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Speaker 1: The Volume. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight Here at

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Speaker 1: the Volume, Happy Thursday, everybody. Round two coverage of the

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Speaker 1: NBA Playoffs. Here at Hoops Tonight is brought to you

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Speaker 1: by Chase Freedom Unlimited. How do you cash back? We

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Speaker 1: are live on AMPS, so if you're watching on YouTube

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Speaker 1: or listening on the podcast feed, don't forget AMP is

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Speaker 1: the very first place that you guys can get these shows.

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Speaker 1: We have a jam packed show today. The Warriors even

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Speaker 1: up the most entertaining second round series here in the

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Speaker 1: NBA Playoffs. I've beaten the crap out of the Lakers tonight.

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Speaker 1: Bunch of adjustments that we all kind of saw coming

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Speaker 1: took place and the Lakers did not handle it well.

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Speaker 1: And some adjustments I expect them to make and what

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Speaker 1: I project for the rest of the series moving forward.

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Speaker 1: And then last night the Boston Celtics got back on

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Speaker 1: track against the Philadelphia seventy six ers, notching a similar

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Speaker 1: type of dominant victory. Have some thoughts on that one

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

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Speaker 1: Subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channels you don't miss any

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

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Speaker 1: Jason LT So you guys don't miss any show announcements.

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Speaker 1: back over to YouTube to finish, don't forget. You can

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Speaker 1: find them wherever you get your podcasts under Hoops Tonight.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. So you know, over

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Speaker 1: the years, you guys have probably heard me repeat many

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Speaker 1: things many times on the show, And one of the

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Speaker 1: things that I consistently say on the show is I

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Speaker 1: just don't care about box score numbers, particularly counting stats.

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Speaker 1: I think they're part of the story. But generally speaking

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Speaker 1: that you know, you might find some indicators for specific

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Speaker 1: play that are indicators of their engagement level, right Like,

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Speaker 1: specifically with Lebron and ad I'm always looking at things

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Speaker 1: like rebounds, like when they're rebounding well, that typically means

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Speaker 1: they're athletically engaged in the game. But like a lot

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Speaker 1: of times it was scores. We focus on the points

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Speaker 1: per game and field goal percentage and stuff like that,

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Speaker 1: and we don't pay close enough attention to the dynamic

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Speaker 1: that's taking place on the court. Steph Curry had twenty

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Speaker 1: points and twelve assists tonight. See relatively pedestrian stat line, right,

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Speaker 1: nothing exceptional happening there. But I thought he was far

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Speaker 1: and away the best player on the for tonight by

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Speaker 1: a mile, right, you know, like Game one, Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: was the best player on the floor. But the box

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Speaker 1: score is much more revealing of that. Thirty points, twenty

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Speaker 1: three rebounds. That's you know, I saw some metric. It's

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Speaker 1: like only four players all time I've ever done that,

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Speaker 1: and they're all the all time great centers. Right, But

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Speaker 1: for Steph Curry, it's pretty pedestrian stat line associated with

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Speaker 1: what I thought was an extremely dominant performance. And that's

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Speaker 1: why we can't always look at the box score. Curry,

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Speaker 1: in my opinion, got robbed of a Finals MVP in

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Speaker 1: twenty fifteen for this very same thought process. People saw

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Speaker 1: relatively pedestrian box score numbers by his standards, and they

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Speaker 1: saw Andrea Gudala have a good scoring season series, right,

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Speaker 1: and then they looked at Lebron James field goal percentage

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Speaker 1: and essentially we're like, oh, Andre Gudala most valuable player

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Speaker 1: of the NBA Finals, And that just wasn't the story

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Speaker 1: of the series at all. Anybody who watched the games

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Speaker 1: and I said this at the time and have said

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Speaker 1: this repeatedly since you watch the game, and it's like

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Speaker 1: Andre Gudala was pressured up on Lebron James in large

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Speaker 1: part because it's Matthew Della Vedova and timoth Fay Mozgov

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Speaker 1: and just a bunch of lower level NBA players that

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Speaker 1: Golden State didn't have to guard, and so they had

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Speaker 1: a wall behind him, and so Lebron's efficiency tanked as

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Speaker 1: part of a team defensive strategy and a gap in

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Speaker 1: talent between the two rosters, and Andrea Gudala was getting

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Speaker 1: all these points because the Warriors could not guard Steph

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Speaker 1: Curry with Matthew del a dove was straight up and

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Speaker 1: so they had to start trapping pick and rolls, and

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Speaker 1: that was the beginning of the beautiful Draymond Green four

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Speaker 1: on three short roll down the middle, drawing in the

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Speaker 1: defender out of the weekside cornered kicking to Andre Gudala.

