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Speaker 2: responsible gambling resources. All right, welcome to hoops tonight. Here

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Speaker 2: at the Volume, we have a very special show today.

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Speaker 2: The guys from Nerd Sesh are coming to hang out.

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Speaker 2: I have my list of contenders, which I believe is

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Speaker 2: nine teams long, and the nine included a couple of

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Speaker 2: fringe teams as well. So I've got eleven total teams

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Speaker 2: and we're going to play a game. And the way

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Speaker 2: this game is going to work is we're going to

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Speaker 2: play higher or lower. And what that means is we're

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Speaker 2: going to go through each team. We're going to talk

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Speaker 2: about whether or not we are higher on that team

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Speaker 2: than we were at the beginning of the season or

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Speaker 2: lower on that team than we were at the beginning

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Speaker 2: of the season. So you can't whimp out if you're

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Speaker 2: on the fence. If you feel the same, you still

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Speaker 2: have to lean one way or the other that's the game.

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Speaker 2: But we're very excited to have Carson and Logan coming

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Speaker 2: on the show today. Let's start with my number one

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Speaker 2: championship contender coming into this season, the Denver Nuggets, Carson,

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Speaker 2: Are you higher or lower on them than you were

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Speaker 2: at the start of the season.

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Speaker 3: So this is close to the scenario that you just

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Speaker 3: described where I feel very similarly about this team, but

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Speaker 3: I would say I'm a little bit higher on them.

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Speaker 3: They are my title front runner right now, and part

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Speaker 3: of that is a team like Milwaukee that I viewed

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Speaker 3: on the same level, I now have more concerns about,

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Speaker 3: so by at least maintaining their level, the Nuggets move

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Speaker 3: up compared to them.

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Speaker 4: But also there are some things on the margins.

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Speaker 3: Reggie Jackson has been legitimately really impressive this year, and

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Speaker 3: I think has brought some value to that second unit,

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Speaker 3: which has always been sort of sketchy. You can have

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Speaker 3: Jamal with those bench only units, but they have been

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Speaker 3: lacking sort of in some offensive pop there, and he

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Speaker 3: has been better than I expected. And then I think

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Speaker 3: you look at some of the young guys on the wings.

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Speaker 3: Christian Brown had some awesome moments in that playoff run,

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Speaker 3: last year but was inconsistent. I think that he is

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Speaker 3: a better all around player now in year two. Peyton Watson,

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Speaker 3: I think you see the value of his athleticism, what

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Speaker 3: he can do as a two way guy. His SHOT's

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Speaker 3: been solid, So it's really just the depth stuff where

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Speaker 3: I think that they've improved a bit compared to my

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Speaker 3: preseason expectations. But the fundamental formula is the same. Best

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Speaker 3: player on the planet, this perfect cohesive starting five. They're

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Speaker 3: huge in the front court, they have awesome shooting. It's

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Speaker 3: just the best offense in basketball. And I think that

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Speaker 3: they can defend at a high level. So they are

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Speaker 3: all so my title favorite.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I completely agree with Carson, and I think performance wise,

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Speaker 5: record wise, I think i'd probably say that I'm lower

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Speaker 5: on the Nuggets relative to the beginning end of the season.

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Speaker 5: What I mean by that is, I just was so

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Speaker 5: confident in Denver being the runaway number one seed in

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Speaker 5: the Western Conference. But like Carson said, we're not basing

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Speaker 5: this off of you know, record or anything. We're basing

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Speaker 5: this off of what I expect them. They're moving forward.

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Speaker 5: They are my title contender. Toad on that, I think

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Speaker 5: Jokichen Murray are still the best duo in all of basketball,

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Speaker 5: and I just have a different level of faith with

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Speaker 5: this team continuity wise, defensively, chemistry wise, and the role

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Speaker 5: players have gotten better. The Nuggets were not my title favorite.

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Speaker 5: I was a Los Angeles Lakers enthusiast. The Nuggets are

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Speaker 5: my title favorite now and I have come around. I'm

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Speaker 5: very high on the Nuggets.

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Speaker 2: So I'm higher as well. I had one concern, and

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Speaker 2: I want to get back. I want to go round

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Speaker 2: again to kind of get your guys' take on this.

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Speaker 2: But the thing with Yokicic's jump shot concerns me a

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Speaker 2: little bit, Like it's down almost twenty percent inefficiency from

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Speaker 2: where it was last year. And last year he was

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Speaker 2: efficient throughout the regular season and then was efficient in

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Speaker 2: the postseason. The year before, he struggled in the regular season,

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Speaker 2: and then he struggled in the postseason, And so it

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Speaker 2: does concern me a little bit. But I think it's

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Speaker 2: made up for the fact that they've been a much

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Speaker 2: better regular season defense than they were last year. They've

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Speaker 2: had a couple of months, specifically October and December, where

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Speaker 2: they were both in those two months among the best

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Speaker 2: defenses in the league. Reggie Jackson. You mentioned the offensive stuff.

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Speaker 2: I actually like the way he's been competing on defense too.

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Speaker 2: It's just another guard that'll fight over the top of

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Speaker 2: the screen and compete. And then again, Peyton Watson just

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Speaker 2: kind of replacing that Bruce Brown athleticism off of the bench,

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Speaker 2: and Christian Brown as well. There's enough there to kind

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Speaker 2: of make up for any sort of concern about Jokic's

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Speaker 2: jump shot as it pertains to comparing to where I

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Speaker 2: felt before the season. That said, as we know specifically

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Speaker 2: in the Lakers series that over the top shot making

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Speaker 2: was an important part of Denver's success. So let's start

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Speaker 2: with you, Carson. Are you concerned at all about Jokic's

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Speaker 2: jump shot and what that might mean for this year's

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Speaker 2: postseason run?

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Speaker 3: Not really, just because I still think in the scope

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Speaker 3: of things, he's shooting the ball pretty damn well. He's

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Speaker 3: thirty five percent from deep, which is a little bit

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Speaker 3: below where he was last year in the regular season,

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Speaker 3: and certainly not at the level he was at in

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Speaker 3: the postseason, where he was forty six percent from three,

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Speaker 3: And we know that that is the one component that

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Speaker 3: makes him truly unguardable when in that pick and pop game.

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Speaker 4: You can't leave him.

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Speaker 3: When as a spot up guy he can hit forty

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Speaker 3: five percent of his three's, blending that with the interior

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Speaker 3: scoring dominance in playmaking. That's when it's like, cool, this

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Speaker 3: is the best offensive player that we've ever seen. And

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Speaker 3: he hasn't been at that level of sharp shooting, but

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Speaker 3: fifty two percent for mid range. His bread and butter

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Speaker 3: shots there are still mostly falling. We have seen that

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Speaker 3: he can run hot and cold. It feels like every

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Speaker 3: year he has that one little stretch where he's down,

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Speaker 3: but generally when it comes to the postseason when it

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Speaker 3: matters most, he's able to deliver with that big time

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Speaker 3: skilled shot making.

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Speaker 4: And I still have a lot of faith that he will.

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Speaker 5: And it's important to preface that the last playoff run

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Speaker 5: was one of the greatest runs ever by any player ever.

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Speaker 5: To expect Jokic to be back at that level would

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Speaker 5: to be to expect another one of the greatest runs ever.

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Speaker 5: And while his perimeter shooting maybe down, like over his

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Speaker 5: last ten games he's only shooting one to three a night,

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Speaker 5: I still think he's getting to his good looks and

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Speaker 5: there's just a level of confidence I have with Jokic

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Speaker 5: is a shooter. He's just he's got great touch. Great shooters.

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Speaker 5: That touch doesn't wane away, it doesn't leave you. He

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Speaker 5: may be hitting a skid this year, but I think

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Speaker 5: when it comes to playoff time, when the chips are down,

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Speaker 5: there's nobody in the NBA that I have more confidence

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Speaker 5: in showing up and performing than NICOLEA Jokicic.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, to me, the optimism is that they didn't just

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Speaker 2: win last year, they dominated last year. So like that

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Speaker 2: there's this margin for error there. I do think the

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Speaker 2: gap is a little bit more substantial than people realize. Like, yeah,

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Speaker 2: he was a Jokic jump shot was worth one point

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Speaker 2: two to one points for shot in the poseason last year,

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Speaker 2: which is like absolutely insane, but it was worth one

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Speaker 2: point one seven for the entire regular season. So like

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Speaker 2: he shot nearly that level the entire regular season. He's

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Speaker 2: down at one point zero four points per jump shot

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Speaker 2: in this season. And we did see, like again in

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Speaker 2: that Sixers game, there's a tendency that teams have right

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Speaker 2: now to ignore him on the pick and pop, which

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Speaker 2: was not a thing that you saw last year. Last year,

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Speaker 2: there was so much more like driving that close out

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Speaker 2: as guys are chasing him off of the three point line,

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Speaker 2: so I do think it's worth mentioning. But again, they

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Speaker 2: dominated last year, so there's a hefty gap. And then

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Speaker 2: there's just so much more other things with Denver to

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Speaker 2: be excited about, as it pertains to their defense and

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Speaker 2: the young athleticism on the roster. Popping all right, moving

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Speaker 2: on to my number two championship contender, the Boston Celtics. Logan,

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Speaker 2: are you higher or lower on the Boston Celtics than

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Speaker 2: you were to start the season.

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Speaker 5: I can't believe I'm saying this, because my expectations were

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Speaker 5: so high for the Boston Celtics coming into this year,

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Speaker 5: I'm higher on them. This Celtics team is historically great.

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Speaker 5: Just thirty one teams since two thousand have notched thirty

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Speaker 5: two wins in their first forty one games. Ten of

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Speaker 5: those teams won the title, and additional three made the

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Speaker 5: NBA Finals, so the track record is good, and it's

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Speaker 5: just such an absurdly talented collection of players.

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Speaker 1: Tatum, JB.

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Speaker 5: Porzengis, Holiday D White, Horford shooting the hell out of

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Speaker 5: the ball. He's over forty percent this year, and they

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Speaker 5: jill really well together. An interesting stat that I found

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Speaker 5: about this team. Against the Spurs, the Celtics became the

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Speaker 5: second only team in NBA history to make at least

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Speaker 5: eleven more three pointers than their opponent in three consecutive games.

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Speaker 5: The only other team to do that is the twenty

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Speaker 5: sixteen Warriors. And I just think that speaks to how

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Speaker 5: Boston can just boat race teams. They can just shoot

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Speaker 5: you out of games. And it's a double it's a

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Speaker 5: double edged sword because the one part of me says,

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Speaker 5: come playoff time, they can just blow out teams game

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Speaker 5: to game if they get hot. There's so many shooters

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Speaker 5: down this roster that they can just shoot you out.

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Speaker 5: But I also think there's a really heavy reliance on

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Speaker 5: the three ball. That scares me that when they need

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Speaker 5: shot variants the playoffs and they need to vary up

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Speaker 5: that shot selection, can they do it. I'm higher on

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Speaker 5: them because I've been so impressed at the talent. I've

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Speaker 5: been so impressed at the defense and the shooting ceiling.

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Speaker 5: I'm still a little scared about the Celtics in big moments,

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Speaker 5: in grimy games and those rock fights that we see.

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Speaker 5: Can they get it done. That being said, i am

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Speaker 5: higher on them. This is a historically great start to

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Speaker 5: this regular season.

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Speaker 3: I'm higher on the Celtics two. I think that they

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Speaker 3: have separated from the Bucks in terms of my Eastern

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Speaker 3: Conference contenders, and so that's kind of the standard that

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Speaker 3: I'm holding them to when I'm looking at how i

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Speaker 3: feel relative to preseason expectations. And this is one of

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Speaker 3: the most overwhelmingly talented basketball teams at the top of

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Speaker 3: the roster that we've seen, and especially in terms of

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Speaker 3: the third through fifth guys. To have legitimate All Star

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Speaker 3: level players in terms of impact with Drew and KP

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Speaker 3: and Derek White, dude to just makes so many winning

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Speaker 3: plays in their respective ways. To compliment your two big

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Speaker 3: time shot creators and shot makers on the wings, it's

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Speaker 3: just really ideal modern basketball construction. I loved the KP addition.

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Speaker 3: I thought some people undersold that he was legitimately coming

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Speaker 3: off of a career year in Washington, and I understand

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Speaker 3: that people didn't really value it that much in that situation,

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Speaker 3: but he was defending at the highest level we'd seen.

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Speaker 3: He was doing the most effective mismatch attacking and bullying

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Speaker 3: out of the post that we'd ever seen, and that

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Speaker 3: stuff has really translated. He adds a new dimension to

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Speaker 3: this offense to me in terms of having that reliable

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Speaker 3: guy who can finish around the rim on the interior,

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Speaker 3: who can just brutalize mismatches out of the post where

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Speaker 3: he has been mind bendingly efficients and overall just break

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Speaker 3: that reliance on the three ball that Logan's talking about

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Speaker 3: a bit, where you're not just necessarily settling for pull

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Speaker 3: up three after pull up three or one pass catch

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Speaker 3: and shoot threes. As we've seen, that's when things can

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Speaker 3: go a little bit south for Boston, even though they

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Speaker 3: are a great shooting team. They can get off there

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Speaker 3: and then that's when the lulls can start to develop.

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Speaker 3: And he's been an awesome interior defender, Like one of

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Speaker 3: the most effective rim protectors in the league, Derek White

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Speaker 3: was awesome stall star break, he's been even better this year.

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Speaker 3: And when you look at crunch time offense, where the

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Speaker 3: Celtics process has always been a bit of a concern,

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Speaker 3: Tatum and Jalen breaking down a bit as playmakers turning

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Speaker 3: the ball over too much settling for tough shots.

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Speaker 4: He's a guy you can lean on. In fact, it's

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Speaker 4: a small sample size.

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Speaker 3: With all clutch stats in a regular season, but the

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Speaker 3: Celtics offense has been great there and specifically KP is

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Speaker 3: their number one clutch score and Derek White is their

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Speaker 3: number three clutch score, so they just have more dues

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Speaker 3: this year you can lean on in those settings. And

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Speaker 3: I do think that Jason Tatum has improved, and there

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Speaker 3: may be nothing on the ross stat sheet that reflects that,

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Speaker 3: but the one complate that I've most consistently had about

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Speaker 3: his game is that predictability and the reliance on the

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Speaker 3: pull up threes in the postseason, and how his game

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Speaker 3: can sort of fade away if those shots just aren't falling.

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Speaker 3: He has really increased his post up volume this year

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Speaker 3: and he has been awesome in those spots. He's averaging

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Speaker 3: one point two points per post up, so he's been

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Speaker 3: more physical in those situations, and we're seeing more shot

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Speaker 3: variety for him, more comfort attacking from the mid range.

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Speaker 3: So the Celtics just look better across.

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Speaker 4: The board to me.

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Speaker 3: Really, my only concerns are big depth if KP goes down,

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Speaker 3: because we know that he is a historically very injury

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Speaker 3: prone player, and I guess I would say that consistent

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Speaker 3: crunch time offense and the ability still potentially to fall

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Speaker 3: into those rules. But I am far less concerned about

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Speaker 3: that this year than last year. It's just still a

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Speaker 3: difference maker when I compare them to for example, Denver,

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Speaker 3: and I do think that Denver has the more reliably

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Speaker 3: great offense because they have the best player on the

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Speaker 3: floor because he is always going to generate those high

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Speaker 3: quality looks around the rim and in the paint, and

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Speaker 3: they also have this elite shooting. But Boston is a

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Speaker 3: phenomenal basketball team.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there's less variance with what Denver does. I think

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Speaker 2: that's what makes them a bit of a safer bet.

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Speaker 2: And again, when we're talking about flaws with Boston, it's

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Speaker 2: important to mention that, like there's a big drop off

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Speaker 2: after this point in my opinion, and so that means

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Speaker 2: like when we're discussing flaws.

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Speaker 4: It's all relative to the field.

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Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of like specific things that

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Speaker 2: they're better at than I expected. Tatum just being way

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Speaker 2: bigger than he was last year has helped a lot.

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Speaker 2: You talked about the leaning more on the post up

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Speaker 2: attack as a method of just generating higher quality shots

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Speaker 2: around the rim. Big shots chrisps porzingis fit ended up

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Speaker 2: being perfect. They're leaning more into Derek White as an initiator.

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Speaker 2: That's been kind of like their counter to some of

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Speaker 2: Tatum's decision making stuff is like have him set ball

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Speaker 2: screens for Derek White and kind of see if they

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Speaker 2: can get some stuff out of that. The shooting variance

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Speaker 2: thing is interesting because like, first of all, there's a

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Speaker 2: lot more highs than lows on that front.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't think.

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Speaker 2: People realize just how crazy that stat Logan through out was, Like,

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Speaker 2: think about that, over a three game stretch they outscored

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Speaker 2: their opponent by more than one hundred points from the

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Speaker 2: three point line, like that. That's absolutely insane, right, Like,

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Speaker 2: that's a completely insane stat That said, I do think

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Speaker 2: we're underplaying the Tatum pull up shooting thing a little bit.

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Speaker 4: He's in a red hot stretch right now.

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Speaker 2: He's twenty two for his last forty five over the

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Speaker 2: Celtics last ten games, which is like almost a point

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Speaker 2: and a half per shot, So like really really useful there.

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Speaker 2: But it's very clear that Tatum's leaning into it, like

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Speaker 2: he's hunting the pull up three. That is what he

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Speaker 2: wants to take. The dead giveaway to me was he

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Speaker 2: got Carl Towns on a switch at the end of

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Speaker 2: the Minnesota Timberwolves game and had space to operate and

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Speaker 2: looked for and made a move hunting a pull up

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Speaker 2: three in a game where they were down by four

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Speaker 2: in the final minute. So that tells you a lot

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Speaker 2: about Tatum's approach. So last question before we move on

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Speaker 2: from Boston, and I'll start with you, Carson, like, are

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Speaker 2: you concerned at all about the fact that Tatum seems

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Speaker 2: to be tying a good chunk of his success to

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Speaker 2: whether or not to pull up three point shot falls.

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Speaker 4: Yes, I am, and I.

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Speaker 3: Don't mean to underplay that concern because I think that

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Speaker 3: that has been a fundamental issue with the Boston Celtics,

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Speaker 3: and they have been an extremely talented team. They're even

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Speaker 3: more overwhelmingly talented now. But at the end of the day,

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Speaker 3: I still think they need Jason Tatum to play at

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Speaker 3: that consistent superstar level over the entirety of a playoff run.

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Speaker 3: And he has had such high highs, but he has

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Speaker 3: also had uncharacteristically low lows for a player.

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Speaker 4: Of that caliber.

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Speaker 3: Like the meme of how every other game or every

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Speaker 3: three games, Jason Tatum's gonna shoot thirty percent is very real,

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Speaker 3: and it's because of that heavy reliance on pull up

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Speaker 3: threes where over the last couple seasons he's on a

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Speaker 3: tear right now, but he hasn't that reliably been a

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Speaker 3: very efficient pull up three point shooter, and he wasn't

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Speaker 3: in the playoff run last year. So yes, I do

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Speaker 3: think that that can bite them. And if I had

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Speaker 3: more confidence in Tatum, like just consistently attacking from all

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Speaker 3: over the floor, not falling into that over reliance on

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Speaker 3: the pull up three, maybe Boston would be my title favorite.

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Speaker 3: But it is the little things like that that still

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Speaker 3: hold them back when I compare them to such a

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Speaker 3: reliable juggernaut like Denver.

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Speaker 1: It is the little things like that.

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Speaker 5: And for example, I mean when he's in these lulls too,

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Speaker 5: Tatum has the tendency to keep trying to shoot himself

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Speaker 5: out of the lull, you know what I mean, In

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Speaker 5: those late game situations, I just think the more easy

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Speaker 5: offense is a kick down to the low block Tatum

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Speaker 5: literally just driving and trying to get downhill and get

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Speaker 5: the ball to touch the paint to collapse the defense

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Speaker 5: that I know, Carson, I know, and I agree with

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Speaker 5: a lot of what you said with White, with Borzingis,

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Speaker 5: with Tatum playing better and being more dynamic. That is

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Speaker 5: still my chief concern about the Boston Celtics. I don't

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Speaker 5: know how it can be like they're going to give

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Speaker 5: the rock to Tatum and it is on his shoulders

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Speaker 5: to close out games when it comes to playoff time.

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Speaker 5: That's still my biggest red flag about Boston and why

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Speaker 5: I can't put them over Denver.

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Speaker 2: To Carson's point, there have been eight games this season

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Speaker 2: when Tatum shot below forty percent from the field. As

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Speaker 2: a point of comparison, Shae yild justs Alexander has only

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Speaker 2: had three such games. So that goes to show you

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Speaker 2: just some of the variants as it pertains to the

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Speaker 2: types of shots that Jason Tatum takes and how that

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Speaker 2: can lead him to have some.

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Speaker 4: Really really rough nights.

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Speaker 2: All right, moving on to my number three, can tender

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Speaker 2: the Milwaukee Bucks? Starting with you, Carson, are you lower

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Speaker 2: higher or lower than you were on the Milwaukee Bucks

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Speaker 2: before the season.

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Speaker 3: I'm lower because they were my pick actually to win

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Speaker 3: it all. I had them beating Denver in seven in

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Speaker 3: my theoretical finals because I looked at this roster and

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Speaker 3: I thought the one thing that this team has been

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Speaker 3: missing consistently is that seamless, dynamic shot creator in the

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Speaker 3: half court, and I thought there are very few guys

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Speaker 3: who fill that role better than Damian Lillard. What I

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Speaker 3: underestimated in that equation was how significant the step back

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Speaker 3: this team would be would take defensively was because we

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Speaker 3: are now looking at a team that is still struggling

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Speaker 3: mightily with point of attack defense, that is twentieth in

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Speaker 3: defensive rating, and that really consistently struggles to stop anyone.

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Speaker 3: I also think that because of just the increased trend

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Speaker 3: we've seen of them getting smaller and less athletic in

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Speaker 3: the backcourt, this has gone from a dominant rebounding team,

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Speaker 3: which they've consistently been with that huge front line with

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Speaker 3: a bigger, more athletic, better rebounding guard like Drew Holiday

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Speaker 3: to a team that is eighteenth in rebound rate. So

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Speaker 3: just overall, that defensive ceiling has gone way, way, way down,

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Speaker 3: and I don't see easy fixes on this roster. They're

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Speaker 3: playing a guy like Andre Jackson Moore. He's doing a

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Speaker 3: good job. Ultimately, he's not a dude who I think

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Speaker 3: that you can lean on in a playoff run because offensively.

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Speaker 3: I think that he's a guy who teams are probably

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Speaker 3: going to ignore and he won't be able to make

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Speaker 3: them pay. Marjon Bouchamp isn't a guy who's at that level,

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Speaker 3: so that still needs to be addressed. And I think

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Speaker 3: that the pipe dream of like an Alex Caruso is gone.

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Speaker 3: I just don't think they have the assets to make

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Speaker 3: that happen. I would be targeting a Quenton Grimes if

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Speaker 3: I were them, because New York is apparently looking to

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Speaker 3: move him. I think that his value is at an

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Speaker 3: all time low. And no, that's not an ideal solution,

415
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Speaker 3: but I do think it's an upgrade in terms of

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Speaker 3: filling that three and D point of attack defender role.

417
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,200
Speaker 3: And then I have a couple other little concerns about Milwaukee,

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Speaker 3: like Chris Middleton has been trending in the right direction,

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Speaker 3: he's playing more. I would say that he's been good

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Speaker 3: in his minutes. I just at this point am questioning

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Speaker 3: can he play thirty two minutes a game over an

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Speaker 3: entire playoff run? Can he stay healthy? Can he be

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Speaker 3: at the level that they need? I still totally believe

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Speaker 3: in him as a difficult shot maker and a playmaker.

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Speaker 4: I worry though, a bit.

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Speaker 3: About the athleticism at his age, the two way impact

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Speaker 3: of the rebounding and Dame. I would say I have

428
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Speaker 3: been a bit underwhelmed by just because he was coming

429
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Speaker 3: off of maybe the best offensive season of his career,

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Speaker 3: and I thought this will be a great situation playing

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Speaker 3: with jan It's an awesome spot up shooting, but I

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Speaker 3: think it's mostly just a shot making issue with him.

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Speaker 3: Like his touch, shot making has been a bit off.

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Speaker 3: He hasn't shot as well from three as we're used to.

