Speaker 1: The Volume. All right, welcome to tonight here at the Volume.
Speaker 1: Happy Tuesday, everybody. We are live on and don't forget
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Speaker 1: guys can get these shows. Ladies and gentlemen, like it
Speaker 1: or not. Regardless of who you think should win MVP,
Speaker 1: which we'll talk about later, Joel Embiid as of right now,
Speaker 1: has become the minus four seventy favorite to win MVP
Speaker 1: after dominating the Boston Celtics tonight in a very important
Speaker 1: win I thought for the Sixers, just for their psyche
Speaker 1: heading into this playoff. We're gonna break down that game.
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk a little bit about Joel embid and
Speaker 1: the MVP situation that we're actually gonna take some calls
Speaker 1: from the audience. You guys know the Joe before we
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Speaker 1: So the interesting storyline in this game, as is always
Speaker 1: the case whenever a team is going against Joel Embida,
Speaker 1: especially when we're heading into a playoff confrontation, Like you know,
Speaker 1: we're looking at this and yeah, the Nets are going
Speaker 1: to be an interesting challenge for the Sixers. We'll talk
Speaker 1: a little bit more about that later. And the Heat
Speaker 1: still have an outside chance to get that spot, but
Speaker 1: they don't have the tiebreaker against Brooklyn, so it's probably
Speaker 1: gonna be Miami versus Boston. But chances are, health permitting,
Speaker 1: we're probably going to get a Celtic Celtics Sixers playoff
Speaker 1: series here in about three weeks. And so usually what
Speaker 1: I'm looking at in a case like this is just
Speaker 1: different little matchup pieces that'll probably translate into that type
Speaker 1: of playoff series, albeit you know, it's a regular season game.
Speaker 1: I thought it was clear from the jump that Philly
Speaker 1: wanted this one more. I think they needed it more.
Speaker 1: Like I said earlier, for their psyche, you always have
Speaker 1: to factor in the the element of players missing the games,
Speaker 1: like Jalen Brown probably plays if this is a more
Speaker 1: important game. Robert Williams obviously is going to be a
Speaker 1: vitally important piece to guarding Joel Embiad in a playoff series.
Speaker 1: They opted in most cases in this game, especially when PJ.
Speaker 1: Tucker was on the floor to stick Al Horford on PJ.
Speaker 1: Tucker basically helping behind, and then Grant Williams on the ball.
Speaker 1: And you know, it's funny the difference in size there.
Speaker 1: Grant Williams kind of fared pretty well against Jannis in
Speaker 1: the playoffs last year. You know, Jannis is just a
Speaker 1: little bit smaller than Joel Embid, but he struggled mightily
Speaker 1: against Joel Ebeid in this matchup. And then for the
Speaker 1: most part throughout the whole game, they left Joel Embiat
Speaker 1: in single coverage until the end of the game when
Speaker 1: they finally started recklessly doubling off of PJ. Tucker and
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid made the right reads and PJ. Tucker finally
Speaker 1: made a couple of massively important threes that ended up
Speaker 1: being the deciding factor in this game. Kind of a
Speaker 1: fascinating night for a fifty point Joel embiid game for
Speaker 1: it to be determined in large part after a tie
Speaker 1: game late on him making the right reads down the stretch.
Speaker 1: I think everything fundamentally with Joel embiad comes down to
Speaker 1: the improvements he's made at the free throw line as
Speaker 1: a jump shot maker. You know, it's funny I talk
Speaker 1: a lot about, you know, the physical confrontations at the
Speaker 1: point of attack, and obviously it's different for heavy ball
Speaker 1: handlers who are hitting tons of dribble combinations. It becomes
Speaker 1: so much more about foot speed and anticipation and those
Speaker 1: sorts of things. But these confrontations at the forward position
Speaker 1: anywhere like three four five in the front court, they
Speaker 1: come down a lot more to the physical altercation. It's
Speaker 1: a lot more of the like hitting shoulders and who's
Speaker 1: gonna win that shoulder confrontation? Like are you going to
Speaker 1: blow through the defender's shoulder or is the defender going
Speaker 1: to hold his ground and kind of keep you kind
Speaker 1: of flatten out your drive away from the rim. And
Speaker 1: it's so important in that case to have the jump
Speaker 1: shooting threat because the better of the bigger threat you
Speaker 1: are is a jump shooter, the closer the forward has
Speaker 1: to guard you. If the forward has to guard you closely,
Speaker 1: then you can go to that rip through move. And
Speaker 1: beat is just so damn big and strong that he's
Speaker 1: gonna win that rip through move every single time. But
Speaker 1: if he doesn't have the jumper, then they can play off.
