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Speaker 1: All right, well Coon doobes tonight you're at the volume.

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Speaker 1: Happy onesday, everybody, hope all you guys are having a

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Speaker 1: great week. On a jampacks show for you. Today, we're

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Speaker 1: hitting three games from last night, as Luka Doncic gets

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Speaker 1: some revenge on the Dallas Mavericks in the interesting game

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Speaker 1: that showcase two very good switching defenses. After that, an

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Speaker 1: absolute crazy game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Phoenix

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Speaker 1: Suns as Jammer with a couple of brilliant stretches of

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Speaker 1: basketball basically steals victory from the jaws of defeat. There,

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Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about John Morant

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Speaker 1: and just how important he is to the foundation that

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Speaker 1: Memphis is trying to build. Then, at the tail end

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Speaker 1: of the show, I guess I lie, it's not a

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Speaker 1: game from last night. At the tail end of the show,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna do a deep dive on the Detroit Pistons.

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Speaker 1: You've got to win over the Los Angeles Clippers on

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Speaker 1: Monday night for their seventh win in a row. I

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Speaker 1: want to talk about how they've been succeeding on both

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Speaker 1: ends of the floor. You guys are the job. Before

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Speaker 1: we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops to not YouTube channels.

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Speaker 1: Then don't forget about our new social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram,

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Speaker 1: and Facebook. We're We're releasing content throughout the year, and

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Speaker 1: the last but not least, keep dropping mail bag questions

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Speaker 1: and the YouTube comments. We can get to them in

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Speaker 1: our mail bags throughout the remainder of the season. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So MAVs Lakers was a game

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Speaker 1: that I was really interested in watching on the Lakers

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Speaker 1: front because in the Hornets game, and in the or

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Speaker 1: the Blazers game, the Hornets game and in the Jazz game,

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Speaker 1: the the Lakers ran into a lot of switching. The

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Speaker 1: Jazz switch everything. The Blazers with Robert Williams, are willing

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Speaker 1: to do more switching in those types of situations. It

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Speaker 1: gets rid of that dynamic we talked about in the

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Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets video, which was when you bring up Yo

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Speaker 1: kicch to the ball every single time, there's like easy

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Speaker 1: reads for Luca to make in terms of am I

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Speaker 1: hitting the lob threat, the roller down the middle of

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Speaker 1: the laner, am I hitting the skip pass to the

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Speaker 1: weak side corner. It's more of a simplified process, whereas,

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Speaker 1: again switching, it becomes so much more about like picking

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Speaker 1: on mismatches and handling double teams, which are a different

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Speaker 1: spacing principle than a trapped pick and roll right, and

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Speaker 1: so in these types of situations, it's a very different

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Speaker 1: style of offense to go up against a team like this. Now,

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Speaker 1: Dallas will run a lot of drop coverage when their

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Speaker 1: bigs are healthy, but in this situation with Derek Lively hurt,

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Speaker 1: with Daniel Gafford hurt, with Anthony Davis hurt, they're running

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Speaker 1: a lot of switching, especially with Kessler Edwards kind of

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Speaker 1: functioning as the big man in those lineups. And by

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Speaker 1: the way, Dallas is in the same way that the

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Speaker 1: Lakers have been running really good five out or five

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Speaker 1: man switching concepts with a lot of crowding the ball,

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Speaker 1: making one on one situations feel tight and congested and

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Speaker 1: gang rebounding and all those things. Dallas has been doing

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Speaker 1: that really well for the most part. And I thought

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Speaker 1: both of those teams put on good examples of switching

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Speaker 1: defense last night. Both teams were able to hunt mismatches

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Speaker 1: within that context that led to double teams, which led

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Speaker 1: to a bunch of interesting stuff in terms of the

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Speaker 1: weak side rotations. The MAVs were doubling Luca and Lebron

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Speaker 1: all over the place in the post, sometimes doubling them

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Speaker 1: when they had a live dribble thirty feet from the basket,

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Speaker 1: and then the Lakers they got a little spooked of

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Speaker 1: Clay because Dalton connected and ruey Ha Chamura completely lost

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Speaker 1: control of him for a little while there and he

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Speaker 1: got hot. So they started putting two on the ball

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Speaker 1: when Clay was coming off of actions in the fourth quarter,

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Speaker 1: and then with Kyrie Irvit when he was attacking Luka Doncic,

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Speaker 1: they were putting two on the ball a lot. So

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Speaker 1: it was a good example of like a lot of switching,

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Speaker 1: a lot of matchup attacking, and then dealing with double

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Speaker 1: teams on each team's best player. The MAVs shot the

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Speaker 1: ball extremely well in this game. They got one point

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Speaker 1: one to three points per catch and shoot jump shot

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Speaker 1: on thirty on thirty two attempts, is about twenty percent

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Speaker 1: better than the Lakers ended up shooting, especially in the

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Speaker 1: second half. The MAVs got one point three to one

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Speaker 1: points per catch and shoot jumper. The Lakers shot poorly

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Speaker 1: all night, but in the second half they got just

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Speaker 1: zero point six points per catch and shoot jumper. That

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Speaker 1: was a big difference in that second half as the

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Speaker 1: MAVs kind of worked their way back into the game.

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Speaker 1: The main thing that shrunk the Laker lead in the

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Speaker 1: second half, though, was exacerbated by Ruby Hatchamura and Dalton

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Speaker 1: Connect losing Klay Thompson. So the Lakers are switching everything, right,

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Speaker 1: that's what they do. And there were two times in

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Speaker 1: a row where Lay Thompson was in an action where

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Speaker 1: he's guarding rue Hatchamura, Dalton Connect's man would come up

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Speaker 1: and screen and it's just a basic switch, right, Dalton

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Speaker 1: should jump out on Clay, Ruey should take Dalton's man.

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Speaker 1: Everything's fine, right, But two times in a row, Dalton

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Speaker 1: Connect just wasn't paying attention and lost track at Klay

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Speaker 1: Thompson and hits two big threes, and then Ruy hot

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Speaker 1: Chimura ends up losing Klay Thompson for the third three

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Speaker 1: on an offensive rebound. And then there was another drive

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Speaker 1: where Austin Reeves was fully in control of a Max

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Speaker 1: Christie drive and Ruey Hatchamura was just sitting on the

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Speaker 1: lane line, leaving Najie Marshall wide open in the left corner,

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Speaker 1: who hit another three. And again, I always think it's

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Speaker 1: important when you see a team struggle to identify the

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Speaker 1: stuff that's kind of circumstantial and the stuff that's like, oh,

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Speaker 1: this is something this team actually has some issues with,

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Speaker 1: and like, I think the Lakers are a better shooting

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Speaker 1: team than they demonstrated last night. I think that's a

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Speaker 1: little bit circumstantial, but there are some realities to the

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Speaker 1: kinds of players that the Lakers have in their extended

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Speaker 1: regular season rotation and even in their playoff rotation in

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Speaker 1: Ruy hot Chimura when it comes to tracking shooters. Even

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Speaker 1: going back to the Jazz game, if you remember, Ruey

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Speaker 1: had a really hard time with Lori Markinen losing him

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Speaker 1: off ball and helping recover situations. And so as we

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Speaker 1: look at different matchups that the Lakers could run into

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Speaker 1: in the postseason, it's important to acknowledge that Rui's ability

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Speaker 1: to track shooters is something that could potentially be an issue.

