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What is Kraklakin Hardwin Knocks listeners,
I am Damp Valley coming with you as

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promised with some NBA Finals talk.
I am joined by the fantabulous Mota Quil.

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00:00:23,839 --> 00:00:27,879
You can follow him on Twitter at
Mota Quil Underscore NBA. That's at

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m O dak Hil Underscore MBA.
He's the founder of at jump Ballnet.

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You know his videos One more Thing
may can be found on Twitter, TikTok

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00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:41,640
ig YouTube The Whole Nine. He
does podcast for the Athletic He is also

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a writer for Bleach Report and a
former video coordinator for the Clippers, Spurs

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and the Australians men's basketball team.
We have a wonderful discussion getting really deep

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into the weeds of this NBA Finals
matchup, What to expect from Game six,

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will there be a Game seven?
All that fun stuff. You will

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enjoy it. As always though,
if you're listening to this podcast, please

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subscribe to this podcast. If this
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throwing us that permanent subscription. Follow
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Knox, follow and subscribe to our
YouTube channel YouTube dot com Hardwood Knox.

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You can also join our discord where
we have lovely basketball conversation. The link

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to that is in the podcast subscription, as are the links to our social

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media channels and our YouTube channel.
So please, once more, don't make

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me beg more than this. At
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subscribe, down very episode, rate
review and help us with promotions. Tell

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friends, family members, random acquaintances
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or simply, just like I said, you can help us by retweeting

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the promos for it. That's enough
out of me, Let's get into some

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deep NBA Finals talk with Mo.
Mo. Welcome back to the Hardwoo Knox

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podcast and what has become an annual
appearance where I promise to only pest through

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you once a year. Low and
behold, we reached that time of the

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year. How are you doing?
Who is this? Yeah? That's if

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anyone wants to know how famous mos
gotten. I texted him and he tried.

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He tried to go with the who
this but couldn't even he typoed it

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correct correct. I couldn't do it
for two more tweets, and then finally

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I was just like, fine,
I'll do the pud. I'm good dad,

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It's been a long time. How
about this. Do you remember when

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we first were doing these together and
we did the shout out to your favorite

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player? How about my boy Jalen
Brunson growing up? Yeah, that's like

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soon to be possibly near max contract
Allen Brunson. My god, how about

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that? How about that shout out? It's too bad these shoutouts aren't one

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hundred percent like portending something because I've
been shouting out frank niel Akina for like

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four years at this point. Look, Frankie Akeena made it to the conference

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finals, son per trajectory, he
had a good he had a good run.

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How is everything going with you?
Have you enjoyed these these NBA finals

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despite I will say, and I
got asked this on a show, if

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we've been conditioned to appreciate games that
aren't actually close or classics because like the

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final score and sometimes the final minutes
aren't super tightly contested. Maybe in like

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previous rounds this playoffs, I'd make
that case. But for me, this

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series has been just like absolutely riveting, despite the absence of like that you

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know, final thirty seconds or final
minute, what's going to happen. It

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just sucks because the Warriors always make
their run in the third quarter instead of

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the fourth quarter, right, Like, we need them to just change it

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to the fourth quarter so that we
can get those minutes and that excitement and

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that stuff. No, I think
these finals have been great in general,

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and I kind of push back I
understand it from people saying like, oh

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man, like they're not as fun
and things like that. We haven't gotten

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like the final couple of minutes.
Although I would say Game four was damn

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near classic, there were definitely moments
I was watching or and I do this

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for both teams where I'm just kind
of yelling like what are you doing?

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You know, or I have a
reaction of like oh my god. Like

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there were moments in the fourth quarter
where I was stunned with some of those

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uh those things. But I think
overall, this is this is what happens

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when you have two solid defensive teams
too. Right, it's hard. It's

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hard for just and and this isn't
a shot at anybody. It's hard for

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just fans to fully understand what's going
on on defense and it's and sometimes it's

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hard for me where I'm like,
it's not just effort, just just a

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smidge smidge more than effort. The
ultimate thing is these have been like a

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fun finals. I don't know how
well played it's been, but it's been

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fun and we've had a lot of
excitement within that and those things. We

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just haven't had the final two minutes. It's really really tight scenario yet,

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and I think it's even it's been
a tough I don't know if we have

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too much time except for the with
the one day, but that was so

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weird going from Gay three to Gate
four. You have the one day in

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between. Everything else is like a
million days in between. But I don't

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know if I've had too much time
to think about it. But the more

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I think about it, read about
it, listen about it, dig into

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it, I understand this series less
and less because it feels like it's being

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decided on the margins. You dig
into some of like the vitals of the

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series, and they're basically even on
made threes. Golden State is shooting lights

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out on contested three, Boston shooting
will on uncontested threes. They're about even

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in the paint battle. Boston's a
plus fifteen at the free throw line right

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now, and they've gotten more rebounds, they've won the second chance point battle.

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Is it really when you look at
this series and how they're down three,

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three to two, is it really
just like the turnovers here and looking

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at the difference there, Is that
the biggest thing or what's the next biggest

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thing or the actual biggest thing that's
gone into deciding this series to date?

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There are a couple of things,
but I think the starting point is to

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turnovers because it's the single biggest thing, and it's one of those things where

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the Celtics just throw the ball away, which, by the way, we

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say about the Warriors all the time, you know, they're turnovers. In

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Game five, though, that was
was shocking. Board Yeah, was shocking.

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Curry eight assists, one turnover.
I was like, what happened?

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You know? Everybody was like everybody
got stuck on the over nine of Curry

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from three and I'm like, guys, he had a pretty good game.

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He just didn't make it three.
What does that mean for his legacy?

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Though? Oh yeah, no,
it's all over, you know, I

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listen. I felt like his legacy
was cemented when he won the first ever

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Western Conference UH Finals. MVP cemented, it's over. Everybody just stopped.

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No one else has the magic Johnson
Trophy. That no one else's him.

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Magic Johnson doesn't have the Magic Johnson
Trophy. Let's just put it that way.

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That's how good Curry is. No, but it's gonna come down to

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it. And the other thing too. That's what it managed about the turnovers

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is it's how they're getting the turnovers. The Cells are averaging nine point eight

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live ball turnovers per game. Later
today or tomorrow, I'm gonna have a

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one more thing literally about live ball
turnovers. When they do that, the

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Warriors are able to run get out
in transition, and that means they get

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to attack the Celtics without having to
face one of the toughest defenses in the

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half court. And I think that's
really the series. And that's what it

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means. It's not just are they
turning the ball over, it's those turnovers

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leads to opportunities for the Celtics.
Excuse me, for the Warriors to run

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out and get those you know,
transition threes. Find Clay wide open on

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the wing, UH lose Curry for
a split second, Jordan Poole come running

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off. Those are the keys there, and I think that's like the first

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major like stress point you gotta watch
for. Yeah, and look to that

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point, Golden State in this series
after live ball turnovers one point five three

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points per possession. I believe that
is that is high for anyone who who

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cares. I did see Chris and
Nars who did an interesting threat on this

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the types of turnovers Boston was committing
and how it's easy for us to say,

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just do a better job of taking
care of the ball, but that's

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so many of the turnovers has also
just been like these lost balls that come

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from a shortcoming. When you look
at their ball handlers, is this just

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something then that might be ingrained into
the personnel that they have that we can

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expect them to overcome, not just
this series, but even maybe looking at

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the overall makeup of this roster.
Well, I think it's the starting point

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of like, look, Jalen Brown
needs to become better dribbler. It's not

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gonna happen between games five and six. You know, it's gonna be something

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he's gonna have to work on in
the off season. I mean, it's

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definitely a flawed part of the flaw
that they have. You know, it's

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in the same way that the Warriors
will turn the ball over going for some

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sort of flashy pass, and that's
gonna be the situation. But there's also

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a matter of valuing and understanding of
taking care of the ball, like go

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to a probe dribble, which is
dribble underneath the basket, instead of just

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trying to force a pass us out, you know, and or picking up

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your dribble at the wrong spot and
things like that. It's it's as simple

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as as as that I'm I'm with
Christian in the sense of it's not a

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it's not something that you're just gonna
be able to fix, but you gotta

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cut down on it. It's that
simple, because sometimes it is just these

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turnovers are as bad as just like
you're just handing them the ball. I'd

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rather you punt it out of bounds
and then get to go set your defense

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versus just being able to uh just
here you go, let's see what you

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get because now you're in it.
Just it puts you in a bad position,

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and it's the live ball turnovers.
You know, that's a great stat

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that you just kicked out there,
uh Dan, that I wish I had

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for my video, But like that's
it. You know, like you're out

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of position, you're scrambling at that
point, and that's when the Warriors are

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going to take advantage of you.
So you know, we can say all

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that stuff and it's hard. Yeah, it's hard. So is winning an

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NBA championship. You gotta do the
stuff. You gotta make sure you take

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care of the ball. You just
can't have eighteen turnovers in a game.

