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Speaker 1: in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight, presented
Speaker 1: by Fando here at the volume live on Happy Tuesday. Everybody,
Speaker 1: Happy Election Day. Although there's no NBA games tonight, we
Speaker 1: had so many games last night that we have plenty
Speaker 1: more to get into today. Like I promised yesterday, we
Speaker 1: were going to focus on the early slate, today we're
Speaker 1: gonna focus on the later slate. Warriors, Kings, Celtics, Grizzlies,
Speaker 1: Blazer's heat Nets, MAVs and Calves Clippers. So ten more
Speaker 1: teams to get into today really quickly. Before we get started,
Speaker 1: remember to follow me on Twitter at Underscore Jason lt
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Speaker 1: some basketball. So the Warriors get a vintage magnificent steph
Speaker 1: performance really carried Golden State home down the stretch of
Speaker 1: this game. Um, Sacramento botched some coverages on Draymond split
Speaker 1: cuts that led to wide open Andrew Wiggins threes on
Speaker 1: the backside that he made, uh down the stretchy, But
Speaker 1: other than that, it was a whole lot of just
Speaker 1: high level shot making from staff. Although special shout out
Speaker 1: to Andrew Wiggins. He was amazing down the stretch of
Speaker 1: this game. I think he went five for five in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. Seemingly made every big play. But outside
Speaker 1: of that little classic you know, Warriors basketball that got
Speaker 1: those wide open threes for Wiggins, it was it was
Speaker 1: a lot of just wild, classic, vintage, unanimous m v P.
Speaker 1: Steph Curry. There was like a little bank shot from
Speaker 1: step where he drove left and pump faked and his
Speaker 1: man flew by, and here comes Sabonus out of nowhere
Speaker 1: over jumping to try to block. Steph comes this close
Speaker 1: to blocking him, but he banks it in. And then
Speaker 1: the last few possessions he was really picking on Kevin
Speaker 1: Herder on switches. He hit a tough step back three
Speaker 1: that Kevin nearly blocked, and then he had like a
Speaker 1: little turnaround fadeaway off of a drive that once again
Speaker 1: Kevin almost blocked, and he made. But that's the advantage
Speaker 1: of having, you know, in my opinion, the fifth best
Speaker 1: perimeter player in the history of basketball in Steph Curry.
Speaker 1: So like that, he just he just brought you home
Speaker 1: in a game that that you very well could have
Speaker 1: lost if a few things went a different way. Draymond
Speaker 1: Green also after that kind of heater that Steph Curry caught,
Speaker 1: weaponized the attention sent towards step with the classic vintage
Speaker 1: fake handoff to go up and get a big, big dunk,
Speaker 1: and Draymond was fantastic on the defensive end at the
Speaker 1: end of this game as well. Um, But all of
Speaker 1: that's great, and we're gonna talk more about Steff here
Speaker 1: in a minute, because I think what you saw from
Speaker 1: Steph last night is such a big indicator of why
Speaker 1: it's so important to feel urgency surrounding this situation, and
Speaker 1: we are going to get back to that. But make
Speaker 1: no mistake, defense is what won this game for the Warriors.
Speaker 1: As I pointed out in our last few shows, in
Speaker 1: the previous five games, the Warriors were dead last in defense,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't just the bench. The starters were giving
Speaker 1: up about a hundred and eleven points per one Hunter
Speaker 1: possessions during that span, specifically the Steph, Clay Wiggins, Draymond
Speaker 1: Looney group. So no matter how you slice it, no
Speaker 1: matter what was going on with the bench, no matter
Speaker 1: how you feel about James Wiseman or any of those things,
Speaker 1: clearly you're not. They weren't playing well enough. So they
Speaker 1: needed to play better, and they did tonight. And one
Speaker 1: of the things that I thought was really interesting in
Speaker 1: that second half, was Steve Kerr finally just started staggering
Speaker 1: the starters with the bench, something that I personally have
Speaker 1: been pleading for for a while. Um So obviously they
Speaker 1: start uh Jordan Pool instead of Covon Looney to start
Speaker 1: the second quarter or the second half, right, But then
Speaker 1: you could see the staggering over the course of that
Speaker 1: third quarter. So Draymond Green, Jordan Pool, Clay Thompson go
Speaker 1: to the bench. Right, incomes Moses Moody and Tied Jerome,
Speaker 1: but also incomes KEVN. Looney, one of your starters, right,
Speaker 1: and now you're running a lineup that has Steph a
Speaker 1: great defensive player, Andrew Wiggins one of the best perimeter
Speaker 1: defensive players in the league, and Kevin Looney a great
Speaker 1: defensive player. So now your first bench lineup has lots
Speaker 1: of defensive talent on it, which allowed it to be
Speaker 1: more functional. Then in the end of the Steph Curry
Speaker 1: checks out, come On Luney checks out, Andrew Wiggins checks out,
Speaker 1: but incomes Clay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Jordan's Pool. You know,
Speaker 1: so now even though you're you're losing those three defensive players,
Speaker 1: you're bringing back in Clay Thompson and Draymond Green. Draymond
Speaker 1: is one of the best defensive players in the league,
Speaker 1: and clay'son outstanding defensive players. So every lineup just had
Speaker 1: a better chance of success because they had better defensive personnel.
