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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, welcome to him tonight. You're at

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Speaker 1: the volume heavy Thursday, everybody. Hope all you guys are

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Speaker 1: having a great end to your week. The NBA season

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Speaker 1: is off to just a completely ridiculous start, both on

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Speaker 1: and off the court, as we had a crazy gambling

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Speaker 1: scandal today that we'll be touching on briefly at the

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Speaker 1: tail end of the show. But the basketball has been

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Speaker 1: fantastic and we're covering the two nationally televised games from tonight,

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Speaker 1: leading off with that epic showdown between the Nuggets and

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Speaker 1: the Warriors, a ridiculous Steph Curry masterclasses. He scores thirteen

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Speaker 1: straight points down the stretch in regulation to send it

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Speaker 1: to ot sixteen straight overall forty two points, six rebounds,

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Speaker 1: and seven assists. Unbelievable performance from Steph Curry to overcome

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Speaker 1: just a ridiculous shooting performance from Aaron Gordon as well

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Speaker 1: as a high powered Denver Nuggets attack. Lots of interesting

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Speaker 1: stuff to get into in that game. After that, the

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma City thunder have to play really ugly basketball right

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Speaker 1: now due to a bunch of injuries, but they continue

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Speaker 1: to grind out wins with another double overtime win over

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Speaker 1: a scrappy Indiana Pacers team on the road in Indiana.

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Speaker 1: Lots of interesting stuff to get into there. As promised,

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Speaker 1: I wanted to get into one of the other league

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Speaker 1: pass games from last night's slate, and so we'll be

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Speaker 1: doing a brief segment on the Minnesota Timberwolves leading off

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Speaker 1: their season with a win on the road in Portland

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Speaker 1: against the Trailblazers. And then, as mentioned earlier tail end

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Speaker 1: of the show, we're going to be briefly touching on

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Speaker 1: the gambling scandal that ripped through the NBA today as

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Speaker 1: Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier were both arrested. And reminder,

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Speaker 1: we're doing a mail bag tomorrow morning, So if you

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Speaker 1: want to hit on one of the other games from last

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Speaker 1: night slate, drop the questions, drop your mailbag questions in

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Speaker 1: the YouTube comments, and in tomorrow's mail bag, we will

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Speaker 1: have an opportunity to circle around to the rest of

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Speaker 1: the league. I've got a bunch of games on my

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Speaker 1: film schedule for tomorrow morning. I'd love to see how

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Speaker 1: how in the hell Toronto went in and embarrassed Atlanta.

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Speaker 1: I want to see how the Clippers ended up getting

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Speaker 1: embarrassed in Utah. Lots of interesting stuff to get into

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Speaker 1: and tomorrow's show as well. You guys are the joke

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Speaker 1: for you. Get started to subscribe to Hoops and I

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Speaker 1: YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos.

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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter and underscore jcnlts you guys, don't

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Speaker 1: miss you announcements. Don't forget our podcast feed where you

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Speaker 1: get your podcast under Hoops Tonight. It's all super helpful

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Speaker 1: if you leave a rating and review on that front.

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Speaker 1: Jackson's doing great work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram,

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Speaker 1: Facebook and TikTok. Make sure you guys follow us there.

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Speaker 1: And then, as we mentioned before, keep dropping your mail

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Speaker 1: back questions in the YouTube comments and we'll get to

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Speaker 1: them throughout the remainder of the season.

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

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Speaker 1: So one of the things that I've talked about every

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Speaker 1: single team that we have, especially that's in that second

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Speaker 1: tier when you're talking about the teams off of that

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma City Denver tier, and I'd argue that's gotten more complicated.

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Speaker 1: Houston to me, looks like a team that has a

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Speaker 1: lot of firepower and at least will be making a

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Speaker 1: case to be included in that tier. I was texting

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Speaker 1: with Jackson before the show, like, to me, Golden State

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Speaker 1: looks closer to that than they do to the tier

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Speaker 1: of teams beneath them in the first couple of games

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Speaker 1: that we've watched. But we'll obviously keep an eye on that.

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Speaker 1: It's only been two games. But one of the things

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Speaker 1: that I talked about for the second tier of teams

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Speaker 1: is there are these like swing factors, Right, you need

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Speaker 1: this to go this way, and you need this to

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Speaker 1: go that way. And if these things kind of break

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Speaker 1: your way all of a sudden, you got a dead

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Speaker 1: serious team on your hands. And two of the big

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Speaker 1: things that we had our eye on for the Warriors

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Speaker 1: coming into the season was the ability of Jonathan Kaminga

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Speaker 1: to play a winning role for this team. And then

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Speaker 1: we talked about Steph Curry being the guy that's like

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Speaker 1: twenty eight twenty nine points per game MVP candidate Steph

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Speaker 1: Curry versus twenty three twenty four points per game. Still

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Speaker 1: offensive engine, Steph Curry, still a guy that's a highly

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Speaker 1: underrated offensive player, but that isn't bringing the scoring in

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Speaker 1: position to the table, right, Like, which version of Steph

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Speaker 1: we get both throughout the season and when we get

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Speaker 1: to the postseason is a key swing actor for this team.

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler's ability to score the basketball. That was a

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Speaker 1: big one we had our eye on. And like once

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Speaker 1: again tonight in that late first quarter stretch, early second

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Speaker 1: quarter stretch, Jimmy comes out and just starts manufacturing points

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Speaker 1: to carry the offense. Lots of things are breaking towards

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Speaker 1: the things that the Warriors needed in order to accomplish

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Speaker 1: their goals this year. I want to start with Steph though,

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Speaker 1: because again, the big, the big thing that is the

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Speaker 1: defining characteristic of MVP caliber Steph is He's gonna get

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Speaker 1: guarded as a shooter no matter what. He still has

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Speaker 1: that reputation, But is he gonna also hit enough shots

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Speaker 1: to bolster the team's offense through sheer, scoring, volume, and efficiency.

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Speaker 1: And that was just a like an unbelievable display of

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Speaker 1: shot making down the stretch that game, like ridiculously difficult

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Speaker 1: movement threes, running to his left, running through, running to

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Speaker 1: his right, beating people off the dribble, and finishing in traffic,

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Speaker 1: working his way to the foul line by getting defenders

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Speaker 1: out of position. The two shots that he hit to

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Speaker 1: send it two overtime. We're ridiculously difficult shots. And again,

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Speaker 1: this is a situation where the defense is extremely keyed

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Speaker 1: in on him, and in order for him to be

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Speaker 1: able to knock down shots off the move, there's a

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Speaker 1: certain amount of strength in his base that he needs.

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Speaker 1: And that's the kind of thing that you worry about

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Speaker 1: for an aging guard, right That's the thing that you

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Speaker 1: worry about as a player gets older is the tougher

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Speaker 1: shots when you really have to sprint into them, especially

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Speaker 1: in like physical games. Those shots can be really hard

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Speaker 1: to stop your body on a dime and get the

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Speaker 1: lift that you need to unlock his apex talent, which

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Speaker 1: is his shooting ability. And I just think it's an

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Speaker 1: awesome indicator for Steph to start this season that he

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Speaker 1: had this kind of scoring outburst. I was optimistic about it.

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Speaker 1: We talked about it in our previews. One of the

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Speaker 1: reasons why I expected Steph to get off to a

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Speaker 1: great start this year is just I think he's one

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Speaker 1: of the apex competitive of this generation, and I think

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Speaker 1: that he senses the opportunity that's in front of him.

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Speaker 1: Steve Kurr has come out and said it, this is

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Speaker 1: a roster that he thinks makes sense. Stephen, Draymond, and

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Speaker 1: Jimmy have all come out and said it. They understand

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Speaker 1: that they have an opportunity here. And I think when

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Speaker 1: you get like APEX competitor, and then there's like this

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Speaker 1: carrot that's hanging on a stick, right, and the carrot

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Speaker 1: is what drives that APEX competitor forward. And if the

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Speaker 1: stick is too long and the carrot seems too far

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Speaker 1: off in the distance, it can be hard to get

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Speaker 1: that motor running right. But when it's closer, when it's

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Speaker 1: there and it feels like you can reach out and

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Speaker 1: grab it, they're going to run like hell to go

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Speaker 1: get it. And this is an example what we're seeing

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Speaker 1: from Steph here early, even above and beyond the statistical

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Speaker 1: reduction and the shots that he's hitting, you could see

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Speaker 1: it in his body language. There's a level of intensity

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Speaker 1: and just overall like outward visceral competitiveness that we're seeing

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Speaker 1: from him because I think he senses an opportunity here.

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Speaker 1: I think he knows he's got a team that's good

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Speaker 1: enough to potentially win it, compete for a championship, and

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Speaker 1: I think he's going to do everything in his power

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Speaker 1: that is within his control to help the team accomplish that,

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Speaker 1: whether or.

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Speaker 2: Not they're good enough.

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Speaker 1: There's a lot of things that are out of his

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Speaker 1: control there, but you bet your ass Steph Curry, because

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Speaker 1: he's done it for the entirety of his career, is

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Speaker 1: gonna maximize what this team can bring to the table.

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Speaker 1: And just an unbelievable opening salvo from him to start

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Speaker 1: this season. I thought that the tenor, the tone and

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Speaker 1: tenor of the game shifted right around the late second quarter.

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Speaker 1: There was a timeout, some frustration from the Warriors guys,

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Speaker 1: and you know they're getting their eyes shot out by

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Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon the rest of that career. The Nuggets are

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Speaker 1: super high powered offense. We're gonna talk some Nuggets here

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Speaker 1: in a minute. If you're a Nuggets fan, there's a

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Speaker 1: lot to be encouraged by by what you saw tonight.

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Speaker 1: The Warriors are a damn good basketball team and they're

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Speaker 1: hard to beat in Golden State. There's a lot to

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Speaker 1: be excited about. It's an eighty two game season. That

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Speaker 1: was a good team that came in and delivered a

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Speaker 1: hell of a punch to Golden State, and they were

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Speaker 1: kind of rattled a little bit in that late second

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Speaker 1: quarter stretch, from right down the stretch of the second

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Speaker 1: quarter and flowing through the rest of the game, I

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Speaker 1: thought there was a massive uptick in the overall defensive

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Speaker 1: intensity from Golden State. I talk a lot about how

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Speaker 1: the like to me, leaning on shot variants as an

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Speaker 1: explainer for whether or not shots go in or they don't.

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Speaker 1: To me is a loser mentality first of all, just

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Speaker 1: based purely on the science of it. I think shot

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Speaker 1: variance is really far down the list of the factors

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Speaker 1: that actually cause makes and misses. It certainly is a factor,

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Speaker 1: but I think it's especially in the modern MBA with

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Speaker 1: the way the game is covered, I think it can

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Speaker 1: be over indexed, and the way we talk about it,

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Speaker 1: I think we focus on.

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Speaker 2: It too much.

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Speaker 1: I'm a big believer that, like you gotta make them miss,

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Speaker 1: you got to do something that makes them uncomfortable, that

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Speaker 1: rushes them, that disrupts their rhythm. If there's two ways

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Speaker 1: to look at what Aaron Gordon did in that first half,

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Speaker 1: he goes seven for seven from three. It was the

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Speaker 1: second most threes made without a miss in a half

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Speaker 1: an NBA history. There's two ways to look at that.

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Speaker 1: You can go ah shit, Aaron Gordon's making everything. This

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Speaker 1: is ridiculous. One is he going to miss? That's the

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Speaker 1: loser way to.

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Speaker 2: Look at it.

