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Speaker 1: The volume. All right, well, good to him tonight, you're

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Speaker 1: at the VALLU you had you Thursday. Everybody hopeful if

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Speaker 1: you guys are having a great end to your week.

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Speaker 1: Got a JPAX show for you guys today. Kate Cunningham

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Speaker 1: has it collapsed along. I want to talk a little

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Speaker 1: bit about that, what it means for the Pistons and

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Speaker 1: the standings, what we can expect over the course of

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Speaker 1: the next month, some of my concerns as it pertains

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Speaker 1: to them in their pending postseason run. Here kind of

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Speaker 1: a weird thing happening towards the tail end of the

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Speaker 1: Eastern Conference standings that's going to make the first round

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Speaker 1: series potentially for the one and two seats pretty complicated.

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Speaker 1: So I want to dive into that a little bit.

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Speaker 1: Then after that, we're going to talk about that epic

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Speaker 1: showdown between the Lakers and the Rockets last night. They

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Speaker 1: got alper and Shane goon Back threw a much better punch.

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Speaker 1: But Luka Doncic is ascending before our eyes to a

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Speaker 1: newfound ceiling, and I want to dive into what that

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Speaker 1: means for the rest of the league. And then at

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Speaker 1: the tail end of the show, briefly I want to

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Speaker 1: talk about Jared McCain, who goes off for twenty six

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Speaker 1: against the Brooklyn Nets last night. I want to talk

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Speaker 1: about his versatility, all the different ways beyond his shooting

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Speaker 1: that he's impacting winning and what it means for the

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Speaker 1: Thunder moving forward. You guys are the trip before we

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Speaker 1: get started, subscribe to doups in Ight YouTube channels you

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Speaker 1: don't miss any more of our videos. Make sure you

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Speaker 1: like this video and sign up for post notifications. That

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Speaker 1: helps us a lot. Last minu at least, if you

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Speaker 1: guys want to get mail bag questions, probably gonna do

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Speaker 1: a couple of mail bag questions at the tail end

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Speaker 1: of tomorrow's show, So drop those in the YouTube comments

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Speaker 1: underneath our full episodes and we'll get to them in

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Speaker 1: our Friday shows throughout the rest of the season. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's talk some basketball, So Kay countyam Collapslung. I haven't

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Speaker 1: seen any reporting as to whether or not it's associated

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Speaker 1: at all with that weird kind of injury suffered against

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Speaker 1: Washington where he kind of got up underneath Trey Johnson

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Speaker 1: and it looked like he took like maybe a knee

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Speaker 1: to his ribcage or something like that. I have no

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Speaker 1: idea whether or not those two incidences are connected at all,

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Speaker 1: but bottom line is he's got this collapse long in.

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Speaker 1: There are some examples in recent NBA history of guys

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Speaker 1: suffering this sort of thing. CJ. McCollums had a couple

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Speaker 1: of them, Terrence Jones had one. There's roughly it seems

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Speaker 1: like just under a month timeline, like a three to

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Speaker 1: four week kind of thing. So what that means is

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Speaker 1: it seems like Cave will most likely be back for

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Speaker 1: the postseason. Now. I think they'll be fine in the standings.

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Speaker 1: Their remaining schedule at Washington home for Golden State, the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: the Hawks, the Pelicans, who have been playing really well

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Speaker 1: now that they're healthy, and Zion Williamson has been kind

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Speaker 1: of showing some of that upside again at Minnesota at

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma City home for Toronto, and Minnesota at Philly and

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Speaker 1: Orlando home for Milwaukee, at Charlotte at Indiana. I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: say the same thing I said when we were talking

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Speaker 1: about the Lakers and the Nuggets and the Monday Show,

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Speaker 1: where if you really look at the standings, because of

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Speaker 1: that substantial lead, they really only have to go a

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Speaker 1: few games over five hundred in order to stiff arm

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Speaker 1: Boston and get out of there. Now they're at risk

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Speaker 1: of dropping to two. I don't want to pretend like

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Speaker 1: that can't happen, but I still think the Pistons have

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Speaker 1: a decent shot, especially with their defense to transition attack,

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Speaker 1: to keep that one seed. Now, I do have two concerns.

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Speaker 1: One kid has started to finally find his three point

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Speaker 1: shot over the last month or so. Three point shooting,

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Speaker 1: especially for heavy ball handling players, is very much a

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Speaker 1: rhythm kind of thing, and it can be one of

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Speaker 1: those things where you build a lot of momentum to

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Speaker 1: get it and then you get out of the game

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Speaker 1: for a little while and it's hard to get it back.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we're watching it with Nikole Jokich, who has

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Speaker 1: been really struggling to shoot the three since coming back

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Speaker 1: from his knee injury. So I'm a little worried about

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Speaker 1: that rhythm piece, because you know, the difference between the

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Speaker 1: Pistons going for you know, a legitimate finals run slash

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Speaker 1: competitive conference finals run versus a disappointing loss in the

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Speaker 1: second round could very well be is Caid shooting forty

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Speaker 1: percent from three? You know that could that could be

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Speaker 1: a huge ceiling raizer for this team, especially since he

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Speaker 1: has such a heavy ball handling responsibility. So I'm a

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Speaker 1: little concerned about how this could potentially disrupt his three

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Speaker 1: point shot. There's some potential upside there too, in the

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Speaker 1: sense that he's just going to have such an insane

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Speaker 1: work insane workload that getting his legs a little bit

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Speaker 1: of a break could potentially be helpful. But I am

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Speaker 1: at least a little bit concerned as it pertains to

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Speaker 1: his rhythm two. There's something interesting happening at the tail

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Speaker 1: end of the Eastern Conference. Charlotte, for basically the entire

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Speaker 1: second half of this season, has been playing like one

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Speaker 1: of those upper tier Eastern Conference teams in terms of

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Speaker 1: just how good they are offensively in the collective kind

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Speaker 1: of level they've been able to reach on the defensive

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Speaker 1: end of the floor. And Atlanta has won eleven games

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Speaker 1: in a row now against a weaker stretch of schedule,

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Speaker 1: but they had a really impressive win against Orlando a

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Speaker 1: couple of games ago. They're defending at an extremely high level.

