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Speaker 1: All right, switching it up for the next couple of

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Speaker 1: weeks from John Middlecoff to Hoops Tonight lead guy Jason

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Speaker 1: Timp who has We're still proud of Jason because not

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Speaker 1: only does kick ass and work his butt off, but

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Speaker 1: when we landed him, we thought he was really good

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Speaker 1: and we couldn't believe he didn't have a larger audience.

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Speaker 1: Soon enough, he's got a larger audience, so he does

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Speaker 1: a great job. Has grown a wicked mustache since she's

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Speaker 1: been at the volume, as well a confidence mustache, which

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Speaker 1: if you have a guitar and you can play, you

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Speaker 1: gotta have a mustache. So first of all, it's great

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Speaker 1: to have you back. So here's what was established in

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Speaker 1: the regular season and we know more than any sport

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Speaker 1: because of the duration of it, the regular season doesn't

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Speaker 1: quite have the intensity of the postseason. I always say

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Speaker 1: there's about a dozen regular season games that I go okay,

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Speaker 1: that one mattered, that you get them occasionally, a Saturday

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Speaker 1: night game, a big TV game. So what's been established.

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Speaker 1: Wemby's phenomenal and could be a top five player in

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Speaker 1: the league by next year. Jalen Brunson is a bona

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Speaker 1: fide star. Ok Se is the best young team and

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Speaker 1: for the next six to eight years, those draft picks

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Speaker 1: and those players, they're going to bear the top of

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Speaker 1: the West. Boston's the deepest team in the league. Nice mix,

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Speaker 1: mostly of veterans. Porzingis has really become a different player

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Speaker 1: than he was five or six years ago. Denver's probably

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Speaker 1: the best team, best starting five. And then there's a

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Speaker 1: bunch of questions, you know, one of the I pushed

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Speaker 1: back a lot on this and I've covered round. If

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Speaker 1: I had an MVP vote, Jalen Brunson gets consideration. Jokich

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Speaker 1: could be the favorite. But I was thinking about this

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Speaker 1: watching him this past week because I already started zoning

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Speaker 1: in to all the top teams on Luca so statistically

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Speaker 1: insane could be your MVP. Arguably, of all the fifty

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Speaker 1: plus win teams, he has the weakest roster. He solved,

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Speaker 1: at least for the time being, the Kyrie issue and

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Speaker 1: the mavericks of the hottest team in the league at

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Speaker 1: the most significant time of the league. Right. We know

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Speaker 1: the playoffs mean more, but the last fifteen games of

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Speaker 1: the regular season, you really you can feel who's playing

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Speaker 1: uphill and who's playing downhill. If you had an if

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Speaker 1: I had an MVP vote, I think I would think

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Speaker 1: long and hard about Luca. Let's start with that. To you,

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Speaker 1: who's the regular season MVP.

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Speaker 3: Well, to your point about getting hot at the right

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Speaker 3: time of the year, Almost everybody I talked to that

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Speaker 3: I trust about basketball, when you talk to them about

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Speaker 3: their top contenders, everyone's got or Denver, Boston, one, two,

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Speaker 3: and then the consensus is Dallas had three. That's the

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Speaker 3: type of foothold they've gained around the league. Now they're

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Speaker 3: respected as a team that is considered a legitimate chance

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Speaker 3: to win the title. And you're right, I think they

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Speaker 3: do have the most limited supporting cast of the group

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Speaker 3: of teams that we kind of consider seriously at the

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Speaker 3: top of the league. Now, the thing MVP's tricky because

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Speaker 3: typically there's a large gap in the standings between Dallas

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Speaker 3: and Denver. It's like six games if I remember correctly.

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Speaker 3: Typically when you see a team that's not in that

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Speaker 3: like super high end record area of the league, like

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Speaker 3: fifty five plus wins, typically it's because there's not a

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Speaker 3: traditional MVP candidate there for some reason, like it's a

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Speaker 3: Jason Tatum that's leading one team, or it's a you know,

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Speaker 3: like there's usually a limitation there. And so then you

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Speaker 3: look below that and you find your guy who's leading

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Speaker 3: a limited squad, whether it's a Russell Westbrooker, it's a

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Speaker 3: or it's a Luka Doncic. In a case like this,

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Speaker 3: the thing is is like as much as Lucas had

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Speaker 3: to deal with Jamal Murray's miss more than a fourth

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Speaker 3: of the season, Yea and Nicole Yoka just kept them

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Speaker 3: right in the mix there. Jokicchen just about every major

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Speaker 3: national TV game this year, as clearly demonstrated he's still

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Speaker 3: the best player in the league. So for me, like,

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Speaker 3: even though I view Lou, I put him second, I

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Speaker 3: put Luca second. I just can't justify the gap in

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Speaker 3: the standings and the fact that I think Jokic is

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Speaker 3: playing at a similar level, if not a touch higher anyway.

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Speaker 3: But I think Luca has a legitimate case, and I

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Speaker 3: think you got to throw Shay in there too. I

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Speaker 3: think Shane is a legitimate case as well. But I

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Speaker 3: think Lucas gonna win it, and I think he deserves it. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: and actually Luca this Kic, I mean, excuse me.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think Lucas played better defense this year. If

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Speaker 1: you look at the efficiency numbers on defense his steals,

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Speaker 1: you know, he's never going to be a really great,

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Speaker 1: twitchy defender. And I would argue this, I don't need

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Speaker 1: him to be. Listen, bro, give me thirty three a

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Speaker 1: night with your offensive efficiency, you know, like Steph Curry,

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Speaker 1: We'll cover you somewhere. We'll have a room protector. I

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Speaker 1: don't need Luca to be a great defender. You know,

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Speaker 1: when you have Giannis's athletic ability in size, then you're

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Speaker 1: kind of demanding I need the effort. I will say

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Speaker 1: this about Luca that I don't know in my life.

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Speaker 1: It took Kobe a few years that he was a

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Speaker 1: more efficient score. It was a wild He was like

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Speaker 1: Josh Allen is a rookie quarterback. You knew it was there,

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Speaker 1: but he was wild. I don't know in my lifetime

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Speaker 1: if anybody has ever walked into this league and thirty

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Speaker 1: games into it, you said to yourself, and I'm maybe

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Speaker 1: it was Kareem. This is before my time, right, I

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Speaker 1: don't really remember when he broke in with Milwaukee. I

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Speaker 1: didn't watch sports till like seventy two, seventy three, seventy

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Speaker 1: one the Bucks won the title. I don't know if

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Speaker 1: I've ever seen a player walk in and by the

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Speaker 1: All Star break of the first year, I remember saying, like,

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Speaker 1: is he going to be a top five score? Ever?

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Speaker 1: Like he reminds me like, obviously he's not highly vertical.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if he I'm talking Jordan Lebron everybody

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Speaker 1: is he maybe the greatest score, the most unstoppable score.

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Speaker 1: He gets any shot he wants, every time down the floor.

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Speaker 1: It's almost his girth, his lack. You know, he's not

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Speaker 1: d Wade when you look at him, he's at times puffy.

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Speaker 1: I don't know how to describe him. He is just

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Speaker 1: an automatic bucket, always gets it shots. I don't even

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Speaker 1: know what his comp is.

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Speaker 3: What is his comp so honestly, like when it comes

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Speaker 3: to his size, the guy he reminds me the most

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Speaker 3: of is Lebron and I know that they don't have

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Speaker 3: a ton of similarities in their actual play style, but

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Speaker 3: the main thing is that this is actually something we're

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Speaker 3: going to talk about when we get to the Lakers.

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Speaker 3: But like when you try to ball pressure big players,

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Speaker 3: that plays right into their advantage. Like if you get

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Speaker 3: physical with me and I have a size advantage on you,

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Speaker 3: I can pivot, use angles to go right around you

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Speaker 3: because I'm just bigger and I'm stronger, and so a

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Speaker 3: lot of times, like if you ball pressure Luca, He's

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Speaker 3: just going right around you and getting to the basket.

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Speaker 3: And so, really, what's kind of taking his game to

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Speaker 3: the next level this year is he used to be

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Speaker 3: kind of like a mediocre pull up three point shooter. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: he had some hot streaks against the Clippers in the postseason,

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Speaker 3: but for the majority of his career he was a

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Speaker 3: low thirty percent guy on that little step back three

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Speaker 3: that he likes to take. Right this season, he's shooting

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Speaker 3: just shy of forty percent on that shot. He's hitting

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Speaker 3: that at an extremely high rate, and so you can't

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Speaker 3: press him because he's too big and he'll just go

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Speaker 3: right around you. But if you play off of him,

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Speaker 3: he almost like tricks you by just leaning back a

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Speaker 3: little bit and he can get just enough separation to

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Speaker 3: get that three point shot over the top of you.

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Speaker 3: And he's hitting it at damn near forty percent. And

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Speaker 3: so that just put everybody in a bund And so

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Speaker 3: we're getting career high points per game, career high assist

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Speaker 3: per game, career high pull up three point shooting percentage,

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Speaker 3: career high pull up jump shooting percentage. Like he's just

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Speaker 3: hitting these marks that he wasn't hitting early in his

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Speaker 3: career in terms of scoring efficiency to match his volume.

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Speaker 3: And that's just put him in a different stratosphere as

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Speaker 3: a player.

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Speaker 1: Now, if you go look in recent years players that

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Speaker 1: have his ball usage, like a James Harden, it just

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Speaker 1: doesn't work. You just you do get to a point

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Speaker 1: where you've played ninety five games. This is a taxing league,

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Speaker 1: and now playoff basketball is much more physical. You play

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Speaker 1: more minutes. They're all hard minutes. You know, Harden could

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Speaker 1: never break through. You know, my takeaway is if you're

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Speaker 1: gonna break through, if you're Luca it's gonna be the

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Speaker 1: next six years. It's gonna be in your prime. It's

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Speaker 1: like twenty three to twenty nine when you can put

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Speaker 1: in these insane numbers. But do you worry about that

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Speaker 1: because we do have a history that like players that

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Speaker 1: came into the league like Kobe had to be like

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Speaker 1: they had to figure it out, Like you just can't

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Speaker 1: play like this all the time when the ball usage

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Speaker 1: numbers are through the roof.

