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Speaker 1: All right, welcome to tonight here at the Volume. Happy Friday, everybody.
Speaker 1: Hope all of you guys are having an incredible week.
Speaker 1: We have a jam packed show for you today. The
Speaker 1: Denver Nuggets come back from eighteen down to beat the
Speaker 1: Warriors last night on a heave from Nikola Jokics. We're
Speaker 1: gonna break that down from the perspective of both teams.
Speaker 1: Then we had a report this morning that Jonathan Kaminga
Speaker 1: is very frustrated with Steve Kerr. We're gonna talk about
Speaker 1: what that means for the Warriors. Then we're gonna do
Speaker 1: a deep dive on the New Orleans Pelicans. After getting
Speaker 1: their ass kicked by the Lakers in the n Season Tournament,
Speaker 1: they're playing really good basketball ever since then. So we're
Speaker 1: gonna break them down for a little bit. Then we
Speaker 1: have our latest edition of the MVP Ranking, something we
Speaker 1: haven't done in a couple of weeks. And then, last
Speaker 1: but not least, we have eight mail bag questions for
Speaker 1: the end of the show as well. You guys are
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Speaker 1: miss any show announcements or the film threads that I do.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be talking about the late game run from
Speaker 1: the Nuggets and the Warriors, but we're not gonna go
Speaker 1: possession by possession through it. I did that this morning,
Speaker 1: every single possession of the comeback on both ends of
Speaker 1: the floor in detailed breakdown. You can find that on
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Speaker 1: All right, let's talk some basketball. So you know, one
Speaker 1: of the things we've talked about this season is I've
Speaker 1: never really been concerned about Denver no matter what happens.
Speaker 1: You know, they haven't had the most impressive regular season
Speaker 1: so far to this point. I think after last night
Speaker 1: there's still like nine and eleven against teams that are
Speaker 1: five hundred or better. That's it. I've never been worried
Speaker 1: because I think they're the best half court team in
Speaker 1: the league in my opinion. What does that mean when
Speaker 1: the game slows down, when when the transition opportunities are
Speaker 1: few and far between. It's which team can execute in
Speaker 1: a slow down half court in and so I made
Speaker 1: a thread this morning of every single play that took
Speaker 1: place from when the Warriors were up eighteen with six
Speaker 1: and a half minutes left or so to Nikole Jokic's
Speaker 1: game winner, And in that thread there's a really detailed
Speaker 1: breakdown of the specifics of what I'm about to talk about,
Speaker 1: but the short version is, on one end of the floor,
Speaker 1: the Nuggets knew exactly what they wanted to do on offense,
Speaker 1: and then on the other end of the floor, the
Speaker 1: Warriors had no idea what they wanted to do. They
Speaker 1: started by trying to post up Andrew Wiggins on Jamal
Speaker 1: Murray and Nikole Jokicic was just completely ignoring Kavan Looney
Speaker 1: camping in the lane, making it so that Wiggins could
Speaker 1: not make an aggressive move, and then off the ball.
Speaker 1: The Nuggets were doing what a lot of teams have
Speaker 1: done to the Warriors since the Lakers kind of demonstrated
Speaker 1: it in the playoffs last year, and that's top locking
Speaker 1: the off ball actions, meaning on this particular play that
Speaker 1: I'm referencing, and I have a video clip of it
Speaker 1: in the thread, Wiggins has the ball in the post,
Speaker 1: Jokic is helping in the paint, Jamal Murray is guarding
Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins, and Cavan Loney goes over to set a
Speaker 1: screen for either Brandon Pazemski or Stephen Curry to come
Speaker 1: flying off of that action towards the basketball to try
Speaker 1: to get open. Cacp's on one side of the screen
Speaker 1: and Aaron Gordon's on the other side, and they're both
Speaker 1: just denying the screen. They're like, if you run this way,
Speaker 1: you're just gonna run right into me. And Andrew Wiggins
Speaker 1: or excuse me, AKCP and Aaron Gordon were prepared to switch.
Speaker 1: They had it all set up so that KCP would
Speaker 1: take the first guy off the screen, and it just
Speaker 1: shut down the action, and they didn't know what to do, right.
Speaker 1: They tried ball screens, but Denver was just chasing Steph
Speaker 1: over the top with Contavious Calbo Pope and Jokics was
Speaker 1: just doing his best to trap as best as he
Speaker 1: could with how fast Steph is, right, but they just
Speaker 1: ignored Andrew Wiggins on the weak side, and they covered
Speaker 1: Looney with that low man and nothing was open, and
Speaker 1: they tried to make the fast and Wiggins once Steph
Speaker 1: made a really nice cross court pass. But Wiggins is
Speaker 1: shooting thirty one percent on catching shoot threes this year,
Speaker 1: not a very good shot. Right. Then Steve Kerr tries
Speaker 1: a lineup change. He brings in Chris Paul, he brings
Speaker 1: in Dario, Sorry, she brings in Trace Jackson Davis start
Speaker 1: ducking under every single Chris Paul ballscreen so Chris Paul
Speaker 1: can't get into the paint. That shuts down that action.
Speaker 1: They put Aaron Gordon on Dario Sarich so they'd switched
Speaker 1: the Sarge pick and roll. That put them in a
Speaker 1: situation where Steph couldn't get downhill on that action, right.
Speaker 1: And then with Tray Jackson Davis they could do the
Speaker 1: same thing that they were doing with Looney, which is
Speaker 1: just having bracket with KCP and Nicole Jokic and just
Speaker 1: show help on the roll. As a matter of fact,
Speaker 1: there was one time that they got a good shot
Speaker 1: down the entire stretch of this game. What they did
Speaker 1: is they ran a Sarage ball screen to get Gordon
Speaker 1: switched on to Steph. Then they brought Tray Jackson Davis
Speaker 1: and Nicole Jokic into the action. Then when they bracketed,
Speaker 1: Steph hit Tray Jackson Davis and now Denver's two biggest
Speaker 1: players are out at the three point line and Tray
Speaker 1: Jackson Davis got a left handed layup at the basket.
Speaker 1: That was an easy shot because Denver smaller players were
Speaker 1: on the back line. That was the one good shot
Speaker 1: they got in the entire six and a half minute stretch.
Speaker 1: What was crazy is they had three additional possessions after
Speaker 1: that play where Trey Jackson Davis got the layup, and
Speaker 1: they never went back to that same sequence. The screen
Speaker 1: to get Gordon onto Steph, and then the ball screen
Speaker 1: involving nikolea Jokic's guy. Steph tried attacking KCP and ISO.
Speaker 1: That didn't work. He kind of got downhill, but KCP
Speaker 1: defended it well and he missed a scoop shot off
Speaker 1: the glass. They got one high percentage shot total in
Speaker 1: six and a half minutes with one of the very
Speaker 1: best offensive players of all time and certainly the best
Speaker 1: offensive player of his era on the floor. It was
Speaker 1: just a great example of some of the personnel limitations
Speaker 1: that the Warriors have on the table, which we'll talk
Speaker 1: about more here in just a minute, but credit to
Speaker 1: Denver's defense. First of all, Kntavious, Callbo, Pope and Aaron
Speaker 1: Gordon had three or four ISO stops on Steph Curry
Speaker 1: during that stretch, the rest of the guys executed their
Speaker 1: scheme to perfection. I talked about the top locking of
Speaker 1: the shooters to shut down some of their split cut stuff,
Speaker 1: the ducking under ball screens like Contavious Cobwell Pope versus
Speaker 1: me on Chris Paul. That was actually Jamal Murray doing
Speaker 1: that tagging and rotating on the weak side. Even Jamal Murray,
Speaker 1: who is a lesser defensive player, had some big contributions
Speaker 1: down the stretch. On the defensive. Glass had two massive
Speaker 1: contested rebounds over that stretch. But the main reason, as
Speaker 1: much as I do want to credit Denver, and I'm
Speaker 1: not trying to undercut that in any sense, but you
Speaker 1: saw a lot of the personnel shortcomings with Golden State
Speaker 1: on full display, right like whether it was Loony and
Speaker 1: Wiggins or is Tray Jackson Davis and Chris Paul, no
Speaker 1: matter what Chris Paul, no matter what Golden State went
Speaker 1: with down the stretch, they had two non scoring threats
Speaker 1: on the floor, and that just made it so that
Speaker 1: Denver could throw the kitchen sink at Steph without reprisal.
