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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, well go to him tonight here

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Speaker 1: at the volume. Happy Friday, everybody. Hope all of you

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Speaker 1: guys are having a great end to your week.

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Speaker 2: Have a jam pack show for you guys. Today.

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Speaker 1: We were originally gonna do contender rankings, but we looked

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Speaker 1: at the slate and the slate was insane. We get

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Speaker 1: a Celtic's Thunder show down, we have a Nugget Spurs showdown. Luka,

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Speaker 1: Doncic goes for fifty one points. I wanted to focus

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Speaker 1: on some games this morning instead, so Jackson and I

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Speaker 1: took a look at the calendar and next Tuesday night

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Speaker 1: as the next time. We have like a relatively weak slate.

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Speaker 1: So next Wednesday we'll have our contender rankings. I'm really

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Speaker 1: kind of parsing out which teams and which tiers. I'm

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Speaker 1: really gonna start to refine it into some smaller tiers.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna talk a little bit about that in today's show.

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Speaker 1: So Contender rankings moving to next Wednesday. Today, we're gonna

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Speaker 1: hit Celtics Thunder, Nugget Spur as well as Lakers Bowls.

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Speaker 1: And again I'm sorry about my voice, guys, bear with me.

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Speaker 1: I'm finally starting to feel better from this flu, but

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Speaker 1: of course it's got the lingering effects that I'll be

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Speaker 1: dealing with for a little while. You guys are the

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Speaker 1: job before we got started. Subscribe to the Hoops Sent

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Speaker 1: Out YouTube channels you don't miss any more of our videos.

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Speaker 1: Make sure you like this video and sign up for

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Speaker 1: post notifications. That helps us a lot in the last

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Speaker 1: but not at least if you do want to get

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Speaker 1: in mail back questions. No mail bag this week, obviously

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Speaker 1: under the circumstances, but we'll have one next Friday, so

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Speaker 1: drop them in the comments and we'll get to them

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Speaker 1: on Fridays throughout the rest of the season.

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Speaker 2: All right, let's talk some basketball.

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Speaker 1: So Celtics Thunder a showdown of two of the most

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Speaker 1: impressive organizations in the NBA right now, front offices with

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Speaker 1: an extended track record of not only having a basketball

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Speaker 1: philosophy that they believe in that is consistent, but finding

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Speaker 1: quality talent at every level of the draft and even

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Speaker 1: in free agency around the league to find players that

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Speaker 1: fit into that basketball philosophy. Elite head coaches. I was

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Speaker 1: texting with Jackson after the or during the game yesterday.

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Speaker 1: Omasoula in particular is entering into a discussion for me

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Speaker 1: with like, I think you could absolutely make the case

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Speaker 1: that he's the best coach in the league in terms

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Speaker 1: of the level of detail that he's built into their

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Speaker 1: driving kick offense and the kinds of the kinds of

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Speaker 1: buying that he gets from his players and executing that

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Speaker 1: offense as well as defending the way that they defend.

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Speaker 1: I just think Missoula is amazing. Mark Degnold is also

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Speaker 1: an amazing coach.

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Speaker 2: In this league.

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Speaker 1: And then talented rosters that are bought in to the

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Speaker 1: goal of what the team is trying to accomplish. It's

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Speaker 1: a synergy throughout the organization that has manifested in those

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Speaker 1: crazy net ratings that we've talked about. You know that,

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Speaker 1: Like when you list all the players in the league

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Speaker 1: that have the top net ratings, it's a bunch of

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Speaker 1: Celtics and Thunder players. And I think it has a

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Speaker 1: lot to do with that culture from the top down

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Speaker 1: in these organizations. The defensive intensity for both teams was

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Speaker 1: immediately apparent in this one. At any given moment, there

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Speaker 1: were like a half dozen awesome defensive players on the floor.

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Speaker 1: The level of ball pressure, the speed on the perimeter,

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Speaker 1: and rotation, the way the teams were executing their schemes

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Speaker 1: on both ends, the force really really high level basketball.

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Speaker 1: I really really enjoyed watching this game. I think it's

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Speaker 1: a Finals preview potentially as well. Like if you were

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Speaker 1: to ask a random group of one hundred people what

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Speaker 1: their five most likely potential Finals matchups would be, I'm

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Speaker 1: pretty sure this one would make the list for everyone.

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Speaker 1: And I was trying to do a deep dive in

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Speaker 1: it with that as the focus. The Celtics put up

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Speaker 1: a hell of a fight without Tatum and without Derek

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Speaker 1: White obviously, the thunder Down a couple of key players

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Speaker 1: as well Isah Hartenstein and Jalen Williams. Boston's Wings did

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Speaker 1: a fantastic job keeping the game close with their corner

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Speaker 1: crash crashes. They won a lot of fifty to fifty balls,

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Speaker 1: getting to like long rebounds, things along those lines. The

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Speaker 1: Celtics had a twenty three to thirteen second chance points

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Speaker 1: advantage in this battle, and that's one thing that we

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Speaker 1: have seen, like especially when you have bigger athletes, and

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Speaker 1: you know, when we're talking about Baylor Shireman, when we're

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Speaker 1: talking about Jordan Walls or Hugo Gonzalez like there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of like taller, bigger types of perimeter players than

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Speaker 1: what Oklahoma City has, and so when even when both

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Speaker 1: teams are playing really hard, Boston is gonna get to

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Speaker 1: a lot of those fifty to fifty balls with the

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Speaker 1: types of athletes that they have.

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Speaker 2: On the floor.

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Speaker 1: That twenty three to thirteen second chance points advantage was

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Speaker 1: a big thing that made up for the gap in

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Speaker 1: the efficiency between like Jylen Brown and Shake kild As Alexander,

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Speaker 1: for example. I didn't think Jalen had the most efficient

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Speaker 1: game ever. That's obvious, but that's not really his game.

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Speaker 1: Like he's never been a sixty percent true shooting player

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Speaker 1: at any point in his NBA career.

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Speaker 2: He's a volume score.

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Speaker 1: He gets him up, And I thought he did a

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Speaker 1: great job against Oklahoma City last night of attacking with physicality,

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Speaker 1: like okay, see, he did a really nice job of

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Speaker 1: avoiding precarious switches they were fighting through screens. They did

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Speaker 1: some pre switching too, or like they'd be attacking a

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Speaker 1: defender but then like a third defender would come in

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Speaker 1: and switch on to Jalen instead, And so he ended

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Speaker 1: up getting a lot of like Lou Dort and Alex

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Speaker 1: Caruso on an island, and like somehow Jalen just kept

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Speaker 1: plow going through those guys to get to his spots.

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Speaker 1: It honestly was a super impressive and casual reminder that

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Speaker 1: Jalen is an APEX athlete amongst APEX athletes.

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Speaker 2: I said this on the show before. Jason Tatum is

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Speaker 2: a more.

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Speaker 1: Complete offensive player than Jalen, but Jalen is an absolute

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Speaker 1: monster to handle one on one on an island, and

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Speaker 1: he might be like substantially better than Tatum in that

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Speaker 1: regard and one of the best players in the league

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Speaker 1: specifically at that skill. And again, like you're talking about big,

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Speaker 1: strong defenders in Lou Dort and Alex Cruz, so in Jalen.

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Speaker 2: I talk about this a lot on drives.

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Speaker 1: You know you're not going to cleanly beat great defenders

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Speaker 1: typically anyway, but you get a defender very slightly out

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Speaker 1: of position, it becomes like a shoulder leverage contest. I'm driving,

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Speaker 1: if I'm driving left, I'm dropping that right shoulder. I'm

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Speaker 1: trying to get lower than you and I'm trying to

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Speaker 1: blow through that gap. And if I'm the defender as

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Speaker 1: I'm sliding, same exact thing. I'm trying to hold this

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Speaker 1: shoulder as best as I can to stop you from

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Speaker 1: turning the corner, and Jalen was just blowing through that

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Speaker 1: shoulder and like getting to where he needed again. It

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Speaker 1: was the most efficient thing in the world. And there

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Speaker 1: were a lot of like plays where you thought Jalen

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Speaker 1: was like hunting for contact in there and wasn't getting calls.

