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Speaker 1: slash basketball terms. All right, welcome to hoops tonight. You're

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Speaker 1: at the volume. Happy Saturday, everybody, hope all if you

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Speaker 1: guys are having an incredible weekend. So, the Los Angeles

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Speaker 1: Lakers are the NBA's first in season tournament champion, and

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Speaker 1: Lebron James is the NBA's first in season tournament MVP.

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Speaker 1: You're gonna hit this game from a bunch of different angles.

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Speaker 1: I want to talk some basketball off the top. Then

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Speaker 1: we'll get into some big picture stuff, what it means

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Speaker 1: for the Lakers, what it means for Lebron, and then

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Speaker 1: I have a take involving the actual n season tournament

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Speaker 1: itself and something I'd like to see them kind of

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Speaker 1: tweak going into next year that could potentially make it

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Speaker 1: even better. You guys know the drill before we get started.

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Speaker 1: Subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel it would mean

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Speaker 1: a lot to me if you guys would scroll down

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Speaker 1: and hit that subscribe button. Follow me on Twitter at

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Speaker 1: underscore Jason lt so you guys don't miss any show

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Speaker 1: announcements or the film threads that I do most mornings.

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Speaker 1: And then, last but not least, keep dropping mail bag

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Speaker 1: questions in the YouTube comments so that we can keep

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Speaker 1: hitting them throughout the rest of the season. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So from a basketball perspective, if

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Speaker 1: those of you guys who listened to the preview that

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Speaker 1: me and the Nerd Sesh guys did yesterday, it more

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Speaker 1: or less went exactly as I expected. The Lakers put

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Speaker 1: Cam Reddish on Tyrese Haliburton to start the game, and

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Speaker 1: then Jared Vanderbilt off the bench. They brought Ad up

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Speaker 1: to the level of the screen to be aggressive in

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Speaker 1: pick and roll to basically get the ball out of

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Speaker 1: his hands, and then it was athletes rotating on the backside,

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Speaker 1: specifically Lebron operating as a low man or he can

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Speaker 1: blow plays up. Tyres Haliburton didn't notch a single turnover

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Speaker 1: against the Celtics, didn't notch a single turnover against the

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Speaker 1: Milwaukee Bucks, and then his first turnover of this game

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Speaker 1: was an aggressive Anthony Davis pick and roll coverage up

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Speaker 1: at the level the pocket pass two Miles Turner downhill

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Speaker 1: and Lebron jumping that passing lane and getting in there.

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Speaker 1: It's just, you know, I've said this many times on

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Speaker 1: the show, and I truly believe it. I know, obviously

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Speaker 1: this kind of thing is subjective and there are people

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Speaker 1: that disagree, and I don't have numbers to back it

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Speaker 1: up because they have not been the best defense by

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Speaker 1: defensive raiding this year. But I truly believe that this

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Speaker 1: Laker defense is the best defense in the league when

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Speaker 1: they're playing hard. And it's different than the twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: year because like the twenty twenty year was much better

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Speaker 1: at the guard position. You know, Alex Cruzo and Contavius

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Speaker 1: Calopope were just better guard defenders, but the and then

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Speaker 1: I'll also Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee were better shot

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Speaker 1: blockers than Christian Wood and Jackson Hay, So it was

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Speaker 1: a different type of defense. But one of the things

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Speaker 1: that that team did not have was real wing athleticism.

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Speaker 1: Like Danny Green was a good player on that Laker team,

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Speaker 1: but he was a little slow that whole year he

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Speaker 1: struggled with quicker guards. He was kind of more of

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Speaker 1: like a big positional defender, right. And then Kyle Kuzma,

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Speaker 1: same thing. He's six foot nine, but not super laterally quick.

