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Speaker 1: We have a jam pack show for you tonight, highly
Speaker 1: entertaining night in basketball. We're gonna be hitting on the
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis in his second half destruction of the Phoenix Suns.
Speaker 1: The Warriors got their second consecutive road win over the
Speaker 1: Dallas Mavericks. We're gonna talk about John Morant's return, a
Speaker 1: little bit about Jaron Jackson and what I think the
Speaker 1: Grizzlies need from those guys in order to have a
Speaker 1: real chance to win the NBA Championship. So I'm changing
Speaker 1: one of my major postseason predictions in light of the
Speaker 1: Paul George injury, and the last one. At least, the
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics notched a incredibly impressive win on the road
Speaker 1: in Sacramento, and shortly before that, I believe Jaylen Brown
Speaker 1: had some interesting comments. So we're gonna go out to
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference to talk a little bit Celtics and
Speaker 1: Jamo Brown. You guys know the drill. Before we get started,
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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball. So the Lakers get another big
Speaker 1: win over the Phoenix Suns. It's been mostly them playing
Speaker 1: really well ever since the trade deadline, with exception of
Speaker 1: some really bad one and three stretch over four game
Speaker 1: stretch where they got some inconsistent play out of Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis and lost the game when Anthony Davis rested. And
Speaker 1: you know, it's funny because I have a lot of
Speaker 1: the Lakers fans get on me a lot about how
Speaker 1: critical I am of Anthony Davis. And that's not unique
Speaker 1: to the Lakers. That's kind of just the way it
Speaker 1: is with every fan base. There. A lot of fans
Speaker 1: want to hear very rose colored glasses approaches to their team,
Speaker 1: and that's just not what this show is about. This
Speaker 1: show is I'm just gonna give you guys my authentic
Speaker 1: and honest opinion about any team and any player. And
Speaker 1: I'll admit that I'm biased about certain things, and I
Speaker 1: am biased about the Lakers. I root for them. They're
Speaker 1: the team in the league that I root for the most.
Speaker 1: I don't really have an NBA team that I'm directly
Speaker 1: associated with, but Lebron has always been my favorite player,
Speaker 1: so I root for the Lakers. And you know, Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis has been one of the more frustrating players that
Speaker 1: I've rooted for in my time as a basketball fan,
Speaker 1: in large part because the difference between what he's capable
Speaker 1: of when he is locked in and physically aggressive versus
Speaker 1: when he's coasting through games or anything else below that
Speaker 1: is a massive chasm, and you know, you'll see dynamics
Speaker 1: like what you saw in this particular game, Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: you saw in the first half versus the Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: you saw in the second half. That oscillation between those
Speaker 1: two versions of AD has been a massive storyline in
Speaker 1: his time as a Laker, at least since the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty season, when I will admit that he was dominant
Speaker 1: throughout you know, and I don't know what happened after
Speaker 1: that point. I'm sure it's a combination of a bunch
Speaker 1: of different things. He put on a lot of it.
Speaker 1: He put on a lot of weight, so he's not
Speaker 1: as fast as he used to be. He's had some
Speaker 1: bad luck with injuries. He definitely let his foot off
Speaker 1: the gas a little bit in terms of just his
Speaker 1: overall competitiveness and aggression after that title, because he came
Speaker 1: in healthy into the following season and started the following
Speaker 1: season kind of passively working his way through the season
Speaker 1: and so like, it just hasn't been consistently that version
Speaker 1: of Anthony Davis since he came to LA and that's
Speaker 1: been frustrated because what happens when he engages himself like that,
Speaker 1: drop steps, spin, move dunks, you know, like barreling down
Speaker 1: to the rim, and nobody can stop him without fouling him.
Speaker 1: He's so good when he's physically aggressive to the rim.
Speaker 1: He's not Yannis, but he's close to that when he's
Speaker 1: engaging himself like that. And that's why it's frustrating when
Speaker 1: he floats through games. You know, there's been a lot
Speaker 1: of excuse making from Lakers fans on that front. Oh
Speaker 1: they're not running enough plays for him, Oh you know,
Speaker 1: like it's the guards are looking him off. I completely
Speaker 1: and vehemently disagree with that. If you're a guard and
Speaker 1: you're operating through a game and you toss the ball
Speaker 1: to your big man, your star, and he just kind
Speaker 1: of stands there and casually waits for the devil team
Speaker 1: and then makes a kickout pass to the wing, or
Speaker 1: if he catches and looks at it at his man
Speaker 1: and takes two crazy dribbles and takes a wild step
Speaker 1: back jump shot from twenty feet and it's just not
Speaker 1: producing offense. Then it's a guard as your program, So
Speaker 1: make the right play for your team. You will start
Speaker 1: to be like, hey, comes to a ball screen, Let's
Speaker 1: see if we can get you somewhere else on the floor. Right,
Speaker 1: they're reacting to AD's passivity when he is physically aggressive.
Speaker 1: They do give him the basketball when he's engaging himself
Speaker 1: like that. Like he touched the ball almost every time
Speaker 1: down in the third quarters. You know why because every
Speaker 1: time he touched it, it was a point and a half.
Speaker 1: He was either make a shot or going to the
Speaker 1: foul line and going one for two. And I mean,
Speaker 1: and what was interesting is he kind of started to
Speaker 1: build his rhythm there at the free throw line, and
Speaker 1: then what happened He made two highly difficult pull up
Speaker 1: jump shots. Because what do I always talk about if
Speaker 1: you build your rhythm by finding easy shots, and easy
Speaker 1: shots are not just layups, they're also the free throw line.
Speaker 1: The free throw line is an amazing opportunity to build
Speaker 1: the rhythm for your jump shot. We just talked about
Speaker 1: this in the Dallas game when Natsi Kleiba had not
Speaker 1: made a three in the game, but he made three
Speaker 1: straight free throws on the previous possession, effectively practicing his
Speaker 1: release so that it felt great when he made the
Speaker 1: game winner on the following possession. There is an order
Speaker 1: of operations to being consistently great as an offensive player.
Speaker 1: You build your rhythm through easier shots, and then you
Speaker 1: start to test yourself to see what you're capable of.
Speaker 1: Devin Booker did that tonight. He was drifting his way
Speaker 1: to fouls, and once he started to find his release
Speaker 1: there at the foul line, that was when he started
Speaker 1: going aggressively to his pull up jump shot. You know,
Speaker 1: I hold a d to that standard, not because I'm
Speaker 1: trying to be a jerk, not because I'm trying to
Speaker 1: be overleague critical. It's because I think that when Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis plays like that, he is one of the five
Speaker 1: best players in basketball. That's how highly I think of
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis. When he is engaged, I think he's I
Speaker 1: think his ceiling defensively is higher than any other players
Speaker 1: in the league. Hiring Draymond's hired the Broglopez hiring. Janis
Speaker 1: hired Rudy Gobert, but I've never considered him the best
Speaker 1: defender in the league because he just doesn't bring it
Speaker 1: enough often enough in games. And then on the offensive
Speaker 1: end of the floor, his combination as a play finisher,
Speaker 1: as a downhill force when he's being physically aggressive, and
Speaker 1: a pick him pop threat, and a guy who can
Speaker 1: make those fifteen to twenty foot jump shots consistently when
Speaker 1: he's in rhythm. That guy, combined with being the best
Speaker 1: defender basketball, a guy that can dominate games as a
Speaker 1: rebounder as well, that guy is a top tier superstar.
