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Speaker 1: gambler dot net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to

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Speaker 1: Hoops Tonight, presented by FanDuel here at the volume. Happy Thursday, everybody.

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Speaker 1: We are almost to the weekend. I hope all of

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Speaker 1: you have had a great week. Another jam packed night

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Speaker 1: of playoff hoops. They just keep coming, don't they, one

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Speaker 1: after the other. We're going to get into everything from

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Speaker 1: this night of basketball, including getting into a little bit

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Speaker 1: the Brooklyn netson Boston Celtics game again from last night,

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Speaker 1: a little bit deeper, and then at the end, for

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Speaker 1: you guys who stick around, we are going to get

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Speaker 1: into an updated list of what I think are the

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Speaker 1: top five contenders in this field. Obviously a lot has

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Speaker 1: changed as a result of injuries, which is unfortunately just

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Speaker 1: the way things go in the NBA playoffs, and it

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Speaker 1: does have a significant impact on who ends up winning

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Speaker 1: the title. And we will be getting into that list

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Speaker 1: at the end, but let's start with the Warriors and

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Speaker 1: the Nuggets. So if you guys remember after Game two,

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Speaker 1: I talked about why I was never in a rush

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Speaker 1: to elevate a player to the status of being considered.

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Speaker 1: You know, those stamped guys at the top of the league,

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Speaker 1: the Lebrons and the Kevin Durants and the Janice Is

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Speaker 1: and the Steph Curries and those guys who have done

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Speaker 1: it at the highest level time and time again, and

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Speaker 1: for whatever reason, there's always a race to put people there.

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Speaker 1: And the big reason why I am slow to put

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Speaker 1: people on that list is because I understand the process

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Speaker 1: of getting to that point. There's failure in that process.

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Speaker 1: Janice lost embarrassingly in the bubble and in the year

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Speaker 1: before he really really struggled against Toronto to create his

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Speaker 1: own shot against that crazy defense, especially after Kawhi Leonard

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Speaker 1: switched on dam There was pain and loss that led

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Speaker 1: to him understanding the total sell out that it takes you.

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Speaker 1: You have to be willing to give everything on every

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Speaker 1: single possession in order to win a championship. And these

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Speaker 1: guys have been through these moments so many times that

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Speaker 1: they've earned a certain level of confidence in these environments.

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry and Draymond Green have been playing playoff basketball

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Speaker 1: for a really long time. You know what, They've done

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Speaker 1: a lot done on the road to gain to UH

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Speaker 1: underdog on the road game three up, two games to

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Speaker 1: nothing with an opportunity to end the series, and they

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Speaker 1: know how those games go. They know that sometimes you're

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Speaker 1: a little you're a little bit behind in some of

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Speaker 1: the effort areas of the game because you're not as desperate.

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Speaker 1: That's just human nature. It's not something that you're going

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Speaker 1: to blame them for, right you know that there's gonna

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Speaker 1: be runs in the game. Golden State controlled that game throughout,

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Speaker 1: and there were several moments where Denver got back into

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Speaker 1: it by making plays on defense and getting out in

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Speaker 1: transition the way that they do so well, and Stephan

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Speaker 1: Draymond just knew that that was all part of the process,

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Speaker 1: and they knew they would have a chance at the

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Speaker 1: end to make a handful of plays and get out

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Speaker 1: of there with the wind. You know, Steph Curry is

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Speaker 1: not close to he Foot injuries are especially bad. I

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Speaker 1: broke my foot the year before, the summer before my

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Speaker 1: second season playing in college, and it was a nightmare

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Speaker 1: for me coming back because that's your plant foot. You're

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Speaker 1: planting on it to make every explosive move that you

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Speaker 1: make as a basketball player. And even beyond the healing process,

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Speaker 1: there's like a mental side of it. You have to

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Speaker 1: rebuild confidence in that foot, the trusting it to hold

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Speaker 1: when you take off right, and that process can be

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Speaker 1: stressful and it and it does affect you on the court.

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry came back fast. I guarantee you that if

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Speaker 1: this was a regular season and he suffered that same

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Speaker 1: injury in October November, he probably takes his sweet time

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Speaker 1: to get back on the court. But he had to

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Speaker 1: come back because of the playoffs, in the situation that

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Speaker 1: was taking place. He had to do his minutes restriction

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs. He had to build up his conditioning

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs, and you saw that affect him especially tonight.

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Speaker 1: Nicola Yokich is really slow. We're gonna get into that

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Speaker 1: here in just a second. There were a couple of

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Speaker 1: plays and drop coverage there in the second quarter where

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Speaker 1: he stayed with Steph stayed in front. It was just

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Speaker 1: back pedaling and Steph didn't have that quickness yet to

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Speaker 1: make that move to get by Yokich. But you know what,

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Speaker 1: Steph knew that the game was still there for the taking,

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Speaker 1: and he knew that if he could just do it once,

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Speaker 1: the game would be over. And right there at the end,

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Speaker 1: Warriors up by three, same exact play. They've been running

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Speaker 1: all night long, ball screen with Draymond Green at the

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Speaker 1: top of the key, and he just reached down and

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Speaker 1: just once hit the gas and dusted Yokich for a layout.

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Speaker 1: Now they're up by five. Time out Denver, we go

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Speaker 1: the other way where another injured Warrior is up against it.

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Speaker 1: I've been talking a lot with Draymond's back injury about

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Speaker 1: how I told you guys, I thought it would be

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Speaker 1: about the second round before Draymond really got his legs

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Speaker 1: underneath them to the extent that he was at his

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Speaker 1: peak when he was healthy. Right, and Draymond on a

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Speaker 1: big possession where Yoki has had pretty good night. Yokis

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Speaker 1: Doug deep himself because he's a very good player, and

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Speaker 1: he made a lot of plays tonight, and he had

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Speaker 1: a lot of things going. He had some crazy tough

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Speaker 1: shots over the top of Draymond Green. But Draymond new,

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Speaker 1: we're up five. I just need one stop. I just

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Speaker 1: need to make one play. And He's had Yoki's number

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Speaker 1: all series long. He's had Yok's number throughout that entire matchup.

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Speaker 1: And yokis went to spin back and Draymond does does

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Speaker 1: what he did has been doing to him all series,

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Speaker 1: beats him to the spin and bumps him off balance.

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Speaker 1: Yoki kind of juggles the ball a little bit, Draymond

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Speaker 1: takes it away, and the game is over. And those

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Speaker 1: two guys, even though they're hurt, even though they're working

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Speaker 1: their way back from injuries, even though they're on the

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Speaker 1: let's call it the other side of the hill, they

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Speaker 1: had the savvy to make the necessary plays to win

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Speaker 1: the game. I'm not saying that Yoki doesn't have that savvy,

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Speaker 1: and he certainly will at some point in the next

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Speaker 1: three or four or five years. The pain of all

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Speaker 1: these losses will build up into Yoki as he rounds

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Speaker 1: out and limits his weaknesses to the point where he

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Speaker 1: can have a better impact in moments like that. But

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Speaker 1: that's the that's why I've always have the utmost respect

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Speaker 1: for these guys who have been there and done that

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Speaker 1: so many times, because when things get close late, they

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Speaker 1: can tap into that experience and that confidence that the

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Speaker 1: guys beneath them don't have because they just haven't been

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Speaker 1: there enough, even when they have physical limitations. Which takes

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Speaker 1: me to the defensive end of the floor for the guards,

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Speaker 1: because we watched another team tonight. We're gonna get into

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Speaker 1: them later, a Utah Jazz team that has a really, really,

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Speaker 1: really all world talent at guard and Van Mitchell, who's

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Speaker 1: got good size and good strength, freakish athleticism, physical tools

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Speaker 1: that vastly out you know, he's got a significantly better

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Speaker 1: set of physical tools to use than Steph Curry does.

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Speaker 1: But Steph Curry is a significantly significantly better defensive player. Tonight,

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Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell was getting absolutely barbecued by Spencer Dinwiddie and

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Speaker 1: just about every isolation situation could not keep him in front.

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Speaker 1: It was embarrassing for an athlete of his ability. And

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry has been one of the most underrated defensive

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Speaker 1: guards in the history of the NBA and is consistently

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Speaker 1: brought up as some sort of like detriment to his game,

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Speaker 1: even though he's put in the work. And I want

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Speaker 1: to take you guys back to two thousand fourteen in

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Speaker 1: the summer for Team USA, and one of the subplots

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Speaker 1: of that team was Stephen Clay's defense, and they struggled

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Speaker 1: a little bit early in the tournament, and one of

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Speaker 1: the lot points of that specific UH Team USA was

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Speaker 1: would Steph and Clay be able to guard well enough

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Speaker 1: to get minutes on that team? And over the course

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Speaker 1: of that tournament they developed that that set of habits

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Speaker 1: and that devotion to the work, and it's stuck and

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Speaker 1: what happened the next season They won sixty seven games

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Speaker 1: and won an NBA Championship, about as big a leap

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Speaker 1: as you could possibly imagine. Now, there was a big

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Speaker 1: part of that. Steve Kerr came in and really revolutionized

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Speaker 1: the Warriors offense. Mark Jackson had Steph Curry and Clay

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Speaker 1: Thompson on ball a lot more, particularly Steph on ball

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Speaker 1: a lot more. UH. Steve Kerr was obsessed with passing

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Speaker 1: total number of passes in the game, and he had

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Speaker 1: them moving the ball a lot more and Warriors basketball

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Speaker 1: was born. But a huge part of that was Stephen

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Speaker 1: Clay and then embracing the defensive end of the floor

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Speaker 1: like it was the most important part of their games.

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Speaker 1: And I think you saw an interesting juxtaposition tonight between

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Speaker 1: those guys who are not great athletes at their position

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Speaker 1: and other guys around the league who are great athletes

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Speaker 1: at their position who don't make that same commitment. And

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Speaker 1: I hope that when this Warrior Warrior's era is over,

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Speaker 1: which who knows when it's gonna end with all this

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Speaker 1: young talent that they have, but when this Warrior's era

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Speaker 1: is over, I hope that we look back and remember

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Speaker 1: why they were as successful as they were, really really

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Speaker 1: impressive when uh really important on a bunch of different levels.

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Speaker 1: Because Steph Curry did look limited, and getting this series

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Speaker 1: over quickly, buying Steph more time to build up his

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Speaker 1: conditioning and get his legs underneath him before a second

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Speaker 1: round matchup is going to be very important, and so

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Speaker 1: they took care of business tonight, a huge win for

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Speaker 1: the Warriors. We are going to bring my guy Carson

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Speaker 1: on and he's gonna go over the biggest questions of

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Speaker 1: the night, just like we did last night. So we're

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Speaker 1: gonna bring Carson and we'll get started out well. Jason,

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Speaker 1: you mentioned just the incredible run that the Warriors have

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Speaker 1: had overall and how that will be remembered. It's obviously

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Speaker 1: being extended here and they continue to kind of roll

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Speaker 1: through the series. Tonight was obviously the tightest game, but

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Speaker 1: they still come out with a win on the road

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Speaker 1: and they're up three. Oh. Pool had another uber efficient seven,

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Speaker 1: Clay had twenty six, Steph had seven, So Draymond was

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Speaker 1: phenomenal defensively. With the level of the Warriors are playing

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Speaker 1: right now, should they be the title favorites? So interestingly enough,

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Speaker 1: I discovered today thanks to you guys, that the Warriors

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Speaker 1: are actually the title favorite in Vegas amazingly enough, But

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Speaker 1: that's the way injuries can change things. So I really

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Speaker 1: start to look down the line at what they what

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Speaker 1: they bring to the table as a basketball team, and

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Speaker 1: whether or not they check all the necessary boxes. Now,

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Speaker 1: there is no perfect basketball team in this yield for

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Speaker 1: the record, even that uh, even that Phoenix Suns team

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Speaker 1: when they're fully healthy, they don't have the rim, pressuring

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Speaker 1: wing offensively that they can go to that gives them

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Speaker 1: a little bit more reliable offense in late game situations.

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Speaker 1: They check every single other box extremely well, but even

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Speaker 1: they have some holes. The Warriors have holes, but they

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Speaker 1: also have a ton of strengths. You know, we were

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Speaker 1: gonna get the Utah Chats are gonna be uh get

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Speaker 1: punching bags often tonight, as they should. That was an

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Speaker 1: unbelievably embarrassing loss on their home floor. But to me,

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Speaker 1: what happened to the Jazz kind of sets the tone

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Speaker 1: for what the theme of this show is for me.

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Speaker 1: And and like the way that you know, these these

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Speaker 1: kinds of basketball ideologies kind of carry over from series

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Speaker 1: to series around the league because they're just truths about

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Speaker 1: the game of basketball. Just like we were talking about

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Speaker 1: last night's show about how the theme was Biggs versus Wings, right,

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Speaker 1: and how I'm always going to value wings over big players, right. Well,

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Speaker 1: I you know, there's this obsession in NBA basketball with

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Speaker 1: the stars. So what happens when you watch ESPN and

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Speaker 1: you see on the bottom of the screen it doesn't

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Speaker 1: say Jazz versus Mavericks coming up next on ESPN or

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Speaker 1: t NT or whatever. It says Donovan Mitchell versus Luca

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Speaker 1: don Chich. It's part of the way the league is marketed,

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Speaker 1: and there's good reason for that. They're obsessed with the stars,

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Speaker 1: but there are these responsibilities that have to be filled

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Speaker 1: on the basketball court that when they aren't filled, it

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Speaker 1: can be absolutely disastrous. It's like in football with the

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Speaker 1: offensive line. I'm a huge Dallas Cowboys fan of the

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Speaker 1: volume just actually brought on my guy Vatched Lombardi to

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Speaker 1: do a Dallas Cowboys show, which I'm very, very excited about.

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Speaker 1: But you know what would happened a lot with the

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Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys. They'd go play a big game in the

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Speaker 1: regular season, maybe you know, at home against Green Bay

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Speaker 1: or something, and they'd have Dak Prescott and they'd have

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Speaker 1: Ezekiel Elliott, and they'd have a Marii Cooper and they'd

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Speaker 1: have everybody healthy, and they lose, and a big part

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Speaker 1: of it would be Tyrone Smith was unavailable, or Zack

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Speaker 1: Martin was unavailable. Unavailable, these were all world offensive linemen

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Speaker 1: for the Cowboys, and when two or three of their

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Speaker 1: offensive linemen would be injured, almost everything they tried to

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Speaker 1: do would fall apart. And it's because the unsung heroes

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Speaker 1: of the game of football are the line players on

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Speaker 1: both ends of the floor. You've seen unbelievably good quarterbacks

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Speaker 1: look terrible because a defensive end that they can't block

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Speaker 1: to the line play and who wins that battle in

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Speaker 1: the trenches is a massive indicator of who's gonna win

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Speaker 1: a football game in the NFL, and the same thing

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Speaker 1: goes in the NBA with the guys who do the

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Speaker 1: dirty work. It's like the Lakers this here. Lebron James

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Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis played together in twenty one games this year,

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Speaker 1: So I mean, again, that's disastrous compared to the eighty

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Speaker 1: two that they should have been available. But in those

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Speaker 1: twenty one games, they were bad. They were eleven and ten.

