleven? It has 600 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,920 Speaker 1: nothing to do with defense. Do I wish Katie would 601 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,480 Speaker 1: have devoted more energy and focus to defense over his career? Sure, 602 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:34,000 Speaker 1: but even in that context, he's still an excellent defender 603 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,600 Speaker 1: even today. His tools are just insane, and he can move. 604 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: He's got good anticipation, He's good both on the ball 605 00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:43,280 Speaker 1: and off the ball. He's been well over a block 606 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 1: per game for years. That's that off ball anticipation and 607 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 1: his ability to use his length at the rim. And 608 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,400 Speaker 1: he is a nasty ISO defender because he has that 609 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,360 Speaker 1: length and mobility to give ground to keep the ball 610 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,400 Speaker 1: in front, but also close that gap and get great contests. 611 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:05,560 Speaker 1: Guys shot just twelve for forty five from the field 612 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:10,040 Speaker 1: against KD and ISO last year out of one hundred 613 00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:12,800 Speaker 1: and fifty one players to guard at least fifty ISOs 614 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,480 Speaker 1: last year. Is zero point seven to six point per possession, 615 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:18,359 Speaker 1: ranked sixteenth sixteenth out of one hundred and fifty one. 616 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,600 Speaker 1: He's literally one of the best isolation defenders in the NBA. 617 00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:25,480 Speaker 1: KD being being outside of the top ten came down 618 00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:28,880 Speaker 1: to three things for me. One, he's declined as a 619 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,000 Speaker 1: defensive rebounder. He posted his lowest rebounds per game total 620 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:36,680 Speaker 1: since rebounds per game number since his rookie season two. 621 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:40,160 Speaker 1: He straight up does not pressure the rim. He averaged 622 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:41,880 Speaker 1: just two point eight shot attempts per game at the 623 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 1: rim last year. That ranked two hundred and twenty eighth 624 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:47,920 Speaker 1: in the NBA. Guys like Kevin Herder and Corey Kisspert 625 00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 1: attempted more shots at the rim per game last year 626 00:34:50,640 --> 00:34:52,440 Speaker 1: than KD. A lot of it has to do with 627 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:55,160 Speaker 1: the Achilles injury. He's stopping short a lot of the time, 628 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:58,600 Speaker 1: but him not threatening the rim prevents him from generating 629 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 1: some of the advantages kickout opportunities that his peers generate. 630 00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:06,239 Speaker 1: And then lastly, he's just not the same level of 631 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:08,920 Speaker 1: playmaker as his peers at the top of the league. 632 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,960 Speaker 1: Now I'm hoping KD proves me wrong on this particular point. 633 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:18,520 Speaker 1: I saw KD reach crazy heights as a pick and 634 00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:23,000 Speaker 1: roll passer in Brooklyn, and he's kind of just gone 635 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:26,359 Speaker 1: away from that that role of the high volume pick 636 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,719 Speaker 1: and roll weapon, and I actually think Houston could really 637 00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:33,000 Speaker 1: benefit from it. So I'm hoping they dig that back 638 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:34,680 Speaker 1: out of KD. And I hope that we get to 639 00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:37,040 Speaker 1: see a higher level playmaker this year. But in the 640 00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:39,399 Speaker 1: last several years he has not been the same level 641 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,360 Speaker 1: of advantage creator, the guy who generates easy opportunities for 642 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:46,000 Speaker 1: his teammates as his peers that are above him. On 643 00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:49,840 Speaker 1: this list overall, this was one of the hardest rankings 644 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:53,319 Speaker 1: for me to make. You could easily argue KD as 645 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,439 Speaker 1: high as number five on this list, but for right now, 646 00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,839 Speaker 1: I haven't met number eleven. All right, before we get 647 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:01,800 Speaker 1: out here, guys, I'll tell you a little bit about Alaska. 