1
00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:02,040
Speaker 1: The volume.

2
00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:06,560
Speaker 2: This ain't the little itdy vitty teeny tiny Bowl. This

3
00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:09,520
Speaker 2: is Super Bowl fifty nine. Get in on the action

4
00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,280
Speaker 2: at Draft Kings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of

5
00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,280
Speaker 2: Super Bowl fifty nine. Scoring touchdowns is key to hoisting

6
00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:17,079
Speaker 2: the Vince Lombardi Trophy, and you have a shot to

7
00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,239
Speaker 2: score big by betting on them at Draft King sports Book,

8
00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:21,919
Speaker 2: the number one place to bet touchdowns. Ready to place

9
00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,079
Speaker 2: your bet. Try betting on something simple like a player

10
00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:27,000
Speaker 2: to score six. Go to the Draftking Sportsbook gap and

11
00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:29,560
Speaker 2: make your pick right now. The Chiefs open as a

12
00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,199
Speaker 2: very slight favorite at minus one and a half. I'm

13
00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,960
Speaker 2: personally rooting for the Chiefs, mainly because I appreciate them

14
00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:37,599
Speaker 2: as one of the greatest teams of all time, and

15
00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,600
Speaker 2: as a Cowboys fan, I just literally cannot stand any

16
00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,600
Speaker 2: success for the Philadelphia Eagles. New DraftKings customers can bet

17
00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,640
Speaker 2: five dollars to get two hundred dollars in bonus bets instantly.

18
00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,320
Speaker 2: Download the Draft King Sportsbook ap use code hoops. That's hops,

19
00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,000
Speaker 2: that's code hoops for new customers to get two hundred

20
00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:56,720
Speaker 2: dollars in bonus bets instantly. When you bet just five

21
00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,640
Speaker 2: bucks only on Draft King Sports book. The Crown is yours.

22
00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:01,920
Speaker 2: Gamble problem called one eight hundred gambler in New York

23
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:04,960
Speaker 2: call eight seven seven eight hope and why, or text

24
00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,400
Speaker 2: hope and why to four six seven three six nine

25
00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,000
Speaker 2: Connecticut Help Us available for problem gambling Call eight eight

26
00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,039
Speaker 2: eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit

27
00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,760
Speaker 2: CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill

28
00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,080
Speaker 2: Casino and Resort in Kansas twenty one plus. Age and

29
00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,640
Speaker 2: eligibility varies by jurisdiction Voyd and Ontario New customers only.

30
00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,800
Speaker 2: Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance.

31
00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:30,319
Speaker 2: For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see d KNG

32
00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:45,679
Speaker 2: dot co slash audio. All right, welcome to tonight. You're

33
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:47,840
Speaker 2: at the volume. Happy Thursday, everybody hopeful. If you guys

34
00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:49,880
Speaker 2: are having a great week, got a jam packed show

35
00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,320
Speaker 2: for you tonight. We're hitting four games from the Thursday

36
00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:57,040
Speaker 2: nights late. Lebron just puts on an absolute masterclass against

37
00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:00,000
Speaker 2: the Golden State Warriors with forty two, seventeen and eight.

38
00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:02,040
Speaker 2: We're going to be breaking down that game from the

39
00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,240
Speaker 2: perspective of both teams. Anthony Edwards who's had a couple

40
00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,320
Speaker 2: of really explosive scoring games as of late, just goes

41
00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,280
Speaker 2: absolutely crazy on the Houston Rockets in the last eight

42
00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:14,639
Speaker 2: minutes of the fourth quarter. Another brilliant game from him.

43
00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,280
Speaker 2: I want to talk about some of the specific ways

44
00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:19,960
Speaker 2: his athleticism is so difficult to contend with. After that,

45
00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,360
Speaker 2: the Dallas Favericks beat the Boston Celtics in Boston tonight

46
00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,160
Speaker 2: as the Celtics continue their uneven play throughout the season,

47
00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:30,880
Speaker 2: and a really nice impressive version of small ball from Dallas.

48
00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:32,480
Speaker 2: They're going to be talking a lot about small ball

49
00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,400
Speaker 2: and what makes it work in tonight's show. And then lastly,

50
00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,760
Speaker 2: at the tail end, Nicole Jokic another triple double and

51
00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:39,480
Speaker 2: a win against the Orlando Magic. We're going to talk

52
00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:41,760
Speaker 2: about the concept of inverted pick and roll and what

53
00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,320
Speaker 2: makes that so difficult to guard as he was just

54
00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:49,200
Speaker 2: eviscerating the Orlando Magic big men in traffic by running

55
00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,040
Speaker 2: them through screens all night long. It's gonna be a

56
00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:52,440
Speaker 2: fun one. You guys are the job. Before we started

57
00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:54,120
Speaker 2: to subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channels, you don't

58
00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:55,880
Speaker 2: miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter

59
00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,320
Speaker 2: at underscore jcnlts you guys, don' miss announcements. Don't forget

60
00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:00,480
Speaker 2: about a podcast feed where you get your podcast tonight.

61
00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,000
Speaker 2: It's also super helpful if he leave a rating in

62
00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:04,960
Speaker 2: a review. On that front, we also have brand new

63
00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,360
Speaker 2: social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. We're we're

64
00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:09,079
Speaker 2: releasing content throughout the year. Make sure you guys follow

65
00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:11,040
Speaker 2: us there. And the last about at least keep dropping

66
00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:12,840
Speaker 2: mail back questions. At the tail end of tonight's show,

67
00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,160
Speaker 2: We're gonna actually record our mailbag, So drop questions in

68
00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:19,280
Speaker 2: the chat and our producer Paul is gonna actually send

69
00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:21,760
Speaker 2: them to me and we'll hit about ten to fifteen

70
00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:24,560
Speaker 2: minutes for a worth of questions right at the tail

71
00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:29,080
Speaker 2: end of the show. All right, let's talk some basketball.

72
00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:31,840
Speaker 2: So I've been experiencing a bit of deja vus with

73
00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,800
Speaker 2: Lebron James as of late. I've been talking a lot

74
00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,400
Speaker 2: about this concept of belief and how much it matters

75
00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,120
Speaker 2: when you're trying to win a championship, because playing championship

76
00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,120
Speaker 2: basketball is hard. Have you seen Lebron take some hits

77
00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,360
Speaker 2: in the last few games. Have you seen him end

78
00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,240
Speaker 2: up on the ground, have you seen him skying for rebounds.

79
00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:51,960
Speaker 2: Have you seen him making low man rotations that he

80
00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,600
Speaker 2: wasn't making in the past. You're seeing Lebron like really

81
00:03:55,640 --> 00:04:00,120
Speaker 2: exert himself because it is hard, and you absolutely we

82
00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,440
Speaker 2: must believe that you can actually win the trophy in

83
00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:08,600
Speaker 2: order to get a level of desperate commitment to what

84
00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:10,840
Speaker 2: it takes to play winning basketball. I don't want to

85
00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,760
Speaker 2: sit here and pretend like Lebron has had no belief

86
00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,200
Speaker 2: all season, but we have to be honest. We've all

87
00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,920
Speaker 2: seen Lebron give poor defensive efforts where he literally looks

88
00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,240
Speaker 2: like he knows his team isn't very good. We've seen

89
00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:27,360
Speaker 2: him look dejected at times in the postgame locker room.

90
00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,000
Speaker 2: He's also had stretches where he's looked locked in and

91
00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:32,680
Speaker 2: played very well, but they've been fewer and further between

92
00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,440
Speaker 2: over the last couple of years as a in large

93
00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,520
Speaker 2: part because it hasn't. I mean, we all know this

94
00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:41,240
Speaker 2: Laker team. It's like, yeah, they got a chance. Maybe

95
00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:44,760
Speaker 2: if Lebron and Ad play amazing and some role players

96
00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:47,760
Speaker 2: out kick their coverage, so to speak, maybe they can

97
00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,480
Speaker 2: get it done. But there was never any like true

98
00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:54,360
Speaker 2: belief that there was this like clear championship ceiling there

99
00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:57,479
Speaker 2: for that team. This isn't just a locked in and

100
00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,280
Speaker 2: engaged Lebron we're seeing right now. This this is a

101
00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,880
Speaker 2: Lebron that actually truly believes he has a great chance

102
00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:06,440
Speaker 2: to win the title. And I'm actually excited, especially for

103
00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,000
Speaker 2: Lakers fans, because it's been a long time since we've

104
00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:11,039
Speaker 2: seen this. Last time we saw this guy was probably

105
00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,479
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one, right the year that they lost in

106
00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,159
Speaker 2: the first round of Phoenix. Lebron is one of the

107
00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,280
Speaker 2: greatest competitors of all time. Don't let the benevolent attitude

108
00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,320
Speaker 2: fool you. This guy is a maniacal competitor and when

109
00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,840
Speaker 2: he sees an opportunity, he locks in on it and

110
00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,039
Speaker 2: he's literally going to make sure that everything that he

111
00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:31,320
Speaker 2: can do in his power, everything in his control, he's

112
00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:34,840
Speaker 2: going to take care. Forty two seventeen and eight Tonight

113
00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:36,880
Speaker 2: one of the best rebounding games of the season from

114
00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,599
Speaker 2: Lebron as he's had to anchor these small ball groups

115
00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:44,000
Speaker 2: without centers. Just another level of shot creation we've seen

116
00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:46,680
Speaker 2: from him in the last couple of like the last

117
00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:53,080
Speaker 2: three four games, We're seeing incredible defensive rotations, communication, an

118
00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,359
Speaker 2: attention to detail, and his playmaking remember those stretches this

119
00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,960
Speaker 2: year where it kind of felt like Lebron was coasting

120
00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,719
Speaker 2: through games mental and just kind of throwing the ball

121
00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,279
Speaker 2: all over the court, and like he just didn't really

122
00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,800
Speaker 2: seem invested mentally in the game. Like he's looked so

123
00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,800
Speaker 2: laser focused every single time I've seen him in the

124
00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,279
Speaker 2: last week or so, and it just looks like a different,

125
00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:23,920
Speaker 2: more maniacally obsessively invested in this group version of Lebron James,

126
00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:25,520
Speaker 2: and that to me, he's exciting on a bunch of

127
00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:29,440
Speaker 2: different levels beyond just this is the guy that I

128
00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:31,719
Speaker 2: became such a big fan of growing up, and the

129
00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,719
Speaker 2: guy that dominated the league for a decade and a

130
00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:39,599
Speaker 2: really fun thing to watch when you're rooting for the

131
00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:41,240
Speaker 2: team that he's playing on. And so like, I'm just

132
00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:45,160
Speaker 2: excited to be a part of another opportunity to watch

133
00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,000
Speaker 2: Lebron James when he actually feels like he has a

134
00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:50,480
Speaker 2: real chance to win the title. I'm super excited to

135
00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,480
Speaker 2: see how it could potentially affect Luca. Luca's got a

136
00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:55,600
Speaker 2: lot of motivation right now, as he just had a

137
00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,640
Speaker 2: franchise pretty embarrassing fashion bail on him right at the

138
00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,080
Speaker 2: beginning of his prime and so he's gonna have a

139
00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:05,000
Speaker 2: certain amount of motivation from that. But I can't imagine

140
00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,760
Speaker 2: a better ecosystem to take Luka Dancij out of and

141
00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,840
Speaker 2: plug him into then the greatest basketball player of all time,

142
00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:16,400
Speaker 2: as mentally engaged, as physically engaged as he's been in

143
00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,960
Speaker 2: almost a half decade. And I think it's going to

144
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:22,680
Speaker 2: bring a level out of both of these guys, Luca

145
00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,360
Speaker 2: to Lebron in the form of the belief that he

146
00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,480
Speaker 2: has reinstored for him, and Lebron to Luca in terms

147
00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,000
Speaker 2: of the example that he can set. And I think

148
00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,000
Speaker 2: it's gonna lead to some really special basketball from this group.

