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Speaker 1: dot co slash b ball. All right, welcome to hob

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Speaker 1: tonight here at the volume heavy Friday. Everybody. Hope all

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Speaker 1: you guys are having a great week so far. Got

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Speaker 1: a quick show for you guys today. The Memphis Grizzlies

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Speaker 1: beat up on the Milwaukee Bucks yesterday, so one of

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Speaker 1: you check ins on both of those teams are gonna

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Speaker 1: do a little bit of a deep dive in the

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Speaker 1: early season for both of those teams that at the

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Speaker 1: tail end of the show, I've got a longer mail bag.

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Speaker 1: I think I've got twelve or thirteen questions about a

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Speaker 1: bunch of teams around the league that we're going to hit.

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

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Speaker 1: to the Hoops to Night YouTube channel so you don't

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Speaker 1: miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter

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Speaker 1: at underscore JSNLT so you guys don't miss show announcements.

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Speaker 1: So forget about podcast feed where we get your podcast

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Speaker 1: under Hoops Tonight. Also, we have new social media accounts

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Speaker 1: that we're going to be using a lot more for

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Speaker 1: content this year on Twitter, Instagram, and on facebooks. Make

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Speaker 1: sure you follow Hoops Tonight on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Speaker 1: And the last but not least, keep dropping mail back

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Speaker 1: questions in those YouTube comments so that we can keep

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Speaker 1: hitting them throughout the remainder of the season. I was

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Speaker 1: talking with Paul this morning. He's our lead producer, and

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Speaker 1: we're going to be kind of tweaking some things in

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Speaker 1: terms of the layout of the show so that we

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Speaker 1: can have some more consistency in terms of like the

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Speaker 1: plan and what you guys can expect. Last year, we

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Speaker 1: used to do power rankings on Friday, but I actually

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Speaker 1: we're gonna move it to Mondays. From now on. And

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Speaker 1: the main reason why there is Mondays are like one

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Speaker 1: of the hardest days to do instant reactions to games

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Speaker 1: because we have games on Friday night, on Saturday night,

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Speaker 1: and on Sunday night, so it's like three nights worth

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Speaker 1: of games, and sometimes, like you know, a team wins

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Speaker 1: on Friday and then loses on Sunday or vice versa,

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Speaker 1: and it can get a little tricky to hit on

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Speaker 1: individual teams or individual games, I should say, so, I

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Speaker 1: actually think that Mondays are the perfect day to do

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Speaker 1: power rankings because then I can hit at least ten

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Speaker 1: teams and talk about the whole weekend at large. So

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Speaker 1: we're gonna do power Rankings on every Monday from now on,

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Speaker 1: and we're gonna do mail bags on every Friday, so

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Speaker 1: make sure you keep dropping mailbag questions in those YouTube comments.

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Speaker 1: Those will come around every Friday, and then we'll do

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Speaker 1: Power Rankings on Monday, our first edition coming up on

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Speaker 1: this coming Monday. And then obviously as we get into

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Speaker 1: the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday stretch, that's when we'll do instant

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Speaker 1: reactions to games. Timp's tape where we do some film

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Speaker 1: that sort of thing as we kind of get into

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Speaker 1: our normal cadence here throughout the season, and during football season,

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Speaker 1: we're not going to do as many shows at night,

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Speaker 1: just because so many of them clashed with NFL games.

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Speaker 1: But once we get into January and the NFL starts

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Speaker 1: to slow down, we're going to be doing a lot

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Speaker 1: more instant reactions live on YouTube after games. And we

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Speaker 1: still will occasionally do instant reactions after games over this

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Speaker 1: early part of the season. When we get really big

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Speaker 1: national TV matchups, I'll keep you guys posted. That's where

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Speaker 1: it's good to follow me on Twitter because I always

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Speaker 1: send out announcements before we do that sort of thing.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. So the Grizzlies just

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Speaker 1: beat up on the Bucks last night. Really, it was

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Speaker 1: just a transition track meet type of game. For example,

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Speaker 1: Memphis had thirty one points in transition just in the

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Speaker 1: first half. That is like a completely insane stat right there.

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Speaker 1: They went into the half up twenty two, and there

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Speaker 1: just wasn't really anything that the Bucks could do to

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Speaker 1: regain control from there. Part of it was the Bucks

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Speaker 1: shot really poorly, and that's kind of one of their

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Speaker 1: early season trends that we'll get into when we talk Bucks.

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Speaker 1: But they generated thirteen unguarded catch and shoot jump shots

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Speaker 1: in that first half and only made one of them.

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Speaker 1: So like, that's where I can get a little discouraging

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Speaker 1: and start to kind of snowball on you and get

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Speaker 1: into some bad body language and that sort of thing.

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Speaker 1: But again, we'll talk about the Bucks in a little bit.

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Speaker 1: But the Memphis Grizzlies made them look slow, they made

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Speaker 1: them look old, they made them look like they didn't

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Speaker 1: feel like competing with them the way that they were

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Speaker 1: trying to play. Again, like, the Bucks are a bottom

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Speaker 1: five transition defense. I've been talking about this with the

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Speaker 1: Lakers too. With teams like the Lakers and the Bucks,

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Speaker 1: they have no choice but to try to figure their

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Speaker 1: shit out in transition because it's a game plan thing. Now,

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Speaker 1: it's the worst kept secret in the league that you

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Speaker 1: can run on these guys. And so as a result

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Speaker 1: of that, like every one of these teams when they're

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Speaker 1: in their hotel room, if they're on the road, or

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Speaker 1: if they're at home, or just in their home locker

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Speaker 1: room planning before the game, doing a shoot around, whatever

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Speaker 1: it is they're doing. When they're talking game plan, it's like,

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Speaker 1: run on these guys. They're lazy, they slow, they don't

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Speaker 1: want to run. This is a consistent thing that we're

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Speaker 1: going to see in Memphis. Really took it to them

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Speaker 1: in that game last night. John Morant just put on

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Speaker 1: an absolute masterpiece last night, his best game of the

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Speaker 1: season so far. Had twenty six points and fourteen assists

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Speaker 1: with only ten missed shots and turnovers combined. Absolutely fried

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Speaker 1: Gary Trent Junior. It should be a crime what he

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Speaker 1: did to him. He figured out early in the game

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Speaker 1: that Gary Trent really couldn't hang with his first step,

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Speaker 1: and so he really started to use fakes, and Gary

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Speaker 1: Trent was just biting on every single fake that he

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Speaker 1: was throwing. There was a three that John Morant hit

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Speaker 1: in the right corner where he caught and just did

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Speaker 1: like a hard jab step towards the baseline. That's literally

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Speaker 1: all he did, and Gary Trent damn near ran out

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Speaker 1: of the frame for how hardy bit on that fake is.

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Speaker 1: Obviously with Gary Trent, he's giving up so much foot

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Speaker 1: speed there. It didn't really have a choice but to

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Speaker 1: try to overplay that first move, and Job was just

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Speaker 1: doing a ton of damage to him in ball screens

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Speaker 1: and in ISO. But it was an insane playmaking game

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Speaker 1: from Jah. It wasn't just the fourteen assists, it was

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Speaker 1: the way that he was getting those assists and a

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Speaker 1: playmaking is always been one of John Rant's underrated talents,

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Speaker 1: but it was beautiful playmaking and pick and roll he

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Speaker 1: had about Like you know I talk about the most

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Speaker 1: important read in the ball screen is the lowman. Right, Like,

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Speaker 1: as you come off the ball screen, you could pretty

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Speaker 1: much assume that the guard is going to be pursuing

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Speaker 1: one way or the other, whether that's chasing over the

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Speaker 1: top or that's ducking underneath. But the guard's going to

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Speaker 1: stay attached as best as he can. And then the

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Speaker 1: screen defender in most cases is either coming up higher

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Speaker 1: to the level or dropping back. Right, there's the dynamic

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Speaker 1: on the back side of the defense is the lowman

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Speaker 1: and the screen defender. Right when the screen defender goes higher,

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Speaker 1: the lowman typically comes over, and when the screen defender

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Speaker 1: drops back, the lowman usually stays home. That is the

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Speaker 1: dynamic of help defense in ball screens. And so the

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Speaker 1: read that you're primarily making as the on ball creator

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Speaker 1: is that second guy, that lowman when he steps over

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Speaker 1: to the rollman. The read is the skip right to

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Speaker 1: the shooter in the corner that he's not guarding when

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Speaker 1: he stays home, the red is the roll man, right,

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Speaker 1: or if they both stay home, that's when his read

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Speaker 1: is to look to score. And like he had I

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Speaker 1: think at least three of each where he like hit

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Speaker 1: the rollman when the low man stayed home, or through

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Speaker 1: the skip pass when the lowman came over, and just

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Speaker 1: was consistently like just baiting those guys one way or another.

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Speaker 1: There was one play in particular, I clipped this pass

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Speaker 1: and I put it on my Twitter feed for you

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Speaker 1: guys to see at Underscore JSONLT. But it was the

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Speaker 1: one where they're on the left side of the floor

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Speaker 1: and Gary Trent Junior does tag the roller, but as

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Speaker 1: John Morant comes off, he makes like a head fake

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Speaker 1: towards Gary Trent Junior's man. If you look really closely

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Speaker 1: on the video I posted, you can actually see his

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Speaker 1: head turn to the left and look off Gary Trent.

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Speaker 1: Gary Trent lunges back out to the shooter and he

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Speaker 1: was even he wasn't even the right place because the

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Speaker 1: shooter had relocated to the corner. So that's how bad

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Speaker 1: the relocation in the head fake fooled Gary Trent. But

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Speaker 1: as a result of Gary Trent leaving and with brook

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Speaker 1: Lopez being somewhat higher, he's able to make the pass

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Speaker 1: to the roleman easy bucket, right. But then there was

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Speaker 1: another play where like Bobby port was out there. Bobby

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Speaker 1: Portis has done this all year, but Bobby Portis will

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Speaker 1: like overhelp on low man rotations all the time where

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Speaker 1: he just like sits in the paint even when it's

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Speaker 1: not necessary. And Joe was just burning him with skip

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Speaker 1: passes right and so doing a lot of damage in

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Speaker 1: ball screens, but also incredible playmaking in the open floor.

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Speaker 1: And this is where jaw is so much fun. It's

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Speaker 1: like the hard transition pushes and drawing the rim protector

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Speaker 1: up to drop off for guys cutting along the baseline

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Speaker 1: for dunks. He had this like insane pass to Jaron

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Speaker 1: Jackson where he went up the floor hard and like

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Speaker 1: it came up with crazy pace and then hit like

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Speaker 1: a boom boom dribble combination and it brought brook Lopez

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Speaker 1: over and out of the dribble combination. He just seamlessly

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Speaker 1: whipped it to Jaron Jackson with his left hand on

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Speaker 1: like this like spin away pass and Jared Jackson just

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Speaker 1: went right over Giannis and finished tried to like it

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Speaker 1: went up like he was gonna dunk it. Yiannis walled

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Speaker 1: him up pretty good, but Jaren was able to finish

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Speaker 1: anyway with the foul. It just it's beautiful basketball that

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Speaker 1: John Rample. He's one of the most aesthetically appealing players

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Speaker 1: in the league at this point, has so much fun

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Speaker 1: doing it. Literally looks like an artist that's like painting

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Speaker 1: a specific basketball masterpiece of every single game, just with

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Speaker 1: the different things that he can do that are so

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Speaker 1: exciting and that looks so different than what other basketball

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Speaker 1: players in the league can do. It's just good to

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Speaker 1: have jam Morian back. But anyway, yeah, the Bucks had

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Speaker 1: no chance. So the one other thing I wanted to

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Speaker 1: hit on the playmaking piece. Jah has like a really

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Speaker 1: special connection you can tell with Santi al Dama. And

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Speaker 1: there's this thing that happens with basketball players sometimes where

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Speaker 1: like they almost have like a mental connection where they

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Speaker 1: have this firm understanding of where each other are all

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Speaker 1: the time, and it's natural. It's not something that can

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Speaker 1: get coached. It is something that develops over time. But

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Speaker 1: like that's the interesting thing is like Santi al Dama

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Speaker 1: and Jamray have experience playing together, but they don't have

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Speaker 1: a ton of experience playing together, and so sometimes it's

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Speaker 1: like a natural organic basketball fit, and like part of

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Speaker 1: it is there is like Jamran is great at it,

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Speaker 1: attracting attention and passing out of it, and Santi al

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Speaker 1: Dama is one of the more gifted off ball all

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Speaker 1: scorers in the league. He's just excellent transition in particular,

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Speaker 1: He's been doing a ton of damage there and running

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Speaker 1: the floor right, but he brings a vertical spacing element,

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Speaker 1: like you can throw the ball up at the rim.

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Speaker 1: I think Jaw hit him for four lobs last night,

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Speaker 1: if I'm counting properly, Like that's insane, right, But then

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Speaker 1: like he also can shoot the ball well, he can

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Speaker 1: drive close outs. He's like a guy who's an expert

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Speaker 1: at capitalizing on defensive attention devoted elsewhere away from him,

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Speaker 1: and then a guy who's an expert at getting defensive

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Speaker 1: attention devoted to him and passing out of it. And

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Speaker 1: so the two of them just kind of like seamlessly

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Speaker 1: fit together. The Bucks had no chance. We'll talk about

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Speaker 1: them in a minute, but quick check in at the

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Speaker 1: Grizzlies at large. They're three and three. Had a huge

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Speaker 1: win against Orlando last week. They had sixty six points

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Speaker 1: off the bench. They went on a huge run to

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Speaker 1: end the second quarter where they basically went like stop bucket,

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Speaker 1: stop bucket, stop, bucket, stop bucket. Next thing you know,

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Speaker 1: they're up twenty six points going into the half on

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Speaker 1: a finished with like another one of those John Morant

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Speaker 1: kind of like gets everybody's attention in the middle of lane,

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Speaker 1: drops it off to Marcus Smart. He lays in and

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Speaker 1: at the buzzer going into halftime. So really impressive win

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Speaker 1: against a new Orlando Magic team that had been playing

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Speaker 1: really good basketball. And then they dropped two games to

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Speaker 1: Chicago and Brooklyn. But injuries played a huge role there, right,

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Speaker 1: Like John Murran misses the Chicago game, and then both

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Speaker 1: Desmond Bain and Marcus Smart got hurt in the Brooklyn

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Speaker 1: Nets game. Marcus Smart tweaked his ankle and then Desmond

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Speaker 1: Bain is dealing with an oblique injury. But then they

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Speaker 1: come they go without those two guys and beat the

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Speaker 1: shit out of the Bucks. And now they're three and three.

