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Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill 29 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: Casino and Resort in Kansas twenty one plus. Age and 30 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: eligibility varies by jurisdiction void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire 31 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. For additional 32 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: terms and responsible gaming resources, see dkang dot co slash 33 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: b ball. All right, welcome to hoops tonight. You're at 34 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: the volume. Happy Saturday, everybody, If all of you guys 35 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,280 Speaker 1: are having a great start to your weekend. Well the 36 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: For as long as I can remember, the Denver Nuggets 37 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: have completely owned the Los Angeles Lakers. As someone who 38 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: roots for that team, I've had to do some pretty 39 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: uncomfortable shows over the years, including last year having to 40 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: come up onto this stream right after Jamal Murray ended 41 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: games with buzzer beaters. As the Nuggets have seemingly won 42 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: a million games in a row against the Lakers. The 43 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:09,639 Speaker 1: one that they won was the down three to zero 44 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: in the series last year game in Los Angeles. It's 45 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: a matchup the Nuggets have dominated, even as recently as 46 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,519 Speaker 1: this season, as they blew them out in Los Angeles 47 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: in a second half avalanche that they didn't seem to 48 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: have any chance to control. We're gonna be breaking that 49 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: game down from the perspective of both teams as the 50 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: Lakers go into Denver and blow them out tonight. You 51 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: guys know the joke before we get started to subscribed 52 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any 53 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore 54 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: json LTC. Guys, guys, don't miss show announcements. So forget 55 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:40,799 Speaker 1: about a podcast feed wherever you get your podcast on 56 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:42,800 Speaker 1: our Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave 57 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: a rating and a review on that front. Don't forget 58 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: about our brand new social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, 59 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: and Facebook where we release content throughout the year and 60 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 1: last but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions in the 61 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:53,920 Speaker 1: YouTube comments. So we can get to them on our 62 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: Friday shows throughout the remainder of the season. All right, 63 00:02:57,080 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So I want to be clear 64 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: front here. I don't think any single regular season matchup 65 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: is any sort of sweeping decoration about what two teams 66 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: could look like in the postseason. I would even go 67 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:14,079 Speaker 1: as far as to say a dominant entire regular season 68 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: series between two teams wouldn't make that much of a difference. Famously, 69 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,959 Speaker 1: last year, the Phoenix Suns owned the Minnesota Timberwolves all 70 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: regular season. They had a specific game plan that worked 71 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 1: against them in the regular season, and then they got 72 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 1: into the playoffs and got swept because the dynamics can change, 73 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: and more often than not, what I'm looking at in 74 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: these regular season situations is not so much what can 75 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,560 Speaker 1: happen in one single game, but rather the problems that 76 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: either team present for each other. Those problems that they 77 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: present are the things you can lean on during a 78 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: two week long playoff series to try to gain an advantage. 79 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 2: Right. 80 00:03:53,080 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: I had a debate with a fellow volume coworker of mine, 81 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: Carson Breber from Nerd Sash the other day as we 82 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: kind of talked about Denver Vers La and got into 83 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: a bunch of different dynamics that in that show, And 84 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: one of the things that I was trying to emphasize 85 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: was simply that everyone's focused on whether or not the 86 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: Lakers can guard Yokic. And there's no doubt that Yokis 87 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,279 Speaker 1: presents a huge problem to this team. No one, no 88 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:18,920 Speaker 1: one wearing a Lakers jersey, can guard him one on one. 89 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: And we're gonna talk in a little bit about the 90 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: defensive game plan the Lakers had, because I actually thought 91 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: they did a really nice job on yokicch in this game. 92 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: But one of the things that I kept trying to 93 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: harp on was, like everyone's focused on whether or not 94 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: the Lakers can handle Yokic. Why is no one paying 95 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 1: attention to the simple fact that on the other end 96 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: of the floor, how is Denver going to guard the Lakers. 