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Speaker 1: But like, I was just impressed generally by how physically

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Speaker 1: aggressive Jalen was and how successful he was getting to

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Speaker 1: his spots. Mark Degnell had a very impressive decision. So

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Speaker 1: Jalen ends up hitting this tough little right shoulder fade.

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Speaker 1: He's a very similar sequence to what I was talking about,

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Speaker 1: where he's trying to get a switch, can't get the switch,

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Speaker 1: has no choice put to attack lou Dort one on one,

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Speaker 1: loses his balance somehow regains his balance and then fades

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Speaker 1: over his right shoulder, gets great lift, shoots a moon

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Speaker 1: ball that goes into the basket and ties the game.

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Speaker 1: Really really impressive shot from Jalen Brown, and Mark Degnell

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Speaker 1: makes this very impressive, like split second decision after Jalen's

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Speaker 1: bucket to let shake Gilds as Alexander go to work

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Speaker 1: without a timeout, so Shaye brings Abo off the floor.

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Speaker 1: The Celtics had gone small for that offensive possession, so

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Speaker 1: they had no center on the floor to match up

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Speaker 1: with Chet. The Celtics finally send a hard double team

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Speaker 1: at Shay. I say finally because it felt like for

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Speaker 1: the last two weeks teams were just content to let

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Speaker 1: Shay go one on one, even though he seems to

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Speaker 1: never miss. Most teams were letting him go one on one,

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Speaker 1: including the Celtics on several possessions leading into that possession.

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Speaker 1: So Joe Mazula finally says, screw that, We're gonna get

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Speaker 1: the ball out of Shay's hands. They send a hard

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Speaker 1: double team. They pre rotate over from the weak side corner.

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Speaker 1: Shaye makes a very nice read to skip past Alex Caruso.

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Speaker 2: In the left corner.

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Speaker 1: Alex gets a good look, he puts it up and

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Speaker 1: he misses. But the problem is no big on the floor,

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Speaker 1: so Chet has a massive size advantage underneath the basket.

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Speaker 1: Skies for the rebound, draws a foul and ends that game.

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Speaker 1: So very impressive win for the Thunder off of that

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Speaker 1: snap decision for Mark Deagnall on that final possession. I

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Speaker 1: want to come back to Shae for a minute here,

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Speaker 1: though I did not view this as an MVP showdown.

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Speaker 1: Jlen Brown could have gone for fifty and Shay could

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Speaker 1: have been bad.

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Speaker 2: And it wouldn't have changed anything for me.

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Speaker 1: I think Jalen's had a very impressive season, but I

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Speaker 1: don't view Jalen as a legitimate MVP candidate. I've been

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Speaker 1: surprised at some of the discussion that I've seen in

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Speaker 1: the national media surrounding that there are some obvious things

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Speaker 1: with the on off numbers that show he's not having

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Speaker 1: as large of an impact on winning as the other candidates.

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Speaker 1: But you know me, I don't like to lean solely

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Speaker 1: on the numbers. I want to look at what I'm

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Speaker 1: seeing with my eyes, and for me, it's even simpler

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Speaker 1: than that.

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Speaker 2: Like, he's a.

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Speaker 1: Great scorer, but he's nowhere near the volume and efficiency

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Speaker 1: scorer that the top scorers in the league are. He's

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Speaker 1: shown growth as a playmaker, but he's still deeply flawed

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Speaker 1: as a playmaker, and again, the rest of the stars

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Speaker 1: at the top of the league are just way better

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Speaker 1: at it. And he's probably the best perimeter defender of

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Speaker 1: all of the top ten players in the NBA. But

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Speaker 1: with the increased usage, it hasn't been his best defensive season.

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Speaker 1: I don't think that's been like a huge feather in

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Speaker 1: his cap this year. So Jalen's great. Super impressed by him.

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Speaker 1: I think he's proven a lot of things about himself

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Speaker 1: this season, and I even really enjoyed watching him last night.

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Speaker 2: I was very impressed by him last night.

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Speaker 1: But I just don't think he's an m VP type

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Speaker 1: of basketball player, at least not yet. I think there's

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Speaker 1: another leap that he would have to take to get

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Speaker 1: to that level. But Shay once again was absolutely unbelievable

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Speaker 1: down the stretch. He was seven for eight from the field.

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Speaker 1: Fourteen points was zero turnover. Excuse me, fourteen points in

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Speaker 1: just the fourth quarter was zero turnovers. He's now up

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Speaker 1: to forty six made clutch field goals this season. That's

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Speaker 1: one back of Anthony Edwards for the most in the league.

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Speaker 1: If you know how, I always use per thirty six

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Speaker 1: as like a kind of like a way to scale

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Speaker 1: up or down based on the amount of minutes a

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Speaker 1: guy's playing. Shay is scoring at a rate of forty

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Speaker 1: nine points per thirty six minutes in clutch situations that

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Speaker 1: is completely insane. Just in these last four clutch games

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Speaker 1: against Golden State, New York, Denver, and Boston, he's eight

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Speaker 1: for thirteen on clutch shots, four for seven on clutch

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Speaker 1: threes in the Thunder are plus sixteen in those clutch minutes.

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Speaker 1: When he's on the floor, you literally can't stop this

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Speaker 1: guy from getting to his spot for a pull up

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Speaker 1: jump shot, and he's just not miss seeing them. Right now,

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Speaker 1: a close game against the Thunder is kind of a

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Speaker 1: terrifying experience because as Shay has the ball, especially when

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Speaker 1: he's working one on one, you're basically sitting there powerless,

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Speaker 1: and you feel like there's almost no chance you're going

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Speaker 1: to be able to stop him from getting to a

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Speaker 1: shot he can hit a very high percentage of the time.

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Speaker 1: Shae's on a special run. Again, I've been in the

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Speaker 1: frame of mind thinking about contenders again and I'm trying

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Speaker 1: to parse them into more refined tiers, and again that'll

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Speaker 1: be coming out next Wednesday. I'm very tempted right now

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Speaker 1: to put Oklahoma City in a tier of their own,

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Speaker 1: specifically because of how good Shay has been looking as

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Speaker 1: a blade. I just think when you pair an unstoppable

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Speaker 1: scorer like him with the best defense in the NBA

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Speaker 1: and enough play finishing off of it, like again like

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Speaker 1: aj Mitchell, huge corner three out of the right corner

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Speaker 1: chet the ability to that's a form of play finishing

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Speaker 1: when you have a size finish, a size advantage underneath

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Speaker 1: the basket, and you get offensive rebounding. Like the combination

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Speaker 1: of play finishing, Shae is an unstoppable scorer in that

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Speaker 1: elite defense. I just think that's really really difficult to

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Speaker 1: beat four times in two weeks. And so we'll see

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Speaker 1: how I end up landing mentally when I finally put

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Speaker 1: the list together for Wednesday, but I'm strongly considering just

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Speaker 1: putting them on a tier by themselves. That combination of

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Speaker 1: how great Shay is right now and how good this

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Speaker 1: defense is is really really tough to imagine somebody beating. Lastly,

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Speaker 1: before we move on just big picture with the Celtics

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Speaker 1: and the Thunder, I do there was a time when

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Speaker 1: I would have thought that Boston was kind of like

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Speaker 1: out of their depth in this matchup for a playoff series,

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Speaker 1: just because Oklahoma City, in many ways is just a

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Speaker 1: better version of what Boston likes to do. A driving

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Speaker 1: kick team, but with better ability to generate dribble penetration

