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Speaker 1: slash Basketball terms. All right, welcome to hoops and I

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Speaker 1: here at the volume. Happy Friday, everybody. I hope all

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Speaker 1: of you guys had an incredible week. We have a

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Speaker 1: jam packshow for you today. We're gonna do two game

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Speaker 1: breakdowns from the last couple of days. Pacers Bucks Setter

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Speaker 1: rematch the other night, which was highly entertaining. Not gonna

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Speaker 1: talk about the basketball stealing shenanigans at the end, but

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Speaker 1: there was a lot of interesting basketball to get into

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Speaker 1: in that game. Then the Kings in the Thunder last

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Speaker 1: night had the showdown of top tier young perimeter talent

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Speaker 1: that the Kings ended up winning. We're gonna talk about

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Speaker 1: that game from the perspective of both teams. Then the

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Speaker 1: Cleveland Cavaliers have had a tough stretch of injuries injury news,

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Speaker 1: I should say coming out today. Darius Garland broke his jaw.

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Speaker 1: Evan Mobley's having arthrosco. I think he's having some form

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Speaker 1: of knee surgery. So the Cavs are now thrust into

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Speaker 1: a position where they have some decisions to make. Because

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Speaker 1: I want to talk about that a little bit. The

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Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors now have negative odds to make the playoffs,

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Speaker 1: which is super interesting. I want to dive into that

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Speaker 1: a little bit. And then, last but not least, at

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Speaker 1: the end of the show, we're gonna do our first

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Speaker 1: edition of a weekly MVP ladder that we're gonna start

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Speaker 1: doing at the end of weeks so that we can

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Speaker 1: kind of bounce around more to individual players and talk

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Speaker 1: about how they're playing around the league. You guys are

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Speaker 1: the drip before we get started. Subscribe to a brand

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Speaker 1: new YouTube channel. I mean a lot to me if

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Speaker 1: you scroll down and hit that subscribe button. Don't forget

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Speaker 1: about our podcast feeds wherever get your podcasts under Hoops Tonight.

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Speaker 1: Follow me on Twitter at underscore Jason LT so you

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Speaker 1: guys don't miss any show announcements or the threads that

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Speaker 1: I do in the morning, and keep dropping mail bag

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Speaker 1: questions in the YouTube comments. We're gonna be hitting mail

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Speaker 1: back questions a couple times throughout the week, next week,

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Speaker 1: and the last but not least, before we get started.

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Speaker 1: So if you guys remember the n Season tournament game,

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Speaker 1: the Thursday night game last week, one of the ways

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Speaker 1: that the Pacers were picking the Bucks apart at the

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Speaker 1: end of the game was just bringing brook Lopez into

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Speaker 1: pick and roll with Miles Turner, and when Miles Turner

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Speaker 1: would come up into a high drop, it was an

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Speaker 1: easy pocket pass where Miles Turner was finishing at the

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Speaker 1: rim right when excuse me, when brook Lopez was in

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Speaker 1: his deeper drop. That was when Halliburton was getting downhill

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Speaker 1: and making his floater and picking the team apart with

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Speaker 1: his passing right when he was switching Tyres Aliburton was

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Speaker 1: either driving right by him. It was even a big

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Speaker 1: pull up jump shot that he hit at the end

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Speaker 1: of the game over brook Lopez. He was just picking

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Speaker 1: them apart by attacking with Miles Turner and pick and

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Speaker 1: roll and taking advantage of brook Lopez in his lack

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Speaker 1: of foot speed. Right well, one of the adjustments the

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Speaker 1: Bucks made in this game is they just put Giannis

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Speaker 1: on Miles Turner, an adjustment I talked about a lot

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Speaker 1: during that tournament as just a way to counter this

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Speaker 1: specific Indiana pacers attack because, like Miles Turner had, Tyre's

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Speaker 1: Haliburton pick and roll has been one of the most

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Speaker 1: devastating actions in the league this year. They have other

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Speaker 1: actions that they run. They run guard screens, right, You're

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Speaker 1: gonna see a lot of Tyre's Halliburton, a Buddy Heeled

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Speaker 1: ghost screens and things like that, right, But their bread

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Speaker 1: and butter is that Miles Turner pick and roll or

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Speaker 1: pick and pop right, And in this particular case, by

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Speaker 1: taking Giannis and putting him on Miles Turner, it allowed

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Speaker 1: them to aggressively switch those ball screens. You can tell

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Speaker 1: right away from the opening tip and I clipped several

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Speaker 1: examples of it and put it in a thread this

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Speaker 1: morning and can find on my twitter feed at Underscore

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Speaker 1: Jason lt. But Giannis was just aggressively switching. And again,

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Speaker 1: there's different kinds of switching, right, Like there's a switch

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Speaker 1: that's like a soft switch, where like you're taking on

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Speaker 1: the new defensive assignment, but you're basically playing back and

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Speaker 1: waiting for them to kind of attack you. And then

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Speaker 1: there's aggressive switching where as the player comes off the screen,

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Speaker 1: he's kind of cut off guard by the fact that

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Speaker 1: you're like coming up with ball pressure and he thinks

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Speaker 1: he's gonna find an opening on the other side of

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Speaker 1: that screen, but instead he's finding long arms in his face.

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Speaker 1: Right early in that game, they forced a quick turnover

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Speaker 1: by hitting Tyre Saliburn with one of those aggressive quick switches,

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Speaker 1: and then by putting brook Lopez on Obi Toppin. It

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Speaker 1: opened up another set of problems for Indiana because one

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Speaker 1: Milwaukee was kind of conceding the pick and pop three

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Speaker 1: to Obi Toppin. And then when Obi Topan was rolling

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Speaker 1: to the basket, he just doesn't have a lot of

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Speaker 1: reps as like a pick and roll big man, right,

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Speaker 1: and you could see plays where top would get the

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Speaker 1: ball on the roll and he just wouldn't know how

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Speaker 1: to navigate brook Lopez waiting for him at the rim.

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Speaker 1: And so as a result of that, and then they

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Speaker 1: were doing a good job. They were doing a lot

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Speaker 1: more switching in general, especially on guard to guard actions.

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Speaker 1: They just kind of made it a lot harder for

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Speaker 1: Indiana to get the openings that they typically get in

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Speaker 1: their offense. And then on the other end of the floor,

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Speaker 1: Giannis goes for sixty four points and almost all in

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Speaker 1: his bread and butter of the sixty four to thirty

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Speaker 1: six of those points came in transition and in pick

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Speaker 1: and roll, And again this is all about getting Yanis

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Speaker 1: downhill towards the rim, because in pick and roll they

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Speaker 1: were setting a lot of those ball screens pretty far

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Speaker 1: away from the basket, and it was all geared around

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Speaker 1: trying to get Yanni's downhill to where the guy that's

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Speaker 1: waiting for him is technically in position between Giannis and

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Speaker 1: the rim, but he's got such a head of steam

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Speaker 1: going that he's kind of slaloming around those guys and

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Speaker 1: getting all the way to the basket for the easy buckets.

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Speaker 1: And again, the pacers, they part of it is just

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Speaker 1: poor discipline. They're not a good help side team. A

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Speaker 1: lot of it also, you know, some of it gets

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Speaker 1: dressed up as schematics, like oh, they're chasing people off

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Speaker 1: the three point line, and it's like, you know, what's

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Speaker 1: a higher percentage shot than a three point shot even

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Speaker 1: for a lead shooter. Is a wide open dunk for Giannis?

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Speaker 1: Like that's that's worth two points every single possession. I'm sorry, right, So,

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Speaker 1: like some of that is I dislike that Indiana kind

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Speaker 1: of plays that way, but it's It's about putting him

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Speaker 1: into his into his advantage situations, which is getting downhill

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Speaker 1: and taking advantage of the pacers weak help side. I

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Speaker 1: did want to take a can to shout out Yanni's

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Speaker 1: first footwork. I think we talk a lot about that.

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Speaker 1: You know, Jannis is just like a bullyball bruiser, right.

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Speaker 1: And here's the thing. There are lots of really good

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Speaker 1: athletes in the NBA, and for whatever reason, there are

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Speaker 1: certain athletes that transcend everybody and are able to weaponize

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Speaker 1: that in a way that you know, impacts winning at

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Speaker 1: a much higher level. And then there are top tier

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Speaker 1: athletes that just can't really put that together over the

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Speaker 1: course of their careers. And you know, there are all

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Speaker 1: these different elements to athleticism that go under discuss. Like

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Speaker 1: when it comes to Steph Curry, I don't think we

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Speaker 1: talk enough about his stamina and just the simple fact

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Speaker 1: that he's in such incredible shape and that he's constantly

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Speaker 1: running around everywhere in the way that he will find

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Speaker 1: openings just by capitalizing on those little bits of situation,

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Speaker 1: like little tiny segments of possessions where a guy relaxes

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Speaker 1: for two seconds and then Steph breaks open and he

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Speaker 1: kills you with the three right. Well, another very important

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Speaker 1: part of athleticism is footwork, and footwork specifically is the

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Speaker 1: best way for you to weaponize your athleticism because like this,

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Speaker 1: if you are standing straight up with your feet together

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Speaker 1: and I push you on the shoulder, you're just gonna

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Speaker 1: fall over because you don't have a very strong base. Right.