97 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: There's a simple dynamic taking place in this game that 98 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 1: was leading to the Nuggets being in rotation constantly and 99 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: the Lakers being able to move the ball around for 100 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: wide open threes for guys that are all pretty damn 101 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: good and knockdown, catch and shoot three point shooters. And 102 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:00,479 Speaker 1: it was a simple fact that when Luka don would 103 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,799 Speaker 1: come off of a ball screen. Michael Malone was bringing 104 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 1: the cool of jokicch up to the level of the screen. 105 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: This is the coverage that the Nuggets use most frequently. 106 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: This is the coverage that the Nuggets are going to 107 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:13,920 Speaker 1: use when they get into the playoffs. This is how 108 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 1: they defend teams. They force you to skip the ball 109 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: and then they plan on their rotations trying to funnel 110 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: you into shots that they're okay with. Right well, when 111 00:05:25,920 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: you bring Jokic up to the level, when you bring 112 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,359 Speaker 1: him up onto Luca out twenty five feet from the 113 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: basket behind, that is a four on three. And it 114 00:05:36,480 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: really starts with a simple dynamic, which is Jackson Hayes 115 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,840 Speaker 1: rolling to the rim in Denver having to decide whether 116 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,359 Speaker 1: they're gonna tag it when they tag him with Gordon, 117 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: the skip passes open. They try to play early in 118 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,040 Speaker 1: the game where they didn't tag him. Jackson had an easy, 119 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,720 Speaker 1: uncontested layup a seven footer under the basket when nobody 120 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: within fifteen feet of him on any side because they 121 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,800 Speaker 1: didn't tag it. So then Denver started tagging him with Gordon. 122 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 1: Now it's a skip past every single time, and who's 123 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: in that corner. It's either Ruy Hatchramura, who's shooting over 124 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:13,840 Speaker 1: fifty percent on catch and shoot threes this year, or 125 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: it's Lebron James who can drive it for a dunk 126 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 1: or drive it to make the next play. They when 127 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:23,480 Speaker 1: they used Ruey as a screener on Yokic, when Yokich 128 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:27,719 Speaker 1: was on Ruey instead of Jackson, He's just popping the 129 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: pick and pop is always wide open unless you switch 130 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,040 Speaker 1: it or you rotate from the weak side. Ruey is 131 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: catching up at the top wide open three, or a 132 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: rotation moving the ball around someone else is getting a 133 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: wide open shot. Luka Doncic has this. He's one of 134 00:06:45,040 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: the very best in the world at this. The Lakers 135 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,039 Speaker 1: have had guys like Lebron who can do this in 136 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,640 Speaker 1: the past, but because Luka can do it, it puts 137 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: Lebron off the ball. And when you're dealing with an 138 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: offense that has Jackson, Hayes who can dunk everything under 139 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,760 Speaker 1: the back, and Lebron, Ruey and Austin who can all 140 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: be knocked down catch and shoot guys but can also 141 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: drive closeouts and make plays that can also cut along 142 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: the baseline that can also oh you threw a good rotation. 143 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,160 Speaker 1: But guess what. Austin's a score. He can get buckets, 144 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: Lebron's a score, buckets, Rui's a score. So even when 145 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: you rotate well, these guys are in advantages. You're asking 146 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: high level offensive players to score with a nugget sprinting 147 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: at them from like ten to fifteen feet away. They 148 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: tried a bunch of different things in this game. They 149 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: tried going to a three to two zone there in 150 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: the late third quarter, which was the only thing they 151 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: actually did in this game that made the Lakers a 152 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: little bit uncomfortable on offense, and it was because Jared 153 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: Vanderbilt was in the game and the three to two 154 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:50,480 Speaker 1: kind of forces Van Doh to do a lot of 155 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:52,679 Speaker 1: high level skill stuff in the middle of the floor, 156 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: which is not his game, and they were able to 157 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: get a couple of stops there, but even then they 158 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: just took him out. Then they started screening the top man. 159 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: They got a couple buckets against the three to two 160 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: to start. 161 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:03,239 Speaker 2: The fourth quarter. 