1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:17,080 Speaker 1: The volume. All right, welcome to Hoops tonight. You're at 2 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: the volume heavy Friday, everybody hopefull you guys are having 3 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:21,400 Speaker 1: a great end of your week. We are continuing our 4 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: season preview series today with the Northwest Division, so that's 5 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Minnesota Timberwolves, 6 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,919 Speaker 1: the Portland Trailblazers, and the Utah Jazz. We're gonna be 7 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: touching on all five of those teams today. You guys 8 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: are the Joe before we get started. To subscribe to 9 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: the Hoops and I YouTube channel so you don't miss 10 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: any more of our videos. 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If you guys want to get mailbag 18 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: questions into our mail bags, drop them in the full 19 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: episodes on YouTube in the comments and we'll get to 20 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: them regularly throughout the season. Our next mail bag will 21 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 1: be the week after we finish this season preview series. 22 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. So we're starting with 23 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets today. A little quick recap of their offseason. 24 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: They lost Vlaco Konsar, They lost DeAndre Jordan, Michael Porter, Junior, 25 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:26,040 Speaker 1: Dario Sarich, and Russell Westbrook. They added Cam Johnson, Tim Hardaway, Junior, 26 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:30,759 Speaker 1: Bruce Brown, Jonas Valenschiunis, and essentially adding Deron Holmes who's 27 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: coming back from an achilles tear, a guy who was 28 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: drafted in the first round last year but got hurt 29 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: in training camp, I believe, or either right before training camp, 30 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: but he's gonna be coming back this season. Then another 31 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: guy they added this summer that I'm gonna have my 32 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: eye on is Kessler Edwards. I'll have to compete for 33 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: a roster spot. But his per thirty six numbers were 34 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: pretty impressive last season. In addition to being a big, 35 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: physical perimeter athlete, he averaged ten points and seven rebounds 36 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: per thirty six minutes with a two point five to 37 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: one and assist to turnover ratio. Shot fifty percent from 38 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: the field forty one percent from three ninety two percent 39 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: from the line, so fifty to forty ninety A good 40 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: playmaker relative to most role players in that type of slot. 41 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: Two point three stocks per thirty six minutes. Another guy 42 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,239 Speaker 1: that I think has a decent chance to impress in Nuggets' 43 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: training camp, So no way to look at this as 44 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: anything other than a massive influx of talent. I have 45 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: issues with the guy like Jonas Valancunis in a starting role, 46 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: but he's unquestionably a substantial upgrade from DeAndre Jordan as 47 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: a backup center. Cam Johnson is a better player than MPJ, 48 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: but I also think he's a better fit than MPJ 49 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: in this phase of the Nuggets contention window, which will 50 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: dive deeper into here in a minute. It won't be 51 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: hard for Deron Holmes to be better than Dario Sarach was, 52 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: and I think that the combination of Bruce Brown and 53 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: Tim Hardaway Junior is a big step up from Russell 54 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: Westbrook coming off. So this is quite simply the best 55 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:04,800 Speaker 1: roster that Nikola Joka just had to work with in 56 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 1: his entire NBA career, and it's a big part of 57 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: why I'm so high on the Nuggets coming into this 58 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: particular season. Let's start with the Cam Johnson fit. We've 59 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: talked about this plenty over the summer, but i'll go 60 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: over quickly again here. I think Cam represents an upgrade 61 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: over MPG in two clear areas that I think will 62 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: help the Nuggets on both ends of the floor. First 63 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: is the fact that he's just a much better ball 64 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: handler than Michael Porter Junior. The lack of reliable ball 65 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:33,959 Speaker 1: handling outside of guys like Jamal Murray and a little 66 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: bit of Aaron Gordon was a big part of why 67 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: Denver had to take high risk options like Russell Westbrook 68 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: or leaning a lot on a young Julian Strawther. Now 69 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,720 Speaker 1: Mike Coel Porter Junior could scale up his offense a bit, 70 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: as we've talked about over the years, especially versus lower 71 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: level competition, but mostly in handoffs, and again that had 72 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: some limitations as you went against the higher level teams 73 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 1: in the league. I think Cam Johnson is just a 74 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: much better ball handler than Mike. He should be able 75 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: to actually run action both with Jokic and without Jokich 76 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: on the floor. I also like this in the context 77 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: of Tim Hardaway Junior, who should be able to come 78 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 1: in and run many of those same dribble handoff actions 79 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: that Michael Porter Junior ran with nikolea Jokic. In short, 80 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:21,039 Speaker 1: the team has substantially more offensive firepower. Now, if you, 81 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: as a Nuggets fan, are worried about the catch and 82 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: shoot side of the catch and shoot side of things, yes, 83 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,599 Speaker 1: Michael Porter Junior was taller. I'd argue at like pure 84 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: stand still shooting because of his height and the slight 85 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,040 Speaker 1: increase in percentage, he's a little better than Cam Johnson there, 86 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: but it doesn't really manifest much in the percentages. Cam 87 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: was forty percent on catch and shoot threes last year, 88 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 1: so was Michael Porter Junior. Cam was forty four percent 89 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: on unguarded catch and shoot threes. Michael Porter Junior was 90 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 1: forty five percent. So not much of a statistical difference there, 91 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: even though we can admit that Michael Porter Junior is 92 00:04:52,760 --> 00:04:54,600 Speaker 1: probably a little better just because of his size and 93 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,800 Speaker 1: that specific side of things. The second piece here is 94 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 1: the defensive end of the floor. In last year's version 95 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: of the team, Christian Brown was their primary point of 96 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: attack defender, and then if they ran into a situation 97 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: where they needed to guard another perimeter player that would 98 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: handle the ball, or if it was a bigger forward 99 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 1: that was handling the ball, they would have to deploy 100 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,760 Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon there. They had no choice because Michael Porter 101 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: Junior is not a good perimeter defender. When Michael Porter 102 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: Junior is locked in, he can be a solid weak 103 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:27,840 Speaker 1: side defender. He could protect the rim a little bit. 104 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: He's a solid defensive rebounder, but he can't guard on 105 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: the perimeter. I'm not saying that needing to deploy Aaron 106 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:38,080 Speaker 1: Gordon on the perimeter is the reason he got hurt, 107 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: but at this phase in his career, with the mileage 108 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: that Aaron has on his body, I'd prefer to not 109 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: ask him to do that as much. Certain matchups like Lebron, 110 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: James Kawhi Leonard, some guys that might be too strong 111 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 1: for Cam. Sure, but I think Cam is a perfectly 112 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,600 Speaker 1: fine option to be your secondary point of attack defender 113 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:01,799 Speaker 1: behind Christian Brown. That should allow you to keep Aaron 114 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: Gordon in helpside more, keep him rotating at the rim, 115 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:08,560 Speaker 1: keep him there for defensive rebounding. Aaron Gordon had a 116 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: little bit of a drop off in his rebounding last year. 117 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:12,599 Speaker 1: Wasn't just injuries. A lot of it has to do 118 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: with how often he had to be deployed on the perimeter. 