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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, we'll go to hoops tonight. You're

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Speaker 1: at the volume. Havy Tuesday, everybody hopefull You guys are

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Speaker 1: having a great week so far. Just a quick show

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Speaker 1: for you guys today. We have a weird week with

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Speaker 1: the holiday for obvious reasons, so we have no show

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Speaker 1: on Wednesday and Thursday this week. But I wanted to

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Speaker 1: give you us something for Tuesday, so we're gonna do

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Speaker 1: a quick little mail bag based off of the mail

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Speaker 1: bag questions that came from last week's mail bag. We

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Speaker 1: have some follow ups from our Shae Luca debate and

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Speaker 1: some other questions from around the league. You guys know

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Speaker 1: the Joe before we get started. Subscribe to the Oops

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Speaker 1: to Night YouTube channel so you don't miss any more

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Speaker 1: of our videos. Don't forget to like this video. That

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Speaker 1: helps us a lot, And then if you want to

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Speaker 1: get questions into our mail bag. Obviously, no mail bag

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Speaker 1: this Friday because we'll have our Christmas Day reactions, but

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Speaker 1: a week from this Friday we'll go back to our

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Speaker 1: normal Friday mail bags. If you guys want to get

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Speaker 1: a question in there, drop them in the YouTube comments

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Speaker 1: underneath this video and underneath all of our full episode

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Speaker 1: between now and then right mail bag with a colon.

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Speaker 1: Write your question. We'll get to our mailbag questions on Fridays.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. So our first question again,

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Speaker 1: our first two are going to be related to the

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Speaker 1: Shay Luca debate, and then there's another one kind of

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Speaker 1: center to around Wemby's comments about the best players in

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Speaker 1: the world. First question, you're acting as if Shae winning

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Speaker 1: with this OKC team is equivalent to Luca winning with

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Speaker 1: this Lakers team. Shay is on the best team in

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Speaker 1: the entire NBA and on pace for perhaps the greatest

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Speaker 1: team ever. It's not. If Shae wins the title again

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Speaker 1: and Luca doesn't, then Luca needs to look at himself

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Speaker 1: in the mirror. That's such a stupid take. The Lakers

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Speaker 1: need to get better first. These teams aren't on equal level.

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Speaker 1: You can't make this an Sga versus Luca thing. This

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Speaker 1: was always a gap year for the Lakers. Next season,

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Speaker 1: Let's see what Luca and Austin do when their team

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Speaker 1: is built around built more athletic around those two. Okay,

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Speaker 1: So this is something that I focus on in general

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Speaker 1: when I'm trying to talk about these sorts of things

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Speaker 1: like we do our basketball player rankings every summer, based

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Speaker 1: on an in a vacuum ranking of what I would

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Speaker 1: expect to be the best player moving forward from the

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Speaker 1: beginning of October all the way to the end of

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Speaker 1: June right and coming into the season, I did view

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Speaker 1: Luca as the better basketball player than Shay for this

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Speaker 1: exact reason. I knew coming into the season that Oklahoma

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Speaker 1: City was clearly a better team than the Lakers. I

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Speaker 1: knew coming into the season that the Thunder had a

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Speaker 1: far better chance to win the title this year than

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Speaker 1: the Lakers did, And yet I ranked Luca before Shae

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Speaker 1: because when I looked at the two of them, I

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Speaker 1: looked at Luca as a guy based on his twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty four season, the year he went to the finals.

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Speaker 1: I viewed that as more or less every bit as

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Speaker 1: good of a volume score in both efficiency and volume

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Speaker 1: as what Shaye did last year, but also a better playmaker.

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Speaker 1: And so the way I looked at it is like

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Speaker 1: the gap between who they were as playmakers. I didn't

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Speaker 1: think the defensive end was as much of a factor

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Speaker 1: between the two of them. I gave Luca just a

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Speaker 1: tiny bit of an edge over Shay coming into the season.

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Speaker 1: But two different things have happened. One, Luca has failed

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Speaker 1: to reach the level that he reached in twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 1: He has been nowhere near as efficient, and he's been

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Speaker 1: turning the basketball over a lot. Those two particular things

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Speaker 1: are hurting his efficiency. And then on the other side

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Speaker 1: you have Shae Yodas Alexander, who took a dramatic leap

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Speaker 1: inefficiency this year. His true shooting percentage is skyrocketed into

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Speaker 1: the high sixties and he's cut his turnovers. So regardless

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Speaker 1: of what's happening in terms of the teams, regardless of

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Speaker 1: what's happening and like and by the way, if you

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Speaker 1: want to get into the talent piece, the majority of

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Speaker 1: the data we have to from Shade to this point

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Speaker 1: is before Jada joined the team. He's been carrying an

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Speaker 1: enormous offensive load during this stretch. I do think the

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Speaker 1: thunder are better. I think that plays a certain role.