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Speaker 1: Like again, Andre was amazing in that series. He defended

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Speaker 1: Lebron James extremely well about his Andre Goudala has defended

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Speaker 1: Lebron James better than any defender I've ever seen defend

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Speaker 1: Lebron James. So I'm not trying to take away credit

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Speaker 1: for him. But what happened in that series was he

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Speaker 1: was getting wide open shots in the corner because of

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Speaker 1: Steph drawing multiple defenders from the top of the key.

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Speaker 1: The Warriors, by far their most valuable player in that

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Speaker 1: series was Steph Curry, and tonight was a very, very

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Speaker 1: similar type of dynamic we talked. I talked a lot

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Speaker 1: about this over the course the last couple of days.

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Speaker 1: But Steph Curry in Pick and Roll, it's just a

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Speaker 1: little bit easier for him to get separated from Jared Vanderbilt,

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Speaker 1: simple dynamic of physics. In a top lock or lock

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Speaker 1: and trail system, he really only has to worry about

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Speaker 1: one direction that Steph could run either into him or

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Speaker 1: or backcut. Or if he gets lost and he's in

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Speaker 1: a lock and trail, then all he has to do

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Speaker 1: is trail him right, just follow him around. But in

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Speaker 1: an on ball situation. He's squared up with Steph. Now

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Speaker 1: he has to worry about left and right. Steph can

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Speaker 1: use multiple dribbles to get him set up for the

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Speaker 1: ball screen, and that screen can flip its angle in

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Speaker 1: a way that they can't and off ball actions. It

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Speaker 1: was just the obvious adjustment that was coming where I

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Speaker 1: was super disappointed with Darvin Ham from a game plan standpoint.

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Speaker 1: I'm not sure if this was Darvin Ham's game a

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Speaker 1: game plan or if it was Anthony Davis from just

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Speaker 1: a mental focus standpoint, and Anthony Davis had a nightmare game,

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Speaker 1: or We're gonna talk a lot about him here later on.

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Speaker 1: But Anthony Davis was coming way high on every single

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Speaker 1: one of those screens. Now, I knew that was a

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Speaker 1: possibility as part of steph pick and roll. You guys,

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Speaker 1: remember what I said was if he could get Jared

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Speaker 1: Vanderbilt caught on the screens, he can get more separation,

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Speaker 1: which will force Anthony Davis to occasionally have to come

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Speaker 1: higher up out of his drop coverage, which you'll open

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Speaker 1: things up for Draymond Green in the short role. Right.

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Speaker 1: But they did it every single time, like even when

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Speaker 1: Jared Vanderbilt was there, there were possessions where it just

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Speaker 1: looked like a blitz because Jared Vanderbilt is trailing Steph

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Speaker 1: completely attached, and Anthony Davis is still coming way out,

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Speaker 1: which doesn't make any sense, and we'll get to that

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Speaker 1: in a second. But all game long, it was Draymond

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Speaker 1: Green in that short role, and obviously the Andre Guadala

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Speaker 1: in this situation was Jamichael Green and in many cases,

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Speaker 1: but it was a bunch of different guys. Andrew Wiggins

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Speaker 1: hit a bunch of shots as well. Klay Thompson was fantastic,

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Speaker 1: but like that specific dynamic of trapping Steph Curry thirty

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Speaker 1: feet from the basket and allowing the Warriors to play

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Speaker 1: four on three sprung their offense. And so even though

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Speaker 1: Steph had twenty to twelve, which is a relatively pedestrian statline,

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Speaker 1: like I said, he was by far the best player

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Speaker 1: on the floor. And it's been one of the most

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Speaker 1: underrated parts of this entire era is that you know,

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Speaker 1: Steph's impact just like many stars, just like Lebron throughout

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Speaker 1: his prime, just like when we're talking about some of

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Speaker 1: the top guys in the league now. But Steph, obviously,

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Speaker 1: to I think he's the second best player of this era,

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Speaker 1: so to a greater extent than most of those guys.

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Speaker 1: He just has an impact that extends well beyond the

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Speaker 1: box score. You know, from a This is where the

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Speaker 1: Lakers I think are gonna need to counter because we

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Speaker 1: talked a lot about this concept. How do you guard

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry during the NBA Finals last year? And it

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Speaker 1: all to me comes down to your personnel, like, for instance,

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Speaker 1: like I didn't. I think there's three ways that you

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Speaker 1: can guard Steph Curry high pick and roll, and I

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Speaker 1: think two of them are potential acceptable options, and then

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Speaker 1: there's one that's like you should never do under any circumstances.

