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Speaker 1: New York, called one five to two four seven zero

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Speaker 1: zero in Wyoming, or visit www Dot one gambler dot

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Speaker 1: net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight,

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Speaker 1: presented by Vanduel here at the Volume. Happy Wednesday, everybody.

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Speaker 1: I hope all of you guys are having a great week.

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Speaker 1: We have a jam pack show today. We're gonna be

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Speaker 1: hitting King's Sons, Clippers, Warriors, and game from Monday night

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Speaker 1: that we didn't hit, the Minnesota Timberwolves getting a big

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Speaker 1: win on the road over the Dallas Mavericks. Also, in

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Speaker 1: case you missed it, last night, I went on with

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Speaker 1: the great Colin Coward and we hit a bunch of

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Speaker 1: big picture topics around the NBA. You can find that

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Speaker 1: on my podcast feed, his podcast feed, as well as

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Speaker 1: on the Volumes YouTube channel. You guys know the drill

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Speaker 1: before we get started. Subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel

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Speaker 1: so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you guys

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Speaker 1: don't miss any show announcements, And last but not least

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Speaker 1: for whatever reason, you guys miss one of these videos

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Speaker 1: and you can't get back over to YouTube to finish.

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Speaker 1: Remember you can find them wherever you get your podcasts

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Speaker 1: Under Hoops Tonight. And lastly, before we talk about some

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Speaker 1: basketball I've been, I always go through the YouTube comments

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Speaker 1: because that's a good place for you guys to give

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Speaker 1: feedback for the show as well as to offer your

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Speaker 1: guys basketball takes, which I often learned things from. And

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Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of feedback from you guys asking

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Speaker 1: us to cover other teams other than the Lakers in

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Speaker 1: the Warriors. So first of all, we do. They're just

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Speaker 1: typically in the back half of the show. But I

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Speaker 1: wanted to take this example just kind of explain the format.

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Speaker 1: So I've been out of town a lot the last

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Speaker 1: couple of weeks on ski trips, and so when I'm

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Speaker 1: on vacation, I'm not doing game breakdowns. I'm only working

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Speaker 1: when we have like some sort of major basketball event

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Speaker 1: like Kyrie Irving demanding a trade or Kyrie Irving actually

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Speaker 1: getting traded. But I'm in town now. I have one

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Speaker 1: other ski trip in mid April, but other than that,

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Speaker 1: I'm in town. Basically the rest of the season, so

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Speaker 1: we're gonna have a much more normal cadence. Also, we

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Speaker 1: just had the trade deadline, so obviously we're gonna be

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Speaker 1: targeting the biggest trades of the deadline, and the biggest

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Speaker 1: trades of the deadline were what the Suns did, but

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Speaker 1: also what happened with the Warriors and the Gary Payton

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Speaker 1: scandal with the Portland Trailblazers in the Los Angeles Lakers

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Speaker 1: turning over their entire and their entire team, so obviously

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Speaker 1: that's going to affect things. And we're also heading into

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Speaker 1: the All Star break right now, so like I've got

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Speaker 1: this show, I've got one more show tomorrow, We're gonna

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Speaker 1: be breaking down a bunch of games from Wednesday night,

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Speaker 1: but then we don't have any basketball for a little

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Speaker 1: over a week. So it's a little bit of a

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Speaker 1: weird stretch, but our normal cadence, you know, on every

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Speaker 1: show we're breaking down four or five games, and yes,

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Speaker 1: I have to hit the Lakers and the Warriors. There

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Speaker 1: are biggest fan bases. This is we've got bills to pay,

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Speaker 1: and obviously that's the best way for us to grow

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Speaker 1: the show. We're going to continue to hit those teams

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Speaker 1: but we're also going to hit all of the other

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Speaker 1: playoff teams around the league, and our YouTube team works

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Speaker 1: really hard to parse things out and to put in chapters.

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Speaker 1: So if you're sick of hearing Lakers and more your stuff,

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Speaker 1: just skip those chapters and you can get to the

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Speaker 1: other teams. And most importantly, during the playoffs, we will

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Speaker 1: literally be covering every single game from every single team

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Speaker 1: throughout the entire playoff runs. So I do appreciate the feedback,

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Speaker 1: and I understand where you guys are coming from. I

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Speaker 1: just wanted to clarify that stuff just so you guys

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Speaker 1: know moving forward, UM, how to best get to the

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Speaker 1: content that you guys want to see. All right, So

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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball today. We're starting with King's Sons.

