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Speaker 1: Happy Thursday, everybody. I hope all of you guys are
Speaker 1: having a great week. So far. We've almost made it
Speaker 1: to the weekend. Only two more shows before we take
Speaker 1: a couple of days off. Today, we're gonna be doing
Speaker 1: our first edition of Power Rankings for this year. My
Speaker 1: game plan is to do these about every two weeks,
Speaker 1: and then in the off weeks we'll do a show
Speaker 1: each week where we go over the top ten players
Speaker 1: that have been impressing me the most. Over the course
Speaker 1: of the previous two weeks. You know, before the season,
Speaker 1: we did power rankings, and I intended for that to
Speaker 1: be more of like, who's my team that I think
Speaker 1: is going to perform the most, performed the best over
Speaker 1: the course of the season, like championship contenders. I want
Speaker 1: these during the season power rankings in during the season,
Speaker 1: you know, m v P rankings or top ten players,
Speaker 1: whatever we're gonna call them. I want them to be
Speaker 1: more of like a who's playing the best as of late?
Speaker 1: And so it's gonna be a lot more shuffling, a
Speaker 1: lot more movement up and down on each list, a
Speaker 1: couple of basic rules. It's just gonna be who's playing
Speaker 1: the best basketball right now? And then I'm gonna give
Speaker 1: a little bit more of a leash two teams that
Speaker 1: I think have more playoff legitimacy. So for the Warriors,
Speaker 1: for instance, it's gonna take more bad for me to
Speaker 1: stop believing in them, and it's gonna take less good
Speaker 1: for me to start believing in them again. For instance,
Speaker 1: Utah is playing really good basketball. I don't have them
Speaker 1: in my top ten. I don't think there are top
Speaker 1: ten team in this league. Boston is four and three,
Speaker 1: and uh, Golden State is three and five, but I
Speaker 1: both have them on my list, So it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a combination of recent success mixed with what I believe
Speaker 1: in as your ceiling and without any further ado, let's
Speaker 1: start with number ten, the Golden State Warriors. They are
Speaker 1: three and five, sevent in offense, twenty four and defense
Speaker 1: and twenty four and net rating. They have not played
Speaker 1: well to start this year. There's still my championship favorite,
Speaker 1: but I am just ever so slightly starting to lean
Speaker 1: towards the Bucks, and if things keep trending this way,
Speaker 1: if the Bucks keep dominating and the Warriors continue to struggle,
Speaker 1: I will switch my pick to them, But for now,
Speaker 1: I'm still hanging with Golden State is my championship favorite.
Speaker 1: The only reason I have them on this list still
Speaker 1: instead of off the list entirely right now is their
Speaker 1: starting lineup is still whooping everybody's ass. So as long
Speaker 1: as they have Steph Curry, Clay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Kevon
Speaker 1: Looney and Draymond Green on the floor, they have a
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty seven point four offensive rating, which is amazing,
Speaker 1: a defensive rating which is amazing, which leads to a
Speaker 1: plus twenty nine point three net ratings. So the Warriors
Speaker 1: are kicking everybody's ass. As long as they have their
Speaker 1: starters on the floor, that's your silver lining. That's why
Speaker 1: I still have them in my top ten. That's your
Speaker 1: biggest sign of optimism if you're a Warriors fan. The
Speaker 1: problem is is there bench is a catastrophe, and it's
Speaker 1: not just James Wiseman's fault. The whole group can't defend.
Speaker 1: They put four bad perimeter defenders around James Wiseman and
Speaker 1: he's not Anthony Davis, so he's not going to clean
Speaker 1: up all of those messes. A couple of things that
Speaker 1: should fix this is getting minutes restrictions dropped from Draymond
Speaker 1: Green and Clay Thompson. Getting Andrea Gudali into the lineup
Speaker 1: a little bit might help. And then the reality is
Speaker 1: is that they might need to look to get one
Speaker 1: more veteran piece. I don't know if that's in the
Speaker 1: trade market or in the buy out market, but they're
Speaker 1: gonna need to get one more veteran piece on their
Speaker 1: bench to give them a little bit more defensive talent there.
Speaker 1: And then, honestly, Steve Kerry isn't doing enough to stagger
Speaker 1: those lineups so that there's a little more overlap between
Speaker 1: the starters and the bench players so that the deck
Speaker 1: isn't so stacked against them when they get into those settings.