648 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:05,719 Speaker 1: So we had gone on an Alaskan cruise when my 649 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 1: wife I was working for this company. She got an 650 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:10,920 Speaker 1: incentive trip a while back where we got to go 651 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:12,880 Speaker 1: with a bunch of the people that were in her industry, 652 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:15,640 Speaker 1: and it was like a loop that went out of Seattle. 653 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:18,560 Speaker 1: And the loop was kind of a bummer in a 654 00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,279 Speaker 1: couple of different ways because one, you just didn't get 655 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:23,120 Speaker 1: to see all the same ports. When you're doing a 656 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:26,160 Speaker 1: seven day loop, you've got to account for a return trip, 657 00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:28,160 Speaker 1: so there's like three of the seven days you're just 658 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:30,640 Speaker 1: on the ocean, and so you just don't get to 659 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:33,319 Speaker 1: spend as much time. Each port call is like five 660 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:36,239 Speaker 1: hours four hours, so you're just like really not having 661 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,680 Speaker 1: the time to explore all of the different areas that 662 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:41,759 Speaker 1: you're going. And then secondly, because you're going in a loop, 663 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:43,760 Speaker 1: you don't get to go as far up into Alaska, 664 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:45,920 Speaker 1: which is like the further you get up, the cooler 665 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:47,399 Speaker 1: it is. Right for those of you guys have been 666 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:50,040 Speaker 1: you know what I'm talking about. And so we really 667 00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:52,600 Speaker 1: wanted to go back for two reasons. We wanted to 668 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:54,680 Speaker 1: go outside of a work context. We wanted to be 669 00:36:54,719 --> 00:36:58,040 Speaker 1: able to enjoy it more, just like without the all 670 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,840 Speaker 1: of the constraints that came from my wife's job at 671 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:03,560 Speaker 1: the time. And then two, we wanted to do the 672 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:06,160 Speaker 1: one way. We wanted to do a one way cruise 673 00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:08,200 Speaker 1: so that you could actually spend a lot of time 674 00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:11,160 Speaker 1: at each port. Now I'm not much of a cruise guy, 675 00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:14,880 Speaker 1: but you kind of need to do a cruise to 676 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:18,960 Speaker 1: experience the majority of Alaska, just because a lot of 677 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,799 Speaker 1: these places are not accessible by road, and you get 678 00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:23,520 Speaker 1: to see a lot of really cool things that you 679 00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:25,439 Speaker 1: only get to see on a boat in that sort 680 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:27,440 Speaker 1: of instance. So like, for instance, we got to see 681 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:30,840 Speaker 1: the Hubbard Glacier on this particular trip. That is the 682 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:36,520 Speaker 1: largest title a title glacier in the entire world. So 683 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:40,200 Speaker 1: you're not going to see that unless you take a 684 00:37:40,239 --> 00:37:42,000 Speaker 1: cruise ship into that bay, right. So I'm not much 685 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:43,160 Speaker 1: of a cruise guy, but it's kind of the way 686 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:45,120 Speaker 1: you have to do it. And so we traveled with 687 00:37:45,120 --> 00:37:46,359 Speaker 1: my parents, which is a lot of fun. I haven't 688 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:48,160 Speaker 1: traveled with my parents since I was a kid, since 689 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,160 Speaker 1: I was a teenager. Basically and so my dad was 690 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:53,480 Speaker 1: always big into outdoorsy stuff, and so it kind of 691 00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:55,440 Speaker 1: just worked out with our schedules, and my dad and 692 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:57,839 Speaker 1: mom are both finally retired, and so we were able 693 