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Speaker 1: So the Sons won one twenty to one on nine uh,

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Speaker 1: Devin Booker and Down Drayton combined for sixty one points.

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Speaker 1: They really took control of this game in the third

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Speaker 1: or Sacramento hung tough for a half or so. Chris

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Speaker 1: Paul and Devin Booker were both awesome in the third quarter.

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Speaker 1: Chris Paul had five assists, Devin Booker had ten points,

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Speaker 1: and what I thought was one of the big swing

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Speaker 1: factors in the third quarter. A third quarter of this

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Speaker 1: game was josh a cog in his on ball defense

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Speaker 1: on Deer and Fox did a really nice job containing

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Speaker 1: him with physicality, so Dear and Fox couldn't turn the corner,

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Speaker 1: which turned him into a jump shooter in that quarter,

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Speaker 1: and he contested those jump shots really well and he

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Speaker 1: missed most of them, which was a big part of

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Speaker 1: how Phoenix got going defensively. You know, when I was

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Speaker 1: on with Colin Coward last night, I talked about how

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Speaker 1: of all the serious playoff teams, Phoenix probably has the

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Speaker 1: worst point of attack defense. Now, they have every other

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Speaker 1: box checked extremely well, except for maybe some forward physicality stuff,

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Speaker 1: but they they don't defend on the ball very well.

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Speaker 1: It's just a matter of personnel. And so when we're

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Speaker 1: looking at their lineups, especially when you're looking at their

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Speaker 1: core lineup of Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Katie and Andreyton

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Speaker 1: Joshua coach, he makes a lot of sense to me

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Speaker 1: in that fifth spot essentially as your lead point of

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Speaker 1: attack defender. Point of attack defense is super important and

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Speaker 1: it's something that coaches play a pay a ton of

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Speaker 1: attention to and the main reason why is whoever that

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Speaker 1: team's primary ball handler is, whoever the opponent's primary ball handler,

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Speaker 1: the guy who's gonna run the most pick and rolls,

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Speaker 1: he's arguably the most important piece to that team's offense

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Speaker 1: over the course of that night. The reason why is

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Speaker 1: if he can consistently warp the defense by getting downhill

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Speaker 1: or pulling guys out with this pull up jump shooting,

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Speaker 1: it puts your defense in rotation the entire night, which

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Speaker 1: makes it a lot a lot easier for the other

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Speaker 1: four offensive players on the floor. And it's an extremely

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Speaker 1: difficult job, and so you don't want to ask your

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Speaker 1: lead ball handlers on your team to take that job.

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Speaker 1: You would prefer to have somebody that's in a smaller

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Speaker 1: role offensively that can devote their resources to containing the

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Speaker 1: basketball on the defensive end of the floor. Now I

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Speaker 1: expect them to go with Tory Craig. Uh. It's just

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Speaker 1: been the guy that they've gone to in that spot

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Speaker 1: for the most part of the season, and he does

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Speaker 1: a lot of things for them, uh as a spot

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Speaker 1: up player and also crashing the offensive glass, but not

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Speaker 1: as good of a point of attack defender as josh

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Speaker 1: A cog So I'd be really interested to see if,

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Speaker 1: even if they don't start with him, if they end

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Speaker 1: up going with him in their crunch time lineups as

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Speaker 1: the guy that they put on the basketball. Um. The

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Speaker 1: other thing that really stood out to me in this

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Speaker 1: game is just in terms of the energy of the team.

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Speaker 1: They look reinvigorated by the Kevin Durant trade. Both Devin

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Speaker 1: Booker and Chris Paul looked like they had a newfound energy.

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Speaker 1: Chris Paul in particular, was playing with a ton of

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Speaker 1: energy and when when that that that just like, especially

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Speaker 1: in the middle of the slogs of the NBA season,

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Speaker 1: that sort of thing can really help you lead to wins.

