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Speaker 1: The Volume. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at

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Speaker 1: the Volume, Havy Thursday, everybody. I hope all of you

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Speaker 1: guys are having a great week so far. We are

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Speaker 1: live on AMP, so if you're watching on YouTube, we're

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Speaker 1: listening on the podcast feeds. Don't forget that AMP is

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Speaker 1: the very first place that you guys can get these shows.

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Speaker 1: Continuing our power rankings today with number eighteen the Orlando Magic.

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Speaker 1: And then I have four mail bag questions for the

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Speaker 1: end of the show as well. You guys are the Drill.

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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore json lt. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: to subscribe to The Volume's YouTube channel. You can find

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Speaker 1: this also on our podcast feed under Hoops Tonight. And

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Speaker 1: I need mail bag questions, drop them in the YouTube comments.

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Speaker 1: We'll be hitting those at the end of every show.

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Speaker 1: Moving forward, all right, let's talk some basketball. So recap

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Speaker 1: of the offseason for the Orlando Magic. They lost Bull

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Speaker 1: Bull signed with the Phoenix Suns, and then through the

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Speaker 1: draft they added Anthony Black, a super versatile guard out

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Speaker 1: of Arkansas. Not much of a score shot just four

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Speaker 1: for thirteen in ISO situations last year. Not much of

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Speaker 1: a jump shooter forty eight percent effective field goal percentage

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Speaker 1: in catching shoots and forty one percent in effective field

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Speaker 1: goal percentage on pull up jump shots last year. But

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Speaker 1: he's pretty good at everything else. He's like a Swiss

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Speaker 1: army knife at the guard position. He's got good frame

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Speaker 1: for that position. He's about sixty six, I think, with

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Speaker 1: about a six to eight six nine wingspan, so he's

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Speaker 1: got really good length, which allows him to be an

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Speaker 1: impact player on the defensive end of the floor in

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Speaker 1: a way that a lot of guards can't, and also

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Speaker 1: gives him the ability to see over the top of

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Speaker 1: the defense and to make passes that a lot of

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Speaker 1: other smaller guards can struggle with. He's really really good

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Speaker 1: at everything aside from creating his own shot, and I

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Speaker 1: think that instantaneously makes him a really interesting player in

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Speaker 1: the future in the long run. Alongside the likes of

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Speaker 1: Franz Wagner and Pala Boncaro, they also drafted Jet Howard

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Speaker 1: one Howard Son out of Michigan, a scoring wing. His

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Speaker 1: good shooter. He converted spot up possessions at one point

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Speaker 1: one to one points per possession last year, which is excellent.

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Speaker 1: Shot fifty seven percent in effective field goal percentage on

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Speaker 1: catch and shoot jumpers sixty percent. When he was unguarded

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Speaker 1: as a shot maker, he was forty eight percent in

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Speaker 1: effective field goal percentage on pull up jump shots, which

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Speaker 1: is amazing for a young player, forty one percent on

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Speaker 1: floaters as well. He was also a seventy first percentile

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Speaker 1: pick and roll play makers er a point nine to

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Speaker 1: four points per possession, something I noticed on tape this morning.

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Speaker 1: Just does a really good job of using the roleman.

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Speaker 1: He's methodical and patient, makes use of the roleman rolling

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Speaker 1: to the basket, and because he's got a good floater

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Speaker 1: and a good pull up jump shot, that makes him

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Speaker 1: a dynamic score in pick and roll situations. But these

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Speaker 1: are guys that are long term prospects for the Orlando Magic,

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Speaker 1: right They've already got some young guys that are ready

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Speaker 1: to go right now, and so they needed a veteran

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Speaker 1: option to come in and provide some leadership and experience

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Speaker 1: in the locker room. So they signed Joe Inglesh's very

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Speaker 1: good secondary ball handler and a very good off ball player,

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Speaker 1: things that I think are gonna help the Magic a lot.

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Speaker 1: He was one point one to two points per possession

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Speaker 1: in two hundred and fifty eight pick and rolls last

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Speaker 1: year for the Bucks. That's like ridiculously good. So he's

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Speaker 1: going to run second side action really good. Just does

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Speaker 1: a good job of getting downhill and patiently waiting for

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Speaker 1: the defense to leave an opening and making the correct pass.

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Speaker 1: He also shot fifty seven percent in effective field goal

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Speaker 1: percentage on catch and shoot jump shots last year and

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Speaker 1: sixty nine percent effective field goal percentage on pull up

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Speaker 1: jump shots last year on high volume on seventy attempts

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Speaker 1: in just that small sample size with the Milwaukee Bucks. Now,

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Speaker 1: it used to be a much better defender back in

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Speaker 1: the days when he was with the Utah Jazz, but

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Speaker 1: he will do his job within a defensive scheme, and

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Speaker 1: they've got more athletes on the floor that can help

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Speaker 1: cover the ground. So I love him as a veteran

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Speaker 1: presence in that locker room. And I thought that was

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Speaker 1: a really smart pickup. So the depth chart as of

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Speaker 1: right now looks like a guard. They're gonna have Markel

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Speaker 1: Foltzcary Harris, Jalen Suggs, Anthony Black and Cole Anthony and

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Speaker 1: at the forwards Pala Moncaro Franz Wagner, Jonathan Isaac, Joe Ingles,

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Speaker 1: and Jet Howard and then at the center position Wendell

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Speaker 1: Carter Junior and Mo Wagner Goga Bitadze. I also expect

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Speaker 1: to see some Palo at center this season as well

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Speaker 1: as a backup center, especially when guys like Mo Wagner

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Speaker 1: are out with injury. You know, one of the big

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Speaker 1: things that I noticed when I was watching the World

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Speaker 1: Cup was that Palo actually seems to do pretty good

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Speaker 1: banging with other centers and getting defensive rebounds, better than

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Speaker 1: you would expect for a young ford And you know,

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Speaker 1: I remember when I watched him at Summer League last

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Speaker 1: year in person, that was one of the biggest things

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Speaker 1: that stood out to me was just how damn big

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Speaker 1: Pala Boncaro is And so I'd like to see him

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Speaker 1: play a little bit of backup center this year as well.