Speaker 1: And like the same way you guys would criticize Janis
Speaker 1: if he was inconsistent, the same way you guys would
Speaker 1: criticize him beat if he was inconsistent, the same way
Speaker 1: you guys would criticize Jokis if he was inconsistent. That's
Speaker 1: just the standard I hold a D two. Is he
Speaker 1: one of those guys or is he something else? Because
Speaker 1: if he's something else, if he's not that guy, then
Speaker 1: I'd be happy to start to be a little bit
Speaker 1: more relaxed than the way that we cover it. The
Speaker 1: difference between the way he engaged himself and the second
Speaker 1: half of that game versus the first half of that
Speaker 1: game was jarring. The second half of that game versus
Speaker 1: every one of his previous five games except for the
Speaker 1: Pelicans game is jarring, and a disappointing thing in it
Speaker 1: all is It's simply a matter of physical aggression. And
Speaker 1: for the Lakers, they are desperate. There's no reason in
Speaker 1: the world why he shouldn't be at that level as
Speaker 1: much as he physically can manage. From a tactical perspective,
Speaker 1: one thing I really liked in that second half that
Speaker 1: I'd like to see a little bit more from Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis is going quickly off the catch instead of waiting
Speaker 1: for a double team. You know, we talk about Yannis
Speaker 1: a lot for being kind of a balloon of China's shop,
Speaker 1: And I don't mean that critically with Yannis, because you
Speaker 1: guys know, I think Yannis is the best basketball player
Speaker 1: in the world. But like sometimes Yannis, like one of
Speaker 1: the best ways that he counters double teams is he
Speaker 1: catches the ball and he sees like a little slip
Speaker 1: of space. Even if there's like defender right in front
Speaker 1: of him, a defender digging down from the left wing,
Speaker 1: a defender digging down from the right wing, He'll see
Speaker 1: one of those gaps, and he'll find one that looks
Speaker 1: just a little better than the other and he'll just
Speaker 1: go through it. And he'll get offensive fouls every single game,
Speaker 1: he'll get turnovers every single game. But you know what else,
Speaker 1: he gets a million free throws and a million baskets,
Speaker 1: and he averages like thirty two points per game. And
Speaker 1: so one of the ways that you can counter dub
Speaker 1: teaming and crowding, specifically when you have a physical advantage. Obviously,
Speaker 1: if you're DeAngelo Russell and you try to do that,
Speaker 1: they're gonna bounce you off instead of you bouncing them off. Right,
Speaker 1: But you're Anthony Davis, one of the most basically gifted
Speaker 1: athletes in the league, and when you just throw your
Speaker 1: head down and go to the rim, you're gunna drop fouls,
Speaker 1: you're gonna get baskets, and yeah, you have occasional charges
Speaker 1: and turn and you'll turn the ball over occasionally. Sometimes
Speaker 1: I think Ad plays too safe instead of just understanding
Speaker 1: that his job is to be a wrecking ball. And
Speaker 1: that's the way that the Lakers can win a championship.
Speaker 1: Lebron the half court surgeon with some of that perimeter
Speaker 1: shack and then Anthony Davis, the wrecking ball with the
Speaker 1: skilled guards around them, Aussa Reeves. You know, following up
Speaker 1: is the thirty five, six and six. The other night
Speaker 1: follows that up with twenty five and ten again tonight.
Speaker 1: You know what's funny is like last year, I was
Speaker 1: really coming into the beginning of this year, I was
Speaker 1: higher on Austin Reeves than the vast majority of even
Speaker 1: Laker fans. There were a couple of specific things that
Speaker 1: I thought he was really good at. He's an excellent
Speaker 1: positional defender, meaning like he doesn't get aggressive at the basketball.
Speaker 1: He just understands if I slide my feet and I
Speaker 1: put my chest between my man in the basket, he'll
Speaker 1: have to shoot over the top of me. If he
Speaker 1: has to shoot over the top of me, he's either
Speaker 1: gonna miss or he's gonna try to go through me,
Speaker 1: and I'll draw a budge offensive fouls as I get
Speaker 1: elbowed in the face and then on the offensive end
Speaker 1: of the floor. I just viewed him as this awesome
Speaker 1: connective piece, a guy that can knock down spot at threes,
Speaker 1: but was an excellent like second side creator, like a
Speaker 1: guy that can attack with an advantage and then attacking
Speaker 1: clothes outs so good at like like getting into the
Speaker 1: middle of the lane and getting guys off balance to
Speaker 1: draw fouls and hit cutters and things along those lines.
Speaker 1: Even as optimistic as I was, I never in a
Speaker 1: million years thought he could be this guy. Somehow I
Speaker 1: underestimated him. I can't say credit for it because it's
Speaker 1: from one of my bosses, But one of my bosses
Speaker 1: says that he reminds me of that he reminds him
Speaker 1: of Manu Genobli, And I think it's a super interesting
Speaker 1: comp because, you know, MANAGENOBLEI was not the most athletic
Speaker 1: player in his position, very similar to Austin Reeves, like
Speaker 1: man who played the same position as Kobe Bryant, but
Speaker 1: without the you know, the ridiculous set of physical tools
Speaker 1: that Kobe Bryant had, right, But one of the things
Speaker 1: that Manage Genoble did is it was a combination of
Speaker 1: understanding the angles and leverage you need to get defenders
Speaker 1: out of the position and weaponizing defenders physical gifts against them. So,
Speaker 1: for instance, like if you've got better physical tools than
Speaker 1: the guy you're guarding, a lot of times when you
Speaker 1: get beat off the dribble, you think to yourself, like,
Speaker 1: I can recover, I can get back into this play.
