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Speaker 1: What is up, Fellowshikos. I am Dan Favalley coming at

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you with my certified fantabulous co host, mister Grant Hughes.

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It is peace or panic time, because obviously we've seen

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enough basketball to decide whether these teams even the panic

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button or if they just need to chill out and

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everything will be fine. Before we get into it, the

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question everyone actually wants to know the answer to, mister Hughes,

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how the heck are you?

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Speaker 2: I'm doing fine. Happy to be here discussing piece of

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panic with you. It's a good time to do it

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because it's just early enough to where either reaction can

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be irrational. But we're just going to do our best,

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so I'm excited about that. But also because I'm turning

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over a new leave. How are you doing?

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Speaker 1: I was editing the last podcast. I was like, he's good. Now,

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gonna ask me every time because he's the type of

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person to remember me saying that I am doing okay.

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Although I do feel a little accost is.

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Speaker 3: I know it.

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Speaker 1: These are automated stuff. I got. Anyone who lives and

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who might care knows that I've been taking a gym

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break just because my body was so battered and I

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got so sick, so I took two weeks off. By

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the time you listen to this, it goes out on Saturday,

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I will have been back to the gym, which is exciting.

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But I got a text message this morning grant from

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my gym saying we miss you. It's been a bit

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since your last workout. It's like automated, like do you

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need help, like a trader or something, And I was

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just like, I feel so accosted right now.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I mean the good news is if you ever,

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like say, fell down your basement stairs or something, and

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we're trapped at the bottom and needed someone to check

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on you, maybe your gym would be.

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Speaker 1: There thirteen days later. Yeah. If no one found me,

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gym would be you.

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Speaker 2: Could survive that. Do you have any canned goods down

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there you could live on?

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Speaker 1: I should stop them now, right, So that's nice.

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Speaker 2: Thanks, Thanks gym computer for showing some concern.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, for anyone who cares, they should be pumped

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that I get to go back to the gym on

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Saturday morning. And I'm I'm ready, like I'm itching. I

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made it to two weeks. My entire family is shocked

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that I made it to two weeks. I'm ready. I

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know no one cares about this, but I'm so excited

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I'm going to talk about it anyway. I'm ready to

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get back.

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Speaker 2: Hey, I asked how you were doing, so obviously I care.

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Speaker 1: We're doing better than some of these teams, Like I

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can say that right now before we really get into it.

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I did want to ask you. The way I approached

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it was, I'm not putting Yeah, records matter here, but

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I'm not putting as much stock in the raw records,

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especially if there's injuries. And I'm because some of these

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teams I think right now have a winning record, and

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so I'm more so looking at it. Have I seen

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they're one clearly not doing as good as they were

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supposed to or would like to. But two, do I

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see anything to that would make me I would say

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concerned longer term in a way that's no. The answers

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not currently on the roster in time is not going

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to fix what we feel els them. And that's the

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approach that I took through this exercise.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think it's always and as I'm

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scanning the topics, we're going to hit here like it's

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always more interesting if there's something beyond just like oh

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they've they're they're two and six or whatever, that's bad,

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you know, like it's I think that's the right approach

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is to look at it and say, like, well, are

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any of the things contributing to this bad record? Like

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are there going to be easy fixes? Or like what

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does it mean if you can't fix this over the

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over like a multi year time horizon? Potentially even for

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some of these teams, like I think, yeah, the ones

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that have little like where the cracks like go out

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a lot farther than you you know then you or

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go a lot deeper than you can see on the surface,

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those are the those are the good ones you want

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to focus on for something like this.

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Speaker 1: We begin with the Milwaukee Bucks grant. I didn't give

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you any sort of say in the order. Was I

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have it in a doc and I just put the

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the assets for the screen together in that order. So

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that's the order we're going in, and you have no

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say in it. How does that make you feel?

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Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I just had to scroll down

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like four teams to get to them in my notes,

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So you know, you've inconvenienced me pretty greatly. Here I'll

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get through it though. Thanks.

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Speaker 1: So the gist of you want to do that? Just

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I know they're a team you were thinking about to

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did you want to do the gist of what what?

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What's concerned you about that?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think I think it's you know,

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even though this is isn't the total focus, it's helpful

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to start with the basics. So they're two and six,

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there have a negative four point five net rating. That

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has that dropped by about four points I think, or

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maybe a little more. It might have been in the

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nines prior to a win the night before we're recording this.

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So that's Thursday night against Utah, which, by the way,

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that was a game until like a good chunk of

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the third quarter had elapsed. And so yeah, it's a

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It was a twenty three point win, which you know

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helps the net rating and all that stuff. It's still

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Utah a one and seventeen. That is just like mailing

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it in, I mean, because they're just playing a bunch

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of young guys, but to a ridiculous degree. And again,

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it was a game so like Milwaukee, and it was

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at home. It was in Milwaukee, and the Bucks had

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to like actually like nut up to win that game.

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So that's that two and six is still pretty iffy

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to me. I don't know, we could just talk about

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like what's not working here, you know, I guess kind

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of split up into little little bits. It's but like

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the the thing in your notes, which I think is appropriate,

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is just like the sky's falling. It just feels like

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this is a bad situation for any number of reasons.

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Speaker 1: I don't know.

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Speaker 2: Do you want to talk about like the some of

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the specifics of like what's not happening on the court

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for them to succeed or is or is the macro

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like here's the overall situation and why it's tough? Is

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that more interesting to you? So?

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Speaker 1: I think you look at and just their overall vitals,

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which again can still be skewed. When we're like eight

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ten games into the season, you look at them being

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nineteenth in offense, and you're just kind of like, all right, whatever,

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Like that's just not there's no way that sticks. And

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you can at least I guess. I mean Gary Trent

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Junior before he was demoted from the starting five, which

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he signed in Milwaukee under the guys that he would start.

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I do give coaches credit for kind of throwing that

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out the window, like you need to do what you

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think is to win. Is Andre Jackson the answer to that,

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I have no idea. I didn't watch To be clear,

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I didn't watch Bucks Jazz. I was keeping track of

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the score. It was the third I can't I think

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it was the third quarter. Maybe was the end of

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the first half of the Jazz. We're leading, and I

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was like, oh God, if they win, this will be

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a disaster.

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Speaker 2: I will say, Jackson, did you know it's not It can't.

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It's a huge problem if like, oh, he's the solve,

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but like he definitely did. He's super energetic, very athletic,

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like makes he's like a make stuff happen guy, and

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he did inject the Bucks lineup with that, and it

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is a lineup generally speaking, that skews old and unathletic

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and just not quick. And he was notable for like

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how he's he just stood out because he he is

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quick and he hit, he does play hard, and he

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is like disruptive. So but like I mean, okay, so

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that's that's kind of what Gary Trent was supposed to

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be as a defender, Like he's a steals Maven, but

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like Jackson did bring a lot I think of what

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the Bucks must have hoped he would bring. But how

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much that matters when you're in this overall tough situation.

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It is hard to.

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Speaker 1: Say the fact that we're sitting here talking about Jackson

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though he's just kind of an indictment of itself. And

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I think, look, you can also chalk Gary Trencher is

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gonna start hitting shots eventually, I would assume, is my guest,

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and then Chris Middleton. It's both concerning and then also

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a relief. It's okay, he comes back. The offense in theory,

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Giannis has to do even less on the ball at

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that point. So the offense, I really do believe will

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be fine. I don't know what to make of this

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defense in terms of, okay, well, what's the silver lining here? There?

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They do a better job, I think keeping opponents out

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of transition when they're missing shots, but like they're still

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just getting destroyed in transition. I think a lot of

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that comes back to the old and non athletic stuff

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from you and their half court defense. It really looks

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like it's not. At one point this season, grabbing those

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defensive rebounds was an issue. They really haven't been an

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issue of late, and like you're still getting burned in

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the half court, I think because and maybe Jackson helps

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with this more than Trent does. But the ball containment

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on this team is still really bad. And that's the

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other thing that comes back to, Well, they're not super

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athletic or mobile. It's just beyond a tena koumpo. Like

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we're talk about thirty year old at Temtacombo who's not

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supposed to be Like, that's just not how he defends.

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That's not a criticism of him. They just don't have that.

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And if Chris Middleton comes back, what look series Even

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bugging out about the buck start, the thing that I'm

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really just thinking about is if Chris Middleton comes back,

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will I really do believe he will be fine on offense?

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What is he gonna look like after all these surgeries

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on defense where he's kind of already slipped. So isn't

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there a chance that their core lineups aren't gonna be

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as equipped to get stops here? And I think that's

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my biggest takeaway before throwing it back to you, is

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the defense is the bigger problem to me, even though

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the offense hasn't been great, and I don't know that

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they have the in house fixes to fix that, the

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in house fixes to fix that has that for verbiage.

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Speaker 2: They don't. And I would say, even just to piggyback

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on that a little bit, the Middleton return like might

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make it worse, right, like it didn't need the opposite,

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like defensively I'm talking about specifically, so just to further

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illustrate again, like oh, they're they're old, they're on athletic.

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That's just like, okay, where are your numbers? Okay, here's

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they're thirtieth in offensive rebound rate. Now, sometimes that's a

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tactical choice. But their transition defense also sucks. So that's

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a real problem. If you're not getting you're not crashing

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the offensive glass. And that's kind of a hustle thing too, right,

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Like if if it's the case that the Bucks are

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being told like go get those offensive boards and they

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just can't, well then it's like, all right, well that

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explains the transition. I don't know, like that they're sort

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of two separate issues. The point is they're not getting

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second chance points because they're not beating anybody to the

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offensive boards. They're also twenty ninth. They were thirtieth until

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the Jazz game in forcing opponent turnovers. And it's just like, so,

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not only are you not like sometimes you can be

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a bad defense because you're gambling and like, okay, maybe

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maybe you're just risking giving up points because you're trying

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to create chaos. They're not doing that, and they're also

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just not sound as like a keep it in front

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of you kind of defense. So like, Damian Lillard, look like,

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I think it's time for like an acknowledgment that like

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this has been the knock if you were in the

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camp that, oh, Damian Lillard's overrated, Like if you had

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ever had that thought and like really embraced it over

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the last decade plus, you'd point to, like he's a

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terrible point of attack defender, and so like he has

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to be great as a singular shot generator and three

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point shooter and pick and roll ball handler on offense

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to offset that stuff. And he's still great at all

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the offensive stuff, but he's just worse at a thing

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that he was already very bad at. So I forget

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who had it. There's a stat that he's getting targeted

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more than anybody else as a pick and roll defender,

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like they're just calling him up opposing offenses and just

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like over and over again, finding cracks and just exploiting

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his inability to defend the point of attack. And that's

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not going away because you can't take him off the

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floor because he matters so much to your offense, which

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isn't all that good anyway, you know. So there's the

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fixes are just like you would normally just say, oh,

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they got a trade for younger guys or trade for

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more disruptive defenders, and like they can't. So it's it's

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gonna I would say that if the Bucks pull out

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of this, it'll have to be because they just figure

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out how to be like a top five offense, you know,

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because the defense I don't. I just don't think they

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have the guys that can that can make a big

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enough difference athletically, you know, turnover producing like that. I

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just those guys aren't on the roster. And even if

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they are, like say Jackson, you just you can't give

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him a role where he plays like more than a

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healthy Middleton because that's just that's not how NBA rosters work.

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So yeah, I think the defense is really kind of

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an intractable problem. Now watch them go ranked top ten,

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you know, for the rest of the year. But uh,

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it's it's a personnel thing. I think as much as

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anything else.

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Speaker 1: I have wondered though, just because so many guys. I mean,

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you look at Bobby ports Is shooting really poorly from

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the perimeter, ditto for Brook Lopez at this point, and

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it makes you wonder, as we're talking about all these

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guys weren't making shots. Once you make shots, in theory,

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your defense will then be able to get more set,

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should just be better off. But when you watch this team,

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you don't. You don't feel that, honestly, not that you

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make the case it's even worse. But they're they're twenty

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eighth in points peres after they make a shot, So

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it's like your defense has the opportunity to get set

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and you're still bottomed. Like that is the thing that

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I think stands out the most. And to your point

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about the pick and roll stuff, you said that it

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made me think of it, so I looked it up.

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There are two teams that allow more points per possession

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to pick and roll ball handlers right now. They are

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the Atlanta Hawks. By the way, I will say Trey

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Young puts up more defensive resistance at this point than

279
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Damian Lillard. I think that's probably when it comes to screening.

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Maybe that's probably the way to say. And then the

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Detroit Pistons, who are just I mean, they're the Detroit Pistons.

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Speaker 2: So Jalen Duran is low key really terrible at playing

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the cat and mouse stuff.

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Speaker 1: Look, the final question here is we're not gonna get

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into the honest trade stuff. Maybe we'll do something on

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that later, but they've already come out and said they're

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not gonna trade him. It's not a reality right now.

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As the reporting ESPN. I'd be shocked if it happens

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mid season. I want to go the other way, like,

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is it taught? Like if you're if you're actually committed

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to making the most of this window, is it Does

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it make sense to say, all right, like it's time

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to put the twenty thirty one draft pick on the table.

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We can't aggregate salaries. We have Bobby Portis's money. Hell,

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we have Brook Lopez's money. If you think the right

296
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opportunities out there, maybe someone wants Middleton. Is it reckless

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if you're the bucks to think in those terms? Though,

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with the gannest noise floating around, or even given the

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reality that okay, well who's the player that would be

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available that's just gonna solve everything here.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't. I don't know that i'd call it

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reckless because like it's kind of like just being pot committed,

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like what's one more first at this point? You know,

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if you're not gonna be if you're gonna say we're

305
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not trading you, honest, then I do think just throwing

306
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that at like what's the difference, Like, okay, so now

307
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we're just out of picks through twenty thirty one instead

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of twenty thirty, Like, I don't know if it doesn't

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So I think I thought you were gonna say, does

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it make sense to start looking at a dame trade,

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which I would also say you should do before you

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start thinking about moving you, honest. But but yeah, I

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think again, and now you're you're right that like who's

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the guy. I don't know that there is the guy

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out there that portis in a first or Lopez in

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a first will get you that's going to solve all

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the issues.

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Speaker 1: But I have one idea that may need to be

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fleshed out a little bit involve some other teams, and

320
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again the Bucks can't aggregate, So like, this is the

321
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guy that goes out and that's it. But right now,

322
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would you consider giving up Chris Middleton and your twenty

323
00:14:08,279 --> 00:14:11,879
thirty one pick for Dylan Brooks and I don't even

324
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know like Tarry Ethan? Like, would the Rockets even do

325
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that to get Middleton? That Bucks? Just Tar Eastan's been

326
00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:20,840
good yea this year, but that twenty thirty one pick.

327
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If you're a Rockets team worried about paying Easton to

328
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his next deal, you have your Bar, You've Paide and Goon,

329
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you have Jalen Green. Doesn't have to be Easan. They

330
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have other players they could send out, But like, is

331
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that a deal? Honestly, Ethan would be more intriguing. But

332
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if it's just Dylan Brooks and again other money in

333
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there to flesh it out, is that too? Is that

334
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too ridiculous for Milwaukee's end to say, well, we're gonna

335
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trade this guy who's just ingrained into the fabric of

336
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their Giannis era success plus our twenty thirty one pick

337
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to get back Dylan Brooks, who's decidedly a role player,

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but way better than anyone defensively on the roster right now,

339
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aside from of course you honest.

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Speaker 2: I mean I would just ask like, who do you

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think is gonna be if you just view it through,

342
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like in terms of total volume of contributions, who's gonna

343
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make a bigger positive impact over the next what's three years?

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Middleton or Tari Eastan. I would probably just pick Easton

345
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because I think he's at the point in his career

346
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where you could count on him being healthy. I know

347
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he missed most of a ton of last year, but

348
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compared to Milton, who's the trend arrow on his career

349
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is pointed down at this point with the injuries and

350
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the age and all that stuff. So no, I don't

351
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think that's a ridiculous thing to pursue. I think I

352
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wasn't with you when you said Brooks first, but once

353
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you got to Easton and then I was like, Yes,

354
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that's exactly the type of guy that you would want

355
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on this roster if you're trying to fill all these

356
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solve all these like athleticism and hustle problems, particularly on defense.

357
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Speaker 1: I don't think the Rockets do it personally, I don't

358
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want Yeah, well, I think the idea it would be

359
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someone who can come in not just generate looks, but

360
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like it's more floor spacing around their main guys. And

361
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they're like, there's seventh in offense, but twenty ninth that

362
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affected field coal percentages. So it's so bizarre. I wouldn't

363
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do it if I was Houston. So a rockets yance

364
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tend to get mad at me when I throw out

365
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Easton trades. I'm just talking from the Bucks. So what's

366
00:16:02,679 --> 00:16:05,039
the verdict here, Grant? Is it peace or is it panic?

367
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Speaker 2: It's it's panic. It just has to be. I mean,

368
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we didn't even talk about doc Rivers. When's the last

369
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time Doc Rivers like turned it around for a team.

370
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It feels like the opposite tends to be.

371
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Speaker 1: What happened guaranteed they're gonna make the playoffs?

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Speaker 2: He did? That was I mean, you know, if you

373
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don't believe in yourself, who will. But that's a that's

374
00:16:19,919 --> 00:16:21,840
a bold claim at this point. What is what's the

375
00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:24,080
stat over the last twenty five years three teams that

376
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started one and six made the playoffs and the Bucks.

377
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Speaker 1: It was pretty low, it was, and he was he

378
00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,600
guaranteed it though, So that's the doctors guarantee which means Bucks.

379
00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:33,399
Speaker 3: Fans, this is a perfect panic.

380
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Speaker 1: So yeah, sorry Bucks fans, but it's panic time. Our

381
00:16:37,519 --> 00:16:39,440
next team grant that you again have no say in

382
00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,759
the order. The New Orleans Pelicans. Uh, I'll take them.

383
00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:46,480
You did the Bucks. So look, injuries are the story here.

384
00:16:46,519 --> 00:16:48,679
I don't who tell me who's healthy.

385
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Speaker 3: On the Belicans?

386
00:16:49,159 --> 00:16:52,120
Speaker 1: Rosser right now that might be easier. But but when

387
00:16:52,159 --> 00:16:54,200
all said and done, Trey Murphy, who's you have to

388
00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:56,840
play this season? He will have missed extensive time along

389
00:16:56,879 --> 00:17:00,720
with CJ. McCollum, HERB Jones. We saw Zion get bit

390
00:17:00,799 --> 00:17:02,639
a little bit like he was dealing with a thigh slash,

391
00:17:02,679 --> 00:17:05,759
squad sledge hamstring thing, and then he was playing. Jordan Hawkins,

392
00:17:05,759 --> 00:17:08,759
who's been good this year, has some back stuff going on.

393
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,920
We're all really excited because Brandon Boston Junior is making waves,

394
00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:14,640
which is not something that you could have seen coming here.

395
00:17:14,839 --> 00:17:17,079
So this team is just they're just banged up out.

396
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,799
Dejonta Murray of course is out. They're banged up. However

397
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,519
you look at I think one Zion Williamson season has

398
00:17:24,559 --> 00:17:26,880
been wildly uneasy, and I don't know how much of

399
00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:29,720
that will change as they get healthier, I'm sure some

400
00:17:29,799 --> 00:17:33,319
of it will, but his rim, pressure and finishing like

401
00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:35,839
they're just not as stand out as they were. Right

402
00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:38,079
now he is, I don't use the words checked out.

403
00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:40,960
He's clearly not as good defensively as he was last year.

404
00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,000
And so if he's not gonna be desion that you

405
00:17:43,039 --> 00:17:44,960
and I believe is just a top ten to fifteen

406
00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:47,759
player in the NBA, that's an issue on to itself.

