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Speaker 1: co slash b ball. All right, welcome to him tonight

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Speaker 1: here at the volume heavy Wednesday. Everybody up, all of

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Speaker 1: you guys are having a great week. Got a quick

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Speaker 1: show for you today. We're just hitting two games from

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Speaker 1: last night, Slate two of the top contender. Two games

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Speaker 1: worth of the top contenders in the league facing off

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Speaker 1: with each other. Our early season top two teams in

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Speaker 1: the East between the Celtics and the Knicks didn't work

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Speaker 1: out that way, but the Knicks got a chance again

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Speaker 1: to try to reverse the embarrassing trends that they've had

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Speaker 1: against the Celtics, and they did have their most competitive

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Speaker 1: game of the season against Boston, but ultimately ended up

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Speaker 1: losing on a pick and pop three by Christops Porzingis.

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Speaker 1: Lots of interesting stuff in that game, though, and one

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Speaker 1: potential little upside for the Knicks in a potential playoff

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Speaker 1: matchup with the Celtics. And then in the second half

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Speaker 1: of the show, we got Round two of Lakers Thunder,

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Speaker 1: a very predictable shift and effort from both teams, but

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Speaker 1: I thought it manifested in some super interesting ways and

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Speaker 1: it ended up leaving that game even more convinced that

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Speaker 1: the Lakers have a good chance to potentially upset the

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Speaker 1: Thunder in a playoff series. So lots to get into

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Speaker 1: in those two games. And then don't forget, we're coming

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Speaker 1: back tonight after the final buzzer of Mavericks Lakers a

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Speaker 1: good opportunity for us to see a good old fashioned

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Speaker 1: revenge game with Anthony Davis and Luke on some different teams.

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Speaker 1: I think we'll get to see Lebron and Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: guard each other tonight. That should be fun. Luca is

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Speaker 1: either going to just go absolutely ape shit or he's

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Speaker 1: going to be terrible. I'll be curious to see which

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Speaker 1: one he ends up being because it's just such a

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Speaker 1: weird environment. But don't forget we've got that coming up

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Speaker 1: on YouTube later tonight. You guys know the drill before

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Speaker 1: we get started. Subscribe to Hoops Tonight YouTube channels. You

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Speaker 1: don't miss any more of our videos. Following me on

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Speaker 1: Twitter at underscore JCNLTS. You guys don't misshow announcements. Don't

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Speaker 1: forget about a podcast feed wherever you get your podcast

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Speaker 1: on our Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if we

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Speaker 1: leave a rating and a review on that front. Jackson's

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Speaker 1: doing some great work on our social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram,

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Speaker 1: and facebooks. Make sure you guys follow Hoops Tonight there,

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

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Speaker 1: in the youtub t comments. We already did our mail

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Speaker 1: bag this week, but there's still tons of time to

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Speaker 1: get questions in for next week's mail bag. Remember just

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Speaker 1: in our full episodes in the comments right. Mail Bag

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Speaker 1: with Colon Recher question in there. We'll get to it

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Speaker 1: in our weekly mail bags throughout the remainder of the season.

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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. So the Knicks had

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Speaker 1: by far their most competitive game of the season versus

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Speaker 1: the Celtics, but obviously they end up losing. Pick and

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Speaker 1: pop three from chrisps porzingis kind of like a just

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Speaker 1: a repeated theme in that game. Porzingis getting good, clean

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Speaker 1: looks above the break. But I want to start with

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Speaker 1: the Knicks for a second and talk about specifically how

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Speaker 1: the Knicks managed to keep things more competitive this time around.

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Speaker 1: This is a matchup where the Knicks have looked They've

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Speaker 1: looked like they've not been in the same class as

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Speaker 1: Boston in the matchups they've had earlier this season. And

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Speaker 1: I thought the two things that shifted that back towards

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Speaker 1: the knicks favor were one, it was their sharpest defensive

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Speaker 1: discipline game Boston. They weren't really doing anything different per se,

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Speaker 1: still trying their best not to switch with Brunson in

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Speaker 1: towns and staying attached, but they just did a better job,

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Speaker 1: better ball pressure, better staying attached to those screening actions,

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Speaker 1: better rotating, just making Boston a little bit more uncomfortable.

