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Speaker 1: responsible gaming resources. All right, welcome to hoops tonight here

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Speaker 1: at the Volume. Happy Monday, everybody. If all of you

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Speaker 1: guys had an incredible weekend, I am so excited to

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Speaker 1: get back into our groove this week. We got a

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Speaker 1: jam packed show the Dallas Mavericks. We had an unstoppable

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Speaker 1: force versus an unmovable object. Last night. The Dallas Mavericks,

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Speaker 1: on a six game winning streak, have been red hot

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Speaker 1: for a while against a Houston Rockets team at home

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Speaker 1: that was on an eleven game winning streak, and the

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Speaker 1: Mavericks got a big win. We're gonna break that game

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Speaker 1: down from the perspective of both teams. After that, the

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma City Thunder won a incredibly entertaining back and forth game.

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Speaker 1: Late against the New York Knicks, Jalen Brunson looked like

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Speaker 1: he won the game, and then Chase stole it back,

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Speaker 1: and then Jalen Brunson got a similar look on the

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Speaker 1: other end and missed it super entertaining. We're gonna break

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Speaker 1: that game down later on in the show, we have

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Speaker 1: an interesting quote from Lebron James, who went nine to

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Speaker 1: ten from three last night against the Brooklyn Nets, was

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Speaker 1: just toying with them late. He had a quote after

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Speaker 1: the game about how much longer he's gonna be playing.

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Speaker 1: There's some discussion about how much longer Lebron's window is

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Speaker 1: in terms of his ability to compete for championships, so

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Speaker 1: I want to address that under the frame of the

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Speaker 1: question will Lebron ever play in the NBA Finals again?

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Speaker 1: We'll talk about that, and then last but not least,

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Speaker 1: as we always do on Mondays but didn't last week

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Speaker 1: while I was skiing up in Lake tyhe we're gonna

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Speaker 1: do an edition of Power Rankings, obvious with two weeks

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Speaker 1: worth of new games to get into, so jam Pack

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Speaker 1: show you guys are the drop Before we get started

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Speaker 1: to subscribe to a brand new YouTube channel, I mean

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Speaker 1: a lot to me if he has to take a

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Speaker 1: second to scroll down and hit that subscribe button. Don't

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Speaker 1: forget about a podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts

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Speaker 1: under Hoops tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave

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Speaker 1: a rating in a review on that feed. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: about my Twitter feed I underscore Jason LT. That's where

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Speaker 1: I'm putting ShW announcements and film threads. I did a

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Speaker 1: long film thread this morning on the first half run

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Speaker 1: that Dallas used to go up by twenty one on

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Speaker 1: the Houston Rockets. You can find that again on my

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Speaker 1: Twitter feed at underscore Jason LT. And last not leaves

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Speaker 1: keep dropping mail bag questions in the YouTube comments. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna have several mail bags during the week this week.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. So the story of

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Speaker 1: this Rockets MAVs game was all about Luka Doncic. The

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Speaker 1: Houston Rockets have gone small after Alpera and Schagun got hurt,

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Speaker 1: and they're basically moving a Men Thompson into the starting

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Speaker 1: lineup and he's basically playing center for them. It's just

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Speaker 1: this athletic wrecking ball that's doing as much as they

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Speaker 1: can and obviously like they don't really have a great

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Speaker 1: option to throw in there. Jack Landale in his minutes

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Speaker 1: was a huge problem in this game, which will be

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Speaker 1: getting into So as a result, you've got lots of

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Speaker 1: great perimeter defenders in that group, right like Dylan Brooks

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Speaker 1: outstanding perimeter defender, Aman Thompson outstanding perimeter defender, Fred Van

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Speaker 1: Vliet outstanding perimeter defender, Jalen excuse me, Jabari Smith Junior

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Speaker 1: outstanding perimeter defender. Honestly, Jalen Green is really the only

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Speaker 1: weekly link in that group. But they're really good at

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Speaker 1: sliding their feet on the perimeter and bothering guards. But

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Speaker 1: Luka Doncic is not like other guards in the NBA.

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Speaker 1: He's way bigger than all of those guys, and honestly,

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Speaker 1: one of the biggest advantages too, is like Luca, he

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Speaker 1: one of the things that I think often goes overlooked

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Speaker 1: when we talk about Luca's skill set is obviously has

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Speaker 1: all this incredible shot making ability, and he does have

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Speaker 1: great size, but he uses his brain not just as

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Speaker 1: a passer, but he also uses his brain to get

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Speaker 1: defenders out of position. I talked about this a lot

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Speaker 1: on the show, as it pertains to the way he

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Speaker 1: sells his moves, like, for instance, he's not gonna do

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Speaker 1: some big sweeping crossover right to left, He's gonna do

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Speaker 1: a push cross. He's gonna turn his body entirely to

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Speaker 1: the right, entirely, frame his body language like he's going

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Speaker 1: one way, and then he's gonna just come across his body.

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Speaker 1: He's selling it with his body, not with the basketball necessarily.

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Speaker 1: But in addition to that, something that we've never taught,

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Speaker 1: haven't talked enough about over the years is how he

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Speaker 1: can get defenders out of position with fakes and with

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Speaker 1: footwork and about body positioning right. And this becomes a

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Speaker 1: much bigger deal when you're going against smaller defenders, because

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Speaker 1: especially smaller athletes with long arms and high motor athletes

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Speaker 1: that are constantly playing super hard, you want to use

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Speaker 1: that aggressiveness against them. And it's he started this game

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Speaker 1: just killing them with pump fakes and footwork and getting

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Speaker 1: to spots and then just rising up with a little

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Speaker 1: shoulder headfake, and one of Houston's perimeter defenders would just

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Speaker 1: be two over zealous and jump and get off the

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Speaker 1: ground and he'd either just pivot around and get to

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Speaker 1: a different spot to take a shot or he'd go

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Speaker 1: right back up into them and draw foul. And again,

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Speaker 1: like those two elements footwork and pump fis, I want

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Speaker 1: to talk about them for just a second. Footwork is

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Speaker 1: an incredibly important part of the game of basketball that

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Speaker 1: doesn't get discussed enough because it's something that's not as

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Speaker 1: you know, exciting as ball handling or shop making or

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Speaker 1: athleticism or things along those lines. And footwork. I was

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Speaker 1: actually talking about this this morning with my young players

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Speaker 1: that I coach on Mondays and Fridays when we do

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Speaker 1: skills training. I was so impressed because we have a

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Speaker 1: new group coming in right so seniors are out, the

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Speaker 1: juniors that are coming up they are going to be

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Speaker 1: the seniors next year. And then we have some new

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Speaker 1: kids that are joining the program or that have been

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Speaker 1: in the program that are joining the varsity elements of

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Speaker 1: the program that were freshman and sophomore last year. And

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Speaker 1: we're working on some basic footwork concepts, both for like

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Speaker 1: movement shooting, also just like off the dribble stuff, just

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Speaker 1: basic footwork concepts. A lot of its attacking closeouts too,

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Speaker 1: which I think is a super important part of the

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Speaker 1: high school game. But I was talking to them about

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Speaker 1: how impressed I was that the juniors coming up are

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Speaker 1: so sharp with their footwork now and they used to

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Speaker 1: be terrible with it, and all of the younger players

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Speaker 1: right now are really struggling with it, and I kind

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Speaker 1: of use it as an example to talk to the kids, like, look,

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Speaker 1: this is what happens. Like in time, these movements do

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Speaker 1: become more natural for you. They become the second nature.

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Speaker 1: They become a natural part of what you do as

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Speaker 1: an athlete. The footwork coming off of a screening action

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Speaker 1: for a three off, the catch is go is the

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Speaker 1: exact mirror image going on either end of the floor

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Speaker 1: right and looks a little different for a righty than

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Speaker 1: it does for a lefty. And you know, the easiest

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Speaker 1: way for me to put it is footwork is how

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Speaker 1: you get two spots right. So once you get to

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Speaker 1: the spot, your physicality, your lift, your shot making takes

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Speaker 1: over right. But to get to the spot, you need

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Speaker 1: a certain footwork. Imagine you're coming off of a ball

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Speaker 1: screen to your right hand side, guy's chasing over the top,

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Speaker 1: big man sitting a little far back, but you see

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Speaker 1: a little opening maybe five feet in front of you

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Speaker 1: and five feet off to the right. You need to

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Speaker 1: have the ability to do a single push dribble in

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Speaker 1: that direction, but to take off with a left right

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Speaker 1: takeoff and get great lift to take advantage of that spot,

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Speaker 1: because if you stutter step to that spot, or you

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Speaker 1: go right left to that spot, it's gonna be janky,

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Speaker 1: it's gonna be awkward, You're gonna have to pick up

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Speaker 1: your dribble and you're gonna end up passing it out

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Speaker 1: from there. The ability to actually get two spots on

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Speaker 1: the floor where you can where you can do work

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Speaker 1: depends on footwork. For instance, there was a post up

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Speaker 1: of from Luca on Jabari Smith. If I remember correctly,

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Speaker 1: on the right block, I clipped this possession. You could

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Speaker 1: see it in my Twitter feed on the thread that

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Speaker 1: I did for this particular game. But the ability to

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Speaker 1: as as Luca is backing Jabari Smith down on that

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Speaker 1: right block using his right shoulder to kind of create

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Speaker 1: a little bit of separation, there is a step through

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Speaker 1: footwork element he goes to where he pivots over his

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Speaker 1: right shoulder and pump fakes, but he has a really

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Speaker 1: wide base and he plants that left foot in a

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Speaker 1: way where he can go straight up if he wants,

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Speaker 1: but he also can just plant it and pivot back

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Speaker 1: the other way or step And in this case he

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Speaker 1: actually held his ground in pump faked, and when Jabari

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Speaker 1: Smith left his feet, he was already set in his

