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Speaker 2: welcome to Hoops Tonight. You're at the volume. Happy Thursday, everybody.

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Speaker 2: Hope all of you guys are having an incredible week.

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Speaker 2: The guys from Nerd Sech, Mister Logan Camden, and Carson

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Speaker 2: Breber are joining the show today. We're gonna break down five,

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Speaker 2: I've toss up questions around the NBA. We're gonna have

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Speaker 2: some fun today. You guys are the joke for we

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Speaker 2: get started. Subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel. I

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Speaker 2: mean a lot to me if you guys auld scroll

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Speaker 2: down and hit that subscribe button. Don't forget about our

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Speaker 2: podcast speeds. Wherever you get your podcasts under Hoops Tonight.

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Speaker 2: Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT. So you

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Speaker 2: guys don't miss show announcements or the film threads that

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Speaker 2: we do, keep dropping mail bag questions in the YouTube comments.

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Speaker 2: And last but not least, do me a favorite guys

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Speaker 2: take a second to go over to the nerd Sess

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Speaker 2: channel and give those guys a subscribe as well. They

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Speaker 2: are just doing excellent content, not just covering the NBA,

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Speaker 2: but covering the NFL and just basically the entire world

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Speaker 2: of sports as well. These are two guys that have

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Speaker 2: a great deal of respect for and I think they

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Speaker 2: do an amazing job, and I think that you guys

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Speaker 2: should get over there and support them. So on that note,

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Speaker 2: let's go to question number one. What is more likely

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Speaker 2: to happen Logan the Sun's winning a playoff series or

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Speaker 2: the Suns missing the playoffs altogether.

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Speaker 1: Let me tell you, Jason, and if you had asked

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Speaker 1: me this a month ago, I would have taken a

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Speaker 1: fat swing and a miss at the answer for this.

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Speaker 1: I would have told you that I was all in

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Speaker 1: on the Suns. I was penciling them in as my

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Speaker 1: second to third favorite team out West. Not that long ago,

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Speaker 1: I was very optimistic about Bradley Beal coming back. I

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Speaker 1: was optimistic about these role players really buying in and

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Speaker 1: reaching the new collective defensive ceiling for this team, and

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Speaker 1: since then it has all fallen apart. When Bradley Beal

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Speaker 1: went down again, it really deflated the Suns. It felt

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Speaker 1: like it took a lot of the energy out of

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Speaker 1: the building. I mean the other night, you see when

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Speaker 1: Grayson Allen and Chimezi Metu were playing their tails off

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Speaker 1: and Devin Booker and Kde can't pull their weight. Right now,

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Speaker 1: I'd say that I think it's more likely they completely

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Speaker 1: miss out on the playoffs. They're fifteen and fifteen right now,

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Speaker 1: they're currently the ten seed overall on the season. They're

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Speaker 1: thirteenth in offensive rating at one fifteen point seven, and

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Speaker 1: they're nineteen the defensive rating at one fifteen point three,

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Speaker 1: and they're just right below the league average in net rating.

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Speaker 1: And I just think it's because how deep the West is, man.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you look at the teams that are below

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Speaker 1: the right now, the Warriors I still think have a

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Speaker 1: chance and I think will leap frog them. I think

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Speaker 1: it's to be hard for them to take over teams

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Speaker 1: like the Lakers, even the Rockets or Pelicans, just they're

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Speaker 1: abysmal defensively, Like this is a completely unseerious team defense,

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Speaker 1: and Nurkic is not the block that I thought he

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Speaker 1: was on the backside. I don't think they have any

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Speaker 1: positive point of attack. Guys. This is a stagnant offense

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Speaker 1: that can really lull themselves into bad tendencies, settling for

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Speaker 1: mid range jump shots, you know, committing a lot of turnovers,

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Speaker 1: and you see the seeds are being planted now with

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Speaker 1: this major drama that Kevin Durant's becoming really frustrated and ironically, guys,

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Speaker 1: if you want to be optimistic about the Sun situation,

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Speaker 1: we find ourselves in the same situation. The last time

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Speaker 1: we talked, we were hoping that the big threes, overwhelming

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Speaker 1: offensive skill talent can lead them through and that Bradley

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Speaker 1: Beal coming back from an injury is going to be

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Speaker 1: the answer for the Suns. I don't think it is.

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't take them to win a playoff series right now,

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Speaker 1: and yeah, I would probably take them to be a

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Speaker 1: play in team or to comp miss out on the playoffs.

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Speaker 1: I have lost all optimism about the Phoenix Suns and

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Speaker 1: their title chances at this point in the season.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, bars pretty similarly to what you said, Logan. I

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Speaker 3: think that I know that we're doing this either or situation.

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Speaker 3: The most likely scenario is probably between the two. I

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Speaker 3: think that they're a first round exit, But between these two,

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Speaker 3: I think it is probably more likely that they missed

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Speaker 3: the playoffs entirely. And you hit on a key point logan.

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Speaker 3: They are just destined to be a poor team defense

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Speaker 3: as a matter of roster construction. That is the reality,

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Speaker 3: with or without Bradley Beal. That was the thing that

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Speaker 3: we would have highlighted as their achilles heel before the season,

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Speaker 3: but seeing it in practice, they are very much locked

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Speaker 3: into that below average range on that side of the ball.

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Speaker 3: And their problem is that they had to scrap together

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Speaker 3: whatever supporting cast they could after really investing all their

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Speaker 3: resources in this Big three, and so it was all

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Speaker 3: about value ads who could they get with the very

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Speaker 3: limited resources they had, And now they have a bunch

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Speaker 3: of one way role players. They have guys like Eric

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Speaker 3: Gordon and Grayson Allen who will give you positive offensive

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Speaker 3: value who are shooting the whites out this season, but

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Speaker 3: when that is your starting backcourt, you just don't have

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Speaker 3: enough plus defenders. Nearly when those guys play together, the

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Speaker 3: team has a defensive rating of one to eighteen. You

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Speaker 3: cannot contend in any serious way with a line of

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Speaker 3: configuration like that. And then you have the guys who

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Speaker 3: theoretically should be the plus point of attack, defenders who

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Speaker 3: maybe you could play alongside the starters Josh Okogi Jordan Goodwin,

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Speaker 3: who are just inept offensive players. They can't knock down

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Speaker 3: open shots, they're under thirty percent from three, and so

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Speaker 3: you can't put those sort of incompetent offensive guys in

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Speaker 3: a serious lineup if you want to contend either. And

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Speaker 3: then NRK at the five is just not good enough.

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Speaker 3: He's exploitable defensively, we will see him cooked out of

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Speaker 3: pick and roll in big time situations. And then offensively, yes,

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Speaker 3: he brings some value with rebounding and with his passing IQ,

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Speaker 3: but I don't think that he's a good enough athlete

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Speaker 3: to give you this sort of hyper efficient rim finishing

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Speaker 3: that would be a nice dimension for this offense have.

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Speaker 3: So that is the biggest problem to me, the defensive ceiling,

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Speaker 3: the overall limitations of these role players, and that has

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Speaker 3: led to them not being a good clutch offense. You

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Speaker 3: think that with the level of difficult shot making you

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Speaker 3: get from booking KD, they should always be able to

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Speaker 3: guide you down the stretch in these games, but teams

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Speaker 3: are able to load up on those two aggressively and

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Speaker 3: force them into basically either tough jumpers or turnovers. The

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Speaker 3: Suns have been twenty sixth in clutch offensive rating this year.

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Speaker 3: They're twenty fourth in clutch turnover percentage. And that's where

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Speaker 3: getting Bradley belback does help. When you have three legit,

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Speaker 3: high level threats with the ball in their hands, three

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Speaker 3: big time shot makers on and off ball, that raises

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Speaker 3: their offensive ceiling a bit. Maybe that makes them a

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Speaker 3: top ten offense, but it's not a cure all because,

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Speaker 3: as we said before the season, there's still skill set

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Speaker 3: redundancies there. You don't have a high level rim pressure.

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Speaker 3: All these guys sure are capable off the ball, but

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Speaker 3: they are primarily on ball creators. They've just constructed a

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Speaker 3: basketball team that is overly reliant on the star players

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Speaker 3: who don't fit each other well enough to offset the

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Speaker 3: real limitations of the supporting cast. And of course, I

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Speaker 3: don't know why we would expect Bradley Beal, or at

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Speaker 3: least this entire Big three to be healthy. Biel has

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Speaker 3: played fewer than fifty percent of all possible games in

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Speaker 3: the last two plus seasons. And I hate to say it,

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Speaker 3: but Katie's track record ever since coming back from the

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Speaker 3: Achilles tear says it is quite unlikely that he stays

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Speaker 3: as healthy as he has been for this entire year.

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Speaker 3: I mean, he's been available almost every game, and he's

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Speaker 3: been playing closer to fifty percent of games over the

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Speaker 3: last three regular seasons. So I'm just not encouraged by

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Speaker 3: any of that. And you can ask Book to float

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Speaker 3: the ship for a bit, and he's actually been a

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Speaker 3: little bit better at that without KDI than Katie has

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Speaker 3: been vice versa. But either way, I mean, you're not

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Speaker 3: a serious threat if that's your situation. And then if

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Speaker 3: they do make the playoffs, you look at who they're

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Speaker 3: gonna draw in the first round. They can't beat Denver.

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Speaker 3: I mean that is a team that has more consistent

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Speaker 3: automatic offense as a higher defensive ceiling, has significant physical

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Speaker 3: advantages in the front cocor the best player in that series,

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Speaker 3: I mean, just up and down, way better supporting cast

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Speaker 3: just in a totally different tiers of basketball. Team Minnesota,

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Speaker 3: I think that elite defensive foundation, their physical advantages. Okse

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Speaker 3: just has way more high quality basketball players. They're an

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Speaker 3: elite two way team, so it's like maybe if they

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Speaker 3: draw that one matchup the Clippers the Kings, then they

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Speaker 3: would have a shot. But I don't know. I'm not

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Speaker 3: optimistic whatsoever about this team winning a playoff series.

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Speaker 2: So I don't necessarily push back on the specific basketball

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Speaker 2: things that you guys have brought up. I do take

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Speaker 2: a far less gloom and doom position than you guys,

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Speaker 2: mainly just from the standpoint of like, I think there's

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Speaker 2: a lot of things that they can do a lot

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Speaker 2: better with the players in house. So as you guys

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Speaker 2: have talked about, offense has been a big issue for

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Speaker 2: this team on that end of the floor. A couple

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Speaker 2: of specific things that stand out to me. Their spot

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Speaker 2: up shooting percentage has been bottom ten in the NBA,

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Speaker 2: at least going into last night. Last night, they shot

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Speaker 2: really well down in Houston, but that is a specific

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Speaker 2: problem for them with the amount of attention that's getting

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Speaker 2: thrown at Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and ball screens.

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Speaker 2: I look at that as something that not just Bradley

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Speaker 2: Beal could help with, but also just leaning into the

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Speaker 2: right guys in their rotation two. Devin Booker just has

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Speaker 2: not been playing very well as of late by his standard.

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Speaker 1: Like, this is a.

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Speaker 2: Guy that finished last season in the regular season hooping

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Speaker 2: his ass off, went into the playoffs, was killing everybody,

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Speaker 2: started this season killing everybody, and then when he came

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Speaker 2: back from that last injury, he's just been a lower

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Speaker 2: level player. He's gone from being the superstar Devin Booker

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Speaker 2: that we expect to being kind of what he was

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Speaker 2: in a few years ago, where it was just kind

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Speaker 2: of like knocking on the door of that level of player.

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Speaker 2: And so I expect Devin Booker to play better. One

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Speaker 2: thing they did last night in Houston that I thought

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Speaker 2: was really interesting is they put Kevin Durant on the

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Speaker 2: ball a lot more, ran a lot more ball screens

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Speaker 2: with him. They ran more ball screens with him last

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Speaker 2: night in Houston than they have at any point in

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Speaker 2: any game this season. They scored twenty six points on

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Speaker 2: fifteen Kevin Durant pick and rolls, which is one point

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Speaker 2: seven three points per possession. Kevin Durant really leaned into

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Speaker 2: passing out of pick and roll That was what made

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Speaker 2: them so good when he was in Brooklyn. The good

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Speaker 2: stretches in Brooklyn were a heavy dose of Kevin Durant

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Speaker 2: in high pick and roll, and I think that that's

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Speaker 2: been an interesting direction that they haven't gone as far

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Speaker 2: into this year that I think that this last night

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Speaker 2: down in Houston, because here's the thing. Dylan Brooks didn't

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Speaker 2: play last night, but Houston is the second best defense

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Speaker 2: at home in the NBA, and it has a one

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Speaker 2: to zero three defensive rating there and generally speaking has

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Speaker 2: been a very good defense, and Kevin Durant has lit

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Speaker 2: him on fire last night, and so I do think

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Speaker 2: they can play better on offense. The other thing too,

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Speaker 2: just shot diet stuff like they lean a lot into ISO.

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Speaker 2: Kevin Durant's just been down as an ISO player this year,

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Speaker 2: which has been part of it. They're not getting as

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Speaker 2: many of the easy shots that a lot of the

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Speaker 2: other teams around the league get off the strength of

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Speaker 2: their defense. And then on defense, they're actually a very

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Speaker 2: good rebounding team, and I think they can play better

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Speaker 2: defense than they have. Kevin Durant has demonstrated in his

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Speaker 2: career that he can be a deeply impactful lowman and

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Speaker 2: he's straight up just hasn't been as good this year

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Speaker 2: as he's capable of being. Devin Booker and Grayson Allen

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Speaker 2: in particular have been really sloppy in their rotations on

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Speaker 2: the weak side. I think those guys can get better.

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Speaker 2: And then again, like all of this was designed to

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Speaker 2: be built around the idea of the three stars playing together.

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Speaker 2: Now here's the deal, Carson, Your point is completely fair,

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Speaker 2: Like they are betting on Bradley Beal's health, which has

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Speaker 2: been a risky bet. But if we're talking about this

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Speaker 2: team and what their potential is, we need to look

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Speaker 2: at it through the lens of what it could look

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Speaker 2: like if they get to April and Bradley Beal is healthy,

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Speaker 2: and if he is, that should help with their weak

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Speaker 2: side shooting. It should help alleviate workloads so Kevin Durant

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Speaker 2: can be a better lowman. It should help alleviate workloads

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Speaker 2: so Devin Booker can compete more at the point of

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Speaker 2: attack and in rotation. It should help with their late

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Speaker 2: game issues, which a lot of that I think comes

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Speaker 2: down to fatigue, because so much of their offense comes

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Speaker 2: down to the same two guys doing the same thing

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Speaker 2: every single time, and they just get tired and predictable

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Speaker 2: by the time they get to the end of the games,

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Speaker 2: so I do think they can play better. So I'm

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Speaker 2: going to go with I think it's more likely that

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Speaker 2: they win a series than miss the playoffs, simply because

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Speaker 2: I just don't think they're going to miss the playoffs. Now,

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Speaker 2: before we move on, obviously, the First Takes and all

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Speaker 2: the other taking shows out there have been talking heavily

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Speaker 2: about this idea of Kevin Durant and him needing to

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Speaker 2: go somewhere else, or whether or not he made his

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Speaker 2: own bed, and all these other things. And my question

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Speaker 2: for you guys is, and we'll start with you, Carson,

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Speaker 2: what is your take on Kevin Durant post Golden State

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Speaker 2: in terms of just what he's prioritized as a basketball player,

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Speaker 2: in the types of situations that he's put himself in.