119 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: I just think that that's a better all around foundation 120 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 1: for Denver's defense in general. I just think Km's a 121 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,359 Speaker 1: better player than Michael Porter Junior, but he also is 122 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: a better option on both sides of the floor for 123 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: this phase of where Denver is in their title contention 124 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: with Jonis Valentcunis. The big thing I'm looking for is 125 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,840 Speaker 1: scheme consistency. In years past, Denver would go small when 126 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: Yokich was off the floor much of the time. They 127 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: tried centers, obviously with to no avail, but they would 128 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 1: mostly go small and they do more switching on defense, 129 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 1: and Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray would mostly go matchup hunting, 130 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,359 Speaker 1: and frankly, it just didn't work in the large sample. 131 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,280 Speaker 1: They didn't really have any other option though, and that's 132 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: really the big difference here. They didn't have any options 133 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:03,160 Speaker 1: that they could go to other than that going small, switching, 134 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: attempting to pick teams apart through matchup hunting with Gordon 135 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: and with Murray. Having yonas will allow them to play 136 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: a very similar style on both ends of the floor. 137 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,239 Speaker 1: To the way they played with Nikolea Jokic right dribil 138 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: Handoff's two man game with Jamal Murray. Yonis can pick 139 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: and pop a little bit. Yonis can play out of 140 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 1: the post, especially against favorable matchups. No, he can't do 141 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: any of that stuff as well as Jokic can, That's 142 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,160 Speaker 1: not what I'm trying to say. But against inferior NBA 143 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 1: talent that's coming off the bench for teams, he can 144 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: be reasonably effective there, and it allows you to continue 145 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: to run the same things that you're running. Even on defense. 146 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: You can continue to run your higher drop coverage, perhaps 147 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: with a guy like Deron Holmes operating on the back 148 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:48,040 Speaker 1: line behind Yonas when he has to come up to 149 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: the level. It's not necessarily about winning those minutes with 150 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: Nikole Jokic off the floor. It's just about not hemorrhaging 151 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:00,400 Speaker 1: points the way they had been last year. Once again, 152 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: Denver lost ten points per one hundred possession when yokich 153 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: was off the floor. That's just that's gonna make it 154 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: really difficult to win basketball games in the playoffs. In 155 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty three possessions with Yokich off, they 156 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: lost by thirty one point one points per one hundred possessions. 157 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: That is devastating to you, to your chances. Despite this, 158 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: they pushed OKC to seven and might have won if 159 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon didn't get hurt. To be clear, it's not 160 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: just about Yonas either. I want to be clear as 161 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: you kind of look down the roster. To me, it's 162 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: about everything. It's about having Bruce Brown, it's about having 163 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:42,880 Speaker 1: Tim Hardaway Junior. It's about having Yonas Valanciunas. It's about 164 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:48,000 Speaker 1: having options. I once had someone tell me money doesn't 165 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: give you happiness, but it gives you options. And I 166 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:56,080 Speaker 1: felt that personally last week when we were moving up 167 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: here to Denver. We were doing our last phase of 168 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: our move. It was a three phase move, and we 169 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: got a trailer and we were driving it up through 170 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: up Interseate twenty five and we hit Albuquerque and rush 171 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: hour traffic in the morning, and literally I blew a 172 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: tire on my truck and I was able to get 173 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: a tow truck and I was able to get a 174 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: couple of tires and get back on the road. I 175 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: remember when I was much younger, my wife and I 176 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: were moving from Charlotte to Tucson, and we had all 177 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,400 Speaker 1: of our stuff loaded up in two cars, and we 178 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,079 Speaker 1: had our dogs with us, and it was a twenty 179 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: eight hour drive, and we were so broke. We literally 180 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:43,200 Speaker 1: couldn't afford a hotel, like literally because of the dogs 181 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: and knowing that if you wanted to get a place 182 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,959 Speaker 1: that would allow dogs or that would charge a dog fee, 183 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,200 Speaker 1: it was going to be like three or four hundred 184 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,320 Speaker 1: bucks for us to spend the night. We couldn't afford it. 185 00:09:53,559 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 1: And so we pushed through the night and it was 186 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,400 Speaker 1: terrifying and I probably shouldn't have done it, and we 187 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: damn near got ourselves killed driving through West Texas in 188 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 1: the middle of the night, as I'm damn near falling 189 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: asleep on the road. I didn't have options then, whereas 190 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: something far worse happened driving up pulling a trailer, But 191 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: I had options. I was able to get a tow truck. 