Speaker 1: And it was it was kind of bad process from
Speaker 1: the Warriors over the course of this five game losing
Speaker 1: streak too often just going to these complete in total
Speaker 1: bench lineups where they just didn't have the defensive personnel
Speaker 1: to hang with these teams. And as a result, in
Speaker 1: the second half last night, the Warriors notched a ninety
Speaker 1: point to defensive rating, which is outstanding. They only allowed
Speaker 1: forty six points. That is what allowed them to get
Speaker 1: enough stops so that Steph could carry them home with
Speaker 1: his shot making at the end of the game. But
Speaker 1: here's the reality of the step thing, and this is
Speaker 1: something that I think the Warriors brass needs to take
Speaker 1: a closer look at. You only win a title when
Speaker 1: you have a top tier superstar last year, Steph Curry
Speaker 1: previous year, Jason Tenna Coompo previous year, Lebron James previous year,
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard previous year, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry previous
Speaker 1: year and Kevin Durant Kevin Durant and Steph Curry previous year,
Speaker 1: Lebron James previous year, Steph Curry. You get the point.
Speaker 1: You're not winning a title in the NBA unless you
Speaker 1: have one of the very best guys in the league.
Speaker 1: There's there's no debate about that. The times where it
Speaker 1: ends up being more of a team effort are the
Speaker 1: exceptions to the rule, and they are extremely rare. And
Speaker 1: we can go back to say the two thousand fourteen Spurs,
Speaker 1: but it's like, oh, wait, they had Tim Duncan and
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard on the rise and Tony Parker and Managen Nobili.
Speaker 1: That was that was an unusually talented team to make
Speaker 1: up for that mistake. Or you know, two thousand eleven,
Speaker 1: I'm getting dark Nowitzki Novitsky and just an unbelievable defense.
Speaker 1: Right So, like in the situation sans, you're not winning
Speaker 1: unless you've got the guy, not a guy, the guy
Speaker 1: you need, one of the very best guys in the league,
Speaker 1: and the Warriors have that right now is Steph Curry.
Speaker 1: I think he's the very best, uh, the very best
Speaker 1: version of himself. He's never been any better than he
Speaker 1: is right now. He is no lower than the second
Speaker 1: best player in the league, or maybe the best, depending
Speaker 1: on who you ask. I still think it's honest, but
Speaker 1: it's certainly it's Steph. Certainly in that conversation, your two
Speaker 1: timelines plan that you've been going with Joe lake Of
Speaker 1: and Bob Meyers does not account for the fact that
Speaker 1: you have a superstar now, and the chances statistically of
Speaker 1: one of these young players turning into a superstar is
Speaker 1: extremely low. Your young guys are good. James Wiseman might
Speaker 1: be a really good two way center in this league
Speaker 1: one day. He's got the potential to be a better
Speaker 1: version of DeAndre Ayton, you know, Moses Moody as potential
Speaker 1: to be a you know, a good scoring wing in
Speaker 1: this league that also can defend Jonathan Cominga. Sky's the limit, obviously,
Speaker 1: but he's got so far to go. But statistically speaking,
Speaker 1: the chances that one of those guys is going to
Speaker 1: be a Kauai Leonard or a Lebron James or a
Speaker 1: Jana Santana Compo or a Steph Curry are extremely low.
Speaker 1: And you're not winning unless you have one of those guys.
Speaker 1: So while I appreciate and I respect the two timelines idea,
Speaker 1: This idea that you're going to you know, uh like,
Speaker 1: continue to stay relevant into the future as Steph ages out.
Speaker 1: I respect that. But here's the reality of the situation
Speaker 1: right now. Right now, your bench isn't good enough and
Speaker 1: it might get you beat. Right now, you're starting lineup
Speaker 1: is outstanding, and you have the second best player in
Speaker 1: the world playing at the peak of his powers. This
Speaker 1: is the group that needs to be in rested in.
Speaker 1: If you make a trade that sends out one or
Speaker 1: two of your younger players and brings back a veteran
Speaker 1: wing or two to bolster your bench, you significantly increase
Speaker 1: your chances of winning the title this season. If you
Speaker 1: keep all those guys. Right now, you've got the best
Speaker 1: starting lineup in the league, but you've got a terrible
Speaker 1: bench that is costing you games night in and night out,
Speaker 1: very little realistic chance that they're gonna suddenly figure it
Speaker 1: out over the course of the season, and in the
Speaker 1: future you might just have three or four interesting players,
Speaker 1: none of which are top five players in the league.
