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Speaker 1: All right, welcome to hoops tonight here at the volume

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Speaker 1: heavy Monday. Everybody off. All of you guys had an

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Speaker 1: incredible weekend. We have a jam pack show for you guys.

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Speaker 1: There's a ton of pessimism surrounding the Boston Celtics, even

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Speaker 1: though they're five and two in their last seven games.

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Speaker 1: I want to give my thoughts on that. Some of

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Speaker 1: the reality of some of the things they've been struggling with,

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Speaker 1: but also why I'm not particularly concerned ad to that

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Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets have won seven out of nine. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna do a little deep dive into them, and the

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Speaker 1: resurgence of Russell Westbrook having the most efficient scoring season

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Speaker 1: of his career. After that, a little bit about Bradley

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Speaker 1: Beale going to the bench for the Phoenix Suns, and

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Speaker 1: some stuff that I noticed watching some Suns film over

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Speaker 1: the course of the weekend, and then at the tail

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Speaker 1: end of the show like we do every Monday, although

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Speaker 1: we did not do last Monday because I was out

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Speaker 1: of town. Our power rankings going over the top ten

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Speaker 1: teams in the league, a bunch of new faces there

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Speaker 1: as a couple of red hot teams, the Detroit Pistons,

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Speaker 1: the Sacramento Kings, and the Indiana Pacers making appearances. Also

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Speaker 1: getting into the rest of the teams in that list

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Speaker 1: as well. You guys did the job before we get started.

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Speaker 1: Subscribe to the Hoops to Night YouTube channels. You don't

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Speaker 1: miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter

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Speaker 1: at Underscore JCNLTC. You guys don't miss announcements. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: about a podcast feed where you get your podcast O

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Speaker 1: Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave a

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Speaker 1: rating and a review on that front. We also have

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Speaker 1: brand new social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

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Speaker 1: where we're releasing content throughout the year. Make sure you

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Speaker 1: guys follow us there, and the last but not least,

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Speaker 1: keep dropping mailback questions and the YouTube comments that we

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Speaker 1: can keep getting to them throughout the remainder of the season.

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Speaker 1: A right, let's talk some basketball. So is there something

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Speaker 1: wrong with the Boston Celtics. They've actually won five out

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Speaker 1: of seven, but as you zoom out, a couple of

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Speaker 1: disappointing losses in there, right, Like you get kind of

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Speaker 1: bludgeoned in the second half against Oklahoma City. There's that

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Speaker 1: embarrassing loss at home to the Kings without beer and Fox.

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Speaker 1: And if you zoom out even further, they're seven and

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Speaker 1: six since December nineteenth, so a thirteen game span where

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Speaker 1: they're basically playing five hundred basketball. The weird thing is

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Speaker 1: is they're actually top five in both offensive rating and

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Speaker 1: defensive rating in that span. One of the many reasons

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Speaker 1: why I'm not super concerned is that every single time

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Speaker 1: Boston kind of comes out and plays pissed off. They

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Speaker 1: don't just win, they beat the shit out of people.

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Speaker 1: And that's what's influencing those advanced metrics to steal and

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Speaker 1: to still appear good despite the seven and six record, Right,

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Speaker 1: But again, like that's kind of part of the natural

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Speaker 1: pullback that I would have expected to see this year

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Speaker 1: with the defending champion. So before we get into any

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Speaker 1: more detail about the specific things that Boston struggling with,

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Speaker 1: I want to give my take, my take on this

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Speaker 1: whole situation. I'm not concerned in the big picture about

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Speaker 1: slippage with the Boston Celtics, our Oklahoma City and Cleveland

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Speaker 1: legitimate threats to them, yes, But we knew that coming

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Speaker 1: in before the season, right, like different teams, Like we

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Speaker 1: all knew Oklahoma City would be in that mix, but

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Speaker 1: we thought maybe it was going to be in New York,

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Speaker 1: Maybe it was going to be a Denver or somebody

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Speaker 1: like that, Right, We didn't know who was going to

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Speaker 1: be that that was in that mix. But we knew

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Speaker 1: that there was going to be more competition with Boston

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Speaker 1: this year. We knew that in general, that this was

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Speaker 1: a year that they were going to face more adversity

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Speaker 1: because I mean, even though they were an extremely dominant

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Speaker 1: team last year, they got some favorable matchups on the

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Speaker 1: way through the playoff picture, they're probably going to face

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Speaker 1: some tougher teams this year. Everyone knew, including Celtics fans,

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Speaker 1: this year's probably going to be tougher than it was

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Speaker 1: last year. And if you look at teams like Cleveland

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Speaker 1: and Oklahoma City, it's impossible for Boston to keep up

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Speaker 1: with them in the standings. Why, Like those two teams

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Speaker 1: are simply more motivated on a night in, night out basis.

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Speaker 1: Right now, Boston knows the ultimate goal. They know what

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Speaker 1: they're about to run into when they get to April,

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Speaker 1: May and June. They know they probably have a full

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Speaker 1: month of two playoff series to get tuned up before

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Speaker 1: they even run into a team like at Cleveland should

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Speaker 1: they run into them in late May. Right, So, this

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Speaker 1: is kind of a natural pullback that you'd come to expect.

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Speaker 1: Like Jalen Brown has a Finals MVP Trophy, He's not

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Speaker 1: going to be attacking things on the defensive end of

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Speaker 1: the floor with the same level of intensity as players

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Speaker 1: for the Cleveland Cavaliers that feel like they're on the

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Speaker 1: verge of something special. Boston's at a different phase of

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Speaker 1: their development, So to be clear, I think most of

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Speaker 1: this is just typical regular season malays, and Boston will

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Speaker 1: have plenty of time to get right. They'll have probably

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Speaker 1: two full series against teams they'll be heavily favored over

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Speaker 1: in order to get kind of their habits and principles

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Speaker 1: back to where they need it to be. So before

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Speaker 1: we go any further, I don't think Boston should be panicking.

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Speaker 1: I think they need to have the appropriate amount of

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Speaker 1: fear of their opponents, something we've talked about a lot

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Speaker 1: over the last couple of weeks. But I still feel

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Speaker 1: more or less the same way than I did before

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Speaker 1: the season. But let's talk what are the differences between

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Speaker 1: the Celtics this year and last year. First, let's take

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Speaker 1: a look at the facts. They are shooting the ball

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Speaker 1: very well. As a team. They're shooting thirty six point

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Speaker 1: two percent from three, that's fifteenth in the NBA. Last year,

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Speaker 1: they were thirty eight point eight percent from three, which

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Speaker 1: was second in the NBA. Of the eight guys who

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Speaker 1: were in their playoff rotation last year, which we remember

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Speaker 1: is Derek White, Drew Holliday, Tatum and Brown, Porzingis, Horford, Howser,

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Speaker 1: and Pritchard. Those are the eight core guys that carried

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Speaker 1: the Celtics to a championship last year. Obviously with some

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Speaker 1: spot performances from guys covering for Porzingis or as the

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Speaker 1: leads got out of hand at certain parts of games,

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Speaker 1: but that was the core eight. Seven of those eight

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Speaker 1: guys are down or down year over year, and they're

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Speaker 1: three point shooting in. Five of those guys are down significantly.

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Speaker 1: Drue Holiday is down eight point six percent year over

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Speaker 1: year from three, nowhere near the knockdown guy in the

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Speaker 1: corner that he was last year. Jalen Brown down three

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Speaker 1: and a half percent. Horford's down five percent, Porzingis two

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Speaker 1: point eight percent, Derek White one point seven percent, Tatum

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Speaker 1: down one point seven percent, Sam Houser down four point

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Speaker 1: eight percent. Prichard's the only guy who's up year over

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Speaker 1: year three point shooting compared to last year. As a team,

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Speaker 1: they're converting spot up possessions a whole five points per

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Speaker 1: one hundred possessions worse than they did last year. The

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Speaker 1: weird thing is is they're taking more threes. They're taking

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Speaker 1: seven additional threes per game compared to last year as

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Speaker 1: a team, but in terms of unguarded threes percentergy, they're

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Speaker 1: only generating one additional unguarded three. They're also generating four

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Speaker 1: point eight fewer points in the paint per game and

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Speaker 1: taking two additional pull up jump shots per game compared

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Speaker 1: to last year. What does all that add up to?

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Speaker 1: That's textbook settling, right, like what is the Celtics offensive process?

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Speaker 1: The Celtics offensive process is what took off for them

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Speaker 1: between the twenty twenty two season and the twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: four season, where they went from a team that was

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Speaker 1: immensely talented that was underachieving to a team that kicked

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Speaker 1: everybody's ass and won the trophy. The fundamental thing that

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Speaker 1: changed was specifically Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, but also

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Speaker 1: Derek Why. Everyone was involved to various extents, but the

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Speaker 1: primary shot creators in particular became advantage creators, which formed

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Speaker 1: a brand of driving kick basketball, meeting people playing off

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Speaker 1: of that advantage and just getting wide open, unguarded catch

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Speaker 1: and shoot threes and easy attempts at the rim, or

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Speaker 1: creating so much space in these iso and post up

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Speaker 1: situations where they can bludgeon teams, and by the way,

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Speaker 1: like they're still very very good at that. Jason Tatum's

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Speaker 1: having one of the best iso seasons in NBA history.

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Speaker 1: Jalen Brown's having one of the best post up seasons

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Speaker 1: in NBA history. Jalen Brown is just getting so incredibly

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Speaker 1: good at positional ceiling, like instead of like catching in

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Speaker 1: the post just to take a fade away over either shoulder,

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Speaker 1: which by the way, he's great at, and he's gonna

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Speaker 1: do a lot of that when they get to the postseason.

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Speaker 1: He's got really good at like fighting for the types

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Speaker 1: of post position that lead to direct layups, so like

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Speaker 1: and whenever someone tries to three quarter front or front

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Speaker 1: him creating good sea angles for and over the top

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Speaker 1: pass making physically aggressive moves towards the basket instead of

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Speaker 1: relying on that fadeaway. He's up over like one point

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Speaker 1: four points per possession in post ups. Even in the

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Speaker 1: catastrophe against the Kings, it was like Kean Ellis Jalen

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Speaker 1: Brown bludgeoning him in the post, bludgeoning him in the post,

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Speaker 1: bludgeoning him in the post, over and over and over again.

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Speaker 1: Like that's there's so much good that they do there.

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Speaker 1: But again, the primary like end result of the best

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Speaker 1: possessions that Boston generates with their offense are wide open

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Speaker 1: catch and shoot threes and easy layups at the basket.

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Speaker 1: That's actually the target. These like ISOs in post up

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Speaker 1: sequences for Tatum and Brown, you'd actually prefer for them

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Speaker 1: to be few and far between. Right. So, like now,

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Speaker 1: if we take a simple psychological look at what's happening

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Speaker 1: with the Celtics compared to the Thunder and the Calves,

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Speaker 1: there's a the level of physical intensity that's not there

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Speaker 1: for Boston that's there for the other two teams, again

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Speaker 1: to be expected. Oklahoma City, Yeah they were the one

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Speaker 1: seed last year, but they were barely the one seed

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Speaker 1: this year. They're a runaway one seed that feels like

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Speaker 1: they're doing something special. Right, just kick the shit out

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Speaker 1: of the Knicks the other night. They're riding high Cleveland.

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Speaker 1: They're at a seventy one win pace, even after losing

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Speaker 1: to the Pacers last night. Those two teams are on

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Speaker 1: trajectories where every regular season game feels like another opportunity

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Speaker 1: to add to this special story they're telling. Boston could

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Speaker 1: give a shit about any of this. They just want

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Speaker 1: to be ready to go in June when they need

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Speaker 1: to get the trophy. So that's naturally going to lead

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Speaker 1: to like a little bit of a drawback in terms

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Speaker 1: of physical aggression. How is that going to manifest? Settling? Right?

