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Speaker 1: All right, welcome to hoops tonight here at the volume.

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Speaker 1: Have you money? Everybody? Hope all of you guys had

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Speaker 1: an incredible weekend. Well, in case you missed it earlier today,

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Speaker 1: me and Jovan Buja went for about an hour on

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Speaker 1: the Lakers. I did say in that video that I

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Speaker 1: was going to do a update on the Clippers, who

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Speaker 1: are oh and four since the hard and trade and

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Speaker 1: then a Power Rankings video. But my crazy ass can't

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Speaker 1: do a Power Rankings video without doing like a deep

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Speaker 1: dive on every team. So I got through like five

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Speaker 1: of the teams, and then it's already five o'clock local time,

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Speaker 1: and I'm supposed to be going to a friends giving

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Speaker 1: thing tonight. So we're gonna run the entirety of the

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Speaker 1: Power Rankings video tomorrow. I'm gonna be hitting on ten

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Speaker 1: teams and a good amount of detail. I just didn't

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Speaker 1: have enough time to get through that today. So in

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Speaker 1: this video, we're just gonna do a deep dive on

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Speaker 1: the Clippers in their zero to four start in the

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Speaker 1: James Harden era, and then I have four mail bag

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Speaker 1: questions as well for the end of the show that

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Speaker 1: we'll hit that are going to allow us to bounce

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Speaker 1: around to a couple of different topics. You guys know

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Speaker 1: the joke before we get started. Subscribe to our brand

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Speaker 1: new YouTube channel in case you didn't realize, we have

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Speaker 1: moved over away from the Volumes feed. The Volumes feed

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Speaker 1: is now the Colin Cowherd Feed just for him, and

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Speaker 1: all the shows are now on their own channel. So

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Speaker 1: as we try to get this thing off the ground.

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Speaker 1: It would mean a lot to me if you guys

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Speaker 1: would take a second to scroll down and hit that

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Speaker 1: subscribe button. Don't forget about a podcast feed wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcast under hoops tonight my Twitter feed at

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Speaker 1: underscore jsonlt. That's where I post show announcements and I

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Speaker 1: post video as I'm going through my film sessions every morning,

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

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Speaker 1: questions in the YouTube comments so we can hit them

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Speaker 1: at the end of these shows. All right, let's talk

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Speaker 1: some basketball. So the Clippers are zero to four since

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Speaker 1: the Hard and Trade compared to all other NBA teams

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Speaker 1: in their last four games, they are twenty eighth in offense,

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Speaker 1: twenty fifth in defense, and twenty seventh in net rating,

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Speaker 1: so basically terrible at everything. They're also only securing sixty

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Speaker 1: four percent of available defensive rebounds, which ranks twenty eighth

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Speaker 1: in the league over that span. We're gonna spend a

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Speaker 1: good amount of time talking about rebounding here later on,

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Speaker 1: because the Clippers are more or less the same construct

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Speaker 1: as they used to be, and they were a great

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Speaker 1: rebounding team. Seeing the difference between having rangey wings all

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Speaker 1: over the floor when it comes to grabbing rebounds and

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Speaker 1: having guards that aren't necessarily as dialed into the dirty work,

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Speaker 1: and how quickly that can kind of turn things in

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Speaker 1: the wrong direction. But you know what's interesting is I

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Speaker 1: pulled up the video this morning because, as you guys know,

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Speaker 1: like I'm covering all these different teams, and I'm doing

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Speaker 1: deep dives on teams, and I'll watch two three games

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Speaker 1: at a in a sitting, and I haven't had a

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Speaker 1: chance to really to really check in on the Clippers yet.

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Speaker 1: And so this morning I went back and I watched

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Speaker 1: the Clippers, and I am expecting this like total shit

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Speaker 1: show of James Harden and Russell Westbrook mistakes kind of

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Speaker 1: driving the issues that they're having, and that could not

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Speaker 1: have been further from the case. It's not to say

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Speaker 1: that there aren't issues with Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

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Speaker 1: We're going to discuss those, but really, like there are

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Speaker 1: some guys in house that just aren't playing very good

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Speaker 1: basketball right now, and so I think it's important to

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Speaker 1: differentiate between those two things. Why are the Clippers zero

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Speaker 1: in four in their last four games? And was the

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Speaker 1: James Harden trade a terrible idea? That's submarine to their season.

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Speaker 1: Those are like two kind of different topics in my opinion.

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Speaker 1: So let's start with why are the Clippers zero and

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Speaker 1: four in their last four games? Their stars are playing

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Speaker 1: like shit and they can't secure a defensive rebound to

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Speaker 1: save their lives. Kawhi Leonard was bad again against the Grizzlies.

