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If you 35 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: guys had a great weekend, got a jam pack show 36 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: for you today we're getting off the top with the 37 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: Lakers getting a signature win for the first time since 38 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: Lebron came back from injury against the Oklahoma City Thunder. 39 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: Kind of a proof of concept of some of the 40 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: things I've talked about in that matchup, albeit influenced by 41 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,959 Speaker 1: an absurd shooting performance by the Lakers, that should temper 42 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: some of the some of the optimism coming out of 43 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 1: that matchup. After that, we're going to talk about the 44 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets and their showdown 45 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: last night. The Rockets put Steph in jail, hold them 46 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,359 Speaker 1: to three points, showcase some of their upside in terms 47 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: of their perimeter size. I want to talk about the 48 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: difference between the Rockets defense and the OKC defense and 49 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: some of the ways that that caused problems for the Warriors. 50 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: And then at the tail end of the show, we're 51 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: gonna talk a little bit about the Indiana Pacers Nuggets 52 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,680 Speaker 1: game from last night. As the Pacers shredded Denver's defense, 53 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: showed I have a couple of troubling statistics coming out 54 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: of Denver's defense. We're going to talk a little bit 55 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: about the Pacers offense and how they took advantage of 56 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: those weaknesses. And then at the very end over the weekend, 57 00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: I missed it because I was busy, but there was 58 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: a healthy out of reopening of the Steph versus Lebron debate, 59 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: which everyone is entitled to their opinion. I personally disagreed 60 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: with a lot of what I heard. I'll give you 61 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: guys my take at the tail end of the show. 62 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: You guys are the Joe before we started to subscribe 63 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:13,639 Speaker 1: to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You don't miss any 64 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter, underscore JSNLTS, 65 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: you guys don't miss you announcement. Don't forget about a 66 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: podcast feed where we get your podcast on our Hoops Tonight. 67 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: It's also super helpful if you leave a rating in 68 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: a review on that front, we als said. Brand new 69 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:27,519 Speaker 1: social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, where Jackson's doing 70 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: incredible work this year. Make sure you guys follow us 71 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: there for extra content. The last but not at least, keep 72 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: dropping mailbag questions in the YouTube comments so that we 73 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: can hit them in our weekly mail bags throughout the 74 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: remainder of the season. All right, let's talk some basketball. 75 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: So the Lakers blew out the thunder last night because 76 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: they shot extremely well. That was the reasoning for the blowout. 77 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: They shot fifty one jump shots. I got seventy eight 78 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: points out of them. That's that's insane. It's one point 79 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: five to three points per shot, So that was the 80 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: reason for the dramatic differential between the two teams. But 81 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: as I allays say is I literally always say on 82 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: the show, shooting variants or luck or whatever you want 83 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: to call it plays a role in shot result, but 84 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: I always think comfort plays a larger role. The Lakers 85 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: stars and by association, their role players were comfortable in 86 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: that game, more comfortable than their Thunder counterparts. That allowed 87 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 1: them to get into an offensive rhythm that the Thunder 88 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: were not able to get into. You talk a lot 89 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: about the Lakers shooting. That's the number three offense in 90 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: the league that the Lakers held in ninety nine points 91 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,160 Speaker 1: last night. And yeah, the Lakers have been somewhat inconsistent 92 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 1: defensively since Lebron's injury, but as we saw it before 93 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: Lebron's injury, they are capable of getting to that type 94 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,279 Speaker 1: of level on the defensive end of the floor. Arguably, 95 00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: the most exciting thing about what happened last night was 96 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: the Laker defense getting back to four. But the only 97 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: way to flip shot result, like if you want shot 98 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: result to go from seventy eight points on fifty one 99 00:04:58,160 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: jump shots, to fifty two points on fifty one jump shots. 100 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 1: You're not gonna get that just by rolling the dice. Again. 101 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: If you roll that same set of dice and you 102 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: allow the Lakers to get as comfortable as they did, 103 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: they may not get one point five to three points 104 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: per shot. They'll probably be one point two one point 105 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: three points per shot. If you let them get that comfortable. 106 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: You have to find a way to flip the comfort 107 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:23,240 Speaker 1: dynamic in order to get that luck to play in 108 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: your favor, which is why I always talk about that 109 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,919 Speaker 1: as a subsidiary factor and not the main factor in 110 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: shot result when we're talking about basketball games. Why were 111 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: Lebron and Lucas so comfortable They had forty nine points 112 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: on thirty six shots, thirteen assists to just four turnovers. 113 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: This is the Lakers advantage in this matchup perimeter size. 114 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,720 Speaker 1: This perimeter size dynamic is the main reason why I've 115 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: been viewing the Thunder matchup in particular as a matchup 116 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: that the Lakers are capable of winning. The Thunder are 117 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,799 Speaker 1: much better at center, but the Thunder centers aren't necessarily physical. 118 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: They're not going to pass you around like a Yokich 119 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,800 Speaker 1: or a Shangoon or a zubats right, so they aren't 120 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:12,840 Speaker 1: able to bully the smaller groups. Then when you get 121 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: out of the center position, the Lakers are just much 122 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 1: much bigger and stronger on the perimeter, and so Luca 123 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,480 Speaker 1: and Lebron are able to use their size and strength 124 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: to do two things. Get to spots on the floor 125 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,840 Speaker 1: because they can dislodge bases and fight for position because 126 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 1: of their size and strength, and they can protect the ball. 127 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: They can keep the ball away from those guys. Only 128 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: two turnovers for Lebron, only two turnovers for Luca in 129 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: this game, because they're going against dudes that are somewhere 130 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: between six three and six six, and every single one 131 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: of them is given forty to fifty pounds up at 132 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: a minimum to Lebron and Luca in these situations when 133 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 1: they're attacking. It wasn't even just the smalls. Luca was 134 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: having his way with