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Speaker 1: And even DeAndre Ayton is playing some of his best

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Speaker 1: basketball this season right now. He's averaging twenty four points

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Speaker 1: and eight rebounds with two blocks per game over the

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Speaker 1: course of his last two games. He was really really

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Speaker 1: good over his last three games, I should say, Um,

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Speaker 1: he's been really really good in the last two against

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Speaker 1: Indiana and Sacramento, and just watching them last night, I

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Speaker 1: continue to be super intrigued by the potential, the basketball

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Speaker 1: potential of the Kevin Durant fit. In that third quarter

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Speaker 1: against uh in that third quarter against Sacramento, Phoenix was

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Speaker 1: running a ton of cleared side pick and roll, so

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Speaker 1: that means they get the shooter out of the strong

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Speaker 1: side corner and they'll have Chris Paul start lower, usually

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Speaker 1: down like almost by the free throw line extended, and

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Speaker 1: then they'll have eighton comes set the screen so that

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Speaker 1: if Aton does roll to the rim or they ice

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Speaker 1: the coverage and forced Chris Paul towards the baseline, he's

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Speaker 1: got more room to operate there. And Uh, Sacramento was

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Speaker 1: having a lot of trouble containing Chris Paul and Eton

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Speaker 1: in that action, and so they started bringing a third

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Speaker 1: defender over. They're essentially using what's called a catch hedge

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Speaker 1: on Chris Paul as he was coming off the ball screen.

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Speaker 1: What that means is the big is not trapping, he's

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Speaker 1: not showing, but he's ignoring the rollman to come high

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Speaker 1: enough that he he's essentially a soft double team on

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Speaker 1: the ball while whoever's guarding Chris Paul is chasing over

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Speaker 1: the top. Then they bring that third defender over to

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Speaker 1: tag the rollman, and as a result, that weak side

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Speaker 1: a kick pass to Tory Craig was wide open. The

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Speaker 1: entire third quarter. And so the way I look at

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Speaker 1: it is if you it kind of triggers a four

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Speaker 1: on three, right, Like, let's say k D's out there, Uh,

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Speaker 1: they'll probably in that case ignore Tory craig or or

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Speaker 1: josh A Cojy, whoever that fifth guy is. But as

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Speaker 1: soon as that kick passes made, you know that whoever

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Speaker 1: that fifth guy is has an opportunity to quickly start

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Speaker 1: a four on three, either by doing a quick, drible

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Speaker 1: handoff to whoever else is on that wing, or by

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Speaker 1: driving the clothes out and making another kick out. I

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Speaker 1: get super excited about those four on three situations with

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durant in the mix, because now if Chris Paul

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Speaker 1: and DeAndre Ayton are running that action and it gets

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Speaker 1: to that kick out, the guys running that four on

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Speaker 1: three are literally, uh Kevin Durant with um Devin Booker

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Speaker 1: and josh A Cogi with DeAndre Ayton pinned on a

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Speaker 1: smaller defender under the baskets, They're gonna be able to

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Speaker 1: get a lot of really good stuff about out of that.

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Speaker 1: And then I'm also excited to see Kevin Durayant actually

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Speaker 1: have the ball in his hands starting these pick and

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Speaker 1: rolls with that same dynamic with Chris Paul and Devin

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Speaker 1: Booker on the back end. We're not gonna have to

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Speaker 1: wait much longer to see it, because the Suns have

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Speaker 1: one more matchup with the Clippers on Thursday before we

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Speaker 1: get into the All Star break, and Kevin Durant is

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Speaker 1: reportedly going to return at that point. All right, moving

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Speaker 1: on to Warriors Clippers, this is a nice win for

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Speaker 1: the Clippers over an undermanned Warriors team. Staff and Andrew

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Speaker 1: Wiggins both took uh, we're both out. Andrew Wiggins took

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Speaker 1: the night off for personal reasons, and obviously Steff is

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Speaker 1: still rehabing the knee injury. But that's arguably there two

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Speaker 1: best players, and the core Warriors guys actually hung really

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Speaker 1: tough in this game. But you gotta you got to

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Speaker 1: see a great example of the gap in bench talent

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Speaker 1: between these two teams. So the Warriors ended up taking

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Speaker 1: a brief lead in the third quarter after Steff or

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Speaker 1: excuse me, after Clay Thompson and Jordan Pool caught a heater.

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Speaker 1: Clay had a really nice is so one like fade

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Speaker 1: away against Paul George at the free throw line. Then

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Speaker 1: Jordan Pool got down on hill and drew a foul

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Speaker 1: drive into the rim um. Then Jordan Pool hit back

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Speaker 1: to back threes, and then Clay Thompson hit a transition

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Speaker 1: three he got a lucky balance off of the right wing.

