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Speaker 1: in West Virginia. YEA, all right, welcome to Hoops Tonight,

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Speaker 1: presented by Fan Duel here at the volume. Happy Thursday, everybody.

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Speaker 1: We've almost made it to the end of the week

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Speaker 1: and we are live on AMP. For those of you

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Speaker 1: guys who are watching on YouTube or on the podcast feeds,

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Speaker 1: don't forget that AMP is the very first place that

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Speaker 1: you guys can get these breakdowns. Today, we're just gonna

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Speaker 1: keep it really simple. We were gonna do our power

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Speaker 1: rankings today, but we're gonna bump that to Friday, So

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Speaker 1: keep an eye on the feeds tomorrow for our power

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Speaker 1: rankings Today, we're just gonna be reacting to the news

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Speaker 1: that Steph Curry it's very likely to miss about a

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Speaker 1: month with a laboral injury in his left shoulder, obviously

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Speaker 1: very concerning for the Golden State Warriors. Before we get started, though,

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Speaker 1: maybe required. All right, So Steph is gonna miss somewhere

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Speaker 1: between ten and fifteen games, is my guest. The initial

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Speaker 1: report was a couple of weeks, but then Shams Sharania

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Speaker 1: from the Athletic just put out a report shortly about

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Speaker 1: ten fifteen minutes ago saying that in all likelihood he's

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Speaker 1: probably going to be out the better part of a month. Um.

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Speaker 1: So what I'd like to do is, I'd like to

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Speaker 1: look at this from the glass half empty approach first,

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Speaker 1: and then we'll come at it from a more positive angle.

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Speaker 1: Here in a couple of minutes, here's the reality. The

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Speaker 1: Warriors have played nine hundred and seventy two possessions without

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry this year, and they've been outscored by ten

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Speaker 1: points per possession, a ten points per one possessions in

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Speaker 1: those minutes. It's been bad. In fact, in totality this year,

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Speaker 1: they are plus one on the scoreboard when Steph is

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Speaker 1: on the floor and minus one seven when he's off.

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Speaker 1: If you guys remember when we did our m VP

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Speaker 1: rankings a couple of weeks ago or a quarter season awards,

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Speaker 1: which I believe, Yeah, I think it was one or

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Speaker 1: two weeks ago. UM, I talked about how with Steph

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Speaker 1: in particular, the on off numbers were so jarring. They're

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Speaker 1: like almost twenty points better per an under possessions when

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Speaker 1: he's on versus when he's off. That if they could

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Speaker 1: just put together some wins and get towards the top

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Speaker 1: of the standings. He's kind of like a shoe in

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Speaker 1: for m v P. Because all the other top guys

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Speaker 1: in the league, they've you know, been better with them

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Speaker 1: on the floor versus off, but not nearly as valuable

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Speaker 1: as Steff has been to the Warriors. Put it simply,

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Speaker 1: the Warriors have been a travesty this year when step

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Speaker 1: is off the floor, So what does that mean? That

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Speaker 1: means it's gonna be extremely difficult for them to win

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Speaker 1: games over this stretch. And the unfortunate part is the

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Speaker 1: Warriors didn't bring a ton of urgency to start this season.

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Speaker 1: They were already in the ten seed before this news

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Speaker 1: came out today. And let's put it, let's let's just

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Speaker 1: let's just put it real simply. If the Warriors lose

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Speaker 1: ground to the tune of three games in the standings

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Speaker 1: over the course of this month, they will drop and

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Speaker 1: be ahead of just Houston and San Antonio. If they

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Speaker 1: dropped five games on the field over this month, which

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Speaker 1: is unlikely but certainly on the on the table as

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Speaker 1: a possibility, they'll drop to dead last in the conference,

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Speaker 1: even behind San Antonio. There are only four and a

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Speaker 1: half games up on San Antonio right now. So one

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Speaker 1: of the problems with their acadays ago approach to start

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Speaker 1: the season is they didn't really buy themselves any margin

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Speaker 1: for error. And so here we are. Steph gets hurt

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Speaker 1: and he's gonna be out at least a few weeks,

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Speaker 1: potentially a month, and that could be a problem. What

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Speaker 1: that means is when he comes back of you know,

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Speaker 1: right around that game mark of the season, he's gonna

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Speaker 1: have to go on one hell of a run at

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Speaker 1: the end of the season just to avoid missing the

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Speaker 1: play altogether, let alone hopefully getting out of the plane

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Speaker 1: and avoiding that specific situation. We talked a lot about

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Speaker 1: this when we were talking about the Warriors in general,

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Speaker 1: um after one of their losses earlier this week. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's just a lot to ask a team that has

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Speaker 1: a severe depth problem to go from, you know, potentially

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Speaker 1: having home court advantage and an easier first round match up,

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Speaker 1: a chance to kind of gain momentum the way they

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Speaker 1: did last year, or Steph was out of the lineup

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Speaker 1: and they got to play the Nuggets with just Yokich

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Speaker 1: and Steph was coming off the bench, they bought themselves

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Speaker 1: enough margin for error that they were able to weather

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Speaker 1: that because they started the year what did they start

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Speaker 1: fifteen and one or something like that to start the

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Speaker 1: season last year or fourteen and one, that's that's off

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Speaker 1: the table. Now. Now that margin for air is not there,

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Speaker 1: and if things go poorly over this next month, they

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Speaker 1: will be in a pretty deep hole. So that that's

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Speaker 1: kind of like the the my initial kind of read

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Speaker 1: on this situation from just acknowledging the realities you're in.

