1
00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:06,520
Speaker 1: The volume In the NBA, the game can change in

2
00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:09,719
Speaker 1: an instant, but no matter how the action unfolds, DraftKings

3
00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:13,000
Speaker 1: Sportsbook has your back. This week new customers can score

4
00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:16,319
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty instantly in bonus bets just for

5
00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,960
Speaker 1: betting five bucks on basketball. Win or lose, you get

6
00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,440
Speaker 1: an instant up. They even have great same game parlays,

7
00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:24,880
Speaker 1: so many different ways to bet the NBA. Download the

8
00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:30,320
Speaker 1: Draftking Sportsbook app now and use code hoops. That's hops.

9
00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,599
Speaker 1: New customers can get one hundred and fifty instantly in

10
00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:37,840
Speaker 1: bonus bets for betting just five dollars on basketball only

11
00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:41,480
Speaker 1: on Draftking Sportsbook with code Hoops. The Crown is yours.

12
00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,760
Speaker 1: Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York

13
00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,440
Speaker 1: call eight seven seven eight hope and why, or text

14
00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,600
Speaker 1: hope and why to four six seven three six nine.

15
00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:55,000
Speaker 1: In West Virginia, visit www dot one eight hundred gambler

16
00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:59,080
Speaker 1: dot net. Please play responsibly. In Connecticut, help is available

17
00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,200
Speaker 1: for problem gambling called eight eight eight seven eight nine

18
00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,560
Speaker 1: seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org on

19
00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,000
Speaker 1: behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas must be

20
00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,120
Speaker 1: twenty one or older in most eligible states, but age

21
00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,520
Speaker 1: varies by jurisdiction. See DraftKings dot com slash sportsbook for

22
00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:20,040
Speaker 1: details in state specific responsible gambling resources, eligibility and deposit

23
00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,640
Speaker 1: restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight

24
00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:28,280
Speaker 1: hours after issuance. Terms at sportsbook dot DraftKings dot com

25
00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:41,680
Speaker 1: slash Basketball terms. All right, welcome to hoops Tonight here

26
00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:43,760
Speaker 1: at the volume. Happy Tuesday, everybody. I hope all of

27
00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:45,440
Speaker 1: you guys had a great night. In case you missed

28
00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:47,640
Speaker 1: it earlier, don't forget that we did a breakdown of

29
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,880
Speaker 1: last night's in season tournament games as well as nix Bucks.

30
00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,800
Speaker 1: Those are two separate videos earlier on the feed tonight.

31
00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:56,000
Speaker 1: We're just hitting Suns Lakers. You guys know the joke

32
00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,080
Speaker 1: before we get started. Subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel.

33
00:01:58,120 --> 00:01:59,120
Speaker 1: I mean a lot to me if you guys would

34
00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:01,840
Speaker 1: scroll down and hit that subscribe button. Don't forget about

35
00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:04,400
Speaker 1: our podcast feed. Wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight.

36
00:02:04,440 --> 00:02:07,040
Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you

37
00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,080
Speaker 1: guys don't miss any show announcements as well as the

38
00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,000
Speaker 1: film threads that I do every morning. In the last

39
00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,359
Speaker 1: but not least, keep dropping YouTube comments mail bag questions

40
00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:17,600
Speaker 1: in the YouTube comments so we can hit them later

41
00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:20,640
Speaker 1: on throughout the week. All right, let's talk some basketball.

42
00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,679
Speaker 1: So highly entertaining game, Lakers beat the Suns one of

43
00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:25,520
Speaker 1: six to one o three. They are going to Vegas

44
00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:29,760
Speaker 1: to play the Pelicans on Thursday. Now Tons of interesting

45
00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,480
Speaker 1: basketball to get into from this game, but unfortunately we

46
00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,160
Speaker 1: have to start with officiating, because there was an atrocious

47
00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:37,680
Speaker 1: call at the end of this game that robbed the

48
00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:42,079
Speaker 1: Sons of an opportunity to potentially send the game to overtime.

49
00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:43,720
Speaker 1: It was one o five one oh three off of

50
00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:45,799
Speaker 1: I believe a Devin Booker left handed layup on the

51
00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,200
Speaker 1: left side of the rim. Lebron inbounds to Austin Reeves.

52
00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:50,520
Speaker 1: Austin flops to try to draw a fout, doesn't get

53
00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,520
Speaker 1: the foul call, loses control of the basketball. In the process,

54
00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:57,640
Speaker 1: Lebron calls a timeout and it gets granted. It absolutely

55
00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,280
Speaker 1: should not have. It was a terrible call. It stole,

56
00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,320
Speaker 1: in my opinion, an opportunity for the Suns to potentially

57
00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:07,800
Speaker 1: send the game to overtime. That said, judging by the

58
00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:09,920
Speaker 1: half court dynamic, in the simple fact that even if

59
00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,360
Speaker 1: they had scored a layup in that chaos and the

60
00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,959
Speaker 1: Lakers had not been granted a timeout, they still would

61
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:16,560
Speaker 1: have had to get a stop on the other end,

62
00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:18,600
Speaker 1: and then they would have had to beat the Lakers

63
00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,560
Speaker 1: in overtime. Now, the half court dynamic we saw down

64
00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:26,000
Speaker 1: the stretch of that game was the Lakers blitzing Kevin

65
00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,160
Speaker 1: Durant and Devin Booker and rotating out of it, and

66
00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,360
Speaker 1: they were having a hell of a time getting any

67
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,760
Speaker 1: good shots, which has been a consistent problem for them

68
00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,320
Speaker 1: throughout the season, which we're going to talk about. On

69
00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:36,920
Speaker 1: the other end of the floor, just like in the

70
00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,960
Speaker 1: first two games, Lebron James was relentlessly attacking, use of

71
00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,040
Speaker 1: Nurkic in pick and roll and getting great shots. In

72
00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:48,880
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter alone, Anthony Davis missed five layups at

73
00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,080
Speaker 1: the basket. So, like I tend to believe, you play

74
00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,960
Speaker 1: that game from that point with the correct call ten times,

75
00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,760
Speaker 1: Lakers are probably winning it seven or eight times. That said,

76
00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,400
Speaker 1: there's no question that the officials made a huge mistake.

77
00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,880
Speaker 1: It was a It ruined what was a great basketball game.