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Speaker 1: They're getting up the floor, running a ton of action

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Speaker 1: in a short period of time that's chewing up and

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Speaker 1: spitting out defenses, Atlanta's playing really well. I think there's

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Speaker 1: a pretty solid chance. Obviously I don't want to write

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Speaker 1: off teams like Miami, but I think there's a pretty

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Speaker 1: solid chance that Charlotte and Atlanta end up getting your

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Speaker 1: seven in your eight seeds, which is, like, I mean,

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Speaker 1: I can't believe we're saying this for an Eastern Conference

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Speaker 1: that's been so weak for so long, But those are

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Speaker 1: some pretty tough first round series potentially for a one

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Speaker 1: seed or a two seed, especially when you imagine Caid

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Speaker 1: potentially getting plugged in right before a series like that

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Speaker 1: and the Pistons having to kind of recapture a new

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Speaker 1: identity in such a short span. So like it's one

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Speaker 1: of those things where, like you think the Pistons will

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Speaker 1: not necessarily have to have their A plus game, but

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Speaker 1: they're gonna have to be pretty close to their A

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Speaker 1: game in order to win their first round series, and

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Speaker 1: so there's a little bit of concern there. But overall,

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Speaker 1: I do think that the strength of Detroit physically and

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Speaker 1: with their defense and their ability to get out in

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Speaker 1: transition should be able to give them enough margin for

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Speaker 1: error to survive a first round series and get Kaid

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Speaker 1: back to form. We've talked about this with Charlotte in particular,

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Speaker 1: but one of my fears with Charlotte, especially in this

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Speaker 1: early phase of their development, is that if you really

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Speaker 1: get up into the basketball and on some of their thin,

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Speaker 1: slighter perimeter players and you apply a ton of ball pressure,

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Speaker 1: they can struggle with that a little bit. And Detroit's

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Speaker 1: really well set up with their depth of perimeter defense

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Speaker 1: talent to cause some problems for a team like Charlotte.

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Speaker 1: Big thing we'll be watching over the course of the

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Speaker 1: next month is just Detroit getting a very large sample

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Speaker 1: of figuring out how to generate offense without Kate Cunningham. Now,

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Speaker 1: Jackson and I were lamenting before the show, like it

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Speaker 1: would have been nice to have a guy like Jayden

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Speaker 1: and Ivy for a long stretch like this, because if

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Speaker 1: you really dig into it, there's not a whole lot

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Speaker 1: beyond a guy like Dannis Jenkins to initiate offense. And

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Speaker 1: a stretch like this, I'm sure we'll see some Jalen

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Speaker 1: Duran on ball stuff as a face up high post player.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll see a lot of defense to transition

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Speaker 1: attack generating offense. I'm sure we'll see Tobias Harris getting

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Speaker 1: to that little right shoulder fade out of the post

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Speaker 1: quite a bit. But ultimately this team is going to

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Speaker 1: be trying to figure out how to score with a

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Speaker 1: dearth of ball handling relative to a lot of the

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Speaker 1: teams that they'll be playing, So that'll be what we'll

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Speaker 1: New Jersey, Tennessee, or Virginia. All right, let's get into

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Speaker 1: this Lakers Rockets game, probably the first like truly super

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Speaker 1: important game of this NBA season in terms of what

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Speaker 1: it means for the standings and how the matchups will

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Speaker 1: go in the Western Conference. Had the Lakers lost last night,

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Speaker 1: all the tie breakers get really complicated. It could be jumbled.

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Speaker 1: Who the hell knows who ends up at three, four,

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Speaker 1: five and six in the Western Conference. But if the

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Speaker 1: Lakers win, they have by far the inside track at

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Speaker 1: that three seed because they would have the tiebreaker over Houston,

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Speaker 1: the tiebreaker over Denver, and the tiebreaker over Minnesota, effectively

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Speaker 1: a three game lead over the entirety of that tier

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Speaker 1: of the Western Conference with only thirteen games to go.

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Speaker 1: So we talked about it yesterday. So if the Lakers

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Speaker 1: went even just eight and five over their final thirteen games,

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Speaker 1: teams like Denver, for example, would have to go twelve

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Speaker 1: and one in order to surpass them in the standings.

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Speaker 1: So like it's one of those things where this game

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Speaker 1: in particular was just incredibly important in the standings in

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Speaker 1: the Western Conference, and so predictably it had very much

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Speaker 1: a playoff feel. Predictably, the Rockets came with a much

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Speaker 1: better punch than they did in the Monday night game.

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Speaker 1: They had Alprah and Shangoon back, which added a new

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Speaker 1: element to the Rockets offense. They upped the intensity of

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Speaker 1: their perimeter defense. After turning over the Lakers on Monday

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Speaker 1: just twelve times for fourteen points, in transition, they turned

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Speaker 1: the Lakers over fourteen times for twenty six points last night,

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Speaker 1: so a massive uptick in their perimeter defense. Remember this team,

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Speaker 1: for all the criticism we can offer to Houston, they

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Speaker 1: have a depth of perimeter defense talent that can cause

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Speaker 1: some real problems for teams, and they finally made an

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Speaker 1: adjustment to the way they were attacking on offense. We

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Speaker 1: talked after the Monday night game about how it's just

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Speaker 1: so dumb to have Katie repeatedly walk across half court

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Speaker 1: into double teams, turn the basketball over, and then repeatedly

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Speaker 1: botch these four on three sequences. I wanted to say,

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Speaker 1: if we talked about this on Monday and on Tuesday,

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Speaker 1: I wanted to see them play through someone else so

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Speaker 1: that Katie could get more catches in scoring position, get

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Speaker 1: more catches in the flow of the offense. Well. The

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Speaker 1: return of Shanggun gave them an easy folkrum to facilitate that.

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Speaker 1: In the second half, especially, they started spamming a simple

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Speaker 1: horn set. They would have Jabari Smith and then eventually

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Speaker 1: Read Shepherd when he checked into the game, essentially be

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Speaker 1: the top guy in the horn set. He'd make a

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Speaker 1: high post entry to Alperin Shangun at the right elbow.

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Speaker 1: They'd have Kevin Durant at the left elbow. Kevin Durant

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Speaker 1: would backscreen for Jabari or Reid as they'd come off

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Speaker 1: of that action, and then they would just play Read

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Speaker 1: and react out of that. We had a mail bad question.

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Speaker 1: If you guys remember on Monday that was talking about

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Speaker 1: the difference in play scripting between the NFL and the NBA.

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Speaker 1: So in the NFL, you might have a fifteen play

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Speaker 1: script to start a game where each play kind of

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Speaker 1: builds on itself. Maybe you establish the run, which sets

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Speaker 1: up a play action. Maybe you establish a short passing

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Speaker 1: game which establishes the run. Whatever it might be, you

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Speaker 1: have a set of plays that are all different plays,

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Speaker 1: but they sequence off of each other in a way

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Speaker 1: that tries to set the defense up. In the NBA,

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Speaker 1: one of the things we talked about is like, yeah,

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Speaker 1: you'll have scripted plays that come out of stoppages, so

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Speaker 1: like to start quarters or out of timeouts, things along

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Speaker 1: those lines. Maybe some times off of a free throw

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Speaker 1: where you have plenty of time to get a play

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Speaker 1: in and get guys into the right spots to run action.

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Speaker 1: But one of the things you'll see in the NBA

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Speaker 1: is the spamming of actions. You're not gonna see that

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Speaker 1: a lot in the NFL. Maybe at the end of

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Speaker 1: a game, if an offensive line is just mauling a defense,

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Speaker 1: they might just run a variety of basic, you know,

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Speaker 1: isolation run plays up the middle right. But like for

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Speaker 1: the most part, in the NFL, you're gonna see different plays.

