Speaker 1: The Volume. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight here at
Speaker 1: the Volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody. I hope all of you
Speaker 1: guys are having a great week so far. We are
Speaker 1: officially getting to our NBA mail bag. I have twenty
Speaker 1: two questions that we're gonna hit in two parts, the
Speaker 1: first part today and then the second part coming out tomorrow.
Speaker 1: We have a couple of non NBA questions as well
Speaker 1: that we'll get into. Really excited to just kind of
Speaker 1: bounce around and hit a bunch of interesting topics and
Speaker 1: rapid fire style here on the show. You guys know
Speaker 1: the trip. Before we get started, subscribe to the Volumes
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Speaker 1: can find them wherever you get your podcasts under Hoops Tonight, Last,
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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. So number one our
Speaker 1: first question from Alberto, and by the way, thank you
Speaker 1: all for taking the time to submit mail bag questions.
Speaker 1: I will probably do one more of these later on
Speaker 1: in the summer. I think these are a lot of
Speaker 1: fun and nice opportunities to hit a bunch of the
Speaker 1: topics we don't hit during the show. So, from Alberto,
Speaker 1: how do you feel about Dame continuing to drop these
Speaker 1: Miami hints and not just coming out and saying that
Speaker 1: he wants to be traded. So first of all, I
Speaker 1: find this whole thing annoying on a bunch of different levels.
Speaker 1: It feels there's a lot of posturing from Dame simply
Speaker 1: from the standpoint of he kind of put his foot
Speaker 1: in his mouth because he talked a bunch of shit
Speaker 1: when Paul George went to the Clippers, and he's kind
Speaker 1: of been a person who's criticized the superteam mold, so
Speaker 1: to speak, over the years, and now he's stuck in
Speaker 1: this position where his roster can't contend. And I don't
Speaker 1: think people realize just how far Portland was away. According
Speaker 1: to Cleaning the Glass, which filters out garbage time, when
Speaker 1: Damian Lillard, Anthony Simon's and Jeremy Grant were all on
Speaker 1: the floor together last year, they had a negative net rating.
Speaker 1: So they're not even close to contending for an NBA championship.
Speaker 1: And you know, as far as the superteam thing goes,
Speaker 1: the league is so damn talented. Now you're not winning
Speaker 1: unless you have multiple stars. It's just the reality. Like Denver, obviously,
Speaker 1: Nicole Jokic was great, but Jamal Murray played like a
Speaker 1: top fifteen player in the league, and we'll probably get
Speaker 1: some consideration there when we do our player rankings in
Speaker 1: the future. You need multiple good players to win a title.
Speaker 1: It's just simply a fact. And so, you know, I
Speaker 1: understand there's a loyalty element, and I'm sure Dame has
Speaker 1: a a certain I'm sure Dame has a certain like
Speaker 1: sense of obligation to return that loyalty, but I don't
Speaker 1: really understand that because you know, I get it they
Speaker 1: took a chance on you by drafting you, but they
Speaker 1: also have not been able to meet you at your level.
Speaker 1: You at your craft as a basketball player, they at
Speaker 1: their craft running a basketball team, have not been able
Speaker 1: to do as well as they've needed to do. They
Speaker 1: haven't held up their end of the bargain. You've been
Speaker 1: consistently at a talent disadvantage in most of these situations.
Speaker 1: And so, like I understand your loyalty to the fans,
Speaker 1: and that doesn't mean you can't be a you know,
Speaker 1: a really active citizen in the Portland community moving forward
Speaker 1: or anything along those lines, or return the favor to
Speaker 1: the organization down the line. But for the time being,
Speaker 1: you're an aging small guard that needs to have an
Speaker 1: opportunity to play at the highest levels of the NBA playoffs,
Speaker 1: and you're just not getting there in Portland. And so
Speaker 1: I understand your fear of getting painted as being a
Speaker 1: guy who tries to run out to a super team,
Speaker 1: but really all you're doing is just being a competitor
Speaker 1: that wants a chance to compete, and Portland's not giving
Speaker 1: you that chance. And so I wish that all of
Speaker 1: the theatrics and all of the politics involved would kind
Speaker 1: of go off to the wayside and Dame would just
Speaker 1: come come forward and express his desire to go elsewhere.
Speaker 1: And if you're Portland, it's the same thing. You don't
Speaker 1: really have the ability to surround Dame with the requisite
Speaker 1: amount of talent before he starts to decline, and so
Speaker 1: you're better off building around Scoot and Anfornty Simon's and
Speaker 1: Shaden Sharp at this point. So I think it makes
Speaker 1: the most sense for both sides to move on my
Speaker 1: three favorite Dame trade destinations Miami. Obviously, then you're not
Speaker 1: at some massive talent advantage, but you're also you're also
Speaker 1: a top tier competitor. When you combine that with like
Speaker 1: what Jimmy and Bam do as a duo on both
Speaker 1: ends of the floor obviously, or Expolsure being the best
Speaker 1: coach in the league. I also really really like the
Speaker 1: idea of Damian Lillard playing within that heat system, where
Speaker 1: he's going to be in the best physical shape of
Speaker 1: his life and be asked to do more defensively than
Speaker 1: he ever has in his life. I want to see
Speaker 1: what peak Dame looks like, and I think Miami gives
Speaker 1: us our best chance to see that, and it's a
Speaker 1: perfect basketball fit. They desperately need another high end shot creator. Basically,
Speaker 1: an upgraded version of Gabe Vincent would go a long way,
Speaker 1: and that's what Dame can bring to the table for them.
