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Speaker 1: The Volume. All right, welcome to tonight here at the Volume.

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Speaker 1: Happy Tuesday, everybody. We are live on and don't forget

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Speaker 1: if you're watching on YouTube or listening on our podcast

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Speaker 1: feed to AMP. It's the very first place that you

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Speaker 1: guys can get these shows. Ladies and gentlemen, like it

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Speaker 1: or not. Regardless of who you think should win MVP,

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Speaker 1: which we'll talk about later, Joel Embiid as of right now,

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Speaker 1: has become the minus four seventy favorite to win MVP

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Speaker 1: after dominating the Boston Celtics tonight in a very important

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Speaker 1: win I thought for the Sixers, just for their psyche

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Speaker 1: heading into this playoff. We're gonna break down that game.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna talk a little bit about Joel embid and

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Speaker 1: the MVP situation that we're actually gonna take some calls

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Speaker 1: from the audience. You guys know the Joe before we

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Speaker 1: get started. Subscribe to the Volumes YouTube chan else you

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Speaker 1: don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on

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Speaker 1: Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you guys don't miss

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Speaker 1: any show announcements. And for whatever reason, you guys miss

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Speaker 1: to YouTube to finish don't forget. You can find them

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Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts Underhoops Tonight. Last, but not least,

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Speaker 1: So the interesting storyline in this game, as is always

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Speaker 1: the case whenever a team is going against Joel Embida,

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Speaker 1: especially when we're heading into a playoff confrontation, Like you know,

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Speaker 1: we're looking at this and yeah, the Nets are going

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Speaker 1: to be an interesting challenge for the Sixers. We'll talk

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Speaker 1: a little bit more about that later. And the Heat

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Speaker 1: still have an outside chance to get that spot, but

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Speaker 1: they don't have the tiebreaker against Brooklyn, so it's probably

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Speaker 1: gonna be Miami versus Boston. But chances are, health permitting,

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Speaker 1: we're probably going to get a Celtic Celtics Sixers playoff

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Speaker 1: series here in about three weeks. And so usually what

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Speaker 1: I'm looking at in a case like this is just

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Speaker 1: different little matchup pieces that'll probably translate into that type

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Speaker 1: of playoff series, albeit you know, it's a regular season game.

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Speaker 1: I thought it was clear from the jump that Philly

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Speaker 1: wanted this one more. I think they needed it more.

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Speaker 1: Like I said earlier, for their psyche, you always have

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Speaker 1: to factor in the the element of players missing the games,

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Speaker 1: like Jalen Brown probably plays if this is a more

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Speaker 1: important game. Robert Williams obviously is going to be a

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Speaker 1: vitally important piece to guarding Joel Embiad in a playoff series.

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Speaker 1: They opted in most cases in this game, especially when PJ.

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Speaker 1: Tucker was on the floor to stick Al Horford on PJ.

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Speaker 1: Tucker basically helping behind, and then Grant Williams on the ball.

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Speaker 1: And you know, it's funny the difference in size there.

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Speaker 1: Grant Williams kind of fared pretty well against Jannis in

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Speaker 1: the playoffs last year. You know, Jannis is just a

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Speaker 1: little bit smaller than Joel Embid, but he struggled mightily

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Speaker 1: against Joel Ebeid in this matchup. And then for the

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Speaker 1: most part throughout the whole game, they left Joel Embiat

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Speaker 1: in single coverage until the end of the game when

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Speaker 1: they finally started recklessly doubling off of PJ. Tucker and

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Speaker 1: Joel Embiid made the right reads and PJ. Tucker finally

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Speaker 1: made a couple of massively important threes that ended up

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Speaker 1: being the deciding factor in this game. Kind of a

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Speaker 1: fascinating night for a fifty point Joel embiid game for

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Speaker 1: it to be determined in large part after a tie

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Speaker 1: game late on him making the right reads down the stretch.