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Speaker 1: In the NBA, you might see a team run the

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Speaker 1: same damn play over and over and over and over

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Speaker 1: again until the defense shows the ability to stop that

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Speaker 1: particular play. Why because in any particular play, there's lots

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Speaker 1: of different reads that can take place. Even though it's

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Speaker 1: the exact same play right high post entry to Alphera

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Speaker 1: and Shangun backscreen to KD. If it gets defended well enough,

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Speaker 1: KD comes off of a dribble handoff from Shangun at

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Speaker 1: the right elbow, like it's the exact same sequence, but

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Speaker 1: any variation of that can lead to a different read

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Speaker 1: based on what the defense is doing. Right, and Houston

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Speaker 1: got lots of really good stuff out of the set.

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Speaker 1: They got a few slips to the rim off of

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Speaker 1: box switches where like you know, KD would go to

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Speaker 1: set the screen and then maybe KAD would just slip

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Speaker 1: out instead of coming off of the screen, and Jabari

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Speaker 1: Smith did the same thing. They got a couple of

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Speaker 1: easy slips against Lebron. KD dunked all over Lebron on

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Speaker 1: one of them. Lebron made a really nice kind of

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Speaker 1: like Draymond Green esque lowman rotation on another where he

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Speaker 1: blocked Jabari Smith. They got some clean three point looks

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Speaker 1: off of those back screens off of the left wing Shangoon.

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Speaker 1: You know, when you run off ball action, those defenders

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Speaker 1: get occupied. When those defenders are occupied a clear space,

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Speaker 1: Shanegun was able to go right at Deandreyton in one

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Speaker 1: on one situations with plenty of space out of that.

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Speaker 1: Then if nothing was open, they would go into their

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Speaker 1: KD Shangun durribble handoff. They were able to get Shangoon

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Speaker 1: some switches to attack out of the high post. They

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Speaker 1: were able to get Shangoon a couple of short rolls there.

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Speaker 1: Kevin Durant got Deandreyton on a switch and was able

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Speaker 1: to barbecue him for a little quick one dribble pull up.

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Speaker 1: They got a ton of stuff out of this action,

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Speaker 1: especially in the third quarter. I mean quite literally, guys.

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Speaker 1: The Rockets ran this exact same play unlike ninety percent

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Speaker 1: of their half court possessions in the second half. Like

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Speaker 1: little variations like sometimes KD or Reed Shepherd would just

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Speaker 1: not actually engage in their screening action and they just

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Speaker 1: sprint to Shangoon, or they would do something different like

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Speaker 1: we said sometimes KD instead of backscreening and coming to

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Speaker 1: the ball, he would just slip out of it towards

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Speaker 1: the basket. Like there were little variations here or there,

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Speaker 1: but it was basically the exact same play over and

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Speaker 1: over again. They were just playing read and react out

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Speaker 1: of it, and it worked. They logged an offensive rating

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Speaker 1: of one twenty seven in that third quarter in the

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Speaker 1: half court. That's an incredible number for a Houston offense

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Speaker 1: that has been brutally bad in the half court as

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Speaker 1: of late. They end up taking control of the games,

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Speaker 1: completely flipped the script on a Lakers team that had

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Speaker 1: controlled the game to that point, and they went into

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Speaker 1: the fourth quarter with a three point lead. It was

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Speaker 1: outpria in Shangun's best game in a long time because

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Speaker 1: it unlocked some of his best traits as a face

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Speaker 1: up score and as a passer with his when he's

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Speaker 1: kind of watching and surveying the floor out of a

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Speaker 1: triple threat position, Kevin Durant was able to play more

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Speaker 1: as a scorer than as a playmaker, which again it's

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Speaker 1: been exposed repeatedly over the years that Kevin Durant hasn't

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Speaker 1: really been able to do that. The one time that

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Speaker 1: I can remember an extended stretch of KD being really

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Speaker 1: good as a pick and roll playmaker was in Brooklyn,

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Speaker 1: where just with the way that they had their ability

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Speaker 1: to convert four on threes and Kevin Durant was just

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Speaker 1: doing a good job of passing over the traps without

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Speaker 1: turning it over. And you know that combination of Bruce

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Speaker 1: Brown and Nick Claxton being able to kind of run

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Speaker 1: those high low actions and four on three it was

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Speaker 1: all working then. But outside of that, we haven't really

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Speaker 1: seen an extended stretch of KD being a good playmaker.

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Speaker 1: He's best as a tip of the spear, operating as

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Speaker 1: a scorer and as a play finisher in the offense.

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Speaker 1: He was in that role in the second half. It

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Speaker 1: was the best the Rockets have looked against a good

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Speaker 1: team in a long time, and they threw a great

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Speaker 1: punch and they had the Lakers on the rope there

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Speaker 1: in the early fourth quarter. The problem is the Lakers

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Speaker 1: are a better team and they're playing some awesome basketball

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Speaker 1: right now, and they were ultimately able to solve that

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Speaker 1: puzzle in the fourth quarter. They figured out how to

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Speaker 1: guard that action. They just kind of figured out the

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Speaker 1: timing and the angles of the switches, and they did

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Speaker 1: an incredible job of helping and rotating when Houston would

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Speaker 1: get some sort of advantage against them in that action.

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Speaker 1: This is where I get a little frustrated with Ime Udoka.

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Speaker 1: Spamming makes a lot of sense. Spamming is part of

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Speaker 1: NBA basketball, But if you quite literally run the same

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Speaker 1: thing every damn time down the floor, the defense will

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Speaker 1: eventually figure it out. They'll eventually figure out the sequencing

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Speaker 1: of the switches, they'll eventually figure out the sequencing of

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Speaker 1: the rotations, especially against a Rockets lineup that is pretty

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Speaker 1: light on ball handling and shooting, like, you're not spamming

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Speaker 1: Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic two man game where the skill

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Speaker 1: level is so high that they actually can get away

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Speaker 1: with running the same thing over and over and over

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Speaker 1: and over again. But even with all of their skill,

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Speaker 1: runs a lot more variety in their actions in the

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Speaker 1: half court. So next step for email Udoka, I think

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Speaker 1: has proven to be a pretty limited offensive coach at

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Speaker 1: this point. He needs to put together four or five

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00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:16,080
Speaker 1: different versions of those kinds of pet actions that replicate

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Speaker 1: this dynamic where Shangun's operating as a passing volcrum, Kevin

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Speaker 1: Duran is involved in screening action Like it doesn't have

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Speaker 1: to be just a two man off ball screening action.

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Speaker 1: It could be a three man off ball screening action.

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Speaker 1: There's so many different ways that they can mix things

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Speaker 1: up to try to make it so that the defense

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Speaker 1: can't gain an edge through just repetition guarding the same action.

