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Speaker 1: welcome to tonight. You're at the volume heavy Friday. Everybody

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Speaker 1: ohe ball. If you guys have had a great week.

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Speaker 1: We are continuing our player rankings today with number thirteen

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Speaker 1: and number twelve, and then as usual at the tail

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Speaker 1: end of the show, I've got a mail bag full

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Speaker 1: of a bunch of different counterpoints and arguments from you

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Speaker 1: guys about the list that will kind of bounce back

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Speaker 1: and forth in a mailbag format. You guys know the

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Speaker 1: drill before we get started. Subscribed to the Hoops Tonight

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

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Speaker 1: forget it's also helpfullly leave a rating and a review

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Speaker 1: on that front. And the last, but not least, keep

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Speaker 1: dropping mailbag questions in those YouTube comments. I want you

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Speaker 1: guys to argue if you disagree with the ranking. If

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Speaker 1: there's something that you have a basketball case for, lay

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Speaker 1: it out and we will go over it in the

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Speaker 1: mail bag at the tail end of these player rankings videos.

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Speaker 1: As we head into next week, all right, let's talk

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Speaker 1: some basketball. So this is our last video before we

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Speaker 1: enter into our Superstar tier, which is actually two tiers,

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Speaker 1: but the top eleven players in the league I consider

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Speaker 1: to be like the bonafide superstar tier. This is kind

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Speaker 1: of like a gap tier, these last two guys before

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Speaker 1: we get into that stretch. Both of these players are

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Speaker 1: guys that I consider to be superstars when they are healthy,

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Speaker 1: but they've had major availability issues and so it's kind

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Speaker 1: of a funky spot to put them. And I'm less

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Speaker 1: concerned about the numbers here. It's more as a sign

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Speaker 1: of respect because there are guys that are behind these

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Speaker 1: two guys that are very likely to be more available

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Speaker 1: and be more productive this year. However, if these guys

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Speaker 1: are healthy, you can't write them off because they're so

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Speaker 1: damn good, and so this is kind of like a

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Speaker 1: weird tier here that's between the superstars and those lower

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Speaker 1: level stars where I decided to put these two guys,

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Speaker 1: and we're starting with number thirteen, Kawhi Leonard. He's averaged

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Speaker 1: just forty three games played in the regular season over

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Speaker 1: his last four seasons. He has either failed to appear

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Speaker 1: entirely or failed to finish his team's playoff run in

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Speaker 1: each of the last four seasons, and so that makes

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Speaker 1: him a very difficult player to rank as a result,

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Speaker 1: because the reality is, when he's healthy, he's a guy

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Speaker 1: who contributes to winning at a top five level as

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Speaker 1: a playoff player with the Clippers, not counting last year

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Speaker 1: because last year he played hurt and so he played

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Speaker 1: two games he looked bad. I think he averaged like

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Speaker 1: twelve points a game, So he probably just shouldn't even

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Speaker 1: have played in those games, right, and that was why

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Speaker 1: he ended up leaving the series. But if you take

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Speaker 1: those two games out, as a playoff player with the Clippers,

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Speaker 1: in twenty six games before last season, he averaged thirty points,

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Speaker 1: eight rebounds, and five assists on sixty three percent true

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Speaker 1: shooting and was an outstanding defender. That's not just superstar production.

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Speaker 1: That's like with the best guys in the league type

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Speaker 1: of production. There was literally a moment this year. Just

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Speaker 1: go back to March, so we're talking what's that five

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Speaker 1: months ago? Five months ago, there was a stretch where

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Speaker 1: the Clippers were dominating the league and Kawhi looked like

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Speaker 1: the best player on the best team in the league.

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Speaker 1: From November seventeenth to March ninth, the Clippers went thirty

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Speaker 1: eight and fourteen, and Kawhi averaged twenty five points on

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Speaker 1: fifty four percent from the field forty three per sent

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Speaker 1: from three on five attempts per game in ninety one.

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Speaker 1: At the line, that's that's insane. He looked like the

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Speaker 1: best player are the best team in the league. And

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Speaker 1: so this is complicated because on one hand, they're everyone above him.

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Speaker 1: You're easily taking over him to start a franchise for

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Speaker 1: the next season at least, because you just can count

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Speaker 1: on those guys to be available, at least to a

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Speaker 1: much greater extent than Kawhi. But at the same time,

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Speaker 1: if two equal teams were facing off tomorrow in a

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Speaker 1: playoff series and we knew Kawhi was healthy, you would

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Speaker 1: you take him over Tatum? I would would you take

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Speaker 1: him over Anthony Edwards? I would would you take him

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Speaker 1: over Joe Lmbat? I would would you take them over

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Speaker 1: shake yild justs Alexander? I would even the guys at

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Speaker 1: the top of the league, like Luca and Giannis or

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Speaker 1: the perennial great you know, a playoff players like Lebron

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Speaker 1: James and Steph Curry. I still think Kawhi can go

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Speaker 1: head to head with those guys. So like, it just

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Speaker 1: makes this really complicated, and honestly, like when we're looking

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Speaker 1: at this type of list, it just is it's almost

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Speaker 1: a sign of respect because I can make this list

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Speaker 1: and we can make fun of the Clippers all we want,

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Speaker 1: and we can talk about how Kawhi hasn't been available

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Speaker 1: in all of that. But if for whatever reason, we

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Speaker 1: fast forward to May and he is out there, he's

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Speaker 1: gonna be one of the top guys. So that's why

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Speaker 1: I thought this thirteen to twelve area made the most

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Speaker 1: sense for these two particular guys, because it's like a

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Speaker 1: gap tier. And obviously it's not an exact science, because

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Speaker 1: for example, I'd rather have a guy like Jalen Brown

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Speaker 1: on my team next year to lead my team, just

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Speaker 1: because I know Jaylen Brown's gonna play seventy games and

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Speaker 1: I know his body's gonna hold up for the playoff runt.

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Speaker 1: He's just a safer bet. But if Kawhi ran into

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Speaker 1: Jalen Brown in a playoff series and they were both healthy,

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Speaker 1: Kawhi's eating Jalen Brown's lunch in a seven gamer. So

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Speaker 1: it's just a tough thing to quantify. And so that

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Speaker 1: that's why I'm kind of using this gap tire so

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Speaker 1: really quickly. Last year, Kwhi Leonard sixty eight games, played

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Speaker 1: twenty three point seven points per game, fifty three percent

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Speaker 1: from the field, forty two percent from three to eighty

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Speaker 1: nine percent from the line. That amounts to fifty nine

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Speaker 1: percent an effective field goal percentage and sixty three percent

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Speaker 1: in true shooting percentage. Jump shooting stats from Synergy one

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Speaker 1: point zero nine points per jumper, one point two six

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Speaker 1: points per catch and shoot jumper. He shot forty eight

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Speaker 1: percent in field goal percentage on jump shots when he

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Speaker 1: was unguarded. So like, if you left Kawi open, it

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Speaker 1: was going in at least half the time, which is crazy.

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Speaker 1: One point zero. I shouldn't say at least half the time,

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Speaker 1: but basically half the time. One point zero one points

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Speaker 1: per pull up jumper. He shot forty five percent on

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Speaker 1: them overall. The only reason he's not as efficient as

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Speaker 1: some of the top guys as he takes a lot

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Speaker 1: of long twos. He also got one point three points

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Speaker 1: per face up jumper, which is excellent. He shot fifty

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Speaker 1: nine percent on floaters, took about one per game, fifty

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Speaker 1: percent on hooks, and seventy two percent at the rim.

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Speaker 1: All those numbers are insane. Play type data PERCENTERGY one

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Speaker 1: point zero four points per pick and roll including passes.

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Speaker 1: That's seventy fifth percentile, although he only ran three hundred

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Speaker 1: and sixty seven of them obviously because James Harden was

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Speaker 1: taking most of the pick and roll volume. He got

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Speaker 1: one point twenty five points per ISO including passes on

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Speaker 1: three hundred and sixty six reps. That puts him on

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Speaker 1: a high volume list. Kawhi Leonard was the best ISO

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Speaker 1: player in the league last year by a massive margin.