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Speaker 1: The winner way to look at it is like these

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Speaker 1: are open looks. He had made five in a row,

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Speaker 1: and Jonathan Kaming is ducking under a screen as Aaron

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Speaker 1: Gordon rises into his sixth make like, you've got to

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Speaker 1: accept personal responsibility for the outcome, especially on the things

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Speaker 1: that you have control of. And right in that stretch

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Speaker 1: there in the late second quarter, fuel I think it

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Speaker 1: started with Draymond in his just physicality on Jokicch. He

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Speaker 1: just started really pressuring the hell out of Yokicch and

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Speaker 1: kind of beating the hell out of him, and all

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Speaker 1: over the floor in their ball pressure, they did the

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Speaker 1: same thing and everybody just got a little less comfortable,

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Speaker 1: and that kind of trickled into that third quarter where

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Speaker 1: the Warriors have been an excellent third quarter team to

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Speaker 1: start the season.

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Speaker 2: Not a big shock.

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Speaker 1: They're known as the third quarter Warriors for a reason.

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Speaker 1: That's been a staple of the Steph Curry era. They

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Speaker 1: come out in that third quarter, they continue that defensive

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Speaker 1: intensity and physicality, and they work their way all the

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Speaker 1: way back into the game, and now they're in a

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Speaker 1: dog fight, and they just kept battling again. Like Aaron

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Speaker 1: Gordon comes in in that early fourth quarter stretch and

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Speaker 1: he gets like an an one and hits another three,

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Speaker 1: and you're like, oh shit, it's you know, one o

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Speaker 1: eight to one hundred, and all of a sudden, it

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Speaker 1: looks like Denver's taking control of the game again. And

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Speaker 1: like Steph Curry gets a steal, leads to a Will

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Speaker 1: Richard pull up three on the right wing. In transition,

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Speaker 1: will Richard was fantastic in this game. We'll talk about

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Speaker 1: him in a minute. They go right back down, they

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Speaker 1: get another stop, then Steph has a driving layup on

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Speaker 1: Christian Brown, perfectly defended by Christian Brown, but Steph makes

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Speaker 1: the layup anyway, just a quick little five zero run

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Speaker 1: that gets them right back in the game. Little bits

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Speaker 1: of like battling in physicality down the stretch that led

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Speaker 1: to misses like Denver, if you're a Denver fan, you're

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Speaker 1: kicking yourself over three missed layups down the stretch of

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Speaker 1: the game. There was a Jokis little left shoulder hook

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Speaker 1: on Al Horford that he missed right at the front

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Speaker 1: of the rim. There was a little inside right hand

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Speaker 1: fini from Jamal Murray on the left side of the

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Speaker 1: rim that he missed, and then obviously the play right

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Speaker 1: at the end of regulation. But those aren't one hundred

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Speaker 1: percent shots. They are contested rim finishes, now, are they

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Speaker 1: higher percentage? Like Jokich is probably going to hit ninety

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Speaker 1: percent of those little left shoulder hooks that are right

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Speaker 1: at the front of the rim like he did on Horford.

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Speaker 1: Jamal Murray's probably going to hit sixty sixty five percent

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Speaker 1: of that tough inside hand finish the play at the

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Speaker 1: end of regulation. That's a much tougher one. Draymond I

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Speaker 1: thought defended it really well. I thought it was a

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Speaker 1: good no call. But that's a shot Yokich can hit,

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Speaker 1: you know, fifty five sixty percent of the time, as

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Speaker 1: we know, that's been a staple in his career. How

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Speaker 1: do you get them to be the ten percent that

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Speaker 1: missed the Horford shot, the thirty five percent that missed

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Speaker 1: the little inside hand layout from Jamal Murray, or the

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Speaker 1: forty five percent misses of those Jokic little left shoulder

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Speaker 1: hooks by beating them to the spot, applying the physicality

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Speaker 1: and making them miss the damn shot. Today's show is

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Speaker 1: or Virginia. And I just thought that there was like

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Speaker 1: a level of that physical intention that Golden State brought

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Speaker 1: the entirety of the second half and down the stretch

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Speaker 1: in that second quarter that forced Denver into the cold

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Speaker 1: stretches offensively that they had, that forced them into the

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Speaker 1: misses that they had. Again, like take control of what

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Speaker 1: you can control. Jackson texted me over the course of

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Speaker 1: the middle of the fourth quarter and he goes like,

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Speaker 1: I wonder with how big some of these Western Conference

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Speaker 1: teams are. Obviously Houston massive frontline, right, Oklahoma City can

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Speaker 1: play chet and Isaiah Hartenstein, they can bring a size

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Speaker 1: element to the table. Dallas obviously a massive team. With

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Speaker 1: all these like really big teams in the Western Conference,

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Speaker 1: Jackson was like, well, what about like a lineup where

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Speaker 1: you essentially just play steph with all of the big dudes,

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Speaker 1: like with Jimmy Jonathan kaminga Al Horford and Draymond Green, And.

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Speaker 2: I shit you not.

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Speaker 1: Right after he texted me that they put him in

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Speaker 1: the game and they wrote him out the rest of

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Speaker 1: the night. And you know what's interesting is like, is

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Speaker 1: that gonna be what they do every single game? No,

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Speaker 1: it's gonna depend on the match. Like Denver is very

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Speaker 1: much a bigger and slower team, So I think it's

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Speaker 1: an appropriate way to match up in that situation. There

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Speaker 1: will be situations where it makes absolutely no sense at

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Speaker 1: all to use that lineup. But one of the things

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Speaker 1: I talk about on the show all the time is like,

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Speaker 1: winning an NBA championship is not about being the best

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Speaker 1: offensive raiding team, or the best defensive rating team, or

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Speaker 1: the best net rating team, or the best clutch team

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Speaker 1: or whatever it might be. It's literally about are you

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Speaker 1: capable of beating four completely different types of teams four

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Speaker 1: times out of seven over the course of two months.

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Speaker 1: It's a versatility game, and the Warriors have a punch

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Speaker 1: now that they have never had in my time watching

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Speaker 1: the team, where they have the ability to size up

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Speaker 1: while maintaining the spacing and movement that they need to succeed.

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Speaker 1: They were scoring with that group, al Horford hitting that

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Speaker 1: corner three out of the right corner when Jokich was

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Speaker 1: roaming and again like this was an early overtime and

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Speaker 1: if you have remember right at the start of overtime,

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Speaker 1: Steph beat Christian Brown off of a little off ball

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Speaker 1: action to the top of the key, turned over his

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Speaker 1: right shoulder and hit like a twenty five footer. And

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Speaker 1: on that play, the Nuggets didn't have anybody showing at

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Speaker 1: the level. And so one of the things that Jokic

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Speaker 1: is trying to do there is he's going Christian Brown's

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Speaker 1: in a lock and trail, and there's an easy opportunity

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Speaker 1: for guys to get open on slips when people are

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Speaker 1: showing up at the level. Jokic is like, I got

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Speaker 1: a roam, I've got to be around trying to troll

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Speaker 1: around the paint and potentially show at the level on

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Speaker 1: a screen. If Steph comes off looking to shoot, He's

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Speaker 1: essentially trying to counter Steph's movement by roaming off of

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Speaker 1: Al Horford. And then the past when that was Kevon Looney,

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Speaker 1: that was that was a guy that that you could

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Speaker 1: roam off of in that situation, and Al Horford burns

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Speaker 1: him with the right corner. Three Jokics thrown it through

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Speaker 1: a decent contest at the end, but Horford burns him,

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Speaker 1: and like the broadcast is calling out that Steve Kurse smiling.

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Speaker 2: You know why he's smiling.

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Speaker 1: That's a flexibility he hasn't had in years past, the

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Speaker 1: ability to space the floor while also sizing up. And

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Speaker 1: I think it just there were a couple other things

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Speaker 1: defensively in that stretch. They did a really good job

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Speaker 1: of essentially taking away any of the mismatch opportunities that

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Speaker 1: Denver could attack. This was something we saw in the

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Speaker 1: Nuggets game, or excuse me, the Lakers game on Tuesday night,

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Speaker 1: if you guys remember, but Joe rat by the way,

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Speaker 1: if you guys follow on Twitter, I highly recommend if

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Speaker 1: you haven't, he just does like little like video explainers

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Speaker 1: of some of the actions that Golden State runs just

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Speaker 1: as a really good job covering the team. But he

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Speaker 1: put together a little video explainer talking about the hedge

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Speaker 1: and recover sequences and the scram switching that Golden State

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Speaker 1: was using to protect Steph from Luca, And it started

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Speaker 1: with Luca hitting a little right shoulder fade off of

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Speaker 1: Steph in the middle of the floor, attacking him once

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Speaker 1: and then they basically were unable to attack that match

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Speaker 1: up the rest of the way, and then obviously tonight

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Speaker 1: down the stretch, the game. They had their handful of

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Speaker 1: plays where they were able to go out Steph throughout

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Speaker 1: the regulation, but in crunch time they were able to

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Speaker 1: essentially stash Steph on the back line and scram switch.

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Speaker 1: Anytime they brought Steph's man up the screen, they just

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Speaker 1: put someone else. Jonathan Kamena, Jimmy Butler, alhor for Draymond Green.

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Speaker 1: It was just like the two man game for Murray

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Speaker 1: and Jokic, with a steady diet of big, athletic, versatile

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Speaker 1: defenders that they had to take their pick of attacking,

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Speaker 1: and so it was a lot of like tougher shots

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Speaker 1: like Jonathan Kaminga. He's been a revelation to start this year,

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Speaker 1: but he had so many like little defensive plays that

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Speaker 1: I thought played a big role. He had a play

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Speaker 1: where he was guarding Aaron Gordon on the left block

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Speaker 1: and like this is red hot, damn near dropped fifty

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Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon, and he pressured him and bumped him so

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Speaker 1: good on the little right shoulder fade that Aaron Gordon

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Speaker 1: like like hit the corner of the backboard on a

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Speaker 1: fade away. He I need to see the replay to

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Speaker 1: see if it was actually a blocker a foul, but

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Speaker 1: he had a really nice rotation to Yokich in overtime

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Speaker 1: where he hit him like kind of beat him to

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Speaker 1: the spot, applied physicality on his base and it looked

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Speaker 1: like he might have blocked Yokich up top on like

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Speaker 1: a little hook shot. Jonathan Kamingo was phenomenal defensively down

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Speaker 1: the stretch of this game, and what it does like

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Speaker 1: when he's making the right decisions on offense. And again,

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Speaker 1: like I thought he made all the right reads on offense.

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Speaker 1: There was a play early in overtime where he kind

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Speaker 1: of took it upon himself to drive to the rim,

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Speaker 1: but he had space. I didn't think it was a

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Speaker 1: bad take, and he just smoked an easy layup and

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00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:35,199
Speaker 1: he smoked a putback. I didn't think that was a

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Speaker 1: bad play. He made good decisions and made enough plays

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Speaker 1: on offense to get Steve Kerr to trust him to

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Speaker 1: stay on the floor, which unlocked this group of four

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Speaker 1: super versatile dudes that were just all communicating and scramming

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Speaker 1: each other out of switches and rotating and like, there

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00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:54,640
Speaker 1: were a handful of mistakes, like Draymond Green lost Aaron

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Speaker 1: Gordon on a little pin screen from Jamal Murray at

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Speaker 1: the elbow that where Aaron Gordon hit three late in regulation.