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Speaker 1: We've talked about it. I've talked about it in my

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Speaker 1: debates that I've had with the Nerd Sesh guys. I

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Speaker 1: do think that life is easier for Shay than it

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Speaker 1: is for Luca in this league. But there is a

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Speaker 1: gigantic chasm now between the two of them in overall

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Speaker 1: efficiency in terms of how many shots they miss, and

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Speaker 1: in terms of how often they turned the basketball over.

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Speaker 1: And so what had been a very close race for

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Speaker 1: me in favor of Luca has now flipped to where

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Speaker 1: now I have Shane front. I look, I understand that

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Speaker 1: you guys kind of just got to take my word

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Speaker 1: for it, and there will be people that don't believe me,

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Speaker 1: and it is what it is. But I can promise

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Speaker 1: you that when I do talk about these things and

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Speaker 1: I rank these players, I do my best to look

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Speaker 1: at them in a vacuum because it is a team

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Speaker 1: sport and it is harder to win basketball games when

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Speaker 1: you're surrounded by less talent. And I think that stuff

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Speaker 1: is worth talking about. And I think it's too reductive

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Speaker 1: to just sit there and go, this guy's the best

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Speaker 1: because he hoisted the trophy. Shay literally won MVP and

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Speaker 1: finals MVP last year, and I ranked him third. I

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Speaker 1: don't move players up or down based solely on team success.

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Speaker 1: I try to view it in the vacuum as best

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Speaker 1: as I can. Next kind of counterpoint surrounding that, so

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Speaker 1: Jason is just straight up ignoring true shooting, we're using

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Speaker 1: field goal percentage now, So this is the trick when

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Speaker 1: you're looking at Luca and you're looking at the Lakers

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Speaker 1: in general. Actually, so let's just zoom out and let's

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Speaker 1: look at the Lakers for a second. So one of

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Speaker 1: the conversations surrounding the Lakers surrounds their three point shooting

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Speaker 1: and the fact that they are a relatively low volume

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Speaker 1: three point team and that they don't hit a great percentage.

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Speaker 1: They actually generate the fewest catch and shoot threes in

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Speaker 1: the entire league, which is a product of a bunch

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Speaker 1: of different things. Lebron, Luca, and Austin all take a

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Speaker 1: lot of shots while guarded. It's kind of the way

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Speaker 1: their offense is built. And most importantly, this is the

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Speaker 1: team that generates a lot of free throw temps. So,

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Speaker 1: for instance, like, what's the whole point of generating threes?

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Speaker 1: You generate threes because they're worth an extra point. Right,

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Speaker 1: So if I hit four threes out of ten shots,

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Speaker 1: I get twelve points. If I hit five twos out

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Speaker 1: of ten shots, I only get ten points. So forty

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Speaker 1: percent from three is twenty percent more efficient than fifty

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Speaker 1: percent from two. Right, So that's the dynamic that drives

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Speaker 1: the conversation around three point shooting. But if you actually

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Speaker 1: look at the Lakers as they reflect on the rest

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Speaker 1: of the league, the Lakers are an extremely high true

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Speaker 1: shooting percentage team. Their second and true shooting percentage. True

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Speaker 1: shooting percentage factors in field goals, three point field goals,

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Speaker 1: and free throws. It factors all of it in. So

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Speaker 1: the Lakers in the large sample are actually a very

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Speaker 1: efficient offense because they generate so many free throw attempts. However,

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Speaker 1: Luca is actually more reliant on the free throws than

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Speaker 1: Shay is when Luca doesn't get to the foul line

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Speaker 1: as much in random games, So talk about the Thunder

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Speaker 1: game where they did a really good job of not fouling,

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Speaker 1: the Phoenix Suns game where they did a really good

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Speaker 1: job of not foiling. When you are the first Sons game,

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Speaker 1: the one that they lost before the inn season tournament,

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Speaker 1: when you kind of like zoom in on that dynamic,

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Speaker 1: you go, oh, when it actually comes down to putting

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Speaker 1: the ball in the basket, Shay is better than Luca.