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Speaker 1: Because it vantaged creation. Actually drawing multiple bodies requires a

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Speaker 1: certain amount of physical exertion, whether that's beating your man

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Speaker 1: cleanly off the dribble, aggressively fighting for post position so

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Speaker 1: that you can get the kinds of inside seals that

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Speaker 1: Tatum and Brown get that generate those four on threes

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Speaker 1: off of the over the top pass from a guy

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Speaker 1: like Derek White. There's a physical aggression element to advantage creation.

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Speaker 1: And when you're being lazy as a shot creator, you're

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Speaker 1: settling for jump shots in a lot of those situations.

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Speaker 1: And so the numbers pretty clearly say because points in

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Speaker 1: the painter are down, pull up, jump shots are up,

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Speaker 1: everyone's three point shooting is down even though the volume

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Speaker 1: is up. That screams we're settling. Okay, that's a certain

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Speaker 1: amount of like to be expected under the circumstance. The

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Speaker 1: question is will they be able to snap out of

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Speaker 1: it when the time comes, And I believe they will. Again,

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Speaker 1: I think most of This is about Boston with their

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Speaker 1: eyes on the prize more being just not very much

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Speaker 1: in the moment, whereas Cleveland and Oklahoma City are living

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Speaker 1: very much in the moment right now. And so again

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Speaker 1: it's just leading to a little bit decline in the

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Speaker 1: sharpness for Boston. But I believe that when push comes

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Speaker 1: to shove and they get into these serious situations, that

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Speaker 1: brand of basketball is still in there. And here's the

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Speaker 1: thing we talk about it. It might take them falling

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Speaker 1: down into playoff series, like they're gonna almost certainly be

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Speaker 1: on the road for the Eastern Conference finals, and then

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Speaker 1: if Oklahoma City wins the West, they will almost certainly

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Speaker 1: be on the road in the NBA Finals if they

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Speaker 1: are to make it to that point, right, So, like

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Speaker 1: that's to be expected that you're gonna be playing on

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Speaker 1: the road. You split, or they get one, or they

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Speaker 1: get both at home, you could be sitting to down

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Speaker 1: to one in a series, and Boston very well, it

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Speaker 1: may take them getting down two to zero in a

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Speaker 1: series before they snap out of it. Obviously, if you

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Speaker 1: do that, you play with fire, and anytime you play

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Speaker 1: with fire, you could go cold and you get yourself beat.

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Speaker 1: Boston is not a runaway championship favorite. They're the slight favorite.

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Speaker 1: They are absolutely beatable, but when push comes to shove,

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Speaker 1: if they engage themselves, they still have the most versatile

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Speaker 1: personnel on both ends of the floor that everybody that

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Speaker 1: anybody in this league has. If you go down the line,

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Speaker 1: Derek White, Drew Holiday, Tatum, Porzingis Horford all very good defensively, passing, shooting,

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Speaker 1: ball handling. All of them can do everything so well

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Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor that there's just so

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Speaker 1: many different configurations that they can win with in terms

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Speaker 1: of their style on both ends of the floor. It

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Speaker 1: just gives them a lot of versatility when they get

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Speaker 1: into the postseason. That still is their trump card. That

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Speaker 1: still is the thing that makes them so scary when

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Speaker 1: they get into that situation. So I've remained positive. Now.

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Speaker 1: One guy I want to say I'm a little tiny

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Speaker 1: bit concerned about is Jaylen Brown. I don't particularly like

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Speaker 1: the brand of basketball he's been playing as of late.

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Speaker 1: For starters, He's been flat out bad on defense for

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Speaker 1: long stretches, floating around taking bad gambles. He had a

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Speaker 1: really bad gamble off of Keegan Murray and Crunch time

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Speaker 1: of the King's game where he gave up a wide

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Speaker 1: open three on the right wing. He's had stretches where,

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Speaker 1: like almost every bad Celtics defensive stretch starts with Jalen

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Speaker 1: Brown kind of doing the bare minimum at the beginning

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Speaker 1: of these possessions in his ball pressure situations. That's been

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Speaker 1: part of it. I also haven't loved his offensive approach

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Speaker 1: as of late. He's had some success, like we talked about,

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Speaker 1: he just destroyed Keon Ellison the post to start the

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Speaker 1: King's game, but he's been kind of playing a bit

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Speaker 1: on an island. What I mean by that is like

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Speaker 1: it disrupts the rhythm and flow of the other guys

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Speaker 1: on the team, a lot of co opting possessions, dribbling

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Speaker 1: the air out of the basketball on ISO's over penetrating,

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Speaker 1: turning the ball over again existing on an island instead

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Speaker 1: of playing the role that he played last year. And again,

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Speaker 1: it's weird because, like then, he'll also have these stretches

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Speaker 1: where he's driving and kicking and he's doing some of

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Speaker 1: his best playmaking work that I've ever seen him do,

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Speaker 1: like mixed in with otherwise frustrating basketball. And again, I

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Speaker 1: think most of it has to do with that same

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Speaker 1: concept we were talking about earlier. Jalen Brown is a

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Speaker 1: Finals MVP. He literally has the Bill Russell Trophy at home. Okay,

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Speaker 1: like that's going to change your perspective on these January

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Speaker 1: games when you're playing on the most talented roster in

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Speaker 1: the league. That's why I'm not particularly concerned. So when

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Speaker 1: you combine that with the fact that he's also just

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Speaker 1: not shooting the ball well from three. He's just twenty

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Speaker 1: seven percent from three in his last thirteen games, that's

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Speaker 1: caused for some iffy basketball from Jalen Brown. It's been

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Speaker 1: part of the problem for the Celtics as of late.

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Speaker 1: Tatum has been pretty consistently great and has been kind

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Speaker 1: of the foundation that's maintained stability in this stretch. I

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Speaker 1: thought he was incredible last night in the Pelicans game,

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Speaker 1: pulling that one out. He struggled with turnovers a little

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Speaker 1: bit in the Sacramento game, just sloppy. He's throwing the

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Speaker 1: ball out of bounds a couple of times, just didn't

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Speaker 1: see health defense coming and was just getting surprised by stuff.

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Speaker 1: Just kind of a bad game on that front. But again,

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Speaker 1: I thought he was amazing in the Pels game and

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Speaker 1: so as we kind of zoom out look at the

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Speaker 1: big picture for the Celtics, Yeah, the Celtics are not

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Speaker 1: as sharp as the thunder and the Cavs are right now. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: they're settling a little bit and they're not shooting the

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Speaker 1: ball very well. But most of this is to be

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Speaker 1: expected because the Celtics are in a different phase of

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Speaker 1: their development, in a different phase of their motivational kind

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Speaker 1: of outlook heading into this part of the season. As

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Speaker 1: long as they clean things up in time for the playoffs,

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Speaker 1: I still think they have the most versatile playoff talent

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Speaker 1: in the league. All Right, Moving on to Denver, They've

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Speaker 1: won three in a row, seven out of nine in

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Speaker 1: this nine game span. They're second in offense, eighth in defense.

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Speaker 1: Nicole Jokic in this stretches averaging thirty four points, fifteen rebounds,

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Speaker 1: and eleven assists. I pulled this stat yesterday. Like, in

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Speaker 1: this stretch, Jokic has basically been putting up the same

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Speaker 1: numbers as Jimmy Butler and bam Adebayo in their combined

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Speaker 1: season averages. This year. Just goes to show you the

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Speaker 1: type of statistical, just sheer production that Jokic is putting

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Speaker 1: out there. Aaron Gordon came back from his injury in

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Speaker 1: a bench roll, kind of like a minute's restriction type

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Speaker 1: of deal versus the Mavericks yesterday, and he was awesome.

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Speaker 1: Like Dallas really jumped the Nuggets early. And again I

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Speaker 1: keep telling everybody, I think Dallas is pretty good. Like

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Speaker 1: even with al Kyrie and Luca, I just think they

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Speaker 1: have one of the best rosters in the league. So

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Speaker 1: much defensive talent, so much additional ball handling. You saw

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Speaker 1: what Spencer Dinn, what he can do when he's just

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Speaker 1: given the keys to that Dallas offense. It's like he's

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Speaker 1: born to play in that offense. But they kind of

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Speaker 1: jumped Denver early. But Aaron Gordon was a huge part

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Speaker 1: of their comeback. And Russell Westbrook is the main guy

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Speaker 1: that I want to talk about today. He's averaging seventeen points,

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Speaker 1: eight rebounds, and eight assists on fifty six percent from

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Speaker 1: the field. The efficiency for him this year is at

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Speaker 1: an all time high. I was surprised to see this

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Speaker 1: morning that Russ had never posted an effective field goal percentage. Again,

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Speaker 1: effective field goal percentage is just your field goal percentage

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Speaker 1: with weighted for threes. That's all It is doesn't include

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Speaker 1: free throws. It's not tru shooting percentage, just field goals

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Speaker 1: waited for threes. He's never posted a season over fifty

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Speaker 1: percent in effective field goal percentage is in his entire

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Speaker 1: career Before this season, He's at fifty two percent in

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Speaker 1: EFFECTI field goal percentage fifty four point three percent in

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Speaker 1: true shooting percentage, which is the fourth highest mark of

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Speaker 1: his entire career. The big thing that's swinging that in

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Speaker 1: his favor is his finishing at the rate. Russell Westbrook

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Speaker 1: in his last season with the Lakers before getting traded

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Speaker 1: in the twenty twenty three campaign, in fifty two games,

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Speaker 1: he shot fifty one percent at the rim perc energy.

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Speaker 1: He's shooting sixty five point two percent at the rim

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Speaker 1: this year for the Denver Nuggets. That's again, fourteen percent

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Speaker 1: higher than he was his last season with the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: ten percent higher than his full season that he had

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Speaker 1: with the Lakers. Another big thing that's driving this is

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Speaker 1: just his cutting to the basket off of Jokic post ups.

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Speaker 1: In particular, he had just ten cuts in those fifty

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Speaker 1: two games, and that twenty twenty three season with the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: he's had twenty eight cuts in thirty eight games for

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Speaker 1: the Nuggets this year. That's makes on cuts so ten

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Speaker 1: made baskets in fifty two games last season for the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: twenty eight made baskets on cuts in thirty eight games

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Speaker 1: with the Nuggets so far this year. One of the

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Speaker 1: big reasons why cutting off of post ups is so important,

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Speaker 1: and part of this is like what makes Jokic such

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Speaker 1: a unique player and how he can kind of breakdown defenses.

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Speaker 1: You know, there was a lot of posting up that

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Speaker 1: was taking place with the Lakers in particular, but their

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Speaker 1: spacing principles weren't very good. And one of the things

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Speaker 1: that would happen in particular too is like when Lebron

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Speaker 1: would post up, Anthony Davis just wasn't a perimeter threat,

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Speaker 1: so it would cousse some like kind of spacing issues

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Speaker 1: in the middle of the floor that didn't make things

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Speaker 1: easier for us. Again, anytime this kind of stuff happens,

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Speaker 1: it's always a combination of factors, right, Like, do I

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Speaker 1: wish Russ would have cut more? You bet your ass.

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Speaker 1: I really wish he would have been a more active

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Speaker 1: participant off the ball, moving screening, just trying to be

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Speaker 1: a threat when he didn't have the ball in his hand.