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Speaker 1: He wasn't like an outstanding screen navigator, and he was

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Speaker 1: best in help defense positioning. Right, This team has real

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Speaker 1: wing athletes next to Lebron James and Anthony Davis. It's again,

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Speaker 1: it's skill guards in the backcourt, very different than the

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Speaker 1: KCP Alex Cruso mold. But on the wing it's Cam

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Speaker 1: Reddish freak athlete six ' eight, Jared Vanderbilt freak athlete

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Speaker 1: six ' nine. You know, Ruby hachimur Ruyachimura is more

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Speaker 1: than that Kyle Kuzma group, right. But Torian Prince, even

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Speaker 1: as a six six eight like league average athlete, is

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Speaker 1: a bigger, more athletic wing than anybody the Lakers had

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Speaker 1: in that twenty twenty season not named Lebron James, right,

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Speaker 1: and so like, it's a different kind of defense than

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Speaker 1: the twenty twenty defense, but it's impactful at a similar level.

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Speaker 1: And the main reason why is just that combination of

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Speaker 1: point of attack athleticism and then Anthony Davis on the

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Speaker 1: back end. Now, one of the biggest questions coming into

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Speaker 1: this season was would the Lakers have good enough point

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Speaker 1: of attack defense? And honestly, like Cam Reddis has just

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Speaker 1: been a revelation. He's been an absolute revelation at the

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Speaker 1: point of attack. And I don't know, we seen this

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Speaker 1: a few times throughout the history of the NBA modern

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Speaker 1: NBA history, where a lottery player ends up in a

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Speaker 1: different situation and things go well. But this is bizarre

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Speaker 1: because he's been in three other situations, played with the Blazers,

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Speaker 1: played with the Knicks, played with the Hawks, and this

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Speaker 1: is the first team where you've seen his tools and

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Speaker 1: his fit makes sense. He's even been pretty good attacking

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Speaker 1: close outs. Hit a big time three point shot tonight.

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Speaker 1: He had a big time three point shot against the

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Speaker 1: Suns a few weeks ago. Like he's I don't know

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Speaker 1: what else to say. I'm in the big picture, I

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Speaker 1: think it's I don't even want to get into that tonight.

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Speaker 1: But like, is Cam Reddish the right answer for a

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Speaker 1: team that has a chance to win a championship in

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Speaker 1: the picture, We'll talk about that later, I'm not sure.

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Speaker 1: But within the context of the regular season, He's been

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Speaker 1: everything the Lakers needed because they lost Ennis Schroder and

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Speaker 1: they didn't have good point of attack defense to start

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Speaker 1: theyar and Jared Vanderbilt was out of the lineup, and

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Speaker 1: then there was the big offensive question with Jared Vanderbilt, right,

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Speaker 1: even just in this small portion of the season that

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Speaker 1: he's been playing, he struggled a little bit to finish

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Speaker 1: when he's been given advantage situations on offense, right, And

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Speaker 1: so Cam Reddish has just kind of giving them another

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Speaker 1: option there. And then Max Christy as every bit as

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Speaker 1: impactful defensively as Cam Reddish can be, a little bit

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Speaker 1: less athletic, but a little bit more sharp offensively, a

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Speaker 1: little bit better shooter, a little bit better attacking closeouts, right.

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Speaker 1: And so those two guys have taken what looked like

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Speaker 1: a flaw on the roster, the point of attack position.

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Speaker 1: And now it's like, Okay, you play the Lakers tomorrow.

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Speaker 1: Here's what's gonna happen. You're the best perimeter initiator on

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Speaker 1: your team. You're gonna get Cam Reddish with Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: behind him and tons of athletes rotating on the backside

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Speaker 1: like Torian Prince and Lebron James right, and then oh,

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Speaker 1: you made it through the first group. Here comes Max Christy,

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Speaker 1: Here comes Jared Vanderbilt, Here comes through Rijat Tamuras, more athletes,

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Speaker 1: and so again, the offensive questions for the Lakers are there,

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Speaker 1: and we'll see them bear out over the season. I'm

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Speaker 1: more optimistic than most just based on what we've seen

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Speaker 1: in crunch time and in this tournament as well. And

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Speaker 1: a big piece of that is just how well Austin

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Speaker 1: Raves has been playing and Lebron James just being a

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Speaker 1: level better offensively than he was last year. But I

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Speaker 1: want to cut the give the Laker defense some credit

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Speaker 1: because that combination of real wing athleticism with what Lebron

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Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis can do on the backside cleaning things up,

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Speaker 1: has made them dominant. And this was a team that

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Speaker 1: the Pacers that put up one hundred and twenty two

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Speaker 1: points on the Celtics. This was a team that put

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Speaker 1: up one hundred and twenty eight points on the Bucks

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Speaker 1: and could not force tyres Aaliburton into a turnover. Lakers

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Speaker 1: held him to one oh nine and forced Alibert. Now,

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Speaker 1: Haliburtn's insane. You guys know how high I am on him.