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Speaker 1: That's I think they might have been ten and eleven

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Speaker 1: is what they're right around five h I can't remember

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Speaker 1: the number off top of my head. But the reason

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Speaker 1: why is they didn't have an offensive line, and in

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Speaker 1: this particular season, Lebron James and Anthony Davis didn't feel

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Speaker 1: like being the offensive line themselves. They didn't feel like

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Speaker 1: embracing that dirty work to the extent they did in

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Speaker 1: the season, and a huge part of why I believe

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Speaker 1: in this Warrior's team. So much is. Yes they have Steph,

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Speaker 1: Yes they have Clay, Yes they have Jordan Pool, but

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Speaker 1: they also have all these guys that are just devoted

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Speaker 1: to that dirty work. Draymond Green, he might as well

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Speaker 1: be an offensive line in and of himself. He's like

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Speaker 1: five players wrapped into one. There's arguably never been a

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Speaker 1: player in this era who brings as much to the

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Speaker 1: table on the margins to help teams win games then

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Speaker 1: Draymond Green does. And that value is look at how

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Speaker 1: look at how Draymond Green and his ability to disrupt

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Speaker 1: Yokich completely strangled any and all chances that Denver had

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Speaker 1: to be competitive in this series. One matchup, one player. Now,

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Speaker 1: if I replaced him with Kevan Looney, do Steph and

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Speaker 1: Jordan Pool and Clay Thompson get the job done? Still? Maybe?

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Speaker 1: Probably actually, because this Denver team is really limited. But

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Speaker 1: Draymond Green, with the singular matchup, in his ability to

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Speaker 1: disrupt Nikola Yokes turned this into what's probably gonna be

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Speaker 1: a sweep. That's the type of value that Draymond brings

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Speaker 1: the table. Then you go down the roster and there's

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Speaker 1: a ton of guys like that. You've got You've got

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Speaker 1: guys like Andrew Wiggins, who are devoted to the defensive

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Speaker 1: and Gary Payton Jr. Has been kind of cool for

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Speaker 1: me to see. Gary Payton Jr. And I played together

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Speaker 1: a lot in college against each other. I played against

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Speaker 1: him when he was at a prep school called Westmind Prep,

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Speaker 1: and then we were both on the same All conference

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Speaker 1: team and we played in Scenic West Athletic Conference up

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Speaker 1: in Utah when we were both in junior college. And

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Speaker 1: then the year after I left, he ended up being

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Speaker 1: Player of the Year in that conference because he developed

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Speaker 1: into a really really solid ball handler and passer. And

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Speaker 1: but his original contribution, the reason why he made the

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Speaker 1: All conference team when I was playing against him and

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Speaker 1: Juco was what he did on the defensive end of

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Speaker 1: the floor. He was on a team jam packed with

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Speaker 1: talent at Salt Lake Community College, and his job was

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Speaker 1: to guard the other team's best player. He picked me

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Speaker 1: up full court all game long. Was just up in

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Speaker 1: my airspace the entire game. His job was to take

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Speaker 1: me out of the game. That was his value that

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Speaker 1: he brought, and that value, that elite skill of his,

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Speaker 1: he has now taken it into the n b A

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Speaker 1: and carved a niche in this league. He's an offensive

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Speaker 1: lineman just like I was talking about earlier, and I

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Speaker 1: just have the utmost respect for those guys. But the

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Speaker 1: steph In Pool thing, because the biggest weakness with this

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Speaker 1: particular team is their lack of a rim pressuring wing.

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Speaker 1: You know, well I'm not. You know, there's there's a

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Speaker 1: defensive element of what a wing brings to the table,

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Speaker 1: covering ground on defense, helping with rebounding, running the floor,

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Speaker 1: and transition. But on offense, it's the ability to throw

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Speaker 1: the ball to a guy with his back to the

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Speaker 1: basket within ten or fifteen ft of the rim, and

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Speaker 1: his ability to get a quality shot when it's a

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Speaker 1: physical fist fight of a game and the stuff that

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Speaker 1: the guards are doing aren't working or the jump shots

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Speaker 1: aren't falling, and that is the weakness. But Jordan Pool,

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Speaker 1: in his rise into such a dominant offensive guard, adds

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Speaker 1: a little bit extra firepower to that front that kind

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Speaker 1: of compensates for that a little bit. So the question

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Speaker 1: is do I think the Warriors can win the title?

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Speaker 1: Should they be the favorite? I still say no because

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Speaker 1: their biggest their biggest specific weakness right now is interior

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Speaker 1: uh size, right, Draymond can handle yo kids. But what

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Speaker 1: if they've run into a uh, you know, a different

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Speaker 1: type of matchup where because yokis right now is too

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Speaker 1: slow to take advantage of of a foot speed with Draymond,

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Speaker 1: what if they run to someone like Joel embiad or

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Speaker 1: if they run into someone like DeAndre at and there

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Speaker 1: are other matchups down the line that could be a problem.

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Speaker 1: I still lean towards Boston as a team that has

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Speaker 1: a fewer weaknesses and fewer holes, but I would absolutely

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Speaker 1: say Golden State in light of the Devin Booker injury,

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Speaker 1: is the favorite in the West. Yeah. And it's interesting

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Speaker 1: in terms of betting odds. I mean, right now on Fandel,

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Speaker 1: it's not just the Warriors, it's the Warriors by a

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Speaker 1: little bit there plus two seventy. Next is the Celtics

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Speaker 1: at plus five hundred. I think it's really interesting when

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Speaker 1: you talk about the offensive lineman concept and just the

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Speaker 1: plethora of God as you do everything, and obviously Draymond

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Speaker 1: is the epitome of that, not just on this Warrior's

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Speaker 1: team but in the NBA and has been for more

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Speaker 1: than half a decade. So just looking at sort of

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Speaker 1: the scope of his career, what he's accomplished and who

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Speaker 1: he is right now? How many names do you think

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Speaker 1: you would take, let's just go in the league right now,

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Speaker 1: with this version of Draymond before him, if you are

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Speaker 1: trying to construct a title winning team. Oh man, so

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Speaker 1: you're talking like not just ranking defensive players. You're talking

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Speaker 1: about like ranking him as a player in the league

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Speaker 1: just as like drafting, right, But if you have the

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Speaker 1: specific goal of winning a title, right, because obviously there

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Speaker 1: are guys who will have maybe more ceiling raising ability

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Speaker 1: because we saw what Dramond looked like when he had

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Speaker 1: to try to like initiate offense without staff a couple

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Speaker 1: of years and ago. It wasn't very pretty. But if

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Speaker 1: you're trying to build that ultimate winning basketball team, where

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Speaker 1: does Draymond go? That's an interesting question because there's there

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Speaker 1: are two factors that that kind of complicate that. One

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Speaker 1: is just how many talented players there are in the

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Speaker 1: league right now. Like I encourage you guys, if you're

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Speaker 1: ever board, if you're like sitting on an airplane, you're

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Speaker 1: waiting on the tarmac and you need to kill fifteen minutes,

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Speaker 1: just like take your notes out on your phone and

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Speaker 1: try to jot down the top thirty players in the NBA,

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Speaker 1: and you'll be amazed at the guys that won't make

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Speaker 1: your top twenty or the guys that will make your

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Speaker 1: top fifteen. That's how stacked the league is. That's the

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Speaker 1: one thing that complicates it. The other thing that complicates

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Speaker 1: it is fit. Draymond Green had nine assists in the

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Speaker 1: first half tonight. He is there's an element that he

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Speaker 1: brings to the game. He does something that I that

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Speaker 1: I call hunting shooters, which is a very important concept

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Speaker 1: within basketball because rhythm is a thing that that disrupts

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Speaker 1: any offensive basketball player. And sometimes if you're playing with

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Speaker 1: the wrong group of guys, guys can get out of rhythm.

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Speaker 1: When there's not a player on the floor that's conscious

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Speaker 1: about hunting shooters. For example, Donovan Mitchell, Donovan Mitchell is

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Speaker 1: a very poor decision maker as a perimeter initiator. He

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Speaker 1: is not aware of the psychology of the other shooters

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Speaker 1: on the floor and the way his decisions and the

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Speaker 1: decisions that he makes have an impact on those guys

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Speaker 1: because if he gets hunting, if he gets to hunting

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Speaker 1: his own shot, he can actually shoot other guys out

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Speaker 1: of rhythm. What Draymond does is every second that he's

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Speaker 1: on the floor, he's actively hunting shooters. Oh, I haven't

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Speaker 1: gotten steff a shot in like four possessions. Let's try

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Speaker 1: to get Steff a shot. Okay, STEP's been a rhythm,

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Speaker 1: but Jordan Pools standing around. We need to find something

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Speaker 1: for Jordan Poole, Clay Thompson, same kind of concept. He's

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Speaker 1: he's the best player on that specific team at making

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Speaker 1: sure that all of his shooters are always comfortable and

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Speaker 1: in rhythm. So that's a huge value point. But again,

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Speaker 1: the value that Draymond brings with those guards is different

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Speaker 1: than if you dropped him with like Lebron James in

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Speaker 1: like a healthy, centric top of the key type offense,

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Speaker 1: or like the Luca Donchets. That's not to say that

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Speaker 1: Draymond wouldn't be impactful in that system, but those two

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Speaker 1: factors that the stacked talent in the league and Draymond's

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Speaker 1: specific basketball fit with Golden State makes it complicated. But

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Speaker 1: with the Warriors, you could argue his impact on specifically

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Speaker 1: the ability to win a championship. His impact is easily

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Speaker 1: top fifteen, top twenty in the league when you factor

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Speaker 1: in all those things that he brings the table with

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Speaker 1: that specific basketball fit. I think all Draymond discussions are

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Speaker 1: really interesting just because it feels like he is so

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Speaker 1: polarizing in the sense that there are people who attributes

430
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 1: so much of his success to situation fit, and then

431
00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:05,480
Speaker 1: there are people who just think, well, the guys of

432
00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 1: basketball genius. He makes ultimate winning players on both ends

433
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,800
Speaker 1: of the floor. I think, obviously there is a middle ground,

434
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:16,040
Speaker 1: like he is greatly enabled by the fact that he

435
00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:18,239
Speaker 1: does have the kind of shooting and creation around him

436
00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:20,440
Speaker 1: where he doesn't have to try to play any other role,

437
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,160
Speaker 1: because I mean, the guy you know scores seven points

438
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,439
Speaker 1: a game for a reason, peque Draymond. Draymond was a

439
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:30,040
Speaker 1: little bit different, but nevertheless the fundamental aspects of his

440
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,000
Speaker 1: skill set have always kind of been the same. I

441
00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 1: have to ask you just out of my own curiosity,

442
00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,240
Speaker 1: because I love GP two and I think, like, even

443
00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,399
Speaker 1: playing twenty minutes a game, I think he's like borderline

444
00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,600
Speaker 1: all defense this year because his contributions in those minutes

445
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,360
Speaker 1: were that great. Is he the best defender who you've

446
00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 1: ever played against? Or if not, who is? Oh, that's

447
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,320
Speaker 1: a good question. He was absolutely, unquestionably the best defensive

448
00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:57,560
Speaker 1: player that I ever played against things are complicated. Like I,

449
00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:59,800
Speaker 1: I performed well in my games against him, but it

450
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:03,040
Speaker 1: was a team effort. Like I had and eleven in

451
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:04,960
Speaker 1: a game against him. I had another like eighteen and

452
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,360
Speaker 1: eleven in a game against him, But like it's always

453
00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:10,439
Speaker 1: a team effort. It's like I in the in our

454
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:12,560
Speaker 1: offensive sets, they would do a lot of switching. Gary

455
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:14,679
Speaker 1: Payton would get off of me. I wasn't like a

456
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,080
Speaker 1: perimeter initiator. I wasn't a guy that was breaking people

457
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:18,639
Speaker 1: down off the dribble. I was like a face up

458
00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:20,840
Speaker 1: big so it was more of like a turning face

459
00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 1: and jab step and I would shoot a lot of

460
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 1: threes and things like that. So if it wasn't a

461
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 1: it wasn't. It's never as complicated as like the way

462
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,360
Speaker 1: I played basketball now as like a guard who dribbles

463
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:33,520
Speaker 1: and and and initiates from the perimeter is very different

464
00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,159
Speaker 1: from back then. So like nowadays, I wouldn't have a

465
00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,520
Speaker 1: chance in hell at scoring against Gary Payton Jr. Like

466
00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:43,600
Speaker 1: I just the'se it's just a whole other level. But um,

467
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:45,560
Speaker 1: but yeah, he was easily the best I ever went against.

468
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,600
Speaker 1: One other note really quick on on the Draymond thing.

469
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:51,520
Speaker 1: You're seeing a couple of different kind of defensive concepts

470
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,480
Speaker 1: that the that are happening around the league. Look at

471
00:25:55,720 --> 00:26:01,119
Speaker 1: how spread out Dallas has uh Utah right now, and

472
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,159
Speaker 1: the middle of the floor is completely wide open, and

473
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:06,200
Speaker 1: as a result, you're seeing so much of like Jalen

474
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,560
Speaker 1: Brunson and Spencer Dinwity operating with just a ship ton

475
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 1: of space around the elbow, beating people off the dribble

476
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:13,639
Speaker 1: and getting to their little step back jump shots. Then

477
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:18,960
Speaker 1: you watched like Philly and Milwaukee and every when they're

478
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:23,200
Speaker 1: playing against Chicago and Toronto, the paint is completely clocked

479
00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:25,560
Speaker 1: because that's the way that they have to be guarded.

480
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:28,399
Speaker 1: That's kind of specifically what I'm talking about. Like Draymond's

481
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,520
Speaker 1: playmaking and his ability in the short role adds a

482
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:34,560
Speaker 1: ton of value in this kind of five out system

483
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:36,639
Speaker 1: where when he's operating in the middle of the floor,

484
00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:39,600
Speaker 1: he's so good at making those types of reads. It

485
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,359
Speaker 1: be and I I guarantee you, because Draymond so great,

486
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:45,080
Speaker 1: he would figure it out. But his impact in a

487
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,439
Speaker 1: system like Philly or or Milwaukee where the teams that

488
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:50,919
Speaker 1: are guarding them are packing the paint more would it

489
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:53,920
Speaker 1: would be interesting just to see the way Draymond would

490
00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:59,920
Speaker 1: play in that kind of setting. Yeah. Absolutely, And I'm

491
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,320
Speaker 1: and again that is part of the kind of never

492
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:04,480
Speaker 1: ending question with him is how would he look in

493
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:07,280
Speaker 1: a variety of different situations. But I don't think that

494
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,800
Speaker 1: we're gonna see it. He seems pretty happy to be

495
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:13,120
Speaker 1: a warrior. I gotta say, Jason, I love the humility,

496
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:16,240
Speaker 1: but we don't need to talk about switching and j

497
00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:18,760
Speaker 1: g P two getting off you. You You dropped twenty five

498
00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:21,520
Speaker 1: on his head, that's the story. And they even inflate

499
00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:25,280
Speaker 1: that number up to thirty. Why not, come on, it's

500
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,840
Speaker 1: an all defense caliber NBA guy. You had fifty on

501
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:33,800
Speaker 1: and it was. All I'm gonna say is as I

502
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:36,679
Speaker 1: my my one liner in all these situations, I have

503
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:38,640
Speaker 1: way too much respect for these guys to ever put

504
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:40,840
Speaker 1: myself on their level. He's a million times better than me.

505
00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:42,280
Speaker 1: If he played me tomorrow, I wouldn't be able to

506
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:47,760
Speaker 1: get a shot off. I'm enhancing them then, I'm saying

507
00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,640
Speaker 1: that you dunked all over him. If anybody ever asked me,

508
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:54,240
Speaker 1: all right, let's switch gears here, because we had really

509
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:58,240
Speaker 1: a pretty unbelievable night of NBA action overall and a

510
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:02,439
Speaker 1: shocking results between the Grizzlies and the Timberwolves. Heels are

511
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:06,080
Speaker 1: up twenty five with fifteen minutes left and they lost

512
00:28:06,119 --> 00:28:09,199
Speaker 1: the basketball game. Grizzlies now up to one in the series.