78
00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:10,440
Speaker 1: And I understand why Sons fans are upset because you

79
00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:12,200
Speaker 1: should have had your shot. You should have had your

80
00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,600
Speaker 1: chance to potentially reverse the fortunes of what was taking

81
00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:17,920
Speaker 1: place on the court down the stretch and to get

82
00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,560
Speaker 1: that win. It was super unfortunate. Don't know what else

83
00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:22,760
Speaker 1: to say. That said, this is a thing that happens

84
00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,320
Speaker 1: in basketball games, and you know the Lakers were on

85
00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:27,760
Speaker 1: the other side of this. Once a year ago, you

86
00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,960
Speaker 1: guys might remember, there's a big game Lakers in Boston

87
00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:35,640
Speaker 1: against the Celtics, tie game, final possession. Lebron gets downhill.

88
00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,400
Speaker 1: He is at the rim with his left hand at

89
00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,600
Speaker 1: the rim like a one shot, and Tatum hacks him

90
00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,640
Speaker 1: on the left arm right in front of the official.

91
00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,640
Speaker 1: No call, game goes over time, the Lakers lose. Pat

92
00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,120
Speaker 1: Beverley literally grabbed the camera and held it in front

93
00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:53,719
Speaker 1: of the official, held in front of the official and

94
00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,160
Speaker 1: is like, what's the deal, dude, Like it was that

95
00:04:56,160 --> 00:04:58,919
Speaker 1: that clear but here, But here's the thing. Did the

96
00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,440
Speaker 1: Lakers go to win out of it? No? Did they

97
00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:05,279
Speaker 1: get anything out of it? No, Because at the end

98
00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:07,760
Speaker 1: of the day, as a basketball team, I can only

99
00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:09,920
Speaker 1: think of this from my perspective. I coach high school

100
00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,800
Speaker 1: basketball right now. I played back when I was younger,

101
00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:16,880
Speaker 1: inside the locker room. The attitude is pretty simple. You

102
00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,359
Speaker 1: got to focus on what you can control. I'm a

103
00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,839
Speaker 1: big believer that focusing on officiating is a loser mentality.

104
00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:25,520
Speaker 1: You guys, all of you guys who listen to the show,

105
00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:31,000
Speaker 1: know that I never ever complain about officiating for any

106
00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,800
Speaker 1: team in a big picture, conspiracy sense. The only time

107
00:05:34,839 --> 00:05:37,919
Speaker 1: I ever talk about officiating is when it pertains to

108
00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,400
Speaker 1: league wide trends and specific types of fouls that I'd

109
00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:43,080
Speaker 1: like to see removed from the league. And the main

110
00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,440
Speaker 1: reason why I feel that way is simply because as

111
00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:51,080
Speaker 1: a basketball team, you if you focus on the officials,

112
00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:53,760
Speaker 1: it's just a fruitless endeavor. You have to focus on

113
00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,360
Speaker 1: what you can control. You have to try to over

114
00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,479
Speaker 1: forty eight minutes, build in enough margin for air that

115
00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:01,960
Speaker 1: you can put up with a bad call. For instance,

116
00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,279
Speaker 1: from the Lakers perspective, I think a lot of Lakers

117
00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:07,839
Speaker 1: fans feel that Anthony Davis was getting fouled on some

118
00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:10,520
Speaker 1: of those layups. Now I didn't feel that way. I

119
00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,680
Speaker 1: thought it was kind of playoff style officiating where you

120
00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:16,120
Speaker 1: just kind of let everything go. And I prefer the

121
00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:18,360
Speaker 1: game of basketball like that. But that's how who a

122
00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:21,520
Speaker 1: lot of Laker fans felt right. And again, the Lakers

123
00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,520
Speaker 1: played well enough that they were able to weather a

124
00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,320
Speaker 1: bunch of Anthony Davis missed layups that may or may

125
00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:29,400
Speaker 1: not have been fouls because they were the better half

126
00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:31,520
Speaker 1: court team down the stretch of that game, and they

127
00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:33,520
Speaker 1: By the way, this is not a trend that this

128
00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,919
Speaker 1: is not any sort of depart like a It's not

129
00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:39,880
Speaker 1: anything different than the trends we've seen from both teams

130
00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,279
Speaker 1: this season. The Lakers have been an excellent clutch time team.

131
00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,880
Speaker 1: The Suns have been a horrific fourth quarter team. It's

132
00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,880
Speaker 1: been a consistent issue all year long. So again, it's

133
00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:50,200
Speaker 1: really unfortunate because that call is going to dominate the

134
00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:52,839
Speaker 1: TV shows and it's going to dominate a lot of

135
00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:55,040
Speaker 1: the analysis, and that's unfortunate because there was a lot

136
00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:58,280
Speaker 1: of really interesting basketball that took place in this game.

137
00:06:58,279 --> 00:06:59,919
Speaker 1: But that's all I'm gonna say about it. Soun's got

138
00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:02,479
Speaker 1: They should have had a chance to potentially send that

139
00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,480
Speaker 1: game to overtime where they could have won. That said,

140
00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:07,880
Speaker 1: I believe the Lakers would have won regardless of what happened.

141
00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:09,640
Speaker 1: I thought they outplayed the Suns for the most part.

142
00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:11,720
Speaker 1: I thought they deserved to win the game. All right,

143
00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:13,360
Speaker 1: let's get into some of the basketball stuff. So I

144
00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:15,960
Speaker 1: want to hit on Lebron James again because this is

145
00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:22,240
Speaker 1: ridiculous because once again, huge game, single elimination, big time

146
00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:25,880
Speaker 1: playoff vibes, three other legit superstars in their prime on

147
00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:29,000
Speaker 1: the floor, and I thought Lebron was the best player.

148
00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:31,920
Speaker 1: And once again it came down to that chess match

149
00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,120
Speaker 1: in the half court, and Lebron just started attacking use

150
00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:37,560
Speaker 1: of Nurkicchen pick and roll, getting downhill and finishing at

151
00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:41,160
Speaker 1: the rim. Once again, he's just trusting his pull up

152
00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:43,600
Speaker 1: jump shot in these big moments. He took a big

153
00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,200
Speaker 1: transition three there in the middle of the fourth quarter.

154
00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:48,720
Speaker 1: He took a mid range pull up jump shot and

155
00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:51,400
Speaker 1: pick and roll down the stretch and crunch time, And

156
00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,400
Speaker 1: that to me is just such a huge indicator of

157
00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:57,200
Speaker 1: a trend that was not the case last year, which

158
00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:00,640
Speaker 1: is crunch time offense for the Lakers. When Lebron can

159
00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,560
Speaker 1: actually trust his jump shot and just in general is

160
00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:07,160
Speaker 1: more confident and incapable creating shots, it just makes the

161
00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:09,520
Speaker 1: Lakers a more dynamic team. That was a specific thing

162
00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:12,440
Speaker 1: they struggled with a lot last year. I think that's encouraging.

