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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, Well, good to Hoops to night.

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Speaker 1: You're at the volume heavy Wednesday, everybody, hope all you

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Speaker 1: guys are having an incredible We've got a Jampack show

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Speaker 1: for you guys today. We're gonna hit three game reactions

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Speaker 1: off the top of the show. We're gonna hit nugget

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Speaker 1: suns as they look poised to end the season very strong.

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Speaker 1: The Cleveland Cavaliers went about outscoring the Orlando Magic yesterday,

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Speaker 1: and the New York Knicks gotta win over a very

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Speaker 1: feisty New Orleans Pelicans team. We're gonna break those three

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Speaker 1: games down, and then after that we're gonna get into

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Speaker 1: some stories from around the league, like Wemby's MVP case.

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Speaker 1: Is it a little underrated right now? What about the

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Speaker 1: sixty five game rule and all the conversations rounding that

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Speaker 1: in this weird fiasco with Giannis, You guys know the drill.

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Speaker 1: Before we get started. Subscribe to Oops Tonight YouTube channels

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Speaker 1: you don't miss any more of our videos. Make sure

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Speaker 1: you guys like this video, and then sign up for

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Speaker 1: post notifications. That helps us a lot, but not at

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Speaker 1: least you guys want to get mailback questions into our

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Speaker 1: weekly mail bags, drop them in our full episodes on

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Speaker 1: YouTube and the comments underneath, and we'll get to them

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Speaker 1: throughout the rest of the season. All right, let's talk

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Speaker 1: some basketball, So Nugget Suns first. That was a really

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Speaker 1: fun game. These have been two of my favorite teams

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Speaker 1: to watch all season, obviously over the last several years.

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Speaker 1: The Nuggets, I just think they play some of the

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Speaker 1: most beautiful offense in the league, which kind of naturally

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Speaker 1: makes them a really easy watch when I'm going through

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Speaker 1: my film sessions and I'm obsessed with this Suns team.

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Speaker 1: They're just one of my favorite, kind of like middling

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Speaker 1: playoff teams of the last few years. They have three

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Speaker 1: dudes who strike real fear into the defense just with

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Speaker 1: the threat of their shooting, and Devin Booker, Grayson Allen,

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Speaker 1: and Colin Killespie. It's amazing how often those two guys,

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Speaker 1: or those three guys, excuse me, just flying off of

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Speaker 1: some type of screen will cause defenders to panic chase them,

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Speaker 1: and then you'll end up with two on the ball

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Speaker 1: even if they don't have the ball, and they'll end

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Speaker 1: up leaving somebody open. And then Jordan not just constantly

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Speaker 1: has those guys in motion in a way that can

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Speaker 1: really kind of weaponize that threat to a greater extent.

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Speaker 1: Then they have several of my favorite role players in

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Speaker 1: the league. I'm a huge Jordan Goodwin fan. Obviously, I've

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Speaker 1: rooted for him on the Lakers last year. Ohso Igadaro

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Speaker 1: has blossomed really into a talented kind of like versatile,

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Speaker 1: undersized center in this league. And obviously Dylan Brooks. He's

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Speaker 1: injured right now, but he's given us like a dozen

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Speaker 1: super entertaining moments this year, and when he's not trying

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Speaker 1: to injure people, he's actually one of my favorite players.

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Speaker 1: Jalen Green is very up and down, maybe one of

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Speaker 1: the most up and down ball handlers in the history

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Speaker 1: of the league. But when he's hitting shots, his impact

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Speaker 1: is actually closer to that of a star because he

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Speaker 1: can really pressure the rim and when he gets to

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Speaker 1: that pull up jumper grow and you can't really stop

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Speaker 1: him from getting to it. And then Jordan not again.

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Speaker 1: It's just done a really good job getting them to

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Speaker 1: play a really fun bring of basketball on both ends

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Speaker 1: of the floor, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

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Speaker 1: I've said this before, I think they do some of

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Speaker 1: the best job rotating that I've seen in the league

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Speaker 1: this season, and those two teams put on a show

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Speaker 1: last night. The Nuggets ended up taking control in the

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Speaker 1: middle portion of the game. The David Adelman tried Julian

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Speaker 1: Strather with the starters in the late second quarter, basically

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Speaker 1: the same starters but without Cam Johnson. Put in Julian Strawther.

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Speaker 1: They went on a big late second quarter run and

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Speaker 1: got a great shift out of Julian in that stretch.

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Speaker 1: The Nuggets ended up pushing it up to double digits,

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Speaker 1: and then the Suns had a great third quarter. They

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Speaker 1: forced a bunch of turnovers from Denver in that stretch.

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Speaker 1: They went on a late nine to zero run in

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Speaker 1: a common malowatch group there at the end of the quarter,

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Speaker 1: and it just turned into an absolute slug fest there

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Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter. For a minute there, it looked

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Speaker 1: like Denver might pull away late. Aaron Gordon hit a

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Speaker 1: couple of shots, Bruce Brown had a couple of really

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Speaker 1: nice drives. He ended up beating Grayson Allen on the

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Speaker 1: baseline for reverse, and then they had this nasty left

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Speaker 1: handed driving finish in traffic. The Nuggets ended up going

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Speaker 1: up by eight, but then the Suns, like they always do.

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Speaker 1: They never give up. They keep ratcheting up their defense,

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Speaker 1: and they ended up working it back to a tie,

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Speaker 1: and then late in the game it turned into basically

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Speaker 1: Devin Booker versus the Jokich Murray two man game. And

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Speaker 1: I've talked about this concept all season, but having Aaron

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Speaker 1: Gordon back unlocks a very specific spacing on sept for

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Speaker 1: the Jokich Murray two man game that didn't exist for

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Speaker 1: most of this season. And that's the idea of being

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Speaker 1: able to go three flat on the baseline. When they

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Speaker 1: would do this in the past over the course of

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Speaker 1: the season, it'd be like Spencer Jones in the dunker spot.

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Speaker 1: And Spencer Jones is a good player. He does little

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Speaker 1: things in the dunker spot to try to be impactful,

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Speaker 1: like he'll get offensive rebounds, he said, a really nice

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Speaker 1: pin in flare, which is where like you, when they're

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Speaker 1: sinking in off of you in the dunker spot, you

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Speaker 1: screen for the shooter in the corner and that can

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Speaker 1: create an open look. He created one for Cam Johnson

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Speaker 1: in the second half off of a look like that. Like,

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Speaker 1: Spencer Jones can do some stuff down there, but what

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Speaker 1: he doesn't bring is that natural lob chemistry that like

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Speaker 1: legitimate vertical spacing window, and so when Aaron Gordon is there,

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Speaker 1: it actually allows the Nuggets to go three flat on

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Speaker 1: the baseline, meaning Aaron Gordon real threat. But at the

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Speaker 1: same time, your corners are occupied, especially in that final

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Speaker 1: possession where they put Tim Hardaway Junior in for Christian Brown,

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Speaker 1: those guys got to stay home, and so that puts

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Speaker 1: the defense into a three flat sitch situation as opposed

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Speaker 1: to occupying those spots. But the defense kind of pushing up,

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Speaker 1: you know, like if it's Christian Brown in one of

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Speaker 1: the corners and Spencer Jones in the dunker spot, it's

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Speaker 1: just not quite the same as you know, that final

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Speaker 1: play where it's Tim Hardaway Junior and Aaron Gordon and

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Speaker 1: those guys kind of have to stay flat. What that

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Speaker 1: does is it clears the entire middle of the floor

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Speaker 1: for that Jokis Murray two man game. When they don't

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Speaker 1: have that much space, it just becomes easier to guard.