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Speaker 1: I don't think Dalton Knneck's gonna play when they get

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Speaker 1: into the postseason, but that is something that stood out

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Speaker 1: to me down the stretch in the fourth quarter of

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Speaker 1: this game. That was twelve really easy points for the

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Speaker 1: MAVs in a game where the Lakers otherwise defended really well,

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Speaker 1: But as a result of that, it put the Lakers

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Speaker 1: into a tie game with the MAVs in crunch time

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Speaker 1: with Kyrie Irving on the other side, potentially dangerous situation, right,

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Speaker 1: But I thought down the stretch the Lakers played their

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Speaker 1: best basketball. They logged a two hundred offensive rating and

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Speaker 1: a seventy five defensive rating in the clutch last night

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Speaker 1: versus the MAVs. Dorian Finney Smith was huge in this stretch.

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Speaker 1: He made two absolutely brilliant defensive rotation. We talked earlier

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Speaker 1: about the Lakers having to double Kyrie and Clay coming

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Speaker 1: off of screens late in the game. That's going to

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Speaker 1: put you into rotation. There were two clean catches, one

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Speaker 1: for PJ Washington in the left corner and one for

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Speaker 1: Klay Thompson in the right corner, where Dorian Phinney Smith

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Speaker 1: identified it a pass in advance and started sprinting from

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Speaker 1: like twenty five thirty feet away to chase those guys

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Speaker 1: off the corner. He chased PJ Washington out of the

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Speaker 1: left corner as PJ drived and then Lebron drove, and

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Speaker 1: then Lebron had a really nice additional defensive rotation to

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Speaker 1: meet PJ Washington at the ram and force him into

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Speaker 1: a miss, and then he chased Klay Thompson so hard

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Speaker 1: out of that right corner that Clay tried a side

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Speaker 1: step three but he completely lost his base ended up

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Speaker 1: missing badly. Two just absolutely massive defensive rotations from Dorian

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Speaker 1: Phinney Smith, who was great, and then Lebron and Luca

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Speaker 1: were masterful offensively. I don't know how teams are gonna

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Speaker 1: be able to guard these guys. At the end of games,

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Speaker 1: Luco was posting up and drawing it down team and

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Speaker 1: kicking it back to Lebron for a catch and shoot

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Speaker 1: three on a play where they passed it back and

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Speaker 1: forth like four times, like it was semi pro. Both

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Speaker 1: Lebron and Luca did a great job of kind of

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Speaker 1: meandering into the middle of the floor and drawing the

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Speaker 1: under the basket help defender forward, whether it was PJ.

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Speaker 1: Washington or Dwight Powell, and that was opening opportunities for

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Speaker 1: lobs or for offensive rebounds, like Lebron drove drew Dwight

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Speaker 1: Powell in and threw a nice lob to Jackson Hayes.

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Speaker 1: Lebron and Luca both missed short shots in the middle

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Speaker 1: of the lane there, but it brought in help so

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Speaker 1: Dorian Finney Smith was able to get an easy little

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Speaker 1: tap in put back. Lebron James got a tip dunk

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Speaker 1: off of one of those Luca misses that came from

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Speaker 1: help that was drawn by Lebron and Luca in the

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Speaker 1: middle of the floor, and then DFAs made another really

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Speaker 1: nice play setting a backscreen on PJ Washington in the

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Speaker 1: lane when he was about to help on a Luca

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Speaker 1: Doncic drive that allowed Luca to just meander right in

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Speaker 1: there and make a layup. For all of the struggles

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Speaker 1: that the Lakers had against the Dallas switching, guess what

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Speaker 1: a two hundred offensive rating is. That's two points per possession.

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Speaker 1: To put it very simply, they scored every time down

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Speaker 1: the floor when they needed to. So for all the

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Speaker 1: struggles that they've had against switching in the last couple

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Speaker 1: of weeks, it kind of came together there down the stretch.

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Speaker 1: I also liked like with exception of the Lebron three,

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Speaker 1: it wasn't like they were relying on jump shots. They

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Speaker 1: were getting stuff closer to the rim. They were doing

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Speaker 1: damage on the back line. We're going to get into

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Speaker 1: some of the issues they had with their switching, with

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Speaker 1: the switching defense that gave them some issues in this game.

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Speaker 1: We'll talk about it in a big picture, but I

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Speaker 1: really thought it functioned more than fine when they needed

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Speaker 1: it to at the end of the game. Here's the thing.

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Speaker 1: It was a game where I thought the Lakers mostly

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Speaker 1: didn't play well and they got the win comfortably down

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Speaker 1: the stretch. So that to me as a hallmark of

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Speaker 1: a good NBA team, and I did think it was

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Speaker 1: a step forward and a nice learning lesson for the Lakers.

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Speaker 1: A couple of shoutouts Lebron. I thought he was really

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Speaker 1: rough on offense in the first three quarters, and it

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Speaker 1: was part of what was hurting them against the Dallas switching.

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Speaker 1: We'll get into that further in a minute, but I

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Speaker 1: thought he was absolutely incredible in the fourth quarter. He

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Speaker 1: immediately turned up the aggression on the very first possession

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Speaker 1: of the quarter. Had sixteen points, five rebounds, and two

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Speaker 1: assists with zero turnovers. He had five turnovers in the

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Speaker 1: first half, only one in the second half, so he

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Speaker 1: cleaned that up. I thought he played off of Luca

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Speaker 1: beautifully down the stretch. Again, the post entries and the

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Speaker 1: help the one pass away knocking down that shot, the

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Speaker 1: work he did along the baseline when Luca was driving

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Speaker 1: for that last little fadeaway that he missed. One of

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Speaker 1: my favorite things about basketball. As long as there's time

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Speaker 1: on the clock, or there's games remaining in a playoff series,

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Speaker 1: there is time for you to make a play or

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Speaker 1: a series of plays that can help your team and

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Speaker 1: flip the script for how things have been going. Lebron

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Speaker 1: was rough for three quarters, but he stayed in it mentally,

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Speaker 1: and he completely made up for it in that fourth quarter.

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Speaker 1: JJ had a comment after the game, because I thought

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Speaker 1: Lebron was great on defense that entire game. JAJ had

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Speaker 1: a comment after the game. He said, this is not

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Speaker 1: an exaggeration. If you watch our basketball team every night

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Speaker 1: for the last six weeks or so, Lebron is playing

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Speaker 1: at an all defense level. And he's right. This is

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Speaker 1: one of the biggest reasons why the Lakers defense has

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Speaker 1: been turned around. It's not just getting Dorian Phiney Smith

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Speaker 1: Doran Phinney Smith back for D'Angelo Russell. It's not just

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Speaker 1: getting Jared Vanderbilt back healthy. You got a consistently disengaged

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Speaker 1: defender in Lebron James, at least in the regular season context,

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Speaker 1: into a consistently engaged Lebron James and I've consistently said

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Speaker 1: over the years that Lebron is a very good defender

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Speaker 1: when he needs to be, even at his age, it's

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Speaker 1: just a question of about of him making that commitment.

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Speaker 1: He's making that commitment now, and it's paying dividends for

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Speaker 1: this team on the defensive end of the floor. This

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Speaker 1: is what's crazy about it, though JJ's talking about this.

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Speaker 1: Last six weeks since January fifteenth, a nineteen games fan,

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Speaker 1: Lebron is averaging twenty seven points, eight remounds, and nine

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Speaker 1: assists on sixty three percent true shooting. So you're getting

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Speaker 1: all defense on one end of the floor twenty seven

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Speaker 1: to eight to nine on super high efficiency on the

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Speaker 1: other end of the floor, all at age forty, all

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Speaker 1: for the team that has the very best record in

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Speaker 1: the NBA over that span. For you to be an

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Speaker 1: all defense player and averaging nearly a thirty point triple

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Speaker 1: double on insane efficiency, that's MVP level production. He's playing

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Speaker 1: at the same level now as the very best basketball

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Speaker 1: players in the world. It's completely ludicrous. He's not gonna

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Speaker 1: win MVP for obviously, but like he's gonna get votes.