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Speaker 1: If your base is wide and your knees are bent

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Speaker 1: a little bit and I shove you on the side,

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Speaker 1: you're not going to fall over. That's a basic concept

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Speaker 1: as it relates to balance, right, But that's stationary. Now.

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Speaker 1: Footwork is what allows you to stay balanced while you're

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Speaker 1: making athletic moves in various directions, whether it's side steps,

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Speaker 1: like for instance, if you're taking a step back. Three.

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Speaker 1: One of the most important things that I teach my

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Speaker 1: kids that I train, like, when you're taking any sort

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Speaker 1: of step back move, you need to actually as you're

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Speaker 1: stepping back, kick that Let let's say I'm stepping back

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Speaker 1: to my left. You have to stick that left foot

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Speaker 1: really far out to catch your side to side momentum

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Speaker 1: so that when you elevate, you go straight up and

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Speaker 1: down and get good lift and balance into that step

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Speaker 1: back jump shot right. Little things like Jannis and his

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Speaker 1: spin moves out of the There was a bucket that

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Speaker 1: he had out of a drop off pass where I

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Speaker 1: think it was Buddy heel that was waiting for him

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Speaker 1: tagging the roller, and he caught a in a position

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Speaker 1: where he was able to spin off of his right

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Speaker 1: foot and had absolutely perfect footwork where he planted and

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Speaker 1: spun off of two feet back towards his left side

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Speaker 1: and went up and dunked with two hands. And it's like,

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Speaker 1: how many guys do you see catch that ball there?

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Speaker 1: And they don't know what to do when the guys

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Speaker 1: are right in front of him, so they either stop

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Speaker 1: and hesitate and the advantage is gone, or they run

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Speaker 1: the dude over because they don't know what they're doing.

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Speaker 1: And it's like, no, Giannis is like I have practiced

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Speaker 1: this spin move and nailed this footwork down one hundred

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Speaker 1: thousand times in my life. I'm going to just go

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Speaker 1: to this move and there's no way this dude's going

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Speaker 1: to stay in front of me. Jannis has an excellent eurostep.

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Speaker 1: It's one of his best moves that he uses to

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Speaker 1: navigate things in traffic. And again, eurosteps, they require a

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Speaker 1: great deal of leg strength and balance, but when you

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Speaker 1: have that footwork down, you have the ability to stay

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Speaker 1: on your base and to stay balanced while slaloming between guys.

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Speaker 1: There are so many different elements to that that go underrated,

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Speaker 1: and specifically footwork the ability to get to your spots

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Speaker 1: without traveling and without losing your balance, while also making

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Speaker 1: it so that you can absorb contact from defenders while

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Speaker 1: they're swiping at you and digging down and bumping you

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Speaker 1: off your base. Those that sort of thing is what

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Speaker 1: puts a top tier athlete in a position to be

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Speaker 1: successful versus a top tier athlete being in position to

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Speaker 1: be underwhelming or to underachieve, right, And I think it's

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Speaker 1: something with the honest that we've constantly overlooked over the

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Speaker 1: years is this dude is incredibly coordinated. Maybe not up

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Speaker 1: top in terms of his like touch and stuff like that,

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Speaker 1: but in terms of down below and his ability to

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Speaker 1: keep a solid base and to navigate any traffic situation

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Speaker 1: with quality footwork is something that we have to give

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Speaker 1: him more credit for. Brooke O. Lopez was incredible in

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Speaker 1: this game. He had six blocks. The one of the

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Speaker 1: nice things, or you know, I shouldn't say nice thing.

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Speaker 1: But one of the you know, bits of collateral damage

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Speaker 1: here with with with Pat Connitton being out is it's

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Speaker 1: forced the Bucks to play guys like Andre Jackson, right,

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Speaker 1: guys like like marj On Bouchamp more often. Right. So

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Speaker 1: they actually brought four guys off the bench in this game,

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Speaker 1: and Campaign was the only guy they brought off the

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Speaker 1: bench that was a small guard. So in a nine

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Speaker 1: man rotation, six of the guys that they were playing

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Speaker 1: were all big in some way, shape or form, right,

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Speaker 1: whether it's smaller with more athleticism or bigger with size.

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Speaker 1: They just have a lot of size on the floor.

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Speaker 1: And so when they're pressing up and chasing the pacers

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Speaker 1: off the line, they're funneling him into Brook at the rim,

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Speaker 1: and he was awesome protecting the rim in this game.

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Speaker 1: And then I wanted to shout out Bobby Portis. He

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Speaker 1: had nineteen points in this game, three three point shots,

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Speaker 1: but he scored ten of his nineteen points in the post.

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Speaker 1: He was straight up attacking Obie Toppin in straight post ups.

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Speaker 1: He's got a really good right handed hook. He also

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Speaker 1: made like a right handed push shot as he kind

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Speaker 1: of faded over his right shoulder. He had a turn

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Speaker 1: and face like kind of jabstep jumper over Obie Topping.

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Speaker 1: It was kind of like a nice offensive option for

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Speaker 1: the Bucks in this game. That like they did try

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Speaker 1: to run some action to try to get Portis, Like

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Speaker 1: they'd run like a wedge screen to try or a

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Speaker 1: cross screen to try to get him in better post position.

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Speaker 1: And Portis in general does a good job of fighting

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Speaker 1: for position. But the beauty of it is like they're

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Speaker 1: straight matchup, meaning they didn't need to force a switch

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Speaker 1: or anything. Bobby Portis was able to attack his matchup

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Speaker 1: head to head Obie Topping and get easy baskets there.

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Speaker 1: To get an nineteen out of him is huge. He

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Speaker 1: was big in those pick and pop situations with Giannis.

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Speaker 1: That's where hit a couple of his threes. And then

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Speaker 1: on the Pacers front, I thought Halliburton in general was

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Speaker 1: caught off guard by the aggressive switching that we saw

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Speaker 1: from Milwaukee. You could tell like he just wasn't expecting

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Speaker 1: that as a counter. And some of it too, is

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Speaker 1: like he spazed out a little bit, Like there was

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Speaker 1: a turnover where he kind of spazzed out when Jannis

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Speaker 1: got on him. There was a play in the second

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Speaker 1: half where he'd like quickly settled for this like really

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Speaker 1: tough step back three going to his right when there

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Speaker 1: was like ten seconds on the shot clock, and it's

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Speaker 1: like hold on, Like get Gianis on a switch. Okay, cool,

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Speaker 1: Jannis is an excellent defender. But you're one of the

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Speaker 1: quickest players in the NBA and you have one of

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Speaker 1: the best pull up you have the best pull up

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Speaker 1: jump shot in the NBA this year. So you get

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Speaker 1: Giannis on a switch, space him out because now the

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Speaker 1: help side defense is not as good, and see if

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Speaker 1: you can't beat him off the dribble more methodically rather

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Speaker 1: than just spazzing out and doing something silly. And so

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Speaker 1: I think that's one of the things I love about

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Speaker 1: playoff series is you know you you you have your

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Speaker 1: first punch, and you know one team win based on

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Speaker 1: both teams first punch, and then some team makes a

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Speaker 1: counter and then usually the team that responds to the

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Speaker 1: counter is a little slow to respond, and sometimes that'll

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Speaker 1: even up the series. And then Game three you'll be

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Speaker 1: like the next adjustment to that whole thing, right, and like,

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Speaker 1: because both teams wanted to win this game so bad

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Speaker 1: after all of the stuff that surrounded last week's game.

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Speaker 1: And obviously you saw from the basketball incident that there's

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Speaker 1: some animosity between these two teams, like these were playoff

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Speaker 1: style games, not just today but also or not just Thursday,

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Speaker 1: but also in this particular game, and so like that,

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Speaker 1: you're seeing a lot of that like playoff style adjustment

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Speaker 1: taking place. And those are the kinds of things that

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Speaker 1: you know, Tyres Haliburton, those are the hurdles that Tyres

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Speaker 1: Haliburton is gonna have to navigate over the rest of

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Speaker 1: his career if he's gonna get where he wants to go.

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Speaker 1: And then I mentioned this earlier, but the defense, the

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Speaker 1: health defense just has to be better. And again I

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Speaker 1: understand the prioritizing the three point line and wanting to

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Speaker 1: get out and run off a layups because there's usually

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Speaker 1: so like essentially the take I've seen a lot, and

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Speaker 1: I haven't actually seen this mentioned by the coaching staff.

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Speaker 1: It's more from like pacers, reporters and fans who kind

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Speaker 1: of accentuate this as if it's like a strength. But

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Speaker 1: they'll be like, oh, pacers will chase you off the

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Speaker 1: three point line. They don't really care much about helping

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Speaker 1: at the rim, and when they make when other teams

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Speaker 1: make layups, they usually a bad floor balance. So like,

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Speaker 1: think of it this way. If I drive, if you're

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Speaker 1: the basket, if the basket is where the camera is,

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Speaker 1: and I drive aggressively to the rim, and I lay

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Speaker 1: it in, and I lay it in and I run

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Speaker 1: past the stanchion, and the pacers just quickly grab the ball,

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Speaker 1: get the inbound and they're running down the other way.

