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

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Speaker 1: Hoops Tonight, presented by Fando here at the volume Happy Friday, everybody.

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Speaker 1: I hope all of you guys had an amazing week

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Speaker 1: and that you got big plans for the weekend. We're

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Speaker 1: just gonna be hitting on three preseason games today. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna hit on Pelicans Bulls our first time seeing Zion

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Speaker 1: Williamson and over a year Lakers Sons, another impressive performance

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Speaker 1: from a Lakers team that a lot of people were

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Speaker 1: pessimistic about going into the season. And then last but

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Speaker 1: not least, Cavaliers Sixers, our first taste of Donovan Mitchell

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Speaker 1: with the Calves and of James Harden in his revenge

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Speaker 1: tour this year. I'm also gonna hit on a couple

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Speaker 1: of you guys comments from uh the YouTube comments from

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Speaker 1: the Victor Wemban Yama and Scoot Henderson video yesterday. I

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Speaker 1: really want to work hard this year to get you

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Speaker 1: guys is involved impossible and have more back and forth.

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Speaker 1: We got a lot of plans on that front. I'll

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Speaker 1: keep you guys posted. You guys know the drill before

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Speaker 1: we get started. Subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channels so

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Speaker 1: you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me

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Speaker 1: on Twitter at underscore Jason lt so you get you guys,

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Speaker 1: don't miss show announcements. That's also where I drop NBA

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Speaker 1: footage since I'm not allowed to use it here. That's

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Speaker 1: a great place for you guys to see some visual

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Speaker 1: aids for some of the concepts that I talked about

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Speaker 1: on the show. And last but not least, if you

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Speaker 1: miss one of these shows and you can't get back

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Speaker 1: over to YouTube to finish them, you can find them

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Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts under Hoops tonight. So there

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Speaker 1: were two main disagreements that I saw in my Victor

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Speaker 1: Women Yama and Scoot Henderson video yesterday. There were some

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Speaker 1: of you guys that tried to give other examples of legitimate,

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Speaker 1: you know, stretch bigs that were great rim protectors, and

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Speaker 1: there were two that were thrown out, one that I

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Speaker 1: disagree with and one that I do agree with. But

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Speaker 1: I think that at Victor is going to be even

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Speaker 1: another level above that. So a lot of people throughout

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Speaker 1: Joel em beat and the reality is that he's just

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Speaker 1: too low volume, you know, like he does shoot about

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Speaker 1: three three pointers per game, and he does shoot in

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Speaker 1: the high thirties right like about thirty give or take

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Speaker 1: a few depending on the year. But the reality is

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Speaker 1: his teams aren't guarding him out there because it's a

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Speaker 1: really low volume. If James Harden and Joel embiad run

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Speaker 1: a pick and pop, they're conceding that shot to try

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Speaker 1: to take away things in the paint. When guys are

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Speaker 1: closing out on him, they're closing out short preparing for

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Speaker 1: him to attack that close out. And the reason why

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Speaker 1: he's only taken three per game and he's not exactly

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Speaker 1: lighting you on fire with them. That's three completely wide

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Speaker 1: open attempts per game that he's barely making over a

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Speaker 1: third of. That's not a real stretch big. Also, when

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Speaker 1: I'm talking about Victor women Yama and this concept of

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Speaker 1: being a stretch big and rim protector, I'm talking about

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Speaker 1: it within the role. Obviously, Embeat is fifty times the

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Speaker 1: player that Victor is right now, So is Nicola Yokich,

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Speaker 1: So is Karl Anthony Town, so are so many of

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Speaker 1: the bigs around the league. But I'm just specifically talking

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Speaker 1: about plugging a player into a role as a rim

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Speaker 1: protector and as a stretch big, a legitimate stretch big

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Speaker 1: that teams would guard on the perimeter and be scared

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Speaker 1: of giving up open shots too. So there was one

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Speaker 1: other one of you guys, a couple of you guys.

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Speaker 1: I mentioned Brook Lopez a few years back. Now. His

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Speaker 1: shooting has fallen off of a cliff since this season,

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Speaker 1: so it kind of appears to be some kind of outlier,

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Speaker 1: but a few years back, he averaged over two Maye

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Speaker 1: threes per game and over two blocks per game, and

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Speaker 1: he was averaging right around I think six or seven

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Speaker 1: attempts per game. Most of them were catching shoot and

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Speaker 1: pretty wide open, but there were some complicated shots in there,

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Speaker 1: a few jab step pull ups, and occasionally some wild

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Speaker 1: step back threes that he would take and make from

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Speaker 1: time to time. Um So, I do think that that's

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Speaker 1: a good example of a legitimate stretch, big rim protector

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Speaker 1: that we had in the league a few years ago.