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Speaker 1: The second best player out of the twenty four players

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Speaker 1: run at least two hundred and fifty ISOs including passes

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Speaker 1: was DeMar derozen and Tomorrow is a full tenth, more

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Speaker 1: than a full tenth of a point per possession below Kawhi,

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Speaker 1: he was just by far the best in straight iso situations.

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Speaker 1: He also got one point one to four points per

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Speaker 1: pose up that's seventy eight percentile. And this really is

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Speaker 1: the crux of what makes Kawhi Leonard such an intriguing

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Speaker 1: basketball player. When he's healthy, he's almost robotic with his efficiency.

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Speaker 1: Every shot looks the same, it goes in damn near

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Speaker 1: every single time. He's so damn strong that nobody can

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Speaker 1: keep him from his spots. I talk about the every

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Speaker 1: year when we do Kawhi and the player rankings, but

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Speaker 1: like he's the case study for why going to the

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Speaker 1: weight room is one of the most important things a

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Speaker 1: young basketball player can do. Obviously, a guy like Lebron

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Speaker 1: is really strong, but he's also this like unbelievable supreme athlete.

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Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard is a good athlete, but he's not like

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Speaker 1: a Lebron James level athlete. What makes him so impossible

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Speaker 1: to guard is he's just so damn strong that when

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Speaker 1: you're guarding him face up and he rips through to

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Speaker 1: the right, you could put your hands on him if

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Speaker 1: you want. He's just ripping through you. If you don't

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Speaker 1: cleanly beat him to his spot and chest up his shoulder.

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Speaker 1: If he gets his shoulder into your shoulder, he's going

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Speaker 1: through your shoulder. He's going through you to get to

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Speaker 1: his spot. If you're fouling him, if you're hacking him,

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Speaker 1: he's not as susceptible to that. If you hit him

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Speaker 1: a little bit when he's rising up into a jumper,

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Speaker 1: he's just gonna power through. If you try to foul

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Speaker 1: him at the rim, he's gonna power through seventy two

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Speaker 1: percent at the rim. And like, we talk about this

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Speaker 1: all the time, but like if you have the moves

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Speaker 1: and you have the IQ to get to the s,

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Speaker 1: but it's a really physical game and you don't have

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Speaker 1: the strength, then it's borderline useless. Having that strength is

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Speaker 1: a huge asset, and in my opinion, one of the

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Speaker 1: big reasons why Kawhi Leonard translates his game so well

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Speaker 1: to the postseason. As the physicality ramps up, he becomes

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Speaker 1: one of the guys that is most durable. I shouldn't

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Speaker 1: say durable is the wrong word. He becomes the most

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Speaker 1: resilient in terms of his ability to actually get to

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Speaker 1: those spots durability definitely not the strong point for Kawilener

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Speaker 1: and misspoke there, but that's what makes everything so interesting

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Speaker 1: with him. I think his strength is a real differentiator,

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Speaker 1: and he's covered for his weaknesses as a playmaker over

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Speaker 1: the years enough that he's become really resilient to different

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Speaker 1: coverages into different schemes, and that's why he's become such

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Speaker 1: a dominant playoff player. Here's the thing. Is Kawhi really

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Speaker 1: a threat this year? No, because none unless the Clippers

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Speaker 1: make some improvements. They lost Paul George for nothing, and

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Speaker 1: so even beyond the health stuff, I don't think they

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Speaker 1: have the firepower to make it out of that blood

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Speaker 1: bath of a Western Conference. But when he's healthy, he's

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Speaker 1: still one of the top tier superstars in this league

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Speaker 1: and he should be respected as such, even if he

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Speaker 1: shouldn't necessarily be feared. And so that's why I have

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Speaker 1: him where I have him on the list this year,

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Speaker 1: even though there are some guys behind him on this

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Speaker 1: list that theoretically are most likely to provide more value

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Speaker 1: within this season, you have to quantify the what if

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Speaker 1: he is healthy element, even though it's a little weird

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Speaker 1: now that he's been unhealthy four years in a row.

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Speaker 1: Number twelve. Jimmy Butler last year sixty games played. He's

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Speaker 1: averaged just fifty eight games played per season. Since coming

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Speaker 1: to Miami, he averaged twenty one points per game, five rebounds,

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Speaker 1: five assists, fifty percent from the field, forty one percent

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Speaker 1: from three to eighty six percent from the line, so

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Speaker 1: nearly a fifty to forty ninety season. That amounts to

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Speaker 1: fifty four percent in effective field goal percentage, sixty three

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Speaker 1: percent in true shooting. I'll be that. Albeit that was

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Speaker 1: actually down from his previous year. We're going to get

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Speaker 1: to that in a little bit. Shooting stats. He had

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Speaker 1: a really good jump shooting season. One point zero four

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Speaker 1: points per shot, one point three seven points per catch

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Speaker 1: and shoot jump shot. That's awesome. Not a good off

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Speaker 1: the dribble season though, zero point eight to one off

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Speaker 1: the dribble. Out of one hundred and five players to

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Speaker 1: attempt at least one hundred and fifty pull up jump shots,

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler ranked ninety six on that list. Not a

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Speaker 1: great You'll get your notices them going through these numbers.

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Speaker 1: A lot of really good numbers for Jimmy and then

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Speaker 1: a lot of really bad ones too. Forty three percent

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Speaker 1: on floaters, that's average, fifty eight percent at the rim.

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Speaker 1: That is not great. For not good, I should say

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Speaker 1: for a player of his size and athleticism. He got

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Speaker 1: zero point eighty nine points per pick and roll including passes.

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Speaker 1: That's in the thirty fifth percentile. That's not good. One

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Speaker 1: point one three points per ISO, including passes that made

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Speaker 1: or high volume list, and ranked third out of the

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Speaker 1: twenty four players to run at least two hundred and fifties.

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Speaker 1: So like, that's kind of what I mean by all

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Speaker 1: the up and down one hundred ninety eight points one

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Speaker 1: hundred ninety eight post ups. You guys can do the

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Speaker 1: math on that one. That was in the forty sixth percentile,

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Speaker 1: So slightly below average to me. Jimmy Butler's basically like

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Speaker 1: a lesser version of Kawhi that has been more available

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Speaker 1: to his team. But there are a lot of similarities.

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Speaker 1: Like Kawhi operates in ISO more than pick and roll.

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler is a guy that I shouldn't say more,

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Speaker 1: but he's a higher volume ISO guy compared to most

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Speaker 1: guys in the league and a lower volume pick and

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Speaker 1: roll guy compared to most guys in league. So is

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler. Kawhi Leonard uses his size and strength against

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Speaker 1: smaller perimeter players as his primary advantage. So does Jimmy Butler.

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Speaker 1: Both of them are capable of being dominant defensive players.

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Speaker 1: The main differences are, obviously, their personalities are very different.

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Speaker 1: But Jimmy's a little bit smaller, and he's been more

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Speaker 1: available more consistently to his team than Kawhi Leonard, even

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Speaker 1: in light of what happened last year in the postseason.

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Speaker 1: So that's why I have Jimmy above Kawhi in this

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Speaker 1: particular tier. But I actually think Jimmy's a little bit

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Speaker 1: under the radar going into this season. He obviously went

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Speaker 1: down a slight level from last year, like we're actually

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Speaker 1: starting to see just that little bit of a downturn

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Speaker 1: from Jimmy Butler. He just was a little bit worse

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Speaker 1: set most things last year, and then he also missed

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Speaker 1: the playoff run due to injury. Albeit it was kind

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Speaker 1: of a fluky fluky playing transition in the playing game,

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Speaker 1: but that obviously is less than ideal when you're talking

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Speaker 1: about these player rankings. But he's also fourteen months removed

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Speaker 1: from being the best player on a team that made

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Speaker 1: it to within three wins of an NBA championship. So

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Speaker 1: I just think it's too early to write him off.

