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Speaker 2: All right, welcome to Hoops to Night. You're at the volume.

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Speaker 1: Happy Friday, everybody. I hope all of you guys had

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Speaker 1: an incredible week. We have a absolutely jam packed show today.

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Speaker 1: I'm going to start with some follow up thoughts after

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Speaker 1: looking into some numbers from last night's matchup between the

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Speaker 1: Celtics and the Nuggets. After that, we're going to talk

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Speaker 1: about the Dallas Mavericks getting a much needed win against

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Speaker 1: the Miami Heat on the strength of their defense. Talk

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

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Speaker 1: the Minnesota Timbrol's got a huge win on the road

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Speaker 1: in Indiana. Absolutely monster night from Anthony Edward's first game

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Speaker 1: without Karl Anthony Towns in the lineup. Some interesting stuff

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Speaker 1: coming out of that side of things. At the end,

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Speaker 1: I know I'm a little late to the party year,

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Speaker 1: but I want to talk a little bit about the

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Speaker 1: Lakers and their struggles against the Sacramento Kings and what

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Speaker 1: I took away from that game that at the end

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Speaker 1: of the show. In the show last night, I had

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Speaker 1: a bunch of questions around the league, but a lot

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Speaker 1: of follow up questions from that Nuggets Celtics game. So

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Speaker 1: I'm going to hit that at the tail end of

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Speaker 1: the show. You guys know the drop before we get started.

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Speaker 1: Subscribe to the volumes YouTube channels, or to i should say,

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Speaker 1: to the Hoops Tonight channel so you don't miss any

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Speaker 1: more of our videos. Don't forget about our podcast feed

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Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight and also

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Speaker 1: is super helpful if you leave a rating and a

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Speaker 1: review on that front. Follow me on Twitter at underscore JSONLTS.

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Speaker 1: You guys, don't miss any film threads that I do

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Speaker 1: from time to time or show announcements, and then, last

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Speaker 1: but not least, keep dropping mail back questions in the

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Speaker 1: YouTube comments so we can keep hitting them throughout the

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Speaker 1: rest of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball.

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Speaker 1: So there was a moment at the end of the

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Speaker 1: game We're staying Van Gundy last night went on this

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Speaker 1: rant about how Boston's one of the best three point

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Speaker 1: shooting teams in the league and how they are going

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Speaker 1: to shoot better eventually and that this is super encouraging.

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Speaker 1: Now here's the thing. I actually was encouraged on the

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Speaker 1: Boston front last night. My major takeaway last night was

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Speaker 1: that Denver solidified and proved that they deserve to be

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Speaker 1: the favorite and that they would be the safest bet

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Speaker 1: to win the title this season. But it also proved

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Speaker 1: that Boston is capable of beating them. There is a

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Speaker 1: pathway there that exists for Boston that doesn't exist for

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Speaker 1: most of the teams in the NBA. So I did

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Speaker 1: think there was a lot of reasons for optimism on

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Speaker 1: the Boston front after last night's game. That said, I

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Speaker 1: do not think it comes down to making shots. As

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Speaker 1: a matter of fact, I remember, as I was watching

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Speaker 1: the game, I was like, I kind of felt like

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Speaker 1: it was a classic rock fight game.

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Speaker 2: It felt like both.

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Speaker 1: Teams didn't shoot particularly especially well on jump shots, and

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Speaker 1: I didn't think that that played a significant role in

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Speaker 1: the game. I just thought that Denver got better shots

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Speaker 1: closer to the rim. And usually with the Synergy, the

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Speaker 1: app that I use, I can watch film a lot

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Speaker 1: the night of, but I can't really get into numbers

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Speaker 1: until the following morning when their crews go in and

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Speaker 1: they sort through all the play types and actually put

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Speaker 1: all the data together, right. And so here's a couple

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Speaker 1: of pieces of information from last night's game that I

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Speaker 1: thought were interesting. Boston took forty five jump shots, Denver

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Speaker 1: took thirty one. That's just a difference in their shot profile.

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Speaker 1: They get a lot of shots close to the rim Boston.

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Speaker 1: Boston got one point zero two to two points per

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Speaker 1: jump shots, so a little over a point per shot.

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Speaker 1: Denver got zero point seven to seven to four, So

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Speaker 1: they did not shoot well compared to Boston. Both teams

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Speaker 1: did eleven unguarded jump shots. According to Synergy, Boston got

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Speaker 1: fifteen points on their eleven unguarded shots. Denver got six

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Speaker 1: on their eleven unguarded shots over the course of the season.

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Speaker 1: Boston's typically a little over one point three points per

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Speaker 1: unguarded jump shot, Denver's usually a little over one point two.

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Speaker 1: So Boston is a better unguarded jump shooting team than

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Speaker 1: Denver is by a small margin. But Boston actually shot

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Speaker 1: above their perceived average on those types of shots, and

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Speaker 1: Denver actually shot substantially below. As a matter of fact,

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Speaker 1: for the two games that these two teams played against

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Speaker 1: each other, Boston shot really well on unguarded jump shots

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Speaker 1: in their first matchup, and they took eighteen of them

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Speaker 1: in Boston and scored thirty points on them unguarded. Again,

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Speaker 1: that's not all the jump shots, it's just the ones

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Speaker 1: that were high quality open jump shots. So in the

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Speaker 1: two matchups between the two teams, Boston has scored one

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Speaker 1: point five to five points per unguarded jumper, which is

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Speaker 1: way above their season average, and Denver has scored zero

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Speaker 1: point eight four points per unguarded jumper, which is way

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Speaker 1: below their season average. So like that to me, is

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Speaker 1: not to what you lean on. If you're Boston, you're

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Speaker 1: not going to shoot better against You might have a

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Speaker 1: game in Boston or a couple games in Boston in

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Speaker 1: an NBA Finals series where you just get crazy hot,

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Speaker 1: like we know Boston can, and they might win by

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Speaker 1: ten fifteen points in those games, but more or less

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Speaker 1: in the knockdown, drag out fist fights of games that

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Speaker 1: these teams are going to generally engage in if they

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Speaker 1: meet in the finals, Boston shot better than Denver did,

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Speaker 1: so that to me isn't the swing factor there. Denver

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Speaker 1: overcame their poor shooting because of their ability to consistently

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Speaker 1: generate high quality shots around the rim, just like they

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Speaker 1: did down the stretch with all those actions. The case

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Speaker 1: for Boston is what Jalen Brown was able to do

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Speaker 1: with Aaron Gordon, Because you know, it's interesting. I was

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Speaker 1: talking with Adam Mars about this earlier today. I went

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Speaker 1: on his show for about an hour and we talked

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Speaker 1: about this game in a couple other games from last night.

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Speaker 1: Make sure you guys check out the I think the

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Speaker 1: YouTube channels called All In. It's the show that he

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Speaker 1: does with Tim Legler, So go there if you guys

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Speaker 1: want to see that. But I was talking with him

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Speaker 1: about this earlier today. But like Aaron Gordon's an interesting

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Speaker 1: defensive player because he's got the length to contest shots

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Speaker 1: on the likes of Kevin Durant right, and he's got

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Speaker 1: the strength to deal with the bully ball stuff that

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Speaker 1: you see from guys like Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard

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Speaker 1: and Lebron James. But it's the speed and strength of

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Speaker 1: Jylen Brown that allowed him to consistently beat him off

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Speaker 1: the dribble and finish around the rim on him. I

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Speaker 1: thought that was an interesting matchup. That was a huge

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Speaker 1: silver lining for Boston. If Jason Tatum can meet that

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Speaker 1: aggression and help inflict his physicality on the game, that's

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Speaker 1: the path It's not We're going to make more shots.

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Speaker 1: That's not the pathway to beating Denver. You outshot them

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Speaker 1: in the two games and you lost both games. Denver

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Speaker 1: is just as likely to have games where they shoot

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Speaker 1: much better as you are. So to me, it most

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Speaker 1: likely comes down to if Boston wins a series like this,

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Speaker 1: it's taking advantage of their physical advantages on the perimeter.

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Speaker 1: So those are just a couple of quick thoughts. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna get more into Boston Denver at the end of

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Speaker 1: the show when we get into our mailbag. All right,

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Speaker 1: moving on to Dallas Miami. So this was a game

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Speaker 1: that Dallas desperately needed coming off. I think they had

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Speaker 1: lost five of their previous six games. The got off

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Speaker 1: to a rough start. They Luca was really disengaged defensively early,

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Speaker 1: was getting taken advantage of by Nicole jovich by in

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Speaker 1: helping recover situations on rolls to the basket.

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Speaker 2: He got back cut along the baseline for a layup.

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Speaker 1: There was a play in transition defense where Luca was

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Speaker 1: the guy back who's underneath the basket, and he let

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Speaker 1: Bam sneak right behind him, and Jimmy threw a pass

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Speaker 1: right over the top two because he just wasn't paying

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Speaker 1: attention and gave up a layup and kind of trickled.

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Speaker 2: Down the roster.

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Speaker 1: They had a really bad defensive quarter and Duncan Robinson

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Speaker 1: came out red hot. I think he hit four threes

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Speaker 1: in the in the first quarter, and then Dallas was

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Speaker 1: kind of cold. Luca was missing his step back jumps

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Speaker 1: how to start the game. His kickout threes weren't going in,

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Speaker 1: and so they dug themselves in a little bit of

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Speaker 1: a hole there, right, and like at the end of

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Speaker 1: the day, like getting humiliated sometimes is a great motivator.

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Speaker 1: Like for six games before that game against Miami, Dallas

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Speaker 1: had a defensive rating of one twenty seven point three.

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Speaker 1: That was five points per one hundred possessions, worse than

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Speaker 1: anyone else in the league over that span. That's a

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Speaker 1: substantial problem right there. They were giving up I've talked

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Speaker 1: about it on the show before, but a lot of

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Speaker 1: overhelping and bad off ball defense leaving shooters open. They

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Speaker 1: were giving up twenty three wide open threes per game,

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Speaker 1: again according to NBA dot com, and a wide open

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Speaker 1: three is a defender at least six feet away. They

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Speaker 1: were giving up twenty three of those per game over

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Speaker 1: that six game span, which was the third worst in

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Speaker 1: the league over that span.

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Speaker 2: In the first quarter, they had a one forty four.