513
00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:12,880
Speaker 1: So what's the biggest story here? Is it an epic

514
00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:18,000
Speaker 1: Memphis comeback or is it a Minnesota collapse. This was

515
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,800
Speaker 1: a really, really interesting game, and it absolutely was a

516
00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:26,400
Speaker 1: Minnesota collapse. However, there were some very concerning things from Memphis.

517
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,119
Speaker 1: When we get to our top five contenders later in

518
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:33,720
Speaker 1: the show, you'll notice Memphis is conspicuously missing from that list.

519
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,080
Speaker 1: And the main reason why is this is their first

520
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:41,720
Speaker 1: playoff run where they have some real expectations where they're

521
00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,800
Speaker 1: expected to make the conference finals. When they play Golden

522
00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:47,680
Speaker 1: State in the next round, Golden State will be favored,

523
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 1: but you know, in theory, based on their regular season success,

524
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,920
Speaker 1: Memphis was a better team, and so it gets it's

525
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 1: it's more complicated than that, right now. Um, the they

526
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,080
Speaker 1: played three games and this post season run so far

527
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:04,920
Speaker 1: as a team that is a favorite in the first round,

528
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,040
Speaker 1: and they've come out straight up flat in two of

529
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:13,240
Speaker 1: the three games. Then they came out flat in the

530
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:15,720
Speaker 1: second half after they battled all the way back to

531
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:18,400
Speaker 1: make it a game going into halftime. In Minnesota, they

532
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,120
Speaker 1: came out flat in the second half. So out of

533
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,160
Speaker 1: six halves they've played in this post season run, they've

534
00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:27,400
Speaker 1: come out really flat and low effort, in low energy

535
00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:31,080
Speaker 1: in three of those halves. And that's a huge problem

536
00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:34,160
Speaker 1: because I've always talked to you guys about the margin

537
00:29:34,280 --> 00:29:37,320
Speaker 1: for air and playoff series, how complicated and how difficult

538
00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:41,360
Speaker 1: it is to win a playoff game, and you know,

539
00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,719
Speaker 1: in the playoffs series, and to win multiple playoffs series

540
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,920
Speaker 1: and to win an NBA championship, and you cannot afford

541
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:50,719
Speaker 1: to be a sloppy team. We talked about this all

542
00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:53,080
Speaker 1: the time with the defensive rating, right when we're tracking

543
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:55,880
Speaker 1: teams in their effort at night in the night out

544
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:58,760
Speaker 1: in the regular season, Memphis seems a little too loose

545
00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:02,440
Speaker 1: to me. I talk earlier about the pain of losses

546
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:07,120
Speaker 1: and how it builds scar tissue that makes you fight

547
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,480
Speaker 1: and scratch and claw to an extra extent. I thought

548
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,000
Speaker 1: it was a huge swing factor in the two thousand

549
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:14,560
Speaker 1: twelve NBA Finals. The Thunder were favored in that series

550
00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:16,640
Speaker 1: going into it. A lot of people were picking them

551
00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,960
Speaker 1: they ran through the Western Conference. The Eastern Conference was

552
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:24,640
Speaker 1: considered weaker. Everyone saw the Heat struggle mightily as to

553
00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,280
Speaker 1: get through the Boston Celtics. There was a lot of

554
00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:30,440
Speaker 1: there was a lot of hype surrounding that Thunder team.

555
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,840
Speaker 1: There were like little details guys like, you know, miss

556
00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,080
Speaker 1: free throw late in the game, and here comes Shane

557
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:39,320
Speaker 1: Battier just flying around a box out to get an

558
00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,640
Speaker 1: offensive rebound. That makes a key difference in the game.

559
00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 1: You know, Lebron because of all the pain and suffering

560
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:47,520
Speaker 1: that he had had taken with the losses in the

561
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,400
Speaker 1: previous years, and the way that he fought through that series.

562
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,680
Speaker 1: That that scar tissue makes it so that you don't

563
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:57,120
Speaker 1: come out flat in three out of six halves in

564
00:30:57,200 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 1: your first meaningful playoff run as a team with expect patians.

565
00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,880
Speaker 1: And that's that's why these young teams usually don't get

566
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 1: it done. And that's why I have Memphis outside of

567
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,240
Speaker 1: my top five. You can't come out flat like that.

568
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,280
Speaker 1: Patrick Beverley, this is the star of the star of

569
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:13,720
Speaker 1: Memphis is John Morey. He's their best player by country mile.

570
00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,480
Speaker 1: Patrick Beverley went at his throat to start that game,

571
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:18,800
Speaker 1: and John wanted nothing to do with it. Was giving

572
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:22,760
Speaker 1: up drives to the basket, was fouling him. Patrick Beverley,

573
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:25,880
Speaker 1: come on, man, like I love Patrick Beverley's great role player,

574
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,160
Speaker 1: very very important player, a guy that I think has

575
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,840
Speaker 1: become undervalued around the league because of some slander throwing

576
00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,160
Speaker 1: his way, because of all of his antics. But he

577
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,600
Speaker 1: has no business offensively attacking your superstar and just getting

578
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,720
Speaker 1: buckets on him in a meaningful playoff game. And so

579
00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:43,320
Speaker 1: the memph the Memphis thing is a whole other that

580
00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:46,640
Speaker 1: that that their time is coming. They have a lot

581
00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:49,800
Speaker 1: of talent. They're gonna be fine, but there there there

582
00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:53,200
Speaker 1: are issues there with their approach that they have to

583
00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,120
Speaker 1: figure out. There's a there's almost like a you know,

584
00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:58,840
Speaker 1: because they're very confident team. They talk a lot of trash, right,

585
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:03,120
Speaker 1: but you'll notice teams that lose and ugly fashion, teams

586
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:06,240
Speaker 1: that suffer that scar tissue. There's a lack of that.

587
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:10,440
Speaker 1: You noticed Milwaukee wasn't talking any trash during last year's

588
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:13,640
Speaker 1: playoff run. Why because they were humiliated the year before

589
00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:16,400
Speaker 1: and they were humiliated the year before that they lost

590
00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,320
Speaker 1: four games in a row to the Toronto Raptors team. Right,

591
00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:24,400
Speaker 1: they don't. They don't have They have a a respect

592
00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:28,080
Speaker 1: and a fear, a healthy fear of losing, and Memphis

593
00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:30,400
Speaker 1: does not have that yet, and as a result, I

594
00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:32,840
Speaker 1: think it's gonna get them beat, probably by a team

595
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:35,200
Speaker 1: like Golden State. Now, the interesting thing in this game

596
00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:37,800
Speaker 1: was Minnesota came out and played really, really good basketball.

597
00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:39,719
Speaker 1: I've been talking a lot this year about their perimeter

598
00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 1: defense and how good they are at guarding teams and

599
00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:44,200
Speaker 1: keeping them out of the paint with their perimeter players,

600
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:46,560
Speaker 1: and the fact that their interior presence, even though Carl

601
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:48,920
Speaker 1: Town's is not a great defender, they defend the paint

602
00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:51,640
Speaker 1: really well because they defend on the perimeter. They only

603
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,720
Speaker 1: gave up four points in the paint in that first quarter.

604
00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 1: They had the game under control. And on nights like

605
00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:58,320
Speaker 1: these where these games overlapped like this, like I have

606
00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:00,520
Speaker 1: to do an instant reaction show after of the last

607
00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:02,280
Speaker 1: game of the night, So like if a game's over,

608
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:04,680
Speaker 1: I'd like to turn it off so that I can

609
00:33:04,720 --> 00:33:06,920
Speaker 1: get into the next game and try to figure the

610
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,680
Speaker 1: details out for that particular game. There were two times

611
00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,280
Speaker 1: where I was like, oh, Minnesota, has this a couple

612
00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:13,960
Speaker 1: more minutes, I'll be able to turn the game off,

613
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:17,440
Speaker 1: and then they immediately just gave up a fifteen run

614
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:20,320
Speaker 1: in the first half and then ah run spanning the

615
00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,719
Speaker 1: third and fourth quarters, And I thought that the devastating

616
00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:25,800
Speaker 1: factor there. What did I tell you guys in the

617
00:33:25,840 --> 00:33:28,480
Speaker 1: play in the playoff preview and in in all of

618
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,000
Speaker 1: my Minnesota Timberwold stuff that I did during the regular season,

619
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:33,400
Speaker 1: I told you my biggest fear with them was their

620
00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:39,080
Speaker 1: decision making. Can car can Anthony Edwards and Daniel Danigel Russell,

621
00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:43,479
Speaker 1: can they can they execute in these environments? Can they

622
00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,960
Speaker 1: make smart decisions? And they did extremely well in the

623
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,280
Speaker 1: playing game, and then they did extremely well in Game one.

624
00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:55,400
Speaker 1: I thought Anthony Edwards out executed John Morant, but things

625
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:57,040
Speaker 1: kind of came off the rails in the second half

626
00:33:57,040 --> 00:33:59,200
Speaker 1: of game too. And even though they played well to

627
00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:02,920
Speaker 1: start Game three, at the end when these runs were

628
00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:05,160
Speaker 1: happening at the late end second half or end of

629
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,680
Speaker 1: the second quarter and then end the third early fourth,

630
00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:11,520
Speaker 1: it was Anthony Edwards and Ind'angelo Russell making poor offensive

631
00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:15,240
Speaker 1: decisions and taking bad shots that led to Memphis getting

632
00:34:15,239 --> 00:34:18,319
Speaker 1: out in transition and taking that game over. And so

633
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,640
Speaker 1: that's the issue that's the part that Anthony Edwards in

634
00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 1: D'angela Russell gotta figure out, like they've got to figure

635
00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:27,400
Speaker 1: out that in these environments, it's it's less about feeding

636
00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,200
Speaker 1: off the crowd. It's less about you know, it's less

637
00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:33,200
Speaker 1: about looking out for what your rhythm is, and it's

638
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:37,279
Speaker 1: about making quality basketball decisions. Because this series, to me,

639
00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:39,439
Speaker 1: is about who's got a hold of the rope. They're

640
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:41,799
Speaker 1: a lot closer than they than they look. Now. If

641
00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:43,680
Speaker 1: both teams have a hold of the rope and they're

642
00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:46,560
Speaker 1: both pulling, Memphis is better, so they're gonna win. That's

643
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:48,560
Speaker 1: why I picked them to win in five or six games.

644
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:51,920
Speaker 1: But what's happening throughout this series is at various points

645
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:53,799
Speaker 1: a team is letting go of the rope entirely. We

646
00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:55,520
Speaker 1: talked about that with Memphis at the start of those

647
00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:58,600
Speaker 1: three halves and then tonight twice with Minnesota, and then

648
00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:00,239
Speaker 1: in the second half of Game two they at it.

649
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,759
Speaker 1: They can't. These are young teams that don't understand how

650
00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:06,160
Speaker 1: hard it is to win these series, and they get

651
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:08,120
Speaker 1: unfocused and they let go of that rope. So the

652
00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:11,439
Speaker 1: next step for for Minnesota has to be either because

653
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:13,520
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna lose this series, there's a devastating loss.

654
00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:15,560
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised of Memphis one in five. Now,

655
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,759
Speaker 1: that's how that's how disastrous that collapse was, and how

656
00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,800
Speaker 1: that can impact the team mentally coming into this summer.

657
00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:24,520
Speaker 1: Then one of the things for them is the ants

658
00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:27,840
Speaker 1: growth as a decision maker. But it may be worthwhile

659
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:31,120
Speaker 1: trying to find somebody to come in that's a little

660
00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:33,200
Speaker 1: bit more of an adult in the room, so to speak,

661
00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:35,279
Speaker 1: that can help put them in positions. I don't know

662
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:38,040
Speaker 1: if there's somebody like Rudy, like Ricky Rubio that they

663
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:39,840
Speaker 1: could track down. He played in Minnesota in the past.

664
00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,000
Speaker 1: Those are the kind of guys that I would be

665
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,600
Speaker 1: looking for. Last last note on this game from tonight.

666
00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:50,839
Speaker 1: When Minnesota had Memphis in the half court, they really

667
00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:55,200
Speaker 1: struggled to generate shots. John Murray had a rough night scoring.

668
00:35:55,239 --> 00:35:57,239
Speaker 1: He did have tennis sis and a big part of

669
00:35:57,239 --> 00:35:59,680
Speaker 1: that was his decision making down the stretch of the game.

670
00:35:59,719 --> 00:36:02,319
Speaker 1: To his credit, in the two Memphis wins, he's been

671
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:05,520
Speaker 1: good making decisions. But Memphis has a problem creating shots

672
00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:08,080
Speaker 1: in the half court against good defensive teams. As I've

673
00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:10,240
Speaker 1: talked about, Desmond Bane is a slasher and a shooter,

674
00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:12,680
Speaker 1: but he's not great at creating his own shot off

675
00:36:12,680 --> 00:36:14,560
Speaker 1: the dribble. Jaren Jackson Jr. Can be a bull in

676
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,600
Speaker 1: a china shop. And John Murant the paint is packed

677
00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:20,520
Speaker 1: on him right now, and so he's not getting easy

678
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:23,400
Speaker 1: layups that bolster his offense as well. His best thing

679
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:24,840
Speaker 1: that he can do right now is driving to the

680
00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:27,359
Speaker 1: teeth of the defense and kick out two shooters, which

681
00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:29,480
Speaker 1: he needs to do. But when you're looking at some

682
00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:31,200
Speaker 1: of these other contenders on the list, when we're looking

683
00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:34,200
Speaker 1: at Boston and Golden State in Phoenix and Dallas and Philly,

684
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:36,799
Speaker 1: they just have better options to go to in the

685
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:40,480
Speaker 1: half court. And so because of that, I think Memphis

686
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:44,360
Speaker 1: is almost like they still have a puncher's chance. But

687
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:47,000
Speaker 1: I'm just about off Memphis as a team that's capable

688
00:36:47,400 --> 00:37:02,680
Speaker 1: of winning the title at this point. I can't hear

689
00:37:02,719 --> 00:37:04,719
Speaker 1: Carson right now, so we're gonna move on to our

690
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:10,800
Speaker 1: next question. So the Carl Town's only attempted four shots tonight,

691
00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:14,640
Speaker 1: it's three or four. Had some defensive moments as a

692
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:17,080
Speaker 1: back line help guy, blocking shots off the glass and

693
00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:21,839
Speaker 1: things of the of that nature. But this is yet

694
00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:25,960
Speaker 1: another really really weird Carl Town's playoff game. And when

695
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 1: we look down the list of Carl Town's playoff performance,

696
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:32,200
Speaker 1: this kind of seems to happen more often than not.