149
00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:35,520
Speaker 2: I want to zoom in on some x's and o's

150
00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:37,040
Speaker 2: from tonight. I want to talk about the concept of

151
00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,200
Speaker 2: small ball. You know, we're gonna be talking a lot

152
00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:41,480
Speaker 2: about Mark Williams over the course the next couple of weeks.

153
00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:43,640
Speaker 2: And for those of you guys who missed it, we

154
00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,360
Speaker 2: did a scouting report on Mark Williams earlier today, So

155
00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:49,560
Speaker 2: just go to our YouTube channel scroll a little bit

156
00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:51,920
Speaker 2: further back you can find the full breakdown of everything

157
00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:53,760
Speaker 2: Mark Williams. I'm not going to get into him tonight,

158
00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,160
Speaker 2: but one of the reasons why, like I didn't understand

159
00:07:57,200 --> 00:07:59,040
Speaker 2: a lot of pessimism coming out of that deal because

160
00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:01,240
Speaker 2: there's a lot of pessimismsunding. You know, Mark Williams is

161
00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,080
Speaker 2: not a good defender, and that's true. Mark Williams is

162
00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:06,960
Speaker 2: twenty three and he has absurd physical tools, but the

163
00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:08,640
Speaker 2: the guy, he just has a lot of work still.

164
00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,200
Speaker 2: He's pretty raw, needs a lot of work in terms

165
00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,760
Speaker 2: of rounding out what he needs to be a good

166
00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,040
Speaker 2: defensive player. And there will be games this year where

167
00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:18,160
Speaker 2: Mark Williams looks really bad on defense and the Lakers

168
00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:20,840
Speaker 2: defense looks really bad. But one of the reasons why

169
00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:24,520
Speaker 2: I wasn't super concerned about that was there was a

170
00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,120
Speaker 2: huge upside by making this kind of deal, by going

171
00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:32,240
Speaker 2: for a center that is on a cost controlled rookie

172
00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:36,960
Speaker 2: contract as opposed to a you know, an extension that's

173
00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,760
Speaker 2: a fifteen twenty twenty five million dollars deal, like a

174
00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:43,360
Speaker 2: guy like a Nicholas Claxton, a guy like Robert Williams,

175
00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:46,640
Speaker 2: a guy like Nikola Vucevich, a guy like Yaka pertl Right,

176
00:08:46,679 --> 00:08:49,959
Speaker 2: some of these other options that the Lakers were looking at.

177
00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:52,439
Speaker 2: By virtue of going for a cost controlled player and

178
00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,800
Speaker 2: the two options there obviously that we saw were Walker

179
00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,560
Speaker 2: Kessler and Mark Williams. By going after a guy like that,

180
00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,120
Speaker 2: you can just package a couple of them contracts. That's

181
00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,199
Speaker 2: what they did. They packaged Dalton connect And who, by

182
00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:06,599
Speaker 2: the way, was like periodically in the rotation for the

183
00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:08,800
Speaker 2: Lakers this year, but had his minutes messed with a lot.

184
00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:10,840
Speaker 2: And I was pretty consistent that I didn't think he

185
00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:13,000
Speaker 2: was a playoff rotation player yet, even though I believe

186
00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,520
Speaker 2: in him long term as an offensive prospect. But you

187
00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:18,000
Speaker 2: ship him out, you ship Cam Reddish out. You didn't

188
00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,200
Speaker 2: lose any of these same guys that have been playing

189
00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,680
Speaker 2: amazing basketball as of late. The only perimeter guy that's

190
00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:26,680
Speaker 2: like kind of a regular rotation player you lost is

191
00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,200
Speaker 2: Max Christy. He's a huge loss. Dallas fans are gonna

192
00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:33,440
Speaker 2: love him. But there's subtly underneath the surface here, even

193
00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:35,640
Speaker 2: dating back to the Knicks game when Anthony Davis didn't

194
00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:38,360
Speaker 2: even play, there is a group of seven guys here,

195
00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,440
Speaker 2: eight guys really if you count Jackson Hayes, who's been

196
00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,360
Speaker 2: playing some pretty damn special basketball. And it's because they

197
00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:49,040
Speaker 2: have more size on the perimeter, more defensive talent, more

198
00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:53,400
Speaker 2: rebounding talent more than we've seen on this roster before,

199
00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:56,720
Speaker 2: because Dorian Finney Smith came in in the deal, and

200
00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:59,640
Speaker 2: because Jared Vanderbilt's healthy now. So now you're seeing these

201
00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:03,839
Speaker 2: lineups that have Lebron James, Dorian Finney Smith, Ruey Hotchamura,

202
00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,480
Speaker 2: Jared Vanderbilt on the floor. And even the guards, guys

203
00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:11,000
Speaker 2: like Gave Vincent, guys like Austin Reeves, they compete, they

204
00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:14,080
Speaker 2: do their job. Austin was guarding tonight, gave Vincent was

205
00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:18,960
Speaker 2: guarding tonight. In order for small ball to work, there

206
00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:21,720
Speaker 2: has to be a commitment athletically to the details. You

207
00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:23,520
Speaker 2: need several things in order for small ball to work.

208
00:10:23,520 --> 00:10:25,400
Speaker 2: You need a shot creation because you're gonna create a

209
00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:28,720
Speaker 2: lot of space, and you're gonna have these good perimeter

210
00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:32,680
Speaker 2: players operating in space against a mismatch right, and you

211
00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,320
Speaker 2: need guys that can either consistently beat that coverage one

212
00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,200
Speaker 2: on one or consistently get the defense in rotation, either

213
00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:40,199
Speaker 2: by drawing a double team or by beating that guy

214
00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:42,319
Speaker 2: at the dribble and drawing in help from there. You

215
00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,959
Speaker 2: gotta have guys that can finish the play. Extended vantages, drive, closeouts,

216
00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:50,000
Speaker 2: play that driving kick sequence through to fruition for those

217
00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,959
Speaker 2: wide open catch and shoot threes and the stuff at

218
00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:55,480
Speaker 2: the rim. So that's what you need to make it

219
00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:57,800
Speaker 2: work on offense, and then on defense you have to

220
00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:03,000
Speaker 2: be able to switch, contain the ball, that crowding mismatches,

221
00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,080
Speaker 2: getting into passing lanes, making the floor feel smaller for

222
00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:08,920
Speaker 2: the player that's trying to attack your weakest defender, and

223
00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,040
Speaker 2: then out that you have to rebound you're smaller. Everyone's

224
00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:15,360
Speaker 2: got to crash, everyone's got to be flying in and

225
00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:19,800
Speaker 2: tapping at the ball, and there's just been excellent production

226
00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,520
Speaker 2: in every single one of those categories. Lebron and Austin

227
00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,800
Speaker 2: are just in one hell of a rhythm right now.

228
00:11:27,559 --> 00:11:29,600
Speaker 2: And like Austin had a nightmare shooting game, both of

229
00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:31,840
Speaker 2: them cooled off pretty bad in that second half, but

230
00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:35,160
Speaker 2: they still did enough. Both guys did a good job

231
00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:36,920
Speaker 2: getting to the foul line in the second half as

232
00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:39,400
Speaker 2: ways to kind of just squeeze extra points out. But

233
00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:43,760
Speaker 2: both of them were generating advantages, generating buckets for themselves

234
00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:47,440
Speaker 2: all like they've been playing just fantastic basketball over the

235
00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,760
Speaker 2: course of the last couple of weeks. And then off

236
00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:53,920
Speaker 2: of that, Gabe Vincent's hitting shots. Riachimura is making plays.

237
00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:57,120
Speaker 2: Jared Vanderbilt through his offensive rebounding and just his activity

238
00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:01,920
Speaker 2: is maintaining himself as a threat on the Dorian Finney

239
00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:06,080
Speaker 2: Smith knocking down shots. Everyone is doing their job within

240
00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,320
Speaker 2: that advantage, extending and play finishing, and then on defense,

241
00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,320
Speaker 2: just by virtue of having more good defenders on the floor,

242
00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:14,920
Speaker 2: by virtue of having more good defenders in the rotation,

243
00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:19,080
Speaker 2: there's just better talent in this switching scheme. Containing the

244
00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,360
Speaker 2: ball being in the right place, is making the efforts

245
00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,599
Speaker 2: you need to close out defensive possessions. And that's the

246
00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:28,080
Speaker 2: last part. Rebounding, they're gonna go small. You've got to

247
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,600
Speaker 2: fly around for rebounds. Your perimeter players have to have

248
00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:37,080
Speaker 2: dominating rebounding efforts. Lebron James and Jared Vanderbilt too, forwards

249
00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:41,280
Speaker 2: had thirty one rebounds in this game, thirty one of them.