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Speaker 1: He's more efficient from three, he's more efficient from two.

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Speaker 1: Luca's been really good on short range twos, he's been

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Speaker 1: like right around fifty percent this year. Well, Shay's been

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Speaker 1: fifty eight fifty nine percent on short range twos. That's

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Speaker 1: more efficient. Shay has been more efficient from three. That

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Speaker 1: means there's fewer miss shots. Fewer miss shots and fewer

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Speaker 1: turnovers means fewer opportunities for the opponent to attack you

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Speaker 1: in transition. So, like I think true shooting percentage is

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Speaker 1: a valuable way to look at large sample efficiency, and

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Speaker 1: I do think that it's worth bringing up. But when

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Speaker 1: you come into live ball play and things that are

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Speaker 1: outside of your control, like the whistle, tend to go

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Speaker 1: another direction. And by the way, Shaye foulgriffs a lot too.

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Speaker 1: I'd argue Luca and Shae are two of the most

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Speaker 1: the two of the biggest culprits in the league. But

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Speaker 1: just look at the volume, guys. Luca is relying on

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Speaker 1: getting to the foul line considerably more than Shaye is

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Speaker 1: at this point. And so when you look at the

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Speaker 1: amount of missed shots between the two of them and

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Speaker 1: the amount of turnovers between the two of them, Luca's

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Speaker 1: just having these Like Carson from nerd Set, I thought

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Speaker 1: put this really well. He said, Luca fails more. That's

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Speaker 1: the way he put it. That's the way I'd put

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Speaker 1: it too. I'd agree with him in that characterization, Like

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Speaker 1: when you fail on offense, it can trigger the opponent's offense.

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Speaker 1: That's why that efficiency is worth bringing up. And it's

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Speaker 1: not as just it's not as just simple as just

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Speaker 1: looking at true shooting percentage. You can have another way

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Speaker 1: of looking at it is you can have a high

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Speaker 1: true shooting percentage but have more opportunities for the opponent

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Speaker 1: to get out in transition because you're taking a lot

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Speaker 1: of threes and you're getting to the foul line a lot.

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Speaker 1: Because every miss three, even though in the large sample

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Speaker 1: it's worth more points, every miss three is a long

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Speaker 1: rebound that can trigger a transition opportunity. And every time

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Speaker 1: Luca goes down the lane line and tries to grift

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Speaker 1: and fails and doesn't get the call and then stands

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Speaker 1: there complaining with the ref while they're running the other way,

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Speaker 1: that can trigger opportunities for the opponent. And last thing,

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Speaker 1: this last thing I'll say about it, like I am

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Speaker 1: emotionally invested in Luca being good. I root for his team.

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Speaker 1: I am not the kind of stand like you've seen

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Speaker 1: in some of these some of the behavior where like

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Speaker 1: some of the you've seen some of it with the

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Speaker 1: Luca and Lebron stands lately, where I'm not like I

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Speaker 1: want Luca to be great. I think it's Luca's team.

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Speaker 1: I have no interest in Lebron doing more statistically or

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Speaker 1: Luca doing more statistically. I'm only interested in the Lakers

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Speaker 1: winning basketball games. That's all I care about. And like

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Speaker 1: my perspective in the way I've discussed Luca is not

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Speaker 1: centered around whether or not he's great. We all know

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Speaker 1: lucas great. Luca's been less great than I've expected him

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Speaker 1: to be this year, but he's still been great. It's

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Speaker 1: just now we're talking about splitting hairs between the very

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Speaker 1: best players in the world, comparing him to Shay, comparing

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Speaker 1: him to be honest, comparing him to Jokic. That becomes

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Speaker 1: much more of a nitpicky conversation. So we're gonna get

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Speaker 1: nitpicky when we get into those parts of the conversation.

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Speaker 1: In all other states. Must be twenty to one plus

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Speaker 1: and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,

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Speaker 1: New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia to play. Terms and

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Speaker 1: conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida. Call one eight

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Speaker 1: three three play wise. In Indiana. If you or someone

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Speaker 1: else you know has a gambling problem and wants help,

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Speaker 1: call one eight hundred and nine with it gambling problem

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Speaker 1: called one eight hundred gambler in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan,

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Speaker 1: New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, or Virginia. Jason, I was wondering

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Speaker 1: if you could share your take on how to evaluate

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Speaker 1: two way players. A few days ago, Wemby said Jokich

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Speaker 1: is the best offensive player in the world, but not

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Speaker 1: the best defensive player in the world. He said, the

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Speaker 1: best player in the world is himself, Giannis or Sga.