Speaker 1: A couple of signs for optimism. Steph looks better than
Speaker 1: ever um. I think this is the best he's been,
Speaker 1: so that's something to be optimistic about. Clay Thompson this
Speaker 1: year is fifteen for fifty seven on catch and shoot threes,
Speaker 1: which is horrific, and that will almost certainly improve their
Speaker 1: good looks. Clay's gonna start making shots. And then Draymond
Speaker 1: is still the world beating defender that we've always thought
Speaker 1: of him to be. Uh. The realities is their twenty
Speaker 1: seven and half court defense right now, according to Cleaning
Speaker 1: the Glass, So they just need to start defending better,
Speaker 1: particularly with their bench lineups alright. Number nine, the Chicago Bulls,
Speaker 1: they're five and four. They are twenty second in offense,
Speaker 1: but the air seventh in defense, and a huge part
Speaker 1: of that is their backcourt being bolstered by iodasun Moo,
Speaker 1: who has made the a Lonzo ball injuries way less
Speaker 1: painful because he's just killing it on both ends of
Speaker 1: the floor, kind of recapturing that defensive dynamic they had
Speaker 1: early last year with Crusoe and a Lonzo ball on
Speaker 1: the floor. Now it's the Sun Moon and and Caruso
Speaker 1: that are kind of accomplishing that same thing. As a
Speaker 1: result their ninth and net rating that are really impressive.
Speaker 1: Road win in Brooklyn coming from behind the other night,
Speaker 1: zach Lavine just absolutely torched them. They defend the paint
Speaker 1: very well, they don't foul. They four seventeen point six
Speaker 1: turn over his per one hunter possessions, which leads the league.
Speaker 1: And then Demarta Rosen has been great as usual, and
Speaker 1: then zach Lavine has been shooting really really well from
Speaker 1: the three point line. He talked the other night about
Speaker 1: how he wants to finish a little bit better around
Speaker 1: the rim, but the reality is is he's still giving
Speaker 1: you all of that great pull up shooting that we've
Speaker 1: come become accustomed to with zach Lavine, and he was
Speaker 1: the one who got hot and beat the nets the
Speaker 1: other night. I don't view them as a legit contender,
Speaker 1: but I do think we need to acknowledge that they're
Speaker 1: playing really good basketball to start the season, and they
Speaker 1: belong on this list alright number eight. The New Orleans
Speaker 1: Pelicans sixth in offense twelfth and defense sixth and net
Speaker 1: rating their four and three despite only getting six combined
Speaker 1: games out of Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones due to injuries.
Speaker 1: Or Jones is their best defensive player. In Brandon Ingram
Speaker 1: is their best offensive player, and he's also a very
Speaker 1: good defender. So that's a huge influx of talent that
Speaker 1: should be coming soon. I'm really enjoying Jose Alvarado off
Speaker 1: the bench. He's one of my favorite backup point guards
Speaker 1: in the league to watch. Just the little things he
Speaker 1: does to impact the game defensively and the way he
Speaker 1: uses speed and and intricate shot making in the lane
Speaker 1: to make up for his lack of size makes him
Speaker 1: fun to watch. C Jim McCollum is playing really well.
Speaker 1: He stole a game earlier, I think it was last
Speaker 1: week against the Dallas Mavericks by going crazy and high
Speaker 1: pick and roll in the fourth quarter. Trey Murphy is
Speaker 1: shooting from three on six attempts per game, and then
Speaker 1: Zion Williamson, just like he did in one, is making
Speaker 1: nine shots per game in the restricted area, albeit on
Speaker 1: a lower percentage uh than he did in that particular season.
Speaker 1: But he's starting, he's missing a lot of shots he
Speaker 1: usually makes. I expect that to go up. Willie Green
Speaker 1: is doing a really nice job with this group. They're
Speaker 1: playing hard, they play smart if they get healthy, which
Speaker 1: they should. Although a couple of their guys, Ingram and
Speaker 1: um Zion in particular, I've always had a little bit
Speaker 1: of a concern with them their ability to stay on
Speaker 1: the court. If they can get healthy, I think they
Speaker 1: have a really good chance to be a home court
Speaker 1: team in the first round in the Western Conference. All right,
Speaker 1: Number seven, the Dallas Mavericks there four and three. Kind
Speaker 1: of uh. They kind of remind me of how I
Speaker 1: feel about Boston because they blew a couple of winnable games,
Speaker 1: so the record doesn't look great, but they've actually kind
Speaker 1: of outplayed their opponent in like six of their seven games.