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Speaker 1: They're five and four, right, that's the way they look

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Speaker 1: at that, right, And there is some advantage there in

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Speaker 1: terms of like when that happens, those are good to

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Speaker 1: opportunities to run. I'm pro running off of made baskets,

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Speaker 1: but conceding may baskets is silly too. And like there

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Speaker 1: were a lot of possessions where you'd see, you know,

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Speaker 1: Buddy Heel just standing next to Malik Beasley rather than

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Speaker 1: digging down on a drive out of the weekside corner.

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Speaker 1: And it's like, I get it, Malik Beasley's shooting the

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Speaker 1: shit out of the ball this year. But at a

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Speaker 1: certain point, even a Malik Beasley wide open catch and

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Speaker 1: shoot three that might be worth you know, one point

348
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Speaker 1: four points per shot or whatever, is a lower percentage

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Speaker 1: shot than the wide open slashing layup, so and again,

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Speaker 1: speed is an advantage in this roster, and I think

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Speaker 1: they can rotate better. And to put it frankly, I

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Speaker 1: saw them last week defend at a higher level than

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Speaker 1: what they showed in this particular game. And so it's

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Speaker 1: just something that again, if if the Pacers want to

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Speaker 1: get to where they want to go, they need to

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Speaker 1: eventually upgrade that obi top and position. But that's a

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Speaker 1: trade deadline issue. But on the court, they have to

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Speaker 1: do a better job in their help and recover situations,

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Speaker 1: all right, Moving on to Thunder Kinks souh okay, see

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Speaker 1: makes a late game run here. The Thunder or the

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Speaker 1: Kings kind of controlled this game. But okay, so he

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Speaker 1: goes on a late game run. They get it to two.

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Speaker 1: It's one nineteen, one seventeen. The Mark Dagenal runs this

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Speaker 1: hammer action. Now remember what a hammer action is is

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Speaker 1: like they run like a ball screen or a dribble

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Speaker 1: hand off on the right side of the floor. Then

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Speaker 1: on the left side of the floor they have the

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Speaker 1: guy in the corner basically set a flare screen for

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Speaker 1: a shooter coming off the wing. And so essentially what

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Speaker 1: it does is you're taking advantage of these two help

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Speaker 1: defenders and their tendency to be watching whatever the hell's

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Speaker 1: going on over here with this dribble hand off or

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Speaker 1: ball screen, and you might be able to catch the

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Speaker 1: guy guarding the shoe off guard on that screen and

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Speaker 1: have an opening for a skip pass for a wide

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Speaker 1: open three. They ran it for Chet Holmer, which like,

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Speaker 1: initially you go like, this is what's so cool about

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Speaker 1: Chet is as a center, and then in this particular

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Speaker 1: play he had Trey Lyles on him, and Trey Lyles

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Speaker 1: is more, you know, he's more capable of navigating these

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Speaker 1: types of things. But you can imagine that working really,

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Speaker 1: really well, and when Chet has a center on him too,

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Speaker 1: because the center is gonna have no idea what the

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Speaker 1: hell's going on because he's not used to dealing with

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Speaker 1: shooters coming off flare screens. Right, But it still works.

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Speaker 1: But Josh Giddy puts the pass a little bit too

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Speaker 1: far to the left of check if Chet's standing right here,

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Speaker 1: a little bit to Chet's left, and it forced him

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Speaker 1: to kind of break his rhythm a little bit, and

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Speaker 1: Trey Lyles was able to recover and get a contest on.

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Speaker 1: It was a really good example to me of the

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Speaker 1: importance of precision passing, like when you're playing elite defenses.

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Speaker 1: And again, the Kings have been defending better in this

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Speaker 1: recent stretch, but it's a problem when you get down

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Speaker 1: the line, to the higher quality defenses that you face

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Speaker 1: down the line, the openings are this big, and so

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Speaker 1: something silly like making a bad pass is outside of

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Speaker 1: the shooting pocket that breaks the shooter's rhythm could buy

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Speaker 1: the defense enough time to rotate in that specific case.

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Speaker 1: And I thought that was interesting because it ended up

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Speaker 1: being one of those things where Josh Gitty misses him.

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Speaker 1: As a result, Trey Lyles is able to get a

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Speaker 1: good contest, he misses that shot right they go down

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00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,399
Speaker 1: the other end in semi transition. The Thunder ended up

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Speaker 1: getting an offensive rebound on that play, and Josh Gitty,

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Speaker 1: I thought, forced a floater that he probably shouldn't have take.

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Speaker 1: You could see Shay gildas Alexander getting a little annoyed,

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Speaker 1: but they pushed the other way and Daron Fox h

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Speaker 1: chet Holmgrin with this disgusting hesitation move like gets into

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Speaker 1: the middle of the floor, gets the ball into his

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Speaker 1: right hand and just looks up at the rim and

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Speaker 1: it causes Chet to step up and open his body

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Speaker 1: away from that left side of the rim and face

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Speaker 1: this way. Darren crosses back over and that buys him

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Speaker 1: the langle at the angle to get back to his

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Speaker 1: left hand and finish at the rim. Now it's one

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Speaker 1: twenty one, one seventeen. And then on the other end

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Speaker 1: the Thunder end up running a couple of They run

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Speaker 1: a pick and a roll with Shay and in Josh

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Speaker 1: Gitty or Josh Gitty short roles in the King's blitz,

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Speaker 1: and in the process they get a wide open three

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Speaker 1: again for Chet Holmgren on the left wing, this time

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Speaker 1: plenty of time. This time the pass is in the

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Speaker 1: right spot. Chet just misses it, and then on the

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Speaker 1: other end the Kings miss on the next position, but

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Speaker 1: they go down again. Shay has an isolation on the

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Speaker 1: right wing. They dig down. It's another wide open three

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Speaker 1: for Jalen Williams and he misses it. So some tough

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Speaker 1: shot luck there for Oklahoma City down the stretch. But

430
00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,280
Speaker 1: then again again the Kings for the most part throughout

431
00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:32,240
Speaker 1: that game got better shots. They were up ten before

432
00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:35,000
Speaker 1: the Thunder kind of had their wild comeback. I did

433
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,080
Speaker 1: think it was an interesting kind of late game sequence though,

434
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,719
Speaker 1: in an example of just some of the interesting stuff

435
00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:43,160
Speaker 1: that this team has available to them from the standpoint

436
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:45,840
Speaker 1: of like Chet being able to run shooting actions and

437
00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,240
Speaker 1: have it actually be a high percentage play, the ability

438
00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,240
Speaker 1: to use Josh Getty as a screener and what he

439
00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:53,159
Speaker 1: can do in the short role as a decision maker,

440
00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,520
Speaker 1: and then just simple like if you put Shay and

441
00:19:56,800 --> 00:19:59,439
Speaker 1: you know, we talked about this in the Dallas Mavericks

442
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:01,919
Speaker 1: game against the when you put a score at the

443
00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,040
Speaker 1: elbow and like Shay was attacking at the elbow on

444
00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,960
Speaker 1: that dig down for Jalen Williams, but also like Luca

445
00:20:07,119 --> 00:20:10,080
Speaker 1: was killing the Lakers with elbow ISOs. From the elbow,

446
00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:12,679
Speaker 1: you're so much closer to the basket that guys have

447
00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:15,320
Speaker 1: to kind of get into help position sooner, and so

448
00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:17,800
Speaker 1: that forces them to come further off of shooters. When

449
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,240
Speaker 1: you start your action thirty feet from the basket. Even

450
00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:22,200
Speaker 1: if I do beat you off the dribble and get downhill,

451
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:24,440
Speaker 1: there's a lot more time for people to recover before

452
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:26,760
Speaker 1: I can really start causing problems. And I thought it

453
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:29,960
Speaker 1: was just an interesting kind of offensive approach from Oklahoma City,

454
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,440
Speaker 1: but obviously Kings win the game. Malik Monk and Darren

455
00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:37,000
Speaker 1: Fox were incredible. They combined for fifty nine points in

456
00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:39,920
Speaker 1: sixteen assists. You know, I've been talking a lot about

457
00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,280
Speaker 1: this idea of elite perimeter defense teams against the Kings,

458
00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:43,879
Speaker 1: and this is the latest in a long line, right, Like,

459
00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:47,080
Speaker 1: they really struggled with the Clippers, they really struggled with

460
00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:49,680
Speaker 1: the Houston Rockets, they really struggled with the New Orleans Pelicans.

461
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:54,440
Speaker 1: Teams that can put long athletes on their guards can

462
00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:56,840
Speaker 1: cause them some problems. Now the Thunder are not as

463
00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:00,280
Speaker 1: long on the perimeter, like because they're guys like Lou

464
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,159
Speaker 1: Dordan and Shay. They're not six ' eight, you know,

465
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:05,359
Speaker 1: they're They're not like some of these perimeter defenders they

466
00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:10,480
Speaker 1: saw with the Clippers or or with the Pelicans that said,

467
00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:13,480
Speaker 1: like they are excellent perimeter defenders, and sometimes it's like

468
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,119
Speaker 1: you just have to do better than the guy across

469
00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:17,840
Speaker 1: from you, right, Like, this was a big thing in

470
00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,240
Speaker 1: that series against the Warriors. It was a lot of

471
00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:22,399
Speaker 1: Gary Payton, it was a lot of Andrew Wiggins. It

472
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:25,080
Speaker 1: was a lot of good on ball defenders for the Warriors.