Speaker 1: All I gotta do is sprit because I'm a better
Speaker 1: athlete and I'm gonna get there. And Austin is so
Speaker 1: good at again. He'll flip angles of the screen. We
Speaker 1: talked about this a lot, getting the defense to pick
Speaker 1: a side that he thinks the screen's gonna go, and
Speaker 1: start preparing to go over the screen, but then suddenly
Speaker 1: reversing that angle, so he's out of position. Austin gets
Speaker 1: you out of position. Once you're out of position, he's
Speaker 1: expecting you to come flying back into the play, and
Speaker 1: that's when he gets you with those foul calls. But
Speaker 1: the combination of legit high end shot making, the dude's
Speaker 1: going to be a perennial fifty forty ninety guy. He's
Speaker 1: got all the important shots that pull up fifteen footer,
Speaker 1: the catch and shoot three, the pull up three when
Speaker 1: the guy goes underneath the screen, the floater, the hook shot,
Speaker 1: the scoop shot, and then he combines that with the
Speaker 1: ability to make all the necessary reads. That's really all
Speaker 1: you need to be a primary ball handler. If you
Speaker 1: can make the right reads and you can make all
Speaker 1: the shots that present themselves at an efficient rate, you
Speaker 1: can be a primary ball handler in the NBA. You know,
Speaker 1: I thought it was super interesting that Darvin him moved
Speaker 1: him into the starting lineup, and I thought it was
Speaker 1: the right move, you know, I was on the fence
Speaker 1: about it, like, obviously Austin is he's just better than
Speaker 1: Malik Beasley, so he deserves to start. But one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why it wasn't like actively pushing for it
Speaker 1: was just I understood the staggering elements of it, right,
Speaker 1: Like Austin can run the bench unit right now, you
Speaker 1: don't have Lebron, so you need that little bit of
Speaker 1: extra ball handling, right, Lebron will be running bench groups
Speaker 1: because of the way they use Anthony Davis. Lebron will
Speaker 1: be running bench groups. So it kind of made some
Speaker 1: sense to me. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: there were a couple of specific advantages that immediately became apparent.
Speaker 1: And I always just knew who cares who starts, Like
Speaker 1: it just doesn't matter. Austin's gonna be out there more
Speaker 1: minutes and he's gonna be out there to close games, right,
Speaker 1: But moving into the starting line I thought was interesting
Speaker 1: on a couple of different levels. First of all, I
Speaker 1: actually liked Angel Russell offball more than on ball. He
Speaker 1: made several very important spot up threes. I made two
Speaker 1: whom I think in the fourth quarter of this game.
Speaker 1: He's got a very quick release on the catch, and
Speaker 1: he doesn't need to get his feet set or dip.
Speaker 1: He can, like on the catch, just kind of flow
Speaker 1: up into his shot. So there's no wasted time there.
Speaker 1: So he doesn't need a ton of space. And so
Speaker 1: you can't put Delo off the ball if Molik bees
Speaker 1: Lee is with him, because Malie Beasley is an off
Speaker 1: ball player, so bringing Austin Reeves onto the floor open
Speaker 1: things up for Dangel Russell to get more off ball opportunities.
Speaker 1: So it made some sense there, right. But another big
Speaker 1: part of it is it helped, I think, specifically in
Speaker 1: the second half, with getting Anthony Davis involved. You know,
Speaker 1: one of the things that the Lakers have done a
Speaker 1: lot lately is run action for Malik Beasley, just having
Speaker 1: him fly off the screens, off the weeks out of
Speaker 1: the floor and have him rise up and take shots.
Speaker 1: The problem with that is Malik's not that good at
Speaker 1: that particular type of shot, and he hasn't been a
Speaker 1: consistently elite shooter for the Lakers, and really anywhere in
Speaker 1: his career is just a high volume, thirty six percent guy, right.
Speaker 1: But most importantly, running action for Malie Beasley means you're
Speaker 1: not running action with Anthony Davis, because again they're Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis is involved in that action, but primarily as a screener,
Speaker 1: and they're prepared to handle Malik Beasley as a curling player,
Speaker 1: and so Anthony Davis could have openings they're poppingto the
Speaker 1: three point line that Ad doesn't like to take three,
Speaker 1: So doesn't really make a ton of sense to use
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis that way. Having Malik Beasley run those off
Speaker 1: screen actions with Winnie and Gabriel makes a lot more sense.
Speaker 1: And so moving off some raves the starting lineup was
Speaker 1: I thought an interesting little adjustment from Darbnham that I
Speaker 1: agreed with. The biggest thing that they're gonna have to
Speaker 1: track here over the course of the rest of the
Speaker 1: season is the dynamic with Lebron out. Do you run
Speaker 1: the offense through Anthony Davis or do you run the
Speaker 1: offense through the guards meaning high pick and roll or
Speaker 1: you know, they were they kept running the same play
Speaker 1: every time down the floor tonight, where they would get
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis on the left block and they'd have one
Speaker 1: of the Laker guards to set a pin down for
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis at the block, having curl up to the
Speaker 1: free throw line just so Anthony Davis could have a
Speaker 1: tiny bit of separation so that he could quit catch
Speaker 1: and go to work, right, And like, that's the way
Speaker 1: you run it through Anthony Davis. But if you're running
Speaker 1: it through the guards, it's all high ball screens with
Speaker 1: AD setting the screen that dynamic needs to be decided
Speaker 1: gains a game if Anthony Davis was consistently this physically
Speaker 1: aggressive downhill, run the damn offense through Ad every single game.
Speaker 1: But there's just that's just not the case. Ad is
Speaker 1: gonna inconsistent with his engagement level physically, So it's gonna
Speaker 1: be one of those things where you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: kind of tow that line where if Ads not engage mentally,
Speaker 1: you do need to run it through the guards. And
Speaker 1: between Austin Reeves, Dennis Schroeder, and Dangel Russell, the Lakers
Speaker 1: actually have a very good guard core, and so that's
Speaker 1: actually in many nights, the better way to run offense
Speaker 1: when Anthony Davis is not engaged. Before we move on
Speaker 1: Devin Booker, I am terrified of the Phoenix Suns. I
Speaker 1: said this yesterday with the same Massini when we were talking.
Speaker 1: But I've been high on Devin Booker pretty much for
Speaker 1: the last two years. You guys have noticed, those of
Speaker 1: you who have been following the show of notice that
Speaker 1: I've been really impressed with this playmaking. And he's gone
Speaker 1: from like Bradley Beal type of inconsistent scorer to like
Speaker 1: deadly efficient score with the high level playmaking. Which is
Speaker 1: the difference between a volume scoring guard like Bradley Beale
Speaker 1: and a superstar like Devin Booker. That is the difference,
Speaker 1: the next level of efficiency and the high level playmaking.
Speaker 1: But like, he completely controlled and dominated that game for
Speaker 1: the Suns offensively, and I appreciate we talked about this earlier,
Speaker 1: but I liked the way he built his rhythm by
Speaker 1: grifting his way to the line, and I hate foul drifting.
Speaker 1: I tweeted this third in the game. I hated the
Speaker 1: way that game was officiated on both ends of the floor.
Speaker 1: But I've just kind of reserved myself to the fact
Speaker 1: that that's the way that basketball is going to be
Speaker 1: for a while until the NBA makes some significant changes.