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Speaker 1: Defensive rating, and I think it just finally woke them

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Speaker 1: up and they finally locked in. They had one of

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Speaker 1: their best defensive quarters in the last few weeks in

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Speaker 1: that second quarter against Miami's they got back into the game.

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Speaker 1: They had a one to eleven defensive rating in the

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Speaker 1: second half, which is perfectly fine. They dominated the glass

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Speaker 1: in the second half. They grabbed eight of available defensive rebounds,

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Speaker 1: which is awesome. The biggest play of the game was

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Speaker 1: a rebound play. It was a miss three where Maxi

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Speaker 1: Kleba kind of looped around the baseline and tapped it

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Speaker 1: out and that got swung to Kyrie Irving in the

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Speaker 1: left corner for a big three. I think it put

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Speaker 1: him up one o nine, one oh four if I

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Speaker 1: remember correctly. It was like the biggest shot of the

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Speaker 1: game off of an offensive rebound. They dominated the game

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Speaker 1: with their athleticism in the throughout the rest of the game.

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Speaker 1: That is there that is one of their big advantages.

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Speaker 2: Perimeter speed.

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Speaker 1: They can contend on the perimeter defensively, and they've got guys.

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Speaker 1: They've got athletes under the rim that can make plays.

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Speaker 1: Huge defensive plays from Derek Lively on bam ade Bio

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Speaker 1: under the rim late the Stone walled him twice. They

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Speaker 1: were two of the biggest stops as they built that

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Speaker 1: little bit of an advantage that they had and then

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Speaker 1: a timely shot making not just from Luca and Kyrie,

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Speaker 1: but also from Dante Exem Kyrie. We talked about the

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Speaker 1: huge three off of the tap out from Maxi kleb

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Speaker 1: but he also had a playoff of the right wing

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Speaker 1: where he got bam Adebayo on the switch, hit him

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Speaker 1: with a nasty hesitation, moved beating off the dribble, and

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Speaker 1: then elevated for a tough floater over the top. And

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Speaker 1: then Luca we talked about that step back three moving

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Speaker 1: to his left a few weeks ago, another really nice

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Speaker 1: drifting to the right. I should say step back to

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Speaker 1: his right. I meant to say, but over his left shoulder.

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Speaker 1: That's where I always get that confused. So like when

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Speaker 1: you're doing a movement shot, when you're moving to your right,

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Speaker 1: you're shooting over your left shoulder as you're trying to

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Speaker 1: square up in mid air.

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Speaker 2: And Luca made a.

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Speaker 1: Pivoting over his left shoulder three as a rescue shot

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Speaker 1: with about six minutes left that was unbelievable. Hit a

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Speaker 1: ridiculous step back three over Jimmy Butler to put him

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Speaker 1: up five late in the game. He actually made four

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Speaker 1: step back threes in this game, which is big because

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Speaker 1: he hasn't been shooting as well on his step back

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Speaker 1: three as of late as he did to start the year.

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Speaker 1: But the biggest sequence of the game was because Jason

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Speaker 1: Kate went with a really interesting lineup down the stretch.

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Speaker 1: He went with Maxi Kleba at the four next to

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Speaker 1: Derek Lively, and then Dante Exam at the three instead

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Speaker 1: of someone like a Josh Green right, and the mass

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Speaker 1: started running these ball screen actions with Derek ly or

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Speaker 1: with Dante Exum, and Xem was slipping out of him

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Speaker 1: when they were blitzing Luca, and he slipped out to

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Speaker 1: the left wing and knocked down a big three late

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Speaker 1: in the shot clock. And then one of the biggest

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Speaker 1: shots in the game, that little turnaround jump shot he

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Speaker 1: hit in the lane, a really well defended possession, Luca

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Speaker 1: draws a blitz, hits Dante Exem on the slip, they

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Speaker 1: stonewall him at the rim. Everything else is shut down.

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Speaker 1: This is that high level. I sometimes refer to it

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Speaker 1: as high level close out attacking, but really it's like

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Speaker 1: shot making from role players, right. It's like the ability

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Speaker 1: to win a possession is really well defended, and you've

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Speaker 1: been chased off the three point line, and the rim

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Speaker 1: isn't there as an option, and there isn't an easy

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Speaker 1: kickout pass for the next sequence, or maybe the shot

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Speaker 1: clock is winding down and you need someone that can

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Speaker 1: just take and make a difficult shot, and Dante Exem

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Speaker 1: was able to pivot over his right shoulder and take

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Speaker 1: a tough mid range pull up jump shot and make it,

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Speaker 1: and it was a huge possession in the game as

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Speaker 1: they got out of there with the win. I really

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Speaker 1: liked that lineup late, not just because Xum is just

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Speaker 1: a little bit more high level in terms of some

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Speaker 1: of his shot making ability off the bounce than a

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Speaker 1: guy like Josh Green, which I think was an advantage

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Speaker 1: as they were blitzing Luca, but also just the size

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Speaker 1: of that lineup between Live League and Cleva and Exhum

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Speaker 1: in that front court, they made it more difficult for

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler in particular to kind of bully his way

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Speaker 1: to his spots. Timmy hit one step back jumper going

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Speaker 1: to his right where he kind of a shouldered Maxi

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Speaker 1: in the chest and got a little bit of separation

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Speaker 1: and knocked down a shot. But they defended Jimmy Butler

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Speaker 1: really well in this game. I liked the combination of

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Speaker 1: Luca and Kyrie as your shot creators with a lot

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Speaker 1: of size and defensive personnel off of them, especially when

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Speaker 1: you rely so much on Luca and Kyrie tough shot

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Speaker 1: making anyway, and I thought that was an interesting group

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Speaker 1: to go with at the end of the game, got

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Speaker 1: a lot of stops, got a big win down the

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Speaker 1: stretch on the Miami front. Terry Rozier by far his

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Speaker 1: best game since joining the Heat. He had twenty seven

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Speaker 1: points and eleven assists, hit five threes, made a bunch

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Speaker 1: of big plays in pick and roll at the end

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Speaker 1: of the game. He's actually been pretty good in pick

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Speaker 1: and roll in general since coming to Miami. Despite Terry

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Speaker 1: Rozier shooting forty one percent from the field and thirty

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Speaker 1: percent from three since coming to Miami, he's actually been

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Speaker 1: a pretty good shot creator for them. He's run one

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Speaker 1: hundred and seventy three pick and rolls in ISOs that

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Speaker 1: have led to one hundred and eighty three points. It's

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Speaker 1: one point zero six points per possession, which is pretty

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Speaker 1: damn solid shot creation. That's all including passes, by the way,

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Speaker 1: And again, like when you factor in the fact that

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Speaker 1: he hasn't even really started hitting shots yet up until

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Speaker 1: last night, that's super encouraging because that means that there's

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Speaker 1: another level that he can get to on that side

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Speaker 1: of the floor. And then I thought one of the

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Speaker 1: biggest swing factors in this game was bam Adebayo. Again,

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Speaker 1: this is something I've talked about all season. On the season,

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Speaker 1: he is shooting below fifty percent on shots that are

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Speaker 1: inside of five feet from the rim but aren't dunks,

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Speaker 1: because he has like one hundred dunks this year. If

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Speaker 1: you take the dunks out, the missus and the makes,

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Speaker 1: and you just look at every shot he takes within

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Speaker 1: five feet of the rim, he misses them more than

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Speaker 1: half the time. He was just five to twelve in

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Speaker 1: this game against Dallas in the paint three times late

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Speaker 1: he got stonewalled at the rim and wasn't able to

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Speaker 1: make a sort of push shot or hook shot over

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Speaker 1: the top. That is a huge difference maker. Like we

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Speaker 1: talked about that with Jokic all night last night. But

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Speaker 1: like when you're a big man, having that little pop

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Speaker 1: shot or floater or hook shot or you know, kind

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Speaker 1: of like in traffic type of layup to go to

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Speaker 1: is such a huge part of shot making for the

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Speaker 1: center position. And that continues to be something that makes

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Speaker 1: Miami easier to guard. If you just keep Bam from dunking,

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Speaker 1: he'll probably miss, Like statistically, he's more likely to miss

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Speaker 1: than he is to make, and it just allows teams

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Speaker 1: to get away with things in a coverage element of

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Speaker 1: defense that they shouldn't be able to get away with otherwise,

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Speaker 1: and that's something to keep an eye on the BAM front.

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Speaker 1: And then Jimmy just he's been.

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Speaker 2: Playing really well.

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Speaker 1: They got kind of a rare bad Jimmy Butler game

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Speaker 1: in this one, but Jimmy's been playing super super well

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Speaker 1: as of late. So there again, a lot of encouraging stuff,

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Speaker 1: especially on the Terry Rozier front, but just a disappointing loss,

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Speaker 1: especially against a MAVs team that's reeling a game that

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Speaker 1: you got off to a big lead early, and I

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Speaker 1: just was really disappointed in some of the shot making

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Speaker 1: stuff from BAM late in the game. All right, moving

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Speaker 1: on to Pacers Wolves, this was a huge and much

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Speaker 1: needed win.

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Speaker 2: For the Wolves. Four straight pull up jump shots at

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Speaker 2: the end of the game.

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Speaker 1: Mike Conley out of the left corner hits a jab

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Speaker 1: step pull up three going to his right, and then

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Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards hits a pull up three and pick and roll,

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Speaker 1: and then a couple of tough pull up jump shots

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Speaker 1: in ISO in the middle of the floor that I

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Speaker 1: end up icing the game, some defensive mistakes kept it close.

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Speaker 1: They lost Miles Turner on a kind of like a

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Speaker 1: pin screen out of the right corner for three, and

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Speaker 1: then Kyle Anderson fouled aaron Ne Smith out of the

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Speaker 1: left corner that kept it close, but off of an

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Speaker 1: ant miss free throw. One of the very best defensive

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Speaker 1: plays I've ever seen that you know, Ant set after

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Speaker 1: the game. He's jumped higher than he's ever jumped in

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Speaker 1: his life. There is a level of desperation that you

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Speaker 1: can get out of a block that you might not

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Speaker 1: get out of a dunk in terms of jumping ability.