Speaker 1: And it's a big it's the biggest latest example of
Speaker 1: why Golden State desperately needs another high level offensive player
Speaker 1: to put in those final groupings. I also disagree with
Speaker 1: the lineup Steve kurruzed down the stretch, but we'll get
Speaker 1: to that here in a few minutes. On the other end,
Speaker 1: Denver just continually spammed their pet actions and got great
Speaker 1: shots on every single possession, steady dose of two man
Speaker 1: game with Yokichen Murray, and they like it would be
Speaker 1: like the first time they ran it. During the run,
Speaker 1: Jokics just gets a sweet little hook shot that he
Speaker 1: makes all the time. Right, second time, Looney gets a
Speaker 1: little more physical with him, he smokes that little hook shot,
Speaker 1: but Aaron Gordon gets an offensive rebound. That's a key
Speaker 1: little storyline here down the stretch. Is like even when
Speaker 1: they did get a stop on the Murray Yokic post up,
Speaker 1: or excuse me, the Murray yokicch two man game, Aaron
Speaker 1: Gordon would just be there to clean it up on
Speaker 1: the back end because he had Klay Thompson on him
Speaker 1: and it's just too much of a physical disadvantage there. Right,
Speaker 1: they ran a bunch of double drags set down the stretch. Now,
Speaker 1: remember double Dragons really said two ball screens, typically one
Speaker 1: guy rolls and one guy pops to the three point line.
Speaker 1: On the first one, like Steph, Curry went like he
Speaker 1: was gonna hedge way on the outside, so Jamal split
Speaker 1: after the first screen and got Downhill made a kickout
Speaker 1: past to Peyton Watson, who knocked down a quarter three.
Speaker 1: By the way, shout out Peyton Watson, who's been getting
Speaker 1: a lot of opportunities at the end of games because
Speaker 1: he's a really good defensive player and he's knocking down shots.
Speaker 1: He's actually shooting thirty eight percent on corner threes this year.
Speaker 1: And then they ran another double drag set where Steph
Speaker 1: didn't hedge this time, he actually switched out onto Jamal
Speaker 1: Murray and they ended up getting the ball to Yokitic
Speaker 1: on the roll, who ended up hitting Aaron Gordon for
Speaker 1: a lob dunk. They just managed to get good shots
Speaker 1: every single time down the floor. Even if they did
Speaker 1: rotate out of the action that Denver was running, they
Speaker 1: could just throw the ball to Yokitch in the post.
Speaker 1: On the key possession late in the game, the one
Speaker 1: that tied the game. Chris Paul actually shut down the
Speaker 1: two man game with a really smart stunt in rotation
Speaker 1: to take away the corner three from Peyton Watson, and
Speaker 1: they just threw the ball into Koleyokitchen the post, who
Speaker 1: just calmly worked for an easy shot in the lane
Speaker 1: to score over Dario Sarage. So it was like the
Speaker 1: actions were getting great shots. Even when they stopped the actions,
Speaker 1: they just go to Yokich in the post. Even if
Speaker 1: Jokic missed the shot in the post, Aaron Gordon was
Speaker 1: there to clean up the mess. Really, the one shot
Speaker 1: during that stretch where you're like, eh, that was lucky
Speaker 1: or not, you know, not necessarily great offense was there
Speaker 1: was a strong side help play from Klay Thompson where
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon knocked down a corner three, and Aaron Gordon's
Speaker 1: shooting like twenty six percent on corner threes this year,
Speaker 1: so you could say that was somewhat lucky. But outside
Speaker 1: of that, it was just a boatload of high quality
Speaker 1: shots for Denver and then one high quality shot for
Speaker 1: Golden State, which was the Tray Jackson Davis slip of
Speaker 1: the ball screen, which they never went back to the
Speaker 1: rest of the game. And even then, chances are even
Speaker 1: if they just did it a second time, Denver probably
Speaker 1: makes some sort of adjustment. Simply put, they probably just
Speaker 1: have Aaron Gordon run a variation of a drop instead
Speaker 1: of switching, and then they don't end up with Aaron
Speaker 1: Gordon on Steph right. So like, it just was a
Speaker 1: complete personnel in mismatch on both ends of the floor,
Speaker 1: not just the physicality, not just the rebound and rebounding
Speaker 1: and what they're capable of doing in terms of defensive rotations,
Speaker 1: but also an offensive personnel. You know, there was a
Speaker 1: play where Yokich is going to work on Kevon Looney
Speaker 1: and Brandon Piziemski just can't help because it's Michael Porter
Speaker 1: that's on the strong side and he just can't help
Speaker 1: because he's leaving too good of a shooter open. There
Speaker 1: was even a play where Michael Porter Junior missed a
Speaker 1: wide open wing three. It was just a complete in
Speaker 1: total personnel mismatch, and on the Denver front. This remains
Speaker 1: the main reason why I think Denver is comfortably the
Speaker 1: championship favorite to this point, even more so than I've
Speaker 1: been saying earlier. I've been saying I think Denver is
Speaker 1: clearly and discernibly better. Now I think they're starting to
Speaker 1: be a little bit of a gap. They are by
Speaker 1: far the best half court execution team, and it's like
Speaker 1: legitimately on both ends of the floor. Now, yeah, they
Speaker 1: can generate quality shots every time down, but they are
Speaker 1: a really good defensive team this year. First of all,
Speaker 1: they have two outstanding individual defenders, and Aaron Gordon and
Speaker 1: Contavious Cabbopope talked earlier about how they like. I think
Speaker 1: they got at least three ISO stops on Steph Curry.
Speaker 1: CACP got one, and then Aaron Gordon got two. But
Speaker 1: then everybody else just does their job. And now they
Speaker 1: even have the ability to go to Peyton Watson, who
Speaker 1: shot the ball well enough to close games for them,
Speaker 1: and just bring another outstanding athlete onto the court. So
Speaker 1: at this point, put it simply, I've seen enough to
Speaker 1: say that if Denver is healthy, I'd be genuinely surprised
Speaker 1: if they didn't win the title this year. I think
Speaker 1: they're just a better version of the team that ran
Speaker 1: through everyone last year. Only an injury to a starter
Speaker 1: would crack the door enough, in my opinion, for someone
Speaker 1: else to get through. So shout out to Denver. You know,
Speaker 1: I was literally thinking this as I was watching the
Speaker 1: game last night. I only watched the very end of
Speaker 1: it live. I watched the rest of it this morning,
Speaker 1: but I was actually watching Game of Thrones with my
Speaker 1: wife or going through a rewatch just for fun, and
Speaker 1: I checked the score in the game, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: holy shit, the Nuggets are coming back. So I pulled
Speaker 1: my phone out at one twenty seven five and I
Speaker 1: watched that final bucket against Sarch in the post, and
Speaker 1: then the Steph turnover, and then the the Jokic game winner.
Speaker 1: By the way, the Yokic game winner was just completely absurd.
Speaker 1: The dude it it's unbelievable with this guy is doing.
Speaker 1: He's missed five shots in the last four games. It's insane.
Speaker 1: He's comfortably he's got a stranglehold on the best player
Speaker 1: in the world title right now. But I was thinking
Speaker 1: as I was watching to get the end of that
Speaker 1: game on my phone, I'm like, every once in a
Speaker 1: while in the NBA, a special team comes around, like
Speaker 1: a truly special team. And you know, the last one
Speaker 1: felt like the Warriors. I think there have been really
Speaker 1: good teams since then. I'm not trying to undercut that,
Speaker 1: but like a truly special team where you just know
Speaker 1: that they're going to be a level above everybody for
Speaker 1: a little while. And that's what Denver feels like to me.