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Speaker 1: You could argue him as high as third. I think

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Speaker 1: he will finish in the top five. Just unbelievable. Twenty

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Speaker 1: second season and he's playing at this level. It's just

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Speaker 1: a tip of the cap to the greatest basketball player

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Speaker 1: that's ever touched the floor, peaking again at a phase

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Speaker 1: of his career that doesn't really make any sense. I

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Speaker 1: want to talk about Luca for a minute. I thought

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Speaker 1: he did a wonderful job attacking Dallas's switches in doubles.

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Speaker 1: He managed a won twelve offensive rating in his minutes,

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Speaker 1: which was the better offense the Luca led Lunitz and

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Speaker 1: units in that particular game, despite the fact that they

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Speaker 1: didn't shoot very well. His defensive rebounding, though, was the

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Speaker 1: big that stood out to me, and he has thirty

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Speaker 1: six rebounds in the last three games. He just has

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Speaker 1: a remarkable ability to kind of predict where the ball

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Speaker 1: is going to come off the rim, and then he's

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Speaker 1: a scrapper. He'll get in there in the crowd and

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Speaker 1: there'll be a bunch of athletes around him and he'll

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Speaker 1: just come away with the basketball. He's still struggling to shoot.

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Speaker 1: That will come in time. So far with the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: he's eleven for fifty one on jump shots. It's obviously

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Speaker 1: really bad. That will get better. But he looks like

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Speaker 1: he's in much better shape. He literally looks smaller than

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Speaker 1: he did a couple of weeks ago. He's competing and

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Speaker 1: doing his job on defense, even though he has his

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Speaker 1: obvious limitations there. He had three steals and two blocks

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Speaker 1: last night. He's rebounding, he's generating advantages. He's already helping

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Speaker 1: the team so much, and he's not even close to

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Speaker 1: his ceiling yet. It was kind of like a mediocre

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Speaker 1: Luca game last night, and he had nineteen points, fifteen rebounds,

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Speaker 1: twelve assists, three steals, and two blocks. It's unreal. But

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Speaker 1: let's talk a little bit about the Laker space. They

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Speaker 1: had some issues scoring in this particular game. I want

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Speaker 1: to talk about some of the specific things that were

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Speaker 1: causing them problems. Spacing is the big one. JJ Reddick

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Speaker 1: talked a lot about this after the game. Lebron's first turnover,

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Speaker 1: Luca gets double teamed on the right side of the

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Speaker 1: floor and Lebron, Austin, and Ruey are all standing within

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Speaker 1: like ten feet of each other each other. On the

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Speaker 1: left side of the floor. Lebron's like left lane line

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Speaker 1: extended up to the three point line, Ruey's like ten

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Speaker 1: feet to his left, and then Austin's in the corner,

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Speaker 1: and they're all kind of standing really close to each other.

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Speaker 1: So when Luca throws the pass to Lebron, Lebron has

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Speaker 1: an easy read to Austin Reeves in the corner. But

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Speaker 1: because they're all just kind of packed in on each other,

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Speaker 1: klay Thompson was able to guard Rui while also sitting

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Speaker 1: in the passing lane for Austin, and Lebron ends up

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Speaker 1: throwing a dart that Klay Thompson just intercepts. But even

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Speaker 1: if Lebron throws it over the top, like with a

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Speaker 1: little bit more pace like a lob on it, it's

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Speaker 1: just an easier rotation at that point because the ball's

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Speaker 1: in the air longer. There was another possession later in

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Speaker 1: the game where that exact same configuration Lebron, Austin, Rui

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Speaker 1: was spaced out to where Luca took his took the

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Speaker 1: double team closer to the baseline. Lebron came all the

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Speaker 1: way over to the right lane line extended, Austin was

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Speaker 1: closer to like the left lane line extended a little

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Speaker 1: bit further over in the wing, and Rui was in

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Speaker 1: the corner. All three guys were, you know, seventeen eighteen

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Speaker 1: feet apart instead of ten feet apart, and it was

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Speaker 1: like an easy kickout pass to from Luca to a

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Speaker 1: wide open Austin Reeves and he knocked it down. Those

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Speaker 1: are like little details, like you want to clear the

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Speaker 1: side to give Luca room to work. But Luca's a

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Speaker 1: good tight space operator. You don't need to literally clear

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Speaker 1: the side. You just need to give him enough space

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Speaker 1: to operate. You can spread your shooters out on that

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Speaker 1: three point line a little bit more. Dealing with double teams,

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Speaker 1: there were several double teams in this game where Dallas

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Speaker 1: came with the second body and the Lakers got rid

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Speaker 1: of the ball and didn't even get an advantage out

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Speaker 1: of it. And a lot of that also came down

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Speaker 1: to spacing. There was a double team of Luca that

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Speaker 1: went nowhere. It was up around the right wing because

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Speaker 1: Lebron and Vando both flashed up to the right elbow,

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Speaker 1: and when you're both standing in the right place, it

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Speaker 1: makes it easy for one player to guard too. They

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Speaker 1: just need to have better execution of their spacing in

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Speaker 1: those situations. Flashing to the ball is good. It creates

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Speaker 1: effectively like a short role opportunity, but you only need

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Speaker 1: one person there. Off Ball shooters need to relocate to

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Speaker 1: make themselves harder to guard. If you see your man

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Speaker 1: sinking down to the baseline and you're in the corner,

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Speaker 1: kind of slide up the slide up that three point

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Speaker 1: line a little bit to create an easier passing angle.

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Speaker 1: Ruby got a good one, a good three in the

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Speaker 1: right corner in the first half out of an action

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Speaker 1: like that, relocating, cutting and moving without the ball. There

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Speaker 1: needs to be better activity against those double teams to

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Speaker 1: make it so that you at least get an advantage

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Speaker 1: out of it. Another interesting one that stood out to

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Speaker 1: me last night is Vandam made two threes and he

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Speaker 1: continually has struggled underneath the basket as like a cutter

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Speaker 1: dunker spot threat. This is interesting because it's the exact

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Speaker 1: opposite of what happened two years ago, i should say

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Speaker 1: last year before he got injured, where he was really

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Speaker 1: struggling shooting out of the corners, but he was kind

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Speaker 1: of doing pretty well as like a cutter. Now, mind you,

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Speaker 1: that was much more of like a ive out motion

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Speaker 1: style of offense. This is more of a four out

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Speaker 1: one in spacing style of offense, where Vando is just

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Speaker 1: literally standing in the dunker spot, whereas like he was

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Speaker 1: setting screens and rolling a lot more in that system

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Speaker 1: under Darvin Ham, Right, So part of that is that

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Speaker 1: is part of the reason. But also like Vando's shooting

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Speaker 1: four for eleven on catch and shoot three so far,

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Speaker 1: that's twelve points. That's one point zero nine points per possession.

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Speaker 1: He's logged nine possessions as a cutter and only scored

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Speaker 1: six points. And there are so many examples where he's

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Speaker 1: just not even getting a shot off because he's in traffic.

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Speaker 1: Teams are putting big athletes or centers on him and

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Speaker 1: kind of splitting the difference, feeling like they can step

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Speaker 1: up to help, but then recover back to Vando and

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Speaker 1: prevent him from getting a shot off around the rim.

