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Speaker 1: responsible gaming resources. All right, welcome to hoops tonight. You're

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Speaker 1: at the volume. Happy Tuesday, everybody. Hope all of you

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Speaker 1: guys are having a great week so far. We have

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Speaker 1: a really fun show today. We're gonna be hitting on

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Speaker 1: the Elite eight games last night in the NCAA Women's Tournament.

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Speaker 1: Highly highly entertaining stuff. Lots of debate about how Kim

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Speaker 1: Moulchi and LSU decided to guard Caitlyn Clark. So I

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Speaker 1: dove into the film and have a bunch of thoughts

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Speaker 1: on what I would have done, Mostly just talking about

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Speaker 1: the pros and cons of different types of coverages and

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Speaker 1: the realities of dealing with the player of Kitlyn Clark's caliber,

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Speaker 1: and just some information from the stuff that I pulled

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Speaker 1: on tape. After that, we're gonna talk about the Phoenix

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Speaker 1: Suns going into New Orleans and smacking the Pelicans. How

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Speaker 1: unusual is this? Devin Booker has played the Pelicans twice

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Speaker 1: this year and has two fifty two point games against them.

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Speaker 1: Kind of rare to see something like that. And then

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Speaker 1: at the end of the show, we got you know,

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Speaker 1: five or six mail bag questions that we'll be hitting

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Speaker 1: that go around the league. You guys know the jope

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Speaker 1: before we get started. Subscribe to a brand new YouTube

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Speaker 1: channel so you don't miss any more of our videos.

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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason ltus. You guys

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Speaker 1: don't miss anyhow announcements or film threads. Don't forget about

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Speaker 1: our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops Tonight.

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Speaker 1: It's also super helpful if he leave a rating and

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Speaker 1: a review on that front. And the last but not least,

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Speaker 1: keep dropping mail bag questions in the YouTube comments. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna do a few more mail bags over the course

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Speaker 1: of this week. So forty one points, seven rebounds and

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Speaker 1: twelve assists against the team that knocked you out in

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Speaker 1: the title game last year. Not just defeating the defending champion,

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Speaker 1: a champion, but avenging a loss to the team that

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Speaker 1: beats you and did it in resounding fashion and unbelievable

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Speaker 1: performance by Kitlyn Clark against LSU. Now here's the question.

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Speaker 1: Kaylen Clark was cooking against LSU, obviously, and seemed to

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Speaker 1: be making it look easy for most of the night.

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Speaker 1: And so there was a lot of question about whether

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Speaker 1: or not LSU had the right defensive strategy to deal

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Speaker 1: with Caitlin Clark. And that was especially apparent when we

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Speaker 1: saw the second game and we saw Juju Watkins of

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Speaker 1: USC getting very aggressive coverages from Yukon and Gino Arima.

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Speaker 1: So it presented this question of whether or not that

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Speaker 1: was the appropriate way to deal with what Caitlyn Clark

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Speaker 1: was doing. And so what I did to kind of

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Speaker 1: try to come at this with as much information as

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Speaker 1: possible as I went back and I charted every single

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Speaker 1: pick and roll in ISO that Caitlyn Clark ran in

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Speaker 1: this game. She ran seven ISOs and eighteen pick and rolls.

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Speaker 1: The ISOs were pretty few and far between, and they

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Speaker 1: were more or less the same things. She hit up

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Speaker 1: ISO three against Haley van Liz, where she gave her

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Speaker 1: a little bit too much space, which was really the

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Speaker 1: only possession that I didn't think Hayley did a good job,

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Speaker 1: but that for the most part, Haley did a really

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Speaker 1: good job within the scheme. It was the scheme that

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Speaker 1: was getting burned, not Hayley, but for the most part

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Speaker 1: in the ISOs, Caitlyn was beating her defender off the

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Speaker 1: dribble and then running into all of LSU's size at

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Speaker 1: the rim, and so it wasn't really the best strategy.

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Speaker 1: Pick and roll was the best way for her to

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Speaker 1: at least get the rim protectors a little bit further

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Speaker 1: away from the basket, namely angel Reaes Right, So Kaitlyn

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Speaker 1: ran eighteen pick and rolls total including passes in Iowa,

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Speaker 1: got nineteen points out of them. Now, that's one point

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Speaker 1: zero six point per possession, which seems low compared to

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Speaker 1: our mediocre compared to some NBA numbers, but at the

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Speaker 1: college level, that's in that just by looking at the

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Speaker 1: over the season numbers this year, when it comes to

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Speaker 1: Kitlyn Clark in the way she stacks up against other

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Speaker 1: pick and roll ball handlers, that's about where she was

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Speaker 1: for most of the season including passes, and that was

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Speaker 1: in the very top tier of pick and roll ball

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Speaker 1: handlers around the country. So like, that's excellent, especially in

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Speaker 1: the NCAA tournament, which, by the way, Kitlyn Clark is

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Speaker 1: getting almost one point three points per possession and pick

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Speaker 1: and roll in this NCAA tournament when she shoots the basketball,

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Speaker 1: so she's been cooking in these particular situations and shooting

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Speaker 1: over sixty percent herself. Right. So I saw four different

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Speaker 1: coverages in a pick and roll from LSU in this game,

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Speaker 1: and then there were three possessions where she rejected the

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Speaker 1: screen entirely, so we didn't get to see what the

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Speaker 1: coverage means. What that means is screen's coming on this side,

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Speaker 1: but instead she drives the other direction and just effectively

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Speaker 1: turns into an ISO at that point. The four different

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Speaker 1: coverages that I saw was going underneath the screen with

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Speaker 1: out nail help meaning there's not help waiting on the

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Speaker 1: other side of the screen, and then going under the

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Speaker 1: screen with nail help, and then over the screen with

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Speaker 1: drop and over the screen with a hedge. Now again

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Speaker 1: the drop is the screen defenders hanging back in the lane.

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Speaker 1: Now LSU was kind of hovering around the kind of

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Speaker 1: like semi circle area just below the foul line, so

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Speaker 1: it wasn't a super deep drop. They were there to

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Speaker 1: try to contest a little bit, but they were sitting back,

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Speaker 1: they were not up at the level of the screen.

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Speaker 1: For the most part. There were to kind of go

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Speaker 1: through them one by one, so under without help. There

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Speaker 1: were four possessions. These were all early in the game,

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Speaker 1: and every single one of them Caitlin Clark took a

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Speaker 1: pull up three. There were four of these possessions. Caitlyn

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Speaker 1: took a pull up three on every single one of them.