Speaker 1: That's the risk here. I would totally understand if a
Speaker 1: guy like Jonathan cominga was struggling on the bench now,
Speaker 1: but was like a Scottie Barnes type of prospect or
Speaker 1: a Zion Williamson type of prospect, where you're sitting there
Speaker 1: and you're like, look, we gotta keep him because he's
Speaker 1: a generational prospect, could be the best player in the
Speaker 1: world one day. I get it, like Toronto being like, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, we're not gonna trade Scotty because we think
Speaker 1: he's a generational prospect. I get that. I respect the ideology,
Speaker 1: but hanging on to these young players that are good,
Speaker 1: young players that are not superstars while sacrificing the Steph
Speaker 1: Curry window is a strategy that I personally would disagree with.
Speaker 1: If we had seen more out of the bench and
Speaker 1: it became more clear that they were potentially going to
Speaker 1: be ready in time for the postseason, then I would understand.
Speaker 1: But you lost Gary Payton the second you lost Auto
Speaker 1: Porter Jr. You won the title largely not using the
Speaker 1: young players betting on and you let all those guys
Speaker 1: go betting on the young players being ready and they
Speaker 1: are clearly not ready. And it's not just Wiseman, it's
Speaker 1: not just Commina, it's not just Moody it's the totality
Speaker 1: of that bench line up in their inability to defend.
Speaker 1: And I this is your window. Look at how good
Speaker 1: stuff is. Another forty eight last night, A gorgeous, fun
Speaker 1: to watch forty eight. That one a basketball game that
Speaker 1: you probably should have lost. That's the guy to put
Speaker 1: your resources behind. Don't don't waste that opportunity. So I will.
Speaker 1: We'll see, we'll see what they end up doing. But
Speaker 1: I think they need to feel a little bit more
Speaker 1: urgency around the stuff window. Alright, Celtics Grizzlies. The Celtics
Speaker 1: continue to be a frustrating defensive watch this year, really
Speaker 1: inconsistent with their effort. You can tell they're kind of
Speaker 1: like taking out a little bit of an arrogance because
Speaker 1: they know that they can lock in for four or
Speaker 1: five minutes and the other team is just gonna suffocate
Speaker 1: to death and they'll win a game. Um. The tricky
Speaker 1: part with that as it can get you beat UH
Speaker 1: in a in a playoff series that's defined by tiny
Speaker 1: margins if you have too many lazy stretches. And then obviously,
Speaker 1: when you have lazy stretches of basketball, you form bad habits,
Speaker 1: and it's really difficult to turn bad habits into good
Speaker 1: habits when you're in a situation of desperation. But make
Speaker 1: no mistake, they still have stretches where they really lock
Speaker 1: in defensively and they look great. And this was a
Speaker 1: great example of that against the Grizzlies. It was a
Speaker 1: back and forth game. The Grizzlies controlled early, the Celtics
Speaker 1: controlled the middle portion of the game, but it was
Speaker 1: tied at eighty eight with nine minutes left and the
Speaker 1: Celtics just completely locked in defensively went on a seventeen
Speaker 1: to six run and won the game. They kind of
Speaker 1: had like a little bit of a classic Celtics uh,
Speaker 1: you know, blew the lead at the end, but they
Speaker 1: weren't really truly threatened. Um. But the the seventeen six run,
Speaker 1: the shot quality, the difference in the shot quality between
Speaker 1: the two teams was was readily apparent. Jaw Moran couldn't
Speaker 1: get any drivel penetration against Boston's wings and guards. Specifically,
Speaker 1: Tatum did a really nice job on switches against Jaw
Speaker 1: and that just goes to show you what his value
Speaker 1: is as one of the best perimeter defenders in the league.
Speaker 1: I still think he's the best perimeter defender in the league.
Speaker 1: Um the kinds of shots that they were getting, Like
Speaker 1: Desmond Baine took an impossible step back three in the
Speaker 1: left corner. John Moran took another really tough step back
Speaker 1: in isolation. He ended up settling for a pull up
Speaker 1: three against Jason Tatum at the top of the key.
Speaker 1: That kind of led to the dagger run out dunk.
Speaker 1: But they weren't getting good shots when Boston locked in.
Speaker 1: And then on the other end of the floor, Boston
Speaker 1: was playing their classic driving kick basketball. Uh Tatum knocked
Speaker 1: down a three is spot up three off of a
Speaker 1: driving kick. Jaylen Brown drove and scored right at the rim.