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Speaker 1: In this four game span, he's averaging nineteen points per

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Speaker 1: game on forty six percent, shooting thirty percent from three

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Speaker 1: and now. It doesn't sound terrible, but compared to star

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Speaker 1: Kawhi not very good right and certainly not near as

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Speaker 1: efficient as you're expected to seeing from him. And honestly,

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Speaker 1: when I watch him on tape, he looks a little

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Speaker 1: like stuck in the mud right now. He's not getting

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Speaker 1: great lift on his jump shots, he's not getting great separation,

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Speaker 1: not really getting to his spots as well as he

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Speaker 1: usually does. I'm not sure if he's dealing with a

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Speaker 1: nagging injury, or if it's related to rhythm or just

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Speaker 1: a random down patch in his athleticism, or what the

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Speaker 1: deal is. He doesn't look very good. Paul George in

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Speaker 1: the last four game seventeen points per game on thirty

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Speaker 1: four percent from the field twenty three percent from three

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Speaker 1: in his averaging more turnovers than assists. So like at

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Speaker 1: the end of the day, I always say about the Lakers, right, like,

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Speaker 1: when Lebron James and Anthony Davis aren't playing well, it's

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Speaker 1: impossible for role players to kind of make up for

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Speaker 1: that around them, right you know what I mean? Like,

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Speaker 1: regardless of what James Harden does or what Russell Westbrook

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Speaker 1: does or any specific role players do, if your two

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Speaker 1: best players are playing like shit, you're gonna have a

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Speaker 1: really hard time winning basketball games. And right now, Paul

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Speaker 1: George and Kawhi Leonard are not playing well. And then

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Speaker 1: the second part is the defensive rebounding part. And we're

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Speaker 1: gonna get to the to the offense in a little

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Speaker 1: bit because like, again, there's there's a case to be

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Speaker 1: made that why are Paul George and Kawhi Leonard not

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Speaker 1: playing well? Well? Maybe the rhythm of the offense is

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Speaker 1: thrown off. Now you've added this super complicated piece in

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Speaker 1: James Harden that kind of changes the dynamic of everything.

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Speaker 1: And the answer to that is, like you usually get

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Speaker 1: for me, a little bit of both, right, Like it's

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Speaker 1: some of it is the new guys. Some of it

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Speaker 1: is rhythm and some of it is those two guys

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Speaker 1: just aren't playing well either. And like I said, KWHI

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Speaker 1: doesn't look particularly explosive right now. So again we're gonna

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Speaker 1: talk about that more in a minute. But that's not

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Speaker 1: the only part of it. The other half of it

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Speaker 1: is essentially the Zubac problem, and it really just has

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Speaker 1: to do with overall roster size, but it kind of

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Speaker 1: starts with Zubak. So obviously Plumbly gets hurt and now

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Speaker 1: Musa Diabat is getting your backup center minutes and he's

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Speaker 1: a borderline, you know, he's a guy that you don't

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Speaker 1: want to have in your rotation if you're a serious

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Speaker 1: basketball team. Right, But the other half of it is

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Speaker 1: a Zubac piece, right. Tylu insists on going small a

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Speaker 1: lot of the time. Why because Zubax is one of

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Speaker 1: many centers in the league that is a guy that

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Speaker 1: can eat some regular season innings. But when push comes

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Speaker 1: to shove, you can't necessarily have him on the floor

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Speaker 1: because it's easy enough to space him out and on

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Speaker 1: one end of the floor and drive by him and

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Speaker 1: then on the offensive end of the floor. It can

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Speaker 1: kind of cause problems for your spacing, and Tyler has

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Speaker 1: shown us over the years he wants to go down.

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Speaker 1: So with small ball, he wants to space you out,

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Speaker 1: he wants to pick you apart. With drive and kick basketball.

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Speaker 1: He wants to switch everything and fly around with ball

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Speaker 1: pressure on defense. And that's more often than not the

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Speaker 1: strategy he's gonna fall back on when things are going bad.

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Speaker 1: Even against Memphis, when things were going bad late third quarter,

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Speaker 1: early fourth quarter, We're going small and we're just gonna

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Speaker 1: switch everything and apply a ton of ball pressure and

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Speaker 1: run it down your throat and transition like that was

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Speaker 1: the way they got back into the game against Memphis.

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Speaker 1: But there's a huge difference between this version of that

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Speaker 1: small ball lineup and what we saw in the past.

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Speaker 1: Like you keep forgetting that it was usually a small

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Speaker 1: ball lineup that had Kawhi and Paul George alongside Nick Patoum,

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Speaker 1: another six foot eight guy who could grab long rebounds

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Speaker 1: and could defend on the perimeter. Right Marcus Morris last year.

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Speaker 1: Marcus Morris has gotten a lot older, but last year

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Speaker 1: was another big body that was out there in a

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Speaker 1: lot of those groups. The Clippers are small now outside

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Speaker 1: of their core two guys like non center. So we

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Speaker 1: got to take Mussa Diabate and if Ita Zubac out

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Speaker 1: of the equation, and we take Kawhi and Paul George

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Speaker 1: out of the equation. Here are the other four guys

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Speaker 1: who played minutes for the Grizzlies last night or for

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Speaker 1: against the Grizzlies last night. James Harden who's six ' five,

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Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook who's sixty three, Terrence Man who's six 's five,

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Speaker 1: and Norman Powell who's six three. So now these small

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Speaker 1: ball lineups are like preposterously small. We're talking three guys

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Speaker 1: six to five or smaller. And then Kawhi Leonard and

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Speaker 1: Paul George right. And it's funny because you're even seeing

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Speaker 1: Kauhi and Paul George struggle physically because they keep getting

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Speaker 1: matched up with gigantic players in the front court that

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Speaker 1: otherwise you'd have a Marcus Morris matched up with Right.