250
00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:44,040
Speaker 2: You want to know how small ball works when you

251
00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,760
Speaker 2: got guys that are small that play huge, and Jared

252
00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,679
Speaker 2: Vanderbilt and Lebron are two of those guys. Austin Reeves,

253
00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:52,120
Speaker 2: even your small guys have to battle. Austin Reeves only

254
00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:54,120
Speaker 2: had four rebounds, but he had two of the biggest

255
00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:57,360
Speaker 2: rebounding sequences of the night. What I thought was the

256
00:12:57,400 --> 00:12:59,400
Speaker 2: play of the game. This crazy play where it's a

257
00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:03,000
Speaker 2: high point right around the left lay line. Draymond's got

258
00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:07,240
Speaker 2: positioned on the rebound. Austin comes flying in and just

259
00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,320
Speaker 2: barely gets a piece of it, keeps it alive just

260
00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,080
Speaker 2: long enough for Jared Vanderbilt to get it. Jared Vanderbilt

261
00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,920
Speaker 2: can grabing go all night. He was getting rebounds and

262
00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:17,880
Speaker 2: instead of having to give the ball to someone to

263
00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:20,360
Speaker 2: run against ball pressure, he just would bring the ball

264
00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:23,440
Speaker 2: up to floor. Jared Vanderbilt huge defensive rebound, throws a

265
00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:26,559
Speaker 2: beautiful bounce pass in transition to Dorian Phinney Smith for

266
00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:30,680
Speaker 2: a dunk. A remarkable play that captures the difference in

267
00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:33,440
Speaker 2: the personality of this team compared to the pass because

268
00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:37,000
Speaker 2: of Dorian Phinney Smith coming in in the trade. Jared

269
00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:41,800
Speaker 2: Vanderbilt getting healthy. You just have more talent in those positions,

270
00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,240
Speaker 2: and your small guys are scrapping too. He also had

271
00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:48,040
Speaker 2: Austin got another huge contested rebound out of the left

272
00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:50,360
Speaker 2: kind of corner area, just running to a loose ball.

273
00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,760
Speaker 2: Loose ball that was going that way. No one was there.

274
00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:55,880
Speaker 2: Austin beat everybody there. Those are things. Those things are

275
00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,200
Speaker 2: non negotiable. When the Lakers switching defense look terrible, even

276
00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:01,200
Speaker 2: with Anthony David in the early parts of the season,

277
00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:03,960
Speaker 2: it mostly came down to that. It mostly came down

278
00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,920
Speaker 2: to guys not being willing to do that work. And

279
00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:10,319
Speaker 2: so that that is why I'm like kind of high

280
00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,839
Speaker 2: on the Mark Williams move because to me, this inevitably

281
00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,120
Speaker 2: is a small ball team. Maxi Kleiba is like a

282
00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,360
Speaker 2: really solid small ball center, a guy that like will

283
00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:23,840
Speaker 2: also be able to help anchor these minutes. He's not

284
00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,080
Speaker 2: going to be healthy until most likely early April, but

285
00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:28,920
Speaker 2: that's another option that continues to anchor that idea. We're

286
00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:30,160
Speaker 2: gonna talk about it in a minute, but they're a

287
00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,520
Speaker 2: buyout destination. There is potential for even more two way

288
00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:37,520
Speaker 2: talent to join this roster. And when I look at

289
00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:40,400
Speaker 2: the Mark Williams move, I look at it as like, Yeah,

290
00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:43,040
Speaker 2: there's gonna be lineups out there that are Luca at

291
00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:47,880
Speaker 2: the point with probably Austin and Mark Williams is going

292
00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:49,880
Speaker 2: to be out there and they're gonna run a lot

293
00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:51,800
Speaker 2: of pick and roll and they're gonna score a million points.

294
00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:53,400
Speaker 2: And they'll also give up a million points on the

295
00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,120
Speaker 2: other end. But like, those lineups will still be good

296
00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:59,000
Speaker 2: because they're going to be extremely difficult to guard. And

297
00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,920
Speaker 2: then they're also going to small ball looks. They're going

298
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,680
Speaker 2: to be able to throw out lineups with Luca and

299
00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,960
Speaker 2: Lebron in Austin, but with Dorian Finney Smith and Vando

300
00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,920
Speaker 2: next to them, and they'll run spread ball screens with

301
00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:15,360
Speaker 2: Jared Vanderbilt or with Lebron and have Vanderbilt operate as

302
00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,200
Speaker 2: a cutter along the baseline, and those lineups will be

303
00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,120
Speaker 2: able to get enough stops because when Lebron is playing hard,

304
00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:24,960
Speaker 2: he's a very good defender. Dorian Phinney Smith very good defender.

305
00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:28,840
Speaker 2: Jared Vanderbilt is an amazing defender. Like, they're going to

306
00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,000
Speaker 2: have looks that they can go to. Now, are there

307
00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,000
Speaker 2: are there weaknesses here? Of course, they're a little thin

308
00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:36,240
Speaker 2: on the front line for massive centers. They're going to

309
00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:40,280
Speaker 2: struggle with Jokic type a type of bigs right, and

310
00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:42,920
Speaker 2: that arguably is the kind of player they should be

311
00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:44,840
Speaker 2: looking out in the looking for in the buyout market.

312
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,880
Speaker 2: Is just the best, big, bruising type of center that

313
00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:50,920
Speaker 2: they can find. But like I look at this Lakers

314
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,320
Speaker 2: team that has many different shapes that they can take.

315
00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,560
Speaker 2: They're playing such great basketball right now, and they managed

316
00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,560
Speaker 2: to pull this off without giving a way any of

317
00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:02,840
Speaker 2: those players that are playing such great basketball right now.

318
00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:05,440
Speaker 2: And then you're gonna bring in this Luca Mark Williams

319
00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,760
Speaker 2: dynamic that just gives you an entirely different punch that

320
00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:12,120
Speaker 2: you can throw. Not to mention, like, let's talk about

321
00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:17,040
Speaker 2: that second half. Lebron and Austin started to fatigue. The

322
00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,560
Speaker 2: Warriors went small. Guess what. The Warriors are the original

323
00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,160
Speaker 2: small ball team. They're very good at it too, and

324
00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,560
Speaker 2: they up to their defensive pressure, they up to their

325
00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,280
Speaker 2: rebounding effort, and they wore the Lakers down a little

326
00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:31,120
Speaker 2: bit in that second half. Obviously, there was a little

327
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:32,560
Speaker 2: bit of the Lakers pulling back, and there's some of

328
00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:34,840
Speaker 2: that natural push and pull that happens in NBA regular

329
00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:38,280
Speaker 2: season games, but the actual tangible thing that was affecting

330
00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,640
Speaker 2: the Lakers was Lebron and Austin started to fatigue a

331
00:16:41,680 --> 00:16:46,040
Speaker 2: little bit. This is where Luka Doncic is like the

332
00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,040
Speaker 2: trump card for that. Luka Doncic is going to just

333
00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:54,240
Speaker 2: make everything so much easier in that situation where a

334
00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:57,920
Speaker 2: defense really tightens the screws and Lebron and Austin start

335
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:02,000
Speaker 2: to show some of their lumps. Playing great, but Lebron's

336
00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:08,200
Speaker 2: forty and Austin obviously has some athletic limitations. Luca is

337
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,280
Speaker 2: the second or third best basketball player on planet Earth,

338
00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,160
Speaker 2: and specifically because his superpower is you can't pressure him

339
00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,359
Speaker 2: and force him to speed up. You can't keep him

340
00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:20,719
Speaker 2: from getting to his spots. You can't keep him from

341
00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:22,879
Speaker 2: either getting a shot that he likes for himself or

342
00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,159
Speaker 2: a shot that he likes for someone else. And that

343
00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:27,479
Speaker 2: is going to add a layer of resilience to that

344
00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,280
Speaker 2: group as they go through stretches like what they did

345
00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,200
Speaker 2: in that second half. The Lakers are playing great basketball, man,

346
00:17:35,119 --> 00:17:37,840
Speaker 2: and they're the premier buyout destination in the league. I

347
00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:43,560
Speaker 2: literally can't even believe the reversal of fortune here over

348
00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,440
Speaker 2: the course of where I felt about this team over

349
00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:48,880
Speaker 2: the course of the last few months and where they're

350
00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,800
Speaker 2: at now. Obviously, I'm not going to make any sort

351
00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:54,520
Speaker 2: of declaration about where they land in my contender tier,

352
00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:57,680
Speaker 2: not until I see a lot of basketball with Luka

353
00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,680
Speaker 2: doncicin Mark Williams on the floor, certain point, I just

354
00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,080
Speaker 2: want to be like, let's not overthink it, guys, they're

355
00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:07,240
Speaker 2: gonna be really fucking good. Like they're they have this

356
00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:10,640
Speaker 2: incredible identity, and these two guys aren't even there yet.

357
00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:15,320
Speaker 2: And it's the walking thirty point triple double guy and

358
00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:17,240
Speaker 2: the dude who can go for twenty five and fifteen

359
00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:20,679
Speaker 2: on any given night, and and that's that's just a

360
00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:24,320
Speaker 2: massive influx of talent on the Warriors front. Obviously, we

361
00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:26,480
Speaker 2: didn't see Jimmy Butler in this game, and I thought

362
00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:30,359
Speaker 2: they've generally played pretty well. In the stretches of the

363
00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,159
Speaker 2: game where they had Steph Curry on the floor, they

364
00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:35,359
Speaker 2: were minus three and steps minutes. They got beat up

365
00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:38,080
Speaker 2: pretty bad by the starters in the opening stretch of

366
00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,520
Speaker 2: the game, but every other stretch of the game they

367
00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:42,879
Speaker 2: competed with the Lakers starters and played well. But then

368
00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:45,440
Speaker 2: you just kept going to these bench groups and it's

369
00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:48,240
Speaker 2: like Pat Spencer and Brandon Pajemski and it's like Pat

370
00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,760
Speaker 2: Spencer's a really cool story. I mean, I don't know

371
00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:54,359
Speaker 2: why the hell he went off the like off a

372
00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:56,919
Speaker 2: handle on that and one against Lebron like that was

373
00:18:57,119 --> 00:18:59,840
Speaker 2: that was a pretty funny sequence. But like, that's it.

374
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,359
Speaker 2: Pat Spencer's a cool story. Probably shouldn't be the secondary

375
00:19:04,359 --> 00:19:07,120
Speaker 2: shot creator on your bench unit if you have serious

376
00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:11,920
Speaker 2: championship aspirations. Brandon Pazemski really like him as a prospect.

377
00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:14,240
Speaker 2: Had a rough shooting night tonight, especially at the foul line,

378
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,120
Speaker 2: But he's a guy that does a lot of little

379
00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:20,480
Speaker 2: things well. Probably shouldn't be your primary shot creator on

380
00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,119
Speaker 2: a bench unit. And so like, this is the beauty

381
00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:26,600
Speaker 2: of having Jimmy Butler coming into this equation. In addition

382
00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,920
Speaker 2: to anchoring those starting units with more talent on both

383
00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:32,240
Speaker 2: ends of the floor, he just gives you a much

384
00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,280
Speaker 2: better chance to survive those minutes you watched them. You

385
00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:38,400
Speaker 2: saw they couldn't get good shots. That was the problem.