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The other thing that I think,
anecdotally for me has been maddening about the

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Celtics is all postseason. It feels
like, and this happened during the regular

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season too, it feels like if
they're close to a lead heavily, the

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game's tied or whatever, they're like
playing to kill clock. Oh god,

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what is it about? Like is
that by design? Is it something in

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this series's Golden States defense is doing? And when you when you break it

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down, I think it's like twenty
three percent of their their shots have come

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inside seven seconds of the shot clock
for this series. That number jumps to

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like thirty percent in the fourth quarter. I get fourth quarters are different.

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What it could mean when things are
contested. But we also haven't seen a

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ton of crunch time here either,
So it's not a matter of them being

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in these high leverage moments, you
know, super frequently or incessantly and trying

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to slow things down. So what
is it about their offense where it just

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feels like they're not getting into anything
or doing anything though there's like twelve seconds

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left on the shot glob. Yeah, this is going to turn into promo

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for one Mode thing. It's there. It's their offense in general. It's

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it's not the Warriors. I don't
And that's not to take anything away from

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the Warriors. They did the same
thing in Game seven against Miami and almost

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lost that game because of that,
right they go oh for five I think

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in the in the final three minutes
of that game and blew a thirteen point

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lead. And it's it's they'd go
to it so often and when their offense

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turns into let's burn clock and then
kind of find a get a one on

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one shot with Tatum or Brown,
you know, in those final seconds of

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the shot clock, it just puts
too much pressure on them, not saying

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that they can't come through, saying
they can't make those shots. It just

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makes it easier for the defense to
defend them. Their offense is at its

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best when they drive and kick,
when they get ball movement and cutting and

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things like that. Jalen Brown getting
an attack a second side is unbelievable,

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and I think that's really where he's
really solid at. You know, I

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think there's there. I call it
jackal and hide. That's their offense.

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The jackal side is the ball,
it's moving, it's a ball movement.

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Everything looks good. But then you
know, mister Hyde shows up and its

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slow it down, let's get one
on one shots, you know, And

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then you have guys like Marcus Smart. He hits a spot up three,

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which is great. Then he's thinking
he's hot and now he's gonna take two

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isolation step back threes with twelve seconds
on the shot clock in a game,

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and you're just throwing your hands up
in the air, going like, well,

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hell dude, that's that's a terrible
shot for us. I don't care

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that you were kind of open.
It's it's that's not the shot we need.

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And I think they have that habit
and it's what scares me. And

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to be honest, Dan, it's
what made me change my Finals prediction before

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I watched it, and I just
said, like, man, if they're

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not going to be able to play
offense at the end of games like this,

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like they're not winning the championship.
And I had them Peg to win

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the championship after they beat the Bucks. I had Golden State and seven came

191
00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:54,679
close to picking Golden State in five. I'm glad I went with the ladder

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00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:56,879
even if possible. Oh, I
would have yelled at you if you picked

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Golden State in five. I have
them in seven at the at the beginning

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of this series, but a lot
of it had to do with more Boston

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just scaring me with their offense.
Yeah, that was what I wrote in

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00:13:05,639 --> 00:13:09,840
I don't know if you did your
prediction atleacher Report, like as part of

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the panel, but I just wrote, like, Golden States offense has more

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00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,039
layers to it than Boston's at this
point, and that's just what I trust

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a little bit more. And and
there are a couple of other points too,

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right, like they actually have a
little bit of scoring coming off the

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bench, Like who do you trust
more? And I don't feel comfortable with

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either of them, but Peyton Frichard
and Derek White or Jordan Poole, right,

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00:13:31,399 --> 00:13:33,559
like Jordan Jordan Pool is gonna get
his shots up, especially at the

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end of third quarters. God damn
it, Boston, can you stop him

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at the end of the very final
seconds, I will say kudos to him

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for putting it up. I am
so just. I get really, if

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we're talking about NBA pet peeves we
have it's not even private data that only

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teams have, and even if that
was the only thing available, trust that

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they're smart enough to look at it. There's public data where heaves and these

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final like second shots are taken out
of your field goal percentage. Throw the

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shot up at the buzzer. Damn
it. I'm not here for these players,

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a lot of them entrenched stars,
and Stephen Curry's not one of them.

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That's also why I love Steph.
Just throw the ball at the hoop.

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Come on, I'm with you.
In the playoffs in the regular season,

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because contracts are often tied to like
field goal percentages and things like that.

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Hey guys, go get your money. Yeah, that's right, So

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that's why argument. But you're right, but more importantly, in that final,

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like I don't think we've made a
big enough deal of this. That

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shot Jordan Pool hit at the end
of the third quarter in Game five changed

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changed everything. If you think about
it this way, Boston finally won a

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third quarter in the series, and
and and that three didn't change the who

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won the third quarter, but it
changed the whole momentum. And what happened

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was the Al Horford goes in crashing
for an offensive rebound, Grant Williams swipes

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at the ball, doesn't get it, and then Boston just stops. Meanwhile,

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Pool just runs along the sideline and
I didn't even think Wiggins was gonna

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get him the ball in time,
and he gets the shot off with the

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narrowest of margin. And now without
instead of going into the fourth quarter up

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to Boston's going into the fourth quarter
down one, So you finally win a

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third quarter and you blow it in
the final three seconds, and that's that

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changed everything, because then that carried
over into the start of the fourth quarter,

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where the Warriors won on a mini
run right there to start it.

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And I think, to me,
that's gonna be a moment, you know,

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if the Warriors end up winning this, especially if they win it in

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Game six, to me, that's
gonna be the moment where everything turned against

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Boston not so fun. Fact,
I was not watching that live because I

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was busy climaxing on a replay of
the Draymond Green bounds pass. When he

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thread the needle. I think that
was like the possession before and I couldn't

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had to go back and rewatch that
Jordan pulls ridiculous though the other element of

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Boston's offense, or one of the
other amounts I want to ask you about.

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It's received enough attention, and I
do think he's done a lot of

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good things as a playmaker. And
there's also been the scheduled tweets every other

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game Jason Tatum has made the leap. That's just consistent. Look, he's

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only he's only nineteen, so so
kudos to him. But he's shooting a

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higher percentage on above the break threes
fifty one point four percent. Then he's

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shooting in the restricted area, he's
fifty percent there, and he's on like

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00:16:26,799 --> 00:16:30,919
thirty one percent from two. In
general, his mid range breakdown is ghastly

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four of twenty form mid range eight
of twenty eight in the pain outside of

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the restricted area. What is is
anything Golden State done gone into that?