Speaker 1: Marcus Smart got an and one, driving to the rim
Speaker 1: and finishing with his left hand. Tatum I got a
Speaker 1: switch on to Santi al Dama and and did like
Speaker 1: a really nice like kind of pull over his head
Speaker 1: dribble and make the float, made a floater, and then
Speaker 1: on the miss John Ramp pull up, Tatum got a
Speaker 1: dunk in transition that essentially iced the game. But that's
Speaker 1: that different. You know, shot quality is going to carry
Speaker 1: you home at the end of the day. It isn't
Speaker 1: make or misleague. But if you're just getting better shots.
Speaker 1: It's far more likely that your shots are going to
Speaker 1: get in. At the end of that game eight eight
Speaker 1: eight tied, Celtics locked in defensively and the Grizzlies could
Speaker 1: not get dribble penetration. And then the on the other end,
Speaker 1: the Celtics consistently got dual penetration. And when they lock
Speaker 1: in there just so difficult to deal with on both
Speaker 1: ends that they're gonna win a whole lot of games.
Speaker 1: Don't look now, but the Celtics are number one in
Speaker 1: offense in the league right now. Everyone focused on the
Speaker 1: defense last year and I can't remember the exact number,
Speaker 1: but it was like from January eight to the end
Speaker 1: of the year, they were number one in defense by
Speaker 1: a mile, and that was the story of the of
Speaker 1: the Celtics last year. But they were also number one
Speaker 1: in offense over that stretch. Now, their defense still has
Speaker 1: a long way to go, like we just talked about,
Speaker 1: but their offense is coming around and they are looking really,
Speaker 1: really good. Um Eastern Conference is so stacked, and uh,
Speaker 1: it's easy to be like, oh the Bucks, they're going
Speaker 1: to run away with it. But the Celtics are really
Speaker 1: damn good and they're and they're gonna be tough to
Speaker 1: to beat. Four times out of seven Blazers seat the
Speaker 1: heat really blew this game. They were up by nine
Speaker 1: with less than five minutes left. The Blazers end up
Speaker 1: going small, which we're gonna talk a little bit more
Speaker 1: about in a minute, um, But basically, Justice Winslow came
Speaker 1: in for use of Nur kitchen. They played no centers
Speaker 1: at the end of the game. They went with Damian Lillard,
Speaker 1: Anthony Simon's, Josh Hart, Uh, Jeremy Grant in Justice Winslow.
Speaker 1: And a huge part of it is like Justice Winslow
Speaker 1: is so big and strong that they were able to
Speaker 1: put him on bam at a bio. And you know
Speaker 1: what's funny is like UM actually played Uh. This was
Speaker 1: one of the more wild basketball games that I played in.
Speaker 1: But I used to get invited to these like private
Speaker 1: runs at the University of Arizona, and I was at
Speaker 1: this run one day where Justice Winslow was getting recruited
Speaker 1: and he was choosing between Arizona and Duke. And I
Speaker 1: played in this like ridiculous series of pickup games where
Speaker 1: it was like t J McConnell, Nick Johnson, Aaron Gordon,
Speaker 1: Caleb Tarzowski, and then Justice Winslow was there on a visit,
Speaker 1: and then there were some former players in the gym
Speaker 1: as well, uh that were in town, and and and
Speaker 1: it was just this unbelievable high quality basketball, some of
Speaker 1: the most fun that I've had playing the game. But
Speaker 1: it was funny. Is like, Uh, Justice Winslow was was
Speaker 1: like small, like he would like he he had you
Speaker 1: could tell like he had a build to him like
Speaker 1: that he would probably get big and strong, but man like,
Speaker 1: like I did not expect him to come into the
Speaker 1: league and be a guy who could guard centers. Let's
Speaker 1: just put it that way. When I was standing next
Speaker 1: to Justice when he was eighteen years old, you were
Speaker 1: thinking something closer to like an R. J. Barrett type
Speaker 1: of build, you know, kind of like a lefty wing
Speaker 1: that was more of like a like a like a wiry,
Speaker 1: kind of lanky kind of dude. And he's built like
Speaker 1: a damn truck now, which is a huge part of
Speaker 1: what what what what? What allowed the Blazers to go
Speaker 1: small in this game because they just put him on
Speaker 1: BAM and he did just fine. And then Josh Hart
Speaker 1: plays way bigger than he is and then Jeremy Grant
Speaker 1: is a big, long, freak athlete, and so it's kind
Speaker 1: of like a classic like small ball type of concept
Speaker 1: where the Blazers are doing a ton of switching and
Speaker 1: then everybody on the court can dribble, pass, and shoot,
Speaker 1: and it just makes them really difficult to you with
Speaker 1: on both ends of the floor, both teams really, because
Speaker 1: Miami always attends to switch. Both teams are switching everything
Speaker 1: down the stretch of this game. But the big difference
Speaker 1: between the two attacks was the Blazers because they have
Speaker 1: more dribble creation in Miami struggles with dribble creation. They
Speaker 1: were just getting downhill to the basket. Damian Lollard drives
Speaker 1: to the basket and finishes a layup on Gabe on
Speaker 1: Gabe Vincent in isolation, you know, uh, Anthony Simon's drives
Speaker 1: on Kyle Lowry gets to the basket, makes a really
Speaker 1: tough and one lay up. There were plenty of players
Speaker 1: where they drove and kicked and got wide open looks
Speaker 1: for Jeremy Grant who was able to knock down shots.