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Speaker 1: footwork to be able to go right back up into

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Speaker 1: Jabbari and draw the foul. There is a balance element

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Speaker 1: when you get to those spots. That is about having

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Speaker 1: your base constantly underneath you. And the only way to

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Speaker 1: have your base constantly underneath you is to have the

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Speaker 1: appropriate footwork to get to your spots with balance and

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Speaker 1: with a good, strong, wide base. And then the second

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Speaker 1: element of it is the pump fakes. So obviously the

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Speaker 1: easiest way to take advantage of Overzelle's defense off the

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Speaker 1: ball is to backcut right, Like if you're on the

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Speaker 1: wing and the guy's up and deny he's and he's

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Speaker 1: playing the passing lane, all you have to do is

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Speaker 1: make it look like you're ready to catch and then

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Speaker 1: cut back door, and you could take advantage of over

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Speaker 1: Zelli's defense on the perimeter with body movement. But on

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Speaker 1: the basketball it's all about fakes. Pump fakes, footwork fakes

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Speaker 1: things along those lines. And again like Luca. When he's

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Speaker 1: dealing with these guys, he can shoot over them top, right,

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Speaker 1: Like he can take difficult shots over the top, but

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Speaker 1: he doesn't need to if he can take advantage of

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Speaker 1: their over zealous approach to defense by using fakes to

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Speaker 1: get them out of position. Luca's first three buckets in

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Speaker 1: this game were right at the rim, and all three

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Speaker 1: of them were like one hundred percent shots, not like, oh,

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Speaker 1: I took a tough little hook shot over the top

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Speaker 1: and it may or may not go in. No, no, no.

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Speaker 1: He was getting easy layups right under the basket by

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Speaker 1: using fakes to get smaller defenders out of position, and

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Speaker 1: once they leave their feet, I just might as well

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Speaker 1: be a mic and drill at that point, right, Like

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Speaker 1: he's just taking an easy layup right underneath the basket.

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Speaker 1: So he was killing them in switches again because Houston

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Speaker 1: was switching everything with that lineup significant size advantages all

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Speaker 1: over the floor, using those footworks, that that footwork in

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Speaker 1: those pump fakes to get easy shots around the rim.

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Speaker 1: So then Houston brings in Jock Landon and Lucas starts

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Speaker 1: picking on him and switches, and Jock is giving him

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Speaker 1: space and offering a token contest at the end, but

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Speaker 1: Luca just doesn't even see that contest, especially with his eyes,

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Speaker 1: and he just started killing him with pull up jump

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Speaker 1: shots over the top. Luca took twenty two pull up

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Speaker 1: jump shots in this game and made twelve of them.

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Speaker 1: He took fifteen pull up threes and made eight of them.

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Speaker 1: Yet thirty two total points on twenty two pull up

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Speaker 1: jump shot attempts. That's one point four to five points

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Speaker 1: her pull up jumper. That's completely absurd, and that doesn't

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Speaker 1: even count all the times that he got to the

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Speaker 1: foul line by pump faking on one of those shots.

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Speaker 1: It's arguably the biggest difference between this year and last

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Speaker 1: year with Luca is he's just so much more effective

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Speaker 1: with his pull up jump shot game, which has just

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Speaker 1: made him that much harder to guard. He's actually shooting

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Speaker 1: thirty seven percent on the season on pull up threes. Honestly,

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Speaker 1: it was just comical how much better Luca was than

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Speaker 1: everybody else on the floor in this game. It kind

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Speaker 1: of reminded me of some of the games when Lebron

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Speaker 1: James was at his peak and when he was better

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Speaker 1: than everybody in the league, where he would just kind

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Speaker 1: of mess around, like you'd be in this like dead

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Speaker 1: serious NBA game between like two teams are really good

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Speaker 1: and Lebron would just be like trying shit. And those

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Speaker 1: of you guys who were who were watching the league

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Speaker 1: during that phase when Lebron was in his prime, you

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Speaker 1: know exactly what I'm talking about. And like Luca like

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Speaker 1: purposely banked in a three point shot in this game

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Speaker 1: just for fun. Like imagine how unbothered and unthreatened you'd

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Speaker 1: have to feel on the road against a team on

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Speaker 1: an eleven game winning streak to just be like, dah,

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna try to bank in this three in the

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Speaker 1: first half, the game was still in question at that point.

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Speaker 1: He banked in another jumper in the first half, and

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Speaker 1: then in the second half he had this step through

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Speaker 1: move where you're like pump faked at the three point line,

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Speaker 1: step through with his left foot. Again a footwork element there.

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Speaker 1: He just when he's on his base, he always knows

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Speaker 1: he can take an additional step to get to his

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Speaker 1: spot as long as he landed on that jump stop right.

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Speaker 1: So he steps through with his left foot and then

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Speaker 1: scoops up underneath and just throws up a scoop shot

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Speaker 1: from like twenty feet away from the basket and puts

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Speaker 1: it in. Just trying that is absurd. Let alone making

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Speaker 1: that shot, the level of confidence that were wires to

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Speaker 1: do that in the NBA at all, let alone in

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Speaker 1: this important of a game. It completely crazy, because again

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Speaker 1: you gotta remember, all these games are must win games

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Speaker 1: for the Houston Rockets as they try to get into

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Speaker 1: that ten seed. It was just unbelievable. Other mass pitching

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Speaker 1: in Kyrie Irving had twenty four points and seven assists

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Speaker 1: with only one turnover. PJ Washington hit a couple of

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Speaker 1: huge above the break threes during that second quarter run

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Speaker 1: when the MAVs went up by twenty one. Honestly, PJ

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Speaker 1: Washington's three point shooting is going to be a huge

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Speaker 1: swing factor for the MAVs when they get into the postseason.

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Speaker 1: This year, Dante Exum five for five from the field.

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Speaker 1: He's shooting over sixty percent on unguarded catch and shoot

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Speaker 1: jump shots this year. Not effective field goal percentage, not

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Speaker 1: weighted for threes, just field goal percentage. Shooting sixty percent

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Speaker 1: ninety one percent when you weait it for threes in

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Speaker 1: effective field goal percentage. He's getting one point eight one

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Speaker 1: points per unguarded, catch and shoot, jump shot and the like. Again,

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Speaker 1: if you look back at what he did overseas the

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Speaker 1: previous two years, this has been a trend that has continued.

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Speaker 1: He's fixed his jumper while he was overseas and he's

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Speaker 1: brought it back to the NBA and it's made him

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Speaker 1: a very impactful player. And honestly, it gives the MAVs

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Speaker 1: all these different options that they can go to, because,

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Speaker 1: like you know, I like Derek Jones Junior, he started

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Speaker 1: the game guarding Jalen Green did a really nice job,

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Speaker 1: had a rough offensive game, but a really good perimeter

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Speaker 1: defense game. You can go with a guy like that.

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Speaker 1: You can go with the guy like Josh Green, you

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Speaker 1: can go the guy like PJ. Washington, you can go

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Speaker 1: with the guy like Dante X. And they have all

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Speaker 1: these different options that they can go to, and that

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Speaker 1: like honestly will allow as long as Jason Kidd plays

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Speaker 1: the right buttons based on the matchups and based on

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Speaker 1: how guys are playing and honestly can make them better.

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Speaker 1: So the MAVs dominate to get a big win. They're

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Speaker 1: seventh straight. I want to talk about defense for a second.

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Speaker 1: You know, I always talk about defensive personnel and just

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Speaker 1: the job that teams do chasing over the top of

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Speaker 1: screens or defending and drop coverage, or rotating on the

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Speaker 1: weak side, or help and recover situations close outs, all

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Speaker 1: that kind of stuff, and that's all important, but most

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Speaker 1: of that has to do a defensive talent and execution, right.

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Speaker 1: Another half of the defensive equation, honestly, one that we

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Speaker 1: talk about way more when we get to the postseason

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Speaker 1: and not so much in the regular season. His game plan,

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Speaker 1: and you could argue it's every bit as important as

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Speaker 1: the stuff with the defensive talent. And I thought Jason

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Speaker 1: Kidd had just a really really smart game plan for

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Speaker 1: Houston in this game. He put Daniel Gafford on Men

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Speaker 1: Thompson to start the game and just had him completely

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Speaker 1: ignore him. So when Thompson was setting ball screens, he'd

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Speaker 1: be sitting back in a drop Thompson is not involved

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Speaker 1: in the play, just sitting right basically right under the basket.

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Speaker 1: And that just really gummed up Houston's offense. And then

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Speaker 1: when Derek Lively came in and Jock Landale came in,

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Speaker 1: they were worried about or not worried about jack Landale's

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Speaker 1: ability to score in the short role, and so with

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Speaker 1: Derek Lively, they had him blitz and they were blitzing

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Speaker 1: ball screens, basically staying home off the ball and jack

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Speaker 1: Landale's catching in the middle of the floor. He had

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Speaker 1: a couple of buckets in there, but there were based

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Speaker 1: on a per possession basis. I think he had like

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Speaker 1: maybe four points in the short role at least during

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Speaker 1: that first half run and probably had like six or

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Speaker 1: seven catches down there. So like it was working out

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Speaker 1: to Dallas' advantage just to basically when Gafford's on the floor,

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Speaker 1: park his ass underneath the basket. When Derek Liveley's out there,

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Speaker 1: be aggressive, dare jack Landel will beat you on the roll,

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Speaker 1: and it worked really really well, like Houston's offense was.

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Speaker 1: Houston's offense has been really really good over the course

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Speaker 1: of this recent win streak that they've been on. They've

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Speaker 1: been like up over one one hundred and twenty points

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Speaker 1: per one hundred possessions. Is flying up and down the

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Speaker 1: floor using their athleticism, knocking down shots, and they just

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Speaker 1: completely stalled out Newston's offense with a really smart game

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Speaker 1: plan and that's a huge part of it, like identifying

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Speaker 1: your opponent's weakness and building your defensive strategy around that.

