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Speaker 2: All right, welcome to him tonight here at the volume

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Speaker 2: heavy Thursday.

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Speaker 3: Everybody, holp, all of you guys are having a great week.

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Speaker 2: Well. The past NBA finals since the twenty twenty two

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Speaker 2: series between the Warriors and the Celtics continues to give

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Speaker 2: as the Pacers tonight beat the shit out of the

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Speaker 2: Oklahoma City Thunder their most impressive performance on several levels

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Speaker 2: is they tie the series at three. We have Game

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Speaker 2: seven on Sunday. I I'm going to be getting into

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Speaker 2: Tonight's game from a bunch of different angles, talking about

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Speaker 2: some specific things to look for in Game seven on Sunday,

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Speaker 2: some things that need to go right for Indiana they're

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Speaker 2: gonna have a chance to win that game. The reality

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Speaker 2: of the test, this final test that Oklahoma City has

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Speaker 2: presented to every opponent to this point that no one's

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Speaker 2: been able to solve, which we'll get into at the

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Speaker 2: tail end of the show today. The Los Angeles Lakers

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Speaker 2: got sold since Game five in Game six of the

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Speaker 2: NBA Finals, I'm yet to talk at all about that.

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Speaker 2: So we're going to have a little bit of a

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Speaker 2: breakdown just kind of for those of you guys who

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Speaker 2: have been paying too close of attention, just break down

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Speaker 2: to some of the details that are going on in

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Speaker 2: that transaction, some of the ways it's going to change

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Speaker 2: things for the Lakers moving forward. So a little bit

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Speaker 2: of Lakers talk at the tail end of the show,

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Speaker 2: and then when we're done there, we're gonna take some

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Speaker 2: questions from the chat. So subscribe to the channel, drop

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Speaker 2: your questions in the chat. Jackson's gonna come on the show.

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Speaker 2: We'll take ten to fifteen minutes worth of questions, and

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Speaker 2: then when we wrap up here on YouTube tonight, we're

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Speaker 2: headed over to playback. That's playback dot tv slash Oops tonight.

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Speaker 2: We're gonna be taking callers, just hanging out. It's like

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Speaker 2: a kind of an informal basketball hour. It's a ton

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Speaker 2: of fun. We've been doing it throughout this entire postseason.

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Speaker 2: If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend you

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Speaker 2: guys go.

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Speaker 3: Check it out.

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Speaker 2: You guys know the job before we get started. Subscribe

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Speaker 2: to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any

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Speaker 2: more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter and underscore JSONLTC.

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Speaker 2: You guys don't miss you announcement. So forget about a

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Speaker 2: podcast for you reverbut your podcast on our Hoops Tonight.

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Speaker 2: It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and

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Speaker 2: review on that front. Jackson's doing great work on our

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Speaker 2: social media feeds Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. And then,

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Speaker 2: last but not least, keep dropping those mail back questions

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Speaker 2: in the chat. For the tail end of the show.

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Speaker 2: All right, let's talk some basketball. So the oh of

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Speaker 2: playoff series has always been super fascinating to me. I

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Speaker 2: was doing a radio hit in South Carolina on Wednesday

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Speaker 2: with a buddy of mine name Richmond Weaver, and we

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Speaker 2: were discussing the realities of the difference between single elimination

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Speaker 2: and a playoff series. There is this kind of pathway

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Speaker 2: that takes place, right There's this learning phase at the

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Speaker 2: beginning of the series. You're feeling each other out right.

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Speaker 2: You're finding out which guys do the best job guarding

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Speaker 2: which guys, which actions work, which actions don't work. Can

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Speaker 2: we capitalize on this mismatch, can we prevent them from

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Speaker 2: capitalizing on that mismatch. It's all of this feeling out right,

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Speaker 2: and then usually by about game four, both teams have

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Speaker 2: figured out they're best coverages that work and their best

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Speaker 2: actions that they can run to try to score when

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Speaker 2: things slow down, and from that point forward in the series,

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Speaker 2: everything switches to execution. There's no magic adjustment you can make.

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Speaker 2: There's no sort of like dynamic change in your approach

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Speaker 2: that can shift the outcome. It just comes down to

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Speaker 2: your guys doing their best ability to execute the specific

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Speaker 2: game plan that.

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Speaker 3: You've landed on.

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Speaker 2: By that you know Game three, Game four part of

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Speaker 2: the series, and one of the biggest problems for Indiana

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Speaker 2: in this series has been their inability to establish anything

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Speaker 2: that is consistently effective in the half court. Like when

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Speaker 2: things really bogged down for them on offense, they don't

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Speaker 2: really have a reliable action. I'd argue their most reliable

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Speaker 2: action at this point in the series.

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Speaker 3: It like slow down.

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Speaker 2: Half court basketball has literally just been TJ McConnell driving

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Speaker 2: at smaller Oklahoma City guards. He's the one guy in

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Speaker 2: a Pacers jersey who's been able to consistently gouge the

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Speaker 2: OKC defense in the half court collapse them, creates spot

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Speaker 2: up opportunities and layups for himself, and then Siakam can

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Speaker 2: get to a little right shoulder fade, but he's not

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Speaker 2: able to get all the way to the rim in

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Speaker 2: the half court very much. But TJ's really the only

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Speaker 2: guy who can gouge them in that way. On the

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Speaker 2: other side of the floor, like Shay and Jay Dubb

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Speaker 2: have been able to pretty consistently get into the teeth

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Speaker 2: of the defense for Indiana. Now, whether or not they

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Speaker 2: process correctly when they get there and make kickouts things

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Speaker 2: along those lines. That has kind of shifted from game

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Speaker 2: to game. Shane JDub both were rough again tonight, But

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Speaker 2: that is the dynamic ap play in the series is

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Speaker 2: one thing slowed down in the half court. Oklahoma City's

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Speaker 2: athleticism can really become a problem for Indiana, But Indiana

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Speaker 2: all season long has had an engine, an engine that

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Speaker 2: generates offense outside of the half court. When they defend

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Speaker 2: and when they get stops and when they force turnovers,

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Speaker 2: they can get out and run. And when they get

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Speaker 2: out and run, they have a lot more advantage situations,

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Speaker 2: meaning where you have an easy kickout or an easy

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Speaker 2: drop off to a guy who's unguarded and is going

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Speaker 2: to have a defender sprinting out at him. And I

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Speaker 2: would argue, if you wanted to point to one thing

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Speaker 2: about this Pacers team where they're clearly better than OKSE,

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Speaker 2: one thing that like, if we're putting green check marks

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Speaker 2: underneath each team as and who's got the strength in

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Speaker 2: this matchup, If there's one thing the Pacers are clearly

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Speaker 2: better at, it's their aggregate offensive skill down the roster.

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Speaker 2: When the Pacers have advantages, they can pass through those

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Speaker 2: advantages and finish plays at a higher level than ok see,

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Speaker 2: that's their advantage. That's the push and pull of this series.

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Speaker 2: When Indiana can get stops, they can usually get out

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Speaker 2: in transition. When they get out in transition, they have

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Speaker 2: the advantages they need to succeed. They start to catch

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Speaker 2: a rhythm, a bunch of guys get going, and they

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Speaker 2: can get really tough to beat. Right, But if they

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Speaker 2: can struggle to get stops, if they struggle to get

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Speaker 2: out in transition, even as recently as the fourth quarter

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Speaker 2: of Game five, we've seen them have serious problems just

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Speaker 2: getting past that initial layer of Oklahoma City's defense. We

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Speaker 2: talked about it in We talked about it in our

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Speaker 2: show after Game five. It kind of had this weird

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Speaker 2: optical dynamic in the half court where for the Pacers,

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Speaker 2: it kind of feels like a bunch of dribble handoffs

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Speaker 2: and interchanges out above the break, but no one's turning

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Speaker 2: the corner, no one's downhill, or if they do, someone

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Speaker 2: finally messes up for Oklahoma City and they get some

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Speaker 2: rim pressure at some point later in the possession. For

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Speaker 2: Oklahoma City, they pretty consistently gouged into the teeth of

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Speaker 2: Indiana's defense in that half court setting, right, So that's

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Speaker 2: the dynamic. If Indiana has to dribble up against Okac's

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Speaker 2: like set half court defense, it's gonna be a problem.