435
00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:36,480
Speaker 3: I still think he's a really good fit here. Defensively

436
00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:39,480
Speaker 3: he's not been nearly good enough, but offensively, I still

437
00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:41,119
Speaker 3: think he does solve a ton of their issues and

438
00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:43,960
Speaker 3: they've been a really, really good offense this year. The

439
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,080
Speaker 3: tandem of him and Yannis, to me, still gives them

440
00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:49,920
Speaker 3: a real chance against anybody. But the defensive issues are

441
00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:51,680
Speaker 3: more pronounced than I expected.

442
00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:52,119
Speaker 4: For sure.

443
00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:54,879
Speaker 5: Yeah, I wanted to straddle defense on the Bucks. This

444
00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:57,320
Speaker 5: is kind of what I expected from Milwaukee. I am

445
00:20:57,359 --> 00:20:59,199
Speaker 5: lower on the moving forward, and it is because of

446
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,040
Speaker 5: the defense. Wonder if we took coach Budd a little

447
00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:04,199
Speaker 5: for Granted, I know it's hard stepping in as a

448
00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,520
Speaker 5: new coach, But I don't really think Adrian Griffin really

449
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,720
Speaker 5: has anything schematically or anything they can do in game.

450
00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,640
Speaker 5: I think that really matters when it comes to playoff time.

451
00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,200
Speaker 5: And I also don't think they have the personnel another

452
00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:20,120
Speaker 5: defensive stet. The Milwaukee Bucks are once again the worst

453
00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:23,560
Speaker 5: in the NBA forcing turnovers. They've lowest turnover rate defensively

454
00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,199
Speaker 5: in the NBA. That matters to me too. Not only

455
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,040
Speaker 5: can they not get stops, they can't force big plays

456
00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:30,040
Speaker 5: and get out and transition as easily as they used to.

457
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:32,880
Speaker 5: I think they need to make a move personnel wise.

458
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:34,520
Speaker 5: I think they have to go out and get somebody.

459
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,119
Speaker 5: But I don't really think this team can stop anybody

460
00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:40,120
Speaker 5: that can get to the rack come playoff time, and.

461
00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:40,879
Speaker 1: That matters to me.

462
00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,120
Speaker 5: Like I think that it would make a series against

463
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,560
Speaker 5: the Knicks competitive. I think it would make a series

464
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:49,320
Speaker 5: against the Miami Heat competitive, Like I think the Bucks

465
00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:51,680
Speaker 5: as great as they are offensively, and I agree with Carson,

466
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:53,240
Speaker 5: I would never count out a tandem of Dame and

467
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:55,639
Speaker 5: Giannis out from the finals. I think it's going to

468
00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,280
Speaker 5: be a sweat against any team that Milwaukee goes up

469
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:02,440
Speaker 5: against because of the issues defensively.

470
00:22:03,080 --> 00:22:06,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, I I'm lower as well. I started the season

471
00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:09,480
Speaker 2: with them at number two originally, and then I moved

472
00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:13,040
Speaker 2: the Celtics over them. The point of attack defensive issues

473
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:14,719
Speaker 2: ended up being way worse than I even thought they

474
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,640
Speaker 2: would be. You know, Dame was a really bad defensive

475
00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:19,560
Speaker 2: player in Portland, but I always cut him the slack

476
00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:21,439
Speaker 2: because that just wasn't what that team did well. Like,

477
00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:23,320
Speaker 2: it was like it didn't even make sense for Dame

478
00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:24,760
Speaker 2: to compete at the point of attack. They didn't even

479
00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:27,959
Speaker 2: have a good back line defensively. But he's been like

480
00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:30,880
Speaker 2: because I've watched so much tape on the Bucks this year,

481
00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:35,480
Speaker 2: keying in on their defense, and like Malik Beasley's trying.

482
00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,160
Speaker 2: He really is trying. He's just he's just a little

483
00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:40,680
Speaker 2: he's small. He's a little small. And then like one

484
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,000
Speaker 2: out of every four possessions he'll make a mental mistake

485
00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 2: of some kind. But like he's trying, but like Dame

486
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,880
Speaker 2: could give a shit, Like, for lack of a better term,

487
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,920
Speaker 2: he is. Some of the most embarrassing defensive clips I've

488
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:55,560
Speaker 2: seen from a guard this season have come from Damian Lillard,

489
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:57,800
Speaker 2: and I'm not sure if that's one of those things

490
00:22:57,840 --> 00:22:59,840
Speaker 2: where he plans on gearing up when they get closer

491
00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:02,600
Speaker 2: to the postseason, or plans on making those efforts when

492
00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:06,520
Speaker 2: he gets there. But they need to be transcendently great

493
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,040
Speaker 2: offensively to make up for the defense that they have.

494
00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:09,239
Speaker 4: Now.

495
00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,159
Speaker 2: The offensive metrics they put up have been good, but

496
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:15,640
Speaker 2: there have been some stretches, particularly at the end of games,

497
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,240
Speaker 2: where they get a little indecisive about what they want

498
00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:20,800
Speaker 2: to do. There's still some stuff with the Damiannis pick

499
00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:22,960
Speaker 2: and roll where I feel like they're leaving some meat

500
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:23,520
Speaker 2: on the bone.

501
00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:24,320
Speaker 4: There's still some.

502
00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:26,160
Speaker 2: Stretches where you can tell Chris is like, hey, why

503
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,240
Speaker 2: am I not getting the ball more? Or Chris has

504
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,159
Speaker 2: the ball and you're like, hey, why isn't Dame involved

505
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:31,960
Speaker 2: in this sequence right now? There's still some stuff that

506
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:34,239
Speaker 2: they have to sort out on that front. And then

507
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,040
Speaker 2: there's just some bad vibes like this team is what

508
00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:39,199
Speaker 2: twenty eight and twelve or twenty and thirteen, something like that.

509
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 2: They have the third best record in the league, and

510
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,439
Speaker 2: they just have these lifeless efforts on some of these

511
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:46,480
Speaker 2: nights where you're like, what is going on with this team?

512
00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,320
Speaker 2: Which is almost it's just weird to even imagine a

513
00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:52,560
Speaker 2: team that's a bottom ten defense that has the third

514
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:56,640
Speaker 2: best record in basketball. Like, it almost doesn't even make sense. Now. Yeah,

515
00:23:57,920 --> 00:23:59,760
Speaker 2: I like the idea of Quinton Grimes because I do

516
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:01,879
Speaker 2: think that he is a much much better point of

517
00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,919
Speaker 2: attack defender than Malik Beasley, And if they get somebody

518
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:06,360
Speaker 2: like that, I think that could go a long way

519
00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:09,320
Speaker 2: towards helping their issues. But I keep coming back to this,

520
00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:14,639
Speaker 2: and this is my major concern. They're slow. Yeah, whenever

521
00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,840
Speaker 2: Giannis isn't out there, they are a slow team. I

522
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:19,440
Speaker 2: don't know if either of you guys managed to catch

523
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:22,399
Speaker 2: that Calves game the other night, but like they got

524
00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,600
Speaker 2: boat raced and they literally looked like they were stuck

525
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:28,399
Speaker 2: in the muddy. It literally looked like it looked like

526
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:31,159
Speaker 2: when I was in Juco and every once in a

527
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,320
Speaker 2: while at the beginning of the season, they'd schedule like

528
00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:35,359
Speaker 2: a bunch of dudes in their thirties to come play

529
00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:37,920
Speaker 2: in an exhibition game because they needed to fill thirty

530
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,800
Speaker 2: games on the schedule, and so we'd play like I

531
00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,560
Speaker 2: remember we did this in Utah. We played like a

532
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:46,400
Speaker 2: team of a bunch of like dudes from like Salt

533
00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 2: Lake City who came down and played against us who

534
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:50,680
Speaker 2: were just like former college players, but we were just

535
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,480
Speaker 2: so much faster, you know what I mean. Like, that's

536
00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:55,320
Speaker 2: literally what reminded me of watching that game. I'm like,

537
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,760
Speaker 2: holy crap, It's like they are just standing around. They

538
00:24:57,760 --> 00:24:59,600
Speaker 2: look like shocked by the speed of the calves and

539
00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,760
Speaker 2: they're just it down the other way in transition. Obviously,

540
00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 2: Jannis didn't play in that game, but that's the concern

541
00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:05,800
Speaker 2: is outside of Jiannis, they just don't have a lot

542
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,200
Speaker 2: of team speed, all right. Moving on to number four

543
00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,200
Speaker 2: on my list, a team that wasn't even on my

544
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:14,719
Speaker 2: contender list to start the season, the Los Angeles Clippers. Logan,

545
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,159
Speaker 2: are you higher or lower on the Clippers than you

546
00:25:17,200 --> 00:25:18,040
Speaker 2: were to start the season.

547
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:21,800
Speaker 5: I'm much higher on the Clippers. I don't ever really

548
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:27,280
Speaker 5: buy into Clippers hype period. I mean, there's an organizational

549
00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,960
Speaker 5: track record, there's an injury history with all of these guys.

550
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,880
Speaker 5: I was very, very very low on the Clippers heading

551
00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 5: into this season, and then obviously they make the James

552
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,240
Speaker 5: Harden deal, and I was pretty low on them after

553
00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,640
Speaker 5: the Harden deal. I didn't really have high expectations, and

554
00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 5: I've been really impressed with James Harden, his commitment to

555
00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 5: playing a role and feeding these other guys, Like this

556
00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 5: stat kind of blew me away. Guys, He's got the

557
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,840
Speaker 5: highest plus minus of any Clipper over the last ten games,

558
00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:58,800
Speaker 5: and that is even with while he's shooting fifteen points

559
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,639
Speaker 5: a game, pretty in a fit, shooting forty percent from

560
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:05,800
Speaker 5: the field thirty eight percent from deep over that time period. Like,

561
00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:07,960
Speaker 5: he's just a valuable asset on the court, And I

562
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 5: think there's a there's a better fit in La than

563
00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:13,360
Speaker 5: in Philly. Obviously there's a lot of alleviated pressure off

564
00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:15,480
Speaker 5: of his shoulders. He's no longer the number two guy.

565
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,560
Speaker 5: He can play the number three guy here. So I

566
00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:20,840
Speaker 5: think Harden deserves a ton of credit for what he's done.

567
00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:22,120
Speaker 5: And then I think the other guy that I think

568
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:24,560
Speaker 5: is an unsung hero of this Clippers team is Big Zoo,

569
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:27,400
Speaker 5: Like they just have such a great interior anchor here.

570
00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:29,840
Speaker 5: He is a consistent play finisher. He's an awesome big

571
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:32,800
Speaker 5: body to have underneath the rack. And he's holding players

572
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,320
Speaker 5: twelve point four percent below their average field goal percentage

573
00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:38,920
Speaker 5: inside six feet minimum six shots defended per game. That's

574
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:39,920
Speaker 5: the fourth best mark.

575
00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:40,280
Speaker 1: In the NBA.

576
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,240
Speaker 5: On top of those two guys who deserve credit. I

577
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,400
Speaker 5: think there's really good depth here. Bones Man Powell, Westbrook,

578
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,919
Speaker 5: Plumbley Kawhi is playing out of his mind.

579
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:51,560
Speaker 1: I'm very high on the Clippers.

580
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:53,359
Speaker 5: The only concern that I have is the one that

581
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:54,919
Speaker 5: I mentioned at the top of this, and that is

582
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,359
Speaker 5: injury concerns come playoff time. I just don't know if

583
00:26:57,359 --> 00:26:59,840
Speaker 5: these guys can be healthy. But if they're healthy, I

584
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:00,240
Speaker 5: think the.

585
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,240
Speaker 1: Clippers are a very very scary team to run into.

586
00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:05,000
Speaker 1: They've been elite.

587
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,399
Speaker 5: Offensively, and then you just think about personnel wise and

588
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:10,120
Speaker 5: anchor like big Zoo on the inside, and they've got

589
00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:12,320
Speaker 5: two big wing stoppers that they can throw at your

590
00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:16,280
Speaker 5: two best perimeter offensive players. I like the Clippers a lot.

591
00:27:16,359 --> 00:27:18,440
Speaker 5: I was not anticipating saying that at the start of

592
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,680
Speaker 5: the year. I am much much higher on LA.

593
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm much higher on them as well, much higher

594
00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:26,679
Speaker 3: than I was on them preseason, and much higher on

595
00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:28,600
Speaker 3: them than I was at the moment that they made

596
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,120
Speaker 3: the hard and trade, which I thought was the right

597
00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,479
Speaker 3: thing for them to do, because if they didn't do it,

598
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,240
Speaker 3: I was worried that they would just completely lose out

599
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:40,400
Speaker 3: on any sort of Kawhi PG window, and their priority

600
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,240
Speaker 3: is just clearly winning basketball. Steve Balmer is out there

601
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:45,959
Speaker 3: and his construction hat talking up the wall like they

602
00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:48,840
Speaker 3: got the new arena. They need to win basketball games,

603
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,679
Speaker 3: and retaining Kawhi and PG was really the only way

604
00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 3: for them to do that. And adding a guy like

605
00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,399
Speaker 3: James Harden, I think at least unlocked a ceiling or

606
00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:58,880
Speaker 3: would unlock some optimism where it's okay, we can work

607
00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:00,879
Speaker 3: with this now that we have this third star. But

608
00:28:01,359 --> 00:28:05,280
Speaker 3: they have been legitimately great over these last thirty games.

609
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,480
Speaker 3: Now ever since that early skid with Harden their top

610
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,159
Speaker 3: three in offensive rating, and it's a very intuitive formula.

611
00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 3: They have elite shooting with multiple killer ball handlers, and

612
00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:17,479
Speaker 3: Harden really has been an awesome fit. There's been two

613
00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:19,600
Speaker 3: things over the years that I'm like, all right, the

614
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:23,320
Speaker 3: Clippers need offensively. One of them is a consistent rim pressure,

615
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,640
Speaker 3: which I still think this team is missing, and that's

616
00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:27,920
Speaker 3: one of the concerns that I have about them, as

617
00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:31,840
Speaker 3: good as they are, and a more intuitive lead playmaker.

618
00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:34,480
Speaker 3: They've always relied very much on PG and Kawhi to

619
00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 3: create everything for this offense from the wings, and I've

620
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:39,640
Speaker 3: just felt like sort of what we've seen with Boston.

621
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:41,840
Speaker 3: The Clippers were always a better version of that, but

622
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:44,040
Speaker 3: it does help to have a guy who really can

623
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,600
Speaker 3: lean on for that decision, making that high end pick

624
00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:49,600
Speaker 3: and roll feel setting people up, and Harden has done

625
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,360
Speaker 3: an awesome job of that, and he has just been

626
00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:56,520
Speaker 3: brutalizing dudes with efficient scoring over the course of this

627
00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 3: season because now oftentimes he's getting team's third best perimeter

628
00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 3: defenders in isolation. There's just not a lot of dudes

629
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:04,640
Speaker 3: who can do anything with James Harden if you're the

630
00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:07,080
Speaker 3: team's third best perimeter fender. And I do have the

631
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,440
Speaker 3: utmost faith in Kawhi. I think that there are some

632
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:12,560
Speaker 3: dudes who have made really strong cases this year, but

633
00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:15,800
Speaker 3: Kawhi is probably still one of the five dudes who

634
00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:18,240
Speaker 3: I want most over a playoff run if I know

635
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:20,040
Speaker 3: that he is healthy. I think that he has a

636
00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:24,479
Speaker 3: legitimately unstoppable scoring formula because he is so great as

637
00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,320
Speaker 3: a pull up shooter and because he can get to

638
00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:30,360
Speaker 3: his spots at will, because he's strong enough out of isolation,

639
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:32,320
Speaker 3: out of the post to just work his way to

640
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:35,320
Speaker 3: that mid range area and consistently devastate you and like

641
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:38,280
Speaker 3: since he got to LA he has been spectacular and

642
00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,480
Speaker 3: basically every single playoff run. And the other positive of

643
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:43,920
Speaker 3: the hard move is that you don't have to rely

644
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:47,160
Speaker 3: on like the Russ swing factor roller coaster as much

645
00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:49,400
Speaker 3: as I would have expected before the year, because we saw.

646
00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:51,040
Speaker 4: He had some good moments in the playoff run where

647
00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:51,680
Speaker 4: they needed him.

648
00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:53,480
Speaker 3: To step up, and he had some ugly moments and

649
00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,040
Speaker 3: he always has and he always will. So I definitely

650
00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:58,880
Speaker 3: feel much better. I do have some concerns. One is

651
00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:01,760
Speaker 3: the rim pressure. As I'm me int, they have been

652
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:03,960
Speaker 3: better at it this year than ever before, but in

653
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:06,640
Speaker 3: previous playoff runs, and we've talked about this before, the

654
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:09,240
Speaker 3: Clippers have been so reliant on the three ball and

655
00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:11,560
Speaker 3: on their pull up jump shooting, and that's just going

656
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:15,280
Speaker 3: to be a volidle experience. And consistently, in the series

657
00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,120
Speaker 3: they've won, they have shot the lights out, and in

658
00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 3: the series they have lost, it's been because they haven't

659
00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,000
Speaker 3: been able to consistently knock down those threes and they

660
00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:25,240
Speaker 3: don't have enough other alternatives. They don't have enough consistent

661
00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 3: rim pressure. There's still twenty second in field goals made

662
00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:30,320
Speaker 3: inside five feet this year. It's better it's not an

663
00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 3: ideal number. I'm still worried about James Harden regressing in

664
00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,520
Speaker 3: the playoff. There's less of a scoring burden on him

665
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,240
Speaker 3: than ever before, which is great, but I still worry

666
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 3: about his ability to consistently get to and finish around

667
00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:43,240
Speaker 3: the rim when he's not getting foul calls in a

668
00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,960
Speaker 3: more physical environment against playoff defenses. We saw last year

669
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,959
Speaker 3: he was brutal around the rim. He shot like thirty

670
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,600
Speaker 3: percent in the playoffs around the rim, and that led

671
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:54,960
Speaker 3: to this crazy volatility where yeah, if his step back

672
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,400
Speaker 3: threes were money, then he could go off, and he

673
00:30:57,520 --> 00:30:59,080
Speaker 3: was utilizing the mid range more.

674
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:00,400
Speaker 4: But I'm still worry worried.

675
00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:02,880
Speaker 3: About his game scaling as well as the postseason, because

676
00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:05,200
Speaker 3: it really never has. I'm worried if this team can

677
00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:08,000
Speaker 3: reach an elite two way ceiling. They're thirteenth in defensive

678
00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:12,280
Speaker 3: rating over the last thirty. It's solid. It's not great, though,

679
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:14,520
Speaker 3: And when they have to match up against some of

680
00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 3: the huge teams out West, I don't think that they're

681
00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:19,320
Speaker 3: like totally outclass there because they have Kawhi and PG

682
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:22,600
Speaker 3: who are bigger wings, and then they they're not like

683
00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 3: fours though they're kind of in this range where they're

684
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,920
Speaker 3: like big for threes and then Zoo can match up physically.

685
00:31:28,240 --> 00:31:30,880
Speaker 3: But compared to like Denver, compared to Minnesota, they're not

686
00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:33,960
Speaker 3: as huge in the front courts, So it's tough for

687
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,080
Speaker 3: me to bet on them against Denver. But overall, they're

688
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,280
Speaker 3: a really good basketball team and they're a real threat

689
00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:40,920
Speaker 3: in a way that I didn't quite anticipate.

690
00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:43,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm much higher on the Clippers with well big shock.

691
00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:45,360
Speaker 2: It's hard not to be when they want seventeen out

692
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,680
Speaker 2: of twenty games at one point. It's funny I kind

693
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:54,760
Speaker 2: of divide the NBA teams into like different archetypes for

694
00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:57,160
Speaker 2: lack of a better word. To me, there's like the

695
00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:02,360
Speaker 2: big classic traditional playoff teams, and this is your Denver,

696
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:07,080
Speaker 2: your Milwaukee, your Lakers, your Minnesota Timberwolves. These are the

697
00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:09,160
Speaker 2: teams that I have massive front lines and they're big

698
00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:12,120
Speaker 2: on like physical imposition on the game. And then there's

699
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:16,320
Speaker 2: like these perimeter oriented, driving, kick, pull up shooting, skill

700
00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:19,200
Speaker 2: finesse teams. And to me, the best team in that

701
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,360
Speaker 2: group is the Celtics, but the second best team in

702
00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,040
Speaker 2: that group is obviously the Clippers. I take them over

703
00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:27,480
Speaker 2: the Thunder. I'd take them over the New Orleans Pelicans.

704
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:29,680
Speaker 2: I take them over the Phoenix Suns. Like those are

705
00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:32,440
Speaker 2: all those teams, whether whether it's Brandon Ingram, or it's

706
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:35,640
Speaker 2: Shay Gildas Alexander or CJ. McCollum, or it's you know,

707
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:38,760
Speaker 2: Paul George, Kawhi, Leonard, all those guys, Like I just

708
00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:41,040
Speaker 2: trust Paul George and Kawhi and James Harden and that

709
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:43,120
Speaker 2: group on both ends of the floor and more than

710
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:44,680
Speaker 2: I trust any of those other groups, not just from

711
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:46,840
Speaker 2: the same point of skill either, but in terms of experience.

712
00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,360
Speaker 2: And Kawhi does bring a physical imposition on the game.

713
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:52,560
Speaker 2: It's kind of similar to with Boston, Like Boston's a

714
00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:55,720
Speaker 2: little bit of both. Like Boston has this kind of

715
00:32:55,720 --> 00:32:58,960
Speaker 2: skill approach, but Jason Tatum is just a huge person,

716
00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 2: and chrisops Zingis brings real rim protection and Drew Holliday

717
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,960
Speaker 2: brings a real perimeter strength element right even Jalen Brown

718
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:11,280
Speaker 2: as well. So like that archetype there in the Western Conference,

719
00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:13,520
Speaker 2: at least the Clippers are the best version of that.

720
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,160
Speaker 2: I think the hard and fit piece you know, you

721
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,000
Speaker 2: brought up Russell Westbrook. Russell Westbrook has great highs and

722
00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,760
Speaker 2: great lows, and it buys Tyleru just the ability to

723
00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:26,680
Speaker 2: kind of like make a call like, Okay, tonight's not

724
00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:29,200
Speaker 2: the night. We're leaning more on Terrence Man. Oh, this

725
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:31,560
Speaker 2: is good Russ' night. We're leaning more on Russ, like

726
00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:34,600
Speaker 2: he can kind of make that call. And to the

727
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:37,200
Speaker 2: point that Logan made even in terms of wing stoppers,

728
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,880
Speaker 2: Terrence Man and Russell Westbrook in the playoffs last year

729
00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:43,240
Speaker 2: kind of showed this as well. But having those guards

730
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:44,920
Speaker 2: that can take some of those high leverage point of

731
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:48,040
Speaker 2: attack assignments too, it puts all that length and athleticism

732
00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:51,479
Speaker 2: off the ball, which can cause some problems too defense

733
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:53,719
Speaker 2: for offenses, when you have Kawhi and Paul George kind

734
00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,280
Speaker 2: of ranging off the play with all their length and

735
00:33:56,320 --> 00:33:58,760
Speaker 2: their IQ, James Harden to just setting people up with

736
00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:01,240
Speaker 2: incredible spot up opportunities. The Clippers have been the best

737
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,320
Speaker 2: three point shooting team in the league this year. Norman

738
00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:05,840
Speaker 2: Powell and Paul George have been two of the very

739
00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:08,439
Speaker 2: best spot at players in the league at volume this year.

740
00:34:08,560 --> 00:34:10,880
Speaker 2: Paul George is just getting It's like he's playing King

741
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,000
Speaker 2: of the court in a close out setup where like

742
00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:15,040
Speaker 2: you have to throw the ball in like the from

743
00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:16,839
Speaker 2: under the basket and close out to the three point

744
00:34:16,840 --> 00:34:18,400
Speaker 2: line like he's just playing one on one with a

745
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,120
Speaker 2: huge advantage. He's been their best player over the last

746
00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:25,239
Speaker 2: month too. Uh. The injury risk is a real thing, Yeah,

747
00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:28,080
Speaker 2: but it's just not worth talking about because like one

748
00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:28,640
Speaker 2: of two things.

749
00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:29,160
Speaker 4: Is gonna happen.