192 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:18,319 Speaker 1: I was able to get the tires. I was able 193 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: to get us back on the road. In the past 194 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 1: for the Nuggets, when they would be watching the wheels 195 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:29,120 Speaker 1: come off, quite literally, David Adelman would look at the 196 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: end of the bench and he wouldn't have those options, right, 197 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 1: He wouldn't have this player that can go out there 198 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:41,840 Speaker 1: and patch the holes that could make things work in 199 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: those units when Yokic was off the floor. This is 200 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: what I mean when I say going beyond just yonis 201 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: so for instance, like one of the things that Mike 202 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,600 Speaker 1: Malone would also do over the years is he'd be like, well, 203 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: I'm just going to stagger the starters more in with 204 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 1: the bench unit and just have Yokic carrier. Inferior units 205 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 1: have much more flexibility to do that now because I 206 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:08,559 Speaker 1: know that Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Junior can score 207 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:13,079 Speaker 1: with Nikola Jokic. I know that those guys Bruce Brown 208 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 1: can run regular pick and roll and inverted pick and 209 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: roll slipping out of it with Jokic, Tim Hardaway Junior 210 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:21,320 Speaker 1: can run many of the same dribble handoff actions that 211 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 1: Nikola Jokic ran with Michael Porter Junior. They have the 212 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: options now to put more of their talent. They could 213 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 1: run Cam Johnson, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon with Jonas Valanciunis, 214 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: or in a bench group with Gordon at center and 215 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: have more talent on the floor during those units wellout 216 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: having to wear everybody out in the past, they have 217 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:49,200 Speaker 1: to push minutes to do that. In general, this depth, 218 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 1: it gives them options. It gives them the ability to 219 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 1: commit more to the defensive end throughout the entirety of 220 00:11:54,440 --> 00:11:57,680 Speaker 1: the regular season because of the just the ability to 221 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 1: keep everybody's minutes down and ask people to do more 222 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:03,720 Speaker 1: game to game, they have so much more in the 223 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:08,200 Speaker 1: way of options. He's looking at his hand of cards 224 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 1: and he has like three or four different ways that 225 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 1: he can try to attack the situation. That did not 226 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: used to be the case. And again, it's not about 227 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: winning necessarily those minutes, but maybe losing the Yokichov minutes 228 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:23,200 Speaker 1: by one or two points per one hundred possessions instead 229 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: of by ten to fifteen points. That could massively improve 230 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,320 Speaker 1: their chances both night tonight in the regular season and 231 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 1: when they get to the playoffs. As for the defensive 232 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,160 Speaker 1: end of the floor, I thought last year was a 233 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: good example of them straight up switching, like flipping the 234 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 1: switch right. It's a concept that's very dangerous. It's a 235 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:45,440 Speaker 1: concept that has burned veteran teams over the years, but 236 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:47,600 Speaker 1: it has worked a few times in NBA history, and 237 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 1: it usually is teams that have won championships in the past. 238 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: To be clear, the Nuggets did not lose because of 239 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 1: their defense. They guarded Oklahoma City about as well as 240 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: they possibly could have a combination of having some high 241 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: end defensive personnel like Aaron Gordon and Christian Brown, they're 242 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: weaker defenders. Nicole Jokic and Jamal Murray both have very 243 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: high IQs, which allows them to scale up in those 244 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: situations just by being in the right spots as part 245 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:14,959 Speaker 1: of the game plan. And credit to David Adelman. I 246 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,320 Speaker 1: thought he did an excellent job of keeping Oklahoma City 247 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,480 Speaker 1: off balance by constantly mixing up coverages and using a 248 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: lot of zone. But they were a brutal regular season defense. 249 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:28,360 Speaker 1: This year, I expect them to be closer to that 250 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: twelve to fifteen range. One because of depth. Like we 251 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: just mentioned, more good players means less of a necessity 252 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: to conserve energy night to night throughout the season because 253 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:39,719 Speaker 1: you can keep people's minutes down, you know you got 254 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,199 Speaker 1: enough good players to do it. And then two belief. 255 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: I think this team's going to go into training camp 256 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: feeling like they have the opportunity of a lifetime to 257 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,280 Speaker 1: hoist the trophy again this year. That should lead to 258 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:54,400 Speaker 1: more buy in throughout the season. I think this is 259 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,200 Speaker 1: the best team in the league. I think Jokic is 260 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:01,000 Speaker 1: a substantially better player than Shake Gildas Alexander. I think 261 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:04,120 Speaker 1: this roster is tailor made to his strengths. I think 262 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 1: if they can stay healthy, if they can get anything 263 00:14:06,800 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: close to the Jamal Murray they had in twenty twenty three, 264 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 1: I think they're gonna win the trophy. They have their vulnerabilities, 265 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 1: especially against the second tier teams in the West, like 266 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: Minnesota has given issues because of their center rotation, the 267 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: Lakers because of Luka Doncicz Luca can cause some problems 268 00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: for their pick and roll defense. But I still think 269 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,200 Speaker 1: they're better than both of those teams, and I think 270 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,120 Speaker 1: they match up really well with Oklahoma City, so they're 271 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:34,320 Speaker 1: might pick to win the title this year. We'll get 272 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: into the actual contender rankings the week after we finish 273 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: our season previews. Today's show is brought to you by 274 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: our new presenting sponsor, hard Rock Bet. We are still 275 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,280 Speaker 1: a month away from basketball tip off, but with hard 276 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: Rock Bet, the action never stops. The WNBA Finals start 277 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: this weekend. If you haven't placed your first bet, now 278 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:56,640 Speaker 1: is the perfect time. 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If you or someone 300 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 301 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:05,480 Speaker 1: one eight hundred and nine with it. Gambling problem called 302 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:09,440 Speaker 1: one eight hundred gambler in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, 303 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: or Virginia. Moving on to Oklahoma City Thunder. So, to 304 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: be clear, right off the top, I'm picking Denver to 305 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: win the title. But this isn't like a Denver with 306 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: Oklahoma City way down here. The gap is very small 307 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: to me. If anything, I'd say they're on the same tier. 308 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: I just would pick Denver to beat Oklahoma City in 309 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:30,240 Speaker 1: a series quick off season recap, they're basically the same team, 310 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:32,760 Speaker 1: plus nikoloatopicch is coming back from an injury that caused 311 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: him to miss all of last year. I actually think 312 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:38,560 Speaker 1: Topics could end up having like a decent sized role 313 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,880 Speaker 1: on this team, because, as Indiana kind of exposed last year, 314 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:43,680 Speaker 1: they do have a little bit of a ball handling deficit, 315 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: and I think they could use someone to help them 316 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:48,080 Speaker 1: run their offense. For stretches help with some advantage creation, 317 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 1: especially when Shay is off the floor, so I wouldn't 318 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: be surprised if he plays quite a bit this year. 319 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: The story of the Thunder is going to be internal 320 00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: improvement in this season. It's been an arms race in 321 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: the Western Conference all summer. The Nuggets added a bunch 322 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:04,480 Speaker 1: of talent. We just covered that. The Lakers are getting 323 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,800 Speaker 1: a better version of Luca and a massive upgrade at center. 