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Speaker 1: All right, welcome to tonight here at the Volume. Happy Friday, everybody.

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Speaker 1: Hope all of you guys are having an incredible week.

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Speaker 1: We have a jam packed show for you today. The

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Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets come back from eighteen down to beat the

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Speaker 1: Warriors last night on a heave from Nikola Jokics. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna break that down from the perspective of both teams.

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Speaker 1: Then we had a report this morning that Jonathan Kaminga

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Speaker 1: is very frustrated with Steve Kerr. We're gonna talk about

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Speaker 1: what that means for the Warriors. Then we're gonna do

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Speaker 1: a deep dive on the New Orleans Pelicans. After getting

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Speaker 1: their ass kicked by the Lakers in the n Season Tournament,

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Speaker 1: they're playing really good basketball ever since then. So we're

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Speaker 1: gonna break them down for a little bit. Then we

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Speaker 1: have our latest edition of the MVP Ranking, something we

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Speaker 1: haven't done in a couple of weeks. And then, last

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Speaker 1: but not least, we have eight mail bag questions for

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Speaker 1: the end of the show as well. You guys are

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Speaker 1: the Joe four we get started. Subscribe to a brand

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

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Speaker 1: you guys wuld take a second to scroll down and

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Speaker 1: hit that subscribe button. Don't forget about our podcast feeds

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Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts under Hoops Tonight follow me

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Speaker 1: on Twitter at underscore Jason LT. So you guys don't

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Speaker 1: miss any show announcements or the film threads that I do.

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be talking about the late game run from

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Speaker 1: the Nuggets and the Warriors, but we're not gonna go

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Speaker 1: possession by possession through it. I did that this morning,

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Speaker 1: every single possession of the comeback on both ends of

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Speaker 1: the floor in detailed breakdown. You can find that on

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Speaker 1: my Twitter feed at underscore Jason LT. And then don't

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Speaker 1: forget to keep dropping mail bag questions in the YouTube

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Speaker 1: comments that we can keep hitting them throughout the week,

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Speaker 1: and the last but not least have you guys ever

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Speaker 1: we like talking about basketball here on the show. Basketball

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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. So you know, one

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Speaker 1: of the things we've talked about this season is I've

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Speaker 1: never really been concerned about Denver no matter what happens.

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Speaker 1: You know, they haven't had the most impressive regular season

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Speaker 1: so far to this point. I think after last night

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Speaker 1: there's still like nine and eleven against teams that are

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Speaker 1: five hundred or better. That's it. I've never been worried

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Speaker 1: because I think they're the best half court team in

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Speaker 1: the league in my opinion. What does that mean when

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Speaker 1: the game slows down, when when the transition opportunities are

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Speaker 1: few and far between. It's which team can execute in

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Speaker 1: a slow down half court in and so I made

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Speaker 1: a thread this morning of every single play that took

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Speaker 1: place from when the Warriors were up eighteen with six

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Speaker 1: and a half minutes left or so to Nikole Jokic's

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Speaker 1: game winner, And in that thread there's a really detailed

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Speaker 1: breakdown of the specifics of what I'm about to talk about,

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Speaker 1: but the short version is, on one end of the floor,

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Speaker 1: the Nuggets knew exactly what they wanted to do on offense,

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Speaker 1: and then on the other end of the floor, the

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Speaker 1: Warriors had no idea what they wanted to do. They

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Speaker 1: started by trying to post up Andrew Wiggins on Jamal

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Speaker 1: Murray and Nikole Jokicic was just completely ignoring Kavan Looney

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Speaker 1: camping in the lane, making it so that Wiggins could

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Speaker 1: not make an aggressive move, and then off the ball.

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Speaker 1: The Nuggets were doing what a lot of teams have

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Speaker 1: done to the Warriors since the Lakers kind of demonstrated

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Speaker 1: it in the playoffs last year, and that's top locking

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Speaker 1: the off ball actions, meaning on this particular play that

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Speaker 1: I'm referencing, and I have a video clip of it

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Speaker 1: in the thread, Wiggins has the ball in the post,

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Speaker 1: Jokic is helping in the paint, Jamal Murray is guarding

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Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins, and Cavan Loney goes over to set a

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Speaker 1: screen for either Brandon Pazemski or Stephen Curry to come

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Speaker 1: flying off of that action towards the basketball to try

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Speaker 1: to get open. Cacp's on one side of the screen

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Speaker 1: and Aaron Gordon's on the other side, and they're both

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Speaker 1: just denying the screen. They're like, if you run this way,

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Speaker 1: you're just gonna run right into me. And Andrew Wiggins

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Speaker 1: or excuse me, AKCP and Aaron Gordon were prepared to switch.

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Speaker 1: They had it all set up so that KCP would

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Speaker 1: take the first guy off the screen, and it just

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Speaker 1: shut down the action, and they didn't know what to do, right.

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Speaker 1: They tried ball screens, but Denver was just chasing Steph

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Speaker 1: over the top with Contavious Calbo Pope and Jokics was

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Speaker 1: just doing his best to trap as best as he

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Speaker 1: could with how fast Steph is, right, but they just

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Speaker 1: ignored Andrew Wiggins on the weak side, and they covered

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Speaker 1: Looney with that low man and nothing was open, and

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Speaker 1: they tried to make the fast and Wiggins once Steph

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Speaker 1: made a really nice cross court pass. But Wiggins is

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Speaker 1: shooting thirty one percent on catching shoot threes this year,

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Speaker 1: not a very good shot. Right. Then Steve Kerr tries

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Speaker 1: a lineup change. He brings in Chris Paul, he brings

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Speaker 1: in Dario, Sorry, she brings in Trace Jackson Davis start

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Speaker 1: ducking under every single Chris Paul ballscreen so Chris Paul

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Speaker 1: can't get into the paint. That shuts down that action.

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Speaker 1: They put Aaron Gordon on Dario Sarich so they'd switched

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Speaker 1: the Sarge pick and roll. That put them in a

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Speaker 1: situation where Steph couldn't get downhill on that action, right.

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Speaker 1: And then with Tray Jackson Davis they could do the

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Speaker 1: same thing that they were doing with Looney, which is

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Speaker 1: just having bracket with KCP and Nicole Jokic and just

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Speaker 1: show help on the roll. As a matter of fact,

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Speaker 1: there was one time that they got a good shot

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Speaker 1: down the entire stretch of this game. What they did

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Speaker 1: is they ran a Sarage ball screen to get Gordon

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Speaker 1: switched on to Steph. Then they brought Tray Jackson Davis

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Speaker 1: and Nicole Jokic into the action. Then when they bracketed,

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Speaker 1: Steph hit Tray Jackson Davis and now Denver's two biggest

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Speaker 1: players are out at the three point line and Tray

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Speaker 1: Jackson Davis got a left handed layup at the basket.

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Speaker 1: That was an easy shot because Denver smaller players were

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Speaker 1: on the back line. That was the one good shot

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Speaker 1: they got in the entire six and a half minute stretch.

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Speaker 1: What was crazy is they had three additional possessions after

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Speaker 1: that play where Trey Jackson Davis got the layup, and

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Speaker 1: they never went back to that same sequence. The screen

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Speaker 1: to get Gordon onto Steph, and then the ball screen

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Speaker 1: involving nikolea Jokic's guy. Steph tried attacking KCP and ISO.

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Speaker 1: That didn't work. He kind of got downhill, but KCP

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Speaker 1: defended it well and he missed a scoop shot off

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Speaker 1: the glass. They got one high percentage shot total in

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Speaker 1: six and a half minutes with one of the very

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Speaker 1: best offensive players of all time and certainly the best

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Speaker 1: offensive player of his era on the floor. It was

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Speaker 1: just a great example of some of the personnel limitations

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Speaker 1: that the Warriors have on the table, which we'll talk

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Speaker 1: about more here in just a minute, but credit to

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Speaker 1: Denver's defense. First of all, Kntavious, Callbo, Pope and Aaron

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Speaker 1: Gordon had three or four ISO stops on Steph Curry

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Speaker 1: during that stretch, the rest of the guys executed their

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Speaker 1: scheme to perfection. I talked about the top locking of

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Speaker 1: the shooters to shut down some of their split cut stuff,

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Speaker 1: the ducking under ball screens like Contavious Cobwell Pope versus

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Speaker 1: me on Chris Paul. That was actually Jamal Murray doing

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Speaker 1: that tagging and rotating on the weak side. Even Jamal Murray,

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Speaker 1: who is a lesser defensive player, had some big contributions

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Speaker 1: down the stretch. On the defensive. Glass had two massive

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Speaker 1: contested rebounds over that stretch. But the main reason, as

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Speaker 1: much as I do want to credit Denver, and I'm

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Speaker 1: not trying to undercut that in any sense, but you

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Speaker 1: saw a lot of the personnel shortcomings with Golden State

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Speaker 1: on full display, right like whether it was Loony and

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Speaker 1: Wiggins or is Tray Jackson Davis and Chris Paul, no

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Speaker 1: matter what Chris Paul, no matter what Golden State went

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Speaker 1: with down the stretch, they had two non scoring threats

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Speaker 1: on the floor, and that just made it so that

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Speaker 1: Denver could throw the kitchen sink at Steph without reprisal.

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Speaker 1: And it's a big it's the biggest latest example of

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Speaker 1: why Golden State desperately needs another high level offensive player

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Speaker 1: to put in those final groupings. I also disagree with

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Speaker 1: the lineup Steve kurruzed down the stretch, but we'll get

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Speaker 1: to that here in a few minutes. On the other end,

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Speaker 1: Denver just continually spammed their pet actions and got great

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Speaker 1: shots on every single possession, steady dose of two man

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Speaker 1: game with Yokichen Murray, and they like it would be

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Speaker 1: like the first time they ran it. During the run,

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Speaker 1: Jokics just gets a sweet little hook shot that he

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Speaker 1: makes all the time. Right, second time, Looney gets a

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Speaker 1: little more physical with him, he smokes that little hook shot,

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Speaker 1: but Aaron Gordon gets an offensive rebound. That's a key

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Speaker 1: little storyline here down the stretch. Is like even when

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Speaker 1: they did get a stop on the Murray Yokic post up,

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Speaker 1: or excuse me, the Murray yokicch two man game, Aaron

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Speaker 1: Gordon would just be there to clean it up on

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Speaker 1: the back end because he had Klay Thompson on him

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Speaker 1: and it's just too much of a physical disadvantage there. Right,

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Speaker 1: they ran a bunch of double drags set down the stretch. Now,

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Speaker 1: remember double Dragons really said two ball screens, typically one

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Speaker 1: guy rolls and one guy pops to the three point line.

