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Speaker 1: Welcome to Hoops Tonight, presented by Van Duel. Here at

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Speaker 1: the Volume, we have a very special episode for you

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Speaker 1: guys today, continuing our coverage of Lebron James passing Gareem

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Speaker 1: Abdul Jabbard's become the NBA's all time leading score We

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Speaker 1: talked a lot the night that Lebron wrote the record

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Speaker 1: about his scoring development in the way that he rounded

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Speaker 1: out his skill set to become the player that he

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Speaker 1: needed to be to be capable of winning four championships

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Speaker 1: the way that he did. And so what I thought

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Speaker 1: would be a lot of fun today is to zoom

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Speaker 1: in on five specific games, five specific moments in Lebron's

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Speaker 1: career that I thought demonstrated him meeting those milestones that

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Speaker 1: he had to reach in his scoring development. So what

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Speaker 1: today is going to be is the top five scoring

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Speaker 1: moments of Lebron James's career. So without any further ado,

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Speaker 1: let's get started. I'm gonna take you guys back to

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Speaker 1: two thousand seven in the Eastern Conference Finals in Game five,

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Speaker 1: as the Cleveland Cavaliers went on the road in a

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Speaker 1: two two tied series to play the Detroit Pistons, the

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Speaker 1: same Detroit Pistons team that won a championship in two

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Speaker 1: thousand four and made it to the NBA Finals again

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Speaker 1: in two thousand five, and made it I can't remember

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Speaker 1: exactly how many, but they made to a bunch of

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Speaker 1: Eastern Conference Finals consecutively, one of the dominant Eastern Conference

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Speaker 1: teams of that era, and Lebron James was just twenty

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Speaker 1: two years old, And you guys might remember this as

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Speaker 1: the game where he scored twenty five straight points to

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Speaker 1: secure the win, eventually sending the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals.

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Speaker 1: He also scored twenty nine of their last thirty There

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Speaker 1: was like a random Drew Gooden free throw mixed in there,

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Speaker 1: if I remember correctly, and he finished the game with

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Speaker 1: forty eight points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. But I

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Speaker 1: looked at this as the game that clearly demonstrated Lebron's

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Speaker 1: foundational skill, which was that nobody could keep him from

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Speaker 1: getting to the ring. Every all time great NBA player

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Speaker 1: has to be well rounded. You have to build out

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Speaker 1: the rest of your skill set to add that versatility

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Speaker 1: that makes you tougher to be in the playoffs. But

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Speaker 1: every single one of those all time great players has

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Speaker 1: a foundational skill, that one thing that they do better

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Speaker 1: than everyone else, and that is their most reliable ability.

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Speaker 1: Whether that's with you know, Shaquille O'Neal, just his overwhelming

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Speaker 1: size and strength, or for Steph Curry the fact that

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Speaker 1: he was the best jump shooter to ever play the game.

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Speaker 1: And for Lebron James, it was simply that nobody could

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Speaker 1: keep him from getting to the rim at six ft

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Speaker 1: nine and two seventy pounds or whatever it is he was,

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Speaker 1: and with his freak athleticism, I thought he was the

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Speaker 1: best athlete in the league when he was younger. No

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Speaker 1: one was capable of keeping him in front. And this

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Speaker 1: game was such a great example of that. He had

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Speaker 1: too massive dunks to send the game to overtime in regulation,

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Speaker 1: and then obviously the game winner driving past Chauncey Billup.

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Speaker 1: So let's take a look at some footage. Another opportunity

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Speaker 1: on the Cavaliers by water back stuff. Here we are.

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Speaker 1: The score is eighty seven, Detroit's in front. There's about

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Speaker 1: thirty six seconds left, and Lebron is at the top

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Speaker 1: of the key and he's isolating Jason Maxiel. Now, Jason

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Speaker 1: Maxiell was the player that the Pistons tried to put

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Speaker 1: on Lebron in this situation because he had a better

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Speaker 1: chance of matching Lebron's size and strength. But you're gonna

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Speaker 1: see the Pistons try a couple of different things to

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Speaker 1: try to keep him away from the rim. So let's

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Speaker 1: take a look. So as Lebron is getting a head

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Speaker 1: of steam. Noticed, first of all, he's starting back at

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Speaker 1: the Pistons logo. When you give yourself more of a

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Speaker 1: head of steam, it's harder for someone to contain you,

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Speaker 1: as opposed to starting at the three point line when

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Speaker 1: you're starting from a full stop. Now, Lebron's gonna hit

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Speaker 1: Jason Maxio with a dribble combination a double move to

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Speaker 1: get to the rim. He's gonna start with the ball

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Speaker 1: in his right hand, and watch how when he crosses

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Speaker 1: over through his legs to the left, how he opens

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Speaker 1: up his shoulders and his body to the left, and

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Speaker 1: you can actually see Jason maxie hop a little bit

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Speaker 1: to his right to try to contain that move, and

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Speaker 1: then Lebron's gonna whip the crossover back over to the right,

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Speaker 1: and maxie is completely out of position, and now he's

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Speaker 1: loading up for a jackhammer dunk with his right hand.

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Speaker 1: Now the very next possession of Chauncey Billips goes down

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Speaker 1: and hits the three and puts the Pistons back up

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Speaker 1: by two. So the Pistons are up nine out of

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Speaker 1: the James Sutton steps. Now you're gonna see Drew Gooden

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Speaker 1: come up to set a screen on Jason Maxiell so

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Speaker 1: he can get switched on to Tashaun Prince. Now, Tashaun

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Speaker 1: Prince is one of the better perimeter defenders of this era,

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Speaker 1: with a ton of length on the ball. You might

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Speaker 1: remember him famously having massive defensive plays in his NBA

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Speaker 1: playoff career. But he gives a lot of weight and

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Speaker 1: strength up to Lebron. So Lebron gets the switch, and

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Speaker 1: now he's gonna pull the ball out to the right wing.

