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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, welcome to hoops tonight. You're at

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Speaker 1: the volume heavy Monday, everybody hopefull of you guys had

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Speaker 1: an incredible weekend. I have a jam pack show for

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Speaker 1: you guys today. As always on Monday, we're going to

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Speaker 1: go through our power rankings, so they're going to be

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Speaker 1: doing dives into each of the top ten teams in

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Speaker 1: the league. You guys know the joke before we get started.

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Speaker 1: Subscribe to Oops and Not YouTube channels so you don't

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Speaker 1: miss any more of our videos. Make sure you like

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Speaker 1: this video. That helps us a lot. And the last

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Speaker 1: but not least, if you want to get mail bag

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Speaker 1: questions into our mail bag. We've already recorded our mail

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Speaker 1: bag for this week, but we've got one come in

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Speaker 1: the following week. If you want to get a mail

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Speaker 1: bag question in for that, just drop them in our

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Speaker 1: YouTube comments underneath the full episodes. Put mail bag with

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Speaker 1: the colon dropper questions. We'll get to them in our

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Speaker 1: weekly mail bags from there. All right, let's talk some

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Speaker 1: basketball again. All of our lines are provided by our

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Speaker 1: partner hard Rock Bet. Number ten on this week's power rankings,

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Speaker 1: the Cleveland Cavaliers currently plus three thousand to win the

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Speaker 1: title on hard Rock Bet. They're winners of five of

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Speaker 1: their last six games. Darius Garland missed all but one

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Speaker 1: game in that stretch, and he left that game early.

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Speaker 1: Two very impressive road wins in Philly that we already

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Speaker 1: talked about on this show the week prior. Cleveland's kind

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Speaker 1: of a bad matchup for Philly because of how well

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Speaker 1: Jared Allen defends Embiid and some of the problems that

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Speaker 1: their speed can cause the front court of Philly's defense.

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Speaker 1: And then they had a fun, kind of grinded out,

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Speaker 1: low scoring game on the road in Charlotte that they

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Speaker 1: got to win, and then a big dominant win on

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Speaker 1: the road in Orlando where they never trailed after the

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Speaker 1: first quarter. I thought they're bench guys who really controlled

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Speaker 1: this game. They basically put the game away with two

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Speaker 1: separate runs, a mid second quarter run that was led

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Speaker 1: by Tyris Proctor, Thomas Bryant, Dean Wade, Evan Mobley, and

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Speaker 1: Jalen Tyson. And then in the kind of early fourth

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Speaker 1: quarter stretch, Alonzo ball led group with Naikwon, Tomlin and

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Speaker 1: Tyree's Proctor that ended up putting them up double digits

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Speaker 1: for good. And all those bench guys were great. Irish

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Speaker 1: Proctor had twelve points. Nicoon Tomlin continues to do all

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Speaker 1: the little things. He lit up Desmond Bayne on a

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Speaker 1: screen or in the early fourth quarter that got Lonzo

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Speaker 1: a wide open three, had a nice little drive off

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Speaker 1: of a closeout off the left wing where he finished

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Speaker 1: in traffic. Hit a couple of threes as well, and

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Speaker 1: then it's good to see Lonzo starting to play a

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Speaker 1: little bit better. He had been struggling, but he was

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Speaker 1: all over the place on defense. That was kind of

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Speaker 1: you know, when we envisioned what it would look like

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Speaker 1: with Lonzo on this team, it was defensive playmaking, sparking

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Speaker 1: transition sequences and then him knocking down threes. And obviously

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Speaker 1: the three point shooting has been the area of opportunity

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Speaker 1: where that hasn't come together this season. But you got

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Speaker 1: to see some of that defense to transition stuff with

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Speaker 1: him in the fourth quarter of this game. I thought

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Speaker 1: he was all over the place defensively. And then Donovan Mitchell.

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Speaker 1: He continues to just be a workhorse for this team.

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Speaker 1: And when you think about all the injuries that they've had,

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Speaker 1: particularly to Garland, but the way that it's manifested in

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Speaker 1: just a really heavy workload for him. I can't say

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Speaker 1: enough about how Donovan Mitchell's availability and his consistent production

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Speaker 1: have basically carried this team this year under the circumstances.

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Speaker 1: When you think about how he's had to change the

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Speaker 1: scope of what is a good shot for him and

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Speaker 1: just the level of difficulty that he's facing night in

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Speaker 1: and night out. For him to be averaging a career

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Speaker 1: high in points per game and a career high in

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Speaker 1: true shooting percentage just super, super impressive. They have a

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Speaker 1: couple of games against other home for a couple of

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Speaker 1: games against Orlando and the Lakers, and then they go

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Speaker 1: on a five game West Coast road trip from there.

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Speaker 1: Number nine the New York Knicks currently plus seventeen point

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Speaker 1: fifty to win the title the hard Rock Bet. At first,

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Speaker 1: it looked like the Knicks we're going to survive the

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Speaker 1: dreaded post n season tournament championship slump that has claimed

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Speaker 1: the Lakers and Bucks before them. They went five to

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Speaker 1: two in their first seven games after beating this Spurs,

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Speaker 1: but then the free fall game two and nine over

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Speaker 1: their next eleven games just straight up stopped competing on

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Speaker 1: d defense. They had a one to twenty defensive rating

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Speaker 1: over that eleven game span got a little bit weird too.

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Speaker 1: We started to hear some rumblings about a disconnect between

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Speaker 1: Mike Brown and the players. I thought that was strange.

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Speaker 1: But then that slump ended with two of their most

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Speaker 1: impressive wins of the season. An absolute destructive win over

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Speaker 1: the Brooklyn Nets where from start to finish they just

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Speaker 1: smashed those dudes, and then a huge road win in

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Speaker 1: Philly where their defense completely dominated the game in the

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Speaker 1: third quarter. And I really want to dive into this

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Speaker 1: game in some of the specific ways that the the

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Speaker 1: Knicks were strangling the life out of that sixers offense,

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Speaker 1: because I think it's kind of indicative of what the

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Speaker 1: future of this Knicks team looks like if they can

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Speaker 1: figure out what to do with the Karl Anthony Town situation.

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Speaker 1: So they bench Kat to start the third quarter. Not

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Speaker 1: sure if that was Coach's decision or if it was

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Speaker 1: because Kat had three fouls at the time. Typically three

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Speaker 1: fouls you still start the third quarter. It's if you

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Speaker 1: pick up that fourth foul early in the third that

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Speaker 1: you start considering pulling a guy. But they go without Kat,

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Speaker 1: So it's Mitchell Robinson at the center position with John

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Speaker 1: og Nnobi, Michael Bridges and Jalen Brunson, and the Sixers

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Speaker 1: were running a ton of mbat pick and roll both

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Speaker 1: with Tyre's Maxey and Paul George, and the Knicks just

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Speaker 1: strangled the life out of it. And it started with

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Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinson. I just thought he did an amazing job

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Speaker 1: on Joel Embiid the handful of embid ISOs in there,

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Speaker 1: just being active with his hands without fouling. And then

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Speaker 1: on ball screens meeting those guards, the guard being Maxie,

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Speaker 1: and then also Paul George at the level of those screens,

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Speaker 1: switching when he had to, got a nice little switch

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Speaker 1: stop against Paul George, but then also recovering back after

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Speaker 1: showing to Joel Embiid on his pops in on his rolls,

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Speaker 1: and then on the ball mckail Bridges just doing an

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Speaker 1: amazing job chasing Tyree's Maxey around, og Nnobi doing an

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Speaker 1: amazing job chasing Paul George around, and then Josh Hart

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Speaker 1: kind of the the unsung hero of that third quarter run.

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Speaker 1: He was roaming and recovering off of VJ edgecomb constantly

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Speaker 1: and just blowing up any sort of sequence where if

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Speaker 1: mckaylor or og got hung up on the screen a

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Speaker 1: little bit, or if like Mitchell Robinson, lingered a bit

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Speaker 1: too much on Joel Embiid, there would be Josh Hart

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Speaker 1: right in the middle of the floor, usually right around

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Speaker 1: the foul line, containing whoever was coming off of those

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Speaker 1: actions as a three on two type of defender, and

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Speaker 1: Philly's offense just completely stalled out. And here's the thing.