750
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:30,759
Speaker 2: They're either they're gonna get there and they're gonna be

751
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:33,160
Speaker 2: hurt and we can write them off, or they're gonna

752
00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:34,640
Speaker 2: get there and they're gonna be healthy, and we need

753
00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:37,000
Speaker 2: to kind of conceptualize what it's gonna look like if

754
00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:39,680
Speaker 2: they're healthy. And if they're healthy, it's gonna be Qui

755
00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:42,080
Speaker 2: fighting to spots. It's gonna be James Harden setting them

756
00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:46,560
Speaker 2: up for good opportunities. You're right, like, uh, James Harden

757
00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:48,920
Speaker 2: is getting the third best perimeter defender instead of the second,

758
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,319
Speaker 2: instead of honestly the best, like in Philly he was

759
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:55,160
Speaker 2: getting the best perimeter defender. Right, So, like all of

760
00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:58,640
Speaker 2: that stuff is worth bringing up, and I again, a

761
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:00,640
Speaker 2: lot has to go right for them. I'm major concerns.

762
00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 2: Are there a bad defensive rebounding team and they rely

763
00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,000
Speaker 2: almost entirely, not almost entirely. But their bread and butters

764
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,040
Speaker 2: pull up jump shots, so like a lot of pull

765
00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:10,280
Speaker 2: up jump shooting. They take the second most in the league.

766
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:12,640
Speaker 2: I think only the Dallas Mavericks take more if I

767
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,960
Speaker 2: remember correctly. And then they and then they don't defensive rebound,

768
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:18,160
Speaker 2: well those are two. And then they don't score a

769
00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,280
Speaker 2: ton in the paint either. They're like seventeenth or eighteenth

770
00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:22,120
Speaker 2: in points in the paint per game. So like those

771
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,719
Speaker 2: are like three historical markers that tell us that this

772
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:27,080
Speaker 2: kind of a team typically doesn't win the title. But

773
00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:29,040
Speaker 2: how often do we have James hard and Paul George

774
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:30,839
Speaker 2: and Kawhi Leonard all on the same team in NBA

775
00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:33,640
Speaker 2: history too, So I think that's worth mentioning. They're looking

776
00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:35,960
Speaker 2: a lot more like what I expected the Suns to

777
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,720
Speaker 2: look like during the regular season, which is like outskilling teams,

778
00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:41,879
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. So credit to the Los

779
00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:49,240
Speaker 2: Angeles Clippers, all right. Number five, the Los Angeles Lakers, Carson,

780
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,280
Speaker 2: Are you higher or lower on the LA Lakers halfway

781
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:55,720
Speaker 2: through the season, I am lower.

782
00:35:56,239 --> 00:35:58,479
Speaker 3: I had them as my second favorite out West coming

783
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:02,279
Speaker 3: into the year, definitely for below Denver. But I really

784
00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:04,920
Speaker 3: believe in the combination of Ad and Lebron, and I

785
00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:06,960
Speaker 3: thought they could reach a really high defensive ceiling.

786
00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:08,200
Speaker 4: And I thought that they.

787
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,280
Speaker 3: Had improved the supporting cast and had introduced some more shooting,

788
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:15,480
Speaker 3: and things just haven't quite materialized as I hoped. The

789
00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:17,399
Speaker 3: shooting hasn't been quite as good as I hoped. They're

790
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:20,560
Speaker 3: a twentieth percentile spot up team. They're not an awful

791
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:22,400
Speaker 3: shooting team, but I thought that they could be a

792
00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:25,279
Speaker 3: little bit better. And I think I overestimated the value

793
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:27,040
Speaker 3: of some of the additions, Like I've always been a

794
00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:30,440
Speaker 3: huge Christian Wood guy, and maybe I was unreasonably optimistic

795
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,040
Speaker 3: about what he could do. We still haven't really seen

796
00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:35,200
Speaker 3: Gay Vincent, so it's tough to evaluate that, but I

797
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,400
Speaker 3: thought he would be a valuable guard depth piece. And

798
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,479
Speaker 3: I think that I overestimated the team defense here, and

799
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:47,520
Speaker 3: like we're talking about with Milwaukee, underestimated how much having

800
00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:50,360
Speaker 3: issues at the point of attack would inhibit this team

801
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,200
Speaker 3: there because I've had so much faith in the back

802
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,640
Speaker 3: line defenders in both situations, but point of attack defense

803
00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:58,480
Speaker 3: has been an issue for the Lakers that's caused them

804
00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:00,799
Speaker 3: to go to these weird starting lips we've seen where

805
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,000
Speaker 3: they're trying to emphasize getting their athletes out there, the

806
00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:05,640
Speaker 3: Cam Reddishes and the Van Dohs, and then utigate some

807
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:08,560
Speaker 3: of the offensive skill, and they just haven't really found

808
00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:11,080
Speaker 3: the role players who can do both of the things

809
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:13,239
Speaker 3: that they need. Bring offensive skill and bring point of

810
00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:16,120
Speaker 3: attack defense, and as we've talked about, I think that

811
00:37:16,120 --> 00:37:18,319
Speaker 3: that's something that they need to find at the deadline.

812
00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:20,560
Speaker 3: I also thought this team would rebound better. I thought

813
00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:22,600
Speaker 3: they'd end possessions a little bit better, and they've actually

814
00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:25,160
Speaker 3: been a good defensive rebounding team. It's more of been offensively,

815
00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,279
Speaker 3: but just Torian being like the worst rebounding three in

816
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:32,080
Speaker 3: the NBA is not ideal. And then I've had more

817
00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:36,160
Speaker 3: issues with Darvin Ham this year than previously. The rotational stuff,

818
00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:38,719
Speaker 3: to me, has just been deeply concerning. And I think

819
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:41,919
Speaker 3: that the effort level every single night, Yeah, it's attributable

820
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:45,680
Speaker 3: to this being a team that's led by Lebron who's

821
00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:48,200
Speaker 3: thirty nine years old, but I think that a coach

822
00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:50,680
Speaker 3: still bears some responsibility in getting his dudes up to

823
00:37:50,719 --> 00:37:53,160
Speaker 3: play every game. And nobody's been worse in terms of

824
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,960
Speaker 3: effort night tonight than the Lakers. So there are these

825
00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,240
Speaker 3: little things, but nothing to me that is like, Oh,

826
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,439
Speaker 3: this team can't reach the ceiling that I anticipated if

827
00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:05,520
Speaker 3: they make the right move at the deadline here, because

828
00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:08,240
Speaker 3: eighty has been really good this year. But most importantly,

829
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:10,719
Speaker 3: Lebron has been much better than he was in the

830
00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:14,480
Speaker 3: playoffs last year. He has still been one of the

831
00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:16,640
Speaker 3: most dominant athletes in the league. His jump shot has

832
00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:20,000
Speaker 3: returned like that to me is so significant and so encouraging.

833
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:22,319
Speaker 3: And I still do think this team defense will be

834
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,400
Speaker 3: better in the playoffs than now because they do have

835
00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:26,440
Speaker 3: combinations they can go with. In terms of guys at

836
00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:28,480
Speaker 3: the point of attack, they have the best defender on

837
00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:29,040
Speaker 3: the planet.

838
00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:30,320
Speaker 4: And then we'll see.

839
00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,239
Speaker 3: We'll see if they bring in de Jonte Murray, which

840
00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:36,520
Speaker 3: I know is strongly rumored. I don't think it necessarily

841
00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:39,279
Speaker 3: has to be a guy who brings that sort of

842
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,600
Speaker 3: star label. And if Dejontay does come to LA I

843
00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:44,400
Speaker 3: think that he's going to have to undergo a bit

844
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:47,399
Speaker 3: of an attitude change, because I haven't really liked how

845
00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:49,600
Speaker 3: he's approached things in Atlanta as of late, and he's

846
00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:53,520
Speaker 3: going to have to completely find his defensive identity again

847
00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:55,840
Speaker 3: because he has the tools he was awesome in San Antonio.

848
00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:58,759
Speaker 3: He has just lost it on that side of the

849
00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:01,680
Speaker 3: ball in Atlanta. He's going to fit as I think

850
00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:04,000
Speaker 3: Lakers fans hope, He's got to be the two way

851
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:06,480
Speaker 3: guy that he has the tools to be. So I'm

852
00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:10,320
Speaker 3: not out on the Lakers, but again, until we actually

853
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:12,800
Speaker 3: see that they hit on that move and they address

854
00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:15,919
Speaker 3: the issues that they have, Teams like the Clippers, teams

855
00:39:15,920 --> 00:39:18,440
Speaker 3: like the Timberwolves are just playing much much better basketball

856
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:18,879
Speaker 3: right now.

857
00:39:19,719 --> 00:39:22,440
Speaker 5: Yeah, I really agree with a lot of what you said, Carson,

858
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,919
Speaker 5: and I'm obviously completely lower on the Lakers than I.

859
00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:26,880
Speaker 1: Was at the start of the season.

860
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:29,160
Speaker 5: I'm not only thought that they were going to figure

861
00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:31,200
Speaker 5: it out as the season goes along, and they were

862
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:34,879
Speaker 5: my title favorite. I mean, I just thought that they

863
00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:36,279
Speaker 5: were going to win a lot of games. I thought

864
00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:38,319
Speaker 5: this team was going to gel together a lot more.

865
00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:42,080
Speaker 5: The one encouraging thing is Lebron and Anthony Davis. Right,

866
00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:44,879
Speaker 5: there was a huge variable, a huge concern coming into

867
00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:45,480
Speaker 5: this season.

868
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,000
Speaker 1: But I mean, shout out a lot. It's more a said, guys,

869
00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:49,800
Speaker 1: Isn't it ironic?

870
00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:52,640
Speaker 5: I think we find ourselves right back in the exact

871
00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:56,120
Speaker 5: same spot we were last year, the same old Lakers.

872
00:39:56,200 --> 00:39:56,319
Speaker 2: Man.

873
00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:57,920
Speaker 1: I don't know what it is with these big brands.

874
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:00,560
Speaker 5: Man. You got the Dallas Cowboys choking in the playof again,

875
00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:03,600
Speaker 5: you got the Los Angeles Lakers searching for an entire

876
00:40:03,719 --> 00:40:07,759
Speaker 5: new roster. Guys, I mean literally top to bottom, all

877
00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:09,879
Speaker 5: of these guys that I thought were gonna be home runs,

878
00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:12,879
Speaker 5: that I thought were perfect fits. I shop everybody again.

879
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:16,120
Speaker 5: I mean d Low Tari and Prince Cam Reddish, Hachi Mura.

880
00:40:16,239 --> 00:40:20,640
Speaker 5: I'm talking full on fire sale. I am shopping everyone.

881
00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:24,040
Speaker 5: I am searching for whatever we can do. And sadly, guys,

882
00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:25,960
Speaker 5: I don't think it's enough time. We talked about that

883
00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:28,239
Speaker 5: precedent last year. It was going to be really hard

884
00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:31,000
Speaker 5: for a team to basically completely overhaul their roster at

885
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:33,840
Speaker 5: the deadline and then figure it out. I find myself

886
00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:36,480
Speaker 5: in the exact same situation this year. Even if they

887
00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:39,200
Speaker 5: make all the moves, if they make the right acquisitions

888
00:40:39,239 --> 00:40:41,719
Speaker 5: and I think it will fit together, I don't really

889
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:43,919
Speaker 5: think it's enough time for them to figure everything out.

890
00:40:43,960 --> 00:40:46,880
Speaker 1: So again, like Carson said, I wouldn't completely count out

891
00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:47,239
Speaker 1: this team.

892
00:40:47,239 --> 00:40:49,160
Speaker 5: I would never completely count out a team with Anthony

893
00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:51,680
Speaker 5: Davis and Lebron James, but I'm not betting on it.

894
00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:54,200
Speaker 5: End I am much much lower on the Lakers than

895
00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:55,480
Speaker 5: I was at the start of the season.

896
00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:59,680
Speaker 2: There's a lot of positive Carson mentioned Lebron looks better

897
00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:00,400
Speaker 2: than he did last year.

898
00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:01,959
Speaker 4: He's having a little bit of a classic.

899
00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:07,279
Speaker 2: Lebron January, which is I mean, I had heard rumblings

900
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:09,520
Speaker 2: behind the scene that he was like completely done with

901
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,480
Speaker 2: Darvin Ham and so I do think there was a

902
00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:13,920
Speaker 2: little bit of passive aggressive Lebron going on. We even

903
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:16,520
Speaker 2: had that Brian Windhorse report. I said it to our

904
00:41:16,600 --> 00:41:19,480
Speaker 2: mutual friend Logan, the one from Brian Windhorse where he

905
00:41:19,560 --> 00:41:22,200
Speaker 2: was like, Lebron might not play for the Lakers next year,

906
00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:24,319
Speaker 2: And I was like, this is classic Lebron, right, Like,

907
00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:26,719
Speaker 2: this is hell, this is this is exactly what I

908
00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:28,719
Speaker 2: expect to see from him right around this time. Here,

909
00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:31,520
Speaker 2: this is his this is his June of this is

910
00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:34,359
Speaker 2: leg GM's June right here, this is where it all

911
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:38,400
Speaker 2: goes down, right, But like I think it so Anthony

912
00:41:38,480 --> 00:41:40,480
Speaker 2: Davis's shot making is it where it was in the

913
00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:42,359
Speaker 2: twenty twenty bubble. But I think this is the best

914
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:45,439
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis has ever played. I think the I think

915
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:50,279
Speaker 2: the playmaking and just the overall offensive folkrum stuff is

916
00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:53,840
Speaker 2: at such a higher level than it's ever been. Whereas

917
00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:56,560
Speaker 2: Anthony Davis, if you remember in that twenty twenty season,

918
00:41:56,719 --> 00:41:59,360
Speaker 2: he'd have some really bad halves where like if his

919
00:41:59,440 --> 00:42:02,759
Speaker 2: jumper was falling, he wouldn't look particularly good. I think

920
00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:05,440
Speaker 2: the all around element of Anthony Davis right now is

921
00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:08,960
Speaker 2: the best it's ever been. Austin Reeves is making strides

922
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,760
Speaker 2: as a shot creator, there's been. It's funny Lakers fans

923
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:14,800
Speaker 2: like they oscillate back and forth between Delo and Austin

924
00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:16,719
Speaker 2: based on who's having a good game in a bad game.

925
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:18,160
Speaker 2: It's like Dlos had a couple of good games that

926
00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:21,200
Speaker 2: are on everyone's like, don't trade Dlo. Trade Austin. He's

927
00:42:21,239 --> 00:42:23,279
Speaker 2: the best player. It's like, next thing, you know, d

928
00:42:23,400 --> 00:42:25,680
Speaker 2: Lo will be bad for two weeks and everybody like, oh, yeah,

929
00:42:25,680 --> 00:42:27,520
Speaker 2: that's right, Austin's better. That's how it goes. But like

930
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:30,799
Speaker 2: as Austin, in my opinion, is like making strides. He's

931
00:42:30,920 --> 00:42:32,719
Speaker 2: one of only eleven players in the league this year

932
00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:34,279
Speaker 2: to run at least five hundred pick and rolls that

933
00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:36,440
Speaker 2: have amounted to at least one point per possession, he's

934
00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:39,719
Speaker 2: at one point zero eight points per isolation possession. Then

935
00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:41,360
Speaker 2: he can have games like he did against the Mavericks

936
00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:43,200
Speaker 2: where he's primarily off the ball and he's just this

937
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:46,399
Speaker 2: awesome connector who can you know, attack closeouts and make

938
00:42:46,440 --> 00:42:48,839
Speaker 2: that extra pass. I think I think there's so much

939
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:51,880
Speaker 2: positive there, but I'm still lower on the Lakers just

940
00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:54,879
Speaker 2: because of the bad vibes. Like Carson you mentioned, they've been.

941
00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:58,400
Speaker 2: You said, arguably, I think they're the worst effort and

942
00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:01,640
Speaker 2: energy team in the league right now. They like even

943
00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:03,560
Speaker 2: this recent stretch, it's like they beat the Clippers, they

944
00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:05,279
Speaker 2: beat the Thunder, they beat the MAVs, they beat the

945
00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:09,240
Speaker 2: Toronto Raptors. There is an absolute egg in there against

946
00:43:09,239 --> 00:43:11,400
Speaker 2: the Phoenix Suns where they just came out at home

947
00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:14,080
Speaker 2: and didn't play hard, like from the opening tip. They

948
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:16,080
Speaker 2: just got slacked, you know what I mean. So like

949
00:43:17,040 --> 00:43:19,719
Speaker 2: NBA history tells us that kind of team doesn't win

950
00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:21,640
Speaker 2: the title. Now here's the thing, a lot of time

951
00:43:21,719 --> 00:43:26,400
Speaker 2: left they I think the big indicator for me is

952
00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:29,239
Speaker 2: going to be can they go on like a I

953
00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:31,799
Speaker 2: said this on my show the other day, Like can

954
00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:33,839
Speaker 2: they have a run like they did after the trade

955
00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:36,239
Speaker 2: deadline last year where they go eighteen and eight or

956
00:43:36,239 --> 00:43:38,840
Speaker 2: seventeen and nine or nineteen and seven, where it's like

957
00:43:38,880 --> 00:43:41,800
Speaker 2: a clear indicator of we are now going to establish

958
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:44,960
Speaker 2: the habits that we did not establish to start the season.

959
00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:47,680
Speaker 2: And last thing on the Lakers front, it's really to

960
00:43:47,719 --> 00:43:49,879
Speaker 2: me like when you start to start like thinking about

961
00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:53,640
Speaker 2: the matchups because Lebron really is the major culprit in

962
00:43:53,680 --> 00:43:56,560
Speaker 2: the Laker defense since the nd season Tournament is Lebron.

963
00:43:57,120 --> 00:43:59,719
Speaker 2: I was literally watching the MAVs game the other night

964
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:02,680
Speaker 2: and Eric Lively gets three baskets right under the basket

965
00:44:02,760 --> 00:44:04,680
Speaker 2: like two dunks in a layup in the first three

966
00:44:05,040 --> 00:44:06,880
Speaker 2: in the first four or five possessions for the MAVs.

967
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:10,800
Speaker 2: All three of them were plays where Lebron as the lowman,

968
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:13,640
Speaker 2: could have blown them up, and he was like, nah,

969
00:44:13,719 --> 00:44:15,640
Speaker 2: I'll just get the next of them. He just went

970
00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:19,880
Speaker 2: down the floor. So like here's the thing, like let

971
00:44:20,040 --> 00:44:22,840
Speaker 2: just do let's just do this exercise. So the Minnesota

972
00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:24,680
Speaker 2: Timberroles have been one of the worst half court offenses

973
00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:27,719
Speaker 2: in the league this year, and I'm really concerned about

974
00:44:27,719 --> 00:44:29,520
Speaker 2: their ability to score in a half court against a

975
00:44:29,560 --> 00:44:32,239
Speaker 2: really good defense. When we get into the playoffs. If

976
00:44:32,280 --> 00:44:36,560
Speaker 2: a playoff series started tomorrow and the Lakers were healthy,

977
00:44:36,640 --> 00:44:38,799
Speaker 2: and you knew you were getting a fully engaged Lebron

978
00:44:38,880 --> 00:44:42,160
Speaker 2: James and Anthony Davis, even if they didn't make a trade. Like,

979
00:44:42,800 --> 00:44:46,000
Speaker 2: I know the record says Minnesota is playing way better basketball,

980
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:49,480
Speaker 2: but like, I'm tempted to take the Lakers in that

981
00:44:49,600 --> 00:44:52,840
Speaker 2: series even before trade. I'll just ask you guys, real quick, Carson,

982
00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:54,960
Speaker 2: would you take the Lakers of the Wolves? Series starts tomorrow,

983
00:44:55,040 --> 00:44:57,280
Speaker 2: the Lakers are healthy, You're getting engaged Lebron.

984
00:44:58,160 --> 00:44:59,880
Speaker 4: I think I would take the Ta Wolves.

985
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:02,279
Speaker 3: And the one real quick point that I will make

986
00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:05,840
Speaker 3: is the tee Wolves have not been a good overall offense,

987
00:45:05,960 --> 00:45:09,040
Speaker 3: but they actually have been seventy third percentile in half

988
00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:11,239
Speaker 3: court efficiency, and I do kind of like them a

989
00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:14,640
Speaker 3: bit more in that grind it down, super physical environment.

990
00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:17,520
Speaker 3: They have a big time shot maker from the perimeter.

991
00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:19,560
Speaker 3: They have a mismatch attacker and Kat, they have a

992
00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:23,160
Speaker 3: veteran point guard and Conley. That with the elite defensive ceiling,

993
00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:25,600
Speaker 3: the fact that they match up in terms of size.

994
00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:28,720
Speaker 4: I think I would go Minnesota. I also would Logan.

995
00:45:29,120 --> 00:45:31,400
Speaker 5: I also would go Minnesota, and I have a different

996
00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:33,920
Speaker 5: level of faith in this Minnesota half court offense than

997
00:45:33,960 --> 00:45:37,600
Speaker 5: I did at the beginning of the year. I love

998
00:45:37,719 --> 00:45:40,040
Speaker 5: Mike Conley. I adore Mike Congley. He is like the

999
00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:43,760
Speaker 5: perfect point guard man. He's awesome. I just I trust

1000
00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:46,960
Speaker 5: his veteran leadership in presence. I trust Anthony Edwards being

1001
00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:50,240
Speaker 5: consistently great in a playoff run, and I trust everybody

1002
00:45:50,280 --> 00:45:53,040
Speaker 5: around him. I have loved the ball movement in Minnesota.

1003
00:45:53,160 --> 00:45:56,279
Speaker 5: I'm watching Rudy Gobayer hit passes out of the short role.

1004
00:45:56,480 --> 00:45:59,480
Speaker 5: I'm watching Nasreed dot guys up. I'm watching Karl Anthony

1005
00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:02,560
Speaker 5: Towns make good pass is. Like, I really believe in

1006
00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:05,680
Speaker 5: the offensive chemistry in Minnesota. And it's not to completely

1007
00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:08,600
Speaker 5: disregard your point, Jason, I think that is the biggest concern.

1008
00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:11,239
Speaker 5: This team's gonna be rock solid defensively against who they

1009
00:46:11,320 --> 00:46:13,400
Speaker 5: go up against. It is going to be about generating

1010
00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:17,080
Speaker 5: points in the half court. But considering the Lakers waning

1011
00:46:17,120 --> 00:46:22,399
Speaker 5: effort night to night, considering the Lakers role players struggles. Yeah,

1012
00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:24,880
Speaker 5: I just have a different level of faith in Minnesota,

1013
00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:28,319
Speaker 5: and I believe in this offense. I think that I

1014
00:46:28,400 --> 00:46:31,040
Speaker 5: just think they work. I just think they jail way

1015
00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:33,879
Speaker 5: better together, and I believe in them. I genuinely buy

1016
00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:36,120
Speaker 5: into Minnesota as a real contender of.

1017
00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:38,600
Speaker 2: Corson where did you get that half court offense stat?

1018
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:40,239
Speaker 2: Because I've been looking at Cleaning the Glass. I have

1019
00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:42,839
Speaker 2: them below one hundred points per one hundred possessions, and

1020
00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:45,640
Speaker 2: they've been consistently a bottom half half court offense all season,

1021
00:46:45,719 --> 00:46:47,160
Speaker 2: So I'm just wondering where you've got that number.

1022
00:46:47,239 --> 00:46:50,560
Speaker 3: Synergy has them at one point oh one six points

1023
00:46:50,560 --> 00:46:52,439
Speaker 3: for possession in the half court seventy three.

1024
00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:55,600
Speaker 2: Okay, So it's uh so, maybe that's because Synergy doesn't

1025
00:46:55,600 --> 00:46:59,520
Speaker 2: filter out garbage time. That's probably the difference clean cleaning

1026
00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:03,080
Speaker 2: the glass filter thout garbage tep either way. So you

1027
00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:06,399
Speaker 2: guys disagree with me on Minnesota. I believe that if

1028
00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:09,719
Speaker 2: the Lakers played Minnesota tomorrow, that's an older, more, uh

1029
00:47:09,960 --> 00:47:13,839
Speaker 2: more kind of experienced playoff team. Anthony Davis eats Rudy

1030
00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:16,600
Speaker 2: Gobert's lunch every time they play like That's that's a

1031
00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:19,160
Speaker 2: very important element that I don't think it's brought up

1032
00:47:19,239 --> 00:47:23,040
Speaker 2: enough in this particular conversation. And I would personally pick

1033
00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:25,879
Speaker 2: the Lakers, but let's let's you guys, take Minnesota. Let's

1034
00:47:25,880 --> 00:47:27,919
Speaker 2: go to the next one. Would you take Oklahoma City

1035
00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:30,080
Speaker 2: or the Lakers if they started a series tomorrow.

1036
00:47:30,680 --> 00:47:31,800
Speaker 4: I would take the Lakers.