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Speaker 1: That is again every bit is important as defensive personnel

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Speaker 1: and being smart with those strategic elements when you get

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Speaker 1: to the postseason could be the difference between a long

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Speaker 1: playoff run in an early exit. Since February fifth, the

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Speaker 1: MAVs are nineteen and six. That is the second best

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Speaker 1: record in the league over that span behind the Boston Celtics,

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Speaker 1: the eighth in defense, eleventh in defensive rebounding over that span.

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Speaker 1: So again, this is a significant sample size twenty five games,

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Speaker 1: more than thirty percent of the season by percentage, and

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Speaker 1: they're eleventh in defensive rebounding and eighth in defense. That's

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Speaker 1: real two way basketball that the Mavericks are playing. You

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Speaker 1: can even make a case, if they move high enough

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Speaker 1: in the standings that Luka Dancin should be more seriously

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Speaker 1: taken into consideration for the MVP Award. That's the type

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Speaker 1: of run that Dallas has been on. I think they

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Speaker 1: need to win a few more games here down the stretch,

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Speaker 1: but there's every haste to make that he belongs in

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Speaker 1: that conversation. Now here's the question, where would I place

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Speaker 1: Dallas in light of their recent run among the West hierarchy.

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Speaker 1: And you know, I looked at this for a while

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Speaker 1: this morning to try to kind of come up with

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Speaker 1: the concrete opinion. Here's where I'm at. Obviously, Denver still

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Speaker 1: at the top. I still have them in their own tier,

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Speaker 1: at least as it pertains to the West. I view

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Speaker 1: Boston in their tier, but they're out east right. The

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Speaker 1: teams at the bottom of the West that I don't

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Speaker 1: take seriously Golden State, I don't think they have a

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Speaker 1: real title threat in them. Sacramento I, especially in light

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Speaker 1: of their injuries. I didn't view them as a serious

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Speaker 1: threat before their injuries. The New Orleans Pelicans, I don't

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Speaker 1: think they're good enough on either end of the floor,

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Speaker 1: especially defensively on the front line, to win enough games

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Speaker 1: in the postseason. And then Houston, if you're gonna include

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Speaker 1: them as the eleventh seed, as a threat to the

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Speaker 1: tenth seed, those are teams that I view as the

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Speaker 1: bottom tier in the West that I don't think have

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Speaker 1: a real chance to go on a run. Everybody else

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Speaker 1: though they're all really freaking good. Minnesota, they've been one

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Speaker 1: of the best teams in the league all year long.

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Speaker 1: They're the best defense in the league. No one can

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Speaker 1: guard ant like Dallas Minnesota. It's tough. You could make

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Speaker 1: the case for either. Right the Clippers. They dominated most

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Speaker 1: of the season and they're completely loaded with talent and

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Speaker 1: two way players. During the middle third of the season,

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00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:54,920
Speaker 1: they were the best team in the league. Basically Clippers MAVs.

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Speaker 1: You could make the case for either. Right. Phoenix, they're

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Speaker 1: probably the best maps with the Denver Nuggets. I think

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Speaker 1: they are the team most capable of beating Denver in

394
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Speaker 1: a seven game series. They are completely loaded with talent

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Speaker 1: and playing much better basketball here down the stretch of

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Speaker 1: the season. Phoenix, Dallas, you could make the case for

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Speaker 1: either one of them. Right. Oklahoma City, they're literally the

398
00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:19,720
Speaker 1: number one seed in the West and any pessimism surrounding

399
00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:23,080
Speaker 1: them has to do with size and youth. Right, and

400
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:26,120
Speaker 1: then the Los Angeles Lakers. Since January seventh, a thirty

401
00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:28,480
Speaker 1: nine game sample size, they have the fifth best record

402
00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,520
Speaker 1: in the league. Everyone thinks the Lakers suck because they're

403
00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:33,600
Speaker 1: lower in the standings because they had a rough stretch

404
00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,440
Speaker 1: right after the Ncason Tournament where they let their foot

405
00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:38,320
Speaker 1: off the gas and made a bunch of bad lineup

406
00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:40,480
Speaker 1: decisions where they bench their three to their top five

407
00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:44,000
Speaker 1: players for a while. That threw off everyone's calculus with

408
00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,840
Speaker 1: the Lakers for half of the season. Recently, they have

409
00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,800
Speaker 1: been the fifth best team in the league, So like,

410
00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:51,560
Speaker 1: you got to throw them in there too. Now, I'd

411
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Speaker 1: say the Lakers belong on the bottom of that tier,

412
00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,919
Speaker 1: but they're in that tier all those teams. Though you

413
00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,760
Speaker 1: could make a case for anyone like there isn't like

414
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Speaker 1: when it comes to trying to slide Dallas in there.

415
00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:07,399
Speaker 1: They're somewhere in there, but it's hard to make a

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00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:09,919
Speaker 1: case that they're just over all of them. And so

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Speaker 1: I kind of land right where I've been for most

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Speaker 1: of the last few months. I think all of those

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00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:18,240
Speaker 1: teams have a chance to make a long playoff run

420
00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:20,200
Speaker 1: and get out of the West. And I think all

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00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:22,080
Speaker 1: of those teams have a chance to lose in the

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Speaker 1: first round. Hell, the Lakers have a chance to lose

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Speaker 1: in the play in tournament. So like, so it's Phoenix

424
00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:30,760
Speaker 1: by the way, So like, really, I think it's gonna

425
00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:32,560
Speaker 1: come down to matchups. It's gonna come down to who

426
00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:37,399
Speaker 1: plays who. But here is the most important part. Given

427
00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,879
Speaker 1: all these factors, the most important element is going to

428
00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,960
Speaker 1: be who's playing the best at the right time. Dallas

429
00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:49,320
Speaker 1: is playing their best basketball right now. That's a huge

430
00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:52,600
Speaker 1: factor there. They can ride that momentum into the postseason.

431
00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:55,120
Speaker 1: That could be the difference maker with that tier. But yea,

432
00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,359
Speaker 1: as I look at the West, Denver at the top,

433
00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,719
Speaker 1: Golden State, Sacramento, New Orleans at the bottom, and then

434
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:04,720
Speaker 1: I have Minnesota, the Clippers, Phoenix, ok See, the Lakers,

435
00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,760
Speaker 1: and Dallas all in there, jumbled up. They're all any

436
00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:10,280
Speaker 1: one of them could be the one that comes out

437
00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,080
Speaker 1: of the West. Any one of them could lose in

438
00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,320
Speaker 1: the first round. As good as Dallas has been, you

439
00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,960
Speaker 1: can't make a case for them to be definitively above

440
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:23,879
Speaker 1: Oka see definitively above the Clippers, definitively above Minnesota. There's

441
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,120
Speaker 1: not a definitive case there to make, even in light

442
00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:28,600
Speaker 1: of their recent run. But I do think that them

443
00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:30,800
Speaker 1: getting hot at the right time bodes really well for

444
00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:34,320
Speaker 1: them all right. Moving on to the Oklahoma City Thunder

445
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:36,240
Speaker 1: versus the New York Knicks. This is a really fun

446
00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,160
Speaker 1: back and forth game. The Knicks went up by twelve

447
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:41,679
Speaker 1: points in the third quarter. At one point they made

448
00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:44,239
Speaker 1: their first five threes. In the third quarters, they went

449
00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:47,399
Speaker 1: on a run. The thunder bench brought them back. Jalen

450
00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,240
Speaker 1: Williams just was ridiculous. Had everything going. He was scoring

451
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:52,280
Speaker 1: at the rim, he was making these like push shots

452
00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:55,040
Speaker 1: in the lane. He had probably the best dunk of

453
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:57,439
Speaker 1: his career so far, this like transition push where he

454
00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,280
Speaker 1: dunked on Dante de Vincenzo and Miles McBride like in

455
00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:03,320
Speaker 1: like a sandwich contest, and he just went up over

456
00:22:03,359 --> 00:22:05,280
Speaker 1: both of them. It was one of the most impressive

457
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,560
Speaker 1: athletic plays of his career to this point. He made

458
00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,840
Speaker 1: seven pull up jump shots in this game, all of

459
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 1: them from two point range. Now, James Harden has recently

460
00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,800
Speaker 1: just barely snuck past him in this list, but he's

461
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,240
Speaker 1: still the second best pull up jump shooter in the

462
00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:21,760
Speaker 1: league this year, at a minimum of three hundred attempts,

463
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,600
Speaker 1: getting one point one to one points per pull up jumper.

464
00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:26,680
Speaker 1: Crazy thing is most of them are pull up twos.

465
00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,880
Speaker 1: He takes five point one pull up jumpers a game,

466
00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:31,680
Speaker 1: only one point four of them are threes, so the

467
00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:33,560
Speaker 1: vast majority of them are from two point range. He

468
00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,920
Speaker 1: shoots forty two percent on those pull up threes, shoots

469
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:39,800
Speaker 1: well over fifty percent on pull up twos, and that's

470
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:41,520
Speaker 1: a really high value shot, especially when you get to

471
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,080
Speaker 1: the postseason, because I'm a big believer that there's more

472
00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:47,119
Speaker 1: resiliency in pull up close range shooting than there is

473
00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:49,240
Speaker 1: in pull up long range shooting when you get to

474
00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,960
Speaker 1: the later rounds of the postseason. So Jalen Williams starts

475
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,360
Speaker 1: to run shot making, dunking on people, Josh Hart does

476
00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:58,480
Speaker 1: a really nice job just kind of bringing some intense

477
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,200
Speaker 1: full court ball pressure on Jalen Williams, which hinda slowed

478
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,760
Speaker 1: him down just a little bit. And then Oklahoma City

479
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,119
Speaker 1: just went to Josh Gitty, and Josh Gitty was just

480
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:08,679
Speaker 1: again kind of a similar thing to what we were

481
00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:12,000
Speaker 1: talking about with Houston versus Dallas. New York just plays

482
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:14,480
Speaker 1: a lot of smaller guards, and Josh Gitty was just

483
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,520
Speaker 1: taking advantage of the small guards by just barreling down

484
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,160
Speaker 1: the lane and spinning over his left shoulder and making

485
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:22,400
Speaker 1: a little push shots close to the basket. He had

486
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,320
Speaker 1: sixteen points, thirteen rebounds, and twelve assists in this game.