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Speaker 1: I don't know what the Knicks should do with Karl

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Speaker 1: Anthony Towns. He's borderline impossible to trade, at least not

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Speaker 1: in a way that's going to bring back any sort

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Speaker 1: of needle moving talent. I don't think you can just

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Speaker 1: straight up bench him, you know, bring him off the

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Speaker 1: bench or anything like that. I also think it's a

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Speaker 1: little bit complicated because the numbers don't show that the

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Speaker 1: Knicks are better without Cat. In the large sample, he's

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Speaker 1: actually been a positive on off guy. But that look

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Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinson atte center with the three two way wings

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Speaker 1: in the middle, Jalen bronsonnett guard. That is arguably the

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Speaker 1: scariest that the Knicks look when they put that unit

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Speaker 1: out there, and we haven't seen it much this year.

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Speaker 1: They're plus twenty net per possessions in the fifty six

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Speaker 1: possessions that we've seen it. But it's more just the

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Speaker 1: way it looked in that quarter. When you have a

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Speaker 1: versatile rim protecting center that can move his feet on

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Speaker 1: the perimeter. And we've talked about this for years, but

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Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinson has been consistently one of the very best

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Speaker 1: bigs in the league at guarding pull up three point

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Speaker 1: shooters coming off of screens. He's got excellent instincts for

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Speaker 1: when a guy is going to take that pull up

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Speaker 1: and he just has the most ridiculous standing reach in

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Speaker 1: the ability to get insane contests when he does get

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Speaker 1: up to the level there. But then he has the

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Speaker 1: ability to slide his feet and recover back to rollman,

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Speaker 1: the ability to slide his feet and actually guard on

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Speaker 1: the perimeter if he has to guard a dribble drive

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Speaker 1: in those sorts of situations. When you have that type

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Speaker 1: of center, three incredibly gifted two way wings in terms

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Speaker 1: of what they're capable of doing both on the ball

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Speaker 1: and stunting and recovering off the ball and helping recover situations.

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Speaker 1: And you have your one week link who also happens

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Speaker 1: to be one of the very best offensive players in

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Speaker 1: the league. You go to the other end of the floor.

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Speaker 1: Mitch is great at setting screens. Mitch is great at

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Speaker 1: offensive rebounding. He had a lob in the middle of

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Speaker 1: the floor off of a little two man game with

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Speaker 1: McHale Bridges off of the right wing where he took

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Speaker 1: off of his right leg in traffic unexpected, didn't even

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Speaker 1: really have much of a running start and ended up

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Speaker 1: catching it up high and dunking it over Joel Embiid.

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Speaker 1: That was an insane demonstration of his vertical spacing. So like,

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Speaker 1: he does everything they need out of the center position,

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Speaker 1: and with how well Josh Hart has been playing on

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Speaker 1: offense this year and McHale Bridges and o Jananobi basically

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Speaker 1: having career seasons and Jalen Brunson playing like a top

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Speaker 1: tier superstar for the most party cooled off a little

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Speaker 1: bit during that run, but not too bad when you've

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Speaker 1: got that lineup out there. We talked about how you

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Speaker 1: have to check boxes in what needs to be accomplished

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Speaker 1: in every lineup on both ends of the floor. They

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Speaker 1: don't need anything out of cat with those five guys

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Speaker 1: on the floor, They've got plenty of shooting they got

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Speaker 1: plenty of aggregate ball handling, they got plenty of perimeter

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Speaker 1: defense talent, they got plenty of rim protection. They've got

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Speaker 1: a big that can defend in all the different types

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Speaker 1: of coverages. That was one of the scariest quarters of

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Speaker 1: Knicks basketball that I've seen this entire season, that third

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Speaker 1: quarter on the road in Philly, and it just is

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Speaker 1: to me, it's it's very possible that the best version

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Speaker 1: of this team is what we saw on that third quarter.

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Speaker 1: I don't know how you reconcile Kat in his contract,

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Speaker 1: in his viability on the trade market with that sort

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Speaker 1: of situation, but it's something that I think is really

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Speaker 1: fascinating because when I think about a version of the Knicks,

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Speaker 1: a version of the Knicks that can really compete for

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Speaker 1: a championship, I'm not sure it involves Cat in their

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Speaker 1: starting five or in their closing five. And that to

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Speaker 1: me is a kind of an interesting dynamic surrounding this team.

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Speaker 1: As we head to the deadline and as we head

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Speaker 1: to the next couple of seasons in this era of

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Speaker 1: Knicks basketball, I'm super excited to tell you guys about

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Speaker 1: our new partnership with Viori. Those of you guys who

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Speaker 1: are familiar with VIORI have noticed. I've been wearing it

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Speaker 1: on the show a lot over the last few years.

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Speaker 1: There's just a level of quality and comfort and versatility

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Speaker 1: and durabil that has made it a workhorse for me

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Speaker 1: over the last few years. I have items from Viory

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Speaker 1: that I bought years ago that I've watched dozens and

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Speaker 1: dozens of times that look every bit as nice as

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Speaker 1: the first day that I've bought them. They've got a

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Speaker 1: super wide catalog. They've got some dressier things. I'm wearing

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Speaker 1: one of these Coronado T shirt jackets today. It's very comfortable,

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Speaker 1: very warm, nice to wear here in Colorado. But they've

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Speaker 1: got an incredible athleisure line that I live in every

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Speaker 1: single day. Whether it's the Sunday performance sweatpant that I

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Speaker 1: Number eight. The Los Angeles Lakers currently plus three thousand

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Speaker 1: to win the title on hard Rock Bet. They've won

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Speaker 1: three of their last four games. One of their better

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Speaker 1: stretches of basketball this season. They win against a red

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Speaker 1: hot Toronto Raptors team. They win against a Nuggets team

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Speaker 1: that has been nine to five without nikolea Jokic. The

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Speaker 1: one loss they had in that stretch was actually a

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Speaker 1: game where they had one of their better individual stretches

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Speaker 1: of basketball this season. They lose to the Clippers, red

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Speaker 1: hot Clippers team fifteen and three in their last eighteen games,

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Speaker 1: arguably the best team in the league over the last

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Speaker 1: month and change. But they had a furious comeback in

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Speaker 1: the second half where they started pressure in the ball

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Speaker 1: more and they started forcing misses and getting out in transition.

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Speaker 1: Just a really nice stretch of Lakers basketball. In their loss,

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Speaker 1: you beat the Raptors, you beat the Nuggets, and then

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Speaker 1: you win a game on the road in Dallas against

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Speaker 1: the Mavericks team that was red hot. They had won

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Speaker 1: four games in a row, playing some excellent defense in

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Speaker 1: that span, and it was a really bizarre game. It

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Speaker 1: was a game where the Lakers dominated the first half

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Speaker 1: and then in the third quarter they completely lose control

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Speaker 1: of Brandon Williams in a variety of like ISO and

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Speaker 1: ball screen situations. They give up a sixteen to oher run.

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Speaker 1: The game completely flips towards Dallas, and Dallas is up

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Speaker 1: fifteen with less than seven minutes to go in the

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter and JJ Reddick goes small. He's been benching

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Speaker 1: DeAndre in a lot in clutch situations over the last

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Speaker 1: couple of weeks. This has been something that JJ Reddick

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Speaker 1: has done over the years the two years that we've

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Speaker 1: seen him, when he looks at his centers and go,

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Speaker 1: you two don't got it. He'll just bench his centers.