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Speaker 1: And by the way, I don't think it was a

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Speaker 1: coincidence that this was their best defensive game against Boston

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Speaker 1: because it comes right after the best defensive stretch that

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Speaker 1: Boston excuse me, that the Knicks have had this season

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Speaker 1: with Jalen Brunson out. As we talked about the other day,

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Speaker 1: they've been top ten, top ten in defense, top ten

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Speaker 1: and defensive rebounding, so two categories that they've been And

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Speaker 1: they've been awesome at forcing turnovers, getting out in transition,

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Speaker 1: forcing more turnovers than they did at any other point

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Speaker 1: in the season, scoring a ton of points per game

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Speaker 1: in transitions. So just being more of a we're gonna

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Speaker 1: be sharp on the margins type of team instead of

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Speaker 1: leaning on their offense like they did for the majority

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Speaker 1: of this season. I there were a lot of interesting

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Speaker 1: quotes that came out from players and coaches yesterday, but

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys heard Devin Booker. After

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Speaker 1: they got their butts kicked by the Golden State Warriors,

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Speaker 1: Devin Booker talked about, you know, someone asked him what

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Speaker 1: went wrong for the Suns this season, and he said,

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Speaker 1: they never had winning habits and this is a concept

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Speaker 1: I've talked about so much on the show, this idea

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Speaker 1: that your habits are what carry you in these situations.

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Speaker 1: You're even if you know what you're supposed to do,

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Speaker 1: Like even if you know like, Okay, here's what I

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Speaker 1: do and I'm the low man, these are the reads

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Speaker 1: that I'm looking to make. These are the rotations that

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Speaker 1: I make in these situations. Even if you understand how

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Speaker 1: to play defense, you've got to there is such a

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Speaker 1: thing as defensive rhythm, just like there is offensive rhythm.

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Speaker 1: When you're in a good stretch where you've been defending

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Speaker 1: really well for a while, you build up these habits

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Speaker 1: to where all those things that I said you would

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Speaker 1: understand by knowing your job actually come to fruition by

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Speaker 1: you executing those things every single possession. If you could

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Speaker 1: know all those things, but if you don't play back

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Speaker 1: basketball for a couple of weeks, or if you play

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Speaker 1: bad basketball for a couple of weeks, you could enter

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Speaker 1: into a more high leverage situation, and even though you

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Speaker 1: know what you're supposed to do, you're just not in

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Speaker 1: a rhythm defensively to where you're doing those things consistently.

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Speaker 1: You've got to build defensive rhythm. You have to build

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Speaker 1: defensive habits, and I don't think it's a coincidence that

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Speaker 1: the Knicks were more competitive with Boston in this game

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Speaker 1: after a stretch of time where they built out some

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Speaker 1: winning habits that didn't exist in the earlier part of

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Speaker 1: the season. Another just random quote from yesterday that I

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Speaker 1: wanted to shout out Mark Dagenal before the Lakers Thunder

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Speaker 1: second game. He was asked about the Lakers shooting in

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Speaker 1: the Sunday game, and basically he just went up there

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Speaker 1: and I was like, literally just in front of my

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Speaker 1: TV just clapping because he was just saying all the

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Speaker 1: stuff that I've been saying on the show NonStop, which

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Speaker 1: is that shot result is connected to the way you play.

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Speaker 1: And he was pointing out to the press, the guys

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Speaker 1: that were trying to the the you know, the reporters

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Speaker 1: just trying to get him to say something along the

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Speaker 1: lines of like, oh, yeah, well, you know, we know

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Speaker 1: the shots will even out tonight, But that's not what

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Speaker 1: Mark said. Mark was like, yeah, they shot well, but

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Speaker 1: we also allowed them to get great shots, We allowed

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Speaker 1: them to be comfortable. They played better basketball than us.

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Speaker 1: He literally said, they outplayed us the majority of the night.

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Speaker 1: That's the thing I've been saying this so much. You

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Speaker 1: can't flip shot quality unless you change the way that

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Speaker 1: you're playing. There's all sorts of interesting quotes going around

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Speaker 1: the NBA yesterday, But second piece that kept the Knicks

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Speaker 1: close to Boston yesterday, I thought they found a semi

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Speaker 1: reliable way to attack Boston's defense. And this was Carl

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Speaker 1: Anthony Towns in the post against Boston's guards and forwards.

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Speaker 1: Did a lot of really great work down there, bullying

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Speaker 1: guys right to the front of the rim, drawing second defenders,

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Speaker 1: and making kickout passes. He ran ten post ups in

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Speaker 1: the game, and the Knicks had a one to thirty

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Speaker 1: offensive rating in those possessions. Here's why that matters for

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Speaker 1: the Knicks. There are certain things from tonight that don't

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Speaker 1: translate to a series. Like Jalen Brown is banged up

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Speaker 1: and was on a minute's restriction right so with him

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Speaker 1: out and al Horford out in crunch time, the Celtics

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Speaker 1: had to close with Peyton Pritchard or Luke Cornett, and

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Speaker 1: the Knicks really went out those two guys in the

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter stretch. In the fourth quarter stretch when the

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Speaker 1: Knicks built that three point lead before Tatum tied it.