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Speaker 1: There were a handful of mistakes and some tough shot

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Speaker 1: making from some really good players for Denver, but for

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Speaker 1: the most part, that unit was able to make Denver

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Speaker 1: pretty uncomfortable. And so I just think it's a testament

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Speaker 1: to the versatility that this particular Warriors roster has compared

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Speaker 1: to previous iterations of the team. Again, a couple other

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Speaker 1: quick shout outs. Jonathan kmingad like I just I it's

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Speaker 1: only been two games. Sure, I have one of the

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Speaker 1: things I talked about in last night's show. If you

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Speaker 1: guys remember the thing with the Warriors is they've faced

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Speaker 1: two bigger, slower teams to start the season. I am

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Speaker 1: really curious to see what they look like offensively against

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Speaker 1: more of a quicker, more athletic, perimeter based team. So

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Speaker 1: there's gonna be different matchups that I think will challenge

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Speaker 1: them in different ways. But the two first tests, you

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Speaker 1: have a middle tier Western Conference team on the road,

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Speaker 1: and then you have a team that I consider to

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Speaker 1: be the championship favorite at this point in Denver, and

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Speaker 1: you win them both and you show very impressive things

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Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor in both games, and

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Speaker 1: in each game, Johnathan Kaminga was able to play a

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Speaker 1: dead serious winning role. He was unbelievable in the second

433
00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:18,000
Speaker 1: half against the Lakers in throughout this game, but especially

434
00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:22,000
Speaker 1: in the second half. Defensively, Jonathan Kminga was unbelievable in

435
00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:24,440
Speaker 1: this game. And so, like, you know, all to talk

436
00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:28,080
Speaker 1: about what the Warriors need, they need a you know,

437
00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:30,960
Speaker 1: potentially a wing that can be athletic and make plays

438
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:33,440
Speaker 1: and function in their offense, or they need a scoring

439
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,480
Speaker 1: guard or whatever it is. They don't need any of

440
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,120
Speaker 1: that shit if this is the Jonathan Kaminga they're gonna get.

441
00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:40,199
Speaker 1: And so again, like it's only two games, but I

442
00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,320
Speaker 1: just think it's a wonderful start for him on that front.

443
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,160
Speaker 1: Will Richard, there was a moment there where I thought

444
00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,119
Speaker 1: he might close the game because of how late he

445
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,720
Speaker 1: was playing into the fourth quarter, and the couple of

446
00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:51,879
Speaker 1: things that stood out to me. First of all, he's

447
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,719
Speaker 1: a big, functional athlete that can do a bunch of

448
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:56,879
Speaker 1: things all over the floor just with his size and

449
00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,520
Speaker 1: his ability to jump. So like competing for big defensive rebounds,

450
00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:02,960
Speaker 1: he's running up and down the floor in transition, but

451
00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:06,159
Speaker 1: it's it's the high IQ piece, like he was making

452
00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:10,280
Speaker 1: high quality reads in the short role for out of

453
00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:12,199
Speaker 1: ball screens where he's catching in the middle and like

454
00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,159
Speaker 1: looking reading the defender stepping up on him and dropping

455
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:19,240
Speaker 1: it off to the cutter along the baseline. He as

456
00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:23,119
Speaker 1: a baseline cutter has a really nice natural feel for

457
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:25,679
Speaker 1: like when to time his cuts along the baseline, and

458
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,440
Speaker 1: then he just finds himself open and ends up getting

459
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,320
Speaker 1: easy opportunities right under the rim. Again, that transition three

460
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,160
Speaker 1: he hit when it was one hundred one o eight

461
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:35,119
Speaker 1: to one hundred, I thought was one of the biggest

462
00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,840
Speaker 1: shots in the game. Denver was this close to ending

463
00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,720
Speaker 1: that thing right there, steph force is a turnover. Will

464
00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:42,960
Speaker 1: hits that shot, and it kind of changed the tone

465
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,920
Speaker 1: and tenor of the game. I just, you know, going

466
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,320
Speaker 1: to say, just keeps finding these types of guys, and

467
00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:51,359
Speaker 1: Will Richard just looks like the next and a long

468
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 1: line of just like just discount margin basketball players that

469
00:22:58,480 --> 00:23:01,080
Speaker 1: somehow step in and play winding basketball in a dead

470
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:02,960
Speaker 1: serious role for the Warriors, which I think, which I

471
00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:05,960
Speaker 1: think is just a testament to their organizational excellence from

472
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:07,919
Speaker 1: the top down. And then lastly, before we move on

473
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,160
Speaker 1: to Denver. Just if Steph is going to look like that,

474
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:13,679
Speaker 1: we need to recalibrate whether or not the Warriors are

475
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:17,000
Speaker 1: a first or second tier contender, because if Steph is

476
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:18,879
Speaker 1: going to rise the level of his play to that

477
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,560
Speaker 1: of the top tier superstars in this league, they just

478
00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:25,280
Speaker 1: suddenly present a lot of the similar two way excellent

479
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,320
Speaker 1: excellence and versatility that we consider when we talk about

480
00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:31,359
Speaker 1: Denver and Oklahoma City. So just really really encouraging too,

481
00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:33,960
Speaker 1: and oh start for Golden State Warriors fans certainly have

482
00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:36,920
Speaker 1: a lot to be excited about on the Denver front.

483
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 1: You lost the road game against a very good NBA team,

484
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:46,679
Speaker 1: but I generally was very impressed by Denver tonight. The

485
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:51,359
Speaker 1: offense looks utterly ridiculous. The additions of Cam Johnson and

486
00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,960
Speaker 1: Jonas Valanciunas and Tim Hardaway Junior and Bruce Brown, they

487
00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:57,920
Speaker 1: just have so many guys who can make plays within

488
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:02,480
Speaker 1: their offense. And then I would argue that Jokich, Murray

489
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,480
Speaker 1: and Gordon as a trio, this is as good as

490
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 1: they've ever looked. This is the best shape that Jamal

491
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,240
Speaker 1: Murray's been in at this phase in the season that

492
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:14,800
Speaker 1: I can remember, Like this is the most athletic and

493
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:19,320
Speaker 1: polished Jamal Murray's looked like. In October, Aaron Gordon like

494
00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,840
Speaker 1: this thing with the shooting. This has been the story

495
00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,680
Speaker 1: for well over a year now. Every time I see

496
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,920
Speaker 1: a player that puts up statistical excellence over some sort

497
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,720
Speaker 1: of sample size that is different than what we saw before,

498
00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:33,600
Speaker 1: I start to look at process. So, for instance, like

499
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:35,800
Speaker 1: for a ball handler, take it like when I saw

500
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:37,760
Speaker 1: the numbers that Denny Avvia was putting up at the

501
00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,119
Speaker 1: tail end of the last season. What encouraged me was not

502
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:41,960
Speaker 1: so much that he put up the numbers. It was

503
00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:44,320
Speaker 1: the way that he was doing it, the methodical way

504
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,359
Speaker 1: that he was able to consistently get into the paint

505
00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,280
Speaker 1: with slashing drives and using his body to put the

506
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,800
Speaker 1: defender in jail and kind of methodically work the middle

507
00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:54,480
Speaker 1: of the floor and bait rim protectors into awkward positions

508
00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 1: so he can drop off passes or sneak by them

509
00:24:56,880 --> 00:24:59,680
Speaker 1: for layups. I'm like, this works. That's not like a oh,

510
00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,960
Speaker 1: he just put up numbers. Like this works, He's gonna

511
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,440
Speaker 1: be a good player for a long time. Similarly, when

512
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:08,760
Speaker 1: I look at jump shooting, I look at four and

513
00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:12,199
Speaker 1: like I noticed last year with Aaron Gordon, it was

514
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:15,760
Speaker 1: like super fluid. There's no wasted motion. He had a

515
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:21,840
Speaker 1: really strong base, excellent like a power transfer all the

516
00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,600
Speaker 1: way up through his shot. Speaking of power transfer, we're

517
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,000
Speaker 1: gonna talk about it with Denny Avdia later. Like Danny

518
00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:29,159
Speaker 1: missed every single jump shot short off the front of

519
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:30,520
Speaker 1: the rim in large part because he has a little

520
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:32,560
Speaker 1: hitch in the middle of his shot, so he's losing

521
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:34,840
Speaker 1: power on the way up. Aaron Gordon doesn't have that.

522
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,560
Speaker 1: It's fluid, it's smooth, it's easy from the bottom all

523
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,520
Speaker 1: the way through to the top and then replication right

524
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,320
Speaker 1: every release needs to look the same. And like Aaron

525
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,360
Speaker 1: Gordon is just a good shooter now. He's just a really,

526
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:47,600
Speaker 1: really good shooter now. And when you can do it

527
00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:51,480
Speaker 1: at six foot ten in a lineup where you're already

528
00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:54,199
Speaker 1: having to account for other perimeter players, he's gonna get

529
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 1: matchups where he's gonna get open. And it's just his

530
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,600
Speaker 1: ability to shoot the basketball combined with We saw a

531
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:04,600
Speaker 1: dominant post player tonight and this is he flashed a

532
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:06,119
Speaker 1: little bit of this in the past. We saw it

533
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:08,400
Speaker 1: obviously in Game one in a big way.

534
00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:09,160
Speaker 2: Of the NBA.

535
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:11,359
Speaker 1: Finals in twenty twenty three when he was punishing the

536
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,080
Speaker 1: Miami heat down there. But he's become like a really

537
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,480
Speaker 1: high level, polished post player. He's got tough shot making

538
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:19,640
Speaker 1: ability over both of his shoulders. He can hit left

539
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:21,879
Speaker 1: shoulder fades and right shoulder fades. He can hit hooks.

540
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,560
Speaker 1: He's good at getting inside position and bullying his way

541
00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,840
Speaker 1: for fouls and easy layups right underneath the basket. Eron

542
00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,040
Speaker 1: Owdn is just an awesome basketball player now. So you

543
00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:32,520
Speaker 1: have like the best version of the Big three that

544
00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:37,080
Speaker 1: you've ever had, and you've got the like incredible depth

545
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:41,600
Speaker 1: of offensive skill and finishing talent around him. It's it's

546
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,359
Speaker 1: just a super exciting time to be a Denver Nuggets fans.

547
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:49,479
Speaker 1: That's a high powered offense right there. Now, there's several

548
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,200
Speaker 1: specific things that I want to dive into. First of all,

549
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,320
Speaker 1: you're a plus four with yokichaf the floor. That's a

550
00:26:56,320 --> 00:26:59,320
Speaker 1: really good sign. I talked about this with adamarz on

551
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:02,439
Speaker 1: I'm I'm doing once a week with Adamara's on the

552
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:05,639
Speaker 1: All NBA podcast filling in for Tim Leglar. He's got

553
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:07,760
Speaker 1: a much busier calendar this year, so he's only going

554
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:10,280
Speaker 1: twice a week with Mara, so I'm stepping in for

555
00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:12,199
Speaker 1: him mostly on Fridays. But we went on Monday this

556
00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:16,960
Speaker 1: week and one of the things that Adam asked me

557
00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:18,760
Speaker 1: was like, do you think that the Nuggets will be

558
00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:22,480
Speaker 1: fifteen points better per one hunter possessions with Jokich on

559
00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:23,280
Speaker 1: versus off?

560
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:24,680
Speaker 2: Over? Under?

561
00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:27,960
Speaker 1: And I said under, And it wasn't because I didn't

562
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,159
Speaker 1: think the Nuggets would be great with Yokach on the floor.

563
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,520
Speaker 1: They were plus eleven and a half last year with

564
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:36,119
Speaker 1: Yokich on the floor, and I told Adam, I expect

565
00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:38,640
Speaker 1: that to get up to like thirteen or so, thirteen

566
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:39,400
Speaker 1: maybe fourteen.

567
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:40,760
Speaker 2: But one of the things that.