Speaker 1: It feels like they're the next in that long line
Speaker 1: of truly special teams. If it was like the Spurs
Speaker 1: in the Heat in the early two thousands, and it
Speaker 1: was the Warriors in the late two thousands, and you know,
Speaker 1: like I think, I think we're flowing into now. This
Speaker 1: is the Denver era. They are the truly special team
Speaker 1: of this era on the Golden State front. So we
Speaker 1: get this report come out from Shamserania this morning basically
Speaker 1: Jonathan Kaminga just saying that he's completely lost trust in
Speaker 1: Steve Kerr and his ability to help him reach his potential.
Speaker 1: And basically what happens is Kamina ends up sitting the
Speaker 1: majority of the end of the game when he was
Speaker 1: supposed to come back in late Kerr. Kerr's excuse was
Speaker 1: basically like Andrew Wiggins was playing well and Kaminga was
Speaker 1: sitting too long, so I didn't want to go back
Speaker 1: to him. But that doesn't really make sense considering with
Speaker 1: like three minutes left, he made a line shift of
Speaker 1: of of Chris Paul and tray S, Jackson Davis, and
Speaker 1: Dario Sarich. So, like, I don't really necessarily agree with
Speaker 1: that reasoning. But here's the thing. Jonathan Kaminga handling that
Speaker 1: stuff in the press not a not a good look,
Speaker 1: and it's not the first time he's done it this year,
Speaker 1: but he does have a point. Kerr was literally throwing
Speaker 1: stuff at the wall at the end of that game,
Speaker 1: and like, Kaminga just has to be one of the
Speaker 1: things he throws at the wall there, especially against a
Speaker 1: team as big as Denver that's killing you and helping
Speaker 1: recover situations and on the offensive glass. Now, I personally
Speaker 1: would have gone with Stephen Clay with Wiggins and Kaminga
Speaker 1: and then Dario sariz Maybe if Moody was in the rotation,
Speaker 1: but Moody's out of the rotation, maybe you can go
Speaker 1: with Moody in place of Wiggins there. But like I
Speaker 1: would have gone with those guys, I think it would
Speaker 1: have just given you a much better chance of hanging defensively.
Speaker 1: You were already having all sorts of offensive limitations. Now
Speaker 1: Steve Kerr is on the record and he talked about
Speaker 1: this last night. He doesn't think the two of those
Speaker 1: guys fit well together. He said, it doesn't look good
Speaker 1: on tape, and it doesn't look good in the numbers,
Speaker 1: and there are some numbers that backed it up there. There.
Speaker 1: Here's my concern though, Like he's right, they are a
Speaker 1: little bit redundant, and they do need a perfect trio
Speaker 1: of players around them to be like, really really good.
Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean anything when the lineups he's throwing
Speaker 1: out there are also redundant and also lacking in key areas.
Speaker 1: It's not like he had a clearly defined lineup that
Speaker 1: made perfect sense that didn't include Kaminga. He was throwing
Speaker 1: shit at the wall, and Kaminga wasn't among the pile
Speaker 1: of shit he was throwing at the wall, if that
Speaker 1: makes sense, right, And now those are really aggressive words,
Speaker 1: but I'm trying to make a point. The bottom line is,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, if you're gonna be bad, you need
Speaker 1: to be bad with Kaminga on the floor, Like, because
Speaker 1: in terms of upside, he has some of the highest
Speaker 1: upside on the team. He was playing great that game,
Speaker 1: having success attacking Jamal Murray in the post, Like, I
Speaker 1: don't understand how that wasn't one of the options that
Speaker 1: he went to down the stretch of the game. So,
Speaker 1: even though I disagree with handling that sort of thing
Speaker 1: in the press, Jonathan Kaminga has a point, but like
Speaker 1: it really to me, shines the light on the bigger
Speaker 1: issue here. It's time. It's time for Golden State to
Speaker 1: pick a direction and go already. Is Steve Kurr a
Speaker 1: bad coach? No, I genuinely believe he's one of the
Speaker 1: best coaches in the league for a good veteran team
Speaker 1: that has an opportunity to win the title. He's very,
Speaker 1: very good with the tactical adjustments in playoff series, and
Speaker 1: he can manage the ebb and flow of that playoff
Speaker 1: path right. But it's clear that philosophically he hates playing
Speaker 1: young players that aren't excellent in the dirty work areas
Speaker 1: right or at least in terms of their reputation. Like,
Speaker 1: I think it's interesting that he continually trusts Trey Jackson Davis,
Speaker 1: and Brandon Pazamski but not Moses Moody and Jonathan Kaminga.
Speaker 1: And it's because these guys have the like the higher
Speaker 1: end potential. I think Patzemski's a really good two way player,
Speaker 1: but those two guys have like the really high end
Speaker 1: potential on offense. But like the thing too is like
Speaker 1: they can defend on the perimeters too. He's mainly concerned
Speaker 1: about their decision making process, and kirk Get's so paranoid
Speaker 1: about guys making bad decisions that he gets these guys
Speaker 1: really short leashes. But like he doesn't have to worry
Speaker 1: about Tray Jackson Davis making a bad decisions because he's
Speaker 1: screening and rolling to the rim, but I would argue
Speaker 1: that he made it. Like here's the thing though, Like
Speaker 1: Tray Jackson Davis made a key defensive mistake at the
Speaker 1: end of the game overhelping on a Jokic roll that
Speaker 1: gave up Aaron Gordon dunk. And even though that's not
Speaker 1: throwing a bad pass or taking a bad shot, it
Speaker 1: is still a decision making mistake that led to two
Speaker 1: points for the other team. So I don't even necessary
Speaker 1: by that as a reason. But I'm just trying to say,
Speaker 1: like I think Kerr's philosophy here is, these guys are
Speaker 1: loose cannons. I can't trust them to do their job
Speaker 1: these so I'm gonna go with the veterans and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go with the young players that he trusts to
Speaker 1: do their job. And so it's clear that as long
Speaker 1: as Kerr is at the helm of this thing, Kaminga
Speaker 1: is not gonna get consistent opportunity. Moody's not gonna get
Speaker 1: consistent opportunity unless there's some sort of directive from on
Speaker 1: high that he's willing to listen to. And maybe that'll
Speaker 1: happen here down the stretch. I mean, that's what they
Speaker 1: need to happen, at least until the deadline. But here's
Speaker 1: the reality. You need to do one of two things.
Speaker 1: You either need to fire Steve Kerr, rebuild around the
Speaker 1: young players, and move on to a new era. Because
Speaker 1: Steve Kerr is not the right coach for a young
Speaker 1: rebuilding team. He's not good with young players, right, but
Speaker 1: he's the perfect coach for a soft rebuild around Steph
Speaker 1: Clay and Draymond. Not to mention Stephan Clay in particular,
Speaker 1: probably mutiny if you fired Steve or if they were
Speaker 1: still on the roster, right, So do one or the other.
Speaker 1: Make up your mind. It's the middle ground which is
Speaker 1: getting you into trouble constantly over the last couple of years.
Speaker 1: So like trade Jonathan Kaminga, trade Moses Moody trade draft compensation,
Speaker 1: bring back a Siakam or a Markinen or Jeremy Grant
Speaker 1: and run at it again with Stephen Klay and Draymond
Speaker 1: and those guys, and Andrew Wiggins and Steve Kerr is
Speaker 1: the perfect guy for that group. You'll never have a
Speaker 1: Jonathan kaminga report to the press again after that. But
Speaker 1: if you don't believe in that, then yeah, fire Steve
Speaker 1: Kerr and go this way. There's been so much talk
Speaker 1: about Steve Kerr being a bad coach. He's not a
Speaker 1: bad coach. He's coaching a bad team right now, that's
Speaker 1: what's happening. And they're a bad team in large part
Speaker 1: because one of their most important players has been suspended.