Isaiah Hartenstein at the start of 135 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:02,279 Speaker 1: this game. As far as the offensive side of the 136 00:07:02,279 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: ball goes. The most exciting part of what we got 137 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,720 Speaker 1: out of that game, if you're a Lakers fan, is 138 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: that they had success against a switching defense, an elite 139 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: switching defense, historically a statistically prominent defense that switched every screen, 140 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,679 Speaker 1: and Luca was able to punish Isaiah Hartenstein and switches 141 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: start to force the double teams that led to those 142 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: kickout opportunities for the quality catch and shoot looks. Lebron 143 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 1: and Luca attacking Smalls all right in the middle of 144 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: the floor where it's hard to double team. The short 145 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: range shot making is such an important piece of Lebron 146 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: and Luca punishing Smalls. The Lakers made nine short to 147 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: mid range shots in this game, either floaters or short 148 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: jump shots or mid range jump shots. That is how 149 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 1: you punish those matchups to the point where they start 150 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:55,080 Speaker 1: sending extra attention. They ran thirty seven thirty seven ISOs 151 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: and post ups in this game and were well over 152 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: a point per possession. That is the verse version of 153 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: the team that can be successful against switching. Lebron and 154 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: Luca both have to in Austin as well, to a 155 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: certain extent, have to punish teams in single coverage enough 156 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: to draw the help that leads to the rotation opportunities 157 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: that lead to the rhythm and flow of their offense 158 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 1: that gets them those catch and shoot threes that they 159 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: get much more easily against a drop coverage or against 160 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: an at the level coverage, but it requires a more 161 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: diligent punishing of matchups against switching. They did that last night. 162 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: That's what it can look like. That's what I've been 163 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: talking about NonStop since this trade. They can be good 164 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 1: at beating switching defense. It starts with Lebron and Luca. 165 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:45,959 Speaker 1: Like we're gonna talk about a little bit more in 166 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 1: a minute, but like Luca has struggled so much against 167 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: the top teams that they played against Boston, against Golden State, 168 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: this was exactly what they needed from Luca in those games, 169 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: punishing one on one attack that leads to the advantage 170 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,680 Speaker 1: situations that can come their way. The defense was equally impressive. 171 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: They held the number three offense in the NBA to 172 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:10,199 Speaker 1: just ninety nine points. When the Laker defense was a 173 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: was dominant before Lebron's injury. They had this swarming feel. 174 00:09:15,240 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: Every drive seemed to run into a pre They would 175 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:20,559 Speaker 1: funnel drive towards the sideline. There's a pre planned helper 176 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: that's waiting outside of the block in kind of like 177 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,079 Speaker 1: a catch help situation. The guy on the ball will 178 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: immediately start rotating. Everyone's flying around and the openings that 179 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,559 Speaker 1: look like openings turn into pretty well contested threes. The 180 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: Lakers allowed just ten unguarded catch and shoot jump shots 181 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 1: yesterday against a team that should, in theory, be able 182 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: to cut them to pieces with drive and kick. They 183 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: kept them out of open threes. Okay See shot well 184 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: on them, shot five for ten on their unguarded catch 185 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: and shoot threes. But for all of that doubling and 186 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: all of that swarming, they weren't getting a ton of 187 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: open looks. Shay was great, got his twenty six points, 188 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: but every other Thunder player was held in check and 189 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: the Lakers were able to hold on to their dominant lead. 190 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:07,559 Speaker 1: And again, like even in that second half, as a 191 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: Laker started to miss more shots and okay See started 192 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 1: to turn up the defense, it was like every time 193 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:14,200 Speaker 1: okay Se'd make a couple plays in a row, it'd 194 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:18,240 Speaker 1: be like, here's another high post up for Lebron against 195 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,599 Speaker 1: Cason Wallace or Luca against Alex Crusoe, right in the 196 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: middle of the floor, and just they're getting to an 197 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 1: easy shot. If they can keep that dynamic, which is 198 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:34,199 Speaker 1: containing the ball, defending Oklahoma City well, keeping them out 199 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: of transition, they can turn this into a matchup hunting contest, 200 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:42,360 Speaker 1: and if they turn it into a matchup hunting contest, 201 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: I like Lebron and Luca picking on their smaller defenders 202 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:52,199 Speaker 1: more than I like Shay and Jay Dubb taking contested 203 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: mid range jump shots over taller players, because again, this 204 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: is a team with a lot of length on the perimeter, 205 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: and so like there's a version of this that can 206 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 1: tilt the other way, right, Lebron and Luca two turnovers each. 207 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: There's a version of this game where you can imagine 208 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: Lebron and Luke are a little more sloppy. They have 209 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,960 Speaker 1: a few early turnovers that lead to runouts. Okay, see 210 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: gets a little bit of lead, gets a little bit 211 00:11:18,640 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: of momentum. The pressure continues on the defensive end. The 212 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 1: Lakers miss a few catch and shoot shots. Now they're 213 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 1: down eighteen to nine. Are they still gonna slide their feet? 214 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 1: Are they still gonna fly around in rotation? There's an 215 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: enormous amount of mental discipline that it takes for this 216 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:41,319 Speaker 1: Laker team to be good defensively and to take care 217 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 1: of the ball in this matchup. I don't think the 218 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 1: Lakers are gonna sweep the Thunder. I think the Thunder 219 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: should be favored if they were to face in a series. 220 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:52,760 Speaker 1: I am just saying the Lakers can beat them. If 221 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 1: they can. This is what it would look like in 222 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: the world where the Thunder control the series. Are in 223 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:00,440 Speaker 1: the moments where the Thunder control the series, it will 224 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: be defense to transition, defense to transition, building momentum, lacking 225 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: discipline from the Lakers, then in the half court them 226 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:12,439 Speaker 1: starting to cut them to pieces with driving kick as 227 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 1: their defense starts to let go of the rope. Those 228 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: are the versions of this matchup that will tilt Okac's direction. 229 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: The versions that tilt LA's direction. Taking care of the ball, 230 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: ruthless matchup, hunting, elite shot making, great transition defense, and 231 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 1: great half court defense. That's the version of it that 232 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,319 Speaker 1: will go the Lakers direction. I thought it was a 233 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,320 Speaker 1: particularly important win for the Lakers for several week reasons. 