Speaker 1: Number two the Boston Celtics. It addresses their biggest weakness,
Speaker 1: which is that half court surgery. It allows them to
Speaker 1: capitalize on this timeline that's the issues. Boston has this
Speaker 1: ridiculously talented roster right but they lack the top bench
Speaker 1: shot creation. Like Jason Tatum at his age just isn't
Speaker 1: capable of going blow for blow with Steph Curry. Yet
Speaker 1: he's not capable of going blow for blow with Jimmy
Speaker 1: Butler yet, at least not not when their defense isn't
Speaker 1: as good as it was last year. Right, and so
Speaker 1: in this particular predicament there, it's like you're waiting for
Speaker 1: Jason and Jalen to develop into veteran superstars that are
Speaker 1: more dependable in the late rounds of the playoffs. But
Speaker 1: by the time they get there, you might have to
Speaker 1: pay all these role players and end up with a
Speaker 1: much less talented roster, and that can be counterproductive. You
Speaker 1: happen to have the most talented roster in the league
Speaker 1: right now, so you have a real chance to win
Speaker 1: a championship right now. So that's why I would look
Speaker 1: to flip someone like Jaylen Brown for Damian Lillard because
Speaker 1: it gives you an opportunity to capitalize on this timeline.
Speaker 1: It addresses your biggest weakness, which is that half court surgery,
Speaker 1: and it buys Jason Tatum the chance to grow because
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum still can develop into that bone and fide
Speaker 1: two way superstar that can be the best player on
Speaker 1: a championship team when he gets to his late twenties.
Speaker 1: And at that point, maybe you get off a dame
Speaker 1: and you rebuild around Jason Tatum at that point. But
Speaker 1: I really like Boston. A lot of the other teams
Speaker 1: don't really make a ton of sense to me as
Speaker 1: a fan. Just for fun, I put the Lakers on here.
Speaker 1: It's completely unrealistic. They don't have the assets. It would
Speaker 1: require Portland basically accommodating Dame then basically being like, hey,
Speaker 1: you were so good to us over the years, we'll
Speaker 1: send you where we want. Okay, We'll take a couple
Speaker 1: pick swaps and a first from the Lakers with salary
Speaker 1: filler and go that way. But I'd love to see
Speaker 1: Dame play with Lebron James and Anthony Davis, just as
Speaker 1: a basketball fan, even if that's completely unrealistic. All right,
Speaker 1: Next question, Samuel, If every NBA player is magically healthy
Speaker 1: for the playoffs next year, how many teams are actually
Speaker 1: stopping Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and the Clippers. We saw
Speaker 1: how Kawhi played in Game one and two versus Phoenix.
Speaker 1: Can anyone stop PG? Or can anybody stop that? If
Speaker 1: PG is there too for the entire playoffs. I'm just
Speaker 1: completely shooting this question down on arrival. We've been down
Speaker 1: this road with the Clippers for years and years and
Speaker 1: years now. Every single season it's like watch out for
Speaker 1: the Clippers, and then one of two things happens, they
Speaker 1: either get hurt or like they did in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: in the bubble. It turns out that having two small
Speaker 1: forwards that defend really well and shoot a lot of
Speaker 1: pull up jump shots isn't necessarily the best way to
Speaker 1: win in the playoffs anyways. They lack rim protection, they
Speaker 1: lack a shot variety, guys that can score from different
Speaker 1: spots on the floor. They Kawhi and Paul George both
Speaker 1: struggle to manage games on a possession by possession basis.
Speaker 1: I'm a huge fan of Kawhi. I think he can
Speaker 1: be the best player on a championship team. But this
Speaker 1: particular iteration of the Clippers, I'm completely off them. I
Speaker 1: will believe it when I see it. It's just they
Speaker 1: never can stay healthy. Paul George missed this playoff run entirely,
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard missed last year entirely. Last time they were
Speaker 1: both healthy was in twenty twenty one, and then Kawhi
Speaker 1: Leonard got hurt again. It just doesn't work with this
Speaker 1: particular group, and so I'm kind of off the Clippers
Speaker 1: entirely at this point. From Marv, prediction wise, who do
Speaker 1: you think has the best chance next year to challenge
Speaker 1: the Nuggets East or West. I asked because I truly
Speaker 1: think I can't truly think of anyone who can contend
Speaker 1: with Denver's current roster. I think it's the Lakers. I've
Speaker 1: been saying this for a while. I know they got swept,
Speaker 1: but if you look at the games individually, it's Game one,
Speaker 1: Lebron James had a shot to tie it at the
Speaker 1: end and he missed it. Game two, the Lakers had
Speaker 1: a double digit second half lead, and Game three in
Speaker 1: Game four both came down to clutch situations. Game four
Speaker 1: was literally won by a Nicole Jokic game winner driving
Speaker 1: on Anthony Davis on the baseline. It was a sweep,
Speaker 1: but every game was close. They beat the shit out
Speaker 1: of the Suns, the shit out of the Wolves, and
Speaker 1: they pretty much manhandled Miami. If you look at the
Speaker 1: net ratings, the Lakers had by far the best net
Speaker 1: rating against the Denver Nuggets. They have the best combination
Speaker 1: of size and diversity of shot creation to attack Denver.
Speaker 1: They were by far the most successful offense against Denver
Speaker 1: because of their ability to attack the rim. I think
Speaker 1: there are a couple of prerequisites the Lakers have to
Speaker 1: play better. So, for instance, Anthony Davis got his lunch
Speaker 1: taken by Nicole Jokic, he has to at least compete
Speaker 1: with him a little bit better. Lebron James has to
Speaker 1: get back to where he was as a jump shooter.
Speaker 1: I pulled up the numbers this morning. It was pretty crazy.
Speaker 1: Last season, Lebron James was in the sixty first percentile
Speaker 1: as a jump shooter, averaged well over a point per possession.