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Speaker 1: I literally think he's on an all time great trajectory. Right,

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Speaker 1: twenty points and eleven assists tonight with three turnovers on

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Speaker 1: just fourteen shots, fourteen from the field, So like they

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Speaker 1: threw the kitchen sink at him, and he still put

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Speaker 1: up a really good stat line, which just goes to

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Speaker 1: show you how insanely good Tyre's Halliburton is. But this

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Speaker 1: is where I would be remiss if I didn't talk

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Speaker 1: about Anthony Davis and the fact that he's anchoring behind

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Speaker 1: all of that. Yes, the Lakers' point of attack defense

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Speaker 1: has been a revelation this year or something we did

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Speaker 1: not expect and something that has made their defense better

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Speaker 1: than we could have expected them to be to this

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Speaker 1: point in the season. That is true, But none of

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Speaker 1: this happens without Anthony Davis. Now, over the course of

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Speaker 1: the regular season, are there guys who try harder, more

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Speaker 1: consistently on a night in, night out basis, Yes? Are

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Speaker 1: there guys that are more reliable from an injury perspective, yes,

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Speaker 1: Although Anthony Davis has been on a good streak of

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Speaker 1: health basically since the trade deadline last year. Right, that's it.

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Speaker 1: When ad is locked in and engaged on the defensive

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Speaker 1: end of the floor. There is nobody in this league

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Speaker 1: that can reach his level defensively. He is the very best.

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Speaker 1: That is why the second best defense in the league,

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Speaker 1: Boston could not do to Tyres Halliburton what the Lakers

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Speaker 1: did to Tyrese haliburn. I'll talk about this concept all

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Speaker 1: the time, the idea of back end rotations in disrupting

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Speaker 1: at the point of attack. So if you blitz, if

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Speaker 1: you put two to the ball, lots of teams do this,

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Speaker 1: by the way, almost everybody does it to the elite

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Speaker 1: guards in the league, right, especially when they start cooking.

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Speaker 1: You got to get the ball out of their hands

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Speaker 1: at some point, right, Well, what happens is is they'll

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Speaker 1: put two to the ball. Tyres will makes some quick pass,

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Speaker 1: a quick feed on a pocket pass or a skip

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Speaker 1: pass or something like that, or a swing pass, and

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Speaker 1: then it's a quick four on three and it's boom

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Speaker 1: boom boom, layuper three point shot. Right. What makes it

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Speaker 1: difference is Anthony Davis and his ability at the level

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Speaker 1: of the screen and in blitz situations with high hands

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Speaker 1: and low hands to disrupt that pocket pass and to

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Speaker 1: disrupt that over the top pass. What ends up happening

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Speaker 1: is that pocket pass is maybe thrown at an angle

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Speaker 1: that's not great to where the role the short role

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Speaker 1: man is right, or that over the top pass instead

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Speaker 1: of it being a rifle pass over the top, it's

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Speaker 1: more floating over the top. Okay, But now who's on

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Speaker 1: the backside. It's Tori and Prince and Lebron James with

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Speaker 1: the starters right, it's Max Christy and Hatcha Mura with

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Speaker 1: the bench guys right, it's athletes on the backside. And

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Speaker 1: so when Anthony Davis buys you time by making that

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Speaker 1: pass difficult out of that blitz situation or showing high,

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Speaker 1: he makes it so that it's easy to rotate on

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Speaker 1: the backside, at least given the athleticism that the Lakers have.

