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Speaker 1: good to hoops tonight. You're at the volume heavy Monday.

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Speaker 1: Everybody of both of you guys, had a great weekend.

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Speaker 1: I got a dampackshow for you today. We're doing our

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Speaker 1: first edition of Power Rankings today as we rank the

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Speaker 1: top ten teams in the league and dig a little

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Speaker 1: bit into each one of the those teams. And then

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Speaker 1: at the tail of the show, I got a mail bag.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna hit a couple of different teams that we're

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Speaker 1: not in the Power Rankings.

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Speaker 2: This week.

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

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Speaker 1: to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any

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Speaker 1: more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at underscore

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Speaker 1: JSNLT so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: about our podcast feed where you get your podcasts under

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Speaker 1: Hoops Tonight. Also, we're running a couple of new Hoops

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Speaker 1: Tonight social media feeds on Twitter, on Instagram, and on Facebook,

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Speaker 1: so make sure you guys follow there where we release

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Speaker 1: more content. And then, last minute least keep dropping mail

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Speaker 1: bag questions and those YouTube comments so we can keep

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Speaker 1: hitting them throughout the remainder of the season. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So with power rankings, I think

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Speaker 1: it's very important every time I do a list to

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Speaker 1: kind of lay out criteria for you guys. I intend

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Speaker 1: to use our weekly Monday power rankings as an opportunity

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Speaker 1: to talk about who's been playing well as of late. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so this is not our contender's list, the contenders list.

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Speaker 1: It would take a lot of information for me to

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Speaker 1: change how I feel about it.

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Speaker 2: Team.

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Speaker 1: For instance, like most of the teams have only played

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Speaker 1: between five and seven games for the most part every team.

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Speaker 1: If you cherry pick a specific stretch of the season,

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Speaker 1: you can find a five or seven game stretch where

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Speaker 1: they look awesome, and you can find a five to

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Speaker 1: seven game stretch where they look like shit, right Like,

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Speaker 1: that's kind of part of the deal.

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Speaker 2: Now.

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Speaker 1: I will say at the beginning of the season, in particular,

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Speaker 1: I'm a little more tuned in because this is when

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Speaker 1: everyone's playing hard. No one's bored in October, right Like,

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Speaker 1: you don't get bored until later into the season. So

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Speaker 1: there's a little bit more to learn now. But I'm

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Speaker 1: never going to overreact to any five or seven game

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Speaker 1: sample to change my contender rankings. Those are large sample

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Speaker 1: sized types of changes. We'll check in on our contender

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Speaker 1: rankings periodically throughout the season, especially when something changes, right.

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Speaker 1: But I want Power Rankings to be an opportunity for

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Speaker 1: us to shine a light on teams that are playing

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Speaker 1: well as of late. So obviously, this first edition is

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Speaker 1: going to cover the entire season, but as we get

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Speaker 1: deeper into the season, the Power Rankings are gonna kind

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Speaker 1: to focus more on who's playing well in the last.

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Speaker 2: Week or two.

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Speaker 1: It'll be like the entire season, but an extra emphasis

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Speaker 1: on the last week or two. So that just gives

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Speaker 1: you a little an idea of how I'm going to

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Speaker 1: structure those power rankings. So if we're like a couple

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Speaker 1: months into it, and there's like a team that's like

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Speaker 1: five hundred, but they go five and one over a

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Speaker 1: two week span and have a bunch of impressive wins,

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Speaker 1: even though I might not necessarily think they're one of

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Speaker 1: the ten best teams in the league, they might crack

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Speaker 1: into the top ten of our top ten of our

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Speaker 1: power rankings, so that we have an opportunity to shout

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Speaker 1: them out. Hopefully that makes some sense. One other note

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Speaker 1: on this week's rankings, seven of my ten teams ended

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Speaker 1: up being from the Western Conference. The gap between the

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Speaker 1: East and the West is a parent right away. To

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Speaker 1: start this year, the West has eleven teams that are

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Speaker 1: five hundred or better. The East has five teams that

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Speaker 1: are five hundred or better. Now that should level out

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Speaker 1: a little bit, but also the West is fifty and

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Speaker 1: forty three head to head against the Eastern Conference, which

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Speaker 1: is actually an even higher win percentage cross conference than

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Speaker 1: they had last year. So only three Eastern Conference teams

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Speaker 1: made the Power rankings this week. However, there's one team

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Speaker 1: in particular, the Bucks, that I wanted to touch briefly

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Speaker 1: on today that will hit in the mail bag. All right,

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Speaker 1: without any further ado, let's get to the rankings. Number ten,

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Speaker 1: the Houston Rockets. They're off to a three and three start,

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Speaker 1: but they've had some impressive wins. They blew out a

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Speaker 1: full strength Grizzly squad. They went into Dallas and controlled

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Speaker 1: the game from wire to wire. Dallas never took a

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Speaker 1: lead in that game. Dallas did an incredible job defending

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Speaker 1: Luca and Kyrie in that game, just making things difficult.

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Speaker 1: They still got the numbers, but they didn't overhelp. They

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Speaker 1: kept them playing a lot of isoball. Dallas only generated

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Speaker 1: eight wide open threes in the entire game, per NBA

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Speaker 1: dot Com, and that's well down from what you expect

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Speaker 1: from that Dallas offense. They forced them into a bunch

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Speaker 1: of tough, contested jumpers. Ball pressure is the strength of

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Speaker 1: this Houston Rockets team. I've talked a lot about this

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Speaker 1: concept in the early part of the season, but I

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Speaker 1: find ball pressure to be one of the most underappreciated

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Speaker 1: traits of a good basketball player, and an underappreciated like

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Speaker 1: ability that a team has to change the pace of

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Speaker 1: basketball games. Get up into the ball handler's jersey, make

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Speaker 1: it so that it's difficult for him to get across

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Speaker 1: half court. Pressure off the ball, to fighting guys off

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Speaker 1: of spots. Think of it like this. A team runs

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Speaker 1: a horn set, they're used to everyone, you know, getting

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Speaker 1: to where they want to get to the ball handler,

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Speaker 1: getting to the middle of the floor. You know whatever

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Speaker 1: that cross screen that you're running around the elbows before

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Speaker 1: you flow into whatever action, you're running out of horns,

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Speaker 1: if you can like disrupt that by pressuring the ball

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Speaker 1: and like fighting guys off a spot so that if

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Speaker 1: he catches at the high post instead of catching at

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Speaker 1: the elbow, he catches like extended out or in a

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Speaker 1: different spot. You blow up a screening action with physical pressure.

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Speaker 1: You do that kind of stuff. It gets the other

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Speaker 1: team out of their offense. It makes them uncomfortable, it

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Speaker 1: makes them play a way that they don't want to play.

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Speaker 1: And so I am always going to be kind of

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Speaker 1: keeping an eye out for teams that can really pressure

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Speaker 1: the ball, and like Houston can really pressure the ball.

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Speaker 1: The Warriors game, then a game gets the Warriors of

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Speaker 1: the weekend that the Warriors won in overtime where the

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Speaker 1: Warriors took a big lead early and the Rockets crawled

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Speaker 1: all the way back actually took a brief lead in

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Speaker 1: the fourth quarter and ended up sending the game to overtime.

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Speaker 1: But in large part because of their ball pressure, they

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Speaker 1: are picking up full court causing issues. Tarr Easton at

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Speaker 1: one point had like back to back pick sixes, and

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Speaker 1: he's like literally on his back, hyperventilating on the ground

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Speaker 1: after getting the second one while they're playing five on

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Speaker 1: four the other way. Because they're just playing so hard

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Speaker 1: and they're so young, and they're so athletic, and they

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Speaker 1: leverage that to make the games kind of messy, right

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Speaker 1: Like their offense can bog down from time to time.

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Speaker 1: We know that they're kind of inconsistent shooting the ball,

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Speaker 1: but they make you uncomfortable and they can make these

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Speaker 1: games messy, and that is where they can find opportunities

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Speaker 1: to get wins. Their metrics right now, they're eleventh in

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Speaker 1: offense eleventh and defense ninth, and net rating second, offensive

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Speaker 1: rebounding kind of an intriguing staff for them, eleventh and

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Speaker 1: overall rebounding. Jalen Green is off to an intriguing start,

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Speaker 1: He's taking ten threes a game and hitting thirty nine

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Speaker 1: percent of them. In the Dallas Luca hits a step

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Speaker 1: back three, cuts it to three, and Jalen Green ends

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Speaker 1: up hitting a massive step back three kind of off

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Speaker 1: the dribble combination three on the left wing.

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Speaker 2: That ice is that game.

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Speaker 1: Three point shooting is exciting from him early, and it

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Speaker 1: still feels like they have some room to improve on

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Speaker 1: the offensive end, like Fred van Vliet doesn't really have

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Speaker 1: it going. Shan Gun post up is a big part

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Speaker 1: of their offense that hasn't really started clicking yet. That

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Speaker 1: will ultimately determine whether or not they can make any

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Speaker 1: noise like actually get a real playoff spot in the

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Speaker 1: stacked Western Conference. But really really like what I'm seeing

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Speaker 1: in terms of their ball pressure on the perimeter right now.

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Speaker 1: Number nine, the Memphis Grizzlies. They're off to a four

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Speaker 1: and three start. There are two losses. They had two

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Speaker 1: ugly losses in there to the Bulls and Nets. But

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Speaker 1: it was kind of weird if you look at the context,

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Speaker 1: Like John Morant misses the Bulls game, Marcus Smart and

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Speaker 1: Desmond Bane both get hurt early in the Nets game.

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Speaker 1: They have a couple of really impressive wins surrounding that.