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Speaker 1: And notice once again he dribbles all the way back

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Speaker 1: out to about forty feet so he can get that

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Speaker 1: head of steam. Now, as you can see, Tashaun Prince

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Speaker 1: is looking around and he sees he doesn't have any

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Speaker 1: help on his right side. So what he's gonna do

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Speaker 1: is he's gonna try to funnel him to the left

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Speaker 1: and hopes that Rashid Wallace will be able to help

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Speaker 1: him at the rim. But in the process, he kind

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Speaker 1: of opens up his left shoulder with Lebron driving to

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Speaker 1: his right, and Lebron is so big and strong that

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Speaker 1: he's just gonna blow through that shoulder with absolutely no

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Speaker 1: resistance and dunks of basketball. Again, one little note there,

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Speaker 1: you can see Rashid Wallace unwilling to help off of

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Speaker 1: Daniel Marshall in the corner. We're gonna talk about this

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Speaker 1: when we get further down the list, but that's another

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Speaker 1: characteristic of Lebron's game. Defensive players are are terrified to

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Speaker 1: help because they believe he will beat them with the

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Speaker 1: past every single time. So Lebron gets these back to

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Speaker 1: back dunks and the game goes overtime. Now, as we remember,

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Speaker 1: from this point forward through the rest of overtime, Lebron

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Speaker 1: puts on a ridiculous shot making display from the perimeter

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Speaker 1: to really carry the Cavalier's offense through the two overtime periods.

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Speaker 1: But we're not gonna focus on that right now because

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Speaker 1: it wasn't really reliable. This was a phase of Lebron's

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Speaker 1: career when he was very streaky, and uh, we're gonna

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Speaker 1: get to it later. But it took years and years

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Speaker 1: more of relentless hard work from Lebron for him to

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Speaker 1: build out the jump shot to the point where it

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Speaker 1: was reliable. But let's pass forward to the end of

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Speaker 1: this game. So it's double o t one oh seven

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Speaker 1: to one oh seven. Look, Cavaliers. Notice this time they

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Speaker 1: put Chauncey Billups on Lebron James and that was not

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Speaker 1: a switch that was to start to play. My guest

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Speaker 1: there is Chauncey probably asked for the opportunity to try

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Speaker 1: to disrupt Lebron's handle once again. Lebron is starting out

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Speaker 1: at the Detroit Pistons logo out at half court so

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Speaker 1: that he can get a running start. Billips is once

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Speaker 1: again shading his right hand, this time trying to funnel

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Speaker 1: him towards the help. But Lebron has such a head

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Speaker 1: of steam when he beats Chauncey off the drible that

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Speaker 1: they just can't even stop him when he knifes his

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Speaker 1: way through the lane. And once again you can see

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Speaker 1: Rashid Wallace jumping out to Daniel Marshall to try to

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Speaker 1: stop a pass. One of their note on this play

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Speaker 1: that I thought was super interesting. When you're being guarded

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Speaker 1: by smaller guards and you're a bigger player, you never

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Speaker 1: want to play around with the basketball. That's not your advantage.

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Speaker 1: Your advantage is your strength and your athleticism. So I

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Speaker 1: liked how Lebron was simple there and just went to

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Speaker 1: the left as opposed to trying to do a dribble

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Speaker 1: move like he did against some of the bigger, slower players.

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Speaker 1: But Lebron wins the game with this layup, and once

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Speaker 1: again I thought this was the foundational moment of Lebron's

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Speaker 1: career where he figured out that absolutely nobody in the

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Speaker 1: NBA could keep him from getting to the rim. Now

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Speaker 1: you're gonna see as as we move on to this

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Speaker 1: next clip. We're moving on to number four, which is

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Speaker 1: Lebron's game against the Spurs in two thousand thirteen. But

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Speaker 1: the Spurs, they understood that that was Lebron's foundational strength,

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Speaker 1: and they focused all their attention on taking just that

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Speaker 1: away in the hopes that his weaknesses elsewhere in his

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Speaker 1: skill set would be what burns him. But unfortunately, at

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Speaker 1: this point, Lebron had figured that out as well. So

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Speaker 1: number four, we're moving up to two thousand thirteen, Game

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Speaker 1: seven of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs,

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Speaker 1: and in this entire series, Gregg Popovich, it was almost

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Speaker 1: funny and weird how much they were daring Lebron to shoot.

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Speaker 1: They would go under ball screens. They have Kawhile Leonard

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Speaker 1: go under ball screens below the free throw line. They

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Speaker 1: would have you know when and when he would get

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Speaker 1: Tim Duncan on a switch or something along those lines,

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Speaker 1: they'd have him back all the way off and just

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Speaker 1: dare Lebron to shoot. And this was the series or

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Speaker 1: the NBA found out that you could no longer just

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Speaker 1: concede jump shots to Lebron James, and if you did,

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Speaker 1: he would burn you. We found out after the series

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Speaker 1: and some of the postgame interviews and some of the

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Speaker 1: postgame articles that the many talented writers to cover the

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Speaker 1: NBA put out that when Lebron was adventuring around the

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Speaker 1: other countries around the world for Nike and doing all

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Speaker 1: these charitable events and all these different things. That he

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Speaker 1: brought his shooting trainer with him, and every single day

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Speaker 1: he would work on his jump shot, even during the

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Speaker 1: offseason while he was traveling and doing all of his

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Speaker 1: obligations for Nike and and all of his other sponsorship deals.