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Speaker 1: But I think that even that, even what we saw

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Speaker 1: from Brooke, I don't think it's gonna be nearly like

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Speaker 1: what we're gonna see from Victor. I think it's gonna

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Speaker 1: be the type of movement shooting and running him off

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Speaker 1: of screens and the off the dribble shooting you're gonna

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Speaker 1: see from him. I think he's gonna run picking inverted

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Speaker 1: pick and roll as the ball handler a lot, and

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Speaker 1: elevating to pull up threes. I think that what you

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Speaker 1: saw from Brooke that season, that one outlier season that

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Speaker 1: kind of stands out from the rest of his career.

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Speaker 1: I think You're gonna see that from Victor every single

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Speaker 1: season of his career, which is why I think he's

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Speaker 1: such a unique prospect. And then the other complaints. Several

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Speaker 1: of you guys were asking why I don't include Dwyane

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Speaker 1: Wade and aunt Uh Edwards in the um in the

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Speaker 1: like small super athletic guard archetype that we were talking about,

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Speaker 1: And the main reason why is that they're both bigger,

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Speaker 1: and Dwyane Wade is about six four or six five

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Speaker 1: with basketball shoes on, and Anthony Edwards is like six five,

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Speaker 1: six six with basketball shoes on, and so they have

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Speaker 1: like a a legitimate presence, a physical presence on the floor.

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Speaker 1: Like Dwyane Wade was routinely operating out of the post

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Speaker 1: um as a as a guard when he was in

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Speaker 1: his prime, he was, like it, consistently played significantly above

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Speaker 1: his size as an impact rebounder, at shot blocker, as

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Speaker 1: a back line defender, and things along those lines. Anthony

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Speaker 1: Edwards I have I've called him, I've called him like

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Speaker 1: mini Lebron with the way he attacks the rim because

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Speaker 1: he has such an incredible athletic presence going down the lane.

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Speaker 1: These guys that I'm talking about, these you know, John

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Speaker 1: Morants and Scoot Henderson and John Wall and Russell Westbrook

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Speaker 1: and all these guys, they're all shorter, and I mean,

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Speaker 1: I think John Wall is the tallest of that group,

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Speaker 1: and I think he's about six four was shoes on um.

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Speaker 1: But there's a specific reason why I'm kind of parsing

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Speaker 1: those guys out, Like Dwyane Wade and Anthony Edwards will

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Speaker 1: be able to like Dwyane Wade and his prime could

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Speaker 1: consistently guard bigger wings, and Anthony Edwards when he gets

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Speaker 1: to where he's going to be as a defensive player,

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Speaker 1: he's gonna be able to guard big wings as well.

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Speaker 1: But I since really appreciate you guys offering lots of

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Speaker 1: feedback and questions and comments and stuff in the YouTube comments.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna try to make more effort every single day

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Speaker 1: during our live shows, will respond to comments at the

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Speaker 1: end of the show, and then during these shows, I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna try better drop questions, comments and things like that

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Speaker 1: in the YouTube comments and I'll address them in the

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Speaker 1: next show that we do. So moving on to Pelicans bulls,

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Speaker 1: So this was kind of an as kicking the Pelicans

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Speaker 1: really man handle the bulls on both ends of the

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Speaker 1: floor that that roster is loaded, that Pelicans roster. And

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Speaker 1: it's such an interesting combination of ball handling because they

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Speaker 1: have all these guys like c. J. Mccollumn that can

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Speaker 1: dribble the ball well, Brandon Ingram can dribble the ball well.

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Speaker 1: You know, Um Davante Graham coming off the bench can

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Speaker 1: dribble the ball well, uh Um, Jose Alvarado can dribble

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Speaker 1: the ball. Well. They've got all this ball handling, but

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Speaker 1: they also have all these big rim pressuring forwards, like

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Speaker 1: like obviously Jonas Malan Tunas causes a lot of rim

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Speaker 1: pressure just with his presence around the basket. Zion Williamson

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Speaker 1: was just straight up frightening once again. And when he

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Speaker 1: catches the ball on that right kind of like uh

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Speaker 1: like high, like it's kind of like baseline extended short

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Speaker 1: corner he catches there and like he had a play

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Speaker 1: where he just ripped through and Patrick Williams just literally

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Speaker 1: had absolutely no chance. The next thing he knows, Zion

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Speaker 1: is hanging on the rim or when he rips through

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Speaker 1: to the left, he just he doesn't actually need to

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Speaker 1: get separation. If he gets the slightest edge on you

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Speaker 1: he's so strong in his center of gravity is so

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Speaker 1: low that he's just gonna blow through your shoulder and

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Speaker 1: get to where he wants to go. And you know,

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Speaker 1: he was driving and kicking to c J. McCollum for

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Speaker 1: wide open shots. And Davante Graham just a really interesting

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Speaker 1: combination of guys who can apply for rim pressure, guys

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Speaker 1: who can handle the basketball and shoot off of the dribble,

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Speaker 1: and just overall athleticism everywhere. And so as a result,

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Speaker 1: they generated a ton of rim pressure, and they generated