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Is it a lot of Tatum looks
gas that points in the game. What

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has gone into just that two point
plunge for him? So it's a little

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bit of everything. I think,
you know, I don't know how much

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of his shoulder is still bothering him. My dog scratching me again. Come

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everybuddy, you might get the dog
on the podcast. Come here, that's

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the real guess that we asked for. But you were the one that showed

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up so well. So he doesn't
have thumbs, so he can't really do

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all the work, all right,
Come everybody here. We got my little

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pup well named after well, not
named after Luca Dodge, but his name

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is Luca. The foster and Rescue
named him Luca, and I was fostering

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him originally, so I wasn't sure
I was going to adopt him. And

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the old you know, after telling
everybody for a month his name was Luca,

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I didn't feel like changing it.
I actually I did know it wasn't

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because it's spelled Luca correct, right, yeah, yeah, yeah. But

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the ultimate thing is, when we're
talking about Jason tatum struggles here, you've

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got to give credit first to Andrew
Wiggins. He's done a great job.

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Clay Thompson rotating over a lot on
these drives has been really good. Another

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layer of defense. I just think
Golden State has done a great job defensively

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on him, showing an extra body
a lot of times when he has opportunities,

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and then there's things with him he's
not going quick enough. If he

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gets to isolation on Steff, he's
got to go right away because the Warriors

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are gonna send help and he's not
doing it. And I think that's kind

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of been the the the difference there. And then this is the wild stat

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and you know, shoulder injury aside, who knows if it's if it's just

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really a stinger. It's the longest
stinger in injury history. He hasn't had

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a dunk dance since Game six of
the Eastern Conference Finals. I did not

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even process that, Like I remember
just thinking to myself the other day going

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like, huh, like, what
was the last time I saw Jason Tatum

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dunk? And I just assumed he
had one or two dunks? And in

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the finals, you know, random
whatever, even just an easy wide open

279
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lay up or something, and I
had to go all the way back and

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the last time was it was like
the second quarter I think in the game

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six and I'm like, damn,
you know, and I think that's that's

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something, you know, maybe it's
a shoulder, maybe it's fatigue, being

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tired and things like that. But
that says a lot because being aggressive at

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the rim makes a big difference.
And I think those are things that are

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really going to matter for him.
And he's got to get I mean,

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Celtics aren't winning anything he doesn't get
back on track. Moving on to the

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Warriors, what have you made of
and this is more than just this series

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00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:30,839
Andrew checkbook. When Wiggins's transformation and
I'm asking you, this is your one

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00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,960
of the best people ask about this
because you were a video coordinator. I

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do think a lot of it has
just been his role is optimized, like

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00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,880
it's more streamline, not as complicated. On offense, they're asking him to

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do a lot of you know,
I feel like his defensive responsibility isn't what

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00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,319
it probably should be like when you
look at his assignments, Yes, but

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maybe overall isn't like when you're looking
at off the ball or some of the

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00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:53,119
moves they're asking him to make on
rotations isn't what you'd expect from a peak

296
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Golden State wing at points. But
I'm also just wondering is there any element

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of just stability here. He's had
the same coach in Golden State. I

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guess the supporting cast has changed,
but just that continuity. How valuable is

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that when especially when you're just comparing
it to his time in Minnesota and the

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amount of unrest that was everywhere in
that organization. Yeah, I mean there's

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a lot of factors when you kind
of compare it to his time in Minnesota,

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stability being a major one in terms
of just the same coach and same

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00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:26,000
front office, you know, and
everybody kind of has stayed relatively the same

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for the most part. And Core, I mean, it's been the same

305
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,839
core for the Warriors for the most
part. Granted a lot of those guys

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were injured, but they were around. I think the roles a big difference,

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Right, You're going from being the
second option of a team in Minnesota

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and probably getting the other team's best
perimeter defender on you, versus going to

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Golden State and now you're i mean, all right, even let's just say

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Clay's on himself, so you're like
the third option, Like you're like the

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00:20:56,799 --> 00:21:00,519
second or third option you're getting the
second or third best perimeter to defender on

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00:21:00,559 --> 00:21:03,359
you, You're not getting the best
perimeter defender on you. I think it

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kind of opens up stuff. And
then he's gotten better himself, Like he's

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learned to play in the system.
He's doing an unbelievable job rebounding, right,

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00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:15,240
It's like, what twenty nine rebounds
over two games now, Like he's

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00:21:15,279 --> 00:21:18,519
like he's just juiced it up.
And that he's averaging like eight point eight

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00:21:18,559 --> 00:21:22,279
per thirty six minutes after averaging like
three point seven per thirty six in the

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00:21:22,319 --> 00:21:26,119
regular season or whatever it is.
That's wild. Yeah. And then and

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00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:29,200
then his defense on Tatum, like
we just talked about, has been really

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00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,200
impressive enough to bother Tatum and put
him into difficult spots. And I think,

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00:21:33,559 --> 00:21:36,960
you know, when you you kind
of just look at the transformation,

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00:21:37,039 --> 00:21:40,799
it's it's more just yeah, like
it's it's also just starting to click.

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00:21:40,839 --> 00:21:44,480
He's in a different role, that's
more he's more suited for. And sometimes

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00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:47,839
that's the case. I think that's
why I get nervous around the draft time,

325
00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:52,000
you know, calling a guy a
bust or something like that. I'm

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00:21:52,039 --> 00:21:55,400
like, oh, well, like, what was the situation he was in

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00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,799
And I'll take a cheap shot here. If you're the Sacramento Kings, like

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00:22:00,039 --> 00:22:03,000
you get drafted by the Kings for
the most part, how many guys have

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00:22:03,079 --> 00:22:07,759
they truly developed? Like Daron Fox
is probably their their their best development guy

330
00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:11,319
right now, and he's kind of
plateaued a little bit last season. He

331
00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:15,920
looked better with Sabonus when when after
the trade, We'll see how that kind

332
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:19,000
of plays out next season. But
everybody else they draft, it's almost like,

333
00:22:19,039 --> 00:22:22,920
okay, they never pan out.
And part of that certain point you

334
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,759
have to look at the organization and
say, like, what are you guys

335
00:22:25,799 --> 00:22:29,640
doing well? New coach every two
years, which means a whole new staff,

336
00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,759
a whole new player development staff,
regime regime, regime, regime,

337
00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:37,440
regime change. Sorry, it took
me a minute. Took me, It

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00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,079
took me a minute. Several regime
changes, you know, over the over

339
00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:44,519
the course of the past few years, like changes the direction of the stuff.

340
00:22:44,599 --> 00:22:47,160
You're drafting a kid and you're not
putting him in a place to succeed.

341
00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:49,880
And I think those you know,
it's it's it's that challenge with those

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00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:56,039
guys, you know, And I
think Donovan Mitchell isn't Donovan Mitchell. If

343
00:22:56,039 --> 00:23:00,319
you got drafted somewhere else, you
know, it's the right opportunity sort paid

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00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,279
off. And now Wiggins is now
in the right situation for him, and

345
00:23:03,319 --> 00:23:10,480
I think him being kind of a
supporting cast member or like a third option

346
00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:14,640
is really what he suited for at
best, instead of what he was in

347
00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,319
Minnesota. And and you know it's
not I mean just the way the scenario

348
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,039
played out. And now he's grown
as a player, like it's fun to

349
00:23:21,079 --> 00:23:25,920
watch. Is he gonna win the
finals MVP? He should win the Finals

350
00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:30,359
MVP. That's that's the direction to
go. Steph didn't make it three in

351
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,759
game five. I don't know how
you vote him Finals MVP at all at

352
00:23:33,759 --> 00:23:37,680
this point. And look, you
mentioned the stuff the Warriors have done as

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00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,200
a team to make life difficult on
Jason Tatum possessions in which Wiggins has Garden

354
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,359
guarded Tatum. The Celtics is a
team, so I'm not going off just

355
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,440
the shot tracking data. The Celtics
is a team point eight points per possession

356
00:23:48,559 --> 00:23:52,599
in those situations. Just that that's
good for the Warriors, really bad for

357
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:56,920
the Celtics. So it's been and
look, his season's been a trip.

358
00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:00,200
By the way, Wiggins ghost from
ohay is he gonna play because he don't

359
00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,759
get vaccinated? To All Star starter
too? I forgot all about that.

