1 00:00:15,519 --> 00:00:20,359 What is up, fellow thermonuclear anvers I am at Dana Valley coming at you 2 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:27,519 with an unplanned podcast video rams because people are mad. Defenses suck. The 3 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:31,960 game has been made too easy on offensive players. Luca dropped seventy three points 4 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:37,359 on Saturday. On Friday night, Joel Embiid had seventy earlier in the week, 5 00:00:37,679 --> 00:00:42,079 Devin Booker and Kat both got to the sixties and in losses. The 6 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,640 game is broken. Bring back defense? What happened to this game that I 7 00:00:45,679 --> 00:00:49,719 love? Luka Daci and Joel Embiid are ruining the NBA? Or of offenses 8 00:00:49,759 --> 00:00:54,159 are ruining the NBA, or poor defensive rules of officiating or ruining the NBA. 9 00:00:55,119 --> 00:00:58,880 I mean this with all sincerity and not meant to be a hot take. 10 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:04,480 Shut what the fuck up? I will have a conversation about whether you 11 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:08,599 think certain defensive rules need to be changed. You want to bring back hand 12 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:12,079 checking? That to everyone's solution to this. That's not gonna do anything. 13 00:01:12,159 --> 00:01:15,480 We'll get into that in a second and maybe it'll do something. But hand 14 00:01:15,599 --> 00:01:22,680 checking then in yesteryear was just different. But offenses are the way they are 15 00:01:22,719 --> 00:01:26,959 now, not because of officiating, not because of some of the defensive rules 16 00:01:26,359 --> 00:01:33,359 that have changed. They're this way, this potent because players are so damn 17 00:01:33,719 --> 00:01:38,159 skillful, and I'm getting a little tired of people. One. Here's my 18 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:42,280 main problem with this is I don't see you want to criticize what kat was 19 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,200 doing in Minnesota. I didn't see the Devin Booker game when he dropped sixty 20 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,680 plus. I saw a huge chunk of that cat game. Yeah, the 21 00:01:48,719 --> 00:01:52,760 shot hunting there was egregious. You want to criticize that and say that's why 22 00:01:52,799 --> 00:01:55,159 these players are scoring so much? Okay, fine, you want to have 23 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,920 a conversation about teams actually having bad defenses, not trying on defense, not 24 00:01:57,959 --> 00:02:02,359 adjusting on defense, not being good enough on defense, or being unfairly officiated, 25 00:02:02,439 --> 00:02:07,000 or seeing how wealth they were able to hand check, like you know, 26 00:02:07,079 --> 00:02:09,240 Joel Embian want to drop seventy or Luka Dan just want to drop seventy 27 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:14,360 three. I have an issue with you see something like that. I'm gonna 28 00:02:14,439 --> 00:02:17,120 use Lucas as an example, the most recent one where there's not this egregious 29 00:02:17,159 --> 00:02:21,120 shot hunting from him. Yeah, there's like maybe shots he wouldn't have taken. 30 00:02:21,159 --> 00:02:23,520 Some of them were going in though, and then towards the end of 31 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:28,000 the game when the Hawks were just really hard trapping him, like just going 32 00:02:28,039 --> 00:02:30,479 after him. He was passing up looks when he could have gone to This 33 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:34,560 was before he eclipped seventy, when he could have been taking these other jumpers 34 00:02:35,159 --> 00:02:38,840 and he wasn't. And so I take issue with we see that, We 35 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:45,240 see this game that's super that this player doing this absurd shot making with absurd 36 00:02:45,319 --> 00:02:47,439 skill, and it's super entertaining. And it's oh, we only did that 37 00:02:47,599 --> 00:02:52,400 because of the defensive rolls. Their defenses suck. Now, what happened to 38 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:54,800 this game that I love? And so that's what I'm We see something like 39 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,159 that, and that's my reaction. Now, if you want to have a 40 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,680 larger conversation, which I tweeted something, their jokes and people are inferring, 41 00:03:02,159 --> 00:03:05,360 you know, and that happens on Twitter, I'm gonna be starky. I 42 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:07,560 get it, they're inferring that. I'm taking one side of it. I'll 43 00:03:07,599 --> 00:03:13,400 have a conversation about the defenses. I just think it's unfair to attribute what 44 00:03:13,479 --> 00:03:16,960 these players are doing to just defenses generally being terrible. You know. Yeah, 45 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:21,120 Land has been bad on defense this year. That's part of it is 46 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,240 they've leaned into a model where they're just I mean, they have some good 47 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:27,840 defensive players, but I think the regression of Clint Capella has hurt them. 48 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,719 Having Trey Young on the court at times, yeah he's gonna try hard, 49 00:03:30,719 --> 00:03:32,639 but he's always at a disadvantage. Yes, certain defenses are bad, and 50 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:35,639 if you have to watch the Hawks, someone point this out on Twitter, 51 00:03:35,639 --> 00:03:37,800 and I agree with them. For eighty two games to get frustrated by their 52 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,840 defense, I get it. It's not like they were just not trying against 53 00:03:40,919 --> 00:03:46,479 Luca though, and so it was really annoying to see that. And my 54 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:52,599 bigger issue is people just not acknowledging how much more skillful players are on offense 55 00:03:52,719 --> 00:03:55,159 and what that has done to defense is you want to go and say, 56 00:03:55,199 --> 00:03:59,000 looks, this is that they need to bring back hand checking. Shut fuck 57 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:01,919 up, No, they don't. When they're bringing When they had hand checking, 58 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,960 you had these other defensive rules in place where you effectively had to hard 59 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,800 double, where you couldn't double away from the ball, and it was harder 60 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,439 to provide help that Now, okay, hand checking is not there, but 61 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:16,959 you have to go up against these really complex defensive schemes, whether it's you 62 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:20,399 know, they could doub away from the ball. They you know, the 63 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:25,079 pre switching has made a lot of things more difficult. Or you have these 64 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:30,160 bigs who were just able to bam at a baio in Anthony Davis what Peake 65 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:32,839 Raymond Green has done and still can do on certain nights. To say that 66 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:38,879 defenses generally just suck now is it's, first of all, it's unfair to 67 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,680 the players because there are a ton of great defenders here where you have to 68 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,360 account for so much on the offensive end. And it's not just because rule 69 00:04:45,439 --> 00:04:47,839 changes have been catered to offensive players. We saw the league you know, 70 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:55,240 get rid of kind of or more rigidly enforced last year. At the beginning, 71 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:58,240 it was really like the freedom of motion, the unnatural movements, and 72 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:00,399 then the kind of tapeed off a little bit, but like that that's still 73 00:05:00,439 --> 00:05:04,279 part of it that benefited the defense, and you like, that's one thing 74 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:10,079 that's going to benefit the defense. And then having like these the defensive three 75 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,199 second role for instance, Yeah, if you want to get rid of that, 76 00:05:12,319 --> 00:05:15,279 I guess we could have a conversation. Or if you want to get 77 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:17,439 rid of I mean, that's that's fine. But then it's well What is 78 00:05:17,439 --> 00:05:19,879 that going to do to charges which people also want to get rid of, 79 00:05:20,079 --> 00:05:25,120 which is then going to in theory, hamper what defenses can do. And 80 00:05:25,120 --> 00:05:28,600 so I think we skew too far towards one side of Oh, everything was 81 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:33,040 done to benefit the offense and one flow, speed and offensive highlights are important. 