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Speaker 1: Jalen Brunson in a left shoulder fade over Peyton Pritchard,

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Speaker 1: Ognanovi Ojnnob got an easy offensive rebound put back over

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Speaker 1: Peyton Pritchard right underneath the basket. Then Joe Mizula tweaks, goes, Okay,

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Speaker 1: we're having some trouble with Prichard getting attacked for a

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Speaker 1: lack of size, so he goes with Luke Cornett instead.

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Speaker 1: Then Jalen Brunson just a meetate edately puts Luke Cornett

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Speaker 1: in the ball screen, draws a blitz two on the

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Speaker 1: ball out like thirty feet from the basket, throws a

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Speaker 1: nice little bounce pass to Josh Hart in the middle

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Speaker 1: of the floor. He hits a little floater that puts

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Speaker 1: him back up by three. So, like a lot of

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Speaker 1: the crunch time attack for the Knicks was stuff that

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Speaker 1: won't necessarily translate to a playoff series, right, But the

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Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns post up stuff. I do think that's

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Speaker 1: a real entry point for them that they can use

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Speaker 1: in a playoff series to generate some more reliable half

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Speaker 1: court offense in this matchup against Boston. But Ultimately, none

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Speaker 1: of it mattered because Tatum carried the Celtics through that

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Speaker 1: fourth quarter, and then the Celtics were able to generate

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Speaker 1: awesome shots in overtime, attacking Karl Anthony Towns and screening actions,

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Speaker 1: and they ended up getting a win. Tatum had a

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Speaker 1: remarkable shot making stretch in that fourth quarter, just over

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Speaker 1: and over and over again, taking these tough, contested mid

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Speaker 1: range jump shots in isolation situations right in the middle

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Speaker 1: of the floor, just kept hitting shot after shot after

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Speaker 1: and then capped it off with a nasty step back

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Speaker 1: three above the break on the right side of the

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Speaker 1: floor to tie the game and send it to overtime.

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Speaker 1: And I talked about this in the mail bag yesterday.

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Speaker 1: It's just because Tatum has been cold for a while,

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Speaker 1: and Tatum has for a while before last night, he

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Speaker 1: had been cold as a shot maker, but that doesn't

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Speaker 1: necessarily mean he's going to be cold in the postseason.

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Speaker 1: What I said was, it's a potential variable, right if

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Speaker 1: Tatum goes into the postseason and is elite as a

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Speaker 1: shot maker, it dramatically improves Boston's chances of winning. If

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Speaker 1: he goes in and he shoots poorly, Obviously, it hurts

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Speaker 1: them because the Celtics are going to face stiffer competition

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Speaker 1: this time around in the postseason. But I thought it

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Speaker 1: was interesting because, like I talked about it, like the

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Speaker 1: difference between Jason Tatum being the Apex guy that he

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Speaker 1: can be, the guy that is in the conversation with

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Speaker 1: Shay Gildas Alexander and Giannis Antennacumbo, and the Tatum that's

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Speaker 1: more in that second tier with the guys that are

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Speaker 1: in that you know, six to ten range in the league.

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Speaker 1: That all comes down to Tatums jump shooting. Like if

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Speaker 1: he's not making shots, he's very versatile and does so

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Speaker 1: many useful things that he's still one of these superstars

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Speaker 1: in the league. But to be one of the top

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Speaker 1: tier Apex superstars, he's got to have a shot making going.

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Speaker 1: And I mean, you saw that in that game in

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Speaker 1: that fourth quarter as he basically dragged the Celtics into

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Speaker 1: an overtime period, and then in that overtime period, the

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Speaker 1: Celtics just had really good options attacking Karl Anthony Towns.

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Speaker 1: Ive got some good looks attacking Karl Anthony Towns in

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Speaker 1: regulation too. It's worth mentioning like the three point shot

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Speaker 1: that Jason Tatum drew the foul that Jason Tatum drew

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Speaker 1: on the left side of the floor right before the

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Speaker 1: end of the of regulation. That was a play where

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Speaker 1: they decided to switch with Carl Anthony Towns. There was

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Speaker 1: more switching that New York tried with him down the

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Speaker 1: stretch and it didn't work. They switched him on to Tatum.

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Speaker 1: Tatum drew a foul, they switched him on to Derek

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Speaker 1: White in an off ball screen. Then they just ran

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Speaker 1: him through another screen with Tatum and Kat lingered too

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Speaker 1: long on on Tatum. Derek White got a wide open

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Speaker 1: three above the break on the left wing that he

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Speaker 1: just left a little bit short. So the switching wasn't

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Speaker 1: really working. And then they went back to their you know,

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Speaker 1: kind of like high drop looks, and then it was

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Speaker 1: just okay, we can go to Porzingis whenever we want.

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Speaker 1: Porzingis got an easy roll to the rim on one

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Speaker 1: of those. Porzingis got a pick and pop that ended

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Speaker 1: up being the game winner out of one of those.