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Speaker 1: You're already a tense seed. Steph is out a month

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Speaker 1: and this season you've gotten killed when he's off the floor.

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Speaker 1: But obviously the Warriors are going to make every attempt

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Speaker 1: to try to float the ship over the course of

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Speaker 1: this next month and keep themselves alive as they should.

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Speaker 1: They're starting lineup is still the very best line up

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Speaker 1: in basketball this year, and they have good reason to

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Speaker 1: have faith there and to keep their faith in that grouping.

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Speaker 1: So let's look at thee the glass half full approach.

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Speaker 1: I was coaching the Warriors, and I was trying to

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Speaker 1: talk to my guys in a way that kept their

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Speaker 1: belief and help them realize that they still have a

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Speaker 1: chance I'd start here. First of all, there's some winning,

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Speaker 1: winnable games on the schedule going from today, the fifteenth

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Speaker 1: of December to the fifteenth of January. They play the

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Speaker 1: New York Knicks, the Charlotte Hornets, the Detroit Pistons, the

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Speaker 1: Orlando Magic, the San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls. Those

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Speaker 1: are all very winnable games without Steph Curry. If you win,

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Speaker 1: let's say you win four out of those six, that

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Speaker 1: can go a long way towards mitigating some of the damage, because, again,

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Speaker 1: if you're gaining ground on the field, you know, these

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Speaker 1: other teams that are in the bottom half of the conference,

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Speaker 1: when we're talking about the Lakers, you know, we're talking

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Speaker 1: about the Minnesota Timberwolves and some of these other teams

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Speaker 1: that have been struggling. You know they're likely going to

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Speaker 1: drop about half their games over this stretch as well.

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Speaker 1: So if you can win four or five of these games,

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Speaker 1: that could be enough to keep you in a situation

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Speaker 1: where this damage is very little at that point. But

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Speaker 1: the problem is, as we saw against Indiana last night,

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Speaker 1: when Steph goes out, it's not a guarantee that they'll win,

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Speaker 1: even against the team that is not overly talented, so

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Speaker 1: they need to find some lineup groupings that work well

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Speaker 1: without Steph. So, first of all, we don't really know

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Speaker 1: how the starters will look this year. The um the

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Speaker 1: starters without Steph. So if you just put in Jordan

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Speaker 1: Pool for Steph Curry, for instance, which is likely what

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Speaker 1: their starting lineup will be, they've only played one possession

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Speaker 1: this year, so we don't really know what that grouping

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Speaker 1: is going to look like this year. But there are

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Speaker 1: some lineups that have played well without step this year

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Speaker 1: in decent volume. For instance, the most used non Steph

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Speaker 1: line up this year, according to Cleaning the Glass is

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Speaker 1: Jordan Pool with Dante DiVincenzo, Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Lamb and

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Speaker 1: Draymond Green. That grouping has played fifty nine possessions and

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Speaker 1: they have a plus seven net rating, which is plus

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Speaker 1: seven per one possessions. That's pretty damn good. The other

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Speaker 1: thing we learned, if you guys remember to start the

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Speaker 1: season when they were really, you know, doing these line

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Speaker 1: change type of things, when they were swapping that starting

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Speaker 1: group out and just bringing on the bench, they were struggling.

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Speaker 1: But then they started to stagger a little bit, right

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Speaker 1: and when they started to stagger. What did we learn.

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Speaker 1: We learned that when they kept Draymond Green alongside Jordan's Pool,

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Speaker 1: not only did it raise their defensive floor high enough

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Speaker 1: to give them a chance to hang in those minutes,

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Speaker 1: but it also kind of rained in some of Jordan's

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Speaker 1: Pool's recklessness and some of his decision making. Just having

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Speaker 1: a veteran on the floor that's a good decision maker.

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Speaker 1: That just kind of reins him in a little bit.

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Speaker 1: And those groupings have played really well. When Jordan's Pool

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Speaker 1: and Draymond Green are on the floor this year without

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry, they are plus seven points per one possessions

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Speaker 1: in a decent sample size two hundred possessions. That's really good.

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Speaker 1: So there is enough there to kind of just pile

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Speaker 1: together some lineups that can work. And again, it's not

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Speaker 1: about going undefeated over this stretcher going ten and five.