82 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:36,800 What are you, Kofi on Twitter quote of my tweet saying this, 83 00:05:36,959 --> 00:05:41,120 And I thought it was a great point. What highlights are being shared the 84 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,279 most? You want to sit there and pretend to care about the nuance of 85 00:05:44,319 --> 00:05:46,399 defense. I know there are a ton of people in the business, the 86 00:05:46,519 --> 00:05:50,120 Kayas Duncan, Tim Legler, Zach Lowe, Caitlin Cooper, Samson Folk people 87 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:54,439 in our discord. Go join our discord. You care about the nuances of 88 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,600 defense. You understand the nuances of defense. All those people I name the 89 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,519 people in discorder are going to understand the nuances new defense better than I can. 90 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:04,600 But you want to watch what even Draymond Green can still do on possessions. 91 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:09,120 But let's use Rudy Gobert and his mobility this year, or what Anthony 92 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:13,399 Davis is doing for LA. And you want to say that defenses just suck 93 00:06:13,439 --> 00:06:16,279 in general? There might be some really shitty teams right now. But do 94 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,680 you know what makes defense truly so hard? Players on offense are so much 95 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,639 more skillful. Let's look at the let's look at kind of the defensive three 96 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:30,079 second thing for a second. How's that you had Tom Thabodeau coming in. 97 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,160 He had like his overload defense and everything, and this forced the three point 98 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:36,439 evolution changed out a little bit. But also the ability you kind of force 99 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:41,000 these cross court passes. Players can just do that. Now they could throw 100 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:43,800 these one headed skip passes across the court. There was Luca had to play 101 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:46,199 in the seventy three point game late in it. I think it was inside 102 00:06:46,199 --> 00:06:49,000 two minutes of the fourth quarter, so he I don't even know who was 103 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:53,279 at seventy yet or he had seventy, whatever he had, and he throws 104 00:06:53,319 --> 00:06:57,720 this wicked cross court pass to Tim Hardaway Junior after leaving his feet and having 105 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,759 these defenders in front of him, and it goes right to Tim Hardaway Junior. 106 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:03,560 He misses. The three players are more skillful in that regard. You 107 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:06,879 want to look at Joellenbiid. Tim bomb Ten said this on one of the 108 00:07:06,879 --> 00:07:12,279 recent low posts that Joelle Embid is Kevin Durant, that's one hundred pounds heavier, 109 00:07:12,319 --> 00:07:15,920 and it's not. They're completely different players even to attack one hundred pounds, 110 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,279 but he's talking about his shot profile. You have these skilled bigs even 111 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:21,879 towns, not just the ability to get up threes, but the ability to 112 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:26,759 put the ball on the floor and attack not from these post up spots. 113 00:07:26,959 --> 00:07:29,959 And yeah, if you implement if you put hand checking back, Okay, 114 00:07:29,959 --> 00:07:33,000 that's gonna maybe people will be really happy because there'll be players that are just 115 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,480 more skilled in the post, which there are still a lot of skilled post 116 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:40,199 players. By the way, maybe you would have people that are gonna be 117 00:07:40,199 --> 00:07:44,160 able to throw post entry passes, which is a lost lost art I guess 118 00:07:44,199 --> 00:07:47,399 in today's game, do you want if you went back to those defensive rules, 119 00:07:47,439 --> 00:07:51,399 do you want like the spacing back from the nineties, from the early 120 00:07:51,439 --> 00:07:54,800 two thousands? I mean, like, if you're watching on YouTube, you 121 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:57,439 want this spacing back from the wood? Is this the eighties? Is this 122 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,399 what you want where you have like nine eight to nine guys below the free 123 00:08:01,399 --> 00:08:03,720 throw line at all times? Come on, like, don't pretend that that's 124 00:08:03,759 --> 00:08:07,439 what you want. And if you have nostalgia, admit it. For that 125 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,480 era I just missed growing up, and your I know, I'm mythologizing with 126 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:13,480 defenses were how tough and hard nosed the game was. Yeah, go ahead 127 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:18,120 if you want to admit that, that's absolutely fine. Don't sit here and 128 00:08:18,199 --> 00:08:24,279 say that defenses suck and it's two offense heavy at the moment when one offense 129 00:08:24,319 --> 00:08:28,319 sells, it's just clear like them, you know, implementing rules where you 130 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,519 can't really break up fast breaks like that is something that helped the flow of 131 00:08:31,559 --> 00:08:33,679 the game. And it also those are highlights you want to see. But 132 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,679 there's also just the level of skill in these players to get back to what 133 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:41,159 a Joelle and Beide is doing, what even an Anthony Davis can do, 134 00:08:41,240 --> 00:08:45,480 is largely a play finisher. You mentioned Kat like, this is all just 135 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,360 it's not you know, people were all about small ball at one point, 136 00:08:48,399 --> 00:08:52,360 which the Warriors kind of popularized with the Draymond Green at center switch that they 137 00:08:52,399 --> 00:08:56,720 went to in twenty fifteen whatever it was. But now it's about people still 138 00:08:56,919 --> 00:09:01,519 misconstrued a small ball. There are just these like six nine to seven foot 139 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:05,039 over looking vigure of Yama. Even look at Christops porzingis these just giants that 140 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:09,320 are able to play like wings and guards. That is a skill level that 141 00:09:09,399 --> 00:09:11,840 you were not seeing earlier. I'm not gonna pretend to watch the game in 142 00:09:11,879 --> 00:09:15,519 the eighties and the seventies or even the nineties, mostly because I wasn't really 143 00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:18,960 alive or just too young to do it. But like I remember games from 144 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,159 the late nineties, and they were gritty as hell. They could be entertaining 145 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:26,360 as hell, but it's it's incomparable even in the early mid two thousands to 146 00:09:26,399 --> 00:09:31,279 what we have today, where the game is just so much more I find 147 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:35,080 it more beautiful. There's there's the spacing element of this too, where defenses 148 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,200 are just like, okay, you can't like you're trying to guard so many 149 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:43,919 different things that are happening, but within such a much larger space because you 150 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:46,360 have certain teams are gonna have guys where they have four guys who have the 151 00:09:46,399 --> 00:09:50,919 ability to at all times not just shoot, but they could shoot from long 152 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:54,440 distances, or they can put the ball on the floor and playmake or attack 153 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,480 the basket. And so we're stretching defenses to the point of breaking, and 154 00:09:58,519 --> 00:10:01,639 they're trying to find ways to adjust. And some of these teams still do 155 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:03,919 a great job you have. I mean, look at Rudy Gobert this season. 