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Speaker 1: Number one is drop coverage. That means you let Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davis or whoever the protector is hang back in the

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Speaker 1: paint or not come out too far. Maybe you only

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Speaker 1: come up to the free throw line so we can

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Speaker 1: get to get to the role man, and then you

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Speaker 1: ask your guard to chase over the top and to

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Speaker 1: apply back pressure. The vulnerability there is Steph getting separated

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Speaker 1: from the ball defender and knocking down pull up threes. Right,

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Speaker 1: that's the weak point in in that coverage. The strong

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Speaker 1: point in that coverage is you never allow a short

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Speaker 1: role and you show down the paint and you're basically

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Speaker 1: forcing Steph to make tough contest to jumpers. Right, that's

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Speaker 1: good option number one. Good option number two is to

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Speaker 1: switch because then at the very least, you're forcing Steph

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Speaker 1: to beat guys off the dribble. And he's amazing. He's,

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Speaker 1: like I said, the second best player of this era.

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Speaker 1: He's gonna beat dudes off the dribble. In a lot

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Speaker 1: of those cases. Option three is the one thing you

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Speaker 1: could never do in my opinion, and it's to trap

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Speaker 1: or blitz or to bring both defenders to Steph above

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Speaker 1: the level of the screen, because that's what opens up

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Speaker 1: those four on threes. And it makes more sense against

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Speaker 1: other teams in the NBA when you're like playing Damian Lillard, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: go for it. When you're playing you know, Jamal Murray

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Speaker 1: or some of these other guys, like if you want

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Speaker 1: to Nuggets are actually a bad example because he Jokic,

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Speaker 1: But some of these other on ball defenders or on

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Speaker 1: ball guards, it makes more sense to do because they

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Speaker 1: don't have the continuity in the personnel to they don't

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Speaker 1: they usually don't have a role. Man. That's very good

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Speaker 1: at making decisions, or they don't have like the the

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Speaker 1: bang bang pass sequences kind of lined up. This is

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Speaker 1: a Warrior team that has been destroying this coverage for

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Speaker 1: nine years now. Like you can like that. That's the

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Speaker 1: one coverage you can never use against the Warriors is

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Speaker 1: to bring both defenders up onto Steph because they're just

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Speaker 1: too good at it. Draymond's too good at it. Even

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Speaker 1: Kavan Looney's too good at it. They've they got their

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Speaker 1: spacing down pat on how to attack that. It just

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Speaker 1: it just it was a really bad strategy in my opinion.

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Speaker 1: Like when we look at the margin here and like,

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Speaker 1: the Warriors beat the shit out of the Lakers tonight,

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Speaker 1: but like I don't. I saw some Lakers fans and

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Speaker 1: I mentioned when I because I predicted the Warriors would

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Speaker 1: win by double digits tonight. Have had a pretty good

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Speaker 1: feel for this series so far. I predicted the Warriors

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Speaker 1: would win by double digits. I had Laker fans and

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Speaker 1: my mentions like, nah, we're gonna go up to well,

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Speaker 1: this is gonna be a no. The Lakers might be

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Speaker 1: a little better than the Warriors, They're not gonna blow

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Speaker 1: them out every game. That's just not gonna happen. The

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Speaker 1: Warriors might be a little better than the Lakers, they're

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Speaker 1: not gonna blow them out of every game. A good

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Speaker 1: portion of that margin was effort, But there were two

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Speaker 1: things in particular from that game that translate forward that

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Speaker 1: could be a problem for the Lakers. And it's that

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Speaker 1: Steph high pick and roll thing, and then something we'll

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Speaker 1: talk about in a little bit, which is Klay Thompson

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Speaker 1: and Austin Reeves and some of the damage that he

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Speaker 1: did to him there. But like obviously, the margin doesn't

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Speaker 1: tell the full story, but this specific battle. As we

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Speaker 1: shift to the Lakers at home in Game three, it's

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Speaker 1: gonna come down to coverages in that high pick and roll. Now,

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Speaker 1: what I would do if I was coaching the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: I would start in the drop coverage. Jared Vanderbilt was

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Speaker 1: the hero of Game one because of what I broke

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Speaker 1: down for you guys, which was back pressure, his ability

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Speaker 1: to pursue over the top of screens and bother Steph

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Speaker 1: from behind. It's beyond me that they didn't give him

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Speaker 1: an opportunity to demonstrate that again in this game and

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Speaker 1: just came way up high on those ball screens every

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Speaker 1: single time basically removing Jared Vanderbilt's athleticism from the equation

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Speaker 1: and putting your two best defensive players furthest away from

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Speaker 1: the basket while everyone else is rolling towards the rip.