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Speaker 1: He's definitely doing it more now. Some of that is

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Speaker 1: Russ's fault, but some of it is also Mike Malone

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Speaker 1: and the Nuggets. They're just a more organized offense, especially

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Speaker 1: in post up situations with their motion. A lot of

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Speaker 1: Lakers post ups end and guys just kind of standing

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Speaker 1: around on the perimeter. Some of that is a team

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00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,080
Speaker 1: wide kind of issue, right, And then the third part

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Speaker 1: of it is Jokisch. Like as good as Lebron James

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Speaker 1: has been in his late career here with the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: I don't think Lebron's had a case to be the

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Speaker 1: best player in the world since like maybe that first

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Speaker 1: stretch right after they won the title in twenty twenty,

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Speaker 1: but like he hasn't been at that level really in

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Speaker 1: the twenty twenty two or twenty twenty three seasons, Like

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Speaker 1: there was a drop off for him. And so like

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Speaker 1: Yo Kicch is better, that makes life easier. The Nuggets

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Speaker 1: are more organized, That makes life easier. Russ has also

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Speaker 1: improved in his participation off the ball cutting, which is

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Speaker 1: getting in more of those situations. But again, one of

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Speaker 1: the reasons why cutting off of post ups is so

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Speaker 1: valuable is because usually the guy being posted up is

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Speaker 1: being guarded by a big defender. So if Yo Kicch

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Speaker 1: is being guarded by a big rim protector, think of

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Speaker 1: it like a gafferd er Lively or something along those lines. Like,

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Speaker 1: And there were even stretches where they put centers on

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Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook in that game yesterday, which I thought was interesting,

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Speaker 1: and that was kind of what was causing problems. Russ

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00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:52,320
Speaker 1: Westbrook got two cuts, easy ones right at the rim

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Speaker 1: because they were doubling off of him, Like he passed

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Speaker 1: the ball to Yokich and then just cut to the

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Speaker 1: front of the rim and be wide open, right, and

429
00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,440
Speaker 1: like that's part of the the issue with doubling off

430
00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:03,960
Speaker 1: of the passer is like typically that ends up giving

431
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:05,800
Speaker 1: up a wing three. But if you cut off of it,

432
00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:07,960
Speaker 1: you can get layups out of it as well. But again,

433
00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,399
Speaker 1: if you imagine if you're cutting into the lane in

434
00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:12,919
Speaker 1: a normal circumstances where a rim protector's waiting on you,

435
00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:14,920
Speaker 1: it's just really congested and it can be an issue.

436
00:21:14,960 --> 00:21:17,479
Speaker 1: But if the rim protector is accounted for in the

437
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,040
Speaker 1: post up, then if you cut behind it, you have

438
00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:23,080
Speaker 1: an opportunity to finish where there's less traffic. That's why

439
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,040
Speaker 1: cutting off of post ups is so important. Russ has

440
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:27,440
Speaker 1: been just doing a really good job of it this year. Also,

441
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,639
Speaker 1: shooting three is a lot better. Russ is hitting thirty

442
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,480
Speaker 1: six percent of his unguarded threes this year perc Entergy,

443
00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:38,040
Speaker 1: one point zero nine points per shot. He was at

444
00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,440
Speaker 1: just thirty one percent in twenty twenty three with the

445
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:42,680
Speaker 1: Lakers zero point nine to three points per shot, thirty

446
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:44,639
Speaker 1: two percent in his full season with the Lakers in

447
00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:47,359
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two zero point nine four points per shot.

448
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,600
Speaker 1: So he's like getting an extra fifteen points per one

449
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,200
Speaker 1: hundred Russell Westbrook spot up possessions when he's unguarded. That's

450
00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:58,600
Speaker 1: a substantial difference. Like, there's two parts to playing basketball

451
00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:01,119
Speaker 1: when your guard like Russell west there's playing on the

452
00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:03,520
Speaker 1: ball and playing off the ball. In this case, let's

453
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:05,960
Speaker 1: look at it within the context of Jokic playing off

454
00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,320
Speaker 1: of Jokic or playing with Jokic. When he's playing off

455
00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,160
Speaker 1: of Jokic, meaning when Yokic is posting up, or when

456
00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:13,960
Speaker 1: he's running two man game with a different player on

457
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:17,400
Speaker 1: the floor, it's about cutting and finishing and hitting wide

458
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:21,120
Speaker 1: open threes. He's cutting more than ever, finishing better than ever,

459
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,280
Speaker 1: and he's hitting his wide open threes. That is the

460
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:27,199
Speaker 1: thing that he's doing that is making this work. And

461
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:31,040
Speaker 1: then playing with Jokic, it's about him bringing downhill force

462
00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:33,080
Speaker 1: in the two man game. When he's attacking in those

463
00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:35,960
Speaker 1: ball screens or in those dribble handoffs, he gets downhill.

464
00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,800
Speaker 1: When he gets downhill, he engages Jokic's defender as a

465
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:42,800
Speaker 1: drop coverage big. When he engages Yokic's defender as a

466
00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,240
Speaker 1: drop coverage big, he can pop the ball back to

467
00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,879
Speaker 1: Jokic as he's trailing the play in the middle of

468
00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,159
Speaker 1: the paint. That's where he gets to his floaters. As

469
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,919
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, Jokic just hit ten floaters this

470
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:57,120
Speaker 1: year directly off of Russ passes in pick and roll.

471
00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:59,680
Speaker 1: It's been a big part of their success in the

472
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:01,760
Speaker 1: two man game. The easiest way that I could describe

473
00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:07,000
Speaker 1: the Russell Westbrook experience, I did not enjoy rooting for

474
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:09,760
Speaker 1: Russ when he was a Laker. I'm not trying to

475
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,320
Speaker 1: be critical, I'm not trying to be unfair. I'm telling

476
00:23:13,359 --> 00:23:16,000
Speaker 1: you guys, how it literally felt like when I was

477
00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:20,000
Speaker 1: watching the Lakers rooting for him. I wanted Russ to

478
00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,520
Speaker 1: succeed and and it just was bad. He just wasn't

479
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:27,000
Speaker 1: the same player. And there was it was, it was.

480
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:29,119
Speaker 1: There were positive moments. I don't want to pretend like

481
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:30,760
Speaker 1: it was all bad. Russ did have good games when

482
00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:32,439
Speaker 1: he was with the Lakers, but it just felt like

483
00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:34,520
Speaker 1: more bad than good. And it wasn't a fun experience.

484
00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:36,399
Speaker 1: And I'm not alone in that. If you ask us

485
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,080
Speaker 1: other Laker fans, the vast majority of them will tell

486
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,760
Speaker 1: you that rooting for Russell Westbrook was kind of a chore.

487
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:46,200
Speaker 1: I really have had fun watching Russ this year. I've

488
00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:50,600
Speaker 1: enjoyed watching him play basketball. I've enjoyed like watching him

489
00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,760
Speaker 1: kind of experience a little bit of a renaissance, and like,

490
00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:54,840
Speaker 1: if there's anything to be said here, one of the

491
00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,439
Speaker 1: things that I think is really interesting about competitors in

492
00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,199
Speaker 1: general is like I always am interested to see how

493
00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,879
Speaker 1: you respond to the down times, how you respond to losing,

494
00:24:02,880 --> 00:24:06,280
Speaker 1: how you respond to things going poorly right, Like, just

495
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:08,399
Speaker 1: as a Lebron fan, one of my favorite things about

496
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:10,520
Speaker 1: his career is just his ability to bounce back, Like

497
00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:12,639
Speaker 1: kind of had a rough season in the Western Conference

498
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,919
Speaker 1: finals year, he had broken. He had that issue with

499
00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,440
Speaker 1: his foot, if you remember correctly, couldn't make a jump

500
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,320
Speaker 1: shot to save his life. Kept saying after the season, like, Man,

501
00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:25,000
Speaker 1: the Lakers need Lebron to hit jump shots. Man went

502
00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,439
Speaker 1: into the gym that summer, worked his tail off and

503
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:29,280
Speaker 1: came back as one of the best jump shooters in

504
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 1: the league as a thirty nine year old. Like, that's

505
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,119
Speaker 1: what has made Lebron as great as he's been in

506
00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,919
Speaker 1: his career. It's been an unwillingness to accept playing poorly

507
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:43,480
Speaker 1: and a desire to become that kind of like weakness

508
00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:46,480
Speaker 1: free basketball player, if that makes sense. It's been a

509
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,160
Speaker 1: rough go for us as of late in the last

510
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,800
Speaker 1: few years. It's been a mix of bad and good.

511
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:53,840
Speaker 1: It's been a lot of slander. A lot of it's

512
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:55,960
Speaker 1: come from me, some of it most of it deserved

513
00:24:56,440 --> 00:24:58,919
Speaker 1: because of the way he was playing right. But the

514
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,359
Speaker 1: truth of the matter is is like as those times

515
00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,840
Speaker 1: were going poorly, Russ had two options. He could either

516
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,000
Speaker 1: blame everybody else and pout on his way out of

517
00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,800
Speaker 1: the league, or he could adapt and try to make

518
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,680
Speaker 1: better of it. Now, in his press conference comments, he's

519
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,159
Speaker 1: still done a good amount of blame shifting. But in

520
00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:18,760
Speaker 1: terms of his work, in terms of his work behind

521
00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:20,960
Speaker 1: the scenes and what he's doing on the court, it

522
00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,280
Speaker 1: is clear that he's addressed some of his weaknesses. Teams

523
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:26,560
Speaker 1: were leaving wide open. He needed to knock down shots.

524
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,800
Speaker 1: He's been knocking down shots. He needed to do more

525
00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:33,119
Speaker 1: work as an off ball scorer because he's not going

526
00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:35,040
Speaker 1: to operate on ball as much as he used to.

527
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:37,920
Speaker 1: He's done that work and he's become a better off

528
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,119
Speaker 1: ball scorer and he's made himself a better basketball player

529
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,919
Speaker 1: as a result. And again, the easiest way that I

530
00:25:43,920 --> 00:25:47,680
Speaker 1: can quantify it is I enjoy watching Russell Westbrook play basketball. Now.

531
00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:50,080
Speaker 1: One't like that a few years ago in the past.

532
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:52,560
Speaker 1: Peynon Watson was great yesterday too. He's plus thirty and

533
00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:55,800
Speaker 1: thirty three minutes, played a lot with Aaron Gordon on

534
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,840
Speaker 1: his minutes restriction, had a gigantic corner three and crunch

535
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:01,119
Speaker 1: time on a kickout. A lot of big shots this

536
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,520
Speaker 1: year in big spots. Another play too, by the way,

537
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,320
Speaker 1: on that play, Russell Westbrook cut into the lane and

538
00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:08,520
Speaker 1: when he cut into the lane, he didn't get the ball,

539
00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:12,040
Speaker 1: but Klay Thompson, who was guarding Peyton Watson came in

540
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,639
Speaker 1: to kind of help on Russell Westbrook's cut, which is

541
00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 1: what made the skip pass open. Again, like positive returns

542
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,479
Speaker 1: that don't show up in the box score, Russell Westbrook

543
00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:22,040
Speaker 1: being active as a cutter creating that open corner three

544
00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,479
Speaker 1: for Peyton Watson. The Nuggets are last guy I want

545
00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:27,040
Speaker 1: to shout out Michael Porter Junior. He had a rough

546
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:29,480
Speaker 1: shooting game, but he had a couple of huge offensive rebounds,

547
00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:31,920
Speaker 1: including a clutch put back at the end of that one,

548
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:33,720
Speaker 1: And in this nine game stretch he's been great. He's

549
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:35,639
Speaker 1: at twenty points per game on fifty two percent from

550
00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,520
Speaker 1: the field and forty three percent from three. The Nuggets

551
00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:41,680
Speaker 1: are a weird team because they haven't really looked dominant

552
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,399
Speaker 1: at any point this season, like even last night they

553
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:46,720
Speaker 1: were down big to the MAVs without Kyrie and Luca.

554
00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:49,280
Speaker 1: Albeit again I think that's a good roster. There's some

555
00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,680
Speaker 1: weird first half second half splits, like they're nineteenth and

556
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:55,800
Speaker 1: first half net rating getting outscored by three point two

557
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,119
Speaker 1: points per one hundred possessions. They're second in second half

558
00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:02,360
Speaker 1: net rating blowing teams out. They're outscoring teams by eleven

559
00:27:02,400 --> 00:27:04,840
Speaker 1: points per one hundred possessions, second only to the Oklahoma

560
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:08,080
Speaker 1: City Thunder and second halves of games, and they're fourth

561
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:11,400
Speaker 1: in clutch net rating with a one to twenty six

562
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:13,640
Speaker 1: offensive rating. And that's what makes them so hard to quit.