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Speaker 1: Starting lineup in all likelihood, based on what we saw

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Speaker 1: last year, will be Markel Foltz at the one, Gary

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Speaker 1: Harris at the two, Franz Wagner at the three, Palamoncaro

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Speaker 1: at the four, and Wendell Carter Junior at the five.

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Speaker 1: So on offense last year, they were not good. They

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Speaker 1: were twenty sixth an offensive rating. You're gonnaee a lot

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Speaker 1: bad numbers here and something to keep in mind kind

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Speaker 1: of to frame this all, this is what the Orlando

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Speaker 1: Magic were. I have them up at eighteen this year

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Speaker 1: because I expect them to take a leap this year.

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Speaker 1: You know, again, like this is this is the team

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Speaker 1: that the twenty fifth best record in basketball last year,

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Speaker 1: and I have them at eighteenth in my power ranking,

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Speaker 1: so I'm expecting them to improve significantly. But let's take

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Speaker 1: a look just to identify where their area's opportunity of

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Speaker 1: opportunity are. What they were like last year, So they

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Speaker 1: were twenty sixth in offensive rebounding or excuse me, offensive rating.

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Speaker 1: They did not shoot the ball very well. They were

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Speaker 1: twenty fifth and threes made per game twenty fourth and

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Speaker 1: three point percentage twenty second in spot up efficiency, so

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Speaker 1: they didn't attack closeouts very well either. Paalo was a

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Speaker 1: big part of that. He shot just twenty nine percent.

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Speaker 1: He shot below thirty percent from three on four attempts

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Speaker 1: per game. And then as a team, they're not a

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Speaker 1: good pull up jump shooting team. They were twenty seventh

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Speaker 1: in efficiency on pull up jump shots with just a

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Speaker 1: forty four percent effective field wal percentage. So obviously, when

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Speaker 1: it comes to slow down half court offense. You need

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Speaker 1: to be able to have guys that are capable of

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Speaker 1: knocking down pull up jump shots when teams pack the paint,

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Speaker 1: and then when you kick out to shooters on the

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Speaker 1: weak side, they need to be able to make shots

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Speaker 1: and attack closeouts. They're not good at those particular things,

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Speaker 1: and so they're obviously going to struggle in half court offense.

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Speaker 1: But they also struggled with rim finishing. They were the

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Speaker 1: fifth best team at getting to the rim according to Synergy,

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Speaker 1: but only the twenty fifth best team and actually converting

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Speaker 1: rim attempts into points. And so as it really breaks

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Speaker 1: down their team that kind of like gets a lot

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Speaker 1: of shots but just can't actually finish them, and so

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Speaker 1: that's going to be something as a team. As their

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Speaker 1: skill development improves, as they learn to finish plays better,

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Speaker 1: their offensive rating will climb. I don't expect them to

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Speaker 1: jump from twenty sixth to tenth or anything this year,

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Speaker 1: but I do expect them to jump into the top

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Speaker 1: twenty this year. They are a very heavy pick and

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Speaker 1: roll team. They like to set up in horn sets,

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Speaker 1: so when they get into the half court and then

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Speaker 1: they'll usually run some sort of interchange with the ball

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Speaker 1: handler coming out of the corner, and then one of

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Speaker 1: the big men that they have at the elbows, usually

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Speaker 1: Pallo and Wendell Carter Junior. One of them will actually

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Speaker 1: set a screen and roll to the basket. They've run

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Speaker 1: some Spain pick and roll out of that, with Wendell

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Speaker 1: Carter Junior popping to the top of the key because

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Speaker 1: he can knock down threes. They're a heavy pick and

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Speaker 1: roll team. They were tenth in pick and roll frequency

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Speaker 1: last year. They ran about thirty seven pick and rolls

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Speaker 1: per game, but they were just twenty third in pick

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Speaker 1: and roll efficiency, all the same reasons we talked about earlier.

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Speaker 1: Poor pull up shooting, poor spot up shooting, poor rim finishing.

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Speaker 1: That's going to hurt you in a lot of cases

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Speaker 1: in pick and roll. They also were the fourth worst

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Speaker 1: team in the league at taking care of the basketball.

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Speaker 1: Lots of classic issues that you expect with young teams,

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Speaker 1: and that ended up hurting them more on the defensive

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Speaker 1: end of the four, which we'll talk about in a

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Speaker 1: little bit. So as a younger team, as I look

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Speaker 1: at that and I see, you know, is Paalo going

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Speaker 1: to shoot twenty nine percent from three? For the rest

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Speaker 1: of his care No, he's gonna improve as a shooter, right.

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Speaker 1: Guys like Palo in front, are they gonna improve as

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Speaker 1: pull up jump shooters? Absolutely? Like right now, Markel Foltz

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Speaker 1: is a complete non threat off the basketball. Is that

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Speaker 1: something he's gonna improve at some point? Yeah? Probably right?