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Speaker 1: You're effectively defending it three on two, right, But when

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Speaker 1: you can run that three flat on the baseline and

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Speaker 1: the defenders are all occupied, it creates a true two

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Speaker 1: on two dynamic with a wide open ton of space

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Speaker 1: there in the entire middle of the floor, and you're

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Speaker 1: guarding an action that's arguably been the best two man

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Speaker 1: game action in the entire league over the course of

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Speaker 1: the last you know, half decade plus, right, And so

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Speaker 1: they run it twice. They're down to the tail end

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Speaker 1: of the game, and Jamal Murray ends up snaking the

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Speaker 1: first one and ends up getting to like a little

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Speaker 1: pull up jumper at the right elbow that he hits,

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Speaker 1: and so then the next time they run it, also,

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Speaker 1: Agadaro is very attentive to the fact that Jamal Murray's

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Speaker 1: going to that pull up This is the kind of

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Speaker 1: like the pick your poison type of situation that the

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Speaker 1: two man game puts you in, and so ohso excuse me,

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Speaker 1: also ends up lingering kind of around the elbow to

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Speaker 1: get ready for another Jamal Murray jump shot, at which

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Speaker 1: point Murray promptly hits Jokic right around that left elbow

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Speaker 1: area he's got also separated from him, and he's able

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Speaker 1: to just kind of go into that little leaning jump

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Speaker 1: shot that effectively ends up being the game winner. On

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Speaker 1: the other end of the floor, Devin Booker was able

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Speaker 1: to get to a couple of decent looks for himself.

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Speaker 1: He hit like a little pull up jumper in the

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Speaker 1: middle of the floor. He got the friendly roll off

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Speaker 1: the front of the rim, and then on the final possession,

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Speaker 1: the Duggets tried to double team him and he actually

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Speaker 1: shook free and used a pump fake to get a

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Speaker 1: pretty good look there along the right wing, but he

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Speaker 1: just left it short and the Nuggets got out of

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Speaker 1: there with the win. I've been saying this for a while,

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Speaker 1: but I think the Nuggets are a lot better than

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Speaker 1: their record because of how brutal their schedule has been

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Speaker 1: and the injuries. Once again, last night, they landed in

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Speaker 1: Denver and got to bed around five am for yet

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Speaker 1: another game tonight against the Dallas Mavericks team that's been

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Speaker 1: surprisingly feisty, although Denver will be a substantial favorite again tonight.

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Speaker 1: But they're healthy now and if they can survive this

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Speaker 1: final stretch of schedule, they still present the deepest team

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Speaker 1: in the Jokich Murray era. The ability to plug different

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Speaker 1: types of players into their lineups, whether it's you know again,

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Speaker 1: Tim Hardaway Junior being able to be plugged in on

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Speaker 1: that final possession, or we continue to see the dividends

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Speaker 1: of getting Bruce Brown back into this group again. I

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Speaker 1: thought those two drives that he had in the fourth

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Speaker 1: quarter were absolutely massive. And then they have the flexibility

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Speaker 1: with their bench groups because of the depth that can

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Speaker 1: piece together different versions of the bench group. They'll have

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Speaker 1: Yonis Valentiunis as a scheme versatility thing against certain types

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Speaker 1: of teams where he's not a problem. Now, David Alloman's

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Speaker 1: been going away from Valentinis more as of late and

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Speaker 1: playing a lot more small ball groups. I think that's

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Speaker 1: smart simply because he needs to build out the chemistry

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Speaker 1: of his small ball groups so that he can ultimately

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Speaker 1: have a decision an option between a Valanchunis group or

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Speaker 1: a small ball group when he gets into the postseason.

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Speaker 1: It's been fun to watch Spencer Jones effectively operate as

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Speaker 1: the big in those small ball groups. He's been running

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Speaker 1: two man game with Jamal Murray and he's had the

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Speaker 1: ability to pick and pop on threes and slip into

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Speaker 1: the middle of four and hit floaters and make four

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Speaker 1: on three reads. They've build out a look with that

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Speaker 1: small ballgroup that they can go to. This is a

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Speaker 1: deeper and more versatile team than any team in the

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Speaker 1: Jokich Murray era again, Aaron Gordon because of his ability

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Speaker 1: to shoot the three and work out of the post

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Speaker 1: as a much better offensive player then he's been an

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Speaker 1: Eddie previous stop at any previous time. In this Denver

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Speaker 1: Nuggets era, Jamal Murray is the best version of himself

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Speaker 1: of himself that he's ever been. Jokic obviously is still

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Speaker 1: working his way back from his knee injury and refining

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Speaker 1: some of those details, but ultimately that trio is just

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Speaker 1: an absolute pain in the ass to handle. When Gordon

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Speaker 1: has the ability to shoot and vertical space the way

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Speaker 1: that he does, he can create more space for the

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Speaker 1: Yokich Murray two man game than ever. And when those

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Speaker 1: three guys on the floor, they're just huge pain in

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Speaker 1: the ass and they're surrounded by more depth than ever.

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Speaker 1: In eight hundred and eleven possessions this year, with Murray,

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Speaker 1: Jokic and Gordon on the floor together, they have a

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Speaker 1: one thirty two offensive rating and they're outscoring teams by

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Speaker 1: twenty points per one hundred possessions. And I'll say, as

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Speaker 1: a Lakers fan, I'm officially worried about them snatching the

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Speaker 1: three seed back. They got a really tough game against

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Speaker 1: San Antonio coming up, and we'll see how it goes

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Speaker 1: with Wemby trying to pursue MVP. He has to play

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Speaker 1: in eight of his last ten games, so it's very

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Speaker 1: possible that he ends up playing and both of the

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Speaker 1: San Antonio games will see what ends up happening. They

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Speaker 1: got a tough game with San Antonio coming up, but

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Speaker 1: their toughest games technically are in the final week of

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Speaker 1: the season, and there's a chance that Wenby ends up

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Speaker 1: just punting on MVP. He's a very big long shot

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Speaker 1: at this point. And if he does and they end

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Speaker 1: up resting guys and Oklahoma City ends up rereasting guys,

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Speaker 1: the Lakers have a much tougher schedule between now and then.