360
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,960
Now he's what, he's been the
Warrior's second best player in this Like we

361
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:08,559
don't need to get into ranking who's
been the most viable for the Warriors,

362
00:24:08,559 --> 00:24:11,519
but like we're at a point where
he's been the second best or second most

363
00:24:11,519 --> 00:24:15,599
reliable player for the Warriors in the
in the freaking finals, Like that is

364
00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,599
quite the progression of events over the
past ye months or whatever it's been.

365
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:23,359
I mean, it's it's it's unbelievable
kind of just how he's grown into all

366
00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,640
of that stuff. Like it's it's
been a roller coaster of a year for

367
00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:30,039
him. And you know, good
for him to just kind of hold on

368
00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:33,000
in that, and then good for
just the organization stuck with him, believed

369
00:24:33,039 --> 00:24:37,000
with him, and and and I
think they've kind of found found something in

370
00:24:37,039 --> 00:24:41,240
it. We'll see what happens contract
extension time, but you know it'll be

371
00:24:41,319 --> 00:24:45,319
an interesting scenario. But right now
they're a game away from winning the finals,

372
00:24:45,319 --> 00:24:49,640
and large parts Steph Curry, but
some of that's also Andrew Wiggins,

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You can't deny that. This is
the question I've been dying to ask you.

374
00:24:55,039 --> 00:25:00,359
How many stars did you give Draymond
Green's podcasts. I give all all

375
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,920
podcasts that I rate five stars.
You know, for this one, I

376
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:07,839
saw your one star review that said
if I could give it a half star

377
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,160
review, I would, No,
I said, if I wanted to give

378
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:12,920
it negative stars. Oh, I
mean this one it was more just,

379
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:15,119
you know, because I just said, I want to level out the I

380
00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:18,160
want to bring down the competition.
Maybe that's what I need to start doing,

381
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:22,839
is just start rating everybody's a one
star, everybody that competes against me,

382
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,480
whether they're good or not. You
would Lakers fans have done that to

383
00:25:26,559 --> 00:25:30,599
this podcast more than a few times, so you shot might be something shocking.

384
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:36,240
Laker fans being petty, shocking.
You know, they can't realize,

385
00:25:36,279 --> 00:25:40,680
you know, that they've put themselves
in a bad situation after winning the championship.

386
00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:44,440
Their defense, I talked about Kyle
Kuzla. I don't even remember what

387
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,599
I said, but that was the
that was the that's what inside it it.

388
00:25:48,759 --> 00:25:52,400
But actual Draymond Green the podcast stuff
was always ridiculous. I also think

389
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:56,839
he's ridiculous with it by claiming he's
new media, but he's also not media.

390
00:25:56,240 --> 00:26:00,599
Please just shut up already about that. I'm all for being in the

391
00:26:00,599 --> 00:26:03,039
media. If you want to call
yourself new media, fine, but you

392
00:26:03,079 --> 00:26:04,480
can't say I'm new media and then
say I'm not media, Like, let's

393
00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:08,839
have some consistency here. You literally
can't say the word I'm new media and

394
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:12,480
but I'm not media like. You
just can't. That doesn't make it doesn't

395
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:18,799
work right. You are correct.
Has the criticism of him been when you're

396
00:26:18,839 --> 00:26:21,440
looking at the actual play on the
court, not what he's doing in his

397
00:26:21,519 --> 00:26:26,039
hotel room completely sober, just recording
podcast. But the criticism have found on

398
00:26:26,079 --> 00:26:30,720
the court. Has it been overblown
or more fair this series? No,

399
00:26:30,839 --> 00:26:33,559
I think it's been fair. I
think just is on the court stuff.

400
00:26:33,599 --> 00:26:37,640
I think, you know, he
hasn't been very good. Now. He

401
00:26:37,759 --> 00:26:41,559
was a lot better in game five, you know, And I think you

402
00:26:41,599 --> 00:26:45,519
know my assessment was after game two. I think he got caught up in

403
00:26:45,559 --> 00:26:49,680
the noise of everything, of all
the antics of game two, and that

404
00:26:49,759 --> 00:26:52,559
kind of led to him being out
of it a little bit in game three,

405
00:26:52,599 --> 00:26:56,559
into a degree in game four.
But like Game five, he kind

406
00:26:56,559 --> 00:27:00,480
of looked like himself, and part
of that actually is a self fault.

407
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,599
And this is what I mean by
it. They changed their defensive coverage and

408
00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,920
decided, all right, Steph dropped
forty three on us, we have to

409
00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,079
crowd him. Let's put two on
him, Let's go to work, and

410
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:15,039
let's let's you know, really kind
of make his life a little bit difficult.

411
00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,480
Well, that opened up opportunities for
Draymond. Pick and roll, they

412
00:27:18,559 --> 00:27:21,519
found, you know, Curry finds
Draymond for a layup. It opened up

413
00:27:21,559 --> 00:27:25,440
the fake handoff, turned the corner
dunk for Draymond. He only had eight

414
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:27,559
points, but they were significant eight
points, and then he kind of got

415
00:27:27,599 --> 00:27:33,160
everything rolling with those things. I
think there was a this is the Draymond

416
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,880
we kind of come to expect a
little bit. I think defensively, he's

417
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:42,880
still been pretty solid. There's great
stuff of him kind of reading the reading

418
00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:47,480
the offense and immediately diagnosing what needs
to be, what needs to happen,

419
00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:52,160
and instantaneously, you know, being
the solution at the same time. And

420
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,480
I think that's one of those things
when you're watching Draymond that makes him special.

421
00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:57,400
I just think he kind of got
lost for a couple of games.

422
00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:00,640
I mean, hell, his own
mom tweet did it. Now it was

423
00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,720
a joke, but like his own
mom tweeted it, who and can?

424
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,039
Why are you tweeting at Draymond's mom
to ask what's wrong with Draymond in the

425
00:28:07,039 --> 00:28:11,519
finals, because that's what she was
presumably responding to. I just I believe

426
00:28:11,519 --> 00:28:15,920
it. I like I would,
I believe people are doing it. I

427
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,920
just my mind would never go that
way where it's I'm gonna treat it,

428
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,799
tweet it Draymond's mom to see what's
wrong with him? What are you trying

429
00:28:22,839 --> 00:28:26,119
to accomplish there? Yeah, no, that's that's just Twitter. We know

430
00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:30,079
how that goes. We tweet it, you know, whatever, somebody tweats

431
00:28:30,079 --> 00:28:32,240
it. That stuff. But back
to the real important stuff, which is

432
00:28:32,279 --> 00:28:36,200
Draymond on the court. You know, I think the thing that's really important

433
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,240
is his passing and like he kind
of really does open up the offense and

434
00:28:40,279 --> 00:28:42,359
a lot of the off ball movements
of things. And I think that's going

435
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:45,960
to be something. You know,
they need him on the court, and

436
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:49,359
part of that is they need him
to kind of be more like ten per

437
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,720
commer, right, Like I know
he amps it up to like thirty five,

438
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:56,400
but like, yo, to just
play at of thirty three, like

439
00:28:56,559 --> 00:29:00,920
let's just go from there. And
I think they can be they can be

440
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,519
just fine. But the criticism has
been fair of him on the court,

441
00:29:04,559 --> 00:29:07,119
Like I just thought there were there
had been times where he was just straight

442
00:29:07,119 --> 00:29:11,119
bad and he wasn't looking to attack. And it's not like I need Draymond

443
00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:15,319
to score fifteen points, No,
I just need Draymond to take the open

444
00:29:15,359 --> 00:29:22,880
shots when it's there. The game
four pass to Looney that ultimately led to

445
00:29:23,599 --> 00:29:27,039
a bucket off the short roll,
and everybody's like, that's why you can't

446
00:29:27,079 --> 00:29:30,279
you know that's Draymond. I goa
Yo. He didn't look at the rim

447
00:29:30,319 --> 00:29:36,240
at all that possession, And the
real the smart play would have been for

448
00:29:36,279 --> 00:29:41,119
al Horford to just drop to Looney
and then jump forward to Draymond on the