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Speaker 1: That's why I'm kind of looking at them as a

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Speaker 1: team that's a little better than their record. They blew

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Speaker 1: out a full strength Orlando Magic team. They beat that

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Speaker 1: shit out of the Bucks without Desmond Bain or Marcus

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Speaker 1: Smart on the floor. Just ran them off the floor

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Speaker 1: and transition all day long in that game. They also

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Speaker 1: defended Dame really well in that game. Shout out to

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Speaker 1: Scotti Pippen Junior, who has been an exciting kind of

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Speaker 1: piece that's popping for them this year. Then they went

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Speaker 1: into Philly and blew out the Sixers, albeit without Joel

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Speaker 1: Embiid and Paul George. They're metrics right now. They are

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Speaker 1: eighth in offense, fourteenth in defense, tenth and net rating

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Speaker 1: fifth and rebounding. The injuries to Baine and Marcus Smart

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Speaker 1: especially are like discouraging, just because they're such an important

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Speaker 1: part of what makes this team tick on both ends

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Speaker 1: of the floor. Obviously, Desmond Bain, who can really run

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Speaker 1: action off the ball next to Job, but also take

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Speaker 1: over the offense when jaws off the floor. Marcus Smart

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Speaker 1: is this important connective piece. He gives them another way

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Speaker 1: to get the defense in rotation by posting up. He's

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Speaker 1: both Bain and Smart, in my opinion, are two really

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Speaker 1: good physical perimeter defenders. And it's just discouraging because Marcus

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Speaker 1: mart just hasn't been able to stay on the floor

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Speaker 1: for this team, and I kind of just want to

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Speaker 1: see what it looks like in a larger sample. But

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Speaker 1: this team is really deep and they have a lot

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Speaker 1: of guys that are stepping up. The rookie Jalen Wells

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Speaker 1: has popped right away. Is a guy who can provide

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Speaker 1: aggressive off ball scoring, which is super valuable with John Morant,

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Speaker 1: like just doesn't need a ton of space and is

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Speaker 1: super aggressive in catch and shoot situations, which kind of

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Speaker 1: makes him a useful off ball offensive player. Santi al

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Speaker 1: Dama is hooping career highs in scoring volume and efficiency.

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Speaker 1: He's got great chemistry with John Morant as a baseline cutter,

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Speaker 1: as a transition runner and relocating around the three point

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Speaker 1: line as a shooter. They've taken a couple of guys

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Speaker 1: that the Lakers' front office saw no value in in

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Speaker 1: Scottie Pippen Junior and Jay Huff, and they've turned him

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Speaker 1: into useful rotation players. Both have looked flat out good

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Speaker 1: at different parts this year. Jaren Jackson's off to a

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Speaker 1: great start this year. He's averaging twenty points per game

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Speaker 1: on sixty five percent true shooting. So depth has helped

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Speaker 1: carry them, But the story of their success to this

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Speaker 1: point in the season has been John Morant's playmaking, and

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Speaker 1: I wanted to take a second to put a light

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Speaker 1: on that. He is third in the league and assists

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Speaker 1: per game, behind Trey Young and James Harden. The way

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Speaker 1: he's getting his assist reminds me a lot of prime

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Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook, like way back like twenty sixteen, seven Team

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Speaker 1: twenty eighteen, where it's like he starts to mix with

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Speaker 1: the ball and all eyes are on him and there's

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Speaker 1: a lot of guys sneaking along the baseline. He's hitting

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Speaker 1: cutters along the baseline a lot. He's hitting corner three

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Speaker 1: point shooters a lot. So he's kind of like gearing

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Speaker 1: everybody towards him and finding those openings on the back line.

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Speaker 1: But he's also doing some super advanced stuff in ball screens.

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Speaker 1: Talked about this the other day, but he's doing a

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Speaker 1: really good job using his eyes to manipulate the lowman,

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Speaker 1: which is the guy who's guarding the shooter in the

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Speaker 1: weak side corner who typically comes over to help on

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Speaker 1: the roll right, And he's doing a good job of

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Speaker 1: manipulating that guy and finding openings to either skip the

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Speaker 1: pass to that shooter or to hit the role man.

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Speaker 1: But he's making that read based on how he can

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Speaker 1: manipulate the defense with his eyes. Jaws off to a

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Speaker 1: great start. I'm not sure how much more injury luck

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Speaker 1: the injury bad luck. I should say that the Grizzlies

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Speaker 1: can handle. But the Grizzlies are off to a good start.

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Speaker 1: Number eight the New York Knicks. After the catastrophe on

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Speaker 1: opening night against Boston, they've won three out of four.

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Speaker 1: Had a decent second half lead against Cleveland in the

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Speaker 1: game they lost, but they had pretty bad stretch And

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Speaker 1: shout out to the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing good basketball.

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Speaker 1: They played really well in the late third, early fourth.

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Speaker 1: They ended up taking that game from them. They had

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Speaker 1: a blowout win against the Pacers that was impressive. A

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Speaker 1: blowout win against the Pistons that was impressive. They had

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Speaker 1: a big second half comeback against the Miami Heat in

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Speaker 1: Miami where Karl Anthony Towns went bonkers. Was doing a

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Speaker 1: ton of work in the post, was just cooking Nikola

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Speaker 1: Yovich and then did some damage one on one to

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Speaker 1: Bam and crunch time. They were spamming pick and pop

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Speaker 1: where Kat just kept catching at the top key and

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Speaker 1: either shooting at three or driving the close out. Did

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Speaker 1: a lot of damage there. His best game of the season.

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Speaker 1: Their metrics so far their third in offense, sixteenth in defense,

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Speaker 1: but a one oh six defensive rating. If you take

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Speaker 1: out the Boston game. Now, you can't take out the

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Speaker 1: Boston game. It's part of the deal. But the point

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Speaker 1: is is they've defended well since that Boston game. Their

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Speaker 1: fifth in net rating and eighth in rebounding. Although they

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Speaker 1: are not the offensive rebounding force that they were last year.

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Speaker 1: It's a different type of team. Mckal bridges all the

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Speaker 1: concern about his shooting, it's been okay. He's been forty

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Speaker 1: two percent from three since the Boston game, averaging eighteen

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Speaker 1: points a game.

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Speaker 2: So even if it doesn't.

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Speaker 1: Necessarily look the way that we want it to as

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Speaker 1: jumpers going in and overall, I just like the new

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Speaker 1: dimension that Karl Anthony Towns brings to the offense. The

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Speaker 1: pig and pop is a real weapon that they can

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Speaker 1: go to at the end of these games. And again,

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Speaker 1: I like when they use it almost as a mains

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Speaker 1: with which to set up driving kick, where it's like,

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Speaker 1: even though guys are going to close out to cat

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Speaker 1: like get let him beat that guy off the dribble,

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Speaker 1: just attacking the close out and then play driving kick

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Speaker 1: from there, You've got all of this talent. Really really

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Speaker 1: like the dimension and the variety that we're seeing in

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Speaker 1: that New York Knicks offense.

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Speaker 2: Number seven.

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Speaker 1: The Dallas Mavericks relative to their expectations coming out of

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Speaker 1: an NBA Finals appearance, it's a little bit of an

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Speaker 1: up and down start for them, But Luka Doncic has

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Speaker 1: been hurt and so he hasn't really looked like the

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Speaker 1: Luca that we expect him to be. In the long run,

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Speaker 1: they've taken care of business when they're supposed to, Like

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Speaker 1: they beat Orlando without Palo, a nice wire to wire

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Speaker 1: victory last night. They beat San Antonio, they beat Utah,

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Speaker 1: but they're one and two against some of the higher

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Speaker 1: teams that they've played against. So they lost to Phoenix

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Speaker 1: in Phoenix. They beat Minnesota in Minnesota, classic way that

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Speaker 1: they always dominate Minnesota, but they had a really ugly

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Speaker 1: performance at home against the Houston Rockets where they never

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Speaker 1: took a lead and trailed by as many as twenty

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Speaker 1: three in the second half. Didn't move the ball well

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Speaker 1: in that game, and that's going to be kind of

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Speaker 1: one of the things that we talk about over the

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Speaker 1: course of the season is they clearly, through what I've

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Speaker 1: seen on film, implemented a lot more variety in their offense,

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Speaker 1: but they still have a tendency sometimes to start spamming

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Speaker 1: stuff and like really really get into some like old

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Speaker 1: fashioned lack of ball and player movement type of offense.

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Speaker 1: And again it's really early and they're still figuring some

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Speaker 1: shit out and it'll take some time. But they didn't

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Speaker 1: move the ball well in that Houston game. They only

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Speaker 1: generated eight wide open threes, which again that's their bread

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Speaker 1: and butter, is like getting a ball moving, getting all

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Speaker 1: their skill involved generating high quality catch and shoot situations.

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Speaker 1: But still, again it's a lot of new players, it's

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Speaker 1: a lot of new stuff that they're running. It's and

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Speaker 1: Lucas not in peak shape right now, so like, give

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Speaker 1: it some time, they'll be fine.

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Speaker 2: And all of that.

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Speaker 1: They're foreign too, they're foreign two, and most excitingly, they're

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Speaker 1: third in defense right now. They do a really good

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Speaker 1: job of protecting the rim, but they also chase teams

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Speaker 1: off the three point line. It's an analytically smart approach

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Speaker 1: to defense. It's keeping them in a very very good

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Speaker 1: defensive foundation that's going to help them win a lot

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Speaker 1: of games. Seventeenth in offense, that's going to improve in time.

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Speaker 1: The only real red flag right now is are twenty

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Speaker 1: third in rebounding, but I think that'll stabilize over the

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Speaker 1: course of the season. And again, the defense stuff is

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Speaker 1: super encouraging and Luca is going to continue to get

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Speaker 1: better in time. And new system, new players always give

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Speaker 1: it time to get their footing. Wait till that offense

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Speaker 1: gets cooking. When that offense gets cooking, they're gonna start

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Speaker 1: racking up some wins. And they're already four and two.

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Speaker 1: Number six, the Los Angeles Lakers played the toughest schedule

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Speaker 1: in the NBA to start the season. Their opponent win

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Speaker 1: percentage so far as sixty seven percent. But they've done

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Speaker 1: pretty well. They're four and two out the gates. They

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Speaker 1: beat three straight teams to start the season that are

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Speaker 1: all in the Western Conference. Playoff mix. They beat the

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Speaker 1: they beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, kind of controlled that game

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Speaker 1: from start to finish. Really impressive come from behind win

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Speaker 1: against the Phoenix Suns, and then another impressive win against

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Speaker 1: the Kings where they kind of fell behind in a

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Speaker 1: third quarter run where their athleticism started to rise to

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Speaker 1: the surface as an issue, and then Lebron pulled that

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Speaker 1: game out. Then they lost a tough crunch time game

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Speaker 1: in Phoenix, and then they laid an absolute egg in Cleveland.