234 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:39,880 Speaker 1: First of all, they needed it for the standings. They 235 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: were in some moderate danger of dropping to the plan 236 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:44,839 Speaker 1: after the Golden State loss. That win last night makes 237 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:47,400 Speaker 1: it so that the Lakers need to go just two 238 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,360 Speaker 1: and two in their last four games in order to 239 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:52,199 Speaker 1: keep the three seed. If you drop both of these 240 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:55,520 Speaker 1: games to oksee then you have to beat Houston or Dallas, 241 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: and those are gonna be tough games. Houston's beaten up 242 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:00,319 Speaker 1: on everybody. The Lakers are one of the few to 243 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: get them as of late. And then you have that 244 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,439 Speaker 1: Dallas team, which is well rested. They don't play on Sunday, Monday, 245 00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: or Tuesday before they play on Wednesday. The Mavericks play 246 00:13:11,679 --> 00:13:14,440 Speaker 1: the Lakers on Wednesday in Dallas. That's a really tough game. 247 00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: By winning that game last night, you took most of 248 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,839 Speaker 1: the pressure off. You just got to get one of 249 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,320 Speaker 1: the OKC games, the Thunder game, or excuse me, the 250 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: Thunder game, the Rockets game, or the Dallas game now, 251 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: assuming you can get the job done in Portland. So 252 00:13:29,280 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: you did yourself a favor in the standing. Secondly, as 253 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 1: a team, they had n't put together a signature win 254 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: since Lebron's injury where they like that was a team 255 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:42,320 Speaker 1: before Lebron's injury that looked particularly exciting. After Lebron got 256 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: hurt in that Celtics game, you start to zoom out. 257 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:46,920 Speaker 1: Didn't look good. They were just fourteen to ten after 258 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 1: the Warriors game since the Luca trade. That's not very good. 259 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: That was a statement that they are capable of getting 260 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:55,880 Speaker 1: to the championship level on both ends of the floor. 261 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 1: The defense from before the lebron the injury, combined with 262 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:05,959 Speaker 1: the offense that we saw last night. Thirdly, Luca looked fantastic. 263 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 1: Luca had been slumping a bit and had looked especially 264 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: bad in their last two games against top tier contenders 265 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 1: Boston and Golden State. He looked rough. The team looked rough. 266 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,200 Speaker 1: This was an important statement. Best team in the league, 267 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 1: favored to win the title, best defense in the league, historically, 268 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 1: great defense statistically, at least on their home floor, and 269 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: Luca looked great. So again, it's not the end all 270 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: be all. There are going to be tougher elements to 271 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: this as Okase starts to leverage their advantages in this matchup, 272 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 1: but it was a nice proof of concept of what 273 00:14:40,720 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 1: they are capable of. Are that are the Lakers going 274 00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:48,040 Speaker 1: to be able to maintain that discipline when they don't 275 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: shoot as well. More misses equals more long rebounds. More 276 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 1: long rebounds equals more transition opportunities. More transition opportunities means 277 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 1: more situations where the Lakers have to be incredibly sharp 278 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 1: with their game plan discipline, getting back It's not going 279 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: to be easy, but they certainly can do this. They 280 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,760 Speaker 1: just have to drag the Thunder into these matchup attacking 281 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 1: half court situations where Lebron and Luc are just better 282 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: at it than their stars are. And then on the thunderfront, 283 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: there's only so much they can do on defense with 284 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: their size disadvantages, Like a certain amount of their approach 285 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: is going to have to be hoping the Lakers missshots, 286 00:15:22,560 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: meaning hoping Lebron and Luca miss their ISO jump shots, 287 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 1: hoping that their role players miss their kickouts. On offense, though, 288 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: it is an example of something I've talked about a 289 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: lot this year, which is big game team comes in 290 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: and punches him in the mouth, really going after them defensively. 291 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: We saw this in the Rockets game too. How many 292 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: of these guys do you actually trust to be consistently 293 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: good on offense? The truth is is it's Shay end 294 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 1: of list. And so that's the part that makes it 295 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: really hard for me to buy into the Thunder as 296 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: like a traditional dominant runaway championship contender. The way some 297 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 1: of the metrics coming out of their look, the way 298 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 1: the standings would look, That's why I view them as 299 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: closer to the pack in the West, even if I 300 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 1: have them at the top, because they're just prone to 301 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 1: these like brutally bad stretches on offense. When you can 302 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:19,120 Speaker 1: keep them out of transition. It's just something to keep 303 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:22,320 Speaker 1: an eye on as a vulnerability. Okay, as of right now, 304 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna jump the Lakers' way up just because 305 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: they played really well one game against a great team. 306 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 1: To me, OKAC still is deserving to be the favorite 307 00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: in the Western Conference. But they are not invulnerable, and 308 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: I think we've seen that over the course of this weekend. 309 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: All right, Moving on to Rockets Warriors. The Rockets are 310 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: healthy again and they're back to doing what they did 311 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: in January when they just started beating up on the 312 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,320 Speaker 1: top teams in the league over and over again. Back 313 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: to back huge wins against the Thunder and the Red 314 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 1: Hot Warriors in the Bay. All that defense Fred Van Vlietna, 315 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,440 Speaker 1: Men Thompson literally put Steph Curry in handcuffs night. I 316 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: thought Steph looked a little tired too. It was his 317 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: third game in four nights. All of his misses were 318 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:07,880 Speaker 1: short off the front of the rim, and you could 319 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 1: literally see like his energy transfer just wasn't quite the 320 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: same as it was in the previous couple of games, 321 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: finished with just three points for the second time this year. 322 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:20,639 Speaker 1: But I do want to give the Rockets credit for 323 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:22,760 Speaker 1: the job they did defensively. They did not allow him 324 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,560 Speaker 1: to come free and clear off of anything. Both Fred 325 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: and men were physical with him on and off the ball, 326 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 1: wearing him down. Everything was contested, everything was off balanced. 