Speaker 1: And then on the other end of the floor, the
Speaker 1: Miami Heat were trying to run sets. So you can
Speaker 1: see the difference there both teams switching, the Blazers attacking
Speaker 1: mismatches with their high level dribble creators. Then on the
Speaker 1: other end of the floor, it was like they were
Speaker 1: dumping it down to Jimmy Butler in the post, and
Speaker 1: then they were trying to run like split cuts and
Speaker 1: try to get wide open shots for guys office screening actions.
Speaker 1: But Portland's switching and none of that stuff is open.
Speaker 1: And really from that four minute mark to about that
Speaker 1: two minute mark was where Miami lost this game because
Speaker 1: the Blazers were just getting better shots, and they came
Speaker 1: back and tied the game, and finally there in the
Speaker 1: last two minutes or so, Jimmy Butler figured out what
Speaker 1: he's supposed to do, which is, hey, when they're switching,
Speaker 1: you just attack and go downhill and try to get
Speaker 1: to the rim. And they finally started to make some plays.
Speaker 1: But then there at the end of the game, it
Speaker 1: was just maker miss um. There was a player where
Speaker 1: Damian Lillard drove and kicked to Jeremy Grant in the
Speaker 1: right corner. He made it. Then they go down to
Speaker 1: the other end of the floor and Jimmy Butler misses
Speaker 1: a short little push shot in the lane. They got
Speaker 1: an offensive rebound, but then Bam committed an offensive foul,
Speaker 1: and like a chicken wing, Anthony Simmons goes down and
Speaker 1: makes two free throws. Now they're up three. Late, Max
Speaker 1: Strus actually bailed Miami out with like an impossible three
Speaker 1: in the left corner that I don't even know how
Speaker 1: he made. But then Dame just quickly pushed the ball
Speaker 1: at the floor and drove and kicked to Josh Hart
Speaker 1: in the corner. He made the three at the buzzer
Speaker 1: to win. Kind of similar to what we were talking
Speaker 1: about with Boston and Memphis. For the most part, down
Speaker 1: the stretch of the game, Portland got better shots because
Speaker 1: in that switching attack, they have more dribble creation, more
Speaker 1: guys that can put the ball on the floor and
Speaker 1: get to the basket and make plays. Miami really only
Speaker 1: has Jimmy Butler, and he wasn't willing to do it
Speaker 1: the first couple of minutes, and then he finally got aggressive,
Speaker 1: but it was too late. A little a little bit
Speaker 1: of a an issue starting to crop up in crunch
Speaker 1: time for the Miami Heat. They've they've not played eight
Speaker 1: games that have registered as crunch time, meaning the score
Speaker 1: was within five with uh five minutes left, and they're
Speaker 1: three and five in those games and they can't score
Speaker 1: or get stops. And on the Portland's side of things,
Speaker 1: you know, I think I think it's time to to
Speaker 1: to pay some respect to the rebuild here after they
Speaker 1: traded c J going after Winks and surrounding Dame Lillard
Speaker 1: and Anfony Simon's with big, athletic wings that can guard
Speaker 1: up and down position a Shans and that can pass,
Speaker 1: dribble and shoot. This is something I've been talking about forever,
Speaker 1: and it looks hilarious juxtaposed with the Lakers who have
Speaker 1: been obsessed with going after little guards and giant centers
Speaker 1: that run slow down the floor. Right. And you know,
Speaker 1: Rob Polinka once said in a press conference, like it's
Speaker 1: a guard's league, and you know, I you know, it
Speaker 1: makes makes you if you're a Laker fan, you just
Speaker 1: want to freak out because it's like it's like, no,
Speaker 1: it's not, it's not a guards league. It's a wings league.
Speaker 1: All the smart teams know that you need wings to
Speaker 1: win basketball games. And here we go another team that's
Speaker 1: going all in on wings and immediately seeing results from it.
Speaker 1: First of all gives you a different look because now
Speaker 1: they can go small and switch everything instead of having
Speaker 1: to play Nurkics at the center and run drop coverage.
