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Speaker 1: dot net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight,
Speaker 1: presented by FanDuel. Here at the volume, I'm Jason Timp
Speaker 1: Happy Friday, everybody, congrats on making it to the weekend.
Speaker 1: An incredible night of basketball, and we are almost done
Speaker 1: with the second round of what has been an incredible
Speaker 1: playoff field so far as we expected with all of
Speaker 1: the incredible talent and all the great teams involved. What
Speaker 1: an interesting game. That was a lot of self sabotage
Speaker 1: from Golden State early on, and you know Steph continues
Speaker 1: to struggle. We're gonna talk about that in this show.
Speaker 1: But he once again as he's done throughout this series,
Speaker 1: and as he's done for the most part throughout his
Speaker 1: playoff career, he made all of the big plays when
Speaker 1: it mattered. At the end of the game, we're going
Speaker 1: to talk about everything from this game Game six Clay.
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about Steph Curry. We're gonna talk about
Speaker 1: what it looks like for Golden State in the next round,
Speaker 1: which match up I think is best. We're gonna bring
Speaker 1: my guy Carson on. We're gonna get into the weeds
Speaker 1: and some of this stuff, and then if you guys
Speaker 1: stick around for the end, I'm going to do a
Speaker 1: deep dive into everything from that incredible Buck Celtics game,
Speaker 1: which featured an unbelievable showdown of two of the best
Speaker 1: basketball players alive in Jayson Tatum and Janis Antenna Kompo.
Speaker 1: We have an absolutely packed show tonight. I sincerely appreciate
Speaker 1: you guys coming to hang out before we move forward,
Speaker 1: make sure you like this video and subscribe to the
Speaker 1: volume's YouTube channels you don't miss any more of our content.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be going live basically for every big game
Speaker 1: the rest of the way, So no game tomorrow, no
Speaker 1: game Monday. But outside of that if you see an
Speaker 1: NBA playoff game and you want to break down, come
Speaker 1: hang out with us on YouTube after the final buzzer,
Speaker 1: and then, last but not least, follow me on Twitter
Speaker 1: underscore Jason LT so you can see all of the
Speaker 1: video content that I do to back up the concepts
Speaker 1: that we talked about on the show. I wanted to
Speaker 1: start with Clay Thompson tonight because you saw an interesting
Speaker 1: battle take place between him and Dylan Brooks. And there
Speaker 1: are two guys that have been maligned in some ways
Speaker 1: by their own fan base, but at the same time
Speaker 1: loved by their own fan base. Now for both of them,
Speaker 1: it's for different reasons. Because for Clay it's because he
Speaker 1: just hasn't demonstrated that he's the same guy since his injury,
Speaker 1: at least not yet. But for Dylan Brooks, it's kind
Speaker 1: of like consistently, he's just been a kind of a
Speaker 1: wild card, a guy that looks amazing one night and
Speaker 1: terrible the next. Textbook good play, bad play guy. But
Speaker 1: since Clay has come back from his injury, he's been inconsistent.
Speaker 1: I'd give him a ton of slack. You've been away
Speaker 1: from the game of basketball for two years. It's just
Speaker 1: really hard to get that rhythm and flowback. But one
Speaker 1: of the important things with Clay that I've appreciated as
Speaker 1: he struggled through this stretch, as he's missed a boatload
Speaker 1: of shots, as the fan base has been critical of him,
Speaker 1: what I have appreciated is he hasn't lost his audacity.
Speaker 1: And there's value and audacity because the NBA playoffs are
Speaker 1: as stressful and high pressure as any basketball environment can get,
Speaker 1: and there are a lot of guys who simply don't
Speaker 1: want to shoot. They don't want to be held accountable
Speaker 1: for the result of a shot, and you've seen so
Speaker 1: many players over the years absolutely crumble in this environment.
Speaker 1: We saw Matistible, a really talented young player for the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy six ers, just completely combust under the pressure
Speaker 1: of being expected to knock down spot up three's. And
Speaker 1: both of these guys have significantly more responsibility. You need
Speaker 1: guys that are just a little bit unhinged with their
Speaker 1: shot selection, that aren't scared, and you understand that there's
Speaker 1: a downside. You understand that there's gonna be shots from
Speaker 1: Clay that don't make any sense. You understand that there
Speaker 1: are gonna be games where Clay Thompson goes out and
Speaker 1: takes incredibly difficult shots and it ends up hurting the team.
Speaker 1: But you also know that you can have a night
Speaker 1: like tonight when Jordan Pool can't make anything, when Steph
Speaker 1: Curry can't make anything, when Andrew Wiggins starts one for seven,
Speaker 1: and you just need somebody to make something happen. And
Speaker 1: Clay Thompson, who's never scared, who has that audacity, just
Speaker 1: continually keeps chipping away at that wall, and he had
Speaker 1: a huge game in a moment where his team absolutely
Speaker 1: needed it. You know the Warriors have You know that
Speaker 1: they had a specific set of tasks that they needed
Speaker 1: to accomplish tonight, and we talked about all of those
Speaker 1: after Game five. The reason why they lost Game five
Speaker 1: is there the veteran team that went on the road
Speaker 1: against the young super athletic team that was desperate and
Speaker 1: in that environment, feeding off of their home crowd, especially
Speaker 1: with all of their physical advantages, they were able to
Speaker 1: bludge in Golden State and a lot of very specific
Speaker 1: ways transition on the glass defensively just sitting in a
Speaker 1: stance and containing ball handlers. And I talked about a
Speaker 1: lot of different things that we're going to be important
Speaker 1: tonight coming into this game, because the truth of the
Speaker 1: matter is is Golden State is so much more skilled
Speaker 1: than Memphis in this environment, in half court sets, when
Speaker 1: everyone's in their position and you need to create shots,
Speaker 1: Golden State just has so much more that they can
Speaker 1: go to. A guy like Dylan Brooks on Golden State
Speaker 1: would never shoot the ball because there's just more skilled
Speaker 1: players on the floor. But the problem is is I
Speaker 1: talk all the time on the show about swing factors.
Speaker 1: Swing factors are the things that take place in a
Speaker 1: basketball game that are outside of the static half court environment,
Speaker 1: and those things that are like special teams in football.
Speaker 1: They are the kinds of things that can swing a
Speaker 1: game one way or another. And transition is one of them.
Speaker 1: Turning the ball overs one of them, offensive rebounding is
Speaker 1: one of them. You know, scheming and coaching is one
Speaker 1: of them. Out there's a ton of these types of elements,
Speaker 1: the Foul Colleague for free throw shooting. There's a million
Speaker 1: things that can come into a game that can swing
Speaker 1: it one way or another. And you know, Golden State
Speaker 1: came in tonight and they tightened up a lot of things.
Speaker 1: They actually flipped the offensive rebounding script completely on Memphis
Speaker 1: and dominated them on the offensive glass tonight, which was
Speaker 1: something that they did really well games one through four,
Speaker 1: and then they just completely lost control of in game five.
Speaker 1: They did a much better job in uh in in
Speaker 1: their in their own defense and containing ball handlers and
Speaker 1: and just sitting in a stance and doing the things
Speaker 1: that they needed to do. They did a lot of
Speaker 1: things well, but there were two things that they did
Speaker 1: poorly that I thought were the reason why this game
Speaker 1: almost got away from them. One, they did not apply
Speaker 1: enough for im pressure. I talked a lot about after
Speaker 1: last the last game that one of the most important
Speaker 1: things that they had to do tonight was get guys
Speaker 1: like Jordan's Pool, guys like Steph Curry Downhill beating people
Speaker 1: off the dribble. And they did a little bit in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. There were a couple of plays where
Speaker 1: Jordan Pool got in the lane missed layups, but guys
Speaker 1: were there for offensive rebounds. Steph had a huge driving
Speaker 1: play past Desmond Bay. So they did a little bit
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter. But the reason why the game
Speaker 1: was so close throughout was they weren't getting the same
Speaker 1: high quality shots that they always get when they are
Speaker 1: putting their head down and getting to the basket. When
Speaker 1: they you know, mess around on the perimeter, that's when
Speaker 1: bad things happen. And then the second big thing was turnovers.
Speaker 1: They were throwing the ball all over the court tonight,
Speaker 1: and this has been a consistent issue throughout the Golden
Speaker 1: State era as many of you Warriors fans. No, but
Speaker 1: I don't think people realize specifically how damaging live ball
Speaker 1: turnovers are. So to give you an example, because there's
Speaker 1: two sides to this, on live ball turnovers in this
Speaker 1: playoff run that leads to a transition opportunity, Golden State
Speaker 1: is giving up one point three five points per possession
Speaker 1: in this playoff run, so a hundred thirty five points
Speaker 1: per a hundred possessions, if you prefer to hear it
Speaker 1: that way. But it's not just that it's giving up
Speaker 1: the shot attempt. So let's say that you expect on
Speaker 1: a Golden State half court possession in the playoffs to
Speaker 1: score one point per possession. Just to make the math easy.
Speaker 1: That means every turnover is effectively almost a two and
Speaker 1: a half point swing, because not only are you not
Speaker 1: getting a shot attempt, but Memphis is running it right
Speaker 1: down the other way, and in this playoff run, you've
Speaker 1: been giving up almost one and a half points per
Speaker 1: transition life ball turnover. That's how damaging those plays are,
Speaker 1: and it's not hard to figure out. Typically speaking, when
Speaker 1: you turn the ball over on a backcut or driving
Speaker 1: to the basket or throwing across court pass, the guy
Speaker 1: who gets the steel typically has a head of steam
Speaker 1: because he's hawking to the ball. The defense is set
Speaker 1: up in a way where they start sprinting the other
Speaker 1: their way almost before you can turn around and kind
Speaker 1: of figure out what's happening. Transition defense is really hard.
Speaker 1: Look at how athletic Boston it isn't how much they've
Speaker 1: struggled with transition defense in this entire playoff run. You
Speaker 1: have to take care of the basketball because if you don't,
Speaker 1: it gives Memphis a swing opportunity. If you can keep
Speaker 1: the game in the half court, you are the better,
Speaker 1: more skilled team. You are a better defensive team too
Speaker 1: when you're dialed in the way that Golden State can
Speaker 1: get at times. And so it's so important that you
Speaker 1: don't toss Memphis opportunities like that. You know there was
Speaker 1: other swing factors like Dylan Brooks just had one of
Speaker 1: those nights where everything was working, sit and step back threes,
Speaker 1: He's getting into the lane. There is value and having
Speaker 1: a guy that big, you know, six five six six strong,
Speaker 1: that can put the ball on the floor and shoot
Speaker 1: from different spots on the floor, especially when that audacity
Speaker 1: comes into play, because that audacity is what gives him
Speaker 1: the lack of fear to think that that might not
Speaker 1: be a good shot. And on a night like tonight,
Speaker 1: it almost carried Memphis to the finish line. And I
Speaker 1: I don't think people realize the stakes. If Golden State
Speaker 1: had lost that game, they would very likely have lost
Speaker 1: in Game seven. There was some matchup stuff that was
Speaker 1: starting to wear on them, specifically with size and athleticism,
Speaker 1: and Golden State, to their credit, they've made enough plays
Speaker 1: down the stretch to not let that happen. You know, Steff.
Speaker 1: We we're gonna talk about Steff here in just a minute,
Speaker 1: because there's a big task laying in front of Golden
Speaker 1: State and a big task ling in front of Steps
Speaker 1: specifically with some matchup stuff that we'll talk about when
Speaker 1: we bring Carson on, but consistently, not just in this series,
Speaker 1: but throughout this whole playoff run, even on bad nights,
Speaker 1: he's had the fortitude to make the important plays at
Speaker 1: the end of the game. And ironically, in almost every
Speaker 1: situation in this playoff run, it's been getting to the basket.