487
00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:28,119
Speaker 1: He also had a couple of huge threes late in

488
00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,520
Speaker 1: the game during their second half run when New York

489
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,439
Speaker 1: was leaving him open. Really really impressive night from Josh Gitty.

490
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:37,760
Speaker 1: Late game was a complete hit show. Both teams were

491
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:39,640
Speaker 1: missing a bunch of free throws. As a matter of fact,

492
00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:42,320
Speaker 1: the two teams combined to go thirteen for twenty five

493
00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:44,719
Speaker 1: from the foul line in this game, and so we

494
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:47,440
Speaker 1: have this like chaotic finish at the end of the game.

495
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:50,760
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson misses the free throw and there's this crazy

496
00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,320
Speaker 1: rebound situation. The ball goes out of bounds, stays with

497
00:23:53,359 --> 00:23:56,080
Speaker 1: the Knicks. The Knicks run this really smart action like

498
00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:59,399
Speaker 1: a staggered ball screen where they get Chet Holmgren switched

499
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,560
Speaker 1: down to Jalen Brunson and then set another brush screen

500
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,920
Speaker 1: with Josh with Josh Hart that just allows Brunson to

501
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:09,000
Speaker 1: get a little bit of an angle on Chet and

502
00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,639
Speaker 1: he just gets into Chet's body and extends out and

503
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:14,360
Speaker 1: makes this really nice left handed hook shot or left

504
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:16,760
Speaker 1: handed scoop shot excuse me, off the glass that puts

505
00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:20,280
Speaker 1: the Knicks up one only four seconds left. On the

506
00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:22,200
Speaker 1: other end of the floor, Mark Daginal draws up this

507
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:26,720
Speaker 1: super interesting kind of like decoy action with Jaylen Williams

508
00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:28,600
Speaker 1: and Shay, so everyone else is out at the three

509
00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:30,920
Speaker 1: point line. Jalen Williams and Shay are basically right at

510
00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:33,720
Speaker 1: the left elbow if you're facing the basket, and bounds

511
00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:36,240
Speaker 1: is on the left side of the floor. And essentially

512
00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:39,240
Speaker 1: what they did is they had Jalen Williams fake like

513
00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,359
Speaker 1: he was gonna set a pin down for Shay, but

514
00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,480
Speaker 1: then Shay turned around and set a back screen for Jalen.

515
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:46,720
Speaker 1: Jalen rolls to the rim. The Knicks actually defend it

516
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:51,200
Speaker 1: really well, chasing over the top, and Shay actually breaks

517
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,160
Speaker 1: to the right block and ends up with Miles McBride

518
00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 1: on him with plenty of time, plenty of space on

519
00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:00,400
Speaker 1: the floor, and he just pivots right over his right

520
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:02,920
Speaker 1: shoulder and takes a right shoulder fade. Sheity didn't even

521
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 1: really have much going in this game, because Jalen Williams

522
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,080
Speaker 1: is playing so well, and obviously he's coming back from

523
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,920
Speaker 1: an injury. He's a little rusty, but he just gets

524
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:11,919
Speaker 1: his lift on that right shoulder fade and knocks the

525
00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,000
Speaker 1: shot down and puts the thunder back up one they

526
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,480
Speaker 1: go to the other end. It was off of a

527
00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:19,639
Speaker 1: different action, but they more or less, get the exact

528
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 1: same mirror image. Look for Jalen Brunson. So this time

529
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:26,000
Speaker 1: it's on the right kind of block extended. But Jalen

530
00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,399
Speaker 1: Brunson is a left handed shooter, so he pivots over

531
00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:30,840
Speaker 1: his left shoulder, takes the same type of fadeaway shot

532
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,119
Speaker 1: over the same kind of like dominant shoulder on the baseline,

533
00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:37,040
Speaker 1: and it's dead on straight but he leaves it short

534
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,960
Speaker 1: and the Knicks end up losing. So I want to

535
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,960
Speaker 1: go back to Jalen Williams for a second. I want

536
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:48,359
Speaker 1: to use three plays to demonstrate just how crazy Jalen

537
00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:50,520
Speaker 1: Williams is going to be in this league, just how

538
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,919
Speaker 1: crazy good he's going to be. First, the transition done.

539
00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:57,000
Speaker 1: So on this play, Precious a Chewa is in the

540
00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,600
Speaker 1: front court. He's trying to knock around an offensive rebound.

541
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:01,399
Speaker 1: I can't remember who it was with somebody on the

542
00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:03,920
Speaker 1: Knicks misses the three. On the tap out, Jalen Williams

543
00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:05,159
Speaker 1: is dribbling the ball up the right side of the

544
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:06,920
Speaker 1: floor and you can see him look to his left

545
00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,960
Speaker 1: and identify that Precious is trailing to play. He looks

546
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,920
Speaker 1: up the floor and he sees Miles McBride is right

547
00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:16,360
Speaker 1: in front of him, has stopped the ball. The other

548
00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,760
Speaker 1: three guys, the other three knicks are all kind of

549
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,080
Speaker 1: flaring out to shooters. No, Nick actually just runs to

550
00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:26,560
Speaker 1: the rim, which is always like, it's basketball, it's rim,

551
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,359
Speaker 1: basketball shooters. It's like an order of operations when it

552
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:33,359
Speaker 1: comes to to transition defense, and a lot of coaches

553
00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,199
Speaker 1: teach stopping the basketball first because if you stop the

554
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:38,880
Speaker 1: basketball first, that buys time for other guys to get

555
00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:41,000
Speaker 1: back if you can make him turn or change direction

556
00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:44,440
Speaker 1: or something like that. But either way, basketball always comes

557
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:48,280
Speaker 1: before wing shooters. But he identifies he looks up the floor.

558
00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:50,400
Speaker 1: He's precious to chew a trail and the play looks

559
00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:52,479
Speaker 1: up the floor, sees Miles McBride in front of him,

560
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:54,280
Speaker 1: but sees everyone else kind of splaying out to the

561
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,439
Speaker 1: three point line and behind the half court line, like

562
00:26:57,480 --> 00:26:59,959
Speaker 1: ten feet behind the back court line. Jalen Williams goes,

563
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 1: fuck it, I'm going for it, and he just like

564
00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,680
Speaker 1: hits the Jets bodies Miles McBride shoves him off, rises

565
00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,000
Speaker 1: up it just and just throws it down. There's a

566
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:11,879
Speaker 1: token contest off the side from Dante DiVincenzo but he

567
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,199
Speaker 1: has absolutely no chance. Just a ridiculous athletic play. And

568
00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,000
Speaker 1: again it's the recognition of what's happening on the floor.

569
00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,560
Speaker 1: It's the size advantage, just as the ball handler with

570
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,680
Speaker 1: his size, strength and athletic tools, and then the incredible

571
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 1: straight line force in athleticism that he brings to the table.

572
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:32,600
Speaker 1: Second play a fourth quarter hesitation pull up jump shot

573
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:34,720
Speaker 1: on Alec Burks. This actually might have been in the

574
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:36,919
Speaker 1: third quarter. I can't remember exactly what it was, but

575
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 1: he gets Alec Burks in isolation at the top of

576
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:42,679
Speaker 1: the key and he's kind of working mixing off the dribble,

577
00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:44,920
Speaker 1: and he hits him with a hard between the legs

578
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:48,000
Speaker 1: dribble step back, and when he makes the move, Alec

579
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:51,280
Speaker 1: Burks like stutter steps back and like lands with his

580
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,560
Speaker 1: heel all the way back on the foul line. And

581
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:57,040
Speaker 1: so Jalen Williams is realized, like, oh, like, he can't

582
00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,479
Speaker 1: guard me without being way back on his heels. So

583
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:02,920
Speaker 1: he knows he's gonna have an easy pull up jumper.

584
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:04,760
Speaker 1: So he gets the ball back into his left hand

585
00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,200
Speaker 1: and takes a hesitation dribble, just a high hesitation dribble,

586
00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,080
Speaker 1: just to kind of reset his rhythm and then he

587
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,120
Speaker 1: rises straight up and down and knocks down the jump shot.

588
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,960
Speaker 1: What this demonstrates to me, in order to guard Jalen

589
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:19,719
Speaker 1: Williams because of his crazy downhill force, which is what

590
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 1: we talked about earlier, you have to be on your heels.

591
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:24,960
Speaker 1: You have to be constantly looking to give ground back

592
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,320
Speaker 1: into the right or back into the left. If you

593
00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:29,480
Speaker 1: play up on him, he's just gonna go right around you.