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Speaker 1: They just got a great look every single time that

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Speaker 1: they put Karl Anthony Towns in the action, and so

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Speaker 1: as a result, the shots came easier for the Celtics

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Speaker 1: and they were able to get the win. And again

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Speaker 1: like that that pick and pop. That's the problem when

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Speaker 1: you can't switch against a pick and pop center. If

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Speaker 1: you switch, now you got to ask Kat to guard

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Speaker 1: on the ball against Jason Tatum. It's just a disaster

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Speaker 1: right if you and even on the other side of

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Speaker 1: the switcher leaving a smaller player on porzingis and then

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Speaker 1: if you linger, if you run that high drop and recover.

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Speaker 1: Look in the Knicks tried to peel off like One

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Speaker 1: of the things that the Knicks did, I thought that

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Speaker 1: was an interesting strategic piece is a lot of times

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Speaker 1: in a pick and pop they'll have the center rotate back,

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Speaker 1: so like Cat will show on the ball and then

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Speaker 1: when the kickback pass goes, Cat will sprint or the center,

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Speaker 1: whoever the center is, will sprint. To offer that contest.

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Speaker 1: One of the things the Knicks were doing is they

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Speaker 1: were just having the guard peel off, so it's not

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Speaker 1: really a switch because he's staying attached to the ball

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Speaker 1: until the passes made. But once the pass is made,

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Speaker 1: they're allowing the quicker footed player the guard to actually

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Speaker 1: sprint back. In contest, they did a bunch of Ojan Andobi,

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Speaker 1: and then they did it with Jalen Brunson on what

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Speaker 1: ended up being the game winner. But Jalen Brunson that like,

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Speaker 1: do you think Porzingis is gonna even see that hand?

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Speaker 1: With how tall he is compared to Jalen Brunson, It

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Speaker 1: is just an easy shot over the top that ended

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Speaker 1: up winning the game. Porzingis was an amazing all game hit

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Speaker 1: some pick and pop threes, but a lot of his

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Speaker 1: damage came just basic above the break spacing. This is

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Speaker 1: a classic thing that the Celtics do to cause problems

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Speaker 1: for teams in help side situations. Against the Celtics, they'll

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Speaker 1: situate their guards in the dunker spot and corners, and

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Speaker 1: then they'll situate their wings above the or excuse me,

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Speaker 1: their centers above the break, and that just puts you

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Speaker 1: into these weird situations where the bigs want to help.

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Speaker 1: But in those situations, if they help, it's just too

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Speaker 1: long of a closeout going out to that above the

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Speaker 1: break line. And if they don't help, now, all the

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Speaker 1: backside helpers are smaller players, because the guys that you

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Speaker 1: have spacing in those situations are smaller players, and so

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Speaker 1: cat a lot of times it was just getting caught

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Speaker 1: right around the elbow, just kind of hanging out and help,

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Speaker 1: whether it be guarding an off ball action or just

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Speaker 1: kind of sitting in a in the help traditional kind

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Speaker 1: of nail help type of position, and it was just

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Speaker 1: swing passes out to the wing and chrisopsworzingis just banging

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Speaker 1: these twenty seven foot threes and like they were good looks.

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Speaker 1: He hit over and over and over again in that

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Speaker 1: third quarter. He was unbelievable. He also hit like a

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Speaker 1: forty footer in this situation where there was a fumbled

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Speaker 1: ball that ended up in his hands with like seven

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Speaker 1: seconds on the shot clock, caught it like forty feet

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Speaker 1: from the backs it and just let it fly and

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Speaker 1: put it in. He had thirty four points. He was incredible.

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Speaker 1: It's just a really tough matchup for the Knicks. The

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Speaker 1: Celtics are built to handle just about everything that the

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Speaker 1: Knicks do on both ends of the floor, and so

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Speaker 1: it's really hard for me to see a pathway for

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Speaker 1: the Knicks to make a real series of this when

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Speaker 1: they see each other in the second round. Moving on

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Speaker 1: to Lakers Thunder Round two, as we could all expect,

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Speaker 1: there was a predictable shift in effort for both teams.

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Speaker 1: The Thunder got embarrassed, so they came out with a

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Speaker 1: much higher level of intensity, and the Lakers, I thought,

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Speaker 1: completely let go of the rope with their game plan

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Speaker 1: discipline two main areas competing on the ball defensively and

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Speaker 1: being sloppy with the basketball on offense. But the way

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Speaker 1: it manifested in the first half was actually super interesting

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Speaker 1: to me. There were some predictable things that happened. As

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Speaker 1: I said a bunch of times this week, what would

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Speaker 1: it look like when the Thunder controlled this matchup? I said,

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Speaker 1: it would manifest as a lot of defensive to transition

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Speaker 1: sequences and the Lakers not being able to contain the

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Speaker 1: ball as they lose control of the momentum of the game.