00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:00,600 Speaker 1: to do it, and we did a whole We did 694 00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:02,960 Speaker 1: a little trip to Victoria beforehand, so we went up 695 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:06,400 Speaker 1: to Vancouver and we got an airbnb in Victoria. The 696 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:09,360 Speaker 1: weather was amazing. In Victoria, we went to like Bouchart Gardens, 697 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:13,160 Speaker 1: which is a really cool like basically like a botanical 698 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:14,919 Speaker 1: garden that's up there where you can get to see 699 00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:18,600 Speaker 1: some incredible stuff and you know, hung out in that 700 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:20,920 Speaker 1: area we had. The weather was just so great. I 701 00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:22,560 Speaker 1: got like great views of like Mount Olympus and you 702 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:25,600 Speaker 1: could literally see Blue Glacier from inside Victoria. You like 703 00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:28,560 Speaker 1: got to see seaplanes landing and all this good food. 704 00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:31,040 Speaker 1: It's kind of a fun little trip before we went 705 00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:33,200 Speaker 1: on the cruise and got to take the ferry to 706 00:38:33,320 --> 00:38:35,960 Speaker 1: and from Victoria from Vancouver, which was beautiful as you 707 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:39,080 Speaker 1: kind of get into all those islands that surround Vancouver Island. 708 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:42,920 Speaker 1: And then we left out of Vancouver. And if you've 709 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:44,600 Speaker 1: been on the Alaskan cruise before, you know that the 710 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:46,440 Speaker 1: ports that are on the southern end are not super 711 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:48,799 Speaker 1: interesting like ketch a can. It's not my favorite place. 712 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,359 Speaker 1: It's just super rainy there all the time. The one 713 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,840 Speaker 1: thing that was cool is when we went three years ago, 714 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:56,120 Speaker 1: for whatever reason, there just wasn't a lot of same 715 00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:58,120 Speaker 1: in activity. I think we just got there a little 716 00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:00,720 Speaker 1: too early. But we got there at like the peak 717 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:02,800 Speaker 1: of the salmon returning. It says, you know, the salmon 718 00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:05,080 Speaker 1: they like go out to ocean and then when they're 719 00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:08,960 Speaker 1: ready to reproduce, they go back up into fresh water, 720 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:13,160 Speaker 1: like by jumping up these like like creeks and rivers 721 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:15,600 Speaker 1: and stuff, and then they spawn and then they die, 722 00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:17,880 Speaker 1: right and so like you see them out in the 723 00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:21,360 Speaker 1: ocean up against these like uh, you know whatever you 724 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:22,960 Speaker 1: call it the deltas, where like the rivers in the 725 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:24,880 Speaker 1: in the ocean meet where it's like a mix of 726 00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,759 Speaker 1: fresh and ocean water, and they like practice jumping and 727 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:29,600 Speaker 1: you just see them jumping. Just you literally look off 728 00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:31,960 Speaker 1: the shore and you just see hundreds of salmon just 729 00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:33,880 Speaker 1: jumping in and out of the water. And then like 730 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:36,680 Speaker 1: you'd see them jumping up the creeks, you'd see them 731 00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:39,440 Speaker 1: climbing the salmon ladders. It's basically like a structure that 732 00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:41,640 Speaker 1: the locals build to help the salmon get upstream. So 733 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:43,520 Speaker 1: that was kind of cool, but it's just so rainy, 734 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:45,200 Speaker 1: up and catch a can And then we went to 735 00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:47,040 Speaker 1: Juneo and the weather was amazing and Juno we got 736 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:49,520 Speaker 1: super lucky there again. But like we went to go 737 00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:52,359 Speaker 1: see Mendenhall Glacier and we like canoe up to super cool, 738 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:56,160 Speaker 1: but it's retreated so far