Speaker 1: The two shots that got Steff going tonight, we're a
Speaker 1: play where he drove into the lane and I can't
Speaker 1: remember who was guarding him, might have been des in Vane,
Speaker 1: but kind of hit with the shoulder, got that little
Speaker 1: bit of space right at the charge circle, and made
Speaker 1: like a little fade away seven footer. Again it's a
Speaker 1: jump shot, but a wide open seven footer for Step
Speaker 1: he's going to make eight percent of the time. And
Speaker 1: then the next trip down he drove all the way
Speaker 1: to the rim and finished. There are a lot of
Speaker 1: guys in this league that when they aren't making their
Speaker 1: jump shots, they come bust. They feel like it's not
Speaker 1: their night. They want to pound their head into the
Speaker 1: brick wall, meaning all they want to do is keep
Speaker 1: taking jump shots. STEP's been there and he's done that.
Speaker 1: He's had enough bad shooting nights to know that, especially
Speaker 1: with him and all the impact that he has, you know,
Speaker 1: the biggest play the game that dunk at the end
Speaker 1: that kind of iced it. The dunk that Draymond had,
Speaker 1: it's step just faking a step back three. And when
Speaker 1: he faked a step back three, Keevan Luni's man helped
Speaker 1: out of the the week side corner. He just dropped it
Speaker 1: over the top to Looney Luney just kind of made
Speaker 1: a little bounce past the Draymond in the lane and
Speaker 1: it's a punk. Those are little things that aren't going
Speaker 1: to show in the box score for Steph Curry, but
Speaker 1: they are part of his impact on winning and too
Speaker 1: Steph's credit, He's always understood that his jump shot is
Speaker 1: not reliable. Even at his best. He's capable of having
Speaker 1: one for ten nights or two for ten nights, and
Speaker 1: he knows that that's not exactly a night and night
Speaker 1: out type of thing. And he has to impact winning
Speaker 1: in different ways and consistently in this playoff run, whenever
Speaker 1: he has had poor shooting nights, he has made big
Speaker 1: plays at the end of the game to help his
Speaker 1: team win. And that's the mark of a champion. That's
Speaker 1: the mark of a guy that I think has been
Speaker 1: the second best player of this era, and it's a
Speaker 1: mark of a guy that I think as it's not
Speaker 1: a coincidence that he's won as often as he has
Speaker 1: big win for Golden State, that I don't think people
Speaker 1: realize anywhere near how much trouble they were in their
Speaker 1: trailing in the fourth quarter in Game six, facing a
Speaker 1: Game seven in Memphis, we want to get into a
Speaker 1: bunch more details of this game, but I want to
Speaker 1: bring my guy Carson on so that we can do
Speaker 1: it in a more conversational manner. So let's get car
Speaker 1: Su up here, and we're gonna get into some questions.
Speaker 1: We might not have Carson yet, so I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 1: gonna move into this conference finals matchup. So the question becomes,
Speaker 1: if you're a Golden State fan and you've got a
Speaker 1: big game, a big game seven on Sunday night between
Speaker 1: Phoenix and Golden State, and up there we go. We
Speaker 1: got Carson, Well we don't have Carson. All right, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna keep going. So, uh, Sunday night, Dallas and Phoenix.
Speaker 1: Now we're good to go. Now, all right, anybody, Hey Jason,
Speaker 1: how are you doing? I'm doing good man, I can't complain.
Speaker 1: That's fantastic. All right, Well, we got five big questions
Speaker 1: for you tonight, and we'll start with one related to
Speaker 1: what's coming up for the Warriors now. So obviously we
Speaker 1: have Game seven still in coming between the Suns and
Speaker 1: the Math. Who do you think is the better matchup
Speaker 1: for the Warriors between those two teams? So this is
Speaker 1: a really interesting question because they're both very different, and
Speaker 1: one team in particular is significantly better. Like, I think
Speaker 1: Phoenix is a better basketball team by than Dallas by
Speaker 1: a pretty decent margin, although it hasn't manifested in this series.
Speaker 1: I just think that has a lot more to do
Speaker 1: with Chris Paul randomly hitting a massive slump and Phoenix
Speaker 1: just not really playing well on the road. But when
Speaker 1: they're at home, there's a there's a giant chasm between
Speaker 1: the teams, and it's even bigger than the chasm that
Speaker 1: manifests in Dallas. What's interesting, though, is if I was
Speaker 1: Golden State, I would want Phoenix to win because I think, again,
Speaker 1: these playoff series is are frequently about matchups. What would
Speaker 1: terrify me about a matchup with Dallas is one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why Luca is struggling, not just Luca, but
Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson and everybody in that series has struggled to create,
Speaker 1: especially in Phoenix, is because Phoenix is extremely imposing with
Speaker 1: their size, and so Luca is struggling to shoot over
Speaker 1: the likes of Mikhail Bridges, struggling to shoot over the
Speaker 1: likes of DeAndre Ayton, struggling to shoot over the likes
Speaker 1: of Cam Johnson, because they just have a ton of length,
Speaker 1: and it just makes it so that each of those
Speaker 1: shots is a little more rushed, a little more pressed,
Speaker 1: and it's just difficult. Right. Here's the thing, Luca is
Speaker 1: gonna have a size advantage over every single rotational player
Speaker 1: that plays for Golden State in that series. He will
Speaker 1: be comfortable the entire series, at least as it pertains
Speaker 1: to getting to his spots and getting to his shots.
Speaker 1: Golden I'm sure Steve Kerr will have a lot of
Speaker 1: his sleeve. They'll have different coverages and things that they'll
Speaker 1: throw at him. So it's not like it won't be
Speaker 1: a challenge, But I think Luca will have a much
Speaker 1: easier time attacking Golden State than he did Phoenix. Now
Speaker 1: why would I The Phoenix obviously has their own issues
Speaker 1: right there, A bigger team, that's something that could theoretically
Speaker 1: cause Golden State problems. But Golden State has demonstrated for
Speaker 1: you against Memphis that when they're focused and actually doing
Speaker 1: the job that they're supposed to do, that they handle
Speaker 1: size pretty well. What I like about the matchup with
Speaker 1: Phoenix is I do think they'll do a little bit
Speaker 1: of drop coverage stuff, especially early in games and early
Speaker 1: in the series, to try to save Steph in Jordan
Speaker 1: Pool and Clay from having to bang with DeAndre Ayton
Speaker 1: and offensive rebound situations or in quick seals and things
Speaker 1: like that. So I do think they'll try to avoid
Speaker 1: that sum but Golden State will consistently have an option
Speaker 1: to switch everything, and they'll do that a lot. And
Speaker 1: because of the way that Dallas has played and because
Speaker 1: of the way that New Orleans played. We saw this
Speaker 1: in New Orleans when New Orleans played uh Valanciunists and
Speaker 1: they did drop Phoenix was scoring at will, but when
Speaker 1: they ditched him and went five out and switched everything,
Speaker 1: Phoenix struggled to score. And we talked a lot about
Speaker 1: how that's a strategy for Dallas. In game seven, I
Speaker 1: think Golden State has some potential to really disrupt Golden
Speaker 1: State's offense, and with Chris Paul not looking great right
Speaker 1: now as an individual shot creator getting to his spots
Speaker 1: and knocking down shots you pretty much. It's not that
Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about Chris Paul, but Devin
Speaker 1: Booker is the only one that really intimidates you as
Speaker 1: a matchup attackers. So I think, especially as the series
Speaker 1: drags out, Golden State is gonna have some really good
Speaker 1: options to attack a Phoenix on both ends of the floor,
Speaker 1: whereas I think Dallas it could turn into a really
Speaker 1: bad Luca problem that they might not be able to solve.
Speaker 1: So that's really interesting. I think you're absolutely right on
Speaker 1: the Luca nightmare matchup issue. And I also think the
Speaker 1: Sons just overall haven't been playing quite at the level
Speaker 1: that we've come to expect from them, probably, and I
Speaker 1: think part of that maybe is something that we've seen
Speaker 1: from CP and UM. I just think obviously they have
Speaker 1: not been at the level that we saw from them
Speaker 1: at their best this year. I still do think though
Speaker 1: that in terms of true two way ceiling, in terms
Speaker 1: of just the quality impact player quotient, in terms of
Speaker 1: having you know, multiple guys who went out their best
Speaker 1: are true star level, they do of a lot of
Speaker 1: advantages over the Maps. I do think that they're fundamentally
Speaker 1: just a better basketball team, but I also don't necessarily
Speaker 1: disagree with some of the matchup things that you point
Speaker 1: out there. So how do you think the Warriors would
Speaker 1: go about handling Luca? Like, what is the coverage? Who
Speaker 1: is the primary guy there? What's the approach? So I
Speaker 1: think the smart move and and Phoenix has demonstrated this
Speaker 1: is you turn Luca into his score. But Phoenix has
Speaker 1: the luxury of um because the thing with Luca is
Speaker 1: he punishes mismatches with his size. Okay, Like he wants
Speaker 1: to pin you on his hip, and he wants to
Speaker 1: work you into the lane and go to an arsenal
Speaker 1: of floaters if he can. If he can't get get
Speaker 1: past you in that regard, he wants to pin you
Speaker 1: on his backside. And he wants to take turnaround jump
Speaker 1: shots out of the high post because he knows that
Speaker 1: that those are his highest percentage shots to attack switches.
Speaker 1: That Phoenix has put him in a predicament where he's
Speaker 1: had to take a lot more step back threes because
Speaker 1: those guys are so damn big that the he can't
Speaker 1: shoot over them as easily right. I think that I
Speaker 1: think that Luca would be living in the low the
Speaker 1: low post, in the high post against Golden State in
Speaker 1: those isolation situations and just get a lot better shots
Speaker 1: than he did against Phoenix. Now here's the thing, Golden State,
Speaker 1: they will throw different coverages at him, They'll trap him sometimes,
Speaker 1: they will they will send double teams from time to time.
Speaker 1: It's just like he's one of the most cerebral players
Speaker 1: in the league. I just think, I just think in general,
Speaker 1: the there's going to be a groove that I believe
Speaker 1: Luca would get into against Golden State that he hasn't
Speaker 1: gotten into against Dallas against Phoenix. And I think that
Speaker 1: if I am Golden State, that would scare me more
Speaker 1: than the prospect of let's switch everything against Phoenix and
Speaker 1: turn Chris Paul into his score, which he hasn't done
Speaker 1: well in a couple of weeks now. And Devin Booker's
Speaker 1: got this hamstring thing. He obviously is a great player,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna burn you some on that. But like
Speaker 1: there are little details, right, Like you don't want you
Speaker 1: don't want to have Steph in Jordan Pool fighting through
Speaker 1: uh fighting for offensive defensive rebounds, against eight and all
Speaker 1: series long. There are definitely wrinkles there. But you're choosing
Speaker 1: between two great teams. It's not like we're choosing between
Speaker 1: two bad teams, like they're both gonna present different problems.
Speaker 1: I just think the problems that Phoenix presents are more
Speaker 1: solvable for Golden State, whereas Dallas is problem that might
Speaker 1: be unsolvable. Yeah, that's interesting. I do think the other
Speaker 1: factor that is always a question with Dallas is the
Speaker 1: element that's out of Lucas hand, and that is what
Speaker 1: is the secondary and shot, the secondary shot making playmaking
Speaker 1: that you get from Bronson and din Witty. And obviously
Speaker 1: Bronson was phenomenal in the first series and has had
Speaker 1: some great moments in this one, but also some down moments.