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Speaker 1: And that is what happened to them in that first

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Speaker 1: In that first half, they allowed twenty points off of turnovers.

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Speaker 1: In the first half, they allowed a million points in

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Speaker 1: the paint as they just got bludgeoned at the basket.

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Speaker 1: And when that stuff happened, it just kind of snowballed

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Speaker 1: for them, and as a result, the Thunder just tore

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Speaker 1: them apart for eighty points in that first half. To

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Speaker 1: give you an idea. They scored ninety nine total in

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Speaker 1: the first game, So the way that the Thunder successful

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Speaker 1: stretches in this matchup will look like kind of looked

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Speaker 1: exactly what you saw in that first half. Lots of

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Speaker 1: defense to transition, lots of stuff in the paint as

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Speaker 1: they're just driving through and around Lakers players. So we

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Speaker 1: got a good look at that. But there were two

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Speaker 1: unexpected things that happened in this game that I think

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Speaker 1: boded very well for the Lakers in this matchup. First,

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Speaker 1: no matter how hard Oklahoma City competed in that first half,

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Speaker 1: they could not stop the Lakers from generating completely unguarded

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Speaker 1: three point shots. Even with the turnovers, the Lakers hung

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Speaker 1: another seventy two points on the Thunder in that first half.

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Speaker 1: I've talked a lot about OKC and the way they

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Speaker 1: load up on the ball to try to force turnovers

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Speaker 1: and pack the paint, and how if you can just

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Speaker 1: not turn the ball over there are opportunities to generate

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Speaker 1: wide open threes against this team. It's been one of

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Speaker 1: the reasons why I like this matchup for the Lakers

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Speaker 1: against the Thunder. Lebron and Luca are two of the

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Speaker 1: best in the history of the league at getting the

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Speaker 1: ball across the court over the top of help defense

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Speaker 1: and creating those open shots on the weak side. And

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Speaker 1: so ultimately Lebron and Luca are super comfortable in this

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Speaker 1: matchup because they can get size mismatches or with Luca,

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Speaker 1: mismatches against foot speed, getting their bigs in space. Lebron

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Speaker 1: and Luca are always comfortable. Because they're always comfortable they

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Speaker 1: can take advantage of some of the openings in Okase's defense,

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Speaker 1: attacking mismatches in the middle of the floor or getting

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Speaker 1: the ball across the court overhelp side. They just can

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Speaker 1: continue to generate great shots. And then as long as

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Speaker 1: Austin Reeves has slotted properly against some of the lesser

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Speaker 1: defenders for Okase, Austin's really comfortable in this matchup as

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Speaker 1: well and has been cooking the Thunder. I thought it

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Speaker 1: was interesting that in that fourth quarter stretch when Luca

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Speaker 1: got ejected and then JJ stuck with his normal rotation

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Speaker 1: and subbed Lebron out of the game, when Austin was

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Speaker 1: the featured person against the top players for the Thunder,

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Speaker 1: he had some struggles, but in the organic way that

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Speaker 1: this series would go out with Austin only having to

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Speaker 1: lead bench groups alongside Lebron James, I think this Laker

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Speaker 1: offense is going to consistently be comfortable in this matchup.

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Speaker 1: There was a brief stretch on the second quarter where

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Speaker 1: the Thunder did some damage to Lebron, but then Lebron

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Speaker 1: woke up and he was awesome the rest of the

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Speaker 1: way and looked comfortable. And so the first thing that

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Speaker 1: I think is really interesting for the Lakers in this

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Speaker 1: matchup after that second game is I feel pretty sure,

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Speaker 1: pretty sure that the Lakers are going to be comfortable

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Speaker 1: on offense in a matchup against this Thunder defense, which

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Speaker 1: is the very best defense in the league. The second

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Speaker 1: thing that happened the Lakers were able to shut the

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Speaker 1: Thunder offense down again in the second half. They came

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Speaker 1: out after that first half where they let go of

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Speaker 1: the rope and their game plan discipline, and in sixteen

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Speaker 1: minutes in the second half up until the point where

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Speaker 1: Luca got ejected, the Lakers held the Thunder to just

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Speaker 1: twenty seven points sixteen minutes of game clock while scoring

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Speaker 1: thirty six points of their own to take a one

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Speaker 1: point lead with all of the momentum. And then Lucas

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Speaker 1: started talking shit to a fan court side, got himself ejected.

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Speaker 1: From there, like I talked about, it got really weird.

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Speaker 1: The Lakers stuck with their normal rotation, so they subbed

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Speaker 1: Lebron out like right after that, and so we had

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Speaker 1: this weird Lakers lineup in the middle of the fourth quarter.