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Speaker 2: I thought Indiana's defense was fantastic from the jump tonight

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Speaker 2: and that allowed them to avoid that half court situation

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Speaker 2: for the majority of the night. And it really starts

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Speaker 2: with dem Hard and Nie Smith. I thought Aaron Nei

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Speaker 2: Smith had his best game of the series defensively by far.

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Speaker 2: He struggled consistently in the JDub matchup. He's been bullied,

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Speaker 2: he's been undisciplined on Shay, picking up silly fouls here

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Speaker 2: and there. This was his best game navigating screens, keeping

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Speaker 2: the ball in front. Nem Hart has done a great

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Speaker 2: job in the entire series, but that's where it starts,

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Speaker 2: at the point of attack. This is the biggest push

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Speaker 2: and pull in all NBA games. We talked about this

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Speaker 2: with Colin the other day. In the same way that

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Speaker 2: in the NFL, there's a lot that kind of dictates

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Speaker 2: every possession. If your offensive line can't get a push,

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Speaker 2: your un game's not gonna work. And if your offensive

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Speaker 2: line can't stop the rush, you're not gonna have any

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Speaker 2: time for your quarterback to throw or no time for

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Speaker 2: your receivers to get open. It's like this unseen thing

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Speaker 2: that takes place right in front of our eyes that

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Speaker 2: gets misconstrued, and we're always just looking at completion percentages

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Speaker 2: and blaming quarterbacks and doing all that sort of stuff,

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Speaker 2: when it's clearly the line that is controlling the dynamic

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Speaker 2: of the game. Similarly, in basketball, that is the dynamic

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Speaker 2: that swings everything in the game. If you get bludgeoned

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Speaker 2: at the point of attack, everyone's got a hard help.

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Speaker 2: If everyone's got a hard help, all of a sudden,

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Speaker 2: there's easy kickout reads. If there's easy kickout reads, any

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Speaker 2: NBA player is gonna find a rhythm. And in this series,

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Speaker 2: when Shay has gotten through the first layer of the

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Speaker 2: defense and made those kickouts early and often in the game,

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Speaker 2: like Game two, in Game five, the thunder have been

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Speaker 2: able to knock down shots and they've been in really

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Speaker 2: good shape.

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Speaker 3: But if you can.

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Speaker 2: Start to flatten those drives and make it a little

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Speaker 2: bit harder for them to get those hard dribble penetration moments,

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Speaker 2: all of a sudden, your off ball guys can do

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Speaker 2: more digging down and recovery kind of stunting at the

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Speaker 2: ball rather than fully committing to the ball. All of

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Speaker 2: a sudden, those kickouts turn from wide open threes to

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Speaker 2: rushed threes or other opportunities for the gap between Indiana

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Speaker 2: and Oklahoma City's off ball processing and off ball play

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Speaker 2: finishing to manifest itself. And on many occasions in the series,

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Speaker 2: when the Pacers have really dug in defensively at home,

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Speaker 2: they've been able to play Oklahoma City into some really

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Speaker 2: rough shooting games.

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Speaker 3: But that's where it starts.

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Speaker 2: When Oklahoma City gets eighteen unguarded catch and shoot threes

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Speaker 2: like they did in Game five, because Shay and Jay

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Speaker 2: Dubb are just consistently beating the man in front of

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Speaker 2: them and making the kickouts, that's where it becomes really,

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Speaker 2: really difficult to win that tug of war. And I

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Speaker 2: thought Ni Smith and Nemhart in particular just did an

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Speaker 2: incredible job tonight. From there that the Pacers had their

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Speaker 2: best game of the series in terms of help and

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Speaker 2: recover situations, constantly stunting and digging at ball handlers, showing

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Speaker 2: help and getting.

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Speaker 3: Out the shooters.

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Speaker 2: That's how it causes turnovers. Very simple fact is that

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Speaker 2: if you hard drive and everyone collapses, it's pretty easy

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Speaker 2: to make those kickout rates. But if you are on

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Speaker 2: the defender, if the defender's got you on his hip

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Speaker 2: and he's staying attached, and the guys that are off

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Speaker 2: ball instead of hard helping are staying in the passing lane,

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Speaker 2: that's where turnovers happen. Or when the ball handlers dribbling

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Speaker 2: against one guy but he doesn't have him fully beat,

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Speaker 2: so he doesn't see because he's engaged in hand fighting

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Speaker 2: and trying to fight through the contact, that second defender

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Speaker 2: comes over and that guy ends up turning the ball over.

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Speaker 2: That happened like three or four times tonight, where the

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Speaker 2: second defender came from behind when the guy wasn't looking

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Speaker 2: and they were unable to see it coming and ended

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Speaker 2: up giving up a turnover twenty one turnovers for the

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Speaker 2: Thunder tonighteen points off of him. The Pacers got out

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Speaker 2: in transition all throughout the game twenty two fast break points.

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Speaker 2: When we get to the mail bag at the tail

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Speaker 2: end of the show, I'll pull up on synergy the

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Speaker 2: full blown like transition numbers. But it just their defense

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Speaker 2: allowed them to operate with advantages most of the night,

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Speaker 2: and as a result of that, a bunch of guys

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Speaker 2: were able to catch a rhythm and they looked fantastic.

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Speaker 2: And that's how you end up with six dudes in

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Speaker 2: double figures and lots of people contributing in all these

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Speaker 2: various different ways. Pascal was great all night. He's been

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Speaker 2: great in the entire series. I think get the series

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Speaker 2: ends today, and if the series ends on Sunday and

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Speaker 2: the Pacers win, you probably got to vote Pascal Siakam

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Speaker 2: for Finals MVP with how consistent he's been with his production.

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Speaker 2: Nie Smith his best game of the series in my

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Speaker 2: opinion in terms of two way play. I thought he

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Speaker 2: was awesome on defense in this game. Andrew Nemhart early

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Speaker 2: aggression in this game, knocking down that big corner three again.

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Speaker 2: This is if there's something you're going to look at

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Speaker 2: as an area of optimism looking forward in the series

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Speaker 2: for the Pacers, Nie Smith and Nemhard were like completely

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Speaker 2: in the upside down. After Game five. Nie Smith had

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Speaker 2: two or three nasty turnovers down the stretch, had kind

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Speaker 2: of lost control of his shot. Nie Smith has been

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Speaker 2: getting cooked defensively all series and hasn't been able to

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Speaker 2: knock down shots. Those two guys go five for eleven

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Speaker 2: from three tonight and have their best defensive game of

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Speaker 2: the series. That is a huge bit of positive momentum

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Speaker 2: that you're carrying into Game seven. Obi Toppin, who has

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Speaker 2: been has had all sorts of blitzes of scoring in

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Speaker 2: this series, big time catch and shoot threes in tonight's game.

