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Speaker 1: to hoops tonight, presented by Fanduel here at the volume.

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Speaker 1: Happy Monday everybody. I hope all of you guys had

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Speaker 1: a great weekend and that's your weeks are off to

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Speaker 1: a good start. We're gonna be continuing with our power

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Speaker 1: rankings today with number eight, the Denver Nuggets. We're also

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Speaker 1: going to spend a couple of minutes at the beginning

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Speaker 1: talking about that. Sham Sharani a report today about the

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Speaker 1: NBA and the players association potentially changing the draft age

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Speaker 1: from nineteen to eighteen in the next CBA negotiations, which

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Speaker 1: is obviously super important on a bunch of different levels.

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Speaker 1: You guys know the drill. Before we get started, subscribe

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Speaker 1: to the volumes Youtube Channel so you don't miss any

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Speaker 1: more of our videos. Follow me on twitter at underscore

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Speaker 1: Jason Lt so you guys don't miss any show announcements.

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Speaker 1: And last but not least, and for whatever reason you

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Speaker 1: guys can't get over to youtube to finish the video,

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

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Speaker 1: hoops tonight. Really quickly, before we get started, I am

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Speaker 1: super excited to tell you guys about our new partner

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Speaker 1: This is a foundational nutritional drink that has completely changed

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Speaker 1: my life. I've been taking it every day for about

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Speaker 1: two months now. Obviously, with what I do for a

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Speaker 1: living and with what I do on the side, which

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Speaker 1: is I coach and I train young basketball players. I

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Speaker 1: also train and play the game of basketball myself almost

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Speaker 1: every single day. I strength train three or four times

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Speaker 1: a week. Just like so many of you guys, I

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Speaker 1: have a very physically and mentally demanding day, and so

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Speaker 1: there are two things that are vitally important to me

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Speaker 1: navigating those days, and that's insistent energy levels and what

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Speaker 1: I call good brain days, and a g one has

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Speaker 1: monumentally helped me in both of those areas. If you

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Speaker 1: guys ever had a bad brain day, like a day

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Speaker 1: where you struggle to focus on things or you struggle

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Speaker 1: to communicate put thoughts together and just everything in your

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Speaker 1: day just kind of becomes a slog mentally, those days

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Speaker 1: are utterly crippling to me, as you can imagine, trying

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Speaker 1: to do this and to deep dive into these teams

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Speaker 1: and to get into these compliments complicated concepts and to

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Speaker 1: convey them to you guys the best that I can.

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Speaker 1: It can be crippling to me to have a bad

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Speaker 1: brain day, and so a long time ago I actually

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Speaker 1: started journaling good and bad brain days. I'd write down

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Speaker 1: what type of day I had mentally and I wrote

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Speaker 1: I'd write down my behaviors that surrounded those days and

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Speaker 1: so I could try to replicate them a little bit better.

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Speaker 1: And last week, for the first time ever, I had

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Speaker 1: four consecutive good brain days, which is like unheard of

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Speaker 1: for me in my journal, and I attribute the vast

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Speaker 1: majority of that to a g one and what it

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Speaker 1: has done to fill gaps in my diet and support

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Speaker 1: All you have to do is visit Athletic Greens dot

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Speaker 1: excited for you guys to check that out and I

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Speaker 1: want you guys to tell me about your experiences with

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Speaker 1: it in the comments, and I also have my d

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Speaker 1: m s open as well. It's just done a lot

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Speaker 1: for me, so I'm really curious to see if it

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Speaker 1: helps any of you guys out as well. Alright, on

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Speaker 1: that note, let's dive into the NBA draft reports. So

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Speaker 1: sources say, according to Shams, that the NBA and the

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Speaker 1: NBA Players Association are in serious talks on new items

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Speaker 1: for potential collective bargaining agreement. That includes the draft age

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Speaker 1: eligibility going from nineteen to eighteen the return of high

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Speaker 1: school to the NBA. So, first of all, this just

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Speaker 1: makes sense. NBA teams want earlier access to talent. Why

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Speaker 1: wouldn't they? What is the N C double a ever

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Speaker 1: done for them? You know? And do they want lower,

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Speaker 1: what they considered to be lower level coaches developing their players?

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Speaker 1: Probably not like they want to have. They want more

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Speaker 1: control over player development. They want to get their hands

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Speaker 1: on these players younger, just like they do in Europe. Right.

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Speaker 1: And then on the players side of things, most of

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Speaker 1: the players to make it to the N B a

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Speaker 1: rightfully feel like there's exploitation taking place in the N

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Speaker 1: C double a. So both parties here, the NBA and

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Speaker 1: the NBA Players Association, are going to be in favor

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Speaker 1: of this sort of thing. So this change was inevitably

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Speaker 1: going to come. One of the foundational parts of this

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Speaker 1: from the player's perspective is the problem with paying players

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Speaker 1: in college. And I've always been a huge believer that

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Speaker 1: players deserve to be paid. I've always just acknowledged that

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Speaker 1: it's super complicated, like, in my opinion, only the top

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Speaker 1: tier players actually deserve to be paid. Like if you

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Speaker 1: talk about it in terms of generating revenue, right, like

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Speaker 1: think of it like this, like Zion Williamson at Duke.

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Speaker 1: You guys would probably. If you if I told you

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Speaker 1: that Zion Williamson was going to your l a fitness

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Speaker 1: tomorrow and you could go watch him do a workout

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Speaker 1: for fifteen dollars, you probably, a lot of you probably

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Speaker 1: pay up to go see that sort of thing. But

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Speaker 1: let's pretend me is a role player at Duke who

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Speaker 1: comes off the bench and shoots threes and plays defense. Like,

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Speaker 1: if you heard I was going to be at l

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Speaker 1: a fitness, how many of you guys are going out

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Speaker 1: of your way to come watch me play? Right? Like,

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Speaker 1: it's not like all of the duke players are generating

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Speaker 1: a ton of revenue and deserve to be paid. It's

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Speaker 1: kind of the top tier guys and then the arrangement

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Speaker 1: for the lower level players, like getting your school paid for,

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Speaker 1: your room and board paid for, that kind of thing.

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Speaker 1: That's actually a pretty nice arrangement. Like I I felt

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Speaker 1: like I got a good deal in college getting all

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Speaker 1: of my my school paid for. That said, there's clear

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Speaker 1: exploitation taking place at the top, but every time this

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Speaker 1: sort of this conversation comes up, the actual solution is

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Speaker 1: extremely difficult to come up with, and so the idea

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Speaker 1: of just taking those players entirely out of the college

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Speaker 1: system to me just makes a ton of sense. I

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Speaker 1: really like the N I l rules, the name, image

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Speaker 1: likeness rules, and I like the way that that's confronted

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Speaker 1: the problem. But there are still a lot of issues

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Speaker 1: with it and, to be honest with you, any solution

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Speaker 1: that's been proposed is gonna come with issues, and so

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Speaker 1: removing them from that equation entirely and putting them in

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Speaker 1: the professional system I think that just makes the most

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Speaker 1: sense Um, not to mention for those players, the NBA

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Speaker 1: is just gonna do a much better job of player development.

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Speaker 1: It's actually better for them in their professional development. They'll

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Speaker 1: get better medical care, they'll get better coaching, they're they're

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Speaker 1: gonna be within their actual daily schedules. It'll be structured

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Speaker 1: in a way that's built around them being basketball players

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Speaker 1: rather than them being student athletes. It's actually better or

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Speaker 1: for a Zion Williamson type to go up through a

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Speaker 1: professional system than it is for him to go through

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Speaker 1: Duke even though, yes, it's entertaining and there obviously is

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Speaker 1: gonna be a loss, like college hoops losing top end talent.

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Speaker 1: That's gonna hurt the TV networks a little bit right.

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Speaker 1: That's gonna hurt a lot of those things, but I

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Speaker 1: would venture that some of that is going to be

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Speaker 1: canceled out by improved continuity, players staying for four years,

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Speaker 1: like the fan bases being more emotionally invested in rosters

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Speaker 1: because the players stick around. So I think some of

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Speaker 1: that gets canceled out there. But at the end of

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Speaker 1: the day, what was happening currently, or I should say

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Speaker 1: before N I l, where these guys were going to

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Speaker 1: college and playing for a year, getting paid under the table,

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Speaker 1: Getting Lesser Basketball Education and lesser basketball training before they

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Speaker 1: inevitably go onto the NBA. None of that ever made

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Speaker 1: any sense and I'm glad we're finally moving past that entirely.

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Speaker 1: I was talking to my producer Ryan, who's, like I

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Speaker 1: always say, the Unsung hero of the show uh, and

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Speaker 1: he was talking and about how, uh that Adam silver,

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Speaker 1: if it were up to him, would probably want to

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Speaker 1: go to the the academy structure that you see in

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Speaker 1: Europe where, from younger ages, players are around professional basketball

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Speaker 1: environments early and often, and I agree. I think that

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Speaker 1: that ideally, would be what Adam silver wants, and maybe

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Speaker 1: one day that ends up being the case. I don't know.