156 00:10:03,039 --> 00:10:05,519 I think is probably gonna be the runaway favorite for Defensive Player of the 157 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:09,320 Year unless something happens. I've never seen him move like this, even in 158 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,679 Utah when he was winning Defensive Player of the Year Wars. Basically every season 159 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:18,360 it felt like and there's still skill there. It's not on every team, 160 00:10:18,399 --> 00:10:22,279 it's not present in every player. But let's not try to dilute down these 161 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:26,360 offensive feats simply because you think that the defensive rules had changed. And I'm 162 00:10:26,399 --> 00:10:30,840 really tired not look. I'll just cop to not understanding enough about I can 163 00:10:30,919 --> 00:10:33,519 appreciate and watch players like Anthony Davis, Draymond Green, bam Adebayo, the 164 00:10:33,519 --> 00:10:37,080 guys you have to watch away from the ball, and even just like some 165 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:41,679 of Scottie Bares. I talked about this with Sampson Folk, who's made just 166 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:45,639 real strides on the defensive end because of what he's able to do away from 167 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:48,120 the restricted area now or what he's able to do as a as a helper. 168 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:52,639 You look at help defenses now compare to then in the hand hand checking 169 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:58,000 era, go back and want it just there. The rule changes probably wouldn't 170 00:10:58,039 --> 00:11:03,080 lot like the way that you're helping like that these guys are rotating where they're 171 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:05,240 coming from the gaps that they're shooting. That's like, I'm not gonna sit 172 00:11:05,279 --> 00:11:07,879 here and say is this the best because one I'm gonna just cop to it. 173 00:11:07,919 --> 00:11:11,399 I don't know enough about you know, the defensive mechanics. And it's 174 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:15,679 even like the nitty gritty x as and o's. But like you can watch 175 00:11:15,799 --> 00:11:18,000 and see that these players on defense, a lot of them are super skilled. 176 00:11:18,039 --> 00:11:22,960 It's just there are better shot makers who can hit these contested looks. 177 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,639 And the thing that I just take issue too is everyone not everyone. I 178 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:28,240 want to loop everyone under the same umbrella. Too many people just they automatically 179 00:11:28,279 --> 00:11:33,360 go towards hand checking. What is that gonna stop? Like if you want 180 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,559 to put back hand checking? So then are you gonna bring back the other 181 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,840 defensive rules to where oh, Lebron only has to beat his one guy who 182 00:11:39,919 --> 00:11:41,960 yeah, okay, they could, they could bump him off a little bit, 183 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:43,600 but Lebron, even at age thirty nine, is a fucking Adonis. 184 00:11:43,879 --> 00:11:46,600 He's gonna get by that guy. And then you're not gonna be able to 185 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,840 since you can only really hard double. If he's gonna get by that one, 186 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:52,080 you're not gonna be able to help's not gonna be as close, and 187 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:56,320 that's just gonna make life easier on him. Is that what you want to 188 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,120 see? Like there's gonna be flaws and anything you do. Let's not pretend 189 00:11:58,159 --> 00:12:01,960 that hand checking is just gonna make this like fix everything, or that there's 190 00:12:03,039 --> 00:12:07,000 one rule that would change everything. What do you want to see? And 191 00:12:07,279 --> 00:12:11,080 again, don't tell me bring handchecking back like it's gonna fix everything. And 192 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,120 don't say the game is broken just because there's so much offense when it's not 193 00:12:13,279 --> 00:12:16,600 just because defenses suck. Yeah, there are some defenses that suck. I 194 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,440 think it's the skill of the players. Even look at the this is how 195 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:22,879 skilled the league is. Look at the gap right now. I think between 196 00:12:22,919 --> 00:12:24,679 the top of the league, even the middle of the league and the bottom 197 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:28,639 of the league. When you're talking about four hundred and fifty some odd players 198 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:31,039 being in this league, because the roster spots are weird and there's two way 199 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:35,799 guys playing, and the talent level is so high, and even the more 200 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,159 casual fans kind of understand like the sixth or seventh or eighth guy on these 201 00:12:39,279 --> 00:12:41,720 rosters and how good they could be. There's that gap, so you're always 202 00:12:41,759 --> 00:12:45,360 going to see this separation. When you see a Luca go up against a 203 00:12:45,399 --> 00:12:48,840 Lineahawks defense, he's gonna torch them and look some of the look Jalen Johnson, 204 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:52,399 that's some really good possessions early on defensively against Luka Dancic and Luka Johnsons, 205 00:12:52,399 --> 00:12:56,240 which is better because even him is like six eight, six' nine 206 00:12:56,279 --> 00:13:01,559 whatever he is, and he's like very girthy, but his change of cadence, 207 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:03,360 his ability to hit these wild perimeter shots. And so are you mad 208 00:13:03,399 --> 00:13:07,799 about you know, the three point evolution and the fact that guys can hit 209 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:09,720 step backs so they're going to pull up from you know, twenty seven plus 210 00:13:09,799 --> 00:13:13,399 feet, Then what are you nostalgic for? Like a different shot selection? 211 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:18,799 And there are people who think that there's just like a lack of variety when 212 00:13:18,799 --> 00:13:24,600 it comes to NBA offenses. If there's not, it's just like the way 213 00:13:24,639 --> 00:13:26,039 that these players are getting to their shots. Yeah, there might be some 214 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:30,399 ISO heavy guys, but they're one taking different kinds of shots. They're doing 215 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:33,879 different things with the ball. But these offenses, even if their shot profiles 216 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,759 look eerily similar. They're going about different ways to get their shots. The 217 00:13:37,799 --> 00:13:41,480 way Oklahoma City plays on offense is so much different from how the Dallas Mavericks 218 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:46,279 play on offense. It's just it's night on a night and day might be 219 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,679 extreme, but there's huge differences there. And I just don't understand how you 220 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:56,440 could watch these games, even just choppering in tangentially and be like, this 221 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:00,919 sucks. This is unlatchable. It's so hard to defense now, not because 222 00:14:00,919 --> 00:14:03,879 of the rules, but because of how skilled the players are. More than 223 00:14:03,879 --> 00:14:05,559 that, even if there are some adjustments you can make, and even Luca 224 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:09,120 has said it's harder to score thirty playing in Europe than it is here, 225 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,840 there are the rules that go into that. You can play more physical defense. 