Speaker 1: This year, he dropped down to zero point nine points
Speaker 1: per possession on jump shots, which was in the twenty
Speaker 1: fourth percentile. So Lebron has to get back to where
Speaker 1: he was as a jump shooter. If Lebron and ad
Speaker 1: are not where they need to be as jump shooters
Speaker 1: by the deadline, they need to be more aggressive in
Speaker 1: the trade market to bring in a legitimate shot creator.
Speaker 1: But I do think the Lakers are going to run
Speaker 1: it back, and I think we're gonna see a Lakers
Speaker 1: Nuggets conference finals again next year. And I think the
Speaker 1: Lakers do have the best chance to beat the Nuggets,
Speaker 1: although at this point I would still pick the Nuggets.
Speaker 1: They are the best team in the league. They are
Speaker 1: the safest bet to win the title. Next year. I
Speaker 1: can't think of anything that I'd see this summer that
Speaker 1: would cause me to change my mind. I already saw
Speaker 1: Bradley be able go to the Suns. Don't think that matters.
Speaker 1: I think I think the Nuggets beat them, maybe even
Speaker 1: easier than they did last year, because again, Devin Booker
Speaker 1: made like seventy five percent of his pull up jump
Speaker 1: shots for two games, which is incredibly unrealistic. So I
Speaker 1: don't think it's the Suns. There is no team out
Speaker 1: there right now that could do anything that would make
Speaker 1: me favor them over the Nuggets at this point. The
Speaker 1: only one that I'd consider potentially would be a Jalen
Speaker 1: Brown for Damian Lillard trade that put the Celtics with
Speaker 1: Damian Lillard, Jason Tatum and all that talent. But even then,
Speaker 1: gone to my head, I'm probably still picking the Nuggets.
Speaker 1: Next question, this is from G Do you think the
Speaker 1: Lakers should find a way to effectively swap D'Angelo Russell
Speaker 1: for a solid defensive big. Think Max Christy can provide
Speaker 1: thirteen to sixteen a night and do so with good
Speaker 1: decision making process, by the way, and moving back to
Speaker 1: Tucson in two weeks after a decade plus away. Shout
Speaker 1: out to g You're coming back at a rough time.
Speaker 1: This is the time when the weather is particularly shitty,
Speaker 1: but it does get pretty great outside of that, as
Speaker 1: you know, because he used to live here. Also, shout
Speaker 1: out to Ben. Ran into a really good young player
Speaker 1: named Ben playing at an Elle Fitness up on the
Speaker 1: northwest side of town. I ventured to a different gym
Speaker 1: than I usually go to recently, and I was watching
Speaker 1: this kid who was playing really well, really good footwork,
Speaker 1: really good at leveraging his body, was dominating pickup games
Speaker 1: out of the post. And Ben came up and told
Speaker 1: me that he's a listener to the show, and it
Speaker 1: was really really great to meet you. Ben. I appreciate
Speaker 1: you coming up and saying hi, and I hope we
Speaker 1: get to play together a lot in the future. That
Speaker 1: was a lot of fun. On the note, with the Lakers,
Speaker 1: for D'Angelo Russell, I would run things back to start.
Speaker 1: It's funny because it's he's the act opposite over the
Speaker 1: way I felt last season. I thought it was completely
Speaker 1: insane that the Lakers brought back that entire cores with
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrok going into next season, especially with how rough
Speaker 1: their initial schedule was and they got kicked in the ass.
Speaker 1: As a result, they started to and ten and it
Speaker 1: caused a problem that they were trying to dig out
Speaker 1: of the entire season. They did eventually make a trade,
Speaker 1: but it was too little, too late this particular season.
Speaker 1: I have the exact opposite point of view. I do
Speaker 1: think the Lakers will probably eventually need to make a
Speaker 1: trade unless Lebron James and Anthony Davis get it get
Speaker 1: their shot creation back. But I don't think they need
Speaker 1: a trade for the regular season. I think this team
Speaker 1: as currently constructed with D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reeves, Ruyacha Muri,
Speaker 1: Lebron James, Anthony Davis, that Core is gonna win a
Speaker 1: shit ton of regular season games. I really believe that,
Speaker 1: and so especially with Jared Vanderbilt and his motor and
Speaker 1: having a decent backup center with Mobamba to used for
Speaker 1: regular season games. Do I think Mobamba can be the
Speaker 1: guy in a playoff series? Absolutely not. They're gonna have
Speaker 1: to do something before the deadline at the backup center position,
Speaker 1: but that's for it. That's a Jokis problem. Like the
Speaker 1: Jokis problem doesn't need to be solved until February. You're
Speaker 1: gonna have leeway in the standings by bringing everybody back.
Speaker 1: I was talking to Anthony Irwin from Lakers Lounge earlier today.
Speaker 1: We did a full episode together for like forty minutes.
Speaker 1: You can find that on his Twitter feed. But we
Speaker 1: were talking about the Lakers, and it's interesting because the
Speaker 1: only trade that I would approve this summer would be
Speaker 1: for Damian Lillard. Other than that, I would wait until
Speaker 1: the deadline. If it was a Kyrie trade, i'd wait
Speaker 1: to the deadline. I wouldn't sign a trade for him.
Speaker 1: I'd flip him in February when his contract becomes tradable,
Speaker 1: and I just piece together assets to make that happen.
Speaker 1: Miles Turner is a guy keep an eye on. I
Speaker 1: really really want the Lakers to go after Myles Turner
Speaker 1: because he makes a ton of sense as another body
Speaker 1: to throw at Yokich. Gives you a legitimate big look.
Speaker 1: So you could play Anthony Davis and Miles Turner at
Speaker 1: the same time because Miles Turner is such a good shooter.