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Speaker 1: And that was the strategy I expected from the Lakers

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Speaker 1: to start basically just rotating out on the backside, and

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Speaker 1: it worked again, allowed just one hundred and nine points

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Speaker 1: in this game after they put up one to twenty

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Speaker 1: two on the Celtics and one twenty eight on the Bucks.

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Speaker 1: Now on the other end of the floor, the Lakers

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Speaker 1: had a massive size advantage all over the floor. As

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Speaker 1: we know, right, there were two specific actions that were

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Speaker 1: working that I thought was really interesting. So Aaron Nesmith

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Speaker 1: was doing a really nice job on Lebron James with

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Speaker 1: his ball pressure. So one of the things the Lakers

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Speaker 1: did to counter that give the ball to Austin Reeves

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Speaker 1: and then Lebron was setting on ball picks. And basically

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Speaker 1: what was happening is the Pacers did not want to

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Speaker 1: switch that action, especially since for most of those bench

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Speaker 1: group situations it was a lot of like a TJ

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Speaker 1: McConnell there, and they didn't want to get TJ McConnell

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Speaker 1: on Lebron. So when he would set the screen on

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Speaker 1: TJ and they didn't switch, Austin's getting downhill. Why because

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Speaker 1: Aaron Nesmith doesn't know how to play drop coverage. He

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Speaker 1: doesn't know how to He's just Carlyle's telling him to

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Speaker 1: just bully Lebron all over the floor, right, So he's

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Speaker 1: staying glued up to Lebron, And so Austin Reeves started

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Speaker 1: getting downhill in making plays right. And then when they

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Speaker 1: did switch. There were a couple of times where they

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Speaker 1: switched and Lebron just got a nice inside seals over

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Speaker 1: the top pass and he was able to score make

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Speaker 1: passes out of that right and so the Austin lebron

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Speaker 1: two man game was a great counter for the Lakers

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Speaker 1: against the aeron Ne Smith ball pressure. And then they

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Speaker 1: were not switching the lebron Ad pick and roll with

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Speaker 1: Miles Turner, and that was where you saw the lob

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Speaker 1: pass and Lebron getting all the way down to the

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Speaker 1: rim and finishing with his right hand. And that's the thing, like,

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Speaker 1: like you, the Pacers don't have the personnel because they

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Speaker 1: don't have too big forwards to just switch that action.

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Speaker 1: You can't put aeron Ne Smith on Anthony Davis right

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Speaker 1: or Lebron on Myles Turner right. So they had to

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Speaker 1: run a traditional drop coverage and like we saw against

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Speaker 1: the Phoenix Suns, whenever Lebron sees a drop coverage, he

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Speaker 1: goes at it with Anthony Davis and pick and roll again.

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Speaker 1: Like Laker fans are always talking like why aren't the

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Speaker 1: Lakers running more lebron Ad pick and roll? Why aren't

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Speaker 1: they running more lebron Ad pick and roll. The vast

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Speaker 1: majority of teams out there just switch that action. That's

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Speaker 1: why they don't run it a lot. They usually have

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Speaker 1: a center in the forward and they live with the

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Speaker 1: center on Lebron and they live with the ford on

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, and the Pacers just couldn't get away with

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Speaker 1: doing that until Lebron was able to make plays in

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Speaker 1: pick and roll. And then late in the game when

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Speaker 1: they got Miles Turner and foul trouble, they ended up

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Speaker 1: going to Anthony Davis in the post against Jackson and

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Speaker 1: he just started drawing fouls and getting to the foul

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Speaker 1: line because Jackson can't guard him down there. And so

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Speaker 1: they really smart offensive thought process from the Lakers taking

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Speaker 1: advantage of what their advantages were. There were a lot

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Speaker 1: of people on Twitter saying, like, why aren't the Lakers

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Speaker 1: taking any threes? Why aren't the Lakers taking any threes? Now,

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Speaker 1: in the big picture, I think the Lakers should take

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Speaker 1: more threes because it's just from the same point in math,

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Speaker 1: something that could help their offense a little bit, right,

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Speaker 1: But it's matchup dependent in a one game sample size