Speaker 1: And it's more about anticipation. And now if you slide
Speaker 1: your feet, well maybe you can take a charge or
Speaker 1: you have more opportunity to dig down from the wings
Speaker 1: and help. Right, But Joel Embiat has become so unbelievably
Speaker 1: deadly with that pull up fifteen foot shot there at
Speaker 1: the free throw line that you can't play off of
Speaker 1: him anymore. Like there's a bunch of early possessions there
Speaker 1: in that fourth quarter where you know Blake Griffin is
Speaker 1: in that same kind of predicament where it's like, am
Speaker 1: I gonna press up on him and let him go
Speaker 1: around me? Or am I going to concede this shot? Well,
Speaker 1: if you concede that shot, he's just making it every
Speaker 1: single time now, and it's it's made him borderline unguardable
Speaker 1: because if he knocks down that if you give him
Speaker 1: the space. He's gonna knock it down if you press
Speaker 1: up on him. It's not a question of ball handling.
Speaker 1: It's not a question of anything other than the fact
Speaker 1: that he's so much bigger and stronger than you that
Speaker 1: when he goes to that rip through move, he's either
Speaker 1: going to get around you or you're gonna foul him.
Speaker 1: And that's why chances are your best. You know, my
Speaker 1: feeling for how to beat Philly in a playoff series
Speaker 1: is the same as it was last year. You double
Speaker 1: the hell out of Joel Embiid every time he has
Speaker 1: the basketball, turn him into a passer, try to get
Speaker 1: the help off of the worst shooter on the other team,
Speaker 1: in this case PJ Tucker, and you live with the results.
Speaker 1: And then with James Harden, you try to turn him
Speaker 1: into a score because at this phase in his career
Speaker 1: he's just not quite as dynamic as he used to
Speaker 1: be scoring the basketball. But that mbiad matchup was a
Speaker 1: huge problem for him. It will definitely look different in
Speaker 1: a series. I think you'll see the alternate of what
Speaker 1: you saw tonight. Instead of Al Horford kind of being
Speaker 1: tucked back and help, I think you'll often see al
Speaker 1: Horford on the ball, and when al Horford is on
Speaker 1: the ball, you'll see Robert Williams on PJ. Tucker hawking
Speaker 1: to paint, making it a little bit easier for al
Speaker 1: Horford to be aggressive without fouling, knowing that he's got
Speaker 1: a real rim protector behind him. But this is the
Speaker 1: chess match of playoff basketball because the best offensive stretches
Speaker 1: for the Celtics, or when al Horford was at the
Speaker 1: five and they were able to really space Philly out.
Speaker 1: And you know, there's a lot of positive from Boston
Speaker 1: in this game. They were in control of this game
Speaker 1: until Mbid basically stole it from him with his own
Speaker 1: individual greatness. But and Boston has looked extremely impressed, if here,
Speaker 1: over the last couple of weeks, starting with that absolute
Speaker 1: shellacking of the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee. I've always said
Speaker 1: that Boston I think has the most overall talent in
Speaker 1: the league. I think that was the case last year
Speaker 1: and this year. Doesn't mean they're the best team. Talent
Speaker 1: is only one small part of what makes a great
Speaker 1: basketball team, but they do have the most talent. What
Speaker 1: that means is that when they play good basketball, they're
Speaker 1: good Basketball is going to be better than everyone else.
Speaker 1: Is good basketball, and they have so much talent on
Speaker 1: that roster, Like look at the guard battle in this game.
Speaker 1: I would argue that Malcolm Brogden and Derek White outplayed
Speaker 1: James Harden and Tyree's Maxie in this game. And if
Speaker 1: that happens in a playoff series, that's a serious problem.
Speaker 1: Because Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum combined, we'll be able
Speaker 1: to at least meet what Joel Embiid can bring to
Speaker 1: the table. And so I was came It was an
Speaker 1: interesting game because I came away very impressed by Joel Embiid,
Speaker 1: but at the same time, it looks more and more
Speaker 1: like Boston might very well be the best team in
Speaker 1: the conference. I've been very delicate about making my predictions
Speaker 1: because I really do want to wait until after Sunday.