697
00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:37,320
Speaker 1: And so the next question we had was can Carl

698
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:44,960
Speaker 1: Town's be a franchise cornerstone? And you know there I

699
00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:47,399
Speaker 1: even go a step further, can Carl Town's be one

700
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:51,440
Speaker 1: of your two best players on a championship team? Because

701
00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:55,360
Speaker 1: look at the archetype of a big man as the

702
00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:58,480
Speaker 1: second best player on a team. We're looking at Anthony Davis, right,

703
00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:05,560
Speaker 1: textbookcase in the bubble. So in that playoff environment, there

704
00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:08,640
Speaker 1: were moments where Anthony Davis struggled to create his own shot,

705
00:38:08,680 --> 00:38:12,280
Speaker 1: particularly in the Miami Series. But he has this massive

706
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:15,040
Speaker 1: weapon that he can bring to the table and that's

707
00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:17,680
Speaker 1: what he does. As a defensive player. Anthony Davis is

708
00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:20,160
Speaker 1: one of the top three or four defensive players in

709
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:24,080
Speaker 1: the entire world is about of basketball and so when

710
00:38:24,160 --> 00:38:27,399
Speaker 1: things are not working for you, like tonight Carl Town's,

711
00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:30,279
Speaker 1: his guards weren't looking for him enough. Jaren Jackson was

712
00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:34,440
Speaker 1: stifling him in his isolations. The paint was packed, so

713
00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:36,600
Speaker 1: there wasn't a lot of great opportunities for him to

714
00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:39,080
Speaker 1: go to work, and so his offense was kind of

715
00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:42,680
Speaker 1: removed from the equation. And yes, he made some plays

716
00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:44,880
Speaker 1: as a back line defender, but he doesn't he doesn't

717
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:47,640
Speaker 1: make enough impact in that area of the game in

718
00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:51,120
Speaker 1: order to be effective. And then a huge problem tonight,

719
00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:53,880
Speaker 1: especially in that second half run, is he's not fast

720
00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:56,640
Speaker 1: enough to keep up with Memphis when they're going up

721
00:38:56,640 --> 00:38:59,239
Speaker 1: and down the floor. And so the thing with Kat,

722
00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:02,320
Speaker 1: unless he drops some weight and figures out how to

723
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:05,319
Speaker 1: be a more dominant defensive player, I'm not sure that

724
00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:07,800
Speaker 1: he can even be the second best player on a

725
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,399
Speaker 1: championship team. Now. Thankful he's already in a number two

726
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:12,719
Speaker 1: position here behind aunt An. It's going to be developing,

727
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:14,919
Speaker 1: but that might have to be the way. If there's

728
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,640
Speaker 1: a pathway for Minnesota to win with Cat, or for

729
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,760
Speaker 1: a team to win with Cat, He's almost better served

730
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:23,480
Speaker 1: as like the big man on a team that has

731
00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,120
Speaker 1: two perimeter stars on it, because I'm not sure that

732
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:28,799
Speaker 1: he brings enough to the table from a talent perspective

733
00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:32,520
Speaker 1: when his offense isn't working to win a championship with

734
00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:36,640
Speaker 1: some of the flaws that he has. One of the

735
00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:39,120
Speaker 1: things that I think really stands out is if you

736
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:42,239
Speaker 1: just look at Cat's last few games. I mean today,

737
00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:45,280
Speaker 1: it's eight points on four shots. As you mentioned, Game two,

738
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:48,720
Speaker 1: it was fifteen on seven shots in the plan. Obviously

739
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,759
Speaker 1: he had foul trouble, but it was eleven on three

740
00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:54,920
Speaker 1: of eleven shooting. So it's not just the lack of production,

741
00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:58,920
Speaker 1: it's the lack of assertiveness. And when I watched Cat,

742
00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:00,520
Speaker 1: I mean, I think in terms of el said he's

743
00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:03,680
Speaker 1: one of the most offensively gifted big men like dare

744
00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:06,160
Speaker 1: I say ever, I mean, his versatility as a score

745
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:11,440
Speaker 1: his playmaking is incredibly distinct, I think. But do you

746
00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:13,759
Speaker 1: look at that lack of a servedness and think like

747
00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:17,520
Speaker 1: that's a major issue with him as a player at

748
00:40:17,560 --> 00:40:19,879
Speaker 1: times because it seems to come and go a little bit.

749
00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:23,800
Speaker 1: So you know, this is the difference between like a

750
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:28,120
Speaker 1: Janis and the Cat because the paint, the paint is packed.

751
00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:30,799
Speaker 1: So like, there's two reasons why Carl Town's only took

752
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,239
Speaker 1: four shots tonight. It's the decision makers looking him off.

753
00:40:33,239 --> 00:40:36,920
Speaker 1: Like there was some flat out atrocious shots from a

754
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:39,359
Speaker 1: and from Delo. Down the stretch of that game, there

755
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:41,680
Speaker 1: was there was a transition three that Delo took along

756
00:40:41,719 --> 00:40:44,040
Speaker 1: the right wing that was contested from about thirty feet

757
00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:47,040
Speaker 1: that like you know, pickup game, you'd get yelled at,

758
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:50,000
Speaker 1: let alone in in an NBA playoff game for a

759
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:52,120
Speaker 1: guy who wasn't having a great night, right, So like

760
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:54,520
Speaker 1: that's part of it. But I think Carl Town's was

761
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:57,520
Speaker 1: looking at the paint being packed, Jaren Jackson was pressing

762
00:40:57,600 --> 00:40:59,040
Speaker 1: up on him a little bit and taking away that

763
00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:01,440
Speaker 1: jump shot, right, and so I think it was just

764
00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:04,200
Speaker 1: I think it was a classic passivity thing. It was

765
00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:06,520
Speaker 1: like I don't think I can score here. There's too

766
00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:08,680
Speaker 1: much stuff going on in the paint. I'm not getting

767
00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:10,080
Speaker 1: to my jump shot, and I'm not a good enough

768
00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:12,319
Speaker 1: passer to make people pay on the back end. What

769
00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:13,960
Speaker 1: am I gonna do? Okay, well, I'm just gonna set

770
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:15,960
Speaker 1: ball screens and pop to the three point line. Right.

771
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,120
Speaker 1: That was kind of like his approach, like what does

772
00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:21,400
Speaker 1: Janice do? The honest is like, oh, there's four bodies

773
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:23,680
Speaker 1: in the paint. I'm gonna try to run them all

774
00:41:23,800 --> 00:41:26,680
Speaker 1: over and like chances are they won't call anything. If

775
00:41:26,719 --> 00:41:28,600
Speaker 1: they do, it'll be a foul on them. Like you know,

776
00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:30,440
Speaker 1: I might get one or two offensive fouls a game.

777
00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:32,640
Speaker 1: But that's part like there's there is that it's like

778
00:41:32,719 --> 00:41:37,480
Speaker 1: a it's almost like a like a a stubbornness, but

779
00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:41,240
Speaker 1: in a good way, like I refuse to go down

780
00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:44,920
Speaker 1: with I'm not attempting four shots in a must win

781
00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:46,880
Speaker 1: playoff game at home, Like I have to find a

782
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,080
Speaker 1: way to impact this game offensively, even if I start

783
00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:51,880
Speaker 1: to like muck things up running into all that traffic.

784
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:54,640
Speaker 1: So yeah, I'm with you, man, it's an aggression issue.

785
00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:56,360
Speaker 1: But I think I think he's seeing the four and

786
00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:59,319
Speaker 1: seeing that he's not having opportunities, and so he's just

787
00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:02,520
Speaker 1: deciding he's just given up, rather than being like, Okay,

788
00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:06,960
Speaker 1: how do I make myself an impact in this game offensively? Right?

789
00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:10,799
Speaker 1: So you mentioned it with Kat and obviously you've talked

790
00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:13,440
Speaker 1: about with Yoki. It's just sort of some of the

791
00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:19,720
Speaker 1: defensive liabilities of these star offensive big men. So just philosophically,

792
00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:23,040
Speaker 1: would you rather have a guy like Cat who obviously

793
00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:25,319
Speaker 1: you know, can have these monster offensive nights, but like

794
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:28,000
Speaker 1: you said, if he isn't, then isn't positively impact in

795
00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:30,960
Speaker 1: the game defensively in multiple other ways, or a guy

796
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:34,080
Speaker 1: like Bam who isn't that kind of lead offensive option.

797
00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:37,479
Speaker 1: But it's such a weapon defensively, such a cerebral guy.

798
00:42:39,239 --> 00:42:41,520
Speaker 1: That's an interesting question. I take that a step further.

799
00:42:41,600 --> 00:42:45,120
Speaker 1: Would you rather have Cat or Rudy Gobert. There's another

800
00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:49,959
Speaker 1: question that I would ask, now so, and that's that's

801
00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:53,120
Speaker 1: that's really really interesting. So, uh, I would still take

802
00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:57,200
Speaker 1: Cat over Rudy because Rudy is so so, so incredibly

803
00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:01,760
Speaker 1: useless offensively. But Bam has shown enough of that flash

804
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:06,080
Speaker 1: offensively that I would absolutely argue that Bam is a

805
00:43:06,080 --> 00:43:08,640
Speaker 1: better basketball player than Carl Towns and is a more

806
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:11,160
Speaker 1: valuable player in this type of setting. You know. A

807
00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:12,919
Speaker 1: big part of that is, like I said, like Carl,

808
00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:17,320
Speaker 1: like Bam. Bam is one of the worst midrange shooters

809
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:19,040
Speaker 1: by percentage in the league this year. I know he

810
00:43:19,080 --> 00:43:21,640
Speaker 1: has that capability, but it's like, so Bam can go

811
00:43:21,760 --> 00:43:24,680
Speaker 1: cold and become a lack of a threat on offense.

812
00:43:24,719 --> 00:43:26,759
Speaker 1: He's more of like a guy that they almost they

813
00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:30,520
Speaker 1: almost use him like Yokis right, Like they see they'll

814
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:32,920
Speaker 1: they'll do like a have him run to the elbow

815
00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:35,880
Speaker 1: and do all these dribble handoff actions with like Jimmy Butler,

816
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:38,080
Speaker 1: with Duncan Robinson or Tyler Harre always kind of like

817
00:43:38,080 --> 00:43:40,800
Speaker 1: in that yo control high post kind of ball handler.

818
00:43:41,239 --> 00:43:43,799
Speaker 1: But and so that's the way he impacts the game offensively.

819
00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:46,600
Speaker 1: But even if he did nothing else for you on

820
00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:49,160
Speaker 1: on offense other than be basically a you know, a

821
00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:51,560
Speaker 1: vertical spacing threat and a guy who can do dribble

822
00:43:51,560 --> 00:43:53,200
Speaker 1: handoffs at the top of the key, he can be

823
00:43:53,239 --> 00:43:56,920
Speaker 1: monstrously impactful on the defense. Event like like a huge problem.

824
00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:59,880
Speaker 1: It's one of the biggest wrinkles of this upcoming series

825
00:44:00,239 --> 00:44:03,000
Speaker 1: with embiid if they close out the Atlanta Hawks, right,

826
00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:05,560
Speaker 1: So I I would I would absolutely go with a

827
00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:08,480
Speaker 1: guy like Bam. He's he's like a star offensive tackle,

828
00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:10,520
Speaker 1: kind of like what we were talking about earlier with

829
00:44:10,520 --> 00:44:15,719
Speaker 1: with Draymond Green. Alright, well, you mentioned Gobert in this

830
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:20,000
Speaker 1: conversation and he and the Jazz did fall again tonight.

831
00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:22,160
Speaker 1: They're down to one to the MAVs. Luca don Che

832
00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:25,600
Speaker 1: has not seen the floor. Jalen Bronson has dropped more

833
00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:30,120
Speaker 1: than thirty in consecutive games. So, I mean, we've explored

834
00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:33,880
Speaker 1: this question in the past, but what's most to blame

835
00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:39,160
Speaker 1: for the Jazz is failures. This is why I set

836
00:44:39,200 --> 00:44:42,880
Speaker 1: this up as the theme of the show because it

837
00:44:43,040 --> 00:44:46,120
Speaker 1: is that lack of that offensive line for basketball, it

838
00:44:46,239 --> 00:44:48,719
Speaker 1: is that lack of the guys who are willing to

839
00:44:48,719 --> 00:44:50,919
Speaker 1: do the dirty work. As is always the case, Rudy

840
00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:53,880
Speaker 1: Gobert becomes the punching bag on this stuff, and Rudy

841
00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:57,560
Speaker 1: Gobert is a deserving punching bag on the offensive end

842
00:44:57,560 --> 00:45:02,279
Speaker 1: of the floor, the dirty The secret is. Yes, we

843
00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:05,840
Speaker 1: talked about Dallas scoring at will, which they did, and

844
00:45:05,880 --> 00:45:08,280
Speaker 1: we'll get into that in just a second. But another

845
00:45:08,360 --> 00:45:11,680
Speaker 1: huge part of why doubt Utah is struggling so much

846
00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:14,800
Speaker 1: in this series is they can't score against Dallas's defense.

847
00:45:15,200 --> 00:45:18,759
Speaker 1: And Dallas's defense is pretty gimmicky. Now they they compete

848
00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:22,839
Speaker 1: to an an alarming extent. Like I have so much

849
00:45:22,840 --> 00:45:25,880
Speaker 1: respect for those guys in their devotion to defense. I

850
00:45:25,920 --> 00:45:28,440
Speaker 1: talked about their earlier with Stephan Clay, like you've got

851
00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:32,520
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson, Spencer Dinwoodie and Maxine Cleaber on the floor

852
00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:35,120
Speaker 1: with two good defenders, and Reggie Bullock and and Dorrian

853
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:38,800
Speaker 1: Phinney Smith. But you've got three average too below average

854
00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:43,839
Speaker 1: defensive players that are functionally running a very very very

855
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:48,600
Speaker 1: effective playoff defense because of them, just caring enough to

856
00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:51,640
Speaker 1: sit in a stance and keep people in front. And

857
00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:53,920
Speaker 1: one of the big problems is they're running these actions

858
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:57,120
Speaker 1: with Rudy Gobert and it'll be Donovan Mitchell and Mike

859
00:45:57,160 --> 00:45:59,719
Speaker 1: Conley at the top of key. They're gonna switch and

860
00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:02,440
Speaker 1: they'll get you know, Donovan Mitchell onto Max and Clarbert

861
00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:06,400
Speaker 1: or something like that. But Rudy Gobert is utterly useless

862
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:10,359
Speaker 1: attacking that mismatch on the interior, and so you still

863
00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:12,600
Speaker 1: have the spacing problem of him being on the floor

864
00:46:12,640 --> 00:46:15,520
Speaker 1: but clogging things up around the basket, but he can't

865
00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:19,040
Speaker 1: punish you for putting a smaller defender on him. So

866
00:46:19,120 --> 00:46:22,120
Speaker 1: that's one of their biggest problems. That is then allowing

867
00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:25,720
Speaker 1: uh Dallas to get out in transition and get easy stuff.

868
00:46:25,719 --> 00:46:28,320
Speaker 1: But on the defensive end of the floor for Utah,

869
00:46:28,680 --> 00:46:33,279
Speaker 1: it's literally, to a t, the exact same thing that

870
00:46:33,320 --> 00:46:36,040
Speaker 1: the Clippers did to them last year. We talked earlier

871
00:46:36,040 --> 00:46:38,640
Speaker 1: about the concept of the way these different teams are

872
00:46:38,640 --> 00:46:42,000
Speaker 1: playing defense based on their opponent. Right, You've got teams

873
00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:45,439
Speaker 1: like you know, Milwaukee and Philly where teams are really

874
00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:47,560
Speaker 1: crowding the paint because they're more of a brute force,

875
00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:52,440
Speaker 1: physicality offense. But these five out skilled offenses, teams like

876
00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:56,120
Speaker 1: Golden State, teams like this Dallas Mavericks team, or teams

877
00:46:56,160 --> 00:46:58,239
Speaker 1: like the Clippers last year, they put you in a

878
00:46:58,280 --> 00:47:02,279
Speaker 1: really tough predicament because it's all the same defensive principles.