568
00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:44,800
Speaker 1: Led me to take the under there is I actually

569
00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:47,400
Speaker 1: think that this Nuggets team is going to be slightly

570
00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:50,399
Speaker 1: positive this season with Jokich off the floor, which is

571
00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:53,040
Speaker 1: a dynamic they haven't had in years past. And I

572
00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:54,520
Speaker 1: think a lot of it comes down to the fact

573
00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:56,800
Speaker 1: that they have Yonis Valanciunis as a guy that allows

574
00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:59,720
Speaker 1: them to have that scheme consistency, that can set better screens,

575
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,240
Speaker 1: that can bring of like a physical imposition to that

576
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:05,800
Speaker 1: lineup that they didn't have before, and there's just more talent,

577
00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,800
Speaker 1: which allows them to stagger more of their higher quality

578
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,600
Speaker 1: players into those bench groups. Simple way to put it

579
00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:13,679
Speaker 1: is just there's better basketball players on the floor right

580
00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:15,639
Speaker 1: now when Yokich is off the floor than there was

581
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,160
Speaker 1: last year, and so plus foward. Yokich off the floor

582
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:20,399
Speaker 1: again on the road against a very very good at

583
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,679
Speaker 1: Golden State team. Strong indicator on that front. A couple

584
00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:27,119
Speaker 1: of notes, though, I did think that they were still

585
00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:29,959
Speaker 1: a little to Jamal Murray reliant in those bench groups.

586
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,240
Speaker 1: This is not to say that you can't to say

587
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:35,879
Speaker 1: that I'm going overly negative. Of course they were positive

588
00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 1: with Yokich off the floor, but it's more just in

589
00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:41,840
Speaker 1: terms of sustainability in the long run. I did think

590
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:43,960
Speaker 1: it was a little too much Jamal dribbling still with

591
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:45,560
Speaker 1: that bench troup. I'd like to see a little bit

592
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,040
Speaker 1: more ball in player movement and keep keeping people involved,

593
00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,160
Speaker 1: and specifically because I think they need to find a

594
00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,320
Speaker 1: way to keep Cam Johnson in a better rhythm.

595
00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:53,960
Speaker 2: Cam miss some good looks today.

596
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:55,480
Speaker 1: I thought in the early part of the game both

597
00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:57,640
Speaker 1: Cam and Tim Hardaway both miss some good looks for

598
00:28:57,720 --> 00:28:59,240
Speaker 1: them the shots that I know that they'll make it

599
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:01,760
Speaker 1: a higher clip as the season progresses. But then there

600
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,000
Speaker 1: was also a three in overtime that Cam Johnson took

601
00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:06,200
Speaker 1: off of the right wing that was open, but he

602
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:07,800
Speaker 1: left it way short, and I think a big part

603
00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:10,080
Speaker 1: of why it was way short was he was not

604
00:29:10,240 --> 00:29:12,760
Speaker 1: very involved down the stretch of the game. And so

605
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:14,280
Speaker 1: I think that they can make a little bit more

606
00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:16,960
Speaker 1: of an effort to invest in rhythm for Cam Johnson

607
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:18,520
Speaker 1: throughout the game, and one of the ways to do

608
00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,040
Speaker 1: that is in those bench groups given more opportunity to

609
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:24,080
Speaker 1: be aggressive with the basketball. Also, even when Yokich is

610
00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:27,240
Speaker 1: on the floor, more action that directly involves Cam Johnson,

611
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:28,720
Speaker 1: just to get him to touch the ball a little

612
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:30,840
Speaker 1: bit more. I think I think that, you know, when

613
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:34,240
Speaker 1: Michael Porter Junior was there, there was a little bit

614
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,200
Speaker 1: more of him just being directly involved in the action

615
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:39,520
Speaker 1: rather than just kind of spotting up on the weak

616
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:42,280
Speaker 1: side of the way that Cam Johnson did. But one

617
00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:44,600
Speaker 1: of the upsides you saw, though Cam Johnson provided a

618
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,040
Speaker 1: really steady defensive presence for them late in the game,

619
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:49,640
Speaker 1: there wasn't like an easy way for them to attack

620
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:51,720
Speaker 1: the way that it used to be when Michael Porter

621
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,760
Speaker 1: Junior was out there. So again you lost that game.

622
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,280
Speaker 1: If you're a Nuggets fan, you're pointing to those three,

623
00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:00,640
Speaker 1: like if Jokic hits that easy little left shoulder hook

624
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,480
Speaker 1: over Al Horford. Now, by the way, I think it's

625
00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,760
Speaker 1: a dangerous game to play that. Steph Curry also smoked

626
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,080
Speaker 1: a wide open reverse layup in that stretch. But there

627
00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,960
Speaker 1: were three pretty high percentage looks one for Murray and

628
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:12,920
Speaker 1: two for Yokis down the stretch that didn't go in.

629
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,480
Speaker 1: It's make or miss league. Golden State's awesome. You lost

630
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:18,480
Speaker 1: a game on the road, but generally I left that

631
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,560
Speaker 1: game super impressed by both teams, and I think, if

632
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:23,760
Speaker 1: you're a Nuggets fan, a lot of like proof of

633
00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:25,760
Speaker 1: concept and some of the stuff that we talked about

634
00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:29,200
Speaker 1: this offseason. All right, let's move on to the earlier slate.

635
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:33,440
Speaker 1: Earlier game in the ESPN Slate the goal the Thunder

636
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:41,840
Speaker 1: versus the Indiana Pacers. Another master class from Shake gild

637
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,720
Speaker 1: of Alexander again with the loss of Jadub and also

638
00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:46,880
Speaker 1: Keason Wallace, who was out in this game. They're just

639
00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:50,360
Speaker 1: super light on ball handling and refined offensive skill, and

640
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:54,600
Speaker 1: that just puts a massive burden on Shay to create shots.

641
00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:56,719
Speaker 1: And I just thought he did a wonderful job of it.

642
00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:57,040
Speaker 2: Again.

643
00:30:58,160 --> 00:30:59,880
Speaker 1: It started with a similar concept to what we saw

644
00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:04,040
Speaker 1: in the NBA Finals, which was Oklahoma City confronting the

645
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:08,120
Speaker 1: ball pressure from Indiana by setting screens out closer to

646
00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:10,720
Speaker 1: half court. And if you guys remember in the Finals,

647
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,520
Speaker 1: Miles Turner was often just getting toasted when he would

648
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:16,160
Speaker 1: try to come out to the perimeter to catch Shae

649
00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:18,520
Speaker 1: coming off of those screens, and then Shae would just

650
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,240
Speaker 1: snake the dribble or just drive right around him and

651
00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:22,840
Speaker 1: get all the way to the rim. We saw a

652
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:25,959
Speaker 1: lot of that similar dynamic taking place in the early

653
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,640
Speaker 1: part of the game tonight. Ball pressure, screens out close

654
00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:33,560
Speaker 1: to half court, Shae just getting downhill and just getting

655
00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:35,560
Speaker 1: a ton of layups and fouls. And by the way,

656
00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:38,320
Speaker 1: Shaye attempted twenty six free throws tonight. He's averaging twenty

657
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:40,920
Speaker 1: foul shot attempts to the first two games.

658
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 2: It's just ridiculous.

659
00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:45,280
Speaker 1: But after that, the Pacers kind of tweaked it and

660
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:48,240
Speaker 1: stopped pressuring so much. And they also started to see

661
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,800
Speaker 1: that little brush screen at near half court coming and

662
00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:54,200
Speaker 1: they would scoop like way around it and meet Shae

663
00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 1: on the other side, so they were able to kind

664
00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,680
Speaker 1: of contain some of those semi transition drives. And so

665
00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:01,240
Speaker 1: when they did that, he turned into a steady diet

666
00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:04,360
Speaker 1: of Shaye ISOs and it was like ISOs off the

667
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,920
Speaker 1: right elbow and post ups on the left block a

668
00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:09,480
Speaker 1: lot of post ups on the left block in the

669
00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,800
Speaker 1: second half. And from there they just continued to slowly

670
00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:16,600
Speaker 1: but surely manufacture offense like Shay would score one on

671
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:20,400
Speaker 1: one with little short jump shots. He used a bunch

672
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:23,120
Speaker 1: of really sharp pump fakes to draw fouls tonight, like

673
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,680
Speaker 1: he sets up his pump fake extremely well to look

674
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:29,280
Speaker 1: like his regular shot attempt and the ones that I

675
00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:32,600
Speaker 1: think of are like, he drew one I think it

676
00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:34,840
Speaker 1: was on Jarifs Walker. He got one on Jaris Walker,

677
00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,120
Speaker 1: one on Obi Top and late that kind of matched

678
00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:39,600
Speaker 1: this concept that I'm talking about, but off the right elbow.

679
00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:41,920
Speaker 1: One of those right elbow ISOs. He went with that

680
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:45,720
Speaker 1: like like textbook little live dribble jab step where he

681
00:32:45,800 --> 00:32:47,920
Speaker 1: kind of like leads with his right foot and kind

682
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:49,800
Speaker 1: of jabs with it while he does a quicker little

683
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,160
Speaker 1: in and out dribble. He'll take that shot all the time,

684
00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,280
Speaker 1: and it looks exactly like that, and so it's tantalizing

685
00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:58,240
Speaker 1: when you're the defender when he goes like that and

686
00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:00,560
Speaker 1: then he goes up into his shot and it looks

687
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:03,240
Speaker 1: exactly the way it looks like when he's actually shooting,

688
00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:05,880
Speaker 1: and you want to time it right to get a contest.

689
00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:08,360
Speaker 1: But next thing you know, Chay's still on the ground.

690
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,200
Speaker 1: Now he's jumping into and draws a foul. Similarly, the

691
00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:12,920
Speaker 1: right shoulder fade. He got one of these off of

692
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 1: the left block in overtime, if I remember correctly.

693
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:16,360
Speaker 2: But he'll bump you with.

694
00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:19,120
Speaker 1: That left shoulder and he'll spin over that right shoulder

695
00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:21,520
Speaker 1: and he'll take that shot. And so when he bumps

696
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:23,160
Speaker 1: you with that left shoulder and then spins and then

697
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:25,360
Speaker 1: just shows the ball, it's tantalizing.

698
00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:27,360
Speaker 2: You want to try to time it. You end up jumping.