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Speaker 1: You all know that that's not realistic. The hell, that's

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Speaker 1: barely been realistic with the team being healthy. But there

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Speaker 1: is a pathway towards just manufacturing some wins. You gotta

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Speaker 1: beat the Hornets, you gotta beat the Pistons, you gotta

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Speaker 1: beat the Magic, you gotta beat the Spurs. And if

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Speaker 1: you're gonna win those games, you've got to find some

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Speaker 1: groupings that work. Now, if we look at what Steph

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Speaker 1: brings to the Warriors, obviously Steph has turned himself into

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Speaker 1: a positive defensive player at this phase in his career,

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Speaker 1: but that's not really where it's going to be in effect.

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Speaker 1: The biggest effect is offensive creation. I think Steph Curry

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Speaker 1: is the best offensive player potentially of all time when

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Speaker 1: you really factor in what he does on the ball

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Speaker 1: and what he does off the ball to create high

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Speaker 1: quality shots for his teammates. The only reason he's not

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Speaker 1: the goat is he doesn't impact games defensively the way

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Speaker 1: that Michael Jordan did or Lebron James Datter Kobe Bryant

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Speaker 1: did right, but he offensively is every bit as good

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Speaker 1: as those guys are, if not even better. And so

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Speaker 1: that's the part that you've got to find a place

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Speaker 1: to to replace. So what that means is Jordan's Pool

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Speaker 1: and Clay Thompson are going to have to step up

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Speaker 1: and play really high level basketball. The other guy would

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Speaker 1: really look at here is Andrew Wiggins. Andrew Wiggins went

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Speaker 1: from what he was in Minnesota, which was a primary

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Speaker 1: shot creator into a basically a three and D guy

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Speaker 1: right for the Golden State Warriors this year and extremely

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Speaker 1: low volume. I think he's run around twenty five possessions

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Speaker 1: in each of these. He's one point per possession in isso,

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Speaker 1: which is above average, and one point zero four points

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Speaker 1: per post up both of those including passage including passes,

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Speaker 1: that's above average. So Andrew Wiggins has some experience as

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Speaker 1: a primary shock creator that you can lean on for

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Speaker 1: heavier usage, and so that guy in particular, you gotta

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Speaker 1: lean on more. And then you just need Jordan's Pool

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Speaker 1: and Clay Thompson to be more consistent. Most importantly, no

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Speaker 1: matter what the urgency on the defensive end of the floor,

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Speaker 1: which has not been there for the Warriors this year consistently,

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Speaker 1: especially when they get away from home. That urgency on

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Speaker 1: the defensive end of the floor has to be there

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Speaker 1: every single night. And so that's gonna be the challenge

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Speaker 1: for them, especially since, like you know, they're talented enough

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Speaker 1: that if you go into Charlotte, or you play Charlotte,

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Speaker 1: you play the Pistons, you play the Magic, you play

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Speaker 1: the Spurs, you will beat those teams if you defend

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Speaker 1: as well as you are capable of because those teams

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Speaker 1: are young, and those teams are sloppy, they let go

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Speaker 1: with a rope. If you bring that defensive effort, you

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Speaker 1: can beat them. So that's the end of the floor

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Speaker 1: that I'd watched really really closely, and I'm really curious

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Speaker 1: to see how well that floats. There's two other angles

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Speaker 1: real quickly. I want to look at this here. I

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Speaker 1: talked about this when we were talking about Golden States

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Speaker 1: margin for air earlier this week, but it might be

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Speaker 1: even more likely that the Warriors consider being more aggressive

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Speaker 1: in the trade market. Obviously. I think today is actually

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Speaker 1: the official date, December fift where all of the contracts

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Speaker 1: signed this summer are eligible for trades. You know, Moses Moody, ironically,

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Speaker 1: coming into the season, seemed like the young guy they'd

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Speaker 1: be able to rely on the most hasn't really panned out.

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Speaker 1: James Wisen obviously is in the G League bouncing back

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Speaker 1: and forth. So at a certain point you might have

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Speaker 1: to look at moving those two guys as your best

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Speaker 1: opportunity to bring back a player that gives you a

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Speaker 1: better chance of flow outing over the course of the

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Speaker 1: next month, And you know, it might be the best

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Speaker 1: thing that could happen to them because they've been really

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Speaker 1: hesitant to make that particular move obviously in the interest

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Speaker 1: of keeping this two timelines approach, and that might end

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Speaker 1: up costing them in the playoffs anyway. So hopefully for

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Speaker 1: the Warrior's sake, this ends up being the thing that

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Speaker 1: kind of breeds some urgency there. But the one last

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Speaker 1: thing I wanted to look at here from the standpoint

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Speaker 1: of keeping the glass half full, is the West is

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Speaker 1: wide open. When you're looking at the teams at the top,

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Speaker 1: you're looking at the New Orleans Pelicans who are very young,

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Speaker 1: an injury prone, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson injury prone,

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Speaker 1: and generally speaking, in NBA history, you don't see young

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Speaker 1: teams like that end up going on long playoff runts.