Speaker 1: But he built his rhythm at the line, then he
Speaker 1: got crazy with the pull up shooting. He every single
Speaker 1: time he saw the Lakers not set in their defense,
Speaker 1: he just hit Jared Vanderbilt with a quick move and
Speaker 1: tried to go to the ram and he got a
Speaker 1: bunch of free throws that way he is. He's gone
Speaker 1: up a level this year to what I think is
Speaker 1: that legit consistent superstar status. I think you saw that
Speaker 1: without Phoenix fell apart when he got hurt, and I'm
Speaker 1: terrified to the Suns put that guy, which is a
Speaker 1: better version of Kyrie Irving. With Kevin Durant, with Deandreton,
Speaker 1: with Chris Paul, with what Joshu Kogi brings as a
Speaker 1: point of attack defender, and he's got a little bit
Speaker 1: of downhill athletic force himself. They're terrifying, and like the
Speaker 1: deeper they get into the playoffs and get that continuity,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be more and more scared of them,
Speaker 1: And I can tell you guys right now that I'm
Speaker 1: probably going to pick them to win the title at
Speaker 1: the start of next season. If they can address the
Speaker 1: specific needs that they have on that roster. All right,
Speaker 1: let's move on to the Warrior's maps. So the Warriors
Speaker 1: finally get two consecutive road wins. I was talking about
Speaker 1: the schedule coming in after the last Warriors game, and
Speaker 1: I talked about how, like that Houston battle was going
Speaker 1: to be an interesting challenge, Like Houston's kind of big
Speaker 1: and strong on the perimeter, right, and Golden State struggles
Speaker 1: on the road. They battle through there, they get a win.
Speaker 1: The Dallas game, that's a tough that's a tough place
Speaker 1: to play on the road. And what's interesting is, I
Speaker 1: a it's an easier matchup for Golden State because Dallas
Speaker 1: also is missing length and athleticism on the perimeter and
Speaker 1: in the front court. Right. So that specific issue, like
Speaker 1: that's been the problem that's plagued Golden State over the
Speaker 1: course of the last couple of months. Andrew Wiggins has
Speaker 1: gone Gary Payton is hurt. They're trying to go out
Speaker 1: there and win NBA games. Is one of the least
Speaker 1: athletic and least tall perimeter teams in the league, and
Speaker 1: it just is really tough for them to compensate. But
Speaker 1: fortunately with Dallas in particular, they also suffer from that
Speaker 1: same problem, so they were able to flip that script.
Speaker 1: They outrebounded Dallas forty four to thirty one. They had
Speaker 1: eleven offensive rebounds for eighteen second chance points, which was
Speaker 1: literally the difference in the game. And what was funny
Speaker 1: is I'm sure you guys who watched the game kind
Speaker 1: of felt this way. That whole fourth quarter is one
Speaker 1: of the most entertaining fourth quarters that I've seen this year,
Speaker 1: And it kind of is that little bit of a
Speaker 1: hint of what we're gonna get for two months, because
Speaker 1: what you saw was true, like complete and total desperation
Speaker 1: from two teams that are clawing to get out of
Speaker 1: the plane. And that's what the playoffs are for two months.
Speaker 1: It's just desperation from everybody. But like desperation just brings
Speaker 1: a level of effort and energy on both ends of
Speaker 1: the floor that makes for highly entertaining basketball. Is super chaotic.
Speaker 1: I think both teams actually scored pretty well all things considered,
Speaker 1: which is to be expected with the lack of athleticism
Speaker 1: on the floor. But it came down to at the
Speaker 1: end of the game, Steph made two plays and the
Speaker 1: Warriors got two stops. That was literally the difference in
Speaker 1: the game. It was back and forth, back and forth
Speaker 1: and back and forth, and then Steph made two plays
Speaker 1: and the Warriors got two stops. The two plays, there
Speaker 1: was a really nice player where Steph snake to pick
Speaker 1: and roll, and again what that means is when you
Speaker 1: go over the top of the screen, the defender's chasing
Speaker 1: you over the top, but if you quick go over
Speaker 1: to the other side of the screen, the defender will
Speaker 1: be trapped behind you and you can slow yourself down
Speaker 1: and kind of pin him. And then it's very interesting.
Speaker 1: This is the player where Draymond gets the end one.
Speaker 1: Steph just literally looks up at the rim like he's
Speaker 1: gonna shoot his little floater, and Christian Wood just takes
Speaker 1: one false step up towards Steph to contest the floater,
Speaker 1: and step throws a no look bounce pass to Draymond Green.
Speaker 1: Draymond goes up through the contact Christian Woods, not exceptionally
Speaker 1: strong player, Draymond powers through him and gets the end one,
Speaker 1: and then the second one he's got a Maxi cleave
Speaker 1: on him. And we just talked about this earlier with
Speaker 1: the Lakers with Austin reeves flipping the angle of a
Speaker 1: screen or rejecting the screen, which basically just means we
Speaker 1: talked about this before. When the guard is preparing to
Speaker 1: go over a screen, he's gonna take a big step
Speaker 1: high up over the top of the screen to try
Speaker 1: to sidle up over the top of that screen. That's
Speaker 1: a great time to flip angles or to reverse and
Speaker 1: go the other way because his steps are off and
Speaker 1: he's not in a position to stay in front. Steph
Speaker 1: hits him with the behind the back Trible rejects the screen.
Speaker 1: Draymond Green has Reggie Bullock on him from the switch,
Speaker 1: and he just boxes him out of the lane and
Speaker 1: leaves Steph with a wide open, driving right handed layup.
Speaker 1: Two excellent examples of high pick and roll shot creation
Speaker 1: from Steph Curry then and then on the other end
Speaker 1: of the floor. The Warriors got the two stops they needed.
Speaker 1: The first one Clay Thompson on Luca. Luca a tacks
Speaker 1: Clay on a switch, targets Clay. They don't even need
Speaker 1: to double. Luca tries to hit him with his textbook
Speaker 1: hesitation to go to his right. Clay funnels him towards
Speaker 1: the sideline. Luca ends up throwing a pass to the
Speaker 1: middle of the floor and goes back to get a
Speaker 1: dribble hand off with Clay on him. And what I
Speaker 1: thought was so smart is Clay understood the amount of
Speaker 1: time that was on the shot clock. Luca is not
Speaker 1: an exceptionally fast player. There was only about three or
Speaker 1: four seconds on the shot clock. Clay knew he was
Speaker 1: not going to go past him to the rim. There
Speaker 1: wasn't enough time. And what is Lucas go to move
Speaker 1: in a late clock situation. And when he's got that
Speaker 1: type of matchup the step back three. And if you
Speaker 1: watch Clay, he sold out on the step back three
Speaker 1: and Luca went for it obviously because it was his
Speaker 1: only option there. Luca had to step through and he
Speaker 1: misses that little floating jumps out at the top of
Speaker 1: the key. Excellent individual defense from Clay Thompson, which has
Speaker 1: been a hallmark of his career. And then on the
Speaker 1: final possession, at him bounds pass to Luca underneath the basket,
Speaker 1: Draymond just walls up and sends him under the rim.