162 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: Then in the fourth quarter they tried switching with Yokic, 163 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: but that doesn't work, so they ended up having to 164 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: double to help Yokic. They ended up just passing out 165 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: of that and getting wide open threes. The Lakers are 166 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: built for every single coverage they could possibly face, even 167 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: the two primary coverages we didn't talk about. Switching in 168 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,240 Speaker 1: a deeper drop coverage come with their own. 169 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 2: Set of issues. 170 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: If you switch, you're now asking Jokic to guard Lebron, 171 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: Luca and Austin on the perimeter all series. 172 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 2: How's that gonna work out for you? 173 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:40,240 Speaker 1: If you try the deep drop coverage that force the 174 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 1: deep drop coverage involves Jokic sitting further back in the 175 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: ball screen. When he sits further back in the ball screen, 176 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: he can keep the roll man in front. Well, there's 177 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: two problems there. If it's Ruey, he's popping, he's still 178 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: wide open. But let's say you run that against Jackson. 179 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 1: You've got Jackson running at you. You're keeping the ball 180 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 1: in the front, you're staying out of rotation. But I'd 181 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,480 Speaker 1: argue at Reeves, Lebron, James and Luka Doncic is one 182 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: of the best personnel groupings you'll find in the league 183 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: for attacking a drop coverage. You want to let Lebron 184 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: come screaming downhill against Jokic backpedaling towards the rim. Rim 185 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,720 Speaker 1: protection's not his strength. You want to let Luca methodically 186 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 1: work downhill. What does he do every single time? He 187 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: just drops that shoulder, bumps you off, and hits that 188 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 1: little bank shot from five feet. Austin Reeves is like 189 00:09:25,679 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: a magician in the middle of the floor, hitting little 190 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: ten to fifteen footers, drawing fouls, doing all of the 191 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: scoring stuff that he can do there in the middle 192 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 1: of the floor. Like, there's a lot of like overthinking 193 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: it that I've seen in terms of the way the 194 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: Lakers have been covered. Look, I don't leave this game 195 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:46,280 Speaker 1: tonight thinking they're Boston. I don't leave this game tonight 196 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:49,840 Speaker 1: thinking they might be that. But we need to see 197 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:54,079 Speaker 1: a lot more basketball. But there's a simple, basic reality 198 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: with this roster now that people need to acknowledge, and 199 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: that's that Lebron, Luca, and Austin are as good a 200 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: set of shot creators as you find in the league. 201 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:03,200 Speaker 2: They lean into. 202 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: Luca on the ball, which we're gonna get to when 203 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:06,560 Speaker 1: he's on the floor, but Lebron and Austin are so 204 00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: great playing off the ball, and then they've got all 205 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:11,000 Speaker 1: these guys that are play finishers. Dorian Phinney Smith. He's 206 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: a forty percent catch and shoot guy. Ruey Hatcha Murray, 207 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:15,320 Speaker 1: He's a fifty percent catch and shoot guy and a 208 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 1: great baseline cutter and a guy that's got some high 209 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: level of scoring moves. Jackson Hayes can finish everything around there. 210 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: In even the guys that gave Vincent that you would 211 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: look at as a somewhat average shooter, he's been shooting 212 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: the ball pretty well. There's not really an answer there, Like, 213 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: I don't need to see much more to know that 214 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:37,320 Speaker 1: the Lakers are gonna score. Whether or not they have 215 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,720 Speaker 1: the potential to get to the ultimate goal is gonna 216 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: come down to their ability to achieve peak unguardability, and 217 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:47,079 Speaker 1: that will require them to show a lot of success 218 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,320 Speaker 1: against elite switching teams. Them to show a lot of success. 219 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 1: Like what if it is a team like Dallas and 220 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: they sit Anthony Davis down in a big drop coverage 221 00:10:55,280 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: and he's a guy that's sitting around the rim and 222 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: that ends up being a problem, Like they'll need to 223 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:02,400 Speaker 1: They'll need to check a lot more boxes to get 224 00:11:02,480 --> 00:11:06,640 Speaker 1: to that point. But I absolutely think that they can 225 00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: achieve that they have the personnel to attack all of 226 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: those different things that they can see. The last thing 227 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: I want to talk about with the Lakers on offense 228 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: before we move on. I loved how when Luca was 229 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: on the floor, they