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Speaker 3: Well, I don't think that he's done a very good

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Speaker 3: job of selecting situations and of emphasizing the sort of

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Speaker 3: big time talents who he wants to join forces with.

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Speaker 3: And I think the biggest reason for that is that

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Speaker 3: he has not yet joined a team that is going

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Speaker 3: to be an above average defense, which is just a

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Speaker 3: mandatory requirement if you want to contend the twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 3: Nets were twenty third in defensive rating. The next year

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Speaker 3: they were nineteenth, then they were thirteenth. When he got traded,

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Speaker 3: they were an okay defenses Classon had come into his

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Speaker 3: own and whatnot. And then this year the Suns are

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Speaker 3: eighteenth and defensive rating. And the reason for that, to me,

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Speaker 3: is that he has prioritized playing with these highly skilled

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Speaker 3: but small and also, by the way, extremely injury prone guards.

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Speaker 3: Like we saw two and a half years of him

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Speaker 3: and Kyrie, they played seventy four games together. Now we've

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Speaker 3: seen him play five games with Bradley Beal. You can't

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Speaker 3: really say that he would be surprised by either one

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Speaker 3: of those totals, given those guys track records. And he's

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Speaker 3: basically put together these big threes where you have no

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Speaker 3: plus defenders and you have these very skilled perimeter shot makers.

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Speaker 3: Right Like Kyrie is a basketball artist, Devin Booker has

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Speaker 3: this incredible all around skill. I mean, the post game,

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Speaker 3: is a guard right, the mid range, all these things

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Speaker 3: that has a basketball purist I think Katie personally really

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Speaker 3: values because like that's the kind of basketball that he plays.

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Speaker 3: He plays beautiful basketball as a pure scorer. But then

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Speaker 3: you have these gaping deficiencies where there's no consistent rim pressure.

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Speaker 3: Out of those guys, you are going to be basically

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Speaker 3: guaranteed to be a poor defense because of who you've prioritized,

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Speaker 3: and then there's just some skill set redundancies there. So

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Speaker 3: he's basically left these rosters with almost no room for

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Speaker 3: real plus two way role players like Phoenix doesn't have

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Speaker 3: any where. I would say, like, that guy's legitimately good

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Speaker 3: on both sides of the ball. He's just gonna play

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Speaker 3: his role at a really high level. Brooklyn, they had

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Speaker 3: Bruce Brown, ultimately they let go. They had Nick Claxton,

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Speaker 3: who again had grown into a really high level defender,

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Speaker 3: and then Katie left that situation. So it just feels

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Speaker 3: to me like he is sort of prioritizing hoopers just

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Speaker 3: like guys whose games he admires, and not thinking about, Okay,

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Speaker 3: how is this actually going to lead to championship basketball

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Speaker 3: repeatedly cost him.

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Speaker 1: I mean, Carson hit it on the head. It's like

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Speaker 1: if you were playing a pickup game and say, you

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Speaker 1: know new Set and you've never seen any of these

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Speaker 1: guys before. You're it's like a one game scenario where

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Speaker 1: you're gonna run full court fives with some guys in

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Speaker 1: the pickup set, and then you see these guys making

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Speaker 1: all these tough moves and these tough buckets, and they're

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Speaker 1: crafty and they're nasty, they're hoopers. Those are the guys

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Speaker 1: you're gonna pick because you're like, oh, it's a it's

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Speaker 1: a game of fives. We're just getting buckets. NBA basketball

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Speaker 1: is different, and I think to hand your keys over

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Speaker 1: to a player and to let him construct your entire roster,

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Speaker 1: and obviously he's not doing that. Top to bottom. Your

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Speaker 1: GM and your guys are finding the role players, but

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Speaker 1: you're letting him allocate the majority of the cap and

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Speaker 1: all of the money that you would be able to

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Speaker 1: put really good two way role players behind him, and

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Speaker 1: you're giving it to, like you said, Carson, guys with

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Speaker 1: skill set redundancies. Nobody's gonna you know, nobody's gonna doubt

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Speaker 1: that the Brooklyn Nets weren't tough. Yeah, they had three

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Speaker 1: of the toughest buckets ever. Nobody's gonna doubt that the

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Speaker 1: Suns aren't tough. They've got three of the toughest buckets ever.

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Speaker 1: But winning an NBA title and winning a pickup game

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Speaker 1: or two very different things, and you need an entire

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Speaker 1: roster to go and do that. And I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I just don't think that players are the best general managers.

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Speaker 1: I think it's just kind of wrong to let a

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Speaker 1: guy walk into your organization and say I want this guy,

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Speaker 1: this guy, and this guy. As an organization, I think

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Speaker 1: you have to put your foot down at some point

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Speaker 1: and say this is not the best use of our resources.

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Speaker 1: We need to go and get more depth. It's not

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Speaker 1: worth us putting all of these resources into just stars.

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Speaker 1: That's just not how you win a title.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think, as is always the case with these

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Speaker 2: taky topics, it's just complicated. Like, for instance, there were

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Speaker 2: stretches there with the nets where they looked really good,

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Speaker 2: yeah something, and it is worth mentioning. If anything. I

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Speaker 2: think Kevin Durant's a victim of some bad luck here

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Speaker 2: in the sense that like, but you have to factor

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Speaker 2: in some of it being a risk that he took.

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Speaker 2: There's a version of this story in Brooklyn where guys

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Speaker 2: stay healthy and he wins a title like they were.

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Speaker 2: Twenty twenty one was one of the most wide open

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Speaker 2: seasons that I can remember in modern NBA history. And like,

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Speaker 2: I know, Kevin Durant was all like, oh yeah, maybe

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Speaker 2: if my foot was behind that line. You know, I

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Speaker 2: was fatigued. You know, guys were hurt. Blah blah blah. Okay,

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Speaker 2: that's nice, and all you beat the fucking Hawks. You

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Speaker 2: beat the Hawks. Okay, you beat the Hawks, and then

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Speaker 2: you go to the finals and by then Kyrie's probably

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Speaker 2: healthy again on his ankle, and you probably beat Phoenix,

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Speaker 2: like I really do think they were close. And a

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Speaker 2: lot of this is like a lot of this is

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Speaker 2: like the winner tells the story. And you know, it's

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Speaker 2: funny because like I've had I've had people NonStop all

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Speaker 2: year talking to me like like, oh, I can't believe

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Speaker 2: you think the Lakers are a contender. They're not a

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Speaker 2: real basketball team. They have no chance of winning. And

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Speaker 2: it's like, you know, what's not a brave take that

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Speaker 2: that the one team that gets to hoist the trophy

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Speaker 2: you get to take a victory lap because there's a

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Speaker 2: twenty nine out of thirty chance that you're correct with

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Speaker 2: these other with these other teams, right, Like that's is

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Speaker 2: like it's really easy to go back and be like

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Speaker 2: abject failure. And it's like they were this close to

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Speaker 2: achieving the most difficult thing to achieve in the game

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Speaker 2: of basketball, which is hoisting the Larry O'Brian Trophy. And

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Speaker 2: so some of it is is a little bit like

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Speaker 2: revisionist history. That said, there are some issues with that

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Speaker 2: availability with Kyrie that were documented beforehand. There are some

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Speaker 2: issues with availability with Bradley Beal that were documented beforehand.

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Speaker 2: I really liked the focus on redundancy from Carson and

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Speaker 2: I talk about this concept all the time in basketball,

395
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Speaker 2: like everything is has nothing to do with your two

396
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Speaker 2: k ratings, so to speak, and the individual talent of

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Speaker 2: each player. Every basketball team is this is a product

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Speaker 2: of the sum of its parts. And every time you

399
00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,439
Speaker 2: add different basketball players together, there are certain things they

400
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Speaker 2: do that compliment each other well, and there a certain

401
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Speaker 2: things that they do that don't compliment each other well.

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Speaker 2: And if we look back through NBA history, I would

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Speaker 2: argue the Denver Nuggets last year are the least redundant

404
00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,399
Speaker 2: basketball team I've ever like literally I've ever seen. You

405
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:07,480
Speaker 2: could not construct five more completely different basketball players in

406
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Speaker 2: that starting lineup that fit together so perfectly. The Golden

407
00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,240
Speaker 2: State Warriors, there's no redundancy there. They are all so

408
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Speaker 2: different that twenty twenty two team, even the Milwaukee Bucks,

409
00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:19,680
Speaker 2: every single one of those guys had a unique skill

410
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Speaker 2: set that they brought to the table. The Los Angeles

411
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:26,520
Speaker 2: Lakers like it was just It is a consistent theme

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Speaker 2: throughout NBA history that the teams that win at the

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Speaker 2: end of the day have an assortment of different kinds

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Speaker 2: of basketball players. I do think it's interesting that Kevin

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Speaker 2: Durant and his desire to partner with Kyrie and James Harden,

416
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Speaker 2: and his desire to partner with Devin Booker and Bradley

417
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Speaker 2: Beal signifies to him that Kevin's view of the best

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Speaker 2: way to win basketball games is to have this incredible

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Speaker 2: amount of basketball skill on the floor and to be

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Speaker 2: able to outskal people. Now, it's really easy for us

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Speaker 2: to be like that doesn't work, because he came this close.

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Speaker 4: Again.

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Speaker 2: That said, I would argue that my personal opinion is

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Speaker 2: very how to win basketball game. It's different than that.

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Speaker 2: I would like what Kevin Durant brings to the table,

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Speaker 2: and then I'd like a superstar next to him that

427
00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,880
Speaker 2: brings an entirely different skill set to the table that's

428
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Speaker 2: great at different things, you know, and and from that standpoint,

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Speaker 2: we like, even if we look back at like Lebron

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Speaker 2: and Kyrie, why did that work? Because they were so different, right,

431
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 2: they bring different things to the table, even Lebron and

432
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,159
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis on so many different levels, and so it

433
00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:28,879
Speaker 2: just it's just to me, it's I think it's okay

434
00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,280
Speaker 2: to point out that Kevin Durant tried to take a

435
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:37,920
Speaker 2: very alternative approach and that there are more proven methods

436
00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:42,520
Speaker 2: that Kevin Durant neglected. That said, I think it's revisionist

437
00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:45,040
Speaker 2: history to just say he made the wrong decisions because

438
00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:48,760
Speaker 2: he came close. And we don't know what's gonna happen

439
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:50,719
Speaker 2: in Phoenix yet, and I do believe that there's some

440
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,160
Speaker 2: potential for them to gain some steam and to make

441
00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,439
Speaker 2: a run. So my thing is like, and Logan, you

442
00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,080
Speaker 2: brought this up to like, you're right, players don't make

443
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,880
Speaker 2: a GMS. Lebron James is, in my opinion, the second

444
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,520
Speaker 2: best basketball player to ever touch a basketball court and

445
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:08,399
Speaker 2: arguably the smartest basketball player to ever touch a basketball court.

446
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:11,879
Speaker 2: I thought the decision to blow up all of the

447
00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,160
Speaker 2: wing talent and athleticism they had to bring in an

448
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:19,000
Speaker 2: incredibly flawed star that everybody in the world knew is

449
00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:21,760
Speaker 2: going to make the Lakers a worst team overnight, and

450
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,720
Speaker 2: you find out that Lebron was actively pushing for it

451
00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:29,080
Speaker 2: behind the scenes. That's the same type of mistake, right.

452
00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:32,440
Speaker 2: It's just we give Lebron so much more leeway because

453
00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,520
Speaker 2: he has four freaking championships, right But and he made

454
00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:37,639
Speaker 2: it to the Western Conference finals again last year. But

455
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:42,400
Speaker 2: like I think, I think Kevin Durant is getting targeted

456
00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:44,240
Speaker 2: a little bit here just because it's an easy NBA

457
00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:46,840
Speaker 2: storyline in the middle of the season. All right, moving on,

458
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:53,240
Speaker 2: who is a more serious title contender? The Oklahoma City

459
00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,280
Speaker 2: Thunder or the Minnesota Timberwolves. Will start with Logan.

460
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:02,280
Speaker 1: I am amidst the YouTube video in which I'm actually

461
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:06,199
Speaker 1: working on a take similar to this. For me, it's Minnesota,

462
00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,960
Speaker 1: and as it stands, Minnesota is my number two team

463
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 1: out West right now. And the reason for that. Again,

464
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 1: this is subject to change, because I think the Warriors

465
00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:18,520
Speaker 1: and Lakers both need to make major trade deadline moves

466
00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:22,560
Speaker 1: depending on how they reconfigure their roster. Again, they could

467
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:26,080
Speaker 1: still jump up in there. I'm skeptical about the Clippers, Sons,

468
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,000
Speaker 1: and Kings for two way value stuff like that, And

469
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:31,480
Speaker 1: I really believe in this defense and their ability to

470
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,320
Speaker 1: slow down any Western Conference foe that they run into.

471
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:38,200
Speaker 1: And I think when you look at Minnesota, the majority

472
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,120
Speaker 1: of the losses that they have suffered this year, it's

473
00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:43,280
Speaker 1: been down to really three reasons. And again you can

474
00:23:43,359 --> 00:23:47,359
Speaker 1: blanket statement these keys for a lot of NBA games,

475
00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:50,600
Speaker 1: but it's been evident with Minnesota. It's Lackaday's wal turnovers,

476
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,480
Speaker 1: it's poor effort defensively, and it's been red hot shooting

477
00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,280
Speaker 1: nights from their opponents. Five of the seven losses that

478
00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,639
Speaker 1: Minnesota has suffered has been when a team has had

479
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,440
Speaker 1: a true shooting percentage of six sixty percent or better. Again,

480
00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:03,760
Speaker 1: you can make that mostly again a blanket statement for

481
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:05,399
Speaker 1: a lot of loss of the team suffer, but it's

482
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 1: been evident with Minnesota. The one advantage I will give

483
00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:12,440
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City concretely over Minnesota at this point is their

484
00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:16,560
Speaker 1: half court offense creation and their just depth of weapons offensively.

485
00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:19,639
Speaker 1: I think that really could be the marginal difference in

486
00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:22,640
Speaker 1: a series that you know Karl Anthony town is gonna

487
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:24,119
Speaker 1: have to pull his weight, Anthony Edwards is going to

488
00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:26,680
Speaker 1: after consistently reach that superstar level, which he has done

489
00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:30,760
Speaker 1: on big stages, but that's still the biggest variable here.

490
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,560
Speaker 1: When Oklahoma City Sgake and Evan off night and Check

491
00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 1: can take over knocking down shots getting to the rack,

492
00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:39,320
Speaker 1: he's so good. Jalen Williams dropped you know, thirty six

493
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:43,000
Speaker 1: the other night. He's a ninetieth percentile isolation player this season.

494
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,080
Speaker 1: An isolation procession from Jalen Williams is worth one point

495
00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:49,120
Speaker 1: two to four points. That's absurd. He's a seventy second

496
00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:52,120
Speaker 1: percentile pick and roll ball handler like point blank. Minnesota

497
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:54,840
Speaker 1: just does not have the depth of offensive weapons that

498
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,320
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City does. And Oklahoma City is a damn good

499
00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:01,320
Speaker 1: defense too. So I guess I'm gonna say I want

500
00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:02,919
Speaker 1: to hit the pause button here because I want one

501
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:06,200
Speaker 1: more month. I think Oklahoma City and Minnesota, like Golden

502
00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 1: State in LA, need to do something at the deadline.

503
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,000
Speaker 1: I think the majority of teams across the league need

504
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,639
Speaker 1: to make a move to get marginally better at the deadline.