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Speaker 1: Funny when I think back to the highest I've ever

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Speaker 1: jumped in my life, the possession I think of is

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Speaker 1: a defensive play in particular. I won't get into the details,

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Speaker 1: but it's funny because I remember it was a big

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Speaker 1: possession where like I had to just I just was

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Speaker 1: jumping as high as I possibly could to try to

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Speaker 1: make a play. Right, And obviously Ant is like that,

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Speaker 1: but one of the best athletes in the in the

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Speaker 1: history of basketball, so like for him, it just looks

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Speaker 1: completely outrageous. Hits his head on the rim, hits his

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Speaker 1: shoulder on the backboard. Every single time I open up

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Speaker 1: my phone, I see a new angle of this Anthony

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00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,040
Speaker 1: Edwards block and it looks more ridiculous.

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Speaker 2: Than the last one.

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Speaker 1: Just an unbelievably ununbelievable play, and a win is a

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Speaker 1: win is a win. But I want to zoom in

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Speaker 1: on the KYLEI Anderson at the power forward spot thing

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Speaker 1: because this was super concerning to me at the end

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Speaker 1: of the game. So obviously, Carl Towns, Tormaniscus getting some surgery,

385
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Speaker 1: gonna be out until the beginning of the Western Conference

386
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Speaker 1: playoffs at a minimum, Big Bummer obviously off off of

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Speaker 1: having one of the best seasons of his career, and

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Speaker 1: just how good this Timberwolves team has been. But the

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Speaker 1: question becomes, what do you what do you? Where do

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Speaker 1: you go from here? How do you put together lineups?

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Speaker 1: And Carl Towns has been your four in your best

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Speaker 1: groups all year long. And let's first talk about how

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Speaker 1: bad the Kyle Anderson experience was, because I thought it

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Speaker 1: was just a complete and total disaster. On the defensive

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Speaker 1: end of the floor, Tyres Saliburton was picking on him

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Speaker 1: on switches. First one I watched, the one where Tyres

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Speaker 1: made like the kind of scoop shot off the glass.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, that's kind of well defended. It's a tough shot.

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Speaker 1: Tyres is one of the best players in the league.

400
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,719
Speaker 1: Like that, that's tough. But then there was another switch

401
00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:27,639
Speaker 1: a few possessions later where he got absolutely dusted and

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00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:30,120
Speaker 1: then Rudy Gobert had to foul him. Then they tried

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Speaker 1: hedging and recovering with him, and he just lunged and

404
00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:35,840
Speaker 1: reached in too hard and got himself way out of position,

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Speaker 1: and then Siakam broke wide open on the slip Tyre's

406
00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:41,120
Speaker 1: hit him and he ended up going up and dunking.

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Speaker 1: I can't remember who it was that he dunked on.

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Speaker 1: I think it might have been. It wasn't Gobert, I

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Speaker 1: can't remember. I might have been Jade McDaniels that he done,

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Speaker 1: or might have been Ant actually that he had dunked on.

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Speaker 2: I just can't remember.

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Speaker 1: But he slipped out of that hedge and recover and

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00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:56,160
Speaker 1: got a huge dunk. And then he was the guy

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Speaker 1: who fouled Aaron Nesmith out of the left corner. So

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Speaker 1: like that's the thing is like Kyle Anderson has some

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Speaker 1: offensive limitations, So if you're gonna go to him at

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Speaker 1: the power forward spot on as like a defensive option.

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Speaker 1: He's got to be impactful defensively, and he just wasn't.

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Speaker 1: He was getting picked on and making mistakes and that's

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Speaker 1: just not gonna cut it. And then on the offensive

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Speaker 1: end of the floor, you can kind of put two

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00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:20,840
Speaker 1: and two together, like here comes down in transition. I

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Speaker 1: clipped this play and put on my Twitter feed. You

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Speaker 1: guys can see it at Underscore JSNLT. But the ant's

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00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:27,480
Speaker 1: coming down the floor in transition trying to drive the basket.

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Speaker 1: Kyle Anderson just kind of meanders into the dunker spot

427
00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:32,480
Speaker 1: on the left side of the floor, and Rudy Gobert

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00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:34,119
Speaker 1: meanders into the dunker spot on the right side of

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Speaker 1: the floor, and there's just a throng of bodies there

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Speaker 1: and it's just there's no space to operate and he

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00:19:39,359 --> 00:19:41,399
Speaker 1: ends up in trouble. In some traffic, there was a

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Speaker 1: possession where Indy threw a hard double at Anthony Edwards

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Speaker 1: and it just was no advantage because nobody needs to

434
00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:49,160
Speaker 1: guard Kyle Anderson and as long as you've got somebody

435
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,200
Speaker 1: underneath the rim, he's not gonna hurt you there, right,

436
00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,200
Speaker 1: And like it just it just was a big problem

437
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:56,320
Speaker 1: on the offensive end of the floor, and then you

438
00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:59,800
Speaker 1: weren't getting the benefit of the defensive end of things.

439
00:20:00,080 --> 00:20:03,000
Speaker 1: So that's gonna be something they're gonna need to figure out,

440
00:20:03,320 --> 00:20:06,960
Speaker 1: because my best guess is it's got to be matchup related.

441
00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,560
Speaker 1: Like it might be one of those things where it's like, Okay,

442
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,240
Speaker 1: this team is smaller, more perimeter oriented, let's go with

443
00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:16,199
Speaker 1: Nikkeil Alexander Walker and just goes small and and now

444
00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,520
Speaker 1: I've got Jaden McDaniels in, Nikkeil Alexander Walker and ant

445
00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:21,400
Speaker 1: out there, and I can really defend on the perimeter,

446
00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,840
Speaker 1: right or against a more bruising team that doesn't have

447
00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:28,119
Speaker 1: as much perimeter speed, you know, now, like against the Lakers,

448
00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:30,200
Speaker 1: for instance, maybe it's better to go with nas Reed

449
00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:32,760
Speaker 1: in the Sunday night. I think it's on Sunday, but

450
00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:34,720
Speaker 1: in the in the game on Sunday or the next

451
00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:38,080
Speaker 1: game that they have against the Lakers in a Crypto

452
00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:39,960
Speaker 1: dot com arena, that might be a game where you

453
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,000
Speaker 1: go with nas Reid at the power forward spot. But like,

454
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,600
Speaker 1: you gotta go with either speed and quickness or shooting.

455
00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:47,520
Speaker 1: I don't think you can go with the guy and

456
00:20:47,600 --> 00:20:50,600
Speaker 1: Kyle who's not good enough at either right and so

457
00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:52,560
Speaker 1: and so that that's gonna be something that they're gonna

458
00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,120
Speaker 1: have to figure out as the as the season progresses.

459
00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:58,639
Speaker 1: And then finally, like once again and again, we can

460
00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:00,480
Speaker 1: blame Kyle Anderson all we want for this, but this

461
00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:03,040
Speaker 1: has been an issue all season. They won the game

462
00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:07,040
Speaker 1: because they made four straight pull up jump shots. Mike

463
00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,280
Speaker 1: Conley made one out of left corner and made a

464
00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:10,640
Speaker 1: pull up three and pick and roll, and he made

465
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:13,520
Speaker 1: two tough step back jump shots in the lane. Like

466
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,199
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, that's really what it

467
00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:18,800
Speaker 1: depends on for Minnesota, which is why their late game

468
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:21,640
Speaker 1: offense is so concerning. It really comes down to cant

469
00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:24,679
Speaker 1: Ant and Mike Conley make tough pull up jump shots

470
00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:27,000
Speaker 1: because of the fact that Rudy Gobert is not good

471
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:31,760
Speaker 1: enough at either beating switches or catching and finishing around

472
00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:34,520
Speaker 1: the rim in traffic to make teams pay for helping.

473
00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:36,919
Speaker 1: You know, Jada McDaniels is not a guy you have

474
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,280
Speaker 1: to guard super closely. Now that Carl Towns is in

475
00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:41,360
Speaker 1: the group, it's even harder to do this because you're

476
00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:43,919
Speaker 1: gonna have someone out there that, in all likelihood that's

477
00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,240
Speaker 1: a little bit less of a threat from the three

478
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,480
Speaker 1: point line. And so this has been an issue all

479
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:50,760
Speaker 1: season for Minnesota, and again, like last night, it worked

480
00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:54,440
Speaker 1: because the shots went in. But like it's a lot

481
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:57,040
Speaker 1: to ask for Anthony Edwards to make tough pull up

482
00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,280
Speaker 1: jump shots time and time again, you know it, it

483
00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:02,320
Speaker 1: can work in a one game sample. But again, like

484
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:05,160
Speaker 1: among the high volume pull up shooters in the league,

485
00:22:05,359 --> 00:22:08,520
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards falls more in line with the Jason Tatum types,

486
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:10,400
Speaker 1: which guys that take a lot of them that aren't

487
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,640
Speaker 1: efficient then compared to the guys that are super efficient,

488
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,399
Speaker 1: you know, the James Hardens and the Jalen Williams and

489
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:18,560
Speaker 1: the Steph Curries and those kinds of guys. Right, He's

490
00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:20,520
Speaker 1: just not on that level as a pull up shooter.

491
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:22,560
Speaker 1: And so that's where it gets a little bit concerning,

492
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:25,480
Speaker 1: all right, moving on to Lakers Kings. This was a

493
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,520
Speaker 1: game that happened on Wednesday night. I was texting with

494
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,280
Speaker 1: Sam Vessini after Lakers thunder, and I told you, guys,

495
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:33,720
Speaker 1: I was having like a little bit of fun at

496
00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,520
Speaker 1: his expense because I think there's like at least a

497
00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:39,440
Speaker 1: coin flip chance that the Lakers don't even get out

498
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:42,240
Speaker 1: of the play in tournament, let alone make noise in

499
00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:45,280
Speaker 1: the playoffs. They're not a team I believe in anymore

500
00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:47,359
Speaker 1: ever since they didn't make a trade at the deadline.

501
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,359
Speaker 1: That said, like, that match up, specifically against the Thunder

502
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:52,919
Speaker 1: is one I've always liked for the Lakers, And so

503
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:54,679
Speaker 1: I texted Sam and I was having some fun at

504
00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,480
Speaker 1: his expense, and you know, haven't taken a little victory lap.