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Speaker 1: I had three starters missing Lebron, Luca, and Rui all

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Speaker 1: off the floor, and the Thunder starters just ran that

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Speaker 1: group and they ended up putting the game away. But

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Speaker 1: in that stretch, in that second half, I thought the

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Speaker 1: Lakers demonstrated that they were able to regain control of

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Speaker 1: the situation with their defense against the Thunder, And so

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Speaker 1: from there, like I left that two game set feeling

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Speaker 1: like these were the two best teams in the Western Conference.

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Speaker 1: But I also think the Lakers have a real chance

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Speaker 1: to knock this team off if they faced each other

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Speaker 1: in the series. I it's to me, it's like a

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Speaker 1: fifty to fifty kind of coin flip between which of

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Speaker 1: these two teams would win. I mean, it's a two

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Speaker 1: game set here. Obviously the Thunder don't have as much

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Speaker 1: to play for, but there's no doubt that in this

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Speaker 1: two game stretch that the Lakers demonstrated more examples of

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Speaker 1: being able to slow down and make the thunders offense

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Speaker 1: uncomfortable than the opposite, than the Thunder being able to

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Speaker 1: make the Lakers offense uncomfortable, and so like that to me,

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Speaker 1: I thought was encouraging for the Lakers and their chances. Now,

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Speaker 1: for the record, I'm doing a bunch of contender stuff soon.

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Speaker 1: I'm recording with the Nerds right after this, So make

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Speaker 1: sure you go over to the Nerd sash page later

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Speaker 1: this afternoon so you guys can see that episode there.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna be going over our top ten contenders. I'm

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Speaker 1: having Sam Vessini on next week on our show to

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Speaker 1: go over a similar type of list. I've decided this

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00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:31,679
Speaker 1: morning that I'm gonna keep OKAC above the Lakers on

432
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:35,160
Speaker 1: the contenders list, mainly because I think they're far more

433
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:40,159
Speaker 1: resilient matchup to match up in the Western Conference. Another

434
00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:42,120
Speaker 1: way of putting it is to say, I think it's

435
00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:47,639
Speaker 1: more likely that the Lakers lose before OKCE the than

436
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:51,320
Speaker 1: OKC getting upset before they face the Lakers, even though

437
00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:53,600
Speaker 1: I think they're both the best teams in the Western Conference,

438
00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,040
Speaker 1: and even though I think if they faced in a series.

439
00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:58,960
Speaker 1: I'd call it roughly a coin flip. Oka See, I

440
00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:02,639
Speaker 1: think is more equipped to handle all the different types

441
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:04,679
Speaker 1: of teams in the Western Conference. So I'm going to

442
00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:09,000
Speaker 1: have OKC above the Lakers in my contender's list. But

443
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,159
Speaker 1: I think the Lakers pretty clearly showed that they have

444
00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,239
Speaker 1: some advantages in this matchup. Now, on the refs for

445
00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:19,960
Speaker 1: a minute. Let's take Luca's element to this and set

446
00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:21,480
Speaker 1: it aside for a second, because I think there's a

447
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:25,400
Speaker 1: conversation to be had about Luca's relationship with refs. Why

448
00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,280
Speaker 1: do we have refs at basketball games? Like, why are

449
00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:33,280
Speaker 1: they there at all? They're there to facilitate the flow

450
00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:38,240
Speaker 1: of basketball games. That's it. I heard these comments from

451
00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:41,960
Speaker 1: Marked Degenel after the game, a rare Marked Degenal comment

452
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,680
Speaker 1: that I don't necessarily agree with. And he talked about

453
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:48,280
Speaker 1: how a while back he got a TECH from JT,

454
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,160
Speaker 1: or the official who ejected Luca. He got a TECH

455
00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:55,520
Speaker 1: from Jtor for what he said was a mild comment. Okay,

456
00:23:55,560 --> 00:24:01,399
Speaker 1: so he's Mark's freely admitting upfront that Jtor was being ridiculous. Okay.

457
00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:06,359
Speaker 1: After that, Mark said that he appreciated that JT held

458
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:10,360
Speaker 1: the line on the respect for the game, the integrity

459
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,359
Speaker 1: of the game, something about the respect for the game.