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Speaker 1: So obviously the injuries make the data kind of sketchy,

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Speaker 1: and Memphis is one of those teams too that when

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Speaker 1: they're playing at home and they're playing hard, even when

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Speaker 1: they're down bodies, they have a certain amount of depth

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Speaker 1: that allows them to continue to compete, right, But they

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Speaker 1: I want to try to zoom in for a second

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Speaker 1: just on the core four guys. They haven't played that much,

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Speaker 1: but Desmond Bain, Marcus Smart, John Moran, Jared Jackson have

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Speaker 1: only played thirteen minutes together over the course of the

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Speaker 1: entire season, but they have looked very good in those

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Speaker 1: thirteen minutes. They've got had a one to twenty four

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Speaker 1: offensive rating obviously very good, eighty three defensive rating that's excellent,

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Speaker 1: forty one points per one hundred possessions net, eighty percent

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Speaker 1: defensive rebound percentage. They've been really really good with that group,

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Speaker 1: and a good chunk of those minutes was against Orlando

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Speaker 1: in a game where they looked really really good. And

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Speaker 1: I like that grouping. Like starting on the defensive end,

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Speaker 1: Jared Jackson is just kind of the versaal guy that

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Speaker 1: ties everything together. He's a versatile front court defender that

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Speaker 1: you can put on someone like a Pala Bancaro, right,

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Speaker 1: but then you also can use him as a rim

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Speaker 1: protector and a bunch of different you know, kind of

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Speaker 1: basic traditional defensive coverages, right, But Desmond Bin and Marcus

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Speaker 1: marter A the two that make the whole thing go.

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Speaker 1: They're both just like two of my favorite types of defenders,

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Speaker 1: which is like that shorter, stockier defender that instead of

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Speaker 1: constantly obsessing with contesting shots, focuses more on disrupting the

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Speaker 1: rhythm of the scorer or the shooter before the shot.

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Speaker 1: This is something I talked about all the time. But

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Speaker 1: like Desmond Bin and Marcus Smart are masters of playing

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Speaker 1: physical defense, fighting guys off of their spots, meaning like

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Speaker 1: making them catch out of places where they typically catch,

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Speaker 1: and then from there attacking the base and attacking the pocket.

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Speaker 1: What that means to me is like again, if I I,

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Speaker 1: for instance, I work a ton on off the dribble shooting,

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Speaker 1: and I'm sixty six and I have a six ten wingspan,

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Speaker 1: So like if I get into my in and out

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Speaker 1: crossover whatever I'm whatever dribble combination, I'm going into a

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Speaker 1: pull up jump shot. Once I get into the pull

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Speaker 1: up jump shot, like I don't see your hand, Like

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Speaker 1: I have too high of a release point, And I

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Speaker 1: practice shooting contested shots all the time, So like your

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Speaker 1: hand just doesn't mean anything to me if I get

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Speaker 1: to my rhythm. But if like as I'm making those

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Speaker 1: that dribble combination or trying to get to my footwork,

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Speaker 1: if you're reaching at the ball and you can find

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Speaker 1: a way to disrupt before I get it up into

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Speaker 1: my shot, and maybe as a result, I like fumble

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Speaker 1: the ball a little bit or on my gather one

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Speaker 1: of my hands is kind of in like a slightly

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Speaker 1: different spot than it normally would be because you managed

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Speaker 1: to disrupt my rhythm. Then it doesn't matter if you

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Speaker 1: don't even contest my shot. Now as I'm rising up,

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Speaker 1: I'm rising up into a shot that is unorthodox or

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Speaker 1: awkward because it's different than the stuff that I do

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Speaker 1: when I'm practicing in the gym by myself. Right, Like

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Speaker 1: this is actually not to go too much deeper, but

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Speaker 1: this is one of my big beliefs about like the

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Speaker 1: best scorers in the world. They're all very improvisational. They're

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Speaker 1: all very good at like when their rhythm gets disrupted.

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Speaker 1: They're good at like figuring shit out on the fly

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Speaker 1: and finding a way to get like a decent look

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Speaker 1: off anyway. But again, good defense. The best defense you

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Speaker 1: can play, in my opinion, on a score is actually

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Speaker 1: before the shot. And that's what makes this type of

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Speaker 1: defender so useful is they're big, they're strong, they're good

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Speaker 1: at getting up underneath professional scorers in disrupting everything they

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Speaker 1: do before they get to the shot. Right, that's the key.

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Speaker 1: Like I mean, look at Kevin Durant shooting a right

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Speaker 1: shoulder fade away over a double team against the Clippers

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Speaker 1: on not Opening night, but the night after Opening night. Right,

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Speaker 1: Like Katie doesn't see the hand because once he gets

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Speaker 1: to his fade away, that's that he's just he's in

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Speaker 1: his bag at that point. Like, you have to find

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Speaker 1: a way to disrupt these guys before. And so des

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Speaker 1: Bean and Marcus Smart, they're ball pressuring, they're fighting guys

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Speaker 1: off of spots. They're making them catching different spots. They're

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Speaker 1: both switchable in a lot of these situations. They bring

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Speaker 1: that point of attack defense or defending the other team's

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Speaker 1: best players. And then John Muran has been pretty solid,

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Speaker 1: Like he just competes, He hedges hard, he sprints back

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Speaker 1: to recover to shooters. He can dig down into the

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Speaker 1: lane and recover like John Moran, Like he has his

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Speaker 1: defensive limitations, but that dude tries and he's got some

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Speaker 1: tools and that makes him pretty impactful, and so that

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Speaker 1: all pieces together into a really useful defensive group. Then

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Speaker 1: on offense, we know how John Moran plays, we talked

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Speaker 1: about it earlier. We know how Desmond Bane plays. He's

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Speaker 1: your traditional five out or i should say modern five

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Speaker 1: out offensive player in the sense that he's constantly coming

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Speaker 1: off of screening actions as a threat to score, but

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Speaker 1: really good at making the reads out of it. Like

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Speaker 1: when the screen defender pops up, he's gonna drop it off.

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Speaker 1: When people help from the weak side, he can make

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Speaker 1: those kickout pass He's very good at like driving past

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Speaker 1: the rim and shooting those like kind of drifting scoop

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Speaker 1: shots up off the glass right like they're just we

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Speaker 1: know how those guys function. But Marcus Smart is the

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Speaker 1: connective piece. He's the one that makes everything work in

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Speaker 1: terms of like bridging that gap between the attention that

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Speaker 1: Desmond Band and John Morant garner and play finishing, whether

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Speaker 1: that's hitting John Morant or Jared Jackson on rolls or

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Speaker 1: shooters in spot up situations. In between that Marcus Smart

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Speaker 1: as your advantage extender. He's the guy that can catch

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Speaker 1: and make that next read, or drive that close out

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Speaker 1: and make that next decision that turns a good shot

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Speaker 1: into a great shot. I again, we haven't seen anywhere

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Speaker 1: near as much of it as we'd like, but I

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Speaker 1: like that core a lot. I think it works. And

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Speaker 1: I know that the Marcus Smart injuries are piling up

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Speaker 1: and it's been a little frustrating. But if you can

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Speaker 1: get to the point where he's healthy for an extended

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Speaker 1: amount of time and we get a long look at

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Speaker 1: that group, I think they're gonna win a lot of games.

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Speaker 1: Lots of guys have been stepping up with the injuries,

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Speaker 1: like Scotty Pippen. Junr. Has been getting a lot of

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Speaker 1: burn and pouring in eleven points and six assists per

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Speaker 1: game on fifty one percent shooting and forty percent from three.

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Speaker 1: But I think the most impressive thing that Scotty Pippen

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Speaker 1: is doing is changing the like kind of the pace

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Speaker 1: of the game through his ball pressure. Like when he

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Speaker 1: comes in, he just starts picking up guy's full court

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Speaker 1: starts poking at the basketball. This is something he's done

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Speaker 1: consistently throughout this season. He's been doing it to Orlando

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Speaker 1: in their guards. He did it to Damian Lillard last

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Speaker 1: night and like straight up like like was giving Damian

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Speaker 1: Lillard fits in the bench groups with that in that

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Speaker 1: particular game, Like that's been a really useful pick up

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Speaker 1: for them. Santi al Domo we talked about earlier, just

395
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Speaker 1: a classic off ball score. He's giving fourteen points on

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Speaker 1: sixty three percent true shooting. Jalen Wells has been playing

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Speaker 1: a lot with the injuries to the guards, and he's

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Speaker 1: just bringing aggressive three point shooting like he's just and

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Speaker 1: he's been missing some of the ones when he's guarded,

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Speaker 1: but he's been hitting most of the ones when he's

401
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Speaker 1: open or when he's off the dribble. The big thing

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Speaker 1: there is like he's being guarded like a shooter. His

403
00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,960
Speaker 1: aggressive three point shooting provides spacing that goes beyond even

404
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Speaker 1: what the shooting percentage says as far as the bigs go.

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Speaker 1: Zach Edies off to a weird start, like he hasn't

406
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Speaker 1: been able to make his hook shot. He's just one

407
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Speaker 1: for ten on hook shots. That has obviously limited his

408
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Speaker 1: effectiveness in the post, and the team hasn't defended well

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Speaker 1: with him on the floor. But I don't think we've

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Speaker 1: had nearly a large enough sample of him with the

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Speaker 1: actual core of this team. And in the Orlando game,

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Speaker 1: he started with the starters and they got off to

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Speaker 1: a really good start. So like I would want to

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Speaker 1: see a little bit more before we jump to any

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Speaker 1: conclusions with Zach Edy and Zakid's going to make more

416
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Speaker 1: than ten percent of his hook shots in the long run.

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Speaker 1: And then Jay Huff he's played so well to start Deer,

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00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,119
Speaker 1: he got himself a new contract. He's shooting fifty percent

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Speaker 1: from three, He's converting spot up possessions at one point

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Speaker 1: five to three points per possession in the early going.

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Speaker 1: That's obviously very good. And the main thing with him

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Speaker 1: is his mobility has been a differentiator, cutting along the

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Speaker 1: baseline and running in transition and just like out running

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Speaker 1: other bigs, which is ironic for a guy who's as

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Speaker 1: big as he is, but he's done a lot of

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Speaker 1: damage this season as a cutter and in transition. Overall

427
00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:46,359
Speaker 1: metrics from Memphis their twelfth in offense, sixteenth in defense,

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Speaker 1: thirteenth and net rating and tenth and rebounding, so a

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Speaker 1: lot of middle of the pack stuff there, But again

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Speaker 1: that data is being influenced a lot by injuries, so

431
00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,200
Speaker 1: not too much to take out of that. On the

432
00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:57,960
Speaker 1: Bucks front, they're bad everywhere right now twenty fourth and

433
00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:00,879
Speaker 1: offense twenty fourth and defense twenty eight in net rating

434
00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:04,320
Speaker 1: and twenty eighth in rebounding in their one and four start.

435
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:06,679
Speaker 1: We'll get into some of the basketball details later, but

436
00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:10,480
Speaker 1: like everything starts with this team with their willingness to

437
00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:14,560
Speaker 1: compete right now, they look lifeless. And when you're older

438
00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:18,280
Speaker 1: and slower already just in terms of the personnel that

439
00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:20,359
Speaker 1: you have compared to the rest of the league, you

440
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,199
Speaker 1: have to make up for it by being an effort

441
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,320
Speaker 1: execution team. You have to because if like the young

442
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,120
Speaker 1: if the faster, the younger, faster team also plays much

443
00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,200
Speaker 1: harder than you and is much more smarter in discipline,

444
00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:32,879
Speaker 1: you're just gonna get your butt kicked every single night.

445
00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:35,800
Speaker 1: And that's basically what's happening right now. They're not just losing,

446
00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:38,240
Speaker 1: they're getting ran off the floor in a lot of

447
00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:40,960
Speaker 1: these games like this is this is this is really

448
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:43,639
Speaker 1: really ugly, and like the effort and focus level with

449
00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,000
Speaker 1: this team is embarrassing. Their transition defense, they have bad

450
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,280
Speaker 1: floor balance. Every time they gave up a dunk against Memphis.

451
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:51,560
Speaker 1: I think it was the Santiel Dama on a made

452
00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:55,359
Speaker 1: layup by Damian Lillard, where as Dame was driving everybody

453
00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,840
Speaker 1: who was sunk into the corners and was below the

454
00:20:57,840 --> 00:20:59,560
Speaker 1: foul line, and it's like, what are you doing. You're

455
00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:01,959
Speaker 1: never going to get a like you're never going to

456
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,359
Speaker 1: get stops in transition if you don't have guys above

457
00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:07,760
Speaker 1: the break that actually get back on defense, that's just

458
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:12,240
Speaker 1: undisciplined basketball. That's sloppy, right, But even then it's like,

459
00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:16,040
Speaker 1: guys aren't sprinting. I had a coach when I was

460
00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:18,360
Speaker 1: in college who always used to talk about like your

461
00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:22,160
Speaker 1: first two steps being super important in transition, Like you

462
00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,480
Speaker 1: when you turn your body and get your momentum going

463
00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:28,399
Speaker 1: from scratch. Once you get running, you can kind of

464
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:30,560
Speaker 1: ride that wave back and then it's all about just

465
00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:34,120
Speaker 1: your transition defense principles. But like if you jog your

466
00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,800
Speaker 1: first step or if you hesitate for a second, you're

467
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:39,400
Speaker 1: dead to rights against these fast teams, especially when you're

468
00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:40,679
Speaker 1: on the road and they're playing in front of their

469
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:43,280
Speaker 1: home crowd, all juiced up with energy, and so it's

470
00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:45,719
Speaker 1: like bad floor balance, guys not running back and then

471
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:49,520
Speaker 1: missing basic execution details, like the only two things that

472
00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:53,280
Speaker 1: really matter and transition defense is take away the rim

473
00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:55,680
Speaker 1: and take away and stop the ball. If you can

474
00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:57,919
Speaker 1: stop the ball and take away the rim, you'll at

475
00:21:57,960 --> 00:21:59,800
Speaker 1: least force them to make a jump shot. And when

476
00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,719
Speaker 1: guys are sprinting up the floor into jump shots, might

477
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,200
Speaker 1: it might get one point one points per attempt, and yeah,

478
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:07,960
Speaker 1: you're you're gonna have stretches where maybe they hit a

479
00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,119
Speaker 1: couple of threes on you, and it can get and

480
00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:12,600
Speaker 1: they can go on a little bit of a run.