505
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:18,160
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City finding a secondary or tertiary offensive weapon another

506
00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:20,240
Speaker 1: one to put them over the top. I know both

507
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,160
Speaker 1: of you guys have discussed Laurie Markinen would be awesome

508
00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,000
Speaker 1: if they could make a swing for him with their picks,

509
00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:27,800
Speaker 1: and I think Minnesota needs to make another swing too

510
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 1: to put themselves over the top to keep pace, because

511
00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,119
Speaker 1: again I think they have the defensive personnel and the

512
00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:37,320
Speaker 1: physical advantages to stifle La, to limit Denver just a

513
00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 1: little bit to open the door. But they are just

514
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,240
Speaker 1: in a different class offensively than Denver. Denver is in

515
00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:45,639
Speaker 1: a different tier, So for me, I think Minnesota. I

516
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,200
Speaker 1: like Minnesota more because their defensive ceiling, but they have

517
00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:50,919
Speaker 1: to make a move at the deadline. I'm shopping Kyle

518
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 1: Anderson in aw I'm shopping Shake Milton Troy Brown junior

519
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:59,240
Speaker 1: and picks Like whatever I can whatever move I can

520
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,760
Speaker 1: make to get another bench piece or another option offensively

521
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,320
Speaker 1: to give me easy offense come playoff time is what

522
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:11,240
Speaker 1: I'm doing. But I think I'm just marginally like Minnesota

523
00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 1: more because of their defensive consistency. But Oklahoma City is

524
00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:17,360
Speaker 1: a damn good contender too. I legit by into both

525
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,680
Speaker 1: of these teams potentially making a playoff run.

526
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:25,160
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love both of these teams. I am so

527
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 3: so high on the Thunder. I think this is as

528
00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,520
Speaker 3: bright a future from a young team as we have

529
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,760
Speaker 3: seen since shocker, the thunder just over a decade heard

530
00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:36,439
Speaker 3: in RUSS and KD Sam Presti man, I hope that

531
00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,520
Speaker 3: he gets his ring because he is as brilliant a

532
00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,320
Speaker 3: player evaluator as we have seen in this league. He

533
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,680
Speaker 3: just nails draft pick after draft pick after draft pick,

534
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:47,760
Speaker 3: and he makes very good value trades. But at some

535
00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,439
Speaker 3: point you gotta put it all together and get that

536
00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,600
Speaker 3: ring and reach the actual apex of the sport. I mean, Jason,

537
00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:56,280
Speaker 3: you remember I was crazy high on chet as a prospect.

538
00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:57,879
Speaker 3: I said he was the best guy who I had

539
00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:00,720
Speaker 3: ever been able to really evaluate. I love I think

540
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,480
Speaker 3: Jalen is even underrated. Like I think he's a perennial

541
00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:07,359
Speaker 3: third star. He is rarely good for a second year guy.

542
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,680
Speaker 3: They're awesome, but right now it's Minnesota. I think there's

543
00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:14,160
Speaker 3: a few concrete reasons for that. Number one is how

544
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:17,479
Speaker 3: well they match up physically against the big elite teams

545
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:18,919
Speaker 3: in the West. I think that is going to be

546
00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 3: a very important component. Just with the way that the

547
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,160
Speaker 3: best teams in the league have gone. You are looking

548
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:28,879
Speaker 3: at big, athletic, strong front courts, and Minnesota is the

549
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,800
Speaker 3: epitome of that with their two big looks, and they're

550
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 3: just really athletic all around, with Jade McDaniels and Anthy

551
00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:36,800
Speaker 3: Edwards and Okay, see, he is very athletic, but in

552
00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,720
Speaker 3: the front court they're slight. They're twenty ninth in rebound

553
00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:41,879
Speaker 3: rate this year, and I think teams like the Nuggets

554
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,920
Speaker 3: the Lakers can expose that. Chid is an unbelievable pure

555
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,439
Speaker 3: rim protector. His timing, his length and all that, but

556
00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:50,600
Speaker 3: he's not an elite rebounding five, and I just think

557
00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:54,040
Speaker 3: that level of strength really presents problems for OKC on

558
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,600
Speaker 3: the interior, Whereas Minnesota, they have as good a formula

559
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,879
Speaker 3: for guarding Aniko Jolkic as anybody does in the league.

560
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,080
Speaker 3: Put tat on him, that's a really big body. You

561
00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:05,159
Speaker 3: have Gobar there and help. They're gonna match up on

562
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:07,679
Speaker 3: the glass against anybody. I think that that matters in

563
00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:11,119
Speaker 3: playoff scenarios, especially looking at the competition out west. I

564
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:14,800
Speaker 3: also think they have a depth advantage. It's good for

565
00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:18,040
Speaker 3: both these teams, but they are seven deep with damn

566
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,199
Speaker 3: good players, and we talk about the lack of redundancies.

567
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:25,399
Speaker 3: I think Minnesota's put together a really nice, complimentary basketball team.

568
00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:30,840
Speaker 3: I had offensive concerns about playing cat alongside a true five,

569
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,399
Speaker 3: But I think that you are looking at a lot

570
00:28:33,440 --> 00:28:33,960
Speaker 3: of guys.

571
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:35,399
Speaker 4: Who fill specific roles.

572
00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:39,160
Speaker 3: Go Bear as this defensive anchor, Pat as a guy

573
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:41,200
Speaker 3: who can help defend on the interior and then can

574
00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:45,320
Speaker 3: do various things offensively, attacking mismatches, killing you with his shooting.

575
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:47,880
Speaker 3: Jayden is just this awesome three and D wing and

576
00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:51,440
Speaker 3: is your go out there number one sort of offensive

577
00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:54,280
Speaker 3: option from the perimeter. Awesome athlete. And then Conley is

578
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:57,840
Speaker 3: just this high level facilitator, smart veteran guy, gonna shoot

579
00:28:57,880 --> 00:28:58,680
Speaker 3: the ball really well.

580
00:28:58,880 --> 00:28:59,840
Speaker 4: So on top of.

581
00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:02,600
Speaker 3: The big three they have of star level guys, they've

582
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,680
Speaker 3: got two really good, almost perfect role players in the

583
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:08,720
Speaker 3: starting five. And then Kyle Anderson and nas Reed are

584
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,160
Speaker 3: super valuable bench pieces. You just have a versatile two

585
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:14,800
Speaker 3: way guy and Anderson, and then as explosive a scoring

586
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 3: bench big as there is in the league in nas Reed.

587
00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:20,120
Speaker 3: Whereas I look at Okasee and I'm like, boy, I

588
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,520
Speaker 3: love case On off the bench. I love Isaiah Joe

589
00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:24,720
Speaker 3: off the bench. Those guys are really good. Are they

590
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:28,640
Speaker 3: as multifaceted maybe as some of these more veteran guys

591
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,000
Speaker 3: who were talking about that's a question, But honestly, my

592
00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,240
Speaker 3: concerns are maybe more with a couple of the guys

593
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,240
Speaker 3: in the starting five, Like as long as Josh Giddy

594
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:40,000
Speaker 3: is closing games and playing twenty five minutes a game,

595
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:42,520
Speaker 3: I think that's a problem. I just think he is

596
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,480
Speaker 3: not very good. And this was always my problem with

597
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:47,640
Speaker 3: him being the number six pick in the draft. He's

598
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:51,480
Speaker 3: in a player archetype that we haven't seen successful in

599
00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:54,640
Speaker 3: the league ever. Like his passing is awesome, but to

600
00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:57,480
Speaker 3: be a really good offensive player in the NBA today,

601
00:29:57,600 --> 00:29:59,480
Speaker 3: you have to be a high level threat both as

602
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,400
Speaker 3: a score and a passer. And this is a guy

603
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:06,000
Speaker 3: who is a below average athlete, who has bad touch,

604
00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:08,240
Speaker 3: who has a broken jump shot, who is going to

605
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,080
Speaker 3: be a negative defensively. I mean we're seeing it this year, right,

606
00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,760
Speaker 3: He's given you eleven a night on fifty percent true shooting.

607
00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:15,960
Speaker 3: I think he takes the offense out of rhythm. I

608
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:18,560
Speaker 3: don't think he holds defensive accountable as a spot up shooter.

609
00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,600
Speaker 3: I think he is going to be an addition by

610
00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,160
Speaker 3: subtraction situation if they can move off of him. And

611
00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:25,960
Speaker 3: then even a guy like Lou Dort who has been

612
00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:28,040
Speaker 3: awesome this year. He is shooting the hell out of

613
00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,640
Speaker 3: the ball. I've just seen too many times from him

614
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,120
Speaker 3: in the past where he gets in these stretches where

615
00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,360
Speaker 3: it's brick after brick after brick, and that can be

616
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:37,560
Speaker 3: a question of shot selection. So I don't have the

617
00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:39,800
Speaker 3: same level of faith with those fourth and fifth guys

618
00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:42,240
Speaker 3: that I do with the Minnesota dudes who just excel

619
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:45,920
Speaker 3: in their roles and then they are much more experienced.

620
00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:48,960
Speaker 3: Mike Conley has been in multiple deep playoff runs, as

621
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,080
Speaker 3: has Kyle Anderson. Go Beart has been to the second

622
00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:53,640
Speaker 3: round a few times, had an ant have at least

623
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:57,840
Speaker 3: been to the playoffs multiple times. Teams don't win titles

624
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,239
Speaker 3: when nobody on their team has real playoff experience, and

625
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 3: that is the case for Oka. See Shay has been there, sure,

626
00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,840
Speaker 3: but he's never been there as the guy. Lou has

627
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:09,160
Speaker 3: been in one playoff series and that's it. That's the

628
00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:12,560
Speaker 3: entirety of the playoff experience on this roster in this rotation,

629
00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:16,120
Speaker 3: outside of Isaiah Joe being a garbage time guy in

630
00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,760
Speaker 3: Philly that doesn't count. There's maybe one exception historically to

631
00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,480
Speaker 3: that rule, that being the nineteen seventy seven Blazers. Very

632
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 3: young team, but overwhelmingly it certainly helps to have been

633
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:29,160
Speaker 3: there before, to have been in those battles, And there's

634
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 3: a physical maturity with Minnesota along with that mental maturity.

635
00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:35,840
Speaker 3: I just think they scale better to a playoff setting

636
00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,720
Speaker 3: right now. But long term, boy, I am high on

637
00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:39,640
Speaker 3: what OKAC can do.

638
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:43,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, that last part is literally the take that I

639
00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:45,960
Speaker 2: came into this with when I was prepping this morning, Like,

640
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,200
Speaker 2: I think Oklahoma City is going to be awesome for

641
00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:51,680
Speaker 2: a really long time. Yeah, I think they aren't going

642
00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:55,400
Speaker 2: to make the mistakes they made early on with James Harden.

643
00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:56,360
Speaker 4: They are.

644
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:01,160
Speaker 2: They have a lot of very specific pieces that I

645
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:04,440
Speaker 2: look at with championship contention, like diversity of shot creation,

646
00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,400
Speaker 2: diversity of defensive scheme that they can run. They like

647
00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:11,480
Speaker 2: Chet Holmgren. I think legitimately has the potential to be

648
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:13,440
Speaker 2: the best player in the world one day, like they have.

649
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,719
Speaker 2: They have so much upside it's not even funny. But

650
00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 2: there's just two big red flags for me, Like the

651
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:21,680
Speaker 2: Western Conference is huge on the front line and they

652
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:26,120
Speaker 2: are tiny, And everything we know about NBA history tells

653
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:28,640
Speaker 2: us that the longer you get into a playoff series,

654
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:31,480
Speaker 2: that's where physical matchups matter more and more. I know

655
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:33,600
Speaker 2: I'm in some trouble with thunderfans because I did my

656
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:38,240
Speaker 2: power rankings before the Minnesota win and I said, I

657
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,480
Speaker 2: don't think Oklahoma City is capable of beating Minnesota, LA

658
00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:44,280
Speaker 2: or Denver four times out of seven because of the

659
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:47,280
Speaker 2: frontline seize mismatches. And then they beat the shit out

660
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:51,240
Speaker 2: of Minnesota. And of course I look silly, but genuinely speaking,

661
00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:54,240
Speaker 2: when you get to the to the to the playoffs

662
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:57,120
Speaker 2: and you get into a seven game setting, the whistle

663
00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:00,240
Speaker 2: gets a little tighter, it becomes a more physical game.

664
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,600
Speaker 2: I just am worried about them on the front line.

665
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:05,760
Speaker 2: And then that second piece of it is like, I mean,

666
00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:11,520
Speaker 2: shout out to the nineteen seventy seven Blazers, but like,

667
00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:15,600
Speaker 2: kids don't win in the NBA, they just don't. Sometimes

668
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,680
Speaker 2: kids make some noise, but kids don't win in the NBA.

669
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:22,400
Speaker 2: And when they do, it's like twenty six, twenty seven

670
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 2: years old and they're surrounded by vets. Usually at that point,

671
00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:31,720
Speaker 2: this team has not just a lack of championship experience,

672
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:34,440
Speaker 2: they have a or lack of playoff experience. I should

673
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:36,840
Speaker 2: say they have ala like a basketball experience. These are

674
00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:40,840
Speaker 2: all kids, These are young, young basketball players, and so

675
00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:43,920
Speaker 2: I when I look at that, those are just giant

676
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,800
Speaker 2: red flags for me that say, like, hey, listen to

677
00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:49,280
Speaker 2: what NBA history tells you. Doesn't mean they can't win.

678
00:33:49,920 --> 00:33:51,800
Speaker 2: It just means they would be beating the odds. It's

679
00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:54,240
Speaker 2: kind of like and for the record, the counterpoint there

680
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:56,880
Speaker 2: is what happened with Denver last year. We have never

681
00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,720
Speaker 2: not in recent NBA history, It had been since we

682
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:04,200
Speaker 2: saw a non defending champion, non top ten defense be

683
00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:07,640
Speaker 2: able to you know, win the NBA Championship. And they

684
00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:10,680
Speaker 2: won comfortably and often on the strength of their defense.

685
00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:14,279
Speaker 2: So like literally it was it's it can be done.

686
00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:17,960
Speaker 2: It's just I think Denver is more of the exception

687
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:19,960
Speaker 2: to the rule. And we also have to account for

688
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:21,960
Speaker 2: the fact that Jokic's best player in the world right now,

689
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,240
Speaker 2: and I as good as Shay is, I don't believe

690
00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:27,279
Speaker 2: he is. Uh the Looking at Minnesota, they have a

691
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,160
Speaker 2: big red flag two that I always look at, which

692
00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:32,840
Speaker 2: is they're really bad at half court offense in general,

693
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:37,080
Speaker 2: like when things get super physical, like having a bunch

694
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:40,879
Speaker 2: of guys that are capable of of of really high

695
00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:44,399
Speaker 2: level close out attacking and having two really high end

696
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,840
Speaker 2: shot creators are really important. And I'm not saying that

697
00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:51,600
Speaker 2: Ant's not capable of that, but that certainly is a

698
00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:54,759
Speaker 2: concern for me. But to your point, Carson, they have

699
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:57,520
Speaker 2: two massive green flags, which is they have a lot

700
00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:01,200
Speaker 2: of experience and they're huge. Those are just two very

701
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:05,319
Speaker 2: very important pieces to a playoff run. I don't view

702
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:08,440
Speaker 2: either of them as top tier contenders I look at

703
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:12,480
Speaker 2: I still only think Boston and Denver are capable of

704
00:35:12,520 --> 00:35:14,959
Speaker 2: saying like, hey, we have like a really good chance

705
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,719
Speaker 2: of winning this year. I think everybody else is like,

706
00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,319
Speaker 2: is like long shot chance pending a good trade like

707
00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:24,239
Speaker 2: and where good trade could potentially vault them into that

708
00:35:24,719 --> 00:35:27,120
Speaker 2: next level. But yeah, I again, it's not an anti

709
00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:29,320
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City take. I have a ton of fun watching

710
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:33,160
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City. Dude. Jalen Williams was cooking the New York

711
00:35:33,239 --> 00:35:36,640
Speaker 2: Knicks last night, just cooking them like he was pulling

712
00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:39,480
Speaker 2: Todds Gibson out into switches and barbecuing him. He was

713
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:42,799
Speaker 2: utilizing the picking pop which at home, we're gonna getting

714
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:46,400
Speaker 2: open looks. He started picking on Julius Randolin switches like

715
00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:50,359
Speaker 2: the kid is insanely good, and he's on a stretch here.

