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Speaker 1: terms and responsible gambling resources. All right, welcome to Hoops

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Speaker 1: to Night here at the Volume. Happy Friday, everybody. If

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Speaker 1: all of you guys are having an incredible week, got

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Speaker 1: a fun show for you guys today We're breaking down

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Speaker 1: heat nuggets from last night NBA Finals rematch. Then we

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Speaker 1: have a mail bag at the end of the show.

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Speaker 1: show announcements as well as the film threads that are

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Speaker 1: due from time to time in the morning, and the

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Speaker 1: last but not least, keep dropping mail bag questions in

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Speaker 1: the YouTube comments so we can keep hitting them throughout

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Speaker 1: the next few weeks. All right, let's talk some basketball.

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Speaker 1: So this, ironically, as an NBA Finals rematch, kind of

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Speaker 1: took on a similar feel to what the beginning of

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Speaker 1: Game one of last year's NBA Finals did, which was

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Speaker 1: a heavy dose of Aaron Gordon dominating the game out

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Speaker 1: of the post. As a matter of fact, each of

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Speaker 1: the first seven points that Denver scored basically came from

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Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon as a post threat. He scored the first

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Speaker 1: four himself, and then there was an off ball screening

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Speaker 1: action on the right side of the floor where they

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Speaker 1: were trying to get a smaller player switched on to

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Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon. They botched the coverage, and that's actually how

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Speaker 1: Jamal Murray broke open for that three on the right wing.

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Speaker 1: It was all as part of a reaction to the

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Speaker 1: threat of Aaron Gordon out of the post. So seven

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Speaker 1: to zero lead early from that very similar. If you

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Speaker 1: guys remember to the beginning of Game one of last

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Speaker 1: year's NBA Finals, I thought Contavious call Well Pope was

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Speaker 1: also incredible in that early run. Nuggets completely dominated the

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Speaker 1: first quarter of this game, and KCP is just so

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Speaker 1: good at running his lane getting to those wing in

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Speaker 1: corner threes in transition that pump fake ripped through won

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Speaker 1: dribble pull up going to his right that he's so

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Speaker 1: good at. As a team, the Nuggets converted spot up

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Speaker 1: possessions in this game at one point three to three

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Speaker 1: points per possession, which is just completely outrageous. They also

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Speaker 1: bullied them on the glass. There was this funny possession

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Speaker 1: in the first half where Michael Porter Junior and Aaron

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Speaker 1: Gordon were under the rim, just completely surrounded by Miami

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Speaker 1: Heat players and they were just playing volleyball on the

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Speaker 1: glass until Michael Porter Junior ended up putting it in.

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Speaker 1: Miami fought back because they're just a gigantic pain in

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Speaker 1: the ass they're specifically probably the best team in the

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Speaker 1: league at preventing and fighting Jokic from getting the ball

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Speaker 1: at his usual spots. Bam is super good at fronting

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Speaker 1: the post. He's just big and strong enough while at

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Speaker 1: the same time like agile enough to get around the

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Speaker 1: front of jokicch and then he squats down low. And

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Speaker 1: then what they'll do is they'll run what's called what

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Speaker 1: I call a bracket coverage, basically where you front the

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Speaker 1: post and then you offer backside help. So imagine a

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Speaker 1: situation where a player fronts the post. You've now put

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Speaker 1: yourself in a predicament where if the post entry comes

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Speaker 1: through clean, he's at the rim already for a layup right,

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Speaker 1: but it's a somewhat difficult pass to kind of float

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Speaker 1: it over the top to where it's high enough to

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Speaker 1: get over so that Bam can't reach up and deflect it,

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Speaker 1: but low enough that Jokic can grab it. And then

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Speaker 1: when you bracket, meaning and when you bring another defender

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Speaker 1: around the backside, it actually shrinks that window even tighter,

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Speaker 1: because now if you throw the pass too far, you

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Speaker 1: can run into an issue where that pass gets deflected.

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Speaker 1: This was an issue in the Lakers Clippers game last

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Speaker 1: night where the Miami Heat or excuse me, the Clippers

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Speaker 1: were switching a lot of the ball screen actions that

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Speaker 1: the Lakers were running and putting smaller players onto Anthony Davis.

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Speaker 1: But he would slip down and as he's slipping, the

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Speaker 1: defender that's guarding him is actually on his top side,

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Speaker 1: and they were offering backside help from the corners because

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Speaker 1: the Lakers kept playing with occupied corners. And so, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that like a passing angle's there, but like we're talking

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Speaker 1: a really really tight passing angle. And so that's an

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Speaker 1: easy way, or I shouldn't say it's an easy way.

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Speaker 1: It's a difficult way. It takes an enormous amount of

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Speaker 1: hard work, which is why so many teams don't do it.

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Speaker 1: But if you do it right, it is a way

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Speaker 1: that you can use to fight Jokic out of his

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Speaker 1: usual spots and make it tougher for him to catch

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Speaker 1: the basketball. There was a play I'd actually resultant in

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Speaker 1: a foul where they bracketed it and Jokic made the catch.

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Speaker 1: They got the ball to him nice enough high, because

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Speaker 1: of course, Jokic is just a preposterously large target that

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Speaker 1: you can throw to compared to most post players, right.

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Speaker 1: And Aaron Gordon was the guy that they were bracketing

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Speaker 1: off of. He flashed to the high post and Duncan

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Speaker 1: Robinson and Jaime Hawkes immediately when Aaron Gordon caught it,

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Speaker 1: they were on him and swiping down at the basketball.

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Speaker 1: This is a big thing that I talk about on

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Speaker 1: the show, like when you put yourself in a predicament

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Speaker 1: defensively where you put two guys on the ball, the

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Speaker 1: best way for you to prevent the open three is

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Speaker 1: not actually another rotation. It's disrupting the basketball. If you

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Speaker 1: disrupt the basketball, you make it so it's really difficult

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Speaker 1: for that pass to even be made, which then makes

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Speaker 1: that rotation that much easier. And of course, on that

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Speaker 1: specific possession, they ended up committing a foul. But this

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Speaker 1: is a I actually clipped this play for you guys

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Speaker 1: to see. I wanted you guys to have an example

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Speaker 1: so you can kind of visually see what I'm talking about.

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Speaker 1: Go to my Twitter feed at underscore JSNLT you'll see

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Speaker 1: a textbook example of bam fronting the post. I think

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Speaker 1: it's Nicole Yovich that's throwing the bracket coverage and then

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Speaker 1: as Yokic makes three to Yovic's man there in the

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Speaker 1: middle of the floor, which was Aaron Gordon. In comes

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Speaker 1: Haimihakes and Duncan Robinson to just quickly trap and they

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Speaker 1: end up committing a foul. But that's an example of

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Speaker 1: like not just the hard work that BAM's willing to

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Speaker 1: do to front the post, but also winshield wiper rotations,

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Speaker 1: which I talk about all the time on the show,

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Speaker 1: which means a rotation is useless if you don't get

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Speaker 1: there in time. And so when one guy's rotating, if

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Speaker 1: you rotate in order, meaning like rotate, rotate, rotate, there

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Speaker 1: can be a gap there. But if everybody rotates simultaneously,

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Speaker 1: you can close those gaps and you can make things

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Speaker 1: that much harder. And Miami just did a really good

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Speaker 1: job of that, just kind of making Jokic, you know,

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Speaker 1: just a little bit frustrated by his particular standards, although

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Speaker 1: I thought when push came to shove, when he needed

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Speaker 1: to get to his spots, he was good. He was.

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Speaker 1: When they got it to two there in the mid

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Speaker 1: third quarter, Jokic started to run by, you know, bullying

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Speaker 1: Bam to the basket. When they got it close slate.

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Speaker 1: He went right to his you know, left shoulder, over

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Speaker 1: the left shoulder, right handed hook over Bam and abayo,

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Speaker 1: and he got a bucket. So again, like you know,

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Speaker 1: efficiencies all relative when Jokic is just gonna be able

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Speaker 1: to get a basket at the end of the game

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Speaker 1: when it matters. But they actually did make Jokic work hard,

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Speaker 1: and obviously the Jamal Murray injury ended up playing a

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Speaker 1: significant role as well. He sprained his ankle. Looked like

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Speaker 1: landing on air. I never go back and rewatch injuries

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Speaker 1: because it's just a personal preference of mine. It always

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Speaker 1: freaks me out just because I play basketball too, and

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Speaker 1: I don't like to see injuries because it just makes

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Speaker 1: me queasy. But it looked like on the live watch

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Speaker 1: that he stepped on Aaron Gordon as he was going

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Speaker 1: out of bounds. Aaron Gordon was cutting along the baseline

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Speaker 1: and it was ball screen action. He threw a pass

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Speaker 1: back to nickok at the top the qy. You made

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Speaker 1: the jumper. I think it put him up like seven

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Speaker 1: or eight points at that point, but then he ended

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Speaker 1: up landing on somebody and sprained his ankles. Hopefully he's okay,

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Speaker 1: but I mean between the fronting and the bracketing and

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Speaker 1: the rotating and then Jamal Murray being out to just

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Speaker 1: remove that like other angle of that offensive threat. It

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Speaker 1: just allowed Miami to kind of linger around, right, and

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Speaker 1: so Miami kept it close until the mid third quarter.