481
00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,320
Speaker 1: But like really bad transition defenses, they give up lots

482
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,000
Speaker 1: of dunks, and that's where it can get. That's where

483
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:21,160
Speaker 1: it can become problematic, Like you have to at least

484
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:24,080
Speaker 1: if your transition defense is compromised, make them make a

485
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,960
Speaker 1: jump shot. Make them make a jump shot, and at

486
00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:31,439
Speaker 1: automatically you'll improve your transition defense by limiting their efficiency

487
00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,200
Speaker 1: in those situations. And they're just they're not stopping the ball.

488
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,239
Speaker 1: That was a huge problem against Memphis, like straight up

489
00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:38,919
Speaker 1: just not stopping the ball as guys were dribbling up

490
00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:40,879
Speaker 1: the floor and getting where they wanted to go, and

491
00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:44,240
Speaker 1: then in those transition situations, not protecting the rim, and

492
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,960
Speaker 1: they were giving up cutters along the baseline for easy basket.

493
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,360
Speaker 1: So like they've been one of the worst transition defenses

494
00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:52,040
Speaker 1: in the league. I don't know how they're gonna fix

495
00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,800
Speaker 1: that problem until they start competing, because I mean, that's

496
00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,600
Speaker 1: like the bare minimum is give a shit, then you

497
00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:03,359
Speaker 1: can work on the execution pieces, and like none of

498
00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:05,080
Speaker 1: that's there right now, and it doesn't look good. They're

499
00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:07,159
Speaker 1: on ball defense is terrible. Pick and roll ball handlers

500
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:09,160
Speaker 1: are getting one point one to one points per shot

501
00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,359
Speaker 1: attempt against them. That's dead last in the entire NBA.

502
00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,320
Speaker 1: They brought in Gary Trent Junior into lawn Wright specifically

503
00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:17,399
Speaker 1: to help with that, and so far they've only gotten worse.

504
00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,359
Speaker 1: Gary Trent was straight up awful against John Moran last night.

505
00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 1: I know it's a tough matchup, but like he didn't

506
00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 1: do anything to make him feel uncomfortable. They've in a

507
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:28,400
Speaker 1: bottom ten ISO defense as well. They're not forcing any turnovers.

508
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:30,920
Speaker 1: It's just they're not getting anything out of their ball

509
00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:34,000
Speaker 1: pressure in on ball defense. Their help side defense guys

510
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,199
Speaker 1: are sinking in the paint when it's completely unnecessary. We

511
00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:39,000
Speaker 1: talked about that earlier with Bobby Portis. You have brook

512
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,119
Speaker 1: Lopez and Giannis and Tanakumpo down there. You do not

513
00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,760
Speaker 1: need to pack the the the paint with guys that

514
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:46,840
Speaker 1: need to be guarding shooters out on the perimeter. Again,

515
00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,360
Speaker 1: Bobby Portis is the main culprit here, but it's everybody.

516
00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:53,359
Speaker 1: I've seen everybody in their role player corep make that

517
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,560
Speaker 1: specific mistake. Again, Like, if brook Lopez is in a

518
00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:00,280
Speaker 1: drop coverage and he can reasonably protect with the role man,

519
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 1: you do not need to be digging down from the

520
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:06,400
Speaker 1: weak side and giving away easy kickout threes. Their defensive

521
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,040
Speaker 1: rebounding statistically is okay, like they're giving up the ninth

522
00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,840
Speaker 1: fewest offensive rebounds per game, but again, when you factor

523
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,200
Speaker 1: in they have such a massive frontline, the problem there

524
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,200
Speaker 1: is they're still giving away about a half dozen types

525
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,120
Speaker 1: of offensive rebounds a game that are long three point

526
00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:22,560
Speaker 1: shot rebounds that come out towards the foul line area,

527
00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:26,879
Speaker 1: and they're just not crashing from the corners. And that's

528
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:30,160
Speaker 1: where Dame has had an issue there. Gary Trent's been

529
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:31,920
Speaker 1: losing a lot of fifty to fifty balls to start

530
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:34,000
Speaker 1: this year like that. He's supposed to be a more

531
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,520
Speaker 1: athletic version of what they had in that position last year.

532
00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,080
Speaker 1: Like they're just not competing enough again in these like

533
00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,720
Speaker 1: loose ball situations. They're losing on the margins every single night,

534
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,720
Speaker 1: and that just puts them at a massive disadvantage. On offense,

535
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:53,000
Speaker 1: it really is mostly just extremely poor shooting. Like they're

536
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,440
Speaker 1: just one for thirteen on unguarded attempts in the first

537
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:57,760
Speaker 1: half last night against Memphis. That's always going to give

538
00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 1: you some issues. They're shooting just twenty nine percent total

539
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:04,879
Speaker 1: on all catch and shoot jump shots this year, so

540
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:07,920
Speaker 1: below thirty percent on catch and shoot jump shots. That's tough.

541
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,959
Speaker 1: Only the Spurs have been worse last year. They were

542
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,480
Speaker 1: top ten in that category with basically the same roster.

543
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:17,600
Speaker 1: I mean Malik Beasley. I would say Malik Beasley in

544
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,480
Speaker 1: the aggregate aggregate has been a better shooter than Gary

545
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:23,879
Speaker 1: Trent junior. But Gary Trent shot just as well as

546
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:26,520
Speaker 1: Malik Beasley last year, and he should shoot better than

547
00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:28,399
Speaker 1: he's been shooting. A lot of guys are just shooting

548
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:33,000
Speaker 1: really really poorly. That tends to influence other things in

549
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,400
Speaker 1: the game, right, Like basketball is a we talked about

550
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 1: basketball as a rhythm sport all the time, everything kind of

551
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:41,439
Speaker 1: feeds into the next thing in line. And so like

552
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:43,680
Speaker 1: you can imagine a scenario where it's like you run

553
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,840
Speaker 1: offense and you get a wide open three and the

554
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:50,159
Speaker 1: guy misses it and it's a long rebound. They get it,

555
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:51,920
Speaker 1: they sprint it down your throat and they get a

556
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,040
Speaker 1: dunk because you're not running back on defense. Then you

557
00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:57,119
Speaker 1: run up the floor again, you run another play and

558
00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:01,160
Speaker 1: you generate another wide open three, and that one misses two,

559
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:03,720
Speaker 1: but maybe it's a better rebound, and so you're actually

560
00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:05,919
Speaker 1: able to get back and set your defense. But your

561
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:07,960
Speaker 1: point of attack defense is so bad that the ball

562
00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:11,800
Speaker 1: screen just generates another wide open look and they score again,

563
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,240
Speaker 1: and then you go down, you generate another wide open look.

564
00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:18,280
Speaker 1: Like it just kind of snowballs. The body language gets bad,

565
00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,320
Speaker 1: guys are less willing to compete because they can feel

566
00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:23,800
Speaker 1: the game slipping away, and it just kind of like

567
00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:28,680
Speaker 1: snowballs into a massive problem, right, And so like that

568
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,040
Speaker 1: kind of stuff I think could turn around just by

569
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,760
Speaker 1: some shots going in. You imagine the exact same situation,

570
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:36,960
Speaker 1: wide open look. This time it goes in. Gary Trent

571
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:39,119
Speaker 1: just hits the shot that he's been missing all season.

572
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,600
Speaker 1: Now you have a chance to set your defense. Gary

573
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 1: Trent feels better about himself because he just hit a shot.

574
00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,080
Speaker 1: Now he's really getting into the ball. You defend a

575
00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:49,119
Speaker 1: little bit better in your ball screen. You get a stop,

576
00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:50,639
Speaker 1: Now you get a rebound, you go back down the

577
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 1: other end. Now you're starting to build that snowball in

578
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:57,960
Speaker 1: your direction. That's that rhythm and momentum battle in basketball games.

579
00:26:58,359 --> 00:27:00,119
Speaker 1: And just you missing a bunch of wide open and

580
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,960
Speaker 1: looks is certainly going to affect that. And so again

581
00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:05,080
Speaker 1: it doesn't look good. There's a lot of bad body language.

582
00:27:05,119 --> 00:27:07,800
Speaker 1: Dame in particular looks super disengaged on both ends. He's

583
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,960
Speaker 1: obviously just an awful defensive player, but he's also shooting poorly.

584
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:12,879
Speaker 1: He's just six for thirty three from three in his

585
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,199
Speaker 1: last four games, and like last night, it was like

586
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:17,280
Speaker 1: one of the worst body language games I've seen from him.

587
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,040
Speaker 1: He looked like he just didn't want to play. He

588
00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:21,000
Speaker 1: didn't really look to score with the starting group. And

589
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,119
Speaker 1: then he's just getting picked up full court by Scotti

590
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:25,560
Speaker 1: Pippen Junior and he's just like fumbling the ball everywhere

591
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:29,240
Speaker 1: and just really really sloppy. Their bench is giving them

592
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,520
Speaker 1: nothing like Bobby Portis is cold to start the year,

593
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,480
Speaker 1: and he's a damaging defender. Pat Content is getting targeted

594
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:36,359
Speaker 1: every single time he's on the floor and he's not

595
00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,119
Speaker 1: hitting threes. But I do want to give this a

596
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,600
Speaker 1: larger sample before we jump to any conclusions, because like,

597
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,560
Speaker 1: if they start hitting their open looks, that could just

598
00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:49,120
Speaker 1: start making everything easier for them. But it doesn't get

599
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:51,719
Speaker 1: any easier from here. They have the Calves twice after this,

600
00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:55,119
Speaker 1: the Calves that are an excellent defensive team that forces

601
00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:57,480
Speaker 1: a ton of turnovers and is always looking to run

602
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:00,119
Speaker 1: the floor in transition, Like, the Calves are a real

603
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:03,399
Speaker 1: bad matchup for the Bucks. They initiate a ton of

604
00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:05,600
Speaker 1: offense from the guard position, and you're talking about the

605
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:07,919
Speaker 1: worst pick and roll ball handler defense in the league. Like,

606
00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:11,119
Speaker 1: there's a chance that the Calves win both of those games. Now,

607
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:12,960
Speaker 1: the first one is in Milwaukee, and so like that's

608
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 1: the one you got to target. If you're Milwaukee, you

609
00:28:14,880 --> 00:28:17,040
Speaker 1: have to beat the Calves at home. You have to

610
00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:20,720
Speaker 1: rise your home crowd to just get some momentum there

611
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,639
Speaker 1: and see if you can't figure it out. But like

612
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 1: there's that that's two really tough games, Okay, then you

613
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:27,520
Speaker 1: play the Jazz, that's probably a win. But then it's

614
00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:30,120
Speaker 1: the Nicks and the Celtics, So like, there's a chance

615
00:28:30,480 --> 00:28:32,520
Speaker 1: if they get beat by the Calves twice, there's a

616
00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:34,960
Speaker 1: chance they could be sitting at two and eight by

617
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:37,000
Speaker 1: the time they get through their first ten games. That

618
00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:38,960
Speaker 1: is why they have to get their shit together. That

619
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,680
Speaker 1: could be absolute crisis mode. Then you're looking at like,

620
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:44,600
Speaker 1: I mean, I saw a clip of Yiannis like sitting

621
00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:48,080
Speaker 1: along the baseline in garbage time yesterday, Like you want

622
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,760
Speaker 1: to try to avoid that sort of storm cloud kind

623
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:53,320
Speaker 1: of forming over the team because that could be a

624
00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:57,120
Speaker 1: runaway freight train in no time. But again, let's give

625
00:28:57,120 --> 00:28:59,120
Speaker 1: it more, Let's give it a larger sample. All of

626
00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:01,640
Speaker 1: these teams have only played, you know, basically a half

627
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 1: dozen games or less, so let's give them some time

628
00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:22,120
Speaker 1: to figure their shit out. All right, let's get to

629
00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:29,719
Speaker 1: the mailbag. Hi, Jason Big, thanks for the great content.

630
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,560
Speaker 1: For a relatively new NBA follower like me, your videos

631
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:35,240
Speaker 1: are really helpful in understanding the context of each playing situation.

632
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:38,880
Speaker 1: Wanted to ask, what is the ceiling and the floor

633
00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:44,120
Speaker 1: this season for the Warriors in your opinion? So they're

634
00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,400
Speaker 1: so good in terms of their depth of quality role

635
00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:50,080
Speaker 1: players that always play hard and fly around on defense.

636
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:52,920
Speaker 1: That and they're so well coached that I think their

637
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:55,560
Speaker 1: floor that's been the biggest change for me. Like I

638
00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:57,920
Speaker 1: coming into the season viewed them as like in that

639
00:29:58,040 --> 00:30:00,800
Speaker 1: like nine to ten seed range, and now I think

640
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,720
Speaker 1: like the absolute basement for them is like a home

641
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:08,000
Speaker 1: home court playing game. So like I think you're looking

642
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:11,040
Speaker 1: at like seven seed as the bottom, Like they're just

643
00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,280
Speaker 1: gonna win so many regular season games on the strength

644
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,320
Speaker 1: of their depth of talent and how hard they play.

645
00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:18,680
Speaker 1: The NBA just has First of all, you have these

646
00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:21,120
Speaker 1: like ten teams at the bottom that the Warriors should

647
00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:24,440
Speaker 1: beat basically every time they play because they're sloppy and bad,

648
00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:27,400
Speaker 1: and the Warriors are deep, well coached and play hard. Right.

649
00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:29,800
Speaker 1: Then you have the next twenty teams, and there are

650
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,000
Speaker 1: a lot of serious teams, and they're like dead serious teams.