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Speaker 1: If they end up doing something like that with g

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Speaker 1: league ignite or if they find some other way, but

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Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if you start seeing the best fifteen, sixteen,

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Speaker 1: seventeen year old prospects in the NBA one day undergoing

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Speaker 1: training at some sort of NBA facility and doing online

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Speaker 1: schooling or something along those lines like. I think that's

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Speaker 1: a direction we're heading in and honestly it makes sense

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Speaker 1: to me and I'm behind that concept Um. So obviously

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Speaker 1: the big the big ancillary topic, the fun story about

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Speaker 1: this has to do with Lebron James and the fact

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Speaker 1: that he can become a free agent in four and

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Speaker 1: now Bronnie James, instead of being draft eligible in five,

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Speaker 1: he'd be draft L in so obviously they could become

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Speaker 1: free agents, effectively free agent and draft right around the

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Speaker 1: same exact time. So the question there becomes will Lebron

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Speaker 1: James UH play with brawny? Will an NBA team draft

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Speaker 1: brawny to get Lebron James? and to me the answer

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Speaker 1: to that question is entirely up to Lebron and how

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Speaker 1: good he is at basketball. At that point during this season,

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Speaker 1: Lebron is gonna turn thirty eight years old. During that

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Speaker 1: particular season, the one in question, Lebron would turn forty

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Speaker 1: years old. Now I believe that Lebron will still be

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Speaker 1: around the twenty or better player in the twenty best

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Speaker 1: player in the NBA at that point because of his

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Speaker 1: ability to play with strength, which does not fade in age,

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Speaker 1: and his basketball I q and the way he's improved

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Speaker 1: as a shooter and his incredible ability to pass the basketball.

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Speaker 1: So really it just comes down to health. Like if

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Speaker 1: Lebron is still healthy, meaning he avoids the catastrophic injury,

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Speaker 1: by that age, yeah, you absolute literally could see a

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Speaker 1: team draft brawny because Lebron is straight up said he

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Speaker 1: would be willing to take a discount. And then it

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Speaker 1: becomes like hey, if I have like the eighteenth pick

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Speaker 1: in the first round and if I draft Brawny, I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna get the Twentie best player in the League who

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Speaker 1: would absolutely fit in along alongside other stars because of

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Speaker 1: all the little things he does on a basketball court.

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Speaker 1: I think it makes sense, and so I if Lebron

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Speaker 1: avoids catastrophic injury, I think you could see a team

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Speaker 1: draft brawny as a potential player to pull a Lebron

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Speaker 1: in now, as far as brawny goes, the question is,

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Speaker 1: is he an NBA player? And no question he has

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Speaker 1: a long way to go, but we have seen flashes

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Speaker 1: over the course of this summer of a player that

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Speaker 1: does have NBA potential. He's a great athlete. He's been

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Speaker 1: under size. Right now he's only six FT three, but

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Speaker 1: he has a great feel for the game. His skill

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Speaker 1: is uh is progressing at a rapid rate. He does

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Speaker 1: have that potential, but he has to hold up his

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Speaker 1: end of the bargain. But I let's say he's a,

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Speaker 1: you know, mid second round type of talent. You could

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Speaker 1: see a team draft him in the late first round

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Speaker 1: or mid first round if they don't see a pick

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Speaker 1: that they really like and they see the prospect of

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Speaker 1: getting Lebron at a veteran minimum as part of the process.

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Speaker 1: So this, this whole story is interesting on a bunch

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Speaker 1: of different levels. It will foundationally change college hoops, maybe

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Speaker 1: less and maybe it won't be as good for the

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Speaker 1: networks in terms of money, because obviously they won't be

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Speaker 1: able to pull the eyeballs that they could with the

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Speaker 1: top tier talent that comes through. The comes through you

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Speaker 1: know Uh like this Zion Williamson's of the world. But

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Speaker 1: I do think in terms of the overall health of

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Speaker 1: the sport, it will be good having that continuity, having

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Speaker 1: it kind of fall back to a more traditional model,

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Speaker 1: in the players there being there for the long run

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Speaker 1: rather than having an eye to the future. The players

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Speaker 1: they're being true student athletes that are actually trying to

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Speaker 1: educate themselves as opposed to just using it as a

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Speaker 1: stopping point before they get to the NBA. So I

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Speaker 1: think college hoops foundation LEA will change. The NBA will

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Speaker 1: be better because they will get earlier accent access to

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Speaker 1: top talent and better training for those players. And then

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Speaker 1: obviously the doors open now for Lebron with his free agency,

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Speaker 1: in to play with his son. Lots of interesting stuff

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Speaker 1: on that front. All right, let us dive into number eight,

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Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets. So last year they were sixth in

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Speaker 1: offense and defense. They finished forty eight and thirty four,

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Speaker 1: which is extremely impressive given the roster they had at

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Speaker 1: their disposal, and then they lost in the first round

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Speaker 1: to the warriors, a series they were completely overmatched in talent. Wise. Um,

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Speaker 1: this offseason they traded will Barton and Monty Morris for

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Speaker 1: contavious Collbell Pope and Ish Smith a really interesting trade

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Speaker 1: on a on a bunch of different levels. This is

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Speaker 1: an example of a fit trade because when you're looking

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Speaker 1: at a guy like will barton versus a guy like

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Speaker 1: contavious callboll pope, really how good they are has so

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Speaker 1: much to do with their situation. Like I think that

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Speaker 1: will Barton is a considerably better on ball player than

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Speaker 1: K C P, but I think K C P is

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Speaker 1: a considerable a considerably better off ball player. I think

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Speaker 1: he's a more reliable spot up shooter and I think

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Speaker 1: he's better at attacking closeouts because of how gifted he

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Speaker 1: is slashing to the rim. Also, KCP is a much

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Speaker 1: better transition player, running the lanes and finishing at the

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Speaker 1: rim in transition. So I like him with Yokich as

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Speaker 1: a fit thing there. Without Jamal Murray, they desperately needed

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Speaker 1: will Barton to help create shots on a possession by

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Speaker 1: possession basis. But with Jamal Murray coming back and with

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Speaker 1: the rise of bones highland as a really interesting young

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Speaker 1: guard who shows flashes of potential as a really good

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Speaker 1: two way scoring guard. Like obviously with a lot a

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Speaker 1: long way to go, they don't need the on ball

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Speaker 1: creation from will Barton as much, and so k CP

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Speaker 1: kind of fits a unique need there that I really,

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Speaker 1: really like. And as someone who covered KCP with the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: and I promise you, Nuggets Fans, you will love having

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Speaker 1: that guy on your team. He is a flat out winning,

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Speaker 1: a starter level NBA Two guard that you will count

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Speaker 1: on on a nightly basis to do the things that

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Speaker 1: your team needs needs in order to win basketball games. Um,

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Speaker 1: I do like Monty Morris more than Ish Smith. Not

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Speaker 1: that is Smith isn't capable. Uh, he's obviously a journeyman

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Speaker 1: backup point guard himself. But if, if that's the price

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Speaker 1: that needed to be paid to get KCP, which I

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Speaker 1: do think is a better fit with this particular roster.

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Speaker 1: I also think he's a bit better defensively than will Barton,

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Speaker 1: then this is a net positive for denver. I don't

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Speaker 1: see it as any other way than that. They also

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Speaker 1: signed Bruce Brown, who's a good two way role player.

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Speaker 1: The one thing that's gonna be interesting with Bruce Brown

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Speaker 1: is they did use him a ton as a screener

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Speaker 1: in Brooklyn and he operated a lot out of the

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Speaker 1: short role. Um, I'm really curious to see how that

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Speaker 1: works out with Denver because they use Yokich as a

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Speaker 1: role man more than anybody else in the league, basically

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Speaker 1: except for Joe l embiid so from that standpoint I

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Speaker 1: just don't like. I don't see where I like. Bruce

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Speaker 1: Brown is gonna be more of a spot up role,

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Speaker 1: and it's not that he's bad in spot up situations,

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Speaker 1: but he was used there a lot less often than

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Speaker 1: he was in Brooklyn. So I think that'll be an

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Speaker 1: interesting kind of fit thing there that they got to

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Speaker 1: figure out. But the the other direction that my brain

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Speaker 1: goes there with the signing of deandre Jordan, which we'll

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Speaker 1: get to in a second, they don't really have a

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Speaker 1: backup center. If they decided to stop using deandre Jordan,

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Speaker 1: which I think they will at some point, I wouldn't

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Speaker 1: be surprised if they go small for stretches and go

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Speaker 1: with Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown in the front line

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Speaker 1: and then start using Bruce Brown as a screener in

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Speaker 1: that specific role. So obviously they signed deandre Jordan's he's

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Speaker 1: he's a good locker room guy. That's the story I

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Speaker 1: keep hearing, because I keep asking, like why do people

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Speaker 1: keep signing this guy and he legitimately is terrible as

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Speaker 1: a basketball player right now. Like he uh, he's a

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Speaker 1: drop coverage big that is disengaged on the vast majority

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Speaker 1: of possessions, that very rarely moves his feet, he trods

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Speaker 1: up and down the floor in transition, he doesn't have

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Speaker 1: nearly the vertical spacing capability that he had when he

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Speaker 1: was younger and and just in general will hurt your

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Speaker 1: basketball team when he's on the floor. But I keep

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Speaker 1: asking how does he keep getting deals, and what I

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Speaker 1: keep hearing is that he's just an incredible locker room guy.