879
00:47:02,520 --> 00:47:05,400
Speaker 1: Right Like, if I have a guy dribbling on the

880
00:47:05,480 --> 00:47:07,319
Speaker 1: at the top of the key or on the left wing,

881
00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:10,239
Speaker 1: and there's guys spacing to all the spots on the

882
00:47:10,280 --> 00:47:13,200
Speaker 1: three point line, just a classic five out offense. Even

883
00:47:13,239 --> 00:47:16,279
Speaker 1: if that happens, the principles are the same. The guy

884
00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:18,640
Speaker 1: helps out of the week side corner and then you

885
00:47:18,760 --> 00:47:22,120
Speaker 1: rotate around. Dallas is doing the same thing for the

886
00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:23,839
Speaker 1: most part. Utah is running more of a four out,

887
00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:26,120
Speaker 1: one in type of concept, but it's a similar it's

888
00:47:26,120 --> 00:47:29,160
Speaker 1: the same defensive principles Dallas is do. Dallas is helping

889
00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:31,640
Speaker 1: out of the week side corner and rotating around. There

890
00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:33,840
Speaker 1: were a bunch of plays today where when Donovitch Donovan

891
00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:37,600
Speaker 1: Mitchell got going, they would just double Donovan Mitchell. Donovan

892
00:47:37,600 --> 00:47:40,439
Speaker 1: Mitchell would pass, and then you would just see all

893
00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:43,960
Speaker 1: the Dallas Mavericks defenders just kind of rotate over one

894
00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:48,160
Speaker 1: spot and suddenly everyone's guarding somebody. Again, it's just basic

895
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:54,400
Speaker 1: defensive principles. But against Utah, when Jalen Brunson or Spencer

896
00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:57,200
Speaker 1: Dinwoody has a straight line drive to the basket, you

897
00:47:57,239 --> 00:47:59,600
Speaker 1: have Maxine Cleber in the weeks side corner, and you

898
00:47:59,600 --> 00:48:02,720
Speaker 1: have Realdy Gobert step over to help in that same

899
00:48:03,080 --> 00:48:07,160
Speaker 1: rotation doesn't happen. And so you literally saw in a

900
00:48:07,320 --> 00:48:09,440
Speaker 1: must win game at home, you have to win that

901
00:48:09,520 --> 00:48:13,279
Speaker 1: game because Lucas out and in a must win game

902
00:48:13,320 --> 00:48:18,000
Speaker 1: at home, they the Dallas Mavericks made thirteen threes in

903
00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:20,799
Speaker 1: the first half, I believe, on twenty five attempts, and

904
00:48:20,880 --> 00:48:26,000
Speaker 1: guys like they were all wide open there. If you're

905
00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:27,920
Speaker 1: a Utah Jazz fan, you should not be sitting at

906
00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:30,359
Speaker 1: home tonight or driving home from that game thinking, man,

907
00:48:30,400 --> 00:48:33,279
Speaker 1: I can't believe they shot so well. That's really unfortunate. No, no, no,

908
00:48:33,560 --> 00:48:37,080
Speaker 1: you gave professional basketball players wide open threes. Max and

909
00:48:37,120 --> 00:48:39,319
Speaker 1: Cleber just made like seven or eight of them in

910
00:48:39,400 --> 00:48:41,719
Speaker 1: game two. What did you think was gonna happen? If

911
00:48:41,719 --> 00:48:43,959
Speaker 1: you let him sit butt naked at the three point

912
00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:46,040
Speaker 1: line all night long, He's gonna make them all game

913
00:48:46,480 --> 00:48:48,719
Speaker 1: and he did. I think he made three or four

914
00:48:48,719 --> 00:48:50,799
Speaker 1: in a row before he finally missed one, and like

915
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:54,399
Speaker 1: like pivotal because it happened time and time again. Big run.

916
00:48:54,680 --> 00:48:57,719
Speaker 1: They get it back to within eleven. Early second half,

917
00:48:58,320 --> 00:49:00,680
Speaker 1: here comes Max and Cleber just runs up basic dribble

918
00:49:00,760 --> 00:49:05,279
Speaker 1: handoff with with with Reggie Bullock. Rudy Gobert is the

919
00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:08,000
Speaker 1: one guarding Reggie Bullock and he SAgs off of him

920
00:49:08,560 --> 00:49:10,719
Speaker 1: and the guy I think it was Donovan Mitchell that

921
00:49:10,760 --> 00:49:14,120
Speaker 1: was guarding Cleiber was lazy on the switch and Reggie

922
00:49:14,120 --> 00:49:15,919
Speaker 1: Bullock got a wide open three and knocked it down.

923
00:49:16,239 --> 00:49:17,759
Speaker 1: They went on a run in the fourth quarter and

924
00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:21,040
Speaker 1: got it back within seven. Jalen Brunson just walked right

925
00:49:21,080 --> 00:49:24,239
Speaker 1: down the floor beat somebody off the dribble. Remember who

926
00:49:24,239 --> 00:49:27,320
Speaker 1: was I think it was Mike Conley, and then Rudy Gobert. Uh,

927
00:49:27,400 --> 00:49:29,239
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert stepped over and as soon as he did,

928
00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:31,759
Speaker 1: Josh Green just cut out of the week side corner.

929
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:33,960
Speaker 1: It was an easy drop off for a layup. They

930
00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:39,160
Speaker 1: were getting easy baskets, good playoff defenses. You'll notice they

931
00:49:39,239 --> 00:49:42,160
Speaker 1: usually only get scored on in two scenarios. They'll get

932
00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:45,600
Speaker 1: scored on because a super duper star makes an incredibly

933
00:49:45,640 --> 00:49:49,200
Speaker 1: tough shot over a contest, or they'll get scored on

934
00:49:49,600 --> 00:49:52,719
Speaker 1: because they made three or four defensive rotations on the

935
00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:56,840
Speaker 1: same possession and finally someone got an open shot after

936
00:49:56,880 --> 00:49:59,080
Speaker 1: it was driving kick and swing and swing and driving

937
00:49:59,160 --> 00:50:01,439
Speaker 1: kick and swing and swing like three or four times

938
00:50:01,480 --> 00:50:04,840
Speaker 1: around the floor that before finally somebody misses the rotation.

939
00:50:05,080 --> 00:50:07,800
Speaker 1: The Utah jazz. We're getting beat on the first action

940
00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:12,480
Speaker 1: dribble drive. There's an easy kick out. And the guy

941
00:50:12,520 --> 00:50:14,680
Speaker 1: that I have to be super critical of here is

942
00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:18,360
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell. Talked about this earlier with Steph Curry. Steph

943
00:50:18,360 --> 00:50:23,120
Speaker 1: Curry limited off a limited physical tools relative to the position.

944
00:50:23,160 --> 00:50:25,920
Speaker 1: He's about six ft three, not overly quick, not overly

945
00:50:26,040 --> 00:50:29,120
Speaker 1: vertically athletic. He's strong, but he's not like Jack's like

946
00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:33,759
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell stronger right, Donovan Mitchell's taller, has like a

947
00:50:33,840 --> 00:50:39,680
Speaker 1: forty vertical significantly quicker, significantly quicker laterally, he's got all

948
00:50:39,719 --> 00:50:43,680
Speaker 1: of the tools to be a all defense player. And

949
00:50:43,760 --> 00:50:47,960
Speaker 1: spencer Dinwoody, who is in terms of perimeter initiators in

950
00:50:48,000 --> 00:50:51,320
Speaker 1: this playoff run, he's in the bottom set. He's shooting

951
00:50:51,360 --> 00:50:55,640
Speaker 1: like crap in this series. Down the stretch of that game,

952
00:50:55,800 --> 00:50:57,840
Speaker 1: Spencer didn't what he was just looking Donovan Mitchell in

953
00:50:57,840 --> 00:51:00,000
Speaker 1: the face and just driving right around him to the basket.

954
00:51:00,040 --> 00:51:04,160
Speaker 1: It almost every time down the floor. It's embarrassing and

955
00:51:04,560 --> 00:51:07,600
Speaker 1: one of You know, the Jazz are an interesting predicament

956
00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:10,400
Speaker 1: here because they have to rebuild, you know, series not

957
00:51:10,680 --> 00:51:14,799
Speaker 1: entirely over, but like they're in trouble because Luca could

958
00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:18,080
Speaker 1: theoretically sit out Game four now because you like your chances,

959
00:51:18,120 --> 00:51:21,400
Speaker 1: there's absolutely no reason to rush Luca back. You're a

960
00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:25,080
Speaker 1: better basketball team than the Jazz without Luca. That's the

961
00:51:25,120 --> 00:51:28,919
Speaker 1: predicament for Utah and lucas a top five or six

962
00:51:28,960 --> 00:51:31,960
Speaker 1: player in the entire world. So they're they're they're probably

963
00:51:31,960 --> 00:51:34,880
Speaker 1: gonna lose, and when that happens, they're gonna have to

964
00:51:34,920 --> 00:51:38,000
Speaker 1: decide how they move on from here. And yes, they

965
00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:40,000
Speaker 1: have a Rudy Gobert probably makes too much money to

966
00:51:40,040 --> 00:51:43,719
Speaker 1: be a player who's useless offensively. Again, his defensive criticism

967
00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:46,279
Speaker 1: is completely unfair. He does He's one of the top

968
00:51:46,280 --> 00:51:49,800
Speaker 1: three or four defensive players in the world any even

969
00:51:49,680 --> 00:51:53,000
Speaker 1: in perimeter situations. I didn't like, guys are gonna make

970
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:55,560
Speaker 1: step back fade aways against every defensive player in the league,

971
00:51:55,840 --> 00:51:57,799
Speaker 1: including Rudy Gobert, and a lot of the shots that

972
00:51:57,800 --> 00:52:00,640
Speaker 1: they would make on Rudy would be like leaning one,

973
00:52:00,680 --> 00:52:02,839
Speaker 1: like fade aways in the lane. That's just greatness from

974
00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:06,239
Speaker 1: offensive players. But his limitations on the offensive end of

975
00:52:06,280 --> 00:52:08,400
Speaker 1: the floor put you in a tough predicament with how

976
00:52:08,440 --> 00:52:10,839
Speaker 1: much space he takes up in your cap, and so

977
00:52:10,880 --> 00:52:12,600
Speaker 1: that's an issue. But a big part of it is

978
00:52:12,640 --> 00:52:14,560
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell. Now there's intel that he doesn't want to

979
00:52:14,560 --> 00:52:16,839
Speaker 1: be in Utah long term, but Donovan Mitchell is never

980
00:52:16,880 --> 00:52:19,320
Speaker 1: gonna be able to be a cornerstone of an NBA

981
00:52:19,480 --> 00:52:22,960
Speaker 1: title contender until he embraces the defensive end of the floor.

982
00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:28,000
Speaker 1: And hopefully going home early again this year will help

983
00:52:28,040 --> 00:52:31,600
Speaker 1: build up some of that scar tissue to get Donovan

984
00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:34,160
Speaker 1: Mitchell to start caring enough about that stuff to do

985
00:52:34,200 --> 00:52:37,400
Speaker 1: the job. Because the dirty little secret is if Donovan

986
00:52:37,440 --> 00:52:40,279
Speaker 1: cared about defense and they brought in one more good

987
00:52:40,320 --> 00:52:44,040
Speaker 1: defensive guard and one more good defensive wing, they might

988
00:52:44,040 --> 00:52:46,719
Speaker 1: be able to make this core work. But I mean,

989
00:52:46,760 --> 00:52:48,760
Speaker 1: there's like a commitment from the top down, a cultural

990
00:52:48,800 --> 00:52:53,879
Speaker 1: thing that they haven't embraced yet. That's really interesting that

991
00:52:53,960 --> 00:52:56,439
Speaker 1: last coment that he made there, because I was gonna

992
00:52:56,480 --> 00:53:00,399
Speaker 1: ask how complete does this roster overhaul knee to be?

993
00:53:00,400 --> 00:53:03,560
Speaker 1: Because obviously people look at the Donnie Gobert element, but

994
00:53:03,640 --> 00:53:06,920
Speaker 1: it's if you have guys who you're paying a combined

995
00:53:07,000 --> 00:53:10,200
Speaker 1: forty plus million in, like bow Yon and Conley who

996
00:53:10,239 --> 00:53:12,960
Speaker 1: aren't being willing defenders, who aren't being dirty work guys,

997
00:53:13,040 --> 00:53:16,200
Speaker 1: and you lost really kind of their ultimate dirty work guy.

998
00:53:16,200 --> 00:53:19,560
Speaker 1: And Joe Ingles. It's just kind of remarkable that here

999
00:53:19,560 --> 00:53:22,160
Speaker 1: they are. They were the most efficient offense in basketball

1000
00:53:22,640 --> 00:53:25,560
Speaker 1: this year, and yet they're getting really embarrassed. I mean,

1001
00:53:25,760 --> 00:53:27,879
Speaker 1: this is an embarrassing performance to be down to one

1002
00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:31,720
Speaker 1: with the Mass without Luca. But do you still think

1003
00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:36,359
Speaker 1: then that it's more of an issue of identity and

1004
00:53:36,680 --> 00:53:39,560
Speaker 1: committing to playing both ends that it is, like really personnel,

1005
00:53:42,480 --> 00:53:45,400
Speaker 1: it's both. I mean, like, for instance, like who who's

1006
00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:48,880
Speaker 1: Dorian Finney Smith on this roster for the Jazz? You know,

1007
00:53:49,000 --> 00:53:53,319
Speaker 1: like almost every really really good playoff team has that guy.

1008
00:53:53,880 --> 00:53:56,560
Speaker 1: It's you know, it's Andrew Wiggins for the Warriors, It's

1009
00:53:57,040 --> 00:53:59,799
Speaker 1: it's Dorian Finney Smith for the Mavericks, It's you know,

1010
00:54:00,239 --> 00:54:03,600
Speaker 1: it's Mikhail Bridges for the Sons. All of the really

1011
00:54:03,640 --> 00:54:05,840
Speaker 1: really good teams in this field have this do it

1012
00:54:05,920 --> 00:54:08,880
Speaker 1: all six eight to six ten forward that guards the

1013
00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:11,319
Speaker 1: other team's best player and does all this important stuff right,

1014
00:54:11,400 --> 00:54:13,440
Speaker 1: Like Donovan Mitchell is not having success against Dori and

1015
00:54:13,440 --> 00:54:15,719
Speaker 1: Phinney Smith. He has to get him switched off of him.

1016
00:54:15,760 --> 00:54:18,680
Speaker 1: So you could do a soft rebuild, target a guy

1017
00:54:18,800 --> 00:54:21,840
Speaker 1: like Dorian Phinney Smith and then just hope the hope

1018
00:54:21,920 --> 00:54:25,680
Speaker 1: that eventually Donovan Mitchell will will embrace that defensive end

1019
00:54:25,680 --> 00:54:27,319
Speaker 1: of the floor. But it gets a little deeper than that.

1020
00:54:27,400 --> 00:54:30,280
Speaker 1: Like Donovan Mitchell is also just a really bad decision maker.

1021
00:54:31,520 --> 00:54:34,759
Speaker 1: Like his he doesn't hunt shooters, he's not aware of

1022
00:54:34,800 --> 00:54:37,799
Speaker 1: the of the of the field, of everybody else on

1023
00:54:37,800 --> 00:54:40,279
Speaker 1: the floor, and it kind of seems more like he's

1024
00:54:40,320 --> 00:54:42,719
Speaker 1: just did I get some airspace? Okay? Time to rise up.

