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Hello everyone, and welcome to the
latest episode of Hardwood Knocks. This is

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Outam Promill here with my fantastic co
host Dan fa Valley, and today we're

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going to be covering one interesting springboard
stat if you want to call it that,

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for each and every team in the
Eastern Conference. So Dan and I

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are going to alternate teams and we
came in with these stats are current where

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necessary, going into games played on
Monday night, and kind of using these

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as launching pads for bigger conversations about
the teams for specific players, again focusing

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only on the Eastern Conference. Before
I kick it over to Dan, I

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do want to encourage everyone to subscribe, rate review wherever you find this podcast.

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We're available pretty much everywhere at this
point. And also go ahead and

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take some time and find us on
YouTube. It's under Hardwood Knox and subscribe

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videos and put out even more content.

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And each everyone is very much appreciated. So with that out of the way,

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how's it going, Dan? I
am doing better than Royce O'Neil.

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I actually just watched him get need
in the O'Neills before we started podcasting,

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so in the Utah Jazz game against
the Spurs, so hopefully he's okay.

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But other than that, I am
grand how by yourself, as you can

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probably tell, I am trying to
fight through a sickness here. My voice

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is going in and out a little
bit here. I have tested negative for

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COVID, so I'm pleased with that, and just dealing with some sort of

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cold or flu or something. But
I'm just gonna consider this my flu podcast.

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Just gonna channel the inner Michael Jordan
and just you know, talk the

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hell out of it. I mean, you're calling your shot here, so

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you better bring your a game as
you as you fire up the Atlanta Hawks

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stat machine. Yeah, so I
think with the Hawks, I wanted to

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focus on what I thought was the
most important barometer of their progress between last

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season and this season. So my
numbers is minus four point zero and that's

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their net rating without Trey Young on
the floor per Basketball Reference. It was

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supposed to improve this season just with
the additions that they made with Delon Wright,

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with Sharif Cooper coming in, with
a bunch of wings who could still

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handle the ball and provide that secondary
creation that this team needs to thrive with

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Trey Young still doing so much,
and that hasn't been the case. For

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reference, last year's number without him
on the court was minus one point eight.

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So this is trending in the wrong
direction. And I can't quite tell

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if I view that as a positive
or a negative because the Hawks, much

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like so many other teams, have
struggled with continuity. They've had so many

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players entering the COVID nineteen protocols,
They've had a lot of injuries to deal

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with. Is this something that we
can expect to regress positively to a more

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reasonable number that's at least comparable to
last year's or is this a red flag

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that this team is not constructed to
go beyond where it got last season with

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an Eastern Conference Finals appearance. So
you're viewing it as a positive in a

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sense that this tells them they're not
at that level and they will proceed to

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act accordingly. If that is the
case. I wonder how they act accordingly.

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Is it a consolidation trade. No, I'm genuinely I'm genuinely waffling between

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it being a positive and a negative, And I think It's probably a little

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of both, where the circumstances of
this season have made it harder for them

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to work those new additions into the
lineup, again referring to Write and Shreef

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Cooper, I think the talent is
still there where this weakness could be addressed.

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It just hasn't happened yet, and
the Hawks have been mediocre as a

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result. So I'm very much on
the fence. I could I could be

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swayed either way, because I think
it's it's indicative of the struggles, but

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not necessarily telling about the future.
I get that I'd be curious to see

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what that number was before they suffered. They're beat down by the Knicks,

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which he did not play in,
so I'm sure those numbers might actually skewing

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even further towards the negative. But
they have not made They've been one of

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the most disappointing NBA teams this season, and I think there's you could pinpoint

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a number of things Clint Coupella start. It's their defense has been god awful

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for most of the season. They've
been awful in the fourth quarter as well,

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and I do think even the fourth
quarter sort of telltale of them having

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those bench of a units out there
to start. There needs to be a

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way to figure those things out,
and I think I tend to lean towards

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they need a consolidation trade. I
don't know if they'll act that way.

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And it's so tough with Cam Reddish, he's in and out of the rumor

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mill, but it's at this point
he's consistently healthier than DeAndre Hunter, and

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he's not a throwaway asset. He's
a year left on his rookie scale,

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and the night that we're recording this, he went kaboom in the first half

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of Atlanta's game. So it's it's
just tough to read what this team could

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do. But I think that they
either need a trade that's going to help

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them with those non trade minutes,
or like to just boost them as a

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defensive team somehow. They have a
lot of talent up and down, and

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I think even with the injuries,
even with the league health and safety protocols,

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they've clearly been one of the two
or three biggest disappointments in the NBA

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thus far. Yeah, I'm curious
who you would have as a bigger disappointment,

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because for me, I think Atlanta
is probably number one, and I

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still don't have too much long term
concern. I'm not sure I would make

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that consolidation trade that you referenced quite
yet, just because I do still believe

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in the pieces and the construction we
saw work last year. This might just

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be a regular season filled with a
little bit more experimentation, a little bit

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more reversion to the mid range,
heavy less ball movement offense that we've typically

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seen under Nate McMillan. But the
personnel shouldn't be regressing and the fits still

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make sense. So maybe it's just
foolish of me, But I'm holding on

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to hope here. I don't think
it's foolish. I just think you get

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to a point where we've been saying
that for a while now with them,

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even dating back to the season before, like look at all this town,

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looking all this depths. Yea,
and then especially the past two seasons because

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of how they spent in the off
season of twenty twenty. But no,

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I don't think you're necessarily a fool. We're expecting it. I think it's

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I'm speaking of and by the way, I think Atlanta it's probably the biggest

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disappointment New York or the Lakers could
be up there, and I'm not willing

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to put the Lakers just because expectations
were unrealistic from the start and we knew

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that this is bad. Though,
this is I will say the Lakers of

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even if you didn't expect them to
be like top three in the West,

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they they've underachieved. Still see,
I feel like I had them as a

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fringe playoff team going into the year. So for me, it's like kind

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of in line with what I expected. Well anyway, this next team could

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be argued to be one of the
bigger disappointments in the league, and it's

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the Celtics. As we're recording this. They're in the bottom twelve of point

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scored per possession on offense, and
there's so many things wrong with their offense,

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but I'm looking at just there their
effective field goal percentage, which combines

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two and three point efficiency on wide
open jumpers outside ten feet, it's fifty

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point four. That is low.
It's twenty seven in the league. And

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when you just couple that with the
fact that they're a bottom five team,

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when it comes to the frequency with
which their share of the shots come at

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the rim, you start to have
some really big offensive problems. You're reliant

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on the perimeter, and yet you're
not shooting like these great clips from them.

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And some of the biggest culprits that
factor into the stat is out Horford

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shooting thirty point nine percent on wide
open threes, Dennis Shrewder an affective field

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goal percentage of thirty three point nine
on wide open jumpers. In general,

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he's shooting twenty one point one on
wide open two point jumpers and twenty five

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percent on wide open threes. And
then Marcus Smart he's shooting thirty three point

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three percent on wide open two pointers. Not a huge sample size, they

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account for a very small percentage of
his shots. But this is just a

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team that's not even necessarily getting a
ton of easy shots. And then they're

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not even consistently making some of the
easy shots that they are taking, and

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they are finishing well at the rim, they just don't get there a ton.

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And so when you kind of factor
it in with some turbulent three point

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shooting from Jason Tatum, the level
of difficulty on his looks, I get

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it, but that's I think he's
done a better job getting to the rim

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and finishing through contact over the past
couple of weeks, but their offense is

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they have the talent to be better
than eighteen nineteenth in point scored per possession.

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And again there's a lot of inconsistencies
factored in here, but we do

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have some really key players not hitting
some of their higher quality looks on the

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season. I would expect some improvement
there just as things regress to the mean.

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But I also don't know that I'm
that surprised given the construction of this

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roster, because ultimately, like,
who are you relying on as deadly perimeter

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shooters. You've got Jason Tatum and
Jaylen Brown, but they're subject to so

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much defensive attention that it's harder to
get those high quality looks off because the

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pieces around them just aren't conducive to
drawing defensive attention. You know, a

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lot of the names you mentioned,
Marcus Mark, Dennis, Shooter, Al

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Horford, these aren't guys who we
should expect to be knocked down shooters.

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Granted, they should be hitting at
a higher clip than they are on these

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wide open looks, but I just
I'm not that surprised by this one,

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just because it seems like if Boston
was going to have an Achilles Heel.

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This is exactly what it was going
to be. Yeah, I mean,

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look another Aarnie Smith twenty two point
two percent of wide open threes. They

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just have guys they're supposed to be
shooting better than they are in the rotation

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that are not. I mean even
when you look at some of the wide

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open three point clips, like let's
use yeah, I mean this is Peyton

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Pritchard thirty four point one percent on
wide open threes. Like that's had a

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good year to begin with, but
that's not great. Uh. Jalen Brown

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has done his part there, but
like Jason Tatum, you probably want him,

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he's not getting a ton of wide
open threes, and thirty seven point

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five percent is higher than his clip
for the season from deep. But that's

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even just on wide open threes.
I'm just saying that's probably around Lee average.

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I haven't looked at the Lee average
mark, and so you'd hope some

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of these guys are eclipsing those marks. I don't know if I've hoped for

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Boston's offense to be much better than
this on the season, though. I

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think if if you tell me that
they'll finish in the bottom ten, I'll

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say that they'll be better than that. But if you're gonna tell me that

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they're gonna finish in the top thirteen, I'm probably gonna take the under.