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Speaker 1: because aj Mitchell and j dub are better drivers than

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Speaker 1: guys like Tatum and Derek White, for example, and you

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Speaker 1: Shay is just a better basketball player than both Jaylen

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Speaker 1: Brown and Jason Tatum, and I actually feel differently about

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Speaker 1: that now. I actually think Boston. I would pick Oklahoma

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Speaker 1: City to beat Boston in a playoff series, to be clear,

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Speaker 1: if they were to meet in the finals, but I

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Speaker 1: think Boston has a better chance to hang physically. They're

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Speaker 1: just a little bit on the perimeter, and I think

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Speaker 1: that that is a consistent thing that I've seen that

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Speaker 1: has given Oklahoma City some issues, that combination of being

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Speaker 1: big and physical in the perimeter while also having the

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Speaker 1: ability to protect the rim with that Niemi kay to

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Speaker 1: look for example. So again like I would pick Oklahoma

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Speaker 1: City in a series against Boston, but if I was

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Speaker 1: a Celtic span I would feel good about having a

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Speaker 1: puncher's chance in that type of matchup after what I

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Speaker 1: saw last night, because of how they were able to

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Speaker 1: physically cause problems for Oklahoma City at various spots on

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Speaker 1: the floor. And again like Jalen Brown being able to

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Speaker 1: stare down guys like Alex Cruso and Lou Dort and

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Speaker 1: get two feet in the paint. I think is a

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Speaker 1: real asset in a playoff series when you get into

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Speaker 1: a static half court environment. So impressive showing for Boston,

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Speaker 1: even more impressive for Oklahoma City. I just can't get

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Speaker 1: enough of this run from Shay. I've just been super,

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Speaker 1: super impressed by him. I'm super excited to tell you

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Speaker 1: love their ath leisure stuff. I wear that stuff on

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Speaker 2: All right.

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Speaker 1: Nuggets Spurs another game where I left impressed by both teams.

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Speaker 1: The Spurs were without Victor Women Yama, so of course

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Speaker 1: their guards went nuclear. The Nuggets couldn't guard Steph Castle

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Speaker 1: all night long. He was getting into the paint seemingly

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Speaker 1: at will and consistently had the Nuggets out of position,

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Speaker 1: so he's getting to the line. A ton thirty point

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Speaker 1: triple double for Steph as he continues to be one

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Speaker 1: of the most impressive young players in the league. Dearon

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Speaker 1: Fox was killing it with the nugget or killing the

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Speaker 1: Nuggets with his usual mix of like downhill speed and

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Speaker 1: jump shooting over the top. Devin Vessel hit four threes.

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Speaker 1: Dylan Harper had yet another impressive game attacking the rim.

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Speaker 1: The Spurs deployed a small ball look when Cornett was

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Speaker 1: off the floor with Victor Woman Yama out for the game,

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Speaker 1: and it was flat out terrifying.

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Speaker 2: They went for it in.

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Speaker 1: The late first quarter, and then they went for it

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Speaker 1: again in the late third quarter. In the early fourth quarter,

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Speaker 1: and it just is an insane amount of speed and

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Speaker 1: ball handling on the floor that Denver really struggled with.

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Speaker 1: They were getting stops and getting out in transition and

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Speaker 1: getting easy ones there. They were spacing the floor and

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Speaker 1: just cutting the Nuggets to pieces in the half court.

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Speaker 1: The Nuggets did finally have some success against their small

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Speaker 1: ball look in the mid fourth quarter. We'll get to

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Speaker 1: that in a minute, but it was a really successful

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Speaker 1: unit for San Antonio. They were plus six last night

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Speaker 1: in their centerless groups. Carter Bryant had a really fun

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Speaker 1: first half shift. He just looks like that prototypical Swiss

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Speaker 1: army knife forward and I have a feeling he's going

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Speaker 1: to be a super important player for the Spurs in

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Speaker 1: the long run. What a great pickup for them to

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Speaker 1: find a guy like that in the draft last year,

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Speaker 1: and it will be fun for me to root for

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Speaker 1: a guy from the University of Arizona. During this Wembe

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Speaker 1: era sequence in the first half where he was kind

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Speaker 1: of battling with Yokic on the right block and he's

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Speaker 1: putting his elbow in his back and really shoving him

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Speaker 1: off his spot, rebound comes in long and he holds

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Speaker 1: Jokic down and is able to actually extend and beat

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Speaker 1: Yolkic to the rebound outlets it sprints up the floor

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Speaker 1: and ends up hitting a three. It's a massive sequence

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Speaker 1: during that first half run for them, and I was like,

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Speaker 1: first of all, that's an incredibly impressive physical play and

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Speaker 1: beating Jokic to an offensive rebound, But also like, when

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Speaker 1: you want to run small ball looks, you gotta have

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Speaker 1: big forwards that can guard even bigger players hang on

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Speaker 1: the glass, but that also have the ability to capitalize

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Speaker 1: with the speed advantage. And I think Carter Bryant represents

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Speaker 1: the guy that can help unlock that look for them.

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Speaker 1: I think the Spurs are going to use that as

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Speaker 1: one of their primary looks here as they continue to

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Speaker 1: build it out in the coming years. The Spurs really

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Speaker 1: had this under control for the most part until the

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Speaker 1: start of the fourth quarter. The Nuggets starters made a

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Speaker 1: nice run to start the second half, so early third quarter,

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Speaker 1: the cornet groups right in the middle of the third

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Speaker 1: quarter made a nice little push that pushed it just

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Speaker 1: out to like nine or eleven points or so. Then

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Speaker 1: the small ball group comes back in for the Spurs

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Speaker 1: and causes the same problems that that they caused the

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Speaker 1: Nuggets in the first half, they pushed the lead back

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Speaker 1: out to sixteen. But then to start the fourth quarter,

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Speaker 1: one coach didn't make an adjustment. One coach did. Mitch

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Speaker 1: Johnson goes back to Mason Plumbley to start the fourth quarter.

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Speaker 1: Mason Plumbley actually had a decent That unit had a

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Speaker 1: decent first half shift. It was in the start of

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Speaker 1: the second quarter, but it was against a Yonis Valancunis

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Speaker 1: led group where they were positive. David Adaman makes the adjustment.

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Speaker 1: He goes away from that plumb Lee group or from

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Speaker 1: that ye Valentunis group, and he goes to a small

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Speaker 1: ball group. So in the early fourth quarter we get

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Speaker 1: that inverse of that effect that the Spurs were using

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Speaker 1: against Denver, we have a small ball unit for Denver

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Speaker 1: up against this Mason Plumley led group for San Antonio.

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Speaker 1: Mason Plumbley, because of the small ball look, ends up

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Speaker 1: having to guard a perimeter player. He ends up guarding

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Speaker 1: Spencer Jones. Jamal Murray just immediately starts attacking Mason Plumley

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Speaker 1: and ball screens over and over and over again, and

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Speaker 1: Spencer what does a brilliant job of just beating Plumbley

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Speaker 1: with basic play finishing against drop coverage. So set a

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Speaker 1: couple of picking pops where he hits a couple of threes,

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Speaker 1: has one where he rolls to the middle of the

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Speaker 1: floor and hits a floater in the middle of the lane.

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Speaker 1: Spencer was phenomenal. He had nineteen points in this game,

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Speaker 1: but him burning that plumbly drop coverage over and over

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Speaker 1: again in that fourth quarter because again all it is

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Speaker 1: is Jamal comes off the screen, Jamal's man is chasing

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Speaker 1: Plumbley is engaged in the drops two on the ball.

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Speaker 1: Very simple set of play finishing sequences like the one

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Speaker 1: where Jamal came way off to the right. He ends

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Speaker 1: up hitting Spencer right in the middle of the lane.