327 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:35,119 Speaker 1: A lot of his threes were an extra two or 328 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:37,760 Speaker 1: three feet further back than he usually gets them as 329 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:40,360 Speaker 1: a result of that pressure. This is where I want 330 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: to talk about Houston's superpower on the perimeter, which is 331 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 1: their athletic signs. This is the thing that makes them 332 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: fundamentally different than a team like Oka See. We think 333 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: of them both as these young athletic teams, super fast, 334 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: young athletic teams that play super hard, and that's their 335 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: advantage in the regular season, and there's no doubt that's 336 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: what it is. Like, I'm not prized that after having 337 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:05,960 Speaker 1: watched these teams all year that Okay See and Houston 338 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 1: ended up at the top. It was pretty clear after 339 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,400 Speaker 1: the first month of the season. It's like, Okay, these 340 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 1: guys are super young and athletic and these other older 341 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:15,960 Speaker 1: veteran teams in the West are gonna have a hard 342 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 1: time keeping up. They pulled away the way that they did, 343 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,119 Speaker 1: But Okay sees the like kind of athletic profile is 344 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: very different. Okay See has rim protection in the form 345 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:29,120 Speaker 1: of chet Houston does not. I'd argue they have the opposite. 346 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: Shane Gun is often the main entry point for their 347 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:33,200 Speaker 1: defense because he's the one guy they're not switching with. 348 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: It's the guy that you can get that baked in 349 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 1: dribble penetration as long as you can lay a good 350 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: screen on a men Thompson or Dylan Brooks, whoever it 351 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 1: is that's on the ball, right. But once you get 352 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:46,639 Speaker 1: past that center position, Houston's athletic wings are also much 353 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: bigger and stronger than Okay sees perimeter athletes. That size 354 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: on a fundamental level gives them a better job, better 355 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 1: ability to contest jump shots. I've talked about that in 356 00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,199 Speaker 1: the thunder Lakers matchup. To me, when it comes to 357 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: pull up shooting over the top, shooting length is the advantage, right, 358 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 1: that's where you can actually bother shooters. It also allows 359 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: them to hold up better against wing bullies. I don't 360 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: think it's a coincidence that Luca and Lebron struggled against 361 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: Houston in a way they didn't against OKC. It's that 362 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:23,719 Speaker 1: extra two inches, it's that extra thirty pounds of muscle 363 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,000 Speaker 1: makes a huge difference when you're battling guys for position. 364 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: It's a little different posting up a Haison Wallace or 365 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,199 Speaker 1: in Isaiah Joe that it is posting up at Dylan Brooks. 366 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: You guys get the point, right, That size and strength 367 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:44,640 Speaker 1: gives them just a different athletic profile than OKAC does. 368 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: The theoretical way that you would attack Houston if you 369 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: are Golden State is to use Jimmy Butler and Jonathan 370 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 1: Kamana to attack mismatches to get them in rotation. Right, 371 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:58,840 Speaker 1: But Jimmy took seven shots as he continues to be 372 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:02,120 Speaker 1: bizarrely unaggressive. He's driving to the rim, and every single 373 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: time he drives to the rim about right on his 374 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,120 Speaker 1: last like gather dribble, he just starts looking away from 375 00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:08,520 Speaker 1: the rim. He's not even looking at the room. He's 376 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:10,560 Speaker 1: just looking for those kickout opportunities. And like there's a 377 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:12,440 Speaker 1: time and a place when the offense is in a 378 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:14,360 Speaker 1: flow where that makes sense. But then there are times 379 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:16,919 Speaker 1: where they need you to be the bigger, stronger athlete 380 00:20:17,119 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: than the big strong athletes that you're going against. Jonathan 381 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:23,080 Speaker 1: Camingos four for ninety and a few really really ugly 382 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 1: turnovers in the backcourt that continue to cause Steve Krdilou's 383 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 1: trust in him. He got pulled after one of them 384 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: for Gee Santo's. Thankfully, Buddy healed and Brandon Pajemski had 385 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,399 Speaker 1: big games to keep things respectable. And that's an upside 386 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,280 Speaker 1: if you're a Golden State fan. Is Pods continues to 387 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:40,080 Speaker 1: play super well. He's been shooting forty percent from three 388 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:45,320 Speaker 1: for like almost four months now. That's a super exciting 389 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:47,639 Speaker 1: piece of it. But other than that, it was it 390 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 1: was a pretty brutal offensive performance for the Warriors. On 391 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 1: the Houston front. Jabari Smith, his development has been super 392 00:20:57,119 --> 00:20:59,480 Speaker 1: fascinating to me because he came out in Summer League. 393 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:01,440 Speaker 1: I remember the first year that I covered him as 394 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 1: a guy that was not a good ball handler, and 395 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:06,639 Speaker 1: it was so fun to There were two plays in 396 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 1: particular that I thought demonstrated just the way that he's 397 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,640 Speaker 1: gotten better getting to his spots as a basketball player 398 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: so that he can unlock his talent which he's got 399 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:17,399 Speaker 1: great size, great shooting touch. He's got like this like 400 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:21,320 Speaker 1: aggressive shot making piece to him too. And in order 401 00:21:21,359 --> 00:21:23,639 Speaker 1: to get in order to get to that shot making talent, 402 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,120 Speaker 1: that size talent, you gotta be able to get your 403 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 1: body to where you need to be on the floor. 404 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:30,399 Speaker 1: Footwork and ball handling. Foot work and ball handling are 405 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,920 Speaker 1: these skills that allow you to get your body from 406 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,679 Speaker 1: point A to point B with the basketball so that 407 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 1: you can get to a spot where you can be 408 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: a score. He had a play where he drove a 409 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,560 Speaker 1: close out Jimmy digs down from the top of the key. 410 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:46,480 Speaker 1: As he's driving, snapped a push dribble with his left 411 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: hand up the floor. A couple of feet ran up 412 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:51,479 Speaker 1: to the spot, got to it, and then popped up 413 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: off the ground at that spot and made a little 414 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:56,159 Speaker 1: ten foot or just a nasty ball handling move from 415 00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:59,119 Speaker 1: Jabari Smith. He had a little baseline iso where he 416 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: looked like Kevin Durant, grabbed it, faced up, left foot, 417 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,400 Speaker 1: pivot foot, ripped to the left one drim a pull 418 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 1: up just rose up over the top of the defender 419 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:10,399 Speaker 1: with his size advantage knocked it down. He's turned into 420 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:13,600 Speaker 1: a super effective rebounder on both ends of the four. 421 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: He had five offensive rebounds in the two games twenty 422 00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:19,640 Speaker 1: six total rebounds against the Thunder and Warriors. His three 423 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: point percentage is up to thirty eight percent on five 424 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:25,879 Speaker 1: attempts per game over his last sixteen games. Jabari's just 425 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,919 Speaker 1: turned into a really useful role player. Kind of a 426 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: combination of like that weak side scoring forward that we 427 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:35,560 Speaker 1: talked about, while also having some of those bigger forward, 428 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,240 Speaker 1: defensive and athletic capabilities that you see from like an 429 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,400 Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon type of player. Just a really exciting young 430 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 1: player for Houston in their big picture goals. Dylan Brooks 431 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,440 Speaker 1: was incredible. He was attacking size mismatches out of the post. 432 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:50,320 Speaker 1: He went right over the top of Steph for two 433 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: right shoulder fades early in the game. His three point 434 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,680 Speaker 1: shot is so much quicker and more fluid now. Jalen Green, 435 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 1: one of the things that consistently stood out to me 436 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: against these more athletic defense is that he is able 437 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,640 Speaker 1: to get to his spots because he's such a good athlete. 