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Whereas I think they're gonna be below
league average or around there, I'm right

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there with you. Let's move on
to the Brooklyn Nets, who are next

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up here. I feel like with
Brooklyn, so much of the conversation from

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a national perspective has focused on the
biggest names we've We've heard at nauseum how

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Kevin Durant is fully recovered from the
previous injuries and is in the MV race,

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maybe even leading the MVP race on
some ballots. We've heard about how

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James Harden has had to fight to
overcome the new foul rules and whether he's

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been overrated in all of that discussion, and then Kyrie Irving. Obviously Patty

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Mills has not gotten enough attention.
So my number here is three, and

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that's how many qualified players have hit
at least forty four percent of their three

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pointers during a qualified season while taking
more than seven per game. Steph Curry

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has done it three times, Duncan
Robinson did it in twenty nineteen twenty,

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and Clay Thompson did it in twenty
seventeen eighteen. Patty Mills is on pace

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to join them and actually has the
largest on off swing among NETS rotation players.

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I feel like he just needs more
love in general for having a truly

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stellar season that is making life on
Durant and Harden that much easier and just

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not getting any attention for doing it. That's probably fair. There's you obviously

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have big stars there. They're gonna
cast a shadow over what everyone else on

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this roster is doing. And I
do think that there have been a lot

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of positive stories on this team in
the face of Kye not being there,

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the COVID stuff than just the extracurricular
Kyrie stuff. Are they bringing him back?

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Yes, they are bringing back always
in the least health and safety protocols

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hardened, having like a James Harden
trademark game once every third game at this

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point, every other game, whatever, it's been. So yeah, I

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would totally agree with you there.
I am surprised that maybe you didn't focus

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on their defensive bit, because my
question would be, do you think it's

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real or fake? When you look
at the results too, it's a little

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fake. Yeah, it's they are. I'm not trying to overstep with the

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stats here, but when I was
looking through stuff, no, no,

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go ahead. Mine was purely agenda
driven. Mills deserves more attention Patty.

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By the way, I didn't not
that I didn't like that signing. I

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was convinced towards the end of last
year that Patty Mills might be done.

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Then he goes off in the Olympics
and I'm like, all right, it's

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the Olympics. And then it's like, oh, no, you were just

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fucking wrong. Patty Mills is a
g and he has been has he been

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there? He's been easily been their
third most valuable player this year. Right,

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maybe he could say LaMarcus Aldridge is
in there, I would put Mills

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well at and I'm right there with
you where I expected this to be kind

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of an irrelevant signing. I mean, his three point percentage of trended down

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for each of the last three seasons. It seemed like he was having more

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trouble generating open looks, and yeah, there's something to be said for the

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luxury of playing with Durant, but
he's looked incredible within the flow of this

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offense. I'm the thing that still
shocks me and maybe they'll just get I

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don't want to say everything's been luck, but maybe they'll get you know,

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for lack of a better word,
lucky all season. But this is a

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team that for most of the year. And yeah, now there's a ton

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of noise in there, but there's
six in points allowed per possession this year.

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There is I don't I don't know
that there's a faker team wide stat

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out there right now than what the
Nets have gotten. They have been the

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best three point shooting defense in the
league, which means that they've definitely been

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fortunate opponents are shooting thirty one point
four percent from three. The other thing

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is that they have the fourth best
half court defense in the NBA. But

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they're not a good defensive rebounding team, and they're getting destroyed when they do

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allow putbacks. And the other thing
is they just don't have a good transition

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defense. They are dead last in
the NBA two in points allowed per possession

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off a turnover. They're allowing almost
one point five points per possession off a

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turnover. That's a lot. I'm
not Look, they're in the top ten

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right now. All as she can
do. You're playing the games that's what's

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happened legitimately shocking. If that holds
all season, my god, I'll be

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floored. Oh would too. And
I do think there's something to the idea

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that as much attention as Brooklyn receives, and as much attention as the star

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players receive, some of those pieces
might be a little bit underrated on defense,

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Like James Harden, for all the
criticisms he's received, he's actually a

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pretty competent post defender he can switch
on to some bigger bodies. Durant has

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been a defensive nightmare for the opposition
for a while now, but because he's

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just so damn good as a scorer, he does not receive enough credit for

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being a fully well rounded player.
It's more the aging veterans, whereas like,

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do we really want to count on
this keeping up for too long?

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If they want to give thirty minutes
a game to Nick Claxton, then sure,

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maybe that'll happen. Well. I
think that James Arnen has been atrocious

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on defense this year, yes,
but there's there's a functional use for him.

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But at my point, like,
he's not just a nightmare in a

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bad way this time in every single
situation. So I would mostly agree with

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you, except for this season.
I think that he's just been legitimately fringing

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on useless there. I think that
they've gotten like really good minutes out of

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I mean, Nick Clacks has been
good since he returned, Bruce Brown helped

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him, DeAndre Benbley was playing a
big role of points for them, James

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Johnson has given them some really good
minutes. Their defense has been again and

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that some of it might be loved, but their defense has been legitimately good

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this year statistically in certain areas.
I just questioned whether it it will hold.

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I didn't mean to derail the nets. The next thing. I'm on

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the Charlotte Hornets, and there's been
a lot of attention just paid to their

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offense, which is high octane as
hell and super fun to watch. There's

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also been a lot of attention paid
to their defense, which is probably the

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worst in the league. It is
statistically, but I would probably name one

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or two teams that I would trust
even less than them. I and a

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lot of it's on the interior.
Can they upgrade at center? I just

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like so much attentions already been paid
to that. I decided to focus on

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Miles Bridges. I think that he's
sort of fallen off the look at how

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much this guy's improved ladder, and
I've seen people citing his decline and efficiency.

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There's just a ton of extra volume
and a level of difficulty ascribed to

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his field goal attempts. And so
I looked at his paint touches this year,

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and among the sixty players with at
least one hundred paint touches on the

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season, he is second in points
percentage on those paint touches, which means

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that he has scored one hundred and
eight percentage of points relative to his number

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of paint touches. The only player
in front of him his Miles Turner.

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He's had to make this an even
simpler stat. Myles Bridges is shooting seventy

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nine point eight percent on his pain
touches this year. He has just been

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he has improved a lot, and
he's doing just a ton for Charlotte's offense.

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And this was key to me.
He's fourth in the league overall in

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paint touches, so there really are
using him. And when he gets moving

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downhill, there are a ton of
different things that he can do. Yes,

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you'd like to see him shoot a
higher clip from three. But this

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is someone who I still believe,
who I still think deserves to be in

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00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:29,200
the most improved player discussion, and
who has been mostly really great for Charlotte

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this year. So my primary takeaway
from that is that you're essentially saying that

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the rest of the league has miles
to go before I can catch up with

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the two front runners and paint touches. Wow, it was just it was

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sitting right there. Always had to
take it, I, you know,

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knowing your track record. I'm actually
surprised that you didn't interrupt me while I

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00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:52,440
was talking to relay that one.
I was surprised that Miles Turner was first,

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by the way, and I was
not expecting that to be the name

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you came up with. If I
had to guess, I was gonna go

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with Gobert just because his touches tend
to be fairly limited around the basket,

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and when he does, their alley
loops are easy putbacks. Yeah, so

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I might have misspoke there, But
Miles Turner leads the league in field goal

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00:17:10,519 --> 00:17:14,279
percentage on paint touches with seventy nine
point one among the sixty players that have

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00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,480
at least Andre Miles Bridges is second
with seventy eight point six. When you

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look at points percentage, Miles Bridges
is actually seventh and the first one there.

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I actually bet I'm going to tell
you the name, and I bet

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you'd be like, oh, yeah, the points percentage leader is Montras Harold,

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followed by his on Whiteside, which
is another like oh, I get

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that, and then Rudy Gobert's third, Yoka just fourth, Javal McGee is

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fifth, Turner is sixth, still
higher than I thought eight and is seventh,

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and Miles Bridges is eighth. And
again to have those two, you

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know, have those higher volume guys
in just total paint touches, like to

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know that Miles Bridges is so high
up there and in total paint touches on

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the season and to still be like
that efficient just to be he's fourth overall

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00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,920
in the season just on all touches, so like that's early high number.

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So he's been great for Charlotte this
year. Was a moral of my story.

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Would I would say on the point
on the point percentage stat I'm most

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00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:14,359
impressed by Bridges, Yokichen Turner because
that's not due to a limitation in their

284
00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,359
role. You know, they have
more offensive responsibilities than that Turner is task

285
00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:22,359
with spacing the floor. Yokich is
the hub of everything Denver does on offense,

286
00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:26,599
and Bridges is a slasher, a
high flyer, a guy who overpowers

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00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:32,160
players with his athleticism, not necessarily
just rolls for the basket and catches lobs.

288
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And that's not to diminish what Gobert
and Whiteside and Harold do in their

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00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:38,720
roles, because obviously it's still hard
to thrive within those, but there are

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00:18:38,799 --> 00:18:42,160
limitations to them. And I also
do think there's something to your point about

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Bridges still being in that MP discussion
and not necessarily getting the credit. And

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it's just it's one of those awards
where the time at which you're perceived as

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00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:59,000
improving most most is so important,
because those early season bursts of excellence,

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if they're not maintained throughout the whole
season, and it's like, Okay,

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00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:06,759
you actually declined throughout the season.
And it's harder to compare the baseline of

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00:19:06,759 --> 00:19:10,400
the previous campaign to the entirety of
the current one. I mean, he's

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00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:14,799
still upped his points per game average
by seven points, his rebounding average by

298
00:19:14,839 --> 00:19:18,960
one point two is assists by one
point five. He's doing it while maintaining

299
00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:23,400
an impressive level of efficiency with a
drastically increased role within the Charlotte offense.