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Speaker 1: I actually think it's legitimately on the table that Denver

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Speaker 1: wins out, goes fifty four and twenty eight gets the

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Speaker 1: three seed, because the Lakers have a again a much

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Speaker 1: tougher schedule here down the stretch, and they could end

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Speaker 1: up going into their first round series on a twelve

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Speaker 1: game winning streak. So for all the things that have happened,

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Speaker 1: all the injuries, all the brutal schedule, again they had

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Speaker 1: a six week stretch where they didn't play a single

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Speaker 1: two game set in the same city. That's really difficult

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Speaker 1: for anybody to handle, let alone when you're talking about

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Speaker 1: brutal NBA travel, Right, So, like, I'm pretty high on

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Speaker 1: this Denver team still, I still think they're the third

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Speaker 1: best team in the West. I think it's on the

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Speaker 1: table that they went out and make it into that

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Speaker 1: three seed. That would be pretty damn good place to

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Speaker 1: end this story given how this season went, with all

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Speaker 1: Tennessee or Virginia. Alright, moving on to Pelicans Nicks. This

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Speaker 1: Pelicans team has been feisty for a while now. I

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Speaker 1: remember when I was watching the Lakers play them over

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Speaker 1: three weeks ago. It wasn't a game I covered here,

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Speaker 1: obviously under the circumstances, but they had all their dudes

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Speaker 1: and they had the Lakers on the ropes in La

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Speaker 1: up eight with about seven minutes to go, and that

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Speaker 1: was right around the time when the Lakers were starting

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Speaker 1: to figure things out, and so they ended up making

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Speaker 1: a massive late game comeback. Marcus Martin and Jackson Hayes

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Speaker 1: were amazing down the stretch in that game, and they

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Speaker 1: ended up winning. But I remember thinking at the time,

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Speaker 1: like this Pelicans team is a lot better than their record,

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Speaker 1: because I didn't think the Lakers were mailing it in

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Speaker 1: or anything. The Pels were just giving them real problems.

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Speaker 1: And the turnaround is really centered around them just finally

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Speaker 1: getting healthy. They got to Jonta Murray back from his

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Speaker 1: achilles rupture, and that's kind of filled that ball handling

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Speaker 1: void that they've had and has slotted their off ball,

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Speaker 1: you know, specifically Zion and Trey Murphy just slotted them

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Speaker 1: more into natural off ball scoring roles. He's had a

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Speaker 1: little over two hundred pickar roles in ISOs since he

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Speaker 1: came back, and he's been generating about one point zero

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Speaker 1: nine points per possession including passes, in both categories, which

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Speaker 1: is really impressive, especially given how long he's been away

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Speaker 1: from the game. So Dejonte has filled a very needed void.

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Speaker 1: Zion Williamson has actually been able to stay on the

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Speaker 1: court for a few months consecutively now, which has led

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Speaker 1: to a level of conditioning and rhythm that we haven't

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Speaker 1: seen from him in a while. He's not getting to

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Speaker 1: the rim fifteen times a game like he did back

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, but he's been really good this year.

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Speaker 1: Trey Murphy and Cidiq Bay have both had really impressive

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Speaker 1: seasons throughout herb Jones has finally started to hit some

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Speaker 1: threes after having a really brutal shooting season up to

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Speaker 1: this point, and then Jeremiah Fears has actually kind of

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Speaker 1: blossomed into a pretty solid backup guard in this league,

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Speaker 1: and he was fantastic last night in Madison Square Garden.

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Speaker 1: So they look more like the Pelicans team that has

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Speaker 1: generally been feisty when they've been healthy over the last

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Speaker 1: few years. Since February twenty first, about a five week span,

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Speaker 1: they're ten and six even after the loss in the

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Speaker 1: last couple of games. They're eighth in offense, eleventh in defense,

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Speaker 1: ninth and rebounding fifth, and fast break points in fourth.

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Speaker 1: In points in the paint, some strong metrics coming out

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Speaker 1: of New Orleans, and they threw a great punch last

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Speaker 1: night Madison Square Garden. Zion did his thing. Zonte didn't

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Speaker 1: shoot well, but I thought he ran good offense. He

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Speaker 1: had a good floor game. Jeremiah Fears had a really

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Speaker 1: fun Madison Square Garden moment. He did a lot of

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Speaker 1: damage to the Knicks as a scorer, especially there in

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Speaker 1: the second half. They ended up holding a late third

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Speaker 1: quarter lead in this one, but I thought the Knicks

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Speaker 1: throughout the game did a really good job of poking

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Speaker 1: at the weak points in the Pelicans defense. I thought

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Speaker 1: Herb Jones again on ball, did a great job on

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Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson until the end of the game. Brunson got

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Speaker 1: him a few times there late, but Herb is still

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Speaker 1: one of the very best at what he does. But

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Speaker 1: there are some entry points in that Pelican's defense, specifically

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Speaker 1: in their front court between you know, first of all,

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Speaker 1: they don't play a starter, they don't play a center

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Speaker 1: in their starting lineup. They basically play Zion at center.

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Speaker 1: They do a lot of switching, but they also run

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Speaker 1: like some pretty weak hedge and recover stuff with Zion

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Speaker 1: that can get them into rotation quite a bit. And

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Speaker 1: the Knicks, because of Michale Bridges and og and Obi

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Speaker 1: and Josh Hart has gotten so much better offensively this year.

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Speaker 1: They're really tough to hide people on when you're playing

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Speaker 1: against the Knicks. They just have so many different guys

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Speaker 1: that can make you pay for that sort of thing.

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Speaker 1: And so between like Zion Williamson and I think Derek

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Speaker 1: Queen falls into this category. I'd even throw Karla Maikovich

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Speaker 1: in this, where like they just have these three bigger,

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Speaker 1: slower but not big enough to be a problem type

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Speaker 1: of defenders that if you put them into action, you

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Speaker 1: can get pretty good stuff out of it. And those

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Speaker 1: guys again, the Knicks just repeatedly put them into action

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Speaker 1: over and over and over again and would get them

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Speaker 1: lost in one way or another and generate a lot

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Speaker 1: of really good stuff. Ojiannaobi usually ended up being the

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Speaker 1: guy that the Pels would tuck Zion or Derek Queen on,

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Speaker 1: and he would repeatedly beat them with like pick and

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Speaker 1: pop threes, slipping out of ball screens into the middle

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Speaker 1: of the floor, even just spot up situations where Zion

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Speaker 1: or Derek would either just like not pay attention to

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Speaker 1: him in a trailing transition situation or sink too far

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Speaker 1: off the corner and they would throw a bad clothes

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Speaker 1: out and Og would hit a shot. OG's kind of

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Speaker 1: like a cheat code with this particular role because he's

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Speaker 1: a guy that gets guarded like he's a role player,

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00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:06,640
Speaker 1: but his offensive skill set is actually closer to that

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Speaker 1: of a star in the sense that he can legitimately

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Speaker 1: score from all three levels. He can pass from the

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Speaker 1: middle of the floor really well, and he can do

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Speaker 1: everything off the move and off the dribble, so like,

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00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:17,520
Speaker 1: even if you have to bring him into screening action,

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00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:19,640
Speaker 1: like he can slip out and get his feet set

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Speaker 1: quickly and hit a jump shot, or he could slip

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Speaker 1: into the middle of the floor and he can attack

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00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:25,720
Speaker 1: the rim or make a four on three read like.

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Speaker 1: He's just a really tough matchup for teams that try

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00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:31,360
Speaker 1: or have to in this case with the Pelicans that

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Speaker 1: have to actually stash weak defenders on him, and Og

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00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,760
Speaker 1: just torched the Pelicans last night. Darrek Queen ended up

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00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,040
Speaker 1: on Karl Anthony Towns a lot last night, similar kind

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Speaker 1: of thing where just he just struggled with the basic

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Speaker 1: fundamentals of how you have to guard Kat, Like when

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Speaker 1: he's trailing the play in transition. You know he wants

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Speaker 1: that trailing three at the top of the key. You've

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Speaker 1: got to be there. You've got to be close and

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Speaker 1: at the same time, you got to be disciplined in

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00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:56,040
Speaker 1: your closeouts or he'll just rip and drive past you.