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Speaker 1: He won't play a center. He'll just go with his

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Speaker 1: small ball groups. I saw that a lot towards the

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Speaker 1: tail end of last season, and we're just really starting

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Speaker 1: to see it now with DeAndre eight struggling the way

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Speaker 1: that he's been struggling as of late, but he goes

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Speaker 1: with a small ball group. Lebron and Luca, Jake Leave

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Speaker 1: and Marcus Smart and Ruey Hatchamura and the Lakers close

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Speaker 1: the game on a twenty nine to eight run to

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Speaker 1: get the win, and everyone contributed. Luca was getting hunted

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Speaker 1: at ISOs and he held up over and over and

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Speaker 1: over again. The Lakers also did a great job. There's

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Speaker 1: kind of like a two different kinds of like ISO

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Speaker 1: attacks that you'll see the Lakers space. When they face

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Speaker 1: teams that can really space them out, it gets tricky

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Speaker 1: because then they really have to worry about dribble drives

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Speaker 1: and they'll hunt every one of the Lakers weaker athletes

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Speaker 1: in space, and as soon as they beat that first guy,

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Speaker 1: it forces a hard help that gives up a wide

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Speaker 1: open catch and shoot three to a good shooter, or

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Speaker 1: will just give up a layup or a foul. The

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Speaker 1: Lakers have committed a lot of fouls in those types

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Speaker 1: of games, but some of these teams, and this is

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Speaker 1: where the matchups have kind of fell into the Lakers'

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Speaker 1: hands as of late, like the Raptors for example, or

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Speaker 1: that Dallas game. There are a couple guys on the

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Speaker 1: floor that the Lakers aren't super concerned about shooting threes,

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Speaker 1: and so while UCA's in Iso, there's two guys that

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Speaker 1: are just like kind of in the gaps and they're

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Speaker 1: right behind Luca. So Luca doesn't really have to worry

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Speaker 1: about the drive. He can play up on the jump shot,

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Speaker 1: and he forced a lot of missed short twos, especially

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Speaker 1: from Brandon Williams over that fourth quarter run. Really good

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Speaker 1: defense from Luca and then surgically hunting Max Christie on

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Speaker 1: the other end of the floor. And this kind of

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Speaker 1: goes to the larger concept that we talk about how

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Speaker 1: basketball is more art than science. Like Dallas is a

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Speaker 1: great defense. Max Christie is a great defender, but he

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Speaker 1: has no shot against Luca. He's too small. It doesn't

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Speaker 1: matter if you can guard, if you can't guard him.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if you can score if you can't

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Speaker 1: score on him. Like, that's the individual matchup piece that

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Speaker 1: drives most of these dynamics, and Max just couldn't guard Luca.

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Speaker 1: He gave up an easy straight line drive layup, which

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Speaker 1: then led to a lot of aggressive help situations which

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Speaker 1: got the MAVs into rotation. And say what you want

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Speaker 1: about the Lakers and their shooting ability, they do have

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Speaker 1: a lot of high level playmate talent in that lineup,

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Speaker 1: like Jake and Marcus are both great connective playmakers. Lebron

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Speaker 1: obviously one of the best playmakers in the history of

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Speaker 1: the league. And so what they ended up doing is

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Speaker 1: in those sequences, everybody was paying off rotation sequences in

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Speaker 1: one way or another. A couple of wide open threes

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Speaker 1: for Ruey Hamura two massive shots for Ruy, And as

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Speaker 1: I was watching that game too, I was like, man,

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Speaker 1: Ruby keeps getting great looks. And he had been shooting

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Speaker 1: really poorly. He was like thirty percent from three over

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Speaker 1: his previous ten games, but he kept getting these great looks,

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Speaker 1: and I kept thinking as I was watching, like these

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Speaker 1: have got us are going down. Ruey's too good of

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Speaker 1: a shooter for how good these looks are. Hits a

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Speaker 1: couple of massive ones down the stretch. You know, Jake

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Speaker 1: Laavia gets an open three on the left wing. Lebron

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Speaker 1: cuts off of the slot. When Luca draws a double

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Speaker 1: team from Caleb Martine, he just cuts down the lane,

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Speaker 1: gets an easy little feed in layup. Marcus Smart in

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Speaker 1: a defensive rotation situation, gets an offensive rebound put back.

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Speaker 1: All of those sequences were initiated by Luka Doncic, hunting

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Speaker 1: Max Christy and getting the defense into rotation. That's the

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Speaker 1: peak advantage creation that when you envision the best version

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Speaker 1: of the Lakers, it usually involves that. It involves if

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Speaker 1: Luca is playing at that top tier superstar level and

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Speaker 1: is breaking the defense every time down the floor. There's

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Speaker 1: plenty of aggregate offensive skill around them to pay those

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Speaker 1: sequences off when they're healthy. When they lose Rui, that's

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Speaker 1: where that shooting dips below just too far of a

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Speaker 1: level for them to overcome. But there's a version of

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Speaker 1: this when they have enough of their better offensive players healthy,

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Speaker 1: where they become super difficult to guard. And by the way,

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Speaker 1: that's why the Lakers have been the third best half

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Speaker 1: court offense in the league this year, even with all

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Speaker 1: the injuries that they've dealt with. But a couple big

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Speaker 1: defensive plays too. Marcus Smart got a big strip on

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Speaker 1: Cooper Flag. Lebron had two amazing defensive plays. It was

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Speaker 1: so funny, like Lebron legitimately was having his worst game

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Speaker 1: of the season through three quarters in that game, like

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Speaker 1: just absolutely brutally bad, but he was amazing in the

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter. One of his best shifts of the season

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Speaker 1: to this point, a wrecking ball on defense, a couple

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Speaker 1: of big steals. He had a play where he stole

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Speaker 1: the ball from Brandon Wlliams and ran out for a

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Speaker 1: dunk so pick six. Had a big strip on Naji

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Speaker 1: Marshall on a spid move. He hit a big three

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Speaker 1: off of the right corner that was a big play.

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Speaker 1: Had a big offensive rebound tap in in a transition sequence.

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Speaker 1: Had a big driving layup versus Nagi Marshall on like

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Speaker 1: a double crossover dribble between his legs of one of

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Speaker 1: his better off the dribble moves of the season. It

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Speaker 1: was just funny because, like it's a reminder to you

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Speaker 1: young players out there, it doesn't matter how shitty of

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Speaker 1: a game. You're having find a way to make a

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Speaker 1: player two to win the game, and no one will

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Speaker 1: care about how bad you were. That's that's the next

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Speaker 1: play mentality. That's what you have to have. Lebron was

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Speaker 1: brutally bad for three quarters eleven points, three rebounds, two

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Speaker 1: assists to stealing a block in the fourth quarter, plus

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Speaker 1: fourteen in his minutes, and they came back and won

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Speaker 1: the game. Lakers are starting to play some better defense

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Speaker 1: as of late. They have a one zh seven defensive

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Speaker 1: rating in those last four games. Again, easier said than

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Speaker 1: done when it gets too tougher competition that can truly

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Speaker 1: space the floor, but given the matchups they were playing,

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Speaker 1: playing some of the better defense of the season. Number seven.

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Speaker 1: The Boston Celtics currently plus seventeen point fifty to win

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Speaker 1: the title according to hard Rock Bet. They lost this

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Speaker 1: super fascinating game to the Bulls in Chicago on Saturday night,

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Speaker 1: and the final play of the game really simple, just

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Speaker 1: Josh Giddy dribbling against Hugo Gonzalez at the top of

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Speaker 1: the key and Kobe White comes up and sets a

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Speaker 1: ghost screen and it should have just been a switch,

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Speaker 1: but Sam Houser and Hugo Gonzales just weren't talking through it,

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Speaker 1: and so they both lingered on Giddy for a second

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Speaker 1: that left Kobe White wide open on the left wing.

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Speaker 1: That forced them to rotate extra pass to Kevin Herder

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Speaker 1: in the left corner, bangs a three that wins the game.

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Speaker 1: Super fascinating substitution from Billy Donovan. So Kevin Herder did

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Speaker 1: not play in crunch time at all. The previous time

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Speaker 1: he was in the game was right around seven minutes

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Speaker 1: left in the fourth quarter. Playing with a bench group

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Speaker 1: doesn't play at all in crunch time. Then they substitute

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Speaker 1: him in and stash him in the left corner, which

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Speaker 1: I thought was really fascinating because Kevin Herder is only

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Speaker 1: thirty two percent from three this year, but he's forty

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Speaker 1: three percent out of the left corner. Didn't play it

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Speaker 1: all in crunch time. Billy Donovan thinks we're gonna run

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Speaker 1: a sequence with Giddy. We think they're gonna end up

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Speaker 1: running a help side kind of some sort of thing

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Speaker 1: that's gonna get the ball out of Josh's hands if

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Speaker 1: the defense end ends up in rotation. We think we're

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Speaker 1: gonna get a left corner three here. Let's put in

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Speaker 1: one of our best left corner three point shooters. Kevin

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Speaker 1: Hurder hits the shot that ends up winning the game.

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Speaker 1: But the real story of the game down the stretch

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Speaker 1: of that in crunch time was the move that Billy

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Speaker 1: Donovan made on the defensive end of the floor, putting

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Speaker 1: two bigs on the floor with Jalen Smith and Nikola Vusivich.