Speaker 1: And then lastly, it buys you leeway when Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: is a miss game with injuries, you can actually load
Speaker 1: manage Anthony Davis. Never make him play back to backs
Speaker 1: because Miles Turner can be an anchor for your defense.
Speaker 1: So that's another guy. But I think you can make
Speaker 1: that trade at the deadline because of the fact that
Speaker 1: at that point, I think you can get him at
Speaker 1: a better discount, like potentially with just Mobamba and Malik
Speaker 1: Beasley and maybe like a second round pick or something
Speaker 1: like that. So I would like to see them target
Speaker 1: him as well. But no matter what, I'd wait to
Speaker 1: the deadline, run it back, bring back all the salaries,
Speaker 1: resign d'anngel Russell, pick up the option on Jared Vanderbilt,
Speaker 1: which they just did, pick up the option on Mobamba,
Speaker 1: pick up the option on the leak Beasley, have all
Speaker 1: of that tradable salary. Go into the season, just rack
Speaker 1: up regular season wins, knowing you need to address a
Speaker 1: postseason weakness, and address that weakness at the deadline. All right,
Speaker 1: This next question is from Matt Who in the NBA
Speaker 1: would you compare your game to the most or who
Speaker 1: you model some of your game after. So, first of all, obligatory,
Speaker 1: I'm not an NBA play I have no delusions thinking
Speaker 1: I'm an NBA player. That's that I am a good
Speaker 1: basketball player, and I've worked really, really hard, especially over
Speaker 1: the course of my late twenties, to develop all the
Speaker 1: things that I didn't develop when I was a kid.
Speaker 1: I was a late bloomer. And this is kind of
Speaker 1: one of my most complicated parts of my relationship with
Speaker 1: the game of basketball is I absolutely love this game
Speaker 1: so much, but I didn't get exposed to it until
Speaker 1: I was like fifteen years old, and so as a
Speaker 1: result of that, I didn't develop as a kid. I
Speaker 1: developed as a player in my twenties, and so when
Speaker 1: I started playing in college, Basically what happened was is
Speaker 1: I was the worst player on my high school team,
Speaker 1: and so bad that on senior night I sat out.
Speaker 1: Like the senior night, all the seniors play, right, We
Speaker 1: had six seniors on the team. My coach started all
Speaker 1: five seniors and I didn't play a single minute. That's
Speaker 1: how bad. And it wasn't his fault. I was that
Speaker 1: bad when I was a senior in high school. And
Speaker 1: then I started playing like every single day. I grew
Speaker 1: a lot, obviously, and became a I have like a
Speaker 1: six to eleven wing span in about six foot six
Speaker 1: and a half. With basketball shoes on, like six five
Speaker 1: and a half without basketball shoes on. So I had
Speaker 1: good tools. I could run and jump really really well,
Speaker 1: but not in high school. I didn't really. I was
Speaker 1: just kind of a lanky. I looked like Bambi, Like
Speaker 1: I could barely move, super super skinny, and I just
Speaker 1: wasn't very good. First two years in college, I just
Speaker 1: played a ton of pick up basketball. I grew into
Speaker 1: my body, put on a little bit of muscle, became
Speaker 1: kind of a freaky athlete. I could get my elbow
Speaker 1: above the rim when I was in junior college. But
Speaker 1: that third that third season in college, I walked on
Speaker 1: at the local junior college, and I was just a
Speaker 1: freaky athlete. That's all I could do. I could knock
Speaker 1: down threes and I was a freaky athlete, and so
Speaker 1: I played center and I banged with the bigger athletes,
Speaker 1: and I rebounded really well. I averaged like sixteen points
Speaker 1: and ten rebounds a game my first season, but our
Speaker 1: team was terrible, and then I ended up transferring to
Speaker 1: another JUCO. And over the course of my college career,
Speaker 1: like I made light improve improvements, Like by the time
Speaker 1: I got to Arizona Christian in my third season, I
Speaker 1: was like a little bit better at putting the ball
Speaker 1: on the floor and making plays, but for the most part,
Speaker 1: I was just an athlete that could knock down an
Speaker 1: open shot, and so I always was a defender, guard
Speaker 1: the other team's best player, and a guy who would
Speaker 1: grab a lot of rebounds. I did some scoring in Juco,
Speaker 1: but once I ran into real players at the Naia level,
Speaker 1: which again a lot of people don't realize this, but
Speaker 1: Division one basketball obviously has the best players in the country.
Speaker 1: But Naia and Division two basketball has a ton of
Speaker 1: super skilled players. They usually aren't great athletes, and so
Speaker 1: I was an asset at that level as a defender,
Speaker 1: and I would always guard the other team's best player.
Speaker 1: But people always are I think a little bit surprised
Speaker 1: to know that there's a ton of talent in the
Speaker 1: country and a lot of really really good players that
Speaker 1: play at those levels. We actually beat a Division one
Speaker 1: team when I was at Anaia. They scheduled us for
Speaker 1: a tune up game and we went to their arena
Speaker 1: and we beat them. Like ANAI teams had a lot
Speaker 1: of talent, but I didn't really start to develop into
Speaker 1: the player I am now until after college. That was
Speaker 1: when I because I was obsessed with the game, right,
Speaker 1: Like I loved basketball so much and I wanted to
Speaker 1: get better. But like my clock was run out, right
Speaker 1: because I'd already finished playing in college. I immediately went
Speaker 1: to work, and I immediately met my wife and just
Speaker 1: kind of like settled down into a regular life. But
Speaker 1: I still loved the game and I wanted to get better,
Speaker 1: and so I like obsessively work on my game even
Speaker 1: to this day, as though I'm trying to go pro,
Speaker 1: even though I'm not trying to go pro, just because
Speaker 1: I love the game and I want to see what
Speaker 1: I'm capable of. And so when you see videos like
Speaker 1: the video that I have on my Twitter feed and
Speaker 1: the pinned tweet, that's kind of a more accurate representation
Speaker 1: of the player I am. Now. I wasn't doing any
Speaker 1: of that shit in college. Most of the college clips
Speaker 1: you see on there are dunks because I was just
Speaker 1: an athlete back then. But the actual like, like if
Speaker 1: someone asked me what type of player I am, I'm
Speaker 1: a scoring forward. That's what I am. When I break
Speaker 1: down the archetypes of players, you've heard me say, scoring forward,
Speaker 1: play making forward, hype athletic guard, star center, and unicorn.