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Speaker 1: Otherwise you'd have a bigger, more athletic forward matched up

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Speaker 1: with Right. And so that was kind of where that

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Speaker 1: like even that Kenyon Martin junior piece when he was

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Speaker 1: included in the sixers deal, You're like, man, that's another

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Speaker 1: front court athlete that the Clippers let out the door

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Speaker 1: in this deal in addition to all the draft compensation

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Speaker 1: and stuff, and like again down the stretch, the Clippers

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Speaker 1: got a lot of stops against Memphis, but there was

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Speaker 1: you know what was a ninety eight ninety eight after

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Speaker 1: the corner three from James Harden in the right corner,

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Speaker 1: and the Clippers go down and get another stop, but

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Speaker 1: you ended up with You end up with Norman Powell

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Speaker 1: in a switch on Bismack Biambo underneath the basket, and

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Speaker 1: he tries to box him out and commits a foul

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Speaker 1: because he's dead to rights underneath the basket, and Beyonmbo's

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Speaker 1: gonna end up getting that and putting it back up

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Speaker 1: and in right like when push comes to shove. They

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Speaker 1: are struggling on the defensive glass because of the aggregate

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Speaker 1: size of those groups. Again, in this four game sample,

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Speaker 1: they're securing just sixty four percent of defensive rebounds. They

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Speaker 1: give up twenty one second chance points to the Memphis Grizzlies.

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Speaker 1: So part of the issue here is like you don't

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Speaker 1: trust your centers to play, but you don't have the

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Speaker 1: aggregate size to play small, and that puts them in

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Speaker 1: a real predicament, and that kind of brings you back

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Speaker 1: to the crux of the James Harden trade and the

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Speaker 1: kind of predicament it puts you in because again, like,

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Speaker 1: what would you had this? You had assets, right, because

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Speaker 1: you had what two first round picks, a first round

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Speaker 1: pick swap, and two second round picks that you included

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Speaker 1: in the James Harden trade. Right, So you threw a

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Speaker 1: lot of draft compensation at this deal, including your front

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Speaker 1: court depth. Right, So you gave up your front court

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Speaker 1: depth and all your draft compensation. Now, the counterpoint for

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Speaker 1: the Clippers is, like, you know, Nick patom was kind

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Speaker 1: of on his last legs, Marcus Morris was like literally done,

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Speaker 1: Roco's literally done. You know, Kennon Martin Junior wasn't really

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Speaker 1: getting that many minutes for us, So we don't really

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Speaker 1: need those guys. And I understand that, I understand the

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Speaker 1: thought process there, But why aren't you then trying to

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Speaker 1: upgrade those guys if those guys are important parts of

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Speaker 1: your ability to contend in your small ball units and

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Speaker 1: now they're outdated and not doing the job for you,

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Speaker 1: which I would argue Nick Patum was fine, at least

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Speaker 1: in the terms of the regular season, right, and I

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Speaker 1: certainly don't think he was an issue even if you were, like,

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Speaker 1: I want to upgrade Marcus Morris, Go upgrade Marcus Morris.

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Speaker 1: Go find another big athletic forward or maybe a center

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Speaker 1: that Tylu trusts to play at the end of games.

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Speaker 1: But instead you gave up everything you had in the

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Speaker 1: front court for a redundancy another offensive minded shot creator

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Speaker 1: on a team like never really had offensive issues when

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Speaker 1: Push came to show, right, when we look at it, yes,

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Speaker 1: in the bubble, it was a catastrophe. They completely crumbled

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Speaker 1: and fell apart offensively against the Nuggets and got picked

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Speaker 1: apart on defense. It was bad in that series. But

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Speaker 1: outside of that, in the four year sense, it's either

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Speaker 1: been injuries or you know, the offense looking fine in

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Speaker 1: spite of that. Right, So, essentially twenty twenty one they

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Speaker 1: looked great, and then Kuhi got hurt, and then they

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Speaker 1: still looked great, spacing teams out, switching, defending, doing all

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Speaker 1: those things. Paul George leads them to within two wins

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Speaker 1: of the finals. Right then injuries submarine you in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty two, Right, twenty twenty three, they look great, they're

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Speaker 1: about to They're literally on the verge of taking a

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Speaker 1: two to zero lead against the Suns in Game two

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Speaker 1: when Kawhi Leonard gets hurt. So like again, like they were,

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Speaker 1: everything was fine offensively in the last few years. It

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Speaker 1: was injuries that kept submarining you. You did is you

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Speaker 1: kind of like mischaracterized the problem as a superstar depth

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Speaker 1: problem when the reality is is you can't win when

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Speaker 1: Kauhi gets hurt anyway. So you have to build the

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Speaker 1: roster around the idea that Kuhi is gonna be healthy

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Speaker 1: and just hoping that he's healthy when it matters, and

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Speaker 1: then you have the rest of the things to push

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Speaker 1: you over the top. Instead, they won a different direction.

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Speaker 1: They gave up all their front court depth for a

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Speaker 1: redundancy in the back court, and so now they look bad.