Speaker 1: There's one of their other most important players, and Andrew
Speaker 1: Wiggins is just playing really bad basketball by his standards
Speaker 1: and what he's used to right, And there's a philosophical
Speaker 1: schism taking place between the young and their development and
Speaker 1: what's best for the team in the short term. And
Speaker 1: like I would argue, playing the young players is actually
Speaker 1: also better for the team in the short term until
Speaker 1: the trades are made. But Steve Kerr feels differently, and
Speaker 1: so in this in between stretch before they trade the
Speaker 1: young guys and up until the stretch where or from
Speaker 1: now up until the stretch where they get something back
Speaker 1: of the trade deadline. That gap there, Steve Kerr is
Speaker 1: the bad coach for this group, not because he is
Speaker 1: a bad coach, He's just not the right coach for
Speaker 1: this specific personnel dynamic, and that's what you're seeing manifesting there.
Speaker 1: But like at the end of the day, and maybe
Speaker 1: they do have to wait till the deadline, because that's
Speaker 1: the best way to drive the price up, right, because
Speaker 1: people just get a little bit more desperate when we
Speaker 1: get to February. Right. But if that's the case, you
Speaker 1: either need a directive from on high like I said
Speaker 1: that said, hey stop it with the cominga shit, get
Speaker 1: him out there on the floor, right, or Warriors fans
Speaker 1: need to be prepared for a really ugly stretch here
Speaker 1: up until the deadline, which is not the end of
Speaker 1: the world, because once again, once you get to the
Speaker 1: deadline that we've seen, just like with the Lakers last year,
Speaker 1: you can make a run, get up to that seventh
Speaker 1: seed and try to make some noise in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And you know, if Golden State gets to that point
Speaker 1: and they have an OKC or they have a Minnesota
Speaker 1: in the first round, Like Golden State's gonna go into
Speaker 1: that series thinking they can win, especially if they bring
Speaker 1: back a high caliber player at the deadline. Right, So,
Speaker 1: like not all is lost, but they need to make
Speaker 1: a decision. And before that decision, it's either gonna look
Speaker 1: really bad or there needs to be some sort of
Speaker 1: flexing of muscles in the front office or the ownership
Speaker 1: group to try to get Steve Curtis start playing these
Speaker 1: young guys. All right, let's move on to the New
Speaker 1: Orleans Pelicans. So I was watching Pell's Wolves this morning,
Speaker 1: and it was a really interesting game because of close early,
Speaker 1: but then the Pelicans just completely dominated in the second quarter.
Speaker 1: Ce J McCollum and Brandon Ingram are both absolutely cooking
Speaker 1: and pick and roll right now, So those guys were
Speaker 1: going off. They were defending extremely well. They had Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards frustration and complaining at the refs. Karl Anthony Towns
Speaker 1: was taking one leg fadeaways. The Minnesota's got some personnel
Speaker 1: shortcomings too when it comes to off ball shooting, which
Speaker 1: has been a big problem in their half court offense.
Speaker 1: But they ended up running away with the win. As
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, the Pelicans held the Wolves under
Speaker 1: twenty five points or twenty five points or fewer in
Speaker 1: each of the first three quarters as they ran away.
Speaker 1: It's actually one of the more impressive wins of the
Speaker 1: season when you figure it was on the road in Minnesota.
Speaker 1: So I figured it was time to check on the
Speaker 1: Pels because since getting their ass kicked in the n
Speaker 1: Season Tournament game against the Lakers, they are nine and
Speaker 1: three and have avenge that loss to the Lakers. They
Speaker 1: are sixth in offense, second in defense, second in net rating,
Speaker 1: and second in rebounding percentage. And I want to start
Speaker 1: on the defensive end of the four and it really
Speaker 1: just comes down to them being excellent in three key phases.
Speaker 1: They're excellent at the point of attack, They're excellent in
Speaker 1: backside rotation, and they're excellent on the defensive glass. And
Speaker 1: when I say backside rotation, that's help, that's defensive rebounding,
Speaker 1: that's rotat when the ball, when the defense is compromised
Speaker 1: and you're kind of in like a kind of a
Speaker 1: chaos situation. They have athletes and they communicate really well.
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram in particular, has been so so good as
Speaker 1: a help side defender this year. I think he's having
Speaker 1: one of his better defensive seasons of his career. But specifically,
Speaker 1: what's interesting to me about it is Jonas Valonchiunis is
Speaker 1: not a very good defensive player, and it kind of
Speaker 1: reminds me of Denver in the sense that like what
Speaker 1: they have bracketed around him with the point of attack
Speaker 1: in their backside rotations kind of makes the whole thing work,
Speaker 1: especially when you factor in that they're cleaning up the glass.
Speaker 1: And again it comes down to some of that backside
Speaker 1: athleticism too. You know, when we look at Denver, guys
Speaker 1: like Michael Porter Junior and Peyton Watson in addition to
Speaker 1: Aaron Gordon as a low man go a long way
Speaker 1: towards making that whole thing work. And there's just always
Speaker 1: so much length and athleticism on the floor for the Pelicans,
Speaker 1: and I think it's the primary driving force between behind
Speaker 1: their defensive foundation on the offensive end of the floor.
Speaker 1: Over this twelve game span, CJ. McCollums, I Williamson and
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram all averaging over twenty points per game very efficiently.
Speaker 1: Zion's up over sixty percent from the field. Thanks to
Speaker 1: those three guys in particular, the Pelicans have been the
Speaker 1: sixth most productive isolation attack in the league. In the league,
Speaker 1: brandon Ingram in particular, it's getting one point one four
Speaker 1: points per isolation possession including passes. There are twenty six
Speaker 1: players in the league that have attempted at least one hundred.
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram's at number six right now. Still love his
Speaker 1: combination of over the top shot making and he's always
Speaker 1: been one of the better playmakers at his position. Group.
Speaker 1: I talked in the game breakdown a little bit about
Speaker 1: their pick and roll attack in the second quarter, and
Speaker 1: both CJ and brandon Ingram have been excellent pick and
Speaker 1: role players all sees. Brandon Ingram's at one point zero
Speaker 1: five points per possession, Saja McCollums at one point zero three.
Speaker 1: It's the most common play type in the NBA, so
Speaker 1: pretty much anything over one is good. There are sixty
Speaker 1: seven players in the league to run at least one hundred.
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram and CJ are twenty fourth and twenty seventh, respectively.
Speaker 1: Trey Murphy is shooting four from three on six attempts
Speaker 1: per game during this twelve game stretch. Then I want
Speaker 1: to shout Jonas Valencnis because, like, obviously we've talked to
Speaker 1: him about some about his defensive limitations, but he's having
Speaker 1: an awesome offensive season. He's been one of the best
Speaker 1: post up players in the league one point one to
Speaker 1: three points per possession including passes, sixth out of twenty
Speaker 1: three players to attempt at least one hundred post ups
Speaker 1: to this point. And then he's become a super important
Speaker 1: part of the Pells pick and roll attack. He's got
Speaker 1: a really good you know, uh, pick and poppet and
Speaker 1: pocket pass chemistry with Brandon Ingram. As a matter of fact,
Speaker 1: Jonas Valanciunas is converting rollman possessions at one point three
Speaker 1: to eight points per possession, which is outstanding. That is
Speaker 1: second in the NBA among players to attempt at least
Speaker 1: seventy five. There's twenty players that qualify, and he ranks second.
Speaker 1: And then the last guy I wanted to shout out
Speaker 1: was Jose Alvarado. Elverado, excuse me, just such a useful
Speaker 1: role player off the ball in particular, is an absolute
Speaker 1: menace at the point of attack. Two point three stem
Speaker 1: bills per thirty six minutes so far this season. He's
Speaker 1: really aggressive up underneath players. He's got a low center
Speaker 1: of gravity, slides his feet well, beats players to spots.
Speaker 1: He disrupts the basketball still getting people with that sneak attack.
Speaker 1: But he's also a very good offensive player off the ball.