Speaker 1: Right well, like, if I had to put myself into
Speaker 1: one of those groups, I'm a scoring forward. I'm a
Speaker 1: guy that can score from the perimeter, score from the post,
Speaker 1: score from the basket. I As far as specific players,
Speaker 1: like Matt's question, who in the NBA would you compare
Speaker 1: your game to the most, there's not really one player
Speaker 1: because and I'm sure most of you young basketball players
Speaker 1: can I can kind of understand this, but you pick
Speaker 1: and choose little bits and pieces from everybody's games. Like
Speaker 1: I became obsessed with post fadeaways randomly during the during
Speaker 1: the pandemic. Could not do anything out of the post
Speaker 1: pre pandemic, and then I just worked on it because
Speaker 1: all before the pandemic, teams would constantly put small guards
Speaker 1: on me and ball pressure me because I was alway
Speaker 1: shooting a ton of threes. Right well, I needed something
Speaker 1: to counter that, and so I wanted to build out
Speaker 1: a back to the basket game. Got it all from Kobe.
Speaker 1: Just watched a ton of footage of Kobe and the
Speaker 1: way his footwork worked, the way he would square up
Speaker 1: in midair when he would shoot fadeaways over his left shoulder,
Speaker 1: by swinging his right foot around. I became obsessed with
Speaker 1: that particular footwork. So, like most of my post up fadeaways,
Speaker 1: I took from Kobe a little bit from Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 1: in there as well. I always liked how Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 1: was initiating contact before the fadeaways. It wasn't an athleticism
Speaker 1: fade away. It was a strength fade away. And I've
Speaker 1: got a big strength advantage. I weighed like two hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty five pounds, and so that's one of the
Speaker 1: best ways that i can bump people off spots and
Speaker 1: get to where I need to go. My pull up shooting,
Speaker 1: it's almost entirely from Paul George. I'm like a big,
Speaker 1: lanky wing So for me, pull up jump shooting is
Speaker 1: less about, you know, elevating over the top of people
Speaker 1: like a lot of small guards need to do, and
Speaker 1: it's more about fluidity, energy transfer, going from different dribble
Speaker 1: combinations into a pull up jump shot without losing control
Speaker 1: of the basketball and without you know, one of the
Speaker 1: biggest ways that pull up jump shooters got messed up
Speaker 1: get messed up is the energy transfer the ball from
Speaker 1: the handle into the gather up to the top of
Speaker 1: the shot. If there's a hitch anywhere in there, you
Speaker 1: lose energy and you don't get the ball to the
Speaker 1: rim the way that you need to. But I stole
Speaker 1: a lot of that stuff from Paul George. I have
Speaker 1: a huge arsenal of step back threes, all footwork that
Speaker 1: I stole from James Harden, mostly that extra side step
Speaker 1: going either way. And then my face up game. I
Speaker 1: wore number fifteen in college because I copied most of
Speaker 1: my face up game from Carmelo Anthony and just the
Speaker 1: combination of jab steps and like rip through fake crossovers
Speaker 1: and things like that, pull up jump shots out of
Speaker 1: those face up situations. Got all of that from Carmelo Anthony.
Speaker 1: And so I always think that a basketball player should
Speaker 1: not try to emulate one player, but identify what your
Speaker 1: strengths are and then look around and see different players
Speaker 1: in the NBA that are doing things that you think
Speaker 1: you can do, and then copy that. Just find footage
Speaker 1: of the move that you want to add to your arsenal.
Speaker 1: And then there's three steps to adding a move to
Speaker 1: your arsenal. Do it in the gym by yourself, do
Speaker 1: it against the defender. One on one and then do
Speaker 1: it in a game five on five. That's kind of
Speaker 1: the progression that you go with. So if you're in
Speaker 1: high school and you really want to take pull up
Speaker 1: threes and pick and roll, what you need to do
Speaker 1: is you need to get in the gym by yourself
Speaker 1: and just work on shooting pull up threes off the dribble,
Speaker 1: just every single day until you think you can knock
Speaker 1: them down consistently and I'm talking like sixty seventy percent
Speaker 1: of the time. Once you're there, then you start working
Speaker 1: on it against a defender, whether that's having a guy
Speaker 1: in the gym with you practicing, or running two on two,
Speaker 1: or you've got a screener or whatever it is. One
Speaker 1: on one defender is more like post up work, isolation
Speaker 1: work right, and pick and roll. You need extra bodies.
Speaker 1: And then once you feel comfortable hitting it in a
Speaker 1: live situation against a defender, then you can start trying
Speaker 1: to implement it in a game. You can demonstrate to
Speaker 1: your coach. Your coach watches you work, demonstrate to your
Speaker 1: coach that you've been practicing every single day on that
Speaker 1: particular move. Then when you try it in a practice
Speaker 1: in an actual live setting, with defenders. Your coach isn't
Speaker 1: going to be upset because he's seen you work on it.
Speaker 1: That's the progression that you got to go with. But again,
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to tell you guys, I'm some NBA
Speaker 1: player or anything like that. I just I love the game.