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Speaker 2: TJ McConnell, who's consistently, like I mentioned earlier, been the

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Speaker 2: best guy on the Pacers at gouging Oklahoma City's defense,

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Speaker 2: which has caused all sorts of positives. They're plus ten

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Speaker 2: again tonight in his twenty four minutes. That is the

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Speaker 2: push and pull and that's what we have to look

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Speaker 2: for for Game seven. As we look into Game seven,

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Speaker 2: which team's going to control that tug of war? No

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Speaker 2: team has been able ton one specific demon with Oklahoma

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Speaker 2: City so far, which is that when the series is

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Speaker 2: hanging in the balance, in the big pivotal games, nobody

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Speaker 2: can score on them. So, for instance, you're gonna go

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Speaker 2: down two to zero at home, that's series over. It's

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Speaker 2: just too much to overcome that. Gotta win Game two.

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Speaker 2: They strangle the Pacers in that game. Game four, Pacers

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Speaker 2: have a lead going into the fourth quarter. I think

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Speaker 2: they were up seven they strangle the life out of

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Speaker 2: the Pacers. They literally can't score down the stretch. Even

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Speaker 2: in Game five, like the Pacers go on a run,

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Speaker 2: Siakam gets an offensive rebound, hits a three off the

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Speaker 2: left wing. It's ninety five to ninety three. Looks like

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Speaker 2: they're right there. All of a sudden, Oklahoma City tightens

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Speaker 2: the screws and the Pacers turn the ball over four

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Speaker 2: consecutive possessions. And it's not just the Pacers. You go

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Speaker 2: back to Minnesota, exact same thing happened in game four

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Speaker 2: of that series. You go back to Denver in game four,

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Speaker 2: and in game five, and in games seven of that series.

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Speaker 2: They have strangled the life out of the team. They've

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Speaker 2: had their moments where they look bad. Minnesota beat the

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Speaker 2: shit out of Oklahoma City in game three. Denver had

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Speaker 2: a several controlling they had a big controlling win in

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Speaker 2: Game three and another one in Game six. Memphis, with

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Speaker 2: without like before John Muran got injured, was beating the

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Speaker 2: shit out of Oklahoma City at home in game three. Like,

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Speaker 2: they've shown their cracks. They're a young team. They struggle

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Speaker 2: on the road, they've had their issues, but ultimately, when

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Speaker 2: everything is actually on the line when they're back is

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Speaker 2: truly against the wall. It's like that meme with the

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Speaker 2: dude sitting back with the controller and then he leans

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Speaker 2: forward when it's go time, like Oklahoma City tightens the

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Speaker 2: screws and everyone falls apart. That is the challenge, No, no,

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Speaker 2: If Indiana is gonna win in game seven, that's the

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Speaker 2: demon they have to conquer right out the gates. They

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Speaker 2: have to not turn the ball over, they have to

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Speaker 2: get the ball through Oklahoma City's defense. They have to

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Speaker 2: knock down the show are available to them. Was talked

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Speaker 2: about Nie Smith and Nemhard getting going tonight. That's huge.

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Speaker 2: Miles Turner is another big guy I have my eye on.

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Speaker 2: He keeps getting wide open threes in this series and

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Speaker 2: he just can't hit them. And I talked about before

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Speaker 2: the series that he was one of the biggest swing factors,

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Speaker 2: specifically because his ability to be on the other side

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Speaker 2: of switches against guards in the post, and because of

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Speaker 2: pick and pop and Chet's willingness to help at the

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Speaker 2: rim and Isaiah's willingness to help at the rim. He's

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Speaker 2: going to get catch and shoot looks and he's got

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Speaker 2: to knock him down. That's the step on that side

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Speaker 2: of the floor. But Indiana has a pathway to avoid that,

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Speaker 2: and that's by getting stops. And so Indiana has to

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Speaker 2: in that game contain the ball, force kickouts to mediocre

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Speaker 2: shooters for contested shots, not for open shots. They need

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Speaker 2: to force long rebounds and turnovers and get out and

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Speaker 2: transition as much as possible in order to avoid that

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Speaker 2: half court setting. Again, it's not a good sign that

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Speaker 2: in gains five, when you had a chance that you

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Speaker 2: turn the ball over four consecutive times, all against the

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Speaker 2: first two layers of Oklahoma City's defense, like just on

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Speaker 2: ball pressure in high post entry denial and stuff like that.

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Speaker 2: That is something that they cannot afford to do in

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Speaker 2: game seven. If they do that in game seven, they're

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Speaker 2: dead on arrival and they're gonna get blown out.

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Speaker 3: But if they can.

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Speaker 2: Contain the ball, if they can force missus and turnovers,

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Speaker 2: if they can get out in transition, that is their

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Speaker 2: best chance. And for Oklahoma City, it's the same thing

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Speaker 2: that they did down the stretch in these key moments.

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Speaker 2: If they can heighten the screws on this Indiana defense,

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Speaker 2: they can force turnovers, they can get out in transition.

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Speaker 2: Because again, as we talked about if Oklahoma City has

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Speaker 2: a weakness, it's that their offense can be a little shaken.

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Speaker 2: You can shake the foundation of Oklahoma City's offense. They

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Speaker 2: had just thirty five points in the second and third

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Speaker 2: quarters tonight, and so for them, that's their breaking point.

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Speaker 2: But they also have a turnover to transition element to

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Speaker 2: their game, and in the big spots they've been able

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Speaker 2: to get to that part of their game and close

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Speaker 2: teams out big time. In Game seven against Denver, like

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Speaker 2: get Game seven against Denver, they just decided they weren't

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Speaker 2: gonna let Yokic catch the ball and it just completely

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Speaker 2: decomposed for Denver. Right, so that's gonna be the tug

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Speaker 2: of war in Game seven. The danger for Oklahoma City

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Speaker 2: and letting a game like this happen where they get

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Speaker 2: their butts kicked, is it gives rhythm and confidence to

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Speaker 2: the Pacers. They have a real pathway to get it done.

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Speaker 2: Very very excited for Game seven. Not sure if Colin's

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Speaker 2: gonna be with us for Game seven, but we will

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Speaker 2: certainly have a live show after the final buzzer there.

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Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to that.

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Speaker 1: Blending Vice's signature dynamic storytelling with the high octane world

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Speaker 1: of sports. Vice Sports brings an exciting and diverse range

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Speaker 1: of programming that goes beyond the game. From action pack

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00:18:49,720 --> 00:18:52,920
Speaker 1: live events to gripping behind the scenes documentaries, to hard

376
00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:57,920
Speaker 1: hitting investigative pieces and in depth profiles of athletes, coaches, teams.

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00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,600
Speaker 1: Vice Sports captures the raw energy, drama and passion that

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Speaker 1: makes sports truly unforgettable. Catch live events and other exclusive

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Speaker 1: sports programs only on Vice TV. Go to vicetv dot

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00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,399
Speaker 1: com to find your cable channel.

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Speaker 2: We're going to take some mailback questions on this game,

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Speaker 2: but really quickly, I want to spend a few minutes

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Speaker 2: talking about g Bus in the Bus family selling the

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Speaker 2: Lakers for a valuation, a record valuation of ten billion dollars. Now,

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Speaker 2: from what I understand, and again this is important for

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Speaker 2: me to disclose, I am far from an expert on

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Speaker 2: this side of the business. I'm a basketball guy. I'm

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Speaker 2: trying to learn about this side of the business. Each

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Speaker 2: year I get a little bit better at it. But

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Speaker 2: it's taken some time. But my rough understanding of it

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Speaker 2: is that the Bus family owned about sixty six percent

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Speaker 2: of the team. This Mark Walter Gentleman runs a massive

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Speaker 2: investment firm that owns many things, including the Los Angeles Dodgers,

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Speaker 2: and they already had something like around twenty to twenty

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Speaker 2: five percent of the Lakers. Roughly fifty percent of that

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Speaker 2: sixty six percent that the Bus family owns will be

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Speaker 2: shifting over to Mark Walter. So mark'scroup would now own

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Speaker 2: a massive controlling interest in the Lakers. The Bus family

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Speaker 2: is keeping fifteen percent, which I believe is the mandatory

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Speaker 2: minimum for someone to actually remain governor of the team,

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Speaker 2: which Genie Bus will remain for now. And so now

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Speaker 2: the relatively cash poor Bus family cash is in at

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Speaker 2: like five billion dollars if I'm doing my math right,

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Speaker 2: and the Lakers are now effectively owned by Mark Walter.