Speaker 1: He converts spot up possessions at one point zero nine
Speaker 1: points per possession and is shooting sixty two percent in
Speaker 1: effective field goal percentage on catch and shoot jumpers. And
Speaker 1: you could see it on the scoreboard. The Pelicans are
Speaker 1: thirteen points per one hundred possessions better with him on
Speaker 1: the floor versus off, which is the second best mark
Speaker 1: on the team behind Trey Murphy. So shout out to
Speaker 1: the New Orleans Pelicans. Let's see if they can keep
Speaker 1: up this level of play over the rest of the season.
Speaker 1: Now let's move on to our MVP rankings. So we
Speaker 1: have a couple of guys dropping off this week, specifically
Speaker 1: Steph Curry and Jalen Brunson. Between the two of those guys,
Speaker 1: they have lost eight games since our last edition of
Speaker 1: power rank or Play of MVP rankings, so they're dropping
Speaker 1: off the list for now number ten. And remember my
Speaker 1: MVP rankings, Like if I was an MVP voter, i'd
Speaker 1: feel different. I just want to use my MVP rankings
Speaker 1: as a means with which to basically just say who's
Speaker 1: been the best regular season player this year. That is
Speaker 1: the main purpose of my MVP rankings, and for what
Speaker 1: it's worth, that's the way a lot of voters see
Speaker 1: it too. So we'll see if it ends up panting
Speaker 1: out at the end of the year. But I just
Speaker 1: wanted to I know we've done him a few times,
Speaker 1: but I wanted to just give that quick little brief
Speaker 1: for briefing. Number ten, Darren Fox is scoring an efficiency
Speaker 1: have taken a little dip since our last rankings, and
Speaker 1: the Kings have dropped some games, so he drops to ten,
Speaker 1: and he had a nightmare game against the Orlando Magic
Speaker 1: the other night, although he did hit a couple of
Speaker 1: big shots in double overtime. But he's been one of
Speaker 1: the best volume pull up shooters in the league this year,
Speaker 1: which I wanted to shout out really quick. He's getting
Speaker 1: one point one points per pull up jump shot. There
Speaker 1: are twenty three players in the league that have attempted
Speaker 1: at least two hundred, and he ranks third only Tyre Saliburton.
Speaker 1: And Trey Young have been better. So an excellent pull
Speaker 1: up shooting season for dearon Fox and just a huge
Speaker 1: deal when you factor in the fact that he's already
Speaker 1: one of the best downhill athletes in the league in
Speaker 1: already a great mid range score as an excellent floater,
Speaker 1: great rim finisher, and great passer. Number nine Anthony Edwards's
Speaker 1: averaging thirty four points, four rebounds, and five assists since
Speaker 1: our last MVP rankings on forty percent from three by
Speaker 1: the way, best player on the best team in the
Speaker 1: Western Conference, even if it is largely on the strength
Speaker 1: of the team's defense. I do want to shout him
Speaker 1: out though, because he's been one of the best pick
Speaker 1: and roll ball handlers in the league this year. He's
Speaker 1: getting one point one points per pick and roll including passes,
Speaker 1: sixth out of forty eight players to run at least
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty. He's got really good chemistry with
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert on the role this year. Number eight Jason Tatum,
Speaker 1: even though I get annoyed with his offensive approach and
Speaker 1: even though he's not as efficient as some of his
Speaker 1: peers around the league, the Celtics are four and one
Speaker 1: since our last rankings, and Tatum is averaging twenty eight points,
Speaker 1: eight rebounds, and six assists, so he'll hold on to
Speaker 1: the eighth spot for now. Number seven, another one of
Speaker 1: the new guys on our list Kawhi Leonard. Most folks
Speaker 1: don't know this, but Kawhi is having the most efficient
Speaker 1: scoring season of his career. He's over sixty three percent
Speaker 1: true shooting for the first time ever. He's getting one
Speaker 1: point two to two points per ISO, which is outrageous.
Speaker 1: Only his teammate James Harden and Tyrese Haliburton have been
Speaker 1: more efficient on volume. I think it's like a minimum
Speaker 1: hundred possessions if I remember correctly. He's also making forty
Speaker 1: eight percent of his catch and shoot jump shots, getting
Speaker 1: one one point three to four points per shot. The
Speaker 1: Clippers are fifteen points per one hundred possessions better with
Speaker 1: Kawhi on the floor versus off, and the Clippers are
Speaker 1: now up to fourth in the Western Conference and riding
Speaker 1: another four game winning streak, so he could climb much
Speaker 1: higher on this list if he stays healthy throughout the
Speaker 1: rest of the season. Number six Giannis and Tennekumpo Jannis
Speaker 1: is still an absolute wrecking ball, even if Victor weman Yama.
Speaker 1: That play where he blocked him at the room last
Speaker 1: night was one of the craziest basketball plays I've ever seen,
Speaker 1: and Victor just keeps doing stuff like that, right, But
Speaker 1: despite that since our last rankings, thirty two points, thirteen rebounds,
Speaker 1: seven assists on sixty three percent field goals and thirty
Speaker 1: six percent from three since our last rankings. He had
Speaker 1: two huge threes against the Spurs last night in crunch time.
Speaker 1: But the Bucks have dropped three games in the last
Speaker 1: two weeks, including back to back out classings at the
Speaker 1: hands of the Indiana Pacers, so Giannis is going to
Speaker 1: drop to sixth for now. Number five Luka doncic Our
Speaker 1: leading score since our last rankings thirty eight points per
Speaker 1: game to go with eight rebounds and ten assists per game,
Speaker 1: fifty percent from the field and forty one percent from three.
Speaker 1: He's also led the MAVs to a four and two
Speaker 1: record in that span, so he moves up to five
Speaker 1: this week. Number four Tyres Halliburton. Five straight wins, all
Speaker 1: against good teams, including back to back wins against the Bucks,
Speaker 1: who you know, have some issues at the point of attack,
Speaker 1: as we've broken down on this show. He resoundingly outplayed
Speaker 1: Damian Lizard in both games. I'm telling you this is
Speaker 1: a theme I've seen around the league this year too.
Speaker 1: These young guys are really starting to outplay some of
Speaker 1: the veterans around the league, and it's getting to that
Speaker 1: point where it might be a changing of the guard
Speaker 1: of sorts. In that five game stretch, twenty seven points,
Speaker 1: five rebounds and fifteen assists per game, fifty one percent
Speaker 1: from the field, thirty nine percent from three, eighty eight
Speaker 1: percent from the foul line, in one point four turnovers
Speaker 1: a game to go with fifteen assists. As a matter
Speaker 1: of fact, in terms of pure value, in terms of
Speaker 1: who is doing the most with the least, I actually
Speaker 1: would put Tyrese Haliburton at number one, but it's team
Speaker 1: success that's keeping him down to number four for now.
Speaker 1: But I don't think anybody's done more with less this
Speaker 1: year than Tyrese Haliburton. Nikoley Okic has only missed five
Speaker 1: shots over his last four games. Hit the nasty game
Speaker 1: winner over at Kavan Loony last night. He's a different
Speaker 1: candidate than some of the other guys on this list
Speaker 1: because he's not very aggressive as a scorer this season
Speaker 1: with the team healthy. Hasn't attempted twenty shots in a
Speaker 1: game a single time over the last seven games, but
Speaker 1: he's still dominating and the Nuggets are rolling. He's up
Speaker 1: to number three. Number two shake Gilgess Alexander the only
Speaker 1: guy to beat Jokic in the last month or so,
Speaker 1: and he did it twice, including with the game winner.
Speaker 1: Here's a crazy set of Shay stats for you. One
Speaker 1: point one points per pick and roll including passes, one
Speaker 1: point two points per ISO including passes, one point three
Speaker 1: to one points per post up including passes, so he's
Speaker 1: basically getting almost one point two points per any self
Speaker 1: created possession in the half court. He's become one of
Speaker 1: the top five shot creators in the league. I'm very,
Speaker 1: very excited to watch him play meaningful playoff basketball this
Speaker 1: year last, but at least number one. Joel Embiid. He's
Speaker 1: only played in two games since our last rankings, but
Speaker 1: he's averaging thirty one to thirteen and ten assists. Yes,
Speaker 1: ten assists per game. You heard that correctly over his
Speaker 1: last two games, averaging five turnovers game over that span.
