WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.440 --> 00:00:04.559 Well, come in. It is a Clippers talk live. Didn't 2 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:08.240 think I'd be doing this so soon. If anybody can 3 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:10.480 hear me, let me know in the chat. I would 4 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:13.679 appreciate it. I just put up the tweet at follow 5 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:17.679 out of may on X. I am suited and booted 6 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:22.559 because today was Clippers media Day. So why am I 7 00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:27.239 already back from into it Dome, which was closer than 8 00:00:27.239 --> 00:00:30.320 I would have thought it was coming from Burbank here. 9 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:34.039 I'm feeling good about that part of it. I have 10 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:40.280 had some hearing issues as of late, this ETD issue. 11 00:00:40.679 --> 00:00:43.079 It's a little bit muffled, and so at media Day 12 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:45.880 the microphone was going in and out and was very low. 13 00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:50.920 So after about Norman Powell, I realized I couldn't hear 14 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:54.399 that much. So I thought I'd just come back and 15 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:56.960 I'd start this live stream here and I'd give some 16 00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:59.560 commentary on what happened at media Day and go through 17 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:02.439 some of the with you guys. Once again, if you 18 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:06.280 can hear me, if you're out there, let me know 19 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:11.760 here in the chat. Here's my guy jm I thirteen 20 00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:16.640 twenty four. I'm guessing he can hear. Welcome to Clipperstock. 21 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:20.400 This is a live edition. I'm out of Mosland. I 22 00:01:20.439 --> 00:01:24.000 still have the tie on, still have the media credential 23 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:27.480 on a bit of a frustrating day for me since 24 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:30.359 it's usually one of my favorites. But I don't know, 25 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:36.239 I couldn't hear that well there, Jeffrey Beltron says, come 26 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:39.760 say hi to the supporter section. I will try to 27 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:43.640 do that extra. Ernie TV says, it's that time again. 28 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:47.760 We back clip gang. We are appreciate everyone for coming 29 00:01:47.760 --> 00:01:51.280 in here. I'm gonna keep this going for a while. 30 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:53.840 I don't know how long. I got a couple of 31 00:01:53.879 --> 00:01:58.359 caffeinated beverages right here. I'm gonna drink through these. I'm 32 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:00.640 gonna sort through some of the quote. In fact, let 33 00:02:00.680 --> 00:02:03.120 me grab my notes. I'll be back in one two days. 34 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.719 Maybe we can go through in order of the guys 35 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:21.400 were up who were up at the podium today, and 36 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:23.879 go through some of the quotes that are coming out currently. 37 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:28.479 I'll just pull up La Murray here. I'll pull up 38 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:31.919 far A boydsen Shari. I saw there Joey Lynn was 39 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:37.000 doing some really good reporting there, justin Russo, of course, 40 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:40.960 and just try to give you everything that was of 41 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:47.360 note you could say from today's media day, starting with 42 00:02:47.919 --> 00:02:51.639 Norman Powell. He came to the podium first, was excited 43 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:54.000 about that. He said he was super excited to get 44 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:57.280 the season started, was ready to go. He was asked 45 00:02:57.400 --> 00:02:59.240 if he wants to start this year. I believe that 46 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:02.560 was La Murray pose that question. He said, I want 47 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:04.960 to start every year. I'm excited to get back to 48 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:07.360 that and show in training camp that I should be 49 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:11.199 starting and I'm ready to fill whatever void or whatever 50 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:16.080 is needed for the team. normOn Powell came across very 51 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:22.000 very confident. In his presser, Holo Dolo says, I loved 52 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:23.840 how all the guys said they are aware of the 53 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:26.800 outside noise and motivated to prove them wrong. That's something 54 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:31.159 else normOn Palell talked about. He said that he thought 55 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:34.680 it was wild. Basically, I'm paraphrasing that a lot of 56 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:39.439 people had the Clippers basically written off. They had the 57 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:42.360 miss twelfth in the West. So a little bit of 58 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.520 an added motivation there, I think, not just from normOn Powell, 59 00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:51.479 but yes, it was a theme going on last week. 60 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:54.280 Toron Lou said he wants this Clippers team to get 61 00:03:54.280 --> 00:03:56.759 out and transition more and take more threes. This is 62 00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:59.960 coming from Justin Russo's so normOn Powell was asked about that, 63 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:03.159 Pal said he thinks it suits him well and this 64 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:05.919 team quite well, and noted the analytical side of things 65 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:10.000 that shooting more threes is good. It is guys, shooting 66 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:12.360 thirty three percent from three is the equivalent of fifty 67 00:04:12.360 --> 00:04:15.319 percent from two. So even if you are under league average, 68 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.839 which is about thirty six percent from three, you shoot 69 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:21.519 thirty three percent at high volume, that can still be good. 70 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:24.279 That's exactly what the Boston Celtics shot at high volume 71 00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:26.199 in the NBA Finals, and they were able to take 72 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:29.839 out the Dallas Mavericks in five games. A lot of 73 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:32.000 that was due to the three points shooting and playing 74 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:35.160 the analytics game. Norman Palt talked about the off season, 75 00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:38.560 said he read a few books, said he was doing 76 00:04:38.600 --> 00:04:43.079 some meditation, didn't exactly say darkness retreat, didn't go Aaron 77 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:47.439 Rodgers with it, but was taking care of his mental health. 78 00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:51.839 I guess this was interesting. Norm Pal said, I know 79 00:04:51.959 --> 00:04:54.079 media and outlets like to write us off because we 80 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:56.920 don't have PG anymore. We're losing Russell Westbrook, and he 81 00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:02.800 brought up a point norm that that nineteen twenty Toronto Raptors. 82 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:06.839 Year after Kawhi Leonard left to become a Clipper, they 83 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:09.399 were still a top team in the Eastern Conference. They 84 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:14.800 were still a top five seed. Jeffrey Belchan said, wait, 85 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:19.199 you're not here anymore. No, I had trouble hearing with 86 00:05:19.279 --> 00:05:21.160 the microphone. I know it was going in and out. 87 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:22.879 Time seemed a little bit low. I looked at my 88 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:25.480 right and asked Tamara Zari. He said it was bad too, 89 00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:29.399 So maybe it wasn't just my hearing. I hope, because 90 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:32.279 I've had some issues, but there's no issue when I'm 91 00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:34.959 plugged in and have an amplifier. It's basically a hearing 92 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:38.199 aid when I'm doing radio and I have my headphones 93 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:40.399 on and I can control the volume. So I thought 94 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:42.639 I'd just come back home and I would start this 95 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:44.480 live stream and I will keep it going for some 96 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:48.160 time here. So join in, hang out. I'm not going 97 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:51.079 anywhere over the next hour. Maybe we'll have some guests 98 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:56.199 on to post Media Day and everybody getting up there 99 00:05:56.199 --> 00:05:59.680 at the podium Nora and Pale. One of the last 100 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:02.160 things he said was he's really excited to continue to 101 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:08.199 prove the media wrong. Nicholas Battou. He was next. He 102 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:11.480 came up, talked about anticipating this season, how it's a 103 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:13.839 new beginning, got a lot of new guys that he's 104 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:17.439 excited to play with, new arena, new jerseys, they're wearing 105 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:21.079 the blue, new logo. Everything is new. Quote, can't wait 106 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:23.720 to play a game in this place. Now it's into 107 00:06:23.759 --> 00:06:26.439 a dome. Niko Pattoom said there were a couple offers 108 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:29.399 out there, but he was talking to head coach Ron 109 00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:32.720 Lou and quote, it was pretty much what I wanted 110 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:36.040 to do for me and my family, and Coach Lou 111 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.560 is the guy I want to play for. Quote. I 112 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:44.680 signed here after a really bad time in Charlotte and 113 00:06:44.759 --> 00:06:47.639 Coach Lou saved his career. That's nothing new. We've heard 114 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:49.959 him say that for a long time now. He joked, 115 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:54.560 don't expect me to score twenty five points in reference 116 00:06:54.600 --> 00:06:56.879 to the team losing Paul George and Russell Westbrook and 117 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:01.279 him filling that void. He also joked over the summer 118 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:03.439 he tried to beat tm USA but couldn't do it. 119 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:08.399 He was great though. Then it was James Harden who 120 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:13.279 was third, as Jeffrey Beltrian says, we appreciate you bro 121 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:17.959 listening from the supporters section right on. I did see 122 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:19.959 some people there that said they were listening to the 123 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:22.920 podcast on the way into into it Dome, because I 124 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:26.360 know there's a ton of fans there today. They made 125 00:07:26.360 --> 00:07:29.279 it available to a lot of people. Matthew A Jimi says, 126 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:32.279 are we really going into training camp with PJ and 127 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:37.839 no for other than Batoom, other than Kawhi, other than 128 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:43.120 Kobe Brown, other than sliding up a mere coffee. More 129 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:45.639 on that in a little bit. But you realize Kawhi 130 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:49.600 started at the four all last season, my friends, so 131 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:52.720 hopefully he is available. More on that coming up with 132 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:55.279 some of those quotes coming from Kawhi, but we'll go 133 00:07:55.319 --> 00:07:58.360 in order here. James Harden was next after Niko Batoum. 134 00:07:59.000 --> 00:08:02.920 He was asked how his role changes aggressive Aggressive. We 135 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:05.160 tried to last year to where we try to figure 136 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:08.240 it out guys in their roles. It's kind of difficult 137 00:08:08.279 --> 00:08:10.639 when you got that high caliber of players or Hall 138 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:14.600 of famers, it was pretty difficult. Certainly started off that 139 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:16.480 way with James Harden where they were zero to five. 140 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:18.560 That was when Russ was in the backcourt with him 141 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:21.800 before making the change change to bring in Terrence Man there, 142 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.920 James Harden said that this year there's a pretty clear 143 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.959 space on what he needs to be doing on his 144 00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:31.519 decision to resign with the Clippers this offseason, and this 145 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:33.600 is coming from Justin Rousseau, who I saw there was 146 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:36.960 hanging out with. He said, James Harden said, quote, I'm home. 147 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:39.600 I'm home, and I don't plan on going anywhere else. 148 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:45.279 I want to leave a legacy, especially here, that is big. 149 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:51.720 That is a pretty cool statement. Matthew a Jimi follows 150 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:54.759 up now talking about the four spot. Isn't four too 151 00:08:54.759 --> 00:08:57.440 tough on Kawhi's body? I don't know. It seems like 152 00:08:57.720 --> 00:09:00.279 you're moving around less when you're playing the four, and 153 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.120 he just played sixty eight games last season. You can 154 00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:05.240 say yes, but then he hit the wall, wasn't able 155 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:07.879 to play in the playoffs. Well, it's not like playing 156 00:09:07.919 --> 00:09:11.720 the three kept him away from injuries. He toured the 157 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:15.519 ACL he had the meniscus injury playing the three, and 158 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:17.720 he played less games during the regular season than he 159 00:09:17.720 --> 00:09:21.200 did last season. So I don't think there's anything definitive 160 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:24.080 to say that the four is too tough on Kawhi's body, 161 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:27.279 because in theory, the three probably racks up more mileage 162 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:30.919 per game with chasing guys around the perimeter more. Where 163 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:34.200 as you play the four, you are restricted a little 164 00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:36.720 bit more to the paint and guys trying to back 165 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:40.480 you down, and maybe that actually makes it a little 166 00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:44.519 bit easier, he says, gotcha now. Kawhi Leonard of note 167 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:47.840 last season at one point did say, I'll play it 168 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:51.120 until we get a real one. So do they have 169 00:09:51.159 --> 00:09:53.759 a real one. Niko batoom could be that guy, but 170 00:09:53.879 --> 00:09:55.399 I don't know if he's going to be playing more 171 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:58.159 than twenty minutes per night on average, So therefore, can 172 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:02.159 you really start him? Those guys typically are going to 173 00:10:02.200 --> 00:10:05.679 be playing twenty five plus minutes upwards of thirty minutes 174 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:07.519 for some of the starters. I don't know if Niko 175 00:10:07.519 --> 00:10:10.480 Batoum would be able to do that. Shark in the 176 00:10:10.480 --> 00:10:15.320 Box says your starters, HU know, Norm, Kawhi, Djja and Zoo. 177 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:18.840 Is that something coming out from coach Lou at this moment? 178 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:21.919 Is he at the podium? I don't even know if 179 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:25.840 it's for sure happening where. Yeah, Derek Jones Junior is 180 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:27.799 at the podium right now. We'll catch up to that 181 00:10:28.679 --> 00:10:32.559 because Coach Lou and Lawrence Frank talked last week. Let's 182 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:33.320 get to Kawhi Leonard. 183 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:33.679 Guys. 184 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:36.279 I did post at follow out of May a good 185 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:39.679 chunk of his press conference, about six minutes of it, 186 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:41.279 if you want to check that out on Twitter on 187 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:48.480 x And here was Kawhi Leonard on how he's feeling. Quote, 188 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:51.399 We're taking it day by day. Everything has been great 189 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:54.840 for the past month, but they're being very cautious for reasons. 190 00:10:54.919 --> 00:10:57.440 This is something I have said in trying to bring 191 00:10:57.480 --> 00:11:00.000 some hope and some optimism to the situation with Kawhi 192 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:02.879 and why he's being held out of drills at training camp. 193 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:07.759 They could just be so overly cautious right now. They 194 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:14.879 could be understandably proceeding with an abundance of caution so 195 00:11:14.919 --> 00:11:18.039 that you know, as training camp, do they really need 196 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:21.960 to push Kawhi then I don't think so. He's thirty three, 197 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:25.200 he's been through this. He's not going to learn anything 198 00:11:25.240 --> 00:11:27.320 more there. And if they just want to strengthen the 199 00:11:27.399 --> 00:11:34.840 knee right now, it makes sense. Why risk inflammation at 200 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:39.039 training camp when you're trying to have him complete a 201 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:42.399 playoff series for the first time since the bubble in 202 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:46.600 twenty twenty or at least since the first round of 203 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:50.279 twenty twenty one against the Dallas Mavericks complete a playoff run, 204 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:54.279 you could say, Polo Dollo said when Harden was asked 205 00:11:54.279 --> 00:11:57.360 about Kawhi, he said he should take his time. Seems 206 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:00.159 like un is confident in him making the playoffs regardless 207 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:03.080 of his availability. I think it's more so he just 208 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.480 knows the main goal is for Kawhi to be available 209 00:12:07.480 --> 00:12:10.679 when games are most important, when it's a playoff series. Now, 210 00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:13.879 I would make the argument that to get to the playoffs, 211 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:16.519 they're going to need him as well. Without Paul George, 212 00:12:16.519 --> 00:12:19.360 with the way they've reconstructed this team offensively, they could 213 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:23.679 really struggle at times. I think, of course, James Harden 214 00:12:23.720 --> 00:12:26.039 is that floor razer for the team, and that's big 215 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:30.279 and if he's available for sixty five plus seventy plus games, 216 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:34.159 huge for the Clippers. But make no mistake, in this 217 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:38.080 really tough Western Conference, the gauntlet that it is, they 218 00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:41.559 are going to need Kawhi Leonard during the regular season. 219 00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:43.519 You can't just hold him out till March, like some 220 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:45.639 people have said over the years, just wait then and 221 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:48.080 then start playing him as the playoffs come around. Because 222 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:52.799 you wait that long, you may not have him, you 223 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:56.360 may not be in a playoff series to have him available. 224 00:12:58.519 --> 00:13:02.720 More on Kawhi Leonard, he said the team is making 225 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:04.600 sure he's healthy for the important moments. 226 00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:05.120 There you go. 227 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:09.240 On his removal from Team USA, Kawai said, I thank 228 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:12.159 them for the opportunity. Things came out of nowhere and 229 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:15.120 it was out of my control. Leonard said he was 230 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:20.039 glad they got a gold medal. Kawai said the plan 231 00:13:20.159 --> 00:13:22.080 is for him to play on opening night. He was 232 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:24.840 asked about that. Lawrence Frank was not committal on it 233 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:27.720 last week. Non commital was Laurence Frank on him playing 234 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:30.960 Opening Night last week? Kawai said he doesn't want to 235 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.799 miss games, of course. Quote. It all depends on what 236 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:36.039 we want and what we figure out. I think it 237 00:13:36.120 --> 00:13:38.480 is a positive to think I will play, but we're 238 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:41.120 taking it day by day. Nobody knows at this point, guys, 239 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.759 I'm telling you they have to see how the knee 240 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:47.919 responds to training camp and the strengthening of the knee 241 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:52.799 during their time in Hawaii and back here five days later. 