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Speaker 1: She made two of them, so it was one point

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Speaker 1: five points per possession in four possessions or six points

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Speaker 1: in four possessions. Early in the game, there was a

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Speaker 1: possession where Kate Markin Kate Martin was on the left

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Speaker 1: wing and five J. Johnson actually jumped down in nail help,

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Speaker 1: meaning as Caitlyn came off the screen, Flaje was waiting

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Speaker 1: for her at the nail. Caitlyn just made a simple

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Speaker 1: swing pass to Kate Martin, who's been a deadly unguarded

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Speaker 1: three point shooter all season. According to Syenergy, she was

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Speaker 1: at forty three percent on unguarded catch and shoot jump shots,

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Speaker 1: which is right where she's at for the entire NCAA

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Speaker 1: tournament as well. She made the three. They didn't try

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Speaker 1: that again the rest of the game. No more nail

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Speaker 1: help because what they would do is they'd just keep

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Speaker 1: Kate Martin on the wing one pass away from where

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Speaker 1: they were running those ball screens. So if you helped,

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Speaker 1: you were just leaving a really good shooter wide open.

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Speaker 1: So they tried that once burned for three points, so

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Speaker 1: that's three points per possession in one possession. The most

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Speaker 1: frequent coverage they used was just a traditional drop coverage

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Speaker 1: with Hayley van Lyft chasing over the top of the screen,

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Speaker 1: and they had a good amount of success there. It

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Speaker 1: stops Caitlyn from taking pull up threes, mainly turned her

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Speaker 1: into a passer, and a lot of those pocket passes

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Speaker 1: were either turning into turnovers or at the rim against

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Speaker 1: length that were missed. They scored seven points and eight

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Speaker 1: possessions there. That zero point eighty eight points per possession,

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Speaker 1: So the general coverage they used for the majority of

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Speaker 1: the game actually worked pretty well. Then there were two

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Speaker 1: possessions late in the game when Caitlyn really started to

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Speaker 1: get going where they offered a hedge, and now that

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Speaker 1: means Angel reaes as the screen was being set, was

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Speaker 1: coming up and hedging just to stop Caitlin from taking

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Speaker 1: the three high drop hedge whatever you wanna call it,

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Speaker 1: coming up to the level of screen bothering and then

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Speaker 1: rotating back to the basket. On those two possessions, they

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Speaker 1: both resulted in pocket passes, and one was a turnover

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Speaker 1: and one was a miss layup, So that was zero

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Speaker 1: points per possession on two possessions. And then the three

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Speaker 1: times that she rejected the screen meaning she didn't use

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Speaker 1: the screen but she drove away from it, she had

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Speaker 1: a driving and one layup, and then she had two misses,

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Speaker 1: so three points in three possessions or one point per possession.

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Speaker 1: So honestly, when you look back at it, it was

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Speaker 1: a lot of really small sample sized stuff, like three

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Speaker 1: of the coverages they only used repossessions or less, and

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Speaker 1: then the main coverage they used actually worked pretty well

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Speaker 1: on tape. Hailey van Lyft did her job when she

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Speaker 1: was going under the screen early it was very clear

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Speaker 1: that that was actually the coaching staff's decision because other

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Speaker 1: defenders that ended up on Kate for random possessions ended

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Speaker 1: up going underneath as well. That was what they were

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Speaker 1: doing at the beginning of the game. That's not Hailey's fault,

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Speaker 1: and it was a bad idea. If there was one

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Speaker 1: thing to really shine the light on in this particular game,

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Speaker 1: it was the early game possessions when they were going

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Speaker 1: underneath screens that didn't make any sense. But when Haley

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Speaker 1: was chasing over the top, she was doing a good job.

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Speaker 1: She was staying attached, she was fighting over the top

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Speaker 1: of screens. There were several possessions where Kitlyn came off

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Speaker 1: on the other side of the screen and Hailey's just

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Speaker 1: right there waiting for her. She did her job. It

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Speaker 1: was mainly just a product of the coverage that the

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Speaker 1: openings that were there ended up being there. So the

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Speaker 1: question is this was the most frequent one I see.

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Speaker 1: What was the one coverage that I did not mention

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Speaker 1: in that list? A blitz. So a blitz is where

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Speaker 1: you have Hailey van Lyt the top and you have

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Speaker 1: Angel rees Hard Hedge and both of them try to

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Speaker 1: trap Caitlin and basically force her to immediately get rid

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Speaker 1: of the basketball. LSU did not do this a single

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Speaker 1: time in the game. So the question is, why why

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Speaker 1: didn't LSU try blitzing? To me? When I look at it,

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Speaker 1: the reality of LSU's defensive scheme, the way that they're

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Speaker 1: set up. Angel Reese is one of their best rim protectors,

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Speaker 1: if not their best rim protector. She had three blocks

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Speaker 1: in this game. They want to keep her at the rim.

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Speaker 1: It's the same reason why you might not necessarily want

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Speaker 1: to blitz with a Brook Lopez the way that Adrian Griffin.

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Speaker 1: Adrian Griffin wasn't necessarily blitzing, but he was bringing Brook

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Speaker 1: Lopez way up high to the level of the screen

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Speaker 1: to start the season. The same reason why you don't

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Speaker 1: want to do that is that's just not the best

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Speaker 1: use of what Brooke does well defensively. Same thing for

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Speaker 1: Angel Reece. Now, Angel Reese is a player that can

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Speaker 1: force a lot of turnovers and cause a lot of problems.

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Speaker 1: I would have personally tried blitzing, but my guess is

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Speaker 1: Kim Molkie's thought was I want to keep angele Rees

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Speaker 1: as close to the rim as possible. And again, the

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Speaker 1: hedge worked, but it was in a really small sample size.

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Speaker 1: They did it two possessions, both late in the game.