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Speaker 1: That's when he hits the floater, but a couple easy

402
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Speaker 1: pick and pops as well. The lead immediately evaporates, and

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Speaker 1: as the lead ev operates all of a sudden, Mitch

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00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,560
Speaker 1: Johnson's in a tough position. He ends up pulling the

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00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,119
Speaker 1: plug pretty quickly unplumbly. It's about nine minutes left in

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Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, so in a three minute span, Denver

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00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:01,600
Speaker 1: completely erases the lead. Mitch Johnson goes back to his

408
00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:04,240
Speaker 1: small ball group and it kind of stabilizes for just

409
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Speaker 1: a couple of minutes. They push the lead back up

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Speaker 1: to like four San Antonio. In that middle fourth quarter,

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Speaker 1: it looks like they're in a strong position. Then Jokic

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Speaker 1: comes back and Denver finally plays a good stretch against

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Speaker 1: that small ball group, finally want to shift against them.

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Speaker 1: I thought it was their team defense in the fourth

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Speaker 1: quarter that was really impressive. Again, it's the speed that

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Speaker 1: was really cutting them apart. And so there has to

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Speaker 1: be a level of intensity. I'm gonna talk about this

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Speaker 1: when we talk Lakers, But you can't be big and

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Speaker 1: also not playing as hard because then you're just gonna

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Speaker 1: get cut to pieces by speed. When you're big and

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Speaker 1: playing against a small ball group, you gotta run, you

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Speaker 1: gotta run, and you gotta be flying around, especially the

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Speaker 1: faster players that you do have on the floor.

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Speaker 2: And I thought.

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Speaker 1: Jokic had this like possessed stretch of defense in the

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Speaker 1: second half when he was trying to reassertain control, about

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Speaker 1: as aggressive as I've ever seen him be going for

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Speaker 1: blocks and deflections. He had five stocks last night, three

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00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,200
Speaker 1: steals and two blocks to go with a casual thirty

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Speaker 1: twenty and ten and insane to call a Jokic game.

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Speaker 1: Everyone else on the floor was flying around. I thought

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Speaker 1: Cam Johnson and Spencer Jones in particular were great flying around,

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Speaker 1: like helping recover situations during that run. They were finally

434
00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:10,240
Speaker 1: able to get the stops that they needed, and then

435
00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:11,800
Speaker 1: Jamal murray shot making.

436
00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:13,640
Speaker 2: Carried them home late in the game. Jamal goes five

437
00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:14,879
Speaker 2: to seven in the fourth quarter.

438
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:17,800
Speaker 1: He has three assists, all to Spencer Jones to start

439
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,119
Speaker 1: the quarter, zero turnovers in the whole quarter, a wide

440
00:20:21,240 --> 00:20:23,800
Speaker 1: array of difficult shots, A tough pull up three at

441
00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:25,320
Speaker 1: the top of the key off of a step back,

442
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,960
Speaker 1: a crazy one handed like leaning fade away over Luke

443
00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,000
Speaker 1: Cornette off of a spin move on the left block,

444
00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:34,280
Speaker 1: this like drifting pull up two on the right baseline,

445
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:35,679
Speaker 1: just unbelievable shot.

446
00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:36,679
Speaker 2: Making, over and over again.

447
00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:38,760
Speaker 1: He had this shot that helped ice the game in

448
00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,679
Speaker 1: the final minutes where he's going against a drop coverage

449
00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,800
Speaker 1: look and he goes into his spin move into a

450
00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,240
Speaker 1: right handed floater and the Spurs defended did extremely well.

451
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,960
Speaker 1: He was sandwiched on both sides and he barely had

452
00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:53,879
Speaker 1: the tiniest window to sneak this little floater up that

453
00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:56,280
Speaker 1: he made, and it was a classic example of this

454
00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:58,399
Speaker 1: dynamic that I always talk about when I talk about

455
00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:01,520
Speaker 1: like high level scoring. When I talk about high level scoring,

456
00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:04,439
Speaker 1: I always say it's a combination of Like there's the

457
00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:06,639
Speaker 1: skill piece, like you got to have the touch and

458
00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:08,760
Speaker 1: the ball handling and the jump shooting ability and all

459
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,400
Speaker 1: those different things. Then there's like an audacity element. There's

460
00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:14,880
Speaker 1: got to be like this absurd confidence to be able

461
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:19,240
Speaker 1: to take difficult shots. You know, like the shot that

462
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,320
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray made on that spin move. It's not a

463
00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:25,359
Speaker 1: good read technically he's not open, right, But great scorers

464
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,359
Speaker 1: have to be taking shots on occasion that are not

465
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:33,439
Speaker 1: necessarily the best reads because great defenses don't necessarily leave openings.

466
00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,200
Speaker 1: Sometimes against great defense, a tough shot is the best

467
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:37,760
Speaker 1: thing you can hope for. But you got to have

468
00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:40,600
Speaker 1: guys that can actually hit those shots. But the third

469
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,080
Speaker 1: piece of it, there's a skill piece, and there's an

470
00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:47,000
Speaker 1: audacity piece. There's always been like a creativity piece, like

471
00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:50,640
Speaker 1: an improvisation piece. So much of that really high level

472
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:54,560
Speaker 1: scoring is in the moment, purely on instinct against an

473
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,880
Speaker 1: elite defense, to be able to unleash something that's maybe

474
00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,080
Speaker 1: a little unorthodox, a different relief angle on a shot,

475
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,760
Speaker 1: maybe a little bit funky footwork on a shot, maybe

476
00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:09,359
Speaker 1: a type of like you know, in this particular case

477
00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 1: like this, like spinning right handed floater going across your body,

478
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:16,400
Speaker 1: Like it's just a very unorthodox type of shot. But again,

479
00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:19,679
Speaker 1: it's like when you have that creativity, so you're able

480
00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:21,920
Speaker 1: because if you think of your skills, it's not as

481
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,119
Speaker 1: like there's like robotics skill, which is like the stuff

482
00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:27,720
Speaker 1: that you work on in drills, right, like a.

483
00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:29,840
Speaker 2: Wonderable pull up going left, a wonderable.

484
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,600
Speaker 1: Pull up going right, like different little things like pump,

485
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,600
Speaker 1: fake rip, a close out, like really fundamental robotic stuff.

486
00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:38,520
Speaker 1: But generally speaking, when you're in those like really tight

487
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:42,000
Speaker 1: space environments, the robotic stuff doesn't work. Sometimes you have

488
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,399
Speaker 1: to pick and choose from your skills and piece together

489
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:47,480
Speaker 1: like three or four different things that you're good at

490
00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:50,640
Speaker 1: in like some creative combination to make like a bizarre,

491
00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,359
Speaker 1: difficult shot. And it's just something that I think Jamal

492
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:57,000
Speaker 1: Murray is fantastic at. He's just having an unbelievable season.

493
00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:01,080
Speaker 1: He's averaging twenty six four and seven on sixty two

494
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,760
Speaker 1: percent true shooting. He's one of the most gifted, tough

495
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:05,959
Speaker 1: shot makers I've ever seen, which is such a perfect

496
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,800
Speaker 1: skill to pair with Jokic and his overall offensive brilliance.