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Speaker 1: It just got ran off the floor and that one

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Speaker 1: was not pretty at all. They did right the ship

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Speaker 1: in Toronto, but there were some athleticism issues that kind

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Speaker 1: of started to rise to the surface in that game

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Speaker 1: as well. And so more or less, the Lakers are

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Speaker 1: kind of exactly what I thought they would be to

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Speaker 1: this point. Like I think they're a good team that's

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Speaker 1: a good offense, which is what they have been. Their

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Speaker 1: starting lineup is awesome. They're seventy five minutes of Austin

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Speaker 1: di Lo Ruie Lebron ad they're plus ten net rating

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Speaker 1: in those seventy five minutes. Again, against the toughest schedule

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Speaker 1: in the league. They've been good on both ends of

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Speaker 1: the floor. That lineup is crushing people in the glass.

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Speaker 1: They're grabbing fifty seven percent of available rebounds. But as

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Speaker 1: we've seen, when they're starting, their starting lineup is so

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Speaker 1: big and so skilled that they can kind of make

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Speaker 1: up for their perimeter athleticism weaknesses. But as soon as

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Speaker 1: they start to mingle the bench group with the starting lineup,

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Speaker 1: they get smaller. And when they get smaller and less skilled,

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Speaker 1: then all of a sudden, the off their perimeter athleticism

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Speaker 1: issues rise to the surface. You guys have seen it,

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Speaker 1: and again we've talked about ball pressure and how it's valuable,

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Speaker 1: but this team doesn't handle it well. Like look at

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Speaker 1: the Minnesota game, Dante DiVincenzo to kill Alexander Walker to

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Speaker 1: super athletic guards, they start picking up full court and

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Speaker 1: causing problems for the Laker guards. The offense bogs down

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Speaker 1: for a little bit. The King's game, late third quarter, again,

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Speaker 1: it's always like, right when that starting lineup comes out

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Speaker 1: in that late part of the third quarter, when they're

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Speaker 1: a little bit more tired, they've been playing for a while,

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Speaker 1: the lineups are smaller, less skilled. That's when the athleticism

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Speaker 1: comes to the surface as an issue. The Kings cause

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Speaker 1: problems for them there, even that Raptors game, Like they're

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Speaker 1: young and they're athletic, and they started playing really hard

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Speaker 1: because they're down and they're trying to work their way

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Speaker 1: back into the game, and the Lakers just kind of

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Speaker 1: struggle in those environments. So again, like they're fine, they're

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Speaker 1: a good team. They're gonna win lots of games. They're

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Speaker 1: going to be as long as Lebron and Ad stay

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Speaker 1: relatively healthy, I think they'll be above the play in.

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Speaker 1: That's all good, But this perimeter athleticism issue is a

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Speaker 1: real problem that they're going to have to address this

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Speaker 1: this year. There's two main ways that it's showing up.

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Speaker 1: One transition defense. This is one stat for you guys

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Speaker 1: to drive home just how bad the Lakers transition defense

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Speaker 1: has been. The Lakers are eleventh in half court defensive rating,

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Speaker 1: so according to Cleaning the Glass, they've been the eleventh

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Speaker 1: best half court defense, but in overall defense defensive rating

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Speaker 1: for all possessions regardless of where they take place, the

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Speaker 1: Lakers are twenty seventh in defensive rating, so they are

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Speaker 1: the fourth worst defense in the NBA despite being the

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Speaker 1: eleventh best half court defense. And it's because they're getting

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Speaker 1: absolutely shredded in transition. Lebron and Ad are not running

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Speaker 1: the floor well enough to start the year. That is

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Speaker 1: a huge problem. And then two, they do not have

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Speaker 1: athletes in the back court that can make up for

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Speaker 1: the fact that they're constantly in the these disadvantage situations

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Speaker 1: with their guards back in transition. It's a real problem.

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Speaker 1: It's gonna take better commitment from Lebron and Ad and

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Speaker 1: it's gonna take an upgrade in perimeter athleticism. The second

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Speaker 1: place where you're seeing that issue pop is where other

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Speaker 1: teams leverage their athleticism, which is what I talked about earlier,

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Speaker 1: what the Kings did, what the Wolves did, what the

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Speaker 1: what the Toronto Raptors did in the second half of

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Speaker 1: their game. Like, when teams really start to leverage their

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Speaker 1: athleticism is when the Lakers start to have those issues.

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Speaker 1: So they're off to a good start four and two, again,

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Speaker 1: four and two with the toughest schedule in the league.

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Speaker 1: You had to take that ten times out of ten

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Speaker 1: if you're a Laker fan. But there definitely are some

433
00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:39,320
Speaker 1: issues that they're gonna have to address in the long run.

434
00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:41,159
Speaker 1: They're also getting into an easier part of their schedule.

435
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:45,600
Speaker 1: They're at Detroit tonight, at Memphis, Philly, Toronto, Memphis at home,

436
00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:48,240
Speaker 1: than at San Antonio, at New Orleans, and then home

437
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:51,280
Speaker 1: for Utah, and then they have Orlando without Palo most likely,

438
00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:53,800
Speaker 1: so like then things get tougher again. So like I

439
00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:55,239
Speaker 1: think there's a good chance to go seven to two

440
00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:57,199
Speaker 1: in that stretch. I think that they'll drop one of

441
00:19:57,200 --> 00:19:59,360
Speaker 1: the Memphis games. They'll probably lose in Memphis, and they'll

442
00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:01,720
Speaker 1: probably beat mem at home, and then I don't know

443
00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:03,680
Speaker 1: if it'll be the game at New Orleans, although Lakers

444
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:06,719
Speaker 1: have always had their number, the game at New Orleans

445
00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:11,520
Speaker 1: or one of these other teams that's younger an athletic

446
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:13,840
Speaker 1: might just get them on a game when they're being lazy.

447
00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:15,760
Speaker 1: But I think they'd probably go seven to two in

448
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:17,320
Speaker 1: that stretch, and so we could be looking at an

449
00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:19,720
Speaker 1: eleven and four Lakers team in two weeks, which would

450
00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:36,879
Speaker 1: unquestionably be a very good start for that team. Number five,

451
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,960
Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors easily the biggest surprise out in

452
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,679
Speaker 1: the Western Conference. There's two big surprises this year, Cleveland

453
00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,080
Speaker 1: Cavaliers at the top of the East and the Golden

454
00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:47,720
Speaker 1: State Warriors again, if you look at the tail end

455
00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,600
Speaker 1: of last year, they were bad against teams that were

456
00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:52,920
Speaker 1: five hundred or better. Steph didn't look like a top

457
00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:55,040
Speaker 1: ten player anymore. At the tail end of last year,

458
00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:58,280
Speaker 1: they again huge high leverage games, like gotta beat the

459
00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:00,879
Speaker 1: Pelicans at home, and then they lose, like here we are,

460
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,000
Speaker 1: we're in Sacramento, we have a chance to get a

461
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,199
Speaker 1: playoff spot, and they get their butts kicked like. It

462
00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:09,520
Speaker 1: looked bleak for the Warriors after last season, so bleak

463
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:12,920
Speaker 1: that you could argue that it wasn't even worth really

464
00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:15,040
Speaker 1: investing in them in terms of a trade. They have

465
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:17,159
Speaker 1: completely flipped the script to start this year. Just a

466
00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,360
Speaker 1: couple of key signings, much better. Buying a training camp

467
00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:22,359
Speaker 1: seems to have worked wonders for like setting roles for

468
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,720
Speaker 1: all these guys. They're super deep, they're super fast. This

469
00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:27,520
Speaker 1: is a crazy staff for you. They have just fifty

470
00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:31,760
Speaker 1: five points scored by Steph Curry through six games in

471
00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,439
Speaker 1: they're five and one. That's awesome. Now, they've played a

472
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,000
Speaker 1: very light schedule out of the gates, but they when

473
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:39,879
Speaker 1: you factor in the fact that Steph is out, it's

474
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:42,639
Speaker 1: still pretty impressive. To beat the Pelicans twice without Steph

475
00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:45,400
Speaker 1: and without Wiggins and without the Anthony Melton, that's impressive.

476
00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:48,959
Speaker 1: To beat the Rockets without Steph, without the Anthony Melton,

477
00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:51,120
Speaker 1: that's super impressive. And that was a fun game too,

478
00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:53,800
Speaker 1: Like the Rockets are a good team. They jumped them early,

479
00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:55,720
Speaker 1: but the Rockets are a good team. They battled back.

480
00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:57,560
Speaker 1: They got back in the game with ball pressure, and

481
00:21:57,600 --> 00:21:59,679
Speaker 1: it was really cool to see the way different Warriors

482
00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:01,919
Speaker 1: step up at different parts in the game. In crunch

483
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:07,080
Speaker 1: time in regulation, Buddy Healed and Brandon Pazemski made like

484
00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:11,240
Speaker 1: created shots in one on one situations against good defenders

485
00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:13,960
Speaker 1: and scored, you know, like that like really high level

486
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:17,240
Speaker 1: schock creation from them. And then in overtime, Jonathan Kaminga

487
00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:19,720
Speaker 1: had like just three jaw dropping plays. He had a

488
00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:21,639
Speaker 1: left shoulder fade away that was like a tough, like

489
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,240
Speaker 1: Kobe style fadeaway that he hit. He had like two

490
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:27,960
Speaker 1: ridiculously athletic drives to the basket where he got buckets

491
00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:29,959
Speaker 1: of one in transition where he was like shot out

492
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,359
Speaker 1: of a cannon. It was unbelievable. They end up getting

493
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:34,639
Speaker 1: a big win, But the story of this team is depth.

494
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,320
Speaker 1: They don't have a single player aside from Steph Curry

495
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:39,639
Speaker 1: that anyone would rank among the top fifty players in

496
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,680
Speaker 1: the NBA. But they have thirteen players that are all

497
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,200
Speaker 1: good NBA rotation players and specifically as an athletic trait,

498
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,359
Speaker 1: they have an incredible amount of speed on the perimeter.

499
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,720
Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins is fast, Jonathan Minga is fast, Moses Moody

500
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:57,119
Speaker 1: is fast, Brandon Pazemski's fast as bigs, Tray Jackson Davis

501
00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:00,560
Speaker 1: is fast, Draymond Green is fast, Lindy Waters is, Gary

502
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:04,119
Speaker 1: Payton is fast. They have a lot of fast guys.