438 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: That's kind of like what you needed from KAMINGA last 439 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: night was like it's almost like Jalen Green is hectic 440 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,679 Speaker 1: and gonna make some bad decisions, but he's able to 441 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,160 Speaker 1: rise to the occasion against these super elite defenses as 442 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,640 Speaker 1: a shot maker in a way that some lesser athletes can't. 443 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:23,719 Speaker 1: That's kind of what you needed from Kaminga in that 444 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,600 Speaker 1: matchup last night. Is he needed the mistakes. He's gonna 445 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,320 Speaker 1: make three, four, five big mistakes, but she needed seventeen 446 00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: points on fourteen shots as he was looking to be 447 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 1: aggressive throughout the game, and that piece just wasn't there. 448 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:38,960 Speaker 1: Shane Gun continued his ass kicking tour. He went right 449 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: at Draymond several times. He was destroying guards and switches. 450 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: He hit fifty points in the last two games. Again, 451 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: I don't I still don't view Houston as a legitimate 452 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 1: threat to win the conference because I don't think they 453 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:54,440 Speaker 1: have the offensive variety or offensive resilience to be able 454 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 1: to win three series with the types of teams that 455 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:58,679 Speaker 1: we have coming out of this Western Conference. But they 456 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,280 Speaker 1: will be a pain in the ass, and I absolutely 457 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,440 Speaker 1: think they're capable of upsetting eighteen. Like if we saw 458 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,359 Speaker 1: the Rockets play in the second round, I wouldn't be stunned, 459 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:10,000 Speaker 1: Like I wouldn't be completely shocked I just would be 460 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 1: shocked if they ended up winning the conference entirely. Moving 461 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 1: out of PACER's Nuggets. The Pacers just absolutely shredded Denver's 462 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: defense in the middle portion of this game. Denver got 463 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 1: off to a little bit of a lead early. Jokic 464 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:23,920 Speaker 1: was incredible in this game. He had a three point 465 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: shot going early in the game. They were leaving him 466 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,119 Speaker 1: in a lot of single coverage situations against Miles Turner 467 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:31,359 Speaker 1: and he was just being super aggressive. Jokic went for 468 00:24:31,359 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 1: forty one points. It just didn't matter because in that 469 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,200 Speaker 1: middle portion of the game, the Pacers hung seventy four 470 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: points in the second and third quarters on the Nuggets. 471 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 1: And it all came down to a combination of two factors. 472 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: One a reality that I've been discussing a lot on 473 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:51,200 Speaker 1: this show, which is that the Nuggets defense is bad, 474 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: and the reason why it's bad is a combination of 475 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,240 Speaker 1: two factors. They have to bring Yokic up to the 476 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 1: level because he can't switch or protect the rim, so 477 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:00,400 Speaker 1: they have to bring him up to the level, which 478 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 1: puts two on the ball. Now you're in these four 479 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: on three situations. Jokich has not been very good with 480 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,440 Speaker 1: being active with his hands and disrupting when he comes 481 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:10,480 Speaker 1: up to the level. So as a result, you're just 482 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,439 Speaker 1: playing four on three basketball and you haven't been very 483 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:16,000 Speaker 1: good in your rotations on the back line with those 484 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,639 Speaker 1: three guys. That is a death sentence. If you're gonna 485 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: put two on the ball without bothering the ball and 486 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:23,359 Speaker 1: you're gonna operate three on four but not be a 487 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 1: good rotation team, you're gonna get cut to pieces. On 488 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: the other side of that is a red hot Pacers 489 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,679 Speaker 1: team that's now one four in a row with Tyre's 490 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:36,280 Speaker 1: Halliburton and Miles Turner just running a deadly high ballscreen attack, 491 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,000 Speaker 1: and that just kind of that confluence of those two 492 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:43,480 Speaker 1: events just led to some hilarious basketball in Denver last night. 493 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:47,440 Speaker 1: I clipped a thread of a bunch of examples of 494 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:49,359 Speaker 1: this concept so you guys can see it. It's on 495 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:52,960 Speaker 1: my Twitter feed at underscore json lt. But the Pacers 496 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 1: just got either a wide open layup or a wide 497 00:25:55,760 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: open three basically whenever they wanted against the Denver defense. 498 00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:02,639 Speaker 1: A combination of a couple of things. Basic pick and 499 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: pop action with Miles Turner Yo Kicch at the ball. 500 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: Miles Turner is just sitting at the top of the key. 501 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 1: They're not rotating from the weak side. Easy pitch back, 502 00:26:11,359 --> 00:26:15,600 Speaker 1: He's wide open. Several like transition excuse me, transition trailing 503 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: types of shots for Miles Turner, where like you know, 504 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 1: Halliburton would just do like a probing dribble attack right 505 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 1: around the top of the key and the on ball 506 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:26,960 Speaker 1: defender would kind of be there, but Jokich would just 507 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: sink down to like the foul line as like a 508 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,000 Speaker 1: kind of a token help situation. Just pitch it back 509 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:33,440 Speaker 1: to Miles Turner. He's right there at the top of 510 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:34,879 Speaker 1: the key. Shot a Miles Turner, by the way, Like 511 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 1: it's not just shooting, it's aggressive shooting. I talk about 512 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:39,119 Speaker 1: this all the time. There's a huge difference between a 513 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: guy who hits forty percent of his threes and a 514 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:44,840 Speaker 1: guy who confidently and aggressively hunts his shot. That is 515 00:26:44,880 --> 00:26:48,400 Speaker 1: the one that's gonna beat manifest better for the defense, right, 516 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 1: that a manifest with more of a reaction from the defense, 517 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,920 Speaker 1: I should say. But like they the nuggets weren't accounting 518 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:57,919 Speaker 1: for him, and Turner was being aggressive. He ended up 519 