Speaker 1: Din Wit he has often struggled to be efficient. Luca
Speaker 1: is going to be dominant individually. There's just no denying
Speaker 1: that that is a nightmare matchup for anybody, although I
Speaker 1: do wonder if some of the Warriors true wing defenders
Speaker 1: like and Andrew Wiggains how he can compete in that matchup.
Speaker 1: I don't know if there are times where you put
Speaker 1: Draymond on Luke. Obviously, you know, straight up perimeter to
Speaker 1: offences in his strength, but in the post, I think
Speaker 1: Draymond is incredibly well equipped to handle that. So that's interesting.
Speaker 1: I would think that if I were the Warriors, I
Speaker 1: would rather see the MAVs, even though Luca alone has
Speaker 1: them so scared, not just because of the Sun's simply
Speaker 1: have more I believe, really good, truly impactful basketball players.
Speaker 1: I think they're still uh solid amount better defensively, and
Speaker 1: I just kind of trust the replicability of what they're
Speaker 1: doing a little bit more because outside of Luca, it
Speaker 1: just feels like night tonight with the MAVs. You don't
Speaker 1: really know. I think, unquestionably Golden State would have an
Speaker 1: easier time scoring against Dallas. I think that goes without saying, um,
Speaker 1: it's just it's just like I think of I think
Speaker 1: that they're they're gonna put both teams in predicaments, though
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. So I don't know, I
Speaker 1: don't I I don't think it's something I'm particularly passionate about.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying if I was a Golden State fan,
Speaker 1: that's where I would lab. But that's a really really
Speaker 1: interesting perspective. Carson, and I think you I think you've
Speaker 1: broke it down really well. Yeah. I think another interesting
Speaker 1: factor is, like, you know what level CP gets to,
Speaker 1: and we'll see obviously what happens with all that. All right,
Speaker 1: So let's talk about Steph for a second here, because
Speaker 1: he had an interesting game tonight. He really struggled to
Speaker 1: be efficient for a while, did end up making some
Speaker 1: big shots down the stretch. But you've talked a lot
Speaker 1: throughout this year about some of the regression that we've
Speaker 1: seen from him in terms of shotmaking, in terms of
Speaker 1: his production and efficiency this year, and we've seen some
Speaker 1: moments of that in the playoffs too. So, Jason, do
Speaker 1: you believe, as the Warriors now work their way into
Speaker 1: the last four teams here, can Steph match the firepower
Speaker 1: of the other top major stars out there. That's tough.
Speaker 1: I I don't think so. But I don't think he
Speaker 1: needs to necessarily be honest, I don't think he necessarily
Speaker 1: needs to be what Jayson Tatum was Tony. I don't
Speaker 1: think he needs to be like that world beat or
Speaker 1: offensive player. Because his team has a ton of skill
Speaker 1: and talent, it's more important for him to weaponize that
Speaker 1: and create shots for other people. But he will need
Speaker 1: to be better than he has been. So Steph was
Speaker 1: amazing in the first round he had a fifty forty
Speaker 1: round from the field over from three. But in this series,
Speaker 1: coming into tonight, which he did not shoot well tonight
Speaker 1: overall he was forty two percent from the field and
Speaker 1: from three average about twenty five points. So the reality
Speaker 1: is is there are specifically Dallas in Boston or Miami
Speaker 1: would put step in a position where he would have
Speaker 1: to create shots for himself off the dribble a little
Speaker 1: bit more because of their switching attack that is designed
Speaker 1: to bait you into isolation possessions. Right. You know what
Speaker 1: will be really interesting is I think if they played Phoenix,
Speaker 1: they'd end up putting Michael Bridges on him because Michaale
Speaker 1: has had some success against him, completely shut him down
Speaker 1: in one game this regular season. But and then I
Speaker 1: think if they put Michael on him, they could put
Speaker 1: him in situations where, uh, where they can run drop
Speaker 1: coverage with eight and the trick is is what I
Speaker 1: would worry about if I was Phoenix at that case
Speaker 1: is if I'm Steph, I'm just running off of a
Speaker 1: million screens if Michael Bridges is on me. Because Michael
Speaker 1: is a big body, and he's more likely to get
Speaker 1: caught on screens, although he does a really good job
Speaker 1: compared to most bigger players. But the reality is is there.
Speaker 1: This is a really deep field and there are really
Speaker 1: good teams ahead. You know, Dallas is one of the
Speaker 1: weaker ones, but Phoenix is really good, Boston is really good,
Speaker 1: Miami is really good, Milwaukee is really good. And step
Speaker 1: is probably going to be asked to create offense in
Speaker 1: a way that he didn't have to in these first
Speaker 1: two rounds because this Memphis team is not as nearly
Speaker 1: as skilled as Golden State. That Pelicans team was not
Speaker 1: nearly as skilled as Golden State. When they move into
Speaker 1: these later rounds, there are going to be teams to
Speaker 1: have good offensive firepower that are going to require this
Speaker 1: Warriors offense to produce more. And I do think Steph
Speaker 1: needs to be better. But it's all about matchups, you know.
Speaker 1: Like and in that first round series against Denver, Yokich
Speaker 1: sat in a up all night long and then when
Speaker 1: he would switch the Steph would dust him. So he
Speaker 1: was getting better looks against Denver. He got worse looks
Speaker 1: in this series. The one thing I'll say to this
Speaker 1: is not a conversation about steps long term, you know,
Speaker 1: uh prospects, Like the dude literally played zero regular season
Speaker 1: games coming into this playoff run because he had a
Speaker 1: sprained foot. His first bit of basketball action was first
Speaker 1: round of the NBA Playoffs coming off the bench. So
Speaker 1: I'm not criticizing step in the sense that like, oh,
Speaker 1: he's washed. I'm just saying, regardless of the circumstance with
Speaker 1: his foot injury, he's going to have to be better
Speaker 1: than he has been in order to beat the top
Speaker 1: teams in the league. Do you think he is in
Speaker 1: that top five players on the Planet group right now? Oh,
Speaker 1: that's a good question. So I would go, I think
Speaker 1: you have to put be honest there. Yeah, I'm way
Speaker 1: down on embiid. I'm lower on your kids than you,
Speaker 1: but I do think he probably is on that list.
Speaker 1: I up, Katie there, I still put Lebron there. This
Speaker 1: is interesting, So I really want to do a deep
Speaker 1: dive into this after the season. But the reality is
Speaker 1: is Steph has I think he scored over thirty points
Speaker 1: in most of his playoff games this year, so that
Speaker 1: I would say is is pretty classic stuff. He's done
Speaker 1: a great job on the defensive end of the floor,
Speaker 1: he's been closing games. He's dependable in a playoff environment.
Speaker 1: He's a fantastic leader who doesn't get rattled. I would
Speaker 1: say that he probably is in that four or five slot,
Speaker 1: but I don't want to be held to that until
Speaker 1: I can take some more time after the season to
Speaker 1: dive into it. And it does feel like that list
Speaker 1: is kind of ever changing, just because there's so many
Speaker 1: dynamics stretches that we see from guys. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: Luca Tatum. Those guys are out of sorts for half
Speaker 1: a year and then second half of the year playoffs
Speaker 1: have been like top five players on the planet in
Speaker 1: that period. I do think it's interesting just the shot
Speaker 1: making dip compared to what we normally see from stuff,
Speaker 1: though because the regular their season efficiency we are aware of,
Speaker 1: and in the playoffs he's been from the field thirty
Speaker 1: six percent from three. It's just it's established and he's
Speaker 1: still obviously is incredibly dynamic. He was among the most
Speaker 1: efficient pick and roll on isolation scorers this year. He's
Speaker 1: still a really efficient score overall because of just the
Speaker 1: value of the three at the volume he shoots it
Speaker 1: and the efficiency shoots it and you know, he has
Speaker 1: moments to night where he's just dusting guys off the
Speaker 1: dribble when he wants to, but it just has not
Speaker 1: been the same consistent, dominant steph. And so I think
Speaker 1: it's a very legitimate question at this point in terms
Speaker 1: of does he get to that level of the top
Speaker 1: tier guys. He's not even taking the types of shots
Speaker 1: he took from two thousand fifteen to two thousand eighteen,
Speaker 1: Like he's just not even attempting them anymore, which is
Speaker 1: a weird thing in and of itself. What he kind
Speaker 1: of looks like now, and again we have to remember
Speaker 1: the foot injury is a huge part of this, but
Speaker 1: what he kind of looks like now is that old
Speaker 1: guy at the gym that is playing with the younger guys.
Speaker 1: This kind of just floating through the games because he
Speaker 1: doesn't have the energy to But then at the end
Speaker 1: of every game, you know, he can just tap into
Speaker 1: that you know, extra level that the other guys can't
Speaker 1: tap into. And so the question for him moving forward becomes,
Speaker 1: you know, is this a physical decline or is it
Speaker 1: just his foot? And the only real way we're gonna
Speaker 1: find out is if he gets stronger over this playoff
Speaker 1: run or if he comes into next year and training
Speaker 1: camp and just looks amazing. But the reality is is, like,
Speaker 1: you know, these playoff games, especially for these talented teams
Speaker 1: that have lots of guys like Golden State, it's not Milwaukee.
Speaker 1: They're not in a situation where they require Janice to
Speaker 1: create every single basket for them, or Yannice or Drew
Speaker 1: or Bust, you know what I mean. Like, they have
Speaker 1: guys that can kind of spread that load around. So
Speaker 1: it's kind of a luxury for step in the sense
Speaker 1: that like he doesn't need to be a hundred percent
Speaker 1: right now, they just need him to close games. But again,
Speaker 1: it's the margin for error gets tighter and tighter as
Speaker 1: you get further along in this run. So I do
Speaker 1: think they'll that he'll have to tap into something. The
Speaker 1: old guy in the gym analogy is remarkable just because
Speaker 1: not that I think it's untrue, but it's just crazy
Speaker 1: because last year he averaged thirty two a game on
Speaker 1: like almost sixty true shooting. I think it was we
Speaker 1: were talking about, is this peak, Steff? Is this the
Speaker 1: best he's ever been? And I thought he was the
Speaker 1: best we've ever been. Yeah, I think that's very fair.
Speaker 1: And it was also even a different level of volume
Speaker 1: of pick and roll stuff because they didn't have the
Speaker 1: secondary ball handlers and decision makers that they did in
Speaker 1: you know, peak Warriors dynasty. Besides Draymond, it was him
Speaker 1: having to get more for himself than ever before, on
Speaker 1: higher volume, on as good efficiency as ever. Just crazy.