651
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,120
Speaker 1: Teams that are in that like top five to six group,

652
00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:36,480
Speaker 1: that are super sharp and that have lots of talent.

653
00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:38,400
Speaker 1: They're gonna give the Warriors some issues. That's something I

654
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,080
Speaker 1: do believe because of their lack of firepower. But in

655
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:43,960
Speaker 1: that next fifteen teams there's a lot of teams like

656
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,320
Speaker 1: the Bucks, like the Lakers, you know, like the Sixers.

657
00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:49,760
Speaker 1: There's the Suns are kind of in this group too,

658
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:53,320
Speaker 1: where it's like they have some older veteran guys, their

659
00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:58,560
Speaker 1: effort inconsistency of execution could be an issue with them

660
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,120
Speaker 1: throughout the season. And those are the groups of teams

661
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:03,600
Speaker 1: that I think the Warriors will fare pretty well against,

662
00:31:03,760 --> 00:31:06,160
Speaker 1: even though like they might struggle against a team like

663
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,600
Speaker 1: that in a playoff series where the firepower becomes a

664
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,640
Speaker 1: bigger issue. In the night and night out schedule of

665
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,800
Speaker 1: their regular season, they're just pain in the ass speed

666
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,920
Speaker 1: and execution and ball pressure and all the shit that

667
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,280
Speaker 1: they do is gonna just cause them to upset those

668
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:25,600
Speaker 1: teams a lot. And so, like, I really do think

669
00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:27,720
Speaker 1: they're gonna win a good amount of regular season games.

670
00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:31,560
Speaker 1: So I'd say at this point I would be surprised

671
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:33,880
Speaker 1: if the Warriors didn't finish above the play in just

672
00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:37,239
Speaker 1: simply because of that super super high floor. But if

673
00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,160
Speaker 1: I had to choose like their absolute floor with this group,

674
00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:42,800
Speaker 1: if they made absolutely no trade, I think we're looking

675
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:45,920
Speaker 1: at like that seven to eight seed as the bottom.

676
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:47,920
Speaker 1: But I do believe that they'll finish above the play

677
00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:51,080
Speaker 1: in as far as their ceiling goes, it's entirely dependent

678
00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:53,719
Speaker 1: on whether or not they can make a trade. Like

679
00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:56,440
Speaker 1: I know, Warriors, I know there is a segment of

680
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:58,960
Speaker 1: Warriors fans who disagrees with me about this and thinks

681
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,680
Speaker 1: that the Warriors arebstantially better than they're kind of like

682
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:06,840
Speaker 1: roster on paper looks, but like I'm of the opinion

683
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,400
Speaker 1: that if the Warriors ended up in let's say a

684
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,360
Speaker 1: five or six seed, they had to go on the

685
00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:15,160
Speaker 1: road and win a playoff series against one of the

686
00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:16,800
Speaker 1: top four teams in the West. I don't think they

687
00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,320
Speaker 1: could so, like I think as I think, this current

688
00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:21,880
Speaker 1: roster kind of has a first round exit as a ceiling.

689
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,840
Speaker 1: But in order to reach their ultimate ceiling, it all

690
00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:28,960
Speaker 1: comes down to what kind of player they can get

691
00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,560
Speaker 1: back into trade. And then two, what level can Steph

692
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:33,800
Speaker 1: Curry get to this year? If Steph Curry can get

693
00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:35,680
Speaker 1: to the level that he was at in twenty twenty two,

694
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:38,040
Speaker 1: or maybe not quite that high, because I'm not sure

695
00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:40,160
Speaker 1: he can get there anymore, but if you can get close,

696
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:42,440
Speaker 1: like if you can like legit play at a top

697
00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:45,000
Speaker 1: ten level all season and you bring in a high

698
00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:48,040
Speaker 1: powered number two. There's so much good in terms of

699
00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:50,360
Speaker 1: the role players and the execution and the experience and

700
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,120
Speaker 1: the defensive ceiling with Draymond Green that I do think

701
00:32:53,160 --> 00:32:55,240
Speaker 1: that there is a chance for them to get out

702
00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:58,560
Speaker 1: of the Western Conference. And then again, like get put

703
00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:02,160
Speaker 1: a bunch of a ris scrappy defenders against Boston that

704
00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:04,760
Speaker 1: can cover ground in space, and maybe Steph reaches a

705
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 1: crazy level and he gets good contributions from his number two.

706
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:10,680
Speaker 1: You have a puncher's chance there, right, But like, in

707
00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:12,840
Speaker 1: order to get there, they've got to have that ceiling,

708
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:15,320
Speaker 1: and that ceiling is dependent on Steph and who you

709
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:17,760
Speaker 1: get as the number two. Next question, what archetype of

710
00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:21,920
Speaker 1: player should Golden State target in a consolidation trade to

711
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:24,000
Speaker 1: take them over the top. Let's take a look at

712
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,479
Speaker 1: the strengths and weaknesses of the roster. Okay, they're super

713
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 1: deep at guard and they're deep on the wing, right,

714
00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:33,720
Speaker 1: Like that's that's that is a position group where there's

715
00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:37,160
Speaker 1: not really much opportunity for anybody to play anyway. Right,

716
00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:40,760
Speaker 1: they have plenty of athleticism, they have plenty of defense.

717
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:44,520
Speaker 1: The main position groups where they're a little weak is

718
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:49,040
Speaker 1: like at that like power forward spot for small ball groups. Right,

719
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,960
Speaker 1: Like when Draymond's at center, it's like, okay, there's cominga,

720
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,160
Speaker 1: but like we we have our question marks about cominga

721
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:57,560
Speaker 1: in high leverage situations against the best teams in the league.

722
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,000
Speaker 1: And then Kyle Anderson is like your other option there.

723
00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:03,760
Speaker 1: And then when they go big, like do they have

724
00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:06,120
Speaker 1: a big enough center? Do they have like a big

725
00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,359
Speaker 1: enough center to actually give themselves an ability to hang

726
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:11,080
Speaker 1: with some of the huge front lines in the league,

727
00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:13,760
Speaker 1: teams like Denver, teams like Minnesota, teams like the Lakers,

728
00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:16,520
Speaker 1: so on and so forth. Right, So, like it's like

729
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:21,560
Speaker 1: a backup center that is a legitimate big body that

730
00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:25,160
Speaker 1: they can play, and then a ford that can score.

731
00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:27,359
Speaker 1: And so that to me is what I would really

732
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:31,640
Speaker 1: be targeting, is a ford that can score the basketball

733
00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,160
Speaker 1: from the perimeter. This is why I was so high

734
00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:36,759
Speaker 1: on Lori Markenen for them over the summer. Like, I

735
00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:39,720
Speaker 1: don't think you want another skill guard next to Steph

736
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:41,880
Speaker 1: because then you run the trouble of like if I

737
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:46,320
Speaker 1: have Steph and another skill guard, I'm not super athletic

738
00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:49,000
Speaker 1: in the backcourt anymore. I like those athletes that the

739
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,520
Speaker 1: Warriors are constantly playing at the two and three. The

740
00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:54,960
Speaker 1: two and three between Pods and Wiggins and the Anthony

741
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,920
Speaker 1: Melton and Gary Payton, like all of those athletes that

742
00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:01,840
Speaker 1: they have at the two and three. You're golden. Ideally,

743
00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:05,239
Speaker 1: you want a forward that can score the shit out

744
00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:07,360
Speaker 1: of the basketball. There's a bunch of options there that

745
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:10,360
Speaker 1: could be available this year, like Laurie Markin and I

746
00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:12,560
Speaker 1: don't think he becomes available for trade until the deadline,

747
00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:14,520
Speaker 1: but he's a potential option even though you missed out

748
00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:17,680
Speaker 1: on him the summer. There's Jeremy Grant, There's Brandon Ingram,

749
00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:20,080
Speaker 1: there could be Jimmy Butler. Like there are a bunch

750
00:35:20,120 --> 00:35:23,359
Speaker 1: of guys that could become available in that grouping. Now,

751
00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:25,600
Speaker 1: imagine a scenario orre you make that type of deal, right,

752
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:29,120
Speaker 1: you trade depth and draft compensation for one of those big,

753
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:32,400
Speaker 1: versatile scoring forwards. Now you can imagine a scenario where

754
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:34,920
Speaker 1: the and let's just say they managed to pull off

755
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:36,759
Speaker 1: a trade for a big bodied center. I don't think that.

756
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,000
Speaker 1: I don't think that's as complicated of a deal. I

757
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:40,840
Speaker 1: think you're looking I don't think you're looking for a

758
00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,440
Speaker 1: you know, a starting level player, because I think ultimately

759
00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:46,400
Speaker 1: this team goes down with Draymond at the five. I

760
00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:49,440
Speaker 1: mean not in the large sample eating regular season innings,

761
00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:52,400
Speaker 1: but when push comes to shove in a playoff setting,

762
00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:54,840
Speaker 1: you're going down with Draymond Graan at the five. I

763
00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:57,240
Speaker 1: felt the same way about the Lakers. It's like everyone

764
00:35:57,239 --> 00:35:59,040
Speaker 1: wants to put Ad next to a center, and that's

765
00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,239
Speaker 1: cute and all, but like, get a bench center of

766
00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:03,480
Speaker 1: whatever you want to do to improve that situation. But

767
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:05,359
Speaker 1: when push comes to shove, you're going down with Ad

768
00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:07,840
Speaker 1: at the five. Like you're you're playing your You need speed.

769
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:10,000
Speaker 1: It's it's just the way the league is. You need speed,

770
00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:11,560
Speaker 1: you need to cover ground, you need to play five out,

771
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,400
Speaker 1: you need to create space. So you can imagine a scenario.

772
00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:18,280
Speaker 1: Let's say it's Steph Curry and whichever two guard Steve

773
00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:20,879
Speaker 1: Kerr feels like playing in those high leverage situations, whether

774
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,279
Speaker 1: that's Brandon Pajemski, maybe that ends up being a Gary Paige,

775
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:25,200
Speaker 1: Maybe that ends up being a d Anthony Melton, right like,

776
00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:27,799
Speaker 1: maybe that ends up being a Buddy Healed. But then three,

777
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:30,319
Speaker 1: I think I think Andrew Wiggins kind of is just

778
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,440
Speaker 1: the ideal three for this team. He's you can score

779
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:35,120
Speaker 1: the ball, he can defend the other team's best player,

780
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,120
Speaker 1: can do all that stuff. Then you imagine Raymond Grand

781
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:38,800
Speaker 1: at the five, and then you have this big scoring

782
00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:43,600
Speaker 1: forward basically, just imagine a better, more reliable veteran version,

783
00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:48,919
Speaker 1: a grown man version of Jonathan Kaminga at the four.

784
00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:51,279
Speaker 1: That's where it gets exciting, because now as I look

785
00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:53,520
Speaker 1: at that group, like, let's say that at the two,

786
00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:56,319
Speaker 1: we are looking at Brandon Pajemski and Andrew Wiggins at

787
00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:59,440
Speaker 1: two and three. I've got Brandon Pajemski and Andrew Wiggins can

788
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:02,680
Speaker 1: guard the other the other team's best two perimeter players. Right,

789
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:05,759
Speaker 1: I've got Draymond Green anchoring things at the five, and

790
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:08,080
Speaker 1: then Steph and whoever it is that you get at

791
00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:11,799
Speaker 1: the four can bring the real offensive firepower piece. And

792
00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:14,840
Speaker 1: then you've got this bench group that has Buddy Healed,

793
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,319
Speaker 1: Andy Anthony Melton, and Gary Payton, was this Moody whoever,

794
00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,120
Speaker 1: John mccamingo, whoever it is that you have remaining after

795
00:37:20,160 --> 00:37:23,799
Speaker 1: that trade with Kevon Looney, kind of anchoring that as

796
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:25,960
Speaker 1: like a bench center. You have all of that there

797
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:29,640
Speaker 1: or whatever center you get back in that deal as

798
00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:33,480
Speaker 1: Draymond's backup there's all of this potential for like piecing

799
00:37:33,520 --> 00:37:35,680
Speaker 1: together a useful bench group because you're so damned deep

800
00:37:35,719 --> 00:37:37,960
Speaker 1: and you have so many good basketball players that you

801
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:40,520
Speaker 1: can fit into that spot, right And so like that

802
00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:42,360
Speaker 1: to me is like the direction that I see this

803
00:37:42,440 --> 00:37:46,120
Speaker 1: going is like a forward that can really score the

804
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:50,959
Speaker 1: basketball that I think is so important for this team.

805
00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:53,680
Speaker 1: One is reliable backup scoring to Steph. Two being able

806
00:37:53,719 --> 00:37:56,840
Speaker 1: to actually generate offense against the best defenses so you

807
00:37:56,840 --> 00:37:58,520
Speaker 1: don't have that problem you had against the Clippers, or

808
00:37:58,600 --> 00:37:59,879
Speaker 1: you go up against another team that has a bunch

809
00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:02,680
Speaker 1: of fast guards and so suddenly they're fast guards can't

810
00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:06,480
Speaker 1: slat your fast guards, and you're not able to generate shots. Right, Like,

811
00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:09,000
Speaker 1: a big scoring forward is a great counter to that,

812
00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:11,200
Speaker 1: because then even if you run into a team like

813
00:38:11,200 --> 00:38:12,719
Speaker 1: the Clippers that are doing a bunch of switching and

814
00:38:12,719 --> 00:38:14,160
Speaker 1: they have a bunch of small guys, you have a

815
00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:16,719
Speaker 1: guy who can dump the ball down to like ideally,

816
00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:20,920
Speaker 1: like ideally it'd be Jonathan Kaminga in like four years,

817
00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:24,240
Speaker 1: that would be like the perfect guy for that spot.

818
00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:26,760
Speaker 1: But you don't have four years because Steph is getting older.

819
00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:28,840
Speaker 1: And so again I'm always looking at this through the

820
00:38:28,880 --> 00:38:31,239
Speaker 1: context of like the reality that the Warriors have to

821
00:38:31,280 --> 00:38:33,920
Speaker 1: make some attempts to try to contend with Steph. I

822
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,640
Speaker 1: know there's a kind of the schism that's happening with

823
00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:38,720
Speaker 1: the Warriors fans where there's like a segment of Warriors

824
00:38:38,719 --> 00:38:41,799
Speaker 1: fans it's like, I would rather, you know, kind of

825
00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:45,040
Speaker 1: just stay status quo and try to make something work

826
00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:47,080
Speaker 1: with the young players. Here's what I think is gonna happen.