594
00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,399
Speaker 1: And so he gets these really high quality pull up

595
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,240
Speaker 1: jump shots, and that's a big part of why the

596
00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:38,479
Speaker 1: shooting stats look the way that they do. Obviously, he's

597
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,719
Speaker 1: a great shooter, but he's also just getting awesome looks

598
00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:44,920
Speaker 1: because of his incredible athletic tools that he brings to

599
00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:47,800
Speaker 1: the table. He is literally, as a second year player,

600
00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:50,720
Speaker 1: the second best pull up jump shooter in the entire

601
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,960
Speaker 1: league minimum of three hundred attempts, and James Harden is

602
00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:56,440
Speaker 1: like right there, and he's been above him at various

603
00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:01,240
Speaker 1: points during the season. Last play one two to ninety six,

604
00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:04,280
Speaker 1: just under five minutes left, and he thunder run a

605
00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:07,240
Speaker 1: Spain pick and roll, which is basically you just have

606
00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:09,480
Speaker 1: a shooter underneath the basket that relocates to the top

607
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,680
Speaker 1: of the key as you're running your ball screen and

608
00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:14,040
Speaker 1: the shooter in this case is shake Yalds Alexander. The

609
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,480
Speaker 1: ball handler in this case is Jalen Williams. The screen

610
00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,520
Speaker 1: setter in this case is Aaron Wiggins. Josh Hart is

611
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:25,880
Speaker 1: on on Jalen Williams. Jalen Brunson is guarding Aaron Wiggins

612
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:28,120
Speaker 1: right and then I want to say Miles McBride was

613
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:32,520
Speaker 1: on was on shake kills Alexander. So as Wiggins goes

614
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:34,960
Speaker 1: up and sets the screen, Jalen Williams comes off hard

615
00:29:35,000 --> 00:29:37,560
Speaker 1: to his right hand side and brings two to the ball.

616
00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:40,440
Speaker 1: He brings Josh Hart trailing the play and Jalen Brunson

617
00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,760
Speaker 1: comes over. Basically it amounts to a trap, okay. So

618
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:45,640
Speaker 1: in this case, Aaron Wiggins is a roll into the

619
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:48,280
Speaker 1: basket and this is the beautiful part of the play

620
00:29:48,280 --> 00:29:51,920
Speaker 1: design with shake Yealds Alexander. Miles McBride is in position

621
00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:55,160
Speaker 1: to help. He's underneath the basket. He's there to help

622
00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:58,200
Speaker 1: in case that role man comes down unguarded like Aaron

623
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,480
Speaker 1: Wiggins was coming down, but the plate is has Shay

624
00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,160
Speaker 1: gillis Alexander flashing to the top of the key, but

625
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:05,840
Speaker 1: you can see Miles McBride identify it and he kind

626
00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,920
Speaker 1: of stays back to help on Aaron Wiggins. And if

627
00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,800
Speaker 1: you watch Jalen Williams, he gives a head fake, he

628
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,920
Speaker 1: looks with his entire body at Shay and when he

629
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 1: does that, Miles McBride lunges towards Shay. Aaron Wiggins slips

630
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:23,520
Speaker 1: behind him. Jalen Williams hits him with the with the

631
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,040
Speaker 1: pass right and stride so that you can slip inside

632
00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,480
Speaker 1: and make the right handed layup on the glass. And

633
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,240
Speaker 1: the most important part there is again the floor recognition,

634
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:35,400
Speaker 1: but also that high level pick and roll playmaking to

635
00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:38,560
Speaker 1: be able to manipulate the defense with your eyes. And

636
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:40,920
Speaker 1: again like he had I think seven or eight assists

637
00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:43,920
Speaker 1: in this game with just one turnover. Like this has

638
00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:46,520
Speaker 1: been a consistent theme with Jalen Williams, is like he's

639
00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:50,040
Speaker 1: way advanced as a playmaker for a guy his age.

640
00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:54,680
Speaker 1: I legitimately think this kid is not just really good,

641
00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,880
Speaker 1: not just star potential. I think Jalen Williams has legitimate

642
00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:02,440
Speaker 1: potential to become a top ten player in this league.

643
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:06,840
Speaker 1: There just aren't that many prospects that come through the

644
00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:11,680
Speaker 1: NBA that have this combination of real downhill athletic force,

645
00:31:12,720 --> 00:31:17,720
Speaker 1: outstanding to deadly pull up jump shooting, and high level playmaking.

646
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:21,880
Speaker 1: How many guys? How many guys can you like genuinely

647
00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:24,120
Speaker 1: say that about in the league. There's just not that many.

648
00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:27,640
Speaker 1: It's hard to even find a comp you talk about

649
00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:31,160
Speaker 1: a guy like Jaylen Brown, and Jaylen Brown, obviously this

650
00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:32,960
Speaker 1: phase of his career, is a much better player than

651
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:35,880
Speaker 1: Jaylen Williams. But like Jalen Brown, if you're talking about

652
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:40,040
Speaker 1: his strengths and weaknesses, like outstanding downhill athletic force, good

653
00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:45,760
Speaker 1: pull up shooter, mediocre to bad playmaker. Right, talk about

654
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,200
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler, it's like outstanding downhill force and it's like

655
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:54,960
Speaker 1: good pull up shooter, you know, great playmaker. Right, There's

656
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:57,800
Speaker 1: we haven't really seen a prospect that can bring all

657
00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,880
Speaker 1: three at an extremely high level to the now. Jalen

658
00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:02,360
Speaker 1: Williams has a long way to go to get to

659
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,040
Speaker 1: that point, but I really do think he has that potential.

660
00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:07,600
Speaker 1: I think he can be like a better version of

661
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:10,840
Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler, a Jimmy Butler that's a more consistent jump shooter.

662
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:15,600
Speaker 1: And by the way, that's not something that That's not

663
00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:17,760
Speaker 1: something that I believe to be hyperbole. He has the

664
00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:19,680
Speaker 1: character for it, he has the work ethic for it,

665
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:21,680
Speaker 1: He is the athletic gifts for it. The touch is

666
00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:24,920
Speaker 1: clearly there, the playmaking is clearly there. He's doing it

667
00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:27,520
Speaker 1: in a smaller role too, playing alongside all this talent.

668
00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:29,640
Speaker 1: Like you could make a case if he's playing and

669
00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:32,680
Speaker 1: if you've swapped him for Jalen Green right now and

670
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,040
Speaker 1: he's playing in Houston, he's probably averaging twenty five points

671
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,280
Speaker 1: a game right now, Like a lot of it in

672
00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:39,840
Speaker 1: the box score. Stuff has a lot to do with

673
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:42,400
Speaker 1: just what a circumstance is. But I just I continue

674
00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:44,920
Speaker 1: to be completely, an utterly blown away by how good

675
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:47,040
Speaker 1: this kid is right now and how good he's capable of.

676
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,880
Speaker 1: Being excited to watch him in the postseason. He's going

677
00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:52,240
Speaker 1: to be a kid I'm excited to watch develop over

678
00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:55,240
Speaker 1: the coming years. All right, Lebron's post game quotes. So

679
00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:57,640
Speaker 1: Lakers get a big win against the Brooklyn that's bouncing

680
00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:00,160
Speaker 1: back from a tough loss on the road against Indiana,

681
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:03,520
Speaker 1: and he hits nine threes in the game. Couple are

682
00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:06,120
Speaker 1: really tough off the dribble ones a drifting kind of

683
00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:07,800
Speaker 1: like fade away in the left corner and then a

684
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,480
Speaker 1: step back on the right wing to get his eighth

685
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,640
Speaker 1: and nine threes of the game. He had forty something

686
00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:16,520
Speaker 1: in the in the game. Just he's averaging something crazy

687
00:33:16,640 --> 00:33:20,560
Speaker 1: like twenty five twenty five points per game on sixty

688
00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:23,520
Speaker 1: three percent true shooting, which is just completely outrageous for

689
00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:25,520
Speaker 1: a thirty nine year old guy. But he had a

690
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:27,000
Speaker 1: quote after the game. He was asked about how much

691
00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:28,680
Speaker 1: longer if he was like playing, he says, not very long.

692
00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:30,840
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna play another twenty one years, that's for

693
00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: damn sure, but not very long. I don't know when

694
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:35,360
Speaker 1: that door will close as far as when I'll retire,

695
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:38,760
Speaker 1: but I don't have much time left. And so the

696
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:43,240
Speaker 1: question that we posed today is will Lebron ever play

697
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,000
Speaker 1: in an NBA Finals again? Now here's the thing. Of course,

698
00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:52,200
Speaker 1: it's a possibility. I saw Stephen A. Smith say either

699
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:55,000
Speaker 1: this morning. I saw it on Twitter this morning, but

700
00:33:55,040 --> 00:33:57,880
Speaker 1: he said that he thought that this was Lebron's last

701
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:01,959
Speaker 1: chance this year with the Lakers. I disagree with that, Like,

702
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:05,720
Speaker 1: I mean, he might fall off a cliff next year.

703
00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:08,279
Speaker 1: But I mean, here's the thing. You can try to

704
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:11,319
Speaker 1: get ahead of the Lebron decline thing. I'm not going

705
00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:12,759
Speaker 1: to be that guy. I feel like the people who

706
00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:14,040
Speaker 1: have been trying to get ahead of that just keep

707
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:16,319
Speaker 1: getting proven wrong every single year. Maybe it happens next year,

708
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:18,560
Speaker 1: maybe it doesn't. But here's the deal. The Lakers have

709
00:34:18,560 --> 00:34:20,440
Speaker 1: access to three first round draft picks when they get

710
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:23,320
Speaker 1: to the draft this year. As long as they improve

711
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:28,319
Speaker 1: the roster with whatever they do this offseason more than

712
00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:32,279
Speaker 1: Lebron declines, it's a net improvement for the Lakers. So

713
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:34,040
Speaker 1: of course they're still going to be in the hunt.

714
00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:35,840
Speaker 1: I think they need a coaching change. They need to

715
00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:37,759
Speaker 1: be as healthy next year as they are this year.