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Speaker 1: I think it was sixty five sixty three at that point,

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Speaker 1: and then Jokic goes right to work on Bam and

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Speaker 1: Iso gets all the way to the basket and scores.

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Speaker 1: And then Michael Porter Juniors just was red hot in

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Speaker 1: this particular game. We're gonna talk about him in a second,

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Speaker 1: but he made a couple of big shots and they

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Speaker 1: end up going up by as much as sixteen there

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Speaker 1: in the early portion of the fourth quarter, and like

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Speaker 1: this is where this is an example of you know,

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Speaker 1: I talk a lot about Denver's starting lineup as like

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Speaker 1: the perfect fitting group. There's a concept I talk a

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Speaker 1: lot about on this show involving diminishing returns, which basically

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Speaker 1: involves when you take a player that is k people

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Speaker 1: of doing a lot and you put them into a

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Speaker 1: smaller role, there can be some diminishing returns. They talked

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Speaker 1: about this a lot with like Bradley Beal on the Suns, right, Like, well,

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Speaker 1: who would you rather have as a third man in

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Speaker 1: a lineup alongside Devin Booker and and and KD would

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Speaker 1: you rather have KCP or Bradley Beal? Right, Like, Bradley

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Speaker 1: Beal is a better player than KCP, but as a

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Speaker 1: tertiary option and a guy that has to primarily focus

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Speaker 1: on on ball defense and a lot of like dirty

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Speaker 1: work responsibilities, that gap closes, Like I'd probably still have

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Speaker 1: rather have Bradley Beal, but that gap is closer, right

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Speaker 1: Whereas if I threw them both on the Washington Wizards,

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Speaker 1: like and they had to do a lot more on

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Speaker 1: the on the ball, like, that gap grows and Bradley

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Speaker 1: Beal becomes more valuable, right, Like That's that's kind of

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Speaker 1: an example of the diminishing returns that I talk about.

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Speaker 1: And so what kind of makes the starting lineup for

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Speaker 1: the Nuggets work so well is the fact that specifically

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Speaker 1: guys like Aaron Gordon and KCP are focused into a

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Speaker 1: role where everything that they're great at is exactly what

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Speaker 1: the Nuggets need out of that role. Well, the one

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Speaker 1: guy who is like a little overqualified, or I should

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Speaker 1: say probably a little bit more than that overqualified for

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Speaker 1: his role is Michael Porter Junior. He's the guy that

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Speaker 1: primarily operates off the ball offensively as a spot up

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Speaker 1: the right, one of the best spot up players in

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Speaker 1: the league, and then also does a ton of dirty work.

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Speaker 1: Excellent rebounder, excellent health defender. He did a nice job

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Speaker 1: reading the back line tonight, just like you know, anytime

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Speaker 1: Denvers would throw three on two or two on one,

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Speaker 1: that back line responsibility. You're usually guarding two players and

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Speaker 1: you're kind of splitting the gap, and he's got the

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Speaker 1: length and the instincts to make plays back there. Michael

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Speaker 1: Porter Junior has done an amazing job playing his role

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Speaker 1: for the Nuggets. But he's the one guy in that

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Speaker 1: lineup other than Jokich, because Jokic can scale up as

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Speaker 1: a scorer. But he's the one guy in that lineup

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Speaker 1: that can scale up if he needs to, Like if

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Speaker 1: Jamal Murray goes out of the lineup and you need

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Speaker 1: someone to step up as a scorer, Michael Porter Junior

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Speaker 1: is your guy. He can do that. And so I

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Speaker 1: thought tonight was a great example of him being able

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Speaker 1: to scale up his offense as the team needs him to,

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Speaker 1: because that's something that he can do. He's that one

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Speaker 1: guy that's actually slotted into a role with the Nuggets

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Speaker 1: where he's actually a little better than what they're asking

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Speaker 1: him to do. And I thought tonight was a good

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Speaker 1: example of that. Also Ragie Jackson, you know, he had

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Speaker 1: a bit of a rough night tonight, but he's not

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Speaker 1: a terrible option to step into that role temporarily for

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Speaker 1: the regular season. That said, hopefully Jamal Murray's not out

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Speaker 1: too much longer. They got a tough stretch of games

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Speaker 1: here coming up to between the Lakers, Suns, and Celtics,

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Speaker 1: and you'd like to have Jamal Murray for those games.

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Speaker 1: I know I personally would really like to see Jamal

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Speaker 1: healthy for that Boston Celtics game. So hopefully he's not

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Speaker 1: out for too much longer. So Miami makes a late

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Speaker 1: run in the game, Terry Rozier really started to get

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Speaker 1: going in screening actions and they actually got it down

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Speaker 1: to four. I thought that was super encouraging on the

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Speaker 1: Miami Heat front, because Terry's really struggled so far with

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Speaker 1: the Heat and like they desperately need him to do that.

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Speaker 1: They need him to do exactly what he did down

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Speaker 1: the stretch of that fourth quarter. Just be a guy

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Speaker 1: who can be a legitimate half court shot creation option

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Speaker 1: to kind of alleviate some of the workload that's on

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler went on anice little run, hit a couple

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Speaker 1: of jumpers, kind of snake in the pick and roll,

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Speaker 1: gets it down to four, and then they just immediately

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Speaker 1: go to Yokic in the post against Bam and he

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Speaker 1: gets to his spot and he gets to his over

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Speaker 1: his left shoulder for that righty hook and he makes it.

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Speaker 1: And that's just the predicament that Denver puts you in. Okay,

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Speaker 1: you competed really hard and you kept it close, but

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Speaker 1: you know you needed another stop and you couldn't get

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Speaker 1: it thanks to what Jokic brings to the table as

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Speaker 1: a post up player. By the way, koly Joki is

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Speaker 1: shooting sixty one percent by himself as a shooter out

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Speaker 1: of the post, So when he actually takes a shot

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Speaker 1: out of the post sixty one percent, think about how

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Speaker 1: crazy efficient that is. Like you throw the ball to Jokic,

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Speaker 1: game on the line, you know, big possession late kind

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Speaker 1: of like what we saw. You're as an opposing fan like,

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Speaker 1: oh shit, Like there's a two out of three chance.

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Speaker 1: This is going in and that's just a really helpless feeling.

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Speaker 1: And as crazy as it sounds, they're actually more efficient

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Speaker 1: on a points per possession basis when Jokic passes out

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Speaker 1: of the post than when he shoots, so I'm not

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Speaker 1: really sure what you can do with him. So and

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Speaker 1: they got it. You know, there were a couple buckets

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Speaker 1: from Miami laate that that got it somewhat closer, but

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Speaker 1: they never actually had the ball with the chance to

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Speaker 1: side the game, So you know, it was all for

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Speaker 1: not on that end of things that I thought that

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Speaker 1: hook shot from Yokic effectively iced the game solid win.

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Speaker 1: Hopefully Jamal Murray's okay, and again, tough schedule coming up,

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Speaker 1: really really bad timing on that front, especially since like

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Speaker 1: it looked like Denver was kind of trending up towards

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Speaker 1: getting potentially into that one seed conversation. But I mean,

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Speaker 1: if they could somehow rip through these games even without

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Speaker 1: Jamal Murray, that would be that would be about as

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Speaker 1: sound a demonstration of their ceiling as we'd find at

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Speaker 1: this point in the regular season. One other things I

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Speaker 1: wanted to say on the Miami Heat side of things,

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Speaker 1: bam Adebayo is going to have to develop better touch

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Speaker 1: around the rim. In this game, he missed six shots

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Speaker 1: by my account, that were right around the rim. Short jumpers,

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Speaker 1: little pushots, layups, like, it's a different game if he

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Speaker 1: makes two or three more of those, as we were

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Speaker 1: talking about, as it pertains to the scoreboard, he's shooting

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Speaker 1: just forty seven percent on layups this year, just thirty

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Speaker 1: eight percent on hook shots. Those of you guys are

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Speaker 1: remember in the NBA Finals last year that was a

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Speaker 1: significant issue for Miami as they were trying to keep

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Speaker 1: that series close. Just every time Bam caught around the rim,

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Speaker 1: it just wasn't nearly as much of a sure thing

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Speaker 1: as it was for a guy like nikolea Jokic. It's

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Speaker 1: been the one thing in his development that's been most concerning,

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Speaker 1: because you know, the jumpers, especially further away from the rim,

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Speaker 1: are kind of like just gravy. You know, it's great

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Speaker 1: when they go in, but that's not what you paid

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Speaker 1: Bam at a baio for. And obviously we all know

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Speaker 1: he's in the top tier of defensive anchors in the league,

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Speaker 1: but that specific weakness, that inability to finish around the

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Speaker 1: basket is something that just prevents him from getting into

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Speaker 1: the tier of players that he's capable of getting to.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's move on to our mail bag. We

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Speaker 1: got about a dozen questions or so to hit tonight.