497
00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,720
Speaker 1: I think he deserves all NBA conversation, and I would

498
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,160
Speaker 1: be of a miss if I did not mention yet

499
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,640
Speaker 1: another great two way performance from Cam Johnson. I thought

500
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,080
Speaker 1: he was great on defense in the fourth quarter. He

501
00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:23,640
Speaker 1: puts up fifteen points on just eight shots, hit two

502
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:25,960
Speaker 1: massive jump shots late in the game. It's this left

503
00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,600
Speaker 1: wing three if I remember correctly, I think it was

504
00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,080
Speaker 1: Dylan Harper helps off of him. Brilliant pass from Yokic

505
00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,840
Speaker 1: if you watch, not really that open, but Jokic throws

506
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:38,640
Speaker 1: the pass and it quite literally lands perfectly in Cam's

507
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,960
Speaker 1: shooting pocket. So immediately when the ball touches his hands,

508
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,879
Speaker 1: he's rising up into the shot, knocks that one down,

509
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,320
Speaker 1: hits like a tough little mid range pull up too,

510
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,399
Speaker 1: so like some nice release valve scoring down the stretch,

511
00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:52,200
Speaker 1: and then all game long, I thought he did a

512
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,240
Speaker 1: nice job of attacking with speed off of the dribble

513
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:59,040
Speaker 1: handoffs with Jokic. When you look at Cam Johnson's athleticism,

514
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:00,360
Speaker 1: and this is actually one of the re is why

515
00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:02,920
Speaker 1: he slipped down in the draft. He was always a

516
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:04,960
Speaker 1: very good straight line athlete, so like when he's running

517
00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:06,800
Speaker 1: fast or when he's jumping straight up and down, he

518
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,160
Speaker 1: actually is a pretty good leaper, and when he's running

519
00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:11,399
Speaker 1: straight he can get a good amount of speed.

520
00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:12,359
Speaker 2: He's just not.

521
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,480
Speaker 1: Necessarily the best first step athlete, and he's not necessarily

522
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,960
Speaker 1: the best lateral athlete, although I think he's actually better

523
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,040
Speaker 1: laterally than I think people thought, which is why he's

524
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,919
Speaker 1: been a plus defender for the majority part for the

525
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,760
Speaker 1: majority of his career. But when he can get a runway,

526
00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:28,840
Speaker 1: when he comes running from off the ball into an

527
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:31,479
Speaker 1: action with Jokic, gets it and then turns the corner,

528
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:33,879
Speaker 1: he's actually a pretty difficult athlete to deal with in

529
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:35,640
Speaker 1: those cases. And he had a couple of really nice

530
00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,280
Speaker 1: driving finishes in this game, curling off of those actions.

531
00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 1: I think that's a big one that they need from

532
00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:45,200
Speaker 1: Cam to more closely replicate the scoring pop that Michael

533
00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:48,040
Speaker 1: Porter Junior brought to the table again fifteen and four

534
00:24:48,119 --> 00:24:51,439
Speaker 1: this season the Nuggets. When Cam Johnson scores more than

535
00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:54,280
Speaker 1: ten points, I don't care that Wenby was out. I

536
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:57,000
Speaker 1: thought that was really a really tough Spurs team to

537
00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,480
Speaker 1: beat in San Antonio even without him. Press of road

538
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:02,560
Speaker 1: wind for the Nuggets, and again they desperately need those

539
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,960
Speaker 1: because they're in danger of slipping behind Phoenix and the standings. Really,

540
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:07,639
Speaker 1: everybody in the middle portion of the West is in

541
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:09,360
Speaker 1: danger of slipping into the play in with how well

542
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:12,240
Speaker 1: Phoenix is playing. And then lastly, I did leave that

543
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:15,400
Speaker 1: game feeling super impressed by San Antonio and how good

544
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:17,959
Speaker 1: they looked without Wemby, and I think that that small

545
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:21,600
Speaker 1: ball look will continue to accentuate their overall speed and

546
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,359
Speaker 1: skill on the perimeter. I think it's something they should

547
00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:27,000
Speaker 1: keep building out in the coming years. Today's show is

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569
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:29,719
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570
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571
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00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,360
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573
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,359
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574
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:42,400
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575
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:43,800
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576
00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:44,080
Speaker 2: Or Virginia.

577
00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:47,919
Speaker 1: All right, before we get out of here today, I

578
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,400
Speaker 1: want to talk briefly about Lakers Bulls. Marcus Smart was out,

579
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:54,040
Speaker 1: so the Lakers ended up starting Ruby hot Chimura. That

580
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,000
Speaker 1: lineup was plus seventeen last night in fourteen minutes against

581
00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,480
Speaker 1: a very fast Bulls team that should theoretically caused them

582
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:03,960
Speaker 1: some problems. To be clear, everyone was right that that

583
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,359
Speaker 1: should not be their starting lineup when healthy, when it's healthy,

584
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:09,760
Speaker 1: when they're healthy, it should be Marcus Smart, and I

585
00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,560
Speaker 1: agree with that, and I don't think anybody there hasn't

586
00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:14,439
Speaker 1: been too much debate there. I think most people just

587
00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:18,000
Speaker 1: agree the rue thing and needed to change. But if

588
00:27:18,080 --> 00:27:22,160
Speaker 1: you guys remember at the time, I kept saying like, yeah,

589
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,320
Speaker 1: this is probably not the right starting lineup, but they're

590
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,320
Speaker 1: also just kind of playing shitty, like the net rating

591
00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:30,720
Speaker 1: numbers that were thrown around, Like I think going into

592
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,200
Speaker 1: last night there was something crazy like minus twenty two

593
00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:35,840
Speaker 1: net or something like that to start the season, so

594
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,639
Speaker 1: like the numbers were terrifyingly bad, but like I just

595
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,440
Speaker 1: kept saying, like, yeah, maybe not the best fit. I'd

596
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:43,840
Speaker 1: probably go with Marcus s martinstead. I would go with

597
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:47,200
Speaker 1: Marcus martinstead, but they were obviously not playing very well

598
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:49,480
Speaker 1: and they were obviously capable of playing a lot better

599
00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:51,760
Speaker 1: than they had. They just need to be active and

600
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:54,879
Speaker 1: connected on defense. Again, like I said with Denver, you

601
00:27:54,920 --> 00:27:58,080
Speaker 1: can't be big and slow and also not playing hard.

602
00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 1: Teams will just run circles around you. The biggest difference

603
00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:04,560
Speaker 1: is one Luca has been playing great defense for a while.

604
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:06,960
Speaker 1: He's been a much better defender than he was when

605
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,760
Speaker 1: that lineup was running, and I thought Lebron was fantastic

606
00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,359
Speaker 1: on defense last night. If two of your big, slow

607
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,479
Speaker 1: guys are being slow and lazy, that unit's gonna get

608
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:19,080
Speaker 1: cut to pieces, especially when ruiy Hatchamura is kind of

609
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:21,040
Speaker 1: known to take on the personality of the team around

610
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:22,680
Speaker 1: him and he is not a great defender. But when

611
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,920
Speaker 1: Lebron and Luca are playing defense, that lineup absolutely can

612
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:28,920
Speaker 1: be a problem to deal with because there's a ton

613
00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,520
Speaker 1: of offensive skill. Ruy's a knockdown three point shooter, right.

614
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:37,440
Speaker 1: So like when it actually when that unit played more

615
00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:40,600
Speaker 1: to their capability, I don't think you should run that

616
00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:44,480
Speaker 1: lineup against really good teams when you're healthy. That goes

617
00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:46,880
Speaker 1: without saying for all the reasons why we've talked about,

618
00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:49,680
Speaker 1: but I'm just saying we knew they were capable of

619
00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:52,080
Speaker 1: playing better. Last night was an example of them playing better.

620
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,200
Speaker 1: Lebron came back and basically functioned entirely off the ball.

621
00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:58,040
Speaker 1: I want to dig more into that in a minute,

622
00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:01,280
Speaker 1: But Austin and Luca orbit the majority of the usage.

623
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 1: This is something I've been calling for, Like Luca and

624
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:05,960
Speaker 1: Austin should be the number one and number two options.

625
00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:08,520
Speaker 1: The team should be leaning into those guys in ball

626
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,600
Speaker 1: screen action and in there when they're running sets, running

627
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,720
Speaker 1: sets for those guys as much as humanly possible. It's

628
00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:17,880
Speaker 1: exactly what they did. Lebron just let that happen willingly.

629
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,200
Speaker 1: Again I mentioned this earlier, but like, Austin was scoring

630
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 1: just fine with Lebron on the floor before his calf injuries.