leaned into him as the on 230 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:25,839 Speaker 1: ball creator. This is something that we talked about a 231 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: lot in the first week after the trade, which is 232 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 1: that Lebron's like turned himself into one of the best 233 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: catch and shoot guys in the league. And you saw 234 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: what he can do driving clothes outs. He drove that 235 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: close out on the baseline and got a dunk. He 236 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:41,640 Speaker 1: drove a close out and dumped all over Mark Williams 237 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:47,199 Speaker 1: last week or earlier this week. I should say the 238 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,679 Speaker 1: Lebron can play off the ball, Austin can play off 239 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: the ball. All these guys can play off the ball. 240 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,720 Speaker 1: Luca can, but it's not like his strength. So I 241 00:11:56,760 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: love the idea of like Luca's on the floor, let's 242 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,559 Speaker 1: just give him the ball and he has one job. 243 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: Just make the first read. They chase over the top, 244 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: they sit back in a deep drop. His read is 245 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:14,079 Speaker 1: to methodically work downhill and get a nice easy shot 246 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 1: closer to the wrint. They bring the screen defender up 247 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: to the level. His job is to either is to 248 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: read the low man. Okay, they're tagging Jackson, I'm making 249 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 1: the skip pass they don't tag Jackson, or a ball 250 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: fake to the skip pass. I'm dropping it to Jackson. 251 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,960 Speaker 1: He's got a dumb he just has to make the 252 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: first read. Oh they're switching. Okay, Well, I'm gonna get 253 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: a lesser defender on me. 254 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 2: Now. 255 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: Now that I got this lesser defender, I'm going to 256 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:39,880 Speaker 1: work to a place on the floor where I feel comfortable, 257 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:42,920 Speaker 1: and when I get there, I'm either going to take 258 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:45,080 Speaker 1: the easy shot that I can get, or if they 259 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:47,000 Speaker 1: bring a second defender, I'm going to make that next read. 260 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,719 Speaker 1: It's a pretty straightforward process from there, and then when 261 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 1: Luca comes out of the game, Lebron and Austin can 262 00:12:56,600 --> 00:12:59,080 Speaker 1: scale up their on ball aggression the way they need to, 263 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: and then they have just these short windows of time 264 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,599 Speaker 1: where they really need to test their bodies to create advantages. 265 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,319 Speaker 1: Lebron was super aggressive to the rim tonight. There was 266 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:14,960 Speaker 1: a specific play a late shotcock a late shot clock 267 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 1: play in the early fourth quarter against Zeke Naji where 268 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 1: Lebron kind of had a predicament clock's running down and 269 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:26,079 Speaker 1: he had a triple thread against Naji at the top 270 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: of the key before Luca came to town. Lebron's taken 271 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:34,719 Speaker 1: that three. You know why, because he's got a lot 272 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 1: of basketball left, and when you get to five four, three, 273 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: two minutes left, He's gonna be the guy that has 274 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 1: to create all the shots. So, like he didn't really 275 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: have a choice in times past but to try to 276 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:51,920 Speaker 1: conserve energy by settling from time to time, that's no 277 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,679 Speaker 1: longer the case. He can go like it's the early 278 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: fourth quarter. I just got to carry this unit till 279 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,680 Speaker 1: about seven to six it's left. Then I get to 280 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: go sit down, and when I come back, Luca is 281 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:06,200 Speaker 1: the guy that's gonna be able to help me down 282 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:06,679 Speaker 1: the stretch. 283 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 2: So you know what he does. 284 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: He puts his head down and he tries to drive 285 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: to the right, and now he does a great job 286 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: sliding with him. 287 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 2: He's being physical and he's. 288 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: Holding him up, and Lebron just just keeps backing him down, 289 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 1: backing him down. Plump fake Zeke leaves his feet patiently 290 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: waits for him to come down and banks it off 291 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: the glass. It's an exertion of energy that Lebron would 292 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:27,040 Speaker 1: not have made in times past because he was trying 293 00:14:27,080 --> 00:14:31,280 Speaker 1: to save his legs. One of the most jarring things 294 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: about this game is like you're like, okay, Yokic, just 295 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:37,000 Speaker 1: checking out. Let's see who's on the floor now, Well, 296 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: it's gonna be Luca and Lebron, or it's gonna be 297 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 1: Lebron in Austin, or it's gonna be Luca in Austin. 