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Speaker 1: I think he, along with many NBA fans, don't understand

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Speaker 1: that elite offense is more important and more valuable than

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Speaker 1: elite defense. Is Yokich an elite defender. No, but his

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Speaker 1: overall positive impact is still vastly superior to Wemby's and

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Speaker 1: clearly superior to Giannis's and Shay's. What are your thoughts

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Speaker 1: on this and how we should correctly or accurately evaluate

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Speaker 1: two way players versus a one way offensive goat like Jokic.

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Speaker 1: I think you broke it down really well yourself, and

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Speaker 1: I want to give you some credit there. Like the

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Speaker 1: way I look at it, your value to your basketball

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Speaker 1: team is unique to what your team needs for you, right,

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Speaker 1: and so yeah, Like, if you are the type of

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Speaker 1: weak defender that can be really difficult to build an

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Speaker 1: elite defense around, that's problematic. But even if you are

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Speaker 1: a below average defender, if you can at least do

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Speaker 1: some things well enough to where they can build a

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Speaker 1: functioning elite defense around you, then your offensive gifts become

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Speaker 1: dramatically more valuable than a guy who's an elite defensive

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Speaker 1: player but that cannot impact the game at the offensive level.

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Speaker 1: The reason why is because you can schematically, through good

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Speaker 1: game planning, through mixing up coverages, through attention to detail,

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Speaker 1: through habits and consistency, through having good supporting role player talent,

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Speaker 1: you can build an elite defense without needing an elite

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Speaker 1: defensive superstar. It is very difficult to be an elite

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Speaker 1: offense without an elite offensive superstar. I'd argue it's impossible.

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Speaker 1: You need fundamentally a player that can break the defense

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Speaker 1: over and over again and create the types of advantages

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Speaker 1: that will drive success consistently on the offensive end of

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Speaker 1: the floor. So where I disagree with Wenby is like,

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Speaker 1: give me Jokic and and a good decent group of

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Speaker 1: defenders around him, versus Wemby and a good group of

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Speaker 1: a decent kind of league average offensive players around him.

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Speaker 1: I think Jokic is going to be able to break

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Speaker 1: san Antonio's defense with his supreme offensive gifts and be

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Speaker 1: good enough defensively with the talent he as around him,

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Speaker 1: rather than if you look at san Antonio on that example,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if the four other offensive players around

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Speaker 1: him are all solid if Wemby can't break the defense

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Speaker 1: down to the extent that a guy like Jokic can.

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Speaker 1: And that's kind of like what the way that I've

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Speaker 1: always looked at it. It's just it's it's easier to

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Speaker 1: build a good defense around a offensive minded superstar than

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Speaker 1: to build a great offense around a defensive minded superstar.

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Speaker 1: I've dealt with this personally since Lebron aged out, And

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Speaker 1: you know, Lebron's always been good in his old age,

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Speaker 1: but he's not been a defense breaking offensive engine, not

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Speaker 1: since he was not since like twenty twenty one. Really ever,

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Speaker 1: since Solomon Hill dove into his ankle, we've only seen

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Speaker 1: very brief spurts where Lebron's actually been that type of

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Speaker 1: legit awesome offensive engine, like very briefly last year surrounding

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Speaker 1: the trade deadline for like a month, right, but it's

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Speaker 1: been rare, and so before then it was fine with Ad.

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Speaker 1: But then all of a sudden, like Ad could be this.

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Speaker 1: I thought he was the best defensive player in the

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Speaker 1: world before Wemby came around, but it didn't matter because

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Speaker 1: they weren't good enough offensively because Ad and Lebron at

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Speaker 1: his old age were unable to break defenses down the

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Speaker 1: way that they needed to in order to capitalize. So,

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Speaker 1: like another really simple way to look at it is

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Speaker 1: like the twenty twenty three Denver Nuggets were an elite

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Speaker 1: defense in the postseason despite having Yokichen Murray the twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty four MAVs now they ended up running into an

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Speaker 1: awful matchup for them, a Boston Celtics team that could

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Speaker 1: truly spread them out and really target Luca's point of