631
00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,160
Speaker 1: So like, I don't know why everyone was assuming that

632
00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:30,320
Speaker 1: Lebron was just going to strangle the usage and take

633
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,240
Speaker 1: the ball away from those guys. He was just waiting

634
00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:34,200
Speaker 1: for Austin to get it going. Now he has it going,

635
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:38,200
Speaker 1: Luca goes for fifty one, Austin goes for thirty. I've

636
00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:40,640
Speaker 1: said this at several points this season. When Luca has

637
00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,280
Speaker 1: his step back three going, he's the best player in

638
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:45,760
Speaker 1: the world, And boy did he have it going. Last

639
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,240
Speaker 1: night he had nine of them. And Luca's been on

640
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:50,680
Speaker 1: a tear lately after struggling for a few weeks around

641
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,280
Speaker 1: the All Star break. There's a ten game span from

642
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:57,360
Speaker 1: February third to March fifth where Luca played in ten

643
00:29:57,400 --> 00:30:00,080
Speaker 1: games in that span and he only scored thirty points

644
00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:03,400
Speaker 1: twice in those ten games. It's very unlike Luca, especially

645
00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:05,600
Speaker 1: at the amount of usage that he has right in

646
00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:10,040
Speaker 1: his last four games forty points, ten rebounds, and seven

647
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:14,120
Speaker 1: assists on fifty one percent from the field, forty five

648
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:17,080
Speaker 1: percent from three on massive volume, and eighty six percent

649
00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:19,760
Speaker 1: from the foul line, to go with three point five

650
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,080
Speaker 1: stocks per game two and a half steals per game.

651
00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:26,280
Speaker 1: He's been a brilliant back line defender in this stretch,

652
00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:31,360
Speaker 1: reading plays before they happen, jumping interior passes, getting deflections

653
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,680
Speaker 1: and hands on skips, and getting steals off of those.

654
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,280
Speaker 1: This is the version of Luca that is every bit

655
00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:40,280
Speaker 1: as good as Shay and Jokic, and possibly even better

656
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,680
Speaker 1: than them. I can't say enough about how amazing Luca's

657
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,280
Speaker 1: been during this stretch, and most importantly, he's been very

658
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:49,440
Speaker 1: fun to watch in this stretch. There's a level of

659
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,320
Speaker 1: intensity and focus to him right now, that's tangible.

660
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:53,920
Speaker 2: He was talking shit last night.

661
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,000
Speaker 1: Remember a few weeks back when I was lamenting that

662
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:58,520
Speaker 1: he used to talk more trash to the opponent than

663
00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:00,320
Speaker 1: he would to the refs, and that dynamics seem to

664
00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:03,000
Speaker 1: have like flipped. Well, him being one tech away from

665
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,040
Speaker 1: the suspension has caused him to chill a little bit

666
00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:07,360
Speaker 1: with the refs, and last night he was jawing at

667
00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:11,240
Speaker 1: modest bizells like crazy. I want to add the layer

668
00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:15,720
Speaker 1: of Luca's personal situation to this discussion. I said, Luca's

669
00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:18,760
Speaker 1: been playing with crazy focus and intensity to do that

670
00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:21,080
Speaker 1: with everything he's got going on, with the separation from

671
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,520
Speaker 1: his fiance, being forced to be away from his daughters

672
00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 1: as much as he has been. I just think his

673
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,680
Speaker 1: leadership has been really impressive this season. And I want

674
00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:33,240
Speaker 1: to add this season long point with his postgame pressers.

675
00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,560
Speaker 1: Even when Luca has had bad stretches this season, and

676
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,240
Speaker 1: there's been two, and I say bad relative to his talent.

677
00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:42,960
Speaker 1: A lot of this stuff with the with Luca stan

678
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,200
Speaker 1: culture is stand culture. People get really upset. It's just

679
00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,560
Speaker 1: how it goes. I'm pretty consistent with this stuff. You

680
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,280
Speaker 1: guys know, like Jo Kich had a stretch where he

681
00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:53,480
Speaker 1: played really poorly after his knee injury, and we called

682
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:55,160
Speaker 1: it out on the show. We talked about the percentages.

683
00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:56,920
Speaker 1: I talked about how he wasn't playing good on defense

684
00:31:56,920 --> 00:31:58,880
Speaker 1: and he needed to be better. Like when it comes

685
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:02,320
Speaker 1: to the very best players in the league, that that tier,

686
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:06,960
Speaker 1: the Yannis, Luca, Jokic, Shay, I hold them to a

687
00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:10,239
Speaker 1: different standard because we're talking about guys that are in

688
00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:12,600
Speaker 1: that top tier of basketball players in the world, that

689
00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:14,760
Speaker 1: are in contention for best player in the world status.

690
00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:16,640
Speaker 1: The reason why I have him been super critical of

691
00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:19,120
Speaker 1: Shaye this year is he hasn't had a stretch where

692
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,680
Speaker 1: he's looked bad. Shae has just been amazing almost every

693
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,080
Speaker 1: single night that he's gone out and played. So he's

694
00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,760
Speaker 1: been a little bit immune to criticism this year, right.

695
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:30,840
Speaker 1: Jokicch just had some up and downs, so he's been

696
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:34,040
Speaker 1: criticized some, He's been praised some. Lucas had some up

697
00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:36,560
Speaker 1: and down, so he's been criticized some, He's been praised some. Right,

698
00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,480
Speaker 1: But even when Luca was having one of those stretches

699
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:41,720
Speaker 1: where he struggled relatives to his talent and There's like

700
00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:44,840
Speaker 1: two distinct stretches like that surrounding his trip to Slovenia,

701
00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:46,959
Speaker 1: and then this stretch that I just talked about surrounding

702
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,640
Speaker 1: the All Star Break where he scored thirty points just twice.

703
00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:50,080
Speaker 2: In ten games.

704
00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:53,640
Speaker 1: He's always been a damn professional in front of the mic,

705
00:32:54,760 --> 00:32:58,640
Speaker 1: accepting personal responsibility, keeping his and the team's focus on

706
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:03,120
Speaker 1: big picture goals. I've had my frustrations with Luca this year,

707
00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:04,959
Speaker 1: but I've gained a lot of respect for him as

708
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:08,920
Speaker 1: a franchise leader along the way. This is the version

709
00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 1: of Luca that is capable of taking the Lakers to

710
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:13,880
Speaker 1: the Promised Land, and he is a welcome sight at

711
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:16,440
Speaker 1: this point in the season as the Lakers look pretty

712
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:20,400
Speaker 1: hell bent on ramping up for a postseason run. Austin's

713
00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:22,600
Speaker 1: in full rhythm now last three games, twenty nine points,

714
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,280
Speaker 1: five rebounds, seven assists, fifty five percent from the field,

715
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:27,280
Speaker 1: forty eight percent from three to eighty one percent from

716
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:31,120
Speaker 1: the line. It's become abundantly clear that Austin has put

717
00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: in a ton of work on his three point shot.

718
00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:36,720
Speaker 1: He started really cold this season, but he's forty three

719
00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:39,600
Speaker 1: percent on six threes a game over his last twenty

720
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,760
Speaker 1: seven games. Twenty seven games. It's a large sample that

721
00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,920
Speaker 1: has given him this awesome counter to his downhill scoring.

722
00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:50,360
Speaker 1: He's always been very gifted at shifting defender's side to

723
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,240
Speaker 1: side and hitting gaps with downhill speed. Now that he

724
00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:55,520
Speaker 1: can counter that with a deadly over the top three

725
00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:58,720
Speaker 1: point shot, it's given him a level of reliability night

726
00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:00,920
Speaker 1: tonight as an offensive player. It's allowed him to pump

727
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:03,160
Speaker 1: his scoring average the way that he has this season,

728
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:06,400
Speaker 1: and again he obviously can score next to Lebron.