242 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:57.799 No one can know. Kawai doesn't know at this point. 243 00:14:00.440 --> 00:14:03.159 There is another juicy quote coming out from Norman Powell 244 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:05.320 that I will bring up to you guys in just 245 00:14:05.480 --> 00:14:08.000 a little bit here, so I know I'm going a 246 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:09.519 little bit out of order, but I want to keep 247 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:12.399 going here after Kawhi Leonard and we can talk about 248 00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:14.879 that in the comments. I'm just kining to give you 249 00:14:14.919 --> 00:14:18.759 the quick rundown and gloss over some of the main 250 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:23.720 points in talking points and quotes coming out of today's 251 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:27.399 media day, which is still ongoing. My understanding currently is 252 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.919 Derek Jones Junior is at the podium. We'll bring you 253 00:14:29.960 --> 00:14:32.000 some of those quotes too, but still going in order. 254 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:35.960 Next up was of eatsa Zubats. He says he thinks 255 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:38.480 he's going to see an increased offensive workload this season. 256 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:42.799 Good need that quote, just being patient when I get 257 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:45.600 the ball down there, taking my time, using my body, 258 00:14:45.639 --> 00:14:48.879 my strength and my height. It beats a zoobots on 259 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:51.480 the new arena. It's great having something you can call 260 00:14:51.559 --> 00:14:53.679 your own. It's going to help a lot with scheduling, 261 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:56.519 getting a better schedule for the season, not getting as 262 00:14:56.519 --> 00:14:59.039 many early games like we did in the past. I 263 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:00.639 think that's going to be big for us. 264 00:15:01.080 --> 00:15:01.440 Nor Mormon. 265 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:03.600 Powell also touched upon that a little bit he said 266 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:06.600 the afternoon starts, he didn't mind that as much, but 267 00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:10.559 he still likes the fact that they are a priority 268 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:14.679 now with their own arena. Avita Zubats said he was 269 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:19.200 very happy this summer when the team resigned James Harden quote, 270 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:21.600 I think this year we're going to take another step. 271 00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:24.960 That season. Those reps are going to help. This year 272 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:27.919 is only going to be better. That is really something 273 00:15:27.960 --> 00:15:34.200 we're counting on. That's huge, because, look, they had to 274 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:36.879 learn on the fly ten games in they bring in 275 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:41.279 James Harden. I mentioned a little bit earlier that obviously 276 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:43.399 it took some time before they got on that big 277 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:46.720 run thirty one game stretch they go twenty six in five, 278 00:15:47.679 --> 00:15:52.399 but it was a learning curve and he and James 279 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:55.240 were doing the right things after practice. They were putting 280 00:15:55.240 --> 00:15:59.519 in the work. They were doing what they could to 281 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:02.240 develop that pick and roll chemistry. It's gonna be much 282 00:16:02.279 --> 00:16:05.120 more refined and you're gonna see more high pick and 283 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:08.039 roll with James Harden. That was something coach lou said 284 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:10.440 last week. I'm gonna run more high pick and roll, 285 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:12.679 as they should. He's a pick and roll master, one 286 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:14.600 of the best in the game to ever do it old. 287 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:18.159 Dirty Dasher says, did you attend? Yes? I was there 288 00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:20.279 for I guess the first half of it, but I 289 00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:22.960 don't know. My hearing's not great. The microphone was low 290 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:24.600 and it went in and out a few times, and 291 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:27.159 I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna go home. 292 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:30.120 Start the live stream. React to some of these quotes. 293 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:34.360 John Rodriguez says, seeing everyone's Twitter post at media Day 294 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:37.240 is getting me hyped. With the jerseys just as nice 295 00:16:37.279 --> 00:16:42.799 in person than the pictures. The jerseys are real, nice, 296 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:48.240 real and spectacular. They were wearing the blue ones. They're beautiful. 297 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:52.240 I heard complaints initially about the new logo. I'm hearing 298 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:54.320 less and less of those as people are warming up 299 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:58.279 to it. The alternate logos everybody loved immediately. Same with 300 00:16:58.360 --> 00:17:02.120 the jerseys. That is a hit. Going back to the cursive, 301 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:05.839 they got a red jersey coming out to no complaints there. 302 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:09.480 Izo said, I'm telling you right now, James is going 303 00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:12.279 to start the season off averaging twenty seven points. I 304 00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:15.440 think that's aspirational. He's thirty five years of age. He 305 00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:18.480 only played thirty four minutes per game last season with 306 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:21.240 the Clippers. That was a low for I want to 307 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:26.200 say since leaving Okay, see, I don't think he's averaged 308 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:30.440 twenty seven, maybe twenty five, maybe twenty four. He's not 309 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:33.200 gonna go from averaging eleven points per game. I know 310 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:35.680 Paul George isn't here anymore and Kawhi could be missing, 311 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:38.519 but he's not going from eleven points to twenty seven points. 312 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:43.160 I think that's going to be difficult, and he's also 313 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:46.079 going to be setting the table a ton. I just 314 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:48.440 if he has to put up that many shots. I 315 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:50.599 don't know if the Clippers are in a good space 316 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:53.799 or good place. Jonathaning says, how was it being there 317 00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:56.640 and having the fans in the vicinity for media day? 318 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:00.759 Saw some of the fans. I saw some of them, 319 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:06.319 but I really didn't get a chance to interact. I 320 00:18:06.319 --> 00:18:08.880 was in the media room. I was hanging out with 321 00:18:09.039 --> 00:18:13.880 Brian Seemen a little bit La Murray Jessin, Russo tomer Azari. 322 00:18:14.799 --> 00:18:18.319 So I can't really comment too much on how that 323 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:22.480 atmosphere was with the fans there as I'm still looking 324 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:26.240 for a little bit more clarity with I believe it's 325 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:29.559 Derek Jones Junior at the podium. I want to see 326 00:18:29.559 --> 00:18:33.599 if we have any quotes regarding d j J. Now 327 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:37.039 we got something from this was Terrence Man about a 328 00:18:37.079 --> 00:18:40.640 half hour ago. He said, this comes from Joey Lynn. 329 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:43.839 We're gonna be a real competitive team. We got a 330 00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:46.119 lot of dogs on our roster. I'll go to war 331 00:18:46.200 --> 00:18:50.000 with all the guys we picked up. He said. The 332 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:52.920 Clippers see the media noise and they're hungry to prove 333 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:57.559 it wrong. I like that. I like that Fishizl. But 334 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:00.440 Dizzel I was referencing the amount of points yeah averaged. 335 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:04.440 Excuse me, shots he averaged last season. I shouldn't have 336 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:07.920 said points. You're right, James Harden was at eleven shot 337 00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:12.759 attempts per game. He averaged sixteen points per game last season. 338 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:15.839 Going up eleven points is probably a lot to ask, 339 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:19.519 but I appreciate pointing that out. I need to clarify 340 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:24.759 he attempted eleven shots per game last season. Poetic Tube 341 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:28.319 asks does this mean Norman Pale starting is still a possibility? 342 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:32.880 I think it's a distinct possibility. I think Norman Powell 343 00:19:33.480 --> 00:19:36.119 has a bullseye on trying to be in the starting 344 00:19:36.119 --> 00:19:38.559 lineup because he has That has been his goal for 345 00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:42.000 a long time. That has been his motivation. He said 346 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:45.680 Norman Powell was first at the podium, quote, I want 347 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:50.279 to start every year. This is nothing new from Norm. 348 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:55.480 He thinks in his mind he should be starting. And 349 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:58.039 without Paul George. We talked about this last week with 350 00:19:58.079 --> 00:20:01.599 Att Murray, there's less of for him not starting now. 351 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:06.759 The point would be where's his defense at? Where's his 352 00:20:06.839 --> 00:20:09.480 defense and where is his playmaking at? If you want 353 00:20:09.519 --> 00:20:11.799 to start next to James Harden, who yes, will have 354 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:14.440 the ball in his hands a ton, but you still 355 00:20:15.119 --> 00:20:17.119 need to be a better passer and connector out there. 356 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:19.720 If you're Norman Powell and you have to play better 357 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:22.119 defense if you're gonna be in the starting backcourt next 358 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:26.680 to James Harden or else. This Clippers defense, the identity 359 00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:28.759 they're trying to build on that end. If you get 360 00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:31.519 cooked at the point of attack, it makes things really 361 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:36.920 difficult on your bigs on Avitza Zubots, on everybody else, 362 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:41.200 secondary rim defenders like Kawhi Leonard, it makes things so 363 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:45.880 much more difficult. Mike Dangs says James passed up a 364 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:48.839 lot of shots last session last season trying to figure 365 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:51.680 things out this season. He just needs to be more aggressive, 366 00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:54.559 as he said, yes he does agree with all of that. 367 00:20:54.920 --> 00:20:56.559 I just don't know if he's gonna go from eleven 368 00:20:56.559 --> 00:20:58.559 shots per game to twenty shots per game like that. 369 00:20:59.079 --> 00:21:02.359 Maybe I could sixteen seventeen shots a game. I could 370 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:05.319 see that. Jonathan Ing says, looks like the first day 371 00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:08.880 of school. It kind of is like that old dirty 372 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:12.400 Dasher says, best case scenario for me is barely making 373 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:16.079 a play in tournament. That's best case, barely making the 374 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:20.319 play in barely being tenth. I think that's overly negative. 375 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:23.839 I think even if Kawhi Leonard only played forty games 376 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:26.480 that they would have a good shot of still being 377 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:31.680 eighth or ninth. But we'll see. Holo Dolo says, maybe 378 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:33.720 I'm wrong, but I think James will also have a 379 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:36.799 say in who his backcourt running mate will be, not 380 00:21:36.880 --> 00:21:39.680 just ty Lou. I agree with that. I think James 381 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.640 Harden carries a lot of weight. The comfortability of James 382 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:48.039 Harden in backcourt really is going to define this team offensively, 383 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:52.559 So whoever he feels most comfortable playing next to, I 384 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:56.119 think is huge. So if he wants a guy who's 385 00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:58.279 gonna be a gunner from the outside and Norman is 386 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:00.720 not gonna pass down shots, like we have with Terrence 387 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:03.240 Man over the years, where he's just not aggressive enough. 388 00:22:03.279 --> 00:22:05.319 He hasn't put up enough three pointers. You don't have 389 00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:07.119 to worry about that with Norman Powell. What you do 390 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:09.720 have to worry about then, is him guarding the other 391 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:13.680 team's two guard or point guard. He tries to guard 392 00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:15.599 up and guards their three, or they tried to hide 393 00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:17.680 him there against a three that's not much of a score. 394 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:20.599 I think he's gonna get picked on a little bit now. 395 00:22:20.599 --> 00:22:23.079 If he takes up the challenge of playing better defense, 396 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:26.880 then I really think Norman Powell is much more in 397 00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:29.680 the running for the starting two guard spot. But we 398 00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:31.680 haven't seen that much as a Clipper. He was better 399 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:35.119 last season defensively, but I want to see Toronto Raptors 400 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:39.119 level Norman Powell defense. That's when I thought coming out 401 00:22:39.160 --> 00:22:41.759 of UCLA, guys he hung his hat on his defense. 402 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:45.119 That's what he did, that's what he was known for. 403 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:48.000 Nobody thought he would get to this point offensively where 404 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:51.079 he'd become one of the most efficient scorers in the league, 405 00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:54.359 not just coming off the bench, just efficiency period. Shooting 406 00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:56.799 forty four percent from three. With the amount he took, 407 00:22:57.559 --> 00:23:00.400 Norman Powell has been damn impressive there with the proprison 408 00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:04.200 development throughout his career at this level. With his offense, 409 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:06.480 it's his defense that has slipped maybe a little bit 410 00:23:06.599 --> 00:23:11.480 because of it that Mexican Nor says, Norman really needs 411 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:14.200 to step it up. Averaging twelve points with nineteen minutes 412 00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:17.160 is not enough. Now I want to say, who was 413 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:22.559 at fourteen points per game last season, which, yeah, is 414 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:25.559 not going to be enough. Also, most likely depending on 415 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:28.799 what else happens, Yeah, thirteen point nine points per game. 416 00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:31.559 He was playing twenty six minutes. So could his minutes 417 00:23:31.599 --> 00:23:34.359 go up? Could his scoring go up? Norm Powell? For sure, 418 00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:37.000 that could happen. I would imagine his efficiency would go 419 00:23:37.079 --> 00:23:42.000 down a little bit if that happens. But if he's 420 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:44.759 only shooting forty one percent from the outside and he's 421 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:48.359 taking more three pointers, you're fine with that. Last season, 422 00:23:48.359 --> 00:23:50.880 Norm Powe was at five three pointers taken per game. 423 00:23:51.200 --> 00:23:53.640 That's about what he's been averaging the last four seasons 424 00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:56.599 or so, going back to his last year with the 425 00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:00.680 Portland Trail Blazers. But Norm's got a gun. He's got 426 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:04.319 to be a gunner. He's got to be on the 427 00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:07.640 aggressive side of things in looking for his offense. And 428 00:24:07.720 --> 00:24:10.599 I think he's well aware of that because here's the 429 00:24:10.680 --> 00:24:15.359 quote that people are talking about from Norman Powell that 430 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:18.759 is very interesting and a little bit juicy. And I 431 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:21.319 don't know because I was there when he said it 432 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:25.480 today at Media Day, if he meant it in a 433 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:29.119 way that was necessarily a shot at Paul George. But 434 00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:31.599 the quote is the quote, and I will quote it. 435 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:35.799 Norman Powell said this on losing Paul George quote. I 436 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:40.240 saw it as addition, by subtraction, more guys getting opportunities, 437 00:24:40.359 --> 00:24:44.839 including myself. That is going to make the rounds guys. 438 00:24:45.400 --> 00:24:48.160 That is going to be something that we are talking 439 00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:52.720 about coming out of this media day with again, on 440 00:24:52.839 --> 00:24:57.240 losing Paul George quote, I saw it as addition, by subtraction, 441 00:24:57.880 --> 00:25:01.720 more guys getting opportunities, including mysel. You can see this 442 00:25:02.200 --> 00:25:06.680 as two different things. Here a shot a bar towards 443 00:25:06.759 --> 00:25:11.759 Paul George or normOn Powell just being happy to get 444 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:16.759 more opportunities. And that's the way he phrased it. Given 445 00:25:16.839 --> 00:25:20.480 the way he was talking about being more aggressive, trying 446 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:23.640 to be a starter, I leaned towards that's how he 447 00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:27.000 meant it. But maybe there's something more to it. Maybe 448 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:27.440 there was. 449 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:28.039 I don't know. 450 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:34.440 Was there locker room issues between him and Paul George, 451 00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:39.599 I don't know. Reen Zarit says Norm's standing on business. 452 00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:45.119 Mio says, love that line. I'm getting a Powell jersey 453 00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:48.799 on that quote alone. So the fans like it. I 454 00:25:48.839 --> 00:25:51.839 can understand why there were times over the last two 455 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:54.079 seasons where people are saying Norman Powell was the third 456 00:25:54.119 --> 00:25:55.880 best player on this Clippers team, or at least the 457 00:25:55.960 --> 00:25:58.720 third best score because he would actually go out there 458 00:25:58.759 --> 00:26:02.720 looking to shoot to score and Paul George at times, 459 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:05.480 you know, he'd have those games where he'd be up 460 00:26:05.480 --> 00:26:08.799 and down between game to game, between core to quarter 461 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:13.240 with his aggressiveness. Matthew Ajimi says, I love it. Hope 462 00:26:13.240 --> 00:26:18.359 we hear more shots from other players. Let it be known, then, 463 00:26:19.319 --> 00:26:21.359 let them speak their mind. If you're looking at per 464 00:26:21.480 --> 00:26:25.880 thirty six minutes with Norman Powell, last season, he was 465 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:28.640 still only at fourteen attempts per game, but the two 466 00:26:28.680 --> 00:26:32.720 seasons before that sixteen attempts per game, eighteen a game, 467 00:26:32.759 --> 00:26:34.799 but that was only in five games. Remember he broke 468 00:26:34.839 --> 00:26:38.519 his foot. I think a game against Portland in Portland 469 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:42.680 right away as a Clipper that was unfortunate. I would 470 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:46.200 look for him to get around fifteen shots per game, 471 00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:49.039 but there could be more competition than we are realizing. 472 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:53.240 And yes, the Powell Rangers for real. Ree and Zarat 473 00:26:53.319 --> 00:26:57.599 said Norman Powell. We went into last season saying is 474 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:01.279 norm a tradable piece to I'm saying, oh my god, 475 00:27:01.319 --> 00:27:04.160 he's so critical to this team. He has helped solidify 476 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:06.000 one of the best lineups in the NBA, and the 477 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:11.119 Clippers' best lineup which was starters, but Norm in for 478 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:15.440 Terrence Man so him next to it was James Harden, 479 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:20.720 Norm PG Kawhi and it Beta Zubats. They were nuking. 