563
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:15,679
Speaker 1: They seem to be digging themselves in a bunch of

564
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:18,399
Speaker 1: holes and like not really looking like a super sharp

565
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,119
Speaker 1: team every single night. But then they just kind of

566
00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:23,199
Speaker 1: figure it out and at the tail end of games,

567
00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:25,280
Speaker 1: they lean on the stuff that's been working for them

568
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,360
Speaker 1: for years and they just keep getting wins. And that's

569
00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:30,439
Speaker 1: why I can't ever write this team off. It's just

570
00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:33,280
Speaker 1: it's the Jokic factor. It's the continuity factor. You still

571
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:35,840
Speaker 1: see Jamal Murray coming off of an action late in

572
00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:37,720
Speaker 1: a game and it just feels like that SHOT's going

573
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:40,840
Speaker 1: in Aaron Gordon. It just continues to do damage on

574
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,960
Speaker 1: both ends of the floor. Like, you just can't quit

575
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,719
Speaker 1: these guys because they're capable of beating anybody, even if

576
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:49,840
Speaker 1: it doesn't look like they're at any sort of world

577
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,600
Speaker 1: beater at this point in time. So like again, Nuggets

578
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 1: starting to turn the corner a little bit, still missing

579
00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:57,600
Speaker 1: that like signature stretch this season, but it very well

580
00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,000
Speaker 1: could take place here in the next couple of weeks

581
00:28:00,520 --> 00:28:03,240
Speaker 1: really quickly on the Suns. A lot of talk about,

582
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:05,920
Speaker 1: you know, just in general pessimism surrounding the Suns. I've

583
00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:08,919
Speaker 1: talked about this before, but like like everyone was out

584
00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:13,080
Speaker 1: on the Lakers, including myself, after that ugly stretch in Miami. Right,

585
00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:15,000
Speaker 1: and they've kind of bounced back a little bit, although

586
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:16,439
Speaker 1: they took a couple of bad losses on a road

587
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,280
Speaker 1: trip recently. It feels like they haven't played in ages

588
00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:21,919
Speaker 1: because of the the fires in Los Angeles, right, But

589
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 1: like the Lakers were down big, the season's not over

590
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,840
Speaker 1: for them. The Warriors have been down big at various

591
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:29,879
Speaker 1: points this season. I still think they're just in the

592
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,640
Speaker 1: mix like anybody else. Sacramento, oh man, the season's over.

593
00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:34,159
Speaker 1: That was such a terrible loss that they had. I

594
00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:35,720
Speaker 1: think it was to the Jazz at the end of

595
00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 1: that losing streak. Bam, they want seven in a row.

596
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:42,160
Speaker 1: They're right back in the mix. The like like there

597
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:44,840
Speaker 1: there's a Minnesota Timberwolve, so another team this year that

598
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:46,400
Speaker 1: got off to a really bad start, but they've had

599
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,560
Speaker 1: at various points looked very good. So like part of

600
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,280
Speaker 1: it is like the Western Conference and just some of

601
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:54,400
Speaker 1: the realities of how these teams that are in that

602
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,640
Speaker 1: I think. I think Dallas and Denver are clearly a

603
00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,280
Speaker 1: level above. Like if you look at OKAC number one,

604
00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 1: and then you have your two young athletic teams right

605
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,280
Speaker 1: so Houston and Memphis, but then you've got Denver in Dallas.

606
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:08,800
Speaker 1: Those are the teams that are clearly not as talented

607
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,040
Speaker 1: as like the top tier talented teams in the league,

608
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:13,760
Speaker 1: but they're right below that tier still with a lot

609
00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:16,920
Speaker 1: of talent and led by APEX superstars that are capable

610
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,160
Speaker 1: of beating anybody in a playoff series. So like Denver

611
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:20,800
Speaker 1: and Dallas are like a level above. And once you

612
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:26,600
Speaker 1: get to that next tier like Lakers, Clippers, Timberwolves, Sons, Kings, Warriors, Spurs,

613
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,240
Speaker 1: like all the teams in that group I kind of

614
00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,200
Speaker 1: think are more or less in the same tier. They're

615
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:34,120
Speaker 1: kind of in the right order. Like, yeah, I'd put

616
00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 1: the Lakers and Clippers and Wolves towards the upper end

617
00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:38,120
Speaker 1: of that tier, and I'd put the Suns and the

618
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:40,880
Speaker 1: Kings and the Spurs and those guys in the lower

619
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:43,240
Speaker 1: end of that tier. But they're all really close and

620
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,760
Speaker 1: they're gonna jump up and down week to week based

621
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,560
Speaker 1: on when they're winning games, and like based on their schedule,

622
00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:51,600
Speaker 1: based on injuries, based on when they decide they want

623
00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:54,080
Speaker 1: to play some better basketball, right, And like, as I'm

624
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:56,040
Speaker 1: looking at the Suns, everybody was burying them, I'm like,

625
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 1: look at their schedule coming up. Look at their schedule

626
00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,080
Speaker 1: coming up. They're gonna bounce back. They've already won three

627
00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:03,560
Speaker 1: games in a row. Bradley Beal's coming off the bench

628
00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,200
Speaker 1: for them now, I think for five games. I wanted

629
00:30:06,240 --> 00:30:08,600
Speaker 1: to talk just briefly about the Bradley Beal thing because

630
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:11,600
Speaker 1: I'm trying to remember which game it was that I

631
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:15,120
Speaker 1: watched that they won the other day. It was the

632
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:16,920
Speaker 1: I think it was the first game that it came

633
00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:18,400
Speaker 1: off the bench. I can't remember which game it was

634
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 1: that I watched. I did a whole film session on

635
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:23,080
Speaker 1: ed on my Twitter feed. I clipped like twenty five

636
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,160
Speaker 1: clips from this game. But the big thing that stood

637
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:28,800
Speaker 1: out to me with Bradley Beal is something that first

638
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 1: started to pop on the numbers and then was something

639
00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:34,600
Speaker 1: that stood out to me pretty starkly on film, which

640
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,760
Speaker 1: is he's just a really bad off ball defender, Like

641
00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,960
Speaker 1: a really, really bad off ball defender. So the Sun's

642
00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:44,680
Speaker 1: defense is six points worse per one hundred possessions when

643
00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:47,280
Speaker 1: Bradley Beal is on the floor versus one he's off.

644
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:49,680
Speaker 1: And the main thing that I noticed is like just

645
00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:54,200
Speaker 1: consistently ending up in like closeout situations, consistently ending up

646
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,200
Speaker 1: in situations where guys are running right around him for

647
00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:00,920
Speaker 1: offensive rebounds because he's standing upright and not paying attention

648
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:02,680
Speaker 1: off the ball. This is kind of like a thing

649
00:31:02,680 --> 00:31:05,080
Speaker 1: that happens with a lot of like primary ball handler

650
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:09,200
Speaker 1: types that are guards that transition into smaller roles. This

651
00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:11,800
Speaker 1: is the same sort of thing that Russell Westbrook used

652
00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,600
Speaker 1: to struggle with really bad. It's when you're an on

653
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:16,640
Speaker 1: ball guard that has a high usage rate the way

654
00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:18,400
Speaker 1: that Russell Westbrook did most of his career, the way

655
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,160
Speaker 1: that Bradley Beal did for most of his career in Washington,

656
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:23,840
Speaker 1: you end up saving energy on the defensive end of

657
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,160
Speaker 1: the floor, and as a team you kind of prepare

658
00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:28,360
Speaker 1: for it. The coaching staff prepares for it. They account

659
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:30,320
Speaker 1: for it with the other players that are on the floor.

660
00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:32,120
Speaker 1: It's kind of an understanding like we're not gonna get

661
00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,640
Speaker 1: as much on the defensive end from this guy because

662
00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:36,800
Speaker 1: he's carrying everything for us on the offensive end of

663
00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,200
Speaker 1: the floor. The problem is, is it beads. It breeds

664
00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,600
Speaker 1: really bad habits when you get into a situation where

665
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:46,840
Speaker 1: suddenly you're playing a smaller role and that offensive load

666
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:48,479
Speaker 1: is just not as big as it used to be.

667
00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 1: And that's the thing is, like, all of a sudden,

668
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,800
Speaker 1: it's like you can't afford to have Bradley Beal standing

669
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,480
Speaker 1: around off ball, leaving shooters, ending up in bad closeout situations,

670
00:31:56,520 --> 00:32:00,360
Speaker 1: giving up offensive rebounds when he's not the folk point

671
00:32:00,360 --> 00:32:02,480
Speaker 1: of your offense. Now, it's like you need him to

672
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,000
Speaker 1: do role player stuff. And like you know, in the

673
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,640
Speaker 1: game that I'm I'm speaking, it's absolutely killing me that

674
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:09,080
Speaker 1: I can't remember which game it was that I was

675
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:13,520
Speaker 1: covering after I spent all that time watching the film.

676
00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:18,440
Speaker 1: It was the Atlanta Hawks. It was the Hawks game

677
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,440
Speaker 1: the other night. So in the Hawks game in particular,

678
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,240
Speaker 1: like brad Beil was awesome on the offensive end consistently,

679
00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:26,840
Speaker 1: it was one of the guys that was generating separation,

680
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,600
Speaker 1: generating quality shots for the Suns. He's important for their

681
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:34,320
Speaker 1: rim pressure. There's so much that Bradley Beal does good

682
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,360
Speaker 1: on the offensive end of the floor, but he undercuts

683
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:39,400
Speaker 1: it with a lack of attention to detail on the

684
00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:41,480
Speaker 1: defensive end of the floor. And like, one of the

685
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:43,160
Speaker 1: things we're seeing with the Sons is like when they

686
00:32:43,240 --> 00:32:47,200
Speaker 1: start to anchor Kevin Durant Bradley or Kevin Durant and

687
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:50,840
Speaker 1: Devin Booker with role player talent, they're having more success

688
00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,120
Speaker 1: when it's also a guitar, when it's Ryan Dunn, when

689
00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:56,240
Speaker 1: it's Grayson Allen out there with those two guys, they're

690
00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:59,840
Speaker 1: kicking everybody's butt because why Grayson Allen is just going

691
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:04,280
Speaker 1: to do his job on defense. Meaning like Grayson Allen's

692
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:06,680
Speaker 1: entire career, just like every other role player, it's been

693
00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:09,640
Speaker 1: like I'm sure as hell better do my job on

694
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:12,160
Speaker 1: this defensive possession off the ball, or my ass is

695
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,680
Speaker 1: gonna be sitting on the bench, right, Like that's gonna

696
00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,360
Speaker 1: lead to a certain level of attention to detail over

697
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:20,240
Speaker 1: the course of his career. That's not gonna be there

698
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,880
Speaker 1: for a ball dominant guard, right And then Ryan Dunnanoso

699
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:30,440
Speaker 1: guitar are literally professional athletes. They're professional Let's just be big,

700
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,000
Speaker 1: tall and fast and be wrecking balls on that end

701
00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:34,720
Speaker 1: of the floor. Also, he's doing a really good job

702
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:38,520
Speaker 1: as a roleman. As of late they're anchoring Kevin Durant

703
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:41,760
Speaker 1: Devin Booker with role player talent and having more success

704
00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:44,160
Speaker 1: that way. Part of the thing that's helped turn them

705
00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:45,800
Speaker 1: around as of late two is Devin Booker is just

706
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:48,040
Speaker 1: playing a lot better after he had been slumping pretty bad.

707
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:50,040
Speaker 1: And then still every time I watch, including in the

708
00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:52,040
Speaker 1: Hawks game, just every time they need to really leverage

709
00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:55,920
Speaker 1: themselves defensively, Kevin Durant can just step up and make

710
00:33:55,960 --> 00:33:57,880
Speaker 1: all the big defensive plays that they need to make.