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Speaker 1: Jalen Smith is a backup center for them that can

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Speaker 1: shoot the ball pretty well, and they've actually gone to

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Speaker 1: this look quite a bit this year three hundred and

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Speaker 1: eighty five possessions, and they've been pretty good plus three

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Speaker 1: point four per one hundred possessions over those three hundred

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Speaker 1: and eighty five possessions. But they just straight up put

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Speaker 1: Jalen Smith on Jalen Brown. So they guarded Jalen Brown

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Speaker 1: with their backup center in crunch time, and he did

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Speaker 1: a great job. He gave ground, took good angles to

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Speaker 1: beat him to spots, kept him in front, and then

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Speaker 1: when he would kind of try to get into his

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Speaker 1: bag in the mid range, Jalen Brown was having a

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Speaker 1: hard time finding space to shoot over the top of him.

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Speaker 1: When he got into that range. He had a really

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Speaker 1: bad miss around the top of the key where he

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Speaker 1: was trying to shoot over the top of Jalen Smith

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Speaker 1: and shot a moon ball that had like almost no

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Speaker 1: chance of going in, and Jalen kind of started to

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Speaker 1: figure it out towards the end just by going quick

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Speaker 1: off the catch. She had a rip off of the

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Speaker 1: left wing where he just caught and quick ripped baseline

431
00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:19,080
Speaker 1: and dusted Jalen Smith off the dribble. Kobe White came

432
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,400
Speaker 1: over took a charge, so Jalen just was a little

433
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:23,480
Speaker 1: bit rushed on that play, and then he had another

434
00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:25,040
Speaker 1: play where he drew a fout by getting out in

435
00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,920
Speaker 1: transition and kind of attacking Jalen Smith before the defense

436
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:30,200
Speaker 1: was really set. But it was too little, too late,

437
00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:33,679
Speaker 1: and Chicago got more than enough stops to close the

438
00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,080
Speaker 1: deal down the stretch. Chicago also did a lot of

439
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,320
Speaker 1: damage with their size on the offensive glass down the stretch.

440
00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:41,399
Speaker 1: They had three offensive rebounds just in crunch time. That

441
00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,880
Speaker 1: is kind of part of the dynamic with Boston this year.

442
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:47,240
Speaker 1: You know, there's been a lot of things that have

443
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:49,359
Speaker 1: been really good since Tatum has left the team, and

444
00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:50,520
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about that in a minute, but

445
00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:52,679
Speaker 1: there have also been things that have been blatant weaknesses

446
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,120
Speaker 1: without Jason Tatum, and one of them is their defensive

447
00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:58,200
Speaker 1: rebounding as they struggled to secure the defensive glass down

448
00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:00,960
Speaker 1: the stretch. I was digging in some numbers for our

449
00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:04,119
Speaker 1: contender rankings. They were supposed to be this Thursday with

450
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:06,760
Speaker 1: Kevin O'Connor, but we had to reschedule for next week,

451
00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:09,600
Speaker 1: so we'll actually have our contender rankings probably on like

452
00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:12,840
Speaker 1: Tuesday or Wednesday next week, so apologies in advance. We

453
00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:14,840
Speaker 1: had originally scheduled that for Thursday, but it's just going

454
00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,360
Speaker 1: to be pushed back a few days. But it's interesting

455
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:21,119
Speaker 1: because the Celtics they tend to lose. Just like previous

456
00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:24,680
Speaker 1: iterations of the Celtics, this team is second and three

457
00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:29,000
Speaker 1: pointers made per game, and they're eighth in three point

458
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,520
Speaker 1: percentage overall, but in their losses they're shooting just thirty

459
00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:38,280
Speaker 1: one point two percent from three, so they're twenty fifth

460
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,560
Speaker 1: in three point percentage if you just take every team

461
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:45,199
Speaker 1: and how they shoot in their losses. So overall, excellent

462
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,760
Speaker 1: three point shooting team, but they typically don't shoot well

463
00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,040
Speaker 1: when they lose. Thirty two percent last night, so they

464
00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:53,960
Speaker 1: can go very cold from three. They also don't move

465
00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:58,960
Speaker 1: the ball super well. In wins, fifty eight percent of

466
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:03,400
Speaker 1: Boston's made bass gets are assisted. In losses, just fifty

467
00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,680
Speaker 1: two percent of their made baskets are assisted, so more

468
00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:11,760
Speaker 1: often in their losses they rely on self created shots that,

469
00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,800
Speaker 1: by the way, that fifty two assists percentage and losses

470
00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:18,120
Speaker 1: that ranks dead last in the NBA. So nobody passes

471
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:22,400
Speaker 1: the ball less than the Boston than the Boston Celtics

472
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:24,760
Speaker 1: when they lose. But keep that concept in mind because

473
00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:26,280
Speaker 1: I actually want to bring that back up again when

474
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:28,200
Speaker 1: we talk about Oklahoma City later in the show. Who

475
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,880
Speaker 1: lost to the Raptors last night with some similar issues.

476
00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,159
Speaker 1: But the longest short of it is the Celtics have

477
00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,880
Speaker 1: gotten progressively better and better every year at playing Joe

478
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:43,160
Speaker 1: Missoula ball. Like, for the record, Boston has the best

479
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,720
Speaker 1: offense in the NBA right now, despite the loss of

480
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:51,040
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum. That is a remarkable stretch, and it's a

481
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,200
Speaker 1: demonstration of just how much Jalen Brown has improved and

482
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,080
Speaker 1: how incredible he's been this season. But also that Missoula

483
00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:00,440
Speaker 1: ball piece and just the continuity and how how good

484
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,120
Speaker 1: these guys are getting at playing this style of offense,

485
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:09,280
Speaker 1: but it requires a diligent approach to creating advantages, extending

486
00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:12,960
Speaker 1: advantages through driving closeouts and then shot selection turning down

487
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,479
Speaker 1: good for great. They are much better at it than

488
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:18,879
Speaker 1: they used to be. That's why they're the best offense

489
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:23,040
Speaker 1: in the NBA despite losing Jason Tatum, but their ugly stretches.

490
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,520
Speaker 1: When it does go south, it looks the same as

491
00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,480
Speaker 1: it did in previous years and is fueled by similar

492
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:35,359
Speaker 1: types of process mistakes. Number six. The Toronto Raptors currently

493
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:39,480
Speaker 1: plus fifteen thousand to win the title on hard rock back.

494
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:41,440
Speaker 1: Kind of an interesting long shotback because I actually really

495
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,280
Speaker 1: liked this team. The Raptors finished their five game road

496
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 1: trip with a four game win streak, all of which

497
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,320
Speaker 1: were impressive wins. A couple of dominant wins in California

498
00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:53,440
Speaker 1: against the Kings and the Warriors, a fourth quarter close

499
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:55,879
Speaker 1: out against the Portland Trailblazers, and then their signature win

500
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:59,119
Speaker 1: of the season last night on the road in Oklahoma

501
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,400
Speaker 1: City against the thunder some timely shot making from three.

502
00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:05,480
Speaker 1: I thought Jamal shed was the story of the late

503
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,080
Speaker 1: game offense with the job he was doing breaking their

504
00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:10,280
Speaker 1: defense at the point of attack with drives. This is

505
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:13,040
Speaker 1: something we've talked about this season, like Toronto is at

506
00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:15,080
Speaker 1: their best when they can get into drive and kick.

507
00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 1: Why because their offensive skill indexes more towards playmaking than

508
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,200
Speaker 1: shooting right, So like when they get into situations where

509
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:26,160
Speaker 1: they're making reads, multiple reads on the same possession, that's

510
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,440
Speaker 1: when they thrive on offense. When things get stagnant, that's

511
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,119
Speaker 1: when they're black of just jump shooting to space. The

512
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,560
Speaker 1: floor becomes an issue. But you have to break the

513
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,439
Speaker 1: defense first. And it's not just Scottie Barnes and is

514
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,840
Speaker 1: one on ones, which we've talked about over the last

515
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. It's also been the drives, Emmanual Quickly

516
00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:46,040
Speaker 1: and Jamal shed They consistently break the defense at the

517
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,960
Speaker 1: point of attack with drivel penetration. I also thought they

518
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,880
Speaker 1: did a good job of attacking some of Okase's easier

519
00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,560
Speaker 1: entry points. A lot of hunting Shay in this game,

520
00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,360
Speaker 1: a lot of hunting ken Rich Williams in this game.