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Speaker 1: If you start the game hedging or blitzing, or you

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Speaker 1: go to the hedge or blitz early in the game,

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Speaker 1: and you stick with it, there's a chance that Iowa

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Speaker 1: just gets going a different way. You're gonna be running

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Speaker 1: four on threes on the back end with Angel Reese

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Speaker 1: twenty plus feet away from the basket right and again,

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Speaker 1: like in a small sample it might work, but in

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Speaker 1: a large sample eventually there's like a tic tac toe

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Speaker 1: that forms. The players on the floor kind of figure

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Speaker 1: out the reds and they can get going out of

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Speaker 1: that and get really easy shots. My guess is Kim

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Speaker 1: Moulkie was thinking, I'd rather just see if Caitlin can

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Speaker 1: make enough shots. I want to see if we can

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Speaker 1: fatigue her and wear her down, especially because we play physical,

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Speaker 1: we attack the offensive glass. I think she wanted to

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Speaker 1: wear Caitlyn down and see if she was capable of

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Speaker 1: making enough shots, and she got burned, and by the way,

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Speaker 1: you can get burned the other way. This is where

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Speaker 1: I want to use Steph Curry as an example. Steph

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Speaker 1: Curry in the twenty twenty two finals against the Boston

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Speaker 1: Celtics primarily faced a high drop coverage, but in that

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Speaker 1: drop coverage because Steph can shoot so deep a lot

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Speaker 1: of times, Al Horford and Robert Williams were coming out

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Speaker 1: to twenty twenty two feet, but Steph was hitting pull

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Speaker 1: up threes at twenty four to twenty six feet and

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Speaker 1: Steph burned them, namely in Game four, Steph burned the

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Speaker 1: deep drop, made a ton of shots and it cost

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Speaker 1: them the series. And a lot of people were like,

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Speaker 1: why are they running drop, including myself, mainly just because

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Speaker 1: I wanted to see them mix things up and try

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Speaker 1: something different. And here's the reality. You go back to

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Speaker 1: twenty fifteen against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the finals, they go,

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Speaker 1: we're sick of watching Steph hitting all these pull up

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Speaker 1: threes against Matthew Delavadoba. We're gonna blitz and so they did.

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Speaker 1: And when they blitzed, it turned out Steph was really

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Speaker 1: good at getting the ball over the top to Draymond

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Speaker 1: Green on the roll. Turns out Draymond Green is really

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Speaker 1: good at rolling down the lane and making decisions. And

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Speaker 1: it turns out Andre Gudala and everyone else on that

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Speaker 1: roster is really smart on the backside as cutters and

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Speaker 1: as corner three point shooters and things like that, and

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Speaker 1: it burned the Caps. So again, like when we look

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Speaker 1: at this, it's like, why didn't they blitz, Why didn't

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Speaker 1: they blitz? Why didn't they blitz? Well, Caitlyn's an elite

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Speaker 1: passer as well, and that just might burn you in

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Speaker 1: the same way. And so again, like, if there's anything

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Speaker 1: to be really critical of, I felt like she should

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Speaker 1: have mixed things up more. It should have been here's

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Speaker 1: a random blitz, here's a possession of zone to kind

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Speaker 1: of throw things off. Here's a classic drop coverage possession.

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Speaker 1: Here on this possession, we're gonna, you know, deny the

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Speaker 1: screen and try to funnel her to help on the

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Speaker 1: other side. Whatever it is hard nail help, you know,

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Speaker 1: pre switching, putting a guard on the big girl as

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Speaker 1: she goes up to set the screen so that you

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Speaker 1: can just switch that screening action. There's so many different

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Speaker 1: things you can do, and for the most part it

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Speaker 1: was the same. It was like they went under to

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Speaker 1: start the game, and then they went over late in

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Speaker 1: the game, and there was never really much help. There

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Speaker 1: were a handful of hedges in there, but that's really it.

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Speaker 1: There just wasn't enough in terms of mixing it up

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Speaker 1: to try to make Caitlin do different stuff on every possession.

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Speaker 1: Because again, once you get comfortable once you know what

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Speaker 1: the coverage is and you're facing it every time down

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Speaker 1: on the floor, you kind of just kept getting a

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Speaker 1: rhythm going against that particular coverage. And this is honestly

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Speaker 1: just the classic question when you're dealing with this type

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Speaker 1: of player, this particular type of player, the elite scorer

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Speaker 1: who is also an elite playmaker, and playmakers is the

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Speaker 1: operative word there because Juju Watkins of USC she's an

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Speaker 1: elite scorer, but she had one hundred and forty turnovers

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Speaker 1: this year to just one hundred and twelve assists. So

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Speaker 1: for Yukon, it actually made more sense to be a

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Speaker 1: lot more aggressive with her, like that is the coverage

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Speaker 1: you want to do against that particular type of player

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Speaker 1: because you want to test her playmaking ability. There's a

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Speaker 1: player in the third quarter of that game where she

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Speaker 1: came off of a ball screen and Page Beckers came

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Speaker 1: over with hard nail help, like full on double walled

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Speaker 1: up on her hard double team, and Juju just shot

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Speaker 1: over the top of it. That same type of nail

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Speaker 1: help happened in the first quarter of the LSU Iowa game,

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Speaker 1: and it was five J. Johnson that came over and

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Speaker 1: katelin Clark made the pass and Kate Martin made the shot.

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Speaker 1: That's the difference. You can get away with a lot

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Speaker 1: of those really aggressive coverages against a player that's a

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Speaker 1: lesser playmakers. By the way, it's the same kind of

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Speaker 1: thing we talk about with like Kevin Durant, right, Like

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Speaker 1: you're playing the Lebron Luca types. A lot of coaches

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Speaker 1: are like, make them score, maybe they'll get tired, and

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Speaker 1: they don't want to get in the blender of those

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Speaker 1: guys as playmakers picking you apart. But then you go

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Speaker 1: up against the you know, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant types,

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Speaker 1: you want to throw as much defensive attention at them

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Speaker 1: as possible and play into what makes them uncomfortable, which

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Speaker 1: is being a passer. Right, and so again, like I'm

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Speaker 1: not even necessarily saying that when it comes to Juju Watkins,

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Speaker 1: that's the only way you could you could play against

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Speaker 1: a player like that. I'm just saying, like you're looking

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Speaker 1: at two different types of players. The elite scorer, they

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Speaker 1: were throwing the kitchen sink catter, the elite scorer and playmaker.

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Speaker 1: They tried to dare her to beat them scoring the

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Speaker 1: basketball and they lost, and again, like it, it's very

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Speaker 1: possible that they could have tried more aggressive coverages and

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Speaker 1: lost anyway. If anything, it's likely given the amount of

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Speaker 1: talent and just the reality of trying to defend in

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Speaker 1: a four on three every single possession down the floor.