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Speaker 1: Turning over the basketball, that's a classic young guy problem.

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Speaker 1: These are all things that these kids should improve on

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Speaker 1: as they get older. And those are again, as we

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Speaker 1: look at offensive ratings, like the difference between the best

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Speaker 1: team in the league and the worst team in the

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Speaker 1: league in offensive rating is like, you know, it might

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Speaker 1: be a dozen points per one hundred possessions, right, sometimes

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Speaker 1: even less depending on the season. And so really a

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Speaker 1: little bit of improvement in each of those areas could

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Speaker 1: be enough to lift them from where they are to

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Speaker 1: a significantly more potent offense. But what I'd like to

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Speaker 1: do right now is I'd like to take a look

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Speaker 1: at each of Orlando's three primary young ball handlers and

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Speaker 1: how they're progressing so far. So obviously we look at

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Speaker 1: Gary Harris as an off ball shooter at the two guard.

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Speaker 1: Obviously we look at Wendell Carter Junior as kind of

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Speaker 1: like a pick and pop big. Right, So the uh,

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Speaker 1: the primary shot creators are going to be Markel, Foltz,

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Speaker 1: Franz Wagner, and Pala Bonko. So let's look at what

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Speaker 1: they accomplished last year. Start with Franz Wagner, one of

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Speaker 1: the most exciting young forwards in the league. He averaged

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Speaker 1: nineteen points, four rebounds, and four assists per game last

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Speaker 1: year on an extremely impressive fifty nine percent true shooting

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Speaker 1: for a second year player, that's unbelievable. He got a

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Speaker 1: ton of pick and roll reps last year. He ran

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Speaker 1: seven hundred and fifty eight pick and rolls, and again, like,

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Speaker 1: this is why I was talking about how I expect

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Speaker 1: that improvement to take place, Like, these guys are just

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Speaker 1: getting tons and tons of valuable reps. Right. He averaged

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Speaker 1: zero point nine to eight points per possession in those

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Speaker 1: seven hundred and fifty eight pick and rolls. That's really

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Speaker 1: not bad for a twenty one year old. That's above average.

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Speaker 1: That's good production for a young shot creator. Classic pick

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Speaker 1: and roll play making. Franz is a little bit more methodical.

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Speaker 1: He likes to pick up his dribble and take long

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Speaker 1: steps into the lane using his size and take that

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Speaker 1: extra step to get the defense to collapse a little

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Speaker 1: bit further. Excellent passer, actually making those cross court passes,

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Speaker 1: great at getting to the rim and finishing there. He

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Speaker 1: made three point three shots per game in the restricted

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Speaker 1: area last year on sixty five percent, which is again,

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Speaker 1: really really good for a young forward. And my guess

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Speaker 1: is that when he gets into his mid twenties, he's

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Speaker 1: going to be at about, you know, seventy percent in

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Speaker 1: those situations and maybe even closer to four restricted area

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Speaker 1: makes per game. He's got a ton of potential in

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Speaker 1: the long run, and he's already really really good. He

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Speaker 1: did struggle in ISO last year zero points seventy four

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Speaker 1: points per possession, one hundred and seventeen possessions. That's something

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Speaker 1: you'll have to improve. It was pretty good in the

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Speaker 1: post though, one point zero five points per possession on

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Speaker 1: thirty eight post ups. Went back and watched most of

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Speaker 1: those this morning. Very few of them are like your

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Speaker 1: traditional like Lebron James Ford post ups where he's taken

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Speaker 1: a bunch of back down dribbles and manipulating the defense.

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Speaker 1: Franz is just really good with deep seals and duccans

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Speaker 1: and identifying when he's got a small defender on him,

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Speaker 1: just getting really good deep post position and then just

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Speaker 1: catching and going up and finishing right. He's also are

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Speaker 1: really good at creating a big target when defenders try

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Speaker 1: to front him, so a lot of times smaller defenders

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Speaker 1: will front him in the post, He'll turn and seal

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Speaker 1: create a nice high target so the guy can throw

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Speaker 1: the over the top pass and he can catch and

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Speaker 1: easily finish at the rim. One point zero five points

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Speaker 1: per possession is very good for a post player, and

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Speaker 1: he does that mostly on quick core, quick catching and

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Speaker 1: finishing around the basket. I expect a big leap out

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Speaker 1: of Franz Wagner this year, and that will be the

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Speaker 1: biggest uptick and overall ability offensively for this Magic team

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Speaker 1: in my opinion. To give you guys an idea, I expect.

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Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, I think it's almost an

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Speaker 1: absolute certainty that Franz Wagner is going to average twenty

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Speaker 1: five and five next year. He's going to enter into

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Speaker 1: that twenty five and five club. To give you an idea,

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Speaker 1: only fifteen players in the entire NBA last year averaged

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Speaker 1: at least twenty points, five rebounds and five assists per game.