699
00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:30,440
Speaker 1: Next thing you know, he's jumping into your chest and

700
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:32,880
Speaker 1: he's drawing a foul. It's just like it's a textbook

701
00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:36,080
Speaker 1: example of like the fundamentals, Like there's a I think

702
00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:38,480
Speaker 1: think back to all the best pump fakes that I've

703
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:40,440
Speaker 1: seen in my time cover in the league, and like,

704
00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,160
Speaker 1: are being a fan of the league, and like I

705
00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:44,480
Speaker 1: remember Chris Bosch. Chris bosh used to get people with

706
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:47,240
Speaker 1: this pump fake all the time. Why because if you

707
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 1: freeze framed it right at the top of the shot,

708
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:53,480
Speaker 1: the pump fake in the shot looked exactly the same,

709
00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,080
Speaker 1: and so it was just so difficult for players to

710
00:33:56,240 --> 00:33:58,120
Speaker 1: figure out what he was doing when he would show

711
00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:00,240
Speaker 1: them the ball like that. The other thing I thought

712
00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:02,080
Speaker 1: Mark Dagenald did a really nice job of and this

713
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,720
Speaker 1: game was setting up the spacing. He always kept aj

714
00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,400
Speaker 1: Mitchell or Aaron Wiggins one pass away on those ISOs

715
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:12,240
Speaker 1: and post ups, and so the Pacers were mostly sending

716
00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:14,840
Speaker 1: their doubles from that direction. And I thought both of

717
00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,080
Speaker 1: those guys did a really nice job of taking advantage

718
00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:19,799
Speaker 1: of the baked in driving lanes that were there by

719
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 1: just ripping off of that close out and getting all

720
00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:24,560
Speaker 1: the way into the lane. Aj Mitchell got a bunch

721
00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:27,560
Speaker 1: of those, Aaron Wiggins got one of those, and then

722
00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,200
Speaker 1: also Aaron Wiggins was able to knock down the jump shots,

723
00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:32,319
Speaker 1: the open jump shots that were coming off of those

724
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:35,319
Speaker 1: double teams. He hit several down the stretch to ice

725
00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:38,400
Speaker 1: the game. What it did is it just put Indiana

726
00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:40,960
Speaker 1: in this brutal spot where they either had to let

727
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:45,040
Speaker 1: one of those guys, like with a huge disadvantage, try

728
00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:49,120
Speaker 1: to guard Shay, or they had to send the double

729
00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:52,000
Speaker 1: team and next thing you know, it's Aj Mitchell ripping

730
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:54,080
Speaker 1: down the lane for a layup or drawing a foul,

731
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,799
Speaker 1: or Aaron Wiggins knocking down an open jump shot, And

732
00:34:56,840 --> 00:34:59,080
Speaker 1: it just is a testament to the depth of talent

733
00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:01,880
Speaker 1: that this Olahoma City team has. Like Aj Mitchell and

734
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:05,720
Speaker 1: Aaron Wiggins went for forty nine points being slotted way

735
00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:10,520
Speaker 1: up into tougher on ball rolls because of the injuries,

736
00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:14,000
Speaker 1: Like Wiggins hit like a tough like step back three

737
00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:15,560
Speaker 1: at the top of the key. Aj Mitchell had a

738
00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:17,040
Speaker 1: lot of good on ball reps. He was doing a

739
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,839
Speaker 1: really nice job getting to his strong hand, getting all

740
00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:21,760
Speaker 1: the way to the rim and drawing fouls and getting

741
00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:25,440
Speaker 1: easy layups. Those two guys just did enough to support

742
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,640
Speaker 1: Shay and like, Shay's just been absolutely fantastic to start

743
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:28,920
Speaker 1: the year.

744
00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:29,839
Speaker 2: There's no way around it.

745
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:32,160
Speaker 1: And the crazy thing is I feel like he still

746
00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:34,080
Speaker 1: left some meat on the bone in those two games,

747
00:35:34,800 --> 00:35:37,400
Speaker 1: Like he missed several easy ones at the end of

748
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,279
Speaker 1: regulation tonight, little short jumpers around the left elbow that

749
00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:42,920
Speaker 1: he missed that are shots that he normally makes, and

750
00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,960
Speaker 1: he missed like five clutch free throws in the two games.

751
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:50,759
Speaker 1: Despite all that, he's averaging forty five points in two

752
00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:54,640
Speaker 1: wins and his team literally needed every single one of

753
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,560
Speaker 1: those points with the injuries that they've had. I just

754
00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:00,200
Speaker 1: can't say enough about how good Shae has been to

755
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:02,359
Speaker 1: start the season. And then lou Dort once again. I mean,

756
00:36:02,400 --> 00:36:04,040
Speaker 1: I know, he's what is he won for twelve or

757
00:36:04,080 --> 00:36:05,839
Speaker 1: something like that to start the season from three. He's

758
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,480
Speaker 1: having a rough shooting start, but he's still just such

759
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:10,760
Speaker 1: a wrecking ball on defense. I felt bad for Pascal

760
00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:14,480
Speaker 1: Siakam tonight because the Pacers dropped nemhard early in the game.

761
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:17,000
Speaker 1: He gets tangled up with Shay, hurts his shoulder, Nie

762
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:18,799
Speaker 1: Smith ends up going down in the middle of the game,

763
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,200
Speaker 1: they're already out Tyre Saliburton and TJ McConnell, so there's

764
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:24,960
Speaker 1: just no ball handling, and so like in overtime, you

765
00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:28,279
Speaker 1: were watching Siakam bring the ball up over and over

766
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:32,040
Speaker 1: again against like aggressive lou Dort full court pressure, and

767
00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:34,520
Speaker 1: it just looked like a miserable experience. Like even if

768
00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:36,640
Speaker 1: Siakam was handling it like he wasn't turned in and over.

769
00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:39,360
Speaker 1: He was just kind of spinning over both shoulders and

770
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:41,760
Speaker 1: just kept spinning over both shoulders and he was protecting

771
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:43,880
Speaker 1: the ball. But like Lou, Dort was so far up

772
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,080
Speaker 1: underneath him with physicality. You could literally see Siakam getting

773
00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:50,120
Speaker 1: like dislodged over and over again just because of how

774
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:55,080
Speaker 1: strong Dort is. And like again, I like Siakam's effort

775
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:56,840
Speaker 1: was admirable, and he had a bunch of shots, and

776
00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:58,719
Speaker 1: we'll talk about him more in a minute, but he

777
00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:01,000
Speaker 1: also missed several jump shots, and I do think that

778
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,680
Speaker 1: the pressure from Dort played a role in wearing him down,

779
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:07,279
Speaker 1: just like it did with KD on Opening night. Only

780
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:10,800
Speaker 1: real negative note I have on the on the OKC front,

781
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,279
Speaker 1: disappointing night for Chet on offense. He was zero for

782
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,640
Speaker 1: six from three And one of the things that I'm

783
00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:18,120
Speaker 1: consistently seeing with Chet is they're situating him on the

784
00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 1: opposite wing, and look, there's a lot of value there

785
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:24,680
Speaker 1: if you can do that. Boston did this for years

786
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,759
Speaker 1: in the Porzingis Horford era for two years, I should

787
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,600
Speaker 1: say I say years. But for those two years they

788
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:34,600
Speaker 1: were positioning Horford and porzingis above the break for a

789
00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:38,240
Speaker 1: very specific reason. If you do that, it potentially removes

790
00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:40,680
Speaker 1: a rim protector from the paint because the rotation is

791
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:42,440
Speaker 1: different coming off the wing than it is coming out

792
00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:43,120
Speaker 1: of the corner right.

793
00:37:44,239 --> 00:37:45,840
Speaker 2: But you have to be able to hit the chot.

794
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:47,840
Speaker 1: And one of the things that's happening with Chet is

795
00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:51,200
Speaker 1: they're situating him there and especially in the two big

796
00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:54,279
Speaker 1: looks with Hartenstein right, and when they situate him there,

797
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:57,399
Speaker 1: his man is consistently digging down in nail help right.

798
00:37:57,440 --> 00:37:59,520
Speaker 1: So he's sitting right down at the nail, right at

799
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,080
Speaker 1: the foul and ready to help on any shade drive

800
00:38:02,239 --> 00:38:04,239
Speaker 1: or any other action taking place on the other side

801
00:38:04,239 --> 00:38:06,440
Speaker 1: of the court. And the only thing that Chet can

802
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:08,240
Speaker 1: do to loosen that up is to hit that above

803
00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:10,360
Speaker 1: the break three. And you know, he's hit a couple

804
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:13,680
Speaker 1: on opening night. He hit a big one in crunch

805
00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:16,000
Speaker 1: time on Opening night. But that was part of the

806
00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:18,200
Speaker 1: story tonight was he was zero for six from three

807
00:38:18,320 --> 00:38:22,040
Speaker 1: and it allowed Indiana to get away with sending aggressive

808
00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:24,799
Speaker 1: help to the nail when he was situating himself there.

809
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,359
Speaker 1: And so just something to keep an eye on with Chet,

810
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:28,520
Speaker 1: just whether or not he can get to the point

811
00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:31,359
Speaker 1: where he can consistently knock that shot down over time.

812
00:38:31,400 --> 00:38:33,520
Speaker 1: But again, like, can't complain about two to zero against

813
00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:36,000
Speaker 1: two good teams to start your title defense, and the

814
00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:38,439
Speaker 1: Thunder just looked like a grown up team led by Shay,

815
00:38:39,320 --> 00:38:43,680
Speaker 1: a really transformed looking group playing some excellent basketball right

816
00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:47,640
Speaker 1: now on the Pacers front. Honestly, just a super respectable

817
00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:50,840
Speaker 1: battle from them from a team that is completely devastated

818
00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:53,879
Speaker 1: by injuries. The injuries forced a bunch of their bench

819
00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:56,200
Speaker 1: guys to step up into bigger roles, and guys just

820
00:38:56,200 --> 00:38:58,200
Speaker 1: made plays like Jaris Walker hit a couple of really

821
00:38:58,239 --> 00:39:01,120
Speaker 1: tough mid range jump shots in overtime. Obi top end

822
00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:05,560
Speaker 1: was his typical transition self, getting easy ones at the rim.

823
00:39:05,600 --> 00:39:08,920
Speaker 1: He also had a deep seal in overtime where he

824
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,920
Speaker 1: got a post touch for an easy layup. Ben Sheppard

825
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,240
Speaker 1: hit some shots and then like both Siakam and Matherine

826
00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:18,759
Speaker 1: were brilliant against Siakam handled ball pressure well and just

827
00:39:19,040 --> 00:39:20,960
Speaker 1: kept getting to his spots for those little short mid

828
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:22,560
Speaker 1: range pull up jump shots and he hit I think

829
00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:24,920
Speaker 1: three threes in the game as well, hit thirty two

830
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:28,320
Speaker 1: and fifteen. Ben matherin what a night for him thirty

831
00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:31,560
Speaker 1: six points and eleven rebounds. We talked about this a

832
00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:33,800
Speaker 1: lot with Ben Mathurin in the finals. If you guys remember,

833
00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:36,919
Speaker 1: but when you're playing agains Oklahoma City, like having a big,

834
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:39,880
Speaker 1: strong athletes is vital because those are the guys that

835
00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:43,040
Speaker 1: can get to their spots against the physicality. And he

836
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:48,360
Speaker 1: was consistently getting downhill and like breaking the point of

837
00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:52,279
Speaker 1: attack for Oklahoma City, screaming downhill and drawing a lot

838
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:55,800
Speaker 1: of fouls by just throwing his body into traffic. Oklahoma

839
00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:57,719
Speaker 1: City was so out of position, they were hacking him

840
00:39:57,960 --> 00:39:59,839
Speaker 1: and he was working his way to the line a ton,

841
00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:02,239
Speaker 1: he countered that with a bunch of over the top

842
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:05,120
Speaker 1: jump shots, especially some tough ones off the dribble, and like,

843
00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:07,480
Speaker 1: obviously they're going to need him a ton to start

844
00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:09,480
Speaker 1: the season with the injuries that they're dealing with. But

845
00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,880
Speaker 1: he was awesome tonight, and he looked awesome at a

846
00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:15,800
Speaker 1: couple of specific stretches against Oklahoma City in the finals.

847
00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:18,520
Speaker 1: And I think he's just a useful weapon to have

848
00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:23,720
Speaker 1: against those physical, perimeter defense oriented teams. I'm just generally

849
00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:27,400
Speaker 1: super impressed by Indiana. I was texting about this with

850
00:40:27,480 --> 00:40:30,080
Speaker 1: Jackson during the game, like it wasn't so much the

851
00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:31,960
Speaker 1: case after Anis Smith and Mhard went down because they

852
00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:34,200
Speaker 1: just had so little ball handling that their movement wasn't

853
00:40:34,239 --> 00:40:34,919
Speaker 1: quite as good.