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Speaker 1: a ton of good, high quality three point shots, and

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Speaker 1: that's the two most efficient shots in basketball. And I

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Speaker 1: think they're gonna be a damn good offensive team as

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Speaker 1: result of all of that talent. Ziion Williamson was actually

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Speaker 1: especially active on the defensive end, trying to make plays

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Speaker 1: at the rim. He had a really nice chase down

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Speaker 1: block in transition, and then when he was in help side,

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Speaker 1: he was really loading up and trying to cause problems

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Speaker 1: around the rim. Still has a long way to go there,

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Speaker 1: but I do appreciate the effort that he's putting in

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Speaker 1: there and and and it is showing some results. Um

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Speaker 1: Jackson Hayes, he had a really, really good first shift,

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Speaker 1: playing the passing lanes and getting out in transition. He

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Speaker 1: just has these super long steps and super long arms.

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Speaker 1: He made two big plays in transition where I don't

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Speaker 1: know if any other player in the league would have

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Speaker 1: been able to score. Maybe a small handful of players

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Speaker 1: in the league could have scored in those specific situations,

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Speaker 1: like a bad bobbled pass that he tracked down on

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Speaker 1: the right wing and then still just grabbed and took

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Speaker 1: like two long steps to the basket and finished. He

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Speaker 1: had another one where he did like a dramatic kind

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Speaker 1: of pull over dribble over his head and then shot

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Speaker 1: a floater and he made it. Uh really impactful minutes

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Speaker 1: from him playing off ball defense and getting out in transition.

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Speaker 1: Davonte Graham, He's had a rough run so far in

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Speaker 1: New Orleans in the last couple of years, but he

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Speaker 1: actually a r might might even only be one year

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Speaker 1: with DeVonta Graham, but his pull up shooting is a

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Speaker 1: big impact thing, a big impact talent for this particular team.

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Speaker 1: He shot the ball really well last night. Just a

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Speaker 1: really impressive performance from the Pelicans again one preseason game.

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Speaker 1: But I'm really excited about that team and what they

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Speaker 1: could accomplish this year. Um, the Bulls are just clunky

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Speaker 1: and weird. Their offense is just a weird mix of

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Speaker 1: Mardros and pump faking as he comes off of screens

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Speaker 1: and Zach Lavine taking really difficult three point shots. They're

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Speaker 1: still way too thin on the front line. I know

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Speaker 1: they brought in Andre Drummond to try to address that,

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Speaker 1: but his fit is clunky, He's got bad hands, he

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Speaker 1: doesn't finish around the rim very well, and he just

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Speaker 1: was getting cooked in transition when the Pelicans really tried

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Speaker 1: to run the floor. So I I really, I'm just

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Speaker 1: I'm not. I feel like even in my power rankings

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Speaker 1: at sixteen, I might have had the Bulls too high.

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Speaker 1: They're a couple of teams there that I might have

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Speaker 1: to consider moving above them if we ever do. Uh.

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Speaker 1: I mean, most of our power rankings this season will

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Speaker 1: probably focus on the top ten. But I think you

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Speaker 1: can safely say that the Raptors are probably better. The

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Speaker 1: Pelicans are probably better. I might have jumped the gun

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Speaker 1: on that one, but again, let's give it a little

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Speaker 1: bit more time. And also, I was expecting a Lonzo

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Speaker 1: ball to be ready to start the season, all right,

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Speaker 1: let's move on to the Lakers. So this is their

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Speaker 1: second back to back encouraging preseason performance. And I know

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Speaker 1: they lost both games, but their core lineups when the

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Speaker 1: Stars were playing one both matchups one against a bad

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Speaker 1: but talented Sacramento Kings team and then last night or

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Speaker 1: Wednesday night against a very talented Phoenix Suns team that

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Speaker 1: has had a psychological hold over this team ever since

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis pulled his groin in Game four of the

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Speaker 1: Western Conference first round series. And uh, they've whooped their

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Speaker 1: ass every single time they've played. And so for them

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Speaker 1: to go out there without Anthony Davis with a ballball

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Speaker 1: grouping of when you and Gabriel with Lebron, James Russell, Westbrook,

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Speaker 1: Austin Reeves, and Patrick Beverley, for them to go out

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Speaker 1: and play as well as they did is an excellent

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Speaker 1: indicator for this team. I told you guys when we

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Speaker 1: started preseason breakdowns, I care about the preseason. I think

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Speaker 1: it is the best opportunity to build good habits, to

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Speaker 1: build an identity, to build conditioning, to build continuity, To

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Speaker 1: see the way you stack up against other teams. I

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Speaker 1: think it matters. And so to see the Lakers come out,

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Speaker 1: and some of it's Darvin Ham, some of it's just

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Speaker 1: them getting a different voice in the locker room and

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Speaker 1: them not wanting to listen to Frank Vogel anymore. A

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Speaker 1: lot of it is effort and focus and just trying

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Speaker 1: to actually be a good defensive team. And then a

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Speaker 1: lot of it is an influx of some better defensive players.