503
00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:05,960
Speaker 1: They have a lot of speed. And then the other

504
00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,040
Speaker 1: thing too is many of those guys can run action.

505
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:10,440
Speaker 1: They have a liked Anthony Melton, who I didn't mention it.

506
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:13,159
Speaker 1: He's fast as well. He can run action. Brandon Pajemski

507
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,680
Speaker 1: can run action. Lindy Waters can come off of a

508
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:17,720
Speaker 1: screen and hit a shot. Moses Moody can come off

509
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:19,400
Speaker 1: of a screen and hit a shot. Like these guys

510
00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,880
Speaker 1: are they all can shoot on the move, dribble over

511
00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,360
Speaker 1: these actions and make reads like that. They just are

512
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,080
Speaker 1: really really talented on the back end of their roster,

513
00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:31,280
Speaker 1: makes them very deep and gives them a very very

514
00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,199
Speaker 1: high floor. This has allowed Steve Kerr to do what

515
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,760
Speaker 1: he does best, which is apply structure to a situation.

516
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,960
Speaker 1: They're running a super structured offense, especially with Steph out

517
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,040
Speaker 1: of the lineup, and then on the defensive end of

518
00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,359
Speaker 1: the floor, they're playing Steve's Steve's preferred style. Remember Steve

519
00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:51,800
Speaker 1: wants to switch, contain, play passing lanes. That's like Steve

520
00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:53,720
Speaker 1: Kurr's bread and butter on the defensive end of the floor.

521
00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:57,160
Speaker 1: And because they have so much defensive talent, they can

522
00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,280
Speaker 1: keep waves in waves of that style regardless of which

523
00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:02,439
Speaker 1: lineup is on the floor, and that's allowing them to

524
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:04,879
Speaker 1: force a ton of turnovers, and that's allowing them to

525
00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:07,960
Speaker 1: do a ton of damage with their speed in transition.

526
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:07,800
Speaker 2: Off of it.

527
00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,080
Speaker 1: I talked about this a lot with the Calves, but again,

528
00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,560
Speaker 1: switching containing, playing passing lanes, that is a great way

529
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:16,560
Speaker 1: to force turnovers in the NBA. This team has an

530
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:18,399
Speaker 1: incredibly high floor, and I think they're gonna win a

531
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:20,440
Speaker 1: lot of regular season games. They are heading into a

532
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,040
Speaker 1: tougher part of their schedule though. After the Washington game tonight,

533
00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:25,320
Speaker 1: they go on the road to Boston. On the road

534
00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:27,840
Speaker 1: to Cleveland, on the road to Oklahoma City and then

535
00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,520
Speaker 1: home for Dallas. So I think at that point Warriors

536
00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:32,240
Speaker 1: fans will see a little bit more of my point

537
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,000
Speaker 1: as it pertains to their offensive ceiling and the fact

538
00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,240
Speaker 1: that they'll need to add more firepower to contend with

539
00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:39,199
Speaker 1: the top of the league. But it's hard not to

540
00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:42,119
Speaker 1: be excited about their start. Their fourth and offense, second, defense,

541
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:46,320
Speaker 1: tenth and rebounding, and our number one net rating team

542
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:51,320
Speaker 1: through this Monday, November fourth, I should say through Sunday,

543
00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:52,639
Speaker 1: because it's not counting Monday's games.

544
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:53,200
Speaker 2: Number four.

545
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:55,199
Speaker 1: The Phoenix Suns another team that had a brutal schedule

546
00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:56,960
Speaker 1: to start the year. They've had the third toughest schedule

547
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:58,760
Speaker 1: in the league to start, yet their five and one,

548
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,200
Speaker 1: sixteenth in offense, sixth in defense, eighth, and net rating

549
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:06,720
Speaker 1: seventeenth in rebounding by far the most exciting stats coming

550
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 1: from Phoenix in this early part of the season.

551
00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:09,240
Speaker 2: I've got two of them for you.

552
00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:13,159
Speaker 1: One seventy one percent assist percentage, number one in the

553
00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:15,159
Speaker 1: entire NBA. That means seventy one percent of their made

554
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,119
Speaker 1: field goals are assisted. Last year, they were fourteenth in

555
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,040
Speaker 1: the NBA at just sixty three percent, So they've dramatically

556
00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,720
Speaker 1: improved how many of their baskets are coming out of

557
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:27,040
Speaker 1: actually moving the basketball around. Again, Like, this is something

558
00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:28,439
Speaker 1: I've talked about a lot. If they're a pull up

559
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:30,680
Speaker 1: jump shooting team, they have a certain ceiling on them.

560
00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:32,520
Speaker 1: I'm not saying they shouldn't take pull up jump shots,

561
00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:34,560
Speaker 1: but if they rely on that too much, it puts

562
00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:36,320
Speaker 1: a certain ceiling on them. If they become a drive

563
00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:39,120
Speaker 1: and kick team like Boston and they generate high quality

564
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 1: three point attempts off the catch, that's where their true

565
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:44,679
Speaker 1: offensive ceiling is. And like that, to me, that seventy

566
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:48,159
Speaker 1: one percent indicator or assists percentage is a really strong

567
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,040
Speaker 1: indicator that they're playing the right style. They're also the

568
00:25:51,040 --> 00:25:53,920
Speaker 1: second big stat that's positive coming out of Phoenix. Last

569
00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,719
Speaker 1: year they were nineteenth in three pointers made per one

570
00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,320
Speaker 1: hundred possessions. This year they're sixth, generating a lot more

571
00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:03,160
Speaker 1: high quality three point attempts off of that drive and kickball.

572
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,800
Speaker 1: Now here's the thing. Statistically, the offense hasn't even really

573
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:08,480
Speaker 1: taken off yet, but it's a strong indicator that it

574
00:26:08,560 --> 00:26:10,800
Speaker 1: will because they're moving the ball and they're generating threes

575
00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:12,639
Speaker 1: and when it does. I think they'll be able to

576
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,760
Speaker 1: reach a higher ceiling than they were in years past.

577
00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:18,000
Speaker 1: I'm seeing some of the most beautiful driving kick possessions

578
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,000
Speaker 1: in the modern MBA coming out of this Phoenix Sun's

579
00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:22,960
Speaker 1: offense because of how talented their perimeter players are, and

580
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,760
Speaker 1: I'm really really excited to see where they can get

581
00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:25,200
Speaker 1: to by the.

582
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:25,880
Speaker 2: End of this year.

583
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:28,719
Speaker 1: I'm not as high on the ties Jones fit as

584
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:31,360
Speaker 1: everyone else. I've kind of elaborated on that in the show.

585
00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,280
Speaker 1: I won't get too far into it today, but the

586
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,160
Speaker 1: gist of it is, I think navigating ball pressure, bringing

587
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:38,719
Speaker 1: the ball at the floor is a pretty small issue

588
00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:40,800
Speaker 1: in the grand scheme of what had caused the Sun's

589
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:42,399
Speaker 1: issues last year. I thought it mostly came down to

590
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:46,080
Speaker 1: athleticism and strength and physicality and handling rock fights.

591
00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:46,480
Speaker 2: Right.

592
00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:50,400
Speaker 1: That's why I'm so stoked about the Ryan dunpick. Hitting

593
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:52,480
Speaker 1: on the Ryan Dunpick has helped them hit an athletic

594
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:55,959
Speaker 1: level that they didn't have previously. And I don't think

595
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,399
Speaker 1: people will really understand what he's doing offensively yet, Like

596
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:01,880
Speaker 1: he's actually scoring at volume minutes. He's hitting thirty nine

597
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,960
Speaker 1: percent of his threes, but he's doing it at a

598
00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:09,400
Speaker 1: rate of nine attempts per thirty six minutes. Like that,

599
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,359
Speaker 1: that's like that's like high usage player type of stuff

600
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:15,840
Speaker 1: that you're seeing at Like, that's like, I'm a knockdown, aggressive,

601
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:19,800
Speaker 1: green light shooter type of aggressive shooting that we're seeing

602
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:22,240
Speaker 1: out of Ryan Dunn, and he's making them in forty

603
00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:25,359
Speaker 1: five minutes of Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, and Bryan Dunn

604
00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:27,600
Speaker 1: sharing the floor together, they have a one to seventeen

605
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,240
Speaker 1: offensive rating in a one hundred defensive rating. That's plus

606
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:33,760
Speaker 1: seventeen per one hundred possessions. Mike Budenolzer is a better

607
00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:36,919
Speaker 1: offensive coach than Frank Vogel. He has stabilized them on

608
00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 1: that end of the floor, and they've actually defended in

609
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:41,760
Speaker 1: a very analytically sound way. Again, they're chasing teams off

610
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:43,320
Speaker 1: the three point line. They're never going to be an

611
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:45,880
Speaker 1: elite paint defense because they don't really have a legitimate

612
00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,280
Speaker 1: rim protector, but they're doing a decent job there and

613
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:50,960
Speaker 1: they're guarding the three point line well, they're forcing teams

614
00:27:50,960 --> 00:27:54,200
Speaker 1: into mid range jump shots. They're forcing over ten opponent

615
00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,000
Speaker 1: mid range attempts per game. That's top five in the

616
00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,440
Speaker 1: NBA right now. They just look like a sharper better

617
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:04,320
Speaker 1: version of last year's team, Number three, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

618
00:28:04,359 --> 00:28:05,880
Speaker 1: They're six and zero out of the gates, although they've

619
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:09,720
Speaker 1: played a somewhat light schedule, but they're undefeated and there's

620
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:11,399
Speaker 1: a Nass kicking and the Nuggets in there. So I

621
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:13,439
Speaker 1: don't want to make two light of it. But a

622
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,240
Speaker 1: lot of the same trends from last year. They're forcing

623
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,440
Speaker 1: a lot of turnovers, They're playing in transition, a lot

624
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:20,760
Speaker 1: two major changes. I'm noticing. Chet is playing at an

625
00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:23,240
Speaker 1: insanely high level and is getting more usage. His usage

626
00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:25,760
Speaker 1: rate is up. He's blocking well over three shots per game.