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Speaker 1: Now again, like with the Celtics, I didn't like the

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Speaker 1: drop coverage because I thought they had great switching personnel.

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Speaker 1: When you have Al Horford and and and Uh, Marcus

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Speaker 1: Smart and Derek White, Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, you

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Speaker 1: can switch everything because everybody's a great defender. And yes,

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Speaker 1: Steph's gonna beat some guys, but it's gonna be more difficult,

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Speaker 1: and you have more athleticism in rotation. This Laker team

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Speaker 1: is fundamentally constructed different. d'An Angelo Russell and Austin Reeves

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Speaker 1: are below average athletes. You know, Lebron James is a

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Speaker 1: defender that like he's when he's engaged, he's great, but

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Speaker 1: he can kind of flow in and out of it.

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Speaker 1: Sometimes switching is not the ideal coverage for this Laker team.

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Speaker 1: For them, drop makes more sense because they have a

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Speaker 1: longer defender that can actually bother Steph from behind in

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Speaker 1: a way that Derek White and Marcus Smart can't. And

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Speaker 1: they have a much better drop coverage big and Anthony

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Speaker 1: Davis on the back line than Robert Williams and Al Horford.

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Speaker 1: So again it depends on the roster that you have,

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Speaker 1: But for this particular Lakers team, I would go with

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Speaker 1: the with the drop covers that they use in game one.

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Speaker 1: Then what I would do is if if if Steph

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Speaker 1: starts to just torch Jared Vanderbilt and pull up three

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Speaker 1: point shooting, which, by the way, like again I have

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Speaker 1: to rewatch the game, and there's a lot going on

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Speaker 1: at the same time, but I don't think Steph hit

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Speaker 1: a pull up three and pick and roll and correct

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Speaker 1: me if I'm wrong on that. But if he did,

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Speaker 1: he only hit one or so, Like Steph wasn't torching

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Speaker 1: them and pick and roll as a score. They didn't

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Speaker 1: even give him an opportunity to get that going before

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Speaker 1: making that adjustment. What I would do in game three

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Speaker 1: is I'd run that drop coverage, give vayner Built a

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Speaker 1: fighting chance. If Steph hits two or three pull up threes,

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Speaker 1: then you can go to the next best option, which

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Speaker 1: is switching, which is less than ideal for this particular roster.

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Speaker 1: But then you put the onus on Anthony Davis to

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Speaker 1: sit there and defend Steph Curry, you know, and obviously

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Speaker 1: then there'll be another accounter for the Warriors there, because

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Speaker 1: then at that point they can probably try to use

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Speaker 1: Steph as more of a point guard and to try

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Speaker 1: to get the ball to other people with Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: away from the back line. Like this is gonna be

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Speaker 1: a chess match that goes a bunch of different directions

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Speaker 1: over the course of the next however many games this goes.

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Speaker 1: But I do think Darvin Ham made the wrong decision tonight,

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Speaker 1: and I do think that there's a good option for

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Speaker 1: them to counter going into Game three. The other biggest

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Speaker 1: adjustment that we expected the Warriors to make in this

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Speaker 1: game was to go small and get out in transition.

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Speaker 1: At the time that we started the show, they had

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Speaker 1: a seventeen to three fast break points advantage. They went

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Speaker 1: small with Jamichael Green, which is a decision that I

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Speaker 1: was a little confused by because I'm a big believer

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Speaker 1: in like, if you're gonna go small, go small. Like

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Speaker 1: if you're gonna go small, go in on offensive skill.

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Speaker 1: You know, I would have probably started pool. But that said,

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Speaker 1: it worked out great because Jamichael Green kept getting those

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Speaker 1: wide open corner threes. So again it's like it's less

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Speaker 1: about like what your playing is and it comes down

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Speaker 1: to execution at the end of the day. But they

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Speaker 1: got out in transition more. They dominated the like as

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Speaker 1: good as the Lakers have been in the half court

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Speaker 1: defensively since the trade deadline. All season long, they've been

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Speaker 1: an atrocious perimeter excuse me, an atrocious transition defense team.

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Speaker 1: They have too many guys that like to complain at

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Speaker 1: the refs. Anthony Davis is super susceptible to games where

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Speaker 1: he jogs up and down the floor in transition. They

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Speaker 1: don't get matched up, they don't communicate. They're a bad

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Speaker 1: transition defense team. We saw that at the end of game.