460
00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:16,200
Speaker 1: And while I agree with Mark because he said he

461
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:17,720
Speaker 1: went on to say that like at a certain point,

462
00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 1: you got to set a line, and if someone crosses

463
00:24:19,560 --> 00:24:21,280
Speaker 1: that line, you got to be consistent about it. And

464
00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:24,440
Speaker 1: I agree with that. There's a certain line. Like if

465
00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,040
Speaker 1: Luca had gone up to jt Or in that situation

466
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,720
Speaker 1: and got in his face and started being really boisterous

467
00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,760
Speaker 1: and demonstrative in his face after he already had a

468
00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:37,159
Speaker 1: tech earlier in the game, I would have found it

469
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:39,960
Speaker 1: to be a defensible ejection. You do have to have

470
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,240
Speaker 1: a line. There is a decorum element to this, There

471
00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,720
Speaker 1: is a respect to the game element. However, if you

472
00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:50,440
Speaker 1: are going to eject Luka Doncic from a one point

473
00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:54,119
Speaker 1: game in a very important game for the Lakers on

474
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:57,199
Speaker 1: the seating front and kind of important for the Thunder

475
00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:01,359
Speaker 1: in terms of their mental confidence in this matchup and

476
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,720
Speaker 1: us potentially getting to see seven minutes of crunch time

477
00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:07,400
Speaker 1: basketball between the two best teams in the Western Conference

478
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:09,280
Speaker 1: in a game that I mean, it was a league

479
00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,080
Speaker 1: pass game that a lot of eyes were on it.

480
00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:15,760
Speaker 1: If you're gonna eject Luca there, you better be damn

481
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:19,520
Speaker 1: sure that whatever it is that you're upset about, he did.

482
00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,560
Speaker 1: And Luca had been talking trash to a fan, was

483
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:27,399
Speaker 1: clearly talking trash to a fan, was backpedaling away and

484
00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:29,880
Speaker 1: walking up the court and just looked back and said

485
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,080
Speaker 1: something towards the fan. Jt Or happened to be standing there.

486
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,800
Speaker 1: He got sensitive, he got worked up. He kicked Luca

487
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,719
Speaker 1: out of the game, And that really is the thing, Like,

488
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,919
Speaker 1: you have to understand that if we could have it

489
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:50,080
Speaker 1: our way, you wouldn't even be there. Officials. You're there

490
00:25:50,119 --> 00:25:53,119
Speaker 1: because we have to have you there to facilitate the

491
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,879
Speaker 1: flow of these games. But you are not the You

492
00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,119
Speaker 1: are not the show. Go ref some YMCA game and

493
00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:01,920
Speaker 1: see how many people pay to show up and watch

494
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,040
Speaker 1: you ref. You are not the show. The show is

495
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,159
Speaker 1: the players. All of us wanted to see what happened

496
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:10,919
Speaker 1: in that game. I would have preferred to get to

497
00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:15,400
Speaker 1: also get some crunch time sampled data from this matchup.

498
00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:20,440
Speaker 1: We didn't get that because jt Or got sensitive over

499
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:25,639
Speaker 1: a comment that wasn't even directed towards him. And that

500
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:27,560
Speaker 1: is an issue I've seen time and time again from

501
00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:32,760
Speaker 1: NBA officials ego thinking it's about them not being able

502
00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 1: to handle the emotion of the environment. Basketball is an

503
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:38,920
Speaker 1: emotional sport. Trash talk is a part of the game,

504
00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:44,119
Speaker 1: especially between fans and players. Yes, there are certain decorum

505
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:46,560
Speaker 1: elements you've got to watch. Like I thought, the Vando

506
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,680
Speaker 1: tech was perfectly fine. You can't let guys block each

507
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:51,840
Speaker 1: other and then run up on each other and get

508
00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,200
Speaker 1: in each other's faces. You have to stop that because

509
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,679
Speaker 1: you'll end up getting guys punched in the face, like

510
00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:00,400
Speaker 1: it will end up in physical altercation. So there are

511
00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:02,679
Speaker 1: certain things that you have to step up on with

512
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:05,960
Speaker 1: trash talk. But fans sit courtside and talk shit all

513
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:10,000
Speaker 1: game long. Players talk back to them all the time. Yes,

514
00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:12,679
Speaker 1: there are times when players and refs get into it,

515
00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:15,159
Speaker 1: and a ref has to have a line in terms

516
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:19,200
Speaker 1: of the way that he's being spoken to. But like

517
00:27:19,560 --> 00:27:21,639
Speaker 1: you've got to have a read for the emotion of

518
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,520
Speaker 1: the environment. That's an intense game. The Lakers needed it.