729
00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:08,680
Speaker 2: I thought that, like I've it's been.

730
00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:12,719
Speaker 1: Hard because like there actually was like a nuanced discussion

731
00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:17,160
Speaker 1: to have about Lebron and like some of his waxing

732
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:21,000
Speaker 1: and waning defensive effort and some of the stuff where

733
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,880
Speaker 1: like off the ball, he like just has struggled to

734
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:25,560
Speaker 1: knock down catch and shoot threes, Like there was a

735
00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:28,319
Speaker 1: discussion to have about Lebron, and instead all I heard

736
00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:31,520
Speaker 1: was really stupid stuff like oh, like this is a

737
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:35,320
Speaker 1: like like Chris Finch saying it's a usage puzzle. Lebron

738
00:34:35,719 --> 00:34:39,800
Speaker 1: has had historically lost usage, and every single time Austin

739
00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:42,960
Speaker 1: and Luca have been healthy, he's been playing primarily a

740
00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:46,560
Speaker 1: tertiary role. The only time Lebron has absorbed usage really

741
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:49,720
Speaker 1: has been one Austin has been out or when Luke's

742
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,080
Speaker 1: been out, and so like, so much of the discussion

743
00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:54,520
Speaker 1: surrounding Lebron has been like straight up aimed in the

744
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:58,120
Speaker 1: wrong direction, like there's actually an interesting discussion to have

745
00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:00,839
Speaker 1: about how Lebron fits with the team, and instead all

746
00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 1: the Lebron haters are just saying stupid shit that makes

747
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:06,680
Speaker 1: no sense, like, oh, he's hurting Austin and Luca. What

748
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,040
Speaker 1: that doesn't even make sense and that's not what's happening

749
00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,719
Speaker 1: when you watch the games, and so predictably, like I said,

750
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:17,120
Speaker 1: I said that what's really happening is Austin is finally

751
00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:20,399
Speaker 1: finding his rhythm, and I said, Lebron will come back

752
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:25,040
Speaker 1: and allow that to continue, just like he did when

753
00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:28,440
Speaker 1: he started the season. When Lebron came back. Austin was

754
00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,600
Speaker 1: averaging thirty points over the first like six or seven

755
00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:35,120
Speaker 1: games after Lebron came back. So there was like obviously

756
00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:38,759
Speaker 1: an evidence that Austin can cook next to Lebron, that

757
00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:41,439
Speaker 1: Luca can cook next to Lebron, and they cooked next

758
00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:43,640
Speaker 1: to Lebron last night. Now he was a little gun

759
00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 1: shy in the first half. I didn't think he was

760
00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:46,720
Speaker 1: that great. In the first half. He looked a little rusty,

761
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:49,000
Speaker 1: looked a little out of shape. He got a back

762
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:50,480
Speaker 1: cut out of the left corner or out of the

763
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:53,440
Speaker 1: right corner by Leonard Miller on one play, had a

764
00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:56,920
Speaker 1: couple of ugly turnovers. Not a great first half, But

765
00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:59,279
Speaker 1: I thought Lebron was insanely good in his second half

766
00:35:59,320 --> 00:36:01,440
Speaker 1: shift monster of a role player.

767
00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:03,640
Speaker 2: He started to act like again.

768
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:06,920
Speaker 1: This is the thing where I think the valid conversation

769
00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:11,480
Speaker 1: surrounding Lebron was is like, Okay, now that Austin and

770
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:15,120
Speaker 1: Luca are in rhythm, we need you to play defense. Man,

771
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:17,680
Speaker 1: Like now that we don't need you to do a

772
00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:21,120
Speaker 1: ton with the basketball. You are one of the smartest

773
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:24,239
Speaker 1: and most physically equipped players on our team to be

774
00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:27,319
Speaker 1: a great defender, you can't be mailing in that end of.

775
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:28,080
Speaker 2: The floor, right.

776
00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:32,160
Speaker 1: That was a valid discussion to have surrounding Lebron and

777
00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:35,200
Speaker 1: his fit with the team. In that second half, Lebron

778
00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:38,480
Speaker 1: was a monster defensively. Literally looked like Draymond with the

779
00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:40,800
Speaker 1: types of rotations he was making on the back line,

780
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:43,520
Speaker 1: the way he was snuffing out plays and getting deflections

781
00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:46,560
Speaker 1: and steals. Lebron was awesome in that second half defensively

782
00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,720
Speaker 1: and then on offense, getting out in transition and playing

783
00:36:49,719 --> 00:36:52,560
Speaker 1: with speed. That was the second thing, another interesting valid

784
00:36:52,719 --> 00:36:55,360
Speaker 1: conversation to have with Lebron, which is like, hey, dude,

785
00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:58,080
Speaker 1: we're slow. You're one of our best athletes. We need

786
00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,400
Speaker 1: you to run up and down the floor. Lebron is

787
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:02,960
Speaker 1: running all night last night in transition on both ends

788
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:06,520
Speaker 1: and transition defense and transition offense, the offensive rebounds, like

789
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:08,719
Speaker 1: him just being like, I'm bigger than all you guys.

790
00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:11,440
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna get these offensive rebounds. Guess what, Lebron

791
00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:16,440
Speaker 1: is absolutely capable of being a monster on the offensive glass.

792
00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:19,080
Speaker 1: Like he is one of the most physically imposing players

793
00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:21,200
Speaker 1: in the league. Still he absolutely can do that. Had

794
00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:23,000
Speaker 1: a bunch of success on the offensive glass in the

795
00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:25,839
Speaker 1: second half, the bulley ball stuff under the rim, Like

796
00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:30,440
Speaker 1: my whole thing is, like the discussion should be now

797
00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:35,080
Speaker 1: that this is the first time, guys, since literally early December,

798
00:37:35,719 --> 00:37:37,399
Speaker 1: that Luca and Austin have.

799
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:39,520
Speaker 2: Both been healthy and in rhythm.

800
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:44,440
Speaker 1: Everything between early December and now has been about piecing

801
00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:46,960
Speaker 1: together with guys out of the lineup or with guys

802
00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:51,240
Speaker 1: hurt now that Austin and lucarran rhythm. Look, the Lakers

803
00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:54,440
Speaker 1: need Lebron to be this kick ass role player. We

804
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,439
Speaker 1: know he's capable of doing it. He did it last night.

805
00:37:57,560 --> 00:37:59,920
Speaker 1: I expect his focus to be headed in that direct

806
00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:02,759
Speaker 1: and I expect him he'll have I do think it's

807
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:05,080
Speaker 1: a regular season, right so I do think in the

808
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:07,960
Speaker 1: last sixteen games, there'll be four or five nights where

809
00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:11,560
Speaker 1: Lebron's not great in effort, and I'm sure it'll be

810
00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:14,000
Speaker 1: a huge talking point when it is. But like, as

811
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,799
Speaker 1: long as Lebron is engaged in those areas, he's not

812
00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:19,480
Speaker 1: just helpful, he's a ceiling razor for this team, a

813
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:21,799
Speaker 1: massive ceiling razor for the team. He was a big

814
00:38:21,840 --> 00:38:24,840
Speaker 1: part of that second half run last night. The only

815
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:26,759
Speaker 1: thing that I would get on him about. There were

816
00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:28,839
Speaker 1: two plays in particular, one in the first half, one

817
00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:31,000
Speaker 1: in the second half where he was situated on the

818
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,680
Speaker 1: wing and Ruey Haschimurro was situated in the corner and

819
00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:36,920
Speaker 1: a kickout pass went to Lebron and he was open

820
00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:39,480
Speaker 1: to shoot a three, and Ruey's man kind of stayed

821
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,200
Speaker 1: home and instead of shooting the three, he like rifled

822
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:44,120
Speaker 1: one time or quick swing passes to Ruey in the

823
00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:47,200
Speaker 1: corner and then the play died. And so the one thing,

824
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,359
Speaker 1: and I've been consistent with Lebron all season on this,

825
00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:50,800
Speaker 1: He's got to take open.