627
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:29,119
Speaker 1: He's having an incredible defensive start to the season. And again,

628
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:31,560
Speaker 1: like when you increase, he's increased his scoring volume and

629
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:35,919
Speaker 1: usage with a dip or without a dip, excuse me,

630
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,720
Speaker 1: in his efficiency, Like that's tough to do, especially for

631
00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,000
Speaker 1: a young player. To do more while also maintaining your

632
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:45,440
Speaker 1: efficiency is like the challenge of a young player developing,

633
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,520
Speaker 1: and he's doing that well. And then both Jalen Williams

634
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,600
Speaker 1: and Shake Kilvis Alexander are working extensively to change their

635
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,440
Speaker 1: shot profile. They're both taking about double the pull up

636
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:58,800
Speaker 1: three point shots that they took last year, and shay

637
00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:02,040
Speaker 1: In particularly struggling a little bit with it. They're investing

638
00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,640
Speaker 1: time and repetition in getting those guys to the point

639
00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,920
Speaker 1: where they're more comfortable shooting from three off the dribble,

640
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,440
Speaker 1: just trying to increase their efficiency, which I admire, and

641
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:12,880
Speaker 1: playing against this light schedule, this is the time to

642
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:14,640
Speaker 1: do it. But they are heading into a tougher stretch

643
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 1: of their schedule.

644
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:15,480
Speaker 2: Now.

645
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,600
Speaker 1: They have Orlando tonight, although that'd be a tougher matchup

646
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:21,320
Speaker 1: if Powow is actually healthy. But after that they go

647
00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 1: to Denver, then home for Houston, home for Golden State,

648
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:26,200
Speaker 1: and then they have a couple of easier games and

649
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:29,080
Speaker 1: then they go They play Phoenix in Dallas later the

650
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,000
Speaker 1: following week at home, So we're gonna get to see

651
00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,040
Speaker 1: them play some tougher teams and see how they stack

652
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,440
Speaker 1: up at that point in time. Number two the Boston Celtics.

653
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:38,840
Speaker 1: They dropped a game in Indie where they somehow looked

654
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,600
Speaker 1: more impressive. They erased a twenty one point fourth quarter

655
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,040
Speaker 1: lead to send that game to overtime. Jason Tatum hit

656
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,440
Speaker 1: a ridiculous step back three at the top that sent

657
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:48,640
Speaker 1: that game to overtime, but then Pascal Siakam ends up

658
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,320
Speaker 1: hitting a couple more shots than the Celtics do in

659
00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:53,360
Speaker 1: ot and the Pacers end up getting that win. But

660
00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:56,640
Speaker 1: they're six and one first and offense again, thirteenth in defense,

661
00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:58,440
Speaker 1: which we'll talk about in a minute, their fourth and

662
00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,440
Speaker 1: net rating in fourteen and rebounding, which again we'll talk

663
00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:03,560
Speaker 1: about a minute. So with the defense and rebounding stuff,

664
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 1: they're also struggling to protect the paint a little bit,

665
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:09,320
Speaker 1: like they're nineteenth and opponent paint points allowed.

666
00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:11,000
Speaker 2: But some of this is to be expected.

667
00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,600
Speaker 1: Like they're holding out Horford's minutes relatively low so that

668
00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:15,040
Speaker 1: they don't wear them out in the early part of

669
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:17,000
Speaker 1: the season. That means there's a lot of cornet. There's

670
00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:19,360
Speaker 1: a lot of nemus quetta out there, Like they're playing

671
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 1: their end of the bench guys that like I shouldn't

672
00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,080
Speaker 1: say end of the bench guys, but they're playing back

673
00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:25,920
Speaker 1: into the rotation guys that would not be in their

674
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,960
Speaker 1: playoff rotation if they're healthy. And so some of these

675
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,160
Speaker 1: rebounding and defense woes are somewhat to be expected. Their

676
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:35,720
Speaker 1: transition defense has also been pretty bad, which usually Boston's

677
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,040
Speaker 1: transition defense is really good, So I think part of

678
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:39,760
Speaker 1: that is a lot of these games have been blowouts,

679
00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:41,880
Speaker 1: so these games are loose a lot of the time.

680
00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:44,560
Speaker 1: But again, I let's just put it this way, I'm

681
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:49,160
Speaker 1: zero percent worried about Boston's defense. I when I watch them,

682
00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:51,480
Speaker 1: anytime they want to tighten the screws, I feel like

683
00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:54,479
Speaker 1: they can and in clutch situations, although they've only been

684
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:56,040
Speaker 1: in two of them this year, they have an eighty

685
00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:58,240
Speaker 1: six defensive rating, which is excellent, So I have no

686
00:30:58,320 --> 00:30:59,760
Speaker 1: doubt that Boston's going to be able to get the

687
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:02,560
Speaker 1: stop that they need when they need to get them.

688
00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:05,680
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown is slumping a little bit, but I'm not

689
00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:08,040
Speaker 1: worried about it. The biggest thing I'm watching is Tatum

690
00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 1: and is shooting. Like if Tatum goes up a level,

691
00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,280
Speaker 1: then I think this Boston team becomes unbeatable. They're already

692
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:15,920
Speaker 1: a favorite with Tatum kind of status quo. But if

693
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,480
Speaker 1: Jason Tatum can go up a level and just reach

694
00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:22,560
Speaker 1: that next level of reliable three level scoring, if he

695
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:24,680
Speaker 1: can get to that point, that's where I think this

696
00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,720
Speaker 1: team becomes legitimately unbeatable. He started the season super well.

697
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,640
Speaker 1: But now we're seven games in and Jason Tatum's getting

698
00:31:30,960 --> 00:31:33,360
Speaker 1: one point zero three points per jump shot and he's

699
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:36,560
Speaker 1: shooting thirty six percent overall, which is actually a tiny

700
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:38,920
Speaker 1: bit down from where he was last year. In the

701
00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,440
Speaker 1: regular season, he was at one point zero four points

702
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:43,200
Speaker 1: per jump shot, and that was with him lighting the

703
00:31:43,200 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 1: world on fire against the Knicks in the first game. So, like,

704
00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:48,880
Speaker 1: I'm just curious to see where that stabilizes. My guess

705
00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:51,520
Speaker 1: is it'll stabilize slightly above where it was last year,

706
00:31:51,520 --> 00:31:53,000
Speaker 1: because I do think he's a better shooter than he

707
00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,200
Speaker 1: was last year. But we'll see in the larger sample,

708
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:57,240
Speaker 1: and if it ends up well above where it was

709
00:31:57,320 --> 00:31:59,400
Speaker 1: last year, that's when we all need to, you know,

710
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:02,160
Speaker 1: start being really scared that this could end ugly for

711
00:32:02,200 --> 00:32:03,760
Speaker 1: everybody as Boston runs away.

712
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:04,120
Speaker 2: With it again.

713
00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,800
Speaker 1: One last Celtic I wanted to shout out Peyton Pritchard.

714
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,040
Speaker 1: I think he's arguably been their fourth past player this year.

715
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,120
Speaker 1: He's scoring at real volume and efficiency, and he's become

716
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:13,840
Speaker 1: one of the best dirty work guys in the league.

717
00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:16,440
Speaker 1: He's changing games by coming in and really picking up

718
00:32:16,440 --> 00:32:18,640
Speaker 1: the ball and applying a ton of ball pressure, which,

719
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:22,000
Speaker 1: as we've talked about, is super valuable. He sneaky, seems

720
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:24,280
Speaker 1: to win every fifty to fifty ball. He rebounds well

721
00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:27,440
Speaker 1: for a small guard. He just looks better and that's

722
00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:31,600
Speaker 1: he got another talent boost for an already stacked Boston roster.

723
00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:33,720
Speaker 2: But number one the surprise of the season.

724
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:37,320
Speaker 1: The Cleveland Cavaliers league best seven to zero, some really

725
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:40,400
Speaker 1: impressive wins. They beat the Nixon Madison Square Guarden. They

726
00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:42,520
Speaker 1: blew out that Lakers team, which I think is a

727
00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:45,720
Speaker 1: good team. They went into Milwaukee in one despite Damian

728
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:48,600
Speaker 1: Loather going off for forty plus. They're kicking ass their

729
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:51,400
Speaker 1: metrics right now. Their second, offense fifth and defense third

730
00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 1: and net rating. Three main things that I've seen them

731
00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:57,040
Speaker 1: change under Kenny Atkinson. One, they're doing more switching and

732
00:32:57,080 --> 00:32:59,240
Speaker 1: containing and staying home off the ball, which is allowing

733
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,320
Speaker 1: them to force turnal. Remember Kenny Akinson came from working

734
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,320
Speaker 1: with the Golden State Warriors for the last several seasons,

735
00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:06,240
Speaker 1: so he's bringing over some of that Steve Kurs style

736
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:09,520
Speaker 1: of defense, switching and forcing more turnovers. Basic stats for

737
00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:12,160
Speaker 1: you guys. They were thirteenth and opponent turnover rate last year.

738
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:15,200
Speaker 1: This year they're fourth, they were eleventh last year, and

739
00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:17,880
Speaker 1: scoring off of turnovers. This year they're number one in

740
00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,120
Speaker 1: the NBA and scoring off of turnovers, which leads to

741
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:24,000
Speaker 1: our next biggest change. They're playing much much faster, as

742
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:25,800
Speaker 1: we talked about, they're scoring off of turnovers, but they're

743
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:29,680
Speaker 1: also fifth in transition points scored per game. Last year

744
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,600
Speaker 1: they were seventeenth, so that's a substantial improvement. They're just

745
00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:35,680
Speaker 1: actually playing to the strengths of this roster. Garland's fast,

746
00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,880
Speaker 1: Mitchell's fast, whether it's Struser, Dan Wade, whoever it is,

747
00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,560
Speaker 1: they played the three, they have a speed there. Mobile

748
00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:43,000
Speaker 1: is one of the most mobile bigs in the league.