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Speaker 2: Now there's some details that are interesting, right, So for instance,

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Speaker 2: Genie Bus is continuing to serve as the governor of

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Speaker 2: the team. This is interesting because the Lakers issues don't

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Speaker 2: only come down to money. We're gonna talk a lot

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Speaker 2: about money. That's not the only issues. Those aren't the

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Speaker 2: only issues that the Lakers have. They also have a

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Speaker 2: leadership problem. The Lakers have just pulled off the largest

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Speaker 2: valuation in a sale in the history of professional sports,

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Speaker 2: but they are literally run like a small local family business.

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Speaker 2: Talk to anyone who has spent time around the Lakers.

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Speaker 2: There are members of the family and close friends of

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Speaker 2: the family all over the organization and positions of power.

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Speaker 2: There's no clear decision making hierarchy. If Genie stays on

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Speaker 2: as governor and the team continues to operate in that way,

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00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,280
Speaker 2: it will continue to hold the team back in some way,

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Speaker 2: shape or form. God said, we do have a recent example,

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Speaker 2: relatively recent example, with Mark Cuban after he sold the MAVs,

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Speaker 2: staying on as governor but then eventually being removed from power.

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Speaker 2: My guess is Genie is more of a placeholder than

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Speaker 2: anything else, and I would imagine that she eventually gets replaced,

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Speaker 2: but before we get to anything with money. This is

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Speaker 2: an aspect that I'm keeping an eye on turnover with

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Speaker 2: executives up high in the organization. Luka Dancis has one

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00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,639
Speaker 2: year left on his contract before a player option that

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Speaker 2: he'll almost certainly opt out of in pursuit of a

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Speaker 2: new deal. And if you're gonna keep Luca around for

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Speaker 2: one more contract or hopefully for two more contracts, you

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Speaker 2: may have to be willing to fire some people. So

433
00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:58,879
Speaker 2: like if rob Polinka isn't up to the task. If

434
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:03,240
Speaker 2: he fails this summer in building a team around Luka Doncic,

435
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:08,000
Speaker 2: you cannot afford to wait and lose Luka Doncic in

436
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:08,640
Speaker 2: the process.

437
00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:10,240
Speaker 3: Luca is the future.

438
00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:16,199
Speaker 2: Things were looking extremely bleak for the Lakers after like

439
00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:19,119
Speaker 2: in that middle early middle portion of the season when

440
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,800
Speaker 2: they were struggling. You got an old Lebron you got

441
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:24,359
Speaker 2: an Anthony Davis who's on the decline. They didn't have

442
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,360
Speaker 2: any sort of massive asset trove or anything to fall

443
00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:31,520
Speaker 2: back on. Luca is the guy that came in through

444
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:35,560
Speaker 2: great fortune and has turned around the prospects for this

445
00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,760
Speaker 2: franchise moving forward. You have to be willing to clean

446
00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:44,960
Speaker 2: house quickly if incompetent steps in. But by far the

447
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:48,399
Speaker 2: biggest aspect to this move and how it will affect

448
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,200
Speaker 2: the Lakers, at least in the short term for the

449
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,359
Speaker 2: next couple of years, things that we'll notice almost immediately

450
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,640
Speaker 2: is the change in financial resources available for the team.

451
00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:59,400
Speaker 2: And I'm not I'm not treading any new ground here.

452
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:01,359
Speaker 2: This has been the main major talking point in the

453
00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:03,400
Speaker 2: NBA for over twenty.

454
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:03,960
Speaker 3: Four hours now.

455
00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:08,080
Speaker 2: But the Lakers were famously cheap the most The most

456
00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,720
Speaker 2: obvious example was the decision to let Alex Crusoe walk

457
00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,640
Speaker 2: for an average annual salary of a little over nine

458
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,800
Speaker 2: million dollars to the Chicago Bulls. The Lakers had already

459
00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:18,439
Speaker 2: offered him six million, and by the way, this has

460
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,600
Speaker 2: been laid out by Alex in the past, the Lakers

461
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:23,800
Speaker 2: were willing to pay him six million a year. Alex

462
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:25,320
Speaker 2: came back and was like, Hey, the Bulls are going

463
00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:27,040
Speaker 2: to give me nine will you guys match that? And

464
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,720
Speaker 2: the Lakers literally said no, which is damning on both

465
00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:34,400
Speaker 2: fronts because it's damning on the Rob Blink upfront because

466
00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:37,119
Speaker 2: it shows a scary lack of understanding of what wins

467
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:39,800
Speaker 2: basketball games in the NBA. And then it's damming on

468
00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:42,920
Speaker 2: the bus family front because we're talking about a gap

469
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:45,880
Speaker 2: of about nine million dollars per year in salary between

470
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:47,560
Speaker 2: in salary and tax.

471
00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:49,639
Speaker 3: Between that six million.

472
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,920
Speaker 2: Dollar number annually and the nine million dollar number one

473
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,960
Speaker 2: you add in luxury tax, that was enough to scare

474
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,159
Speaker 2: them out of retaining a player that literally started an

475
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:02,760
Speaker 2: NBA Finals game for them in twenty twenty. But the

476
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,000
Speaker 2: Lakers cheapness went far further than just the Caruso deal.

477
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,560
Speaker 2: They openly disrespected a championship coach in Tylu when he

478
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,840
Speaker 2: just asked to be paid like a championship coach and

479
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,480
Speaker 2: the Bus family offered him entry level coach money. It

480
00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:20,320
Speaker 2: was insulting and he walked away. They spend far below

481
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,879
Speaker 2: the top teams in the league on stuff like scouting staff,

482
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:27,320
Speaker 2: analytics staff, other support staff. That is like a legitimate

483
00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:31,480
Speaker 2: competitive advantage in this league. I saw a story yesterday

484
00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,439
Speaker 2: about them literally forcing an assistant coach to stay in

485
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,080
Speaker 2: a different hotel than a player he was working out

486
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:39,160
Speaker 2: because they didn't want to spend a little bit more

487
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:43,280
Speaker 2: on a hotel room. So this news can be can't

488
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,960
Speaker 2: be interpreted in any way other than a massive positive

489
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,240
Speaker 2: because all indications from Mark Walters Group and the way

490
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,840
Speaker 2: they manage the Dodgers should lead us to believe that

491
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:57,560
Speaker 2: the Lakers will finally be a big spending team. That

492
00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,359
Speaker 2: means they won't ever miss out on a hire because

493
00:25:00,359 --> 00:25:03,240
Speaker 2: the Bus families ego or unwillingness to pay market value

494
00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,160
Speaker 2: steps into the equation. They should be a top five

495
00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:09,520
Speaker 2: luxury tax spending team, which they were not under Genie Bus.

496
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,840
Speaker 2: They should undergo a massive investment over the next few

497
00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,080
Speaker 2: off seasons and upgrading their support staff at every level,

498
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,520
Speaker 2: and they should finally be run like the biggest sports

499
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:23,520
Speaker 2: franchise in the world. If you're going to be valued

500
00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,119
Speaker 2: like that, if that's the investment you're in charge of,

501
00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:30,000
Speaker 2: it needs to be invested in properly, and now I

502
00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:30,840
Speaker 2: expect them to be.