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Speaker 1: On the first one, like Steph, Curry went like he

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Speaker 1: was gonna hedge way on the outside, so Jamal split

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Speaker 1: after the first screen and got Downhill made a kickout

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Speaker 1: past to Peyton Watson, who knocked down a quarter three.

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Speaker 1: By the way, shout out Peyton Watson, who's been getting

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Speaker 1: a lot of opportunities at the end of games because

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Speaker 1: he's a really good defensive player and he's knocking down shots.

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Speaker 1: He's actually shooting thirty eight percent on corner threes this year.

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Speaker 1: And then they ran another double drag set where Steph

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Speaker 1: didn't hedge this time, he actually switched out onto Jamal

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Speaker 1: Murray and they ended up getting the ball to Yokitic

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Speaker 1: on the roll, who ended up hitting Aaron Gordon for

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Speaker 1: a lob dunk. They just managed to get good shots

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Speaker 1: every single time down the floor. Even if they did

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Speaker 1: rotate out of the action that Denver was running, they

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Speaker 1: could just throw the ball to Yokitch in the post.

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Speaker 1: On the key possession late in the game, the one

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Speaker 1: that tied the game. Chris Paul actually shut down the

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Speaker 1: two man game with a really smart stunt in rotation

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Speaker 1: to take away the corner three from Peyton Watson, and

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Speaker 1: they just threw the ball into Koleyokitchen the post, who

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Speaker 1: just calmly worked for an easy shot in the lane

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Speaker 1: to score over Dario Sarage. So it was like the

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Speaker 1: actions were getting great shots. Even when they stopped the actions,

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Speaker 1: they just go to Yokich in the post. Even if

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Speaker 1: Jokic missed the shot in the post, Aaron Gordon was

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Speaker 1: there to clean up the mess. Really, the one shot

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Speaker 1: during that stretch where you're like, eh, that was lucky

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Speaker 1: or not, you know, not necessarily great offense was there

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Speaker 1: was a strong side help play from Klay Thompson where

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Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon knocked down a corner three, and Aaron Gordon's

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Speaker 1: shooting like twenty six percent on corner threes this year,

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Speaker 1: so you could say that was somewhat lucky. But outside

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Speaker 1: of that, it was just a boatload of high quality

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Speaker 1: shots for Denver and then one high quality shot for

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Speaker 1: Golden State, which was the Tray Jackson Davis slip of

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Speaker 1: the ball screen, which they never went back to the

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Speaker 1: rest of the game. And even then, chances are even

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Speaker 1: if they just did it a second time, Denver probably

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Speaker 1: makes some sort of adjustment. Simply put, they probably just

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Speaker 1: have Aaron Gordon run a variation of a drop instead

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Speaker 1: of switching, and then they don't end up with Aaron

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Speaker 1: Gordon on Steph right. So like, it just was a

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Speaker 1: complete personnel in mismatch on both ends of the floor,

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Speaker 1: not just the physicality, not just the rebound and rebounding

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Speaker 1: and what they're capable of doing in terms of defensive rotations,

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Speaker 1: but also an offensive personnel. You know, there was a

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Speaker 1: play where Yokich is going to work on Kevon Looney

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Speaker 1: and Brandon Piziemski just can't help because it's Michael Porter

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Speaker 1: that's on the strong side and he just can't help

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Speaker 1: because he's leaving too good of a shooter open. There

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Speaker 1: was even a play where Michael Porter Junior missed a

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Speaker 1: wide open wing three. It was just a complete in

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Speaker 1: total personnel mismatch, and on the Denver front. This remains

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Speaker 1: the main reason why I think Denver is comfortably the

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Speaker 1: championship favorite to this point, even more so than I've

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Speaker 1: been saying earlier. I've been saying I think Denver is

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Speaker 1: clearly and discernibly better. Now I think they're starting to

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Speaker 1: be a little bit of a gap. They are by

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Speaker 1: far the best half court execution team, and it's like

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Speaker 1: legitimately on both ends of the floor. Now, yeah, they

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Speaker 1: can generate quality shots every time down, but they are

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Speaker 1: a really good defensive team this year. First of all,

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Speaker 1: they have two outstanding individual defenders, and Aaron Gordon and

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Speaker 1: Contavious Cabbopope talked earlier about how they like. I think

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Speaker 1: they got at least three ISO stops on Steph Curry.

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Speaker 1: CACP got one, and then Aaron Gordon got two. But

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Speaker 1: then everybody else just does their job. And now they

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Speaker 1: even have the ability to go to Peyton Watson, who

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Speaker 1: shot the ball well enough to close games for them,

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Speaker 1: and just bring another outstanding athlete onto the court. So

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Speaker 1: at this point, put it simply, I've seen enough to

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Speaker 1: say that if Denver is healthy, I'd be genuinely surprised

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Speaker 1: if they didn't win the title this year. I think

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Speaker 1: they're just a better version of the team that ran

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Speaker 1: through everyone last year. Only an injury to a starter

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Speaker 1: would crack the door enough, in my opinion, for someone

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Speaker 1: else to get through. So shout out to Denver. You know,

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Speaker 1: I was literally thinking this as I was watching the

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Speaker 1: game last night. I only watched the very end of

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Speaker 1: it live. I watched the rest of it this morning,

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Speaker 1: but I was actually watching Game of Thrones with my

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Speaker 1: wife or going through a rewatch just for fun, and

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Speaker 1: I checked the score in the game, and I'm like,

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Speaker 1: holy shit, the Nuggets are coming back. So I pulled

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Speaker 1: my phone out at one twenty seven five and I

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Speaker 1: watched that final bucket against Sarch in the post, and

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Speaker 1: then the Steph turnover, and then the the Jokic game winner.

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Speaker 1: By the way, the Yokic game winner was just completely absurd.

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Speaker 1: The dude it it's unbelievable with this guy is doing.

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Speaker 1: He's missed five shots in the last four games. It's insane.

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Speaker 1: He's comfortably he's got a stranglehold on the best player

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Speaker 1: in the world title right now. But I was thinking

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Speaker 1: as I was watching to get the end of that

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Speaker 1: game on my phone, I'm like, every once in a

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Speaker 1: while in the NBA, a special team comes around, like

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Speaker 1: a truly special team. And you know, the last one

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Speaker 1: felt like the Warriors. I think there have been really

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Speaker 1: good teams since then. I'm not trying to undercut that,

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Speaker 1: but like a truly special team where you just know

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Speaker 1: that they're going to be a level above everybody for

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Speaker 1: a little while. And that's what Denver feels like to me.

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Speaker 1: It feels like they're the next in that long line

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Speaker 1: of truly special teams. If it was like the Spurs

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Speaker 1: in the Heat in the early two thousands, and it

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Speaker 1: was the Warriors in the late two thousands, and you know,

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Speaker 1: like I think, I think we're flowing into now. This

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Speaker 1: is the Denver era. They are the truly special team

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Speaker 1: of this era on the Golden State front. So we

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Speaker 1: get this report come out from Shamserania this morning basically

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Speaker 1: Jonathan Kaminga just saying that he's completely lost trust in

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Speaker 1: Steve Kerr and his ability to help him reach his potential.

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Speaker 1: And basically what happens is Kamina ends up sitting the

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Speaker 1: majority of the end of the game when he was

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Speaker 1: supposed to come back in late Kerr. Kerr's excuse was

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Speaker 1: basically like Andrew Wiggins was playing well and Kaminga was

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Speaker 1: sitting too long, so I didn't want to go back

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Speaker 1: to him. But that doesn't really make sense considering with

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Speaker 1: like three minutes left, he made a line shift of

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Speaker 1: of of Chris Paul and tray S, Jackson Davis, and

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Speaker 1: Dario Sarich. So, like, I don't really necessarily agree with

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Speaker 1: that reasoning. But here's the thing. Jonathan Kaminga handling that

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Speaker 1: stuff in the press not a not a good look,

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Speaker 1: and it's not the first time he's done it this year,

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Speaker 1: but he does have a point. Kerr was literally throwing

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Speaker 1: stuff at the wall at the end of that game,

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Speaker 1: and like, Kaminga just has to be one of the

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Speaker 1: things he throws at the wall there, especially against a

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Speaker 1: team as big as Denver that's killing you and helping

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Speaker 1: recover situations and on the offensive glass. Now, I personally

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Speaker 1: would have gone with Stephen Clay with Wiggins and Kaminga

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Speaker 1: and then Dario sariz Maybe if Moody was in the rotation,

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Speaker 1: but Moody's out of the rotation, maybe you can go

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Speaker 1: with Moody in place of Wiggins there. But like I

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Speaker 1: would have gone with those guys, I think it would

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Speaker 1: have just given you a much better chance of hanging defensively.

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Speaker 1: You were already having all sorts of offensive limitations. Now

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Speaker 1: Steve Kerr is on the record and he talked about

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Speaker 1: this last night. He doesn't think the two of those

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Speaker 1: guys fit well together. He said, it doesn't look good

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Speaker 1: on tape, and it doesn't look good in the numbers,

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Speaker 1: and there are some numbers that backed it up there. There.

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Speaker 1: Here's my concern though, Like he's right, they are a

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Speaker 1: little bit redundant, and they do need a perfect trio

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Speaker 1: of players around them to be like, really really good.

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Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean anything when the lineups he's throwing

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Speaker 1: out there are also redundant and also lacking in key areas.