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Speaker 1: attack defense at a higher level. But like we saw

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Speaker 1: other matchups like the Clippers series in the first round

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Speaker 1: of that year, where Luca's defense was fine because they

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Speaker 1: didn't have five elite shooters, on the floor and so

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Speaker 1: they were able to offer the help when they needed

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Speaker 1: to help. Like that was a unique kind of matchup

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Speaker 1: problem regarding a Celtics team that had five good shooters

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Speaker 1: on the floor at all times, which is not something

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Speaker 1: we really see in the NBA anymore, right, Like that

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Speaker 1: was kind of like a unique kind of flash in

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Speaker 1: a pan kind of thing. Dallas constructed a good defense

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Speaker 1: through that entire season post trade because they had good

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Speaker 1: defenders around Luca, and then they had this supremely gifted

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Speaker 1: offensive player that can push them over the top. So

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Speaker 1: like that's why I've always get been geared that way.

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Speaker 1: I just generally think a defense breaking offensive weapon is

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Speaker 1: the hardest thing to come by in the NBA and

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Speaker 1: kind of like a fundamental need if you want to

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Speaker 1: win a championship, unless you have a supreme talent advantage,

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Speaker 1: like you have five thirty million dollars players like the

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Speaker 1: Boston Celtics, right, or you have Oklahoma City last year.

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Speaker 1: Like I think Shay is a considerably better offensive player

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Speaker 1: this year than he was last year in terms of

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Speaker 1: just game flow, late game stuff, over the top shooting,

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Speaker 1: like from the three point line. He's even more efficient

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Speaker 1: from short range twos. Right, But the reason why they

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Speaker 1: won the championship last year is they had this all

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Speaker 1: time great defense, right, Like that was a unique trait.

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Speaker 1: It wasn't any one defensive breaking weapon. It was just

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Speaker 1: a bunch of really good defenders working together. Right. I

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Speaker 1: just generally think that that off, that defense breaking offensive

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Speaker 1: engine is the hardest weapon to come by in the NBA.

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Speaker 1: Who do you think shoulder is the most responsibility for

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Speaker 1: the warriors disappointing season, the players, the coach, or the

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Speaker 1: front office. Who do you think shoulders the most responsibility

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Speaker 1: for the disappointing results of the years since the Warriors

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Speaker 1: last title in twenty twenty two. Seems to me there's

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Speaker 1: plenty of blame to go around except for Steph at

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Speaker 1: this point. Thanks, love the show as always. I agree

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Speaker 1: with you fully, Like there are certain guys like I

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Speaker 1: think Moses Moody generally has reached his potential and has

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Speaker 1: become a player that you know, based on where he

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Speaker 1: got picked, has exceeded expectations. But when you look down

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Speaker 1: the rest of the list, like I'd argue you talk

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Speaker 1: about the since twenty twenty two, I'd include this into

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Speaker 1: this season because of what they did last summer. The

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Speaker 1: ownership group and their unwillingness to let go of Jonathan

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Speaker 1: Minga and the fact that he was clearly a bust

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Speaker 1: relative to where they picked him has set this franchise

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Speaker 1: back because they had an opportunity to trade him two

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Speaker 1: years ago for a guy like a Pascal Siakamerno g

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Speaker 1: and Obi, and they refused. That was when he was

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Speaker 1: at his peak value. Now he's nowhere near of worth

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Speaker 1: that much. But at the very least they could have

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Speaker 1: turned him into Malik Monk this last summer, and everyone

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Speaker 1: was like, no, you can't include Buddy Heald. How much

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Speaker 1: do you guys leaning on Buddy Heiald right now? How

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Speaker 1: much is Buddy yield vital to your succes right now?

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Speaker 1: You guys could have used a guard who could break

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Speaker 1: the defense down off the dribble, beat people off the dribble,

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Speaker 1: and generate quality shots when Steph was off the floor.