854
00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:36,479
Speaker 2: But I actually think that.

855
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:40,319
Speaker 1: The Pacers play the best basketball in the NBA. Tim

856
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:42,960
Speaker 1: Legler did an excellent job of breaking down this concept

857
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:45,600
Speaker 1: in the broadcast in the first half. But they just

858
00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:49,960
Speaker 1: relentlessly put pressure on your defense by constantly hitting gaps

859
00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:54,400
Speaker 1: through ball and player movement, cutting, slashing, transition, kick aheads.

860
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:58,440
Speaker 1: They're constantly hitting gaps, and so it just capitalizes on

861
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:01,000
Speaker 1: every little bit of efficiency that exists in the game.

862
00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:04,440
Speaker 1: And you know, because of that, they never get stuck

863
00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:06,840
Speaker 1: in the half court. They never get stagnant, Like whoever

864
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,800
Speaker 1: has the ball will immediately do one of two things.

865
00:41:10,080 --> 00:41:12,800
Speaker 1: They'll throw a swing pass and cut or screen away

866
00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:16,480
Speaker 1: like immediately, or they'll drive, even if it's not like

867
00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:18,400
Speaker 1: a drive to beat the guy off the dribble, like

868
00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:21,440
Speaker 1: they'll just rip through and drive. Why because if you

869
00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:24,040
Speaker 1: do that, there's probably gonna be a defender who just

870
00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:26,399
Speaker 1: takes an extra step in somewhere on the floor. There's

871
00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:29,160
Speaker 1: gonna be some sort of defensive reaction then you pitch

872
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:31,359
Speaker 1: the ball to that guy. Now he has a better

873
00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:33,879
Speaker 1: chance because the defenders closing out on him. We've talked

874
00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:37,719
Speaker 1: about this concept a lot, but your chances of scoring

875
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:41,360
Speaker 1: dramatically improved the further the defender is away from you.

876
00:41:41,400 --> 00:41:43,640
Speaker 1: I know, big shock, right, But you have to create

877
00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:47,280
Speaker 1: those advantages by hitting gaps. And when you hit gaps,

878
00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:50,760
Speaker 1: the defense reacts. When the defense reacts, you create openings

879
00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:53,359
Speaker 1: to throw for a close out. And I thought Richard

880
00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:55,440
Speaker 1: Jefferson did a nice shot pointing this out in the

881
00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:59,120
Speaker 1: first half as well. The more drives, the more cuts,

882
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:03,320
Speaker 1: the more screens, the more interchanges you have on every possession,

883
00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:06,960
Speaker 1: the more opportunities it is for somebody to make a

884
00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:09,799
Speaker 1: mistake on defense. And when they make a mistake, that

885
00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:12,799
Speaker 1: leaves somebody wide open. That's how they get so many

886
00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:16,200
Speaker 1: quality three point shots and attempts at the rim.

887
00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:17,120
Speaker 2: It's why I.

888
00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:19,360
Speaker 1: Believe the Pacers play the best basketball in the NBA,

889
00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:25,400
Speaker 1: irrespective of talent. They capitalize on every single process controllable

890
00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:28,720
Speaker 1: that is available in the game of basketball. On defense,

891
00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:30,960
Speaker 1: they apply ball pressure so they can wear you down

892
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:34,680
Speaker 1: and fatigue you. That also makes opposing ball handlers uncomfortable.

893
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:36,920
Speaker 1: It's like a little margin that they capitalize on. And

894
00:42:36,920 --> 00:42:39,760
Speaker 1: then on offense, they push in transition to get every

895
00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:43,400
Speaker 1: extra transition possession because transition possessions are worth more than

896
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:45,920
Speaker 1: half court possessions on a point per possession basis. And

897
00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:48,319
Speaker 1: then in the half court they move cut screen drive,

898
00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:50,840
Speaker 1: move cut screen drive more than any other team in

899
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:54,360
Speaker 1: the NBA, which creates all sorts of easy opportunities for

900
00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:57,759
Speaker 1: their players to capitalize on. So, like when I think

901
00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:02,400
Speaker 1: of just basketball as an art form in a vacuum,

902
00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:04,920
Speaker 1: irrespective of the talent of the players that are playing,

903
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:07,560
Speaker 1: I don't think there's any team playing better basketball than

904
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:08,840
Speaker 1: the Indiana Pacers.

905
00:43:08,880 --> 00:43:10,120
Speaker 2: And so I just want to shout.

906
00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:12,479
Speaker 1: Out Rick Carlisle in the culture that he and Kevin

907
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:15,840
Speaker 1: Pritchard have built there in Indiana over the last few years.

908
00:43:16,120 --> 00:43:20,840
Speaker 1: All right, Trail Blazer's Blazers, Trail Blazer Timberwolves, Blazers. Excuse me,

909
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:22,160
Speaker 1: We're going to hit this game, and then we're going

910
00:43:22,239 --> 00:43:25,080
Speaker 1: to briefly touch on the gambling scandal.

911
00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:25,799
Speaker 2: Then we'll get out of here.

912
00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,719
Speaker 1: Tonight, super close, back and forth game, no team ever

913
00:43:29,800 --> 00:43:30,600
Speaker 1: led by more than eight.

914
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:32,879
Speaker 2: The Blazers controlled most of the game.

915
00:43:32,920 --> 00:43:34,759
Speaker 1: They led from the late first quarter all the way

916
00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:37,240
Speaker 1: through to the late fourth quarter, but then the Wolves

917
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:39,880
Speaker 1: came back and stole it late with four big jump shots,

918
00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:41,839
Speaker 1: three of which came from Anthony Edwards. He get two

919
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:44,080
Speaker 1: big pull up threes. There's a play where Rudy Gobert

920
00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:47,960
Speaker 1: just absolutely wiped out Jimani Kamara on a screen along

921
00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:51,080
Speaker 1: the right side, and when it came off that screen,

922
00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:54,000
Speaker 1: Donovan Klingen was way back in like a drop coverage,

923
00:43:54,120 --> 00:43:55,840
Speaker 1: so he ain't got a really clean look, and then

924
00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:57,520
Speaker 1: he hit it. And then he hit one in a

925
00:43:57,600 --> 00:43:59,920
Speaker 1: late clock iso against Jeremy Grant where he just kind

926
00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:02,960
Speaker 1: of dribbled into his chest with his right shoulder. Jeremy

927
00:44:02,960 --> 00:44:06,080
Speaker 1: Grant tried to flop. Jeremy Grant flopped twice and hurt

928
00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:07,880
Speaker 1: his team down the stretch. Talk about that in a minute.

929
00:44:07,920 --> 00:44:11,239
Speaker 1: But he drives into Jeremy Grant, Jeremy Grant flops, and

930
00:44:11,320 --> 00:44:13,840
Speaker 1: Ant hits another pull up three at the top of

931
00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:17,239
Speaker 1: the key. The second flop from Jeremy Grant was on

932
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:21,960
Speaker 1: a like one or two possessions prior Julius Randalls posting

933
00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:25,000
Speaker 1: him up and he just flops on a little basic bump.

934
00:44:25,040 --> 00:44:27,560
Speaker 1: Both of them were just there's no chance he was

935
00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:29,840
Speaker 1: getting an offensive foul call. They were just bad flops.

936
00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:32,880
Speaker 1: And when he flopped Jaden, mcdaniels's man had to step

937
00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:35,480
Speaker 1: over to help on Julius Randall. Julius pitched it back

938
00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:38,520
Speaker 1: to Jaden in the left corner. Jaden hits that huge

939
00:44:38,600 --> 00:44:40,960
Speaker 1: three out of the left corner, and then Ant ends

940
00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:43,839
Speaker 1: up icing the game with a nasty step back, mid

941
00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:46,400
Speaker 1: range jump shot along the left side against Tamani Kamara.

942
00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:49,960
Speaker 1: Classic example of the concept we talked about when it

943
00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:52,640
Speaker 1: comes to late game shot making. It's two point game,

944
00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:55,200
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a two possession game, no matter what.

945
00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:58,040
Speaker 1: If you get a bucket, you don't necessarily need a three.

946
00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:00,520
Speaker 1: You're looking for the highest field goal percentage shot they're

947
00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:03,920
Speaker 1: packing the paint. Going for a seventeen eighteen footer is

948
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:08,240
Speaker 1: a substantially higher percentage shot on a single shot pure

949
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:11,719
Speaker 1: field goal percentage basis than a three point shot, even

950
00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:13,399
Speaker 1: if the three point shot could see the extra point.

951
00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:15,719
Speaker 1: That's why I wanted to see Aunt build that out

952
00:45:15,719 --> 00:45:17,640
Speaker 1: in his game. And it just was a really really

953
00:45:17,760 --> 00:45:20,000
Speaker 1: nice game from man. He was five for ten from three,

954
00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:23,919
Speaker 1: really good balance though he was nine for eighteen from two,

955
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:26,640
Speaker 1: he was five for eight on mid range jump shots.

956
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:29,720
Speaker 1: He had four of them in the second half, including

957
00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:33,440
Speaker 1: some really tough ones a little turnaround fade away right

958
00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:36,680
Speaker 1: around the foul line he hit like a rescue late

959
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:40,040
Speaker 1: clock step back three on or stepback jump shot in

960
00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:41,600
Speaker 1: the left corners on this weird play where I think

961
00:45:41,640 --> 00:45:44,120
Speaker 1: Julius Randall lost his shoe and he like took a

962
00:45:44,239 --> 00:45:46,920
Speaker 1: nasty step back over Tomani Kamara. Just like tough bits

963
00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:50,040
Speaker 1: of shot making that helped manufacture extra points for him.

964
00:45:50,040 --> 00:45:52,040
Speaker 1: And again, like that's the thing to keep an eye

965
00:45:52,080 --> 00:45:54,000
Speaker 1: on with him, Like he wants to catch up to Shay,

966
00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:57,960
Speaker 1: but Shay hits that shot on over fifty percent on volume,

967
00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:01,080
Speaker 1: and Aunt did so for one game, so let's see

968
00:46:01,080 --> 00:46:03,000
Speaker 1: how well he can sustain it. And like he only

969
00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:04,480
Speaker 1: had one assist. But I actually thought he had some

970
00:46:04,560 --> 00:46:07,879
Speaker 1: nice playmaking sequences that Minnesota just didn't pay off. Really

971
00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:10,000
Speaker 1: nice season debut for a man. He starts the year

972
00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:13,640
Speaker 1: off with a forty piece Julius Randall nineteen and six

973
00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:16,920
Speaker 1: usual playmaking out of his high post ISOs, including one

974
00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:18,399
Speaker 1: of the biggest plays of the game on that little

975
00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:22,040
Speaker 1: kickback to Jayden McDaniels. He just provides some like basic

976
00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:25,600
Speaker 1: advantage creation for them. Solid game from him. What a

977
00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:28,240
Speaker 1: game from Jaden McDaniels, though it looked great in camp,

978
00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:31,040
Speaker 1: looked great in the postseason last year. Three for four

979
00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:34,080
Speaker 1: from three, continuing that hot shooting stretch again he was

980
00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:36,600
Speaker 1: thirty eight percent from three in the playoffs, two for

981
00:46:36,719 --> 00:46:39,960
Speaker 1: five in preseason. Now three for four in his first game,

982
00:46:40,239 --> 00:46:42,640
Speaker 1: including a clutch one out of the left corner. His

983
00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:45,600
Speaker 1: improved offensive polish is a huge influx of talent for

984
00:46:45,640 --> 00:46:47,960
Speaker 1: this team. He had a huge defensive play late on

985
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:49,920
Speaker 1: a drive from Denny Avdia where he poked the ball

986
00:46:49,960 --> 00:46:52,360
Speaker 1: away from him and got a steal that led to

987
00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:54,560
Speaker 1: a fast break going the other way. And then some

988
00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:57,920
Speaker 1: really interesting young games from the young guys, from Jalen

989
00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:00,200
Speaker 1: Clark and from Terrence Shannon. You have to see the

990
00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:03,399
Speaker 1: upsides and the downsides of Jalen Clark, like you got

991
00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:05,480
Speaker 1: to see his excellent point of attack defense. He had

992
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:08,280
Speaker 1: a couple of big steals to start the fourth quarter

993
00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:10,960
Speaker 1: for a bench group for the Wolves. But you also

994
00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:12,279
Speaker 1: saw what a lot of teams are going to do

995
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:15,000
Speaker 1: against him. So the Blazers just for a big stretch

996
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,160
Speaker 1: of that game just put Donovan klingon on him and

997
00:47:17,239 --> 00:47:19,360
Speaker 1: had Donovan just kind of sit back into the paint,

998
00:47:19,719 --> 00:47:22,360
Speaker 1: and Jalen was unable to make him pay by hitting threes,

999
00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:25,640
Speaker 1: and so it ended up badly hurting Minnesota spacing. So like,

1000
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:27,640
Speaker 1: that's just something to keep an eye on with Jalen Clark.