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Speaker 1: The unfortunate thing is, and I'm sure Miami Heat fans

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Speaker 1: are starting to feel this a little bit, but it

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Speaker 1: felt like Jimmy and Bam was this awesome championship foundation,

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Speaker 1: and they just needed some higher level role players, particularly

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Speaker 1: a higher level offensive player in there somewhere. And there

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Speaker 1: are all these opportunities over the years where Miami could

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Speaker 1: have pounced on somebody, but they didn't. And now it

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Speaker 1: might be too late because Jimmy's starting to decline a

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Speaker 1: little bit, and so I don't know if they're even

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Speaker 1: looking in that direction anymore, or if they're actually looking

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Speaker 1: to move on from Jimmy sooner than later. Who knows

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Speaker 1: what the heater are going to try to do here,

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Speaker 1: But it felt like there was a window there in

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Speaker 1: that twenty twenty two to twenty twenty four timeline to

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Speaker 1: try to capitalize on the Jimmy Bam cord. It feels

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Speaker 1: like Miami might have missed out on that window. That said,

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Speaker 1: Jimmy has a lot more good basketball to play. I've

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Speaker 1: always referred to Jimmy as the bouncer at the championship club.

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Speaker 1: He's not actually in the club, but he's the bouncer outside.

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Speaker 1: He's obviously not as good as the top tier superstars

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Speaker 1: at the top of the league. But if your star

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Speaker 1: is not a legitimate championship level superstar in that tier

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Speaker 1: and he faces off with Jimmy. Jimmy will expose him,

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Speaker 1: and that basically is the best way to describe the

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Speaker 1: Miami Heat as a whole during this era. They expose

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Speaker 1: teams that aren't good enough, aren't made of the right

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Speaker 1: stuff to win a championship, but they end up losing

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Speaker 1: to the real championship caliber teams when they inevitably face them.

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Speaker 1: Last year, they end up losing to the eventual champion.

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Speaker 1: Even without Jimmy Butler, they lose to the eventual champion

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Speaker 1: in Boston. The year before they make it to the finals,

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Speaker 1: they lose to the eventual champion in Denver twenty twenty two.

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Speaker 1: That Boston team was fa but if I'm not missaying,

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Speaker 1: they were favored to win the championship. I ended up

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Speaker 1: picking Golden State in that series, and Golden State ended

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Speaker 1: up winning. But Boston was the most talented team in

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Speaker 1: the league that year and probably should have won that series.

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Speaker 1: They were up to one and had Game four at home,

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Speaker 1: But that's the team that ended up beating the Heat, right,

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Speaker 1: And then go back to twenty twenty one, who beat

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Speaker 1: them the Bucks the championship team. Go back to twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty who beat them, the Lakers, the championship team, Right,

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Speaker 1: So you guys kind of get the point, like, that's

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Speaker 1: just kind of what Jimmy Butler and Miami have been

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Speaker 1: in the Eastern Conference. They've been the bouncer, and it's

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Speaker 1: just unfortunate because had they invested more and been a

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Speaker 1: little bit more aggressive to try to put more talent

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Speaker 1: around this group, a group they very well might have

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Speaker 1: gotten a championship, especially in one of the open seasons

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Speaker 1: like twenty twenty two and twenty twenty one in particular.

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Speaker 1: We're both kind of wide open. Yeah, Jimmy at twelve,

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Speaker 1: just don't write him off yet. I think he's got

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Speaker 1: a lot of good basketball left in him. So all right,

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Speaker 1: let's get to our mail bag. A ton of really

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Speaker 1: good questions from you. Guys are going to be arguing

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Speaker 1: a bunch of different stuff for a bunch of different

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Speaker 1: players today. Hey, Jason, great video, and I like the

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Speaker 1: series so far. Admittedly biased as a Celtics fan, but

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Speaker 1: here's my basketball argument as to why JB should be

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Speaker 1: higher than Booker. While I can see that Booker, all

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Speaker 1: things equal, teammates, coaching staff, etcetera, is a better offensive

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Speaker 1: player overall than Jalen is. I think Jalen's offensive game

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Speaker 1: is much more valuable to a team concept and works

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Speaker 1: better in the postseason. You mentioned specifically that Booker generates

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Speaker 1: easier shots for teammates in the half court. Looking back

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Speaker 1: at the Suns getting swept by the Wolves, I think

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Speaker 1: Booker struggled to play off the ball and that made

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Speaker 1: the Suns more predictable and easier to guard. Also, Booker

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Speaker 1: isn't as athletic, or isn't athletic enough to blow by

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Speaker 1: his defenders or finish through contact nearly as often as

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Speaker 1: Jalen can. Booker is great at making tough shots. I

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Speaker 1: watched him score seventy on US a few years ago,

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Speaker 1: so I definitely respect that kind of skill, But that

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Speaker 1: doesn't work against a great defensive team. Well, the Wolves

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Speaker 1: swept them, and we kick their ass both times they

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Speaker 1: played US. I respect your basketball philosophy that half court

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Speaker 1: shot creation is king, but when you consider play style

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Speaker 1: on what works in the postseason, taking JB over Booker

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Speaker 1: and even a couple other guys that I'm sure you

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Speaker 1: will be highlighting in future VIDs, appreciate the content, and

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Speaker 1: I specifically love your player rankings discussion. So keep them coming.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for supporting the show, and thank you for

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Speaker 1: taking the time to break down the basketball case for

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Speaker 1: why you disagree a couple things. I agree that Booker

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Speaker 1: had a rough series, but for a different reason than

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Speaker 1: you think. I actually thought it was more of an

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Speaker 1: on ball issue and just him getting rushed and not

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Speaker 1: making the easy reads that were available hits him that

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Speaker 1: he had been making over the tail end of the season,

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Speaker 1: and I think the Suns kind of identified that because

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Speaker 1: look at the point guards that they've targeted this summer

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Speaker 1: to try to have Booker play more off the ball.

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Speaker 1: I actually think Booker is just a like ten out

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Speaker 1: of ten off ball player, just an incredible close out attacker,

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Speaker 1: an incredible knockdown shooter. You saw that with Team USA.

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Speaker 1: I mean that look how good he was in that

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Speaker 1: particular role. But I do agree that that Devin Booker

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Speaker 1: had a rough series. That said, he also has been

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Speaker 1: pretty reliably great in the playoffs for the most part

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Speaker 1: in his career. I mean, he's been hitting pull up

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Speaker 1: jump shots. I mean he lit up the Lakers in

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. I had to watch that. That was

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Speaker 1: hard for me to watch. I mean, obviously Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: wasn't out there, but I watched Devin Booker just hit

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Speaker 1: every dayn pull up jump shot against the Laker team

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Speaker 1: that I was rooting for. Look at that NBA Finals run, Like,

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Speaker 1: how many times did you see him hit tough, contested

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Speaker 1: pull up jump shots in Drew Holliday's face, And Drew

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Speaker 1: was playing great defense. Like, Booker was pretty damn good

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Speaker 1: in that NBA Final series. Obviously made a couple of

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Speaker 1: big mistakes. He had that big turnover. I think it

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Speaker 1: was at the end of Game four if I remember correctly,

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Speaker 1: but for the most part it might have been Game five.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, like I think I thought last year was

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Speaker 1: kind of somewhat of an outlier in that Booker had

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Speaker 1: a rough series and it was kind of a tough

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Speaker 1: matchup for him. But I actually think generally he's been

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Speaker 1: a very reliable offensive player. I do think Jalen Brown

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Speaker 1: is a bit underrated as an offensive player, But I

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Speaker 1: disagree with your point that you think Jalen's offensive game

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Speaker 1: is more valuable to a team concept. I actually think

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Speaker 1: it's the opposite. I think like Booker is especially good

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Speaker 1: at playing with other good players. I think we saw

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Speaker 1: that with Team USA, and so I think he actually

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Speaker 1: accentuates the talents of those around him. A very good

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Speaker 1: point about Jalen's rim pressure. It's a specific skill that

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Speaker 1: I think is underrated and very very important for all

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Speaker 1: the positive impact that it gives to a team. But

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Speaker 1: if you remember yesterday, I kind of read off the numbers.

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Speaker 1: I can't remember him off the top of my head,

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Speaker 1: but Devin Booker actually gets to the rim more than

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Speaker 1: most guards. I think he was like, if I remember correctly,

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Speaker 1: there was only four guards below six five or below

431
00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:08,720
Speaker 1: sixty six or less, and Jalen was one of the

432
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:10,720
Speaker 1: guys who was above him. But there's only four guys

433
00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:12,760
Speaker 1: above Devin Booker. Devin Booker actually gets to the rim

434
00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,720
Speaker 1: a ton. We did a breakdown on that yesterday. The

435
00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:19,160
Speaker 1: main differentiator to me is the playmaking piece. Jalen's gotten better.

