WEBVTT - NBA Feb. 22 | What You Need To Know

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<v Speaker 1>It's all about timing. Several stars, including Zion Williamson, Trey

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<v Speaker 1>Young and Fred Van Vliet, show out just before coaches

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<v Speaker 1>have to make their all star reserves. Picks the Timberwolves

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<v Speaker 1>fire head coach Ryan Saunders and replace him immediately with

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<v Speaker 1>an assistant from another organization, and the Nets keep winning

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<v Speaker 1>and they might add the rockets to Marcus Cousins. Actually

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<v Speaker 1>he's not available. He's available. He's not available. He's not available.

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<v Speaker 1>He's a vila. I'm tas malus, and this is what

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<v Speaker 1>you need to know in the NBA for Monday, February

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<v Speaker 1>twenty second. And we start with Zion Williamson because there's

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<v Speaker 1>nothing like him in the NBA. He is one of

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<v Speaker 1>a kind. So when I saw there was a nationally

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<v Speaker 1>televised game ABC the afternoon tilt Pelicans Celtics, I was pumped.

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<v Speaker 1>And then the game landed with a thud. Boston Celtics

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<v Speaker 1>were up twenty four points. At one point. Zion couldn't

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<v Speaker 1>get anything going. He was just driving into body after

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<v Speaker 1>body after body. He had guards digging, little Kemba Walker

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<v Speaker 1>getting in there, stripping Zion Williamson. So in the second half,

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<v Speaker 1>Stan Van Gundi Pelicans head coach. He changed it up.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, Zion, let's spread it out, baby. You do

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<v Speaker 1>your thing and iso up top. Just use your body

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<v Speaker 1>to get through your defender and the handles that you got.

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<v Speaker 1>That's enough. Get to the rim and everything will work out.

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<v Speaker 1>And it did. Zion had a great fourth quarter thirteen

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<v Speaker 1>fourth quarter points, twenty eight overall. As the game went

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<v Speaker 1>into overtime in the Pelicans won, Brandon Ingram played perfectly

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<v Speaker 1>off Zion's drives. Brandon Ingram had thirty three points in

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<v Speaker 1>this one. Poor Brandon Ingram. He's having a better season

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<v Speaker 1>than he did last year when he was named an

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<v Speaker 1>All Star, and this year it's very very unlikely he'll

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<v Speaker 1>get an All Star nod, while Zion Williamson could. And

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<v Speaker 1>he's playing great at the perfect time as the coaches

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<v Speaker 1>are getting there. All Star our ballots filled out right now.

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<v Speaker 1>They're going to have to make their picks before Tuesday's announcement.

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<v Speaker 1>All Star Reserves announced Tuesday night on T and T.

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<v Speaker 1>Looking forward to that. We've got a head coaching change

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<v Speaker 1>in the NBA. The Timberwolves have fired head coach Ryan Saunders.

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<v Speaker 1>But first they had a game to play. Ryan Saunders

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<v Speaker 1>was coaching against the guy he replaced, Tom Thibodeau of

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<v Speaker 1>the New York Knicks, having a great season there. This

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<v Speaker 1>game went down to the wire. Karl Anthony Towns had

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<v Speaker 1>a shot in the post to try and take the

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<v Speaker 1>lead with thirty seconds left over his former teammate Taj Gibson,

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<v Speaker 1>but it rimmed out on a rim in Madison Square

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<v Speaker 1>Garden where the ball just kept rimming out on Sunday,

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<v Speaker 1>and that was Ryan Sanders' final quarter as head coach

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<v Speaker 1>of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He took over for his late father,

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<v Speaker 1>Flip Saunders, in twenty nineteen. The thirty four year old

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<v Speaker 1>had a little string of injuries to deal with and

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<v Speaker 1>played in many, many close games, and the Timberwolves already

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<v Speaker 1>have saunders replacement. Chris Finch, who was a Raptors assistant

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<v Speaker 1>coach this season, has been given a multi year deal

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<v Speaker 1>by the Minnesota Timberwolves to coach them full time. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a rare move to pluck an assistant from another team

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<v Speaker 1>mid season to take over a job just doesn't happen

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<v Speaker 1>very often. Usually, the team that fires ahead coach just

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<v Speaker 1>moves their assistant over for a while. At the very

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<v Speaker 1>least when the full job search can be done until

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<v Speaker 1>the full job search can be done in the offseason.