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Speaker 1: I'm wondering, in this context, strictly, in this context of

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Speaker 1: having more of a four out one in matchup, attacking, spread,

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Speaker 1: pick and roll style of off that you might actually

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Speaker 1: be better leaving Vando in the corner to shoot threes

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Speaker 1: because he's literally not making anything around the basket. He's

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Speaker 1: barely even getting opportunities around the basket because he struggles

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Speaker 1: to control the ball sometimes on the catch, and finishing

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Speaker 1: in traffic over bigger bodies is not a strength of

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Speaker 1: his Now It's way too small of a sample to

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Speaker 1: react one way or the other. But I'm just wondering

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Speaker 1: if an easy way to visualize it is, right now,

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Speaker 1: when Vando catches the ball in the cut, he's getting

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Speaker 1: zero points sixty six points per possession. When he's catching

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Speaker 1: it in the corner and shooting, he's getting one point

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Speaker 1: zero nine points per possession. Over the course of the

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Speaker 1: next few weeks. I'm just curious to see how that

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Speaker 1: dynamic plays out, because it may be that Luca partnered

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Speaker 1: with Vando just makes it work. Luca did get Vando

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Speaker 1: for a cut in this game, and it's like, maybe

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Speaker 1: Luca figures it out to where that's the best option.

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Speaker 1: But I'm just curious because there are ways to work

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Speaker 1: around that where you can put a guard in the

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Speaker 1: dunker spot, so you can have they Gabe Vincent or

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Speaker 1: an Austin Reeves in the dunker spot, so you have

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Speaker 1: a smaller defender in help and if they do help

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Speaker 1: off a Vando, at least he can make them pay

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Speaker 1: out there in a way that he's been struggling to

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Speaker 1: make them pay underneath the basket. Again, way too small

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Speaker 1: of a sample size either way, but I just want

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Speaker 1: to keep an eye on that in the next few weeks.

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Speaker 1: If Vando keeps hitting like thirty five percent of his

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Speaker 1: catch and shoot threes, that's a better option than him

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Speaker 1: finishing around the basket because he's just not finishing around

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Speaker 1: the basket right now. And you can still get some

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Speaker 1: of that benefit with him crashing the offensive glass after

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Speaker 1: the shot goes up. So if he doesn't get a jumper,

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Speaker 1: or if the ball ends up going somewhere else, or

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Speaker 1: Luca takes a little step back jump shot or something

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Speaker 1: in the mid range, Vando can still come flying in

429
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,040
Speaker 1: and if anything, he's got more of ahead of steam

430
00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:42,840
Speaker 1: in that situation. He's got a better chance to win

431
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:47,960
Speaker 1: some of those jump ball situations. Lastly, Jackson Hayes, I

432
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:49,960
Speaker 1: think it's worth leaning into him a little bit more,

433
00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:52,719
Speaker 1: getting his minutes up a little bit, because he's been

434
00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:56,199
Speaker 1: a really valuable vertical spacer in this context. There's a

435
00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,280
Speaker 1: lot of times over the course of the last couple

436
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:00,680
Speaker 1: of weeks where I'm seeing Luca and Lebron and kind

437
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:02,640
Speaker 1: of work to the middle of the floor, and they

438
00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,280
Speaker 1: like having Jackson as that release valve. In the last

439
00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:08,840
Speaker 1: two games, the Lakers have a one to twenty offensive

440
00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:10,840
Speaker 1: rating with Jackson Hayes on the floor. Something to keep

441
00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:12,280
Speaker 1: an eye on is another thing that could help them

442
00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:14,920
Speaker 1: with their spacing in the switching groups. And then lastly,

443
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 1: Lebron like in order for switching to not work against

444
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:21,840
Speaker 1: this Laker offense, in order for the Lakers to make

445
00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:25,280
Speaker 1: teams pay for it, they need forty eight minutes of

446
00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:28,119
Speaker 1: Lebron and Luca constantly applying pressure. And I thought in

447
00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,720
Speaker 1: the first three quarters, even though Lebron is defending, during

448
00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:33,280
Speaker 1: that time, I thought he was pretty sloppy. He knew

449
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:35,199
Speaker 1: the doubles were coming, so he's like picking up his

450
00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:37,920
Speaker 1: dribble too early sometimes like before the double would even

451
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,640
Speaker 1: get there. So then that would lead to a lack

452
00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:42,440
Speaker 1: of openings for him to get rid of the ball too.

453
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:45,639
Speaker 1: That was part of the turnover problem early. His job

454
00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:49,920
Speaker 1: is to attack enough that that double team fully commits

455
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:51,800
Speaker 1: and it happens in a place on the floor where

456
00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,320
Speaker 1: Lebron can actually make teams pay for it, which I

457
00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:56,640
Speaker 1: know Lebron can do. He's one of the best ever

458
00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:59,000
Speaker 1: at it. He just was sloppy for thirty for the

459
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,560
Speaker 1: first three quarters. And it's something to keep in mind again.

460
00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,280
Speaker 1: For the Lakers to succeed against switching defense, they need

461
00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:06,199
Speaker 1: Lebron and Luca to be able to apply pressure for

462
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,280
Speaker 1: forty eight minutes. They gotta have proper spacing off of it,

463
00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:12,040
Speaker 1: and then guys gotta hit shots. And so part of

464
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,000
Speaker 1: their struggles where Lebron didn't have that great of a

465
00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,520
Speaker 1: first three quarters, Luca obviously still doesn't have his jump shot.

466
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,200
Speaker 1: Guys are missing shots, and the spacing wasn't good. They've

467
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,960
Speaker 1: been a little shaky in these situations, but they have

468
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:25,600
Speaker 1: the personnel to be great against it. It's just one

469
00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:27,960
Speaker 1: of the main areas of development we're gonna want to

470
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:41,680
Speaker 1: keep an eye on here the rest of the way.

471
00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,840
Speaker 1: All right, moving on to Suns Grizzlies. You know, I'm

472
00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:49,119
Speaker 1: gonna talk very briefly about the Suns here before we

473
00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:52,160
Speaker 1: get to the Grizzlies. The Suns are descending into irrelevance

474
00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:53,879
Speaker 1: now and that's a whole other issue. But like, it

475
00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:56,800
Speaker 1: was so interesting watching them because one of my biggest

476
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,600
Speaker 1: issues with the Suns is their team construct is built

477
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,240
Speaker 1: around these high level offensive shot creators and Devin Booker

478
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,679
Speaker 1: and Kevin Durant and like they are actually like pretty good,

479
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:10,320
Speaker 1: detail oriented players, like Devin Booker tries and tries to defend,

480
00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:12,800
Speaker 1: and Kevin Durant's a really good defender. And those guys

481
00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:14,639
Speaker 1: do their jobs and they're disciplined and they don't make

482
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,800
Speaker 1: as many mistakes. Bradley Bealle can make his fair share

483
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,199
Speaker 1: yet another big offensive rebound. He gave up an overtime

484
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 1: last night where he was just standing around and not

485
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:23,680
Speaker 1: competing for the ball. That's the kind of thing that

486
00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,320
Speaker 1: drives me crazy with him. But the real issue is

487
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,200
Speaker 1: they're anchoring Kevin Durant and Devin Booker with a bunch

488
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,920
Speaker 1: of really undisciplined players that make a lot of mistakes.