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Speaker 1: I actually think he's gonna finish closer to twenty two

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Speaker 1: to six and six. I think we're gonna get a really,

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Speaker 1: really impressive season out of Franz Wagner. And he just

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Speaker 1: came off of yet another really impressive performance in the

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Speaker 1: Feeble World Cup. He averaged seventeen points per game. He

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Speaker 1: had twenty two against Team USA, forty points on forty

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Speaker 1: one pick and rolls, ISOs and post ups, so static

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Speaker 1: shot creation was good once again. I think he's poised

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Speaker 1: for a huge year. Palo Mooncaro averaged twenty points, seven rebounds,

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Speaker 1: and four assists in his rookie season. Fifty three percent

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Speaker 1: for shooting. Obviously not good, but that's what you expect

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Speaker 1: from a young player. Struggled in pick and roll in ISO,

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Speaker 1: but was amazing in post up situations. One hundred and

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Speaker 1: ninety four points on one hundred and seventy two post

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Speaker 1: ups including passes. That's one point one to three points

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Speaker 1: per possession. Among the thirty one players in the NBA

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Speaker 1: last year that ran at least one hundred and fifty

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Speaker 1: post ups. Paalo finished fifth in efficiency. That's an amazing

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Speaker 1: accomplishment for a young player. Starts with him just being

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Speaker 1: big as all hell. He's so big that he's just

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Speaker 1: a pain to deal with fighting for position on the block.

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Speaker 1: From there, he's a willing passer, has a really devastating

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Speaker 1: drop step. He's not a guy that likes to take

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Speaker 1: shots over the top in the post right now, like

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Speaker 1: he doesn't take a lot of hook shots. His turnaround

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Speaker 1: jumpers just flat out inaccurate at this point. It probably

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Speaker 1: will be a lot better in the long run. But

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Speaker 1: what he does is he catches and he takes aggressive

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Speaker 1: steps towards the baskets, a lot of up and unders,

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Speaker 1: a lot of step throughs, a lot of drop steps,

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Speaker 1: and aggressive moves towards the rim. He's also a willing

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Speaker 1: passer in that situation. What he'll do in a lot

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Speaker 1: of cases is he'll take a drop step towards the

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Speaker 1: baseline and just throw a hard pump fake. You'll throw

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Speaker 1: that hard pump fake to get the defense to kind

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Speaker 1: of collapse on him, and then he'll throw an overhand,

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Speaker 1: two hand skip pass to like a shooter in the

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Speaker 1: slot on the opposite side or in the corner. He's

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Speaker 1: a very very willing passer out of the post as well.

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Speaker 1: To give you an idea. Despite not having a reliable

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Speaker 1: hook shot and despite not having an accurate turnaround jump shot,

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Speaker 1: he shot fifty one percent on his own shot attempts

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Speaker 1: out of the post last year. That's a huge part

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Speaker 1: of how he was such a devastating post up weapon,

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Speaker 1: and I think in the long run he's going to

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Speaker 1: be one of the best post players in the league,

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Speaker 1: especially as he starts to pall Is over the top

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Speaker 1: Biggest thing to watch with Palo is going to be

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Speaker 1: his jump shot. He was good in stan still situations.

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Speaker 1: Last year. He had a fifty four percent effective field

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Speaker 1: goal percentage on unguarded catch and shoot jump shots, which

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Speaker 1: is solid. Obviously a great shooter. There is going to

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Speaker 1: be over sixty percent, but fifty four percent is livable.

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Speaker 1: That means you can't just leave him completely wide open, right,

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Speaker 1: But when you disrupt him, he's gonna miss. He was

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Speaker 1: twenty eight percent affective field goal percentage on catch and

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Speaker 1: shoot jump shots that were guarded, and he was under

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Speaker 1: forty percent on pull up jump shots. So he needs

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Speaker 1: to improve his handle and impro of his jump shot

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Speaker 1: to be more successful in ice own pick and roll

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Speaker 1: situations and spot up situations. And then obviously it's over top,

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Speaker 1: over the top shot making in the post. But I

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Speaker 1: expect him to make those improvements. He's very, very young,

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Speaker 1: he's only played one NBA season. Give him time. He's

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Speaker 1: going to develop those things. He's also a candidate to

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Speaker 1: jump into that twenty five and five group this year,

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Speaker 1: although I think it's a lot less likely than Franz.

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Speaker 1: The last guy I want to take a look at

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Speaker 1: his Markel Foltz, former number one pick. He averaged fourteen points,

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Speaker 1: four rebounds, and six assists last year on fifty six

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Speaker 1: percent true shooting. It's also was top twenty in the

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Speaker 1: league and steals last year with one and a half

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Speaker 1: per game. The most impressive part of his offensive game

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Speaker 1: last year was his pull up jump shooting. He shot

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Speaker 1: forty six percent in effective field goal percentage on pull

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Speaker 1: up jump shots, but he didn't. He barely took any

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Speaker 1: pull up threes, so he actually shot forty four percent

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Speaker 1: in like legit field goal percentage on pull up jump shots.

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Speaker 1: He makes almost half of his mid range jump shots.

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Speaker 1: He's got this nasty like hesitation dribble in his left

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Speaker 1: hand where he just does that like hard heavy step

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Speaker 1: left handed hesitation like he's gonna drive and then he'll

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Speaker 1: just rise up and shoot. He actually draws a lot

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Speaker 1: of fouls in that situation as well. But that deadly

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Speaker 1: pull up jump shot is the genesis of most of

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Speaker 1: his success as a shot creator in the NBA. Right now.

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Speaker 1: Can't shoot off the catch. It's a big area of

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Speaker 1: opportunity for him. He's twenty eight percent on catch and

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Speaker 1: shoot threes last year. That's not good. Zero point nine

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Speaker 1: points per spot up possession. That's not good. Needs to

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Speaker 1: figure that out, just because on a team that's going

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Speaker 1: to have the ball in Fronza's hands and poal his

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Speaker 1: hands a lot, he needs to be guarded. He needs

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Speaker 1: to make himself a threat. So I'd like to see

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Speaker 1: him improve in catch and shoot situations or at least

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Speaker 1: attacking closeouts. We've seen guys like Dwayne Wade be really

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Speaker 1: bad three point shooters, but average over a point per

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Speaker 1: possession in spot ups by attacking closeout successfully. Just in general,

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Speaker 1: markl Foltz is gonna have to improve in that area.