407
00:17:48,039 --> 00:17:51,200
I think the bigger issue is even with Brandon Ingram,

408
00:17:51,319 --> 00:17:53,519
who we've been pretty hard on. So credit to Brandon

409
00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:57,480
Ingram for bringing up his three point volume. Overall, this

410
00:17:57,559 --> 00:18:00,960
team's offense still just doesn't make sense. Their bottom three

411
00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:04,839
in points score per possession, dead last defensive rebounding rate,

412
00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,200
which who could have thought after just letting Yonis Valanciunas

413
00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:10,200
and Nauji Marthy Marshall both go. Even Meci's had some

414
00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,839
really good stretches, but you're just not equipped to end

415
00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:16,160
possessions for other teams right now. I do think opponents

416
00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:18,039
are running a tad hoot from three at the moment,

417
00:18:18,079 --> 00:18:21,519
they're around forty percent, but the Pelicans are also dead

418
00:18:21,599 --> 00:18:24,039
last in the share of attempts that they're allowing at

419
00:18:24,039 --> 00:18:27,599
the rim from their opponents. So that's the sorry, that's

420
00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:29,680
the defensive stuff, like there's a clear dip there and

421
00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:31,319
herb Jones will help some of it, but you were

422
00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:33,920
undersized to begin with and maybe not equipped to be

423
00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,680
elite on that end. I find myself just more concerned

424
00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:38,200
with the offense because I think when you look at

425
00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:40,880
the talent on this hroster at full strength, that's how

426
00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:44,799
it skews. They're still eighteenth and half court efficiency and

427
00:18:44,839 --> 00:18:47,640
they're too slow overall. I know a lot of people

428
00:18:47,839 --> 00:18:51,119
have pointed to that they're about top ten in transition frequency,

429
00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:54,720
they are still in the bottom five in overall average

430
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,759
offensive possession time. They're just not making an effort to

431
00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,920
run after they're grabbing rebound, like that needs to be

432
00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:03,240
more of a focus when I think you could argue

433
00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:04,400
it needs to be more of a focus when you

434
00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,559
have everybody, but especially now when you're not equipped to

435
00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:11,400
break down set defenses. And so you combine that with

436
00:19:11,559 --> 00:19:13,640
the lack of three point a tenth rate, and it

437
00:19:13,799 --> 00:19:16,559
just sort of and like, okay, when you are in transition, great,

438
00:19:16,599 --> 00:19:19,920
You're not efficient in transition right now. So I don't

439
00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:25,720
know again, we can chalk some of this up to injuries,

440
00:19:26,279 --> 00:19:29,720
but like between the Zion and even this, plus what

441
00:19:29,759 --> 00:19:32,160
they were doing on offense before all these Murray was

442
00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:34,960
injured out the gate, fine, but like even before they

443
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,920
really got banged up, the offense was just not turning

444
00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,079
heads in the right way. And I don't know, we

445
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:42,880
know the solve is what you need to render a

446
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:47,240
verdict on are you trading Brandon and figure it out

447
00:19:47,279 --> 00:19:49,240
from there, But I'm sure there's a level level. Do

448
00:19:49,279 --> 00:19:51,519
we need to see if Brandon Ingram is taking this

449
00:19:51,559 --> 00:19:53,759
many threes and we also have CJ and Trede Murphy

450
00:19:53,759 --> 00:19:55,880
in the rotation and we think we can sprinkle in

451
00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:59,079
minutes for Jordan Hawkins? Places is there a path to

452
00:19:59,079 --> 00:20:01,440
this team just kind of face hearing at what I

453
00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,400
think is their biggest concern would be the offense, because

454
00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:08,079
I do think they punted on some not defensive versatility,

455
00:20:08,079 --> 00:20:10,759
because they should be pretty versatile defensively, but they inherently

456
00:20:10,759 --> 00:20:12,400
punted on But we're just not going to be big

457
00:20:12,759 --> 00:20:14,680
on like ever on defense, and we're not gonna be

458
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,839
equipped to hit the glass like that. So does this

459
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:21,799
team have the latitude to say, hey, like let's see

460
00:20:21,799 --> 00:20:23,720
if we get healthy and we figure it out with

461
00:20:23,839 --> 00:20:24,720
this current.

462
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:28,160
Speaker 2: Construction, I think, yes, I think I have a little

463
00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:30,799
bit of a different take on it. I'm more concerned defensively,

464
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,920
so I was gonna say, I think, yes, you probably

465
00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:36,680
should if you're New Orleans, just hope you get everyone

466
00:20:36,759 --> 00:20:39,240
back and then see what that offense looks like. Because

467
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,640
this is a team that the decisions they made and

468
00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,440
didn't make with respect or roster construction that I think

469
00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,480
intended to just like outscore people. I still think that's

470
00:20:47,519 --> 00:20:51,079
possible with the personnel and now look all of the lingering,

471
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,519
how do you build a team around Zion Williamson Like

472
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:57,880
those are all still there Offensively, like he's just his

473
00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:01,200
his unique game strength and weaknesses are just like that's

474
00:21:01,279 --> 00:21:05,319
it's just weird and hard to build a sustainable offense.

475
00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:08,079
Because if everybody's healthy and he's playing at peak levels,

476
00:21:08,319 --> 00:21:10,200
you can have him on the ball. He's a load

477
00:21:10,279 --> 00:21:12,559
to guard and you can spread the floor around him.

478
00:21:12,759 --> 00:21:15,000
That's a great theory of an offense. I still think

479
00:21:15,079 --> 00:21:18,519
it's worth seeing if that can work. Defensively, though, Like

480
00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:20,960
I mean, didn't we spend all last year trying to

481
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,000
decide whether they actually the Pelicans actually were good at

482
00:21:24,039 --> 00:21:26,960
defending threes or were lucky like, but remember that when

483
00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:28,720
that was the narrative, Like that'd be nice if that's

484
00:21:28,759 --> 00:21:30,400
what we had to focus on now, because it's just

485
00:21:30,799 --> 00:21:33,319
you said it like they chose to be small. And

486
00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:35,599
I think even if you're healthy, even if you've got

487
00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:39,079
herb Jones and Trey Murphy and Dejonte plays better defense,

488
00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:41,799
you know, looks more like san Antonio Dejonte as opposed

489
00:21:41,839 --> 00:21:45,720
to Atlanta. You're just so small and you're so bereft

490
00:21:45,839 --> 00:21:49,200
of a back line defender that can clean up messes

491
00:21:49,720 --> 00:21:52,400
that I just and forget. I mean the other thing,

492
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,279
they're dead last. They give up more offensive rebounds than anybody,

493
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:59,119
and that's clearly just a size thing. And Zion being

494
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:02,000
often the biggest guy on the floor is just like

495
00:22:02,079 --> 00:22:04,440
he's not a good rebounder like full stop. That's just

496
00:22:04,519 --> 00:22:06,799
part of the package with him. So I don't know

497
00:22:06,799 --> 00:22:09,359
how they fixed the defense. I can imagine the offense

498
00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,640
sorts itself out when healthy. But the other side is

499
00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:14,480
just like you're always going to be small, You're always

500
00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,480
going to be vulnerable at the rim. You're gonna have

501
00:22:17,519 --> 00:22:20,599
a hell of a time, finishing possessions with defensive rebounds,

502
00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,759
like we know that. So I think that's where I'm

503
00:22:23,799 --> 00:22:25,960
actually more concerned. And I don't know what the solve

504
00:22:26,079 --> 00:22:29,039
is other than we trade brandon Ingram for a big guy,

505
00:22:29,079 --> 00:22:32,240
which is like the most hack you know, over discussed

506
00:22:32,279 --> 00:22:34,720
angle about this team that we haven't left alone for

507
00:22:34,759 --> 00:22:38,920
like a year. But you know, so I can understand

508
00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:40,680
why you're concerned with the offense. I just think of

509
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,240
the two, the defense is more more of a worry

510
00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:43,480
for me.

511
00:22:44,279 --> 00:22:47,559
Speaker 1: You know. I think why I'm concerned with the offense

512
00:22:47,799 --> 00:22:49,880
is you mentioned it at the top of what you

513
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:52,039
just said of like that's what they were supposed to

514
00:22:52,319 --> 00:22:55,279
like that was where their identity was supposed to shine through.

515
00:22:55,519 --> 00:22:57,240
I think we were all always worried that the three

516
00:22:57,279 --> 00:23:00,720
point volume still might hover bottom of the barrel. But

517
00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:04,680
the Dejonta Murray trade and then the way that they

518
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:06,480
built their front court, to me, was very clear an

519
00:23:06,519 --> 00:23:08,720
investment of we're gonna be in e leite offense and

520
00:23:08,759 --> 00:23:10,960
we believe the defense will be good enough. And look

521
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,319
for until I heard Jones injury, like they were surviving

522
00:23:13,599 --> 00:23:14,920
and so I'm not saying I have more hope for

523
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,319
the defense. I think I'm just more down on the

524
00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:21,079
offense because it's is this really just a full strength personnel?

525
00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,000
Like if if de Jontay Murray never gets injured, is

526
00:23:24,039 --> 00:23:26,319
that what the difference is? Or did this like has

527
00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:29,240
brand Ingram been forced to take more threes now? Because

528
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,079
I just I don't have answers for what their offense

529
00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:34,039
is gonna look like at full strength, and I feel

530
00:23:34,039 --> 00:23:37,160
like we should And maybe also what might just really

531
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,119
be tainting my view of it is Zion has not

532
00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:43,160
been consistently like the Zion you would want. He was

533
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,000
sick to start the season again. Now he's dealing with

534
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,319
some lower body stuff, it seems like. And that kind

535
00:23:47,319 --> 00:23:49,640
of lends itself to a different question here is you

536
00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:51,359
said you could trade brand Ingram for a big but

537
00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:55,559
can you? Yeah, what is the like this? And that's

538
00:23:55,599 --> 00:23:57,599
also looming over all this. They could it'd be different

539
00:23:57,599 --> 00:24:00,720
if they were just running rough shot over everybody, but

540
00:24:00,799 --> 00:24:03,200
they're not, and so you still have the brandon Ingram

541
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,440
contract situation looming over all this. And I know you

542
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:08,319
didn't pay trade Murphy. I guess a ton some people

543
00:24:08,319 --> 00:24:10,720
were expecting more, but this isn't gonna be a team

544
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,160
that pays everyone moving forward, And so if you're trying

545
00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:17,279
to scope out even post December fifteenth trade opportunities, I

546
00:24:17,279 --> 00:24:18,880
don't know what it is the part of me think

547
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,240
the Pelicans think Jared Allen was just gonna be eminently

548
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,319
gettable because the way the Cavs are playing, I don't

549
00:24:23,319 --> 00:24:23,920
think he would be.

550
00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:28,599
Speaker 2: No, I was gonna If you want to really work

551
00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:32,000
big to small in diagnosing what's going on with the Pelicans,

552
00:24:32,759 --> 00:24:35,079
is it is it over a big how big of

553
00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,480
an overreaction to what's happened so far? Is it to ask, like,

554
00:24:39,079 --> 00:24:42,640
can Zion Williamson be the best player on a team

555
00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,240
that makes a deep playoff run? Like? You know, I

556
00:24:45,279 --> 00:24:47,920
know we're dealing with fewer than ten games from him

557
00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:50,799
so far this season, but he hasn't looked, you know.

558
00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:54,200
I'm just I'm getting struck increasingly by the thought that like,

559
00:24:54,599 --> 00:24:58,680
for this to work optimally for New Orleans and for

560
00:24:58,839 --> 00:25:02,519
like to overcome the weird roster building constraints that having

561
00:25:02,599 --> 00:25:05,880
Zion in a major role presents, like, doesn't he just

562
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:08,559
have to be like the guy that's getting you twenty

563
00:25:08,559 --> 00:25:10,920
seven on sixty percent shoot? Like, doesn't he does he

564
00:25:11,039 --> 00:25:13,599
have to be that great for the whole theory of

565
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:15,440
this team to work? You know what I mean? Like,

566
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,039
is it time to like really ask can he can

567
00:25:19,079 --> 00:25:22,880
you have like this version of Zion as a like

568
00:25:23,039 --> 00:25:25,720
be all end all, you know figure on your team?

569
00:25:25,799 --> 00:25:28,119
Like I kind of certainly this one isn't good enough,

570
00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:29,880
but like, does he actually have to be like the

571
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:32,799
spectacular version of himself we've seen for like thirty game

572
00:25:32,839 --> 00:25:35,000
stretches a couple of times, Like is that the only

573
00:25:35,079 --> 00:25:37,720
way this team can win a couple of playoff rounds?

574
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:40,000
I mean, like that's so if you're working big to small,

575
00:25:40,039 --> 00:25:42,880
that's definitely like the top line question you have to ask.

576
00:25:43,039 --> 00:25:44,680
I don't know they're not going to trade him obviously,

577
00:25:44,759 --> 00:25:46,200
but like it's something I've been thinking about.

578
00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:49,640
Speaker 1: Well, but what happens if the answer is no, Well.

579
00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:51,960
Speaker 2: Then your whole team is like needs to be reevaluated,

580
00:25:52,039 --> 00:25:54,240
right because you've made a lot of decisions based on

581
00:25:54,279 --> 00:25:57,160
the idea that Zion can be your number one on

582
00:25:57,319 --> 00:26:00,880
ball creator at high volume for a whole seat in postseason.

583
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,480
Like that's the that's that's what the thinking is for

584
00:26:03,559 --> 00:26:04,400
this team, isn't it?

585
00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,279
Speaker 1: Yeah? It is, And I'm just saying you've now gotten

586
00:26:08,279 --> 00:26:10,400
to a point where you're not out of options, But

587
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,440
if you don't think Zion is, Like, what if they

588
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,319
decide that Zion's more equipped to We're just gonna have

589
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,039
him be the primary screener and we'll try and find

590
00:26:18,039 --> 00:26:19,680
someone who's like taller and be able to stretch the

591
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,440
floor around him. He's more of a secondary option. And

592
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:24,079
then it's well, what does that mean? Does it make

593
00:26:24,119 --> 00:26:27,720
Brent Ingram and de Jonte Murray more important? Does it

594
00:26:27,759 --> 00:26:30,839
make them less important? Because now you want someone who's

595
00:26:30,839 --> 00:26:32,920
going to be a better shooter that's running those actions

596
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,440
with Zion primarily. And look, I don't I'm I'm saying

597
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:38,480
I don't have the answers. Yeah, and I tend to

598
00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:40,160
be higher on this team than most, and I really

599
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:42,519
want to see what they look like at full strength.

600
00:26:42,599 --> 00:26:45,359
But I think we also have to acknowledge that maybe

601
00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:47,440
through through no fault on their own, I would say

602
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,079
that's never gonna happen. How many years have we.

603
00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:53,000
Speaker 2: Been saying this, right, that's the thing, Like, well, the

604
00:26:53,079 --> 00:26:57,240
problem is, you know, Zion could put together an incredible

605
00:26:57,240 --> 00:26:59,319
two weeks and then we just have to say a

606
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:01,599
lot weird that. Okay, So, yes, you can build a

607
00:27:01,599 --> 00:27:03,799
team that's gonna win multiple rounds around it, you know,

608
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:05,920
but but the fact that it can come and go

609
00:27:06,039 --> 00:27:10,440
and and has often gone is like a problem. He's

610
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,359
a hard he's a great individual offensive player, he's just

611
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:15,680
hard to build around. And it doesn't help that again,

612
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,400
you don't have the whole compliment of supporting players around

613
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:20,680
him to get a sense of like, Okay, look we've

614
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:22,480
got we've got a sense of how this works. Let's

615
00:27:22,519 --> 00:27:24,799
tweak this, that and the other. Like you just you're

616
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,359
more than any other team here. We're just like lacking information.

617
00:27:27,559 --> 00:27:29,640
I feel like on New Orleans because of all these injuries.

618
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:31,599
That's a cop out, but it's just it's the fact.

619
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,880
Speaker 1: But it's still for me. The verdicts panic time. Yes, agree,

620
00:27:36,279 --> 00:27:39,880
this is a perfect panic is our next team ready

621
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:42,200
to panic though, mister Grant Hughes, we this is this

622
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:44,559
is a big one. I think the New York Knicks

623
00:27:45,079 --> 00:27:49,119
they have what is a top four offense right now,

624
00:27:49,759 --> 00:27:51,680
but they've lost some games that you would have liked

625
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:53,440
to have seen them one they're under five hundreds. We

626
00:27:53,519 --> 00:27:56,599
record this, I think specifically, you know, you get beat

627
00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:58,880
down by the Celtics, okay, whatever, But like the games

628
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:01,559
against the Rockets and Hawks, those feel like games specifically

629
00:28:01,599 --> 00:28:03,799
they should have won. I think you look at what's

630
00:28:03,839 --> 00:28:07,000
happening and the defense when you filter out the Boston game.

631
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:08,759
I know it's a big game to filter out, but

632
00:28:08,839 --> 00:28:12,640
it has not been bottom of the barrel. It's been Statistically,

633
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,920
it's been fine. They're almost in the same vein of

634
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,440
the Pelicans, except they do have a top five offense

635
00:28:19,039 --> 00:28:22,160
that it doesn't look convincing and it was supposed to

636
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,880
be indomitable, and I think, look, a couple problems here

637
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:27,799
are I have two major thoughts on this, and this

638
00:28:27,839 --> 00:28:29,680
is your team, but I'm seizing it because it's the Knicks,

639
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:33,640
So I apologize. Please do They're dead last in average

640
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:35,640
possession time right now. I believe that might have picked

641
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:37,279
up a little bit, so maybe they climbed to like

642
00:28:37,319 --> 00:28:39,920
twenty eighth or something. No, they're dead last and average

643
00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:43,480
offensive possession time, they're bottom seven and fourth quarter offense,

644
00:28:43,519 --> 00:28:48,359
and that's without the Celtics game included one. Jalen Brunon

645
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,880
has not been great. He is there, he's dribbling the

646
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,720
ball more per touch and he's always gonna be. I

647
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:57,839
think he led the league in like average possession time

648
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,720
last year, but the fact that he's still in the

649
00:29:00,759 --> 00:29:03,799
top two. I think that one is from Jonathan MacCray

650
00:29:03,839 --> 00:29:06,480
of Knicks Film School had the rankings of it, but

651
00:29:06,519 --> 00:29:08,440
I'm looking at it, and this was my take on it.

652
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:10,240
The fact that he still needs to have the ball

653
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:12,920
that much, to me, feels problematic, but he's not doing

654
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,039
a good job of keeping it moving and just he's

655
00:29:15,079 --> 00:29:18,000
contributed to the Knicks kind of slowing down and having

656
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:22,720
this rickety process. My other takeaway though watching them is

657
00:29:23,759 --> 00:29:25,440
even in a game against the Hawks where they shoot

658
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,880
really well from three, the supporting cast and you and

659
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,240
I have talked about this concern before, and it feels

660
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,400
like it's coming to bear. There is this glaring lack

661
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:37,720
of secondary Let's call it aggression because and creation Josh

662
00:29:37,759 --> 00:29:40,200
Hart is aggressive. He will give you rim pressure. No

663
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:42,680
one else is really right now. It doesn't help that

664
00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,079
mchal Bridges is not shooting all too well. And Karl

665
00:29:46,079 --> 00:29:48,559
Anthony Towns, to be fair, Karl Anthony Towns has been

666
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,480
Karl Anthony Towns for anyone who didn't watch him in Minnesota.

667
00:29:51,559 --> 00:29:54,039
By and large, there's probably been some more defensive miscues

668
00:29:54,039 --> 00:29:56,680
this season. That's a symptom of a new team like

669
00:29:56,720 --> 00:29:59,359
this is the Karl Anthony Towns experience. It looks like

670
00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:04,000
a megastar certain games, feels like he vanishes in others.