1001
00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:30,520
Speaker 1: The NBA starts to figure out your weaknesses pretty quickly.

1002
00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:32,920
Speaker 1: If they're gonna stash centers on him, he's gonna have

1003
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:34,520
Speaker 1: to find a way to make him pay. Otherwise, no

1004
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:36,280
Speaker 1: one's gonna care about how good his point of attack

1005
00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:39,120
Speaker 1: defense is if he's butchering this spacing on the other

1006
00:47:39,200 --> 00:47:40,680
Speaker 1: end of the floor. Something to keep an eye on.

1007
00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:45,320
Speaker 1: And then Terrence Shannon had a really nice game. This

1008
00:47:45,560 --> 00:47:47,319
Speaker 1: was something that started to show in the playoffs a bit.

1009
00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:49,560
Speaker 1: He ended up getting some shifts there and then I

1010
00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:53,200
Speaker 1: also noticed this in preseason, but he's very good at

1011
00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:57,840
Speaker 1: generating dribble penetration and then making quality kickout passes in

1012
00:47:57,840 --> 00:48:00,520
Speaker 1: the middle of the floor. He had a mass drive

1013
00:48:00,600 --> 00:48:02,759
Speaker 1: late in the game off of some ball pressure way

1014
00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:05,200
Speaker 1: out extended close to half court on the left side,

1015
00:48:05,680 --> 00:48:08,160
Speaker 1: tows his man off the dribble, gets into the lane

1016
00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:10,080
Speaker 1: and ends up kind of smoking it up and under

1017
00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:13,200
Speaker 1: right hand layup. But in the process he pressured the

1018
00:48:13,239 --> 00:48:16,560
Speaker 1: rim so hard that he engaged Donovan Klingen to come

1019
00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:18,920
Speaker 1: over and try to block his shot, and that just

1020
00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:22,440
Speaker 1: left this wide open space for Rudy Gobert to come

1021
00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:24,359
Speaker 1: in and dunk in the miss and he missed it

1022
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:27,680
Speaker 1: perfectly right off the backboard, and in came Rudy for

1023
00:48:27,719 --> 00:48:31,680
Speaker 1: the big time dunk. But like he was slashing into

1024
00:48:31,680 --> 00:48:34,560
Speaker 1: the paint and generating opportunities over and over again.

1025
00:48:34,600 --> 00:48:35,160
Speaker 2: In that game.

1026
00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:38,200
Speaker 1: He also hit both of his threes, and I thought

1027
00:48:38,239 --> 00:48:40,480
Speaker 1: it was interesting because, like Danteti, Vincenzo had a really

1028
00:48:40,560 --> 00:48:42,239
Speaker 1: rough night, just kept turning the ball over. He just

1029
00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:44,200
Speaker 1: kind of came out sloppy. But I thought it was

1030
00:48:44,200 --> 00:48:47,040
Speaker 1: a really interesting sign that Chris Finch trusted him to

1031
00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:49,879
Speaker 1: close the game, Terrence Shannon to close the game. We've

1032
00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:52,000
Speaker 1: talked about how the Wolves really need one of those

1033
00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:54,759
Speaker 1: two guys, Jalen Clark or Terren Shannon to pop this year,

1034
00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:57,120
Speaker 1: and that was a really nice start for Tarren Shannon.

1035
00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:00,440
Speaker 1: He just demonstrated that he's at least going to make

1036
00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:02,560
Speaker 1: an effort to become that guy that can fill the

1037
00:49:02,600 --> 00:49:05,080
Speaker 1: Nakil Alexander Walker role. It's gonna be very different kind

1038
00:49:05,120 --> 00:49:07,319
Speaker 1: of player, but as long as he can come in

1039
00:49:07,360 --> 00:49:09,640
Speaker 1: and play a couple of shifts per game in the postseason,

1040
00:49:10,200 --> 00:49:13,399
Speaker 1: it should maintain the depth that this Timberwolves team has

1041
00:49:13,440 --> 00:49:16,000
Speaker 1: been famous for. Lots of stuff to clean up for Minnesota,

1042
00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:19,000
Speaker 1: too many turnovers, too many fouls, but a legit road

1043
00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:21,960
Speaker 1: win against a solid team to start the year. On

1044
00:49:22,040 --> 00:49:23,799
Speaker 1: the Portland front, it was weird. It was kind of

1045
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:27,000
Speaker 1: like a disappointing game in a lot of ways, Like

1046
00:49:27,320 --> 00:49:29,600
Speaker 1: they were in it because Jeremy Grant went for twenty

1047
00:49:29,719 --> 00:49:33,759
Speaker 1: nine and because Minnesota committed way too many fouls there.

1048
00:49:34,120 --> 00:49:37,720
Speaker 1: I will credit Portland. They generated a ton of rim pressure.

1049
00:49:38,080 --> 00:49:40,520
Speaker 1: Theny Avdia in particular was knifing into the teeth of

1050
00:49:40,560 --> 00:49:41,719
Speaker 1: their defense over and over again.

1051
00:49:41,760 --> 00:49:43,320
Speaker 2: They were able to draw a lot of fouls.

1052
00:49:43,800 --> 00:49:45,400
Speaker 1: But like, there was a couple of specific things that

1053
00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:47,719
Speaker 1: sit out to me, Like Shaden he took about a

1054
00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:50,040
Speaker 1: half dozen shots that I thought were poor shot selection,

1055
00:49:50,120 --> 00:49:52,600
Speaker 1: and I think if he refines that a little bit,

1056
00:49:53,560 --> 00:49:55,000
Speaker 1: Like there's a lot of things that I like about

1057
00:49:55,040 --> 00:49:58,000
Speaker 1: Shaden sharp, but right now he's just a little too

1058
00:49:58,560 --> 00:50:01,360
Speaker 1: his like shot pass decisions just a little too aggressive,

1059
00:50:01,360 --> 00:50:03,240
Speaker 1: and I think sometimes he can hurt his own rhythm

1060
00:50:03,640 --> 00:50:06,920
Speaker 1: with the types of difficult shots that he can take Denny,

1061
00:50:07,200 --> 00:50:10,440
Speaker 1: and I noticed this in preseason, but it's something that

1062
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:13,319
Speaker 1: really stood out in like kind of a significant way

1063
00:50:13,360 --> 00:50:16,160
Speaker 1: in Game one. But he's missing all of his three

1064
00:50:16,160 --> 00:50:19,080
Speaker 1: point shots short, like badly short. And this was something

1065
00:50:19,080 --> 00:50:21,560
Speaker 1: that happened in preseason, but he missed like six or

1066
00:50:21,600 --> 00:50:24,080
Speaker 1: seven jump shots short off the front of the rim.

1067
00:50:24,120 --> 00:50:27,040
Speaker 1: And there's so many things I like about Denny's game,

1068
00:50:27,120 --> 00:50:29,240
Speaker 1: like he's good at setting up his man for screens

1069
00:50:29,239 --> 00:50:31,120
Speaker 1: and good at using his size and strength to find

1070
00:50:31,200 --> 00:50:34,640
Speaker 1: leverage angles for him to get dribble penetration. He's methodical,

1071
00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:37,040
Speaker 1: impatient on his drives. He makes really good reads in

1072
00:50:37,080 --> 00:50:39,680
Speaker 1: the middle of the floor. He's got short range shot making.

1073
00:50:39,680 --> 00:50:41,759
Speaker 1: He demonstrated a lot of that last night, like little

1074
00:50:41,800 --> 00:50:44,359
Speaker 1: push shots and floaters in the lane. But he's got

1075
00:50:44,360 --> 00:50:46,520
Speaker 1: to counter it by being able to hit these threes.

1076
00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:47,879
Speaker 2: And there's just a.

1077
00:50:47,800 --> 00:50:49,600
Speaker 1: Little bit of like a hitch in the middle of

1078
00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:51,360
Speaker 1: his shot, And what ends up happening is like you

1079
00:50:51,440 --> 00:50:55,400
Speaker 1: lose power again. Like if you have power transfer, good

1080
00:50:55,520 --> 00:50:58,880
Speaker 1: energy transfer through your shot, and what happens is the

1081
00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:01,360
Speaker 1: top of the shot is the easiest, breeziest flip of

1082
00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:04,920
Speaker 1: the wrist ever, right, But if you lose energy somewhere

1083
00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:07,680
Speaker 1: along the way, whether it be something hitchy in your

1084
00:51:07,760 --> 00:51:10,239
Speaker 1: back or in your hips or in your elbows, like

1085
00:51:10,239 --> 00:51:12,200
Speaker 1: when you're in your pocket, when you're bringing the ball up,

1086
00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:15,160
Speaker 1: you lose that power and all of a sudden a

1087
00:51:15,200 --> 00:51:17,680
Speaker 1: play it forces a lot more at the top of

1088
00:51:17,719 --> 00:51:20,960
Speaker 1: the shot, and that's where you end up having short

1089
00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:25,800
Speaker 1: misses because you're just your release isn't generating enough power,

1090
00:51:25,840 --> 00:51:27,600
Speaker 1: and so like just something to keep an eye on.

1091
00:51:27,640 --> 00:51:29,520
Speaker 1: I think that's like the next step for Denny is

1092
00:51:29,560 --> 00:51:31,719
Speaker 1: just generating a little bit more fluidity in his pull

1093
00:51:31,800 --> 00:51:34,200
Speaker 1: up jump shooting. I am a big believer in him

1094
00:51:34,239 --> 00:51:37,840
Speaker 1: as like that kind of classic big scoring playmaking forward.

1095
00:51:37,880 --> 00:51:42,319
Speaker 1: Though I hated the offensive game from Drew Holliday, I

1096
00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:45,080
Speaker 1: think I might have hated almost every shot he took.

1097
00:51:46,120 --> 00:51:48,759
Speaker 1: He had a couple of really bad forces in crunch time.