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Speaker 1: It's not like he had a clearly defined lineup that

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Speaker 1: made perfect sense that didn't include Kaminga. He was throwing

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Speaker 1: shit at the wall, and Kaminga wasn't among the pile

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Speaker 1: of shit he was throwing at the wall, if that

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Speaker 1: makes sense, right, And now those are really aggressive words,

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Speaker 1: but I'm trying to make a point. The bottom line is,

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Speaker 1: in my opinion, if you're gonna be bad, you need

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Speaker 1: to be bad with Kaminga on the floor, Like, because

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Speaker 1: in terms of upside, he has some of the highest

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Speaker 1: upside on the team. He was playing great that game,

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Speaker 1: having success attacking Jamal Murray in the post, Like, I

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Speaker 1: don't understand how that wasn't one of the options that

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Speaker 1: he went to down the stretch of the game. So,

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Speaker 1: even though I disagree with handling that sort of thing

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Speaker 1: in the press, Jonathan Kaminga has a point, but like

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Speaker 1: it really to me, shines the light on the bigger

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Speaker 1: issue here. It's time. It's time for Golden State to

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Speaker 1: pick a direction and go already. Is Steve Kurr a

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Speaker 1: bad coach? No, I genuinely believe he's one of the

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Speaker 1: best coaches in the league for a good veteran team

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Speaker 1: that has an opportunity to win the title. He's very,

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Speaker 1: very good with the tactical adjustments in playoff series, and

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Speaker 1: he can manage the ebb and flow of that playoff

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Speaker 1: path right. But it's clear that philosophically he hates playing

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Speaker 1: young players that aren't excellent in the dirty work areas

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Speaker 1: right or at least in terms of their reputation. Like,

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Speaker 1: I think it's interesting that he continually trusts Trey Jackson Davis,

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Speaker 1: and Brandon Pazamski but not Moses Moody and Jonathan Kaminga.

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Speaker 1: And it's because these guys have the like the higher

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Speaker 1: end potential. I think Patzemski's a really good two way player,

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Speaker 1: but those two guys have like the really high end

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Speaker 1: potential on offense. But like the thing too is like

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Speaker 1: they can defend on the perimeters too. He's mainly concerned

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Speaker 1: about their decision making process, and kirk Get's so paranoid

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Speaker 1: about guys making bad decisions that he gets these guys

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Speaker 1: really short leashes. But like he doesn't have to worry

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Speaker 1: about Tray Jackson Davis making a bad decisions because he's

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Speaker 1: screening and rolling to the rim, but I would argue

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Speaker 1: that he made it. Like here's the thing though, Like

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Speaker 1: Tray Jackson Davis made a key defensive mistake at the

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Speaker 1: end of the game overhelping on a Jokic roll that

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Speaker 1: gave up Aaron Gordon dunk. And even though that's not

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Speaker 1: throwing a bad pass or taking a bad shot, it

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Speaker 1: is still a decision making mistake that led to two

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Speaker 1: points for the other team. So I don't even necessary

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Speaker 1: by that as a reason. But I'm just trying to say,

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Speaker 1: like I think Kerr's philosophy here is, these guys are

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Speaker 1: loose cannons. I can't trust them to do their job

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Speaker 1: these so I'm gonna go with the veterans and I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna go with the young players that he trusts to

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Speaker 1: do their job. And so it's clear that as long

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Speaker 1: as Kerr is at the helm of this thing, Kaminga

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Speaker 1: is not gonna get consistent opportunity. Moody's not gonna get

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Speaker 1: consistent opportunity unless there's some sort of directive from on

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Speaker 1: high that he's willing to listen to. And maybe that'll

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Speaker 1: happen here down the stretch. I mean, that's what they

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Speaker 1: need to happen, at least until the deadline. But here's

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Speaker 1: the reality. You need to do one of two things.

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Speaker 1: You either need to fire Steve Kerr, rebuild around the

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Speaker 1: young players, and move on to a new era. Because

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Speaker 1: Steve Kerr is not the right coach for a young

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Speaker 1: rebuilding team. He's not good with young players, right, but

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Speaker 1: he's the perfect coach for a soft rebuild around Steph

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Speaker 1: Clay and Draymond. Not to mention Stephan Clay in particular,

428
00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:00,479
Speaker 1: probably mutiny if you fired Steve or if they were

429
00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,680
Speaker 1: still on the roster, right, So do one or the other.

430
00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:07,320
Speaker 1: Make up your mind. It's the middle ground which is

431
00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:10,080
Speaker 1: getting you into trouble constantly over the last couple of years.

432
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:15,399
Speaker 1: So like trade Jonathan Kaminga, trade Moses Moody trade draft compensation,

433
00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,639
Speaker 1: bring back a Siakam or a Markinen or Jeremy Grant

434
00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:21,920
Speaker 1: and run at it again with Stephen Klay and Draymond

435
00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,199
Speaker 1: and those guys, and Andrew Wiggins and Steve Kerr is

436
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,359
Speaker 1: the perfect guy for that group. You'll never have a

437
00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:31,119
Speaker 1: Jonathan kaminga report to the press again after that. But

438
00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,920
Speaker 1: if you don't believe in that, then yeah, fire Steve

439
00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:36,120
Speaker 1: Kerr and go this way. There's been so much talk

440
00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:38,639
Speaker 1: about Steve Kerr being a bad coach. He's not a

441
00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,320
Speaker 1: bad coach. He's coaching a bad team right now, that's

442
00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:44,200
Speaker 1: what's happening. And they're a bad team in large part

443
00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:46,919
Speaker 1: because one of their most important players has been suspended.

444
00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:49,240
Speaker 1: There's one of their other most important players, and Andrew

445
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:51,960
Speaker 1: Wiggins is just playing really bad basketball by his standards

446
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:56,919
Speaker 1: and what he's used to right, And there's a philosophical

447
00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:01,800
Speaker 1: schism taking place between the young and their development and

448
00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:04,080
Speaker 1: what's best for the team in the short term. And

449
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,160
Speaker 1: like I would argue, playing the young players is actually

450
00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:09,760
Speaker 1: also better for the team in the short term until

451
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,639
Speaker 1: the trades are made. But Steve Kerr feels differently, and

452
00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:17,080
Speaker 1: so in this in between stretch before they trade the

453
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,040
Speaker 1: young guys and up until the stretch where or from

454
00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,160
Speaker 1: now up until the stretch where they get something back

455
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,280
Speaker 1: of the trade deadline. That gap there, Steve Kerr is

456
00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:29,960
Speaker 1: the bad coach for this group, not because he is

457
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:32,800
Speaker 1: a bad coach, He's just not the right coach for

458
00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:37,160
Speaker 1: this specific personnel dynamic, and that's what you're seeing manifesting there.

459
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:39,200
Speaker 1: But like at the end of the day, and maybe

460
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:41,119
Speaker 1: they do have to wait till the deadline, because that's

461
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:43,000
Speaker 1: the best way to drive the price up, right, because

462
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:45,040
Speaker 1: people just get a little bit more desperate when we

463
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,399
Speaker 1: get to February. Right. But if that's the case, you

464
00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,800
Speaker 1: either need a directive from on high like I said

465
00:22:51,080 --> 00:22:54,400
Speaker 1: that said, hey stop it with the cominga shit, get

466
00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,520
Speaker 1: him out there on the floor, right, or Warriors fans

467
00:22:57,560 --> 00:22:59,840
Speaker 1: need to be prepared for a really ugly stretch here

468
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:02,119
Speaker 1: up until the deadline, which is not the end of

469
00:23:02,160 --> 00:23:04,480
Speaker 1: the world, because once again, once you get to the

470
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:07,880
Speaker 1: deadline that we've seen, just like with the Lakers last year,

471
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 1: you can make a run, get up to that seventh

472
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:11,480
Speaker 1: seed and try to make some noise in the playoffs.

473
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,200
Speaker 1: And you know, if Golden State gets to that point

474
00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:17,080
Speaker 1: and they have an OKC or they have a Minnesota

475
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:19,480
Speaker 1: in the first round, Like Golden State's gonna go into

476
00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 1: that series thinking they can win, especially if they bring

477
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,679
Speaker 1: back a high caliber player at the deadline. Right, So,

478
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,600
Speaker 1: like not all is lost, but they need to make

479
00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,560
Speaker 1: a decision. And before that decision, it's either gonna look

480
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,280
Speaker 1: really bad or there needs to be some sort of

481
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,600
Speaker 1: flexing of muscles in the front office or the ownership

482
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:37,800
Speaker 1: group to try to get Steve Curtis start playing these

483
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:40,280
Speaker 1: young guys. All right, let's move on to the New

484
00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:43,080
Speaker 1: Orleans Pelicans. So I was watching Pell's Wolves this morning,

485
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,320
Speaker 1: and it was a really interesting game because of close early,

486
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:51,040
Speaker 1: but then the Pelicans just completely dominated in the second quarter.

487
00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,840
Speaker 1: Ce J McCollum and Brandon Ingram are both absolutely cooking

488
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,160
Speaker 1: and pick and roll right now, So those guys were

489
00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,719
Speaker 1: going off. They were defending extremely well. They had Anthony

490
00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:02,879
Speaker 1: Edwards frustration and complaining at the refs. Karl Anthony Towns

491
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:06,680
Speaker 1: was taking one leg fadeaways. The Minnesota's got some personnel

492
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:08,960
Speaker 1: shortcomings too when it comes to off ball shooting, which

493
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:11,480
Speaker 1: has been a big problem in their half court offense.

494
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:13,080
Speaker 1: But they ended up running away with the win. As

495
00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:15,960
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, the Pelicans held the Wolves under

496
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,840
Speaker 1: twenty five points or twenty five points or fewer in

497
00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,000
Speaker 1: each of the first three quarters as they ran away.

498
00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:22,760
Speaker 1: It's actually one of the more impressive wins of the

499
00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:25,920
Speaker 1: season when you figure it was on the road in Minnesota.

500
00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:27,159
Speaker 1: So I figured it was time to check on the

501
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,080
Speaker 1: Pels because since getting their ass kicked in the n

502
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 1: Season Tournament game against the Lakers, they are nine and

503
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,879
Speaker 1: three and have avenge that loss to the Lakers. They

504
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:40,439
Speaker 1: are sixth in offense, second in defense, second in net rating,

505
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:44,600
Speaker 1: and second in rebounding percentage. And I want to start

506
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:45,840
Speaker 1: on the defensive end of the four and it really

507
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 1: just comes down to them being excellent in three key phases.

508
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:51,000
Speaker 1: They're excellent at the point of attack, They're excellent in

509
00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:55,040
Speaker 1: backside rotation, and they're excellent on the defensive glass. And

510
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,879
Speaker 1: when I say backside rotation, that's help, that's defensive rebounding,

511
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:03,040
Speaker 1: that's rotat when the ball, when the defense is compromised

512
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,159
Speaker 1: and you're kind of in like a kind of a

513
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,320
Speaker 1: chaos situation. They have athletes and they communicate really well.