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Speaker 1: But the pull up jumper and his ability to get

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Speaker 1: to the rim extremely well for guard if turned him

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Speaker 1: into a reliable shot creator. One point zero two points

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Speaker 1: per possession and pick and roll last year that's sixty

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Speaker 1: fourth percentile. One point one to four points per possession

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Speaker 1: in ISO that's eighty sixth percentile. He shot fifty five

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Speaker 1: percent from the field in isolation situations last year. He's

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Speaker 1: just a big, strong athlete who's got a physical advantage

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Speaker 1: over most guards. He's going to hit hard dribbles to

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Speaker 1: the basket and get his shoulder into your chest and

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Speaker 1: then pull back for little floaters and jump shots. Every

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Speaker 1: once in a while, I'll go to that hesitation pull

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Speaker 1: up jump shot that he's making at a really high rate,

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Speaker 1: and then he can get to the rim and finish

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Speaker 1: really well. Two point seven makes per game in the

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Speaker 1: restricted area at sixty five percent. Those are both excellent

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Speaker 1: marks for a young NBA guard. And then he's also

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Speaker 1: a very good passer as well. Again, the key with him.

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Speaker 1: Long term is going to be whether or not he

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Speaker 1: can make himself a threat off the ball to play

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Speaker 1: alongside Palo in fronts. But the continuing development of those

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Speaker 1: three is what makes me so excited about this team.

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Speaker 1: The lineup just makes sense. You've got a stretch big

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Speaker 1: and Wendell Carter. He was up over thirty six percent

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Speaker 1: from three on four attempts per game last year. You

396
00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,879
Speaker 1: know about how a stretch big can cause problems for

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Speaker 1: the defense by using the rim protector and his desire

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Speaker 1: to stay at the rim against them. Right, Gary Harris

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00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,119
Speaker 1: is a knockdown three point shooter. And then you've got

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Speaker 1: these three shot creators, and all of them are very different, right,

401
00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,440
Speaker 1: Like Paalo's like this bully ball forward who's posting people

402
00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:15,760
Speaker 1: up and punishing people at the rim. Franz is this big,

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00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:19,439
Speaker 1: playmaking forward that's methodical in his downhill approach. And then

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Speaker 1: you've got Markel Foltz, who's like kind of a classic

405
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Speaker 1: athletic downhill guard. Right, So they're all very different. They

406
00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:27,160
Speaker 1: all can attack in different ways. They have a ton

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Speaker 1: of offensive versatility and in theory in the long run,

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Speaker 1: not necessarily this year, but all five of those guys

409
00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:35,600
Speaker 1: will be able to shoot, all five of those guys

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00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:37,520
Speaker 1: will be able to dribble and pass, and all five

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Speaker 1: of those guys will be able to defend. And that's

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Speaker 1: the recipe for championship caliber roster in the long run.

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Speaker 1: But let's talk about the defensive end of the four.

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Speaker 1: They were eighteenth and defensive rating last year, which is

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Speaker 1: very good for a young team, but they were actually

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Speaker 1: thirteenth and half court defense. They were one of the

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00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:54,960
Speaker 1: better half court defenses in the league with all that

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Speaker 1: length and athleticism. Right, It was the transition situations that

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00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:00,760
Speaker 1: killed them. They gave up the fifth month most transition

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Speaker 1: possessions in the league, in large part because they turned

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00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:06,760
Speaker 1: the basketball over too much. That's something that you'll see

422
00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,560
Speaker 1: them improve with their young ball handlers getting more experience.

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Speaker 1: Their half court defense was solid because they're huge and athletic.

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Speaker 1: They were the fifth best team in the league at

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Speaker 1: guarding the paint last year. They were a very good

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Speaker 1: rebounding team. As matter of fact, the Magic gave up

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Speaker 1: the third fewest offensive rebounds in the league per one

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Speaker 1: hundred possessions, and they gave up just two hundred and

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Speaker 1: two putbacks, which was the fifth best mark in the league.

430
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Speaker 1: So closing out defensive positions with defensive rebounds will help

431
00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:36,400
Speaker 1: you a lot defensively. In protecting the paint will help

432
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,320
Speaker 1: you a lot defensively. Their biggest downsides where they give

433
00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:41,720
Speaker 1: up the fifth most made threes per game in the NBA,

434
00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:43,800
Speaker 1: so they did not guard the three point line very well,

435
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,160
Speaker 1: too much overhelping, not good enough in rotation, and then turnovers.