Speaker 1: They blew a game late against Phoenix they should have
Speaker 1: won um and then they blew a game against the
Speaker 1: Pelicans that they had no business losing when they were
Speaker 1: undermanned at home. Their second in offense right now, fourteenth
Speaker 1: and defense fifth and net rating. Lucas scoring has been
Speaker 1: the story of the early season, they lost Jalen Brunson,
Speaker 1: and all he's done is just tick up his own usage.
Speaker 1: For the first time in his career, he's got a
Speaker 1: usage rate over he's actually a forty one percent right now.
Speaker 1: And the wild part is that even though he's ticked
Speaker 1: up his efficients or his usage, his efficiency has gone
Speaker 1: up with it. Typically when players go up in usage,
Speaker 1: they get more fatigued, they have to take tougher shots,
Speaker 1: and so your efficiency tanks. But that could not be
Speaker 1: further from the truth. He's got a sixty shooting percentage
Speaker 1: right now, which is the highest market his career, despite
Speaker 1: the fact that he's shooting terrible from three. So far
Speaker 1: this season, he's only shooting on pull up three's. He
Speaker 1: hasn't made a catch and shoot three all season, but
Speaker 1: he's just making everything else that he's taking. He's fifty
Speaker 1: seven percent on pull up two's in the restricted area,
Speaker 1: sixty six percent in the paint outside the restricted area,
Speaker 1: and overall in the mid range, which is just all
Speaker 1: insane uh marks for a player like him. He's also
Speaker 1: taking care of the basketball better than ever before. He's
Speaker 1: averaging a career high and assist and a career low
Speaker 1: in turnovers right now. So to go up in usage
Speaker 1: and to see him increases efficiency and take better care
Speaker 1: of the basketball, that's pretty unheard of. And as soon
Speaker 1: as he starts knocking down these step back three's, it's
Speaker 1: gonna get really ugly for everybody. I think. I think
Speaker 1: there's a couple of big reasons that are driving this.
Speaker 1: First of all, he came into the season in shape
Speaker 1: thanks to euro Basket, and I think that's a big
Speaker 1: part of this. Uh, most season he plays his way
Speaker 1: into shape, comes in a little bit overweight. He looks
Speaker 1: great right away this year, and you're seeing that with
Speaker 1: his rim finishing and all of his short range shots,
Speaker 1: which so typically rely on lift. And then I think
Speaker 1: a big part of it too, is just mastering this
Speaker 1: style of offense. Yes, they brought in JaVale McGee, but
Speaker 1: by bringing in Christian Wood, they've given themselves more five
Speaker 1: out options, and they've just kind of nailed their spacing
Speaker 1: concepts and everyone knows where they're supposed to be um
Speaker 1: and Luca just kind of makes the right play. Every
Speaker 1: time you leave him on an island, He's gonna score.
Speaker 1: If he's send help, he's going to kick the shooters
Speaker 1: and they really have a lot of continuity now and
Speaker 1: their offense is rolling. Umdwyt Powell needs to get a
Speaker 1: random shout out. I was much maligned this summer for
Speaker 1: saying that I thought he defended really well for Dallas
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Um, and you know, Mavericks fans were like, oh,
Speaker 1: actually he's not that good defensively, and don't get me wrong,
Speaker 1: he had some struggles over the years. I was just
Speaker 1: you know, I started with the volume in February, started
Speaker 1: covering the Mavericks really in like April, and so I
Speaker 1: really only watched them during that playoff run, and I
Speaker 1: was impressed by what I saw from Pale defensively, had
Speaker 1: a great defensive game last night against Utah, hung up
Speaker 1: plus twenty five. Christian Wood is still providing offensive punch.