163
00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:14,360
Speaker 1: But the big thing that stood out to me from

164
00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:16,720
Speaker 1: Lebron in this game was the job he did defensively

165
00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,680
Speaker 1: at five steals, which is blowing plays up as a lowman.

166
00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,200
Speaker 1: And again, like we talked about this position archetype all

167
00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:26,960
Speaker 1: the time, right, that Aaron Gordon archetype with like guys

168
00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:31,160
Speaker 1: like DeAndre Hunter and ruy Hot Tamura and like and

169
00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:33,880
Speaker 1: Lori Markenens and a big version of that. Right, there's

170
00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:35,720
Speaker 1: a bunch of these guys around the league, these big forwards,

171
00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:38,160
Speaker 1: and we kind of don't remember the stars when we

172
00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:41,880
Speaker 1: talk about that, and like, like Lebron's the star version

173
00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:45,160
Speaker 1: of that. And so as a role player and meaning

174
00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,719
Speaker 1: like within his role of the defense as the low man,

175
00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:50,360
Speaker 1: he can be really impactful there, and he was excellent

176
00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,120
Speaker 1: on the defensive end in this game. I think in general,

177
00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:55,200
Speaker 1: he really wants to win this tournament. I think he'd

178
00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:57,480
Speaker 1: like to be the guy who wins the first NBA Cup.

179
00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,560
Speaker 1: I think it's good for the NBA Cup because if

180
00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:02,079
Speaker 1: this NBA Cup is ever going to become what the

181
00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,160
Speaker 1: league wants it to be, what Adam Silver wants it

182
00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,480
Speaker 1: to be, it needs to be something the players really

183
00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,160
Speaker 1: want to win, and Lebron is one of the best

184
00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,200
Speaker 1: competitors of this era. And I think it's great to

185
00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:14,880
Speaker 1: see guys like him, guys like Giannis who brought it today,

186
00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,120
Speaker 1: guys like Dame who brought it Tyres Halliburton. You want

187
00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:23,160
Speaker 1: the establishment superstars of the league to want to win

188
00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,800
Speaker 1: this award, and I think that was a really strong indicator.

189
00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,720
Speaker 1: But just again, I've said to everybody on this show

190
00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:34,960
Speaker 1: so many times this year that I was not really

191
00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:37,480
Speaker 1: overly concerned about the Lakers regular season issues because they

192
00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:39,440
Speaker 1: were down most of their forwards. Hey, look at how

193
00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:41,520
Speaker 1: much more athletic they look today with all their forwards.

194
00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:44,439
Speaker 1: They had twenty something offensive rebounds, right, and they were

195
00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,480
Speaker 1: significantly better defensively. And what did I say? I said.

196
00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:50,360
Speaker 1: The encouraging thing to me is despite all of that,

197
00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,040
Speaker 1: Lebron looks better than he did at any point last season.

198
00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,400
Speaker 1: I genuinely believe that, And to me, that's a huge

199
00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:01,000
Speaker 1: indicator of a potential upside for this team in the

200
00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,480
Speaker 1: big picture. Shout out to Lebron. It's just it's ridiculous

201
00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,320
Speaker 1: now that in December of twenty twenty three, we are

202
00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,400
Speaker 1: still watching him put forward these types of performances with

203
00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,360
Speaker 1: these kinds of stakes Austin Reeves. So I did a

204
00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,600
Speaker 1: male bad question about this the other day and a

205
00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:18,520
Speaker 1: lot of you know, Austin had some struggles this year,

206
00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:20,240
Speaker 1: and but by the way he's had some struggles this year,

207
00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:23,120
Speaker 1: it's really it's really that simple. He's earned some of

208
00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,560
Speaker 1: the criticism that's been directed to him this year. My

209
00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:28,960
Speaker 1: stance the entire time has been, for fifty plus games

210
00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,240
Speaker 1: in all high leverage situations, he was awesome. So let's

211
00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,680
Speaker 1: not overreact to his small sample size of pointless regular

212
00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,080
Speaker 1: season games where he plays poorly at least relative, because

213
00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:41,679
Speaker 1: the reality is he hasn't been that bad, but poorly

214
00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:43,840
Speaker 1: relative to what he used to be, And in a

215
00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:47,000
Speaker 1: situation where the Lakers were down most of their wing athleticism,

216
00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:49,600
Speaker 1: which made everybody's job a lot harder, and so all

217
00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,840
Speaker 1: I kept saying was just stick with them. And here

218
00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:55,480
Speaker 1: we are, once again, big game playoff vibes. Another twenty

219
00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,240
Speaker 1: point game from Austin Reeves hits the dagger pull up

220
00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,120
Speaker 1: three on the right wing. His offensive burst in the

221
00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,520
Speaker 1: third quarter flat out saved them from that Sun's run

222
00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:06,800
Speaker 1: that damn near took the game over there to start

223
00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:10,160
Speaker 1: the third quarter. Austin's incredible and like and I just

224
00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:13,600
Speaker 1: it bums me out, honestly that fans have such a

225
00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:17,280
Speaker 1: short memory of all the things he's done to contribute

226
00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,520
Speaker 1: to winning to this team in big game situations, and

227
00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:23,760
Speaker 1: how that just gets glossed over. It's just we get

228
00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:25,920
Speaker 1: a little too much on the what have you done

229
00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:27,880
Speaker 1: for me lately side of things. One last note on

230
00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:30,000
Speaker 1: the Austin Reeves things thing before we moved on. I've

231
00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,480
Speaker 1: had a lot of people ask Jason, why don't you

232
00:11:32,559 --> 00:11:35,559
Speaker 1: like D'Angelo Russell? Why are you so insistent on the

233
00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:39,160
Speaker 1: Lakers trading D'Angelo Russell. It has nothing to do with

234
00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,360
Speaker 1: D'Angelo Russell as a person. I don't dislike him. Even

235
00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:44,560
Speaker 1: as a player, I don't dislike him. I would even

236
00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:47,600
Speaker 1: argue if you had to give the keys to the

237
00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:50,800
Speaker 1: offense to one player to kind of run the show.

238
00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:55,880
Speaker 1: In that specific job, Dlo's better than Austin, But in

239
00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,120
Speaker 1: so many other areas of the game, Austin is better.

240
00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,320
Speaker 1: In Austin can do a lot of what DLO does,

241
00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:05,600
Speaker 1: and so because of that and the long term roster

242
00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:07,960
Speaker 1: control under the new deal, that he's on, it just

243
00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:10,360
Speaker 1: makes more sense. And then this is the big problem.