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Speaker 1: Patrick Beverley is a great defensive player. Getting Austin Reeves

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Speaker 1: a little bit more muscular over the summer that makes

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Speaker 1: him a better defensive player. I want to look at

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Speaker 1: the defensive ent from two different angles here. So first

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Speaker 1: of all, Austin Reaves and Patrick Beverley, the two of

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Speaker 1: them are, you know, both for undersize because they're both

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Speaker 1: considered undersized for their respective positions. Both of them are

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Speaker 1: are teams that are players that teams love to attack

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Speaker 1: in isolation. Their ability to hold their own in those

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Speaker 1: isolation situations and their ability to fight over the top

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Speaker 1: of ball screens just adds a dynamic to the Lakers

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Speaker 1: perimeter defense that they haven't had in uh in the

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Speaker 1: in the last year or so. Um Austin Reaves in

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Speaker 1: particular is an excellent positional defender. He gives ground. He

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Speaker 1: does not go for the basketball until you expose it

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Speaker 1: as you're going up for a shot. And so so

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Speaker 1: often you'll see guys put their head down and try

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Speaker 1: to drive past Austin and they're just driving right into

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Speaker 1: his chest, and he's just holding his ground, holding his ground,

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Speaker 1: And then you show the basketball and he'll poke it

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Speaker 1: away and or he'll just wall up and make you

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Speaker 1: make a tough shot over the top. He he got

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Speaker 1: stops on Devin Booker, he got stops on Landry Shammit.

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Speaker 1: He was sliding his feet and playing really solid defense.

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Speaker 1: Patrick Beverley is a more aggressive defend He's going after

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Speaker 1: the basketball and trying to make you feel uncomfortable. But

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Speaker 1: from the start of this game, the Sun's stars were

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Speaker 1: way less comfortable than usual, and as a result of that,

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Speaker 1: their shot quality was lower and had set its tone

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Speaker 1: for that game. Defensively, every other time the Sons have

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Speaker 1: played the Lakers in the previous year, they come out easy,

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Speaker 1: breezy basketball because they just weren't making them feel uncomfortable

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Speaker 1: from the opening tip. The second dynamic here that you're

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Speaker 1: seeing with the Lakers, and last night he was even

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Speaker 1: with their small ball groupings because when You Gabriel and

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Speaker 1: Lebron James were flying around trying to block shots, this

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Speaker 1: team is blocked seven and a half shots per game

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Speaker 1: through the first two preseason games. A lot of Damien Jones,

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Speaker 1: a lot of one You Gabriel, a lot of Anthony Davis,

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Speaker 1: a lot of Lebron James. Because of that, they are

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Speaker 1: building this unique reputation of a a perimeter pressure team

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Speaker 1: with their guards like Austin Reeves, Russell westbrookom Patrick Beverley,

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Speaker 1: that is going to swallow everything up around the rim.

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Speaker 1: Now they're going to give things up. They've been great

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Speaker 1: defensively these two games. One major caveat against the Phoenix

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Speaker 1: Suns pick and roll. They were offering help out of

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Speaker 1: the strong side wing every single time. So pretend Devin

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Speaker 1: Bookers on the left wing, he's coming over the eight

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Speaker 1: and ball screen, he's getting downhill, Russell west broke his

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Speaker 1: guarding Mcail Bridges, let's say, on the left wing. On

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Speaker 1: the right wing, so where the direction that Devin Booker

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Speaker 1: is driving, Bridges is right there. Russ is coming into

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Speaker 1: the elbow to contain that Devin Booker drive, and they're

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Speaker 1: consistently making that swing pass one pass away to a

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Speaker 1: wide open shooter. They did it about six times in

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Speaker 1: that first quarter and only made one of them. That is,

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Speaker 1: for the record, a staple of the Milwaukee Bucks defense

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Speaker 1: and presumably the scheme that Darvin Ham brought with him

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Speaker 1: to the Lakers. They give up threes at the expense

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Speaker 1: of taking everything away at the point of attack and

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Speaker 1: at the paint. It's it's a concept that can beat you,

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Speaker 1: and it's a concept that that can beat the other team.

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Speaker 1: If you bait teams into taking those shots and they

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Speaker 1: miss them, like the Sunstead last night, you get a

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Speaker 1: good result. You do what the Milwaukee Bucks did to

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Speaker 1: the Celtics in Game seven in Game six last year,

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Speaker 1: they make forty something threes or whatever they did in

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Speaker 1: the last two games, and you end up getting beat.

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Speaker 1: So there's a it's a gamble there. But at the

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Speaker 1: very least, they're going to be very good in two

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Speaker 1: specific areas defensively, they're gonna be good at the point

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Speaker 1: of attack, and they're gonna be good in the paint.