436
00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:21,400
Speaker 1: We talked about that yesterday, but there's still a massive

437
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,120
Speaker 1: gap there. To me between Devin Booker and Jalen. Brown

438
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,520
Speaker 1: is a playmaker, and that I think makes him just

439
00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,879
Speaker 1: a more impactful, substantially more impactful half court offensive player.

440
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:32,840
Speaker 1: Substantially is maybe a little aggressive, but I think he's

441
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:34,760
Speaker 1: a more impactful half court offensive player, and as we've

442
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:36,800
Speaker 1: talked about, that's something I value a great deal. But

443
00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:39,560
Speaker 1: really good points made, and thank you for laying it

444
00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:41,480
Speaker 1: all out. And again, these are all really tough decisions

445
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:43,000
Speaker 1: to make, and that's why they were all right next

446
00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:46,719
Speaker 1: to each other in the rankings. Hey, Jason, I think

447
00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:50,120
Speaker 1: you're underestimating how well JB plays when he's the go

448
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,200
Speaker 1: to number one option offensively. Tatum doesn't miss many games,

449
00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,520
Speaker 1: but when he does, JB averages like thirty points a game.

450
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:57,359
Speaker 1: He's an elite scorer now and that can be a

451
00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,040
Speaker 1: number one player on offense, I agree, which is a

452
00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,600
Speaker 1: prerequisite for him to be in the tier of can

453
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:06,520
Speaker 1: be the best player on a championship team, even if

454
00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,400
Speaker 1: it is with overwhelming support. That said, like I think

455
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:12,280
Speaker 1: Tatum is a clear like I have Tatum still a

456
00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:14,920
Speaker 1: tier above Jalen Brown. I think he's encroaching on it,

457
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:16,760
Speaker 1: and there's a chance that in the future they're on

458
00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:19,520
Speaker 1: the same tier. But right now, Tatum is just a

459
00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:21,720
Speaker 1: way better passer than Jalen Brown, and I think that's

460
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,639
Speaker 1: a big differentiator between the two of them. But again,

461
00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:26,880
Speaker 1: the gap is closing. Tatum's going down a little level

462
00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:29,800
Speaker 1: as his jump shot gets less reliable, and Jalen Brown's

463
00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,240
Speaker 1: extending a level as his playmaking gets more reliable and

464
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:35,600
Speaker 1: his feel for the game and commitment to defense is improving,

465
00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,399
Speaker 1: like the gap is closing. But I still think that

466
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:40,600
Speaker 1: and I do agree that Jalen Brown is good enough

467
00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:42,119
Speaker 1: to be the best player on a championship team. That's

468
00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:43,880
Speaker 1: why he's in this tier that I still have Jason

469
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:47,680
Speaker 1: Tatum a full tier above him. Are you just projecting

470
00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:49,520
Speaker 1: for the future or do you actually think Aunt is

471
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:51,760
Speaker 1: better than Booker right now? By no metric, is Aunt

472
00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,399
Speaker 1: substantially better than Booker and he is definitively not on

473
00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:58,840
Speaker 1: a different tier. So I actually got into a discussion

474
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,720
Speaker 1: about this today with a buddy of mine covers the Suns.

475
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:04,280
Speaker 1: But I'm not going to talk about I had a

476
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,359
Speaker 1: lot of comments from people complaining about how high of Ant,

477
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,480
Speaker 1: which we haven't even gotten to Ant yet, and so

478
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,480
Speaker 1: I don't want to talk about necessarily how high he

479
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,119
Speaker 1: is until we get to Ant in the rankings, just

480
00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:15,680
Speaker 1: because we're gonna have plenty of time to talk about

481
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:18,600
Speaker 1: that in the next couple of weeks. But specifically with Booker,

482
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:21,159
Speaker 1: this is all I'm gonna say for now, I'm not

483
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:22,960
Speaker 1: gonna talk about Ant in the context of the league

484
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,240
Speaker 1: until we get to Ant, but specifically with Ant and Booker,

485
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:29,080
Speaker 1: I do think Booker is actually on a different tier

486
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:33,080
Speaker 1: than Ant as a supporting player. So if you put

487
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:36,800
Speaker 1: him as like a secondary or tertiary star, or if

488
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,199
Speaker 1: you put him on tmusa where he's playing alongside a

489
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:42,040
Speaker 1: bunch of stars, I'd rather have Devin Booker. He just

490
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:45,520
Speaker 1: is a much more versatile basketball player in terms of

491
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,359
Speaker 1: his ability to fit his game into different types of

492
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:52,359
Speaker 1: small roles and to play alongside other stars, but specifically

493
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 1: to be the best player on the team. I think

494
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,040
Speaker 1: Ant is on a different tier than Devin Booker. He's

495
00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:02,639
Speaker 1: so transcendently athletic that it is just like a force

496
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:06,439
Speaker 1: of nature. Over the course of eighty two games, Anthony

497
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:08,560
Speaker 1: Edwards was one of only two guards in the entire

498
00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,240
Speaker 1: league last year to average at least six shot attempts

499
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:14,480
Speaker 1: in the restricted area per game and shoot at least

500
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,040
Speaker 1: sixty five percent while he was there. And he did

501
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,879
Speaker 1: that with Rudy go Bear's awkward ass clogging things up

502
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:25,720
Speaker 1: in the paint, inable to catch anything and finish anything

503
00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,560
Speaker 1: like I can only imagine what Anthony Edwards would look

504
00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:31,920
Speaker 1: like if you picked him up and you dropped him

505
00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:35,879
Speaker 1: in like a situation with some real spacing, Like if

506
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:40,760
Speaker 1: you dropped Anthony Edwards in Boston's five out attack, I

507
00:24:40,800 --> 00:24:44,680
Speaker 1: think he'd be like a Yannis Zion level rim attacker.

508
00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:47,840
Speaker 1: I think he'd literally get nine to ten restricted area

509
00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,639
Speaker 1: attempts per game. Like that's how difficult it is to

510
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,159
Speaker 1: keep him in front off the dribble. The problem is

511
00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:56,919
Speaker 1: teams can really load up the strong side. Against Minnesota.

512
00:24:57,359 --> 00:24:59,760
Speaker 1: It is their biggest weakness. It's why their offense fell

513
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,000
Speaker 1: upon against Denver in the middle part of that series,

514
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:04,080
Speaker 1: and their defense was the thing that was able to

515
00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:06,440
Speaker 1: pull them out of that mess. But when they went

516
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:08,840
Speaker 1: down three to two and then against Dallas, their offense

517
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,320
Speaker 1: completely fell apart for that exact same reason. Dallas knew,

518
00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,480
Speaker 1: load up the strong side, bring your you know, just

519
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,920
Speaker 1: literally loaded up and take away the paint and they're

520
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:20,119
Speaker 1: just not gonna make enough jump shots. And that's literally

521
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,720
Speaker 1: what ended up happening. But like I think, Ant is

522
00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 1: a one of the very very few transcendently athletic players

523
00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,239
Speaker 1: in the league. The other thing with Ant is, in

524
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:31,639
Speaker 1: addition to making strides as a playmaker in addition to

525
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,440
Speaker 1: making strides as a defender. Ant is on this crazy

526
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,040
Speaker 1: run now where he's turned into like a pretty deadly

527
00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:40,840
Speaker 1: accurate jump shooter, especially off the dribble. And so again, like,

528
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,560
Speaker 1: if I need a guy to play alongside another star

529
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,800
Speaker 1: or to play a small role on Team USA, give

530
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,800
Speaker 1: me Devin Booker ten out of ten times. But if

531
00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 1: I need a player to build a team around and

532
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,879
Speaker 1: to be my number one option for eighty two games

533
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:58,360
Speaker 1: and four rounds, I take Ant ten out of ten times.

534
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,000
Speaker 1: So that's the specific dynamic for those two guys. But

535
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,000
Speaker 1: we'll talk more about Ant and his overall value because

536
00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:05,320
Speaker 1: I have a bunch of stuff that I want to

537
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:06,920
Speaker 1: get into with Ant, but I just want to save

538
00:26:06,960 --> 00:26:08,960
Speaker 1: it for later on when we actually cover him, because

539
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:10,199
Speaker 1: it just doesn't make sense to do it at this

540
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:14,840
Speaker 1: point in the greater scheme. I think you're right, there's

541
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:16,880
Speaker 1: very little room between the four players you have from

542
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,040
Speaker 1: seventeen to fourteen. I would argue that one thing you

543
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:22,200
Speaker 1: underestimate is the ball security that Brunson brings to the table.