Speaker 1: But we can't deny anymore that Joel Embiid is taking
Speaker 1: a leap as a passer, and that's a very, very
Speaker 1: encouraging thing for him as a postseason player. I want
Speaker 1: to credit Nick Nurse two for simplifying some of his
Speaker 1: reads this year. He has the best combination of total
Speaker 1: MVP case, which is like two way impact, insane counting stats,
Speaker 1: team success, and specific value to his team's success on
Speaker 1: this list. So he's at number one for the time being.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on to our mail bag. First question,
Speaker 1: do you think that Tatum will continue to hunt difficult
Speaker 1: pull up threes late in games or against favorable matchups
Speaker 1: and playoffs when it's so clear that driving and kicking
Speaker 1: and hoping for the ball to come back to your
Speaker 1: hands for high percentage shot is a better option. I
Speaker 1: don't know if I'm just very accustomed to your show
Speaker 1: in your words, but man, it has become so obvious
Speaker 1: when he's taking these contested, difficult shots that don't go
Speaker 1: in anyways. In other words, if it's so obvious to
Speaker 1: us on TV, why hasn't Boston adjusted that part out
Speaker 1: of his game yet or where we see it adjusted
Speaker 1: come playoffs? So I think the reality is is Jason
Speaker 1: Tatum is probably trusting his work here, and like he
Speaker 1: probably just has a great amount of belief in that
Speaker 1: pull up jump shot. That doesn't mean it's a good shot,
Speaker 1: but that I think is his reasoning behind taking it.
Speaker 1: I do think the coaching staff could be a little
Speaker 1: bit more, you know, deliberate about trying to talk him
Speaker 1: out of taking those shots. But at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, too, Like it's a fine line between that
Speaker 1: and taking away a player's confidence. You want him to
Speaker 1: be confident taking those shots, and like he has made
Speaker 1: him in the playoffs at times, like we saw him
Speaker 1: make them in Game seven against the Philadelphia seventy six ers, right,
Speaker 1: that was a big part of his late game comeback there.
Speaker 1: But we do have a really large sample size of
Speaker 1: him being largely inefficient with that shot. And the reality is,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, he's young still, and eventually it will
Speaker 1: click for him as he learns to truly value every
Speaker 1: single possession at a higher level than he does now.
Speaker 1: I just think it's a matter of time. Most of
Speaker 1: these guys don't figure this kind of stuff out until
Speaker 1: they're late twenties, early thirties. Right, That's why all the
Speaker 1: great superstars, you know, don't win until they're twenty six,
Speaker 1: twenty seven years old, right, So, like, I just think
Speaker 1: it's only a matter of time. He just needs to
Speaker 1: figure out, you know, what the best way to attack
Speaker 1: every individual possession is for him. Next question, do you
Speaker 1: have any interest or capacity within the framework of the
Speaker 1: show to mix in some WNBA coverage and or analysis.
Speaker 1: It could fit in nicely as some NBA off season
Speaker 1: opportunities for your for content that wouldn't need to replace
Speaker 1: your NBA off season coverage and opportunities for ust and
Speaker 1: relaxation for you, but maybe some coverage that would give
Speaker 1: you the chance to address interesting observations about the basketball
Speaker 1: and personnel in that league. There's certainly other shows out
Speaker 1: there that are exclusively covering the WNBA, but I'd certainly
Speaker 1: be interested in hearing your perspective on WNBA basketball and
Speaker 1: have some fun hearing you talk shop about some of
Speaker 1: my favorite players and teams in that league. Thanks for
Speaker 1: all you do and keep up the great work. So
Speaker 1: here's the thing. I it's not just the WNBA. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of sports out there that I don't watch
Speaker 1: as much as i'd like. Like, I'm a huge NFL fan,
Speaker 1: and I you know, I went into this season. I
Speaker 1: ended up paying for the All twenty two package because
Speaker 1: I wanted to kind of learn more about the schematics
Speaker 1: of football, just because I've always been a fan of
Speaker 1: the game. And then the season starts and I'm so
Speaker 1: busy with my job, I just falls on the wayside.
Speaker 1: I barely use that package, so I might as well
Speaker 1: have ripped up seventy dollars. And I haven't followed the
Speaker 1: NFL very closely. I'm a big college football fan. I'm
Speaker 1: a big college basketball fan. Huge u of a basketball fan.
Speaker 1: We have a really good team this year. I've only
Speaker 1: watched like four or five of the games, and it's
Speaker 1: just because, like this job is so demanding from the
Speaker 1: standpoint of like think about all the things on this
Speaker 1: show that we still kind of need to hit, like
Speaker 1: Trey Young hooping his ass off. Would like to talk
Speaker 1: about it at some point, right, Like the Calves, despite
Speaker 1: being without Evan Mobley and Darius Garland, have been kind
Speaker 1: of feisty. They're worth talking about. Like there I could
Speaker 1: go on and on there. There are so many NBA topics.
Speaker 1: I'd love to do a rookie rankings at some point, right,
Speaker 1: and like talk about Victor Webbin Yama and Scoot Henderson
Speaker 1: and the Thompson Twins. I'd love to do all that stuff,
Speaker 1: but the reality is is like it's it's so difficult
Speaker 1: to find time for all of these things that if
Speaker 1: I have an extra hour, like I'm gonna be like
Speaker 1: this morning, I'll be like, you know what, I need
Speaker 1: to hit the Pelicans. They're hooping. I need to get
Speaker 1: to the Pelicans. And so I crammed in time today
Speaker 1: to watch Pelicans Wolves and to do a deep dive
Speaker 1: into the numbers, and like, if I have time, I
Speaker 1: direct it towards the NBA. And so even though I'm
Speaker 1: a huge basketball fan who loves loves watching women's basketball specifically,
Speaker 1: I had a great time watching the women's tournament last year.
Speaker 1: I thought Caitlin Clark was one of the most entertaining,
Speaker 1: you know, television phenomena that I've seen in the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, and what she did in the tournament
Speaker 1: last year, I'd love to do that. It's just when
Speaker 1: I have extra time, I devote it towards the NBA
Speaker 1: because I just want to keep doing a better job
Speaker 1: of this, And like, I don't think there's a version
Speaker 1: of it where I could cover other things and still
Speaker 1: do this as well. It would it would have to
Speaker 1: be part of some larger shift to just covering all
Speaker 1: sports in a lesser capacity. And right now, I, first
Speaker 1: of all, I'm not even sure I ever want to
Speaker 1: do that. I love the NBA. It's it's it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, the second most important thing in the world
Speaker 1: to me, to my family and friends. Right so, like
Speaker 1: I for me, right now, like I just don't see
Speaker 1: it in the cards. That's not to say never, but
Speaker 1: for right now, I just don't see a universe where
Speaker 1: I start covering the WNBA, just simply from the standpoint
Speaker 1: of how much time I have. Next question, you move
Speaker 1: the Thunder into your contender tier. Are there any moves
Speaker 1: that could make their pool of assets that moves them
Speaker 1: into your Denver Boston tier right now? And if so,
Speaker 1: would you make that move and wait and see what
Speaker 1: happens this playoffs before changing anything. They're young, but rookie
Speaker 1: contracts will end and they might not be able to
Speaker 1: retain all the key guys. So again I've said this
Speaker 1: before on the show, but an upgrade at that four
Speaker 1: spot is what would move them into the contender tier
Speaker 1: for me, I agree from the standpoint of, like they're
Speaker 1: not being urgency. I don't think they win the title
Speaker 1: this year anyway, just simply from the standpoint of, like
Speaker 1: you need experience, Like I always talk about battle scars,
Speaker 1: like you need to be scarred by losing in the
Speaker 1: playoffs so many times that you suddenly break through. There's
Speaker 1: nobody that gets to cheat that process. The Warriors lost
Speaker 1: in twenty thirteen and lost in twenty fourteen, right, like
Speaker 1: you you suffer on the way to that point. It's
Speaker 1: a it's a very important part of that process. The
Speaker 1: Nuggets lost to the Lakers in the twenty twenty bubble,
Speaker 1: right then they lost in twenty twenty one, and they
Speaker 1: lost in twenty twenty two when they were injured. It's
Speaker 1: like it's all part of that process, and you get
Speaker 1: so terrified of losing that you start to make these
Speaker 1: crazy extra efforts. I remember in the two thousand and
Speaker 1: twelve NBA Finals that was a big storyline. Like Shane
Speaker 1: Battier is like making these crazy efforts for extra rebounds
Speaker 1: because he's been in the league for a decade and
Speaker 1: he just wants to win so bad, right, And it's
Speaker 1: like as good it's not to say that there's there
Speaker 1: the young players aren't competitive. It's just it's hard. It's
Speaker 1: hard to explain other than to just say there is
Speaker 1: another level to this, and as good as the Thunder
Speaker 1: have been, the other level is winning in April, main
Speaker 1: in June, and that is not something that teams pick
Speaker 1: up overnight. It takes time, and so from that standpoint,
Speaker 1: you wait to make that all in move for the
Speaker 1: right player now. If the right player is available at
Speaker 1: this deadline, get them now, because the more time you
Speaker 1: have to build that chemistry, the better. Might as well
Speaker 1: build that playoff scar tissue this season, right, But if
Speaker 1: the right guys not available this deadline, you can be patient.