back that it's literally out 739 00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:58,680 Speaker 1: of the water now, Like when I went there three 740 00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:01,400 Speaker 1: years ago, it was in the wa and now Mendenhall 741 00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:03,319 Speaker 1: Glacier is like completely out of the water. And when 742 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:05,240 Speaker 1: you're canoeing to it, they have all these like orange 743 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:09,360 Speaker 1: signs that like demonstrate different times in the history where 744 00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:12,960 Speaker 1: the glacier was further out. I can't remember the exact number, 745 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:15,680 Speaker 1: but like it retreats at some crazy pace. It was 746 00:40:15,719 --> 00:40:17,880 Speaker 1: like two hundred feet per year or something like that, 747 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:20,600 Speaker 1: so that one's like really retreating back in there. And 748 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:23,839 Speaker 1: thankfully we did all that stuff first, because each subsequent 749 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:26,000 Speaker 1: port that we went to that was further to the 750 00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:29,160 Speaker 1: north was crazier and crazier that we got to see, 751 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:32,920 Speaker 1: and like the Hudderd Glacier was absolutely unbelievable that we 752 00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:36,239 Speaker 1: just got perfectly clear weather. So as you're like pulling in, 753 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:38,800 Speaker 1: you see this massive glacier, but out in the distance 754 00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:42,480 Speaker 1: just all these like fifteen thousand foot peaks. I have 755 00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:45,360 Speaker 1: always had a thing for super tall mountains, particularly volcanoes, 756 00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:47,240 Speaker 1: but I've also had a thing for super tall mountains, 757 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:49,839 Speaker 1: and you get to see We got to see Mount 758 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:52,000 Speaker 1: Saint Elias, which is over eighteen thousand feet. That's now 759 00:40:52,040 --> 00:40:53,880 Speaker 1: the tallest mountain that I've ever laid eyes on, So 760 00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:55,160 Speaker 1: that was super cool. We got to see it on 761 00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:57,680 Speaker 1: a very clear day. I got to see another big 762 00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:00,600 Speaker 1: volcano up there. I can't remember I think it was 763 00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:02,840 Speaker 1: I can't remember what it was called, but it's the 764 00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:05,319 Speaker 1: volcano right outside of Sidco. We got a crazy view 765 00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:06,839 Speaker 1: of it as we were going around on the cruise ship. 766 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:09,600 Speaker 1: But then, you know, my mom and my wife were 767 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:13,759 Speaker 1: shopping in Juno and I was looking at our itinerary 768 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:17,479 Speaker 1: and we had we had like six hours to kill 769 00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:20,480 Speaker 1: in Seward and Seward was the final port, and we 770 00:41:20,520 --> 00:41:21,799 Speaker 1: never even thought of it as a place to do 771 00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:23,680 Speaker 1: an excursion because we're like, oh, we're just leaving, like 772 00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:25,000 Speaker 1: that's when we get off the boat and that's when 773 00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:27,279 Speaker 1: we'll go home, right, And then I looked at it, 774 00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 1: I was like, Okay, we're getting off the boat at 775 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:31,359 Speaker 1: seven point thirty and we're not getting on the train 776 00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:33,360 Speaker 1: until six pm. So we got all this time to do. 777 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:36,040 Speaker 1: And so I did some research and then I heard 778 00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:38,399 Speaker 1: about this like keen I Fjords National Park, this big 779 00:41:38,520 --> 00:41:41,920 Speaker 1: national park that's like right by seward, but you can't 780 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:46,080 Speaker 1: get there unless you go by boat or like helicopter, right, 781 00:41:46,600 --> 00:41:49,480 Speaker 1: And so I found an excursion like a boating company 782 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:53,480 Speaker 1: that would take all four of us out into those fjords. 