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Speaker 1: But here's the thing. They will get better. They will

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Speaker 1: have better offensive stretches than what they've shown in the

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Speaker 1: last four days. There's too much talent there. They're gonna

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Speaker 1: figure some things out. We got to see a little

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Speaker 1: bit of the James Harden Kawhi Leonard pick and roll

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Speaker 1: in the second quarter of this Grizzlies game. There was there.

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Speaker 1: I guess it was in the first quarter. If I

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Speaker 1: remember correctly, but they ran that same picking kind of

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Speaker 1: like soft roll to fifteen feet that he used to

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Speaker 1: run with em beat all the time and set Kawhi

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Speaker 1: entered up with the wide open jumper on the left side,

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Speaker 1: and honestly, the chemistry was a little off because he

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Speaker 1: threw the bounce pass too far ahead of him. Like,

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Speaker 1: they'll get better at that in time. There was another

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Speaker 1: one on the right wing or Kawi popped to the

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Speaker 1: three point line, but Qui didn't set a very good

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Speaker 1: screen because he hasn't done a lot of screen setting

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Speaker 1: in his career. So like, again, he'll get better at

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Speaker 1: that and they'll figure that stuff out. Like the Kuhi

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Speaker 1: James Harden pick and roll is gonna be something that

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Speaker 1: they have some success with. Obviously they've had a lot

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Speaker 1: of offensive success with Russell Westbrook and Kawi, Leonard and

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Speaker 1: Paul George. There's gonna be more lineups like that where

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Speaker 1: they kind of put those three together with James off

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Speaker 1: the floor and let him go to work. They basically

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Speaker 1: did that through the entire middle of the fourth quarter

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Speaker 1: against Memphis. So like they're gonna be better on the

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Speaker 1: offensive end of the floor. There are good times that

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Speaker 1: will come from this over the course of this regular season.

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Speaker 1: The problem is is, like those other issues, the issues

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Speaker 1: defensively and on the glass, those aren't going away, and

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Speaker 1: those will eventually have to be rectified if this team

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Speaker 1: has any hope of winning a championship, right, because at

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Speaker 1: the end of the day, you don't trust Zubac and

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Speaker 1: you aren't big enough on the front line to go small,

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Speaker 1: and that puts you in a really tough position. And

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Speaker 1: you just burned all your draft capital going after James Harden,

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Speaker 1: which handcuffs your ability to make a trade at the

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Speaker 1: deadline relative to what you would have been able to

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Speaker 1: do otherwise. And again, like if you're if you're saying

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Speaker 1: to me, like, oh, it's because we can't trust Russell

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Speaker 1: Westbrook in the playoffs, so we needed a better guard

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Speaker 1: to play in that spot. Okay, fine, but then how

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Speaker 1: how is this the way you went about it? Bringing

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Speaker 1: Russ back, having him run the team, then bringing James

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Speaker 1: in all the problems that come from that. James checks

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Speaker 1: in for Russell Westbrook in the final two minutes yesterday

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Speaker 1: and Russ like like basically pounts on the bench with

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Speaker 1: the towel over his head and won't even celebrate when

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Speaker 1: James Harden makes a three in the corner right in

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Speaker 1: front of him to tie the game, Like you just

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Speaker 1: jumbled up all of that stuff too with the chemistry,

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Speaker 1: So it's a it's a confusing it was a really

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Speaker 1: confusing team building method for them to target. And I

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Speaker 1: think this is the latest in a long line of examples,

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Speaker 1: from the Nets with the K D. Harden and Kyrie,

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Speaker 1: to the to even the Sun so far this year,

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Speaker 1: to the Clippers in this post James Harden trade experiment,

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Speaker 1: Like when you load up on stars, there is a

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Speaker 1: diminishing return. That first star brings full star value, that

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Speaker 1: second star brings full star value, that third star, it's

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Speaker 1: usually a diminishing return that fourth star. The bottom can

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Speaker 1: fall out in a lot of cases. If you guys

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Speaker 1: have been listening to the show for the you know,

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Speaker 1: year and a half or whatever I've been with the

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Speaker 1: volume or longer since before I started with the volume,

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Speaker 1: you hear a pretty consistent theme from me. There's a

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Speaker 1: list of responsibilities on the basketball court. Stars fill different

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Speaker 1: responsibilities than role players typically do, and when you load

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Speaker 1: up on stars, you start to have overlap and redundancy,

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Speaker 1: whereas when you have stars that take the two main

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Speaker 1: you know, star responsibilities, and then you have professional role

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Speaker 1: players who do nothing but learn how to win game

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Speaker 1: or help win teams win games alongside stars. When you

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Speaker 1: have those guys out there, that's when that meter gets

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Speaker 1: full and you start to rack up wins. It's when

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Speaker 1: you get cute and you start to try to think

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Speaker 1: about the names rather than the compatibility of the roster

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Speaker 1: that you start to have problems. I do believe Russell Westbrook,

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Speaker 1: James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George will find a

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Speaker 1: way to win a good amount of basketball games this

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Speaker 1: year in the regular season just by virtue of their talent.