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Speaker 3: I think it's more it's less about it's less about

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Speaker 3: Luca's usage as a choice and more about necessity, Like

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Speaker 3: he hasn't really this this with Kyrie Irving because Jalen

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Speaker 3: Brunson when he was with the MAVs was not the

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Speaker 3: same level that we think of now. Like obviously you

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Speaker 3: and I are both use Jalen Brunson fans, and he

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Speaker 3: was good when he was with Dallas. He was actually

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Speaker 3: one of the few guys that was kind of reliable

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Speaker 3: in that twenty twenty two playoff run when they want

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Speaker 3: to the Western Conference finals, but they Kyrie's the first

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Speaker 3: guy he's played with that's like a legitimate number two,

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Speaker 3: and so he's getting more spot up opportunities. They're playing

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Speaker 3: with more pace he's operating off the ball more, they're

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Speaker 3: running more sets to get guys into advantage situations. They're

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Speaker 3: kind of playing a more team style of basketball. Kyrie

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Speaker 3: just missed a lot of time this year, and while

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Speaker 3: he was out, Luca bumped up his usage the way

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Speaker 3: that he typically does. But like, the truth of the

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Speaker 3: matter is, like I've I've always looked at Luca as

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Speaker 3: a guy who's just a winner and a savage competitor

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Speaker 3: and a guy that would make the requisite adjustments as

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Speaker 3: time goes on, He'll play on more talented teams in

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Speaker 3: his career. Like you just mentioned at the start of

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Speaker 3: the show, this is not necessarily the most talented offensive

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Speaker 3: roster in the league in terms of ball handling. So

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Speaker 3: like there will be a point in his career where

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Speaker 3: he's going to have to legitimately share the load, and

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Speaker 3: I expect him to do that. Well, a lot of

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Speaker 3: times we put a circumstance on a player when really

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Speaker 3: the player's just doing what he has to do to

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Speaker 3: thrive in a certain place, right right.

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Speaker 1: We saw Jokic do that. Luca did that when Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean both Luca and Jokicic this year had injured

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Speaker 1: co stars. You know they had to carry the loan.

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Speaker 1: Let's go to the Lakers. So I went and watched

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Speaker 1: them in person, and I like to go watch I

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Speaker 1: wanted to go watch Jalen Brunson in person. I want

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Speaker 1: to see Jason Tatum in person. So I looked at

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Speaker 1: the schedule I wanted to see. I thought maybe the

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Speaker 1: last time I saw the Warriors, you know, you know, Clay,

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Speaker 1: Steph and Draymond play. Although Clay is he's going to

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Speaker 1: earn some money somewhere, he had a really good April.

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Speaker 1: And you know, it really hit me watching them, is

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Speaker 1: that when the Lakers made that Russell Westbrook move and

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Speaker 1: had to get out of it. You can't get everything.

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Speaker 1: When you're desperate, you can get something. So they got size,

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Speaker 1: but they didn't get any shot creators. Austin Reeves was

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Speaker 1: already there, Lebron was already there. And I tend to

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Speaker 1: give coaches a little pass on their rotation, much like

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Speaker 1: a defensive coach in the NFL. Sometimes Darvin ham Is

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Speaker 1: is a little tone deaf offensively, like when you don't

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Speaker 1: have Lebron and Austin both on the floor, there's not

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Speaker 1: a lot of shot creation. You just need ad to

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Speaker 1: be great. And so the game I went to, he

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Speaker 1: did that. He had eight. He didn't play. Austin and

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Speaker 1: Lebron at one point were off the floor. And it's say,

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Speaker 1: bro Dlo kind of waits for you to get him

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Speaker 1: a shot. That this this roster has no shot creators,

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Speaker 1: and I do think that will be the Lakers undoing

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Speaker 1: is that Lebron at this age, you can't ask him

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Speaker 1: to play forty minutes of shot creation and there this

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Speaker 1: team is long, They're good. It's a good basketball team.

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Speaker 1: I mean, like the first half against the Pelicans, they

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Speaker 1: were all playoff focused, like they were all playing playoff basketball.

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Speaker 1: You're like, okay, they aren't taking the Pelicans to I

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Speaker 1: mean it was just a physical mismatch. They made New

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Speaker 1: Orleans work for every shot. They would get great passing,

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Speaker 1: great ball movement. But when I do look at the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: I think to myself, you can't ask a guy in

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Speaker 1: your twenty one to be the shot creator, the playmaker,

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Speaker 1: and to me, it won't be Darvin Ham. It's just

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Speaker 1: it's a roster reality, isn't it.

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Speaker 3: So the roster realities are the are the main genus

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Speaker 3: of my take surrounding the Lakers as a playoff threat,

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Speaker 3: and I felt the exact same about the Lakers as

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Speaker 3: a playoff threat basically all season. Their position in the

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Speaker 3: standings is Darvin Ham's fault. To put it simply, they

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Speaker 3: were three and ten in the thirteen games after the

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Speaker 3: N Season Tournament. Over that span, Darvin Ham was playing

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Speaker 3: Cam Reddish and Toryan Prince fifty nine point two minutes

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Speaker 3: per game, And when they signed Torrian Prince, I was excited.

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Speaker 3: I like Toryan Prince. I think he's a solid rotational wink.

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Speaker 3: He's like their eighth best player, and Darvin Ham was

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Speaker 3: playing him massive minutes and starting him every single game

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Speaker 3: over Ruy Hachimura, who's a better basketball player. Cam Reddish,

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Speaker 3: there was never ever a case for him to be

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Speaker 3: used the way he was, and in a league where

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Speaker 3: everyone's talented and the margins are pretty small, and the

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Speaker 3: Lakers were kind of a little relaxed post winning the

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Speaker 3: N Season Tournament. They toasted some games off in that

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Speaker 3: span when they probably shouldn't have because Darvin Ham's kind

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Speaker 3: of galaxy branding the rotation. But you're right, the limits

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Speaker 3: of the Lakers are the limitations of the Lakers. That

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Speaker 3: was a standings related issue. They should not have to

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Speaker 3: go to New Orleans on Tuesday and win a game,

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Speaker 3: but they do because of that stretch. As far as

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Speaker 3: the playoff setting goes, like, the main issue is when

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Speaker 3: they run into specific types of matchups, specifically teams that

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Speaker 3: bring real perimeter strength and length. And by the way,

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Speaker 3: the Pelicans are one of these teams. Yep. They they

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Speaker 3: can handle d Lo, they can handle Austin. Just Lebron

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Speaker 3: is too big for all of those dudes. And when

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Speaker 3: we talked about it earlier, you ball pressure Lebron. He

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Speaker 3: can handle that because he's strong. And then the Pelicans

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Speaker 3: are a turnover forcing, aggressive like forward attacking defense and

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Speaker 3: so if you can get the ball behind it with

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Speaker 3: high level playmaking, you can pick them apart. The Lakers

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Speaker 3: won the first half points in the paint battle fifty

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Speaker 3: to twelve in that game. That goes to show you

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Speaker 3: just how crazy Lebron and Ad shutting down Zion and

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Speaker 3: then on the other end of the floor, Lebron picking

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Speaker 3: apart their aggressive attacking defense just allowed the Lakers to

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Speaker 3: kind of pick them apart. But those specific types of matchups,

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Speaker 3: those lankier wings, they can give d Lo and Austin problems,

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Speaker 3: and then that puts too much on Lebron because the

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Speaker 3: Lakers are actually a very good offense. They're third in

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Speaker 3: offense since January seventh, that's a forty six game sample size.

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Speaker 3: They're a very good offense, but it's very much everyone's involved.

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Speaker 3: They get a ton of assists, it's lots of ball movement,

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Speaker 3: a ton of us yeah today. Yeah, it's so bizarre

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Speaker 3: watching them compared to last year, because like, there's a

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Speaker 3: good chance they faced Denver in the first round again,

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Speaker 3: and we're gonna pick Denver, but they could not be

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Speaker 3: more different. Last year, they were a four out, one

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Speaker 3: in brute force, spread, pick and roll, post up offense

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Speaker 3: that was very defensively minded. Now they're actually this super

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Speaker 3: high powered, spread, five out offense and they can't defend.

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Speaker 3: So it's like a completely different Laker team that we're

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Speaker 3: running into. But they have the same problem. They keep

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Speaker 3: the Nuggets close and then the Nuggets out execute them

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Speaker 3: at the end of the game. So they're more or

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Speaker 3: less than the same situation, but they are a different

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Speaker 3: team than they were last year.

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Speaker 1: So a team that you know first round Denver is

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Speaker 1: going to take on Phoenix and Phoenix. Neither team has

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Speaker 1: a ton of depth. But Phoenix has been my disappointment

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Speaker 1: in the league. I thought they were a team that

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Speaker 1: would in kind of a passive regular season league. I

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Speaker 1: thought they'd just shoot their way to a lot of

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Speaker 1: wins and you'd have two of the three stars. Beale

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Speaker 1: was hurt early in the season, much more than I

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Speaker 1: knew he would be. But they have played together. There

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Speaker 1: is some duplication in the offense. But it's years ago.

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Speaker 1: I've said this before, years ago when people were saying

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Speaker 1: Katie's better than Lebron. This is when he was with

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Speaker 1: the Warriors winning MVPs, and I said, you got to

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Speaker 1: add context to this. Like he's playing, it's just go

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Speaker 1: hit buckets. They don't ask him to lead talk. He

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Speaker 1: defended pretty well. He's always been a willing defender. But

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Speaker 1: I'm like, they're not asking him do anything. He didn't

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Speaker 1: have to talk after the game, before the game, he

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Speaker 1: didn't have to be the soul of the team. He

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Speaker 1: didn't have to be the the bouncer. Hey, you don't

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Speaker 1: have to do anything, just get and that's what Katie does.

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Speaker 1: By ways. He's a shot maker. He's great all time.

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Speaker 1: But and I felt this with Kawhi, if you ask

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Speaker 1: him to be a foundational piece, a leader, the barker

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Speaker 1: in the clubhouse. I mean, I go to the Warriors

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Speaker 1: Laker game and Draymond and they're out by twelve. Late

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Speaker 1: is barking at players. Lebron's a coach and you watch

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Speaker 1: KD and this is the difference. And I've said this

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Speaker 1: with Kawhi. When the culture is set and you add

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Speaker 1: somebody like Kawhi and Katie and they just get buckets

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Speaker 1: and stops. They're all time players. But when you have

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Speaker 1: to build something around that, because Booker clearly is not

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Speaker 1: overly verbal. He's a scorer. That's okay. He's a scorer.