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Speaker 1: against the Indiana Pacers, when you get a trophy at

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Speaker 1: the end of it, go to the damn paint because

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Speaker 1: that's where your advantage is. And so I loved that

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Speaker 1: the Lakers didn't settle for threes at the end of

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Speaker 1: the game, they took a few, but like they made

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Speaker 1: a few, I should say, I think Torrian Prince made

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Speaker 1: one and then cam Retis made one. But they weren't

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Speaker 1: taking a lot of threes because that just wasn't the

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Speaker 1: right offensive approach for that game. This is a team

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Speaker 1: that was giving up like four five six inches on

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Speaker 1: most of their most of their defensive matchups in this game.

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Speaker 1: That was their advantage. They stuck to it. That's how

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Speaker 1: they won. I think that again, just kind of looking

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Speaker 1: at the Lakers first, like that, to me is what

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Speaker 1: their identity is. And this is something I've been preaching

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Speaker 1: about all year. Don't worry about trading for DeRozan, don't

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Speaker 1: worry about trading for zach Lavine, trade for if you're

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Speaker 1: going to make a trade, go after a starter caliber

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Speaker 1: two way player, basically an upgraded version of a cam

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Speaker 1: reddish Er, an upgraded version of a Torrium Prince, so

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Speaker 1: that you can slot everybody a little bit better, so

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Speaker 1: you're better in a playoff series, because again, you know

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Speaker 1: there are going to be teams that are going to

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Speaker 1: Dare Camp that are going to be able to contain

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Speaker 1: La a little bit better on both on the when

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Speaker 1: they're on offense, and they're gonna do so by ignoring

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Speaker 1: Cam Reddish, by ignoring Jared Vanderbilt. Right, Like a team

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Speaker 1: like the Nuggets, they live with Anthony Davis on an

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Speaker 1: island against Jokic. They live with Lebron James on an

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Speaker 1: island against Aaron Gordon. And so again, it's better for me,

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Speaker 1: in my for the Lakers in my opinion, to lean

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Speaker 1: into what they're best at. This team's identity, in my

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Speaker 1: opinion is they are the best defensive team of the contenders, right,

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Speaker 1: Like the Bucks. It's like damianis pick and roll good luck, right.

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Speaker 1: The Nuggets, it's this incredible five man offense, right, and

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Speaker 1: then they defend at a high level as well. You

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Speaker 1: know the Celtics, it's driving kick basketball, and they do

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Speaker 1: a ton of switching on defense, and they can be

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Speaker 1: an elite perimeter defense. Right, Like every team kind of

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Speaker 1: has their identity. The Lakers are world beating defense, like

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Speaker 1: all time great defense. That's their identity. Like, we're just

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Speaker 1: going to maul you physically with our incredible defensive potential,

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Speaker 1: and on the other end of the floor, we're gonna

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Speaker 1: pick you apart with a bunch of really smart basketball players.

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Speaker 1: And so again, I think this tournament is a great

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Speaker 1: sign for the Lakers of what specifically they need to

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Speaker 1: do to reach their ultimate goal, which is to get

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Speaker 1: the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Defense. Defense, defense, that's how they win.

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Speaker 1: Don't try to be the Bucks training for Zach Lavine.

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Speaker 1: If you want to go get into a scoring contest

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Speaker 1: with some of these teams that are at the top

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Speaker 1: of the West and East, you're going to lose those

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Speaker 1: scoring contests because you're just not as good at it

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Speaker 1: as they are. But if you try to be better

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Speaker 1: on defense than everybody by a wide margin, that's your

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Speaker 1: best pathway to get the trophy. Anthony Davis the other

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Speaker 1: thing too. I talk a lot about him on the

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Speaker 1: defensive end of the floor, as we've done so far

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Speaker 1: in the show, but when he brings it offensively the

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Speaker 1: way that he did tonight, and again, it's just being

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Speaker 1: physically aggressive in the post, running the floor on offense

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Speaker 1: for opportunities, rolling hard to the rim. Obviously, the advantages

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Speaker 1: the Pacers presented to him in this game more important, right,