1037
00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:34,120
Speaker 3: And I do want to be clear, it's still close

1038
00:47:34,160 --> 00:47:38,080
Speaker 3: for me on Minnesota because I really believe in Austin

1039
00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:42,239
Speaker 3: Reeves and Ad and Lebron. Picking against them terrifies me

1040
00:47:42,320 --> 00:47:45,200
Speaker 3: unless I believe the team has like overwhelming advantages. When

1041
00:47:45,239 --> 00:47:47,520
Speaker 3: it comes to okay See, I think they are awesome.

1042
00:47:47,880 --> 00:47:50,960
Speaker 3: I just think there's a different level of physical imposition

1043
00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:55,399
Speaker 3: that LA can unleash upon them that Minnesota is much

1044
00:47:55,440 --> 00:47:57,680
Speaker 3: better equipped to handle because they're huge in the front court,

1045
00:47:57,719 --> 00:48:01,280
Speaker 3: They've got veteran dues. Okay See is young, they're slight,

1046
00:48:01,560 --> 00:48:05,040
Speaker 3: and so even if they have more perimeter skill and

1047
00:48:05,080 --> 00:48:07,319
Speaker 3: they have some awesome dudes, I just think that that

1048
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:11,520
Speaker 3: physicality factor and having two of the three best players

1049
00:48:11,520 --> 00:48:14,000
Speaker 3: on the floor by a decent margin, I would still

1050
00:48:14,040 --> 00:48:15,040
Speaker 3: go with the Lakers there.

1051
00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:18,279
Speaker 5: Yeah, I would definitely take LA in that matchup, just

1052
00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:20,919
Speaker 5: because of the physical and athletic advantages that I think

1053
00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:21,560
Speaker 5: they could.

1054
00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:24,160
Speaker 1: I think they could body okay See on the interior.

1055
00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:27,880
Speaker 5: Although that being said, man, there's a different level of

1056
00:48:27,880 --> 00:48:30,320
Speaker 5: faith with me in thinking that, Okay, see's gonna play hard.

1057
00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:32,960
Speaker 4: I really can't get on the playoff series.

1058
00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:35,560
Speaker 3: I think the Lakers would play hard too. I mean,

1059
00:48:35,600 --> 00:48:41,520
Speaker 3: maybe not every night like last road games. Yeah, the

1060
00:48:41,600 --> 00:48:44,440
Speaker 3: Lakers road games in the Memphis road. Yeah, in the

1061
00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:45,080
Speaker 3: Memphis series.

1062
00:48:45,120 --> 00:48:46,759
Speaker 5: I mean it was like two or three games where

1063
00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:49,160
Speaker 5: I'm like, damn, man, like, did you guys even show up?

1064
00:48:49,600 --> 00:48:51,600
Speaker 2: But they put when they're up, that's the thing. Like

1065
00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:53,759
Speaker 2: they put when it's like it's like, oh, we got

1066
00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:55,359
Speaker 2: a three to one lead, I don't want to win

1067
00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:56,000
Speaker 2: game five.

1068
00:48:55,960 --> 00:48:57,800
Speaker 4: Win game six, you know what I mean? Dude, Lebron

1069
00:48:58,000 --> 00:48:59,800
Speaker 4: has mastered the art of coasting.

1070
00:49:00,120 --> 00:49:05,080
Speaker 3: Like he is meticulous and very selective about when he punts,

1071
00:49:05,120 --> 00:49:08,040
Speaker 3: and it very rarely actually costs them in the playoffs

1072
00:49:08,120 --> 00:49:10,200
Speaker 3: because he's so deliberate about that.

1073
00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:13,160
Speaker 2: Okay, so rapid fire. Would you take the Lakers of

1074
00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:14,600
Speaker 2: the Suns if a series started tomorrow?

1075
00:49:15,280 --> 00:49:15,920
Speaker 4: Lakers?

1076
00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:16,840
Speaker 1: La?

1077
00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:20,120
Speaker 2: Would you take the Lakers or the Kings of a

1078
00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:20,920
Speaker 2: series started tomorrow?

1079
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:21,760
Speaker 1: Oh man, it's.

1080
00:49:24,520 --> 00:49:24,759
Speaker 4: Okay.

1081
00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:26,440
Speaker 2: Would you take the Lakers or the Pelicans if a

1082
00:49:26,480 --> 00:49:27,440
Speaker 2: series started tomorrow?

1083
00:49:28,040 --> 00:49:29,040
Speaker 4: Lakers?

1084
00:49:29,080 --> 00:49:30,799
Speaker 2: Okay? So you see the point I'm trying to make here.

1085
00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:33,400
Speaker 2: So all of that, by the way, all these questions

1086
00:49:33,440 --> 00:49:36,560
Speaker 2: were in situations where the Lakers don't make a trade, okay,

1087
00:49:36,880 --> 00:49:38,560
Speaker 2: and they have a trade to make because they have

1088
00:49:38,600 --> 00:49:41,759
Speaker 2: some roster imbalances. So my point is is, like, I'm

1089
00:49:41,880 --> 00:49:45,920
Speaker 2: lower on the Lakers because of basketball character stuff. But

1090
00:49:45,960 --> 00:49:48,920
Speaker 2: the reality is is this team is going to march

1091
00:49:48,960 --> 00:49:52,440
Speaker 2: out in all likelihood Lebron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reeves

1092
00:49:52,719 --> 00:49:55,759
Speaker 2: and trade return from the deadline, likely involving a first

1093
00:49:55,840 --> 00:49:58,160
Speaker 2: round pick, and they've got players that they include for

1094
00:49:58,239 --> 00:50:00,439
Speaker 2: and you know this team when they make the those moves,

1095
00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:02,359
Speaker 2: they come back from the deadline, they're gonna lock in

1096
00:50:02,680 --> 00:50:05,080
Speaker 2: and they're gonna try to establish some stuff. That doesn't

1097
00:50:05,080 --> 00:50:07,560
Speaker 2: mean they're gonna beat Denver or Boston. But I do

1098
00:50:07,600 --> 00:50:11,279
Speaker 2: think there's been a lot of like like people overlooking

1099
00:50:11,400 --> 00:50:16,239
Speaker 2: classic Lebron January team trends, and I think I do

1100
00:50:16,320 --> 00:50:19,400
Speaker 2: think even though I'm lower on the Lakers than I

1101
00:50:19,520 --> 00:50:21,400
Speaker 2: was before the season in terms of I would have

1102
00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:24,440
Speaker 2: much rather had them just attack the regular season, I

1103
00:50:24,920 --> 00:50:27,640
Speaker 2: still think people writing them off are are being silly

1104
00:50:27,800 --> 00:50:32,480
Speaker 2: because and then again, it's last thing I'll say about it.

1105
00:50:32,800 --> 00:50:35,040
Speaker 2: Let's just look at the Timberwolves. Like both of you

1106
00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:38,640
Speaker 2: guys picked the Timberwolves by some small margin. They haven't

1107
00:50:38,640 --> 00:50:40,600
Speaker 2: gotten out of the first round yet, Guys like this

1108
00:50:40,719 --> 00:50:43,520
Speaker 2: is not a team that has been through wars. They

1109
00:50:43,560 --> 00:50:46,160
Speaker 2: just haven't. So like that, And that's not to say

1110
00:50:46,200 --> 00:50:48,920
Speaker 2: you write them off. I'm just saying, like that's a

1111
00:50:49,120 --> 00:50:52,560
Speaker 2: huge advantage in my opinion, Like just NBA history tells us.

1112
00:50:52,560 --> 00:50:55,520
Speaker 2: It's like, that's what allows a Warriors team that's on

1113
00:50:55,640 --> 00:50:57,760
Speaker 2: the way out, like a Warriors team that was about

1114
00:50:57,800 --> 00:51:01,480
Speaker 2: to crack to beat the Sacramento King even though they

1115
00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:03,560
Speaker 2: were on the road and didn't have home court advantage, Like,

1116
00:51:03,560 --> 00:51:07,080
Speaker 2: that's just what happens. Is it's the older it's the experience,

1117
00:51:07,160 --> 00:51:09,520
Speaker 2: it's the best player in the series. The Lakers would

1118
00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:11,279
Speaker 2: have the best player in the series. The Lakers would

1119
00:51:11,280 --> 00:51:13,200
Speaker 2: be older and more experienced. They would pack the paint,

1120
00:51:13,239 --> 00:51:16,239
Speaker 2: they would dare teams to there guys to shoot. I

1121
00:51:16,280 --> 00:51:19,680
Speaker 2: do think that that would be an interesting series. All right,

1122
00:51:19,719 --> 00:51:21,080
Speaker 2: So now that we're outside of the top five, I

1123
00:51:21,120 --> 00:51:24,239
Speaker 2: want to pick up the pace a little bit. Well,

1124
00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:26,359
Speaker 2: we're gonna move on to number six. The Philadelphia seventy

1125
00:51:26,400 --> 00:51:29,040
Speaker 2: six ers logan. Are you higher or lower on the

1126
00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:31,640
Speaker 2: Philadelphia seventy six ers as a contender than you were

1127
00:51:31,640 --> 00:51:32,360
Speaker 2: before the season.

1128
00:51:32,760 --> 00:51:34,680
Speaker 5: I am much higher on them. One thing that this

1129
00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:36,759
Speaker 5: has to do with is the James Harden trade. I

1130
00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:39,800
Speaker 5: was anticipating being lower on Philadelphia. I thought they needed

1131
00:51:39,840 --> 00:51:41,880
Speaker 5: James Harden. I've now changed my stance on that. I

1132
00:51:41,960 --> 00:51:44,759
Speaker 5: think that Philadelphia in some ways is better without Harden.

1133
00:51:44,800 --> 00:51:48,120
Speaker 5: I think it has allowed a faster, more up tempo

1134
00:51:48,239 --> 00:51:51,040
Speaker 5: team that just plays better in transition. I think it

1135
00:51:51,040 --> 00:51:53,440
Speaker 5: has allowed Tyrese Maxi to grow as a playmaker and

1136
00:51:53,480 --> 00:51:55,319
Speaker 5: as a lead ball handler, and.

1137
00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:56,920
Speaker 1: Everything just feels a lot more opened up.

1138
00:51:57,000 --> 00:51:59,160
Speaker 5: Like I love James Harden, and I love what he's

1139
00:51:59,160 --> 00:52:02,040
Speaker 5: doing in LA, but some possessions where you know, he's

1140
00:52:02,040 --> 00:52:03,840
Speaker 5: taking a couple extra dribbles or he's not moving the

1141
00:52:03,880 --> 00:52:06,680
Speaker 5: ball within the flow of the offense, I don't think

1142
00:52:06,680 --> 00:52:08,160
Speaker 5: they have those issues as much. There's not as much

1143
00:52:08,200 --> 00:52:11,080
Speaker 5: ball stopping. And then defensively, I really like Philadelphia one

1144
00:52:11,360 --> 00:52:12,920
Speaker 5: Embiid on the interior has been one of the best

1145
00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:15,280
Speaker 5: rim protectors in basketball. But I really like the personnel

1146
00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:17,640
Speaker 5: that they can throw at teams. You know, Max, He's

1147
00:52:17,680 --> 00:52:20,799
Speaker 5: not a max. He's not a great defender, but he

1148
00:52:20,960 --> 00:52:23,240
Speaker 5: tries right, he gives effort. I like the Anthony Melton,

1149
00:52:23,280 --> 00:52:25,680
Speaker 5: I like Patrick Beverlee's point of attack guys. They've got

1150
00:52:25,719 --> 00:52:31,080
Speaker 5: some size and athleticism on the wings. I legitimately buy

1151
00:52:31,200 --> 00:52:34,040
Speaker 5: Philly as a contender now. Obviously the biggest issue is

1152
00:52:34,760 --> 00:52:37,840
Speaker 5: Embiid and if he's going to have these same woes

1153
00:52:37,880 --> 00:52:40,040
Speaker 5: that have plagued him in the playoffs. But I've seen

1154
00:52:40,120 --> 00:52:43,040
Speaker 5: legitimately growth from Embiid as a playmaker. I think he's

1155
00:52:43,040 --> 00:52:47,080
Speaker 5: playing more selfless team basketball. He's looking for other shots,

1156
00:52:47,160 --> 00:52:49,560
Speaker 5: and that's a big factor to me. Is I just

1157
00:52:49,600 --> 00:52:51,399
Speaker 5: don't think Embiid is going to disappear as the way

1158
00:52:51,400 --> 00:52:55,280
Speaker 5: we've seen him in years previous. It could be easier

1159
00:52:55,280 --> 00:52:57,680
Speaker 5: said than done. It could happen again. I'm not anticipating

1160
00:52:57,680 --> 00:53:00,840
Speaker 5: it this year. And because of that, legitimately, by the

1161
00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:03,880
Speaker 5: seventy six ers as contenders, I'm much higher on Philadelphia.

1162
00:53:04,760 --> 00:53:05,759
Speaker 4: I'm much higher on them too.

1163
00:53:05,800 --> 00:53:08,000
Speaker 3: I felt pretty strongly this is a team that would

1164
00:53:08,520 --> 00:53:11,400
Speaker 3: win fifty games in the regular season, just because Embiide

1165
00:53:11,440 --> 00:53:13,520
Speaker 3: is that sort of regular season force. And I have

1166
00:53:13,600 --> 00:53:15,719
Speaker 3: always been a Tyreeks Maxi guy, and I thought that

1167
00:53:15,760 --> 00:53:18,919
Speaker 3: he could fill those shoes as an offensive number two

1168
00:53:18,920 --> 00:53:21,880
Speaker 3: and play really well. But I was not high on

1169
00:53:21,920 --> 00:53:26,400
Speaker 3: their postseason outlook, and I still don't like them in

1170
00:53:26,440 --> 00:53:29,239
Speaker 3: a series against Boston or Milwaukee. But I definitely like

1171
00:53:29,320 --> 00:53:30,800
Speaker 3: them more than I did coming.

1172
00:53:30,600 --> 00:53:31,080
Speaker 4: Into the year.

1173
00:53:31,239 --> 00:53:33,440
Speaker 3: Em Beiid is clearly better. He is the best as

1174
00:53:33,440 --> 00:53:35,200
Speaker 3: a shot maker that we've seen him. Last year was

1175
00:53:35,239 --> 00:53:37,680
Speaker 3: really good, I would argue this year has been even

1176
00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:41,120
Speaker 3: more consistently brilliant. I saw a tweet today from NBA

1177
00:53:41,239 --> 00:53:43,680
Speaker 3: University that he leads the league in shots made from

1178
00:53:43,680 --> 00:53:46,200
Speaker 3: fifteen to nineteen feet and leads the league in field

1179
00:53:46,200 --> 00:53:48,759
Speaker 3: goal percentage from that range. He has just been devastating.

1180
00:53:48,960 --> 00:53:52,640
Speaker 3: And as a playmaker hasn't just been better dissecting doubles

1181
00:53:52,680 --> 00:53:55,600
Speaker 3: and whatnot. He's been more involved across the board as

1182
00:53:55,640 --> 00:53:58,400
Speaker 3: a ball handler, has been more proactive just in his

1183
00:53:58,520 --> 00:54:01,640
Speaker 3: efforts to find and set up teammates. And there's two

1184
00:54:01,719 --> 00:54:03,600
Speaker 3: things that have consistently failed him in the playoffs, but

1185
00:54:03,680 --> 00:54:07,359
Speaker 3: actually there's four. There's his jump shot failing him. There's

1186
00:54:07,360 --> 00:54:09,799
Speaker 3: his playmaking failing him where teams double him and he

1187
00:54:09,800 --> 00:54:12,000
Speaker 3: turns the ball over more than he assists his teammates,

1188
00:54:12,080 --> 00:54:14,640
Speaker 3: there's his health failing him, and there's his reliance on

1189
00:54:14,680 --> 00:54:17,480
Speaker 3: getting the line. So in the first two categories, he

1190
00:54:17,560 --> 00:54:19,880
Speaker 3: looks better now than ever before. The playoffs is a

1191
00:54:19,920 --> 00:54:22,480
Speaker 3: different arena, but I have more faith than him because

1192
00:54:22,480 --> 00:54:25,759
Speaker 3: of that. MAXI is much better than last year and

1193
00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:28,319
Speaker 3: is making the most of this opportunity. And then I

1194
00:54:28,360 --> 00:54:31,239
Speaker 3: think Nick Nurse is a real coaching upgrade. And I

1195
00:54:31,239 --> 00:54:33,480
Speaker 3: think that they nailed a couple of additions on the

1196
00:54:33,480 --> 00:54:37,319
Speaker 3: wings with Ubre and with Batoum, who is still such

1197
00:54:37,320 --> 00:54:40,520
Speaker 3: a winning basketball player. And I undersold the value that

1198
00:54:40,600 --> 00:54:42,319
Speaker 3: he had for them when they got him in the

1199
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:43,840
Speaker 3: hard and trade. I think that that has been a

1200
00:54:43,880 --> 00:54:46,360
Speaker 3: little bit of a hidden gem. So they're playing awesome.

1201
00:54:46,600 --> 00:54:48,040
Speaker 3: I definitely like them more.

1202
00:54:49,440 --> 00:54:53,000
Speaker 2: So I'm higher on the sixers. The big thing that

1203
00:54:53,040 --> 00:54:57,360
Speaker 2: stood out to me was Tyre Smaxy being kind of

1204
00:54:57,360 --> 00:55:00,239
Speaker 2: somewhat of a question mark coming into the season. Would

1205
00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:02,359
Speaker 2: he be able to step into this much larger role.

1206
00:55:02,840 --> 00:55:06,359
Speaker 2: He's just straight up kicked ass like it's been it's been.

1207
00:55:06,640 --> 00:55:08,560
Speaker 2: I think if you were to put together a spectrum

1208
00:55:08,600 --> 00:55:11,279
Speaker 2: of all the different ways that the Max he as

1209
00:55:11,320 --> 00:55:14,680
Speaker 2: the number one perimeter option could have gone. It could

1210
00:55:14,719 --> 00:55:16,800
Speaker 2: not have gone better than it's gone to this point

1211
00:55:17,320 --> 00:55:19,160
Speaker 2: in the season. He's one of the best shooters in

1212
00:55:19,160 --> 00:55:21,080
Speaker 2: the league while also being one of the fastest players

1213
00:55:21,120 --> 00:55:23,520
Speaker 2: in the league, which is just a deadly combination. He's

1214
00:55:23,520 --> 00:55:25,759
Speaker 2: starting to figure out too, just like all the same

1215
00:55:25,840 --> 00:55:28,240
Speaker 2: timing stuff in terms of getting Embiid into his spots

1216
00:55:28,239 --> 00:55:33,560
Speaker 2: that James Harden had. Embiad's just insanely good the jump shot.

1217
00:55:33,600 --> 00:55:35,560
Speaker 2: It's weird because like he's making a lot more of

1218
00:55:35,600 --> 00:55:37,919
Speaker 2: his like face up jab step jump shots, but he's

1219
00:55:37,960 --> 00:55:39,759
Speaker 2: missing a lot more of his off the dribble jump

1220
00:55:39,760 --> 00:55:41,919
Speaker 2: shots that he missed that he made last year, right,

1221
00:55:42,200 --> 00:55:45,120
Speaker 2: So like it's weird because like the actual jump shot

1222
00:55:45,200 --> 00:55:47,360
Speaker 2: numbers are about where they were last year. It just

1223
00:55:47,440 --> 00:55:49,640
Speaker 2: looks different and it will be curious to see if

1224
00:55:49,640 --> 00:55:51,160
Speaker 2: you can make them when they get to the postseason.

1225
00:55:51,320 --> 00:55:53,920
Speaker 2: I was think Darryl Morridge has nailed the James Harden trade,

1226
00:55:54,120 --> 00:55:57,160
Speaker 2: got a really useful player back, and Nicholas Batoum Marcus

1227
00:55:57,160 --> 00:55:59,520
Speaker 2: Morris has been able to play and make some impact

1228
00:55:59,560 --> 00:56:03,200
Speaker 2: and small doses, but most importantly, they got draft compensation back,

1229
00:56:04,120 --> 00:56:05,360
Speaker 2: So I think they're in a position where they can

1230
00:56:05,400 --> 00:56:08,000
Speaker 2: make an additional move. This is one of my sneaky

1231
00:56:08,040 --> 00:56:10,120
Speaker 2: teams that I'd love to see get a Dejontay Murray

1232
00:56:10,920 --> 00:56:16,000
Speaker 2: because when I imagine a lineup where the perimeter speed

1233
00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:20,480
Speaker 2: of a Tobias Harris Nick Batoum type of three four

1234
00:56:20,640 --> 00:56:24,560
Speaker 2: is not quite as impactful, I love the idea of

1235
00:56:24,560 --> 00:56:26,920
Speaker 2: getting a Dejontay Murray to kind of be basically a

1236
00:56:26,920 --> 00:56:29,799
Speaker 2: better version of what d'An Anthony Melton is for them.

1237
00:56:30,160 --> 00:56:32,560
Speaker 2: The other thing with Dejontay Murray is he brings yet

1238
00:56:32,600 --> 00:56:35,279
Speaker 2: another dribble drive guy that can keep the defense in

1239
00:56:35,360 --> 00:56:38,360
Speaker 2: rotation for a team that when Dejontey would have the

1240
00:56:38,360 --> 00:56:41,440
Speaker 2: ball would be surrounded by Embiid who's been a deadly

1241
00:56:41,480 --> 00:56:44,239
Speaker 2: catch and shoot three point shooter this year, Maxi, who's

1242
00:56:44,239 --> 00:56:47,200
Speaker 2: a deadly catch and shoot three point shooter. Nick Patum

1243
00:56:47,320 --> 00:56:49,040
Speaker 2: was a deadly catch and shoot three point shooter. Like

1244
00:56:49,040 --> 00:56:51,160
Speaker 2: That's where I really like that kind of fit. That's

1245
00:56:51,840 --> 00:56:53,480
Speaker 2: the type of guy that I'd be keeping an eye

1246
00:56:53,480 --> 00:56:56,800
Speaker 2: on for Philly. I have them down at six because

1247
00:56:56,840 --> 00:56:59,680
Speaker 2: I just think in a playoff series, Tyrese Maxie is

1248
00:56:59,680 --> 00:57:02,840
Speaker 2: your number one perimeter option. In his first ever playoff

1249
00:57:02,880 --> 00:57:05,400
Speaker 2: run in that type of role could be in for

1250
00:57:05,440 --> 00:57:07,600
Speaker 2: some growing pains, just like you know, I had a

1251
00:57:07,600 --> 00:57:09,840
Speaker 2: mail back question in my show that I did today

1252
00:57:09,840 --> 00:57:12,920
Speaker 2: where people were, like, somebody asked about Tyrese Haliburton. It's like,

1253
00:57:13,120 --> 00:57:15,640
Speaker 2: I think Tyris Alburton is a transcendently great player. I

1254
00:57:15,640 --> 00:57:17,160
Speaker 2: don't think he's gonna go into the postseason and just

1255
00:57:17,240 --> 00:57:18,200
Speaker 2: kick everybody's.

1256
00:57:17,840 --> 00:57:19,200
Speaker 4: Ass right away. Like it takes time.

1257
00:57:19,240 --> 00:57:22,760
Speaker 2: You gotta like that environment is very much is like

1258
00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:26,040
Speaker 2: a growing Pains type of environment. But like if they

1259
00:57:26,160 --> 00:57:29,040
Speaker 2: hit the deadline, the Sixers are like one of those

1260
00:57:29,080 --> 00:57:31,280
Speaker 2: teams where if they make the right type of trade,

1261
00:57:31,320 --> 00:57:33,520
Speaker 2: I'd put him up with Boston and with it with Denver.

1262
00:57:33,640 --> 00:57:37,080
Speaker 2: That's how good I think Joel Embiid can be when

1263
00:57:37,120 --> 00:57:38,920
Speaker 2: he gets to the postseason. It's just can't he get

1264
00:57:38,920 --> 00:57:40,920
Speaker 2: their healthy and can he make his jump shot when

1265
00:57:40,960 --> 00:57:42,840
Speaker 2: he gets there and beat strikes me as one of

1266
00:57:42,840 --> 00:57:45,240
Speaker 2: those guys too that like when he breaks through, he's

1267
00:57:45,280 --> 00:57:48,200
Speaker 2: gonna shatter through and like suddenly it's gonna be like

1268
00:57:48,520 --> 00:57:51,600
Speaker 2: he just it's gonna be like like someone in the

1269
00:57:51,640 --> 00:57:54,480
Speaker 2: YouTube comments said, like Dirk, like a Dirk esque playoff run.