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Speaker 1: Suddenly the Warriors had a lead. But then from there,

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Speaker 1: both teams went to their bench and these were literally

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Speaker 1: the lineup. So the Clippers were going with Bones Island,

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Speaker 1: Norman Powell, Kawhi, Leonard, Marcus Morris, and Mason Plumlely, and

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Speaker 1: the Warriors went with Ty Jerome, Anthony Lamb, Moses Moody,

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Speaker 1: Jonathan Cominga and Jamichael Green, three of those guys you'd

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Speaker 1: hope to not have in your playoff rotation. And you know,

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Speaker 1: Jonathan Cominga is going to be more of a matchup

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Speaker 1: dependent guy when they get to the postseason, right, So

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Speaker 1: just from a personnel standpoint, they were completely overmatched. That

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Speaker 1: group did okay in the first half, really struggled in

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Speaker 1: the third quarter, and next thing you know, early fourth quarter,

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Speaker 1: they're already down eighteen points in the game was over. Now,

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Speaker 1: part of this is a regular season problem, Like the

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Speaker 1: Clippers have always had a ton of depth, and that's

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Speaker 1: the kind of thing that's bought them the margin for

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Speaker 1: error to be able to rest Kawhi Leonard and to

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Speaker 1: rest Paul George when the dealing with nagging injuries. But

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Speaker 1: you know, uh, during those regular season stretches that depth

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Speaker 1: can help. But then you get to the postseason and

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Speaker 1: the dynamic changes. Right like, it's Steph Curry and Andrew

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Speaker 1: Wiggins are available, and everybody in the core Warriors groups

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Speaker 1: is playing thirty six plus minutes. There's gonna be a

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Speaker 1: lot more overlap with the bench groups. You know, Ty

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Speaker 1: Jerome is not gonna play. You know, Anthony Lamb and

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Speaker 1: Jonathan Cominga might play based on you know what the

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Speaker 1: matchup is and which guy Steve Kerr trust. But um,

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Speaker 1: you know, Ty Jerome is not gonna play. Gary Payton

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Speaker 1: is gonna be getting in there for a bunch of

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Speaker 1: those minutes. So then all of a sudden it works out. Okay,

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Speaker 1: But what you see is that in mid February, when

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Speaker 1: guys are out of the lineup for injuries and for

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Speaker 1: personal reasons, that depth is gonna be a problem. And

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Speaker 1: the Clippers won a game off of that last night.

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Speaker 1: So credits to the Clippers for building a roster that

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Speaker 1: buys them a lot of margin for error during these

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Speaker 1: stretches of the season. One last quick note on the

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Speaker 1: Warriors before we move on. Uh, there was a quote

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Speaker 1: from Draymond Green that was going around yesterday talking about defense,

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Speaker 1: and he said, quote, it has to come from within.

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Speaker 1: Defense is all about will a want to defend. Defense

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Speaker 1: is not fun. You've just got to do it if

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Speaker 1: you want to win, and we haven't and quote, So,

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Speaker 1: first of all, he's absolutely right fundamentally about defense. The

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Speaker 1: Warriors are actually my favorite example in this modern era

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Speaker 1: of NBA history of the fact that defense is about

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Speaker 1: will and about caring and wanting to do so. Just

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Speaker 1: look at their core lineups, Like the Warriors have had

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Speaker 1: outstanding you know, at defensive talents over the years, right,

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Speaker 1: Like Andrea Guadala has been one of the best wing

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Speaker 1: defenders in the league for a long time. Um, you know,

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durayant obviously brought a huge element of of of

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Speaker 1: physical tools to the defensive end of the floor. But

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Speaker 1: the other core guys in that group there, they're really

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Speaker 1: examples of not having those physical tools but becoming great

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Speaker 1: defensive players by the strength of their will. Like Draymond

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Speaker 1: Green is the best example of it like Draymond Green

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Speaker 1: is my height. He's six ft six. Now, he does

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Speaker 1: have a really good wing span and he's very strong,

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Speaker 1: but he the the way that he impacts games defensively

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Speaker 1: is up here. He's got an outstanding basketball like Q

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Speaker 1: and his ability to sift out plays, but also he

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Speaker 1: has poured his heart and soul into that side of

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Speaker 1: the floor every single day and carved out not just

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Speaker 1: a place in the league, but a place, you know,

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Speaker 1: a place in the higher echelons of the league. And

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Speaker 1: Draymond Green has made a second team All n b

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Speaker 1: A in his career, and he's in my opinion, one

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Speaker 1: of the top three defensive players in the league without

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Speaker 1: being Rudy Gobert or Anthony Davis or bam at a

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Speaker 1: bio guys that have significantly better physical tools at that position.