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Speaker 1: I say tonight because I'm recording this late on Thursday night,

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Speaker 1: but this will obviously be up on the feeds on Friday.

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Speaker 1: So first question, I was wondering what you think about

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Speaker 1: how much playing around players like Steph Curry influences your

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Speaker 1: career after the fact. Thinking about Dante DiVincenzo here, He's

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Speaker 1: been having an awesome season from three, which I would

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Speaker 1: attribute to his own hard work, but I wonder if

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Speaker 1: being on the Warriors had any influence over what he

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Speaker 1: had decided to work on over the summer. Much love

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Speaker 1: from New Zealand, Jason, keep up the great work. Thank

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Speaker 1: you so much for the kind words and for supporting

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Speaker 1: the show. So this is something that I've always had.

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Speaker 1: It's a little bit complicated because I dislike the idea

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Speaker 1: of like giving too much credit to a star for

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Speaker 1: a young player's development, because I want to give the

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Speaker 1: young player credit for accomplishing what he's accomplished in the league.

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Speaker 1: I think I think we can get a little over

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Speaker 1: the top with a when like fans are like, oh,

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Speaker 1: you know, Lebron made this guy, or Steph made this guy,

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Speaker 1: or Kobe made pau Gasol or whatever it is. You know,

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Speaker 1: all the takes that you see. And I want to

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Speaker 1: be clear, like we're going to get into it. I

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Speaker 1: do think that that sort of thing does matter to

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Speaker 1: a certain extent, But I do think it gets a

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Speaker 1: little tricky when we take all of the credit away

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Speaker 1: from what a young basketball player is able to accomplish.

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Speaker 1: Here's the thing, Like, everything in basketball, in my opinion,

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Speaker 1: is contagious. It's a big part of like and that

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Speaker 1: goes both ways. Right. Positivity can be contagious. Negativity can

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Speaker 1: be contagious, Like when you're in a locker room where

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Speaker 1: you know some areas of the locker room are starting

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Speaker 1: to kind of, you know, revolt against the coach or

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Speaker 1: revolt against you know, a specific thing that's taking place,

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Speaker 1: like that that misery loves company. Guys will kind of

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Speaker 1: congeal together and they'll start to kind of cause problems. Right,

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Speaker 1: And that goes both ways. But I do think that

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Speaker 1: leading by example, having a guy that leads by example

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Speaker 1: in your locker room can go a long way to

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Speaker 1: shaping a young basketball player Dante di Vincenzo. Obviously, just

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Speaker 1: watching him tonight against the Warriors, the movement, shooting, just

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Speaker 1: the whole style that he plays with. Now you can

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Speaker 1: tell that he picked up a lot from Stephan Clay

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Speaker 1: very likely worked out with him. But I'd extended even

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Speaker 1: to some of the other guys, guys like Jonathan Kamena

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Speaker 1: and Moses Moody, like I mean Brianon Pitziemski too. I

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Speaker 1: had a comment in the earlier show today, the Live

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Speaker 1: show about the Warriors Nicks, about how I couldn't remember

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Speaker 1: the ages. Someone confirmed it for me in the comments.

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Speaker 1: All three of those guys are twenty one years old.

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Speaker 1: Think about that, Like we have a question later on

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Speaker 1: in the mailbag talking about asking about me when I

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Speaker 1: played in college. I remember the player I was when

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Speaker 1: I was twenty one, and I just can't even fathom

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Speaker 1: doing some of the things. And I'm not even talking

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Speaker 1: about talent. I just mean intellectually as a basketball player.

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Speaker 1: I can't even fathom doing some of the things that

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Speaker 1: these kids are doing at age twenty one. And I

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Speaker 1: do think that that plays like a big part of

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Speaker 1: that is like growing up in the NBA alongside the

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Speaker 1: likes of Steph and Clay and Draymond and even Andre

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Speaker 1: Guadala and how he helped early on with Moses Moody

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Speaker 1: and Jonathan Kminga like like we are talking about, we

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Speaker 1: are talking about the ideal environment for you to learn

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Speaker 1: how to play NBA basketball, and I do think it's

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Speaker 1: manifested in a big positive way for guys like Jonathan Cominga,

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Speaker 1: for guys like Moses Moody, and for obviously Dante DiVincenzo

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Speaker 1: as well. I again, I think it goes too far

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Speaker 1: when we give the star all the credit, but there's

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Speaker 1: no doubt that, like if you were if you were

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Speaker 1: trying to plot a course for your basketball career, you

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Speaker 1: can't do better as a role model, as a as

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Speaker 1: a leader than Steph Curry to learn how to play

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Speaker 1: the game from, to learn how to be an NBA

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Speaker 1: player from, to learn how to be a professional from

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Speaker 1: Hey Jason. There's been a lot of earned discussion about

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Speaker 1: Pala Bancaro and Jay dub Jalen Williams this season, but

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Speaker 1: two pretty impressive sophomores who have gotten sort of lost

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Speaker 1: in the shuffle this year, or Jabari Smith and Keegan

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Speaker 1: Murray what have you thought of of those two seasons

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Speaker 1: so far and how good do you think they can

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Speaker 1: be in about five years or so. Love the show,

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Speaker 1: keep up the great work. Thanks again for supporting the

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Speaker 1: show and for the kind words. Jabari Smith and Keig

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Speaker 1: and Murray are kind of different players in my opinion,

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Speaker 1: I've been impressed with Keieg and Murray mainly just because

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Speaker 1: he kind of manifests in a lot of specific ways

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Speaker 1: that help in the modern basketball world. Like, for instance,

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Speaker 1: like let's take the Kings. The Kings are are a

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Speaker 1: team that rebounds the ball really well. A big part

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Speaker 1: of that is not just Keith and Murray, but also

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Speaker 1: Kevin Herder in the way that they crash from the perimeter.

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Speaker 1: Like there's a lot more long rebounds in the modern NBA.

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Speaker 1: Keigan Murray is a guy that you know, he was

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Speaker 1: a guy played in college for a long time, right,

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Speaker 1: and he just does a lot of these like little

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Speaker 1: things that help a basketball team win. Obviously, he can

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Speaker 1: come off a screens and he can shoot. Obviously, he's

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Speaker 1: a high level spot at player. I think he's at

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Speaker 1: like one point one points per spot at possession this year,

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Speaker 1: which is obviously really really really good. Both guys right now,

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Speaker 1: Jabari Smith and Keegan Murray struggle a little bit with

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Speaker 1: self creation. Jabari Smith is a level above Keegan Murray

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Speaker 1: specifically in the post, but both of them can struggle

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Speaker 1: a little bit. I do think that Jabari Smith has

430
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:21,080
Speaker 1: a significantly higher ceiling than Keegan Murray for two reasons. One,

431
00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:24,520
Speaker 1: he's a much much better defensive project. Keegan Murray is

432
00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:27,520
Speaker 1: a good straight line athlete, but he struggles with lateral quickness,

433
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,560
Speaker 1: and he's not a guy that has the level of

434
00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,440
Speaker 1: defensive potential that a guy like Jabari Smith does. Jabari

435
00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:37,719
Speaker 1: Smith has the potential to be like a legitimate, you know,

436
00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:40,920
Speaker 1: top tier perimeter defender in this league. That's the potential

437
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:42,920
Speaker 1: that he has. It's just a question of whether or

438
00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,200
Speaker 1: not he can get there. One other thing with Jabari Smith,

439
00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:48,359
Speaker 1: I think he just has a little bit more of

440
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,359
Speaker 1: like what I would call like natural scoring chops, Like

441
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:56,320
Speaker 1: it's almost like a combination of audacity and creativity mixed

442
00:21:56,359 --> 00:22:01,119
Speaker 1: with your skill set. And obviously Jabari has the work ethic.

443
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:04,000
Speaker 1: I mean, just go look back at last year with

444
00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,360
Speaker 1: the Rockets and how poor he was putting the ball

445
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:08,959
Speaker 1: on the floor and how much he struggled, you know

446
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,639
Speaker 1: with just kind of like basic shot creation stuff, and

447
00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:13,920
Speaker 1: like this year you're just seeing more of his ability

448
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,600
Speaker 1: to make quick plays out of the post against mismatches

449
00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:18,840
Speaker 1: and get to quick spots for short mid range jump

450
00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,520
Speaker 1: shots that he can knock down. Like he's just taking

451
00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:23,480
Speaker 1: significant leaps on that end of the floor. Right, So,

452
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,400
Speaker 1: like I U, there are two really really good young wings.

453
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,600
Speaker 1: To me, they're very different, like to give you guys

454
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:31,600
Speaker 1: just an example, and these are not perfect comps, but

455
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,560
Speaker 1: like in the same way that like you have McHale

456
00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:38,520
Speaker 1: Bridges and Cam Johnson as like two versions of you know,

457
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:40,680
Speaker 1: six seven six eight wings that to me is what

458
00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:43,040
Speaker 1: Jabari Smith and Keegan Murray are kind of kind of represent.