716
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:52,560
Speaker 2: Just in the last couple of weeks he's really turned

717
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:56,120
Speaker 2: up the scoring volume and efficiency last nine games Jalen

718
00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:59,359
Speaker 2: Williams twenty points per game, fifty seven percent from the field,

719
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:03,200
Speaker 2: fifty three percent from three, eighty six percent from the line,

720
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:06,200
Speaker 2: and logan you mentioned is isolation numbers, which have been

721
00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:09,000
Speaker 2: off the charts, Like they are freaking awesome. It's just

722
00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:11,880
Speaker 2: this is not their year. I just I like, I

723
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:15,080
Speaker 2: think they'll I think they'll give somebody a really tough fight,

724
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:17,600
Speaker 2: and they'll have some moments where they win a game

725
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:19,719
Speaker 2: in Oka See and you're like, man, these guys are

726
00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:22,120
Speaker 2: gonna be a problem for a long time. But just

727
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:24,640
Speaker 2: game five, Game six, Game seven, it's just gonna be

728
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:26,879
Speaker 2: the bigger, stronger teams that kind of wear them down.

729
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,160
Speaker 2: I know they've had some success against the bigger teams

730
00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:32,680
Speaker 2: in a regular season sample, but I do think that

731
00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:35,880
Speaker 2: they've probably been one of the best effort and consistency

732
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,160
Speaker 2: teams this year, which is obviously good.

733
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:40,120
Speaker 4: Which is like, they're like.

734
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:43,239
Speaker 2: To me, a much better version of the Memphis Grizzlies

735
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,239
Speaker 2: team from the last couple of years that was really

736
00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:48,279
Speaker 2: good in the regular season, but I didn't. I wasn't

737
00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:52,320
Speaker 2: as optimistic about their high end, long term potential. Who

738
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 2: is more likely to win MVP this year? Luka, Doncicz

739
00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:58,440
Speaker 2: or Joel andmb Carson, You're up first.

740
00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,240
Speaker 4: I think that it's pretty clearly Joe l Embiid. Right now.

741
00:37:02,640 --> 00:37:06,600
Speaker 3: He is having a historically great regular season. It goes

742
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:09,440
Speaker 3: without saying that we've never seen thirty five twelve and

743
00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,960
Speaker 3: six on sixty five percent true shooting, unfathomable, and he

744
00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:18,200
Speaker 3: has been a better player in effectively every way than

745
00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:21,600
Speaker 3: the man who won MVP last year. He's shooting fifty

746
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:24,359
Speaker 3: one percent for mid range, thirty five percent from deep,

747
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:27,640
Speaker 3: so he's improved as a jump shooter. His playmaking has

748
00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 3: been much better, not just the production, but I think

749
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:33,399
Speaker 3: he's been more comfortable taking on those responsibilities, running more

750
00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:37,960
Speaker 3: diverse actions as a playmaker, more handoffs at times, even

751
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:40,680
Speaker 3: handling the ball in transition and whatnot. And then I

752
00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:43,280
Speaker 3: do think that he has been better dissecting double teams

753
00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,479
Speaker 3: and whatnot. And he's the driving factor behind a top

754
00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,200
Speaker 3: three offense and a top three defense that has just

755
00:37:49,239 --> 00:37:53,040
Speaker 3: been utterly dominant when he plays of twenty five guys

756
00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,399
Speaker 3: who protect the most shots at the rim. He has

757
00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:58,759
Speaker 3: the second best opponent field goal percentage. Differentially, he holds

758
00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:01,680
Speaker 3: people like thirteen percent below their typical percentage at the

759
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:05,799
Speaker 3: rim while he is putting forth these unprecedented numbers offensively.

760
00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:08,720
Speaker 3: And again, the team success, which is always a major

761
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:12,759
Speaker 3: component in MVP conversations. We went almost thirty years without

762
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:16,040
Speaker 3: a guy who wasn't a top two seed winning MVP,

763
00:38:16,239 --> 00:38:18,200
Speaker 3: and I understand that precedent has been broken a bit

764
00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:20,200
Speaker 3: in recent years, with Russ winning as a sixth seed

765
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:22,879
Speaker 3: Yokich winning as a four seed, but it certainly still

766
00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:25,640
Speaker 3: matters a lot. And Philly is twenty to five when

767
00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:28,120
Speaker 3: he plays, they are one and four when he doesn't.

768
00:38:28,320 --> 00:38:31,239
Speaker 3: They are a plus thirteen points for an unpossession team

769
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:33,680
Speaker 3: when he is on the floor just blowing people out.

770
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:37,040
Speaker 3: And yeah, they've had an easy schedule, but I mean again,

771
00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:40,560
Speaker 3: versus last year when he was MVP, he's scoring more,

772
00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:44,880
Speaker 3: shooting better, playmaking better, rebounding better, and defending better on

773
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:47,960
Speaker 3: a better team after losing James Harden and a lot

774
00:38:47,960 --> 00:38:51,160
Speaker 3: of those differences are marginal, but they amount to something

775
00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:54,440
Speaker 3: that's pretty significant and crazy impressive coming from the place

776
00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:57,600
Speaker 3: that he was as a regular season player last year. Now,

777
00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:00,239
Speaker 3: how does this all scale the postseason? That is going

778
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:02,239
Speaker 3: to be a different question. But I do feel better

779
00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:05,200
Speaker 3: about him in a playoff setting as this version of himself.

780
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:07,440
Speaker 3: If he can maintain this jump shooting, if he can

781
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:10,680
Speaker 3: maintain this playmaking, Those along with health have been the

782
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:12,840
Speaker 3: biggest things that have let him down in the playoffs,

783
00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:14,719
Speaker 3: and I think he's the best that we've ever seen

784
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:17,160
Speaker 3: him in at least actually all three of those categories.

785
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:18,879
Speaker 3: I mean, he's been very healthy this year. I don't

786
00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:21,080
Speaker 3: know if I'm ever going to expect him to totally

787
00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:23,960
Speaker 3: hold up throughout a multiple series playoff run, but he's

788
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:28,239
Speaker 3: playing unbelievable basketball. Luca is unreal, And the one thing

789
00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:29,640
Speaker 3: that I do want to shout out for him is

790
00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:32,879
Speaker 3: that if he sustains being a thirty eight percent plus

791
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:36,920
Speaker 3: three point shooter, he is effectively an unstoppable basketball player.

792
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:40,320
Speaker 3: Because the one frustration I've ever had with Luca is man,

793
00:39:40,719 --> 00:39:43,400
Speaker 3: he is basically unstoppable getting into the lane right. His

794
00:39:43,520 --> 00:39:46,280
Speaker 3: change in pace is so phenomenal. He is so big

795
00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:48,799
Speaker 3: and strong in such an unbelievable touch shot maker, and

796
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:52,520
Speaker 3: then just a generational passer. This skit passes the lobs.

797
00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:55,080
Speaker 3: When he hits that painted area, you're basically guaranteed a

798
00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:55,600
Speaker 3: good shot.

799
00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:58,480
Speaker 4: But we've seen these stretches where he's settling.

800
00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:00,680
Speaker 3: For step back three after step back three, and you

801
00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:02,719
Speaker 3: can just be like, man, you could be creating higher

802
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,560
Speaker 3: quality shots. If he's gonna make thirty eight percent of

803
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:08,080
Speaker 3: his threes, you can't even have that complain anymore. Like,

804
00:40:08,239 --> 00:40:12,000
Speaker 3: the guy's unbelievable, and I think people are a little

805
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,480
Speaker 3: bit quick to forget or to just sort of not

806
00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:17,719
Speaker 3: fully appreciate that he is having as great an offensive

807
00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:20,920
Speaker 3: start to a career as we have literally ever seen.

808
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,600
Speaker 3: Like Jokic took the leap from all NBA guy to

809
00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:27,200
Speaker 3: oh wow, this is the best offensive center ever at

810
00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:29,879
Speaker 3: twenty five years old. Lebron didn't lead a top eight

811
00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:33,320
Speaker 3: team offense until year six. Steph took the leap at

812
00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:37,160
Speaker 3: twenty five twenty six. Right, Luca is twenty four and

813
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:40,719
Speaker 3: has been doing these things night in, night out for

814
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:44,480
Speaker 3: five years, just waltzing into efficient thirty point triple doubles,

815
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:48,040
Speaker 3: leading top five offenses with mess supporting pasts, and he's

816
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:51,000
Speaker 3: just taken little leaps year after year after year and

817
00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:53,360
Speaker 3: I feel like sometimes people are just sort of numb

818
00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:56,000
Speaker 3: to what he does because we've gotten used to this

819
00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:57,440
Speaker 3: standard of him as a top five player.

820
00:40:57,440 --> 00:41:00,440
Speaker 4: But it's not normal. In fact, it's almost impossib.

821
00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:02,759
Speaker 3: To be a top five player as a second year guy.

822
00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:05,399
Speaker 3: And again he has continued to improve. So I do

823
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:07,600
Speaker 3: want to shout him out because he's playing at an

824
00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:10,920
Speaker 3: unbelievable level. But I think when you consider the elite

825
00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:14,160
Speaker 3: two way impact, the elite team success with MBID, who

826
00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:17,440
Speaker 3: is also playing at this unbelievable level offensively, he just

827
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:18,879
Speaker 3: makes the better all around case.

828
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:23,319
Speaker 1: To me, I completely concur And I think you make

829
00:41:23,320 --> 00:41:25,560
Speaker 1: an interesting point with Luca too about how people will

830
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:27,719
Speaker 1: fully appreciate him. I think they can kind of pigeonhole

831
00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:30,000
Speaker 1: him into that James Harden kind of Oh he just

832
00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:32,799
Speaker 1: pounds the rock, and yeah, he just you know, he

833
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:35,040
Speaker 1: just pounds the ball. That's what he does. He's a dribbler.

834
00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:38,600
Speaker 1: I wouldn't have lucas my MVP. I would have EMBIID.

835
00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:42,080
Speaker 1: You lay out pretty much all the key factors Carson,

836
00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:45,320
Speaker 1: the two way impact, and I think a big difference.

837
00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:47,040
Speaker 1: I know I said this at the start of the year,

838
00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:49,319
Speaker 1: and I think it's been a mutually beneficial move for

839
00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,120
Speaker 1: both teams. I really do think the seventy six ers

840
00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:54,719
Speaker 1: have benefited from being without James Harden. They were twenty

841
00:41:54,719 --> 00:41:57,640
Speaker 1: seventh in pace last year, their thirteenth in pace this year.

842
00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:00,520
Speaker 1: I still do worry about the transition defense little bit,

843
00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:03,399
Speaker 1: but I think playing faster and more up tempo and

844
00:42:03,480 --> 00:42:06,480
Speaker 1: not having a as big a defensive liability as a

845
00:42:06,480 --> 00:42:08,640
Speaker 1: guy like Harden out there has been big for Philly.

846
00:42:08,719 --> 00:42:11,160
Speaker 1: But it has been a beat. And it's absurd. You

847
00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:13,280
Speaker 1: mentioned the mid range shooting numbers cars and he's shooting

848
00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:16,080
Speaker 1: fifty one percent among players that are attempting at least

849
00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:19,280
Speaker 1: three field goals from the mid range area. He's second

850
00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:23,840
Speaker 1: in field goal percentage, only behind Chris Middleton. That's absurd.

851
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:25,839
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just unstoppable. And you have a guy

852
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:28,120
Speaker 1: that is this physically imposing, this strong. When he gets

853
00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:30,040
Speaker 1: on the low block, he's sixty eight and a half

854
00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:33,120
Speaker 1: percent in the restricted area. Okay, that's an awesome shot,

855
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:36,320
Speaker 1: no matter who's on him because he's so physically imposing. Okay,

856
00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:39,000
Speaker 1: so well, I got to play off of him. Damn.

857
00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:50,320
Speaker 3: Let's see how Logan holds up in a playoff setting

858
00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:51,879
Speaker 3: things that always go right.

859
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:53,400
Speaker 4: Man, how are you off schedule?

860
00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:58,680
Speaker 1: Short? He's so physically imposing. You have to play off

861
00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:00,279
Speaker 1: of him and give him a cushion because you just

862
00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:01,960
Speaker 1: can't give him the lane. Well, if you do that,

863
00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:04,840
Speaker 1: he hits a little crossover bang pull up in your mouth.

864
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:09,160
Speaker 1: It's just unstoppable offensive basketball, and you make the best

865
00:43:09,160 --> 00:43:11,160
Speaker 1: point guards. And somebody, I can't remember who said this,

866
00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:14,160
Speaker 1: I saw in the comment section somewhere they said Embid's

867
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:16,319
Speaker 1: playing hard so he can win his second MVP and

868
00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:19,440
Speaker 1: then rest in the playoffs. I hope that's not the case.

869
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:22,400
Speaker 1: I hope that Embiid can continue this because he is

870
00:43:22,400 --> 00:43:24,560
Speaker 1: playing like the best player in the world on both

871
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:27,919
Speaker 1: ends of the floor. That's going to be the big test.

872
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:30,360
Speaker 1: But right now he is unequivocally my MVP.

873
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:34,320
Speaker 2: So I think Lucas doing more with less this season,

874
00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:39,799
Speaker 2: for whatever that's worth. I think him basically converting a

875
00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:42,399
Speaker 2: roster of one sign and trade and then a bunch

876
00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:46,080
Speaker 2: of veteran minimum guys, and with Kyrie being largely unavailable,

877
00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:49,280
Speaker 2: with Josh Green missing a lot of the season, Maxi

878
00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:52,000
Speaker 2: Kleeber has been one of the best front court defenders

879
00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:54,840
Speaker 2: for them has been out for a while. Although Dallas

880
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:57,239
Speaker 2: fans are sick and tired of Maxi, it seems like

881
00:43:57,280 --> 00:44:01,640
Speaker 2: but the like when it comes to like turning that

882
00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:05,440
Speaker 2: roster from what looked like an absolute dumpster a dumpster

883
00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:08,239
Speaker 2: fire last year into a group of guys who's really

884
00:44:08,280 --> 00:44:12,279
Speaker 2: bought in and competing there. Before last night, they were

885
00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:15,000
Speaker 2: thirteenth in defense in their previous fifteen games, which with

886
00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:18,439
Speaker 2: that group is super impressive. That like, like every given

887
00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:22,239
Speaker 2: every night, it's different lineups and different rotations that he's

888
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:25,480
Speaker 2: making work. That said, everything we know about NBA history

889
00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:28,200
Speaker 2: tells us like it's the better player on the better

890
00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:31,520
Speaker 2: team that typically ends up getting an MVP. So I

891
00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:34,160
Speaker 2: think I think it's far more likely that Joel Embiid

892
00:44:34,239 --> 00:44:37,200
Speaker 2: wins the MVP. I just think Luca is a more

893
00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:40,839
Speaker 2: deserving you know, just purely from the standpoint of doing

894
00:44:40,880 --> 00:44:43,520
Speaker 2: more with less. That said, we're splitting hairs. I'm not

895
00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:46,840
Speaker 2: trying to pick on any individual player. I want to

896
00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:50,279
Speaker 2: dive into the individual topics a little bit deeper, or

897
00:44:50,320 --> 00:44:52,360
Speaker 2: the individual players a little bit deeper though from the

898
00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:56,279
Speaker 2: same point of ranking them in the league. So I think, obviously,

899
00:44:56,640 --> 00:45:00,000
Speaker 2: when it comes to the older guys, the guys like Steph.