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Speaker 1: I think everything fundamentally with Joel embiad comes down to

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Speaker 1: the improvements he's made at the free throw line as

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Speaker 1: a jump shot maker. You know, it's funny I talk

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Speaker 1: a lot about, you know, the physical confrontations at the

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Speaker 1: point of attack, and obviously it's different for heavy ball

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Speaker 1: handlers who are hitting tons of dribble combinations. It becomes

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Speaker 1: so much more about foot speed and anticipation and those

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Speaker 1: sorts of things. But these confrontations at the forward position

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Speaker 1: anywhere like three four five in the front court, they

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Speaker 1: come down a lot more to the physical altercation. It's

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Speaker 1: a lot more of the like hitting shoulders and who's

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Speaker 1: gonna win that shoulder confrontation? Like are you going to

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Speaker 1: blow through the defender's shoulder or is the defender going

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Speaker 1: to hold his ground and kind of keep you kind

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Speaker 1: of flatten out your drive away from the rim. And

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Speaker 1: it's so important in that case to have the jump

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Speaker 1: shooting threat because the better of the bigger threat you

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Speaker 1: are is a jump shooter, the closer the forward has

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Speaker 1: to guard you. If the forward has to guard you closely,

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Speaker 1: then you can go to that rip through move. And

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Speaker 1: beat is just so damn big and strong that he's

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Speaker 1: gonna win that rip through move every single time. But

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Speaker 1: if he doesn't have the jumper, then they can play off.

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Speaker 1: And it's more about anticipation. And now if you slide

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Speaker 1: your feet, well maybe you can take a charge or

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Speaker 1: you have more opportunity to dig down from the wings

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Speaker 1: and help. Right, But Joel Embiat has become so unbelievably

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Speaker 1: deadly with that pull up fifteen foot shot there at

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Speaker 1: the free throw line that you can't play off of

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Speaker 1: him anymore. Like there's a bunch of early possessions there

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Speaker 1: in that fourth quarter where you know Blake Griffin is

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Speaker 1: in that same kind of predicament where it's like, am

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Speaker 1: I gonna press up on him and let him go

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Speaker 1: around me? Or am I going to concede this shot? Well,

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Speaker 1: if you concede that shot, he's just making it every

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Speaker 1: single time now, and it's it's made him borderline unguardable

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Speaker 1: because if he knocks down that if you give him

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Speaker 1: the space. He's gonna knock it down if you press

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Speaker 1: up on him. It's not a question of ball handling.

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Speaker 1: It's not a question of anything other than the fact

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Speaker 1: that he's so much bigger and stronger than you that

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Speaker 1: when he goes to that rip through move, he's either

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Speaker 1: going to get around you or you're gonna foul him.

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Speaker 1: And that's why chances are your best. You know, my

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Speaker 1: feeling for how to beat Philly in a playoff series

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Speaker 1: is the same as it was last year. You double

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Speaker 1: the hell out of Joel Embiid every time he has

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Speaker 1: the basketball, turn him into a passer, try to get

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Speaker 1: the help off of the worst shooter on the other team,

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Speaker 1: in this case PJ Tucker, and you live with the results.

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Speaker 1: And then with James Harden, you try to turn him

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Speaker 1: into a score because at this phase in his career

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Speaker 1: he's just not quite as dynamic as he used to

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Speaker 1: be scoring the basketball. But that mbiad matchup was a

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Speaker 1: huge problem for him. It will definitely look different in

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Speaker 1: a series. I think you'll see the alternate of what

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Speaker 1: you saw tonight. Instead of Al Horford kind of being

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Speaker 1: tucked back and help, I think you'll often see al

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Speaker 1: Horford on the ball, and when al Horford is on

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Speaker 1: the ball, you'll see Robert Williams on PJ. Tucker hawking

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Speaker 1: to paint, making it a little bit easier for al

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Speaker 1: Horford to be aggressive without fouling, knowing that he's got

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Speaker 1: a real rim protector behind him. But this is the

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Speaker 1: chess match of playoff basketball because the best offensive stretches

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Speaker 1: for the Celtics, or when al Horford was at the

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Speaker 1: five and they were able to really space Philly out.