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Speaker 1: That is enough to build a functional defense around. But

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Speaker 1: they're gonna have to figure out some way to at

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Speaker 1: least make it a little bit more difficult for these

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Speaker 1: teams to shoot threes, especially in easy kickouts like they

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Speaker 1: do when they're helping out of the strong side like

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Speaker 1: that um on the The other thing that that I

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Speaker 1: wanted to point out as it pertains to the shot blocking, again,

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Speaker 1: seven and a half blocks that would have led the

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Speaker 1: league last year. I think that the lead. The team

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Speaker 1: that led the league had about six and a half

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Speaker 1: blocks per game last year, again just two preseason games,

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Speaker 1: but a good indicator of their activity around the rim.

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Speaker 1: Most of this is extra efforts, and you're seeing it

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Speaker 1: from Lebron James, and you're seeing it from when you

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Speaker 1: and Gabriel. You're seeing it from Anthony Davis seeing a

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Speaker 1: a that you could let happen. You could just let

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Speaker 1: him go, but instead saying no, I'm gonna go get

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Speaker 1: this thing. There was a play in transition where Michael

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Speaker 1: Bridges ended up getting a run out and he had

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Speaker 1: an opportunity at the rim. Lebron could have just let

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Speaker 1: him go, but instead he loaded up and went for

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Speaker 1: the block. It sends The most important part of that

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Speaker 1: is once you start making those extra effort plays, once

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Speaker 1: you start getting block shots to the two and of

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Speaker 1: seven and a half per game, you start to get

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Speaker 1: in the other team's heads. It gets to the point,

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Speaker 1: and we saw this a ton with the Lakers. Guys

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Speaker 1: start to start thinking their shot blockers around them even

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Speaker 1: when there's not, and it makes them feel again the

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Speaker 1: big key defensive concept that I talked about comfort. When

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Speaker 1: you make teams feel uncomfortable because they're getting in you

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Speaker 1: at the point of attack and they're flying around trying

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Speaker 1: to block shots at the rim, that right there, in

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Speaker 1: and of itself will make stars feel uncomfortable, which makes

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Speaker 1: them less confident when the rising up into shots, which

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Speaker 1: directly affects shot results. So I really like what I'm

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Speaker 1: seeing so far from the Lakers on the defensive end,

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Speaker 1: even though it's not perfect, even though they're gonna have

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Speaker 1: some work they gotta do, I really like what I'm

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Speaker 1: seeing there. Um, the Lakers are making a concerted effort

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Speaker 1: to get out in transition so far in preseason. Once

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Speaker 1: again last night, Lebron James and Russell Westbrook attacking down

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Speaker 1: the floor when they get stops. Russ had a really

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Speaker 1: nice left handed finish in transition on the first possession

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Speaker 1: of the game, and then Lebron one of the most

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Speaker 1: ridiculous finishes I've ever seen where he was going along

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Speaker 1: the left side of the rim and extended like he

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Speaker 1: was gonna go with his right hand, and then basically

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Speaker 1: turned his body and flipped a left handed spinning shot

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Speaker 1: off the glass. Just a ridiculous shot. The main key

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Speaker 1: there is this is not gonna be a good half

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Speaker 1: court offensive team. They don't shoot the ball well enough.

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Speaker 1: They simply don't. So this is a brute force offense

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Speaker 1: that's gonna rie heavily on Lebron James and Anthony Davis,

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Speaker 1: generating rim pressure when when things get tight. But as

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Speaker 1: much as they can avoid the half court, the better,

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Speaker 1: because if they can get out in transition where they're

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Speaker 1: gonna be a much better off pensive team, let's say

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Speaker 1: twenty percent of the time, then that buffers and ads

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Speaker 1: and supports your half court efficiency. I'll give you an example,

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Speaker 1: the Lakers. That team, according to Cleaning the Glass, was

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Speaker 1: not a very good half court offense team. But before

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Speaker 1: they went into the bubble, I believe they were fourth,

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Speaker 1: it was either sixth or fourth. Before they went into

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Speaker 1: the bubble, they were a top six offense and by

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Speaker 1: offensive rating. Even though they were a bad half court offense.

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Speaker 1: It was because they got out in transition so frequently

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Speaker 1: that it bolstered those numbers enough. And the best way

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Speaker 1: to get out in transition is to get stops. And

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Speaker 1: so they're building an identity as a defensive team that

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Speaker 1: prioritizes the point of attack and the rim, and when

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Speaker 1: they get the basketball, they run the damn floor because

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Speaker 1: that's their best opportunity to score. I like the identity

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Speaker 1: that they're building so far. A couple other quick notes

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Speaker 1: that I wanted to hit Austin reads the ball handler.

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Speaker 1: So uh, we heard a lot about Austin Reeves doing

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Speaker 1: well in early training camp as a primary ball handler.