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Speaker 1: That Lebron broke down after that NBA Finals, just the

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Speaker 1: sheer amount of relentless work that he put in to

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Speaker 1: improve his jump shot. I talk all the time with

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Speaker 1: young players. There's two different kinds of shooters in the world.

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Speaker 1: There are shooters and there are makers. And the difference

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Speaker 1: between a shooter and a maker is not like a

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Speaker 1: natural ability as much as it is the relentless work.

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Speaker 1: Whenever you hear of a streaky shooter, it usually means

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Speaker 1: that behind the scenes, they're not putting in the requisite work.

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Speaker 1: And you have to day after day for years and

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Speaker 1: years and years, put in thousands and thousands of reps

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Speaker 1: to become a competent jump shooter, and the progress just

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Speaker 1: so slow. You might have to make a five hunter

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Speaker 1: jump shots a day for three months just to even

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Speaker 1: see the slightest bit of improvement. And that's why it

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Speaker 1: does take years and years and years and so there's

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Speaker 1: a specific moment that I want to point out to

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Speaker 1: you guys where you can see that fulfillment happen for

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Speaker 1: Lebron James. But let's start with the shots themselves. So

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Speaker 1: here we are. We're in the third quarter and the

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Speaker 1: Spurs are up fifty seven to fifty six. Balano off

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Speaker 1: the screen, James will try another drain, puts it in

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Speaker 1: Lebron James for three putter up the game. Chris Bosh

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Speaker 1: and Lebron James are setting a double pick and pop

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Speaker 1: for ray Allen. And as ray Allen is coming off

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Speaker 1: the screen, notice Kawhi Leonard is sitting all the way

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Speaker 1: down at the elbow to contain ray Allen as he's

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Speaker 1: coming over the top of the screen, knowing that he's

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Speaker 1: giving a shot to Lebron. But that fits within the

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Speaker 1: Spurs scheme in this series. They were a percent willing

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Speaker 1: to give Lebron wide open shots all series long, and

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Speaker 1: to the Spurs credit up through Game six, it worked.

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Speaker 1: They were up in the series three games to two,

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Speaker 1: almost one in Game six and Lebron did not shoot

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Speaker 1: the ball well. But in this series it all came together.

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Speaker 1: Ray Allen makes the kick pass back to Lebron confidently

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Speaker 1: rises up and knocks down the three. We move on.

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Speaker 1: I believe this is about a minute later, where at

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Speaker 1: the three and a half minute mark. Now the heat

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Speaker 1: are up fifty seven, catch and shoot. Playoff your instinction,

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Speaker 1: trust your skill level, Leonard daring him Ray Allen and

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Speaker 1: James again, Look how fall up they're playing. He'll try

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Speaker 1: it again, Ron James matching this first play the five point.

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Speaker 1: Lebron has the ball now Ray Alan is setting the

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Speaker 1: ball screen on the screen. Notice Kawhi Leonard duck down

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Speaker 1: like he's gonna go underneath the screen, which causes Lebron

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Speaker 1: to pull back for three. Kauai offers a late contest,

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Speaker 1: but it's way too late and Lebron knocks it down.

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Speaker 1: These are wide open, dairy to shoot shots. Fast forward again.

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Speaker 1: We're at there two minutes and ten second mark of

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Speaker 1: the third quarter. Why just lead a seven? That was

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Speaker 1: the Spurs in the opening minutes. Jane pulls off puts Anny,

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Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard. Look Lebron's dribbling at the logo and kawhile

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Speaker 1: Leonard is sitting at the elbow. They are daring Lebron

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Speaker 1: to shoot. Birdman comes to set the screen at the

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Speaker 1: elbow and Kauai goes underneath the ball screen. Lebron just

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Speaker 1: walks into a wide open twenty footer at the top

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Speaker 1: of the key and knocks it down again. This was

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Speaker 1: all by design because the Spurs expected him to miss

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Speaker 1: these shots, but at this phase of Lebron's career he

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Speaker 1: had become a reliable jump shooter. Fast forward a little

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Speaker 1: bit further. We're at the five minute and forty six

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Speaker 1: second mark of the fourth quarter. Shot clock to five.

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Speaker 1: James puts it up, knocks it down. Here we are

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Speaker 1: in the middle of the fourth quarter. Miami's up to

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Speaker 1: seventy seven. Lebron's got Tim Duncan on a switch down

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Speaker 1: in the right corner, and Tim Duncan is daring Lebron

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Speaker 1: to shoot. Now, Lebron's gonna do what I call using

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Speaker 1: a rhythm dribble to gain your rhythm going into a

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Speaker 1: jump shot. A lot of times when a defender is

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Speaker 1: conceding a jump shot to you, it gets in your

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Speaker 1: head and so it's really hard just to rise up

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Speaker 1: into a shot out of some sort of funky stand

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Speaker 1: still dribble. So rhythm dribbles are what you can use

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Speaker 1: to reset your rhythm and lean back on a shot

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Speaker 1: you know you've practiced a lot, So, for instance, you

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Speaker 1: don't ever practice just dribbling the ball up the floor

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Speaker 1: and then elevating into a shot from a standstill. Every

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Speaker 1: single time you shoot off the dribble, it's usually off