473
00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:27,159
Speaker 1: That Deer and Fox and elite mounk just found a

474
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,960
Speaker 1: way to get downhill on And the big thing foundationally

475
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:32,040
Speaker 1: is Deeron Fox's pull up jump shot. He's just having

476
00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:34,600
Speaker 1: an unbelievable pull up jump shot season this year. He'shooting

477
00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,359
Speaker 1: forty six percent on them, fifty seven percent when you

478
00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,639
Speaker 1: wait it for threes. That's one point one four points

479
00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,719
Speaker 1: per shot. To give you an idea, there are eighteen

480
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:44,159
Speaker 1: players in the NBA this year that have taken at

481
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,679
Speaker 1: least one hundred and fifty pull up jump shots. Fox

482
00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,600
Speaker 1: is one point one four points per shot, is second

483
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:51,000
Speaker 1: in the league. So he's been the second best pull

484
00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:53,760
Speaker 1: up jump shot maker in the league by volume or

485
00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:56,639
Speaker 1: among that specific set of volume. Now, to give you

486
00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,040
Speaker 1: an idea of just how insane Tyres Haliburton is, He's

487
00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:01,040
Speaker 1: a full tenth of a point better per pull up

488
00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:03,439
Speaker 1: jump shot than Dearon Fox in second place. So Tyres

489
00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:06,000
Speaker 1: Haliburton is like head and shoulders better than everybody's shooting

490
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:07,920
Speaker 1: pull up jump shots this year. So shout out to Tyrese,

491
00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,320
Speaker 1: but Darren Fox. It's just that combination of elite pull

492
00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:14,280
Speaker 1: up jump shooting and the downhill athleticism. I'll give you

493
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,880
Speaker 1: an example that little hesitation move I talked about when

494
00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:18,640
Speaker 1: it was one nineteen one seventeen to put the King's

495
00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:22,080
Speaker 1: up one twenty one seventeen. If Dearen Fox makes that

496
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:26,159
Speaker 1: little hesitation move into the lane and he's a thirty

497
00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:28,919
Speaker 1: five percent pull up jump shooter, Chet probably doesn't react

498
00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:31,680
Speaker 1: to it because he's probably thinking, oh, yeah, he's gonna

499
00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:33,719
Speaker 1: take a little short jump shot. I'd rather have him

500
00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:36,679
Speaker 1: take that shot, right But because Dearn Fox has been

501
00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,720
Speaker 1: knocking that thing down all year long, guys are starting

502
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:41,800
Speaker 1: to react to that, and that's allowing him to get

503
00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,359
Speaker 1: downhill easier. I just thought in general, Dearon Fox finished

504
00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:48,080
Speaker 1: really really well at the rim against Chet, and again,

505
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:51,119
Speaker 1: like Chet has been, you know, Chet can get buried

506
00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 1: by some of these bigger bigs, but the dude can

507
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,160
Speaker 1: block shots, and Fox was just not bothered by him

508
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:57,560
Speaker 1: in this game. And to give you an idea of

509
00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:00,399
Speaker 1: where his jump shot is right now, one point one

510
00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,160
Speaker 1: to four points per pull up jump shot. Last year

511
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:04,400
Speaker 1: he was at zero point nine to four. So he's

512
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,760
Speaker 1: literally more than twenty percent better than he was last

513
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:08,560
Speaker 1: year with this pull up jump shot, which is huge.

514
00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:11,040
Speaker 1: I thought Milik Monk was awesome in this game. He

515
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,760
Speaker 1: had a couple of He had a ridiculous block and

516
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,919
Speaker 1: helpside in transition. He had this ridiculous bounce pass to

517
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,000
Speaker 1: a cutter. He had hit a between the legs side

518
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:22,720
Speaker 1: step pull up three that was just unbelievably nasty. Milik

519
00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:26,080
Speaker 1: Monk just has a bag man. It's ridiculous. Keon Ellis,

520
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:28,840
Speaker 1: It's been an interesting kind of a guy for the

521
00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:31,200
Speaker 1: Kings this year that no one really expected. Hit five

522
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,480
Speaker 1: threes in this game, can take some point of attack assignments,

523
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:35,840
Speaker 1: has some decent length for the position. You know, this

524
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,040
Speaker 1: is kind a kind of archetype that we've been talking

525
00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,000
Speaker 1: about with the Kings for a while, Like a guy

526
00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:42,359
Speaker 1: that's more of an off ball player, that's more of

527
00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,160
Speaker 1: a a an athlete that can help on the defensive

528
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:47,880
Speaker 1: end of the floor. Is a point of attack. Metrics

529
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:49,480
Speaker 1: this year in isolation and in pick and roll have

530
00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:52,120
Speaker 1: been excellent. I thought that was a kind of a revelation.

531
00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:55,600
Speaker 1: Last night on the thunder front, Josh Giddy had his

532
00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,199
Speaker 1: best game in a while. Teams are ignoring him off

533
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:00,400
Speaker 1: the ball and they're blitzing off of him in balls,

534
00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:02,760
Speaker 1: but he's being aggressive in catch and shoot situations. He

535
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,639
Speaker 1: had three catch and shoot jump shots in this game.

536
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:07,679
Speaker 1: He's also making really good reads out of the short role,

537
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:09,720
Speaker 1: which is a good use of him, to be honest,

538
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,000
Speaker 1: just because he has that passing ability, he's tall enough

539
00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:13,760
Speaker 1: to kind of see over the defense as he's making

540
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:15,960
Speaker 1: those reads. Didn't like that floater he forced late in

541
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,040
Speaker 1: the game, but I thought it was an encouraging game

542
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:20,600
Speaker 1: from him. They also did a lot of hedging and

543
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:23,600
Speaker 1: recovering on deeron Fox to try to keep dort on him,

544
00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,480
Speaker 1: and I didn't think the hedges were particularly sharp. Derean

545
00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,199
Speaker 1: was able to split a lot of them and it

546
00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,960
Speaker 1: didn't really stop him from getting downhill. And I think

547
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:34,600
Speaker 1: they have the perimeter defenders to just switch more in

548
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,200
Speaker 1: those situations, and so I thought that tactically is something

549
00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,359
Speaker 1: they could have adjusted. But overall, I thought they played

550
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:42,080
Speaker 1: pretty well. And again like Sacramento was really good and

551
00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:44,119
Speaker 1: you got a chet Holmgren three in the corner that

552
00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:45,640
Speaker 1: could have given you a lead. It was a decent look.

553
00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:48,280
Speaker 1: It was mildly contested. Chet Holmer and got another wide

554
00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:49,720
Speaker 1: open three on the left wing late in the game.

555
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:51,200
Speaker 1: Jalen Williams had a wide open and three on the

556
00:24:51,280 --> 00:24:53,000
Speaker 1: left wing in the game, So like, you shoot a

557
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:54,840
Speaker 1: little bit better, you have a chance to win that game.

558
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,439
Speaker 1: One other thing on the OKC front, there was a

559
00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,399
Speaker 1: report this morning, I believe from Bleacher Report that the

560
00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:03,040
Speaker 1: Jazz are gonna be listening to offers on Lauri marketIn.

561
00:25:03,880 --> 00:25:05,479
Speaker 1: And I've talked about this all year for the Pacers

562
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:09,080
Speaker 1: and the Thunder, but that is the specific archetype they need.

563
00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:11,040
Speaker 1: They need a big forward that can help them on

564
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,080
Speaker 1: the defensive glass, that can help them and help defense

565
00:25:13,119 --> 00:25:16,479
Speaker 1: situations and play well in their drive in kick system.

566
00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,359
Speaker 1: And I think Lorde's absolutely perfect for that. The Thunder

567
00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,320
Speaker 1: had the assets to make it happen. I saw some

568
00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:23,840
Speaker 1: people on Twitter being like they shouldn't overpay. Danny Ainge

569
00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:25,760
Speaker 1: is gonna make you want to overpay, and like I

570
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:27,720
Speaker 1: get that, and like, don't get me wrong. From a

571
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:30,720
Speaker 1: negotiation standpoint, Danny Ainge is gonna have a really strong position.

572
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,040
Speaker 1: But here's the deal, Like, you have a shit ton

573
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:36,720
Speaker 1: of draft picks, you have all of the talent in

574
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,159
Speaker 1: the world. You're what the second seed in the West

575
00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,760
Speaker 1: right now, you are literally on the precipice of being

576
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:44,720
Speaker 1: able to contend in the Western Conference. And like Louri

577
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:47,720
Speaker 1: market In is the perfect fit. And I understand the

578
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:49,439
Speaker 1: patient approach. And I'm not saying you call them and

579
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 1: you give them everything you have, but if you have

580
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:53,159
Speaker 1: to overpay a little bit to get LORII market in,

581
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:55,439
Speaker 1: you overpay a little bit to get Lori market in

582
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:57,880
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, like we've seen too

583
00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:01,240
Speaker 1: often with this, uh, with this stuff, where like when

584
00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:04,120
Speaker 1: teams like Miami get super super picky about what they're

585
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,760
Speaker 1: willing to pay and super picky about who they're willing

586
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:08,199
Speaker 1: to go after, and the next thing you know, you

587
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:10,520
Speaker 1: move on and they don't have anybody, right, And again

588
00:26:10,560 --> 00:26:12,800
Speaker 1: the Thunder don't have anybody in house that fits that

589
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,400
Speaker 1: big forward alongside chet kind of archetype. I think they're

590
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,840
Speaker 1: gonna have to go outside to find that. And to me,

591
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,960
Speaker 1: it's like it's pretty straightforward that a guy like Lorie

592
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,679
Speaker 1: kind of fills that need perfectly. All right, Moving on

593
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:26,800
Speaker 1: to the Warriors, So they dropped another game to the

594
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 1: Clippers last night. There now ten and fourteen. According to DraftKings,

595
00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:34,680
Speaker 1: the Warriors are now plus one twenty five to make

596
00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:38,359
Speaker 1: the playoffs in minus one fifty five to miss it.