Speaker 1: Spencer Dinwiddie is thriving in that secondary creative role. The
Speaker 1: couple of areas for improvement for Dallas their peri Their
Speaker 1: perimeter defense right now is is not great, and it
Speaker 1: wasn't great last year either, but they just were really
Speaker 1: good rotating out of it. Um, that's gonna be an
Speaker 1: issue for them. It became an issue for them against
Speaker 1: Golden State it's been it's going to continue to be
Speaker 1: an issue for them until they kind of, um um,
Speaker 1: figure out a way to get Luca don Che to
Speaker 1: contain the ball a little bit better. Right um. But
Speaker 1: they had to go zone a lot this year to
Speaker 1: throw teams out of rhythm. They had to do it
Speaker 1: again last night against Utah and then there twenty four
Speaker 1: and transition defense, that's another big area for improvement. And
Speaker 1: I still think, you know, when it comes to super
Speaker 1: high usage guys, it's just a dangerous way to go
Speaker 1: without getting them more backup ball handling. So I'd still
Speaker 1: like to see them find one more reliable dribble creator.
Speaker 1: They're another team that, like if Kyrie Irving were to
Speaker 1: get cut by the nets, um them in the Lakers
Speaker 1: are the two teams that I would seriously consider looking
Speaker 1: at Kyrie, even though he comes with all that baggage,
Speaker 1: just because they so desperately need another dribble creator. Number
Speaker 1: six the Portland's Trailblazers. They're five and two, eleven in offense,
Speaker 1: eleventh in defense, and eighth and net rating. The biggest
Speaker 1: driving force for them offensively right now is there manufacturing
Speaker 1: easy offense at the free throw line. And in transition,
Speaker 1: Dame and Jeremy Grant are attempting fifteen free throws per game.
Speaker 1: Portland as a team makes twenty two point two free
Speaker 1: throws per game, which leads the league and then their
Speaker 1: second in fast break points scored per one possessions at
Speaker 1: seventeen point six. By the way, one team in fast
Speaker 1: break points is way ahead of the rest of the field.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to them later. Start guessing now, and
Speaker 1: we'll see if you're right when we get to that point.
Speaker 1: No cheating, no going on the website. Um, this team
Speaker 1: is legitimately good when they're healthy. Dame looks like Dame,
Speaker 1: although he's dealing with the calf injury right now. Jeremy
Speaker 1: Grant was a really nice pick up, and Phreny Simon's
Speaker 1: is just freaking bawling right now. Josh Hart seven in
Speaker 1: the league and rebounding right now, averaging almost tend of game.
Speaker 1: And then Shade and Sharp, who had a really rough
Speaker 1: night last night against Memphis, but he's looking like a
Speaker 1: future star. Just absurd athleticism on the wing. And then
Speaker 1: Gary Payton the second should be coming back in a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks, which I'll bolster them on their perimeter defense,
Speaker 1: and then Justice Winslow kind of adds a real interesting
Speaker 1: depth on the wing for them. Uh, if they stay healthy,
Speaker 1: which is a big if, I do think that they'll
Speaker 1: get out of the play in in the West. Based
Speaker 1: on what I've seen, they just they leaned into They
Speaker 1: leaned into perimeter defense around Dame and and I think
Speaker 1: that was a smart way to go, giving him lots
Speaker 1: of wing athleticism to kind of cover for his own shortcomings.
Speaker 1: Number five the Boston Celtics their four and three, but
Speaker 1: they had too ot losses to Cleveland that could have
Speaker 1: easily gone either way. Uh their eighth in offense right
Speaker 1: now nineteen and defense tenth and net rating. Their defense
Speaker 1: hasn't been very good, but I did just talk about
Speaker 1: that last night, so I'm not gonna dig too far
Speaker 1: into it. I think it's easy to use Rob Williams
Speaker 1: as an excuse, but the reality is is, even with
Speaker 1: the personnel that they have, they should be defending better
Speaker 1: than they do. They did. I did think it was
Speaker 1: an interesting adjustment that last year in in in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: they were horrific transition defense, and one of the things
Speaker 1: they've done so far this year is they've basically abandoned
Speaker 1: crashing the offensive glass to just get back on defense,
Speaker 1: which as a result, has massively improved their transition defense,
Speaker 1: but their half court defense has been the problem, which
Speaker 1: is kind of embarrassing for the level of talent that
Speaker 1: they have. Got a shout out Jayson Tatum here. I
Speaker 1: called him the sixth best player in the league this summer,
Speaker 1: put him over Yokichen Embiid. Everybody called me insane. My