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Speaker 1: But the fact remains, they don't trust any of their

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Speaker 1: centers and they can't play Kawhi Leonard and Paul George

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Speaker 1: at the four and five. They're way too damn small,

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Speaker 1: and so they there's a significant roster need that they

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Speaker 1: that they opened up or exacerbated with the James Harden

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Speaker 1: trade and the player they got back they're getting a

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Speaker 1: diminished return from because of the fact that they already

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Speaker 1: have two superstars and they already had a guard that

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Speaker 1: could help get them set up in better position. So

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Speaker 1: it's definitely off to a rough start. It's definitely gonna

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Speaker 1: get better. But I do think that this this recent

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Speaker 1: sequence has been a great, you know, kind of expression

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Speaker 1: of the of the reality of the roster's limitations in

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Speaker 1: the front court. And I don't think that they're going

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Speaker 1: to be fixed anytime soon. And I don't think that

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Speaker 1: there's a veteran minimum guy that can solve this problem

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Speaker 1: or a buyout candidate. I mean, maybe they get lucky,

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Speaker 1: but things look pretty rough right now for the Clippers.

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Speaker 1: All right, moving on to the mailbag, I got four

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Speaker 1: questions for you guys today. First one, what teams do

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Speaker 1: you think could benefit from a player like d Lo

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Speaker 1: and would also give the Lakers a player in return

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Speaker 1: that's more fitting. So again, like we talked about this

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Speaker 1: a little bit with Yovann Boujai earlier today, but Dangel

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Speaker 1: Russell is a good basketball player. He is just a

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Speaker 1: redundancy on the Lakers right in the same way that

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Speaker 1: you have two stars and Lebron James and Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: and Austin Reeves. Is like this skill guard that's not

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Speaker 1: a top tier athlete, Well, you have another skill guard

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Speaker 1: who's not a top tier athlete next to him, and

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Speaker 1: so their backcourt is like if you just took those

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Speaker 1: winning responsibilities and you shrunk it down to just what

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Speaker 1: the backcourt is responsible to, they have a redundancy there

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Speaker 1: and that's their issue, right. But Dangel Russell is a

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Speaker 1: good player, especially within the context of the regular season,

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Speaker 1: So how would you make him work in a vac

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Speaker 1: You want to put him alongside lots of great athletes, right,

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Speaker 1: and a team that would need his high level shot creation.

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Speaker 1: D'Angel Russell is a very very good passer in pick

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Speaker 1: and roll, especially in the regular season when things are

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Speaker 1: a little more fast and loose. He's pretty consistently been

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Speaker 1: a good playmaker for the Lakers in terms of like assist,

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Speaker 1: the turnover ratio, and things like that. So the four

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Speaker 1: teams I wrote down were like the Toronto Raptors, a

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Speaker 1: team that has a ton of athleticism but lacks shot creation.

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Speaker 1: The Orlando Magic, a team that has a ton of

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Speaker 1: size and athleticism, but their guards are a little bit

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Speaker 1: inconsistent creating shots. Right. The Memphis Grizzlies another team that

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Speaker 1: could really use another shot creator, so they have a

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Speaker 1: better chance of succeeding when Desmond Baine is off the floor.

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Speaker 1: The New York Knicks is another team. I put down

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Speaker 1: that it has a ton of point of attack defense

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Speaker 1: and size and athleticism, and maybe could use one more

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Speaker 1: shot creator on the floor, you know, so that you

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Speaker 1: know it's not just a manual quickly himself trying to

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Speaker 1: create shots in the bench unit, if that makes sense.

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Speaker 1: So those are four examples. Next mail back question, I

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Speaker 1: know you forecasted that Jonathan Minga will be a star

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Speaker 1: in the NBA. I was curious as to how you

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Speaker 1: can tell. As a Dubs fan, I see his insane

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Speaker 1: athleticism plus work ethic, but I also don't know how guaranteed,

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Speaker 1: barring injury, that he reaches superstardom. The stardom, I should say,

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Speaker 1: the main thing that I'm looking at with Jonathan Minga

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Speaker 1: is that people can't guard him without fouling him. It's

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Speaker 1: literally that simple. He had another two big free throw

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Speaker 1: games over the weekend. He is averaging I want to say,

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Speaker 1: nine free throw attempts per thirty six minutes in this

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Speaker 1: what'says his third season if I remember correctly. So like

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Speaker 1: that to me is a strong indicator of like consistently

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Speaker 1: getting defenders out of position. From there, it's basically a

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Speaker 1: combination of your ability to actually make shots and your

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Speaker 1: ability to see the floor. And he's demonstrated through through

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Speaker 1: these three years a steady line of improvement in shot

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Speaker 1: making and a steady line of improvement decision making. Still

430
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:00,760
Speaker 1: is a long way to go on the viision making side.