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Speaker 1: And I look at this Phoenix situation and I'm like,

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Speaker 1: they would be better with Lebron. This is just a

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Speaker 1: guy to get a basket, and this team needs more

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Speaker 1: than that. They've got guys Beale and Booker that can

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Speaker 1: get a basket. They need they need this reservoir of

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Speaker 1: Lebron's sort of vision leadership, this foundational personality. And so

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Speaker 1: I look at Phoenix and I think, yeah, I just

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Speaker 1: saw points. But all the good teams in this league,

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Speaker 1: there's a there is there's a soul. Curry's a soul piece,

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Speaker 1: yokiches you do. You don't even have to be overly verbal.

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Speaker 1: But I look at Phoenix and I say, it'd be

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Speaker 1: easy for me to just say, hey, Katie's been great,

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Speaker 1: but this is sort of if you're a top eight

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Speaker 1: player in the world, this is your team. And I

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Speaker 1: don't care if Booker was here before. Booker wasn't winning

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Speaker 1: for years and years before they brought Chris Paulan, he

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Speaker 1: wasn't winning or a bad team. So I do look

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Speaker 1: at Phoenix and say, some of this is just on KD.

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Speaker 1: At times in your career, you have to be more

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Speaker 1: than get a bucket guy, don't.

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Speaker 3: You Yes, And that has been the primary issue for

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Speaker 3: the Suns this year. I wouldn't necessarily put it just

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Speaker 3: on KD. But like KD, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal,

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Speaker 3: all three of them, they are guys that, like when

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Speaker 3: they are engaged defensively, can be deeply impactful. Yeah defenders,

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Speaker 3: even Devin Booker. Like Devin Booker is not the most

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Speaker 3: physically gifted guard in the league. But like when I

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Speaker 3: watch Suns film and they're good on defense, it's usually

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Speaker 3: because Booker is engaged and he's talking, and he's like

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Speaker 3: the communicator of the defense, like calling coverages out and

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Speaker 3: that sort of thing. Kevin Durant like, for the record,

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Speaker 3: I'm much higher on the Suns than most people. I

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Speaker 3: had them. I had them fifth, I think in my

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Speaker 3: contender rankings coming into this postseason run, and I specifically

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Speaker 3: love them for the Denver matchup. I think that Nurkic

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Speaker 3: is a big body that can make things tougher on

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Speaker 3: Jokic than some other people. Another key part of the

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Speaker 3: Suns is they have the best, in my opinion, the

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Speaker 3: best spread driving kick type of team in the league.

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Speaker 3: Grayson Allen on that week side has been the best

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Speaker 3: three point shooter in the league. He's great at driving closeouts.

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Speaker 3: Because of the three star build, you constantly have Bradley

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Speaker 3: Beall off the ball or Kad off the ball or

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Speaker 3: Devin Booker off the ball with an advantage, and so

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Speaker 3: they can really spread teams out, and so teams like

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Speaker 3: Denver that are like load up defensive teams that always

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Speaker 3: defend pick and roll three on two and kind of

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Speaker 3: load up on the strong side that skip passes open

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Speaker 3: and Phoenix can pick you apart there, which is a

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Speaker 3: big part of how Phoenix has had success against Denver

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Speaker 3: this year. But to your point, they've been inconsistent there

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Speaker 3: where it's like I watch them. I watch them today

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Speaker 3: and they kick Minnesota's ass physically from the opening tip.

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Speaker 3: I watch them against Denver and they kick Denver's ass

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Speaker 3: physically from the opening tip. And then I watch them

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Speaker 3: against the Clippers the other night and they get punched

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Speaker 3: in the mouth and they've wilt, and it's like, so

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Speaker 3: that's been. That's been very much their identities. They've been.

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Speaker 3: They're they're like probably the widest range between floor and

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Speaker 3: ceiling of all the teams that I've seen this year,

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Speaker 3: because like, when you watch them on the right night,

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Speaker 3: they look like a bona fide top tier championship contender,

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Speaker 3: and then you watch them on another night and you're like,

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Speaker 3: these guys aren't made of the right stuff, and so like, honestly,

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Speaker 3: like the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. But

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Speaker 3: I thought they demonstrated a lot of grit coming back

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Speaker 3: and winning in Sacramento the other night and then going

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Speaker 3: into Minnesota with a chance to get out of the

427
00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:08,080
Speaker 3: plane and killing them the way that they did, and

428
00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:11,680
Speaker 3: in the process sparing them from a Denver matchup as well.

429
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,000
Speaker 3: Like I thought that was a big time win for them.

430
00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,880
Speaker 3: I'm generally higher on Phoenix than most people, but they've

431
00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,879
Speaker 3: If there is a limitation, it's just they don't quite

432
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 3: have a ton of like physical alpha dog in it,

433
00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:23,760
Speaker 3: if that makes sense.

434
00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:28,080
Speaker 1: Now for a segment called making it look easy. With

435
00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,399
Speaker 1: Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm, the Boston

436
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,320
Speaker 1: Celtics this year made it look really easy. Not only

437
00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,040
Speaker 1: the most blowout wins, the best record in the NBA,

438
00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:41,200
Speaker 1: greatest point differential, winning a league best sixty four games,

439
00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,160
Speaker 1: and this league, if you go win fifty plus games,

440
00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:45,640
Speaker 1: you've had a hell of a season. Celtics at sixty four.

441
00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,280
Speaker 1: Morgan and Morgan also makes it look easy, America's injury

442
00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:51,879
Speaker 1: law firm of note, biggest in the country, one hundred

443
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:57,320
Speaker 1: offices nationwide, one thousand lawyers, and more twenty billion dollars

444
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:01,560
Speaker 1: billion recovered over five hundred thousand clients through the years.

445
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:04,200
Speaker 1: Morgan and Morgan has a proven track record of fighting

446
00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:07,280
Speaker 1: for you for a fair and reasonable compensation. If you're

447
00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:10,520
Speaker 1: ever injured. Go to four the people dot Com slash

448
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,760
Speaker 1: Colin for the people dot com slash Colin or dial

449
00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:19,080
Speaker 1: pound law pound five to nine. That's for the people

450
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:22,560
Speaker 1: dot com slash Colin or pound law five to nine

451
00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,600
Speaker 1: from your cell. Winning in the NBA is hard submitting

452
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:34,200
Speaker 1: an injury claim with Morgan and Morgan it's easy over

453
00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:36,880
Speaker 1: in the East. I think I think the Knicks facing

454
00:22:36,880 --> 00:22:38,960
Speaker 1: either the seventy six ers or the Heat, Now, who

455
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,800
Speaker 1: are you going to take in that play in game

456
00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:43,920
Speaker 1: April seventeenth? Would you take Philly or Miami?

457
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:46,280
Speaker 3: That game is going to be so fun because both

458
00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:47,679
Speaker 3: teams are going to be playing as hard as they

459
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,480
Speaker 3: possibly can do. Avoid Boston. That's the avoid, That's the

460
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,800
Speaker 3: avoid Boston Bowl. So I think here's the thing. My like,

461
00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:57,520
Speaker 3: Philly's more talented, but Embiid hasn't really played a good

462
00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,600
Speaker 3: team since you come back from injury. And then Eric

463
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:02,840
Speaker 3: Spolser is definitely gonna have some janky stuff to throw

464
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,160
Speaker 3: at him to try to make him feel uncomfortable. Complete

465
00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:07,760
Speaker 3: and total toss up. Give me Eric Spolstra in a

466
00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:09,040
Speaker 3: toss up game like that.

467
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,400
Speaker 1: So Jalen Brunson's interesting because he was a really good

468
00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:14,919
Speaker 1: player with Luca. He was highly he was an effective player.

469
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:17,920
Speaker 1: And then he goes to New York and he's obviously

470
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:19,639
Speaker 1: more than that. But again, when you play with a

471
00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,280
Speaker 1: high ball usage player, that's understood. You know, it's like

472
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:25,040
Speaker 1: a receiver playing with a better quarterback. You can be good.

473
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,320
Speaker 1: Everybody can see your hands, your routes. And then you

474
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:30,120
Speaker 1: play with them Mahomes or you know, a top quarterback

475
00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:32,280
Speaker 1: and it's like, oh, your numbers will go up. So

476
00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,919
Speaker 1: we all knew Jalen Brunson could play in the last

477
00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:37,800
Speaker 1: month and a half. And I think this is a

478
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:42,119
Speaker 1: lot of pro athletics. Is you know, Carl Anthony Towns

479
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:44,200
Speaker 1: got hurt for the t Wolves, and actually their pacing

480
00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:46,520
Speaker 1: got better. Their three point shooting got better, which is

481
00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:48,400
Speaker 1: not surprise because they had two bigs. Now you're down

482
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:50,760
Speaker 1: to one and go Bear's not a gifted offensive player.

483
00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,479
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony town some times can take the air out

484
00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:55,159
Speaker 1: of the ball like a lot of bigs, like you

485
00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:57,639
Speaker 1: nump it down to So the pacing got better. So

486
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,520
Speaker 1: Julius Randal gets hurt for the Knicks, and to me,

487
00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:02,359
Speaker 1: it's like when I watch him, it's like, oh, they

488
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,080
Speaker 1: they always feel like there is something in this league

489
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:07,840
Speaker 1: about you know, you got to get Julius's touches. You

490
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 1: got to get certain guys their touches. You're paying him

491
00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,200
Speaker 1: twenty four million, twenty eight million, Well, they don't give

492
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,640
Speaker 1: Julius Randall's touches, and that's more touches for Jalen Brunson.

493
00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:18,879
Speaker 1: And I'm sitting there watching them and I'm like, I

494
00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,600
Speaker 1: don't know. Like when I went and watched him in person,

495
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,320
Speaker 1: he is so much quicker than the TV gives him

496
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,960
Speaker 1: credit for. Like he you cannot stay in front of him.

497
00:24:28,119 --> 00:24:30,800
Speaker 1: You know, I don't care about Villanova's second round or grinder.

498
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 1: He's not a grinder. It's way more than that. He

499
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:35,800
Speaker 1: gets great looks. And I kind of look at the

500
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,160
Speaker 1: Knicks and I think to myself in and I don't

501
00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:42,800
Speaker 1: trust Milwaukee. I'm I kind of like Philadelphia. But again,

502
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:45,159
Speaker 1: what is mbat he had twelve games? Is at what

503
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:49,240
Speaker 1: he played off the injury, I wouldn't be shocked. I

504
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:53,520
Speaker 1: look at the Knicks. I think in the East, a

505
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,520
Speaker 1: red hot star, a good coach, and a lot of

506
00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,840
Speaker 1: be guys that defend and play hard. I don't know,

507
00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,119
Speaker 1: I don't think they'd get to the conference finals. In

508
00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:06,680
Speaker 1: the West. I mean, hell, Milwaukee's a five hundred team

509
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,439
Speaker 1: against the West. What do you make of the Knicks

510
00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:10,520
Speaker 1: over the next three weeks?