503
00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:32,320
Speaker 3: It's not gonna happen overnight.

504
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,960
Speaker 2: Could be a rocky transition, especially with rob and Genie

505
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,160
Speaker 2: still carrying some power. There's a lot of urgency surrounding

506
00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 2: the situation with Luca. The Lakers desperately need to get

507
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,640
Speaker 2: a starting center this summer, a starting caliber center. They

508
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:48,320
Speaker 2: desperately need to anchor Lebron and Luca with a ton

509
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 2: of athleticism. If you're gonna build a team around Luca,

510
00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:53,760
Speaker 2: like I hope he comes into camp in better shape,

511
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:57,840
Speaker 2: but he's notoriously a poorly conditioned athlete. Austin Reeves, who's

512
00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:00,240
Speaker 2: a below average NBA athlete. Lebron James is to be

513
00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:02,560
Speaker 2: forty one by the time you reach the playoffs. You've

514
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,520
Speaker 2: got to anchor them with just a shit ton of athleticism.

515
00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:07,760
Speaker 3: There is a lot of work that needs to.

516
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,760
Speaker 2: Be done over the course of this offseason and next

517
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:14,480
Speaker 2: season before the trade deadline, but I am expecting big

518
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:18,240
Speaker 2: changes and the overall level of competence within the Lakers

519
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:20,840
Speaker 2: in the coming years. I was taxting with Logan Swayin.

520
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,119
Speaker 2: He's a buddy of mine who is the head of

521
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:25,320
Speaker 2: content here at the Volume Sports Laker Fan. Him and

522
00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:28,439
Speaker 2: I always are talking to each other throughout the Lakers season,

523
00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:33,240
Speaker 2: and we were talking today about how or yesterday about

524
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:35,760
Speaker 2: how it's kind of a little bittersweet in the sense that,

525
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:38,080
Speaker 2: like I kind of felt like the Lebron James Anthony

526
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:42,840
Speaker 2: Davis era was just just marred by underachieving efforts from

527
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,119
Speaker 2: people in the upper levels of the Lakers organization. And

528
00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:47,639
Speaker 2: there'll always be a part of me that kind of

529
00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,840
Speaker 2: is like kind of annoyed that now, finally after Lebron

530
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:52,720
Speaker 2: spent like, god, how many seasons has it been, now

531
00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,159
Speaker 2: like seven or eight seasons with the Lakers, with how

532
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:56,880
Speaker 2: much time he's been with the Lakers, that it took

533
00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:01,240
Speaker 2: this long for the the team to sell to somebody

534
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,719
Speaker 2: with some real financial power. But it is what it is,

535
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:05,639
Speaker 2: and it's going to be exciting at least for the

536
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,840
Speaker 2: Luca era. And you know, if there was any chance,

537
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:10,520
Speaker 2: If there's any chance to squeeze the title out of

538
00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:13,600
Speaker 2: these guys, it was going to happen with some more

539
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 2: competent leadership, and this should be the first step in

540
00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:17,960
Speaker 2: that direction. All right, let's bring Jackson and we're gonna

541
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:19,879
Speaker 2: take some questions from the chat.

542
00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:22,400
Speaker 4: Let's do it.

543
00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:27,680
Speaker 5: First question, Hey, Jason, we've seen enough of TJ McConnell

544
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:29,960
Speaker 5: to know it's not a fluke anymore. But why is

545
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:31,920
Speaker 5: it still so hard for the thunder to adjust when

546
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:32,640
Speaker 5: it comes in the game.

547
00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:34,040
Speaker 4: How are they not ready for this?

548
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:36,800
Speaker 3: Well, it's the same. It's not about being ready.

549
00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,760
Speaker 2: It's the same thing that it's the same thing that

550
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:41,639
Speaker 2: Indiana's dealing with on the other end of the floor

551
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:44,800
Speaker 2: with Shay and with Jadab. The reality is is that

552
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,239
Speaker 2: TJ McConnell can beat the man in front of him

553
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:51,119
Speaker 2: one on one. That that is this singular thing that

554
00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,920
Speaker 2: can break an NBA defense and e lead NBA defense.

555
00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:56,200
Speaker 2: And on the other end of the floor, like the

556
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:58,120
Speaker 2: Pacers have been a very good defense for the last

557
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:00,920
Speaker 2: like you know, four or five months, and they've been

558
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:02,720
Speaker 2: doing it in large part by containing the ball. And

559
00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,560
Speaker 2: they can't contain the ball against these guys like Shay

560
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:07,760
Speaker 2: and Jay Dubb can consistently get into the TV the defense.

561
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:09,760
Speaker 2: There's no scheme. We talked about this in the show.

562
00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:12,520
Speaker 2: There's no like magical schematic adjustment. It's about sliding your

563
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:14,400
Speaker 2: damn feet and keeping your chest in front of the ball.

564
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:17,119
Speaker 2: And TJ has a superpower. Like I think TJ is

565
00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:19,040
Speaker 2: one of the most underrated athletes in the league. He

566
00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:21,879
Speaker 2: is a very powerful guard well a ton of straight

567
00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,119
Speaker 2: line speed and the ability to change direction with some

568
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:26,679
Speaker 2: basic moves and counter moves that make him very, very

569
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:30,040
Speaker 2: difficult to handle. And like his individual greatness is breaking

570
00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:31,760
Speaker 2: the Oklahoma City defense and he's going to need to

571
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:32,760
Speaker 2: do it again on Sunday.

572
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:35,600
Speaker 5: Yeah, I feel like we're reaching the point where he

573
00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:39,000
Speaker 5: is straight up been over the course of the series,

574
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:43,400
Speaker 5: the second most impactful offensive player for the Pacers. I mean,

575
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:46,040
Speaker 5: Siakama is obviously I think at this point the finals MVP,

576
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 5: if the Pacers were to win, and it's and that's

577
00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:50,400
Speaker 5: sort of part of the Pacers magic, and it's much

578
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,840
Speaker 5: more of an aggregate, you know, collection of talent on

579
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:55,280
Speaker 5: both ens with the floor, you know, and nem Hard

580
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:56,800
Speaker 5: and Eisman, they're doing a lot of work defensively, but

581
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:58,480
Speaker 5: it does feel like McConnell has been their second best

582
00:28:58,520 --> 00:28:59,520
Speaker 5: offensive player this series.

583
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can't give him finals MVP if Indiana wins

584
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:04,960
Speaker 2: because his minutes have been too low and like Siakam

585
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,880
Speaker 2: has just been on the floor more, doing more. But like, yeah,

586
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:11,120
Speaker 2: I would argue if like, let's say that the game

587
00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,760
Speaker 2: was tied and there's seven seconds left and they're coming

588
00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:17,400
Speaker 2: out of a timeout, I would be strongly encouraged to

589
00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:18,840
Speaker 2: put TJ in the game and run a one to

590
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 2: four low well like or like a four out one

591
00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,080
Speaker 2: in and have him attack off the wing. Like he

592
00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:27,520
Speaker 2: is a problem for Oklahoma City because he's too big

593
00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:30,520
Speaker 2: and fast and strong for Oklahoma City's guards, which is crazy,

594
00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,200
Speaker 2: but that's just like he is consistently getting past his man.

595
00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 3: It's crazy.

596
00:29:34,640 --> 00:29:36,800
Speaker 5: It's so crazy, especially when we've talked all season about

597
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:40,080
Speaker 5: how many unbelievable defenders they're putting. Put Alics Caruso on

598
00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:42,840
Speaker 5: him today. Als Caruso, who were like, he is the

599
00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:46,840
Speaker 5: world beating defensive skeleton key right now after the Jogis performance,

600
00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,800
Speaker 5: they're like guard TJ McConney crazy anyway, Speaking of the

601
00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:53,440
Speaker 5: Denver series, Denver starters. They when they when they had

602
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:55,720
Speaker 5: a Game seven against the thunder Denver starters got off

603
00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:57,200
Speaker 5: to a good start, but as soon as their bench

604
00:29:57,240 --> 00:29:59,080
Speaker 5: came in, it was it was basically over.