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Speaker 1: Clay Thompson not the best athlete in the world. Decent size,

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Speaker 1: six ft seven, He's got some tools, right, He's six

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Speaker 1: ft seven, He's big and strong. You need a baseline

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Speaker 1: of physical tools, like even Staff at six ft three.

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Speaker 1: It's not like he's John Morant, you know, a hundred

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Speaker 1: and seventy five pounds and just can get shoved around

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Speaker 1: everywhere on the floor. They have a baseline of physical tools,

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Speaker 1: but compared to other NBA athletes, they don't have that

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Speaker 1: type of physicality. Clay is not as athletic as most

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Speaker 1: six seven wings in the league, but he once again

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Speaker 1: commitment to the details high basketball. I you putting in

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Speaker 1: the effort in focus, sliding his feet really well, anticipating

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Speaker 1: changes of direction and taking contact in the chest and

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Speaker 1: contesting shots. Same thing with Steph and even with Kevon Looney,

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Speaker 1: who compared to most centers in the NBA, isn't the

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Speaker 1: best athlete or the biggest center that they have in

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Speaker 1: the league. So the Warriors kind of represent that take

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Speaker 1: that Draymond has, that that you know, defense is about

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Speaker 1: heart and that defense is about uh commitment to those details.

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Speaker 1: There's a lot of guys in the league to have

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Speaker 1: similar physical tools that never panned out. How many times

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Speaker 1: have we seen guys who tried to be Draymond or

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Speaker 1: I should say gms who draft guys. Remember Guerresan, you

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Speaker 1: boost a life from from the Celtics. They used to

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Speaker 1: call him French Draymond. It's like, actually, it turns out

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Speaker 1: that just because you're stocky in six six and and uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, a decent athlete. That doesn't mean that you

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Speaker 1: can suddenly be a great defensive player. You need to

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Speaker 1: you need to be what Draymond is, which is an

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Speaker 1: anomaly at that position. Um. But the reality is, and

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Speaker 1: the reason why Draymond said this is a lot of

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Speaker 1: that fire has been missing this season. Not to be clear,

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Speaker 1: the starters have been outstanding, so we talked about this

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Speaker 1: last night, but the best start, the best five man

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Speaker 1: lineup in the league is still Kevon Looney, Draymond Green,

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Andrew Wiggins. That team, that

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Speaker 1: group is outscoring teams by twenty two points per one

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Speaker 1: hundred possessions. They've been really good defensively. They have a

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Speaker 1: defensive rating of a hundred and six, which is really good.

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Speaker 1: So that group has been doing fine, but every other

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Speaker 1: line up that they have is struggling defensively, especially when

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Speaker 1: Draymond is off the floor and Draymonds off the floor,

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Speaker 1: they're giving up a hundred and twenty one points per

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Speaker 1: one hund possessions. And that's a big part of why

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Speaker 1: they're nineteen and defense through fifty eight games. Now, remember

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Speaker 1: my rules, as it pertains to contenders if you don't

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Speaker 1: have an overwhelming talent advantage, and if you don't have

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Speaker 1: a you know, a significant injury that impacts your defense.

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Speaker 1: So for instance, if like Draymond misses a bunch of time,

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Speaker 1: or if Anthony Davis misses a bunch of time, I'm

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Speaker 1: not gonna hold your team to that defensive rating standard.

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Speaker 1: But if unless unless you're missing a defensive player for

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Speaker 1: a significant, significant chunk, or you're the Katie Staph Warriors

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Speaker 1: or the shot Kobe Lakers, unless you're one of those

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Speaker 1: types of teams, you have to be a top ten

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Speaker 1: defense in the regular season by defensive rating to have

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Speaker 1: a chance to contend for a title. Now, the Warriors

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Speaker 1: have twenty four games left to demonstrate that they have

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Speaker 1: that ceiling, and they need to shave about two points

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Speaker 1: off their defensive rating to get into the top ten.