716
00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:40,200
Speaker 1: Lebron needs to avoid any sort of severe injury. But

717
00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:43,719
Speaker 1: whatever decline Lebron experiences, as long as as long as

718
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:46,680
Speaker 1: they improve the roster around that, he's very much going

719
00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:48,279
Speaker 1: to be in the mix still. So I don't think

720
00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,200
Speaker 1: this is his last chance. Per se. That said, do

721
00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:53,240
Speaker 1: I think Lebron will ever play in the NBA Finals

722
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:56,240
Speaker 1: again as a likelihood, Like if I had to apply

723
00:34:56,480 --> 00:34:59,120
Speaker 1: a percentage chance to it, it's going to be below

724
00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,399
Speaker 1: fifty percent. And the main reason why is I don't

725
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:06,719
Speaker 1: think this team is good enough defensively to win the

726
00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:10,200
Speaker 1: play in tournament and to win three rounds, all without

727
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:13,480
Speaker 1: home court advantage, all against really good teams. I wouldn't

728
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:17,080
Speaker 1: count them out. I would for the record, I'd put

729
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:20,120
Speaker 1: below fifty percent chance to make the finals for literally

730
00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:22,880
Speaker 1: every team in the West except for the Denver Nuggets.

731
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:26,719
Speaker 1: But like, it is somewhat unlikely that they get through

732
00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:29,439
Speaker 1: it this year, And as for the offseason, I don't

733
00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:32,160
Speaker 1: trust the Lakers' front office or ownership group to make

734
00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:35,520
Speaker 1: the necessary tweaks to the roster to push them over

735
00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:37,440
Speaker 1: the top. So to me, it's more likely than not

736
00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:39,879
Speaker 1: that we don't get to see another finals appearance from Lebron,

737
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 1: which is kind of a bummer because, like, honestly, I

738
00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:44,880
Speaker 1: thought they should have been more aggressive at the deadline

739
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:47,440
Speaker 1: this year. Here, they've been the fifth best team in

740
00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,240
Speaker 1: the league over the last thirty nine games since January

741
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:54,200
Speaker 1: twenty seventh, and they've been like we're gonna go over

742
00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:56,040
Speaker 1: some numbers when we get to the power rankings, but like,

743
00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:59,759
Speaker 1: they've been the second best a three point shooting team

744
00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:03,399
Speaker 1: over that span. They've been the second by percentage, they've

745
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:06,120
Speaker 1: been the second best point in the paint team over

746
00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:08,000
Speaker 1: that span, Like, they have a lot of really good

747
00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:09,440
Speaker 1: things that they bring to the table. As a matter

748
00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:11,000
Speaker 1: of fact, to put it simply, I don't think the

749
00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:14,239
Speaker 1: Lakers are that far off. I think it's about specific

750
00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:17,040
Speaker 1: weaknesses with them, not talent deficiencies. I don't think the

751
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:21,600
Speaker 1: Lakers have a talent issue. They have a roster balance issue.

752
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:24,400
Speaker 1: They have a shit ton of offensive skill in every

753
00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:27,000
Speaker 1: single position group, and they don't have anybody who can

754
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,440
Speaker 1: guard on the perimeter. They have like zero top tier

755
00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:32,919
Speaker 1: athlete types that play at the one or the two,

756
00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:36,000
Speaker 1: and that's been the or at the three for that matter,

757
00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,080
Speaker 1: because the Jared Vanderbilt injury. So like, I really don't

758
00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:43,200
Speaker 1: think they need that much to really enter into those conversations.

759
00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:48,440
Speaker 1: But I just don't trust this particular franchise to do it. Again.

760
00:36:48,520 --> 00:36:51,040
Speaker 1: I've talked about this on the show before, but like,

761
00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:54,799
Speaker 1: to me, incompetence trickles from the top down. This is

762
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:59,439
Speaker 1: the same owner that let Alex Cruso walk like there's

763
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:02,080
Speaker 1: there's not a GM in the league that wouldn't have

764
00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:04,440
Speaker 1: gotten on hands and knees and begged for Genie Bus

765
00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:08,319
Speaker 1: to keep Alex Crusoe because he's so obviously such a

766
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:13,000
Speaker 1: monumentally important piece to winning basketball games, and Genie Bus

767
00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:16,080
Speaker 1: just let him off, right. I don't need to get

768
00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:18,360
Speaker 1: into it. But if you go down, if you go

769
00:37:18,440 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 1: down from the top of the organization, you see the

770
00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:24,000
Speaker 1: incompetence come through, whether it's the medical staff and their

771
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:27,120
Speaker 1: incapability to keep people and fans updated on just what's

772
00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 1: happening with the players on the roster, whether it's like

773
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:35,000
Speaker 1: Typo's on a damn statue, whether it's hiring someone like

774
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:37,640
Speaker 1: Magic Johnson who clearly was not interested in doing the job.

775
00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,759
Speaker 1: Regardless of what we want to point the flashlight at.

776
00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:44,160
Speaker 1: From the top down, there's been incompetence and so like

777
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:47,160
Speaker 1: to me, when you weigh the realities of their predicament

778
00:37:47,239 --> 00:37:50,279
Speaker 1: this season against what they need to achieve this offseason,

779
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,480
Speaker 1: with whether or not the leadership is capable of executing that,

780
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:58,360
Speaker 1: I don't have great optimistic feelings about their ability to

781
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,560
Speaker 1: get there. So again, I'm not righting Lebron off. No,

782
00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,560
Speaker 1: I don't think this is their last chance, but I

783
00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:06,840
Speaker 1: personally would be surprised if I got to watch Lebron

784
00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,640
Speaker 1: James play in the NBA Finals again. All Right, moving

785
00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:14,319
Speaker 1: on to our Power Rankings. The one drop off from

786
00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:17,759
Speaker 1: our two weeks ago list are the Cleveland Cavaliers. They

787
00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:20,920
Speaker 1: are three and five since our last rankings on March eighteenth.

788
00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:23,520
Speaker 1: They lost to Miami twice, they lost to Minnesota, they

789
00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:25,359
Speaker 1: lost to Denver, and they have a really bad loss

790
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:28,879
Speaker 1: to Charlotte, bottom ten in both offense and defense over

791
00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:32,400
Speaker 1: that span, So we're dropping the Cavs for now number ten. Gasp.

792
00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:36,640
Speaker 1: The Los Angeles Lakers are cracking into our power rankings

793
00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:39,760
Speaker 1: for the first time in forever. Six and one since

794
00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:42,880
Speaker 1: our last rankings, including yet another win over the Milwaukee

795
00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:46,520
Speaker 1: Bucks in Milwaukee without Lebron. Since January seventh, a thirty

796
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,520
Speaker 1: nine game sample size, the Lakers are twenty five and fourteen.

797
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,840
Speaker 1: That is the fifth best record in all of basketball

798
00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:55,840
Speaker 1: during that span. Again, over a sample size of almost

799
00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:59,799
Speaker 1: half the season. They are fifth in offensive rating over

800
00:38:59,840 --> 00:39:03,040
Speaker 1: the span, second in three point percentage. Over that span.

801
00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:06,360
Speaker 1: They're shooting over forty percent from three as a team.

802
00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:08,920
Speaker 1: Since January seventh, they are second in points in the

803
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:10,719
Speaker 1: paint per one hundred possession over that span. So a

804
00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:14,360
Speaker 1: really nice combination of accurate perimeter shooting in interior dominance.

805
00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:17,759
Speaker 1: But here's the most encouraging stat in the justification for

806
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:19,960
Speaker 1: why I have the Lakers at tenth in the power

807
00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:23,879
Speaker 1: rankings according to Cleaning the Glass against the top ten

808
00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:27,960
Speaker 1: teams in the NBA in point differential, they have seventeen wins,

809
00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:30,120
Speaker 1: which is the most in the league. They have a

810
00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:33,040
Speaker 1: fifty five percent win percentage, which is the fifth best

811
00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:35,280
Speaker 1: in the league, and they have a plus one point

812
00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:38,759
Speaker 1: five point differential per one hundred possessions, which is the

813
00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:41,640
Speaker 1: fifth best mark in the league. The Lakers have been

814
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:43,040
Speaker 1: one of the very best teams in the league this

815
00:39:43,160 --> 00:39:46,280
Speaker 1: year at beating the good teams in addition to playing

816
00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:50,080
Speaker 1: really really good basketball. Outside of a brief stretch they

817
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:52,719
Speaker 1: were fifteen to nine including the n season Tournament win.

818
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:56,120
Speaker 1: They are twenty five and fourteen since January seventh, which

819
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:58,440
Speaker 1: is the fifth best record in the league over that span.

820
00:39:58,719 --> 00:40:01,360
Speaker 1: There's a three and ten strech in the middle, which

821
00:40:01,400 --> 00:40:04,160
Speaker 1: was right when everyone relaxed after winning the tournament and

822
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:06,799
Speaker 1: obviously when Darvin ham was tweaking with the lineup and

823
00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:10,000
Speaker 1: taking the three of their top five players out. I

824
00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:12,320
Speaker 1: am again do I think the Lakers are a legitimate

825
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:14,719
Speaker 1: championship contender Like the teams at the top of the

826
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:16,799
Speaker 1: league now, but we're gonna give them a shout out

827
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:18,879
Speaker 1: here for how good they've been playing over the course

828
00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:21,800
Speaker 1: the last couple of months. At nine, the New Orleans Pelicans.