300
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Like year over year, his improvement
is so substantial, but month over month

301
00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:33,759
it's less substantial, which is an
unfair knock against his candidacy. It's Charlotte

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00:19:33,799 --> 00:19:36,960
is still the best three point shooting
team in the league. By the way,

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00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:38,599
even though he is shooting I think
around a career low from three.

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00:19:38,599 --> 00:19:41,519
I didn't even look at that number
because I don't care. I just think

305
00:19:41,519 --> 00:19:45,119
that I just think that he's been
so good. There you go, so

306
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,920
move on to the Chicago Bulls.
I did go with a little bit of

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00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:52,759
low hanging fruit here because I know
that it has been discussed fairly prominently already.

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00:19:52,799 --> 00:19:56,160
But I went with seven point nine, which is Damar de Rosen's scoring

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00:19:56,200 --> 00:20:00,599
average in fourth quarters heading into Monday
Night's game that leads the league. It

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00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,799
outpaces Janisan Dakumpo at seven point four, Kevin Durant at seven pointzer, and

311
00:20:03,839 --> 00:20:07,319
Cole Anthony at seven point zero.
Beyond that, he's slashing fifty two,

312
00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:11,279
ninety five, five, eighty eight
five and per thirty six minutes in the

313
00:20:11,319 --> 00:20:15,279
fourth quarter, averaging thirty two point
seven point seven point eight rebounds, four

314
00:20:15,279 --> 00:20:18,920
point oh assists, and only one
point eight turnovers. He has just been

315
00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:26,000
absolutely sensational and he's currently checking in
on the RPR MVP predictor at NBA math

316
00:20:26,279 --> 00:20:29,440
at number eight in the MVP race. For us, personally, I think

317
00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:33,000
it's under selling him, partially just
because he's missed some time, miss a

318
00:20:33,039 --> 00:20:37,480
little bit more time than the other
primary contenders for the award. He deserves

319
00:20:37,519 --> 00:20:40,920
every bit of MVP love that he's
getting, and maybe a little beyond that

320
00:20:41,039 --> 00:20:45,920
just for these herculean efforts in close
games and crunch time scenarios and really as

321
00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:49,799
a score throughout games. His game
has just continued to progress, and he

322
00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:55,039
looks so comfortable doing what he's best
at, which is pulling up for those

323
00:20:55,079 --> 00:21:00,559
long jumpers. Maybe you know,
he is the classic defiant as to the

324
00:21:00,599 --> 00:21:03,839
people who are like, oh,
you know, the analytics say that's a

325
00:21:03,839 --> 00:21:06,839
bad shot if you take along too
or a mid range jumper, like it

326
00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,160
depends on the player. For DeMar
de Ros, and we're pretty pretty sure

327
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:14,039
at this point that those are not
bad shots. And the pressure he just

328
00:21:14,079 --> 00:21:17,720
puts on defense is because he can
make those even we know Kevin Duran and

329
00:21:17,759 --> 00:21:21,759
Chris Paul are going to shoot those
shots a higher clip. But his I

330
00:21:21,799 --> 00:21:25,000
think the actually the most important thing
he's brought to Chicago this year is just

331
00:21:25,079 --> 00:21:27,319
like that steadying decision maker with the
ball in his hands. He's been one

332
00:21:27,359 --> 00:21:32,119
of the highest iq most effective pick
and roll ballhandlers in the league for more

333
00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:33,599
than a half decade, I would
say at this point, and to have

334
00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:38,400
that now against Zach Lavine and this
is this is not a stat two though,

335
00:21:38,599 --> 00:21:41,400
is the number of All Star starters
in the East that I think Chicago

336
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,079
should have because Zach Levine is quietly
had. I think because the Bulls have

337
00:21:45,079 --> 00:21:48,880
received so much pub with their new
additions, with the Rosen sort of headlining

338
00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:55,079
it. He has been magnificent this
year. He has just been absolutely spectacular.

339
00:21:55,559 --> 00:21:57,480
And when you look at de Rosen
qualifying as a forward and Levin as

340
00:21:57,519 --> 00:22:03,000
a guard, those two to me
are easy starter votes. I'm right there

341
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:07,200
with you. I totally agree.
I have the Cleveland Cavaliers. I'm gonna

342
00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,680
start doing what you what you do
with your with your stats. Nine That

343
00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:17,960
is the rank of Darius Garland in
unassisted points from three point range on the

344
00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:22,200
season. They're only eight players who
have tallied more unassisted three point looks than

345
00:22:22,279 --> 00:22:30,640
Darius unassisted three point unassisted total three
points like converted three points from beyond the

346
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,799
arc than Darius Garland. What a
terrible way of where Vama to put it.

347
00:22:33,079 --> 00:22:37,440
The other number on Darius Garland,
no, which is similar here is

348
00:22:37,559 --> 00:22:41,680
four. That is his rent,
that is his rank and assists at the

349
00:22:41,759 --> 00:22:47,839
rim. And this was all just
to show that Darius Garland has made the

350
00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:52,240
offensive leap this year. I know
the Calves have been sort of this unspectacular

351
00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:56,480
offensive team. They've been so good
defensively, but with Colin Sexton out,

352
00:22:56,759 --> 00:23:00,119
they don't just have a ton of
great and established offensive weapons on the team.

353
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,720
He has really been the driving force
of what they're doing. And to

354
00:23:03,759 --> 00:23:08,000
have someone who is so comfortable now
just taking off the dribble threes and if

355
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,200
anyone's actually curious as to what he's
shooting, they're only four players who are

356
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,880
attempting four off the dribble threes per
game and shooting better than thirty seven percent

357
00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:22,440
on them. Steph Trey Kemba just
saying and Darius Garland he probably I don't

358
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:26,359
know if he should be in the
most Improved Flier discussion just because he was

359
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,440
doing a lot of this stuff towards
the end of last season. He absolutely

360
00:23:29,519 --> 00:23:33,759
belongs in the All Star conversation.
So the primary stack here though, because

361
00:23:33,759 --> 00:23:36,279
the assist at the rim when you
look at who he plays with and just

362
00:23:36,519 --> 00:23:38,680
how he does get his assist with
his patients in the lane, some of

363
00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,440
the lobs he throws, just what
he can do when he gets to flow

364
00:23:41,519 --> 00:23:45,640
a range is either taking it or
we're really burning the defense with a pass

365
00:23:45,839 --> 00:23:49,799
that didn't shock me, even though
four is incredibly high, but ninth in

366
00:23:51,079 --> 00:23:57,680
total unassisted just three points to their
name. That's incredible, especially for a

367
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:02,599
player who struggled with his jumper at
the beginning of his NBA career. Granted

368
00:24:02,839 --> 00:24:04,799
he didn't have much college experience to
fall back on. That transition was a

369
00:24:04,799 --> 00:24:10,640
tough one, but the way he's
developed is astounding to the point that feels

370
00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:15,160
like he's a pretty reasonable fifty forty
ninety candidate in years to come. And

371
00:24:15,279 --> 00:24:19,680
when you couple that with the passing
vision that we've seen from him, because

372
00:24:19,759 --> 00:24:25,880
he's already one of the absolute best
passers in the NBA. The instincts that

373
00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:27,559
he has to feel for the game, Like he's one of those guys where

374
00:24:27,559 --> 00:24:32,400
you can just tell that he's reading
what the opposing defense is before the opposing

375
00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:37,119
defense even knows what it's doing,
and has the physical ability to make those

376
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,640
passes into tight windows. That's going
to be a nightmare. To stop A

377
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:42,200
word I've used a lot this podcast
so far, so I'll try to stop

378
00:24:42,279 --> 00:24:48,079
using it. But I feel like
we're going to see some twenty ten seasons

379
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,200
while he's pushing for inclusion in that
fifty forty ninety club as one of the

380
00:24:52,279 --> 00:24:59,119
premier offensive players. I think he
is that good as a shooter and a

381
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:03,960
passer that as the calves continue to
develop around him, the sky really feels

382
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:07,119
like the limit here. Yeah,
and just to drive my point home,

383
00:25:07,559 --> 00:25:11,240
here are the players that are in
front of him in points generated and unassisted

384
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:14,839
threes, which was the way simpler
way to say that, Zach Lavine,

385
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:18,319
Jason Tatum, Damian Lillard, Luca
don Chich, James Harden, Donovan Mitchell,

386
00:25:18,440 --> 00:25:23,160
Trey Young, and Steph Curry.
And so that's shot company. Yeah,

387
00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:27,440
that's pretty good company. Us.
I do think he benefits from being

388
00:25:27,519 --> 00:25:32,119
one of the very few players this
year who has not missed significant time.

389
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:34,559
He's only missed two of Cleveland's games
to this point. But still, like

390
00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:38,680
that's not to discount from what he's
doing overall. Yeah, it's the totals

391
00:25:38,759 --> 00:25:41,319
or whatever. And then also there's
the fact that Colin Sexton's not there.

392
00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,200
And then like just some of the
alternative options on the perimeter, whether it's

393
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,519
Ricky Rubio or Isaaca Korro, you
probably want Jenny Osman as the second player

394
00:25:48,559 --> 00:25:52,000
you trust to launch at three off
the dribble on the calves this season.