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Speaker 1: What that means is they're going to need to defend

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Speaker 1: at an extremely high level over the final stretch of

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Speaker 1: the season to prove that they still have that gear

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Speaker 1: that they can get to. Alright, moving on to Wolves

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Speaker 1: maps before we get out of here today. So the Wolves,

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Speaker 1: this was on Monday night. The I just covered a

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Speaker 1: bunch of other games at night, so I didn't get

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Speaker 1: around to this one, and at the time that I

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Speaker 1: was prepping for the show, the Wolves were big and

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Speaker 1: it was a blowout, so I wasn't gonna get into it.

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Speaker 1: But the Wolves it up winning one and and the

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Speaker 1: Mavericks actually had a chance to tie this tie this

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Speaker 1: game with a three at the end, and Minnesota opted

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Speaker 1: not to foul and just played straight up defense, and

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Speaker 1: they played outstanding defense and actually forced to turn over

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Speaker 1: and Dallas couldn't even get a shot up um. This

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Speaker 1: was first of all, this was the first example of

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Speaker 1: the MAVs really struggling with a big, physical team, which

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Speaker 1: was something that I figured would be a problem for

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Speaker 1: them immediately after the trade. You know, they they're hurt

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Speaker 1: on the front line with Maxi Clei, but being out,

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00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,640
Speaker 1: they gave up their best three and d wing and

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Speaker 1: you know, contested a rebound guy from the perimeter and

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Speaker 1: in Dorian Phinney Smith, and you saw a lot of

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Speaker 1: that kind of come home to russ last on Monday night.

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Speaker 1: They got man handled on the glass, they got man

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Speaker 1: handled in the paint. They could not guard Anthony Edwards

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Speaker 1: at the point of attack when the Wolves went big

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Speaker 1: with Rudy Gobert. They were plus seventeen in this game,

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Speaker 1: so there were there were a lot of issues that

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Speaker 1: they had there. But then what happened was is Kyrie

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Speaker 1: Irving just went absolutely berserk in the fourth quarter, had

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Speaker 1: twenty four points and got them back to within having

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Speaker 1: a chance is to win. And then obviously the Wolves

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Speaker 1: got the big stop. So there's two things that I

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Speaker 1: want to hit on here versus Anthony Edwards. So before

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Speaker 1: the season, in my player rankings, I had him at

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Speaker 1: twenty one, the twenty first best player in the league. Now,

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Speaker 1: that was higher than most folks, and there were a

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Speaker 1: couple of people who disagreed because I had him ahead

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Speaker 1: of some, you know, more established guys like Chris Middleton

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Speaker 1: or Bradley Beale, things like that. Um, I think I

399
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Speaker 1: had him ahead of Donovan Mitchell as well, But you know,

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Speaker 1: I was super high on him after last year's plaoffs,

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Speaker 1: Like I love the size that downhill, physical power going

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Speaker 1: towards the rim, and when you mix that with the

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Speaker 1: way that he was shooting his pull up jump shot

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Speaker 1: at the end of the season last year, and his

405
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Speaker 1: on ball defense, which we're gonna talk about here, in

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00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,879
Speaker 1: a minute, I get really excited about that. UM. And

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00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:50,399
Speaker 1: obviously Donovan Mitchell was coming off of a super disappointing

408
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Speaker 1: playoff run. As you know, Bradley Be'll missed the playoffs,

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Speaker 1: Chris Middleton was hurt. There's a lot of reasons why

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00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:57,679
Speaker 1: I had him up as high as I did, UM,

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Speaker 1: But like I was just really bullish general on Anthony

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Speaker 1: Edwards in his skill set, But then he got off

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Speaker 1: to a rough start this year. And I don't want

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Speaker 1: to put too much of the blame on him because

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00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:09,080
Speaker 1: it was a really clunky lineup, and I was critical

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Speaker 1: of that Minnesota timber Wolves offseason from the start, but

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00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:15,000
Speaker 1: putting him alongside D'Angelo Russell and Carl Anthony Towns and

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00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,439
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert just was a really clunky fit. A lot

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00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:19,840
Speaker 1: of guys you want to have the ball, funky spacing.

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Speaker 1: There were just a lot of reasons why that didn't

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Speaker 1: work super well. UM. But in Anthony Edwards his last

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Speaker 1: thirty one games, he's averaging twenty seven points, six rebounds,

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00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:31,520
Speaker 1: and five assists on fifty eight percent true shooting. That

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00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:35,880
Speaker 1: is like legit second tier, superstar level production. His pull

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00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,680
Speaker 1: up jump shots coming around two In his last ten games,

426
00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:42,560
Speaker 1: he's shooting on nine pull up jump shots per game.