671
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:07,799
But like when you're watching the ball move around, it's

672
00:30:07,839 --> 00:30:10,519
almost sometimes to a detriment whereaf like Jalen Brown doesn't

673
00:30:10,559 --> 00:30:14,119
have the ball. You don't trust that Michale Bridges or

674
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:17,160
Karl Anthony Towns or like o Jiannanoby might be even

675
00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:19,359
more aggressive when it comes to attacking closeouts than those

676
00:30:19,359 --> 00:30:21,960
guys right now. You don't trust that these guys aren't

677
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:25,599
gonna pass up threes or chances to get going downhill

678
00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,119
to swing it to Josh Hort up Josh Hort, Josh

679
00:30:28,119 --> 00:30:30,640
Hart in the corner and then he will either dribble

680
00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:33,559
or he'll shoot, and defenses are gonna be okay with that.

681
00:30:34,119 --> 00:30:36,720
And it's so weird for me to be focused on

682
00:30:36,799 --> 00:30:39,920
the offense when they're top five in points per possession.

683
00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:42,880
But the process hasn't been convincing. And here's where my

684
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,200
concern kicks in. They are going to be absolutely fine

685
00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:49,319
offensively during the regular season. My qualms are when you

686
00:30:49,359 --> 00:30:51,400
look at the fourth quarter, when you look at crunch time,

687
00:30:51,799 --> 00:30:54,680
I feel like those are going to provide sometimes or

688
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,079
at least a fair amount of glimpses into how you're

689
00:30:57,119 --> 00:31:00,839
going to function in a playoff setting. Right now, this

690
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,599
Knicks offense, whether it's Jalen Brunson's fault or a roster

691
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:09,039
construction thing or both, there's still too much responsibility on

692
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,000
Jalen Brunson, or there's still too much Jalen Brunson for

693
00:31:12,039 --> 00:31:15,960
a team that played basically every trade chip that it

694
00:31:16,079 --> 00:31:20,200
had over the past what nine ten months, And that's

695
00:31:20,279 --> 00:31:23,599
kind of my takeaway. I'm worried about the defense mckel

696
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,200
bridges relative to what mchel bridges is supposed to do

697
00:31:26,519 --> 00:31:30,079
has not been great. Benji Holtzman over at Next Film

698
00:31:30,079 --> 00:31:33,000
School had a good little Twitter thread about this how

699
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:35,839
there's been some kind of miscommunication between him and OG.

700
00:31:36,079 --> 00:31:38,079
I think OG has cleaned up a lot for the

701
00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:42,240
Knicks defensively. I almost feel like, unless mckel bridges is

702
00:31:42,279 --> 00:31:44,559
really good to become like Pete mckeal Bridges, they might

703
00:31:44,599 --> 00:31:48,160
be one serious defensive player short on the perimeter to

704
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:49,960
tie this all together at both ends of the floor.

705
00:31:50,079 --> 00:31:52,720
So anyone who's waiting on Mitchell Robinson to come back,

706
00:31:52,759 --> 00:31:54,759
and like, well, let's just play him in Towns together. Yeah,

707
00:31:54,839 --> 00:31:57,000
do that. Try it for sure. One it's gonna come

708
00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:59,839
in an offensive cost. And two now you're putting a

709
00:31:59,839 --> 00:32:04,039
different type of responsibility on Carli Towns. Karl Anthony Town's defensively,

710
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:06,960
he showed that he can handle it in Minnesota, but

711
00:32:07,079 --> 00:32:09,519
like Mitchell Robinson is not Ruby Gobert.

712
00:32:09,759 --> 00:32:14,559
Speaker 2: So yeah, so you I mean, I'm curious do you

713
00:32:14,759 --> 00:32:16,559
think I know you said the offense you think is

714
00:32:16,599 --> 00:32:19,119
going to be would you say offense you think or

715
00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:21,599
the defense you think is gonna be fine?

716
00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:26,519
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't know what to take away from

717
00:32:26,599 --> 00:32:29,400
the defense because they're twenty first overall. But I think

718
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:31,799
if you filter out the Celtics game, it's they're like

719
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:33,200
seventh or tenth or something.

720
00:32:33,359 --> 00:32:36,720
Speaker 2: It's totally fine overall bottom line without the Celtics game.

721
00:32:36,759 --> 00:32:38,240
But there are some like I don't know if you

722
00:32:38,279 --> 00:32:42,119
mentioned the rim. The opponent rim accuracy is like through

723
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:45,119
the roots unsustainable, Like I think I was. I was

724
00:32:45,119 --> 00:32:47,160
working on something the other day and I had kat

725
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:50,519
As allowing eighty three point eight percent inside six feet

726
00:32:50,720 --> 00:32:52,759
and I think if you slice that thinner and it's

727
00:32:52,799 --> 00:32:54,519
like inside five or three, you can get it. It's

728
00:32:54,519 --> 00:32:57,720
like he's like allowing like ninety percent almost, Hey, that's.

729
00:32:57,519 --> 00:32:59,519
Speaker 1: Lower than the one hundred percent he was allowed. He's

730
00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:03,000
like that. Opponents started off shooting twelve of twelve on

731
00:33:03,079 --> 00:33:06,920
the season against him set the rim, and he you're right,

732
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,279
eighty four point by the way, what they're shooting against Towns.

733
00:33:10,559 --> 00:33:13,359
Speaker 2: So my question is then, like that's an insane number,

734
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:17,200
Like nobody allows like that level of rim accuracy over

735
00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:19,920
a full season. So I was gonna ask, like, I

736
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,279
think the the everything you said about the offense, the concerns,

737
00:33:23,319 --> 00:33:26,400
they're totally well founded. Like I think it's it's jarring

738
00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,880
how often I mentioned this already this season, much earlier

739
00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:32,559
in the year. How often other Knicks players when they

740
00:33:32,559 --> 00:33:35,319
touch the ball just immediately look for Brunson to come

741
00:33:35,359 --> 00:33:37,839
get it back. And it's just it's like, I mean,

742
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,839
talk about being predictable and not having any kind of flow,

743
00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:44,640
Like that's that's an issue. So that's that seems like

744
00:33:45,359 --> 00:33:48,839
that seems stylistic, But the defensive issues seem personnel based,

745
00:33:48,839 --> 00:33:51,680
particularly with Kat as your rim protector, and those numbers

746
00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:53,960
are extreme. So I'm just having a hard time deciding

747
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,200
which of those two things I think is most easily solvable,

748
00:33:57,519 --> 00:34:00,599
Like will the rim accuracy by opponents just reress because

749
00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:03,400
you can't continue to give up ninety percent shooting like

750
00:34:03,599 --> 00:34:06,680
that's I mean, sure, that seems reasonable. And can the

751
00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:08,880
knicks open the offense up a little bit so there's

752
00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:11,880
a little more flow unless just like brunts and dribbles

753
00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:14,280
the air out of the ball, gives it up, gets

754
00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:16,920
it back, you know, it's like it takes forever into

755
00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:20,039
the shot clock to score. Like I don't know, I

756
00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:22,480
don't know how you solve that one. Like the defense

757
00:34:22,519 --> 00:34:25,559
I think might just correct itself a little bit, but

758
00:34:25,639 --> 00:34:28,000
I don't know how you change, Like you just have

759
00:34:28,039 --> 00:34:30,320
to introduce someone else that'll make decisions, or you have

760
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,239
to get Tom Thibodeau to just tell guys like, hey,

761
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:35,239
just play free Fellas, which seems like so anathetical to

762
00:34:35,599 --> 00:34:36,599
what you think of with him.

763
00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:38,599
Speaker 1: But it's also you're talking about the guy Tom, who

764
00:34:38,639 --> 00:34:39,440
is that guy?

765
00:34:39,519 --> 00:34:41,000
Speaker 2: If it's not, you don't have that guy.

766
00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:43,559
Speaker 1: It would have to be it's not campaign, it's not

767
00:34:43,639 --> 00:34:45,800
Tyler Kolek. It's definitely not going to be precious to

768
00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,400
a It's not gonna be put Home Dottie eight. It's

769
00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:52,119
it's supposed to be Karl Anthony Towns and McHale Bridges.

770
00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:55,679
And I think in theory, everyone who's watched Karl Anthony

771
00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:58,000
Towns enough knows that it's probably never gonna be Towns.

772
00:34:58,000 --> 00:34:59,639
And I know that you could probably do more about

773
00:35:00,039 --> 00:35:03,000
Teams are comfortable right now putting smaller players on Towns

774
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:05,039
and he's not attacking them. They're not really trying to

775
00:35:05,079 --> 00:35:07,119
throw him the ball down low. I don't know if

776
00:35:07,119 --> 00:35:08,800
that's going to open up a ton of stuff, because

777
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:10,679
then you are, if you're putting karlint Towns down low,

778
00:35:11,039 --> 00:35:13,079
opponents are probably gonna take that too, like he can

779
00:35:13,119 --> 00:35:16,000
mash those dudes, but like he's one, he's not gonna

780
00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:18,000
do it consistently. And then like you're giving up the

781
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:21,320
five out spacing that you said that you wanted. So

782
00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:25,039
I'm inclined to say like a lot of stuff is

783
00:35:25,039 --> 00:35:28,800
going to normalize. But I don't know what the long

784
00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:31,280
term defensive outlook is for this team. I assume it'll

785
00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:34,079
get better just if Mitchell Robinson gets healthier, but even

786
00:35:34,119 --> 00:35:36,079
just look the starting lineup for the nine percent title

787
00:35:36,119 --> 00:35:38,320
of defensive rating, and opponents have run hot from three

788
00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:40,360
in those minutes. But like when you're running hot from

789
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:42,119
three and at the rim, like, are both those things

790
00:35:42,639 --> 00:35:46,199
going to going to regress to the rival offense? So

791
00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:48,559
that is concerning. Look, they've had some success when you're

792
00:35:48,559 --> 00:35:52,440
plugging Duce McBride in there at points, but that, by

793
00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:54,360
the way, that's also another problem with this team is

794
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:58,079
right now they go six players deep. This is a

795
00:35:58,119 --> 00:35:59,920
six player team, and I think you can even argue

796
00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:01,559
on a lot of nights it's a five player team

797
00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:04,119
based off how people are playing. I would say that

798
00:36:04,159 --> 00:36:07,559
at their peak, if you expect them to run deeper

799
00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:11,239
than seven, that's ambitious, and I don't. I think people

800
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:13,599
will campaign in proach the two on Mitchell Robinson and

801
00:36:13,639 --> 00:36:17,360
Miles McBride. No, but yes, yes to two of those guys,

802
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:20,360
But you can't not all of those guys are gonna play.

803
00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:23,599
Are not going to give you this playoff depth. And look,

804
00:36:23,599 --> 00:36:25,559
you're gonna shorten your rotations anyway in the playoffs. So

805
00:36:25,599 --> 00:36:27,960
seven guys that you trust, I would argue, is enough

806
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,440
or at least close to enough put to get through

807
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:33,760
the regular season at this point, and when your offense

808
00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:38,119
is so efficient but also right now feels fatally flawed,

809
00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:40,519
does it? Am I just an idiot? Like is that

810
00:36:40,559 --> 00:36:43,320
an incoherent takewards? Yeah, the offense is top five, but

811
00:36:44,159 --> 00:36:45,639
it has like these fatal flaws.

812
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:49,039
Speaker 2: Yeah no, that's why I struggle with it. But yeah,

813
00:36:49,039 --> 00:36:52,440
I know, just like you gotta have someone besides Brunson

814
00:36:52,559 --> 00:36:55,880
that can do like it just feels way too heliocentric.

815
00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:59,639
I get we need to do this. I know it's silly,

816
00:36:59,639 --> 00:37:02,960
but like, are we having anything close to this conversation

817
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:05,719
if Julius Randall and Dante DiVincenzo are on the roster

818
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:08,280
and Kat isn't, Like do you think, like what's the

819
00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:11,480
same and what's different about because I would imagine that offensively,

820
00:37:11,519 --> 00:37:14,039
we're not having a similar conversation about like, oh my god,

821
00:37:14,079 --> 00:37:16,639
Brunson has to do way too much. There's no scoring depth,

822
00:37:16,679 --> 00:37:18,519
like no one else could do anything. I don't think

823
00:37:18,519 --> 00:37:20,760
we're we might be having the defense conversation, but I

824
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:22,480
don't know that we would with the offense, which is

825
00:37:22,599 --> 00:37:25,320
nuts because Kat is supposed to be a phenomenal offensive player.

826
00:37:25,639 --> 00:37:28,199
Speaker 1: I think we might still be having the conversation because

827
00:37:28,199 --> 00:37:31,880
the Knicks aren't generating rim pressure with Pristine's facing as

828
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:35,559
it is, And I don't know that Julius Randall, I

829
00:37:35,559 --> 00:37:37,559
guess on the ball, he's gonna get to the rim

830
00:37:37,559 --> 00:37:39,079
more than a car Anthony Towns would, But is he

831
00:37:39,119 --> 00:37:41,199
going to open up the floor for everyone else to

832
00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:43,400
do that? I don't know if you have Dante DiVincenzo

833
00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:47,519
instead of I honestly don't know. That's what's so. I

834
00:37:47,559 --> 00:37:51,960
do think that they would have more secondary creation on

835
00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,400
this team, But then you have to ask yourself, like,

836
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:59,719
what does it look like defensively with Randall and Donte DiVincenzo. Okay, fine,

837
00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:02,719
but handle instead of Towns as your day facto? Big?

838
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:05,639
Is that actually any sort of an upgrade? Maybe in

839
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:10,440
certain one on one situations. Perhaps it's it's fascinating, and

840
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,039
I'm still to wrap up, I guess on the Knicks

841
00:38:13,079 --> 00:38:15,599
unless you have other thoughts, there's still so much this

842
00:38:15,639 --> 00:38:18,519
team needs more time. It was just put together, I

843
00:38:18,599 --> 00:38:22,280
do think. I guess. I don't know how importantly to

844
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:25,639
view the prospective return of Mitchell Robinson in like six

845
00:38:25,679 --> 00:38:27,679
weeks or whatever it's gonna end up being, or by

846
00:38:27,679 --> 00:38:31,760
twenty twenty five. So eight weeks whatever it is, But like,

847
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:35,000
does he help like to a degree where it's like

848
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:36,440
we kind of just need to get there and then

849
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:38,559
we can evaluate this team or is it for you?

850
00:38:38,719 --> 00:38:41,400
Is it all right? We reached December first and we're

851
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:44,440
still dealing with these up and down performances. It's time

852
00:38:44,519 --> 00:38:47,280
to what is it time to do?

853
00:38:49,239 --> 00:38:54,760
Speaker 2: I would say Robinson would help be and I think

854
00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:58,880
maybe counterintuitively more with the offensive stuff, because like the

855
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:02,320
second element of the Knicks scoring that was so good

856
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:04,519
in addition to Brunson over the last couple of years

857
00:39:04,599 --> 00:39:06,719
is just they get every offensive rebound and that I

858
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:09,400
mean a lot of that was Isaiah Hartenstein, but Mitchell Robinson,

859
00:39:09,679 --> 00:39:12,960
you know, was a thing before Hartenstein got there, and

860
00:39:13,239 --> 00:39:16,320
just getting offensive boards and been firing it out for threes.

861
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:18,880
Like remember how they generated the most three points, the

862
00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:20,880
most points off offensive boards of anyone in the league

863
00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:22,760
last year because they would just turn him into threes.

864
00:39:23,199 --> 00:39:26,360
And maybe that's like, actually the difference is like, Okay,

865
00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:28,760
so now when Brunson can't do something on his own,

866
00:39:29,159 --> 00:39:32,559
the possession ends as opposed to last year. Half the

867
00:39:32,599 --> 00:39:34,880
time that's an exaggeration, but a lot of the time

868
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,400
you were getting second chances and they were good looks

869
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:40,239
because Mitchell Robinson was getting offensive boards like that. That

870
00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:43,480
might just be the main difference this year because I look,

871
00:39:43,519 --> 00:39:45,480
last year they were first an offensive rebound rate their

872
00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:49,159
eighteenth as we're recording this today. So maybe that's you know,

873
00:39:49,199 --> 00:39:51,719
that's not nothing, that's a that's a big factor. You

874
00:39:51,719 --> 00:39:53,360
don't think of Robinson as like, oh, he's going to

875
00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:55,719
solve the offense, but he would give them an element

876
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:56,960
back that they don't have right now.

877
00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:59,519
Speaker 1: But then you're then is sacrificing the element that you

878
00:39:59,559 --> 00:40:01,760
have as a team, like when you're actually looking at

879
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:04,760
the spacing, because you can't even trust you can trust

880
00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,360
Mitchell Robbinson to like maybe finished lobs, but you even

881
00:40:07,400 --> 00:40:09,679
you're definitely not trust him to do any decision making

882
00:40:09,679 --> 00:40:11,559
with the ball. You could barely trust him to hold

883
00:40:11,559 --> 00:40:14,880
on to the ball on his catches. So they're fascinating.

884
00:40:14,960 --> 00:40:18,679
I am personally inclined to I'm gonna give them a time.

885
00:40:20,559 --> 00:40:21,639
Oh Bert doesn't agree.

886
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:25,239
Speaker 2: Bert does not agree with you. I didn't even hear

887
00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:27,039
what you said. If it was piece or panic because

888
00:40:27,119 --> 00:40:28,280
someone rang my doorbell and.

889
00:40:28,239 --> 00:40:30,800
Speaker 1: Then dog's going I'm gonna I'm gonna go with peace here.

890
00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:31,440
What about you?

891
00:40:31,639 --> 00:40:34,119
Speaker 2: I was hoping you'd say that. I think peace is

892
00:40:34,159 --> 00:40:34,679
the right call.

893
00:40:35,199 --> 00:40:36,519
Speaker 3: This is no timed up panic.

894
00:40:36,719 --> 00:40:39,320
Speaker 1: Anyone who likes toy story should better appreciate these little

895
00:40:39,320 --> 00:40:42,440
references we have going on here. Our next team, Grant,

896
00:40:42,559 --> 00:40:44,480
and I know you've been itching to get to this one.

897
00:40:44,559 --> 00:40:47,079
Of course, the Orlando Magic, who I would say, or

898
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:49,760
I guess it's been a few games, so they're not

899
00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:52,400
an eleventh hour entrant. But this is probably not a

900
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:54,119
team that we would have thought we'd be talking about

901
00:40:54,119 --> 00:40:56,119
if you asked us about a week or two ago.

902
00:40:56,960 --> 00:40:58,199
Do you want to take us through what's going on

903
00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:00,400
with them? They're not missing anybody, right, or are they?

904
00:41:00,519 --> 00:41:01,159
I can't remember.

905
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:04,400
Speaker 2: You start this discussion with the turning point of the season,

906
00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:08,199
which is Paul Bencro's oblique injury. I would say predictably,

907
00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:10,880
the offense has has just crumbled since he's been out.

908
00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:13,519
They're dead last and offensive ratings since he got hurt,

909
00:41:13,559 --> 00:41:16,960
and it's like the margin is not small. The guys

910
00:41:16,960 --> 00:41:20,000
that you would hope could step up Franz Wagner, Mac

911
00:41:20,119 --> 00:41:22,599
Max player Franz Wagner, Anthony Black, who I think had

912
00:41:22,639 --> 00:41:25,639
looked pretty good, and I continue to be more optimistic

913
00:41:25,679 --> 00:41:28,320
about those guys are just kind of overburdened in more

914
00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:33,800
like primary and secondary creative creation. Roles Cole Anthony isn't

915
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:37,119
playing like Black had overtaken him in the rotation, hasn't

916
00:41:37,119 --> 00:41:41,440
made shots, And I guess the question is, like do

917
00:41:41,559 --> 00:41:46,039
we just view this as like, well, of course Orlando

918
00:41:46,119 --> 00:41:48,719
is struggling to score without bank Caro. Everybody already knew that,

919
00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:50,800
you know, offense was a weak point for this team.