386
00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:40,879
Speaker 2: They scrapped and they made plays here and there, but

387
00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,159
Speaker 2: time and time again, that Laker defense was able to

388
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,480
Speaker 2: contain those guys. And so that's exactly why I'm so

389
00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:48,960
Speaker 2: excited to see what Jimmy Butler looks like in this context.

390
00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:52,000
Speaker 2: Like Steph, what he take thirty took damn your forty

391
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,040
Speaker 2: shots tonight, Like he's having to do everything right now,

392
00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:58,840
Speaker 2: And that's exactly why you had to do what you did.

393
00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:09,800
Speaker 1: Yesterday.

394
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:17,040
Speaker 2: All right, let's move on to Anthony Edwards just absolutely

395
00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:19,400
Speaker 2: dominating the Houston Rockets. The Rockets are banged up when

396
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:21,359
Speaker 2: they're playing their worst basketball this season right now, but

397
00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,320
Speaker 2: they had a lead at one point lead about eight

398
00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:26,280
Speaker 2: minutes left in the fourth quarter up until Anthony Edwards

399
00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:28,440
Speaker 2: came in and just completely eviscerated them. He has scored

400
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,200
Speaker 2: sixteen points over the final eight minutes of the game.

401
00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,120
Speaker 2: The degree of difficulty on the work that he did

402
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,879
Speaker 2: was off the charge. Remember, Houston is probably one of

403
00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:38,600
Speaker 2: the few teams in the league, probably the team that's

404
00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:43,200
Speaker 2: best equipped actually to handle Anthony Edwards's power In athleticism, again,

405
00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:47,760
Speaker 2: Anthony Ewards brings this unique combination of incredible athletic mobility,

406
00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,160
Speaker 2: but he's just built like a refrigerator, and so he's

407
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,560
Speaker 2: just incredibly difficult to handle his like straight line power. Right.

408
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:57,679
Speaker 2: But here's the thing, even though the Rockets have a

409
00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:02,000
Speaker 2: lot of athletes that have power like ant is just

410
00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:05,399
Speaker 2: a complete other level of athlete. In three plays that

411
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,600
Speaker 2: I wanted to quickly kind of like highlight to demonstrate this,

412
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,119
Speaker 2: he had an and one on Dylan Brooks coming down

413
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,400
Speaker 2: the left lane line on like a eurostep where Dylan

414
00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:15,800
Speaker 2: Brooks went with the verticality, but he wanted to foul Ant,

415
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:17,840
Speaker 2: so he came down on top of him as easy

416
00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:22,240
Speaker 2: call for the ref basically pushed Ant down backwards and

417
00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,800
Speaker 2: at like a forty five degree ankle from the angle

418
00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:29,240
Speaker 2: from the ground while falling down, somehow gets the strength

419
00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,720
Speaker 2: to literally get a line drive jump shot off that

420
00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:36,600
Speaker 2: bank's end. Just an incredible demonstration of strength that he has.

421
00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,000
Speaker 2: Then he has his play on the left corner area

422
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,159
Speaker 2: after an offensive rebound where he's got Cam Whitmore on

423
00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,720
Speaker 2: his high side and Jalen Green in front of him. Again,

424
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,879
Speaker 2: these are two A plus athletes that are bracketing Anthony

425
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,399
Speaker 2: Edwards and basically a double team, but Ant is an

426
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,560
Speaker 2: A plus plus plus athlete and he just ripped right

427
00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,199
Speaker 2: through them and got an easy and one layout. And

428
00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,359
Speaker 2: then lastly that step back three over Dylan Brooks. Ellen's

429
00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:03,080
Speaker 2: doing a great job playing the jump shot and getting it.

430
00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:05,480
Speaker 2: Still gets a great contest, but Ant just goes to

431
00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:08,800
Speaker 2: a shuffle stepide It's basically the step back with that

432
00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,840
Speaker 2: extra shuffle step at the end and takes like a

433
00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:16,000
Speaker 2: twenty seven footer with his momentum going away from the basket.

434
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:18,320
Speaker 2: But his legs are so damn strong that he just

435
00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:21,359
Speaker 2: goes straight up and down and gets such great lift

436
00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:23,960
Speaker 2: that it's just this easy, breezy flip of the wrist

437
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,320
Speaker 2: at the end. And he's become such a damn good

438
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:30,439
Speaker 2: shooter that like, that's a good shot for him. This

439
00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,399
Speaker 2: is why I'm so high on Anthony Edwards in the

440
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,520
Speaker 2: big picture. He has the physical tools to overcome literally

441
00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:40,679
Speaker 2: any surrounding circumstance. There isn't an athlete in the NBA

442
00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:44,320
Speaker 2: that can stop Anthony Edwards from at least getting a

443
00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,160
Speaker 2: decent look at a pull up jump shot. And again,

444
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:50,159
Speaker 2: he's gotten so good at making them that even a

445
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:52,240
Speaker 2: tough pull up jump shot is still a good look

446
00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:56,960
Speaker 2: for Anthony Edwards. When he combines that with improved playmaking,

447
00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:00,800
Speaker 2: improved defense, and honestly just a little bit Betters construction

448
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,520
Speaker 2: to take advantage of his downhill ability, the sky is

449
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:05,800
Speaker 2: the limit for this kid. I also wanted to shout

450
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:07,720
Speaker 2: out Jalen Clark. He's been getting minutes over the last

451
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,359
Speaker 2: couple of weeks with some injuries. He had seventeen points

452
00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:13,040
Speaker 2: tonight doing his job on offense beeding low man help

453
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,800
Speaker 2: he had a steady dose of jack Landale, who was

454
00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:17,920
Speaker 2: playing backup center for the banged up Rockets scene tonight.

455
00:23:17,960 --> 00:23:19,959
Speaker 2: He had a steady dose of jack Landel on him,

456
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,359
Speaker 2: and jack Landil was just helping everywhere, and so he

457
00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,280
Speaker 2: just kept ending up in the corner. He had three

458
00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:26,240
Speaker 2: three's out of the corner. He had a really nice

459
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:29,040
Speaker 2: bucket on a back cut where jack Landiel was getting

460
00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 2: ready to double team nase Red on a post up

461
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,719
Speaker 2: and Jalen literally identified it and like looked like a

462
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:39,159
Speaker 2: sprinter along the baseline eighteen foot from the basket, just

463
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 2: like waiting for the gun to fire, And as soon

464
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,000
Speaker 2: as jack Landiel went to hard double, you just shot

465
00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:45,840
Speaker 2: down the baseline. And a lot of times you want

466
00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:48,359
Speaker 2: to do that as a as a smaller player simply

467
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 2: because you want to have a running start. Remember when

468
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,280
Speaker 2: you play NBA two K, they had that vertical jump metric.

469
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:56,560
Speaker 2: Like big guys can work out of the dunker spot

470
00:23:56,560 --> 00:23:59,399
Speaker 2: without much of a running start because they could just

471
00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:01,080
Speaker 2: get up off the grip so quick off two feet

472
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,560
Speaker 2: and they have such a high standing reach. These athletes

473
00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,160
Speaker 2: that are on the perimeter, they need a running start

474
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:09,680
Speaker 2: to be able to finish over bigger players around the basket.

475
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:12,240
Speaker 2: I just thought he did a really nice job beating

476
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:14,480
Speaker 2: that low man help. The Wolves have won seven out

477
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,440
Speaker 2: of nine, and by the way, in that span, Anthony

478
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,320
Speaker 2: Everwards is averaging thirty two points, six rebound, six assists

479
00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:23,560
Speaker 2: on sixty two percent true shooting six assists per game.

480
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:28,159
Speaker 2: Made two beautiful feeds out of double teams late in

481
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 2: the game for a wide open three from Nasried at

482
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:32,760
Speaker 2: the top key that he missed, and then another double

483
00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:34,400
Speaker 2: team that led to a wide open three for Mike

484
00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:36,639
Speaker 2: Conley that ended up making and that basically put the

485
00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:40,399
Speaker 2: gameway really special basketball from Anthony Edwards. Let's move on

486
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:42,919
Speaker 2: to the Dallas Mavericks, who get a big win on

487
00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:47,199
Speaker 2: the road against the Boston Celtics. They pulled away with

488
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:52,640
Speaker 2: a small ball group to end the first quarter, Kyrie Irving, Spencer, Dinwiddie, Olivia,

489
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:56,600
Speaker 2: Maxon's prosper Max Christie fresh in from the Lakers, and

490
00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,440
Speaker 2: Naji Marshall, and as I talked about earlier, that can

491
00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:02,840
Speaker 2: work as long as your shot creators do a good

492
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:06,480
Speaker 2: job of consistently scoring one on one or starting driving

493
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:09,480
Speaker 2: kick sequences with advantage creation, and as long as you

494
00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,160
Speaker 2: have guys finishing plays by finishing those driving kick sequences.

495
00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:15,520
Speaker 2: And as long as on defense you can contain the

496
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:18,960
Speaker 2: ball and you can rebound, you can win playing small ball,

497
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:21,440
Speaker 2: and they just played better small ball than the Celtics

498
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,520
Speaker 2: did in that end of the first quarter group, Jalen

499
00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,160
Speaker 2: Brown had a couple of bad turnovers trying to dribble

500
00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,199
Speaker 2: through traffic. He had to post up against Max Christie

501
00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:33,720
Speaker 2: right around like the semi circle. Max Christy's skinny, He's

502
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,399
Speaker 2: a guy you can go through. Jalen settled for a

503
00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 2: tough fade away and missed it. But on the other end,

504
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,840
Speaker 2: Spencer Dinwiddie is attacking the rim. He gets two driving layups,

505
00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:45,480
Speaker 2: shoots a pull up three, but it comes after those

506
00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:47,879
Speaker 2: driving laps when he's in rhythm and he has more separation.

507
00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:50,960
Speaker 2: Spencer was great in this entire game, but it was

508
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,480
Speaker 2: really good in that stretch starting driving kick sequences too.

509
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,199
Speaker 2: Big time like dribble, penetration and spray out. Sometimes just

510
00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,680
Speaker 2: simple stuff like I've got a nice on the right wing,

511
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:02,959
Speaker 2: we got a player on the left wing. We're in

512
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:05,119
Speaker 2: four out one in spacing, which is pretty typical for

513
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:07,920
Speaker 2: driving kick stuff. And the guy who's getting the left

514
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,439
Speaker 2: wing is kind of sitting around the nail. Spencer just

515
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,520
Speaker 2: takes two hard dribbles towards the middle, gets that guy

516
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:14,920
Speaker 2: to commit, throws a swing pass its Naji Marshall pump

517
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:17,840
Speaker 2: bake drive left. Naji Marshall ends up hitting a bucket.