226 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:16,200 There's also the goaltending stuff where that doesn't matter. You want to see 227 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:18,279 that in the NBA. You want to have a conversation about these it's fine, 228 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:22,120 and you want to school me on while you're not acknowledging this or there's 229 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:26,039 not this rule Actually hand checking would prevent this. I'm just the hand checking 230 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:31,120 stuff very quickly. I still believe that lateral movement on the defensive end is 231 00:14:31,159 --> 00:14:33,840 more important than anything right now, which is why some of the most valued 232 00:14:33,879 --> 00:14:37,320 defensive players are guys who are able to switch, hang in space against smaller 233 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:43,279 players or even just you look at Giannis where there's these predominantly off ball disruptors. 234 00:14:43,279 --> 00:14:46,399 But then you can still have these like you know, Brook Lopez runner 235 00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:48,879 up Defensive Player of the Year last year, but then Mukui lost. He 236 00:14:48,919 --> 00:14:52,440 with Jared Jackson junior, who does everything on defense, And so you're are 237 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:56,480 you saying there's a lack of just skill where guys aren't being coached defense coming 238 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:00,480 into the league. I just find that very hard hard to leave. I 239 00:15:00,519 --> 00:15:03,440 really think it has more to do with the skill level of these players on 240 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:09,639 the offensive end, and it's just it's it's evolved in so many different areas 241 00:15:09,679 --> 00:15:11,200 to where yeah, we were harping on small ball and there are still teams 242 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:13,480 that you want to get to it and downside at center a little bit, 243 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,200 but a lot of it's just like, no, we want dudes that are 244 00:15:16,279 --> 00:15:20,159 big, but they play like guards and wings there, and so I just 245 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:24,919 don't I don't want to hear it anymore, especially after performances like you can 246 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:30,039 play both sides, but you're not some You're not a fucking cool ass edge 247 00:15:30,039 --> 00:15:33,759 lord by telling me that, well, why can't it be both? Why 248 00:15:33,799 --> 00:15:37,480 are you're taking absolute ludism here? It's not absoluteism, it's I want to 249 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:43,159 be able to appreciate offensive detonations that were not coming unethically, Like we go 250 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,840 back to the ethical hoops that were born from I think that was the Suns 251 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:50,480 or whatever. Yeah, there were elements of when Karl Anthony Town's one in 252 00:15:50,559 --> 00:15:52,759 the sixties. Okay, it felt like, yeah, they're they're really foreseating 253 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,759 him, he's forcing it. He got benched at one point. I get 254 00:15:56,799 --> 00:15:58,600 it, And you want to talk about that, we can. But like, 255 00:15:58,639 --> 00:16:00,240 what did Luca do? What was the shot hunting that Luka did it? 256 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,879 We're just gonna say the Hawks are so bad on defense, Luca didn't 257 00:16:03,879 --> 00:16:07,559 really do anything incredible. Shut up with that, Like, enjoy this and 258 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,799 you could be egregious like me, where it's like, I just want to 259 00:16:10,799 --> 00:16:15,240 see the offense. I'm here because s Beraheney quote tweeted my tweet with this 260 00:16:15,279 --> 00:16:18,639 as well. I'm here because I want to see someone break break Will's record. 261 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:19,879 That's being honest about it. If you're sitting here and be like, 262 00:16:19,919 --> 00:16:22,759 I want to see games in the seventies and the eighties again, like not 263 00:16:22,799 --> 00:16:26,279 from the well maybe the errors, but alway some of those offenses like back 264 00:16:26,279 --> 00:16:30,759 then though they were just lighting it up. The spacing is just so different 265 00:16:30,919 --> 00:16:33,080 now. So just say that you want to see a slower game, a 266 00:16:33,159 --> 00:16:37,600 less fluid game. You could say that that you're nostalgic for it. Can 267 00:16:37,639 --> 00:16:41,000 you also maybe admit, though, but perhaps now in the moment, am 268 00:16:41,039 --> 00:16:44,360 I a prisoner, a captive of the moment and mythologizing a little bit of 269 00:16:44,399 --> 00:16:47,759 what we're watching? I'll admit it. Maybe could you also admit though, 270 00:16:47,759 --> 00:16:52,159 that you're mythologizing that defenses are this bad and that it's not really more about 271 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:56,759 just how skilled the offensive players are. Why can't we all just admit that 272 00:16:56,799 --> 00:17:03,679 I'm just against denigrating using this we just watched with embiding Luka Danci specifically as 273 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:07,039 a springboard for well, the game sucks today, or it's unwatchable, or 274 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:11,440 defense are unwatchable. You don't know enough about defense, and even my base 275 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:15,680 my baseline level of defensive knowledge, you don't know enough about defense. If 276 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,440 you can't watch what some of these teams are doing some of these players are 277 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:22,559 doing away from the ball basically every single team, and appreciate the level of 278 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,119 skill and complexity that goes into it. And you want to say that three 279 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:33,119 pointers have ruined the league, or that defenses are just they they're just incapable. 280 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,519 You want to like even a team that sucks on offense this year and 281 00:17:36,559 --> 00:17:40,400 their spacing can be wonky. Let's use Miami heat where it's just like Eric 282 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:44,319 Polosher is gonna employ every single thing under the sun, where they've had good 283 00:17:44,319 --> 00:17:47,400 offense in the past with spacing that you would call less than I deal, 284 00:17:47,559 --> 00:17:51,400 where they're just gonna free guys up with flair screens and cuts and the stuff 285 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:55,000 that they're going to be able to do because his coaching in that case absolutely 286 00:17:55,039 --> 00:18:00,359 matters. Or let's look at what offenses are doing where they're running after age 287 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,519 shots or they're getting the ball ahead so quickly because they have a guy in 288 00:18:03,599 --> 00:18:07,359 Tyres Haliburton who can see the floor so well from everywhere and can throw these 289 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:11,960 launching passes where even if defenses are set, you're just playing at such a 290 00:18:11,039 --> 00:18:15,480 high speed, or he's throwing these were looking at Luka Doncic's passes specifically that 291 00:18:15,559 --> 00:18:18,440 you can do whatever you want and he's gonna be able to throw that cross 292 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:22,799 