480 00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:25.240 Their efficiency was off the charts. J M I thirteen 481 00:27:25.319 --> 00:27:28.319 twenty four said it was a shot at PG rightfully, 482 00:27:28.400 --> 00:27:30.720 So both are sending shots at each other and I 483 00:27:30.799 --> 00:27:33.960 love it. If you guys have a quote from Paul 484 00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:36.079 George earlier today, by the way, because I know it 485 00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:40.359 was Philly's media day, send it over here. I'll read it, 486 00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:44.599 but it's got to be from somebody I trust. I 487 00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:47.640 don't want any fake news quotes coming from Paul George. 488 00:27:48.160 --> 00:27:51.559 I trust you guys. I love y'all, but I might 489 00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:54.519 have to double source it right now. Here's Joey Linn 490 00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:58.279 talking with Kevin Porter Jr. Discussing counseling, what he's learned 491 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:00.599 during that time away from the league and his journey 492 00:28:00.599 --> 00:28:03.480 back to the NBA. Kevin Porter Junior said, for me, 493 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:06.559 I've always believed in myself. I know my truth. I 494 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:09.799 felt like I had a good fight getting back. Definitely 495 00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:12.880 didn't count myself out. We'll look for more on this, 496 00:28:13.039 --> 00:28:17.440 but KPJ was made available to the media. I am 497 00:28:17.480 --> 00:28:21.279 pulling quotes from our lovely reporters and media members and 498 00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:24.839 the local beat writers that I encourage you guys to support. 499 00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:29.720 Now I'm at Justin Russo. He has a video up 500 00:28:29.720 --> 00:28:33.039 from Tomara Azzari talking with Steve Balmer as they were 501 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:36.440 in a different section of the arena at one point. 502 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:39.279 Why don't I see what a good friend to marya 503 00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:42.960 Zzari has been posting He's gonna be all with me 504 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:48.599 Wednesday from Hawaii. He'll be at training camp again. I 505 00:28:48.680 --> 00:28:53.240 want to reset a couple of things here Norn Palell 506 00:28:53.519 --> 00:28:56.640 and the Clippers. I've made it a theme to say 507 00:28:56.680 --> 00:29:00.799 they feel disrespected basically by the media. Pal said this, 508 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:03.839 and he was first up quote outlets are riding us off. 509 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:07.079 We lost PG, lost for USS and we're the twelfth seat, 510 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:09.000 which is crazy to me, at least that's what they 511 00:29:09.000 --> 00:29:11.240 were saying. I've been a team where we've lost a 512 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:13.920 superstar and we still got a top five seed the 513 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:18.519 next year. He's referring to being with Toronto they lost Kawhi. 514 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:21.079 He comes to the Clippers, they were still a top 515 00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:24.440 team in the East. The hole was greater than the 516 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:28.720 sum of its parts. S is saying, it's media day. 517 00:29:28.839 --> 00:29:31.279 Is media day over? What are you doing back home? 518 00:29:32.960 --> 00:29:35.039 The microphone was low for me. My hearing is not 519 00:29:35.119 --> 00:29:37.799 great right now, so I was having trouble picking up 520 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:40.200 on any quotes and the mic was going in and 521 00:29:40.200 --> 00:29:43.279 out a little bit. I just thought I'd come home 522 00:29:43.640 --> 00:29:46.000 and I do some analysis on some of this stuff instead. 523 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:49.599 Hollo Dolo said Harden, saying he's excited for Zoo in 524 00:29:49.640 --> 00:29:52.160 terms of having a bigger offensive load is great. It 525 00:29:52.319 --> 00:29:54.720 just validates what all of us fans have been saying 526 00:29:54.759 --> 00:29:57.920 for so long. I don't think it's lost on the 527 00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:00.400 Clippers that of each the Zubots, he needs to be 528 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:02.720 a bigger part of the offense. There just needs to 529 00:30:02.759 --> 00:30:06.079 be a more consistent, concerted effort to getting him the 530 00:30:06.119 --> 00:30:10.400 basketball on a nightly basis. That's it. It's not that 531 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:12.319 they have and I have joked at times it looks 532 00:30:12.359 --> 00:30:15.079 like they're freezing him out. It's just when you have 533 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:16.799 so many Hall of famers like they have had over 534 00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:19.720 the years, especially last year, you can get lost in 535 00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:24.319 the shuffle. But now it is a necessity, it is 536 00:30:24.480 --> 00:30:29.599 non negotiable. You either get it beats the Zubas involved 537 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:33.480 early and often, or you are going to struggle offensively. 538 00:30:34.200 --> 00:30:37.440 He and James Harden I expect, you know, two of 539 00:30:37.480 --> 00:30:40.079 the first five times down the floor in the first 540 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:43.319 quarter to be running high, pick and roll, and everything 541 00:30:43.319 --> 00:30:46.519 else should be working off of that, Jonathan Ing said. 542 00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:48.799 PG said it was the first time in his presser 543 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:51.279 that it was the first time he was playing with 544 00:30:51.319 --> 00:30:54.720 an elite big and elite point guard at the same time. 545 00:30:54.880 --> 00:30:57.160 I did see that he is factually correct for the 546 00:30:57.160 --> 00:31:03.240 first time. I guess that is an accurate statement. I'm 547 00:31:03.240 --> 00:31:06.519 hoping Ivitza Zubats can still prove, as he's gonna be 548 00:31:06.559 --> 00:31:10.319 twenty seven throughout most of this season until March, that 549 00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:13.960 he can be an elite big and an offensive focal point. 550 00:31:14.119 --> 00:31:17.519 That's what I want to see. Uh yeah, double sourced 551 00:31:17.519 --> 00:31:19.720 it right here. Jm I thirteen twenty four said the 552 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:22.480 same thing. People are overreacting to it. Yeah, I didn't 553 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:26.279 take that as much of a slight for the first 554 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:29.279 time playing with an elite big and elite point guard. 555 00:31:29.440 --> 00:31:36.359 That that's a fair statement from Paul George renee Zarat says, 556 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:40.200 what's the famous Gino Smith quote? They wrote me off, 557 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:43.759 but I didn't write back. I love that one. Love 558 00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:46.759 you know Smith for that one. I Meana Sean said, Man, 559 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:49.960 I'm still concerned for Kawhi as am I, but no 560 00:31:50.039 --> 00:31:53.559 more concern than I was coming into this, no less either. 561 00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:57.119 I guess they're taking a day by day basically. Guys, 562 00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:01.720 we're gonna be updated as this goes along. We hope 563 00:32:01.799 --> 00:32:04.720 during training camp how he's doing with the strengthening of 564 00:32:04.759 --> 00:32:08.759 the right knee, but we're not gonna know for a 565 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:12.279 bit whether or not he's playing Opening night October twenty 566 00:32:12.279 --> 00:32:14.880 three against the Phoenix Suns because they have to see 567 00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:19.359 how his knee response. So follow Law Murray followed, Justin 568 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:24.960 Russo follow Tilmarizari followed Joey Lynn follow the Great Reporters 569 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:28.559 Miriam Swanson saw her today too. Mike Dang says, we'll 570 00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:30.680 see what PG says when Philly fans are killing him 571 00:32:30.680 --> 00:32:35.000 halfway through the season. I don't know. I think he's 572 00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:40.720 gonna start off hot now. Philly is notorious for being 573 00:32:40.759 --> 00:32:44.680 tough on their stars, especially you get paid there great. 574 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:46.799 They patched you on the back and say, go prove it. 575 00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:49.880 We know what happened to Tobias Harris. It completely killed 576 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:52.599 his confidence. I'm rooting for him in Detroit now. I'm 577 00:32:52.680 --> 00:32:55.480 still a Tobias Harris fan. But they chewed him up 578 00:32:55.480 --> 00:32:57.079 and spit him out a little bit, and it really 579 00:32:57.079 --> 00:33:00.319 wasn't his fault. They chose him over Jimmy Butler was 580 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:04.720 a decision by Olton Brand. Was Tobias supposed to turn 581 00:33:04.759 --> 00:33:07.559 down that much money, No, it wasn't. They traded a 582 00:33:07.599 --> 00:33:10.000 lot for him. They felt like they had to pay 583 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:14.559 him that. Mexicanara says, I would still trade Norman some 584 00:33:14.599 --> 00:33:17.720 seconds for Dante plus salary filler. I don't see norm 585 00:33:17.799 --> 00:33:20.359 getting better. Hopefully he proves me wrong. I can see 586 00:33:20.440 --> 00:33:25.200 Dante starting for US. Do you think Minnesota's trying to 587 00:33:25.240 --> 00:33:29.519 trade him? They just traded for him. Great takes two 588 00:33:29.519 --> 00:33:31.920 to Tango. I don't know if they're doing that because 589 00:33:31.960 --> 00:33:33.920 he is the better defender with probably a little bit 590 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:38.640 higher upside. Dante DiVincenzo, He's had some injury stuff, but 591 00:33:39.759 --> 00:33:43.039 overall had a great season. Last year helped the Knicks 592 00:33:43.079 --> 00:33:45.720 get to the second round. They lost to Indiana. He 593 00:33:45.759 --> 00:33:48.640 put up fifteen per game on twelve shots. He shot 594 00:33:48.680 --> 00:33:51.319 forty percent from the outside. He is the better defender 595 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:54.119 and he played eighty one games, So after a couple 596 00:33:54.119 --> 00:33:57.720 of seasons where he only played forty two games, he 597 00:33:57.799 --> 00:34:01.279 only played twenty five games two seasons. He's been much 598 00:34:01.279 --> 00:34:05.119 more durable. Dante DiVincenzo. Dante's inferno when he gets hot. 599 00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:07.680 Seventy two games his last year were Golden State, and 600 00:34:07.720 --> 00:34:10.159 then last season his first year with New York eighty 601 00:34:10.199 --> 00:34:12.480 one games. I don't think they just brought him in 602 00:34:12.519 --> 00:34:15.119 to trade him. That was a big get. That's a 603 00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:19.039 bigger get to me than Julius Randall in trading Karl 604 00:34:19.039 --> 00:34:24.239 Anthony Towns. And he's younger slightly, No, he's a good 605 00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:27.440 four years younger than Norm Powell. Amina Sean says, when 606 00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:29.840 PG comes back to into it Dome, we get to 607 00:34:29.880 --> 00:34:36.119 see him get locked by DJJ again, I hope. So 608 00:34:36.280 --> 00:34:39.559 that's what I'm looking forward to. Derek Jones Junior put 609 00:34:39.559 --> 00:34:41.519 the clamps on him in that first round series, and 610 00:34:41.519 --> 00:34:43.800 that was the first guy that the Clippers made a 611 00:34:43.800 --> 00:34:46.400 splash with as soon as it was announced that talks 612 00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:48.639 had broken off between them and Paul George the first 613 00:34:48.719 --> 00:34:51.360 day of free agency, and they went out and got 614 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:54.960 Derek Jones Junior. Coincidence just gonna sit my tea here, 615 00:35:00.760 --> 00:35:05.559 I don't think so why not? The Clippers said, I'm 616 00:35:05.559 --> 00:35:10.840 so excited to see what the new roster brings. I 617 00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:13.960 am two guys. I could see them finishing anywhere between 618 00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:16.719 six and ten. Much of that is just dependent on 619 00:35:16.760 --> 00:35:23.440 Kawhi and availability. But this roster defensively, I think has 620 00:35:23.480 --> 00:35:26.719 the potential to be a top eight defense, and I 621 00:35:26.760 --> 00:35:28.320 think they need to be. If they want to be 622 00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:31.000 the sixth seed, they have to hang their hat on 623 00:35:31.039 --> 00:35:35.280 their defense. Period. Halo Dolo says, the first ten to 624 00:35:35.320 --> 00:35:37.320 fifteen games are probably gonna tell us a lot about 625 00:35:37.320 --> 00:35:38.840 the season and how it's going to go or how 626 00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:42.280 it's going to look. Like. Excited for the preseason games 627 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:46.679 as well, me too, I've been this excited for preseason 628 00:35:46.719 --> 00:35:49.159 in a long time because so many guys are competing 629 00:35:49.199 --> 00:35:51.719 for spots. Coach Lu said, not just one spot is open, 630 00:35:51.800 --> 00:35:57.400 but two. You talk, give me two shout out PMS. Yeah, 631 00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:01.440 guys are going to be fighting, battling in camp and 632 00:36:01.480 --> 00:36:06.239 that brings out the best the competition, the iron sharpening iron. 633 00:36:07.679 --> 00:36:10.320 I'm gonna have coverage from guys in Hawaii all this 634 00:36:10.360 --> 00:36:12.159 week for training camp and then on a five to 635 00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:16.119 seventy LA Sports on Saturday, I think a pregame show 636 00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:19.519 starting at three for Clippers and Golden State Warriors from Honolulu, Hawaii. 637 00:36:20.119 --> 00:36:22.519 Why not the Clippers says I'm so excited to see Yes, 638 00:36:22.599 --> 00:36:25.119 I already read this one out of me dumbas JM 639 00:36:25.199 --> 00:36:27.880 I thirteen twenty four says, can someone explain to me 640 00:36:28.079 --> 00:36:30.280 what a hate watch is and why you do it? 641 00:36:32.280 --> 00:36:34.840 I think that's when people get off on drinking too 642 00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:38.760 much hater raid and enjoin the downfall of others. Shaden 643 00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:42.039 freudter Jonathan Ing says, will you be at front Wave 644 00:36:42.039 --> 00:36:44.719 Arena for the game on ten to eight versus the Nets? 645 00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:48.800 I will be an ocean side for that one. I'm excited. 646 00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:52.000 Amina Sean says, I think a seventh seed is probably 647 00:36:52.039 --> 00:36:55.480 a better bet considering Kawhi at most is playing fifty 648 00:36:55.480 --> 00:36:59.480 five or fifty two games, very interesting specifics. Fifty two 649 00:36:59.480 --> 00:37:02.639 I could see, but then fifty two, that's a very 650 00:37:03.960 --> 00:37:08.800 specific number there. We have no idea, Guys, I don't 651 00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:11.360 want to project too much. I'll say this, I don't 652 00:37:11.360 --> 00:37:13.639 think he's playing any back to backs. I didn't think 653 00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:17.519 that before we heard the swelling is almost gone. So 654 00:37:17.880 --> 00:37:19.880 that puts him at most if he's not playing any 655 00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:25.440 back to backs at sixty six games. Timothy Albin who says, 656 00:37:25.519 --> 00:37:27.800 what's your opinion on Larry Nance Junior? He would be 657 00:37:27.840 --> 00:37:30.320 a nice option if the Hawks go into cell mode 658 00:37:30.679 --> 00:37:33.599 in the last year of an eleven point two million 659 00:37:33.639 --> 00:37:38.119 dollars deal. Is that accurate he is in the last year. 660 00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:41.280 First of all, I'm a big fan of Larry Nance Junior. 661 00:37:42.440 --> 00:37:46.000 I am hustle guy at the four spot. He can 662 00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:50.920 play center two, He's versatile. He hasn't turned into a 663 00:37:50.960 --> 00:37:54.440 great three point shooter. He's only in his career averages 664 00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:57.679 one a temper game thirty four percent from the outside. 665 00:37:58.000 --> 00:37:59.800 Would have been nice to see him stretch the floor 666 00:37:59.840 --> 00:38:03.280 little bit more in that area. It's never really materialized. 667 00:38:03.840 --> 00:38:07.039 But I like him for twenty minutes a game. If 668 00:38:07.039 --> 00:38:12.239 you could pull that off, I'd say it's it would 669 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:17.119 be a wise move. But I'm guessing because other teams 670 00:38:17.239 --> 00:38:20.320 know the value of him, that's not going to be 671 00:38:20.320 --> 00:38:23.199 easy to grab him. And you could say, I'm not 672 00:38:23.199 --> 00:38:24.960 sure if you trade for him at this point, you'd 673 00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:28.320 have his bird rights coming out of Yes, him being 674 00:38:28.360 --> 00:38:30.639 in the last year of an eleven million dollars deal 675 00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:34.119 Larry Nance Jr. He'll be an unrestricted free agent next season. 676 00:38:34.400 --> 00:38:38.039 I'm not sure how that would work cap wise, it 677 00:38:38.119 --> 00:38:41.199 might be difficult to retain him. Therefore he's rental. You 678 00:38:41.239 --> 00:38:44.639 gotta look at that part of it too. Luis Lemmas says, damn, 679 00:38:44.880 --> 00:38:49.639 I hate the Sixers. Maybe he's responding to da am 680 00:38:49.639 --> 00:38:53.079 I thirteen twenty four saying, uh, why people hate watch? 681 00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:56.400 Why do you do it? They don't like Paul George Now, 682 00:38:56.440 --> 00:38:59.960 I guess so they're hating on the Sixers. Uh see. 683 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.199 He says, I don't know about y'all, but Harden got 684 00:39:04.239 --> 00:39:07.679 me hyped. Kawai can join when he's ready, Let's go. 685 00:39:08.840 --> 00:39:12.920 I've said this over the last week, since that presser 686 00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:18.400 last Tuesday, hearing about Kawai's health. Wasn't exactly encouraged, wasn't dismayed. 687 00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:22.280 But you know, if it's true that he had surgery 688 00:39:22.280 --> 00:39:26.519 in May and the swelling's almost gone now it's almost 689 00:39:26.559 --> 00:39:29.719 five months, it doesn't make me feel great about it. 690 00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:32.000 They're obviously going to have to manage it, and he 691 00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:33.920 can't do drills right now or is not going to 692 00:39:33.960 --> 00:39:36.239 at least in training camp. At that point, I said, 693 00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:39.079 it looks like it's James Harden's team for now. When 694 00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:43.159 Kawhi is available, he'll take the majority of the shots 695 00:39:44.079 --> 00:39:46.119 and hopefully he'll be back at the same level he 696 00:39:46.159 --> 00:39:49.920 played at last season, which was Elite top five and 697 00:39:50.639 --> 00:39:54.280 when he set the all time record for efficiency during 698 00:39:54.280 --> 00:39:56.719 a thirty game stretch where he shot fifty seven percent 699 00:39:56.800 --> 00:39:59.079 from the floor and fifty one percent from the outside 700 00:39:59.199 --> 00:40:01.519 while getting twenty six per game. Nobody had ever done 701 00:40:01.519 --> 00:40:03.639 that in NBA history. As long as he's back to 702 00:40:03.719 --> 00:40:06.880 that when he is available, then yeah, when he's out there, 703 00:40:06.920 --> 00:40:11.840 it's his team, But it could be James Harden because 704 00:40:11.840 --> 00:40:15.960 of his position, because of his availability, running the show 705 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:18.840 all the time, and he's gonna be the hub on 706 00:40:18.920 --> 00:40:21.400 offense regardless if Kawhi is there or not, he's the 707 00:40:21.480 --> 00:40:24.039 hub because he's the playmaker. He's that traditional point guard. 708 00:40:24.280 --> 00:40:26.679 He'll be the guy everybody's playing off of. But when 709 00:40:26.719 --> 00:40:29.320 Kawhi is not there, he's looking to score even more. 710 00:40:30.159 --> 00:40:32.840 Helo Dollo says, this team gives me twenty twenty two 711 00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:36.239 Warriors vibes. I'm not saying we are winning at all. However, 712 00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:38.920 nobody expected the Warriors to do anything that year, but 713 00:40:38.920 --> 00:40:41.480 they shocked a lot of people. They had guys step up. 714 00:40:42.320 --> 00:40:45.960 Andrew Wiggins had his best season and was magnificent in 715 00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:48.119 the playoffs. Jordan Poole was big for them that year. 716 00:40:49.360 --> 00:40:53.639 Kaminga had a few moments uh and they got enough 717 00:40:53.679 --> 00:40:56.079 out of Klay Thompson who wasn't the same but was 718 00:40:56.119 --> 00:41:00.039 good enough. And Steph Curry and Draymond Green played a 719 00:41:00.119 --> 00:41:04.159 very high level. Still, I don't hate the comp It 720 00:41:04.239 --> 00:41:07.320 might be too lofty, but I'd like it to play 721 00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:11.559 out that way. Amina Sean said, what's funny is l 722 00:41:11.639 --> 00:41:15.360 Frank keeps lying to us elaborate on that. In what 723 00:41:15.480 --> 00:41:19.519 way can you expand on that or are you just 724 00:41:19.840 --> 00:41:22.760 making some vague general statement that you hope gets attention 725 00:41:22.840 --> 00:41:24.639 on here And I probably shouldn't even brought it up, 726 00:41:24.880 --> 00:41:30.039 didn't screen it beforehand. Matthew a Jimi says, it's our year. Hey, 727 00:41:30.480 --> 00:41:34.679 that is the quote from will Updyke, this is our year. 728 00:41:35.039 --> 00:41:37.679 I think it's tongue in cheek and he's being ironically 729 00:41:37.679 --> 00:41:39.639 funny about it. Since if there was a time to 730 00:41:39.679 --> 00:41:42.599 not believe it is the Clippers year after Paul George left, 731 00:41:42.719 --> 00:41:47.320 it would be now. I don't know. Stranger things have 732 00:41:47.519 --> 00:41:52.119 happened in the NBA. I'm looking for some more quotes here, 733 00:41:52.440 --> 00:41:57.000 looking for stuff from Derek Jones Junior. D j J. 734 00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:01.639 Who should I check out here in the comments section? 735 00:42:02.119 --> 00:42:04.719 You know what, I'll go back to Joey Lynn. I 736 00:42:04.800 --> 00:42:08.519 like his reporting for SI now shout out Joey Lynn. 737 00:42:09.480 --> 00:42:12.480 Still not seeing anything on Derek Jones Junior. Maybe he 738 00:42:12.519 --> 00:42:15.519 didn't talk that much. Mike Danks said, KPJ going for 739 00:42:15.519 --> 00:42:21.760 the twenty twenty two Jordan Poole role. That's interesting, Mike, 740 00:42:22.559 --> 00:42:28.559 Mike Big Mike, I don't hate that idea. Honestly, we 741 00:42:28.679 --> 00:42:33.880 know how talented Kevin Porter Junior is. The off the 742 00:42:33.920 --> 00:42:38.599 court issues and transgressions have been talked about enough on here. 743 00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:41.360 I want to focus on the court right now, especially 744 00:42:41.440 --> 00:42:44.239 on a daylight today and media Day. But the last 745 00:42:44.280 --> 00:42:47.599 full season in the NBA, nineteen points per game, almost 746 00:42:47.679 --> 00:42:53.239 six assists, the three turnovers played, fifty nine games started, 747 00:42:53.280 --> 00:42:55.400 fifty nine games. Was getting thirty four minutes a night. 