298 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: It's wave after wave after wave of high level shot creation. Again, 299 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 1: they're gonna have to achieve a level of peak unguardability 300 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: from matchup to matchup, and they're gonna have to maintain 301 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: this type of defensive game planning that we've seen. But 302 00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: I think we would all be foolish, even though we 303 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: don't know how they're going to be yet, I think 304 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: we would be foolish to not consider this team a threat. 305 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 2: Of course, they're a threat. How are you. 306 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:12,040 Speaker 1: Gonna stop them from getting good shots? There's this interesting 307 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: thing that happens in basketball games where everything is intricately connected. 308 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: The offensive end is connected to defense transition. Defense transition 309 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 1: is connected to defense. Defense is connected to offense transition. 310 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: Offense transition is connected to offense. If you can create 311 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: an advantage, you can play off of that, all four 312 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: phases of the game are are attached to each other. 313 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: When you continually get great shot after great shot after 314 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: great shot, it has an impact on the flow of 315 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: the game. It has an impact on the rhythm of 316 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 1: the game. Like, for instance, one of the things that 317 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:49,960 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about when we talk about the 318 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: Lakers defensive scheme, they were trying to shade everything towards 319 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,080 Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook, Christian Brown and Aaron Gordon making threes just 320 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: like I said they would. 321 00:15:58,120 --> 00:15:59,720 Speaker 2: That's exactly how. 322 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:01,920 Speaker 1: Teams are to try to guard Denver in the postseason, 323 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 1: and they made eight threes. Those guys made eight threes, 324 00:16:07,320 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: and it still didn't matter because it doesn't become about 325 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: making them pay a couple of times. It becomes about 326 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: keeping up. You're a you're in a foot race. Now 327 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 1: you're in a shooting contest. It's it's a shootout, and 328 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: you're asking Christian Brown, Aaron Gordon, and Russell Westbrook to 329 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: keep up making shots. When I look back to some 330 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: of the most dominant Luca playoff performances ever Game seven 331 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:36,960 Speaker 1: against Phoenix, Game five against Minnesota, many of them come 332 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,120 Speaker 1: down to he sucks the life out of the other 333 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: team by strangling the flow of the game, by continually 334 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:49,000 Speaker 1: generating fantastic shots, and it allowing you to set your defense. 335 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: It leading to the opponent not being confident, because how 336 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: how can you be super confident when Luca is like 337 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:59,840 Speaker 1: strangling the game? It becomes very difficult to do. And 338 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: there's only a handful of players in the league that 339 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 1: have the ability to go. 340 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:06,920 Speaker 2: Punch for punch with a guy like him, and with. 341 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:24,720 Speaker 1: Luca or with Jokic. JJ had a game plan, So 342 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,160 Speaker 1: let's talk about that game plan. One of the things 343 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: I talked about is for the record, I actually do 344 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,679 Speaker 1: think that in the big picture, Denver will find more 345 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,360 Speaker 1: ways to score against the Lakers. They have too big 346 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,440 Speaker 1: of an advantage in Yokish. One of the big things 347 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 1: I think they could do is just when they're bringing 348 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:43,639 Speaker 1: that double from the baseline, Jokic has just got to 349 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: look to score like he just needs to shoot and 350 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:47,119 Speaker 1: shoot and shoot, and even when he misses, he can 351 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:49,280 Speaker 1: follow it and get the rebound. He's too much bigger 352 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:51,080 Speaker 1: than all those guys. He's got to try to like 353 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: try to force his way through. Sometimes I think a 354 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:57,480 Speaker 1: little bit more. But one of the things I talked 355 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 1: about even though Denver presents issue to the Lakers for 356 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,879 Speaker 1: seventeen games coming into tonight, and I haven't seen the 357 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:08,399 Speaker 1: updated stats, but I would assume it's tonight. After eighteen 358 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 1: games two, the Lakers have been the very best defense 359 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:16,399 Speaker 1: in all of NBA basketball. That doesn't mean they're gonna 360 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,159 Speaker 1: strangle Jokis for a seven game series, but what it 361 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: does mean is they're probably gonna get some stomps. The 362 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 1: two things that I talked about when we