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Speaker 1: But the Lakers were able to get the stops that

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Speaker 1: they needed in the fourth quarter. They held the Rockets

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Speaker 1: in the half court to less than zero point nine

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Speaker 1: points per possession in that fourth quarter. Lebron and Austin

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Speaker 1: had a brilliant early fourth quarter run. Lebron had just

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Speaker 1: a ridiculous game. We'll talk about that in a little bit,

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Speaker 1: but they got several good looks in transition off of

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Speaker 1: their defense. Jake Loreve had a really nice steal on

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Speaker 1: a post up switch from Alpura and Shanggun. Lebron got

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Speaker 1: a transition layup. Austin and Lebron were both able to

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Speaker 1: turn the corner out of ball screens a couple of times.

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Speaker 1: Lebron got a little left handed finished against Jabarie Smith

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Speaker 1: curling off of an action at an elbow. Austin got

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Speaker 1: all the way to the rim and had a nice

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Speaker 1: lay up. He connected with Lebron on a beautiful like

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Speaker 1: kind of two mini game on the left wing where

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Speaker 1: Lebron got inside position on a men Thompson, and Austin

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Speaker 1: just led him perfectly towards the rim. A really high

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Speaker 1: difficulty passed. Lebron was able to rise up and finish

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Speaker 1: it over the top of him Men Thompson. And as

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00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,919
Speaker 1: you guys know, those little passes against a men Thompson

388
00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,720
Speaker 1: are just so complicated because his recovery athleticism is so ridiculous.

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Speaker 1: DeAndre Ayton continued his stellar play. He had a big

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Speaker 1: right shoulder fade on a quick post up of Shangoon.

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Speaker 1: During that run. The Lakers end up going up six

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Speaker 1: and retaking control of the situation. Now, when Luca first

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Speaker 1: came back in, the Rockets won on a little bit

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Speaker 1: of a run. Luke had a couple of turnovers that

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Speaker 1: led to runouts. The Lakers did botch a couple of switches,

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Speaker 1: this time off of the left elbow that gave up

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Speaker 1: some easy ones to a Men Thompson. A man killed

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Speaker 1: the Lakers as a cutter and as a driver last night.

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Speaker 1: But then Luca found an insane groove down the stretch.

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Speaker 1: We've talked about this with the Rockets a couple times

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Speaker 1: over the last couple of weeks, but they have a

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Speaker 1: bit of a conundrum with Shangun because, as we talked about,

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Speaker 1: having him back is what allows the Rockets to have

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00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,160
Speaker 1: so much more dimension to their offense. If you don't

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Speaker 1: have Shangun as a passing folk rum, it becomes a

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Speaker 1: lot harder to run your off ball action with Kevin Durant,

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Speaker 1: because what makes it work is having a guy that

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Speaker 1: can score out of that triple threat and can pass

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Speaker 1: out of that triple triple threat. But it comes with

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Speaker 1: the added downside of Shangun being a terrible pick and

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Speaker 1: roll defender. And so I've been saying over the last

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Speaker 1: couple of weeks, this whole thing with the Rockets is

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Speaker 1: fundamentally flawed. In the Monday Night game, the Rockets without

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Speaker 1: Shangoon were able to have these small bursts of Clint Capella,

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Speaker 1: but they played a lot of small ball, especially down

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Speaker 1: the stretch of the game, and they switched everything. This

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00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:58,520
Speaker 1: more or less neutralized Lebron and Austin in some of

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Speaker 1: their attacks that were coming mostly out of action, and

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Speaker 1: it basically made it so that those Luca ISOs were

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00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:06,960
Speaker 1: their only offense down the stretch of the game. Now

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00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,320
Speaker 1: Luca made enough plays attacking ISOs down the stretch, and

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Speaker 1: the Laker defense that had overwhelming success doubling KD was

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Speaker 1: able to make enough plays the Lakers got out of

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Speaker 1: there with the win. But honestly, it was probably the

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Speaker 1: best stretch a defense that anyone's played against this red

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Speaker 1: hot Lakers offense over the last couple of weeks. Was

427
00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:28,320
Speaker 1: Shane Good on the floor, the Lakers were able to

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Speaker 1: just get into their pick and roll attack. One of

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Speaker 1: the things I've noticed over the course of the last

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Speaker 1: few weeks is that the Lakers have really started to

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Speaker 1: dial in their pick and roll sequencing. Right, So any

432
00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,359
Speaker 1: sort of traditional two on two sequence in a drop coverage,

433
00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:43,840
Speaker 1: Luca knows what he's gonna do, right He's got his

434
00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:46,040
Speaker 1: pull up three going. He's able to get to the

435
00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:48,760
Speaker 1: ram and score in the mid range really effectively right now.

436
00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,159
Speaker 1: So if you guarded two onto Luca's looking to score,

437
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,800
Speaker 1: He's built, you know, a certain amount of lobb chemistry,

438
00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:55,879
Speaker 1: especially with DeAndre Ayton as of late, that's made that

439
00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,000
Speaker 1: really difficult to guard. And then as soon as you

440
00:20:58,040 --> 00:20:59,719
Speaker 1: load up on him in any way, whether it's your

441
00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:02,080
Speaker 1: tacking the roller on DeAndre and you're coming up to

442
00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:05,080
Speaker 1: the level whatever it is, you defend it three onto

443
00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:07,960
Speaker 1: Luca's got all the reads down the lobs, the skip

444
00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,960
Speaker 1: passes on the skips like you know. The work that

445
00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:14,600
Speaker 1: they've done as a team to improve their jump shooting,

446
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:17,520
Speaker 1: between just Austin getting back and getting healthy and able

447
00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:19,480
Speaker 1: to knock down shots like that big corner three that

448
00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:21,840
Speaker 1: he hit in the second half last night, getting Luke

449
00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:24,720
Speaker 1: Canard into this situation where he wasn't as much of

450
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,520
Speaker 1: a factor last night, but Lukenard's ability to knock down

451
00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:29,840
Speaker 1: open catch and shoot threes. Marcus Smart was one for

452
00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:31,680
Speaker 1: five from three last night, but he's been shooting the

453
00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:34,480
Speaker 1: three really well in the last few months. Ruey Hachimura,

454
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:36,760
Speaker 1: obviously a knockdown corner three point shooter, hit a big

455
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:38,600
Speaker 1: one out of the left corner in the fourth quarter

456
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:40,520
Speaker 1: last night. Got a favorable bounce, but a big one

457
00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,879
Speaker 1: out of that left corner. They've been the third best

458
00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,480
Speaker 1: three point shooting team not counting last night's game. I

459
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,520
Speaker 1: haven't checked the numbers, but they've been the third best

460
00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:50,200
Speaker 1: three point shooting team by percentage in the league since

461
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,320
Speaker 1: the All Star break. So between the ability to have

462
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,879
Speaker 1: the baseline cutters like Hatchamura and Lebron James, all of

463
00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:00,560
Speaker 1: the connective playmaking. Because Marcus Smart and Lebron Jay and

464
00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:04,000
Speaker 1: Austin Reeves are such great passers, everyone's in a position

465
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:07,320
Speaker 1: where they can finish off of those advantages that Luca creates.