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Speaker 1: Still this year one nineteen offensive rating when Steph is

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Speaker 1: on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass, they can

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Speaker 1: score when STEP's out there, they just can't score when

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Speaker 1: he's off. Now it gets a little deeper because the

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Speaker 1: defense hasn't been as good we'll talk about that in

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Speaker 1: a second, but I think that the front office and

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Speaker 1: ownership grip, mainly the ownership group deserves the majority of

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Speaker 1: the blame for the circumstance because they were unwilling to

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Speaker 1: admit that they busted on Cominga and they needed to

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Speaker 1: move him earlier on in the deal, and so as

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Speaker 1: a result, now they've got him in this weird, distressed

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Speaker 1: asset situation where his value is probably lower than it's

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Speaker 1: ever been, and that's just kind of the predicament that

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Speaker 1: they're in. I wouldn't say it's quite as low as

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Speaker 1: it was last summer because now he's no longer a

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Speaker 1: restricted free agent and so he's technically an expiring salary too.

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Speaker 1: There's a couple other elements to it, but like to me,

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Speaker 1: Johnathan Kaminga should have been traded two years ago and

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Speaker 1: then should have been traded this and just every opportunity

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Speaker 1: that the Warriors have had to do so, they've just

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Speaker 1: not done it, and so they haven't been able to

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Speaker 1: flip him into a piece that they can actually use

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Speaker 1: when they're trying to win basketball games down the line.

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Speaker 1: It gets tough, right, Jimmy Butler, although he's been better

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Speaker 1: as of late, hasn't been good enough this season compared

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Speaker 1: to the type of salary that he's getting paid. Right,

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Speaker 1: Draymond Green hasn't been nearly as good defensively as he's

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Speaker 1: been in years pass. I think he's been a considerable

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Speaker 1: drop off there that has affected the team on the

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Speaker 1: defensive end of the four. That's why they aren't dominating

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Speaker 1: Steph's minutes like they have in year's past. And so

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Speaker 1: I think it goes down the line, like some of

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Speaker 1: the old guys are starting to age out. Jimmy wasn't

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Speaker 1: as good as he needed to be to start the year.

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Speaker 1: I think the schedule played a role too. They just

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Speaker 1: got ran into the ground. Like there's this weird thing

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Speaker 1: that happens in the NBA where if you get off

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Speaker 1: to a great start, you can easily handle like a

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Speaker 1: three to eight stretch, But if you start the season

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Speaker 1: and you have a three to eight stretch early in

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Speaker 1: the season, it can be like devastating to your entire

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Speaker 1: kind of vibe in the locker room. Right, And I

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Speaker 1: think the Warriors kind of dealt with a front loaded

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Speaker 1: schedule that kind of beat him into the But you

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Speaker 1: might have had a better chance of surviving that if

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Speaker 1: you flip Jonathan Minga before the season for a Malik Monk,

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Speaker 1: that helps you on offense, if you have a better

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Speaker 1: start to the season from guys like Jimmy and Draymond, Like,

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Speaker 1: I think there was a version of this story that

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Speaker 1: could have ended better than it actually did. Do you

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Speaker 1: think the Lakers would be worse if they traded Reeves

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Speaker 1: for men Thompson and Reed Shepherd. I know you said

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Speaker 1: you wouldn't consider trading Reeves unless you're a sure number

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Speaker 1: two next to Luka, just a better player, But I

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Speaker 1: don't know. The more I watch read, I feel like

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Speaker 1: he can eventually be something close to that at least.

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Speaker 1: So here's the thing. This is my I was wrong

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Speaker 1: about Reed Shepherd in the early part of the season.

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Speaker 1: Early in the season, I viewed him as like completely

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Speaker 1: overmatched when he was on the floor. I didn't think

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Speaker 1: he shot the ball well enough for the types of

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Speaker 1: looks that he was getting. I didn't like his on

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Speaker 1: ball reps, and I thought he was a bad defensive player.

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Speaker 1: We've seen a much larger sample now and like, the

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Speaker 1: shooting is legitimately awesome. And this is where I got

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Speaker 1: a credit. Samvasini This is why I trust Sam so much.

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Speaker 1: Sam is like a guy, and whenever I have like

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Speaker 1: an opinion on a young player, I was like text

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Speaker 1: Sam and I'm like, hey, dude, what do you think?

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Speaker 1: And I like texted Sam early this season and I

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Speaker 1: was like, dude, I just don't see it with Reed,

430
00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:10,080
Speaker 1: Like what's the deal? Like I don't understand what all

431
00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:12,800
Speaker 1: the buzz is about. And to Sam's credit, the one

432
00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,280
Speaker 1: thing he kept hammering was like the dude can shoot,

433
00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:18,040
Speaker 1: Like he can like really shoot it. So like he's

434
00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,320
Speaker 1: gonna start making shots and that will help this team.