511
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:14,000
Speaker 3: So I want to preface this by saying I love

512
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:17,200
Speaker 3: the Knicks. I think they have the best basketball character

513
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:18,919
Speaker 3: of any team in the league right now? Do you

514
00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:21,240
Speaker 3: mean super fun to watch? What that means to me

515
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,200
Speaker 3: is like doing the right thing on a day day out. Basis,

516
00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,000
Speaker 3: all the players are engaged, everyone's bought in, everyone plays

517
00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:30,400
Speaker 3: their role. Their leaders a great leader, never too high

518
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:33,359
Speaker 3: and never too low. They bring consistent effort, they just do.

519
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:35,760
Speaker 3: They do all the right things. And I love that

520
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:38,560
Speaker 3: about them as a team. And there is something to

521
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,840
Speaker 3: be said about Julius Randall coming out of the lineup

522
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:44,000
Speaker 3: and that leading towards less of some of the ugly

523
00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 3: things we've seen from the York Ard the years, because

524
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:48,639
Speaker 3: Julius Randall, he has a tendency like things don't go asway,

525
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,040
Speaker 3: misses a couple shots, he'll take defensive possessions off, He'll

526
00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,600
Speaker 3: pout like that's that's something Julius Randall's been known to

527
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:55,760
Speaker 3: do at times. Right, So, like there's been a lot

528
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:57,600
Speaker 3: of upside in a regular.

529
00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,520
Speaker 1: See he's not been a great playoff guy, he's exactly

530
00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:01,400
Speaker 1: really struggle.

531
00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:04,800
Speaker 3: In Julius Randalls defense, he's had some injuries when he's

532
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:06,760
Speaker 3: gotten to the postseason and is usually playing a little

533
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,760
Speaker 3: banked up. But yes, he's had a really rough playoff

534
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:13,600
Speaker 3: career to this point. Here's the problem. Like, I think

535
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 3: we both agree that like the future of the Knicks,

536
00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:20,600
Speaker 3: Van probably doesn't involve Julius Randel to probably do something

537
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,280
Speaker 3: different there. But strictly within the context of this season,

538
00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:26,960
Speaker 3: it's this simple. In a playoff setting, you can really

539
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,520
Speaker 3: throw the kitchen sink at a team that all operates

540
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:32,320
Speaker 3: through one star, and there's only so much that effort

541
00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:35,000
Speaker 3: and energy and focus and basketball character can make up for.

542
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,719
Speaker 3: And the main stat to kind of like drive that

543
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,000
Speaker 3: point home is that as good as the Knicks have

544
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,879
Speaker 3: been this year against teams in the top ten in

545
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:47,159
Speaker 3: point differential, they are seven and seventeen, and they have

546
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:51,760
Speaker 3: the fourteenth worst point differential themselves in those matchups. So like,

547
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:53,760
Speaker 3: they play really hard, they win all the games they're

548
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:55,680
Speaker 3: supposed to win, and then they run into the teams

549
00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,600
Speaker 3: have more firepower and they lose. That's pretty much the

550
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,040
Speaker 3: issue with the Knicks. So spectum, I have a ton

551
00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:04,840
Speaker 3: of optimism about the future. They're super well positioned for

552
00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:06,520
Speaker 3: a trade if they want to make a trade this summer.

553
00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,360
Speaker 3: They're in a great spot. But like, do I think

554
00:27:09,440 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 3: they're gonna go on some sort of magical playoff run?

555
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:16,280
Speaker 3: Not necessarily, And honestly, Colin like, there's another question should

556
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,880
Speaker 3: we should be asking, is Boston just gonna murder everyone

557
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:20,880
Speaker 3: in the Eastern Conference?

558
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:26,160
Speaker 1: Well, I think Philadelphia is interesting because they have enough

559
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 1: offensive firepower that you know, if Boston goes up to

560
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:31,840
Speaker 1: oh and they go on the road to Philly, Philly

561
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,960
Speaker 1: brings you know, all gas, no breaks, crowds, crazy win

562
00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,520
Speaker 1: game three, then you get a close game in Game four,

563
00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,560
Speaker 1: and the Boston is not a bad close game, clutch

564
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 1: time team, but they're not always great. They're not bad,

565
00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:46,200
Speaker 1: but they're not always great. Whereas Denver feels like every

566
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,520
Speaker 1: big TV game that's close, they end up winning the game,

567
00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:51,840
Speaker 1: like every I watched the Minnesota on the other night

568
00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:53,240
Speaker 1: and I'm like, man, this is like the hell of

569
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:54,879
Speaker 1: an effort by Minnesota.

570
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:57,760
Speaker 3: In five seconds and then it wasn't right.

571
00:27:57,800 --> 00:27:59,720
Speaker 1: So like Denver's And by the way, some of that's

572
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:03,119
Speaker 1: justchampionship teams. They just they just know who to go to.

573
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:07,720
Speaker 1: So I think Boston's gonna rue. I think they will

574
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,159
Speaker 1: run through the East. A team that's fascinating to me,

575
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,920
Speaker 1: and I do think they could get knocked off by Indiana.

576
00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:21,440
Speaker 1: Probably don't, but could is Milwaukee. So because of trade swaps,

577
00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:25,960
Speaker 1: pick swaps and getting Dame and Drew Holliday, they don't

578
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,560
Speaker 1: have any first round picks. They're the oldest team in

579
00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:30,560
Speaker 1: the league. I mean, Bobby Portis at twenty nine is

580
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:34,119
Speaker 1: the kid. So they're old. They have no first round picks.

581
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,679
Speaker 1: The Damiannest thing is not terribly efficient. You've got it.

582
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:40,960
Speaker 1: I've got it. They're a worse defensive team. And so

583
00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:43,480
Speaker 1: my takeaway, and now they've run through coaches now they're

584
00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:45,960
Speaker 1: on Doc, so you can't you can't go back to

585
00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,920
Speaker 1: blaming the coach. My take is, what if they lose

586
00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 1: to Indiana. I mean, they got a first round picks,

587
00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:55,800
Speaker 1: they don't have a lot of tradable pieces. I mean,

588
00:28:56,040 --> 00:29:00,560
Speaker 1: you could move off Dame and again Dames somebody that

589
00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,880
Speaker 1: has a market. You know, Dame is still an excellent

590
00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:09,040
Speaker 1: late shot clock score. But Milwaukee's fascinating to me. What

591
00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:12,160
Speaker 1: if they lose to Indiana and that'll be a good

592
00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:18,480
Speaker 1: series much. You know, a younger an athletic, younger team.

593
00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,280
Speaker 1: What does Yiannis do I Adrian Griffin, he ran him

594
00:29:21,280 --> 00:29:23,520
Speaker 1: out of town. You can't run Doc Rivers out of town.

595
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:25,880
Speaker 1: I mean owners at some point that dead coaching money.

596
00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:29,959
Speaker 1: It's like at some point they lose patience. Where is

597
00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:34,120
Speaker 1: Milwaukee if they lose? What do you do? Well?

598
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 3: First of all, I think this whole situation is a

599
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,320
Speaker 3: great example of why like you should not fire your

600
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:40,960
Speaker 3: coach unless you know exactly what you're going to do next,

601
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,680
Speaker 3: because because that can you could put yourself in this

602
00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:48,320
Speaker 3: particular predicament. I So before we look forward to this summer,

603
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:50,880
Speaker 3: I'm not ready to write them off yet. For the record,

604
00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:54,040
Speaker 3: I will be picking Indiana. Even when Giannis was healthy

605
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 3: this year, the Bucks went one and three against Indiana.

606
00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,280
Speaker 3: It's a bad matchup for them. The Bucks are probably

607
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:02,160
Speaker 3: the slowest team in the league and the Pacers are

608
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,560
Speaker 3: probably the fastest team in the league. So like it

609
00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,640
Speaker 3: is a complete foot speed mismatch. They kill them in rotation,

610
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,680
Speaker 3: they kill them in transition. They it's just a nightmare

611
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:13,480
Speaker 3: for Milwaukee. So I'm gonna be picking Indiana. But let's

612
00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:16,760
Speaker 3: just say, for instance, that somehow Dame goes crazy, they

613
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:19,320
Speaker 3: keep it at two to one, Giannis comes back in

614
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:22,160
Speaker 3: Game four, they somehow managed to advance. Did you know

615
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,600
Speaker 3: the best lineup in basketball this year to play at

616
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:28,040
Speaker 3: least five hundred minutes is the Milwaukee Bucks starting lineup,

617
00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,560
Speaker 3: So Brook Lopez, Damian Leather, Chris Middleton, Yannis, and Tenna

618
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,200
Speaker 3: Kumpo Malik Beasley in five hundred and ninety nine minutes

619
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,040
Speaker 3: this year outscoring team outscoring team is by fifteen point

620
00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:39,640
Speaker 3: one points per one hundred possessions. Awesome on both ends

621
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 3: of the floor. They've been literally the best lineup in

622
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,760
Speaker 3: the league. So like, now there's some context there. They've

623
00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 3: struggled in specific matchups. They beat the crap out of

624
00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:49,880
Speaker 3: some of these bad teams in the Eastern Conference at

625
00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:52,040
Speaker 3: the bottom of the East is really weak, which kind

626
00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:53,800
Speaker 3: of pumps up a lot of these kinds of numbers.

627
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:56,440
Speaker 3: But like, it's not the door. There's just a tiny

628
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 3: little crack in the door there for Milwaukee that they

629
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,240
Speaker 3: might be able to swing through this year. That set

630
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,080
Speaker 3: I am. I'm a big believer in like when you've

631
00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:09,000
Speaker 3: got superstars, it creates small achievable roles around them, So

632
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:11,600
Speaker 3: you've got a superstar guard. And I for the record,

633
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:15,320
Speaker 3: you were talking about Brunson. I think Brunson's probably leaped

634
00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 3: left Dame as probably the second best small guard in

635
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:20,880
Speaker 3: the league behind Stephan. Now you just go Stephan then Dame.