244
00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:13,560
Speaker 1: Every Lakers fan was frustrated with Darvinham going back to

245
00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:15,920
Speaker 1: Torrian Prince down the stretch of this game. And I

246
00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,920
Speaker 1: would tell you, if Austin's your one and Lebron's your

247
00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,240
Speaker 1: four and you're five, there aren't really good answers for

248
00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:25,079
Speaker 1: that two and three. Like if I had to choose

249
00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,480
Speaker 1: right now, I'd probably go Max Christi and Ruy Hachimura.

250
00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,360
Speaker 1: But like, Ruy's not a great screen navigator, Kd's probably

251
00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:34,040
Speaker 1: gonna run him off screens, and you're gonna end up

252
00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,240
Speaker 1: in some situations where you're gonna have to switch, which

253
00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:38,240
Speaker 1: could cause cross matches on the other side that could

254
00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:40,960
Speaker 1: cause problems. Not sure that's a great fit. Max is

255
00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:44,920
Speaker 1: super young, Cam Reddish and Jared Vanderbilt have offensive limitations.

256
00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:47,920
Speaker 1: Torrian Prince is not a great athlete. All the answers

257
00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:50,400
Speaker 1: there are limited. And so when you have a situation

258
00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:55,760
Speaker 1: where Austin, Lebron, and Ad make perfect sense, but the

259
00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:58,120
Speaker 1: two in the three, it's like, I don't know who

260
00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,760
Speaker 1: do you play? And then we have to leave d

261
00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:03,240
Speaker 1: Lo on the bench because we can't play him alongside

262
00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:07,560
Speaker 1: Austin we Crater defensively and on the glass. Then of

263
00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:10,439
Speaker 1: Ruy Hatchamura as just another big forward that's kind of

264
00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:12,920
Speaker 1: more or less the same position as Lebron. He's on

265
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:19,360
Speaker 1: the bench. That's the problem. Your five best players are Austin, Dilo, Ruy,

266
00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:23,640
Speaker 1: Lebron ad to start games and to close games. You

267
00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:27,400
Speaker 1: can only play three of them. So it has nothing

268
00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:30,880
Speaker 1: to do with me disliking D'Angelo Russell. It has nothing

269
00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:35,480
Speaker 1: to do with any sort of like narrative based attack

270
00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:39,079
Speaker 1: of D'Angelo Russell. It is a simple matter of roster balance.

271
00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:42,480
Speaker 1: I believe Austin's better. I know some of you guys disagree.

272
00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,560
Speaker 1: I feel very strongly that Austin's a better player, and

273
00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:48,400
Speaker 1: I think the playoffs last year clearly demonstrated that, as

274
00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:51,520
Speaker 1: he was reliably in the rotation. In D'Angelo Russell was

275
00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,360
Speaker 1: very matchup dependent and got played off the floor against Denver. Right,

276
00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,000
Speaker 1: But I believe Austin's better. So you kind of have

277
00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:02,760
Speaker 1: to pick one of them, and then you've got non

278
00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,280
Speaker 1: perfect answers for the two and the three, and so

279
00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:11,000
Speaker 1: in my opinion, it's imperative for the Lakers to convert

280
00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:15,960
Speaker 1: those two contracts. Ruey and Di Lo. If the right

281
00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:20,680
Speaker 1: trade materializes for a starter caliber two or three that

282
00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:25,080
Speaker 1: answers the questions that Max Christi, Cam Reddish, Jared Vanderbilt,

283
00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:29,480
Speaker 1: Torrian Prince and Ruy Hachamura can't perfectly answer. It's really

284
00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,320
Speaker 1: that simple to me if you could just even if

285
00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:37,359
Speaker 1: you could keep Ruey and just turn D'Angelo Russell into

286
00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:41,160
Speaker 1: a higher level three and d wing, even if you

287
00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:43,600
Speaker 1: have to attach a pick to him. Now it makes

288
00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,600
Speaker 1: more sense because that person becomes one of your top

289
00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:48,800
Speaker 1: five players. Right you're trading Dangel Russell one of your

290
00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:52,080
Speaker 1: top five players for a different top five player. But

291
00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,520
Speaker 1: now of those top five players, at least four of

292
00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,760
Speaker 1: them are obvious answers to your starting and closing lineups,

293
00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,320
Speaker 1: and it just answers those questions for you. Then the

294
00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,200
Speaker 1: question becomes do you go after something like is Torrium

295
00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,280
Speaker 1: Prince better at the two? Is it Max Christy at

296
00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,320
Speaker 1: the two? Well? What about cam Reddish? You could figure

297
00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:12,440
Speaker 1: that part out. One question mark is a little easier

298
00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:15,480
Speaker 1: to deal with than two gaping question marks that you

299
00:15:15,600 --> 00:15:17,760
Speaker 1: just don't know what to do with those positions. And like,

300
00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:22,160
Speaker 1: this game was very revealing to me about the Lakers

301
00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,400
Speaker 1: on two levels. One, within the context of the regular season,

302
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:27,280
Speaker 1: it is so important for them to have their high

303
00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:30,680
Speaker 1: motor athletes. They look so much better with Cam Reddish,

304
00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,880
Speaker 1: with Jared Vanderbilt, with ruy Hotchramura available. Those guys were

305
00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,280
Speaker 1: not available on that last road trip when they got

306
00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:37,800
Speaker 1: ran off the floor by the Thunder and they got

307
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,240
Speaker 1: ran off the floor by the Sixers, those dudes weren't playing.

308
00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:43,600
Speaker 1: It was a less athletic version of this team. So

309
00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:46,800
Speaker 1: within the context of the regular season, those guys are

310
00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:52,000
Speaker 1: super important. But the second piece that became very clear

311
00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,880
Speaker 1: to me tonight is that the Lakers need clear answers

312
00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:58,400
Speaker 1: to the two and the three, and they don't have that.

313
00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:02,440
Speaker 1: There is a roster in here. D'Angelo Russell and Ruyacha

314
00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:06,120
Speaker 1: Mura cannot play at the end of games, and you're

315
00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,200
Speaker 1: catering to D'Angelo Russell right now by allowing him to

316
00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:11,480
Speaker 1: start in bringing Austin off the bench. But in the

317
00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,120
Speaker 1: big picture, it doesn't make sense to have that much

318
00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:18,600
Speaker 1: of your salary cap resources delegated to two players that

319
00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:22,360
Speaker 1: can't share the floor together. And so that I want

320
00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:25,200
Speaker 1: to be clear because a lot of people I understand,

321
00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:26,480
Speaker 1: and this is my fault. I have not done a

322
00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:29,720
Speaker 1: good enough job of making this point clear. I do

323
00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,240
Speaker 1: not dislike D'Angelo Russell. I just simply think Austin's better,

324
00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:35,920
Speaker 1: and that for the sake of this team, if you

325
00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,440
Speaker 1: want this team to reach their ceiling, you need to

326
00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:41,120
Speaker 1: make sure that as many as much of your top

327
00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:45,800
Speaker 1: end talent as possible is playable together. And you hamper

328
00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:49,240
Speaker 1: yourself when you maintain a roster and balance like this,

329
00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,240
Speaker 1: where now it's like, man, D'Angelo Russell are a damn

330
00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:55,120
Speaker 1: near twenty million dollar player is sitting on the bench

331
00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:56,840
Speaker 1: and we're looking for a guy to play the two

332
00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:59,160
Speaker 1: or the three, and Delo's just not even being considered.