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Speaker 1: of a dribble combination or a hard step to the

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Speaker 1: left or a hard step to the rider, maybe a

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Speaker 1: step back, and so using a rhythm dribble can set

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Speaker 1: you into a situation where you can think back and go,

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Speaker 1: I've made this shot hundreds of times in practice. So

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Speaker 1: Lebron's gonna use a pound dribble through his legs from

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Speaker 1: right to left to rise up into the shot. That

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Speaker 1: sets his rhythm. When he goes into that shot, he's

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Speaker 1: thinking to himself, I have made this pound dribble through

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Speaker 1: my legs jump shot hundreds and hundreds of times. I

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Speaker 1: can do that. He's setting his rhythm, getting his confidence

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Speaker 1: to knock that shot down, hits it over. Tim Duncan

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Speaker 1: same exact thing later on. Here we are four and

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Speaker 1: a half minutes in. Miami's got the lead, Lebron's got

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Speaker 1: Tim Duncan on a switch six to shoot James that's good.

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Speaker 1: What he's gonna do here is just do a hard

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Speaker 1: dribble to his left to elevate into a jump shot.

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Speaker 1: He didn't need more separation. Tim Duncan was already conceding

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Speaker 1: the shot, but that hard dribble just helped set Lebron's

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Speaker 1: rhythm so that he felt confident rising into that shot.

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Speaker 1: He knocks it down and then to end the game

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Speaker 1: less than a minute left in the fourth quarter, Miami up.

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Speaker 1: James pull us up, looks at end point lye thirty

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Speaker 1: five for Lebron. James time out, say that Lebron's got

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Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard. We're gonna have Mario Chalmers come set the

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Speaker 1: screen and Tony Parker is gonna do a hedge and recover.

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Speaker 1: So he's gonna hop out on Lebron just to cause

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Speaker 1: him to hesitate a little bit as he's coming off

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Speaker 1: of that screen, and then he's gonna recover back out

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Speaker 1: to Mario Chalmers. But Kawhi Leonard once again watches Lebron

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Speaker 1: is coming off of the Tony Parker hedge. Look at

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Speaker 1: this long step Kawhi Leonard takes back to the paint.

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Speaker 1: It's not a long step to contest Lebron's jump shot.

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Speaker 1: It's a long step back to the paint. There once

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Speaker 1: again overplaying the paint and conceding a jump shot to Lebron.

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Speaker 1: He rises, is up and knocks down the twenty foot

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Speaker 1: or that effectively amounts to be the dagger to win

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Speaker 1: Lebron's second NBA Championship. And one of my favorite moments

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Speaker 1: in this video. If you watch, the camera stays live

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Speaker 1: and and looks uh follows Lebron to the bench, and

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Speaker 1: as he's going to the bench after he high fives

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Speaker 1: a couple of coaches, you can see him just do

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Speaker 1: a hard fist pump into his hand and he yells

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Speaker 1: out something that sounds like yes or yeah. And what

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Speaker 1: I love about that is, to me, that's the fulfillment

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Speaker 1: of hard work, a leading to results. Lebron as a

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Speaker 1: as a wealthy man, you know, traveling in his summers,

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Speaker 1: it would be so easy for him to relax, It

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Speaker 1: would be so easy for him to take it easy.

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Speaker 1: But he paid his dues, you know, blood, sweat and

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Speaker 1: tears for years and years and years to round out

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Speaker 1: that jump shot into something that he could count on.

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Speaker 1: And then suddenly, in a big moment when he absolutely

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Speaker 1: needed it. It came through for him, and you got

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Speaker 1: to see that fulfillment as an athlete. Those are just

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Speaker 1: the moments that I appreciate the most, just seeing that

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Speaker 1: hard work payoff and lead to something and it almost

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Speaker 1: comes out as a nearly emotional type of response. Number four.

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Speaker 1: This was Lebron finally discovering that teams could not ever

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Speaker 1: concede jump shots to him and if they did that,

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Speaker 1: he would make them pay. All right. Number three, We're

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Speaker 1: gonna fast forward down to two thousand seventeen. This was

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Speaker 1: Game three of the Eastern Conference first round series between

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Speaker 1: the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers. The Calves had

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Speaker 1: gone up two games to none and they were going

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Speaker 1: on the road to Indiana. That Game three on the

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Speaker 1: road for a for a team down to oh is

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Speaker 1: always one of the toughest games in the world to win.

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Speaker 1: I always call it the buzz saw game because you're

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Speaker 1: playing in front of your home crowd. Usually that team

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Speaker 1: is the underdog. They feed off of that crowd energy

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Speaker 1: to an absurd extent. And once again in this game,

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Speaker 1: it played out like so many other game threes that

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Speaker 1: I've seen an NBA history play out. The home team

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Speaker 1: dominates throughout, but in the second half, Tyler actually benches

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Speaker 1: both of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love because they weren't

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Speaker 1: playing l and he closes the game with Lebron James

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Speaker 1: and role players. This game, to me, is the best

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Speaker 1: example of how Lebron's passing ability sets up his scoring opportunities.