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Speaker 1: We saw that throughout this game. So the two counters

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Speaker 1: that the Warriors made monumentally shifted this series, and it's

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Speaker 1: gonna be up to the Lakers to adjust back. And again,

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Speaker 1: I do think effort was the biggest factor in this game, don't.

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Speaker 1: I don't remember the exact stat, but I've read something

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Speaker 1: the other day that like something crazy like fifteen consecutive

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Speaker 1: times the when the home team that is the series,

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Speaker 1: the home court advantage team loses Game one, they win

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Speaker 1: Game two every time, Like, I don't even remember the

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Speaker 1: last time the road team went up two to zero

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Speaker 1: on the road. It just is extremely rare in NBA history.

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Speaker 1: There's always gonna be an effort gap. It's a natural

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Speaker 1: ebb and flow that you see over the course of

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Speaker 1: the series. The more desperate team usually comes out and

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Speaker 1: plays a lot better in the margins than they end

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Speaker 1: up getting a win, and the Warriors did tonight. Again,

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Speaker 1: that's not to say they wouldn't have won the game anyway,

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Speaker 1: but I think that's more indicative of the margin. I

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Speaker 1: don't think the Warriors are thirty points better than the

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Speaker 1: Lakers in a one game sample size, obviously, right, But

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Speaker 1: moving forward in the series, Steph, I pick Roll going

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Speaker 1: small and getting out in transition, and then the third

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Speaker 1: one Klay Thompson and Austin Reeves. So Clay had a

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Speaker 1: bad shooting night in Game one, and a lot of

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Speaker 1: it had to do with the Lakers keeping them in

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Speaker 1: the half court a lot, But early in the game

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Speaker 1: there was something that stood out to me quickly as

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Speaker 1: Clay got off to a hot start. I think he

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Speaker 1: made four of his first five shots or something like that.

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Speaker 1: Austin Reeves is just a little too small, and he's

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Speaker 1: not as in a little too like I should say

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Speaker 1: small from a muscle standpoint as well, And Clay was

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Speaker 1: just really good at setting him up for his off

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Speaker 1: ball actions. And like, even even with Clay with this

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Speaker 1: little step back jumper that he takes from the mid range,

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Speaker 1: you can always tell when Clay gets like great separation

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Speaker 1: and great lift, that shot goes in almost every single time,

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Speaker 1: versus when he's really being bothered by a bigger, stronger defender,

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Speaker 1: he fades more and it's a much tougher shot, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: I was worried about the Clay Reeves matchup in Game one,

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Speaker 1: even though the box score looked pretty solid. I kind

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Speaker 1: of I believe I mentioned that in our Game one show.

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Speaker 1: I don't remember exactly, but that specific matchup is going

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Speaker 1: to be another one that's going to be a problem

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Speaker 1: for the Lakers moving forward in the series. So as

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Speaker 1: we sift through the effort related stuff, those are the

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Speaker 1: positives for the Warriors Steph pickenroll getting out in transition

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Speaker 1: by going small Clay on Austin Reeves. So let's move

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Speaker 1: to the Lakers side a little bit. Lebron James got

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Speaker 1: his jumper going in this particular game, didn't shoot particularly

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Speaker 1: well in the second half of the game, was kind

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Speaker 1: of out of out of the grip at that point.

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Speaker 1: I said this a bunch in the show with the

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Speaker 1: Nerd Sash guys yesterday. But Lebron James is a great

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Speaker 1: postseason jump shooter. Has been forever, like basically since the

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Speaker 1: ever since the twenty thirteen playoff run when he won

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Speaker 1: a second title in Miami, all the way to this year,

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Speaker 1: with exception of the twenty fifteen postseason, he's been an

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Speaker 1: above average, good volume jump shooter. I want to say

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Speaker 1: he's like thirty seven percent from three on like six

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Speaker 1: attempts in his previous five playoff runs. Like, Lebron's a

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Speaker 1: good jump shooter who happens to be in one of

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Speaker 1: the worst slumps of his career. And so that's why

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Speaker 1: I was never really overly critical of Lebron James continuing

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00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:06,719
Speaker 1: to shoot, because he's just trying to shoot his way

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Speaker 1: out of the slump. And most importantly, they're gonna literally

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Speaker 1: need him to be to knock down those shots in

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Speaker 1: order to have any chance to win this series in

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Speaker 1: the long run, and really any of the series moving forward,

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Speaker 1: so that I think is a relatively good sign for

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Speaker 1: the Lakers that he got that going a little bit.