521
00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:01,080
Speaker 1: They even at Mama kailash VILLI go at Jalen Williams

522
00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:03,400
Speaker 1: in open space, just in one on one with drives,

523
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 1: and then Emmanuel Quickly was the guy that was benefiting

524
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:08,000
Speaker 1: off that dribble penetration. He hit the two biggest shots

525
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,800
Speaker 1: of the game, two big kickout threes off of those

526
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:14,840
Speaker 1: driving kick sequences. In this four game win streak, Emmanuel

527
00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,760
Speaker 1: quickly averaging twenty five points per game on sixty two

528
00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:21,240
Speaker 1: from three on seven three point attempts per game. But

529
00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:23,680
Speaker 1: their defense was the story. They held a top five

530
00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City offense to just one hundred and one points.

531
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,400
Speaker 1: Scottie Barnes just an absolute wrecking ball in this game,

532
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:35,240
Speaker 1: defensively huge athletic plays. In the final sequence, Chet tries

533
00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:38,399
Speaker 1: to iso him, drives to the left, Scotty takes the

534
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:42,040
Speaker 1: contact in the chest, just doesn't even budge. Chet then goes, well,

535
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,800
Speaker 1: I'm seven something feet tall, let me just shoot over

536
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 1: the top, and Scotty just packs his shit right back

537
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:50,199
Speaker 1: in his face. On the pull up jump shot. On

538
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:52,400
Speaker 1: the other end of the floor, Jamal shed misses two

539
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:56,480
Speaker 1: free throws and Scotty Barnes just mauls everyone and reaches

540
00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:59,399
Speaker 1: over the top and taps out the offensive rebound. That

541
00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,320
Speaker 1: basic saved the game. And it's been such a fascinating

542
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,480
Speaker 1: Scottie Barnes season because his counting stats are more or

543
00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:08,480
Speaker 1: less the same as what they've been in the last

544
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,000
Speaker 1: couple of years. But I think he's playing far and

545
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,960
Speaker 1: away the best basketball of his career, not just efficient

546
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 1: in the form of shooting percentages, but also efficient in

547
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,320
Speaker 1: the form of his shot creation. Just playing better out

548
00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:21,320
Speaker 1: of his one on ones than ever in terms of

549
00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:24,680
Speaker 1: aggression towards the rim and taking the available reads that

550
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,840
Speaker 1: are there, using the jump shot as an occasional counter,

551
00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,800
Speaker 1: and not settling. And I also think he's a shoe

552
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:32,680
Speaker 1: in for First Team All Defense this year. You could

553
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,480
Speaker 1: argue Scottie Barnes has been the best non center defender

554
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:39,080
Speaker 1: in the entire NBA this season. One last crazy stat

555
00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:41,760
Speaker 1: that I saw on Twitter last night with regards to

556
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:45,359
Speaker 1: the Raptors. The Raptors are seventeen to three in their

557
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:48,600
Speaker 1: last twenty games that RJ. Barrett has been healthy and

558
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:50,720
Speaker 1: available to play in. Again, this is a team. Every

559
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:52,280
Speaker 1: team in the league's dealing with a bunch of injuries

560
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,120
Speaker 1: right now, and that's why no one's gonna have sympathy

561
00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:57,440
Speaker 1: for Oklahoma City right now. Everyone's dealing with injuries. One

562
00:26:57,440 --> 00:26:59,679
Speaker 1: of the big things that Toronto's been dealing with is

563
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,119
Speaker 1: just how often RJ. Barrett has been available in addition

564
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:06,359
Speaker 1: to the center spot. This team, when they're healthy, they're

565
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:10,879
Speaker 1: incredibly athletically imposing, They're deep with talent. They're led by

566
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,440
Speaker 1: a real star on the rise with Scottie Barnes. I'm

567
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:15,280
Speaker 1: buying Raptor stock right now. I think they have a

568
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,760
Speaker 1: legitimate shot to win in the Eastern Conference this year.

569
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 1: Number five the San Antonio Spurs currently plus eleven hundred

570
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:30,679
Speaker 1: to win the title in hard rock bet. Really disappointing

571
00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:33,720
Speaker 1: loss at home to the New Orleans Pelicans last night.

572
00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:36,920
Speaker 1: Their offense fell apart in the second and third quarters

573
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,040
Speaker 1: again as they spotted the Pelicans a twenty point lead.

574
00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,600
Speaker 1: They have this furious comeback classic Spurs basketball right like

575
00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,159
Speaker 1: Wemby's hitting jump shots, so getting out in transition off

576
00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:49,119
Speaker 1: of their defense. Keldon Johnson was really good in this game.

577
00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:53,320
Speaker 1: But down the stretch they're able to fight Wenby off

578
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:55,800
Speaker 1: of his spots into some tougher shots. Couple of Spurs

579
00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:58,199
Speaker 1: guys miss some catch and shoot jump shots, and then

580
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:00,159
Speaker 1: on the other end of the floor, Trey Murphy a

581
00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:03,280
Speaker 1: couple of tough clutch buckets, step back three in the

582
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:05,920
Speaker 1: left corner, kind of a driving floater in the lane.

583
00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,440
Speaker 1: Trey Murphy is really really popping this year. Just some

584
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,800
Speaker 1: super impressive clutch shot making from him. And then one

585
00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:15,159
Speaker 1: of the most shocking highlights of this season, Eves Missy

586
00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,200
Speaker 1: off of the left wing, catches Wenby a little flat

587
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,080
Speaker 1: footed and rips to the right on him and just

588
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 1: throws down a violent dunk as Wenby tries to recover

589
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,399
Speaker 1: back into the play. Just a ridiculous exclamation point for

590
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:31,359
Speaker 1: a big New Orleans Pelicans win. Poor shooting was the

591
00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:35,000
Speaker 1: issue again. San Antonio generated thirty five catch and shoot

592
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:36,840
Speaker 1: threes in that game, which is kind of a crazy

593
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,280
Speaker 1: number in and of itself, just in terms of volume,

594
00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:41,880
Speaker 1: but they only made eleven of them, and they're a

595
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,280
Speaker 1: very make or miss team right now. They're shooting just

596
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:47,920
Speaker 1: thirty point four percent from three in their losses, which

597
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 1: ranks twenty ninth in the NBA out of all the teams,

598
00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,400
Speaker 1: and just how they shoot in their losses, and some

599
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:55,400
Speaker 1: similar issues down the stretch, like we talked about, like

600
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:58,000
Speaker 1: Wemby getting pushed off of his spots. Wenby's really struggling

601
00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,440
Speaker 1: to get anything going towards the rim. We get into

602
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,280
Speaker 1: crunch time in his self created possessions, guys missing catch

603
00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 1: and shoot looks, some forces in traffic, which is another

604
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 1: It's kind of an issue that we saw with some

605
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,880
Speaker 1: of Okac's guards early on that we're seeing with some

606
00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:15,040
Speaker 1: of San Antonio's players just driving into traffic and try

607
00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 1: to force things instead of making the available reads that

608
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:20,520
Speaker 1: are there. I've been hesitant to move San Antonio into

609
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:24,480
Speaker 1: my top tier of contenders just because of these inconsistencies

610
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:26,680
Speaker 1: Like this is more or less what happens when you

611
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:29,520
Speaker 1: have a team built around really young players, like sometimes

612
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,840
Speaker 1: a second year player like Steph Castle. Even though you

613
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:33,719
Speaker 1: guys know how much I love Steph Castle. He's one

614
00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:35,920
Speaker 1: of my favorite young players in the league. I've talked

615
00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:37,880
Speaker 1: about this on the show before. I'd rather have him

616
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:41,240
Speaker 1: than a Men Thompson moving forward. But like Steph's really young,

617
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:43,080
Speaker 1: He's in his second season. He's gonna have years where

618
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:44,760
Speaker 1: he goes out or games where he goes out and

619
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:46,920
Speaker 1: he goes one for six from the field, and that

620
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:49,400
Speaker 1: was an example last night. Just feels like they're a

621
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:51,320
Speaker 1: year or two away from being ready for the level

622
00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:54,080
Speaker 1: of consistency that you need in order to win for

623
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:57,520
Speaker 1: playoff rounds. One Bright spot, though. Dylan Harper had this

624
00:29:57,600 --> 00:30:01,520
Speaker 1: like drive in the fourth quarter this game where he

625
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 1: goes right at Zion Williams and kind of semi transition

626
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,280
Speaker 1: drive up the right side of the floor, and Zion

627
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:08,520
Speaker 1: kind of tries to beat him to the spot, and

628
00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,880
Speaker 1: Dylan gets super low on his drive and drops that

629
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 1: shoulder and hit Zion and just plows through him for

630
00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:19,960
Speaker 1: an easy layup. And it was just a ridiculous athletic play.