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Speaker 1: And again, my one complaint is I would have mixed

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Speaker 1: it up more. And that was one of the things

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Speaker 1: Yukon was doing. Yukon against USC. They were running drop

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Speaker 1: on some possessions, they were offering nail help on some

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Speaker 1: possessions and not on others. They were blitzing on some possessions,

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Speaker 1: they were hard doubling on some possessions. It was all

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Speaker 1: mixed up, and it did a better job of keeping

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Speaker 1: her off balance. One other note with LSU Angel Reese

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Speaker 1: was seven for nineteen on shots in the paint, all

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Speaker 1: on attempts that were right around the rim. She's shooting

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Speaker 1: forty nine point three percent at the rim for this

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Speaker 1: entire season, including both tournaments, in below forty percent. In

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Speaker 1: this NC DOUBLEA tournament, she missed twelve shots in this

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Speaker 1: particular game right around the rim. I thought that was

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Speaker 1: probably the biggest factor in the game. I mean, we

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Speaker 1: talked so much about the defense. Like I talked about,

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Speaker 1: on a per possession basis, they did a good job defensively. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: the box score numbers looked big and the lead was big,

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Speaker 1: but the reality was is the problem for LSU is

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Speaker 1: they were missing too many shots around the rim, and

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Speaker 1: that was a consistent theme throughout the season. Kaitlyn Clark

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Speaker 1: shoots in the mid sixties at the rim, Angel Rees

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Speaker 1: shoots below fifty percent at the rim right like, and

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Speaker 1: that just ended up being the thing that kind of

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Speaker 1: stalled them out offensively. Now, what do I expect to

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Speaker 1: see in the Final four, at least in the Yukon

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Speaker 1: Iowa game, because of the two teams that I've watched

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Speaker 1: more closely. I expect, you know, Rima to bring just

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Speaker 1: a better mix of coverages. I think you will see blitzes.

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Speaker 1: I think you will see hard hedges. I think you

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Speaker 1: will see hard nail help. You're gonna see all of that,

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Speaker 1: but it's gonna be mixed in an attempt to keep

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Speaker 1: Iowa off of balance and to keep Kaitlyn Clark off balance.

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Speaker 1: I also think Yukon has a few more lengthy defenders

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Speaker 1: on the perimeter that will make things a little more interesting.

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Speaker 1: Obviously LSU's interior size is kind of their advantage. I

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Speaker 1: think we're gonna see just a little bit more layingth

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Speaker 1: on Caitlyn Clark as well. It's gonna be real challenge

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Speaker 1: and it's gonna be really fun game. We do plan

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Speaker 1: uncovering the women's final four on this show. It should

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Speaker 1: be fun, all right. Moving on to Suns Pelicans, This

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Speaker 1: game was crazy. The Suns just lit him up from

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Speaker 1: the opening tip. They had fourteen points in the first

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Speaker 1: two minutes and fifty eight seconds on pace for damn

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Speaker 1: near sixty point quarter. They were consistently getting the Pelicans

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Speaker 1: in rotation, a lot of the same stuff that I've

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Speaker 1: talked about with the Suns, where you just inevitably end

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Speaker 1: up drawing in help and then you're playing driving kick

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Speaker 1: basketball with just incredibly talented offensive players. The Pelicans were

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Speaker 1: making a lot of mistakes early in this game. Devin

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Speaker 1: Booker and Kevin Durant each got two wide open jumpers

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Speaker 1: in the opening minutes. There was a Nurkic offensive rebound

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Speaker 1: that got Devin Booker a wide open fifteen footer. There

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Speaker 1: was a play on the left wing where Herb Jones

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Speaker 1: was prepping for a specific type of coverage and wasn't

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Speaker 1: paying close enough attention to his man, Devin Booker on

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Speaker 1: this play, and Devin Booker got a wide open corner

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Speaker 1: three just because he was a step light. KD got

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Speaker 1: two wide open kickouts because his man got pulled into

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Speaker 1: help situations. All four of these jumpers went in. That

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Speaker 1: was a big part of extuly me. Katie made one

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Speaker 1: to miss the other. But like three of those four

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Speaker 1: jumpers went in, they got into rhythm pretty quickly. They

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Speaker 1: just kept leaving Devin Booker open. After that, we talked

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Speaker 1: about the two mistakes early, but Devin Booker's next three

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Speaker 1: out of that that he made came in a stack

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Speaker 1: pick and roll situation. So stack pick and roll is

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Speaker 1: when Devin Booker's coming off of the Nurkits ball screen.

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Speaker 1: But as he's coming off of the Nurkits ball screen,

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Speaker 1: Grayson Allen underneath the basket is coming up in backscreening

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Speaker 1: Nurkic's man so that he can get open on the role.

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Speaker 1: The way the Pelicans were guarding it was Zion Williamson

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Speaker 1: was guarding Grayson Allen, and so what Herb Jones and

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Speaker 1: Zion Williamson were doing is they were switching that Grayson

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Speaker 1: Allen Devin Booker element, So basically, Zion Williamson would have

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Speaker 1: to split out and guard Devin Booker and Herb Jones

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Speaker 1: would essentially take Grayson Allen as he's flashing to the

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Speaker 1: top of the key. And in both of these situations,

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Speaker 1: Zion Williamson is closing out at Devin Booker right, so

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Speaker 1: it's a difficult defensive match for him. Just by the

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Speaker 1: way the coverage is set up, they're basically pulling Zion

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Speaker 1: into this ball screen situation right. So Booker's next three

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Speaker 1: came out of a stack pick and roll situation where

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Speaker 1: Zion was supposed to switch out, but he was too late.

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Speaker 1: Devin Booker made the three. They ran another stack pick

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Speaker 1: and roll a few possessions later. This time Zion comes

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Speaker 1: out hard. This was on the left side of the floor.

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Speaker 1: Zion comes out hard, but it's a bad close out.

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Speaker 1: Devin Booker goes right by him and gets an easy layup.

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Speaker 1: And by the way, this is one of the many

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Speaker 1: reasons why I don't take the Pelicans very seriously as

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Speaker 1: a playoff threat. Regardless of what the defensive numbers look like.

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Speaker 1: Their defensive front court is bad and good offenses are

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Speaker 1: going to find a way to score easily against them,

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Speaker 1: just like the suns that Sons did. There was another

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Speaker 1: three in there on the left wing where they left

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Speaker 1: Devin Booker wide open in transition where they just weren't

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Speaker 1: matched up. There were tough shots in there too. Devin

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Speaker 1: hit a step back three in the first quarter at

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Speaker 1: the top of the key, but like he's in full

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Speaker 1: rhythm at that point, there's not really much you can

429
00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:57,040
Speaker 1: do to stop a player once he's that confident and

430
00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,560
Speaker 1: in that kind of groove. So four minutes left in

431
00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:02,359
Speaker 1: the first cour the Pells bench group comes in and

432
00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:04,920
Speaker 1: they start. This is before the bench came in four

433
00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:06,760
Speaker 1: minutes left in the first quarter. The Pells are trying

434
00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:08,719
Speaker 1: to slow down Devin Booker at this point, so they

435
00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,000
Speaker 1: start blitzing it. As soon as they start blitzing Devin Booker,

436
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,040
Speaker 1: the Sun score eight points immediately on the next three possessions.