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Speaker 1: They just don't understand how to win in that chess

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Speaker 1: match environment for two months. It usually ends up being

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Speaker 1: the the the veteran teams that do so. So I'm

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Speaker 1: not overly concerned about them, particularly if I if I'm

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Speaker 1: a Warrior's fan, not over the concern about them. Denver

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Speaker 1: is down to defense. They don't play any damn defense,

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Speaker 1: So Denver is not gonna be something you're overly concerned

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Speaker 1: about Phoenix is always like one or two bad games

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Speaker 1: away from letting go of the rope. But the Clippers

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Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard, his health is a concern, Paul George, his

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Speaker 1: health is a concern. They're they're starting to look a

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Speaker 1: little old and slow on the wing, although they've been

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Speaker 1: playing better basketball as of late. There is no world

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Speaker 1: beating team in the Western Conference. This is what is

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Speaker 1: driving most of the Lakers optimism this year is the

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Speaker 1: fact that, like, you just don't have to be that

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Speaker 1: good necessarily to win this conference. So it's not ideal.

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Speaker 1: You obviously don't want to have to play in a

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Speaker 1: playing game or go on the road in the first

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Speaker 1: round to a top seed, to then have to play

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Speaker 1: one of the middle season in the conference, to then

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Speaker 1: have to play a top seed before you inevitably have

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Speaker 1: to play the Bucks are the Celtics coming out of

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Speaker 1: the East. But if there was one year to do it,

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Speaker 1: it would be this year. So it's unfortunate this kind

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Speaker 1: of thing happens. But at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: the Warriors have two choices. You can you know, punt,

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Speaker 1: which they're obviously not going to do, or you can

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Speaker 1: try to find some lineup groupings that work. Expect Jordan

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Speaker 1: Pool and Clay Thompson to play better, lean a little

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Speaker 1: bit more, and Andrew Wiggins and defend, defend, defend, defend,

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Speaker 1: give yourself a chance. This is kind of fortunate in

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Speaker 1: the stance that it happened during a stretch of their

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Speaker 1: schedule where they've got some winnable games and if they go,

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Speaker 1: you know, they win five or six games over the

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Speaker 1: course of this month, they could be coming back here

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Speaker 1: right around the tenth or eleventh seed. Anyway, we're gonna

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Speaker 1: be doing our power rankings today ranking the top ten

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Speaker 1: teams in the league. Just you guys know, from a

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Speaker 1: statistics standpoint, all these stats are as of when I've

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Speaker 1: recorded this on Wednesday, so Wednesday nights games have not

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Speaker 1: been factored in. You guys know the drill before we

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Speaker 1: get started. Subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channels. You don't

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Speaker 1: miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter

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Speaker 1: at underscore Jason lt so you guys don't miss any

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Speaker 1: show announcements or video breakdowns that we do. And then,

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Speaker 1: last but not least, for whatever reason, you guys miss

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Speaker 1: one of these videos and you can't get back over

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Speaker 1: to YouTube to finish, you can find them wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcasts. Under Hoops tonight, All right, let's talk

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Speaker 1: some basketball. So number ten the Golden State Warriors. Yes,

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Speaker 1: they're terrible on the road, two and twelve on the road,

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Speaker 1: but they're just as good at home twelve and two

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Speaker 1: at home. And it appears to mostly be associated with efforts. So,

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Speaker 1: for instance, they're twenty nine and defensive rating on the road.

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Speaker 1: They are third in defensive rating at home. That's pretty

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Speaker 1: big difference there, twenty nine and defensive rebound percenter excuse me,

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Speaker 1: an overall rebound percentage on the road, but they are

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Speaker 1: fifteen and in rebounding percentage at home, so they're competing

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Speaker 1: a lot better on the glass at home. And then

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Speaker 1: they're also just really sloppy with the basketball there in

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Speaker 1: turnover percentage on the road. So I think it's fixable.

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Speaker 1: I think it's effort related kind of championship malay stuff.

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Speaker 1: They don't deserve to be anywhere near the top of

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Speaker 1: this list, obviously, but they're still the defending champs and

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Speaker 1: they're still the team that I am picking to win

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Speaker 1: the championship, and they demonstrated that with that resounding win

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Speaker 1: over the Boston Celtics on Saturday night. All right, number nine,

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Speaker 1: the Philadelphia seventies six or so. They're fifteen and twelve,

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Speaker 1: but they are ten and five since November twelve, which

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Speaker 1: is the fourth best record in the league over that span.

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Speaker 1: They're also fourth in defense over that span. They are

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Speaker 1: seven and six this season against teams that are five

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Speaker 1: hundred or better. Anytime you're over five hundred in that category,

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Speaker 1: at least think it's worth keeping an eye on. Preferably

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Speaker 1: if your contender, you hope to win about two thirds

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Speaker 1: of those games. But seven and six is pretty solid.