505
00:22:57,600 --> 00:22:59,919
Speaker 1: But I texted him right after that and I was like,

506
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 1: but I think. I was like, I'm nearly one hundred

507
00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,119
Speaker 1: percent sure they're going to get smashed by the Kings

508
00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:08,200
Speaker 1: and that their defense is going to get absolutely shredded.

509
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,320
Speaker 1: And the reason for that is something that I've talked

510
00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:12,520
Speaker 1: about a lot on the show. I talked about it

511
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,400
Speaker 1: after the Warriors Bucks game. Matchups. Matchups, to me, are

512
00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:20,200
Speaker 1: the main determining factor for wins and losses for basically

513
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,960
Speaker 1: every team outside of that Boston and Denver teer. Once

514
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,360
Speaker 1: you get below those two, every single team you run

515
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,280
Speaker 1: into has a certain strength and a certain weakness and

516
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,639
Speaker 1: multiple strengths and multiple weaknesses, and really it just depends

517
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:36,000
Speaker 1: on how those strengths and weaknesses kind of link with

518
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:38,960
Speaker 1: their opponent, right, and like that's the thing, Like, there's

519
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,119
Speaker 1: a reason why the Lakers have had success against the Thunder,

520
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:44,600
Speaker 1: There's a reason why the Lakers have had success against

521
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 1: the Clippers. There's a reason why the Lakers have had

522
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:51,000
Speaker 1: success against the Suns this season. It's because in those

523
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,560
Speaker 1: particular matchups, those are teams that have guys that have

524
00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:57,600
Speaker 1: shifty approach to offense and take a lot of pull

525
00:23:57,680 --> 00:23:59,879
Speaker 1: up jump shots. And the Lakers do have a lot

526
00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,639
Speaker 1: of length, they don't have a lot of perimeter speed.

527
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:06,040
Speaker 1: But Austin is a guy that he's not short by

528
00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:09,280
Speaker 1: any stretch of the imagination. Dangela Russell's not short by

529
00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:10,280
Speaker 1: any stretch of the imagination.

530
00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:11,200
Speaker 2: They're just slower.

531
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:16,479
Speaker 1: Turian Prince is not short, he's just slower, right, And

532
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,239
Speaker 1: so against those types of matchups, they can slide their

533
00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,359
Speaker 1: feet and be disciplined and offer a late contest and

534
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:24,600
Speaker 1: get teams to miss. And then on the other end

535
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,440
Speaker 1: of the floor, because those teams aren't overly fast, they

536
00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:30,840
Speaker 1: can have some success scoring the basketball. Here's the problem

537
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:34,960
Speaker 1: with Sacramento. Sacramento is not a shifty shot making team.

538
00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:39,800
Speaker 1: They have speed guards. It is it is like we're

539
00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:42,639
Speaker 1: coming at you like this all game long, and like

540
00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:45,119
Speaker 1: I was impressed that the Lakers even jumped out to

541
00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,840
Speaker 1: the lead, that they jumped out out too. But then

542
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:50,960
Speaker 1: like as soon as that, right around the end of

543
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:55,960
Speaker 1: the first quarter and heading into that second quarter run,

544
00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:59,840
Speaker 1: they brought in Tourian Prince and put him on Malik Monk,

545
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:03,080
Speaker 1: and then they started running action where basically like a

546
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:05,119
Speaker 1: version of Spain pick and roll where they'd have like

547
00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:08,760
Speaker 1: Deer and Fox come off a ball screen and then

548
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:12,280
Speaker 1: they'd have Malik Monk backscreen for the big man is

549
00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:15,440
Speaker 1: Alex Landez, He's rolling to the basket, and they were

550
00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:17,520
Speaker 1: just putting the Lakers in the blender. Jackson hayeses on

551
00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:19,720
Speaker 1: the floor in this group and they kind of got

552
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:23,359
Speaker 1: into a rhythm a little bit, and then from there,

553
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:25,840
Speaker 1: Malik Monk and Deer and Fox are both playing with confidence.

554
00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,840
Speaker 1: And when they're playing with confidence, they see tissue paper.

555
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:30,000
Speaker 2: When they see Austin.

556
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,399
Speaker 1: Reeves, they see tissue paper, when they see D'Angelo Russell,

557
00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:35,399
Speaker 1: they see tissue paper when they see torn I prints

558
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: on the perimeter. And then what happens, because like the

559
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:39,720
Speaker 1: Kings are an interesting team in the sense that like

560
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,719
Speaker 1: they we think of them as like a high powered

561
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:45,480
Speaker 1: offense who's going to outscore people, and that was kind

562
00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:47,360
Speaker 1: of what they were in the regular season last year.

563
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:49,320
Speaker 1: But really when you look to their success in the

564
00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 1: postseason last year when they won games against Golden State

565
00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,320
Speaker 1: and this year, they win when they win with defense.

566
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,120
Speaker 1: Like when you look at their opponent point totals, it's

567
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,400
Speaker 1: when they keep teams below that threshold. I think it's

568
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:03,359
Speaker 1: like a one hundred and fifteen points or whatever. When

569
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:06,520
Speaker 1: they hold teams down, their win percentage is gigantically better

570
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,000
Speaker 1: than what it is when they give up large scoring games.

571
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:11,560
Speaker 1: They have not outscored teams very well, but they have

572
00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,840
Speaker 1: been able to when they really lock in get stops.

573
00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:16,560
Speaker 1: They again it's I talked about this last night with

574
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,760
Speaker 1: Jylen Brown about like discovering your superpower that extends to

575
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:24,119
Speaker 1: the team level as well. Understand what your superpower is

576
00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:28,040
Speaker 1: as a team. And for for Sacramento, it's speed on

577
00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:30,600
Speaker 1: the offensive end. We discovered last year. It's not Kevin

578
00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:33,640
Speaker 1: Herder and Keegan Murray coming off of ball screens. It's

579
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,200
Speaker 1: not the bonus bowllying his way of the basket. It's

580
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,719
Speaker 1: no one can keep Malik Monk and Deer and Fox

581
00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:42,000
Speaker 1: in front off the dribble, that is their superpower. And

582
00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:44,280
Speaker 1: then on the defensive end of the floor, they have

583
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:48,680
Speaker 1: a ton of speed. And like when you add in

584
00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:54,399
Speaker 1: when you add in Keon and you add in Davion Mitchell, like,

585
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:58,359
Speaker 1: they they have speed at the guard spot on the

586
00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:03,000
Speaker 1: defensive end, five guys deep and so like. And what's

587
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:04,439
Speaker 1: crazy is like you could see it because they had

588
00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:06,680
Speaker 1: a really bad defensive quarter to start in the first quarter,

589
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,159
Speaker 1: and then when Fox and Monk got going, like you

590
00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 1: could tell it energized the team and they started defending.

591
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:14,720
Speaker 1: They held the Lakers to twenty points in that second quarter,

592
00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:17,240
Speaker 1: and it was like a runaway freight train, one of

593
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,560
Speaker 1: the craziest runs I've ever seen to go from being

594
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,200
Speaker 1: down eighteen or whatever to basically blowing out the Lakers

595
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:26,080
Speaker 1: like it was like a reverse blowout. It was. It

596
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:28,720
Speaker 1: was completely insane. But again, this is why I talk

597
00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 1: about matchups so much, the reason why I wanted the

598
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:34,879
Speaker 1: Lakers to go out and get guard athleticism, which was

599
00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,600
Speaker 1: the number one thing I talked about after the Denver

600
00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:40,600
Speaker 1: Nuggets series last year. They need someone at the guard

601
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,800
Speaker 1: spot that is athletic, enough but not too small to

602
00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:45,880
Speaker 1: deal with the likes of like a Jamal Murray, a big,

603
00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,439
Speaker 1: strong athlete. It's why I wanted Bruce Brown this summer.

604
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:50,399
Speaker 1: It's why I said at the deadline, I'd rather have

605
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,639
Speaker 1: Bruce Brown than de Jonte Murray. That specific archetype is

606
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,040
Speaker 1: a specific type of player that the Lakers just do

607
00:27:56,160 --> 00:27:59,399
Speaker 1: not have. And so because of that, it was like,

608
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:01,200
Speaker 1: that's the thing. The Lakers went to the Western Conference

609
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:04,959
Speaker 1: Finals last year as currently constructed, more or less obviously

610
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,359
Speaker 1: without Dennis Schroeder and with some other role players in

611
00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:11,280
Speaker 1: the group. They beat the Warriors relatively easily. They beat

612
00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 1: the Grizzlies relatively easily, right like, they won in the

613
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,200
Speaker 1: same exact fashion throughout, never lost a game at home

614
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,119
Speaker 1: in those two series. The reason why is because those

615
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:25,879
Speaker 1: teams were not able to capitalize on the weaknesses that

616
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,280
Speaker 1: the Lakers have, right and so as we go into

617
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:32,480
Speaker 1: as we go into the Denver matchup, they run into

618
00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:35,719
Speaker 1: a team that you desperately need size and athleticism at

619
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,360
Speaker 1: the guard position to defend in those Jokich Murray actions.

620
00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:41,000
Speaker 1: It was a huge problem. And it was one thing

621
00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,840
Speaker 1: against the Grizzlies when the Grizzlies don't shoot enough, shoot

622
00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:46,840
Speaker 1: the ball well enough off the ball, and they were

623
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,360
Speaker 1: able to just completely pack the paint. It was one

624
00:28:49,360 --> 00:28:52,920
Speaker 1: thing against the Warriors when everybody not named Stent Stephan

625
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:54,600
Speaker 1: went cold and they were able to just pack the

626
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,040
Speaker 1: paint and throw the kitchen sink at Steph. But as

627
00:28:57,040 --> 00:28:59,200
Speaker 1: soon as they ran into a team that brought real

628
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,160
Speaker 1: shot creation, the guard spot with Jamal Murray obviously, the

629
00:29:02,200 --> 00:29:04,480
Speaker 1: two man game with Jokic and the off ball spacing

630
00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,720
Speaker 1: to punish them for helping it exposed their inability to

631
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,120
Speaker 1: guard actions one on one and two on two. That

632
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:13,600
Speaker 1: is why I've preached about that NonStop. I've never been

633
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,240
Speaker 1: I've never been of the belief that the Lakers can't

634
00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:19,520
Speaker 1: beat certain teams is currently constructed. It's like I talked

635
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:21,760
Speaker 1: about with the Thunder. I've just that's a matchup that

636
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:23,920
Speaker 1: works really well for the Lakers. They are a shifty,

637
00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:26,200
Speaker 1: shot making perimeter group, and they're too small on the

638
00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:28,360
Speaker 1: interior and they're too inexperienced. The Lakers would eat those

639
00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:30,640
Speaker 1: guys up in a playoff series in my opinion. But

640
00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:35,440
Speaker 1: these really fast teams that also have the spacing off

641
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:38,400
Speaker 1: the ball can cause problems for them, and we haven't

642
00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:42,240
Speaker 1: even got to the center position. Sabonis kicked Anthony Davis's

643
00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 1: ass in that game. Anthony Davis has consistently struggled against

644
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:50,680
Speaker 1: the big, bruising centers, guys like Sabonis, guys like Zubac,

645
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:53,920
Speaker 1: guys like Nurkic, guys like Jokic. Because he's got a

646
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,000
Speaker 1: high center of gravity, they can shove him off of

647
00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,920
Speaker 1: his spot. Sabonis was finishing through Anthony Davis at will.