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Speaker 1: I've always really liked him attacking closeouts making reads, but

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Speaker 1: I had heard over the summer that he put on

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Speaker 1: a little bit of muscle and then he had been

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Speaker 1: working a ton on his handling and shooting, and I

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Speaker 1: he's flat out turning into a very good second side creator.

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Speaker 1: He's running pick and roll. He's not he's not an

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Speaker 1: excellent athlete, right, but what he's doing is he's playing smart,

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Speaker 1: old man basketball at the point at the as the

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Speaker 1: initiator and pick and roll, he's getting over the top

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Speaker 1: of the screen. Getting the defender on his back side,

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Speaker 1: slowing down his dribble, pinning him on his backside, working

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Speaker 1: into the lane. He was drawing fouls yesterday by shooting

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Speaker 1: those little floaters and push shots as the defenders draped

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Speaker 1: on his back. He's consistently making good reads and swing

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Speaker 1: passes out of it, and he's attacking closeouts as well

432
00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:51,080
Speaker 1: as he does. I put an example of one of

433
00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:55,520
Speaker 1: Austin's closeout attacks in our video in video form on

434
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,360
Speaker 1: my Twitter feeds, you guys can find that there. Really

435
00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:00,880
Speaker 1: like what I'm seeing from Austin Reeves so far. Last

436
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,480
Speaker 1: note on this game, the Suns continue to have weird

437
00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:05,600
Speaker 1: negative energy. Now some of that youve got to give

438
00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:07,600
Speaker 1: the Lakers credit for for the way they played defensively,

439
00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,920
Speaker 1: but once again, DeAndre Ayton was awful on the defensive

440
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 1: end of the floor, really bad in tape. I shared

441
00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,280
Speaker 1: one specific clip of that on my Twitter feed. You

442
00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:17,480
Speaker 1: can see that there. Look, I said that the Sons

443
00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:18,840
Speaker 1: were gonna go out and win a ton of games

444
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,040
Speaker 1: just on the strength of their talent. And it's still

445
00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:23,440
Speaker 1: early and there's a long way to go, but there

446
00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:25,560
Speaker 1: are two preseason games. If they come out with this

447
00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,040
Speaker 1: kind of effort. They're just simply going to lose a

448
00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,560
Speaker 1: lot of games this year if they're not careful. All right,

449
00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:38,320
Speaker 1: before we get out of here, um, Sixers Calves. I

450
00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:40,160
Speaker 1: only watched the first shift of this game, so I'm

451
00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,520
Speaker 1: only gonna give you a couple of notes on the

452
00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:44,840
Speaker 1: Calves front. And when I say first shift, I just

453
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:46,920
Speaker 1: watched the starters go against each other for about six

454
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,600
Speaker 1: minutes each. I just have a ton of film that

455
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:51,000
Speaker 1: I still have to watch, and I haven't gotten to

456
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,119
Speaker 1: this full game yet. So Um, First of all, they

457
00:22:54,119 --> 00:22:56,840
Speaker 1: started Caris LeVert. Now Evan Mobley is dealing with an

458
00:22:56,840 --> 00:22:58,960
Speaker 1: ankle sprain, so they plugged Kevin Love into the power

459
00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:00,640
Speaker 1: forward position. We're gonna talk about him in a minute,

460
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 1: because he was awesome at least in that first shift.

461
00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,000
Speaker 1: But I really thought it was interesting that they put

462
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,600
Speaker 1: Harris Lavert at small forward. Who knows if that's something

463
00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:10,560
Speaker 1: that they plan on doing during the regular season or

464
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:12,440
Speaker 1: if that was just something they did for this specific

465
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:16,119
Speaker 1: preseason lineup, but it's a redundancy and ball handling. They

466
00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,359
Speaker 1: don't need him with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell on

467
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:20,760
Speaker 1: the floor, and he's simply not as good defensively as

468
00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:22,399
Speaker 1: some of the other wings that they have on the roster,

469
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:25,880
Speaker 1: So I thought that was strange. But the natural give

470
00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:28,960
Speaker 1: and take between Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell on the

471
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,840
Speaker 1: offensive end already looks pretty good. They're actively hunting each other,

472
00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,720
Speaker 1: they're making quick decisions, they're not dribbling their out of

473
00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,560
Speaker 1: the basketball. There's already a good natural give and take there.

474
00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:43,960
Speaker 1: If that's very encouraging for Calves fans. Also, um, let's

475
00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:48,399
Speaker 1: let's do uh Kevin Love first. Kevin Love is a

476
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 1: legitimate knockdown three point shooter, as you guys all know,

477
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:53,879
Speaker 1: and I know this from what I covered him with

478
00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:59,320
Speaker 1: the Calves. He every single time the Sixers offered help

479
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:01,600
Speaker 1: out of his posis issue. In this game, Kevin Love

480
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:04,880
Speaker 1: made them pay, knocking down shots on the on the wing,

481
00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,640
Speaker 1: above the break and in the corner as well. He's

482
00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,560
Speaker 1: got a quick release, He's got a good pump fake

483
00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,439
Speaker 1: that gets people to blow by. I don't necessarily like

484
00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,000
Speaker 1: it the fit necessarily next to Alan Um because I

485
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,040
Speaker 1: think it'll be I I just don't quite think they're

486
00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,080
Speaker 1: fast enough in terms of overall foot speed with that grouping.