631
00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,720
Speaker 1: There was a leverage battle that he won there that

632
00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:25,680
Speaker 1: you don't see too many small guards win. He brings

633
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,640
Speaker 1: so much power on his drives. I think Harper is

634
00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:30,640
Speaker 1: just going to be a really special player again. Big

635
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,320
Speaker 1: believer in the Spurs and the big picture. Just a

636
00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,160
Speaker 1: little worried about their offense within the context of this

637
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:41,120
Speaker 1: particular season. Number four. The Houston Rockets currently plus seventeen

638
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:42,920
Speaker 1: point fifty to win the title on hard Rock Bet.

639
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,440
Speaker 1: They've won four out of five and they notched a

640
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:48,400
Speaker 1: signature win one, the kind of win like when you

641
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,880
Speaker 1: have a bad week, a couple weeks, more like a

642
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:54,560
Speaker 1: month for the Rockets there in December January, when you

643
00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 1: have that type of stretch, but you still have strong

644
00:30:57,440 --> 00:30:59,720
Speaker 1: metrics and you're still in good shape in the standings.

645
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:02,720
Speaker 1: Sometimes all it takes is just a signature road win

646
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:06,040
Speaker 1: to just kind of like just restore your belief in

647
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:08,240
Speaker 1: what you're trying to accomplish within this season. It just

648
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:10,680
Speaker 1: can erase a lot of the bad juju from a

649
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:12,800
Speaker 1: bad stretch of basketball. And they got that on the

650
00:31:12,880 --> 00:31:15,000
Speaker 1: road in Detroit. Took the game over in a third

651
00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:17,920
Speaker 1: quarter run that I actually thought was one of Houston's

652
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:20,760
Speaker 1: best stretches of hoops this season. Shane gun was off

653
00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:23,680
Speaker 1: the floor, Clint Cappello was in the game at center.

654
00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:28,640
Speaker 1: Capello is awesome defensively in the stretch, got some good

655
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,440
Speaker 1: contests at the level in ball screens out on the perimeter,

656
00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:34,479
Speaker 1: and some really nice rim protection sequences, and then the

657
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:38,719
Speaker 1: offense was just running as smoothly as it had all season.

658
00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant hunting Jalen Duran and Isaiah Stewart, and switches

659
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,120
Speaker 1: hit two pull up threes on Jalen Duran, hit a

660
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,160
Speaker 1: pull up two on Isaiah Stewart. Reed Sheppard was cooking

661
00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:50,320
Speaker 1: in ball screens. Scored at all three levels in this

662
00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,560
Speaker 1: run from three from the mid range at the rim.

663
00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:55,800
Speaker 1: You can tell Reed Shepherd's confidence is at an all

664
00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,320
Speaker 1: time high right now. And then the Rockets found a

665
00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:01,120
Speaker 1: lot of success in that third quarter using KD as

666
00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:03,840
Speaker 1: a screener. And it was a simple concept, right, So

667
00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:06,640
Speaker 1: this is why it's important to be aggressive as a

668
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,720
Speaker 1: score and to take some tougher shots. You know, I've

669
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,720
Speaker 1: noticed this, you know, rooting for the Lakers. Luca will

670
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:12,800
Speaker 1: do this all the time. I'll come out early in games.

671
00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:15,800
Speaker 1: It'd be super aggressive and put up you know, fifteen

672
00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,200
Speaker 1: twenty points in the first quarter because it changes the

673
00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:19,760
Speaker 1: way he gets guarded the rest of the game, and

674
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:21,000
Speaker 1: then the rest of the game, all of a sudden,

675
00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:23,520
Speaker 1: he starts drawing these more aggressive coverages that can create

676
00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:27,160
Speaker 1: openings for everyone else. Similarly, Katie hits all these jump

677
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:31,200
Speaker 1: shots early in the run, he's red hot. Jamichael Green

678
00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:33,600
Speaker 1: gets up in him and just starts face guarding him everywhere.

679
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:35,400
Speaker 1: So they just use KD as a screener. And if

680
00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:37,800
Speaker 1: Katie's gonna set a screen and Jamichael Green is not

681
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,320
Speaker 1: gonna help on the other side of that screen, then

682
00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,040
Speaker 1: every Kevin Durant's screen is gonna just equal whoever's dribbling

683
00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:46,880
Speaker 1: the ball getting downhill. And so Jabari Smith takes a

684
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,360
Speaker 1: Kat's screen and just settles into an easy little mid

685
00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:51,440
Speaker 1: range jumper at the foul line. I mean Thompson just

686
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:56,200
Speaker 1: screaming downhill off of screens from Kevin Durant, Like, that's

687
00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,120
Speaker 1: the kind of advantage you have as a score when

688
00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:01,600
Speaker 1: the defense starts to react to you putting the ball

689
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,720
Speaker 1: in the basket, you start setting screens. No one's gonna

690
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:06,800
Speaker 1: leave you open because they know that shit's going in.

691
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:09,000
Speaker 1: So that's the type of thing that I think is

692
00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:12,560
Speaker 1: another ceiling razor for this offense and something I'd like

693
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:15,560
Speaker 1: to see the Rockets do a little bit more, especially

694
00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:17,560
Speaker 1: late in games. Lay in games, it's a steady diet

695
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:20,200
Speaker 1: of KD up top. They'll run ball screens with Shanegoon

696
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:22,280
Speaker 1: and they might throw the ball into Shanegon, but it's

697
00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:24,840
Speaker 1: a lot of on ball stuff for KD, and it

698
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:27,920
Speaker 1: would I think it's at least worth exploring using KD

699
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 1: as a screener a little bit more when they get

700
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:33,400
Speaker 1: into late game situations. And then most importantly too, like

701
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:35,960
Speaker 1: you know, we've seen this with Steph Curry over the years.

702
00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:38,880
Speaker 1: You get active off the ball setting screens, you do

703
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,680
Speaker 1: inevitably start getting open because what ends up happening is

704
00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:45,160
Speaker 1: eventually the defense does react to the openings created by

705
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:49,160
Speaker 1: your screens, then they end up in rotation. Rotation is chaos.

706
00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,280
Speaker 1: Chaos is an agent for open looks when you're a

707
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,520
Speaker 1: shooter like KD or Steph. This is kind of why

708
00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:01,600
Speaker 1: I wasn't very discouraged by houston struggles earlier in the season,

709
00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:06,480
Speaker 1: because their big picture metrics were so strong, Like, yes,

710
00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,719
Speaker 1: Houston's defense can be bad sometimes, but overwhelmingly in the

711
00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:14,000
Speaker 1: large sample it's been good. Yes, their offense can be

712
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,560
Speaker 1: bad sometimes, but overwhelmingly in the large sample, it's been

713
00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:20,000
Speaker 1: very good. So it kind of just felt inevitable to

714
00:34:20,040 --> 00:34:21,960
Speaker 1: me that they would find their footing and they're starting

715
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,600
Speaker 1: to now climb out of that mess they got themselves

716
00:34:24,640 --> 00:34:27,800
Speaker 1: in over the previous month. Number three. The Denver Nuggets

717
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:29,920
Speaker 1: currently plus five point fifty to win the title in

718
00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:32,160
Speaker 1: hard rock Bet. Finished the week last week with back

719
00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:35,680
Speaker 1: to back road wins versus Washington and Milwaukee. Almost blew

720
00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:37,880
Speaker 1: a twenty three point fourth quarter league against the Bucks,

721
00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:40,120
Speaker 1: but they did hold on as Kyle Kuzma missed a

722
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:43,840
Speaker 1: heave at the buzzer. Aaron Gordon did appear to reinjure

723
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:46,080
Speaker 1: as hamstring, which is a huge bummer for a Nuggets

724
00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:48,680
Speaker 1: team that has been decimated by injuries this year. But

725
00:34:48,719 --> 00:34:50,640
Speaker 1: I have to say Denver going nine to five in

726
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,239
Speaker 1: these fourteen games without Jokic is one of the most

727
00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:55,840
Speaker 1: impressive feats I've seen in the league this entire season.

728
00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,960
Speaker 1: They have quite literally manufactured wins because over this fourteen

729
00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:04,880
Speaker 1: game span they're sixteenth in offense and twenty first in defense.