514
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:11,000
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram in particular, has been so so good as

515
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,240
Speaker 1: a help side defender this year. I think he's having

516
00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:16,439
Speaker 1: one of his better defensive seasons of his career. But specifically,

517
00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:18,960
Speaker 1: what's interesting to me about it is Jonas Valonchiunis is

518
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,720
Speaker 1: not a very good defensive player, and it kind of

519
00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:23,879
Speaker 1: reminds me of Denver in the sense that like what

520
00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,159
Speaker 1: they have bracketed around him with the point of attack

521
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:29,040
Speaker 1: in their backside rotations kind of makes the whole thing work,

522
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,520
Speaker 1: especially when you factor in that they're cleaning up the glass.

523
00:25:31,560 --> 00:25:33,680
Speaker 1: And again it comes down to some of that backside

524
00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:36,960
Speaker 1: athleticism too. You know, when we look at Denver, guys

525
00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 1: like Michael Porter Junior and Peyton Watson in addition to

526
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon as a low man go a long way

527
00:25:42,119 --> 00:25:44,680
Speaker 1: towards making that whole thing work. And there's just always

528
00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:48,080
Speaker 1: so much length and athleticism on the floor for the Pelicans,

529
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 1: and I think it's the primary driving force between behind

530
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,600
Speaker 1: their defensive foundation on the offensive end of the floor.

531
00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,840
Speaker 1: Over this twelve game span, CJ. McCollums, I Williamson and

532
00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:01,800
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram all averaging over twenty points per game very efficiently.

533
00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,399
Speaker 1: Zion's up over sixty percent from the field. Thanks to

534
00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 1: those three guys in particular, the Pelicans have been the

535
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:12,200
Speaker 1: sixth most productive isolation attack in the league. In the league,

536
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,560
Speaker 1: brandon Ingram in particular, it's getting one point one four

537
00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,240
Speaker 1: points per isolation possession including passes. There are twenty six

538
00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,399
Speaker 1: players in the league that have attempted at least one hundred.

539
00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,040
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram's at number six right now. Still love his

540
00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:27,919
Speaker 1: combination of over the top shot making and he's always

541
00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,680
Speaker 1: been one of the better playmakers at his position. Group.

542
00:26:31,520 --> 00:26:33,960
Speaker 1: I talked in the game breakdown a little bit about

543
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:36,720
Speaker 1: their pick and roll attack in the second quarter, and

544
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,040
Speaker 1: both CJ and brandon Ingram have been excellent pick and

545
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,960
Speaker 1: role players all sees. Brandon Ingram's at one point zero

546
00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,600
Speaker 1: five points per possession, Saja McCollums at one point zero three.

547
00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:48,800
Speaker 1: It's the most common play type in the NBA, so

548
00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,040
Speaker 1: pretty much anything over one is good. There are sixty

549
00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,160
Speaker 1: seven players in the league to run at least one hundred.

550
00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:58,480
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram and CJ are twenty fourth and twenty seventh, respectively.

551
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:01,920
Speaker 1: Trey Murphy is shooting four from three on six attempts

552
00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:03,960
Speaker 1: per game during this twelve game stretch. Then I want

553
00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,119
Speaker 1: to shout Jonas Valencnis because, like, obviously we've talked to

554
00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:08,720
Speaker 1: him about some about his defensive limitations, but he's having

555
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:11,240
Speaker 1: an awesome offensive season. He's been one of the best

556
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,520
Speaker 1: post up players in the league one point one to

557
00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:17,399
Speaker 1: three points per possession including passes, sixth out of twenty

558
00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:20,480
Speaker 1: three players to attempt at least one hundred post ups

559
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:22,880
Speaker 1: to this point. And then he's become a super important

560
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:24,840
Speaker 1: part of the Pells pick and roll attack. He's got

561
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:27,159
Speaker 1: a really good you know, uh, pick and poppet and

562
00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:30,840
Speaker 1: pocket pass chemistry with Brandon Ingram. As a matter of fact,

563
00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:36,000
Speaker 1: Jonas Valanciunas is converting rollman possessions at one point three

564
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,480
Speaker 1: to eight points per possession, which is outstanding. That is

565
00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:43,520
Speaker 1: second in the NBA among players to attempt at least

566
00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:46,679
Speaker 1: seventy five. There's twenty players that qualify, and he ranks second.

567
00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:48,480
Speaker 1: And then the last guy I wanted to shout out

568
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 1: was Jose Alvarado. Elverado, excuse me, just such a useful

569
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:56,240
Speaker 1: role player off the ball in particular, is an absolute

570
00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,000
Speaker 1: menace at the point of attack. Two point three stem

571
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,480
Speaker 1: bills per thirty six minutes so far this season. He's

572
00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 1: really aggressive up underneath players. He's got a low center

573
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,479
Speaker 1: of gravity, slides his feet well, beats players to spots.

574
00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:13,320
Speaker 1: He disrupts the basketball still getting people with that sneak attack.

575
00:28:13,680 --> 00:28:16,480
Speaker 1: But he's also a very good offensive player off the ball.

576
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:18,960
Speaker 1: He converts spot up possessions at one point zero nine

577
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,600
Speaker 1: points per possession and is shooting sixty two percent in

578
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:24,879
Speaker 1: effective field goal percentage on catch and shoot jumpers. And

579
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:26,679
Speaker 1: you could see it on the scoreboard. The Pelicans are

580
00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:30,479
Speaker 1: thirteen points per one hundred possessions better with him on

581
00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:34,119
Speaker 1: the floor versus off, which is the second best mark

582
00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:37,199
Speaker 1: on the team behind Trey Murphy. So shout out to

583
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,760
Speaker 1: the New Orleans Pelicans. Let's see if they can keep

584
00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:42,719
Speaker 1: up this level of play over the rest of the season.

585
00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:46,320
Speaker 1: Now let's move on to our MVP rankings. So we

586
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 1: have a couple of guys dropping off this week, specifically

587
00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,720
Speaker 1: Steph Curry and Jalen Brunson. Between the two of those guys,

588
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,240
Speaker 1: they have lost eight games since our last edition of

589
00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,520
Speaker 1: power rank or Play of MVP rankings, so they're dropping

590
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:04,680
Speaker 1: off the list for now number ten. And remember my

591
00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,280
Speaker 1: MVP rankings, Like if I was an MVP voter, i'd

592
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,240
Speaker 1: feel different. I just want to use my MVP rankings

593
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,680
Speaker 1: as a means with which to basically just say who's

594
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,000
Speaker 1: been the best regular season player this year. That is

595
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: the main purpose of my MVP rankings, and for what

596
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:23,800
Speaker 1: it's worth, that's the way a lot of voters see

597
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:25,520
Speaker 1: it too. So we'll see if it ends up panting

598
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:26,960
Speaker 1: out at the end of the year. But I just

599
00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:28,560
Speaker 1: wanted to I know we've done him a few times,

600
00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,760
Speaker 1: but I wanted to just give that quick little brief

601
00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 1: for briefing. Number ten, Darren Fox is scoring an efficiency

602
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:38,360
Speaker 1: have taken a little dip since our last rankings, and

603
00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:41,160
Speaker 1: the Kings have dropped some games, so he drops to ten,

604
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:43,600
Speaker 1: and he had a nightmare game against the Orlando Magic

605
00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:44,960
Speaker 1: the other night, although he did hit a couple of

606
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,560
Speaker 1: big shots in double overtime. But he's been one of

607
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,680
Speaker 1: the best volume pull up shooters in the league this year,

608
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:52,880
Speaker 1: which I wanted to shout out really quick. He's getting

609
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,800
Speaker 1: one point one points per pull up jump shot. There

610
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:57,680
Speaker 1: are twenty three players in the league that have attempted

611
00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,080
Speaker 1: at least two hundred, and he ranks third only Tyre Saliburton.

612
00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:03,040
Speaker 1: And Trey Young have been better. So an excellent pull

613
00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:06,160
Speaker 1: up shooting season for dearon Fox and just a huge

614
00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:09,080
Speaker 1: deal when you factor in the fact that he's already

615
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,560
Speaker 1: one of the best downhill athletes in the league in

616
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 1: already a great mid range score as an excellent floater,

617
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:19,360
Speaker 1: great rim finisher, and great passer. Number nine Anthony Edwards's

618
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:22,680
Speaker 1: averaging thirty four points, four rebounds, and five assists since

619
00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:25,560
Speaker 1: our last MVP rankings on forty percent from three by

620
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,240
Speaker 1: the way, best player on the best team in the

621
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:29,520
Speaker 1: Western Conference, even if it is largely on the strength

622
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:31,719
Speaker 1: of the team's defense. I do want to shout him

623
00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:33,240
Speaker 1: out though, because he's been one of the best pick

624
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 1: and roll ball handlers in the league this year. He's

625
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:38,400
Speaker 1: getting one point one points per pick and roll including passes,

626
00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,160
Speaker 1: sixth out of forty eight players to run at least

627
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:43,120
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty. He's got really good chemistry with

628
00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:47,640
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert on the role this year. Number eight Jason Tatum,

629
00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:50,479
Speaker 1: even though I get annoyed with his offensive approach and

630
00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:52,520
Speaker 1: even though he's not as efficient as some of his

631
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,080
Speaker 1: peers around the league, the Celtics are four and one

632
00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,880
Speaker 1: since our last rankings, and Tatum is averaging twenty eight points,

633
00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 1: eight rebounds, and six assists, so he'll hold on to

634
00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:03,720
Speaker 1: the eighth spot for now. Number seven, another one of

635
00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,440
Speaker 1: the new guys on our list Kawhi Leonard. Most folks

636
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:09,840
Speaker 1: don't know this, but Kawhi is having the most efficient

637
00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:12,520
Speaker 1: scoring season of his career. He's over sixty three percent

638
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,120
Speaker 1: true shooting for the first time ever. He's getting one

639
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,480
Speaker 1: point two to two points per ISO, which is outrageous.

640
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,480
Speaker 1: Only his teammate James Harden and Tyrese Haliburton have been

641
00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:25,120
Speaker 1: more efficient on volume. I think it's like a minimum

642
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 1: hundred possessions if I remember correctly. He's also making forty

643
00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:31,040
Speaker 1: eight percent of his catch and shoot jump shots, getting

644
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:34,320
Speaker 1: one one point three to four points per shot. The

645
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:37,840
Speaker 1: Clippers are fifteen points per one hundred possessions better with

646
00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 1: Kawhi on the floor versus off, and the Clippers are

647
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:42,760
Speaker 1: now up to fourth in the Western Conference and riding

648
00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:45,360
Speaker 1: another four game winning streak, so he could climb much

649
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:47,800
Speaker 1: higher on this list if he stays healthy throughout the

650
00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:51,040
Speaker 1: rest of the season. Number six Giannis and Tennekumpo Jannis

651
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:54,120
Speaker 1: is still an absolute wrecking ball, even if Victor weman Yama.