487
00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:25,440
Speaker 1: But and when they actually are healthy. You're gonna see

488
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:28,760
Speaker 1: Evan Mobley next to Alan. But I really like the

489
00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,200
Speaker 1: idea of running a bench line up with Evan Mobley

490
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,080
Speaker 1: and Kevin Love because I think Kevin Mobley's overall foot

491
00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:36,159
Speaker 1: speed will allow them to hang in transition and in

492
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,320
Speaker 1: five out settings really well. And Kevin Love just shoots

493
00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:41,760
Speaker 1: the ball so damn well. It's gonna help solve a

494
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,119
Speaker 1: lot of their spacing concerns. And then you saw a

495
00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:47,440
Speaker 1: lot of that classic Kevin Love transition passing yesterday as well.

496
00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:50,320
Speaker 1: I like it as a as a mix up when

497
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:53,240
Speaker 1: spacing becomes an issue to put him next to Mobile

498
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,480
Speaker 1: and just give you a different look, especially if Mobile

499
00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,159
Speaker 1: develops as a three point shooter. Last note from the

500
00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:01,080
Speaker 1: Calves in this game, Donovan Mitchell the opening tip, decided

501
00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 1: to guard James Harden, got up into him, got up

502
00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:07,200
Speaker 1: into his airspace, made him uncomfortable. Look. This guy got

503
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:12,280
Speaker 1: fairly and legitimately criticized for being atrocious on the defensive

504
00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:17,040
Speaker 1: end last year. One preseason game wasn't perfect, but I

505
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,720
Speaker 1: liked I liked the mentality of him trying to address

506
00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:24,160
Speaker 1: that concern early in this season. Going over to the Sixers,

507
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,919
Speaker 1: James Harden to me, looked about the same. And I

508
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,960
Speaker 1: say that as a biased person who sincerely believes he's

509
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:34,200
Speaker 1: gonna have a bounce back year. But this is preseason.

510
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:37,280
Speaker 1: As I've said, almost all of the players are a

511
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:40,959
Speaker 1: little bit slow legged right now because they're out of shape.

512
00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,800
Speaker 1: They're building up their conditioning. I always refer to it

513
00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,640
Speaker 1: as breaking through the wall. In your preseason conditioning. There's

514
00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:51,120
Speaker 1: about four weeks where your body is just getting destroyed

515
00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:53,639
Speaker 1: because you're not used to playing every day to this

516
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,280
Speaker 1: level of intensity. You're not used to this level of

517
00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,800
Speaker 1: physicality every single day. You're worn out. But right around

518
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,159
Speaker 1: that fourth week in this case, basically the end of

519
00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:05,719
Speaker 1: if training camp started September thirty, we're talking like second

520
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:07,720
Speaker 1: third week of the regular season is where I'm really

521
00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,920
Speaker 1: going to start looking at athleticism. If James Harden still

522
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 1: looks pretty slow in early November, then I'll start to

523
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,880
Speaker 1: be concerned. But I'm not overly concerned here. He's still

524
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:18,600
Speaker 1: got into the paint a couple of times, made a

525
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,879
Speaker 1: really nice and one floater um drew a foul in

526
00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:23,920
Speaker 1: a driving lay up going left once. He's still got

527
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,560
Speaker 1: some dribble penetration, but still doesn't look like he had

528
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,119
Speaker 1: the burst that he had a few years ago. But

529
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,240
Speaker 1: I'm not concerned until about a month from now. The

530
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:33,639
Speaker 1: same goes for Joe l Embiid, and he's gonna be

531
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:35,640
Speaker 1: one of the last guys to get his conditioning going,

532
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,040
Speaker 1: so I'm not worried about his shot blocking or shot

533
00:26:38,119 --> 00:26:42,320
Speaker 1: making as well. Last note from this game, p J Tucker.

534
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:44,960
Speaker 1: One of my favorite things about p J. Tucker is

535
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:46,879
Speaker 1: he knows what he's good and bad at, and he

536
00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:49,200
Speaker 1: tries to find ways to impact the game. As a result,

537
00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:52,680
Speaker 1: this guy is not a knockdown shooter and he struggles

538
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:56,240
Speaker 1: to attack close outs. That's just reality. He had a

539
00:26:56,280 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 1: stretch with the Houston Rockets where he shot corner three

540
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:00,680
Speaker 1: as well, but that doesn't appear to be going on anymore.

541
00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:04,160
Speaker 1: But he does two things that make him an impactful

542
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:08,440
Speaker 1: offensive player. Despite that one crashing the offensive glass, he'll

543
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:11,120
Speaker 1: just run down the lane and just truck stick somebody

544
00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:13,440
Speaker 1: to fight for a position and go get the basketball.