431
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,480
Speaker 1: I think he's probably a solid, you know, three four

432
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,680
Speaker 1: years away from truly reaching any sort of fringe star

433
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:08,920
Speaker 1: type of level. But he's such a good athlete. He

434
00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:10,639
Speaker 1: has such good size, and you can see that with

435
00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:12,560
Speaker 1: every time he makes a movie as defenders out of

436
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:14,800
Speaker 1: position and they start hacking him, and he's getting to

437
00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:16,720
Speaker 1: the line a ton, And I think that's a really

438
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:19,280
Speaker 1: strong indicator of like his ability to get to his

439
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,000
Speaker 1: spots and get defenders out of position. And then again,

440
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,399
Speaker 1: there's enough progress in terms of his shot making and

441
00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:28,920
Speaker 1: decision making over this young stretch of his career. Like again,

442
00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:31,480
Speaker 1: he's still just a kid relative to the rest of

443
00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,040
Speaker 1: the league. Imagine this kid at twenty six, twenty seven

444
00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:36,400
Speaker 1: years old, when he has the you know, when he's

445
00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:41,520
Speaker 1: seen three hundred NBA games worth of of you know,

446
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,080
Speaker 1: defenses loaded up on him and facing double teams in

447
00:21:44,119 --> 00:21:46,240
Speaker 1: the post He's I don't have the numbers in front

448
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,040
Speaker 1: of me, but he's still up over one point two

449
00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:50,879
Speaker 1: points per possession in post ups this year, including passes.

450
00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,080
Speaker 1: That to me is a strong indicator of just how

451
00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:56,639
Speaker 1: difficult it is to handle him down there. It's like

452
00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,200
Speaker 1: he's making a lot of mistakes down there, but he's

453
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:01,919
Speaker 1: still hitting shot and drawing fouls, and that's pushing him

454
00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:05,639
Speaker 1: into productivity. And so the Warriors have trusted him a lot,

455
00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:07,760
Speaker 1: especially at the end of games, compared to where he

456
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,600
Speaker 1: was in previous years. I think there's plenty there from

457
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:14,159
Speaker 1: Jonathan Kminga that demonstrates again nine free throw attempts for

458
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:16,480
Speaker 1: thirty six minutes is insane. And it's not like foul

459
00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:19,399
Speaker 1: grifty stuff. He's straight up just getting defenders out of position.

460
00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,399
Speaker 1: All right. Third question, Jason, could you give your thoughts

461
00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,840
Speaker 1: on Adam Silver's disappointment in NBA commentary and how he

462
00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:29,680
Speaker 1: wishes it was covered, how he wishes it covered more

463
00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:32,320
Speaker 1: x's and o's. Also, do you have a favorite NBA commentator,

464
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,400
Speaker 1: So for those of guys who missed it, Adam Adam

465
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:36,840
Speaker 1: Silver went on with JJ Reddick and he basically was

466
00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,080
Speaker 1: like he's sick of the whole, like one team tried

467
00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:44,440
Speaker 1: harder type of commentary. And it's tough because like effort

468
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,919
Speaker 1: is a significant factor in NBA regular season games, it

469
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,720
Speaker 1: just is. There's over the course of eighty two there

470
00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,240
Speaker 1: are nights where like one team just is just locked

471
00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:55,359
Speaker 1: in and the other team's not. We I refer to

472
00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:59,320
Speaker 1: it through force, right, Like a player playing with more

473
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,360
Speaker 1: force goes a long way towards him holding up better

474
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,399
Speaker 1: at the point of attack, holding up better at the glass,

475
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:07,800
Speaker 1: his ability to beat people off the dribble. All of

476
00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:10,320
Speaker 1: that is kind of related to the overall force you

477
00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 1: play with, and that can ebb and flow right, like

478
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,119
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves playing with tons of horse like he did

479
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:19,199
Speaker 1: last year. Average to above average defender, certainly not a

480
00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,479
Speaker 1: negative defender, someone that held up well in the Lakers

481
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,960
Speaker 1: scheme this year, not playing with much force on the

482
00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:25,919
Speaker 1: defensive ender on the glass, he's been like a problem

483
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:27,800
Speaker 1: defensively and on the glass. So you could see like

484
00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:32,160
Speaker 1: that stuff does matter. However, that's only one small part

485
00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,239
Speaker 1: of the equation. The other part of the equation is

486
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,840
Speaker 1: like how naturally basketball players fit together like different you know,

487
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:42,560
Speaker 1: good offensive process versus bad offensive process, the chess match

488
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:44,520
Speaker 1: that takes place at the end of games, and I think,

489
00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,640
Speaker 1: you know, maybe I'm biased because I'm a nut job

490
00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:50,399
Speaker 1: with this stuff, but like, I find that to be

491
00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,160
Speaker 1: incredibly fascinating, and I think that I think that there's

492
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:56,840
Speaker 1: a lot in the fan experience that could be improved

493
00:23:57,119 --> 00:23:59,560
Speaker 1: by making it easier for fans to understand some of

494
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,960
Speaker 1: the more detailed things that are taking place on the court.

495
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,520
Speaker 1: And like I think JJ Reddick, ironically, for the purpose

496
00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:09,600
Speaker 1: of this question, who's your favorite NBA game commenter right now?

497
00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:13,199
Speaker 1: It's JJ Reddick. I feel like when I'm watching broadcast

498
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:15,520
Speaker 1: on ESPN, and it's kind of a good vibe because

499
00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,520
Speaker 1: you know, JJ and Richard Jefferson kind of are bouncing

500
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:22,560
Speaker 1: off each other, you know, making jokes and having fun.