900
00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:02,439
Speaker 2: I don't want to like write him off entirely, because

901
00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,960
Speaker 2: obviously there is uh, there's potential for this the Warriors

902
00:45:06,000 --> 00:45:07,359
Speaker 2: to make a train for him to be right back

903
00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:09,480
Speaker 2: in that spot next year. So I want to remove

904
00:45:09,560 --> 00:45:11,359
Speaker 2: him from this discussion for a second. I just want

905
00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:16,080
Speaker 2: to look at four guys. I want to look at Jokic, Luca, Joel,

906
00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:20,080
Speaker 2: Embiid Jannis. I want each of you guys to rank

907
00:45:20,239 --> 00:45:22,440
Speaker 2: each of the four of them. If you had to

908
00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:26,520
Speaker 2: start a playoff run tomorrow with a league average roster

909
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:29,399
Speaker 2: at every other position, how would you rank them?

910
00:45:29,680 --> 00:45:32,719
Speaker 3: Start with Carson, oh Man, I was hoping that you'd

911
00:45:32,760 --> 00:45:36,680
Speaker 3: buy me a little bit of time here. Okay, Jokic

912
00:45:36,920 --> 00:45:41,080
Speaker 3: is pretty clearly one for me. I think that he

913
00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:44,600
Speaker 3: just had one of, if not the greatest offensive playoff

914
00:45:44,680 --> 00:45:46,799
Speaker 3: runs that we've ever seen. I think he is legitimately

915
00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:49,880
Speaker 3: unstoppable there. I think he's the best half court offensive player,

916
00:45:49,920 --> 00:45:52,120
Speaker 3: at the very least that we've ever seen. It's a

917
00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:56,480
Speaker 3: combination of overwhelming strength, unbelievable touch, shot making with all

918
00:45:56,560 --> 00:45:59,600
Speaker 3: time great passing, his versatility, everything that we've talked about.

919
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:02,799
Speaker 3: He's pretty clearly number one for me, Now it gets

920
00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:07,680
Speaker 3: really tough. I think that Jannis has a limitation as

921
00:46:07,920 --> 00:46:10,560
Speaker 3: a half court shot creator that we have seen bite

922
00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:12,879
Speaker 3: him before. But I do think when you pair him

923
00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:15,600
Speaker 3: with a guy like Dame who can cover up for

924
00:46:15,640 --> 00:46:19,719
Speaker 3: that a bit, then you get lots of overwhelmingly all

925
00:46:19,760 --> 00:46:20,760
Speaker 3: time great value.

926
00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:25,000
Speaker 2: Hold on, hold on, we are imagining. We're imagining league

927
00:46:25,120 --> 00:46:28,440
Speaker 2: average players in free position. You do not have Dame.

928
00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:28,759
Speaker 4: At the point.

929
00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:32,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, you have league average players. So if you think

930
00:46:32,280 --> 00:46:34,760
Speaker 2: of it per position. So if like, if I've got Luca,

931
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:37,280
Speaker 2: i got league average other four. If I've got Embid,

932
00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:39,600
Speaker 2: it's league average non centers, right, So that's the way

933
00:46:39,640 --> 00:46:41,560
Speaker 2: we're putting this together. Same goes for Jokic.

934
00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:45,000
Speaker 3: By the way, Yeah, man, that makes it really tough.

935
00:46:46,840 --> 00:46:51,680
Speaker 3: I think that I would still have Yannis two if

936
00:46:51,680 --> 00:46:54,920
Speaker 3: Embiid were able to play at this level over a

937
00:46:55,000 --> 00:46:58,480
Speaker 3: postseason run. I think he is a more complete offensive

938
00:46:58,520 --> 00:47:01,600
Speaker 3: player because of the level of maker that he is.

939
00:47:02,480 --> 00:47:05,480
Speaker 3: But we have seen Yannis find more success in playoff

940
00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:08,640
Speaker 3: settings on the back of just overwhelming physical force than

941
00:47:08,719 --> 00:47:11,520
Speaker 3: we have win. Embiid's jump shot does fail him when

942
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:14,439
Speaker 3: he is relying a bit on foul drifting and those

943
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:17,120
Speaker 3: calls that are free throws in the regular season turned

944
00:47:17,120 --> 00:47:20,160
Speaker 3: into wasted possessions in the playoffs because we haven't seen

945
00:47:20,239 --> 00:47:22,840
Speaker 3: it from him. I'm gonna give the edge to Yannis

946
00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:26,160
Speaker 3: at two, and I actually think I'm going Luca at three.

947
00:47:26,200 --> 00:47:30,000
Speaker 3: And there's an argument for Luca two as well, because

948
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:34,600
Speaker 3: he is one of the greatest playoff performers offensively that

949
00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:36,960
Speaker 3: we have ever seen. I mean, he just waltzes into

950
00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:39,520
Speaker 3: I think it's like thirty three, eight and nine on

951
00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:43,320
Speaker 3: damn good efficiency again. You just can't take it away.

952
00:47:43,480 --> 00:47:48,080
Speaker 3: And I do have some questions about if you're scaling

953
00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:50,440
Speaker 3: to a title team, right, does he need to be

954
00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:52,680
Speaker 3: willing to do more away from the ball, if it's

955
00:47:52,760 --> 00:47:55,560
Speaker 3: curling off of screens and whatnot. We've just seen the

956
00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:59,360
Speaker 3: President that these crazy ball dominant offenses where you're super

957
00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:02,719
Speaker 3: reliant on one player overly helio centric, you tend not

958
00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:04,200
Speaker 3: to win a title that game. But if you're giving

959
00:48:04,280 --> 00:48:06,799
Speaker 3: me average everywhere else, I kind of think that's when

960
00:48:06,840 --> 00:48:10,000
Speaker 3: Luca's value is at its greatest, because he can't carry

961
00:48:10,040 --> 00:48:13,080
Speaker 3: you every single possession, and he can do so so

962
00:48:13,360 --> 00:48:16,160
Speaker 3: much that almost makes me want to put him too,

963
00:48:16,239 --> 00:48:19,040
Speaker 3: But I'm gonna give respect to Giannis what we have

964
00:48:19,120 --> 00:48:21,080
Speaker 3: seen from him in the twenty one and twenty two

965
00:48:21,120 --> 00:48:24,560
Speaker 3: playoff runs, that two way value, that level of physical force, and.

966
00:48:24,480 --> 00:48:27,640
Speaker 4: Then embid his four. For me, he's very close.

967
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:30,399
Speaker 3: I think that I have more respect for his game

968
00:48:30,480 --> 00:48:32,840
Speaker 3: now than ever before, even though he hasn't done it

969
00:48:32,880 --> 00:48:34,680
Speaker 3: in a playoffs setting yet, just because I do think

970
00:48:34,719 --> 00:48:38,680
Speaker 3: we've seen improvement. But I've always been comparatively an embiid

971
00:48:38,719 --> 00:48:41,320
Speaker 3: skeptic in the playoffs, and we're kind of gonna have

972
00:48:41,320 --> 00:48:42,719
Speaker 3: to see him answer the bell there for me to

973
00:48:42,760 --> 00:48:45,160
Speaker 3: move him above these other all time talents.

974
00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:49,640
Speaker 1: This is a phenomenal question. In the Carson you say

975
00:48:49,640 --> 00:48:52,919
Speaker 1: exactly why I might consider Luca for number one? Shit?

976
00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:55,520
Speaker 4: Oh shit, settle down, settle down.

977
00:48:55,800 --> 00:49:01,480
Speaker 3: No, no, no, it's the wrong Balkan boy.

978
00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:04,000
Speaker 1: I don't. I guess I would give. I would go

979
00:49:04,080 --> 00:49:06,239
Speaker 1: Jokic one. He's the best player on planet Earth. I

980
00:49:06,239 --> 00:49:11,959
Speaker 1: would spot guys, I don't. I'm no, No, it's Luca

981
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:13,799
Speaker 1: and Luka and Jokic are one and two for me.

982
00:49:14,040 --> 00:49:16,880
Speaker 1: The only reason I'll go Jokic is because rebounding matters.

983
00:49:16,960 --> 00:49:20,120
Speaker 1: I think Jokic can dominate the interior and the glass.

984
00:49:20,360 --> 00:49:25,080
Speaker 1: He just has more, more versatility and more impact, where

985
00:49:25,160 --> 00:49:27,879
Speaker 1: Luca I think can carry me offensively. But those are

986
00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:31,160
Speaker 1: my top two for sure. I'm going Jokic one, Luca two,

987
00:49:32,480 --> 00:49:34,440
Speaker 1: and then dude, I really wonder if I want to

988
00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:36,880
Speaker 1: go Gianis three. With his offensive limitations, I mean, a

989
00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:40,000
Speaker 1: league average roster, He's such a weapon defensively, He's so

990
00:49:40,120 --> 00:49:44,960
Speaker 1: physically imposing. But I'm scarred and considering how like by

991
00:49:45,000 --> 00:49:47,960
Speaker 1: that that Heat series last year, how much he crumbled,

992
00:49:48,200 --> 00:49:51,719
Speaker 1: how much he needed Middleton and Holiday in those late

993
00:49:51,760 --> 00:49:53,719
Speaker 1: moments against Miami, and I know that he missed two

994
00:49:53,760 --> 00:49:57,720
Speaker 1: games in that series. Damn. But I also hate watching

995
00:49:57,719 --> 00:50:01,400
Speaker 1: Gianni's play too. I guess watching Oh.

996
00:50:00,920 --> 00:50:02,359
Speaker 2: We have a straight up No, I don't.

997
00:50:02,719 --> 00:50:04,000
Speaker 4: I don't know zero.

998
00:50:04,120 --> 00:50:06,880
Speaker 1: I don't like watching. I don't like watching Giannis er

999
00:50:06,920 --> 00:50:09,480
Speaker 1: and bid play sometimes. No, they are frustrating. That's why

1000
00:50:09,520 --> 00:50:12,160
Speaker 1: they're three and four for me. Luca's frustrating too. At

1001
00:50:12,160 --> 00:50:15,720
Speaker 1: some points, I'll go I'll go and B three Yannis

1002
00:50:15,800 --> 00:50:17,840
Speaker 1: four because of the difference in offense. And again, we

1003
00:50:17,880 --> 00:50:20,280
Speaker 1: haven't seen him be doing the playoffs. Like you said, Carson,

1004
00:50:20,320 --> 00:50:23,560
Speaker 1: we have seen Yiannis do it, but I'm not letting

1005
00:50:23,680 --> 00:50:25,640
Speaker 1: Yannis be the guy that has the ball in his

1006
00:50:25,719 --> 00:50:27,239
Speaker 1: hands at the end of a game. For me, Man,

1007
00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:28,719
Speaker 1: I can't do that to my own team.

1008
00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:31,600
Speaker 2: So, you know what's interesting, I feel very similar to Logan.

1009
00:50:31,719 --> 00:50:36,760
Speaker 2: I'm jokingly calling you a hater, but like I don't Luca, Jannis,

1010
00:50:36,760 --> 00:50:39,319
Speaker 2: and m bead are all three of those guys are

1011
00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:42,680
Speaker 2: on the lower end of like the Jason enjoys watching

1012
00:50:42,719 --> 00:50:46,640
Speaker 2: them scale, you know. Like, by the way, it's actually

1013
00:50:46,640 --> 00:50:49,080
Speaker 2: an interesting follow up to our conversation about Kevin Durant

1014
00:50:49,160 --> 00:50:51,680
Speaker 2: because like he's all in on the guys that are

1015
00:50:51,680 --> 00:50:53,359
Speaker 2: fun to watch, And this is kind of a good

1016
00:50:53,360 --> 00:50:57,920
Speaker 2: example of the fact that like sometimes ugly wins, the

1017
00:50:58,040 --> 00:51:01,600
Speaker 2: league average other four players on the court to me

1018
00:51:01,760 --> 00:51:05,840
Speaker 2: is a huge, you know variable here because of the

1019
00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:09,360
Speaker 2: fact that, like with Giannis, the half court shot creation

1020
00:51:09,560 --> 00:51:15,200
Speaker 2: piece has been the issue in most of their playoff eliminations,

1021
00:51:15,840 --> 00:51:18,480
Speaker 2: and the one time they cracked through was that wide

1022
00:51:18,520 --> 00:51:22,440
Speaker 2: open twenty twenty one year where it's like you get

1023
00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:26,080
Speaker 2: through KD but injury decimated, you get through like you

1024
00:51:26,120 --> 00:51:28,880
Speaker 2: get through Trey Young and then you get through a

1025
00:51:28,960 --> 00:51:31,560
Speaker 2: lesser version of Devin Booker and Chris Paul again not

1026
00:51:31,880 --> 00:51:35,640
Speaker 2: diminishing the accomplishment. Bona fide champion. And I still have

1027
00:51:35,640 --> 00:51:38,040
Speaker 2: Giannis as the second best player in the league overall

1028
00:51:38,320 --> 00:51:40,759
Speaker 2: because he does play with good shot creators and that

1029
00:51:40,840 --> 00:51:43,200
Speaker 2: allows him to focus his energy on these other things,

1030
00:51:43,239 --> 00:51:46,560
Speaker 2: and he's so profoundly impactful there. He's the second best

1031
00:51:46,560 --> 00:51:48,560
Speaker 2: basketball player in the world in my opinion. And by

1032
00:51:48,600 --> 00:51:50,680
Speaker 2: the way, the vast majority of great teams in the

1033
00:51:50,760 --> 00:51:54,359
Speaker 2: league will put your superstar next to another really good

1034
00:51:54,360 --> 00:51:56,480
Speaker 2: shot creator who's not just a league average guy. So

1035
00:51:56,560 --> 00:51:59,160
Speaker 2: that's that's the important context. But if I had to

1036
00:51:59,239 --> 00:52:02,839
Speaker 2: rank him, I think it's clearly Yokis one and embiid four,

1037
00:52:03,200 --> 00:52:05,440
Speaker 2: and it's just either Giannis or Luca at the two

1038
00:52:05,520 --> 00:52:08,520
Speaker 2: and the three, I think the league average player. I

1039
00:52:08,600 --> 00:52:12,520
Speaker 2: want Luca at number two just because I think in

1040
00:52:12,560 --> 00:52:15,320
Speaker 2: that half court battle, he's just going to be able

1041
00:52:15,360 --> 00:52:18,600
Speaker 2: to generate higher quality shots than Jannis can. I've seen

1042
00:52:18,719 --> 00:52:22,480
Speaker 2: Luca to understand, like little things like, oh, I'm gonna

1043
00:52:22,480 --> 00:52:24,920
Speaker 2: pull Yannis into the action so that he can't be

1044
00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:28,319
Speaker 2: in helpside wrecking everything he like, Just little things like

1045
00:52:28,360 --> 00:52:31,440
Speaker 2: that that are you can diminish the impact of an

1046
00:52:31,480 --> 00:52:34,000
Speaker 2: athlete easier than you can diminish the impact of a

1047
00:52:34,040 --> 00:52:37,279
Speaker 2: shot creator, in my opinion, and so I would lean

1048
00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:40,120
Speaker 2: Luca in terms of the league average supporting cast aver.