Speaker 1: whole take on it was like, you have to respect
Speaker 1: what he did in that playoff run, leading them to
Speaker 1: within two games of the title with outstanding defense and
Speaker 1: efficient scoring, and he was passing the ball pretty well
Speaker 1: for the most part. You have to acknowledge that. What
Speaker 1: I said was if you just put Kawhi Leonard's name
Speaker 1: on the back of his jersey or Paul George's name
Speaker 1: on the back of his jersey and he has an
Speaker 1: exact same playoff run, you're viewing him as one of
Speaker 1: the best superstars in the league. But because it's Jayson Tatum,
Speaker 1: and because there's a lot of anti Celtics energy, especially
Speaker 1: with the large Laker fan base, he just gets kind
Speaker 1: of undermined in that respect. Um I had a feeling
Speaker 1: that coming off of that playoff run, he'd have a
Speaker 1: lot of confidence that he'd played with that confidence this year,
Speaker 1: and then the motivation of coming up short in that
Speaker 1: playoff run should push him to improve over the summer,
Speaker 1: and he's been one of the five best players in
Speaker 1: the league this season. Like, yes, six over the summer
Speaker 1: might have been a push, but if you're grading players
Speaker 1: based on how they played this season, he's easily in
Speaker 1: the top five. Last year, he average four. This year,
Speaker 1: that's up to thirty eight and four. He's shooting a
Speaker 1: ridiculous sixty four percent on two's thirty eight percent on
Speaker 1: eight point three three three point attempts. The biggest difference
Speaker 1: is he's massively improved at the rim and in mid range.
Speaker 1: Last year he only made just under four shots in
Speaker 1: the restricted area per game at sixty eight percent. This
Speaker 1: year he's making five at eight percent, which is borderline
Speaker 1: Janice lebron Zion type of deduction. I think Janis and
Speaker 1: lebron were both at like six and a half last year.
Speaker 1: Makes so for Tatum to be up at five a
Speaker 1: is really really impressive. And then last year he was
Speaker 1: thirty seven percent on three point four mid range attempts
Speaker 1: mid range attempts per game this year, he's up to
Speaker 1: fifty on two point four attempts. I think a big
Speaker 1: part of this, too is Rob Williams being out and
Speaker 1: just giving them more natural five out spacing, which is
Speaker 1: opening up those driving lanes. As I've always said, I
Speaker 1: actually think the Celtics are a little bit better, if
Speaker 1: not the same with Robert Williams off as they are
Speaker 1: with him on. They just need to defend a defend
Speaker 1: better than they have to start this year. And then
Speaker 1: he just Tatum just flashes these ridiculous superstar plays, like
Speaker 1: that dunk last night on Jared Allen, which was ridiculous,
Speaker 1: or his big time block on Donovan Mitchell's pull up
Speaker 1: jump shot to try to win the game. He had
Speaker 1: another kind of transition lay up in ot last night
Speaker 1: where he looked like a freight train, like just freak athleticism.
Speaker 1: You're seeing him really start to grow into his body
Speaker 1: and just become a dominant two way winging in this league.
Speaker 1: And then Jaylen Brown, you're getting a career high twenty
Speaker 1: six points per game on fifty true shooting. And then
Speaker 1: Grant Williams, you know he bet on himself in his
Speaker 1: negotiations wanted more. Uh walked away from the table and
Speaker 1: he's shooting six on catching shoot threes this year. Now
Speaker 1: is he gonna shoot that Well, probably not, but if
Speaker 1: you can keep that in the you know, high forties,
Speaker 1: he might get that number that he's wanting next summer.
Speaker 1: So good for Grant Williams betting on himself. My favorite
Speaker 1: thing about the Celtics and the reason why I'm such
Speaker 1: a big believer in them, is their matchup flexibility. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, even if you do happen to guard have
Speaker 1: the right matchups to guard Tatum and Brown, just having
Speaker 1: Marcus Martin Malcolm Brogden, two big, strong guards that can
Speaker 1: bully their way to the rim is a huge advantage
Speaker 1: and that was a huge part of how they succeeded
Speaker 1: in crunch time last night against Cleveland to send that
Speaker 1: game to ot when Donovan Mitchell did everything in his
Speaker 1: power to try to take it away with shot making. Um,
Speaker 1: they just they just have so many different directions they
Speaker 1: can go on both ends of the floor in terms
Speaker 1: of matchups, which gives them so much upside in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Number four the Toronto Raptors five and three third in offense,
Speaker 1: eighth in defense, fourth and net rating. They kind of
Speaker 1: remind me of the Lakers because they entirely depend on transition.