437
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:17,960
Speaker 1: Eric Gordon corner three in the right corner, Grayson Allen

438
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,240
Speaker 1: corner three in the left corner, and then a Grayson

439
00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:22,439
Speaker 1: Allen close out opportunity from the left wing where he

440
00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:25,280
Speaker 1: drives and gets a nasty dunk like a posterizing dunk,

441
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:27,679
Speaker 1: so like no matter what they did, they were just

442
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:31,080
Speaker 1: in the blender. Late first quarter, the Pells bench group

443
00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:33,800
Speaker 1: comes in and I don't know how this happened, but

444
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:37,520
Speaker 1: somehow Zion Williamson drew the Devin Booker assignment in this

445
00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,600
Speaker 1: bench group. Devin Booker took him through one simple flare

446
00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,920
Speaker 1: screen and got another wide open three. We're not even

447
00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:46,520
Speaker 1: ten minutes into this game. Devin Booker has nineteen and

448
00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:48,399
Speaker 1: the Suns are up by twenty one points and the

449
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,960
Speaker 1: game is over. This was an unseerious effort from the

450
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,840
Speaker 1: New Orleans Pelicans. Use of Nurkic was just ignoring Yonas

451
00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:59,240
Speaker 1: Valancunis and frolling the paint, which stopped Zion's dribble penetration

452
00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,240
Speaker 1: and really bogged down their offense. Obviously, brandon Ingram being

453
00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:04,960
Speaker 1: out plays a factor there. Right. The Pelicans are a

454
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:08,320
Speaker 1: statistically good defense. They're sixth in defensive rating on the

455
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,120
Speaker 1: season and fourth post All Star Break, But I don't

456
00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:13,760
Speaker 1: actually think they can guard any of the good offenses

457
00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:16,560
Speaker 1: in any sort of serious game. Their front court players

458
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,480
Speaker 1: can't guard in space. They kind of require a certain

459
00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,200
Speaker 1: type of matchup for their wing defenders. To be able

460
00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:24,160
Speaker 1: to impact things enough for them to kind of hold

461
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,080
Speaker 1: down an elite defense. They need to be able to

462
00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,240
Speaker 1: kind of like load up on a singular player. Anything

463
00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:31,040
Speaker 1: that can really spread them out is going to put

464
00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:34,640
Speaker 1: them in a lot of trouble. On the Suns front,

465
00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:37,159
Speaker 1: It's no secret that they need Devin Booker to be

466
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:39,760
Speaker 1: at this level to be where they need to be Offensively.

467
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,720
Speaker 1: Devin Booker had been struggling coming back from the ankle injury,

468
00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:45,160
Speaker 1: shooting just forty eight percent from the field in twenty

469
00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,840
Speaker 1: eight percent from three in the ten games before last night,

470
00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,320
Speaker 1: just twenty four points per game as well. And you

471
00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:53,560
Speaker 1: saw the offense struggle at bit a little bit, particularly

472
00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:55,400
Speaker 1: in the Oklahoma City game, in the San Antonio game,

473
00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:57,360
Speaker 1: even struggle a little bit against Denver. They just won

474
00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:59,720
Speaker 1: that game. But they broke out in a big way

475
00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:02,320
Speaker 1: in this game, and the Sun's offense broke out with him.

476
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,639
Speaker 1: But the Suns have a absolute murderer's row here to

477
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,320
Speaker 1: end the season. Their next seven games before we get

478
00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:13,119
Speaker 1: into the playoffs are Cleveland, Minnesota, New Orleans again who's

479
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:17,359
Speaker 1: gonna want revenge, the Clippers twice, the Kings, and the

480
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,840
Speaker 1: timber Wolves. Now I think the Suns are good enough

481
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:21,720
Speaker 1: to do well in a lot of those games. Also

482
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:24,520
Speaker 1: just from personal experience having rooted for the Lakers last year.

483
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,679
Speaker 1: Urgency plays a major role here, Like Cleveland doesn't have

484
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:30,399
Speaker 1: the urgency because they have a locked in playoff spot

485
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:33,400
Speaker 1: that the Suns do. Minnesota doesn't have the urgency because

486
00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,240
Speaker 1: they've a locked in playoff spot that the Suns do.

487
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:38,919
Speaker 1: New Orleans They're obviously still in some sort of vague

488
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,800
Speaker 1: threat to drop into the play in but they're in

489
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,240
Speaker 1: better position than most of these teams, right, So they're

490
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:47,040
Speaker 1: less threatened. Right. The Clippers obviously same sort of thing.

491
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,200
Speaker 1: They want to play better basketball, they have some motivation,

492
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:52,480
Speaker 1: but they're not threatened the way that Phoenix is Sacramento.

493
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:57,000
Speaker 1: That's gonna be a tough game, but Sacramento obviously is

494
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,880
Speaker 1: down to their most important players in the Minnesota Timberwolves

495
00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:02,320
Speaker 1: say thing like at the end of the season, just

496
00:24:02,359 --> 00:24:04,719
Speaker 1: like they play them earlier in the stretch as well,

497
00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:07,600
Speaker 1: But same sort of thing, not really jockeying for positions.

498
00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,639
Speaker 1: So they have a huge urgency advantage in a lot

499
00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:12,719
Speaker 1: of these games. So I actually, if I had to

500
00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,840
Speaker 1: guess on a team dropping down into the nine to

501
00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:18,200
Speaker 1: ten and letting the Lakers pass. I actually think it's

502
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:21,440
Speaker 1: more likely that ends up being Sacramento than Phoenix, because

503
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:23,720
Speaker 1: Sacramento has the same type of urgency, but they've got

504
00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:26,720
Speaker 1: also a tough schedule and they're missing some important players.

505
00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:28,960
Speaker 1: I think the Suns are really freaking good, and I

506
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:30,639
Speaker 1: think when they play that hard and they bring that

507
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,560
Speaker 1: level of urgency, it's really tough to beat them. All right,

508
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:37,959
Speaker 1: moving on to our mailbag. So the context for this

509
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:41,760
Speaker 1: first question. I had an opportunity at the end of

510
00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,080
Speaker 1: the show, at the end of the MAVs segment yesterday,

511
00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:46,440
Speaker 1: to talk about where I'd rank them in the Western Conference,

512
00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,280
Speaker 1: and I made the case that all of the teams

513
00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:51,720
Speaker 1: that are in that tier, so like the Suns, the Clippers,

514
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:55,200
Speaker 1: the Lakers, the Thunder, and the Timberwolves, all those teams

515
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,680
Speaker 1: are more or less just as formidable, and so I

516
00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:01,920
Speaker 1: don't think Dallas has done anything to separate from that group.