519
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,959
Speaker 1: Luca was fired up. He just got another bucket torching

520
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,919
Speaker 1: Hartenstein on a switch. He was talking shit. He was

521
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:33,919
Speaker 1: having his moment in the emotion of the game, and

522
00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:36,880
Speaker 1: jt Or got sensitive and couldn't handle it, and there's

523
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:39,159
Speaker 1: just way too much of that in the NBA that

524
00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:44,800
Speaker 1: needs to be resolved now looking at Luca, as I said,

525
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,639
Speaker 1: it is a league wide problem with refs having ego

526
00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,040
Speaker 1: and not being able to manage their emotions in these

527
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:55,159
Speaker 1: intense competitive environments. So one of the most important things

528
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:56,679
Speaker 1: that you have to learn how to do as a

529
00:27:56,680 --> 00:28:01,520
Speaker 1: basketball player is manage your relationships with the ref. If

530
00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,080
Speaker 1: we all agree that they can get sensitive, if we

531
00:28:04,119 --> 00:28:06,879
Speaker 1: all agree that they have an ego, then you can't

532
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:11,360
Speaker 1: sit there and berate him all game long from a distance,

533
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,840
Speaker 1: towing that line, towing the tech line, talking shit, but

534
00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:17,760
Speaker 1: keeping your distance and finding a way to not necessarily

535
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:23,320
Speaker 1: get yourself thrown out, but you're still antagonizing it. There

536
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:26,120
Speaker 1: was I saw someone say something on Twitter that jt

537
00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:29,120
Speaker 1: Or during the game had said to Lakers players, anyone

538
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,800
Speaker 1: can talk to me but Luca. Why did he say that, Luca?

539
00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:34,680
Speaker 1: He said that because you talked a bunch of shit

540
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,520
Speaker 1: to him throughout the entire game and he's sensitive about it.

541
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:43,120
Speaker 1: So like, at a certain point, yeah, I believe you, Luca,

542
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:47,440
Speaker 1: that you were talking shit to the fan, but you

543
00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:50,400
Speaker 1: put yourself in a position with the way you managed

544
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 1: your relationship with JT or that he was a quick

545
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,640
Speaker 1: trigger to eject you and he did not give you

546
00:28:57,640 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 1: the benefit of the doubt. As far as I've seen,

547
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,560
Speaker 1: Lucas never argued his way into getting a better whistle.

548
00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:06,800
Speaker 1: He gets the calls when he gets fouled, he doesn't

549
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:09,560
Speaker 1: when he doesn't, and when he bitches and moans, it

550
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:11,840
Speaker 1: actually makes the refs less willing to give him the

551
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,640
Speaker 1: calls that he wants. So a big part of his

552
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,400
Speaker 1: development in the next few years is going to be

553
00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:20,080
Speaker 1: learning how to manage his relationships with refs. We could

554
00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:23,480
Speaker 1: be in a big playoff series series tied at two,

555
00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,240
Speaker 1: big game fourth quarter, and if Luke is talking a

556
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:28,040
Speaker 1: bunch of shit to the refs, he could put be

557
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,160
Speaker 1: in another situation where one is a little sensitive on

558
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 1: the verge of kind of losing control of his emotions,

559
00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:36,360
Speaker 1: and you could cross the line and end up in

560
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:38,920
Speaker 1: a situation where you're not available to your team. That

561
00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 1: is the bottom line. The bottom line is regardless of

562
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:44,680
Speaker 1: what the circumstances were. Your team had to try to

563
00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:47,760
Speaker 1: beat the thunder last night without Luka Doncic when they

564
00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 1: were already without Rui and because of the back to back.

565
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,560
Speaker 1: JJ wasn't about to push Lebron's minutes. You ultimately put

566
00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:56,880
Speaker 1: your team in a compromising position and it led to

567
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 1: a loss. So control what you can control, Luca. You

568
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:05,320
Speaker 1: can't control JT or sensitivity. You can't control the sensitivity

569
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:07,720
Speaker 1: of many of these refs around the league. You can

570
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,800
Speaker 1: control the way that you manage your relationship with refs

571
00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:14,200
Speaker 1: over the course of games. That's all I got for

572
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:16,640
Speaker 1: to this morning, guys. Is always as sincerely appreciate you

573
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,400
Speaker 1: guys for supporting me and supporting the show again. We

574
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,080
Speaker 1: will be back live on YouTube. We are skipping the

575
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 1: late game because the Sacramento Kings and Nuggets are both

576
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:28,600
Speaker 1: dumpster fires right now, but we are going to sex.

577
00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:30,840
Speaker 1: I should give them more credits. The Kings are playing well,

578
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,160
Speaker 1: DeMar de Rozen and Zach Lavine are lighting people up.

579
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:36,840
Speaker 1: But we're going to be going after the MAVs Lakers

580
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:39,120
Speaker 1: game tonight live on YouTube. I will see you guys though,

581
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:41,760
Speaker 1: So guys, as always, I appreciate you for listening to

582
00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 1: and supporting OOPS tonight. They would actually be really helpful

583
00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:46,560
Speaker 1: for us if you guys would take a second and

584
00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:49,560
Speaker 1: leave a rating and a review. As always, I appreciate

585
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:51,040
Speaker 1: you guys supporting us, but if you could take a

586
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:56,000
Speaker 1: minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it. The volume