WEBVTT

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Roger Pete Jonas knocked in for Fred
Rogan. Let's bring on the guy with

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the god those the Slipper countdown,
pregame, post game, in between game

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halftime. All that is the double
A. He's not salty today because President

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here, so he's good. I
was gonna be salty, but then I

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got high. I mean, like
this isn't in this a little in this

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a little disrespectful to Christmas? You
know, like bing Crosby, Nat King

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Cole, Like there's there's some like
legendary Christmas artists out there, and now

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they've done this to the Christmas.
And you know, Jonas, you say

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that as you have snoop on the
stoop sitting on your shelf there, Well,

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I mean there's nothing wrong with that. I mean it goes everywhere.

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Come on, hey, were you
guys fooled at all about the snoop uh

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going smokeless? The whole the ad
that he had going on. I think

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it's some some company that does the
smokeless air smokeless. Yeah, but he

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did the whole thing for about a
week of I'm giving it up, smoke,

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giving up the smoke. I fell
for. He got on the detox

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before Dre did huh you knew by
the way he worded it, he said,

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I'm giving up smoke. He said, I'm not smoking anymore. I'm

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giving up smoking. That's what kind
of at least tipped me. And people

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were generally mad when he when I
found out it was an ad that you

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turned. You could have helped so
many kids out there. It's like,

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it's like with Joonah Hill lost weight, Like fro what are you doing?

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It's like, what's wrong with you? Trying to get healthy? I can't

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be skinny and funny now you Luther
Vandross have a heart attack. That's hilarious.

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We need a fat Luther. Oh
man, my man who was an

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Americanato Rubens and just disappeared off the
face of the earth. Yeah, people

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want you. They hated Oprah when
she lost that work. I'm tired of

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the skinny shaming man, disrespectful.
All right, I'm gonna start with the

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Lakers. I thought you were going
to transition to James hard enough. Okay,

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I'm glad we didn't. I'm glad
weaving the best Fret's not here.

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Don't worry about it. Yeah,
it's a different show today. Yes,

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it is so they get blown out
in Philly, they get bullied in Philly,

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and they, as I was telling
Jonas, they were lucky scheduling guys

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were in their favor to have the
Pistons on the schedule at this point because

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it's a stat builder, a get
it's a get right kind of situation or

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feel good at least they go in
there. What do you make of this

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Laker team right now? And I
know it's still November, and as Jonah

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says, it's November, nobody cares, But what do you make of the

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team right now? I mean,
they seem to care about the n season

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tournament. They might be going to
the championship, the game they're going to

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Vegas. Baby, that's another question. I want to ask you about that

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too. But but in terms of
the Lakers and where they're playing right now,

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they've been up and down. They've
been inconsistent. But as Lebron has

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mentioned multiple times, well there's no
continuity because we don't have our full team

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yet. Now you can argue that, well, how often are you going

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to have your full team if the
young guys are now getting injured and it's

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a d and Lebron actually playing more, But they don't have Ruey Hachimore,

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they don't have Van Do, they
don't have Gabe Vincent. It's tough to

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get a full beat on just where
they're at, what their identity is.

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But they go as their two superstars
do, and last night it doesn't say

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much beating up on a Detroit team
that looks like one of the worst teams

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we've seen since the Philadelphia seventy six
ers were in trust the process mode.

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They look that bad out there tonight. I think they're gonna have a tough

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time against an OKC team, depending
on who's playing for the Lakers. If

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you've seen that injury report. By
the way, Lebron's questionable ads probable with

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the hip thing. But the OKC
thunder are coming off a really tough loss

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to the Timberwolves, and they're not
just looking like a top six seed a

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team that's out of the play in
situation. Now. They might be a

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top four seed in the West with
SGA and them and all that young talent

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and chet holmgrim back, and I
think they're gonna get up for this game

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against the Lakers, not just because
they lost recently in a bad way,

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but as the Lakers, everybody gets
up for them. I mean, their

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head coach likes to talk about it
all the time in Darvin Ham. Tough

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to wear that jersey sometimes, but
the other times you get a lot of

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calls out there too. I think
they are what a plus five hundred and

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free throws attempted over the last year
or something like that. What there's benefits

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did I It might have been gracious
there, But now this Lakers team,

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we haven't found out enough early this
season. They just haven't been tested enough,

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and so many teams have been banged
up. It's just hard to get

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a read on how good everyone is
currently, and especially this Lakers team.