436
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:50,800
Speaker 1: Anytime you turn over the basketball, you compromise your defense

437
00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:53,480
Speaker 1: by giving up transition opportunities. So if they clean up

438
00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:55,840
Speaker 1: transition and they guard the three point line better, I

439
00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:57,800
Speaker 1: think they have the potential to crack the top ten

440
00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:01,680
Speaker 1: defensively this year. Those are all young player issues. Those

441
00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:04,800
Speaker 1: are things they can fix. I think the Magic are

442
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:07,600
Speaker 1: going to finish around tenth in defensive rating this year,

443
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:10,000
Speaker 1: and I think they're going to finish close to twentieth

444
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,480
Speaker 1: in offense. Those improvements, going from eighteenth to tenth on

445
00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:17,439
Speaker 1: defense and going from twenty sixth or twenty whatever they

446
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:19,920
Speaker 1: were on offense to twentieth in offense, I think that's

447
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:21,719
Speaker 1: going to push them closer to five hundred. I think

448
00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:23,720
Speaker 1: they're going to finish around forty one and forty one

449
00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,119
Speaker 1: or forty and forty two or forty two and forty

450
00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,560
Speaker 1: right around that range. And I think they're going to

451
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,240
Speaker 1: make the play in tournament as a nine zeed or

452
00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,720
Speaker 1: a ten zeed, kind of similar to what OKC was

453
00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:36,240
Speaker 1: last year. I kind of see this as the year

454
00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:39,480
Speaker 1: before the year that they become really good, and I

455
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:42,240
Speaker 1: think they're going to be a good basketball team in

456
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:46,159
Speaker 1: this particular season. All Right, we have we had to

457
00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:48,880
Speaker 1: do this video earlier today because of a scheduling conflict.

458
00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,359
Speaker 1: So I had our lead producer, Ryan, who's a legend

459
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:54,639
Speaker 1: in the game, I had him put together four fake

460
00:21:54,760 --> 00:22:00,200
Speaker 1: mailbag questions for you guys based on current NBA storyline.

461
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,600
Speaker 1: So the first fake question from Ryan, Hey, Jason, do

462
00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:06,440
Speaker 1: you think the load management mandate will make a difference?

463
00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:08,080
Speaker 1: So those of you guys who heard the NBA came

464
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:11,719
Speaker 1: out with some new principles for a load management basically,

465
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:13,680
Speaker 1: if I don't know them perfectly off the top of

466
00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:16,960
Speaker 1: my head, but the gist of it is nationally televised games,

467
00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:19,680
Speaker 1: you can't rest more than one of your stars without

468
00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:24,200
Speaker 1: facing a fine, right, And what's interesting about that is like,

469
00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:28,720
Speaker 1: in that particular situation, if you're gonna rest one star,

470
00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,240
Speaker 1: you might as well rest both, right, because like you

471
00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,800
Speaker 1: have an infinitely smaller chance of winning the game compared

472
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,040
Speaker 1: to if all your stars play, And so why not

473
00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,320
Speaker 1: buy yourself the rest if you're going to get a loss, right,

474
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:41,720
Speaker 1: And so I the question if the question is do

475
00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,640
Speaker 1: I think load management's the new load management mandate will

476
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:46,960
Speaker 1: make a difference, I think yes and no. I think

477
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,760
Speaker 1: it will help on the nationally televised games. I think

478
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:51,440
Speaker 1: if you're on the fence where you've got one guy

479
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:53,359
Speaker 1: who's a little banged up and one guy who's healthy,

480
00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,119
Speaker 1: you'll be like, let's just play everybody, right, because we

481
00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,560
Speaker 1: we'll try to win this game, and then the league

482
00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:00,960
Speaker 1: pass game two nights later will rest both of the

483
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:03,880
Speaker 1: guys in that situation, right, Like, I do think you'll

484
00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:08,040
Speaker 1: see more stars play in nationally televised games, but there

485
00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:10,640
Speaker 1: will still be teams that try to circumvent that, right

486
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:13,480
Speaker 1: because of the injury report, Like if it's not rest

487
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:15,920
Speaker 1: but it's actually like rehab, like I'm sitting a player

488
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:18,920
Speaker 1: because he's hurt. I think that will be a loophole

489
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:21,520
Speaker 1: that some teams will try to use to rest their stars.

490
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:23,840
Speaker 1: And then I do think teams will still rest a

491
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:27,679
Speaker 1: ton of their stars in non nationally televised games, So

492
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,920
Speaker 1: the overall problem with star participation I don't think will

493
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,000
Speaker 1: be altered all that much, but it will shift away

494
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,439
Speaker 1: from nationally televised games to your league pass games. And

495
00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,960
Speaker 1: that's major value because most of the league pass games

496
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:44,080
Speaker 1: are gonna be lower profile matchups, whereas the nationally televised

497
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:46,240
Speaker 1: games are gonna be you know, good teams playing good teams.

498
00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:49,000
Speaker 1: So it just makes more sense to do it that way.

499
00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:54,360
Speaker 1: But to be honest, like this and that all NBA mandate, right,

500
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:55,840
Speaker 1: so like we also know that you have to play

501
00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,080
Speaker 1: at least sixty five games to make an all NBA team.

502
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,640
Speaker 1: I do think that the nationally the nationally televised games

503
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:07,439
Speaker 1: rules and the sixty five games rule will help, but

504
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,800
Speaker 1: only a little. And the only real fix for this

505
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:14,000
Speaker 1: in the long run is urgency. You need to add

506
00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:18,000
Speaker 1: urgency to the games if you I've said this before

507
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:20,520
Speaker 1: in the show, but I would shrink the season to

508
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,480
Speaker 1: sixty six games. If you did that, you would guarantee

509
00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,760
Speaker 1: there's no back to backs in the schedule, and you'd

510
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,800
Speaker 1: guarantee that every single week you'd have at least one

511
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,240
Speaker 1: stretch with two consecutive days off, which that extra day

512
00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:36,919
Speaker 1: off would help the players recover. Also, you've shortened the

513
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,200
Speaker 1: season by twenty percent, so each game would carry twenty

514
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:44,800
Speaker 1: percent more urgency. So the improved urgency and the increased

515
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,520
Speaker 1: star participation would be good for the league in the

516
00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,520
Speaker 1: long run. In the short run, it would obviously cost

517
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,080
Speaker 1: them money, but in the long run, with the improved

518
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,159
Speaker 1: urgency and the improved star participation, I think it'd be

519
00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 1: great for the league. They'll never do it because they're

520
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:01,280
Speaker 1: obsessed with that short term money, and I think that's

521
00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 1: a mistake because I think urgency in the NBA is

522
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:06,880
Speaker 1: at an all time low even with this mid season tournament.