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Speaker 1: So maybe that's what it is. But then I look

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Speaker 1: at the depth chart and they don't really have a

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Speaker 1: big after your kich and so I would imagine to

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Speaker 1: start the year you'll actually see him in that demarcus

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Speaker 1: cousins role where he's the backup big. But my guess

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Speaker 1: is at some point early on, maybe in the first

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Speaker 1: ten games or so, Mike Malone will realize that he's

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Speaker 1: not really playable anymore at this point in his career

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Speaker 1: and then he'll probably opt to go small instead. They

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Speaker 1: also drafted Christian Braun and Peyton Watson. These are two

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Speaker 1: good draft bets on wings that I think could potentially

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Speaker 1: be guys that fill that Jeff Green type of role

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Speaker 1: in the future, but I doubt they play much this

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Speaker 1: particular season, depending on how injuries go, obviously. And then

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Speaker 1: the big news here for Denver is the return of

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Speaker 1: Michael Porter Jr and the return of Jamal Murray. So

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Speaker 1: in Nicola Yoki, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter

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Speaker 1: Jr played a hundred and seventeen minutes together over five

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Speaker 1: games and they were plus forty six and those hundred

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Speaker 1: seventeen minutes, which is unbelievably good. So really small sample size,

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Speaker 1: but when we did see this group of four core

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Speaker 1: players together, they were a dominant basketball team and that's really,

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Speaker 1: really exciting for Denver fans. We're gonna dive into a

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Speaker 1: bunch of different ways that I expect that to manifest

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Speaker 1: this year. Their depth chart right now at the guard position,

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Speaker 1: Jamal Murray, K CP Ish Smith and bones highland. On

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Speaker 1: the wing, Michael Porter Jr, Aaron Gordon, Bruce Brown, Jeff Green,

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Speaker 1: the two draft picks, Braun and Watson, and will see Zignagi. I.

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Speaker 1: He's playing like a wing in the NBA but he

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Speaker 1: played big when he was at Arizona. Uh He might

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Speaker 1: end up playing some small ball center to as an

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Speaker 1: option if they did opt to go away from deandre

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Speaker 1: Jordan's but I he could shoot the ship out of

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Speaker 1: the basketball. So I really like him as a player.

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Speaker 1: It's just a question of how they end up using him,

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Speaker 1: but they did use him more as a wing in

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Speaker 1: the past. And then big Nicola Yoki and deandre Jordan's

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Speaker 1: all right, let's move on to the offensive side of

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Speaker 1: the basketball. We're gonna do offense, defense, best case scenario,

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Speaker 1: worst case scenario, and then biggest x factor a player.

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Speaker 1: I am very, very excited to dive into a little bit.

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Speaker 1: So we're gonna start with transition, with the nuggets. I

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Speaker 1: know I usually start with the half court stuff first

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Speaker 1: and then we get to transition, but the way that

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Speaker 1: Denver attacks and transition, I think is super unique and

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Speaker 1: it's my favorite part of their offensive attacks. I wanted

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Speaker 1: to start with that there. First of all, they are

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Speaker 1: a top ten transition efficiency team two years in a

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Speaker 1: row now, and last year, according to cleaning the glass,

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Speaker 1: even with the limited talent that they had, they were

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Speaker 1: the second best team in the league pushing in transition

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Speaker 1: off of live ball rebounds at one point to eight

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Speaker 1: points per possession. Now there are three concepts here that

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Speaker 1: I want to quickly touch on. First of all, defensive rebounding.

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Speaker 1: Everyone knows Nicola Yokich is an outstanding defensive rebounder. Him

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Speaker 1: Securing that rebound is step one of the break. Step

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Speaker 1: two is Nikola Yoki's ability to make reads with the

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Speaker 1: basketball without having to give the ball to a guard.

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Speaker 1: So many teams in the League there big man gets

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Speaker 1: a rebound and they have to look around and wait

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Speaker 1: for one of the guards to cut back to the basketball,

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Speaker 1: which slows down the break. There are bigs that are

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Speaker 1: capable of bringing the ball at the floor or are

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Speaker 1: capable of making outlet passes, but nobody that does it

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Speaker 1: at the level that Nikola Yokich does. Even Kevin Love

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Speaker 1: in his prime he couldn't dribble the basketball the way

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Speaker 1: that Nikola Yokich can. He's like a combination of Kevin

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Speaker 1: love as an outlet passer mixed with the open floor

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Speaker 1: game him that you see from the big point forwards

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Speaker 1: that we have in this league. So obviously step one

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Speaker 1: is securing the rebound. You can't start the break without

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Speaker 1: securing the rebound. Step. Two, though, is players running the

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Speaker 1: the wings and Yoki's ability to throw outlet passes, and

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Speaker 1: he's got a huge arsenal of him overhead passes, slingshot passes,

432
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,040
Speaker 1: baseball passes, everything under the Sun. He hits his players

433
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,760
Speaker 1: in stride running up the floor and because he doesn't

434
00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:29,280
Speaker 1: have to give the ball to a guard first, it

435
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 1: makes it tougher for the defense to actually get back

436
00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:35,520
Speaker 1: in time to stop those actions. And then when he

437
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:38,920
Speaker 1: doesn't see those actions, he'll bring the ball up with pace,

438
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,720
Speaker 1: and it's honestly kind of funny because Yoki is a

439
00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,359
Speaker 1: player that I don't view as overly fast and, for

440
00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,080
Speaker 1: obvious reasons, I don't think Yokich would say he's fast either,

441
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:50,720
Speaker 1: and we'll talk about some of the downsides of that

442
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,800
Speaker 1: a little bit later. But it is kind of impressive

443
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,720
Speaker 1: the type of pace that that Yokis will bring the

444
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,240
Speaker 1: ball up the floor with and the way that it

445
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:02,920
Speaker 1: can collapse a defense around him and open things up

446
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,359
Speaker 1: for shooters and people filling in behind him. I really

447
00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:09,320
Speaker 1: like K C P as an addition on this front,

448
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:11,639
Speaker 1: because when he was with the Lakers, I always talk

449
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:14,440
Speaker 1: about K C P as an outstanding one leg jumper

450
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,399
Speaker 1: and great one legged jumpers that can take long strides.

451
00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,639
Speaker 1: They can extend out and finish at the RIM faster

452
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,280
Speaker 1: than people can get to them. That's what makes him

453
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,159
Speaker 1: so gifted attacking closeouts and it's what makes him so

454
00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,919
Speaker 1: dangerous in transition. He's just galloping down the floor and

455
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,360
Speaker 1: he can extend out in front. It's just really difficult

456
00:24:34,359 --> 00:24:36,520
Speaker 1: to meet him at the Rim and block him. So

457
00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:40,159
Speaker 1: adding him as a legitimate transition threat. Aaron Gordon is

458
00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:43,240
Speaker 1: an outstanding transition transition threat, throwing the ball at the

459
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,679
Speaker 1: floor and then Michael Porter Jr and Jamal Murray trailing

460
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:50,280
Speaker 1: the play and getting advantage situations as Yokis brings the

461
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:52,199
Speaker 1: ball up the floor with the pace and shovels the

462
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:55,119
Speaker 1: ball back to them again. One Point to eight points

463
00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,720
Speaker 1: per possession pushing off of live ball rebounds last year,

464
00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:01,840
Speaker 1: which was second best in the entire league according to

465
00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 1: cleaning the glass. That's my favorite part of of what

466
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:09,159
Speaker 1: Nicola Yokis does in my favorite part of Denver's offense.