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Speaker 1: They do play down to their competition a lot, though

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Speaker 1: they've lost six times this year to teams that are

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Speaker 1: below five hundred. Joel Ebad has been arguably the best

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Speaker 1: player in the league over the last ten games. He's

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Speaker 1: averaging thirty seven in that span, and the entires Maxi

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Speaker 1: should be coming back. James Harden came back a couple

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Speaker 1: of weeks ago. He's starting to get his legs back

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Speaker 1: underneath him. He's had a couple of big games. He

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Speaker 1: had one and fifteen assists against the Kings the other night.

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Speaker 1: Um So, I think with Tyrese Maxi coming back, and

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Speaker 1: with them having their defense in order, they've also gotten

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Speaker 1: a lot better in transition defense, which has been a

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Speaker 1: weakness of there's Joel Embiat playing like the best player

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Speaker 1: in the world. I think they're gonna go on a

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Speaker 1: big run in January. Alright. Number eight the Los Angeles Clippers,

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Speaker 1: So there's sixteen and thirteen. They did start two and four,

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Speaker 1: but they're fourteen and nine in their last twenty three games.

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Speaker 1: They're actually sitting pretty damn well if you really factor

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Speaker 1: in the bad luck they've had with keeping Kawhi Leonard

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Speaker 1: and Paul George actually available. And on the court, they're

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Speaker 1: winning with their defense, which again, as I always say,

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Speaker 1: is going to keep you in games and give you

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Speaker 1: a chance to win more nights than not. Their fifth

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Speaker 1: in defensive rating on the season. Their offense has been

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Speaker 1: terrible all year there and offensive rating, but so much

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Speaker 1: of that has to do with the fact that they

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Speaker 1: haven't had their stars available. It talked about this a

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Speaker 1: lot over the course of the last week. Having superstar

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Speaker 1: production to rescue possessions, attack specific mismatches, and to generate

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Speaker 1: advantages that your role players can capitalize on. That really

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Speaker 1: is the difference between bad offenses and good offenses. This

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Speaker 1: is such a good example of this. So they're twenty

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Speaker 1: eight as a team in offensive rating this year. But

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Speaker 1: when Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are on the floor together,

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Speaker 1: there's score were a hundred and eighteen points per one

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Speaker 1: hundred possessions, which is really really good. They're actually plus

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Speaker 1: eighteen net per one hundred possessions when the two of

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Speaker 1: them are on the floor, excellent on both ends, and

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Speaker 1: six and two overall in games when Kawhile Leonard and

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Speaker 1: Paul George both play. So it's kind of the opposite

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Speaker 1: of the Lakers situation. The depth has kept them afloat

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Speaker 1: in the standings while they've had health issues, and then

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Speaker 1: Kawhile Leonard and Paul George is what allows them to

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Speaker 1: capture their ceiling, whereas for the Lakers, their lack of

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Speaker 1: depth is making it so that even though Lebron James

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Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis are available, they haven't been able to

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Speaker 1: win nearly enough games even to stay afloat in the standings.

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Speaker 1: And then the Clippers were kind of waiting on their

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Speaker 1: signature win and they got it against Boston on Monday night.

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Speaker 1: Paul George and Kawhile Lenard both kind of resoundingly outplay

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Speaker 1: Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown got a huge win. One

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Speaker 1: by twenty kind of just adds some legitimacy to their

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Speaker 1: recent success in their schedule. Number seven the Denver Nuggets.

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Speaker 1: So they're sixteen and ten, they're second in offense for

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Speaker 1: the season, but they keep falling further and further behind

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Speaker 1: things on defense. They're not in defensive rating, just like

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Speaker 1: we were talking about with the Sacramento Kings Awhile Back.

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Speaker 1: If you don't defend, you're gonna struggle to be good teams,

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Speaker 1: and that's exactly what we're seeing with the Nuggets. They

429
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,200
Speaker 1: are seven and eight against teams that are five hundred

430
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,000
Speaker 1: are better, and they are nine in two against teams

431
00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:22,919
Speaker 1: that are below five hundred. So they're gonna have to

432
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,679
Speaker 1: figure out some things on defense. The big silver lining

433
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:27,720
Speaker 1: and the thing that should have Nuggets fans really excited

434
00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:29,960
Speaker 1: right now, is that Jamal Murray looks like he's back.

435
00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,199
Speaker 1: He had that massive game winner I think he had

436
00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:35,440
Speaker 1: like twenty two and hit like a nasty step back

437
00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,080
Speaker 1: game winner against the Portland Trailblazers the other night, and

438
00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,479
Speaker 1: then he followed that up with thirty points on nineteen

439
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,680
Speaker 1: shots against the Utah Jazz in a big win. Um

440
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:47,800
Speaker 1: He's averaging twenty two and five on six shooting in

441
00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:51,080
Speaker 1: his last seven games. So if Yo Kitchen Murray are back,

442
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:53,840
Speaker 1: that's when we can start to really get excited about

443
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets ceiling. But they are gonna have to

444
00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:57,480
Speaker 1: figure out some things on the defensive end of the floor.