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Speaker 1: And you know, there's a lot of positive from Boston

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Speaker 1: in this game. They were in control of this game

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Speaker 1: until Mbid basically stole it from him with his own

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Speaker 1: individual greatness. But and Boston has looked extremely impressed, if here,

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Speaker 1: over the last couple of weeks, starting with that absolute

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Speaker 1: shellacking of the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee. I've always said

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Speaker 1: that Boston I think has the most overall talent in

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Speaker 1: the league. I think that was the case last year

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Speaker 1: and this year. Doesn't mean they're the best team. Talent

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Speaker 1: is only one small part of what makes a great

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Speaker 1: basketball team, but they do have the most talent. What

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Speaker 1: that means is that when they play good basketball, they're

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Speaker 1: good Basketball is going to be better than everyone else.

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Speaker 1: Is good basketball, and they have so much talent on

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Speaker 1: that roster, Like look at the guard battle in this game.

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Speaker 1: I would argue that Malcolm Brogden and Derek White outplayed

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Speaker 1: James Harden and Tyree's Maxie in this game. And if

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Speaker 1: that happens in a playoff series, that's a serious problem.

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Speaker 1: Because Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum combined, we'll be able

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Speaker 1: to at least meet what Joel Embiid can bring to

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Speaker 1: the table. And so I was came It was an

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Speaker 1: interesting game because I came away very impressed by Joel Embiid,

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Speaker 1: but at the same time, it looks more and more

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Speaker 1: like Boston might very well be the best team in

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Speaker 1: the conference. I've been very delicate about making my predictions

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Speaker 1: because I really do want to wait until after Sunday.

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Speaker 1: We have a show on Sunday. We will get into

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Speaker 1: this stuff on Sunday. We're going live after that last

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Speaker 1: round of games. But you know, right now, like my

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Speaker 1: safe picks are Denver out west and Milwaukee out east,

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Speaker 1: just because they've demonstrated that to this point. But it

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Speaker 1: could just as easily be Lakers or Warriors or Sons

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Speaker 1: out West. I could very well end up picking Boston

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Speaker 1: when it's all said and done, and I do want

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Speaker 1: to have the rest of this week to look to

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Speaker 1: look deeper at it. But Boston's guards, you know, their

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Speaker 1: dribble penetration was the story of this game. They just

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Speaker 1: on the Boston side of things. They were it was

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Speaker 1: a layup line. Philly could not contain them at the

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Speaker 1: point of attack. They were consistently engaging and beat at

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Speaker 1: the rim as a rim protector and help and kicking

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Speaker 1: to shooters on the week's side, whether it was Al

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Speaker 1: Horford or whether it was Grant Williams. There was even

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Speaker 1: a little sequence there in the middle fourth where Jayson

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Speaker 1: Tatum was trying to attack Tyrese Maxi, drawing doubles and

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Speaker 1: kicking to Derek White. They just have a lot of

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Speaker 1: ability to get Philly into help and to get good shooting,

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Speaker 1: get good shot opportunities. And they have the most ball

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Speaker 1: handling and shooting by far in the league in my opinion.

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Speaker 1: Down the roster, they've got like seven or eight guys

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Speaker 1: that can all hit a three consistently and put the

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Speaker 1: basketball on the floor and make plays. They're a terrifying team.

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Speaker 1: And without Jaylen Brown and without Robert Williams, he gave

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Speaker 1: Philly a hell of a fight tonight. And here's the thing.

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Speaker 1: Embiad was amazing. He was the best player on the

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Speaker 1: floor by a mile. But what if PJ. Tucker misses

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Speaker 1: those shots, and there's a chance that he's going to

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Speaker 1: miss them, potentially in multiple games in a playoff series

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Speaker 1: between these two teams. So again, I'm very impressed by Embiid.

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Speaker 1: Like we talked about earlier, I think he's just about

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Speaker 1: certain to win MVP at this point. Vegas tends to agree.