459
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 1: Jabari Smith is more and a McHale Bridges are like

460
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,960
Speaker 1: a trajectory where I really do think he could add

461
00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,160
Speaker 1: some legitimate off the dribble game, a guy that could

462
00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,399
Speaker 1: potentially average twenty points a game in the league one

463
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:59,680
Speaker 1: day efficiently and and also be an excellent perimeter defender, Whereas,

464
00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:01,560
Speaker 1: like you know, Cam Johnson is more of like an

465
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:05,280
Speaker 1: offensive minded wing that you know, there's a like like

466
00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:07,919
Speaker 1: it just kind of fits more into that mold for

467
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,240
Speaker 1: me for like a Keegan Murray type. Again not perfect comps,

468
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:11,919
Speaker 1: but those are just some some examples. But I love

469
00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:14,119
Speaker 1: both of those guys. I was super, super impressed by

470
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,080
Speaker 1: Jabari Smith at Summer League this year when I went

471
00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:18,280
Speaker 1: to go see him in Vegas. Just I can't believe

472
00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:20,639
Speaker 1: how much he's improved in such such a short period

473
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:24,800
Speaker 1: of time. And honestly, specifically with Jabari, like he's made

474
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,960
Speaker 1: improvements in ball handling, and like that stuff just is

475
00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:33,560
Speaker 1: super incremental, Like it takes thousands and thousands and thousands

476
00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:35,760
Speaker 1: and thousands of reps to become a good ball handler

477
00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,159
Speaker 1: when you didn't used to be. And so all that

478
00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,600
Speaker 1: says to me is that he's a gym rat and

479
00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:42,960
Speaker 1: that he's competitive enough to want to develop that part

480
00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:44,399
Speaker 1: of his game and to get better. And so that

481
00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,239
Speaker 1: just tells me within five years or so that he

482
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,520
Speaker 1: does have the potential to reach the level of like

483
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:51,919
Speaker 1: a guy like mckail Bridges, which by the way, Jabari

484
00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:53,840
Speaker 1: has better measurables, and so he could even be a

485
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,480
Speaker 1: better version of that next question, how good of a

486
00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,520
Speaker 1: hooper are you? And what's your player comp You said

487
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,199
Speaker 1: you played in college, and that's impressive, honestly, Plus how

488
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,879
Speaker 1: many threes have you made in a row? So I

489
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,760
Speaker 1: won't go into too much detail here because it's more

490
00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:08,840
Speaker 1: of a conversation for the offseason if I wanted to

491
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:10,920
Speaker 1: spend some time kind of breaking it down for you guys.

492
00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:13,480
Speaker 1: But the gist of it is I was a late bloomer,

493
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,679
Speaker 1: didn't grow up playing basketball. I was the worst player

494
00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:20,200
Speaker 1: on my high school team. Literally on senior night, there

495
00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:23,199
Speaker 1: were six seniors on the roster, and all five of

496
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:25,240
Speaker 1: the other seniors started the game, and I didn't play

497
00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:27,240
Speaker 1: a single minute. And by the way, the coach was

498
00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,760
Speaker 1: correct to do so, I was not. I would have

499
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:34,360
Speaker 1: severely hampered their ability to compete in that game. I

500
00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,560
Speaker 1: really really really dove into basketball in my late teens,

501
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:42,000
Speaker 1: and my third year in college I finally walked into

502
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:45,200
Speaker 1: an open gym at a juco and played well enough

503
00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:46,879
Speaker 1: to get a scholarship. That was kind of how my

504
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,960
Speaker 1: career started. I ended up playing three seasons because of

505
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:55,440
Speaker 1: the way that the NCAA clock clockworks. I had an

506
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,879
Speaker 1: all conference selection my second season in junior college, and

507
00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:02,680
Speaker 1: then I played a three and D role basically for

508
00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:06,120
Speaker 1: a NAIA team as my third year I was a

509
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,439
Speaker 1: pretty mediocre college basketball player. I had my moments, but

510
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,600
Speaker 1: I also had my flaws. Specifically at the Naia level,

511
00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:17,200
Speaker 1: they really exposed some of my offensive limitations. I stayed

512
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:19,440
Speaker 1: on the floor at Naia because I could guard. I'm

513
00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:21,920
Speaker 1: a good athlete and I'm like sixty six with like

514
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,159
Speaker 1: a six ten wingspan, so I could guard. I just

515
00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:26,440
Speaker 1: would guard the other team's best player. That was basically

516
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:29,880
Speaker 1: my role on that particular team. I didn't really develop

517
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,800
Speaker 1: into a like what I consider to be a better

518
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:34,879
Speaker 1: version of or the best version of myself as a

519
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:39,080
Speaker 1: basketball player to my late twenties, just because, like I

520
00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 1: fell in love with the game, but I didn't grow

521
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 1: up playing it, so like, you know, the feeling that

522
00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:45,640
Speaker 1: I would imagine most young basketball players feel when they're

523
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,119
Speaker 1: twelve thirteen years old, when they're starting to kind of

524
00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:50,199
Speaker 1: figure it out and love the game, Like I was

525
00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:53,240
Speaker 1: hitting that in my mid twenties, because like, I didn't

526
00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:55,679
Speaker 1: play when I was young, and so I had some

527
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,760
Speaker 1: success in college and that was like my first experience

528
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,800
Speaker 1: with the game, and so I just dove headlong into

529
00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:06,680
Speaker 1: it after that and made significant improvements. Like I in Anaia,

530
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,560
Speaker 1: I was really exposed as a guy who couldn't dribble,

531
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,480
Speaker 1: who was an inconsistent, streaky shooter, and a guy that

532
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 1: couldn't read the floor. And so that those were the

533
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,520
Speaker 1: three things that I massively improved on as I got

534
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:21,640
Speaker 1: later on in life. And now when I play, I'm

535
00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:24,280
Speaker 1: I'm like a playmaking wing. Like I'm a guy that

536
00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 1: you know that initiates offense and can score and pass

537
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,080
Speaker 1: and do all those things. It definitely did not used

538
00:26:29,119 --> 00:26:32,040
Speaker 1: to be the case. How many threes have I made

539
00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,040
Speaker 1: in a row in a college game. My record for

540
00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:36,880
Speaker 1: threes made in a row is six, and I did

541
00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,840
Speaker 1: it in a game when I was in junior college

542
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,199
Speaker 1: and it was during the game that I had my

543
00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,240
Speaker 1: career high in points, which was thirty one. But yeah,

544
00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:49,520
Speaker 1: that was I Also I said I was streaky and inconsistent.

545
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,680
Speaker 1: I had a stretch when I was playing Naia where

546
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:53,639
Speaker 1: I missed twenty two threes in a row over the

547
00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:58,480
Speaker 1: course of a week. Like actually, my coach once again

548
00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,040
Speaker 1: made the right decision, had to sit down with me

549
00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:02,719
Speaker 1: and be like, hey, like, we need you to kind

550
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:04,960
Speaker 1: of tone back your shot selection a little bit, which,

551
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:06,679
Speaker 1: by the way, it was right to do because I

552
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:10,040
Speaker 1: came in as a junior college scorer who got exposed

553
00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:12,680
Speaker 1: in any Ia as a guy who like couldn't score

554
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:17,760
Speaker 1: at that specific level. Anyia like older guys, much better coaching.

555
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:21,679
Speaker 1: You know, Juco. The athleticism was insane. I played in

556
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,040
Speaker 1: an insane conference when I was in Juco. The talent

557
00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,840
Speaker 1: level was unbelievable, but everything was so much more loose

558
00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:29,960
Speaker 1: and spread out. It was just easier to play. And

559
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,480
Speaker 1: then when I went to Anaia and like help, defense

560
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,680
Speaker 1: is always loaded up, and every team just like shell drills,

561
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,240
Speaker 1: you know, sixteen times a week and just there every

562
00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:41,720
Speaker 1: you're just if you happen to beat your guy off

563
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:43,720
Speaker 1: the dribble, there's just another guy right away. If rotations

564
00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,440
Speaker 1: are super sharp, like it was, just Anaia was a really,

565
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:48,640
Speaker 1: really tough level of basketball, And honestly, it was good

566
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,080
Speaker 1: for me because it exposed all of the things that

567
00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:53,880
Speaker 1: I sucked at and helped me understand what I needed

568
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:55,600
Speaker 1: to get better at in order to be a better

569
00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:59,920
Speaker 1: basketball player. Next question, what do you think goes into

570
00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:03,240
Speaker 1: a down shooting season? Curious about the process it takes

571
00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:05,959
Speaker 1: to maintain your shooting percentage during a season in career.