518
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,600
Speaker 2: Sometimes it can be something simple like that. When a

519
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:22,919
Speaker 2: team is loading up on you, your job is just to

520
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,560
Speaker 2: create the advantage so that the players off of you

521
00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:30,439
Speaker 2: can finish those plays. Right. Chris tops porzingis on the

522
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,360
Speaker 2: other end, posting up. Naji Marshall settles for really tough

523
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,240
Speaker 2: right shoulder fade away that he misses. Tatum comes in.

524
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,840
Speaker 2: He's being really aggressive towards the rim in that late

525
00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:41,359
Speaker 2: first quarter stretch, but even he was sloppy. He missed

526
00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:44,480
Speaker 2: a couple of layups, he had a turnover. The mass

527
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:46,920
Speaker 2: were just playing better small ball, and they just built

528
00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 2: a nice little lead. They drove and kicked better, they

529
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,520
Speaker 2: switched and contained the ball better, they rebounded better. They

530
00:26:52,680 --> 00:26:56,160
Speaker 2: just did a better job then the Celtics did, even

531
00:26:56,160 --> 00:26:58,399
Speaker 2: though the talent would lead you to believe that the

532
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:01,200
Speaker 2: Celtics should. And this has been a recurring theme for

533
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 2: the Celtics and we're gonna talk about that in a minute.

534
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:05,920
Speaker 2: But Dallas has played better than then tonight. Klay Thompson

535
00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:09,040
Speaker 2: was fantastic in this game. The Celtics were really hesitant

536
00:27:09,119 --> 00:27:12,520
Speaker 2: to switch with him all night. And this is a

537
00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:17,000
Speaker 2: acceptable strategy with shooters, like you can do the switching

538
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,200
Speaker 2: thing for off ball action. But in theory it's great,

539
00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:21,920
Speaker 2: but there's just it leads to a lot of mistakes,

540
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,639
Speaker 2: right Like if you switch and the guy passively switches,

541
00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,159
Speaker 2: meaning the guy that's switching on to the shooter just

542
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:30,359
Speaker 2: as a step late, he can find some separation and

543
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,280
Speaker 2: take a jump shot there. Sometimes people completely botch switches.

544
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,199
Speaker 2: You can get separated and lose that connection body to

545
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:38,960
Speaker 2: body and it can cause problems. But the problem is

546
00:27:39,040 --> 00:27:41,840
Speaker 2: if you stay attached and you lock and trail, that

547
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,800
Speaker 2: puts you in the situation where you're vulnerable to drop

548
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:48,439
Speaker 2: coverage shots. So if they're not switching and they have

549
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,920
Speaker 2: their big sitting back and he's coming off of that action,

550
00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:55,879
Speaker 2: if the guy's in trail position, there's movement jump shots

551
00:27:55,880 --> 00:27:58,320
Speaker 2: that are open in the gap between the guy that's

552
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:00,520
Speaker 2: chasing him and the guy that's sitting back there in

553
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:02,720
Speaker 2: that drop coverage and it was weird because even there

554
00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:04,720
Speaker 2: are even a lot of sequences in off ball action

555
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,919
Speaker 2: that didn't involve bigs where the Celtics were hesitant to

556
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,480
Speaker 2: switch and they would just have like Derek White, stay

557
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,280
Speaker 2: attached to him. But Clay was getting a lot of

558
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:19,399
Speaker 2: opportunities against those Boston drop coverage looks, and he's still

559
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,560
Speaker 2: one of the greatest movement shooters of all time, and

560
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,800
Speaker 2: he just got hot, and he just eviscerated their drop

561
00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:27,679
Speaker 2: coverages all night with little movement jump shots in that

562
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,040
Speaker 2: gap between the screen defender and the trailing defender. And

563
00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:33,399
Speaker 2: by the time Boston adjusted, they tried switching with the big,

564
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:37,200
Speaker 2: they tried rotating off ball with a different perimeter player,

565
00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:39,360
Speaker 2: it just didn't matter because Clay was in too good

566
00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,080
Speaker 2: of a groove at that point. Twenty five in this game,

567
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:44,760
Speaker 2: the MAVs led by as much as twenty seven in

568
00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,160
Speaker 2: this game, is a really nice win for them on

569
00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:51,960
Speaker 2: the road. And the Celtics are just so obviously so bored.

570
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:55,160
Speaker 2: I was talking about this with a Lakers fan buddy

571
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,480
Speaker 2: of mine earlier today, but like to me, the Celtics

572
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:04,000
Speaker 2: are so obviously the least motivated team in the NBA.

573
00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:08,080
Speaker 2: This year, and they have such a difference between when

574
00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:12,000
Speaker 2: they play with force on both ends, when they're defending

575
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,560
Speaker 2: like crazy, weaponizing their athleticism, and then on the other

576
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,760
Speaker 2: end of the floor just attacking, attacking, attacking and getting

577
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:21,160
Speaker 2: great shots and just picking teams apart, versus their like

578
00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:24,280
Speaker 2: games where they play with less force and it's like

579
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,040
Speaker 2: they're just not defending the way that they're capable of

580
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,160
Speaker 2: and they're settling for a lot of bad jump shots.

581
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,960
Speaker 2: And it's been like a lot of both mixed in.

582
00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:35,080
Speaker 2: It's not even like, oh, here's ten good games, here's

583
00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:37,920
Speaker 2: ten shitty games. It's like they go into Cleveland and

584
00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:40,160
Speaker 2: put together one of their most complete efforts of the season,

585
00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,600
Speaker 2: and then they come home and lay an egg against

586
00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 2: a Dallas Mavericks team that doesn't have Luca or Anthony

587
00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:50,280
Speaker 2: Davis and a Mavericks team that's spiraled without Luka Doncic

588
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,640
Speaker 2: this season. And so, like again, I'm gonna say the

589
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:55,200
Speaker 2: same thing I've been saying about it with the Celtics

590
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:58,360
Speaker 2: all year long. I know that championship upside is in there.

591
00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:01,160
Speaker 2: I still believe in them. They's still my top tier

592
00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 2: championship contender. I still have them above the Oklahoma City Thunder.

593
00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:08,200
Speaker 2: But the problem is is they're playing with fire by

594
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:10,880
Speaker 2: playing a lot of bad basketball mixed in with good basketball.

595
00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:14,520
Speaker 2: When you play bad basketball, your habits aren't as sharp

596
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 2: as they are when you're consistently playing great basketball. If

597
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,520
Speaker 2: your habits aren't as sharp, then when you run into

598
00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:22,920
Speaker 2: adversity in a big playoff game, you don't have the

599
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:27,160
Speaker 2: same level of that habitual championship basketball that you can

600
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,520
Speaker 2: lean back on to help survive those moments. It feels

601
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 2: a little bit like the Celtics are leaning on their

602
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,560
Speaker 2: talent this year instead of their relentless execution, which is

603
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:37,880
Speaker 2: how they won the title in addition to the talent

604
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:41,360
Speaker 2: that they had. And so again, it's not over for them.

605
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,240
Speaker 2: It's not like they're on a different tier than Oklahoma

606
00:30:45,240 --> 00:30:47,520
Speaker 2: City or Cleveland. I still view them as the clear

607
00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:49,720
Speaker 2: championship favorite, but we have to be honest about the

608
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,479
Speaker 2: fact that they're playing with some fire this year. Lastly,

609
00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:55,760
Speaker 2: Tonight briefly on Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets. An absolute

610
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,320
Speaker 2: masterclass from Nikole jokicch puts up twenty eight points, ten

611
00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,680
Speaker 2: rebounds in twelve assists thirty one minutes, did a ton

612
00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,080
Speaker 2: of damage as a pick and roll ball handler. In

613
00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,760
Speaker 2: tonight's game, he kept running goga bitadz through these inverted

614
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:09,520
Speaker 2: ball screens all over the floor, a lot on the

615
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:10,960
Speaker 2: right wing, a little bit at the top of the key.

616
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:12,960
Speaker 2: And one of the things I talk about a lot

617
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,520
Speaker 2: when it comes to inverted ball screens. And again for

618
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:17,120
Speaker 2: those of you gus who don't understand what that is

619
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,280
Speaker 2: is typically a ball screen is a perimeterive player handling

620
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:21,480
Speaker 2: and a big player setting the screen, and an inverted

621
00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:23,760
Speaker 2: ball screen the big players handling, and you've got a

622
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:26,360
Speaker 2: perimeterive player setting the screen. And what it does is

623
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:30,560
Speaker 2: it reversus defensive roles. They're like, how many pick and

624
00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,200
Speaker 2: rolls have you watched in the NBA this year? And

625
00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,479
Speaker 2: most of them look roughly the same, right, like the

626
00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,840
Speaker 2: guards chasing over the top, the big is somewhere waiting

627
00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:41,479
Speaker 2: on the other end, either up at the level of

628
00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,680
Speaker 2: shitting further back in a drop coverage, and all of

629
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:49,000
Speaker 2: them look the same. And they have a certain kind

630
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:53,920
Speaker 2: of like pattern that these guards have done their entire lives,

631
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:56,560
Speaker 2: and a certain pattern that these bigs have done their

632
00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:00,000
Speaker 2: entire lives. You know, how many ball screens NBA centers

633
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:04,040
Speaker 2: have defended since they were playing high school basketball. Do

634
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:07,000
Speaker 2: you know how many ball screens guards have defended since

635
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,600
Speaker 2: they were playing high school basketball? Now, flip it and

636
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:15,720
Speaker 2: the big guy is handling a ball handler through balls

637
00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:19,480
Speaker 2: through screens, and the small guy who's now in a

638
00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,680
Speaker 2: position to help is having to help on a massive

639
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,480
Speaker 2: ball handler when he's never done that before, not in

640
00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:30,920
Speaker 2: any sort of substantial context. Right, and again, it was

641
00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,320
Speaker 2: so funny to watch Goga Patadze struggle with this comes

642
00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:36,960
Speaker 2: off of an inverted ball screen from Michael Porter Junior

643
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,080
Speaker 2: in the first half along the right wing, and Gogo

644
00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:43,240
Speaker 2: Patazz goes under but he by the time he actually

645
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:46,240
Speaker 2: meets Nikole Jokic, it's only like five feet from the rim.

646
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:49,520
Speaker 2: Nikole Jokic has like what thirty forty pounds on him

647
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:52,160
Speaker 2: and just has a head of steam and just easily

648
00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:54,000
Speaker 2: bumps into him, and Goga goes flying back and he

649
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:57,440
Speaker 2: just gets an easy lap of Jokics running with ahead

650
00:32:57,440 --> 00:32:59,200
Speaker 2: of steam against a player five feet from the basket.