920
00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:54,320
We've been begging for another you know, shot maker, shot

921
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:56,360
creator to be added to this roster for a couple

922
00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:58,559
of years. So like, yeah, bank Caro's out there, gonna

923
00:41:58,599 --> 00:42:01,039
fall apart, Like no problem. When he's back, they'll be

924
00:42:01,079 --> 00:42:04,039
good again. Or is it more of like a is

925
00:42:04,079 --> 00:42:06,679
it highlighting a more structural issue that like, yeah, no,

926
00:42:06,760 --> 00:42:09,599
we do need to be able to do something without Bankaro,

927
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:12,360
Like so is a gap You're okay? Or are we

928
00:42:12,440 --> 00:42:14,760
already forty seven win team that's trying to win now

929
00:42:14,800 --> 00:42:16,159
so we got to make a trade to fix it.

930
00:42:17,159 --> 00:42:19,760
I would say, like before I turn it over to you,

931
00:42:20,079 --> 00:42:23,840
it's always more I don't know, comforting or less panic

932
00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:27,760
inducing for me when a team is struggling in exactly

933
00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,360
the way you would expect it to struggle if they

934
00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:32,599
lost a certain player, So like this is just like

935
00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:35,280
it's like a one, it's like a very direct A

936
00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:37,760
to B thing like ban Caro's hurt, they can't score,

937
00:42:37,920 --> 00:42:40,199
Like okay, yeah, I would have been surprised if that

938
00:42:40,239 --> 00:42:43,119
had not been the result. So does that change anything

939
00:42:43,119 --> 00:42:45,559
for you? Or are you or I don't know. Maybe

940
00:42:45,559 --> 00:42:47,639
the more interesting thing is the last question I asked

941
00:42:47,760 --> 00:42:50,519
was just like can they afford this or is this

942
00:42:50,760 --> 00:42:52,719
a situation where you might need to make a move.

943
00:42:53,599 --> 00:42:56,719
Speaker 1: So if it were me, I would make a move

944
00:42:57,199 --> 00:42:59,519
just because I think that their their defense can be

945
00:42:59,559 --> 00:43:02,599
good enough, and like their offense was good with ben Caro.

946
00:43:03,079 --> 00:43:05,679
But you framed an interesting way where it's, well, if

947
00:43:05,719 --> 00:43:08,360
you don't have Palo ban Caaro, you're not gonna win

948
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:10,360
anything special anyway. But I do think it comes back

949
00:43:10,400 --> 00:43:14,320
to you expect him to return in time for the playoffs,

950
00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:15,639
but you need to be in a position to still

951
00:43:15,679 --> 00:43:18,880
be in the playoffs, and right now your offense is

952
00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:21,960
so grant it's not even close. When you're looking at

953
00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:24,159
how they performed over the past, like they have an

954
00:43:24,199 --> 00:43:28,559
offensive rating outside of crunch time under ninety three, and like,

955
00:43:28,599 --> 00:43:30,360
I think it's ninety two to four was the exact

956
00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:33,880
number I had written down. That is putrid during those

957
00:43:34,119 --> 00:43:36,400
like it dating back to the game where he actually

958
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:41,519
suffered the injury and where is where is the solve?

959
00:43:41,599 --> 00:43:44,039
The answer that's on the roster I tend to be higher.

960
00:43:44,079 --> 00:43:46,119
I actually just wrote about how I think Jalen Suggs

961
00:43:46,159 --> 00:43:49,480
has improved again year over year when it comes to

962
00:43:49,519 --> 00:43:52,639
his playmaking and decision making. He and Franz Wagner, they

963
00:43:52,719 --> 00:43:54,480
just all look over text. I don't know that that's

964
00:43:54,519 --> 00:43:58,639
ever gonna be Anthony Black's best role to run more

965
00:43:58,679 --> 00:44:01,440
of a methodical offense type. I also think you have

966
00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:05,679
to ask whether, okay, let's just say not everything's about

967
00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:10,039
half court initiation per se. Okay, fine, are you then

968
00:44:10,079 --> 00:44:13,679
equipped to all, right, like, let's just play faster, get

969
00:44:13,719 --> 00:44:16,840
out in transition more and maybe create chaos that way?

970
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:20,840
That has not been Orlando's MO under Jamal Moseley, And

971
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:22,639
I think there's probably a debate is do they have

972
00:44:23,159 --> 00:44:25,719
the personnel all the time to do that? And the

973
00:44:25,719 --> 00:44:30,480
answer might not be no. They're definitely equipped to play faster,

974
00:44:30,679 --> 00:44:34,480
and we saw that. We've actually seen that through like

975
00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:38,199
I guess, for small stretches, but it's never been something

976
00:44:38,199 --> 00:44:40,760
that becomes part of their identity. And so even now

977
00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:43,639
they're twenty second in average offensive possession time and they're

978
00:44:43,679 --> 00:44:45,679
getting out in transition I think a little bit more

979
00:44:45,719 --> 00:44:49,559
than last year, but they're not efficient in those situations.

980
00:44:49,679 --> 00:44:53,079
So you're not going to be able to tread water

981
00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:55,239
that way by kind of being okay, this is not

982
00:44:55,559 --> 00:44:57,400
we see bad teams do this a lot, whereas we

983
00:44:57,400 --> 00:44:59,719
don't have a ton of creations, so we're gonna play faster.

984
00:45:00,199 --> 00:45:03,280
And in the Magic's case, they're so good defensively and

985
00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:06,159
they can create so much chaos defensively that you could

986
00:45:06,159 --> 00:45:08,880
almost envision a scenario where all right, hey that that

987
00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:12,599
actually works, like why, But again, they're not a team

988
00:45:12,679 --> 00:45:16,119
that like forces turnovers a ton relative league average, so hey,

989
00:45:16,119 --> 00:45:18,559
maybe that doesn't work. But you do grab defensive rebounds

990
00:45:18,639 --> 00:45:20,360
a bunch. I think they're the best defensive rebounding in

991
00:45:20,400 --> 00:45:22,480
the team in the league right now, So I do

992
00:45:22,519 --> 00:45:25,159
think there's some low hanging fruit, and I actually hadn't

993
00:45:25,159 --> 00:45:26,760
thought of it as well. You would expect them to

994
00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:29,559
suck on offense without Palo, So it's almost encouraging that

995
00:45:29,559 --> 00:45:32,760
that's the answer. But if he's out, the word that's

996
00:45:32,800 --> 00:45:35,599
been thrown around is indefinitely. Yeah, you need to figure

997
00:45:35,599 --> 00:45:37,239
out a way to win some games. I know the

998
00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:39,199
East is weird where five hundred might just get you

999
00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:41,639
what a top six spot. At this point, they're not

1000
00:45:41,679 --> 00:45:44,320
playing five hundred basketball without Palom and Caro, and so

1001
00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:46,079
I'm not saying they need to go out and trade

1002
00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:50,159
for LaMelo Ball or go all in, but once they have,

1003
00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:52,360
you know, some of these restrictions lifts on the salaries

1004
00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:55,079
that they could trade, they are built to make a

1005
00:45:55,159 --> 00:45:58,599
move for someone who is a prominent part of their rotation,

1006
00:45:58,679 --> 00:46:00,840
even if it's not the all in move like you

1007
00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:02,800
can go out there, I would think maybe this is

1008
00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:05,360
too well in. But a Kobe White. We've mentioned how

1009
00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:08,400
many times we mentioned Anthony Simon's He's not a super

1010
00:46:08,599 --> 00:46:11,480
great initiator, but he does enough and he's gonna open

1011
00:46:11,559 --> 00:46:14,079
up the floor for everybody else that it would pan out.

1012
00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:17,400
I think that even if Ben Carrol's gonna come back,

1013
00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:20,280
let's say before January or something, that still is something

1014
00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:23,320
they need to investigate, because now you've shown or we

1015
00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:26,000
can't tread water without him, and minutes without him, they'll

1016
00:46:26,039 --> 00:46:27,880
be important in the postseason, Like he's not gonna play

1017
00:46:27,920 --> 00:46:30,079
forty eight minutes a game, and so you want to

1018
00:46:30,159 --> 00:46:32,679
have I would. I'll frame it this way to close it.

1019
00:46:32,679 --> 00:46:36,480
After my long ramble. They need more alternative safety valves

1020
00:46:36,599 --> 00:46:39,559
on this team because the ones they have they're such

1021
00:46:39,559 --> 00:46:41,840
a big drop off. I think this is probably one

1022
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:43,280
of the bigger drop offs when you look at the

1023
00:46:43,320 --> 00:46:46,159
level of their number one option to their number two,

1024
00:46:46,239 --> 00:46:48,480
certainly among good deals. Look, they might be running into

1025
00:46:48,519 --> 00:46:50,760
the same issue as kind of like the Knicks, but

1026
00:46:50,840 --> 00:46:53,360
the gap is probably even wider between Ben Carro and

1027
00:46:53,400 --> 00:46:54,679
their second best initiator.

1028
00:46:55,000 --> 00:46:57,000
Speaker 2: He could ah Man, I don't know that it could be.

1029
00:46:57,159 --> 00:47:00,559
I guess, like I would just say, nothing that's happened

1030
00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:03,960
with ban Caro out has like actually changed what I

1031
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:06,159
think about the magic and what they need and what

1032
00:47:06,199 --> 00:47:09,000
they should do. It's just illustrate, it's just very clearly

1033
00:47:09,039 --> 00:47:12,320
illustrated that what we've been saying whatever, but not just us,

1034
00:47:12,360 --> 00:47:15,880
what everybody's been saying forever about they just need more

1035
00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:19,639
guys to create shots. Like that's just that's that's true.

1036
00:47:20,039 --> 00:47:22,639
With bank Cao. That's obviously true without him, and his

1037
00:47:22,679 --> 00:47:25,679
absence just highlights that. I guess, so like, I don't

1038
00:47:26,199 --> 00:47:28,480
I think whatever level of urgency you thought there was

1039
00:47:28,519 --> 00:47:30,559
for them to go, you know, I don't know, go

1040
00:47:30,559 --> 00:47:32,639
go back farther, like try to sign the league Monk

1041
00:47:32,760 --> 00:47:34,760
or or try to trade for Simons or try to

1042
00:47:34,760 --> 00:47:36,719
trade for LaMelo or whoever you want to pick. Like,

1043
00:47:37,199 --> 00:47:39,320
I think you should feel exactly the same way as

1044
00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:41,639
you did before, which is like, well, clearly they need that.

1045
00:47:42,320 --> 00:47:45,280
Speaker 1: But isn't isn't there something too? Okay? They have the

1046
00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:48,079
ability to do this and the flexibility to do it

1047
00:47:48,719 --> 00:47:51,360
over the summer and didn't and now they're in this

1048
00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:53,360
situation like doesn't that have to add a layer? Or

1049
00:47:53,480 --> 00:47:55,840
because I'm assuming they were banking on we're just gonna

1050
00:47:55,880 --> 00:47:58,000
have guys that develop enough to handle this. And I'm

1051
00:47:58,000 --> 00:47:59,920
sure they didn't expect to go without Palo for some

1052
00:48:00,199 --> 00:48:02,679
long stretch of time. But this is okay. It's it's

1053
00:48:02,719 --> 00:48:05,800
comforting that this is where you're supposed to struggle. This

1054
00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:08,800
is the exact scenario on which you should struggling. But

1055
00:48:08,840 --> 00:48:11,679
there was a way or ways for you to not

1056
00:48:11,760 --> 00:48:14,519
be so bottom of the barrel offensively in this situation,

1057
00:48:14,639 --> 00:48:18,960
and you I would say they actively opted against exploring

1058
00:48:19,079 --> 00:48:20,360
players who could help them.

1059
00:48:20,199 --> 00:48:22,679
Speaker 2: There, maybe I should tweak what I was saying. What

1060
00:48:22,760 --> 00:48:26,159
I think I'm trying to commit convey is like I

1061
00:48:26,159 --> 00:48:29,360
think the level of urgency Orlando should be feeling now

1062
00:48:29,679 --> 00:48:33,440
about getting more offensive shot creation is the level they

1063
00:48:33,480 --> 00:48:36,599
should have been feeling over the summer, like right, like

1064
00:48:36,639 --> 00:48:40,480
it should have been, like they should surely they knew

1065
00:48:40,840 --> 00:48:43,239
that Polo was this important or should because you sort

1066
00:48:43,239 --> 00:48:45,639
of can't. You don't get to one believe Paalo is

1067
00:48:45,639 --> 00:48:48,119
going to be an All NBA superstar and then at

1068
00:48:48,119 --> 00:48:50,159
the same time think like, oh we got enough if

1069
00:48:50,159 --> 00:48:52,760
he gets hurt or like that's those two thoughts like

1070
00:48:52,960 --> 00:48:56,400
don't get to coexist. So I think it's it's clearly

1071
00:48:56,559 --> 00:48:59,320
urgent now it should have been something that Orlando viewed

1072
00:48:59,639 --> 00:49:02,800
with that with this current level of urgency in June

1073
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:06,079
and July, like just because this is this is the

1074
00:49:06,199 --> 00:49:09,639
most obvious like struggle stretch for a team you could

1075
00:49:09,679 --> 00:49:11,840
have ever foreseen, Like when you went down, this is

1076
00:49:11,880 --> 00:49:14,159
exactly what should have been expected.

1077
00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:18,079
Speaker 1: Now does it change at all? Though? Like is there

1078
00:49:18,159 --> 00:49:20,679
less urgency because this isn't. Yes, it's a team that

1079
00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:23,440
is built to compete now, but does anyone have them

1080
00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:25,360
built as a contender? And so does that take away

1081
00:49:25,360 --> 00:49:27,039
for as we get to the are you? Is it

1082
00:49:27,119 --> 00:49:29,480
peace or panic for you? And what's the nutshell reason

1083
00:49:29,480 --> 00:49:31,000
as to why you're going that direction?

1084
00:49:31,639 --> 00:49:35,039
Speaker 2: It's still peace for me, just be even though, like

1085
00:49:35,079 --> 00:49:38,360
we just said the word urgency fifty times, just because

1086
00:49:38,480 --> 00:49:40,639
you have the core, you still have the outs and

1087
00:49:40,679 --> 00:49:43,639
the flexibility and the ability to make trades. You're not

1088
00:49:43,840 --> 00:49:45,719
stuck like a lot of these other teams are.

1089
00:49:46,199 --> 00:49:46,639
Speaker 1: You're not.

1090
00:49:46,920 --> 00:49:49,239
Speaker 2: You weren't a contender before, Like you're just trying to

1091
00:49:49,280 --> 00:49:51,199
crack that group and you're sort of still there when

1092
00:49:51,199 --> 00:49:53,559
you're healthy. So like I don't I don't view this

1093
00:49:53,639 --> 00:49:56,639
as a panic situation. I think you you're young enough,

1094
00:49:56,719 --> 00:49:59,719
you're projectable enough, you know what your needs are. I've

1095
00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:00,800
still peace for me.

1096
00:50:02,039 --> 00:50:05,000
Speaker 1: I'm going so so for anyone keeping score at home,

1097
00:50:05,119 --> 00:50:05,760
grant is good.

1098
00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:10,199
Speaker 3: I'm going to the perfect panic.

1099
00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:13,920
Speaker 1: I'm not going to excuse what they decided not to

1100
00:50:13,920 --> 00:50:16,320
do over the summer anymore. This is now, that's proof

1101
00:50:16,639 --> 00:50:18,880
of the doubt. And you're good now, And look at

1102
00:50:18,880 --> 00:50:20,920
the lay of the East. Grant, the way they were

1103
00:50:20,920 --> 00:50:23,800
playing like there was you want to talk about who's

1104
00:50:23,840 --> 00:50:25,440
the third best team in the East, It could have

1105
00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:29,840
been Orlando and now it still could be. How long

1106
00:50:29,840 --> 00:50:31,199
are you gonna be without Paalo? You don't have the

1107
00:50:31,199 --> 00:50:34,960
personnel survive without him. That's an F minus minus level

1108
00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:37,199
of decision making from the front office. Still we move on,

1109
00:50:37,280 --> 00:50:39,079
though I'm glad we disagree. This is a big one.

1110
00:50:39,119 --> 00:50:42,159
Grant the Brooklyn Nets. They're way goddamn much.

1111
00:50:45,159 --> 00:50:47,440
Speaker 2: What are you doing, guys? They weren't supposed to get

1112
00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:50,119
four wins until like January. This is bad.

1113
00:50:50,400 --> 00:50:51,920
Speaker 3: This is a perfect tunk of panic.

1114
00:50:52,239 --> 00:50:54,199
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's so. It's a super quick one. But like

1115
00:50:54,440 --> 00:50:57,559
Dennis Shrewder needs to be like they need to bench

1116
00:50:57,599 --> 00:50:59,440
him in every single home game, but like he has

1117
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:03,039
been lighting it up and they're just they're winning too much. Grant,

1118
00:51:03,079 --> 00:51:05,920
this offense is top ten and half court Dennis Truder

1119
00:51:05,960 --> 00:51:08,360
needs he needs to be suspended. He's playing too well.

1120
00:51:09,599 --> 00:51:12,079
Speaker 2: Conduct detrimental to the team, get out of here. But

1121
00:51:12,239 --> 00:51:16,159
contact not detrimental enough to detrimental enough and therefore death

1122
00:51:16,239 --> 00:51:18,639
Yeah no, they I mean we could obviously this is

1123
00:51:18,679 --> 00:51:21,320
like have a joke, but like, not only are the

1124
00:51:21,360 --> 00:51:24,360
nets like competent, they're kind of fun, Like they're playing hard.

1125
00:51:24,440 --> 00:51:27,679
I think whatever the first year Jordi Fernandez coach bump is,

1126
00:51:27,679 --> 00:51:30,800
they're getting it like that. Guys seem bought in. Everybody

1127
00:51:30,840 --> 00:51:33,480
that everyone you would be excited to see something from,

1128
00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:36,320
Like Noah Clowney's had some flashes. I very much enjoy

1129
00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:38,920
the stylings of Cam Johnson as just I trust him

1130
00:51:38,920 --> 00:51:41,159
to shoot it whenever he's open, and some of this

1131
00:51:41,360 --> 00:51:43,960
secondary playmaking stuff is interesting. I don't know how sustainable

1132
00:51:44,000 --> 00:51:46,920
it is, but yeah, like they just Cam Thomas is

1133
00:51:46,960 --> 00:51:49,400
doing what you want Cam Thomas to do. They they

1134
00:51:49,480 --> 00:51:54,079
just have been like a hard playing, like shockingly exciting

1135
00:51:54,159 --> 00:51:57,480
watchable team so far. I don't think that'll continue, but

1136
00:51:57,679 --> 00:52:00,159
uh they you can't. You can't just keep paying in

1137
00:52:00,199 --> 00:52:01,920
these wins. You got that pick reason.