749
00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:45,080
Speaker 1: Jared Allen is a very mobile big. They should be

750
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:47,840
Speaker 1: running and they are running now, So shout out to

751
00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:51,000
Speaker 1: Kenny Atkinson. He's maximizing what this roster is bringing to

752
00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:53,400
Speaker 1: the table. They're staying out of the half court whenever

753
00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:55,880
Speaker 1: they can, and they're making life easier on their stars

754
00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:58,040
Speaker 1: as a result. The third biggest change is a lot

755
00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:00,160
Speaker 1: more Evan Mobley on the ball. His usage rate is

756
00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:02,800
Speaker 1: up about four percent. It's averaging eighteen points per game

757
00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:04,800
Speaker 1: on sixty two percent for shooting, running a lot of

758
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:08,920
Speaker 1: inverted action. There's stretches of the game where Donovan Mitchell's

759
00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:12,720
Speaker 1: out and they're just like playing him with same Maryl

760
00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,080
Speaker 1: and just having Merrill like they've run like a horn set,

761
00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:17,280
Speaker 1: where like Merrill will set like a screen for Mobley

762
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,960
Speaker 1: at the left elbow and he'll come off and Maryll

763
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 1: will pop and they'll just play driving kick basketball out

764
00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:24,120
Speaker 1: of that. They're getting a lot of really good stuff

765
00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:26,520
Speaker 1: out of it. In all of this, the transition scoring,

766
00:34:26,600 --> 00:34:29,799
Speaker 1: the improvement of Evan Mobley and his usage, that's making

767
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:31,879
Speaker 1: it so that Donovan Mitchell can pick his spots more.

768
00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:34,239
Speaker 1: So as a result, his minutes are lower because they're

769
00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:36,880
Speaker 1: beating people by more. His efficiency is up because he

770
00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:39,080
Speaker 1: can pick his spots more. Yeah, his scoring volume is

771
00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:41,479
Speaker 1: down a little bit, but who cares. You're winning. It's

772
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:44,320
Speaker 1: all just making life easier for Donovan Mitchell and the Calves.

773
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:46,520
Speaker 1: This is just a really damn good basketball team and

774
00:34:46,520 --> 00:34:48,640
Speaker 1: they've got a favorable schedule coming up. I think they're

775
00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:50,640
Speaker 1: going to beat the Bucks tonight at home. They go

776
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:52,759
Speaker 1: to New Orleans, then they're home for Golden State in

777
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:57,000
Speaker 1: Brooklyn to Chicago, Philly, back for Chicago Charlotte to Boston

778
00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:59,239
Speaker 1: back for the Pelicans, the Raptors and the Hawks than

779
00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:01,560
Speaker 1: to Atlanta. I think they got a chance to go

780
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:01,920
Speaker 1: nine and.

781
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:02,800
Speaker 2: Three in that stress.

782
00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:04,799
Speaker 1: So we could be looking at a sixteen and three

783
00:35:04,840 --> 00:35:07,200
Speaker 1: Calves team by the end of November, which is really

784
00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:24,640
Speaker 1: exciting stuff if you're a Cleveland Cavaliers fan. All right,

785
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:26,319
Speaker 1: let's get into our mailbag real quick before we get

786
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:28,440
Speaker 1: out of here. So first question, this was in relation

787
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:31,560
Speaker 1: to a thread of defensive Milwaukee Bucks.

788
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:33,560
Speaker 2: Clips that I put together. They had a really.

789
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,239
Speaker 1: Ugly defensive fourth quarter against the Calves the other night.

790
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:39,720
Speaker 1: This first question, it's impossible to win games with Bobby

791
00:35:39,719 --> 00:35:42,239
Speaker 1: Portis and Pat Conninson playing meaningful minutes on your roster.

792
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty four, Jannis and Dame combined with seventy

793
00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:48,360
Speaker 1: five points and eighteen assists to one turnover and lost.

794
00:35:48,640 --> 00:35:51,319
Speaker 2: So here's the thing. It's ugly. I put a whole

795
00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:52,279
Speaker 2: thread of these clips together.

796
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,279
Speaker 1: Go to my Twitter feed at underscore JSNLT you can

797
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:55,560
Speaker 1: see the thread that I'm talking about.

798
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:57,399
Speaker 2: But yeah, Bobby Portis is bad.

799
00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:59,160
Speaker 1: He was matched up with Georgia Kneeing in that early

800
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:02,240
Speaker 1: stretch of the fourth court was overhelping, he was losing

801
00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,560
Speaker 1: him off the ball. It was just it was ugly, right,

802
00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:06,319
Speaker 1: But it's not just Bobby, Like a lot of good

803
00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,320
Speaker 1: defenders are making mistakes in the system, like Yiannis is

804
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,319
Speaker 1: out of position a lot. Brook Lopez had a big

805
00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:14,960
Speaker 1: crunch time overhelp where he stepped over and left Jared

806
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:16,879
Speaker 1: Allen wide open for like a little bank shot when

807
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:19,680
Speaker 1: he shouldn't have been helping. The lawn wright who's a

808
00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:22,880
Speaker 1: career good defender at the guard position, botched a switch

809
00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:25,720
Speaker 1: and gave up a layup. Like they're just not sharp

810
00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:28,279
Speaker 1: as a team, And that screams coaching to me. It

811
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 1: screams to me that, like from day one of training camp,

812
00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:33,239
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of accountability and there's not a

813
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:35,360
Speaker 1: lot of attention to detail because that thing sort of

814
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,239
Speaker 1: thing becomes contagious and it leads to good habits and

815
00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:40,600
Speaker 1: it trickles down guys like there are a lot of

816
00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:44,520
Speaker 1: teams out there, like the Lakers defense is twenty seventh

817
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:46,720
Speaker 1: in the league, but they're eleventh and half court defense

818
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:48,919
Speaker 1: even though they have a ton of bad defenders because

819
00:36:48,920 --> 00:36:51,680
Speaker 1: they're at least like trying hard. They're locked in right.

820
00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:55,399
Speaker 1: Denver put together a championship level defense with Michael Porter

821
00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:58,680
Speaker 1: Junior and Jamal Murray and like in Nicole okicch like

822
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:02,880
Speaker 1: coaching is huge part of constructing a viable defense. You've

823
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:05,879
Speaker 1: got to take your talented defensive players and you've got

824
00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:09,520
Speaker 1: to direct them into like large things that make life

825
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 1: easier so you can construct these small, achievable defensive roles

826
00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:16,680
Speaker 1: for the players around them. Again, it's going to be difficult.

827
00:37:16,719 --> 00:37:19,839
Speaker 1: I'm not expecting you to turn Bobby Portis into a

828
00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:23,440
Speaker 1: lockdown defensive player. But like Doc Rivers has this team

829
00:37:23,600 --> 00:37:27,240
Speaker 1: legitimately bad in so many different ways on the defensive

830
00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:30,759
Speaker 1: end of the floor right now that this was a

831
00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:32,640
Speaker 1: stat I checked like two days ago, but they're giving

832
00:37:32,719 --> 00:37:36,000
Speaker 1: up the highest efficiency to pick and roll ball handlers

833
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:39,160
Speaker 1: in the entire league right now. Like these you went

834
00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:41,799
Speaker 1: and got Gary Trent Junior and Delon Wright to try

835
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:43,680
Speaker 1: to improve things at the point of attack, and somehow

836
00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:46,719
Speaker 1: you got worse Like this is. I think a lot

837
00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:48,640
Speaker 1: of this ends up coming back to Doc Rivers, and

838
00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:50,880
Speaker 1: I think he's got to do a better job coaching

839
00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:53,680
Speaker 1: these guys up on a possession by possession basis, because

840
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,000
Speaker 1: right now they're just not sharp they don't look like

841
00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:59,800
Speaker 1: a serious basketball team, and I think that extends beyond personnel.

842
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:02,600
Speaker 1: Even though we can all agree that there are some

843
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:07,360
Speaker 1: major personnel weaknesses on this team, What are some legitimate

844
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:10,280
Speaker 1: moves you can see the Nuggets making to strengthen their bench.

845
00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:12,160
Speaker 1: They are the main reason I don't see them making

846
00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:13,719
Speaker 1: it out of the conference, But it feels like they

847
00:38:13,719 --> 00:38:16,600
Speaker 1: don't have enough trading power to fix it. So for me, like,

848
00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:22,000
Speaker 1: I actually think Denver kind of falls into that category

849
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:24,960
Speaker 1: where it's less about finding like super high end players

850
00:38:24,960 --> 00:38:27,640
Speaker 1: and it's more about finding functional role players because they're

851
00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:29,640
Speaker 1: a team that's going to stagger their bench, right Like,

852
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:32,520
Speaker 1: this is a team that everything in terms of their

853
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:35,440
Speaker 1: talent equity is invested in their starting lineup, right, Like,

854
00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:39,160
Speaker 1: that's the core of this team, and most of their

855
00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:40,879
Speaker 1: issues come down to the starter's not playing well enough,

856
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:43,560
Speaker 1: right Like Jamal Murray is not playing like Jamal Murray yet,

857
00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:46,160
Speaker 1: Michael Porter Junior is not playing like Michael Porter junior yet.

858
00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:49,600
Speaker 1: I think they will in time. Okay, then you stagger

859
00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:52,120
Speaker 1: them with those bench groups, right, and so Jamal is

860
00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:53,400
Speaker 1: going to be the guy who's determining a lot of

861
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:55,800
Speaker 1: those possessions. When yokiches off the floor, Michael Porter Junior

862
00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:57,640
Speaker 1: is going to be determining a lot of those possessions.

863
00:38:57,840 --> 00:39:00,560
Speaker 1: What you need are useful role players that have some

864
00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:04,080
Speaker 1: veteran experience and that just know how to play alongside

865
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:05,160
Speaker 1: other good basketball players.

866
00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:06,480
Speaker 2: That could be like a.

867
00:39:06,480 --> 00:39:09,680
Speaker 1: Cam Johnson from Brooklyn or Dorian Finney Smith, like the

868
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:13,440
Speaker 1: just a useful role player that comes in that is

869
00:39:13,760 --> 00:39:16,040
Speaker 1: that knows how to play NBA basketball at a high level.

870
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:18,920
Speaker 1: Like there's got to be an option there for Malone

871
00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:20,879
Speaker 1: to go to in the event that these young guys

872
00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:22,919
Speaker 1: don't pan out. It's when you playing with these young

873
00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:25,960
Speaker 1: guys where it's like it's just such a cluster every

874
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,439
Speaker 1: single a cluster f every single game because you don't

875
00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:30,920
Speaker 1: know what you're gonna get that it becomes very difficult

876
00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:34,520
Speaker 1: to build consistency there. But eventually the Nuggets starters will

877
00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:37,759
Speaker 1: play better. Eventually they'll be able to piece together at

878
00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:41,719
Speaker 1: least again with the Nuggets pinch, it's not about being positive.