489
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:35,399
Speaker 1: And it was crazy on a night when when the

490
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:39,320
Speaker 1: Suns were playing so well on offense, how many mistakes

491
00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:42,280
Speaker 1: they made to undercut their success. In the fourth quarter,

492
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,760
Speaker 1: Tias Jones just not paying attention off ball gets back

493
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,000
Speaker 1: cut by Vince Williams Junior for an easy layup. I

494
00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,840
Speaker 1: don't think he played again after that. There was a

495
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,159
Speaker 1: play where Desmond Baying got an easy driving layup in

496
00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:55,440
Speaker 1: transition because the Suns just didn't stop the ball. They've

497
00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:57,760
Speaker 1: been consistently one of the worst transition defenses in the

498
00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,560
Speaker 1: league this year. Devin Booker although like a not many

499
00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:03,520
Speaker 1: mistakes from Katie and Devin Booker down the stretch on

500
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,159
Speaker 1: this one, but he had a really bad foul on

501
00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,960
Speaker 1: John Morant with three minutes left in regulation where he

502
00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:11,119
Speaker 1: just gifted them two points. He fouled out of the game.

503
00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:13,800
Speaker 1: He had a couple of bad ones on Desmond bayin

504
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:15,840
Speaker 1: two like those are just like little basic things that

505
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,200
Speaker 1: he can improve. Bow Bull in overtime, just not paying

506
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:22,760
Speaker 1: attention when he's guarding one of Memphis's most aggressive catch

507
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,199
Speaker 1: and shoot guys in Jalen Wells. Lost him coming off

508
00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:27,200
Speaker 1: of a pinon Flair in the right corner, knocked down

509
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:29,960
Speaker 1: to three. Lost him again on the same action on

510
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,840
Speaker 1: the very next play where he got into like just

511
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,320
Speaker 1: was not paying attention, was in trail position, left off

512
00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:38,280
Speaker 1: of his feet for a simple pump fake and Jalen

513
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,640
Speaker 1: Wells just stepped through and got an easy layup. They

514
00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:44,600
Speaker 1: go up four on a nice KD jump shot in overtime.

515
00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,840
Speaker 1: Looks like they're in control, and on the very next

516
00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,840
Speaker 1: possession on a made basket. They don't get matched up

517
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:54,760
Speaker 1: in transition and leave Santi al Dama wide open on

518
00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,920
Speaker 1: the left wing and he makes a three. Brandon Clark

519
00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,080
Speaker 1: has a really nice putback that puts them up one

520
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:03,320
Speaker 1: what ended up being the game winner with like what

521
00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:06,359
Speaker 1: thirty eight seconds left, and instead of Phoenix having an

522
00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:09,359
Speaker 1: opportunity to take the lead back, Grayson Allen gets pissed

523
00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:12,160
Speaker 1: off about some physicality from Jalen Wells and shoves him

524
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:16,040
Speaker 1: off offensive foul. Now they're going the other way. I

525
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:19,520
Speaker 1: actually like, I actually think they have more talent than

526
00:25:19,560 --> 00:25:23,440
Speaker 1: their record would lead you to believe. They're just super undisciplined.

527
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,119
Speaker 1: Katie and Devin Booker need to be surrounded by smart,

528
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:31,480
Speaker 1: hard playing athletes, and instead they're surrounded by sloppiness. And

529
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:34,760
Speaker 1: it's just not a good winning formula with that core.

530
00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:37,440
Speaker 1: And as a result, they look like a basketball team

531
00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,680
Speaker 1: that is just completely off the rails on the Grizzlies front,

532
00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,560
Speaker 1: though several guys made huge plays down the stretch of

533
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,720
Speaker 1: this game that I wanted to shout out Jalen Wells

534
00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:48,959
Speaker 1: in overtime we talked about burned Bull Bull twice on

535
00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,480
Speaker 1: off ball screening actions. He also made the dagger which

536
00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:55,720
Speaker 1: was beating a press in on the final possession where

537
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:57,440
Speaker 1: he ended up getting a dunk right underneath the rim.

538
00:25:57,600 --> 00:25:59,800
Speaker 1: Desmond Baine hits a big shots lady and a pull

539
00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:02,640
Speaker 1: up against drop coverage along the left wing. He had

540
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,680
Speaker 1: that driving layup and transition that we talked about, but

541
00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:06,560
Speaker 1: he was also a big part of getting Devin Booker

542
00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:08,720
Speaker 1: into foul trouble and getting him out of the game

543
00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:11,920
Speaker 1: twice in the fourth quarter. He just made strong left

544
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,760
Speaker 1: handed drives at Devin Booker and drew fouls on him.

545
00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,840
Speaker 1: And they were kind of interesting situations because Desmond Bain's

546
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:21,359
Speaker 1: a little bigger and stronger than Devin Booker is and

547
00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:23,720
Speaker 1: Booker was sliding with him, and it was kind of

548
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:27,680
Speaker 1: like a contact defense situation. But like, if Desmond Bain

549
00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:31,080
Speaker 1: just like takes the contact and then sprays the ball out,

550
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:34,440
Speaker 1: it's not going to get called. But Desmond Bain forced

551
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:37,560
Speaker 1: the official to make a call by meeting Devin Booker's

552
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,240
Speaker 1: physicality by just trying to power through it. And as

553
00:26:40,280 --> 00:26:43,240
Speaker 1: he kept driving through it, it forced Devin to be

554
00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,560
Speaker 1: a little more handsy and to hold on just a

555
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,400
Speaker 1: second too long. That led to those foul calls as

556
00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:50,480
Speaker 1: a big part of the issue down the stretch of

557
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:53,479
Speaker 1: this game. It's a huge downgrade going from Devin Booker

558
00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:56,000
Speaker 1: to a different player that ended up being a big

559
00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:58,720
Speaker 1: part of the of the late game issues that the

560
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,320
Speaker 1: Suns had in this one. Great work from Desmond bang

561
00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,960
Speaker 1: there and then Brandon Clark had some good switches against

562
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:06,520
Speaker 1: Evin Booker and kd in ball screens. He had the

563
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:08,520
Speaker 1: biggest play of the game in my opinion, what it

564
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:12,359
Speaker 1: ended up being essentially the game winner. John Morant's working

565
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:16,080
Speaker 1: through the lane. He draws Mason Plumley in help. Plumbley

566
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:19,080
Speaker 1: makes a unbelievable defensive play, gets a hand up and

567
00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:21,480
Speaker 1: blocks John Morant on the shot. But again because John

568
00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:24,040
Speaker 1: Morant drew the center in, Brandon Clark had a big

569
00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,879
Speaker 1: advantage underneath the basket and size. He jumped up and

570
00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:31,200
Speaker 1: grabbed it with one hand and just guided it softly

571
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:33,760
Speaker 1: into the basket for what ended up being the game winner.

572
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,879
Speaker 1: Huge time, big time play from Brandon Clark. Santi al

573
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:39,120
Speaker 1: Dama hit the huge transition three that ended up being

574
00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:42,000
Speaker 1: the eventual game winner. Jared Jackson, even though he fouled

575
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:43,440
Speaker 1: out in this game, and he wasn't down the floor,

576
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:45,280
Speaker 1: down the stretch. I thought he was magnificent all night,

577
00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:47,680
Speaker 1: Like nobody in the Sun Jersey could even guard him.

578
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:49,960
Speaker 1: And it was a really, really impressive come from behind

579
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:52,119
Speaker 1: win there for the Memphis Grizzies. But I want to

580
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:54,560
Speaker 1: zero in on John Morant for a minute. There was

581
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:56,960
Speaker 1: a report that came out last week that said that

582
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,000
Speaker 1: we should all keep an eye on John Morant as

583
00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,960
Speaker 1: a potential trade tard get this summer, and I immediately

584
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,640
Speaker 1: disagreed when I saw it. And the main reason why

585
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:06,159
Speaker 1: is a concept that I've talked a lot about in

586
00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,080
Speaker 1: recent weeks, which is the idea that if you want

587
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,200
Speaker 1: to win at the absolute highest levels, if you want

588
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:13,680
Speaker 1: to win four playoff rounds, if you want to hoist

589
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,679
Speaker 1: Hilari O'Brien Trophy, you need to have a problem that

590
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:21,679
Speaker 1: you present to other teams that they cannot truly solve,

591
00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:24,679
Speaker 1: that they have to build their entire game plan around.