1138
00:52:02,559 --> 00:52:03,800
Speaker 1: You have a two year window to be bad. Look,

1139
00:52:03,800 --> 00:52:05,480
they don't even have Trent and Watford back yet, and

1140
00:52:05,480 --> 00:52:09,559
he's gonna add at least fifteen wins. So it's panic

1141
00:52:09,599 --> 00:52:12,320
time for Brooklyn, our next team. I really hope people

1142
00:52:12,400 --> 00:52:14,239
understand the bit there. If they don't, I'm gonna be

1143
00:52:14,280 --> 00:52:18,039
that's just tragic, but the next team, grant you should

1144
00:52:18,039 --> 00:52:21,360
the nugget we're onto the Nuggets. Have they graduated from

1145
00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:24,639
this discussion and not just and it's not even just

1146
00:52:24,639 --> 00:52:27,400
the win over OKSE, but that was riveting as hell

1147
00:52:27,519 --> 00:52:29,920
for anyone who was watching. But like now, we've kind

1148
00:52:29,920 --> 00:52:32,679
of seen some higher leverage moment moments where not only

1149
00:52:32,800 --> 00:52:35,599
is Michael Malone trusting the quote unquote kids, but the

1150
00:52:35,679 --> 00:52:38,800
kids are delivering and even when they're not. Peyton Watson

1151
00:52:38,840 --> 00:52:41,719
against the thunder missus consecutive crunch time three throws, then

1152
00:52:41,760 --> 00:52:44,239
has the game winning block rust it seems like trying

1153
00:52:44,239 --> 00:52:46,119
to give his former team a victory. There By he

1154
00:52:46,159 --> 00:52:48,280
looked like he was gonna smack Shay in the head

1155
00:52:48,320 --> 00:52:49,559
or whatever it was on that play. I don't know

1156
00:52:49,599 --> 00:52:52,239
if you saw it, but where are you at with

1157
00:52:52,320 --> 00:52:55,280
this team? Because I think, look, Aaron Gordon, he's out

1158
00:52:55,280 --> 00:52:59,199
with that calf strain for a while. Jamal Murray, he

1159
00:52:59,320 --> 00:53:01,519
still can cuss protocols if you've seen anything on him,

1160
00:53:01,559 --> 00:53:03,519
but he missed a few games. I think the bigger

1161
00:53:03,559 --> 00:53:05,760
thing is even when he was on the court, it

1162
00:53:05,800 --> 00:53:07,880
wasn't like he wasn't setting the world on fire. For

1163
00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:10,119
most of it, and they gotten to a point where

1164
00:53:10,159 --> 00:53:13,400
Michael Malone was playing him independent of NICOLEA. Jokic less

1165
00:53:13,400 --> 00:53:18,360
frequently than ever, and they're still incredibly dependent on Jokic. Surprise, surprise,

1166
00:53:18,400 --> 00:53:20,840
it's a three time MVP. That's not breaking news here.

1167
00:53:21,599 --> 00:53:24,360
There's still just something like do you think that they've

1168
00:53:24,400 --> 00:53:27,519
graduated from us having this discussion.

1169
00:53:27,119 --> 00:53:30,639
Speaker 2: Is I think, well, we didn't even discuss which teams

1170
00:53:30,639 --> 00:53:33,000
we were going to talk about beforehand, and we both

1171
00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:35,800
picked the nuggets independently, So I think that's a pretty

1172
00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:38,480
good indicator that, like, no, they still are at least

1173
00:53:38,480 --> 00:53:42,760
worth conversation. I think it's a couple of things, like

1174
00:53:43,079 --> 00:53:47,159
it's nice that I guess Malone has has started to

1175
00:53:47,199 --> 00:53:49,960
embrace some of the younger guys, and I mean some

1176
00:53:50,039 --> 00:53:54,480
of that's by necessity, just because of injuries, but I think,

1177
00:53:54,519 --> 00:53:57,239
like that's that's encouraging to me that you know, it's

1178
00:53:57,239 --> 00:53:59,679
not encouraging that it took injuries to get Watson and

1179
00:53:59,719 --> 00:54:02,880
Brown like more real minutes. Brown's a little different category

1180
00:54:02,880 --> 00:54:04,719
at this point. I think he's kind of established quite

1181
00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:07,559
a bit more than Watson has, But I don't know.

1182
00:54:07,599 --> 00:54:10,960
I still think some of the structural things we're concerned

1183
00:54:10,960 --> 00:54:13,760
about are there, and you start with just like the

1184
00:54:13,760 --> 00:54:16,760
financial picture, the lack of flexibility, the you know, if

1185
00:54:16,800 --> 00:54:18,480
you're trying to make trades, it's like what can we

1186
00:54:18,519 --> 00:54:21,119
get for Zeke naujy and what you know? That's just like,

1187
00:54:21,440 --> 00:54:24,079
that's still an issue. The on off splits are still insane.

1188
00:54:24,119 --> 00:54:26,239
Although it's really funny to me that Christian Brown now

1189
00:54:26,239 --> 00:54:29,079
has the biggest positive net rating swing it's thirty nine

1190
00:54:29,119 --> 00:54:31,519
point seven. Yokich is a real bom at thirty four

1191
00:54:31,519 --> 00:54:34,239
point eight, but that's just because their minutes tend to

1192
00:54:34,280 --> 00:54:38,119
be matched up almost exactly. All that stuff is still there.

1193
00:54:38,280 --> 00:54:40,639
The low three point volume, they're dead last in the league,

1194
00:54:40,639 --> 00:54:43,079
but they're making thirty eight point nine percent of their threes,

1195
00:54:43,159 --> 00:54:44,440
which is six best in the league.

1196
00:54:44,480 --> 00:54:47,039
Speaker 1: So, like Michael Porter Junior is coming alive a little

1197
00:54:47,079 --> 00:54:48,519
bit more.

1198
00:54:48,360 --> 00:54:50,400
Speaker 2: I guess, would be my suggestion if you're gonna let's

1199
00:54:50,400 --> 00:54:52,559
get that percentage down to like thirty seven, but let's

1200
00:54:52,559 --> 00:54:53,719
get you in the middle of the pack in the

1201
00:54:53,800 --> 00:54:57,320
temper rate would be nice. I think the panic is

1202
00:54:57,320 --> 00:55:02,239
more of the like the structural bigger issues, the lack

1203
00:55:02,280 --> 00:55:05,840
of depth, the lack of flexibility, that can't survive without Jokic.

1204
00:55:05,920 --> 00:55:08,039
Stuff that's all still there. And if you're talking about

1205
00:55:08,079 --> 00:55:10,920
a team that has won a title and has a

1206
00:55:10,960 --> 00:55:13,360
three time MVP and should absolutely only care about winning

1207
00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:16,320
a title, that stuff all matters, that's all relevant. I

1208
00:55:16,320 --> 00:55:18,559
guess some of the you know, their their offenses in

1209
00:55:18,599 --> 00:55:20,480
the top ten. Now they got a winning record. All

1210
00:55:20,480 --> 00:55:23,679
that stuff is great. But so you're not panicking about

1211
00:55:23,679 --> 00:55:26,440
anything quite like that. But I mean, Aaron Gordon's out,

1212
00:55:26,519 --> 00:55:28,559
Murray doesn't look himself, and all that other stuff is

1213
00:55:28,599 --> 00:55:31,280
still there. So they have not The answer to your

1214
00:55:31,280 --> 00:55:33,400
first question is no, they have not graduated out of

1215
00:55:33,440 --> 00:55:34,320
this discussion.

1216
00:55:34,440 --> 00:55:40,039
Speaker 1: To me, is there How encouraged are you by the

1217
00:55:40,079 --> 00:55:43,559
recent performances we've seen, not like not even just from

1218
00:55:43,599 --> 00:55:47,480
the quote unquote kids, but like Malone turning to them,

1219
00:55:47,840 --> 00:55:50,320
was it we had that piece from ESPN which was

1220
00:55:50,360 --> 00:55:53,920
clearly let's just say it was heavily sourced from Calvin Booth.

1221
00:55:54,039 --> 00:55:57,039
I would argue if you weren't I saw this. I

1222
00:55:57,079 --> 00:55:59,360
was listening to What's in the game, NBA, But what's

1223
00:55:59,360 --> 00:56:02,840
in the game Podcas and Will and Grace were talking

1224
00:56:02,840 --> 00:56:04,960
about how if you didn't know anything about the Nuggets

1225
00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:06,880
to this point or what was going on behind the scenes,

1226
00:56:07,320 --> 00:56:09,719
you would have like came away being really frustrated with

1227
00:56:09,760 --> 00:56:12,119
Michael Malone and thinking that he was the villain basically.

1228
00:56:12,119 --> 00:56:15,039
I thought that was a great way of putting it. So,

1229
00:56:15,159 --> 00:56:17,440
but like, did they finally just take enough clubs out?

1230
00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:20,159
As like Russell Westbrook he's starting, so it's not like

1231
00:56:20,199 --> 00:56:23,159
he fully trusts the kids there, and he did insert

1232
00:56:23,239 --> 00:56:24,719
I think it was against the Thunder. He put Russ

1233
00:56:24,719 --> 00:56:27,199
in for Strawther for defensive reasons, which I get it,

1234
00:56:27,239 --> 00:56:30,079
Like Russ's had his moments to He's still for Netik there.

1235
00:56:30,559 --> 00:56:33,159
I don't think they've graduated either, and I would say

1236
00:56:33,159 --> 00:56:36,760
they're still just beholdened to the whims of ambiguity more

1237
00:56:36,800 --> 00:56:40,880
than any should be contender, like is supposed to be.

1238
00:56:41,159 --> 00:56:43,039
And I think the bigger issue here is that, okay,

1239
00:56:43,159 --> 00:56:46,679
even just look at what they're doing. I mean, you

1240
00:56:46,760 --> 00:56:48,599
said this, and that, we've said this, how many podcasts

1241
00:56:48,599 --> 00:56:50,440
now just like looking at the decisions they've made over

1242
00:56:50,480 --> 00:56:52,440
the past, you off seasons, even with their mini mL E,

1243
00:56:52,880 --> 00:56:55,199
you're now still beholden to the whims of Russell Westbrook,

1244
00:56:55,239 --> 00:56:57,840
which is it's just never a good thing. I'm sorry,

1245
00:56:57,840 --> 00:57:00,280
it's just post whatever he year twenty seventeen, and it's

1246
00:57:00,280 --> 00:57:03,280
just not a good thing. And I think the bigger

1247
00:57:03,320 --> 00:57:06,239
issue is, Okay, fine, this is the reality. This is

1248
00:57:06,280 --> 00:57:07,840
what you're trying to do. The front office has made

1249
00:57:07,920 --> 00:57:11,559
that clear, the fact that you can't count on like

1250
00:57:11,639 --> 00:57:15,480
your second or third most important offensive players to consistently

1251
00:57:15,519 --> 00:57:18,239
be the second or third most important version of them.

1252
00:57:18,239 --> 00:57:19,840
And look, if you think Aaron Gord is more important

1253
00:57:19,840 --> 00:57:22,719
than MPJA offensively, that's fine, but I'm talking about MPJ

1254
00:57:22,920 --> 00:57:25,960
and even more specifically, Jamal Murray, who needs to be

1255
00:57:26,440 --> 00:57:28,880
the second most important player offensively. And we need to

1256
00:57:28,880 --> 00:57:31,599
get to a point where we're talking about more than man.

1257
00:57:32,079 --> 00:57:34,440
His chemistry with Yokic is insane, and just look at

1258
00:57:34,440 --> 00:57:36,400
some of the big time moments he's had for a

1259
00:57:36,480 --> 00:57:38,880
championship caliber team in the postseason, a team that actually

1260
00:57:38,920 --> 00:57:41,440
won the title. We got to move beyond that. Like

1261
00:57:41,480 --> 00:57:43,280
it's we've reached the point of his career where it's

1262
00:57:43,360 --> 00:57:45,800
how do we separate what he is with Jokic, what

1263
00:57:45,840 --> 00:57:48,239
he has done in the past, versus if they're gonna

1264
00:57:48,280 --> 00:57:53,559
do this without sacrificing what's left of Yoki like sacrificing

1265
00:57:53,599 --> 00:57:56,280
a chunk of Yokic's title window. And I would say

1266
00:57:56,320 --> 00:57:58,679
it's generous to say what it. Booth basically says like, oh,

1267
00:57:58,719 --> 00:58:02,000
we think his title windows about half over nobody and

1268
00:58:02,119 --> 00:58:04,400
much one of these other guys turned into a superstar.

1269
00:58:04,840 --> 00:58:07,880
You've got title windows closed super fast. And I would say,

1270
00:58:08,039 --> 00:58:10,280
while Nicoliokachi is like he's built to age, well, you

1271
00:58:10,320 --> 00:58:13,159
have threatened to run him aground in the back a

1272
00:58:13,159 --> 00:58:18,400
half decade. So I'm I'm leaning towards peace with this

1273
00:58:18,440 --> 00:58:21,360
team because I guess maybe I'm, you know, really buying

1274
00:58:21,360 --> 00:58:24,320
into like kind of some of the recent performances, but

1275
00:58:24,519 --> 00:58:26,280
they're they're towing the line for me.

1276
00:58:26,920 --> 00:58:30,280
Speaker 2: They are I think, I think just Yoka's presence, I mean,

1277
00:58:30,320 --> 00:58:33,440
he won that Oklahoma City game, just forget the numbers,

1278
00:58:33,480 --> 00:58:35,280
like he just was in charge of what was happening

1279
00:58:35,360 --> 00:58:37,440
on the floor. If you have that guy, it's hard

1280
00:58:37,440 --> 00:58:39,639
to be too panicked. And the other thing is I

1281
00:58:39,880 --> 00:58:44,239
do think you can see like it's it feels like

1282
00:58:44,280 --> 00:58:46,880
it's nobody wants to be on Calvin Booth's side. It

1283
00:58:46,920 --> 00:58:49,719
doesn't seem like because of some of the decisions that

1284
00:58:49,760 --> 00:58:51,960
have been made, But I do think you can see

1285
00:58:52,679 --> 00:58:56,920
the vision of what he sort of thought might work

1286
00:58:57,480 --> 00:58:59,760
for this team, which is that Brown and Watson and

1287
00:58:59,760 --> 00:59:03,079
Strong other have to matter. Now it took injuries to

1288
00:59:03,079 --> 00:59:05,519
give them the opportunity to matter. But I do think,

1289
00:59:05,719 --> 00:59:08,760
you know, to varying degrees, Brown being the most significant,

1290
00:59:09,079 --> 00:59:13,719
those guys are contributing, and like that should should that continue?

1291
00:59:13,800 --> 00:59:16,480
I think then suddenly all the depth and the non

1292
00:59:16,559 --> 00:59:19,039
Jokic minutes and the lack of flexibility, all those things

1293
00:59:19,039 --> 00:59:21,599
that I raised this concerned matter less, because Okay, we've

1294
00:59:21,639 --> 00:59:24,119
got two or three younger guys that are cost control

1295
00:59:24,199 --> 00:59:27,199
than helping like and should continue to get better. So

1296
00:59:27,440 --> 00:59:29,440
I can see the I can see the outlines of

1297
00:59:29,480 --> 00:59:31,280
sort of what the theory of this. I keep saying

1298
00:59:31,320 --> 00:59:32,760
theory of the team, but I don't know. It's stuck

1299
00:59:32,760 --> 00:59:34,519
in my brain. I can see the outlines of it

1300
00:59:34,559 --> 00:59:36,159
with this group, So I think it's I think it's

1301
00:59:36,199 --> 00:59:37,760
a piece for me as well.

1302
00:59:38,039 --> 00:59:39,039
Speaker 3: This is no time up.

1303
00:59:39,039 --> 00:59:41,960
Speaker 1: Panic about the next team, though, Grant, as we move

1304
00:59:42,000 --> 00:59:45,800
on to your beloved Philadelphia seventy six.

1305
00:59:45,760 --> 00:59:50,000
Speaker 2: Ers, I mean, can we just skip to it? No?

1306
00:59:50,119 --> 00:59:53,519
So they look, the injuries are the story. They just

1307
00:59:53,679 --> 00:59:56,880
you you get Paul George back and Tyres Maxy strains

1308
00:59:56,880 --> 01:00:00,239
the hamstring. Joel Embiid is suspended at least we when

1309
01:00:00,280 --> 01:00:02,079
and Beat will be back. That'll happen on Tuesday.

1310
01:00:02,840 --> 01:00:05,599
Speaker 1: Is they're not some type of investigation into oh, he's

1311
01:00:05,599 --> 01:00:08,039
suddenly ready to play after he got suspended.

1312
01:00:08,440 --> 01:00:10,679
Speaker 2: This is a baseball thing. This is a baseball thing

1313
01:00:10,679 --> 01:00:13,760
where pitchers will get suspended for throwing it back or whatever.

1314
01:00:14,159 --> 01:00:16,119
And like they only pitch every five days, so if

1315
01:00:16,119 --> 01:00:18,960
they get like a suspension, it's just like, Okay, it's cool.

1316
01:00:19,000 --> 01:00:21,599
They're they're just not going to pitch then. Anyway, it's

1317
01:00:21,679 --> 01:00:23,519
very much what's happening here, Like and be probably wasn't

1318
01:00:23,519 --> 01:00:25,800
gonna play, so we'll just eat these suspension games that way.

1319
01:00:25,840 --> 01:00:28,000
That's what this is, right, isn't it?

1320
01:00:28,199 --> 01:00:30,639
Speaker 1: And I guess they covered themselves by kind of leaving

1321
01:00:30,679 --> 01:00:33,760
his status up in the air, like because it was

1322
01:00:33,760 --> 01:00:36,320
never Omb's out for X amount of time or definitely,

1323
01:00:36,599 --> 01:00:39,159
so they're allowed to do something like this. I just don't.

1324
01:00:39,719 --> 01:00:42,079
Speaker 2: I mean, so, like, I know the numbers are what

1325
01:00:42,119 --> 01:00:44,079
they are, and and I guess we could talk about

1326
01:00:44,159 --> 01:00:47,960
them if you want, but like the early season stats

1327
01:00:48,000 --> 01:00:50,440
are screwy anyway, and for this team, it's just like

1328
01:00:50,519 --> 01:00:54,840
it doesn't matter because like like no statistical well I

1329
01:00:54,840 --> 01:00:57,559
don't know, maybe there are some, but like what statistical

1330
01:00:58,079 --> 01:01:02,480
achievement or failure is actually like indicative of what this

1331
01:01:02,559 --> 01:01:05,039
team will be going forward because Embiid hasn't played yet

1332
01:01:05,119 --> 01:01:07,480
and like any second that matters for the Sixers, m

1333
01:01:07,480 --> 01:01:09,880
Bid will be on the floor and hopefully george An Maxi.

1334
01:01:10,000 --> 01:01:12,360
So it's like we actually don't have any sense of

1335
01:01:12,360 --> 01:01:15,119
what this team can be. But obviously then that the

1336
01:01:15,480 --> 01:01:17,400
problem is that we don't have any sense of what

1337
01:01:17,440 --> 01:01:19,360
this team can be because everybody's the guys.

1338
01:01:19,119 --> 01:01:19,880
Speaker 1: That matter are hurt.

1339
01:01:20,199 --> 01:01:24,199
Speaker 2: So like that's that's just that's the start, middle, and

1340
01:01:24,320 --> 01:01:26,119
end of the story for the Sixers at this point

1341
01:01:26,239 --> 01:01:29,119
is just the injuries make it impossible to know what

1342
01:01:29,119 --> 01:01:32,480
they are and the concern is that they'll just continue

1343
01:01:32,519 --> 01:01:34,519
to be like the injuries won't go away. I guess

1344
01:01:34,639 --> 01:01:37,199
is the if you're panicking, that's got to be why.

1345
01:01:37,400 --> 01:01:40,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, I even digging into their offense, which has been bad,

1346
01:01:41,079 --> 01:01:43,519
it's kind of like, all right, what are you trying

1347
01:01:43,519 --> 01:01:46,400
to take away from what what might stick? And they're

1348
01:01:46,400 --> 01:01:48,880
shooting forty percent on wide open threes, and so even

1349
01:01:48,880 --> 01:01:50,760
looking at the gou like so many players are missing

1350
01:01:50,760 --> 01:01:53,199
shots right now, So even looking at how much they've struggled,

1351
01:01:53,800 --> 01:01:57,039
even looking at the fact that they're not getting their

1352
01:01:57,079 --> 01:02:00,599
thirtieth in rim percentage and that's not you know, is like,

1353
01:02:01,280 --> 01:02:04,320
is a Joelle Ebiid and Paul George? How much are

1354
01:02:04,320 --> 01:02:06,679
they going to fix that? This version of Paul George?