Speaker 1: So their third in offense, but they're twenty fourth and
Speaker 1: half court offense according to Cleaning the Glass. And that's
Speaker 1: despite the fact that they continue to shoot way above
Speaker 1: their expected shot quality. They're shooting on catch and shoot
Speaker 1: threes this year, which is second in the league. And
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong, I expect some incremental improvement from
Speaker 1: their roster, but that's not their strength. They're gonna come
Speaker 1: back down to earth in their shooting. So their half
Speaker 1: court offense is a legitimate issue, but they just get
Speaker 1: a ton of steals and they get out in transition NonStop.
Speaker 1: Do you guys remember earlier when I asked you who
Speaker 1: was number one and fast break points scored per one possessions,
Speaker 1: Well it's the Toronto Raptors. And while uh, they're up
Speaker 1: at twenty six fast break points per one possessions, second
Speaker 1: place was what seventeen points six, So they have a
Speaker 1: massive lead in that department. They lead the league and steals.
Speaker 1: A couple of guys to shout out, Pascal siakam Is
Speaker 1: is an all NBA player to start this season. I
Speaker 1: talked about this a little bit last week, so I
Speaker 1: won't dig too far into it. But he's shooting pull
Speaker 1: up two is really really well, which is opening up
Speaker 1: his attacking lanes because defenders have to come out a
Speaker 1: little bit further on him. Gary Trent is shooting the
Speaker 1: ball really well. Scotty Barnes. What's impressing me the most
Speaker 1: with him is his passing ability. So good at backing
Speaker 1: his man down into the post, palming the basketball and
Speaker 1: then throwing these like slingshot cross court passes that hit
Speaker 1: hit shooters in the in the shooting pocket. Kind of
Speaker 1: lebron Esque passing out of the post here early in
Speaker 1: his career. Really impressive for a young player. He's averaging
Speaker 1: four point four assists on only one point nine turnovers
Speaker 1: per game UM, So obviously they're still massively performing their
Speaker 1: shot quality. That's gonna come back down to earth. But
Speaker 1: then also Fred VanVleet is shooting well below what you
Speaker 1: would expect from him, so I expect a little bit
Speaker 1: of positive regression there from him. The reality is with
Speaker 1: the Raptors is if you trapped them in the half court,
Speaker 1: you'll beat them. They're eighteenth and half court defense because
Speaker 1: they over help too much when they don't need to,
Speaker 1: which I've talked about a bunch this year, and then
Speaker 1: their twenty four and a half court offense. If you
Speaker 1: can trap them in that setting, you're gonna beat them.
Speaker 1: But the reality is his teams haven't been able to.
Speaker 1: They're super long and athletic, they play the passing lanes,
Speaker 1: they're aggressive on the ball, they forced a lot of turnovers.
Speaker 1: They get out in transition, and they're getting baskets in transition.
Speaker 1: That's what kind of reminds me of the Lakers. Everyone
Speaker 1: was like, Oh, they can't score in the half courts,
Speaker 1: can't score in a half court, and then it just
Speaker 1: never mattered because no one could score on them, and
Speaker 1: so they just kept getting out in transition and getting baskets.
Speaker 1: And so for now, regardless of how you feel about
Speaker 1: them in the half court, they belong among the top
Speaker 1: teams in the league. Number three Cleveland Cavaliers there six
Speaker 1: and one, seventh in offense, third in defense, third in
Speaker 1: net rating. We've talked about them twice in the last week,
Speaker 1: so I'm not gonna spend too much time on them
Speaker 1: here today. But the short quick synopsis is Donovan Mitchell
Speaker 1: looks amazing. That was a great pick up this summer. UM.
Speaker 1: He already has a pretty natural given take with Garland
Speaker 1: based on what I saw in preseason and last night. Uh,
Speaker 1: Jared Allen and Evan Mobley are completely anchoring this defense
Speaker 1: right now, and they deserve a ton of credit. Their
Speaker 1: biggest question marks, the things that concerned me is what
Speaker 1: they're gonna do at the three spot, whether or not
Speaker 1: they want to go defense or go Dean Wade, especially
Speaker 1: in closing groups. I would go with defense personally, especially
Speaker 1: with how well Donovan Mitchell shooting and pull up jump
Speaker 1: shooting situations which are a little bit more immune to
Speaker 1: spacing concerns. UM. But that's one thing they got to
Speaker 1: figure out. And then Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland on defense.