501
00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:24,640
Speaker 1: But at the same time, like you can tell JJ's

502
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:26,800
Speaker 1: intently watching the game, trying to pick up on the

503
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:30,080
Speaker 1: little chess pieces that are moving around, and he's putting

504
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 1: that information out there. He's not the only one, but

505
00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:34,639
Speaker 1: he's my personal favorite. I think he's doing an amazing

506
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,399
Speaker 1: job and is adding a lot to that experience. But

507
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,840
Speaker 1: in general, I think, like that's my goal with this show.

508
00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:41,280
Speaker 1: I'm not the only guy who does this. There's a

509
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:42,639
Speaker 1: lot of guys that have shows that kind of a

510
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:44,679
Speaker 1: similar vibe in the sense that, like this is what

511
00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:46,520
Speaker 1: makes the game fun. What makes the game fun is

512
00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:48,520
Speaker 1: getting into the weeds of how a basketball team is

513
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,720
Speaker 1: winning or losing, how a player is succeeding or failing. That,

514
00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,280
Speaker 1: to me is what makes the game fascinating. And like

515
00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,680
Speaker 1: basketball is unique in the sense that, like the best

516
00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,040
Speaker 1: team doesn't always win, and you can outperform your t

517
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:05,960
Speaker 1: talent by you know, continuity, chemistry, execution, all those little

518
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:07,560
Speaker 1: things can make a big difference, and I think that

519
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:11,120
Speaker 1: it's important to translate that experience to the fan. One

520
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:14,239
Speaker 1: last question, what happened to the Warriors this weekend? So

521
00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:17,560
Speaker 1: the Warriors lost their second game to Cleveland at home

522
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:19,880
Speaker 1: on Saturday, and then they turned around had to play

523
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:21,800
Speaker 1: the next night against the Timberwolves, and the Timberwolves beat

524
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,560
Speaker 1: them too, And in both games they were kind of

525
00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:26,600
Speaker 1: it kind of looked like they were struggling to hang,

526
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,399
Speaker 1: especially in terms of perimeter quickness. There's a very consistent

527
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:33,840
Speaker 1: theme that I've talked about with the Warriors ever since

528
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:37,159
Speaker 1: last year's playoff run, is like the Lakers kind of

529
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,320
Speaker 1: put together a book for how to slow down the

530
00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,400
Speaker 1: warrior offense, which is like, if you have legitimate rim protection,

531
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:49,800
Speaker 1: you straight up ignore the Looney Draymond front court and

532
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:54,640
Speaker 1: in terms of scoring ability, and you basically tell all

533
00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:57,720
Speaker 1: your perimeter players to top lock, meaning like you deny

534
00:25:57,800 --> 00:25:59,560
Speaker 1: them the use of the screen and force them to

535
00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,199
Speaker 1: back door cut into your rim protection. And then your

536
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:05,160
Speaker 1: rim protectors basically have to ride the loeo of kind

537
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,919
Speaker 1: of like seeing where their perimeter defenders are and if

538
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:09,760
Speaker 1: they're caught on a screen, they need to show high

539
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,680
Speaker 1: and offer a contest. And if not, if the defenders

540
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:15,400
Speaker 1: kind of lingering behind and staying attached, they'll sag back

541
00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:17,800
Speaker 1: and constantly have to go up and down to the

542
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:19,640
Speaker 1: level of the screen and back. Like if you've got

543
00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:21,960
Speaker 1: athletic centers that can protect the rim and get up

544
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,200
Speaker 1: and down in your drop coverages and your perimeter defenders

545
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:28,920
Speaker 1: are engaged and deny the use of screens, you can

546
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:32,400
Speaker 1: completely stifle the warrior defense. And there's a very specific

547
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,080
Speaker 1: reason why, which we'll get into in a second, but

548
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:38,000
Speaker 1: you saw that with the Jared Allen Evan Mobley front

549
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,960
Speaker 1: court alongside their perimeter defenders. That third quarter run that

550
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,840
Speaker 1: they went on in that Warriors game on Saturday night,

551
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,080
Speaker 1: great example of this. Like when they are just flying

552
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:51,200
Speaker 1: around on the perimeter, they are very very difficult to

553
00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:55,199
Speaker 1: get open against. You got Carousel Vert could be impossible

554
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,679
Speaker 1: to screen sometimes, Max Strus is flying around making extra efforts.

555
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,399
Speaker 1: Even their guards, even Garb and Mitchell, are really trying

556
00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,520
Speaker 1: on the defensive end. And then Minnesota is like a

557
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,160
Speaker 1: way better version of what Cleveland brings to the table.

558
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,639
Speaker 1: They've got Rudy Gobert, who's a better rimp protector than

559
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,280
Speaker 1: Jared Allen or Evan Mobley, and they have way better

560
00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,920
Speaker 1: perimeter defenders than Cleveland. They've got Jaden McDaniels, who's the

561
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,240
Speaker 1: best perimeter defender in the league in my opinion, Anthony

562
00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,800
Speaker 1: Edwards who's capable of that, although he doesn't always give

563
00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:23,479
Speaker 1: that level of effort to Kaile, Alexander Walker, Kyle Anderson.