748 00:42:55.880 --> 00:42:58.760 And he is a league average three point shooter at 749 00:42:58.760 --> 00:43:01.400 thirty six percent? Can he be better than that on 750 00:43:01.440 --> 00:43:05.079 a better team with more catch and shoot threes. If 751 00:43:05.119 --> 00:43:08.679 anybody has the number on Kevin Porter Junior catch and 752 00:43:08.679 --> 00:43:13.639 shoot threes, put it in here, because I'd be interested 753 00:43:13.760 --> 00:43:20.239 to know what that was. It looked like wow. According 754 00:43:20.280 --> 00:43:25.519 to a thread on Reddit in twenty twenty two, he 755 00:43:25.599 --> 00:43:30.360 shot forty eight percent on catch and shoot threes in 756 00:43:30.639 --> 00:43:32.679 twenty twenty three. So was that the start of the 757 00:43:32.679 --> 00:43:35.480 twenty two to twenty three season. Let me see here. 758 00:43:35.639 --> 00:43:37.480 Let me see here. I don't want to put out 759 00:43:37.519 --> 00:43:43.679 any inaccurate news. That just seems unbelievably good. That would 760 00:43:43.719 --> 00:43:47.760 be a very high percentage from the outside and I 761 00:43:47.840 --> 00:43:51.519 would be all here for it. Yeah. During the twenty 762 00:43:51.519 --> 00:43:55.559 one twenty two season, Kevin Porter Junior was at forty 763 00:43:55.599 --> 00:43:59.480 eight point two percent on catch and shoot threes. Guys, 764 00:43:59.519 --> 00:44:03.719 that's kind of revelation. Kevin Porter Junior in the twenty 765 00:44:03.800 --> 00:44:07.480 one to twenty two season. Was it forty eight point 766 00:44:07.519 --> 00:44:10.880 two percent on catch and shoot threes. I'm looking at 767 00:44:10.920 --> 00:44:17.760 an article in July of twenty twenty four from athlonsports 768 00:44:17.800 --> 00:44:24.880 dot com. Ooh, that is encouraging, to say the least. 769 00:44:26.320 --> 00:44:30.199 That's special. That is a guy that can knock him down. Now, 770 00:44:30.239 --> 00:44:33.400 my guess is the reason why his three point shooting 771 00:44:33.559 --> 00:44:36.239 overall that season wasn't nearly that high as because he 772 00:44:36.239 --> 00:44:38.440 didn't get a lot of them or didn't take enough 773 00:44:38.480 --> 00:44:40.239 of them. But you, when you were one of the 774 00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:44.920 focal points of the offense for the Houston Rockets that year, 775 00:44:44.960 --> 00:44:47.280 he did shoot about thirty eight percent from three, but 776 00:44:47.519 --> 00:44:50.320 forty eight percent on catch and shoot threes in the 777 00:44:50.320 --> 00:44:53.679 twenty one twenty two season. Damn. And I'm looking at 778 00:44:53.679 --> 00:44:56.599 forty two percent on catch and shoot threes for KPJ 779 00:44:56.880 --> 00:45:01.199 in the twenty two to twenty three season. OOO, that 780 00:45:01.559 --> 00:45:07.920 is interesting. Mo Hassen says fingers crossed. Kai Jones can 781 00:45:07.920 --> 00:45:12.119 grab the last two way, we will see. He's basically 782 00:45:12.199 --> 00:45:14.039 on a prove it type of deal right now. It's 783 00:45:14.039 --> 00:45:17.199 a non guaranteed camp invite contract, but they have a 784 00:45:17.280 --> 00:45:22.000 slot open, one more two way spot. Luis Limis says, 785 00:45:22.039 --> 00:45:25.159 I like the Clippers grit now that SOFTPG is gone. 786 00:45:26.119 --> 00:45:29.239 Old Dirty Dasher says players have not played enough together 787 00:45:29.320 --> 00:45:33.199 to have a good year. Sorry, just being extra pessimistic 788 00:45:33.239 --> 00:45:37.719 this year. It's noticeable we can all tell. I think, 789 00:45:38.519 --> 00:45:42.559 given how good of Eacha's Zubots and James Harden looked 790 00:45:42.920 --> 00:45:45.360 over about a month and a half stretch before Zubots 791 00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:48.639 had that calf injury, I think they're going to be 792 00:45:48.639 --> 00:45:51.360 better than that this season together and that tandem is 793 00:45:51.400 --> 00:45:55.159 going to thrive and they need to. So I think 794 00:45:55.159 --> 00:45:58.119 there's a lot of positives there. It's James Harden getting 795 00:45:58.159 --> 00:46:01.000 a training camp with this team. Now, that's much more 796 00:46:01.119 --> 00:46:04.559 chemistry built up, much more of an ability to mesh 797 00:46:05.159 --> 00:46:09.320 and meld some real continuity. Luis Lemmas says, if Kawhi 798 00:46:09.360 --> 00:46:11.280 is not able to go, I want to see Norm 799 00:46:11.280 --> 00:46:16.960 in the starting lineup. So that is one of the 800 00:46:17.079 --> 00:46:21.280 possibilities here. I brought it up last night. We had 801 00:46:21.280 --> 00:46:24.559 the guys on Brandon Marcus and Matt Matta Warren formerly 802 00:46:25.480 --> 00:46:29.719 of Sports Ethos. Now they have and I think a 803 00:46:29.719 --> 00:46:32.280 new one. The first one is coming out today the 804 00:46:32.320 --> 00:46:36.280 inaugural Voyage of Talking Ships is coming out their new podcast. 805 00:46:36.639 --> 00:46:40.519 Love those guys, check it out. But I made the 806 00:46:40.559 --> 00:46:43.679 point that if Kawhi is not able to go Opening Night, 807 00:46:44.079 --> 00:46:46.840 and we can throw this around here, guys, if he's 808 00:46:46.880 --> 00:46:51.480 not able to go Opening Night, who do you want 809 00:46:51.760 --> 00:46:55.480 in the starting lineup? Because it could not only affect 810 00:46:55.679 --> 00:47:00.880 who replaces Kawhi, but who starts next to James Harden. 811 00:47:01.519 --> 00:47:04.360 Because look at it this way, if everything in this 812 00:47:04.480 --> 00:47:08.719 ideal situation, with everyone healthy and everyone's available, I would 813 00:47:08.719 --> 00:47:12.639 say go James Harden next to Terrence Man. There's continuity there. 814 00:47:12.840 --> 00:47:16.639 Terrence Man started seventy one games last season with Derek 815 00:47:16.719 --> 00:47:18.960 Jones junior of the three, with Kawhi at the four, 816 00:47:19.039 --> 00:47:21.199 with it beats the Zobots at the five. But if 817 00:47:21.280 --> 00:47:23.599 Kawhi' is not available, that kind of up ends things 818 00:47:23.920 --> 00:47:26.440 because then you say, well do they need more scoring? 819 00:47:26.599 --> 00:47:31.400 Therefore you start Overn Powell next to James Harden. Could 820 00:47:31.480 --> 00:47:34.920 you then slide up Terrence Man to the three, djj 821 00:47:35.440 --> 00:47:38.519 to the four and it eats a Zubots to the five. 822 00:47:40.360 --> 00:47:44.800 Maybe I don't know does but toomb men start at 823 00:47:44.840 --> 00:47:47.320 the four and you keep Terrence Man where he is 824 00:47:47.320 --> 00:47:51.159 that the two. These are the questions, This is the 825 00:47:51.239 --> 00:47:53.719 uncertainty going into the season, and some of what makes 826 00:47:53.760 --> 00:47:57.679 it interesting. They just have a lot of options. I 827 00:47:57.880 --> 00:48:02.000 just I'm excited to see which direction they go, because obviously, 828 00:48:02.440 --> 00:48:05.239 if you're trying to get more buckets and more offense 829 00:48:05.280 --> 00:48:07.440 and have more of a scoring punch to start off games, 830 00:48:07.440 --> 00:48:11.480 you go with Noran Powell, but that hurts you defensively. 831 00:48:12.320 --> 00:48:16.440 There's no perfect guy. Unless KPJ really emerges in trading 832 00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:19.280 camp and says I'm playing defense at a really high 833 00:48:19.400 --> 00:48:23.199 level and I can score, then I guess you start 834 00:48:23.280 --> 00:48:24.719 him with the two. But I think that's kind of 835 00:48:24.719 --> 00:48:27.840 a long shot right now. So you either go with 836 00:48:27.920 --> 00:48:32.960 offense with Norm Powell, more defense with Terrence Man. You 837 00:48:33.000 --> 00:48:35.679 can also go with Batoom at the four versus Dereck 838 00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:38.679 Jones Junior sliding up to the four. There's a lot 839 00:48:38.679 --> 00:48:43.360 of different combinations if Kawhi is not available that Mexican 840 00:48:43.440 --> 00:48:48.119 Nara says, I feel KPJ is being slept on, maybe 841 00:48:48.360 --> 00:48:52.480 so ashen Amina Sean says, I want to see those 842 00:48:52.880 --> 00:48:58.159 d j J lobs, Derrick Jones Junior lobs. Halo Dolo says, 843 00:48:58.280 --> 00:49:01.079 I think Tylu looked at that exact same stat and 844 00:49:01.119 --> 00:49:05.039 that's why he made those comments. Maybe so, guys, that 845 00:49:05.199 --> 00:49:09.039 is that is something. The twenty one to twenty two season, 846 00:49:09.159 --> 00:49:12.440 Kevin Porter Junior shot forty eight percent on catching shoot threes, 847 00:49:13.159 --> 00:49:15.000 and the twenty two to twenty three season was at 848 00:49:15.079 --> 00:49:17.519 forty three and a half percent. So even above forty 849 00:49:17.519 --> 00:49:24.000 two percent, if he's playing off ball more and getting 850 00:49:24.039 --> 00:49:28.519 more open looks next to James Harden, whoever else is 851 00:49:28.559 --> 00:49:31.880 out there, if he just has less of the defense 852 00:49:32.280 --> 00:49:35.159 angled his way like he did in Houston because he 853 00:49:35.199 --> 00:49:37.119 was one of their better players, so more attention went 854 00:49:37.159 --> 00:49:43.039 his way. If defenses get lost and leave him off ball, 855 00:49:43.199 --> 00:49:46.880 that could be a bucket. That's a revelation, I'm telling you. 856 00:49:47.639 --> 00:49:51.119 Amina Sean says, those lobs from Harden to DJJ are 857 00:49:51.119 --> 00:49:55.079 could it be amazing? They're gonna feed families. Mike Dangs says, 858 00:49:55.079 --> 00:49:57.719 I'm optimistic this year. Every time they count us out, 859 00:49:57.840 --> 00:50:03.360 we have an exciting season. This Clippers team traditionally has 860 00:50:03.480 --> 00:50:07.880 overachieved win counted out. We saw it the seventeen to 861 00:50:07.920 --> 00:50:11.239 eighteen year where they still won forty two games after 862 00:50:11.280 --> 00:50:14.119 they traded Blake. We saw it the eighteen to nineteen 863 00:50:14.199 --> 00:50:17.599 year after they traded Tobias, still making the playoffs and 864 00:50:17.599 --> 00:50:19.639 then pushing maybe the best team of all time, the 865 00:50:19.679 --> 00:50:22.920 Golden State Warris with Kevin Durant to six games. So 866 00:50:23.039 --> 00:50:28.000 there's reason, good reason to believe that's true. The twenty 867 00:50:28.000 --> 00:50:30.639 one to twenty two season the most recent of these. 868 00:50:31.159 --> 00:50:33.360 I don't want to say little engine that could teams, 869 00:50:33.360 --> 00:50:37.199 but teams with lesser talent that banded together to overcome 870 00:50:37.280 --> 00:50:42.440 losses from injuries. They didn't have Kawhi that entire year. 871 00:50:42.480 --> 00:50:45.840 They had Paul George for just thirty one games, and 872 00:50:45.880 --> 00:50:49.639 they still had a winning record. Made the play in, 873 00:50:50.119 --> 00:50:52.800 lost the first game, lost Paul George the second game, 874 00:50:52.840 --> 00:50:54.519 and lost with the Pelicans after I think they had 875 00:50:54.559 --> 00:50:57.280 a thirteen point lead in that fourth quarter. That one 876 00:50:57.360 --> 00:51:00.679 still frush me. Tru frustrates me. The point it leaves 877 00:51:00.679 --> 00:51:05.519 to me tongue tied that playing game. Mo Hassin says, 878 00:51:05.599 --> 00:51:07.440 do you think Van Gundy will help us be a 879 00:51:07.480 --> 00:51:11.760 top eight in defense? Yes? He will only help. They 880 00:51:11.760 --> 00:51:15.559 will not be a seventeenth ranked defensive team this year 881 00:51:15.679 --> 00:51:18.559 in defensive rating. They will not be that bad. They 882 00:51:18.599 --> 00:51:21.079 can't be that bad if they are the seasons cooked 883 00:51:21.079 --> 00:51:23.159 and maybe they won't make the plan. They can't be 884 00:51:23.239 --> 00:51:25.360 that bad defensively again, because I don't think they're going 885 00:51:25.400 --> 00:51:27.840 to be fourth offensively like they were this past season, 886 00:51:28.079 --> 00:51:31.159 and at times they were doing other worldly things on offense. 887 00:51:32.599 --> 00:51:36.360 I don't count on that. I still think though, they 888 00:51:36.360 --> 00:51:39.079 could be a top twelve offense, maybe even a top 889 00:51:39.119 --> 00:51:42.119 ten offense, just going off the data in the history 890 00:51:42.400 --> 00:51:45.400 with James Harden. Yes, I know he's older, but his 891 00:51:45.519 --> 00:51:49.400 offense is over his last twelve seasons and he has 892 00:51:49.519 --> 00:51:51.960 led pretty much all of them. He's the guy. Have 893 00:51:52.119 --> 00:51:55.519 never ranked worse than twelve, and on average they have 894 00:51:55.599 --> 00:51:58.719 been fifth. I don't expect fifth, but can they be 895 00:51:58.880 --> 00:52:03.880 eight through twelve somewhere in there, ten through twelve. I 896 00:52:03.960 --> 00:52:07.000 think so. And if you combine that with a top 897 00:52:07.159 --> 00:52:09.840 ten or top eight defense, I think they need to 898 00:52:09.880 --> 00:52:12.559 be top eight on the defensive end, then you have 899 00:52:12.599 --> 00:52:15.079 a top ten net rating. Top ten net rating is 900 00:52:15.079 --> 00:52:17.800 the goal to me overall. You marry those two things, 901 00:52:18.119 --> 00:52:20.880 where you're a top twelve offense and a top eight defense, 902 00:52:21.119 --> 00:52:25.760 you get a top ten net rating. That's what matters. 903 00:52:26.280 --> 00:52:31.000 Uncle Mike says, Bro, you finally did your homework on KPJ. Well, 904 00:52:31.239 --> 00:52:35.400 Coach Lou gave me reason to last week really after 905 00:52:35.519 --> 00:52:40.119 he said, and I want to quote this correctly because 906 00:52:40.119 --> 00:52:43.559 this changed everything of the way I read the situation 907 00:52:45.679 --> 00:52:50.079 with Kevin Porters Junior. This quote was everything to me. Guys, 908 00:52:50.400 --> 00:52:55.000 here's what Coach Lou said last week. Quote. For us 909 00:52:55.079 --> 00:52:58.440 to have success, he's gonna have to be a big 910 00:52:59.000 --> 00:53:04.599 part of that. That changes everything. I didn't know how 911 00:53:04.599 --> 00:53:07.440 you viewed KPJ. We still don't know if he's going 912 00:53:07.480 --> 00:53:11.079 to be suspended or not. How many games that could 913 00:53:11.079 --> 00:53:15.400 be if he is suspended when it comes, If it 914 00:53:15.440 --> 00:53:18.039 comes early enough, you can miss the preseason. That would 915 00:53:18.119 --> 00:53:24.400 hurt his chances. So it's fair to say I've been 916 00:53:24.440 --> 00:53:27.760 dismissive at times because you just don't even know if 917 00:53:27.800 --> 00:53:31.320 he's playing yet. If he's suspended early on in the season, 918 00:53:31.360 --> 00:53:33.920 with all these guys vying for different positions and roles 919 00:53:33.920 --> 00:53:36.599 on the Clippers, it would be a major setback for him. 920 00:53:37.880 --> 00:53:39.880 So I'm kind of letting this play out a little 921 00:53:39.880 --> 00:53:42.800 bit more. But I've gotten more familiar with his game, 922 00:53:43.000 --> 00:53:45.320 even though I knew him. Even though if you watch 923 00:53:45.639 --> 00:53:48.079 the initial podcast when we got the news live on 924 00:53:48.119 --> 00:53:51.960 clips and dip and I was cheering it on and 925 00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:55.039 I was big on the move. Now that also came 926 00:53:55.079 --> 00:53:57.400 before I knew everything that would happen with him off 927 00:53:57.400 --> 00:54:02.559 the court, and that was extremely disappointing. And I understand 928 00:54:03.119 --> 00:54:06.960 it's controversial and will be scrutinized, but if we're just 929 00:54:07.039 --> 00:54:09.360 talking on the court, I have done more and more 930 00:54:09.400 --> 00:54:13.159 research on KPJ because coach lou was a fan. He 931 00:54:13.280 --> 00:54:15.840 said there's a reason he was getting paid twenty million 932 00:54:15.880 --> 00:54:21.960 per year. He's a big time talent. And this Clippers team, 933 00:54:22.400 --> 00:54:26.079 as Lawrence Frank has said, they got to take chances 934 00:54:26.079 --> 00:54:28.719 on some fallen angels. That's what he has said before. 935 00:54:29.920 --> 00:54:34.159 So whether or not you like these type of moves, 936 00:54:36.960 --> 00:54:41.440 you can see the logic in them. And KPJ, I'm 937 00:54:41.440 --> 00:54:45.000 hoping you know. I'll read this quote again from Joey 938 00:54:45.079 --> 00:54:49.800 Lynn has made strides, has turned his life around in 939 00:54:49.840 --> 00:54:53.199 different ways again. Joey Lynn talk with him add into 940 00:54:53.199 --> 00:54:57.000 a DOLMA media day. When discussing counseling, what he's learned 941 00:54:57.079 --> 00:54:59.079 during his time away from the league and his journey 942 00:54:59.159 --> 00:55:02.079 back to the NBA, KPJ said, quote, for me, I 943 00:55:02.119 --> 00:55:05.199 always believed in myself. I know my truth. I felt 944 00:55:05.199 --> 00:55:08.159 like I had a good fight getting back. Definitely didn't 945 00:55:08.199 --> 00:55:15.360 count myself out. We will see how this materializes, but 946 00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:19.679 the talent is obviously there on the court and the 947 00:55:19.719 --> 00:55:24.360 Clippers they're gonna need help this season and if he 948 00:55:24.360 --> 00:55:27.440 can miss defensively to what I think he's capable of. 949 00:55:27.519 --> 00:55:30.159 I put up a defensive highlight reel of him on 950 00:55:30.480 --> 00:55:34.000 X at follow out of a I think he could 951 00:55:34.000 --> 00:55:36.599 be much better on that end than people realize I do. 952 00:55:38.480 --> 00:55:42.159 I think Kevin Porter Jr. Is not just an offensive 953 00:55:42.199 --> 00:55:47.800 talent who has shades of being a dime store no disrespect, 954 00:55:47.880 --> 00:55:50.760 but a poor man's James Harden. James Hard is the 955 00:55:50.760 --> 00:55:53.159 top seventy five player. Ever, it's no disrespect to say 956 00:55:53.159 --> 00:55:56.639 that about a guy. It's a compliment still, But a 957 00:55:56.719 --> 00:56:01.800 lefty that can run an offense. To what degree to 958 00:56:02.440 --> 00:56:05.039 how proficient he can be, we don't know. He hasn't 959 00:56:05.039 --> 00:56:07.800 been on a good team before, he hasn't been on 960 00:56:07.840 --> 00:56:12.719 a team with playoff aspirations before. But you can make 961 00:56:12.719 --> 00:56:16.519 the argument on the other side, because he was one 962 00:56:16.559 --> 00:56:18.599 of the focal points, if not the main guy on 963 00:56:18.639 --> 00:56:23.239 that Houston team. Teams game plan to stop him. So 964 00:56:23.320 --> 00:56:26.079 what happens when he's playing off of James Harden, when 965 00:56:26.079 --> 00:56:30.760 he's playing off of Kawhi Leonard? What happens then? I 966 00:56:30.760 --> 00:56:37.480 don't know. I think there is a lot of untapped potential, clearly, 967 00:56:37.519 --> 00:56:41.000 And we can continue to talk about KPg now because 968 00:56:41.159 --> 00:56:43.880 the way they're talking about him leads me to believe 969 00:56:44.639 --> 00:56:47.440 he's gonna get a real shot at making an impact 970 00:56:47.440 --> 00:56:52.760 this season. And Production says, what will Harden's stats look 971 00:56:52.920 --> 00:56:55.840 like this year? He's got to match twenty five plus 972 00:56:56.000 --> 00:57:05.760 ten plus assists question mark. Here's what I'll say. They 973 00:57:05.800 --> 00:57:15.199 need to be bare minimum twenty points per game, eight 974 00:57:15.239 --> 00:57:22.440 and a half assists per game. So what does that mean? 975 00:57:22.840 --> 00:57:26.000 How much of an increase is that from last season? 976 00:57:27.280 --> 00:57:30.880 I'll tell you exactly. He was at sixteen and a 977 00:57:30.920 --> 00:57:33.000 half points per game last season, an eight and a 978 00:57:33.039 --> 00:57:37.320 half sis per game. What we need from James Harden, 979 00:57:38.320 --> 00:57:42.559 what I know you're hoping from bare minimum is basically 980 00:57:42.639 --> 00:57:45.039 what he did is last year in Philly, where he 981 00:57:45.119 --> 00:57:47.360 could have been at all star led the league and assists, 982 00:57:48.320 --> 00:57:51.360 he averaged twenty one to ten point seven assists per game, 983 00:57:51.960 --> 00:57:54.320 twenty one points per game on the dot and ten 984 00:57:54.360 --> 00:57:58.719 point seven assists per game wasn't his career high. That 985 00:57:58.760 --> 00:58:01.159 came back when he finished second an MVP voting in 986 00:58:01.199 --> 00:58:03.320 the twenty sixteen to twenty seventeen season. I think to 987 00:58:03.400 --> 00:58:06.719 Steph Curry or no, that was to Russell Westbrook with 988 00:58:06.800 --> 00:58:09.280 the triple doubles. But he averaged eleven assists per game 989 00:58:09.320 --> 00:58:12.719 that season. But he is a year removed James Harden 990 00:58:13.360 --> 00:58:17.360 from almost averaging eleven assists per game and twenty one points. Now, 991 00:58:18.239 --> 00:58:21.000 Embiid missed games that season, but you can still say, 992 00:58:21.320 --> 00:58:25.079 you know Embiid was there. He's feeding him. It was 993 00:58:25.119 --> 00:58:28.599 a good Philly team. Guys are hitting shots. The assists 994 00:58:28.639 --> 00:58:36.639 were up. James Harden bare minimum twenty and nine. I'll 995 00:58:36.719 --> 00:58:39.000 round up from eight and a half to nine twenty 996 00:58:39.000 --> 00:58:43.360 and nine bare minimum. Anything above that is gravy, assuming 997 00:58:44.719 --> 00:58:49.920 the efficiency doesn't fall off a cliff. Last season, while 998 00:58:49.920 --> 00:58:53.280 he only shot forty three percent from the floor, well 999 00:58:53.519 --> 00:58:57.719 when I mean seven of his eleven attempts per game 1000 00:58:58.159 --> 00:59:03.039 were three pointers and he's from three, that's fine. That 1001 00:59:03.119 --> 00:59:06.239 efficiency was fine last season. Yeah, if he can get 1002 00:59:06.280 --> 00:59:08.400 it up to forty four percent from the field and 1003 00:59:08.480 --> 00:59:10.760 almost thirty nine percent from three, that would be big. 1004 00:59:11.920 --> 00:59:15.800 But there are nights where Kawhi is not going to 1005 00:59:15.519 --> 00:59:18.880 be there, maybe even opening night, and James Harden has 1006 00:59:18.960 --> 00:59:21.320 to take shots to put up shots and be a 1007 00:59:21.360 --> 00:59:25.400 threat and keep the defense off balance with not only 1008 00:59:25.480 --> 00:59:28.480 his passing but his scoring. So they don't know how 1009 00:59:28.480 --> 00:59:33.559 to play him. Are we playing the step back? Is 1010 00:59:33.599 --> 00:59:37.199 he driving past guys? And therefore makes the defense have 1011 00:59:37.280 --> 00:59:40.639 to be in that predicament where is he going for 1012 00:59:40.679 --> 00:59:42.199 the floater or is he going for the lob to 1013 00:59:42.239 --> 00:59:44.599 a beat to zubats because that's when James Harden was 1014 00:59:44.599 --> 00:59:46.519 at his best, when he had a roller in Clint 1015 00:59:46.559 --> 00:59:50.280 Capella that you didn't know if that ball going up 1016 00:59:50.360 --> 00:59:52.679 was going to be a floater from James Harden. And 1017 00:59:52.719 --> 00:59:54.920 he's kind of shot away from that floater recently, not 1018 00:59:55.079 --> 00:59:57.119 Game four when he closed that game out against Dallas 1019 00:59:57.199 --> 00:59:59.880 last season in the playoffs, but overall he is not 1020 01:00:00.079 --> 01:00:03.079 taking as many floaters. It hasn't been as efficient from him. 1021 01:00:03.440 --> 01:00:06.280 But when he was right, when he was at his best, 1022 01:00:06.400 --> 01:00:11.000 MVP James Harden, that is the guy that would keep 1023 01:00:11.000 --> 01:00:13.920 a defense off balance with his playmaking and scoring. And 1024 01:00:14.679 --> 01:00:20.800 the most obvious way to do that was with that 1025 01:00:20.880 --> 01:00:24.639 little floater that could also turn into a lob. I 1026 01:00:24.679 --> 01:00:28.039 see Grant Monas in the chat. Hey, Grant, if you 1027 01:00:28.079 --> 01:00:29.760 want to jump in here for a little bit, let 1028 01:00:29.760 --> 01:00:34.679 me know. I will send you a link. I don't 1029 01:00:34.679 --> 01:00:38.599 know what your availability is, but I saw Grant Mona 1030 01:00:38.639 --> 01:00:41.079 there today at Media Day. He's one of my favorites. 1031 01:00:41.320 --> 01:00:45.239 He's been doing great things. And as Grant Mona said 1032 01:00:45.280 --> 01:00:48.119 here and we've talked about on this show this Clippers 1033 01:00:48.119 --> 01:00:52.400 Talk Live a Media Day special edition, Grant Mona says, 1034 01:00:52.440 --> 01:00:57.480 this team is hearing the noise, They're accepting it. Loved it. 1035 01:00:59.239 --> 01:01:03.440 Some more questions. Oh, moneyball approach. I like it. Build 1036 01:01:03.440 --> 01:01:06.440 a Paul George in the aggregate. I'd say you make 1037 01:01:06.519 --> 01:01:10.119 up for the loss of Jason Giambi. No one guy 1038 01:01:10.119 --> 01:01:14.639 can do it. Multiple guys have to. Clipser Die says. 1039 01:01:14.639 --> 01:01:18.199 Bleacher Report has the Clippers starting five of Harden, Man, 1040 01:01:19.000 --> 01:01:22.920 Derek Jones, Junior Kawhi and Zoo ranked twentieth. I can't 1041 01:01:23.000 --> 01:01:27.199 wait for this team to surprise people. I definitely think 1042 01:01:27.239 --> 01:01:32.639 that starting five is higher than twentieth because outside of Harden, 1043 01:01:32.800 --> 01:01:36.880 that is some elite defense there. That is a team 1044 01:01:36.960 --> 01:01:38.639 that can get the job done and get a lot 1045 01:01:38.639 --> 01:01:43.440 of stops and hopefully some easier points because of stops 1046 01:01:43.559 --> 01:01:47.880 leading to transition points and runouts and advance passes by 1047 01:01:47.920 --> 01:01:52.960 the Clippers. That's something Coachly wants. That is something he 1048 01:01:53.000 --> 01:01:56.639 has talked about just last week. They need to score 1049 01:01:56.800 --> 01:01:59.800 and take advantage of teams and transition more than they have. 1050 01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:03.320 They have to play faster. It's great that they have 1051 01:02:03.400 --> 01:02:08.159 the top two isolation players in the game Kawhi most 1052 01:02:08.159 --> 01:02:13.679 points per possession and isolation last season, James Harden just 1053 01:02:13.719 --> 01:02:17.800 below them, kind of significantly below him, but still second. 