324 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 1: The Rockets. Obviously they lose Fred van Vliet, but if 325 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 1: they can pull off a trade for a guard, they'll 326 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,880 Speaker 1: be a top tier contender. The Clippers added a bunch 327 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:18,440 Speaker 1: of depth. We covered that the other day. The Warriors, 328 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:20,439 Speaker 1: if they get Horford, will be better. We covered that 329 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: the other day the MAVs will be a pain in 330 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,359 Speaker 1: the ass after being out of the equation last year. 331 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: The Spurs will likely join the mix in the Thunder. Rightfully, 332 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,159 Speaker 1: for the record, they stood pat so if they're going 333 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 1: to keep up, they need internal improvements. Last year's Thunder 334 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,680 Speaker 1: would lose to this year's Nuggets in my opinion. I mean, hell, 335 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: last year's Thunder damn near lost to last year's Nuggets, right, 336 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,720 Speaker 1: So what does that internal improvement look like for Oklahoma 337 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 1: City to maintain the gap between them and the rest 338 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:54,520 Speaker 1: of the league as they get better around them. First 339 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 1: and foremost, Shay's game management. She had a remarkable regular 340 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,280 Speaker 1: season statistically, but his efficiency plummeted in the postseason, and 341 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 1: I thought his inconsistent game management was a big part 342 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,120 Speaker 1: of how they had such an up and down postseason run. 343 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:11,920 Speaker 1: Some nights he'd come out and do a great job 344 00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: of setting up his teammates and looking for advantages, picking 345 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: his spots as a score and keeping everybody in rhythm. 346 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:19,399 Speaker 1: And another Knights, he'd come out gunning, and he'd take 347 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:22,560 Speaker 1: the team out of rhythm. The stats here, we're insane. 348 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: When the Thunder won in the postseason, they had a 349 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 1: one to twenty offensive rating. When they lost in the postseason, 350 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:35,000 Speaker 1: they had a one to ozh three offensive rating out 351 00:18:35,040 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 1: of the sixteen playoff teams. If you took all their 352 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,359 Speaker 1: offensive ratings just in losses, that ranked eleventh out of 353 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:45,400 Speaker 1: the sixteen teams. In short, their offense was awesome when 354 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:49,400 Speaker 1: they won and legitimately terrible when they lost. Now two 355 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: Shay's credit. Every time the shit hit the fan and 356 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 1: the Thunder found themselves in like a must win situation. 357 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:59,720 Speaker 1: I thought he managed those games extremely well and he 358 00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 1: got the job done. That's the beauty of everything that 359 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,800 Speaker 1: happened with the Thunder last year. In many ways, they 360 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:09,199 Speaker 1: showed the warts of their youth and won anyway. And 361 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: that's what's scary about the potential future. Outside of Game 362 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 1: four of the finals, Game four of the Finals was 363 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:15,760 Speaker 1: the one time I thought Shay kind of had a 364 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: bad floor game in a big spot, but even then, 365 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 1: he came alive down the stretch in the final minutes, 366 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,040 Speaker 1: made the big plays, got the win that they needed. 367 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:27,640 Speaker 1: But this year, at all likelihood, the margin for air 368 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:30,720 Speaker 1: will be smaller. The top six teams in the West 369 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:33,560 Speaker 1: are just better than they were last year, so Shay 370 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,120 Speaker 1: becoming a more consistent game manager would go a long 371 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 1: way towards them helping avoid an upset. Ja Dubb's overall 372 00:19:43,359 --> 00:19:46,760 Speaker 1: development Jada was incredible in this playoff run, and for 373 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:48,879 Speaker 1: that reason he ended up cracking my top twenty players 374 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: in our player rankings this year, but he was inconsistent 375 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:53,720 Speaker 1: as well as many young players are. Like when Jay 376 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:56,440 Speaker 1: Dubbs scored at least eighteen points, the Thunder went fourteen 377 00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: and two, when he failed to score eighteen points the 378 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:02,359 Speaker 1: thunder went too five. The biggest piece was mostly his 379 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: three point shooting. He was five for thirty four from 380 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: three in those seven games where he failed to get 381 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: to eighteen points. He did really it seemed like right 382 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 1: towards the end of the Nugget series it like clicked 383 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 1: for him. You could tell he like realized that no 384 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:19,879 Speaker 1: one can stop him from getting to the rim. It 385 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:21,800 Speaker 1: felt like one of the big aha moments for him 386 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:23,920 Speaker 1: in his career. He's just starting to realize that he's 387 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,520 Speaker 1: one of the most gifted basket attackers in the NBA. 388 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:28,120 Speaker 1: We went over some of the stats in our player 389 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:30,360 Speaker 1: rankings video that showed he's already one of the most 390 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,960 Speaker 1: gifted drivers of the basketball in the entire league. But 391 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:36,120 Speaker 1: if you can balance that out with the reliable three 392 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:38,880 Speaker 1: point shot, that's where he's going to become a very 393 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,640 Speaker 1: dependable night to night player. And again, when I'm talking 394 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:43,040 Speaker 1: about this and I'm about to talk about chet in 395 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: a second, I'm not trying to be super critical of 396 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,119 Speaker 1: these guys. I'm pointing this stuff out as a as 397 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:52,120 Speaker 1: a reason to get excited these guys. How many teams. 398 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:54,560 Speaker 1: You don't how any fans around the league are looking 399 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:56,639 Speaker 1: at their team and they're like, we kind of are 400 00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: what we are. We just have to hope we have 401 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: enough pieces. Like Oklahoma City can sit there and go like, 402 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:04,479 Speaker 1: I don't know how much better we're going to get 403 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: this year, but these guys are going to be better. 404 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,000 Speaker 1: It's very possible that even just over the course of 405 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,200 Speaker 1: the season, like sometimes guys take leaps in big spots, 406 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:14,879 Speaker 1: like you could have Chet figure it out and it 407 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: could all click in a big Western Conference finals series. 408 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,639 Speaker 1: That's a potential that this team has that many teams 409 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 1: around the league don't have. With Chet, it's his offensive development. 