395
00:25:52,839 --> 00:25:56,079
That's you know, I think that
contributes to But the efficiency in the volume,

396
00:25:56,079 --> 00:25:57,519
I mean four off the dribble threees
per game, hitting them at a

397
00:25:57,559 --> 00:26:04,039
thirty seven plus percent quip. Kudos
damn absolutely for the Detroit Pistons. I

398
00:26:04,079 --> 00:26:08,720
will admit that I spent a while
trying to find a good positive stat and

399
00:26:08,799 --> 00:26:14,319
just I struggled to the point that
I couldn't do it. Like I thought

400
00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:18,319
about highlighting Isaiah Stewart's put back efficiency
or the lottery odds that would have been

401
00:26:18,359 --> 00:26:22,079
a positive. That's a good one. You know. Luca Garza has been

402
00:26:22,319 --> 00:26:26,559
surprisingly adept at taking charges, albeit
in a small sample size, but I

403
00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:32,440
ended up going negative because that's kind
of the slant of almost every Detroit stat

404
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:36,319
this season. So my numbers three, and that's the number of players on

405
00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:41,680
the Pistons roster who have positive scores
in offensive box plus minus. Would you

406
00:26:41,759 --> 00:26:47,440
care to guess who they are?
Three of them? Right? Three of

407
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:52,240
them? Isaiah Stewart. Isaiah Stewart
is not one off to a bang up

408
00:26:52,279 --> 00:26:57,279
start? Who is it? King
Cunningham? Ed? Cunningham is getting close

409
00:26:57,359 --> 00:27:00,880
but is not there yet? All
right? So I'm just and are any

410
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,200
of the starters even one of them? Yes? Wow, it can't be.

411
00:27:04,319 --> 00:27:07,720
It's not Jeremy Grant. Jeremy Grant
is one of them? Really?

412
00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:12,400
Yeah? Is there another starter?
Is Kelly Olynic one of them? He's

413
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:18,480
barely is one of them? Okay, that's fine. Corey Joseph, You're

414
00:27:18,559 --> 00:27:22,200
never gonna guess the third Hamadudiala,
You're never going to guess the third saving

415
00:27:22,279 --> 00:27:29,359
Lee Cashas Stanley, who has played
twenty one minutes in one game. That's

416
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:32,839
that's all three. That's all three. That's it. I got nothing else.

417
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:36,480
It's depressing. I'm sorry to the
Pistons fans for highlighting it, but

418
00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:41,279
better luck next year. You just
want to move on. I just want

419
00:27:41,279 --> 00:27:47,000
to move on. I have I
have the Pacers, and I went two

420
00:27:47,039 --> 00:27:49,440
ways here. I know you asked
me if I had multiple stats for every

421
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:52,400
team, and my answer was no, I do not. But they are

422
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,799
such a curiously bad team because you
look at some of their vitals and they

423
00:27:56,799 --> 00:28:00,119
shouldn't be here. And so I'm
using this stat as a launching point into

424
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:04,799
my stat They are a plus thirteen
point eight points per one hundred possessions when

425
00:28:04,839 --> 00:28:07,440
Broadden, Lavert, Turner, and
s A. Bonus share the floor.

426
00:28:07,839 --> 00:28:14,240
That is a great net rating there. In the ninety five percent TiAl of

427
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:18,200
offense eighty nine percent dial of defense, there are some you know, whether

428
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:21,799
it's justin Holiday or Christa Wartey playing
with them, they're still destroying opponents.

429
00:28:21,920 --> 00:28:23,519
Take out to Arta or Holiday and
put in Kelan Martin, they're still killing

430
00:28:23,519 --> 00:28:29,319
opponents. Put in o'sha Broussette instead
limited sample size, they're still slaughtering opponents.

431
00:28:29,839 --> 00:28:33,039
And when you just look at how
average are better they rank on defense

432
00:28:33,079 --> 00:28:36,160
and offense this season, to just
see how bad they are in the standings,

433
00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,119
and so you start to dig deeper. There are a lot of problems

434
00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,920
that they have, but this is
still the stat that stands out to me.

435
00:28:41,279 --> 00:28:45,200
They have a fifteen fifteen point four
is the staff here. That is

436
00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:51,599
their winning percentage in one possession games
during the final two minutes. So games

437
00:28:51,599 --> 00:28:55,240
in the final two minutes where the
point where the point differential is within three

438
00:28:55,279 --> 00:28:57,960
points of either side, they are
two and eleven. That is the worst

439
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:03,039
winning percentage in the league. And
to underscore how often they've played in these

440
00:29:03,039 --> 00:29:07,720
situations, they're seventh in total minutes
during these situations. They're also a total

441
00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:11,480
of a minus forty in these minutes
played. So we're talking about yeah,

442
00:29:11,519 --> 00:29:17,920
okay, they might be seven in
total minutes played during these one possession crunch

443
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:22,599
time situations in the final two minutes, that's still only a total of twenty

444
00:29:22,599 --> 00:29:26,519
one minutes. They've been not scored
by forty points in these twenty one minutes.

445
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:30,960
The only team that has a worse
rob plus minus in these minutes is

446
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,880
the Boston Celtics, who are minus
forty eight across thirty minutes of basketball there.

447
00:29:36,079 --> 00:29:38,839
So they have struggled. You can
look at their record and just three

448
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:45,119
point games whatever, but two and
eleven in these adjusted crunch time situations,

449
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:48,720
and I would argue these are more
valuable when looking at trying to diagnose what's

450
00:29:48,759 --> 00:29:52,960
happening because one possession games in the
final two minutes, those are games within

451
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,200
reach. This isn't like, oh, we was trailing by seven and then

452
00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:00,799
we're able to cut it to four
for a really quick second. You're in

453
00:30:00,799 --> 00:30:03,799
the final two minutes within three points
at least, and you have a two

454
00:30:03,799 --> 00:30:07,319
an eleven record. This team,
I still think can be better as currently

455
00:30:07,359 --> 00:30:11,519
constructed. Will they I have no
fucking idea. I have no idea.

456
00:30:11,559 --> 00:30:14,839
I do think they need a trade
just because the better version of this there's

457
00:30:14,839 --> 00:30:17,839
still a cap on what they do. And I do question, and this

458
00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:21,319
is coming from a Carrius Labert supporter, I just question how much worse they

459
00:30:21,319 --> 00:30:23,680
would be without Carus Labert. And
I know he's having kind of a moment

460
00:30:23,839 --> 00:30:30,480
right now offensively, I still just
question that what's truly baffling here, too,

461
00:30:30,599 --> 00:30:33,000
is that this is not what you
would expect from a team coached by

462
00:30:33,079 --> 00:30:37,680
Rick Carlisle. You know, I
this is the first time hearing of the

463
00:30:37,759 --> 00:30:40,880
number, so I don't have any
research to back this up. And I

464
00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:45,839
would imagine that his teams in Dallas
did not suffer through similar issues. I

465
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,960
do want to ask you, though, the Luca don or MAVs have they

466
00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:52,559
that in crunch time last year?
So yeah, Lucas struggled to shoot a

467
00:30:52,559 --> 00:30:56,079
lot in crunch time because the offense
was just too focused around him. But

468
00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:03,000
I feel like previous iterations I don't
really remember the same narrative emerging. I

469
00:31:03,039 --> 00:31:08,799
am curious though, if you think
that that's more of a fluke, just

470
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:15,599
driven by the inherent small nature of
that sample in you know, those crunch

471
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:19,720
time situations, or if it's actually
emblematic of bigger issues. So you know,

472
00:31:19,839 --> 00:31:25,799
like for example, in baseball,
one run games are typically almost luck

473
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:30,119
driven, where you can pretty reasonably
expect it to regress back to a five

474
00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:34,960
hundred record in one run games.
Do you feel the same way here or

475
00:31:34,960 --> 00:31:40,720
do you think it's more this is
something that we need to be concerned about

476
00:31:40,759 --> 00:31:42,400
for the rest of the season.
I do think it's something we need to

477
00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:47,720
be concerned about because among the other
struggles here, I don't know that they

478
00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:51,599
have a clear crunch time offensive pecking
order or system in place. They've struggled

479
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:55,720
against zone defenses and how to bust
them. They have Careslvert kind of throwing

480
00:31:56,039 --> 00:32:00,440
shade at Rick Carlisle about the way
he approaches busting zone defensive as we know

481
00:32:00,559 --> 00:32:02,359
that, I don't think. I
think the Bonus just fucking hates Rick Carlisle

482
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:06,319
just flat out I feel like that's
the thing that we could sort of pick

483
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,599
up on. And then Myles Turner
is unhappy with this role. He's taken

484
00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:13,759
two shots in these situations, which
is can you guess where he ranks on

485
00:32:13,799 --> 00:32:19,640
the team and shots taken during these
specific crunch time situations dead last, He's

486
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:23,160
seventh, so that's still pretty low. And again it's it's only a fourteen

487
00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:28,279
minute sample size for him. But
Jeremy Lamb has played in Les played four

488
00:32:28,319 --> 00:32:30,319
minutes of these current size situations,
taking more shot than you. I'd have

489
00:32:30,359 --> 00:32:34,279
to go back and watch every single
instance of this. But just they have

490
00:32:34,359 --> 00:32:37,279
this, and then they also just
have these uber bad, inexcusable losses.

491
00:32:37,319 --> 00:32:42,839
Losing to a decimated Miami heat roster
not once but twice. That's problematic,

492
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:45,119
And so I do think this is
more emblematic than not. But I am

493
00:32:45,119 --> 00:32:49,640
also on record as saying I think
this team get them fully healthy, give

494
00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:52,359
the keys of the offense to a
shaper set, and they're going to be

495
00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,720
a title contender. You heard it
here first, Yeah, and probably only

496
00:32:55,799 --> 00:33:02,400
here. Who's for the Miami Heat. My number is fifty three point eight.