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,639 Speaker 1: hitting like a twenty seven foot or huge one on 520 00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: the left wing on a play because he got comfortable 521 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:05,000 Speaker 1: with all these easy shots and then he went into 522 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: a tougher one off the left wing. They ended up hitting, 523 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 1: but a lot of them though they were rolling with 524 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: Turner and tagging Turner, and so when they were tagging Turner, 525 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 1: it just created those simple week side two on ones 526 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:20,639 Speaker 1: and it was just skip pass or swing swing wide 527 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:24,040 Speaker 1: open three, skip pass or swing swing wide open, layup, 528 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:28,719 Speaker 1: just over and over and over and over again, like 529 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:30,920 Speaker 1: it didn't even matter that Denver was scoring. On the 530 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,359 Speaker 1: other end. Christian Brown went for thirty, slashing him to 531 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:37,520 Speaker 1: pieces on drives and transition pushes like Jokic goes for 532 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:41,440 Speaker 1: forty one. It didn't matter because the Pacers just got 533 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 1: whatever they wanted on the other end of the floor, 534 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:46,959 Speaker 1: Obi topping. He kind of fits the mold of that 535 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: week side scoring forward that I was talking about earlier. 536 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:51,760 Speaker 1: He had twenty two points in this one, had a 537 00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:53,800 Speaker 1: couple of possessions where he was on an island with Jokic, 538 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,880 Speaker 1: went right at Jokic with his speed, aggressive week side shooting, 539 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:02,120 Speaker 1: running his lane in transition. This is a Pacers offense 540 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:06,360 Speaker 1: that lives off of advantage creation, advantage extending and play finishing, 541 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 1: everybody understanding their roles on the plays were Denver rotated better, 542 00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:12,040 Speaker 1: there weren't many of them, but there were a few 543 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:15,480 Speaker 1: on the plays when Denver rotated better. A lot of 544 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 1: these like Andrew Nemhard Aaron Nie Smith close out opportunities 545 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:21,560 Speaker 1: with a defender coming out of them. And it was 546 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:25,360 Speaker 1: the same thing every time hard right hand drive, defender 547 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:29,439 Speaker 1: sliding and putting that hand up snatchback dribble. On that 548 00:28:29,520 --> 00:28:33,560 Speaker 1: snatchback dribble, the defender goes flying, there's a wide open 549 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,199 Speaker 1: twelve footer, and both Nemhard and Nie Smith hit a 550 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: bunch of those in this game. That's what ties it 551 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 1: all together, right, Like, you need a guy who can 552 00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: consistently get your defense in rotation. That's Tyrese Halliburton. Then 553 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 1: you need guys that can be play finishers, right, Miles 554 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: Turner hitting pick and pop three is Miles Turner finishing 555 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:56,160 Speaker 1: on the role obi top and hitting threes off of 556 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 1: skip passes. Things along those lines. But then you also 557 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:01,920 Speaker 1: need advantage extenders. There are times when it's not as 558 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 1: simple as drive and kick, swing, swing wide up in 559 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 1: layup or three. Sometimes you need a guy that can 560 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:10,200 Speaker 1: take a close out situation and turn it into points. 561 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:12,520 Speaker 1: And that's where you get your close out attackers in 562 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 1: the form of Nie Smith and Nemhard and again Pascal 563 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,640 Speaker 1: Siakam didn't even play in this game, and he unlocks 564 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,479 Speaker 1: an entire different element of the Pacers offense in the 565 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: form of that matchup attacking from the post. But they 566 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: just chewed up and spit out that Nuggets defense. They 567 00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:31,520 Speaker 1: generated twenty six unguarded catch and shoot jump shots, which 568 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: is the second most that the Pacers have generated in 569 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 1: any game this season, which brings me to the Nuggets 570 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: part of this, and it's something that we have to 571 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:46,920 Speaker 1: be realistic about. The Nuggets since January twenty third, with 572 00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 1: Nikola Jokic on the floor, have a one to twenty 573 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:55,360 Speaker 1: defensive rating. To be clear, it's not all Jokic's fault. 574 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: Like I said, it's a combination of two factors. Jokic 575 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:03,000 Speaker 1: constantly having to be at the level of the screen, 576 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: but then him also not having the energy because he 577 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:10,320 Speaker 1: has so much offensive responsibility, he doesn't have the energy 578 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: to be really active up at the level. So because 579 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:17,080 Speaker 1: he's not very active up at the level, the ball 580 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,680 Speaker 1: handler is able to make relatively easy reads and kickout 581 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 1: passes from there, then you're in all these four on 582 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,640 Speaker 1: threes and the rotations are just not being made. There's 583 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:31,160 Speaker 1: not connectivity even with the athletes, even guys like Aaron Gordon, 584 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: Payton Watson, like they're not doing their job rotating on 585 00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:38,920 Speaker 1: the backside. So again it's both Jokic is putting you 586 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: in a compromising position on every single possession defensively, but 587 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 1: you don't have the personnel to cover for him. So 588 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,960 Speaker 1: at a certain point, there's like a directional change that 589 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,680 Speaker 1: this organization needs to go through in terms of anchoring 590 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:56,040 Speaker 1: Jokic as he gets older. I don't think he's going 591 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 1: to get better at defense. So at a certain point, 592 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:02,040 Speaker 1: from a team construct standpoint, if you're gonna have Jokic 593 00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 1: generate everything for you on offense and you're not gonna 594 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: get anything out of him on defense, and that at 595 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:08,360 Speaker 1: the level coverage, you've got to anchor him with better 596 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 1: defensive talent. And I think that's something that they'll have 597 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,520 Speaker 1: to take a long look at when we get to 598 00:31:12,560 --> 00:31:15,840 Speaker 1: this offseason. But like, here's the thing, I still view 599 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 1: the Nuggets as a championship contender. I would be insane 600 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:23,720 Speaker 1: to write off Nikola Jokic. However, this is a long, 601 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: extended half the season, long stretch where they haven't just 602 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,880 Speaker 1: been bad defensively, they've been so bad that it's basically 603 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:35,520 Speaker 1: impossible to win in the NBA playoffs with the type 604 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,479 Speaker 1: of defense that they've been playing. Jokic has said before, 605 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,600 Speaker 1: I don't believe in a switch, meaning he doesn't think 606 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:44,240 Speaker 1: we can just flip the switch and be better in 607 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:46,760 Speaker 1: the postseason. I agree. I've talked about this a lot. 608 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: It's your habits. Your habits are what carry you when 609 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 1: you run into adversity, when the shit hits the fan 610 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:54,760 Speaker 1: and you're not hitting shots and the other team has 611 00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:57,720 Speaker 1: all this momentum. The only thing you can rely on 612 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 1: is the instinctual way you play hard. What habitually? Have 613 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,120 Speaker 1: you been making these rotations all year? Have you been 614 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: communicating through actions all year? Have you been cracked down 615 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,680 Speaker 1: rebounding and boxing out all year? If you've been doing 616 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,120 Speaker 1: those things, they will still work for you when you 617 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:18,560 Speaker 1: run into adversity and carry you through rough stretches so 618 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:20,960 Speaker 1: that your offense can carry you back to the forefront. 