Speaker 1: That's a super common play you'll see in basketball is
Speaker 1: a player that catches the ball underneath the rim and
Speaker 1: it's a good place to draw a foul if the
Speaker 1: defender comes down with his arms, and so most offenders
Speaker 1: will just wall up, and as the offensive player, you
Speaker 1: have to jump into him and try to win that
Speaker 1: physical confrontation to dislodge him enough to go up and
Speaker 1: make that lay up underneath the rim. But Draymond is
Speaker 1: as stout a power forward that you'll find in the league,
Speaker 1: holds his ground, forces the miss on Luca don Chich
Speaker 1: and the game is over a couple of specific shout
Speaker 1: out like classic Warriors execution down the stretch, a couple
Speaker 1: of specific shout outs steps on ballplaymaking. Yet thirteen assists
Speaker 1: in this game had excellent chemistry hitting Draymond Green and
Speaker 1: Jonathan Cominga and the role and pick and roll in ISO,
Speaker 1: he was hitting cutters when they would get too many
Speaker 1: eyes on the basketball. He was really good with transition
Speaker 1: kick aheads today, like just spotting those little spots in
Speaker 1: transition where a guy wasn't getting matched up. He'd kick
Speaker 1: ahead to Comingo for a dunker, kick ahead to Draymond
Speaker 1: Green for a layout. You know what's interesting with step
Speaker 1: is he's never really thought of is a great passer
Speaker 1: because so many people just look at his assists numbers
Speaker 1: instead of watching the games. But the truth of the
Speaker 1: matter is as steps assists numbers are low because he
Speaker 1: operates off the ball all the time. His assists are
Speaker 1: the attention that he gets garners from defenses. But making
Speaker 1: no mistake, if he played Damian Lillard ball and he
Speaker 1: just ran high pick and roll fifty times a game,
Speaker 1: I guarantee you he could average a double figure assists
Speaker 1: in this league. He's every bit as good a pastor
Speaker 1: in high pick and roll as the best cards in
Speaker 1: the league. He just simply doesn't need to do that
Speaker 1: because of how well he weaponizes his off ball attention.
Speaker 1: Jordan Pool played a really nice game six assists with
Speaker 1: no turnovers. His dribble penetration was a huge swing factor
Speaker 1: in the third quarter running from the Warriors. He was
Speaker 1: just consistently beating Jaden Hardy and Josh Green off the bounce.
Speaker 1: There's a play, just one of the most ridiculous, like
Speaker 1: highlight plays in basketball that you'll see that kind of
Speaker 1: got glossed over in this game. Jordan Pool is Josh
Speaker 1: Green on him, calls for a ball screen, comes hard
Speaker 1: off of it to his left when the big shows.
Speaker 1: He whips into a spin to split the pick and roll,
Speaker 1: and I can't even begin to describe how complicated that is.
Speaker 1: Splitting the pick and roll is already tough because that
Speaker 1: gap is super tight. Most players have split the pick
Speaker 1: and roll will push the ball in between and try
Speaker 1: to cdle in between and catch up to the ball.
Speaker 1: Jordan's just so damn fast that he's covering so much
Speaker 1: ground that that gap is pretty big. He spun into
Speaker 1: split the pick and roll and dropped it off for
Speaker 1: Jamichael Green for a dunk, and had that little flare
Speaker 1: with his hands out, you know, the Jordan Poole ceiling.
Speaker 1: It's it's he's such a high, high level dribble creator
Speaker 1: in this league just because people can't keep him in front.
Speaker 1: I've only played the game tonight. And then lastly, Johnathan Cominga.
Speaker 1: You know it's funny is I talked a lot in
Speaker 1: this show about the intelligent switch that Golden State made
Speaker 1: to kind of turn Jonathan Cominga into a big in
Speaker 1: the offensive sense, operating mostly as a cutter, operating most
Speaker 1: of the screen and roll guy, and he did a
Speaker 1: lot of that tonight, cut into the rim. He had
Speaker 1: a really nice left handed finishing pick and roll with
Speaker 1: Steph Curry in a late fourth quarter play I had
Speaker 1: like his left hand is actually sneaky, super accurate off
Speaker 1: the glass. But what I want to talking about cominga
Speaker 1: tonight is he a big part of why they physically
Speaker 1: dominated Dallas, because again they didn't have the physical mismatches
Speaker 1: with Dallas, but they actually dominated Dallas physically in this game,
Speaker 1: and a big part of it was Jonathan Cominga put
Speaker 1: put forth a reasonable vacsimile of what Andrew Wiggins was
Speaker 1: excellent point of attack defense on Luca don Chich. He
Speaker 1: was doing this thing where like Luca will Luca will
Speaker 1: give the ball up to the big and then do
Speaker 1: like a false cut and then try to cut off
Speaker 1: the top for like a dribble handoff to go downhill,
Speaker 1: and Johnathan Comingo was shooting that gap and he actually
Speaker 1: forced a couple turnovers that way for just unbelievable ridiculous
Speaker 1: transition dunks too. But then he was also I thought
Speaker 1: he did a pretty solid job all game in point
Speaker 1: of attack on Luca, his spot up shooting at two
Speaker 1: corner threes, Like if he starts knocking down corner threes
Speaker 1: at a consistent right that's obviously a huge game changer.
Speaker 1: And then one of the big things I always talking
Speaker 1: about with Andrew Wiggins is matchup attacking. So like you
Speaker 1: get a smaller play you're on the perimeter, Andrew Wiggins
Speaker 1: in the playoffs last year, which constantly just like rip
Speaker 1: through the middle and like get to the basket, or
Speaker 1: if did you cut him off, just bump him off
Speaker 1: and like make a little float or a little short
Speaker 1: pull up jump shot. There's a play in the I
Speaker 1: think it was in the fourth quarter of this game
Speaker 1: where he happened to have Jayden Hardy on him on
Speaker 1: a switch late clock situation on the left wing, and
Speaker 1: he just ripped through to the right, bump Jaden Hardy,
Speaker 1: hard spin back towards his left hand, soft left hand
Speaker 1: finished off the glass. That's all Andrew Wiggins stuff. And again,
Speaker 1: like when we're talking about the Warriors, like here's the thing.
Speaker 1: If Andrew Wiggins doesn't come back, it's gonna be extremely
Speaker 1: difficult for them to win a championship. That's just the
Speaker 1: reality of NBA basketball. I would imagine even most of
Speaker 1: you Warriors fans can acknowledge that. But if there was
Speaker 1: a puncher's chance, it's what if Jonathan Cominga can give
Speaker 1: you eighty percent of what Andrew Wiggins gives you, And
Speaker 1: obviously that would still maybe not be enough because ideally
Speaker 1: you want all three you want coming off the bench,
Speaker 1: with Gary Payton off the bench, Wiggins in the starting lineup.