497
00:33:04,279 --> 00:33:07,519
That is their effective field goal percentage
this season, which is actually fourth

498
00:33:07,599 --> 00:33:13,720
in basketball. It trails only the
Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, and

499
00:33:13,839 --> 00:33:16,440
Phoenix Suns. And you know,
last I heard, those are pretty good

500
00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:22,039
teams to be grouped with this season. And I picked this because it's just

501
00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:25,960
shocking to me, because I think
going into this season, the expectation was

502
00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,880
that Miami is going to be this
defensive juggernaut who gums up everything for the

503
00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:37,000
opposition and struggles to score on its
own because Jimmy Butler is not a floor

504
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:42,279
spacer, Bam Autobio not necessarily a
floor spacer. Even with the three point

505
00:33:42,279 --> 00:33:46,440
shooters, it seemed like this roster
had offensive limitations. And then you throw

506
00:33:46,519 --> 00:33:52,599
in that Butler and Autubaio have both
missed significant time and Duncan Robinson has missed

507
00:33:52,599 --> 00:33:58,079
everything, and it just doesn't make
any sense. And yet here we are,

508
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:00,480
and you know, it's largely a
test estimate to when he's been healthy.

509
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:05,759
Butler's inside the ark, scoring,
Tyler hero putting pressure on defenses from

510
00:34:05,799 --> 00:34:09,559
everywhere, Max Struss becoming one of
the NBA's better shooters just period. And

511
00:34:09,639 --> 00:34:16,199
plenty of role players chipping in efficiently
on the offense. Primary among them.

512
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:22,960
I would say PJ. Tucker too. I would never have guessed that Miami

513
00:34:22,079 --> 00:34:25,320
was going to be a top ten
offense and a top ten defense this season.

514
00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:29,920
I didn't even know they were a
top ten offense. That shows you

515
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:31,480
how much I know. I thought
they were like twelve or thirteenth or something.

516
00:34:31,519 --> 00:34:34,960
But that's they've dealt with not having
them at a bid. It might

517
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,599
depend on where you look. I
think on Basketball Reference it's seven and seven

518
00:34:37,679 --> 00:34:40,800
for the two. Okay, Yeah, cleanland Glass has them thirteenth, So

519
00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:44,559
that's outside of garbage time, and
I'm sure they've probably benefited. They've played

520
00:34:44,599 --> 00:34:47,239
the Pacers twice and beat them,
so there's your Garben sick there. But

521
00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:51,440
yeah, look, even if you're
above average on offense, knowing how much

522
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:53,440
time Jimmy Butler miss, knowing bam
Adebayo is still out, You've had miss

523
00:34:53,519 --> 00:34:58,360
games just all over the place at
this point, and I think at least

524
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,159
I did. I build them as
one of the shallow the were teams leading

525
00:35:00,159 --> 00:35:05,679
into the regular they were one of
the most likely teams to disappoint in a

526
00:35:05,679 --> 00:35:09,159
previous episode is where I had them
pegged and they've they have more depth than

527
00:35:09,199 --> 00:35:12,960
meets the eye, like they had
you know, Dayne Dedman gave him some

528
00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:15,360
good minutes before he went out of
the lineup, and like I said,

529
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:17,400
Caleb Martin has been a revelation for
them. Both the Martin brothers had been

530
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:21,320
good and you were you were all
over the struss potential breakout, right.

531
00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:23,760
I don't know if I think I
was given a choice of if you had

532
00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:28,639
to pick the non Tyler hero bench
player to break out, I picked Max

533
00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:30,280
Drews. I don't really know if
that's just take the credit, all right?

534
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:36,039
This is my victory lap. Are
we ready for the Milwaukee Bucks?

535
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:39,440
Always there? I feel like I've
talked about the two other stats that I

536
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:44,119
looked at too much is that this
team is killing opponents when they play with

537
00:35:44,199 --> 00:35:45,920
Janie, Drew and Middleton, which
I thought was important because it took the

538
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:50,440
Bucks a lot of climb the standings. I've also if anyone's been tracking Drew

539
00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:54,000
Holiday is shooting roughly one trillion percent
on step back jumpers this year, and

540
00:35:54,079 --> 00:35:57,280
I've mentioned it and tweeted about it. So I didn't want to go that

541
00:35:57,360 --> 00:35:59,920
route. But if you want to
see your eyes pop out of your head,

542
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:04,000
you can look at that I went
this route. Jannice is being doubled

543
00:36:04,119 --> 00:36:08,440
on thirty five point four percent of
his offensive possessions this year. That is

544
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:15,280
the highest in the league among like
actual rotation players. Just for some context,

545
00:36:15,559 --> 00:36:19,199
Joel Embiat is second at thirty four
point five percent, and even like

546
00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,360
Kevin Durant is being doubled on twenty
seven point four percent of his possessions.

547
00:36:22,519 --> 00:36:25,519
I know the roles are different,
but I just thought that was interesting.

548
00:36:27,159 --> 00:36:30,360
The Bucks, when Jannis is doubled, that's a team. As a team,

549
00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:34,239
the Bucks are averaging one point two
one points per possession. I don't

550
00:36:34,239 --> 00:36:37,880
like making these comps, but the
most efficient offense in the NBA outside of

551
00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:39,760
garbage time or I think, no
matter what filter you use at this point

552
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:45,320
is the Utah Jazz. They average
one point one nine points per possession roughly,

553
00:36:45,360 --> 00:36:50,800
so when Jannie is getting doubled,
the Bucks are straight up anniling rival

554
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:52,280
defenses. And I think that has
a lot to do with not only his

555
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:57,920
finishing, his just ability to blast
through whatever's being thrown at him. But

556
00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,000
he has become a better decision made
when he's in those situations, and so

557
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:05,360
you can probably trust him to find
the right teammate or find a teammate who's

558
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:07,880
going to swing it to another teammate
to keep the ball moving. The Bucks

559
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:12,280
Man, Look, I'm gonna have
Phoenix or Golden State as my title favorites

560
00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:15,760
right now. The Bucks have a
better case than Brooklyn. I think they're

561
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:17,320
right up. Look there. To
me, right now, there are four

562
00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:20,920
top contenders. I'm not even ready
to put Brooklyn in there. I have

563
00:37:21,039 --> 00:37:23,679
Utah, Milwaukee, Golden State,
and Phoenix. Milwaukee is the toast of

564
00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:28,239
the East to me, and Yannie
of course, just a huge reason why

565
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,480
I think he deserves to be in
the MVP discussion right with the other three

566
00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:35,400
players we talk about most Steph,
Yokich and KD. I also think he

567
00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,000
probably needs more love at this point
for Defensive Player of the Year when you

568
00:37:38,039 --> 00:37:42,239
just look at his overall workload,
but then just some of the lifts he's

569
00:37:42,280 --> 00:37:45,800
had to make when he's been basically
the only star in certain lineups, are

570
00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:49,639
in certain games depending on who is
available for Milwaukee. Yeah, I think

571
00:37:49,679 --> 00:37:52,960
you can make an argument that this
is the best basketball Yannis has ever played,

572
00:37:52,199 --> 00:37:57,880
and it's largely because of how well
he's processing everything on both ends to

573
00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:00,440
the floor. The reads are quicker, ability to pass out of those double

574
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:05,280
teams in a beneficial way. It's
happening a little bit faster. He's always

575
00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:07,440
in the right spot on defense,
He's more motivated there. It seems just

576
00:38:07,599 --> 00:38:13,639
everything is clicking for this guy.
He is He's been unbelievable this year,

577
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:16,199
so I'm right there with you.
I think the double teams probably stem a

578
00:38:16,199 --> 00:38:21,760
little bit from how many key players
in Milwaukee have been missing time this year.

579
00:38:22,639 --> 00:38:24,239
If there are such limited options around
him, sure, why not,

580
00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:29,480
but it's clearly not working, and
that's just gonna make them even deadlier when

581
00:38:29,559 --> 00:38:32,360
everyone is available again. I think
also just the where if you look at

582
00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:35,119
him me, he's still being double. A lot has to do with the

583
00:38:35,159 --> 00:38:38,880
post, but when someone goes downhill, I think there's a tendency to overreact,

584
00:38:39,199 --> 00:38:42,280
so you're going to see defenders sort
of collapse on him. So we

585
00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:45,840
probably like triple just bodies being close
to him with how they're measuring the double

586
00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:49,480
teams, whereas Kevin Durant, Yeah
he's gonna'll drive to the hoop and stuff,

587
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:52,599
but he's not like Black, Like
he's not rolling or diving a lot

588
00:38:52,679 --> 00:38:54,639
of the time, and Jannest does
that more often than him, So there's

589
00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:58,159
there's context of all. But like, that's more than a third of his

590
00:38:58,199 --> 00:39:00,960
possessions still right that he there's been
classified a double team and to be that

591
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:05,320
efficient, I don't even want it. There's I'm not going to mention this

592
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:07,559
numbers. I actually might use it
on the Western commers pots. So let's

593
00:39:07,559 --> 00:39:10,639
actually just move on to my New
York New York Knickerbockers. On spoiler alert,

594
00:39:10,639 --> 00:39:14,679
We're gonna have more unembied in a
little bit, but for the New

595
00:39:14,719 --> 00:39:19,039
York Knicks, I'll be the first
to admit that this is an agenda driven

596
00:39:19,039 --> 00:39:22,119
one, not as much about the
whole team or anything. But my number

597
00:39:22,199 --> 00:39:27,960
is three point seven seven. So
among the two hundred and sixty six players

598
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:31,280
who have logged at least four hundred
minutes this season, only Rudy Gobert has

599
00:39:31,360 --> 00:39:36,400
more dunks per thirty six minutes than
Obi Toppin, Hally Coppin's at three point

600
00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:39,119
seven seven, Rudy Gobert's at three
point eight three. Rest of the top

601
00:39:39,159 --> 00:39:44,119
ten, JaVale McGee at three point
seven five, Daniel Gaffer, Jared Allen,

602
00:39:44,199 --> 00:39:46,960
Montrez, Harrold, Mitchell Robinson,
Robert Williams, Hassan Whiteside, and