court pass no matter what you do, or that oh all right, well, 293 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,200 what are you supposed to do to stop one guy if they're able to 294 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,519 stretch you with four guys out at once and then a rim runner who's gonna 295 00:18:29,519 --> 00:18:33,640 give you that vertical gravity. The floor balance has changed, and I think 296 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:36,640 it's made for a better product. Yeah, on offense, but just the 297 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:41,759 fluidity of the game anyway. And it's made me appreciate watching like defenders who 298 00:18:41,759 --> 00:18:45,960 can be absolutely dominating or defenses that can shut down other teams. But if 299 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,119 you're just gonna sit here and generalize that the product is unwatchable and defenses a 300 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:52,720 ruined the league, I can't. I just can't get on board with that. 301 00:18:52,759 --> 00:18:56,720 When you look at what some of these, like every so many players 302 00:18:56,720 --> 00:19:00,480 we have right now thrown back in the hand checking era, they just would 303 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:04,799 have been offensive anomalies and they're not. It's just become the norm. It's 304 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:07,799 there are and you will see this in the playoffs, and let's use it. 305 00:19:07,839 --> 00:19:11,279 And maybe they skewed two I'm not meaning to, you know, we 306 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:15,240 go back even further, but Andre Robertson, which is like he became he 307 00:19:15,319 --> 00:19:18,599 was such a dominant defender, but he became unplayable points in the playoffs that 308 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,480 at that era of Oklahoma City Thunder basketball. We saw last year with Cleveland. 309 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:25,039 And this is not I'm just using an example. Did they not give 310 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:29,119 him enough of a chance, but Isaacacorro where defenses are gonna be able to 311 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:33,519 ignore him now in the playoffs. His value changes in the postseason in theory, 312 00:19:33,519 --> 00:19:37,000 I'm not picking on him specifically, and he has gone through stretches and 313 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,160 seasons where he's hit his threes on moderate to low volume very well. It's 314 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,559 just that's the most recent memory of while that player was certainly like yeah, 315 00:19:44,599 --> 00:19:45,839 thed JB. Bicker Staff, Was he too quick with the hook there? 316 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:52,440 I don't know. And so the fact that shooting and floor balance has become 317 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:56,799 this important to where I think that you're going to see teams bench shooting liabilities 318 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,799 in the playoffs tells you all you need I know about the skill level of 319 00:20:00,799 --> 00:20:06,799 offenses in general. And the other thing here is and this is like and 320 00:20:06,839 --> 00:20:08,440 by the way, you look at when when the NBA has made some of 321 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:12,720 these changes that were supposed to benefit offenses. I think when they really started 322 00:20:12,799 --> 00:20:15,640 enforcing like some of the different defensive rules, it was like two thousand and 323 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:19,599 four whatever it was, you didn't see like the offensive ratings just shoot up 324 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,279 all of a sudden because of those rules. Even now you're not dealing with 325 00:20:25,279 --> 00:20:26,799 like the foul at temp rate. For the average this year, it's kind 326 00:20:26,799 --> 00:20:30,799 of right in line with what we've been seeing over the past decade. Yes, 327 00:20:30,839 --> 00:20:33,079 the offensive rating, I think it's one sixteen point three outside garbage time 328 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:37,039 the average offensive rating. Yeah, that's really high. Let's see if it 329 00:20:37,079 --> 00:20:38,680 sticks for the entire season. We also a lot of the times, yes, 330 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,000 sometimes it's higher in the postseason. A lot of times we see the 331 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:45,319 offensive rating average drop in the playoffs. And that would be my other point 332 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:48,920 on this is and this was a male bad question we had at one point. 333 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,400 I don't know if I ever answered it. What makes postseason the postseason 334 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:56,039 so much different from the regular season. And it's when you're playing so many 335 00:20:56,039 --> 00:21:00,440 games against different teams three four games in seven nights or whatever it ends up 336 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,680 being, and sometimes they're back to backs. You just can't game plan for 337 00:21:03,759 --> 00:21:07,000 one team the way that you can over the course where you know you're going 338 00:21:07,039 --> 00:21:11,599 to face them up to seven times or at least four, and you're just 339 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,799 able to prep for that with one to two days off in between, and 340 00:21:14,839 --> 00:21:18,720 it's more feasible to practice and the travels easier because you're playing two game sets, 341 00:21:18,799 --> 00:21:21,799 you know, two to two and then yes, there's if it goes 342 00:21:21,799 --> 00:21:23,759 to seven, one, one and one. It's just when you have that 343 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:29,039 time to dedicate it. So maybe your maybe your problem is the NBA needs 344 00:21:29,079 --> 00:21:33,359 fewer games. That's a conversation we can have. Are for this like it's 345 00:21:33,559 --> 00:21:38,000 there's this is more nuanced than people are giving it credit for. And I 346 00:21:38,039 --> 00:21:41,440 will say, though, what I am very dismissive of is the people that 347 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:45,000 watch these performances and say, well, why can't why why can't we be 348 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,720 Because I'm this faux intellectual and I think on a higher level than you, 349 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:51,880 I'm willing to acknowledge both sides and you're not. No, I'm an absoluteist 350 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:55,680 when it comes to appreciating great performances. And are we seeing more of these 351 00:21:56,119 --> 00:22:02,720 historical scoring outings now more than ever? Sure? What is the what is 352 00:22:02,759 --> 00:22:06,559 the root of why is that happening? Ask yourself? That is it because 353 00:22:06,559 --> 00:22:11,119 that defenses suck or everything's been catered to the offensive players, or is it 354 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:15,119 more so because these are offensive players that are more skilled in ways that we 355 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:18,599 didn't see in decades past. Even look at the players that are breaking these 356 00:22:18,599 --> 00:22:22,799 reg like, yeah, Devin Booker six' five dropping sixty, Like that's 357 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:26,119 kind of the more traditional, like archetype of score. If you were watching 358 00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:29,359 the NBA in the eighties, the nineties, early two thousands, like, 359 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,960 that's what you were thinking, unless you were wanted to post up broots in 360 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,559 there. But also, what Devin Booker can do as a passer is just 361 00:22:36,559 --> 00:22:37,920 like in an off ball mover. That's the other thing, is the off 362 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,839 ball movement in this league in part because of the space. And if you 363 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,480 think that there's not physical defenses being played, look at what Steph Curry has 364 00:22:45,519 --> 00:22:48,200 to do a lot of times when he's