523
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,520
Speaker 1: So I don't think these measures are going to really

524
00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,960
Speaker 1: solve the problem unless they make a significant change shortening

525
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,119
Speaker 1: the season. But it doesn't seem like that's ever gonna happen,

526
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:20,120
Speaker 1: so honestly, it's kind of hopeless. Second question from Ryan, Hey, Jason,

527
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,280
Speaker 1: what's taking so long on the Damian Lillard trade? Shouldn't

528
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:28,000
Speaker 1: all parties involved want this to be over? My best

529
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,280
Speaker 1: guess is that most of this comes down to pride

530
00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,879
Speaker 1: from the Blazer's office. I feel like they feel like

531
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,440
Speaker 1: they're getting bullied into this trade. I feel like they

532
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,920
Speaker 1: feel like all of the public pressure is trying to

533
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 1: tell them to take this Miami deal, which is obviously

534
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,760
Speaker 1: not the best deal in a vacuum. But to me,

535
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:51,040
Speaker 1: it's just it's just disrespectful to the reality of the situation. Like, yeah,

536
00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:54,119
Speaker 1: you're right, ideally you'd be able to trade Dame to

537
00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:58,119
Speaker 1: any location and get the absolute perfect return. But this

538
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:01,240
Speaker 1: is not James Harden, this is not Kyrie Irving. This

539
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:05,960
Speaker 1: is not a player who has mistreated your organization. This

540
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:09,760
Speaker 1: is not a player that is trying to take advantage

541
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:15,359
Speaker 1: of you. What's happening here is Damian Lillard, for over

542
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:19,480
Speaker 1: a decade, has given everything he can to this franchise,

543
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 1: and now finally at a new phase when the franchise

544
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:28,240
Speaker 1: is clearly rebuilding, when he's already given them more chances

545
00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:32,520
Speaker 1: than they probably deserved, He's asking for an opportunity to

546
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,879
Speaker 1: go where he wants to go. You owe that to him,

547
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:40,399
Speaker 1: You owe him his preferred destination. I would totally get

548
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,480
Speaker 1: where you're coming from if this was James Harden. Nobody,

549
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,000
Speaker 1: We're not going to be the next vehicle of your

550
00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 1: random trade demand to try to send you to your

551
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:51,640
Speaker 1: next super team, like, screw that. I would get that,

552
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:57,800
Speaker 1: but that's not what's going on here. What's going on

553
00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,119
Speaker 1: here is you have a player that was incredibly loyal

554
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,080
Speaker 1: and devoted to this city, gave it everything he had.

555
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:10,480
Speaker 1: They're legitimately done last year, even with Damian Lillard, Jeremy Grant,

556
00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,639
Speaker 1: Anthony Simon's on the floor. They got their butts kicked,

557
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:18,320
Speaker 1: so like they're not, it's time to move on. Dame

558
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:20,399
Speaker 1: wants to go to Miami. Send him to Miami. You

559
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,320
Speaker 1: owe that to him, And Okay, are you gonna get

560
00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,439
Speaker 1: a little bit worse return, Sure, but your future is

561
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,800
Speaker 1: super bright. You've got Scoot Henderson, You've got Shade and Sharp,

562
00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 1: You've got Anthony Simons. It's a great time to be

563
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:36,560
Speaker 1: a Blazers fan. Just send him to Miami and move

564
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:38,840
Speaker 1: on that That's what I think needs to happen, and

565
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:40,560
Speaker 1: I'm hopeful that that will happen in the next couple

566
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:44,639
Speaker 1: of weeks. Third question, Hey, Jason, are you actually buying

567
00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:49,160
Speaker 1: Lebron will play in the Olympics next summer. I buy

568
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:53,760
Speaker 1: that he wants to, but so much can change before then. Obviously,

569
00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 1: like the frame of mind, completely changes you. Uh, Like

570
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:00,800
Speaker 1: this year, Lebron was dealing with a banged right, like

571
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:03,800
Speaker 1: get a foot injury, So like, what nagging injury is

572
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:05,639
Speaker 1: he gonna be dealing with at the end of next season.

573
00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,159
Speaker 1: That could disrupt that issue, right, I think that, you know,

574
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 1: It's like it reminds me of when Lebron said he

575
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:14,800
Speaker 1: was gonna participate in the dunk contest. I don't doubt

576
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:16,840
Speaker 1: that he wanted to in the moment when he said that,

577
00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,760
Speaker 1: But it's just there's a realistic you know, there's a

578
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:22,440
Speaker 1: there's a realistic side of it, which is that when

579
00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:24,159
Speaker 1: we get to the point where that decision actually has

580
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:26,440
Speaker 1: to be made, it's a different frame of mind. Your

581
00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,119
Speaker 1: body's in a different state. Chances are I would say

582
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,280
Speaker 1: there's probably less than a fifty percent chance that Lebron plays,

583
00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:34,280
Speaker 1: not by much, I'd say it's roughly a coin flip,

584
00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:36,679
Speaker 1: but I'd give it a slightly better chance that Lebron

