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Speaker 2: Slash b ball All right, welcome to you tonight. You're
Speaker 2: at the volume heavy Wednesday. Everybody ball. You guys are
Speaker 2: having a great night.
Speaker 1: Well, I wasn't planning on working tonight, but my wife
Speaker 1: ended up having to work late. I was watching the
Speaker 1: game Warrior Celtics, a very very entertaining primetime game and
Speaker 1: a good showdown between two teams that entered into the
Speaker 1: game with very good records.
Speaker 2: Obviously a little bit.
Speaker 1: Different with some of the guys out, with Jalen Brown
Speaker 1: out for the Boston Celtics, but still by far the
Speaker 1: biggest test for the Golden State Warriors to this point
Speaker 1: in the season, and they passed it with flying colors.
Speaker 1: And so I'm going to get more into this game
Speaker 1: tomorrow with some film, but I just wanted to go
Speaker 1: for like maybe ten minutes or so and just give
Speaker 1: you guys my initial impressions on the game. You guys
Speaker 1: know the joke before we get started. Subscribe to Hoops
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Speaker 1: so you guys don't miss you announcements. Don't forget about
Speaker 1: our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight,
Speaker 1: and keep dropping mail bag questions in the YouTube comments
Speaker 1: so we can keep hitting them in our.
Speaker 2: Friday mail bag. All right, let's talk some basketball.
Speaker 1: So I actually recorded a mail bag earlier today that's
Speaker 1: coming out on Friday. So when you hear some stuff
Speaker 1: in that mail bag that seems a little outdated, that's
Speaker 1: when it came from where it came from. But one
Speaker 1: of the questions that I was asked was from a
Speaker 1: Warriors fan just simply, hey, Jason, what's should we look
Speaker 1: for with the Warriors in this next four game stretch,
Speaker 1: and that's the stretch where they play Boston and I
Speaker 1: think they go to Cleveland next, and then I think
Speaker 1: they go to Oklahoma City and then they come home
Speaker 1: and I think they play Dallas if I remember correctly.
Speaker 1: I think that's the four games, right, all very different
Speaker 1: types of challenges, right, Like Boston is this very perimeter
Speaker 1: oriented team that can space them out, but they also
Speaker 1: have the perimeter defenders to make things more difficult on
Speaker 1: Golden State's perimeter defenders, right. And then there's also Cleveland
Speaker 1: and what they present is like this really big frontline
Speaker 1: and then the Donovan Mitchell problem in ball screens. Right.
Speaker 2: You go to Oklahoma City and it's kind of like.
Speaker 1: A different version of Boston with a lot of five
Speaker 1: out spacing, a lot of really talented offensive players on
Speaker 1: the floor, and then Luka Dancic and everything that he
Speaker 1: presents as an issue with rim protection behind him with Dallas, right,
Speaker 1: So like it's kind of an interesting little stretch for
Speaker 1: the Warriors. Well, what I said in the mail bag,
Speaker 1: which you guys will hear in more detail on Friday,
Speaker 1: is basically I'm just curious to see how their defense
Speaker 1: will look. Right, Like, by far the most exciting part
Speaker 1: of what Golden State is uplish to this point in
Speaker 1: the season, as they've demonstrated clearly to the rest of
Speaker 1: the league that they are incredibly deep with fast and athletic, long,
Speaker 1: you know, quick, smart defenders, right and what they do
Speaker 1: is they just come at you in waves. Whether it's
Speaker 1: the starting group or it's the bench group, whether it's
Speaker 1: in the front quarter, it's in the back court, it's
Speaker 1: just everyone's fast, everyone's on a string, everyone's bought in.