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Speaker 1: Throughout the NBA, you see scores deal with multiple defenders

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Speaker 1: all over the floor, and oftentimes, for a defensive coach

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Speaker 1: or for a defensive strategy, it makes the most sense

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Speaker 1: to try to get the ball out of that guy's

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Speaker 1: hands because chances are he's not going to consistently make

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Speaker 1: the right play because he's looking to score. That's the

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Speaker 1: way his his basketball brain works. But with Lebron James

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Speaker 1: in particular, it's the exact opposite effect. Lebron is constantly

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Speaker 1: looking to make the right read, like we were talking

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Speaker 1: about in the Detroit Pistons game when Rashid Wallace kept

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Speaker 1: refusing to leave Danielle Marshall to offer help on Lebron

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Speaker 1: at the rint. Lebron is one of the most efficient

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Speaker 1: scorers in NBA history, and I think a huge part

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Speaker 1: of that is he's constantly on an Island attacking just

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Speaker 1: his defender. But that's not just by design, that's not

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Speaker 1: bad defense. It's simply because coaches are terrified to send

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Speaker 1: help to Lebron because they know he will burn them

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Speaker 1: every single time. And that's how this game started. Here's

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Speaker 1: the play early in the fourth quarter. Paces are up

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Speaker 1: four after his monster second quarter, and I'm sure he's

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Speaker 1: glad to see one go through. Kevin. Yeah, up lection, tough,

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Speaker 1: tough shot were getting along to their Lebron had been

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Speaker 1: torching the Pacers with the past throughout this entire game.

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Speaker 1: He actually finished the game with twelve assists. So there's

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Speaker 1: one play in particular from this game that I think

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Speaker 1: is the perfect encapsulation of this concept that I'm talking about.

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Speaker 1: So in the middle of the fourth quarter, there's about

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Speaker 1: six and a half minutes left and the game is tied.

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Speaker 1: Paul George a chance at triple doubles together here till

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Speaker 1: start way by shopperd. Here's Lebron James. He's got Coever

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Speaker 1: on the way. He'll taking him out on the lead.

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Speaker 1: Paul George is isolating himn chumppered at the free throw line,

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Speaker 1: and Hemn Schumpered chumps him or strips him as he's

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Speaker 1: rising up for a jump shot. Rest in piece to

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Speaker 1: Fred McCloud, the play by play announcer for the Calves

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Speaker 1: who coined that term. But it sparks a two on

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Speaker 1: one fast rake with Lebron James with the basketball, Kyle

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Speaker 1: Korver running the right wing, and monte Ella is standing

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Speaker 1: between Lebron and the rim. Lebron all he does is

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Speaker 1: right at the top of the key, hesitates with the

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Speaker 1: hy dribble and peaks over at Kyle Korver, and when

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Speaker 1: he does watch Montella is sprint out to Kyle Korver.

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Speaker 1: Not not Oh, I'm scared of Lebron, let me get

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Speaker 1: out of the way. Not not I I just don't.

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Speaker 1: I'm not interested in taking a charge. Just literally, I

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Speaker 1: think Lebron is gonna make this past to Kyle Korver,

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Speaker 1: So he sprints out to Kyle Korver and concedes a

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Speaker 1: wide open dunk to Lebron James going down the lane.

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Speaker 1: Once again the fear of Lebron James and his willingness

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Speaker 1: to make the right play at the expense of conceding

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Speaker 1: a wide open dunk. Lebron finished the game with fort

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Speaker 1: and twelve and closed out the Indiana Pacers on their

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Speaker 1: home floor to go up three oh in the series

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Speaker 1: without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, the ultimate offensive engine

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Speaker 1: and NBA his three. All right, let's pass forward one

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Speaker 1: year to two eight. Team. We're gonna look at two

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Speaker 1: games for this one. But there's one specific play that

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Speaker 1: I think kind of sets everything up. And then obviously,

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Speaker 1: you guys remember what happens in Game two of this series.

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Speaker 1: But we're going to two thousand eighteen in the Eastern

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Speaker 1: Conference second round series between the Toronto Raptors and the

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Speaker 1: Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers had just come out of a

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Speaker 1: seven game slug fest against the Indiana Pacers, and so

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Speaker 1: they were exhausted and worn out. Everyone was generally low

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Speaker 1: on the calves at this point in The Toronto Raptors

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Speaker 1: were a heavy favorite to win this series, but they

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Speaker 1: go into Game one and Lebron is having a tough

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Speaker 1: shooting night, finished the game twelve for thirty from the field,

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Speaker 1: only had twenty six points, but down the stretch he

429
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,119
Speaker 1: made every big play to send the game to overtime,

430
00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:44,000
Speaker 1: and I believe j R. Smith ended up making most

431
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:45,760
Speaker 1: of the big shots in ot as the Calves ended

432
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,280
Speaker 1: up stealing Game one. But the biggest play of the game,

433
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:50,440
Speaker 1: it's one oh five to one oh three. Toronto has

434
00:22:50,480 --> 00:23:02,240
Speaker 1: the leads the tend to shoot, yes, looks knocks it down.

435
00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:05,640
Speaker 1: Lebron doesn't call for a ball screen. Lebron doesn't run

436
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:07,199
Speaker 1: any sort of action. And again, this is a big

437
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:09,080
Speaker 1: thing that I talked about. If you call ball screens,

438
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:12,080
Speaker 1: you're bringing a second defender up into the play. Lebron

439
00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:13,720
Speaker 1: wanted nothing to do with that. He saw o g

440
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:15,480
Speaker 1: and and Obi and said, this is the guy that

441
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,159
Speaker 1: I'm attacking, backs him down to the right block and

442
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:22,399
Speaker 1: knocks down a fade away over his right shoulder. I

443
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,800
Speaker 1: look at this as the game where Lebron understood that

444
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,119
Speaker 1: he was confident enough in his skill set to go

445
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:30,680
Speaker 1: to the post in late game situations to create shots.