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00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:57,800
Speaker 1: You almost have to be there on the catch with

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Speaker 1: Kat because if you're closing out, even if you get

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Speaker 1: there in time for the three, he's just so good

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Speaker 1: at driving closeouts. Kat did a bunch of damage to

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Speaker 1: Derek Queen last night. And then Jalen bruns In was

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Speaker 1: just consistently making that first pass and any sort of

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00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,639
Speaker 1: screening action with those guys, whether it be like a

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00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:17,280
Speaker 1: weak hedge from Zion or a weak hedge from Derek Queen,

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00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:20,159
Speaker 1: and they would get these quick little four on threes,

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00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:22,639
Speaker 1: or Jalen would just make a simple pass out to

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Speaker 1: a guy slipping out of his screen, and again, the

387
00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,080
Speaker 1: Knicks just have so many weapons that can make you

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Speaker 1: pay for that sort of thing. Even with the Eves

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00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:31,919
Speaker 1: Missy groups, like, I was surprised by this. They were

390
00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:34,639
Speaker 1: running like kind of a weak high drop coverage where

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00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:36,360
Speaker 1: he was coming up to the level, but he wasn't

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Speaker 1: really bothering the ball much. So once again it was

393
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,159
Speaker 1: creating a lot of these four on threes, and again

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00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:43,600
Speaker 1: the Knicks are just so good at bang bang making

395
00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,600
Speaker 1: the quick passing reads out of that to get to

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Speaker 1: open shots. The long short of it is that pretty

397
00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:52,760
Speaker 1: much any action involving Missy, Makovich, Zion or Derrek Queen

398
00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:54,960
Speaker 1: just got a great look for the Knicks, and the

399
00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:57,080
Speaker 1: Knicks just wore that out every time. Down the floor.

400
00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,880
Speaker 1: A very smart attack from New York, and then Brunson

401
00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:02,080
Speaker 1: got super hot down the stretch. Like sometimes even against

402
00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:06,320
Speaker 1: weaker defensive personnel, sometimes the team executes their defensive coverages

403
00:18:06,359 --> 00:18:09,240
Speaker 1: really well, and you know, herb Jones will just be like,

404
00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:10,960
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna get screened on this possession, you know,

405
00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:12,800
Speaker 1: something like that, and you end up in a late

406
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,159
Speaker 1: clock situation where you sometimes you just have to go

407
00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,480
Speaker 1: at your primary defender and you have to get a bucket,

408
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,280
Speaker 1: and Brunson gave herb Jones a couple of really tough

409
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,000
Speaker 1: buckets there in that late fourth quarter, a couple of

410
00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:25,119
Speaker 1: really tough pull up jumpers there on the right side

411
00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,760
Speaker 1: that helped ice this game. Brunson has recovered nicely from

412
00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,080
Speaker 1: that cold spell that he had a few weeks ago,

413
00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:34,040
Speaker 1: and then I thought the Knicks defense got going with

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00:18:34,040 --> 00:18:36,960
Speaker 1: a couple of defensive transition sequences there down the stretch

415
00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:39,040
Speaker 1: right after those brunts and jumpers, and they were able

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Speaker 1: to close it out and get a win. And we

417
00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,479
Speaker 1: haven't talked a ton of Nicks lately because they've been

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Speaker 1: in such an easy stretch of schedule, but they've swept

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Speaker 1: that schedule. They've now won seven in a row, and

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00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:49,240
Speaker 1: that Pel's team, again, I think is a lot better

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Speaker 1: than their record. What would lead you to believe they've

422
00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:54,679
Speaker 1: had a one to twenty five offensive rating in that

423
00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:57,320
Speaker 1: seven game span. The last Nick I wanted to talk

424
00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:00,399
Speaker 1: about is Jordan Clarkson. After being out of the rotation

425
00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:01,920
Speaker 1: there for a little bit, he's played his way back

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00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,000
Speaker 1: into it and he was a monster, especially in that

427
00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:06,480
Speaker 1: late late first quarter run when the Knicks kind of

428
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:08,560
Speaker 1: went on their first little run to get some separation.

429
00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:10,760
Speaker 1: The two things that really have stood out to me

430
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,120
Speaker 1: is one, he's building a lot of really good lob

431
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,159
Speaker 1: chemistry with Mitchell Robinson. He's found him to be a

432
00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:19,000
Speaker 1: good release valve when he gets on his drives. And

433
00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,119
Speaker 1: then you know, the other thing too with Mitch I

434
00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:23,480
Speaker 1: think that's important is like you have to attack with

435
00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,640
Speaker 1: speed in order to allow a big to slip out

436
00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:29,520
Speaker 1: of a screen. So like if you're attacking slow motion,

437
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:33,320
Speaker 1: suddenly that screen becomes super important to get separation. But

438
00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:35,760
Speaker 1: when you have a guard that can come fast off

439
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:38,600
Speaker 1: of a screen, it allows the big to slip out

440
00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,119
Speaker 1: of the screen quicker, which makes it easier for him

441
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,119
Speaker 1: to get behind the ballscreen guy. And again, you know,

442
00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:46,240
Speaker 1: the Pelicans were also kind of lingering at the level

443
00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:48,720
Speaker 1: a little bit last night. So Clarkson actually is a

444
00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,760
Speaker 1: really natural fit with Robinson as a lob threat because

445
00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:53,560
Speaker 1: he can slip out of screens and he present a

446
00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,720
Speaker 1: vertical spacing window. But Jordan Clarson also brings the speed,

447
00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:58,560
Speaker 1: so Mitchell doesn't have to kind of linger in his

448
00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:00,880
Speaker 1: screens for too long. And then He had some really

449
00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:03,600
Speaker 1: impressive connective playmaking sequences last night where he'd catch the

450
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,520
Speaker 1: ball on like a backcut or slipping out of his screen,

451
00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:07,840
Speaker 1: he end up in the middle of the floor in

452
00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:09,920
Speaker 1: the short corner, and he'd just make the next read

453
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:12,719
Speaker 1: in that chain, which would generate like a high quality

454
00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,080
Speaker 1: spot up opportunity. And we've talked a lot about this

455
00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:17,600
Speaker 1: with the Knicks. This year, they're generating a lot more

456
00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:19,920
Speaker 1: spot up opportunities than last year. Last year they were

457
00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:23,600
Speaker 1: generating about twenty five. This year they're generating about thirty three.

458
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,119
Speaker 1: That's a massive increase, and that number has actually been

459
00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:29,120
Speaker 1: getting stronger over the second half of the season as

460
00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,600
Speaker 1: they get more and more familiar with the play style

461
00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:33,879
Speaker 1: that Mike Brown wants to wants to use on that

462
00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:35,960
Speaker 1: end of the floor. And Jordan Clarkson may have a

463
00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:39,400
Speaker 1: reputation as a shot chucker, but he started to buy

464
00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,240
Speaker 1: into that concept more, the concept of what Mike wants

465
00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:44,840
Speaker 1: and in this stretch he's really helped the Knicks to

466
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,520
Speaker 1: generate more of those spot up opportunities. I thought it

467
00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:49,640
Speaker 1: was an impressive win versus a really good Pelicans team

468
00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:52,600
Speaker 1: again seven in a row, tough schedule, coming up. They

469
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:54,760
Speaker 1: got a three game road trip here that's pretty tough.

470
00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:57,720
Speaker 1: At Charlotte, at OKC, at Houston for the next three games.