1054 01:02:18.079 --> 01:02:22.159 Kawhi first, James Harden's second. But what you want is 1055 01:02:22.199 --> 01:02:25.320 to not have to rely on that so much and 1056 01:02:25.360 --> 01:02:27.719 get easier buckets. Part of that is just playing through 1057 01:02:27.760 --> 01:02:30.559 a visa zubots more. In my opinion, I always say this, 1058 01:02:30.719 --> 01:02:34.679 but there is an easier path to victories and it's 1059 01:02:34.679 --> 01:02:39.880 playing through Big Zoo. So do that. But also with 1060 01:02:39.960 --> 01:02:43.239 Derek Joes Junior and Terrence Mann, should they both be 1061 01:02:43.239 --> 01:02:46.000 in the starting lineup, they can beat their man down 1062 01:02:46.000 --> 01:02:49.679 the floor, find them with long outlet passes, advance passes 1063 01:02:49.719 --> 01:02:52.079 over the top of the defense, that mortar fire pass 1064 01:02:52.440 --> 01:02:54.679 where you catch them doing a little bit of cherry picking. 1065 01:02:55.920 --> 01:02:59.679 That's how you do it. Amina Sean said, you're right, Adam, 1066 01:03:00.119 --> 01:03:03.639 very jumpshot heavy team. We need to get easier baskets. 1067 01:03:04.679 --> 01:03:09.360 They know it. They're trying to figure this out. It's 1068 01:03:09.400 --> 01:03:15.320 easy sometimes to have these goals and talking points during 1069 01:03:15.360 --> 01:03:19.159 training camp, but it's kind of the old Mike Tyson saying, 1070 01:03:20.480 --> 01:03:22.280 you know, everybody's got a plan until you get punched 1071 01:03:22.280 --> 01:03:26.800 in the face. And the Clippers, unfortunately, have not held 1072 01:03:27.199 --> 01:03:30.440 to some of their principles as the season has gone along. 1073 01:03:31.039 --> 01:03:33.760 They've said some of this stuff the last couple of years, 1074 01:03:34.559 --> 01:03:37.480 but it deteriorates as the season goes along. Some of 1075 01:03:37.559 --> 01:03:40.880 it's just because of injuries. But the goal was to 1076 01:03:40.880 --> 01:03:46.039 be a top five defense. Last season they ended up seventeenth. 1077 01:03:46.360 --> 01:03:52.559 They have to maintain their identity. That is the key, 1078 01:03:54.400 --> 01:03:56.920 and they're saying all the right things, but you got 1079 01:03:56.920 --> 01:04:01.519 to do them consistently. You have to be able to 1080 01:04:01.559 --> 01:04:04.280 go out there. I thought I heard Grant Mona trying 1081 01:04:04.280 --> 01:04:05.559 to get in here for a second, but now I 1082 01:04:05.559 --> 01:04:08.320 don't see him. You got to go out there on 1083 01:04:08.360 --> 01:04:10.400 a nightly basis and know how you want to play. 1084 01:04:11.440 --> 01:04:16.440 Your game plan cannot waiver based upon what the opposition 1085 01:04:16.599 --> 01:04:19.280 is doing. Yes, there are times to make adjustments, but 1086 01:04:19.320 --> 01:04:25.000 if you are imposing your will, if you're the aggressors, 1087 01:04:25.559 --> 01:04:29.599 then you're winning a lot of ball games. That's what 1088 01:04:29.639 --> 01:04:33.920 good teams do. Grant Mona's gonna join us here shortly. 1089 01:04:33.920 --> 01:04:35.559 I don't know if he steal it into it dome, 1090 01:04:35.639 --> 01:04:37.800 but this should be fun. Give me and my voice 1091 01:04:38.440 --> 01:04:41.079 a little bit of a break. Jam thirteen twenty four says, 1092 01:04:41.119 --> 01:04:43.440 what's up, Grant, He'll be here in a second. Matthew 1093 01:04:44.159 --> 01:04:47.880 a Jimi says, any update on finding PJ a place 1094 01:04:48.679 --> 01:04:50.719 on another team? Don't have that for you. I didn't 1095 01:04:50.719 --> 01:04:53.440 see anything about that today. Evil bod Adams says, you 1096 01:04:53.480 --> 01:04:56.960 think Kawhi is playing Opening game like he said? He 1097 01:04:57.000 --> 01:05:00.280 didn't say that. He said he wants to play. Doesn't 1098 01:05:00.320 --> 01:05:02.199 mean he's going to be able to play. It's a 1099 01:05:02.280 --> 01:05:06.960 day to day thing. His plans to play Opening night, 1100 01:05:07.000 --> 01:05:10.719 but it still depends on his body. His right knee 1101 01:05:10.760 --> 01:05:15.000 is dictating things. If it's up to Kawhi, I mean 1102 01:05:15.559 --> 01:05:17.159 in his head, of course he wants to play. He's 1103 01:05:17.159 --> 01:05:20.960 a competitor, but he's at the mercy of how has 1104 01:05:21.039 --> 01:05:31.119 rightning response to everything? Right now? Amina Sean says, hopefully 1105 01:05:31.159 --> 01:05:33.920 we can reach our goals this season, such as being 1106 01:05:34.000 --> 01:05:37.199 a good transition defensive team. That's another thing they're stressing, 1107 01:05:37.639 --> 01:05:41.039 and a good rebounding team as well. Good points another 1108 01:05:41.079 --> 01:05:43.400 thing they brought up. They haven't been a good rebounding team, 1109 01:05:44.119 --> 01:05:47.119 so it's because they're undersized and Kauhi playing the four. 1110 01:05:48.280 --> 01:05:53.719 But if guys don't step up with the rebounding this season, 1111 01:05:53.760 --> 01:05:56.440 if you don't win the possession battle more often, this 1112 01:05:56.480 --> 01:05:58.519 Clippers team's going to be in trouble. Because you can 1113 01:05:58.519 --> 01:06:00.840 play great defense, but if if you don't close out 1114 01:06:00.880 --> 01:06:03.760 a possession and get the board, it doesn't matter. You 1115 01:06:03.800 --> 01:06:07.000 can't give up more opportunities. As we now have the 1116 01:06:07.039 --> 01:06:12.239 opportunity to grant Mona from the Sporting Tribute grant help 1117 01:06:12.480 --> 01:06:14.199 hear me and I help them hear you. Talk to me? 1118 01:06:14.239 --> 01:06:15.920 What have we got testing? One? 1119 01:06:16.000 --> 01:06:17.920 Two, three? I want to make sure this works. Look 1120 01:06:17.960 --> 01:06:21.199 at that it works? Adam, you have the microphone works? 1121 01:06:21.840 --> 01:06:22.880 Are you still in the building? 1122 01:06:23.280 --> 01:06:25.880 I am yeah, I'm actually in the red lounge. 1123 01:06:25.880 --> 01:06:26.159 Listen. 1124 01:06:26.239 --> 01:06:29.000 It was amaze here this morning, Like I this is 1125 01:06:29.000 --> 01:06:31.239 our first time doing this, so everyone was kind of like, hey, 1126 01:06:31.400 --> 01:06:34.559 where do I put my stuff. So, yeah, I'm in 1127 01:06:34.559 --> 01:06:36.039 the Red Lounge here where they had a whole bunch 1128 01:06:36.079 --> 01:06:38.079 of food set up for us, which is, by the way, 1129 01:06:38.280 --> 01:06:39.119 excellent stuff. 1130 01:06:39.159 --> 01:06:39.559 I mean they. 1131 01:06:39.840 --> 01:06:42.639 Swing the camera around. Can we get the three sixty views? 1132 01:06:42.719 --> 01:06:45.079 Everybody gets their shot of the end to a dumb and. 1133 01:06:45.000 --> 01:06:48.199 What they This is the Red Lounge, guys, This is 1134 01:06:48.239 --> 01:06:52.079 like where all the really luxury, nice rich people come 1135 01:06:52.559 --> 01:06:56.880 to to watch the Clippers. But uh, yeah, that's where 1136 01:06:56.880 --> 01:06:58.760 they have the media set up right now. We've got 1137 01:06:58.760 --> 01:07:01.039 a whole bunch of legends in the building right now, 1138 01:07:01.079 --> 01:07:04.159 but you're one of Yeah, so I appreciate that. 1139 01:07:04.280 --> 01:07:04.559 Thank you. 1140 01:07:04.599 --> 01:07:06.119 I tried to get out as much content as it 1141 01:07:06.159 --> 01:07:08.400 possibly could, Guys, to trust me, it was going rapidly. 1142 01:07:08.440 --> 01:07:10.960 It was my first time again, so I was trying. 1143 01:07:11.599 --> 01:07:14.519 But I ask you, yeah, because I was there, we 1144 01:07:14.599 --> 01:07:18.320 saw each other, we connected, and I left after Kawhi 1145 01:07:18.480 --> 01:07:21.119 spoke and eatsa Zubats was going up there. I was 1146 01:07:21.159 --> 01:07:24.559 having trouble hearing the sound from the microphone through the speakers. 1147 01:07:24.679 --> 01:07:25.639 Was it low to you? 1148 01:07:26.320 --> 01:07:30.960 Yes, the MIC's cut off here and there, so sometimes 1149 01:07:31.119 --> 01:07:33.400 like Kawhi was speaking and you were there, like Coawi 1150 01:07:33.440 --> 01:07:35.280 was speaking, and then the mic would cut off and 1151 01:07:35.280 --> 01:07:36.840 he'd have to raise his voice, which I know that 1152 01:07:36.880 --> 01:07:38.760 he doesn't like to do. But he had to raise 1153 01:07:38.800 --> 01:07:40.519 his voice a little bit. Then it went back on 1154 01:07:40.679 --> 01:07:42.960 and he was too loud, and so they had, uh, 1155 01:07:43.199 --> 01:07:45.760 they had some technical difficulties. Like I said, first hear this, 1156 01:07:45.840 --> 01:07:48.320 so they got to get this figured out. But yeah, 1157 01:07:48.519 --> 01:07:50.360 it wasn't just you, it was it was all of us. 1158 01:07:50.800 --> 01:07:53.119 We'll give him a pass for that. It was still 1159 01:07:53.159 --> 01:07:56.000 beautiful to see the into a dome. Any day. Being 1160 01:07:56.000 --> 01:07:57.760 at the end to a dome is a good day, 1161 01:07:57.840 --> 01:08:00.800 whether the Clippers are playing or not. It's just it 1162 01:08:00.880 --> 01:08:03.440 is a site to behold. It feels like a basketball 1163 01:08:03.519 --> 01:08:07.920 theme park. It is so damn cool, Clibernation. I can't 1164 01:08:07.960 --> 01:08:09.559 wait for all you guys here in the chat to 1165 01:08:09.639 --> 01:08:13.760 experience it. Keep the questions coming. We got Grant Mona. Now, Grant, 1166 01:08:13.800 --> 01:08:16.920 I'm gonna throw one at you right away. Natural Haunt 1167 01:08:16.960 --> 01:08:21.399 said this could done potentially start alongside Harden to maintain 1168 01:08:21.640 --> 01:08:22.960 the defensive identity. 1169 01:08:23.920 --> 01:08:27.199 Listen, I think that's a big possibility here. I think that, 1170 01:08:27.319 --> 01:08:28.760 you know, from what I've heard from a lot of 1171 01:08:28.800 --> 01:08:31.880 the players. Terrence Man, Norm Powell, Derek Jones Junior had 1172 01:08:31.880 --> 01:08:34.560 the opportunity to ask a question about They all seem 1173 01:08:34.600 --> 01:08:38.079 like this is an open kind of conversation about the lineup, 1174 01:08:38.079 --> 01:08:39.680 and I really love that. I think that it's going 1175 01:08:39.760 --> 01:08:43.039 to bring a lot of competition here. So I personally 1176 01:08:43.159 --> 01:08:45.000 love Chris Dunn. I think Chris Dunn is one of 1177 01:08:45.039 --> 01:08:47.920 the best perimeter guard defenders in the NBA. And he 1178 01:08:48.039 --> 01:08:50.159 was with the Jazz for a couple of years, and 1179 01:08:50.199 --> 01:08:52.359 I remember he was in the Clippers system too, and 1180 01:08:52.399 --> 01:08:54.600 they just never brought him up from the G League. 1181 01:08:54.640 --> 01:08:56.560 But this is a guy that I think can be 1182 01:08:56.600 --> 01:08:59.159 one of the better defenders at the guard position in 1183 01:08:59.199 --> 01:09:02.279 the NBA if you really want to go all in 1184 01:09:02.359 --> 01:09:05.680 on defense. And from what I heard from everybody around 1185 01:09:05.720 --> 01:09:08.159 the team this whole media day was like, we have 1186 01:09:08.199 --> 01:09:11.159 a defensive identity. We brought in defensive players. All this 1187 01:09:11.199 --> 01:09:13.880 is about defense. If that's really what they're going for, 1188 01:09:14.399 --> 01:09:17.399 then maybe you could see Chris Dunn slot in next 1189 01:09:17.399 --> 01:09:21.079 to James Harden in that backcourt. Because listen, we know 1190 01:09:21.159 --> 01:09:23.560 that James Harden is he got better, I feel like 1191 01:09:23.600 --> 01:09:25.960 last year in the defensive end with his swipes and 1192 01:09:26.000 --> 01:09:28.239 staying in front of people. But again, he's not labeled 1193 01:09:28.239 --> 01:09:31.119 as a good defender, so if you compare him with 1194 01:09:31.159 --> 01:09:33.079 a guy that is a good defender, and I know 1195 01:09:33.119 --> 01:09:35.720 that Kris Dunn isn't that great offensively, but he's really 1196 01:09:35.760 --> 01:09:39.680 good defensively. It may cause some spacing issues. That's one 1197 01:09:39.720 --> 01:09:42.119 of my concerns, like maybe that could be an issue, 1198 01:09:42.399 --> 01:09:44.680 But I think that it would be pretty cool to 1199 01:09:44.760 --> 01:09:49.640 have a James Harden, Chris dun Kawhi, Leonard, Derek Jones Junior, 1200 01:09:49.840 --> 01:09:53.560 and Vitza Zubats starting five at some point. Again, I 1201 01:09:53.600 --> 01:09:56.279 think this is fluid, so it's not really a set 1202 01:09:56.279 --> 01:09:58.640 in stone thing with the starting vibe. I mean, Adam 1203 01:09:58.680 --> 01:10:00.399 you or there Norm Powell so that he wants to 1204 01:10:00.439 --> 01:10:03.039 start at the two as well. So there's a lot 1205 01:10:03.079 --> 01:10:05.600 of different people, a lot of different quotes here. I 1206 01:10:05.600 --> 01:10:07.199 guess we're just gonna have to see his training camp 1207 01:10:07.239 --> 01:10:07.960 in folds. 1208 01:10:08.439 --> 01:10:11.439 Tell me more about DJJ, because I wasn't there for 1209 01:10:11.520 --> 01:10:15.840 his presser. You're saying he conveyed, just like other guys, 1210 01:10:15.880 --> 01:10:18.720 that it's an open competition basically for not just the 1211 01:10:18.760 --> 01:10:20.760 two spot, but the three spot. Because that's what we 1212 01:10:20.800 --> 01:10:24.439 heard last week from KOJ Lou where while the incumbent 1213 01:10:24.640 --> 01:10:28.079 is Terrence Man and he just got paid and congratulations 1214 01:10:28.079 --> 01:10:31.119 to t Man. There are not just a spot open 1215 01:10:31.159 --> 01:10:34.520 because of Paul George's absence, but there's one that is 1216 01:10:34.600 --> 01:10:37.199 up for grabs because even though Terrence Man started seventy 1217 01:10:37.199 --> 01:10:40.520 one games and maybe the favorite, other guys are competing 1218 01:10:40.520 --> 01:10:41.079 for it as well. 1219 01:10:41.520 --> 01:10:44.399 Yeah, exactly, And I think that, you know, the availability 1220 01:10:44.479 --> 01:10:47.600 for Derek Jones Junior was kind of underrated. I feel 1221 01:10:47.640 --> 01:10:49.079 like he's one of the guys that I wanted to 1222 01:10:49.079 --> 01:10:52.279 hear from the most because he was in all sense, 1223 01:10:52.319 --> 01:10:55.000 I mean, he was basically their top off season signing. 1224 01:10:55.000 --> 01:10:57.680 I know you re signed guys who extended guys, but 1225 01:10:57.760 --> 01:10:59.920 Derek Jones Junior was the guy that they brought into 1226 01:11:00.239 --> 01:11:03.600 kind of anchor that defense on the wing position. And 1227 01:11:03.720 --> 01:11:05.520 I asked him a question. I said, you know, is 1228 01:11:06.720 --> 01:11:08.800 you know, are you going to be this high flying guy? 1229 01:11:08.800 --> 01:11:11.039 Have you talked with James Harden about being this high 1230 01:11:11.079 --> 01:11:13.720 flying athletic presence because the Clippers really haven't had that 1231 01:11:13.760 --> 01:11:15.319 in years past. And he said, you know, I haven't 1232 01:11:15.359 --> 01:11:17.039 really talked about it, but I think that's just given 1233 01:11:17.279 --> 01:11:18.680 that was this kind of thing. It was just given 1234 01:11:18.720 --> 01:11:21.039 that I'm going to do that stuff. But in terms 1235 01:11:21.079 --> 01:11:24.319 of what he said on the defensive end, Adam, he said, 1236 01:11:24.439 --> 01:11:25.800 I want to guard the best player. 1237 01:11:26.159 --> 01:11:26.720 I want to be. 1238 01:11:26.880 --> 01:11:29.000 I talked to Ty, said, Ty put me on the 1239 01:11:29.039 --> 01:11:32.119 best player, and those two sentences right there, I. 1240 01:11:32.039 --> 01:11:32.720 Was talking him out. 1241 01:11:32.760 --> 01:11:35.199 I was like, this is exactly what I wanted to 1242 01:11:35.239 --> 01:11:38.319 hear from Derek Jones Junior, because if he's saying those things, 1243 01:11:38.359 --> 01:11:40.560 that takes the burden off Kawhi trying to guard the 1244 01:11:40.560 --> 01:11:42.720 best player. That takes the burden off of I don't 1245 01:11:42.720 --> 01:11:44.720 know me, Chris Dunn or Terrence Mann trying to guard 1246 01:11:44.760 --> 01:11:47.119 the best player. If Derek Jones Junior is up to 1247 01:11:47.199 --> 01:11:49.840 that task and that's his mentality coming into this year 1248 01:11:49.920 --> 01:11:53.239 for the Clippers, that everyone should be pretty excited about that. 1249 01:11:53.319 --> 01:11:55.159 I think that's one of the things that you know, 1250 01:11:55.199 --> 01:11:56.840 we know about his offense. We know that he can 1251 01:11:56.840 --> 01:11:58.880 shoot the three at times, and he's not a forty 1252 01:11:58.920 --> 01:12:02.560 plus percent three points. But if his defensive mindset is that, 1253 01:12:02.800 --> 01:12:05.680 paired with JVG, paired with Niko Batoom and all the 1254 01:12:05.680 --> 01:12:08.600 guys that they brought in, that was really an awesome 1255 01:12:08.720 --> 01:12:10.199 quote for me, and I think Clipper fans are going 1256 01:12:10.239 --> 01:12:11.479 to be really excited about him. 1257 01:12:11.840 --> 01:12:14.279 Grant Mona is our guests here on a Clipperstock Live. 1258 01:12:14.479 --> 01:12:17.159 He's still it into it Dome. I'm back home. Follow 1259 01:12:17.239 --> 01:12:20.199 him at g Mona forty eight on X. He covers 1260 01:12:20.239 --> 01:12:23.000 the Clippers for The Sporting Tribune. David rr says, if 1261 01:12:23.000 --> 01:12:27.199 you start done, why start DJJ for more defense? To 1262 01:12:27.319 --> 01:12:30.279 lean into that defensive identity. I don't think Dunn and 1263 01:12:30.399 --> 01:12:35.119 Terrence Man are polar opposites of players. There is a 1264 01:12:35.159 --> 01:12:38.640 lot of crossover between those two. And to be honest, 1265 01:12:39.119 --> 01:12:42.880 as good as Terrence Man as defensively, Chris Dunn is 1266 01:12:42.920 --> 01:12:45.720 at another level when it comes to point of attack defense. 1267 01:12:45.760 --> 01:12:48.279 Grant Yeah, And I think that's what a lot of people. 1268 01:12:48.319 --> 01:12:50.119 You know, he was tucked away in Utah. He played 1269 01:12:50.159 --> 01:12:52.560 for the Jazz, and a lot of people are like, Okay, 1270 01:12:52.119 --> 01:12:55.079 who's this guy that they're saying is going to replace Westbrook? 1271 01:12:55.520 --> 01:12:58.800 Go watch him cook the Clippers in preseason last year. 1272 01:12:59.319 --> 01:13:02.159 Guys, I've been watching this too. 1273 01:13:02.159 --> 01:13:03.479 I've been watching a lot of his film. 1274 01:13:03.720 --> 01:13:06.359 There is a clip on I believe it's YouTube of 1275 01:13:06.439 --> 01:13:09.039 his highlights and the Utah Jazz put up this great 1276 01:13:09.239 --> 01:13:11.800 montage of his highlights, not just his offense, but his 1277 01:13:11.880 --> 01:13:14.520 defense as well. And he was locking up guys like 1278 01:13:14.880 --> 01:13:17.680 shake Gil just Alexander. He was locking up guys some 1279 01:13:17.760 --> 01:13:20.439 of the top guards in the West, Jamal Murray, and 1280 01:13:20.680 --> 01:13:23.439 that is what the Clippers have lacked in years past. Now, look, 1281 01:13:23.600 --> 01:13:25.920 I'm not this is no disrespect to Russell Westbrook. I 1282 01:13:25.920 --> 01:13:29.079 think at times Russell Westbrook could have been that defender. 1283 01:13:29.439 --> 01:13:32.760 But every game you're gonna get defensive intensity from Chris 1284 01:13:32.800 --> 01:13:35.239 Dunn at the guard position, and he is not afraid 1285 01:13:35.319 --> 01:13:37.920 of guarding some of the best players in the NBA. 1286 01:13:38.000 --> 01:13:38.439 And he wasn't. 1287 01:13:38.399 --> 01:13:40.880 He was guarding up like he was guarding threes and 1288 01:13:40.960 --> 01:13:44.079 fours at times for the Utah Jazz. So I hope 1289 01:13:44.119 --> 01:13:48.279 everyone that's watching this goes and watches the YouTube video 1290 01:13:48.319 --> 01:13:50.960 clip of Chris Dunn all of them, because he is 1291 01:13:51.000 --> 01:13:54.319 an awesome, awesome defensive player and his offensive game has 1292 01:13:54.319 --> 01:13:56.640 gotten a little bit better too. So I think that, 1293 01:13:56.720 --> 01:13:58.760 like you mentioned, they're two different players, him and Derrick 1294 01:13:58.840 --> 01:14:01.319 Jones Junior. But you know, in general, I think that 1295 01:14:01.760 --> 01:14:03.600 if you put both of those guys in a lineup, 1296 01:14:04.000 --> 01:14:06.279 even if you put Niko Batoum with a small ball five. 1297 01:14:06.720 --> 01:14:09.439 I mean, that's very versatile defensively, you can switch one 1298 01:14:09.439 --> 01:14:11.960 through five, I feel like, and man, that could be 1299 01:14:12.000 --> 01:14:13.199 a cool lineup to see. 1300 01:14:13.560 --> 01:14:16.920 He's a different player than Derrek Jones Junior. He's a 1301 01:14:16.960 --> 01:14:21.479 different player than Terrence Man, who he could be competing 1302 01:14:21.520 --> 01:14:25.520 for minutes with or competing for the starting two guard slot, 1303 01:14:25.600 --> 01:14:29.720 because I just he's a defensive specialist. When it comes 1304 01:14:29.760 --> 01:14:32.680 to point of attack. He is a Patrick Beverly type 1305 01:14:32.720 --> 01:14:36.479 of pest, and Terrence Man is very good in that area. 1306 01:14:36.760 --> 01:14:39.920 I thought the defense he played against Luka Nancich was 1307 01:14:39.920 --> 01:14:42.560 probably the best defense he's ever played, considering it was 1308 01:14:42.560 --> 01:14:45.520 the playoffs and he peaked at just the right time. 1309 01:14:45.880 --> 01:14:48.319 But you mentioned the three point shooting from Chris Dunn. 1310 01:14:48.560 --> 01:14:51.880 What's interesting is, well, you know, he only played twenty 1311 01:14:51.880 --> 01:14:54.000 two games for the Jazz during the twenty two to 1312 01:14:54.000 --> 01:14:57.600 twenty three season, so the volume's low. But if you 1313 01:14:57.680 --> 01:15:01.279 go out after his or go off of his last 1314 01:15:01.279 --> 01:15:05.319 one hundred and fifty takes from the outside from three 1315 01:15:05.359 --> 01:15:08.960 over the last season and twenty two games he played 1316 01:15:09.000 --> 01:15:12.199 with the Utah Jazz, we're talking about somebody that shot 1317 01:15:12.279 --> 01:15:14.960 like forty one percent from three. Now, it's not a 1318 01:15:15.000 --> 01:15:17.640 huge sample size, and it's one season where he's playing 1319 01:15:17.680 --> 01:15:20.399 twenty two games, combining that with the sixty six games 1320 01:15:20.399 --> 01:15:24.159 he played last season for the Utah Jazz. But he's capable. 1321 01:15:24.359 --> 01:15:28.840 He's capable of knocking down catch and shoot threes. Something 1322 01:15:28.840 --> 01:15:31.319 that I found interesting. Earlier we were talking a lot 1323 01:15:31.359 --> 01:15:34.199 about Kevin Porter junior after what coach Lew said last 1324 01:15:34.199 --> 01:15:38.399 week Grant regarding him and how if the team is 1325 01:15:38.439 --> 01:15:40.840 going to have success, he's going to have to make 1326 01:15:40.880 --> 01:15:43.319 a big impact. Why just looked up his catch and 1327 01:15:43.359 --> 01:15:47.279 shoot numbers from his last two seasons forty eight percent 1328 01:15:47.439 --> 01:15:51.640 and forty three percent on catch and shoots threes. That 1329 01:15:51.880 --> 01:15:55.439 is a revelation to me. A guy shooting almost fifty 1330 01:15:55.479 --> 01:15:59.159 percent for a season during the twenty one to twenty 1331 01:15:59.159 --> 01:16:02.800 two season. Kevin Porter's junior from three how much? And 1332 01:16:02.840 --> 01:16:04.399 I don't know if you talked to him. I saw 1333 01:16:04.479 --> 01:16:07.239 he was what near court side? Yeah, at into it dull, 1334 01:16:07.640 --> 01:16:10.239 But how much of an impact are you expecting from him? Now? 1335 01:16:10.720 --> 01:16:13.399 Well, listen what Tyler said a few weeks ago or 1336 01:16:13.560 --> 01:16:15.560 last week at the presser. You know, but that he 1337 01:16:15.640 --> 01:16:17.840 and Lawrence Frank held it seems like they hold him 1338 01:16:17.880 --> 01:16:20.399 in a high regard. Right, They hold Kevin Porter Junior 1339 01:16:20.600 --> 01:16:23.399 as this guy that can make an immediate impact. And 1340 01:16:23.439 --> 01:16:26.079 I feel like a lot of the sentiment around Kevin 1341 01:16:26.119 --> 01:16:29.720 Porter Junior is the off the court stuff, and that's rightfully, so, 1342 01:16:29.800 --> 01:16:31.359 I mean there are some off the court issues that 1343 01:16:31.399 --> 01:16:33.720 he has to work through. Yeah, You've been very adamant 1344 01:16:33.720 --> 01:16:36.119 about mentioning this is like, Hey, we don't even know 1345 01:16:36.159 --> 01:16:38.159 if he'll be on the court for some time because 1346 01:16:38.199 --> 01:16:42.039 there's still an ongoing investigation regarding it. But from everything 1347 01:16:42.039 --> 01:16:43.840 that I've heard from him on the court and what 1348 01:16:43.920 --> 01:16:45.760 I've seen from him on the court, I mean I've 1349 01:16:45.840 --> 01:16:47.399 known his game for a long time since he came 1350 01:16:47.439 --> 01:16:49.079 into the league, and even overseas. 1351 01:16:49.119 --> 01:16:50.560 I watched some of his overseas. 1352 01:16:50.239 --> 01:16:54.319 Highlights, Adam, you mentioned like the forty eight percent catch 1353 01:16:54.359 --> 01:16:57.880 and shoot that is up there like mere Norm Powell status. 1354 01:16:57.920 --> 01:17:00.439 And we know how good Norm Powell was at catch 1355 01:17:00.439 --> 01:17:02.239 and shoots last year, how good he was in the 1356 01:17:02.279 --> 01:17:04.800 corners last year, So you can you can get that 1357 01:17:04.960 --> 01:17:08.119 with Kevin Porter Junior, who's a long guy. You mentioned 1358 01:17:08.159 --> 01:17:10.920 you put up his defensive kind of highlight clip and 1359 01:17:10.960 --> 01:17:14.079 how he can interpassing lanes and all that stuff, if 1360 01:17:14.079 --> 01:17:16.479 you can get maybe just like an average Kevin Porter 1361 01:17:16.560 --> 01:17:19.520 junior on defense, but that type of offensive output. I mean, 1362 01:17:19.520 --> 01:17:22.239 this is a guy that knows how to score the basketball. 1363 01:17:22.560 --> 01:17:25.159 It has never been about his on the court ability. 