652
00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:56,520
Speaker 1: That play where he blocked him at the room last

653
00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,480
Speaker 1: night was one of the craziest basketball plays I've ever seen,

654
00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:02,720
Speaker 1: and Victor just keeps doing stuff like that, right, But

655
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,479
Speaker 1: despite that since our last rankings, thirty two points, thirteen rebounds,

656
00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:09,240
Speaker 1: seven assists on sixty three percent field goals and thirty

657
00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:12,239
Speaker 1: six percent from three since our last rankings. He had

658
00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:15,480
Speaker 1: two huge threes against the Spurs last night in crunch time.

659
00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,680
Speaker 1: But the Bucks have dropped three games in the last

660
00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:21,200
Speaker 1: two weeks, including back to back out classings at the

661
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,720
Speaker 1: hands of the Indiana Pacers, so Giannis is going to

662
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 1: drop to sixth for now. Number five Luka doncic Our

663
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:31,360
Speaker 1: leading score since our last rankings thirty eight points per

664
00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:33,600
Speaker 1: game to go with eight rebounds and ten assists per game,

665
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:35,960
Speaker 1: fifty percent from the field and forty one percent from three.

666
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:38,160
Speaker 1: He's also led the MAVs to a four and two

667
00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,200
Speaker 1: record in that span, so he moves up to five

668
00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:45,600
Speaker 1: this week. Number four Tyres Halliburton. Five straight wins, all

669
00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:48,480
Speaker 1: against good teams, including back to back wins against the Bucks,

670
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,960
Speaker 1: who you know, have some issues at the point of attack,

671
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:55,160
Speaker 1: as we've broken down on this show. He resoundingly outplayed

672
00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,360
Speaker 1: Damian Lizard in both games. I'm telling you this is

673
00:32:57,520 --> 00:32:59,240
Speaker 1: a theme I've seen around the league this year too.

674
00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:01,920
Speaker 1: These young guys are really starting to outplay some of

675
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:03,960
Speaker 1: the veterans around the league, and it's getting to that

676
00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,440
Speaker 1: point where it might be a changing of the guard

677
00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:09,760
Speaker 1: of sorts. In that five game stretch, twenty seven points,

678
00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,120
Speaker 1: five rebounds and fifteen assists per game, fifty one percent

679
00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:14,360
Speaker 1: from the field, thirty nine percent from three, eighty eight

680
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:18,040
Speaker 1: percent from the foul line, in one point four turnovers

681
00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:20,720
Speaker 1: a game to go with fifteen assists. As a matter

682
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:23,280
Speaker 1: of fact, in terms of pure value, in terms of

683
00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:27,280
Speaker 1: who is doing the most with the least, I actually

684
00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 1: would put Tyrese Haliburton at number one, but it's team

685
00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:32,880
Speaker 1: success that's keeping him down to number four for now.

686
00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:34,960
Speaker 1: But I don't think anybody's done more with less this

687
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:40,560
Speaker 1: year than Tyrese Haliburton. Nikoley Okic has only missed five

688
00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,080
Speaker 1: shots over his last four games. Hit the nasty game

689
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:45,680
Speaker 1: winner over at Kavan Loony last night. He's a different

690
00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:47,320
Speaker 1: candidate than some of the other guys on this list

691
00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:49,520
Speaker 1: because he's not very aggressive as a scorer this season

692
00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,360
Speaker 1: with the team healthy. Hasn't attempted twenty shots in a

693
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:54,720
Speaker 1: game a single time over the last seven games, but

694
00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:58,120
Speaker 1: he's still dominating and the Nuggets are rolling. He's up

695
00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:02,240
Speaker 1: to number three. Number two shake Gilgess Alexander the only

696
00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:04,360
Speaker 1: guy to beat Jokic in the last month or so,

697
00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,200
Speaker 1: and he did it twice, including with the game winner.

698
00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:11,080
Speaker 1: Here's a crazy set of Shay stats for you. One

699
00:34:11,120 --> 00:34:14,160
Speaker 1: point one points per pick and roll including passes, one

700
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:18,399
Speaker 1: point two points per ISO including passes, one point three

701
00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:21,919
Speaker 1: to one points per post up including passes, so he's

702
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:25,600
Speaker 1: basically getting almost one point two points per any self

703
00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:28,279
Speaker 1: created possession in the half court. He's become one of

704
00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:30,960
Speaker 1: the top five shot creators in the league. I'm very,

705
00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:33,960
Speaker 1: very excited to watch him play meaningful playoff basketball this

706
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:37,399
Speaker 1: year last, but at least number one. Joel Embiid. He's

707
00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:39,319
Speaker 1: only played in two games since our last rankings, but

708
00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:42,680
Speaker 1: he's averaging thirty one to thirteen and ten assists. Yes,

709
00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:45,719
Speaker 1: ten assists per game. You heard that correctly over his

710
00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:48,799
Speaker 1: last two games, averaging five turnovers game over that span.

711
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,040
Speaker 1: But we can't deny anymore that Joel Embiid is taking

712
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:54,040
Speaker 1: a leap as a passer, and that's a very, very

713
00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:56,879
Speaker 1: encouraging thing for him as a postseason player. I want

714
00:34:56,880 --> 00:34:58,799
Speaker 1: to credit Nick Nurse two for simplifying some of his

715
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,960
Speaker 1: reads this year. He has the best combination of total

716
00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:05,880
Speaker 1: MVP case, which is like two way impact, insane counting stats,

717
00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:10,520
Speaker 1: team success, and specific value to his team's success on

718
00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:14,040
Speaker 1: this list. So he's at number one for the time being.

719
00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:18,040
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on to our mail bag. First question,

720
00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:20,360
Speaker 1: do you think that Tatum will continue to hunt difficult

721
00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:22,920
Speaker 1: pull up threes late in games or against favorable matchups

722
00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:25,040
Speaker 1: and playoffs when it's so clear that driving and kicking

723
00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:26,480
Speaker 1: and hoping for the ball to come back to your

724
00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:29,160
Speaker 1: hands for high percentage shot is a better option. I

725
00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:31,000
Speaker 1: don't know if I'm just very accustomed to your show

726
00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:33,000
Speaker 1: in your words, but man, it has become so obvious

727
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,400
Speaker 1: when he's taking these contested, difficult shots that don't go

728
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,120
Speaker 1: in anyways. In other words, if it's so obvious to

729
00:35:38,200 --> 00:35:41,560
Speaker 1: us on TV, why hasn't Boston adjusted that part out

730
00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:43,520
Speaker 1: of his game yet or where we see it adjusted

731
00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:47,320
Speaker 1: come playoffs? So I think the reality is is Jason

732
00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:50,480
Speaker 1: Tatum is probably trusting his work here, and like he

733
00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,799
Speaker 1: probably just has a great amount of belief in that

734
00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:55,440
Speaker 1: pull up jump shot. That doesn't mean it's a good shot,

735
00:35:55,719 --> 00:35:57,960
Speaker 1: but that I think is his reasoning behind taking it.

736
00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:00,879
Speaker 1: I do think the coaching staff could be a little

737
00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:04,520
Speaker 1: bit more, you know, deliberate about trying to talk him

738
00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:06,320
Speaker 1: out of taking those shots. But at the end of

739
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:08,279
Speaker 1: the day, too, Like it's a fine line between that

740
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:10,320
Speaker 1: and taking away a player's confidence. You want him to

741
00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:12,560
Speaker 1: be confident taking those shots, and like he has made

742
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,480
Speaker 1: him in the playoffs at times, like we saw him

743
00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:18,080
Speaker 1: make them in Game seven against the Philadelphia seventy six ers, right,

744
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,080
Speaker 1: that was a big part of his late game comeback there.

745
00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:22,080
Speaker 1: But we do have a really large sample size of

746
00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:25,279
Speaker 1: him being largely inefficient with that shot. And the reality is,

747
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:30,759
Speaker 1: in my opinion, he's young still, and eventually it will

748
00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:34,560
Speaker 1: click for him as he learns to truly value every

749
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:37,359
Speaker 1: single possession at a higher level than he does now.

750
00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:39,440
Speaker 1: I just think it's a matter of time. Most of

751
00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:41,520
Speaker 1: these guys don't figure this kind of stuff out until

752
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,279
Speaker 1: they're late twenties, early thirties. Right, That's why all the

753
00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,560
Speaker 1: great superstars, you know, don't win until they're twenty six,

754
00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,239
Speaker 1: twenty seven years old, right, So, like, I just think

755
00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:52,319
Speaker 1: it's only a matter of time. He just needs to

756
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:54,800
Speaker 1: figure out, you know, what the best way to attack

757
00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:59,759
Speaker 1: every individual possession is for him. Next question, do you

758
00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:02,279
Speaker 1: have any interest or capacity within the framework of the

759
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:05,520
Speaker 1: show to mix in some WNBA coverage and or analysis.

760
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:07,879
Speaker 1: It could fit in nicely as some NBA off season

761
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:10,880
Speaker 1: opportunities for your for content that wouldn't need to replace

762
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:14,200
Speaker 1: your NBA off season coverage and opportunities for ust and

763
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:16,279
Speaker 1: relaxation for you, but maybe some coverage that would give

764
00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:18,720
Speaker 1: you the chance to address interesting observations about the basketball

765
00:37:18,719 --> 00:37:23,120
Speaker 1: and personnel in that league. There's certainly other shows out

766
00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:25,400
Speaker 1: there that are exclusively covering the WNBA, but I'd certainly

767
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:28,040
Speaker 1: be interested in hearing your perspective on WNBA basketball and

768
00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:30,759
Speaker 1: have some fun hearing you talk shop about some of

769
00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:32,680
Speaker 1: my favorite players and teams in that league. Thanks for

770
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:34,319
Speaker 1: all you do and keep up the great work. So

771
00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:39,879
Speaker 1: here's the thing. I it's not just the WNBA. There's

772
00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:42,239
Speaker 1: a lot of sports out there that I don't watch

773
00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:45,399
Speaker 1: as much as i'd like. Like, I'm a huge NFL fan,

774
00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:48,640
Speaker 1: and I you know, I went into this season. I

775
00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:52,439
Speaker 1: ended up paying for the All twenty two package because

776
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:54,320
Speaker 1: I wanted to kind of learn more about the schematics

777
00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:55,840
Speaker 1: of football, just because I've always been a fan of

778
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:58,680
Speaker 1: the game. And then the season starts and I'm so

779
00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:00,960
Speaker 1: busy with my job, I just falls on the wayside.