449
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:44,440
on the shot attempt because he didn't
want to shoot that. And I think

450
00:29:44,519 --> 00:29:47,519
that's the important thing to watch for
in game six, is he going to

451
00:29:47,559 --> 00:29:52,200
be more willing to shoot that and
just show that threat of shooting it versus

452
00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:56,519
h constantly looking to pass out of
it. You had just mentioned something too

453
00:29:56,559 --> 00:30:00,160
that I didn't think about until Caitlyn
Cooper of any Cormo was pointed out to

454
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:03,759
me, and then Jared Dubin of
various places tweets about it, where the

455
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:10,440
drop coverage Boston was playing against Steph
was widely panned because of how great Steph

456
00:30:10,519 --> 00:30:12,680
was playing. And look by the
way Steph was still like having to create

457
00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:17,440
all of his own looks when you
just look at his self made, self

458
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,599
created bucket percentage of this world's higher
than it was not just in the regular

459
00:30:19,599 --> 00:30:22,079
season, but the previous three rounds. So it wasn't like life was easy

460
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:26,039
for him, but it was just, oh, why aren't you blitzing him

461
00:30:26,119 --> 00:30:27,759
or throwing more bodies at him?
Well, as they point out, you

462
00:30:27,839 --> 00:30:33,359
point out it opens up the playmaking
aspect of getting Draymond space in the short

463
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,200
role to decision make. Is there
by getting away from that and changing the

464
00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:41,680
way they defended Steph in Game five? Is there any other benefit aside from

465
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:45,079
the Draymond stuff to the Warriors there
as well when you're looking at their supporting

466
00:30:45,119 --> 00:30:49,599
cast. It opened everything up.
I mean part of the opportunities that Wiggins

467
00:30:49,599 --> 00:30:52,680
got where he was phenomenal in this
game and it became a Wiggins game.

468
00:30:53,359 --> 00:30:56,680
It was because they were putting two
on Steff. You know, there was

469
00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:03,279
a post split action where they jumped
Steph at on the catch and Wiggans slips

470
00:31:02,799 --> 00:31:07,319
the slips the screen and Curry hits
him. Like it opened up driving lanes

471
00:31:07,319 --> 00:31:10,680
for everybody. Everybody got free looks
out of that stuff. And I think,

472
00:31:11,119 --> 00:31:12,440
to me, that's not how I
would have wanted to play. I

473
00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:18,039
would have stuck with we're gonna just
make sure everybody else doesn't score, because

474
00:31:18,359 --> 00:31:22,240
Steph would over nine and you still
lost. Like and granted he had a

475
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:26,279
good game, you can't lose that
if you're the boss of Celtics and you

476
00:31:26,279 --> 00:31:30,279
get Curry to go over nine from
three, Like, let's just be honest,

477
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,799
when is that happening again? What
are the odds you're gonna get him

478
00:31:33,799 --> 00:31:37,319
to do or even go two for
eight in game six? Like I think

479
00:31:37,559 --> 00:31:40,200
slim, he's never won the finals
MVP, so I'd say the chances are

480
00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:44,000
pretty high. Conference finals MVPs all
he needed, Dan, We've discussed this

481
00:31:44,119 --> 00:31:52,200
already. Incredible. The other thing
that's weird or it's not weird, but

482
00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:53,519
and I phrase, that's he wrong
and the outline I sent you, But

483
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:59,200
like the Celtics. I didn't bother
reading it. I figured you wouldn't,

484
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:02,759
but I always like this in case
people people want to Otherwise you get in

485
00:32:02,759 --> 00:32:06,720
a situation like me where I went
on a Calves podcast the other day and

486
00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:09,000
they asked me what I thought about
like Cleveland's rebrand, and it was just

487
00:32:09,039 --> 00:32:13,440
like I wasn't prepared. I wasn't
paying attention to rebrand stuff. I didn't

488
00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:15,079
even know the Calves had a rebrand, so I had to look it up

489
00:32:15,119 --> 00:32:21,160
on the spot. But anyway,
the Robert Williams minutes without Al Horford have

490
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,599
been killer, and they're not always
small like Graham Williams can be on the

491
00:32:23,599 --> 00:32:29,920
floor in those situations. Is that
just sort of how much time maybe Horford

492
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:34,119
is seen and like those numbers,
are they swayed by Horford having spent so

493
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:37,960
much time in drop switching on Steph
Curry or is there really something to what

494
00:32:38,759 --> 00:32:43,000
r W three is doing? And
would you they can't extend his minutes more

495
00:32:43,039 --> 00:32:45,720
with his knee and he's played thirty
plus the past two games, but are

496
00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:50,279
you maybe looking at those specific lineup
combinations a little bit more leading into Game

497
00:32:50,359 --> 00:32:54,279
six and potentially Game seven of Rob
Williams as you're five without Al Horford.

498
00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:58,519
Yeah, I mean that was the
other thing they made this. They played

499
00:32:58,559 --> 00:33:00,519
more big in Game five? Are
you gonna go? Sorry, I'm talking

500
00:33:00,559 --> 00:33:02,640
to my dog. You're gonna go? There we go? He left.

501
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:07,039
He got tired of you, Dan. It was off the rails with the

502
00:33:07,359 --> 00:33:09,640
with the staff. He's fed up
with the Steph Legacy tals. He's like,

503
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:14,920
come on, guys, he's no
way he's that great. I argue

504
00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:16,200
with my dog all the time.
My dog hates basketball. He just goes

505
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:22,480
to sleep the He's like Luca dogs
in the off season. Yoh yeah.

506
00:33:22,519 --> 00:33:25,559
He just looks at me going like
you're gonna feed me? Yet The ultimate

507
00:33:25,599 --> 00:33:30,599
thing is the weird thing in game
five was a how often they played big

508
00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,200
together? Because to me, they
have the better small ball lineup. For

509
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:37,000
sure, they can beat the Warriors
in small ball. Like that's the thing.

510
00:33:37,079 --> 00:33:40,119
That's that's that's wild to me.
And I think when you play Williams

511
00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:45,519
and Horford out there together, he
STEP's kind of like, great, this

512
00:33:45,559 --> 00:33:49,440
is awesome. Two bigs to target, you know, and and and and

513
00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:51,799
so on, and one of them's
got a bad wheel, Like yeah,

514
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:54,279
let's go now, Granted there were
opportunities. There were moments where like Williams

515
00:33:54,319 --> 00:33:58,599
did a good job, they were
up higher on the screens in Game five

516
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:01,240
and really again pressure in a little
bit more, but it opens up more

517
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:05,880
opportunities. I was surprised how they
played big that long. I'm with you,

518
00:34:06,519 --> 00:34:09,559
I think they will play small again
for most of Game six because that's

519
00:34:09,559 --> 00:34:14,079
their best lineup and it's something that
I don't think the Warriors can contend with

520
00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,559
that. Well, like the Warriors, oddly enough, probably are better serves

521
00:34:16,559 --> 00:34:24,159
playing big, more so than the
Celtics. Yeah. I mean they've punted

522
00:34:24,199 --> 00:34:28,760
on the pool party lineup or whatever
it is, and even look the most

523
00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:30,920
interesting. And it's not even a
small lineup. But it's when they pulled

524
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:34,960
Draymond and they put Gary Payton in
the second in and so Cavan Looney's in

525
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,880
the middle with Clay Wiggins, GP
two and Staff is a lineup that I

526
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:44,199
think is intriguing for them. Are
there any adjustments that have been made by

527
00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:49,840
either side this series that you've particularly
loved or particularly disliked Slash haven't agreed with.