619 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,000 Speaker 1: The Snuggets team's going to score a lot of points. 620 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 1: They can score, but they will have stretches where they 621 00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: cool lot, and teams will pull away from them if 622 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:30,280 Speaker 1: they don't have a higher level than this that they 623 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,200 Speaker 1: can reach defensively. Now, again, I won't write them off 624 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: because I have seen this group play better defense than 625 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 1: they've played. Hell, they played better defense in the early 626 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:40,680 Speaker 1: part of the year. But the problem is is they 627 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:47,800 Speaker 1: are practicing playing bad defense now. They are deliberately prepping 628 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,560 Speaker 1: for the postseason by playing a brand of basketball that 629 00:32:50,600 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: will not work in the postseason on the defensive end 630 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:56,280 Speaker 1: of the floor. So they're playing with fire. What does 631 00:32:56,320 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 1: that mean? Does I mean they can't win? Of course not. 632 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 1: They could go on a run, they could play better defense, 633 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,040 Speaker 1: Jokic could go crazy, they could hoist the trophy. But 634 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 1: basketball history tells us it's more likely than not that 635 00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:11,600 Speaker 1: this season ends in disappointment because they're practicing playing bad 636 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:14,160 Speaker 1: defense at this point and not really making any sort 637 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: of serious attempt to improve on that end of the floor. 638 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:19,280 Speaker 1: All right, before we get out of here today, I 639 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:21,520 Speaker 1: want to talk a little bit about the Steph Lebron debate. 640 00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:30,320 Speaker 1: So Steph fans reinstigated this discussion over the weekend, basically 641 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:33,080 Speaker 1: trying to paint the picture that Steph is the defining 642 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,520 Speaker 1: player of this era, the greatest player of this era, 643 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:39,520 Speaker 1: and then had a better career than Lebron James. Steph 644 00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:41,920 Speaker 1: fans have felt this way since twenty fifteen. This is 645 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:45,680 Speaker 1: not exactly a new idea. Many of you might remember 646 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:48,320 Speaker 1: the Steph better, the hashtag that used to go around 647 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,120 Speaker 1: all the time. And to be clear, I don't blame 648 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,400 Speaker 1: more of yours fans for feeling this way. He's their hero, 649 00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:58,640 Speaker 1: he brought them four titles. It'd be weird if they 650 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 1: weren't lessly advocating for him in the all time context. 651 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: I also find debates along these lines to be somewhat 652 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 1: boring because no one's changing their mind. There's no Warriors 653 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,759 Speaker 1: fan that is going to budge based on this take 654 00:34:13,920 --> 00:34:16,520 Speaker 1: that I'm about to unleash. You guys have your way 655 00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,080 Speaker 1: that you feel I respect, that, I have my way 656 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:21,960 Speaker 1: that I feel I respect that, or I would ask 657 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:24,880 Speaker 1: for the same in return. Right. But I have literally 658 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,279 Speaker 1: never heard a basketball person who isn't a Warriors fan 659 00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:32,520 Speaker 1: or an outspoken anti Lebron guy make the case that 660 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:37,040 Speaker 1: Steph was better than Lebron. Because it's absurd. Let's set 661 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: aside the obvious stuff like that Lebron had a Hall 662 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 1: of Fame career before Steph even entered his prime, and 663 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:45,880 Speaker 1: that Lebron is still every bit as good as him, 664 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:49,200 Speaker 1: or that Lebron has four times as many Finals MVPs 665 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,040 Speaker 1: or twice as many MVPs, or that Lebron is one 666 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:54,480 Speaker 1: of only two players in NBA history with four MVPs 667 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:58,160 Speaker 1: and four Finals MVPs. Let's set that stuff aside. Just 668 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:01,840 Speaker 1: the narrative that Warriors fans are trying to build as absurd. 669 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,560 Speaker 1: Steph won his first title against Lebron in a series 670 00:35:06,600 --> 00:35:10,920 Speaker 1: where both of his co stars were injured. Lebron literally 671 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:14,320 Speaker 1: received more Finals MVP consideration than Steph after that series. 672 00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:16,520 Speaker 1: I disagreed with that line of thinking because I don't 673 00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:19,360 Speaker 1: believe in rewarding the loser. I think Steph should have 674 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:23,319 Speaker 1: won at Finals MVP, but Lebron literally got more consideration 675 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:26,839 Speaker 1: for Finals MVP than Steph that season. Then Lebron beat 676 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:29,719 Speaker 1: him in spectacular fashion in twenty sixteen back to back 677 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:32,759 Speaker 1: or two forty point games in Game five and Game 678 00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:35,880 Speaker 1: six to extend the series. In that twenty sixteen series, 679 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:38,880 Speaker 1: Lebron badly outplayed Steph on both ends. Of the floor. 680 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: Then Kevin Durant joined the team, and the Warriors were 681 00:35:44,160 --> 00:35:48,839 Speaker 1: so insanely talented that they had a negative odds on 682 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:53,319 Speaker 1: sportsbooks before the season to win the title. You were 683 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:55,560 Speaker 1: going you bet a dollar on the Warriors to win 684 00:35:55,600 --> 00:35:58,640 Speaker 1: the title in October those years in seventeen and eighteen, 685 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 1: you'd have made less than at all at the end 686 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:04,040 Speaker 1: of the season. Because it wasn't just Katie and Steph. 687 00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:06,759 Speaker 1: It wasn't just the second and third best players in 688 00:36:06,760 --> 00:36:09,799 Speaker 1: the league joining forces. It was Klay Thompson, the second 689 00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:11,600 Speaker 1: best shooter of all time, one of the best perimeter 690 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:13,960 Speaker 1: defenders in basketball, with great size and strength at his 691 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:18,719 Speaker 1: positioned an awesome role player in this league. Draymond Green 692 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,360 Speaker 1: arguably the greatest defender of this era. Andra g Woodallas 693 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:26,080 Speaker 1: such a versatile forward that he got the Finals MVP 694 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,960 Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen, and during that era was a do 695 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:32,200 Speaker 1: everything player for them. I'm a big fan of Kyrie 696 00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:35,120 Speaker 1: Irving and Kevin Love and j R. Smith, but it 697 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:37,359 Speaker 1: was a different level of talent that was on those 698 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:42,640 Speaker 1: two rosters. The way that whole four year saga is 699 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:48,520 Speaker 1: now being retroactively rebuild as a one on one rivalry 700 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:53,520 Speaker 1: between Lebron and Steph is fucking outrageous. When Lebron was 701 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:56,320 Speaker 1: at his best, he was the best parts of Steph 702 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:58,680 Speaker 1: and Draymond put together. He was one of the most 703 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,719 Speaker 1: prolific offensive engines in the history of the sport and 704 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:04,080 Speaker 1: one