605
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:01,640
Speaker 4: While the pacer bench is exponentially better.

606
00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 5: Thoughts on that sort of heading dynamic heading into Game

607
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:05,320
Speaker 5: seven the finals.

608
00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:09,720
Speaker 2: So it's complicated because if you remember Oklahoma City's bench

609
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:11,720
Speaker 2: game in the game too, and one of those guys

610
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:13,840
Speaker 2: happened to be Alex Crusoe, and that guy decided he

611
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,440
Speaker 2: was going to front the post against Nikolajokic, and Nikoliokich

612
00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 2: was out there during the start of the the thunder

613
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:23,040
Speaker 2: onslought that occurred there towards the end of the first quarter. Now, yes,

614
00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:25,200
Speaker 2: there was a Jokic less group in the start of

615
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 2: the second quarter that just completely decomposed. But the it's

616
00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:34,240
Speaker 2: it to me, it's uh, it's the bench for Indiana

617
00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:37,160
Speaker 2: to me, doesn't make as much of a difference in

618
00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:40,800
Speaker 2: terms of like traditional bench starter dynamics because Carlisle is

619
00:30:40,840 --> 00:30:42,000
Speaker 2: just gonna go with who's playing.

620
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:42,240
Speaker 4: Well.

621
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:43,720
Speaker 3: What I mean by that is like there.

622
00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:46,120
Speaker 2: Have been multiple stretches in this series where it's like

623
00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:48,600
Speaker 2: a key like, oh, it's the late second quarter and

624
00:30:48,640 --> 00:30:51,160
Speaker 2: this is usually a starting group, but we've got TJ.

625
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:53,720
Speaker 2: McConnell and Ben Sheppard on the floor, you know, stuff

626
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,560
Speaker 2: like that. So like, to me, Carlisle is gonna pick

627
00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:58,760
Speaker 2: the dudes that he thinks are playing the best in

628
00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:01,240
Speaker 2: that moment to be out on the floor. To me,

629
00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:03,920
Speaker 2: it's when Oklahoma City starts to leverage, Like when they

630
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,160
Speaker 2: start with Hartenstein and Chet, they're a little bit slower,

631
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:07,880
Speaker 2: they're not as good with their ball pressure when they

632
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,120
Speaker 2: bring in case On Wallace, when they bring in Alex Cruso,

633
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:13,520
Speaker 2: when they really start swarming and pressuring like crazy. It's

634
00:31:13,560 --> 00:31:16,200
Speaker 2: just about Oklahoma City not soiling themselves the way they did.

635
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:18,440
Speaker 2: They had eight turnovers in the fourth quarter of Game five,

636
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:20,200
Speaker 2: And that's what you got to be prepared for is

637
00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:23,080
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City is gonna bring just the most hillatious defensive

638
00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:25,400
Speaker 2: punch that you can possibly imagine in Game seven, and

639
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:27,200
Speaker 2: they have to not get rattled. And to me, an

640
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,120
Speaker 2: easy way to counter that is they've got to bring

641
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:31,640
Speaker 2: their hilacious defensive punch and they got to try to

642
00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:34,720
Speaker 2: rattle Oklahoma City's the offense enough to get out in transition.

643
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:38,760
Speaker 5: Will be really interesting to see if they start Cruise

644
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:40,600
Speaker 5: or not like they started them in the second half today.

645
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:43,160
Speaker 5: They've done that times in the playoff series. In the playoffs,

646
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:44,560
Speaker 5: it'll be interesting if they start.

647
00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:45,320
Speaker 4: Him to start the game.

648
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:46,960
Speaker 3: I would. I would.

649
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,080
Speaker 2: It's not fucking around time anymore. Like you were officially

650
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:52,400
Speaker 2: in single elimination territory in the trophy. You could lose

651
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,200
Speaker 2: the trophy. You got to start your best five, and

652
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:56,960
Speaker 2: Cruiss clearly the their best fifth guy in this series.

653
00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,480
Speaker 3: I think. Yeah.

654
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:03,719
Speaker 5: Next question, if OKC loses, would you consider it a

655
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:05,920
Speaker 5: big choke job or would you I guess a better

656
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:07,640
Speaker 5: way to phrase it is, would you think of it

657
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,160
Speaker 5: more as a big choke job from OKAC or as

658
00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:14,040
Speaker 5: a sort of superhuman valiant effort from the Pacers front.

659
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:15,560
Speaker 4: It's obviously a combination of those.

660
00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:22,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's you know, on its face. Very simply, if

661
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,120
Speaker 2: a minus seven hundred favorite before a series loses, it

662
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:29,400
Speaker 2: can't be anything other than a giant choke job, especially

663
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 2: when you look back to what happened at the end

664
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:34,200
Speaker 2: of Game one, when you had a substantial lead and

665
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:37,440
Speaker 2: you end up blowing that game. I think it's a

666
00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,160
Speaker 2: little bit more complicated for me because everyone on the

667
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:44,800
Speaker 2: roster is so young. So for instance, like, let's use

668
00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,120
Speaker 2: the most iconic choke job in the history of the NBA,

669
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:52,800
Speaker 2: the twenty eleven Heat, Like they had vets on the roster. Yeah,

670
00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:55,000
Speaker 2: it was a clunky, clunky roster and they hadn't really

671
00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:56,680
Speaker 2: figured out how to like space the floor. And they're

672
00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:58,400
Speaker 2: playing two bigs and Lebron's playing the three and it

673
00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:02,600
Speaker 2: won perfect by any stretch the imagination. But what happened

674
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:05,520
Speaker 2: in that series is Lebron decomposed and Dirk hit a

675
00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,000
Speaker 2: level that was crazy and it ended up leading to

676
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:11,400
Speaker 2: one of the biggest upsets. Shay has had his downs

677
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:13,880
Speaker 2: in this series, but he's also had some massive ups

678
00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:17,719
Speaker 2: and I think Shay's been particularly good in the pivotal moments.

679
00:33:17,800 --> 00:33:19,320
Speaker 2: You lose Game two, you lose the series.

680
00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:19,959
Speaker 3: He was awesome.

681
00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:22,480
Speaker 2: You lose the final minutes of Game four, you lose

682
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:27,040
Speaker 2: the series, he was awesome. You lose, you lose Game five,

683
00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:29,000
Speaker 2: you lose the series, he was awesome. So, like, to

684
00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:31,320
Speaker 2: Shay's credit, he hasn't had like that type of thing.

685
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,600
Speaker 2: To me, what's happening in this series on the Oklahoma

686
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:36,840
Speaker 2: City front is more testament to just the stuff I've

687
00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:39,720
Speaker 2: been preaching about all season. Every time I've talked about

688
00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,200
Speaker 2: the Thunder all season, I've said the same damn things

689
00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:46,080
Speaker 2: every damn time, which is, they have this obvious upside.

690
00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:49,800
Speaker 2: The metrics are there, everything looks great. All of your

691
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:51,800
Speaker 2: conventional wisdom would lead you to believe this is the

692
00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:54,600
Speaker 2: NBA champion, But there are a bunch of kids relative

693
00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:58,160
Speaker 2: to NBA players, relative to other NBA championship teams in

694
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:03,840
Speaker 2: NBA history, story tells us this team loses. They have

695
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:08,600
Speaker 2: overcome that to this point. But to me, they're inconsistencies

696
00:34:08,640 --> 00:34:11,880
Speaker 2: and their inability to kind of like play to their potential,

697
00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:14,520
Speaker 2: so to speak, because like they should have beat Indiana

698
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:16,560
Speaker 2: in five or six games, They should have beat Denver

699
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:20,680
Speaker 2: in five games, and they didn't. They beat Denver in seven,

700
00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:24,320
Speaker 2: and they're in danger of potentially losing to Indiana and seven.