780
00:38:01,000 --> 00:38:02,719
Speaker 1: I barely use that package, so I might as well

781
00:38:02,719 --> 00:38:05,480
Speaker 1: have ripped up seventy dollars. And I haven't followed the

782
00:38:05,560 --> 00:38:08,799
Speaker 1: NFL very closely. I'm a big college football fan. I'm

783
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:12,239
Speaker 1: a big college basketball fan. Huge u of a basketball fan.

784
00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:14,080
Speaker 1: We have a really good team this year. I've only

785
00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:16,160
Speaker 1: watched like four or five of the games, and it's

786
00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:20,360
Speaker 1: just because, like this job is so demanding from the

787
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:23,680
Speaker 1: standpoint of like think about all the things on this

788
00:38:23,719 --> 00:38:26,080
Speaker 1: show that we still kind of need to hit, like

789
00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:30,160
Speaker 1: Trey Young hooping his ass off. Would like to talk

790
00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:34,280
Speaker 1: about it at some point, right, Like the Calves, despite

791
00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:36,920
Speaker 1: being without Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, have been kind

792
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:40,319
Speaker 1: of feisty. They're worth talking about. Like there I could

793
00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:43,000
Speaker 1: go on and on there. There are so many NBA topics.

794
00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:45,799
Speaker 1: I'd love to do a rookie rankings at some point, right,

795
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:48,680
Speaker 1: and like talk about Victor Webbin Yama and Scoot Henderson

796
00:38:48,719 --> 00:38:51,360
Speaker 1: and the Thompson Twins. I'd love to do all that stuff,

797
00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:55,520
Speaker 1: but the reality is is like it's it's so difficult

798
00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:58,600
Speaker 1: to find time for all of these things that if

799
00:38:58,600 --> 00:39:01,759
Speaker 1: I have an extra hour, like I'm gonna be like

800
00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:03,200
Speaker 1: this morning, I'll be like, you know what, I need

801
00:39:03,239 --> 00:39:05,279
Speaker 1: to hit the Pelicans. They're hooping. I need to get

802
00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:08,480
Speaker 1: to the Pelicans. And so I crammed in time today

803
00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:11,839
Speaker 1: to watch Pelicans Wolves and to do a deep dive

804
00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:15,200
Speaker 1: into the numbers, and like, if I have time, I

805
00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:18,160
Speaker 1: direct it towards the NBA. And so even though I'm

806
00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:22,160
Speaker 1: a huge basketball fan who loves loves watching women's basketball specifically,

807
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:24,719
Speaker 1: I had a great time watching the women's tournament last year.

808
00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:28,239
Speaker 1: I thought Caitlin Clark was one of the most entertaining,

809
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:31,319
Speaker 1: you know, television phenomena that I've seen in the last

810
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:33,000
Speaker 1: couple of years, and what she did in the tournament

811
00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:35,799
Speaker 1: last year, I'd love to do that. It's just when

812
00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:38,400
Speaker 1: I have extra time, I devote it towards the NBA

813
00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:40,960
Speaker 1: because I just want to keep doing a better job

814
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:43,320
Speaker 1: of this, And like, I don't think there's a version

815
00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:46,440
Speaker 1: of it where I could cover other things and still

816
00:39:46,480 --> 00:39:48,719
Speaker 1: do this as well. It would it would have to

817
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:51,200
Speaker 1: be part of some larger shift to just covering all

818
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:54,279
Speaker 1: sports in a lesser capacity. And right now, I, first

819
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:55,960
Speaker 1: of all, I'm not even sure I ever want to

820
00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:58,920
Speaker 1: do that. I love the NBA. It's it's it's like,

821
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:01,600
Speaker 1: you know, the second most important thing in the world

822
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,319
Speaker 1: to me, to my family and friends. Right so, like

823
00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:09,640
Speaker 1: I for me, right now, like I just don't see

824
00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:12,120
Speaker 1: it in the cards. That's not to say never, but

825
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:14,000
Speaker 1: for right now, I just don't see a universe where

826
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:16,320
Speaker 1: I start covering the WNBA, just simply from the standpoint

827
00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:20,399
Speaker 1: of how much time I have. Next question, you move

828
00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:22,680
Speaker 1: the Thunder into your contender tier. Are there any moves

829
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:25,759
Speaker 1: that could make their pool of assets that moves them

830
00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:28,160
Speaker 1: into your Denver Boston tier right now? And if so,

831
00:40:28,239 --> 00:40:30,000
Speaker 1: would you make that move and wait and see what

832
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:33,360
Speaker 1: happens this playoffs before changing anything. They're young, but rookie

833
00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:35,520
Speaker 1: contracts will end and they might not be able to

834
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:38,480
Speaker 1: retain all the key guys. So again I've said this

835
00:40:38,520 --> 00:40:40,279
Speaker 1: before on the show, but an upgrade at that four

836
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:42,439
Speaker 1: spot is what would move them into the contender tier

837
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:45,279
Speaker 1: for me, I agree from the standpoint of, like they're

838
00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:48,200
Speaker 1: not being urgency. I don't think they win the title

839
00:40:48,239 --> 00:40:51,880
Speaker 1: this year anyway, just simply from the standpoint of, like

840
00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:54,840
Speaker 1: you need experience, Like I always talk about battle scars,

841
00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:57,960
Speaker 1: like you need to be scarred by losing in the

842
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:02,719
Speaker 1: playoffs so many times that you suddenly break through. There's

843
00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:05,640
Speaker 1: nobody that gets to cheat that process. The Warriors lost

844
00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:08,360
Speaker 1: in twenty thirteen and lost in twenty fourteen, right, like

845
00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:11,640
Speaker 1: you you suffer on the way to that point. It's

846
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:13,960
Speaker 1: a it's a very important part of that process. The

847
00:41:14,040 --> 00:41:17,280
Speaker 1: Nuggets lost to the Lakers in the twenty twenty bubble,

848
00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:19,080
Speaker 1: right then they lost in twenty twenty one, and they

849
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:21,480
Speaker 1: lost in twenty twenty two when they were injured. It's

850
00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:23,919
Speaker 1: like it's all part of that process, and you get

851
00:41:24,040 --> 00:41:28,120
Speaker 1: so terrified of losing that you start to make these

852
00:41:28,239 --> 00:41:31,799
Speaker 1: crazy extra efforts. I remember in the two thousand and

853
00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:36,480
Speaker 1: twelve NBA Finals that was a big storyline. Like Shane

854
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:40,560
Speaker 1: Battier is like making these crazy efforts for extra rebounds

855
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:42,200
Speaker 1: because he's been in the league for a decade and

856
00:41:42,239 --> 00:41:45,040
Speaker 1: he just wants to win so bad, right, And it's

857
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,080
Speaker 1: like as good it's not to say that there's there

858
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:51,040
Speaker 1: the young players aren't competitive. It's just it's hard. It's

859
00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:53,080
Speaker 1: hard to explain other than to just say there is

860
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:56,440
Speaker 1: another level to this, and as good as the Thunder

861
00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:59,920
Speaker 1: have been, the other level is winning in April, main

862
00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:03,839
Speaker 1: in June, and that is not something that teams pick

863
00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:07,279
Speaker 1: up overnight. It takes time, and so from that standpoint,

864
00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:11,319
Speaker 1: you wait to make that all in move for the

865
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:14,520
Speaker 1: right player now. If the right player is available at

866
00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:17,480
Speaker 1: this deadline, get them now, because the more time you

867
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:20,040
Speaker 1: have to build that chemistry, the better. Might as well

868
00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:25,200
Speaker 1: build that playoff scar tissue this season, right, But if

869
00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:28,600
Speaker 1: the right guys not available this deadline, you can be patient.

870
00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:31,880
Speaker 1: Because I don't see this year ending in a championship

871
00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:34,239
Speaker 1: for the Thunder. I have to include them just by

872
00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:36,880
Speaker 1: virtue of their overall talent and my list of contenders,

873
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:39,120
Speaker 1: but I would be shocked if they won the title

874
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:45,080
Speaker 1: just based on everything we've learned from NBA history. Next question,

875
00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:46,960
Speaker 1: and this is less of a question just to comment.

876
00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:50,399
Speaker 1: I got like four Celtics fans saying this in the comments.

877
00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:52,480
Speaker 1: Definitely a worthy game to talk about, But just to

878
00:42:52,480 --> 00:42:55,440
Speaker 1: be clear that seven for seven on Celtics videos immediately

879
00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:58,080
Speaker 1: following a loss. Let's try to match that amount with

880
00:42:58,160 --> 00:43:00,759
Speaker 1: videos after they win, if that's not too much to ask.

881
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:04,319
Speaker 1: Lots of Celtics fans said this, to be clear, I

882
00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:07,759
Speaker 1: pick the show, the kind of the layout of the show,

883
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:11,120
Speaker 1: which games I'm gonna cover in advance. So like when

884
00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:13,680
Speaker 1: I covered the Celtics, I planned on covering them before

885
00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:16,279
Speaker 1: the game. If they I haven't looked back to see

886
00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:18,840
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't agree with that stat because I

887
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:21,480
Speaker 1: literally covered the Celtics beating the Lakers on Christmas Day,

888
00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:26,680
Speaker 1: so that's it's at least some amount of inaccurate. That said, like, like,

889
00:43:26,719 --> 00:43:29,600
Speaker 1: I have no vendetta against the Celtics. I would pick

890
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:31,640
Speaker 1: them to win a playoff series against everybody in the

891
00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:33,600
Speaker 1: league except for Denver, and I'd give them a chance

892
00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:37,080
Speaker 1: to beat Denver. We've talked. One of the reasons why

893
00:43:37,120 --> 00:43:39,680
Speaker 1: we don't talk as much about them on this show

894
00:43:39,719 --> 00:43:41,640
Speaker 1: as some of the other teams is they have a

895
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:44,840
Speaker 1: very clear style that they play and it doesn't change.

896
00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:47,640
Speaker 1: They're not a team in turmoil. They're not a team

897
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:49,839
Speaker 1: trying to figure out how they want to play. They're

898
00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:52,799
Speaker 1: not a team that has major rotation concerns, and so

899
00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:56,240
Speaker 1: they're not a team that has as much like debate

900
00:43:56,400 --> 00:43:59,520
Speaker 1: surrounding them other than can they get the job done?