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Speaker 1: Like we talked about earlier, he's minus four to seventy.

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Speaker 1: I personally still think Jannis deserves that. I think he's

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Speaker 1: the best player on the best team. And I think

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Speaker 1: Yannis just resoundingly outplayed Joel Embid the other night. But

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Speaker 1: that's irrelevant to what's actually going to happen. It seems

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Speaker 1: pretty clear now that Embiad's going to get it. But

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Speaker 1: you know, interestingly enough, from the matchup perspective, I came

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Speaker 1: away from this game mostly impressed by the Boston Celtics.

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Speaker 1: All right, we are going to take a question from

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Speaker 1: the audience, but also for everyone listening, don't forget that.

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Speaker 1: Later on tonight, we're gonna have another video on YouTube,

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Speaker 1: so keep an eye on the feed. In that video,

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Speaker 1: we are going to be breaking down the late slate

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Speaker 1: and primarily focus on the Western Conference. All right, let's

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Speaker 1: see if we can get a caller on here. Hey, Jason,

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Speaker 1: what's going on? Man? How are you? I'm good? What's

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Speaker 1: your name? Man? My name is Josh. I'm a huge

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Speaker 1: Knicks fan, and right now they just clinch the five

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Speaker 1: seed and they're playing the Calves. So I just wanted

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Speaker 1: to get your opinion on what you think. Do you

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Speaker 1: think the Knicks or the Calves are more of a

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Speaker 1: threat to take down one of the top three teams

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Speaker 1: in the East. Oh, that's a very interesting question. Thank

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Speaker 1: you for Colin and Josh. You know, the more I

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Speaker 1: look at the standings, I don't think there's too much

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Speaker 1: of a threat in the first round at the bottom

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Speaker 1: of the conference. The Hawks got a massive win tonight,

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Speaker 1: They're most likely going to end up getting that eight seed.

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Speaker 1: I trust Miami to win that play in game. And Miami,

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Speaker 1: I'm a little disappointed in them that they couldn't lap

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Speaker 1: Brooklyn because I like their chances better against the Sixers

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Speaker 1: than I do against the Celtics. I think those two

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Speaker 1: are pretty easy matchups. I think the Nets are going

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Speaker 1: to beat the Sixers. The Calves and Knicks are the

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Speaker 1: two teams that have the most qualities that we associate

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Speaker 1: with championship contention, right, So, like, for instance, the Calves

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Speaker 1: have a top tier defense and a ton of rim protection.

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Speaker 1: They have a ton of shot creation, both a high

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Speaker 1: level playmaking from Darius Garland and high level shot making

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Speaker 1: from Donovan Mitchell. But my biggest concern with the Cavs

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Speaker 1: is that I don't think they have nearly the amount

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Speaker 1: of spot up talent that they need, and I think

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Speaker 1: in the backcourt their perimeter defense is more than a

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Speaker 1: little bit suspect and has damaged and you've seen that

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Speaker 1: especially in clutch situations this year. The Nicks are interesting

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Speaker 1: because you know, obviously they don't have the star power

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Speaker 1: that we see from other teams in the conference, but

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Speaker 1: they check so many boxes that I've historically kind of

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Speaker 1: connected with championship contention. Mitchell Robinson obviously doesn't have the

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Speaker 1: reputation of a top tier rim protector, but that's something

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Speaker 1: that he can do and can do well. They have

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Speaker 1: I think one of the best perimeter defense cores that

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Speaker 1: you have in the conference, between guys like Josh Hard

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Speaker 1: and Emmanuel Quickly, even Jalen Brunson, dating back to his

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Speaker 1: time in Dallas, really competed at the point of attack,

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Speaker 1: and then they can do that to you on the

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Speaker 1: other end of the floor. They've won a lot of games.