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<v Speaker 1>But they had been looking at Chris Finch for a

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<v Speaker 1>long time. In fact, he interviewed in twenty nineteen when

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<v Speaker 1>Ryan Saunders was eventually given the job and Finch, like

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<v Speaker 1>his good friend, Raptors head coach. Nick Nurse coached abroad

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<v Speaker 1>for a long time UK, Germany and Belgium, then moved

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<v Speaker 1>to the g League and then was an assistant in

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<v Speaker 1>the NBA for a decade, and he's an offensive specialist.

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<v Speaker 1>He's worked with James Harden and Zion and now he'll

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<v Speaker 1>have the chance to work with Karl, Anthony Towns and

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<v Speaker 1>Anthony Edwards. One other instance I found of an assistant

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<v Speaker 1>coach moving to the head coaching spot on another team

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<v Speaker 1>midseason was Lionel Hollins moving from the Bucks bench to

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<v Speaker 1>the Grizzlies head coaching spot in nine Thanks to Mike

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<v Speaker 1>Vorkanov and the Athletic Slack channel for giving me that info.

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<v Speaker 1>Speaking of Nick Nurse, he said he's going to be

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<v Speaker 1>calling all the other head coaches, saying Fred van Vliet

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<v Speaker 1>should be an All Star and against the Philadelphia seventy

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<v Speaker 1>six ers, fred van Vliet sure look like an All Star,

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<v Speaker 1>making a first quarter run, bringing the Raptors back with

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<v Speaker 1>a great thirteen point quarter a wild shot off the glass.

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<v Speaker 1>He didn't call it last, but either way, Fred van

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<v Speaker 1>Vliet is making his name known this season. If you

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<v Speaker 1>remember a few weeks ago, he had a monstrous fifty

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<v Speaker 1>four point night. It's an outside chance that he'll make

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<v Speaker 1>the All Star team. But if the coaches value winning,

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<v Speaker 1>the Raptors have a winning record. More on that in

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<v Speaker 1>a second. That's wild. Joel Embiid, coming off a career

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<v Speaker 1>fifty point night himself in his previous game, went up

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<v Speaker 1>against Nick Nurse. Nurse and his wild coaching style. The

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<v Speaker 1>started small, o j Annobi, Pascal Siakam what but in

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<v Speaker 1>the fourth quarter they went big against Joel Embiid and

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<v Speaker 1>it works seeing all these different defenses. Embiid shot six

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<v Speaker 1>for twenty. Aaron Bain's looking like a player, Chris Bouche

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<v Speaker 1>looking like a player. What's going on with these Raps?

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<v Speaker 1>They're sixteen and fifteen, first time above five hundred this season.

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<v Speaker 1>They started very slow in their new home of Tampa.

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<v Speaker 1>But why am I telling you? Let's let one of

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<v Speaker 1>the best analysts in the biz. Raptors Jack Armstrong break

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<v Speaker 1>it down for you.

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<v Speaker 2>Raptors started today, for all you people that jumped off

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<v Speaker 2>the wagon. Shave by you. You gotta be falling in

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<v Speaker 2>love with this seae. They fight, they rhyme, They're coming.

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<v Speaker 1>The Brooklyn Nets are staying hot. They have won six

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<v Speaker 1>in a row and they swept a five game West

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<v Speaker 1>Coast swing, much of it without Kevin Durant, but Harden

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<v Speaker 1>and Kyrie were enough to get a big lead on

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<v Speaker 1>the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. Although the Clippers fought

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<v Speaker 1>back in the fourth quarter, they were down fourteen. Maybe

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<v Speaker 1>it was owner Steve Balmer's flailing legs courtside that got

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<v Speaker 1>them tied with twenty nine seconds left, but DeAndre Jordan,

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<v Speaker 1>against his old team, a great tipping with his left

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<v Speaker 1>hand to give the Nets a two point lead. Then

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<v Speaker 1>Kawhi had a chance to tie it. He drove James

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<v Speaker 1>Harden well, he flopped and the offensive whistle went against

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<v Speaker 1>Kawhi Leonard. People were going crazy for the flup. It

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<v Speaker 1>was definitely a flop, although I will say mere seconds earlier,

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<v Speaker 1>when Kawhi tied it from the free throw line, he

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<v Speaker 1>got a very questionable call against DeAndre Jordan who barely

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<v Speaker 1>bumped him, so it all balances out. Unfortunately, Paul George