Speaker 1: But that gives you at least a fighting chance before
Speaker 1: we move on with the Mavericks. So that weird play
Speaker 1: in the third quarter. Here's the thing. Did the ref
Speaker 1: screw up? Yeah? They did. What should the crew chief
Speaker 1: do when like one team is way on one side
Speaker 1: of the court and there's clearly confusion over who has possession.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're run out onto the floor and you blow
Speaker 1: the play debt Like, of course it was a mistake,
Speaker 1: but Mark Human making such a big deal out of
Speaker 1: it and protesting the game is such a loser mentality,
Speaker 1: Like how many times in a basketball game does something
Speaker 1: that's out of your control not go your way? A
Speaker 1: bad call, a missed goaltend, a guy steps out of
Speaker 1: bounds and the ref just doesn't see it. Lucky stuff
Speaker 1: like dude throws up a half court shot MC goes in.
Speaker 1: There are random occurrences a half dozen probably in every
Speaker 1: single basketball game that are completely out of your control.
Speaker 1: Sometimes all six of them go against you and you
Speaker 1: have to try to find a way to win. You
Speaker 1: land late in the fourth quarter of this game, and
Speaker 1: you couldn't close the deal because they got the clutch
Speaker 1: baskets and you could not. That's a loser mentality. It's
Speaker 1: like Luca Donche, It's like, look, everyone who has played
Speaker 1: basketball at any level gets frustrated with officiating. That is
Speaker 1: just normal part of being a competitor. But there's a
Speaker 1: way to handle it, and there's a way not to.
Speaker 1: You know, I was talking there's a friend of mine
Speaker 1: who plays NCAA basketball right now, and they just lost
Speaker 1: a heartbreaking game in the tournament and is one of
Speaker 1: the guys I work out with when he comes home
Speaker 1: in the summer and on two awful calls, an awful
Speaker 1: call and regulation and an awful call at ot And
Speaker 1: when I messaged him about it, the kid's attitude, who
Speaker 1: was like, yeah, it sucked, but you know what, like
Speaker 1: we gotta be better so that we can't find ourselves
Speaker 1: in that situation next year. Of course he's pissed off
Speaker 1: about the play, but it's just a loser mentality to
Speaker 1: go up to the refs and make the money sign like, No, Luca,
Speaker 1: you didn't lose that game because of officiating. Draymond didn't
Speaker 1: foul you on the final basket under the play? Were
Speaker 1: there some play under the basket? Were there some plays
Speaker 1: where you got foul? Yeah, But the same could be
Speaker 1: said on the other end of the floor, Steph Curry
Speaker 1: doesn't get a great whistle. Hate to break it to you,
Speaker 1: and so just that over that again, maybe it did
Speaker 1: get screwed. That's a loser mentality. Find a way to
Speaker 1: win the game despite the things that every single team
Speaker 1: deals with that are outside of your control. All right,
Speaker 1: really quickly, let's move on to John Morand's return, so
Speaker 1: the Griz get a big win at home versus Rockets
Speaker 1: today one thirty one, twenty five. Jared Jackson, junior, thirty
Speaker 1: seven and ten. I was texting with some of the
Speaker 1: guys on our team before the show. If I were
Speaker 1: to ask you, guys, if Jared Jackson has any chance
Speaker 1: to be a better player than John Moran in a
Speaker 1: few years, would you guys think that is legitimate? And
Speaker 1: I don't know what I think yet. I'd really have
Speaker 1: to think about it. But like, here's the thing, I
Speaker 1: think Jared Jackson can be the best defensive player in
Speaker 1: the league. I think he has that potential. I also
Speaker 1: think he has real downhill force combined with a semi
Speaker 1: reliable perimeter shot. And if he can improve his handle
Speaker 1: enough and if he can improve his court vision enough,
Speaker 1: if he's a reliable twenty five point per game guy
Speaker 1: who's also the best player a defensive player in the league.
Speaker 1: Like that's a top tier superstar. Like that's Anthony Davis
Speaker 1: ish right, you know, So, Like if he can get
Speaker 1: to that level, that's I don't know if John can
Speaker 1: be a top tier superstar. He can't be a top
Speaker 1: tier superstar until he can figure out how to be
Speaker 1: at least a net neutral on the defensive end of
Speaker 1: the four. My gut says, I still think Job will
Speaker 1: be better in the long run. But for Memphis fans
Speaker 1: that's not a bad thing. Like, if Jared Jackson has
Speaker 1: the potential to be better than John in the future,
Speaker 1: that's fantastic for you because that means you could have
Speaker 1: two superstars. When it's all set and down. John Murray
Speaker 1: came off the bench for seventeen and five. He's plus eleven.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to talk about the off course stuff
Speaker 1: with Jaw. I've said that a million times to you guys.
Speaker 1: It's not what she's coming to me for. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to pontificate about all of the many factors at
Speaker 1: play in his situation. You guys come to me for
Speaker 1: the basketball. But here's the thing. John Morant is the
Speaker 1: only legitimate chance that the Grizzlies have to win a
Speaker 1: championship this year. That's just a fact they You know.
Speaker 1: It's funny. I talked a lot. I talked a lot
Speaker 1: with Saying the Seni about this yesterday when we were
Speaker 1: talking Grizzlies. But I look at that slow down half
Speaker 1: court dynamic a lot with teams, and really, to me,
Speaker 1: I think the biggest swing factor voor Memphis to win
Speaker 1: a championship potentially this year is John Moran needs to
Speaker 1: be very accurate with his pull up three point shot.
Speaker 1: Here's the reason why I feel that way. Teams are
Speaker 1: going to pack the pain. That's just the reality. The
Speaker 1: Memphis loves to play two bigs because they're a big,
Speaker 1: physically imposing, you know, type of team. Especially with Brandon
Speaker 1: Clark out, I think you're going to see a lot
Speaker 1: of Xavier Toll and if Steven Adams can get back,
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna see a lot of Steven Adams.
Speaker 1: They're gonna play big, So there's gonna be a lot
Speaker 1: of bodies in the pain. You are gonna see exaggerated
Speaker 1: ignoring of Dylan Brooks, and Memphis needs Dylon Brooks because
Speaker 1: he's one of the best perimeter defenders in the league,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna take a lot of those significant perimeter assignments.
Speaker 1: Desmond Maine obviously is a great shooting threat, but the
Speaker 1: reality of how that breaks down is John Moran's gonna
Speaker 1: be playing pick and roll two on three a lot.
Speaker 1: But that two on three is not gonna be blitzing
Speaker 1: or double teaming. It's gonna be digging down from the wings.
Speaker 1: And so in a lot of cases, the best shots
Speaker 1: he's gonna be able to get is defenders sagging back
Speaker 1: or going or going underneath screens. With job with the
Speaker 1: ball in his hands, he's going to have to be
Speaker 1: consistent knocking down that pull up three. This year three
Speaker 1: point three pull up threes per game. He's shooting just
Speaker 1: thirty point six percent, and that was with him coming
Speaker 1: out the gates red hot. So I'm not super optimistic
Speaker 1: about it. Right now. I do not have the Grizzlies
Speaker 1: on my list of teams that really can win a
Speaker 1: championship this year. I just don't think they have the
Speaker 1: level of half court shot creation. But there's a lot
Speaker 1: to be excited about. Jaren Jackson. That interior defense is
Speaker 1: f real. Dylan Brooks, he's gonna be very agent the summer.