829
00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:24,920
Speaker 1: They're losing to the Orlando Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, and

830
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:27,800
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics since our last rankings, so they're dropping

831
00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:31,200
Speaker 1: a bit. Obviously, brandon Ingram got hurt, and that plays

832
00:40:31,239 --> 00:40:33,200
Speaker 1: a role here. The offense has really fallen off. They're

833
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:35,440
Speaker 1: twenty first in offense over their last six games, and

834
00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:37,160
Speaker 1: their defense hasn't been as good either. They're down to

835
00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:40,920
Speaker 1: ninth and that span. Here's the thing. I really wanted

836
00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:43,160
Speaker 1: to drop the Pels too, But like when you look

837
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:45,840
Speaker 1: through the rest of the league, the league is so

838
00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:49,680
Speaker 1: good and everyone's kicking the shit out of everyone, there

839
00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:52,680
Speaker 1: is not a team that I could reasonably put above

840
00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:55,840
Speaker 1: New Orleans for now, even though I know that relative

841
00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:58,839
Speaker 1: to most people, I'm lower on New Orleans, there's not

842
00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:00,600
Speaker 1: even a team that I could res in noably put

843
00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:03,360
Speaker 1: above them, because everyone's kind of hovering around five hundred

844
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:07,120
Speaker 1: because everyone's really good and everyone can beat everyone, and

845
00:41:07,520 --> 00:41:09,840
Speaker 1: it's making for some bunky results. At number eight, the

846
00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:13,000
Speaker 1: New York Knicks, so mixed results since our last rankings

847
00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,440
Speaker 1: are four and three. Had a nice road win over

848
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:18,040
Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors, but they lost through the Denver Nuggets,

849
00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:21,040
Speaker 1: and the San Antonio Spurs obviously lost a complete heartbreak

850
00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:24,600
Speaker 1: to the Oklahoma City Thunder yesterday. Concerning stat with the Knicks,

851
00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:28,520
Speaker 1: they're just five and seventeen this year in that same

852
00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:31,440
Speaker 1: list the top ten point differential teams on cleaning the glass,

853
00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:35,240
Speaker 1: they are just five and seventeen against those teams. Obviously,

854
00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,319
Speaker 1: injuries that played a role. I think like when it

855
00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:41,839
Speaker 1: comes to the upper level teams, execution and effort and

856
00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:44,040
Speaker 1: coaching and all those things can only carry you so

857
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:46,960
Speaker 1: far when you run into superior talent. And here's the

858
00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:49,759
Speaker 1: thing Jalen Brunson has had to do. A ton. A

859
00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:51,960
Speaker 1: lot of guys are being asked to do more than usual,

860
00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:54,680
Speaker 1: and just getting back your best players will go a

861
00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:57,080
Speaker 1: long way to helping that. And here's the silver lining.

862
00:41:57,120 --> 00:42:00,319
Speaker 1: They are thirty nine and thirteen against everyone else, which

863
00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:02,840
Speaker 1: means they're building the habits and the consistency in the

864
00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:05,800
Speaker 1: basketball culture to where if they add in the talent,

865
00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:09,520
Speaker 1: they should be able to push over the top number seven.

866
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:12,359
Speaker 1: The Milwaukee Bucks also mixed results three and three since

867
00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:15,320
Speaker 1: our last rankings, one in three against the quality opponents

868
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:17,480
Speaker 1: they faced, though they had a nice win against Oklahoma City,

869
00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:20,000
Speaker 1: but then the loss of the Celtics, loss of the Lakers,

870
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:22,040
Speaker 1: loss of the Pelicans. We can zoom out. Now take

871
00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:24,680
Speaker 1: a look at the Doc experience. Doc Rivers has been

872
00:42:24,719 --> 00:42:26,960
Speaker 1: the coach of the Milwaukee Bucks for twenty eight games.

873
00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:30,200
Speaker 1: In those twenty eight games, the Bucks are fifteen to thirteen.

874
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:33,120
Speaker 1: That is the sixteenth best record in the league over

875
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:35,319
Speaker 1: that span. If you guys remember, I talked a lot

876
00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:38,880
Speaker 1: about goals for the Bucks under Doc Rivers. I wanted

877
00:42:38,880 --> 00:42:41,040
Speaker 1: to see an offensive rating at one twenty because I

878
00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:43,480
Speaker 1: thought they needed to be a truly elite offense to win.

879
00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:45,759
Speaker 1: And I wanted to see a defensive rating at one

880
00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:48,080
Speaker 1: point fifteen, which I thought was a good mark to

881
00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:51,319
Speaker 1: demonstrate a good enough defense to get the job done

882
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:55,919
Speaker 1: in the postseason provided that their offense was elite. Here's

883
00:42:55,920 --> 00:43:00,520
Speaker 1: where they're at since Doc went joined the team. Fifteen

884
00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:03,600
Speaker 1: point one offensive rating. That's sixteenth in the league over

885
00:43:03,640 --> 00:43:06,080
Speaker 1: that's fan so they've been very mediocre on offense. But

886
00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:10,279
Speaker 1: here's a silver lining. One twelve point six defensive rating

887
00:43:10,360 --> 00:43:13,880
Speaker 1: over a twenty eight game sample size, eleventh best in

888
00:43:13,920 --> 00:43:18,040
Speaker 1: the league. So for what's that, roughly thirty thirty five

889
00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:21,800
Speaker 1: percent of the season, they've been a top eleven defense.

890
00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:27,160
Speaker 1: That's real, that's not something to completely ignore. Overall, they've

891
00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:30,840
Speaker 1: they've struggled against some specific matchups, particularly guard heavy offenses.

892
00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:32,960
Speaker 1: It's why they've struggled with the Lakers for instance, right,

893
00:43:33,719 --> 00:43:35,960
Speaker 1: But overall they've been really good on that end of

894
00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:37,920
Speaker 1: the floor. And again, the offense just hasn't come around.

895
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:40,839
Speaker 1: But if the offense comes around, that's where it could

896
00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:42,400
Speaker 1: really take off. And I think, honestly, it's been a

897
00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:45,480
Speaker 1: little bit of break rhythm with Giannis's hamstring injury and

898
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:48,239
Speaker 1: I think like and obviously with Chris Middleton being in

899
00:43:48,280 --> 00:43:49,600
Speaker 1: and out of the lineup all year, So there's some

900
00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:52,360
Speaker 1: factors there. They're really good offensively to start the season.

901
00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:54,960
Speaker 1: I do believe that that offense is still in there,

902
00:43:55,080 --> 00:43:56,879
Speaker 1: but they got to get to that point in order

903
00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:59,240
Speaker 1: to capitalize in how good they've been defensively. Number six,

904
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:02,520
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Clippers. They're going against an easier part

905
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:04,239
Speaker 1: of their schedule and they're getting back on track As

906
00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:06,160
Speaker 1: a result, they're five and two in their last seven

907
00:44:06,239 --> 00:44:09,920
Speaker 1: since our last rankings. They got the Blazers twice and

908
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:12,120
Speaker 1: the Hornets once. Some easy ones in there. They split

909
00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:14,279
Speaker 1: a home at home with the Philadelphia seventy six ers.

910
00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:16,160
Speaker 1: They did lose an ugly one at home to the

911
00:44:16,160 --> 00:44:19,320
Speaker 1: Indiana Pacers in that span. But on Friday Night and

912
00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:22,279
Speaker 1: one of their most impressive wins in recent months, they

913
00:44:22,320 --> 00:44:25,360
Speaker 1: went to Orlando and got in this rock fight, this

914
00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:28,239
Speaker 1: really fun rock fight of a basketball game, and just

915
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:31,040
Speaker 1: through really high level defense and really high level shot making,

916
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:33,959
Speaker 1: the Clippers got to win one hundred and ninety seven

917
00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:35,680
Speaker 1: on the road, and they looked more or less like

918
00:44:35,719 --> 00:44:37,799
Speaker 1: the Clippers, and I thought that was a really encouraging

919
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:40,319
Speaker 1: game for them. It's still in there. They just need

920
00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:43,840
Speaker 1: to recapture it before they get to April. We've seen

921
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:46,240
Speaker 1: teams like Denver last year kind of run into similar

922
00:44:46,239 --> 00:44:48,759
Speaker 1: stretches where they dominate and then they let their foot

923
00:44:48,760 --> 00:44:50,200
Speaker 1: off the gas at the end and somehow they get

924
00:44:50,239 --> 00:44:52,319
Speaker 1: it going in time for the postseason. That's got to

925
00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:55,400
Speaker 1: be the mold for the Clippers. Number five. The Dallas Mavericks.

926
00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:57,279
Speaker 1: Not going to talk too much about them because We

927
00:44:57,320 --> 00:44:59,720
Speaker 1: just did a whole deep dive on them again, Mavericks fans.

928
00:45:01,120 --> 00:45:04,080
Speaker 1: Earlier on the feed, we did a deep dive on

929
00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:07,960
Speaker 1: Dallas for Shuston and just how Luke has been dominating

930
00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:11,400
Speaker 1: and how good they've been defensively, all that kind of stuff.

931
00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:14,880
Speaker 1: You can find that on our YouTube feed. But brief synopsis,

932
00:45:15,280 --> 00:45:17,320
Speaker 1: Dallas has been the second best team in the league

933
00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:20,000
Speaker 1: since February fifth, and they're doing it on both ends

934
00:45:20,040 --> 00:45:21,960
Speaker 1: of the floor. Some really encouraging stuff there. They've been

935
00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:25,279
Speaker 1: a good defensive, rebounding and defensive rating over that span.

936
00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:28,480
Speaker 1: Number four Minnesota Timberwolves. They're five and two in their

937
00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:31,359
Speaker 1: last seven games since our last rankings, including some really

938
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:34,040
Speaker 1: impressive wins. They went into Denver and man handled the

939
00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:37,400
Speaker 1: Nuggets the other night, albeit without Jamal Murray. Since Carl

940
00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:41,400
Speaker 1: Towns went down, they started playing way better after they

941
00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:44,000
Speaker 1: put nas Reed in the starting lineup. They're now eight

942
00:45:44,040 --> 00:45:48,840
Speaker 1: and four in those games, sixteenth in offense, sixth in defense,

943
00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:52,760
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards averaging twenty six points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

944
00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:55,279
Speaker 1: I advocated for starting nas Reid because I thought it

945
00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:59,880
Speaker 1: was the best option for Minnesota under the circumstances. I

946
00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:03,800
Speaker 1: like Nikill Alexander Walker for particular matchups, but I just figured,

947
00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:06,120
Speaker 1: especially in the regular season, it makes sense to lean

948
00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:10,200
Speaker 1: into nos Reed. Really interesting comments from Anthony Edwards about

949
00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:13,239
Speaker 1: how nas Reed and his ball reversal has helped him

950
00:46:13,239 --> 00:46:15,719
Speaker 1: with his shot selection. So this is a similar thing

951
00:46:15,760 --> 00:46:19,560
Speaker 1: I've seen with the Lakers, for instance, with Jackson Hayes.