talked about 363 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: the Laker defense were they've got good defensive personnel, better 364 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:34,639 Speaker 1: defensive personnel than people think. Vando's a great defender. Defense 365 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:36,920 Speaker 1: is a good defender, Gabe's a good defender. Lebron when 366 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,560 Speaker 1: he's engaged is a good defender. They Austin when he's 367 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:42,439 Speaker 1: engaged as a good defender. They've got good defenders. But 368 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: the second piece of it was defensive game planning, which 369 00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:49,840 Speaker 1: has been a strength an underdiscussed strength of JJ Reddick's 370 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: coaching job this entire season. The game plan with Jokisch 371 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: was simple, starting with Ruyanim put Jackson on Aaron Gordon 372 00:18:58,080 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: in help, but regardless of who was on him, because 373 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: they were transition cross matches and other different things where 374 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: the Lakers would end up with kind of different matchups. 375 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,920 Speaker 1: But it started with fronting the post. Anytime anyone else 376 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: had the ball, if Jokic was trying to post, the 377 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,399 Speaker 1: guy guarding him was getting in front. Funding the post 378 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,879 Speaker 1: is a very difficult job. Jokic is good at sealing 379 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: people on his backside. You gotta use swim moves, you 380 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,040 Speaker 1: gotta use move your feet quickly. You gotta sit low. 381 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,320 Speaker 1: You gotta squat down and push him back to force 382 00:19:28,359 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: an over the top pass. What happens with an over 383 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: the top pass. The Miami Heat are the best at this. 384 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:37,200 Speaker 1: You bracket it with backside help to shrink the passing window. 385 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: Makes it much harder. 386 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 2: Now. 387 00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: One of the ways that Jokis was countering that was 388 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,239 Speaker 1: he was catching the ball further out, which is one 389 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:45,080 Speaker 1: of the upsides of fronting. When you front the post, 390 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 1: a lot of times, it forces the offensive player to 391 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: come further and further out so that he has less 392 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,679 Speaker 1: traffic behind him that he can create a passing angle. 393 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: Once the ball came into Jokich, they did the exact 394 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: same thing every time. The guy who was fronting the 395 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 1: post would quick disengage and get behind. Then he would 396 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 1: start playing the inside shoulder, the paint side shoulder of 397 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 1: Jokic and try to force him towards the baseline. As 398 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 1: soon as Jokic spun out of the baseline, he would 399 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 1: spin down towards the baseline and the Lakers would double 400 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 1: off of Aaron Gordon, whoever it was that was in 401 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:20,479 Speaker 1: the dunker spot from the baseline. Then whoever was guarding 402 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: the weak side shooter would dig down on Aaron Gordon. 403 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:27,560 Speaker 1: They were packing the paint doubling on that baseline side. 404 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 2: They did a good. 405 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:31,400 Speaker 1: Job of attacking Jokic with that double, so they got 406 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:33,679 Speaker 1: a lot of deflections. That was a big part of turnovers. 407 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,480 Speaker 1: Turnovers were a huge part in this game as Denver 408 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 1: and Jokic tried to solve this problem and kept throwing 409 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,440 Speaker 1: the ball into arms as the Lakers would go running 410 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 1: out the other way looking to score. And look, here's 411 00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 1: the thing. You gotta concede stuff. If you're gonna front Jokic, 412 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,919 Speaker 1: bracket Jokic double him on the baseline side, guys are 413 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:56,080 Speaker 1: gonna get open, and guys made shots. There's a version 414 00:20:56,119 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 1: of this game where Aaron Gordon, Christian Brown and Russell 415 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaker 1: Westbrook don't make eight threes and the Lakers are up 416 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: twenty five in the first half. They gave up, they 417 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:09,200 Speaker 1: gave up some of those looks, but they never overreacted. 418 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: They stuck to their game plan. They stayed disciplined and 419 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: did their jobs. They tilted the shots towards other players. 420 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: And that's that's the game plan for JJ. What JJ 421 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: is saying is, We're gonna have to give up some stuff, 422 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:26,880 Speaker 1: but good luck keeping up with us on the other 423 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:30,160 Speaker 1: end of the floor, because you're gonna have Aaron Gordon 424 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,480 Speaker 1: taking jump shots. You're gonna have Christian Brown taking jump shots. 