445
00:22:58,359 --> 00:23:01,680
Speaker 1: Number six the Cleveland Cavaliers. They're eventeen and eleven, twelfth

446
00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,200
Speaker 1: in offense for the season, but second defense and creeping

447
00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:07,320
Speaker 1: ever so closely towards the Bucks for that top spot

448
00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:09,440
Speaker 1: in defense. They did have a bad loss in San

449
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,320
Speaker 1: Antonio the other night, though. There's some interesting stuff going

450
00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:14,840
Speaker 1: on with the Calves in their line up data, which

451
00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:16,840
Speaker 1: is something that I've been on all season. Like, I

452
00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,080
Speaker 1: really like all of these players in a vacuum, right,

453
00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,280
Speaker 1: Like I like Donovan Mitchell, I like Darius Garland, I

454
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,639
Speaker 1: like Evan Mobley, I like Jared Allen. But whenever you

455
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,800
Speaker 1: play two small guards together, you open yourself up to

456
00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:29,560
Speaker 1: a lot of things that can hurt you in the

457
00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:33,440
Speaker 1: defensive end of the floor and rebounding and contested rebounding situations.

458
00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,320
Speaker 1: So when we look these numbers are according to cleaning

459
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,399
Speaker 1: the glass, which filters out garbage time. The Calves have

460
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:43,080
Speaker 1: a plus one point to net rating with both Donovan

461
00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,359
Speaker 1: Mitchell and Darius Garland on the floor, which is not

462
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:47,920
Speaker 1: very good. But then when you swap one of them out,

463
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,080
Speaker 1: so Garland is on and Mitchell is off, the air

464
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,320
Speaker 1: plus six point four which is really good. And then

465
00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 1: with Mitchell on and Garland off their plus nine point three,

466
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:00,760
Speaker 1: which is outstanding. So as you can see, they're doing

467
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,080
Speaker 1: really well with Donovan Mitchell and all their length and

468
00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:06,240
Speaker 1: athleticism on defense. They're doing really well with Darius Garland

469
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:08,399
Speaker 1: in all their length and athleticism on defense. But when

470
00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:10,280
Speaker 1: you put the two of them on the floor together,

471
00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,639
Speaker 1: they're struggling. And we've seen that specifically hurt them and

472
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,760
Speaker 1: crunch time situation, crunch time situations this year. It's just

473
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:19,240
Speaker 1: it's the problem with trying to build a roster around

474
00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:23,000
Speaker 1: two small guards that don't defend. I've said this before,

475
00:24:23,040 --> 00:24:25,200
Speaker 1: I'll say it again. I know Cleveland fans get upset

476
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,200
Speaker 1: when I do, but I would be blown up MASSI

477
00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,000
Speaker 1: you Jerry's phone and begging him to do something along

478
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:34,200
Speaker 1: the lines of a Darius Garland for O Ganna Noby switch.

479
00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 1: I don't care what has to be thrown in there

480
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,399
Speaker 1: to make it all work. I just think that gives

481
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:43,040
Speaker 1: you the best defense in the league with O Ganna Noby,

482
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:44,960
Speaker 1: who has been arguably the defensive player of the year.

483
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,560
Speaker 1: Without the Alan mobiley front court, O g and Noby

484
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,960
Speaker 1: has made a lot of improvements Offensively, They've got a

485
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:52,480
Speaker 1: lot of guys that are knocking down threes at a

486
00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,399
Speaker 1: high rate. And then Donovan Mitchell is arguably the m

487
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:56,920
Speaker 1: v P of the league depending on who you ask.

488
00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:58,920
Speaker 1: I don't have him there, but he's in that conversation,

489
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:00,919
Speaker 1: So that would be a direction that I would go

490
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:02,520
Speaker 1: if I was the Calves. I don't think they're going

491
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:04,560
Speaker 1: to I think they're gonna play out the season, and

492
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:06,560
Speaker 1: I think they'll end up getting beat in the postseason

493
00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:11,560
Speaker 1: by that specific matchup. Issue Number five the Brooklyn Nets.

494
00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:15,240
Speaker 1: So they've won seventy of their game since November four,

495
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,440
Speaker 1: which ranked second in the league. They're seventeen and twelve overall,

496
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,440
Speaker 1: which is the seventh best record in the league. Katie

497
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,679
Speaker 1: is having his best two way season since two thousand

498
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,280
Speaker 1: and seventeen playing like an m v P. And then

499
00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:28,480
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving is starting to kind of round into his

500
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:32,200
Speaker 1: vintage form. He had a really really impressive win a

501
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:36,000
Speaker 1: game the other night against the Washington Wizards on the

502
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:38,160
Speaker 1: road when he really dragged him back into that game

503
00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:39,919
Speaker 1: in the second quarter when they got off to a

504
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,080
Speaker 1: sloppy start. Plus, most importantly, the role players are healthy now.