592
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,040
Speaker 1: I think Jared Jackson's an awesome player. You could make

593
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:29,840
Speaker 1: an argument he's been the best Grizzly this year, and

594
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:32,679
Speaker 1: I think I'd probably agree. He's a nightmare fat matchup

595
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,200
Speaker 1: for Phoenix. He has a much higher floor than John

596
00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:37,119
Speaker 1: Morant because of his ability on the defensive end of

597
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:41,760
Speaker 1: the floor. But Jared Jackson will eventually inevitably run into

598
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,840
Speaker 1: a big front line that can match his size and

599
00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:47,959
Speaker 1: strength that he can't just bulldoze over everyone, and at

600
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:50,040
Speaker 1: that point some of his limitations come to the surface.

601
00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:52,560
Speaker 1: He has a higher floor than a guy like Job,

602
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:57,320
Speaker 1: but the ceiling is lower. He's not a superstar level

603
00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:00,720
Speaker 1: player on the offensive end of the floor. I'm still young,

604
00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,360
Speaker 1: and he's raw, and he's got a long way to

605
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:05,320
Speaker 1: go to get to where he needs to be to

606
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:09,680
Speaker 1: be that type of NBA champion level talent. But when

607
00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:13,080
Speaker 1: he starts getting going downhill at teams, he has a

608
00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:16,000
Speaker 1: ceiling he can get to on the offensive end that

609
00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,000
Speaker 1: causes real problems for even the best teams in the

610
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,400
Speaker 1: league that nobody can really solve, and you just have

611
00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,480
Speaker 1: to hope that he either misses or that he sprays

612
00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,200
Speaker 1: it out to a shooter who misses, And that to

613
00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 1: me is just a non negotiable, absolutely mandatory, foundational trade

614
00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 1: for NBA champions throughout the history of the league. You

615
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:41,800
Speaker 1: either need to have an otherworldly defense that nobody can

616
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,840
Speaker 1: handle or an offense that presents a problem that teams

617
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,520
Speaker 1: can't solve. I don't think this Memphis team is that

618
00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:53,280
Speaker 1: type of defense, and John Moran is the only guy

619
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,560
Speaker 1: on the roster that could reach that point as an

620
00:29:56,560 --> 00:30:01,480
Speaker 1: offensive player. I would argue that trading Jaw would literally

621
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:05,280
Speaker 1: just cut the championship potential off the top of this team.

622
00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:08,080
Speaker 1: There isn't anyone else on the roster that has that

623
00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,200
Speaker 1: type of upside, and it's extremely unlikely that you get

624
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 1: something back in a Jaw trade that can reach that level.

625
00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:19,080
Speaker 1: Even if a DRAFTO panned out, it wouldn't fit the

626
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 1: timeline of the current roster. How thought, Jaw was unbelievable

627
00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 1: down the stretch of that game. He had seventeen points

628
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,400
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter in overtime. He was going right

629
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,320
Speaker 1: at Bradley Beal in regulation and giving him buckets. He

630
00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:33,400
Speaker 1: made two gigantic plays that sent the game to overtime,

631
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,920
Speaker 1: to extremely high degree of difficulty jump shots, a three

632
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:38,120
Speaker 1: at the top of the key in a little pull

633
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 1: up jumper around the left elbow where he literally against

634
00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:43,680
Speaker 1: like great defense like Bradley Beal was there on the

635
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,440
Speaker 1: transition three. He was smothered on the game tying shot.

636
00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:49,800
Speaker 1: He just elevated over the top of his man as

637
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:53,600
Speaker 1: the supreme athlete and knocked a shot down. He made

638
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,480
Speaker 1: great reads. In overtime, he set Baying up for a

639
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,040
Speaker 1: wide open three in the left corner that he ended

640
00:30:58,120 --> 00:30:59,920
Speaker 1: up just missing. He was the one who identified the

641
00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,800
Speaker 1: Jalen Well's ball ball matchup, and instead of hijacking possessions

642
00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,240
Speaker 1: and taking high degree of difficulty shots, he trusted his

643
00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,360
Speaker 1: teammate to make plays, even the game winner from Brandon Clark.

644
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,160
Speaker 1: The opportunity for Brandon Clark came from the fact that

645
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:16,320
Speaker 1: John Morant kept drawing Mason Plummeley in help. That wasn't

646
00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:19,280
Speaker 1: even the only offensive rebound opportunity that John Morant generated

647
00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:24,680
Speaker 1: down the stretch. He straight up stole that game from

648
00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:29,160
Speaker 1: the Suns twice with his remarkable offensive gifts. And if

649
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:31,880
Speaker 1: this team ever hoists the Larry O'Brien Trophy, it will

650
00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,600
Speaker 1: be with John Moran leading the way on offense. You

651
00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:37,440
Speaker 1: cannot take that element away from this team. It is

652
00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:54,840
Speaker 1: a prerequisite for winning at the highest levels. Let's move

653
00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:57,320
Speaker 1: on to the Detroit Pistons, to have won seven in

654
00:31:57,320 --> 00:31:59,120
Speaker 1: a row. They got a nice win against the Clippers

655
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,880
Speaker 1: on Monday night, Kate had a couple of issues with

656
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:05,240
Speaker 1: Chris Dunn, but the Pissons generally did a good job

657
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,880
Speaker 1: of using early screens to get Chris done off of him,

658
00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:11,040
Speaker 1: and Kate ended up putting up another monster thirty two,

659
00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:14,160
Speaker 1: nine and seven night the Pistons did an incredible job

660
00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:19,000
Speaker 1: on a Kazubats. They're both Jalen Duran and Isaiah Stewart.

661
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,240
Speaker 1: They're just big and strong enough to handle Zoo's base

662
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:23,760
Speaker 1: And like one of the big things that I talk about,

663
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:27,640
Speaker 1: when you're battling post up threats, specifically post players that

664
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:30,360
Speaker 1: are trying to play bully ball and that have a

665
00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:32,840
Speaker 1: size advantage, you don't want to try to bother them

666
00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:34,480
Speaker 1: up top. You're not going to bother them up top,

667
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,000
Speaker 1: they're bigger than you. You want to bother them down low.

668
00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:41,280
Speaker 1: You want to disrupt the energy transfer of the shot.

669
00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:44,400
Speaker 1: Every shot has a transfer of energy from the floor

670
00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:46,400
Speaker 1: through your feet, through your knees, through your hips, through

671
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:49,280
Speaker 1: your shoulders, your elbow and wrist, all the way up

672
00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:51,680
Speaker 1: through the finish. And when guys are working on their

673
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,080
Speaker 1: games in the gym in the summertime, they have a

674
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:56,040
Speaker 1: certain flow that they have on those shots, and if

675
00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:58,440
Speaker 1: you can disrupt their base and push them off their base.

676
00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:00,600
Speaker 1: You can make them miss and like those two guys

677
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:03,560
Speaker 1: straight up shut down Zubach's post ups in that game

678
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,560
Speaker 1: just by disrupting his base. It's a great option to

679
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:09,200
Speaker 1: have for the Pistons that they just can play forty

680
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:13,000
Speaker 1: eight minutes of a big, strong, hard playing center that

681
00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,960
Speaker 1: can cause problems for teams. I did a whole film

682
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,880
Speaker 1: thread on Twitter. You can follow me there at Underscore

683
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:20,840
Speaker 1: Jason lt I did a whole film thread on that game.