1364 01:17:25.239 --> 01:17:27.880 It's always been about his off the court stuff. So 1365 01:17:27.960 --> 01:17:29.920 if they can get that intact and from all the 1366 01:17:30.000 --> 01:17:32.760 quotes that I've seen, and he actually was interviewed by 1367 01:17:32.760 --> 01:17:35.520 a few people, Law Murray has some stuff on X. 1368 01:17:36.000 --> 01:17:38.119 Justin Rousseau as some stuff on X. They were there 1369 01:17:38.439 --> 01:17:40.920 talking to him and asking him questions. He really seems 1370 01:17:40.960 --> 01:17:43.159 to be humbled by his whole experience off the court. 1371 01:17:43.239 --> 01:17:46.319 He really seems to want to be a better person. 1372 01:17:46.600 --> 01:17:48.880 He's going through counseling and stuff like that, and therapy 1373 01:17:48.920 --> 01:17:51.479 and stuff like that. So if his mind is right, 1374 01:17:51.600 --> 01:17:53.720 and if the team thinks that he can be a 1375 01:17:53.880 --> 01:17:56.840 really good part of this team, there's no reason why 1376 01:17:56.920 --> 01:17:58.880 he won't be a big part of this team offensively, 1377 01:17:58.960 --> 01:18:00.840 I mean even defensive with his length. 1378 01:18:01.479 --> 01:18:04.800 You mentioned Norman Powell there and talking about extreme efficiency 1379 01:18:04.880 --> 01:18:08.279 on catch and shoot threes, and he had a quote 1380 01:18:08.560 --> 01:18:11.720 and I'm wondering how much you thought this was a 1381 01:18:11.760 --> 01:18:15.000 shot at Paul George or not. But Norman Powell said 1382 01:18:15.279 --> 01:18:18.840 regarding losing Paul George quote, I saw it as addition, 1383 01:18:19.199 --> 01:18:25.600 by subtraction, more guys getting opportunities, including myself. Is there 1384 01:18:25.640 --> 01:18:27.720 a little bit of smoke there, Grant? 1385 01:18:28.199 --> 01:18:29.039 I think there is? 1386 01:18:29.119 --> 01:18:32.560 Adam, there were some quotes today and Kawi mentioned one, 1387 01:18:32.600 --> 01:18:33.520 And you know, Kawi. 1388 01:18:33.359 --> 01:18:35.159 Is not the type of guy to go at people. 1389 01:18:35.239 --> 01:18:37.680 You know, he's just kind of like an individual guy 1390 01:18:37.680 --> 01:18:39.399 where he keeps himself, he tries to work hard and 1391 01:18:39.439 --> 01:18:41.600 does all this stuff. But when Norman Powell said that, 1392 01:18:41.640 --> 01:18:44.079 there was like a gasp in the room, almost like 1393 01:18:44.119 --> 01:18:46.039 I was looking around to the other media members and 1394 01:18:46.079 --> 01:18:48.760 they were like, Oh, I'm do you guys hear that? 1395 01:18:48.840 --> 01:18:49.840 Am I hearing the right thing? 1396 01:18:49.960 --> 01:18:52.359 I would be honest? I asked Brian Steemen, who was 1397 01:18:52.359 --> 01:18:54.760 directly on my right, did he just say that about. 1398 01:18:54.560 --> 01:18:57.119 Paul George exactly? And I think a lot of people 1399 01:18:57.119 --> 01:18:59.319 are like, did he mean it that way? Because it 1400 01:18:59.359 --> 01:19:01.720 came out like he didn't obviously meet it in a 1401 01:19:01.840 --> 01:19:05.000 derogatory way, but the way it came off it was like, Hey, 1402 01:19:05.079 --> 01:19:07.079 I think this is going to open up more opportunities, 1403 01:19:07.159 --> 01:19:09.039 not just for myself but for the players. That were 1404 01:19:09.079 --> 01:19:11.800 behind Paul George or didn't get playing time because of 1405 01:19:11.840 --> 01:19:14.119 Paul George. And he's right in that regard, like you're 1406 01:19:14.159 --> 01:19:17.119 gonna see more opportunities for guys because you don't have 1407 01:19:17.239 --> 01:19:19.800 those four superstars on the court at the same time 1408 01:19:19.920 --> 01:19:22.560 or in the rotation at the same time. So I 1409 01:19:22.600 --> 01:19:25.159 think that you know what he meant by it was like, hey, 1410 01:19:25.399 --> 01:19:27.239 you know we're losing that type of player, and yes, 1411 01:19:27.279 --> 01:19:29.960 that's gonna hurt, but it may be additioned by subtraction 1412 01:19:30.039 --> 01:19:32.079 because it allows the development of other guys or it 1413 01:19:32.119 --> 01:19:35.560 allows guys to blossom in that way. So it wasn't 1414 01:19:35.600 --> 01:19:38.399 a little bit weird. And I rememberkaw I said cau 1415 01:19:38.439 --> 01:19:39.439 I said something like. 1416 01:19:40.079 --> 01:19:40.439 Got it. 1417 01:19:40.479 --> 01:19:41.079 I don't. 1418 01:19:41.479 --> 01:19:46.239 Yeah, I said, for anybody on the court, I don't 1419 01:19:46.279 --> 01:19:48.640 look at him to be my savior. Basically, he was 1420 01:19:48.680 --> 01:19:52.239 talking about the mindset if it changes with Paul George gone, 1421 01:19:52.279 --> 01:19:55.680 and cow I said, quote, he obviously made things easier 1422 01:19:55.720 --> 01:19:58.039 on the court for players, but as far as my 1423 01:19:58.159 --> 01:20:00.760 mental focus going into a game, I don't think it's 1424 01:20:00.760 --> 01:20:03.159 going to be harder for anybody on the court. I 1425 01:20:03.199 --> 01:20:06.159 don't look at him to be my savior. I agree 1426 01:20:06.199 --> 01:20:09.159 with you, though, Grant, I don't think either were necessarily 1427 01:20:09.199 --> 01:20:13.479 pointed at Kawhi. It's just we're confident still. And in 1428 01:20:13.560 --> 01:20:16.880 terms of Norm Powell, he's been looking for this opportunity. 1429 01:20:17.359 --> 01:20:19.039 Yeah, And I think Norm Powell is the kind of 1430 01:20:19.039 --> 01:20:20.880 guy that always just kind of lives with an edge. 1431 01:20:20.960 --> 01:20:22.880 Kauhi the same way. You don't really need to throw 1432 01:20:22.880 --> 01:20:25.399 any extra motivation at him. Norm Powell's a guy that 1433 01:20:25.479 --> 01:20:28.279 grinds as hard as anybody in the NBA. He works 1434 01:20:28.279 --> 01:20:30.159 on his game as hard as anybody in the NBA. 1435 01:20:30.319 --> 01:20:32.640 Kawhi the same way. So I think that, you know, 1436 01:20:32.800 --> 01:20:35.039 whenever we talk about, oh, what do they think about 1437 01:20:35.039 --> 01:20:37.199 Paul George, I think these guys are just level headed 1438 01:20:37.279 --> 01:20:39.800 enough to say, like, hey, he left, it's a business decision, 1439 01:20:39.840 --> 01:20:41.840 it's the NBA, and you know we're going to get 1440 01:20:41.840 --> 01:20:44.279 better from this. So I think that was a sentiment 1441 01:20:44.319 --> 01:20:46.159 as well around the team is like, hey, yes, we 1442 01:20:46.199 --> 01:20:48.359 did lose Paul George, Like we all get it, Hey, 1443 01:20:48.399 --> 01:20:51.239 we should be the twelve seed. They kind of accepted that, 1444 01:20:51.279 --> 01:20:53.319 and they're like, we want to work hard. We're going 1445 01:20:53.359 --> 01:20:54.960 to be hungry, and we're going to be dogs on 1446 01:20:55.000 --> 01:20:57.600 the court, and that's Something else that I really love 1447 01:20:57.680 --> 01:21:01.239 that they said is that listen, we know the expectations 1448 01:21:01.239 --> 01:21:04.359 for this team. We've heard the media noise. We hear 1449 01:21:04.439 --> 01:21:06.319 what all the outlets are saying about how we won't 1450 01:21:06.319 --> 01:21:08.520 even make the play in. But we're accepting it and 1451 01:21:08.600 --> 01:21:10.239 we are hearing it and we are going to work 1452 01:21:10.279 --> 01:21:11.760 hard to not let that happen. 1453 01:21:12.199 --> 01:21:14.319 And that is awesome to me. I love that they 1454 01:21:14.399 --> 01:21:15.760 actually heard because you. 1455 01:21:15.680 --> 01:21:17.439 Know, Adam, you know this, like a lot of teams, 1456 01:21:17.560 --> 01:21:19.359 a lot of players would come into these media days 1457 01:21:19.399 --> 01:21:21.479 like we don't listen to the outside noise. 1458 01:21:21.279 --> 01:21:22.079 We don't do that. You know. 1459 01:21:22.479 --> 01:21:24.039 This team was like, hey, we did hear it, and 1460 01:21:24.079 --> 01:21:26.000 we're going to try to not do what they said 1461 01:21:26.039 --> 01:21:29.279 that we're going to do. So I love this mindset 1462 01:21:29.319 --> 01:21:31.560 from the team. Terrence Mann came on right before Dereck 1463 01:21:31.640 --> 01:21:34.359 Jones Junior, and he said himself like, we got some 1464 01:21:34.640 --> 01:21:37.439 dogs in there and we are we're hungry to change 1465 01:21:37.439 --> 01:21:38.039 that narrative. 1466 01:21:38.119 --> 01:21:40.000 So I'm looking forward to that. 1467 01:21:40.920 --> 01:21:45.000 Who else spoke because I'm looking for Obamba stuff. I 1468 01:21:45.039 --> 01:21:47.239 don't know if any of the young guys, Jordan Miller Camp, 1469 01:21:47.359 --> 01:21:50.079 Christy Kobe Brown spoke. Was there anyone else gramp. 1470 01:21:50.239 --> 01:21:52.720 No, they were just on the court taking pictures. Obviously, 1471 01:21:52.760 --> 01:21:54.640 you know we got a mere Coffee was another guy 1472 01:21:54.640 --> 01:21:57.119 that was down there on the court taking all this photos. 1473 01:21:57.119 --> 01:21:58.640 But the last guy to take. 1474 01:21:58.520 --> 01:22:01.239 Media availability was Derek Jones or so after that, nobody 1475 01:22:01.359 --> 01:22:03.239 actually spoke in front of a mic. Now, obviously, if 1476 01:22:03.239 --> 01:22:05.199 you go to La Murray's page and Justin Rousseau and 1477 01:22:05.239 --> 01:22:07.520 a few other guys, you'll find some personal interviews that 1478 01:22:07.560 --> 01:22:10.079 they did with those guys. I believe they interviewed Kevin 1479 01:22:10.079 --> 01:22:13.399 Porter Junior, I'm me here coffee, maybe Mobamba I kind 1480 01:22:13.399 --> 01:22:15.920 of left there before Moe actually came onto the court. So, 1481 01:22:16.680 --> 01:22:21.279 but in terms of the actual microphone availability, Derek Jones 1482 01:22:21.319 --> 01:22:22.640 Junior was the last one. 1483 01:22:23.359 --> 01:22:26.079 Let me ask you this because we've been having this conversation. 1484 01:22:26.600 --> 01:22:30.079 If Kawhi Leonard is not going to be available opening night, 1485 01:22:30.159 --> 01:22:32.279 and nobody can know that because it all comes down 1486 01:22:32.319 --> 01:22:35.680 to how his knee response to the treatment and strengthening 1487 01:22:35.680 --> 01:22:38.359 they're going to do during training camp over the next 1488 01:22:38.399 --> 01:22:41.720 couple of weeks. But if he's not available, how do 1489 01:22:41.800 --> 01:22:44.760 you think that changes the starting lineup with maybe not 1490 01:22:44.960 --> 01:22:49.000 just one guy being out with Kawhi and replacing him 1491 01:22:49.039 --> 01:22:52.680 maybe with Nicholas Battou, But I think it could upend 1492 01:22:52.680 --> 01:22:55.159 the entire starting lineup because then you're looking for more 1493 01:22:55.159 --> 01:22:58.199 scoring and therefore, I remember, you can't start Chris Dunn 1494 01:22:58.600 --> 01:23:00.720 or Terrence Man next to James Hard and then it 1495 01:23:00.760 --> 01:23:03.000 has to be Norman Powell. What do you see as 1496 01:23:03.000 --> 01:23:05.439 the ideal starting lineup or just what's your read on 1497 01:23:05.479 --> 01:23:08.039 the situation with coach lou if Kawhai is unavailable? 1498 01:23:08.439 --> 01:23:10.800 Yeah, I think that that's what what we're talking we 1499 01:23:10.800 --> 01:23:11.279 were talking. 1500 01:23:11.079 --> 01:23:12.439 About a little bit earlier, is like. 1501 01:23:12.960 --> 01:23:16.520 It depends on what kind of mindset and intensity you 1502 01:23:16.560 --> 01:23:18.039 want to do, Like do you want to be that 1503 01:23:18.079 --> 01:23:20.319 defensive team? Okay, fine, then you'll put out the best 1504 01:23:20.359 --> 01:23:22.800 defensive lineup. But if Kawhi isn't in there to start 1505 01:23:22.800 --> 01:23:26.039 Opening night, you're probably absolutely going to see Norm Powell 1506 01:23:26.039 --> 01:23:28.560 start at the two. I think that you know, when 1507 01:23:28.560 --> 01:23:30.359 you have a guy like Norm Powell and he's an 1508 01:23:30.399 --> 01:23:33.079 eighteen point per game scorer at times, he can be 1509 01:23:33.159 --> 01:23:35.520 a twenty point per game scorer in my opinion if 1510 01:23:35.560 --> 01:23:37.920 he gets the volume to do it. But you put 1511 01:23:38.000 --> 01:23:40.039 him in that lineup if Kawi's out, and say you 1512 01:23:40.079 --> 01:23:44.720 have like hardened, Norm, Derek Jones Junior like, I don't know, 1513 01:23:44.760 --> 01:23:46.960 Derek Jones Junior, Batoum and Zuba like, I don't know. 1514 01:23:47.000 --> 01:23:49.159 It's a it's gonna be kind of a juggle of, 1515 01:23:49.319 --> 01:23:50.880 you know, kind of what they want to do. But 1516 01:23:51.920 --> 01:23:54.000 it seemed like to me like Coawi would say, hey, 1517 01:23:54.039 --> 01:23:56.600 I want to play Opening Night, I want to be 1518 01:23:56.760 --> 01:23:58.960 and again he wants to do a lot of things, 1519 01:23:58.960 --> 01:24:00.880 and I feel like the team is kind of saying, listen, 1520 01:24:00.920 --> 01:24:03.479 we want you for the long run. But if Kawhi 1521 01:24:03.560 --> 01:24:06.520 is out, I am almost certain that Norm Powell's going 1522 01:24:06.600 --> 01:24:09.319 to slot into that too. And if that's the case, Adam, 1523 01:24:09.640 --> 01:24:12.119 then what does the bench look like? Does Bones Howell 1524 01:24:12.880 --> 01:24:15.640 or excuse me, Bones Highland get an opportunity at the 1525 01:24:15.640 --> 01:24:17.960 backup point position? Then you have Chris Dunn at the 1526 01:24:18.000 --> 01:24:20.359 two if you want to do that. So, I don't know, 1527 01:24:20.439 --> 01:24:21.960 it shuffles things around a little bit. 1528 01:24:22.319 --> 01:24:24.640 Did you see Bones Hiland or PJ. Tucker in the 1529 01:24:24.640 --> 01:24:25.359 building anywhere? 1530 01:24:25.479 --> 01:24:28.159 No, very weird. I didn't see either, you know what, 1531 01:24:28.199 --> 01:24:30.039 That's a good point. I didn't even realize that. 1532 01:24:30.199 --> 01:24:33.920 Yeah, I just the riding might be on the wall. Look, yeah, 1533 01:24:34.119 --> 01:24:36.800 it's not like Lawrence Frank hasn't made it known that 1534 01:24:36.800 --> 01:24:40.600 they tried to trade them further request last trade deadline, 1535 01:24:40.640 --> 01:24:43.039 and then during this off season they just haven't gotten 1536 01:24:43.560 --> 01:24:47.159 whatever they're looking for back. It takes two to tango here. 1537 01:24:47.720 --> 01:24:51.319 Did anybody say anything about PJ Tucker? So we didn't 1538 01:24:51.359 --> 01:24:53.439 hear from coach lou today, We didn't hear from Lawrence 1539 01:24:53.479 --> 01:24:56.319 Frank today. What we heard from them happened last week, 1540 01:24:56.600 --> 01:24:59.239 so basically we can take that out for media day. 1541 01:24:59.680 --> 01:25:02.119 But we didn't even hear a guy mentioned PJ Tucker. 1542 01:25:02.119 --> 01:25:05.479 I don't think right, No nobody mentioned PJ Tucker. Nobody 1543 01:25:05.520 --> 01:25:08.159 mentioned bones Hiland. Everyone kind of mentioned like, hey, we 1544 01:25:08.239 --> 01:25:10.439 love the new guys coming in, but you know, there 1545 01:25:10.520 --> 01:25:13.039 was really no talk of those two guys, which is 1546 01:25:13.119 --> 01:25:15.079 something that like, I think it just slipped to my 1547 01:25:15.079 --> 01:25:17.119 mind because I was so focused on what was going on. 1548 01:25:17.239 --> 01:25:19.239 But you, I mean, you bring up a good point. 1549 01:25:19.279 --> 01:25:21.720 Those guys weren't even here, Like I could understand if 1550 01:25:21.760 --> 01:25:23.439 they're here and they take the pictures and they don't 1551 01:25:23.439 --> 01:25:26.319 do media availability, but they just weren't here in general, 1552 01:25:26.399 --> 01:25:28.199 which I don't know what's going on there. 1553 01:25:28.960 --> 01:25:33.039 I want to say they had Marcus Morris to start 1554 01:25:33.119 --> 01:25:36.600 last season, and he also wasn't at media day because 1555 01:25:36.640 --> 01:25:39.960 it felt like he was going to be traded. Just 1556 01:25:40.000 --> 01:25:42.199 not to put them through that, because they knew they 1557 01:25:42.199 --> 01:25:44.760 were on the chopping block, and I think they both 1558 01:25:44.880 --> 01:25:47.600 want an opportunity somewhere else. I think the feeling might 1559 01:25:47.640 --> 01:25:50.199 be mutual at this point. I don't know, but it 1560 01:25:50.199 --> 01:25:53.319 would have been interesting to hear from kach Slue regarding them. 1561 01:25:53.520 --> 01:25:56.000 If they are going to be at training camp, are 1562 01:25:56.039 --> 01:25:59.159 they competing for a spot? And as you mentioned, if 1563 01:25:59.279 --> 01:26:02.039 there's gonna be an op opportunity for them, if Kawhi's 1564 01:26:02.119 --> 01:26:04.199 not playing, what does that mean for the four spot? 1565 01:26:04.520 --> 01:26:06.880 What does that mean for Bones? Highland fighting with all 1566 01:26:06.960 --> 01:26:10.279 these guards now, yeah, it's it's kind of out of sight, 1567 01:26:10.399 --> 01:26:13.439 out of mind, and maybe the silence speaks volumes to 1568 01:26:13.520 --> 01:26:16.159 some degree because they're not here and saying anything. That 1569 01:26:16.239 --> 01:26:19.199 means it's pretty definitive at this point that they are 1570 01:26:19.239 --> 01:26:22.039 looking to move them. If there's a real trade out there, 1571 01:26:22.119 --> 01:26:23.920 I don't know if there's going to be. Honestly, I 1572 01:26:24.039 --> 01:26:27.079 just PJ Tucker making eleven million dollars per season. I 1573 01:26:27.079 --> 01:26:30.840 could see a trade package because somebody might want Bones Highlands. 1574 01:26:30.960 --> 01:26:34.119 Somebody does want Bones Highland. There's no doubt about that 1575 01:26:34.279 --> 01:26:37.920 to me. But yeah, Holo Dolo says, Wow, I totally 1576 01:26:37.960 --> 01:26:41.359 forgot about PJ and Bones being there. It just seems 1577 01:26:41.399 --> 01:26:44.319 like they've moved on. They're not in the short term 1578 01:26:44.399 --> 01:26:50.600 or long term plan for the Clippers anymore. This team 1579 01:26:51.199 --> 01:26:53.399 and what we heard today and some of the themes 1580 01:26:53.399 --> 01:26:56.520 coming out of this now grant with having that competitive 1581 01:26:56.560 --> 01:27:00.039 spirit and hearing the outside noise and nailing up some 1582 01:27:00.079 --> 01:27:02.239 of that stuff and those reports on the bulletin board 1583 01:27:02.319 --> 01:27:05.640 for extra motivation. I like hearing that we heard more 1584 01:27:05.640 --> 01:27:09.079 about the defensive identity. There was something else with Kawhi 1585 01:27:09.159 --> 01:27:12.239 Leonard and I'm not sure who asked the question. I 1586 01:27:12.279 --> 01:27:15.479 think it was Om Yung Masouk. He asked him specifically 1587 01:27:15.600 --> 01:27:18.079 whether or not this could be an ongoing issue with 1588 01:27:18.159 --> 01:27:20.800 his knee. I want to know if you can give 1589 01:27:20.800 --> 01:27:22.760 me a little bit of feedback on that, because again, 1590 01:27:22.880 --> 01:27:26.279 my hearing wasn't great and I haven't seen that exact quote, 1591 01:27:26.560 --> 01:27:29.319 but it didn't seem like Kawhi shied away from that one, 1592 01:27:29.359 --> 01:27:31.199 although he asked him maybe to repeat it once. 1593 01:27:31.680 --> 01:27:32.399 Yeah, it was Om. 1594 01:27:32.479 --> 01:27:34.840 Mom asked the question, like you know with this inflammation, 1595 01:27:35.000 --> 01:27:37.359 is it is it, you know, something that you can 1596 01:27:37.439 --> 01:27:39.279 manage or is this something that you're just gonna have 1597 01:27:39.279 --> 01:27:41.000 to deal with for the rest of your career? And 1598 01:27:41.399 --> 01:27:44.640 you know, I can't remember Kawhi's exact you know, quotes, 1599 01:27:44.720 --> 01:27:46.920 but he said something to the fact like, uh, yeah, 1600 01:27:46.920 --> 01:27:48.880 I think it is. We're just gonna have to manage 1601 01:27:48.920 --> 01:27:51.840 it because I haven't been able to finish playoff runs. 1602 01:27:52.319 --> 01:27:55.119 That's something that Kawi mentioned multiple times, is like I 1603 01:27:55.239 --> 01:27:58.199 haven't been able to finish playoff runs. And I think 1604 01:27:58.199 --> 01:28:00.479 that is really getting to him. I think that's somebody 1605 01:28:00.479 --> 01:28:02.479 that he look, he lives for the playoffs. You know, 1606 01:28:02.560 --> 01:28:04.840 good of a playoff performer he is, and I know that, 1607 01:28:04.960 --> 01:28:07.000 you know, it doesn't show it in his emotions, but 1608 01:28:07.039 --> 01:28:09.000 it is eating at him that he can't be able 1609 01:28:09.039 --> 01:28:10.800 to be out He wasn't able to be out there 1610 01:28:11.119 --> 01:28:15.520 for the last playoff run. So listen, I don't know exactly, 1611 01:28:15.840 --> 01:28:18.079 you know, how Kawai wants to approach this. I don't 1612 01:28:18.119 --> 01:28:20.359 know how the Clippers want to approach this, but from 1613 01:28:20.439 --> 01:28:23.840 whatever I'm gathering, and even Adam James Harden said something 1614 01:28:23.840 --> 01:28:26.119 that I don't think a lot of people are responding 1615 01:28:26.159 --> 01:28:27.359 with or are talking about. 1616 01:28:27.439 --> 01:28:28.159 Is that you know? 1617 01:28:28.279 --> 01:28:31.800 James Harden said, listen, I you know Kawhi hasn't been there. 1618 01:28:31.880 --> 01:28:34.119 He hasn't been there in the past playoff runs, and 1619 01:28:34.239 --> 01:28:36.439 like we we want him at the end. We don't 1620 01:28:36.439 --> 01:28:38.920 really care about him being there to begin And I 1621 01:28:38.960 --> 01:28:41.239 was thinking, I was like, that's not really something that 1622 01:28:41.279 --> 01:28:43.720 I'd love to hear from your co star, right, It's 1623 01:28:43.760 --> 01:28:46.439 like he may you know. It's kind of saying like, hey, 1624 01:28:46.479 --> 01:28:48.560 he may not be there to begin the season and 1625 01:28:48.600 --> 01:28:50.680 he may not be his full self at the beginning 1626 01:28:50.720 --> 01:28:52.399 of the season, but down the line is when we 1627 01:28:52.560 --> 01:28:53.600 really need him. 1628 01:28:53.680 --> 01:28:56.119 So I would thought about that too. I kind of 1629 01:28:56.159 --> 01:28:58.680 at the same way where a red flag went up. 1630 01:28:58.680 --> 01:29:01.720 But he also said basically, he'll be ready when he's ready. 1631 01:29:02.000 --> 01:29:03.920 We want him to be healthy. He said all the 1632 01:29:03.960 --> 01:29:07.680 right things there. And it also I guess had my 1633 01:29:07.720 --> 01:29:12.039 intenna going up because they can't get by and get 1634 01:29:12.039 --> 01:29:14.600 to the playoffs. I don't think if Kawhi, you know, 1635 01:29:14.680 --> 01:29:17.239 they can't just rest him till marsh They aren't good 1636 01:29:17.399 --> 01:29:19.479 enough to stay above water and to stay in the 1637 01:29:19.520 --> 01:29:22.359 playoff hunt. To me, grant this time around, if Kawhi 1638 01:29:22.399 --> 01:29:24.439 is out for a significant portion of the season. 1639 01:29:24.920 --> 01:29:27.920 Yeah, exactly, And like, I think that's the sentiment right now. 1640 01:29:28.640 --> 01:29:30.960 That's what everyone should be talking about, is that. 1641 01:29:31.199 --> 01:29:31.520 Listen. 1642 01:29:31.800 --> 01:29:34.159 You can say what you want about like sitting Kawhi, 1643 01:29:34.319 --> 01:29:37.680 resting Kawai and making sure that he's ready for the playoffs, 1644 01:29:37.720 --> 01:29:40.720 but the Clippers aren't going to make the playoffs if 1645 01:29:40.760 --> 01:29:43.840 Kawhi isn't playing fifty six at least fifty games. I 1646 01:29:43.880 --> 01:29:46.439 say fifty that's like a lot missed, but like at 1647 01:29:46.520 --> 01:29:49.640 least sixty games in my opinion, because the West is 1648 01:29:49.640 --> 01:29:52.479 that much tougher. The team doesn't have another twenty point 1649 01:29:52.520 --> 01:29:54.159 per game score on the roster unless you think that 1650 01:29:54.199 --> 01:29:57.000 Nom Powell is going to elevate to that. So I 1651 01:29:57.039 --> 01:29:59.960 think that, you know, Harden is one of those guys 1652 01:30:00.119 --> 01:30:02.079 where I think he's just like Kauhi and norm where 1653 01:30:02.079 --> 01:30:03.560 it's like, hey, I'm trying to do my thing, and 1654 01:30:03.680 --> 01:30:05.680 obviously I'm for the team, but like I don't want 1655 01:30:05.720 --> 01:30:06.840 to hear the outside noise. 1656 01:30:06.880 --> 01:30:08.039 I don't really care about it. 1657 01:30:08.159 --> 01:30:11.279 But the fact that he mentioned Kawai and that he 1658 01:30:11.439 --> 01:30:13.720 mentioned about how he wants him to be there at 1659 01:30:13.720 --> 01:30:15.560 the end of the season this year, and that they 1660 01:30:15.560 --> 01:30:17.640 don't really care about how he is at the beginning 1661 01:30:17.640 --> 01:30:19.640 of the season. It kind of reminds me a little 1662 01:30:19.640 --> 01:30:21.560 bit about that, you know, when Kawai came back from 1663 01:30:21.560 --> 01:30:24.039 that torn acl and everyone's like, it's gonna take him 1664 01:30:24.079 --> 01:30:26.079 some time. I remember Nico Batum that year, he said, 1665 01:30:26.399 --> 01:30:29.720 give us until Christmas, and then from Christmas on, that's 1666 01:30:29.760 --> 01:30:31.960 and we'll be a right team. Obviously, they were never 1667 01:30:32.319 --> 01:30:35.319 together as a team even after Christmas, but I feel 1668 01:30:35.359 --> 01:30:37.359 like that's the kind of vibe we're feeling from this 1669 01:30:37.439 --> 01:30:40.239 Clippers team. It reminds me, and unfortunately, it reminds me 1670 01:30:40.279 --> 01:30:42.319 a lot of what happened when Kawai came back. I 1671 01:30:42.319 --> 01:30:44.279 think that was a twenty two to twenty three year, 1672 01:30:44.560 --> 01:30:47.479 whereas up and down, the Clippers finished as the five 1673 01:30:47.560 --> 01:30:49.720 or six, the five seed, they played the Suns. I mean, 1674 01:30:49.760 --> 01:30:51.840 everyone was down that year. That was a down year 1675 01:30:51.840 --> 01:30:54.119 for the West in general. But I feel like that's 1676 01:30:54.199 --> 01:30:56.560 kind of where we're at right now with this Kawhi situation. 