879
00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:46,480
Speaker 1: It's about not completely combusting every single time Nikole Jokic

880
00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:49,840
Speaker 1: steps off the floor all these previous years where the Nuggets,

881
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:52,879
Speaker 1: when the Nuggets won the championship. Even they typically lose

882
00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:55,120
Speaker 1: the non Jokic minutes by about eleven points per one

883
00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:59,120
Speaker 1: hundred possessions. This year, they're getting absolutely shredded when Yokic

884
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:00,719
Speaker 1: is off the floor. They've got to find a way

885
00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:04,080
Speaker 1: to even that out a little bit. Had a lot

886
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:08,920
Speaker 1: of questions about from Warriors fans regarding this is the

887
00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:10,759
Speaker 1: never ending debate we have about whether or not the

888
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:12,840
Speaker 1: Warriors should make a trade at some point this season.

889
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:15,799
Speaker 1: It's like the most common mail bad question I get.

890
00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:18,160
Speaker 1: Right now, I'll read a couple of them, and I'll

891
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:19,440
Speaker 1: just kind of give some thoughts and then we'll move

892
00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:22,040
Speaker 1: on the first one. Dubs need to stand pat. They

893
00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:23,839
Speaker 1: just learned a lot from the Houston game. It's about

894
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:29,520
Speaker 1: the defensive end understack, which understack will improve. Houston attempted

895
00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:31,800
Speaker 1: to emulate the Clippers. Curve made some mistakes with regard

896
00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:34,160
Speaker 1: to the fourth quarter lineup. Should have won there, and

897
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:35,799
Speaker 1: in the future there will be less success with what

898
00:40:35,840 --> 00:40:38,040
Speaker 1: Houston did and what the Clippers are. The d will

899
00:40:38,080 --> 00:40:42,520
Speaker 1: get better and then their offense is sufficient. A different

900
00:40:42,520 --> 00:40:45,760
Speaker 1: mail back question. All these analysts spend their off season

901
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:48,080
Speaker 1: disrespecting the Warriors, saying that they won't make it to

902
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:50,800
Speaker 1: the playoffs. But now they see the Warriors are actually clicking,

903
00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:53,440
Speaker 1: even winning games without Steph. All of a sudden, the

904
00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:55,360
Speaker 1: talk has shifted to the Warriors need to make a

905
00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:58,200
Speaker 1: trade for them to compete. Spare the Warriors, please admit

906
00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:00,680
Speaker 1: you were wrong and analyze the game that are pestering

907
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:03,160
Speaker 1: us with the trade talks. Twenty twenty two is a

908
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:07,040
Speaker 1: case study, but you never learn, so, guys, Like, here's

909
00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:12,400
Speaker 1: the thing. I tried not to be two results based, right, Like,

910
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:14,640
Speaker 1: for instance, like I'm a Lakers fan. You guys know

911
00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:17,480
Speaker 1: that I don't hide from that on this show. I'm

912
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:19,360
Speaker 1: a Lakers fan. And the Lakers have played the toughest

913
00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:21,439
Speaker 1: schedule in the league and they're four and two. There's

914
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:22,960
Speaker 1: a lot of reason to be excited if you're a

915
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:24,640
Speaker 1: Lakers fan. There are a lot of Lakers fans that

916
00:41:24,680 --> 00:41:28,120
Speaker 1: are starting to talk reckless a little bit, right. I

917
00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:30,960
Speaker 1: have through it all, looked at the games and been like, okay, yeah,

918
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:33,719
Speaker 1: they're wins here, like there's a win against Minnesota. But

919
00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:37,000
Speaker 1: in the win against Minnesota, there was a long stretch

920
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:39,320
Speaker 1: in the second half where Dante DiVincenzo and Nikile Alexander

921
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:41,719
Speaker 1: Walker started really ball pressuring, and the Laker offense kind

922
00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:43,960
Speaker 1: of fell apart because the guards aren't very athletic. And

923
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:46,040
Speaker 1: then it happened again in the Kings game, and then

924
00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:48,719
Speaker 1: it happened again in the Raptors game. And so I'm

925
00:41:48,760 --> 00:41:50,799
Speaker 1: looking at it and I'm going, Okay, yeah, four and

926
00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:52,879
Speaker 1: two good. This is great for the standings. It's great,

927
00:41:52,960 --> 00:41:54,759
Speaker 1: great start for the standings. They are heading into an

928
00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:57,280
Speaker 1: easier stretch of their schedule. Now, I think the Lakers

929
00:41:57,320 --> 00:41:59,520
Speaker 1: have a chance to be eleven and four after fifteen games,

930
00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:01,440
Speaker 1: like that'd be you gotta be thrilled if you're a

931
00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:05,120
Speaker 1: Lakers fan about that. But I also know that if

932
00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:07,279
Speaker 1: you're gonna get out of the Western Conference, you gotta

933
00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:09,840
Speaker 1: beat in Oklahoma City, you gotta beat a couple of

934
00:42:09,880 --> 00:42:12,600
Speaker 1: these teams from that other tier like Memphis and Denver

935
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,799
Speaker 1: in Minnesota and Dallas and all these different teams, right Like,

936
00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:17,600
Speaker 1: it's just tough. And then should you get out of

937
00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:20,160
Speaker 1: the conference, Boston's probably gonna be waiting for you on

938
00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:21,960
Speaker 1: the other side. And so I look at it and

939
00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:24,240
Speaker 1: I go, like, gues is good start for the Lakers,

940
00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:28,360
Speaker 1: But I don't think they're athletic enough in the backcourt

941
00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:31,600
Speaker 1: to really cause problems at the highest level of the game.

942
00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:35,839
Speaker 1: I have to look beyond what their results have been

943
00:42:35,880 --> 00:42:38,760
Speaker 1: to this point and look into the depth behind the results.

944
00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:40,600
Speaker 1: That's kind of how I feel about the Warriors. The

945
00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:44,440
Speaker 1: Warriors have five wins. That's great, five and one with

946
00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:48,520
Speaker 1: Steph Curry playing three games scoring fifty five total points

947
00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:50,719
Speaker 1: this season, and you're five and one, that is a

948
00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:54,719
Speaker 1: huge cause for celebration. But let's take a closer look.

949
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,000
Speaker 1: Three of those wins are against teams that completely missed

950
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:01,000
Speaker 1: the play in picture last year. Were against the Pelicans,

951
00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:02,960
Speaker 1: who were the eight seed in the West last year,

952
00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:05,960
Speaker 1: and they just traded two of their good role players

953
00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:08,560
Speaker 1: for de Jontay Murray, who is now hurt, so like,

954
00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:10,359
Speaker 1: and they don't know what to do with the center

955
00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:12,040
Speaker 1: position right now. They're kind of a mess. The Pelicans

956
00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:14,680
Speaker 1: are kind of a mess. They just lost to Atlanta

957
00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:17,080
Speaker 1: at home, and they lost to the Blazers earlier this year,

958
00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:21,000
Speaker 1: so like, look, it's still all very exciting. Last year

959
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:23,120
Speaker 1: they had Steph out of the lineup for eight games,

960
00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:25,759
Speaker 1: they went three to five. You've won more. You've won

961
00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:28,440
Speaker 1: the same amount of games without Steph already this year

962
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:30,840
Speaker 1: as you did the entire season last year. That is

963
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:35,160
Speaker 1: super exciting. It's they're clearly demonstrating that they have a

964
00:43:35,239 --> 00:43:37,840
Speaker 1: much higher floor than they did last year. I would

965
00:43:37,840 --> 00:43:39,359
Speaker 1: even go as far as to say that this team

966
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:42,319
Speaker 1: is cooking up something kind of special. Everyone seems to

967
00:43:42,320 --> 00:43:44,279
Speaker 1: be buying into their roles, which was not the case

968
00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:47,120
Speaker 1: last year. Johnathan Kaminga, it seems to be taking well

969
00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:48,840
Speaker 1: to his bench role. He's been playing better since he

970
00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:51,640
Speaker 1: went to the bench. The basketball character of this team

971
00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:53,879
Speaker 1: is through the roof like. They're resilient, they're selfless, they're

972
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:57,319
Speaker 1: hard working, they're coachable. It's all coming together. These are

973
00:43:57,320 --> 00:44:01,200
Speaker 1: the ingredients of a special basketball team. Even further, and

974
00:44:01,239 --> 00:44:03,040
Speaker 1: I talked about this earlier in the show, you could

975
00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:06,400
Speaker 1: argue last year after they had a rough end of

976
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:08,640
Speaker 1: the season again like they start. They went twenty two

977
00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:10,640
Speaker 1: to thirty one against teams that were five hundred or

978
00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:13,160
Speaker 1: better last year. Steph didn't look like a top ten

979
00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:15,319
Speaker 1: player over the final third of the season. And then

980
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:16,920
Speaker 1: at the end of the season they had two really

981
00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:19,040
Speaker 1: big games that they had to win at home against

982
00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:22,000
Speaker 1: the Pelicans, they lost on the road in Sacramento with

983
00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:24,799
Speaker 1: a chance to go to the second playing game. They

984
00:44:24,840 --> 00:44:27,520
Speaker 1: got their butts kicked. Coming out of last season, there

985
00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:30,480
Speaker 1: was a lot of people arguing, like, this team's not

986
00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:34,719
Speaker 1: worth making a trade for this team. The core isn't

987
00:44:34,719 --> 00:44:39,000
Speaker 1: good enough to justify really and really investing in. Now

988
00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:41,799
Speaker 1: it's like, hell, yeah, they're worth investing in. They've completely

989
00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:45,480
Speaker 1: turned it around. Now they seem close. They didn't seem

990
00:44:45,480 --> 00:44:48,799
Speaker 1: close last year. Now they seem close. That makes it

991
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:53,040
Speaker 1: worth the aggression. It's all together a positive trend. It's

992
00:44:53,040 --> 00:44:56,040
Speaker 1: a reason to be excited. I'm now just looking at

993
00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:58,439
Speaker 1: it beyond that. Okay, now we have an exciting team.