Speaker 1: Because I don't see this year ending in a championship
Speaker 1: for the Thunder. I have to include them just by
Speaker 1: virtue of their overall talent and my list of contenders,
Speaker 1: but I would be shocked if they won the title
Speaker 1: just based on everything we've learned from NBA history. Next question,
Speaker 1: and this is less of a question just to comment.
Speaker 1: I got like four Celtics fans saying this in the comments.
Speaker 1: Definitely a worthy game to talk about, But just to
Speaker 1: be clear that seven for seven on Celtics videos immediately
Speaker 1: following a loss. Let's try to match that amount with
Speaker 1: videos after they win, if that's not too much to ask.
Speaker 1: Lots of Celtics fans said this, to be clear, I
Speaker 1: pick the show, the kind of the layout of the show,
Speaker 1: which games I'm gonna cover in advance. So like when
Speaker 1: I covered the Celtics, I planned on covering them before
Speaker 1: the game. If they I haven't looked back to see
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't agree with that stat because I
Speaker 1: literally covered the Celtics beating the Lakers on Christmas Day,
Speaker 1: so that's it's at least some amount of inaccurate. That said, like, like,
Speaker 1: I have no vendetta against the Celtics. I would pick
Speaker 1: them to win a playoff series against everybody in the
Speaker 1: league except for Denver, and I'd give them a chance
Speaker 1: to beat Denver. We've talked. One of the reasons why
Speaker 1: we don't talk as much about them on this show
Speaker 1: as some of the other teams is they have a
Speaker 1: very clear style that they play and it doesn't change.
Speaker 1: They're not a team in turmoil. They're not a team
Speaker 1: trying to figure out how they want to play. They're
Speaker 1: not a team that has major rotation concerns, and so
Speaker 1: they're not a team that has as much like debate
Speaker 1: surrounding them other than can they get the job done?
Speaker 1: Is them capable enough of being that guy? Which I
Speaker 1: think is something we've covered in detail on this show.
Speaker 1: But the reality is is like I've picked them in
Speaker 1: a lot of big, high leverage games, and they've lost
Speaker 1: a lot of those big high leverage games, which has
Speaker 1: a lot to do with some of my concerns surrounding
Speaker 1: the Celtics and what their potential is in the big picture.
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. I'm gonna keep picking Celtics games
Speaker 1: based on major matchups throughout the season that we're gonna
Speaker 1: cover and if the Celtics win, that we're gonna cover
Speaker 1: them as if they want right, So like it's it's
Speaker 1: not any sort of of you know, cherry picking Celtics losses.
Speaker 1: This is predetermined stuff here for the layout of the show.
Speaker 1: Next question, the Warriors have experienced lackluster performance from Klay Thompson,
Speaker 1: Cavan Luoniy and Andrew Wiggins. Seems unusual for this group
Speaker 1: of historically consistent players to be struggling at the same time,
Speaker 1: it seems like their issues are more than on the court.
Speaker 1: What is the likelihood that the chemistry and the buy
Speaker 1: in from their core is broken. And if this continues,
Speaker 1: the Steve Kurr's job in jeopardy. So I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: talk about Steve Ker's job because we talked about that
Speaker 1: in the Warriors segment earlier today. But here's the thing
Speaker 1: to talk about each of those individual players. Klay Thompson's
Speaker 1: just getting a little bit older, that's all that is.
Speaker 1: Kevon Looney is a big part of it is scheme.
Speaker 1: I think, as the overall offensive talent on the floor
Speaker 1: is dipped, having Kevon Looney out there has become a
Speaker 1: bigger problem than back when Andrew Wiggins was playing really
Speaker 1: well and back when Klay Thompson was playing really well. Right, So,
Speaker 1: as the offensive talent is dipped, Kevon Looney's offensive shortcomings
Speaker 1: have kind of risen to the table, and that was
Speaker 1: a big issue down the stretch last night. Andrew Wiggins,
Speaker 1: your guess is as good as mine. Man. I don't
Speaker 1: know what happened to him. He's just not the same guy.
Speaker 1: And I wish I could give you some sort of explanation,
Speaker 1: but I don't know what to say. The dude, he's
Speaker 1: not shooting well, he's not defending as well, he's not
Speaker 1: making decisions as well. He's just not the same player.
Speaker 1: And that is a really unfortunate circumstance for the Warriors
Speaker 1: because it's changed the you know, the trajectory of that
Speaker 1: team over the course of the last couple of years.
Speaker 1: Next question, Please tell us what shoes you wear while hooping.
Speaker 1: Would love to know what your favorites have been throughout
Speaker 1: the years, what you're currently wearing, and how your play
Speaker 1: style effect youra preference. Thanks for putting out such great content.
Speaker 1: We don't deserve it. Well. I disagree with that last part,
Speaker 1: although I do sincerely appreciate the support and the kind words.
Speaker 1: Basketball shoes. When I was younger, I played in Kobe's
Speaker 1: a lot played in Hyperfuses. When I was in college
Speaker 1: that was my go to I wore Hyperfuse lows my
Speaker 1: second year in college. That was one of my favorite
Speaker 1: shoes that I played in, but a lot of Kobe's
Speaker 1: after that. Post Kobe, it's been like I basically try
Speaker 1: to find whatever a new shoe is performance space. To me,
Speaker 1: I shouldn't say performance space that fits my foot in
Speaker 1: the way that I play best. And It's funny. When
Speaker 1: I was younger, I used to care so much about
Speaker 1: what the shoes looked like, and I'd find a pair
Speaker 1: that looked sick and I'd buy them right But like
Speaker 1: now I could care less. All I care about is
Speaker 1: like does it feel good in my foot? And does
Speaker 1: it feel good to hoop in? And so the last
Speaker 1: two that I've been because what I'll do is like
Speaker 1: I'll find a pair of shoes that I really like,
Speaker 1: and then I'll just buy as many of them as
Speaker 1: I can and just ride it out until that shoe
Speaker 1: doesn't exist anymore. So the previous shoe to the one,
Speaker 1: because right now I'm wearing the Unescus, very similar to Kobe's.
Speaker 1: I'm on my second pair of them. One of the
Speaker 1: things for me is I like a lighter, low top shoe,
Speaker 1: kind of like a Kobe. But the problem is I
Speaker 1: weigh two hundred and thirty pounds, and so I wear
Speaker 1: through them super fast because I play like a guard.