517
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:06,280
Speaker 1: So that's the context of this first question. Here's the question.

518
00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 1: The case for the MAVs in a tier of their

519
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:11,560
Speaker 1: own in the West below Denver is Luca. He's the

520
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:13,840
Speaker 1: only player who has a chance shot for shot with

521
00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,520
Speaker 1: Jokic late in a game, and when Luca isn't giving

522
00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,760
Speaker 1: you tough, untoppable buckets, Kyrie is. Sons come close to

523
00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,159
Speaker 1: that firepower, but it's not the same. Respectfully, I disagree.

524
00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:26,000
Speaker 1: I think all of these teams except if there's one

525
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:28,280
Speaker 1: team that you could say Luca is just clearly better

526
00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,199
Speaker 1: than the Stars by a wide margin, and it's not close.

527
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:34,840
Speaker 1: It's Luca's better than Anthony Edwards, right, And even then,

528
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,120
Speaker 1: Anthony Edwards could break out any one of these postseason

529
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,679
Speaker 1: runs and enter into that tier, right, But obviously with

530
00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:42,439
Speaker 1: Luca and Kyrie, the star power is just better. But

531
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,800
Speaker 1: like the Sons have Kevin Durant, Bradley Beial and Devin Booker,

532
00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,520
Speaker 1: Devin Booker just had fifty two last night. Like I'm sorry,

533
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,680
Speaker 1: but there's not a tangible gap between Luca and Kyrie

534
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 1: and kd Devin Booker and Bradley Beal on the Clippers front,

535
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,960
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden on the Lakers front,

536
00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:01,240
Speaker 1: Lebron James and Anthony Davis and all their skill that

537
00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:04,239
Speaker 1: they have on the perimeter Oklahoma City, Shakeyaldes, Alexander and

538
00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:08,720
Speaker 1: Jalen Williams, like I could, you could argue that Luca

539
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:10,560
Speaker 1: is the best player in that group. I think it's

540
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:13,639
Speaker 1: probably him and Kawhi in terms of playoff players, and

541
00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:15,439
Speaker 1: I'd probably give a slight edge to Lucas. So I

542
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:17,720
Speaker 1: agree with you that Lucas probably the best, but there's

543
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:22,240
Speaker 1: not a sizeable star power gap between any of those guys,

544
00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:26,720
Speaker 1: and in the Luca Kyrie duo, they're not anything that's

545
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,720
Speaker 1: worth really mentioning. There's probably a small gap there, but

546
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,080
Speaker 1: nothing that's really going to be substantial when you get

547
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,399
Speaker 1: to the postseason. So again, really like Dallas playing the

548
00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:38,720
Speaker 1: best basketball right now, which is a huge indicator of

549
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,280
Speaker 1: their potential playoffs success. But I push back on the

550
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,159
Speaker 1: idea that they're just superior to all of the teams

551
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:47,600
Speaker 1: in that tier. Question for the best breakdown pot in

552
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:49,439
Speaker 1: the game. Thank you, that's a very nice compliment. Do

553
00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:51,879
Speaker 1: you think there's a chance Tatum is saving his legs

554
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:53,720
Speaker 1: on drives to the basket for the playoffs like a

555
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,240
Speaker 1: running back in football. He's shown some bad habits this year,

556
00:26:56,359 --> 00:26:57,919
Speaker 1: but I find it hard to believe that he forgot

557
00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,760
Speaker 1: his biggest flaw from the twenty two, twenty twenty two finals.

558
00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:04,720
Speaker 1: So here's the thing. I do think that there's some

559
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:08,160
Speaker 1: reality to the fact that you are more physically engaged

560
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:10,840
Speaker 1: when the urgency goes up and Boston is not bringing

561
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,240
Speaker 1: that type of urgency. That said, I've never known Tatum

562
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:16,200
Speaker 1: to be the guy that's like, oh, the chips are down,

563
00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,800
Speaker 1: I'm playing bully ball now. So from that standpoint, like,

564
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:22,440
Speaker 1: I do think there's a level of aggression that he'll

565
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,520
Speaker 1: have when he gets to the postseason, but not in

566
00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:27,840
Speaker 1: some massive way that significantly changes his shot diet compared

567
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:31,600
Speaker 1: to what we're accustomed to seeing. Next question, I'm a

568
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:33,600
Speaker 1: big fan from Australia and I've been watching since your

569
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,160
Speaker 1: first playoff breakdowns in twenty twenty two. Thanks for supporting

570
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,680
Speaker 1: the show. My question fast forward five years. Oklahoma is

571
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,720
Speaker 1: the new dynasty in the NBA, SGA, Chet and j

572
00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,399
Speaker 1: Dub are all still there, But who are the first, second,

573
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:49,119
Speaker 1: and third players on that particular team in your opinion?

574
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:51,119
Speaker 1: I've heard you say both Chet and Jay Dubb have

575
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 1: top ten potential, and you have also expressed concerns over

576
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:56,679
Speaker 1: SGA's game translating to the playoffs. So do you think

577
00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:59,480
Speaker 1: the best version of the Thunder is SGA's the second option.

578
00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,240
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, it's really hard to say. Chet's playing

579
00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,000
Speaker 1: his first season of NBA basketball and Jalen Williams is

580
00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,760
Speaker 1: playing his second season, So shake kildess. Alexander has played

581
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 1: twice as many NBA seasons as the other two guys combined,

582
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:16,160
Speaker 1: So like, it's just really hard to tell where Chet

583
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,240
Speaker 1: and Jalen are going to get to. But here's the thing.

584
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:20,840
Speaker 1: I think Sja is a definitive top ten player right now.

585
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,040
Speaker 1: Right I think you can make a case he's top five,

586
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:24,639
Speaker 1: although I would wait to do that until he has

587
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:27,960
Speaker 1: a successful postseason run. But here's the thing. Chet has

588
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,359
Speaker 1: the potential to be a top five defensive player in

589
00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,440
Speaker 1: the league and a top ten ish offensive player in

590
00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:36,080
Speaker 1: the league as just a guy that can be this

591
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:40,000
Speaker 1: wing scorer, slash stretch, big kind of guy, right like

592
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:42,120
Speaker 1: he has this guy's the limit for that guy. And

593
00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:43,719
Speaker 1: then I talked yesterday on the show, We're gonna get

594
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:45,200
Speaker 1: a little bit deeper into it here in a second.