651
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:00,920
Speaker 2: There's nobody in the league that could stop him there.

652
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,160
Speaker 2: But like, how do you get Jokic into that situation

653
00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:07,240
Speaker 2: where he's running with the ball into a static player

654
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:10,400
Speaker 2: or a backpedaling player five feet from the basket by

655
00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:13,600
Speaker 2: forcing that player to run through a screen that he

656
00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:16,640
Speaker 2: has no idea what to do. The had one in

657
00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:18,560
Speaker 2: the second half. Its top skey in the third quarter

658
00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:22,120
Speaker 2: where Goga goes to run over the top of the

659
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:26,560
Speaker 2: screen and Jokic rejects the screen, and Goga literally had

660
00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,760
Speaker 2: his back turned to Jokic while Jokic was driving past

661
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:32,040
Speaker 2: him the other way because he has no idea what

662
00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:34,560
Speaker 2: he's doing. He has never defended ball screens. He doesn't

663
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:37,400
Speaker 2: know how to get that top foot over while keeping

664
00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:41,640
Speaker 2: his chest square to the defender. He doesn't know that.

665
00:33:41,720 --> 00:33:43,560
Speaker 2: You can't just commit to going over to the top

666
00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:46,800
Speaker 2: of the screen against any good ball handler, because so

667
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:49,200
Speaker 2: many of those end up being rejected by the ball

668
00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:50,880
Speaker 2: handler as soon as they know you commit to the screen,

669
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:52,520
Speaker 2: it's just cross right back over and you're going right

670
00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,320
Speaker 2: to the basket. But that's the beauty of the inverted

671
00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:59,560
Speaker 2: ball screen is it just puts defenders into compromising positions,

672
00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:01,440
Speaker 2: and in order for it to work, you need to

673
00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:04,080
Speaker 2: have a big that can both dribble, shoot and pass.

674
00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:06,360
Speaker 2: And you're not going to find a big an NBA

675
00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,600
Speaker 2: history that did that stuff better than Nicole Jokis. Brilliant

676
00:34:09,600 --> 00:34:11,960
Speaker 2: game from him. Michael Porter Junior also put up thirty

677
00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:14,560
Speaker 2: Really some of his best work. Just that every part

678
00:34:14,600 --> 00:34:16,160
Speaker 2: of his game going was doing a ton of work

679
00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:18,920
Speaker 2: off the dribble in the screening actions, just keeping his

680
00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:21,040
Speaker 2: dribble alive so that he could get to spots and

681
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:24,279
Speaker 2: take advantage of people over pursuing him on screens. Made

682
00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:26,600
Speaker 2: great reads in his off screen possessions all night, Like

683
00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:29,719
Speaker 2: got free for a bunch of backdoor buckets, just like

684
00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:31,640
Speaker 2: it got a nasty dunk off one too, Just like

685
00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:34,640
Speaker 2: getting the defender to overplay the screen and then pushing

686
00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:37,080
Speaker 2: then just pushing him out of the way and going

687
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:40,640
Speaker 2: back towards the basket, finding openings for threes in transition.

688
00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:42,440
Speaker 2: Just a really nice game for Michael Porter Junior. Nice

689
00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:58,880
Speaker 2: went for the Nuggets over a reeling Orlando Magic team.

690
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:01,960
Speaker 2: All right, let's get into our male bad questions again.

691
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,440
Speaker 2: We're gonna go for about ten to fifteen minutes and

692
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,440
Speaker 2: then we'll be done here. From Doyle, I disagree with

693
00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,480
Speaker 2: you about the Jimmy trades. Steph isn't the one that

694
00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:13,400
Speaker 2: will benefit KAMINGA is going to be the true benefactor.

695
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:18,560
Speaker 2: Love everything you do, Thank you. So I agree in principle,

696
00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:22,080
Speaker 2: just simply because that's what slotting is, right, Like, Steph

697
00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:23,880
Speaker 2: to me is not the same player he was in

698
00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:25,920
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one. And I want to be clear, like,

699
00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:30,919
Speaker 2: do I think Steph's efficiency will improve after Jimmy starts playing. Yes,

700
00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:32,960
Speaker 2: it will because he won't have to take as many

701
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,719
Speaker 2: bad shots. But Steph does have a little bit of

702
00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:38,959
Speaker 2: an issue getting separation at this point in his career,

703
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:40,680
Speaker 2: and that's a real thing. And a lot of Steph's

704
00:35:40,760 --> 00:35:43,120
Speaker 2: value at this point comes from just the way he's guarded,

705
00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:45,040
Speaker 2: which is something I spent a lot of time talking

706
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:50,800
Speaker 2: about in the Jimmy Butler video on Wednesday Night, Like Steph,

707
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,920
Speaker 2: Steph is going to be guarded in such a way

708
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:56,520
Speaker 2: that he has such a high offensive floor even if

709
00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:59,440
Speaker 2: he does go you know, six for nineteen from three

710
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:01,360
Speaker 2: or six for two, twenty for three, whatever it was

711
00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:02,440
Speaker 2: that he went tonight.

712
00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:03,040
Speaker 1: Right, But.

713
00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,360
Speaker 2: The real problem for the Warriors was lower level offensive

714
00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:13,000
Speaker 2: players slotted into higher roles. Asking Dennis Andrew Wiggins Jonathan

715
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:16,279
Speaker 2: Kaminga to be like reliable every night twenty point per

716
00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:19,520
Speaker 2: game guys. Jonathan Kaminga has been just as likely to

717
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:22,239
Speaker 2: score twelve or fewer points this year as he is

718
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:25,319
Speaker 2: to score twenty plus. Like that, that's not a good

719
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:27,359
Speaker 2: spot for him at this phase in his career as

720
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:30,359
Speaker 2: a young player. He doesn't need to be in a

721
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:32,920
Speaker 2: doesn't need to be in a situation where he's being

722
00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:37,279
Speaker 2: depended on offensively. Jimmy Butler comes in. He is that

723
00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:40,759
Speaker 2: dependable high floor offensive player. All of a sudden, you

724
00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:42,959
Speaker 2: can kind of pick and choose who plays well. Every

725
00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:46,680
Speaker 2: great basketball team is the same story. It's you got

726
00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:49,279
Speaker 2: your reliable offensive guys, and then there's like five other

727
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:52,600
Speaker 2: dudes where it's like who's got it tonight? And yeah,

728
00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:54,719
Speaker 2: on the nights where all five of them suck, it

729
00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,239
Speaker 2: can go dark for any team in the NBA. But

730
00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:00,400
Speaker 2: like sometimes these two guys get going, and then these

731
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:02,839
Speaker 2: two guys get going, and then these three guys get going,

732
00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:05,560
Speaker 2: and it's like this guy is seventeen when he normally

733
00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:07,839
Speaker 2: averages eight, and this guy had twenty three tonight when

734
00:37:07,840 --> 00:37:12,120
Speaker 2: he normally averages fifteen. That sort of variety is like

735
00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:16,200
Speaker 2: totally normal. That is what you expect from those players.

736
00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:18,440
Speaker 2: They just can't be dependent on or you're gonna be

737
00:37:18,480 --> 00:37:22,600
Speaker 2: constantly you're gonna be constantly frustrated with what you get

738
00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:27,760
Speaker 2: out of it from TK. Assuming Luca, Austin Reeves, Lebron,

739
00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:30,040
Speaker 2: and Mark Williams are the four starters, who should be

740
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,799
Speaker 2: the last starter? And why so? I thought a lot

741
00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:35,960
Speaker 2: about this. I expect JJ Reddick to go with Ruby Hachimura.

742
00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:39,200
Speaker 2: I would personally go with Dorian Finney Smith for a

743
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:42,719
Speaker 2: very simple reason. I would want to deploy him against

744
00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:45,960
Speaker 2: the opponent's best perimeter player, and then I would effectively

745
00:37:46,000 --> 00:37:50,759
Speaker 2: have Austin Reeves defending as a defending the second best

746
00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,319
Speaker 2: perimeter player. Luca is defending your third best perimeter player.

747
00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:56,399
Speaker 2: Lebron's your low man. Mark Williams is in ball screens, right,

748
00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:57,960
Speaker 2: So like that to me makes the most sense. If

749
00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:00,799
Speaker 2: you bring Ruby Hotchi Mura in, you're probably going to

750
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:03,560
Speaker 2: more of a switching look, and that's just not gonna

751
00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:05,080
Speaker 2: be good because that's going to put Mark Williams on

752
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:09,040
Speaker 2: the perimeter a lot. Charlotte almost exclusively used Mark Williams

753
00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:11,080
Speaker 2: in a deep drop because he sucks at defending on

754
00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,120
Speaker 2: the perimeter. He's not good at defending around the basket either,

755
00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:14,879
Speaker 2: but at least around the basket. He's going to block

756
00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:16,640
Speaker 2: some shots. His size can be a problem, and he's

757
00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:20,760
Speaker 2: a very good defensive rebounder. Right, So ideally, by putting

758
00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:22,719
Speaker 2: Mark Williams in that starting lineup, you have to run

759
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:25,680
Speaker 2: drop coverage with him, and that means that you have

760
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:28,920
Speaker 2: to ball screens, not switch, which means you've got to

761
00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:30,680
Speaker 2: have somebody that's willing to defend on the perimeter and

762
00:38:30,719 --> 00:38:33,920
Speaker 2: chase over the top of screens. A perfect example is

763
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:37,120
Speaker 2: like in tonight's game where Ruy Hatchamura and Dorian Finnis

764
00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:39,480
Speaker 2: Smith are both starting, and again we all know Lucas

765
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:41,680
Speaker 2: going in for one of those guys who started on

766
00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:46,600
Speaker 2: Steph Dorian Phinney Smith, Right, Dorian is not ideally suited

767
00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:48,759
Speaker 2: to be that type of player. I like Dorian better

768
00:38:48,880 --> 00:38:51,880
Speaker 2: is a switching guy who's kind of all over the floor,

769
00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:54,480
Speaker 2: not navigating screens as much. But he also can do that,

770
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:56,359
Speaker 2: and he certainly can do it a lot better than Ruy,

771
00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:59,160
Speaker 2: So that to me is an easy solution there. You

772
00:38:59,320 --> 00:39:02,800
Speaker 2: start Mura, or excuse me, you start Dorian Finney Smith.

773
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:06,880
Speaker 2: Then also, Ruy's scoring is going to be of more value.