pinballing around, and it happens more 365 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:52,680 in the playoffs because again teams are game planning around him. There's this theory 366 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,799 that there is a softer whistle. You do see on a lot of seasons, 367 00:22:55,839 --> 00:22:59,799 you'll see the foul attempt rate average drop in the postseason. A lot 368 00:22:59,799 --> 00:23:02,440 of that is just better game planning, and so it's maybe it's not so 369 00:23:02,559 --> 00:23:06,440 much defenses suck then, or that teams don't care about defense, that everything's 370 00:23:06,480 --> 00:23:07,880 catered to the offense so much. As well, there's too many games in 371 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:12,640 the regular season all of that discussion. Do I think if there was sixty 372 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,640 games in a year, do I think that we would have had a week 373 00:23:15,799 --> 00:23:18,519 where we just had what was it, four players scored sixty or more? 374 00:23:18,559 --> 00:23:22,240 I think, unless I'm misremembering, maybe not. But like, what is 375 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:26,519 the problem with that? Were those games not entertaining for you? Yeah, 376 00:23:26,519 --> 00:23:27,720 if you're a Wolves fan, you're mad that they lost to the Hornets, 377 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:33,920 and Chris Finch was pissed as hell that Towns was you're punting as much as 378 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:37,039 he was. But the Timberwolves were also acknowledging, like we knew what Joel 379 00:23:37,079 --> 00:23:40,039 Embiid had that night we were watching, I think said this, so we 380 00:23:40,079 --> 00:23:42,880 wanted to get him the ball. That's cool too. I just I don't 381 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:48,079 know how you can watch, specifically the Luka Dacics to twelve bead games and 382 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:52,519 come away thinking that, oh, that's just like this is catered for them 383 00:23:52,599 --> 00:23:56,480 to do that. I think some of the shot selection stuff is you look 384 00:23:56,519 --> 00:24:00,200 at the three point volume, that's gonna be conducive to scoring more so, 385 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,480 it's also conducive to higher variants by the way, but hey, the fact 386 00:24:03,519 --> 00:24:07,359 that we just have a six to eight luka doncis handling the ball like a 387 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:11,200 guard and being one of the best passers in the NBA and can hit these 388 00:24:11,279 --> 00:24:15,680 ridiculously difficult threes even if they're contested or if they're from super far out like 389 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:18,519 that also goes into it as well. And so if you want to sit 390 00:24:18,559 --> 00:24:22,759 here and complain about the lack of defense in the NBA, and it's even 391 00:24:22,759 --> 00:24:26,880 there's people I respect on Twitter and still respect just using it to point out 392 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:33,279 like that defenses have made this easier, or the defensive rules or the offensive 393 00:24:33,319 --> 00:24:36,440 rules have made this easier. I just I call bullshit there. I think 394 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:41,279 it's I think there are both sides of the ball. You can argue if 395 00:24:41,759 --> 00:24:47,240 rewind thirty years that there are aspects of it that were easier. Where it's 396 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:52,160 for defenses specifically, I think that yes, okay, they were able to 397 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,960 hand check, but like the fact that defenses now are able to like throw 398 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,599 out different types of help or double teams where they don't have to be hard 399 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:03,599 on a double teams. That actually benefits to the defense compared to what it 400 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:07,039 was previously. And I can't remember the exact year that they got rid of 401 00:25:07,079 --> 00:25:10,640 that. It was like a they had trouble in forcing it at first, 402 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:12,759 and then they really like cracked down on it. They have the defensive when 403 00:25:12,799 --> 00:25:17,839 they got rid of illegal defense, and then they implemented the defense of three 404 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:19,119 second rule. If you want them to get rid of that, but you 405 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,480 also want them to get rid of band charges, it's I feel like the 406 00:25:22,519 --> 00:25:26,720 other thing here is people just want to be curmudgeonly complainers. It's like they 407 00:25:27,079 --> 00:25:30,759 I just and it's not. Oh they're old and they missed the game. 408 00:25:30,799 --> 00:25:33,680 I think some people have been very I respect the people that are like I 409 00:25:33,759 --> 00:25:36,240 just miss watching that. I'm nostalgic for it. If you're a nostalgic, 410 00:25:36,319 --> 00:25:38,880 I get it. I'm nostalgic for certain things in life that you know when 411 00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:42,599 I was an actual teenager that I know there's no rational my life is better 412 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:45,599 off because of this, but you kind of missed the element of that. 413 00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:48,079 You want to make that that's fine, but don't pretend like the game is 414 00:25:48,079 --> 00:25:52,200 somehow inferior to what it was, or more compromise than it was. It's 415 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,720 not it's better. It's better than it ever was. It's more complex than 416 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:57,720 it ever was. And part of that is just I don't know if people 417 00:25:57,839 --> 00:26:02,559 are in their little echo chambers and it's we cover the entire league around these 418 00:26:02,559 --> 00:26:04,680 parts and make it mad that we don't know, like the exact rotation patterns 419 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:07,759 on a Tuesday night in January, it's the second end of a back to 420 00:26:07,799 --> 00:26:11,400 back and they're missing three of their starters, and this is what would happen 421 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,400 at the four minute mark in the second quarter. That speaks to local coverage 422 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:18,000 and podcasting, which is really good, but it's also been it's never been 423 00:26:18,039 --> 00:26:26,240 easier to sidestep divergent thoughts, and so like you zero into this and you're 424 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,160 it's harder for you to think outside the box. And I don't think that's 425 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:30,880 what I'm doing here, where I'm not acknowledging that some of what I say 426 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:34,640 could be wrong, or maybe I'm just glossing over points. I will admit 427 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:41,559 that I'm saying that discussion. I hate the idea of having it after a 428 00:26:41,599 --> 00:26:47,440 performance like Lucas or Joellen beads where like that shit was iconic, what I 429 00:26:47,559 --> 00:26:52,440 called shit, That stuff was iconic, and appreciate it if you just want 430 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,640 to be mad about something, which is what people online or a lot of 431 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:57,279 sports fans want to do, or if it's not the player on their team 432 00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:03,559 doing it. But let's not over generalize things by saying, no, it's 433 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,240 this, or pretend well, I'm actually playing both sides, because what Luca 434 00:27:06,279 --> 00:27:08,400 did was cool, but defense has actually suck. Now, No, you 435 00:27:08,559 --> 00:27:12,200 just don't and I don't understand enough of what's going on on defense. That's 436 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:17,319 the level of complexity. And there are some I'm not saying other analysts don't 437 00:27:17,319 --> 00:27:21,039 like and the guy's dunk and Kitlyn Cooper Sampson folks like all those great folks, 438 00:27:21,079 --> 00:27:23,400 they understand what they're done. They