1025
00:54:42,719 --> 00:54:44,239
Speaker 1: He's got a little bit of the Russell Westbrook can

1026
00:54:44,320 --> 00:54:46,840
Speaker 1: under him where he's when he's when when russ was

1027
00:54:46,840 --> 00:54:50,440
Speaker 1: in his prime, I mean where like he's so incredibly

1028
00:54:50,480 --> 00:54:54,440
Speaker 1: athletic and teams are so paranoid about him getting downhill

1029
00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:56,400
Speaker 1: to the rim that he kind of can get to

1030
00:54:56,440 --> 00:54:59,800
Speaker 1: a jump shot whenever he wants, and that's a blessing

1031
00:54:59,800 --> 00:55:03,680
Speaker 1: in a curse. It's a talent, but the curses, it's

1032
00:55:03,719 --> 00:55:05,719
Speaker 1: not always a good time to pull up off the

1033
00:55:05,760 --> 00:55:08,040
Speaker 1: dribble to shoot a jump shot because it's not just

1034
00:55:08,120 --> 00:55:09,840
Speaker 1: about your This is the thing that used to always

1035
00:55:09,880 --> 00:55:12,439
Speaker 1: kill me with James Harden. When when when Darryl Moorey

1036
00:55:12,520 --> 00:55:14,520
Speaker 1: would be like, oh, he's averaging one point to two

1037
00:55:14,560 --> 00:55:17,320
Speaker 1: points per isolation possession, thus he is the greatest scorer

1038
00:55:17,320 --> 00:55:19,600
Speaker 1: of all time, and it's like, actually, it doesn't matter

1039
00:55:19,640 --> 00:55:23,040
Speaker 1: what James Harden scores per possession. It matters what your

1040
00:55:23,200 --> 00:55:26,319
Speaker 1: entire team scores per possession in a playoff setting. And

1041
00:55:26,360 --> 00:55:28,960
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell might be able to his analytics team might

1042
00:55:28,960 --> 00:55:30,520
Speaker 1: be able to tell him that his pull up threes

1043
00:55:30,520 --> 00:55:33,279
Speaker 1: off the dribble are generating one point something points per

1044
00:55:33,280 --> 00:55:35,920
Speaker 1: possession or whatever it is. But the reality is is

1045
00:55:35,960 --> 00:55:38,839
Speaker 1: the Utah Jazz offense sucks right now. So it goes

1046
00:55:38,880 --> 00:55:41,960
Speaker 1: deeper than just what Donovan can get with his own shot.

1047
00:55:42,040 --> 00:55:45,319
Speaker 1: The entire organism is broken. I would say that there's

1048
00:55:45,440 --> 00:55:48,799
Speaker 1: enough bad juju surrounding this Jazz team that I would

1049
00:55:48,840 --> 00:55:50,840
Speaker 1: go with a total rebuild. It's kind of like with

1050
00:55:50,880 --> 00:55:53,719
Speaker 1: the Lakers. Like with the Lakers, there's a lot of intel, like, oh,

1051
00:55:53,840 --> 00:55:56,359
Speaker 1: Carmelo wants to come back. Oh Dwight wants to come back.

1052
00:55:56,400 --> 00:55:59,200
Speaker 1: It's like, if you bring them back, don't be surprised

1053
00:55:59,239 --> 00:56:01,359
Speaker 1: if there's a similar vibe in the locker room next year.

1054
00:56:01,360 --> 00:56:04,520
Speaker 1: There was clearly something toxic, not personnel related. Those guys

1055
00:56:04,560 --> 00:56:06,560
Speaker 1: all got along, but there was something toxic with the

1056
00:56:06,640 --> 00:56:09,480
Speaker 1: Lakers with their basketball this year. It just wasn't functioning

1057
00:56:09,840 --> 00:56:12,279
Speaker 1: in the only way to do to you gotta clean house.

1058
00:56:12,680 --> 00:56:14,200
Speaker 1: And so that's kind of where I'm at with the Jazz,

1059
00:56:14,239 --> 00:56:16,359
Speaker 1: Like these guys an't like each other, except for maybe

1060
00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:19,319
Speaker 1: Rudy and and Donovan, right, But like there's the guys

1061
00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:21,600
Speaker 1: seem to have good chemistry aside from that. But it's

1062
00:56:21,640 --> 00:56:25,280
Speaker 1: just this is a fundamentally broken concoction of basketball players.

1063
00:56:25,600 --> 00:56:27,880
Speaker 1: And so from that standpoint, it's like the recipe is

1064
00:56:27,880 --> 00:56:30,600
Speaker 1: already so screwed up. Don't start adding other ingredients in

1065
00:56:30,640 --> 00:56:32,279
Speaker 1: it to fix it. Just throw out the whole batch

1066
00:56:32,320 --> 00:56:37,480
Speaker 1: and start from scratch. Al Right, Well, let's move on

1067
00:56:37,520 --> 00:56:39,359
Speaker 1: here to a team that is still kind of trying

1068
00:56:39,400 --> 00:56:41,759
Speaker 1: to figure out that makes of ingredients themselves. A little

1069
00:56:41,800 --> 00:56:45,680
Speaker 1: bit didn't play today, but we have some thoughts from

1070
00:56:45,960 --> 00:56:49,360
Speaker 1: Big boss Man Colin Cowherd on some of the fundamental

1071
00:56:49,480 --> 00:56:51,880
Speaker 1: issues with the Nets. Let's take a listen to what

1072
00:56:51,920 --> 00:56:54,919
Speaker 1: he had to say. Two years ago. These guys went

1073
00:56:55,120 --> 00:56:59,040
Speaker 1: on a podcast with each other and both were quoted saying,

1074
00:56:59,440 --> 00:57:05,320
Speaker 1: we don't really need a coach. Okay, that's delusional. Here's

1075
00:57:05,400 --> 00:57:09,239
Speaker 1: one thing. All dynasties football, basketball, and baseball. But let's

1076
00:57:09,239 --> 00:57:12,520
Speaker 1: stay to football basketball. All dynasties have had in common

1077
00:57:12,640 --> 00:57:19,480
Speaker 1: one thing. They've all had legendary coaches. Jason, what do

1078
00:57:19,480 --> 00:57:22,080
Speaker 1: you think of that? And what do you really think

1079
00:57:22,480 --> 00:57:29,440
Speaker 1: went wrong with the Nets? So the Nash thing is

1080
00:57:29,480 --> 00:57:33,640
Speaker 1: complicated because you know, we got into this a little

1081
00:57:33,640 --> 00:57:37,320
Speaker 1: bit last night, but there are legitimate shortcomings there, like

1082
00:57:37,440 --> 00:57:42,080
Speaker 1: you shouldn't be able to to disrupt this Brooklyn offense

1083
00:57:42,120 --> 00:57:45,160
Speaker 1: to the extent that they have, that to the extent

1084
00:57:45,240 --> 00:57:47,760
Speaker 1: that Boston has in these last two games and the

1085
00:57:47,880 --> 00:57:50,640
Speaker 1: chess match. Here is Nash has to figure that out.

1086
00:57:50,760 --> 00:57:52,959
Speaker 1: Part of me wants to withhold some of the Nash

1087
00:57:53,040 --> 00:57:56,560
Speaker 1: criticism until this series is over, because it isn't over,

1088
00:57:56,960 --> 00:58:00,200
Speaker 1: Like there's a pathway here, Like you win Game three

1089
00:58:00,240 --> 00:58:04,200
Speaker 1: at home starts there, that's one single achievable thing, beat

1090
00:58:04,240 --> 00:58:07,240
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics on your home floor. Then Game four

1091
00:58:07,480 --> 00:58:10,840
Speaker 1: here comes Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons gives you a significant

1092
00:58:10,880 --> 00:58:13,960
Speaker 1: defensive weapon, if nothing else. We talked earlier about the

1093
00:58:14,000 --> 00:58:16,360
Speaker 1: concept of the offensive line in basketball and these role

1094
00:58:16,400 --> 00:58:19,800
Speaker 1: players that fill all these dirty work positions. The Nets

1095
00:58:19,800 --> 00:58:22,760
Speaker 1: don't have a lot of that, and Katie and Kyrie

1096
00:58:22,760 --> 00:58:25,280
Speaker 1: aren't super super into that sort of thing. So having

1097
00:58:25,320 --> 00:58:27,040
Speaker 1: a guy like Ben Simmons who does that kind of thing,

1098
00:58:27,320 --> 00:58:30,560
Speaker 1: that's an influx of talent that that helps significantly on

1099
00:58:30,600 --> 00:58:32,880
Speaker 1: that front. If you're turning some of those some of

1100
00:58:32,880 --> 00:58:35,520
Speaker 1: those minutes that are going to a Kessler Edwards into

1101
00:58:35,560 --> 00:58:39,240
Speaker 1: a Ben Simmons, that's a massive, massive upgrade. So there's

1102
00:58:39,280 --> 00:58:41,480
Speaker 1: still a pathway here. So I don't want to get

1103
00:58:41,720 --> 00:58:44,520
Speaker 1: two ahead of. Like I talked about this last night,

1104
00:58:44,720 --> 00:58:48,560
Speaker 1: the conundrum with Steve Nash here is not it's not

1105
00:58:48,680 --> 00:58:53,720
Speaker 1: him running offense, it's more actions, specific actions like two

1106
00:58:53,720 --> 00:58:57,000
Speaker 1: player actions and three player actions and floor positioning to

1107
00:58:57,080 --> 00:58:59,640
Speaker 1: try to take advantage of Boston's over aggressiveness. That's the

1108
00:58:59,720 --> 00:59:02,640
Speaker 1: chess match that Steve Nash has to fix figure out

1109
00:59:02,640 --> 00:59:04,080
Speaker 1: over the next couple of days. As far as Katie

1110
00:59:04,080 --> 00:59:06,320
Speaker 1: and Kyrie go, they're not the first guys that are

1111
00:59:06,360 --> 00:59:09,000
Speaker 1: like this, Like there's a reason why Lebron wanted ty

1112
00:59:09,080 --> 00:59:11,720
Speaker 1: Lou when he was in Cleveland. It was before Tyler

1113
00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:15,840
Speaker 1: now is a proven successful coach that rightfully has an ego,

1114
00:59:15,960 --> 00:59:17,600
Speaker 1: he should feel the way that he does. But when

1115
00:59:17,600 --> 00:59:19,320
Speaker 1: he was coming up in Cleveland. I don't want to

1116
00:59:19,320 --> 00:59:21,520
Speaker 1: say he was under Lebron's thumb because he wasn't. But

1117
00:59:21,760 --> 00:59:24,280
Speaker 1: he wasn't the kind of guy like he did. He

1118
00:59:24,360 --> 00:59:26,680
Speaker 1: was someone who was critical of Lebron. That was something

1119
00:59:26,680 --> 00:59:28,600
Speaker 1: that was chronicled in detail, and that was something that

1120
00:59:28,680 --> 00:59:32,360
Speaker 1: Lebron needed. But it wasn't It wasn't a true like

1121
00:59:32,520 --> 00:59:36,480
Speaker 1: superior inferior type of relationship. It was very collaborative. And

1122
00:59:36,560 --> 00:59:39,000
Speaker 1: that's the kind of that's the kind of like trigger

1123
00:59:39,040 --> 00:59:44,000
Speaker 1: word here because the clip that Colin is referencing was

1124
00:59:44,320 --> 00:59:46,320
Speaker 1: I can't I can't remember if it was a podcast

1125
00:59:46,360 --> 00:59:48,720
Speaker 1: or an interview or what it was, but Kyrie and

1126
00:59:48,800 --> 00:59:51,880
Speaker 1: Katie were talking about the Nash Higher and Kyrie basically

1127
00:59:51,880 --> 00:59:54,320
Speaker 1: says something to the effect of, yeah, you know, like

1128
00:59:54,360 --> 00:59:56,400
Speaker 1: my relationship with Steve is really cool. It's going to

1129
00:59:56,440 --> 00:59:58,520
Speaker 1: get deeper as the years go by, but like we

1130
00:59:58,560 --> 01:00:01,040
Speaker 1: don't really need like I could be the head coach

1131
01:00:01,120 --> 01:00:03,640
Speaker 1: one night, Kevin could be the head coach one night,

1132
01:00:03,800 --> 01:00:05,680
Speaker 1: and then like Kevin steps up and he goes like, yeah,

1133
01:00:05,680 --> 01:00:08,880
Speaker 1: it's a collaborative effort, and it's like, that's the part

1134
01:00:08,920 --> 01:00:11,480
Speaker 1: that's ridiculous. It's the egos of the stars in the

1135
01:00:11,560 --> 01:00:14,800
Speaker 1: room and then thinking I don't need somebody on the

1136
01:00:14,840 --> 01:00:17,640
Speaker 1: sideline that could potentially help me here. And that's that's

1137
01:00:17,680 --> 01:00:20,080
Speaker 1: the issue. That's why I was talking about with the Lakers.

1138
01:00:20,080 --> 01:00:22,120
Speaker 1: It's so important for them to get a head coach

1139
01:00:22,240 --> 01:00:25,240
Speaker 1: this next year that has the cash a to be

1140
01:00:25,320 --> 01:00:27,560
Speaker 1: able to actually talk I don't say talk down to

1141
01:00:27,600 --> 01:00:29,640
Speaker 1: these guys, but to talk to them and actually have

1142
01:00:29,720 --> 01:00:32,120
Speaker 1: them listen, because they all have massive egos and they

1143
01:00:32,120 --> 01:00:34,160
Speaker 1: think they don't need to help. But I could also

1144
01:00:34,200 --> 01:00:38,600
Speaker 1: say that Kevin and Kyrie are massively undervaluing the importance

1145
01:00:38,640 --> 01:00:43,200
Speaker 1: of the role players, like guys. Guess what the the

1146
01:00:43,240 --> 01:00:46,600
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics in the second half of this series, so

1147
01:00:47,000 --> 01:00:49,280
Speaker 1: the third and fourth quarters of Game one, third and

1148
01:00:49,280 --> 01:00:52,880
Speaker 1: fourth quarters of game too. In the second half of

1149
01:00:52,920 --> 01:00:55,320
Speaker 1: this series so far, the Celtics are scoring about a

1150
01:00:55,360 --> 01:00:58,200
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty six points per one hundred possessions. That's

1151
01:00:58,200 --> 01:01:03,440
Speaker 1: an insane number. Brooklyn's defense is utterly falling apart in

1152
01:01:03,480 --> 01:01:06,920
Speaker 1: the second half of these games. That's on part of

1153
01:01:06,920 --> 01:01:08,880
Speaker 1: its coaching, but a big part of it is personnel.

1154
01:01:09,520 --> 01:01:12,880
Speaker 1: The Katie and Kyrie are under the impression that, like, hey,

1155
01:01:13,000 --> 01:01:15,240
Speaker 1: we're just gonna We're just gonna score because that's what

1156
01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:18,320
Speaker 1: we do best, and we're gonna win, despite the fact

1157
01:01:18,320 --> 01:01:21,200
Speaker 1: that everything we've ever heard in NBA history tells us

1158
01:01:21,240 --> 01:01:24,960
Speaker 1: that you have to have the ability to lock in

1159
01:01:24,960 --> 01:01:27,480
Speaker 1: in the half court and get stops. They had one

1160
01:01:27,520 --> 01:01:30,760
Speaker 1: decent stretch in the fourth quarter of Game one that

1161
01:01:30,800 --> 01:01:34,720
Speaker 1: they lost because of a handful of important defensive breakdowns.