774
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:09,799
Speaker 2: On the bench, you can imagine a universe where you know,

775
00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:13,320
Speaker 2: Braun and Dorian Finney Smith come out and gave Vincent

776
00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:16,880
Speaker 2: and Ruy Hachimura come in, and Ruy has more opportunity

777
00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:19,360
Speaker 2: to be aggressive with that bench group. Right. Is it

778
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:21,520
Speaker 2: possible for Mark Williams and Jared Vanderbilt to start at

779
00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:24,279
Speaker 2: the same time and their offense not fall apart? I

780
00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:28,160
Speaker 2: don't think so. It's more just you can make it work.

781
00:39:28,400 --> 00:39:31,520
Speaker 2: To be clear, there's a certain amount of like rapid

782
00:39:31,560 --> 00:39:34,120
Speaker 2: cutting and movement on the interior where guys can remain

783
00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:36,240
Speaker 2: a threat even when there's multiple players that can't shoot

784
00:39:36,239 --> 00:39:38,320
Speaker 2: from the perimeter. But it certainly is a lot more difficult,

785
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:40,440
Speaker 2: and I just think Jared Vanderbilt is going to be

786
00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:42,759
Speaker 2: more anchoring the small ball groups when Mark Williams is

787
00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:45,719
Speaker 2: off the floor. Do you think the Lakers This is

788
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:48,080
Speaker 2: from JM and thank you for the donation as well, Jams.

789
00:39:48,440 --> 00:39:50,839
Speaker 2: Do you think the Lakers can win the championship this year?

790
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:53,520
Speaker 2: Now that they have two all time great matchup hunters

791
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:55,680
Speaker 2: and Luka Dancic and Lebron James. This is the thing

792
00:39:55,719 --> 00:39:58,320
Speaker 2: that makes me so excited about this team. What you

793
00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:01,440
Speaker 2: saw in that second half is a smaller version of

794
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:04,960
Speaker 2: what happens in almost every single NBA playoff game. A

795
00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:07,480
Speaker 2: certain point, we're playing against a really good team that's

796
00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:10,680
Speaker 2: playing desperate basketball, and when hit gets top, they're gonna

797
00:40:10,719 --> 00:40:12,640
Speaker 2: ratchet things up. They're gonna get more physical, they're gonna

798
00:40:12,640 --> 00:40:16,040
Speaker 2: pressure the ball, they're gonna be more aggressive in terms

799
00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:19,279
Speaker 2: of their coverages, and everything's gonna get really difficult, and

800
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:24,359
Speaker 2: it's gonna become an absolute slow down, fistfight. And in

801
00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:28,320
Speaker 2: that situation, you can't have two better rock fight basketball

802
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:30,680
Speaker 2: players on the offensive end of the floor than Lebron

803
00:40:30,760 --> 00:40:35,080
Speaker 2: James and Luka Doncic. Especially Lebron James that legitimately, again

804
00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:37,600
Speaker 2: is very small sample size, but in the last week

805
00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:39,440
Speaker 2: has been playing at the level that you see the

806
00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:43,160
Speaker 2: top five players in the league play at. And I mean,

807
00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:45,360
Speaker 2: if Lebron can maintain that, we need to have an

808
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:47,920
Speaker 2: entirely different discussion about the potential that this that this

809
00:40:47,960 --> 00:40:52,200
Speaker 2: team has after acquiring DeAndre acquiring DeAndre Hunter, have the

810
00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:54,680
Speaker 2: Cavs leapfrog the Celtics for the best five man lineup

811
00:40:54,880 --> 00:40:57,200
Speaker 2: who should be considered the favorite in that conference? Love

812
00:40:57,239 --> 00:41:02,040
Speaker 2: the videos. I have not had the Cavs leap Frog

813
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:05,320
Speaker 2: Boston after that trade. I do think it's a smart

814
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:08,920
Speaker 2: move from them in that it avoided getting rid of

815
00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:12,720
Speaker 2: any of their most valuable assets. The players they traded

816
00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:15,680
Speaker 2: out are a little bit redundant. For instance, Karris Lavert

817
00:41:15,719 --> 00:41:18,520
Speaker 2: is redundant with ty Jerome now that Ty Jerome has

818
00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:21,000
Speaker 2: kind of come to the surface as one of the

819
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,840
Speaker 2: best backup guards in the league. Carris has got some

820
00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:26,520
Speaker 2: defensive talent and does a lot of things well, but

821
00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:29,840
Speaker 2: he's a little bit more redundant then George Kniang. DeAndre

822
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:32,000
Speaker 2: Hunter is just a much better player than him, so

823
00:41:32,040 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 2: it's a talent add DeAndre Hunter. One of the big

824
00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:36,240
Speaker 2: things I talked about in our trade deadline reaction today

825
00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:39,279
Speaker 2: is like he's just got scoring chops and a lot

826
00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:41,239
Speaker 2: of times in the playoffs when things really bogged down,

827
00:41:41,239 --> 00:41:44,120
Speaker 2: it's about the guy that can take that skip pass

828
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:46,480
Speaker 2: from Donovan Mitchell. But he's got an A plus athlete

829
00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:49,319
Speaker 2: closing out at him and he needs to score there,

830
00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,200
Speaker 2: like create a bucket for himself. And DeAndre Hunter has

831
00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:54,320
Speaker 2: been one of the better pull up jump shooters in

832
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:56,359
Speaker 2: the league this year. He's got the ability to put

833
00:41:56,360 --> 00:41:58,080
Speaker 2: the ball on the foard and make plays for himself.

834
00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:00,960
Speaker 2: I like that he gives you more physicality and size

835
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,080
Speaker 2: on the perimeter, which is obviously important for a Boston

836
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:06,040
Speaker 2: team that constantly is looking to attack mispatches. All of

837
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:09,040
Speaker 2: that is great, but I still think that Boston, as

838
00:42:09,040 --> 00:42:10,759
Speaker 2: you guys saw when they went into Cleveland the other night,

839
00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:13,440
Speaker 2: and as we've seen throughout this entire season, they just

840
00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:15,680
Speaker 2: have this level they can get to when they really

841
00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:19,399
Speaker 2: tighten the screws on defense and the Jays just get

842
00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:22,400
Speaker 2: super physically aggressive on offense, where it's just tough to

843
00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:26,520
Speaker 2: deal with their talent. And again, I think we have

844
00:42:26,600 --> 00:42:29,120
Speaker 2: to be honest about the fact that Boston is just

845
00:42:29,840 --> 00:42:32,719
Speaker 2: completely past this regular season process at this point. They

846
00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:36,200
Speaker 2: are a April May June type of team, and so

847
00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:39,200
Speaker 2: I think that there's some real difference and just what

848
00:42:39,239 --> 00:42:41,680
Speaker 2: we can expect from those teams in the regular season. Now.

849
00:42:42,120 --> 00:42:45,200
Speaker 2: As far as do they have a chance, of course,

850
00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:48,279
Speaker 2: they do them a five game lead in the standings,

851
00:42:49,000 --> 00:42:52,040
Speaker 2: so as long as they play mostly as good as

852
00:42:52,080 --> 00:42:53,800
Speaker 2: they've been playing to start the year, they're going to

853
00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:55,719
Speaker 2: be the number one overall seed, which means when we

854
00:42:55,800 --> 00:42:59,440
Speaker 2: get to late May game one of the Eastern Conference Finals,

855
00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:02,720
Speaker 2: is going to be in Cleveland. You ride a raucous

856
00:43:02,719 --> 00:43:05,560
Speaker 2: crowd to a two zero series lead, you got a

857
00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:08,160
Speaker 2: really good chance to win that series. So like, of

858
00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:11,120
Speaker 2: course they can win. I don't think Boston is like

859
00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:13,680
Speaker 2: the head and shoulders favorite to win the conference. I

860
00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:15,840
Speaker 2: just think they're the favorite, and I think that their

861
00:43:16,120 --> 00:43:18,120
Speaker 2: talent is a little underrated at this point because they're

862
00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:22,040
Speaker 2: dealing with some regular season malaise. Who was carried more

863
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:25,040
Speaker 2: Rob Polinka by Nico or Ringo Star by Paul John

864
00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:30,160
Speaker 2: and George. I did this segment for Microsoft Today where

865
00:43:30,200 --> 00:43:33,279
Speaker 2: we talked about like overcoming adversity, and I did the

866
00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:38,200
Speaker 2: whole thing on Rob and Paul, our producer, texted me

867
00:43:38,239 --> 00:43:39,600
Speaker 2: right after and he's like, you should have just made

868
00:43:39,640 --> 00:43:44,960
Speaker 2: Nico Harrison the start that segment. Oh man, All right,

869
00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:47,960
Speaker 2: let's see, last time the Celtics won the title, the

870
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:50,920
Speaker 2: Lakers won the next season. That's super interesting. What do

871
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:52,640
Speaker 2: you think is the biggest question mark for the Lakers

872
00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:55,080
Speaker 2: going forward whether or not they can put together a

873
00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:57,640
Speaker 2: reasonable defense with Mark Williams at center, Which is gonna

874
00:43:57,640 --> 00:44:00,520
Speaker 2: come down to whether or not they can find a

875
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:02,560
Speaker 2: a defensive scheme that kind of works with that group,

876
00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:06,000
Speaker 2: and they're gonna have to find lineup construction that pairs

877
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:08,319
Speaker 2: somebody that can chase over the top of screens with

878
00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:09,839
Speaker 2: Mark so they can keep him in a deep drop.

879
00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:11,480
Speaker 2: And then coaching is going to play a big role.

880
00:44:11,480 --> 00:44:14,960
Speaker 2: They've got to somehow pretty quickly. They have to pretty

881
00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:18,759
Speaker 2: quickly develop Mark into a useful defensive player, and that's

882
00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:21,719
Speaker 2: gonna be tough. What's going on with the Trailblazers. They

883
00:44:21,760 --> 00:44:24,480
Speaker 2: are on fire, young players finally taking the next step,

884
00:44:24,800 --> 00:44:28,400
Speaker 2: playing really good defense. Tomani Kamara has been one of

885
00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:31,040
Speaker 2: the most impressive young defensive athletes that we've seen in

886
00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:33,359
Speaker 2: the league this year. They're getting good shot creation from

887
00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:36,600
Speaker 2: Anferny Simon's and Scoot Henderson's playing the best basketball of

888
00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:38,560
Speaker 2: his young career. Their fun team, and I was kind

889
00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:40,480
Speaker 2: of expecting them to be more sellers at the deadline,

890
00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:42,040
Speaker 2: and I think they just played too well for that

891
00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:44,120
Speaker 2: to be the case. All right, well we got one

892
00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:46,239
Speaker 2: here from EGO donated five dollars, Thank you so much.