603
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:51,760
Clint Capella. You know, I
don't. I don't think there's anything particularly

604
00:39:51,880 --> 00:39:57,400
notable about this stat except give Obi
Toppin more minutes, stop making and put

605
00:39:57,440 --> 00:40:00,000
up highlights at the end of games
that are already decided. He has something

606
00:40:00,039 --> 00:40:05,000
to contribute on offense, and I
want to see more of it. I

607
00:40:05,039 --> 00:40:07,039
think he could deserve more minutes two. I do think they've increased his role

608
00:40:07,079 --> 00:40:09,880
to where I don't really get mad
about his minutes. I might say,

609
00:40:10,079 --> 00:40:14,920
is he playing forty a game?
No, that's all I mean. I

610
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:19,280
guess we should get mad about it. I can't feel like my voice is

611
00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:22,679
getting gravelier and gravellier as we get
to the Tom Tipodeau coach team, so

612
00:40:22,719 --> 00:40:24,880
I feel like this is appropriate.
I'm gonna be honest. I don't know

613
00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:28,760
if I've ever been less reliable for
basketball takes than I have over the past

614
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:30,119
like two and a half to three
weeks, and I hope I think everyone

615
00:40:30,159 --> 00:40:34,719
should just self admit that they probably
belong under the same umbrella because val in

616
00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:37,480
consistent availability has been But look,
if we want to go to the other

617
00:40:37,519 --> 00:40:40,000
agenda route, I'm just going to
reiterate a stat I made before. There

618
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:44,559
are four players attempting four off the
dribble threes per game and shooting thirty seven

619
00:40:44,599 --> 00:40:47,719
percent. Are better Kemba, Trey
Young, Steph and Darius Garland. I

620
00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:50,639
think we're the names. I know
three of those names are right, and

621
00:40:50,639 --> 00:40:54,199
one of the three that are so, Yeah, Kemba is playing now out

622
00:40:54,199 --> 00:40:59,480
of necessity Derek Rose being injured players
in health and safety protocols. I don't

623
00:40:59,519 --> 00:41:02,960
think people claimed when anyone argued that
Evan Forger should have been mentioned instead of

624
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:07,280
Kemba, that no one was watching
the Knicks. I don't know that benching

625
00:41:07,320 --> 00:41:09,400
either one of them was the answer. I just don't think that benching Kemba

626
00:41:09,480 --> 00:41:13,519
Walker made all that much sense,
is where I stood. I think this

627
00:41:13,559 --> 00:41:15,840
team is in need of something that
we can't even quantify at this point,

628
00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:19,880
other than an increase in minutes for
Obi Toppin that's the one thing that we

629
00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:22,719
can point to and say, why
isn't he playing. I'm gonna be honest.

630
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:27,480
I tried to go even deeper here
and tried to show that Obi Toppin

631
00:41:27,599 --> 00:41:31,679
was actually the most impressive high volume
dunker in the NBA this season. I

632
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:37,840
can't because he's been assisted on eighty
nine percent of his dunks and Gobert's at

633
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:43,119
eighty seven percent. So there's just
I can't make the case. Next up

634
00:41:43,159 --> 00:41:45,000
is the Orlando Magic. I decided
to focus on a player, and I

635
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:47,480
almost want to Gary Harris rout here, but I didn't think this was really

636
00:41:47,519 --> 00:41:52,239
fair, so I'll just mentioned really
quickly, very quietly. Gary Harris is

637
00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:55,079
shooting forty point three percent from three
overs beast fifteen games, shooting fifty percent

638
00:41:55,119 --> 00:41:59,280
on drives for the season. He's
on an expiring contractor he makes too much

639
00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:01,760
money, but if he's going to
be good, serviceable on offense again,

640
00:42:02,519 --> 00:42:06,159
if he hits the buyout market,
or if they're willing to take on bad

641
00:42:06,199 --> 00:42:09,920
money, call for Russell Westbrook or
something like their teams that could really use

642
00:42:09,960 --> 00:42:13,840
someone like him. I wanted to
focus on Franz Wagner because I still think

643
00:42:14,039 --> 00:42:16,000
when we talk about top rookies,
and I do have another stat for a

644
00:42:16,079 --> 00:42:20,440
rookie coming up, but we're gonna
focus on Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes,

645
00:42:20,599 --> 00:42:22,360
even Alpern, Shane Good and Christal
Art. They feel like I've gotten more

646
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:27,000
shine than a Franz Wagner. He
has a long way to go in a

647
00:42:27,039 --> 00:42:29,639
lot of aspects. If you want
to trust some of the stuff he's gonna

648
00:42:29,639 --> 00:42:34,360
do off the dribble. But he
is shooting ten of fourteen on finger rolls

649
00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:37,679
this year, which is seventy one
percent, sixty four point three percent on

650
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:43,320
bank shots this year nine to fourteen, and he's also shooting around forty five

651
00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:46,719
percent on floaters. And so this
guy has an in between game that goes

652
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:52,679
well beyond him just spotting up from
beyond the arc or capitalizing in open space.

653
00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:55,480
There are real layers to his offensive
game. I'm so interested to see

654
00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:59,639
where his career ends up. He's
been a little bit better to fit where

655
00:42:59,639 --> 00:43:01,280
I should, a lot better defensively
than I thought. He's played a ton

656
00:43:01,320 --> 00:43:05,400
of three, which is a role
that I really thought he couldn't satisfy in

657
00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:07,559
the NBA. And then I'm overall
just fascinated to see short of what he

658
00:43:07,599 --> 00:43:12,760
becomes on offense, because this is
someone who there's even been like very brief

659
00:43:12,760 --> 00:43:15,880
glimpses of like, oh, there's
that post touch. That was okay.

660
00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:19,239
I think he's a little bit more
physical when he's getting into bodies than people

661
00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:21,679
think. And he still looked.
You look at his when you start breaking

662
00:43:21,679 --> 00:43:24,480
down his shots more sub forty percent
on driving layups. Yeah, that's that's

663
00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:29,800
a problem. But this is someone
who I don't know if he's been one

664
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:32,519
of the top three rookies. Kake
Cunningham is probably getting more mentioned there than

665
00:43:32,599 --> 00:43:35,960
him and might just might deserve it
by the end of the year, but

666
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:39,679
he has been This has been a
really rock solid, if not exponentially better

667
00:43:39,719 --> 00:43:45,559
rookie season from Franz Wagner and the
Magic. However you feel about their future,

668
00:43:45,599 --> 00:43:49,639
they've been not good this season.
They've started racking up losses as we

669
00:43:49,679 --> 00:43:52,239
get later into the schedule, but
Franz Wagner has been one of the bright

670
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:53,400
spots for them. I think they've
gotten a lot of bright spots out of

671
00:43:53,400 --> 00:43:58,639
what projected us. They're starting five
and now we've seen that get butchered because

672
00:43:58,639 --> 00:44:01,519
of John Suggs getting injured and and
all that, but he's maintained I think

673
00:44:02,039 --> 00:44:08,599
his offensive glimpses into high efficiency more
so than probably anyone on the team other

674
00:44:08,639 --> 00:44:12,559
than Cole Anthony, who was even
He's seen his ebbs and flows there,

675
00:44:12,559 --> 00:44:15,760
but we've seen bomba drop off from
shooting well. Wendell Carter Junior even there

676
00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:19,239
as well. Joan Suggs was strugging
all year before his injury. Franz Wagner

677
00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:22,679
has been sort of that close to
a constant, if not an actual constant.

678
00:44:27,519 --> 00:44:29,679
You are on mute, mister Adam
from a healthy ever, care to

679
00:44:29,719 --> 00:44:32,159
come back and enjoy the discussion,
Yeah, let's try that again. I

680
00:44:32,199 --> 00:44:37,039
feel like with Wagner, took two
or three games before it was like,

681
00:44:37,119 --> 00:44:40,280
Yeah, this guy knows how to
play on offense particularly, he's gonna be

682
00:44:40,320 --> 00:44:45,320
really good. And he's crafty enough, he's skilled enough, he's physical enough

683
00:44:45,960 --> 00:44:51,239
to score in a wide variety of
situations. I do want to highlight Cole

684
00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:54,320
Anthony again, just because he came
up in one of my stats earlier seven

685
00:44:54,360 --> 00:44:58,159
points per game in the fourth quarter, tied with Kevin Durant for third in

686
00:44:58,159 --> 00:45:02,000
the NBA this season. He had
endured a little more of a roller coaster

687
00:45:02,079 --> 00:45:07,559
than than some of the other top
scoring up and comers, but it's there,

688
00:45:07,920 --> 00:45:13,199
and I feel like Orlando has to
be thrilled with both him and Wagner's

689
00:45:13,199 --> 00:45:19,400
emergencies because it feels like they're closer
to having multiple centerpieces than they've been in

690
00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:22,639
a long time. Yeah, because
like, if you go back and make

691
00:45:22,679 --> 00:45:27,079
your pick a five, I know
there are players who are having better seasons

692
00:45:27,119 --> 00:45:30,880
right now, but I still think
Jaalen Suggs because you can't evaluate these picks.