Speaker 1: I play out on the perimeter, and so they just
Speaker 1: break down really fast. So I do go through shoes
Speaker 1: relatively quickly, unfortunately, But I like having that lighter shoe
Speaker 1: because I like to be quicker on my feet. But
Speaker 1: the Unescus had been my go to shoe as of late.
Speaker 1: But before that, I went through five pairs of Lebron
Speaker 1: nineteen lows, which is crazy because I never was a
Speaker 1: Lebron guy. I think his shoes are generally too heavy
Speaker 1: and and kind of uncomfortable and attraction's not great. Never
Speaker 1: been a huge fan of Lebron basketball shoes. But the
Speaker 1: Lebron nineteen lows were really, really nice, and I really
Speaker 1: liked those, and I went through five sets of them.
Speaker 1: So like, I'll probably end up riding out the Yenescus
Speaker 1: for the next year or so, and then I'll be
Speaker 1: on to the next one. But I the Unescu's kind
Speaker 1: of follow this Kobe trend, and so I kind of
Speaker 1: have a feeling that that's going to be my go
Speaker 1: to basketball shoot for a little while. And I know
Speaker 1: I've said this on to the show before, but I
Speaker 1: can't even begin to describe how much better it's been
Speaker 1: just being back out on the court because that injury
Speaker 1: saga was just an absolute nightmare. I'm slow as shit,
Speaker 1: I'm still it's still going to take a couple of
Speaker 1: months for me to get to the point where I
Speaker 1: can play at the level I was playing before, but
Speaker 1: it just feels good to be back out there. I
Speaker 1: just don't get having the Lakers as a top five
Speaker 1: contender when they clearly need the trade and not have
Speaker 1: Minnesota in there, who are not currently a theoretical team.
Speaker 1: You have spoken often about theoretical basketball, or that simply
Speaker 1: you've spoken how theoretical basketball is. Simply that theoretical Lakers
Speaker 1: aren't even guaranteed to be a top tier container with
Speaker 1: a contender with a good trade. They're certainly not top
Speaker 1: five at the moment and totally and got totally owned
Speaker 1: by the Wolves the other night. So here's the thing.
Speaker 1: The Laker thing is up for debate, so is the
Speaker 1: Wolves thing. Like they're like up for debate topics, and
Speaker 1: then they're not up for debate topics. Like if you
Speaker 1: tried to sit here and tell me that you didn't
Speaker 1: think Denver was a championship contender, I'd be like, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're just wrong about that. Like I don't know what
Speaker 1: to tell you, right, but this stuff is up for debate.
Speaker 1: And here's the reality. When I say theoretical basketball to me,
Speaker 1: the Wolves are the theoretical team because I haven't seen
Speaker 1: them make a long playoff run. I watched them last year.
Speaker 1: We not good enough to beat Denver, right, But like,
Speaker 1: I haven't seen them against multiple matchups. I haven't seen
Speaker 1: them have to make multiple defensive adjustments or offensive adjustments
Speaker 1: against multiple opponents. You have to win four series to
Speaker 1: get through. I have personally watched Lebron James and Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis win six playoff series. I just watched them last
Speaker 1: year beat the two seed Memphis Grizzlies, beat the defending
Speaker 1: champion Golden State Warriors, and then lose to the mentional
Speaker 1: champion Denver Nuggets. That's not theoretical. They have issues within
Speaker 1: the regular season that they need to address. They are
Speaker 1: not a theoretical basketball team. I know exactly what they
Speaker 1: look like in the postseason. That to me, is exactly
Speaker 1: why I have the Wolves below them. You should know this.
Speaker 1: I've been working on adding things to the show to
Speaker 1: have more reverence for the regular season. That's kind of
Speaker 1: like what my power rankings are. It's kind of like
Speaker 1: what my MVP rankings are, right, Like, I want to
Speaker 1: do a better job of acknowledging the regular season accomplishments
Speaker 1: within the eighty two. But I am like it takes
Speaker 1: a lot to move me in a regular season, Like
Speaker 1: it just takes a lot, because I value postseason basketball
Speaker 1: is almost like a different sport. It's not really a
Speaker 1: different sport, but it's like such a higher level of
Speaker 1: basketball in terms of intensity and physicality and adjustments, and
Speaker 1: it like an experience suddenly comes to the table, and
Speaker 1: superstar talent it comes to the table and all these
Speaker 1: different things. And like the problem with the Wolves is
Speaker 1: like I know Anthony Edwards is gonna be really freaking
Speaker 1: good one day, but like I don't know when. And
Speaker 1: their half court offense sucks is a huge issue against
Speaker 1: the Pelicans when they got their ass kicked the other night.
Speaker 1: Like they have all these big red flags and they
Speaker 1: don't have a playoff foundation that gives me margin for
Speaker 1: error with them. Notice I haven't taken the Warriors off
Speaker 1: of my championship contenders why because I know what Steph
Speaker 1: Clay and Draymond can do in a playoff series when
Speaker 1: they have two other really good players on the floor
Speaker 1: with them. And if they go out and they make
Speaker 1: a trade and they bring back a Pascal Siakam or
Speaker 1: a lower e Marken in they're gonna be really damn
Speaker 1: good again, and I know Steph Curry is one of
Speaker 1: the best playoff players in the league. I to put
Speaker 1: it simply, Steph's a way better playoff player than Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards in my opinion right now. So that to me
Speaker 1: makes even Steph and the Warriors somewhat less theoretical than Minnesota.
Speaker 1: I have Minnesota higher than Golden State right now because
Speaker 1: Golden State has major peronnel issues. I actually think the Lakers,
Speaker 1: who have personnel issues, have significantly better personnel than the
Speaker 1: Golden State Warriors. They've underachieved in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1: We've talked about their coaching situation. I think the Lakers
Speaker 1: are actually pretty close, and that's why I still have
Speaker 1: them at fourth in my championship rankings. I don't view
Speaker 1: them as theoretical because I've seen Lebron James and Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis and what they can do in a playoff series.
Speaker 1: More importantly, Lebron and Ad look better than they did
Speaker 1: last year. So to clarify, theoretical basketball to me is
Speaker 1: more referring to the playoffs, not the regular season. Like
Speaker 1: you're correct, the Minnesota simer rules have been a much
Speaker 1: better regular season team than the Lakers. But that, to
Speaker 1: me is not the same as what I saw in
Speaker 1: the postseason last year, when I just I think Lebron
Speaker 1: James and Anthony Davis are just a significantly more impactful
Speaker 1: playoff duo than Anthony Edwards and Carl Towns, or Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards and Rudy Gobert, or however you want to look
Speaker 1: at It doesn't mean the Wolves can't win. I just
Speaker 1: view them as more of a long shot as a result.
Speaker 1: Last question, did you forg yet about the Clippers as
Speaker 1: contenders or do you think they aren't contenders. Here's the
Speaker 1: thing with the Clippers. I'm really concerned about their front
Speaker 1: line size and a lot of the shot selection stuff,
Speaker 1: the James Harden playoffs stuff. So for me, I'm not
Speaker 1: saying I won't put them on there. As a matter
Speaker 1: of fact, I expect that I probably will at some
Speaker 1: point this season. I just want to see a couple
Speaker 1: more high leverage games. I want to see them in,
Speaker 1: like a major nationally televised, like on the road in
Speaker 1: Oklahoma City against the thunder which I wanted to see
Speaker 1: the other day but Kawhi was out. But like, I
Speaker 1: just want to see them get a couple of really big,
Speaker 1: high leverage wins before I add them to the contender
Speaker 1: lists at that point, because there's a lot theoretical with
Speaker 1: the Clippers as well, and fortunately as it pertains to
Speaker 1: their frontline. All right, guys, that is all I have
Speaker 1: for today. Is always, I sincerely appreciate your support. I
Speaker 1: hope you guys have a good weekend, and we will
Speaker 1: be back on Monday. The volume