333
00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:01,960
Speaker 1: Like it's like, no, he's just no, It's just not

334
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:05,200
Speaker 1: gonna be de Lo because you need athleticism and defense

335
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,760
Speaker 1: from those positions because those are the two guys guarding

336
00:17:07,840 --> 00:17:10,880
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, see what I mean. It's

337
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,400
Speaker 1: again like it's unfortunate with the way competitive sports work

338
00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,760
Speaker 1: in the sense that like Delo does sort of become

339
00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,879
Speaker 1: a target and it's not fair because Delo's having a

340
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,720
Speaker 1: great season. I looked it up this morning. Delo has

341
00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:24,720
Speaker 1: been the second best pick and roll ball handler in

342
00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,160
Speaker 1: the league this year minimum three hundred possessions. Like I said,

343
00:17:28,160 --> 00:17:30,040
Speaker 1: I genuinely believe like if you had to hand the

344
00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,119
Speaker 1: keys of an offense to some to somebody, Delo is

345
00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,600
Speaker 1: a better player there for that specific job. But down

346
00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:38,840
Speaker 1: the stretch of games, it becomes Lebron's team and it's

347
00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,359
Speaker 1: more important to have a great second side creator, who's

348
00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:43,879
Speaker 1: great off the ball, who's better defensive player. You go

349
00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:48,240
Speaker 1: with Austin like that. That's that's why Darvinham keeps closing

350
00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:51,560
Speaker 1: with Austin in those situations. Hopefully that clarifies that a

351
00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:55,200
Speaker 1: little bit. Last note on the Lakers. Anthony Davis absolutely

352
00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:57,960
Speaker 1: magnificent in this game defensively and on the glass. He

353
00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,679
Speaker 1: was murdering the suns on the offensive glass in particular,

354
00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:06,640
Speaker 1: but another completely inft second half. Offensively, he talked about

355
00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,960
Speaker 1: the missed five layups in the fourth quarter. He was

356
00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:10,600
Speaker 1: ten for twenty six from the field. I have to

357
00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:12,880
Speaker 1: look up the numbers when they update, but I bet

358
00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,080
Speaker 1: you he missed ten shots in the restricted area in

359
00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,240
Speaker 1: this game. And like that to me is the concern is,

360
00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:23,919
Speaker 1: like ADS, defensive consistency doesn't get nearly enough attention, but

361
00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:27,720
Speaker 1: his offensive inconsistency, while it gets too much attention, is

362
00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:30,840
Speaker 1: a real issue in the sense that, like, this game's

363
00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,520
Speaker 1: not even close. The Lakers win by ten to fifteen points,

364
00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:38,520
Speaker 1: if Anthony Davis can just maintain his baseline level of

365
00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:43,200
Speaker 1: offensive impactfulness, right, and it's just concerning. That said, I

366
00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,040
Speaker 1: want to do shout out Anthony Davis for the two

367
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:47,879
Speaker 1: clutch free throws at the end of the game. I

368
00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:51,000
Speaker 1: thought that was huge, especially since he struggled with clutch

369
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:52,640
Speaker 1: free throws over the last couple of years as well.

370
00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:55,399
Speaker 1: But yeah, like encouraging game, really encouraging game for the

371
00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:57,160
Speaker 1: Lakers on a bunch of levels, outside of that second

372
00:18:57,200 --> 00:18:59,159
Speaker 1: half run from the Suns and then that weird thing

373
00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:01,560
Speaker 1: where darvinham took Lebron and Ad out when Kevin Duran

374
00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:03,400
Speaker 1: and Devin Booker were both on the floor and they

375
00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,080
Speaker 1: promptly went on a five to zero run. Other than that,

376
00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,560
Speaker 1: I thought they played a consistently pretty great game. That

377
00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,800
Speaker 1: defense is a real problem for a lot of teams,

378
00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,720
Speaker 1: but I think this game once again shined the light

379
00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:18,600
Speaker 1: on some of the roster and balances this team has

380
00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:21,560
Speaker 1: to address before the deadline. On the Suns I'm not

381
00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:23,280
Speaker 1: going to spend too much time on the Suns because

382
00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:27,520
Speaker 1: on Thursday, Brendan Klean, who is a friend of mine

383
00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,040
Speaker 1: that I met at the Grateful Dead concert in Phoenix

384
00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:35,399
Speaker 1: last year. He is he is a member of the

385
00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,760
Speaker 1: Lockdown Suns podcast. He is going to come on the

386
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:40,560
Speaker 1: show on Thursday. We are going to do like a

387
00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,960
Speaker 1: forty five minute deep dive on all things Suns. But

388
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:45,760
Speaker 1: I do want to hit a couple of specific things.

389
00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,280
Speaker 1: So when Kevin Durant hit that three with five to

390
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,679
Speaker 1: forty five left, they scored just four points over the

391
00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:55,080
Speaker 1: final five minutes leading into that final thirty second where

392
00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:57,879
Speaker 1: Kadie and Devin Booker, you got a couple buckets. The

393
00:19:57,920 --> 00:19:59,920
Speaker 1: Suns have been by far the worst fourth quarter t

394
00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:04,359
Speaker 1: in the league this season, and specifically they've been twenty

395
00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,200
Speaker 1: ninth in offense, and one of the consistent themes we've

396
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,280
Speaker 1: seen is they are able to get the ball out

397
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:14,159
Speaker 1: of Devin Booker and Kevin Durant's hands and rotate out

398
00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,840
Speaker 1: of it without giving up anything too complicated, and in general,

399
00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,119
Speaker 1: I think both Kevin Durant Devin Booker have shown some

400
00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:21,879
Speaker 1: signs of fatigue at the end of games. Just with

401
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:25,080
Speaker 1: the offensive load they've had to carry. Now the question becomes,

402
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:27,919
Speaker 1: Bradley Beal when he comes back into the situation, does

403
00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,879
Speaker 1: that improve your aggregate ball handling and shooting enough for

404
00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:32,760
Speaker 1: you guys to kind of make up for that issue?

405
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,720
Speaker 1: And the answer is probably it's gonna help quite a bit.