446
00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:32,639
Speaker 1: One of the reasons why I'm such a big believer

447
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,400
Speaker 1: hurting your back to the basket is it's the easiest

448
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,160
Speaker 1: way to protect the basketball. It allows you to use

449
00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,160
Speaker 1: your size and strength to pin the defender behind you. Now,

450
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,120
Speaker 1: good post defenders will slide their feet well and keep

451
00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,520
Speaker 1: you in front and make you shoot over the top.

452
00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,560
Speaker 1: But if you are taller and you are capable of

453
00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:52,399
Speaker 1: knocking down shots over the top. Those post up fade

454
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,399
Speaker 1: away suddenly become the most unguardable shot in basketball. And

455
00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,920
Speaker 1: Lebron James, in a game where they needed one basket

456
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,000
Speaker 1: to send it to ot, went to his unguardable shot,

457
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:05,200
Speaker 1: a fade away over his right shoulder on the right block,

458
00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:07,680
Speaker 1: and he knocked it down and sent the game to ot,

459
00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:10,119
Speaker 1: where the Cavs inevitably one. Then we fast forward to

460
00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 1: Game two, and as you guys remember this is the

461
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,359
Speaker 1: Lebronto game, time and time again. Down the stretch of

462
00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,119
Speaker 1: the third quarter and in the fourth quarter, Lebron just

463
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:24,080
Speaker 1: hit a obnoxious variety of fade aways over Searchebaca, over

464
00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,679
Speaker 1: Kyle Lowry, over Pascal Siakum, over O g And and Noby.

465
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 1: He was doing everything from every spot on the floor.

466
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:34,679
Speaker 1: There were side step jump shots, step back threes, turnarounds

467
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,119
Speaker 1: over his right shoulder, turnarounds over his left shoulder. There

468
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:38,960
Speaker 1: was even like a little one legged fade away at

469
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,600
Speaker 1: the free throw line, softly off the rim. It was

470
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:43,720
Speaker 1: almost like what clicked for him at the end of

471
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,919
Speaker 1: Game one became suddenly something he was so confident in

472
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:49,080
Speaker 1: that he just leaned on at time and time again

473
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,119
Speaker 1: down the floor. The most absurd thing about this particular

474
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,320
Speaker 1: game was that was the moment where you realized Lebron

475
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:59,000
Speaker 1: had reached a level of greatness and a level of confidence. Then,

476
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,120
Speaker 1: in a monumental, the important playoff game, a second round

477
00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,120
Speaker 1: playoff game against the team that was favored to beat you,

478
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:09,439
Speaker 1: Lebron was just trying stuff, just challenging himself to make

479
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:12,119
Speaker 1: tougher and tougher shots. Lebron went to that tough shot

480
00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:14,760
Speaker 1: in game one because he had to, this is his

481
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:17,199
Speaker 1: best chance to tie the game. He did it in

482
00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,800
Speaker 1: game two because he wanted to demoralize and snatch the

483
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,879
Speaker 1: heart of the Toronto Raptors, and that's exactly what he

484
00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:25,800
Speaker 1: did and one of the most impressive playoff feats of

485
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 1: Lebron's career. He swept the Toronto Raptors as a heavy

486
00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:34,359
Speaker 1: underdog without Kyrie Irving, without a legitimate costar on the team,

487
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:36,480
Speaker 1: and just a group of role players. But that was

488
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,359
Speaker 1: another monumental step that Lebron had to reach in his

489
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 1: scoring development, trusting his back to the basket game to

490
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 1: create shots in big moments, using his size alright number one.

491
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,000
Speaker 1: We're gonna fast forward to the year that Lebron won

492
00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:55,120
Speaker 1: his most recent NBA Championship. One round after the Los

493
00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,320
Speaker 1: Angeles Clippers collapsed time and time again against this Denver

494
00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:01,280
Speaker 1: Nuggets team that was so good in the second halves

495
00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:03,800
Speaker 1: of games. As they picked you apart with the Jamal

496
00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:07,439
Speaker 1: Murray Nickela yokits, drible handoffs and reverse pick and rolls

497
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,440
Speaker 1: and normal pick and rolls and all of that stuff.

498
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:13,040
Speaker 1: Somebody had to be the guy who could finally stop

499
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,760
Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets from coming back, and it was Lebron

500
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:19,040
Speaker 1: James with an assortment of pull up jump shots to

501
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:22,439
Speaker 1: execute the Denver Nuggets when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George

502
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:24,480
Speaker 1: could not. I've talked a lot about how pull up

503
00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 1: jump shooting is something that's somewhat unreliable. Kawhi Leonard and

504
00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:31,640
Speaker 1: Paul George are professional pull up jump shooters. That's what

505
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:34,639
Speaker 1: they do better than everyone else in the world. But

506
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:38,880
Speaker 1: that is their foundational skill, and it failed them on

507
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,679
Speaker 1: that stage. What was so interesting about this moment to

508
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,280
Speaker 1: me for Lebron was that this is not even his

509
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,160
Speaker 1: foundational skill. As we talked about earlier, his foundational skill

510
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:48,760
Speaker 1: was his ability to get to the rim, or his

511
00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,760
Speaker 1: ability to impact the game defensively with his athleticism. But

512
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,240
Speaker 1: what sets Lebron apart from the rest is he can

513
00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,119
Speaker 1: do that shot making stuff just as well or almost

514
00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 1: as well as the guys who do it professionally as

515
00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:06,000
Speaker 1: their foundational skill. Down the stretch of this game against Denver,

516
00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:09,720
Speaker 1: Lebron made a ridiculous variety of complex pull up jump

517
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:13,760
Speaker 1: shots off of different footwork, off of different dribble combinations

518
00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:16,800
Speaker 1: to put away the Denver Nuggets. And once again, this

519
00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:19,399
Speaker 1: is not his foundational skill. I would argue in his career,

520
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:23,280
Speaker 1: it's been his weakest of his core skills. But even

521
00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:25,600
Speaker 1: his weakest of his core skills is something that he

522
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:29,359
Speaker 1: does better than the vast majority of players in the NBA.