711
00:33:57,920 --> 00:33:59,840
Speaker 1: And then last night in the win, it was just

712
00:33:59,880 --> 00:34:03,000
Speaker 1: the elbow post ups with KD just drawing that just

713
00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:06,760
Speaker 1: shooting over the top, drawing that extra defender that ends

714
00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:08,799
Speaker 1: up getting the defense in rotation that ended up in

715
00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:11,000
Speaker 1: that corner three for Royce O'Neil that ice the game.

716
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,200
Speaker 1: But so I'm not ready, like everyone just in general,

717
00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:19,600
Speaker 1: this tier of teams, this Lakers, Clippers, Wolves, Spurs, Suns, Kings,

718
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 1: all the teams in that group, Like none of them

719
00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:25,600
Speaker 1: should be written off entirely after a bad week or two,

720
00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:28,279
Speaker 1: but none of them should be taken seriously after a

721
00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:30,800
Speaker 1: good week or two. Either. The only way any of

722
00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:32,880
Speaker 1: those teams I'm going to take seriously is if they

723
00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:35,160
Speaker 1: can separate themselves from that tier. And the only way

724
00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:37,239
Speaker 1: they're going to separate that selves from that tier in

725
00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:39,560
Speaker 1: the standings is by winning games. And the only way

726
00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:42,120
Speaker 1: they're gonna do that is by either improving the roster

727
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:45,799
Speaker 1: improving their attention to detail. Are both for most of

728
00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,920
Speaker 1: those teams, right, So, like again, the Bradley Beal thing

729
00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:51,600
Speaker 1: mostly came down to off ball defense in my opinion,

730
00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:53,360
Speaker 1: it's also allowing him to come into the game and

731
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:55,279
Speaker 1: just look to be aggressive, which is easier for him

732
00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:58,000
Speaker 1: with his offensive rhythm. But again, like with this team,

733
00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:00,400
Speaker 1: just like anybody else in that Western Conference, let's try

734
00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:02,640
Speaker 1: not to overreact to any one or two week sample

735
00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:04,600
Speaker 1: as we wait to see if there's any team in

736
00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:20,759
Speaker 1: that group that can separate. All right, let's get into

737
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:23,200
Speaker 1: our power rankings before we get out of here for

738
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:25,399
Speaker 1: the day. Again, all of our odds are provided by

739
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:30,880
Speaker 1: our partner Draft Kings number ten the Detroit Pistons six

740
00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:34,560
Speaker 1: and one since our last power rankings nine and two.

741
00:35:34,640 --> 00:35:36,960
Speaker 1: In their last eleven games, several quality wins. They beat

742
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,080
Speaker 1: the Wolves, the Kings, the Lakers, and the Suns in

743
00:35:39,120 --> 00:35:42,719
Speaker 1: that span eighth in offense, twelfth in defense, sixth in

744
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,160
Speaker 1: net rating. On the offensive end of the four kad

745
00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:47,560
Speaker 1: Is averaging twenty five points, five remounds and nine assists

746
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:49,960
Speaker 1: on fifty six percent through shooting in that span. Had

747
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,719
Speaker 1: seventeen assists against the Rafters the other night. Just did

748
00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:55,399
Speaker 1: a great job hunting his spot up guys again, Malik

749
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:58,200
Speaker 1: Beasley and Tim Hardaway Junior just bring like green light

750
00:35:58,239 --> 00:36:01,319
Speaker 1: spot up shooting, like any space spot up shooting. Those

751
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:04,600
Speaker 1: guys went eleven for thirteen from three against the Raptors,

752
00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:06,960
Speaker 1: in large part because Kage just kept hunting them whenever

753
00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:08,839
Speaker 1: he could get a chance to get them a look,

754
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:11,600
Speaker 1: even a big shot late in the game, a clutch shot,

755
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:13,839
Speaker 1: just a dribble handoff to Malik Beasley at the top

756
00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,520
Speaker 1: of the key, where Kage just threw the handoff, threw

757
00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:19,120
Speaker 1: a little shoulder in there, got Moleik enough space for

758
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:20,960
Speaker 1: him to knock down that shot. Doing a lot of

759
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,399
Speaker 1: work just methodically in ball screens getting into the middle

760
00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:26,879
Speaker 1: of the floor. One of the things that makes Kay

761
00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:30,880
Speaker 1: Cunningham so difficult to guard is his short range shot making.

762
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,320
Speaker 1: He's shooting forty seven for ninety four on jump shots

763
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:37,239
Speaker 1: that are inside of seventeen feet. That's fifty percent. So

764
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:39,840
Speaker 1: he's hitting half of his jump shots that are inside

765
00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:43,840
Speaker 1: of seventeen feet. He's also fifty seven percent on floaters,

766
00:36:44,239 --> 00:36:46,759
Speaker 1: fifty three percent on hooks. This is the kind of

767
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:48,520
Speaker 1: thing that I've been talking about a lot with Jokic.

768
00:36:48,680 --> 00:36:50,400
Speaker 1: This is like kind of a baby version of it,

769
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:52,279
Speaker 1: that's more of like a perimeter version of it, because

770
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,160
Speaker 1: Yoka just percentages on those shots are all like sixty

771
00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:58,960
Speaker 1: seventy percent, right. But this is what causes k to

772
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,640
Speaker 1: be a very reliable bull shot creator in these types

773
00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:06,040
Speaker 1: of situations. Kaid's score percentage. Remember score percentage is just

774
00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:10,600
Speaker 1: a percentage of possessions that end in points, Okay. Caid's

775
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:15,120
Speaker 1: score percentage on post ups is fifty six percent. A

776
00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:17,160
Speaker 1: Caid post up, if you ran one hundred of them,

777
00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:19,760
Speaker 1: they're going to score at least one point on fifty

778
00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:23,040
Speaker 1: six percent of them. That's the reliability that comes from

779
00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:26,719
Speaker 1: short range shot making. Short range shot making is going

780
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:29,760
Speaker 1: to have shooting percentages that are higher than fifty percent,

781
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:33,319
Speaker 1: which is going to be less you know, dependent on

782
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:36,040
Speaker 1: the variance that can come into the equation when it

783
00:37:36,080 --> 00:37:38,560
Speaker 1: comes to any sort of jump shooting type of situation, right,

784
00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:41,440
Speaker 1: that's a huge part of it. The CAD just brings

785
00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:44,239
Speaker 1: that physicality to Bias. Harris doubles down on the physicality,

786
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:45,880
Speaker 1: had a big driving layup at the end of that

787
00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:48,879
Speaker 1: Toronto Raptors game. Tobias has basically been fifty to forty

788
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:52,480
Speaker 1: ninety in this stretch and it adds to the physicality

789
00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:56,680
Speaker 1: that the front line brings. Jalen Duran he actually ran

790
00:37:56,719 --> 00:37:58,920
Speaker 1: an inverted ball screen the other day where he I

791
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:00,759
Speaker 1: think it was in the Warriors game where he got

792
00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:03,000
Speaker 1: a screen from Cad and just went right downhill and

793
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:05,239
Speaker 1: dunked it with his right hand. But it's just the

794
00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,000
Speaker 1: Isaiah Stewart brings that level of physicality. Jalen Durham brings

795
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:12,000
Speaker 1: that level of physicality. You've got the athleticism of Ron

796
00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:14,560
Speaker 1: Holland and Aasar Thompson that comes into the equation. It's

797
00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:17,239
Speaker 1: layers of athleticism in every phase of the game. But

798
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:20,080
Speaker 1: the shock creation in particular of Caid but also with

799
00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:22,960
Speaker 1: Tobias just hunting these smaller guards, and that's part of

800
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:24,560
Speaker 1: it too. I was talking with a buddy of mine

801
00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:28,839
Speaker 1: earlier today. I saw the Warriors start Dennis Schroeder on CAD.

802
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:32,920
Speaker 1: I wonder if teams need to start bigger defenders on

803
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:35,560
Speaker 1: CAD because of how easily he's getting to where he

804
00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:39,439
Speaker 1: wants to on the floor. But yeah, again, things starting

805
00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:41,920
Speaker 1: to turn around for the Pistons. They're also top five

806
00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:44,640
Speaker 1: and rebounding during the stretch, playing some really good basketball.

807
00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:46,600
Speaker 1: Tough schedule coming up though right now. If you want

808
00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:48,680
Speaker 1: to bet on the Pistons, there plus ten thousand to

809
00:38:48,719 --> 00:38:50,920
Speaker 1: win the title and plus six thousand to win the East.

810
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,960
Speaker 1: Number nine. The Sacramento Kinks seven game win streak, seventh

811
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:58,120
Speaker 1: in offense, third in defense. They're grabbing fifty four point

812
00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:01,280
Speaker 1: four percent of available rebounds on the stretch, bludgeoning teams

813
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,080
Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor on the glass. So

814
00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:06,480
Speaker 1: Bonus had twenty eight points against Boston, or excuse me,

815
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:10,040
Speaker 1: twenty eight rebounds against Boston the other night, Trey Lyles

816
00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:12,200
Speaker 1: had five offensive rebounds in the same game, so thirteen

817
00:39:12,239 --> 00:39:14,680
Speaker 1: offensive rebounds just between those two guys did a ton

818
00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:18,320
Speaker 1: of damage. So Bonus was just thrown around Porzingis and

819
00:39:18,360 --> 00:39:20,480
Speaker 1: Horford in that game. A lot of high quality wins

820
00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:23,680
Speaker 1: in the seven game stretch, all seven wins Dallas, Philly, Memphis,

821
00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:27,880
Speaker 1: Golden State, Miami, Boston, Chicago. Those are all really impressive wins.

822
00:39:27,880 --> 00:39:30,840
Speaker 1: The Boston game in particular, super impressive. No Deer and

823
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:33,799
Speaker 1: Fox in that one. They competed throughout, kept the game

824
00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:35,520
Speaker 1: close with their defense and the rebounding, and then they

825
00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:37,600
Speaker 1: went on a crazy run to start the fourth quarter.

826
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:40,920
Speaker 1: So Joe Mizzoula ends up putting Chris tops Porzingis on

827
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:44,080
Speaker 1: Devin Carter to start the fourth quarter. All game long,

828
00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:49,200
Speaker 1: they house or excuse me, all game long, Missoula put

829
00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:52,319
Speaker 1: centers on to Devin Carter to try to make him

830
00:39:52,400 --> 00:39:54,880
Speaker 1: uncomfortable and just you know, see if he's willing and

831
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:57,080
Speaker 1: able to make them pay with over the top shooting,

832
00:39:57,120 --> 00:40:00,759
Speaker 1: and he hit a three on Cornette early when they

833
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:02,520
Speaker 1: put a center on him, and then to start the

834
00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:06,879
Speaker 1: fourth quarter back to back bombs over Porzingis that forced

835
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:08,800
Speaker 1: them to switch the action. So then all of a sudden,

836
00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:11,879
Speaker 1: Prichard was on Devin Carter. They ran the exact same

837
00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:13,960
Speaker 1: action with Trey Lyles pick and popping to the top

838
00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:15,960
Speaker 1: of the key. Porzingis didn't want to help because he

839
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,080
Speaker 1: was worried about the pick and pop, so Devin Carter

840
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:19,560
Speaker 1: just went right around him and I think it was

841
00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:21,120
Speaker 1: an and one, but it might have just been a layup,

842
00:40:21,160 --> 00:40:23,279
Speaker 1: but he gets a layup, So Devin Carter eight quick

843
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:26,239
Speaker 1: points to start the fourth quarter. Keegan Murray hit three

844
00:40:26,920 --> 00:40:29,359
Speaker 1: huge threes. He was beating nail help and low man

845
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:32,040
Speaker 1: help all night long with like long above the break

846
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:35,080
Speaker 1: threes on the wing. Demarta rose in two just brought

847
00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:36,640
Speaker 1: the game home with the shot making. He was having

848
00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:39,239
Speaker 1: a brutal shooting night, like especially in that second quarter,

849
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:40,719
Speaker 1: was like he couldn't hit a shot to save his life.