572
00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:08,920
Speaker 1: For example, Lebron being thirty six thirty seven percent from

573
00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:10,919
Speaker 1: three to the last few years, then having a thirty percent

574
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:15,120
Speaker 1: season and follow it up with a forty one percent season. Uh. Thanks,

575
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,119
Speaker 1: love the show, Congrats on the success again, thank you

576
00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,720
Speaker 1: for the kind words and for the support. I think

577
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:23,080
Speaker 1: it's a combination of a coupled in different factors because

578
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:25,359
Speaker 1: I personally experienced this. The year that I made the

579
00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:30,160
Speaker 1: All Conference team, the I shot like forty eight forty

580
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:32,800
Speaker 1: nine percent from three in conference play, Like I was

581
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:37,600
Speaker 1: just I was just like super confident and like I

582
00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,720
Speaker 1: always felt like I had it going every single game.

583
00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,920
Speaker 1: I just was so laser focused and locked in. And

584
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:46,200
Speaker 1: then it was literally a non conference play the next

585
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,760
Speaker 1: season that I missed twenty two in a row. So

586
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,440
Speaker 1: that kind of gives you some perspective on like how

587
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,200
Speaker 1: wild those swings can be. Now, for me, the big

588
00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:59,160
Speaker 1: thing was a role change on the JUCO team. I

589
00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:02,280
Speaker 1: was the secondlyading scorer on the team. The offense was

590
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,160
Speaker 1: built around me and this other guard named Miles Gatewood,

591
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:07,400
Speaker 1: a really good player, really good guard. Him and I

592
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:10,600
Speaker 1: basically everything in the offense was set up for us.

593
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:13,840
Speaker 1: When I went to ACU by the Naia that it

594
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:18,240
Speaker 1: played at. I played alongside two All American guards and

595
00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:21,400
Speaker 1: both of them were just unbelievable. Tolly Buda, the point

596
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:23,320
Speaker 1: guard on that team, is the best basketball player that

597
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:27,240
Speaker 1: I've ever personally played with. And like, all of a sudden,

598
00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:30,360
Speaker 1: my role was different. Early in the season, I had

599
00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:33,080
Speaker 1: a like a big scoring burst in my very first game.

600
00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:37,560
Speaker 1: We played a game against nau SO Division one school

601
00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,240
Speaker 1: and NCAA Division one school. We actually beat them, and

602
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:42,160
Speaker 1: I had a big scoring burst in that game. And

603
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,440
Speaker 1: so in the early portion of the season, I was

604
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,160
Speaker 1: really aggressive as a scorer, but my efficiency like just

605
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,080
Speaker 1: immediately tanked and pretty quickly. Like I mentioned in the

606
00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:52,920
Speaker 1: last question, my coach was sitting down with me about

607
00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 1: like not looking basically told me like don't shoot unless

608
00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:58,840
Speaker 1: you're taking a wide open three or running your lane

609
00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,440
Speaker 1: in transition, you know what a coach would do for

610
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,880
Speaker 1: a flawed player like me. To that coach's credit, he

611
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:08,240
Speaker 1: funneled me into what I was good at, which was

612
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:12,760
Speaker 1: like defense and rebounding and you know, playing a small

613
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:16,600
Speaker 1: role on offense at that specific level. Well, as I

614
00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:19,920
Speaker 1: shifted into that small role, like shooting became a real

615
00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:24,239
Speaker 1: challenge for me because instead of hunting my shot and

616
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:27,640
Speaker 1: getting six seven three point attempts per game, I was

617
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,120
Speaker 1: getting maybe one or two three point attempts per game,

618
00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:32,840
Speaker 1: And so and they would come like I wouldn't touch

619
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:34,200
Speaker 1: the ball for a while and then all of a sudden,

620
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,040
Speaker 1: I'd have a catch and shoot three opportunity. And that

621
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:37,760
Speaker 1: was a real struggle for me. And so I think

622
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:39,440
Speaker 1: it's a combination of a bunch of different factors. A

623
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:41,640
Speaker 1: guy like Lebron, the role has been the same all

624
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:44,200
Speaker 1: the time, and so his swings a lot of it

625
00:30:44,240 --> 00:30:47,760
Speaker 1: is really just like happenstance, Like shooting is a is

626
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:51,000
Speaker 1: a is a like, for lack of a better term,

627
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,360
Speaker 1: it's a mind fuck. Like you, it's kind of like

628
00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:55,640
Speaker 1: it's kind of like baseball in the sense that like,

629
00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,120
Speaker 1: even if you're really really good at it, you're gonna

630
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 1: miss more than you make, and so you can do

631
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,840
Speaker 1: everything right and the result can still be a miss,

632
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:08,040
Speaker 1: and so it can spiral on you, right, Like I

633
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:10,560
Speaker 1: honestly felt that way watching Lebron, where like you could

634
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:12,600
Speaker 1: just tell last year like it was like they just

635
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:14,480
Speaker 1: weren't going in and you could just tell it gets

636
00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:18,320
Speaker 1: mentally discouraging and it's like, it doesn't matter if you

637
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:23,000
Speaker 1: took and made four hundred threes in practice the previous day.

638
00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 1: If you go into the game and you get you know,

639
00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,720
Speaker 1: two or three looks and you happen to miss two

640
00:31:28,800 --> 00:31:31,959
Speaker 1: of them, and then on the third one you're not confident, right, Like,

641
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:34,280
Speaker 1: it can really pile up on you. Now how to

642
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,360
Speaker 1: handle it? Like I remember in that the NAI season

643
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:41,080
Speaker 1: that I'm talking about, I mean, I was obsessive about it.

644
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,960
Speaker 1: I was in the gym every single day, shooting on

645
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,680
Speaker 1: the shooting machine. My buddy Harshall, who was my roommate

646
00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:49,960
Speaker 1: that season, him and I were going up to the

647
00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,200
Speaker 1: gym at night and doing the shooting these shooting drills

648
00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:55,320
Speaker 1: like we've just we'd been there at eleven thirty pm

649
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,200
Speaker 1: with a with a speaker blasting, just shooting and shooting

650
00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:01,560
Speaker 1: and shooting and shooting. And like, I was obsessive about it.

651
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:04,720
Speaker 1: And what's crazy is even with that, I barely got

652
00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:06,680
Speaker 1: up to I think I shot in the low thirties

653
00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:09,920
Speaker 1: from three in conference play that season, because again the

654
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:12,120
Speaker 1: role was so funky. I was just I was barely

655
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:15,360
Speaker 1: getting touches, which was the right decision with the level

656
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:17,400
Speaker 1: of player I was at that point. But again, like

657
00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:20,320
Speaker 1: a couple different things, it's a combination of role shifts,

658
00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:23,040
Speaker 1: Like I really do think like, for instance, I'm Elik Beasley,

659
00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,240
Speaker 1: Like he's just getting different and better shots for Milwaukee

660
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,440
Speaker 1: this year than he did for the Lakers last year.

661
00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:32,480
Speaker 1: The Lakers were constantly running him off of off ball

662
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,560
Speaker 1: actions and asking him to shoot those are tougher shots.

663
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,560
Speaker 1: Milwaukee was just like you're a spot up guy, but

664
00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:41,320
Speaker 1: just if you're open, or if you even have an

665
00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:43,720
Speaker 1: inch of space, you let that thing fly. And so

666
00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:46,520
Speaker 1: you can see a role shift from Alik Beasley got

667
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,000
Speaker 1: him back on track, right. So it's a combination of

668
00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,440
Speaker 1: the role and then honest to god, it really is

669
00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 1: just a really mentally challenging thing. You know, Like Steph

670
00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:56,880
Speaker 1: Courage just went they were a shooting slept there for

671
00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:58,800
Speaker 1: like a week or so, right, Like you don't think

672
00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:01,160
Speaker 1: that dude wasn't doing all his drills and doing everything

673
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,320
Speaker 1: behind the scenes right, and yet still the results were off.

674
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:06,680
Speaker 1: Like there is a certain amount of just you know,

675
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:09,000
Speaker 1: I don't even think it's variance. I think it's it's

676
00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:13,040
Speaker 1: mostly just the mental aspect of it and the way

677
00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:15,360
Speaker 1: that it can misses can pile up on you, but

678
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,120
Speaker 1: the same thing happens in reverse, the makes pile up

679
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,280
Speaker 1: on you. You make a couple in a row, you

680
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:23,120
Speaker 1: feel really good about yourself. You feel really confident all

681
00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:24,800
Speaker 1: of a sudden, like you can kind of ride that

682
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:28,880
Speaker 1: wave for a little bit, right, And so, but I

683
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,880
Speaker 1: don't want to underestimate or undersell the work element of it.

684
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,200
Speaker 1: So like lastly on that Lebron front shoots thirty percent

685
00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:37,480
Speaker 1: or whatever last year and then shoots forty one percent

686
00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:39,640
Speaker 1: this year, You bet your ass. Lebron was in the

687
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:41,640
Speaker 1: gym all damn summer, like I got to get my

688
00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:44,480
Speaker 1: jumper fixed, right, And so he was able to ride

689
00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:47,080
Speaker 1: that out for a long stretch of time in the summer,

690
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,040
Speaker 1: and then he went into training camp and saw the results.

691
00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:54,160
Speaker 1: Now he's confident. And now just watch Lebron shoot this year.