1270
00:57:54,520 --> 00:57:56,040
Speaker 2: That's kind of the way I look at it, where

1271
00:57:56,040 --> 00:57:58,240
Speaker 2: it's like he just has this reputation of being a

1272
00:57:58,240 --> 00:58:02,040
Speaker 2: playoff underperformer, and then when it goes right, he's just

1273
00:58:02,080 --> 00:58:04,880
Speaker 2: too good to not break through. Eventually, it's just gonna

1274
00:58:04,880 --> 00:58:08,040
Speaker 2: be a question of when, Yeah, all right, number seven,

1275
00:58:09,720 --> 00:58:12,600
Speaker 2: we're got to start with you, Carson the Minnesota Timberwolves.

1276
00:58:12,760 --> 00:58:14,480
Speaker 2: So are you higher or lower than you were in

1277
00:58:14,480 --> 00:58:16,480
Speaker 2: the Minnesota Timberwolves before the start of the season.

1278
00:58:17,280 --> 00:58:21,360
Speaker 3: I am much higher, And I came into this season

1279
00:58:21,480 --> 00:58:24,400
Speaker 3: with some optimism, just thinking, all right fully healthy, can

1280
00:58:24,440 --> 00:58:26,600
Speaker 3: they figure out the offensive fit a little bit more

1281
00:58:26,640 --> 00:58:29,280
Speaker 3: with the two bigs? Can they defend at a very

1282
00:58:29,320 --> 00:58:31,600
Speaker 3: high level? But then early in the year, I was like,

1283
00:58:31,840 --> 00:58:34,120
Speaker 3: I still think it's too clunky. I just don't think

1284
00:58:34,160 --> 00:58:36,360
Speaker 3: offensively they can reach the ceiling that they need to.

1285
00:58:37,000 --> 00:58:38,960
Speaker 3: But as the ear has gone on, I think the

1286
00:58:39,040 --> 00:58:41,400
Speaker 3: cat has gotten more comfortable. I think that he's also

1287
00:58:41,480 --> 00:58:43,520
Speaker 3: just improved as a shot maker, and I think we

1288
00:58:43,600 --> 00:58:47,040
Speaker 3: have seen that this is a truly dominant defense. In

1289
00:58:47,080 --> 00:58:48,880
Speaker 3: the regular season, it has been by far the best

1290
00:58:48,880 --> 00:58:52,880
Speaker 3: defense in the league. Gobert has returned to his peak

1291
00:58:52,960 --> 00:58:56,240
Speaker 3: level defensively, and he's doing that with by far the

1292
00:58:56,240 --> 00:58:58,920
Speaker 3: best defensive supporting castid he's ever had. Awesome dudes at

1293
00:58:58,920 --> 00:59:01,919
Speaker 3: the point of attack. Daniels is elite. Ant is really

1294
00:59:01,920 --> 00:59:04,400
Speaker 3: good when he wants to be, and Kat is doing

1295
00:59:04,720 --> 00:59:07,640
Speaker 3: so much more than we've ever seen him do defensively.

1296
00:59:07,680 --> 00:59:09,360
Speaker 3: He has committed so much more to that into the

1297
00:59:09,360 --> 00:59:12,200
Speaker 3: floor as a secondary rim protector. We know the value

1298
00:59:12,240 --> 00:59:15,560
Speaker 3: he can have guarding big bodies and post up scenarios,

1299
00:59:15,880 --> 00:59:19,000
Speaker 3: allowing Gobar to be a roamer in those playoff settings,

1300
00:59:19,000 --> 00:59:20,640
Speaker 3: and I think that that has been valuable. I didn't

1301
00:59:20,680 --> 00:59:23,520
Speaker 3: expect them to be this great defensively, even if I

1302
00:59:23,520 --> 00:59:25,400
Speaker 3: thought that would be the strength of this team. And

1303
00:59:25,440 --> 00:59:29,120
Speaker 3: then I think Ant has taken a couple mini leaps

1304
00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:31,800
Speaker 3: which I expected into But I think his playmaking is

1305
00:59:31,840 --> 00:59:34,640
Speaker 3: a bit better. I think we've seen him lean on

1306
00:59:34,680 --> 00:59:37,280
Speaker 3: that intermediate shot making a bit more, which has always

1307
00:59:37,280 --> 00:59:38,480
Speaker 3: been the weakness in his game.

1308
00:59:38,480 --> 00:59:39,320
Speaker 4: He's always been.

1309
00:59:39,240 --> 00:59:42,560
Speaker 3: Insane ninety ninth percentile athlete getting to the rim, and

1310
00:59:42,960 --> 00:59:44,680
Speaker 3: he's been hot and cold as a pull up shooter

1311
00:59:44,720 --> 00:59:47,080
Speaker 3: from deep, but has consistently improved there and has had

1312
00:59:47,120 --> 00:59:49,560
Speaker 3: really hot stretches. The thing has just been a lack

1313
00:59:49,640 --> 00:59:52,800
Speaker 3: of touch in terms of floaters and not really having

1314
00:59:52,960 --> 00:59:55,760
Speaker 3: any sort of mid range game, and his efficiency has.

1315
00:59:55,640 --> 00:59:57,040
Speaker 4: Gone down in those areas.

1316
00:59:57,040 --> 00:59:58,960
Speaker 3: He got off to the ear a really good start,

1317
00:59:59,000 --> 01:00:01,720
Speaker 3: and he was really good for Team USA in the offseason,

1318
01:00:02,080 --> 01:00:03,800
Speaker 3: so I thought maybe he'd take a bit more of

1319
01:00:03,840 --> 01:00:06,880
Speaker 3: a leap there. But he's still more comfortable, I would say,

1320
01:00:06,920 --> 01:00:09,400
Speaker 3: at least with this super versatile all around attack. And

1321
01:00:09,440 --> 01:00:11,880
Speaker 3: I really do like the supporting cast. I really like Conley,

1322
01:00:12,120 --> 01:00:14,360
Speaker 3: I really like McDaniels, I really like Kyle Anderson and

1323
01:00:14,400 --> 01:00:15,360
Speaker 3: Ozried off the bench.

1324
01:00:15,440 --> 01:00:16,920
Speaker 4: They're big, they're physical.

1325
01:00:17,560 --> 01:00:20,280
Speaker 3: They're not experienced on the level of Ad and Lebron,

1326
01:00:20,440 --> 01:00:22,600
Speaker 3: but most of their dudes have been in those playoff

1327
01:00:22,680 --> 01:00:25,040
Speaker 3: environments before and I do think that that matters. So

1328
01:00:25,520 --> 01:00:27,600
Speaker 3: this was not a team but that I first saw

1329
01:00:27,640 --> 01:00:30,160
Speaker 3: having a Western Conference Finals kind of ceiling, and now

1330
01:00:30,200 --> 01:00:32,480
Speaker 3: I absolutely absolutely think that they do.

1331
01:00:33,160 --> 01:00:35,920
Speaker 5: Yeah, I totally concur Heading into the season, I said

1332
01:00:35,960 --> 01:00:39,560
Speaker 5: the Rudy Gobert trade was the worst in NBA history, and.

1333
01:00:39,640 --> 01:00:40,960
Speaker 1: I was completely wrong on that.

1334
01:00:41,120 --> 01:00:43,200
Speaker 5: I thought that this is going to be a complete

1335
01:00:43,200 --> 01:00:45,480
Speaker 5: disaster with the draft capital that they gave up, and

1336
01:00:45,520 --> 01:00:47,480
Speaker 5: I thought it wasn't ever going to work, and I

1337
01:00:47,520 --> 01:00:49,920
Speaker 5: was wrong. A lot of it has to do with

1338
01:00:50,000 --> 01:00:53,440
Speaker 5: the time that this team is put into is I agree.

1339
01:00:53,440 --> 01:00:55,200
Speaker 5: I think this is the best defense in basketball. I

1340
01:00:55,200 --> 01:00:57,440
Speaker 5: think it is going to hold up during the playoff run.

1341
01:00:57,480 --> 01:01:01,160
Speaker 5: And then offensively, I buy in. Like I mentioned, it's

1342
01:01:01,200 --> 01:01:04,280
Speaker 5: Gobeer hitting guys out of the short role. Now it's

1343
01:01:04,360 --> 01:01:08,600
Speaker 5: Aunt not being afraid to use his guys, like taking

1344
01:01:08,640 --> 01:01:09,960
Speaker 5: a pump fake at the top of the key. He

1345
01:01:10,000 --> 01:01:11,960
Speaker 5: feeds another guy and then cuts to the basket and

1346
01:01:11,960 --> 01:01:14,640
Speaker 5: they feed it right back to him. Like the team

1347
01:01:14,720 --> 01:01:16,880
Speaker 5: just knows how to play with each other. I love

1348
01:01:16,960 --> 01:01:20,280
Speaker 5: the ball movement during a Minnesota game like it's a

1349
01:01:20,360 --> 01:01:23,840
Speaker 5: It's an offense that I believe in in the playoffs.

1350
01:01:24,040 --> 01:01:26,400
Speaker 5: I just think they work together, and they've played together

1351
01:01:26,480 --> 01:01:30,240
Speaker 5: long enough that it's they have real chemistry that I

1352
01:01:30,280 --> 01:01:32,400
Speaker 5: buy into. I'm much much higher on the Timberwolves, and

1353
01:01:32,400 --> 01:01:35,680
Speaker 5: I wholeheartedly buy into them as a Western Conference finals

1354
01:01:35,720 --> 01:01:38,480
Speaker 5: and potentially finals contender. Like Carson, I know you've said

1355
01:01:38,520 --> 01:01:40,840
Speaker 5: this on our show before too. It would take a

1356
01:01:40,840 --> 01:01:43,320
Speaker 5: lot in a hypothetical series against Denver, but I think

1357
01:01:43,320 --> 01:01:46,520
Speaker 5: they match up against Denver better than anybody else out West.

1358
01:01:47,560 --> 01:01:50,200
Speaker 2: So I want to be clear, I am much higher

1359
01:01:50,200 --> 01:01:51,960
Speaker 2: on the Timberwolves than I was to start the season.

1360
01:01:52,240 --> 01:01:54,240
Speaker 2: I've been on the Timberwolves for a while, pretty much

1361
01:01:54,280 --> 01:01:56,960
Speaker 2: since the end of last season. I've just loved the

1362
01:01:57,040 --> 01:02:01,360
Speaker 2: idea of aunt Jaden and Rudy as just unbelievable combination

1363
01:02:01,440 --> 01:02:05,000
Speaker 2: of like two just straight jackets on the perimeter and

1364
01:02:05,040 --> 01:02:06,920
Speaker 2: then a dude that, oh, you happen to beat them

1365
01:02:06,920 --> 01:02:08,280
Speaker 2: off the dribble. Well, here's one of the best rim

1366
01:02:08,320 --> 01:02:11,480
Speaker 2: protectors in NBA history waiting for you. On the backside.

1367
01:02:11,640 --> 01:02:14,480
Speaker 2: Andy Edwards is taking a leap his last eighteen games,

1368
01:02:14,520 --> 01:02:17,000
Speaker 2: He's like twenty nine points per game on like forty

1369
01:02:17,080 --> 01:02:19,720
Speaker 2: nine percent from the field and thirty nine percent from three.

1370
01:02:19,960 --> 01:02:23,440
Speaker 2: That's over a stretch where they played almost exclusively good teams.

1371
01:02:23,760 --> 01:02:26,480
Speaker 2: The defense is insane and is legitimate. Like, we watched

1372
01:02:26,520 --> 01:02:30,479
Speaker 2: their defense against all good opponents over the last month

1373
01:02:30,520 --> 01:02:33,080
Speaker 2: and a half or so, and they've been excellent in

1374
01:02:33,200 --> 01:02:36,120
Speaker 2: all of those games. When I say that, like I

1375
01:02:36,240 --> 01:02:39,760
Speaker 2: have a certain pessimism around the Minnesota Timberwolves in the postseason,

1376
01:02:39,800 --> 01:02:42,840
Speaker 2: it really is this simple. Their three main offensive weapons

1377
01:02:42,880 --> 01:02:46,520
Speaker 2: are Carltowns, Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards. Carl Towns is

1378
01:02:46,560 --> 01:02:51,280
Speaker 2: a historically inconsistent playoff performer, like great, one game, awful

1379
01:02:51,360 --> 01:02:55,040
Speaker 2: the next. Mike Conley is a old skill guard. As

1380
01:02:55,080 --> 01:02:58,400
Speaker 2: the point of attack physicality peak picks up. Slower skill

1381
01:02:58,440 --> 01:03:00,960
Speaker 2: guards tend to struggle a little bit. And Anthony Edwards

1382
01:03:01,040 --> 01:03:03,800
Speaker 2: is young and like once again, like we've talked about

1383
01:03:03,880 --> 01:03:06,520
Speaker 2: so many times on this even just with the three

1384
01:03:06,560 --> 01:03:10,280
Speaker 2: of us, it's just it's growing paints. How often do

1385
01:03:10,320 --> 01:03:14,520
Speaker 2: you see a dude in his early twenties like kick

1386
01:03:14,560 --> 01:03:18,200
Speaker 2: everybody's asking go all the way, like maybe he's Kevin Durant,

1387
01:03:19,000 --> 01:03:21,120
Speaker 2: But that's Kevin Durant. He's one of the ten greatest

1388
01:03:21,120 --> 01:03:23,120
Speaker 2: basketball players to ever play the game, at least in

1389
01:03:23,200 --> 01:03:25,800
Speaker 2: terms of the perimeter in modern NBA history. Right, So

1390
01:03:25,880 --> 01:03:29,680
Speaker 2: the point being, like I just have question marks about

1391
01:03:29,680 --> 01:03:34,000
Speaker 2: like the long term, like winning four playoff series type

1392
01:03:34,000 --> 01:03:36,200
Speaker 2: of environment. Because here's the thing, like Ant has shot

1393
01:03:36,240 --> 01:03:38,120
Speaker 2: really well with this pull up jump shot as of late,

1394
01:03:38,440 --> 01:03:40,800
Speaker 2: and he shot really well in the postseason into one

1395
01:03:40,880 --> 01:03:43,880
Speaker 2: series samples Ant's biggest One of the things that happens

1396
01:03:43,880 --> 01:03:47,280
Speaker 2: in the postseason is everything becomes geared around your star's weakness.

1397
01:03:48,440 --> 01:03:51,200
Speaker 2: It's no different than Joel Embiid how every single postseason

1398
01:03:51,200 --> 01:03:53,600
Speaker 2: he gets more turnovers than assists as teams just throw

1399
01:03:53,600 --> 01:03:55,760
Speaker 2: the kitchen sink at him and test his passing ability.

1400
01:03:56,080 --> 01:03:58,080
Speaker 2: That's that's what I expect teams to do to Ant

1401
01:03:58,080 --> 01:04:00,640
Speaker 2: in the postseason. There's this kind of concept with Ant

1402
01:04:00,640 --> 01:04:02,240
Speaker 2: where it's like, oh, you play off of him and

1403
01:04:02,280 --> 01:04:05,040
Speaker 2: you pray he misses. I could see teams going like, no,

1404
01:04:05,200 --> 01:04:07,600
Speaker 2: we're pressing up on you and we're packing the paint,

1405
01:04:07,880 --> 01:04:10,280
Speaker 2: and we're going to test you as a playmaker. Let's

1406
01:04:10,280 --> 01:04:12,640
Speaker 2: see if Let's see if you're disciplined enough for a

1407
01:04:12,680 --> 01:04:16,440
Speaker 2: seven game series to consistently make the right read. And oh,

1408
01:04:16,480 --> 01:04:18,000
Speaker 2: by the way, we're going to close out short on

1409
01:04:18,080 --> 01:04:19,320
Speaker 2: Jada McDaniels because he's got a.

1410
01:04:19,280 --> 01:04:20,480
Speaker 4: Little bit of a slower release.

1411
01:04:20,520 --> 01:04:22,440
Speaker 2: And you know, Mike Conley, we're going to bully his

1412
01:04:22,520 --> 01:04:26,400
Speaker 2: legs until he's tired and old. And you know, Carl Towns,

1413
01:04:26,400 --> 01:04:29,280
Speaker 2: you know, can be inconsistent offensively in the postseason. So like,

1414
01:04:29,520 --> 01:04:31,880
Speaker 2: that's where I think things could get a little ugly

1415
01:04:31,920 --> 01:04:35,120
Speaker 2: for them, is just they have their primary three offensive

1416
01:04:35,160 --> 01:04:38,600
Speaker 2: players are three guys that are all three of them

1417
01:04:38,600 --> 01:04:40,720
Speaker 2: are guys that have some sort of playoff question mark

1418
01:04:40,760 --> 01:04:43,040
Speaker 2: surrounding them in some way, shape or form. So that's

1419
01:04:43,040 --> 01:04:44,720
Speaker 2: why I have him as low as I have them.

1420
01:04:44,960 --> 01:04:47,480
Speaker 2: But the defense is real and they are going to

1421
01:04:47,640 --> 01:04:50,840
Speaker 2: bully some teams physically. It just more comes down to

1422
01:04:50,920 --> 01:04:54,280
Speaker 2: that half court, slow down environment and whether or not

1423
01:04:54,360 --> 01:04:57,840
Speaker 2: Anthony Edwards can go toe to toe with the very

1424
01:04:57,880 --> 01:05:00,280
Speaker 2: best players in the league and beat the in a

1425
01:05:00,280 --> 01:05:03,600
Speaker 2: playoff series, and NBA history tells us the dude in

1426
01:05:03,640 --> 01:05:06,400
Speaker 2: his early twenties typically does not. But I love the

1427
01:05:06,440 --> 01:05:09,800
Speaker 2: Timberwolves long term. I would give them like they feel

1428
01:05:09,800 --> 01:05:12,320
Speaker 2: like one of those teams that, like two years from now,

1429
01:05:12,400 --> 01:05:14,560
Speaker 2: is just going to be a perennial top tier contender.

1430
01:05:15,000 --> 01:05:18,160
Speaker 2: So like I feel about Minnesota the way I feel

1431
01:05:18,160 --> 01:05:20,680
Speaker 2: about Oklahoma City, I viewed them as like an upcoming

1432
01:05:20,760 --> 01:05:23,880
Speaker 2: staple in the league for half a decade. I'm just

1433
01:05:23,920 --> 01:05:27,480
Speaker 2: saying in this singular season, they strike me as one

1434
01:05:27,480 --> 01:05:29,600
Speaker 2: of those teams that's overachieving a bit in the regular

1435
01:05:29,600 --> 01:05:32,040
Speaker 2: season and that will run into some roadblocks when they

1436
01:05:32,040 --> 01:05:34,640
Speaker 2: get to the postseason, which is super common for a

1437
01:05:34,680 --> 01:05:37,800
Speaker 2: team that's anchored by a young superstar and that has

1438
01:05:37,840 --> 01:05:41,400
Speaker 2: a certain amount of like athletic verve that they can

1439
01:05:41,440 --> 01:05:45,320
Speaker 2: rely on for the eighty two. Moving on to number eight,

1440
01:05:46,080 --> 01:05:50,000
Speaker 2: the Phoenix Suns logan, you're up first. Are you higher

1441
01:05:50,080 --> 01:05:51,480
Speaker 2: or lower on the Phoenix Suns than you were to

1442
01:05:51,480 --> 01:05:52,080
Speaker 2: start the season.

1443
01:05:52,600 --> 01:05:55,520
Speaker 5: I'm a little lower on the Sungs just because I

1444
01:05:55,520 --> 01:05:58,480
Speaker 5: did have pretty high expectations for them coming into this year.

1445
01:05:58,600 --> 01:06:02,640
Speaker 5: I thought that they would dominate the regular season. Honestly, Jason,

1446
01:06:02,640 --> 01:06:04,280
Speaker 5: I thought you summed it up really well with the

1447
01:06:04,280 --> 01:06:07,120
Speaker 5: Clippers talk like that's that was what I expected out

1448
01:06:07,160 --> 01:06:09,840
Speaker 5: of Phoenix, for them to just dominate skill wise. No,

1449
01:06:10,080 --> 01:06:13,960
Speaker 5: obviously takes a while for everybody get healthy, Brad be Okad.

1450
01:06:14,160 --> 01:06:16,600
Speaker 5: What we've seen with the Big three I think is encouraging,

1451
01:06:16,720 --> 01:06:19,000
Speaker 5: like they are gonna be able to do that in

1452
01:06:19,040 --> 01:06:21,760
Speaker 5: a hypothetical series that is terrifying to get matched up

1453
01:06:21,760 --> 01:06:24,280
Speaker 5: against where they could just drop one twenty to one

1454
01:06:24,360 --> 01:06:26,680
Speaker 5: thirty on your head and steal a couple of games.

1455
01:06:27,560 --> 01:06:29,600
Speaker 5: It obviously comes down to the role players, right, And

1456
01:06:29,640 --> 01:06:33,840
Speaker 5: I'm not really moved enough yet to really say that

1457
01:06:34,880 --> 01:06:37,160
Speaker 5: I'm more confident in Phoenix. I was confident coming into

1458
01:06:37,200 --> 01:06:38,480
Speaker 5: this year with the role players. I though that they

1459
01:06:38,480 --> 01:06:40,160
Speaker 5: did the best job that they could in filling out

1460
01:06:40,200 --> 01:06:44,840
Speaker 5: the roster, and they're still just concerns like who is

1461
01:06:44,880 --> 01:06:49,040
Speaker 5: going to take They don't feel that far away to me,

1462
01:06:49,080 --> 01:06:50,840
Speaker 5: I guess, is what I'm saying. But all of their

1463
01:06:50,960 --> 01:06:54,520
Speaker 5: role players are so one dimensional. If it's Grace and Allen,

1464
01:06:54,840 --> 01:06:58,120
Speaker 5: if it's Josha Koge, whoever you point to. They are

1465
01:06:58,480 --> 01:07:01,360
Speaker 5: really good on one side of the ball, but their lackluster.

1466
01:07:01,440 --> 01:07:02,960
Speaker 1: They just need more two way guys.

1467
01:07:03,680 --> 01:07:05,640
Speaker 5: I'm not out on the Suns, but I had really

1468
01:07:05,680 --> 01:07:08,920
Speaker 5: really high expectations for them in the regular season that

1469
01:07:09,040 --> 01:07:11,760
Speaker 5: haven't been met, and so now I'm just left with

1470
01:07:12,760 --> 01:07:15,240
Speaker 5: injury and depth concerns, which is kind of what I

1471
01:07:15,320 --> 01:07:16,960
Speaker 5: were my red flags at the start of the year.

1472
01:07:17,040 --> 01:07:19,360
Speaker 5: So I'm not out on Phoenix by any means. They

1473
01:07:19,360 --> 01:07:22,480
Speaker 5: are much too talented to count out, but I just

1474
01:07:22,520 --> 01:07:24,439
Speaker 5: haven't seen enough of it for me to be really

1475
01:07:24,480 --> 01:07:25,960
Speaker 5: deeply moved by Phoenix.

1476
01:07:27,320 --> 01:07:30,000
Speaker 3: I'm a little bit lower on Phoenix, even though at

1477
01:07:30,000 --> 01:07:32,440
Speaker 3: full strength, I would say they've looked pretty similar to

1478
01:07:32,480 --> 01:07:36,120
Speaker 3: what I expected, because other teams have shown me more

1479
01:07:36,160 --> 01:07:38,360
Speaker 3: because I have been really impressed by Minnesota and ok

1480
01:07:38,520 --> 01:07:42,520
Speaker 3: seeing certainly the Clippers, I do think that their offense

1481
01:07:42,680 --> 01:07:45,440
Speaker 3: is really good. And when the big three has been

1482
01:07:45,440 --> 01:07:47,560
Speaker 3: out there together, it's a small sample size, only one

1483
01:07:47,640 --> 01:07:49,560
Speaker 3: hundred and seventy five minutes, but they have an offensive

1484
01:07:49,600 --> 01:07:50,919
Speaker 3: rating of one hundred and twenty four.

1485
01:07:51,240 --> 01:07:52,280
Speaker 4: That's pretty damn good.

1486
01:07:52,360 --> 01:07:55,280
Speaker 3: And you just don't see teams who have three shot

1487
01:07:55,320 --> 01:07:59,439
Speaker 3: makers of this level, three ball handlers who are this devastating.

1488
01:08:00,080 --> 01:08:02,040
Speaker 3: And when you pair that with the spot up shooting

1489
01:08:02,080 --> 01:08:04,160
Speaker 3: that we've seen from Grayson Allen who has barely missed

1490
01:08:04,160 --> 01:08:07,360
Speaker 3: all year, and Eric Gordon like that's a scary offensive combination.