648
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:02,960
Speaker 1: He was bullying him, bullying him on the offensive glass.

649
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:04,960
Speaker 1: It was a huge problem in that game. That is

650
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,000
Speaker 1: so the Kings just in general are really bad matchup

651
00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,680
Speaker 1: for the Lakers because the bonus is a bad matchup

652
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,680
Speaker 1: for ad in their guards, Like the Lakers guards are

653
00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: just absolutely hopeless to guard them.

654
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:17,760
Speaker 2: And like that's the thing.

655
00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:19,440
Speaker 1: Like I saw a lot of Lakers fans focusing on

656
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:21,360
Speaker 1: Darvin Ham and lineups, and don't get me wrong, I've

657
00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:23,080
Speaker 1: been one of the guys complaining about that all year.

658
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:25,920
Speaker 1: Do not agree with everything that Darvinham did in this game.

659
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,280
Speaker 1: I would have had a lot more Max Christy Torrian

660
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:30,200
Speaker 1: Prince on Malik Monk is something I never in a

661
00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:33,360
Speaker 1: million years would have done, but like, like it doesn't

662
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,000
Speaker 1: really matter. They don't have the personnel. You could have

663
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:37,640
Speaker 1: thrown your best punch in that game and you still

664
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,120
Speaker 1: would have gotten your butt kicked. I mean, I shouldn't

665
00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:41,880
Speaker 1: say your best play is but your best tactical punch,

666
00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:45,400
Speaker 1: because from a personnel standpoint, the Kings just have significant

667
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 1: advantages over the Lakers. And that's what that's the group

668
00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:51,400
Speaker 1: that the Lakers fall into. Now, everything's gonna be about

669
00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:54,520
Speaker 1: matchups for them. Whatever tiny sliver of a hope they

670
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:57,280
Speaker 1: have is gonna be about catching the right types of

671
00:30:57,280 --> 00:30:59,200
Speaker 1: teams along the way. If they end up in a

672
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:01,760
Speaker 1: playing game on the road in Sacramento, I would be

673
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:02,560
Speaker 1: stunned if.

674
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:04,840
Speaker 2: They won, you know.

675
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:06,960
Speaker 1: But like if they ended up on the road in

676
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,360
Speaker 1: a single elimination game to get in against the Pelicans

677
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:14,320
Speaker 1: shifty shot making perimeter guys in bad back line defense,

678
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 1: I would pick the Lakers ten times out of ten

679
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:17,440
Speaker 1: to win that game.

680
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:19,440
Speaker 2: Right, matchups are gonna be huge.

681
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:21,280
Speaker 1: I shouldn't say ten out of ten because obviously if

682
00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:22,880
Speaker 1: a games in New Orleans, they could just get hot

683
00:31:22,880 --> 00:31:24,920
Speaker 1: and beat you. But seven or eight times out of ten,

684
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,080
Speaker 1: I like the Lakers in that matchup. Matchups are gonna

685
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:30,600
Speaker 1: be everything for this particular Lakers team, and I thought

686
00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 1: that that King's game was a perfect example of that.

687
00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,440
Speaker 1: Going into the Bucks game tonight, it's gonna be interesting

688
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,800
Speaker 1: because obviously that Dame matchup is a little bit tough

689
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:42,840
Speaker 1: on the perimeter, but they don't have the depth of

690
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,520
Speaker 1: shot creation on the perimeter that a team like Sacramento

691
00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:48,560
Speaker 1: had with Malik Monk and Deer and Fox, and so

692
00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:50,560
Speaker 1: I think they might be able to piece together a

693
00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:54,440
Speaker 1: better group for that matchup. And obviously they have the

694
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,720
Speaker 1: interior presence to kind of hang with Johannison brook Lopez.

695
00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:00,480
Speaker 1: So that's gonna be really interesting one against the bucksley tonight.

696
00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:02,760
Speaker 1: But again, matchups are going to be everything for this

697
00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,000
Speaker 1: Lakers team. All right, moving on to the mailbag and

698
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,880
Speaker 1: then we'll get out of here for the day. First question,

699
00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:12,160
Speaker 1: you should collab with Adam Montas from DMVR. You two

700
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:14,120
Speaker 1: are so knowledgeable about the game of basketball. First of all,

701
00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:16,000
Speaker 1: thanks for the kind words about myself and also for

702
00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:19,600
Speaker 1: Adam as well. I really really enjoyed working with Adam today.

703
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:23,440
Speaker 1: It was super easy to talk basketball, was super super

704
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,040
Speaker 1: smart guy, had a ton of fun, went for an

705
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:29,000
Speaker 1: hour talked about basically a lot of the same games

706
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:29,960
Speaker 1: that we talked about today.

707
00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:31,080
Speaker 2: But you can.

708
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,640
Speaker 1: Find that on the All NBA Podcast YouTube feed, so

709
00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:37,160
Speaker 1: go check that out. Next question, if the MVP race,

710
00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,240
Speaker 1: If the MVP is a race, Tatum somehow is running

711
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,120
Speaker 1: in the opposite direction. So this was just a funny comment,

712
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:44,320
Speaker 1: but I wanted to use it to just kind of

713
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:46,800
Speaker 1: talk about the MVP race because I saw there was

714
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:48,680
Speaker 1: I didn't talk about this over the last couple of

715
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:52,240
Speaker 1: weeks just simply because I didn't think it was interesting enough.

716
00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:54,640
Speaker 1: But you know, if this comment kind of gave me

717
00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:58,240
Speaker 1: an excuse to talk about it for a second. I

718
00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:01,120
Speaker 1: never considered Tatum legitimately for him, and the main reason

719
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,000
Speaker 1: why is because, like to me, if you're not actually

720
00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,400
Speaker 1: in that top tier of superstars in the league, you

721
00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:09,360
Speaker 1: just don't qualify for the MVP conversation. And like that's

722
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,520
Speaker 1: the thing. Like Tatum is the best player on the

723
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:13,600
Speaker 1: best regular season team in the league. But there's a

724
00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:17,239
Speaker 1: couple of pieces of context. One he's playing for, in

725
00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,760
Speaker 1: my opinion, the most talented starting five in the league. Two,

726
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,000
Speaker 1: Boston is playing in an Eastern conference that is really

727
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:26,800
Speaker 1: weak at the bottom and has a lot of opportunities

728
00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: to just rake up, like to rack up like massive

729
00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:33,320
Speaker 1: wins that inflate stats and inflate advanced metrics. For instance,

730
00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:35,200
Speaker 1: I'm sure you guys saw this stat after the game

731
00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:39,040
Speaker 1: after last night. Boston is thirty three and seven against

732
00:33:39,040 --> 00:33:42,360
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference. They are fifteen and seven against the

733
00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:45,800
Speaker 1: Western Conference because the Western Conference top to bottom just

734
00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:50,560
Speaker 1: has significantly more talent down the East top is very talented,

735
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,000
Speaker 1: but the bottom of the East has a lot of

736
00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:55,479
Speaker 1: like you know, automatic wins, so to speak.

737
00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:56,800
Speaker 2: And I think.

738
00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:00,080
Speaker 1: That's reflected league wide in records between Eastern Conference in

739
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,200
Speaker 1: Western Conference teams. But like I never, to me, the

740
00:34:03,280 --> 00:34:06,120
Speaker 1: standings reflect more just how much better Boston is than

741
00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:08,800
Speaker 1: the rest of the East. And then as far as

742
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:11,719
Speaker 1: the MVP race goes like he's the best player on

743
00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:14,120
Speaker 1: the team, but he's not as good as Yoka, she's

744
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,320
Speaker 1: not as good as Luca, he's not as good as Giannis,

745
00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:19,480
Speaker 1: and those guys are just doing more with less, and

746
00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,640
Speaker 1: so for me, like I never really realistically considered Tatum

747
00:34:22,640 --> 00:34:26,640
Speaker 1: for that MVP spot. Next question, Hi, Jason loved the

748
00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:29,840
Speaker 1: content from Australia watching the Luka Kyrie pairing Cook defenses

749
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,200
Speaker 1: is great viewing, but it also got me wondering about

750
00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:34,600
Speaker 1: the future of pairing two star guards as building blocks.

751
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,880
Speaker 1: We've seen Fox and Halliburton thrive separately, questions about the

752
00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:40,960
Speaker 1: Trey Murray and Mitchell Garland combo as a long term solution,

753
00:34:41,160 --> 00:34:43,520
Speaker 1: and even a young potential superstar duo like Cad and

754
00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:47,319
Speaker 1: Ivy raise the issue whether they can thrive together down

755
00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:49,240
Speaker 1: the line, if you were coaching two young star guards

756
00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:51,480
Speaker 1: in the making, what skills would you prioritize them to

757
00:34:51,520 --> 00:34:54,520
Speaker 1: focus on to maximize their own team success? And what

758
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:57,120
Speaker 1: potential red flags would you look out for should they

759
00:34:57,160 --> 00:34:59,960
Speaker 1: success that would suggest they're better off on separate team.