of the best defensive players to ever play the game. 705 00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:07,759 Speaker 1: What happened in the twenty sixteen Finals is kind of 706 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:12,000 Speaker 1: the perfect encapsulation of the difference between the two of them. 707 00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:15,920 Speaker 1: Lebron in that fourth quarter surgically took the Warriors apart 708 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:17,520 Speaker 1: in a way Steph was not able to on the 709 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:19,440 Speaker 1: other end of the floor, and yet still at the 710 00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:23,400 Speaker 1: end of the game, Lebron saved it by leveraging his 711 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,759 Speaker 1: athleticism to make a superhuman play when Kyrie on the 712 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,880 Speaker 1: other end, attacked step because he was the lesser athlete 713 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:33,080 Speaker 1: on the court and a player he could get easy 714 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:37,439 Speaker 1: separation from. That's the difference between the two two all 715 00:37:37,480 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 1: time great offensive engines. I'd even argue Steph was a 716 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:43,799 Speaker 1: little bit better as an offensive engine than Lebron, but 717 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:48,879 Speaker 1: Lebron brought that Draymon level of playoff defensive impact while 718 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:51,200 Speaker 1: also being a five time First Team All NBA First 719 00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:53,879 Speaker 1: Team All defensive player. Lebron was one of the great 720 00:37:53,880 --> 00:37:56,400 Speaker 1: defenders to ever play this game. Think back to the 721 00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:59,280 Speaker 1: Spurs series and the low man possessions on Tim Duncan 722 00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:03,120 Speaker 1: and Tiago Splitter at the rim. Think about him in 723 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:07,120 Speaker 1: twenty sixteen in on the famous brick that Steph shot 724 00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:10,120 Speaker 1: over over Kevin Love at the top of the key, 725 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:13,680 Speaker 1: Lebron was lurking in the paint. He blocked nine shots 726 00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:18,160 Speaker 1: over game five, six, and seven of that series. Think 727 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:21,160 Speaker 1: about the level Lebron was able to get to defensively 728 00:38:21,200 --> 00:38:24,000 Speaker 1: in twenty twenty as he helped anchor one of the 729 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:26,439 Speaker 1: great defenses in NBA history as he won his fourth 730 00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:30,439 Speaker 1: championship the year after Kevin Durant left the Warriors. There 731 00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:33,440 Speaker 1: was a level Lebron could get to in terms of 732 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:37,759 Speaker 1: his athletic imposition that Steph could never get to, and 733 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:39,920 Speaker 1: that to me is why they are on different tiers. 734 00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:44,640 Speaker 1: I'm a huge Steph fan. He's you gotta take my 735 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:47,760 Speaker 1: word for this. I get it. He's legitimately my second 736 00:38:47,760 --> 00:38:51,400 Speaker 1: favorite player, and I actually like him more as like 737 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:56,040 Speaker 1: a dude than Lebron. Half the time Lebron opens his mouth, 738 00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:58,680 Speaker 1: it drives me crazy, super corny there are a lot 739 00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:01,080 Speaker 1: of things I don't like about the guy. To me, 740 00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:05,680 Speaker 1: Steph is a more steady leader and a much more 741 00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:10,120 Speaker 1: likable just guy. I'm a big Steph fan, but when 742 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:13,040 Speaker 1: it comes down to basketball, he's just not on the 743 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:16,239 Speaker 1: same tier as Lebron. All time, it's Lebron and MJ 744 00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:19,920 Speaker 1: at the top, then there's a gap, and then it's Kobe, 745 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:23,280 Speaker 1: it's Magic, it's Steph, and it's Bird in that next tier. 746 00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:25,840 Speaker 1: For me, I don't think Steph is even capable of 747 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:29,600 Speaker 1: entering into the next tier. He's never even had an 748 00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:32,040 Speaker 1: undisputed hold on the best player in the World title 749 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:35,239 Speaker 1: the way that Lebron did back in twenty thirteen or 750 00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:42,239 Speaker 1: that Jokic does. Now, we can celebrate Steph without rewriting 751 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:47,040 Speaker 1: history and journeying to fantasyland that guys like. It was 752 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:50,120 Speaker 1: an awesome rivalry between the Cavs and Warriors, and it 753 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:53,000 Speaker 1: was fun in a stretch of the of the NBA 754 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:55,120 Speaker 1: history where we got to see these teams face over 755 00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:57,759 Speaker 1: and over again. But if you're painting that as like 756 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:01,759 Speaker 1: Steph versus Lebron playing one on one, that's dishonest and 757 00:40:01,800 --> 00:40:06,320 Speaker 1: it's just it's not reality. So like I I like 758 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:10,279 Speaker 1: like that athletic imposition element we're talking about. You want 759 00:40:10,320 --> 00:40:13,200 Speaker 1: to know why Lebron's never had single digit points and 760 00:40:13,239 --> 00:40:15,200 Speaker 1: you know, if God knows how many games or that, 761 00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,800 Speaker 1: Lebron hasn't had three points in a game since December 762 00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:21,680 Speaker 1: of two thousand and four, because there's a certain floor 763 00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:25,000 Speaker 1: that comes from being six' nine two hundred and sixty 764 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:28,640 Speaker 1: pounds and big and strong and being able to leverage 765 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:32,520 Speaker 1: yourself in ways that don't strictly tie to shot. Making, 766 00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:36,960 Speaker 1: Now steph has a gravity. Element in The rockets game last, 767 00:40:37,040 --> 00:40:39,160 Speaker 1: night for, instance he only had three. POINTS a lot 768 00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:41,000 Speaker 1: of plays on film Where i'm Watching steph run off 769 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:42,759 Speaker 1: of an, action someone slip out of it and get. 770 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:46,200 Speaker 1: Open steph has value that goes beyond. It but there's 771 00:40:46,239 --> 00:40:49,680 Speaker 1: more variance in his singular output on the game because 772 00:40:49,719 --> 00:40:52,239 Speaker 1: he's a jump. Shooter sometimes the shots don't go. In 773 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:55,759 Speaker 1: sometimes he goes one for eight from three instead of you, 774 00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:58,520 Speaker 1: know twelve for, Twenty and that's the up and down 775 00:40:58,520 --> 00:41:00,399 Speaker 1: that can come from that type of. Experience it's again 776 00:41:00,440 --> 00:41:03,440 Speaker 1: like to, Me steph is one of the greats IN nba. 777 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:05,440 Speaker 1: HISTORY i have him at, FIVE i have him the 778 00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:08,560 Speaker 1: top five player IN nba, history BUT i just don't 779 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:10,399 Speaker 1: think he was on the same level As lebron AND 780 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:13,399 Speaker 1: i thought it was just kind of hilarious the way 781 00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:15,560 Speaker 1: that that was attempted to be made as a case 782 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:18,040 Speaker 1: over the course of the. Weekend all, right, guys that's 783 00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:19,960 Speaker 1: ALL i have for today is always a sincerely appreciate 784 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:23,080 Speaker 1: you guys for supporting me and supporting the. Show No 785 00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:25,680 Speaker 1: oops tonight. Tonight we're going back, tomorrow BUT i am 786 00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:29,000 Speaker 1: doing some stuff With kevin O'Connor tonight surrounding The National title. 787 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,319 Speaker 1: Game it's a little Bit Colle shoop, stuff SOME nba draft. 788 00:41:31,360 --> 00:41:33,000 Speaker 1: Stuff we're also going to talk SOME nba in that, 789 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,080 Speaker 1: Show so make sure you guys check Out kevin's pod 790 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:37,400 Speaker 1: OTHERWISE i will see you guys. Tomorrow what, so, Guys as, 791 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,400 Speaker 1: ALWAYS i appreciate you for listening to and SUPPORTING oops. 792 00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:42,799 Speaker 1: Tonight they would actually be really helpful for us if 793 00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:45,040 Speaker 1: you guys would take a second and leave a rating 794 00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:47,640 Speaker 1: and a. Review as, ALWAYS i appreciate you guys supporting, 795 00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:49,000 Speaker 1: us but if you could take a minute to do, 796 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:53,440 Speaker 1: That i'd really appreciate. It the volume