693
00:45:31,239 --> 00:45:34,000
We could do that in a vacuum
and say, yeah, sure,

694
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:36,360
these are the guys that are having
the best rookie seasons, but a long

695
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:39,320
term Jalen Suggs, that's still that's
still a pick I'm making. If Scotty

696
00:45:39,360 --> 00:45:43,639
Barnes is going for I think you
might be able to talk. I love

697
00:45:43,679 --> 00:45:45,719
Bones Island, Shane Good has been
great, Duarte has been good. We're

698
00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:51,639
talking about Franz Wagner. But if
if jail Herbert Jones some love, what's

699
00:45:51,639 --> 00:45:53,719
that give Herb Jones some love?
Herb Jones. I don't know if I'm

700
00:45:53,719 --> 00:45:55,519
gonna end up with the Pelicans in
the next one, but if I don't

701
00:45:55,559 --> 00:45:59,719
I have a Herb Jones stat that, my god, don't try shit on

702
00:45:59,719 --> 00:46:08,719
Herb's gonna say rond Europe right,
Philadelphia seventy six ers lately. Yeah,

703
00:46:08,559 --> 00:46:14,400
My number here is twenty one point
seven, and that is Joel Embiid's assist

704
00:46:14,440 --> 00:46:17,639
ring, which is the highest of
his career. He's also paired it with

705
00:46:17,840 --> 00:46:22,159
the lowest turnover percentage of his career
at ten point six percent, and I

706
00:46:22,199 --> 00:46:29,639
think that's indicative of the strides he's
continuously made to shore up his biggest weakness,

707
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:35,880
which is, maybe aside from availability, sometimes vulnerability when defense has doubled

708
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:38,519
down against him in the post.
We've seen so many times in previous seasons

709
00:46:38,559 --> 00:46:45,159
that he gets a little bit of
tunnel vision and is particularly susceptible to a

710
00:46:45,199 --> 00:46:47,440
defender coming from the weak side and
knocking the ball out of his hands,

711
00:46:47,719 --> 00:46:54,159
and we've consistently seen him get better
at recognizing and avoiding those situations throughout his

712
00:46:54,239 --> 00:46:59,320
career. We've seen his turnover percentage, with the exception of twenty nineteen twenty,

713
00:46:59,559 --> 00:47:02,519
decline in every single season that he's
played in the NBA, reaching its

714
00:47:02,519 --> 00:47:07,360
low point at ten point six so
far this season. But this year,

715
00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:13,360
he's pairing that with the added vision
as a distributor. He's it no longer

716
00:47:13,400 --> 00:47:17,000
feels in those situations, like if
he is being double teamed, if there's

717
00:47:17,199 --> 00:47:21,480
a good post defender on him,
He's not forcing the issue. He's not

718
00:47:21,559 --> 00:47:24,800
even just looking to kick the ball
out to a safe space. He's actively

719
00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:30,679
looking to facilitate within the Philadelphia offense. The seventy six ers have still struggled.

720
00:47:30,880 --> 00:47:35,880
Tobias Harris has disappointed Ben Simmons has
yet to play or be traded.

721
00:47:36,239 --> 00:47:38,639
There are issues up and down the
roster, but Embied has not been among

722
00:47:38,679 --> 00:47:45,000
them and has been improving on the
offensive end. His ten point five turnover

723
00:47:45,079 --> 00:47:49,440
percentage on post ups is not surprisingly
the best of his career. As you

724
00:47:49,480 --> 00:47:52,480
sort of like it mirrors his season. I didn't know what a season long

725
00:47:52,519 --> 00:47:54,159
thirdod percentage was, so that sort
of mirrors it. He's still been sloppier,

726
00:47:54,199 --> 00:47:55,960
I think when he has to attack
off the dribble this year, but

727
00:47:55,960 --> 00:47:59,400
I don't know if that's a function
of some of the town around him at

728
00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:01,559
this point and can be maddening with
some of his decision in double teams.

729
00:48:01,559 --> 00:48:05,039
But I'm totally with you, this
is a guy. When he's on the

730
00:48:05,039 --> 00:48:08,719
floor, he is one of like
the five most valuable players in the league.

731
00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:10,960
I would argue, it's just is
he ever on the floor enough to

732
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:15,280
actually be one of the five most
valuable players in the league for an entire

733
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:17,639
season. And I wanted to highlight
one like this because I think, particularly

734
00:48:17,639 --> 00:48:23,320
with star players, we often fail
to recognize those smaller scale improvements that they've

735
00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:28,159
made to shore up the fewer weaknesses
in their game. And it's it's pretty

736
00:48:28,159 --> 00:48:30,840
clear to me that Embid has put
in that effort, put in the film

737
00:48:30,880 --> 00:48:38,800
study to recognize, diagnose, and
apply himself in those situations. You're ready

738
00:48:38,800 --> 00:48:43,880
to move on to the Toronto Raptors. Always this is I'm going with Scotty

739
00:48:43,920 --> 00:48:50,960
Barnes here because the Raptors offense has
been blah and predictably really bad in the

740
00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:55,079
half court. But there's and Scotty
Barnes is part of that because of some

741
00:48:55,079 --> 00:48:58,440
of the stuff you need him do, he's not ready yet. He has

742
00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:00,719
a rookie and then also he's not
like, I don't think you trust him

743
00:49:00,719 --> 00:49:04,559
to do all this creation off the
dribble, even though he's a great I

744
00:49:04,559 --> 00:49:07,159
would say he's going to be a
very above average pastor for someone who plays

745
00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:12,800
his position. But since November twenty
first, he is shooting forty one point

746
00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:16,280
six percent on threes, fifty four
point two percent from mid range, fifty

747
00:49:16,320 --> 00:49:21,920
eight point seven percent inside the restricted
area, and fifty percent on drives.

748
00:49:21,960 --> 00:49:24,440
He's an effective field goal percentage of
around fifty five during this time on all

749
00:49:24,519 --> 00:49:30,039
jumpers. That is going to be
so massive for the Raptors moving forward.

750
00:49:30,079 --> 00:49:34,559
I know he's not you know,
taking these quick steph Curry like off the

751
00:49:34,639 --> 00:49:37,920
dribble threes off the dribble jumpers.
That is fine if you if he's going

752
00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:42,119
to hit jumpers, whether they're you
know, sort of dribbling into them,

753
00:49:42,159 --> 00:49:45,280
casually hitting them off the catch,
also being able to get inside and be

754
00:49:45,320 --> 00:49:49,480
efficient there with the ball in his
hands. You're gonna be able to use

755
00:49:49,559 --> 00:49:52,360
him in such a wide variety of
roles and there's going to be room to

756
00:49:52,360 --> 00:49:55,920
operate for an Ogna Nobi, for
a Pascal Siakam, Fred van Fleet.

757
00:49:57,199 --> 00:50:00,639
Obviously, if he's going to be
and we'll look at just a perimeter,

758
00:50:00,679 --> 00:50:05,400
I guess seeing what he can shoot
inside the restricted area not too surprising.

759
00:50:05,679 --> 00:50:08,519
But if he's going to be above
average from mid range on drives in general

760
00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:13,679
and from three again, just given
the quality of looks that he's getting,

761
00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:16,960
they are some of them are not
these complicated opportunities they're not supposed to But

762
00:50:16,960 --> 00:50:21,079
you don't need more from him.
I've been floored by that. And I

763
00:50:21,119 --> 00:50:22,960
had another stat. I think people
know how good he's been defensively for a

764
00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:25,320
rookie, but I did want to
throw this out there. I just didn't

765
00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:29,639
settle on it. Three d and
twenty nine players have logged at LEAs two

766
00:50:29,719 --> 00:50:32,400
hundred and fifty minutes this season.
Per b Ball Index, Scottie Barnes ranks

767
00:50:32,519 --> 00:50:37,320
first in positional versatility on offense,
which is when you look at the percentage

768
00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:44,079
of possessions he's spent guarding each position, He's at like fifteen percent for each

769
00:50:44,159 --> 00:50:47,679
at least fifteen percent across all five
positions for the season. So they have

770
00:50:47,800 --> 00:50:52,199
someone special there. And I'm going
to be monitoring his offensive growth like a

771
00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:55,880
hawk, because not only I can't
even imagine world do for the raptors ceiling

772
00:50:55,920 --> 00:51:00,760
if there's more levels to what he's
accomplishing right now, but just him as

773
00:51:00,760 --> 00:51:04,000
a player, what is the I
think people just sort of viewed him as

774
00:51:04,000 --> 00:51:06,119
even when he was at his best
towards the beginning of the year, and

775
00:51:06,119 --> 00:51:08,199
when he was first, you know, your first introduction to him, when

776
00:51:08,199 --> 00:51:12,320
he realized he wasn't the project he
was billed as. It was, Oh,

777
00:51:12,360 --> 00:51:15,400
this might be a quaint all Star
does a lot of really good things

778
00:51:15,400 --> 00:51:17,760
defensively, but there will always be
these holes in his offensive game. What

779
00:51:17,800 --> 00:51:21,320
if the latter's just not true?
What if there just aren't a ton of

780
00:51:21,320 --> 00:51:23,679
holes in his offensive game? Two
three, four years from now, We're

781
00:51:23,679 --> 00:51:28,719
talking about someone that I think has
been undersold. This isn't a fringe star

782
00:51:28,840 --> 00:51:31,960
ceiling, maybe all star type ceiling. I think watching him, maybe I'm

783
00:51:32,039 --> 00:51:36,599
sort of jumping the gate here.
This feels like someone who has, if

784
00:51:36,639 --> 00:51:40,519
everything works out, a SuperStar's peak, and if I had to hedge against

785
00:51:40,599 --> 00:51:44,480
him getting there or not, I'm
just gonna be the optimist here because we're

786
00:51:44,519 --> 00:51:46,840
dealing with so much doom and gloom
bullshit this year. I'm gonna say that

787
00:51:46,840 --> 00:51:51,360
he comes closer to reaching it than
not. But he's been I do think

788
00:51:51,360 --> 00:51:53,480
the Rookie of the Year race is
closer between him and Evan Mobley than it's