1491
01:08:08,240 --> 01:08:10,800
Speaker 3: The problem for me is the same thing that has

1492
01:08:10,800 --> 01:08:14,360
Speaker 3: been obvious since they put together this core. They are

1493
01:08:14,400 --> 01:08:16,680
Speaker 3: a low volume three point shooting team. They are very

1494
01:08:16,680 --> 01:08:19,240
Speaker 3: accurate there, but they're twenty third and threes made, which

1495
01:08:19,240 --> 01:08:21,800
Speaker 3: means they're not as inclined to go on those sprees

1496
01:08:21,960 --> 01:08:25,320
Speaker 3: like you might see from Boston. And at the same time,

1497
01:08:25,680 --> 01:08:28,679
Speaker 3: they're twenty eighth in field goals made inside of five feet.

1498
01:08:28,960 --> 01:08:32,000
Speaker 3: So when you are lacking in both high end rim

1499
01:08:32,040 --> 01:08:35,720
Speaker 3: pressure and you are lacking in consistent, dynamic volume three

1500
01:08:35,760 --> 01:08:38,839
Speaker 3: point shooting, you can have three of the most skilled

1501
01:08:38,840 --> 01:08:41,280
Speaker 3: mid range shot makers in the league, but at the

1502
01:08:41,360 --> 01:08:44,479
Speaker 3: end of the day, you're trading tough twos when other

1503
01:08:44,520 --> 01:08:47,599
Speaker 3: teams are getting easier twos or they're getting good looks

1504
01:08:47,600 --> 01:08:50,640
Speaker 3: from three. So for a team that is so offensively slanted,

1505
01:08:51,320 --> 01:08:53,920
Speaker 3: that just scares me. That scares me when you're comparing

1506
01:08:53,920 --> 01:08:57,200
Speaker 3: it to the formula Denver has where it's elite shooting

1507
01:08:57,360 --> 01:09:00,400
Speaker 3: and elite paint force, even the formula that the Clippers

1508
01:09:00,400 --> 01:09:04,720
Speaker 3: have because they have more elite three point shooting. Because defensively,

1509
01:09:05,640 --> 01:09:08,640
Speaker 3: this team can only be so good, like they've rebounded

1510
01:09:08,640 --> 01:09:11,479
Speaker 3: well this year, they just have fundamental limitations there. They're

1511
01:09:11,479 --> 01:09:15,760
Speaker 3: sixteenth in defensive rating. And when you have core lineups

1512
01:09:15,800 --> 01:09:19,680
Speaker 3: that involve Beal and Allen and Nurk out there, I

1513
01:09:19,800 --> 01:09:22,800
Speaker 3: just think you can only climb so high. I think

1514
01:09:22,880 --> 01:09:25,080
Speaker 3: we did see an interesting look with Katie at the five.

1515
01:09:25,240 --> 01:09:27,639
Speaker 3: I think that'll be fun for specific matchups. It kind

1516
01:09:27,640 --> 01:09:29,960
Speaker 3: of gave fits to the Kings. I thought that was

1517
01:09:30,000 --> 01:09:33,800
Speaker 3: a bit embarrassing for Sabonis, like they looked quicker. Defensively,

1518
01:09:33,840 --> 01:09:36,639
Speaker 3: they doubled, they rotated well, and offensively it was awesome.

1519
01:09:36,680 --> 01:09:37,559
Speaker 4: It was super spread out.

1520
01:09:37,600 --> 01:09:40,840
Speaker 3: They had skill everywhere against some of like the really

1521
01:09:40,840 --> 01:09:43,720
Speaker 3: big teams who will punish them for going small like that.

1522
01:09:44,000 --> 01:09:44,479
Speaker 4: I don't know.

1523
01:09:44,439 --> 01:09:47,120
Speaker 3: How viable it is for extended stretches. I think it

1524
01:09:47,160 --> 01:09:49,160
Speaker 3: can be a weapon. I don't think it's a fix

1525
01:09:49,240 --> 01:09:51,840
Speaker 3: to some of the limitations they have. So this team

1526
01:09:51,880 --> 01:09:54,360
Speaker 3: looks a lot like I expected, but I'm a little

1527
01:09:54,360 --> 01:09:55,800
Speaker 3: bit lower on them.

1528
01:09:56,200 --> 01:09:58,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm lower as well, just because again I thought

1529
01:09:58,200 --> 01:09:59,920
Speaker 2: they'd look like I put in my notes. I thought

1530
01:09:59,920 --> 01:10:01,840
Speaker 2: that looked like the twenty twenty two nets, Like that's

1531
01:10:01,840 --> 01:10:03,400
Speaker 2: just what I expect that I expect them just to

1532
01:10:03,479 --> 01:10:05,200
Speaker 2: rack up the wins. I do want to give him

1533
01:10:05,200 --> 01:10:07,240
Speaker 2: some slack in the sense that the Bradley Beald, Devin Booker,

1534
01:10:07,280 --> 01:10:10,719
Speaker 2: Kevin Durant combo hasn't had that much time to work together.

1535
01:10:11,000 --> 01:10:13,360
Speaker 2: The KD at the five stuff is interesting because I

1536
01:10:13,640 --> 01:10:15,960
Speaker 2: agree with you, Carson, I think it's very matchup specific

1537
01:10:16,000 --> 01:10:18,640
Speaker 2: and I think it's a short doses thing because it

1538
01:10:19,479 --> 01:10:23,200
Speaker 2: depended on two things. One, Kevin Durant playing some of

1539
01:10:23,200 --> 01:10:25,000
Speaker 2: the best defense that you've seen from him in the

1540
01:10:25,080 --> 01:10:28,439
Speaker 2: last five years, Like just he was so incredible defensively

1541
01:10:28,439 --> 01:10:30,280
Speaker 2: down the stretch of that game. And then two, there

1542
01:10:30,280 --> 01:10:33,160
Speaker 2: were multiple examples where Sabonis had smaller defenders on him

1543
01:10:33,160 --> 01:10:35,760
Speaker 2: and just didn't even look at the basket. But that's

1544
01:10:35,840 --> 01:10:38,639
Speaker 2: kind of like one of the advantages of that type

1545
01:10:38,640 --> 01:10:40,479
Speaker 2: of lineup is it's a curve ball, it's an off

1546
01:10:40,479 --> 01:10:43,520
Speaker 2: speed pitch. It's one it's one you throw to disrupt

1547
01:10:43,520 --> 01:10:45,680
Speaker 2: the rhythm of the game and then you bail out

1548
01:10:45,720 --> 01:10:48,280
Speaker 2: of it quickly, or if there is a matchup where

1549
01:10:48,320 --> 01:10:50,240
Speaker 2: you have some advantage, you could stick with it. But

1550
01:10:50,360 --> 01:10:52,880
Speaker 2: like I use the death lineup as an example, not

1551
01:10:53,000 --> 01:10:54,679
Speaker 2: because I think it's as good as the death lineup.

1552
01:10:54,720 --> 01:10:56,680
Speaker 2: That's the greatest lineup that's ever touched a basketball court,

1553
01:10:56,760 --> 01:10:59,040
Speaker 2: especially when you had Kevin Durant into that mix. But

1554
01:10:59,560 --> 01:11:02,400
Speaker 2: it was never used to start games. It was ever

1555
01:11:02,600 --> 01:11:05,320
Speaker 2: used as like there. I mean they used it to

1556
01:11:05,360 --> 01:11:07,840
Speaker 2: I think they occasionally started Andrey Guadala in the playoffs

1557
01:11:08,000 --> 01:11:10,960
Speaker 2: before KD got there, But like for the most part,

1558
01:11:11,280 --> 01:11:13,679
Speaker 2: it was a counter that Golden State used in short

1559
01:11:13,800 --> 01:11:17,040
Speaker 2: doses to screw up a basketball game and then to

1560
01:11:17,120 --> 01:11:19,200
Speaker 2: close basketball games. So that's kind of the way I

1561
01:11:19,240 --> 01:11:22,439
Speaker 2: see it. But again, like you said it perfectly, Carson,

1562
01:11:22,760 --> 01:11:26,400
Speaker 2: NBA history tells us teams that rely on pull up

1563
01:11:26,479 --> 01:11:29,040
Speaker 2: jump shooting and don't get easy shots around the basket

1564
01:11:29,120 --> 01:11:33,400
Speaker 2: that that also aren't great on defense typically don't win,

1565
01:11:33,960 --> 01:11:36,680
Speaker 2: and so that doesn't mean the Suns can't win. But

1566
01:11:36,920 --> 01:11:39,639
Speaker 2: through forty games or forty one games through half the season,

1567
01:11:40,360 --> 01:11:43,200
Speaker 2: I certainly am lower on them than I was before

1568
01:11:43,280 --> 01:11:45,640
Speaker 2: the season because I was expecting more. All Right, we

1569
01:11:45,680 --> 01:11:47,160
Speaker 2: have three more before we get out of here today,

1570
01:11:47,280 --> 01:11:49,800
Speaker 2: Starting with you, Carson, Oklahoma City Thunder, you higher or

1571
01:11:49,840 --> 01:11:51,559
Speaker 2: lower on the Oklahoma City Thunder than you were to

1572
01:11:51,560 --> 01:11:52,160
Speaker 2: start the season.

1573
01:11:53,080 --> 01:11:55,960
Speaker 3: I am definitely higher, and I would be higher on

1574
01:11:56,000 --> 01:11:59,559
Speaker 3: them than a team like the Suns because I think, yeah,

1575
01:11:59,600 --> 01:12:03,280
Speaker 3: there's obviously the playoff experience factor and the fact that

1576
01:12:03,520 --> 01:12:06,640
Speaker 3: the Suns have Katie Booken Beal, but I think that

1577
01:12:06,800 --> 01:12:08,720
Speaker 3: SGA could easily be the.

1578
01:12:08,640 --> 01:12:09,759
Speaker 4: Best player in that series.

1579
01:12:09,800 --> 01:12:12,400
Speaker 3: I think that he is a dominant force, and I

1580
01:12:12,439 --> 01:12:14,960
Speaker 3: think that the supporting Cats and OKSE is excellent. I

1581
01:12:15,040 --> 01:12:18,599
Speaker 3: have been a big Jalen Williams guy. Oh my goodness,

1582
01:12:18,600 --> 01:12:20,360
Speaker 3: though he is so good the tear that he is

1583
01:12:20,400 --> 01:12:23,760
Speaker 3: on this month, I think they've played ten games. He

1584
01:12:23,880 --> 01:12:27,120
Speaker 3: shot like sixty five percent from the field, sixty percent

1585
01:12:27,160 --> 01:12:29,240
Speaker 3: from deep, while he's giving you twenty one points six

1586
01:12:29,320 --> 01:12:33,760
Speaker 3: as sists a game just a problem athletically a good playmaker,

1587
01:12:34,080 --> 01:12:37,599
Speaker 3: a really good shooter, and I think that chet At

1588
01:12:37,640 --> 01:12:40,360
Speaker 3: another guy mentioned here in terms of dynamic play finisher,

1589
01:12:40,880 --> 01:12:43,640
Speaker 3: really good three point shooter, Stretch Big, another guy who

1590
01:12:43,680 --> 01:12:45,760
Speaker 3: you trust to handle a bit, to playmake and then

1591
01:12:45,800 --> 01:12:49,280
Speaker 3: defensively is an awesome Rimp protector. The limitation they have

1592
01:12:49,880 --> 01:12:53,280
Speaker 3: is a experience does matter. I think that they're good

1593
01:12:53,400 --> 01:12:55,280
Speaker 3: enough to where they could win a first round series

1594
01:12:55,320 --> 01:12:57,040
Speaker 3: just based off of talent, but making a run of

1595
01:12:57,080 --> 01:13:00,479
Speaker 3: the finals is like another conversation. And be they are

1596
01:13:00,520 --> 01:13:01,960
Speaker 3: so slight in the front court. They're one of the

1597
01:13:02,000 --> 01:13:04,120
Speaker 3: weakest rebounding teams in the league. Chet is an elite

1598
01:13:04,160 --> 01:13:07,080
Speaker 3: rimp protector. He is not a very good rebounding five.

1599
01:13:07,240 --> 01:13:10,759
Speaker 3: And the other dudes around him, like they have athletic wings,

1600
01:13:10,800 --> 01:13:13,680
Speaker 3: they just don't have big physical wings. And so I

1601
01:13:13,680 --> 01:13:17,240
Speaker 3: think that as well as they may defend all around,

1602
01:13:17,720 --> 01:13:20,000
Speaker 3: that's going to put a bit of a ceiling on them.

1603
01:13:20,040 --> 01:13:21,880
Speaker 3: But I love the Thunder. I thought they would take

1604
01:13:21,880 --> 01:13:25,280
Speaker 3: Elape this year to be like a forty eight win team,

1605
01:13:25,360 --> 01:13:27,519
Speaker 3: a really tough first round out. Maybe they sneak a

1606
01:13:27,520 --> 01:13:29,639
Speaker 3: first round series, and I think that they are clearly

1607
01:13:29,680 --> 01:13:32,719
Speaker 3: ahead of schedule, and the future is insanely bright because

1608
01:13:32,720 --> 01:13:35,559
Speaker 3: I mentioned the Big three, But like I love Keson Wallace,

1609
01:13:35,920 --> 01:13:38,800
Speaker 3: I think that they can move Josh Giddy, and I

1610
01:13:38,880 --> 01:13:42,040
Speaker 3: think that he has started to recuperate his value a

1611
01:13:42,080 --> 01:13:43,680
Speaker 3: bit because he's been playing better. He didn't look like

1612
01:13:43,720 --> 01:13:45,559
Speaker 3: an NBA player for like a month and a half

1613
01:13:45,600 --> 01:13:49,559
Speaker 3: this year. So the future is crazy bright, but they're

1614
01:13:49,600 --> 01:13:52,320
Speaker 3: just not quite there. Really is a matter of youth.

1615
01:13:52,439 --> 01:13:55,680
Speaker 5: Largely, I wholeheartedly agree with Carson. I'm much higher on

1616
01:13:55,720 --> 01:13:58,200
Speaker 5: the thunder coming in. I want to give a massive

1617
01:13:58,200 --> 01:13:59,920
Speaker 5: shout out to chet Holmgren for what he's done on

1618
01:13:59,880 --> 01:14:03,920
Speaker 5: the interior, defending completely transforming the inside of his defense,

1619
01:14:03,960 --> 01:14:05,760
Speaker 5: and just for the effort that okay see gives night

1620
01:14:05,800 --> 01:14:08,160
Speaker 5: to night. I do want to ask you, Jason, if

1621
01:14:08,200 --> 01:14:10,520
Speaker 5: you have any ideas. I know we've talked about this periodically.

1622
01:14:11,400 --> 01:14:12,840
Speaker 5: I mean, is there a move you guys think they

1623
01:14:12,840 --> 01:14:15,600
Speaker 5: should explore at the deadline to accelerate this timeline.

1624
01:14:17,280 --> 01:14:19,160
Speaker 2: I still lean towards Lori market and would be the

1625
01:14:19,160 --> 01:14:22,080
Speaker 2: one that I'd be looking at, But if Laurie is unavailable,

1626
01:14:22,120 --> 01:14:24,880
Speaker 2: I'd hang tight, Like I don't think Jeremy Grant's that guy.

1627
01:14:24,960 --> 01:14:27,439
Speaker 4: I don't think DeAndre Hunter is that guy. I don't think.

1628
01:14:27,640 --> 01:14:30,120
Speaker 2: I don't think there's like a obvious guy that they

1629
01:14:30,120 --> 01:14:33,200
Speaker 2: should Like Carson mentioned this, and this is the truth,

1630
01:14:33,320 --> 01:14:35,960
Speaker 2: the truth, Like we were all higher on the Thunder,

1631
01:14:36,040 --> 01:14:38,840
Speaker 2: and we were already high on the thunder before the season,

1632
01:14:38,960 --> 01:14:41,840
Speaker 2: like I was with Carson. I thought they'd be right

1633
01:14:41,880 --> 01:14:44,920
Speaker 2: in the mix, and instead they're like better than most

1634
01:14:45,120 --> 01:14:48,679
Speaker 2: most of the teams. Like that's that's where it's been again.

1635
01:14:48,720 --> 01:14:50,920
Speaker 2: Like I want to be clear, I put Minnesota in

1636
01:14:50,960 --> 01:14:54,640
Speaker 2: Oklahoma City together. Minnesota's further along on that path. Like

1637
01:14:54,680 --> 01:14:56,920
Speaker 2: to be clear, Minnesota is further along on that path,

1638
01:14:57,120 --> 01:14:59,040
Speaker 2: but Oklahoma City's on the same path. And what I

1639
01:14:59,080 --> 01:15:00,840
Speaker 2: mean by that is like they're both on like a

1640
01:15:00,840 --> 01:15:03,439
Speaker 2: freight train towards like bona fide year in, year out

1641
01:15:03,520 --> 01:15:07,679
Speaker 2: championship contention led by a bonafide superstar. I think SGA

1642
01:15:07,800 --> 01:15:10,880
Speaker 2: and both are like legitimate superstars.

1643
01:15:11,120 --> 01:15:11,839
Speaker 4: I just don't.

1644
01:15:11,720 --> 01:15:16,679
Speaker 2: Necessarily see unless unless they feel like throwing the Godfather

1645
01:15:16,760 --> 01:15:19,200
Speaker 2: off or at market in, I just don't see the

1646
01:15:19,200 --> 01:15:22,880
Speaker 2: point of rushing that process simply because of the fact

1647
01:15:23,760 --> 01:15:25,320
Speaker 2: that they're not gonna win it this year. They're just

1648
01:15:25,400 --> 01:15:27,479
Speaker 2: they're just not being too small. They're they're way too small.

1649
01:15:27,520 --> 01:15:29,840
Speaker 2: They're not gonna win it this year. That's not to

1650
01:15:29,880 --> 01:15:32,840
Speaker 2: say it can't, but it's like their chances are extremely

1651
01:15:32,960 --> 01:15:35,360
Speaker 2: slim on that front. Not only are they're young and

1652
01:15:35,400 --> 01:15:37,720
Speaker 2: they're small, those are two. That's like, that's a that's

1653
01:15:37,720 --> 01:15:39,719
Speaker 2: a that's a death sentence in the in the NBA

1654
01:15:39,760 --> 01:15:42,960
Speaker 2: playoffs in my opinion. So like, the other thing too,

1655
01:15:43,000 --> 01:15:45,000
Speaker 2: is you could argue even on the market in front,

1656
01:15:45,040 --> 01:15:47,400
Speaker 2: like and I'll just pitch this one back to you guys, like,

1657
01:15:48,080 --> 01:15:49,920
Speaker 2: wouldn't they be better off looking for more of a

1658
01:15:49,920 --> 01:15:52,080
Speaker 2: dirty work for Like, wouldn't they be better off looking

1659
01:15:52,120 --> 01:15:53,679
Speaker 2: for like the next Aaron Gordon?

1660
01:15:55,880 --> 01:15:59,759
Speaker 3: Probably, but it would be tough for me to pass

1661
01:15:59,880 --> 01:16:01,800
Speaker 3: on marking him to some extent. I just think that

1662
01:16:01,840 --> 01:16:06,400
Speaker 3: he's such an awesome fit offensively, he's so good first

1663
01:16:06,439 --> 01:16:08,760
Speaker 3: of all, and I don't think that you're going to

1664
01:16:08,800 --> 01:16:10,760
Speaker 3: be able to pry him away from Utah right now.

1665
01:16:10,960 --> 01:16:13,120
Speaker 3: That's a team that has won fifteen of their last

1666
01:16:13,120 --> 01:16:15,479
Speaker 3: twenty one. They almost beat the Thunder last night. Will

1667
01:16:15,520 --> 01:16:16,599
Speaker 3: Hardy is an amazing coach.

1668
01:16:16,600 --> 01:16:20,639
Speaker 2: But that's January basketball. Carson, that's a young thing. Oh

1669
01:16:20,760 --> 01:16:23,880
Speaker 2: the overall stretch. Yes, absolutely, that's a young, fast team

1670
01:16:23,880 --> 01:16:25,799
Speaker 2: in January. That's so classic.

1671
01:16:25,960 --> 01:16:27,000
Speaker 4: Totally agree.

1672
01:16:27,080 --> 01:16:28,960
Speaker 3: I want to be clear, I don't think that the

1673
01:16:29,040 --> 01:16:31,800
Speaker 3: Jazz make the playoffs this year. If they did, I

1674
01:16:31,800 --> 01:16:33,559
Speaker 3: think they get boat raced. I think when you look

1675
01:16:33,600 --> 01:16:36,320
Speaker 3: at the top eleven teams in the West, there are

1676
01:16:36,360 --> 01:16:38,559
Speaker 3: ten teams that are more talented than the Utah Jazz

1677
01:16:38,600 --> 01:16:39,240
Speaker 3: pretty clearly.

1678
01:16:39,439 --> 01:16:43,120
Speaker 4: But Lowry is that dude. He's amazing. I could talk

1679
01:16:43,160 --> 01:16:44,840
Speaker 4: about him to no end. But yeah, what if I

1680
01:16:44,880 --> 01:16:45,920
Speaker 4: offer you six picks?

1681
01:16:47,920 --> 01:16:50,080
Speaker 3: I mean, if you give me six picks, and if

1682
01:16:50,120 --> 01:16:52,760
Speaker 3: you give me like Cason Wallace, because you got to

1683
01:16:52,800 --> 01:16:54,920
Speaker 3: make the contracts. It's easy to match contracts with Lowry

1684
01:16:54,920 --> 01:16:56,760
Speaker 3: because he makes eighteen million dollars a year.

1685
01:16:56,800 --> 01:16:58,360
Speaker 4: Is the other thing. Yeah, I would do that if

1686
01:16:58,360 --> 01:17:01,080
Speaker 4: I were the Jazz, So I why not?

1687
01:17:02,040 --> 01:17:04,920
Speaker 2: And why not give yourself an additional playoff run to

1688
01:17:05,000 --> 01:17:07,320
Speaker 2: build chemistry and battle scars with that group?

1689
01:17:07,400 --> 01:17:09,200
Speaker 4: I would, I would.

1690
01:17:09,560 --> 01:17:12,320
Speaker 3: I would absolutely be all in on Lowry if I

1691
01:17:12,360 --> 01:17:14,880
Speaker 3: were the Thunder. But I also agree with you. If

1692
01:17:14,920 --> 01:17:17,360
Speaker 3: there were an equally good player in the archetype of

1693
01:17:17,400 --> 01:17:19,840
Speaker 3: an Aaron Gordon, where it's like, hey, this is a

1694
01:17:19,880 --> 01:17:22,280
Speaker 3: dude who can defend the post at a really high level.

1695
01:17:22,439 --> 01:17:26,759
Speaker 3: Lowry's a really good rebounder, but he's certainly progressed defensively.

1696
01:17:26,800 --> 01:17:29,280
Speaker 3: He's just not going to be a legitimate plus there.

1697
01:17:29,920 --> 01:17:31,679
Speaker 3: But if you can get Lowry, I get Lowry, because

1698
01:17:31,680 --> 01:17:33,719
Speaker 3: I think Lowry is probably a top twenty five player

1699
01:17:33,720 --> 01:17:36,040
Speaker 3: in the league. He might be the most underrated star

1700
01:17:36,120 --> 01:17:40,320
Speaker 3: in basketball. He is just a hyper efficient, crazy, versatile

1701
01:17:40,320 --> 01:17:43,520
Speaker 3: offensive weapon who doesn't need the ball, who does ad size,

1702
01:17:43,800 --> 01:17:46,599
Speaker 3: who is not slight like, he's strong, he's physical.

1703
01:17:47,320 --> 01:17:49,840
Speaker 4: I would love that for them.

1704
01:17:49,960 --> 01:17:52,160
Speaker 5: I think it's a home un go ahead logan. I mean,

1705
01:17:52,200 --> 01:17:53,559
Speaker 5: I just think that's a home run. I would do

1706
01:17:53,560 --> 01:17:57,559
Speaker 5: that in a heartbeat, Like it addresses everything, the size,

1707
01:17:57,640 --> 01:18:00,600
Speaker 5: the spacing, screw defense at that point, let's just go

1708
01:18:00,640 --> 01:18:02,519
Speaker 5: score one hundred and thirty five points a game.

1709
01:18:02,640 --> 01:18:06,799
Speaker 3: Man. Well, you still think it would make their defense

1710
01:18:06,880 --> 01:18:08,640
Speaker 3: a little bit better because you would at least have

1711
01:18:08,640 --> 01:18:11,120
Speaker 3: another big body and plus rebounder on the interior. But

1712
01:18:11,120 --> 01:18:12,639
Speaker 3: it wouldn't really move the needle there.