471
00:20:57,720 --> 00:20:59,280
Speaker 1: That's going to be a really nice challenge for them.

472
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:01,800
Speaker 1: A little bit there against Memphis and Chicago, although both

473
00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:03,359
Speaker 1: of those teams have been a little bit feisty here

474
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,280
Speaker 1: down the stretch of the season. Then a brutal end

475
00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:08,240
Speaker 1: of the season Atlanta, Boston, Toronto, and Charlotte. So really

476
00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:12,040
Speaker 1: nice little tune up for the postseason coming for the Knicks.

477
00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:15,800
Speaker 1: All Right, Orlando Cleveland. I was a little worried about

478
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,119
Speaker 1: this one for Cleveland. I've been talking a lot lately

479
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:21,080
Speaker 1: about how without Jared Allen, the Calves are just really

480
00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:23,960
Speaker 1: physically slight, and they can get pushed around a bit,

481
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:27,080
Speaker 1: and they've obviously been a train wreck defensively since Jared

482
00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:29,800
Speaker 1: Allen went out of the lineup. Orlando presents a very

483
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,200
Speaker 1: interesting counter to that, right because they're just much bigger

484
00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,400
Speaker 1: and stronger down the line. And Orlando was coming off

485
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,400
Speaker 1: of a really bad loss last night or two nights

486
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,240
Speaker 1: ago against the Pacers, where they fell apart in the

487
00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:41,480
Speaker 1: third quarter, So I thought they'd come out and throw

488
00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:43,239
Speaker 1: a great punch in Cleveland, and they did, and they

489
00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:45,919
Speaker 1: did a lot of damage using their advantages. They were

490
00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,639
Speaker 1: hopeless guarding Palo, who was just too big and strong

491
00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:50,960
Speaker 1: for them. Palo's generally just been really good as of

492
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:54,520
Speaker 1: late too. They predictably mauled the Calves on the glass.

493
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:56,680
Speaker 1: They had a twenty three to seven second chance points

494
00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:58,880
Speaker 1: advantage in this one, and they got to the foul

495
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,159
Speaker 1: line a million times. I really liked this Jamal Kaine kid.

496
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:03,879
Speaker 1: He was a little bit out of his depth because

497
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,560
Speaker 1: of the guard injuries, so Anthony Black and Jalen Suggs

498
00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:08,000
Speaker 1: are out, so he ended up having a guard Donovan

499
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 1: Mitchell all night. That's just a really tough matchup for him.

500
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:12,199
Speaker 1: But I really like Jamal Kaine. They just converted him

501
00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:14,480
Speaker 1: off of a two way to a two year standard contract,

502
00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,040
Speaker 1: the latest and a long line of players that have

503
00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:20,719
Speaker 1: come through Orlando that have great size and athleticism, high motor,

504
00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:22,879
Speaker 1: and a good amount of versatility on both ends of

505
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,440
Speaker 1: the floor. But Cleveland in this case, so again like Orlando,

506
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:28,480
Speaker 1: had this massive advantage in the form of their size

507
00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:30,800
Speaker 1: and their physicality, which they were able to use to

508
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,639
Speaker 1: stay connected for the most part in this game, and

509
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,880
Speaker 1: actually lead at several points, but Cleveland had an advantage

510
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:39,280
Speaker 1: in the form of their speed, and Cleveland was able

511
00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:41,960
Speaker 1: to win this game on the strength of their offense.

512
00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,160
Speaker 1: And again, if you're a Cavs fan, that's the bright

513
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,040
Speaker 1: spot you're clinging to right now. You're thinking, if we

514
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:52,159
Speaker 1: can add Jared Allen to like stabilize the defense and

515
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:56,920
Speaker 1: stabilize the rebounding while sustaining this ridiculous offensive production, we're

516
00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:01,200
Speaker 1: cooking with gas. Kenny Atkinson informed yesterday that Jared Allen

517
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:03,280
Speaker 1: is essentially in the final phase of his ramp up,

518
00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:05,000
Speaker 1: so I'd expect him back at any point in the

519
00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:07,480
Speaker 1: next week. So we should get to see that concept

520
00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,080
Speaker 1: and see if there's any validity there in the next

521
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,960
Speaker 1: week or two. But Cleveland won last night because they

522
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,600
Speaker 1: were able to hang a preposterous one thirty nine offensive

523
00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:20,240
Speaker 1: rating in the half court against a very good Orlando defense.

524
00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:24,000
Speaker 1: And again, Orlando was without their guard guard defenders, so

525
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,720
Speaker 1: that obviously put them at a speed disadvantage. But Orlando

526
00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:28,240
Speaker 1: does a lot of switching and they still have a

527
00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:31,360
Speaker 1: lot of size in athleticism, so like there was still

528
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,280
Speaker 1: you know, a challenge that they presented Cleveland, but Cleveland

529
00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,399
Speaker 1: used their speed advantage throughout this one and did a

530
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:39,359
Speaker 1: ton of damage. So Orlando does a ton of switching

531
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:42,320
Speaker 1: with their starting group. Harden and Mitchell were routinely just

532
00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,720
Speaker 1: picking on their bigger, slower players, so particularly Palo like

533
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,199
Speaker 1: Palo is fried chicken all night against both Mitchell and Harden.

534
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:52,000
Speaker 1: Mitchell was going at Wendell Carter Junior a lot, especially

535
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,360
Speaker 1: there down the stretch. They were just picking on those

536
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:58,000
Speaker 1: slower players in space using their speed. Donovan Mitchell was

537
00:23:58,040 --> 00:23:59,920
Speaker 1: amazing last night. He went for forty two at every

538
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,480
Speaker 1: part of his game. Going poor Jamal Kane again, like

539
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:04,680
Speaker 1: with the guards being out, Like one of the things

540
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:06,560
Speaker 1: is with Jamal and with a lot of these defenders.

541
00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:09,440
Speaker 1: I've talked about this concept before, Like think like Jada

542
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:12,679
Speaker 1: McDaniels versche Gilas Alexander for example. Like a lot of

543
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,560
Speaker 1: times we think of the three and D guys, this

544
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,040
Speaker 1: big six eight, lanky, you know kind of guy. But

545
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,359
Speaker 1: the truth of the matter is those types of dudes,

546
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:21,800
Speaker 1: they're a little upright, their centers of gravity are higher

547
00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:23,720
Speaker 1: and it's harder for them to shift side to side,

548
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:25,919
Speaker 1: and they make up for it with length, right, But

549
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:28,800
Speaker 1: like really really quick guards can do a good job

550
00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 1: of getting those guys to shift their weight one way

551
00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,960
Speaker 1: or another and then attack quickly the other direction. And

552
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,800
Speaker 1: Donovan just did a great job getting past Jamal Kaine

553
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:39,800
Speaker 1: really whenever he wanted to. And even on the possessions

554
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:42,080
Speaker 1: where Jamal did a good job and he slid his

555
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:44,040
Speaker 1: feet and stayed in front of down and got a

556
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:46,680
Speaker 1: good contest. Mittel just had his pull up jumper really

557
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,159
Speaker 1: dialed in last night. He had several really tough contested

558
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,840
Speaker 1: pull ups last night. I thought the Cavs also did

559
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:53,960
Speaker 1: a great job generating a ton of easy stuff, like

560
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,280
Speaker 1: when you get into a switching team, and it wasn't