1355
01:02:07,199 --> 01:02:11,039
But we haven't seen them together, if anything, Like, do

1356
01:02:11,079 --> 01:02:13,559
you come away from this team thinking that, oh, they

1357
01:02:13,599 --> 01:02:16,519
were playing kind of slow even with the version without

1358
01:02:16,519 --> 01:02:18,920
like two of their older stars. Are they just a

1359
01:02:18,960 --> 01:02:21,400
little bit older and not as athletic as you would

1360
01:02:21,440 --> 01:02:23,840
like them to be that maybe we were considering coming

1361
01:02:23,880 --> 01:02:25,599
into this or is it like do we just focus

1362
01:02:25,599 --> 01:02:27,639
purely on the injuries? I guess what I'm getting at

1363
01:02:27,719 --> 01:02:30,719
is is there any one thing about their struggles on

1364
01:02:30,760 --> 01:02:33,639
the floor that you're willing to monitor as they get

1365
01:02:33,719 --> 01:02:36,800
to full strength as I'm not sure if this is

1366
01:02:36,840 --> 01:02:37,199
a thing.

1367
01:02:38,239 --> 01:02:41,159
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's interesting, I would say, I feel like there's

1368
01:02:41,159 --> 01:02:45,000
been a lot of stuff pre injury about Maxi's struggles

1369
01:02:45,159 --> 01:02:49,079
as like as a as a creator, like getting into

1370
01:02:49,119 --> 01:02:50,559
the lane. I think there was a stat like he

1371
01:02:50,639 --> 01:02:54,880
had one assist the other night in which he touched

1372
01:02:54,880 --> 01:02:58,280
the paint and delivered a pass that resulted in a score.

1373
01:02:58,320 --> 01:03:00,840
Like he's not that like that, that's not something he

1374
01:03:00,920 --> 01:03:03,320
does well yet, Like he's just not a guy that

1375
01:03:03,400 --> 01:03:05,760
breaks the defense down and creates shots for other people.

1376
01:03:06,360 --> 01:03:10,000
So I would be worried about that, particularly if you're

1377
01:03:10,039 --> 01:03:13,239
asking him to like attack and advantage situations off of

1378
01:03:13,440 --> 01:03:17,480
having embid you know, draw doubles or whatever, Like are

1379
01:03:17,480 --> 01:03:22,239
they gonna have enough creation if Embiid isn't isn't like

1380
01:03:22,360 --> 01:03:25,559
an MVP level player, maybe just because George will help

1381
01:03:25,599 --> 01:03:28,239
with that. I don't know if I, I guess answer

1382
01:03:28,239 --> 01:03:29,599
your question. I don't know if I look at any

1383
01:03:29,599 --> 01:03:34,199
particular trend or stats so far and trust it to

1384
01:03:34,320 --> 01:03:37,599
like start being concerned about it just just like because

1385
01:03:37,639 --> 01:03:39,400
I can't. I don't know it. It's part of the

1386
01:03:39,440 --> 01:03:41,760
reason I haven't watched a ton of sixers so far

1387
01:03:41,920 --> 01:03:43,760
is because like what am I gonna learn about this

1388
01:03:43,800 --> 01:03:46,440
team that matters without Embiid and George on the floor,

1389
01:03:46,679 --> 01:03:49,400
Like that's like I just so you know, the pain,

1390
01:03:49,800 --> 01:03:53,719
this lack of speed, the slower stuff, you know, the

1391
01:03:53,719 --> 01:03:56,599
dearth of athleticism, Like, yeah, I could definitely see that

1392
01:03:56,639 --> 01:03:59,280
being an issue, But I just I don't know. I

1393
01:03:59,280 --> 01:04:03,800
guess I'm not ready to make huge judgments without seeing

1394
01:04:03,840 --> 01:04:06,800
the team as it's theoretically gonna look when the games

1395
01:04:06,840 --> 01:04:09,159
matter over lining.

1396
01:04:09,719 --> 01:04:12,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, being sixth in free throw a tenth three when

1397
01:04:12,519 --> 01:04:15,159
Joel e beat is yet to play compressive.

1398
01:04:14,920 --> 01:04:15,480
Speaker 2: That's great.

1399
01:04:15,559 --> 01:04:19,280
Speaker 1: Yeah it So it's just let's just say it's just

1400
01:04:19,320 --> 01:04:20,840
the injuries. Then is it piece or panic?

1401
01:04:20,880 --> 01:04:20,920
Speaker 2: This?

1402
01:04:21,119 --> 01:04:23,119
Speaker 1: We don't spend a lot of time as team. It's okay,

1403
01:04:23,159 --> 01:04:25,239
these guys will come back, but for how long? And

1404
01:04:25,440 --> 01:04:27,840
at this point? So Maxi's out? They say at least

1405
01:04:27,840 --> 01:04:30,760
two weeks with the hammy injury. Did do we see

1406
01:04:30,760 --> 01:04:32,639
the big three play together before Thanksgiving?

1407
01:04:33,199 --> 01:04:36,119
Speaker 2: So this is why? Uh, I don't know. I'll just

1408
01:04:36,199 --> 01:04:38,800
jump to it. It's still panic for me because I'm

1409
01:04:38,920 --> 01:04:39,679
going to drop.

1410
01:04:39,480 --> 01:04:44,039
Speaker 1: The do you enjoy this at all? I'm the only

1411
01:04:44,079 --> 01:04:45,920
one who's like, no, I'm very much enjoying it.

1412
01:04:45,960 --> 01:04:48,239
Speaker 2: That's why I stopped, so you can do it. Uh,

1413
01:04:49,239 --> 01:04:51,920
I just don't Why why are we confident that the

1414
01:04:51,920 --> 01:04:54,239
injury trend is going to reverse? Why do we think

1415
01:04:54,280 --> 01:04:56,679
that Okay, once Paul George and once Joel and beat

1416
01:04:56,719 --> 01:04:58,920
are back, it'll be fine. They won't play back to backs,

1417
01:04:58,920 --> 01:05:01,599
but you know, we're gonna get sick, Like I just

1418
01:05:02,360 --> 01:05:05,000
I don't think that's gonna happen. And this is a

1419
01:05:05,039 --> 01:05:07,840
team that's designed to win now immediately and the playoff

1420
01:05:07,840 --> 01:05:10,000
seeding stuff might matter, and that's gonna be hard with

1421
01:05:10,719 --> 01:05:12,800
one to two of these guys not playing all the time.

1422
01:05:13,599 --> 01:05:16,760
I am just concerned with a roster that I don't

1423
01:05:16,760 --> 01:05:19,119
believe can stay healthy at the top, like and I

1424
01:05:19,119 --> 01:05:21,119
don't know if the regular the start of the season

1425
01:05:21,159 --> 01:05:22,360
has a whole lot to do with that. I think

1426
01:05:22,400 --> 01:05:23,519
that was a concern all along.

1427
01:05:24,079 --> 01:05:26,840
Speaker 1: Well, do you know what's interesting? I think I think

1428
01:05:26,880 --> 01:05:29,119
it was Nate Duncan or Danny LaRue where both of

1429
01:05:29,119 --> 01:05:31,840
them are making this point the load manages stuff from

1430
01:05:31,880 --> 01:05:34,360
the sixers. It makes sense in theory. You know, you

1431
01:05:34,400 --> 01:05:36,920
want to see the stars play. Is the season too long?

1432
01:05:36,920 --> 01:05:38,519
These guys get paid enough money. I'm not trying to

1433
01:05:38,559 --> 01:05:42,599
have that discussion, but is the NBA built for teams

1434
01:05:42,599 --> 01:05:44,639
to do that anymore? With so much parody? Because their

1435
01:05:44,719 --> 01:05:47,119
point was and I think we it bears this out

1436
01:05:47,159 --> 01:05:48,880
when you look at the standings. I mean in the

1437
01:05:48,880 --> 01:05:51,800
Eastern Conference. As we're recording this, the Pacers are at

1438
01:05:51,840 --> 01:05:54,159
five hundred and they have a third seed in the East.

1439
01:05:54,639 --> 01:05:58,719
It just feels like there's fewer bankable wins on the table. Now.

1440
01:05:58,800 --> 01:06:01,960
Later in the season, maybe that changes as Chicago and

1441
01:06:02,000 --> 01:06:04,320
Brooklyn kind of have their come to Jesus, you know,

1442
01:06:04,719 --> 01:06:08,480
trades like fire sales. But as of right now, you're

1443
01:06:09,199 --> 01:06:12,480
conceding ground that you were already kind of working if

1444
01:06:12,519 --> 01:06:14,920
you thought Juwon b was gonna miss twenty games regardless,

1445
01:06:15,119 --> 01:06:17,320
you're already kind of working with a slim margin for error.

1446
01:06:17,360 --> 01:06:19,519
And that's why I am with you that you have

1447
01:06:19,559 --> 01:06:21,400
to panic, because one, you can't bank on these guys

1448
01:06:21,400 --> 01:06:23,639
being available. And it's a fair question that by the

1449
01:06:23,639 --> 01:06:26,280
time Joeanbe comes back, how many wins do you have,

1450
01:06:26,800 --> 01:06:28,639
and like, do you just have enough time to make

1451
01:06:28,719 --> 01:06:32,440
up the gap to be avoid to play in essentially.

1452
01:06:32,079 --> 01:06:33,880
Speaker 3: So this is a perfect of panic.

1453
01:06:34,199 --> 01:06:36,039
Speaker 1: Our next team, grant. These next two teams are tough

1454
01:06:36,039 --> 01:06:37,639
for me. I don't know how you feel about them. Yeah,

1455
01:06:37,679 --> 01:06:40,039
this was your nomination. I didn't have them in here,

1456
01:06:40,079 --> 01:06:42,840
I think because my expectations for them were were low.

1457
01:06:43,440 --> 01:06:46,119
Is this Our expectations were low, but holy f moment?

1458
01:06:46,199 --> 01:06:48,360
Is it a did Dan and Grant record the segment

1459
01:06:48,360 --> 01:06:50,960
of are the Lakers trying to are they proving everybody wrong?

1460
01:06:51,039 --> 01:06:53,280
Did we jump the shark on that one? What happen?

1461
01:06:53,599 --> 01:06:56,079
Speaker 2: That's just how fast things change. The three and zero

1462
01:06:56,119 --> 01:06:57,960
start gave way to a one and four road trip

1463
01:06:58,159 --> 01:07:02,079
in which the only was a single digitter over the Raptors.

1464
01:07:02,519 --> 01:07:07,320
So not a great follow up to what looked like

1465
01:07:07,400 --> 01:07:10,000
and sold me. I think to some extent, Oh my god,

1466
01:07:10,320 --> 01:07:12,559
JJ Reddick has got this wired tight. He's got the

1467
01:07:12,599 --> 01:07:14,760
Lakers doing what they need to do. Anthony Davis has

1468
01:07:14,800 --> 01:07:17,400
empowered Austin Reeves, like all this stuff we talked about

1469
01:07:17,440 --> 01:07:20,920
like not that long ago at all. It's just some

1470
01:07:21,079 --> 01:07:24,320
of the some of the most I don't know, not

1471
01:07:24,559 --> 01:07:26,800
jarring because it's like maybe you could have seen this coming.

1472
01:07:26,840 --> 01:07:30,440
But like, concerning numbers, this is the worst transition defense

1473
01:07:30,440 --> 01:07:33,800
in the league in terms of opponent points added per

1474
01:07:33,800 --> 01:07:37,320
one hundred possessions, twenty ninth in frequency, thirtieth in points

1475
01:07:37,320 --> 01:07:39,880
allowed per play. Like, I mean, if this is the

1476
01:07:39,880 --> 01:07:42,159
only issue, I guess that's sort of an optimistic thing

1477
01:07:42,159 --> 01:07:44,239
because you can just like say, hey, Fellas, get back

1478
01:07:44,280 --> 01:07:48,199
and maybe you can be the twentieth transition defense instead

1479
01:07:48,239 --> 01:07:50,840
of dead last. Can't be that hard to fix. And

1480
01:07:50,920 --> 01:07:53,519
this is the number twelve half court defense, So like, okay,

1481
01:07:53,599 --> 01:07:55,320
that's you know, better than they were a year ago.

1482
01:07:55,360 --> 01:07:58,679
They were sixteenth last year. I don't know if that

1483
01:07:58,800 --> 01:08:02,239
changes any of the like bigger concerns we had coming

1484
01:08:02,320 --> 01:08:05,480
into the season about can Lebron and Ad stay healthy.

1485
01:08:05,519 --> 01:08:07,719
AD's got a foot thing already that I think he's

1486
01:08:07,719 --> 01:08:11,440
going to play through, but not great When it is

1487
01:08:11,440 --> 01:08:14,559
never no and it's it's been around since last year,

1488
01:08:14,599 --> 01:08:16,199
it's like okay, cool, Well, like why are you play

1489
01:08:16,199 --> 01:08:20,760
in the Olympics? Then, I don't know that was We

1490
01:08:20,800 --> 01:08:23,479
had a fun ride with the Olympics anyway. But so

1491
01:08:25,800 --> 01:08:27,920
I guess I'm having a hard time choosing between the

1492
01:08:27,960 --> 01:08:31,000
extremes of the good start and the brutal road trip.

1493
01:08:34,119 --> 01:08:34,640
Speaker 1: So I don't know.

1494
01:08:34,680 --> 01:08:36,840
Speaker 2: I'll throw to you, like we've got the numbers. The

1495
01:08:36,880 --> 01:08:39,880
transition stuff is a big deal. Is there anything else

1496
01:08:39,920 --> 01:08:43,000
that's like standing out as what are the other reasons

1497
01:08:43,000 --> 01:08:45,079
we're even having this conversation about the Lakers. If we

1498
01:08:45,159 --> 01:08:47,119
just ditch the record and talk about like what's actually

1499
01:08:47,159 --> 01:08:47,920
happening with.

1500
01:08:48,039 --> 01:08:51,039
Speaker 1: Well, how many? Here's my question. It might this is

1501
01:08:51,039 --> 01:08:53,720
probably a little too basic, especially for the way this

1502
01:08:53,720 --> 01:08:58,840
podcast conducts itself. But who do you trust outside of Ruey, Lebron,

1503
01:08:59,119 --> 01:09:00,399
A d and Eves.

1504
01:09:01,039 --> 01:09:03,520
Speaker 2: I can tell you JJ Reddick does not trust D'Angelo Russell.

1505
01:09:03,640 --> 01:09:05,800
We'll learned that six minutes in the second half the

1506
01:09:05,880 --> 01:09:07,600
other night. Did you see did you seen the video

1507
01:09:07,840 --> 01:09:11,119
of Reddick like like in the chair in his coach's

1508
01:09:11,199 --> 01:09:14,119
chair as Russell like just goes to sleep for the

1509
01:09:14,159 --> 01:09:16,600
third time in a row and it's backcut or doesn't

1510
01:09:16,640 --> 01:09:19,359
play defense, he's like slamming the chair cushion. Have you

1511
01:09:19,399 --> 01:09:20,399
seen this video yet?

1512
01:09:20,640 --> 01:09:22,399
Speaker 1: I have not seen the video. I did see the

1513
01:09:22,439 --> 01:09:25,399
clip of his like he wasn't shy about talking about it.

1514
01:09:25,520 --> 01:09:29,119
He complimented Lebron too. Yeah, maybe trying to pad those

1515
01:09:29,159 --> 01:09:32,560
future podcasts downloads once once Lebron and he retire or something.

1516
01:09:32,600 --> 01:09:35,399
But he so I respect it, by the way, Like

1517
01:09:35,439 --> 01:09:39,119
that's just I I appreciate when coaches do that. I

1518
01:09:39,159 --> 01:09:42,239
know the optics the Bron's bread and but ed he's

1519
01:09:42,239 --> 01:09:45,199
a first time coach. But what is everyone's complaint been

1520
01:09:45,279 --> 01:09:47,399
with the Angel Russell is probably exactly one of those.

1521
01:09:47,479 --> 01:09:49,840
Is like the biggest things of just falling asleep taking

1522
01:09:49,880 --> 01:09:51,279
bad shots a lot of the time. On offense, he

1523
01:09:51,319 --> 01:09:52,840
goes on those heaters and it's fine, but like he

1524
01:09:52,920 --> 01:09:55,920
just falls asleep or doesn't look like he's engaged on defense.

1525
01:09:57,239 --> 01:10:00,359
Speaker 2: Reddick's fate like it's a two minute clip from the

1526
01:10:00,359 --> 01:10:04,319
presser where he gets asked about Ultimately he gets up

1527
01:10:04,560 --> 01:10:06,239
like the question is like, what are you going to

1528
01:10:06,279 --> 01:10:08,560
talk to the team about the effort level or whatever,

1529
01:10:08,560 --> 01:10:10,239
and he goes, I just did, and then like drops

1530
01:10:10,239 --> 01:10:13,119
the mic and walks off like that this that presser

1531
01:10:13,520 --> 01:10:15,680
two minutes prior to that, he's being asked a question.

1532
01:10:15,840 --> 01:10:20,119
His face is like if if you were looking at him,

1533
01:10:20,199 --> 01:10:23,119
you would think that he's like it's taking every shred

1534
01:10:23,479 --> 01:10:27,239
of restraint for him not to just like chew his

1535
01:10:27,279 --> 01:10:29,880
own tongue off in frustrating. He's just like his face

1536
01:10:30,079 --> 01:10:34,039
so like so tense and tight, like like the jaw

1537
01:10:34,119 --> 01:10:36,800
muscles are strained as he's listening to this question and

1538
01:10:36,840 --> 01:10:38,560
all you you know, all he's thinking about is like

1539
01:10:38,600 --> 01:10:41,319
I'm so angry right now about how we play, Like

1540
01:10:41,359 --> 01:10:44,960
I can't hold it together. He's gonna put some all

1541
01:10:45,039 --> 01:10:48,840
time press conference faces, uh into the pantheon. I'm I'm

1542
01:10:48,840 --> 01:10:52,119
convinced already as a first year head coach, Like and

1543
01:10:52,199 --> 01:10:55,479
I think it's actually good because he's he It's gonna

1544
01:10:55,520 --> 01:10:58,520
take like some come to Jesus talks to get some

1545
01:10:58,600 --> 01:11:00,720
of the stuff ironed out. And maybe you can't get

1546
01:11:00,800 --> 01:11:03,159
D'Angelo Russell to try all the time, Like maybe that's

1547
01:11:03,199 --> 01:11:06,399
just not possible, like I mean, his career would suggest

1548
01:11:06,520 --> 01:11:09,520
like no one's ever done it. No one's ever managed

1549
01:11:09,560 --> 01:11:12,600
to get max effort from that guy over a full season.

1550
01:11:12,640 --> 01:11:16,159
It can't have it happen. So like maybe Reddick being

1551
01:11:16,279 --> 01:11:19,319
like looking like the angriest version of Quinn Snyder sometimes

1552
01:11:19,359 --> 01:11:22,159
like Quinn Snyder's had some faces too, Maybe that gets

1553
01:11:22,159 --> 01:11:25,239
it done. Maybe it doesn't. Surely they can fix the

1554
01:11:25,239 --> 01:11:27,720
transition defense, like that's the whole team thing. You gotta

1555
01:11:27,720 --> 01:11:29,199
be able to fix that. And if you can do that,

1556
01:11:29,359 --> 01:11:33,119
then I'm less concerned. But man, like, who do I trust?