901
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:01,960
Speaker 1: Is them capable enough of being that guy? Which I

902
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:04,840
Speaker 1: think is something we've covered in detail on this show.

903
00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:08,440
Speaker 1: But the reality is is like I've picked them in

904
00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:11,239
Speaker 1: a lot of big, high leverage games, and they've lost

905
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:13,600
Speaker 1: a lot of those big high leverage games, which has

906
00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:15,719
Speaker 1: a lot to do with some of my concerns surrounding

907
00:44:15,719 --> 00:44:18,720
Speaker 1: the Celtics and what their potential is in the big picture.

908
00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:21,239
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. I'm gonna keep picking Celtics games

909
00:44:21,280 --> 00:44:23,719
Speaker 1: based on major matchups throughout the season that we're gonna

910
00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:26,440
Speaker 1: cover and if the Celtics win, that we're gonna cover

911
00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:28,719
Speaker 1: them as if they want right, So like it's it's

912
00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:33,960
Speaker 1: not any sort of of you know, cherry picking Celtics losses.

913
00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:36,520
Speaker 1: This is predetermined stuff here for the layout of the show.

914
00:44:37,200 --> 00:44:41,160
Speaker 1: Next question, the Warriors have experienced lackluster performance from Klay Thompson,

915
00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:43,879
Speaker 1: Cavan Luoniy and Andrew Wiggins. Seems unusual for this group

916
00:44:43,880 --> 00:44:47,240
Speaker 1: of historically consistent players to be struggling at the same time,

917
00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:50,440
Speaker 1: it seems like their issues are more than on the court.

918
00:44:50,480 --> 00:44:52,919
Speaker 1: What is the likelihood that the chemistry and the buy

919
00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:55,040
Speaker 1: in from their core is broken. And if this continues,

920
00:44:55,080 --> 00:44:56,960
Speaker 1: the Steve Kurr's job in jeopardy. So I'm not gonna

921
00:44:56,960 --> 00:44:58,600
Speaker 1: talk about Steve Ker's job because we talked about that

922
00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:01,000
Speaker 1: in the Warriors segment earlier today. But here's the thing

923
00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:03,680
Speaker 1: to talk about each of those individual players. Klay Thompson's

924
00:45:03,680 --> 00:45:05,440
Speaker 1: just getting a little bit older, that's all that is.

925
00:45:05,719 --> 00:45:07,800
Speaker 1: Kevon Looney is a big part of it is scheme.

926
00:45:07,960 --> 00:45:10,720
Speaker 1: I think, as the overall offensive talent on the floor

927
00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:13,279
Speaker 1: is dipped, having Kevon Looney out there has become a

928
00:45:13,280 --> 00:45:16,080
Speaker 1: bigger problem than back when Andrew Wiggins was playing really

929
00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:18,759
Speaker 1: well and back when Klay Thompson was playing really well. Right, So,

930
00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:23,000
Speaker 1: as the offensive talent is dipped, Kevon Looney's offensive shortcomings

931
00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:24,360
Speaker 1: have kind of risen to the table, and that was

932
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:28,000
Speaker 1: a big issue down the stretch last night. Andrew Wiggins,

933
00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:31,000
Speaker 1: your guess is as good as mine. Man. I don't

934
00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:33,359
Speaker 1: know what happened to him. He's just not the same guy.

935
00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:39,440
Speaker 1: And I wish I could give you some sort of explanation,

936
00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:42,560
Speaker 1: but I don't know what to say. The dude, he's

937
00:45:42,560 --> 00:45:44,880
Speaker 1: not shooting well, he's not defending as well, he's not

938
00:45:45,120 --> 00:45:47,520
Speaker 1: making decisions as well. He's just not the same player.

939
00:45:47,680 --> 00:45:50,840
Speaker 1: And that is a really unfortunate circumstance for the Warriors

940
00:45:50,880 --> 00:45:54,080
Speaker 1: because it's changed the you know, the trajectory of that

941
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:56,240
Speaker 1: team over the course of the last couple of years.

942
00:45:57,680 --> 00:46:00,840
Speaker 1: Next question, Please tell us what shoes you wear while hooping.

943
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:02,720
Speaker 1: Would love to know what your favorites have been throughout

944
00:46:02,719 --> 00:46:05,200
Speaker 1: the years, what you're currently wearing, and how your play

945
00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:08,000
Speaker 1: style effect youra preference. Thanks for putting out such great content.

946
00:46:08,280 --> 00:46:11,080
Speaker 1: We don't deserve it. Well. I disagree with that last part,

947
00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:13,680
Speaker 1: although I do sincerely appreciate the support and the kind words.

948
00:46:15,719 --> 00:46:19,600
Speaker 1: Basketball shoes. When I was younger, I played in Kobe's

949
00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:23,920
Speaker 1: a lot played in Hyperfuses. When I was in college

950
00:46:23,960 --> 00:46:27,040
Speaker 1: that was my go to I wore Hyperfuse lows my

951
00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:30,760
Speaker 1: second year in college. That was one of my favorite

952
00:46:30,800 --> 00:46:33,360
Speaker 1: shoes that I played in, but a lot of Kobe's

953
00:46:33,440 --> 00:46:37,680
Speaker 1: after that. Post Kobe, it's been like I basically try

954
00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:42,279
Speaker 1: to find whatever a new shoe is performance space. To me,

955
00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:45,480
Speaker 1: I shouldn't say performance space that fits my foot in

956
00:46:45,520 --> 00:46:47,879
Speaker 1: the way that I play best. And It's funny. When

957
00:46:47,880 --> 00:46:49,960
Speaker 1: I was younger, I used to care so much about

958
00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:53,080
Speaker 1: what the shoes looked like, and I'd find a pair

959
00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:55,600
Speaker 1: that looked sick and I'd buy them right But like

960
00:46:55,680 --> 00:46:57,880
Speaker 1: now I could care less. All I care about is

961
00:46:57,960 --> 00:46:59,640
Speaker 1: like does it feel good in my foot? And does

962
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:02,120
Speaker 1: it feel good to hoop in? And so the last

963
00:47:02,120 --> 00:47:03,600
Speaker 1: two that I've been because what I'll do is like

964
00:47:03,640 --> 00:47:05,319
Speaker 1: I'll find a pair of shoes that I really like,

965
00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:07,279
Speaker 1: and then I'll just buy as many of them as

966
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:09,120
Speaker 1: I can and just ride it out until that shoe

967
00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:12,080
Speaker 1: doesn't exist anymore. So the previous shoe to the one,

968
00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:15,360
Speaker 1: because right now I'm wearing the Unescus, very similar to Kobe's.

969
00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:17,840
Speaker 1: I'm on my second pair of them. One of the

970
00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:21,440
Speaker 1: things for me is I like a lighter, low top shoe,

971
00:47:21,560 --> 00:47:23,880
Speaker 1: kind of like a Kobe. But the problem is I

972
00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:25,680
Speaker 1: weigh two hundred and thirty pounds, and so I wear

973
00:47:25,719 --> 00:47:27,680
Speaker 1: through them super fast because I play like a guard.

974
00:47:27,680 --> 00:47:29,160
Speaker 1: I play out on the perimeter, and so they just

975
00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:31,520
Speaker 1: break down really fast. So I do go through shoes

976
00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:34,759
Speaker 1: relatively quickly, unfortunately, But I like having that lighter shoe

977
00:47:34,800 --> 00:47:36,560
Speaker 1: because I like to be quicker on my feet. But

978
00:47:36,600 --> 00:47:38,879
Speaker 1: the Unescus had been my go to shoe as of late.

979
00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:41,920
Speaker 1: But before that, I went through five pairs of Lebron

980
00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:45,000
Speaker 1: nineteen lows, which is crazy because I never was a

981
00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:48,920
Speaker 1: Lebron guy. I think his shoes are generally too heavy

982
00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:53,680
Speaker 1: and and kind of uncomfortable and attraction's not great. Never

983
00:47:53,680 --> 00:47:55,719
Speaker 1: been a huge fan of Lebron basketball shoes. But the

984
00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:59,160
Speaker 1: Lebron nineteen lows were really, really nice, and I really

985
00:47:59,280 --> 00:48:01,759
Speaker 1: liked those, and I went through five sets of them.

986
00:48:01,800 --> 00:48:04,839
Speaker 1: So like, I'll probably end up riding out the Yenescus

987
00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:07,440
Speaker 1: for the next year or so, and then I'll be

988
00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:09,759
Speaker 1: on to the next one. But I the Unescu's kind

989
00:48:09,760 --> 00:48:12,480
Speaker 1: of follow this Kobe trend, and so I kind of

990
00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:13,880
Speaker 1: have a feeling that that's going to be my go

991
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:17,600
Speaker 1: to basketball shoot for a little while. And I know

992
00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:18,880
Speaker 1: I've said this on to the show before, but I

993
00:48:18,920 --> 00:48:20,879
Speaker 1: can't even begin to describe how much better it's been

994
00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:23,440
Speaker 1: just being back out on the court because that injury

995
00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:27,919
Speaker 1: saga was just an absolute nightmare. I'm slow as shit,

996
00:48:28,000 --> 00:48:29,480
Speaker 1: I'm still it's still going to take a couple of

997
00:48:29,480 --> 00:48:30,799
Speaker 1: months for me to get to the point where I

998
00:48:30,800 --> 00:48:32,640
Speaker 1: can play at the level I was playing before, but

999
00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:35,120
Speaker 1: it just feels good to be back out there. I

1000
00:48:35,160 --> 00:48:37,120
Speaker 1: just don't get having the Lakers as a top five

1001
00:48:37,200 --> 00:48:40,480
Speaker 1: contender when they clearly need the trade and not have

1002
00:48:40,600 --> 00:48:43,839
Speaker 1: Minnesota in there, who are not currently a theoretical team.

1003
00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:48,640
Speaker 1: You have spoken often about theoretical basketball, or that simply

1004
00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:53,960
Speaker 1: you've spoken how theoretical basketball is. Simply that theoretical Lakers

1005
00:48:54,080 --> 00:48:56,560
Speaker 1: aren't even guaranteed to be a top tier container with

1006
00:48:56,680 --> 00:48:59,479
Speaker 1: a contender with a good trade. They're certainly not top

1007
00:48:59,480 --> 00:49:02,520
Speaker 1: five at the moment and totally and got totally owned

1008
00:49:02,560 --> 00:49:05,560
Speaker 1: by the Wolves the other night. So here's the thing.