544
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:24,399
Speaker 1: His assist atorney over ratio is a huge factor and

545
00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:27,440
Speaker 1: why the Knicks offense is successful similar to their offensive

546
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:30,400
Speaker 1: rebounding edge, which nets them in extra possessions and extra

547
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,440
Speaker 1: scoring chances. That's a huge part of why Brunson is

548
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,159
Speaker 1: such a great offensive creator, as well as their transition defense,

549
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:37,960
Speaker 1: because he doesn't turn it over and the Knicks don't

550
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,040
Speaker 1: get caught for easy transition baskets and get to dictate

551
00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:43,320
Speaker 1: the pace of the game. So I'm not going to

552
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:46,120
Speaker 1: actually rebuttal this because I've talked a lot about why

553
00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 1: I've Brunson where he's ranked in yesterday's video, But I

554
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:51,720
Speaker 1: just thought this was a really interesting point about ball

555
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:55,160
Speaker 1: security and something that makes Brunson a very impactful half

556
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:56,840
Speaker 1: court shot creator. So I just wanted to share that

557
00:26:56,880 --> 00:26:58,200
Speaker 1: with you guys, So thank you for the comment. I

558
00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:00,680
Speaker 1: thought that was a really interesting point about what makes

559
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:02,920
Speaker 1: Bruntson so good. And again, as far as like the rankings,

560
00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 1: as we talked about, they're all just really close to

561
00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,560
Speaker 1: each other. I told you guys yesterday, if you put

562
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,840
Speaker 1: Brunson at twelve, I would totally get that. And it's

563
00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 1: these guys just wait, I'm already thinking about the top

564
00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:17,920
Speaker 1: eleven and I still don't even know who I'm gonna

565
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:19,560
Speaker 1: put out eleven. I have a guy in mind right now,

566
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:23,240
Speaker 1: but I'm like tempted to switch it, and I'm gonna

567
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:25,479
Speaker 1: sleep on it all weekend and we'll see. But like,

568
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:29,000
Speaker 1: just try ranking your top eleven players. It's insane. Like

569
00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:33,159
Speaker 1: it's insane. Whoever gets put at eleven, it's gonna be

570
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:37,080
Speaker 1: a problem. Like whoever it is, like it, it's gonna

571
00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:41,959
Speaker 1: be really interesting to see how that shakes out. Uh,

572
00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,360
Speaker 1: here we go. If you thought Jalen put in work

573
00:27:44,359 --> 00:27:46,240
Speaker 1: for the slander he got last season, just wait until

574
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:48,400
Speaker 1: we see Tatum and Brown next season. One of them

575
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:50,840
Speaker 1: absolutely deserving of a huge role on the Olympic team

576
00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,199
Speaker 1: where he barely got minutes, and the other feels strongly

577
00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:54,560
Speaker 1: that he should have made the team and didn't even

578
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:56,439
Speaker 1: make the roster at all. Those two who are going

579
00:27:56,480 --> 00:27:58,159
Speaker 1: to come out next season to prove themselves even more

580
00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:00,439
Speaker 1: than the last season. I agree Jalen Brown. I tweeted

581
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:02,160
Speaker 1: out today that he's having a great summer. I don't

582
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:03,960
Speaker 1: think that was about vacation. I think that was about

583
00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:05,439
Speaker 1: the work he's putting in behind the scenes. I think

584
00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,800
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown took the USA snub as well as just

585
00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:12,080
Speaker 1: him getting a Finals MVP is just like a boost

586
00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:14,119
Speaker 1: of confidence and a boost of motivation. And I actually

587
00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:16,560
Speaker 1: think Jaylen Brown is poised to go up another level.

588
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:18,840
Speaker 1: And then I agree, I think I think Tatum's pissed.

589
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:20,560
Speaker 1: I think Tatum's pissed that he didn't play well. I

590
00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:22,040
Speaker 1: think tatums piss that he didn't play well in the

591
00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:24,600
Speaker 1: postseason run. I shared this stat the other day. He

592
00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:26,399
Speaker 1: shout out for fifty percent just three times in the

593
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:30,199
Speaker 1: entire playoff run. Like that's embarrassing for Jason Tatum. So

594
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:32,959
Speaker 1: like like, I think Jayson Tatum's gonna have a big

595
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:34,560
Speaker 1: bounce back year next year, and I think his jump

596
00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:36,320
Speaker 1: SHOT's going to be fine. So I tend to agree

597
00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:39,800
Speaker 1: with you. I think the Celtics. I mean, I haven't

598
00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,719
Speaker 1: done my preseason rankings or anything, but I'm basically one

599
00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:44,360
Speaker 1: hundred percent certain the Celtics are going to be my

600
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,240
Speaker 1: title favorite. I think anybody would be foolish to pick

601
00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:48,040
Speaker 1: against them at this point. There are lots of teams

602
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,280
Speaker 1: that can win the title, and I wouldn't be shocked

603
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 1: at all if Boston didn't win the title. If I

604
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:54,960
Speaker 1: have to choose the Field or Boston, I'd probably take

605
00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:57,640
Speaker 1: the field, But Boston to me is a clear favorite,

606
00:28:57,800 --> 00:28:59,600
Speaker 1: and I think it stems from the fact that they

607
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:03,040
Speaker 1: won the title despite the fact that Tatum didn't play

608
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,280
Speaker 1: particularly well and he's going to get better, and you know,

609
00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:07,920
Speaker 1: in addition to the issues that Porzingis was having with

610
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:12,120
Speaker 1: his health. I think your logic is flawed when considering

611
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,280
Speaker 1: defense versus offense. I do think offense is slightly more important,

612
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,080
Speaker 1: but stars who aren't very good defensively will hurt your

613
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,560
Speaker 1: team no matter how good they are defensively. Look at

614
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:22,959
Speaker 1: Minnesota versus Phoenix. You have two Phoenix players in your

615
00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,400
Speaker 1: top fourteen because they are offensive stars, that being Kevin

616
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,680
Speaker 1: Durant and Devin Booker. They were shut down by superior defense.

617
00:29:28,680 --> 00:29:31,760
Speaker 1: With defensive stars, the idea that offensive stars can play

618
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:33,760
Speaker 1: their way out of being bad on defense is just wrong.

619
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,680
Speaker 1: The main difference between Phoenix and a team like Dallas

620
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,160
Speaker 1: is Dallas had the guys that can do the tough

621
00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:41,680
Speaker 1: jobs like we talked about right, So, like they had

622
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,080
Speaker 1: Derek Jones Junior who could guard the ball, they had

623
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:46,880
Speaker 1: Derek Lively and Daniel Gafford who could both defend in

624
00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:50,960
Speaker 1: different ways in their ball screen coverages. They had PJ. Washington,

625
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:53,360
Speaker 1: who could be like a legitimate low man like backside

626
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:55,760
Speaker 1: four who could get defensive rebounds and help and pick

627
00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:58,680
Speaker 1: and roll coverages. Right, So like they had those guys,

628
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:02,680
Speaker 1: Phoenix didn't. Phoenix had a Kogi is a guy who

629
00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:04,880
Speaker 1: could guard at the point of attack, but was nowhere

630
00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:07,200
Speaker 1: near as good offensively as Derek Jones Junior was, who

631
00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:09,520
Speaker 1: had turned himself into a pretty solid close out attacker

632
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,680
Speaker 1: and a guy that was couldn't make above the break

633
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:14,680
Speaker 1: threes as much as they needed him to, but hit

634
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:17,240
Speaker 1: enough shots Like Derek Jones was just better offensive player

635
00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,600
Speaker 1: than Josh Kogi, And use of Nurkic is a disaster

636
00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:24,440
Speaker 1: defensively compared to the Lively Gafford guys, Like specifically Lively,

637
00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:28,560
Speaker 1: I thought that Nurkic competed defensively and was a little

638
00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,640
Speaker 1: underrated for how well he worked with his hands and

639
00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:34,920
Speaker 1: got deflections and at least tried on defense, but he

640
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:39,240
Speaker 1: was certainly not a defensive anchor at the center position.