789
00:51:53,480 --> 00:52:00,199
sometimes advertised as with you there.
I think it's it's important to note the

790
00:52:00,199 --> 00:52:04,039
expectations were coming in for Barnes,
which was that he was supposed to be

791
00:52:04,559 --> 00:52:07,679
a defensive menace and a work in
progress on offense, and for him just

792
00:52:07,920 --> 00:52:14,440
to explode on offense this early is
astounding. Now, let's use NBA maths

793
00:52:14,480 --> 00:52:20,079
offensive points added stat Real Fast.
The top five in offensive points added among

794
00:52:20,119 --> 00:52:27,000
this year's rookie class Eugene Amarui right
now for the Dallas Mavericks in eighteen minutes

795
00:52:27,119 --> 00:52:30,280
is at one point two six in
fifth place Josh Primo and a small sample

796
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:37,280
for the Spurs at two point six
six. Then we have who am I

797
00:52:37,320 --> 00:52:40,239
missing? I think that was four
and three, sorry, and then number

798
00:52:40,239 --> 00:52:45,559
two is Jack Landel at seventeen point
six three again in a super small sample,

799
00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:49,239
and then Scotty Barnes number one,
twenty three point four and nine hundred

800
00:52:49,239 --> 00:52:53,360
and seventy three minutes. He has
sustained an above average offensive performance in his

801
00:52:53,440 --> 00:52:58,400
debut season, which just was never
supposed to happen for him, and it's

802
00:52:58,440 --> 00:53:01,199
been unbelievably impressive. My other stat
for the Raptors that I just have to

803
00:53:01,199 --> 00:53:05,599
get out there is just Fred VanVleet. That's it. That's the stat.

804
00:53:07,320 --> 00:53:10,079
Even great this year, I mean
he was great last year. Great leader,

805
00:53:10,159 --> 00:53:15,440
great human, great player. He's
just awesome. He is the Raptors.

806
00:53:15,639 --> 00:53:17,880
I don't know if I'm too plugged
into Raptors Twitter, and that's not

807
00:53:17,960 --> 00:53:22,599
in I love Raptors Twitter, but
they might lead the league and like the

808
00:53:22,599 --> 00:53:27,800
most likable players to come through that
team over the past two or three years.

809
00:53:28,079 --> 00:53:30,320
Fred van Fleet is just so up
there. I'm with you on everything

810
00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:31,480
he said. There, that's the
stat, Fred Fred van Fleet. His

811
00:53:31,559 --> 00:53:40,039
likability percentage is infinity and then some
wow. Yeah, I agree, absolutely

812
00:53:40,039 --> 00:53:44,760
all right. So we'll finish it
up with the Washington Wizards and I'll go

813
00:53:44,840 --> 00:53:49,320
player focused again here. My number
is fifty nine point six, which is

814
00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:53,719
Denny Obvia's true shooting percentage over twelve
games in December. It's the highest career

815
00:53:53,760 --> 00:53:59,239
monthly mark he's posted yet since the
first five games of his career last December.

816
00:54:00,039 --> 00:54:02,079
You know, his defense has been
the calling card to this point.

817
00:54:02,360 --> 00:54:08,519
It's what has enabled him to get
more run within this surprisingly competitive Washington rotation.

818
00:54:08,960 --> 00:54:13,400
But the offense looks like it's starting
to come around. The shots are

819
00:54:13,679 --> 00:54:16,000
looking a little more smooth, a
little more confident. He's able to find

820
00:54:16,000 --> 00:54:20,159
the basket and transition, He's able
to find some gaps sort of in the

821
00:54:20,199 --> 00:54:25,159
half court set. If he is
this player on offense and can move beyond

822
00:54:25,320 --> 00:54:30,280
being that Swiss army knife who can
fill so many different roles at an adequate

823
00:54:30,360 --> 00:54:35,360
level, than Washington ceiling gets that
much higher because it is still searching for

824
00:54:35,440 --> 00:54:40,119
that player who can join Bradley Beale
in the Star realm. And there are

825
00:54:40,119 --> 00:54:45,519
a lot of really good role players, some of whom feel more significant roles

826
00:54:45,519 --> 00:54:49,000
than others. I think, do
you think it's fair to say that Montrez

827
00:54:49,079 --> 00:54:52,519
Harold, as excellent as he's been, still probably a role player who kind

828
00:54:52,519 --> 00:54:57,599
of capitalizes against bench players. Daniel
Gafford, that high energy guy who might

829
00:54:57,639 --> 00:55:00,239
not be scalable within a bigger role. If Obvious can be that number two

830
00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:05,559
in Washington, If Ruey Hatchimura can
be that number two in Washington, then

831
00:55:05,599 --> 00:55:09,719
that team can as send a little
bit higher in the Eastern Conference hierarchy and

832
00:55:10,039 --> 00:55:16,280
obvious recent performances make it more reasonable
to think that he could be that guy.

833
00:55:16,639 --> 00:55:20,840
Yeah, Look, he's been magnificent
on defense this year. I don't

834
00:55:20,840 --> 00:55:22,400
know how many time it's gonna say
magnificent in this podcast. And if there's

835
00:55:22,440 --> 00:55:27,440
may be more than all same nightmare, yeah so, And if there is

836
00:55:27,519 --> 00:55:31,360
another gear there offensively to where he
can maintain a higher level consistently, he

837
00:55:31,480 --> 00:55:36,599
becomes Could you argue that he's their
most important long term player right now,

838
00:55:36,599 --> 00:55:38,960
because what the hell is he's clearly
their second. I don't want to be

839
00:55:39,039 --> 00:55:43,440
too hyperbolic. Bill has said that
he wants to be there, so I'm

840
00:55:43,440 --> 00:55:45,400
not going to assume that he is
going to be on the way out.

841
00:55:45,519 --> 00:55:50,239
But he's no worse, no lower
than their second most important long term player

842
00:55:50,639 --> 00:55:53,039
right now. And it's really it's
been a joy to see the progress that

843
00:55:53,039 --> 00:55:57,760
he's made. And I do think
Russell Westbrook catches a lot of ship that

844
00:55:57,800 --> 00:56:00,159
I don't think he deserves. I
man, the Westbrook discourse is so bad.

845
00:56:00,159 --> 00:56:02,920
There's people who are trying to overcompensate
by saying he's been pretty good this

846
00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:07,480
year. He really hasn't. He's
had high moments, but like he hasn't

847
00:56:07,519 --> 00:56:10,159
been cool of the corner three point
percentage. Yes, he's getting a little

848
00:56:10,159 --> 00:56:14,239
bit more under control. It hasn't
been a batter season for him. But

849
00:56:14,280 --> 00:56:16,039
then there are people who just think
that he's the root of everything wrong with

850
00:56:16,079 --> 00:56:22,199
the Lakers, and aside from them
consolidating a bunch of usable players into him,

851
00:56:22,239 --> 00:56:23,880
at least two usable players I would
say three, because they have that

852
00:56:23,880 --> 00:56:29,599
first round pick into his salary.
That the Lakers dumpster fire is not on

853
00:56:29,719 --> 00:56:31,840
him. I do think he kind
of held Denny Avia back a little bit

854
00:56:31,960 --> 00:56:38,000
last year, at least looking at
it offensively, and so I'm more captivated

855
00:56:38,000 --> 00:56:42,280
and intrigued by Denny Avvia this season
than I ever was at any point last

856
00:56:42,280 --> 00:56:46,760
season. A totally fairtake. That
does it for us. All fifteen teams

857
00:56:46,760 --> 00:56:51,079
there probably did that more quickly than
we normally do, at least for a

858
00:56:51,079 --> 00:56:52,840
fifteen team podcast. Let us know
if you have any cool numbers, or

859
00:56:52,840 --> 00:56:55,800
if you liked any of our numbers. You can find Adam on Twitter at

860
00:56:55,840 --> 00:57:00,559
for amos Ze or nine I'm at
Dampa Valley if av Ali the show is

861
00:57:00,599 --> 00:57:06,320
at Hardwood Knox. We've all the
accounts to the MBA Math website at MBA

862
00:57:06,440 --> 00:57:12,480
Underscore Math, the sports network at
the Underscore Sports Underscore Math. Those links

863
00:57:12,519 --> 00:57:15,760
and handles are also in our podcast
feed, so you can check those out.

864
00:57:15,039 --> 00:57:20,119
Follow us on Instagram at Hardwood Underscore
Knox. We are on YouTube YouTube

865
00:57:20,119 --> 00:57:22,840
dot com search hardwoodknocks we will come
up. And most importantly, please please,

866
00:57:22,880 --> 00:57:27,320
pretty please remember to rate, review
and subscribe to us on iTunes and

867
00:57:27,320 --> 00:57:30,920
wherever you get your podcast. There's
a rating system on Spotify. Now use

868
00:57:30,000 --> 00:57:32,840
that. I don't care if you
use Spotify or iTunes. Let's say you

869
00:57:32,840 --> 00:57:36,239
don't use them, head over there
anyway. Throw us those five star ratings

870
00:57:36,239 --> 00:57:38,719
to help juice our standings. And
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871
00:57:38,760 --> 00:57:44,119
listening to us, consider throwing us
that permanent subscription. We cover the MBA

872
00:57:44,159 --> 00:57:47,559
at large, and we do I
would say, only a modestly insufferable job

873
00:57:47,400 --> 00:57:51,280
of it, and so you'll be
able to withstand most of our content.

874
00:57:51,599 --> 00:57:54,400
Content excuse me, we firmly believe. Until next time, though, leave

875
00:57:54,440 --> 00:57:59,239
it. The shout out to the
one, the only, the most important

876
00:57:59,280 --> 00:58:01,039
stat unto himself, Frank Neil Kid