692
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,959
Speaker 1: Doesn't it just look different than last year. He's rising

693
00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,880
Speaker 1: into shots confidently in a way that he didn't used to.

694
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,040
Speaker 1: Even tonight I was watching him, it was so funny.

695
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:04,840
Speaker 1: The Lakers ended up in a dog fight with the

696
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:09,040
Speaker 1: Washington Wizards because they're just because they're just the Lakers,

697
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:12,799
Speaker 1: and uh, Lebron ended up basically saving the game with

698
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:14,840
Speaker 1: a chase down block at Jordan Poole and then he

699
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:16,640
Speaker 1: hit a step back three over I want to say,

700
00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:18,600
Speaker 1: over Kyle Kuzma on the right wing, and like it was,

701
00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:20,920
Speaker 1: it was a tough shot. It might have been over

702
00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:24,760
Speaker 1: Marvin Bagley, but like like he stepped into it confidently

703
00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:26,680
Speaker 1: and he just wasn't doing that last year. And so

704
00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,759
Speaker 1: again to kind of tie it all together, it's a

705
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:33,720
Speaker 1: combination of just like the really challenging mental aspects of shooting,

706
00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:37,319
Speaker 1: and then your role and then the way you fight

707
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:39,920
Speaker 1: it is. All you can do is work. I'm a

708
00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:43,000
Speaker 1: big believer in like I want to be thinking when

709
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:48,000
Speaker 1: I'm shooting about how I worked hard, Like I want

710
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,560
Speaker 1: to derive confidence when I'm shooting from the fact that

711
00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:54,920
Speaker 1: I've made this shot a hundred times already today. You know,

712
00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:56,600
Speaker 1: It's a big part of why like to this day,

713
00:34:56,640 --> 00:34:58,759
Speaker 1: and I tell to the young basketball players in town

714
00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:00,759
Speaker 1: that I work with, including the high school kids I coach, like,

715
00:35:01,160 --> 00:35:04,439
Speaker 1: if I go play pick up, like I will show

716
00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:07,040
Speaker 1: up to the gym thirty to forty five minutes before

717
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:09,400
Speaker 1: the pickup starts, and I will do my full shooting workout.

718
00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:11,640
Speaker 1: Why so that when I step onto the floor to

719
00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:14,759
Speaker 1: actually play, I just feel confident in those shots. And like, again,

720
00:35:14,800 --> 00:35:18,239
Speaker 1: I haven't like I'm an older guy now, I'm thirty

721
00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:20,399
Speaker 1: two years old. I'm just playing for fun. But it's

722
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:23,279
Speaker 1: just I'm incapable of approaching basketball any other way. It's

723
00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:27,040
Speaker 1: just the way that I'm wired. Next question, Hey, Jason,

724
00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:28,640
Speaker 1: loved the show. I was wondering, do you think we

725
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:30,680
Speaker 1: will see all kinds of shenanigans in the fifth and

726
00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:33,960
Speaker 1: sixth spot and even teams intentionally losing and going into

727
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,000
Speaker 1: the play in from the seventh or eighth spot just

728
00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:39,440
Speaker 1: to avoid the Nuggets. I believe that a seventh or

729
00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:41,920
Speaker 1: eighth spot, if not crossed with the Nuggets, can go

730
00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:44,080
Speaker 1: all the way to the conference final. But does it

731
00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:46,279
Speaker 1: is it worth the risk of a single elimination game?

732
00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:49,120
Speaker 1: So first, from the play in spots, no doubt at all.

733
00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:50,480
Speaker 1: You got to try to get out of the play

734
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:54,280
Speaker 1: in spots. There's just too much variance there, like for instance,

735
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,279
Speaker 1: Lakers Warriors, like, you've got to try to get out

736
00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:01,799
Speaker 1: of that spot because go let's say for instance, you're

737
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:03,399
Speaker 1: the Lakers and you end up at the ten seed,

738
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,239
Speaker 1: you gotta go too Golden State to win and then

739
00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:08,360
Speaker 1: go to like a Phoenix or a New Orleans or

740
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:11,080
Speaker 1: a Dallas or a Sacramento. Like that's just a lot

741
00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:13,880
Speaker 1: to ask to even get into a first round series,

742
00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:16,080
Speaker 1: even if you like the matchup when you get there. Also,

743
00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:18,359
Speaker 1: you gotta go through the good teams no matter what.

744
00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:20,600
Speaker 1: And in the Western Conference, they're all good teams. I

745
00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:22,640
Speaker 1: even think those playing teams are good teams. I think

746
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,319
Speaker 1: the Lakers and Warriors are good teams. They're not great teams,

747
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:27,040
Speaker 1: they're not as good as the teams that are above them,

748
00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,279
Speaker 1: but they're good basketball teams. So like it's not like

749
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:31,839
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference, where you know, I think we could

750
00:36:31,880 --> 00:36:33,719
Speaker 1: see some teams in the seven and eight spot that

751
00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:36,160
Speaker 1: are are a little bit more flawed. As for the

752
00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:39,839
Speaker 1: stuff around the fifth and sixth spot and stuff like that,

753
00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:42,160
Speaker 1: it's really hard to say because like I thought the

754
00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:44,120
Speaker 1: Nuggets were about to skyrocket and take the one seed,

755
00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:45,920
Speaker 1: but then Jamal Murray turns his ankle, and who knows

756
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:47,640
Speaker 1: what's gonna happen. But at the end of the day,

757
00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:49,440
Speaker 1: I am a big believer and like, don't mess with

758
00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:53,480
Speaker 1: the basketball gods, Like you're better off playing basketball. The

759
00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,360
Speaker 1: best you possibly can to build out the identity and

760
00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:58,760
Speaker 1: the habits and everything you need to win playoff series

761
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:01,400
Speaker 1: regardless of who your opponent is. Then you are like

762
00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:03,600
Speaker 1: trying to mess with that a little bit, to try

763
00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:08,280
Speaker 1: to jerry rig the matchups. Next question, the revisionist history

764
00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:10,600
Speaker 1: concerning the state of the Lakers team and pointing and

765
00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:13,480
Speaker 1: painting Lebron as some victim is ridiculous. Lebron is just

766
00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:15,319
Speaker 1: as much responsible for the state of the Lakers as

767
00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:17,719
Speaker 1: the front office, if not more so. Throughout his career,

768
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:20,840
Speaker 1: Lebron plays a huge role in players acquired or traded.

769
00:37:21,160 --> 00:37:23,879
Speaker 1: Every star player does, but it's clearly on another level

770
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:26,680
Speaker 1: with Lebron. When it works, he's a genius legm. But

771
00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:29,200
Speaker 1: when it doesn't, the front office is sabotaging him. He

772
00:37:29,280 --> 00:37:32,319
Speaker 1: wanted Westbrook, that's a fact. Okay, So a couple things.

773
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:40,280
Speaker 1: First of all, Lebron's two major impacts on the Lakers

774
00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:44,439
Speaker 1: from a LAYGM standpoint were the Russell Westbrook trade, Yes,

775
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:49,200
Speaker 1: that's a fact, and the Anthony Davis trade. So the

776
00:37:49,280 --> 00:37:51,719
Speaker 1: idea that he's just as much responsible for the state

777
00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:53,480
Speaker 1: of the Lakers as the front office is something I

778
00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:58,279
Speaker 1: vehemently disagree with because Lebron also facilitated Anthony Davis trade

779
00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:00,719
Speaker 1: which led to an NBA championship. So whatever you say

780
00:38:00,719 --> 00:38:03,040
Speaker 1: about the Russell Westbrook trade, that's kind of canceled out

781
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:05,960
Speaker 1: the rest of the stuff that the front office did.

782
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,919
Speaker 1: Between letting brook Lopez walk for nothing, how good would

783
00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:12,040
Speaker 1: Brook Lopez be alongside Anthony Davis, just watch him next

784
00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:16,800
Speaker 1: to Giannis, right to letting Julius Randall walk for absolutely nothing,

785
00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:20,000
Speaker 1: to the way they constructed that first roster with all

786
00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:23,000
Speaker 1: this playmaking around Lebron with no shooting to like the

787
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:28,400
Speaker 1: immediate after they win the NBA Championship, immediate lack of

788
00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:31,080
Speaker 1: understanding or appreciation of what the role players did, and

789
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,319
Speaker 1: immediately starting to get off of all of them. The

790
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:38,840
Speaker 1: as far as the Russell Westbrook trade goes, here's where

791
00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:43,320
Speaker 1: here's where I would give pushback. I agree Lebron James.

792
00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:47,720
Speaker 1: I shouldn't even say agree. It's a fact that Lebron

793
00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:52,239
Speaker 1: James pushed strongly for the Russell Westbrook trade. I personally

794
00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:56,960
Speaker 1: was completely stunned that he did. So here's the thing.

795
00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:02,200
Speaker 1: The general manager of the Lost Angelis Lakers is responsible

796
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:06,120
Speaker 1: for making personnel decisions, and if you are the general manager.