561
00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,800
Speaker 1: all switching, like they were running drop with Goga Bitadze,

562
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:00,920
Speaker 1: which is to be expected. Sometimes the really enda will

563
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,000
Speaker 1: switch with Goga, especially against bigger, slower ball handlers. But

564
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:06,560
Speaker 1: like the Lakers the other night, for example, you'll see

565
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,439
Speaker 1: a little bit more of the Goga switching. But like

566
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:13,000
Speaker 1: they can't ask Goga to defend those quick guards in space,

567
00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:15,520
Speaker 1: and so they were running drop and they absolutely fried

568
00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:17,920
Speaker 1: the Goga groups. They had a one fifty three offensive

569
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:20,480
Speaker 1: rating when Goga Batadze was on the floor last night,

570
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:23,960
Speaker 1: but when you're playing against a switching defense, it's really

571
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:25,919
Speaker 1: easy to just fall into the trap of playing one

572
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,840
Speaker 1: on one basketball. And for the record, that's certainly a

573
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:30,920
Speaker 1: part of how you attack a switching defense. You find

574
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,600
Speaker 1: favorable matchups, you attack the favorable matchups, you either score

575
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,919
Speaker 1: effectively against them, or you draw multiple defenders out of

576
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,159
Speaker 1: attacking those matchups, which then opens up the defensive rotation

577
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:44,040
Speaker 1: situations where you can get open threes. Right, And again,

578
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,080
Speaker 1: that's certainly going to be part of your attack. But

579
00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:48,439
Speaker 1: if you fall into that trap and you do that

580
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:50,600
Speaker 1: every single time down the floor, you're probably gonna lose.

581
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:52,480
Speaker 1: And that's really the idea of switching is to try

582
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,639
Speaker 1: to get you to stagnate and lean too much on

583
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,040
Speaker 1: io ball. Right. So, like one of the things that

584
00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:59,399
Speaker 1: I think they did really well last night that helped

585
00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:03,600
Speaker 1: kind of supplement that is just playing fast, especially in

586
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:05,439
Speaker 1: the half court. They did have some defense to transition

587
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,600
Speaker 1: last night. They had twenty two transition points last night.

588
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 1: But one of the best parts of the Kenny Atkinson

589
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,120
Speaker 1: experience over the last couple of years is just how

590
00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,239
Speaker 1: they run really fast three man action. They'll get like

591
00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:18,639
Speaker 1: Evan Mobley and a guard, one of the guards like

592
00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:21,520
Speaker 1: Max Strus or Sam Merrill involved in some way with

593
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:24,600
Speaker 1: Mitchell and Harden, and they sprint in and out of

594
00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,560
Speaker 1: their screens. And what that does is it causes that

595
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:31,960
Speaker 1: like really quick decision making problem for like switches, right,

596
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:33,800
Speaker 1: and like we've seen, like look at the end of

597
00:26:33,840 --> 00:26:35,760
Speaker 1: the Lakers game with the two openings they gave up.

598
00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,960
Speaker 1: When you run multiple quick interchanges, it's actually really hard

599
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,439
Speaker 1: to switch, to communicate through those and to not have

600
00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:44,600
Speaker 1: somebody make a mistake and have two guys run with

601
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,800
Speaker 1: one guy or a guy fall asleep for a second

602
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,159
Speaker 1: and leave somebody open. And they got a lot of

603
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,879
Speaker 1: easy opportunities, especially for Max s Drews and Sam Merril

604
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 1: last night. Even Evan Mobley just kind of slipping out

605
00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:57,399
Speaker 1: of screens towards the rim by running that kind of

606
00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: fast action at the top of the court. And so again,

607
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:03,199
Speaker 1: like that's how you supplement against the switching defense. You're

608
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 1: hunting matchups, you're playing a lot of one on one,

609
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,000
Speaker 1: but you're also going to have supplementation in the form

610
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:13,960
Speaker 1: of the fast action, the defense to transition stuff. That's

611
00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:16,760
Speaker 1: how you give yourself more resilience against that type of

612
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,160
Speaker 1: defensive look. I think Max Drews has looked great since

613
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,360
Speaker 1: coming back. Obviously, the shooting has been up and down.

614
00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:24,159
Speaker 1: He's red hot in the first game, played really well

615
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:26,160
Speaker 1: last night, got ice cold there in the middle. That's

616
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:28,439
Speaker 1: to be expected with how long he's been away from

617
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,439
Speaker 1: the game as he kind of rebuilds his rhythm. But

618
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 1: the main thing is I think he looks fast, and

619
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:34,960
Speaker 1: I think he looks athletic, and that's the important part

620
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,040
Speaker 1: because his shooting will stabilize at some point. The most

621
00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:42,040
Speaker 1: important thing was how's his foot doing. Is he able

622
00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:45,560
Speaker 1: to plant really hard and change direction and sprint in

623
00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,159
Speaker 1: and out of cuts In that part, I think I

624
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,359
Speaker 1: think he looks just like Max Struce when he's spritten

625
00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:52,960
Speaker 1: in and out of screens. There was a particular play

626
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,359
Speaker 1: to last night, Like we know Max Drews is actually

627
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,479
Speaker 1: pretty athletic when he gets a running start, but like

628
00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:00,760
Speaker 1: he had a tiptonk last night where he was relocating

629
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:02,959
Speaker 1: out to the right corner and he didn't get all

630
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:04,440
Speaker 1: the way out to the right corner. He was back

631
00:28:04,480 --> 00:28:06,960
Speaker 1: pedaling and then he stopped on a dime and then

632
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,639
Speaker 1: cut forward and got a tip dunk, which is like

633
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:12,480
Speaker 1: an example of like a non momentum type of dunk,

634
00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,080
Speaker 1: and it was a really really impressive kind of show

635
00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:17,560
Speaker 1: of athleticism, especially for a guy coming back from such

636
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:21,359
Speaker 1: a bad foot injury. They were able to just outscore

637
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,159
Speaker 1: the Magic last night. Magic, you know, hung around, they

638
00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,280
Speaker 1: kept it close Downhi Mitchell ended up icing the game

639
00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:27,919
Speaker 1: light with that big floater in the lane where he

640
00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,719
Speaker 1: probably got fouled. But like for the most part all night,

641
00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,639
Speaker 1: they were able to generate consistent offense. And that's the

642
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,160
Speaker 1: exciting part because again, if they can connect this high

643
00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:42,640
Speaker 1: octane offense to higher level of physicality, more resilience on

644
00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:45,680
Speaker 1: defense and on the glass with Jared Allen, that's where

645
00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 1: they suddenly become a very dangerous team out in the

646
00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:57,400
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference. All right, let's move in. We're gonna hit

647
00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,800
Speaker 1: three kind of like quick league wide like newse topics

648
00:29:00,840 --> 00:29:02,320
Speaker 1: before we get out of here for the day. So,

649
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,000
Speaker 1: first of all, this Shae versus MVP, Shae versus Wenby

650
00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:09,120
Speaker 1: for MVP to beate. So Wenby went into his postgame

651
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:12,000
Speaker 1: pressor the other night and he gave just basically his

652
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,280
Speaker 1: case for why he thinks he's the MVP, and like

653
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:18,880
Speaker 1: it was a compelling case. Sometimes like sometimes like having

654
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: information just shoved in your face can be a wake

655
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:23,880
Speaker 1: up call in a lot of ways. And like, as

656
00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,760
Speaker 1: I was listening to Wemby's case Get laid Out, I

657
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: was like, this makes a lot of sense to me.