826
00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:52,279
Speaker 2: Catch and shoot threes. He just has to take them.

827
00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:55,000
Speaker 1: If he does that, he doesn't even have to shoot

828
00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:57,960
Speaker 1: amazing on him if he just does that and shoots

829
00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:00,200
Speaker 1: like thirty five percent on him, which we know he can.

830
00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:02,520
Speaker 1: If he does that and then does all the little

831
00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:05,040
Speaker 1: things that I just talked about defensively and offensive rebounding,

832
00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:08,040
Speaker 1: connective playmaking, all those different things, that's going to be

833
00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:10,520
Speaker 1: a devastating role player in this group. So that's just

834
00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,840
Speaker 1: the play the way he's got to stay focused. Lastly,

835
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:19,040
Speaker 1: Deandrayton Deandrayton, I was texting with Pete about this during

836
00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:22,360
Speaker 1: the game because I found it really fascinating. Aytan was

837
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:24,600
Speaker 1: playing angry last night, and he's been playing kind of

838
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:27,960
Speaker 1: angry for the last several games, and at first I

839
00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:31,120
Speaker 1: was like, it's this kind of weird attitude kind of thing,

840
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:32,759
Speaker 1: but he had a postgame comment that I want to

841
00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:36,840
Speaker 1: highlight before we get back into the actual basketball stuff.

842
00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:41,040
Speaker 1: Dan Woykee asked Deandretan about the team's recent uptick in

843
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:44,520
Speaker 1: intensity and attention to detail what he's an ate and

844
00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:47,680
Speaker 1: responded quote, it felt like I picked up my energy

845
00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:50,759
Speaker 1: and my focus, and you know, I finally caught up

846
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:51,320
Speaker 1: with the team.

847
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:52,239
Speaker 2: That's about it.

848
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:55,400
Speaker 1: And I thought that was a really impressive show of

849
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,080
Speaker 1: self awareness from Deandrayton for him to look at the

850
00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:01,399
Speaker 1: situation and be like, no, it's not their fault, it's

851
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,360
Speaker 1: not the coach's fault. It's not anybody's fault that I

852
00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:07,080
Speaker 1: keep getting pulled out of these games that they keep

853
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:10,160
Speaker 1: closing with different players, that my minutes have been plummeting.

854
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:13,839
Speaker 1: Apex in that Denver game, right, he has a bad

855
00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:16,359
Speaker 1: first shift, He's kind of asleep on a lob pass

856
00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:18,480
Speaker 1: from Luca. One really his fault, but he was kind

857
00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:20,640
Speaker 1: of asleep on a lob from Luca. He had a

858
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:23,839
Speaker 1: bad defensive rap against Julian Strather and a dribble handoff.

859
00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:26,520
Speaker 1: He wasn't engaged in focused to start the game. He

860
00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:29,920
Speaker 1: gets the hook. He wasn't the only guy in that

861
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:32,600
Speaker 1: lineup that wasn't engaged. But guess what those guys are

862
00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:34,759
Speaker 1: Luca and Lebron and Austin they're going to get.

863
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:36,040
Speaker 2: A longer leash.

864
00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:39,920
Speaker 1: It was he got pulled because he wasn't playing well ultimately,

865
00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:43,840
Speaker 1: and at first he was angry. May or may not

866
00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:46,040
Speaker 1: have quit on the team that night, who knows. But

867
00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:50,760
Speaker 1: since he's come back, he's been angry, physically aggressive, super

868
00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:56,279
Speaker 1: high motor, and he's been a fucking monster. And I

869
00:40:56,400 --> 00:41:01,839
Speaker 1: appreciated him acknowledging that it wasn't a them problem, that

870
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:04,920
Speaker 1: it was a me problem, that he needed to look

871
00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:07,799
Speaker 1: in the mirror and meet the moment, meet the intensity,

872
00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:11,920
Speaker 1: meet the mission that the Lakers were trying to accomplish. Now,

873
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:13,560
Speaker 1: does this mean that I'm buying a bunch of Ayton

874
00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:15,439
Speaker 1: stock and I think suddenly he's gonna go on a run.

875
00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:18,840
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna jump on that bandwagon from just a

876
00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:22,239
Speaker 1: small handful of games. But I will say, at least

877
00:41:22,239 --> 00:41:25,200
Speaker 1: in my time rooting for eight in this season, I

878
00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:27,520
Speaker 1: haven't seen a three game stretch like this where he's

879
00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:31,360
Speaker 1: been both dominant with his natural ability but also playing

880
00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:34,400
Speaker 1: with a consistent level of physical aggression and anger around

881
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:38,520
Speaker 1: the basket and motor. And I do think if Ayton,

882
00:41:38,719 --> 00:41:40,120
Speaker 1: this is what I'll say, because I'm not gonna say

883
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:44,680
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna keep happening if Ayton can bottle

884
00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:49,080
Speaker 1: that up and understand that that specifically is what will

885
00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:51,320
Speaker 1: drive him to get a big contract in the future

886
00:41:51,719 --> 00:41:55,160
Speaker 1: and not anything else, just him playing physically aggressive and

887
00:41:55,239 --> 00:41:58,279
Speaker 1: angry and doing his job. That if he does that,

888
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:03,279
Speaker 1: it drely increases the ceiling of this team, and it

889
00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:05,600
Speaker 1: dramatically increases the possibility.

890
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:06,920
Speaker 2: Of him getting another long term deal in the NBA.

891
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,080
Speaker 1: I've talked about this, This recent run from the Lakers

892
00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:14,040
Speaker 1: really impressive. Right They've won I think seven out of eight.

893
00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:16,720
Speaker 1: They've been very good on defense in that span, elite

894
00:42:16,719 --> 00:42:19,400
Speaker 1: on offense. Up to the third seed in the West.

895
00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:21,160
Speaker 1: The Lakers are the sixth best team in the entire

896
00:42:21,239 --> 00:42:23,680
Speaker 1: league right now, which is unbelievable. At a couple of

897
00:42:23,719 --> 00:42:26,839
Speaker 1: signature wins last week against Minnesota and New York, there's

898
00:42:26,880 --> 00:42:28,799
Speaker 1: a lot or this week, I should say, there's a

899
00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:31,200
Speaker 1: lot of like really impressive stuff building, But it really

900
00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:34,560
Speaker 1: comes down to just a handful of things. Austin getting

901
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:37,719
Speaker 1: back into rhythm like the player he was to start

902
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:40,799
Speaker 1: the year, Luka Doncic upping his level of play to

903
00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:46,080
Speaker 1: that true MVP level, DeAndre Ayton, DeAndre Ayton waking up

904
00:42:46,239 --> 00:42:49,799
Speaker 1: makes this a different basketball team, and so that's an

905
00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:52,200
Speaker 1: encouraging trend against small sample. But if Ayton can just

906
00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:54,920
Speaker 1: bottle that up, it means a lot for this particular team.

907
00:42:55,040 --> 00:42:56,560
Speaker 1: All Right, guys, that's all I have for today. As

908
00:42:56,600 --> 00:42:58,560
Speaker 1: always to sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us, in

909
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:00,480
Speaker 1: supporting the show. Hopefully when I come back a Monday,

910
00:43:00,480 --> 00:43:02,800
Speaker 1: I can talk again that that's been brutal.

911
00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:04,520
Speaker 2: I appreciate you guys bearing with me.

912
00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:06,480
Speaker 1: Got a fun slate of games over the weekend to

913
00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:08,080
Speaker 1: we'll have plenty to cover when we get to Monday.

914
00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:08,880
Speaker 2: I'll see you guys then