467
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:13,440
Speaker 1: There was a game last year Um sixers fans cling

468
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,160
Speaker 1: to this game as the evidence that embiad was better,

469
00:25:16,600 --> 00:25:18,240
Speaker 1: but it was a game where the Denver Nuggets went

470
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,879
Speaker 1: into Philly and beat the sixers and in that game

471
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:24,480
Speaker 1: there were a bunch of highlight players at the beginning

472
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,800
Speaker 1: where Nicola Yo kids was struggling guarding and beat in

473
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,600
Speaker 1: single coverage and startling to score on him on the

474
00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,040
Speaker 1: other end. And you can make a highlight reel of

475
00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,800
Speaker 1: that game of just shot attempts from both players and

476
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:38,760
Speaker 1: you think, oh, and beads better. But there was a

477
00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,280
Speaker 1: stretch in the early second half of that game we

478
00:25:41,359 --> 00:25:43,320
Speaker 1: really started in the second quarter and it kind of

479
00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 1: carried over the entire middle portion of the game where

480
00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:51,920
Speaker 1: Yokis was trans like, like utterly obliterating Philly in transition,

481
00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:55,119
Speaker 1: just starting the break with live ball rebounds, you know,

482
00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:56,879
Speaker 1: pushing the ball at the floor of the live dribble

483
00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,439
Speaker 1: or making outlet passes to players as they run, as

484
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:03,160
Speaker 1: they were run out. In that particular game, bones highland

485
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:08,159
Speaker 1: got going with transition opportunities from Yokich and then at

486
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,000
Speaker 1: the end of the game, riding that confidence, he made

487
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:14,840
Speaker 1: back to back at least two, maybe three, huge three pointers.

488
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:17,359
Speaker 1: That ended up being the daggers that close that game

489
00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:20,359
Speaker 1: for nuggets win and it's it's one of the many

490
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:23,960
Speaker 1: examples of how judging how good a basketball player is

491
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:28,680
Speaker 1: goes so much deeper than their individual skill set offensively

492
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,440
Speaker 1: in terms of ball handling and shooting or isolation possessions

493
00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,240
Speaker 1: or highlight reels or anything along those lines. There are

494
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,680
Speaker 1: so many different ways to impact winning and the best

495
00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 1: players in the world are are the players that fill

496
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:45,280
Speaker 1: in gaps in their game with all of those little details,

497
00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 1: like something like being able to initiate offense in transition

498
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,560
Speaker 1: as a ball handler. It's one of the many reasons

499
00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,240
Speaker 1: why I think Yokich is a better player than embiid

500
00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,040
Speaker 1: right now. When we get into the half court, it's

501
00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,440
Speaker 1: a ton of Nicola Yok as a screener and a

502
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:01,840
Speaker 1: dribble and off guy out of the high post. They

503
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,040
Speaker 1: structured in a bunch of different ways. You'll see them

504
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:06,280
Speaker 1: do some stuff in horns, you'll see them do some

505
00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:10,240
Speaker 1: stuff in pistol, but the general structure there is Yokich

506
00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:12,840
Speaker 1: out of the high post handing the ball to players

507
00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:17,440
Speaker 1: and screening for them. Um Yokich the only other player

508
00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:20,639
Speaker 1: they'll use as a screener and I am interested to

509
00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,520
Speaker 1: see how Bruce Brown factors into that, because they used

510
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:25,720
Speaker 1: him as a lot as a screener in Brooklyn. But

511
00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,760
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon, with the way their lineup is structured, is

512
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:33,200
Speaker 1: pretty consistently drawing bigger and slower defenders and so, um

513
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,160
Speaker 1: I watched of this morning. I watched an entire game

514
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:38,840
Speaker 1: from two thousand twenty one back. It was bizarre watching

515
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:40,359
Speaker 1: it. It It was back when there were no fans at

516
00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:45,240
Speaker 1: the arenas. But it was a game when Murray, Yokich,

517
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:51,280
Speaker 1: Porter and Gordon were all available and they just beat

518
00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,399
Speaker 1: the crap out of the L A clippers and it

519
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:56,640
Speaker 1: was a really, really interesting basketball game to go back

520
00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,440
Speaker 1: and rewatch because it's been so long since we've seen

521
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,560
Speaker 1: that core group of four guys together. But they were

522
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:05,720
Speaker 1: dominant when they were together. But in that particular game

523
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:08,560
Speaker 1: the they were using Aaron Gordon a lot as a

524
00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,960
Speaker 1: screener to get, you know, Marcus Morris switched on to

525
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,240
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray or things get slower footed players to get

526
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,520
Speaker 1: switched on Jamal Murray. So they will use some screening

527
00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:18,320
Speaker 1: with Aaron Gordon and my guess is they'll do so

528
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:20,920
Speaker 1: with Bruce Brown as well. But foundationally this is a

529
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:25,640
Speaker 1: Nickela Yokich as a screener offense. No team used their

530
00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:30,080
Speaker 1: roleman in pick and roll more then Nikola Yokich did

531
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:32,040
Speaker 1: a lot of times. We're talking about pick and roll

532
00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 1: possessions in the vast majority of them, and in the

533
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:38,200
Speaker 1: ball the handler coming off the screen and shooting or

534
00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,120
Speaker 1: coming off the screen and taking a floater, or coming

535
00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:41,440
Speaker 1: off the screen going all the way to the rim

536
00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,120
Speaker 1: or kicking it out to the perimeter. The actual rolemn

537
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,160
Speaker 1: itself doesn't get used nearly as often as you would think,

538
00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:50,960
Speaker 1: and Yokich is the most used role man in the

539
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 1: league this year, this past season, and that is where

540
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,480
Speaker 1: you put Yokich in position where he's putting a defense

541
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:01,600
Speaker 1: in rotation and making read so if you hit Yokis

542
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:03,760
Speaker 1: with a pocket pass in the middle of the lane,

543
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:07,480
Speaker 1: he's effectively going downhill without a defender on him, which

544
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,480
Speaker 1: is automatically going to collapse the defense. That just puts

545
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:12,840
Speaker 1: Yokis into position where he can spray the ball out

546
00:29:12,840 --> 00:29:15,960
Speaker 1: to everybody and with his ability as a pastor, and

547
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 1: we're gonna get into this a little bit in the

548
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:19,680
Speaker 1: post later, because Yokis is one of the best post

549
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,680
Speaker 1: players in the league. But the combination of Yokis passing

550
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,480
Speaker 1: out of the Post and Yoki's passing out of the

551
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 1: short role has actually generated ridiculously high quality spot up

552
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,520
Speaker 1: opportunities for his teammates. So think of it like this.

553
00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:39,920
Speaker 1: The Lakers had terrible spot up talent last year compared

554
00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:41,600
Speaker 1: to the rest of the League. Is One of the

555
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:43,840
Speaker 1: big reasons why they struggled. We talked about this at length.

556
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,520
Speaker 1: They had weak role players. They were the second worst

557
00:29:47,520 --> 00:29:50,280
Speaker 1: team in the league in points per possession out of

558
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:56,200
Speaker 1: spot up opportunities, just because they struggle to actually capitalize

559
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,960
Speaker 1: on that. Well, Denver is in a similar situation. there.

560
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,320
Speaker 1: Old players last year were underqualified compared to some of

561
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 1: the other guys around the league, because of the loss

562
00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,920
Speaker 1: of Jamal Murray, because of the loss of Michael Porter Jr,

563
00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:10,640
Speaker 1: who would be eating up a lot of those spot

564
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,400
Speaker 1: up possessions. Well, last year the nuggets were fourth in

565
00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:18,600
Speaker 1: spot up efficiency at one point zero eight points per possession.

566
00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:22,640
Speaker 1: That's the type of advantage creation that Nicola Yokich gives

567
00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:25,520
Speaker 1: your team. He will he will make it so that

568
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:30,040
Speaker 1: even under qualified players, even players that struggle with shooting

569
00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:33,360
Speaker 1: or attacking closeouts and making reads, he will put them

570
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,959
Speaker 1: in such an advantageous position that they will produce better

571
00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:39,560
Speaker 1: than many of the other players in the league. This

572
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:43,080
Speaker 1: is an offense that is structured around nickel Yoki's ability

573
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,240
Speaker 1: to generate advantages for his teammates, either coming off of

574
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:51,239
Speaker 1: those dribble handoffs or in or ball screens or in

575
00:30:51,440 --> 00:30:55,440
Speaker 1: spot up situations. Also, they're one of the best cutting

576
00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:58,160
Speaker 1: teams in the league. They were fourth and cutting volume,

577
00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:01,720
Speaker 1: as well as sixth and cutting efficiency. That's just Nicola

578
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 1: Yogi is relentless ability to hit cutters, which motivates cutting.

579
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,000
Speaker 1: One of the hard things for players off ball is

580
00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:10,880
Speaker 1: if they don't feel like they're gonna get the ball,

581
00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:13,840
Speaker 1: they're not gonna be willing to do things like, you know,

582
00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:18,840
Speaker 1: screen away or or relocate or cut back door if

583
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,719
Speaker 1: they don't think they're going to get the basketball. The

584
00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 1: nuggets are incentivized to cut and to cut frequently, because

585
00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:30,120
Speaker 1: Nicola Yogis will will will relentlessly hit them when they cut.