Speaker 1: And then Steve Kurr is one of the best defensive
Speaker 1: coaches in the league. Brings a lot of the modern
Speaker 1: schemes that you see around the league in terms of
Speaker 1: like switching and containing, staying home off the ball, trying
Speaker 1: to force turnovers. And I just wanted to see how
Speaker 1: it looked against these different types of offenses, right because Steph,
Speaker 1: you know, I didn't expect him to be as good
Speaker 1: as he was tonight. He's coming back from an injury,
Speaker 1: still kind of getting his engine revving this year, and like,
Speaker 1: I think Steph's gonna get better and better as the
Speaker 1: season progresses. And then we don't know what this Warrior's
Speaker 1: roster will look like in the long run, right, So,
Speaker 1: like I was mainly focused on the defensive end of
Speaker 1: the floor, and holy shit, was that an incredible defensive
Speaker 1: performance from the Warriors. Now, obviously there were some stretches
Speaker 1: where Boston broke through. They had a forty one point
Speaker 1: third quarter, they wanted a run in the early fourth,
Speaker 1: and they took a seven point lead. They're the Boston Celtics.
Speaker 1: Even without Jaylen Brown, They're one of the most talented
Speaker 1: rosters in the league. They're going to present you with
Speaker 1: some issues. But in the first half, with what they
Speaker 1: were able to do to build a lead and to
Speaker 1: breed a little bit of uncertainty in Boston, and then
Speaker 1: down the stretch with the stops that they were able
Speaker 1: to get, they got out of there with the win.
Speaker 1: And there was a lot of really interesting stuff. So
Speaker 1: let's get a little bit further into it. First of all,
Speaker 1: they held Boston a forty three percent from the field,
Speaker 1: thirty five percent from three, forced him into a lot
Speaker 1: of contested threes immediately out the gates with Steve Kerr,
Speaker 1: I thought was a really interesting kind of defensive strategy
Speaker 1: in the sense that like there's a lot of emotional
Speaker 1: baggage in this game, right, Like, Jason Tatum is the
Speaker 1: guy that Steve Kerr slided with Team USA this summer,
Speaker 1: not playing him in a bunch of pivotal games, and
Speaker 1: there's all of this like kind of like feeling like
Speaker 1: this is a revenge game and a lot of sorts.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: So, like one of the things I thought that was
Speaker 1: really smart that Steve Kurr did and it was dangerous.
Speaker 1: This is a dangerous thing to do. But he decided
Speaker 1: to do a lot of aggressive coverages on Jason Tatum
Speaker 1: early in the game. Blitzes, hard hedges, aggressive switches, a
Speaker 1: lot of just attacking Jason Tatum early in the game.
Speaker 1: Why is that dangerous? Because that's how Boston beats you.
Speaker 1: Boston beats you by getting you in rotation and driving
Speaker 1: and kicking you to death because they're so good with
Speaker 1: their spacing and everybody on the floor knows had a
Speaker 1: dribble shooting pass right now, A little different again with
Speaker 1: this Celtics team, with the way they're playing, especially without
Speaker 1: Jaylen Brown, there's a lot of slow footed centers on
Speaker 1: the floor, so that's a lot of opportunity to handle
Speaker 1: Boston on both ends of the floor in a way
Speaker 1: that's different than when they're completely healthy. Right, but still
Speaker 1: I thought that was really smart. Jason Tatum had four
Speaker 1: turnovers in the first half. The Warriors scored a lot
Speaker 1: in transition off of those turnovers. I think I can't
Speaker 1: remember the exact number they had, like forty points in
Speaker 1: transition in this game. They did a ton of damage
Speaker 1: in I think it was thirty. They had thirty points
Speaker 1: in transition in this game. Ton of damage in transition. Again,
Speaker 1: by fostering chaos at the beginning of those possessions could
Speaker 1: have been uglier had Boston handled it with a little
Speaker 1: more poise early on. And they did, and they got
Speaker 1: going in that third quarter, right, but that was the
Speaker 1: initial stretch that changed the tenor of the game. Now
Speaker 1: you're going into halftime with a lead. Now everyone for
Speaker 1: Boston's feeling a little uncomfortable, and again it's about keeping
Speaker 1: it late. Boston went on their run. They're a champion,
Speaker 1: They're gonna even without Brown, They're going to go on
Speaker 1: a run.
Speaker 2: And they did.
Speaker 1: But you kept the game close enough so that you
Speaker 1: can in the half court slow down at the end
Speaker 1: of the game, hope that your star can out execute
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum, and he did. Steph Curry scored or assisted
Speaker 1: on fifteen points in the final five and a half
Speaker 1: minutes of that game. He was magnificent the rim pressure,
Speaker 1: consistently getting the defense in rotation by getting down him
Speaker 1: manufactured six quick points at the three point line right
Speaker 1: after Boston went up seven. That pulled it back to one.