797
00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:09,560
Speaker 1: Just put yourself in the GM's shoes. And Lebron comes

798
00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,920
Speaker 1: up to you and goes, I want Russell Westbrook. You

799
00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:14,919
Speaker 1: look him back in the face and you go that's

800
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:19,440
Speaker 1: a terrible idea because of XYZ. Because you are the

801
00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:24,560
Speaker 1: basketball expert. Your job is personnel. And the problem is

802
00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:30,040
Speaker 1: Lebron wanted Russ, but he had support from the front

803
00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,960
Speaker 1: office and they put the deal through. When there was

804
00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,920
Speaker 1: a there were like it was never the direction that

805
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:39,120
Speaker 1: they should have gone. The Russell Westbrook trade was clearly

806
00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:41,440
Speaker 1: a bad idea in the moment when it happened, and

807
00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:44,080
Speaker 1: we all knew it. I said it right after the trade.

808
00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:47,799
Speaker 1: I was like, KCP and Kyle Kuzma are both more

809
00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:51,319
Speaker 1: valuable to the Lakers team than what Russell Westbrook could

810
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:53,400
Speaker 1: bring to this team. And you had to give up

811
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:55,400
Speaker 1: both of them and a first round draft pick to

812
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,560
Speaker 1: get him. It was a complete disaster. And I absolutely

813
00:39:58,600 --> 00:40:02,520
Speaker 1: think no that Lebron pushed for it, and that obviously

814
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:03,840
Speaker 1: it was a bad idea. But at the end of

815
00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:07,120
Speaker 1: the day, that is yet another element to what makes

816
00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:10,680
Speaker 1: that front office so frustrating is that they couldn't. They

817
00:40:10,719 --> 00:40:13,799
Speaker 1: couldn't even like your job as the front office is

818
00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:17,440
Speaker 1: to filter suggestions from everybody that works in your front office,

819
00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:19,960
Speaker 1: and from your star players and from your coach. You

820
00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:22,959
Speaker 1: filter through all of that, and from your owner, right,

821
00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:25,880
Speaker 1: you filter through all of that. The fact that Russell

822
00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:29,880
Speaker 1: Westbrook didn't get caught in the Lakers filter, that's the

823
00:40:29,960 --> 00:40:33,480
Speaker 1: discouraging part. And so here's the thing. Criticize Lebron for

824
00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:36,239
Speaker 1: pushing the Russell west Per trade all you want. That

825
00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:40,719
Speaker 1: does not alleviate the complete and total other, you know

826
00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 1: dozen other shit show things that that front office did

827
00:40:43,719 --> 00:40:46,040
Speaker 1: that help them lead to where they're at, even like

828
00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:49,799
Speaker 1: after the Denver Nuggets series, a clear need for a

829
00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:53,040
Speaker 1: two way athlete on the perimeter, and you let Lonnie

830
00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:56,240
Speaker 1: Walker and Dennis Schroeder go and do nothing to replace

831
00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:58,080
Speaker 1: those guys, which by the way, I was okay with

832
00:40:58,160 --> 00:41:01,560
Speaker 1: over the summer because I was like, fine, do it

833
00:41:01,600 --> 00:41:03,279
Speaker 1: at the deadline, and then they didn't do it at

834
00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:07,320
Speaker 1: the deadline. So, like, it's been a consistent issue with

835
00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:11,319
Speaker 1: this front office, a fundamental misunderstanding of what Lebron, James

836
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:13,800
Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis need around them to win basketball games.

837
00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:16,160
Speaker 1: And it has been frustrating because that's the thing like

838
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:22,680
Speaker 1: that's the general manager's job literally by definition, is to

839
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:27,120
Speaker 1: understand player personnel, understand their stars, understand what they need

840
00:41:27,160 --> 00:41:32,080
Speaker 1: to succeed, filter suggestions, and build the roster accordingly. And

841
00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 1: they just haven't done a good job of that, I

842
00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:36,520
Speaker 1: mean even And then I include the ownership group because

843
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:40,080
Speaker 1: it's like the ownership group is the one that disrespected

844
00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:44,000
Speaker 1: ty Lou when they had a deal in place because

845
00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:46,120
Speaker 1: they didn't want to pay him like a championship coach,

846
00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:49,360
Speaker 1: because they were being cheap. Let Alex Crusoe walk for

847
00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:52,439
Speaker 1: absolutely nothing because they didn't want to be a pay

848
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:55,720
Speaker 1: him because they were being cheap. Like from the top down.

849
00:41:56,000 --> 00:41:59,840
Speaker 1: With the Lakers, it has been incompetence and it's only

850
00:42:00,040 --> 00:42:03,200
Speaker 1: through Lebron's play on the court that he's been able

851
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:05,759
Speaker 1: in with Anthony Davis as well, that they've been able

852
00:42:05,760 --> 00:42:07,560
Speaker 1: to overcome it the way that they have over the

853
00:42:07,680 --> 00:42:11,319
Speaker 1: years too. Literally a championship in a Western Conference finals birth, which,

854
00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:15,160
Speaker 1: by the way, I would argue is an underachievement given

855
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:16,959
Speaker 1: the like if you had told me you were gonna

856
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:19,640
Speaker 1: get five years of Lebron James and Anthony Davis together,

857
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:23,560
Speaker 1: like you're thinking two titles, right, like that that's what

858
00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:27,600
Speaker 1: you're thinking, and they should have, and like there's a

859
00:42:27,640 --> 00:42:30,120
Speaker 1: case to be made that if you had, you know,

860
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:34,480
Speaker 1: a top tier NBAGM in control of that position, that

861
00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:38,560
Speaker 1: they probably do have multiple championships. Next question, seeing the

862
00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:40,880
Speaker 1: guitars in your background for a while now and for

863
00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:43,359
Speaker 1: a while now, just wondered how much experience you have playing.

864
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:45,399
Speaker 1: Also wondered what are a couple of your favorite bands

865
00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:47,800
Speaker 1: and albums, old and recent. Love your content as always,

866
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:52,840
Speaker 1: thanks again for supporting the show. I play guitar very recreationally,

867
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:56,279
Speaker 1: like maybe three four hours a week. I'm not particularly

868
00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:57,680
Speaker 1: good at it. I've been doing it for like ten

869
00:42:57,760 --> 00:43:00,680
Speaker 1: fifteen years, so like I can play little bit, but

870
00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:03,840
Speaker 1: like not in any sort of meaningful way. One day

871
00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:05,879
Speaker 1: my body will fail me and I won't be able

872
00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:08,719
Speaker 1: to play basketball as much as I do. And on

873
00:43:08,840 --> 00:43:11,400
Speaker 1: that day, that's when I will devote all of that

874
00:43:11,600 --> 00:43:14,680
Speaker 1: energy towards guitar and I will try to get significantly

875
00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:16,759
Speaker 1: better at it, just as just because that again, like

876
00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:18,440
Speaker 1: I talked about earlier, it's just kind of how I'm wired.

877
00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:20,560
Speaker 1: So that will be when I tried to get better

878
00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:22,680
Speaker 1: at it. But right now it's strictly just a hobby.

879
00:43:23,200 --> 00:43:25,400
Speaker 1: I grew up on the Allman Brothers band. That was

880
00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:27,759
Speaker 1: what my dad kind of exposed me to, and then

881
00:43:27,800 --> 00:43:31,560
Speaker 1: in my later life I've gotten more into the Grateful

882
00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:33,239
Speaker 1: Dead and Dead in Company and a lot of that

883
00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:36,279
Speaker 1: kind of stuff. Blues in particular has always been my

884
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:39,720
Speaker 1: favorite kind of like brand of or genre of music.

885
00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:41,759
Speaker 1: I should say see Verry Vam is a big one

886
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:43,320
Speaker 1: for me. Jimmy Hendrix is a big one for me.

887
00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:46,080
Speaker 1: Eric Clapton was a big one for me. Derek Truck's

888
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:48,359
Speaker 1: is one of my all time favorites too. Those are

889
00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:50,720
Speaker 1: a lot of the guys that have kind of shaped

890
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:55,120
Speaker 1: my kind of taste in music. Don't you think it's

891
00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:57,920
Speaker 1: odd how everyone was saying before the season that Milwaukee

892
00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:00,360
Speaker 1: would have a bumpy regular season and now everyone is

893
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:02,560
Speaker 1: panicking because of some ups and downs. Don't you think

894
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:04,040
Speaker 1: that as a veteran team they should be judged in

895
00:44:04,080 --> 00:44:07,240
Speaker 1: the playoffs? So agreed. I was one of the people

896
00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:09,640
Speaker 1: before the season that said I thought the Bucks would

897
00:44:09,640 --> 00:44:12,200
Speaker 1: have a bumpy regular season and that Boston would kind

898
00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:14,600
Speaker 1: of beat them by a lot in the standings. I

899
00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:17,880
Speaker 1: will say that we have learned from the x's and

900
00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:20,239
Speaker 1: o's that I mean up until recently, up until this

901
00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:22,719
Speaker 1: recent stretch, that the point of attack defense stuff was

902
00:44:22,760 --> 00:44:26,600
Speaker 1: a concern. But I think between Doc rivers just getting

903
00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:30,040
Speaker 1: them to engage better, the improvement that Malik Beasley has

904
00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:31,480
Speaker 1: made over the course of the season as a point

905
00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:34,319
Speaker 1: of attack defender, Jay Crowder kind of weirdly having some

906
00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:37,400
Speaker 1: life in his legs. It's kind of erased some of

907
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:39,560
Speaker 1: those concerns and now more or less back to where

908
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:42,000
Speaker 1: I was before the season with Milwaukee. But I do

909
00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:43,839
Speaker 1: agree that they're a veteran team that should be judged

910
00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:45,560
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. I'm more concerned about whether or not

911
00:44:45,640 --> 00:44:49,479
Speaker 1: Dame can get back to his peak level offensively. Next

912
00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:51,520
Speaker 1: question or this is more of a comment Jason Tripping

913
00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:54,320
Speaker 1: saying that Jokich over Curry and Lebron all time already.