410 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,400 Speaker 1: I thought Chet was phenomenal on defense in the entire 411 00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: playoff run. His combination of rim protection and his ability 412 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:34,000 Speaker 1: to switch out onto guards was a huge part of 413 00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 1: how Oklahoma City reached the level they reached defensively on 414 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 1: their way to get the trophy. But obviously on offense 415 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,840 Speaker 1: it was an adventure. Right. He had six twenty point games, 416 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:44,480 Speaker 1: but he had four single digit games, and similarly to 417 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,159 Speaker 1: Jay Dubb, it was tied to the team's success when 418 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:49,760 Speaker 1: Chet scored at least thirteen points. The Thunder were thirteen 419 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:52,520 Speaker 1: and three. When he failed to score thirteen points, they 420 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:55,200 Speaker 1: were three and four. Obviously, a big part of that 421 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 1: offensive rating we talked about in losses showed up in 422 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,639 Speaker 1: a variety of areas. He was forty six percent on 423 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,679 Speaker 1: layups in the playoff run. Obviously a player of his size, 424 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:08,720 Speaker 1: he just needs to get better at finishing around the 425 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 1: rim through contact. He took twenty six off the dribble 426 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: jump shots and only made six of them, so he 427 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: either needs to massively improve there or kind of trim 428 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,119 Speaker 1: that fan out of his game. We'll see, it'll probably 429 00:22:20,119 --> 00:22:22,360 Speaker 1: be a little bit of both. He shot thirty two 430 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,159 Speaker 1: percent on catch and shoot jumpers, including thirty two percent 431 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:26,760 Speaker 1: when he was unguarded, so he's got to be able 432 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:30,160 Speaker 1: to knock down open shots. And again, these are not criticisms. 433 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:32,959 Speaker 1: You literally just won the title and Chet is twenty 434 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 1: three years old. He's going to get way better, and 435 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:37,639 Speaker 1: when he does, he's gonna be one of the best 436 00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: players in the league. Like I genuinely believe Chet has 437 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:44,720 Speaker 1: like Anthony Davis level two way potential. That's what he's 438 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 1: capable of getting to. He's obviously years from that, but 439 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: he has that capability and how far he gets in 440 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:52,520 Speaker 1: that direction this season is going to be a big 441 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:53,920 Speaker 1: part of whether or not they can stif arm the 442 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: rest of the Western Conference. And again, like whether it's 443 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,640 Speaker 1: Chet or it's Jadub, or it's Shay or it's guys 444 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:03,280 Speaker 1: like case on Wallace, or whether or not Nicoleo Topitch 445 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:07,120 Speaker 1: ends up succeeding in a decent sized role, that will 446 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: be the difference in whether or not that can stiff 447 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 1: arm these teams or not. The West is an absolute beast. 448 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 1: The top six teams are insane. I found the stat 449 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: the other day and I found it very interesting. The 450 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,600 Speaker 1: big reason Oklahoma City got to sixty eight wins wasn't 451 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:25,680 Speaker 1: that they outclassed the West. They only won three more 452 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:29,120 Speaker 1: games against the West than the Los Angeles Lakers did. 453 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 1: Led by old man Lebron James, they went twenty nine 454 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,960 Speaker 1: to one against the East. That game where Oklahoma City 455 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: barely lost in Cleveland, that was their only loss against 456 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,160 Speaker 1: an Eastern Conference team all season. This is not an 457 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 1: unbeatable team. As I said, I have them right there 458 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 1: with Denver as the best team in the league. And again, 459 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: all of those teams below, whether it be Houston or 460 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,920 Speaker 1: the Lakers or Minnesota. Minnesota Anthony Edwards got his ass 461 00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:58,679 Speaker 1: kicked last year. You don't think he's coming back with 462 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:00,399 Speaker 1: a little bit more of an attitude, a little bit 463 00:24:00,440 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: more of an effort to improve in the areas where 464 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 1: Shay kicked his ass. We're going to talk about it 465 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 1: in a second. The Clippers are a threat, Golden State's 466 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:11,159 Speaker 1: a threat. These are all upset threats, right, and then 467 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,679 Speaker 1: Denver's right there with them. This is not going to 468 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 1: be easy for Oklahoma City to repeat. They're going to 469 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 1: need that internal improvement. But to make it very clear, 470 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 1: if they do get substantial leaps out of Shae, out 471 00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:29,440 Speaker 1: of j Dub, out of Chet, they'll kick everyone's ass 472 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,119 Speaker 1: and they'll hoist the trophy again as the first repeat 473 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 1: champion since twenty eighteen. Moving on to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 474 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: relatively on event for off season. They lost to kill. 475 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:41,480 Speaker 1: Alexander Walker is really good player that I like, but 476 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,480 Speaker 1: it's a big loss for sure, Luca Garza and Josh Minatt. 477 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: They added Joan Bearinger in the draft is like a 478 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: super raw French big and some end of the bench guys. 479 00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 1: I think it's more likely that we just see more 480 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 1: of like Terrence Shannon and Jalen Clark rather than a 481 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 1: guy like Johnny Juzeng, for example. But we'll see the 482 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 1: Timberwolves painful. As a Lakers fan reminded me last year 483 00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: that they are one of the best playoff teams in 484 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: the NBA, regardless of how they look on any given 485 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,719 Speaker 1: night in the regular season. They're just sodamn big and 486 00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 1: sodamn strong and sodamn physical and athletic and sodamn competitive 487 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:16,119 Speaker 1: that they can just physically overwhelm you over the course 488 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:20,119 Speaker 1: of a series. But in each of the last two years, 489 00:25:20,480 --> 00:25:24,119 Speaker 1: they've run into a combination of three things, an elite 490 00:25:24,119 --> 00:25:29,639 Speaker 1: defense that can protect the rim, and a superior superstar 491 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:33,280 Speaker 1: on the other team that could pick apart Minnesota's defense, 492 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:36,560 Speaker 1: and in both cases, their impressive playoff runs came to 493 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 1: screeching halts. Now, on the defensive end, there's only so 494 00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:42,480 Speaker 1: much you can do with the supreme superstars of the NBA. 495 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:44,919 Speaker 1: But I do think it's worth talking about the game planning, 496 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:48,160 Speaker 1: like I do think Chris Finch was foolish for having 497 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:52,080 Speaker 1: Jaden McDaniels pick up Shakeous Alexander that far away from 498 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:56,280 Speaker 1: the basket. That was foolish, but I don't necessarily think 499 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,199 Speaker 1: it changes the outcome of the series. It's just like 500 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:00,960 Speaker 1: one of the things it's worth mentioning for. As good 501 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:05,400 Speaker 1: as Minnesota's defense was, both Oklahoma City and Dallas lit 502 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:09,439 Speaker 1: them up, so game planning obviously is going to be 503 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: part of it as well, getting the most out of 504 00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,880 Speaker 1: your defensive talent. But the biggest issue was their offense. 