850
00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:42,480
Speaker 1: But he had twelve points in the fourth quarter. He

851
00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:45,160
Speaker 1: hit a couple threes as well, some really tough contested

852
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:47,840
Speaker 1: shots that ended up helping to carry things home for

853
00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:51,160
Speaker 1: the Kings in their big upset win. So Bonus was

854
00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:53,279
Speaker 1: doing a ton of damage to Porzingis and Hordford, not

855
00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:55,000
Speaker 1: just on the glass but also picking and popping. He

856
00:40:55,080 --> 00:40:56,839
Speaker 1: had three threes in the game, two pick and pop

857
00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:58,920
Speaker 1: threes early and then also hit a big clutch three.

858
00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:03,480
Speaker 1: I think it was on an offensive rebound kickback. Just

859
00:41:03,480 --> 00:41:06,440
Speaker 1: an absolutely monster road win to legitimize the King's win streak.

860
00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:08,840
Speaker 1: The win string has mostly been about the Kings winning

861
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:12,360
Speaker 1: on the margins though, Like they're forcing sixteen point one

862
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:14,400
Speaker 1: turnovers per game that's third in the league, twenty one

863
00:41:14,440 --> 00:41:17,359
Speaker 1: points per points off of turnovers per game that's third

864
00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:20,120
Speaker 1: in the league. Fourteen offensive rebounds per game in that span,

865
00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:22,680
Speaker 1: that's third in the league. Sixteen point four check a

866
00:41:22,719 --> 00:41:25,479
Speaker 1: second chance points per game in that span, that's third

867
00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:28,360
Speaker 1: in the league. Then on the opposite end, they're top

868
00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:30,960
Speaker 1: ten in opponent points off of turnovers, top ten and

869
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,360
Speaker 1: opponent second chance points, top ten and opponents fast break points,

870
00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:36,360
Speaker 1: and top ten and opponent's points in the paint, So

871
00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:38,799
Speaker 1: they're taking away the easy stuff in the paint. They're

872
00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:41,520
Speaker 1: turning their opponents over and getting out in transition while

873
00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:44,880
Speaker 1: not turning the ball over themselves and keeping their opponents

874
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:47,840
Speaker 1: out of transition, while doing a ton of damage on

875
00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:50,040
Speaker 1: the offensive glass while not letting the opponent do a

876
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:52,720
Speaker 1: ton of damage on the offensive glass. That's it. That'll

877
00:41:52,719 --> 00:41:56,640
Speaker 1: go a long way towards turning things around. Just destroying

878
00:41:56,680 --> 00:41:58,560
Speaker 1: teams on the margins the way that they have in

879
00:41:58,600 --> 00:42:00,880
Speaker 1: this span, and then the offense was finally clicking with

880
00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:03,520
Speaker 1: all the talent that they have in this roster. Darren

881
00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:05,640
Speaker 1: Fox is averaging an efficient twenty nine in the seven

882
00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:07,160
Speaker 1: game win streak, although he's been out for some of

883
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:09,560
Speaker 1: the games, and the Malik Monk Demartin Rosen both over

884
00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:13,040
Speaker 1: twenty points per game, so bonus in this span twenty

885
00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:16,960
Speaker 1: seventeen and seven on sixty percent from the field fifty

886
00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:19,080
Speaker 1: nine percent from three time and time again is hitting

887
00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:21,640
Speaker 1: big three point shots at the end of games. The

888
00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:24,480
Speaker 1: Kings of the latest Western Conference team that looked completely

889
00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:27,200
Speaker 1: dead in the water but then successfully resuscitated their season

890
00:42:27,239 --> 00:42:29,560
Speaker 1: and why I'm pretty much unwilling to write anybody off

891
00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:32,160
Speaker 1: at this point. They are plus nine thousand to win

892
00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:37,520
Speaker 1: the title, plus thirty five hundred to win the Western Conference.

893
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:41,040
Speaker 1: Number eight the Indiana Pacers, winners of six in a row,

894
00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:43,400
Speaker 1: twelve of their last fifteen. They are now all the

895
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:45,839
Speaker 1: way up to fifth in the Eastern Conference, and last

896
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:48,040
Speaker 1: night they pulled off one of the most impressive wins

897
00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:50,840
Speaker 1: of the season, just dominating the Cavs in Cleveland in

898
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:53,799
Speaker 1: the second half, shutting down their offense. They outscored the

899
00:42:53,800 --> 00:42:55,640
Speaker 1: cast sixty eight to forty in the second half and

900
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:58,640
Speaker 1: did it almost entirely with ball pressure. In the third quarter,

901
00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:01,080
Speaker 1: they just started pressuring the hell out of Cleveland in

902
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:04,240
Speaker 1: the back court and playing those kick ahead passing lanes

903
00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:06,520
Speaker 1: that Cleveland lives on a lot of the time, and

904
00:43:06,520 --> 00:43:10,919
Speaker 1: it just completely discombobulated the Calves. They had seven turnovers

905
00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:15,080
Speaker 1: just in the third quarter that led to twelve Pacers points,

906
00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:16,799
Speaker 1: and then in the half court when they did get

907
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:18,600
Speaker 1: up the floor, they just looked kind of sped up

908
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:20,840
Speaker 1: and out of control. The Pacers ended up grabbing that

909
00:43:20,880 --> 00:43:23,400
Speaker 1: game by the reins and never let go. In the streak,

910
00:43:23,560 --> 00:43:27,480
Speaker 1: the Pacers are third in offense, eighth in defense, eighth

911
00:43:27,520 --> 00:43:29,359
Speaker 1: in rebounding, and you don't need to look too much

912
00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:31,080
Speaker 1: further than that. Like a lot of things are going

913
00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:35,000
Speaker 1: right for Indy, like Siakam's playing great, Andrew Nemhard being

914
00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:37,160
Speaker 1: back has helped a lot, Like they're sixteen and eight

915
00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:39,040
Speaker 1: when he plays this year, in five and ten when

916
00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:40,760
Speaker 1: he doesn't, so when he was injured for that amount

917
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:43,560
Speaker 1: of time, it really hurt things. Jars Walker's become one

918
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:46,160
Speaker 1: of my favorite young role players to watch. It's really

919
00:43:46,239 --> 00:43:48,920
Speaker 1: starting to blossom into a useful ford. He had a

920
00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:51,239
Speaker 1: couple of huge poke away steals. He'll get aggressive from

921
00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:53,560
Speaker 1: behind on steels like he gets beat or if he's

922
00:43:53,560 --> 00:43:56,279
Speaker 1: in chase like trail position on anything, he just starts

923
00:43:56,280 --> 00:43:58,600
Speaker 1: swiping at the basketball with his long arms. He had

924
00:43:58,719 --> 00:44:00,680
Speaker 1: a couple of big poke way steels in the second

925
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:03,120
Speaker 1: halfingains Cleveland. He's been a high steels guy per minute

926
00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:06,160
Speaker 1: all season and really all of his career, shooting forty

927
00:44:06,160 --> 00:44:08,960
Speaker 1: percent from three. Run some legit action, like he had

928
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:11,000
Speaker 1: a ball screen in the third quarter with Thomas Bryant,

929
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:13,279
Speaker 1: whre he put his defender in jail and brought over

930
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:15,719
Speaker 1: the rim protector and dropped it off to Thomas got

931
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:18,759
Speaker 1: an easy bucket. All the pick and roll reps that

932
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:20,560
Speaker 1: I've watched with Jaris Walker this year, he's just done

933
00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:23,160
Speaker 1: a really nice job of using his size, like using

934
00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:26,320
Speaker 1: all that means there is like if a ball screen

935
00:44:26,360 --> 00:44:28,920
Speaker 1: comes and the guy chases over the top, if you

936
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:30,920
Speaker 1: run it right, like where if you actually make shoulder

937
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:33,759
Speaker 1: to shoulder contact and time everything properly and set your

938
00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:35,480
Speaker 1: man up for the screen, you're gonna get him in

939
00:44:35,520 --> 00:44:38,600
Speaker 1: trail position. Once he's in trail position, if you're bigger,

940
00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:41,680
Speaker 1: then you can just methodically work to whatever spot you

941
00:44:41,719 --> 00:44:43,480
Speaker 1: want by just kind of reverse post ups. We talked

942
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:45,480
Speaker 1: about that with Luca in the Timberwolve series. It's like

943
00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:48,040
Speaker 1: a reverse post up because as you come over the screen,

944
00:44:48,239 --> 00:44:50,520
Speaker 1: the defender gets on your backside and then you're kind

945
00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:53,600
Speaker 1: of just posting him but forward, like you're ceiling him

946
00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:56,120
Speaker 1: behind you while you methodically work your way forward to

947
00:44:56,200 --> 00:44:58,080
Speaker 1: try to either bring a help defender over so you

948
00:44:58,080 --> 00:45:00,279
Speaker 1: can throw a pass, or if they sag back, that's

949
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:01,919
Speaker 1: when you can go to your short range shot making,

950
00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:03,840
Speaker 1: which by the way, is pretty good at the shot making.

951
00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:07,640
Speaker 1: Piece two. He's actually run sixty three ISO's pick and

952
00:45:07,719 --> 00:45:09,600
Speaker 1: rolls and post ups this year, including passes that have

953
00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:11,520
Speaker 1: led to sixty four points, So that's over a point

954
00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:14,160
Speaker 1: per possession for a second year forward who is, you know,

955
00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:16,839
Speaker 1: a role player type of prospect. Like, it's really really

956
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:20,759
Speaker 1: impressive stuff from him. So again, terres Walker's great, Nemhart's

957
00:45:20,760 --> 00:45:24,000
Speaker 1: back playing great, Sachem's playing great, Halliburton's been really good

958
00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:26,120
Speaker 1: as of late up until the injury, which we'll talk

959
00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:28,320
Speaker 1: about in a minute. All that's good, and all that's great,

960
00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:31,480
Speaker 1: but the main thing that's driving this turnaround for the

961
00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:35,200
Speaker 1: Pacers is their defense and rebounding. Before this fifteen game

962
00:45:35,239 --> 00:45:37,239
Speaker 1: stretch where they've won twelve out of fifteen, they are

963
00:45:37,239 --> 00:45:40,920
Speaker 1: twenty fourth in defense, twenty seventh and rebounding. In the

964
00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:43,359
Speaker 1: time of the fifteen game stretch, where they're twelve and three,

965
00:45:43,480 --> 00:45:47,520
Speaker 1: eighth in defense, eighth and rebounding. That's really it, Like

966
00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:51,640
Speaker 1: they have to compete on the margins to give themselves

967
00:45:51,719 --> 00:45:54,880
Speaker 1: a chance, especially when you're as undersized as they can

968
00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:57,279
Speaker 1: be on the perimeter, Like you've got to leverage yourself

969
00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:00,759
Speaker 1: athletically on both ends of the floor, running up and

970
00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:02,560
Speaker 1: down the floor at that pace that makes the pacer

971
00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:05,640
Speaker 1: so good. By pressuring the ball by trying to force turnovers.

972
00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:07,319
Speaker 1: They don't really force a ton of turnovers, but that

973
00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:09,160
Speaker 1: was a big part of how they beat Cleveland, and

974
00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:11,400
Speaker 1: in the last few games they've been forcing more turnovers,

975
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:15,279
Speaker 1: which has helped things. Again, like by ball pressuring, you

976
00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:17,600
Speaker 1: can discombobulate your opponent and cause it to be more

977
00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:19,200
Speaker 1: of an up and down type of game, and an

978
00:46:19,239 --> 00:46:20,880
Speaker 1: up and down type of game is going to favor

979
00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:24,359
Speaker 1: the Pacers more often than not. One big bummer, though,

980
00:46:24,640 --> 00:46:27,600
Speaker 1: tyres Alliburton had been looking a bit more like himself.