893
00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:50,000
Speaker 2: Do you think Lucas saves Lebron's legs come May? This

894
00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:52,400
Speaker 2: is huge for a real run. Lebron can coast a

895
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:56,839
Speaker 2: bit without the offense tanking legs in May June very important. Yeah,

896
00:44:56,880 --> 00:44:58,760
Speaker 2: there was a play. There was a play where Lebron

897
00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:02,080
Speaker 2: was posting Brandon Pizzimski along the left lane line and

898
00:45:02,120 --> 00:45:03,680
Speaker 2: he shot a bank shop that went off the corner

899
00:45:03,719 --> 00:45:06,799
Speaker 2: of the backboard. It was a pretty ugly miss, and

900
00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:09,200
Speaker 2: it was just so abundantly clear that he was exhausted.

901
00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:13,719
Speaker 2: And Austin can leverage the athletic gifts and these bursts.

902
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:16,040
Speaker 2: That's why I think the manager Nobili comp is such

903
00:45:16,040 --> 00:45:18,520
Speaker 2: a great comp for Austin Reeves. But like both of

904
00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:20,799
Speaker 2: them have a kind of a tendency to run into

905
00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,520
Speaker 2: a wall at a certain point because of Lebron's agent,

906
00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:27,719
Speaker 2: because of Austin's athletic limitations, and Luca just has the

907
00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:31,640
Speaker 2: ability to overcome that. And I think it's a really

908
00:45:31,719 --> 00:45:34,520
Speaker 2: underrated aspect of this that Lebron's going to be able

909
00:45:34,520 --> 00:45:37,280
Speaker 2: to devote energy to the defensive end of the floors

910
00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:41,239
Speaker 2: as a product of the U as a product of

911
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:43,600
Speaker 2: the load that Luca can take on the offensive end

912
00:45:43,600 --> 00:45:46,440
Speaker 2: of the floor From maxim Sold, the Nuggets run more

913
00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:49,839
Speaker 2: of their offense through Michael Porter Junior. No, I don't

914
00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:53,640
Speaker 2: think so. Go ahead a great game tonight. I was

915
00:45:53,680 --> 00:45:55,520
Speaker 2: really impressed by the off screen work that he did.

916
00:45:56,080 --> 00:45:59,080
Speaker 2: But the problem with MPJ is he's another one of

917
00:45:59,120 --> 00:46:02,080
Speaker 2: those guys that can kind of run into a wall

918
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:07,120
Speaker 2: in terms of athleticism, where like you saw this against

919
00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:09,719
Speaker 2: Minnesota and all the Minnesota matchups. We even saw this

920
00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:11,680
Speaker 2: a little bit in the Miami series in the finals.

921
00:46:12,120 --> 00:46:15,080
Speaker 2: But like when teams can kind of physically pressure him

922
00:46:15,280 --> 00:46:17,919
Speaker 2: and make him rush and feel a little bit uncomfortable,

923
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:22,600
Speaker 2: his game falls apart. And there are just more reliable

924
00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:26,360
Speaker 2: offensive players in terms of Jamal Murray in particular in

925
00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:29,480
Speaker 2: a playoff setting, even Russell Westbrook, who has an athlete

926
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:32,120
Speaker 2: when he's in a small role, can leverage himself as

927
00:46:32,160 --> 00:46:36,720
Speaker 2: things get more intense. I think that it's there's obviously

928
00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:39,040
Speaker 2: MPJ is always gonna have his role, and on nights

929
00:46:39,080 --> 00:46:40,360
Speaker 2: like tonight, when he's really got it, you want to

930
00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:42,759
Speaker 2: keep going to him, keep going to him. But I

931
00:46:42,800 --> 00:46:45,640
Speaker 2: don't see it as a I don't really see it

932
00:46:45,640 --> 00:46:49,120
Speaker 2: as a as a you know, foundational offensive concept, if

933
00:46:49,120 --> 00:46:51,160
Speaker 2: that makes sense. A couple more, if Ben's his If

934
00:46:51,160 --> 00:46:53,320
Speaker 2: Ben Simmons gets bought out, what's the team that is

935
00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:58,000
Speaker 2: perfect for him? I mean, I suppose it would have

936
00:46:58,040 --> 00:46:59,719
Speaker 2: to be a tea. Then he's a little like a

937
00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:01,560
Speaker 2: four with some size. I'd be an interesting one for

938
00:47:01,600 --> 00:47:03,840
Speaker 2: Golden State maybe, Like Ben Simmons is kind of like

939
00:47:03,880 --> 00:47:07,759
Speaker 2: a Draymond Green esque drible handoff, roll into space kind

940
00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:08,040
Speaker 2: of guy.

941
00:47:08,680 --> 00:47:08,919
Speaker 1: Ben.

942
00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:12,200
Speaker 2: Still, I've seen some moments this year where like he'll

943
00:47:12,200 --> 00:47:13,799
Speaker 2: slide his feet on the perimeter. I'll be like, oh

944
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:16,320
Speaker 2: my God, Like remember how good Ben Simmons used to

945
00:47:16,360 --> 00:47:18,520
Speaker 2: be on defense. I remember watching Ben Simmons once guard

946
00:47:18,600 --> 00:47:21,480
Speaker 2: Damian Lillard when he was in his athletic prime and

947
00:47:21,640 --> 00:47:24,239
Speaker 2: like easily blocked Dame on a step back jump shot

948
00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:25,960
Speaker 2: going to his right. You know, Dame's go to like

949
00:47:26,040 --> 00:47:28,879
Speaker 2: hard a pound dribble into the step back going right,

950
00:47:29,160 --> 00:47:32,240
Speaker 2: Like Ben had this athletic burst that's just not there anymore.

951
00:47:32,280 --> 00:47:33,719
Speaker 2: You still see it from time to time where you'll

952
00:47:33,719 --> 00:47:36,680
Speaker 2: make a play, you'll get dunk, he'll you know, slide

953
00:47:36,680 --> 00:47:38,120
Speaker 2: his feet on the perimeter and make a play. But

954
00:47:38,440 --> 00:47:41,480
Speaker 2: still is super gun shy around the basket as a finisher.

955
00:47:42,160 --> 00:47:44,000
Speaker 2: I don't really see him as a guy that I

956
00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:47,160
Speaker 2: ever want playing meaningful minutes in a serious basketball game.

957
00:47:47,840 --> 00:47:49,439
Speaker 2: What's your take on the first game with Aaron Fox

958
00:47:49,480 --> 00:47:50,840
Speaker 2: on the Spurs. I haven't watched that one yet, Off

959
00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:52,960
Speaker 2: to check it out later. Why does Austin Reeves look

960
00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:55,640
Speaker 2: so bad at times? I think Austin has had some

961
00:47:55,680 --> 00:47:57,360
Speaker 2: bad games this year when he really gets attacked on

962
00:47:57,360 --> 00:47:59,080
Speaker 2: the defensive end of the floor. And he also, kind of,

963
00:47:59,120 --> 00:48:01,479
Speaker 2: like Michael Porter Junior, can get a little bit messed

964
00:48:01,560 --> 00:48:04,480
Speaker 2: up by specific types of matchups, physical types of perimeter

965
00:48:04,520 --> 00:48:06,719
Speaker 2: players that can pressure him. But I've also seen him

966
00:48:06,719 --> 00:48:09,319
Speaker 2: overcome that type of matchup, and like, here's the thing, Like,

967
00:48:09,320 --> 00:48:11,800
Speaker 2: this is why Austin Reeves like to me, that twenty

968
00:48:11,840 --> 00:48:14,200
Speaker 2: point per game, fifty forty ninety guy, That to me

969
00:48:14,280 --> 00:48:16,160
Speaker 2: is the Austin Reeves experience. So the way it manifests

970
00:48:16,200 --> 00:48:18,719
Speaker 2: itself is a lot of twenty seven point nights and

971
00:48:18,719 --> 00:48:20,880
Speaker 2: a lot of thirteen point nights, right like, and a

972
00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:22,440
Speaker 2: lot of that's going to have to do matchup to

973
00:48:22,480 --> 00:48:26,040
Speaker 2: match up. But I think Austin Reeves played a lot

974
00:48:26,080 --> 00:48:29,239
Speaker 2: better tonight than the shooting percentages would tell you. Consistently,

975
00:48:29,239 --> 00:48:31,600
Speaker 2: got to the foul line, had that big bank shot

976
00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:34,400
Speaker 2: in crunch time. I thought that was a big shot.

977
00:48:33,239 --> 00:48:36,080
Speaker 2: I Austin's one of my favorite players that I've ever

978
00:48:36,160 --> 00:48:39,240
Speaker 2: rooted for. All Right, guys, that's all I have for tonight.

979
00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:41,759
Speaker 2: As always, a sincerely appreciate you guys for supporting me

980
00:48:42,000 --> 00:48:44,720
Speaker 2: and supporting the show. As of right now, the plan

981
00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:48,320
Speaker 2: is to go after a game on Saturday. I'm not

982
00:48:48,360 --> 00:48:50,040
Speaker 2: one hundred percent sure yet because I think it depends

983
00:48:50,040 --> 00:48:51,919
Speaker 2: on whether or not Luca plays. So we'll figure that out

984
00:48:52,160 --> 00:48:53,640
Speaker 2: and I'll let you guys know. But keep an eye

985
00:48:53,680 --> 00:48:57,040
Speaker 2: on my Twitter feed at our sport jsonlt for show announcements,

986
00:48:57,040 --> 00:48:58,320
Speaker 2: and I'll let you guys know when the next show is.

987
00:48:58,320 --> 00:49:00,000
Speaker 2: If we don't go on Saturday, then obviously we'll be

988
00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:02,919
Speaker 2: back on Monday for our power rankings and our usual

989
00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:05,839
Speaker 2: routine from there. Again, sincerely appreciate you guys for rocking

990
00:49:05,880 --> 00:49:08,840
Speaker 2: with me and supporting the show. I'll see you guys next.

991
00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:11,440
Speaker 1: Time the volume.

992
00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:14,600
Speaker 2: What's up guys. As always, I appreciate you for listening

993
00:49:14,600 --> 00:49:17,440
Speaker 2: to and supporting Hoops tonight. It would actually be really

994
00:49:17,480 --> 00:49:19,360
Speaker 2: helpful for us if you guys would take a second

995
00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:22,080
Speaker 2: and leave a rating and a review. As always, I

996
00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:23,880
Speaker 2: appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could take

997
00:49:23,880 --> 00:49:26,239
Speaker 2: a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.