1557
01:11:33,119 --> 01:11:35,159
I don't trust anyone other than who you said to

1558
01:11:35,520 --> 01:11:38,039
the circle all the way back, and I certainly don't

1559
01:11:38,039 --> 01:11:40,960
trust Russell, like that's just he's he was signed to

1560
01:11:41,000 --> 01:11:43,119
that deal to be traded and then they couldn't trade him.

1561
01:11:43,319 --> 01:11:45,680
It's just he's gotta go now, right, Isn't that where

1562
01:11:45,680 --> 01:11:46,279
this is going?

1563
01:11:46,680 --> 01:11:49,800
Speaker 1: Where are you going on for who? I mean the

1564
01:11:49,840 --> 01:11:52,600
expiring contract shore, But what's the I mean, we can

1565
01:11:52,680 --> 01:11:54,840
mention Zach Lavine again or whatever, but do you view

1566
01:11:54,920 --> 01:11:57,720
that as okay? The offense is ticked it down from

1567
01:11:57,720 --> 01:11:59,600
where they were, and they could certainly use his three

1568
01:11:59,600 --> 01:12:01,439
point five volume. This is I think it's clear. I

1569
01:12:01,439 --> 01:12:03,920
don't know what we were anyone was necessarily expecting Reddick

1570
01:12:03,960 --> 01:12:06,640
to do. But you're not going to coax three point

1571
01:12:06,680 --> 01:12:09,520
volume out of this roster. They're taking a fewer percentage

1572
01:12:09,560 --> 01:12:11,199
of their shots from three than they did this year.

1573
01:12:11,239 --> 01:12:14,079
Now they've replaced that with some looks at the rim,

1574
01:12:14,119 --> 01:12:17,640
which is great, So you kudos there, but I don't.

1575
01:12:17,840 --> 01:12:20,800
I just don't know the reason to be. My expectations

1576
01:12:20,800 --> 01:12:22,199
were probably like this is where they would be, and

1577
01:12:22,239 --> 01:12:25,359
I think I probably overreacted to their start. So I'm

1578
01:12:25,800 --> 01:12:28,000
I'm not inclined to panic just because I don't know

1579
01:12:28,039 --> 01:12:29,079
what else the Lakers.

1580
01:12:29,239 --> 01:12:30,560
Speaker 3: This is no timed up panic.

1581
01:12:31,920 --> 01:12:33,880
Speaker 2: I agree. I think it's I think it's a it's

1582
01:12:33,960 --> 01:12:36,000
piece for me hit it.

1583
01:12:36,039 --> 01:12:37,359
Speaker 3: This is no timed up panic.

1584
01:12:38,520 --> 01:12:41,920
Speaker 2: And part of that is, uh, they still have a

1585
01:12:41,960 --> 01:12:43,960
trade to make now we've just said, like, well what,

1586
01:12:44,319 --> 01:12:47,760
but I think like just having that out they have,

1587
01:12:47,920 --> 01:12:50,399
they have stuff to do, Like if it becomes clear

1588
01:12:50,439 --> 01:12:52,760
that Russell just can't be on this team anymore, and

1589
01:12:52,840 --> 01:12:57,399
like you're gonna diminish his already diminished value by basically

1590
01:12:57,399 --> 01:13:00,199
benching him, like they can make a move. So like,

1591
01:13:00,199 --> 01:13:01,880
I don't know if that means it's panic if you're

1592
01:13:01,880 --> 01:13:05,000
making a sort of panic trade, but they have an out,

1593
01:13:05,000 --> 01:13:07,199
and I'm less inclined to panic if I think a

1594
01:13:07,239 --> 01:13:09,479
team can sort of clean up some of the personnel

1595
01:13:09,520 --> 01:13:10,439
if it really wants.

1596
01:13:10,239 --> 01:13:12,239
Speaker 1: Do you trust them to actually make a trade.

1597
01:13:11,920 --> 01:13:13,720
Speaker 2: That I don't know that I don't know. I wish

1598
01:13:13,760 --> 01:13:15,640
they'd done it before, done it sooner.

1599
01:13:15,800 --> 01:13:17,720
Speaker 1: Our final full team before we get to some quick

1600
01:13:17,800 --> 01:13:22,159
hitter is grant. I'm heat. I I'm not gonna lie.

1601
01:13:22,279 --> 01:13:24,239
I've said this that I just can't get a sense

1602
01:13:24,680 --> 01:13:26,760
of what this team is, either how bad they are

1603
01:13:26,880 --> 01:13:29,319
or how good they are. Whenever I watch them. It

1604
01:13:29,399 --> 01:13:32,359
feels like I've said this before. They don't have an

1605
01:13:32,359 --> 01:13:36,000
identity right now, they're below averaging offense and defense. Opponents

1606
01:13:36,000 --> 01:13:38,159
aren't even shooting that well at the river from three

1607
01:13:38,560 --> 01:13:40,960
right now, when you watch them, it does feel like

1608
01:13:41,000 --> 01:13:43,399
there's not the same level of I don't know if

1609
01:13:43,399 --> 01:13:45,880
the urgency is the right word, but like really just

1610
01:13:46,159 --> 01:13:48,800
locked in, like, oh, those rotations are on point and

1611
01:13:48,840 --> 01:13:51,600
they're not going to get thrown off by what opposing

1612
01:13:51,600 --> 01:13:54,079
teams are doing as much. And so that's kind of

1613
01:13:54,359 --> 01:13:57,359
you know, that is supposed to be your identity, because

1614
01:13:57,359 --> 01:13:59,399
we knew that there would be a slog for this

1615
01:13:59,439 --> 01:14:02,640
team on offense, but to be at this point defensively

1616
01:14:02,680 --> 01:14:06,960
where you don't necessarily trust like your ability to yeah, okay,

1617
01:14:07,000 --> 01:14:09,119
this is still a team that has the personnel to

1618
01:14:09,119 --> 01:14:12,479
where they could force some turnovers and create chaos that way.

1619
01:14:12,520 --> 01:14:15,279
But when you're really just like you're going through most

1620
01:14:15,359 --> 01:14:17,279
especially in third quarters. That was one of my other points.

1621
01:14:17,279 --> 01:14:19,800
They've had some really bad third quarters here, and there's

1622
01:14:19,800 --> 01:14:22,039
still a team that does a good job of limiting

1623
01:14:22,079 --> 01:14:24,720
looks at the rim and okay, like maybe there's like,

1624
01:14:24,920 --> 01:14:26,560
could you take in a little bit of luck from

1625
01:14:26,720 --> 01:14:29,399
our team's gonna shoot a trillion percent from it range

1626
01:14:29,439 --> 01:14:33,600
the entire season Okay, maybe not, but there's just something

1627
01:14:33,760 --> 01:14:37,239
inherently off about this team. You have some guys who

1628
01:14:37,239 --> 01:14:39,880
are just frankly not making shots. I think anyone who's

1629
01:14:39,880 --> 01:14:43,439
watched Jimmy Butler can sense that. Okay, there's still a

1630
01:14:43,600 --> 01:14:46,399
switch he could flip. He just doesn't flip it until

1631
01:14:46,479 --> 01:14:48,399
the fourth quarter. But if you look at some of

1632
01:14:48,399 --> 01:14:52,000
his splits, like scoring splits, like compared to the fourth quarter,

1633
01:14:52,600 --> 01:14:56,920
it's fucking wild. And I don't this is where I'm

1634
01:14:56,960 --> 01:14:59,640
at with them, and I'm curious as to where you lean.

1635
01:14:59,680 --> 01:15:02,279
By the way, there's some like weird band concerns here.

1636
01:15:02,319 --> 01:15:03,880
I don't know if the Heat are trying too hard

1637
01:15:04,199 --> 01:15:05,720
to be a five out team when they don't have

1638
01:15:05,720 --> 01:15:07,960
the personnel to do it. This is his most efficient

1639
01:15:08,000 --> 01:15:10,560
season ever. It doesn't help that Nikole Yovich has not

1640
01:15:10,560 --> 01:15:13,840
shot the ball well. I think Tyler Hero looks good.

1641
01:15:13,920 --> 01:15:15,560
We've seen a lot more of pel Larson than I

1642
01:15:15,600 --> 01:15:17,760
ever thought as a Pel Larson fan that we would

1643
01:15:17,760 --> 01:15:19,880
ever see. And so my question kind of here is

1644
01:15:21,039 --> 01:15:22,800
it's not even can this be solved in house? That

1645
01:15:22,880 --> 01:15:25,119
is the question we're asking. But when I look at

1646
01:15:25,119 --> 01:15:27,800
this team, I'm starting to think, oh, they need a

1647
01:15:27,800 --> 01:15:30,960
best player? Is that too over the top?

1648
01:15:31,840 --> 01:15:34,640
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, if it's not, it was Jimmy Butler,

1649
01:15:34,920 --> 01:15:39,680
and like, I don't I just don't know that in

1650
01:15:39,720 --> 01:15:43,199
his age thirty five season and given the injuries that

1651
01:15:43,239 --> 01:15:47,319
have just you know, factored into the last five years,

1652
01:15:47,520 --> 01:15:50,000
more than that you can can based on how he's

1653
01:15:50,000 --> 01:15:52,760
looked so far this season overall, like eighteen a game

1654
01:15:52,880 --> 01:15:55,760
that's not enough, like and the relying on the switch

1655
01:15:55,800 --> 01:15:58,119
flipping thing, like, Okay, you still got to get to

1656
01:15:58,199 --> 01:16:00,159
the games where it's worth flipping a switch. And if

1657
01:16:00,199 --> 01:16:02,319
you continue down this road, that's you're not going to

1658
01:16:02,399 --> 01:16:04,760
get there. You're going to make your seating even for

1659
01:16:04,800 --> 01:16:06,840
the heat, you know, you might make your seating such

1660
01:16:06,880 --> 01:16:08,920
that it's just too hard to get there. They've overcome

1661
01:16:08,920 --> 01:16:11,399
that in the past. The BAM thing is what's really

1662
01:16:11,600 --> 01:16:13,680
strange to me. I wanted to double check this, like

1663
01:16:14,159 --> 01:16:16,760
because he it's it's improved since, but there was a

1664
01:16:16,800 --> 01:16:19,279
minute there. He had a big game recently where he

1665
01:16:19,359 --> 01:16:22,439
was like fourth in shot attempts on the team, and

1666
01:16:22,479 --> 01:16:27,079
I just and like, I don't certain the theory of

1667
01:16:27,119 --> 01:16:28,960
like how do we take the next step? Can't just

1668
01:16:29,000 --> 01:16:31,880
be Tyler hero shoots more and makes more like that

1669
01:16:32,159 --> 01:16:33,880
it was going to always need to be BAM taking

1670
01:16:33,880 --> 01:16:36,279
the offensive step forward. And he's still under forty percent

1671
01:16:36,319 --> 01:16:38,920
from the field. He's not making threes, he's only taking

1672
01:16:38,960 --> 01:16:42,840
two a game. That it may just be the fixation

1673
01:16:42,960 --> 01:16:45,760
on the five out or something that's like yeah again,

1674
01:16:46,079 --> 01:16:48,560
heart totally will conceive. This is a hard team for

1675
01:16:48,560 --> 01:16:51,079
me to get a read on. But something does feel off.

1676
01:16:51,479 --> 01:16:54,640
Doesn't feel like they're maximizing their best players for BAM

1677
01:16:54,640 --> 01:16:58,920
in particular, but like a lot has gone right too,

1678
01:16:59,199 --> 01:17:02,720
Like Tyler Heroes making everything that he puts up, shooting

1679
01:17:02,760 --> 01:17:05,640
forty five percent from three, making half his shots from

1680
01:17:05,680 --> 01:17:08,439
the field, leading him and scoring by a pretty healthy margin.

1681
01:17:08,560 --> 01:17:10,960
Terry Rozier is almost a forty percent from three. Like,

1682
01:17:11,000 --> 01:17:14,159
there's a lot of stuff has gone well, you know,

1683
01:17:14,479 --> 01:17:17,159
around the periphery, but this is still just like, I

1684
01:17:17,199 --> 01:17:19,239
don't know what this team is. This seems not great

1685
01:17:19,279 --> 01:17:21,680
at anything. You would have thought it'd be defense, but

1686
01:17:21,720 --> 01:17:23,960
maybe Hero playing a bigger role makes that impossible.

1687
01:17:24,000 --> 01:17:26,199
Speaker 1: I don't know that was the Yeah, it's like, is

1688
01:17:26,239 --> 01:17:28,600
that is that a symptom of the defense is that

1689
01:17:28,600 --> 01:17:30,439
we've seen a lot of okay, you're gonna have Terry

1690
01:17:30,520 --> 01:17:32,359
Rozier and Tyler Hero on the floor together. Is that

1691
01:17:32,479 --> 01:17:35,479
just something they have to come to accept now then

1692
01:17:36,520 --> 01:17:38,920
not those minutes, but like, okay, the defense is just going.

1693
01:17:38,840 --> 01:17:40,920
Speaker 2: To be Yeah, I mean this is I mean.

1694
01:17:40,800 --> 01:17:44,319
Speaker 1: The starting lineup, by the way, is getting annihilated this year.

1695
01:17:44,359 --> 01:17:46,880
They're like a minus fifteen plus points per one hundred possessions.

1696
01:17:46,920 --> 01:17:47,279
It's bad.

1697
01:17:47,680 --> 01:17:50,359
Speaker 2: Well, I mean back when the Heat this is probably

1698
01:17:50,399 --> 01:17:52,760
two three years ago now, I distinctly remember we had

1699
01:17:52,760 --> 01:17:55,640
the conversation. It was probably in like a playoff preview

1700
01:17:55,720 --> 01:17:59,399
setting of the Heat, great defense, how do they score enough?

1701
01:17:59,399 --> 01:18:01,760
It's like, oh, well, Tyler Hero, maybe he was coming

1702
01:18:01,800 --> 01:18:03,760
back from injury or something. It's always good, Like that's

1703
01:18:03,800 --> 01:18:06,239
your guy. He's going to come in and be an

1704
01:18:06,239 --> 01:18:08,960
attention drawer on offense and a shot maker. But that's

1705
01:18:09,039 --> 01:18:11,720
going to compromise your defense. Is it worth it? Is

1706
01:18:11,760 --> 01:18:13,880
the trade off? Worth it? And that's the Tyler Hero

1707
01:18:14,000 --> 01:18:17,159
conversation with the Heat for several years and so far,

1708
01:18:17,279 --> 01:18:20,479
it's like, I don't know, maybe not because like he

1709
01:18:20,520 --> 01:18:22,880
can't really shoot it, he can't shoot it better than this,

1710
01:18:23,199 --> 01:18:25,600
Like that's just you know, not realistic. Over any kind

1711
01:18:25,640 --> 01:18:29,119
of sustained stretch and if if, now, maybe it's unfair

1712
01:18:29,159 --> 01:18:31,520
to put all the defensive struggles on him, certainly it is,

1713
01:18:31,560 --> 01:18:34,600
but like he's not helping on defense, so maybe that's

1714
01:18:34,680 --> 01:18:36,600
just this is just what you're going to get. This

1715
01:18:36,680 --> 01:18:39,000
is the trade off, And if Butler's not a superstar

1716
01:18:39,039 --> 01:18:41,159
anymore and Bam is not the best version of himself,

1717
01:18:41,199 --> 01:18:43,640
then that trade off is actually not worth it. I

1718
01:18:43,680 --> 01:18:45,399
don't know that that's just just fitballing.

1719
01:18:45,840 --> 01:18:48,119
Speaker 1: I do sometimes you would. I mean, the free throw

1720
01:18:48,159 --> 01:18:50,359
shooting for this team has been inexplicable as well. But

1721
01:18:50,920 --> 01:18:53,039
I sometimes wonder if like what we're seeing from Bam

1722
01:18:53,079 --> 01:18:55,520
feels like it might be more to do with how

1723
01:18:55,520 --> 01:18:58,159
they're using him of what the Heat are trying to be.

1724
01:18:58,920 --> 01:19:01,039
And but even if even if you don't want them

1725
01:19:01,079 --> 01:19:02,560
to be a five out team, like what is the

1726
01:19:02,720 --> 01:19:05,520
like is it just we want to play Hakes instead

1727
01:19:05,520 --> 01:19:09,000
of Yovic in certain minutes, like they've gone to like

1728
01:19:09,079 --> 01:19:11,560
a bunch of different lines there. I know that I saw.

1729
01:19:11,960 --> 01:19:13,279
I don't know if these were Heat fans are just

1730
01:19:13,319 --> 01:19:16,399
people on social media we're calling like Khalil Waer needs

1731
01:19:16,399 --> 01:19:20,039
to play. I don't think that like maybe you're defense

1732
01:19:20,119 --> 01:19:21,920
in like if you're going from Jovic to him, or

1733
01:19:21,960 --> 01:19:24,399
certainly if you're gonna break up the dual guards and

1734
01:19:24,479 --> 01:19:26,800
try and play him. But I just don't know, like

1735
01:19:27,760 --> 01:19:30,960
is it just inserting. Look, they've had some success with

1736
01:19:31,000 --> 01:19:33,359
like a couple of like the BAM and No Jimmy units,

1737
01:19:33,520 --> 01:19:35,359
Like that's not going to be the answer. So part

1738
01:19:35,399 --> 01:19:39,199
of me wonders is this summer early season noise. I'm

1739
01:19:39,239 --> 01:19:42,239
inclined if you thought the heat we're gonna And by

1740
01:19:42,239 --> 01:19:43,680
the way, the other thing that I think is factory

1741
01:19:43,720 --> 01:19:47,000
into how I feel about them very quickly if the

1742
01:19:47,039 --> 01:19:49,199
problem isn't in the house, Like what is the trade

1743
01:19:49,840 --> 01:19:51,920
they can get to? I think they can open up

1744
01:19:51,960 --> 01:19:54,760
two first round picks to trade if they really want to,

1745
01:19:54,880 --> 01:19:58,560
and they're going to be conditional. Okay, great, So it's

1746
01:19:58,600 --> 01:20:01,600
two picks in first rounders and what is that? Excuse me,

1747
01:20:01,600 --> 01:20:04,399
it's two picks in salary and who and the fact

1748
01:20:04,399 --> 01:20:08,079
that if you actually believe is I'm starting to, I

1749
01:20:08,079 --> 01:20:10,119
guess I'm not there yet that they need a best player.

1750
01:20:10,520 --> 01:20:12,560
They don't have enough to trade for a best player.

1751
01:20:13,079 --> 01:20:16,039
Speaker 2: Well, and conversely, what they do have is an expiring

1752
01:20:16,079 --> 01:20:19,119
cont essentially in Jimmy Butler that you could trade to

1753
01:20:19,119 --> 01:20:22,840
go the other way like that, that's way more feasible, plausible,

1754
01:20:23,119 --> 01:20:26,159
whatever able. Then the go get the guy who's better

1755
01:20:26,199 --> 01:20:29,239
than anyone we have right like that, that that you're

1756
01:20:29,279 --> 01:20:31,760
going steering into it, which is weird because it's not

1757
01:20:31,840 --> 01:20:35,319
like the Heater loaded with, like, you know, a bunch

1758
01:20:35,359 --> 01:20:37,600
of other cheap young guys that they can build around,

1759
01:20:37,680 --> 01:20:41,319
Like the teardown trade is just way more like I

1760
01:20:41,359 --> 01:20:42,359
don't know, foreseeable.

1761
01:20:42,600 --> 01:20:47,640
Speaker 1: Maybe yeah, I don't. I'm gonna go with I don't

1762
01:20:47,680 --> 01:20:49,760
know what if my expectations weren't super high for them

1763
01:20:49,760 --> 01:20:50,800
to be, I don't know what to do. What is

1764
01:20:50,840 --> 01:20:51,600
your verdict here?