Speaker 1: It's really a pretty remarkable contrast between last year and
Speaker 1: this one. So obviously we talked about Steff here and
Speaker 1: he is and forever will be the face of this
Speaker 1: Warrior's team. Who do you think is the second most
Speaker 1: important Warrior Jason? So I think this is Jordan's Pool
Speaker 1: hands down. So we just talked a minute ago about
Speaker 1: Stef not taking the crazy types of shots off the
Speaker 1: dribble that he used to when he was younger. Right, Well,
Speaker 1: to me, that's kind of that kind of amounts to
Speaker 1: the offensive creation element. Right And Jordan Pool, We've did
Speaker 1: a whole thing on this show of like about a
Speaker 1: week ago about this after Game three, I believe, But
Speaker 1: Jordan Pool's ability to to apply dribble penetration it becomes
Speaker 1: so much more valuable as they move deeper into the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and they faced teams that do more switching. We talked
Speaker 1: about this concept a lot in the show. We're gonna
Speaker 1: talk about it more later tonight, but the gist of
Speaker 1: it is is against switching defenses, they're designed to bait
Speaker 1: you into pull up jump shooting. But the best way
Speaker 1: to be the switching defenses with dribble penetration to force
Speaker 1: help so that you can swing the ball around and
Speaker 1: start attacking close outs and get better looks out of
Speaker 1: it like that. And so Jordan Pool, Clay Thompson is
Speaker 1: Clay Thompson, and you know, he's not the same two
Speaker 1: way player that he was before the injuries. He's still
Speaker 1: incredibly important to this team. We talked about that earlier,
Speaker 1: his audacity and in the way that his lack of
Speaker 1: fear is such a weapon. But I you think that
Speaker 1: in half court situations, as they get further into this
Speaker 1: playoff run, having a guy like Jordan Poole that can
Speaker 1: beat dudes off the dribble is going to become absolutely
Speaker 1: imperative to them beating some of these better teams. Who
Speaker 1: do you think makes the next best argument? Oh man, Um,
Speaker 1: I would say I would say Draymond h the reason why.
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna refer to him on offense because he
Speaker 1: is every bit as great as you could expect Raymond
Speaker 1: to be on the defensive end of the floor, but
Speaker 1: especially you know, in specific matchups, like if they play
Speaker 1: Phoenix and they end up having to play Luney a
Speaker 1: lot more. Whatever it is, spacing starts to become a
Speaker 1: little bit of a concern and and Draymond looking to score,
Speaker 1: particularly in short role situations like I'm I'm not as
Speaker 1: concerned about him in spot up situations. People freak out
Speaker 1: about that, but to me, it's like if Raymon's wide
Speaker 1: open up top the key and no one's guarding him
Speaker 1: because you know, Stephen Atoms or whatever is under the basket, okay,
Speaker 1: and you kick out to Draymond if he doesn't shoot,
Speaker 1: but he just runs over to Clay, does a dribble
Speaker 1: handoff and like body checks Clay's man and Clay gets
Speaker 1: wide open three. That it effectively accomplishes the same thing
Speaker 1: as him being open, arguably better because it's for a
Speaker 1: better shooter. To me, it's more short roll situations him
Speaker 1: when he's barreling to the basket unguarded him looking to
Speaker 1: score with those floaters and layups, at the rim. That
Speaker 1: to me is what allows the defense to collapse around
Speaker 1: him so that he can kick too shooters outside. Whereas
Speaker 1: when he starts kick when the debt giveaway with Draymond
Speaker 1: is when he starts kicking even when no one's contesting
Speaker 1: him at the rim, or kicking like at the semicircle,
Speaker 1: semi circle before he's even gotten to the rim, Like
Speaker 1: those are those are the possessions where it's like, Okay, Draymond,
Speaker 1: you gotta look to score because even if you miss,
Speaker 1: like even if in short roll situation Draymond's Draymond goes
Speaker 1: two for six on floaters and layups. All it takes
Speaker 1: is convincing the defense to collapse on him, because then
Speaker 1: that's what opens up his playmaking opportunities. So you say
Speaker 1: Pool is their second most important player, Is he just
Speaker 1: outright their second best player? You think not necessarily, he's
Speaker 1: too inconsistent. I would say Draymond's easily their second best player. Jordan's.
Speaker 1: It's maybe like the question was most important, and that's
Speaker 1: kind of what I'm hitting at here, is like I
Speaker 1: don't think the Warriors are the best team remaining. I
Speaker 1: think Boston is better than them. I think Milwaukee maybe
Speaker 1: kind of similar level Phoenix and is is in terms
Speaker 1: of talent. I like, Golden State is a match up there,
Speaker 1: but Phoenix is a more talented team in terms of
Speaker 1: two way size and athleticism and skill. It's like it's
Speaker 1: to me, it's more about matchups moving forward. I think
Speaker 1: in order to raise Golden States ceiling to the point
Speaker 1: where they are the ones holding the trophy, the most
Speaker 1: important swing factor there is Jordan's pool and his ability
Speaker 1: need to be great offensively, particularly beating people off the dribble.
Speaker 1: I agree with you in terms of swing factor because
Speaker 1: there is uh I think with Draymond such a dependability
Speaker 1: in terms of the defense and the playmaking and yeah,
Speaker 1: you don't know what kind of finishing you're gonna get,
Speaker 1: but I think if you were to take away Draymond,
Speaker 1: it's interesting because we saw this regular season, obviously, as
Speaker 1: we do every year, his value where I think they
Speaker 1: were eight and seven when he and Steph played together
Speaker 1: or twenty something something around there during the regular season,
Speaker 1: and their defense fell off from best in the league
Speaker 1: to suddenly they were playing at the level of like
Speaker 1: the twenties something best defense in the league without him,
Speaker 1: But I also totally agree with you and that the
Speaker 1: Warriors have never had a secondary shot maker, a secondary
Speaker 1: bucket getter like Jordan Pool. Pete Clay Thompson couldn't come
Speaker 1: close to replicating the value getting downhill, facilitating, you know,
Speaker 1: shot making off the dribble. Clay. We see it tonight.
Speaker 1: He calls for a screen and he's just curling around
Speaker 1: it and pulling a three and the eyes handed his face,
Speaker 1: but it just doesn't matter because he's Clay. But he's
Speaker 1: completely added a new dimension, as you've touched on before.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean it's up to him to play
Speaker 1: at true star level because first half of the year
Speaker 1: Jordan Pool was like a solid sixteen a game guy
Speaker 1: on pretty solid efficiency. Second half of the year Jordan
Speaker 1: Pool playoff. Jordan Pool has been a twenty three a
Speaker 1: game guy on great efficiency, and that's I think what
Speaker 1: they need if they're gonna win the title. Yeah, in
Speaker 1: credit to Memphis, like you got, Memphis did a really
Speaker 1: really good job after Jaw went down of defending and
Speaker 1: pretty much everybody on the Warriors struggled during these last
Speaker 1: few games. So credit credit to Memphis. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: agree with you. I think I think Jordan Pool is
Speaker 1: the most important for for just raising that offensive ceiling
Speaker 1: to where they need to be in order to get
Speaker 1: the Lario b All right, let's let's talk about Memphis here.
Speaker 1: How do they approve? How do they improve ahead of
Speaker 1: next season now that this year is over with them?
Speaker 1: Jason and specifically, what does jaw do to improve? Well,
Speaker 1: the Jaw thing is easy. It's defense. I think he
Speaker 1: needs to put on a little bit of muscle and
Speaker 1: and become better at holding his own at the point
Speaker 1: of attack. Defensively, that was him giving up general penetration
Speaker 1: was one of the biggest things that undercut his own
Speaker 1: success in this playoff run. As far as like how
Speaker 1: to improve the roster or whatever, like their their roster
Speaker 1: is incredible, They're gonna be great. I love the way
Speaker 1: it's put together. This team is every bit the type
Speaker 1: of young team, like looking forward that Golden State was
Speaker 1: in two thousand, two thousand fourteen, that Oklahoma City was
Speaker 1: in two thousand, ten, thousand eleven. They have all of
Speaker 1: that at their disposal. In talent, the guy that I
Speaker 1: think is the huge swing factor for this team is
Speaker 1: Jaren Jackson Jr. He was an absolute monster after Jah
Speaker 1: went down. I take that back. He was a monster
Speaker 1: in the entire series. But one of the big reasons
Speaker 1: why this series were mained close after John went down
Speaker 1: was how dominant Jaren Jackson Jr. Was. He's got Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis type of upside underneath the basket as a rim protector.
Speaker 1: He's showing these flashes of perimeter shooting that are are,
Speaker 1: you know, super encouraging, and then he unlocked like a
Speaker 1: little bit of a bullyball thing in this playoff runt.
Speaker 1: He's always had the bulleyball thing, but he's always been
Speaker 1: reckless with it and kind of tunnel vision, not great
Speaker 1: at seeing what's happening around him on the floor. That like,
Speaker 1: there were possessions in the last few games where he
Speaker 1: was just taking it to Draymond, like and there's nothing
Speaker 1: Draymond could do. He's got a really, really good left
Speaker 1: handed hook in the lane, which is super important for
Speaker 1: for any player to be able to score in bullyball
Speaker 1: situations because if you can only go one direction, it
Speaker 1: just makes the physical task for the defenders so much easier.
Speaker 1: But like, this team is gonna be terrifyingly good. Desmond
Speaker 1: Band kind of is what he is. I don't see
Speaker 1: him getting significantly better or at anything. He shot over
Speaker 1: fifty from three this year or whatever. It was, So
Speaker 1: like Desmond Bayane is Desmond bay Like he's He's He's
Speaker 1: going to be the Clay Thompson of this team. He's
Speaker 1: gonna take big perimeter defensive assignments. He's gonna attack close
Speaker 1: out and knockdown three's like crazy. You know, John Moran
Speaker 1: offensively more or less is what he is. But he'll
Speaker 1: become more dependable as a three point shooter. But like
Speaker 1: as John Morand elevates and takes that next step into
Speaker 1: becoming that dependable two way superstar, and as Jaren Jackson Jr.
Speaker 1: Does the same, this team was already the two seed.
Speaker 1: They already had the talent to push Golden State to
Speaker 1: the point where without their best player in a Game six,
Speaker 1: they had a fourth quarter lead on the road and
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to send this thing home. Like Memphis
Speaker 1: is like I don't need to see a single free
Speaker 1: agent signing or a single trade to know that they
Speaker 1: are a bona fide contender next year. Like that, I'm
Speaker 1: a huge believer. And then looking forward, I think Triple
Speaker 1: J is fascinating The defense is all world. I think
Speaker 1: that's undeniable. He came so far are there this year,
Speaker 1: and that was always the expectation is I think that
Speaker 1: would be his greatest asset. And you see the moments
Speaker 1: offensively of the ball handling at his size, the relative quickness,
Speaker 1: the shooting, and you know, some of the bullyball stuff
Speaker 1: that you talk about. At the same time, there is
Speaker 1: just an inconsistency and a lack of control and decision making.
Speaker 1: You know, he settles for the floaters a lot, and
Speaker 1: it's like he's okay at them, but he's got thirty
Speaker 1: eight percent from the field in these playoffs. His shot
Speaker 1: really has been shockingly inconsistent since his second year, where
Speaker 1: you know, he was sub thirty two from three this year.
Speaker 1: So I always have mixed feelings about him offensively, because
Speaker 1: when it's going, it's great, But there's a lot of
Speaker 1: nights where I just feel like he's not playing up
Speaker 1: to his talent level and what he should theoretically be
Speaker 1: just is not what he looks like night tonight. So
Speaker 1: he's four years into his career. It's sort of an
Speaker 1: interesting point where he's not fully developed, but he's obviously
Speaker 1: deep in his developments, Like what is your actual expectation
Speaker 1: do you think he can become a true star level guy?
Speaker 1: Do you think he will reach that level or just
Speaker 1: where do you come down on? You know what you
Speaker 1: think he'll be. I absolutely think he'll be a sorry
Speaker 1: First of all, Carson, you're so good at this kind
Speaker 1: of stuff. I think this is one of your best abilities.
Speaker 1: Is this like player development scouting type of thing. This
Speaker 1: is this is why everyone needs a follow Carson on TikTok.
Speaker 1: But the thing with the thing with Jaren Jackson Jr.