564
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,280
Speaker 1: You guys get the point, Like they just are like

565
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 1: a kind of like a more dramatic version of that.

566
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,359
Speaker 1: And so how do you beat that if you're the Warriors,

567
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:32,879
Speaker 1: Because the Warriors are still a good team. This is

568
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,800
Speaker 1: a matchup thing. So how do the Warriors solve that

569
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 1: specific matchup issue. Well. Once again, just like in the

570
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:42,640
Speaker 1: Lakers series, there was nothing in terms of offensive production

571
00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:46,480
Speaker 1: outside of Steph Right in that playoff series, they couldn't

572
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:48,240
Speaker 1: get anything out of Clay, they couldn't get anything out

573
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,920
Speaker 1: of Jordan Poole, and they didn't use Andrew Wiggins enough

574
00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,240
Speaker 1: and it ended up being an issue. Right, same kind

575
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,760
Speaker 1: of thing in this weekend. They got thirty points per

576
00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:58,600
Speaker 1: game out of Andrew Wiggins, Klay Thompson and Chris Paul.

577
00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:02,639
Speaker 1: That's not enough you need. Like again, Andrew Wiggins was

578
00:28:02,680 --> 00:28:04,840
Speaker 1: the second best player on the title team in that

579
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,359
Speaker 1: seventeen to eighteen point per game area. Klay Thompson needs

580
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,560
Speaker 1: to be up around eighteen points per game in order

581
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:14,520
Speaker 1: for him to provide the offensive punch that's necessary. Chris Paul,

582
00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:16,920
Speaker 1: you need to be getting ten to twelve points per

583
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,760
Speaker 1: game out of him. That trio needs to be giving

584
00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 1: you about fifty points a game in order for Like

585
00:28:24,680 --> 00:28:29,119
Speaker 1: in rhythm those whether it's Wiggins attacking close outs, knocking

586
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:31,760
Speaker 1: down spot up three is occasionally posting up a mismatch,

587
00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,439
Speaker 1: Klay Thompson creating shots in his off ball action, in

588
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,520
Speaker 1: his on ball action, Chris Paul making shots in pick

589
00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:40,600
Speaker 1: and roll and beating switches in pick and roll. Like,

590
00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:44,120
Speaker 1: those guys have to provide offensive punch. It can't just

591
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,960
Speaker 1: be Steph. And once again, you have thirty four points

592
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,320
Speaker 1: per game out of Steph this weekend, but the offense

593
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,000
Speaker 1: is completely inapt. I think they were at like a

594
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,280
Speaker 1: one oh six or one oh seven offensive rating in

595
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:55,160
Speaker 1: the two games. And so at the end of the day,

596
00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:00,040
Speaker 1: it's not so much that they can't beat teams like this.

597
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,560
Speaker 1: In order to beat this type of matchup, the heavy

598
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,800
Speaker 1: perimeter defense with rim protection type of team, that's that's

599
00:29:05,880 --> 00:29:08,680
Speaker 1: kind of denying them their screening actions. They've got to

600
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,240
Speaker 1: get static half court shot creation out of Wiggins, Clay

601
00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:15,160
Speaker 1: and Chris Paul to have any chance to hang offensively. Again,

602
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:17,720
Speaker 1: it's not like they're getting just utterly blown out in

603
00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,200
Speaker 1: these games. They just don't have enough firepower to hang

604
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,959
Speaker 1: against this specific type of matchup right now. But this

605
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,120
Speaker 1: is a problem that can be fixed within the locker room.

606
00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:27,600
Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins is just a shell of himself this year.

607
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:32,040
Speaker 1: Andrew like, for lack of a better way to describe it, basically,

608
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,880
Speaker 1: since he got back from his personal absence, last year,

609
00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:37,440
Speaker 1: he hasn't been the same guy. That's been a problem.

610
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:39,640
Speaker 1: Going back to the Clippers topic from the beginning of

611
00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:42,760
Speaker 1: the show, when you're not when your best players aren't

612
00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:45,480
Speaker 1: playing well, it's hard to win. Your best player's playing great,

613
00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:47,240
Speaker 1: but the guy who is your second best player on

614
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:49,840
Speaker 1: the championship team is not playing well right now, that's

615
00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:53,440
Speaker 1: a significant hurdle that you have to overcome. And then again,

616
00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:57,840
Speaker 1: Chris and Clay, they gotta give you offensive firepower. That's

617
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,000
Speaker 1: literally what they collect paychecks for. You've got to get

618
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,720
Speaker 1: more out of them. I'm not worried about the Warriors

619
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:05,000
Speaker 1: in the big picture. I think this again is matchup related,

620
00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:06,800
Speaker 1: and I do think they have the firepower to handle this.

621
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 1: In the locker room. They just got to get better

622
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,040
Speaker 1: play out of those guys. All right. That's all I

623
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,080
Speaker 1: have for today is always a sincerely appreciate you guys.

624
00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: We'll be back tomorrow with power rankings, maybe a game

625
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,120
Speaker 1: reaction or two, depending on how the night's night goes.

626
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:20,120
Speaker 1: As always, I appreciate you guys, and I will see

627
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:49,040
Speaker 1: you then. The volume