Speaker 1: We have a show on Sunday. We will get into
Speaker 1: this stuff on Sunday. We're going live after that last
Speaker 1: round of games. But you know, right now, like my
Speaker 1: safe picks are Denver out west and Milwaukee out east,
Speaker 1: just because they've demonstrated that to this point. But it
Speaker 1: could just as easily be Lakers or Warriors or Sons
Speaker 1: out West. I could very well end up picking Boston
Speaker 1: when it's all said and done, and I do want
Speaker 1: to have the rest of this week to look to
Speaker 1: look deeper at it. But Boston's guards, you know, their
Speaker 1: dribble penetration was the story of this game. They just
Speaker 1: on the Boston side of things. They were it was
Speaker 1: a layup line. Philly could not contain them at the
Speaker 1: point of attack. They were consistently engaging and beat at
Speaker 1: the rim as a rim protector and help and kicking
Speaker 1: to shooters on the week's side, whether it was Al
Speaker 1: Horford or whether it was Grant Williams. There was even
Speaker 1: a little sequence there in the middle fourth where Jayson
Speaker 1: Tatum was trying to attack Tyrese Maxi, drawing doubles and
Speaker 1: kicking to Derek White. They just have a lot of
Speaker 1: ability to get Philly into help and to get good shooting,
Speaker 1: get good shot opportunities. And they have the most ball
Speaker 1: handling and shooting by far in the league in my opinion.
Speaker 1: Down the roster, they've got like seven or eight guys
Speaker 1: that can all hit a three consistently and put the
Speaker 1: basketball on the floor and make plays. They're a terrifying team.
Speaker 1: And without Jaylen Brown and without Robert Williams, he gave
Speaker 1: Philly a hell of a fight tonight. And here's the thing.
Speaker 1: Embiad was amazing. He was the best player on the
Speaker 1: floor by a mile. But what if PJ. Tucker misses
Speaker 1: those shots, and there's a chance that he's going to
Speaker 1: miss them, potentially in multiple games in a playoff series
Speaker 1: between these two teams. So again, I'm very impressed by Embiid.
Speaker 1: Like we talked about earlier, I think he's just about
Speaker 1: certain to win MVP at this point. Vegas tends to agree.
Speaker 1: Like we talked about earlier, he's minus four to seventy.
Speaker 1: I personally still think Jannis deserves that. I think he's
Speaker 1: the best player on the best team. And I think
Speaker 1: Yannis just resoundingly outplayed Joel Embid the other night. But
Speaker 1: that's irrelevant to what's actually going to happen. It seems
Speaker 1: pretty clear now that Embiad's going to get it. But
Speaker 1: you know, interestingly enough, from the matchup perspective, I came
Speaker 1: away from this game mostly impressed by the Boston Celtics.
Speaker 1: All right, we are going to take a question from
Speaker 1: the audience, but also for everyone listening, don't forget that.
Speaker 1: Later on tonight, we're gonna have another video on YouTube,
Speaker 1: so keep an eye on the feed. In that video,
Speaker 1: we are going to be breaking down the late slate
Speaker 1: and primarily focus on the Western Conference. All right, let's
Speaker 1: see if we can get a caller on here. Hey, Jason,
Speaker 1: what's going on? Man? How are you? I'm good? What's
Speaker 1: your name? Man? My name is Josh. I'm a huge
Speaker 1: Knicks fan, and right now they just clinch the five
Speaker 1: seed and they're playing the Calves. So I just wanted
Speaker 1: to get your opinion on what you think. Do you
Speaker 1: think the Knicks or the Calves are more of a
Speaker 1: threat to take down one of the top three teams
Speaker 1: in the East. Oh, that's a very interesting question. Thank
Speaker 1: you for Colin and Josh. You know, the more I
Speaker 1: look at the standings, I don't think there's too much
Speaker 1: of a threat in the first round at the bottom
Speaker 1: of the conference. The Hawks got a massive win tonight,
Speaker 1: They're most likely going to end up getting that eight seed.
Speaker 1: I trust Miami to win that play in game. And Miami,
Speaker 1: I'm a little disappointed in them that they couldn't lap
Speaker 1: Brooklyn because I like their chances better against the Sixers
Speaker 1: than I do against the Celtics. I think those two
Speaker 1: are pretty easy matchups. I think the Nets are going
Speaker 1: to beat the Sixers. The Calves and Knicks are the
Speaker 1: two teams that have the most qualities that we associate
Speaker 1: with championship contention, right, So, like, for instance, the Calves
Speaker 1: have a top tier defense and a ton of rim protection.