435
00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:23,440
Speaker 1: And Reid has taken a significant leap in that department

436
00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,040
Speaker 1: to where he's knocking down shots not just on the catch,

437
00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:27,960
Speaker 1: but off the dribble at a really high rate. He's

438
00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:30,640
Speaker 1: like twenty one for fifty one this season on off

439
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,480
Speaker 1: the dribble threes. That's gonna be a huge boost to

440
00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:35,600
Speaker 1: an offense. And it's been. It was like basically how

441
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:38,960
Speaker 1: they beat Denver on Saturday last week, right, So like

442
00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: that part has popped. However, there is a gigantic chasm

443
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,320
Speaker 1: between Austin Reeves and Reed Shepherd defensively, like Austin Reeves

444
00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:52,880
Speaker 1: is bigger considerably and stronger considerably, so like even though

445
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:54,800
Speaker 1: he can get targeted sometimes, And I think you got

446
00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:56,960
Speaker 1: to have like a more nuanced conversation when it comes

447
00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:01,160
Speaker 1: to guards, because there are unless you're a professional defender

448
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:03,919
Speaker 1: or you're like I mean, even Anthony Edwards, who's an

449
00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:08,280
Speaker 1: apex athlete, struggles sometimes in off ball defense and attentiveness

450
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:10,399
Speaker 1: and can struggle to navigate screens because he has so

451
00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,840
Speaker 1: much attention and energy being devoted to the offensive end

452
00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:15,760
Speaker 1: of the floor. Right, Like, outside of role player guards

453
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:19,160
Speaker 1: that specialize in defense, almost every team has a guard

454
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:21,679
Speaker 1: that's going to get attacked in action. So like everyone

455
00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:23,480
Speaker 1: always is like, oh my god, look at Austin. He's

456
00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:25,760
Speaker 1: getting picked on. It's like Steph Curry gets fucking picked on.

457
00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,080
Speaker 1: Like literally everyone's targeting shake Yios with Alexander on the

458
00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:31,200
Speaker 1: Thunder in action as much as they can. Like if

459
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:32,920
Speaker 1: there is a skill guard on the other team, you're

460
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:34,760
Speaker 1: trying to attack them in action. That's how it goes.

461
00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,600
Speaker 1: And there's a big difference between like this guy's getting

462
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:42,920
Speaker 1: targeted and this guy literally can't defend, and like Reid

463
00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,919
Speaker 1: was getting mercilessly picked on by the Kings down the

464
00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:49,639
Speaker 1: stretch of that game, Demarta Rozen was targeting him, Dennis

465
00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:53,680
Speaker 1: Schroeder's targeting him, and he looked completely physically overmatched because

466
00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:55,879
Speaker 1: he's so small. And so I really like Reid and

467
00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,200
Speaker 1: I think he projects well to be like a good

468
00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:00,560
Speaker 1: sixth man in this league in the short term. Maybe

469
00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 1: in the long run he improves enough defensively by putting

470
00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,240
Speaker 1: on some muscle and just becoming more scrappy and physical

471
00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:07,760
Speaker 1: to become a player that can become a dead serious,

472
00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:12,159
Speaker 1: like top five guy on a championship level team, like

473
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:14,960
Speaker 1: a legit starting five, closing five kind of guy. But

474
00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:17,560
Speaker 1: right now I view him as a guy that is

475
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,320
Speaker 1: not up to the task just because of his physical limitation.

476
00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,800
Speaker 1: So like to me, like, I don't think Reid is

477
00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:25,679
Speaker 1: on track to become like a guy who could be

478
00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,919
Speaker 1: a number two for Luca on this timeline. Maybe a

479
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:31,280
Speaker 1: different young star guard at some point in the future,

480
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,199
Speaker 1: but I don't. I think he's two years away from

481
00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,600
Speaker 1: being two years away, so to speak, from being like

482
00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:38,679
Speaker 1: good enough defensively to be able to hold up in

483
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:44,520
Speaker 1: some high leverage lineups in big spots. All right, last question,

484
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:47,399
Speaker 1: how can Jannison Wenby be on this list? This is

485
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 1: regarding our top ten list with as much time as

486
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,520
Speaker 1: they have missed. I'm a Knicks fan, but where's Jalen Brown,

487
00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,359
Speaker 1: Where's jim Al Murray's having it insane year? Where's Austin Reeves?