Speaker 1: I'm obsessed with becoming the best basketball player that I
Speaker 1: can be for my own reasons. And I think that
Speaker 1: every single player has a different reason, a different thing
Speaker 1: that makes them tick. But for me, it's just I
Speaker 1: want to. I want to. I want to see what
Speaker 1: the best basketball player version of Jason is and I
Speaker 1: still plan on seeing that. I'm only thirty one years old.
Speaker 1: I'd like to push for another five years or so,
Speaker 1: and so I'm gonna keep going and and and try
Speaker 1: to challenge myself in new ways, like try to find
Speaker 1: ways to find new competition. That's the hard part is
Speaker 1: I live in Tucson now and there's just not a
Speaker 1: lot of good The basketball talent here in the city
Speaker 1: is not the same as it is in some other
Speaker 1: places that I've lived. But you just you find ways
Speaker 1: to stay in love with the game of basketball. And
Speaker 1: I'm starting to experience some physical breakdown like I'm feeling
Speaker 1: a lot of lower back pain lately, like pretty bad
Speaker 1: lower back pain. So guess what, like there might be
Speaker 1: a point where I have to pull the plug I'm
Speaker 1: playing and devote my competitive energy towards coaching and just
Speaker 1: find a different way to love the game of basketball.
Speaker 1: Your love of the game is always evolving as you
Speaker 1: get older. All right, Next question from Logan, Hey, Jason,
Speaker 1: love your content. My question is for you. My question
Speaker 1: for you is how many players currently in the NBA
Speaker 1: do you think can realistically be the best player on
Speaker 1: a championship team next season? And who are those players?
Speaker 1: I put just seven. I put Nicole Jokich obviously, Steph Curry, obviously,
Speaker 1: Jannis obviously. Those three just did it. I still put
Speaker 1: Lebron James, and I know people are gonna think I'm crazy,
Speaker 1: But when Lebron James was the best player on the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty Lakers, they won the title. When Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: was the best player on the twenty twenty three Lakers,
Speaker 1: they weren't good enough. I do think Lebron we talked
Speaker 1: about it earlier in the show, but his jump shooting
Speaker 1: is down. I think it's gonna get back to where
Speaker 1: it was going into next season, and I think more
Speaker 1: or less the Lebron James we saw in the playoffs
Speaker 1: with a reliable jump shot is still good enough to
Speaker 1: be the best player on a championship team as long
Speaker 1: as he's got everything else. Lebron last year was not
Speaker 1: good enough, but I think it was an how Wire's
Speaker 1: shooting season. I think he's going to be good enough
Speaker 1: this season to do it. Luka Doncic, I think it
Speaker 1: requires the right type of roster, but he's that big, versatile,
Speaker 1: playmaking forward that I always think can win a championship.
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant and the last, but not least, Jimmy Butler,
Speaker 1: although obviously he requires a more talented roster than he's
Speaker 1: been rocking with as of late. Next question, Mohe, what
Speaker 1: is your favorite individual matchup in the league. Mine has
Speaker 1: been Kadie versus Kawhi for years, followed by Kyrie versus Steph.
Speaker 1: So I thought really long and hard about this. In
Speaker 1: the game that I had the most fun watching this
Speaker 1: year over the last two years actually was two games
Speaker 1: in Philly, A game where Nicole Jokic went in and
Speaker 1: beat the Sixers in Philly last year, and then in
Speaker 1: the most recent season, Joel Embiid out playing Jokic at home.
Speaker 1: What makes the matchup so interesting to me is their
Speaker 1: styles are so different. Like when Jokic beat Philly last
Speaker 1: year in Philly, he did it with all these little things.
Speaker 1: He didn't do it, you know, dominating out of the
Speaker 1: post and doing all this stuff. It was like controlling transition,
Speaker 1: beating Philly by getting defensive rebounds and throwing kick ahead
Speaker 1: passes and then making all the big important plays at
Speaker 1: the end of the game. And then when Joel Embiid
Speaker 1: beat Nikole Jokic this year, it was like sheer force
Speaker 1: of isolation, scoring over the top of Nikola Jokicic, just
Speaker 1: giving him buckets right in his face. Right. So there
Speaker 1: are very different players. They play the same position. It's
Speaker 1: the subject of a great deal of debate. A lot
Speaker 1: of em beat fans still think he's better than Nikola Jokic.
Speaker 1: So that, to me is my favorite individual matchup in
Speaker 1: the league. This next one's really fun. So this was
Speaker 1: from Liam. Shout out to Liam. This is a great question.
Speaker 1: If you could create the most perfect fitting starting five
Speaker 1: in the league from scratch, who you got? So this
Speaker 1: was a tough one. Because it's all about complimentary players.
Speaker 1: These are not players that I think are the five
Speaker 1: best players in the league. These are just the five
Speaker 1: players that I think would make the best basketball team.
Speaker 1: So I have Steph Curry at point guard. Is the
Speaker 1: definitely the best point guard in the league. It can
Speaker 1: play on and off the ball, and not a defensive liability.
Speaker 1: This is a surprise. I put Drew Holliday as the two.
Speaker 1: I don't think it really make sense in a five
Speaker 1: man group to have another Bradley Beal, Devin Booker, James Harden,
Speaker 1: you know, some sort of two guard score Shake Gildes, Alexander.
Speaker 1: It doesn't make sense to have that type of guy
Speaker 1: there because so much scoring talent is in this lineup.
Speaker 1: That needs to be a guy who can play a role.
Speaker 1: And when I thought about the best combination, because Steph
Speaker 1: Curry can't take point of attack assignments, it's not a
Speaker 1: strength of his So you need an outstanding point of
Speaker 1: attack defender that can succeed off the ball offensively, I
Speaker 1: put Drew Holliday. He averaged one point zero five points
Speaker 1: per possession and spot up situations last year, which is awesome.