Speaker 1: God knows what he's gonna make, but he's one of
Speaker 1: the best permimeter defenders in the leading got a lot
Speaker 1: of foundational pieces. They've just got to tie off some
Speaker 1: of their half court shot creation stuff. But it's good
Speaker 1: to see John r a backpoint basketball the Clippers. So
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about the Paul Georgie injury in a minute.
Speaker 1: It was a bizarre game. They one of the most
Speaker 1: bizarre final possessions of a game I've ever seen. Kawhi Leonard,
Speaker 1: who's renowned as one of the best clutched players in
Speaker 1: the league, and a guy who creates his own shot
Speaker 1: literally doesn't get a shot off on Lou Dort on
Speaker 1: the final possession. There's an interesting dynamic there with help
Speaker 1: defense or with cutters that I want to talk about.
Speaker 1: You're just a minute. But you know the real story,
Speaker 1: like Kawhy didn't get a shot off, Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker 1: On the other end of the floor, the Thunderbird just
Speaker 1: walking the clippers down to the basket. Every time down
Speaker 1: the floor there was there were three straight buckets for
Speaker 1: like on Kawhi Leonard just driving past Kawhi Leonard, Isaiah
Speaker 1: Joe hard drive on Kawhi Leonard stepped back into a
Speaker 1: little short jump shot that he made. Jaalen Williams just
Speaker 1: just attacked a close out on Kawai, just dusted him
Speaker 1: by his right shoulder and got to the basket for
Speaker 1: a nasty dunk. She guilt. Just Alexander straight iso Kawhi
Speaker 1: Leonard in position left elbow, just beats him to the
Speaker 1: middle of the floor for the layout. And then on
Speaker 1: the final two possessions for the thunder Sails, Alexander just
Speaker 1: walked Russell Westbrok down into a fowl then got Eric
Speaker 1: Gordon on a switch and walked him down to the
Speaker 1: basket for a little floater. So the real story was
Speaker 1: they just couldn't guard, which is a whole other issue,
Speaker 1: and we'll talk about that in just a second. But
Speaker 1: I didn't want to say what I thought was interesting
Speaker 1: on the final possession with Kawahi. You know, there were
Speaker 1: two cuts that took place on this play, and one
Speaker 1: of them was kind of a screen I think it
Speaker 1: was from Marcus Morris. He comes over like does a
Speaker 1: quick pick and pop. And then there was an other
Speaker 1: play where Russ cuts right before the final seconds. Russ
Speaker 1: cuts through to the opposite corner, but it's just a
Speaker 1: touch too late. Here's the thing. Cutting is an excellent
Speaker 1: way to open up space for a guy to go
Speaker 1: to work because you're naturally going to drag defenders away
Speaker 1: with you, but you need to time it right to
Speaker 1: give the guy an opportunity to go to work. What
Speaker 1: happened there was like Marcus Morris ran his cut right
Speaker 1: after Kawhi was finishing a play. He wasn't ready to
Speaker 1: capitalize on it. And then on the final attempt that
Speaker 1: he made that where he took the step back but
Speaker 1: he didn't get off in time, Russ cut, but not
Speaker 1: until it was too late for Kawai to drive that way.
Speaker 1: If Russ cuts like two seconds earlier, then Kawhi can
Speaker 1: take a hard couple of dribbles to that way. Maybe
Speaker 1: pump Bay can try to get him out of position
Speaker 1: and get up into a shot. So just a couple
Speaker 1: of awkward things there. But the reality is this. You know,
Speaker 1: Paul George came down and took a nasty knee injury.
Speaker 1: It wasn't quite as bad as it looked, but he's
Speaker 1: going to be out for two or three weeks. And
Speaker 1: here's the thing. I was already seriously considering removing the
Speaker 1: Clippers from my list of real contenders based solely on
Speaker 1: the fact that they had no rim protection relative to
Speaker 1: the great rim protection you need to win a championship.
Speaker 1: But I didn't remove them yet because technically I consider
Speaker 1: Paul George and Kawhi Letter to be kind of front
Speaker 1: court type talent, and I thought, man, if they just
Speaker 1: are really locked in defensively, then that can kind of
Speaker 1: make up for that. But here's the thing, they are
Speaker 1: not overcoming their lack of rim protection without other world
Speaker 1: they superstar play from Paul Georgian Kwhi Letter, and it's
Speaker 1: just too much to ask for Paul George, who is
Speaker 1: a rhythm rhythm based pull up shooter, to walk into
Speaker 1: the middle of a first round series against what's probably
Speaker 1: going to be a very good team, a team probably
Speaker 1: like the Sacramento Kings and to just suddenly walk into
Speaker 1: that series and look like prime Paul George. And so
Speaker 1: as of right now, I think their question marks are
Speaker 1: too much. So I'm removing the Clippers from my list
Speaker 1: of real contenders, keeping it down to just seven now.
Speaker 1: And that's the Celtics, Bucks, Sixers, and the Nuggets, Suns,
Speaker 1: and the Lakers and the Lakers, and I'm missing one
Speaker 1: of whom I missing, the Warriors. So that's my list
Speaker 1: of seven as of right now. All right, before we
Speaker 1: get out of here, it's got to the Eastern Conference.
Speaker 1: So speaking of the Kings, the Celtics just beat the
Speaker 1: shit out of them last night one thirty two to
Speaker 1: one on nine in Sacramento. I will say, like the
Speaker 1: Celtics went on their run in the third quarter. The
Speaker 1: third quarter for Sacramento against Boston was one of the
Speaker 1: worst defensive performances I've ever seen from an NBA team
Speaker 1: that's not deliberately trying to lose basketball games. They were
Speaker 1: not getting matched up in transition. They were like there
Speaker 1: was a play where not even a transition play. Celtics
Speaker 1: come up the floor in a standard half court set.
Speaker 1: There's just nobody guarding Jalen Brown in the left wing
Speaker 1: swing pass. Jalen Brown knocks down the shot. Jalen Brown
Speaker 1: was relentlessly attacking Deer and Fox and Keegan Murray and isolation.
Speaker 1: There's no help. Then when they do help, it's reckless.
Speaker 1: There's no organization to it. Sometimes they help out of
Speaker 1: the weak side corner. Sometimes they help out of the
Speaker 1: strong side corner. You know, when they do help, they
Speaker 1: just kind of run into the play. They're not actively
Speaker 1: attacking the basketball. No one's trying to rotate around. It
Speaker 1: was honestly embarrassing watching the Celtics just go for a
Speaker 1: layup line an easy kick out threes. For that entire quarter.