523
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:31,680
Speaker 1: So let's start to hear about the seven minute mark

524
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:33,520
Speaker 1: of the fourth quarter again, the Lakers are up three

525
00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:35,199
Speaker 1: one in the series. If they win this game, they

526
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:37,439
Speaker 1: go to the NBA Finals. The Nuggets were on a

527
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:39,199
Speaker 1: big run in the second half of this game, just

528
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,640
Speaker 1: like they had been doing against every team that came

529
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:44,600
Speaker 1: before mill stap There's a lot of discussion about that call.

530
00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,600
Speaker 1: When Davis came down on his heel, James gets into

531
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:50,080
Speaker 1: the pain, Grant right there with him all and James

532
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,160
Speaker 1: Lebron has Jeremy Grant off of a pick and roll

533
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,440
Speaker 1: and he's working to his left. He gets cut off

534
00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:59,280
Speaker 1: excellent defense from Jeremy Grant as he funnels him away

535
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,440
Speaker 1: from the basket, but Lebron just elevates from the block,

536
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,200
Speaker 1: bading several feet towards the baseline and knocks down the

537
00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:10,320
Speaker 1: jump shot. That is an incredibly difficult shot that salvages

538
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,600
Speaker 1: a possession that was defended extremely well by the Denver Nuggets.

539
00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:15,359
Speaker 1: Here we go to the four minute mark, Lakers are

540
00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:19,679
Speaker 1: up one. Now, James will shoot it up, but Chopper

541
00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:22,480
Speaker 1: he's got it. Lebron James for the stair out of

542
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,600
Speaker 1: that Denver bench. Lebron's gonna run a pick and roll

543
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:27,480
Speaker 1: with Dwight Howard and Nikola Yokich is actually going to

544
00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:29,920
Speaker 1: switch the pick and roll because Jeremy Grant gets caught

545
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:32,040
Speaker 1: on the screen. Dwight Howard has always been a very

546
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,040
Speaker 1: good screener, but on the play noticed Nikla Yoki just

547
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 1: too far back. He takes a retreat step back to

548
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:42,000
Speaker 1: the semi circle and Lebron finds himself by himself at

549
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,640
Speaker 1: about one feet and he knocks down that pull up

550
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:46,760
Speaker 1: jump shot. I've always talked about in pick and roll,

551
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,040
Speaker 1: in order to beat different pick and roll coverages, you

552
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:52,160
Speaker 1: need to be able to punish a defender for going

553
00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:54,640
Speaker 1: under a screen or a big man for sitting too

554
00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,000
Speaker 1: far back by being able to rise up and knockdown

555
00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,560
Speaker 1: pull up jump shots. Lebron did it there to put

556
00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:01,600
Speaker 1: the Lakers is up by nine. Fast forward to the

557
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:03,240
Speaker 1: three minute mark. The Lakers are up one oh eight,

558
00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:05,560
Speaker 1: one oh one to switch. Now Murray on Lebron James

559
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,120
Speaker 1: a hobbled Murray trying to stay with him as best

560
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:12,720
Speaker 1: to can Lebron. James hits one a. Lebron calls Danny

561
00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,400
Speaker 1: Green to come set the screen, this time getting Jamal

562
00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:18,120
Speaker 1: Murray on a switch. What I thought was so impressive

563
00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:20,800
Speaker 1: about this play is when you're going against shorter defenders

564
00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:23,080
Speaker 1: once again, like we talked about earlier, this is the

565
00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:25,920
Speaker 1: time to turn your back to the basket. Notice Lebron

566
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,680
Speaker 1: is setting up the spin here. He's deliberately moving further

567
00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,520
Speaker 1: to the right because he wants to create space so

568
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:33,520
Speaker 1: that he can elevate into the middle of the lane

569
00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 1: without Jeremy Grant becoming a problem. So notice he's gonna

570
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:38,880
Speaker 1: work down towards the right block to set up his

571
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:42,440
Speaker 1: spin move hard dribble. He's setting up his footwork for

572
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,600
Speaker 1: the spin. Does the pound dribble into a spin? Now,

573
00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:47,920
Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant is not any position where he could help.

574
00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:50,600
Speaker 1: If you ran this exact same move but about ten

575
00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:52,880
Speaker 1: feet further to the left where he originally had jam

576
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 1: All on the switch, it would be much easier for

577
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:56,440
Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant to run in there and dig or to

578
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,200
Speaker 1: help and then get back to Danny Green. Lebron sets

579
00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:01,360
Speaker 1: up that turnaround it away over his right shoulder, which

580
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:02,840
Speaker 1: has been one of the bread and butter shots of

581
00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:05,040
Speaker 1: his career, and knocks it down to put the Lakers

582
00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:07,640
Speaker 1: up nine again very next possession. The first year of

583
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,600
Speaker 1: Lebron James, and they've missed six consecutive years with a

584
00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:15,440
Speaker 1: drought James again, Oh, it's another one that Lebron James.