1677 01:30:56.640 --> 01:30:58.319 I hope it's better. I hope the outcome is a 1678 01:30:58.319 --> 01:31:01.800 lot better. But even from players, when what they're saying 1679 01:31:01.880 --> 01:31:03.119 is that's kind of the vibe I'm. 1680 01:31:03.039 --> 01:31:07.279 Getting that quote we mentioned starting this conversation about Kawhi 1681 01:31:07.359 --> 01:31:12.279 Leonard here from Omjung Masuk was and he's paraphrasing, I 1682 01:31:12.319 --> 01:31:14.680 think a little bit, but this is accurate, he said. 1683 01:31:14.840 --> 01:31:18.800 Kawhi Leonard says the inflammation in his knee is something 1684 01:31:19.159 --> 01:31:21.880 that he could have to deal with for the rest 1685 01:31:21.880 --> 01:31:25.239 of his career, but he says he and medical staff 1686 01:31:25.600 --> 01:31:27.880 have a handle on it and are doing what is 1687 01:31:27.960 --> 01:31:30.720 needed to keep it from being something that will be 1688 01:31:30.760 --> 01:31:34.319 an issue down the road. That is concerning to me, 1689 01:31:34.560 --> 01:31:38.079 and it goes back to this is the swelling down 1690 01:31:38.640 --> 01:31:42.199 because he's not playing high level basketball yet and once 1691 01:31:42.239 --> 01:31:45.239 he does, it could rise back up or flare up, 1692 01:31:45.359 --> 01:31:49.039 or the inflammation will reset. That's always been my concern. 1693 01:31:49.119 --> 01:31:51.520 That's what it was in the playoff series when they 1694 01:31:51.520 --> 01:31:54.119 thought they had it more under control. You look decent 1695 01:31:54.279 --> 01:31:57.399 in game two overall considering he hadn't played basketball in 1696 01:31:57.399 --> 01:31:59.680 like a month, but then in Game three, after the 1697 01:31:59.720 --> 01:32:02.439 swan went up after playing in game two, he looked 1698 01:32:02.479 --> 01:32:05.039 like a shadow of himself or a fraction of himself. 1699 01:32:05.399 --> 01:32:09.439 It was really concerning, and that's what worries me. Sore 1700 01:32:09.560 --> 01:32:13.079 Losers Gaming says, we have no choice let's just load 1701 01:32:13.159 --> 01:32:15.399 manage and pray he's okay for the playoffs, and just 1702 01:32:15.439 --> 01:32:18.399 be more cautious than previous years if possible. Here's the 1703 01:32:18.479 --> 01:32:22.079 problem for the playoffs. Are you gonna be able at playoffs? 1704 01:32:22.279 --> 01:32:24.560 Are you gonna be able to get buys? Zim More 1705 01:32:24.640 --> 01:32:27.239 would say, if you don't have him enough during the 1706 01:32:27.279 --> 01:32:30.439 regular season to what Grant's saying, you know, I think 1707 01:32:30.439 --> 01:32:32.560 they need him at least fifty games to be in 1708 01:32:32.600 --> 01:32:35.640 the playoff picture, Like you could flirt with being outside 1709 01:32:35.640 --> 01:32:38.239 of the play in if you don't have Kawhi Leonard 1710 01:32:38.479 --> 01:32:41.319 enough this season. When you look at teams in the 1711 01:32:41.319 --> 01:32:44.119 Western Conference, Grant that are getting better, the Spurs are 1712 01:32:44.159 --> 01:32:46.880 gonna be better, The Houston Rockets are gonna be better. 1713 01:32:47.000 --> 01:32:49.359 The Golden State Warriors might be about the same. The 1714 01:32:49.479 --> 01:32:53.119 Lakers could be better, the Pelicans could be better. Most 1715 01:32:53.159 --> 01:32:57.439 teams are getting better. Well, there's a couple contenders that 1716 01:32:57.520 --> 01:32:59.319 you could say got a little bit worse. People are 1717 01:32:59.319 --> 01:33:01.359 saying Denver gonna a little bit worse. People are saying 1718 01:33:01.359 --> 01:33:03.279 Minnesota got a little bit worse. Okay, see did not 1719 01:33:03.319 --> 01:33:06.760 get worse. But for the most part, I mean, maybe 1720 01:33:06.840 --> 01:33:10.279 Dallas got slightly worse, they lost DJJ. For the most part, 1721 01:33:10.560 --> 01:33:12.880 some of the young teams are on the rise outside 1722 01:33:12.880 --> 01:33:17.119 of Portland and Utah. How many teams do you think 1723 01:33:17.119 --> 01:33:20.640 the Clippers are clear cut above in the Western Conference 1724 01:33:20.720 --> 01:33:21.079 right now? 1725 01:33:21.720 --> 01:33:24.880 I mean, clearcut is one thing. I know that they're better, 1726 01:33:25.000 --> 01:33:28.520 like balance wise than other teams because they have two stars. 1727 01:33:28.560 --> 01:33:30.840 Like you know, the Spurs have Victor Webbin Yama, but 1728 01:33:30.880 --> 01:33:32.760 they don't really have another star. I mean, I guess 1729 01:33:32.760 --> 01:33:34.800 you could say Devin Bissell or or somebody like that. 1730 01:33:34.880 --> 01:33:37.640 They brought Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes. But you know, 1731 01:33:37.840 --> 01:33:40.600 the Clippers at least are banking on their two stars 1732 01:33:40.720 --> 01:33:43.399 being that good, like getting back to their prime version. 1733 01:33:43.680 --> 01:33:46.079 I mean, I know Kawhi is already the prime version 1734 01:33:46.119 --> 01:33:48.439 of himself. He just had an insane year. But they're 1735 01:33:48.479 --> 01:33:51.000 banking on James Harden getting back to his Houston days. 1736 01:33:51.039 --> 01:33:54.479 So I can't really say like clearcut because the Clippers, 1737 01:33:54.520 --> 01:33:56.960 I feel like, are if everything goes well, they will 1738 01:33:57.000 --> 01:33:58.840 be a middle of the pack team. They aren't going 1739 01:33:58.920 --> 01:34:01.600 to be a top four team in my opinion, because 1740 01:34:01.600 --> 01:34:04.800 of the ascension of OKAC, because of Minnesota, and I 1741 01:34:04.840 --> 01:34:06.560 don't know what Minnesota is going to look like now 1742 01:34:06.600 --> 01:34:08.960 because they traded Awa Karl Anthony, Towns have got Julius 1743 01:34:09.000 --> 01:34:11.640 Randall and Dante di Vicenzo, so we were going to 1744 01:34:11.720 --> 01:34:14.079 have to see about them. That's another question mark. New 1745 01:34:14.239 --> 01:34:18.159 Orleans added to Jonte Murray. The Dallas Mavericks added Klay Thompson. 1746 01:34:18.159 --> 01:34:20.199 We'll see what kind of version of Klay Thompson we get. 1747 01:34:20.319 --> 01:34:22.760 We'll see what Naji Marshall brings to that team. He's 1748 01:34:22.840 --> 01:34:24.760 kind of like the Derek Jones junior replacement. 1749 01:34:25.479 --> 01:34:25.760 Denver. 1750 01:34:25.840 --> 01:34:28.199 I feel like got worse they lost KCP. Yes, they 1751 01:34:28.199 --> 01:34:31.039 added Russell Westbrook, but that fit remains to be seen. 1752 01:34:31.399 --> 01:34:34.000 While we do say that the west got better at him, 1753 01:34:34.079 --> 01:34:36.479 and we said this probably about twenty twenty three as well, 1754 01:34:36.880 --> 01:34:39.039 there still are a lot of question marks, right And 1755 01:34:39.079 --> 01:34:41.359 I think we've talked about this before, Like we just 1756 01:34:41.399 --> 01:34:43.520 saw Dallas Mavericks team that a lot of people didn't 1757 01:34:43.520 --> 01:34:45.760 really feel like we're going to go to the finals. 1758 01:34:45.800 --> 01:34:46.439 This past year. 1759 01:34:46.640 --> 01:34:48.720 They made it, traded a couple of trades at the deadline, 1760 01:34:48.920 --> 01:34:50.840 and they leaned on their guys and they made it 1761 01:34:50.880 --> 01:34:54.359 to the finals as a five seed of Okay, so 1762 01:34:55.399 --> 01:34:58.119 yes in theory. We do say that the West is better, 1763 01:34:58.159 --> 01:35:00.279 and yes, on paper, it is better. I want to 1764 01:35:00.359 --> 01:35:02.399 be deep. It's a deep conference, but the East. 1765 01:35:02.199 --> 01:35:02.640 Is as well. 1766 01:35:03.199 --> 01:35:05.359 I feel like if you go into the season and 1767 01:35:05.359 --> 01:35:08.159 it's say it's February, right, and this team is kind 1768 01:35:08.159 --> 01:35:09.920 of in the middle of the pack, like we all believe, 1769 01:35:10.439 --> 01:35:12.520 are they gonna make that trade for somebody or are 1770 01:35:12.520 --> 01:35:15.119 they just gonna stand put and say, hey, our focus 1771 01:35:15.159 --> 01:35:17.880 is on the twenty twenty six twenty twenty seven free agency, 1772 01:35:18.159 --> 01:35:19.199 let's not make a move. 1773 01:35:19.479 --> 01:35:20.000 I feel like. 1774 01:35:20.039 --> 01:35:23.000 Right now, Adam, they are better than a lot of 1775 01:35:23.039 --> 01:35:25.199 teams that I feel like people are putting up there. 1776 01:35:25.800 --> 01:35:27.680 I feel like they're better than the Lakers. I feel 1777 01:35:27.680 --> 01:35:29.359 like the Clippers are a little bit better than the Lakers. 1778 01:35:29.359 --> 01:35:32.359 I feel like the Clippers are better than Warriors, the Kings. 1779 01:35:32.399 --> 01:35:34.520 I love what they did with the mar Derozen. But again, 1780 01:35:34.560 --> 01:35:37.479 it's not clear cut. That was your first question. It's 1781 01:35:37.520 --> 01:35:39.560 not really a clear better. 1782 01:35:39.720 --> 01:35:46.600 So it's only if they have Kalai right and that Yeah, 1783 01:35:47.079 --> 01:35:50.439 and we're already talking about uncertainty with Game one to 1784 01:35:50.560 --> 01:35:52.640 start this season. They don't know if he's going to 1785 01:35:52.680 --> 01:35:56.760 be available. I guess my point is outside of three teams, 1786 01:35:56.960 --> 01:36:02.800 with Portland, with Utah, with san Antonio, I don't think 1787 01:36:02.800 --> 01:36:08.199 there's enough clear separation between the Clippers and anybody else. Now, 1788 01:36:08.239 --> 01:36:10.239 if you tell me Kawi is good for sixty games 1789 01:36:10.279 --> 01:36:14.159 and James Harden's good for sixty five plus, then okay, 1790 01:36:14.279 --> 01:36:16.279 then maybe they have a shot at the sixth spot. 1791 01:36:16.479 --> 01:36:19.279 But right now, it's really hard to say that with 1792 01:36:19.399 --> 01:36:21.760 any amount of certainty that Kawhi is gonna be okay 1793 01:36:22.119 --> 01:36:24.960 for that many games. Amina Shawn has said, we've tried 1794 01:36:25.000 --> 01:36:28.359 everything to keep Kawhi healthy. Best bet is to have 1795 01:36:28.479 --> 01:36:31.720 Kawhi play fifty seven or sixty three games. Just throwing 1796 01:36:31.800 --> 01:36:36.359 out random numbers here, like, I have no idea. How's 1797 01:36:36.359 --> 01:36:38.680 his KNI going to respond to any of this stuff? 1798 01:36:38.760 --> 01:36:40.840 Jonathan Ing has a question that I think is pretty good. 1799 01:36:41.680 --> 01:36:45.840 Lucas style was mentioned by Harden and to avoid overextending 1800 01:36:45.840 --> 01:36:48.439 and overuse given his age, how is the ball handling 1801 01:36:48.479 --> 01:36:51.760 and supplementary playmaking from the bench going to look grant 1802 01:36:51.840 --> 01:36:54.680 in your opinion? So Cardon isn't overtaxed. 1803 01:36:55.239 --> 01:36:56.000 Yeah, I think that. 1804 01:36:56.119 --> 01:36:58.960 You know, I was kind of banking on Bones Island 1805 01:36:58.960 --> 01:37:01.159 and kind of being that guy if you know, because 1806 01:37:01.199 --> 01:37:03.359 he is a great offensive player, but he's not I 1807 01:37:03.359 --> 01:37:04.720 guess a part of the team anymore. 1808 01:37:04.800 --> 01:37:06.199 So we'll have to see about that. 1809 01:37:06.600 --> 01:37:09.359 Norm Powell is I mean, he's mentioned things about ball 1810 01:37:09.359 --> 01:37:11.640 handling and pick and roll and playmaking. 1811 01:37:12.159 --> 01:37:14.560 That was big to me actually him saying the thing 1812 01:37:14.600 --> 01:37:17.880 he worked on most was playmaking and pick and roll 1813 01:37:17.960 --> 01:37:20.199 and that is something he has to do right. 1814 01:37:20.239 --> 01:37:22.359 And we've talked about this and I've heard you talk 1815 01:37:22.399 --> 01:37:24.560 about it on the show. Is like, that is something 1816 01:37:24.600 --> 01:37:27.000 that he doesn't bring. He's just offensive. He's just an 1817 01:37:27.039 --> 01:37:30.000 offensive score. So the fact that he actually mentioned that 1818 01:37:30.119 --> 01:37:32.520 and being able to play off ball and being you know, 1819 01:37:32.560 --> 01:37:35.920 I guess malleable and his offensive output, I think that 1820 01:37:36.079 --> 01:37:38.640 is really That's something that I think really stood out 1821 01:37:38.680 --> 01:37:40.439 to me, is that he was willing to work on 1822 01:37:40.479 --> 01:37:42.960 his playmaking. He was willing to work on his pick 1823 01:37:43.000 --> 01:37:45.279 and roll. And maybe, you know, to Jonathan's question, like 1824 01:37:45.319 --> 01:37:48.159 maybe the front office or maybe coach Lou approached him 1825 01:37:48.199 --> 01:37:50.439 and like, hey, I know that you've been a score 1826 01:37:50.479 --> 01:37:51.960 for us in the past, and we've had the four 1827 01:37:52.000 --> 01:37:55.119 Stars and you played excellent around those guys, but we're 1828 01:37:55.119 --> 01:37:56.520 going to kind of need you to be that guy 1829 01:37:56.560 --> 01:37:58.079 that you were on the Raptors where it was a 1830 01:37:58.079 --> 01:38:01.000 two way player. You were great on defense, you could 1831 01:38:01.039 --> 01:38:03.159 handle the ball a little bit, and you were still 1832 01:38:03.199 --> 01:38:06.159 a great scorer. So maybe that's what they're banking on, 1833 01:38:06.279 --> 01:38:08.720 is Norm Powell kind of being that guy off the 1834 01:38:08.760 --> 01:38:11.399 bench where he can be the guy that can ball 1835 01:38:11.399 --> 01:38:15.800 handle and be a supplementary playmaker like Jonathan's asking. So again, 1836 01:38:16.119 --> 01:38:17.800 Chris Dunn is not the guy that is going to 1837 01:38:17.800 --> 01:38:21.000 be an excellent ball floor general. He's not that kind 1838 01:38:21.000 --> 01:38:24.359 of guy. He can't handle the basketball. He can score sometimes, 1839 01:38:24.399 --> 01:38:26.640 but he's not that type of player. So I think 1840 01:38:26.640 --> 01:38:28.760 that it's going to be a little bit of a process, right, 1841 01:38:28.800 --> 01:38:31.720 It's going to be like, hey, let's just try Chris 1842 01:38:31.760 --> 01:38:33.640 Dunn out the backup point. Let's see if that works. 1843 01:38:33.880 --> 01:38:36.279 Maybe they try Norm Powell at the backup point if 1844 01:38:36.279 --> 01:38:37.840 he doesn't get that starting two spot. 1845 01:38:37.880 --> 01:38:38.399 I don't know. 1846 01:38:38.880 --> 01:38:41.560 So at this point, Look, everyone always clowns me because 1847 01:38:41.560 --> 01:38:44.279 I mentioned that the Clickers are signing another guard, like 1848 01:38:44.279 --> 01:38:46.640 they signed Trent and Flowers and they got all these 1849 01:38:46.680 --> 01:38:49.720 different guards. But the fact that they have guards and 1850 01:38:49.760 --> 01:38:52.159 they can be a little bit dynamic with that, I 1851 01:38:52.159 --> 01:38:55.279 think that's a good thing, right And maybe Kevin Porter 1852 01:38:55.399 --> 01:38:56.880 Junior assumes that role. 1853 01:38:56.920 --> 01:38:57.359 We don't know. 1854 01:38:57.399 --> 01:39:00.279 If everything clears with him and he's the guy that 1855 01:39:00.680 --> 01:39:03.279 we think he can be, maybe he's the guy behind 1856 01:39:03.319 --> 01:39:06.039 Harden that can kind of be that supplemental offensive piece. 1857 01:39:06.079 --> 01:39:09.039 So again, Jonathan, I don't really have a clear cut 1858 01:39:09.079 --> 01:39:11.359 answer for you, but there are options. 1859 01:39:11.399 --> 01:39:13.199 The Clippers have the options to do that. 1860 01:39:13.960 --> 01:39:15.960 I like the way you put that, d end. There 1861 01:39:16.039 --> 01:39:19.640 are options. It could be backup point guard by committee. 1862 01:39:19.800 --> 01:39:23.199 Terrence Man could play some backup pointyard. Chris Dunn has 1863 01:39:23.239 --> 01:39:25.880 had a couple of seasons where he's averaged five assists. Like, 1864 01:39:25.920 --> 01:39:30.800 I think he's capable. I think he, Man and KPJ 1865 01:39:31.239 --> 01:39:33.960 are all more capable than Norman Powell at this point. 1866 01:39:34.399 --> 01:39:38.119 Norm just hasn't shown off a high proficiency when it 1867 01:39:38.159 --> 01:39:41.680 comes to pass it. He hasn't. If he's worked on it, 1868 01:39:42.319 --> 01:39:44.920 If it's better now because of this offseason and the 1869 01:39:44.960 --> 01:39:48.000 training he's done, I'd love to see it because if 1870 01:39:48.000 --> 01:39:51.560 Norm could add that extra element with his scoring. Now 1871 01:39:51.600 --> 01:39:54.079 you're talking. You mentioned him with the Toronto Raptors and 1872 01:39:54.119 --> 01:39:56.439 the defense he used to be able to play. If 1873 01:39:56.479 --> 01:39:59.359 you add a couple different elements. With him being a 1874 01:39:59.359 --> 01:40:02.479 better playmate now and a better defender, then you have 1875 01:40:02.640 --> 01:40:05.680 someone who's much more valuable to this team, and it 1876 01:40:05.680 --> 01:40:08.520 would help his own cause with getting minutes. If he's 1877 01:40:08.560 --> 01:40:11.439 not so deficient in these other areas and he's just 1878 01:40:11.600 --> 01:40:14.640 being a one dimensional scorer out there, that's no disrespect. 1879 01:40:14.920 --> 01:40:16.840 I don't want to make the Chris Carter he only 1880 01:40:16.840 --> 01:40:20.239 scores touchdowns type of mistake. It is very important what 1881 01:40:20.319 --> 01:40:24.199 normOn Powell does, but he does have weaknesses that keep 1882 01:40:24.279 --> 01:40:26.680 him from being on the court enough in a season 1883 01:40:26.720 --> 01:40:29.119 where you no longer have Paul George and you have 1884 01:40:29.199 --> 01:40:31.680 a guy who's a bucket. But if he can't playmaking, 1885 01:40:31.960 --> 01:40:34.760 if he can't be a connector if he can't be 1886 01:40:34.800 --> 01:40:37.079 a great defender out there, and he's a liability or 1887 01:40:37.079 --> 01:40:39.880 a negative defender, then he can't play as much and 1888 01:40:39.920 --> 01:40:43.600 he's jocking for position with other guys that do some 1889 01:40:43.640 --> 01:40:46.199 of those other elements better than he does right now. 1890 01:40:46.239 --> 01:40:50.039 But that could be big. I mean, Ashwan said this, 1891 01:40:50.640 --> 01:40:52.720 normOn Powell is more of a catch and shoot attacking 1892 01:40:52.760 --> 01:40:56.760 closeouts players. Yes, agree, he can create, but he excels 1893 01:40:56.800 --> 01:41:00.000 off of attacking closeouts and catching shoes he can create 1894 01:41:00.520 --> 01:41:04.920 is kind. Norm Powell has been a bit of an 1895 01:41:04.960 --> 01:41:08.800 adventure you could say, when he's trying to create for others. 1896 01:41:08.840 --> 01:41:11.760 That's just not what he does well. He scores, and 1897 01:41:11.840 --> 01:41:14.600 like you said, he's a decisive scorer and he takes 1898 01:41:14.640 --> 01:41:18.279 the right shots. He's an analytics Daryl Morey type of 1899 01:41:18.359 --> 01:41:21.359 dream because everything's at the basket or catching shoot three. 1900 01:41:21.640 --> 01:41:24.720 But I think for the Clippers to have success this season, 1901 01:41:24.840 --> 01:41:27.319 Norm is going to have to expand his game in 1902 01:41:27.359 --> 01:41:28.920 the ways he talked about today. Gret. 1903 01:41:30.199 --> 01:41:33.800 Yeah, and I think you know this point about Norm Powell, 1904 01:41:33.840 --> 01:41:35.279 and I think we want him to be a lot 1905 01:41:35.359 --> 01:41:38.720 more because you know, he's away from that four star 1906 01:41:38.880 --> 01:41:42.039 kind of look. And you know at this point, if 1907 01:41:42.079 --> 01:41:44.720 he does become the guy that we know that he 1908 01:41:44.760 --> 01:41:46.279 probably can be with his talent. 1909 01:41:46.319 --> 01:41:47.520 I mean, he works so hard. 1910 01:41:47.960 --> 01:41:50.319 I think if he works harder on his playmaking and 1911 01:41:50.560 --> 01:41:53.960 his pick and roll game, he can blossom into that 1912 01:41:54.039 --> 01:41:56.600 kind of player. And he look, he's not an older player, 1913 01:41:56.640 --> 01:41:58.720 and he's like twenty nine to thirty years old, so 1914 01:41:58.760 --> 01:42:01.920 he's not entirely young, but he still has room to 1915 01:42:02.079 --> 01:42:04.199 grow as a player. In my opinion, there's been plenty 1916 01:42:04.199 --> 01:42:07.000 of players that have kind of transformed their game as 1917 01:42:07.039 --> 01:42:10.800 their careers have gone on to manipulate themselves into being 1918 01:42:10.840 --> 01:42:11.640 a team player. 1919 01:42:11.720 --> 01:42:11.920 Right. 1920 01:42:12.000 --> 01:42:15.680 So I think for Norm, every comment that I've seen 1921 01:42:15.680 --> 01:42:18.000 from the past couple of media days is like, Hey, 1922 01:42:18.000 --> 01:42:19.720 I want to be an All Star this year. 1923 01:42:19.840 --> 01:42:20.520 Hey, I want to. 1924 01:42:20.439 --> 01:42:22.960 Be like a starter this year, and everyone like Clipper 1925 01:42:23.000 --> 01:42:25.720 Nations like, eh, kind of temper your expectations because that's 1926 01:42:25.720 --> 01:42:26.439 not really who. 1927 01:42:26.239 --> 01:42:27.399 You are this year. 1928 01:42:27.439 --> 01:42:29.640 If Norm Powell wants to have that kind of mindset, 1929 01:42:29.720 --> 01:42:31.399 I'm all for it because they're going to need as 1930 01:42:31.479 --> 01:42:34.560 much offensive output as possible. But you know, I think 1931 01:42:34.600 --> 01:42:36.880 that you know I mean, is right, and you're right, Adam, 1932 01:42:36.920 --> 01:42:40.399 like the catch and shoot guy, Yeah, that's what he is. 1933 01:42:40.439 --> 01:42:41.960 He at tax cls out players. He's not the guy 1934 01:42:41.960 --> 01:42:43.560 that's going to slide his feet and stay in front 1935 01:42:43.560 --> 01:42:45.880 of a guy and hound them on the defensive end 1936 01:42:46.319 --> 01:42:48.920 and his creation. I'm glad that he mentioned that he's 1937 01:42:48.960 --> 01:42:51.880 getting better at that. But I think if and here's 1938 01:42:51.880 --> 01:42:54.199 the other thing, Adam, if he does go to that 1939 01:42:54.319 --> 01:42:57.319 starting two spot next to James Hardy, does that kind 1940 01:42:57.359 --> 01:43:01.039 of hinder his offensive ability because I feel like if 1941 01:43:01.039 --> 01:43:03.079 he's on the bench, he has more of a free 1942 01:43:03.079 --> 01:43:05.600 will to kind of be norm and be a guy 1943 01:43:05.640 --> 01:43:08.800 that can blossom. So I'm that's something that just popped 1944 01:43:08.800 --> 01:43:11.720 into my head, like, yes, he could be great around 1945 01:43:11.720 --> 01:43:14.880 the guys like around Harden, around Kawhi and the starting lineup, 1946 01:43:15.399 --> 01:43:19.039 but we probably won't see the full Norman Powell experience 1947 01:43:19.399 --> 01:43:21.960 unless he's on the bench and unless he's playing with 1948 01:43:21.960 --> 01:43:24.319 that bench unit as the main scorer on the bench unit. 1949 01:43:24.399 --> 01:43:26.760 So that's a little bit of a concern too, A question, 1950 01:43:26.880 --> 01:43:27.720 I guess. 1951 01:43:27.640 --> 01:43:30.600 No, that's true. He'd be playing much more off ball 1952 01:43:30.960 --> 01:43:34.319 and wouldn't be a focal point if he's in the 1953 01:43:34.359 --> 01:43:38.800 starting lineup. He's dangerous there off ball, but he has 1954 01:43:38.920 --> 01:43:41.439 more of a green light if the offense is more 1955 01:43:41.479 --> 01:43:44.520 centered around him with the second unit. Let's talk a 1956 01:43:44.560 --> 01:43:46.359 little bit about somebody else. I want to see more 1957 01:43:46.399 --> 01:43:49.239 of a focal point from with this Clippers team this season. 1958 01:43:49.279 --> 01:43:51.520 And that's a beats a zoobas what did you hear 1959 01:43:51.560 --> 01:43:53.920 from him today, Grant, that needs you to be a 1960 01:43:53.960 --> 01:43:56.159 little bit more encouraged that not only has he gotten 1961 01:43:56.199 --> 01:43:59.119 paid and that should encourage him to have a bigger 1962 01:43:59.199 --> 01:44:01.680 role on this team, but just with what he said 1963 01:44:01.720 --> 01:44:03.840 today at media day to back that up. 1964 01:44:04.439 --> 01:44:07.560 Yeah, you know, everyone asked Zoo about his offensive volume, 1965 01:44:07.680 --> 01:44:10.600 his offensive output, and you know, Zoo is is kind 1966 01:44:10.600 --> 01:44:12.520 of a low key guy, so he doesn't really like 1967 01:44:12.560 --> 01:44:15.159 to talk himself up that much. But when they asked 1968 01:44:15.199 --> 01:44:16.520 him that, he said, you know, I've been working on 1969 01:44:16.560 --> 01:44:19.239 my left and right hooks. And I believe that either 1970 01:44:19.319 --> 01:44:21.279 Law or till Mayor asked it. I think till Mayor 1971 01:44:21.319 --> 01:44:23.600 asked him, Hey, are you going to be quicker going 1972 01:44:23.600 --> 01:44:25.520 to with your back to the basket, because that's a 1973 01:44:25.560 --> 01:44:27.479 lot of people's concern is like when you get it 1974 01:44:27.479 --> 01:44:29.039 to Zoo, it's going to take him four or five 1975 01:44:29.079 --> 01:44:31.119 seconds to get into his offense and do his thing. 