586
00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:32,480
Speaker 1: It keeps their offense in motion. It's a huge part

587
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:34,920
Speaker 1: of why they were so successful. Again, we're talking about

588
00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,280
Speaker 1: a team here that last year was literally sixth in

589
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,920
Speaker 1: offense despite having the level of offensive talent that they had,

590
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:44,520
Speaker 1: and it's once again just a testament to what Nikola

591
00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 1: Yogis can do with the basketball. So post ups obviously

592
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:49,680
Speaker 1: are a huge part of their offense. They were second

593
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:53,040
Speaker 1: in volume behind the Philadelphia Seventy sixers. They dumped the

594
00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:55,040
Speaker 1: ball down to Joel and be just an absurd amount

595
00:31:55,040 --> 00:31:57,400
Speaker 1: of time. He posted up a hundred and fifty more

596
00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:00,600
Speaker 1: times than Yokis did last year. Um, but KOL Yokich

597
00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,400
Speaker 1: was number one in post up efficiency last year. This

598
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:09,880
Speaker 1: is like looking at the skill sets. You Think, Oh,

599
00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:12,960
Speaker 1: like Joel embid. Look at how talented he is hitting

600
00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:14,720
Speaker 1: the step back jump shots. Look at his ability to

601
00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 1: draw foul's. A NICKELA Yoki Post up generates twelve additional

602
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,320
Speaker 1: points per one hunter possessions than an embid post up does.

603
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:24,680
Speaker 1: And that's before we get into what he can do

604
00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,520
Speaker 1: passing the basketball, which is to a whole other level

605
00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:29,760
Speaker 1: than what Joel embid can do. Now, I think Joel

606
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:33,160
Speaker 1: embiads a better defensive player than Yokis, buy some small amount,

607
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:36,680
Speaker 1: but they're in my opinion, is a pretty decent chasm

608
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:39,000
Speaker 1: between the two of them as offensive players, and that's

609
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 1: a big reason why I am so high on what

610
00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:45,200
Speaker 1: Nickel Yokis can do relative to what Joel embid can do.

611
00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:47,920
Speaker 1: One of the things they do really uh, in a

612
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,960
Speaker 1: really interesting way to set up Yokis for success in

613
00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:54,080
Speaker 1: post ups is they don't just do the lazy thing,

614
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,680
Speaker 1: which is have him fight for position and dump the

615
00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:59,520
Speaker 1: ball to him on the block. They run a lot

616
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:02,400
Speaker 1: of yoke it's post ups off of cross screens. This

617
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:04,920
Speaker 1: is one of the things that was impressing uh impressing

618
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,280
Speaker 1: me a lot on film this morning. A Lot. They

619
00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,680
Speaker 1: won't just dump the ball into they will, but they

620
00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:11,720
Speaker 1: don't just do that every time down the floor. They'll

621
00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:14,160
Speaker 1: have him run some sort of action that has him

622
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,840
Speaker 1: catching and turning and facing at ten feet with the

623
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:19,440
Speaker 1: defender closing out at him, so he can shoot some

624
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:21,360
Speaker 1: catch and shoot ten footers, which he makes at a

625
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:24,000
Speaker 1: high percentage, so that he can turn and do a

626
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,640
Speaker 1: power dribble with space between so we can get his

627
00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,560
Speaker 1: momentum going so that he can gain more position moving

628
00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:33,080
Speaker 1: towards the basket, or he can get deeper seals closer

629
00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:35,200
Speaker 1: to the rim and just turn and finished right away.

630
00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,760
Speaker 1: The way they structure their offense to get yogis advantageous

631
00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:41,640
Speaker 1: post ups is a huge part of why he's so

632
00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:43,880
Speaker 1: efficient down there. They had a set against the clippers

633
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:46,320
Speaker 1: that I was watching this morning out of horns where

634
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,959
Speaker 1: he was on the right elbow for facing the basket.

635
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:51,560
Speaker 1: He's on the right elbow and there's a post entry

636
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:53,680
Speaker 1: to him at the elbow. There he turns and does

637
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:56,640
Speaker 1: a dribble handoff to whoever's coming out of the corner

638
00:33:57,560 --> 00:33:59,959
Speaker 1: and after that dribble handoff, the guy in the opposite

639
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:01,840
Speaker 1: the corner and the guy in the opposite elbow run

640
00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:05,240
Speaker 1: and set a double cross screen, literally a double cross

641
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,600
Speaker 1: screen for Yokis to run over to a post up

642
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:11,400
Speaker 1: on the left block he ends up catching so wide

643
00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:15,200
Speaker 1: open that he just turns and shoots a completely unguarded

644
00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:18,560
Speaker 1: ten footer. What is so smart about that concept, not

645
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,480
Speaker 1: just that super complicated play that I'm not super complicated,

646
00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:23,719
Speaker 1: but more complicated play that I just mentioned, but even

647
00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:26,960
Speaker 1: less complicated versions like cross screens and things along those lines,

648
00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:31,920
Speaker 1: is big men really struggled to navigate screens. Most of

649
00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:34,560
Speaker 1: the best screen navigating basketball players in the world are

650
00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:37,719
Speaker 1: short and stocky and strong, because they're difficult to put

651
00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:40,400
Speaker 1: a body on. But when you're when you're like in

652
00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:44,640
Speaker 1: that clippers game, when you're asking zoobots to run through

653
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,040
Speaker 1: a double staggered screen. He's gonna get caught on him.

654
00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:51,440
Speaker 1: He just is how much times he spent practicing running

655
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:55,440
Speaker 1: through double staggered screens? How like, in most levels of

656
00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:58,759
Speaker 1: youth basketball you're playing with two bigs and their cross

657
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:01,360
Speaker 1: screening for each other and they'll just they'll just switch

658
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:04,120
Speaker 1: right or they won't have a second player down there

659
00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:06,279
Speaker 1: to do cross screens with. They just don't have to

660
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,800
Speaker 1: navigate a ton of screening actions, chasing, locking and trailing,

661
00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:12,279
Speaker 1: and so I think that's really smart that Denver does

662
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:14,160
Speaker 1: that and I think it's a big part of why

663
00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:17,359
Speaker 1: Yokis has been as efficient as he's been in put

664
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:21,040
Speaker 1: in post up situations. The bottom line is everything that

665
00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:24,719
Speaker 1: I just mentioned there has to do with efficiency. In

666
00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:27,640
Speaker 1: a season where they struggled with offensive talent off ball,

667
00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:33,440
Speaker 1: you're now plugging Jamal Murray into that mix and he's outstanding.

668
00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:35,840
Speaker 1: I'M NOT gonna get any further into him yet because

669
00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:37,520
Speaker 1: I want to spend a lot of time on him

670
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:40,400
Speaker 1: later in the show. Michael Porter Jr, one of the

671
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,080
Speaker 1: best spot up three point shooters that we have in

672
00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:45,640
Speaker 1: the league right now. contavious called but pope, I talked

673
00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:48,960
Speaker 1: about his fit as a transition player. You know, the

674
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:51,960
Speaker 1: one thing with him is will Barton generated a lot

675
00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 1: of chemistry with Nicola Yokich in those ball screen and

676
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,440
Speaker 1: drimal handoff situations. It'll be interesting to see if K

677
00:35:57,480 --> 00:35:59,600
Speaker 1: C P can replicate any of that. But it not,

678
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,680
Speaker 1: it might matter with the development of bones highland and

679
00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:04,880
Speaker 1: with Jamal Murray's return and with him being in a

680
00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:07,759
Speaker 1: primarily spot up role, and he's gonna get outstanding spot

681
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:10,600
Speaker 1: up opportunities that he's going to capitalize on. I think

682
00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:15,279
Speaker 1: that this team has a a very good chance to

683
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:18,680
Speaker 1: be the best offense in basketball this year. As a

684
00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,920
Speaker 1: matter of fact, I would predict that if they stayed

685
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,960
Speaker 1: largely healthy, if all of four of their stars average

686
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:27,880
Speaker 1: sixty five games played, that they would finish the season

687
00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:29,879
Speaker 1: as the number one offense in the league this year.

688
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:33,680
Speaker 1: Moving on to the defensive end of the floor, so

689
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,399
Speaker 1: they're very traditional, in line with the rest of the League.

690
00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:38,520
Speaker 1: They run drop covers with Yo kitchen. They switched just

691
00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:40,680
Speaker 1: about everything else. Big Shock. You've heard that from the

692
00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:42,960
Speaker 1: vast majority of the teams that we've dealt with this year.