505 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 1: Minnesota logged a one oh four offensive rating in the 506 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: four losses versus Oklahoma City. That's just not going to 507 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,399 Speaker 1: get it done. It starts with Ant. He's got to 508 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: become a more resilient, less variance dependent score. I talked 509 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: a ton after the Western Conference Finals about how Shay 510 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,359 Speaker 1: badly outclassed Ant as a mid to short range score, 511 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,159 Speaker 1: and I thought it was literally the difference in the series. 512 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:44,919 Speaker 1: Shay outscored Ant one fifty seven to one fifteen in 513 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:47,959 Speaker 1: that series. If your superstar gets outplayed to that extent, 514 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,560 Speaker 1: it's almost impossible to overcome. Now, what I said at 515 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,920 Speaker 1: the time was that Ant needed to build out reliable 516 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:58,159 Speaker 1: short range scoring, the ability to use his size and 517 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:01,320 Speaker 1: strength to get closer to the against the elite perimeter 518 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,240 Speaker 1: defenders of the league. But also to have a shot 519 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,879 Speaker 1: that he can shoot over the rim protector so he 520 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 1: doesn't have to contend with those guys at the rim. 521 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:12,880 Speaker 1: So I was relieved when Shaan Sharani had reported last 522 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,720 Speaker 1: week that Ant had spent all summer working on his 523 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,520 Speaker 1: post game and his mid to short range scoring. That 524 00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,520 Speaker 1: means Ant is paying attention to what happened. It means 525 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:23,480 Speaker 1: he went back and watched the tape. He went back 526 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,040 Speaker 1: and looked at the numbers, and he saw where the 527 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:27,919 Speaker 1: area of opportunity was. We shared these stats during our 528 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:29,879 Speaker 1: player ranking series, but I want to share him again. 529 00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,160 Speaker 1: Ant posted up twenty seven times in the twenty twenty 530 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:36,560 Speaker 1: four playoff run and got one point one nine points 531 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 1: per possession. That's awesome. He posted up just seven times 532 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 1: total in the twenty twenty five playoff run. It was 533 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:45,679 Speaker 1: a thing that really worked for him and he like 534 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,920 Speaker 1: straight up abandoned it. There's a lot of talk about 535 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,640 Speaker 1: Ant's playmaking, and it's certainly something you want to see 536 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: him to continue to incrementally improve on over the years. 537 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: But he's averaging six assists per game on a two 538 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:58,359 Speaker 1: to one assist to turnover ratio over the last two 539 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: playoff runs like he's getting better. He'll continue to get 540 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:06,160 Speaker 1: better there, but his supreme gift is scoring the basketball, 541 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: and right now he's struggling to do that against the 542 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: absolute best defenses in the league. That's where he needs 543 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,960 Speaker 1: to become more reliable. That heavy shift towards three point 544 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:18,359 Speaker 1: shooting and helped him in true shooting percentage in the 545 00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 1: regular season. It helped him hit higher scoring volume. I'm 546 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,200 Speaker 1: not saying he needs to stop taking threes, but he 547 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:26,240 Speaker 1: was six for thirty one from three again in the 548 00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 1: four losses against Oklahoma City. Because that's something that can 549 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:32,840 Speaker 1: happen when you rely on heavy, high volume three point shooting. 550 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,760 Speaker 1: Building out a reliable short range scoring game. It will 551 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,720 Speaker 1: help him go bucket for bucket with guys like Shay 552 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:43,880 Speaker 1: and the best greats in the NBA. I thought the 553 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 1: Julius Randall experiment went about as well as it could 554 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:50,120 Speaker 1: have gone given the clunky fit. He shot better from 555 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:52,080 Speaker 1: three than you would think, like he was forty percent 556 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,360 Speaker 1: over his last twenty one regular season games and then 557 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:57,640 Speaker 1: thirty nine percent in the playoffs. He also provided like 558 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 1: a face up and low post creation element to kind 559 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:04,840 Speaker 1: of get the defense into rotation. I hated his game two. 560 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:06,959 Speaker 1: In Game four against Oklahoma City, it felt like he 561 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: was like openly pouting on the floor. But I'm trying 562 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:11,240 Speaker 1: to cut him at least a little bit of slack, 563 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: just simply because Oklahoma City embarrassed a lot of guys 564 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:18,600 Speaker 1: with their defense in that playoff run. In general, I 565 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 1: think he fits the identity of the team really well. 566 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:26,280 Speaker 1: He's a big, physical ass kicking forward that can really 567 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,680 Speaker 1: leverage that physicality in the postseason. He had twenty seven 568 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 1: offensive rebounds in the playoffs, and he was a pretty 569 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,720 Speaker 1: efficient twenty four points per game before the Minnesota series. 570 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,440 Speaker 1: I think that that trade and that experiment worked out 571 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,240 Speaker 1: about as well as it possibly could have given the 572 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:45,080 Speaker 1: way it looked at the time of the trade. Those 573 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: two guys ultimately control this team's destiny. The defense is 574 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:52,400 Speaker 1: the defense. They definitely need more from Chris Finch and 575 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,760 Speaker 1: game planning, like we talked about to prevent your defense 576 00:29:54,800 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 1: from just completely falling apart against Luca and SGA. More 577 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:05,240 Speaker 1: mixing up of coverages, including some zone, more willingness to 578 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: adjust when things aren't working. I don't think the Nikil 579 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:13,400 Speaker 1: Alexander Walker loss greatly affects their fortunes like he wasn't 580 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: in their best five. He's very good. I like Alexander Walker. 581 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:18,560 Speaker 1: I wanted him on the Lakers this summer, but like 582 00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 1: he's not in their best five. And I do think 583 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:23,480 Speaker 1: in the regular season, guys like Terrence Shannon and Jalen 584 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,280 Speaker 1: Clark can be productive enough to prevent much of a 585 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,360 Speaker 1: drop off there, and one of those guys, one of 586 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: those two dudes will end up popping just enough to 587 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:34,120 Speaker 1: be able to give you a shift or two per 588 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 1: game when they get to the postseason. They also match 589 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,640 Speaker 1: up really well with Denver, which I think is a 590 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:43,360 Speaker 1: strong foundation for a case that Minnesota could win the conference. 