1976 01:44:31.640 --> 01:44:33.960 So are you is that something that you've been working on, 1977 01:44:34.000 --> 01:44:36.359 you know, maybe in the Olympics with Croatia, And Zuo 1978 01:44:36.439 --> 01:44:38.760 was like, not really, because I have to read the 1979 01:44:38.800 --> 01:44:40.560 defenses and I have to kind of see what the 1980 01:44:40.600 --> 01:44:42.640 defense has given me and what it's not. So I 1981 01:44:42.640 --> 01:44:44.720 didn't really work on it, but that is something that 1982 01:44:44.760 --> 01:44:46.560 I want to key in on. That's something kind of 1983 01:44:46.640 --> 01:44:48.560 that he wanted to focus on. Another big thing that 1984 01:44:48.560 --> 01:44:50.960 I heard from Zoo was like, I think somebody asked him, like, 1985 01:44:51.000 --> 01:44:54.760 your experience with Croatia and the Olympics and the ability to, 1986 01:44:55.119 --> 01:44:58.000 you know, play as kind of the main guy for Croatia, 1987 01:44:58.079 --> 01:45:00.760 and he said, look, I played with Croatia and they 1988 01:45:00.800 --> 01:45:03.640 expected me to have a higher offensive volume and so 1989 01:45:03.760 --> 01:45:05.680 I'm not, like, it's not like it's new to me. 1990 01:45:05.760 --> 01:45:08.800 I'm used to being like a higher offensive volume guy, 1991 01:45:09.000 --> 01:45:11.600 a guy that they rely on more. So it's not 1992 01:45:11.640 --> 01:45:13.560 really something that I have to work on it because 1993 01:45:13.600 --> 01:45:15.600 when I go over to Croatia and when I play 1994 01:45:15.640 --> 01:45:18.439 with the national team, that's what they expect of me. Anyways, 1995 01:45:18.439 --> 01:45:21.239 So coming back here and signing the extension and everyone's like, hey, 1996 01:45:21.279 --> 01:45:23.279 you're the third option now, it's like he he kind 1997 01:45:23.279 --> 01:45:25.520 of basically said, like, it's not really that new to 1998 01:45:25.560 --> 01:45:27.479 me because I do it in my international team. So 1999 01:45:27.760 --> 01:45:29.640 that is a really good sign because that does that 2000 01:45:29.680 --> 01:45:31.640 means that he doesn't really have to work on a 2001 01:45:31.680 --> 01:45:34.039 lot because he's already kind of familiar with that. More 2002 01:45:34.399 --> 01:45:38.159 I guess attention on him. So I think Zoo understands, 2003 01:45:38.159 --> 01:45:40.279 like he understands that they lost a twenty point per 2004 01:45:40.319 --> 01:45:42.840 game score and Paul George, they lost that kind of 2005 01:45:42.840 --> 01:45:44.800 offense about what and he knows that he's gonna have 2006 01:45:44.840 --> 01:45:47.039 to step it up. But I think that, you know, 2007 01:45:47.079 --> 01:45:49.600 he also talked about his defensive ability, the ability to 2008 01:45:50.119 --> 01:45:52.560 you know, play on the perimeter and and be more 2009 01:45:52.640 --> 01:45:55.760 laterally quick, and you'll be that rim protector that the 2010 01:45:55.800 --> 01:45:58.680 Clippers love and they that they need honestly, and that 2011 01:45:58.760 --> 01:46:01.760 means right like, Zoom needs to probably average fifteen or 2012 01:46:01.800 --> 01:46:03.920 sixteen points per game in order for them to be 2013 01:46:04.039 --> 01:46:07.039 a very good team this year. So again, I think 2014 01:46:07.079 --> 01:46:08.840 I loved what I hear what I heard from Zoo, 2015 01:46:08.880 --> 01:46:10.760 but I think I would love to hear a little 2016 01:46:10.760 --> 01:46:12.800 bit more about how he can expand his game. I 2017 01:46:12.800 --> 01:46:14.880 think Law like joked with him, Hey, are we going 2018 01:46:14.920 --> 01:46:16.720 to see you shoot any threes this year? And he said, 2019 01:46:17.439 --> 01:46:19.039 I don't really want to answer that, and last said, 2020 01:46:19.039 --> 01:46:21.000 come on, just just give me an answer, and Zue said, yeah, 2021 01:46:21.000 --> 01:46:23.199 I'll shoot the threes for you man. So I'm not 2022 01:46:23.199 --> 01:46:25.119 going to say he's going to do it, but it 2023 01:46:25.199 --> 01:46:27.119 was kind of like a tongue in cheek kind of answer. 2024 01:46:27.840 --> 01:46:30.239 Stretch. Zoo is a bucket. We saw it a couple 2025 01:46:30.279 --> 01:46:32.439 of years ago when he got one attempt off. I 2026 01:46:32.439 --> 01:46:34.880 think in the twenty twenty one season against the Houston 2027 01:46:34.960 --> 01:46:37.000 Rockets the last game of the year, and then they 2028 01:46:37.039 --> 01:46:39.000 took him out of the ballgame after he made it too. 2029 01:46:40.039 --> 01:46:43.239 That's interesting to me. I agree with Amina Sean here 2030 01:46:43.359 --> 01:46:45.319 saying he feels like it beats a Zoo Bots needs 2031 01:46:45.319 --> 01:46:48.479 to average fifteen or sixteen points per game. To me, Gret, 2032 01:46:48.520 --> 01:46:51.600 you give me your numbers, but I'm going with sixteen 2033 01:46:52.119 --> 01:46:55.560 and eleven if Zoo is anywhere in that range. To me, 2034 01:46:56.159 --> 01:46:59.560 the Clippers are staying afloat in the Western Conference. 2035 01:47:00.079 --> 01:47:02.760 Number Adam was fifteen to ten, and that's like kind 2036 01:47:02.800 --> 01:47:06.600 of like a baseline, I guess number stat line. I 2037 01:47:06.640 --> 01:47:08.680 think all of us that are expecting a lot from 2038 01:47:08.760 --> 01:47:11.439 Zoo are kind of expecting that kind of kind of 2039 01:47:11.520 --> 01:47:14.399 stat line. Sixteen to eleven is very fair. I feel 2040 01:47:14.439 --> 01:47:16.920 like if he gets more touches, if he's more involved 2041 01:47:16.920 --> 01:47:19.079 in the offense, And he said himself like him and 2042 01:47:19.159 --> 01:47:21.600 James Harden have been working very hard and they you know, 2043 01:47:21.680 --> 01:47:24.279 having a full off season together, and it seems like 2044 01:47:24.319 --> 01:47:26.600 they've gotten together. I mean, James Harden mentioned this, like 2045 01:47:26.920 --> 01:47:30.199 they've already had some time together to kind of mesh 2046 01:47:30.279 --> 01:47:33.399 in the off season. They've gotten together in Arizona, and 2047 01:47:33.479 --> 01:47:35.680 the team has gotten together on bonding trips and they've 2048 01:47:35.720 --> 01:47:38.439 worked on things already, which is a cool sign. So, 2049 01:47:38.680 --> 01:47:40.760 you know, Zoo mentioned his chemistry of James Harden, like 2050 01:47:41.000 --> 01:47:43.239 he wants to take that next step and he feels 2051 01:47:43.239 --> 01:47:44.880 like that next step is there. So if you have 2052 01:47:45.399 --> 01:47:47.439 a Zoo and hardened pick and roll game that is 2053 01:47:47.479 --> 01:47:50.039 even better than it was last year because last year 2054 01:47:50.159 --> 01:47:52.279 was so good, then that means a lot, not just 2055 01:47:52.319 --> 01:47:54.159 for James Harden, but for Zoo as well. If he 2056 01:47:54.159 --> 01:47:56.640 can get more points in that pick and roll situation, 2057 01:47:57.079 --> 01:47:59.159 he has the ability to pass out of that pick 2058 01:47:59.199 --> 01:48:01.439 and roll as well. So maybe we see his assists 2059 01:48:01.479 --> 01:48:03.800 numbers go up. I'm not really sure, Adam, but I 2060 01:48:03.840 --> 01:48:06.800 think the scoring output, he understands it, and the fact 2061 01:48:06.840 --> 01:48:08.920 that he's willing to kind of manipulate his game. He's 2062 01:48:08.920 --> 01:48:10.760 willing to work on his game in other areas. With 2063 01:48:10.800 --> 01:48:13.319 the left hook, the right hook, you'll maybe farther from 2064 01:48:13.359 --> 01:48:16.000 the basket. I think that's really good. And you know, 2065 01:48:16.039 --> 01:48:18.279 the fifteen and ten again, that's baseline. I feel like 2066 01:48:18.359 --> 01:48:21.399 that should be what he's shooting for. But sixteen to eleven, 2067 01:48:21.399 --> 01:48:23.039 I think would be a blessing for this team. I 2068 01:48:23.039 --> 01:48:24.880 think that would be That would mean that the Clippers 2069 01:48:24.880 --> 01:48:26.880 are in the mix in my opinion. 2070 01:48:26.680 --> 01:48:29.000 And it means they're no longer forgetting about it. Easta 2071 01:48:29.079 --> 01:48:33.239 Zubots exploit of Eatsta Zubots in a good way. Use him. 2072 01:48:33.520 --> 01:48:37.119 He can help this team get easier buckets, which they've 2073 01:48:37.159 --> 01:48:40.359 had a tough time generating over the years. They've been 2074 01:48:40.359 --> 01:48:45.000 in much of a jump shooting team. Evil Bot Adam asks, 2075 01:48:45.199 --> 01:48:47.640 you think it's going to affect them in some level 2076 01:48:47.960 --> 01:48:51.159 with the chemistry on practice time, not knowing from the 2077 01:48:51.159 --> 01:48:54.119 start who's going to be the starter at shooting guard. 2078 01:48:54.159 --> 01:48:56.159 Do you think that's a problem in training camp. 2079 01:48:56.760 --> 01:48:58.600 I don't think so. I think that whenever you have 2080 01:48:58.680 --> 01:49:01.079 competition for these spots and better as the team. I 2081 01:49:01.119 --> 01:49:04.239 remember Adam in twenty twenty one, this was before the 2082 01:49:04.239 --> 01:49:07.199 conference finals were on. They brought in Niko Batoum, and 2083 01:49:07.239 --> 01:49:09.319 everyone was like, who's going to start the four, Marcus 2084 01:49:09.359 --> 01:49:11.159 Morris or Niko Batum. It's going to be an open 2085 01:49:11.199 --> 01:49:15.359 competition for that fore spot. And you know, Niko Batum said, listen, 2086 01:49:15.399 --> 01:49:16.920 I don't care. I just want to help the team. 2087 01:49:17.079 --> 01:49:19.199 Marcus Morris said I want to be the starter. He 2088 01:49:19.239 --> 01:49:21.319 was basically saying, I want to be the four, and 2089 01:49:21.399 --> 01:49:24.359 I believe Marcus Morris got hurt and Niko Batum came 2090 01:49:24.359 --> 01:49:26.600 in at that four spot, and it was a competition 2091 01:49:26.680 --> 01:49:30.279 in training camp. Niko Batum started the season at the four. 2092 01:49:30.640 --> 01:49:34.159 When Marcus Morris came back, he didn't really play that well, 2093 01:49:34.279 --> 01:49:35.800 you know, he didn't really play that well, and Niko 2094 01:49:35.840 --> 01:49:38.960 Batum was playing well. So Marcus Moore said, hey, you 2095 01:49:39.039 --> 01:49:41.239 can take that four spot for now because we're doing 2096 01:49:41.279 --> 01:49:43.760 so well. Buttoom started to slow down a little bit. 2097 01:49:43.920 --> 01:49:45.880 Then he passed it on the Marcus Morris. He said, look, 2098 01:49:45.920 --> 01:49:48.800 Marcus has gotten hot, he's probably the best fit for 2099 01:49:48.840 --> 01:49:51.359 the starting lineup, and he allowed that to happen. 2100 01:49:51.479 --> 01:49:53.840 So hopefully that's the case this year. 2101 01:49:53.920 --> 01:49:57.159 Hopefully they this open competition for all of these spots 2102 01:49:57.840 --> 01:50:00.439 doesn't affect the chemistry. If anything, I think it'll help. 2103 01:50:00.520 --> 01:50:02.760 I mean, from everything that I've seen from these guys 2104 01:50:02.760 --> 01:50:05.319 and what they've been talking about, the chemistry is at 2105 01:50:05.359 --> 01:50:07.840 a really high level right now. And they haven't even 2106 01:50:07.880 --> 01:50:10.039 gotten to a practice yet. I know they've had their 2107 01:50:10.039 --> 01:50:12.479 off season stuff and they've gotten together there, but I 2108 01:50:12.520 --> 01:50:14.680 don't think it's going to affect the chemistry in a 2109 01:50:14.720 --> 01:50:17.439 negative way at all. I think that all of this 2110 01:50:17.640 --> 01:50:19.399 talk about who's going to start the two, who's gonna 2111 01:50:19.399 --> 01:50:21.680 start the four, that's going to better the team because 2112 01:50:21.720 --> 01:50:23.520 now you're going to say, look, there's gonna be competition 2113 01:50:23.560 --> 01:50:25.880 in training camp. In years past, it's been like, Okay, 2114 01:50:25.960 --> 01:50:28.840 here's our starting five, and it's kind of what it is. Now, 2115 01:50:28.880 --> 01:50:31.319 it's like, hey, you're gonna have to earn these spots, 2116 01:50:31.359 --> 01:50:33.279 and I think that will be better for the team 2117 01:50:33.359 --> 01:50:35.880 chemistry wise. I mean, all these guys have a dog 2118 01:50:36.000 --> 01:50:38.039 kind of mentality, I guess you could say, and they 2119 01:50:38.039 --> 01:50:41.600 all have that hunger. So that's going to better the chemistry, 2120 01:50:41.680 --> 01:50:43.520 not negatively affected, in my opinion. 2121 01:50:44.439 --> 01:50:47.319 I want to nip something in the bud here because 2122 01:50:47.359 --> 01:50:50.920 I'm so sick of people saying this about Aviza Zoobots 2123 01:50:51.640 --> 01:50:54.800 and if I stayed long enough to ask him this question, 2124 01:50:55.439 --> 01:50:59.279 I might have done so today because there's this misconception 2125 01:50:59.359 --> 01:51:03.600 about Aviza zubots. Amina. Sean says, also, he needs that 2126 01:51:03.640 --> 01:51:07.279 efficiency to be higher than last season. So number one, 2127 01:51:08.119 --> 01:51:10.640 No One was better from five to nine feet out 2128 01:51:10.840 --> 01:51:13.760 in the league at the center position than Aviza Zubats, 2129 01:51:13.920 --> 01:51:16.239 not even Nikolo Jokic. I think he ended up shooting 2130 01:51:16.439 --> 01:51:19.720 sixty four percent from five to nine feet out. So 2131 01:51:19.800 --> 01:51:23.520 there's false narrative number one, number two, while also being 2132 01:51:23.520 --> 01:51:28.359 a much better rent protector. Nobody in the effing league 2133 01:51:28.680 --> 01:51:32.960 was a better rent protector last season than Aviza Zubos. 2134 01:51:33.680 --> 01:51:37.359 Teams only shot fifty one point nine percent in the 2135 01:51:37.399 --> 01:51:42.199 restricted area against Aviza Zubats. Are you guys seeing this? 2136 01:51:42.640 --> 01:51:45.359 Do you get it? Do you understand just how good 2137 01:51:45.399 --> 01:51:47.479 he is on that end? Oh, he's also a lead 2138 01:51:47.520 --> 01:51:50.159 at defending the pick and roll. He was only second 2139 01:51:50.159 --> 01:51:56.039 to Rudy Gobert there. Aviza Zubats, his entire tenure with 2140 01:51:56.119 --> 01:51:59.760 the Clippers has been top five in rint protection and 2141 01:52:00.079 --> 01:52:02.800 multiple times has been the best at the season end 2142 01:52:03.039 --> 01:52:05.800 when it comes to field goal percentage in the restricted area. 2143 01:52:06.600 --> 01:52:11.800 Could we stop the false narrative about him? Please? My god, 2144 01:52:12.119 --> 01:52:15.600 it is I'm sorry, it is just a mind no. 2145 01:52:16.399 --> 01:52:17.960 It's so fair though. 2146 01:52:18.079 --> 01:52:21.319 Like I and I remember listening to Clippers talk like 2147 01:52:21.359 --> 01:52:23.960 for the radio last year and people were coming on 2148 01:52:24.000 --> 01:52:26.439 They're like, well, we should put him Mason Plumley to 2149 01:52:26.479 --> 01:52:28.640 start over Zubots because he just doesn't know what he's 2150 01:52:28.640 --> 01:52:30.640 doing out there. And I just couldn't believe what I 2151 01:52:30.680 --> 01:52:33.640 was listening to because all of these stats like these 2152 01:52:33.680 --> 01:52:37.520 aren't just like random analytical stats. These are like critical 2153 01:52:37.720 --> 01:52:40.960 essential things that teams look at when they're valuing their 2154 01:52:40.960 --> 01:52:44.399 big men or whether when they're evaluating centers. And look at 2155 01:52:44.399 --> 01:52:46.680 the names he's up there with. It's not just look 2156 01:52:46.760 --> 01:52:50.359 Chet Holmgren, Kristaps Porzingis Wehm bin Yama, like that guy 2157 01:52:50.359 --> 01:52:52.399 was in the conversation for defensive Player of the Year 2158 01:52:52.680 --> 01:52:54.439 and the fact that I Vitza Zubats is near the 2159 01:52:54.479 --> 01:52:56.720 top of that. I think Vitza Zubats is near the 2160 01:52:56.760 --> 01:52:59.960 top guarding Nikola Jokic too, who is obviously the best 2161 01:53:00.119 --> 01:53:03.359 center in the NBA. So I don't know where this 2162 01:53:03.520 --> 01:53:05.760 narrative came from. I think it's just that Zoo isn't. 2163 01:53:05.560 --> 01:53:06.720 This flashy player. 2164 01:53:06.720 --> 01:53:10.880 He's not this dynamic, unbelievable stretch five that you see 2165 01:53:10.880 --> 01:53:13.279 from a lot of other teams. He gets the job 2166 01:53:13.319 --> 01:53:15.359 done at a high clip, and that's why they extended him. 2167 01:53:15.359 --> 01:53:15.720 I don't think. 2168 01:53:15.760 --> 01:53:17.520 I don't know why people don't understand that. 2169 01:53:19.199 --> 01:53:22.760 It is one of the most frustrating things that you 2170 01:53:22.880 --> 01:53:25.279 have to deal with when it comes to beats a zoobots. 2171 01:53:25.800 --> 01:53:28.920 It is a false narrative perpetuated by people that have 2172 01:53:29.439 --> 01:53:32.520 no idea about ball. And to your point, I don't 2173 01:53:32.520 --> 01:53:35.079 want to call them casuals. I'll call them low level 2174 01:53:35.359 --> 01:53:40.680 information fans. To your point, this is something that every 2175 01:53:40.720 --> 01:53:44.880 front office and every coaching staff looks at and evaluates. 2176 01:53:45.039 --> 01:53:47.720 Rimp protection. It is one of the most sought after 2177 01:53:47.840 --> 01:53:50.319 things when it comes to a big man, a roller 2178 01:53:50.439 --> 01:53:52.880 and a rint protector. That's what you look for in 2179 01:53:52.920 --> 01:53:55.960 today's NBA. And to your point, and I know you 2180 01:53:56.039 --> 01:53:59.239 got to leave here in a second grant, but nobody 2181 01:53:59.279 --> 01:54:02.359 has been better defending Jokic in one on one plays 2182 01:54:02.359 --> 01:54:06.319 in isolation than Avitza Zubats. In fact, it's by such 2183 01:54:06.319 --> 01:54:10.199 a wide margin it's incredible. If you're going off the 2184 01:54:10.239 --> 01:54:15.159 last five seasons, including the playoffs, points per possession against Jokic, 2185 01:54:16.119 --> 01:54:19.439 Jokic is only getting point six to eight points per 2186 01:54:19.439 --> 01:54:23.880 possession against Avitza Zubats one on one. The next closest guy, 2187 01:54:24.000 --> 01:54:27.680 Jokich is getting a point per possession against, So there's 2188 01:54:27.720 --> 01:54:32.279 a point four to two difference. It's incredible. His defense 2189 01:54:32.279 --> 01:54:35.600 against Jokic. He doesn't get applauded for it enough. He's 2190 01:54:35.600 --> 01:54:38.439 one of my favorite players. I feel passionately about it. 2191 01:54:38.479 --> 01:54:41.079 If that's why it sounds so intense right now. It's 2192 01:54:41.159 --> 01:54:43.600 just one of those things. It's a crime against Avitza 2193 01:54:43.680 --> 01:54:46.640 Zubats and the Clippers organization that value him so much 2194 01:54:46.920 --> 01:54:49.720 to give him this new contract if you don't realize 2195 01:54:49.720 --> 01:54:52.479 that he has been one of the top rim defenders 2196 01:54:52.520 --> 01:54:55.439 and just was the top rim defender in the league 2197 01:54:55.479 --> 01:54:58.479 this past season, and there's nobody better against Jokich. 2198 01:54:58.960 --> 01:55:02.640 Great clip that so many clip that put it on socials. 2199 01:55:03.760 --> 01:55:07.239 If that's what it takes an unhinged rant for me, Grant, 2200 01:55:07.279 --> 01:55:09.880 where could everybody find your wonderful work? And I know 2201 01:55:09.920 --> 01:55:11.760 you're going to be posting a lot of stuff after 2202 01:55:11.800 --> 01:55:12.680 today's media day. 2203 01:55:12.960 --> 01:55:15.319 Yeah, so, I posted a bunch of stuff at Gmono 2204 01:55:15.479 --> 01:55:18.319 forty eight on X and that's what we'll be posting 2205 01:55:18.319 --> 01:55:21.119 a lot of the quick updates, the video stuff. I'm 2206 01:55:21.119 --> 01:55:23.880 also at money Moo Media on YouTube. I'll be posting 2207 01:55:23.880 --> 01:55:26.159 a lot of stuff there in terms of long form. 2208 01:55:26.600 --> 01:55:29.279 Money Moo Media TV is my TikTok where I post 2209 01:55:29.279 --> 01:55:32.039 a lot of clips basically every day. And you know, 2210 01:55:32.079 --> 01:55:34.319 I'll have all my written stuff at the Sporting Tribune, 2211 01:55:34.359 --> 01:55:37.079 so the Sporting Tribune dot com. We are all LA 2212 01:55:37.199 --> 01:55:40.640 all the time. Also cow all the time. So Adam again, 2213 01:55:41.079 --> 01:55:42.880 is a pleasure being here. But it's good to see 2214 01:55:42.880 --> 01:55:45.760 you today and all this passion. I hope the Clippers 2215 01:55:45.800 --> 01:55:47.359 have heard it. I hope that they are going to 2216 01:55:47.399 --> 01:55:50.439 embrace it. And I hope that Vitza Zoo Bots doesn't 2217 01:55:50.439 --> 01:55:53.439 listen to any of these people, because he's the man. 2218 01:55:53.560 --> 01:55:57.000 In my opinion, there's an easier path to win ball games, 2219 01:55:57.039 --> 01:56:00.000 and it's playing through Big Zoo. Grant, love your brother, 2220 01:56:00.279 --> 01:56:02.279 Good to see you, good to bro hug you today. 2221 01:56:02.600 --> 01:56:06.840 We will talk again soon again. Guys, follow Grant Mona 2222 01:56:06.960 --> 01:56:10.119 for all this good information from the Sporting Tribune. Please 2223 01:56:10.279 --> 01:56:12.760 if you listen to me, well you're also listening to 2224 01:56:12.840 --> 01:56:15.119 him already because I take notes of things he says. 2225 01:56:15.239 --> 01:56:19.359 So please, if you're gonna respect me, here, respect Grant 2226 01:56:19.399 --> 01:56:21.479 Mona because he has been a part of this show. 2227 01:56:21.479 --> 01:56:23.119 I think it's the third time he's come on the 2228 01:56:23.199 --> 01:56:26.039 last month. Grant, I have a good one safe drive home. 2229 01:56:26.159 --> 01:56:27.960 Get all that good content up for the people. 2230 01:56:28.199 --> 01:56:29.960 All right, Adam, take care. We'll see soon. Man. 2231 01:56:30.239 --> 01:56:33.600 All right. The live stream will continue here, but it 2232 01:56:33.640 --> 01:56:37.399 was good to have Grant Mona on live from Into 2233 01:56:37.479 --> 01:56:41.279 It dumb as this is a Clippers Talk Live. Jam 2234 01:56:41.439 --> 01:56:43.920 thirteen twenty four says, will you be more active on 2235 01:56:43.960 --> 01:56:47.520 your YouTube this season? Grant, he will be. That's a fact. 2236 01:56:47.640 --> 01:56:50.920 I've talked with him about this. Jay says, just got 2237 01:56:50.960 --> 01:56:53.960 off work. I'm gonna have to rewind it for the drive. 2238 01:56:54.079 --> 01:56:57.399 But I did catch James's media on my lunch and 2239 01:56:57.560 --> 01:56:59.600 like what I heard, and I like how he's looking. 2240 01:56:59.680 --> 01:57:03.520 Hope he walks the walls. Not is it because of 2241 01:57:03.520 --> 01:57:06.560 the Clippers wall walks the wall instead of the walk. 2242 01:57:06.600 --> 01:57:09.880 I don't know. He did talk for a bit. I 2243 01:57:10.000 --> 01:57:13.600 like what James Harden said too, walks the walk is 2244 01:57:13.640 --> 01:57:18.359 what he meant there. So we've pretty much gone through God, 2245 01:57:18.399 --> 01:57:20.760 I want to say everybody, at this point, maybe I 2246 01:57:20.800 --> 01:57:22.920 should just end this so you can go back and 2247 01:57:22.960 --> 01:57:25.399 listen to the beginning of it, and if any other 2248 01:57:25.520 --> 01:57:30.960 news breaks later today, I will start another Clippers Talk 2249 01:57:31.039 --> 01:57:35.520 Live related to media day coming up tomorrow. We have 2250 01:57:35.680 --> 01:57:39.760 Noah Ego coming on, your former radio voice of the Clippers. 2251 01:57:39.800 --> 01:57:42.439 He will join me here and maybe I'll talk with 2252 01:57:42.520 --> 01:57:47.239 somebody from Hawaii at training camp tomorrow night. We'll see ano. 2253 01:57:47.279 --> 01:57:49.760 They're flying out to Honolulu. They have a game against 2254 01:57:49.760 --> 01:57:52.399 the Golden State Warriors that is on Saturday. We'll have 2255 01:57:52.439 --> 01:57:55.319 it for you on the radio side on seventy LA Sports. 2256 01:57:55.359 --> 01:57:58.960 I believe the pregame show will be starting at three Wednesday. 2257 01:57:59.000 --> 01:58:02.319 I already know I have til Marrazarali coming on from Honolulu. 2258 01:58:02.720 --> 01:58:04.920 He'll be joining me Wednesday, So a little bit of 2259 01:58:04.920 --> 01:58:07.079 a rundown and what to look forward to on the 2260 01:58:07.079 --> 01:58:11.039 schedule here on Clippers Talk. But if more news breaks, 2261 01:58:11.159 --> 01:58:13.640 if more comes out, we will have it all for you. 2262 01:58:14.319 --> 01:58:17.159 I appreciate everybody here that's been in the chat, that 2263 01:58:17.199 --> 01:58:21.760 has been asking questions here, that has been supporting of 2264 01:58:21.840 --> 01:58:24.640 eatsa zoobots, like evil Bot Adam who said zoo is 2265 01:58:24.720 --> 01:58:27.520 like my paycheck. It's doing work, but I don't see it. 2266 01:58:28.600 --> 01:58:31.199 That's pretty funny. I will not be in Hawaii. I 2267 01:58:31.199 --> 01:58:35.760 gotta stay here and help Fred Rogan at a five 2268 01:58:35.760 --> 01:58:37.479 seventy LA Sports. But I at least had the day 2269 01:58:37.520 --> 01:58:41.840 off there to some degree. So the work will continue. 2270 01:58:41.960 --> 01:58:45.000 The content will continue here on the Clippers Talk side. 2271 01:58:45.079 --> 01:58:48.319 I told you once the Clipper season started, I will 2272 01:58:48.319 --> 01:58:50.319 not miss a day when it comes to posting and 2273 01:58:50.439 --> 01:58:53.800 uploading content on YouTube at Clippers Talk. But you can 2274 01:58:53.840 --> 01:58:57.399 also follow me at follow Adam a on Twitter, on 2275 01:58:57.880 --> 01:59:02.399 x at Clippers Talk, on the TikTok at Clippers Talk, 2276 01:59:02.479 --> 01:59:07.439 follow Adam Ay on the Instagram. Jonathan Ing says, Adam 2277 01:59:07.439 --> 01:59:10.000 the Clipper content goat. I don't know about that, but 2278 01:59:10.039 --> 01:59:13.000 I am posting a lot, so I appreciate the love. 2279 01:59:13.640 --> 01:59:16.079 I appreciate everybody who's been here for the last two 2280 01:59:16.239 --> 01:59:20.560 hours on Clippers Talk as I drove home midway through 2281 01:59:21.359 --> 01:59:25.159 the media day session going on, because I could just 2282 01:59:25.239 --> 01:59:29.640 talk to you guys and do a little bit of analysis. 2283 01:59:29.800 --> 01:59:32.920 Evil bot Adam says, if you haven't subscribed, what the 2284 01:59:33.079 --> 01:59:34.920 f or you're all waiting for to have the best 2285 01:59:34.960 --> 01:59:38.239 Clippers analysis and news, Hit the like and subscribe button. 2286 01:59:39.079 --> 01:59:42.840 I concur hit the like, hit the subscribe button, show 2287 01:59:42.880 --> 01:59:45.880 a little bit of love here. Moas Scene says. Getting 2288 01:59:45.960 --> 01:59:48.760 Zubots in the Mouskala trade was a steal, I said 2289 01:59:48.760 --> 01:59:51.880 at day one, and he's been excelling his game every year. 2290 01:59:52.079 --> 01:59:55.079 Zubots is a real one. One of my favorite Clippers 2291 01:59:55.119 --> 01:59:58.600 of all time already and he's only been in for 2292 01:59:58.720 --> 02:00:02.680 what five and a half seasons? All right, it's been 2293 02:00:02.720 --> 02:00:05.520 two hours. I gotta rest the voice. Maybe I'll get 2294 02:00:05.520 --> 02:00:07.600 a workout in and come back and do another live 2295 02:00:07.720 --> 02:00:12.319 later tonight. For that scheduling, just check follow outamea on 2296 02:00:12.680 --> 02:00:15.439 x I'll post it there as always, or if you're 2297 02:00:15.439 --> 02:00:18.279 subscribed and you hit the little bell button, you'll know 2298 02:00:18.319 --> 02:00:20.039 when we go live. You'll know when there's a new 2299 02:00:20.079 --> 02:00:24.239 episode here of Clippers Talk. So for Grant Mota, thanks 2300 02:00:24.239 --> 02:00:26.920 again for coming on. I'm Madame Maslin. This has been 2301 02:00:27.159 --> 02:00:30.840 a special edition of Clippers Talk Live on Media Day. 2302 02:00:31.319 --> 02:00:33.159 We will talk to you guys soon.