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't on the floor there late minutes. Restriction yis he

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<v Speaker 1>set the last couple minutes when he was the best

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<v Speaker 1>clipper on the floor in this one, thirty four points

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<v Speaker 1>for him the Nets. They are now six to one

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<v Speaker 1>against the Lakers, Clippers, Jazz, Bucks, and Sixers this season. Man,

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<v Speaker 1>they're impressive, but they could use another big And that

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<v Speaker 1>brings me to the DeMarcus Cousins story out of Houston.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a strange story, Cousins having a solid year on

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<v Speaker 1>a non guaranteed deal. February twenty seventh is when non

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<v Speaker 1>guaranteed deals either have to be guaranteed for the rest

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<v Speaker 1>of the season or the player has to be released.

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<v Speaker 1>On Friday, it was guaranteed early by the Houston Rockets,

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<v Speaker 1>and on Saturday there are reports that Houston was going

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<v Speaker 1>to release him. Okay, everyone said, you know what they're doing,

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<v Speaker 1>DeMarcus Cousins. Right. Teams and agents around the league see

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<v Speaker 1>moves like that where you pay a player for his

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<v Speaker 1>time and people respect it. So I start reading stories

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<v Speaker 1>about DeMarcus Cousins and why he struggled a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>in Houston defensively, how he's not part of the future

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<v Speaker 1>on the ethletic that that totally makes sense. But then

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<v Speaker 1>on Sunday, when everybody's thinking, oh, is he going to

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<v Speaker 1>the Lakers, he's going to the Nets. Well, Rockets head

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<v Speaker 1>coach Steven Silas was asked, is Marcus Cousins with the team?

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<v Speaker 1>Is he leaving the team? No, He's here and he's

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<v Speaker 1>going to be here for the foreseeable future. So it

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<v Speaker 1>sure looks like the Rockets will release him at some

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<v Speaker 1>point if they can't get an asset back into trade,

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<v Speaker 1>if they can't get a second round pick back for

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<v Speaker 1>DeMarcus Cousins from whether it's the Nets or the Lakers.

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<v Speaker 1>But I think he will be joining another team, and I,

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<v Speaker 1>for one think it should be the Lakers. I think

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<v Speaker 1>he'll get exposed on the Nets because they're not a

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<v Speaker 1>great defensive team and they will want him to be

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<v Speaker 1>something really good defensively, something which he isn't at this point,

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<v Speaker 1>He'll get exposed. They like to switch a lot. He'll

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<v Speaker 1>just be out on an island way too much. While

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<v Speaker 1>with the Lakers, they're already a good defensive team. They

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<v Speaker 1>won't ask him to do too much, and he was

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<v Speaker 1>there last year, so I think he can take a

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<v Speaker 1>bit of a lesser role and be okay with that,

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<v Speaker 1>and they can get him the ring that he should

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<v Speaker 1>have got before they released him last season. LA is

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<v Speaker 1>the better option for me. Let's take a look at

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<v Speaker 1>how a few potential All Star reserves are performing just

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<v Speaker 1>before the coaches have to make their decision. Okay sees

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<v Speaker 1>Shay Gilgess Alexander peaking at the exact right time, thirty

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<v Speaker 1>one points on only fifteen shots against the Cavs on Sunday.

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<v Speaker 1>Although it's tough West to make an All Star team,

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<v Speaker 1>I think Shay will be on the outside looking in

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<v Speaker 1>this season. Trey Young in the East is not a lock,

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<v Speaker 1>even though he made it last year, but he's peaking

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<v Speaker 1>at the right time. His last few games have been great.

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<v Speaker 1>He had thirty five points and fifteen assists against Denver

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<v Speaker 1>on Sunday. I do think he will be selected, and

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<v Speaker 1>Orlando's Nikola Vucevic. What more can he do? He's not

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<v Speaker 1>getting hot at the right time. He's just been hot

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<v Speaker 1>all season. He had a thirty seven point game against

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<v Speaker 1>the Pistons on Sunday. I'm not sure if the one

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<v Speaker 1>time All Star will make it when the reserves are

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<v Speaker 1>picked on Tuesday, but I will be watching. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>watching today. Make sure you watch the full No Dunks

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<v Speaker 1>episode here on Monday. I'll be back on Tuesday to

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<v Speaker 1>give you the news as fast as I possibly can.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll see then special experience became experiment