Speaker 1: Is like, to me, the efficiency stuff And I didn't
Speaker 1: realize it was that bad. But the thing with the
Speaker 1: efficiency stuff is like to me, shot selection. Efficiency stuff
Speaker 1: will come in time, especially for a guy like Jaren
Speaker 1: Jackson Jr. Two who like he's he's going through offensive
Speaker 1: development phases that guards go through when they're twelve years old,
Speaker 1: you know, like he's he's learning on the fly how
Speaker 1: to be an offensive player in very very difficult environments
Speaker 1: against two teams by the way, in Minnesota and Golden State,
Speaker 1: who are excellent that containing guys who are scores, you know,
Speaker 1: specific the guys that put the ball on the floor
Speaker 1: and try to go to the basket. They're too excellent
Speaker 1: dribble contained teams. So like the way I look at it,
Speaker 1: it's like when you when you buy yourself. It's like
Speaker 1: Dylon Brooks. Like we've all roasted Dylan Brooks for his
Speaker 1: shot selection in this series, and obviously he was great tonight.
Speaker 1: But you know what Dylan Brooks does. He guards like
Speaker 1: an mfer and no and he's a huge pain in
Speaker 1: the ass. And so like when you're a coach, you
Speaker 1: just kind of live with the bad because you're getting
Speaker 1: so much good on the defensive end of the floor.
Speaker 1: And that's kind of the way I see the Jaren
Speaker 1: Jackson Jr. Thing, Like right now, he's a huge positive
Speaker 1: because of what he brings defensively in his offensive game
Speaker 1: is so unpolished, but there's all this potential there, so
Speaker 1: like there's no reason in the world why he shouldn't
Speaker 1: be able to polish some of that stuff up. One
Speaker 1: of the big things that I like with him and
Speaker 1: that I that I prefer compared to other bigs, Like
Speaker 1: I would compare this to bamat of Bio, Like both
Speaker 1: Jaren Jackson and Bamata Bio have this capability a lot
Speaker 1: of the bigger upright bigs, guys like Anthony Davis guy's
Speaker 1: like I mean, I would even say Joel Embiide is
Speaker 1: in this camp as well. They don't have super quick
Speaker 1: first steps, so like they can destroy slow footed bigs,
Speaker 1: and they can if they get into low post situations,
Speaker 1: they can beat smaller defenders by shooting over the top.
Speaker 1: What they aren't doing is slashing, and so what you'll
Speaker 1: see all the time is like Anthony Davis types, they'll
Speaker 1: just put a stout, low center of gravity wing on
Speaker 1: him and try to push him further away from the basket,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. But Jared Jackson and he
Speaker 1: did this. He was a monster with this stuff in
Speaker 1: game four in particular in this series, the one that
Speaker 1: um Golden State pulled out late and at home. Like
Speaker 1: he has a great first step and can beat quick
Speaker 1: players to the spot and get to the rim, which
Speaker 1: with his side his size is Baymon Bio has this too,
Speaker 1: and I think it's like to me, that's the real
Speaker 1: next evolution of the center position is is a guy
Speaker 1: that has the rim protecting cape of abilities of an
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis type of player, but has the slashing capabilities
Speaker 1: of a big wing and to me, that's bamed. To me,
Speaker 1: that's Jaron Jackson. Obviously, Jared has a long way to go,
Speaker 1: but that's kind of the way I look at it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that the traits are undeniable. I think it's
Speaker 1: a matter of consistency and decision making and mentality at
Speaker 1: times with him offensively. But I think you're right. I mean,
Speaker 1: if he shoots thirty seven percent from three, which it
Speaker 1: seems like he's totally capable of, and takes better shots offensively,
Speaker 1: he doesn't have to be an offensive star to be
Speaker 1: a star basketball player because he's already such a game
Speaker 1: changer defensively. YEA, let's step away from Warriors Grizzlies for
Speaker 1: our last question here, and let's talk about the masterpiece
Speaker 1: that was Jason Tatum's forty six point performance tonight. Jason,
Speaker 1: do you think that was the best individual performance of
Speaker 1: the playoffs so far? Oh? That's off question. Um, I can't.
Speaker 1: I can't put it over the Janice stuff because the
Speaker 1: degree of difficulty is so much higher. Like Janice is
Speaker 1: just facing so much more defensive attention and his team
Speaker 1: doesn't have anywhere near as much creation around him. So
Speaker 1: like Tatum's had some bad games in this series where
Speaker 1: his team is won. So like that, to me, it's
Speaker 1: a it's a different type of ask. But that said,
Speaker 1: like Janice is on a fast track to enter some
Speaker 1: pretty intense long term basketball conversation, so that's a totally
Speaker 1: different standard. Like Tatum. Tatum is is just now kind
Speaker 1: of entering into his phase of superstartument What this was,
Speaker 1: what tonight was and I will go too far into
Speaker 1: the weeds because we're about to do a full breakdown
Speaker 1: of Buck Celtics, but like, what this was to me
Speaker 1: was the first signature moment, the first signature game of
Speaker 1: Jayson Tatum's career, in the same way that with Lebron
Speaker 1: fans you look back to that two thousand seven Game
Speaker 1: five against the Pistons as kind of like his coming
Speaker 1: out part. To me, that's what Tatum. This is what
Speaker 1: it was for tonight. Everyone knew Tatum was good, but
Speaker 1: this was like the oh, he can be that good,
Speaker 1: and you know in terms of degree of difficulty, and
Speaker 1: it's not like Joannest but what it was was and
Speaker 1: I don't know if you felt this, Carson when you
Speaker 1: were watching the game, but there was and we're gonna
Speaker 1: talk more about this when we get into the breakdown.
Speaker 1: But Milwaukee figured some stuff out, specifically with how switching
Speaker 1: causes Boston's offensive issues, Like we've talked a lot about
Speaker 1: Boston's offensive issues in their shot selection, kind of determining
Speaker 1: the direction that these games going when they when they
Speaker 1: play smart offense, they just immediately going to run, and
Speaker 1: when they start messing around, they immediately start giving up
Speaker 1: points and transition and stuff like that. Well, Milwaukee has
Speaker 1: figured out that if they do switching primarily and to
Speaker 1: keep brook Lopez off the floor, it kind of leads
Speaker 1: Boston into that type of play, And a lot of
Speaker 1: stuff was going Milwaukee's way in that fourth quarter, and
Speaker 1: that shot making from Jayson Tatum literally staved off what
Speaker 1: I thought was going to be a Milwaukee comeback, you know,
Speaker 1: like I it kind of felt like all of the
Speaker 1: Avalanche was moving in that direction. And and so you guys,
Speaker 1: you guys hear me talk about this all the time,
Speaker 1: Like Tatum at some awesome games against Brooklyn, but he's
Speaker 1: the front runner hit a better team. I predicted Boston
Speaker 1: would win the series after Game two. I thought they
Speaker 1: I thought they'd sweep them after Game two because I'm
Speaker 1: like they're just so much better, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: And I always talked about how like what always is caused,
Speaker 1: what's always resonated with me personally evaluating basketball players is
Speaker 1: like what do you do when things aren't going your way?
Speaker 1: What do you do when when the tables are turned
Speaker 1: on you? And again, Boston had a lead. So I
Speaker 1: don't I don't want to act like it's as wild
Speaker 1: as some of the comebacks that we've seen, but if
Speaker 1: you were watching that game, you could feel it. You
Speaker 1: could feel Boston's offense falling to pieces. You could feel
Speaker 1: the lack of drible penetration, you could feel the lack
Speaker 1: of co here rent shot selection, and Jayson Tatum you
Speaker 1: could also feel it going the other way. The honest
Speaker 1: made another massive fourth quarter three point shot, and you're
Speaker 1: Pat Connaton hit a shot in the corner and you're like,
Speaker 1: it's coming, this is it, It's happening again, and Jayson
Speaker 1: Tatum staved that off. So first signature moment of his career.
Speaker 1: Salute to Jayson Tatum. I've been wildly impressed by him
Speaker 1: in this playoff run. You know that this is this
Speaker 1: is this looks like a guy growing into into into
Speaker 1: an all time great right in front of our eyes,
Speaker 1: and it's it's been cool to watch. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: think you hit on it. I mean, what has always
Speaker 1: been so transcendent with him is that bailout shot making.
Speaker 1: I mean he's a guy who can make a shot
Speaker 1: for you at any time at his side, with his handle,
Speaker 1: with his pure shooting ability, with his footwork and balance,
Speaker 1: and that will always be immensely valuable to any offense
Speaker 1: at any time. I think there's some good contenders here.
Speaker 1: I mean Jaws Game two was a masterpiece against the Warriors.
Speaker 1: There's been a couple of Luca games. I agree with you.
Speaker 1: I think nice Game three where he had forty two
Speaker 1: obviously tonight, I mean he had forty four and twenty
Speaker 1: as well. I just think that in the two way impact,
Speaker 1: the playmaking, the attention that he's attracting, I don't think
Speaker 1: anything can top that. But do you think Tatum is
Speaker 1: a case for having been the second best guy in
Speaker 1: these playoffs so far? Oh? Now that is a spicy
Speaker 1: take their carson Um. Yeah, Yeah, I mean why not.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's been better than Luca, Like Luca
Speaker 1: has been a much better offensive player, but Tatum when
Speaker 1: he's bringing on the defensive end has been great, Like
Speaker 1: there's been a lot of conversation about like guys guarding
Speaker 1: your honest, like who's he comfortable against and who's he
Speaker 1: not comfortable against, Like not comfortable as he's he's starting
Speaker 1: to break through Horford and Grant Williams a little bit,
Speaker 1: definitely eating alive guys like uh like uh Jalen Brown,
Speaker 1: but Tatum's held hissult. What Tatum's done on post ups
Speaker 1: with Your Honest, which has been really impressive, is he's
Speaker 1: just ambling on the post entry or if not on
Speaker 1: the post entry, but then on his first triple, Tatum's
Speaker 1: got these obnoxiously long arms and he's like, I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna just like stay in front of you, honest, He's
Speaker 1: gonna run me over. So he's just tested his handle,
Speaker 1: which is something he did a lot to Kevin Durant
Speaker 1: in the first round and was really successful with it.
Speaker 1: He's just he's like, I'm just gonna reach for the ball,
Speaker 1: you know, and and see what I can do. And
Speaker 1: he's knocked the ball away from a bunch of times there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you're right, Carson. I think Jayson Tatum has
Speaker 1: been the second best player in this playoff run. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's an interesting one because you know there's been some
Speaker 1: nights in the Buck series where his offensive production wasn't there.
Speaker 1: The playmaking has been great though, the defense has been great,
Speaker 1: and there's been some incredible scoring nights. Obviously, I think
Speaker 1: Luca makes a really strong case because even despite the
Speaker 1: defensive gap, offensively, I mean just as an overall engine,
Speaker 1: other worldly and pure score. And you know, maybe some
Speaker 1: people would argue that Jimmy's knocking on the door. I
Speaker 1: don't think I could have him there. But like the
Speaker 1: scoring production, the playmaking, the efficiency, the two way stuff,
Speaker 1: it has been pretty great from him. But I think
Speaker 1: have got to be the top four guys in these
Speaker 1: playoffs so far, which is fascinating. Obviously, no Katies, no Lebrons,
Speaker 1: no Onbids, no k Is. Like it's a it's a
Speaker 1: really interesting postseason that we have here. It's a new era,
Speaker 1: man um. Can I tell you who I thought was
Speaker 1: the best performance of this playoff front? Yes? Please? I
Speaker 1: I think Janice in Game five in Boston was and
Speaker 1: again County stats weren't as good. I think he only
Speaker 1: had forty I think and eleven. But when you factor
Speaker 1: in what was happening in that game, when you only
Speaker 1: only forty and eleven, when you when you when you
Speaker 1: factor in the types of shots he was hitting at
Speaker 1: various points in the game. What he did in that
Speaker 1: second quarter to stave off the first Boston run going
Speaker 1: into halftime. What he did early fourth quarter knocking down
Speaker 1: that massive three after Jalen Brown hit the step back.