545
00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:18,639
Speaker 1: But secondly, off ball pain screens, so like if there

546
00:27:18,640 --> 00:27:21,359
Speaker 1: if p J. Tucker's man abandons him out of the

547
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:25,960
Speaker 1: corner to go help on a drive somewhere and Tobias

548
00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,439
Speaker 1: Harris is on the wing with him and he's in

549
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,480
Speaker 1: the corner. Rather than just staying there knowing that if

550
00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:33,760
Speaker 1: he catches it, he's got a thirty four percent chance

551
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:36,400
Speaker 1: or whatever of knocking down that corner three, he will

552
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:40,760
Speaker 1: just run and screen Tobias Harris's man, which then gets

553
00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,600
Speaker 1: Tobias Harris a wide open three. So now even though

554
00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:47,720
Speaker 1: the um the Calves in this case, made a decision

555
00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:51,960
Speaker 1: to leave p J. Tucker open, the result is Tobias

556
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,200
Speaker 1: Harris got open, and that that off ball screening he

557
00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:57,639
Speaker 1: did a bunch of this in that first shift that

558
00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,879
Speaker 1: I wish Russell Westbrook would just watch it, watch tape

559
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,680
Speaker 1: of that for a while and gain an understanding of

560
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:07,879
Speaker 1: how you can be an impactful off ball player even

561
00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:10,000
Speaker 1: when you're not shooting the ball well. And again, I

562
00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:12,440
Speaker 1: like what I've seen from Russ through two games. He's

563
00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:14,720
Speaker 1: got a long way to go before I start believing

564
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:16,679
Speaker 1: in what he can do, but those are types of

565
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:20,000
Speaker 1: little things that will help him be more impactful um

566
00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:22,800
Speaker 1: in off ball situations, especially on the offensive en I

567
00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:24,280
Speaker 1: didn't even get to Russ when we were talking to

568
00:28:24,359 --> 00:28:28,400
Speaker 1: Lakers really quickly. You know by a little one minute rule. UM.

569
00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:30,720
Speaker 1: I thought he was really good in transition on offense.

570
00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:33,000
Speaker 1: I thought he was really good off ball and offense,

571
00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:35,439
Speaker 1: made a couple of threes, attacks closeouts well, but he

572
00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,240
Speaker 1: did not do well in primary creation against that Sun's

573
00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,239
Speaker 1: set defense. And that's to be expected. He's just not

574
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:43,880
Speaker 1: good enough anymore as a primary creator to be able

575
00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:48,000
Speaker 1: to successfully create good shots against an elite defensive team.

576
00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 1: But I'm not as concerned about that because I think

577
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 1: on this team, with Kendrick Nunn, with a healthy Lebron,

578
00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,000
Speaker 1: healthy Anthony Davis, with Patrick Beverley, what he's been doing

579
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,120
Speaker 1: with the basketball, and with Dennis Schroeder, They're not gonna

580
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:00,440
Speaker 1: need him to create as much. They need him to

581
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:02,600
Speaker 1: defend the hell out of the basketball on and off

582
00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,360
Speaker 1: the ball. They need him to attack in transition. They

583
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:09,320
Speaker 1: need him to attack in off ball situations, at driving closeouts,

584
00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:12,560
Speaker 1: knocking down the occasional corner three. That's where he's gonna

585
00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,560
Speaker 1: be an impactful basketball player for this team. If he

586
00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,280
Speaker 1: does all of those things, then he will be a

587
00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:20,200
Speaker 1: huge plus for this team and they won't need to

588
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,160
Speaker 1: trade him. But he needs to demonstrate that he's willing

589
00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,240
Speaker 1: to do those things night in and night out. We're

590
00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:26,640
Speaker 1: two games in and he's done a good job, but

591
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:28,440
Speaker 1: we've got a long way to go. All right. That

592
00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:30,120
Speaker 1: is all I have for this week. Guys. We're gonna

593
00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,440
Speaker 1: take the rest of the weekend off. Monday, We're gonna

594
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:34,720
Speaker 1: have a show coming out late at night. I'm I'm

595
00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:37,040
Speaker 1: going to San Diego tomorrow morning, and I'm gonna be

596
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:40,200
Speaker 1: gone through Monday at about you know, sometime in the afternoon.

597
00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:43,840
Speaker 1: But that night I'm going to watch those games and

598
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,600
Speaker 1: some games from the weekend. We'll have our first film

599
00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 1: breakdown of next week coming out on Monday night, and

600
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:52,160
Speaker 1: then we'll go back to our normal schedule starting on Tuesday.

601
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:54,840
Speaker 1: As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting the show.

602
00:29:55,040 --> 00:30:43,960
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. I will see you after the weekend.

603
00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:45,000
Speaker 1: The volume