658
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,440
Speaker 1: So there's some really strong stuff there. He talked about

659
00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:34,479
Speaker 1: how offense is a lot more than just scoring. I

660
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,240
Speaker 1: totally agree. We actually talked about that yesterday as it

661
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:42,360
Speaker 1: pertains to Wenby's vertical spacing window and the job he

662
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,200
Speaker 1: does with his role gravity of creating literally the most

663
00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:47,560
Speaker 1: corner threes in the history of the NBA. Right, Like,

664
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,960
Speaker 1: I agree with with Wenby in the sense that, like, yes,

665
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,760
Speaker 1: he's averaging twenty four points and three assists, but that's

666
00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,560
Speaker 1: not an accurate representation of how gifted he is on

667
00:29:57,600 --> 00:29:59,280
Speaker 1: the offensive end of the floor and the impact that

668
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:02,240
Speaker 1: he has on offense. His team, which is mostly made

669
00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 1: up of flawed guards, right, Like young guards. They all

670
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,120
Speaker 1: have big believers in all the guards in the big picture,

671
00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:10,680
Speaker 1: but they're young and they're inconsistent. And like, if you

672
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:12,480
Speaker 1: look at that roster, there's not a single player out

673
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:14,840
Speaker 1: there that you're like, oh, this dude's a top twenty player.

674
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,000
Speaker 1: In the NBA, and yet they are a top four offense,

675
00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:19,520
Speaker 1: and I think Wenby deserves a lot of credit for that.

676
00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 1: He's literally the greatest defensive player in the history of

677
00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,760
Speaker 1: the league already, and when he's on the floor, that

678
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,360
Speaker 1: Spurs defense is frighteningly good. This is a big part

679
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:30,840
Speaker 1: of why the on off numbers are so crazy. Shay's

680
00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:34,040
Speaker 1: on off numbers are excellent. He's plus nine per one

681
00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 1: hundred possessions when he's on versus off the floor. When

682
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:39,600
Speaker 1: Wednby's on the floor, there's seventeen points better per one

683
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,280
Speaker 1: hundred possessions when he's on versus when he's off. So

684
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:44,840
Speaker 1: there's a lot of value there. He talked about how

685
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 1: he's dominated the head to head matchup against Shay, and

686
00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:51,160
Speaker 1: I agree with him. The simple problem that he presents

687
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,720
Speaker 1: defensively caused the Spurs to kick the shit out of

688
00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,720
Speaker 1: the Thunder over and over and over again. This year,

689
00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:01,720
Speaker 1: he laid out essentially his case for why he's an MVP,

690
00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:04,120
Speaker 1: and it's a compelling case, And like, here's the thing.

691
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:07,320
Speaker 1: I still lean towards Shay, but I just think it's

692
00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:09,680
Speaker 1: a lot closer than it appears on the surface. Hard

693
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:13,360
Speaker 1: Rock bet has Wenby third and MVP odds at plus

694
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:16,520
Speaker 1: thirteen hundred, and they have Shay as a runaway favorite

695
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:19,680
Speaker 1: at minus eight hundred. I don't necessarily agree with that.

696
00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,440
Speaker 1: I think it should be Shay in a more mild

697
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:24,280
Speaker 1: kind of favorite type of sense. And by the way,

698
00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:25,960
Speaker 1: I didn't feel like this in the past. I changed

699
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,600
Speaker 1: my mind sometimes. I thought Wenby laid out his case

700
00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:31,800
Speaker 1: for really well, and it caused me to reevaluate the

701
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:34,360
Speaker 1: way I look at the MVP case. To me, like

702
00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:37,280
Speaker 1: if Wenby wins some of these high profile matchups he

703
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:39,320
Speaker 1: has down the stretch of the season, and there are several,

704
00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,160
Speaker 1: including a couple matchups with the Denver Nuggets, Like if

705
00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 1: the Spurs rip through the end of the season and

706
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,840
Speaker 1: Wemby plays, he has to play at a minimum eight

707
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,360
Speaker 1: of the ten games just to qualify. But let's say

708
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:53,200
Speaker 1: he plays in all ten games or nine of the

709
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,480
Speaker 1: ten games, and he kicks ass and wins some of

710
00:31:56,480 --> 00:32:00,800
Speaker 1: the high profile matchups, I think he's have a shot,

711
00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:03,920
Speaker 1: especially if Shaye. You know, there's some big matchups for

712
00:32:03,960 --> 00:32:06,000
Speaker 1: ok seed down the stretch of the season, like if

713
00:32:06,200 --> 00:32:08,960
Speaker 1: Shae ends up losing to like Shay's gonna have his chances.

714
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,320
Speaker 1: He's gonna have a couple of matchups against Luca. Like,

715
00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:14,479
Speaker 1: there's big games down the stretch for Oklahoma City too,

716
00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:16,440
Speaker 1: and if Shaye plays really well in those, then I

717
00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:18,720
Speaker 1: think he should get it. But like, if Shaye cools

718
00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:20,400
Speaker 1: off a little bit down the season and loses some

719
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:23,080
Speaker 1: of these head to heads and Wenby plays really well

720
00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:25,920
Speaker 1: and the Spurs almost win out and they come this

721
00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:27,840
Speaker 1: close to getting the one seed, or god forbid they

722
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,160
Speaker 1: get the one seed, like, I think Wenby should be

723
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:32,680
Speaker 1: on the table as MVP, and I certainly think Wenby

724
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,080
Speaker 1: has a better case than Luca at this point. I

725
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,640
Speaker 1: think Luca is a clear third. I'd have Wemby second,

726
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,000
Speaker 1: and I'd have Shae first. And so when I looked

727
00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:42,520
Speaker 1: at those odds, and I'm seeing Shay at minus eight

728
00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:44,880
Speaker 1: hundred and Wenby at plus thirteen hundred, which again is

729
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:48,040
Speaker 1: a reflection of media sentiment. That's not hard rock bet

730
00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:51,840
Speaker 1: choosing who's MVP. That's a reflection of media sentiment. And

731
00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 1: so when I saw that and I heard Wenby break

732
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:55,800
Speaker 1: it down, I agree with him. I think he has

733
00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:59,280
Speaker 1: a very compelling case. The on off numbers, by themselves,

734
00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,920
Speaker 1: are unbelievably impressive. He's the best defensive player in the league.

735
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:06,080
Speaker 1: He's a vastly underrated offensive player. The Spurs have been

736
00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:08,200
Speaker 1: right there with a thunder all season in the standings

737
00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:11,520
Speaker 1: and have dominated them head to head. Wemby absolutely should

738
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:13,400
Speaker 1: have a shot here down the final weeks of the

739
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,360
Speaker 1: season to win MVP, and I'm really really surprised at

740
00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:20,000
Speaker 1: how the odds have been reflected there. This is jannest fiasco.

741
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,320
Speaker 1: So basically, to make a long story short, the Bucks

742
00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:25,720
Speaker 1: want to shut Yiannis down and Giannis wants to keep playing.

743
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:28,320
Speaker 1: And this is this concept that I've been talking about

744
00:33:28,400 --> 00:33:30,840
Speaker 1: NonStop over the course of the season, and the conflicting

745
00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:36,120
Speaker 1: interests between Yannis, a top tier superstar who's in the

746
00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:38,200
Speaker 1: tail end of his prime but still in his prime.