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Speaker 1: hit a little step back jump shot early in the

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Speaker 1: game as well, but him dominating down there on the

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Speaker 1: block that is the difference between the AD that could

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Speaker 1: be the sixth or seventh best player in the league,

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Speaker 1: in the AD that can be the second earth third

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Speaker 1: best player in the league. If he wants to enter

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Speaker 1: into that conversation. Offensive consistency is the gap there. But

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Speaker 1: like when it comes to his ceiling, his ceiling is

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Speaker 1: as high as anybody in the league because it's best

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Speaker 1: defensive player in the world, and he can give you

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Speaker 1: forty points if he's got physical advantages in the post,

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Speaker 1: and that's just what makes him such an incredibly dominant player.

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Speaker 1: He played one of the better individual games that I've

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Speaker 1: seen in a long time. Tonight w forty something and

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Speaker 1: twenty something just unbelievable from Anthony Davis. Austin Reeves twenty eight.

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Speaker 1: Tonight averaged twenty two points per game in this tournament,

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Speaker 1: twenty in the first game, seventeen in the second game.

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Speaker 1: Obviously lower in large part because they beat the living

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Speaker 1: shit out of the Pelicans, right, but once again chips

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Speaker 1: down big games, high stakes environment, Austin Reeves comes through

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Speaker 1: for you again. And I'm just so happy for Austin

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Speaker 1: because I literally could not believe how like a significant

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Speaker 1: portion of Laker fans were like off of the Austin

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Speaker 1: Reeves bandwagon after like fifteen bad regular season games, like

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Speaker 1: completely unfathomable to me, unfathible to unfathomable to me, Like

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Speaker 1: I just I just didn't understand it. And so once again,

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Speaker 1: like again, he was a huge factor in the Laker

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Speaker 1: offensive success tonight with the two man game with Lebron,

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Speaker 1: like we talked about earlier, just shout out to Austin

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Speaker 1: Reeves that dude is a big time player and Lebron

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Speaker 1: James winning the MVP obviously, tonight was a little different.

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Speaker 1: He was getting heavy ball pressure from Aaron Nesmith, who's

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Speaker 1: done a really good job all week. Thought he made

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Speaker 1: a bunch of really smart plays in this game to

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Speaker 1: take advantage of the downhill opportunities that were there, and

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Speaker 1: then he started making plays out of the post with

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Speaker 1: the pass as well. I thought he was magnificent in

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Speaker 1: this entire tournament, and I thought he deserved to win

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Speaker 1: the MVP in the big picture, because this is gonna

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Speaker 1: lead all the shows right tomorrow. What does this in

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Speaker 1: season tournament championship and MVP mean for Lebron James' legacy, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: that's what we're going to see all over the shows, right,

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Speaker 1: And this is really all I have to say about it.

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Speaker 1: It's not gonna change anybody's mind. There's no anti Lebron

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Speaker 1: guy that's gonna be like, oh, in season tournament, my

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Speaker 1: goat now, right. And in the big picture, what the

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Speaker 1: n season tournament means as an accomplishment is hard to

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Speaker 1: tell now because this is the first one. We don't

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Speaker 1: have a point of reference right now. Twenty years from now,

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Speaker 1: it might be different and you might look at it

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Speaker 1: as more of accounting accomplishment, right, So it's hard to

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Speaker 1: say what it means for his legacy in terms of

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Speaker 1: the court of public opinion. Here's what it says to me, though,

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Speaker 1: this dude is a winner. He always has been. It's

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Speaker 1: been one of the most underdiscussed things about his personality

390
00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:33,960
Speaker 1: just because he's jovial and has fun while he's on

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Speaker 1: the court, and some people just can't process that because

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Speaker 1: it's not Mamba mentality assassin behavior. Right, But like, here's

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Speaker 1: the thing, all thirty teams could have got that trophy.