981
00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:30,640
Speaker 1: He in this stretch, this fifteen game stretch was averaging

982
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:32,920
Speaker 1: nineteen points and ten rebounds on forty nine percent from

983
00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:35,200
Speaker 1: the field forty one percent from three to eighty eight

984
00:46:35,239 --> 00:46:38,280
Speaker 1: percent from the line. But then he left at halftime

985
00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:40,880
Speaker 1: with hamstring tightness, and obviously, with everything that we know

986
00:46:40,960 --> 00:46:45,400
Speaker 1: about Tyres Alliburton's history, that's obviously super concerning. So hopefully

987
00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:48,640
Speaker 1: we get some good news on that front sooner than later.

988
00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:50,840
Speaker 1: Pacers right now plus ten thousand to win the title,

989
00:46:50,880 --> 00:46:54,919
Speaker 1: plus three thousand to win the Eastern Conference. Number seven

990
00:46:54,960 --> 00:46:57,120
Speaker 1: the Memphis Grizzlies. They've dropped three out of five. They

991
00:46:57,160 --> 00:46:59,000
Speaker 1: still have the six best record in basketball, though in

992
00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:00,600
Speaker 1: spite of that, it's kind of an un even stretch,

993
00:47:00,719 --> 00:47:04,640
Speaker 1: really impressive win in Minnesota against the Timberwolves where they

994
00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:06,560
Speaker 1: were playing one of those top ten defenses that Taylor

995
00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:08,799
Speaker 1: Jenkins has been talking a lot about, and they not

996
00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:11,080
Speaker 1: only lit him up but also got a big win.

997
00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:13,400
Speaker 1: Jaron Jackson was incredible all night, and then John Morant

998
00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:16,320
Speaker 1: ended up stealing the game with two crazy crunch time buckets,

999
00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:20,040
Speaker 1: including this impossible kind of like leaning floater fadeaway thing

1000
00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:22,239
Speaker 1: that he hit over Ant that ended up winning the game.

1001
00:47:22,280 --> 00:47:25,680
Speaker 1: But that was after a disappointing game against Houston where

1002
00:47:25,680 --> 00:47:27,560
Speaker 1: their offense really sputtered. They turned the ball over a

1003
00:47:27,600 --> 00:47:31,319
Speaker 1: ton Taylor Houston just butchered them in transition off of it.

1004
00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:33,880
Speaker 1: And again, like Taylor Jenkins before that game, had said

1005
00:47:34,239 --> 00:47:37,240
Speaker 1: that he viewed these two games in particular as important

1006
00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:40,279
Speaker 1: tests because they were against top ten defenses. And again

1007
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:42,000
Speaker 1: they failed the first test, but then they passed it.

1008
00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:43,479
Speaker 1: In the Minnesota game. They had a one to twenty

1009
00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:46,600
Speaker 1: five offensive rating in that one. Minnesota's currently sitting sixth

1010
00:47:46,640 --> 00:47:48,520
Speaker 1: in defense, So I wanted to look at that top

1011
00:47:48,560 --> 00:47:51,200
Speaker 1: ten defens's piece since Taylor Jenkins was kind of concerned

1012
00:47:51,239 --> 00:47:53,760
Speaker 1: about it. So what did the numbers say about Memphis

1013
00:47:53,840 --> 00:47:58,160
Speaker 1: versus top ten defenses. They've played nine such games this season.

1014
00:47:58,640 --> 00:48:00,920
Speaker 1: They have a one to twelve offensive rating in those

1015
00:48:00,920 --> 00:48:04,120
Speaker 1: games that actually ranks ninth in the NBA. It's not bad, right,

1016
00:48:04,160 --> 00:48:06,920
Speaker 1: So their offense has been fine, but they're three and

1017
00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:08,839
Speaker 1: six in those games, and a good part of it

1018
00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:12,160
Speaker 1: has been bad possessions that end in transition runouts. And

1019
00:48:12,160 --> 00:48:14,400
Speaker 1: this was something that I didn't even realize up until

1020
00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:17,560
Speaker 1: this point. But Memphis lets defenses get our offenses get

1021
00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:20,520
Speaker 1: out and transition seventeen point two percent of their possessions

1022
00:48:20,520 --> 00:48:22,920
Speaker 1: according to Cleaning the Last, which ranks twenty sixth in

1023
00:48:22,920 --> 00:48:25,320
Speaker 1: the NBA. So like they can get beat in transition

1024
00:48:25,760 --> 00:48:28,040
Speaker 1: is what happened in that Houston game in particular, and

1025
00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:29,720
Speaker 1: it's one of the things that's happening to them against

1026
00:48:29,719 --> 00:48:31,600
Speaker 1: these better defenses when they start to turn the ball

1027
00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:34,160
Speaker 1: over and give up live ball situations where they can

1028
00:48:34,200 --> 00:48:37,200
Speaker 1: get compromised. The Grizzlies are also six and ten in

1029
00:48:37,280 --> 00:48:39,400
Speaker 1: clutch games this year and have only posted a one

1030
00:48:39,440 --> 00:48:42,920
Speaker 1: oh six point one offensive rating in forty seven clutch

1031
00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:45,040
Speaker 1: minutes this year. That to me comes down to teams

1032
00:48:45,040 --> 00:48:48,200
Speaker 1: packing the paint. Again. Memphis generates by far the most

1033
00:48:48,239 --> 00:48:49,879
Speaker 1: spot up attempts in the league, in large part because

1034
00:48:49,880 --> 00:48:52,720
Speaker 1: of John Morant. They generate thirty five point four spot

1035
00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:56,880
Speaker 1: up opportunities per game. Denver, as a comparison, only generates

1036
00:48:56,920 --> 00:48:59,839
Speaker 1: twenty point three. Just to give you guys some perspective there,

1037
00:49:00,040 --> 00:49:02,759
Speaker 1: but Memphis only converts spot at possessions at one point

1038
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:06,440
Speaker 1: zero four points per possession, which ranks nineteenth in the NBA.

1039
00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:11,360
Speaker 1: They're shooting sixteen percent five for thirty one on threes

1040
00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:14,640
Speaker 1: in the clutch, which ranks dead last in the NBA,

1041
00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:16,800
Speaker 1: So again that's part of the things, that's part of

1042
00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:18,720
Speaker 1: the thing that's been causing some issues for them on offense.

1043
00:49:18,760 --> 00:49:20,399
Speaker 1: Just something to keep an eye on Memphis right now.

1044
00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:23,760
Speaker 1: Plus twenty eight hundred to win the title, plus eleven

1045
00:49:23,800 --> 00:49:26,920
Speaker 1: hundred to win the Western Conference. Number six the Denver Nuggets.

1046
00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:28,600
Speaker 1: We hit them in the opening segments today, So if

1047
00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:30,600
Speaker 1: you want more Denver Nuggets analysis, if you're checking this

1048
00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:33,080
Speaker 1: out on the Power Rankings breakout clip, just go to

1049
00:49:33,120 --> 00:49:35,600
Speaker 1: our full episode. They are plus thirteen hundred to win

1050
00:49:35,600 --> 00:49:37,920
Speaker 1: the title, plus five point fifty to win the West.

1051
00:49:38,440 --> 00:49:41,160
Speaker 1: Number five Houston Rockets a really impressive win in Memphis

1052
00:49:41,160 --> 00:49:43,680
Speaker 1: for their third straight win. The other night, Shan Gun

1053
00:49:43,840 --> 00:49:46,759
Speaker 1: was just absolutely frying every single Grizzlies big. They had

1054
00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:50,040
Speaker 1: brought in their third string center Brandon Clark midway through

1055
00:49:50,080 --> 00:49:52,920
Speaker 1: the first quarter, just trying something to get it like

1056
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:55,000
Speaker 1: Jay Huff couldn't handle and Zacchiet he couldn't handle. It

1057
00:49:55,120 --> 00:49:59,160
Speaker 1: was just a problem really, Like it was one of

1058
00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:01,839
Speaker 1: those things too where Shane Gun part of the issue too.

1059
00:50:01,880 --> 00:50:05,160
Speaker 1: And I'm confused about this as it pertains two opponents.

1060
00:50:05,400 --> 00:50:07,759
Speaker 1: Everyone's biting on Shanegun's pump fake in the middle of

1061
00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:10,080
Speaker 1: the lane every single time, when, like the numbers say,

1062
00:50:10,120 --> 00:50:12,440
Speaker 1: that's not necessarily a super efficient shot for him, But

1063
00:50:12,719 --> 00:50:14,560
Speaker 1: he was just getting those guys just by showing them

1064
00:50:14,560 --> 00:50:16,279
Speaker 1: the ball and then going right around him, getting wherever

1065
00:50:16,320 --> 00:50:18,480
Speaker 1: he wants. Even did some damage Jared Jackson in that

1066
00:50:18,520 --> 00:50:21,279
Speaker 1: game as well. But the more impressive part of that

1067
00:50:21,320 --> 00:50:25,080
Speaker 1: game was Houston's defense, which just completely discombobulated Memphis offense.

1068
00:50:25,120 --> 00:50:27,720
Speaker 1: They had thirty one points off of turnovers in that one.

1069
00:50:27,880 --> 00:50:29,160
Speaker 1: And then one of the big stories that I've been

1070
00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:31,680
Speaker 1: talking about all year is like Jalen Green and Fred

1071
00:50:31,760 --> 00:50:34,640
Speaker 1: Van Vliet, when they produce offensively, this team looks like

1072
00:50:34,840 --> 00:50:38,560
Speaker 1: a championship contender. When they don't produce offensively, they look

1073
00:50:38,680 --> 00:50:41,479
Speaker 1: like a mediocre team. In the Memphis game, those guys

1074
00:50:41,480 --> 00:50:45,000
Speaker 1: gave you forty nine points, the Wizard's game forty eight points,

1075
00:50:45,040 --> 00:50:48,080
Speaker 1: the Lakers game forty eight points. So you're averaging forty

1076
00:50:48,080 --> 00:50:50,760
Speaker 1: eight points between those three consistent or those two guys

1077
00:50:50,960 --> 00:50:53,640
Speaker 1: consistently over the last three games. That's been the swing

1078
00:50:53,640 --> 00:50:56,520
Speaker 1: factor their offense. When the Rockets score at least one

1079
00:50:56,560 --> 00:50:59,000
Speaker 1: hundred and fourteen points this year, they're seventeen to one

1080
00:50:59,440 --> 00:51:01,359
Speaker 1: That's the main key for them, and that's why they

1081
00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:03,680
Speaker 1: seem like such a prime candidate for that type of superstar.

1082
00:51:03,719 --> 00:51:06,200
Speaker 1: Trade is like, get somebody who can consistently bring in

1083
00:51:06,200 --> 00:51:08,760
Speaker 1: that type of production. You could have a very dangerous

1084
00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:10,960
Speaker 1: team here. Rockets are plus fifty five hundred to win

1085
00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:13,640
Speaker 1: the title, plus eighteen hundred to win the Western Conference.

1086
00:51:14,080 --> 00:51:16,200
Speaker 1: Number four the New York Knicks, they had lost four

1087
00:51:16,239 --> 00:51:19,000
Speaker 1: out of five before the win over the Bucks yesterday,

1088
00:51:20,120 --> 00:51:22,440
Speaker 1: just completely let go of the defensive rope again. As

1089
00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:24,400
Speaker 1: of late in the four losses, they had a one

1090
00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:27,160
Speaker 1: to twenty two defensive rating. The thunder game in particular,

1091
00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:29,799
Speaker 1: was gnarly in that second quarter stretch, like or it

1092
00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:32,520
Speaker 1: was actually late first quarter when it started, Shay was

1093
00:51:32,640 --> 00:51:35,399
Speaker 1: just dribbling up at Michale Bridges and just going right

1094
00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:38,000
Speaker 1: around him every single time and just getting right to

1095
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:40,239
Speaker 1: the rim or getting great separation on his step back.