636
00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,320
Speaker 3: I think it's probably Stephan then Brunson now at this point,

637
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,880
Speaker 3: but like Dame is still really really good. Yeah, and

638
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:29,160
Speaker 3: then Yannis obviously still top five player in the league.

639
00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:32,320
Speaker 3: So it's not completely outside of the realm of possibility

640
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:35,360
Speaker 3: that you couldn't make a couple of smart trades this

641
00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:38,280
Speaker 3: summer to try to bring in some speed and then

642
00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:40,400
Speaker 3: try to run this thing back. I think they'll give

643
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:43,920
Speaker 3: it one more shot. Now. If it fails after that,

644
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:47,120
Speaker 3: then you're in crisis mode because you better come up

645
00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,360
Speaker 3: with something or Jannis is gonna be asking for a

646
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:51,360
Speaker 3: trade and they don't have a lot in the way

647
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:53,800
Speaker 3: of assets. But again, like for the same reason that

648
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:55,960
Speaker 3: Jared Vanderbilt is just kind of a cast in for

649
00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:58,360
Speaker 3: the Lakers, but because they desperately need a perimeter defender,

650
00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:00,760
Speaker 3: all of a sudden, he looks awesome, Yeah, ruey hotcha Murau.

651
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:02,600
Speaker 3: They don't have any forwards, so they finally get a forward,

652
00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:06,520
Speaker 3: and Ruin looks awesome, Like you find some speed, a

653
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 3: guard that can defend next to Dame, you find a

654
00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:13,200
Speaker 3: legitimate front court athlete who can defend next to Giannis,

655
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:15,160
Speaker 3: so that you can go back to Giannis at the

656
00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:17,960
Speaker 3: five lineups and have some success. Like if they find

657
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:19,960
Speaker 3: some speed this summer, I think they could be right

658
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:20,640
Speaker 3: back in the mix.

659
00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:23,400
Speaker 1: I want to go back to a really interesting team,

660
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,480
Speaker 1: the Warriors. So one of the things I said, and

661
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:29,200
Speaker 1: I'm just throwing it out there to reach probably, but

662
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 1: when I watched him in person, and if you watched April,

663
00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:34,479
Speaker 1: it was almost as if Steve Kerr was sending a

664
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:37,680
Speaker 1: message to Joe Lake of the owner, we know you

665
00:32:37,680 --> 00:32:40,480
Speaker 1: don't want to pay Clay, and we know Orlando's gonna

666
00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:44,080
Speaker 1: make a run at him. We really need him. Pods

667
00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:48,200
Speaker 1: is good, a lot of energy, He's not quite as refined.

668
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:51,240
Speaker 1: And you start watching them in person, and they run

669
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:55,600
Speaker 1: a lot of plays through Clay a lot, and it's

670
00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:59,440
Speaker 1: like coaches don't have to. And I thought Clay was

671
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,880
Speaker 1: washed last year. But when I watched the Warriors, my

672
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:05,520
Speaker 1: take is when I came out of that game, I

673
00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,760
Speaker 1: thought their their core, that they don't want to move

674
00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:12,400
Speaker 1: is Steph Claye Raymond and Pods and they would, they

675
00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,160
Speaker 1: would move all their size for a big even if

676
00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:18,360
Speaker 1: it was Karl Anthony Towns. Is that they've tried to.

677
00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:21,840
Speaker 1: I mean, Chris Paul was effective. He's been effective despite

678
00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:25,239
Speaker 1: you know, mid range guy limited. I kind of look

679
00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,440
Speaker 1: at Golden State where I think they experimented this year

680
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:34,280
Speaker 1: and Steph was remarkable. But Kaminga doesn't have a closing package.

681
00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:36,800
Speaker 1: He's just really long and twitchy and athletic. But you

682
00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:38,840
Speaker 1: put him around the rim, you give him the ball,

683
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:41,600
Speaker 1: he's got somebody behind him. He doesn't have any package.

684
00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,160
Speaker 1: He doesn't really know what he's doing. He's just talented,

685
00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:48,840
Speaker 1: right like. And so I think Golden State thought this year.

686
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:50,680
Speaker 1: My take is they thought this year was going to

687
00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:53,440
Speaker 1: be better. And I look at him now and I'm like,

688
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:58,200
Speaker 1: not only is the dynasty over, it needs a huge swing.

689
00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:02,720
Speaker 1: To me, like a huge swing. Do you view it

690
00:34:02,760 --> 00:34:03,120
Speaker 1: that way?

691
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:06,520
Speaker 3: I one hundred percent agree. It's far like Kaminga. You

692
00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,000
Speaker 3: put it perfectly like I'm actually I'm actually really high

693
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:12,200
Speaker 3: in Kaminga's ceiling, like people can't guard him, and it

694
00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:14,040
Speaker 3: like they can't keep him in front with that fouling

695
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,040
Speaker 3: and transitional long run, oh yeah, and in transition, like

696
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:20,080
Speaker 3: and he's also pretty good on ball defender already. So

697
00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:23,320
Speaker 3: like I think in the long run, like five years

698
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:25,359
Speaker 3: from now, Jonathan Kamenka is going to be a really

699
00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,000
Speaker 3: useful player in this league and potentially even an All Star.

700
00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:30,000
Speaker 3: Like that's the type of potential I think he has.

701
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,839
Speaker 3: But like, no matter what happens this summer, whether it's

702
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:35,880
Speaker 3: Clay goes to Orlando or Clay stays, or they decide

703
00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:37,359
Speaker 3: to trade this guy, or do they decide to trade

704
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,880
Speaker 3: that guy, regardless, what we cannot do again is do

705
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:43,120
Speaker 3: the whole Steph is the only guy on the team

706
00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:45,879
Speaker 3: who's a high level offensive player. We can't. We can't

707
00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:48,560
Speaker 3: do that anymore because, like, like to give you an example,

708
00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:53,280
Speaker 3: like in twenty twenty two, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole

709
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:57,080
Speaker 3: kind of combined to be that guy. Yeah, and then

710
00:34:57,239 --> 00:35:00,680
Speaker 3: they both kind of fell apart and then traded Jordan

711
00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:03,960
Speaker 3: pool away. Andrew Wiggins has shown bursts of being capable

712
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,279
Speaker 3: of doing some of that, but not really. And again

713
00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:07,960
Speaker 3: it was both of them. It was always both of

714
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:11,000
Speaker 3: them that kind of put that together. So like, if

715
00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,400
Speaker 3: you're gonna go with Steph Clay, which I think is doable,

716
00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:18,560
Speaker 3: you absolutely have to somewhere in that starting five, closing five,

717
00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:22,040
Speaker 3: whatever your five best players, there has to be another

718
00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:25,879
Speaker 3: guy who can be a reliable night in, night out

719
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,560
Speaker 3: shot creator. It has to happen. It's been way too long. Yeah,

720
00:35:28,600 --> 00:35:31,600
Speaker 3: at the beginning of the dynasty, it was Clay because

721
00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:33,760
Speaker 3: he was more springy and he could do more moving

722
00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:37,520
Speaker 3: than Kevin Durant came in. Then when Clay got hurt

723
00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:40,040
Speaker 3: and Kevin Durant left, Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole kind

724
00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:41,759
Speaker 3: of filled that void. Those guys are not in that

725
00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:44,080
Speaker 3: void anymore. And it's been a huge issue, and like

726
00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:46,719
Speaker 3: the book is out, like part of the reason that

727
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:50,160
Speaker 3: Golden State has struggled this year. Teams have figured out

728
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:54,120
Speaker 3: Steph's the only guy. Throw everything at him, ball pressure

729
00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:57,360
Speaker 3: him all game long, wear him down, blitz him on

730
00:35:57,400 --> 00:35:59,799
Speaker 3: ball screens, do everything you can to wear him down.

731
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:02,560
Speaker 3: The other guys will probably fall apart at some point,

732
00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:04,920
Speaker 3: and that's been what's happened. And like that Pelicans game

733
00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,360
Speaker 3: was a great example. It's like, you know, Tray Jackson

734
00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:09,480
Speaker 3: Davis had a really nice season and he's been a

735
00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:12,120
Speaker 3: really useful rookie. Brandon pa Ziemski has been a really

736
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:14,799
Speaker 3: useful rookie. Klay Thompson's had a great year. But it's

737
00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:17,760
Speaker 3: like when push comes to shove, it's like, if Steph

738
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:20,560
Speaker 3: isn't making everything, they just they don't have an option.

739
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:22,520
Speaker 3: It's even at the end of that game, the only

740
00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:24,839
Speaker 3: reason it was close was Steph was sinking bombs from

741
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:27,520
Speaker 3: twenty five feet with three hands in his face. So like,

742
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:30,200
Speaker 3: at a certain point this summer, they've got to go

743
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:32,400
Speaker 3: after somebody, and the guy that I think they should

744
00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:37,400
Speaker 3: be going after, Let's imagine Luca starting on Saturday or

745
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:42,200
Speaker 3: Sunday next week, just eviscerates the Clippers and puts them

746
00:36:42,239 --> 00:36:44,160
Speaker 3: to bed five games, six.

747
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:45,919
Speaker 1: Game, and I'm starting to think this is that's what's

748
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:46,560
Speaker 1: gonna happen.

749
00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:49,280
Speaker 3: It very well is on the table, especially if kawiser,

750
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:51,600
Speaker 3: because like, forget about the results of the series. Let's

751
00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:54,000
Speaker 3: say Kawi just doesn't go again, and now we're were

752
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:56,440
Speaker 3: literally his last three playoff runs that he got to

753
00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:59,239
Speaker 3: he couldn't finish. Like at a certain point, Ballmer is

754
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:01,479
Speaker 3: going to be like, I done, I'm done with these guys.

755
00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:03,880
Speaker 3: We need to go in a different direction, right, Paul

756
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,640
Speaker 3: George one year left on his deal. I think that's

757
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:08,319
Speaker 3: the guy. If you're Golden State, that you throw the

758
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,040
Speaker 3: kitchen sink at and you bring in Paul George and

759
00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:13,440
Speaker 3: you make a run at it with Steph Clay, Paul George,

760
00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,319
Speaker 3: Draymond Green in a center, and then I think that

761
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:18,520
Speaker 3: team is Like, I think that team is easily in

762
00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:20,520
Speaker 3: the mix at the top of the Western Conference, wouldn't you?

763
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:23,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think everybody has to be on

764
00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:26,440
Speaker 1: Steph's timeline. I like Kaminga, he's not really on the timeline?