425 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 1: You're gonna have Russell Westbrook taking jump shots. The Lakers 426 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:40,119 Speaker 1: are gonna have Ruy Hatchamuria Lebron, James, Dorian Finney Smith, 427 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: Austin Reeves, Luka Doncics reigning threes, and they're all gonna 428 00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:47,399 Speaker 1: be pretty open. And all of those guys are forty 429 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:51,199 Speaker 1: plus percent except for Austin. And you tell me how 430 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,560 Speaker 1: you feel when you're a fan rooting against Austin Reeves 431 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:55,239 Speaker 1: when he has a wide open look. Tell me if 432 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:59,400 Speaker 1: you think it's going in. I thought it was a really, 433 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,800 Speaker 1: really well like secuted game plan. The Lakers battled on 434 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 1: the glass. They did a great job of digging down 435 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:07,640 Speaker 1: and deflecting the ball away from the bigger Nuggets players. 436 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: Like that's the other big chess piece here, right, is 437 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: like can Denver use their size to dominate the Lakers 438 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 1: on the glass? They had twelve offensive rebounds, the Lakers 439 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:21,080 Speaker 1: had nine. It wasn't a substantial factor in this game. 440 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: I want to start on defense for Denver because there's 441 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 1: gonna have to be something they do. Bringing Jokic up 442 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:30,480 Speaker 1: to the level I don't think is going to work. 443 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 1: I don't think they're going to be able to stop 444 00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: the Lakers from getting wide open threes if they do that. 445 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,919 Speaker 1: They were very fortunate in the first half that Gabe 446 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,360 Speaker 1: Dfs and Rui were two for eleven from three in all. 447 00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:47,119 Speaker 1: Eleven of them were wide open, and eventually they stuck 448 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 1: with that coverage and in the second half they started 449 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,840 Speaker 1: going in and it caused problems. So the two potential 450 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:55,639 Speaker 1: routes that we talked about earlier are switching or a 451 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 1: deeper drop coverage. I don't think switching would work. I 452 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,199 Speaker 1: think Luka Doncic excuse me, Nikola Jokic to guard on 453 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,440 Speaker 1: the perimeter against Lebron, Austin and Luka all night long 454 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,639 Speaker 1: would be a terrible mistake. So that really leaves it 455 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,360 Speaker 1: to a deeper drop. And I tweeted this at halftime. 456 00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:15,919 Speaker 1: I actually think it's possible that Mike Malone is going 457 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: to hold this for a potential playoff matchup to try 458 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,679 Speaker 1: to like kind of mix things up. What's the difference 459 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:24,320 Speaker 1: between a deeper drop and an at the level coverage 460 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,200 Speaker 1: in and at the level coverage when you bring Jokic 461 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: up to the level, meaning as the ball handlers coming 462 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:33,159 Speaker 1: off the screen, Yokic is waiting there. When you do that, 463 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,400 Speaker 1: the roller gets behind Jokic. If the roller gets behind Jokic, 464 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: you're creating a two on one between the skip pass 465 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:42,679 Speaker 1: and the lob pass that Aaron Gordon has to account for. 466 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:49,160 Speaker 1: If you sit Jokic deeper back, then Aaron Gordon can 467 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,360 Speaker 1: stay on that skip pass and now Jokic can keep 468 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: the roll man in front. There's a way for Jokic 469 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: to guard that to where he can force Luka, Doncic, 470 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: force Lebron James, force Austin Reeves to make drop covered shots. 471 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,439 Speaker 1: That's a lot of shots in the mid range right now. 472 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 1: To be clear, like I mentioned earlier, that might be 473 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 1: the best group of drop coverage attackers that we have 474 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:18,360 Speaker 1: in the league. But at least you're taking You're making 475 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:25,160 Speaker 1: them take contested twos instead of wide open threes when 476 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:27,880 Speaker 1: all those dudes are wide open forty plus percent shooters. 477 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: We didn't see much deep drop tonight. There was a 478 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: late possession in the late fourth quarter where Austin Reeves 479 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,240 Speaker 1: hit a pull up three, but again that's a tough shot. 480 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: That's what you gotta ask yourself. Do you want to 481 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 1: watch Austin Reeves take tough, contested pull up threes in 482 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: ball screens? Or do you want to watch Dorian Phinney 483 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: Smith and and Ruy Hatchamura just standing completely wide open 484 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:50,400 Speaker 1: at the three point line all season long or all 485 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: series long. Right, that's the type of decision that they're 486 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,400 Speaker 1: going to have to make. I think that's probably their 487 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:59,200 Speaker 1: best bet is to go with a deeper drop. As 488 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 1: for the offensive end of the floor, again, there's certain 489 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 1: things you can do with your spacing to try to 490 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,679 Speaker 1: make it so that when Jokic spins, he's got easier reads. 