Speaker 1: He shot forty five percent on catch and shoot jump shots,
Speaker 1: which is awesome, and he can take point of attack assignments.
Speaker 1: So I thought, in a star studded lineup, it made
Speaker 1: the most sense to have Drew Holliday and at that two.
Speaker 1: At the three, I was torn between Lebron James and
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant. I actually think Lebron James is a better
Speaker 1: player than KD right now and has been basically a
Speaker 1: better player than KD throughout his entire career. But I
Speaker 1: think in a team on a roster that already has
Speaker 1: Steph Curry, on a roster that already is gonna have
Speaker 1: some other players that will mention here in a second,
Speaker 1: you want a guy who can really thrive off the
Speaker 1: ball and help and help defense situations, contest your rebound.
Speaker 1: So I thought Kevin Durant made the most sense at
Speaker 1: the small forward ganis Antenna Kumpo at the four. A
Speaker 1: guy that can run a lot of action offensively as
Speaker 1: a ball screener, a guy that can be a transition weapon,
Speaker 1: and a guy that can take rim protection assignments. For
Speaker 1: our five in this lineup, who would be Nicole Jokic,
Speaker 1: the best player in the league, the most unstoppable offensive player,
Speaker 1: in the league, and by having Kadi and Giannis to
Speaker 1: help and help situations behind Jokic as you bring him
Speaker 1: up high and pick and roll. I think that combination
Speaker 1: of on ball scoring, off ball scoring, in threat and
Speaker 1: defensive talent Steph Curry, Drew Holliday, Kevin Durant, Janisontena Kumpo,
Speaker 1: Nicole Jokich, that would be my perfect fitting starting five
Speaker 1: in the NBA, which is not the same as the
Speaker 1: best five players in the NBA. All Right, a couple
Speaker 1: more in this episode. Frankie, please give your guitar collection
Speaker 1: a run through, and what is your grail guitar? So
Speaker 1: these I've been on display back here, but they get
Speaker 1: used almost every single day. As a matter of fact,
Speaker 1: this one I just broke a string on the other day.
Speaker 1: But I'll give you guys a quick rundown. So this one,
Speaker 1: this is my grail guitar for Frankie. This is here
Speaker 1: around the mic. So this is a Paul Reid Smith
Speaker 1: hollow body to Piezo. This is what they call it.
Speaker 1: This is my pride and joy. It was a present
Speaker 1: for myself when I got my new contract, something I
Speaker 1: worked really hard for and something that I use every
Speaker 1: single day. Paul Reid Smith makes their guitars by hand
Speaker 1: in Maryland, and I think they make the best guitars
Speaker 1: in the country. The two brands that everyone thinks of
Speaker 1: our Fender and Gibson, and I love Fenders and Gibson's,
Speaker 1: and I plan I have a Fender Strata Caster that
Speaker 1: I won't be able to show you guys today because
Speaker 1: my brother has it. My brother is a diehard Stevie
Speaker 1: Ray Van Vaughan Stevie Ray Vaughn fan and uh, and
Speaker 1: I've been letting him borrow my my stratocaster because I've
Speaker 1: been using this one almost every single day. So I
Speaker 1: have like a kind of like a mint colored Strata caster.
Speaker 1: Some of you guys that have been following the show
Speaker 1: for a while have seen that one on the wall before.
Speaker 1: So I do love Fender and Gibson, but PRS I
Speaker 1: think makes the best guitars. They have the best attention
Speaker 1: to detail. This one has got this like gorgeous curly
Speaker 1: maple on the top. It's mahogany around the back. It's
Speaker 1: fully hollow, It's got a big panel of the curly
Speaker 1: maple on the back. It's got the PRS vintage pickups
Speaker 1: and the big thing with the pazo that's such a feature.
Speaker 1: See this little switch right here. When it's in the
Speaker 1: down position, When that switches in the down position, it
Speaker 1: works the pickups. But when it's in the up position,
Speaker 1: it works this bridge pickup. And this bridge is actually
Speaker 1: a proprietary technology that PRS has. It picks up the
Speaker 1: vibrations and the strings and translates them into a sound
Speaker 1: that is identical to that of an acoustic guitar. So
Speaker 1: and if you don't I obviously don't have it plugged in,
Speaker 1: but go on YouTube and just google pazo and then
Speaker 1: watch a video and you'll kind of hear what I'm
Speaker 1: talking about. So what I love about this guitars it's
Speaker 1: got like that Bbking vintage warm sound that I get
Speaker 1: from the pickups. But then it's got this bridge pickup
Speaker 1: that I can quickly switch into playing acoustic guitar. So
Speaker 1: this is also my nicest acoustic guitar. This is my
Speaker 1: pride joy. I love this thing. I've been playing it
Speaker 1: almost every single day for a while. The reason why
Speaker 1: I don't share videos of me playing guitar on Twitter
Speaker 1: is I'm not good. I don't think i'm very good.
Speaker 1: I would like to be someday. I'm practicing at it,
Speaker 1: but I'm not. I share basketball videos because at least
Speaker 1: I can say confidently that I'm at least an okay
Speaker 1: basketball player. This is my second PRS guitar. This is
Speaker 1: one with the broken string that I broke recently. This
Speaker 1: is the CE twenty four semi hollow, also made in America.