765
00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:31,200
Speaker 1: Why has been? Absolutely wasn't Jordan Poole's immature Pods is

766
00:37:31,239 --> 00:37:33,839
Speaker 1: your classic play more than one year of college. He's

767
00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:37,640
Speaker 1: not quite there. He's a good player, really moves like Steph.

768
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:41,920
Speaker 1: He's just moving constantly. He's quicker right now. He's twitchier

769
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:45,000
Speaker 1: than Clay. But Clay is again, Clay is just such

770
00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:47,520
Speaker 1: a refined player. He's been in so many big Spot

771
00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:51,080
Speaker 1: and Pods is just you can tell he'll see things

772
00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:53,279
Speaker 1: and you're like, oh, he's never seen that before. It's

773
00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:55,200
Speaker 1: kind of like he's like a kid that had like

774
00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:57,920
Speaker 1: too many skittles. He's got a lot of energy, a

775
00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:01,200
Speaker 1: lot of it's productive, but you're like, slow down, you know,

776
00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:03,880
Speaker 1: he's just not quite there. But I think he's been

777
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:05,480
Speaker 1: a really nice pickup for them, and I do think

778
00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:09,080
Speaker 1: he is what they view as like the replacement for Clay. Yeah,

779
00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:10,759
Speaker 1: I think. I think Paul George. I've always been a

780
00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:13,359
Speaker 1: Paul George fan. In fact, even the playoff p where

781
00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:15,839
Speaker 1: he gets crap, his playoff numbers are solid. I mean

782
00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,440
Speaker 1: this idea that he plummets like he's a Roden baseball,

783
00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:21,400
Speaker 1: where it's a different player, or Bonds in Pittsburgh when

784
00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:22,880
Speaker 1: he was a pirate and he go to the playoffs

785
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:25,400
Speaker 1: and he was a different player. Paul's a good playoff player.

786
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:29,080
Speaker 1: At the bottom line, he's an a minus player regular

787
00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:31,800
Speaker 1: season B plus player in the playoffs. For the record,

788
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:34,640
Speaker 1: you play better players, so very few guys are. You know,

789
00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:38,480
Speaker 1: Jordan's the classics. Oh he's better. Now Lebron's done that.

790
00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:41,239
Speaker 1: You're like, oh, Lebron cares, he's more focused. So I

791
00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:43,520
Speaker 1: think that would I think that would work. I want

792
00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:45,360
Speaker 1: to go back to what you talked about Boston. So

793
00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:49,880
Speaker 1: Boston is and this is a trend that I'm noticing

794
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:51,880
Speaker 1: in the league. So they just signed Drew Holliday to

795
00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:57,000
Speaker 1: a pretty pretty big deal considering his age. Jalen got

796
00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:00,239
Speaker 1: a big deal, Tatum's getting it, and Porzingis's life for

797
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:03,600
Speaker 1: two years. So if you look at what Boston's doing,

798
00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:06,759
Speaker 1: Denver's doing kind of feels like Golden State's going to

799
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:13,320
Speaker 1: do eventually. Lakers to some degree, is that because the draft.

800
00:39:13,680 --> 00:39:16,040
Speaker 1: There's two ways to look at the draft. It either

801
00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:20,640
Speaker 1: gives you a lottery ticket Houston. Okay, see it's not

802
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:23,839
Speaker 1: about now, it's you're playing the lottery. Or if you're

803
00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:26,920
Speaker 1: a really good team like Denver, let's go get Christian

804
00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:31,719
Speaker 1: Brown from Kansas, multiple year starter, come in productive day one,

805
00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:34,680
Speaker 1: lower ceiling. We know what he is, but we need

806
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:37,720
Speaker 1: eighteen minutes a night. He has to play in the playoffs.

807
00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:39,919
Speaker 1: So I kind of look at Boston and what they're

808
00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:42,560
Speaker 1: doing is they're like, we don't really care about our bench.

809
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:44,920
Speaker 1: If Derek White's our fight, We're just going to keep

810
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:46,600
Speaker 1: these guys for the next two years. If we win

811
00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:49,279
Speaker 1: a title, we all keep our jobs. Denver the same thing.

812
00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:52,080
Speaker 1: Phoenix doesn't have much of a bench. Golden State, you know,

813
00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:55,080
Speaker 1: and I think it's a trend in the NBA is

814
00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:58,120
Speaker 1: where we look at the NBA maybe ten years ago,

815
00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:00,800
Speaker 1: we thought, oh, the draft is about getting the next blank,

816
00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:03,880
Speaker 1: and the good teams are like, no, let's just diversify

817
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,880
Speaker 1: our portfolio. Let's get a Villanova guy. We know what

818
00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:11,000
Speaker 1: he is. He's eleven a night, but he's a grown up.

819
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:14,720
Speaker 1: He's been coached hard, and so I do think that's

820
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:18,120
Speaker 1: where college basketball and the NBA have an interesting symmetry.

821
00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:21,960
Speaker 1: And that's when I'm watching Boston last week signed Drew Holliday.

822
00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:25,359
Speaker 1: I'm like, they're doing what Denver's doing is we just

823
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:27,719
Speaker 1: don't really care about our bench. We're just gonna draft

824
00:40:27,719 --> 00:40:29,880
Speaker 1: an old college guy at the end of the first round.

825
00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:33,240
Speaker 1: And your thoughts on it looks like that's what's happening

826
00:40:33,239 --> 00:40:37,279
Speaker 1: in the league, is that bench. You know, we're just

827
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:39,319
Speaker 1: gonna load up on stars and go draft guys from

828
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:42,200
Speaker 1: Villanova or Gonzaga that we don't think I have huge ceilings.

829
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,200
Speaker 1: That's what it looks like Boston's doing is we're gonna

830
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:47,719
Speaker 1: go three years on this thing, and if we end

831
00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:50,839
Speaker 1: up not winning, we have to blow this thing up.

832
00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:53,920
Speaker 1: But we don't really care about our bench.

833
00:40:55,560 --> 00:40:58,520
Speaker 3: I think it depends on how good your scouting department is.

834
00:40:58,760 --> 00:41:02,200
Speaker 3: Like if I'm getting Christian Brown and I'm getting like

835
00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:05,080
Speaker 3: Peyton Watson, who's been a revelation for them. I don't

836
00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:07,279
Speaker 3: know if you've watched that six block game he had

837
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:10,239
Speaker 3: against the Timberwolves the other night, but that was ridiculous.

838
00:41:10,239 --> 00:41:13,160
Speaker 3: But like they obviously like as long as you're getting

839
00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:16,239
Speaker 3: quality players with those picks, I think it makes sense

840
00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:19,319
Speaker 3: for the most part because they're way less expensive. So

841
00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:21,680
Speaker 3: for instance, like let's say you wanted to go after

842
00:41:21,719 --> 00:41:24,600
Speaker 3: Dorian Finney Smith from the Nets this deadline, you had

843
00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:26,440
Speaker 3: to include a first round draft pick. You had to

844
00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:29,040
Speaker 3: include salary ballast. He's coming back, he's making you know,

845
00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:31,160
Speaker 3: I think he was making like somewhere between ten and

846
00:41:31,200 --> 00:41:32,880
Speaker 3: twenty million. I can't remember the exact number off the

847
00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:34,680
Speaker 3: top of my head, but like you have to factor

848
00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:37,200
Speaker 3: that into the cap sheet. There's all these different machinations

849
00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:39,560
Speaker 3: that come into play when you're trying to bring in

850
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:43,280
Speaker 3: a player that's a veteran to upgrade a roster. Whereas

851
00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:45,680
Speaker 3: if you've got a good scouting department and you can

852
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:48,799
Speaker 3: find guys in the late first round, second round that

853
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:51,359
Speaker 3: can be contributors you can get them cheap. You don't

854
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:54,200
Speaker 3: have to use salary ballast, and it's the same use

855
00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:56,280
Speaker 3: of the pick, right and so, and then there's always

856
00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:58,680
Speaker 3: the flexibility of like, hey, if we want to turn

857
00:41:58,719 --> 00:42:01,000
Speaker 3: around and trade Christian Brown day, we can and we

858
00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:03,040
Speaker 3: can get something back from people are gonna view him

859
00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:05,560
Speaker 3: as a prospect that's no different than you know, like

860
00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:08,279
Speaker 3: Bruce Brown or like or guys like that, Like you

861
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:10,960
Speaker 3: sign him as Indiana, then you could trade him, right. So,

862
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:13,200
Speaker 3: Like there's I think that that's a big part of

863
00:42:13,719 --> 00:42:15,520
Speaker 3: team building now is like you got to find out

864
00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:16,759
Speaker 3: what your strength is and if you have a good

865
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:19,799
Speaker 3: scouting department, then trust those guys to make the picks right.

866
00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:22,319
Speaker 3: As far as Boston goes, I love what they're doing too,

867
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:24,000
Speaker 3: because you know you and I talked about this a

868
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:28,360
Speaker 3: lot last year and the year before after Boston's flameouts, like,

869
00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,200
Speaker 3: well they keep Tatum and Brown together? And I still

870
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:33,840
Speaker 3: to this day get questions from fans like, hey, should

871
00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:35,839
Speaker 3: Boston keep Tatum and Brown together if they don't win

872
00:42:35,880 --> 00:42:38,960
Speaker 3: the title this year? And what I've consistently said is

873
00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:41,799
Speaker 3: with them being where they're at in their careers, you

874
00:42:41,840 --> 00:42:44,759
Speaker 3: are more likely to experience a gain through their own

875
00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:48,160
Speaker 3: individual development into their late twenties than you are through

876
00:42:48,160 --> 00:42:50,759
Speaker 3: some sort of trade. And so honestly, I love what

877
00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:53,960
Speaker 3: Boston's doing. Boston is saying we're gonna get one in

878
00:42:54,000 --> 00:42:57,040
Speaker 3: these next few years. Give me Drew, gim me Derek,

879
00:42:57,120 --> 00:43:00,200
Speaker 3: gim me Tatum, Brown, gimme Porzingis. We're gonna get one

880
00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:01,799
Speaker 3: in these next few years. Might not be this year,

881
00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:04,600
Speaker 3: might bet not be next year, but like, these guys

882
00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:07,719
Speaker 3: are still getting better. Jaylen Brown could not score out

883
00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:10,040
Speaker 3: of the post until this year. Now he's one of

884
00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:12,520
Speaker 3: the best post up wings in the league. Jason Tatum

885
00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:15,240
Speaker 3: every year has struggled with pull up three point shooting.