466
00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:10,520
Speaker 1: They have nailed their pick and roll sequencing over the

467
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:12,920
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks, and it's made them a very,

468
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:17,280
Speaker 1: very difficult offense to guard at in the fact that

469
00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:21,000
Speaker 1: Luca is ascending to maybe the highest level we've ever

470
00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:23,120
Speaker 1: seen from him, maybe on both ends of the floor,

471
00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:27,320
Speaker 1: and the Rockets were basically doomed to fail. Luca's been

472
00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:29,399
Speaker 1: so red hot from three as of late that the

473
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:32,200
Speaker 1: Rockets basically had no choice but to bring Shangoon way

474
00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,800
Speaker 1: out to the level and trap. They had tooled around

475
00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:37,720
Speaker 1: a little bit with like just bringing him up to

476
00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,400
Speaker 1: the level and then recovering. But Shangun is just so clumsy,

477
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,800
Speaker 1: Like there was a three he gave up in the

478
00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:46,280
Speaker 1: third quarter in particular where Luca was coming off of

479
00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,040
Speaker 1: a ball screen towards the left wing and Shanggun showed,

480
00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 1: but then as he was backing out, he literally screened

481
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,280
Speaker 1: his own man, like he just ran into his own man,

482
00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:56,640
Speaker 1: which then left Luca wide open on the left wing

483
00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,560
Speaker 1: for three. So like he's just it just as a

484
00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:01,399
Speaker 1: really different cult for him to find a pick and

485
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:03,160
Speaker 1: roll coverages that are working for him. I think he's

486
00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,280
Speaker 1: got the potential to be a way better defender, he

487
00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,439
Speaker 1: just has not come close to figuring it out. So

488
00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:09,760
Speaker 1: down the stretch of the game, they were just having

489
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:14,240
Speaker 1: shanggun the hard trap, and Luca had two ridiculous splits

490
00:23:14,240 --> 00:23:16,440
Speaker 1: of Shangun, one on a behind the back dribble, another

491
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:18,680
Speaker 1: one on a spin move on the behind the back

492
00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,440
Speaker 1: trible on both of them. He ends up just penetrating

493
00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:23,280
Speaker 1: the defense down the middle easily because he splits the

494
00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:25,840
Speaker 1: double team right and so the lowman has no choice

495
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:27,639
Speaker 1: but to hard help in the middle of the floor.

496
00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:30,560
Speaker 1: He hits Ruey Hachimura on a no look pass on

497
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 1: a lob dunk. He hits Lebron James off of the

498
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 1: spin move on a lob dunk along the baseline. Again

499
00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:39,320
Speaker 1: like that badly compromises the defense when you can split

500
00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:41,480
Speaker 1: a double team, because now you're looking at basically what

501
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:44,879
Speaker 1: amounts to a five on three. Right, he adds in

502
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,280
Speaker 1: two preposterous iso step back threes, one over a men

503
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,200
Speaker 1: Thompson off of a spin move on the right wing,

504
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:52,240
Speaker 1: and then he ice is the game with a step

505
00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:54,119
Speaker 1: back kind of like a double step back, like a

506
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:57,280
Speaker 1: step back into a scissor dribble step back over Jabari

507
00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:59,520
Speaker 1: Smith on the left wing, and we got our peak

508
00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,640
Speaker 1: Luka don moment of the season, and the Lakers got

509
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,040
Speaker 1: the win. Secure the inside track on the three seeds

510
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,200
Speaker 1: not locked up necessarily, but they're in very strong position

511
00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,320
Speaker 1: to get that three seed, and Luka Doncic is making

512
00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:15,360
Speaker 1: his case as the best player in the world right now.

513
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,719
Speaker 1: Nikoley Jokich has been in a slump by his standards

514
00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:23,359
Speaker 1: since returning from his knee injury. The counting stats are good,

515
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,240
Speaker 1: he's averaging twenty six thirteen to ten, but just like

516
00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,040
Speaker 1: I was telling Luca Fans earlier in the season, counting

517
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 1: stats come relatively easily to the top tier superstars. There

518
00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,879
Speaker 1: are little details that really separate the best player in

519
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,120
Speaker 1: the world level from that level right below that best

520
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,239
Speaker 1: player in the world level. For example, Jokich has been

521
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:47,920
Speaker 1: extremely turnover prone since coming back. He's averaging four point

522
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:51,040
Speaker 1: five turnovers per game since coming back from his knee injury.

523
00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:54,600
Speaker 1: His ten turnovers and that loss a disaster lost to

524
00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:58,280
Speaker 1: Memphis last night. That was his sixth time since returning

525
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:00,280
Speaker 1: from the knee injury where he's had at least six

526
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:03,520
Speaker 1: turnovers in a game. His shot making has gone down

527
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:05,320
Speaker 1: in terms of the level of efficiency. He's not shooting

528
00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:07,399
Speaker 1: the ball as well from three. He started to kind

529
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:08,679
Speaker 1: of get a little bit better in some of his

530
00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,200
Speaker 1: short range shot making, but he hasn't been as efficient

531
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,280
Speaker 1: as he was before his knee injury, and then outside

532
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:16,600
Speaker 1: of a few stretches, he's been pretty bad on defense.

533
00:25:17,840 --> 00:25:20,040
Speaker 1: I try really hard to be consistent about this stuff.

534
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,199
Speaker 1: I got a lot of crap from Luca fans earlier

535
00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,160
Speaker 1: in the season. I don't hold Luca to a different standard.

536
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,600
Speaker 1: I hold all of the guys in that tier to

537
00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:29,880
Speaker 1: the best player in the world standard, which is an

538
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:34,040
Speaker 1: extremely high standard, the best player in the world. Mantle

539
00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:37,000
Speaker 1: feels very much up in the air right now. I

540
00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:40,080
Speaker 1: do think Shae has the inside track. He's just been

541
00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:43,439
Speaker 1: the most consistent and productive player in the league this season.

542
00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:47,719
Speaker 1: But Luca is making his case, and he's been every

543
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:49,520
Speaker 1: bit as good as Shaye, if not even a little

544
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:51,800
Speaker 1: bit better, over the last couple of weeks, which is

545
00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,240
Speaker 1: saying something because Shay's been insane for all of the

546
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,400
Speaker 1: reasons that I talked about this summer when I ranked

547
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:03,080
Speaker 1: Luca over Shay. In this ten to one stretch, he's

548
00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 1: averaging thirty four points per game, nine rebounds in eight assists,

549
00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,600
Speaker 1: only three point eight turnovers, which is not great, but

550
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 1: it's well below a season average sixty three percent true

551
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,440
Speaker 1: shooting thanks to him hitting forty percent on twelve and

552
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,199
Speaker 1: a half threes per game. We've talked about it a

553
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,040
Speaker 1: bunch over the course of the season, but when Luka

554
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:24,840
Speaker 1: is at his best, he's every bit as good at

555
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,639
Speaker 1: scoring the basketball as Shay, well being nearly as gifted

556
00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:33,600
Speaker 1: a playmaker as Nicole Jokic with the added nuclear upside

557
00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,600
Speaker 1: of Steph Curry thanks to his super high volume from three,

558
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:45,600
Speaker 1: and he's playing the best defense of his career in

559
00:26:45,640 --> 00:26:49,120
Speaker 1: this stretch. I've said this a few times this year,

560
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:51,879
Speaker 1: but I really mean it. When Luka Doncic is at

561
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:55,399
Speaker 1: his best, he's the best basketball player in the world.