641
00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,479
Speaker 1: And so like that's my point is like I'm not

642
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,160
Speaker 1: saying that you can't. I'm not saying that you can

643
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:49,240
Speaker 1: build a good defense with offensive minded stars that don't

644
00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:51,680
Speaker 1: defend I'm saying you can do that as long as

645
00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:55,239
Speaker 1: you have guys that can fill the other roles on

646
00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:58,280
Speaker 1: the floor that are the tougher defensive roles, which Phoenix

647
00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:02,120
Speaker 1: did not have. Again, like, I'm of the opinion that

648
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,200
Speaker 1: if you just picked up Derek Lively and put him

649
00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 1: on the Suns, that they could craft a top ten

650
00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:09,720
Speaker 1: defense there, because then at that point, it's like you

651
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:11,520
Speaker 1: asked Kadie to be the low man. You've got Derek

652
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:13,880
Speaker 1: Lively to be your pick and roll defender. You've got

653
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:16,880
Speaker 1: you can put a guy like a Josha Kogi at

654
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 1: the point of attack and you still have enough offensive

655
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,640
Speaker 1: talent around it. That's my thing is like Phoenix's issue

656
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:24,200
Speaker 1: isn't that their stars don't defend. It's that their stars

657
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,680
Speaker 1: don't defend, and they didn't have role players that could

658
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:29,080
Speaker 1: play defense at a really high level. That's the issue.

659
00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:31,840
Speaker 1: Dallas didn't have that problem. To their credit, they built

660
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:35,760
Speaker 1: a roster that could accommodate that. Is this ranking more

661
00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:37,760
Speaker 1: based on the twenty twenty three to twenty twenty four

662
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:39,760
Speaker 1: performance or on the twenty twenty four to twenty twenty

663
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:42,240
Speaker 1: five expectation. I think that's important to clarify. Thank you

664
00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:44,320
Speaker 1: so much, Jason, love the show, love your analysis. Although

665
00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:47,200
Speaker 1: there's probably some different opinions, especially on those older superstars,

666
00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:49,360
Speaker 1: I've already learned so much from your content. Thank you,

667
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 1: Thank you for the sport, thank you for the kind words.

668
00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:54,080
Speaker 1: To be clear, this is meant from now Ford. If

669
00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:56,440
Speaker 1: I was the entire purpose of the drill is or

670
00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,320
Speaker 1: the list is if we had thirty teams and all

671
00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:01,440
Speaker 1: four hundred and fifty players and we were doing a

672
00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:04,840
Speaker 1: snake draft right now, I should just say a draft

673
00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:07,080
Speaker 1: right now, because we're only doing twenty five players. Who

674
00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:10,560
Speaker 1: would you take if with your first pick to build

675
00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:15,800
Speaker 1: your franchise for this particular season upcoming and any in

676
00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 1: a vacuum, so irrespective of surrounding talent and within the

677
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:25,400
Speaker 1: context of being the best player on your team. Next question.

678
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:29,880
Speaker 1: Before the Mitchell Robinson injury, Hartenstein looked was looked at

679
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:32,840
Speaker 1: as a backup big Since getting an opportunity, he has

680
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:35,640
Speaker 1: now earned himself an eighty million dollar contract. Wasn't it

681
00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:37,800
Speaker 1: a ninety million? I thought it was three years ninety million.

682
00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:40,200
Speaker 1: It could be wrong. How many other players are there

683
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:42,240
Speaker 1: in the NBA with the right opportunity that would be

684
00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:45,280
Speaker 1: able to do what Hartenstein has done. So it's just

685
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,720
Speaker 1: a huge influx in like a perceived value of the

686
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:51,480
Speaker 1: center position. I thought it was really fascinating between Jared Allen,

687
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,360
Speaker 1: who's like somewhere around like the eighth or ninth best

688
00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:58,640
Speaker 1: starting center in the league, to Isaiah Hartenstein to Nick Claxton.

689
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,480
Speaker 1: Those guys are in somewhere in the ten to twenty range, right, Like,

690
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:03,880
Speaker 1: these are all guys that are in the middle tier

691
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,960
Speaker 1: of starting centers, the top tier being obviously Jokicic and

692
00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:11,360
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid and bam Adebaio and like

693
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:14,280
Speaker 1: Victor wimb Yama, and then you go down to this

694
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,080
Speaker 1: like next tier of like like role players starting centers

695
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:21,120
Speaker 1: or like mid level starting centers. Nick Claxton got twenty

696
00:33:21,120 --> 00:33:24,080
Speaker 1: five million a year, Hartenstein got I want to say,

697
00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:27,040
Speaker 1: just under thirty, right, Like Jared Allen got just over thirty.

698
00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:29,600
Speaker 1: And so the league is telling you that you need

699
00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:31,400
Speaker 1: that position. And I think there's a couple different reasons

700
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,480
Speaker 1: why one pick and roll defense is so important and

701
00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:36,600
Speaker 1: the ability to compete on the glass is so important,

702
00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:38,680
Speaker 1: But another big part of it is just five out offense.

703
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:41,320
Speaker 1: You need bigs that can set screens and roll hard

704
00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:42,840
Speaker 1: to the rim and keep the ball moving from side

705
00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:44,960
Speaker 1: to side. There's just a lot of value in that

706
00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,760
Speaker 1: specific position. Like within Cleveland, like Evan Mobley's really struggling

707
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:51,160
Speaker 1: to score on the role, Jared Allen is not, so

708
00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,120
Speaker 1: he's just such an important foundational piece for them, right.

709
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:56,960
Speaker 1: Isaia Hartenstein excellent, five out big. I haven't watched a

710
00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:58,400
Speaker 1: ton of the Nets over the last couple of years,

711
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:00,480
Speaker 1: but Nick Claxton kind of fits into that tier as well.

712
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,280
Speaker 1: If eighty and Lebron are both top ten players and

713
00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:07,160
Speaker 1: clearly on a whole different tier from Jalen Brunson, why

714
00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:09,360
Speaker 1: were the Lakers a playing team in the Knicks a

715
00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:12,239
Speaker 1: two seed Brunson carried the Knicks not a big deal.

716
00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:14,200
Speaker 1: Just doesn't make much sense to me. A couple things.

717
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:16,400
Speaker 1: First of all, the Lakers had forty seven wins and

718
00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:18,600
Speaker 1: the Knicks had fifty wins, so there wasn't like some

719
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:22,000
Speaker 1: substantial gap there. Second of all, last year, the East

720
00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:24,880
Speaker 1: was incredibly weak at the bottom. As a matter of fact,

721
00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:28,200
Speaker 1: the West went six hundred and fifty and five hundred

722
00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:30,880
Speaker 1: and eighty against the East, so the West was seventy

723
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,080
Speaker 1: games over five hundred and had to head matchups with

724
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:35,920
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference. An easy way to demonstrate the difference

725
00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:40,280
Speaker 1: in the competition between the two conferences is the Lakers

726
00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:44,440
Speaker 1: were seventeen and fifteen against teams that were in the

727
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:47,640
Speaker 1: top ten in point differential according to Cleaning the Glass.

728
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,040
Speaker 1: The Knicks were nine and fifteen. So there's two things

729
00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,560
Speaker 1: we can take away from that. One, the Knicks played

730
00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:58,200
Speaker 1: top ten teams eight fewer times than the Lakers did.

731
00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:00,799
Speaker 1: Second piece of that is that the the Lakers were

732
00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:03,960
Speaker 1: just way they were above five hundred and the Knicks

733
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,960
Speaker 1: were well below five hundred in those matchups. So like,

734
00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:09,040
Speaker 1: the Lakers are one of those teams, they're kind of weird.

735
00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:11,960
Speaker 1: They I actually, I think the Lakers were one of

736
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:13,799
Speaker 1: the better teams in the league last year. Not in

737
00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,200
Speaker 1: the contender tier, but they were in that next tier

738
00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,239
Speaker 1: of teams. I remember exactly where I put them in

739
00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:21,399
Speaker 1: my championship rankings, but I want to say they were

740
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:24,400
Speaker 1: like fifth or sixth or something like that. But a

741
00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:26,640
Speaker 1: big part of that was the Lakers were a really

742
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:28,640
Speaker 1: good team that had a bad stretch. If you look

743
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:32,080
Speaker 1: at their entire season, forty seven wins, but they had

744
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,440
Speaker 1: a three to ten stretch right after the n season tournament.