684
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,880
Speaker 1: So if you want to see some video options are

685
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:25,760
Speaker 1: some video examples of the things we talked about. You

686
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:27,840
Speaker 1: can find that there. But I want to zero in

687
00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:29,800
Speaker 1: for a minute on their perimeter defense because that's the

688
00:33:29,800 --> 00:33:31,040
Speaker 1: thing that has really stood out to me in the

689
00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,600
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks. JB. Bickerstaff has these dudes guarding,

690
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 1: and they have some legit perimeter defenders. Sar Thompson did

691
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,280
Speaker 1: a great job on James Harden all night. Dennis Schroeder

692
00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:45,040
Speaker 1: can guard the ball. Ron Holland is guarding. But I've

693
00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:49,440
Speaker 1: been especially impressed by some of the guys that reputationally

694
00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:53,040
Speaker 1: have not been good defenders in the historical context, Like

695
00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:56,720
Speaker 1: I cannot believe how hard Tim Hardaway Junior is playing

696
00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:59,239
Speaker 1: on defense right now. He's been a really good off

697
00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:00,960
Speaker 1: the ball. He was a big part of them disrupting

698
00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:04,440
Speaker 1: Zubach's catches on like in pick and roll, Isaiah Stewart

699
00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:08,960
Speaker 1: and Tim Hardaway Junior had some incredible role Maan defense

700
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,319
Speaker 1: reps against Zubas where they just disrupted him and caused

701
00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:14,759
Speaker 1: problems in those situations. Kate is playing hard on that end.

702
00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,920
Speaker 1: Even Malik Beasley, who's been maligned as a perimmeter defender

703
00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:21,239
Speaker 1: over the years, is like trusting the game plan, doing

704
00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:25,080
Speaker 1: his job funneling guys into help. They're really really competing

705
00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:27,560
Speaker 1: on that end of the floor, and they're anchored by big,

706
00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:30,840
Speaker 1: strong athletes underneath the basket, a couple of wings that

707
00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:32,920
Speaker 1: they can trust, and then just a bunch of guys

708
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:35,120
Speaker 1: that are guarding on the ball. They are number three

709
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:40,080
Speaker 1: in defensive rating over this seven game span, but they're

710
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,799
Speaker 1: also number three in offense. Kate Cunningham has just been

711
00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:45,600
Speaker 1: doing a wonderful job running the team on that end

712
00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:48,200
Speaker 1: of the floor. He's already over one thousand pick and

713
00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:49,960
Speaker 1: rolls this year. If you guys remember when we do

714
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,680
Speaker 1: our summertime lists. A thousand pick and rolls is what

715
00:34:52,719 --> 00:34:55,839
Speaker 1: I consider to be high volume. He's already there. He's

716
00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 1: getting one point zero nine points per possession in those

717
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:00,920
Speaker 1: ball screens that put him up with the top pick

718
00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:03,640
Speaker 1: and roll guys in the league this year. For example,

719
00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:07,359
Speaker 1: Shake KOs as Alexander is about is less than one

720
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,160
Speaker 1: point per one hundred possessions better in pick and rolls

721
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:12,960
Speaker 1: this year than Kay Cunningham is. He's just so good

722
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:16,560
Speaker 1: at using his size and strength defend off defenders in

723
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:19,839
Speaker 1: ball screens. He's Luca esque with his ability to use

724
00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:24,200
Speaker 1: physical leverage to generate dribble penetration. Again, like half the

725
00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:28,640
Speaker 1: battle is getting the defender trapped onto your backside, and

726
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:30,440
Speaker 1: the only way you're gonna do that is getting them

727
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:33,000
Speaker 1: properly set up for the screen so that your center

728
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:34,720
Speaker 1: can set a good screen. By the way, both Isaiah

729
00:35:34,719 --> 00:35:38,319
Speaker 1: Stewart and Jalen Duran set monster screens, And that's a

730
00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:41,760
Speaker 1: huge part of what unlocks. It's such an underrated detail

731
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:45,680
Speaker 1: in offensive execution, and it gets Kaid's defender behind him.

732
00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:49,080
Speaker 1: Once Kid's defender is behind him or on his side,

733
00:35:49,160 --> 00:35:51,400
Speaker 1: he's got the size and strength advantage. That's when he

734
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 1: can kind of keep them pinned behind him and start

735
00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:58,280
Speaker 1: to slowly work down the lane line. When he slowly

736
00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:00,520
Speaker 1: works down the lane line, he just to wait for

737
00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:02,920
Speaker 1: the defense to react. And it's the same set of

738
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:05,440
Speaker 1: reads that we've talked about when we talk about Luca

739
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:09,080
Speaker 1: and the Lakers. When he's going downhill, if the big

740
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:12,480
Speaker 1: man steps over and the low man doesn't rotate to

741
00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:15,360
Speaker 1: the lob threat, it's an easy drop off to Jalen

742
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,880
Speaker 1: durn Or as a Stuart right under the basket. If

743
00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:20,879
Speaker 1: they do tag the roller, then it's the skip pass

744
00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:24,520
Speaker 1: to the corner where they've consistently kept Caid surrounded by

745
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:27,960
Speaker 1: guys that can knock down shots. But if they don't react,

746
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:30,239
Speaker 1: if they let him play one on one there in

747
00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:32,440
Speaker 1: the middle of the floor. What is the thing that

748
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,960
Speaker 1: unlocks the high level efficiency in ball screens that we

749
00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:41,200
Speaker 1: see from the best players in the world, efficient short range,

750
00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:44,600
Speaker 1: in mid range shot making. It's becoming one of those

751
00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:47,560
Speaker 1: underrated traits that we see in the best shot creators

752
00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:51,200
Speaker 1: in the league. It's not about, oh, a mid range

753
00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:55,400
Speaker 1: jumper is bad. It's about what can you find inside

754
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,320
Speaker 1: of seventeen feet that you can hit at least half

755
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:01,839
Speaker 1: the time. Yeah, he's taking a bunch of mid range

756
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:04,120
Speaker 1: jump shots and you're hitting forty two percent of them,

757
00:37:04,200 --> 00:37:06,040
Speaker 1: it's bad. But if you can get to a point

758
00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:09,640
Speaker 1: where you're making half or better of those shots, that's

759
00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:12,279
Speaker 1: when it becomes untenable for the defense. Because in the

760
00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:16,080
Speaker 1: half court, anything over a point per possession is pretty good.

761
00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:20,200
Speaker 1: He's shooting fifty percent on floaters this year, he's shooting

762
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:24,600
Speaker 1: fifty five percent on hooks, and then on the jump

763
00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:28,120
Speaker 1: shots that he's taking inside of seventeen feet he's shooting

764
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:31,760
Speaker 1: forty nine percent. So he's on all of his short

765
00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:34,680
Speaker 1: to mid range shot making. If you put it all together,

766
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:39,160
Speaker 1: he's over fifty percent. That's the conundrum he presents for you.

767
00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:41,719
Speaker 1: If you want to stay home on the roll man,

768
00:37:41,760 --> 00:37:44,600
Speaker 1: if you want to stay home in the corner, he's

769
00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:46,440
Speaker 1: going to get over a point per possession in the

770
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:49,120
Speaker 1: middle of the floor. If you help. They've got guys

771
00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:51,040
Speaker 1: that can finish under the rim. They got guys that

772
00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:54,799
Speaker 1: can finish off those skip passes. It also manifests a

773
00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:56,560
Speaker 1: post up threat, where he's been great this year. Kate

774
00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:59,920
Speaker 1: has run one hundred and thirty post ups, including pass

775
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:02,319
Speaker 1: leading to one hundred and forty two points. That's one

776
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,680
Speaker 1: point zero nine points per possession. He's really starting to

777
00:38:05,680 --> 00:38:07,840
Speaker 1: get to the foul line. Now. This stood out to

778
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:09,719
Speaker 1: me in that Clippers game. I started digging into it.