406
00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,520
Speaker 1: But here's the issue. Once again, you give up twenty

407
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:44,520
Speaker 1: one offensive rebounds. And my major concern is not whether

408
00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,800
Speaker 1: or not Phoenix can score the basketball, because I think

409
00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,440
Speaker 1: they're gonna figure some of this stuff out. It's this

410
00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:55,800
Speaker 1: when you play a great team that has quality point

411
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,440
Speaker 1: of attack defenders to make your guys work. So let

412
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,040
Speaker 1: me just paint a picture for you. Let's pretend that

413
00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:04,080
Speaker 1: the Lakers don't make a trade just for the sake

414
00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:07,080
Speaker 1: of argument, and you have to face them in a

415
00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,840
Speaker 1: playoff series. You're gonna get a steady diet of Jared Vanderbilt,

416
00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,520
Speaker 1: Cam Reddish, Max Christy Torrean Prince All on the ball.

417
00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,159
Speaker 1: At any given moment, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are

418
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:20,920
Speaker 1: going to be facing a big athlete on the ball.

419
00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:24,640
Speaker 1: Let's say you faced Denver, Aaron Gordon's gonna be on KD.

420
00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,920
Speaker 1: Probably Peyton Watson off the bench, and then it's gonna

421
00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:31,080
Speaker 1: be contagious call of Pope Pope on Devin Booker with

422
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:36,200
Speaker 1: Christian Brown off the bench. So consistent, excellent perimeter defenders

423
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:38,800
Speaker 1: on those two guys all game long. We've seen in

424
00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:42,800
Speaker 1: a playoff series, specifically in that series, but also we

425
00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:45,520
Speaker 1: saw a little bit in the Clipper series Devin Booker

426
00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:47,840
Speaker 1: and Kevin Durant their efficiency can go down a little bit.

427
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:51,000
Speaker 1: Devin Booker was red hot for stretches, but he cooled

428
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,600
Speaker 1: off in a big way in Game five, in Game

429
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:56,520
Speaker 1: six of the Denver series. Right, So, in the event

430
00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:59,440
Speaker 1: that they encounter a great team and in the West,

431
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,919
Speaker 1: I'm really only looking for as far as threats to

432
00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,160
Speaker 1: the Suns, I'm really only looking at the Lakers and Nuggets.

433
00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,399
Speaker 1: And when you face those teams and they can consistently

434
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,240
Speaker 1: make Devin Booker and Kevin Rant work and lessen their impactfulness,

435
00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:17,159
Speaker 1: can Phoenix then also compete in the physicality areas of

436
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,000
Speaker 1: the game. That's the question. Can they keep the Lakers

437
00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,240
Speaker 1: off the glass? Can they keep Denver off the glass?

438
00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:29,000
Speaker 1: Can they match the defensive intensity of a Lakers team?

439
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:34,159
Speaker 1: Can they match the post up efficiency of a Denver

440
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,679
Speaker 1: team when they're not as impactful offensively as they're capable

441
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:41,920
Speaker 1: of against a top tier set of perimeter defenders. That's

442
00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 1: my major concern because that's the thing is like right now,

443
00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,080
Speaker 1: it's like, if you can get the Suns offense out

444
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,800
Speaker 1: of whack, they're gonna lose, which has been an issue

445
00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,080
Speaker 1: consistently for them in the fourth quarters throughout the season.

446
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,520
Speaker 1: Right Whereas you know with the Lakers, it's like they're

447
00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,040
Speaker 1: smoking every layup and any Davis is no show in

448
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,399
Speaker 1: the second half. They're having rotation issues in terms of

449
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,879
Speaker 1: who's gonna play at the two. But they just locked

450
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:08,239
Speaker 1: in like crazy and grabbed all the offensive rebounds and

451
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:10,120
Speaker 1: dominated the game defensively, and they were able to win

452
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,520
Speaker 1: in a rock fight, right, And that's the thing with Denver.

453
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,160
Speaker 1: You can lessen their efficiency, you can do whatever you want,

454
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:17,960
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, it's like Aaron Gordon,

455
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,080
Speaker 1: Michael Porter Junior, and Nicole Jokich are just gonna grab

456
00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:22,440
Speaker 1: a bunch offensive rebounds and finish everything at the rim.

457
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,480
Speaker 1: When things degrade to rock fights, can the Suns win?

458
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,040
Speaker 1: That's the question, And I'm really I'm really curious to

459
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:31,359
Speaker 1: see if we can see that at some point in

460
00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:35,119
Speaker 1: the future. I thought this was yet another incredible nd

461
00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,600
Speaker 1: season tournament game. Obviously the least competitive of the three

462
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:39,840
Speaker 1: that we've watched, but it's been everything we could hope

463
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:41,800
Speaker 1: for from the same point of like the combination of

464
00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:47,240
Speaker 1: some playoff level intensity as well as the single elimination format,

465
00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:49,199
Speaker 1: which is really exciting. That was what was kind of

466
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,119
Speaker 1: hanging over this game. I didn't realize it until today,

467
00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:56,080
Speaker 1: but I guess the teams that lose in these elimination rounds,

468
00:23:56,080 --> 00:23:59,399
Speaker 1: particularly the quarterfinal rounds, have to play the other loser,

469
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,680
Speaker 1: if from their conference, in a regular season game essentially, right,

470
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:04,959
Speaker 1: And so like the loser of this game had to

471
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,720
Speaker 1: travel to Boston to play the Celtics, So is it's

472
00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,920
Speaker 1: like a significant penalty, right, Like a Boston's a really

473
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:13,919
Speaker 1: tough road game to win, right and so like in

474
00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,359
Speaker 1: a lot of ways, it's kind of like a double loss,

475
00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:18,800
Speaker 1: at least from the standpoint of your probability of going

476
00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:20,680
Speaker 1: into Boston and winning against one of the best teams

477
00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:23,080
Speaker 1: in the league. Right. And so it carried that intensity

478
00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:25,480
Speaker 1: from the beginning. I thought Giannis in particular set the

479
00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,000
Speaker 1: tone early with his level of effort, got a couple

480
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,639
Speaker 1: of early offensive rebounds. He was just cooking in transition.