783 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:56,200 Speaker 1: And that ended up being like by far the coolest 784 00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:58,680 Speaker 1: part of the trip, even though we had amazing weather 785 00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:01,600 Speaker 1: everywhere else. It was like super But even though the 786 00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:04,799 Speaker 1: rain had some downsides, what was cool about it was 787 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:09,640 Speaker 1: the rain actually essentially like lubricates the glaciers and causes 788 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:12,680 Speaker 1: them to move a little faster into calve a little 789 00:42:12,719 --> 00:42:14,680 Speaker 1: bit more calving for a glacier. All it means is 790 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:18,240 Speaker 1: as the glacier kind of flows downhill, these big pieces 791 00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:21,520 Speaker 1: of ice like fall off into the ocean, and by 792 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:25,040 Speaker 1: like sheer luck, I happened to have my iPhone out 793 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:29,320 Speaker 1: like zoomed in on a spot where this massive piece 794 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:32,239 Speaker 1: of ice fell off of the Iliic Glacier, which was 795 00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:34,320 Speaker 1: one of the two glaciers that we went to go see, 796 00:42:34,960 --> 00:42:37,879 Speaker 1: and it was the guy who was on the boat 797 00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:39,719 Speaker 1: said it was literally the biggest calving they had seen 798 00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:43,320 Speaker 1: in the entire season. It launched like this massive wave, 799 00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:45,920 Speaker 1: like this thirty foot wave that was like coming towards 800 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:48,640 Speaker 1: us from the from the glacier. So we had to 801 00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:50,560 Speaker 1: like turn the boat away from it and like go 802 00:42:50,719 --> 00:42:52,840 Speaker 1: further away so that we could like wait for the 803 00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:55,440 Speaker 1: wave to spread out and like hit us at a 804 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,680 Speaker 1: at a lower at a lower level. But I have 805 00:42:58,719 --> 00:43:00,400 Speaker 1: a video of this, you guys can find. It's on 806 00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:02,840 Speaker 1: my Instagram and it's on my Twitter at underscore jsonlt. 807 00:43:03,320 --> 00:43:05,120 Speaker 1: But it was like literally one of the coolest things 808 00:43:05,120 --> 00:43:08,800 Speaker 1: I've ever seen, just watching that piece of that glacier 809 00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:10,960 Speaker 1: fall off. And like one of the things that's cool 810 00:43:11,000 --> 00:43:13,960 Speaker 1: with glaciers too, is when it's super sunny, they appear white, 811 00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:16,960 Speaker 1: but when it's super cloudy, they appear like almost like 812 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:21,720 Speaker 1: a radioactive shade of blue because of just the lesser 813 00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:24,319 Speaker 1: amount of light that they're absorbing. And so it just 814 00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:28,400 Speaker 1: was like this eerie, creepy, like cloudy, rainy day with 815 00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:31,240 Speaker 1: these beautiful glaciers that were just like having like crazy 816 00:43:31,239 --> 00:43:33,759 Speaker 1: in front of us because of the rain, and it 817 00:43:33,800 --> 00:43:37,080 Speaker 1: was just an incredible experience. And then, like I kept 818 00:43:37,120 --> 00:43:39,680 Speaker 1: waiting for things to get more difficult, but it's like 819 00:43:39,719 --> 00:43:42,359 Speaker 1: then we get on this train, this Alaska Railroad train, 820 00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:45,359 Speaker 1: and it goes from Seward up to Anchorage, and it's 821 00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:49,920 Speaker 1: just four hours of incredibly beautiful scenery outside of a train. 822 00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:54,520 Speaker 1: I saw three additional glaciers, beautiful mountains. The bay that 823 00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:57,160 Speaker 1: goes thereby I can't remember what it's called. The bay 824 00:43:57,200 --> 00:44:00,160 Speaker 1: that goes there right by Anchorage is super pretty. This 825 00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:03,960 Speaker 1: was like one thing after another of incredible sight seeing 826 00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:06,759 Speaker 1: and I just felt so lucky. I felt so lucky 827 00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:08,200 Speaker 1: that the weather was the way that it was. I 828 00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:10,360 Speaker 1: felt so lucky that we got to see the things 829 00:44:10,360 --> 00:44:12,799 Speaker 1: that we got to see. It was obviously super cool 830 00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:14,640 Speaker 1: to get to spend some time with my mom and dad, 831 00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:17,440 Speaker 1: which I who haven't traveled with in years, and it 832 00:44:17,560 --> 00:44:19,399 Speaker 1: just was a really special trip. I think it might 833 00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:22,200 Speaker 