827
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:48,920
Speaker 1: If you do that, you're gonna be mediocre in the

828
00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:51,279
Speaker 1: short term because you don't have enough firepower, and they're

829
00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:53,400
Speaker 1: gonna be mediocre in the long term because none of

830
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:56,160
Speaker 1: these young players are superstars. A lot of them are good.

831
00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,520
Speaker 1: I think Jonathan Kmica can be a star. I think

832
00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:02,680
Speaker 1: there's all star potential there. Here's what Jonathan King is not.

833
00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:08,120
Speaker 1: Jonathan Kming is not Anthony Edwards, Shake Gildess, Alexander Jannison, Tenakumpo,

834
00:39:08,239 --> 00:39:13,200
Speaker 1: Nicola Joka, Luka Dancic. He is not going to be

835
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:16,279
Speaker 1: one of the very best players in the league. You

836
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:20,040
Speaker 1: are a reputable franchise in this league because you had

837
00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:23,160
Speaker 1: one of those guys. You had Steph Curry for his

838
00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:26,840
Speaker 1: entire career, and he won you four championships. He is

839
00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:29,480
Speaker 1: the guy that gave you that potential. As soon as

840
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:33,680
Speaker 1: he's gone, that potential is gone. You can pretty quickly

841
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:37,240
Speaker 1: become a team that's just kind of interesting and exciting

842
00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:38,880
Speaker 1: and has a lot of young players. But it's like,

843
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:43,080
Speaker 1: who's the guy, right, who's the exciting piece that turns

844
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:46,319
Speaker 1: all of this around? And there's just unless you had that,

845
00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:48,080
Speaker 1: that would be the one thing that would change my mind.

846
00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:50,200
Speaker 1: If there was one of these guys, if Moody or

847
00:39:50,239 --> 00:39:54,800
Speaker 1: Kaminga or Prizemski or Trace Jackson Davis had true MVP potential,

848
00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:58,080
Speaker 1: then I would totally understand your guys's point about not

849
00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:01,160
Speaker 1: wanting to cash in things for this year. But you

850
00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:03,840
Speaker 1: can either choose to be mediocre in the future or

851
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,399
Speaker 1: mediocre now and mediocre in the future. Or you can

852
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:10,960
Speaker 1: move assets to try to improve your ceiling now, or

853
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:13,200
Speaker 1: you can move Steph and try to be better in

854
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:14,880
Speaker 1: the future, which you're not gonna do because he's the

855
00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:18,040
Speaker 1: heart and soul of the franchise. So like, mediocre now,

856
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:21,239
Speaker 1: mediocre in the future, or give up some of your

857
00:40:21,239 --> 00:40:25,520
Speaker 1: future flexibility and asset trove to try to drive something

858
00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:28,400
Speaker 1: that gives you a chance to contend with this group.

859
00:40:28,440 --> 00:40:32,600
Speaker 1: That's kind of my outlook on the Warriors through the

860
00:40:32,640 --> 00:40:35,239
Speaker 1: early part of the season. At this rate, would it

861
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,239
Speaker 1: surprise you if Ryan Dunn plays himself into the sun

862
00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:41,160
Speaker 1: starting lineup. Lineups with Dunn have a plus sixteen net

863
00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:43,520
Speaker 1: rating so far. It's early, but if he's making the

864
00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:46,320
Speaker 1: long ball, he's exactly what they need. Their traditional starting

865
00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:48,719
Speaker 1: five just seems to be too flawed. I think he

866
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,560
Speaker 1: should start. I don't think it's gonna happen. And the

867
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:53,120
Speaker 1: main reason why it's not going to happen is this

868
00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:55,480
Speaker 1: Highest Jones thing, which there's a politics element. He took

869
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:59,839
Speaker 1: a discount basically to get a starting spot. I don't.

870
00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:02,719
Speaker 1: I've been from the beginning of this process. Do not

871
00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:07,320
Speaker 1: understand the Ties Jones thing. Like, you're right, they struggled

872
00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:10,920
Speaker 1: with ball pressure against Minnesota. You're right. There are times

873
00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:13,640
Speaker 1: that Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker struggled to

874
00:41:13,680 --> 00:41:15,800
Speaker 1: like get the defense in rotation and like just trust

875
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:18,400
Speaker 1: each other to play drive and kick basketball. Those things

876
00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:22,840
Speaker 1: are true, But by far the biggest issue with this

877
00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:25,920
Speaker 1: team is there like physical element, like their ability to

878
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:30,920
Speaker 1: win rock fights, their ability to handle just ugly basketball,

879
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,719
Speaker 1: and so I always thought that going the direction of

880
00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:38,319
Speaker 1: someone like Ryan Dunn like putting if you have you know,

881
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,200
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal on the floor, and

882
00:41:42,239 --> 00:41:44,400
Speaker 1: you have a center of some kind, because that's the thing.

883
00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:46,120
Speaker 1: I don't think they're going to start Ryan Downe at

884
00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:47,840
Speaker 1: center long term. I think that would just be too

885
00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:50,560
Speaker 1: much to ask Kevin Durant defensively to help Brian down

886
00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:52,839
Speaker 1: on that back line with like just size and physicality.

887
00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:56,080
Speaker 1: But like, I think we'll see some more small ball

888
00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:58,640
Speaker 1: groups with Ryan Dunn and Ties Jones both out there.

889
00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:00,520
Speaker 1: But in terms of the starters, if it's gonna be

890
00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:03,560
Speaker 1: the three stars in a center, your options there are

891
00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:08,440
Speaker 1: like put another guard out there, or put a big

892
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:10,720
Speaker 1: forward that doesn't much a dirty work and can shoot threes,

893
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:13,880
Speaker 1: and so like I totally would go that direction. I

894
00:42:13,880 --> 00:42:17,440
Speaker 1: would just start Booker, bokd Ryan Dunn, and then whichever

895
00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:21,920
Speaker 1: centers not currently soiling himself like the Sun centers have

896
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:24,680
Speaker 1: been most of the year. I do think their centers

897
00:42:24,719 --> 00:42:26,800
Speaker 1: will play better over time. Like Nurkis is just playing

898
00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:29,080
Speaker 1: really the shitty right now, but I think he'll get

899
00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:32,520
Speaker 1: I think he'll be better than he has been. But like,

900
00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:36,080
Speaker 1: the the thing with the Tyes Jones thing is like

901
00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:39,160
Speaker 1: he does help you a little bit with managing ball

902
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,319
Speaker 1: pressure and managing the flow of the game, but he

903
00:42:42,440 --> 00:42:45,200
Speaker 1: does not help you on defense. And I also do

904
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:48,880
Speaker 1: believe in diminishing returns off the ball, and so like

905
00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:50,799
Speaker 1: there's just not that big of a gap off the

906
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:52,920
Speaker 1: ball between Tis Jones and some of these other role

907
00:42:52,960 --> 00:42:54,840
Speaker 1: players that they have on the bench. And so my

908
00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:57,200
Speaker 1: thing is like, by the way that's manifested in the

909
00:42:57,239 --> 00:42:59,120
Speaker 1: numbers for all the talk about Tis Jones. And I

910
00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:01,640
Speaker 1: saw another article it this morning where people are acting

911
00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:04,960
Speaker 1: like it was the most magical decision ever. They've been

912
00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:07,719
Speaker 1: better without Ties Jones this year. They're negative with ties

913
00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:10,359
Speaker 1: Jones on the floor, and they're like plus eleven net

914
00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:12,879
Speaker 1: with ties Jones off the floor. And again that's small

915
00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:14,880
Speaker 1: sample size that'll leaven out a little bit. I do

916
00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:17,240
Speaker 1: think they'll have moments where they look great with Ties Jones.

917
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:20,800
Speaker 1: But to me, that was like there was a small

918
00:43:20,800 --> 00:43:22,960
Speaker 1: hole that you could plug there with Tyas Jones, and

919
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:25,160
Speaker 1: you chose to, but there's a giant hole, which is

920
00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:27,400
Speaker 1: like your inability to hang in the physical areas of

921
00:43:27,400 --> 00:43:31,000
Speaker 1: the game. Ryan Dunn is a massive like like he's

922
00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:35,400
Speaker 1: Ryan Dunn. Developing this quickly into a useful offensive player

923
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:37,760
Speaker 1: is one of the biggest swing factors for a franchise

924
00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:41,840
Speaker 1: that I've seen relative to what the deal seemed like

925
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:43,600
Speaker 1: at the time, which is just a mid first round

926
00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:46,400
Speaker 1: pick in recent NBA history. Like this is crazy, Like

927
00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:50,040
Speaker 1: the Sun's got a like a wrecking ball of a

928
00:43:50,080 --> 00:43:52,920
Speaker 1: defensive forward that is knocking down three. You say they

929
00:43:52,920 --> 00:43:56,520
Speaker 1: got him in the tail like the latter portion of

930
00:43:56,560 --> 00:43:59,120
Speaker 1: the first round, Like that is crazy, guys, that is crazy.

931
00:43:59,160 --> 00:44:02,520
Speaker 1: That is like a soon super fortunate thing that happened

932
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:04,960
Speaker 1: to this team. And like I just I in the

933
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:06,960
Speaker 1: long run would like to see the Sun's gear more

934
00:44:06,960 --> 00:44:09,600
Speaker 1: towards like Hey, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker,

935
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:13,800
Speaker 1: how about you guys figure out ball pressure and actually

936
00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:17,399
Speaker 1: just hold yourselves accountable as decision makers to consistently make

937
00:44:17,400 --> 00:44:19,520
Speaker 1: the right reads, get the defense in rotation, and play

938
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:22,680
Speaker 1: drive and kick basketball. And that way, Ryan Dunn can

939
00:44:22,719 --> 00:44:25,000
Speaker 1: be out there helping you kick everyone's ass in the

940
00:44:25,080 --> 00:44:26,759
Speaker 1: rock fight areas of the game. And I think you're

941
00:44:26,760 --> 00:44:29,000
Speaker 1: gonna do a lot more winning, So I'm hoping that's

942
00:44:29,040 --> 00:44:30,759
Speaker 1: the direction they go in the long run. But again,

943
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:34,440
Speaker 1: they're four and one, so there's that too. The Cavs

944
00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:37,239
Speaker 1: have been debatably the most debatably the most impressive team

945
00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:39,240
Speaker 1: in the league this year, even with Donovan Mitchell playing

946
00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:42,640
Speaker 1: well below his standards. What is their ceiling with him

947
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:45,000
Speaker 1: playing like Donovan Mitchell? So this is the thing I

948
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:47,799
Speaker 1: talked about this yesterday, Like everything with Kenny Atkinson, has

949
00:44:47,840 --> 00:44:50,759
Speaker 1: been about trying to improve their play on the margins, right,

950
00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:55,040
Speaker 1: like forcing more turnovers, getting out in transition a ton,

951
00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:58,680
Speaker 1: just in general, like hunting transition opportunities as much as possible,

952
00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:02,000
Speaker 1: doing more switching. All these little things that they've done

953
00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:05,319
Speaker 1: that have helped them build advantage on the margins. But

954
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:07,279
Speaker 1: one of the things I talked about in yesterday's show

955
00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:09,760
Speaker 1: is when you get to the later rounds of the playoffs,

956
00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:12,000
Speaker 1: you inevitably run into other good teams, Like when you

957
00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:14,279
Speaker 1: get to the conference finals and finals, or hell, let's

958
00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:16,120
Speaker 1: just call it the conference semis and on. When you

959
00:45:16,120 --> 00:45:18,680
Speaker 1: get to the top eight teams in the league, most

960
00:45:18,719 --> 00:45:21,080
Speaker 1: of them are well coached, most of them are disciplined,

961
00:45:21,239 --> 00:45:23,640
Speaker 1: most of them have good habits. Most of them also

962
00:45:23,840 --> 00:45:25,839
Speaker 1: do their best to win on the margins, and so

963
00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:28,360
Speaker 1: suddenly it kind of turns into this, like how is

964
00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:31,279
Speaker 1: your half court offense versus our half court defense? And

965
00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:34,120
Speaker 1: how is your half court defense versus our half court offense? Right?

966
00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:38,160
Speaker 1: That is where Donovan Mitchell is the ultimate ceiling razer. Right, Like,

967
00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:41,239
Speaker 1: if you can get Donovan Mitchell playing at or near

968
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:44,319
Speaker 1: the superstar level, and then the modest improvements we've seen,

969
00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:46,160
Speaker 1: like Darius Garland played one of his best games as

970
00:45:46,160 --> 00:45:48,240
Speaker 1: a pro the other day against the Knicks, that's exciting.

971
00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:50,920
Speaker 1: Evan Mobley is having a really interesting start to the

972
00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:53,879
Speaker 1: offensive season, getting more on ball reps. If you can

973
00:45:53,880 --> 00:45:56,560
Speaker 1: piece all of that together into a higher quality half

974
00:45:56,560 --> 00:45:59,279
Speaker 1: court offense, that is where the ceiling lies for this

975
00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:17,000
Speaker 1: Cliff and Cavaliers team. Why can't everyone just reacts to

976
00:46:17,040 --> 00:46:19,400
Speaker 1: the career Wenby is having instead of reacting to the

977
00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:21,520
Speaker 1: career they think Wenby is going to have. He's not

978
00:46:21,560 --> 00:46:23,720
Speaker 1: anywhere near anywhere close to the top twenty five players

979
00:46:23,719 --> 00:46:25,560
Speaker 1: in the league right now. Some of y'all are high

980
00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:27,840
Speaker 1: on your own predictions. This is a confusing one to me.