1713
01:18:12,800 --> 01:18:13,040
Speaker 5: Well.

1714
01:18:13,160 --> 01:18:15,519
Speaker 2: Well, the other thing too, is you don't need speed

1715
01:18:15,560 --> 01:18:16,519
Speaker 2: out of that four spot.

1716
01:18:16,640 --> 01:18:17,920
Speaker 4: You need verticality.

1717
01:18:18,040 --> 01:18:22,519
Speaker 2: You need someone that can help in low man situations,

1718
01:18:22,560 --> 01:18:25,719
Speaker 2: like cleaning up messes when Chet leaves his feet, cleaning

1719
01:18:25,800 --> 01:18:27,080
Speaker 2: up the defensive glass.

1720
01:18:27,240 --> 01:18:28,799
Speaker 4: Like that's where that's.

1721
01:18:28,600 --> 01:18:31,600
Speaker 2: The case for marketing In is Like Aaron Gordon is

1722
01:18:31,680 --> 01:18:34,880
Speaker 2: one of the most important perimeter defenders for Denver because

1723
01:18:34,880 --> 01:18:37,800
Speaker 2: of all the big wings in the West. Like he's

1724
01:18:37,840 --> 01:18:40,599
Speaker 2: the guy who guards Kawhi, He's the guy who guards

1725
01:18:40,840 --> 01:18:45,599
Speaker 2: Lebron James. Like that, that's why they need Aaron Gordon.

1726
01:18:45,680 --> 01:18:47,679
Speaker 2: But like for Oka, see it's like that's lou Dort.

1727
01:18:47,680 --> 01:18:49,680
Speaker 2: Like lou Dort's taking that assignment so they can kind

1728
01:18:49,680 --> 01:18:52,720
Speaker 2: of like use so they can actually use market In

1729
01:18:52,760 --> 01:18:53,760
Speaker 2: as more of a low man.

1730
01:18:53,840 --> 01:18:55,200
Speaker 4: All right, we got two more before we get out

1731
01:18:55,200 --> 01:18:56,000
Speaker 4: of here. Number ten.

1732
01:18:56,160 --> 01:18:58,760
Speaker 2: The Miami Heat logan higher or lower the Miami Heat

1733
01:18:58,760 --> 01:18:59,840
Speaker 2: than you were to start the season.

1734
01:19:00,160 --> 01:19:02,880
Speaker 5: I am very high on the Miami Heat. I thought

1735
01:19:02,920 --> 01:19:06,160
Speaker 5: that I thought with their losses in this offseason that

1736
01:19:06,200 --> 01:19:08,760
Speaker 5: they were going to fall off a little bit. Now

1737
01:19:08,880 --> 01:19:10,800
Speaker 5: I say fall off. How much can the Miami Heat

1738
01:19:10,800 --> 01:19:12,800
Speaker 5: ever really fall off in a regular season? You got

1739
01:19:12,800 --> 01:19:15,880
Speaker 5: a rock solid culture and identity with Eric Spolster, with

1740
01:19:15,960 --> 01:19:19,000
Speaker 5: Jimmy Butler with bam Adebayo, the team is always going

1741
01:19:19,040 --> 01:19:20,479
Speaker 5: to win forty games, they're always going to be in

1742
01:19:20,479 --> 01:19:22,360
Speaker 5: the playoff picture, and they're always going to be looming.

1743
01:19:22,840 --> 01:19:23,840
Speaker 1: The two guys that have.

1744
01:19:23,840 --> 01:19:26,600
Speaker 5: Swung this for me are Jimei Hawk as junior and

1745
01:19:26,680 --> 01:19:30,439
Speaker 5: Nicola Jovich. You know, I was critical of both picks

1746
01:19:30,720 --> 01:19:32,759
Speaker 5: at the time. Yovic because he didn't crack the lineup

1747
01:19:32,800 --> 01:19:36,680
Speaker 5: in his rookie year really, and then Jimi Haks I

1748
01:19:36,800 --> 01:19:39,320
Speaker 5: just got wrong. I mean, I just thought that triple

1749
01:19:39,360 --> 01:19:41,880
Speaker 5: j was not I thought he was a really good

1750
01:19:41,920 --> 01:19:44,640
Speaker 5: college player, and I thought that it wasn't going to

1751
01:19:44,680 --> 01:19:46,720
Speaker 5: fully translate, like he'd be good at doing a lot

1752
01:19:46,720 --> 01:19:49,400
Speaker 5: of little things, but I didn't think he'd be great anywhere,

1753
01:19:49,400 --> 01:19:51,960
Speaker 5: and I didn't his athleticism didn't pop enough for me.

1754
01:19:53,520 --> 01:19:55,720
Speaker 5: The guy's just a baller, Like there's just guys that

1755
01:19:55,800 --> 01:19:57,840
Speaker 5: you watch that just get it. And he can do

1756
01:19:57,920 --> 01:20:01,759
Speaker 5: everything at every level. Mid range, on the low block,

1757
01:20:02,120 --> 01:20:04,719
Speaker 5: from the perimeter, he can handle, he can set you screens,

1758
01:20:04,760 --> 01:20:07,200
Speaker 5: he can defend, he crashes the glass. He's an athlete,

1759
01:20:07,240 --> 01:20:10,600
Speaker 5: like he's just a ballplayer. I want him, you know

1760
01:20:10,640 --> 01:20:12,320
Speaker 5: what I mean, I just want him he is a

1761
01:20:12,720 --> 01:20:16,599
Speaker 5: rock solid role player. And then Jovich, Oh my gosh, man,

1762
01:20:16,680 --> 01:20:19,640
Speaker 5: same thing. He can shoot, he moves the ball like

1763
01:20:19,680 --> 01:20:21,519
Speaker 5: he doesn't the ball doesn't stick on his hands.

1764
01:20:21,760 --> 01:20:24,120
Speaker 1: He can handle, He's an athlete. He can defend.

1765
01:20:25,720 --> 01:20:27,479
Speaker 5: You know, we can take for granted because I always

1766
01:20:27,479 --> 01:20:29,040
Speaker 5: think in the draft it's like, oh, we're looking to

1767
01:20:29,080 --> 01:20:31,000
Speaker 5: hit this home run. You know, you want the star

1768
01:20:31,120 --> 01:20:33,200
Speaker 5: guard that's going to go fill up and go get buckets.

1769
01:20:33,200 --> 01:20:35,240
Speaker 5: So I want the big man that is going to

1770
01:20:35,280 --> 01:20:39,919
Speaker 5: dominate the interior. Sometimes you just get the good players

1771
01:20:39,920 --> 01:20:41,479
Speaker 5: that are going to fit in the rotation and give

1772
01:20:41,520 --> 01:20:44,559
Speaker 5: you a great twenty five a night. Both of those

1773
01:20:44,600 --> 01:20:46,760
Speaker 5: guys are going to give you a great twenty five

1774
01:20:46,800 --> 01:20:48,559
Speaker 5: to thirty a night. And I think that's a real

1775
01:20:48,600 --> 01:20:51,040
Speaker 5: difference maker in a playoff series from Miami. And not

1776
01:20:51,120 --> 01:20:54,400
Speaker 5: only that, I think they are legitimate upgrades from the

1777
01:20:54,479 --> 01:20:57,400
Speaker 5: role players that Miami has had that have overachieved in

1778
01:20:57,439 --> 01:21:00,880
Speaker 5: years previous. I think that they're better than those guys.

1779
01:21:00,960 --> 01:21:02,720
Speaker 5: I'm much much higher on the Miami Heat, and it

1780
01:21:02,760 --> 01:21:04,479
Speaker 5: comes down to those two young wings.

1781
01:21:06,240 --> 01:21:08,800
Speaker 3: I am also higher on the Heat. I don't know

1782
01:21:08,840 --> 01:21:11,639
Speaker 3: if I'm quite as high on Yovich as you are.

1783
01:21:12,120 --> 01:21:14,960
Speaker 3: I do like his feel offensively, I like his skill.

1784
01:21:15,560 --> 01:21:18,000
Speaker 3: Not sure I would really describe him as an athlete,

1785
01:21:18,320 --> 01:21:21,559
Speaker 3: and I'm not sure the level that he's defending at.

1786
01:21:21,600 --> 01:21:23,360
Speaker 3: Like I think that he definitely plays with effort, but

1787
01:21:23,360 --> 01:21:25,080
Speaker 3: I just think there are some limitations there.

1788
01:21:25,240 --> 01:21:27,679
Speaker 4: Hawks is awesome, though I sold him short too.

1789
01:21:28,160 --> 01:21:31,280
Speaker 3: I thought that they needed to add like a more

1790
01:21:31,760 --> 01:21:34,360
Speaker 3: legitimately big guy in the front court who they could

1791
01:21:34,360 --> 01:21:36,519
Speaker 3: play alongside band because I felt that that lack of

1792
01:21:36,560 --> 01:21:39,719
Speaker 3: size was so consistently exposed. But he's just an awesome

1793
01:21:39,800 --> 01:21:43,599
Speaker 3: due at all wing and so skilled, so versatile. So

1794
01:21:43,760 --> 01:21:45,800
Speaker 3: I'm higher on them, And also when you look at

1795
01:21:45,840 --> 01:21:48,160
Speaker 3: the overall cast of wings, it's not just those two

1796
01:21:48,360 --> 01:21:52,720
Speaker 3: who are definitely positives. Duncan Robinson what could have been

1797
01:21:52,760 --> 01:21:54,799
Speaker 3: seen as like a fairy tale run in the playoffs,

1798
01:21:54,840 --> 01:21:58,559
Speaker 3: his resurgence is real. He is legitimately more comfortable as

1799
01:21:58,560 --> 01:22:01,360
Speaker 3: a ball handler, He is legitimately or comfortable as a playmaker.

1800
01:22:01,880 --> 01:22:03,880
Speaker 4: And I think then you add KYLEB.

1801
01:22:03,960 --> 01:22:07,200
Speaker 3: Martin, who is still good Josh Richardson, like, it's just

1802
01:22:07,240 --> 01:22:10,320
Speaker 3: a better wing rotation than last year, and they have

1803
01:22:10,439 --> 01:22:14,200
Speaker 3: dealt with injuries to everybody and I mean, everybody, Heroes

1804
01:22:14,240 --> 01:22:16,599
Speaker 3: missed half the year, Jimmy's missed what like fifteen games,

1805
01:22:16,680 --> 01:22:18,760
Speaker 3: Bams missed ten games, and there's still seven games above

1806
01:22:18,800 --> 01:22:21,439
Speaker 3: five hundred. So I think if that's a testament to

1807
01:22:21,439 --> 01:22:24,599
Speaker 3: the fact that this is a more talented overall basketball team.

1808
01:22:24,960 --> 01:22:28,040
Speaker 3: That being said, would I expect them to have more

1809
01:22:28,080 --> 01:22:30,360
Speaker 3: success than last year, which I guess would mean winning

1810
01:22:30,360 --> 01:22:33,200
Speaker 3: the NBA title. No, And I wouldn't expect them to

1811
01:22:33,240 --> 01:22:36,280
Speaker 3: replicate last year's success because so many outlier things had

1812
01:22:36,280 --> 01:22:36,960
Speaker 3: to go in their way.

1813
01:22:37,000 --> 01:22:38,360
Speaker 4: In saying, shooting.

1814
01:22:38,280 --> 01:22:43,400
Speaker 3: A really masterful exploitation of opposing team's weaknesses that I

1815
01:22:43,400 --> 01:22:47,000
Speaker 3: don't think is necessarily replicable at that level. Again, Jimmy

1816
01:22:47,040 --> 01:22:48,880
Speaker 3: being like a top five dude on the planet for

1817
01:22:48,920 --> 01:22:52,719
Speaker 3: a couple rounds. That was a pretty remarkable heat run.

1818
01:22:52,880 --> 01:22:55,519
Speaker 3: But how I felt about them knowing all that, looking

1819
01:22:55,560 --> 01:22:58,040
Speaker 3: at their roster coming into this year, I think that

1820
01:22:58,160 --> 01:22:59,360
Speaker 3: I am higher on them now.

1821
01:23:00,200 --> 01:23:01,320
Speaker 4: Yep, I'm higher as well.

1822
01:23:01,840 --> 01:23:03,960
Speaker 2: Did you guys know Hoime hawkas junior is the second

1823
01:23:03,960 --> 01:23:06,559
Speaker 2: best post up player in the league minimum of fifty

1824
01:23:06,600 --> 01:23:07,320
Speaker 2: reps this year.

1825
01:23:07,479 --> 01:23:10,040
Speaker 3: So awesome, And that's one thing, just really quick, Logan

1826
01:23:10,120 --> 01:23:12,559
Speaker 3: said the thing about him being like such a college bucket.

1827
01:23:12,760 --> 01:23:14,120
Speaker 3: That's like how I felt. I was like, Okay, this

1828
01:23:14,200 --> 01:23:16,320
Speaker 3: dude doesn't have like a crazy first step. He's not

1829
01:23:16,400 --> 01:23:19,160
Speaker 3: a volume of fishing three point shooter. He's cooking dudes

1830
01:23:19,200 --> 01:23:21,080
Speaker 3: with his post game at six seven, and it's just

1831
01:23:21,120 --> 01:23:22,720
Speaker 3: like stuff you don't really see in the league. But

1832
01:23:22,720 --> 01:23:25,679
Speaker 3: he's so good at it that it translates.

1833
01:23:25,720 --> 01:23:29,519
Speaker 2: That like that, like wing that's strong but maybe not

1834
01:23:29,640 --> 01:23:33,600
Speaker 2: as tall is almost becoming one of the more underrated

1835
01:23:33,640 --> 01:23:35,840
Speaker 2: positions in the league because the league has gone so

1836
01:23:36,040 --> 01:23:39,559
Speaker 2: heavy into the tall, skinny wing and we're just seeing

1837
01:23:39,600 --> 01:23:42,160
Speaker 2: like that lower center of gravity is just so good

1838
01:23:42,160 --> 01:23:45,559
Speaker 2: in the bullyball elements of the game. I love what

1839
01:23:45,600 --> 01:23:48,559
Speaker 2: you said about Duncan Robinson. I think both Duncan Robinson

1840
01:23:48,560 --> 01:23:51,320
Speaker 2: and Tyler Harrow have just gotten way better at weaponizing

1841
01:23:51,320 --> 01:23:54,799
Speaker 2: their shooting ability to make plays for other people. Jimmy

1842
01:23:54,840 --> 01:23:57,600
Speaker 2: Butler has been out this like this entire stretch and

1843
01:23:57,640 --> 01:24:00,400
Speaker 2: they're still like a serious basketball team. Bam at a

1844
01:24:00,400 --> 01:24:03,080
Speaker 2: Bios shooting forty five percent a pull of jump shots

1845
01:24:03,080 --> 01:24:06,080
Speaker 2: this year. That's a huge upside in my opinion, and

1846
01:24:06,120 --> 01:24:07,960
Speaker 2: they have a trade to make, and you know, They're

1847
01:24:07,960 --> 01:24:09,800
Speaker 2: another one of those teams like Philly where if they

1848
01:24:10,040 --> 01:24:12,559
Speaker 2: hit a home run at the trade deadline and bring

1849
01:24:12,560 --> 01:24:16,320
Speaker 2: in some sort of legitimate secondary shot creator just because

1850
01:24:16,320 --> 01:24:19,000
Speaker 2: I you know, I'd prefer Tyler harro On Duncan Robinson

1851
01:24:19,000 --> 01:24:22,559
Speaker 2: as like second side guys they can figure that piece out,

1852
01:24:22,920 --> 01:24:25,720
Speaker 2: like another dude who can like actually legitimately take over

1853
01:24:25,760 --> 01:24:28,679
Speaker 2: the offense and give Jimmy a break in a playoff setting,

1854
01:24:28,680 --> 01:24:31,320
Speaker 2: because I still am not necessarily sure Bam is ready

1855
01:24:31,320 --> 01:24:33,479
Speaker 2: for that. If they get that, that's where they could

1856
01:24:33,520 --> 01:24:36,120
Speaker 2: get into that really serious level. All Right, we have

1857
01:24:36,120 --> 01:24:38,520
Speaker 2: one last team before we get out of here for today,

1858
01:24:39,320 --> 01:24:45,920
Speaker 2: number eleven, and I I will never give up faith

1859
01:24:46,080 --> 01:24:48,120
Speaker 2: in the Golden State Warriors as long as Steph Curry

1860
01:24:48,160 --> 01:24:51,040
Speaker 2: is on the roster. I also think they're dealing with

1861
01:24:51,120 --> 01:24:53,400
Speaker 2: a whole lot of a classic like kind of like

1862
01:24:53,439 --> 01:24:56,040
Speaker 2: what the Lakers did last year, where it's like this

1863
01:24:56,080 --> 01:24:59,720
Speaker 2: team is just just want so badly to fast forward

1864
01:24:59,800 --> 01:25:02,200
Speaker 2: until after the deadline, Like you can just tell that's

1865
01:25:02,200 --> 01:25:05,000
Speaker 2: what's happening. And I fully expect them to re engage

1866
01:25:05,000 --> 01:25:08,920
Speaker 2: at that point, but it's been ugly to this point.

1867
01:25:09,080 --> 01:25:12,799
Speaker 2: Two games out of the plane Golden State Warriors. Carson,

1868
01:25:12,880 --> 01:25:14,840
Speaker 2: are you lower or higher on them than you were

1869
01:25:14,840 --> 01:25:15,519
Speaker 2: to start the season.

1870
01:25:16,320 --> 01:25:19,800
Speaker 3: I am significantly lower. I was optimistic about this scene

1871
01:25:19,800 --> 01:25:23,680
Speaker 3: because I thought that they made some awesome moves.

1872
01:25:23,240 --> 01:25:25,360
Speaker 4: In terms of adding death.

1873
01:25:25,560 --> 01:25:28,799
Speaker 3: I really loved the draft with Pods and especially TJD

1874
01:25:28,960 --> 01:25:29,679
Speaker 3: is a value pick.

1875
01:25:29,760 --> 01:25:30,439
Speaker 4: I mean, pots has.

1876
01:25:30,439 --> 01:25:32,640
Speaker 3: Ended up clearly being the better of the two, the

1877
01:25:32,680 --> 01:25:34,479
Speaker 3: more valuable of the two, but I thought getting TJD

1878
01:25:34,560 --> 01:25:37,800
Speaker 3: at fifty seven was insane. I liked what Chris Paul

1879
01:25:37,840 --> 01:25:40,639
Speaker 3: did for the second unit. I really liked Sarish, and

1880
01:25:40,720 --> 01:25:44,519
Speaker 3: I felt that if the starting lineup could sustain their level,

1881
01:25:44,920 --> 01:25:46,760
Speaker 3: then that just meant that this would be a better

1882
01:25:46,800 --> 01:25:48,800
Speaker 3: team than last year, when they still won a.

1883
01:25:48,800 --> 01:25:49,840
Speaker 4: Round in the playoffs.

1884
01:25:50,439 --> 01:25:53,000
Speaker 3: But despite some of the wings that some of the

1885
01:25:53,000 --> 01:25:55,160
Speaker 3: wins that they have taken, like the fact that I've

1886
01:25:55,160 --> 01:25:58,200
Speaker 3: actually loved the depth pieces, there have just been far

1887
01:25:58,360 --> 01:26:02,120
Speaker 3: more losses. I did not expect Andrew Wiggins to fall

1888
01:26:02,160 --> 01:26:05,840
Speaker 3: off a cliff and reach the point where it's like, yeah,

1889
01:26:05,880 --> 01:26:08,519
Speaker 3: we'll start any combination of our young wings over him.

1890
01:26:08,960 --> 01:26:13,200
Speaker 3: Looney and Clay have both had underwhelming seasons, and this

1891
01:26:13,240 --> 01:26:15,240
Speaker 3: team just hasn't defended at the level that we're used to.

1892
01:26:15,320 --> 01:26:17,680
Speaker 3: Even with Draymond out there, they've been twenty fifth in

1893
01:26:17,760 --> 01:26:21,559
Speaker 3: defensive rating, and I think what has to some extent

1894
01:26:21,640 --> 01:26:24,640
Speaker 3: sealed their fate. And I can't say this with finality

1895
01:26:25,160 --> 01:26:28,679
Speaker 3: because we haven't reached the deadline yet, but missing out

1896
01:26:28,720 --> 01:26:34,360
Speaker 3: on Siakam hurts, especially because you're calling kaminga untouchable, which

1897
01:26:34,400 --> 01:26:37,400
Speaker 3: I get Jonathan kaminga is good. But this is what

1898
01:26:37,439 --> 01:26:39,320
Speaker 3: we've talked about before and what I think has been

1899
01:26:39,680 --> 01:26:42,960
Speaker 3: a gripe of many Warriors fans. The two timeline thing

1900
01:26:43,080 --> 01:26:45,960
Speaker 3: is a fantasy, and it has been conclusively proven as

1901
01:26:46,000 --> 01:26:48,840
Speaker 3: a fantasy because here you are now, when a couple

1902
01:26:48,800 --> 01:26:50,519
Speaker 3: of years ago, you could have made a move for

1903
01:26:50,560 --> 01:26:52,559
Speaker 3: a Siakam or any number of guys if you were

1904
01:26:52,560 --> 01:26:56,519
Speaker 3: willing to move these picks that just didn't materialize as

1905
01:26:56,600 --> 01:26:58,080
Speaker 3: valuable for this window.

1906
01:26:58,280 --> 01:27:00,800
Speaker 4: None of those dudes played in final. None of those

1907
01:27:00,840 --> 01:27:02,639
Speaker 4: dudes played. Dudes played in the finals, none.

1908
01:27:02,479 --> 01:27:06,080
Speaker 3: Of them literally literally, and James Wiseman was, you know,

1909
01:27:06,640 --> 01:27:07,599
Speaker 3: your crown prince.

1910
01:27:07,800 --> 01:27:11,560
Speaker 4: So it just doesn't happen. You don't sustain multiple.

1911
01:27:11,160 --> 01:27:13,040
Speaker 3: Windows at the same time on an NBA team, and

1912
01:27:13,080 --> 01:27:15,760
Speaker 3: when you have Steph Curry and he is still a

1913
01:27:15,800 --> 01:27:18,639
Speaker 3: superstar level player. I would be doing everything that I can,

1914
01:27:18,800 --> 01:27:21,639
Speaker 3: even if you think it's a crazy long shot at

1915
01:27:21,680 --> 01:27:23,400
Speaker 3: a title, which to me, it would still be a

1916
01:27:23,439 --> 01:27:26,280
Speaker 3: real long shot. If they did bring a Sakham or

1917
01:27:26,320 --> 01:27:27,760
Speaker 3: a market and who I think it's going to be

1918
01:27:27,840 --> 01:27:30,160
Speaker 3: really tough to move for. I would still do it

1919
01:27:30,240 --> 01:27:33,120
Speaker 3: just to be a legitimately good, competitive basketball team that

1920
01:27:33,120 --> 01:27:35,960
Speaker 3: can make a Western Conference Finals run, because future be

1921
01:27:36,040 --> 01:27:37,840
Speaker 3: damn dude, it's Steph Curry. He's the best player in

1922
01:27:37,880 --> 01:27:40,320
Speaker 3: your Stanchfist history and you kind of owe that to him.

1923
01:27:40,360 --> 01:27:43,280
Speaker 3: And I think if they've squandered that opportunity again, not

1924
01:27:43,439 --> 01:27:46,280
Speaker 3: for sure, but it certainly looks that way, and that

1925
01:27:46,400 --> 01:27:50,080
Speaker 3: to me seals their fate. They're too small, they're not

1926
01:27:50,120 --> 01:27:51,360
Speaker 3: defending at the same level.

1927
01:27:51,720 --> 01:27:53,799
Speaker 4: With the lack of a real high end.

1928
01:27:53,720 --> 01:27:57,360
Speaker 3: Second option alongside Steph kind of seals their fate. And

1929
01:27:57,520 --> 01:28:00,840
Speaker 3: they haven't addressed those issues. So I am comcretely lower

1930
01:28:00,880 --> 01:28:01,240
Speaker 3: on them.

1931
01:28:01,840 --> 01:28:04,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, said Carson. I thought Golden State.

1932
01:28:04,920 --> 01:28:07,640
Speaker 5: I just have the utmost faith in Golden State as

1933
01:28:07,680 --> 01:28:10,400
Speaker 5: a franchise, and there was an organization like I considered

1934
01:28:10,439 --> 01:28:13,639
Speaker 5: them as a real title contender heading into this season.