Speaker 1: Right theble penetration, getting in rotation again. The offensive rebounds
Speaker 1: like Kevin Looney gets two big offensive rebounds late. A
Speaker 1: lot of that comes from the chaos that happens in rotation.
Speaker 1: You're flying around chasings and screens. Looney slips along the backside,
Speaker 1: gets a little offensive rebound. Steph gets dribble penetration. He
Speaker 1: gets right to the front of the rim. Your rim
Speaker 1: protector goes after it and he misses it. Who's gonna
Speaker 1: be waiting if their rim protector goes after the ball
Speaker 1: and he doesn't get it. Your center, who's trailing to play?
Speaker 1: Kevon Looney easy offensive rebound, put back the little dribble
Speaker 1: drive at Jason Tatum at the end of the game,
Speaker 1: and Jason Tatum, I thought he settled down and actually
Speaker 1: played pretty well after the start obviously put up a
Speaker 1: monster stat line, but that first shift was really the
Speaker 1: stretch where he struggled. But when he down the stretch,
Speaker 1: he took a really bad shot in that mid range,
Speaker 1: trying to grift for a foul around the elbow. Then
Speaker 1: on the next possession, he got caught ball watching as
Speaker 1: Steph was driving right at him. Buddy, he'll bat cut
Speaker 1: him to the right corner. Steph made the pass, Buddy
Speaker 1: made the shot that was basically the dagger. Now they're
Speaker 1: celebrating and we're out of there, right, So like that's
Speaker 1: kind of the formula, right, That's what we talk about,
Speaker 1: is the formula to beat the Boston Celtics. You have
Speaker 1: to switch contain play, passing lanes, force turnovers right, get
Speaker 1: the game close slate, and then if you're close slate,
Speaker 1: hope that your star can out execute Jason Tatum. Right,
Speaker 1: And that's what happened. By the way, that's why I
Speaker 1: talk so much about the Warriors in there, the need
Speaker 1: to get to really invest in this particular season, you
Speaker 1: are actively demonstrating to the world that you have a
Speaker 1: like not just a good defense, but like a transcendently
Speaker 1: good defense based on a simple principle that I've been
Speaker 1: keyed in on a lot this year, which is perimeter speed.
Speaker 1: Perimeter speed is so important because about twenty percent of
Speaker 1: these games is being played in transition now. So your
Speaker 1: ability to contain the ball with ball pressure, to run
Speaker 1: up and down the floor, and transition covering ground into
Speaker 1: cover ground and rotation are three of the most important
Speaker 1: elements to guarding these modern pace in space NBA offenses. Right,
Speaker 1: So you're demonstrating the world you have this elite defense.
Speaker 1: You're demonstrating to the world that you have tons of depth.
Speaker 1: Brandon Pazemski wanted to play today, Steve cur didn't let them.
Speaker 1: They're so deep that they're like, dude, if you're not
Speaker 1: even feeling like, if you're feeling ninety five percent, take
Speaker 1: that extra day, come back tomorrow one hundred percent. Because
Speaker 1: we're so damn deep. We'll bring Lindy Waters in. He'll
Speaker 1: play fourteen minutes.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: So it's like that's kind of the process with the
Speaker 1: Warriors there this year. They're so incredibly deep that they
Speaker 1: have rotation players to burn, so to speak. And so
Speaker 1: when I look at it and I go elite, transcendently
Speaker 1: great defense, that's elite at all. Levels right, Like they're
Speaker 1: elite on the perimeter, and you have Draymond Green anchoring
Speaker 1: at all as one of the best defensive anchors in
Speaker 1: the league. You have Steph Curry on your team, who
Speaker 1: tonight again and it remains to be seen if you
Speaker 1: can maintain it. But this was his best game of
Speaker 1: the season. Twenty seven point seven rebounds, nine assists. Looks
Speaker 1: like a top tier superstar in this game. If you
Speaker 1: get that out of Steph Curry, Now just imagine if
Speaker 1: he had this, like really truly reliable, dependable number two
Speaker 1: and guy stepped up tonight Andrew Ways hit a big
Speaker 1: pull up jump shot that gave the Warriors the lead.