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But the one thing I always say
about them is what makes them so dangerous

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is they get seventy points in the
pain almost every night, and the three

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points shooting with them can come and
go and they can still win games.

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It's almost like a bonus when they're
actually knocking down three pointers. Most of

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the league has to rely on that
shot. The Lakers don't feel that way.

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It feels that when Lakers are hitting
three it's like, oh, this

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is a little icing on the cake, this a little extra for him.

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When d Lo's going off like that, they can't lose. He had five

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three pointers last night, got off
to that hot start. He tends to

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be that barometer. If he's having
a good night, typically the Lakers win.

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And I don't know if you want
to be too reliant on him having

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to have a good night, but
the point is early on this season there's

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just too many question marks and too
much inconclusive data when it comes to the

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Lakers. Adam, we were talking
about the amazing fifteen straight losses by the

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Detroit Pistons. I mean, it
is an amazing feat what they have pulled

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off and accomplished. I got to
ask you all your times being there covering

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the Clippers at the Crip formerly Staple
Center, who's the worst team you've ever

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seen? Then you look back on
and go, that's an NBA team,

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like the worst team you've seen.
I mean the Lakers during those seven years

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when they didn't make the playoffs and
they saw Robert Sokra out there and a

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lot of guys I couldn't remember,
and they were being led by Jordan Clarkson

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and people said they were at least
stats Hey, when Chris Cayman was laying

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down on the bench just in horror, of what he had to see when

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Nick Young was out there on the
court and Chris Caman was laying there taking

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up five seats because they barely had
any guys in uniform or any guys good

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enough to be in uniform. It
was brutal watching those Lakers years, regardless

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if Kobe was out there or not
coming off the torn Achilles. Hey,

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we're doing too. Is it harder
to win fifteen straight to lose fifteenth straight?

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Ooh? I mean I think Detroit
just as anyone won fifteen straight so

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far this season. No, somebody
will lost fifteenth straight. I guess.

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I guess it means it's easier to
lose fifteenth straight. You're right, it's

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not easy to be that bad.
You almost have to be in tank mode.

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And they brought in Mani Williams to
develop this young talent. You got

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that huge exorbitant contract coming away from
Phoenix. They shouldn't be this bad with

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Cade comming him back. But you
watched that game last night, and after

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the Lakers got up by three,
it looked like Detroit was like, well,

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here we go again. We're down
three. It's an insurmountable lead.

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We're not gonna win tonight and they
just gave in and knew they were gonna

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lose that ballgame. So when you've
mentioned the N Season Tournament, I mean,

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gotta be honest, it still feels
a little goofy to me, like

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the courts. The Kevin Figures tried
to lay it out, like, what

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is your opinion of the N Season
Tournament thus far as we approach the conclusion

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of this whole thing soon, Well, I get it's fun to mock and

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the courts, and depending on how
good your television is doesn't always translate that

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well. I can say this being
at a Clippers game for a couple of

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them on the blue court, when
you're more eye level with the players,

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when you're a little bit lower and
you're not staring down at the court where

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the camera angle is on TV.
It plays better that way, and I

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think the players do like it,
at least when the courts not peeling and

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they mess up the three point line, which is just an abomination. I

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can't believe they could have amateur hour
like that, my goodness. But look,

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the most a billion dollars operation,
Adam, Come on, all they

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had to do to be successful with
the N Season Tournament is be slightly more

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exciting than the NBA typically is during
November and December when they're competing against the

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NFL. That's how low the ball
is. That's all they have to clear,

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and I think they're gonna end up
doing that. I think the ratings

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will come out better this time of
the year versus last year, in the

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last couple of years in the NBA
in November December, because there's a little

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more intrigue. Even when somebody is
complaining about it and not understanding it,

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even that is attention towards the NBA, that bad press can still be good