1162
01:01:34,920 --> 01:01:37,200
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown had nine points in the last seven minutes

1163
01:01:37,240 --> 01:01:40,960
Speaker 1: of the game. So even they're good defensive, fourth quarter

1164
01:01:41,200 --> 01:01:44,480
Speaker 1: had some catastrophic failures in it. They can't sit down

1165
01:01:44,480 --> 01:01:46,280
Speaker 1: and get They can't get the stops they need to

1166
01:01:46,320 --> 01:01:48,920
Speaker 1: win this series. So clearly there's an ego thing with

1167
01:01:49,040 --> 01:01:52,760
Speaker 1: Katie and Kyrie. They don't think they need an elite defense.

1168
01:01:52,800 --> 01:01:55,320
Speaker 1: They don't think they need a guy sitting in the

1169
01:01:55,440 --> 01:01:58,120
Speaker 1: chair that can offer something that helps them, and that's

1170
01:01:58,120 --> 01:02:00,920
Speaker 1: gonna perpetually be something that holds back people with pride.

1171
01:02:00,920 --> 01:02:03,400
Speaker 1: It's said Lebron James is the second best basketball player

1172
01:02:03,440 --> 01:02:06,160
Speaker 1: ever in my position opinion, and has a realistic chance

1173
01:02:06,360 --> 01:02:08,840
Speaker 1: to pass MJ. One day, that dude literally looked at

1174
01:02:08,840 --> 01:02:12,959
Speaker 1: the Lakers and thought, we don't need these role guys.

1175
01:02:12,960 --> 01:02:15,160
Speaker 1: What I really need is another playmaker. And what he

1176
01:02:15,200 --> 01:02:18,040
Speaker 1: didn't realize was they won because they had all of

1177
01:02:18,080 --> 01:02:20,920
Speaker 1: these dudes like Alex Crusoe and Danny Green and Contagious

1178
01:02:20,960 --> 01:02:24,640
Speaker 1: Cobbo Pope and Kyle Kuzma who are dedicated to doing

1179
01:02:24,680 --> 01:02:28,320
Speaker 1: all the hard things so that Lebron and Anthony Davis

1180
01:02:28,360 --> 01:02:30,400
Speaker 1: could focus on what they were great at. And that

1181
01:02:30,520 --> 01:02:35,000
Speaker 1: kind of like dissonance between those two concepts. It's pride

1182
01:02:35,040 --> 01:02:37,640
Speaker 1: is an issue and for everybody in the world, and

1183
01:02:37,680 --> 01:02:39,840
Speaker 1: this is the way it affects the star basketball players

1184
01:02:39,880 --> 01:02:45,000
Speaker 1: of the world. So given all those issues, you did

1185
01:02:45,080 --> 01:02:47,240
Speaker 1: still say that there is a path for the Nets

1186
01:02:47,680 --> 01:02:50,000
Speaker 1: to get out of this series, and it starts with

1187
01:02:50,040 --> 01:02:55,440
Speaker 1: winning Game three. What actually has to happen throughout this

1188
01:02:55,480 --> 01:02:57,360
Speaker 1: series in your opinion for the nets to still pull

1189
01:02:57,400 --> 01:03:02,320
Speaker 1: it off. So it's this is where it comes down

1190
01:03:02,360 --> 01:03:08,040
Speaker 1: to Nash because Boston is is really, really, really aggressive

1191
01:03:08,120 --> 01:03:10,520
Speaker 1: in defense right now against Katie and Kyrie. Broke this

1192
01:03:10,560 --> 01:03:12,720
Speaker 1: down in detail last night. The gist of it is,

1193
01:03:13,160 --> 01:03:16,160
Speaker 1: unless they're dribbling thirty ft from the basket, they're never alone.

1194
01:03:16,800 --> 01:03:18,400
Speaker 1: If they put the ball on the floor and try

1195
01:03:18,440 --> 01:03:20,880
Speaker 1: to beat somebody off the dribble, help is coming early,

1196
01:03:20,960 --> 01:03:23,680
Speaker 1: and it's coming aggressively. It's not someone stepping in and

1197
01:03:23,680 --> 01:03:27,840
Speaker 1: digging their straight up like aggressively helping. When they want

1198
01:03:27,880 --> 01:03:30,600
Speaker 1: to catch off the ball. As soon as the pass

1199
01:03:30,720 --> 01:03:32,800
Speaker 1: is thrown in, a second defender is coming over to

1200
01:03:32,840 --> 01:03:35,480
Speaker 1: try to disrupt on the catch. They are off the

1201
01:03:35,480 --> 01:03:39,160
Speaker 1: ball getting roughed up. There's Boston is throwing multiple bodies

1202
01:03:39,160 --> 01:03:42,440
Speaker 1: at Katie and Kyrie all the time, and as a

1203
01:03:42,480 --> 01:03:45,960
Speaker 1: result of that, there are openings somewhere on the floor.

1204
01:03:46,520 --> 01:03:48,320
Speaker 1: But there's two things that go into that. Part of

1205
01:03:48,360 --> 01:03:51,640
Speaker 1: it is the the the approach to the game. Like

1206
01:03:51,920 --> 01:03:54,400
Speaker 1: Katie and Kyrie are both wired as scores, and so

1207
01:03:54,440 --> 01:03:56,800
Speaker 1: there are times where they look off open people to

1208
01:03:56,800 --> 01:03:58,320
Speaker 1: try to get to their own shot. There was a

1209
01:03:58,360 --> 01:04:00,840
Speaker 1: big play that I tweeted out in the second half

1210
01:04:00,840 --> 01:04:03,000
Speaker 1: of last night's game. You find it on my Twitter

1211
01:04:03,040 --> 01:04:06,920
Speaker 1: feed where Kyrie beat I can't remember who it was

1212
01:04:06,920 --> 01:04:08,640
Speaker 1: that he beat off the dribble, but he beat somebody

1213
01:04:08,640 --> 01:04:11,320
Speaker 1: off the dribble and got into the lane and Patty Mills,

1214
01:04:11,520 --> 01:04:13,320
Speaker 1: one of the most dead eye three point shooters in

1215
01:04:13,320 --> 01:04:16,400
Speaker 1: the league, was completely unguarded at the top of the key,

1216
01:04:16,480 --> 01:04:19,120
Speaker 1: and instead of swinging it out to Patty Mills, Kyrie

1217
01:04:19,120 --> 01:04:22,880
Speaker 1: tried to finish over three people and got blocked. So

1218
01:04:23,000 --> 01:04:26,520
Speaker 1: part of it is embracing and understanding that your role

1219
01:04:26,560 --> 01:04:29,640
Speaker 1: in this series is no longer to score, but rather

1220
01:04:29,760 --> 01:04:33,600
Speaker 1: to be a decoy. Essentially, take advantage of the ridiculous

1221
01:04:33,920 --> 01:04:37,280
Speaker 1: defensive attention that Boston is throwing your way and use

1222
01:04:37,400 --> 01:04:40,800
Speaker 1: that to get your really good offensive players wide open shots.

1223
01:04:41,200 --> 01:04:45,480
Speaker 1: Boston's defense will loosen. Then from there you can actually

1224
01:04:45,640 --> 01:04:47,360
Speaker 1: go back to being a score. And then the second

1225
01:04:47,360 --> 01:04:51,080
Speaker 1: part of it is the Steve Nashville little decoy actions

1226
01:04:51,480 --> 01:04:54,400
Speaker 1: to man action off the ball with Katie and Kyrie

1227
01:04:54,480 --> 01:04:59,360
Speaker 1: to occupy defenders floor positioning, making it so that Katie

1228
01:04:59,440 --> 01:05:03,640
Speaker 1: knows if I catch here in Boston doubles there then

1229
01:05:03,720 --> 01:05:06,160
Speaker 1: I know that so and so is open. Dallas is

1230
01:05:06,200 --> 01:05:08,040
Speaker 1: so incredibly good at this. They are the best in

1231
01:05:08,080 --> 01:05:11,920
Speaker 1: the league in my opinion. The Brunson, Dinwoodie and Luca.

1232
01:05:12,000 --> 01:05:14,560
Speaker 1: They don't throw to open guys. They throw to spots

1233
01:05:15,040 --> 01:05:18,920
Speaker 1: because baked into their offense they have release valves. They know,

1234
01:05:19,400 --> 01:05:21,600
Speaker 1: no matter what kind of hell trouble I get into,

1235
01:05:21,680 --> 01:05:24,440
Speaker 1: if I find myself in traffic, there's always someone in

1236
01:05:24,440 --> 01:05:26,439
Speaker 1: the left corner. Another big thing you saw it tonight,

1237
01:05:26,560 --> 01:05:28,840
Speaker 1: especially in that first half, they have a guy kind

1238
01:05:28,840 --> 01:05:31,720
Speaker 1: of like circle around to the top of the key,

1239
01:05:32,120 --> 01:05:33,960
Speaker 1: so they always have a relief so when they attack

1240
01:05:34,040 --> 01:05:36,480
Speaker 1: from the top, they always have a release valve right

1241
01:05:36,520 --> 01:05:39,280
Speaker 1: behind them. Kleiberg got a couple of threes out of

1242
01:05:39,320 --> 01:05:41,840
Speaker 1: that early in the game. Uh that they got a

1243
01:05:41,840 --> 01:05:43,920
Speaker 1: ton of open looks right at the right around the

1244
01:05:43,920 --> 01:05:47,400
Speaker 1: top of the key. So that's Steve Nash's job. And

1245
01:05:47,880 --> 01:05:50,600
Speaker 1: I don't know how the heck this happened. But the

1246
01:05:50,680 --> 01:05:52,960
Speaker 1: Nets don't play again tomorrow, so they had two days

1247
01:05:53,000 --> 01:05:55,160
Speaker 1: off between game one and two, and they have two

1248
01:05:55,200 --> 01:05:57,520
Speaker 1: games off again between two and three. They don't play

1249
01:05:57,560 --> 01:06:00,000
Speaker 1: until Saturday, so you've got a lot of time here.

1250
01:06:00,120 --> 01:06:03,080
Speaker 1: Or for Steve Nash to really study the tape and

1251
01:06:03,120 --> 01:06:05,600
Speaker 1: try to come up with really easy counters for each

1252
01:06:05,600 --> 01:06:07,680
Speaker 1: spot on the floor. When they double f Katie at

1253
01:06:07,680 --> 01:06:09,760
Speaker 1: the post, this is what we do when they double

1254
01:06:09,840 --> 01:06:12,040
Speaker 1: when they trap Katie on pick and rolls, This is

1255
01:06:12,080 --> 01:06:15,560
Speaker 1: what we do. When Katie attacks in isolation and they

1256
01:06:15,560 --> 01:06:18,920
Speaker 1: start throwing bodies, this is where people relocate. Those are

1257
01:06:18,960 --> 01:06:21,880
Speaker 1: those little details that Nash has to figure out. And

1258
01:06:21,920 --> 01:06:24,120
Speaker 1: for the record, guys, like if we go into game

1259
01:06:24,160 --> 01:06:26,480
Speaker 1: three and the same thing happens, that's when I buy

1260
01:06:26,520 --> 01:06:29,760
Speaker 1: into the the the the Steve Nash criticism, because that's

1261
01:06:29,800 --> 01:06:31,440
Speaker 1: his job. His job is not to have it figured

1262
01:06:31,480 --> 01:06:34,240
Speaker 1: out by game one. It's his job to make the adjustments.

1263
01:06:34,280 --> 01:06:38,360
Speaker 1: And they got utterly slapped in the face and completely

1264
01:06:38,400 --> 01:06:40,600
Speaker 1: fell apart offensively in the second half of game two,

1265
01:06:40,800 --> 01:06:42,200
Speaker 1: and it's on Steve Nash to come up with an

1266
01:06:42,240 --> 01:06:45,160
Speaker 1: adjustment to make things easier on Kyrie and Katie in

1267
01:06:45,240 --> 01:06:50,200
Speaker 1: game three. Al Right, Well, we've obviously explored a lot

1268
01:06:50,200 --> 01:06:52,560
Speaker 1: of different teams throughout this show, and we've dipped our

1269
01:06:52,640 --> 01:06:55,400
Speaker 1: toes a bit into the who are the top tier

1270
01:06:55,400 --> 01:06:58,760
Speaker 1: title contenders conversation right now? But I think we're ready

1271
01:06:58,960 --> 01:07:03,200
Speaker 1: Jason for the initial Timp's top five. So let's start

1272
01:07:03,240 --> 01:07:07,080
Speaker 1: with a five spot. Who are your top five contenders

1273
01:07:07,360 --> 01:07:12,360
Speaker 1: right now? Okay, So, like I mentioned earlier, I'm dropping

1274
01:07:12,480 --> 01:07:15,320
Speaker 1: Memphis out because I just don't think they're sharp enough

1275
01:07:15,480 --> 01:07:19,640
Speaker 1: and I don't think they're quite committed enough to just

1276
01:07:19,720 --> 01:07:22,080
Speaker 1: how hard this is gonna be. So I'm dropping them out.

1277
01:07:22,480 --> 01:07:25,880
Speaker 1: I've raised Philly up to number five because of and

1278
01:07:25,960 --> 01:07:27,840
Speaker 1: I was really low on Philly. I expected them to

1279
01:07:27,840 --> 01:07:29,680
Speaker 1: lose in the first round and I was wrong about that,

1280
01:07:30,160 --> 01:07:33,000
Speaker 1: and a big part of it was Joel Embiad's jump shooting.

1281
01:07:33,400 --> 01:07:36,040
Speaker 1: He seems to be hot in that specific department. That

1282
01:07:36,200 --> 01:07:39,720
Speaker 1: is a massive wrinkle because that is their release valve

1283
01:07:39,760 --> 01:07:43,360
Speaker 1: in late possession type situations. And then Tyrese Maxi Tyres

1284
01:07:43,480 --> 01:07:46,200
Speaker 1: Maxie was the second best player in this first round series.

1285
01:07:46,280 --> 01:07:48,800
Speaker 1: Obviously it's not entirely over yet, but he's better than

1286
01:07:48,840 --> 01:07:51,680
Speaker 1: James Harden, he was better than everybody on Toronto. Tyrese

1287
01:07:51,720 --> 01:07:55,440
Speaker 1: Maxi proving himself as an effective playoff player is an

1288
01:07:55,440 --> 01:07:58,720
Speaker 1: influx of talent that makes them more interesting. I don't

1289
01:07:58,800 --> 01:08:02,120
Speaker 1: have them at I don't think they're capable of beating Boston.

1290
01:08:02,160 --> 01:08:04,960
Speaker 1: I would still pick Boston, but they're more of a

1291
01:08:05,000 --> 01:08:07,120
Speaker 1: threat in my opinion than any of those other teams

1292
01:08:07,120 --> 01:08:10,280
Speaker 1: in the East. Because of Milwaukee and Chris Middleton getting hurt,

1293
01:08:10,320 --> 01:08:12,640
Speaker 1: that's devastating. If he's out for a couple of weeks,

1294
01:08:12,880 --> 01:08:16,160
Speaker 1: they don't lose to Chicago, they absolutely will lose to Boston.

1295
01:08:16,560 --> 01:08:18,960
Speaker 1: They have no chance of beating Boston without Chris Middleton.

1296
01:08:19,040 --> 01:08:22,720
Speaker 1: That's a disastrous outcome there. So you guys know how

1297
01:08:22,720 --> 01:08:24,679
Speaker 1: I feel about Miami. I don't trust their half court

1298
01:08:24,760 --> 01:08:27,720
Speaker 1: offense enough. So I put Philly at five. Number four.