981
00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:30,640
Speaker 1: Victor Weben Yama just had a twenty five five, five,

982
00:46:30,760 --> 00:46:33,400
Speaker 1: five and five game last night, which I think has

983
00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:36,640
Speaker 1: only been has only been done a handful of times

984
00:46:36,680 --> 00:46:39,120
Speaker 1: in the history of the NBA. It also had only

985
00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:41,239
Speaker 1: been a handful of games, and over the tail end

986
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:44,279
Speaker 1: of last year, he was like literally awesome and turned

987
00:46:44,320 --> 00:46:46,680
Speaker 1: a bad Spurs team into a net positive when he

988
00:46:46,719 --> 00:46:49,759
Speaker 1: was on the floor over the tail end of the year, Like,

989
00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:52,760
Speaker 1: I'm not going to just sit here and like rewrite

990
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:55,200
Speaker 1: the history of Victor Wembenyama over a bad week and

991
00:46:55,239 --> 00:46:58,080
Speaker 1: a half, Like, yeah, I'm disappointed in how he's looked,

992
00:46:58,160 --> 00:46:59,719
Speaker 1: talked a bunch of shit this summer about no one

993
00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:01,719
Speaker 1: as hard as he does, and he came out playing

994
00:47:01,760 --> 00:47:03,880
Speaker 1: like shit, it's not a good look. But it's been

995
00:47:03,880 --> 00:47:06,200
Speaker 1: a week and a half. Let's give him some time, guys,

996
00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:08,640
Speaker 1: it'll be I would imagine that we're gonna see a

997
00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:10,279
Speaker 1: lot more of like what we saw last night from

998
00:47:10,360 --> 00:47:13,360
Speaker 1: Victor women Yam in the long run. The anticipated Luca

999
00:47:13,520 --> 00:47:16,800
Speaker 1: Shake Gilless Alexander MVP race this year hasn't fully manifested

1000
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:18,759
Speaker 1: itself yet. Have you noticed anything with either of them

1001
00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:21,840
Speaker 1: that's worth monitoring beyond shooting luck Luca got hurt to

1002
00:47:21,840 --> 00:47:24,960
Speaker 1: start training camp. Anytime you go away from the game

1003
00:47:24,960 --> 00:47:26,239
Speaker 1: for a while and then come back, it takes a

1004
00:47:26,239 --> 00:47:28,480
Speaker 1: while to get your legs back underneath you. He's clearly

1005
00:47:28,560 --> 00:47:32,399
Speaker 1: just like playing his way into shape right now. He also,

1006
00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:34,360
Speaker 1: more or less in terms of physical conditioning, looks like

1007
00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:36,560
Speaker 1: where he was last year, and so Luca just has

1008
00:47:36,600 --> 00:47:38,719
Speaker 1: a tendency to play his way into shape. And so

1009
00:47:38,760 --> 00:47:40,279
Speaker 1: that's always the thing with Luca is like, is he

1010
00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:42,399
Speaker 1: gonna play his way into shape before he gets banged up,

1011
00:47:42,520 --> 00:47:44,239
Speaker 1: because if he gets banged up, that's where it can

1012
00:47:44,480 --> 00:47:46,440
Speaker 1: start to snowball on him a little bit. But like

1013
00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:48,359
Speaker 1: him getting hurt to start camp is really the only

1014
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:50,800
Speaker 1: reason that went the way it did on the shave front.

1015
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:52,759
Speaker 1: He's really just trying to build out a part of

1016
00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:54,920
Speaker 1: his game that's new. He's attempting more than twice as

1017
00:47:54,960 --> 00:47:57,319
Speaker 1: many pull up three point shots this year as he

1018
00:47:57,360 --> 00:48:00,800
Speaker 1: did last year, and so as he's working, that's investing.

1019
00:48:01,120 --> 00:48:03,880
Speaker 1: He knows that if there was a must win playoff

1020
00:48:03,880 --> 00:48:07,440
Speaker 1: game tomorrow, Shay's probably going to not take seven pull

1021
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:10,480
Speaker 1: up threes a game. Right He's trying to invest in

1022
00:48:10,520 --> 00:48:12,719
Speaker 1: that now so that he has that in his bag

1023
00:48:12,760 --> 00:48:14,879
Speaker 1: when he gets to the postseason this year, I would

1024
00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:17,640
Speaker 1: imagine that Luca and SGA will be our front runners

1025
00:48:17,640 --> 00:48:20,800
Speaker 1: for MVP in the long run, given the plethora of picks,

1026
00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:23,600
Speaker 1: depth of Kurt roster, and the need to pay young

1027
00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:25,480
Speaker 1: stars in the not too distant future. If you were

1028
00:48:25,480 --> 00:48:29,759
Speaker 1: the Thunder, would you consolidate assets sooner than later? It's

1029
00:48:29,840 --> 00:48:32,600
Speaker 1: tough to rock about this sturdy, but they won't slash

1030
00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:35,120
Speaker 1: can't play everybody. This is where you got to look

1031
00:48:35,120 --> 00:48:38,000
Speaker 1: at the difference between deadline deals and deals over the summer.

1032
00:48:38,040 --> 00:48:40,720
Speaker 1: You're right if you make some sort of giant deal

1033
00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:43,640
Speaker 1: over the course of this season that has the potential

1034
00:48:43,680 --> 00:48:45,400
Speaker 1: to rock the boat, so to speak, and mess with

1035
00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:48,560
Speaker 1: the rock solid chemistry that this team has. Right, deals

1036
00:48:48,600 --> 00:48:50,200
Speaker 1: over the summer though, that's just part about being a

1037
00:48:50,239 --> 00:48:53,080
Speaker 1: professional athlete. And then, no matter what happens, if guys

1038
00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:54,600
Speaker 1: come in and out of the door over the summer,

1039
00:48:54,840 --> 00:48:56,680
Speaker 1: you have the ability to from the start of training

1040
00:48:56,719 --> 00:48:58,719
Speaker 1: camp re establish your culture and move on, which, by

1041
00:48:58,719 --> 00:49:00,880
Speaker 1: the way, they've done with Alex Crusoe in Isaiah Hartenstein

1042
00:49:00,920 --> 00:49:04,360
Speaker 1: this year. Right, So like the offseason is the best

1043
00:49:04,360 --> 00:49:07,040
Speaker 1: time to make deals, right, here's the only thing that's

1044
00:49:07,080 --> 00:49:10,200
Speaker 1: tricky though, There is a certain amount of like, yeah,

1045
00:49:10,239 --> 00:49:11,719
Speaker 1: you do have a lot of talent now, and you

1046
00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:13,839
Speaker 1: might not have as much talent in the future, and

1047
00:49:13,880 --> 00:49:15,839
Speaker 1: you might lose some of these assets for nothing, right,

1048
00:49:16,080 --> 00:49:17,680
Speaker 1: So that's where you have to make a call based

1049
00:49:17,680 --> 00:49:21,200
Speaker 1: on this season. That's what deadline deals are for. When

1050
00:49:21,200 --> 00:49:24,400
Speaker 1: we get to February, Isaiah Hartenstein will hopefully have returned

1051
00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:26,400
Speaker 1: and played a good amount of basketball. You'll have a

1052
00:49:26,440 --> 00:49:30,560
Speaker 1: lot of exposure to Alex Caruso. You'll get to see

1053
00:49:30,560 --> 00:49:32,680
Speaker 1: where Chet Holmgren is, Like Chet Holman has been playing

1054
00:49:32,719 --> 00:49:34,080
Speaker 1: like one of the top fifteen players in the league

1055
00:49:34,120 --> 00:49:36,239
Speaker 1: to start the year. By the way, side note, I

1056
00:49:36,239 --> 00:49:39,040
Speaker 1: had a lot of people upset, like I do player

1057
00:49:39,120 --> 00:49:42,640
Speaker 1: rankings in the summer as like a very in depth

1058
00:49:42,719 --> 00:49:45,400
Speaker 1: look at how I expect things to go this season

1059
00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:47,719
Speaker 1: once we start playing basketball. I'm only going to talk

1060
00:49:47,760 --> 00:49:50,880
Speaker 1: about the way guys are actually playing. Like you're right,

1061
00:49:50,920 --> 00:49:53,279
Speaker 1: I had Victor wemen Yama ranked eighteenth and Chet wasn't

1062
00:49:53,280 --> 00:49:55,759
Speaker 1: in my top twenty five. Chet's playing better basketball than

1063
00:49:55,800 --> 00:49:58,120
Speaker 1: him to start this year. I'm trying to acknowledge that,

1064
00:49:58,480 --> 00:50:01,120
Speaker 1: Like the purpose of these shows is to react to

1065
00:50:01,120 --> 00:50:03,800
Speaker 1: the basketball that's actually happening. It's very different than in

1066
00:50:03,840 --> 00:50:06,680
Speaker 1: the summer. In the summer, everything is very big picture,

1067
00:50:06,719 --> 00:50:08,680
Speaker 1: it's theoretical, it's a lot of that kind of stuff.

1068
00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:11,319
Speaker 1: Right during the season. I really am only interested in

1069
00:50:11,360 --> 00:50:13,880
Speaker 1: covering what's actually happening in these games. And so like

1070
00:50:14,200 --> 00:50:16,239
Speaker 1: when I talk about, oh, this guy's playing at a

1071
00:50:16,239 --> 00:50:18,279
Speaker 1: top ten level, this guy's playing at a top fifteen level,

1072
00:50:18,280 --> 00:50:20,120
Speaker 1: I don't care about my power rankings in the past

1073
00:50:20,400 --> 00:50:22,839
Speaker 1: or player rankings. I'm talking about what's actually happening. We're

1074
00:50:22,840 --> 00:50:26,400
Speaker 1: talking about the actual games that Like, there's games on

1075
00:50:26,480 --> 00:50:28,719
Speaker 1: tonight that no one's gonna care about what the player

1076
00:50:28,800 --> 00:50:32,560
Speaker 1: rankings were back in August in this particular game, games

1077
00:50:32,560 --> 00:50:35,480
Speaker 1: that are happening tonight. Okay, so like that's just a

1078
00:50:35,480 --> 00:50:40,400
Speaker 1: little side Dia tribe. But anyway, on the thunderfront, Chet's

1079
00:50:40,400 --> 00:50:42,520
Speaker 1: been playing at a top fifteen level to start this year.

1080
00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:45,319
Speaker 1: Let's see if it lasts. If we get to February

1081
00:50:45,560 --> 00:50:49,319
Speaker 1: and CHET seems kind of limited and the stuff at

1082
00:50:49,320 --> 00:50:51,759
Speaker 1: the start of the year was kind of fluky, and

1083
00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:54,600
Speaker 1: there appears to be a substantial hole somewhere on the roster.

1084
00:50:55,239 --> 00:50:57,680
Speaker 1: This is a team with real championship potential, you kind

1085
00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:01,200
Speaker 1: of owe it to your team to make the investment

1086
00:51:01,840 --> 00:51:03,759
Speaker 1: to try to give them what they need to win.

1087
00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:05,200
Speaker 1: Like last year, they were just kind of a cute

1088
00:51:05,200 --> 00:51:07,360
Speaker 1: story in a lot of ways. They were one seed.

1089
00:51:07,600 --> 00:51:09,799
Speaker 1: I never thought they were gonna win multiple playoff rounds,

1090
00:51:09,800 --> 00:51:11,279
Speaker 1: and they did it. They lost in the second round.

1091
00:51:11,360 --> 00:51:13,880
Speaker 1: They actually impressed me by pushing Dallas the way that

1092
00:51:13,920 --> 00:51:16,720
Speaker 1: they did in that second round. Series this year is real.

1093
00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:19,800
Speaker 1: They came into the year as one of the biggest

1094
00:51:19,880 --> 00:51:24,920
Speaker 1: championship favorites. They have huge pressure and expectations. Shake kills.

1095
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:28,319
Speaker 1: Alexander is in his late twenties now, like this is

1096
00:51:28,960 --> 00:51:31,919
Speaker 1: winning time for the Oklahoma City Thunder. And so when

1097
00:51:31,960 --> 00:51:34,640
Speaker 1: you get to February, if you sit there and you're like,

1098
00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:37,319
Speaker 1: I like our point of attack defense. I like the

1099
00:51:37,360 --> 00:51:40,279
Speaker 1: depth and versatility of our point of attack defense. I

1100
00:51:40,400 --> 00:51:44,239
Speaker 1: like our defensive front line. I like our defensive versatility.

1101
00:51:44,239 --> 00:51:46,880
Speaker 1: In terms of the scheme, I think our shot creation

1102
00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:50,080
Speaker 1: is good. Shay Jalen and Chets seem totally up for it.

1103
00:51:50,239 --> 00:51:52,880
Speaker 1: We have tons of shooting. I like our transition speed.

1104
00:51:53,120 --> 00:51:55,399
Speaker 1: We're holding up well on the glass. Our size is good,

1105
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:58,120
Speaker 1: like if you look at it and you go, everything's good,

1106
00:51:58,239 --> 00:52:00,920
Speaker 1: then yeah, you don't make a deal, yeah, like because

1107
00:52:00,920 --> 00:52:05,160
Speaker 1: it's not worth messing with the chemistry, right, But yeah,

1108
00:52:05,200 --> 00:52:06,799
Speaker 1: if you get to February and it's like, all right,

1109
00:52:06,880 --> 00:52:10,200
Speaker 1: everything looks good. But like this Isaiah Hartenstein thing at

1110
00:52:10,200 --> 00:52:13,360
Speaker 1: the five next to Chet really isn't solving that problem

1111
00:52:13,360 --> 00:52:15,560
Speaker 1: at the power forward spot. Guys, we got to go

1112
00:52:15,560 --> 00:52:17,759
Speaker 1: get a power forward. You know what, we talked about

1113
00:52:17,760 --> 00:52:20,600
Speaker 1: this forever. We never really thought it was worth pulling

1114
00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:22,279
Speaker 1: the trigger. I think I think we should pull the

1115
00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:24,239
Speaker 1: trigger on Lorii market In. Let's just go let's just

1116
00:52:24,280 --> 00:52:26,839
Speaker 1: call Danny Ainge and let's offer him everything, and let's

1117
00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:29,839
Speaker 1: try to make this thing happen, right, Like, because at

1118
00:52:29,840 --> 00:52:32,400
Speaker 1: that point, you have a gaping hole in your roster

1119
00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:36,359
Speaker 1: and you have real championship pressure and expectations, and yeah,

1120
00:52:36,400 --> 00:52:38,120
Speaker 1: you've got some assets that are burning a hole in

1121
00:52:38,120 --> 00:52:40,480
Speaker 1: your pocket. You better do something with them, right, and

1122
00:52:40,520 --> 00:52:42,560
Speaker 1: you take the risk of whatever could happen with team

1123
00:52:42,640 --> 00:52:45,239
Speaker 1: chemistry at that point. But like that, that is a

1124
00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:48,080
Speaker 1: decision you make in February, and you only do it

1125
00:52:48,320 --> 00:52:50,160
Speaker 1: if you feel like you have a big hole that

1126
00:52:50,239 --> 00:52:52,640
Speaker 1: you have to fix. In order to actually reach the

1127
00:52:52,680 --> 00:52:55,640
Speaker 1: promised land in the playoffs. Do you believe the Orlando

1128
00:52:55,680 --> 00:52:59,280
Speaker 1: Magic can stay around five hundred while Pala while Pallo

1129
00:52:59,440 --> 00:53:01,200
Speaker 1: is out and who do you believe needs to step

1130
00:53:01,280 --> 00:53:03,359
Speaker 1: up in doing so? So? Yes? I think they can.