528
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:53,880
Well, I'm still yelling and upset
about drop coverage. I just think

529
00:34:53,920 --> 00:34:58,280
you can't do that against stuff like
and I get everybody saying like, no,

530
00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,559
no, it's not as bad as
no, it's bad, and more

531
00:35:00,599 --> 00:35:05,000
importantly, like you need to at
least show stuff you're up on the screen

532
00:35:05,039 --> 00:35:07,559
before you start retreating, And a
lot of times even when they're up,

533
00:35:07,559 --> 00:35:10,360
they begin to retreat as soon as
he comes off, and I just think,

534
00:35:10,639 --> 00:35:15,519
to me, that's a little bit
wild. I think one thing we

535
00:35:15,559 --> 00:35:17,880
probably haven't even given Kurr enough credit
for it because I was shocked when he

536
00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:22,159
got put in the game. But
Nemanya Belle Eliza has held up very well.

537
00:35:22,199 --> 00:35:24,719
You gotta give Kurr credit for that. You know, they've gone at

538
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,480
him at a couple of times and
he's ended up stripping them. And if

539
00:35:28,519 --> 00:35:30,760
ever there's a sign of like yo, the Celtics can't dribble, Nemanya Belle

540
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:37,840
Eliza's picking dudes clean. I think
those are some of the small rotation adjustments

541
00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:43,320
from that. For me, the
big thing kur has done is after Game

542
00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:47,119
three where he basically bench Looney for
the whole fourth quarter. He's played him

543
00:35:47,159 --> 00:35:50,519
a lot more since then, and
I think that's paid off. Like I

544
00:35:50,519 --> 00:35:52,519
think there's just been a lot of
small tweaks here and there that are gonna

545
00:35:52,519 --> 00:35:58,960
bore everybody, But overall, there's
just been a couple of stuff, and

546
00:35:59,159 --> 00:36:01,000
at the end of the day,
it's just draft coverage. Every time they're

547
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:06,159
in draft coverage about against Steph.
Just understand I'm somewhere screaming at a TV

548
00:36:07,519 --> 00:36:12,559
noted duly noted. You're the coach
now of both teams. What's even if

549
00:36:12,599 --> 00:36:16,079
we've already discussed it, what's one
adjustment you're making for each heading into Game

550
00:36:16,119 --> 00:36:20,880
six? And I'm rooting for a
Game seven because I love chaos and high

551
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,719
stakes moments. Well, I predicted
Warriors and seven, so I'm just doing

552
00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:28,880
for my own agenda for for my
prediction, right, I am fullyheartedly being

553
00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:30,639
selfish. That is why I was
a Phoenix Suns fan for most of this

554
00:36:30,679 --> 00:36:35,840
season. I predicted them to win
the title in the preseason and I felt

555
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:43,559
not terrible about it until that Game
seven against that that was rough the for

556
00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:47,119
the Celtics. It's what I said, play small, longer and and and

557
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:52,199
don't slow down on offense. Get
get more ball movement, run more sets,

558
00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:57,199
get more actions, get more involvement
of everybody, get the defense moving.

559
00:36:57,199 --> 00:37:00,960
When you've stuck playing a lot of
one on one stuff is plays right

560
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:04,280
into the Warrior's hands. You don't
want that, get the action move And

561
00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:08,519
so for me, for the Celtics, play smaller and play faster. For

562
00:37:08,599 --> 00:37:14,119
the Warriors, I would look at
it more. I don't want to say

563
00:37:14,119 --> 00:37:22,679
almost the exact I think for the
Warriors, understand that their first they're gonna

564
00:37:22,679 --> 00:37:25,800
come out fired up with their first
punch to start this game. Just stay

565
00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:31,559
the course there and you're you constantly
just have continue to the offense you have

566
00:37:31,639 --> 00:37:37,039
been doing, which is constantly moving
and putting pressure on them, and run

567
00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:40,599
every chance you get in transition,
off of missus, off of turnovers,

568
00:37:40,639 --> 00:37:44,480
even off of makes. If there's
an opportunity to get up and get the

569
00:37:44,519 --> 00:37:47,000
ball up the court quickly and attack
quickly, you gotta do it every chance

570
00:37:47,039 --> 00:37:52,320
you can, because that defense is
still really stifling. Who is one non

571
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:57,880
star like, non prominent player from
each team that that you're watching heading into

572
00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:02,440
game six and again maybe game seven. I think for the Warriors it's besides

573
00:38:02,519 --> 00:38:06,880
Looney, who I think you know
is pretty obvious. I think it's Gary

574
00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:10,320
Payton. The second he's come in
defensively, Oh you got so happy there.

575
00:38:10,519 --> 00:38:15,079
I love Gary Payton the second there
you go, great story with everything

576
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:20,440
and and all that of him coming
through, but he's come in and has

577
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:23,760
come up with some pretty big stops, strips and things like that. Has

578
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:28,639
hit some shot six to eight I
think from the field in Game five,

579
00:38:29,280 --> 00:38:32,360
you know, knocking down one three
and just small cuts and things like that.

580
00:38:32,679 --> 00:38:37,280
He's got to continue to be effective
both on the offensive vent and defenseman

581
00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:38,519
and they're not gonna guard him on
offense, so he's got to make them

582
00:38:38,559 --> 00:38:43,119
pay for that with timely cuts and
hitting a couple of threes. For the

583
00:38:43,159 --> 00:38:45,519
Celtics, it's two guys, and
it's it's two guys as if we can

584
00:38:45,519 --> 00:38:50,840
morph them into one, and it's
Derek White and Peyton Pritchard and they were

585
00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,960
the same player. He just like
combined them into one player, maybe a

586
00:38:54,159 --> 00:38:58,679
max player, uh not Max,
maybe a little less, but ultimately really

587
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:02,800
good. I think you need those
guys to come through because right now the

588
00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:07,519
Celtics only have five guys, and
I think that's the hard thing. Like

589
00:39:07,559 --> 00:39:09,559
Grant Williams has not been very good
the series, I don't think he's gonna

590
00:39:09,559 --> 00:39:15,039
get any better. We've seen flashes
from White and Pritchard and those guys need

591
00:39:15,079 --> 00:39:20,000
to kind of stay consistent. White
started out Game four really well, ten

592
00:39:20,039 --> 00:39:23,079
points in the first half, sucked
the second half, and you know,

593
00:39:23,480 --> 00:39:28,760
those guys need to provide a punch, either defensively or offensively. But they

594
00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:32,360
need to bring something for the Celtics
to justify their minutes. And it's just

595
00:39:32,599 --> 00:39:36,119
buy time for some of those guys
to get a couple of minutes here and

596
00:39:36,159 --> 00:39:40,000
there. Derek White especially just because
the defensive pressure he provides is invaluable to

597
00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:43,679
them. And I thought, for
some reason, I after Game five,

598
00:39:43,760 --> 00:39:46,199
I thought he played like twelve or
thirteen minutes. It turns out he played

599
00:39:46,239 --> 00:39:49,599
twenty plus. And like, I
guess that was the extent to which you

600
00:39:49,639 --> 00:39:53,039
just didn't feel him on the court
during that time. Yeah no, And

601
00:39:53,079 --> 00:39:58,119
that's the thing, right, Like
those hurt Those no minutes at a random

602
00:39:58,159 --> 00:40:00,280
time kind of kill you, Like
you're you're there, but we don't feel

603
00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:06,840
you. Those those really kill teams. This is the clickbait question of the

604
00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:14,039
podcast. Is Steph Curry the Finals
MVP at this moment? And is there

605
00:40:14,079 --> 00:40:17,960
anyone whether it's the Warriors blowing this
lead, whether it's someone on the Warriors

606
00:40:17,960 --> 00:40:21,360
coming up and use to bring him. Is anyone close enough to where he

607
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:25,119
wouldn't win the finals? MVP at
this juncture through five games, is Steph

608
00:40:25,199 --> 00:40:29,199
Curry? Again, everybody's gonna harp
on over nine, But you gotta understand

609
00:40:29,239 --> 00:40:34,920
what he did in game four.
He won into Boston and dropped forty three,

610
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:37,480
and it must win for the team, right they go down three one,

611
00:40:37,559 --> 00:40:40,840
this thing's over. Yeah, done, No, it's this series is

612
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:45,239
done, like they're they're not coming
back from that. And he came in

613
00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:47,920
there and you can sense it from
the first quarter when he hits the three.