595
00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:48,800
Speaker 1: But Jalen Williams, I think has the best combination of

596
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,640
Speaker 1: downhill force, deadly pull up shooting, and playmaking that I've

597
00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:55,880
Speaker 1: seen from a wing prospect. In a very long time,

598
00:28:56,280 --> 00:28:57,920
Speaker 1: so he has the potential to be one of the

599
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,440
Speaker 1: best players in the NBA. So honestly, like it's not

600
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:05,000
Speaker 1: really about who's first, second, or third. They played complimentary positions,

601
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:08,360
Speaker 1: right Like j Dub is a second side creator, Shae's

602
00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:11,680
Speaker 1: a primary creator. Chet is your perfect kind of like

603
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,640
Speaker 1: big that can kind of play with all of those guys.

604
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:16,719
Speaker 1: So like, I don't really get caught up on who's

605
00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:20,000
Speaker 1: the best because they're all really really good. And in

606
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:21,960
Speaker 1: a situation where the Thunder have three of the top

607
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 1: ten players in the league, they're just gonna be really

608
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 1: good and they're gonna kick everybody's butt, And so I

609
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,720
Speaker 1: don't really I I if I had to gun to

610
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:33,200
Speaker 1: my head, say who's gonna be the best player in

611
00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:35,600
Speaker 1: the long run, I'm gonna pick Shay just because he's

612
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,160
Speaker 1: already there. Therefore it's a safe bet. There's a lot

613
00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:40,959
Speaker 1: theoretical going on with Chet and with Jay Dub at

614
00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:43,120
Speaker 1: this point, whereas Shay is like already there, so he's

615
00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:45,480
Speaker 1: the safest bet. But I wouldn't be surprised if he

616
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:47,360
Speaker 1: was the third best player on the team when we

617
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,880
Speaker 1: get into the future. That is the potential that chet

618
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,040
Speaker 1: and j dubb have at this point. So I was

619
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:54,880
Speaker 1: talking about comps because I was trying to figure out

620
00:29:54,880 --> 00:29:58,719
Speaker 1: a player that had a similar type of you know,

621
00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:01,520
Speaker 1: skill set that he brings to the table as Jalen

622
00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 1: Williams and I at the A comp I ended up

623
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,000
Speaker 1: coming up with was like a like a better shooting

624
00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:10,400
Speaker 1: version of Jimmy Butler. Now in the comments, I had

625
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:13,120
Speaker 1: two suggestions. One guy said, the comp you were looking

626
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:17,560
Speaker 1: for for Williams was Pacers Paul George. Another one was

627
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:21,160
Speaker 1: Kawhi is the comp for Jalen Williams. So here's the thing.

628
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:25,040
Speaker 1: I have never viewed Paul George as the level of

629
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 1: playmaker that some of the better wings wings in the

630
00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:31,440
Speaker 1: league are, And then uh, Jalen Williams is a much

631
00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:34,880
Speaker 1: more significant driving and finishing threat than both of those guys.

632
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,200
Speaker 1: He averages more drives and restricted area finishes than both

633
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:42,280
Speaker 1: by a pretty significant margin. There's like a real downhill

634
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:46,520
Speaker 1: force with Jalen Williams. Paul George can beat people off

635
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:48,880
Speaker 1: the dribble with quickness and with his ball handling. We

636
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:50,920
Speaker 1: know that's a part of his game, but it's not

637
00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,120
Speaker 1: like a real, real strength of his game. Kawhi Leonard

638
00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,320
Speaker 1: brings power, but it's a back to the basket post

639
00:30:57,360 --> 00:30:59,680
Speaker 1: up power. Kauhi is not really a slasher, that's not

640
00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,720
Speaker 1: what he does. So like those guys can do that stuff.

641
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:04,680
Speaker 1: But I think Jalen Williams has the potential to be

642
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:08,040
Speaker 1: a substantially better driving threat than both of them, So

643
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:11,640
Speaker 1: I don't really view that as the comp The thing

644
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:13,480
Speaker 1: that I look at with a guy like Jimmy Butler

645
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:17,520
Speaker 1: is the real, like downhill, like rip through, beat guys

646
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:19,600
Speaker 1: off the dribble type of force, especially that he had

647
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,680
Speaker 1: earlier in his career. But I'm really curious to see

648
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:24,400
Speaker 1: where he ends up. And honestly, when it comes to

649
00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 1: player comps, there's no such thing as a perfect comp

650
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:29,680
Speaker 1: because every player is so unique, and Jalen's kind of

651
00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:31,840
Speaker 1: unique in his own way. To me, he's almost like

652
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,080
Speaker 1: he's almost the way he has defenders on their heels

653
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:37,719
Speaker 1: actually reminds me a little bit of Russell Westbrook and

654
00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:40,280
Speaker 1: it's like it's like he's getting into these easy pull

655
00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:41,880
Speaker 1: up jumpers, but he can make them. He's one of

656
00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:43,640
Speaker 1: the best shooters in the league, and so what if

657
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 1: he's like a bigger, better shooting Russell Westbrook, Like, wouldn't

658
00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:49,400
Speaker 1: that be a crazy type of prospect in the NBA?

659
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:51,160
Speaker 1: All Right, two more and then we're out of here.

660
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:54,600
Speaker 1: How much easier is the East compared to the West.

661
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:56,840
Speaker 1: The Lakers are seventeen and eleven against the best teams

662
00:31:56,840 --> 00:31:58,640
Speaker 1: in the league. The Knicks are five and seventeens. The

663
00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:01,080
Speaker 1: Lakers and most other West teams played six more games

664
00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:03,560
Speaker 1: against good teams than the Knicks and most other East

665
00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:06,280
Speaker 1: East teams. That's a massive difference. So one thing. In

666
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,360
Speaker 1: the next defense, they've had stars injured all year, so

667
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:11,440
Speaker 1: of course they're going to struggle against the best teams,

668
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:13,880
Speaker 1: so I don't really hold them against that against them, I

669
00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:16,200
Speaker 1: think the top of the East is every bit as

670
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:18,479
Speaker 1: good as the West. I think the Celtics are really good.