505
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,119
Speaker 1: T J. Warrens back, he's playing well. You don't want

506
00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:47,280
Speaker 1: Nobbies playing really well. You know, they've got a bunch

507
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 1: of guys shooting from three Seth Curry has been incredible.

508
00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,919
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons is now back into the lineup. They're starting

509
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:55,280
Speaker 1: to look very much like a championship contender. They just

510
00:25:55,359 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 1: need a signature win. They had an opportunity against Boston

511
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,360
Speaker 1: a while back, didn't get the deal done there. They

512
00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 1: need to find that signature win that reminds them of

513
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:08,240
Speaker 1: what they're capable of on the biggest stage. Number four

514
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:10,840
Speaker 1: Memphis Grizzlies. So they've won six in a row, eight

515
00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:13,159
Speaker 1: out of nine. They have the best record in the

516
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,280
Speaker 1: league since November, which is what three weeks or so.

517
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,040
Speaker 1: Um their fourth and offense a second in defense over

518
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,200
Speaker 1: that span, and they're doing it all without Desmond Baine,

519
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:25,280
Speaker 1: and with John Morien going through his first real significant

520
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,320
Speaker 1: shooting slump UH of the season. He hasn't really been

521
00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:30,000
Speaker 1: able to make jump shots or free throws for the

522
00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:32,879
Speaker 1: last three weeks or so. Um. There are seven. The

523
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,360
Speaker 1: way they're compensating for that is their seven Memphis Grizzlies

524
00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:38,040
Speaker 1: right now. They are averaging double figures over this nine

525
00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:42,440
Speaker 1: game span. And then Jaren Jackson Jr. Is just has

526
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,560
Speaker 1: just been unbelievable. He's giving Brook Lopez a run for

527
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,639
Speaker 1: his money. Is that best like rim protecting stretch five

528
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:50,800
Speaker 1: that we have in the league. He's making in this

529
00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,640
Speaker 1: nine game span, he's making two threes per game at

530
00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:59,400
Speaker 1: fort and he's blocking three point four shots per game,

531
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:03,720
Speaker 1: which is just ridiculous. Um. And then John Moran, you know,

532
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,280
Speaker 1: we've talked a lot about his jump shot, which started

533
00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:08,800
Speaker 1: this season really hot, s cooled off a little bit. Obviously,

534
00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 1: has some defensive limitations, but he's having a really nice

535
00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,680
Speaker 1: playmaking season. He's averaging a career high eight assist per game.

536
00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,520
Speaker 1: Memphis has scored two hundred and fifty points on two

537
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:21,639
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty four possessions. When John Moran has passed

538
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,359
Speaker 1: out of isolation or pick and roll, which is really

539
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:26,879
Speaker 1: really good. He's another guy who's a bona fide m

540
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,760
Speaker 1: VP candidate at this point in the season. Alright. Number

541
00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,879
Speaker 1: three the New Orleans Pelicans kind of similar to Memphis.

542
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,200
Speaker 1: They're playing really well despite having some bad injury luck.

543
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,159
Speaker 1: They have tons of depth on the wing and tons

544
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 1: of ball handling, which are two of the most important

545
00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:43,320
Speaker 1: things in the league right now, which is allowing them

546
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:47,040
Speaker 1: to manufacture wins. They are tied for first place in

547
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,600
Speaker 1: the West with Memphis at eighteen and nine. They did

548
00:27:49,640 --> 00:27:51,560
Speaker 1: get rolled in Utah the other night to stop a

549
00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,119
Speaker 1: seven game winning streak, but they have the best record

550
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:57,240
Speaker 1: in basketball over the last month at twelve and three.

551
00:27:57,640 --> 00:27:59,679
Speaker 1: They have the best defense in the league over that

552
00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:02,640
Speaker 1: stress in. Zion has been really good on both ends

553
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:04,760
Speaker 1: of the floor during that stretch, which is interesting. Since

554
00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:08,320
Speaker 1: November twelve, the pills are ten and two when Zion plays.

555
00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:12,359
Speaker 1: He's averaging twenty six points, eight rebounds, and five assists

556
00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:16,800
Speaker 1: during that span on sixty seven percent shooting, and he's

557
00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,040
Speaker 1: averaging two point two stocks per game that steals plus blocks.