1049
00:52:40,200 --> 00:52:42,319
Speaker 2: That was a fun little exercise, a little random thing

1050
00:52:42,320 --> 00:52:44,839
Speaker 2: for us to do, all right, two quick ones before

1051
00:52:44,840 --> 00:52:45,399
Speaker 2: we get out of here.

1052
00:52:46,080 --> 00:52:47,360
Speaker 4: Who is more likely.

1053
00:52:47,239 --> 00:52:50,279
Speaker 2: To make a title run this year? The Golden State

1054
00:52:50,320 --> 00:52:53,000
Speaker 2: Warriors or the Los Angeles Lakers. Let's start with you, Logan.

1055
00:52:55,360 --> 00:52:59,000
Speaker 1: I'm still leaning on the side of the Los Angeles Lakers,

1056
00:52:59,320 --> 00:53:03,120
Speaker 1: despite these teams kind of going in inverse directions recently,

1057
00:53:03,160 --> 00:53:07,680
Speaker 1: the Warriors trending upwards, Lakers trending downwards, with I don't

1058
00:53:07,719 --> 00:53:10,480
Speaker 1: know whatever lineup concoction Darvin Ham whips up for the

1059
00:53:10,600 --> 00:53:14,040
Speaker 1: night Man. It's probably better to answer this post trade

1060
00:53:14,040 --> 00:53:15,840
Speaker 1: deadline not to plead the fifth on you guys. I

1061
00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:17,719
Speaker 1: do think both of these teams are power to make

1062
00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:21,680
Speaker 1: a move, and I think and I think that is

1063
00:53:21,719 --> 00:53:23,520
Speaker 1: going to termine it. But I do believe in the

1064
00:53:23,600 --> 00:53:25,759
Speaker 1: Lakers more. A lot of this has to do with

1065
00:53:25,800 --> 00:53:28,200
Speaker 1: their top two stars. I just believe in Lebron and

1066
00:53:28,280 --> 00:53:31,560
Speaker 1: Ad a little more than the Warriors top two guys.

1067
00:53:31,880 --> 00:53:35,000
Speaker 1: Lebron twenty five, eight and seven still is probably one

1068
00:53:35,040 --> 00:53:37,359
Speaker 1: of the handful of guys five to ten. You know,

1069
00:53:38,120 --> 00:53:41,279
Speaker 1: we exclude Steph Curry and Lebron James from this conversation

1070
00:53:42,480 --> 00:53:45,080
Speaker 1: for our last thought exercise. Lebron and Steph are definitely

1071
00:53:45,480 --> 00:53:47,799
Speaker 1: on my short list of guys in that conversation. But

1072
00:53:49,040 --> 00:53:50,960
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers title hopes are gonna come down

1073
00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:53,120
Speaker 1: to a few things again, the move they make at

1074
00:53:53,120 --> 00:53:55,840
Speaker 1: the deadline, the performance of their top two guys, the consistent,

1075
00:53:55,880 --> 00:53:59,120
Speaker 1: reliable night to night effort, and how Darvin Ham utilizes

1076
00:53:59,160 --> 00:54:02,080
Speaker 1: this lineup. I think Darvin Ham and how he utilizes

1077
00:54:02,120 --> 00:54:03,680
Speaker 1: this lineup is going to be one of the.

1078
00:54:03,680 --> 00:54:06,120
Speaker 2: Bigger swing factors.

1079
00:54:06,160 --> 00:54:08,480
Speaker 1: I don't know, the bigger Yeah, the bigger swing factors here.

1080
00:54:08,520 --> 00:54:11,239
Speaker 1: You're exactly right, like, I don't know if a playoff series,

1081
00:54:11,280 --> 00:54:12,880
Speaker 1: if Austin Reeves has a bad game and then he

1082
00:54:12,920 --> 00:54:15,760
Speaker 1: sits him on the bench, and I don't know, Darvin

1083
00:54:15,800 --> 00:54:18,359
Speaker 1: Ham really makes me question what he's thinking sometimes when

1084
00:54:18,360 --> 00:54:20,920
Speaker 1: he trots out these lineups. It really makes me scratch

1085
00:54:20,960 --> 00:54:23,440
Speaker 1: my head. And then you know, the Warriors, I think

1086
00:54:23,440 --> 00:54:25,640
Speaker 1: they could make a hypothetical title run too. Again, it's

1087
00:54:25,640 --> 00:54:27,560
Speaker 1: gonna come down to them making a move at the deadline,

1088
00:54:27,600 --> 00:54:30,440
Speaker 1: whatever that is. As Carson has harped on an our

1089
00:54:30,520 --> 00:54:34,560
Speaker 1: show throughout this season, this is the best bench of

1090
00:54:34,600 --> 00:54:39,200
Speaker 1: the Stephan career era. It is phenomenal, b pod TJ D. Moody,

1091
00:54:39,239 --> 00:54:43,000
Speaker 1: kaminga the performance of those guys. But Golden State is

1092
00:54:43,040 --> 00:54:46,640
Speaker 1: still undersized and they have physical disadvantages. And I think

1093
00:54:46,760 --> 00:54:50,640
Speaker 1: barring an offensive showcase from Golden State what I mean

1094
00:54:50,680 --> 00:54:53,520
Speaker 1: by that in the playoffs, Steph on fire, Clay not

1095
00:54:53,600 --> 00:54:58,080
Speaker 1: missing anything, Andrew Wiggins dominating, attacking closeouts, making every shot,

1096
00:54:58,160 --> 00:55:01,799
Speaker 1: the bench play in their ass off barring net, I

1097
00:55:01,920 --> 00:55:04,759
Speaker 1: just think that they fall to the Nuggets, to the Timberwolves,

1098
00:55:04,800 --> 00:55:07,719
Speaker 1: to the Lakers. I just don't think that they can

1099
00:55:07,800 --> 00:55:10,960
Speaker 1: overcome the physical disadvantages that they have with those teams.

1100
00:55:11,000 --> 00:55:13,920
Speaker 1: So we're gonna have to wait and see with the

1101
00:55:13,960 --> 00:55:16,440
Speaker 1: trade deadline. But it's gonna take a lot for me

1102
00:55:16,600 --> 00:55:20,040
Speaker 1: to catapult the Warriors over the Lakers. Even though these

1103
00:55:20,040 --> 00:55:21,920
Speaker 1: teams have been trending in different directions.

1104
00:55:22,080 --> 00:55:24,960
Speaker 3: Yeah, I view these teams honestly in different tiers. When

1105
00:55:24,960 --> 00:55:28,520
Speaker 3: we're talking about what can they be as contenders. I

1106
00:55:28,600 --> 00:55:31,000
Speaker 3: have had a ton of fun. Watching the Warriors as

1107
00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:33,880
Speaker 3: of late Hodds is awesome. I think he's such a

1108
00:55:33,880 --> 00:55:36,480
Speaker 3: good fit. I just think he makes so many impact plays,

1109
00:55:36,520 --> 00:55:38,520
Speaker 3: so good at the little things, just a nose for

1110
00:55:38,560 --> 00:55:41,840
Speaker 3: the ball, all around awesome rookie. I've been super happy

1111
00:55:41,840 --> 00:55:43,799
Speaker 3: to see tjd get in more minutes. I thought he

1112
00:55:43,880 --> 00:55:45,840
Speaker 3: was maybe the best value picking the drafts, and he

1113
00:55:45,880 --> 00:55:49,279
Speaker 3: has lived up to that hype, coaminga coming into his own,

1114
00:55:49,360 --> 00:55:51,880
Speaker 3: really making the most of his athletic advantages. Like that

1115
00:55:51,920 --> 00:55:54,440
Speaker 3: stuff is all really fun, but it is kind of

1116
00:55:54,440 --> 00:55:56,920
Speaker 3: what we were talking about with the thunder, Like you

1117
00:55:56,920 --> 00:55:58,600
Speaker 3: don't want to be leaning on a bunch of young

1118
00:55:58,640 --> 00:56:01,040
Speaker 3: guys if you're trying to contend. And sure Draymalond will

1119
00:56:01,040 --> 00:56:04,080
Speaker 3: get back and maybe Andrew Wiggins becomes twenty twenty two

1120
00:56:04,120 --> 00:56:07,120
Speaker 3: Andrew Wiggins again, I don't know. He's been trending upwards,

1121
00:56:07,160 --> 00:56:10,799
Speaker 3: but not from a very good place whatsoever. I just

1122
00:56:10,960 --> 00:56:14,760
Speaker 3: think the biggest key factor is exactly what you laid out, Logan.

1123
00:56:14,880 --> 00:56:19,040
Speaker 3: It is the two elite, superstar level basketball players. And

1124
00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:21,080
Speaker 3: that's the one thing when we had our son's conversation

1125
00:56:21,200 --> 00:56:23,719
Speaker 3: that I don't want to overly diminish, like I think

1126
00:56:23,719 --> 00:56:26,880
Speaker 3: that's a crazy flawed basketball team, really really flawed. But

1127
00:56:27,080 --> 00:56:30,680
Speaker 3: having Devin Booker and Kevin Durant is terrifying. That got

1128
00:56:30,719 --> 00:56:33,120
Speaker 3: them two wins against the Denver Nuggets when they had

1129
00:56:33,120 --> 00:56:35,399
Speaker 3: an inferior supporting cast, because there were two games where

1130
00:56:35,400 --> 00:56:36,960
Speaker 3: they're just like, hey, is it can cool if we

1131
00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:39,279
Speaker 3: combine for eighty points per game and I'll play making

1132
00:56:39,280 --> 00:56:43,279
Speaker 3: at a high level and making seventy jumpers. Yeah, like

1133
00:56:43,520 --> 00:56:45,000
Speaker 3: that can happen at any time.

1134
00:56:45,360 --> 00:56:46,240
Speaker 4: That is terrifying.

1135
00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:49,960
Speaker 3: And with Lebron and Ad it's a little bit different

1136
00:56:50,080 --> 00:56:54,800
Speaker 3: because Ady can just dominate defensively and Lebron can physically

1137
00:56:54,840 --> 00:56:57,160
Speaker 3: impose himself offensively in a way that I think is

1138
00:56:57,200 --> 00:57:00,200
Speaker 3: even a little bit more complimentary, Whereas Booking Katie are

1139
00:57:00,200 --> 00:57:02,319
Speaker 3: going to excel at a lot of similar things. And

1140
00:57:02,360 --> 00:57:05,000
Speaker 3: we've just seen how far those two can get you

1141
00:57:05,360 --> 00:57:06,520
Speaker 3: with solid role players.

1142
00:57:06,640 --> 00:57:07,680
Speaker 4: They got you to a title.

1143
00:57:07,960 --> 00:57:11,280
Speaker 3: We've seen what that looked like in a high stake setting.

1144
00:57:11,280 --> 00:57:11,719
Speaker 4: This year.

1145
00:57:11,760 --> 00:57:14,120
Speaker 3: They were amazing in the play in tournament. That to

1146
00:57:14,160 --> 00:57:17,520
Speaker 3: me just legitimizes them on a different level than the Warriors,

1147
00:57:17,560 --> 00:57:19,640
Speaker 3: even though they are playing much better as of late.

1148
00:57:19,920 --> 00:57:22,720
Speaker 3: The elite size thing is very real. That was a

1149
00:57:22,760 --> 00:57:25,440
Speaker 3: big difference maker in the matchup between these two teams

1150
00:57:25,480 --> 00:57:27,439
Speaker 3: last year. They have a big advantage there. They match

1151
00:57:27,520 --> 00:57:30,000
Speaker 3: up better against the other contenders. As we've talked about,

1152
00:57:30,320 --> 00:57:34,000
Speaker 3: that's important this year, and I think it's important that

1153
00:57:34,040 --> 00:57:37,520
Speaker 3: they have a side of the ball where they clearly excel,

1154
00:57:37,760 --> 00:57:40,640
Speaker 3: like this is the case for the Timberwolves as well.

1155
00:57:40,680 --> 00:57:43,000
Speaker 3: They're a dominant defense. And no, they're not a great

1156
00:57:43,000 --> 00:57:46,800
Speaker 3: half court offense. They don't have overwhelming offensive skill. They

1157
00:57:46,800 --> 00:57:49,920
Speaker 3: don't have like that Tier one offensive creator, and that

1158
00:57:49,960 --> 00:57:52,960
Speaker 3: does worry me when you're talking about winning a title.

1159
00:57:53,440 --> 00:57:56,040
Speaker 3: But they are really physical, they grind it out, they

1160
00:57:56,080 --> 00:57:58,160
Speaker 3: have a couple of really good shot creators, and then

1161
00:57:58,160 --> 00:58:00,840
Speaker 3: when you pair that with an elite, elite defense, that

1162
00:58:00,920 --> 00:58:03,360
Speaker 3: makes you hard to beat. I absolutely think that the

1163
00:58:03,400 --> 00:58:06,520
Speaker 3: engaged Lakers will dominate defensively, and then they can lean

1164
00:58:06,600 --> 00:58:10,000
Speaker 3: on their stars, especially one guy named Lebron James for

1165
00:58:10,040 --> 00:58:13,280
Speaker 3: clutch offense. And when Ad is aggressive there, when Austin

1166
00:58:13,320 --> 00:58:16,160
Speaker 3: Reeves is playing well, that's still a pretty good formula.

1167
00:58:16,400 --> 00:58:20,160
Speaker 3: So I love the Warriors' depth, but to me, until

1168
00:58:20,320 --> 00:58:22,959
Speaker 3: they make a move if it is getting lowry market

1169
00:58:23,040 --> 00:58:25,200
Speaker 3: and like to me, it has to be a guy

1170
00:58:25,240 --> 00:58:27,400
Speaker 3: who's gonna bring real size in the front court in

1171
00:58:27,440 --> 00:58:30,280
Speaker 3: real offensive pop. He's my favorite just because he's such

1172
00:58:30,280 --> 00:58:33,120
Speaker 3: an awesome fit in their system. I think he's a

1173
00:58:33,120 --> 00:58:35,480
Speaker 3: better basketball player than a guy like Siakam, and he's

1174
00:58:35,480 --> 00:58:38,600
Speaker 3: an awesome value contract like that could take them up

1175
00:58:38,640 --> 00:58:40,800
Speaker 3: a tier, But right now I view them more as

1176
00:58:40,880 --> 00:58:43,960
Speaker 3: like a really tough first round matchup who can maybe

1177
00:58:44,000 --> 00:58:46,560
Speaker 3: win a series. They've got a bunch of scrappy dudes

1178
00:58:46,560 --> 00:58:48,800
Speaker 3: who are playing hard, and then they have Steph Curry

1179
00:58:49,080 --> 00:58:51,440
Speaker 3: that is always going to make them a team that

1180
00:58:51,520 --> 00:58:54,720
Speaker 3: has some upside, but they're too limited right now. I

1181
00:58:54,760 --> 00:58:56,440
Speaker 3: see a clearer path for the Lakers.