Speaker 1: You know, when you have that good aggregate size, like
Speaker 1: a huge strong wing in Justin Winslow and then Jeremy
Speaker 1: Grant who was really tall and lanky, and then Josh
Speaker 1: Hard who rebounds really well and plays bigger than he is,
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, the agg get size in athleticism
Speaker 1: and that group is enough to hold its own defensively, Guys,
Speaker 1: Portland's a top ten defense right now. They're at tent
Speaker 1: in defensive rating. Wings are just so incredibly valuable to
Speaker 1: the dirty work of basketball. They can cover up and
Speaker 1: down a position, which gives you matchup flexibility. They can
Speaker 1: cover ground and transition in rotation. They're just big athletes,
Speaker 1: so their strides are longer, so running up and down
Speaker 1: the floor in transition, they move faster than everybody. Oh,
Speaker 1: you've got to cover fifteen feet in a quick rotation
Speaker 1: and contest a shooter like those guys are just better
Speaker 1: at that than a short, like small, athletically limited guard.
Speaker 1: And then another big part of it is the ability
Speaker 1: to shoot over the top. I told you guys that
Speaker 1: Jeremy Grant made two spot up threes late in the
Speaker 1: game off of driving kicks. Neither of them were open.
Speaker 1: But when you're six eight and you have a high
Speaker 1: release point like you cannot those shots down even when
Speaker 1: you're not necessarily wide open. Whereas if you're Patrick Beverley,
Speaker 1: for instance, and you catch him on the on the wing,
Speaker 1: a good close out from a good defensive player is
Speaker 1: going to take that shot away. Perimeter perimeter sizes is
Speaker 1: one of the most valuable things in the league right now,
Speaker 1: and all of the smart teams are going in that
Speaker 1: direction and they are seeing wins follow as a result.
Speaker 1: And you know, that is why I've been so critical
Speaker 1: of the Lakers upper management. That is why I've been
Speaker 1: critical of Genie Buss. It's because it's clear that the
Speaker 1: people that are making basketball decisions for that franchise are
Speaker 1: going in a different direction than all the smart teams
Speaker 1: in the league. And I don't think it's a coincidence
Speaker 1: that they're struggling as a result. Shout out to Portland
Speaker 1: really turn things around in pretty quick order. Dame Lillard
Speaker 1: looks every bit as good as he used to be.
Speaker 1: Anthony Simon's looks like a great second option, and now
Speaker 1: they've got a bunch of wings, and now they can
Speaker 1: defend a really interesting team in this league, all right, quickly.
Speaker 1: On the last two games, Nets maps Um another inspired
Speaker 1: defensive effort from the Nets without Kyrie. We talked a
Speaker 1: little bit about that last night, so I won't get
Speaker 1: into it again. A little a little bit of a
Speaker 1: late game chess match here, Kevin Durant was guarding Luca,
Speaker 1: picking him up full court. The first kind of phase
Speaker 1: of that stretch. He was chasing Luca over the top
Speaker 1: of ball screens and applying back pressure. But as a result,
Speaker 1: one of two things was happening. Either the screen defender
Speaker 1: was helping corral Luca and now there was a double
Speaker 1: and Lucas making passes out of it to wide open shooters,
Speaker 1: or that screen defenders not helping and Lucas getting downhill
Speaker 1: with Katie trailing him, and since he's downhill, he's drawing
Speaker 1: help at the rim and kicking two shooters. And I've
Speaker 1: never really thought that was the right right way to
Speaker 1: attack Luca. Not look. Look, Luca, I think is the
Speaker 1: fourth best player in the world. I I love the
Speaker 1: way that he plays the game. I don't think there's
Speaker 1: necessarily a proven method to stop him. However, if I
Speaker 1: was coaching, what I would do is I would switch
Speaker 1: in bait Luca into ISOs. Look, he's gonna score on
Speaker 1: you sometimes, and he might take a small defender to
Speaker 1: the basket, make a layup and tell you that you're
Speaker 1: two fffing small, and then run down the floor. He
Speaker 1: might make a tough step back three or tough step
Speaker 1: back jumper. He's gonna beat you sometimes, even on the scoreboard.
Speaker 1: But you at least tough shots for Luca shooting over
Speaker 1: the top of the defense are better than wide open
Speaker 1: shots for good shooters. And then also fatigue plays a role.
Speaker 1: If Luca has to continue to isolate and take those
Speaker 1: tough shots, then he might fatigue and start missing. At
Speaker 1: some point, well, right around I think it was right
Speaker 1: around like two minutes left or so, Katie they made
Speaker 1: the adjustment finally, and Katie started picking up Luca full corp.
Speaker 1: But when the screen came, he just would switch, and
Speaker 1: Lucas started missing shots and turning the ball over. And
Speaker 1: that was a big part of how Brooklyn got back
Speaker 1: into the game at the end, and Katie actually had
Speaker 1: a chance to tie it at the end of the
Speaker 1: free throw line. He just you know, left a free
Speaker 1: throw a little bit short and ended up rimming out
Speaker 1: on the other into the floor. But yeah, like during
Speaker 1: that initial stretch when Luca first, when Dallas first went
Speaker 1: on their run to I think they ended up taking
Speaker 1: a ten point lead. During that stretch, they were Katie
Speaker 1: was chasing Luke over the top and he was just
Speaker 1: getting downhill and or drawing the double team and making
Speaker 1: passes to wide open shooters, and they were making them pay.