591 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 1: They just need to be able to score the ball 592 00:30:46,680 --> 00:30:49,760 Speaker 1: when they face an elite defense that can protect the rim. 593 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: So essentially, what I'm saying is they've got to be 594 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 1: able to handle Oklahoma City if they can get there, 595 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,840 Speaker 1: and that's going to depend on Julius Randall avoiding those 596 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,720 Speaker 1: disaster games than the Edwards becoming a better and more 597 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,680 Speaker 1: reliable score hopefully built around the idea of short to 598 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,800 Speaker 1: mid range scoring as well as the incremental improvements as 599 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: a playmaker. The pathways there for Minnesota, like it's easy 600 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 1: to see Minnesota gets on the opposite side of the 601 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 1: bracket from Oklahoma City and Denver, and Denver upsets Oklahoma City. 602 00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:24,040 Speaker 1: You get Minnesota Denver in the conference finals, repeat of 603 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:26,240 Speaker 1: what happened two years ago. All of a sudden, you're 604 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:28,440 Speaker 1: in the finals and you're probably favored when you get there, 605 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,840 Speaker 1: but again that's not guaranteed. There's a chance. There's a 606 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:34,480 Speaker 1: good chance you run into Oklahoma City somewhere along the way, 607 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:36,400 Speaker 1: especially if they end up with the one and two seed. 608 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 1: So at that point you're going to have to solve 609 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:43,440 Speaker 1: that puzzle when you get there. Right, We're going to 610 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:47,440 Speaker 1: go more quickly through these last two Portland Trailblazers off 611 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,800 Speaker 1: season recap. They lost dere And and Andrey Simons. They added 612 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:53,120 Speaker 1: Drew Holliday and Damian Lillard, who's going to miss all 613 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: of the season, and Young Hansen, who was their first 614 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 1: round pick at number sixteen. Kind of an interesting pick. 615 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: Most draft boards graded him as a second rounder. My 616 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: guy Sam Vessini, who is the person I trust the 617 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:05,320 Speaker 1: most with the draft, he had him at forty eight. 618 00:32:05,960 --> 00:32:10,400 Speaker 1: The Blazers also had just drafted Donovan Klingen, so I 619 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:12,200 Speaker 1: guess they're looking at this as like a center by 620 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 1: committee thing. I was looking at some quotes and apparently 621 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:16,920 Speaker 1: they're looking at as like Donovan Klingon is your big, 622 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:19,600 Speaker 1: physical ass kicking center, and then Yang Hansen is basically 623 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:24,240 Speaker 1: like your finesse you know, offensive skill oriented center. The 624 00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:28,720 Speaker 1: Blazers have some really interesting young talent. Shade and Sharp 625 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:30,840 Speaker 1: had a bunch of really big scoring games down the 626 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:32,600 Speaker 1: stretch of the season. Although that was a lot of 627 00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: like high usage chucking. Denny Avdya really popped at the 628 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: end of the year. In his final thirteen games. This 629 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:43,360 Speaker 1: is crazy. Denny Avdia averaged twenty seven points, eleven rebounds, 630 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,880 Speaker 1: and six assists, and he won his minutes. And he 631 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:48,960 Speaker 1: did it on fifty two percent from the field, forty 632 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,720 Speaker 1: six percent from three, and eighty two percent from the line. 633 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:53,600 Speaker 1: And the big thing is, like, again, you see a 634 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: lot of noise at the end of the year, especially 635 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:57,440 Speaker 1: with teams that don't really have anything to play for. 636 00:32:57,720 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: They put the ball in the hands of a bunch 637 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: of random do dudes, and sometimes they can put up 638 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,360 Speaker 1: numbers like I like Shaden Sharp, but I don't expect 639 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: Shadon Sharp to be a guy that's gonna average twenty 640 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:08,200 Speaker 1: six points a game like he did down the stretch 641 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:12,040 Speaker 1: of the season. Right Like to me, like the major 642 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:15,120 Speaker 1: on ball stuff isn't really coming forward for me as 643 00:33:15,120 --> 00:33:17,320 Speaker 1: something that I think he's ready for just yet. But 644 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:21,000 Speaker 1: like the Denny Ovdyus stuff, I view that as real. 645 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: You know, maybe not to the extent is of him 646 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:26,720 Speaker 1: like averaging twenty seven points per game for a whole season, 647 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:29,720 Speaker 1: but especially with the Scoot Henderson injury, who apparently tore 648 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:32,080 Speaker 1: his hamstring the other day. I wouldn't be surprised if 649 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 1: they start with Denny as like their primary shot creators 650 00:33:34,720 --> 00:33:36,960 Speaker 1: start the year. And I wouldn't be surprised if we're 651 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: twenty games into the season and Denny's averaging like twenty 652 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:43,479 Speaker 1: five points, ten rebounds, five assists on sixty percent through shooting. 653 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:48,480 Speaker 1: He's just he's a really gifted offensive player. He shot 654 00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,040 Speaker 1: pull up threes insanely well. He's got forty one percent 655 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:54,040 Speaker 1: on seventy pull up threes with Portland. He showed that 656 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:56,600 Speaker 1: in ball screens when guys would go under. He showed 657 00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:59,160 Speaker 1: it in ISO out of dribble combinations on like step 658 00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:02,240 Speaker 1: backs and things like that. He's got like real downhill 659 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:05,120 Speaker 1: burst you'll see it in ISOs where he'll just catch 660 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:06,760 Speaker 1: and he'll get a big on a switch and he'll 661 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:08,399 Speaker 1: just hit the gas going to the right and he'll 662 00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,600 Speaker 1: dust somebody off the dribble. He'll in a ball screen 663 00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: if the BIG's not up at the level, he'll get 664 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,080 Speaker 1: downhill into the lane, driving clothes out, so he'll hit 665 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:18,960 Speaker 1: a really hard like left handed or like a jab 666 00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:20,680 Speaker 1: step to the left and then drive to the right 667 00:34:20,680 --> 00:34:24,000 Speaker 1: where he gets really good first step quickness. He's got 668 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:27,399 Speaker 1: some bullyball to his game where he'll just power through guys. 669 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:29,760 Speaker 1: He'll drop that right shoulder and just go through guys 670 00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:32,640 Speaker 1: all the way to the basket. He's got like really 671 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:36,640 Speaker 1: nice change of pace on his drives, like in ball screens, 672 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 1: he'll put the defender in jail and trap him on 673 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:40,560 Speaker 1: the backside and hit a little floater or like a 674 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,239 Speaker 1: step through something like that. He'll like burst downhill and 675 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:47,080 Speaker 1: then slow way down with slow down steps. His bigs 676 00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:49,200 Speaker 1: jump around him, and then he'll find a little angle 677 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:52,839 Speaker 1: he'll euro or he'll slide through some weird gap where 678 00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: it'll look like he's driving towards the left and then 679 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:57,640 Speaker 1: somehow finish on the right as he swalloms through the 680 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:01,239 Speaker 1: lane like it's honestly a little Luca Lights. Sometimes he's 681 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:05,520 Speaker 1: he's got pump fakes and like up and unders and 682 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,080 Speaker 1: step throughs where he'll get to little short floaters and 683 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:12,239 Speaker 1: short jump shots. Honestly, I think it's a really impressive 684 00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: move from this Portland front office to find an underappreciated 685 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:18,680 Speaker 1: talent in this league. And to be clear, I wasn't 686 00:35:18,719 --> 00:35:22,880 Speaker 1: watching the Wizards a ton back then. I wasn't aware 687 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:25,759 Speaker 1: of this upside myself. But he has my attention now 688 00:35:25,800 --> 00:35:27,680 Speaker 1: and I think he's really really good. As I was 689 00:35:27,719 --> 00:35:30,080 Speaker 1: digging into the Portland tape this morning, you know, you're 690 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:32,080 Speaker 1: gonna see a lot of noise, like we talked about, 691 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:34,759 Speaker 1: but in that noise, you're gonna see things that you 692 00:35:34,840 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 1: think are real, And Denny Avdia being like potentially a 693 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:42,160 Speaker 1: legitimate like shot creator in this league is something that 694 00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:44,200 Speaker 1: I think is real and I'm really really excited to 695 00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:48,080 Speaker 1: watch him this year. Tamani Kamara and Drew Holliday will 696 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:50,560 Speaker 1: make a formidable pairing of defensive weapons, and they have 697 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:54,560 Speaker 1: a strong defensive center rotation with Donovan Klingen and Rob Williams. 