994
00:44:58,440 --> 00:44:59,440
Speaker 1: We have a five and one team, we have a

995
00:44:59,480 --> 00:45:02,120
Speaker 1: real team. Let's take a look at the roster. Let's

996
00:45:02,120 --> 00:45:03,880
Speaker 1: take a look at what their strengths and weaknesses are.

997
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:07,480
Speaker 1: Let's be honest. Okay, against the best defenses in the league,

998
00:45:07,520 --> 00:45:09,359
Speaker 1: Steph is the only guy I trust on this team

999
00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:13,239
Speaker 1: to create his own shot against the best defenses in

1000
00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:16,640
Speaker 1: the league, against the highest levels, like I was talking

1001
00:45:16,680 --> 00:45:19,680
Speaker 1: about earlier with the Lakers, That's what I'm fact focusing

1002
00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:26,080
Speaker 1: on here. The best indicator of future performance is past performance.

1003
00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:28,640
Speaker 1: People were kind of down on the Warriors because in

1004
00:45:28,680 --> 00:45:31,360
Speaker 1: the past they didn't look as good. So that's what like,

1005
00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:35,800
Speaker 1: I always think it's funny when people get upset about

1006
00:45:35,960 --> 00:45:39,399
Speaker 1: media underrating or overrating their teams. All of us are

1007
00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:42,720
Speaker 1: just trying to make predictions, and last year it didn't

1008
00:45:42,719 --> 00:45:45,160
Speaker 1: look like this team was in there. This has been

1009
00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:47,040
Speaker 1: a surprise. This in the Calves. These are the two

1010
00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:50,720
Speaker 1: biggest surprises of the season. Nobody was picking the Calves

1011
00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:53,320
Speaker 1: to go seven and oh. Did any of you Warriors

1012
00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:56,359
Speaker 1: fans pick the Calves to go seven and oh this year?

1013
00:45:56,920 --> 00:45:57,080
Speaker 2: No?

1014
00:45:57,200 --> 00:45:58,759
Speaker 1: Because you looked at them last year and you're like,

1015
00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:01,799
Speaker 1: they're middle of the pack Eastern Conference plaoff team, Right,

1016
00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:04,759
Speaker 1: This is an exciting trend. It is a reason to

1017
00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:09,720
Speaker 1: be excited. You guys have demonstrated that you were close

1018
00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:11,400
Speaker 1: in a way that did not seem to be the

1019
00:46:11,440 --> 00:46:15,399
Speaker 1: case last year. Last question, my man is so good

1020
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:17,880
Speaker 1: he can predict the future. Kamina is twenty two. The

1021
00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:20,960
Speaker 1: last time I checked, you had no idea Shay or

1022
00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:24,040
Speaker 1: Aunt or Yannis would be at that level. Again, guys,

1023
00:46:24,120 --> 00:46:27,080
Speaker 1: let's just be honest. I really like Jonathan Kaminga is

1024
00:46:27,080 --> 00:46:29,880
Speaker 1: an exciting young player. The plays he made in overtime

1025
00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:34,720
Speaker 1: of the Houston game. They're freakiously talented type of plays. Yannis,

1026
00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:36,759
Speaker 1: at twenty two years old, average twenty three to nine

1027
00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:39,560
Speaker 1: with four stocks per game, finished seventh in MVP voting,

1028
00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:41,160
Speaker 1: made the All Star team and was second team All

1029
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:44,000
Speaker 1: NBA and average twenty five to ten in the playoffs.

1030
00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:47,439
Speaker 1: Anthony Ewards, his age twenty two season, was just last year,

1031
00:46:47,880 --> 00:46:50,560
Speaker 1: seventh in MVP voting, All Star, Second Team All NBA.

1032
00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:53,040
Speaker 1: Averaged twenty eight seven and seven on sixty percent true

1033
00:46:53,040 --> 00:46:55,279
Speaker 1: shooting as a number one option for a Western.

1034
00:46:55,040 --> 00:46:56,279
Speaker 2: Conference Finals team.

1035
00:46:56,600 --> 00:46:59,560
Speaker 1: Shake Gilses Alexander Are twenty two, averaged twenty four points

1036
00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:01,479
Speaker 1: per game on fifty one percent from the field, forty

1037
00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:04,360
Speaker 1: two percent from three, and eighty percent from the line.

1038
00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:07,960
Speaker 1: Guys like Kaminga is an exciting young player, He's not

1039
00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:08,800
Speaker 1: those guys.

1040
00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:10,719
Speaker 2: There is no.

1041
00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:17,560
Speaker 1: Foundational, transcendently great superstar among the young players in this

1042
00:47:17,600 --> 00:47:22,000
Speaker 1: Warriors group. That doesn't mean trade them for pennies, But

1043
00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:25,080
Speaker 1: if you have the opportunity to give this roster an

1044
00:47:25,080 --> 00:47:27,880
Speaker 1: opportunity to compete for a championship, I feel like you

1045
00:47:27,920 --> 00:47:30,160
Speaker 1: owe it. You owe it to Steph, you owe it

1046
00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:34,680
Speaker 1: to Draymond, you owe it to Steve Kerr now, because again,

1047
00:47:35,719 --> 00:47:39,080
Speaker 1: if you do nothing, it's not like you fast forward

1048
00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:40,840
Speaker 1: five years and this is a championship team. There's no

1049
00:47:40,840 --> 00:47:45,319
Speaker 1: found there's no championship foundation. There you go lokot NBA history.

1050
00:47:45,320 --> 00:47:46,960
Speaker 1: You don't win a championship unless you have a top

1051
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:52,080
Speaker 1: ten player. So again, like, it's not about and I'm

1052
00:47:52,120 --> 00:47:53,680
Speaker 1: not even necessarily saying you have to trade one of

1053
00:47:53,680 --> 00:47:54,240
Speaker 1: the young guys.

1054
00:47:54,360 --> 00:47:54,799
Speaker 2: You have depth.

1055
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:58,200
Speaker 1: You have thirteen rotation players help piece together three mediocre

1056
00:47:58,200 --> 00:48:00,239
Speaker 1: salaries that are not the young guys that you so

1057
00:48:00,360 --> 00:48:03,680
Speaker 1: desperately want to keep. You are uniquely equipped guys. Like

1058
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:07,880
Speaker 1: I'm worried about the Lakers. The Lakers have like seven

1059
00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:10,720
Speaker 1: rotation players that I trust, and that's if Vando's healthy.

1060
00:48:11,560 --> 00:48:13,920
Speaker 1: It's like Gabe and Vando are the only two that

1061
00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:16,960
Speaker 1: I trust. I don't trust Aalton Connect he's a rookie,

1062
00:48:17,560 --> 00:48:22,600
Speaker 1: Max Chrissy's looked awful. Jackson Hayes fouls too much and

1063
00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:26,040
Speaker 1: is legitimately a bad defensive player. Van Doh and Gabe

1064
00:48:26,040 --> 00:48:28,000
Speaker 1: are the only two guys that I kind of trust

1065
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:30,040
Speaker 1: in the Lakers' rotation. So if the Lakers have to

1066
00:48:30,080 --> 00:48:32,840
Speaker 1: trade guys and they have to give up two rotation

1067
00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:35,560
Speaker 1: pieces to get somebody back. I'm worried that they won't

1068
00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:38,400
Speaker 1: be deep enough anymore. You guys, the Warriors have like

1069
00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:41,759
Speaker 1: seven different configurations of trades they could make that send

1070
00:48:41,760 --> 00:48:44,440
Speaker 1: out two or three players to bring back somebody high powered,

1071
00:48:44,640 --> 00:48:47,320
Speaker 1: where they still are deep, where they still are talented,

1072
00:48:47,400 --> 00:48:49,279
Speaker 1: where they still have everything they need to contend. You're

1073
00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:53,440
Speaker 1: in a great spot. It's not about talking about how

1074
00:48:53,440 --> 00:48:55,520
Speaker 1: you don't have enough just for the sake of being negative.

1075
00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:57,600
Speaker 1: It's just the realistic kind of nature of looking at

1076
00:48:57,600 --> 00:49:01,839
Speaker 1: what the NBA landscape is. Last question, Jason, I love

1077
00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:03,560
Speaker 1: you and your content, but man, it is too soon

1078
00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:06,120
Speaker 1: to know which team is and isn't a contender. Guys,

1079
00:49:06,120 --> 00:49:08,960
Speaker 1: it's my job to have an opinion on the season.

1080
00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:11,759
Speaker 1: It'd be boring if I came out here every single

1081
00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:13,520
Speaker 1: day and was like, yeah, none of this matters.

1082
00:49:13,680 --> 00:49:15,520
Speaker 2: Talk to me in April. None of this matters. Talk

1083
00:49:15,520 --> 00:49:16,360
Speaker 2: to me in April.

1084
00:49:17,360 --> 00:49:20,000
Speaker 1: At the end of the day, this is content, and

1085
00:49:20,080 --> 00:49:22,239
Speaker 1: my job is to have an opinion. So yeah, like,

1086
00:49:22,239 --> 00:49:24,759
Speaker 1: you're right, everything here as a footnote it's early, but

1087
00:49:24,840 --> 00:49:26,880
Speaker 1: I add that in here. But like, my job is

1088
00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:28,600
Speaker 1: to have an opinion to be to have a take.

1089
00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:30,319
Speaker 1: I'm going to come out with power rankings, I'm gonna

1090
00:49:30,320 --> 00:49:31,880
Speaker 1: come out with contender rankings, I'm gonna come out with

1091
00:49:31,880 --> 00:49:35,080
Speaker 1: player rankings, even though technically we don't really know what

1092
00:49:35,120 --> 00:49:37,279
Speaker 1: any of this shit looks like until we get further

1093
00:49:37,320 --> 00:49:39,520
Speaker 1: into the season, but that's just kind of the nature

1094
00:49:39,520 --> 00:49:41,480
Speaker 1: of how this goes. All right, guys, it's all I

1095
00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:43,600
Speaker 1: have for today is always I sincerely appreciate.

1096
00:49:43,239 --> 00:49:44,279
Speaker 2: You for supporting the show.

1097
00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:47,560
Speaker 1: We will be back tomorrow for some game reaction and

1098
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:48,720
Speaker 1: an episode of Tips tape.

1099
00:49:48,760 --> 00:49:49,439
Speaker 2: I'll see you guys.

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00:49:49,480 --> 00:49:53,240
Speaker 1: Then the volume