562
00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,560
Speaker 1: He hasn't been able to sustain it the way that

563
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:01,720
Speaker 1: Yoki and Shay have over the last few years, and

564
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,320
Speaker 1: that's definitely the next step for Luca in his development.

565
00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:08,000
Speaker 1: He can be his own worst enemy sometimes, but with

566
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:10,240
Speaker 1: the best player in the world, Mantle very much up

567
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,760
Speaker 1: in the air right now, Luca's making his case and

568
00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:17,800
Speaker 1: it's a damn good one. Ultimately, the playoffs will be

569
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,400
Speaker 1: where this is decided, as it always is, but it's

570
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:24,800
Speaker 1: been really fun seeing Luca rediscover this incredible ceiling that

571
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,439
Speaker 1: he has. One of my favorite parts about last night's game,

572
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,800
Speaker 1: and this has been really prevalent over the last couple

573
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:35,920
Speaker 1: of weeks. Lucas talking shit like crazy now, talking shit

574
00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,160
Speaker 1: to fans, talking shit to the players that are guarding him.

575
00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,720
Speaker 1: It's the biggest difference. Like when Luka Doncic is really

576
00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:47,400
Speaker 1: in his groove, he's not talking to the refs. He's

577
00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:51,240
Speaker 1: talking shit. That's the big difference between where Luca was

578
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 1: a couple months ago versus where he is now. Luca

579
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:57,639
Speaker 1: is not engaging with the refs nearly as much as

580
00:27:57,680 --> 00:27:58,960
Speaker 1: he used to. Part of that is because if he

581
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:00,800
Speaker 1: gets another tech, he gets the spend it, so like

582
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:02,680
Speaker 1: he kind of has to be on his best behavior.

583
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:04,879
Speaker 1: But that has caused him to focus in a way

584
00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:09,639
Speaker 1: where now he's recapturing some of that mean basketball asshole

585
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,120
Speaker 1: personality that has made him one of the most exciting

586
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:14,840
Speaker 1: young players in the league over the course of the

587
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:22,120
Speaker 1: last half decade. He's must see television right now. There

588
00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 1: have been times this season where he's been a little

589
00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,640
Speaker 1: bit of a chore to watch that is distant memory now.

590
00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:33,600
Speaker 1: The level of aggression, the level of intensity, the two

591
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:36,000
Speaker 1: way play, the hustle. There was a stretch in the

592
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:39,680
Speaker 1: in the late second quarter when the Lakers went on

593
00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:41,960
Speaker 1: a little run, like Houston had cut it down to

594
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: single digits and the Lakers going a little run right

595
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:49,360
Speaker 1: before halftime. There were multiple plays that sparked runouts, one

596
00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:53,520
Speaker 1: for Austin, one for Lebron where Lucas scrapping for loose balls,

597
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,680
Speaker 1: wrenching a loose ball away from Jabari Smith, diving on

598
00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:58,800
Speaker 1: the floor to get a kick ahead pass to Austin. Like,

599
00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:02,640
Speaker 1: there's a level of intensity right now with Luca that

600
00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:05,680
Speaker 1: we haven't seen yet this season outside of these last

601
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:10,080
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. It is making him incredibly fun to

602
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,480
Speaker 1: root for. I was texting some buddies of mine who

603
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 1: are Laker fans this morning, like, I actually think this

604
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:20,600
Speaker 1: Lakers team is playing the most fun basketball right now.

605
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,360
Speaker 1: That could not have been further from the case earlier

606
00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:27,480
Speaker 1: in the season. Luca is musty television right now, those

607
00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:29,280
Speaker 1: are you guys who are listening. I know there's a

608
00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:31,760
Speaker 1: lot of guys who people don't like the Lakers. If

609
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:33,160
Speaker 1: you haven't had a chance to watch the Lakers in

610
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:35,520
Speaker 1: the last couple week, you gotta check them out. This

611
00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 1: has been really fun to watch over the last couple

612
00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 1: of weeks, and it's all starting from the top with

613
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,760
Speaker 1: the level that Luka Doncic has reached. How about Lebron

614
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:50,400
Speaker 1: last night if it wasn't for him getting egregiously fouled

615
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:53,120
Speaker 1: on a play where that somehow didn't get called that

616
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:55,640
Speaker 1: led to his one missed field goal last night, if

617
00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:57,120
Speaker 1: he goes to the line that makes two free throws there,

618
00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,600
Speaker 1: he would have had a thirty two point perfect game,

619
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 1: but he ends up with thirty on thirteen for fourteen

620
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,840
Speaker 1: from the field. Almost all in the flow of the

621
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,720
Speaker 1: offense is a handful of aggressive on ball plays in

622
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:11,920
Speaker 1: the area, like we said that little curl around the

623
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,240
Speaker 1: elbow for the left hand to finish off the glass

624
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:16,160
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter, But most of it is just

625
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:19,840
Speaker 1: off ball scoring in the flow, catch and shoot threes,

626
00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:24,760
Speaker 1: attacking off of cuts, attacking in transition, attacking slipping out

627
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:26,840
Speaker 1: of screens like that play we talked about with Austin

628
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:32,320
Speaker 1: versus a Men Thompson. The unbelievable level of effort on

629
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,520
Speaker 1: the defensive end and as a rebounder. He's making low

630
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:39,520
Speaker 1: man rotations and little extra efforts defensively that he wasn't

631
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,840
Speaker 1: making earlier in the season. He is scrapping for rebounds.

632
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:48,000
Speaker 1: I actually think, and this is crazy. I think Lebron

633
00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:51,720
Speaker 1: this is the most I've seen Lebron actually believe in

634
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:58,240
Speaker 1: a team in a very long time, multiple years. Not

635
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:00,600
Speaker 1: to say that he hasn't been locked in it points

636
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:02,280
Speaker 1: like I do think Lebron is locked in at the

637
00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,120
Speaker 1: tail end of last season, but I think he knew

638
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 1: deep down, like that version of Luca didn't quite have

639
00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:09,720
Speaker 1: the juice. I think he knew that team didn't quite

640
00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:12,120
Speaker 1: have the talent that they needed. There is like a

641
00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 1: laser focus with Lebron now because I think he believes now.

642
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,440
Speaker 1: Is it irrational? We'll see, I mean, they're I don't

643
00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:21,520
Speaker 1: think they're as good as Oklahoma City, certainly not yet.