585
00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:20,000
Speaker 1: Putting together a closing corner against the Nuggets. Lakers get

586
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,239
Speaker 1: a swap. It's gonna be another Dwight Howard pick and roll.

587
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:24,680
Speaker 1: This time. Jeremy Grant does a nice job quickly ducking

588
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,400
Speaker 1: under the pick and getting back onto Lebron, and Lebron

589
00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,000
Speaker 1: is gonna go to Kevin Durant's bread and butter move,

590
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:32,479
Speaker 1: what we call the heavy pull up jump shot. He's

591
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:34,240
Speaker 1: gonna have the ball in his left hand and he's

592
00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,000
Speaker 1: gonna squat down low. When he gets low to the ground,

593
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:39,560
Speaker 1: it's like you're setting up a dribble move. Most players,

594
00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:41,840
Speaker 1: when they sit down low in the hesitation, they're looking

595
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:44,640
Speaker 1: to explode to their left. As a result, it gets

596
00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:47,920
Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant to also squat down to prepare to make

597
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,560
Speaker 1: a recovery step to his right, and that opens up

598
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,640
Speaker 1: just enough space for Lebron to elevate into a pull

599
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:57,320
Speaker 1: up jump shot that he knocks down. That's another element

600
00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,160
Speaker 1: of variety and Lebron's shot making. And here we go

601
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,960
Speaker 1: to the Dagger Lakers up one, one oh three his

602
00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:08,240
Speaker 1: hundred and sixteenth, which is number one. He'll take a

603
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:12,840
Speaker 1: three Lebron James Well another pick and roll with Dwight Howard.

604
00:31:13,200 --> 00:31:15,640
Speaker 1: This time Nicola Yokich is going to hedge out to

605
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,680
Speaker 1: try to stop Lebron from turning that corner. When he does,

606
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:21,480
Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant has to take a short step back to

607
00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:23,680
Speaker 1: watch out for that lob and you can see Lebron

608
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:25,640
Speaker 1: pick up the basketball like he's going to throw that

609
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 1: lob to Dwight Howard. Yoki sprints back to Dwight Howard,

610
00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:31,280
Speaker 1: and in that split second, while Jeremy Grant is too

611
00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:34,680
Speaker 1: far low, Lebron rises up and knocks down the shot

612
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:37,840
Speaker 1: to send the Lakers to the NBA Finals. So Lebron

613
00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,640
Speaker 1: always had those foundational skills. He had that ability to

614
00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:42,680
Speaker 1: get to the rim that he discovered in two thousand

615
00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:44,760
Speaker 1: and seven, and then from his time in high school,

616
00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:47,080
Speaker 1: he was always a basketball player that had a natural

617
00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:49,800
Speaker 1: feel for finding his teammates. It's almost like an order

618
00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:52,440
Speaker 1: of operations in his head. He's always looking to make

619
00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,480
Speaker 1: the right play. But as you saw over the years,

620
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,080
Speaker 1: because of limitations in the supporting cast and because of

621
00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:01,040
Speaker 1: his limitations as a jump shooter, teams found ways to

622
00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:04,080
Speaker 1: beat Lebron by packing the paint and letting him make

623
00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:06,680
Speaker 1: the right play and have guys miss shots and have

624
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:09,080
Speaker 1: him miss jump shots on their way to beating Lebron

625
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,040
Speaker 1: James teams. But over the years he rounded out that

626
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:15,520
Speaker 1: skill set with everything you need from that specific position,

627
00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:18,440
Speaker 1: pull up jump shooting off the dribble, as you're operating

628
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,160
Speaker 1: with a live dribble from the perimeter, turning your back

629
00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:23,719
Speaker 1: to the basket, and your ability to knock down shots

630
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,080
Speaker 1: over both shoulders. We didn't go over it in this video,

631
00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,280
Speaker 1: but another huge element of Lebron's game has been that

632
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 1: modern perimeter shack, that ability to to use his strength

633
00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,400
Speaker 1: and size to just bully people around the rim with

634
00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:38,880
Speaker 1: a live dribble. As a result, the Lebron has become

635
00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:41,520
Speaker 1: one of the most well rounded basketball players that we've

636
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:44,080
Speaker 1: ever seen in this league. And he never gets included

637
00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:46,240
Speaker 1: with the scores, like we talked about that night, because

638
00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,480
Speaker 1: of the fact that he gets to the room so frequently.

639
00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:50,840
Speaker 1: We talked about it this year, like Lebron everage seven

640
00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:54,000
Speaker 1: makes in the restricted area per game. Steph Kauai and

641
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:57,560
Speaker 1: Kevin Durant combine to make six shots in the restricted

642
00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:00,280
Speaker 1: area per game. So you watch them just make all

643
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Speaker 1: of these complicated shots all the time, and so that

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Speaker 1: causes people to gravitate towards them as scores. But the

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Speaker 1: truth of the matter is when you combine Lebron James

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Speaker 1: interior presence as a bullyball score around the rim and

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Speaker 1: all those things that he rounded out with his skill

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Speaker 1: set from the perimeter, with the ability to knock down

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Speaker 1: shots turning over both shoulders out of the post, with

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Speaker 1: the ability to knock down shots out of a different

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Speaker 1: dribble combinations and out of different footwork from the perimeter,

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Speaker 1: it suddenly made him completely unguardable. And when you pair

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Speaker 1: that with his relentless willingness to make the right play

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Speaker 1: and to hit his teammates and spots where they feel comfortable,

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Speaker 1: he became what I believe to be the best offensive

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Speaker 1: engine to ever play in the M. Yet the volume