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Speaker 1: They've won a lot of games this year by beating

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Speaker 1: teams at the point of attack and getting tons of

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Speaker 1: dribble penetration. There was a game a couple of weeks

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Speaker 1: ago where we saw them beat the Lakers in Staples

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Speaker 1: Center when they were red hot, just because no one

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Speaker 1: could keep RJ. Barrett out of the lane, because no

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Speaker 1: one could keep Quentin Crimes out of the lane. Like

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Speaker 1: it's it's just one of those things where you know

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Speaker 1: your ability to generate dribble penetration and then contain it

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Speaker 1: on the other end of the floor is a high

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Speaker 1: level asset. And then, last, but not least, from the

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Speaker 1: shock creation standpoint, they have two of my favorite archetypes

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Speaker 1: of shock creators. You've got Jalen Brunson as this dynamic

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Speaker 1: three level score that can hit pull up threes and

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Speaker 1: pull up fifteen footers and pull up eighteen footers and

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Speaker 1: he can knock down those floaters in the lane with

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Speaker 1: the high level playmaking. But then he can also beat

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Speaker 1: a switch in pick and roll. But then you've got

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Speaker 1: Julius Randel, who represents an entirely different type of scoring

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Speaker 1: archetype one that I've always found to be immensely important

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Speaker 1: in playoff series, which is the big matchup attacking forward,

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Speaker 1: because more often than not, teams when they're confronting issues

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Speaker 1: with ball handling and shooting, or when they're confronting issues

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Speaker 1: with perimeter defense, will opt for a smaller guard. You're

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Speaker 1: going to see a lot of teams do this this year.

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Speaker 1: They're out a guy between six foot and six two

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Speaker 1: that they need out there for ball handling and shooting,

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Speaker 1: and they need out there for point of attack defense.

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Speaker 1: But the problem is is in a switching system in

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Speaker 1: the playoffs, which is what you're going to see more

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Speaker 1: frequently from teams in that sort of dynamic, having a

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Speaker 1: forward that can attack those switches by fighting down to

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Speaker 1: that ten fifteen footmark and shooting those little fadeaways over

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Speaker 1: both shoulders. That's a huge asset to have. And so again,

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Speaker 1: now both of those teams. Unfortunately, just with the way

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Speaker 1: that the seatings have a seating is broken down, They're

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Speaker 1: probably gonna end up facing the Bucks and that's going

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Speaker 1: to be a really tough matchup for them. But look

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Speaker 1: at it this way. The Bucks are a heavy drop

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Speaker 1: coverage team. Jalen Brunson is one of the best drop

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Speaker 1: coverage attacking guards that we have in the league. The

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Speaker 1: Bucks are going to play at any given moment two

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Speaker 1: guys below six five on the court at the same time.

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Speaker 1: Those are matchups that Julius Randall can attack. Julius Randall himself,

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Speaker 1: I think is going to have to take on the

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Speaker 1: challenge of potentially battling Janis on a bunch of possessions.

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Speaker 1: I'll be really interested to see how he handles that.

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Speaker 1: But he's gonna have the advantage of Mitchell Robinson behind him,

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Speaker 1: provided that they can rotate to Brook Lopez. So again,

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Speaker 1: I don't think many of these teams have that much

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Speaker 1: of a chance because the Buck, Celtics, and Sixers are

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Speaker 1: so much better than everyone else. But I do as

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Speaker 1: of right now, like the Nicks slightly better than the

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Speaker 1: rest of that group as a team that could knock

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Speaker 1: off one of them, but they got to beat the

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Speaker 1: CAAZ first and that's another tough matchup. And again I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't pick them in a series, but I do think

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Speaker 1: that they've got a chance. All right, Josh, thank you

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Speaker 1: so much for calling in man. So we've got to

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Speaker 1: get back to the TV screens to watch these Western

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Speaker 1: Conference games. So we're gonna call it to night for

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Speaker 1: right now, but I will be back on YouTube later

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Speaker 1: tonight breaking down the rest of the Western Conference slate.

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Speaker 1: The Gold Say Warriors are trailing after the first quarter,

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Speaker 1: so it should be a fun one. All right, guys,

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Speaker 1: We'll see you later tonight. The volume