886
00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:17,360
Speaker 3: He's shooting better with this pull up three point shot

887
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:20,879
Speaker 3: this year. Guys are getting better. They're going into their

888
00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:24,040
Speaker 3: prime of their careers, and Boston has basically said, we're

889
00:43:24,040 --> 00:43:27,240
Speaker 3: betting on continuity. We're betting on these older vets. They're

890
00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:30,640
Speaker 3: gonna get at least one. Let's lock everybody in. And honestly,

891
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:32,200
Speaker 3: I think it's the right strategy and as long as

892
00:43:32,200 --> 00:43:34,440
Speaker 3: they make sound moves on the margins to bring it.

893
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:36,040
Speaker 3: The other thing we didn't even mention for the young

894
00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:38,600
Speaker 3: players that you get in the draft. They're high motor guys.

895
00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:40,680
Speaker 3: There's not really a whole lot better you can do

896
00:43:40,800 --> 00:43:43,520
Speaker 3: over the eighty two than a twenty two year old

897
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:45,880
Speaker 3: who's gonna play his ass off every night, as opposed

898
00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:48,719
Speaker 3: to the twenty nine year old who's on a twelve

899
00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:50,120
Speaker 3: million dollar deal, you know what I mean, or an

900
00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:53,320
Speaker 3: older veteran guy. So I do like that strategy.

901
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:03,120
Speaker 1: All right. For the games that we know are going

902
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:05,319
Speaker 1: to take place, the series that will take place, we'll

903
00:44:05,320 --> 00:44:07,520
Speaker 1: play picking a paragraph. So give me your pick and

904
00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:11,600
Speaker 1: a paragraph. I'll take the Mavericks over the Clippers basically

905
00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:14,040
Speaker 1: because Dallas right now, I feel I get more answers

906
00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:17,240
Speaker 1: than questions. The Clippers, I get more questions than answers.

907
00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:20,759
Speaker 1: Westbrook has been a very very good bench player, but again,

908
00:44:20,760 --> 00:44:22,160
Speaker 1: I don't think that's going to be the difference in

909
00:44:22,160 --> 00:44:24,000
Speaker 1: the series. I just feel like I know more from

910
00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:28,040
Speaker 1: Dallas today. I have Dallas and six. You're picking paragraph.

911
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:30,440
Speaker 3: I took Dallas and six as well. I'd change that

912
00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:32,719
Speaker 3: to seven if I knew Kawhi was healthy, because I

913
00:44:32,719 --> 00:44:35,400
Speaker 3: think that Kawhi is kind of a really interesting matchup

914
00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 3: for Luca, kind of he can bring a force Luca

915
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:41,600
Speaker 3: to call it ball screens, which can cause some problems

916
00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:43,719
Speaker 3: for the back end of Dallas's offense. I think the

917
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:47,040
Speaker 3: series ends with the Mavericks going small with Kleeba and

918
00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:50,120
Speaker 3: PJ Washington on the floor together. They even killing teams

919
00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:52,680
Speaker 3: with those two guys. I think Dallas goes small and

920
00:44:52,719 --> 00:44:53,080
Speaker 3: wins it.

921
00:44:53,120 --> 00:44:55,239
Speaker 1: I got him in six, Okay, I'll take Minnesota to

922
00:44:55,280 --> 00:45:00,759
Speaker 1: beat Phoenix. I think it's a six game series. I

923
00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:07,239
Speaker 1: don't really know exactly. I've watched actually a lot of

924
00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:10,560
Speaker 1: Phoenix and a little of Minnesota, but I do think

925
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:18,080
Speaker 1: Minnesota they've done. They've been too consistently good to flame

926
00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:21,400
Speaker 1: out in the first round. And when I watch Minnesota,

927
00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:23,759
Speaker 1: and maybe the analytics tell me something different, but I

928
00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:26,680
Speaker 1: feel like I kind of get the same team when

929
00:45:26,719 --> 00:45:29,759
Speaker 1: I watch them play. They're highs lows. I kind of

930
00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:33,640
Speaker 1: feel like I get effort, I get rim protection, I

931
00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:37,680
Speaker 1: get ants production, I get Conley's brain power. I always

932
00:45:37,719 --> 00:45:41,680
Speaker 1: feel they're prepared and well coached. With Phoenix, there's good

933
00:45:41,760 --> 00:45:43,839
Speaker 1: nights and then they trail thirty five to four at

934
00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:46,759
Speaker 1: home to the Clippers, and so I think Minnesota is

935
00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:49,280
Speaker 1: a consistent team with a little bit of a ceiling.

936
00:45:50,040 --> 00:45:54,840
Speaker 1: I think I take Minnesota in six picking a paragraph.

937
00:45:53,640 --> 00:45:56,680
Speaker 3: I'm taking Phoenix in six. I'm really excited to watch

938
00:45:56,680 --> 00:45:59,840
Speaker 3: today's game because very rarely do you get like a

939
00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:03,759
Speaker 3: must win game to sample when you're prepping for a

940
00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:06,200
Speaker 3: series where it's like, we get to actually watch forty

941
00:46:06,239 --> 00:46:08,239
Speaker 3: eight minutes of the Wolves and Suns going at it,

942
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:10,200
Speaker 3: actually trying to win. So that's gonna be a really,

943
00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:13,360
Speaker 3: really a good film session tomorrow. Main thing that stands

944
00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:15,239
Speaker 3: out to me though, that the Suns shots super well.

945
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:17,680
Speaker 3: They got one point seven to six points per catch

946
00:46:17,680 --> 00:46:20,080
Speaker 3: and shoot jump shot and that win over the Wolves today,

947
00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:22,960
Speaker 3: so they definitely shot really, really well. Here's why I'm

948
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:25,799
Speaker 3: low on Minnesota, though. It's really simple. They are one

949
00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:28,120
Speaker 3: of the worst offenses in the league when you get

950
00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:31,319
Speaker 3: into late game situations because Anthony Edwards is twenty two

951
00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:34,000
Speaker 3: years old and nobody else on the team can really

952
00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:36,920
Speaker 3: consistently generate great shots, and so it's a lot of

953
00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:39,920
Speaker 3: if he decisions, it's ant settling for pull up jump shots.

954
00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:42,960
Speaker 3: And then weirdly enough, their defense falls apart. For as

955
00:46:42,960 --> 00:46:45,359
Speaker 3: good of a defense as they've been, their defense falls

956
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:48,600
Speaker 3: apart in clutch situations. Because of the fact that Mike

957
00:46:48,640 --> 00:46:50,520
Speaker 3: Conley's on the floor, Carl Towns is on the floor,

958
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:53,880
Speaker 3: you can find entry points to get their defense in rotation,

959
00:46:54,200 --> 00:46:55,880
Speaker 3: and then it doesn't matter if Rudy go bears at

960
00:46:55,920 --> 00:46:57,839
Speaker 3: the rim, if he's chasing some guy off the three

961
00:46:57,880 --> 00:47:00,480
Speaker 3: point line in a driving kick situation, I think the

962
00:47:00,480 --> 00:47:02,640
Speaker 3: Suns are going to spread him out and get better shots.

963
00:47:02,840 --> 00:47:04,919
Speaker 3: I think they'll be able to slow down Minnesota's offense

964
00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:06,880
Speaker 3: in the half court. I'm picking Phoenix and six.

965
00:47:07,239 --> 00:47:11,560
Speaker 1: Let's go East Cleveland and Orlando. Orlando is maybe a

966
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:14,400
Speaker 1: little bit like the ok See of the West, young,

967
00:47:15,840 --> 00:47:21,840
Speaker 1: really rising quickly. My guy, Jalen Suggs is an improved player,

968
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:24,000
Speaker 1: like a lot of people had him as a bust

969
00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:30,440
Speaker 1: early last year. So Cleveland's been weird, Cleveland's going through something.

970
00:47:31,239 --> 00:47:35,640
Speaker 1: I think I'd still take the Calves. I don't know

971
00:47:36,360 --> 00:47:39,600
Speaker 1: that could be a seven game series. My picking paragraph

972
00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:44,360
Speaker 1: Cleveland and seven. Something's wrong with them? What's your picking? Paragraph?

973
00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:48,400
Speaker 3: These series are always tough to pick when everyone involved

974
00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:50,839
Speaker 3: is so young and unexperienced that it's like so up

975
00:47:50,840 --> 00:47:54,240
Speaker 3: in the air. Personnel favors Orlando. Orlando's an awesome offensive

976
00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:57,399
Speaker 3: rebounding team. That is how New York beat Cleveland last year.

977
00:47:57,400 --> 00:48:00,719
Speaker 3: They killed him on the offensive glass. Also, Cleveland is

978
00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:02,840
Speaker 3: one of the most high volume pick and roll teams

979
00:48:02,840 --> 00:48:05,520
Speaker 3: in the league. And your guy Jalen Suggs might be

980
00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:08,080
Speaker 3: the best guard defender in the league. And so Donovan

981
00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:09,920
Speaker 3: Mitchell is going to be in for a tough series

982
00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:13,319
Speaker 3: with just an incredible individual defender on him. So all

983
00:48:13,360 --> 00:48:16,640
Speaker 3: the personnel stuff points me towards Orlando. But Orlando is

984
00:48:16,719 --> 00:48:20,000
Speaker 3: super young, and Cleveland got embarrassed last year and they

985
00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:22,840
Speaker 3: know what the playoffs are like now, so I expect

986
00:48:22,840 --> 00:48:25,160
Speaker 3: a lot of fight from them. I'm gonna go long

987
00:48:25,360 --> 00:48:28,440
Speaker 3: series in gut check, I'm just gonna say magic. But

988
00:48:28,480 --> 00:48:29,680
Speaker 3: we'll see after I watch some film.

989
00:48:30,239 --> 00:48:37,399
Speaker 1: Milwaukee over Indiana. I think it's contrasting styles again, two

990
00:48:37,480 --> 00:48:40,359
Speaker 1: of the three best players in Milwaukee. They'll probably get

991
00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:43,280
Speaker 1: because it's a veteran team, they'll get the veteran team,

992
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:47,400
Speaker 1: whistle a little more manipulation from a Lopez and the

993
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:49,960
Speaker 1: Jannis and a Dame with the officials. It's one of

994
00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:52,480
Speaker 1: these like this will be a series. My prediction is

995
00:48:52,480 --> 00:48:55,160
Speaker 1: when it's over, Indiana'll be like you don't like us.