know the super super nuance of that. 439 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:29,160 It is just so much harder to defend offenses, not because the league 440 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:32,160 is cowtowed to them, but because the players are more skilled than ever, 441 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:34,839 because the schemes are more the stuff that you do to get guys open away 442 00:27:34,839 --> 00:27:37,599 from the ball with some of these teams, and then there's even if you 443 00:27:37,640 --> 00:27:41,359 want to go to a bait more basic approach where it's okay, this team 444 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,240 is heavy ISO, the fact that these guys can score in isolation when there's 445 00:27:45,279 --> 00:27:48,839 all this help or these traps coming at them, when there are guys who 446 00:27:48,839 --> 00:27:52,559 can all right, even if you force a switch on a pick and roll. 447 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,240 The fact that Rudy Gobert can just hang in space now or if you 448 00:27:55,240 --> 00:27:56,880 don't still don't believe Rudy Gobert can do that, Okay, Well, Anthony 449 00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:02,279 Davis, bam Adebayo, Draymond Green and yeah, those are defensive superstars, 450 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:06,319 but Lucas an offensive superstar. There's Lucas one of the ten best players in 451 00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:10,480 the game. And when you're looking at like the players that just scored all 452 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,759 these points, Towns might be the outlier when you're looking at, oh, 453 00:28:12,839 --> 00:28:15,279 where do they stand in the hierarchy? They're not a top ten guy. 454 00:28:15,279 --> 00:28:18,079 He's not an All NBA guy right now. One, he's as close as 455 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,599 you get to without it. And also he's a matchup nightmare on offense even 456 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,559 if he's playing the four, because of his size and the things that he 457 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:27,160 is able to do even in the post, by the way, but also 458 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,480 just being able to face up put the ball on the deck. Like even 459 00:28:30,759 --> 00:28:33,960 doing that in space, by the way, at that size is incredible when 460 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:37,119 you're able to do it through traffic. And again that game got out of 461 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:41,319 control. I will have that conversation about that. The Luca game didn't get 462 00:28:41,319 --> 00:28:44,400 out of control, the n Big game didn't get out of control. This 463 00:28:44,599 --> 00:28:49,839 is just the real absolutism is thinking that offenses have it easy and that defenses 464 00:28:51,039 --> 00:28:53,920 do not somehow, or that defenses are just playing worse. In general, 465 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:56,880 the teams care less about the regular season. I mean, maybe there's more 466 00:28:56,880 --> 00:29:00,119 wear and tear on their bodies because the game is played maid so much more 467 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:03,160 fluidly and you have to account for so many different things, and you're going 468 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:07,680 up against these physical specimens. I'm not just talking about strength and size, 469 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:11,720 but mobility in size that's going to wear on you. Or chasing around these 470 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:18,720 players who are pinballing away from from the action like a Steph Curry just I 471 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,200 mean, remember when we're tracking prime Klay Thompson like my god, and it's 472 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:23,440 okay, you don't So if you don't want to see that, you want 473 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,279 to get back to where well, the spacing is just clogged and there's really 474 00:29:26,319 --> 00:29:29,599 no room for them. To move anyway. And if that's what you want, 475 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:32,920 that's fine, that's not what you That doesn't actually make the game more 476 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:37,599 esthetically pleasing or more entertaining. That just means you're nostalgic for something that was, 477 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:41,680 you know, mathematically, functionally not as effective as what we're seeing now. 478 00:29:41,839 --> 00:29:47,559 And so anyone who thinks that the game is unwatchable except for the playoffs, 479 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:51,119 I'm never gonna get on board with you. And I just think that 480 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,759 people who default to we like there's no hand checking and it's not gonna fucking 481 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:57,440 change most of this stuff. It's just not. And so if you want 482 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,200 to have a conversation about what could be changed, what should be changed, 483 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,799 what shouldn't have been changed, what brought back is there's stuff we should borrow 484 00:30:03,839 --> 00:30:06,759 from the way that is happening in Europe. I would love to see, 485 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:08,480 just like get rid of goaltending. I would absolutely love to see that, 486 00:30:08,519 --> 00:30:11,480 Like let's force guys like the stuff that would do to players who are taking 487 00:30:11,519 --> 00:30:15,960 floaters or laying things up instead of dunking. I don't know if DeAndre Ayton 488 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:19,279 would ever score again, to be honest with you, but that was me, 489 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,559 but like it would make life harder on like a you know, the 490 00:30:22,599 --> 00:30:26,079 floater extraordinary airs there to make harder on Luca with his floaters, and make 491 00:30:26,119 --> 00:30:30,160 life harder on Srey Young with his floaters, Manuel Quickly with his floaters, 492 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:33,440 although they've been pretty rough since he's been in Toronto. Anyway, I get 493 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:36,119 it, and I think it's fine. There are gonna be people that just 494 00:30:36,119 --> 00:30:37,680 disagree with me. I'm sure in discord who think that I'm just flat out 495 00:30:37,799 --> 00:30:44,359 ass wholly wrong. I'm only being so forceful here because to not be able. 496 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:47,240 You don't If you're saying, well, I appreciate what I saw butt, 497 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:49,440 however, no, then you're not appreciating it. You're using it as 498 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:53,720 a launching pad to debate something that really just doesn't hold enough merit to me. 499 00:30:53,920 --> 00:31:00,880 Or give me something more nuanced than bring back hand checking, or because 500 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:06,759 offensive players shoot so many threes, bring me something that actually matters, and 501 00:31:06,799 --> 00:31:10,000 then we can have the conversation. But I just I don't like we can 502 00:31:10,119 --> 00:31:12,519 appreciate. I just feel like collectively we should be able to appreciate certain things 503 00:31:12,559 --> 00:31:17,440 we just watched, and the Luca and Embi performances were one of them. 504 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:19,799 And so and again I respect the people that are just like, well, 505 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:25,200 I don't really have a problem with defenses, it's it's or the the way 506 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:26,680 offensive being player r Now it's just like I'm kind of nostalgic for this. 507 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:30,440 It's all a lot of that, you know what. That's fine. I 508 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,279 respect that you could say that you're still kind of appreciating what you just saw 509 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:38,640 though, and to use this is a Luca and that's what it really took 510 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:41,880 