597
00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,080
Speaker 1: So again I have to bet one hundred and fifty

598
00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:44,119
Speaker 1: five dollars on the Warriors to miss the playoffs. To

599
00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:48,920
Speaker 1: make one hundred, that's a substantial, you know, a signal

600
00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,240
Speaker 1: that Vegas thinks that there's a much better chance than

601
00:26:52,240 --> 00:26:55,000
Speaker 1: not that Golden State misses the playoffs. And now here's

602
00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,560
Speaker 1: the thing. I've been mostly a Warriors positive force this year,

603
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:03,159
Speaker 1: right and I feel strongly that, given the information at

604
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,160
Speaker 1: the time, that that was the right approach at the time.

605
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:11,320
Speaker 1: But the Draymond suspension, like him taking himself out indefinitely

606
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:15,000
Speaker 1: officially puts them in a really challenging predicament. And I

607
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,440
Speaker 1: am for the first time this season seriously worried about

608
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:21,159
Speaker 1: the Warriors. To give you an idea, as of today,

609
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:23,960
Speaker 1: they are three games out of the ten spot, So

610
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:27,160
Speaker 1: they are three games out of the play in at

611
00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:30,520
Speaker 1: this point. And it's not just three games in a vacuum.

612
00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,920
Speaker 1: The teams ahead of you are Phoenix, New Orleans, Houston,

613
00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:37,320
Speaker 1: the Clippers, and the Lakers. I don't think the Suns,

614
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:39,119
Speaker 1: Clippers or Lakers are going to drop. They have too

615
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:42,679
Speaker 1: much talent. They have just significantly more talent in the

616
00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,399
Speaker 1: regular season right now than the Warriors. Right Houston and

617
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,520
Speaker 1: New Orleans. I see as like those are the teams

618
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:50,280
Speaker 1: you're targeting, is like, oh, maybe we'll be able to

619
00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:53,040
Speaker 1: jump them before the end of the season. But again,

620
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:56,800
Speaker 1: it's not from today full strength Warriors versus full strength

621
00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:00,560
Speaker 1: Appelicans and Rockets. Like you're gonna be with out Draymon

622
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:05,399
Speaker 1: for an undisclosed amount of time. And I would argue

623
00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:07,840
Speaker 1: that you know, Draymond's probably your second or third best player,

624
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,240
Speaker 1: and if he's not available, then Houston and New Orleans

625
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:15,760
Speaker 1: are better regular season teams than you. It's gonna be

626
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,200
Speaker 1: a challenge. And and like he just put him in

627
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,000
Speaker 1: a in a grind, in a bind because like now

628
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:26,280
Speaker 1: you have to finish three games better than one of

629
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:30,080
Speaker 1: those teams, and you're gonna be without Draymon for a while.

630
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,960
Speaker 1: A lot has to go right. You're gonna need bona

631
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:37,920
Speaker 1: fide MVP play from Steph Curry, Klay Thompson at a

632
00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,280
Speaker 1: big night the other night. You need him to be incredible.

633
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: You're gonna need Pozemski to to to pop. And I

634
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:47,600
Speaker 1: saw that Kerr moved to Pazemski and Kaminga into the

635
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:49,920
Speaker 1: starting lineup. I thought that was interesting. You're gonna need

636
00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,400
Speaker 1: a lot of huge contributions from everybody. It's gonna look

637
00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:55,760
Speaker 1: a lot like again, like we've seen this before. This

638
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:58,440
Speaker 1: has happened before. Because the Warriors are in a position

639
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,360
Speaker 1: where they do have the ability to make a trade. Right.

640
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,720
Speaker 1: They have a desirable asset in Jonathan Kaminga, They've got

641
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,160
Speaker 1: a salary filler in the form of Chris Paul, and

642
00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,960
Speaker 1: they have draft compensation that they can offer. So they

643
00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,040
Speaker 1: are in a position where they can go get somebody.

644
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:17,920
Speaker 1: So let's look at the Warriors or the Lakers last

645
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: year as an example. All year last year, the Lakers

646
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:24,600
Speaker 1: were outside of the plane, right, similar kind of predicament,

647
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:28,520
Speaker 1: and they also had assets. They had two first round

648
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,400
Speaker 1: draft picks that they could use. They ended up only

649
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,240
Speaker 1: using one, but they had two first round draft picks

650
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,480
Speaker 1: they could use. And they had this Russell Westbrook expiring contractors.

651
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:37,680
Speaker 1: I know everyone said last year no one wanted, but

652
00:29:37,760 --> 00:29:40,320
Speaker 1: of course people wanted it. An expiring contract is real value.

653
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:41,960
Speaker 1: That's why they were able to make a trade. Right.

654
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:45,400
Speaker 1: So the Lakers had this asset thing that they were

655
00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:47,720
Speaker 1: sitting on that they could do something with, and the

656
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:49,720
Speaker 1: Warriors have this asset thing that they can do something

657
00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,120
Speaker 1: with you. Remember what happened with the Lakers last year.

658
00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,160
Speaker 1: Lebron James went down with injury, Anthony Davis played like

659
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:57,920
Speaker 1: a freaking MVP for a while and floated the ship.

660
00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:01,000
Speaker 1: Then Anthony Davis went down, and it it was like Lebron,

661
00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,360
Speaker 1: Dennis Schroeder and Russell Westbrook who just played like fucking

662
00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:08,360
Speaker 1: crazy and just hung around five hundred, right. They just

663
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:13,280
Speaker 1: lingered around five hundred, just staying alive long enough so

664
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:16,400
Speaker 1: that when the trade hit, they were then able to

665
00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:19,400
Speaker 1: go on a run with the actual, you know, balanced

666
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:22,880
Speaker 1: roster that they needed to be significantly above five hundred team.

667
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:25,440
Speaker 1: So that's the mold that you're looking at for the Warriors.

668
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:29,840
Speaker 1: The question is do you have even as much firepower

669
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:31,760
Speaker 1: as that Lakers team did at that point in the year.

670
00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,760
Speaker 1: And I would say it's close, certainly, if Steph Curry

671
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,800
Speaker 1: can reach that MVP level, but I think they might

672
00:30:38,840 --> 00:30:41,800
Speaker 1: have to start looking to make that move sooner than later.

673
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,080
Speaker 1: That doesn't mean you go make a stupid move, that

674
00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:46,400
Speaker 1: doesn't mean you go overpay or go for the wrong guy,

675
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:50,120
Speaker 1: but you gotta start looking now. And what's concerning about

676
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:53,760
Speaker 1: that specifically is Mike don Levy had this pod or

677
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:56,000
Speaker 1: ex just me this interview the other day where he

678
00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:57,720
Speaker 1: basically said, like, we'll see how it goes over the

679
00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:00,280
Speaker 1: next fifteen to twenty games, which is concerned on a

680
00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:02,160
Speaker 1: couple of different levels, because first of all, it's like,

681
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:04,600
Speaker 1: are you insinuating that Draymond's gonna be out that long?

682
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,120
Speaker 1: Because that might be a death sentence. And then two, like,

683
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,120
Speaker 1: let's say Draymond is out that long? What if you

684
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:14,680
Speaker 1: wait and see and then the season's over. Steph Curry's

685
00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:18,720
Speaker 1: thirty five. You cannot afford to don't do what the

686
00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:22,240
Speaker 1: Lakers did in a waste prime seasons of Lebron James's

687
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:27,080
Speaker 1: career with stupidity. Don't do that. Like it's time right

688
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:30,400
Speaker 1: now to start looking for what you can do to

689
00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:35,800
Speaker 1: kind of revamp the situation. Originally, had Raymond not been suspended,

690
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:38,239
Speaker 1: I would have been like, wait for the deadline. Had

691
00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:41,160
Speaker 1: drama not been suspended, you lean into it. This season,

692
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,600
Speaker 1: you're hovering around the plane in that seven, eight nine range,

693
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,480
Speaker 1: right like you're a little bit mediocre the Lake. The

694
00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,120
Speaker 1: Warriors have the sixth easiest remaining schedule, I believe by

695
00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:52,760
Speaker 1: opponent win percentage, So like there's some opportunity there to

696
00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,240
Speaker 1: regain some ground in the standings, and then you pull

697
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,400
Speaker 1: the trigger at the deadline. You negotiate more staunchly, you

698
00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:01,840
Speaker 1: try to make something happen in February. But with Draymond

699
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:06,160
Speaker 1: being out this next month now could literally submarine the season,

700
00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:09,960
Speaker 1: because if you fall from three games back of the

701
00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:12,840
Speaker 1: ten seed to six games back of the ten seed,

702
00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:15,760
Speaker 1: it's over at that point. You're not out playing those

703
00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:18,480
Speaker 1: teams by six games in a couple of months. That's

704
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:22,800
Speaker 1: not happening. So we are officially in crisis mode with

705
00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:25,680
Speaker 1: the Warriors, is my point. If Draymond's gonna be out

706
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:27,560
Speaker 1: for a long period of time, you don't have the

707
00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:32,760
Speaker 1: horses to rack up regular season wins. So you either

708
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,360
Speaker 1: got to blow the whole damn thing up or you've

709
00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:38,920
Speaker 1: got to pivot pretty quickly. Here you got the pieces

710
00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 1: to do. So, I think it's time to start calling Toronto.