481
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:33,760
Speaker 1: Julius Randall, I thought did a decent job on him

482
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:35,879
Speaker 1: in the half court. The Knicks in general did a

483
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,320
Speaker 1: good job walling up in the half court, but in

484
00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,240
Speaker 1: those transition sets, and especially off of the defense, which

485
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:42,640
Speaker 1: we're going to talk a lot about here in a minute,

486
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,440
Speaker 1: because I thought Brook Lopez in particular was the kind

487
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,720
Speaker 1: of key factor in some of the defensive the offensive

488
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:51,040
Speaker 1: struggles that the Knicks were having. But Giannis was just

489
00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:55,320
Speaker 1: applying that incessant pressure getting downhill in transition. And the

490
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:57,560
Speaker 1: Dame had this amazing stretch at the end of the

491
00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:59,960
Speaker 1: second quarter, literally with two and a half minutes lif

492
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 1: left before halftime, he scored thirteen points. He started picking

493
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:06,800
Speaker 1: on Julius Randall and pick and roll bring him up

494
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,480
Speaker 1: into ball screens. First one, Bobby Port has said it.

495
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:11,840
Speaker 1: Randall was sitting too far back. Hits a pull up

496
00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:14,080
Speaker 1: three while Quinton Grimes is kind of like caught on

497
00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:17,240
Speaker 1: his left side trying not to foul. Right very next possession,

498
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,840
Speaker 1: Julius Randall shows hi. Dame splits it, he gets tripped,

499
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:23,200
Speaker 1: gets the foul line, makes two free throws. Then he

500
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 1: hits a step back three on Jylen Brunston, just that

501
00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,760
Speaker 1: classic Dame left hand kind of in and out dribble

502
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,680
Speaker 1: step back. That was point number eight. Then he gets

503
00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,119
Speaker 1: downhill on Julius Randall and pick and roll again and

504
00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:35,879
Speaker 1: gets all the way to the rim and draws a foul.

505
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,640
Speaker 1: That's ten. And then he hits another step back three

506
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,119
Speaker 1: on Julius Randall in pick and roll once again coming

507
00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:45,560
Speaker 1: off that ball screening, drawing Julius out to the three

508
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:47,359
Speaker 1: point line, and this time he hit him with the

509
00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:49,800
Speaker 1: right handed in and out dribble step back. Those, to

510
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,040
Speaker 1: me are like the everybody's got, like their kind of

511
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:54,320
Speaker 1: thing that they've added to the game of basketball. Obviously,

512
00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,720
Speaker 1: James Harden as a specific step back footwork, but Dame,

513
00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:00,000
Speaker 1: in my opinion, has the best quick in and out

514
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:02,239
Speaker 1: step back jump shot in the game. He had one

515
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:04,560
Speaker 1: of each of them going both ways to get to

516
00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 1: thirteen points in less than three minutes, sending the Bucks

517
00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:10,960
Speaker 1: into halftime up by three, and they took over pretty

518
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:12,679
Speaker 1: quickly there. In the early third quarter, there was a

519
00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:15,840
Speaker 1: like kind of a fake dho where Giannis had Dame

520
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:17,720
Speaker 1: running off of him and Dame was red hot out

521
00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,280
Speaker 1: of halftime, and so the Gianics just quick turned and

522
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:22,080
Speaker 1: faked the dho got all the way to the rim

523
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:24,399
Speaker 1: for a layup. Chris Middleton got going in that stretch.

524
00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:28,040
Speaker 1: Chris Middleton like, again, we're not seeing the real top

525
00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:31,600
Speaker 1: bend scoring pop, but he does look more athletic then

526
00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:33,639
Speaker 1: I saw him look earlier in the season, and I

527
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,399
Speaker 1: think that's encouraging and I think we'll see some of

528
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:37,679
Speaker 1: the scoring pop come in the long run. But I

529
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:39,400
Speaker 1: thought like the story of the game because it kind

530
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,880
Speaker 1: of had a shootout vibe, right, like Julius Randall play

531
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:43,360
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about him in a minute, but played

532
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:44,680
Speaker 1: one of the best games I've ever seen him play,

533
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,760
Speaker 1: especially in terms of his offensive execution. Obviously, he still

534
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,120
Speaker 1: has some limitations and Dame was picking on him a lot,

535
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,480
Speaker 1: as I just mentioned, but it had a shootout vibe,

536
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:55,879
Speaker 1: and you know, the announcers on T and T were saying, like,

537
00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:58,920
Speaker 1: someone's got to take control of this game defensively, and

538
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 1: and it ended up being namely Brook Lopez in the

539
00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:06,719
Speaker 1: second half, particularly in drop coverage at the rim, shutting

540
00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:10,480
Speaker 1: off the hard driving lanes for Jalen Brunson and Emmanuel

541
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,440
Speaker 1: quickly and forcing them into a lot of tough mid

542
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:17,560
Speaker 1: range pull up jump shots for Jalen Brunson and those

543
00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:20,359
Speaker 1: little floaters for Emmanuel quickly, and he was missing and

544
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,000
Speaker 1: both of them ended up having nightmare games. I thought

545
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,000
Speaker 1: that was kind of like the swing matchups of the

546
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:27,360
Speaker 1: game if I looked at it and that like it's

547
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:29,520
Speaker 1: just from the knicks perspective, like you're thinking, how do

548
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,080
Speaker 1: we get our butts kicked? With how well Randall played,

549
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,960
Speaker 1: and it was three key matchups. I thought Dame outplayed

550
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:39,000
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson was just significantly more efficient and impactful. I

551
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,800
Speaker 1: thought Campaign in those bench lineups, he came right in

552
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:46,040
Speaker 1: in that second quarter sort of applying downhill rim pressure

553
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:49,960
Speaker 1: and he was hitting floaters, he was driving and kicking

554
00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:52,639
Speaker 1: the shooters. I thought Campaign just outplayed Emmanual Quickly, you

555
00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,640
Speaker 1: really struggled. And then lastly Brook Lopez in his overall impact,

556
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 1: you know, making threes, driving closeouts, defending in drop cover,

557
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:02,200
Speaker 1: I just thought he was much better than Mitchell Robinson.

558
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:06,199
Speaker 1: And those three massive swings ended up basically being the

559
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,159
Speaker 1: difference in this game from an offensive perspective, and I

560
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,959
Speaker 1: wanted to shout out Brook Lopez because I thought specifically

561
00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 1: his like because he kind of has this unique ability

562
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:17,000
Speaker 1: to shut the rim off. But all he has to

563
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:18,439
Speaker 1: do is kind of take one step forward and go

564
00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,720
Speaker 1: like this, and he can do a lot to bother

565
00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:22,840
Speaker 1: those mid range shots, which I think is what makes

566
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:26,520
Speaker 1: him such a uniquely gifted drop coverage big in the NBA.