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis look like. I'm as big of a believer

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Speaker 1: in the Anthony Davis ceiling as anybody, and I think

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Speaker 1: a lot of times, like some of my AD takes

388
00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:36,639
Speaker 1: get pulled out of context as is if I'm an

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Speaker 1: AD hater, that's not the case. Like I'm so high

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Speaker 1: on AD and what he's capable of that I've said

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Speaker 1: this on the show and I believe it. I think

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Speaker 1: he is capable. I should say his ceiling is every

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Speaker 1: bit as high as Nikola jokicch and Joel Embiid arguably higher.

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Speaker 1: Coming into this game. Anthony Davis might have been the

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Speaker 1: best player in the postseason so far overall when you

396
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Speaker 1: factor in his de defensive impact. But he just has

397
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:09,159
Speaker 1: this tendency, especially after he plays well, to relax and

398
00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:12,720
Speaker 1: look like I'm not sitting here expecting every game to

399
00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:16,240
Speaker 1: be this unbelievable MVP type performance. That's not true for

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00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,040
Speaker 1: anybody Like Lebron James is the only guy I can

401
00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:21,960
Speaker 1: remember ever in NBA history my time watching the league

402
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:26,880
Speaker 1: to like be dependably great in every postseason game, and

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00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:29,440
Speaker 1: that that those days are gone too as he's gotten older.

404
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,679
Speaker 1: But from basically twenty twenty to twenty thirteen, like I

405
00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:36,160
Speaker 1: said during that that span, Lebron is the safest bet

406
00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,199
Speaker 1: in sports. Like it's just oh big playoff game. Lebron

407
00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:40,959
Speaker 1: at a minimum is going to be twenty eight, eight

408
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:44,440
Speaker 1: and eight with excellent defense and and and apply a

409
00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:46,160
Speaker 1: ton of rim pressure and make a ton of plays

410
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:49,280
Speaker 1: for his teammates like he was dependably great and then

411
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,240
Speaker 1: and then he would be, you know, with the upside

412
00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:54,800
Speaker 1: if potentially going for forty twelve and thirteen on any

413
00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:57,400
Speaker 1: given night, right like like that. But that's why he's

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Speaker 1: the second best player of all time. And I'm not

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Speaker 1: trying to hold Anthony di to that same standard. But

416
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Speaker 1: for Anthony Davis, his fluctuations are even more extreme than

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Speaker 1: what you would expect like a normal superstar level player

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Speaker 1: in the league. It's like sometimes he's great, sometimes he's

419
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,160
Speaker 1: not so great. Sometimes he's great, sometimes he's not so great.

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Speaker 1: Ady will have stinkers like straight up play awful well

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Speaker 1: below a superstar standard, Like one day he's the best

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Speaker 1: player in the world, next day he's Clincapella. Like that's

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Speaker 1: the kind of thing you get from Anthony Davis this.

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00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:32,040
Speaker 1: I saw this stat earlier, and this is crazy. Game

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00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:36,119
Speaker 1: three against Memphis thirty one and seventeen, Game four against

426
00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:40,160
Speaker 1: Memphis twelve and eleven, Game five against Memphis thirty one

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00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,080
Speaker 1: and nineteen, Game six against Memphis sixteen and fourteen. Although

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Speaker 1: I thought he played great in that game, overall, he

429
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Speaker 1: just didn't need to score very much. Game one against

430
00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:52,600
Speaker 1: Golden State thirty and twenty three, Game two against Golden

431
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:56,119
Speaker 1: State eleven points and seven rebounds, Like, we're not talking

432
00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:58,800
Speaker 1: about the difference between you going like, oh, you know,

433
00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,400
Speaker 1: Jokic was a little offt He only had twenty four

434
00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:03,960
Speaker 1: eleven and seven and he was kind of inefficient. No, Like,

435
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:06,680
Speaker 1: that's not what you get from these Anthony Davis bad games.

436
00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:12,040
Speaker 1: He's a complete no show. The same dominant defensive performance

437
00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:14,800
Speaker 1: that he had in Game one was a He was

438
00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,960
Speaker 1: a step slow on all of his rim reactions. He

439
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,760
Speaker 1: was jogging back in transition. Like I said, I don't

440
00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,520
Speaker 1: think Darvin ham wanted ad to blitz every ball screen.