779
00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:13,720
Speaker 1: Kate has logged double digit free throw tips in four

780
00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:18,200
Speaker 1: of his last eight games. In his entire career before then,

781
00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:22,040
Speaker 1: in one hundred and eighty three games, he did it

782
00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:25,160
Speaker 1: just nine times, and he's done it four times in

783
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:30,000
Speaker 1: the last eight games. He's just blossoming into a foundational

784
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:34,839
Speaker 1: superstar right before our eyes. I like his attitude and competitiveness.

785
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:37,200
Speaker 1: He's got a little bit of a mean streak. I

786
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:39,920
Speaker 1: like that he competes on defense. He brings a certain

787
00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:43,319
Speaker 1: physicality to the position that I love. He's constantly trying

788
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:46,000
Speaker 1: to go through people and talk shit and let him

789
00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:48,520
Speaker 1: know that they know that they can't guard him. And

790
00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:51,360
Speaker 1: now they have surrounded him with the talent that allows

791
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:54,640
Speaker 1: his gifts to rise. Everybody up to the surface. Malik

792
00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:56,680
Speaker 1: Beasley's having one of the best shooting seasons in the

793
00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:58,480
Speaker 1: history of the league. I saw a tweet from Zach

794
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:00,359
Speaker 1: Low the other day, the Great Zach Low. Shout out

795
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:04,759
Speaker 1: to Zach. Only one player in NBA history. This is

796
00:39:04,840 --> 00:39:08,560
Speaker 1: Zach's tweet. Has hit over forty two percent on threes

797
00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:13,240
Speaker 1: while attempting at least eleven per thirty six minutes. According

798
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:17,600
Speaker 1: to Basketball Reference, Steph Curry has done it five times.

799
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:21,000
Speaker 1: Someone else is on pace to become the second player

800
00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:24,640
Speaker 1: ever in this group, Malik Beasley. That's the type of

801
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:26,840
Speaker 1: shooting they're getting out of Melik. He brings like a

802
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:30,080
Speaker 1: really aggressive brand of movement shooting to where he just

803
00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:32,680
Speaker 1: comes flying off of screens to the left and to

804
00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:36,399
Speaker 1: the right. He's aggressive in transition. He'll miss a lot

805
00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:39,080
Speaker 1: of threes that are like bad threes, but it doesn't

806
00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:41,160
Speaker 1: matter because it's part of the overall threat that he

807
00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:43,440
Speaker 1: brings and it brings a lot of spacing benefits to

808
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:45,560
Speaker 1: this team. Tim Hardaway Junior is not shooting the ball

809
00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:47,359
Speaker 1: as well as Malik is, but he's shooting it really well.

810
00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:49,879
Speaker 1: He's at thirty eight percent on six attempts per game

811
00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:53,319
Speaker 1: this year. Just gives kid two options that he can

812
00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:56,560
Speaker 1: constantly be hunting, especially on his transition pushies. He's been

813
00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:59,160
Speaker 1: so good at hunting them in transition this year. Tobias

814
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:01,960
Speaker 1: Harris is like legit having a renaissance right now in

815
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,080
Speaker 1: the win streak, he's averaging nineteen points per game on

816
00:40:05,239 --> 00:40:08,239
Speaker 1: sixty percent from the field and forty two percent from three.

817
00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:11,919
Speaker 1: He's giving them an additional point of entry when they're

818
00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:15,640
Speaker 1: going on offense because he can post up. He's torching

819
00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:18,360
Speaker 1: teams a spot up player. He's just been great. And

820
00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:20,560
Speaker 1: then Dennis Schroeder, like, he's not shooting the ball well

821
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:23,040
Speaker 1: yet since he joined the Pistons, but he's such a

822
00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:26,080
Speaker 1: competitor and he's another guy who just like finds a

823
00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:28,360
Speaker 1: way even when he's not playing well to make big plays.

824
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:30,400
Speaker 1: They went to him down the stretch on a huge possession.

825
00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:32,480
Speaker 1: The Clippers had cut the lead to five with about

826
00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:35,560
Speaker 1: three minutes left, and against a mere Coffee on the

827
00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:37,359
Speaker 1: right wing, he just hit him with a nasty left

828
00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:40,680
Speaker 1: to right crossover, a great push ahead dribble to beat

829
00:40:40,719 --> 00:40:42,560
Speaker 1: him off the dribble, and then rifle to pass across

830
00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:44,640
Speaker 1: the court to Malik Beasley in the left corner, who

831
00:40:44,719 --> 00:40:46,440
Speaker 1: knocked down three. You ended up putting him up by

832
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:50,040
Speaker 1: eight with a little under three minutes left. They have

833
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:52,920
Speaker 1: a clear nine man rotation that I think they can

834
00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:54,719
Speaker 1: shrink to eight for the playoffs. My guess is that

835
00:40:54,719 --> 00:40:56,799
Speaker 1: they'll end up dropping Ron Holland when they get into

836
00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:59,920
Speaker 1: the postseason. But like everyone knows your role. You have

837
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:03,240
Speaker 1: the two centers, Dennis Schroeder is your backup ball handler.

838
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:06,200
Speaker 1: You know, you have Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Junior

839
00:41:06,239 --> 00:41:09,239
Speaker 1: as like the constant, like aggressive shooting threat on the

840
00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:11,800
Speaker 1: floor at any given moment. They're a good NBA team

841
00:41:12,560 --> 00:41:14,760
Speaker 1: and I'm excited to watch them play some playoff basketball.

842
00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:18,160
Speaker 1: If you look at the situation right now, they're holding

843
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:21,520
Speaker 1: down that sixth seed, so like if the season were

844
00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:25,040
Speaker 1: to end today, they would end up playing the Knicks.

845
00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:29,160
Speaker 1: Like you don't think Kaid Cunningham is a threat to

846
00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:32,200
Speaker 1: put cat and ball screens or to punish a guy

847
00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:35,520
Speaker 1: like Jalen Brunson over and over again like that, They're

848
00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:38,280
Speaker 1: absolutely a threat. We'll see when we get a matchup

849
00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:40,279
Speaker 1: how if they end up being a team that I

850
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:42,760
Speaker 1: picked to win a series or not, And that'll matchups

851
00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:44,520
Speaker 1: will play a big role. We're gonna learn a lot

852
00:41:44,520 --> 00:41:47,080
Speaker 1: about them tonight they play the they play the Celtics tonight.

853
00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:49,799
Speaker 1: But they're a good NBA team and I'm really really

854
00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:51,520
Speaker 1: excited to watch them play in the playoffs and hopefully

855
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:53,799
Speaker 1: learn some more about them. All right, guys, that's all

856
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:56,080
Speaker 1: I have for today. Is always, as sincerely appreciate you

857
00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:58,160
Speaker 1: guys for supporting me and supporting the show. We'll be

858
00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:00,520
Speaker 1: back tomorrow with more reactions. I'll see you guys then

859
00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:05,759
Speaker 1: the volume. What's up guys. As always, I appreciate you

860
00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:08,800
Speaker 1: for listening to and supporting Hoops tonight. It would actually

861
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:10,719
Speaker 1: be really helpful for us if you guys would take

862
00:42:10,719 --> 00:42:13,840
Speaker 1: a second and leave a rating and a review. As always,

863
00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:15,560
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could

864
00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:18,040
Speaker 1: take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.