1299
01:08:27,720 --> 01:08:29,680
Speaker 1: I put Dallas, and this is something that people have

1300
01:08:29,720 --> 01:08:31,880
Speaker 1: to be prepared for. Dallas has a realistic chance to

1301
01:08:31,880 --> 01:08:35,160
Speaker 1: win the title. Phoenix is dealing with obviously the Devin

1302
01:08:35,200 --> 01:08:40,280
Speaker 1: Booker injury. Golden State has some specific flaws, particularly on

1303
01:08:40,400 --> 01:08:44,519
Speaker 1: the wing. Luca is a rim, pressuring wing. He has

1304
01:08:44,560 --> 01:08:47,960
Speaker 1: a size and strength advantage against everybody on the Warriors roster,

1305
01:08:48,600 --> 01:08:51,360
Speaker 1: except obviously he's not gonna get matched up with Draymond often.

1306
01:08:51,439 --> 01:08:53,920
Speaker 1: Draymond is gonna be in a different role. But the

1307
01:08:54,000 --> 01:08:57,160
Speaker 1: only guy would be Andre Guadala that I would feel

1308
01:08:57,160 --> 01:09:01,479
Speaker 1: comfortable really making Luca uncomfortable. And the issue there is

1309
01:09:02,360 --> 01:09:05,320
Speaker 1: his his neck is he's having neck spasms. He's having

1310
01:09:05,360 --> 01:09:07,960
Speaker 1: a bunch of issues there. So there's question as to

1311
01:09:07,960 --> 01:09:10,680
Speaker 1: whether or not Andre we will be dependable enough at

1312
01:09:10,680 --> 01:09:12,960
Speaker 1: this point, at the thirty eight years old to be

1313
01:09:13,000 --> 01:09:15,960
Speaker 1: able to do that, to accomplish that role. I one

1314
01:09:16,000 --> 01:09:19,320
Speaker 1: of my biggest concerns with Dallas all year was about that,

1315
01:09:19,520 --> 01:09:22,679
Speaker 1: was that their defense was kind of gimmicky. They were

1316
01:09:22,720 --> 01:09:25,080
Speaker 1: making up for a lack of personnel with effort and

1317
01:09:25,120 --> 01:09:28,320
Speaker 1: a scheme, and I was worried about whether or not

1318
01:09:28,360 --> 01:09:31,360
Speaker 1: that would transfer to the postseason, and it has. I

1319
01:09:31,479 --> 01:09:33,599
Speaker 1: show there's a there's a clip on my Twitter feed.

1320
01:09:33,600 --> 01:09:35,880
Speaker 1: You guys can see, uh there's a quote, tweet and

1321
01:09:35,880 --> 01:09:39,479
Speaker 1: tweet underneath it. There's a tweet of Donovan Mitchell getting

1322
01:09:39,760 --> 01:09:43,080
Speaker 1: barbecued by Spencer Dinwitty and then a clip of Mike

1323
01:09:43,120 --> 01:09:46,599
Speaker 1: Conley Jr. Trying to attack Jalen Brunson off the off

1324
01:09:46,600 --> 01:09:50,280
Speaker 1: the dribble and watch Jalen Brunson's commitment to sliding his

1325
01:09:50,360 --> 01:09:53,240
Speaker 1: feet and how he cuts Mike Calmley off on the

1326
01:09:53,320 --> 01:09:56,360
Speaker 1: drive three times in the same possession and forces to

1327
01:09:56,400 --> 01:09:59,400
Speaker 1: travel and like even though He's not the same athlete

1328
01:09:59,400 --> 01:10:02,439
Speaker 1: that Donovan mitch It was. It is clear that this

1329
01:10:02,520 --> 01:10:07,559
Speaker 1: specific defensive scheme, even with this limited personnel, is functional

1330
01:10:07,600 --> 01:10:10,880
Speaker 1: in the playoffs because of how hard they play and

1331
01:10:10,920 --> 01:10:13,439
Speaker 1: because of their commitment to that that job. And so

1332
01:10:13,560 --> 01:10:17,760
Speaker 1: Dallas is defense in conjunction with what Jalen Brunson is

1333
01:10:17,800 --> 01:10:20,240
Speaker 1: doing right now and Spencer din what he has a

1334
01:10:20,280 --> 01:10:23,960
Speaker 1: third release valve. He's had a disaster series in terms

1335
01:10:24,000 --> 01:10:26,880
Speaker 1: of his efficiency as a secondary creator. He will be

1336
01:10:26,880 --> 01:10:29,679
Speaker 1: more efficient in a third role. And Luca don Chitch

1337
01:10:29,920 --> 01:10:32,160
Speaker 1: has got has already shown that he can go toe

1338
01:10:32,160 --> 01:10:34,280
Speaker 1: to toe with Kawhi Leonard and be every bit as

1339
01:10:34,320 --> 01:10:37,080
Speaker 1: good as him. So I put that there a real threat.

1340
01:10:37,120 --> 01:10:39,200
Speaker 1: I have him at number four. I have Phoenix at

1341
01:10:39,280 --> 01:10:42,880
Speaker 1: number three. Obviously I had them as a clear number

1342
01:10:42,920 --> 01:10:46,559
Speaker 1: one before the Devin Booker injury. But without Devin Booker,

1343
01:10:46,760 --> 01:10:49,400
Speaker 1: there's just a new hole that has formed in a

1344
01:10:49,439 --> 01:10:52,400
Speaker 1: team that otherwise didn't have any holes. He is their

1345
01:10:52,439 --> 01:10:55,880
Speaker 1: only guy really that can consistently create his own shot.

1346
01:10:56,400 --> 01:10:58,640
Speaker 1: You've seen, just like in the finals last year with

1347
01:10:58,720 --> 01:11:02,280
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday, there is specific defensive matchups that can really

1348
01:11:02,320 --> 01:11:05,080
Speaker 1: really disrupt Chris Paul to the point where he's almost

1349
01:11:05,120 --> 01:11:08,000
Speaker 1: ineffective as a scorer and he becomes just a playmaker

1350
01:11:08,280 --> 01:11:10,800
Speaker 1: kind of allah James Harden right now at this phase

1351
01:11:10,800 --> 01:11:13,720
Speaker 1: of his career, right, and so without Devin Booker, that

1352
01:11:13,800 --> 01:11:17,880
Speaker 1: specific hole is something that teams can absolutely attack. Now,

1353
01:11:19,240 --> 01:11:21,360
Speaker 1: this is where Chris Paul the reason why I have

1354
01:11:21,439 --> 01:11:24,519
Speaker 1: them at number three and not lower is the intel

1355
01:11:24,520 --> 01:11:27,479
Speaker 1: that came out today that I saw was that Bookers

1356
01:11:27,479 --> 01:11:31,839
Speaker 1: out two to three weeks because the strain is considered

1357
01:11:31,880 --> 01:11:34,760
Speaker 1: to be mild. So the way I look at it,

1358
01:11:36,080 --> 01:11:38,080
Speaker 1: all Chris Paul has to do is keep this team

1359
01:11:38,120 --> 01:11:42,240
Speaker 1: alive for two to three weeks. If he can do that,

1360
01:11:42,280 --> 01:11:45,120
Speaker 1: if he can beat the Pelicans, even if they're down

1361
01:11:45,439 --> 01:11:48,200
Speaker 1: two oh in the next round, if they can just

1362
01:11:49,120 --> 01:11:51,640
Speaker 1: get to the point where Devin Booker comes back, then

1363
01:11:51,680 --> 01:11:54,400
Speaker 1: there's suddenly the best team in the league. Again, Obviously,

1364
01:11:54,439 --> 01:11:56,679
Speaker 1: there are still wrinkles there. There's no guarantee that can

1365
01:11:56,720 --> 01:11:58,800
Speaker 1: beat the Pelicans. I would pick the Sun still, but

1366
01:11:58,880 --> 01:12:01,559
Speaker 1: there's no guarantee that they can at the Pelicans. Obviously,

1367
01:12:01,560 --> 01:12:03,600
Speaker 1: when Devin Booker comes back, there's no guarantee he'll be

1368
01:12:03,640 --> 01:12:06,040
Speaker 1: a percent So that's why I have them down at three.

1369
01:12:06,360 --> 01:12:08,680
Speaker 1: I wouldn't write them off entirely, but I don't know

1370
01:12:08,720 --> 01:12:10,799
Speaker 1: that you could possibly consider them to be the favorites

1371
01:12:10,800 --> 01:12:12,680
Speaker 1: in the West anymore after that injury. Number two, I

1372
01:12:12,720 --> 01:12:15,040
Speaker 1: have Golden State. We talked about them in detail earlier,

1373
01:12:15,240 --> 01:12:17,320
Speaker 1: so I'm not gonna go too much further into it.

1374
01:12:17,360 --> 01:12:20,240
Speaker 1: The gist of it is, I'm specifically worried about them

1375
01:12:20,240 --> 01:12:23,200
Speaker 1: in specific matchups. Will they be able to handle the

1376
01:12:23,240 --> 01:12:26,479
Speaker 1: interior presence if a team like Philly comes out of

1377
01:12:26,479 --> 01:12:29,519
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference, or if they end up running into

1378
01:12:29,520 --> 01:12:33,040
Speaker 1: a Phoenix team that's healthy, will they have some issues there?

1379
01:12:33,080 --> 01:12:34,840
Speaker 1: So I have Golden State at number two. I still

1380
01:12:34,960 --> 01:12:37,240
Speaker 1: Boston at number one. I talked about this last night.

1381
01:12:37,920 --> 01:12:40,000
Speaker 1: I was picking them for two reasons, one Phoenix falling

1382
01:12:40,000 --> 01:12:44,479
Speaker 1: apart with their injury. But the key is they're the

1383
01:12:44,479 --> 01:12:48,280
Speaker 1: best defensive team that I have seen. Again, that's just me, guys.

1384
01:12:48,560 --> 01:12:51,639
Speaker 1: Like in two thousand four, I was thirteen years old,

1385
01:12:51,840 --> 01:12:57,000
Speaker 1: so I don't have enough experience watching the Pistons to

1386
01:12:57,000 --> 01:12:59,600
Speaker 1: to understand whether or not that team was better. I

1387
01:12:59,600 --> 01:13:03,439
Speaker 1: didn't I didn't have enough live experience. I've seen film,

1388
01:13:03,439 --> 01:13:05,719
Speaker 1: but I didn't have enough live experience watching teams before

1389
01:13:05,800 --> 01:13:09,160
Speaker 1: and my team in my time watching basketball over the

1390
01:13:09,160 --> 01:13:11,720
Speaker 1: course of the last a decade and a half or so,

1391
01:13:12,400 --> 01:13:15,040
Speaker 1: I this Boston Celtics team is the best defense I've

1392
01:13:15,080 --> 01:13:17,680
Speaker 1: ever seen. I've never ever seen a team that can

1393
01:13:17,720 --> 01:13:20,760
Speaker 1: cover as much ground and shrink space on stars the

1394
01:13:20,760 --> 01:13:23,559
Speaker 1: way that they can. They do not have a weakness

1395
01:13:23,600 --> 01:13:26,160
Speaker 1: that you can switch. Their best lineups do not have

1396
01:13:26,240 --> 01:13:28,840
Speaker 1: a defender that's easy to attack. One of the weird

1397
01:13:28,880 --> 01:13:32,120
Speaker 1: wrinkles of this series is Kevin Durant is not getting

1398
01:13:32,160 --> 01:13:35,679
Speaker 1: good looks in isolation defense against Tatum. They're a handful

1399
01:13:35,680 --> 01:13:38,559
Speaker 1: of possessions you'll see on the tape very rarely, but

1400
01:13:38,600 --> 01:13:41,120
Speaker 1: there were four or five possessions in that game where

1401
01:13:41,120 --> 01:13:44,639
Speaker 1: Tatum did have Durant and single coverage and he's really

1402
01:13:44,680 --> 01:13:48,559
Speaker 1: you can tell Durant's uncomfortable. He's crowding his space, he's

1403
01:13:48,600 --> 01:13:52,920
Speaker 1: applying physical pressure, and Katie can still get two shots,

1404
01:13:52,920 --> 01:13:54,840
Speaker 1: but he's usually just going to his jab step pull

1405
01:13:54,880 --> 01:13:56,920
Speaker 1: up and he's not making it right now. And that's

1406
01:13:56,920 --> 01:14:00,439
Speaker 1: a huge credit to Tatum and so Boston with their

1407
01:14:00,479 --> 01:14:02,960
Speaker 1: combination of being the best defense that I have seen

1408
01:14:03,000 --> 01:14:07,280
Speaker 1: in my time watching basketball, and Jalen Brown showing signs

1409
01:14:07,280 --> 01:14:11,880
Speaker 1: of confidence scoring in the playoffs, and Jayson Tatum embracing

1410
01:14:11,880 --> 01:14:15,320
Speaker 1: the double teams and making plays for his teammates. I

1411
01:14:15,360 --> 01:14:17,479
Speaker 1: think they are now the team that has the best

1412
01:14:17,520 --> 01:14:19,920
Speaker 1: chance to win the title, and I'm picking them at

1413
01:14:19,960 --> 01:14:22,760
Speaker 1: this point. Obviously, that could change significantly based on a

1414
01:14:22,760 --> 01:14:25,280
Speaker 1: couple of injuries or a couple of things changing. Obviously,

1415
01:14:25,360 --> 01:14:28,760
Speaker 1: Boston has has dealt with injuries with Robert Williams, there's

1416
01:14:28,760 --> 01:14:30,599
Speaker 1: no guarantee that they won't face something else. So this

1417
01:14:30,640 --> 01:14:32,840
Speaker 1: is kind of a sliding scale, But at this kind

1418
01:14:32,840 --> 01:14:36,120
Speaker 1: of snapshot moment in time, that's where I'm at all right, guys,

1419
01:14:36,120 --> 01:14:38,240
Speaker 1: that is all we have for tonight. As always, I

1420
01:14:38,240 --> 01:14:41,639
Speaker 1: sincerely appreciate your support. We are taking the next two

1421
01:14:41,720 --> 01:14:44,040
Speaker 1: days off. I have gone six days in a row

1422
01:14:44,080 --> 01:14:46,760
Speaker 1: of this and I'm completely exhausted. I need a little

1423
01:14:46,760 --> 01:14:48,240
Speaker 1: bit of a break. My wife's been out of town

1424
01:14:48,240 --> 01:14:49,840
Speaker 1: for a week two and I'm looking forward to spending

1425
01:14:49,880 --> 01:14:53,400
Speaker 1: some time with her tomorrow. But if anything absolutely crazy happens,

1426
01:14:53,439 --> 01:14:55,400
Speaker 1: I will try to get some sort of instant reaction

1427
01:14:55,439 --> 01:14:58,879
Speaker 1: material out and no matter what, no matter how interesting,

1428
01:14:58,920 --> 01:15:01,240
Speaker 1: things get, over the next couple days. We will break

1429
01:15:01,280 --> 01:15:04,840
Speaker 1: it all down in its entirety on Sunday night, after

1430
01:15:05,040 --> 01:15:07,160
Speaker 1: the last game of the night. As always, I sincerely

1431
01:15:07,200 --> 01:15:09,000
Speaker 1: appreciate you guys supporting the show, and I'll see you

1432
01:15:09,040 --> 01:15:21,919
Speaker 1: in a couple of days. The volume