1182
00:58:57,600 --> 00:59:01,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think the obvious answer to this

1183
00:59:01,360 --> 00:59:04,360
Speaker 2: question is the Lakers based on the current iterations of them.

1184
00:59:04,440 --> 00:59:06,760
Speaker 2: And it really is this simple to me, Like the

1185
00:59:06,840 --> 00:59:10,040
Speaker 2: Lakers have had the largest gap, in my opinion, between

1186
00:59:10,040 --> 00:59:13,080
Speaker 2: their actual playoff potential and their regular season production. I

1187
00:59:13,080 --> 00:59:15,200
Speaker 2: think they leave a lot of meat on the bone

1188
00:59:15,200 --> 00:59:19,560
Speaker 2: every single night, not just not just in terms of effort,

1189
00:59:19,880 --> 00:59:22,040
Speaker 2: not just in terms of effort, but also in terms

1190
00:59:22,080 --> 00:59:25,280
Speaker 2: of the rotation. As Logan was hinting at, like this

1191
00:59:25,360 --> 00:59:28,080
Speaker 2: starting lineup that they're running out there is legitimately one

1192
00:59:28,080 --> 00:59:31,080
Speaker 2: of the most bizarre lineup constructions they've ever seen, because

1193
00:59:31,120 --> 00:59:33,960
Speaker 2: it's like it literally you would think it was the

1194
00:59:34,000 --> 00:59:36,480
Speaker 2: Lakers from a year and a half ago when they

1195
00:59:36,520 --> 00:59:38,360
Speaker 2: had no good players and they were trying to figure

1196
00:59:38,360 --> 00:59:39,680
Speaker 2: out how to put out there. But it's like, no,

1197
00:59:39,760 --> 00:59:42,000
Speaker 2: they're just straight up putting two or three of their

1198
00:59:42,040 --> 00:59:44,000
Speaker 2: top five players on the bench to start games just

1199
00:59:44,040 --> 00:59:45,960
Speaker 2: for coops and giggles, you know what I mean. But

1200
00:59:46,120 --> 00:59:49,320
Speaker 2: like the Lakers are actually this is one of the

1201
00:59:49,360 --> 00:59:52,840
Speaker 2: biggest reasons why I'm still pretty high on them, despite

1202
00:59:53,520 --> 00:59:59,080
Speaker 2: the lineup imbalances and the form use of resources and

1203
01:00:00,360 --> 01:00:03,919
Speaker 2: the inconsistent effort. They are twelfth and a half court

1204
01:00:03,920 --> 01:00:09,480
Speaker 2: offense this year in eighth and half court defense, and like,

1205
01:00:09,560 --> 01:00:13,840
Speaker 2: I still feel like they're slow down bully ball attack

1206
01:00:13,880 --> 01:00:16,000
Speaker 2: on both ends of the floor is a really, really

1207
01:00:16,040 --> 01:00:18,440
Speaker 2: scary prospect for a lot of teams in the league.

1208
01:00:19,080 --> 01:00:22,120
Speaker 2: Pretty much everybody but Denver in my opinion, in the West,

1209
01:00:22,160 --> 01:00:25,960
Speaker 2: and then everybody but Boston in the East. That said, like,

1210
01:00:26,000 --> 01:00:28,040
Speaker 2: there's a lot that they have to get to solve

1211
01:00:28,080 --> 01:00:30,160
Speaker 2: to get to that point. The Warriors are sixteenth and

1212
01:00:30,160 --> 01:00:32,360
Speaker 2: a half court offense and twentieth and half court defense.

1213
01:00:32,840 --> 01:00:34,800
Speaker 2: And then, to put it simply, the Lakers have two

1214
01:00:34,880 --> 01:00:37,480
Speaker 2: guys playing at a superstar level and the Warriors have won.

1215
01:00:38,160 --> 01:00:40,280
Speaker 2: And like last year, you could make the case that

1216
01:00:40,400 --> 01:00:42,959
Speaker 2: Lebron was playing at something other than a superstar level,

1217
01:00:43,240 --> 01:00:46,120
Speaker 2: especially in the postseason when he was injured. But this year,

1218
01:00:46,160 --> 01:00:49,040
Speaker 2: he's literally like he's having one of the most efficient

1219
01:00:49,040 --> 01:00:52,680
Speaker 2: scoring seasons of his career. His jump shot is is

1220
01:00:52,840 --> 01:00:55,880
Speaker 2: consistently being made at a higher level. He's basically one

1221
01:00:55,880 --> 01:00:58,360
Speaker 2: point one points per shot, which is like twenty percent

1222
01:00:58,440 --> 01:01:01,680
Speaker 2: higher than it was last year. Anthony Davis has started

1223
01:01:01,760 --> 01:01:05,040
Speaker 2: taking and making jumpshots more frequently now He's having by

1224
01:01:05,080 --> 01:01:07,280
Speaker 2: far the best post up season of his career, and

1225
01:01:07,280 --> 01:01:08,760
Speaker 2: I feel like he could even go up a level

1226
01:01:08,800 --> 01:01:11,760
Speaker 2: because he's still missing so many bunnies around the rim.

1227
01:01:12,040 --> 01:01:14,960
Speaker 2: Like I think the Lakers are clearly better positioned. That said,

1228
01:01:15,960 --> 01:01:18,760
Speaker 2: the both of these teams, in my opinion, have to

1229
01:01:18,880 --> 01:01:23,360
Speaker 2: hit their mid season trade. We won't do it today,

1230
01:01:23,360 --> 01:01:25,360
Speaker 2: but we could argue about which type of player the

1231
01:01:25,360 --> 01:01:28,600
Speaker 2: Warriors get. But if they make a move and they

1232
01:01:28,680 --> 01:01:33,320
Speaker 2: upgrade that four spot into some sort of star level player.

1233
01:01:34,400 --> 01:01:36,959
Speaker 2: You guys can, like referring to the fans of the league,

1234
01:01:37,080 --> 01:01:38,880
Speaker 2: feel free to write him off if you want. I

1235
01:01:38,920 --> 01:01:40,760
Speaker 2: feel like that's a really bad idea when you've got

1236
01:01:40,760 --> 01:01:43,360
Speaker 2: Steph Curry and Raymond Green and Klay Thompson and Andrew

1237
01:01:43,360 --> 01:01:45,240
Speaker 2: Wiggins on that team. One thing to keep an eye

1238
01:01:45,240 --> 01:01:46,920
Speaker 2: on with the Warriors that I think could work to

1239
01:01:46,960 --> 01:01:50,880
Speaker 2: their detriment in terms of contending this year is Kamingus

1240
01:01:50,880 --> 01:01:53,120
Speaker 2: hoop in his ass off. And there's a version of

1241
01:01:53,160 --> 01:01:55,160
Speaker 2: this where they're like, we don't want to trade Kminga

1242
01:01:55,200 --> 01:01:56,800
Speaker 2: because he's going to be too good, And I think

1243
01:01:56,800 --> 01:01:59,920
Speaker 2: that would be a gigantic mistake simply from the state

1244
01:02:00,120 --> 01:02:01,960
Speaker 2: point of like, if you think Kaminga is the guy,

1245
01:02:02,360 --> 01:02:04,840
Speaker 2: Garrett is Steph, because you're not winning the title this

1246
01:02:04,960 --> 01:02:07,720
Speaker 2: year with this roster, and so if your goal is

1247
01:02:07,760 --> 01:02:11,120
Speaker 2: to develop Kaminga for the future, Steph's thirty five, He's

1248
01:02:11,120 --> 01:02:13,080
Speaker 2: got two or three years left of being one of

1249
01:02:13,120 --> 01:02:15,200
Speaker 2: the top six or seven players in the league. So

1250
01:02:15,280 --> 01:02:19,040
Speaker 2: like you either, I would guarantee that Steph doesn't want

1251
01:02:19,040 --> 01:02:21,200
Speaker 2: to be a part of a team that's more interested

1252
01:02:21,240 --> 01:02:24,120
Speaker 2: in developing a young prospect for the future. Than to

1253
01:02:24,880 --> 01:02:27,560
Speaker 2: than to contend for a championship. And so one of

1254
01:02:27,600 --> 01:02:29,800
Speaker 2: the things that works for the Lakers benefit is like

1255
01:02:30,600 --> 01:02:32,320
Speaker 2: you bet you're asked, they're gonna make a trade and

1256
01:02:32,360 --> 01:02:35,040
Speaker 2: they're gonna do something to try to upgrade this roster

1257
01:02:35,120 --> 01:02:38,200
Speaker 2: because they sense the urgency. And I think there actually

1258
01:02:38,240 --> 01:02:41,440
Speaker 2: is some conflict within the Warriors organization about which direction

1259
01:02:41,520 --> 01:02:44,320
Speaker 2: to go, which could be something that kind of holds them,

1260
01:02:45,680 --> 01:02:47,680
Speaker 2: makes them a little bit more reticent to make a move.

1261
01:02:47,680 --> 01:02:50,120
Speaker 2: And for the record, like Johnathan Aminga is gonna be

1262
01:02:50,200 --> 01:02:53,720
Speaker 2: really good, Yea, My question would be, like you better

1263
01:02:53,760 --> 01:02:57,120
Speaker 2: be damn sure he's gonna be a superstar if you're

1264
01:02:57,160 --> 01:03:00,160
Speaker 2: going to to to to not go after it with

1265
01:03:00,200 --> 01:03:03,160
Speaker 2: this group, and like again, and when you one of

1266
01:03:03,200 --> 01:03:05,640
Speaker 2: the biggest issues for in my opinion, with the Warriors

1267
01:03:06,040 --> 01:03:09,040
Speaker 2: is that as Andrew Wiggins has declined, the slotting of

1268
01:03:09,080 --> 01:03:11,640
Speaker 2: the team has gotten all screwed up, and now everybody's

1269
01:03:11,680 --> 01:03:14,520
Speaker 2: trying to fill a role that's above their pay grade.

1270
01:03:14,680 --> 01:03:17,400
Speaker 2: And so literally, if Andrew Wiggins isn't going to get

1271
01:03:17,400 --> 01:03:19,600
Speaker 2: it together and become that guy again, if you can

1272
01:03:19,680 --> 01:03:22,680
Speaker 2: bring that guy in and then start to properly slot

1273
01:03:22,680 --> 01:03:25,120
Speaker 2: guys again, I think it could. I think they can

1274
01:03:25,120 --> 01:03:27,760
Speaker 2: still be a really dangerous team. Again, they have one

1275
01:03:27,760 --> 01:03:31,560
Speaker 2: of the best home court advantages in basketball, Steph Curry's.

1276
01:03:32,120 --> 01:03:36,400
Speaker 2: If we're ranking just purely playoff players, Steph is firmly

1277
01:03:36,440 --> 01:03:38,760
Speaker 2: in that top five still. In my opinion, I thought

1278
01:03:39,480 --> 01:03:41,960
Speaker 2: I thought he was completely unguardable last year. It's like

1279
01:03:41,960 --> 01:03:44,640
Speaker 2: the Lakers won, but they never really figured out the

1280
01:03:44,640 --> 01:03:48,800
Speaker 2: Steph Curry problem, you know, so like it like they're again.

1281
01:03:48,880 --> 01:03:51,080
Speaker 2: Both of these teams I still think are within striking

1282
01:03:51,120 --> 01:03:54,640
Speaker 2: distance pending a trade. But I think as currently constructed,

1283
01:03:54,680 --> 01:03:58,800
Speaker 2: the Lakers are very clearly the better basketball team. All Right,

1284
01:03:58,800 --> 01:04:01,120
Speaker 2: one last question before we get out here today, Guys,

1285
01:04:02,480 --> 01:04:06,200
Speaker 2: what's more likely to happen first, the Detroit Pistons winning

1286
01:04:06,200 --> 01:04:09,440
Speaker 2: a basketball game or the Chicago Bulls blowing up their

1287
01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:12,760
Speaker 2: roster and trading all their stars. We'll start with you, Carson, all.

1288
01:04:12,720 --> 01:04:15,520
Speaker 3: Right, I went with some alternate right in options here,

1289
01:04:15,560 --> 01:04:16,040
Speaker 3: you guys.

1290
01:04:15,880 --> 01:04:17,400
Speaker 4: Tell me what you think happens first.

1291
01:04:17,880 --> 01:04:22,760
Speaker 3: OJ Simpson is elected US president, Alfonso McKinney comes back

1292
01:04:22,760 --> 01:04:25,920
Speaker 3: to the league and wins the scoring title, or Magic

1293
01:04:26,000 --> 01:04:28,200
Speaker 3: Johnson tweets something other than a box score with an

1294
01:04:28,240 --> 01:04:31,959
Speaker 3: exclamation point. I'm gonna say all of those are going

1295
01:04:32,000 --> 01:04:36,080
Speaker 3: to happen first, but between these two, I think Detroit

1296
01:04:36,120 --> 01:04:39,240
Speaker 3: winning a game happens first. And it's crazy to say

1297
01:04:39,280 --> 01:04:43,360
Speaker 3: because they're two and twenty eight, but I think at

1298
01:04:43,400 --> 01:04:47,200
Speaker 3: their fully healthy status, they might not be the worst

1299
01:04:47,240 --> 01:04:49,040
Speaker 3: team in the league this year. Like you know, the

1300
01:04:49,040 --> 01:04:51,520
Speaker 3: Wizards are that bad, the Spurs are that bad. We've

1301
01:04:51,560 --> 01:04:55,720
Speaker 3: only seen Cad, Boion and Duran for three games together,

1302
01:04:55,840 --> 01:04:58,360
Speaker 3: all of them, and they've been legit competitive in all

1303
01:04:58,400 --> 01:05:02,360
Speaker 3: of those games. And Cad is hooping right now. And

1304
01:05:03,160 --> 01:05:05,440
Speaker 3: I made a YouTube video a few weeks ago about

1305
01:05:05,480 --> 01:05:07,640
Speaker 3: how he is just not the problem in Detroit. He

1306
01:05:07,760 --> 01:05:11,440
Speaker 3: was playing with nightmarish spacing. I think he is still

1307
01:05:11,520 --> 01:05:14,360
Speaker 3: clearly a star level shot creator. I think he's gonna

1308
01:05:14,360 --> 01:05:17,760
Speaker 3: be awesome now. At times, he is reliant on tough

1309
01:05:17,800 --> 01:05:20,640
Speaker 3: shot making because he doesn't have like a crazy explosive

1310
01:05:20,680 --> 01:05:23,840
Speaker 3: first step. He's not a crazy vertical athlete around the

1311
01:05:23,880 --> 01:05:26,240
Speaker 3: rim who finishes super easily in traffic. But he's a

1312
01:05:26,280 --> 01:05:29,160
Speaker 3: big ball handler who's a really good shooter, who plays

1313
01:05:29,160 --> 01:05:32,040
Speaker 3: with good pace, has good feel. Last five games, he's

1314
01:05:32,120 --> 01:05:34,440
Speaker 3: thirty two and seven a night on sixty six percent

1315
01:05:34,480 --> 01:05:37,600
Speaker 3: through shooting. Eventually, he's going to just win you a

1316
01:05:37,680 --> 01:05:39,560
Speaker 3: game and the other guys won't be able to mess

1317
01:05:39,560 --> 01:05:41,000
Speaker 3: it up like he could have just done it the

1318
01:05:41,040 --> 01:05:44,600
Speaker 3: other night. He got them pretty close. And I think, actually,

1319
01:05:44,800 --> 01:05:47,680
Speaker 3: here's my Bowl take ready. Over the next four games,

1320
01:05:47,960 --> 01:05:51,240
Speaker 3: now that they are healthy, they will beat either the

1321
01:05:51,360 --> 01:05:54,000
Speaker 3: Raptors or the Jazz. I think that they can do it.