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Speaker 1: Lebron wanted it and he went and got it, and that,

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Speaker 1: to me is one of the things that I've always

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Speaker 1: loved about Lebron and one of the reasons why I've

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Speaker 1: been such a big fan of him over the years, Like,

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Speaker 1: when push comes to shove, is the dude a performer, Yes, which,

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Speaker 1: by the way, is a post when you're the face

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Speaker 1: of the NBA embraced the fact that you're putting on

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00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:09,720
Speaker 1: a show, right like like it is. Has Lebron been

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Speaker 1: a little bit more jovial and a little bit more

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Speaker 1: passive at the end of games than Kobe Bryant or

404
00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:15,960
Speaker 1: some of the other guys through at NBA history, Sure,

405
00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:19,679
Speaker 1: But when push comes to shove, this dude puts winning

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Speaker 1: basketball games at the very top of his list of priorities,

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00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:24,960
Speaker 1: and in this era there has not been a single

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Speaker 1: player better at it than him, and arguably an NBA history,

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00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:34,199
Speaker 1: he's the best at When you're listing Lebron's traits, the

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00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:38,679
Speaker 1: first trade on that list is wins basketball games. Finds

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Speaker 1: a way to win basketball games. And like I think

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Speaker 1: his obsessive competitive nature and the simple fact that he

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Speaker 1: wanted this trophy and went to get it was an

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Speaker 1: encapsulation of everything that's made Lebron who he is and

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Speaker 1: in his career. He won the trophy tonight because he's

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Speaker 1: the same type of dude who won for Larry O'Brien trophies.

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Speaker 1: It's a continuation of that personality trait, and so, like again,

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Speaker 1: it's not gonna swing anybody's opinion, but for me as

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Speaker 1: a fan, I just had a faith that he was

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Speaker 1: gonna pull it off, because, like, it's Lebron James Man,

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Speaker 1: four time NBA champion, Lebron James a guy that a

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Speaker 1: guy that just a guy that when he sees that

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Speaker 1: goal and he has an opportunity to get it, there's

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Speaker 1: literally nobody in this era that can stop him from

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Speaker 1: getting to that point, right, And I just shout out

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Speaker 1: to Lebron Man because, like again, it's not gonna go

427
00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:41,320
Speaker 1: down with his accomplishments in terms of what he's done

428
00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:43,960
Speaker 1: in June, but I can just tell you as a fan,

429
00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:48,159
Speaker 1: watching him in this tournament was really fun because like

430
00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,560
Speaker 1: he just he just he just fucking wanted it, man,

431
00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:53,760
Speaker 1: He just he just wanted it, and he went and

432
00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,320
Speaker 1: got it and played incredible doing it. His game against

433
00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:00,560
Speaker 1: the Pelicans, we didn't even see this stat in time

434
00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:04,760
Speaker 1: for our instant reaction that night, but thirty points, five

435
00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:06,880
Speaker 1: rebounds of five assists in less than twenty three minutes

436
00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:08,359
Speaker 1: first time in NBA history. It was one of the

437
00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,520
Speaker 1: most incredible individual performances we've ever seen, and then ad

438
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:13,520
Speaker 1: followed it up with one of the most incredible individual

439
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:17,119
Speaker 1: performances we've ever seen tonight. So shout out to Lebron again, Like,

440
00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:21,359
Speaker 1: I just I can't believe he's still doing this, and

441
00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:26,639
Speaker 1: I obviously the the Larry O'Brien is what he's truly after,

442
00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,480
Speaker 1: but I thought it was cool that he I think

443
00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,520
Speaker 1: this was great for the NBA simply from the standpoint

444
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:36,520
Speaker 1: of him adding legitimacy to it. Because if Lebron James

445
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:41,800
Speaker 1: in a four time NBA champion thirty nine years old,

446
00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,840
Speaker 1: was like, I want that trophy. That's gonna set a

447
00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,680
Speaker 1: tone year and in year out. That's gonna get everybody

448
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:50,479
Speaker 1: to want that trophy. And I think it was the

449
00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:53,160
Speaker 1: best possible thing that could happen for the Lakers last

450
00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:54,520
Speaker 1: take before we get out of here on the n

451
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,680
Speaker 1: season Tournament. I loved it. One thing I would say, though,