491 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:12,399 Speaker 1: They did some stuff with Russell Westbrook in the second 492 00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: half where they had him tee up or like basically 493 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 1: cut right in front of the rim, so that Yokic 494 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:22,880 Speaker 1: would have two cutreads. As he's spinning to the baseline, 495 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,560 Speaker 1: he has Gordon on the baseline waiting, and he's got 496 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:27,440 Speaker 1: Russ right in front of the rim. Do you remember 497 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:29,639 Speaker 1: that play where Russ got the layup right by Lebron 498 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:31,640 Speaker 1: and then he fell down and slid into camera row. 499 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 1: That's a perfect example of that type of sequence where 500 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,880 Speaker 1: you can try to at least attack it with cutting 501 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 1: instead of all of these skip passes to mediocre shooters. 502 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:44,439 Speaker 1: But like, I think Jokic is gonna have to just 503 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,240 Speaker 1: start trying to be a bowling ball. He's gonna have 504 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 1: to just pound and spin off of that first defender, 505 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: try to go through the double and just get those 506 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 1: arms out wide, start hitting bodies, get offensive rebounds and 507 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: put backs. Like Yokic is gonna have to start trying 508 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,880 Speaker 1: to attack this as a score. I think that's something 509 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:05,080 Speaker 1: that they're gonna have to look into. They did get 510 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 1: good stuff with Jamal Murray. That was an encouraging piece. 511 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: The Lakers were doing a lot of going under actions 512 00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:14,120 Speaker 1: with Jamal Murray and just forcing him to make those 513 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:16,639 Speaker 1: mildly contested pull up jump shots, and he was hitting them. 514 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:18,960 Speaker 1: I think he had six threes in this game. Again, 515 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 1: if you're gonna piece together a successful offense, it's gotta 516 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: be multiple different things you can do. The Jamal Murray 517 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:28,159 Speaker 1: stuff worked. I thought Michael Porter Junior got some decent 518 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: looks coming off of curls that he missed. There's a 519 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:32,960 Speaker 1: version of that where some of more of those go in. 520 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:37,040 Speaker 1: You actually hit quite a few shots with your mediocre shooters. 521 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:40,440 Speaker 1: You're gonna have to get Jokic to provide more scoring pop, though, 522 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:42,479 Speaker 1: and the only way he's gonna do that is if 523 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 1: he looks at the double and says, screw that, I'm 524 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:49,160 Speaker 1: trying to score anyway. Really interesting game. We're gonna see 525 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:51,040 Speaker 1: a lot more from the Lakers and learn a lot 526 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:53,920 Speaker 1: more about them in time. Their schedule is brutal at 527 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 1: this point. They're gonna face a bunch of different types 528 00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:58,880 Speaker 1: of teams that are gonna force their offense to try 529 00:26:58,880 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: to shape shift and. 530 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:00,840 Speaker 2: Score different ways. 531 00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: But I thought that this was kind of a proof 532 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: of concepts tonight that like teams that don't have elite 533 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:11,160 Speaker 1: personnel defensively at all, five positions are going to struggle 534 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:14,879 Speaker 1: to guard the Lakers, and if the Lakers score enough, 535 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,159 Speaker 1: their defense just has to be good enough. And this 536 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: was a Denver offense that had been annihilating everyone for months, 537 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:26,040 Speaker 1: and the Lakers did a great job holding them in 538 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:29,320 Speaker 1: check tonight. After seventeen games of being the number one 539 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,640 Speaker 1: defense in the NBA, I think it's time to start 540 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,880 Speaker 1: taking this team seriously as a championship contender. All right, guys, 541 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:36,879 Speaker 1: that is all I have for tonight. As always, as 542 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me and supporting the show. 543 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,000 Speaker 1: We are taking tomorrow off, but we'd be back on 544 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:45,639 Speaker 1: Monday to cover a jam packed Sunday slate and a 545 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:46,399 Speaker 1: bunch of other stuff. 546 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 2: I'll see you guys. 547 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:53,240 Speaker 1: Then the volume. What' so, guys, As always, I appreciate 548 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 1: you for listening to and supporting Oops tonight. It would 549 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:58,160 Speaker 1: actually be really helpful for us if you guys would 550 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:01,000 Speaker 1: take a second and leave a rating and a review. 551 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:02,840 Speaker 1: As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us, but if 552 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:04,879 Speaker 1: you could take a minute to do that, I'd really 553 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:05,640 Speaker 1: appreciate it.