1098
00:51:48,800 --> 00:51:51,000
Speaker 1: He took like a transition pull up three when he

1099
00:51:51,080 --> 00:51:52,839
Speaker 1: was like I think he was one for six from

1100
00:51:52,880 --> 00:51:54,920
Speaker 1: three at the time when he took the shot, and

1101
00:51:54,960 --> 00:51:58,000
Speaker 1: he just like stopped and popped in transition in traffic,

1102
00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:00,279
Speaker 1: and like he almost made it, but like it was

1103
00:52:00,320 --> 00:52:02,839
Speaker 1: just like a really aggressive and tough shot to take

1104
00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:06,000
Speaker 1: in that specific spot. He forced a couple shots close

1105
00:52:06,040 --> 00:52:08,160
Speaker 1: to the rim late in the game as well. I

1106
00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:10,680
Speaker 1: think that he's overdoing it a little bit on offense.

1107
00:52:10,719 --> 00:52:12,359
Speaker 1: I'd like to see him tone it back a bit.

1108
00:52:12,760 --> 00:52:15,279
Speaker 1: Really nice night for Jeremy Grant though again twenty nine

1109
00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:19,200
Speaker 1: was getting to the basket, was also hitting his catch

1110
00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:21,320
Speaker 1: and shoot three on the move and off the catch.

1111
00:52:21,920 --> 00:52:23,720
Speaker 1: Just had a couple of flops late.

1112
00:52:23,719 --> 00:52:25,000
Speaker 2: That ended up burning in.

1113
00:52:25,680 --> 00:52:28,760
Speaker 1: But as a team, again, like I think they're capable

1114
00:52:28,760 --> 00:52:31,399
Speaker 1: of playing a lot better and yet they still were

1115
00:52:31,400 --> 00:52:34,200
Speaker 1: in good position to potentially steal that game from Minnesota.

1116
00:52:34,239 --> 00:52:36,160
Speaker 1: That was a fun and scrappy Blazers team that we

1117
00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:38,200
Speaker 1: watched last night. I think their fans are going to

1118
00:52:38,320 --> 00:52:42,040
Speaker 1: enjoy watching them play this year. Really briefly on this

1119
00:52:42,120 --> 00:52:45,520
Speaker 1: gambling scandal before we get out of here tonight. So

1120
00:52:45,600 --> 00:52:48,160
Speaker 1: Terry Rozier and Chouncey Billips are the two big NBA

1121
00:52:48,239 --> 00:52:52,080
Speaker 1: names implicated, but apparently they were over thirty arrests and

1122
00:52:52,160 --> 00:52:54,439
Speaker 1: the Italian mob was involved. It's a total shit show

1123
00:52:54,560 --> 00:52:56,960
Speaker 1: for sure. Right, And here's all I'm going to say.

1124
00:52:57,880 --> 00:52:59,680
Speaker 1: I see a lot of people who get preachy about

1125
00:52:59,760 --> 00:53:02,680
Speaker 1: league sports gambling. You're not gonna hear that from me.

1126
00:53:03,840 --> 00:53:06,319
Speaker 1: To me, sports gambling is like alcohol. Yeah, there are

1127
00:53:06,520 --> 00:53:08,960
Speaker 1: very dark cases where it can ruin lives, and it

1128
00:53:09,040 --> 00:53:12,280
Speaker 1: certainly is not a perfect industry, but the vast majority

1129
00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:14,840
Speaker 1: of people use it responsibly, and I think as an

1130
00:53:14,880 --> 00:53:17,799
Speaker 1: American freedom, it's kind of cool that we're allowed to

1131
00:53:17,840 --> 00:53:18,160
Speaker 1: do it.

1132
00:53:19,239 --> 00:53:19,680
Speaker 2: And there were.

1133
00:53:19,600 --> 00:53:23,399
Speaker 1: Gambling the scandals in professional sports long before it became

1134
00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:27,680
Speaker 1: legalized as recently as the Tim Donnhy scandal. Right, However,

1135
00:53:29,200 --> 00:53:32,040
Speaker 1: I do think it's super important when stuff like this

1136
00:53:32,200 --> 00:53:36,400
Speaker 1: happens that it's taken very seriously and that the people

1137
00:53:36,440 --> 00:53:37,800
Speaker 1: involved are severely punished.

1138
00:53:38,680 --> 00:53:39,239
Speaker 2: It's not just.

1139
00:53:39,200 --> 00:53:43,760
Speaker 1: About integrity within gambling. It's about the integrity of these leagues.

1140
00:53:44,640 --> 00:53:46,840
Speaker 1: It's such a fickle thing when it gets rattled, like

1141
00:53:46,880 --> 00:53:50,840
Speaker 1: the NBA is still dealing with conspiracy theories that followed

1142
00:53:50,840 --> 00:53:53,879
Speaker 1: the Tim Donahey story. Still to this day, people think

1143
00:53:53,920 --> 00:53:56,680
Speaker 1: free throws are like a gift from the league rather

1144
00:53:56,760 --> 00:54:01,920
Speaker 1: than something that is earned via basketball. And like these

1145
00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:05,600
Speaker 1: guys are now tied to the Italian Mob. Jauncy Phillips

1146
00:54:05,640 --> 00:54:08,640
Speaker 1: and Terry Rogier are now directly tied to the Italian Mob.

1147
00:54:09,600 --> 00:54:15,040
Speaker 1: That's a stigma that really can never be dropped. It

1148
00:54:15,080 --> 00:54:17,520
Speaker 1: makes it really hard for me to imagine either of

1149
00:54:17,640 --> 00:54:20,799
Speaker 1: Vergier or Billups ever being associated with the NBA. Again,

1150
00:54:20,840 --> 00:54:24,080
Speaker 1: I know that sounds severe, but those are the lengths

1151
00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:25,880
Speaker 1: that the league needs to go to in order to

1152
00:54:25,920 --> 00:54:29,840
Speaker 1: salvage its integrity when this kind of stuff happens. So

1153
00:54:29,960 --> 00:54:33,200
Speaker 1: only I made the alcohol comparison earlier, like drink all

1154
00:54:33,200 --> 00:54:35,759
Speaker 1: you want, but you get caught drinking and driving, the

1155
00:54:35,760 --> 00:54:38,800
Speaker 1: penalty is very severe. Why that shit can get somebody killed.

1156
00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:42,279
Speaker 1: It's not a game. As a society, we don't mess

1157
00:54:42,280 --> 00:54:45,239
Speaker 1: around with that. Last thing I'll say about it is this.

1158
00:54:46,560 --> 00:54:49,480
Speaker 1: I do think that this is a new kind of industry,

1159
00:54:49,560 --> 00:54:52,320
Speaker 1: legalized sports betting, and it's something that needs to continue

1160
00:54:52,320 --> 00:54:54,840
Speaker 1: to be refined. And I tend to agree with Adam

1161
00:54:54,880 --> 00:54:57,520
Speaker 1: Silver that they need to make some tweaks to the

1162
00:54:57,560 --> 00:55:00,800
Speaker 1: types of bets that are allowed, Like betting over Underson

1163
00:55:00,960 --> 00:55:04,960
Speaker 1: role players is ridiculous. There's too much potential for weirdness

1164
00:55:05,000 --> 00:55:06,960
Speaker 1: there because they don't make as much money as the

1165
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:10,040
Speaker 1: stars do, and how common it is for role players

1166
00:55:10,400 --> 00:55:14,640
Speaker 1: to experience wild fluctuations in minutes and production because of

1167
00:55:14,960 --> 00:55:18,520
Speaker 1: things that happen night tonight. So like intimation, this is

1168
00:55:18,600 --> 00:55:20,200
Speaker 1: again I didn't want to go along on this. I

1169
00:55:20,200 --> 00:55:22,480
Speaker 1: don't really have too much to say, but like, I'm

1170
00:55:22,520 --> 00:55:26,200
Speaker 1: not clutching my pearls today about the state of legalized

1171
00:55:26,239 --> 00:55:31,040
Speaker 1: sports gambling, but obviously pending the results of the legal

1172
00:55:31,080 --> 00:55:35,439
Speaker 1: process and how much evidence they can provide. If these

1173
00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:38,640
Speaker 1: guys are proven guilty, they need to be severely punished

1174
00:55:39,000 --> 00:55:41,600
Speaker 1: for the sake of the integrity of the league, because

1175
00:55:41,640 --> 00:55:43,080
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, the integrity of the

1176
00:55:43,120 --> 00:55:46,080
Speaker 1: league is all that matters when it comes to the

1177
00:55:46,080 --> 00:55:49,680
Speaker 1: health of these leagues in the future. So definitely bad

1178
00:55:49,760 --> 00:55:53,440
Speaker 1: news ripping through the NBA. We don't know everything. Obviously,

1179
00:55:53,480 --> 00:55:55,920
Speaker 1: the denials came out. I was joking with Jackson earlier,

1180
00:55:55,960 --> 00:55:58,919
Speaker 1: like part of becoming an adult is realizing that every

1181
00:55:58,960 --> 00:55:59,959
Speaker 1: public figure just denied.

1182
00:56:00,040 --> 00:56:02,480
Speaker 2: I deny, deny, and I deny deny. That's just it's

1183
00:56:02,520 --> 00:56:03,120
Speaker 2: just what you see.

1184
00:56:03,160 --> 00:56:06,800
Speaker 1: It's just it's it's just kind of the way things

1185
00:56:06,880 --> 00:56:09,560
Speaker 1: work right, and so a lot of stuff still needs

1186
00:56:09,600 --> 00:56:14,080
Speaker 1: to get sorted out. The Damon Jones thing was really weird.

1187
00:56:14,080 --> 00:56:16,480
Speaker 1: I saw a bunch of Lebron's detractors. We're having some

1188
00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:18,279
Speaker 1: fun with it, but I thing is like, there's no

1189
00:56:18,320 --> 00:56:22,000
Speaker 1: way Lebron's that stupid. Also, if Cash Mattel had anything

1190
00:56:22,000 --> 00:56:23,600
Speaker 1: on Lebron, you bet you're ass he would have put

1191
00:56:23,640 --> 00:56:26,600
Speaker 1: it out there because it for obvious reasons we don't

1192
00:56:26,600 --> 00:56:29,040
Speaker 1: have to get into. So again, like I don't know

1193
00:56:29,120 --> 00:56:31,320
Speaker 1: too much else to make of it. I'm not the

1194
00:56:31,440 --> 00:56:33,120
Speaker 1: kind of guy that's gonna get all worked up and

1195
00:56:33,120 --> 00:56:36,480
Speaker 1: clutch my pearls over it over legalized sports betting. It's

1196
00:56:36,560 --> 00:56:38,440
Speaker 1: just it's the way it is. It's the way it's

1197
00:56:38,480 --> 00:56:40,960
Speaker 1: going to be, and we just need to continue to

1198
00:56:40,960 --> 00:56:43,960
Speaker 1: make the tweaks to get the bad actors out of

1199
00:56:44,000 --> 00:56:46,399
Speaker 1: it whenever we can, and and kind of refine it right.

1200
00:56:46,840 --> 00:56:48,800
Speaker 1: All right, guys, it's all we have for tonight. As always,

1201
00:56:48,800 --> 00:56:51,280
Speaker 1: as sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting

1202
00:56:51,280 --> 00:56:52,640
Speaker 1: the show. That was a hell of a run there

1203
00:56:52,680 --> 00:56:55,080
Speaker 1: three straight live shows to start the week. We have

1204
00:56:55,200 --> 00:56:58,560
Speaker 1: our mail bag tomorrow again. Drop your questions in the

1205
00:56:58,960 --> 00:57:01,719
Speaker 1: YouTube comments of the mailbag. Will be taking the weekend off,

1206
00:57:01,719 --> 00:57:03,800
Speaker 1: but then we'll be back Monday for our usual routine.

1207
00:57:04,160 --> 00:57:05,040
Speaker 2: We'll see you guys then