914
00:44:54,440 --> 00:44:55,920
Speaker 1: I never said that. I don't even know where you're

915
00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:59,000
Speaker 1: getting that from. I never said Jokich is over Curry

916
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:01,359
Speaker 1: and Lebron all time. He has a long way and

917
00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:04,120
Speaker 1: more than one more championship he needs to win, and

918
00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:07,720
Speaker 1: probably another MVP or two along the way, Like Jokic

919
00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:11,320
Speaker 1: has ground to cover there. The conversation surrounding Jokich and

920
00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:15,000
Speaker 1: Curry and Lebron is just simply about their peaks, which

921
00:45:15,040 --> 00:45:19,359
Speaker 1: is completely different. It's like Lebron MJ. Like, Lebron might

922
00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:22,200
Speaker 1: be the goat one day, but his case is going

923
00:45:22,239 --> 00:45:25,960
Speaker 1: to be the resume in longevity. Like, Lebron's not touching

924
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:28,720
Speaker 1: the dominance that MJ had in the nineties. He literally

925
00:45:28,760 --> 00:45:32,080
Speaker 1: won six titles in eight years. He was unquestionably considered

926
00:45:32,080 --> 00:45:34,399
Speaker 1: the best player in the league for a long time.

927
00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:36,959
Speaker 1: Lebron was unquestionably considered the best player in the league

928
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:40,120
Speaker 1: for like three four years. Right, they're in the early

929
00:45:40,160 --> 00:45:42,800
Speaker 1: twenty tents, and then he was still the best player

930
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 1: in my opinion in the late twenty tens, but it

931
00:45:45,280 --> 00:45:47,759
Speaker 1: was much closer between him and KD and Steph. Right,

932
00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:51,279
Speaker 1: MJ was just lapping the entire field for basically the

933
00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:54,360
Speaker 1: entire nineties. And so again that that's the difference between

934
00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:56,799
Speaker 1: those two conversations, right, And like, even when it comes

935
00:45:56,840 --> 00:46:01,000
Speaker 1: to ranking goats or whoever your goat is, everyone'sia is different,

936
00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:04,279
Speaker 1: So like that gets complicated. But for me personally, my

937
00:46:04,719 --> 00:46:07,600
Speaker 1: all time rankings, Jokich is still He's still got a

938
00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:10,680
Speaker 1: lot of ways to go to get to where Lebron

939
00:46:10,719 --> 00:46:13,360
Speaker 1: and Steph are. I'm just saying that his ceiling, his

940
00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:17,279
Speaker 1: absolute peak that he's achieved right now is more on

941
00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:19,719
Speaker 1: the echelon with the MJ's and the Kobe's and the

942
00:46:19,800 --> 00:46:22,600
Speaker 1: Lebron's and stuff than where Steph and KD are to

943
00:46:22,600 --> 00:46:24,320
Speaker 1: put it, simply because I had a bunch of warriors

944
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:26,600
Speaker 1: fans go like, oh, well, it's unfair. Why are you

945
00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:30,120
Speaker 1: comparing Steph and KD when they were underneath Lebron. Here's

946
00:46:30,280 --> 00:46:33,440
Speaker 1: the simple counter there. Steph couldn't even separate himself from KD.

947
00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:37,359
Speaker 1: KD couldn't even separate separate himself from Steph. That's kind

948
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:40,640
Speaker 1: of the point. Like I personally think Steph was better

949
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:44,200
Speaker 1: than KD for the majority of his prime, but that

950
00:46:44,360 --> 00:46:46,560
Speaker 1: is very much up for debate, and if you asked

951
00:46:46,560 --> 00:46:49,240
Speaker 1: one hundred people, it's probably gonna come out near fifty

952
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:52,799
Speaker 1: to fifty. That Like, that's the difference those two guys

953
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:54,799
Speaker 1: were competing against each other. They're kind of in a

954
00:46:54,800 --> 00:46:58,920
Speaker 1: different pier than where Lebron was and where Yokich is now,

955
00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:02,360
Speaker 1: where MJ was in the nineties, where Kobe was in

956
00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:06,319
Speaker 1: the late two thousands. Last question, how can you say

957
00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:08,880
Speaker 1: Yoka's peak is higher when he's really just getting into it.

958
00:47:08,960 --> 00:47:11,920
Speaker 1: During Stephan Katie's peak, they were either winning championships or

959
00:47:11,920 --> 00:47:14,480
Speaker 1: having deep playoff runs. Jokic literally just won his first

960
00:47:14,560 --> 00:47:18,520
Speaker 1: championship last season, and before that it's very limited playoff success.

961
00:47:18,560 --> 00:47:20,360
Speaker 1: At least give him some time before you make claims

962
00:47:20,360 --> 00:47:22,920
Speaker 1: like this. Let's just kind of recap here in the

963
00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:25,520
Speaker 1: regular season, he's about to win his third MVP and

964
00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:27,640
Speaker 1: four tries, and he was the front runner most of

965
00:47:27,719 --> 00:47:29,719
Speaker 1: last year before he basically punted it at the end

966
00:47:29,760 --> 00:47:33,480
Speaker 1: of the season. Also, twenty twenty, he upset the championship

967
00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:36,360
Speaker 1: favorite in the Los Angeles Clippers and went to the

968
00:47:36,360 --> 00:47:41,759
Speaker 1: Western Conference Finals twenty twenty one down his two very

969
00:47:41,840 --> 00:47:47,239
Speaker 1: very important other starters in the starting lineup. They literally

970
00:47:47,360 --> 00:47:50,520
Speaker 1: beat the Portland Trailblazers in the first round like they

971
00:47:50,920 --> 00:47:54,400
Speaker 1: won a playoff series down Jamal Murray in down Michael

972
00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:57,760
Speaker 1: Porter Junior. And then in twenty twenty two they lost

973
00:47:57,760 --> 00:48:02,000
Speaker 1: to the eventual NBA champions and then in twenty twenty

974
00:48:02,000 --> 00:48:04,680
Speaker 1: three they won the NBA title as soon as Jamal

975
00:48:04,760 --> 00:48:07,440
Speaker 1: Murray and Michael Porter Junior re entered the equation. So

976
00:48:07,960 --> 00:48:12,239
Speaker 1: Western Conference Finals birth where he beat the Clippers and

977
00:48:12,360 --> 00:48:16,080
Speaker 1: lost to the eventual champion, and then injured team loses

978
00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:19,040
Speaker 1: to the Suns in the second round, injured team loses

979
00:48:19,080 --> 00:48:22,440
Speaker 1: to the eventual NBA champion, and then wins the NBA Championship.

980
00:48:22,520 --> 00:48:26,239
Speaker 1: So over a four year span, we're gonna have he's

981
00:48:26,239 --> 00:48:28,239
Speaker 1: about to win his third MVP and four tries, and

982
00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:30,360
Speaker 1: in his last four playoff runs either lost to the

983
00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:35,359
Speaker 1: eventual champion twice, once a long time ago, the other

984
00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:37,799
Speaker 1: one when he was significantly hampered, and then he won

985
00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:41,720
Speaker 1: a title. So like again, the results in the regular

986
00:48:41,760 --> 00:48:44,520
Speaker 1: season in the postseason with Yogics are significantly above I

987
00:48:44,520 --> 00:48:46,680
Speaker 1: think where the public perception is. All right, guys, that

988
00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:48,680
Speaker 1: is all I have for today. I am going to

989
00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:51,520
Speaker 1: most likely cover Nuggets Lakers on Saturday night, but I

990
00:48:51,560 --> 00:48:53,400
Speaker 1: don't know if that'll be on the feed until Saturday

991
00:48:53,440 --> 00:48:55,680
Speaker 1: night or Sunday morning, and then we're going live on

992
00:48:55,800 --> 00:48:58,399
Speaker 1: Sunday after the final buzzer of Celtics Warriors. I will

993
00:48:58,400 --> 00:49:32,360
Speaker 1: see you guys. Then the volume