614
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:51,559
Everybody's talked about it. When he
hits the three and then runs to

615
00:40:51,599 --> 00:40:55,519
the other end of the court to
talk trash to the Celtics Bension fans before

616
00:40:55,559 --> 00:40:59,360
going to join his team in the
time out, that's not Steph Curry,

617
00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:04,239
that's Draymond Greed. But that's something
like he set the tone in that and

618
00:41:04,280 --> 00:41:07,760
that was a monster moment right there, and and did everything in that game,

619
00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:13,199
and some of his shots he hit
were incredibly difficult. I think that's

620
00:41:13,239 --> 00:41:16,599
to me, like a defining moment
there. Now it Who knows what happens

621
00:41:16,599 --> 00:41:20,679
in games six or seven, like, you know, we we joked about

622
00:41:20,679 --> 00:41:25,119
it on one of the million freaking
things I'm on the how's that for self

623
00:41:25,159 --> 00:41:28,599
promotion? Yeah? Yeah, I'm
on a lot of stuff. Enjoy.

624
00:41:29,639 --> 00:41:34,559
Just just stick around long enough,
you'll probably hear me talking. If say,

625
00:41:34,599 --> 00:41:37,960
he has a terrible game and the
Warriors close out Game six and Wiggins

626
00:41:37,960 --> 00:41:43,199
has forty points, now you're in
an interesting conversation in that scenario. I

627
00:41:43,239 --> 00:41:45,960
don't think it's gonna happen. I
think STEP's gonna end up being the finals

628
00:41:46,039 --> 00:41:49,599
MVP, and I think, you
know, just looking at it, through

629
00:41:49,639 --> 00:41:52,679
five games, he's been the best
and most consistent player, and I believe

630
00:41:52,679 --> 00:41:55,239
a smart guy on Bleacher Report might
have wrote an article about that. I

631
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:59,119
don't know if you know him,
Dan, No, you said smart,

632
00:41:59,159 --> 00:42:00,400
so I definitely don't. They don't
know him. That would probably be it's

633
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:02,840
not me. That would have been
the single nicest thing you've ever said to

634
00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:07,320
me, if that's the case.
The final thing I wanted to ask you

635
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:09,639
about this, and it's getting out
in front a little bit, but how

636
00:42:09,719 --> 00:42:14,599
much if you end up losing this
series is either team, how much do

637
00:42:14,639 --> 00:42:17,159
you react to the manner in which
you lose? Where It's like if you

638
00:42:17,199 --> 00:42:21,480
look at the Celtics, like if
they lose this series, is it something

639
00:42:21,519 --> 00:42:22,719
where they look at their roster and
say, Okay, we really need like

640
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:27,159
more of a game manager ball handler. Or if it's the Warriors and they

641
00:42:27,159 --> 00:42:29,840
blow this lead. And I'm not
saying, oh, you need to trade

642
00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:31,199
Jonathan Cominga, but how much do
you then look at, Okay, well,

643
00:42:31,199 --> 00:42:35,519
we might need some higher end veteran
help if they're available, and actually

644
00:42:35,559 --> 00:42:38,039
look on the trade market because you've
come so close. The argument could be

645
00:42:38,079 --> 00:42:42,159
you don't need to do anything wholesale, but if it's something that's sort of

646
00:42:42,159 --> 00:42:46,039
reoccurring where it looks like the Warriors
aren't athletic enough or the Celtics turnover ball

647
00:42:46,039 --> 00:42:50,400
handling problems, and you, having
worked for teams in the past, like

648
00:42:50,440 --> 00:42:58,000
how much stock do you place into
the like the unflattering results of a series

649
00:42:58,039 --> 00:43:00,559
at this level we're talking about in
the finals there like this is it.

650
00:43:00,639 --> 00:43:05,159
You're one of the final two teams. It doesn't matter who wins. Both

651
00:43:05,199 --> 00:43:07,519
teams are gonna need to make adjustments
to the roster, right And I know

652
00:43:07,559 --> 00:43:12,559
which is like there's no, I
don't put stock and we won. We

653
00:43:12,559 --> 00:43:16,480
shouldn't have to do anything else,
right, Like it'd be different. Like

654
00:43:16,519 --> 00:43:20,199
if the Celtics win the championship,
you're not doing anything to the core.

655
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:22,639
You lose the championship, you're not
doing anything to the core. Right,

656
00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:24,920
Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, those
are your guys. You're gonna roll with

657
00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:29,159
them. Marcus Smart, you're probably
gonna roll with him. You need to

658
00:43:29,239 --> 00:43:31,400
upgrade the edges a little bit,
especially your bench, because you basically have

659
00:43:31,480 --> 00:43:37,440
turned into five guys. You know
who said this. Jason Tatus played like

660
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:40,960
a thousand minutes in the playoffs already. That's like s absurdities. Yeah,

661
00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:44,599
you know you need you need to
kind of get You need to find a

662
00:43:44,599 --> 00:43:49,239
little bit more depth on the bench, regardless how this series plays out.

663
00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:52,039
For the Warriors, you need to
find more athleticism. That's the one thing

664
00:43:52,119 --> 00:43:54,960
I watch, you know, when
they're the Celtics are the better team.

665
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:59,239
The Warriors just have the best player
and Steph curt that might not be the

666
00:43:59,239 --> 00:44:00,920
case next season. And that's not
a shot at Curry. It's just a

667
00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:05,920
matter of like, yo, he's
getting old and and you need to find

668
00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:10,280
more athleticism along the wing. It's
surprising how small they are. You know,

669
00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:15,280
it's it's Wiggins, and and and
Claire are are are big. But

670
00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:20,679
you know, obviously, Steph,
you're playing Pool, You're playing Peyton like

671
00:44:20,719 --> 00:44:22,920
they're small at the end of the
day. And I think that's something you're

672
00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:27,880
watching with that going like damn,
all right, well you kind of need

673
00:44:27,880 --> 00:44:30,079
to size up. And maybe that's
cominga and Moses Moody making a leap and

674
00:44:30,119 --> 00:44:34,960
you don't need to do much.
Maybe it's James Wiseman, you know,

675
00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:38,239
actually playing Yeah, I mean there's
a whole that's a whole other podcast of

676
00:44:38,280 --> 00:44:43,360
its own. James Wiseman ramp up. Was it the phrasing that will live

677
00:44:43,360 --> 00:44:46,199
in infamy? Whatever it was,
I mean, no, I'm not gonna

678
00:44:46,239 --> 00:44:51,159
do it. Uh the That's that's
growth, by the way, self restraint

679
00:44:51,239 --> 00:44:53,320
right there, that's growth. I'm
waiting for you to slip in some Timberwolves

680
00:44:53,320 --> 00:44:55,760
slander before we close out. No, if I didn't do it when we

681
00:44:55,800 --> 00:45:00,039
did the Wiggans conversation, I'm not
even doing that now. I've I've grown

682
00:45:00,079 --> 00:45:05,079
as a human being dead. But
I think there's there's win or lose.

683
00:45:05,239 --> 00:45:08,239
Both teams need to make those adjustments
because here's the other thing. Western Conference

684
00:45:08,280 --> 00:45:14,119
next year gonna be unbelievable. Blodget. Yeah, assuming the Clippers are healthy,

685
00:45:14,199 --> 00:45:15,800
that's a you know, Kawai and
PG coming back. Yeah, that's

686
00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:20,039
kind of a difference maker. Jamal
Murray coming back, that's kind of a

687
00:45:20,039 --> 00:45:22,960
difference maker for Denver. Who knows
what happens with Michael Porter Junior's back.

688
00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:28,559
And then in the East, the
East is wild. Who I mean,

689
00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:32,599
I don't know what's gonna happen in
Brooklyn or Philly, but I mean Janice

690
00:45:32,880 --> 00:45:37,039
is still in the East, and
he's probably you know, right up there.