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Speaker 1: But his defense is where I'm most excited. You know.

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Speaker 1: One of the biggest things that excited me about Aunt

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00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:49,760
Speaker 1: towards and the last year is like he'd getting these

430
00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:52,720
Speaker 1: on ball defense possessions, and he's so big and strong

431
00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,040
Speaker 1: that when he would be a little bit handsy and physical,

432
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:57,200
Speaker 1: and he slides his feet so well that the refs

433
00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:58,679
Speaker 1: would give him the benefit of the doubt on a

434
00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,240
Speaker 1: lot of those plays, like guards would just be trapped

435
00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:03,800
Speaker 1: in place and really struggled to get separation from him.

436
00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,040
Speaker 1: And I'm that's where I start to think, like, man,

437
00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,320
Speaker 1: like this guy has real two way potential, especially in

438
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,840
Speaker 1: a Western conference that has so many great guards. But

439
00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:16,359
Speaker 1: you saw it on display at its absolute peak on

440
00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:18,719
Speaker 1: Monday night against Kyrie Irving. So in the first eight

441
00:21:18,760 --> 00:21:20,399
Speaker 1: and a half minutes of the fourth quarter, Kyrie is

442
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,399
Speaker 1: twenty one points. He was as hot as I've ever

443
00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,560
Speaker 1: seen him, and then over the last three and a

444
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:30,800
Speaker 1: half minutes Anthony Edwards completely locked him down. Now, there

445
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,760
Speaker 1: was one weird play where Frank Nilikina missed the three

446
00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:36,560
Speaker 1: and Josh Green got an offensive rebound and Anthony Edwards

447
00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:38,560
Speaker 1: was leaking into the to try to get a rebound.

448
00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:41,159
Speaker 1: As long rebound uh Josh Green shoveled it back to

449
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,439
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving and he made a wide open three. But

450
00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:47,600
Speaker 1: aside from that play, he literally could not even get

451
00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:52,240
Speaker 1: separation from Anthony Edwards, and it basically like and it

452
00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,679
Speaker 1: culminated with that final possession where Kyrie couldn't even get

453
00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:57,600
Speaker 1: a shot off. But before that, there were a couple

454
00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,199
Speaker 1: of possessions where Kyrie tried to get separation from and

455
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,080
Speaker 1: just couldn't get to the middle of the floor. Pump fakes,

456
00:22:03,119 --> 00:22:05,600
Speaker 1: all this stuff and ants just got him completely swallowed

457
00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,800
Speaker 1: up with his size and his strength in his physicality,

458
00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:12,680
Speaker 1: and that allen ball defense helped Minnesota win a game

459
00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:15,240
Speaker 1: that they probably lose otherwise with the way that Kyrie

460
00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:17,719
Speaker 1: was playing, and we've seen him ride those hot streaks

461
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:19,959
Speaker 1: to making big shots down the stretch and beating teams.

462
00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:23,840
Speaker 1: He's pump faking at ghosts, I said, goes. He was

463
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,359
Speaker 1: here in the footsteps of Anthony Edwards and pump baking

464
00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:28,800
Speaker 1: at shots that he normally would take on that final possession,

465
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:32,280
Speaker 1: and that's a big part of why I'm so excited

466
00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,159
Speaker 1: about Ant's ceiling and why I think he's gonna be

467
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:36,760
Speaker 1: a mega star in this league for a long time

468
00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,080
Speaker 1: at some point in the near future. The last thing

469
00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:42,320
Speaker 1: I want to talk about was the MAVs um defense

470
00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:46,560
Speaker 1: is obviously in a big issue. Uh physical limitations will

471
00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:48,280
Speaker 1: be a problem for this team throughout the rest of

472
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:49,919
Speaker 1: the season. They're gonna have to address that in the

473
00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:53,840
Speaker 1: off season. But every time I've watched them play since

474
00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,960
Speaker 1: the Kyrie trade, it's amazing how much of a breath

475
00:22:57,040 --> 00:23:02,439
Speaker 1: of fresh air he is for that offense. Um. Luca

476
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:04,880
Speaker 1: plays a very slow style, and you need to play

477
00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:06,560
Speaker 1: that style. For the record, that's how you win in

478
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:09,760
Speaker 1: the playoffs. The game slows down, you need half court surgeons.