Speaker 1: They had a one seventy four, one seventy four offensive rating.
Speaker 1: In the third quarter, They're at home with the chance
Speaker 1: to beat one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference,
Speaker 1: and they had a one seventy four defensive rating in
Speaker 1: that third quarter. Sacramento did for the game, they had
Speaker 1: a one forty one defensive rating. And you know, and
Speaker 1: the perimeter sized thing was really starting to show up
Speaker 1: because Jason Tatum was catching Kessler Edwards a lot. They
Speaker 1: were beating him just with quick seals underneath the basket,
Speaker 1: just how much size they have to give up at
Speaker 1: those spots. But you know, it was interesting. It's like,
Speaker 1: we can talk a lot about their defense, and I've
Speaker 1: talked a lot about Sacramentos defense all season, but the
Speaker 1: biggest thing that concerned me in that game for Sacramento
Speaker 1: is Boston kind of locked him down in the second
Speaker 1: quarter and fourth quarter. In particular. They held him to
Speaker 1: like one hundred and fifteen offensive rating in the game
Speaker 1: for what is the best offense in the history of
Speaker 1: the league right now. They were switching almost every ball screen,
Speaker 1: basically anything that didn't involve Robert Williams. They were switching,
Speaker 1: and Darren Fox was not attacking when he saw those opportunities.
Speaker 1: They when they would switch, they would just front Demonus
Speaker 1: s Abonus as he's rolling to the basket with lots
Speaker 1: of help around him, finding guys that they could ignore.
Speaker 1: It was a really impressive defensive performance, and it kind
Speaker 1: of it comes down to a couple of different things.
Speaker 1: Because we're gonna talk Celticstern just a second. But the
Speaker 1: reality of playoff basketball is easy baskets are not there anymore.
Speaker 1: When you're playing against good teams. They will be there
Speaker 1: against Sacramento because they don't play in the defense. But
Speaker 1: you don't have those easy baskets anymore, and it is
Speaker 1: going to come down to against switching came Demonus, s
Speaker 1: Abonus and Darren Fox consistently create an advantage, and I
Speaker 1: think they'll be fine. They'll be fine, but they're not
Speaker 1: going to be the other worldly offense that they were
Speaker 1: in the regular season, and that's when their defense will
Speaker 1: come up to be a problem. But I wanted to
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about Jean Brown because so Jean
Speaker 1: Brown had this really bizarre quote that came out. I
Speaker 1: believe it was before the King's game. As a matter
Speaker 1: of fact, I'm certain it was, and he said, quote,
Speaker 1: he was asked about his future in Boston and he said, quote,
Speaker 1: I don't know. As long as I'm needed, it's not
Speaker 1: up to me. We'll see how they feel about me
Speaker 1: overtime and I feel about them overtime. Hopefully whatever it is,
Speaker 1: it makes sense. But I will say where I'm wanted.
Speaker 1: I will say where I'm needed and treated correct end quote.
Speaker 1: Now here's the thing that is a weird quote. I
Speaker 1: won't lie, but I'm gonna say the same thing I
Speaker 1: said about the Warriors last week. Nobody likes to lose.
Speaker 1: I hate to break it too. I believe coming into
Speaker 1: the King's game, the Celtics had lost its six out
Speaker 1: of eleven games ven, playing some sloppy basketball. And we'll
Speaker 1: talk about them as a team here in just a minute.
Speaker 1: But like that, that sort of thing is just natural
Speaker 1: competitive reaction to No one enjoys losing basketball games. You
Speaker 1: know what, the Warriors looked pretty dejected the other day,
Speaker 1: you know, when they were on that losing streak. But
Speaker 1: you know what, you're on the road, you beat a
Speaker 1: Houston team, you go into Dallas and Steph makes a
Speaker 1: nice little drop off past to Draymond Green, and Steph
Speaker 1: is flexing and screaming at the crowd, and Draymond Green's
Speaker 1: on the ground flexing, and everything's fine because winning cures everything.
Speaker 1: So the reality is, I think the Celtics will go
Speaker 1: into the first round and beat the hell out of
Speaker 1: whoever they end up matched up with, which apparently that's
Speaker 1: up in the air now, because again, if Boston toasts
Speaker 1: away the two seed, they deserve what's coming to them.
Speaker 1: It's just you need to find a way to have
Speaker 1: home court for that particular matchup. It's already brutal that
Speaker 1: they've toasted away the one seed because the one seed
Speaker 1: might only have to play one of those guys as
Speaker 1: opposed to two of them. Right, But, like, I'm not
Speaker 1: worried about Jalen Brown's comments. The reality is is the
Speaker 1: basketball fit is natural. He kind of compliments Jason Tatum
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways because Jason Tatum doesn't have
Speaker 1: that creative shop making piece Jaylen Brown does, so he's
Speaker 1: kind of the perfect compliment to him. They're an excellent
Speaker 1: defensive duo. They're gonna win a lot of games. He's
Speaker 1: got to get a supermax contract that I think Jalen
Speaker 1: Brown is definitively a top fifteen player in this league.
Speaker 1: So I don't see any reason why he would not
Speaker 1: get the paycheck that he wants. So all of this
Speaker 1: is going to break out and be fine. I don't
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna suddenly care about Jalen Brown's comments when
Speaker 1: I didn't care about Golden State's bad body language. To me,
Speaker 1: it just doesn't really matter as far as Boston goes. Like,
Speaker 1: I could not be less worried about them. I know
Speaker 1: there's a lot of negativity because they haven't finished the
Speaker 1: season as strong as you would hope. But here's the thing.
Speaker 1: All of the players that made the finals run last
Speaker 1: year are better this year. Tatum's better, Jaylen Brown's better,
Speaker 1: Derek White has been unbelievable, although he's struggling to get
Speaker 1: into the Joe Mazolla's rotation a little bit. Malcolm Brogden
Speaker 1: has been a home run piece, you know. Grant Williams
Speaker 1: have been a little inconsistent as of late, but he's
Speaker 1: dealing with an elbow injury. Everyone's playing great. They're just
Speaker 1: they got off to such a hot start that it's
Speaker 1: such a big lead. They've lost a little bit of
Speaker 1: that urgency. It's gonna click in. They're gonna have a
Speaker 1: winnable first round series. Yeah, I know they might end
Speaker 1: up bashed up with Miami. Miami. They just don't have
Speaker 1: the perimeter size to handle Boston compared even to what
Speaker 1: they had last year. So I'm just not particularly worried
Speaker 1: about that. So yeah, I remained very, very bullish on
Speaker 1: the Celtics. I still think they are a top top
Speaker 1: tier contender with Milwaukee. All right, guess that is all
Speaker 1: I have for tonight is always I sincerely appreciate your support.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure what the schedule is for the next
Speaker 1: few days, so keep tuned to my twitter feed and
Speaker 1: I'll let you guys know and I'll see you guys.
Speaker 1: That the volume