Speaker 1: On the other end of the floor, Dallas is making
Speaker 1: k D a pass or two. You guys probably saw
Speaker 1: all the trash talk taking place between I think it
Speaker 1: was Tony Rotten and Kevin Durant um. But I mean,
Speaker 1: that's the reality of the limitations of the Nets roster.
Speaker 1: They can afford to just openly double team Kevin Durant
Speaker 1: anywhere on the floor because the team is not going
Speaker 1: to make them pay enough. And this has been a
Speaker 1: really inspired stretch of basketball from the Nets. Kevin Durant
Speaker 1: has been amazing. I talked about that last night, so
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna get into it again. But the reality
Speaker 1: is is this roster has serious limitations, and even though
Speaker 1: this is more of a feel good story than years past,
Speaker 1: the I still think that the best thing that could
Speaker 1: happen here is the Nets blowing things up. It's better
Speaker 1: for Katie because he gets to go play meaningful asketball
Speaker 1: in his late thirties, and it's better for the team
Speaker 1: in the long run because they'll get assets and the
Speaker 1: capability of actually building a functional team Cow's Clippers. This
Speaker 1: was a truly impressive loss for Cleveland. They were up
Speaker 1: twelve with four and a half minutes left, and during
Speaker 1: the final four and a half minutes of the game,
Speaker 1: Carris Lavert had two wide open left corner threes off
Speaker 1: of driving kicks. Kevin Love had a wide open kick
Speaker 1: out three that he missed, and both Darius Garland and
Speaker 1: Jared Allen missed really makeable layups at the rim. Darius
Speaker 1: Garland missed like a right handed lay up on the
Speaker 1: left side of the rim that he just shot a
Speaker 1: little long, and then Jared Allen, I thought had an
Speaker 1: opportunity to take a little hook shot. Instead, he like
Speaker 1: palmed the basketball and tried to like throw it down
Speaker 1: into the rim and he missed it. And then on
Speaker 1: the other end of the floor. The Clippers were really
Speaker 1: opportunistic with their offense. Norman Powell made six straight free throws.
Speaker 1: He got fouled on a cut on a a Marcus
Speaker 1: Morris post up when his defender turned his head. He
Speaker 1: just cut back door, which was smart. He got fouled
Speaker 1: on a defensive rebound by Carris Lavert, so just competing
Speaker 1: on the glass earned him two ext of free throws.
Speaker 1: And then there was a play where he drove out
Speaker 1: of the left baseline and Carris LeVert flopped to try
Speaker 1: to draw a charge, which flopping in late game situation
Speaker 1: is never a good idea. He ended up getting called
Speaker 1: for a block. So suddenly it was a six point
Speaker 1: game because Norman Powell went to the line and made
Speaker 1: six straight free throws. Then Darius Garland through a pick
Speaker 1: six the Terrence man for a dunk, although there was
Speaker 1: a weird sequence on the dunk where Terrence Man like
Speaker 1: literally grabbed the net with his left hand and pulled
Speaker 1: himself up and then dunked it with his right hand.
Speaker 1: Calves were pissed about that, but they didn't get the call.
Speaker 1: All of a sudden, it's four point game. Then Darius
Speaker 1: drives down again and turns it over to Reggie Jackson
Speaker 1: and then just immediately fouls Reggie Jackson in the backcourt,
Speaker 1: so two more free throws. So they literally gifted the
Speaker 1: Clippers ten consecutive points through basically a pick six, and
Speaker 1: then four silly fouls. One of them I suppose it
Speaker 1: was on a back cup, but the three of the
Speaker 1: fouls were silly. And then on the last possession of
Speaker 1: the game, where the last possession of the run, Jared
Speaker 1: Allen missed a layup at the rim, which we're gonna
Speaker 1: come back to that play because I thought it was interesting.
Speaker 1: And then uh norm Pale Ray Now got a transition
Speaker 1: lay up to tide the game two at at one twelve.
Speaker 1: Then from there Darius Garland missed a step back three.
Speaker 1: Were under a minute now, Darius Garland missed a step
Speaker 1: back three, and then uh Tyler drew up a really
Speaker 1: smart play where they started at Paul George on the
Speaker 1: right block and had him run off of a curl
Speaker 1: to get Isaaca Coro trailing him, and as a result,
Speaker 1: Paul George was able to get downhill. Isaaca Coro continued
Speaker 1: to track him and ride his hip and Paul George
Speaker 1: ended up elevating through contact and making a really nice
Speaker 1: lay up um to put them up one sevent and
Speaker 1: then the twelve, and then the Clippers played the foul
Speaker 1: contest and one they ended up fouling Darius Garland. He
Speaker 1: ended up missing a free throw um, so obviously Paul
Speaker 1: Paul George hit would essentially amounted to the game winner.