644
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:23,640
Speaker 1: We'll see over the larger sample if they can prove

645
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,480
Speaker 1: that to us. But like there's a level of like

646
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:29,280
Speaker 1: belief with him that is bringing out a level of

647
00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:34,920
Speaker 1: possession to possession competitiveness that this team. It has been

648
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:40,360
Speaker 1: a massive ceiling razer for this team. Since the All

649
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 1: Star break. The Lakers with Lebron, Austin and Luca on

650
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:49,080
Speaker 1: the floor are outscoring opponents by fifteen points per one

651
00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:52,480
Speaker 1: hundred possessions. And they've been elite on both ends of

652
00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:56,040
Speaker 1: the floor. And I mean, I was on this at

653
00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:59,640
Speaker 1: the time, but that hole, the Lakers are better without Lebron.

654
00:31:59,720 --> 00:32:03,240
Speaker 1: Media cycle that week might have been the dumbest media

655
00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:07,560
Speaker 1: cycle that I can remember. And there were obvious signs before,

656
00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:10,000
Speaker 1: like the fact that Austin had missed this huge chunk

657
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,080
Speaker 1: of the season, the fact that most of their data

658
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 1: set came from early in the season when when Lebron

659
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:18,320
Speaker 1: was coming back from Sciatica and literally skipped training camp,

660
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:21,360
Speaker 1: and the Lakers weren't competing on defense on defense, and

661
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:24,320
Speaker 1: it wasn't the same version of Luca that we have now, Like,

662
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:27,120
Speaker 1: there was obvious reasons for us to look at that

663
00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:29,160
Speaker 1: and be like, oh, this is what's happening. Even this

664
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,120
Speaker 1: recent stretch where it's like Austin is coming back from

665
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:34,160
Speaker 1: an injury, but is clearly a shell of himself, so

666
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:37,360
Speaker 1: Lebron's having to absorb more usage as Austin gets into rhythm.

667
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:39,520
Speaker 1: And then all of a sudden, Lebron steps out for

668
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:41,720
Speaker 1: a couple of games and Austin does find his rhythm

669
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:44,800
Speaker 1: and everyone starts talking reckless and not paying attention to

670
00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,360
Speaker 1: what's happening right there in front of their eyes. I'm

671
00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:50,440
Speaker 1: so glad that Lebron this quickly stepped in and shut

672
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:54,160
Speaker 1: everybody up, because that was completely ridiculous. This is got

673
00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:57,120
Speaker 1: This guy is at worst the second best basketball player

674
00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,320
Speaker 1: of all time. This guy was the sixth finish, sixth

675
00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:03,440
Speaker 1: an MVP voting last year as a forty year old,

676
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:07,800
Speaker 1: and the amount of like just like blind doubt that

677
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:10,120
Speaker 1: was pointed to him, as if he couldn't figure out

678
00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 1: how to make winning basketball plays alongside the likes of

679
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:17,480
Speaker 1: Luca and Austin. It was egregious coverage that we saw

680
00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,080
Speaker 1: over that stretch, literally one of the dumbest media cycles

681
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:24,080
Speaker 1: that I can remember. Big shock, Lebron James can help

682
00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:27,440
Speaker 1: the Lakers, and he's done so since he returned from

683
00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: that little break that he took from that injury. A

684
00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:33,000
Speaker 1: couple weeks ago. All right, before we get out of

685
00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:35,400
Speaker 1: here tonight today, I should say I wanted to talk

686
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:37,680
Speaker 1: about Jared McCain for a little bit. So he goes

687
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:41,040
Speaker 1: for twenty six points yesterday in a destructive blowout of

688
00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:43,640
Speaker 1: the Brooklyn Nets. And we've talked a lot about his

689
00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:46,880
Speaker 1: jump shooting as of late, specifically just the kind of

690
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,680
Speaker 1: release valve that he gives a guy like Shake Gildas Alexander.

691
00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:51,800
Speaker 1: And we did see an example that last night, Shae

692
00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:55,080
Speaker 1: driving off of the right wing and Jared McCain's man

693
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:58,080
Speaker 1: hard helps on nail help off of the right elbow,

694
00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:01,280
Speaker 1: and Shae ends up throwing kind like a bad pass

695
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,920
Speaker 1: of way too low pass to Jared McCain, But he's

696
00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:05,800
Speaker 1: just so wide open that he has plenty of time

697
00:34:05,840 --> 00:34:08,200
Speaker 1: to gather it and to find his footing and to

698
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:10,319
Speaker 1: knock down at three. And that's gonna be a really

699
00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:15,080
Speaker 1: useful playoff thing for this particular season, just having Jared

700
00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:18,279
Speaker 1: McCain on the opposite wing from Shay, so that when

701
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:21,080
Speaker 1: he's working in his ISOs, you can't just sync down

702
00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,200
Speaker 1: to the nail anymore because you've got a guy there

703
00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:25,880
Speaker 1: on the left, a left wing that's just going to

704
00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:28,440
Speaker 1: knock that shot down. And I do think that Jared's

705
00:34:28,480 --> 00:34:32,520
Speaker 1: gonna play at least some role in this year's playoff

706
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,759
Speaker 1: team in this year's playoff run, especially during the stretches

707
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:39,360
Speaker 1: where Oklahoma City is going through extensive offensive droughts and

708
00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:41,600
Speaker 1: they're not knocking down shots. I think we talked about

709
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,680
Speaker 1: this yesterday in our contender rankings, but Jared McCain and

710
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,680
Speaker 1: Jay Will just bring this new recent stretch of shooting

711
00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:51,800
Speaker 1: from Jay Will and Jared McCain bring a new layer

712
00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:55,160
Speaker 1: of a shooting dynamic that Mark dagnall can go to

713
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,320
Speaker 1: at various points that I think is going to be useful.

714
00:34:57,600 --> 00:34:59,600
Speaker 1: But I want to talk about his versatility for a minute,

715
00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,960
Speaker 1: because this is going to be an important big picture

716
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:05,320
Speaker 1: thing for the Thunder as we look at the future

717
00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:08,640
Speaker 1: of this Thunder team, whether it's from just everybody getting

718
00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:11,000
Speaker 1: super expensive and then having to let guys go, like

719
00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:14,200
Speaker 1: they might have to lose Isaiah Hartenstein this summer, for example,

720
00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:16,399
Speaker 1: they might have to trade one of their really good

721
00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:19,759
Speaker 1: perimeter defenders. Well, I don't know what the timeline is

722
00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:22,080
Speaker 1: for this whole expansion thing, but there's a version of

723
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,040
Speaker 1: this where they lose a couple of players to the

724
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:27,640
Speaker 1: expansion draft, So like, guys are gonna get out of

725
00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:30,880
Speaker 1: this lineup and they're gonna need people that can step

726
00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:34,200
Speaker 1: in and play larger roles. And I'm really starting to

727
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:36,120
Speaker 1: look at Jared McCain as a guy that I think

728
00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:39,120
Speaker 1: has a lot of potential to be not quite a