567
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:30,560
Speaker 1: Super super impressive win from the Milwaukee Bucks. One last

568
00:28:30,560 --> 00:28:32,000
Speaker 1: note on the Bucks that I wanted to hit. Malik

569
00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,359
Speaker 1: Beasley's having an incredible season, not counting tonight. I just

570
00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:37,200
Speaker 1: wanted to give you guys some perspective as someone covered

571
00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:40,520
Speaker 1: him closely with the Lakers last year. He shot twenty

572
00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,000
Speaker 1: eight percent in spot up situations last year. So one

573
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,239
Speaker 1: of the things the Lakers did which I disagreed with,

574
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:47,960
Speaker 1: is they ran him off a ton of off ball

575
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,960
Speaker 1: action and specifically was like hunting shots for him off

576
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:54,640
Speaker 1: the move, and he didn't shoot particularly well on those shots,

577
00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,120
Speaker 1: and I thought it disrupted his rhythm in his spot

578
00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:01,000
Speaker 1: up situations and he was nightmarishly bad situations. Well, the

579
00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:05,000
Speaker 1: Bucks are running him for off screen shots about one

580
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,360
Speaker 1: third as frequent as the Lakers are. The vast majority

581
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:11,960
Speaker 1: of Malik Beasley's shots are in closeout situations, and so

582
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,719
Speaker 1: it's allowing him to kind of really settle into rhythm

583
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,160
Speaker 1: in those situations, and he's knocking him down at a

584
00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,200
Speaker 1: significantly higher rate. Just to give you an idea, again,

585
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 1: twenty eight percent for the Lakers last year. Malik Beasley

586
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,120
Speaker 1: in spot up situation so far for the Bucks this

587
00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,880
Speaker 1: year forty seven percent. And I think it's invigorated him.

588
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:29,520
Speaker 1: You see him, he's doing this like shimmy thing every

589
00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:31,400
Speaker 1: time as you make it, every time he makes a three.

590
00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:33,720
Speaker 1: He's a bad defensive player in my opinion, but he's

591
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:36,640
Speaker 1: competing on the defensive end, which goes a long way.

592
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,080
Speaker 1: Your Buck fans know that I am a big believer

593
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:41,320
Speaker 1: that that spot in particular is one that the Bucks

594
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:43,440
Speaker 1: are gonna have to upgrade at some point before the season.

595
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:47,560
Speaker 1: That said, with as well Beasley has been shooting during

596
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,000
Speaker 1: the regular season, it's been more than adequate for them

597
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,120
Speaker 1: to be as dominant as they have been. On the

598
00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:56,480
Speaker 1: next front, again, don't want to overthink it. I stopped

599
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:58,320
Speaker 1: watching this game with about three minutes left to get

600
00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,040
Speaker 1: in here because obviously I'm getting back out there for Lakers' suns.

601
00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:03,560
Speaker 1: But when I stopped watching and the Bucks were up

602
00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:06,200
Speaker 1: twenty something. With three minutes left, the Bucks were over

603
00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:09,280
Speaker 1: sixty percent from the field and over sixty percent from three.

604
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:11,840
Speaker 1: They were like twenty two for thirty six from three

605
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:13,840
Speaker 1: or something like that. Now, obviously, you guys know, I

606
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,320
Speaker 1: believe process leads into results. In general, I thought at

607
00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:21,360
Speaker 1: the point of attack they really struggled. There was really

608
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:23,400
Speaker 1: no stretch of the game where they contained the ball

609
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:26,120
Speaker 1: well except for the brief stretches there in the first

610
00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:28,120
Speaker 1: half where I thought Julius Randall did a decent job

611
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:32,120
Speaker 1: on Giannis, but just in general, like sometimes you got

612
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 1: to tip the cat, like Damian Lillar got going with

613
00:30:35,120 --> 00:30:36,920
Speaker 1: his pull up jump shots. Really tough to beat him

614
00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:40,280
Speaker 1: when he's doing that. Yannis hit a three at one

615
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,840
Speaker 1: point in the second half. They just shot really, really well.

616
00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:47,480
Speaker 1: And sometimes you're gonna go into an environment like that

617
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:49,280
Speaker 1: and it's just gonna be like a buzz saw. And

618
00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:52,920
Speaker 1: if there was a point of encouragement there, it's how

619
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:56,200
Speaker 1: good Julius Randall looked. He's a guy that rushes things

620
00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:59,640
Speaker 1: a lot, doesn't see the floor well, usually tends to overpenetrate,

621
00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,640
Speaker 1: and this was as under control and methodical as I've

622
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,520
Speaker 1: seen him look offensively at any point in the NBA.

623
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,640
Speaker 1: I thought that was encouraging. You know, Jalen Brunson's like

624
00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 1: the one guy I don't worry about on this team.

625
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:12,240
Speaker 1: So like it's one of those things. You get a

626
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:15,880
Speaker 1: bad Julian Jalen bruntonnight, you get a bad Emanual Quickly night,

627
00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:19,000
Speaker 1: and that ends up swinging things offensively. It turns into

628
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,080
Speaker 1: this like cascading effect where now the Bucks are getting

629
00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:23,600
Speaker 1: out in transition and you can't set your defense and

630
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,360
Speaker 1: you know now there now they're just playing more energetically,

631
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:28,040
Speaker 1: so they're getting to the offensive glass and it just

632
00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:30,680
Speaker 1: it just kind of cascades from there. And so I think,

633
00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 1: what me watching this game, this was more good Bucks

634
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:36,000
Speaker 1: than bad Nicks in my opinion. So sometimes you just

635
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 1: got to tip the cap. But highly entertaining. First game

636
00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,800
Speaker 1: of the n Season tournament tonight. Remaining schedule for this week. Tomorrow,

637
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,640
Speaker 1: we're off completely. I'm gonna be going on a Buddies

638
00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:48,800
Speaker 1: podcast who covers the Thunder. So I'm doing a Thunder

639
00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:52,800
Speaker 1: podcast tomorrow, but it's not with the volume. Thursday Sunsday,

640
00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:56,320
Speaker 1: gonna just be working with Brennan from Lockdown Suns all

641
00:31:56,360 --> 00:32:00,560
Speaker 1: sun stuff. Then on Friday, we're bringing the Nerds guys.

642
00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,760
Speaker 1: On a Thursday night, we're covering the semi finals, so

643
00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:11,520
Speaker 1: that's what Pacers, Bucks and Lakers Pelicans covering those games

644
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:14,040
Speaker 1: on Thursday night. Then on Friday we have the Nerd

645
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:16,000
Speaker 1: Sash guys coming out. We're gonna bunce around the league.

646
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 1: That's the schedule for the rest of this week. Oh yeah,

647
00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:19,760
Speaker 1: and then Saturday night for the championship. So that's all

648
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,440
Speaker 1: I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys.

649
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:24,960
Speaker 1: I will see you on Thursday. For a lot of

650
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:53,600
Speaker 1: Sun stocks. The volume