698 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:59,040 Speaker 1: They don't have their clear foundational superstar yet and I'm 699 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:02,000 Speaker 1: not sure if Scoot hender will ever be that, but 700 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:05,759 Speaker 1: they do have some really strong foundational pieces. I think 701 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,600 Speaker 1: the main goals for this season are find out if 702 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:10,759 Speaker 1: Denny is good enough to be a championship number two, 703 00:36:10,840 --> 00:36:13,920 Speaker 1: give him the ball a ton, and then see what 704 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 1: the upside is trending towards with guys like Scoot Henderson, 705 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:18,959 Speaker 1: if he can be healthy and shade and sharp right. 706 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:21,920 Speaker 1: If they're not, then it's time for you to start 707 00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:26,959 Speaker 1: planning how to get that foundational superstar again. The thought 708 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:28,920 Speaker 1: process is, you need a number one, you need a 709 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,400 Speaker 1: number two, and you need complimentary role players. And you 710 00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:34,160 Speaker 1: don't know what complimentary role players you need until you 711 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:36,000 Speaker 1: know what your number one and your number two are. 712 00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,200 Speaker 1: And I think getting Denny and like seeing that upside 713 00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:40,680 Speaker 1: and we'll see. It's got to you know, it's one 714 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:42,799 Speaker 1: thing to do it for twenty games or whatever. At 715 00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:44,080 Speaker 1: the end of the season, you got to you gotta 716 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:45,480 Speaker 1: figure out how to do it. Over the course of 717 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:49,960 Speaker 1: a season. There's gonna be attempts to figure him out 718 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,600 Speaker 1: in scouting, and teams will figure out ways to guard 719 00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:54,160 Speaker 1: him better than they did. There was a lot of 720 00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,279 Speaker 1: like going underpicks on Denny. There are certain teams that 721 00:36:57,360 --> 00:36:58,759 Speaker 1: chase him over, Like I watched the game with the 722 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:00,799 Speaker 1: Knicks where they chased him over the entire game, and 723 00:37:00,840 --> 00:37:03,320 Speaker 1: that's where he showed a lot of that like putting 724 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:05,160 Speaker 1: the defender in jail type of stuff. But then there 725 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,040 Speaker 1: are other games where dudes are dying on picks and 726 00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:08,799 Speaker 1: it's like, yeah, if you're going to hit pull up 727 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,319 Speaker 1: threes at forty percent, they're gonna start chasing you over 728 00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:13,799 Speaker 1: the top. Right, We're going to see the league try 729 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,680 Speaker 1: to figure Denny out and then we will find out 730 00:37:16,719 --> 00:37:20,200 Speaker 1: if Denny is worth building around as that like secondary 731 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:23,840 Speaker 1: star on a real team with real chances. But Portland's 732 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:26,319 Speaker 1: going to be a really fun league pass team this year. 733 00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:29,120 Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if they got up around thirty 734 00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:32,000 Speaker 1: to thirty five wins. But we will see. Lastly, today 735 00:37:32,040 --> 00:37:36,120 Speaker 1: the Utah Jazz. They lost Jordan Clarkson, John Collins, Colin Sexton, 736 00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:40,960 Speaker 1: Johnny Juzang, Jaden Springer, and they added Mobamba, a bunch 737 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:43,279 Speaker 1: of vets that they'll probably trade or buy out at 738 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:45,840 Speaker 1: some point, like Kyle Anderson. Kevin loved George's Kniang and 739 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,840 Speaker 1: use Nurkic. A couple of really interesting draft picks, like 740 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:51,319 Speaker 1: Ace Bailey out of Rutgers, who's the He's like a 741 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:54,280 Speaker 1: tough shot maker that can't make tough shots yet and 742 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:57,840 Speaker 1: a lot of unrealized defensive upside, so, in other words, 743 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:00,480 Speaker 1: like a big upside pick. So well if he can 744 00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:02,680 Speaker 1: reach that upside. And then Walter Clayton Junior is the 745 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:04,400 Speaker 1: guard out of Florida who made a name for himself 746 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:07,600 Speaker 1: in the NCAA Tournament in a deep run. I don't 747 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:09,520 Speaker 1: have a ton to say about the Jazz. They don't 748 00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:12,600 Speaker 1: feel like they've made any progress towards their big picture plans. 749 00:38:13,000 --> 00:38:15,560 Speaker 1: They clearly don't have their franchise superstar yet. I mean, 750 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: Ace Bailey has that upside, I suppose, but that's a 751 00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:21,359 Speaker 1: long shot. It's certainly like a half decade away. And 752 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:23,920 Speaker 1: I like Lori Markinen is a potential number two for 753 00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:26,040 Speaker 1: the right superstar. We're going to talk about him in 754 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:28,919 Speaker 1: the context of the Detroit Pistons in the video coming 755 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:31,839 Speaker 1: up on Monday, but he's twenty eight years old now, 756 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,680 Speaker 1: so I'm not sure how he fits Utah's timeline unless 757 00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,279 Speaker 1: you have a plan to bring in a superstar that's older. Right. 758 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:39,960 Speaker 1: I continue to see reports coming out of Utah that 759 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:42,200 Speaker 1: they have no intention of trading him, which makes no 760 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:43,839 Speaker 1: sense to me. Like, I get that he's a great 761 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:46,200 Speaker 1: guy and a great player, and you like having him 762 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:49,120 Speaker 1: in the organization, but he's a great vehicle with which 763 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:53,320 Speaker 1: to give your team more opportunities to find the foundational superstar, 764 00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:56,160 Speaker 1: which you don't have yet. There's no young player on 765 00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:58,399 Speaker 1: this roster below the age of twenty five that has 766 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:02,080 Speaker 1: real big picture upside other than Ace Bailey, who you 767 00:39:02,160 --> 00:39:03,840 Speaker 1: just brought in and we've never seen play in the 768 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:08,080 Speaker 1: pros and in college was a mess. Right, So I 769 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:11,359 Speaker 1: guess this year there's some interesting stuff, right, Like we'll 770 00:39:11,360 --> 00:39:13,960 Speaker 1: see if the Jazz trade Lori to a contender. We'll 771 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:16,759 Speaker 1: see if Ace Bailey pops it all. But I'm kind 772 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,319 Speaker 1: of unfamiliar with where Utah is trying to get at 773 00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:22,200 Speaker 1: this point in time. All Right, guys, It's all I 774 00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:24,200 Speaker 1: have for today is always to sincerely appreciate you guys 775 00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:26,040 Speaker 1: for supporting us and supporting the show. We'll be back 776 00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:30,160 Speaker 1: on Monday, going back out yeast. I believe the Central Division, 777 00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:32,480 Speaker 1: if I remember correctly, so I will see you guys. 778 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:32,680 Speaker 1: Then