Speaker 1: What the three that he hit to break it down
Speaker 1: to three when they were up six late, the relentless
Speaker 1: attacking in the basket, the offensive rebound put back, Like
Speaker 1: he stole that basketball game. Now, other guys made plays,
Speaker 1: Holiday made plays, Bobby Portis made plays, but I thought
Speaker 1: Janice stole that basketball game with it just with nothing
Speaker 1: but sheer force of will, And so I had to
Speaker 1: go with that one. What do you think? I think
Speaker 1: you're absolutely right. Actually, I throughout Game three first, it's crazy,
Speaker 1: like he has several masterpieces within this series, like genuine
Speaker 1: just could be legacy games kind of stuff. But I
Speaker 1: think that that in terms of necessity, in terms of timeliness,
Speaker 1: I don't know that anything has topped that. So I
Speaker 1: think that's a great choice. Alright, Guys, before we toss
Speaker 1: to our next breakdown, a couple of things quick for
Speaker 1: all of you who are listening, I sincerely appreciate the support.
Speaker 1: Please like this video and subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel.
Speaker 1: Before we move on to our full breakdown of the
Speaker 1: Bucks and the Celtics, here is a quick word from
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Speaker 1: You know, throughout NBA history, there's been some pretty consistent
Speaker 1: phenomenon set phenomena that happened in these types of situations
Speaker 1: in big time NBA playoff games when the physicality goes
Speaker 1: up another level. Not that there wasn't physicality throughout this series,
Speaker 1: because obviously there was, but when it goes to an
Speaker 1: additional level when the refs don't want to you let
Speaker 1: their whistle be a factor in the outcome of the game.
Speaker 1: Every even really good offensive players begin to struggle, and
Speaker 1: you'll see guys like Drew holiday In, Jalen Brown, and
Speaker 1: guys like Derek Like Derek White was really good offensive
Speaker 1: player when he was in San Antonio, made some big
Speaker 1: plays today, but you'll see, you know, guys like Grayson Allen,
Speaker 1: star offensive player back in college. You'll see great basketball
Speaker 1: players of of any ilk struggle in that environment because
Speaker 1: it's just extremely difficult to score the basketball in those settings.
Speaker 1: But there are two specific types of basketball players that
Speaker 1: have successfully been able to score in these environments. People
Speaker 1: that can go through you and people that can shoot
Speaker 1: over the top of you. And the two most recent
Speaker 1: examples that we've seen in NBA history is like a
Speaker 1: Lebron versus like a k D. Right now, Lebron can
Speaker 1: do both, and that's why he's in the goat conversation.
Speaker 1: There's just not that many guys in NBA history that
Speaker 1: can have the physically imposing effect that Lebron has but
Speaker 1: also can just shoot over the top of you at
Speaker 1: any time that he needs to, which obviously has been
Speaker 1: a latter half of his career thing. And if you
Speaker 1: honest figures that out, we might as well all just
Speaker 1: pack it in at some point. And he's made a
Speaker 1: lot of really big jump shots in this series. But
Speaker 1: those two specific archetypes went head to head tonight and
Speaker 1: had an epic duel, and those are the kinds of
Speaker 1: things that lead to legendary types of NBA playoff games
Speaker 1: that we watch on ESPN Classic and NBA TV down
Speaker 1: the line, And those are the kinds of nights that
Speaker 1: make me feel thankful that I get to do this
Speaker 1: for a living because it's just it's just incredible theater,
Speaker 1: it's incredible basketball, and it's so so, so much fun
Speaker 1: to watch. But down the stretch of that game, you
Speaker 1: saw both teams executing their defensive game plan perfectly. And
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk a little bit, We're gonna get deeper
Speaker 1: into this concept later in the show, because I do
Speaker 1: think Milwaukee figured out some specific things that should make
Speaker 1: you feel if you're a Bucks fan more optimistic about
Speaker 1: Game seven, then you should be after losing a Game
Speaker 1: six at home like this, when Boston pretty much controlled
Speaker 1: you throughout the game. But you know, Jayson Tatum on
Speaker 1: on defense or excuse me, on offense, is consistently being
Speaker 1: guarded by the likes of a Wesley Matthews or the
Speaker 1: likes of a Drew Holiday. Got some George hill On switches,
Speaker 1: But he's consistently being guarded by shorter defensive players, right,
Speaker 1: And he has this advantage that nobody on Milwaukee, at
Speaker 1: least when gets into those matchups, can do anything about.
Speaker 1: And it's like he can shoot over the top anytime
Speaker 1: he wants, and it's what allows him to have the
Speaker 1: the the ability to get that kind of shot volume off.
Speaker 1: I think he took like fifteen threes tonight. I can't
Speaker 1: remember off the top of my head, but he took
Speaker 1: a million three tonight. And it's because when push came
Speaker 1: to shove, when the ship hit the fan, that's a
Speaker 1: release valve for Jayson Tatum. He knows that if I
Speaker 1: can't get around you, if I can't go through you,
Speaker 1: I can just pull up over the top and I
Speaker 1: trust my skill to knock a certain number of these down.
Speaker 1: And with Joannice it's the exact opposite. He's being guarded
Speaker 1: pretty consistently by bigger defenders, guys like Grant Williams, guys
Speaker 1: like Al Horford, guys that have size and strength, but
Speaker 1: he just knows that, like if I continually try to
Speaker 1: work my way through and around them, there's nothing that
Speaker 1: they can do with me. Janice has this really nifty
Speaker 1: trick that he does that Honestly, I don't know how
Speaker 1: the hell you officiated. I don't know how the hell
Speaker 1: you do anything with it. It's definitely been coached into
Speaker 1: him and it's absolutely genius. But it's kind of like
Speaker 1: a chicken wing swim move where when he sees you
Speaker 1: standing directly in front of him. All he's trying to
Speaker 1: do is take that aggressive step to your shoulder, and
Speaker 1: when he drops his shoulder, he wants to raise that
Speaker 1: left elbow and hook it around your shoulder and pull
Speaker 1: himself around. If you guys watch him, he does that
Speaker 1: on almost every single play. And once he gets that
Speaker 1: elbow around you, you've lost your leverage, your leverage, and
Speaker 1: it's game over for you. And you saw him do
Speaker 1: that time and time and time again. Tonight. Both players
Speaker 1: came out absolutely aware of the steaks. Both players attacked
Speaker 1: the first quarter in their own way. Janice played one
Speaker 1: of the best quarters of basketball I have ever seen
Speaker 1: an NBA player play in that first quarter, and the
Speaker 1: Bucks were down by two because Jayson Tatum came out
Speaker 1: and immediately started reigning threes. He hasn't shot the ball
Speaker 1: particularly well in this series, um, but he's been getting
Speaker 1: pretty decent looks. A lot of that has to do
Speaker 1: with the drop coverage that Milwaukee likes to run, and
Speaker 1: they do it with Janice too, And like there's a
Speaker 1: way in a drop coverage to make it harder on
Speaker 1: pull up jump shooters by the big being what they
Speaker 1: call at the level of the screen. You'll hear color
Speaker 1: commentators talk about that. Sometimes you hear NBA analysts or
Speaker 1: writers talk about it. Basically, what it means is if
Speaker 1: the guard is coming off of the screen as a shooter,
Speaker 1: if the big man is not at the level of
Speaker 1: the screen, the guard has an opportunity to pull up
Speaker 1: and shoot. And one of the big concessions that the
Speaker 1: Bucks have had to make in this series during the
Speaker 1: Lion's share of the game, the vast majority of the
Speaker 1: game is when Janice is is in these coverages. They
Speaker 1: want him to drop and they want him to stay
Speaker 1: back at the basket, want to protect the paint, but
Speaker 1: too it's because of fatigue. Think about how much more
Speaker 1: ground you have to cover as a big man if
Speaker 1: you have to be up at the screen for the shooter,
Speaker 1: but then as soon as you dissuade the shot, you
Speaker 1: have to recover back to a roleman and hope that
Speaker 1: your guard can get back into the play. It just
Speaker 1: makes you cover like twice as much ground in every
Speaker 1: pick and roll. So you could tell that Milwaukee was
Speaker 1: like when mill when Brooks out there were dropping and
Speaker 1: with Janice, we're gonna have him dropped too, because we
Speaker 1: just need to save his legs. Look at that Milwaukee
Speaker 1: offense tonight. Just about every single possession that wasn't initiated
Speaker 1: by Janice went very poorly. We're gonna talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about Drew Holiday in a few minutes and why
Speaker 1: he one of the reasons why I think he's been
Speaker 1: struggling so much. But they needed Janice to create absolutely
Speaker 1: everything for them offensively, so they had to sit him
Speaker 1: and drop as an energy saver. And here's the thing,
Speaker 1: Jayson Tatum, this is it's all. Everything has a cause
Speaker 1: and effect. Every strategy decision you make has a downfall.
Speaker 1: The Bucks shutting off the paint the way did the
Speaker 1: way they did all season led to them giving up
Speaker 1: more wide open threes than any team in the NBA.
Speaker 1: Anytime you make a strategic decision, you run the risk
Speaker 1: of it burning you in another area on the floor.
Speaker 1: And one of the interesting things that I thought happened
Speaker 1: in this game was Jayson Tatum got a lot of
Speaker 1: really good looks off the dribble, three point shots and
Speaker 1: pull up two's because of Janice and Brooks staying super
Speaker 1: low in their drop. Now, what inevitably ends up happening
Speaker 1: is they go what they started this in Game five
Speaker 1: is in the fourth quarter, they ditched Brooke, they go
Speaker 1: your honest at the five, they do a bunch more switching,
Speaker 1: and now those drop opportunities aren't there anymore. And they
Speaker 1: did that again tonight at the end of the game.
Speaker 1: But here's the problem. At that point, Jayson Tatum had
Speaker 1: already made like five threes, and like these things with
Speaker 1: jump shooting, especially when you're a tall guy like I'm
Speaker 1: I'm six six and pretty tall. When I get my
Speaker 1: jump shot going, especially against local competition and like men's
Speaker 1: leagues and stuff, they can't, like they're just too small.
Speaker 1: If I get to my release, it's over. It's all.
Speaker 1: It's it's the result is in my hands. I'm either
Speaker 1: going to make it or I'm going to miss it.