1322
01:05:54,080 --> 01:05:57,400
Speaker 3: I think that, of course they're still bad, but they're

1323
01:05:57,400 --> 01:06:00,720
Speaker 3: not the literally like on pace to be the worst

1324
01:06:00,760 --> 01:06:03,280
Speaker 3: team ever team that we have seen, because I think

1325
01:06:03,280 --> 01:06:05,920
Speaker 3: that they have unfortunately had a bad run with injuries.

1326
01:06:05,960 --> 01:06:07,800
Speaker 3: Now their morale is broken.

1327
01:06:08,280 --> 01:06:08,880
Speaker 4: That's not good.

1328
01:06:09,000 --> 01:06:12,080
Speaker 3: I think Monti Williams is doing a really bad job there.

1329
01:06:12,440 --> 01:06:15,720
Speaker 3: I don't like the roster configuration, like I think they

1330
01:06:15,760 --> 01:06:19,080
Speaker 3: have more talent on paper than they do complimentary basketball players.

1331
01:06:19,080 --> 01:06:20,600
Speaker 3: All those things are true. A lot of things have

1332
01:06:20,640 --> 01:06:22,360
Speaker 3: to go wrong for you to be two and twenty eight.

1333
01:06:22,680 --> 01:06:25,680
Speaker 3: But I think that they will win a game within

1334
01:06:25,720 --> 01:06:28,080
Speaker 3: the next four And I think the Bulls trade is

1335
01:06:28,120 --> 01:06:30,720
Speaker 3: going to happen much closer to the deadline because that's

1336
01:06:30,760 --> 01:06:33,640
Speaker 3: just generally how these things go, and there doesn't seem

1337
01:06:33,680 --> 01:06:35,120
Speaker 3: to be a red hot market. It's not like a

1338
01:06:35,160 --> 01:06:36,760
Speaker 3: lot of people are chopping at the bit to take

1339
01:06:36,800 --> 01:06:39,040
Speaker 3: on Lavin or de Rozan. At this very moment, I

1340
01:06:39,040 --> 01:06:40,800
Speaker 3: think that that's gonna go more down to the buzzer.

1341
01:06:40,880 --> 01:06:44,120
Speaker 3: So Detroit, I'm with you, You're gonna win a game before

1342
01:06:44,120 --> 01:06:45,680
Speaker 3: the Bulls trade one of their star guys.

1343
01:06:47,600 --> 01:06:49,880
Speaker 1: Call me crazy. I think the Detroit might win a

1344
01:06:49,880 --> 01:06:52,240
Speaker 1: game before the year is out, Fellows, they got two

1345
01:06:52,240 --> 01:06:56,360
Speaker 1: more opportunities. I've hear marked that December thirtieth game against

1346
01:06:56,360 --> 01:06:58,640
Speaker 1: the Raptors Carson. I think that's when they get it done.

1347
01:06:59,480 --> 01:07:01,200
Speaker 1: I'm glad you bring up the injuries. I think that

1348
01:07:01,280 --> 01:07:05,200
Speaker 1: has really flown under the radar as a big part

1349
01:07:05,200 --> 01:07:07,880
Speaker 1: of this. I mean everything, they get everybody back, and

1350
01:07:07,920 --> 01:07:10,960
Speaker 1: then Boyon goes down, Duram goes down. So there's some

1351
01:07:11,040 --> 01:07:13,600
Speaker 1: bad luck involved. I think for either of these things

1352
01:07:13,600 --> 01:07:17,200
Speaker 1: to happen, guys, Hell might have to freeze over. But

1353
01:07:18,760 --> 01:07:21,480
Speaker 1: there's some other things bad coaching decisions and rotations. For

1354
01:07:21,520 --> 01:07:24,200
Speaker 1: a while, they weren't playing Jade and Ivy. I also

1355
01:07:24,240 --> 01:07:27,400
Speaker 1: think that's a big fundamental misstep in terms of if

1356
01:07:27,440 --> 01:07:30,360
Speaker 1: Ivy isn't a complimentary two guard that you want alongside Cad.

1357
01:07:30,720 --> 01:07:32,520
Speaker 1: I think it's kind of foolish to not play him

1358
01:07:32,520 --> 01:07:37,360
Speaker 1: and up his trade value. Monty also was force feeding

1359
01:07:37,440 --> 01:07:40,640
Speaker 1: Killian Hayes alongside Cad Cunningham the end of the game

1360
01:07:40,680 --> 01:07:42,640
Speaker 1: the other night. Like you mentioned Carson, he puts in

1361
01:07:42,720 --> 01:07:45,400
Speaker 1: Alec Burks and he kind of throws the game away

1362
01:07:45,400 --> 01:07:48,720
Speaker 1: for the Pistons. And also, there's just supremely bad and

1363
01:07:48,800 --> 01:07:51,520
Speaker 1: non NBA caliber players down this roster, James Wise and

1364
01:07:52,200 --> 01:07:57,040
Speaker 1: Marvin Bagley, Killian Hayes should be in China, And you know,

1365
01:07:57,080 --> 01:07:58,520
Speaker 1: you just have to feel bad for Kid and all

1366
01:07:58,520 --> 01:08:00,480
Speaker 1: this guys. I looked at these numbers like kind of

1367
01:08:00,520 --> 01:08:03,800
Speaker 1: couldn't believe them. They're eleven point four points per one

1368
01:08:03,880 --> 01:08:06,480
Speaker 1: hundred possessions better with Kid cunning him on the floor

1369
01:08:07,200 --> 01:08:10,920
Speaker 1: A team this man, they're eleven point four points per

1370
01:08:10,920 --> 01:08:13,240
Speaker 1: one hundred possessions better. They have an offensive rating of

1371
01:08:13,280 --> 01:08:15,800
Speaker 1: one oh eight point three with Kate and an offensive

1372
01:08:15,880 --> 01:08:18,520
Speaker 1: rating of one oh four point three without him. Defensively,

1373
01:08:18,800 --> 01:08:21,080
Speaker 1: they have a one to eighteen point seven defensive rating

1374
01:08:21,080 --> 01:08:24,120
Speaker 1: with Kate and one twenty six point one without him.

1375
01:08:24,600 --> 01:08:27,680
Speaker 1: I mean, good lord, please just give Kid spacing, give

1376
01:08:27,760 --> 01:08:31,519
Speaker 1: him some complimentary players, and they'll figure it out. Like

1377
01:08:31,600 --> 01:08:33,719
Speaker 1: I think Kate is a stud I think he's a star,

1378
01:08:34,200 --> 01:08:35,720
Speaker 1: Like U Carson, I think he's taking a lot of

1379
01:08:35,760 --> 01:08:41,080
Speaker 1: a brunt for these losses, and eventually Detroit will rise

1380
01:08:41,120 --> 01:08:43,040
Speaker 1: out of this. I'm hoping that it is at home

1381
01:08:44,240 --> 01:08:47,000
Speaker 1: two days from now against the Raptors. I'm hoping they

1382
01:08:47,040 --> 01:08:48,679
Speaker 1: can exercise these demons. Man.

1383
01:08:48,800 --> 01:08:53,000
Speaker 2: The one weird thing working against Detroit is like no

1384
01:08:53,040 --> 01:08:56,519
Speaker 2: one wants to be the team to lose against them. Yeah,

1385
01:08:56,560 --> 01:08:58,960
Speaker 2: and so they're like, I think even the Lakers would

1386
01:08:58,960 --> 01:09:01,080
Speaker 2: play hard against them if they played tomorrow like that,

1387
01:09:01,240 --> 01:09:04,720
Speaker 2: like it is turned into like the no One It's

1388
01:09:04,760 --> 01:09:07,560
Speaker 2: almost like a game of hot potato, and everyone just

1389
01:09:07,640 --> 01:09:10,160
Speaker 2: keeps passing the pistons along and it's like no one

1390
01:09:10,240 --> 01:09:13,040
Speaker 2: wants to be the team that finally loses. That said,

1391
01:09:13,080 --> 01:09:14,960
Speaker 2: like Carson, you hit the nail on the head, Like

1392
01:09:15,320 --> 01:09:17,720
Speaker 2: as much as a certainty as it feels that the

1393
01:09:17,760 --> 01:09:20,400
Speaker 2: Bulls will make deals, it's just the best way to

1394
01:09:20,439 --> 01:09:23,240
Speaker 2: do that is to get as many suitors involved as possible,

1395
01:09:23,240 --> 01:09:26,120
Speaker 2: which always is closer to the deadline. So that just

1396
01:09:26,160 --> 01:09:29,439
Speaker 2: feels like something that happens in February. And then as

1397
01:09:29,439 --> 01:09:32,639
Speaker 2: far as the Pistons go, like, they do have enough

1398
01:09:32,720 --> 01:09:37,320
Speaker 2: talent to win a handful of NBA games over the

1399
01:09:37,360 --> 01:09:39,200
Speaker 2: course of a couple of months. So like, I think

1400
01:09:39,200 --> 01:09:41,320
Speaker 2: they'll win a few times before the Bulls make some

1401
01:09:41,320 --> 01:09:44,240
Speaker 2: sort of trade. Kay Cunningham, I one hundred percent agree

1402
01:09:44,240 --> 01:09:46,160
Speaker 2: with you, guys. I think he's a legitimate star in

1403
01:09:46,200 --> 01:09:49,280
Speaker 2: the making. But when you combine that with boy and

1404
01:09:49,360 --> 01:09:52,439
Speaker 2: Magdanovich as just a secondary creator and a guy who

1405
01:09:52,479 --> 01:09:57,080
Speaker 2: can provide weak side spacing, the overall athleticism in the group,

1406
01:09:57,080 --> 01:10:02,400
Speaker 2: now that Jade and Ivy's playing more, you legitimately they

1407
01:10:02,680 --> 01:10:06,960
Speaker 2: they have enough to get one. It's just that it's

1408
01:10:07,000 --> 01:10:09,439
Speaker 2: that simple to me. And then lastly, I'll just add

1409
01:10:09,479 --> 01:10:13,800
Speaker 2: competitive pride in here. Like I see the demeanor from

1410
01:10:13,880 --> 01:10:17,479
Speaker 2: Caid after these games. He wants one. He's not a loser.

1411
01:10:18,040 --> 01:10:22,040
Speaker 2: These guys aren't losers. They're just losing. And so there

1412
01:10:22,640 --> 01:10:25,360
Speaker 2: that said, there are some guys down the roster, as

1413
01:10:25,400 --> 01:10:29,240
Speaker 2: you guys, as Logan so eloquently put earlier, there are

1414
01:10:29,240 --> 01:10:32,559
Speaker 2: some guys down the roster that have basketball character that

1415
01:10:32,600 --> 01:10:35,360
Speaker 2: I'm not particularly fond of. But I think they have

1416
01:10:35,520 --> 01:10:37,280
Speaker 2: enough to get it done. And I think they will

1417
01:10:37,280 --> 01:10:41,519
Speaker 2: get one before we get to February. All right, guys,

1418
01:10:41,600 --> 01:10:43,479
Speaker 2: that is all we have for today, Nerd Sash.

1419
01:10:43,520 --> 01:10:43,760
Speaker 4: Guys.

1420
01:10:43,760 --> 01:10:46,519
Speaker 2: That sincerely Carson Logan. I sincerely appreciate you guys given

1421
01:10:47,200 --> 01:10:50,880
Speaker 2: an hour of your time for the show today. Everybody listening,

1422
01:10:50,960 --> 01:10:53,679
Speaker 2: please take some time to head over there Carson really quick.

1423
01:10:53,680 --> 01:10:54,880
Speaker 2: Do you want to take some time to shout out

1424
01:10:54,920 --> 01:10:56,400
Speaker 2: some of the work you guys have been doing recently.

1425
01:10:57,400 --> 01:11:00,519
Speaker 3: Yeah, So we ourselves are doing three shows week and

1426
01:11:00,560 --> 01:11:02,599
Speaker 3: we talk a lot of NBA. We do talk NFL

1427
01:11:02,680 --> 01:11:06,040
Speaker 3: as well. That's all over at the nerd sessh YouTube page.

1428
01:11:06,040 --> 01:11:07,680
Speaker 3: And then we do a bunch of trivia stuff on

1429
01:11:07,720 --> 01:11:09,960
Speaker 3: our TikTok that you can check out, and on top

1430
01:11:10,000 --> 01:11:13,559
Speaker 3: of our shows on the YouTube page, we do some

1431
01:11:13,720 --> 01:11:17,679
Speaker 3: more intensive video breakdowns, like ten minute video essays where

1432
01:11:17,680 --> 01:11:20,080
Speaker 3: we key in on one player or a team. So

1433
01:11:20,200 --> 01:11:22,559
Speaker 3: I just did a video on lowry marketing. Logan mentioned

1434
01:11:22,560 --> 01:11:24,439
Speaker 3: he's doing one on the Timberwolves, so you can find

1435
01:11:24,600 --> 01:11:26,280
Speaker 3: some of that stuff as well at the nerd Sash

1436
01:11:26,360 --> 01:11:27,120
Speaker 3: YouTube page.

1437
01:11:27,640 --> 01:11:27,880
Speaker 1: Yeah.

1438
01:11:27,960 --> 01:11:30,040
Speaker 2: I saw a comment on one of my videos the

1439
01:11:30,040 --> 01:11:33,519
Speaker 2: other day referencing your Lori marketing video that you guys

1440
01:11:33,560 --> 01:11:37,000
Speaker 2: did and how it inspired them to want Lori for

1441
01:11:37,040 --> 01:11:38,800
Speaker 2: their team, and I was like, that's cool. I think

1442
01:11:38,840 --> 01:11:41,360
Speaker 2: there should be more crossover. You guys do great stuff.

1443
01:11:41,400 --> 01:11:43,840
Speaker 2: I sincerely appreciate the time everyone who's listening. Thank you

1444
01:11:43,840 --> 01:11:46,479
Speaker 2: guys so much we have I am gonna take a

1445
01:11:46,520 --> 01:11:49,080
Speaker 2: little bit of a break. We're gonna take Friday, Saturday, Sunday,

1446
01:11:49,120 --> 01:11:51,880
Speaker 2: Monday off for the holiday, but I'm gonna record a

1447
01:11:51,880 --> 01:11:54,960
Speaker 2: mailbag episode today that they're gonna be releasing in chunks

1448
01:11:54,960 --> 01:11:57,639
Speaker 2: over the weekend, so there'll be plenty of content coming

1449
01:11:57,680 --> 01:11:59,280
Speaker 2: out over the course of the next few days. And

1450
01:11:59,320 --> 01:12:01,120
Speaker 2: then we're just gonna get right back into the grind

1451
01:12:01,240 --> 01:12:04,479
Speaker 2: starting in January. Lots and lots of game breakdowns, deep dives.

1452
01:12:04,640 --> 01:12:06,320
Speaker 2: We're gonna have the Nerd Sash guys on a couple

1453
01:12:06,360 --> 01:12:08,720
Speaker 2: times a month as always. I appreciate you guys. We

1454
01:12:08,720 --> 01:12:09,559
Speaker 2: will see you tomorrow.

1455
01:12:37,160 --> 01:12:37,839
Speaker 1: The volume