760
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,120
Speaker 1: Having followed you for a bit, I'll guess pull up

761
00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:04,000
Speaker 1: shooting is right there. Thanks for these shows, always learning

762
00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:07,560
Speaker 1: something new every episode. Thanks for supporting the show. Here's

763
00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:10,000
Speaker 1: the thing, as it comes down to the two guards thing,

764
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:12,799
Speaker 1: it really just comes down to, like, if you're the

765
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,440
Speaker 1: expression like you are who you can guard like, you

766
00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:18,560
Speaker 1: can have two star guards as long as they're different archetypes.

767
00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,960
Speaker 1: So for instance, like if you have a skill guard,

768
00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:25,759
Speaker 1: let's say that you had Steph Curry, but let's say

769
00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:30,680
Speaker 1: You're two was like prime Dwayne Wade, who's like one

770
00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:32,520
Speaker 1: of the best defensive players in the league and a

771
00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:35,560
Speaker 1: real downhill athlete. That I think is a pairing of

772
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:38,640
Speaker 1: star guards that would work because they have a lack

773
00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:41,839
Speaker 1: of redundancy. They don't step on each other's toes. They

774
00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:44,839
Speaker 1: bring different things to the table. That is a defensive

775
00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:47,319
Speaker 1: backcourt that can fly. Does that make sense? So, like

776
00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:50,840
Speaker 1: in general, when I'm looking at any star duo, I

777
00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 1: want one of them to be really good at different

778
00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:56,759
Speaker 1: stuff than the other guy. Take Jamal Murray and to

779
00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:00,880
Speaker 1: Kola Jokis for example, Like Jamal Murray is this perimeter

780
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,840
Speaker 1: shot making piece and Nicole Jokich is this physical imposition

781
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:08,600
Speaker 1: around the rim piece and playmaking piece. Right, they perfectly

782
00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:11,800
Speaker 1: compliment each other. If you wanted a star next to Jokic,

783
00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:14,200
Speaker 1: it would ideally be a guy that can run two

784
00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:16,000
Speaker 1: man game with him and hit tough over the top

785
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:16,920
Speaker 1: pull up jump shots.

786
00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:19,920
Speaker 2: It makes perfect sense. Think Kyrie Irving and Lebron.

787
00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:24,439
Speaker 1: James Lebron was the bullyball, mismatch attacking forward that brought

788
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:27,960
Speaker 1: all the athleticism and defensive tools to the table. Kyrie

789
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:29,960
Speaker 1: Irving was the guy Lebron is the guy who loves

790
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,160
Speaker 1: to rest while he's playing. Kyrie Irving was the guy

791
00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:33,759
Speaker 1: they could throw the basketball too, and he could go

792
00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:35,920
Speaker 1: stand on the left wing, maybe shoot a catch and

793
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,279
Speaker 1: shoot three now and then. But Kyrie Irving can just

794
00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:40,319
Speaker 1: run the offense for a brief stretch and be that

795
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:43,080
Speaker 1: skill guard right Like that to me is the big

796
00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:46,280
Speaker 1: piece is you want to have a lack of redundancy.

797
00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:48,759
Speaker 1: So for instance, like let's take Deer and Fox and

798
00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:51,520
Speaker 1: Tyree saliburn. I do think that could have worked in

799
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:53,920
Speaker 1: the long run, but it would have required Deer and

800
00:36:53,960 --> 00:36:55,799
Speaker 1: Fox to basically become one of the best two way

801
00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:57,760
Speaker 1: guards in the league to really focus on the defensive

802
00:36:57,800 --> 00:37:00,239
Speaker 1: end of the floor. But like, there's no doubt that

803
00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:02,680
Speaker 1: that that could have worked in the long run because

804
00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:05,160
Speaker 1: I view Tyreese as the skill guard and Dearon Fox

805
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:07,600
Speaker 1: to me is like the athlete guard in that in

806
00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:09,840
Speaker 1: that pairing. It just would it Just Dearon Fox has

807
00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:12,239
Speaker 1: always been a little bit of an inconsistent defensive player,

808
00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:14,760
Speaker 1: although I think he's capable of being an awesome defensive player.

809
00:37:15,239 --> 00:37:19,320
Speaker 1: Next question, Lol, I'm not letting MPJ shoot, but I

810
00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:20,960
Speaker 1: get your point. You close out late and make him

811
00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:22,920
Speaker 1: drive so that he can finish, but he doesn't handle

812
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:25,560
Speaker 1: well again. I h This was in reference to a

813
00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:27,200
Speaker 1: point I made at the end of last night's show

814
00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:29,760
Speaker 1: about how I would guard if I was Boston. Basically,

815
00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:32,400
Speaker 1: I said I wouldn't want to live with Jokicchen and

816
00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:34,879
Speaker 1: Gordon hitting shots right around the rim. I would want

817
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:37,479
Speaker 1: to bring help either from the baseline, but then bring

818
00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:40,279
Speaker 1: that weak side corner guy to get inside position on

819
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:43,080
Speaker 1: Gordon and boxing mountain, force Ciokich to make a skip pass,

820
00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:46,000
Speaker 1: or I double from the front side to Forciokich to

821
00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:47,960
Speaker 1: make kickouts to the perimeter. But the main point there

822
00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:50,360
Speaker 1: is like, yeah, I don't want I don't want MPG

823
00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:53,520
Speaker 1: to shoot, but like MPJ. You know, I've talked about

824
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:56,200
Speaker 1: the difference between shot value and the large sample size

825
00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:59,239
Speaker 1: versushot value in the individual possession. So, for instance, an

826
00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:01,840
Speaker 1: MPG catching shoot three, Just to make the math easy,

827
00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:04,920
Speaker 1: if Mpj's wide open, let's just say he makes fifty

828
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,320
Speaker 1: percent of them, right, that's one point five points per shot.

829
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:11,880
Speaker 1: That's a really high percentage shot, right. I would have

830
00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:14,600
Speaker 1: to shoot seventy five percent at the rim to be

831
00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:17,359
Speaker 1: on or on a hook shot or something on any

832
00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:19,759
Speaker 1: other type of shot to be as efficient as Michael

833
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:22,360
Speaker 1: Porter junior on a catch and shoot three, right, But

834
00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:28,040
Speaker 1: on the individual possession, it's only a fifty percent shot.

835
00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:28,399
Speaker 2: Right.

836
00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:32,160
Speaker 1: The statistic means nothing to the individual, both in life

837
00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:36,720
Speaker 1: and in basketball in my opinion, Like the statistic is

838
00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:39,000
Speaker 1: is what happens in the big picture. But on that

839
00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:44,439
Speaker 1: individual possession, you have the you have you there. You're

840
00:38:44,719 --> 00:38:46,719
Speaker 1: down to the field goal percentage at that point.

841
00:38:46,840 --> 00:38:47,080
Speaker 2: Right.

842
00:38:47,440 --> 00:38:49,239
Speaker 1: So for instance, if yo catch, let's say YO get

843
00:38:49,239 --> 00:38:52,240
Speaker 1: shoot sixty five percent on hook shots. That's a lower

844
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:56,600
Speaker 1: percentage shot by points per possession. I shouldn't say lower percentage.

845
00:38:56,680 --> 00:39:00,120
Speaker 1: It's a lower value shot by points per possession than

846
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:02,440
Speaker 1: a Michael Porter junior wide open catch and shoot three.

847
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:08,239
Speaker 1: But on the individual possession, the Micael Porter shot he's

848
00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:12,360
Speaker 1: gonna miss half the time, whereas the Yoka shot around

849
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:15,800
Speaker 1: the basket, he's gonna miss it one out of three times.

850
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:19,640
Speaker 1: And probably if you get him to miss, you brought

851
00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:23,040
Speaker 1: baseline help and Aaron Gordon's gonna get an extra possession

852
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:23,680
Speaker 1: about half.

853
00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:24,240
Speaker 2: Of those times.

854
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:29,000
Speaker 1: So like the individual possession, that around the rim stuff

855
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:32,280
Speaker 1: is so much more valuable than the big picture stuff

856
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:34,279
Speaker 1: when it comes down to the three point shots. So

857
00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,439
Speaker 1: what I was saying is obviously leaving a Michael Porter

858
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:40,200
Speaker 1: Junior or a KCP wide open is not a good option.

859
00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:44,120
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. We know Porzingis can't guard Yoki's

860
00:39:44,160 --> 00:39:47,080
Speaker 1: one on one. We know the baseline help leaves Aaron

861
00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:50,800
Speaker 1: Gordon opening underneath the basket. Those are super high percentage shots.

862
00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:53,520
Speaker 1: So to me, it's more of a lesser than two

863
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:56,520
Speaker 1: a lesser of two evils kind of thing. Thanks, question,

864
00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:58,799
Speaker 1: how would you rank this version of the Nuggets among

865
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:01,319
Speaker 1: the championship winning teams of the last ten to fifteen years.

866
00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:03,680
Speaker 1: As you have said, Denver is built in year perfect

867
00:40:03,760 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 1: roster around Jokic, who is by far the best player

868
00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:09,000
Speaker 1: in the world today. However, at what point does accumulating

869
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:11,719
Speaker 1: elite talent just outpower everything else. For instance, as good

870
00:40:11,719 --> 00:40:13,880
Speaker 1: as the Nuggets are, most people wouldn't give them much

871
00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:15,959
Speaker 1: of a chance against the Warriors of twenty seventeen eighteen,

872
00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:19,480
Speaker 1: who sacrificed roster depth to bring in Kitty. So I

873
00:40:19,640 --> 00:40:23,040
Speaker 1: do think the Nuggets are on the same tier. I

874
00:40:23,040 --> 00:40:25,480
Speaker 1: shouldn't say I'm the same tier. Like, let me put

875
00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:28,200
Speaker 1: it this way, the only two teams of the last

876
00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:31,560
Speaker 1: fifteen years that are better than Denver are the Miami

877
00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:34,720
Speaker 1: Heat team that repeated and the KDI Steph Warriors that repeated.

878
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,080
Speaker 1: Those are the only two teams that are on their level, right,

879
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:40,399
Speaker 1: Denver's not. I don't think they deserve to be put

880
00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:42,560
Speaker 1: on that level because it's hard to win two championships

881
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:45,719
Speaker 1: in a row. And here's the thing. I think the Nuggets.

882
00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:47,640
Speaker 1: I'm way higher on them than I was to start

883
00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:50,279
Speaker 1: the season. I told you I'd be surprised that they

884
00:40:50,280 --> 00:40:50,959
Speaker 1: didn't win the title.