745
00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:37,680
Speaker 1: They were dominant up through winning the Ncason Tournament, and

746
00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:40,040
Speaker 1: then they relaxed and played shit basketball for a month

747
00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,600
Speaker 1: and it cost them in the standings. But outside of that,

748
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:44,879
Speaker 1: on both ends of that bracket, they were a really

749
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:46,439
Speaker 1: good team. And I mean look at that. I mean,

750
00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:49,480
Speaker 1: if you guys watched them against Denver, they outplayed Denver

751
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,400
Speaker 1: the majority of that series. They got gamed by Jamal

752
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:56,839
Speaker 1: Murray twice, like the Nuggets pulled their crazy Houdini act

753
00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,799
Speaker 1: in the crunch time on the Lakers twice. Otherwise, the

754
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:02,799
Speaker 1: Lakes straight up out played the Nuggets in three of

755
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,840
Speaker 1: the five games, so like, and even Nuggets Nuggets players

756
00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:09,600
Speaker 1: after the series talked about how the Lakers could have

757
00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:11,680
Speaker 1: beaten them, you know what I mean. So like, I

758
00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:13,840
Speaker 1: don't think the Lakers are a top tier championship contender.

759
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:17,200
Speaker 1: I don't think last year's Nicks were. But I thought

760
00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:19,799
Speaker 1: last year's Lakers were better than last year's Knicks. And

761
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,040
Speaker 1: I think, like a lot of times, people look at

762
00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:24,200
Speaker 1: the playing tournament and they go like, oh, these two

763
00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:26,759
Speaker 1: like eighty and Lebron are both top ten and they're

764
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:28,880
Speaker 1: not winning enough games, and it's like, actually, the West

765
00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:31,640
Speaker 1: is just a damn bloodbath, and the Lakers were also

766
00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:35,040
Speaker 1: incredibly poorly coached. The last piece of it, too, is

767
00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:37,759
Speaker 1: just the quality of role players. And this is the

768
00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:42,200
Speaker 1: main issue here, because like Jalen, Brunson still won fifty

769
00:36:42,239 --> 00:36:45,600
Speaker 1: games without a guy like eighty or Lebron next to him,

770
00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:47,520
Speaker 1: and Lebron and eighty had each other. So I get

771
00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:49,000
Speaker 1: your point. To be clear, I get the point you're

772
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:51,840
Speaker 1: trying to make. The main issue is quality of role players.

773
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,160
Speaker 1: I talked about this before the Lakers surrounded Anthony Davis

774
00:36:55,160 --> 00:36:57,520
Speaker 1: and Lebron with a bunch of specialists who are really

775
00:36:57,520 --> 00:37:01,160
Speaker 1: good at specific things, but all have mass of glaring weaknesses.

776
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,279
Speaker 1: I actually was thinking about this the other day. Who

777
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:06,839
Speaker 1: is the best two way player on the Lakers other

778
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:12,720
Speaker 1: than Lebron and Ad. It's probably Austin Reeves. But Austin

779
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:16,160
Speaker 1: Reeves is at best an average to slightly above average

780
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:19,640
Speaker 1: point of attack defender at best, and he's your third

781
00:37:19,719 --> 00:37:25,120
Speaker 1: best player. D'Angelo Russell disaster on defense, Rouey Hachimura disaster

782
00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:30,560
Speaker 1: on defense, Jared Vanderbilt disaster on offense. You know, guys

783
00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:34,560
Speaker 1: like Jackson Hayes and Christian Jackson. Hayes was a disaster

784
00:37:34,680 --> 00:37:37,319
Speaker 1: on defense. Christian Wood disaster on defense. He was good

785
00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:39,440
Speaker 1: defensive rebounder, but struggled in a bunch of other areas.

786
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:41,279
Speaker 1: So like the Lakers didn't have any guys that could

787
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:43,279
Speaker 1: play both ends of the floor. Look at the Knicks,

788
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:45,920
Speaker 1: even with their injuries. It's like Dante DiVincenzo, like a

789
00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:48,560
Speaker 1: really solid two way player plays both ends of the

790
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,720
Speaker 1: floor really well. Like Josh hart Like a really solid

791
00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:53,839
Speaker 1: two way player plays both ends of the floor really well.

792
00:37:54,239 --> 00:37:58,040
Speaker 1: You know, ogn and Obi Just like a rock solid

793
00:37:58,120 --> 00:37:59,960
Speaker 1: two way wing that plays both ends of the four

794
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:04,520
Speaker 1: really well. Isai Hartenstein, I think is a functional, solid

795
00:38:04,560 --> 00:38:07,400
Speaker 1: defensive center and a really good offensive center. Like the

796
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,439
Speaker 1: Knicks were a really good basketball team, by the way,

797
00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:13,560
Speaker 1: I have them entering into my top tier championship contenders

798
00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:15,880
Speaker 1: this year with the return of Julius Randall in the

799
00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:19,120
Speaker 1: addition of Michale Bridges. Like I understand that Jalen Brunson

800
00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:22,760
Speaker 1: overcame some adversity last year and I really enjoyed watching him,

801
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:25,440
Speaker 1: But I also think the Knicks were good. I think

802
00:38:25,440 --> 00:38:27,239
Speaker 1: the Knicks were good, Like I think if you just

803
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,759
Speaker 1: take Dante DiVincenzo and Josh Hart and swap him with

804
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:33,160
Speaker 1: D'Angelo Russell and Ruy Hatcher Mura. The Lakers become a

805
00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:36,320
Speaker 1: much better team immediately, because now, all of a sudden,

806
00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:38,400
Speaker 1: you got like these really good two way role players

807
00:38:38,400 --> 00:38:40,520
Speaker 1: that you can put around Lebron James and Anthony Davis.

808
00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:42,120
Speaker 1: And that, to me is the main issue that the

809
00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:44,439
Speaker 1: Lakers are having. And man, I hope they can figure

810
00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:46,480
Speaker 1: it out at some point before they get into the

811
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:51,120
Speaker 1: postseason next year. But I do appreciate the point you're

812
00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:52,799
Speaker 1: trying to make, and I do appreciate the comment. In

813
00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:54,880
Speaker 1: no world could book be the best player on a

814
00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:57,600
Speaker 1: championship team. Totally disagree. The twenty twenty one Sons were

815
00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,719
Speaker 1: up two to OHO in the finals and just lost

816
00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:01,279
Speaker 1: a couple clutch games at the end of the series.

817
00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:05,520
Speaker 1: I think Booker's clearly in that tier. I see a

818
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:07,640
Speaker 1: lot of young players jumping up a year from now.

819
00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:12,200
Speaker 1: Bancaro will make a huge jump this year. So Paalow

820
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:15,919
Speaker 1: was my twenty sixth man, if I remember correctly. This year,

821
00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:18,280
Speaker 1: I think I was torn between him and Paul George,

822
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,960
Speaker 1: if I remember correctly. So I tend to agree that

823
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:22,960
Speaker 1: Palo is one of those guys that very well could

824
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:24,800
Speaker 1: have been on this list, and I also agree with

825
00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:26,160
Speaker 1: you that I think the list is going to look

826
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:28,160
Speaker 1: very different next year because I think a bunch of

827
00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:30,000
Speaker 1: young players are going to take leaps, and I also

828
00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:31,520
Speaker 1: think some of our older guys are going to take

829
00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:35,319
Speaker 1: drops after this year. Two more questions. You said you

830
00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:37,480
Speaker 1: had Luca higher than Giannis when considering that you had

831
00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:40,279
Speaker 1: Booker over JB because being an offensive engine is just

832
00:39:40,280 --> 00:39:43,440
Speaker 1: a much better value than being an overduiced role player. However,

833
00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:45,879
Speaker 1: seeing how bad Luca was as a player defensively where

834
00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:48,400
Speaker 1: they will deliberately attack him, and offensively he was missing