Speaker 1: But I thought the biggest play of that game was
Speaker 1: probably Paul George contesting Jared Allen on the rent. So
Speaker 1: remember it was one twelve to one ten after the
Speaker 1: Darius turnover against Reggie Jackson where he committed the foul,
Speaker 1: and Darius Garland drives to the basket, gets drivel penetration,
Speaker 1: gets downhill, and Paul George, who was guarding Jared Allen
Speaker 1: on this particular play of I think because of the
Speaker 1: switch um, ends up corralling Darius under the basket. Darius
Speaker 1: throws a really nice hook pass that hits Jared Allen
Speaker 1: by himself basically at the charge circle, and Paul George
Speaker 1: turned instead of just conceding the dunk, which if he
Speaker 1: concedes the dunk, no one even really says anything because
Speaker 1: he was wide open. And then you're down four with
Speaker 1: a minute left and the game is probably over. But
Speaker 1: instead he turned and just jumped as high as he
Speaker 1: possibly could, knowing he might even get dunked on. But
Speaker 1: in the process Jared Allen, instead of taking a short
Speaker 1: hook shot, ended up trying to kind of like finish
Speaker 1: downward at the basket after palming the basketball, and he
Speaker 1: missed the layout, which led to the transition opportunity where
Speaker 1: Norman Palletie the game. So instead of conceding the layup
Speaker 1: and effectively the game, Paul George put his body on
Speaker 1: the line and make a defensive play, got a stop
Speaker 1: that led to a transition opportunity, and then he hit
Speaker 1: the game winner, so really stealing a victory from the
Speaker 1: jaws of defeat by Paul George. UM. Some bad luck
Speaker 1: from Cleveland there too, like I said, they missed all
Speaker 1: of their good looks during down that stretch. Also some
Speaker 1: bad process, some turnovers, a few bad offensive possessions, a
Speaker 1: few bad step back three's um. And then also really
Speaker 1: good execution from the Clippers competing on defense like I
Speaker 1: said with Paul George earlier, and then getting easy points
Speaker 1: without having to score against Cleveland's half court defense by
Speaker 1: manufacturing points of the foul line and getting out in transition.
Speaker 1: A couple of notes on the Clippers Paul George. He
Speaker 1: had a weird start to the season. He was held
Speaker 1: the sixteen points are fewer and four of his first
Speaker 1: five games. But in the last five games he's avaging
Speaker 1: thirty one, six and five on fifty percent from the field,
Speaker 1: and from three he's getting back downhill. He's up back
Speaker 1: up to three point two restricted area makes per game
Speaker 1: on eight four percent. Remember that's a huge indicator for
Speaker 1: Paul George. When he's like less than two restricted area
Speaker 1: makes per game, he's shooting too many jump shots. His
Speaker 1: game starts to fall apart. When he gets over three.
Speaker 1: That's when he's like superstar Paul George three level score.
Speaker 1: He's also shooting in this five game stretch on eleven
Speaker 1: point four pull up jumpers per game. When you've got
Speaker 1: six eight Paul George defending like an all defense guy
Speaker 1: three level score. Hitting on eleven plus pull up jumpers
Speaker 1: per game. That dude's a superstar. And when he's playing
Speaker 1: like that, it makes the Clippers a lot more interesting,
Speaker 1: especially if they can never get Quiet Leonard back, which
Speaker 1: is a whole other story. Clippers themselves four and one
Speaker 1: in their last five. John Wall himself is also up
Speaker 1: to four restricted area makes per game in this five
Speaker 1: game stretch. That's again, that's the key. They gotta get
Speaker 1: dribble penetration. We talked a lot about that during our
Speaker 1: most disappointing teams. The offense is a little better their
Speaker 1: twenty two during the span, which is better than them
Speaker 1: being at the bottom of the league like they had been.
Speaker 1: But they still have a long way to go to
Speaker 1: get to where they need to be offensively. But they're
Speaker 1: trying in the right direction and they're winning, which is
Speaker 1: all that matters when you're trying to float in the
Speaker 1: standings when a star is out. All right, that is
Speaker 1: all I have for today, guys, has always, I sincerely
Speaker 1: appreciate your support. Tomorrow night, we're covering Nick's nets after
Speaker 1: the opening the early Slate live on AMP. That'll be
Speaker 1: right around eight, right around seven thirty PST, and then
Speaker 1: um Lakers Clippers in the evening, we'll be breaking that
Speaker 1: game down live on YouTube right after the final buzzer.
Speaker 1: As always, I sincerely appreciate you, guys, and I will
Speaker 1: see you tomorrow. The volume