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for them. So look, I
think it is a little bit wacky right

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now. But there's also a lot
of players, a lot of the European

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guys are like, oh cool a
cup to play for. Yeah, it's

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like soccer over here. And the
five hundred k for some guys that are

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making a couple MILLI year, I
mean that's huge, big deal. Let

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me tell you something, I don't
care if you are making your one of

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those fifteen to twenty million dollar guys
when you get a chance, uh to

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make five hundred k on top of
that something that you maybe weren't expecting that

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is something you fight for too.
And I said this, once they get

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to Vegas and it's that what is
down to the final four, right goes

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to Vegas or whatever, those guys
are gonna start playing and it's gonna it's

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gonna mean something to those guys because
that check is staring them in the face

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and that's an extra five hundred k. Yeah, let's let's let's go play,

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especially if they lost their ass in
the casino the night before. Through

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that, yeah, that helps.
But I guarantee you as it gets down

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to the nitty gritty and they kind
of almost can touch that five hundred grand,

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it doesn't matter how much money you
make, like this is some extra

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chips, Adam. I want to
ask you before we move to the to

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the Clippers. I watched that game
against Philly where they got blown out by

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forty four, and is it time
to just stop asking the question? When

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is a D gonna be consistent?
When is AD gonna be a D?

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When is a D gonna turn it
on? Is it time to stop that?

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Because it's one night here, two
nights here, one night there,

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and to watch them getting manhandled and
bullied by Joel Embiid. I don't know

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if that's in him. I don't
know if that's the guy that's gonna be

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dominant weekend and win like Embiid.
You know he's gonna come win it every

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night. He's gonna give it to
you. If he's on the court,

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he gonna give it to you.
Giannis gonna give it to you every night

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he's on the court. And we
can't say the same thing about AD.

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I think his identity as a player
is being consistently inconsistent. That's what it

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is. And granted, we hold
him to a higher standard because of how

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good he has looked at times out
there. And there was a real conversation

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during the twenty twenty Bubble Championship that
Anthony Davis was the better player than Lebron

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James. It was at least a
conversation. It was very close. He

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hit the game winning three pointer against
the Denver Nuggets, but he also was

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shooting ridiculous numbers from the outside thirty
eight percent from three, fifty five percent

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from long twos, and I challenge
anyone to find a twenty one game stretch

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in his career where he ever did
anything like that. Again, but outside

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of fluky stuff in the bubble Anthony
Davis for the most part, this is

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who he's been throughout his career.
Now he's dominant on the defensive end,

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and I would argue he doesn't get
enough credit for how consistent he is there.

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The energy you have to expend there, it takes something out of your

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offense. While Lebron hasn't been able
to pass the torch to him for being

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the number one option on offense.
Defensively, Ad is holding things down on

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that end so Lebron can take possessions
off, he can conserve energy. About

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to turn thirty nine, but it
is a little bit alarming that at this

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point he still hasn't taken up the
mantle and been the guy that is your

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go to player each and every night. When they talk about it like he

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is coming into this season, this
is Anthony Davis's team. They're saying all

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the right things, and some of
it may be injuries, but you know,

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he's he's injury prone. That's who
he's been his entire career too,

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and he hasn't been able to get
away from that. So when he gets

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dominated like Demonte Sabonis got to him
a few weeks ago, it's almost like

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nobody cares that you're injured, because
we've seen this before where you just take

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nights off and you just seem passive
out there. And that's what's so frustrating,

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I think for Lakers fans. You
know it's in him, but he

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consistently defers. And part of it
may be me just playing that position where

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you have to be dependent on guys
getting you the basketball, and he's a

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great screen setter, but it's not
like he can just create everything on his

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own, bring the ball up the
court, call his own number and things

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like that. When you're a big
man, it's not as easy to be

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the number one option sometimes. But
I still think there's more to Anthony Davis

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that he needs to show if he's
ever going to get rid of that stigma

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of him being mister inconsistent out there. And he's capable, we know he

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is, but look, he goes
through a long playoff run, and if

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the Lakers won the championship and he
was fantastic, that would erase all these

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bad feelings towards Anthony Davis from Laker
Nation, Adam, the Clippers looked good

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last night. Obviously, James Harden
played well, Kawhi Leonard was fantastic.