693
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,000
Speaker 1: We need to spend some time on Yokachen drop coverage, though,

694
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:52,000
Speaker 1: because it's kind of like a conflicting uh narrative, because

695
00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:55,439
Speaker 1: he's actually a very good drop coverage big in terms

696
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,080
Speaker 1: of his ability to keep the roller in front of

697
00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:01,440
Speaker 1: him and defend ball handler driving at him and defend

698
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:05,480
Speaker 1: shots around the rim. But the reality is is that

699
00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:08,680
Speaker 1: that's only one type of offense that kind of plays

700
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:11,880
Speaker 1: into that, and that's the ball handler being willing to

701
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:14,839
Speaker 1: drive into the teeth of the defense rather than being

702
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:18,359
Speaker 1: aggressive as a pull up shooter or being aggressive in

703
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:22,239
Speaker 1: the mid range and so like. It's kind of like

704
00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:25,720
Speaker 1: it's kind of like a given a take because keeping

705
00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:29,080
Speaker 1: him around the rim and drop coverage, he's more impactful

706
00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:33,040
Speaker 1: there defending shots at the rim. Having him close to

707
00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:36,399
Speaker 1: the rim helps him get defensive rebounds. Like if he's

708
00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:39,960
Speaker 1: chasing everybody in switches or coming way high out of

709
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,439
Speaker 1: the drop up to the level of the screen, he's

710
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:45,000
Speaker 1: not gonna get as many defensive rebounds. If he doesn't

711
00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:47,680
Speaker 1: get as many defensive rebounds, he can't start the break.

712
00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:50,799
Speaker 1: So in a lot of cases it's just a trade off.

713
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:55,279
Speaker 1: Denver is willing to give pull up jump shots or

714
00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,400
Speaker 1: to struggle a little bit in five out driving kick situations,

715
00:37:59,719 --> 00:38:03,080
Speaker 1: on understanding that they benefit in transition with what Yokis

716
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:06,120
Speaker 1: can do grabbing rebounds and starting the break and what

717
00:38:06,200 --> 00:38:09,920
Speaker 1: he can do protecting the rim. So he's not as

718
00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:14,799
Speaker 1: limited as a traditional drop coverage big right, but he's

719
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:19,640
Speaker 1: also not nearly as gifted defensively as the true versatile

720
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:23,680
Speaker 1: defensive back line guys that can switch or cover in

721
00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:26,279
Speaker 1: space better or come high out of the screen and

722
00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:29,359
Speaker 1: still contain and all of those different things, like even

723
00:38:29,440 --> 00:38:32,200
Speaker 1: in that warrior series when Yoki was coming high out

724
00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:34,240
Speaker 1: of the drop up to the level of the screen

725
00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:37,239
Speaker 1: Stephi was just going right around him. And so that's

726
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:40,680
Speaker 1: always going to be an issue for Denver how they

727
00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:46,200
Speaker 1: can utilize yokis defensively without overly compromising their defense, but

728
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:50,000
Speaker 1: also not overly compromising their transition attack, which depends on

729
00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:53,400
Speaker 1: Yoki being around the rim. So it's a very complicated topic.

730
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:56,840
Speaker 1: Denver fans with rose colored glasses will view that in

731
00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:00,800
Speaker 1: a very positive light. You know, I'm not a OAKTS detractor.

732
00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:02,920
Speaker 1: I try to be very fair about him. I view

733
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:05,680
Speaker 1: it in the middle. He's something better than a traditional

734
00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:09,840
Speaker 1: drop coverage big but something less than a versatile defensive

735
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:11,839
Speaker 1: big man that can do more like a Bam at

736
00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:15,480
Speaker 1: a bio, for instance. Um Moving on to the kind

737
00:39:15,480 --> 00:39:17,960
Speaker 1: of the other aspects of defense, Mike Malone is a

738
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,160
Speaker 1: good basketball coach and he's very good on the margins.

739
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:22,920
Speaker 1: He's top ten defending the three point line, which is

740
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,040
Speaker 1: just smart. I'm always quick to look there because the

741
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:29,120
Speaker 1: smartest basketball teams in the League are chasing teams off

742
00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:31,000
Speaker 1: the three point line because that's where they like to

743
00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:33,759
Speaker 1: go for large portions of their offense. In terms of

744
00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:36,120
Speaker 1: the math, it's just a very efficient way to attack.

745
00:39:36,520 --> 00:39:38,759
Speaker 1: If you can't lock down the rim like you need

746
00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,680
Speaker 1: to either be able to completely shut down the rim

747
00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:44,440
Speaker 1: or guard the three point line really well. If you

748
00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:47,040
Speaker 1: don't do both, I don't believe in what you can

749
00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:51,160
Speaker 1: do defensively. The Milwaukee Bucks completely shut down the rim,

750
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:53,640
Speaker 1: so I'm a little bit more at peace with what

751
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:56,040
Speaker 1: they do giving up shots at the three point line.

752
00:39:56,280 --> 00:39:59,719
Speaker 1: The Denver Nuggets defend the rim terribly like well, we'll

753
00:39:59,719 --> 00:40:01,560
Speaker 1: talk out in a minute. They were twenty five points

754
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:03,840
Speaker 1: in the pain allowed last year, but they guard the

755
00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:06,000
Speaker 1: three point line well and so that's kind of a

756
00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:08,400
Speaker 1: foundational piece for their defense. That they can lean on,

757
00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,920
Speaker 1: at least in a playoff setting. Um, I really like

758
00:40:12,320 --> 00:40:14,520
Speaker 1: uh Oh. And then, lastly, on the Mike Malone in

759
00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:17,319
Speaker 1: the margins bit, they're the best defensive rebounding team in

760
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:20,319
Speaker 1: all of basketball. In terms of defensive rebounding possessions. No

761
00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:24,160
Speaker 1: team secures more of the opponent's misses than Denver does,

762
00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:26,600
Speaker 1: which is just it's that's really smart on two fronts.

763
00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:30,360
Speaker 1: So you're you're limiting the number of shot opportunities that

764
00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:33,160
Speaker 1: the opponent gets and you're limiting their efficiency by taking

765
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:36,160
Speaker 1: away the high value shots. That's a way to squeeze

766
00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:39,440
Speaker 1: out of out of Lesser Defensive Talent, a middle of

767
00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:41,239
Speaker 1: the pack defense, and that's what they ended up being

768
00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:45,560
Speaker 1: fifteenth in the League. Um, cantavious caldwell pope is a

769
00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:50,760
Speaker 1: legitimate perimeter defensive threat. He's gonna struggle against your bigger wings.

770
00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:54,879
Speaker 1: Like I know he can't guard Kawhi Leonard in isolation situations.

771
00:40:55,040 --> 00:40:58,200
Speaker 1: I know he can't guard Lebron James and isolation situations,

772
00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:00,200
Speaker 1: but that's what you have Aaron Gordon for. He's air

773
00:41:00,239 --> 00:41:02,759
Speaker 1: for that. KCP is a player that you can throw

774
00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:05,000
Speaker 1: out of Paul George who can do a decent job

775
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:07,640
Speaker 1: or against many of the scoring guards that we have

776
00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:10,160
Speaker 1: in this league. I like him as an option there.

777
00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:15,160
Speaker 1: And then Aaron Gordon is Your Textbook Perimeter, rim pressuring

778
00:41:15,160 --> 00:41:18,600
Speaker 1: wing defender like that can guard the Kauais and the

779
00:41:18,680 --> 00:41:21,120
Speaker 1: lebrons and the Jason Tatums of the world. So they

780
00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:24,440
Speaker 1: have two good matchups that they can throw at those

781
00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:29,400
Speaker 1: specific guys, which I really like. Um, the big swing

782
00:41:29,440 --> 00:41:32,200
Speaker 1: factors for their defense this year is gonna be Jamal

783
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:35,520
Speaker 1: Murray Michael Porter Jr. Jamal Murray was solid, I thought

784
00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:40,080
Speaker 1: solid on tape in the season season. I thought he

785
00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:42,520
Speaker 1: held up okay in the playoffs. Certainly not a great

786
00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:45,799
Speaker 1: defensive player. Michael Porter Jr was trending in the right

787
00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:49,040
Speaker 1: direction before his injury, but he was still pretty average

788
00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:52,200
Speaker 1: to below average. And then this back thing. It's a

789
00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:54,560
Speaker 1: question of whether or not he lost any mobility as

790
00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:56,120
Speaker 1: part of that. I saw a video of him working

791
00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:58,399
Speaker 1: out a couple of months ago. Didn't look overly quick,

792
00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:00,399
Speaker 1: but he's still in the middle of his rehabit a point.