701
00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:27,399
Speaker 2: And to me, that's come down to their inexperience and

702
00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:31,160
Speaker 2: what all of the downsides the things that have happened.

703
00:34:31,840 --> 00:34:34,200
Speaker 2: It's been consistent, like what is Oklahoma City look like

704
00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:38,520
Speaker 2: when they're bad? Shay's chucking shots or the guy the

705
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,200
Speaker 2: role players are not able to knock down the open

706
00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:43,920
Speaker 2: shots that are available they get super super sweaty palmed

707
00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:46,640
Speaker 2: on offense and they can't score and that ends up

708
00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:49,200
Speaker 2: being the difference. And that's happened to them periodically throughout

709
00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:51,960
Speaker 2: the season at various points, and none of it matters.

710
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,719
Speaker 2: If they hoist the trophy, go win on Sunday, no

711
00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:56,480
Speaker 2: one's gonna care. But like the threat was always there,

712
00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 2: this Oklahoma City team was beatable, and they were beatable

713
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:01,480
Speaker 2: because of their you and I do think that that

714
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:05,120
Speaker 2: has shown at various points in this postseason to.

715
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:08,319
Speaker 5: That point, we have another question. The Thunder officially are

716
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:08,759
Speaker 5: gonna be.

717
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:10,880
Speaker 4: Four and five on the road in this playoff run, and.

718
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,239
Speaker 5: Now they're gonna have a losing playoff record during their

719
00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:15,840
Speaker 5: playoff run. This has happened before an NBA history. Wouldn't

720
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:17,520
Speaker 5: be the first time a champion as a losing playoff record,

721
00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:20,759
Speaker 5: but it doesn't happen that often. Would and that's you know,

722
00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:23,319
Speaker 5: certainly speaks to their youth. Would that if they on

723
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:24,799
Speaker 5: the flip side of this sort of conversation we talked

724
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:27,120
Speaker 5: about if the Patriots win, if the Thunder winning Game seven,

725
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:31,560
Speaker 5: would that losing playoff record be a blemish as we

726
00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:33,880
Speaker 5: think about them as one of their You know, we

727
00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:35,360
Speaker 5: talked a lot of during the regular season, is this

728
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:37,200
Speaker 5: one of the great teams in NBA history?

729
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:39,480
Speaker 4: Would that be a blemish to you? To you for

730
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:40,600
Speaker 4: their playoff.

731
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:43,520
Speaker 2: Run, I wouldn't call it a blemish to me. It's

732
00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:47,960
Speaker 2: it's especially for a team that's one of the great teams,

733
00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,959
Speaker 2: it is always a little clunky in that first playoff run,

734
00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:56,120
Speaker 2: your first like really deep playoff run. So for instance,

735
00:35:56,120 --> 00:35:59,520
Speaker 2: like even for Boston in twenty twenty two, for example,

736
00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:02,319
Speaker 2: which I qualify as their first big playoff run, right,

737
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:06,120
Speaker 2: I theoretically not because they had other conference finals runs,

738
00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:09,160
Speaker 2: but just let's focus in on that one in particular,

739
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:12,960
Speaker 2: Like you have the shakiness against Milwaukee, you have the

740
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,680
Speaker 2: shakiness against Golden State, and you end up eventually losing

741
00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:20,040
Speaker 2: against Golden State. Like typically in those first few runs,

742
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:24,200
Speaker 2: a lot of your youth shows, your inconsistencies show I've

743
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:26,319
Speaker 2: been saying all year, this is the year to beat

744
00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:31,000
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City because all all that's gonna happen is Chet's

745
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:34,279
Speaker 2: gonna get better and Jadubb's gonna get better. And I

746
00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:36,640
Speaker 2: think even Shay has learned a lot of valuable lessons

747
00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 2: in this series and there's been these obvious, like differences

748
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,759
Speaker 2: in approach from Shay and his good games and in

749
00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,239
Speaker 2: his bad games throughout this entire playoff run. And like

750
00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:47,800
Speaker 2: like any young basketball player, he's just taking in data

751
00:36:47,840 --> 00:36:49,719
Speaker 2: and he's learning, and he's gonna learn how to like

752
00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,240
Speaker 2: repeat the stuff that works and avoid the stuff that doesn't.

753
00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:54,759
Speaker 2: And so to me, like in the same way that

754
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:57,440
Speaker 2: we look back on the Warriors, even though they were

755
00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:00,200
Speaker 2: shaking in twenty fifteen, you know, they fall down two

756
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:04,279
Speaker 2: one to Memphis. They I think they were down they

757
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,239
Speaker 2: were down two one to Memphis. They were down two

758
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:09,399
Speaker 2: one to Cleveland. I think that was the only two

759
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:12,080
Speaker 2: series they trailed in. But like they it didn't look

760
00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:14,040
Speaker 2: like the most dominant playoff run for a team that

761
00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:17,000
Speaker 2: won what sixty seven regular season games the way they did, right, So, Like,

762
00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:19,480
Speaker 2: I mean they won one fewer game than Oklahoma City did, right,

763
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,160
Speaker 2: And what that look, what do we look back at

764
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:24,080
Speaker 2: as that that team, as we look at that as

765
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:26,880
Speaker 2: the young Warriors? That was the one they stole, right, Like,

766
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:28,719
Speaker 2: that was the one that like I think a lot

767
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,200
Speaker 2: of people think, like if the Calves were healthy, like,

768
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:32,920
Speaker 2: maybe that ends up being a different series.

769
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:34,480
Speaker 3: That one maybe, but.

770
00:37:34,600 --> 00:37:37,000
Speaker 2: Or later on as they got older, as they got

771
00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:39,279
Speaker 2: more experience, It's like, all of a sudden, they were

772
00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:42,000
Speaker 2: the team that was beating the sixty eight or sixty

773
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:46,680
Speaker 2: five win rockets and beating the more the more electric

774
00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:48,840
Speaker 2: regular season teams, because all of a sudden, they were

775
00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:50,719
Speaker 2: the savvy vets who had been in all these big

776
00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,239
Speaker 2: moments and they're just more comfortable in those spots. And

777
00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:55,279
Speaker 2: so to me, I think we'll look back like if

778
00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:57,480
Speaker 2: Okahoma City wins on Sunday, which I believe they will.

779
00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:00,320
Speaker 2: If Oklahoma City wins on Sunday, it's just to be

780
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:03,080
Speaker 2: their first title. And yeah, if they have a dominant

781
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:05,480
Speaker 2: one after, Like if they go back next year and

782
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:08,759
Speaker 2: they go sixteen and three, no one's gonna care that

783
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:11,879
Speaker 2: they had a tough playoff run in twenty twenty five.

784
00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:14,800
Speaker 2: As is always the case, you can legitimize your success

785
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:18,239
Speaker 2: with repeated titles. Celtics fans will always cling to the

786
00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:21,560
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four title as one of the as as

787
00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:24,120
Speaker 2: like an all time great team. But if you're gonna

788
00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:27,560
Speaker 2: convince the masses of anything, it's multiple titles. And that

789
00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:31,719
Speaker 2: is ultimately the unassailable thing that okayc needs to accomplish.

790
00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:34,600
Speaker 4: Last question before we go over to playback.