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It was really the most complete game
that probably all those guys have played while

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on the court together since James Harden
has been there. And I know that

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reviews early on have been disappointing.
They were what owned four to oh to

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five when he first got in.
But just from a fit standpoint, locker

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room wise and reputation wise, how
is James Harden blended in with the team,

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Because this is another guy that's had
the reputation of he gets somewhere,

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he's unhappy, he wants out,
and there's problems. What have you heard?

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Well, he already had a relationship
with Russell Westbrook and that's the dynamic

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that was going to be interesting.
It was gonna be a little bit touchy

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because obviously James Harden, he's the
better player. He is, he should

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be in the starting lineup. So
bringing Russell Westbrook off the bench finally,

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after six straight losses, five straight
with James Harden, that was the move.

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Did they take too long to make
it? I mean I was calling

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for it back in July when they
were saying James Harden could be a Clipper.

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I said, okay, then Russ
has to move to the bench.

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You can't have two ball dominant guys. Was the same problem with the Lakers.

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You can't have Russ playing next to
Lebron, you can't have Russ playing

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next to James Harden. And hope
to get the best out of those two

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guys because they are at their best
when the ball is in their hands.

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But they do get along those two
as far as we know. Going back

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to Houston, they wanted to get
back together, and I think all these

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guys are motivated to try to do
something special for the city where they grew

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up. They're all a bunch of
socow guys. He Kawhi, Paul George,

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Russell Westbrook. There's something to that. But winning solves a lot too,

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and they have to start a winning
streak here. It's not going to

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be easy tonight against Golden State on
this back to back, but after losing

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six straight, you know they're still
a game under five hundred. They are

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not out of the woods yet,
just because they're now five and two.

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Since James Harden's been in the starting
lineup without Russell Westbrook next to him,

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there are a lot of encouraging signs
though overall. Last night, as you

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mentioned, Jonas that was a fantastic
performance by the Clippers offensively, and it

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started with James Harden getting off in
that first quarter was seventeen. That's what's

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so baffling. The only reason that
they were struggling at times is because he

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wouldn't shoot. I had people say, oh, he must be washed,

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he's done. He just would shying
away from taking shots. And then he

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comes out shot out of a cannon
last night, seventeen in the first quarter,

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and everything just kind of flowed off
of him. Because he is People

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want to make fun of the quote
he is a damn system. You have

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to admit that because of the way
he can run the pick and roll where

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it's almost like free points. Sometimes
offensively, you have to run the offense

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through him. When people complain about
the Clippers are too ISO heavy, go

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to the pick and roll with James
Harden. That's how they won that game

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against Houston where he knocked down that
four point shot at the three point and

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one at the end. They ran
pick and roll at the very end with

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him and Vitza Zubots and went on
a twelve to one run. When it

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looked like they were gonna lose that
ballgame, they finally showed up big in

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clutch time minutes with something that looked
like a real system, a foundation,

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and not just your turn, my
turn, kohiir, Paul George taking tough

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jumpers. So I think there's a
lot there potentially for this team if they

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can balance everything out. What's missing, Adam, do you think with this

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team so far? I mean they
look good night? Is it another big

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man? What's missing? You think? What holes do they need to fill

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if they're going to make a serious, serious run. A lot of it's

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just time building up chemistry and meshing. But they don't have Mason Plumbley right

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now. He'll probably be out three
more weeks or so. With that left

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mcl sprain and that kind of messed
up a lot of their rotations. Now.

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They brought in Daniel Tice and he's
been very good for him. PJ

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Tucker it looks like he might be
out of the rotation now. They're going

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with Kobe Brown their number one pick
this last offseason out of Missou. He

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played last night. So they just
have so many moving parts. It's tough

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to see that chemistry building up when
they've only played seven games so far.