671
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:19,720
Speaker 1: I think the Bucks are really good. I think the

672
00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:22,560
Speaker 1: Knicks are really good. I think the Calves and Magic

673
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:24,680
Speaker 1: are you know, takerm or leave them. But with the

674
00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:28,800
Speaker 1: Sixers healthy, those four teams, Bucks, Sixers, Knicks, and Celtics

675
00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:31,000
Speaker 1: I think are every bit as good as the top

676
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:33,719
Speaker 1: seven teams in the West. Not in the standings, but

677
00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:38,880
Speaker 1: like the the Nuggets, the Clippers, the Timberwolves, the Suns,

678
00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,360
Speaker 1: the Lakers, the Thunder, and who's the team I'm missing.

679
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:45,040
Speaker 1: There's one in there, the one I was mentioning earlier.

680
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,520
Speaker 1: Doesn't matter anyway, those teams I put the four in

681
00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 1: the East on the same level as those teams in

682
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 1: Boston and Denver obviously on their own tier, right, But

683
00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:57,920
Speaker 1: it's the bottom of the Eastern Conference where the bottom

684
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,640
Speaker 1: just completely falls out. There's just you play because you

685
00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:03,239
Speaker 1: play teams in the Western Conference twice, right, So you

686
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:05,239
Speaker 1: play thirty games against the West, you play fifty two

687
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:08,520
Speaker 1: games against the East, and so you get four matchups

688
00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:11,560
Speaker 1: with that shitty Hornets team or that shitty Pistons team

689
00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:14,120
Speaker 1: or that shitty Wizard's team, right, Like, you get all

690
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,360
Speaker 1: of these games against bad teams at the bottom of

691
00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:17,800
Speaker 1: the conference. And there's a lot of truth to the

692
00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:20,920
Speaker 1: fact that most of these Western Conference teams their records

693
00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:24,280
Speaker 1: look lower simply because they're just playing better teams night

694
00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:25,880
Speaker 1: in and night out. And there's no doubt that that's

695
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,120
Speaker 1: played a difference or played a factor into the way

696
00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:30,640
Speaker 1: the season is shaped out. All right, last question, what

697
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:32,600
Speaker 1: is your take on Luca not being higher in the

698
00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:35,080
Speaker 1: MVP list. I know the league is stacked with talent,

699
00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:36,800
Speaker 1: but with Embiid being out of the race, I can

700
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:38,640
Speaker 1: only see Yokic being higher than him and just buy

701
00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:40,760
Speaker 1: a hair. With the MAVs being a top five seed

702
00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:42,480
Speaker 1: in the West, now, it sounds like the media can't

703
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,080
Speaker 1: come up with a seating excuse any longer. Thank you

704
00:33:45,120 --> 00:33:47,479
Speaker 1: for your take. Thank you for educating us fans every day.

705
00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:49,840
Speaker 1: Love the content. Keep doing some great work. I really

706
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:52,120
Speaker 1: appreciate the support. Again, every time I see those comments,

707
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:54,720
Speaker 1: it definitely helps push me along. I appreciate you guys.

708
00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:58,920
Speaker 1: Here's the thing right now, on the recent Windstrenk win streak,

709
00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:02,040
Speaker 1: the MAVs have the seventh best record in in basketball,

710
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,120
Speaker 1: which is definitely an MVP territory now where he wasn't

711
00:34:05,280 --> 00:34:07,720
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago. Right, totally agree with you guys there,

712
00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:12,360
Speaker 1: But in the event that you're trying to make it

713
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:15,920
Speaker 1: into a serious MVP situation or like be an MVP

714
00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:19,560
Speaker 1: favorite to win, if you're not in that like upper tier,

715
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:21,480
Speaker 1: and I mean like one of the top seeds in

716
00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:24,960
Speaker 1: your conference, which MAVs are not. The MAVs are seventh

717
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,080
Speaker 1: in the league, but you know, Denver's a clear tier

718
00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:31,279
Speaker 1: above them in the Western conference. Right, With that being

719
00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:35,560
Speaker 1: the case, Luca would have to demonstrate a substantial gap

720
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,200
Speaker 1: in terms of the level of play. And the truth is,

721
00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:40,120
Speaker 1: as good as Luca has been, and there's a lot

722
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,360
Speaker 1: of mass fans have been like I saw comments yesterday

723
00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:45,000
Speaker 1: like no one's played better than Luca this year. I disagree.

724
00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,960
Speaker 1: I think in the context of the regular season, Jay's

725
00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:52,839
Speaker 1: played really damn good. Nikole Yoka just played really damn good.

726
00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:57,719
Speaker 1: Giannis has played really damn good. Like there's no, like tangible,

727
00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,879
Speaker 1: massive gap between the level of play Luca and those

728
00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:05,120
Speaker 1: guys and Denver and no can see better records by

729
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:09,640
Speaker 1: a pretty sizable margin. So like again, I think Luca

730
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:12,920
Speaker 1: has put himself into the conversation, and I think, you know,

731
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,560
Speaker 1: top three finishes in the on the table here, and

732
00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:18,960
Speaker 1: if he if they go on a win streak that

733
00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,359
Speaker 1: ends the season and Luca averages you know, thirty five

734
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:23,840
Speaker 1: a game in that stretch, then yeah, he might just

735
00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,319
Speaker 1: smash his way to the top. But there's a reason

736
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:28,840
Speaker 1: why he's not getting buzzed as the favorite at this point.

737
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,239
Speaker 1: There are teams above him that have better records and

738
00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:35,399
Speaker 1: that have players that are playing about as well. Right,

739
00:35:35,560 --> 00:35:38,480
Speaker 1: And that's just gonna make them better MVP candidates as

740
00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:41,200
Speaker 1: of right now. Don't worry. Luca's gonna get an MVP

741
00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 1: at some point. He's gonna get championships at some point.

742
00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,359
Speaker 1: I'm a big believer in Luca. He's only twenty five

743
00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:47,719
Speaker 1: years old. There's timing to this stuff, all right, guys,

744
00:35:47,760 --> 00:35:50,360
Speaker 1: that's all I have for this morning show or actually

745
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:53,160
Speaker 1: coming back. What's the night game tonight? I'm trying to

746
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,480
Speaker 1: remember exactly what it is. We are coming back after

747
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:59,640
Speaker 1: MAVs Warriors tonight. That'll be fun. It's a ten pm

748
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:02,160
Speaker 1: East and tip. We'll be coming live on YouTube right

749
00:36:02,160 --> 00:36:36,360
Speaker 1: after the final buzzer. I'll see you guys. Then the

750
00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:36,920
Speaker 1: volume