1096
00:51:40,520 --> 00:51:43,360
Speaker 1: It was honestly pretty embarrassing what Shae did to those guys.

1097
00:51:43,760 --> 00:51:45,520
Speaker 1: The Knicks did get back on track though, with the

1098
00:51:45,560 --> 00:51:48,360
Speaker 1: win over the Milwaukee Bucks yesterday. Brunson lit them up

1099
00:51:48,440 --> 00:51:49,960
Speaker 1: right out the gates in the first quarter. He finished

1100
00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:52,080
Speaker 1: with forty four, did a ton of damage to Brook

1101
00:51:52,120 --> 00:51:54,479
Speaker 1: Lopez in space. Was not a good defensive game for Brooke.

1102
00:51:55,360 --> 00:51:57,160
Speaker 1: But the Knicks are not going anywhere if they can't

1103
00:51:57,160 --> 00:52:00,000
Speaker 1: get some more consistent effort on the defensive end. Again,

1104
00:52:00,200 --> 00:52:02,319
Speaker 1: a one to twenty two defensive ready, that's just them

1105
00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:04,480
Speaker 1: letting go of the rope again and again. They're gonna

1106
00:52:04,480 --> 00:52:06,919
Speaker 1: compete with Boston. That has to be their calling card

1107
00:52:06,920 --> 00:52:09,160
Speaker 1: in a real way. The Knicks are plus nine hundred

1108
00:52:09,200 --> 00:52:10,960
Speaker 1: to win the title right now, plus four hundred to

1109
00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:13,759
Speaker 1: win the conference. Number three the Boston Celtics. We also

1110
00:52:13,840 --> 00:52:15,960
Speaker 1: hit them in our opening segment tonight, so again if

1111
00:52:15,960 --> 00:52:17,440
Speaker 1: you want to see more Celtic stuff, just go to

1112
00:52:17,480 --> 00:52:20,560
Speaker 1: our full episode. They're plus two to fifty to win

1113
00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:23,359
Speaker 1: the title, plus one ten to win the conference. Number

1114
00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:26,240
Speaker 1: two the Oklahoma City Thunder. We talked about Shay cooking

1115
00:52:26,280 --> 00:52:28,479
Speaker 1: Mchal Bridges earlier, but on the other end of the floor,

1116
00:52:28,520 --> 00:52:31,840
Speaker 1: the Thunder did a great job switching and containing the

1117
00:52:31,840 --> 00:52:35,840
Speaker 1: ball against the Knicks. Only allowed nine unguarded catch and

1118
00:52:35,840 --> 00:52:39,440
Speaker 1: shoot jump shots all game. Remember that's a team that

1119
00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:43,279
Speaker 1: allowed just three wide open or unguarded catch and shoot

1120
00:52:43,320 --> 00:52:46,000
Speaker 1: jump shots against the Calves in that law or excuse me,

1121
00:52:46,040 --> 00:52:48,400
Speaker 1: in the second half of the Celtics game when they

1122
00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:50,560
Speaker 1: beat the Celtics, so like, we know that they can

1123
00:52:50,640 --> 00:52:52,439
Speaker 1: really strangle the life out of you and take away

1124
00:52:52,440 --> 00:52:55,120
Speaker 1: those open spot up opportunities. That's a Knicks team that

1125
00:52:55,160 --> 00:52:58,960
Speaker 1: has been picking people apart. Again, only nine unguarded catch

1126
00:52:58,960 --> 00:53:01,840
Speaker 1: and shoot jump shots allowed in that game, two blowout

1127
00:53:01,840 --> 00:53:05,360
Speaker 1: wins to bounce back the Thunder from their loss in Cleveland.

1128
00:53:05,360 --> 00:53:07,200
Speaker 1: We did a deep dive on both of the Thunder

1129
00:53:07,200 --> 00:53:09,960
Speaker 1: games last week. We did Thunder Celtics and Thunder Calves

1130
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:12,160
Speaker 1: in a lot of detail. If you haven't seen those

1131
00:53:12,200 --> 00:53:13,919
Speaker 1: videos yet, make sure you go back into our feed.

1132
00:53:13,960 --> 00:53:16,239
Speaker 1: We did a bunch of analysis there. The Thunder right

1133
00:53:16,239 --> 00:53:18,680
Speaker 1: now plus two sixty five to win the title, plus

1134
00:53:18,800 --> 00:53:21,919
Speaker 1: one thirty to win the Western Conference. In the last,

1135
00:53:21,920 --> 00:53:25,600
Speaker 1: but not least number one, the Cleveland Cavaliers dropped a

1136
00:53:25,640 --> 00:53:27,360
Speaker 1: game to the Pacers that we talked about earlier in

1137
00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:29,600
Speaker 1: the Pacers segment. So I won't get too much further

1138
00:53:29,640 --> 00:53:31,839
Speaker 1: into that, but one other thing I wanted to point out.

1139
00:53:32,880 --> 00:53:35,680
Speaker 1: I don't think ball pressure is going to stifle their

1140
00:53:35,680 --> 00:53:38,040
Speaker 1: offense the way it did against Indy. That said, we

1141
00:53:38,080 --> 00:53:42,040
Speaker 1: have talked a lot about Cleveland's shooting. They generated thirteen

1142
00:53:42,160 --> 00:53:44,040
Speaker 1: catch and shoot jump shots in the second half and

1143
00:53:44,080 --> 00:53:47,360
Speaker 1: made just one of them in that game against the Pacers.

1144
00:53:47,360 --> 00:53:49,279
Speaker 1: Six of them were unguarded, they were one for six.

1145
00:53:49,400 --> 00:53:51,240
Speaker 1: Seven of them were guarded, they went zero for seven.

1146
00:53:51,719 --> 00:53:54,040
Speaker 1: Sam Merril and Dean Wade in particular, got some pretty

1147
00:53:54,040 --> 00:53:56,799
Speaker 1: good looks that they just didn't hit. And obviously making

1148
00:53:56,800 --> 00:53:58,720
Speaker 1: shots is a huge part of what makes the Cavs

1149
00:53:58,760 --> 00:54:00,480
Speaker 1: so good, so it was just interesting to see what

1150
00:54:00,520 --> 00:54:02,120
Speaker 1: it looks like when they don't make shots. Although it's

1151
00:54:02,160 --> 00:54:04,759
Speaker 1: not something I'm concerned about in the big picture, I

1152
00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:08,040
Speaker 1: do have one last Cavs bit. They're plus eleven hundred

1153
00:54:08,080 --> 00:54:11,200
Speaker 1: to win the title despite Boston being at plus two

1154
00:54:11,239 --> 00:54:13,640
Speaker 1: to fifty in Oklahoma City being at plus two sixty five.

1155
00:54:14,040 --> 00:54:16,560
Speaker 1: I think that's absurd. I think they're very clearly on

1156
00:54:16,640 --> 00:54:20,240
Speaker 1: the same tier. They've beat them both once this year already,

1157
00:54:20,440 --> 00:54:22,239
Speaker 1: the record that they have, they're at a seventy one

1158
00:54:22,320 --> 00:54:26,200
Speaker 1: win pace. Guys, that's not something to overthink. Now. The

1159
00:54:26,239 --> 00:54:29,759
Speaker 1: case for why the odds are different is Cleveland would

1160
00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:33,120
Speaker 1: theoretically have to beat Boston and then also beat Oklahoma City,

1161
00:54:33,239 --> 00:54:35,080
Speaker 1: but the same could be said for Boston, they would

1162
00:54:35,080 --> 00:54:37,400
Speaker 1: have to beat Cleveland and then beat Oklahoma City. And

1163
00:54:37,680 --> 00:54:40,359
Speaker 1: I obviously think I think people are overlooking the middle

1164
00:54:40,400 --> 00:54:42,640
Speaker 1: of the West too, Like Denver's gonna be an issue,

1165
00:54:42,680 --> 00:54:44,319
Speaker 1: Dallas is going to be an issue, Memphis is gonna

1166
00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:47,719
Speaker 1: be an issue, Like I think Oklahoma City's gonna a

1167
00:54:47,719 --> 00:54:49,239
Speaker 1: harder time getting out of the West than it would

1168
00:54:49,239 --> 00:54:51,440
Speaker 1: appear at this point in time, because I think everyone

1169
00:54:51,560 --> 00:54:54,800
Speaker 1: over or underrates that middle tier in the Western Conference.

1170
00:54:54,840 --> 00:54:57,720
Speaker 1: So the point is is, like I just don't understand

1171
00:54:57,719 --> 00:54:59,960
Speaker 1: the gap in the odds. If I was ranking the contender,

1172
00:55:00,160 --> 00:55:02,960
Speaker 1: I'd have Boston one, I'd have Cleveland two, and i'd

1173
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:05,560
Speaker 1: have OKC three. But if you're giving me plus two

1174
00:55:05,640 --> 00:55:08,160
Speaker 1: fifty for Boston plus two sixty five or Oklahoma City

1175
00:55:08,320 --> 00:55:12,120
Speaker 1: and plus eleven hundred for Cleveland, that's just an excellent

1176
00:55:12,160 --> 00:55:15,759
Speaker 1: opportunity in terms of the betting price there. And like

1177
00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:18,000
Speaker 1: I think the issue there is everyone is just underrating

1178
00:55:18,040 --> 00:55:21,880
Speaker 1: Cleveland's talent. We all have preconceived notions of Darius Garland

1179
00:55:21,880 --> 00:55:23,640
Speaker 1: and Evin Mobley about the players they used to be,

1180
00:55:23,680 --> 00:55:26,080
Speaker 1: and the truth is they're just better basketball players now,

1181
00:55:26,400 --> 00:55:28,359
Speaker 1: and we need to recalibrate the way that we look

1182
00:55:28,360 --> 00:55:31,319
Speaker 1: at that team there. I think that that's just an

1183
00:55:31,320 --> 00:55:33,879
Speaker 1: insane number there to get the Calves at plus eleven

1184
00:55:34,000 --> 00:55:35,920
Speaker 1: hundred to win the title. Again, all of our odds

1185
00:55:35,960 --> 00:55:39,799
Speaker 1: are provided provided by our partner, DraftKings. That's all I

1186
00:55:39,800 --> 00:55:42,040
Speaker 1: have for today, guys is always sincerely appreciate you guys

1187
00:55:42,040 --> 00:55:43,880
Speaker 1: for rocking with me and supporting the show. We'll be

1188
00:55:43,880 --> 00:55:47,040
Speaker 1: back tomorrow with more game reaction. Probably get into it. We're

1189
00:55:47,000 --> 00:55:49,120
Speaker 1: gonna start shifting gears into some trade deadline stuff here

1190
00:55:49,120 --> 00:55:51,879
Speaker 1: as as of the next few weeks too, so keep

1191
00:55:51,880 --> 00:55:53,400
Speaker 1: an eye on that. Again. I appreciate you, guys, and

1192
00:55:53,400 --> 00:55:58,640
Speaker 1: I'll see you tomorrow the volume. What's up guys? As always,

1193
00:55:58,640 --> 00:56:01,640
Speaker 1: I appreciate you for listening to and supporting Hoops tonight.

1194
00:56:01,760 --> 00:56:03,719
Speaker 1: It would actually be really helpful for us if you

1195
00:56:03,760 --> 00:56:06,480
Speaker 1: guys would take a second and leave a rating and

1196
00:56:06,560 --> 00:56:08,719
Speaker 1: a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us,

1197
00:56:08,719 --> 00:56:10,120
Speaker 1: but if you could take a minute to do that,

1198
00:56:10,400 --> 00:56:11,640
Speaker 1: I'd really appreciate it.