585
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:39,720
Speaker 1: does not play in the Olympics. He actually said something similar,

586
00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:41,920
Speaker 1: not quite as dramatic, but he said something similar before

587
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,280
Speaker 1: the Tokyo Games about how he wanted to play and

588
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:46,440
Speaker 1: then he ended up not playing. So that goes to

589
00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,920
Speaker 1: show you how that frame of mind can change. I

590
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,200
Speaker 1: do think that any Olympic team led by Steph Curry,

591
00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,560
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant, Lebron James is winning the damn tournament. Like

592
00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:57,840
Speaker 1: that's for sure happening. I've talked about it. But like

593
00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:01,160
Speaker 1: if you get Anthony Davis, Lebron James, Steph and you know,

594
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 1: throw maybe it's Kawhi, maybe it's Devin Booker, you know,

595
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:05,640
Speaker 1: maybe it's Jason Tatum, whatever it is that you put

596
00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:08,560
Speaker 1: in that spot, they're winning the damn thing. That's too

597
00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 1: much on ball off ball skill, that's too much size

598
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:14,320
Speaker 1: and athleticism, that's too much defensive versatility. They're gonna win

599
00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:16,680
Speaker 1: the damn thing. But it's just a question of whether

600
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:18,680
Speaker 1: or not they can get that roster actually out there.

601
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,840
Speaker 1: All right, final question, Hey, Jason, this is a this

602
00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,560
Speaker 1: classic Ryan. Isn't it incredible that the ultimate story of

603
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:31,000
Speaker 1: redemption has redeemed the real life career of Hayden Christensen.

604
00:29:31,160 --> 00:29:33,240
Speaker 1: So Dave Filoni was in his bag last night with

605
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:38,360
Speaker 1: Ahsoka episode five. We got epic flashbacks to Anakin Skywalker

606
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,520
Speaker 1: and his Clone Wars armor. We got to see early

607
00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:44,000
Speaker 1: Clone Wars Anakin. We got to see late Clone Wars

608
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,600
Speaker 1: Anakin right beforeward to sixty six, we got to see

609
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:50,920
Speaker 1: young Ahsoka in two different iterations, right, Like it was

610
00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:56,200
Speaker 1: just an epic Star Wars moment. I never understood the

611
00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:59,280
Speaker 1: hate of Hayden Kristensen. I understand that there were some

612
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,040
Speaker 1: older Star Wars fans who didn't really like him in

613
00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:07,000
Speaker 1: the prequel trilogies. The prequel trilogies weren't perfect, but they

614
00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:11,080
Speaker 1: were mostly good, I thought, And like, was Anakin's character

615
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,840
Speaker 1: a little bit annoying? Yeah, but that's what his character was. Like,

616
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,040
Speaker 1: you gotta remember what you were asking Hayden Christensen to

617
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,800
Speaker 1: do was to play an angsty teenager who didn't have

618
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:24,040
Speaker 1: control over his emotions. Like that was literally the job.

619
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:27,640
Speaker 1: And so of course that's an unlikable thing, right, Like

620
00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:30,840
Speaker 1: we all were angsty teenagers when we were younger. Right,

621
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:34,360
Speaker 1: But how many of you guys now encounter a teenager

622
00:30:34,440 --> 00:30:36,880
Speaker 1: in some situation and you hear them talk and you're like,

623
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:39,800
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, you like you clearly are you don't

624
00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,080
Speaker 1: understand how the world works, Like you need to be

625
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,600
Speaker 1: grounded and understand that this too shall pass, and you

626
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:46,200
Speaker 1: need to be a grown up about stuff, right, like,

627
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,960
Speaker 1: every grown up gets a little annoyed by juvenile behavior,

628
00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:53,480
Speaker 1: so obviously you were gonna be a little annoyed that

629
00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:58,040
Speaker 1: Hayden Christensen was acting angsty and emotional and unstable as

630
00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 1: a teenager. That was his job. Actually, I thought Hayden

631
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,080
Speaker 1: Christensen did a really nice job playing Anakin in the

632
00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:07,320
Speaker 1: prequel trilogy. But it is nice to see through Ahsoka

633
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,440
Speaker 1: and through the Obi Wan series to see him get,

634
00:31:10,560 --> 00:31:13,880
Speaker 1: you know, kind of like a moment to shine again.

635
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:16,440
Speaker 1: Of like Ryan's referring to it as redemption here, we

636
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:18,400
Speaker 1: can call it whatever we want to call it, but

637
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:21,040
Speaker 1: I think it's cool to see Hayden Christensen get the

638
00:31:21,160 --> 00:31:23,920
Speaker 1: court of public opinion back in his favor. I also

639
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,920
Speaker 1: am super super excited for episode six of Ahsoka. We're

640
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:29,800
Speaker 1: going to meet Grand Admiral Thron in another galaxy. It's

641
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:32,200
Speaker 1: gonna be dope. For those of you guys who don't

642
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,280
Speaker 1: know already, I do a Star Wars podcast with my

643
00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,560
Speaker 1: buddy Luke. We actually just dropped an episode breaking down

644
00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 1: and reacting to episode five of Ahsoka. You can find

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Speaker 1: that wherever you get your podcast under two Sons Podcasts

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Speaker 1: or on YouTube under two Sons podcast that's Two Suns podcast.

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Speaker 1: All right, guys, that is all I have for today.

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Speaker 1: As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys supporting the show.

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Speaker 1: We will be back tomorrow with number seventeen the volume