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With this new starting lineup now,
I'll say this, Terrence Man next to

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James Harden with PG Kawhi and Visa
Zubots. They have been elite out there

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in their minutes, and that's the
most important thing right now. For example,

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Okay, if you don't like the
offensive rating defensive rating stuff, I'll

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explain it to you. You want
to balance out possessions. If you just

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went off points per game, some
team like you know, the Houston Rockets

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or the seven seconds or less Phoenix
Suns from back in the day, they

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were great offensively, but they also
had more possessions, so it doesn't necessarily

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tell you how efficient they are offensive
and defensive rating does that well. The

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best offensive rating in the league right
now is held by the Indiana Pacers at

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one twenty two. The Clippers starting
lineups offensive rating this new starting lineup is

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one twenty three. The best defensive
rating in the NBA right now is one

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zero six by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This new Clipper starting lineup is ninety nine.

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So they have absolutely been elite.
I think they just need even more

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time out there on the court.
And last night, when they were only

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averaging sixteen minutes per game, this
new starting lineup which James Harden and Terrence

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Mann instead of Russell Westbrook. Well, last night, coach flu was really

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chasing that victory. They played twenty
eight minutes together the starting lineup, and

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that's why I think they looked so
much different. And by the way,

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Kawhi Leonard is still him. I
was hearing the exact same stuff that maybe

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Kawhi isn't the same guy. Well, he had thirty four on eight teen

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shots last night, dunked on Javal
McGee. It looked like he had a

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playoff Kawhi type of moment, like
in Game one against the Phoenix Suns where

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you called me postgame on Clipperstock Rodney. Hey, there aren't many guys you

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take over Kawhi in a seven game
series and a must win situation. And

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given how much they were reeling with
their worst loss of the year against a

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Denver team missing their top three guys, they had to show something last night,

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and they did. It started with
James Harden, but then Kawhi Leonard

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absolutely took over. How far off
are they from what your expectations were when

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he first got here, Kawhi or
James James Harden, I apologize James Harden.

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Uh well, I mentioned those ratings. They're there. But he cannot

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shy away. He can't be passive
like Anthony Davis. He has to be

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James Harden. You don't bring in
James Harden to play him off the ball.

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I mean, he's one of the
best scorers we've seen in the last

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twenty five thirty years, maybe in
the history of the game, to be

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honest with you, yeah, further
than back then. He's a force.

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He's an offense unto himself and what
he can do for you because when he's

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running pick and roll, you don't
know whether he's going for the floater,

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he's gonna throw a lob, he's
gonna drive to the basket, kick it

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out for a three pointer. It
keeps the defense off balance. It makes

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everyone's life so much easier. That's
the intent here. What you want is

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what they had in Brooklyn. It
was only sixteen games with him, Kyrie

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and KD, but they went thirteen
and three and they had instant chemistry.

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The Clippers haven't had it so far, but since taking Russ the starting lineup,

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they're five and two with James Harden. It's coming. I don't know

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if Tonight is gonna be an easy
ball game because the Golden State Oriers are

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in that similar position. They don't
think they should be two games under five

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hundred. They just lost to the
Kings after being up by twenty five.

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They're gonna be out for blood.
Draymond Green is back. It's gonna be

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a tough ball game. But they
are trending in the right direction. I

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would say in a couple weeks,
they got to be more of that well

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oiled machine where you know what to
expect every night from the Clippers. Because

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right now, the defense, shockingly
with James Harden, has been better than

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the offense. So maybe that's encouraging. You say, we know the offense

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is going to get there eventually.
It's just guys figuring out their roles.

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Next to James Harden, the shot
distribution is different. How do you stay

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in rhythm if you don't touch the
basketball for five straight possessions. That's something

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they have to figure out absolutely,
and hopefully they get that all squared away

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and get that rhythm going by Christmas. Adam next game? What Friday night,

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Utah, Tonight, tonight tonight,
Golden State. We can't get ahead

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of ourselves Rodney next Friday, right
though they are in Utah. Right Golden

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State Slipper Countdown couple cownsound starting at
six after Petrow some money right on right

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00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:48.920
on double A always Thanks brother,
good Steph. Good to see you all

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right, John, to talk with
you, guys, Love you guys.

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You Rodney La Sport, La Sport, La sport