1131
00:53:03,520 --> 00:53:05,640
Speaker 1: Main reason why is they're a really good defense and

1132
00:53:05,680 --> 00:53:09,879
Speaker 1: rebounding team. That's like another extremely high floor concept. Right.

1133
00:53:10,040 --> 00:53:12,279
Speaker 1: If you defend hard and you rebound well, you're going

1134
00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:14,480
Speaker 1: to be in a lot of basketball games from there.

1135
00:53:14,680 --> 00:53:16,440
Speaker 1: It's just about the fact that you still have a

1136
00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:19,120
Speaker 1: high level shot creator. In this case, Franz. Franz Wagner

1137
00:53:19,200 --> 00:53:21,080
Speaker 1: is the guy that's got to step up. If Franz

1138
00:53:21,120 --> 00:53:23,680
Speaker 1: Wagner can maintain the high offensive floor, which, by the way,

1139
00:53:23,719 --> 00:53:25,440
Speaker 1: he's been shooting the ball really well to start this year.

1140
00:53:25,440 --> 00:53:28,319
Speaker 1: He's such a gifted playmaker at the forward spot. If

1141
00:53:28,320 --> 00:53:30,960
Speaker 1: Franz can be a decent offensive engine and you defend

1142
00:53:31,000 --> 00:53:32,520
Speaker 1: well and you rebound well, you got a chance to

1143
00:53:32,520 --> 00:53:35,480
Speaker 1: stay around five hundred in that Eastern Conference schedule. Should

1144
00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:37,080
Speaker 1: we have seen this coming with the Bucks? They were

1145
00:53:37,120 --> 00:53:39,040
Speaker 1: a mess since the Dock hiring, and with their effort

1146
00:53:39,040 --> 00:53:41,239
Speaker 1: this year, it seems more like a continuation rather than

1147
00:53:41,239 --> 00:53:44,080
Speaker 1: a new issue. Is this core really lost in needing

1148
00:53:44,080 --> 00:53:45,840
Speaker 1: a change or is this something that can be rectified

1149
00:53:45,840 --> 00:53:49,040
Speaker 1: by playing more. I kind of I didn't see this

1150
00:53:49,320 --> 00:53:52,520
Speaker 1: bad of a start this year, but like I did

1151
00:53:53,600 --> 00:53:55,839
Speaker 1: talk a lot this summer about how the Bucks were

1152
00:53:56,360 --> 00:53:58,880
Speaker 1: below fifty wins last year and a week Eastern Conference,

1153
00:53:58,920 --> 00:54:01,680
Speaker 1: despite the fact that Damon Honest both played seventy three games,

1154
00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:04,040
Speaker 1: and there was a good segment of Bucks fans that

1155
00:54:04,040 --> 00:54:06,120
Speaker 1: were like all over my case about that, because oh,

1156
00:54:06,160 --> 00:54:08,840
Speaker 1: we're gonna big bounce back year, We're gonna win fifty

1157
00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:12,200
Speaker 1: something games. We're a top tier championship contender. And I

1158
00:54:12,320 --> 00:54:15,279
Speaker 1: just was like, if you were, you would have won

1159
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:17,920
Speaker 1: more with Damon Giannis last year than you did. And

1160
00:54:17,960 --> 00:54:19,480
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about like, oh, they should have won

1161
00:54:19,520 --> 00:54:22,480
Speaker 1: sixty games last year, but they didn't even get to fifty.

1162
00:54:22,800 --> 00:54:25,120
Speaker 1: Like if they I would have been more on board

1163
00:54:25,120 --> 00:54:27,200
Speaker 1: with that, if they were like a fifty three fifty

1164
00:54:27,280 --> 00:54:29,799
Speaker 1: four win team last year, and you're like, Okay, we're

1165
00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:32,320
Speaker 1: a fifty three to fifty four win team. We're adding

1166
00:54:32,360 --> 00:54:35,759
Speaker 1: in another training camp with Dame. Dame's in a better

1167
00:54:35,800 --> 00:54:38,919
Speaker 1: place emotionally and mentally. We made these roster upgrades, Let's

1168
00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:41,600
Speaker 1: go do it. I was kind of under the impression

1169
00:54:41,640 --> 00:54:43,200
Speaker 1: that they would be more or less the same team

1170
00:54:43,200 --> 00:54:45,360
Speaker 1: that they were last year, which is a mediocre regular

1171
00:54:45,400 --> 00:54:48,040
Speaker 1: season team that has somewhat of a high playoff ceiling

1172
00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:50,680
Speaker 1: because of Dame and Giannis. They even worse than that

1173
00:54:50,800 --> 00:54:52,719
Speaker 1: to start this year. But mostly that comes down to

1174
00:54:52,760 --> 00:54:55,120
Speaker 1: they're shooting the ball like shit, and as they're shooting

1175
00:54:55,120 --> 00:54:58,200
Speaker 1: the ball like shit, it's exacerbating their transition defense issues,

1176
00:54:58,440 --> 00:55:00,800
Speaker 1: and it's manifesting in a lot of bad body language

1177
00:55:00,800 --> 00:55:03,120
Speaker 1: and the vibes are really bad. So, like, I think

1178
00:55:03,120 --> 00:55:05,600
Speaker 1: it's way too early to completely write the Bucks off

1179
00:55:05,640 --> 00:55:07,759
Speaker 1: because they might just start making shots and that might

1180
00:55:07,800 --> 00:55:09,640
Speaker 1: just snowball into a bunch of good for them. But

1181
00:55:09,719 --> 00:55:12,720
Speaker 1: right now, definitely a bad look. But I will say

1182
00:55:12,960 --> 00:55:15,319
Speaker 1: I didn't understand any of the Bucks fans that had

1183
00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:19,400
Speaker 1: like really high expectations for this particular team. I just

1184
00:55:19,440 --> 00:55:22,400
Speaker 1: didn't see where they were getting that sense of optimism from.

1185
00:55:22,800 --> 00:55:25,160
Speaker 1: Do you think that Lakers might have a legitimate chance

1186
00:55:25,200 --> 00:55:26,680
Speaker 1: to go to the finals this season, or at least

1187
00:55:26,680 --> 00:55:28,759
Speaker 1: the second round of the playoffs. I don't think they

1188
00:55:28,760 --> 00:55:30,920
Speaker 1: have any chance to go to the finals. Is currently constructed.

1189
00:55:31,040 --> 00:55:33,239
Speaker 1: They just are too slow on the perimeter. This is

1190
00:55:33,239 --> 00:55:35,239
Speaker 1: a big thing that I've been talking about for years now,

1191
00:55:35,320 --> 00:55:38,400
Speaker 1: Like your ability to move and cover ground on the

1192
00:55:38,400 --> 00:55:40,839
Speaker 1: perimeter is one of the most important parts of the game, right, Like,

1193
00:55:41,040 --> 00:55:43,480
Speaker 1: that's how you guard, that's how you pressure the ball,

1194
00:55:43,719 --> 00:55:45,920
Speaker 1: that's how you chase shooters around, That's how you get

1195
00:55:45,960 --> 00:55:47,799
Speaker 1: up and down the floor in transition. That's how you

1196
00:55:47,840 --> 00:55:50,800
Speaker 1: generate dribble penetration, which is one of the big sources

1197
00:55:50,800 --> 00:55:54,320
Speaker 1: of wide open three point looks. Like perimeter athleticism is

1198
00:55:54,360 --> 00:55:58,880
Speaker 1: one of the most important elements of modern NBA basketball,

1199
00:55:59,040 --> 00:56:03,279
Speaker 1: and the Lakers just don't they're athletic. Perimeter players are

1200
00:56:03,320 --> 00:56:06,560
Speaker 1: either rookies like Dalton connector Brownie James, or a guy

1201
00:56:06,560 --> 00:56:09,319
Speaker 1: that is super young and inexperienced like Max Christi, who

1202
00:56:09,320 --> 00:56:11,719
Speaker 1: has been a disaster on offense to start the year. Right, So, like,

1203
00:56:11,760 --> 00:56:14,400
Speaker 1: those are your athletes at the guard position. The Lakers

1204
00:56:14,400 --> 00:56:18,080
Speaker 1: are actually really strong in so many ways on their roster.

1205
00:56:18,360 --> 00:56:21,600
Speaker 1: They're huge, The Ruy Lebron ad front line is awesome.

1206
00:56:22,360 --> 00:56:25,080
Speaker 1: They're excellent scoring in the paint. Big shout out to

1207
00:56:25,160 --> 00:56:28,040
Speaker 1: Lebron James and Anthony Davis. There. Their defensive front line

1208
00:56:28,040 --> 00:56:30,120
Speaker 1: when they need to be is really good. When when

1209
00:56:30,160 --> 00:56:32,880
Speaker 1: Lebron is engaged in flying around, when Ruey is engaged,

1210
00:56:32,880 --> 00:56:36,120
Speaker 1: when Ad is being ad their defensive front line is great.

1211
00:56:36,280 --> 00:56:38,120
Speaker 1: I think they have plenty of shooting. I think they

1212
00:56:38,120 --> 00:56:40,160
Speaker 1: have plenty of ball handling. I think they have plenty

1213
00:56:40,200 --> 00:56:43,920
Speaker 1: of playmaking talent. They have all of those boxes checked,

1214
00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:46,279
Speaker 1: and then they just have like an empty box for

1215
00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:49,440
Speaker 1: perimeter athleticism, and it's just like a death sentence for

1216
00:56:49,520 --> 00:56:52,040
Speaker 1: this particular team. And that's why that's why I keep

1217
00:56:52,080 --> 00:56:54,759
Speaker 1: talking about them needing to upgrade that D'angela Russell spot

1218
00:56:54,800 --> 00:56:57,680
Speaker 1: into an athletic guard. As far as their ceiling goes,

1219
00:56:58,440 --> 00:57:01,080
Speaker 1: that's really like that's the first got to do something

1220
00:57:01,080 --> 00:57:04,040
Speaker 1: to upgrade the perimeter athleticism. After that, it's like Lebron

1221
00:57:04,080 --> 00:57:06,880
Speaker 1: and Ad right, Like, can Lebron get like if you

1222
00:57:06,960 --> 00:57:09,799
Speaker 1: can do that, if you can bring in a real

1223
00:57:09,960 --> 00:57:14,080
Speaker 1: athlete at the two for d Low and you get

1224
00:57:14,120 --> 00:57:16,280
Speaker 1: the same Lebron you got last year in the playoffs,

1225
00:57:16,960 --> 00:57:19,280
Speaker 1: and you get the same Anthony Davis who got last

1226
00:57:19,360 --> 00:57:22,320
Speaker 1: year in the playoffs, and to start this year, and

1227
00:57:22,360 --> 00:57:27,000
Speaker 1: you have JJ Reddick adding that focus and attention to

1228
00:57:27,040 --> 00:57:28,840
Speaker 1: detail over the course of the season so that the

1229
00:57:28,960 --> 00:57:32,160
Speaker 1: established championship habits. Now we're talking about a team that

1230
00:57:32,160 --> 00:57:33,560
Speaker 1: I think can win the conference and who knows what

1231
00:57:33,600 --> 00:57:37,320
Speaker 1: would happen in the NBA Finals, But like the lebron

1232
00:57:37,360 --> 00:57:39,360
Speaker 1: hasn't been very good to start this year, that's a

1233
00:57:39,360 --> 00:57:42,920
Speaker 1: little tricky. And then that guard athleticism piece is just

1234
00:57:42,960 --> 00:57:46,880
Speaker 1: a huge problem. And so again I think that we're

1235
00:57:46,920 --> 00:57:49,240
Speaker 1: gonna learn Again, it's super early in the season still,

1236
00:57:49,280 --> 00:57:50,720
Speaker 1: so I think we're gonna learn a lot more about

1237
00:57:50,720 --> 00:57:52,680
Speaker 1: the Lakers in the long run. But no matter what happens,

1238
00:57:52,720 --> 00:57:55,520
Speaker 1: because I think I think JJ Reddick's is really good,

1239
00:57:55,680 --> 00:57:57,760
Speaker 1: and I think that this roster is pretty good, and

1240
00:57:57,840 --> 00:57:59,160
Speaker 1: so I think that they're gonna win a lot of

1241
00:57:59,160 --> 00:58:02,880
Speaker 1: games no matter what. But like they could be, let's

1242
00:58:02,920 --> 00:58:06,120
Speaker 1: say we fast forward and they're you know, twenty and twelve.

1243
00:58:06,960 --> 00:58:08,760
Speaker 1: You know, once we get through the first thirty two

1244
00:58:08,760 --> 00:58:10,880
Speaker 1: games of the season, I will still be sitting here

1245
00:58:10,920 --> 00:58:13,240
Speaker 1: at twenty and twelve saying this is cute and all,

1246
00:58:13,280 --> 00:58:15,080
Speaker 1: but they're not going to be able to beat four

1247
00:58:15,120 --> 00:58:18,280
Speaker 1: good teams without real guard athleticism, which they don't have

1248
00:58:18,400 --> 00:58:20,480
Speaker 1: right now. So That's kind of where I'm at. Do

1249
00:58:20,560 --> 00:58:22,880
Speaker 1: you think the way Ruey is playing can be suitable

1250
00:58:22,880 --> 00:58:25,760
Speaker 1: next to Lebron if they upgrade the two? Also, do

1251
00:58:25,760 --> 00:58:27,600
Speaker 1: you think the Lakers one through four shooting pack a

1252
00:58:27,640 --> 00:58:31,959
Speaker 1: switching package will change once they get a defensive minded too.