793
00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:02,640
Speaker 1: So I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but

794
00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:07,080
Speaker 1: those two you if you're gonna have Murray Porter Jr

795
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:10,680
Speaker 1: and Yokich on the floor. You you're gonna need some

796
00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:13,759
Speaker 1: kind of defensive leap or some sort of, you know,

797
00:42:14,280 --> 00:42:19,279
Speaker 1: uh progression to competency from either Murray or porter to

798
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:21,320
Speaker 1: really become the type of defense they would need to

799
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:27,040
Speaker 1: win an NBA championship. Um, Nikola yokis foot speed. This

800
00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:28,919
Speaker 1: is something that I spent a lot of time talking

801
00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:33,000
Speaker 1: about in our player rankings. But you know, there's just

802
00:42:33,040 --> 00:42:35,760
Speaker 1: a proven method to a technically Yokich on the defensive

803
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:38,239
Speaker 1: end of the floor. Push the ball in transition because

804
00:42:38,239 --> 00:42:40,120
Speaker 1: he's gonna struggle to keep up in a foot race,

805
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:43,320
Speaker 1: and then put put pull up shooters in pick and

806
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:45,640
Speaker 1: roll situations to pull him out of his drop and

807
00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:48,000
Speaker 1: then put him in space out situations, five out driving

808
00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:50,239
Speaker 1: kick situations where he has to cover in space and

809
00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:52,560
Speaker 1: make rotations that make him cover a ton of ground.

810
00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:55,400
Speaker 1: If you do that, he will struggle. That's just a fact.

811
00:42:55,560 --> 00:42:58,080
Speaker 1: I think. I would hope that Nicola Yoki fans would

812
00:42:58,080 --> 00:43:00,560
Speaker 1: be willing to acknowledge that as as well. The nuggets

813
00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:03,320
Speaker 1: were nineteen defending off of live ball live ball rebounds

814
00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:05,680
Speaker 1: last year. That's not good for a team with legitimate

815
00:43:05,719 --> 00:43:09,600
Speaker 1: championship aspirations. And they're bringing in slower footed players into

816
00:43:09,600 --> 00:43:11,680
Speaker 1: the rotation compared to some of the athletes they had

817
00:43:11,680 --> 00:43:15,360
Speaker 1: playing minutes last year. Teams know that you can attack

818
00:43:15,400 --> 00:43:18,000
Speaker 1: Denver by pushing the brake and by spacing them, spacing

819
00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:21,520
Speaker 1: them out. It's just a fact Um. That's why, despite

820
00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:25,480
Speaker 1: the fact that Yokich was actually a solid rim defender,

821
00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:29,399
Speaker 1: that they were twenty five in paint points allowed. It's

822
00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:31,680
Speaker 1: not about what Yokich can do when he's standing around

823
00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:34,000
Speaker 1: the rim and people drive at him. It's about what

824
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:36,600
Speaker 1: Yokich can do when teams find a way to pull

825
00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:38,680
Speaker 1: him away from the Rim and the way that that

826
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:42,200
Speaker 1: opens up things at the room for the opponent. My

827
00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:45,239
Speaker 1: guess is that they'll finish somewhere around fifteenth and defense again,

828
00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:47,840
Speaker 1: if I had to guess, but they're gonna be one of,

829
00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:50,080
Speaker 1: if not the best offense in the league. So if

830
00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:52,919
Speaker 1: we're talking about a number one offense and a number

831
00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:56,239
Speaker 1: fifteen defense, that's a team that's firmly in that top

832
00:43:56,280 --> 00:43:58,480
Speaker 1: ten in terms of net rating and their ability to

833
00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:00,960
Speaker 1: beat teams on the scoreboard. The question is, can they

834
00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:05,839
Speaker 1: get enough stops, especially in pivotal moments, and we're gonna

835
00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:08,560
Speaker 1: we're simply gonna have to find out. Um, the one

836
00:44:08,719 --> 00:44:12,359
Speaker 1: little interesting wrinkle there that I think uh nuggets fans

837
00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:15,600
Speaker 1: could get excited about is, you know, I haven't made

838
00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:19,040
Speaker 1: my picks yet this year, but H and we'll do

839
00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:22,560
Speaker 1: so right before the regular season starts. But have gun

840
00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:25,719
Speaker 1: to my head right now. I would bet that Milwaukee

841
00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:27,600
Speaker 1: has a very good chance to come out of the east.

842
00:44:27,640 --> 00:44:29,839
Speaker 1: I'd say, you know, kind of fifty fifty between them

843
00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:32,080
Speaker 1: in Boston. If I had to guess right now, and

844
00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:34,160
Speaker 1: I haven't put a ton of thought into it, that

845
00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:36,120
Speaker 1: means you're gonna have to go through you Honice, potentially

846
00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 1: to win a title, and there were some really interesting

847
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:43,960
Speaker 1: footage from Eurobasket of Nicola Yokich and his ability to

848
00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:47,759
Speaker 1: guard Janice, giving ground knowing he's not gonna beat you

849
00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:51,799
Speaker 1: over the top, consistently sliding his feet, taking contact to

850
00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:54,080
Speaker 1: the chest and protecting the rim. He did a really

851
00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:57,799
Speaker 1: nice job on Jannice. That's an exciting potential thing as

852
00:44:57,840 --> 00:45:02,120
Speaker 1: a matchup in an NBA finals series between the Bucks

853
00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:04,719
Speaker 1: and the nuggets, should it come to that. So best

854
00:45:04,719 --> 00:45:07,360
Speaker 1: case scenario. Obviously, it starts with health. Michael Porter Jr

855
00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:09,759
Speaker 1: in his back how quickly are they gonna get Murray

856
00:45:09,840 --> 00:45:11,799
Speaker 1: up to speed? Is His body gonna hold up over

857
00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:14,279
Speaker 1: the course of the season? All of those things. But

858
00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:16,480
Speaker 1: if they stay healthy, I think this is the number

859
00:45:16,480 --> 00:45:19,799
Speaker 1: one offense in basketball. I think Nikola Yoki is one

860
00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:22,239
Speaker 1: of the best offensive engines in basketball and he has

861
00:45:22,239 --> 00:45:25,840
Speaker 1: a bunch of role players that are are specifically equipped

862
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:28,840
Speaker 1: with basketball skill sets that play well off of what

863
00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:32,080
Speaker 1: Nikola Yok can do with the ball. It's really gonna

864
00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:36,320
Speaker 1: come down to can Mike Malone, Jamal Murray, Nikola Yokich

865
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:40,719
Speaker 1: and Michael Porter Jr in particular, obviously the strategic help,

866
00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:43,520
Speaker 1: and then the players themselves. Can they figure out how

867
00:45:43,520 --> 00:45:47,239
Speaker 1: to get enough stops to beat a Boston to beat

868
00:45:47,239 --> 00:45:50,560
Speaker 1: a golden state, to beat in L A clippers or

869
00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:53,280
Speaker 1: to beat a Milwaukee Bucks? I don't know, we'll see,

870
00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:56,200
Speaker 1: but if Nicola Yokich plays the way that we know

871
00:45:56,320 --> 00:45:59,000
Speaker 1: he's capable of, and he's been a dominant playoff player

872
00:45:59,080 --> 00:46:02,120
Speaker 1: basically in every series, outside of maybe his matchup with

873
00:46:02,120 --> 00:46:05,080
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis, where he struggled a little bit, if he

874
00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:07,480
Speaker 1: plays to that level and they get enough stops, this

875
00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:11,440
Speaker 1: team is absolutely capable of winning an NBA championship, and

876
00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:14,040
Speaker 1: and and and again. Like in my player rankings, I

877
00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:16,840
Speaker 1: had nickel Yogi at seven, and yeah, it's because I

878
00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:20,719
Speaker 1: prefer perimeter players. I prefer Luca Don Chech and what

879
00:46:20,760 --> 00:46:23,319
Speaker 1: he can do from the perimeter. I prefer Lebron James,

880
00:46:23,400 --> 00:46:26,400
Speaker 1: I prefer Kevin Durant, I prefer step curry, Janisontenna Combos,

881
00:46:26,440 --> 00:46:28,520
Speaker 1: on and so forth. But that does not mean that

882
00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:32,000
Speaker 1: he can't be number one this year. He is absolutely

883
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:35,000
Speaker 1: capable of that, especially if he makes some improvements on

884
00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:37,280
Speaker 1: the defensive end of the floor and if he plays

885
00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:39,279
Speaker 1: like the number one player in the year. This team

886
00:46:39,320 --> 00:46:42,560
Speaker 1: is talented enough to win a championship. It's absolutely within reach.

887
00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:45,480
Speaker 1: That's why I consider them the last of the puncher's

888
00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:50,120
Speaker 1: chance contenders. Their puncher's chance is Yokich. If he plays

889
00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:54,200
Speaker 1: to that level, they can beat anybody. Worst case scenario, obviously,

890
00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:57,319
Speaker 1: health becomes an issue. Their offense, I think, will be great,

891
00:46:57,360 --> 00:46:59,560
Speaker 1: no matter what I mean Yokich. Had Him at six

892
00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:02,640
Speaker 1: of all the guys missing last year, but their defense

893
00:47:02,680 --> 00:47:05,040
Speaker 1: won't be able to get stops and and pivotal moments

894
00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:06,719
Speaker 1: if they don't figure out some things on that end.