835
00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:50,800
Speaker 1: crucial three throws. He also struggled to shoot threes in

836
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:53,480
Speaker 1: that series and will steam out at the end of

837
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:56,360
Speaker 1: games while being turnover prone, compared to Giannis, who is

838
00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:58,279
Speaker 1: as bad as he might be offensively still gives you

839
00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:01,400
Speaker 1: thirty and fifteen with his best top ten defense. At least,

840
00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:03,920
Speaker 1: you can't take the supporting cast being bad as an

841
00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:06,319
Speaker 1: argument for Luca when people were bashing Giannis last year

842
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,000
Speaker 1: for underperforming in the Heat series while averaging thirty and

843
00:40:09,080 --> 00:40:13,400
Speaker 1: thirteen ish and not getting deliberately attacked on defense. Both

844
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,160
Speaker 1: have a second option highly skilled, undersized guards as a

845
00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:18,080
Speaker 1: second option. In my opinion, this is pretty much like

846
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:20,879
Speaker 1: a remake of the twenty nineteen MVP, but one here

847
00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:22,759
Speaker 1: is still a thirty to fifteen to five guy while

848
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:25,480
Speaker 1: not being less than a top fifteen defender in the league,

849
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:27,680
Speaker 1: while the other is arguably the best offensive player in

850
00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:30,480
Speaker 1: the league with conditioning issues while having the potential to

851
00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:32,799
Speaker 1: be the worst defensive player on the court despite having

852
00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:34,960
Speaker 1: a great defensive coach like Jason Kidd. I actually saw

853
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:38,319
Speaker 1: a video of Luca's game winner against the Clippers the

854
00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:41,800
Speaker 1: other this morning, and it was crazy to see how

855
00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,600
Speaker 1: thin Luca looked, and it kind of got me concerned

856
00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:46,560
Speaker 1: because then I was like, Okay, so we're all talking

857
00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:48,640
Speaker 1: about how Luca needs to get in shape, but he

858
00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:50,680
Speaker 1: seems to be kind of trending in the wrong direction

859
00:40:51,239 --> 00:40:57,600
Speaker 1: in that specific department. A couple things. Luca had a

860
00:40:57,640 --> 00:41:00,920
Speaker 1: disastrous defensive series against the Celtics, is the worst defensive

861
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:04,440
Speaker 1: series I've ever seen from a star ever. But the

862
00:41:04,520 --> 00:41:10,640
Speaker 1: Celtics present a very unique challenge, one that's basically unprecedented

863
00:41:10,640 --> 00:41:15,560
Speaker 1: in NBA history, which is they put out five players

864
00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:22,000
Speaker 1: that can all shoot, pass, dribble and defend, and that

865
00:41:22,080 --> 00:41:24,799
Speaker 1: it's basically unprecedented and I don't think we'll ever see

866
00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,920
Speaker 1: it again because those guys are all super expensive in

867
00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:30,240
Speaker 1: an open market. They have five thirty million dollar players

868
00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:34,239
Speaker 1: and a lot of those guys are in existing contracts

869
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:36,200
Speaker 1: that in the future it would be sixty seventy million

870
00:41:36,239 --> 00:41:42,880
Speaker 1: dollar contracts. So like, here's the thing, Luca embarrassed himself

871
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 1: defensively in the finals. It needs to be talked about,

872
00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:48,520
Speaker 1: and again for the record, trust me, it's getting factored

873
00:41:48,560 --> 00:41:49,920
Speaker 1: in and it will it will matter when we get

874
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:54,120
Speaker 1: later in the list. But the Celtics would have done

875
00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:56,760
Speaker 1: that to a lot of different stars that have defensive issues.

876
00:41:57,160 --> 00:41:59,319
Speaker 1: There are a lot of offensive minded stars that get

877
00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:02,040
Speaker 1: hidden on defense. And it works against twenty nine of

878
00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:03,920
Speaker 1: the teams usually or twenty eight of the teams, I

879
00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:06,879
Speaker 1: should say, because they don't have five guys that can drill,

880
00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:09,759
Speaker 1: a pass, shoot and defend like Boston does. So like

881
00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:11,080
Speaker 1: some of that is like you got to tip the

882
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:13,040
Speaker 1: cap to Boston for just the type of roster they have.

883
00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:15,239
Speaker 1: But yeah, of course it was embarrassing for Luca. Of

884
00:42:15,320 --> 00:42:17,760
Speaker 1: course it needs to be factored in. To me, though,

885
00:42:18,239 --> 00:42:20,919
Speaker 1: I've seen plenty of examples of Giannis in his team

886
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:23,480
Speaker 1: losing playoff series because he can't execute in the clutch.

887
00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:27,319
Speaker 1: You mentioned the series against the Heat in twenty twenty three.

888
00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:31,280
Speaker 1: In that series, there were a couple of clutch games

889
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:33,759
Speaker 1: where Jimmy just walked down Yannis and Janis couldn't even

890
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:35,600
Speaker 1: make a little hook shot in the lane, and that

891
00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:38,080
Speaker 1: continues to be his biggest issue. And so for me,

892
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:41,520
Speaker 1: I feel like in the majority of matchups, I feel

893
00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:43,759
Speaker 1: like I can cover for Luca defensively and he's still

894
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:45,759
Speaker 1: one of the best offensive players in the world, and

895
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:47,719
Speaker 1: that's why I have him over Yiannis on this list

896
00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:49,480
Speaker 1: when we get to that point. But interesting argument, and

897
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:51,000
Speaker 1: I appreciate you taking the time to break it down.

898
00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:54,040
Speaker 1: Last one. It makes me crazy when you make up

899
00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:56,280
Speaker 1: shit like this. The Mavericks held the number one offense

900
00:42:56,320 --> 00:42:57,960
Speaker 1: in the NBA to one hundred and one points per

901
00:42:58,000 --> 00:42:59,959
Speaker 1: game and never let them score more than a hundred

902
00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:03,320
Speaker 1: seven any game of the series. They didn't have vast

903
00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:06,840
Speaker 1: stretches where their defense was swamped. That's a complete lie

904
00:43:07,160 --> 00:43:11,359
Speaker 1: and it's provable by the statistics. Stop making shit up.

905
00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:16,000
Speaker 1: We have an angry Mavericks fan here, I'll just read

906
00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:18,279
Speaker 1: some real basic numbers. In the first half of Game one,

907
00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:20,480
Speaker 1: they gave up one hundred and thirty four offensive rating

908
00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:23,520
Speaker 1: to Boston. In Game two and a sixteen minute span

909
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:25,919
Speaker 1: over the second and third quarters, they allowed forty four

910
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:29,960
Speaker 1: points as Boston blew built the one point lead into

911
00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:32,440
Speaker 1: a thirteen point lead. In Game three, in the second half,

912
00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:35,200
Speaker 1: they gave up nineteen points in four minutes as Boston

913
00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:37,520
Speaker 1: blew a seven point game into a twenty one point game.

914
00:43:37,680 --> 00:43:40,560
Speaker 1: And in Game five, Boston had a one hundred and

915
00:43:40,719 --> 00:43:44,719
Speaker 1: forty six offensive rating in the first half. So I

916
00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:48,040
Speaker 1: don't know what fantasy land that Mavericks fan is living in,

917
00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:50,000
Speaker 1: all right, guys. That is all I have for today

918
00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:52,359
Speaker 1: is always as sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting the show.

919
00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:54,200
Speaker 1: We are taking the rest of the weekend off we have.

920
00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:56,600
Speaker 1: This is actually airing on Saturday. The Mailbag is gonna

921
00:43:56,600 --> 00:44:02,800
Speaker 1: air on a Sunday. Monday morning, are starting our Superstar tears.

922
00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:05,160
Speaker 1: Still don't know who I'm gonna have at number eleven.

923
00:44:05,200 --> 00:44:06,759
Speaker 1: I have my list. I haven't changed it yet, but

924
00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:08,520
Speaker 1: I've been thinking about changing it. So we'll see what

925
00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:11,520
Speaker 1: I end up deciding on Monday morning it should be

926
00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:13,279
Speaker 1: fun again. I appreciate you guys for supporting the show

927
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:33,480
Speaker 1: and for rocking with me. I'll see you guys on Monday.

928
00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:40,120
Speaker 1: The Volume