Speaker 1: You're not going to dissuade me in any way. And
Speaker 1: that's kind of the predicament that you run in too,
Speaker 1: when you let Jayson Tatum get going. Is there at
Speaker 1: the end of the game, Wesley Matthews and Grace and
Speaker 1: Allen and Drew Holiday and George Hill and all of them,
Speaker 1: they're they're contesting the shots. They're not open. It just
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. It doesn't matter when you've got your rhythm,
Speaker 1: It's just not a very reliable thing. Pull up jump
Speaker 1: shooting is one of the least reliable things in the
Speaker 1: game of basketball, and that's why you know, Jayson Tatum
Speaker 1: hasn't shot the ball particularly well through five games, and
Speaker 1: then tonight he finally kind of broke through. But I
Speaker 1: thought that was an interesting strategy, and it's gonna be
Speaker 1: really interesting to see as we move forward into Game
Speaker 1: seven whether or not Milwaukee goes to that earlier, because
Speaker 1: once again they nearly came back and won this game
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter. If by by making that simple adjustment,
Speaker 1: Let's put Jana set center, let's switch everything and take
Speaker 1: away those drop coverage opportunities. I talked to you guys
Speaker 1: a lot after last game about why Boston fell apart
Speaker 1: in that fourth quarter. When you go into a switching defense,
Speaker 1: those break free opportunities aren't there anymore. You coming off
Speaker 1: of a ball screen and having tons of area around
Speaker 1: you to get into a pull up jump shot, those
Speaker 1: aren't air there the transition, those opportunities aren't there. You're
Speaker 1: constantly A good switching defense is constantly connected to you,
Speaker 1: So as a result of that, there's no action you
Speaker 1: can run or no thing you can do to just
Speaker 1: get an easy, wide open shot. So as a result,
Speaker 1: there's only one way that you can attack a switching defense,
Speaker 1: and it's to apply rim pressure to beat people off
Speaker 1: the dribble you the the switching defense is designed to
Speaker 1: stagnate you and get you to settle for pull up
Speaker 1: jump shots. And one of the stats that I threw
Speaker 1: out in our last show, the telling stat of that
Speaker 1: fourth quarter in Game five, Boston attempted zero three point shots.
Speaker 1: They consistently went into like a little high post ups
Speaker 1: with Jalen Brown and Jayson Tatum like from the basket,
Speaker 1: and Wesley Matthews and Drew Holiday consistently made them settle
Speaker 1: for jump shots. And tonight they got some rim pressure
Speaker 1: against the switching but not a lot. It was a
Speaker 1: lot of just Jayson Tatum making shots over the top
Speaker 1: and Jalen Brown making shots over the top. And so
Speaker 1: that's the interesting dynamic about Milwaukee's switching defense is when
Speaker 1: they've gone to it in this series, Boston hasn't been
Speaker 1: able to drive by them enough, and as a result
Speaker 1: of that, Milwaukee's gotten Boston to settle, and in Game
Speaker 1: five they missed them, and they lost, and in game
Speaker 1: six they made them and they won. And the very
Speaker 1: unique reason why this works is the types of defensive
Speaker 1: players that Milwaukee has on the floor. You know, when
Speaker 1: you're guarding a bigger wing that can shoot over the top,
Speaker 1: there's two options that you can go to to try
Speaker 1: to guard them. You can put a very big player
Speaker 1: on them that can give space and be a positional defender.
Speaker 1: Think like what Boris Boris d ou did to Lebron
Speaker 1: in the two thousand thirteen finals, like playing off of him,
Speaker 1: try to bat him into jump shots and if he
Speaker 1: drives into you, you have size to hold your ground right.
Speaker 1: But the second option there is to put a low
Speaker 1: center of gravity, shorter player who's very laterally quick, because
Speaker 1: you do not have a foot speed advantage against them.
Speaker 1: So specifically in this switching defense, it's devastating because if
Speaker 1: Wesley Matthews is guarding up on Jason Tatum on the perimeter,
Speaker 1: Tatum is not getting around him really not easily. And
Speaker 1: if he is, he's doing it through size. He's like
Speaker 1: getting into his body and like spinning off of him
Speaker 1: and having to use physical leverage to get around. It's
Speaker 1: not like he can just rip through and get by
Speaker 1: Wesley Matthews. Wesley Matthews is gonna slide and take that
Speaker 1: in his chest, you know, or a crossover. Wesley Matthews
Speaker 1: is such a gifted defender, he's not gonna do that.
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday is the exact same thing. So the weird
Speaker 1: quality of this Milwaukee defenses they have all these shorter
Speaker 1: guards that are very quick and super strong, so it's
Speaker 1: very difficult to get around them, and that's how they
Speaker 1: bait Boston into all of these pull up jump shots.
Speaker 1: Now the way you're supposed to counter that as a
Speaker 1: as an offensive player, when you were bigger wing and
Speaker 1: you've got a small guard on you that's much quicker
Speaker 1: than you and you can't get around them. You have
Speaker 1: to fight for position closer to the basket, and that's
Speaker 1: just hard to do. It's hard to displace Wesley Matthews
Speaker 1: from post position. It's hard to displace Through Holiday from
Speaker 1: post position because they're so strong. And so that's kind
Speaker 1: of the genius of this Milwaukee defense and the strategy
Speaker 1: that they've kind of uncovered at certain stretches of this series,
Speaker 1: and that that to me, is going to be the
Speaker 1: biggest indicator of Milwaukee's chances in Game seven. I'm really
Speaker 1: curious to see if Mike Budenholzer is willing to drop
Speaker 1: brook Lopez and entirely or use him sparingly and do
Speaker 1: more switching, because Boston's offense consistently in the series has
Speaker 1: fallen apart when they switch. Boston is the better team.
Speaker 1: We've talked about this a lot. That's why I picked them,
Speaker 1: That's why they were minus two hundred favorite coming into
Speaker 1: the series. That's why they were remind us one nine
Speaker 1: favorite when it was too too And my guess is
Speaker 1: their favorite now even though I haven't seen the numbers yet.
Speaker 1: But the reason why their favorite is they're more talented,
Speaker 1: they have more uh, they have more multifaceted offensive players,
Speaker 1: and they have the best defense in all of basketball.
Speaker 1: But they have a glaring weakness, and that glaring weaknesses
Speaker 1: they do not have an offensive half court surgeon. They
Speaker 1: do not have a player that understands, you know, the
Speaker 1: flow of a basketball game, that understands the importance of
Speaker 1: shot selection, that understands the importance of keeping all of
Speaker 1: the other players in rhythm, and so in these switching
Speaker 1: defense situations, it turns into a shot making contest into
Speaker 1: Boston's credit. They went in there tonight and they won
Speaker 1: with their shot making. The thing that concerns me for
Speaker 1: Boston moving forward is the shot selection wasn't great. If
Speaker 1: you guys, remember if you those those of you had
Speaker 1: been following me on Twitter, and again follow me on
Speaker 1: Twitter if you want to see video breakdowns of this
Speaker 1: kind of stuff. I tweeted out every offensive possession from
Speaker 1: Game four, the game Boston won in Milwaukee. I tweeted
Speaker 1: out every offensive possession from what it was eight to
Speaker 1: seventy Milwaukee up to uh Boston taking the ten point lead.
Speaker 1: I think it was ninety six to eighties six or
Speaker 1: something like that. It was a thirty six un or
Speaker 1: thirty six to sixteen run, I think is what it was.
Speaker 1: And in that run, they got absolutely wide open looks
Speaker 1: every time down the floor, just complete wide open looks
Speaker 1: because of the fact that they Boston of Milwaukee was
Speaker 1: not in their switching defense because they were playing brook Lopez,
Speaker 1: and it was just Jayson Tatum coming off the ball screen,
Speaker 1: working his way into the lane and making kickouts to
Speaker 1: wide open shooters every single time down the floor when
Speaker 1: Brook Lopez wasn't in drop or he was in the
Speaker 1: back line help, they tuck Al Horford in the corner
Speaker 1: and they'd work their way into the lane, and here
Speaker 1: would be Al Horford in the corner wide open. When
Speaker 1: I pulled Boston's offensive possessions from the end of this game,
Speaker 1: they're not gonna have a lot of wide open shots
Speaker 1: in there. And that's the that's the trick there, you
Speaker 1: know there, this is the advantage of having a guy
Speaker 1: who's just a relentless rim attacker. So think someone like
Speaker 1: Joannice or someone like Lebron. Switching defenses do not work
Speaker 1: typically in terms of the structure the way they're supposed
Speaker 1: to work against those dynamic rim pressuring guys, because with
Speaker 1: the switch, as soon as you command help, you're in
Speaker 1: the same predicament. As soon as you have to send
Speaker 1: guys to help from the perimeter, shooters are open. Now
Speaker 1: we're in that rotation game. I always talked about that
Speaker 1: attack the clothes out, attack the clothes out of act
Speaker 1: the close out until you get a wide open shot.
Speaker 1: But if you take pull up jump shots, you never
Speaker 1: force a help rotation. If you never force to help rotation,
Speaker 1: you can't get wide open looks. And so the dynamic
Speaker 1: in the chess match of Game seven is going to
Speaker 1: be how often can Milwaukee get to their switching lineups?
Speaker 1: Or more more importantly, how willing as coach Budenholzer to
Speaker 1: go that route? How like is he willing to bench Brook?
Speaker 1: Is he willing to ask Janice like, hey, man, I
Speaker 1: need you to guard up in a switch defense this
Speaker 1: entire game as opposed to sitting and drop around the
Speaker 1: basket so that he can save his legs those that
Speaker 1: that How how often Milwaukee is willing to do that
Speaker 1: versus Boston when they get to that situation. How willing
Speaker 1: is Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown and Marcus Smart to
Speaker 1: attack the basket and to beat that matchup off the
Speaker 1: dribble to force help so that they can get into
Speaker 1: their dribble drive stuff. A couple of interesting wrinkles that
Speaker 1: I thought were possible, uh kind of cures for this.
Speaker 1: Derek White was awesome tonight. And one of the specific
Speaker 1: things that Derek White did was he got dribble penetration
Speaker 1: and he was a good cutter. So when Jayson Tatum
Speaker 1: would be posting up and help would come from one side,
Speaker 1: uh that Derek White cut on the back door. That's
Speaker 1: another way to basically replicate dribble penetration, because if Derek
Speaker 1: White catches it on the cut, somebody has to come
Speaker 1: into help. Now, it's that same quality of kickout, attack
Speaker 1: the clothes out, attack the clothes out that you get
Speaker 1: from a dribble drive guy. Right, So I think it
Speaker 1: might be interesting to look towards a little less of
Speaker 1: a Grant Williams, a little bit more of a Derrick White,
Speaker 1: a little bit less of a Daniel Tys. Maybe you
Speaker 1: have to keep Grant Williams out there, so you go
Speaker 1: away from Daniel Tye entirely, essentially going smaller and understand
Speaker 1: that it's gonna hurt you on the glass a little bit,
Speaker 1: but you might get more double penetration because again, the
Speaker 1: story of this series, guys like I picked Boston in
Speaker 1: five because they're the better basketball team, and I've laid
Speaker 1: that out and Janice has proved me wrong in a
Speaker 1: lot of different ways. And we're gonna talk a little
Speaker 1: bit more about your honest here in just a minute.
Speaker 1: But the flip side, in addition to the honest thing,
Speaker 1: has been Boston's offensive process at various points in this series.
Speaker 1: And I went on a big rant about this in
Speaker 1: Game five. Boston's inability to stay on the right track
Speaker 1: offensively has led to their long scoring droughts that allow
Speaker 1: Milwaukee to get back into the game. That's been their
Speaker 1: biggest predicament, and so one of the things that they're
Speaker 1: that they're probably going to have to do to counter
Speaker 1: that is use smaller lineups so that they have more
Speaker 1: guys that can put the ball on the floor and
Speaker 1: get to the basket. And it's just that's again, I
Speaker 1: talk all the time about the predicament that great teams
Speaker 1: put you in. This is the predicament that a great
Speaker 1: team like Boston or that a great team that Milwaukee
Speaker 1: puts you in. They put you in the predicament where
Speaker 1: you have to make a concession, and in this case,
Speaker 1: it's the offensive glass that gave up a bunch of
Speaker 1: offensive rebounds again tonight. That's going to contin continually be
Speaker 1: a problem in this series because of how big Milwaukee is.