441
00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:25,040
Speaker 1: I thought he was making bad reads. So like, I

442
00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:27,240
Speaker 1: don't know what was going on with Anthony Davis tonight,

443
00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:30,240
Speaker 1: But this is a thing that I've consistently seen, and

444
00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:33,000
Speaker 1: that like, I would love to say that Anthony Davis

445
00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,720
Speaker 1: is the best player in the world, but like, he's

446
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:39,800
Speaker 1: not gonna be in that conversation ever until he finds

447
00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:41,439
Speaker 1: a way to cut out this like one out of

448
00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,480
Speaker 1: every three games as just a total stinker. It's like

449
00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:47,680
Speaker 1: a legitimate part of his basketball identity. And I don't

450
00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:51,159
Speaker 1: have a good explanation for he's not soft. This is

451
00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,399
Speaker 1: not like a, oh, we switched Draymon Green on him

452
00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,919
Speaker 1: and he shut him down. I've watched Anthony Davis earlier

453
00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,560
Speaker 1: this year towards Straymond Green, including hitting the dagger in

454
00:21:59,560 --> 00:22:03,439
Speaker 1: his face on the left baseline. Like Anthony Davis plays

455
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:09,240
Speaker 1: great in physicality, sometimes it's just he'll bully the hell

456
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:11,240
Speaker 1: out of a team one game, and then the next

457
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:13,640
Speaker 1: game he just won't be there. He just won't be

458
00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,440
Speaker 1: engaged physically the way he is. It's not a soft thing.

459
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:20,560
Speaker 1: It's not a skill thing. It's strictly a mentality thing.

460
00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,280
Speaker 1: He struggles to bring it with the same level of

461
00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:26,760
Speaker 1: intensity every night, and his down intensity isn't just down,

462
00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:31,080
Speaker 1: it's way down. And that part is confusing. But again,

463
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,120
Speaker 1: I expect the Warriors to stick with the same game

464
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:37,160
Speaker 1: play moving forward, maybe tweak the Jamichael Green thing. We'll see.

465
00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:39,960
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers will start with more of a

466
00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,919
Speaker 1: dramatic eight drop coverage, maybe go to some switching, and

467
00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:44,560
Speaker 1: then the role players need to play way better. Austin

468
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:47,119
Speaker 1: Reeves played really poorly in this particular game. D'Angel Russell.

469
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:49,600
Speaker 1: I thought it was pretty sloppy overall, like they're gonna

470
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,400
Speaker 1: need better performances from some guys on the margins as well.

471
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:55,480
Speaker 1: This to me feels like a series where Game four

472
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,720
Speaker 1: is gonna be the determining game. I expect the Lakers

473
00:22:57,720 --> 00:22:59,760
Speaker 1: to come out with a similar type of chaotic and

474
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,280
Speaker 1: for an effort in Game three. I think they'll have

475
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,040
Speaker 1: a better game plan. I think the Lakers will win

476
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,639
Speaker 1: Game three, probably not quite as comfortably as Game too,

477
00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,440
Speaker 1: because the Warriors are a little more resilient in those

478
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,760
Speaker 1: down bigs. They're less likely to let go of the

479
00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:15,760
Speaker 1: rope than the Lakers are. But in this game, in

480
00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,040
Speaker 1: Game three, I expect the Lakers to win by ten

481
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,160
Speaker 1: to fifteen points a little comfortably over the Warriors. Game

482
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,000
Speaker 1: four is gonna be the knockdown, drag out rock fight

483
00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:27,800
Speaker 1: of a game that is close late, and it's gonna

484
00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:30,639
Speaker 1: be Steph Curry in high pick and roll versus Lebron

485
00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis and what they can do on

486
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:34,879
Speaker 1: the game, in the game physically on both ends of

487
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,399
Speaker 1: the floor. That's gonna be the game that determines the series.

488
00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,200
Speaker 1: In my opinion, the Lakers will either go up three

489
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:42,840
Speaker 1: to one and win the series or they'll drop that game.

490
00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:44,680
Speaker 1: It'll be two to two, and then the Warriors will

491
00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:47,280
Speaker 1: have a huge advantage heading home for Game five. So

492
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,919
Speaker 1: that's kind of where I'm sitting right now. All right,

493
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:52,080
Speaker 1: let's move on just really quickly. I'm not gonna spend

494
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,120
Speaker 1: too much time on it because it was a kind

495
00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:57,280
Speaker 1: of a disgusting blowout. But the Celtics Sixers game last night,

496
00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:59,800
Speaker 1: and you know, when I saw the score, I thought

497
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:01,800
Speaker 1: it was be much more lopsided than it actually was

498
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:04,919
Speaker 1: when I ended up. Uh, when I was watching, like

499
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:09,240
Speaker 1: Embiid was amazing defensively in the first half, the Sixers

500
00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:12,480
Speaker 1: kind of hung in under like a crazy Boston Celtics effort,

501
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,320
Speaker 1: and it was actually fifty to forty five at one point.