711
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:43,200
Speaker 1: I think it's time to start calling Utah. I think

712
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,640
Speaker 1: it's time to start calling Portland. See if you can't

713
00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:48,680
Speaker 1: get some firepower in the building to help. We're gonna

714
00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:51,520
Speaker 1: talk about here in a minute, but I'd even be

715
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:53,320
Speaker 1: keeping an eye on Cleveland there and see if maybe

716
00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:55,960
Speaker 1: you can approach Donovan Mitchell. That's another guy I'd be

717
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,120
Speaker 1: keeping an eye on. Speaking of Donovan Mitchell, let's move on.

718
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:03,400
Speaker 1: So Darius Garland breaks his jaw, He's gonna be out

719
00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:06,600
Speaker 1: for a while. Evan Mobley is that knee surgery, is

720
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:09,840
Speaker 1: gonna be out for probably at least two months. They're

721
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,320
Speaker 1: already in the nine seed right now. The bottom can

722
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:17,400
Speaker 1: fall out here pretty quickly. And Donovan Mitchell is a

723
00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 1: guy that could be a free agent as soon as

724
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:22,800
Speaker 1: next summer. Not this coming summer, but the one after.

725
00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,800
Speaker 1: He's got one guaranteed year left on a deal. He's

726
00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,000
Speaker 1: got a player option for like thirty seven million after that,

727
00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:30,760
Speaker 1: probably gonna drop out of that one and look to

728
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:34,960
Speaker 1: become a free agent. I've also talked consistently when I

729
00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:38,000
Speaker 1: talk Calves that the too small guard model is kind

730
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:41,000
Speaker 1: of doomed to fail. I also know that Cavs fans

731
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:46,000
Speaker 1: love Darius Garland, so to me, it points a lot

732
00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:50,920
Speaker 1: of signs in the direction of what happens if Donovan

733
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,280
Speaker 1: Mitchell gets to the end of next season and just

734
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:58,240
Speaker 1: simply doesn't want to stay. He's worth too much to

735
00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:03,000
Speaker 1: let go for nothing. Right in the short term. Right now,

736
00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:05,600
Speaker 1: you're a nine seed and two of your top four

737
00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:08,320
Speaker 1: players are going to be out for a considerable amount

738
00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:14,239
Speaker 1: of time. Here now you could say, hey, Donovan, just

739
00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:17,200
Speaker 1: do the best you can keep us as close to

740
00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:20,480
Speaker 1: five hundred as possible, and when you cut and when

741
00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:23,200
Speaker 1: all these guys come back, we'll fight our way up

742
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,799
Speaker 1: to a play in spot so that we could go

743
00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:29,080
Speaker 1: play Boston in the first round, so that we could

744
00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:32,839
Speaker 1: go play Milwaukee in the first round and be gigantic

745
00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:37,400
Speaker 1: underdogs and probably lose. So at a certain point, like

746
00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:40,560
Speaker 1: if you are under the impression, and again this is

747
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:44,160
Speaker 1: up to Donovan, because if Donovan's like I want to stay,

748
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:46,640
Speaker 1: like let's work out it, like, let's figure out a deal.

749
00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:49,560
Speaker 1: I want to stay, then you can make decisions accordingly.

750
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:54,560
Speaker 1: But it's worth approaching Donovan Mitchell and being like, hey, man, like,

751
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:58,439
Speaker 1: are you going to stay? Because you're gonna be bad

752
00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,960
Speaker 1: this year? Like that's almost a certainty. This season. It's

753
00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:03,719
Speaker 1: I don't want to say it's completely a lost cause,

754
00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:07,560
Speaker 1: but like at this point for Cleveland, this season is

755
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:12,080
Speaker 1: in a really dark spot. So if there was a

756
00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:15,879
Speaker 1: year to be bad, it'd be this year. And from

757
00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:18,640
Speaker 1: that standpoint, That's where I see Donovan Mitchell as the

758
00:35:18,719 --> 00:35:23,200
Speaker 1: obvious target for a trade around this deadline. Because when

759
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,680
Speaker 1: we envision the idealized version of the Calves, what do

760
00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:29,040
Speaker 1: I always talk about. I envision one of those guards

761
00:35:29,760 --> 00:35:32,120
Speaker 1: and Evan Mobley at the five in the long run,

762
00:35:32,239 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 1: next to a big athletic forward, preferably another big athletic forward,

763
00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:39,480
Speaker 1: and then a perimeter defender at the two guard spot.

764
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:41,120
Speaker 1: That's kind of the what I of you is the

765
00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:44,239
Speaker 1: idealized version of the Calves. I talk a lot about.

766
00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:47,320
Speaker 1: This is like the the ideal modern basketball bill. Do

767
00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:49,719
Speaker 1: you want a skill guard, Then you want like a

768
00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:52,520
Speaker 1: point of attack off ball guard. Then you want like

769
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:55,160
Speaker 1: a slender forward that can defend on the perimeter. Then

770
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,319
Speaker 1: you want a big forward that can defend inside and

771
00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,920
Speaker 1: help and help defense and defense and rebounding situations. Then

772
00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:04,000
Speaker 1: you want an athletic center that can switch and run

773
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,560
Speaker 1: and drop coverage while also being an offensive threat. Evan

774
00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:10,640
Speaker 1: Mobley fits that mold. Darius Garland fits the skill guard mold,

775
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:12,840
Speaker 1: you know, like Max Strus. In the short term, I

776
00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:14,560
Speaker 1: think would be perfectly fine as a point of attack

777
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,279
Speaker 1: guy who plays off the ball at the two, like

778
00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:19,560
Speaker 1: I like Carris Lavert, but you probably don't want him

779
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:21,200
Speaker 1: as your starting three. So it's that three and four

780
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:23,480
Speaker 1: spot that you're looking to bolster at this point, right,

781
00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:26,920
Speaker 1: that's where you could potentially use Donovan Mitchell as the

782
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:29,560
Speaker 1: vehicle with which to shore that up and then be

783
00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:33,279
Speaker 1: ready to make a run either you know, next season essentially, right,

784
00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:36,560
Speaker 1: and I think I think, like, so, now, let's see

785
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,400
Speaker 1: what type of teams would be interested in Donovan Mitchell.

786
00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:43,000
Speaker 1: Teams that have size on the perimeter, that can afford

787
00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,880
Speaker 1: to bring in a small guard. Teams that can offer

788
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,600
Speaker 1: big athletic forwards to Cleveland because that's what they would want,

789
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:54,000
Speaker 1: clear big athletic forwards that fit their timeline, and also

790
00:36:54,239 --> 00:36:57,360
Speaker 1: that have the ability to put that size next to

791
00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:00,560
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell so that they are not in a similar

792
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:04,759
Speaker 1: predictament that Cleveland was in. Right. Then you're also looking at,

793
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:08,080
Speaker 1: like what Donovan Mitchell's specific archetype is. He's a scoring guard,

794
00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:11,439
Speaker 1: So we're looking at teams that need backcourt scoring. Now,

795
00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:14,319
Speaker 1: the first two obvious ones are the power players, right,

796
00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,760
Speaker 1: Miami and Philly. But Philly's got a ton of assets,

797
00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:20,520
Speaker 1: they feel some urgency to try to get something done.

798
00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:24,879
Speaker 1: Alongside Joel Embiid. Right now, they're clearly below Boston and Milwaukee.

799
00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:28,000
Speaker 1: That's an obvious target, right, Philly could be like, we're

800
00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:30,200
Speaker 1: gonna put Donovan Mitchell next to Tyrese Maxine. We're just

801
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,480
Speaker 1: gonna have a shit ton of offensive skill next to Joel Embiid.

802
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:38,040
Speaker 1: Right The Miami piece is like they missed out on Dame,

803
00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:41,120
Speaker 1: they missed out on Brad Beal, Like they gotta get

804
00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:44,240
Speaker 1: one of these guys that team desperately needs backcourt shot creation.