Speaker 1: Late Buddy healed four to seven from three to sixteen points.
Speaker 2: He was plus twenty in this game. Had hit a
Speaker 2: bunch of big shots.
Speaker 1: But like, if you had just one more guy that
Speaker 1: could reliably create offense for you off of Steph Curry,
Speaker 1: That's where I think this starts to get exciting. A
Speaker 1: couple other guys I wanted to shout out Kyle Anderson.
Speaker 1: Those back to back to back pull up I think
Speaker 1: one of them was a catch and shoot, then the
Speaker 1: other two were off the dribble those back to back
Speaker 1: to back threes that he hit in the first half
Speaker 1: completely changed the dynamic of the game because the Warriors
Speaker 1: defense got it close. But that was what built that
Speaker 1: first like real margin. Gary Payton the second his first
Speaker 1: shift was what completely changed the game. He was flying
Speaker 1: around everywhere, blocked to Peyton Pritchard on a three on
Speaker 1: the left wing, was digging down and getting loose balls.
Speaker 1: He had a huge diving loose ball recovery in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. I thought he was incredible. Jonathan Minga hit
Speaker 1: a huge three in the first half of that game
Speaker 1: when they were trying to build that first initial margin.
Speaker 1: A lot of really good performances from the Warriors. Again
Speaker 1: on the Celtics front, I thought they got a little
Speaker 1: bit spooked by the blitzing in the early part of
Speaker 1: the game, but outside of that, I thought they managed
Speaker 1: it pretty well. I thought the Celtics played a really
Speaker 1: good game outside of that first half, right, and you.
Speaker 2: Were in a position to win.
Speaker 1: You went cold late and sometimes, you know, sometimes you
Speaker 1: get Steph curried, and that's what happens.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: I'm not worried about them in the big picture. One
Speaker 1: of the big things again for both Warriors fans, and
Speaker 1: for Celtics fans, when you look at them as a
Speaker 1: five out team and you're looking at Drew, Derek Tatum, Brown, Horford,
Speaker 1: they do a lot of switching with that group.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: Then they have Porzingis as they're like real rim protector,
Speaker 1: but they trust Howser to switch, they trust Pritchard to switch.
Speaker 2: They do a lot of switching.
Speaker 1: They contain, right, they have a lot of speed, So
Speaker 1: like it's one thing to do it against nimas Quetta
Speaker 1: and Louke Cornette, right, but it's a little bit different
Speaker 1: when you're facing the version of the Celtics that is
Speaker 1: more focused on their perimeter speed. And so again it's
Speaker 1: I think the Celtics are smart to continue to take
Speaker 1: it this way, take it slow, make sure Jayalen Brown
Speaker 1: gets healthy, make sure that you're not, you know, chasing
Speaker 1: wins in the regular season at the expense of the
Speaker 1: ultimate goal at the end of the at the end
Speaker 1: of the season, and for the Warriors, really big win.
Speaker 1: But again, as I said, there are stretches in this
Speaker 1: game where you really struggle to score. And again, like
Speaker 1: when it comes to the big picture, this to me
Speaker 1: seems like a team that has some special potential. I
Speaker 1: think it's worth investing in, and I'm really curious to
Speaker 1: see how it goes in the long run. Again, I'm
Speaker 1: going to tomorrow do another breakdown of this game after
Speaker 1: I've rewatched it, looked into some film, and then we'll
Speaker 1: also have a film breakdown of it at the tail
Speaker 1: end of the show. We're also gonna hit a bunch
Speaker 1: of other games. The Lakers just completely shit the bed
Speaker 1: in Memphis tonight, fun little John Moran, Lebron James battle
Speaker 1: in the tail end of the first half, crazy game
Speaker 1: between the Detroit Pistons and the Charlotte Hornets. A bunch
Speaker 1: of stuff we're going to get into. I hope to
Speaker 1: see you guys there on YouTube tomorrow. It's always a
Speaker 1: sincerely appreciate you guys, and I'll see you then. The
Speaker 1: volume