730
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:08,399
Speaker 1: They have a negative point differential that is more reflective

731
00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:11,880
Speaker 1: of the personnel that they've had available to them, but

732
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:15,960
Speaker 1: they're seven and one in clutch games, fuel by their defense.

733
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:19,000
Speaker 1: They've had a ninety four clutch defensive rating in this

734
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,759
Speaker 1: fourteen game stretch. And then clutch shot making from their

735
00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:26,080
Speaker 1: stars Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon in clutch situations in

736
00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:30,120
Speaker 1: this nine to five fourteen game stretch are eleven for

737
00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:33,600
Speaker 1: nineteen from the field on clutch shots. Just a couple

738
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,560
Speaker 1: of ballers stepping up for their team to grind out wins.

739
00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:40,120
Speaker 1: And then Jokich starting to do some on court workouts

740
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:43,560
Speaker 1: before games. Usually when the players start doing visible shooting workouts,

741
00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:46,480
Speaker 1: it's a sign that they're getting closer to returning. Today's

742
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:49,200
Speaker 1: January twenty sixth, it feels like maybe in the next

743
00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:51,839
Speaker 1: week or so that we'll get to see Yokic back

744
00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:54,439
Speaker 1: out there. And you know, they're in a really good

745
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:56,040
Speaker 1: position to be able to go on a run from

746
00:35:56,080 --> 00:35:58,480
Speaker 1: here and again because of the rise of Peyton Watson.

747
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:00,759
Speaker 1: If Aaron Gordon does have to miss another month here,

748
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:02,960
Speaker 1: if Cam Johnson makes his return in the next couple

749
00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:06,320
Speaker 1: of weeks, you and Christian Brown makes his return in

750
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:08,359
Speaker 1: the next couple of weeks, you can go out there

751
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:14,640
Speaker 1: with Jokich, Watson, Cam Johnson, Christian Brown and Jamal Murray

752
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:18,080
Speaker 1: and have like a really talented core five to go

753
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:20,319
Speaker 1: to war with during the time that you're waiting for

754
00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:21,960
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon to get healthy. And you got to give

755
00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:24,319
Speaker 1: Aaron as much time as he needs, like this, this

756
00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:26,560
Speaker 1: hamstring thing is not to be trifled with. You need

757
00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:29,839
Speaker 1: him healthy when you get to April, take your sweet time.

758
00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:34,680
Speaker 1: They're literally three full months between now in between when

759
00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:37,680
Speaker 1: Denver is going to be playing some serious basketball, Plenty

760
00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:40,600
Speaker 1: of time for Aaron to rest up and get healthy.

761
00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:44,760
Speaker 1: Number two. The Detroit Pistons currently plus seventeen to fifty

762
00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,000
Speaker 1: a lot of teams in that seventeen fifty tier on

763
00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:48,799
Speaker 1: hard Rock Bet. They're eight and two in their last

764
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:51,040
Speaker 1: ten games we talked about. They lost to Houston earlier,

765
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:55,480
Speaker 1: a brutal Kid Cunningham game, twelve points and six turnovers

766
00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:58,120
Speaker 1: in that game. In this eight and two stretch, he's

767
00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,760
Speaker 1: played in seven of those ten games forty one percent

768
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,080
Speaker 1: from the field, thirty one percent from three and below

769
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:05,520
Speaker 1: twenty points per game. He's been dealing with a wrist

770
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:08,360
Speaker 1: injury on his shooting hand. I've had a sprain on

771
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:10,879
Speaker 1: my shooting wrist before. I feel like, just because that's

772
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,720
Speaker 1: the nature of basketball, that most people who have played

773
00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:16,280
Speaker 1: the game at any level, high school, college, pros, whatever,

774
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:20,080
Speaker 1: have dealt with an injury on their shooting wrist. And

775
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:22,520
Speaker 1: if you have, you know it's no joke. Like jump

776
00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:26,560
Speaker 1: shooting is just such a refined muscle memory thing. Like

777
00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:30,160
Speaker 1: if you're experiencing pain at the snap of your wrist

778
00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:32,800
Speaker 1: at the top of a shot, that can be brutal

779
00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,600
Speaker 1: to having the same release every time, and it can

780
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:37,480
Speaker 1: be inconsistent too. Those of you guys who have dealt

781
00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:40,120
Speaker 1: with this injury, No, like sometimes you'll shoot it and

782
00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:42,359
Speaker 1: you won't feel it. And you'll be like, all right,

783
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:44,719
Speaker 1: that was fine, But then like another time, like maybe

784
00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:46,880
Speaker 1: the angle is just a little different or something, and

785
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:48,399
Speaker 1: you'll take a shot and all of a sudden, it's

786
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:50,000
Speaker 1: a sharp pain in your wrist, and that kind of

787
00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:52,719
Speaker 1: inconsistency gets in your head because you rise up into

788
00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:55,160
Speaker 1: a shot and you don't know what your wrist is

789
00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:57,680
Speaker 1: gonna do as you're getting into that shot. And we've

790
00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:00,480
Speaker 1: seen some other examples of this in recent NBA history,

791
00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:03,600
Speaker 1: most notably Jokic a couple of years ago, who couldn't

792
00:38:03,600 --> 00:38:05,960
Speaker 1: make a jump shot and to save his life during

793
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:09,080
Speaker 1: that Minnesota series and throughout the majority of the tail

794
00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:11,560
Speaker 1: end of that season and into the postseason. You know,

795
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:14,120
Speaker 1: David Bickerstaff is talking about how Okaide's just kind of

796
00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:18,360
Speaker 1: fighting through, and I understand that, but like, this is

797
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:21,359
Speaker 1: the advantage of having a strong identity outside of your star.

798
00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:23,680
Speaker 1: Like in this ten games stretch, they have the number

799
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:26,160
Speaker 1: one defense by a mile in the NBA, a one

800
00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:29,560
Speaker 1: oh two defensive rating, Oklahoma City second at one oh seven,

801
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:31,560
Speaker 1: So the best defense in the by a mile in

802
00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:35,440
Speaker 1: this ten game stretch, fourth and rebounding first in points

803
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:37,799
Speaker 1: off of turnovers per game during the stretch twenty five

804
00:38:37,840 --> 00:38:41,919
Speaker 1: points per game. They're creating so much margin every game

805
00:38:41,960 --> 00:38:46,359
Speaker 1: with their defense that I really especially when you look

806
00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:48,040
Speaker 1: at where they're at in the standings and how big

807
00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:50,480
Speaker 1: of a gap there is between them and Boston. And look,

808
00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:52,800
Speaker 1: I know Oklahoma City has been dropping games and Detroit's

809
00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:56,160
Speaker 1: now only one game back. I believe. I think they

810
00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:57,799
Speaker 1: have eleven losses in Okase has ten, so I think

811
00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:00,000
Speaker 1: they're only one or two games back in the lost

812
00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:02,440
Speaker 1: column of Oklahoma City. So like you might talk yourself

813
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:03,919
Speaker 1: into thinking, oh, we have a shot at the number

814
00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:05,680
Speaker 1: one overall, see, like maybe we should go for it.

815
00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:08,960
Speaker 1: I get that, But like I think Oklahoma City is

816
00:39:08,960 --> 00:39:12,120
Speaker 1: gonna be hard to catch in the big sample. So, like,

817
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:16,279
Speaker 1: the reality is you're in such a strong position in

818
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:20,000
Speaker 1: terms of not dipping down below the two seed that

819
00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:23,240
Speaker 1: I wouldn't mess with kid's risk. I'd let it get healthy.