996
00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:58,080
Speaker 1: We're a small market team. We got a job by

997
00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:01,440
Speaker 1: the refs. But these older teams are pretty good, like

998
00:49:01,440 --> 00:49:04,759
Speaker 1: the Clippers will be good in these situations. I'm gonna

999
00:49:04,760 --> 00:49:08,200
Speaker 1: take Milwaukee in six. What's your thought?

1000
00:49:08,440 --> 00:49:12,240
Speaker 3: I would take Milwaukee in seven if I knew Jannis

1001
00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:15,399
Speaker 3: was healthy. With Yannis being out, I just don't think

1002
00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:18,000
Speaker 3: the Bucks are a very good team. And if he

1003
00:49:18,120 --> 00:49:22,080
Speaker 3: misses three games in this series, it's possible that Indiana

1004
00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:23,959
Speaker 3: could be up to one with a game at home.

1005
00:49:24,680 --> 00:49:27,200
Speaker 3: You know, before Jannis even comes out, it comes back.

1006
00:49:27,280 --> 00:49:29,760
Speaker 3: So like with Yannis being out, I think the safe

1007
00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:32,800
Speaker 3: bet is Indiana. But if like Yannis plays and he's healthy,

1008
00:49:32,880 --> 00:49:35,680
Speaker 3: like I think, I would probably lean slightly towards Milwaukee,

1009
00:49:35,719 --> 00:49:36,840
Speaker 3: I'd pick Milwaukee in seven.

1010
00:49:37,440 --> 00:49:42,400
Speaker 1: So I'm really interested in a lot of the I mean,

1011
00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:46,719
Speaker 1: like Milwaukee losing early's fascinating. Steve Walmer, I thought when

1012
00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:49,080
Speaker 1: he brought Harden over. I was talking to Lawrence Frank

1013
00:49:49,120 --> 00:49:51,080
Speaker 1: about this. I bumped into him at dinner about a

1014
00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:53,680
Speaker 1: month ago, and I said, I thought the hardened thing

1015
00:49:53,760 --> 00:49:55,600
Speaker 1: was just for the arena. I'm like, you know, he's

1016
00:49:55,600 --> 00:49:58,200
Speaker 1: an LA guy. Westbrook's an LA guy. Paul George Quie.

1017
00:49:58,239 --> 00:50:00,799
Speaker 1: It's like La guys opening the new Arena, and I'm like,

1018
00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:03,680
Speaker 1: he's actually, you guys have been looking for a point

1019
00:50:03,680 --> 00:50:06,560
Speaker 1: guard forever. He actually lubricates things. It's in cole. When

1020
00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:09,160
Speaker 1: Kawhi is like trying to generate offense, It's like, no,

1021
00:50:10,040 --> 00:50:12,080
Speaker 1: it's not what he does. He can do it, but

1022
00:50:12,120 --> 00:50:14,560
Speaker 1: it's not what he does. And the hardened things sort

1023
00:50:14,600 --> 00:50:19,160
Speaker 1: of work. But you get James's weird personality again. He's

1024
00:50:19,200 --> 00:50:22,480
Speaker 1: he's an odd player. He's an odd, quirky guy. I think,

1025
00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:26,839
Speaker 1: much like the Bucks, if the Clippers flamed out, I

1026
00:50:26,880 --> 00:50:32,760
Speaker 1: think Balmer was an inpatient investor and impatient at Microsoft.

1027
00:50:32,880 --> 00:50:35,279
Speaker 1: Am I supposed to believe as a sports fan. Now

1028
00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:37,879
Speaker 1: you know he's suddenly going to be one of these

1029
00:50:38,200 --> 00:50:41,880
Speaker 1: long tarmac guys Like I think. No, I think the

1030
00:50:41,880 --> 00:50:45,600
Speaker 1: Clippers lose, and it's they don't get a lot of

1031
00:50:45,680 --> 00:50:48,560
Speaker 1: consistent effort. You think they blow the team up.

1032
00:50:50,080 --> 00:50:51,920
Speaker 3: I think that's completely on the table. I mean to

1033
00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:56,160
Speaker 3: put it simply, Colin, we could have four veteran teams

1034
00:50:56,200 --> 00:50:58,800
Speaker 3: blow up. This just just imagine some of these scenarios.

1035
00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:00,799
Speaker 3: Golden State loses in the play, which by the way

1036
00:51:01,000 --> 00:51:04,520
Speaker 3: Golden State. Even if they beat Sacramento. If the Lakers

1037
00:51:04,520 --> 00:51:07,200
Speaker 3: beat New Orleans, New Orleans has Golden State's number, there's

1038
00:51:07,239 --> 00:51:09,560
Speaker 3: a solid chance Golden State does not get out of

1039
00:51:09,560 --> 00:51:12,080
Speaker 3: this playing tournament. They could be facing a total rebuild.

1040
00:51:12,280 --> 00:51:14,200
Speaker 3: Let's say the Lakers beat the Pelicans, but then they

1041
00:51:14,200 --> 00:51:17,440
Speaker 3: go to Denver and just get killed. You don't think

1042
00:51:17,480 --> 00:51:19,000
Speaker 3: the Lakers are gonna be sitting there looking in the

1043
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:21,600
Speaker 3: mirror like we just got swept, or the gentleman swept

1044
00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:23,359
Speaker 3: two years in a row. We got to rethink this.

1045
00:51:23,719 --> 00:51:26,240
Speaker 3: What if Phoenix loses to Minnesota. They just went all

1046
00:51:26,280 --> 00:51:29,799
Speaker 3: in on Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker and

1047
00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:32,000
Speaker 3: they had an iffy regular season, and what if they

1048
00:51:32,080 --> 00:51:36,640
Speaker 3: get smacked by Minnesota. Right. The Clippers, if they go

1049
00:51:36,680 --> 00:51:38,560
Speaker 3: out in flames, that could be a problem. The Bucks,

1050
00:51:38,600 --> 00:51:40,360
Speaker 3: if they go down in flames, that could be a problem.

1051
00:51:40,480 --> 00:51:43,960
Speaker 3: What about Miami. What if Miami loses to Philly and

1052
00:51:44,040 --> 00:51:46,799
Speaker 3: don't forget, Atlanta beat Miami in a playing game last

1053
00:51:46,880 --> 00:51:48,840
Speaker 3: year because they couldn't rebound with them. What if, like

1054
00:51:48,960 --> 00:51:51,760
Speaker 3: Chicago or Atlanta gets in there and knocks out Miami,

1055
00:51:51,800 --> 00:51:53,640
Speaker 3: Miami could be looking at this like, are we really

1056
00:51:53,640 --> 00:51:55,399
Speaker 3: going to run it back with Bam and Jimmy again

1057
00:51:55,760 --> 00:51:58,279
Speaker 3: when we struggle every regular season and then we just

1058
00:51:58,320 --> 00:52:01,000
Speaker 3: barely squeak by an upset peak in the postseason, Like

1059
00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:04,400
Speaker 3: this could be because of how deep the field is,

1060
00:52:04,440 --> 00:52:07,120
Speaker 3: because there are so many good teams, We're going to

1061
00:52:07,239 --> 00:52:10,760
Speaker 3: have a bunch of pissed off general managers and owners

1062
00:52:10,760 --> 00:52:13,280
Speaker 3: this summer. That's like a guarantee. It's just a question

1063
00:52:13,360 --> 00:52:15,600
Speaker 3: of who. There's going to be a lot of really

1064
00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:19,400
Speaker 3: unhappy fan bases in ownership groups this summer, and then

1065
00:52:19,440 --> 00:52:20,920
Speaker 3: all hell could break loose and we could have a

1066
00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:22,279
Speaker 3: bunch of trades and stuff should be fun.

1067
00:52:22,320 --> 00:52:25,160
Speaker 1: Well, we also don't have a terribly deep draft. I mean,

1068
00:52:25,200 --> 00:52:27,520
Speaker 1: it's just it's not a deep draft. So in fact,

1069
00:52:27,560 --> 00:52:30,480
Speaker 1: they're saying it's it's it's it's that I think is

1070
00:52:30,520 --> 00:52:33,480
Speaker 1: that the Anthony Bennett Victor Ola Depot draft was that

1071
00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:35,640
Speaker 1: the that's about the worst draft.

1072
00:52:35,880 --> 00:52:36,120
Speaker 3: Point.

1073
00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:39,200
Speaker 1: In fact, I think go Beart was Rudy Gobert in

1074
00:52:39,239 --> 00:52:41,160
Speaker 1: that draft. He was late first. I think I think

1075
00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:42,920
Speaker 1: he was one of the best players in that draft.

1076
00:52:43,120 --> 00:52:43,799
Speaker 1: Am I right on that?

1077
00:52:44,320 --> 00:52:45,880
Speaker 3: I can't remember off the top of my head, but

1078
00:52:45,880 --> 00:52:46,320
Speaker 3: you're probably.

1079
00:52:46,360 --> 00:52:48,600
Speaker 1: I think Yannest was the best player out of that draft,

1080
00:52:48,600 --> 00:52:50,480
Speaker 1: and he went like eleven, twelve or thirteen.

1081
00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:52,719
Speaker 3: There were a bunch of good players that were deep

1082
00:52:52,760 --> 00:52:54,319
Speaker 3: in that draft, for sure, but the top of that

1083
00:52:54,400 --> 00:52:55,279
Speaker 3: draft was just.

1084
00:52:55,400 --> 00:53:00,520
Speaker 1: Awful, absolutely awful. Hoops tonight, Jason timp This is our

1085
00:53:00,600 --> 00:53:04,640
Speaker 1: first Let the games begin this week. The West is deep,

1086
00:53:04,760 --> 00:53:07,680
Speaker 1: the East is not a lot of drama with older

1087
00:53:07,760 --> 00:53:12,319
Speaker 1: teams like a Clippers, like a Milwaukee. All right, so

1088
00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:14,239
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk a lot over the next month. This

1089
00:53:14,360 --> 00:53:16,520
Speaker 1: is gonna get really fun midweek. Man, good seeing you.

1090
00:53:16,760 --> 00:53:18,359
Speaker 3: This is fun, Colin, looking forward to it.

1091
00:53:20,480 --> 00:53:23,680
Speaker 1: The volume. Thanks so much for listening. If you've enjoyed

1092
00:53:23,680 --> 00:53:26,480
Speaker 1: the podcast, take a moment, rate and review.