452
00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:00,880
Speaker 1: is I would push it from full four pool play

453
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:02,720
Speaker 1: games up to six. I don't know if they need

454
00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:05,560
Speaker 1: to kind of move around the way the actual pools worked,

455
00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:10,119
Speaker 1: but I think I think if you ideally the single elimination,

456
00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,120
Speaker 1: you want to make it so that it's easier for

457
00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:15,160
Speaker 1: the better teams in the league to get in, right,

458
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,640
Speaker 1: Like you want to see the Denver Nuggets in that tournament, right,

459
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:20,320
Speaker 1: Like you want to see you want to see the

460
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:22,159
Speaker 1: best teams in the league get into that tournament. Now,

461
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:24,240
Speaker 1: they a lot of them were, right the Lakers in

462
00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:27,760
Speaker 1: my top tier contenders I had, the Celtics were in it,

463
00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,280
Speaker 1: the Bucks were in it, and the Lakers were in it,

464
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:32,879
Speaker 1: and the Suns were in it. So four of my

465
00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:36,240
Speaker 1: preseason top six contenders were in it, and the two

466
00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:37,919
Speaker 1: that didn't get in where the Warriors in the in

467
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:41,040
Speaker 1: the Nuggets, right, but even like Minnesota not getting in

468
00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:44,520
Speaker 1: because of an n season tournament loss, right, Like, if

469
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,280
Speaker 1: you push it to six, couple things like I think

470
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,640
Speaker 1: next year the teams are gonna really see the importance

471
00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,560
Speaker 1: of each individual pool play game and understand like, oh shit,

472
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:56,960
Speaker 1: you can go three and one and not get in, right,

473
00:22:57,240 --> 00:22:59,479
Speaker 1: and they'll take it more seriously. But I think if

474
00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:01,200
Speaker 1: you push it from four to six, it just makes

475
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,560
Speaker 1: it a little bit more likely for a team to

476
00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:06,359
Speaker 1: be able to weather like a hey Jamal Murray missed

477
00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:09,240
Speaker 1: a game because of a hammy and we were still

478
00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:11,920
Speaker 1: able to get into the tournament. And now Jamal's healthy

479
00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,320
Speaker 1: and we're playing single elimination games, right, So like that'd

480
00:23:14,359 --> 00:23:16,359
Speaker 1: be the one tweek I'd make. But other than that,

481
00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:18,479
Speaker 1: I thought it was amazing simply because it gave us

482
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:20,600
Speaker 1: something different in the middle of the regular season instead

483
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,800
Speaker 1: of just going October November, December, January, February, Okay, brief

484
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:26,680
Speaker 1: break for trade the line. This is cool. Some stuff

485
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,920
Speaker 1: happened March April, Okay, Now we're finally in the playoffs

486
00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:33,480
Speaker 1: instead now it's like October November, oh, in season tournament,

487
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:35,760
Speaker 1: and then it's like January February. Oh, now we're like.

488
00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:38,720
Speaker 1: It kind of breaks up the monotony of the regular season,

489
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,719
Speaker 1: which I think served a really cool purpose within this season.

490
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:43,520
Speaker 1: All right, guys, that is all I have for the

491
00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:45,359
Speaker 1: rest of this weekend. I'll see you on Monday for

492
00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:47,600
Speaker 1: power rankings, and then we have Jovan Buja from the

493
00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:49,560
Speaker 1: Athletic to come on to do a Lakers deep dive

494
00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,600
Speaker 1: like we usually have once every other week. Then Tuesday

495
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:54,760
Speaker 1: next week we've got Chris Mannix coming on to do

496
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,040
Speaker 1: a Celtics deep dive, and then I think the slate

497
00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:00,640
Speaker 1: on Tuesday night is crazy, like all sorts of playoff

498
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,359
Speaker 1: teams playing against each other, so I think we're probably

499
00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:04,280
Speaker 1: gonna work on Tuesday nights. I'll see you guys then

500
00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,080
Speaker 1: as well. All right, have a good weekend. I'll see

501
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:34,560
Speaker 1: you on Monday. The Volume