1: be my favorite trip that I've ever gone on. A 834 00:44:22,200 --> 00:44:23,840 Speaker 1: couple of things. If you're if you're ever gonna go 835 00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:28,239 Speaker 1: to Alaska. There's several cruise ships that do it, several 836 00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:30,960 Speaker 1: companies that do it. We use Celebrity. I've been pleased 837 00:44:31,000 --> 00:44:32,680 Speaker 1: with them. They give a very good experience. I actually 838 00:44:32,719 --> 00:44:35,960 Speaker 1: think they're relatively affordable too. Uh. They have really good food, 839 00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:37,759 Speaker 1: which is something that my wife and I are you know, 840 00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:39,920 Speaker 1: pretty picky on there were foodies. We just really like 841 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:41,600 Speaker 1: to have good food. But a couple things to be 842 00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:43,839 Speaker 1: prepared for. Do the one way, don't do the loop, 843 00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:45,919 Speaker 1: because you actually get to spend so much more time 844 00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:48,960 Speaker 1: in each of your ports and less time at sea. Also, 845 00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:51,480 Speaker 1: the one way takes you further north in Alaska, Like 846 00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:53,160 Speaker 1: you'd get to see Hubbard Glacier. You don't get to 847 00:44:53,200 --> 00:44:54,920 Speaker 1: see that on the loop. You get to go up 848 00:44:54,920 --> 00:44:56,640 Speaker 1: into Seward, which you don't get to see if you're 849 00:44:56,680 --> 00:44:58,360 Speaker 1: on the loop, So you get to see the better 850 00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:03,520 Speaker 1: stuff that's further north Alaska. A couple things though, if 851 00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:06,440 Speaker 1: if you do the cruise, when you leave the last 852 00:45:06,520 --> 00:45:08,879 Speaker 1: port and you go into the Gulf of Alaska, it's 853 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:12,160 Speaker 1: a famously rough ocean, and so like come prepared for 854 00:45:12,880 --> 00:45:15,920 Speaker 1: you know, seasickness by having you know, dramamine or you know, 855 00:45:16,040 --> 00:45:18,680 Speaker 1: weed or whatever it is you use to survive seasickness, 856 00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:21,560 Speaker 1: make sure you're prepared for that. And then if you 857 00:45:21,640 --> 00:45:26,080 Speaker 1: want to do Alaska without doing a cruise, Seward kind 858 00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:29,239 Speaker 1: of captures a lot of the same vibe as some 859 00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:32,600 Speaker 1: of the other ports, and so just fly to Anchorage 860 00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:36,759 Speaker 1: and then take the Alaska Railroad down to Seward, buying 861 00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:39,719 Speaker 1: an airbnb or a hotel somewhere there, and then just 862 00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:41,640 Speaker 1: make sure you do the ken I Fjords tour because 863 00:45:41,640 --> 00:45:43,279 Speaker 1: it's just super cool and it's an awesome way to 864 00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:45,560 Speaker 1: get to experience like the glaciers and a lot of 865 00:45:45,600 --> 00:45:48,200 Speaker 1: like that kind of stuff that you get to experience 866 00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:49,799 Speaker 1: in Alaska. But it was just a ton of fun. 867 00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:54,040 Speaker 1: And I Uh, it's kind of crazy because I'm we're 868 00:45:54,080 --> 00:45:57,160 Speaker 1: preparing for our phase two of our move to Denver 869 00:45:57,280 --> 00:45:59,399 Speaker 1: on Wednesday, so it's kind of hectic and obviously there's 870 00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:01,840 Speaker 1: works around, but like, it just felt really nice to 871 00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:03,799 Speaker 1: disconnect for him a little bit. There's like almost no 872 00:46:03,880 --> 00:46:06,680 Speaker 1: cell service out there and Wi Fi on cruise ships 873 00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:08,319 Speaker 1: is terrible, so it was like an opportunity for me 874 00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:10,640 Speaker 1: to disconnect from work a little bit. And I just 875 00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:13,040 Speaker 1: had a great time and I just I just highly 876 00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:14,719 Speaker 1: recommend if you ever have a chance to go check 877 00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:18,880 Speaker 1: out Alaska, go check it out. And if you want 878 00:46:18,920 --> 00:46:20,719 Speaker 1: to see some pictures, I've shared quite a few on 879 00:46:20,719 --> 00:46:22,879 Speaker 1: my twitter feed. You guys can see them there. All right, guys, 880 00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:24,520 Speaker 1: it's all I have for today. It's always a sincerely 881 00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:26,359 Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show. 882 00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:29,680 Speaker 1: I'll see you guys on Friday. Four Hour Mailbag