Speaker 1: This to me, is the best guitar for the money
Speaker 1: that you can buy anywhere. So if you're looking to
Speaker 1: upgrade to a top of the line guitar but you
Speaker 1: don't want to spend a ton of money, this is
Speaker 1: the route to go. This guitar has it's one of
Speaker 1: their discounted models, but it has their top of the
Speaker 1: line pickups. So these are the PRS top of the
Speaker 1: line modern pickups. They are the eighty five to fifteens
Speaker 1: I think is what they call him. And it's got
Speaker 1: a bolt on maple neck, mahogany back, curly maple top.
Speaker 1: Just a really versatile guitar. Also, you could pop the
Speaker 1: tone knob and it turns them into single coils, which
Speaker 1: sounds a little bit more like a shrauducaster. So that
Speaker 1: was fun. This was I had my grandmother bought me
Speaker 1: an SG when I was a kid, and that was
Speaker 1: my first guitar. But I put the guitar down for
Speaker 1: about ten years when I was playing in college because
Speaker 1: I just didn't have time to play. And a couple
Speaker 1: of years ago, I think it was during COVID, I
Speaker 1: finally got back into it. I wanted to start playing again.
Speaker 1: This was the guitar I bought to get started. This
Speaker 1: is just an epiphone Les Paul Studio, pretty affordable guitar
Speaker 1: that does a lot of things that you need from
Speaker 1: a guitar, so one that i'd recommend if you're on
Speaker 1: more of a budget. And then, last, but not least,
Speaker 1: I have an acoustic guitar where there's just a cheap
Speaker 1: Fender Acoustic, but I almost never use it because I
Speaker 1: use the call of body Paso. This is just a
Speaker 1: really cool epiphone SG that I found at a guitar
Speaker 1: center that was on sale for like two hundred bucks.
Speaker 1: I love it because the dude who used it before
Speaker 1: me clearly got some mileage out of it. You could
Speaker 1: see like how oily the neck is. That means this
Speaker 1: dude was playing this thing constantly. You could see it
Speaker 1: in the fret board as well, but this is just
Speaker 1: an instrument that someone really loved, and sg's are just
Speaker 1: a favorite guitar of mine. My next guitar will probably
Speaker 1: be a Gibson SG. That's the one I'd like to
Speaker 1: get at some point. But yeah, playing guitar is probably
Speaker 1: my third favorite thing to do in the world, but
Speaker 1: the second thing I do most frequently because I love
Speaker 1: to ski. Skiing is my second favorite thing in the world.
Speaker 1: But obviously that seasonal requires travel and is super expensive,
Speaker 1: so we don't do it all that much. But I
Speaker 1: play a lot of guitar play almost every single day.
Speaker 1: It's a passion of mine. I primarily play blues, but
Speaker 1: I'm kind of open to trying new things. I've been
Speaker 1: trying to play a little bit more acoustic. It's just
Speaker 1: what I was raised on. My dad raised me on
Speaker 1: the Almond Brother's band and Dead and Company. That's why
Speaker 1: you guys see the Dead and Company posters and stuff
Speaker 1: back here. John Mayer is my favorite guitarist. I think
Speaker 1: he's the best player to ever pick up a guitar
Speaker 1: are and I highly recommend you guys check him out
Speaker 1: with Debt and Company. But I appreciate that Frankie. I
Speaker 1: am a big guitar fan, and it's exciting that I
Speaker 1: got to talk about it on the show for a minute. Alrighty,
Speaker 1: what we'll do one more question in this episode. Thoughts
Speaker 1: on the Zion situation both on and off the court.
Speaker 1: Is he worth the risk of keeping him even though
Speaker 1: he is almost never available, and should the situation happening
Speaker 1: off the court be enough reason for New Orleans to
Speaker 1: trade him. I'm completely off the Zion bandwagon. It's clear
Speaker 1: that he's not motivated to take care of his body
Speaker 1: at all whatsoever. The problem is is he's excuse me,
Speaker 1: he's already signed his deal, so you're not gonna be
Speaker 1: able to get him to uh to suddenly find some
Speaker 1: new spark of motivation, Like he's got the money already
Speaker 1: come in, Like the Zion Williamson is going to be
Speaker 1: generationally wealthy no matter what happens. And I don't know
Speaker 1: if you'll mature later on. He's already done a lot
Speaker 1: of damage to his body, as is to his joints. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we've heard from JJ Reddick and many others reporting on
Speaker 1: the situation that he's not a very good teammate. He's
Speaker 1: not he doesn't spend time in the locker room. He
Speaker 1: kind of keeps to himself and keeps to his own
Speaker 1: support system. I do not think it's David Griffin's fault.
Speaker 1: He was such an obvious number one overall pick, but
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, like he's the guy
Speaker 1: you got to trade. Brandon Ingram's just a better basketball
Speaker 1: player than him. He's a foundational piece for any franchise.
Speaker 1: I would be looking to move Zion it, and I again,
Speaker 1: I think it's really unlikely because Dane probably wouldn't want it,
Speaker 1: and he'd probably pushed back. But like, that's another team
Speaker 1: that I'd be calling Portland and being like, hey, we'll
Speaker 1: take Damian Lillard. Here's Ion Williamson. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1: But I'm kind of I'm off the Zion Williamson trade.
Speaker 1: I'm really disappointed. Haven't even seen him look remotely like
Speaker 1: the player he was at Duke since he came into
Speaker 1: the league. And look, if you can't take care of
Speaker 1: your body, you're not going to succeed in this league.
Speaker 1: It's just that it's too much of a grind. Eighty
Speaker 1: two games is too much. The players are too good.
Speaker 1: The style he plays that requires him to be in
Speaker 1: the peak physical condition and he's just not that guy,
Speaker 1: it seems like. So I'm off that train. Alright, guys,
Speaker 1: That's all I have for this episode of our mail Bag.
Speaker 1: Will be hitting the rest of the questions that you
Speaker 1: guys will see tomorrow. The volume