Speaker 1: I don't know what to expect from Darius Garland because
Speaker 1: of his physical limitations, but Donovan Mitchell simply has to
Speaker 1: be better or they will get beat early in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell had a couple of nightmare defensive possessions late
Speaker 1: in the game against Boston last night. Number two the
Speaker 1: Phoenix Suns. You know, earlier in the summer, I told
Speaker 1: you guys that I thought they'd still win a ton
Speaker 1: of games because they're super talented. And then they came
Speaker 1: out in the preseason and they looked a little rough.
Speaker 1: DeAndre Ayton in particular, wasn't defending. And then they fell
Speaker 1: down huge to Dallas in their first game of the season.
Speaker 1: But then they came back and beat Dallas, and then
Speaker 1: they've just beat everyone's ass ever since. They're six and one,
Speaker 1: first in offense fifth and defense first, and net rating.
Speaker 1: They lead the league and assist per game with thirty
Speaker 1: their fifth fewest in turnovers. They defend the paint well,
Speaker 1: they defend and transition well. And then the big driving
Speaker 1: force behind this because Chris Paul is having a pretty
Speaker 1: rough season in terms of his scoring. He's still passing
Speaker 1: the ball well, he's still generating good stuff in pick
Speaker 1: and roll, He's still making some big plays in crunch time.
Speaker 1: But Devin Booker is number two in my m v
Speaker 1: P rankings to start the season, behind you, honest. He's
Speaker 1: averaging a career high twenty eight points per game on
Speaker 1: sixt true shooting, which is outstanding, pent on elevin pull
Speaker 1: up jumpers per game, which is unbelievable. He's getting to
Speaker 1: the rim a lot. He's shooting sixty on five attempts
Speaker 1: in the restricted area per game, and he's not even
Speaker 1: really hitting as above the break threes yet he's only
Speaker 1: hitting about a third of them, so that should tick
Speaker 1: up a little bit as well. And then he's been
Speaker 1: outstanding defensively. His favorite player growing up was Kobe, had
Speaker 1: a good relationship with him. Kobe would be proud, very
Speaker 1: proud of the type of player that Devin Booker has
Speaker 1: become as a two way competitive or in this league.
Speaker 1: He's been certainly one of the five best players in
Speaker 1: basketball to start the season. I had him second in
Speaker 1: my m VP rankings, which will probably do a deeper
Speaker 1: dive into next week. Um, and it's really covering for
Speaker 1: the fact that CB three hasn't been that good. The
Speaker 1: other guy I wanted to shout out here is Michael Bridges.
Speaker 1: He's UH on twos this year, which is just completely
Speaker 1: ridiculous on three sixteen points per game. That's ridiculous efficiency
Speaker 1: even for a role player. Um, he had to play,
Speaker 1: you know. And then defensively, he still is just one
Speaker 1: of the biggest like conundrums that that he can present
Speaker 1: to other teams that you'll see in the league. There
Speaker 1: was a play late in the game against Minnesota. I
Speaker 1: was watching the other night where Anthony Edwards was really
Speaker 1: in a good groove and Anthony drives to the right
Speaker 1: and Michael Bridges digs down off of the left wing
Speaker 1: and kind of contains the ball and and picks up
Speaker 1: his dribble and pulls the ball out and throws a
Speaker 1: swing pass out to the corner, and Michael somehow recovers
Speaker 1: back out, sticks his arm out and just snatches the
Speaker 1: basketball and starts a fast break the other way. How
Speaker 1: many players in the league can dig down off of
Speaker 1: the strong side one pass away and still get back
Speaker 1: to their man and steal the basketball. Just unbelievable stuff
Speaker 1: from him. I still the same playoff concerns with the Sons, obviously.
Speaker 1: You know, will Devin Booker's pull up jump shot continue
Speaker 1: to fall in the biggest moments? Will Chris Paul be effective?