895
00:47:07,120 --> 00:47:08,840
Speaker 1: Without health, they won't be able to score in the

896
00:47:08,880 --> 00:47:11,640
Speaker 1: half court against the best defenses. In that case there

897
00:47:11,640 --> 00:47:13,880
Speaker 1: are playing team or first round exit at that point.

898
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:16,560
Speaker 1: So the part of this show that I was most

899
00:47:16,640 --> 00:47:18,879
Speaker 1: excited for because this is a player that I don't

900
00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:21,840
Speaker 1: think has gotten nearly as much credit as he deserves

901
00:47:21,840 --> 00:47:24,480
Speaker 1: in general, even when he was healthy, and I think

902
00:47:24,480 --> 00:47:27,520
Speaker 1: he's poised for a big season, provided that his knee

903
00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:32,239
Speaker 1: holds up. And that is Jamal Murray. Jamal Murray is

904
00:47:32,280 --> 00:47:34,920
Speaker 1: one of my favorite players in the league. He's the

905
00:47:35,000 --> 00:47:40,239
Speaker 1: definition of the modern do everything scoring guard. So, first

906
00:47:40,239 --> 00:47:43,040
Speaker 1: of all, he's an outstanding pull up jump shooter. He

907
00:47:43,080 --> 00:47:46,799
Speaker 1: shot forty one percent on pull up jumpers. On pull

908
00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:50,440
Speaker 1: up jumpers, he shot forty five percent on pull up

909
00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:54,960
Speaker 1: jumpers in playoffs, including forty percent from three. He's one

910
00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:57,000
Speaker 1: of the most reliable pull up jump shooters in the

911
00:47:57,000 --> 00:48:00,840
Speaker 1: game of basketball. He is an expert at making the

912
00:48:00,920 --> 00:48:05,160
Speaker 1: shots that most defenses are designed to give up. Most

913
00:48:05,160 --> 00:48:08,520
Speaker 1: defenses are designed to give up difficult pull up jump shots,

914
00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:11,280
Speaker 1: and that's what he makes as his bread and butter.

915
00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:13,840
Speaker 1: That's what makes him a super interesting player. He's also

916
00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:17,919
Speaker 1: extremely well rounded. He shot fifty in the paint, non

917
00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:20,240
Speaker 1: restricted area. So like think of that as like short

918
00:48:20,280 --> 00:48:22,880
Speaker 1: floaters and push shots in the lane on three attempts

919
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:25,040
Speaker 1: per game. This was in the year that he got hurt.

920
00:48:25,360 --> 00:48:28,319
Speaker 1: He was in the mid range on five attempts per game.

921
00:48:28,400 --> 00:48:31,319
Speaker 1: That's very good, and this is a crazy part. He

922
00:48:31,400 --> 00:48:34,560
Speaker 1: also got to the Rim three times per game and

923
00:48:34,640 --> 00:48:38,279
Speaker 1: shot seventy two percent when he got there, which is

924
00:48:38,320 --> 00:48:41,400
Speaker 1: like ridiculous for a guard. That's what I considered to

925
00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:45,200
Speaker 1: be good for a big, strong athletic for words that

926
00:48:45,239 --> 00:48:49,120
Speaker 1: are typically finishing above the rim. Jamal Murray is just

927
00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:53,800
Speaker 1: incredibly proficient at every spot on the floor. It's amazing

928
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:57,640
Speaker 1: to me that he's not more well regarded as a

929
00:48:57,680 --> 00:48:59,920
Speaker 1: star guard in this league the way that he deserves.

930
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:01,920
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's because his big playoff run

931
00:49:01,960 --> 00:49:05,120
Speaker 1: took place in the bubble and everyone just dismisses the bubble,

932
00:49:05,120 --> 00:49:09,120
Speaker 1: which is outrageous. I mean literally, it is the it

933
00:49:09,239 --> 00:49:14,000
Speaker 1: is the UH, the like perfect basketball environment. Everyone's in

934
00:49:14,000 --> 00:49:19,360
Speaker 1: the same gym, there's not fan distractions, it's just ft

935
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:23,920
Speaker 1: of Hardwood, ten basketball players and Valarry O'Brien at steak.

936
00:49:24,239 --> 00:49:27,560
Speaker 1: That is basketball at its purest form. No one's going

937
00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:30,080
Speaker 1: to strip clubs, no one's partying, no one's anything, it's

938
00:49:30,200 --> 00:49:33,680
Speaker 1: just basketball. I don't see how succeeding in that environment

939
00:49:33,760 --> 00:49:36,239
Speaker 1: is some sort of like, uh, like some sort of

940
00:49:36,239 --> 00:49:40,040
Speaker 1: red flag or some sort of detriment to your reputation.

941
00:49:40,120 --> 00:49:42,360
Speaker 1: He should have been elevated for what he did in

942
00:49:42,360 --> 00:49:47,040
Speaker 1: the bubble. This is a crazy part he's I've always

943
00:49:47,120 --> 00:49:49,239
Speaker 1: thought of this in terms of the eye test and

944
00:49:49,280 --> 00:49:51,080
Speaker 1: when I saw watching him, but when I was diving

945
00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:53,440
Speaker 1: into the numbers this morning, it's crazy. This dude is

946
00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:56,359
Speaker 1: a flat out assassin and he has a great feel

947
00:49:56,440 --> 00:50:01,319
Speaker 1: for big moments in clutch situations. He shot fifty one

948
00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:04,560
Speaker 1: percent from the field, from three and didn't miss a

949
00:50:04,560 --> 00:50:06,960
Speaker 1: free throw and he scored at a rate of thirty

950
00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:11,360
Speaker 1: one points for thirty six minutes. In the playoffs he

951
00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:13,840
Speaker 1: scored at a rate of thirty six points per thirty

952
00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:17,440
Speaker 1: six minutes on fifty six percent from the field, seventy

953
00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:21,360
Speaker 1: three percent from three and didn't miss a free throw.

954
00:50:21,239 --> 00:50:25,360
Speaker 1: That's ridiculous. If any other scoring guard in the League

955
00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:28,040
Speaker 1: did that, we'd be calling them a superstar. Now he's

956
00:50:28,080 --> 00:50:29,759
Speaker 1: not the defensive player that he needs to be to

957
00:50:29,760 --> 00:50:31,640
Speaker 1: get to that point, and some of this is him

958
00:50:31,680 --> 00:50:35,160
Speaker 1: being in Yoki's shadow, but Jamal Murray checks a lot

959
00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:38,400
Speaker 1: of boxes of superstar guard and I think he deserves

960
00:50:38,440 --> 00:50:40,840
Speaker 1: a little bit more recognition on that part. He is

961
00:50:40,840 --> 00:50:43,879
Speaker 1: a flat out star. The question is, can he get

962
00:50:43,880 --> 00:50:47,120
Speaker 1: back to what he was a c l tears are weird.

963
00:50:47,719 --> 00:50:50,399
Speaker 1: Sometimes they take two years to come back. He did

964
00:50:50,440 --> 00:50:53,000
Speaker 1: take a long time in his recovery this time, so

965
00:50:53,040 --> 00:50:56,359
Speaker 1: he should be okay. But if Jamal Murray is that guy,

966
00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:00,279
Speaker 1: with how good Yokich has become over the was the

967
00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:03,240
Speaker 1: last two years, with what Aaron Gordon can do guarding

968
00:51:03,280 --> 00:51:05,840
Speaker 1: the other team's best player, running the floor and transition

969
00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:08,879
Speaker 1: and attacking closeouts, and with what my what Michael Porter

970
00:51:09,000 --> 00:51:11,719
Speaker 1: Jr can do when he's healthy, they suddenly become one

971
00:51:11,719 --> 00:51:14,120
Speaker 1: of the most talented players in the league. But it's

972
00:51:14,120 --> 00:51:16,080
Speaker 1: just it's an x factor because we don't know whether

973
00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:17,759
Speaker 1: or not it will take more time than that for

974
00:51:17,840 --> 00:51:19,759
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray to get up to speed. But he's one

975
00:51:19,800 --> 00:51:21,680
Speaker 1: of my favorite players and I hope he has a

976
00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:25,040
Speaker 1: huge season this year to remind everybody what he's capable of.

977
00:51:25,440 --> 00:51:27,520
Speaker 1: All right, guys, that is all I have for today.

978
00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:30,239
Speaker 1: As always, I sincerely appreciate your support. We'll be doing

979
00:51:30,320 --> 00:51:35,080
Speaker 1: number seven tomorrow, number six on Wednesday, number five on

980
00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:38,040
Speaker 1: Thursday and then we'll head into the final four next week.

981
00:51:38,239 --> 00:52:25,280
Speaker 1: I will see you guys tomorrow. The Volume