1253
00:58:32,520 --> 00:58:34,680
Speaker 1: So a couple things. So, first of all, I think

1254
00:58:34,760 --> 00:58:36,680
Speaker 1: Ruey has been much better this year than he was

1255
00:58:37,280 --> 00:58:39,520
Speaker 1: towards the tail end of last year. He had a

1256
00:58:39,520 --> 00:58:43,280
Speaker 1: really rough playoff series against Denver. A bad matchup too,

1257
00:58:43,320 --> 00:58:46,080
Speaker 1: because it's Michael Porter Junior as a movement shooter, and

1258
00:58:46,120 --> 00:58:48,640
Speaker 1: his biggest weakness on defense right now is tracking shooters

1259
00:58:48,640 --> 00:58:53,360
Speaker 1: on the perimeter. But here's the thing, excuse me, if

1260
00:58:53,400 --> 00:58:57,320
Speaker 1: you turnd Lo into a real perimeter athlete. Now, I

1261
00:58:57,400 --> 00:59:00,320
Speaker 1: think Austin Reeves is actually a good perimeter defender, He's

1262
00:59:00,360 --> 00:59:03,680
Speaker 1: just miscast as a lead perimeter defender. You can't have

1263
00:59:03,720 --> 00:59:06,160
Speaker 1: him guarding Donovan Mitchell or the best perimeter player on

1264
00:59:07,160 --> 00:59:09,000
Speaker 1: the other team every night. He needs to be guarding

1265
00:59:09,040 --> 00:59:12,200
Speaker 1: the second best perimeter player. So at that point, if

1266
00:59:12,200 --> 00:59:13,840
Speaker 1: you have two of those guys, because right now you

1267
00:59:13,880 --> 00:59:16,600
Speaker 1: also have to hide d Lo, that's the fucking problem.

1268
00:59:16,880 --> 00:59:20,080
Speaker 1: So like, if you find a way to where you

1269
00:59:20,120 --> 00:59:21,920
Speaker 1: have a guard at the two that can guard the

1270
00:59:21,960 --> 00:59:24,320
Speaker 1: other team's best guard, and you have a guard at

1271
00:59:24,320 --> 00:59:27,480
Speaker 1: the one in Austin that can guard the second best

1272
00:59:27,520 --> 00:59:31,040
Speaker 1: perimeter player or the movement shooter. Chances are you'll find

1273
00:59:31,080 --> 00:59:33,760
Speaker 1: somebody for Ruiy to guard that kind of fits more

1274
00:59:33,800 --> 00:59:36,320
Speaker 1: into his skill set. But like everything comes down to

1275
00:59:36,320 --> 00:59:39,160
Speaker 1: the upgrade at the two for that specific reason. But

1276
00:59:39,200 --> 00:59:41,280
Speaker 1: I've been happy with Rui. I think he's a rebounding better.

1277
00:59:42,680 --> 00:59:45,760
Speaker 1: His decision making is getting crisper. He brings all of

1278
00:59:45,760 --> 00:59:48,520
Speaker 1: that waves of athleticism that the Lakers can bring from

1279
00:59:48,520 --> 00:59:50,280
Speaker 1: their front line. He's off to a good start this year.

1280
00:59:51,160 --> 00:59:53,640
Speaker 1: Three more, Hey Jason, do you think the Celtics can

1281
00:59:53,760 --> 00:59:56,680
Speaker 1: be stopped? And how high is their ceiling with chrisops

1282
00:59:56,720 --> 00:59:59,080
Speaker 1: Porzingis coming back? Love the show, Keep up the good work.

1283
00:59:59,400 --> 01:00:03,600
Speaker 1: The ceiling is enormous with this particular team. With chrisops Porzingis,

1284
01:00:03,680 --> 01:00:06,120
Speaker 1: he brings the rim protection that they don't have without him.

1285
01:00:06,120 --> 01:00:09,720
Speaker 1: He brings the ability to attack switches on the other

1286
01:00:09,880 --> 01:00:13,160
Speaker 1: end with size, which is something they don't have without him.

1287
01:00:13,160 --> 01:00:15,080
Speaker 1: And then he's just like one of the better above

1288
01:00:15,080 --> 01:00:17,160
Speaker 1: the break shooting bigs that we have in the league. Right,

1289
01:00:17,200 --> 01:00:19,600
Speaker 1: So he's a huge ceiling raiser for them. How can

1290
01:00:19,640 --> 01:00:22,400
Speaker 1: they be stopped? It would require a team that can

1291
01:00:22,440 --> 01:00:25,280
Speaker 1: match them in perimeter speed, that can contain the ball,

1292
01:00:25,600 --> 01:00:29,919
Speaker 1: stagnate their offense, and at least allow your best player,

1293
01:00:29,960 --> 01:00:32,320
Speaker 1: whoever that is, to go toe to toe with Tatum

1294
01:00:32,440 --> 01:00:35,200
Speaker 1: and Brown and hopefully out execute them. But that's only

1295
01:00:35,240 --> 01:00:37,720
Speaker 1: going to happen if you have such a strong defense

1296
01:00:38,000 --> 01:00:39,920
Speaker 1: that you can force Tatum and Brown to play a

1297
01:00:39,920 --> 01:00:42,720
Speaker 1: lot of one on one. That's going to require switching, right, So,

1298
01:00:43,080 --> 01:00:47,400
Speaker 1: any team that has five players that can all reasonably

1299
01:00:47,440 --> 01:00:51,040
Speaker 1: well guard on the perimeter, you start switching everything. If

1300
01:00:51,040 --> 01:00:53,840
Speaker 1: you switch everything, you shut down the Celtics pet actions.

1301
01:00:54,040 --> 01:00:55,920
Speaker 1: If you shut down the Celtics pet actions, you can

1302
01:00:55,960 --> 01:00:57,680
Speaker 1: make them play io ball. If you make them play

1303
01:00:57,720 --> 01:01:00,120
Speaker 1: iceo ball, you might be able to outexecute them. The

1304
01:01:00,160 --> 01:01:04,160
Speaker 1: problem is you have to be There's a lot of

1305
01:01:04,200 --> 01:01:07,640
Speaker 1: different elements that it's actually very complicated, right, Like, the

1306
01:01:07,680 --> 01:01:10,040
Speaker 1: Celtics attack a lot of switching with inside seals right

1307
01:01:10,040 --> 01:01:11,840
Speaker 1: where they screen on the bottom side and slip into

1308
01:01:11,840 --> 01:01:13,000
Speaker 1: the open end of the floor. So you have to

1309
01:01:13,000 --> 01:01:14,480
Speaker 1: be a switching team that has a good amount of

1310
01:01:14,480 --> 01:01:16,800
Speaker 1: physical size, and you have to be really sharp in

1311
01:01:16,840 --> 01:01:19,800
Speaker 1: terms of like little details like navigating those actions and

1312
01:01:19,800 --> 01:01:21,400
Speaker 1: getting out in front of them, in terms of like

1313
01:01:21,480 --> 01:01:24,400
Speaker 1: avoiding those inside seals. So like, there's so many different

1314
01:01:24,440 --> 01:01:26,479
Speaker 1: elements that go into it. It's so much easier said

1315
01:01:26,480 --> 01:01:30,040
Speaker 1: than done. But if Boston loses this year, it will

1316
01:01:30,080 --> 01:01:33,040
Speaker 1: probably be to a team that can switch everything and

1317
01:01:33,120 --> 01:01:35,800
Speaker 1: has a lot of good perimeter defenders that will force

1318
01:01:35,840 --> 01:01:37,400
Speaker 1: Tatum and Brown to play a lot of one on

1319
01:01:37,400 --> 01:01:40,000
Speaker 1: one and that that team, the team that's beating Boston,

1320
01:01:40,040 --> 01:01:42,200
Speaker 1: would need to have a player that can outplay those

1321
01:01:42,240 --> 01:01:45,280
Speaker 1: guys in slow down half court environments. Right now, the

1322
01:01:45,320 --> 01:01:47,560
Speaker 1: only roster I look at that I really think has

1323
01:01:47,600 --> 01:01:49,760
Speaker 1: a good chance to do it is Oklahoma City, And

1324
01:01:49,800 --> 01:01:52,120
Speaker 1: even then I would pick Boston, but at this point

1325
01:01:52,160 --> 01:01:53,960
Speaker 1: in time, we'll see how it goes over time. But

1326
01:01:54,000 --> 01:01:56,280
Speaker 1: they're the only team that I think can really defend,

1327
01:01:56,600 --> 01:01:58,720
Speaker 1: can get away with switching looks. And yeah, I do

1328
01:01:58,760 --> 01:02:00,800
Speaker 1: think that Shay is a better half initiator in the

1329
01:02:00,840 --> 01:02:03,160
Speaker 1: Tatum and Brown, so that would be the advantage for

1330
01:02:03,160 --> 01:02:05,400
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City there. Once your take on the future of

1331
01:02:05,400 --> 01:02:07,440
Speaker 1: the Pelicans, the way I see it, the entire decade

1332
01:02:07,440 --> 01:02:10,960
Speaker 1: of rebuild and resources have led to such a whatever outcome,

1333
01:02:11,280 --> 01:02:12,960
Speaker 1: and it makes me wonder if they just end up

1334
01:02:12,960 --> 01:02:14,800
Speaker 1: the way they did at the end of the Eight Days.

1335
01:02:15,080 --> 01:02:18,760
Speaker 1: The problem is is the Zion the concept Zion is

1336
01:02:18,800 --> 01:02:21,760
Speaker 1: such a bad defensive player that you have to put

1337
01:02:21,800 --> 01:02:24,680
Speaker 1: an athletics center next to him that can anchor a defense.

1338
01:02:25,200 --> 01:02:28,560
Speaker 1: But Zion at his best has always played with space

1339
01:02:28,600 --> 01:02:31,960
Speaker 1: as a driving kick player, and that's why they keep

1340
01:02:32,120 --> 01:02:34,439
Speaker 1: going away from their big looks. And that's why Larry

1341
01:02:34,480 --> 01:02:37,280
Speaker 1: Ants was so important to them last year. That's why

1342
01:02:37,400 --> 01:02:39,880
Speaker 1: youonas Valentiunis was off the floor in every big, high

1343
01:02:39,920 --> 01:02:42,840
Speaker 1: leverage moment like that. That's the main issue is like

1344
01:02:43,240 --> 01:02:44,920
Speaker 1: if you bring in a stretch five, a guy that

1345
01:02:45,000 --> 01:02:48,520
Speaker 1: spaces the floor for Zion, then you're not as good

1346
01:02:48,520 --> 01:02:50,240
Speaker 1: defensively as you need to be. If you bring in

1347
01:02:50,280 --> 01:02:53,240
Speaker 1: the athletic center that can anchor a defense, then you

1348
01:02:53,280 --> 01:02:55,680
Speaker 1: don't have the benefit that comes from Zion and his

1349
01:02:55,760 --> 01:02:58,800
Speaker 1: driving kick potential. So it's kind of just like Zion's

1350
01:02:58,880 --> 01:03:02,320
Speaker 1: kind of like unique build making him a difficult player

1351
01:03:02,360 --> 01:03:05,000
Speaker 1: to build around. But I do want to see again,

1352
01:03:05,160 --> 01:03:09,000
Speaker 1: guys don't over evaluate the Pelicans right now. They had

1353
01:03:09,360 --> 01:03:10,680
Speaker 1: I talked about this with the Lakers a lot of

1354
01:03:10,720 --> 01:03:12,800
Speaker 1: times in star trades, when you send out multiple good

1355
01:03:12,880 --> 01:03:15,680
Speaker 1: role players, you need your star to come in and

1356
01:03:15,680 --> 01:03:18,480
Speaker 1: play really well to justify it. Right, as are happening

1357
01:03:18,440 --> 01:03:20,880
Speaker 1: to the Lakers. They give up kuzmun KCP, they bring

1358
01:03:20,920 --> 01:03:24,200
Speaker 1: in Russell Westbrook. Russell doesn't play well. It looks really bad.

1359
01:03:24,280 --> 01:03:26,400
Speaker 1: Right in this case, you give up Dyson Daniels, you

1360
01:03:26,400 --> 01:03:29,120
Speaker 1: give up Larry Nance Junr. You bring in to Jontey Murray,

1361
01:03:29,280 --> 01:03:31,520
Speaker 1: but now he's hurt, so you're not getting anything from him,

1362
01:03:31,520 --> 01:03:33,200
Speaker 1: and you've lost your depth and you're just not as

1363
01:03:33,200 --> 01:03:35,640
Speaker 1: good as your defensively, and so that's what ends up

1364
01:03:35,640 --> 01:03:37,800
Speaker 1: being the problem. And so let's give them some time

1365
01:03:37,800 --> 01:03:39,840
Speaker 1: to get healthy and see what they look like. All right.

1366
01:03:39,880 --> 01:03:41,640
Speaker 1: So that's gonna be it for today, guys. As always,

1367
01:03:41,720 --> 01:03:44,760
Speaker 1: sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting the show. We'll be

1368
01:03:44,800 --> 01:03:47,600
Speaker 1: back on Monday with Power Rankings. I sincerely appreciate you

1369
01:03:47,600 --> 01:03:49,080
Speaker 1: guys for rocking with me and I'll see you on

1370
01:03:49,160 --> 01:03:55,200
Speaker 1: Monday the volume. What's Up? Guys? As always, I appreciate

1371
01:03:55,240 --> 01:03:58,000
Speaker 1: you for listening to and supporting OOPS tonight. It would

1372
01:03:58,040 --> 01:04:00,240
Speaker 1: actually be really helpful for us if you guys take

1373
01:04:00,280 --> 01:04:03,440
Speaker 1: a second and leave a rating and a review. As always,

1374
01:04:03,440 --> 01:04:05,120
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could

1375
01:04:05,120 --> 01:04:07,640
Speaker 1: take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.