off was for some reason, I guess because it was again we saw four 511 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,759 players drop whatever. It was the second seventy point game in a week, 512 00:31:45,039 --> 00:31:48,279 and now we've see more of them. Donovan Mitchell did it. I don't 513 00:31:48,279 --> 00:31:52,480 know. I honestly don't know what. As my second screen goes off in 514 00:31:52,519 --> 00:31:56,519 the background, I was like, don't actually know what kind of incited Well, 515 00:31:56,559 --> 00:32:00,599 let's go after like like, let's have this conversation now, don't mabe 516 00:32:00,599 --> 00:32:02,359 because it was the Hawks defense, like people were tired of watching that. 517 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:06,480 But again, even name made adjustments. I thought Jalen Johnson did his damnedest 518 00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:08,559 when he found himself on Luca during early in the game, and then the 519 00:32:08,599 --> 00:32:12,680 Hawks were really crowding Luca, forcing the ball of his hands down down the 520 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,240 stretch, and to his credit, he got rid of it a lot of 521 00:32:15,279 --> 00:32:17,559 the time too. He still took some shots for like, but you know 522 00:32:17,599 --> 00:32:20,640 what, when you're on a heater, that's also what you do. It 523 00:32:20,680 --> 00:32:23,359 wasn't at the cat level that it wasn't that Minnesota Charlotte game. And so 524 00:32:23,519 --> 00:32:28,759 I'm just I really I probably came out very angry and curmudgingly myself here. 525 00:32:28,759 --> 00:32:30,920 That's fine because I am this is a ranting, this is raving. I'm 526 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:34,759 like thirty minutes in and I'm gonna cut this off very shortly, I promise. 527 00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:39,000 I just think that we over and I'll throw myself in here. We 528 00:32:39,079 --> 00:32:45,160 oversimplify so many things, and just this idea that the game is somehow compromised 529 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:50,920 because defenses aren't allowed to do enough or just defenses suck. Now is it's 530 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:53,960 incorrect and it's just flat out wrong. And I think it's okay to not 531 00:32:54,759 --> 00:32:58,880 be mad all the time or need to find something to be mad at. 532 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:01,039 There are a lot of things with this. The officiating is probably an issue 533 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,559 on some level. There are rules at both ends of the floor that would 534 00:33:04,599 --> 00:33:07,480 be good to change. I would probably I don't know if I'm team banned 535 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:09,240 the charge or not. What would that do to the offensive ratings? It 536 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:14,160 would probably absolutely skyrocket. I do wish that the kind of unnatural motion of 537 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:19,079 offensive player was probably more strictly enforced or more frequently enforced. Like we saw 538 00:33:19,119 --> 00:33:22,759 a lot of stuff that was going early I think it was twenty two to 539 00:33:22,799 --> 00:33:24,880 twenty three season, and it was like as it progressively went on, fel 540 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,000 like they got a little bit looser with it. So, yeah, there 541 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,240 are things that I'm having to help, but I'm not gonna use the specific 542 00:33:30,279 --> 00:33:32,759 performance say well, this wouldn't have fucking happened if the league in defenses knew 543 00:33:32,799 --> 00:33:36,640 what they were doing. That's what I take issue with. Let me know 544 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:38,039 what you think in the comments. Hit the subscribe button on YouTube if you 545 00:33:38,039 --> 00:33:42,960 haven't already, please subscribe to the podcast to Spotify, Apple and if you 546 00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:46,079 can leave ratings five star ratings and also reviews on Apple. Written reviews go 547 00:33:46,119 --> 00:33:50,319 a long way. It takes thirty seconds to do. Please go there, 548 00:33:50,559 --> 00:33:52,279 help juice us up the charts. And if you've done all of those things, 549 00:33:52,559 --> 00:33:57,599 consider telling people about us, recommending the podcast, sharing our content that 550 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:01,000 can help the algorithm. I'm assuming On YouTube Tube or just tell people about 551 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:05,039 the Shout us out on Twitter, shout us out anywhere. I'll see it. 552 00:34:05,039 --> 00:34:07,880 I'll interact with you. We appreciate it. Join our discord. We 553 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:10,239 can have more discussions like this where I'm sure again, I'm sure that there 554 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:14,639 are people on discord, and I respect the world that of everyone who's active 555 00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:17,360 in there that are just will disagree with me, And that's fine too, 556 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:20,960 because I am fine with the difference of opinion. I just don't like when 557 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:25,119 it feels disingenuous and it's using specific performances to frame it as this larger issue 558 00:34:25,119 --> 00:34:30,119 as if this wouldn't have happened, or it's a symptom of we're gonna take 559 00:34:30,559 --> 00:34:32,440 the way that the Hawks are defending and use it as an example of like 560 00:34:32,559 --> 00:34:37,199 defenses just suck. Like if that's what your takeaway for what the Hawks are 561 00:34:37,199 --> 00:34:42,880 doing defensively, is your indictment of the entire NBA, Like you are you 562 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:45,639 only watching the Hawks? I mean kudos to anyone who's watching any two Hawks 563 00:34:45,679 --> 00:34:46,719 games. I think Luther on Twitter was the one who said that. To 564 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:50,599 me, it was like, good man, that must be tough sledding. 565 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:53,480 I just think we can have that discussion, but we don't need to use 566 00:34:53,639 --> 00:35:00,119 what are just objectively iconic, difficult, absurd performances to do it and to 567 00:35:00,159 --> 00:35:06,920 then diminish those accomplishments. Yes, we're seeing history broken more frequently. It's 568 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:10,800 not just because offense is so easy. It's because the players on offense are 569 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:21,000 so bonkers, so complexly, deeply, incredibly good and talented and anomalousts to 570 00:35:21,119 --> 00:35:24,159 era's past. That's why we're seeing these these records broken. And yes, 571 00:35:24,199 --> 00:35:27,119 the shots selection has a lot to do with it, but the fact that 572 00:35:27,119 --> 00:35:30,360 they can make these shots, there's so many guys who can make these types 573 00:35:30,400 --> 00:35:34,280 of shots, Now that's something worth appreciating, I think, So please remember 574 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:37,039 subscribe. I'm grateful for all the support that anyone who's been here a while 575 00:35:37,199 --> 00:35:39,800 gives us. If you're new, look say you're new around these parts, 576 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:42,880 and that you're still listening to the pot That was really cool when we get 577 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:45,719 it in discord, When I get dms or emails that say, hey, 578 00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:47,480 I was new and someone recommended this to me, we just want to hear 579 00:35:47,679 --> 00:35:51,480 how you found us or if you're new, join the discord, follow us 580 00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,000 on the socials. Links from the YouTube and podcast description ditto for the discord. 581 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:58,079 Until next time, and as always, I leave you with the shoutouts 582 00:35:58,079 --> 00:36:01,000 to the one, the only, the indelible, the man who can't defend 583 00:36:01,039 --> 00:36:05,920 anybody, and would have held Luka Doncic to under ten points had he been 584 00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:07,119 a meatic. Frankly,