791
00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:37,799
Speaker 5: You sort of just touched on it, but DraftKings has

792
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:39,520
Speaker 5: the Thunder as an eight and a half point favorite

793
00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:40,120
Speaker 5: in game set.

794
00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:42,399
Speaker 4: How would you lean that, I.

795
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:49,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would bet. I would take Oklahoma City and

796
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,000
Speaker 2: the spread. I think Oklahoma City is gonna win big.

797
00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:55,120
Speaker 2: I think Oklahoma's city. I think Oklahoma City will be

798
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,400
Speaker 2: celebrating the championship the entire fourth quarter.

799
00:38:57,880 --> 00:39:00,120
Speaker 3: For the record, I got I hope.

800
00:38:59,920 --> 00:39:03,239
Speaker 2: That doesn't happen. And this extends beyond like hoping for

801
00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:05,680
Speaker 2: an interesting thing for the job. I've talked about this

802
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:08,960
Speaker 2: on the show before, but like just speaking authentically as

803
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,279
Speaker 2: a basketball fan, I like this Pacers team more. I

804
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:13,360
Speaker 2: think they play a more likable brand of basketball. I

805
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:16,200
Speaker 2: think they're more fun to watch, and I'm actively rooting

806
00:39:16,239 --> 00:39:19,080
Speaker 2: for them just as a basketball fan. And so I

807
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:21,280
Speaker 2: don't want that to happen on Sunday. I want Indiana

808
00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:25,520
Speaker 2: to win. But I believe in this Oklahoma City defense.

809
00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:28,200
Speaker 2: I believe that they can reach a level that is

810
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:31,640
Speaker 2: transcendent compared to even other great NBA defenses in the

811
00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:35,520
Speaker 2: history of the league. So I think Oklahoma City I

812
00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:39,400
Speaker 2: think Oklahoma City controls Sunday throughout and it's relatively boring,

813
00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:41,640
Speaker 2: which is not what I'm hoping for, but again, that's

814
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:43,799
Speaker 2: what I think will happen. Well, what's your guests? If

815
00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:45,839
Speaker 2: you had to guess, you're more optimistic, So why don't

816
00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:46,399
Speaker 2: you pitch the case?

817
00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:46,920
Speaker 3: Let's hear it.

818
00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:51,320
Speaker 5: I mean, I think I do feel like the spread

819
00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:53,000
Speaker 5: is kind of an interesting number at eight and a

820
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:56,320
Speaker 5: half because it does feel like the Thunder have a

821
00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:59,320
Speaker 5: very good chance to win by fifteen twelve to fifteen.

822
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:00,839
Speaker 4: And also like if the Pacers are.

823
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:02,960
Speaker 5: Gonna win, I don't think they're winning by eight, you

824
00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:04,080
Speaker 5: know what I mean, Like, I don't think that that

825
00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:05,960
Speaker 5: number is gonna come into play all that much. I

826
00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:08,920
Speaker 5: feel like it's either going to be a Thunder cruise

827
00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:10,480
Speaker 5: or a Pacers like three to.

828
00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:13,040
Speaker 4: Four point win. But I don't know.

829
00:40:13,120 --> 00:40:17,600
Speaker 5: I mean, I think today's game is a is a

830
00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:20,520
Speaker 5: bad time to have a true stinker, you know, like

831
00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:23,520
Speaker 5: it definitely feels like something a veteran team would do

832
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:25,319
Speaker 5: more than a young team, maybe like punt the game,

833
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:27,120
Speaker 5: but you know you're not punting any games in the

834
00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:29,880
Speaker 5: NBA Finals, right Like this is it's the NBA Finals

835
00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:31,319
Speaker 5: time you have a chance to close that on the

836
00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:34,680
Speaker 5: road there's no and the Pacers building the kind of

837
00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:37,200
Speaker 5: confidence then them hard and Nee Smith offensive performances and

838
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:40,600
Speaker 5: I are definitely really you know, it's a sign of

839
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:42,440
Speaker 5: it's a positive sign for the Pacers. I don't I

840
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:43,880
Speaker 5: think that if I was gonna have to pick, and

841
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:45,360
Speaker 5: I had to make a pick, I would pick the

842
00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:48,120
Speaker 5: Thunder and I would pick them to win by eleven probably.

843
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,560
Speaker 5: But I do feel like the Pacers winning is very

844
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:54,520
Speaker 5: within the realm despite all the Thunder factors.

845
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,080
Speaker 3: It's absolutely on the table. Couldn't agree more.

846
00:40:57,400 --> 00:41:00,120
Speaker 2: It's just it to me, is very clearly the less

847
00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:03,880
Speaker 2: likely outcome, and it the weird thing is it's a

848
00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:08,320
Speaker 2: it's a fucking eternity until Sunday again. Like this schedule

849
00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:10,600
Speaker 2: has been so bizarre. I was joking with my wife earlier.

850
00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:12,880
Speaker 2: I was like, this is the longest season we've worked

851
00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:16,759
Speaker 2: because we had the Warriors series in twenty twenty two

852
00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:19,239
Speaker 2: that went six games, but then we've had back to

853
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:22,360
Speaker 2: back five game finals, Like we're working deep into the

854
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:24,640
Speaker 2: month of June or we're going on the what is

855
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:27,560
Speaker 2: it the twenty second right, So like it's and it's

856
00:41:27,600 --> 00:41:31,560
Speaker 2: like it's just another all like every every sequence has

857
00:41:31,560 --> 00:41:34,160
Speaker 2: felt the same to me, where Like on that second

858
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:36,520
Speaker 2: full day off after the finals, I'm like, I cannot

859
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:38,920
Speaker 2: believe there's not a game tonight, Like we're waiting again,

860
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,359
Speaker 2: We're doing this tomorrow night, and so like it's an

861
00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:44,160
Speaker 2: eternity to wait, and like if there's one other thing

862
00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:48,239
Speaker 2: to cling to if your Pacers fan, game sevens are

863
00:41:48,400 --> 00:41:52,520
Speaker 2: notoriously nerve wracking, so there's a certain element to where

864
00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:54,719
Speaker 2: like you can hope that Oklahoma City succumbs to that

865
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:57,040
Speaker 2: a little bit. The only thing that always worries me

866
00:41:57,080 --> 00:41:59,640
Speaker 2: in a situation like that is there's one thing that

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Speaker 2: is dependably consistent every single night, no matter what, when

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00:42:03,160 --> 00:42:05,520
Speaker 2: a team is playing hard in that's defense. And that's

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00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:07,719
Speaker 2: the calling card for the Oklahoma City team, and that's

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00:42:07,719 --> 00:42:09,800
Speaker 2: what makes them the safer bet. That's why they're the

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00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:12,480
Speaker 2: safer bet. But that doesn't mean that Indiana can't win.

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00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:14,279
Speaker 2: All right, guys, that's all we have for tonight, as

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00:42:14,320 --> 00:42:16,080
Speaker 2: always been. Sincerely appreciate you guys for supporing us in

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00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:18,320
Speaker 2: supporting the show. Remember heading over to playback so playback

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00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:21,200
Speaker 2: dot tv slash Oops. Tonight will be taking callers and

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00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:23,520
Speaker 2: just hanging out and talking OOPS for about an hour.

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00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:25,200
Speaker 3: We'll see you guys over there. What's up guys.

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00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:27,960
Speaker 2: As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting

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00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:30,600
Speaker 2: OOPS tonight. They would actually be really helpful for us

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00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:32,080
Speaker 2: if you guys would take a second.

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00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:34,040
Speaker 3: And leave a rating and a review.

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00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:35,920
Speaker 2: As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us, but if

883
00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:37,920
Speaker 2: you could take a minute to do that, I really

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00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:41,400
Speaker 2: appreciate it. The volume