Speaker 1: And you know, again, as far as Game seven goes,
Speaker 1: it's going to come down too. It's going to come
Speaker 1: down to, uh, which team brings their best punch. I've
Speaker 1: talked a lot about how Boston has Boston is the
Speaker 1: Jekyl and High team of this playoff run. When they
Speaker 1: are on that right track offensively, they're very difficult to beat.
Speaker 1: They went into Milwaukee tonight and almost We're up twenty
Speaker 1: in the second half. Like that's that's how good this
Speaker 1: Boston team is down three two in a series close
Speaker 1: out opportunity for Milwaukee. They went in there and pretty
Speaker 1: much kicked their butt all game long. So like, that's
Speaker 1: how good Boston is when they're at their best. But
Speaker 1: I've also seen them blow a ton of double digit
Speaker 1: leads in this series. They've blown two games blowing double
Speaker 1: digit leads, and they damn near did it again tonight.
Speaker 1: And so Boston, Boston has this ugly side, and so
Speaker 1: so much of Game seven comes down to which side
Speaker 1: of Boston shows up. I wanted to hit it a
Speaker 1: couple of quick notes before I give you guys my
Speaker 1: prediction for Game seven. Ya hones, Did anybody think he
Speaker 1: wasn't gonna put up forty four tonight? There was this
Speaker 1: thing that happened with Lebron in the two thousand eighteen
Speaker 1: postseason where the idea of him getting forty two, twelve
Speaker 1: and nine was like the safest bet in sports I
Speaker 1: think he had I remember correctly, like eight forty point
Speaker 1: games in that playoff run. He and he was going
Speaker 1: against great defense. Is that Raptor defense was incredible, That
Speaker 1: Boston Celtics defense was incredible, That Indiana Pacers defense was incredible,
Speaker 1: all like just against really good defensive teams consistently in
Speaker 1: that playoff run, none of them could do anything with Lebron.
Speaker 1: And it again, like if you were I'm a Lebron
Speaker 1: fan obviously, and like if I'd be getting ready to
Speaker 1: watch a game to be four o'clock here in Tucson,
Speaker 1: and I'd sit down in front of the TV, and
Speaker 1: I would have concerns about what would happen in the game.
Speaker 1: But there's one thing I had absolutely no concern about,
Speaker 1: and it was is Lebron gonna be great tonight? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be He's gonna be incredible. It was the
Speaker 1: safest bet. And that's one of the biggest things that
Speaker 1: I think is underrated when we're ranking players all time
Speaker 1: is the consistency. There are lots of guys that have
Speaker 1: huge playoff moments, like a game here or a game
Speaker 1: there where they play great Kawhi Leonard in two thousand
Speaker 1: nineteen looked like he might have been the best player
Speaker 1: in the world, and then the next year in the bubble,
Speaker 1: his jump shot stopped falling, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: he wasn't impacting the game in a bunch of other ways,
Speaker 1: And you're like, oh, is this guy even a top
Speaker 1: five player? You know what I mean? Like they're the
Speaker 1: consistency wasn't there with Kauai. You know, I've seen c
Speaker 1: J McCollum in a Game seven execute the Denver Nuggets
Speaker 1: on their own floor and look like one of the
Speaker 1: better three level scorers in the league, and then needs
Speaker 1: us the next night. He won't be making a shot,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Like that's the that's the
Speaker 1: the inconsistency that plagues the vast majority of players in
Speaker 1: the NBA. And what was so awesome about Lebron was
Speaker 1: like it was the safest bet in sports that he
Speaker 1: was going to be great every single playoff game, and
Speaker 1: and Janice is doing that right before our eyes. It's like, you,
Speaker 1: I don't we don't know for sure what's gonna happen
Speaker 1: in Game seven. I'll give my prediction here in a
Speaker 1: few minutes. But there's one thing I know for damn sure.
Speaker 1: Be honest, is gonna be the best player on the
Speaker 1: floor by a mile, and Boston's gonna have absolutely nothing
Speaker 1: they can do with him. I can guarantee he's gonna
Speaker 1: bring a percent effort. I can guarantee he's gonna be
Speaker 1: a wrecking ball inside on both ends. That's it's this.
Speaker 1: It's a safe bet. If you're a Milwaukee fan, you
Speaker 1: don't have to sit on your couch and wonder about
Speaker 1: whether or not Janice is gonna bring it in Game seven.
Speaker 1: Sixers fans had no idea what they were gonna get
Speaker 1: from Joel Embiad and James Harden the other night. You know,
Speaker 1: like that, like even even with Steph Curry. You know,
Speaker 1: I love Steph Curry is one of my favorite players.
Speaker 1: I don't know what I'm gonna get from him tonight.
Speaker 1: If he shoot, he might shoot really well, he might
Speaker 1: shoot poorly. He might be sloppy with the basketball and
Speaker 1: have a bunch of turnovers. And I can I can
Speaker 1: depend on him to play hard, and I know he's
Speaker 1: gonna defend and and I know that he's going to
Speaker 1: have his impact that he has in the form of
Speaker 1: gravity and the way he can warp a defense, but
Speaker 1: there are just very few guys in the league one,
Speaker 1: arguably because of Lebron's age, that I can just guarantee
Speaker 1: he is going to dominate this next playoff game the
Speaker 1: safest betting sports. Last note before I give you guys
Speaker 1: my prediction. Drew Holiday. This guy is the bane of
Speaker 1: Bucks fans existence in the sense that he's very inconsistent offensively. Obviously,
Speaker 1: monster defensive player who's made a ton of huge, pivotal
Speaker 1: defensive plays for this Bucks team in the last two
Speaker 1: playoff runs, and his value I think is undeniable and unassailable.
Speaker 1: But I think there's a very unique reason why he's
Speaker 1: so inconsistent offensively, and it has to do with a
Speaker 1: thing Lakers fans who are listening, that have been listening
Speaker 1: to me over the last couple of years, you'll recognize
Speaker 1: this specific thought process. But there are two different kinds
Speaker 1: of offensive players out there. They are offensive players that
Speaker 1: generate a lot of easy shots and then also can
Speaker 1: make tough shots. And then there are offensive players that
Speaker 1: only can and attempt difficult shots like Drew Holiday. If
Speaker 1: you look at his shot selection and it's not his fault.
Speaker 1: He's a six three guard who doesn't have amazing vertical lift.
Speaker 1: He's not the quickest guy in the world. He's he's
Speaker 1: he's a very good athlete, but it's more like a
Speaker 1: strength and coordination and savvy and hand like he's very
Speaker 1: good with his hands on defense and obviously very very
Speaker 1: good athlete. But he's not the guy. He's not Jayson Tatum.
Speaker 1: He can't just levitate over the top. He's not a
Speaker 1: guy that consistently generates easy shots for himself to supplement
Speaker 1: his offense. And so if he's gonna take twenty to
Speaker 1: twenty five shots a night for this Bucks team, and
Speaker 1: the vast majority of them are going to be very difficult,
Speaker 1: then what does that mean. That means there's gonna be
Speaker 1: nights where they go in and knights where they don't.
Speaker 1: That's why he goes ten for twenty one night and
Speaker 1: five for twenty the next. He doesn't get easy shots
Speaker 1: in his offense. The guys that consistently have fiegal percentages
Speaker 1: over and consistently it's like twelve eleven for twenty it's
Speaker 1: because they went seven for seven on their easy shots
Speaker 1: or seven for nine on the easy shots that they
Speaker 1: generate over the course of the game. And then they
Speaker 1: go or less on their tough shots that they take.
Speaker 1: And so that that's the thing, and this is the
Speaker 1: predicament of not having Chris Middleton is the Bucks need
Speaker 1: Drew Holiday to take a lot of shots. They need
Speaker 1: him to take shots every single night. And Chris Middleton
Speaker 1: is at his size, he can get easy shots in
Speaker 1: the flow of his offense, Like if he gets a
Speaker 1: small guy on a switch, it's like he's going to
Speaker 1: a fade away. But a six eight guy shooting a
Speaker 1: fade away over a smaller defender is a high percentage shot,
Speaker 1: you know, like like there that that's a matchup thing,
Speaker 1: is all that is. Drew Holiday doesn't have the luxury
Speaker 1: of those types of shots. And so because Chris Middleton
Speaker 1: isn't there as a release valve, because of that, it
Speaker 1: puts you in a position where Drew Holiday has has
Speaker 1: to take extremely difficult shots all night long, and it's
Speaker 1: going to be inconsistent. And that's a swing factor for
Speaker 1: Game seven. Will Drew make those shots? Are will he not?
Speaker 1: And And we'll see, all right, guys, So I have
Speaker 1: to give you a prediction for Game seven, and everything
Speaker 1: about what I know about these two teams screams at
Speaker 1: me that I should pick Boston. Boston has been the
Speaker 1: best team in the league since January. They've been the
Speaker 1: best defense in the league all season, best defense in
Speaker 1: the league by country miles. Since January. They have demonstrated
Speaker 1: in this playoff run why they're punch. Their best punch
Speaker 1: is the best punch in all of in all of
Speaker 1: the NBA right now. But I'm picking the Bucks in
Speaker 1: Game seven, and there's two reasons why I trust the
Speaker 1: honest to go in there and impact winning on a
Speaker 1: level that is just about guaranteed. I think Mike Budenholzer
Speaker 1: will go to switching. I think he will. He will
Speaker 1: ditch Brooke or use him very sparingly and do a
Speaker 1: ton of switching. I think they have enough data on
Speaker 1: that now and enough film to demonstrate that that's their
Speaker 1: best option. I don't trust Boston guys. If Boston plays
Speaker 1: smart offense, not just against the drop but against the
Speaker 1: switch and applies rim pressure and attempts to drive to
Speaker 1: the basket, Boston will win. Okay, So for all the
Speaker 1: Celtics fans listening, Boston will win if they play smart.
Speaker 1: I'm saying that I trust Joannice more than I trust
Speaker 1: Boston to play smart. It's that simple. I just I
Speaker 1: they have despite all the evidence in the world of
Speaker 1: the way that Boston needs to play, they have consistently,
Speaker 1: in almost every game of the series gone through extended
Speaker 1: stretches where they forget that they've gone through extended stretches
Speaker 1: where they play the wrong way. And so when it
Speaker 1: comes to betting or making a prediction, I have to
Speaker 1: go with the guy that I can count on to
Speaker 1: play exactly the way he needs to to win the game.
Speaker 1: And that's the honest. But yes, Boston fans, if Boston
Speaker 1: plays smart and plays the right way on offense and
Speaker 1: attacks their switching defense by putting pressure on the rim,
Speaker 1: Boston will win and then we'll have an epic seven
Speaker 1: game series between Boston and Miami. But my prediction right now,
Speaker 1: my my not very inspiring prediction, is that Milwaukee will
Speaker 1: win in Game seven. Hi, it's Colin Coward. I started
Speaker 1: the volume to bring you some of the most apathetic
Speaker 1: voices in sports. While you're here, make sure you hit subscribe.
Speaker 1: Thanks alright, guys, that is all I have for tonight.
Speaker 1: As always, I sincerely appreciate your support. All of you
Speaker 1: guys who came to watch the video today. If you
Speaker 1: could do me a favor and like this video, I
Speaker 1: would really appreciate that. We have two We are off tomorrow,
Speaker 1: no games, but we have two Massive Game sevens on Sunday.
Speaker 1: We will be going live after both of them, and
Speaker 1: I hope to see all of you guys there. The
Speaker 1: volume