805
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:47,360
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell's an obvious kind of like fit there. Philly

806
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:49,160
Speaker 1: does have the advantage there though, because they have more

807
00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:53,120
Speaker 1: assets to give than Miami does. The Knicks or another

808
00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,840
Speaker 1: team I look at, they lean so much on Jaylen

809
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:58,520
Speaker 1: Brunson and Julius Randall to create everything. They don't have

810
00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:00,520
Speaker 1: great options at the two spot. Like they just benched

811
00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:02,560
Speaker 1: Quentin Grimes. He was a blow average starter. They benched

812
00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,239
Speaker 1: him for Dante DiVincenzo. But Dante de Vincenzo is better

813
00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:07,680
Speaker 1: as a backup guard too, So like you're in a

814
00:38:07,719 --> 00:38:11,480
Speaker 1: weird spot there. RJ. Barrett is having the most efficient

815
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,200
Speaker 1: scoring season of his career and kind of fits more

816
00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:17,080
Speaker 1: of like a complimentary piece next to Darius Garland. So

817
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:19,120
Speaker 1: that'd be an interesting kind of salary filler piece. And

818
00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:21,600
Speaker 1: the Knicks have plenty of draft compensation that they can offer,

819
00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:25,000
Speaker 1: So like that's a team that I'd keep an eye on. Toronto,

820
00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:27,160
Speaker 1: simple case if they have too many forwards and not

821
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:31,319
Speaker 1: enough guards, And like a couple guys like an Og

822
00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:33,759
Speaker 1: and Anobi would be super interesting in Cleveland, right, Like

823
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,799
Speaker 1: a Pascal Siakam would be super interesting in Cleveland. But

824
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:39,919
Speaker 1: Toronto desperately needs guards because like Dennis Schroeder and Gary

825
00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:43,120
Speaker 1: Trent Junior are good, but they're not They're they're compared

826
00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:44,920
Speaker 1: to the other serious teams in the league, that's not

827
00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:47,080
Speaker 1: a very good backcourt. So like you're looking at an

828
00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:50,480
Speaker 1: option there. Chicago already apparently has made calls trying to

829
00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:52,759
Speaker 1: trade for Darius Garland, so like, why not try for

830
00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:55,920
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell if that was the case. Minnesota is another

831
00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:58,080
Speaker 1: interesting team. I was thinking of their eighteenth in offense

832
00:38:58,120 --> 00:39:00,839
Speaker 1: this year and they have legit title last Inspirations, and

833
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:03,239
Speaker 1: like the one week spot in that lineup that you

834
00:39:03,280 --> 00:39:06,040
Speaker 1: look at is Mike Conley, just given his age and athleticism, right,

835
00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:09,720
Speaker 1: the Pelicans, if they wanted to pivot off as Ion Williamson,

836
00:39:09,719 --> 00:39:12,239
Speaker 1: that'd be an interesting option. And then lastly, like I

837
00:39:12,239 --> 00:39:14,640
Speaker 1: said in the last segment the Golden State Warriors, it's

838
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:16,680
Speaker 1: worth a phone call. It's worth a phone call. You'd

839
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:19,200
Speaker 1: be like, Hey, Jonathan Comingo would be perfect next to

840
00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,400
Speaker 1: Evan Mobley. How does that sound to you? Guys? You know,

841
00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:26,799
Speaker 1: Chris Paul just can help mentor Darius Garland, you know,

842
00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:30,600
Speaker 1: and then we can at least give Steph a bona

843
00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:32,880
Speaker 1: fide number two next to him, you know. And like,

844
00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:34,759
Speaker 1: if you have Donovan Mitchell and Steph Curry, you have

845
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:36,439
Speaker 1: the ability to play bigger on the front line because

846
00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:38,000
Speaker 1: of all the pull up shooting you have in that lineup.

847
00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:41,160
Speaker 1: So again, like it's too early to say for sure

848
00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:44,239
Speaker 1: if Donovan Mitchell will even you know, is even not

849
00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:46,560
Speaker 1: wanting to resign, or if Cleveland would be even willing

850
00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:49,240
Speaker 1: to deal him, But I think some signs are pointing

851
00:39:49,239 --> 00:39:50,600
Speaker 1: in that direction. So I thought it was kind of

852
00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:53,799
Speaker 1: doing a brief deep dive into it, all right, my

853
00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:57,080
Speaker 1: MVP ladder, So I'm gonna start doing this every weekend.

854
00:39:57,760 --> 00:40:00,280
Speaker 1: And I was thinking long and hard about this because

855
00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:03,560
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk MVP. But I don't want it

856
00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:06,920
Speaker 1: to look like what my prediction would be for who's

857
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:10,439
Speaker 1: going to win the MVP, because it just is. It's

858
00:40:10,520 --> 00:40:13,480
Speaker 1: so much based on narrative, which I find profoundly oninteresting.

859
00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:17,560
Speaker 1: It's so much based on voting trends that like, I

860
00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:21,359
Speaker 1: disagree with and specific things that like I don't think

861
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:24,000
Speaker 1: should factor into MVP. So what I'm gonna do instead

862
00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:26,600
Speaker 1: is like, I'm just gonna do this MVP latter every

863
00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:29,120
Speaker 1: weekend as though it's my own meaning, Like this is

864
00:40:29,239 --> 00:40:33,480
Speaker 1: just simply how I think the MVP award should work.

865
00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:36,799
Speaker 1: I've made one tweak to my MVP criteria I used

866
00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:39,160
Speaker 1: to in the past be like, hey, like you got

867
00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:42,839
Speaker 1: a factor in postseason success. All of this is part

868
00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:46,880
Speaker 1: of a journey towards the playoffs and towards the Larry O'Brien.

869
00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:49,720
Speaker 1: It's a stepping stone in that direction. But the league

870
00:40:49,719 --> 00:40:52,879
Speaker 1: has made it abundantly clear through their voting tendencies that

871
00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:55,439
Speaker 1: they don't care about the postseason. So what I'm gonna

872
00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:58,120
Speaker 1: do is my off season player rankings that I do

873
00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:02,320
Speaker 1: every August. Those are going to be based on playoff success,

874
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,480
Speaker 1: and I want my MVP ladders during the season to

875
00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:10,080
Speaker 1: strictly be a recognition of overall two way impact on

876
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:13,160
Speaker 1: winning by a single player. And the one thing I'll

877
00:41:13,200 --> 00:41:16,040
Speaker 1: do to weigh it is like degree of difficulty and

878
00:41:16,160 --> 00:41:19,120
Speaker 1: like what your team needs out of you compared to

879
00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:21,440
Speaker 1: the you know, the roster availabilities. I'm gonna use that

880
00:41:21,440 --> 00:41:22,840
Speaker 1: as like kind of a swing factor in some of

881
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:25,560
Speaker 1: these cases. All right, so I'm gonna do I'm gonna

882
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:27,719
Speaker 1: be counting down from ten this first week. I'm gonna

883
00:41:27,760 --> 00:41:29,920
Speaker 1: hit all ten players. In the future, I'm just gonna

884
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:33,680
Speaker 1: talk about the movement from specific guys, but number ten.

885
00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:36,680
Speaker 1: So far for our first MVP ladder, Kevin Durant, He's

886
00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:38,480
Speaker 1: been the one stable force for a team that's been

887
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,480
Speaker 1: riddled with injuries. To start the season. He's averaging thirty

888
00:41:41,480 --> 00:41:43,440
Speaker 1: one points per game, which is the second highest mark

889
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:46,520
Speaker 1: of his career, on sixty four percent true shooting, and

890
00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:49,440
Speaker 1: he's legitimately flirting with a fifty to fifty ninety season,

891
00:41:49,480 --> 00:41:51,680
Speaker 1: meaning fifty percent from the field, fifty percent from three,

892
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:54,120
Speaker 1: and ninety percent from the line. He's still one of

893
00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:56,480
Speaker 1: the most efficient scorers in basketball, and he's done a

894
00:41:56,480 --> 00:42:01,320
Speaker 1: lot to stabilize. Like I said, a pretty inconsistent environment

895
00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:04,640
Speaker 1: with injuries there in Phoenix. Number nine Jason Tatum. I

896
00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:07,480
Speaker 1: am a little disappointed in him this season. He's settling

897
00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:09,000
Speaker 1: for a shit ton of pull up jump shots even

898
00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:10,840
Speaker 1: though he can't make him. I've been a little bit

899
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:12,640
Speaker 1: disappointed with him in the end of games as well.

900
00:42:12,719 --> 00:42:15,600
Speaker 1: That said, still the most efficient scoring season of his

901
00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:18,520
Speaker 1: career in the lower volume mostly has to just do

902
00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:20,239
Speaker 1: with some of the roster changes they went over the

903
00:42:20,680 --> 00:42:23,359
Speaker 1: went through over the summer. He's also been the fourth

904
00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:26,040
Speaker 1: best post up player in the league this year. Twenty

905
00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:28,000
Speaker 1: two players in the NBA have run at least seventy

906
00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:30,279
Speaker 1: five post ups, and he's fourth in efficiency at one

907
00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:34,640
Speaker 1: point one five points per possession. Number eight Lebron James.

908
00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:37,560
Speaker 1: He's averaging twenty five eight and seven, shooting a career

909
00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:40,640
Speaker 1: high from two point range forty one percent from three,

910
00:42:40,719 --> 00:42:43,360
Speaker 1: which matches his best season in twenty thirteen, which was

911
00:42:43,360 --> 00:42:47,200
Speaker 1: sixty four percent through shooting. Also averaging his highest amout

912
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:49,759
Speaker 1: of steals per game since twenty fifteen. And this is

913
00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:52,200
Speaker 1: the crazy one for Lebron. In his MVP case, the

914
00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:55,759
Speaker 1: Lakers are eighteen points better per one hundred possessions when

915
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,560
Speaker 1: he's on the floor versus when he's off. He also

916
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:01,560
Speaker 1: had the most impressive individual accomplishment of this season so far,

917
00:43:01,600 --> 00:43:04,600
Speaker 1: winning the n Season Tournament MVP, dominating a field that

918
00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:08,320
Speaker 1: included Kevin Durant, that included Giannison tenakumpo, that included Damian Lillard,

919
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:11,319
Speaker 1: that included Jason Tatum, that included Tyree Saliburton. Just a

920
00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:13,239
Speaker 1: stacked field that he ended up at the top of

921
00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:15,040
Speaker 1: the pile at the end of it and won the MVP.