820
00:39:23,239 --> 00:39:25,399
Speaker 1: You're not gonna struggle, Like this team is good enough

821
00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:28,680
Speaker 1: to win games, rack up wins without kids, So like,

822
00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:31,440
Speaker 1: I get it. You have this tough Western Conference road

823
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:33,520
Speaker 1: trip coming up. They're at the Nuggets tomorrow, then they're

824
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:35,640
Speaker 1: at Phoenix, and then they're at Golden State. That Phoenix

825
00:39:35,719 --> 00:39:38,760
Speaker 1: Golden State one is a back to back that's tough,

826
00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:42,879
Speaker 1: but I just don't think unless you're really convinced you're

827
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:45,000
Speaker 1: gonna catch Oklahoma City, I don't see the point in

828
00:39:45,040 --> 00:39:47,880
Speaker 1: having kid play through a wrist injury. You need that

829
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:51,080
Speaker 1: thing to be healthy in time for this postseason. A

830
00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:53,680
Speaker 1: couple other bright spots for Pistons in the stretch. Three

831
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:56,520
Speaker 1: more threes from Duncan Robinson on Saturday. He's forty eight

832
00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:59,040
Speaker 1: percent on seven attempts per game in this eight and

833
00:39:59,080 --> 00:40:01,680
Speaker 1: two stretch. And then Dan Skins, who slimped a little

834
00:40:01,719 --> 00:40:03,000
Speaker 1: bit in the middle of the season, lost some of

835
00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:05,520
Speaker 1: his rotation minutes, but he's been great over the last

836
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:09,600
Speaker 1: ten games overall Number one. Finally, today, the Oklahoma City

837
00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:11,919
Speaker 1: Thunder plus one fifteen to win the title on hard

838
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,520
Speaker 1: Rock Bet. Another loss to the Raptors last night that

839
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,680
Speaker 1: followed a very familiar script, brutal spot up shooting there

840
00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:19,680
Speaker 1: were just eleven for forty three from three. Will dig

841
00:40:19,719 --> 00:40:21,600
Speaker 1: into that a little deeper in a second, and the

842
00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:24,520
Speaker 1: inability to secure a defensive rebound. Twelve offensive rebounds for

843
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:27,160
Speaker 1: the Raptors, including a devastating one by Scotty Barnes on

844
00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:30,200
Speaker 1: a free throw after Jamal shed missed two with thirteen

845
00:40:30,239 --> 00:40:33,960
Speaker 1: seconds left, and once again, the shooting followed a similar

846
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:38,040
Speaker 1: script that has been a season long issue. So the

847
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:43,040
Speaker 1: Thunder in this game generated nineteen wide open, unguarded catch

848
00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:46,480
Speaker 1: and shoot threes. They made eight of them. That's forty

849
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:50,000
Speaker 1: two percent. That's twenty four shots on twenty four points

850
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:54,440
Speaker 1: on nineteen shots. That's good shooting. The Thunder took twenty

851
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:59,040
Speaker 1: one contested catch and shoot threes and made two of

852
00:40:59,080 --> 00:41:02,600
Speaker 1: them for twenty one and again, this has been a

853
00:41:02,640 --> 00:41:06,440
Speaker 1: season long issue. The Thunder cannot make ketch and shoot

854
00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:09,600
Speaker 1: threes when they get rushed or contested at all. They're

855
00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:13,680
Speaker 1: shooting twenty eight point nine percent on the season on

856
00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:16,480
Speaker 1: guarded catch and shoot threes according to Synergy. That's twenty

857
00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:21,040
Speaker 1: eighth in the entire NBA in shooting on contested threes.

858
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:23,600
Speaker 1: I thought they really missed AJ Mitchell last night. The

859
00:41:23,640 --> 00:41:26,960
Speaker 1: Thunder basically need one of him or j dub in

860
00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:31,160
Speaker 1: conjunction with Shay to get enough dribble penetration for them

861
00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:33,279
Speaker 1: to generate the types of shots that they need to

862
00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:36,040
Speaker 1: succeed on offense. And once you get off of those

863
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:39,600
Speaker 1: three guys, Shaye AJ and J Dub. It just falls

864
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:41,359
Speaker 1: off a cliff in terms of their ability to get

865
00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:44,120
Speaker 1: dribble penetration. It's one of the big reasons why this

866
00:41:44,239 --> 00:41:46,600
Speaker 1: J Dub injury is such a concern to me, Like

867
00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:49,719
Speaker 1: they need JDub healthy and the best version of himself,

868
00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:52,680
Speaker 1: so hopefully he's able to get to that point before April.

869
00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,279
Speaker 1: The Thunder are just thirteen and nine in their last

870
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:58,319
Speaker 1: twenty two games. They've been playing some mediocre basketball for

871
00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:01,719
Speaker 1: a while now, although it's worth mention their beat up, like, yes,

872
00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:04,000
Speaker 1: Isaiah Hartenstein has missed a bunch of time in the stretch. Yes,

873
00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:06,440
Speaker 1: the Jdab injury is a problem. Yes, having AJ Mitchell

874
00:42:06,440 --> 00:42:08,360
Speaker 1: out yesterday is going to have a huge impact on

875
00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:10,879
Speaker 1: your offense. But just about everybody in the league's beat

876
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:13,160
Speaker 1: up right now in one way or another. The Raptors

877
00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:14,840
Speaker 1: have been beat up all season on the wing, and

878
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:18,560
Speaker 1: they haven't had their starting center. Indiana's obviously a shell

879
00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:20,319
Speaker 1: of what they were last year. That's your last two

880
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:21,920
Speaker 1: losses like that, no one's going to be looking at

881
00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:25,000
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City and giving them sympathy for the injuries that

882
00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:28,879
Speaker 1: they've dealt with. They're twenty sixth and overall three point

883
00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:31,760
Speaker 1: percentage in this thirteen to nine stretch just thirty three percent,

884
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,640
Speaker 1: dead last, and rebounding, they have been the worst rebounding

885
00:42:35,640 --> 00:42:39,960
Speaker 1: team in the league since December thirteenth. One last stat

886
00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:41,640
Speaker 1: I found interesting is I was digging into some of

887
00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:44,360
Speaker 1: the data for my contender rankings. This is true of

888
00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:48,040
Speaker 1: the Lakers, the Celtics, and the Thunder. When they lose,

889
00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:52,440
Speaker 1: the ball gets stagnant. The Thunder, of the Celtics and

890
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:56,120
Speaker 1: the Lakers have the three lowest assist percentages in the

891
00:42:56,239 --> 00:43:01,680
Speaker 1: league in losses. In other words, when they lose, more

892
00:43:01,719 --> 00:43:05,200
Speaker 1: and more of their shots are self created, fewer come

893
00:43:05,239 --> 00:43:07,719
Speaker 1: off of movement. Right, And it's the same with all

894
00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:12,160
Speaker 1: these teams. When Oklahoma City breaks the defense down and

895
00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:16,280
Speaker 1: passes through, they generate wide open threes, and they shoot

896
00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:21,440
Speaker 1: wide open threes really well. Right, Boston, when they focus

897
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:25,319
Speaker 1: on advantage creation, advantage extending, passing up the good shot

898
00:43:25,360 --> 00:43:27,840
Speaker 1: for the great shot, they're the best three point shooting

899
00:43:27,840 --> 00:43:30,359
Speaker 1: team in the league in those sorts of situations. That's

900
00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:32,879
Speaker 1: why they're the best offense in the league overall. Right,

901
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:37,440
Speaker 1: But when they can get stagnant, when they play too

902
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:40,280
Speaker 1: much one on one. When they settle for decent shots

903
00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:44,080
Speaker 1: instead of great shots, they're capable of going cold. Oklahoma City,

904
00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:46,920
Speaker 1: they fail to get dribble penetration and move the ball

905
00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:50,520
Speaker 1: through the defense. They take a lot of self created,

906
00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:54,440
Speaker 1: unassisted shots and contested threes. They don't go in, and

907
00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:56,959
Speaker 1: they can lose. Like er same thing when they play

908
00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:00,240
Speaker 1: one hundred percent Luca heliocentric ball. Usually the team doesn't

909
00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:03,280
Speaker 1: score too much. When Luca focuses more on advantage creation

910
00:44:03,400 --> 00:44:05,760
Speaker 1: and moves the ball earlier in possessions, all of a sudden,

911
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:08,520
Speaker 1: a guy like ruiy Hachimura gets a lot more looks,

912
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:11,319
Speaker 1: His shot attempts go up. As a team, the ball

913
00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:14,160
Speaker 1: moves more, there's more guys in rhythm, they play better,

914
00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:16,600
Speaker 1: And for all three of those teams, it's been very

915
00:44:16,600 --> 00:44:19,359
Speaker 1: interesting to me the difference in how their offense looks

916
00:44:19,360 --> 00:44:22,719
Speaker 1: when they win versus when they lose. All right, guys,

917
00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:24,440
Speaker 1: it's all I have for today, As always to sincerely

918
00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:26,760
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys for supporting us and supporting the show.

919
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:30,680
Speaker 1: We will be back tomorrow with our Western Conference trade preview.

920
00:44:30,719 --> 00:44:31,680
Speaker 1: I will see you guys then,