Speaker 1: They have a ton of shot creation, both a high
Speaker 1: level playmaking from Darius Garland and high level shot making
Speaker 1: from Donovan Mitchell. But my biggest concern with the Cavs
Speaker 1: is that I don't think they have nearly the amount
Speaker 1: of spot up talent that they need, and I think
Speaker 1: in the backcourt their perimeter defense is more than a
Speaker 1: little bit suspect and has damaged and you've seen that
Speaker 1: especially in clutch situations this year. The Nicks are interesting
Speaker 1: because you know, obviously they don't have the star power
Speaker 1: that we see from other teams in the conference, but
Speaker 1: they check so many boxes that I've historically kind of
Speaker 1: connected with championship contention. Mitchell Robinson obviously doesn't have the
Speaker 1: reputation of a top tier rim protector, but that's something
Speaker 1: that he can do and can do well. They have
Speaker 1: I think one of the best perimeter defense cores that
Speaker 1: you have in the conference, between guys like Josh Hard
Speaker 1: and Emmanuel Quickly, even Jalen Brunson, dating back to his
Speaker 1: time in Dallas, really competed at the point of attack,
Speaker 1: and then they can do that to you on the
Speaker 1: other end of the floor. They've won a lot of games.
Speaker 1: They've won a lot of games this year by beating
Speaker 1: teams at the point of attack and getting tons of
Speaker 1: dribble penetration. There was a game a couple of weeks
Speaker 1: ago where we saw them beat the Lakers in Staples
Speaker 1: Center when they were red hot, just because no one
Speaker 1: could keep RJ. Barrett out of the lane, because no
Speaker 1: one could keep Quentin Crimes out of the lane. Like
Speaker 1: it's it's just one of those things where you know
Speaker 1: your ability to generate dribble penetration and then contain it
Speaker 1: on the other end of the floor is a high
Speaker 1: level asset. And then, last, but not least, from the
Speaker 1: shock creation standpoint, they have two of my favorite archetypes
Speaker 1: of shock creators. You've got Jalen Brunson as this dynamic
Speaker 1: three level score that can hit pull up threes and
Speaker 1: pull up fifteen footers and pull up eighteen footers and
Speaker 1: he can knock down those floaters in the lane with
Speaker 1: the high level playmaking. But then he can also beat
Speaker 1: a switch in pick and roll. But then you've got
Speaker 1: Julius Randel, who represents an entirely different type of scoring
Speaker 1: archetype one that I've always found to be immensely important
Speaker 1: in playoff series, which is the big matchup attacking forward,
Speaker 1: because more often than not, teams when they're confronting issues
Speaker 1: with ball handling and shooting, or when they're confronting issues
Speaker 1: with perimeter defense, will opt for a smaller guard. You're
Speaker 1: going to see a lot of teams do this this year.
Speaker 1: They're out a guy between six foot and six two
Speaker 1: that they need out there for ball handling and shooting,
Speaker 1: and they need out there for point of attack defense.
Speaker 1: But the problem is is in a switching system in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, which is what you're going to see more
Speaker 1: frequently from teams in that sort of dynamic, having a
Speaker 1: forward that can attack those switches by fighting down to
Speaker 1: that ten fifteen footmark and shooting those little fadeaways over
Speaker 1: both shoulders. That's a huge asset to have. And so again,
Speaker 1: now both of those teams. Unfortunately, just with the way
Speaker 1: that the seatings have a seating is broken down, They're
Speaker 1: probably gonna end up facing the Bucks and that's going
Speaker 1: to be a really tough matchup for them. But look
Speaker 1: at it this way. The Bucks are a heavy drop
Speaker 1: coverage team. Jalen Brunson is one of the best drop
Speaker 1: coverage attacking guards that we have in the league. The
Speaker 1: Bucks are going to play at any given moment two
Speaker 1: guys below six five on the court at the same time.
Speaker 1: Those are matchups that Julius Randall can attack. Julius Randall himself,
Speaker 1: I think is going to have to take on the
Speaker 1: challenge of potentially battling Janis on a bunch of possessions.
Speaker 1: I'll be really interested to see how he handles that.
Speaker 1: But he's gonna have the advantage of Mitchell Robinson behind him,
Speaker 1: provided that they can rotate to Brook Lopez. So again,
Speaker 1: I don't think many of these teams have that much
Speaker 1: of a chance because the Buck, Celtics, and Sixers are
Speaker 1: so much better than everyone else. But I do as
Speaker 1: of right now, like the Nicks slightly better than the
Speaker 1: rest of that group as a team that could knock
Speaker 1: off one of them, but they got to beat the
Speaker 1: CAAZ first and that's another tough matchup. And again I
Speaker 1: wouldn't pick them in a series, but I do think
Speaker 1: that they've got a chance. All right, Josh, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for calling in man. So we've got to
Speaker 1: get back to the TV screens to watch these Western
Speaker 1: Conference games. So we're gonna call it to night for
Speaker 1: right now, but I will be back on YouTube later
Speaker 1: tonight breaking down the rest of the Western Conference slate.
Speaker 1: The Gold Say Warriors are trailing after the first quarter,
Speaker 1: so it should be a fun one. All right, guys,
Speaker 1: We'll see you later tonight. The volume