885
00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:51,640
Speaker 2: They were healthy.

886
00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:56,319
Speaker 1: But it's still like a coin flip, right, because like

887
00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:59,960
Speaker 1: Boston has a much easier path out of the Eastern Conference,

888
00:41:00,920 --> 00:41:04,640
Speaker 1: Denver could be in for some bloodbaths out West. Boston

889
00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,120
Speaker 1: does have a lot of talent and some room for improvement.

890
00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:10,320
Speaker 1: Like Denver doesn't have as much room for improvement between

891
00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:13,080
Speaker 1: now and June as Boston does. Boston can figure some

892
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:16,000
Speaker 1: shit out and get better. So like that's that's my point.

893
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:18,720
Speaker 1: I'm picking Denver. I think Denver is the safe bet,

894
00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:23,080
Speaker 1: but there's there's always it's really difficult to win NBA championship,

895
00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:26,040
Speaker 1: So like I don't want to jump the gun, and

896
00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:28,360
Speaker 1: I don't think I'd ever put them above the twenty

897
00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:32,120
Speaker 1: seventeen twenty eighteen Warriors, because like, they literally were just

898
00:41:32,200 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 1: so so much better than everybody. To give you an idea,

899
00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,719
Speaker 1: going into the twenty eighteen season, off of the twenty

900
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:42,279
Speaker 1: seventeen championship, when they won fifteen straight playoff games, the

901
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:45,719
Speaker 1: Warriors had negative odds to win the title in preseason,

902
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:50,960
Speaker 1: meaning if you bet one hundred dollars to pick the

903
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:53,239
Speaker 1: Warriors to win the title in twenty eighteen and they won,

904
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:57,520
Speaker 1: you would get less than one hundred dollars in winnings.

905
00:41:57,280 --> 00:41:59,960
Speaker 1: That's how That's how dominant that Golden Stag team won

906
00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:02,920
Speaker 1: Denver before last night's game. I haven't looked at the

907
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:05,520
Speaker 1: odds since before last night's game, even as good as

908
00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:07,799
Speaker 1: they've looked this year are they were plus four point

909
00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:10,799
Speaker 1: fifty to win the title on DraftKings. So that just

910
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:12,960
Speaker 1: goes to show you the difference in just the level

911
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:15,680
Speaker 1: of talent that that team had, But it was more

912
00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:17,960
Speaker 1: because of like they had two of the top three

913
00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:20,960
Speaker 1: players in the league, and they had Klay Thompson, who

914
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:23,680
Speaker 1: was an awesome defensive player and the second best shooter

915
00:42:23,719 --> 00:42:26,040
Speaker 1: of all time, and they and Andre Gudala, who's the

916
00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:28,399
Speaker 1: best wing defender in the league at that time, and

917
00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:31,320
Speaker 1: they had Draymond Green, who was arguably the best defensive

918
00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:34,279
Speaker 1: player overall in the league at that time. So like

919
00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:36,759
Speaker 1: there's kind of another level there. However, there will be

920
00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:39,480
Speaker 1: an interesting conversation to have about this team and the

921
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:42,960
Speaker 1: twenty twelve twenty thirteen Miami Heat teams if Denver can

922
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:45,879
Speaker 1: win the title this year. And I'm inclined to pick

923
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:49,360
Speaker 1: Denver in that specific matchup because Miami just because of

924
00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:52,360
Speaker 1: Dwayne Wade's decline, because Chris Bosh got hurt in the

925
00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:54,399
Speaker 1: twenty twelve run. Like, I've seen a lot of talk

926
00:42:54,400 --> 00:43:00,160
Speaker 1: about there's so much talk about the the use a you,

927
00:43:00,239 --> 00:43:03,120
Speaker 1: Donnis Haslam, and Norris Cole coming out talking about Lebron

928
00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:06,200
Speaker 1: in the Heat, And it's so funny to me because

929
00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:08,720
Speaker 1: it's just it's just something I think people are writing

930
00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:12,240
Speaker 1: some revisionist history on on a bunch of different fronts.

931
00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:16,719
Speaker 1: First of all, I think that when Lebron, like I

932
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:19,839
Speaker 1: saw Jeff t quote something about how like everyone thought

933
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:22,160
Speaker 1: that shit was weak when Lebron went to Miami for

934
00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:25,759
Speaker 1: the record at the time, it kind of was like

935
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:29,680
Speaker 1: what Lebron did going to Miami was supposed to be

936
00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:33,400
Speaker 1: more or less like what KD did going to the Warriors.

937
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:38,839
Speaker 1: What saved Lebron's ass was he got humiliated the first year,

938
00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:42,719
Speaker 1: which made him a better basketball player, and so he

939
00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:43,920
Speaker 1: went up a crazy level.

940
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:45,000
Speaker 2: Two.

941
00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:48,279
Speaker 1: Chris Bosh got hurt in the twenty twelve postseason, which

942
00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:52,320
Speaker 1: made them have to play. It made Lebron play desperate

943
00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:55,399
Speaker 1: basketball to beat Indiana and then desperate basketball to beat

944
00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:59,959
Speaker 1: Boston right and then three. Dwayne Wade rapidly declined after

945
00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:02,480
Speaker 1: the twenty eleven finals. Was never the same player. He

946
00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:05,120
Speaker 1: was a top tier superstar in twenty eleven, like a

947
00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:07,759
Speaker 1: second tier superstar in twenty twelve twenty thirteen, and like

948
00:44:07,800 --> 00:44:10,719
Speaker 1: a third tier superstar in twenty fourteen. And so as

949
00:44:10,719 --> 00:44:15,840
Speaker 1: a result, Lebron's intended dominant team turned into just another

950
00:44:15,920 --> 00:44:18,320
Speaker 1: one of the best teams in the league, which forced

951
00:44:18,400 --> 00:44:23,319
Speaker 1: Lebron to play heroic basketball to win two championships. So

952
00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:26,120
Speaker 1: now when we look back at the Miami Heat runs,

953
00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:29,040
Speaker 1: we look at it as like, man, that was some

954
00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:32,840
Speaker 1: unbelievable basketball from Lebron. However, Kevin Durant went to the

955
00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:37,319
Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors. They stayed healthy, they absolutely murdered everybody,

956
00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:39,920
Speaker 1: and so everyone looks at it differently because it we

957
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:42,879
Speaker 1: never had to see KD play desperate. We never had

958
00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:46,719
Speaker 1: to see KD like, holy shit, like we're down three

959
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:48,840
Speaker 1: to two on the road here, we gotta make this happen.

960
00:44:49,080 --> 00:44:52,239
Speaker 1: Holy shit Game seven against Indiana, Holy shit Game seven

961
00:44:52,280 --> 00:44:55,520
Speaker 1: against San Antonio, Like we never saw that because Golden

962
00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:57,640
Speaker 1: State was just so much better than everybody.

963
00:44:57,880 --> 00:44:59,239
Speaker 2: Lebron intended for that.

964
00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:01,160
Speaker 1: To be the case in my and then it never

965
00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:03,200
Speaker 1: it didn't break out that way, and so he had

966
00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:05,800
Speaker 1: to be great. So that's kind of unrelated to what

967
00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:07,040
Speaker 1: I was saying, But I just wanted to get that

968
00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:10,040
Speaker 1: off my chest after the the comments that were flying

969
00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:11,000
Speaker 1: out around those heatles.

970
00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:11,560
Speaker 2: But that's it.

971
00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:14,160
Speaker 1: I will be curious to see where we ranked Denver

972
00:45:14,239 --> 00:45:16,360
Speaker 1: in the big picture after if they do win the

973
00:45:16,360 --> 00:45:18,800
Speaker 1: title this year, because I think that I'd be inclined

974
00:45:18,800 --> 00:45:21,400
Speaker 1: to put them above those Miami Heat teams, not that

975
00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:24,319
Speaker 1: he like. I think Jokic and Lebron in that at

976
00:45:24,320 --> 00:45:27,840
Speaker 1: that era in a similar tier in terms of a ceiling.

977
00:45:28,719 --> 00:45:31,239
Speaker 1: But I thought that that Miami Heat team wasn't as

978
00:45:31,239 --> 00:45:33,239
Speaker 1: good top to bottom as this Denver team was, and

979
00:45:33,280 --> 00:45:35,120
Speaker 1: so I'd probably picked Denver over them, but they got

980
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:36,920
Speaker 1: to close the deal. They gotta win another title this year.

981
00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:40,160
Speaker 1: Three more questions than we're out of here. Hey, Jason,

982
00:45:40,160 --> 00:45:41,440
Speaker 1: love the show, Keep up the great work. I was

983
00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:43,920
Speaker 1: wondering what you think the issue is with Boston's bad habits.

984
00:45:43,960 --> 00:45:45,720
Speaker 1: Is it a coach or a lack of IQ. Feels

985
00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:48,759
Speaker 1: like they've had the move or less. They've had more

986
00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:51,760
Speaker 1: or less the same issues under three different coaches. Granted

987
00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:54,239
Speaker 1: lots of personnel changes and player growth, but still feels

988
00:45:54,280 --> 00:45:57,280
Speaker 1: like the same glaring issues throughout. So Joe Mazoula in particular,

989
00:45:57,360 --> 00:45:59,480
Speaker 1: I actually talked about this a lot with Adamatters today,

990
00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:05,719
Speaker 1: but to me, the freedom has almost gone too far.

991
00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:09,960
Speaker 1: So when you have five really good shot creators on

992
00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:13,160
Speaker 1: the same floor together, it gets a little tough because

993
00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:16,120
Speaker 1: there's not a clear hierarchy. So like for Denver, for instance,

994
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:19,560
Speaker 1: everything runs through Murray and Jokic late, even those like

995
00:46:19,719 --> 00:46:23,080
Speaker 1: early second quarter early fourth quarter stretches, it's like Murray's

996
00:46:23,160 --> 00:46:24,920
Speaker 1: just dribbling the air out of the basketball looking for

997
00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:25,399
Speaker 1: his own shot.

998
00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:25,919
Speaker 2: The whole time.