488
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:57,520
Speaker 1: So this was in reference to my top ten list,

489
00:23:57,560 --> 00:23:59,199
Speaker 1: and again like that was not like a who I

490
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,160
Speaker 1: think is the tenth best? Who are the ten best

491
00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:03,480
Speaker 1: players in the world, Like, for instance, I had Anthy

492
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:06,400
Speaker 1: Edwards at ten on that list. I had him at

493
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:10,280
Speaker 1: five before the season. If you ask me where ranks

494
00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,159
Speaker 1: in the league, I'm still ranking him five right now.

495
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,239
Speaker 1: I'm not about to change my mind based on, you know,

496
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,440
Speaker 1: a couple of months of basketball, of regular season basketball.

497
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:22,679
Speaker 1: Mind you, that list was strictly meant to indicate who's

498
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,920
Speaker 1: had the ten best seasons so far. And again you're

499
00:24:26,960 --> 00:24:29,440
Speaker 1: splitting hairs, like how are you going to bump a

500
00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,560
Speaker 1: guy like Jalen Brunson off that list? Like Tyrese Max,

501
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:36,560
Speaker 1: He's been freaking awesome. Anthony Edwards just like one ahead

502
00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:38,960
Speaker 1: to head against Shay, Like the guys on that list

503
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:40,960
Speaker 1: were all really good. So I said this in the show,

504
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,000
Speaker 1: but I mean it, like that list is longer. There's

505
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:45,439
Speaker 1: like thirteen fourteen guys that you could really consider, and

506
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:49,320
Speaker 1: like Alburn Shane Gun I could easily argue, you could

507
00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:51,320
Speaker 1: easily argue he's had a top ten season this year.

508
00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:54,399
Speaker 1: Jalen Brown, for sure. Austin Reeves up until the recent

509
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,480
Speaker 1: stretch he struggled before he got hurt. I did think

510
00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:58,040
Speaker 1: he was about the eighth or ninth or like the

511
00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:01,960
Speaker 1: ninth or tenth best player to start this season. Donovan Mitchell,

512
00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,080
Speaker 1: I'd argue could be in that conversation Jamal Murray, We've

513
00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:06,639
Speaker 1: had a lot of guys who've been playing at a

514
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 1: really high level. It's a small sample size. As the

515
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:12,199
Speaker 1: sample size gets larger, we'll circle back. You know, we

516
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:13,840
Speaker 1: had a slow week last week because of the n

517
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,560
Speaker 1: season tournament. They were won a lot of games, right,

518
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:17,280
Speaker 1: so it made sense for us to do something like

519
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,600
Speaker 1: this to kill some time. But you know things are

520
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,040
Speaker 1: gonna get busy when we circle back in the summer,

521
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:24,359
Speaker 1: it's a much more complicated conversation. We'll have an entire

522
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,160
Speaker 1: eighty two games slate for all these teams, we'll have

523
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,120
Speaker 1: a playoff run, and we'll have so much more data

524
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:32,480
Speaker 1: to really kind of parse out who goes where. And

525
00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:36,000
Speaker 1: even then it gets tough. Guys like dude, the top

526
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,640
Speaker 1: tier and second tier stars could very well be seventeen

527
00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:40,960
Speaker 1: eighteen players deep when we go next summer. This last

528
00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:42,760
Speaker 1: year was like I think it was like fourteen if

529
00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:44,879
Speaker 1: I remember correctly, so, like a lot of this is

530
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:46,880
Speaker 1: just how talented the league is, and you start throwing

531
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,120
Speaker 1: out that, like, oh, this guy's a top ten guy.

532
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:50,840
Speaker 1: This guy's a top ten guy, and it's like start

533
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,120
Speaker 1: making your list. Who are you kicking off? A lot

534
00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:56,600
Speaker 1: of these dudes are really good at basketball. It's a

535
00:25:56,600 --> 00:26:00,520
Speaker 1: lot harder than it looks on the surface. Al Right, guys,

536
00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:02,399
Speaker 1: It's all I have for today is always sincerely appreciate

537
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,240
Speaker 1: you guys for supporting us and supporting the show again.

538
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:06,919
Speaker 1: I hope everyone has a happy holiday and that you

539
00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:09,800
Speaker 1: enjoy the next couple of days with your friends and family.

540
00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,080
Speaker 1: We will be back on Friday with some Christmas Day reaction.

541
00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:13,560
Speaker 1: I will see you guys then,