922
00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:19,520
Speaker 1: Lebron's at number eight, number seven. Dearon Fox. He is

923
00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:22,280
Speaker 1: the best combination of pull up shooting and downhill speed

924
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:24,399
Speaker 1: in the NBA. This year, he's been the second best

925
00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:26,719
Speaker 1: pull up jump shooter in the league behind Tyres Haliburton,

926
00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:29,479
Speaker 1: making his jump shots at a pull up jump shots

927
00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:32,080
Speaker 1: at one point one four points per shot, which is insane.

928
00:43:32,200 --> 00:43:34,440
Speaker 1: He also is the third best guard at scoring in

929
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:36,320
Speaker 1: the paint. He scored two hundred and twenty points in

930
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:38,919
Speaker 1: the paint this year, which is behind only Shay Gills

931
00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:40,839
Speaker 1: as Alexander and Tyree s Maa See, both of which

932
00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:44,200
Speaker 1: are lesser pull up shooters than Darren Fox. This season,

933
00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:46,680
Speaker 1: he's led the Kings to a lot of wins over

934
00:43:46,800 --> 00:43:50,120
Speaker 1: good teams, most recently SGA in the Thunder. He's gone

935
00:43:50,160 --> 00:43:51,320
Speaker 1: head to head with a lot of the best players

936
00:43:51,320 --> 00:43:52,719
Speaker 1: in the league and come out on top. This season,

937
00:43:52,719 --> 00:43:55,680
Speaker 1: I have him at number seven. Number six Nicole Jokic.

938
00:43:56,280 --> 00:43:58,280
Speaker 1: His jumper has been off this year. A Jokic jumper

939
00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:00,960
Speaker 1: has been worth zero point two to two points fewer

940
00:44:01,239 --> 00:44:04,319
Speaker 1: than they were worth last year, but still averaging a

941
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:07,000
Speaker 1: career high in points, still at sixty one percent in

942
00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:09,880
Speaker 1: true shooting, leeds the league, and rebounds at thirteen rebounds

943
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:11,920
Speaker 1: per game, and the Nuggets are the two seed in

944
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:14,080
Speaker 1: the West despite Jamal Murray missing a lot of time

945
00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:17,400
Speaker 1: in and out of the lineup. Number five Luka Doncics

946
00:44:18,080 --> 00:44:20,920
Speaker 1: also having the most efficient scoring season of his career,

947
00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:23,040
Speaker 1: fueled by excellent pull up shooting and shooting fifty four

948
00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:24,880
Speaker 1: percent in EFFECTI field goal percentage on his pull up

949
00:44:24,920 --> 00:44:28,080
Speaker 1: jump shot. That reliable step back jump shot that he's

950
00:44:28,080 --> 00:44:31,040
Speaker 1: sitting right now is is just killing teams, and he's

951
00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:33,560
Speaker 1: been also, similar to Kevin Durant, the most consistent force

952
00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:36,759
Speaker 1: on a surprisingly good team despite his co star being

953
00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:38,399
Speaker 1: out a lot. Kyrie Irving has played in just five

954
00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:40,880
Speaker 1: hundred and forty one of eleven hundred and fifty two

955
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:43,319
Speaker 1: minutes for the MAVs this year, and the Mavericks are

956
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:45,120
Speaker 1: fifteen to nine in the four seat, which is a

957
00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:46,600
Speaker 1: far cry from where they were last year. I have

958
00:44:46,719 --> 00:44:49,959
Speaker 1: him at number five, shake Gil just Alexander at number four.

959
00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:52,520
Speaker 1: The Thunder are just three games back to the best

960
00:44:52,520 --> 00:44:54,280
Speaker 1: record in the league at fifteen and eight. He's averaging

961
00:44:54,320 --> 00:44:56,400
Speaker 1: thirty one, six and six on a career high sixty

962
00:44:56,440 --> 00:44:59,520
Speaker 1: four percent true shooting percentage, and his self creation metrics

963
00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:02,320
Speaker 1: are off the charts. One point two to three points

964
00:45:02,360 --> 00:45:05,840
Speaker 1: per post up, one point one to nine points per ISO,

965
00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:08,319
Speaker 1: one point zero nine points per pick and roll. Those

966
00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:10,959
Speaker 1: are all off the charts. And now he's consistently drawing

967
00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:13,040
Speaker 1: two to the ball and pick and roll, which for

968
00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:15,840
Speaker 1: all of the ball handling and shooting and passing that

969
00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:18,200
Speaker 1: they have on the backside there when they run those

970
00:45:18,200 --> 00:45:20,120
Speaker 1: four on threes has been deadly for the Thunder. They

971
00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:23,279
Speaker 1: get great shots every time. Ivesga at number three or four.

972
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:26,680
Speaker 1: Number three, Tyre's Halliburn. He's the best pick and roll

973
00:45:26,719 --> 00:45:29,239
Speaker 1: ball handler in the year by mile. He's the best

974
00:45:29,239 --> 00:45:31,560
Speaker 1: pull up shooter in the league by a mile. He's

975
00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:34,720
Speaker 1: entered into my top tier of passers this year. He's

976
00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:37,840
Speaker 1: just single handedly anchoring the best offense in basketball. I

977
00:45:37,880 --> 00:45:39,879
Speaker 1: think he's on an all time great trajectory. He's having

978
00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:43,200
Speaker 1: an incredible season. I'm a huge tyres Aaliburton fan. Even

979
00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:46,759
Speaker 1: against that ridiculously aggressive Bucks coverage the other day, I

980
00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:49,279
Speaker 1: thought he did really well given the amount of talent

981
00:45:49,280 --> 00:45:52,279
Speaker 1: that's around him. Number two Jannis and Tanakoumpo feels kind

982
00:45:52,280 --> 00:45:54,080
Speaker 1: of like a revenge campaign for him. His night to

983
00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:56,360
Speaker 1: night effort is the highest that I've seen since his

984
00:45:56,480 --> 00:46:00,239
Speaker 1: MVP seasons. Career high thirty two points per game, career

985
00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:03,360
Speaker 1: high sixty six percent true shooting, career high offensive rebounds

986
00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:05,879
Speaker 1: per game big one for him, and his touch away

987
00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:07,360
Speaker 1: from the rim is better than it's been in a

988
00:46:07,400 --> 00:46:09,640
Speaker 1: couple of seasons. All super super encouraging. He's also have

989
00:46:09,680 --> 00:46:12,600
Speaker 1: an excellent having an excellent defensive season. Changed that Pacers

990
00:46:12,640 --> 00:46:15,000
Speaker 1: game the other night just by aggressively switching on to

991
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:18,040
Speaker 1: Tyrese Haliburton and taking away some of the advantages he

992
00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:21,040
Speaker 1: naturally gets in ball screens. But number one, clear Number

993
00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:22,720
Speaker 1: one at this point in the season is Joel Embid

994
00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:25,239
Speaker 1: thirty four points per game, twelve rebounds and six assists

995
00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:28,600
Speaker 1: on sixty four percent through shooting. They are sixteen and seven,

996
00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:31,360
Speaker 1: despite losing James Harden, and just two games back of

997
00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:34,120
Speaker 1: the best record in basketball. Here's an encouraging stat for

998
00:46:34,160 --> 00:46:37,520
Speaker 1: you too. Two years ago, Joel Embiid made just six

999
00:46:37,560 --> 00:46:40,880
Speaker 1: field goals per game in the paint. Last year seven

1000
00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:44,480
Speaker 1: point four, this year seven points seven. He's also shooting

1001
00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:47,359
Speaker 1: seventy percent on hook shots, and he's taking hook shots

1002
00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:49,520
Speaker 1: about twice as often as he did last year. If

1003
00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:51,359
Speaker 1: you guys remember after the postseason last year, I talked

1004
00:46:51,360 --> 00:46:53,319
Speaker 1: about how Joel Embiid is too reliable on that mid

1005
00:46:53,400 --> 00:46:55,279
Speaker 1: range pull up jump shot. He's got to have a

1006
00:46:55,360 --> 00:46:58,160
Speaker 1: more consistent shot making game closer to the rim. We're

1007
00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:01,440
Speaker 1: seeing some encouraging staf there that could bode well for

1008
00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:04,160
Speaker 1: him in the playoffs. Really just needs to stay healthy

1009
00:47:04,200 --> 00:47:05,759
Speaker 1: at this point so we can see him in what

1010
00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:08,759
Speaker 1: he's capable of in April and May. All right, guys,

1011
00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:10,520
Speaker 1: that is all I have for today. As always, I

1012
00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:13,040
Speaker 1: sincerely appreciate your support. Taking the rest of the weekend off,

1013
00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:15,839
Speaker 1: We'll be back on Monday with power rankings as well

1014
00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:18,919
Speaker 1: as some reactions to the weekends games. I will see

1015
00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:47,520
Speaker 1: you guys. Then the volume