999
00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:29,000
Speaker 1: There's a lot of equal opportunity with Boston, they kind

1000
00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:32,200
Speaker 1: of just play basketball, and so as a result that

1001
00:46:32,239 --> 00:46:34,320
Speaker 1: continues into crunch time. It's like those two possessions that

1002
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:36,960
Speaker 1: Drew Holliday took over, Like Drew Holliday took those two

1003
00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:40,080
Speaker 1: rand like there's another question we had our last one.

1004
00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:42,439
Speaker 1: I don't like the fact that Jason compares Drew taking

1005
00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:44,759
Speaker 1: those last shots for the Celtics to KCP taking such

1006
00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:47,239
Speaker 1: shots for the Nuggets, saying the Nuggets would never do that,

1007
00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:49,239
Speaker 1: and they are more deliberate. In my opinion, KCP and

1008
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:51,360
Speaker 1: Drew Holliday are nowhere near the same players. And the

1009
00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:53,279
Speaker 1: fact that the Celtics have so much talent in their

1010
00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:55,480
Speaker 1: five main unit, I think their offense has to be

1011
00:46:55,520 --> 00:46:58,400
Speaker 1: free flowing so they can maximize each player one hundred

1012
00:46:58,440 --> 00:47:03,359
Speaker 1: percent agree throughout, like certain chunks of the game, right

1013
00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:08,360
Speaker 1: like outside of your starting groups late second quarter, early

1014
00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:11,680
Speaker 1: or excuse me, late first quarter, early second quarter, late

1015
00:47:11,719 --> 00:47:14,520
Speaker 1: third quarter, early fourth quarter. You want to be free flowing.

1016
00:47:14,560 --> 00:47:17,799
Speaker 1: You want everybody playing your game. However, you run the

1017
00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:21,719
Speaker 1: risk when you play equal opportunity basketball of either everybody

1018
00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:23,920
Speaker 1: being in a rhythm or nobody being in a rhythm

1019
00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:26,200
Speaker 1: and that is part of what makes Boston so hot

1020
00:47:26,239 --> 00:47:29,200
Speaker 1: and cold. And yeah, they've been mostly hot against the

1021
00:47:29,239 --> 00:47:31,319
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference, but like that's what makes them so hot

1022
00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:33,239
Speaker 1: and cold is they have these stretches where all of

1023
00:47:33,280 --> 00:47:37,040
Speaker 1: them go out of rhythm because there isn't a clear hierarchy.

1024
00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:39,400
Speaker 1: So like, to me an easy solution there is. I

1025
00:47:39,440 --> 00:47:44,040
Speaker 1: would have pet actions for your best players that I'd

1026
00:47:44,120 --> 00:47:45,880
Speaker 1: run at the end of the games. If that's Tatum

1027
00:47:45,920 --> 00:47:48,799
Speaker 1: Porzingis pick and roll, that's Derek White Porzingi's pick and roll,

1028
00:47:48,880 --> 00:47:50,719
Speaker 1: if it's Jalen Brown Tatum, two man game, whatever it

1029
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:51,840
Speaker 1: is that you decide to do. I don't think you

1030
00:47:51,840 --> 00:47:53,360
Speaker 1: could do that because Teas would probably just switch it.

1031
00:47:53,600 --> 00:47:54,600
Speaker 2: But like you got to.

1032
00:47:54,600 --> 00:47:57,560
Speaker 1: Find some sort of like hierarchy that you go to

1033
00:47:58,040 --> 00:48:00,880
Speaker 1: in big moments because it makes it more likely that

1034
00:48:00,960 --> 00:48:03,560
Speaker 1: those players will be in rhythm in those moments, because

1035
00:48:03,800 --> 00:48:06,240
Speaker 1: it's like Tatum after the game, Like I totally disagreed

1036
00:48:06,239 --> 00:48:08,160
Speaker 1: with that comment from Tatum about how he wanted to

1037
00:48:08,480 --> 00:48:10,200
Speaker 1: kind of like you didn't want to hijack the game.

1038
00:48:10,800 --> 00:48:11,359
Speaker 2: No, no, no no.

1039
00:48:11,719 --> 00:48:14,000
Speaker 1: If Jalen Brown is bringing it to that level, you

1040
00:48:14,080 --> 00:48:16,399
Speaker 1: got to meet him there. You got to meet him there.

1041
00:48:17,880 --> 00:48:20,120
Speaker 1: Jallen Brown's not shooting the ball every possession down the floor.

1042
00:48:20,280 --> 00:48:22,720
Speaker 1: Just because he's hot. Doesn't mean you can't be involved.

1043
00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:25,920
Speaker 1: But to me, like, that's where having a clear hierarchy

1044
00:48:25,960 --> 00:48:28,040
Speaker 1: does make sense. You're right, Drew Holliday is not the

1045
00:48:28,040 --> 00:48:31,759
Speaker 1: same type of player as KCP and like, he is

1046
00:48:31,800 --> 00:48:33,360
Speaker 1: a guy that can create a shot off the bounce

1047
00:48:33,360 --> 00:48:35,920
Speaker 1: at a higher level, but he's not as good as

1048
00:48:36,239 --> 00:48:38,280
Speaker 1: at creating a shot off the bounce as Jason Tatum

1049
00:48:38,320 --> 00:48:39,320
Speaker 1: or Jaylen Brown.

1050
00:48:39,120 --> 00:48:39,840
Speaker 2: Or Derek White.

1051
00:48:41,080 --> 00:48:44,080
Speaker 1: So when you do that, even if he does make

1052
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:46,040
Speaker 1: the shot, you're were like, and he did. By the way,

1053
00:48:46,080 --> 00:48:47,279
Speaker 1: he made two big ones at the end of the

1054
00:48:47,280 --> 00:48:50,320
Speaker 1: game and it worked out Like that's playing the results

1055
00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:54,560
Speaker 1: in my opinion. But being more deliberate about running pet

1056
00:48:54,600 --> 00:48:57,080
Speaker 1: actions for the same players in big moments at the

1057
00:48:57,080 --> 00:48:58,759
Speaker 1: beginning of games and at the end of games I

1058
00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:00,880
Speaker 1: think would go a long way. So it's kind of

1059
00:49:00,880 --> 00:49:03,440
Speaker 1: getting them to have more consistent rhythm in those environments.

1060
00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:07,200
Speaker 1: Last question, with Kat's injury, how do you think Minnesota

1061
00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:09,600
Speaker 1: should structure their rotation. They went with Kyle Anderson, but

1062
00:49:09,640 --> 00:49:11,560
Speaker 1: that is a spacing nightmare for me. I would start

1063
00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:13,640
Speaker 1: and close with Nasried and then try to keep one

1064
00:49:13,680 --> 00:49:15,040
Speaker 1: of him or go bear on at all time. So I

1065
00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:16,800
Speaker 1: talked about this a little bit in the Timberwolve segment

1066
00:49:16,840 --> 00:49:18,200
Speaker 1: that we did, so in case you missed that if

1067
00:49:18,200 --> 00:49:21,759
Speaker 1: you're just watching the mail bag episode Timberwolves fans, we

1068
00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:24,360
Speaker 1: did a whole breakdown. But I would do it matchup.

1069
00:49:24,360 --> 00:49:26,960
Speaker 1: Related would not go with Kyle Anderson, though I thought

1070
00:49:26,960 --> 00:49:28,440
Speaker 1: that was a disaster on both ends of the floor.

1071
00:49:28,440 --> 00:49:30,600
Speaker 1: I don't think he's good enough defensively or offensively to

1072
00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:33,000
Speaker 1: make up for it. Kind of was disappointed because Kyle

1073
00:49:33,040 --> 00:49:34,960
Speaker 1: Anderson is a guy that is capable of being very

1074
00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:37,759
Speaker 1: good defensively, but he just hasn't been good enough. But

1075
00:49:37,840 --> 00:49:39,400
Speaker 1: I would just base it on the matchup. I think

1076
00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:41,439
Speaker 1: there's versions of this against smaller teams where you could

1077
00:49:41,440 --> 00:49:44,600
Speaker 1: go with Nikile Alexander Walker and go with like aunt

1078
00:49:45,160 --> 00:49:50,560
Speaker 1: con Lee naw and Jada McDaniels alongside Gobert and just

1079
00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:52,560
Speaker 1: defend the hell out of the basketball at least you

1080
00:49:52,560 --> 00:49:55,000
Speaker 1: you know, because Nikail is just a better offensive player

1081
00:49:55,040 --> 00:49:58,040
Speaker 1: than Kyle Anderson off the ball, and he can defend

1082
00:49:58,040 --> 00:50:00,160
Speaker 1: in space. But then they're going to be matchup that

1083
00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:01,600
Speaker 1: are too big and you need to go bigger. The

1084
00:50:01,680 --> 00:50:03,680
Speaker 1: Lakers game that's coming up on Sunday's actually a good

1085
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:06,239
Speaker 1: example of this. I would go to Nasri because at

1086
00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:08,440
Speaker 1: least you had the physical imposition. He's kind of like

1087
00:50:08,560 --> 00:50:11,239
Speaker 1: actually a reasonable facsimile of Carltown's, although he's not as

1088
00:50:11,239 --> 00:50:12,600
Speaker 1: good because he could shoot the three and he can

1089
00:50:12,640 --> 00:50:14,759
Speaker 1: attack close outs. So like that would be what I

1090
00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:16,600
Speaker 1: would do. I'd base it on the matchups, but the

1091
00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:18,680
Speaker 1: reality is is like it is flawed options now that

1092
00:50:18,719 --> 00:50:21,640
Speaker 1: Carltown's is out of the picture, which is unfortunate. All right, guys,

1093
00:50:21,640 --> 00:50:23,080
Speaker 1: that is all I have for today and for the

1094
00:50:23,080 --> 00:50:25,520
Speaker 1: rest of the weekend. As always, I sincerely appreciate you guys.

1095
00:50:25,800 --> 00:50:28,719
Speaker 1: Tons of good games Friday, Saturday, Sunday, but we're gonna

1096
00:50:28,719 --> 00:50:32,160
Speaker 1: take those days off. On Monday, we will be breaking

1097
00:50:32,200 --> 00:50:34,080
Speaker 1: down the big games from the weekend as well as

1098
00:50:34,120 --> 00:50:34,680
Speaker 1: power rankings.

1099
00:50:34,719 --> 00:50:35,600
Speaker 2: I will see you guys then

1100
00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:08,040
Speaker 1: The volume