952
00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:22,160
Speaker 1: The dude catches on the wing and he just are

953
00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:24,560
Speaker 1: above the break and he just naturally is part of

954
00:46:24,600 --> 00:46:26,520
Speaker 1: his basketball kind of character. He just kind of flows

955
00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:28,480
Speaker 1: into a dribble handoff on the other end of the floor.

956
00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:30,840
Speaker 1: It helps get the action going from side to side.

957
00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:34,000
Speaker 1: And Anthony Ewards talked about how naz Reid doing that

958
00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:37,840
Speaker 1: for the Timberwolves has helped him kind of like feel

959
00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:41,600
Speaker 1: more about feel more aware of the offensive flow and

960
00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:43,759
Speaker 1: less dribbling the ball up to four and shooting and

961
00:46:43,800 --> 00:46:46,799
Speaker 1: more running some action and then maybe shooting if the

962
00:46:46,840 --> 00:46:48,319
Speaker 1: ball makes its way back to him. And I thought

963
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:51,120
Speaker 1: that that was really interesting and a good indicator of

964
00:46:51,120 --> 00:46:53,799
Speaker 1: the fit with nos Reed in the starting lineup number three,

965
00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:55,799
Speaker 1: the Oklahoma City Thunder. They're five and two since our

966
00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:58,719
Speaker 1: last rankings. They beat the Suns, the Knicks, and the

967
00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:01,359
Speaker 1: New Orleans Pelicans in that span held up pretty well

968
00:47:01,400 --> 00:47:04,520
Speaker 1: without shake Kids Alexander all things considered, now he's back

969
00:47:04,560 --> 00:47:07,040
Speaker 1: in the lineup, really just shined the light on how

970
00:47:07,080 --> 00:47:09,719
Speaker 1: great Jalen Williams is going to be again. We did

971
00:47:09,760 --> 00:47:12,040
Speaker 1: a deep dive on the thunder in an earlier segment today.

972
00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:14,759
Speaker 1: You can find that on our YouTube feed. Number two

973
00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:18,880
Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets five and two since the last rankings

974
00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:21,480
Speaker 1: on March eighteenth, two and oho with Jamal Murray in

975
00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:23,319
Speaker 1: the lineup, but in the five games without him, they

976
00:47:23,360 --> 00:47:26,600
Speaker 1: went three and two. Reggie Jackson just wasn't playing well

977
00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:28,600
Speaker 1: in the first four games in that set, and that

978
00:47:28,719 --> 00:47:32,120
Speaker 1: was really leading to some mixed offensive results. But Reggie

979
00:47:32,200 --> 00:47:34,960
Speaker 1: Jackson broke out in a big way against the Cleveland

980
00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:38,160
Speaker 1: Cavaliers and they looked awesome again. Big time win at

981
00:47:38,200 --> 00:47:41,040
Speaker 1: home over a really good team. Number One the Boston

982
00:47:41,080 --> 00:47:43,440
Speaker 1: Celtics five and two since our last rankings. Couple of

983
00:47:43,480 --> 00:47:46,480
Speaker 1: impressive wins in there against the Milwaukee Bucks and the

984
00:47:46,520 --> 00:47:50,080
Speaker 1: New Orleans Pelicans did have a couple of really ugly

985
00:47:50,120 --> 00:47:53,719
Speaker 1: losses in Atlanta. The first game the Guards sat out

986
00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:57,680
Speaker 1: and they went really cold, less than one point per

987
00:47:57,760 --> 00:47:59,960
Speaker 1: jump shot. Lost a game that blew a big lead

988
00:48:00,280 --> 00:48:03,600
Speaker 1: in that game, and then the other I think it

989
00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:08,000
Speaker 1: was two nights later, they played full full strength against

990
00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:09,200
Speaker 1: or it might have been a back to back, I

991
00:48:09,200 --> 00:48:12,080
Speaker 1: can't remember exactly, but they went into Atlanta full strength

992
00:48:12,120 --> 00:48:15,640
Speaker 1: minus Al Horford and they lost an overtime dogfight to

993
00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:18,560
Speaker 1: de Jonte Murray, who had forty four including the game

994
00:48:18,600 --> 00:48:20,719
Speaker 1: winner in that game. Jump shooting was more or less

995
00:48:20,719 --> 00:48:22,239
Speaker 1: the issue in both games. They took one hundred and

996
00:48:22,280 --> 00:48:24,239
Speaker 1: one jump shots in both games and only got one

997
00:48:24,280 --> 00:48:26,839
Speaker 1: hundred and seven points. And again, that's more or less

998
00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:29,279
Speaker 1: the thing with if there's one rub on Boston, it's like,

999
00:48:29,320 --> 00:48:31,480
Speaker 1: if they go cold with their jump shooting, you can

1000
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:33,560
Speaker 1: beat them, right and that that's been a consistent theme

1001
00:48:33,600 --> 00:48:35,520
Speaker 1: throughout the season. That's not a hot take, that's just

1002
00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:39,000
Speaker 1: a statistical fact. At this point this season, they've taken

1003
00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:41,680
Speaker 1: six thousand, six hundred and sixty seven field goal attempts.

1004
00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:44,440
Speaker 1: Three seven hundred and forty four of them have been

1005
00:48:44,560 --> 00:48:46,880
Speaker 1: jump shots. That's fifty six percent of their field goal attempts,

1006
00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:48,719
Speaker 1: most in the league. So they just have a certain

1007
00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:52,200
Speaker 1: amount of you know, they have a certain amount of

1008
00:48:52,280 --> 00:48:53,919
Speaker 1: like their fate just kind of tied up in jump

1009
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:56,080
Speaker 1: shot results, just kind of the reality of the Celtics.

1010
00:48:56,080 --> 00:48:58,400
Speaker 1: But again, I don't want to highlight the Atlanta wins

1011
00:48:58,480 --> 00:49:01,319
Speaker 1: or losses without making sure we highlight that they got

1012
00:49:01,320 --> 00:49:04,000
Speaker 1: big wins over the Bucks and the Pelicans in that span,

1013
00:49:04,040 --> 00:49:08,120
Speaker 1: although the Bucks sat out some guys. One last though

1014
00:49:08,160 --> 00:49:10,200
Speaker 1: on that front, I watched both of the Atlanta games,

1015
00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:13,200
Speaker 1: and the one thing that bothers me still is like,

1016
00:49:13,320 --> 00:49:16,680
Speaker 1: at the end of these games, they don't really have

1017
00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:20,040
Speaker 1: a bully ball option that they can go to to

1018
00:49:20,080 --> 00:49:23,040
Speaker 1: get a really good look close to the basket. And

1019
00:49:23,080 --> 00:49:25,880
Speaker 1: so that's the thing, Like, is Boston a better basketball

1020
00:49:25,880 --> 00:49:29,040
Speaker 1: team than Atlanta. Yeah, but if they get into a

1021
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:32,680
Speaker 1: mid range jump shooting contest with Dejonte Murray over a

1022
00:49:32,719 --> 00:49:36,280
Speaker 1: small sample size, Dejonte can get hot and make them

1023
00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:39,760
Speaker 1: and beat them, right, And so like, as long as

1024
00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:42,000
Speaker 1: the Celtics more or less have been a good clutch

1025
00:49:42,040 --> 00:49:43,960
Speaker 1: team for most of the season, I'm not trying to

1026
00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:47,600
Speaker 1: like pretend like that success hasn't been there. But we

1027
00:49:47,680 --> 00:49:49,520
Speaker 1: have seen from time to time they can go cold,

1028
00:49:49,719 --> 00:49:52,239
Speaker 1: and when they go cold, they struggle to find alternative

1029
00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:55,239
Speaker 1: methods of offense. But still at this point, five and

1030
00:49:55,280 --> 00:49:57,799
Speaker 1: two in their last seven games, number one in our

1031
00:49:57,840 --> 00:49:59,600
Speaker 1: power rankings. All Right, guys, that is all we have

1032
00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:02,000
Speaker 1: for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for

1033
00:50:02,040 --> 00:50:04,279
Speaker 1: supporting the show. We'll be back tomorrow. Should be a

1034
00:50:04,320 --> 00:50:06,520
Speaker 1: fun one. We got a big game tonight between the

1035
00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:09,920
Speaker 1: Pelicans and the Suns, and then I plan on doing

1036
00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:13,600
Speaker 1: a little breakdown of Iowa versus LSU. That should be fun. Obviously,

1037
00:50:13,640 --> 00:50:18,440
Speaker 1: I don't profess to be as well connected with women's

1038
00:50:18,440 --> 00:50:20,400
Speaker 1: soups as I am with the NBA. That's obvious and

1039
00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:22,840
Speaker 1: goes without saying, but I'm a huge basketball fan. I

1040
00:50:22,960 --> 00:50:26,000
Speaker 1: view tonight as musty television, and whatever basketball thoughts I

1041
00:50:26,040 --> 00:50:28,000
Speaker 1: have from the game, I'll share with you guys in

1042
00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:29,920
Speaker 1: tomorrow's show. Also plan on doing a mail back tomorrow

1043
00:50:30,000 --> 00:50:32,240
Speaker 1: to make sure you guys get those into the YouTube comments.

1044
00:50:32,239 --> 00:51:06,160
Speaker 1: All right, guys, see you tomorrow. The volume