558
00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:22,240
Speaker 1: We're starting to make some more impact plays on the

559
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:24,680
Speaker 1: defensive end of the four. Herb Jones is back now,

560
00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:28,119
Speaker 1: Brandon Ingram should still be coming back soon enough. You know,

561
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,400
Speaker 1: if if in the event, I still think the Warriors

562
00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:31,680
Speaker 1: are the best team in the West, and I put

563
00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:34,080
Speaker 1: the Clippers at number two still because of what we've

564
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,240
Speaker 1: seen with their ceiling with Kawai and Paul George. But

565
00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:38,720
Speaker 1: in the event that those two trick things off for

566
00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,440
Speaker 1: one reason or another, the Pelicans right now are my

567
00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:42,960
Speaker 1: pick for the team that would get out of the

568
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:47,520
Speaker 1: West if that were to happen. Number two the Milwaukee Bucks.

569
00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,680
Speaker 1: They're twenty and seven, first in defense, although like I said,

570
00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:53,240
Speaker 1: Cleveland is kind of creeping up on them. Eighteenth and offense.

571
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:57,120
Speaker 1: But this is where it gets exciting when Chris Middleton.

572
00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,240
Speaker 1: This is according to Cleaning the Glass, when Chris Middleton

573
00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,800
Speaker 1: and Janis Antenna Kompo are on the floor together, the

574
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,400
Speaker 1: Bucks have an offensive rating of a hundred and nineteen,

575
00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:10,400
Speaker 1: which is great. So all the stuff that we've been

576
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,000
Speaker 1: talking about with offense, I thought Chris Middleton being out

577
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:16,040
Speaker 1: had a huge part, had to play a huge role

578
00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,040
Speaker 1: into that, especially in the half court with him being back.

579
00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:21,760
Speaker 1: Even though Chris hasn't even really gained his rhythm back.

580
00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:24,400
Speaker 1: They're scoring at a really really effective rate when the

581
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:25,719
Speaker 1: two of those guys are on the floor, so their

582
00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,800
Speaker 1: offense should trend up quickly here in the coming weeks. UM. Obviously,

583
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,120
Speaker 1: Chris Middleton is still getting his rhythm back, UM, but

584
00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 1: his spot up shooting and playmaking in particular is going

585
00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:38,040
Speaker 1: a long way to helping them on the offensive end

586
00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:40,480
Speaker 1: of the floor. They had a really impressive win against

587
00:29:40,520 --> 00:29:43,560
Speaker 1: Golden State on Tuesday night, sending a message that they

588
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,600
Speaker 1: still have that championship level ceiling the number one or

589
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:51,720
Speaker 1: they've been all season. The Boston Celtics still the best

590
00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:54,120
Speaker 1: record in the league at two and seven. A couple

591
00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:57,480
Speaker 1: of disappointing losses to Golden State and the Clippers. Jason

592
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,680
Speaker 1: Tatum had a couple of rough games. You know, obviously

593
00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,160
Speaker 1: it's on the road. Uh kind of fell back into

594
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,440
Speaker 1: some of their old tendencies over penetrating, driving into the

595
00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:09,200
Speaker 1: teeth of the defense, attempting bad shots, over help defense

596
00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,880
Speaker 1: instead of kicking to all of their great spot up players.

597
00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:15,760
Speaker 1: They lost their identity a little bit, but they ended

598
00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:18,000
Speaker 1: the road trip on a high note, really impressive win

599
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:19,760
Speaker 1: against the Lakers on a night, when Lebron James and

600
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:24,160
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis were downright magnificent, um and and and kind

601
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:26,640
Speaker 1: of had a an opportunity to let go of the

602
00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:29,760
Speaker 1: rope there, down thirteen with four minutes left, and instead

603
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:33,960
Speaker 1: they just grind it out a nice overtime win. Everything

604
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,520
Speaker 1: with Boston comes down to their ability to maintain their

605
00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:40,520
Speaker 1: identity when the chips are down in high stakes environments.

606
00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:42,960
Speaker 1: Makes it hard to evaluate them during the regular season

607
00:30:43,160 --> 00:30:44,960
Speaker 1: because they're so damn talented that they're kind of just

608
00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,920
Speaker 1: gonna beat everyone's ass. Uh during the eight two game

609
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,800
Speaker 1: regular season. They need lots of reps and high stakes

610
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:54,400
Speaker 1: environments to continue to confront that ugly side of themselves

611
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,600
Speaker 1: and overcome it, which is something that they've struggled with

612
00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,440
Speaker 1: even into this season. So it's hard to really tell

613
00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:03,280
Speaker 1: what their ultimate ceiling is until we see them on

614
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:06,280
Speaker 1: that big stage again with an opportunity to kind of

615
00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:10,200
Speaker 1: erase that memory. Um. But for right now, I think

616
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:14,720
Speaker 1: they're clearly the best team in this regular season to

617
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:16,440
Speaker 1: this point. All right, guys, that is all I have

618
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:19,720
Speaker 1: for today. Saturday morning, We'll be coming back with breakdowns

619
00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:22,760
Speaker 1: of a bunch of the games from Friday night. As always,

620
00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:25,080
Speaker 1: I sincerely appreciate your guys support and I will see

621
00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:42,240
Speaker 1: you next time. The volume