1009
00:49:05,880 --> 00:49:07,600
Speaker 1: The Laker thing is up for debate, so is the

1010
00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:10,440
Speaker 1: Wolves thing. Like they're like up for debate topics, and

1011
00:49:10,440 --> 00:49:12,440
Speaker 1: then they're not up for debate topics. Like if you

1012
00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:13,880
Speaker 1: tried to sit here and tell me that you didn't

1013
00:49:13,880 --> 00:49:16,960
Speaker 1: think Denver was a championship contender, I'd be like, yeah,

1014
00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:19,239
Speaker 1: you're just wrong about that. Like I don't know what

1015
00:49:19,320 --> 00:49:22,000
Speaker 1: to tell you, right, but this stuff is up for debate.

1016
00:49:22,239 --> 00:49:26,160
Speaker 1: And here's the reality. When I say theoretical basketball to me,

1017
00:49:26,200 --> 00:49:29,120
Speaker 1: the Wolves are the theoretical team because I haven't seen

1018
00:49:29,160 --> 00:49:33,160
Speaker 1: them make a long playoff run. I watched them last year.

1019
00:49:33,200 --> 00:49:36,040
Speaker 1: We not good enough to beat Denver, right, But like,

1020
00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:38,239
Speaker 1: I haven't seen them against multiple matchups. I haven't seen

1021
00:49:38,280 --> 00:49:41,120
Speaker 1: them have to make multiple defensive adjustments or offensive adjustments

1022
00:49:41,160 --> 00:49:44,480
Speaker 1: against multiple opponents. You have to win four series to

1023
00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:48,760
Speaker 1: get through. I have personally watched Lebron James and Anthony

1024
00:49:48,840 --> 00:49:53,439
Speaker 1: Davis win six playoff series. I just watched them last

1025
00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:57,320
Speaker 1: year beat the two seed Memphis Grizzlies, beat the defending

1026
00:49:57,400 --> 00:50:00,280
Speaker 1: champion Golden State Warriors, and then lose to the mentional

1027
00:50:00,320 --> 00:50:04,879
Speaker 1: champion Denver Nuggets. That's not theoretical. They have issues within

1028
00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:07,640
Speaker 1: the regular season that they need to address. They are

1029
00:50:07,640 --> 00:50:10,040
Speaker 1: not a theoretical basketball team. I know exactly what they

1030
00:50:10,120 --> 00:50:12,800
Speaker 1: look like in the postseason. That to me, is exactly

1031
00:50:12,880 --> 00:50:16,520
Speaker 1: why I have the Wolves below them. You should know this.

1032
00:50:17,520 --> 00:50:20,279
Speaker 1: I've been working on adding things to the show to

1033
00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:23,279
Speaker 1: have more reverence for the regular season. That's kind of

1034
00:50:23,320 --> 00:50:25,239
Speaker 1: like what my power rankings are. It's kind of like

1035
00:50:25,280 --> 00:50:27,719
Speaker 1: what my MVP rankings are, right, Like, I want to

1036
00:50:27,719 --> 00:50:30,760
Speaker 1: do a better job of acknowledging the regular season accomplishments

1037
00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:34,200
Speaker 1: within the eighty two. But I am like it takes

1038
00:50:34,239 --> 00:50:38,600
Speaker 1: a lot to move me in a regular season, Like

1039
00:50:38,680 --> 00:50:43,400
Speaker 1: it just takes a lot, because I value postseason basketball

1040
00:50:43,520 --> 00:50:45,640
Speaker 1: is almost like a different sport. It's not really a

1041
00:50:45,640 --> 00:50:48,120
Speaker 1: different sport, but it's like such a higher level of

1042
00:50:48,160 --> 00:50:51,000
Speaker 1: basketball in terms of intensity and physicality and adjustments, and

1043
00:50:51,920 --> 00:50:54,400
Speaker 1: it like an experience suddenly comes to the table, and

1044
00:50:54,440 --> 00:50:56,960
Speaker 1: superstar talent it comes to the table and all these

1045
00:50:56,960 --> 00:51:00,319
Speaker 1: different things. And like the problem with the Wolves is

1046
00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:04,400
Speaker 1: like I know Anthony Edwards is gonna be really freaking

1047
00:51:04,480 --> 00:51:07,200
Speaker 1: good one day, but like I don't know when. And

1048
00:51:07,360 --> 00:51:09,879
Speaker 1: their half court offense sucks is a huge issue against

1049
00:51:09,880 --> 00:51:11,640
Speaker 1: the Pelicans when they got their ass kicked the other night.

1050
00:51:12,120 --> 00:51:14,439
Speaker 1: Like they have all these big red flags and they

1051
00:51:14,480 --> 00:51:18,040
Speaker 1: don't have a playoff foundation that gives me margin for

1052
00:51:18,200 --> 00:51:20,960
Speaker 1: error with them. Notice I haven't taken the Warriors off

1053
00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:24,440
Speaker 1: of my championship contenders why because I know what Steph

1054
00:51:24,560 --> 00:51:26,879
Speaker 1: Clay and Draymond can do in a playoff series when

1055
00:51:26,880 --> 00:51:29,160
Speaker 1: they have two other really good players on the floor

1056
00:51:29,160 --> 00:51:30,920
Speaker 1: with them. And if they go out and they make

1057
00:51:30,960 --> 00:51:33,880
Speaker 1: a trade and they bring back a Pascal Siakam or

1058
00:51:33,920 --> 00:51:36,359
Speaker 1: a lower e Marken in they're gonna be really damn

1059
00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:40,160
Speaker 1: good again, and I know Steph Curry is one of

1060
00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:43,799
Speaker 1: the best playoff players in the league. I to put

1061
00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:46,520
Speaker 1: it simply, Steph's a way better playoff player than Anthony

1062
00:51:46,600 --> 00:51:50,279
Speaker 1: Edwards in my opinion right now. So that to me

1063
00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:56,040
Speaker 1: makes even Steph and the Warriors somewhat less theoretical than Minnesota.

1064
00:51:56,120 --> 00:51:58,600
Speaker 1: I have Minnesota higher than Golden State right now because

1065
00:51:58,680 --> 00:52:02,440
Speaker 1: Golden State has major peronnel issues. I actually think the Lakers,

1066
00:52:02,600 --> 00:52:06,520
Speaker 1: who have personnel issues, have significantly better personnel than the

1067
00:52:06,520 --> 00:52:09,480
Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors. They've underachieved in a lot of ways.

1068
00:52:09,480 --> 00:52:13,040
Speaker 1: We've talked about their coaching situation. I think the Lakers

1069
00:52:13,080 --> 00:52:15,239
Speaker 1: are actually pretty close, and that's why I still have

1070
00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:18,279
Speaker 1: them at fourth in my championship rankings. I don't view

1071
00:52:18,280 --> 00:52:20,400
Speaker 1: them as theoretical because I've seen Lebron James and Anthony

1072
00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:22,120
Speaker 1: Davis and what they can do in a playoff series.

1073
00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:24,319
Speaker 1: More importantly, Lebron and Ad look better than they did

1074
00:52:24,360 --> 00:52:28,600
Speaker 1: last year. So to clarify, theoretical basketball to me is

1075
00:52:28,680 --> 00:52:31,520
Speaker 1: more referring to the playoffs, not the regular season. Like

1076
00:52:31,960 --> 00:52:34,439
Speaker 1: you're correct, the Minnesota simer rules have been a much

1077
00:52:34,480 --> 00:52:39,120
Speaker 1: better regular season team than the Lakers. But that, to

1078
00:52:39,160 --> 00:52:40,640
Speaker 1: me is not the same as what I saw in

1079
00:52:40,680 --> 00:52:43,720
Speaker 1: the postseason last year, when I just I think Lebron

1080
00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:46,759
Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis are just a significantly more impactful

1081
00:52:46,760 --> 00:52:50,200
Speaker 1: playoff duo than Anthony Edwards and Carl Towns, or Anthony

1082
00:52:50,280 --> 00:52:52,080
Speaker 1: Edwards and Rudy Gobert, or however you want to look

1083
00:52:52,120 --> 00:52:56,040
Speaker 1: at It doesn't mean the Wolves can't win. I just

1084
00:52:56,120 --> 00:52:58,120
Speaker 1: view them as more of a long shot as a result.

1085
00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:00,960
Speaker 1: Last question, did you forg yet about the Clippers as

1086
00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:03,480
Speaker 1: contenders or do you think they aren't contenders. Here's the

1087
00:53:03,520 --> 00:53:05,680
Speaker 1: thing with the Clippers. I'm really concerned about their front

1088
00:53:05,719 --> 00:53:09,560
Speaker 1: line size and a lot of the shot selection stuff,

1089
00:53:09,600 --> 00:53:13,160
Speaker 1: the James Harden playoffs stuff. So for me, I'm not

1090
00:53:13,160 --> 00:53:14,600
Speaker 1: saying I won't put them on there. As a matter

1091
00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:16,200
Speaker 1: of fact, I expect that I probably will at some

1092
00:53:16,200 --> 00:53:18,120
Speaker 1: point this season. I just want to see a couple

1093
00:53:18,160 --> 00:53:20,520
Speaker 1: more high leverage games. I want to see them in,

1094
00:53:20,600 --> 00:53:24,040
Speaker 1: like a major nationally televised, like on the road in

1095
00:53:24,080 --> 00:53:26,439
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City against the thunder which I wanted to see

1096
00:53:26,440 --> 00:53:29,080
Speaker 1: the other day but Kawhi was out. But like, I

1097
00:53:29,120 --> 00:53:30,680
Speaker 1: just want to see them get a couple of really big,

1098
00:53:30,760 --> 00:53:32,920
Speaker 1: high leverage wins before I add them to the contender

1099
00:53:32,920 --> 00:53:36,040
Speaker 1: lists at that point, because there's a lot theoretical with

1100
00:53:35,719 --> 00:53:38,160
Speaker 1: the Clippers as well, and fortunately as it pertains to

1101
00:53:38,200 --> 00:53:40,160
Speaker 1: their frontline. All right, guys, that is all I have

1102
00:53:40,239 --> 00:53:42,360
Speaker 1: for today. Is always, I sincerely appreciate your support. I

1103
00:53:42,360 --> 00:53:43,759
Speaker 1: hope you guys have a good weekend, and we will

1104
00:53:43,800 --> 00:54:13,280
Speaker 1: be back on Monday. The volume