691
00:45:37,039 --> 00:45:39,440
And they always in the conversation for
best player in the NBA, and

692
00:45:39,519 --> 00:45:42,880
I think, you know, you're, you're. You've got a lot of

693
00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:45,880
teams to watch for, so I
think it's gonna be interesting. I think

694
00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:49,199
both those teams can't rest on their
laurels. Whether they win or lose this,

695
00:45:49,639 --> 00:45:52,079
they both have to make adjustments.
That is a great point, especially

696
00:45:52,119 --> 00:45:57,400
about the Western Conferences, the Nuggets
being fully, fully healthy and the Clippers

697
00:45:57,440 --> 00:46:00,760
and Timberwillves fans got mad at me
and claim I didn't watch Some Timber fans

698
00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:05,159
clim I didn't watch anither games By
saying, just assuming the Clippers are gonna

699
00:46:05,159 --> 00:46:10,880
better next year the Nuggets. You
got me into this. You fooled me

700
00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:15,440
in before you go to the Nuggets. I'm just saying, a healthy Kawhi

701
00:46:15,599 --> 00:46:22,480
Leonard and a healthy Paul George would
destroy the crap out of this Minnesota Timberwolves

702
00:46:22,559 --> 00:46:25,320
team. They would crush them.
The argument was, which I don't know

703
00:46:25,320 --> 00:46:29,519
how you relate this to me not
watching games, but it was, is

704
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:32,360
that we can't just assume the Clippers
and Nuggets are gonna be healthy. Which

705
00:46:32,400 --> 00:46:36,519
is fine, one of them is. The odds are one of them is

706
00:46:36,519 --> 00:46:39,480
gonna make it through the season pretty
healthy. More importantly, I can't assume

707
00:46:39,519 --> 00:46:44,559
Minnesota is going to be healthy.
You can't assume health for anybody. It's

708
00:46:44,599 --> 00:46:46,360
just this is the way the NBA
goes, right, Like, just look

709
00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:51,039
at it this way. Before twenty
nineteen, Clay Thompson was the bastion of

710
00:46:52,159 --> 00:46:57,119
good health for the most part,
rarely missed games. Dude had to miss

711
00:46:57,119 --> 00:47:00,000
like three thousand days. I don't
know whatever it was, almost a thousand

712
00:47:00,119 --> 00:47:04,239
days. Put it in that context, it's so long. It's nine hundred

713
00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:07,599
days. Like his first major injury
led to a second major injury. So

714
00:47:08,159 --> 00:47:13,159
every team is an injury away.
So like using that as the argument of

715
00:47:13,159 --> 00:47:15,440
like, well, we can't predict
health's like, we can't predict you guys

716
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:19,599
are going to be healthy either.
You know, every teams a tweak away

717
00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:22,880
from from something terrible. So like
just looking at the rosters of the two

718
00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:27,760
teams and you know, if just
assuming both sides are healthy, which is

719
00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:31,719
all we can really do. Yeah, the Clippers beat the crap out of

720
00:47:31,760 --> 00:47:36,480
Minnesota. That was the only goal
of this podcast, to get you to

721
00:47:36,519 --> 00:47:39,480
say something negative about Minnesota. Is
there anything else you got me? I

722
00:47:39,639 --> 00:47:44,920
was growing as a human being the
buzzer too, at the buzzer. Is

723
00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:47,280
there anything else about this series though, that I didn't ask you about,

724
00:47:47,599 --> 00:47:51,199
or that you think is being under
discussed, that that we need to touch

725
00:47:51,239 --> 00:47:54,920
upon quickly? God, we hit
on everything. I think you know,

726
00:47:55,679 --> 00:48:00,920
one thing maybe it's fun to talk
about is the crowd. I thought,

727
00:48:00,159 --> 00:48:04,920
I mean, the crowd in Boston
is very impressive. But yes, Ruth,

728
00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:07,559
listen, Yeah, Okay, the
cursing and things like that. I

729
00:48:07,599 --> 00:48:10,159
find it funny when players are upset
about the cursing, considering how much they

730
00:48:10,199 --> 00:48:15,280
curse on the court. I'm sorry
Clay coming on the podium after Dreymonds as

731
00:48:15,320 --> 00:48:20,400
he plays like shit in front of
his son and talking about how Boston answered

732
00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:22,920
cars they get in front of the
children, Clay for the children, Thompson,

733
00:48:23,599 --> 00:48:27,719
that was just like I loved that
moment. I mean, no,

734
00:48:27,800 --> 00:48:30,880
but Clay has never cursed, like
come on dog, like no. It's

735
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:35,800
it's like I've heard so much worse, you know, on the court and

736
00:48:35,840 --> 00:48:37,400
things like that, and I think
there's an element of that. But give

737
00:48:37,519 --> 00:48:40,599
I want to give credit and I
want to give credit to the fans that

738
00:48:40,760 --> 00:48:45,239
Chase. You know, they were
really into Game five. I had questions

739
00:48:45,280 --> 00:48:47,400
after Game one and two, but
Game five, like you could really feel

740
00:48:47,440 --> 00:48:51,760
them in their presence and that stuff, and I think it's it's been fun,

741
00:48:51,840 --> 00:48:53,679
so, you know, for the
most part, Like I think the

742
00:48:54,119 --> 00:48:59,679
home court advantages has been a little
bit real to a degree, hasn't necessarily

743
00:48:59,719 --> 00:49:04,440
played out and wins because both teams
won on the road. But I mean

744
00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:07,920
Boston gets lit man, and I
mean lit like I was in the city

745
00:49:08,360 --> 00:49:13,079
for Game four and that at nine
o'clock start, which is my first time

746
00:49:13,159 --> 00:49:17,800
experiencing that. That's weird as hell
on a Friday. Then Peoples was boozing

747
00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:23,360
at like five, maybe even four. Like the bars around the arena had

748
00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:30,000
like lines around, like or lapping
the block almost it was like going to

749
00:49:30,079 --> 00:49:34,960
Disneyland or something. They were boozing
and and and and I'm impressed they were

750
00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:37,920
able to roll into the stadium at
nine, just ready to go. And

751
00:49:38,000 --> 00:49:42,960
it's fun. And I think that's
been a fun story to kind of continue

752
00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:46,199
to push on. I would like
to see more creative chants though, Like,

753
00:49:46,440 --> 00:49:51,920
yes, Warriors fans, like maybe
going five star podcast when Draymond Green

754
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:54,280
is at the Valine or something,
or South is going one star podcast or

755
00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:58,840
something. It doesn't have to be
like fu Draymond. We can come up

756
00:49:58,880 --> 00:50:02,000
with something a little bit more creative. They should read his ads when is

757
00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:06,239
that the free throw line? They
should yell out his ads at his free

758
00:50:06,239 --> 00:50:08,840
throw line. I don't know who
sponsors those pods or whatever, but like,

759
00:50:09,440 --> 00:50:14,480
you know, whatever, stay Farm
sucks, you know, just like

760
00:50:14,559 --> 00:50:17,920
throw them off. MO. This
was great as always. I so appreciate

761
00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:21,639
your time, despite what I may
actually say to you behind the scenes.

762
00:50:22,360 --> 00:50:25,000
Are you able to tell our listeners
where they can follow you? And all

763
00:50:25,079 --> 00:50:29,960
the great work the millions of things
that you are doing. Listen. You

764
00:50:29,960 --> 00:50:32,559
can follow me on Instagram, on
Twitter, even TikTok This old man is

765
00:50:32,599 --> 00:50:38,280
on TikTok at mode Quill Underscore NBA, m O d A K. Hil

766
00:50:38,559 --> 00:50:44,079
Underscore NBA and that's where you're fine. Like I tweet out all my stuff,

767
00:50:44,079 --> 00:50:46,239
follow me on Twitter and you'll find
everything from there. MO, this

768
00:50:46,320 --> 00:50:49,800
was great. Thank you so much
again, and as I'm sure you know,

769
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:52,320
I will be pasturing you again in
the future, so please maybe save

770
00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:55,159
my number this time. I'm gonna
try to delete it this time.