502
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:18,879
Speaker 1: I thought Jalen Brown and Marcus Smart in particular, really

503
00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:23,320
Speaker 1: set the tone with their defensive ball pressure to start

504
00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,240
Speaker 1: to start that game. And again kudos to the Sixers

505
00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,320
Speaker 1: for hanging in tight, but boy did they let go

506
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,439
Speaker 1: of the rope in that in that third quarter. And

507
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,800
Speaker 1: Boston just has a ton of offensive skill. And when

508
00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:35,600
Speaker 1: they start driving and kicking you to death, they start

509
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,040
Speaker 1: getting these wide open threes for good shooters and they

510
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:42,720
Speaker 1: can do a ton of damage very quickly. I here's

511
00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:45,600
Speaker 1: what I'm worried about Embiid because again, like I thought,

512
00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:47,840
Speaker 1: Embiid was great to start that game, making all these

513
00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,240
Speaker 1: out of area defensive plays. He was doing his job

514
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,280
Speaker 1: on offense, drawing attention. But there in the end of

515
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,560
Speaker 1: the second quarter in particular, you could see he started

516
00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,240
Speaker 1: to get tired and there was like a layup that

517
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:00,879
Speaker 1: he blew right at the rim. This might have actually

518
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:02,680
Speaker 1: been in the third quarter, if I'm if I'm I

519
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:04,200
Speaker 1: might be messing that up. I think it actually was

520
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:06,960
Speaker 1: in the third quarter, but he, like early third quarter,

521
00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:10,280
Speaker 1: Embiid like blows a layup right at the rim and

522
00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:13,680
Speaker 1: transition and where he just didn't didn't go up with force,

523
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:15,320
Speaker 1: just kind of like try to tap it in and

524
00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:17,720
Speaker 1: missed it. Then he missed like three or four jumpers

525
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,400
Speaker 1: in a row short and I'm like, okay, that's fatigue,

526
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,399
Speaker 1: Like he's tired. And again, like I would have been

527
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:25,800
Speaker 1: so much more. I would have viewed this series as

528
00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:27,919
Speaker 1: so much more of a toss up if Embiid was

529
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,120
Speaker 1: really in a groove the way that he was when

530
00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:32,560
Speaker 1: they beat the Celtics like a month ago, right, But

531
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,120
Speaker 1: that's just not the case. Embiid is coming off this injury,

532
00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:38,399
Speaker 1: He's clearly not moving as well as he usually does.

533
00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:42,880
Speaker 1: That disrupts his rhythm and his conditioning, and like Embiid

534
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,679
Speaker 1: always struggles a little bit with conditioning, but it's exacerbated

535
00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:47,040
Speaker 1: when he has to take a week off and all

536
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:49,280
Speaker 1: he can do is stand still shooting. And then again

537
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 1: when you need to dominate games from the free throw

538
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:53,680
Speaker 1: line with the live dribble and triple threat situations the

539
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:56,840
Speaker 1: way that Embiid does, it just is really really difficult

540
00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:00,720
Speaker 1: to be as effective there when you're not in a

541
00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:03,560
Speaker 1: really good playing groove, Like basketball just moves at a

542
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:07,360
Speaker 1: certain speed in a real game compared to a practice

543
00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,359
Speaker 1: environment or a stay in still environment, and it's just

544
00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 1: really hard to replicate. And so like as much as

545
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:14,280
Speaker 1: I again Game three, we'll see. I wouldn't be surprised

546
00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,040
Speaker 1: if the Sixers had a crazy effort in one that game.

547
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,679
Speaker 1: They're that talented. And the Celtics are every bit as

548
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:21,680
Speaker 1: capable as the Lakers as just letting go of the

549
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,120
Speaker 1: rope as soon as they have a moment of prosperity. Right,

550
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 1: But I just don't know that they can beat this

551
00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:28,800
Speaker 1: talented Celtics team unless I'm beat is at his very best,

552
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:31,119
Speaker 1: and I just don't think he's at his very best.

553
00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:33,439
Speaker 1: All right, guys, That is all I have for tonight.

554
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:39,359
Speaker 1: I believe I think we're taking Tomorrow off and then

555
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,600
Speaker 1: we'll be covering those games on Saturday morning and then

556
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:45,800
Speaker 1: going again on Saturday night. As always, I sincerely appreciate

557
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:59,680
Speaker 1: you guys, and I'll see you on Saturday. The volume