1935
01:28:13,680 --> 01:28:16,160
Speaker 5: I don't really feel the same way now. In January, guys,

1936
01:28:16,200 --> 01:28:18,720
Speaker 5: they are seventh in offensive rating, which is encouraging, right,

1937
01:28:19,200 --> 01:28:21,519
Speaker 5: They're dead last in defensive rating. They have a defensive

1938
01:28:21,600 --> 01:28:24,400
Speaker 5: rating of one to twenty seven in the month of January.

1939
01:28:24,400 --> 01:28:25,679
Speaker 5: That's an eight game sample size.

1940
01:28:25,720 --> 01:28:26,880
Speaker 1: It's like, that's gross.

1941
01:28:27,200 --> 01:28:30,080
Speaker 5: Wiggins can't figure it out. You got the Draymond Green,

1942
01:28:30,880 --> 01:28:36,040
Speaker 5: Draymond Green drama. You got Stephen Curry frustrated, the deadlines

1943
01:28:36,120 --> 01:28:39,000
Speaker 5: up in the air, and like Carson said, they're straddling timelines,

1944
01:28:39,080 --> 01:28:43,280
Speaker 5: like it seems like they're championship hopes are really sinking fast.

1945
01:28:43,680 --> 01:28:46,559
Speaker 1: I'm Jason, like you said, man, I.

1946
01:28:46,479 --> 01:28:48,320
Speaker 5: Don't know if I could ever count out the Warriors

1947
01:28:48,320 --> 01:28:49,439
Speaker 5: with Steph Curry on the roster.

1948
01:28:49,560 --> 01:28:52,160
Speaker 1: But I'm closer than I've ever been before.

1949
01:28:53,280 --> 01:28:56,120
Speaker 4: So I'm lower as well. I don't know how you

1950
01:28:56,160 --> 01:28:56,919
Speaker 4: could be higher.

1951
01:29:00,920 --> 01:29:05,240
Speaker 2: I like, if there's a Warriors fan out there, leave

1952
01:29:05,240 --> 01:29:06,800
Speaker 2: it in the comments, break it down for I want

1953
01:29:06,840 --> 01:29:09,519
Speaker 2: to hear the case. Yeah, but like, yeah, no, there's

1954
01:29:09,560 --> 01:29:11,880
Speaker 2: like the Pods thing is like anytime you hit on

1955
01:29:11,920 --> 01:29:14,839
Speaker 2: a draft pick like that, like that's that's obviously super encouraging.

1956
01:29:15,320 --> 01:29:18,880
Speaker 2: But here's the thing. First of all, the Andrew Wiggins thing,

1957
01:29:18,880 --> 01:29:20,400
Speaker 2: He's just never been able to get back on track.

1958
01:29:20,800 --> 01:29:22,800
Speaker 2: You know, Sam's Fondiari, who's come on the show before,

1959
01:29:22,840 --> 01:29:26,360
Speaker 2: his friend of mine. He said this on Twitter the

1960
01:29:26,400 --> 01:29:28,320
Speaker 2: other day, and I thought it was really interesting. He goes,

1961
01:29:29,240 --> 01:29:31,440
Speaker 2: why do we keep looking at this as a decline?

1962
01:29:32,400 --> 01:29:37,240
Speaker 2: Zoom out on Wiggins's career for a second. That's the outlier.

1963
01:29:38,200 --> 01:29:40,840
Speaker 2: With exception of twenty twenty two when he was one

1964
01:29:40,880 --> 01:29:42,799
Speaker 2: of the best three and D guys in the league,

1965
01:29:42,880 --> 01:29:48,080
Speaker 2: he's been mostly this and then a version of him

1966
01:29:48,120 --> 01:29:49,479
Speaker 2: on the Wolves where he put up good stats on

1967
01:29:49,520 --> 01:29:53,840
Speaker 2: a bad team, right, and even though stats weren't overly efficient, right,

1968
01:29:54,280 --> 01:29:57,000
Speaker 2: So like he just put a volume scoring numbers. So like,

1969
01:29:57,360 --> 01:30:02,520
Speaker 2: maybe Wiggins is this and it was this transcendently outlier

1970
01:30:02,640 --> 01:30:05,559
Speaker 2: performance in twenty twenty two that pushed him over the top.

1971
01:30:05,600 --> 01:30:08,639
Speaker 2: That's the first piece of it. Steph is not playing

1972
01:30:08,640 --> 01:30:12,080
Speaker 2: particularly well now. I want to cut him some slack

1973
01:30:12,600 --> 01:30:15,160
Speaker 2: because I do think there's a little bit of like,

1974
01:30:15,640 --> 01:30:16,320
Speaker 2: I don't think he.

1975
01:30:16,400 --> 01:30:18,160
Speaker 4: Believes that this team can win.

1976
01:30:18,680 --> 01:30:20,519
Speaker 2: I mean, Steve Kurt straight up came out and said that,

1977
01:30:20,600 --> 01:30:22,800
Speaker 2: like he thinks the team has lost belief, and I

1978
01:30:22,840 --> 01:30:24,240
Speaker 2: think that's an important part of this.

1979
01:30:26,800 --> 01:30:29,080
Speaker 4: The here's the silver lining.

1980
01:30:31,240 --> 01:30:34,479
Speaker 2: Technically, because of Draymond removing himself from the team and

1981
01:30:34,520 --> 01:30:37,080
Speaker 2: then being injured at the start of the season, they

1982
01:30:37,200 --> 01:30:41,320
Speaker 2: really haven't played with Stephan Draymond that much this year.

1983
01:30:42,320 --> 01:30:44,439
Speaker 2: So that's the one piece of it. And then two,

1984
01:30:44,560 --> 01:30:46,320
Speaker 2: even though they missed out on Siakam and obviously I

1985
01:30:46,400 --> 01:30:48,720
Speaker 2: agree with you, Carson, I think that was that was

1986
01:30:49,120 --> 01:30:51,680
Speaker 2: What that was is like the last nail in the

1987
01:30:51,680 --> 01:30:53,759
Speaker 2: coffin was there and somebody hit it with the hammer

1988
01:30:53,800 --> 01:30:56,760
Speaker 2: once and the nail is like very close, yeah, and

1989
01:30:56,760 --> 01:30:58,360
Speaker 2: it's like there's still just a little bit of a

1990
01:30:58,400 --> 01:31:00,400
Speaker 2: gap for you to maybe like kind of get the

1991
01:31:00,400 --> 01:31:02,000
Speaker 2: the wedge end of the hammer in there and then

1992
01:31:02,040 --> 01:31:04,120
Speaker 2: pull the nail out. But they're gonna have to nail

1993
01:31:04,120 --> 01:31:05,720
Speaker 2: the deadline. And so before we get out of here,

1994
01:31:05,800 --> 01:31:08,439
Speaker 2: I pitched this on my show the other day and

1995
01:31:08,479 --> 01:31:10,080
Speaker 2: I just wanted to kind of hear both of your guys'

1996
01:31:10,200 --> 01:31:14,240
Speaker 2: take on it, and we'll start with you, Carson. Let's

1997
01:31:14,240 --> 01:31:19,320
Speaker 2: say that Golden State calls up Brooklyn and they offer

1998
01:31:20,800 --> 01:31:29,400
Speaker 2: Andrew Wiggins, Moses Moody Jonathan Kaminga, and they ask for

1999
01:31:29,479 --> 01:31:34,560
Speaker 2: Michale Bridges and Dorian Finney Smith. First of all, I

2000
01:31:34,600 --> 01:31:37,559
Speaker 2: want to I expect, let's go around like this. First,

2001
01:31:37,920 --> 01:31:38,920
Speaker 2: do the nets say yes?

2002
01:31:41,240 --> 01:31:45,080
Speaker 3: I mean, I think that that would be robbery if

2003
01:31:45,120 --> 01:31:48,160
Speaker 3: the Warriors got the Nets to accept that. I don't

2004
01:31:48,240 --> 01:31:52,639
Speaker 3: think like if we just go asset to asset, Jonathan

2005
01:31:52,720 --> 01:31:56,720
Speaker 3: Kaminga to me is very unlikely to ever be as

2006
01:31:56,720 --> 01:31:58,519
Speaker 3: good as Mcalbridge is right now.

2007
01:31:58,520 --> 01:31:59,280
Speaker 4: Maybe I should.

2008
01:32:01,080 --> 01:32:04,360
Speaker 3: Okay, maybe very unlikely as strong I would say unlikely.

2009
01:32:04,439 --> 01:32:08,559
Speaker 3: I think the Kaminga has a special combination of athletic traits.

2010
01:32:08,640 --> 01:32:12,240
Speaker 3: You do not see dudes who blend quickness with strength

2011
01:32:12,400 --> 01:32:16,280
Speaker 3: with just elite vertical ability like him. But I think

2012
01:32:16,320 --> 01:32:18,840
Speaker 3: that in a lot of the peripheral skill elements of

2013
01:32:18,880 --> 01:32:22,040
Speaker 3: his game, we're still looking at a dude who's pretty raw.

2014
01:32:22,080 --> 01:32:24,240
Speaker 3: He's been really good this year. He's been a lot better.

2015
01:32:24,280 --> 01:32:29,599
Speaker 3: But mcaal fits so seamlessly into winning basketball with what

2016
01:32:29,640 --> 01:32:32,479
Speaker 3: we know he looks like when he's engaged defensively, elite there,

2017
01:32:32,720 --> 01:32:36,320
Speaker 3: elite three point shooters, super smart cutter and dfs. He's

2018
01:32:36,320 --> 01:32:39,400
Speaker 3: not too valuable to Brooklyn right now. Really he would

2019
01:32:39,439 --> 01:32:43,280
Speaker 3: be great for the Warriors. But I don't look at

2020
01:32:43,320 --> 01:32:45,960
Speaker 3: any of those assets and think that they're enough to

2021
01:32:46,080 --> 01:32:49,880
Speaker 3: move Brooklyn off of mcal moody. I really like, but

2022
01:32:50,000 --> 01:32:52,639
Speaker 3: he's a like pretty low ceiling three and D wing.

2023
01:32:53,120 --> 01:32:55,400
Speaker 3: If the Warriors got that, I mean, that would fundamentally

2024
01:32:55,479 --> 01:32:56,160
Speaker 3: change my outlook.

2025
01:32:56,200 --> 01:32:57,760
Speaker 4: Then I would say, I mean, yeah, that's we'll get.

2026
01:32:58,400 --> 01:32:59,720
Speaker 2: Just focus on the Nets for now.

2027
01:33:00,280 --> 01:33:01,559
Speaker 4: I don't think the Nets would take that.

2028
01:33:01,960 --> 01:33:08,040
Speaker 2: Okay, what about you, Logan Mike.

2029
01:33:08,040 --> 01:33:08,920
Speaker 1: My bad guys.

2030
01:33:08,960 --> 01:33:11,400
Speaker 5: I honestly don't think Jason's that far off with this deal.

2031
01:33:11,840 --> 01:33:14,640
Speaker 5: KAMINGA to me is still a very, very valuable asset

2032
01:33:14,920 --> 01:33:17,479
Speaker 5: for the future. Like, I just think about this timeline wise,

2033
01:33:17,520 --> 01:33:20,240
Speaker 5: that would be my pitch to Brooklyn. Your timeline is

2034
01:33:20,240 --> 01:33:22,839
Speaker 5: not right now. You're not winning anything. Part cam Thomas

2035
01:33:22,920 --> 01:33:25,200
Speaker 5: up with a young Wing. I think he's got a

2036
01:33:25,240 --> 01:33:27,360
Speaker 5: lot of value. Like, I still think mcal bridge is

2037
01:33:27,360 --> 01:33:30,439
Speaker 5: the best player in the deal, but you're getting Wiggins too.

2038
01:33:30,920 --> 01:33:33,040
Speaker 5: My only issue is that the fact that the Brooklyn

2039
01:33:33,040 --> 01:33:36,240
Speaker 5: netsis well, give me.

2040
01:33:36,200 --> 01:33:36,760
Speaker 1: A second here.

2041
01:33:37,479 --> 01:33:39,160
Speaker 5: That's the one thing that I have is that the

2042
01:33:39,160 --> 01:33:42,800
Speaker 5: Brooklyn Nets would have Andrew Wiggins and Ben Simmons, and

2043
01:33:43,479 --> 01:33:46,360
Speaker 5: just considering that Ben Simmons hasn't played, Wiggins has struggled,

2044
01:33:46,400 --> 01:33:49,639
Speaker 5: you just have two really big negative assets on big

2045
01:33:49,680 --> 01:33:51,439
Speaker 5: contracts that would be pretty hard.

2046
01:33:51,240 --> 01:33:53,040
Speaker 1: To move at this point. Uh.

2047
01:33:53,439 --> 01:33:55,879
Speaker 5: I honestly think value wise though, I don't think Jason's

2048
01:33:55,880 --> 01:33:57,000
Speaker 5: that far off with this deal.

2049
01:33:58,520 --> 01:34:01,880
Speaker 2: So here's the take for why the Nets should consider it.

2050
01:34:03,560 --> 01:34:09,400
Speaker 2: Mckail Bridges is twenty seven years old, Cam Johnson twenty

2051
01:34:09,400 --> 01:34:12,400
Speaker 2: seven years old, Spencer Dinwoody thirty years old, Dorian Finney

2052
01:34:12,439 --> 01:34:15,040
Speaker 2: Smith thirty years old. This is not the Utah Jazz.

2053
01:34:15,280 --> 01:34:17,519
Speaker 2: This is not a young, fun team with a bunch

2054
01:34:17,520 --> 01:34:21,040
Speaker 2: of upside. These guys are who they are. Mikale Bridges

2055
01:34:22,240 --> 01:34:25,759
Speaker 2: is not a star. He is an outstanding role player,

2056
01:34:26,160 --> 01:34:28,160
Speaker 2: one of the very best role players in the league.

2057
01:34:28,520 --> 01:34:30,559
Speaker 2: He can score the basketball a little bit. But if

2058
01:34:30,560 --> 01:34:32,720
Speaker 2: you make him your primary creator, you're not gonna win

2059
01:34:32,760 --> 01:34:36,760
Speaker 2: money many basketball games. Yep, that's the reality. Jonathan Kmming,

2060
01:34:36,840 --> 01:34:40,200
Speaker 2: in my opinion, does have star upside. That would be

2061
01:34:40,240 --> 01:34:44,680
Speaker 2: the case, And specifically, I have this belief system like

2062
01:34:45,040 --> 01:34:47,320
Speaker 2: you always should be trying to get your number one guy.

2063
01:34:47,400 --> 01:34:49,519
Speaker 2: You got to be trying to get the best guy

2064
01:34:49,920 --> 01:34:51,960
Speaker 2: one of those guys that's in that list of ten

2065
01:34:52,040 --> 01:34:55,639
Speaker 2: dudes that you can win a championship with. There's no

2066
01:34:55,800 --> 01:34:59,360
Speaker 2: reason to just be holding on to a bunch of

2067
01:35:00,040 --> 01:35:04,680
Speaker 2: eight twenties role players. Yeah, that everyone else in the

2068
01:35:04,760 --> 01:35:09,200
Speaker 2: league could use way more than you while you're a

2069
01:35:09,200 --> 01:35:14,679
Speaker 2: bad basketball team of significantly below average basketball team. Now,

2070
01:35:14,760 --> 01:35:16,280
Speaker 2: I would be one hundred percent with you if it

2071
01:35:16,360 --> 01:35:20,840
Speaker 2: was like McHale's twenty three, right, and we think this

2072
01:35:20,920 --> 01:35:23,200
Speaker 2: dude by age twenty seven can be one of the

2073
01:35:23,200 --> 01:35:25,639
Speaker 2: top twenty dudes in the league. But that's not what

2074
01:35:25,680 --> 01:35:28,519
Speaker 2: this is. So that's where I kind of kind of

2075
01:35:28,560 --> 01:35:30,439
Speaker 2: see the case. I'd be looking at it as like,

2076
01:35:30,760 --> 01:35:34,840
Speaker 2: I'm getting Moses Moody, who is a young dude who

2077
01:35:34,880 --> 01:35:37,920
Speaker 2: could become a great role player in this league. And

2078
01:35:37,960 --> 01:35:42,320
Speaker 2: I've got Johnathan Kaminga who could become potentially one of

2079
01:35:42,360 --> 01:35:46,160
Speaker 2: the stars of this league. And then I have Andrew Wiggins,

2080
01:35:46,200 --> 01:35:47,960
Speaker 2: who I could probably turn around and flip again if

2081
01:35:48,000 --> 01:35:49,840
Speaker 2: I wanted to to somebody else or flip at the

2082
01:35:51,040 --> 01:35:54,960
Speaker 2: over the summer. Right now, let's forget about all that

2083
01:35:55,000 --> 01:35:59,519
Speaker 2: for a second. Let's pretend Brooklyn goes no. We like McHale,

2084
01:35:59,560 --> 01:36:01,880
Speaker 2: Bridge is more more than Johnathan Kaminga, and then Golden

2085
01:36:01,920 --> 01:36:04,800
Speaker 2: State goes, okay, here's a bunch of draft compensation two,

2086
01:36:05,960 --> 01:36:09,479
Speaker 2: and then Brooklyn says, yes, yeah, Now Dorian Finney Smith

2087
01:36:09,479 --> 01:36:11,639
Speaker 2: and McHale Bridges are on the Golden State Warriors between

2088
01:36:11,680 --> 01:36:15,200
Speaker 2: Steph Clay and Raymond. Start with you, Carson, how seriously

2089
01:36:15,200 --> 01:36:16,599
Speaker 2: would you take that team as a contender.

2090
01:36:17,280 --> 01:36:22,360
Speaker 3: I would take that team probably as seriously as anybody

2091
01:36:22,560 --> 01:36:27,520
Speaker 3: out west other than certainly Denver and maybe the Clippers.

2092
01:36:27,680 --> 01:36:29,640
Speaker 3: But I think that they would be firmly in that

2093
01:36:29,840 --> 01:36:33,720
Speaker 3: tier because I think that they would fundamentally raise their

2094
01:36:33,760 --> 01:36:36,360
Speaker 3: defensive ceiling. They would add shooting, they would add some size.

2095
01:36:36,400 --> 01:36:39,760
Speaker 3: I mean, they would have awesome overall wing defense. And

2096
01:36:39,800 --> 01:36:42,680
Speaker 3: I will say I think the draft compensation would do

2097
01:36:42,720 --> 01:36:44,840
Speaker 3: it because you make good points, and I do think

2098
01:36:44,880 --> 01:36:46,760
Speaker 3: that Jonathan Kminga is going to be really good. I

2099
01:36:46,840 --> 01:36:49,799
Speaker 3: just think mcal is like your third guy, pretty ideal

2100
01:36:49,840 --> 01:36:51,840
Speaker 3: third guy. But you're right, what does Brooklyn need a

2101
01:36:51,880 --> 01:36:54,360
Speaker 3: third guy for. They're not even close to a first guy.

2102
01:36:54,840 --> 01:36:57,920
Speaker 3: He's twenty seven, so he's twenty seven. He really is

2103
01:36:57,960 --> 01:37:00,040
Speaker 3: who he is at this point, So I think that

2104
01:37:00,240 --> 01:37:01,760
Speaker 3: would be a big win for the Warriors.

2105
01:37:02,080 --> 01:37:03,800
Speaker 1: I'd have them up there with the Clippers.

2106
01:37:03,960 --> 01:37:07,040
Speaker 5: And one thing that you mentioned earlier, Jason, is just

2107
01:37:07,120 --> 01:37:09,240
Speaker 5: kind of the vibe and the energy around Golden State.

2108
01:37:09,280 --> 01:37:10,840
Speaker 5: I mean, don't you guys think that light's a little

2109
01:37:10,840 --> 01:37:12,000
Speaker 5: bit of a fire under and too?

2110
01:37:12,040 --> 01:37:16,000
Speaker 3: Oh hell yeah, oh yeah, yeah. The vibes are broken

2111
01:37:16,080 --> 01:37:17,920
Speaker 3: right now. That would repair them.

2112
01:37:18,520 --> 01:37:20,599
Speaker 2: Yeah. And what I like about that kind of lineup too,

2113
01:37:20,760 --> 01:37:23,519
Speaker 2: is it very much is not trying to be Denver.

2114
01:37:23,560 --> 01:37:26,120
Speaker 2: It's very much like still trying to be Golden State

2115
01:37:26,200 --> 01:37:29,680
Speaker 2: in a very kind of like in a very unique.

2116
01:37:29,360 --> 01:37:31,400
Speaker 4: Way, like I did be a little thin.

2117
01:37:32,160 --> 01:37:33,880
Speaker 2: But what I also like too is it would maintain

2118
01:37:33,920 --> 01:37:36,920
Speaker 2: the bench mob like you still have Trace Jackson Davis

2119
01:37:36,960 --> 01:37:39,559
Speaker 2: and Dario Sarach and Brandon Pitzemski and Chris Paul like

2120
01:37:39,600 --> 01:37:43,439
Speaker 2: you'd and Gary Payton like you. You'd maintain your bench mob,

2121
01:37:43,520 --> 01:37:46,519
Speaker 2: you'd maintain your ball handling when STEP's off the floor.

2122
01:37:46,920 --> 01:37:49,080
Speaker 2: That to me is the move that to me, I

2123
01:37:49,080 --> 01:37:51,880
Speaker 2: would be Colin Brooklyn and I'd be like, I want

2124
01:37:51,960 --> 01:37:54,720
Speaker 2: Michale Bridges and Dorian Finney Smith because that to me

2125
01:37:55,400 --> 01:37:59,040
Speaker 2: is like I'm not You're also bringing in a couple

2126
01:37:59,080 --> 01:38:02,519
Speaker 2: of guys to well, specifically one guy and Mikhail Bridges

2127
01:38:02,880 --> 01:38:06,000
Speaker 2: that is so damn talented and so firmly in the

2128
01:38:06,000 --> 01:38:09,440
Speaker 2: heart of his prime that it just kind of reinvigorates

2129
01:38:09,520 --> 01:38:12,879
Speaker 2: and buys you time for guys like Poziemski to develop,

2130
01:38:13,040 --> 01:38:15,320
Speaker 2: buys you time to, you know, figure out what you're

2131
01:38:15,320 --> 01:38:17,200
Speaker 2: gonna do with some of these other veteran guys in

2132
01:38:17,240 --> 01:38:18,880
Speaker 2: the long run. You know what I mean. To me,

2133
01:38:18,960 --> 01:38:21,599
Speaker 2: it's like a very nice, kind of like little soft rebuild.

2134
01:38:22,320 --> 01:38:25,120
Speaker 2: All right, guys, we've been going like almost two hours.

2135
01:38:26,640 --> 01:38:29,240
Speaker 2: I sincerely appreciate you guys taking the time. Thank you

2136
01:38:29,320 --> 01:38:33,559
Speaker 2: all of our listeners for supporting the show. I am

2137
01:38:33,600 --> 01:38:35,559
Speaker 2: gonna go take five days off and do some skiing

2138
01:38:35,560 --> 01:38:38,679
Speaker 2: in Denver. I sincerely appreciate or's not Denver, but in Breckenridge.

2139
01:38:38,720 --> 01:38:40,880
Speaker 2: I sincerely appreciate all of you guys for rocking with us.

2140
01:38:40,880 --> 01:38:43,840
Speaker 2: When we get back. It's straight grind until the middle

2141
01:38:43,840 --> 01:38:46,479
Speaker 2: of June. I was talking to Ryan Brumley, our lead

2142
01:38:46,479 --> 01:38:48,200
Speaker 2: producer here at Hoops tonight the other day, and I

2143
01:38:48,200 --> 01:38:50,040
Speaker 2: think we're gonna try to get the Nerd Sash guys

2144
01:38:50,040 --> 01:38:51,840
Speaker 2: on every other Friday, if you're up for it. So

2145
01:38:52,080 --> 01:38:54,120
Speaker 2: no pressure, but I'm asking you here on the air,

2146
01:38:54,200 --> 01:38:56,439
Speaker 2: so like you see, you have no choice but.

2147
01:38:56,439 --> 01:38:58,840
Speaker 4: To say yes. We love nothing more.

2148
01:39:00,720 --> 01:39:02,960
Speaker 2: Alrighty, I appreciate you guys, have a good weekend. I'll

2149
01:39:02,960 --> 01:39:23,200
Speaker 2: see you on Wednesday.

2150
01:39:31,120 --> 01:39:31,799
Speaker 1: The Volume