747
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:40,560
Speaker 1: I think I think he's slipped below the top guys.

748
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,520
Speaker 1: I'd have him below Luca, I'd have him below Wemby,

749
00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:44,360
Speaker 1: I'd have him below Sha and have him below Jokicic.

750
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,760
Speaker 1: But he's at the bottom of that top tier as

751
00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:48,760
Speaker 1: like the fifth best player in the world right now,

752
00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:51,640
Speaker 1: and he's very much like on the same level as

753
00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,320
Speaker 1: those guys, and he's in his early thirties and he

754
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:59,360
Speaker 1: wants to go compete for a championship that directly competes

755
00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:03,000
Speaker 1: with the Milwaukee Bucks, who not only are trying to

756
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:06,080
Speaker 1: tank this year essentially to end the season, but their

757
00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:09,360
Speaker 1: current situation is that of a team trying to rebuild.

758
00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:13,160
Speaker 1: And those two concepts will constantly conflict with each other

759
00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:16,040
Speaker 1: in the lack of self awareness on both fronts. Yannis

760
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,759
Speaker 1: for not actually forcing a trade at this deadline, Milwaukee

761
00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 1: for not actually just acknowledging reality and making it happen

762
00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:26,799
Speaker 1: at this deadline. Those two things have continued to lead

763
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:30,520
Speaker 1: to these very cringey bits of messaging coming out of

764
00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,040
Speaker 1: all these camps throughout the season, and now we have

765
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:36,600
Speaker 1: the NBA Players Association coming out and essentially chastising the

766
00:34:36,640 --> 00:34:39,879
Speaker 1: Bucks for not allowing Yannis to play like the whole

767
00:34:39,880 --> 00:34:42,279
Speaker 1: thing is just a joke, and it continues to be

768
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:45,400
Speaker 1: a joke because the two parties won't just acknowledge reality

769
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:47,759
Speaker 1: and move on, and it's driving me crazy, and I

770
00:34:47,840 --> 00:34:50,239
Speaker 1: just hope to God that we finally can end this

771
00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:53,480
Speaker 1: saga soon because I'm sick and tired of hearing about it. Well,

772
00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:56,200
Speaker 1: that's but not least the sixty five game rule. So

773
00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:58,080
Speaker 1: there's been a lot of talk, you know, the sixty

774
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:01,200
Speaker 1: five game rule. I supported it when it first came out,

775
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:03,680
Speaker 1: and essentially the thought process was, Hey, we need to

776
00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:06,960
Speaker 1: incentivize these guys to play more. And there's been this

777
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:08,879
Speaker 1: like pushback now where it's like, oh, the sixty five

778
00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:11,840
Speaker 1: game rule is stupid, and I don't look at it

779
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:13,400
Speaker 1: that way. I just think it needs to be tweaked.

780
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,319
Speaker 1: I heard a I saw a tweet from my friend

781
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,080
Speaker 1: Andy Kamenetski, who covers the Lakers, and he said, this

782
00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,200
Speaker 1: whole thing has just been a misidentification of what the

783
00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:24,080
Speaker 1: problem was. And the point he was trying to make

784
00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:27,600
Speaker 1: is like, guys weren't playing more so because of how

785
00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:30,839
Speaker 1: the game is and how it wears bodies out than

786
00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:35,239
Speaker 1: just simple load management. And he's right, guys are gonna

787
00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:37,960
Speaker 1: miss potentially the sixty five game threshold that's on the

788
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,719
Speaker 1: table for a lot of these guys simply because of

789
00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:43,719
Speaker 1: the fact that the game is too fast. The pace

790
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:46,960
Speaker 1: is insane, the ground coverage is insane, there's more cutting

791
00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:50,800
Speaker 1: and running than ever before, and it's wearing everyone's bodies down.

792
00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:53,719
Speaker 1: And with that being the case, people are unable to

793
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:56,759
Speaker 1: reach the threshold, not because they're sitting out with soreness,

794
00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:59,839
Speaker 1: but because they're legitimately getting hurt. And so I do

795
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:02,680
Speaker 1: think though there is a part of it that's like, hey,

796
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:06,239
Speaker 1: we need to try to incentivize guys to play when

797
00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:09,799
Speaker 1: they're sore, not necessarily play when they're injured. And so

798
00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:11,840
Speaker 1: to me, like, if the NBA is never going to

799
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:13,600
Speaker 1: shorten the season, you guys know the drill. I think

800
00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:16,120
Speaker 1: they should shorten it to sixty six games, get rid

801
00:36:16,160 --> 00:36:17,920
Speaker 1: of twenty percent of the season, get rid of back

802
00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:19,920
Speaker 1: to backs, make the travel schedule lighter. I think it

803
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:22,080
Speaker 1: would beneficial for the league in one hundred different ways.

804
00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:23,759
Speaker 1: But they're not going to do that. So really it

805
00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:26,239
Speaker 1: comes down to how do we tweak this rule to

806
00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:28,640
Speaker 1: make it work, And to me, it's very simple, just

807
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:31,920
Speaker 1: drop it from sixty five to sixty. I still think

808
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:34,640
Speaker 1: there should be some sort of threshold. I still think

809
00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:36,880
Speaker 1: there should be some sort of incentive for a player

810
00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:39,600
Speaker 1: to play when he's a little banged up versus when

811
00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:43,000
Speaker 1: he's legitimately injured. But it's clear that the sixty five

812
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,719
Speaker 1: game threshold is a little too high to account for

813
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,799
Speaker 1: the nagging injuries that pop up throughout the rest of

814
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,480
Speaker 1: the season. Sixty games, to me, would be a tweak

815
00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:54,560
Speaker 1: of the rule that kind of splits the difference between

816
00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:59,680
Speaker 1: those two ideas. It allows teams to whether or players

817
00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:02,279
Speaker 1: to win either a two to three week injury that

818
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,719
Speaker 1: happens at some point in the season or multiple week

819
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,920
Speaker 1: long injuries, but at the same time, it incentivizes them

820
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:10,879
Speaker 1: to play when they're a little banged up. So they're

821
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:12,799
Speaker 1: all this pushback. It's like, oh, the sixty five game

822
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:14,880
Speaker 1: rule is great. Actually it's terrible. That's great, rid of it.

823
00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:18,680
Speaker 1: I'm like, no, no, no, Often in life, you try something

824
00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:21,560
Speaker 1: and it works. Sometimes you try something and it doesn't work,

825
00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:23,560
Speaker 1: you gotta dump it. Sometimes you try something you just

826
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:25,160
Speaker 1: need to tweak it. And to me, this is an

827
00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:27,399
Speaker 1: example of something that just needs to be tweaked. Drop

828
00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:30,200
Speaker 1: it from sixty five to sixty. It kind of accomplishes

829
00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:33,960
Speaker 1: the original intended goal while more appropriately accounting for some

830
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:36,160
Speaker 1: of the realities of the way the NBA regular season

831
00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:38,840
Speaker 1: works at this point. All right, guys, that's all I

832
00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:41,319
Speaker 1: have for today. As always to sincerely appreciate you guys

833
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,000
Speaker 1: for supporting us in supporting the show. We'll be back tomorrow.

834
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:53,440
Speaker 1: With more game reaction, I will see you guys then