Speaker 1: Can guys like Bridges and eight and score when their
Speaker 1: stars can't? I don't know. But they're still one of
Speaker 1: the most talented rosters in the league, and they're just
Speaker 1: gonna be a pain to beat every night. So they're
Speaker 1: gonna win a lot of games. Number One Milwaukee Bucks,
Speaker 1: seven and oh despite being down two starters, Chris Middleton
Speaker 1: and Pat Conaton offense first in defense. First in defense
Speaker 1: by about three points per one hunter possessions, which is
Speaker 1: a pretty solid margin. Second in net rating. The biggest
Speaker 1: deferend a different I can't talk. The biggest difference in
Speaker 1: their defense this year is they're not over helping as
Speaker 1: much and they're staying home on shooters. Last year, they
Speaker 1: gave up more than twenty wide open threes per game,
Speaker 1: which was worse than the league. This year, they're only
Speaker 1: giving up about fifteen, which is sixth best in the
Speaker 1: league in terms of giving up wide open looks. Remember,
Speaker 1: wide open looks, according to NBA dot Com, is defender
Speaker 1: at least six feet away. So they stopped over helping
Speaker 1: and they're just counting on Brooke and Janice to just
Speaker 1: hold their own in these help situations around the rim.
Speaker 1: And they've both played like defensive players of the Year,
Speaker 1: which unfortunately will cancel them out when it comes to
Speaker 1: that voting. But that's what's really driving their defense. They're
Speaker 1: still struggling to score in the half court offensively, their
Speaker 1: eighteenth according to cleaning the glass and half court offense.
Speaker 1: But getting Chris Middleton back and Pat Connachton should help
Speaker 1: a ton with that, especially with their problems with spot
Speaker 1: up shooting. Right now. Joannice is just having a ridiculous season.
Speaker 1: Over the summer. I told you guys that I thought
Speaker 1: he was the best player in the league by a
Speaker 1: wide margin. And I told you I thought he was
Speaker 1: a safe bet to win m v P at plus
Speaker 1: seven hundred because they would win a ton of games
Speaker 1: and he would put up the numbers. And he hasn't
Speaker 1: won in a couple of years, and it lost the
Speaker 1: title last year. So motivation is just at a peak high.
Speaker 1: And he still isn't making anything outside of the restricted area.
Speaker 1: He's twenty on above the A of the break threes,
Speaker 1: he's over on corner threes in the midrange, and thirty
Speaker 1: two percent in the paint outside the restricted area. But
Speaker 1: he is making a ridiculous nine points seven shots per
Speaker 1: game in the restricted area. At that's the highest mark
Speaker 1: that I have ever seen, even higher than Zione when
Speaker 1: he made nine per game. And then in addition to that,
Speaker 1: he's a defensive Player of the Year candidate. Like I said,
Speaker 1: although I do think he'll get canceled out by Brooke.
Speaker 1: That's why I think Anthony Davis is in first place
Speaker 1: right now. And then he's also averaging a career high
Speaker 1: two point three offensive rebounds per game, many on his
Speaker 1: own misses. So Janice is whopping everybody's asked. The Bucks
Speaker 1: are whipping everybody's ass. I think he's gonna win m
Speaker 1: v P. Everything is pointing me towards thinking the Bucks
Speaker 1: could win be the real championship favorite. But I do
Speaker 1: want to give it a couple more weeks before I
Speaker 1: bail on Golden State. Um. Brooke and Drew in particular
Speaker 1: both deserved shoutouts as well. They're both defending like all
Speaker 1: defense guys. Drew Holiday is shooting on five pull up
Speaker 1: threes per game. He's got this really reliable, like pound
Speaker 1: dribble between his legs step back that he's making it
Speaker 1: a high rate. And then Brook Lopez is back to
Speaker 1: hitting over two threes per game for the first time
Speaker 1: in a long time. So look, I think at this point,
Speaker 1: uh Broke, the Bucks are starting to look like that
Speaker 1: safe bet. But like I said, it's only been seven games,
Speaker 1: so we gotta give it a little bit more time. Alright,
Speaker 1: guess that is all I have for today. As always,
Speaker 1: I sincerely appreciate your support. We'll be back tomorrow with
Speaker 1: one more film breakdown on some of tonight's games and
Speaker 1: Wednesday night's games that I didn't get to, and then
Speaker 1: we'll be off for the weekend. As always, I sincerely
Speaker 1: appreciate your guys support, and I'll see you tomorrow. The
Speaker 1: Volume