729
00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:42,319
Speaker 1: foundational piece, but a very very important piece for this

730
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:45,160
Speaker 1: Thunder team in their extended run that they could go

731
00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:48,520
Speaker 1: on over the course of the next few years. First

732
00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:50,279
Speaker 1: of all, the off ball movement. This is one of

733
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:53,000
Speaker 1: the biggest things that separates good shooters from great shooters,

734
00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:57,560
Speaker 1: the willingness to constantly run. There's a level of perpetual

735
00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:00,799
Speaker 1: motion with Jared that I think is very valuable in

736
00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,520
Speaker 1: this offense. He's kind of an underrated athlete. I was

737
00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:05,080
Speaker 1: thinking about this when I was watching him get to

738
00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:08,680
Speaker 1: those little step backs yesterday against Brooklyn, where like he's

739
00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:11,880
Speaker 1: getting downhill curling off of an action and he's running

740
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:15,080
Speaker 1: low and then he just plants that right foot and

741
00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:17,600
Speaker 1: just on a dime, stops and gets back. And he's

742
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:21,040
Speaker 1: very good at stopping his momentum and making that step

743
00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:22,640
Speaker 1: back move, but not in a way that causes him

744
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,040
Speaker 1: to lose balance, but in a way that causes him

745
00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:28,000
Speaker 1: to look very balanced as he's rising up in that

746
00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:30,400
Speaker 1: mid range there. I think that's a testament to just

747
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,640
Speaker 1: the level of strength that he has in his core

748
00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:35,000
Speaker 1: and in his lower body. Again, like a lot of

749
00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:38,160
Speaker 1: times when we talk about basketball, people get focused on

750
00:36:38,239 --> 00:36:41,600
Speaker 1: things like your first step quickness, which is obviously vitally important.

751
00:36:41,640 --> 00:36:43,919
Speaker 1: It's a big addition to this lineup in the form

752
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:46,600
Speaker 1: of AJ Mitchell for example, right, But a lot of

753
00:36:46,640 --> 00:36:49,800
Speaker 1: it has to do with stopping your momentum or winning

754
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:53,160
Speaker 1: battles after you make that first move. You make that

755
00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:55,719
Speaker 1: first move, we talk about the shoulder leverage battle, right,

756
00:36:55,719 --> 00:36:57,640
Speaker 1: you got to blow through the shoulder or the defender's

757
00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:00,120
Speaker 1: got to hold his shoulder right, or when you have

758
00:37:00,160 --> 00:37:03,640
Speaker 1: a defender that's in a retreating posture as he's trying

759
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:05,960
Speaker 1: to beat you to a spot, if you can stop

760
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,839
Speaker 1: on a dime, that often has a lot more to

761
00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,879
Speaker 1: do with separation even than your first step quickness. Even

762
00:37:11,920 --> 00:37:14,480
Speaker 1: with a guy like j Dubb for example, like who

763
00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:18,040
Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily have the quickest first step, he's very good

764
00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:21,319
Speaker 1: at that like secondary move, that counter move, winning the

765
00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:23,800
Speaker 1: leverage battle with his shoulder when he drops his shoulder

766
00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:27,640
Speaker 1: or getting into spins euros, different things that allow him

767
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:30,200
Speaker 1: to stop his momentum to get to a shot that

768
00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,960
Speaker 1: he can knock down. Jared McCain is an underrated athlete.

769
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,319
Speaker 1: He's built like a bowling ball. He's got very good

770
00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,960
Speaker 1: lateral quickness and just overall speed on the floor. But

771
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,000
Speaker 1: he also has a very strong base, a low center

772
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:44,480
Speaker 1: of gravity, and an ability to stop on a dime.

773
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:46,759
Speaker 1: Those shots that hit against Brooklyn, I think we're really

774
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:49,879
Speaker 1: fascinating because like he's been torching teams with his mid

775
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:53,000
Speaker 1: range shooting since joining the Thunder. This is a crazy stat.

776
00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:58,040
Speaker 1: He's shooting seventy two percent on twos jump shots inside

777
00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:02,440
Speaker 1: of seventeen feet since joining the Thunder eighteen for twenty five.

778
00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:06,960
Speaker 1: He's deadly from that range. That athleticism is also manifesting

779
00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:09,239
Speaker 1: in utility on the defensive end of the floor. He

780
00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:11,759
Speaker 1: moves his feet well. His low center of gravity and

781
00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:14,120
Speaker 1: that bowling ball kind of aura that he has allows

782
00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:17,200
Speaker 1: him to get through screens reasonably well. He's got active

783
00:38:17,200 --> 00:38:19,320
Speaker 1: hands on strips. He had a couple of really impressive

784
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:22,640
Speaker 1: strips last night against the Nets. I think the Thunder

785
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,320
Speaker 1: might have done it again. I think they might have

786
00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:31,279
Speaker 1: found a player who was undervalued elsewhere. I mean that

787
00:38:31,640 --> 00:38:34,640
Speaker 1: Darryl Morey quote that we're pretty confident we're selling high

788
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,680
Speaker 1: on Jared McCain. That might be one that gets brought

789
00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:40,240
Speaker 1: up several times over the course of the next five years,

790
00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:43,920
Speaker 1: because I think Jared McCain not only brings a level

791
00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:45,799
Speaker 1: of we talked a lot about this over the course

792
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:47,719
Speaker 1: of the season, like athleticism and shooting are two of

793
00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:51,160
Speaker 1: the most valuable traits in the entire NBA. There's a

794
00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:53,759
Speaker 1: level of utility that he brings to this team. But

795
00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:56,880
Speaker 1: above and beyond that, he's a very different type of

796
00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:00,799
Speaker 1: player than anybody on this team, and it brings a

797
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:04,959
Speaker 1: different element, a different variation to this team that will

798
00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:09,480
Speaker 1: just give Mark Dagnault more options as he counters different

799
00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:12,040
Speaker 1: types of problems in different playoff runs for the Thunder

800
00:39:12,080 --> 00:39:14,400
Speaker 1: in the coming years. All Right, guys, that's all I

801
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:16,480
Speaker 1: have for today is always as sincerely appreciate you guys

802
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,319
Speaker 1: for supporting us and supporting the show. We were thinking

803
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:21,799
Speaker 1: about doing a mailbag tomorrow, but I think we're gonna

804
00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:23,200
Speaker 1: get a couple of really good games tonight. I think

805
00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:25,720
Speaker 1: we have Orlando Charlotte, and then we also have Lakers

806
00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:28,520
Speaker 1: Heat as the Lebron said after the game last night

807
00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:30,560
Speaker 1: that he's planning on playing tomorrow, So we're gonna have

808
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:32,680
Speaker 1: a couple of game reactions in the morning and we'll

809
00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:34,759
Speaker 1: probably do some mailbag questions in the tail end of

810
00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:37,120
Speaker 1: the show. As always, I appreciate you guys for supporting us,

811
00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:38,520
Speaker 1: and we will see you tomorrow morning.