479
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,359
Speaker 1: So I don't want to undercut what Luca is doing.

480
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:16,560
Speaker 1: That's an important part of their eventual playoffs ceiling. Um.

481
00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:18,919
Speaker 1: But there is a lot of advantages that come with

482
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:20,560
Speaker 1: pushing the pace. First of all, it helps you get

483
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:22,760
Speaker 1: easier shots before the defense gets set. We talked about

484
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:24,560
Speaker 1: this all the time on the show. But it also

485
00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:28,400
Speaker 1: gets the crowd going. It's a fun brand of basketball,

486
00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,160
Speaker 1: and when that when the crowd starts to feel that

487
00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 1: push of that transition up and down style. It in

488
00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:39,919
Speaker 1: turn reinvigorates the players because they're feeding off the crowd,

489
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:44,520
Speaker 1: and that breathes life into a basketball team. Like I

490
00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,199
Speaker 1: think Kyrie single handedly gave them as a chance to

491
00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:49,840
Speaker 1: win this game with the change of pace that he

492
00:23:49,840 --> 00:23:51,920
Speaker 1: brought in that fourth quarter. Now, they're gonna need to

493
00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:53,840
Speaker 1: figure some stuff out, especially with their give and take

494
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,160
Speaker 1: at the end of games. I didn't like that Luca

495
00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,560
Speaker 1: took the game tying shot in their previous game against Sacramento.

496
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:01,239
Speaker 1: I thought Iyree had it going it should have been

497
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,480
Speaker 1: in his hands, and then there were some overpassing on

498
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:06,399
Speaker 1: that final possession. Uh. Luca also didn't do a very

499
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,399
Speaker 1: good job ceiling j Jadae McDaniels on that entry pass,

500
00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:11,680
Speaker 1: which caused the whole play to break down from the

501
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:14,560
Speaker 1: start because Jade McDaniels got a deflection. Luca needs to

502
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:16,720
Speaker 1: seal him so that it's a lot easier for that

503
00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:20,080
Speaker 1: past to come. Um. But they're gonna figure that stuff

504
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:22,720
Speaker 1: out and it's gonna be fine. And obviously, like I said,

505
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:24,600
Speaker 1: they've got a bolster of the front court. But I

506
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:27,920
Speaker 1: love the natural basketball fit and the give and take

507
00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,359
Speaker 1: and the and the way that their differences complement each other,

508
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,720
Speaker 1: and I'm looking forward to watching them over a playoff run. Alright, guys,

509
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:36,200
Speaker 1: that is all I have for today. As always, I

510
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,280
Speaker 1: sincerely appreciate your support. We will be back tomorrow morning

511
00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,159
Speaker 1: for one final show before the All Star Game, and

512
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,199
Speaker 1: that's gonna be breaking down Wednesday nights games. I'm not

513
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:46,960
Speaker 1: sure if we'll cover the All Star Game. It depends

514
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:49,160
Speaker 1: if it's interesting the All Star Games a total coin flip.

515
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,240
Speaker 1: It's either gonna be close and the e l am

516
00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:53,640
Speaker 1: ending is great and it'll be super interesting, in which

517
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:56,479
Speaker 1: case we'll do a show. If not, then we'll probably

518
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,520
Speaker 1: take the rest of the weekend off next week before

519
00:24:59,560 --> 00:25:03,840
Speaker 1: we get two games. Returning on Thursday, Carson and myself

520
00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:08,280
Speaker 1: will be linking up to do uh an NBA Draft preview,

521
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,520
Speaker 1: going over the top prospects and this year's coming NBA Draft.

522
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,200
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be doing a lot of film study over

523
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,439
Speaker 1: the course of this weekend on those players, prepping for that.

524
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:20,080
Speaker 1: I just think here at the All Star breaks a

525
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:23,480
Speaker 1: good chance, a good opportunity for us to dive into that.

526
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,880
Speaker 1: And we'll probably have one other video before Thursday where

527
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,359
Speaker 1: we just kind of do one last final kind of

528
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,240
Speaker 1: like zoom out look at all of our contender tears

529
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,960
Speaker 1: before we go into the stretch. Runt um. All right, thanks,

530
00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,080
Speaker 1: thanks so much for supporting the show. Guys, Let's see tomorrow.

531
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 1: Volume