1765
01:20:52,520 --> 01:20:55,640
Speaker 2: My thought is kind of along the same lines is

1766
01:20:55,800 --> 01:20:58,800
if a team has outs, which I guess trading Butler

1767
01:20:58,840 --> 01:21:01,960
would be an out here, I'm less inclined to panic,

1768
01:21:02,000 --> 01:21:04,560
so I'm gonna go peace. But that's also partly because

1769
01:21:04,600 --> 01:21:07,159
I don't think I believe the Heat were gonna be

1770
01:21:08,000 --> 01:21:10,039
a top four in the East team anyway, and they've

1771
01:21:10,039 --> 01:21:12,039
got every chance of just being a play in. They

1772
01:21:12,039 --> 01:21:13,600
got every chance of being kind of what they've been

1773
01:21:13,640 --> 01:21:15,159
the last couple of years seating.

1774
01:21:14,840 --> 01:21:17,760
Speaker 1: Wise, Grant said it. I'm just gonna ride the coatails

1775
01:21:17,800 --> 01:21:21,319
of it. It's justic I really I could probably talk

1776
01:21:21,359 --> 01:21:23,079
myself into panicking though, So you know what I'm gonna throw.

1777
01:21:25,520 --> 01:21:27,239
I just I don't know that they have outs because

1778
01:21:27,239 --> 01:21:29,439
if the out, they don't rebuild, So like trading Butler

1779
01:21:29,600 --> 01:21:32,520
not an out to me. We have some quick hitters here.

1780
01:21:32,560 --> 01:21:35,039
Did you want to alternate like new style? Just no justification?

1781
01:21:35,159 --> 01:21:37,039
We could throw it to each other. Are you are

1782
01:21:36,920 --> 01:21:40,439
you panicking here? And uh, I gotta start it off

1783
01:21:40,720 --> 01:21:44,720
Grant piece or panic on chet Holmgren's three point volume

1784
01:21:44,760 --> 01:21:45,800
men percentage at the moment?

1785
01:21:46,279 --> 01:21:49,039
Speaker 2: Uh? Peace? Not concerned? He's does so much else well

1786
01:21:49,920 --> 01:21:52,239
that like he need keep be an adequate three point shooter.

1787
01:21:52,319 --> 01:21:53,560
And I'm like, I'm good with it.

1788
01:21:54,039 --> 01:21:55,680
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna throw up the for we have like

1789
01:21:55,720 --> 01:21:57,840
twenty here. I'm not throwing up the toy story thing

1790
01:21:57,880 --> 01:21:58,119
for all.

1791
01:21:59,520 --> 01:22:03,960
Speaker 2: I mean ask Tyres Haliburn looking passive? Uh not? Nothing

1792
01:22:03,960 --> 01:22:08,119
close to pre Hamstring Tyres from last year. Well I'll

1793
01:22:08,119 --> 01:22:10,960
start with that. What Tyre's Haliburn? Are we concerned?

1794
01:22:11,479 --> 01:22:14,199
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do peace, But I'm getting closer and closer

1795
01:22:14,239 --> 01:22:16,760
to to panicking on that one. He just he looks

1796
01:22:16,800 --> 01:22:17,439
out of sorts.

1797
01:22:17,680 --> 01:22:20,239
Speaker 2: What about Indie overall? Just package it up.

1798
01:22:20,760 --> 01:22:25,159
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna say peace because they have outs,

1799
01:22:25,239 --> 01:22:27,159
like they can make traits to get in. We know

1800
01:22:27,239 --> 01:22:29,760
the wing defender and the defense has been about as

1801
01:22:29,760 --> 01:22:31,800
bad as we would expect, where it's like it's not

1802
01:22:31,880 --> 01:22:33,840
bottom five, but it's still gonna be in the bottom ten.

1803
01:22:33,880 --> 01:22:36,000
And they have the rebounding issues. So they're kind of

1804
01:22:36,000 --> 01:22:37,680
in the what did you which teams? You say this

1805
01:22:37,720 --> 01:22:39,680
about the Magic where it's all right, like we know

1806
01:22:40,319 --> 01:22:42,880
their core issues are like the issues we expected. That's good,

1807
01:22:43,000 --> 01:22:45,760
but the tyres, haliburt and stuff like if that leaks

1808
01:22:45,760 --> 01:22:48,920
into December, now we gotta we gotta have a conversation.

1809
01:22:50,880 --> 01:22:52,159
I'm waiting for you to read the me with those

1810
01:22:52,199 --> 01:22:56,079
mine Grant Dallas's offense, their averaging points per possession and

1811
01:22:56,159 --> 01:22:59,399
three point percentage starting lineup not setting the world on fire.

1812
01:22:59,479 --> 01:23:02,600
The defense is getting cooked largely on opponent threes there

1813
01:23:03,039 --> 01:23:06,800
uh PJ Washington, Luka Dancic, Naji Marshall. They're not making

1814
01:23:06,800 --> 01:23:09,520
threes at a high clip. I know that you're not

1815
01:23:09,520 --> 01:23:11,760
gonna panic about that with Luca. Nobody should, but Luca

1816
01:23:11,840 --> 01:23:13,880
right now is just the only player that gets to

1817
01:23:13,880 --> 01:23:16,399
the foul line aside there like the Bigs will get fouled.

1818
01:23:17,279 --> 01:23:20,479
So I will tip people were concerned about Dallas defense,

1819
01:23:20,520 --> 01:23:22,279
it's held strong. I think Luca's had a pretty good

1820
01:23:22,279 --> 01:23:25,399
defensive season as well. Are you piecing or panicking the

1821
01:23:25,439 --> 01:23:28,600
Mavericks being run of the bill on offense so far?

1822
01:23:29,159 --> 01:23:32,760
Speaker 2: No? I mean, yeah, the defense is probably more concerning

1823
01:23:32,800 --> 01:23:38,039
and just if you have the team, no, we we

1824
01:23:38,159 --> 01:23:41,439
view them through the prism of like can they can

1825
01:23:41,439 --> 01:23:43,760
they figure it out on offense in the postseason? Yes,

1826
01:23:43,800 --> 01:23:45,720
we know that they can. They have Luca and like

1827
01:23:45,960 --> 01:23:48,680
guys will make or miss shots. But I just I

1828
01:23:48,720 --> 01:23:52,039
can't get concerned about an offense that's run by Luka Doncic.

1829
01:23:52,399 --> 01:23:54,239
Speaker 1: I'm with you. I think piece is the right call

1830
01:23:54,279 --> 01:23:54,880
on their offense.

1831
01:23:55,239 --> 01:23:57,920
Speaker 2: All right. Moving to Charlotte, Mark Williams still out with

1832
01:23:57,960 --> 01:23:59,880
a foot spring and now, by the way, Nick Ri

1833
01:24:00,319 --> 01:24:03,439
also out, So Tod Gibbs Todge Gibson has been resurrected

1834
01:24:03,439 --> 01:24:06,840
by someone other than than Tom Thibodeau, so that's fun

1835
01:24:06,840 --> 01:24:09,359
for him. From Sis Austin Lake and Total Williams is

1836
01:24:09,399 --> 01:24:11,920
now missed over three hundred and thirty days, which means

1837
01:24:11,920 --> 01:24:14,800
he holds the current record for the longest time sidelined

1838
01:24:14,840 --> 01:24:18,439
by an active NBA player. Great tidbit there, Mark Williams

1839
01:24:18,520 --> 01:24:20,880
and or Charlotte do what you like, piece of panic.

1840
01:24:21,279 --> 01:24:25,520
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna panic over Charlotte. I mean, they're they

1841
01:24:25,520 --> 01:24:27,319
have Mellow, They're gonna be and they have Brandon Miller.

1842
01:24:27,960 --> 01:24:30,079
I'm panicking if you're gonna be mentioned as like in

1843
01:24:30,159 --> 01:24:33,359
Matt factoid that a record previously held by RW three.

1844
01:24:33,399 --> 01:24:35,680
It's it's time to panic and have a discussion. It's

1845
01:24:35,680 --> 01:24:38,159
also get Miles Bridges off this team already, please, Like,

1846
01:24:38,159 --> 01:24:40,239
what is the not even good at this point? So

1847
01:24:40,279 --> 01:24:41,720
what's the theory of him that.

1848
01:24:42,079 --> 01:24:43,760
Speaker 2: The theory is that's even harder to move him now

1849
01:24:43,800 --> 01:24:45,920
because you've got the pr stuff and he's bad.

1850
01:24:46,960 --> 01:24:49,880
Speaker 1: Okay, Josh Giddy Grant and I mean or maybe it's

1851
01:24:49,920 --> 01:24:52,720
the bulls at large, but Josh Giddy putting up numbers,

1852
01:24:52,800 --> 01:24:55,359
shooting well from three, but he is the team's worst

1853
01:24:55,680 --> 01:25:00,439
net rating swing. Is there any chance this trade, piece

1854
01:25:00,520 --> 01:25:02,920
or panic? Is there any chance this trade doesn't look

1855
01:25:03,039 --> 01:25:05,479
like an all time fumble? But because at this point,

1856
01:25:05,840 --> 01:25:08,920
so he puts up numbers, you're probably not bad enough yet,

1857
01:25:08,960 --> 01:25:11,039
and we'll assume they'll be bad enough. Then you're gonna

1858
01:25:11,079 --> 01:25:13,359
pay him after he doesn't contribute to winning. I just

1859
01:25:14,560 --> 01:25:16,279
I need you to justify piece for me if you're

1860
01:25:16,279 --> 01:25:17,039
gonna go with that round.

1861
01:25:18,199 --> 01:25:20,399
Speaker 2: I mean, it can't really. I just I don't know

1862
01:25:20,439 --> 01:25:23,800
how much has changed about in my opinion on this

1863
01:25:24,199 --> 01:25:26,520
since the trade happened, Like it just because it didn't

1864
01:25:26,560 --> 01:25:29,199
make sense then and it's okay, so what now, and

1865
01:25:29,279 --> 01:25:32,279
nothing's really all that different. I think that the way

1866
01:25:32,600 --> 01:25:34,680
the way this isn't an all time fumble is if

1867
01:25:34,720 --> 01:25:37,520
the Bulls like retain Josh Gitty on a mid level

1868
01:25:38,000 --> 01:25:41,760
in the contract somehow, like that's fine, but yeah, it's

1869
01:25:41,840 --> 01:25:45,039
just Or if Alex Caruso just suddenly becomes terrible and

1870
01:25:45,199 --> 01:25:47,560
like that's just what his market value is, that's also

1871
01:25:47,840 --> 01:25:51,680
not happening. It's a panic like this. The best case

1872
01:25:51,680 --> 01:25:55,359
scenario with regard to the Bulls and Josh Gitty is what,

1873
01:25:56,319 --> 01:25:58,560
like I guess that he breaks out and is a superstar.

1874
01:25:58,640 --> 01:26:01,279
If we're gonna talk about like totally fancy fuld best

1875
01:26:01,279 --> 01:26:03,159
case scenarios, don't.

1876
01:26:02,920 --> 01:26:05,000
Speaker 1: See it kudos tod he's driving the tank in his

1877
01:26:05,079 --> 01:26:07,079
minutes though, kudos to Yeah, he's doing what.

1878
01:26:07,039 --> 01:26:08,720
Speaker 2: He's I guess doing what he's supposed to do with

1879
01:26:08,760 --> 01:26:11,760
other bulls. Don't really think that way, Dan Simoni. Fontecio

1880
01:26:12,560 --> 01:26:15,920
hasn't made any threes. That's an exaggeration, but not shooting well.

1881
01:26:17,159 --> 01:26:19,159
You know, the theory of him and several others on

1882
01:26:19,199 --> 01:26:21,680
this team was that talking about the pistons, was that

1883
01:26:21,720 --> 01:26:25,439
like we'd open the floor up for Ivy Cunningham, Asar

1884
01:26:25,560 --> 01:26:28,720
Thompson if he were ever gonna play. Fantakio is not

1885
01:26:28,720 --> 01:26:31,199
really helping in that effort. Some other guys are. So

1886
01:26:31,239 --> 01:26:33,239
what do we How do you feel about him specifically?

1887
01:26:33,640 --> 01:26:35,479
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go peace on it. I think he's just

1888
01:26:35,640 --> 01:26:37,760
what he did last year when he came over into Detroiting,

1889
01:26:37,840 --> 01:26:39,479
what he did in Utah. I think there's the track

1890
01:26:39,520 --> 01:26:43,880
record there. Grant Piecer, Panic, Brandon Pudemsky, He's he's helped

1891
01:26:43,960 --> 01:26:46,600
drive winning, but he's shooting twenty percent on wide open threes.

1892
01:26:46,720 --> 01:26:48,399
Pie Panic on his jumper.

1893
01:26:48,840 --> 01:26:52,279
Speaker 2: Oh, panic on panic on his jumper slash scoring. I'm

1894
01:26:52,319 --> 01:26:55,920
concerned that, like just the way he shoots it and

1895
01:26:55,960 --> 01:26:58,600
his physical frame. It's gonna make it impossible for him

1896
01:26:58,640 --> 01:27:01,720
to ever reliably get his own shots or be a

1897
01:27:01,800 --> 01:27:05,560
steady scorer in his own right. Great at everything else though,

1898
01:27:05,640 --> 01:27:07,640
like and just drives winning. So I don't know what

1899
01:27:07,720 --> 01:27:10,640
you do. You can like he's still a super positive player,

1900
01:27:10,920 --> 01:27:13,039
but the scoring is just I mean, we talked about

1901
01:27:13,039 --> 01:27:15,279
this before and it's not going away. Like he's just

1902
01:27:15,520 --> 01:27:17,239
it's gonna be a struggle for him to create his

1903
01:27:17,239 --> 01:27:20,039
own shots. This is me, reed, Shephard, our guy who

1904
01:27:20,119 --> 01:27:22,880
just doesn't play. Are we concerned that he's just basically

1905
01:27:22,880 --> 01:27:24,199
out of the rotation most nights?

1906
01:27:24,640 --> 01:27:26,800
Speaker 1: No, I'm gonna go piece just because the Rockets, we

1907
01:27:26,840 --> 01:27:28,800
said it, they have too many damn good players and

1908
01:27:29,119 --> 01:27:31,239
this would be something to if they don't put up

1909
01:27:31,239 --> 01:27:33,720
minutes for him eventually, and maybe this ends up benefiting

1910
01:27:33,800 --> 01:27:35,520
him somehow. I have no idea, but I can't can't

1911
01:27:35,520 --> 01:27:39,520
bring myself to panic. There we let's oh, okay, Terrence

1912
01:27:39,600 --> 01:27:41,960
man Grant, he always kind of gets off to slow starts.

1913
01:27:41,960 --> 01:27:44,880
He's been uneven offensively. Do we just dismiss this as

1914
01:27:44,920 --> 01:27:47,039
early season noise, especially given how good he and the

1915
01:27:47,079 --> 01:27:48,680
Clippers have been defensively this year.

1916
01:27:50,479 --> 01:27:53,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can't. I don't know what anyone expected from

1917
01:27:53,359 --> 01:27:55,439
Terrence Man. I think uneven offense is just part of

1918
01:27:55,439 --> 01:27:57,760
the package. So I'm not I'm gonna go piece there.

1919
01:27:57,920 --> 01:27:59,840
I think he's still kind of a really important player

1920
01:27:59,840 --> 01:28:01,800
there because you have Arden and you have Norm Powell,

1921
01:28:01,840 --> 01:28:04,239
and somebody's got a guard guards and he can do that.

1922
01:28:04,279 --> 01:28:06,439
Speaker 1: I do kind of find him less important to this

1923
01:28:06,520 --> 01:28:09,880
team now because you have Jones and done yes, and

1924
01:28:09,920 --> 01:28:11,880
if you're gonna play Norm Powell a bunch of minutes

1925
01:28:11,920 --> 01:28:14,680
because of his offense, like in once Kawhi's back, maybe

1926
01:28:14,680 --> 01:28:16,680
that's what and like a mere coffee's been playing pretty

1927
01:28:16,680 --> 01:28:18,680
well even though the net ratings, I guess we'll forever

1928
01:28:18,720 --> 01:28:22,319
say otherwise what our discord has called him? Negative Tatum? Uh,

1929
01:28:22,439 --> 01:28:25,640
negative Jason Tatum. So I found that funny, But yeah,

1930
01:28:25,920 --> 01:28:28,079
I'll be pieced there all right.

1931
01:28:28,560 --> 01:28:31,239
Speaker 2: Uh, this is a Memphis slash Marcus Smart in particular

1932
01:28:31,319 --> 01:28:33,199
question Panic.

1933
01:28:34,079 --> 01:28:36,359
Speaker 1: Let's just move on. It's Panic time with Marcus Smart.

1934
01:28:36,359 --> 01:28:38,000
That's trade. I don't even I know this is your

1935
01:28:38,239 --> 01:28:38,760
It's so bad.

1936
01:28:38,840 --> 01:28:41,119
Speaker 2: It seems so bad, doesn't it. It just gets worse

1937
01:28:41,159 --> 01:28:41,720
all the time.

1938
01:28:41,960 --> 01:28:44,000
Speaker 1: He's he's not healthy and he has not. He was

1939
01:28:44,039 --> 01:28:46,479
you surfed in the rotation before he was injured by

1940
01:28:46,560 --> 01:28:49,760
just a bunch of dudes, So it's panic time there.

1941
01:28:49,760 --> 01:28:51,359
I don't even know. He has one year left in

1942
01:28:51,399 --> 01:28:53,439
his contract after that, so maybe you could move him

1943
01:28:53,439 --> 01:28:55,039
and attach him to stuff. But what you gave up

1944
01:28:55,039 --> 01:28:57,800
for him, uh, disaster, We move on. Sorry, I had

1945
01:28:57,840 --> 01:29:01,000
a hijack. That's it's panic time. Grant. Dennyava has not

1946
01:29:01,039 --> 01:29:04,239
looked great in Portland's offense. Is this a surrounding personnel,

1947
01:29:04,439 --> 01:29:07,720
too many uncomplimentary cooks in the kitchen situation? Or is

1948
01:29:07,760 --> 01:29:09,199
it time to panic a little bit?

1949
01:29:10,000 --> 01:29:12,760
Speaker 2: I I just I'm not gonna panic about Denny. I

1950
01:29:12,840 --> 01:29:14,760
we love him. I love him. I think he's a

1951
01:29:14,800 --> 01:29:17,560
winning player. I think the situation in Portland is just weird.

1952
01:29:17,680 --> 01:29:20,840
Did they have the two timelines going on? I just

1953
01:29:21,279 --> 01:29:23,479
it's got to be difficult for him to sort of

1954
01:29:23,520 --> 01:29:26,039
catch a rhythm and figure out what like he needs

1955
01:29:26,079 --> 01:29:29,279
to be doing. The shooting is you know, like, I

1956
01:29:29,279 --> 01:29:31,199
don't know, he just figured out how to shoot last year,

1957
01:29:31,239 --> 01:29:32,920
so maybe that was a little bit of an anomaly.

1958
01:29:32,960 --> 01:29:34,560
But I just, like so many of the other things

1959
01:29:34,600 --> 01:29:36,399
he does, I'm not I can't get too worried about it.

1960
01:29:36,439 --> 01:29:39,560
Speaker 1: Still like him next up Sacramento Kings Grant top of

1961
01:29:39,560 --> 01:29:41,920
the rotation is still playing quite a bit. Michael Brown

1962
01:29:42,000 --> 01:29:45,399
is Michael Brown. I want Michael Malone out there. Mike Brown.

1963
01:29:45,840 --> 01:29:47,439
I think it's pulled back, like we've seen the minutes,

1964
01:29:47,560 --> 01:29:50,199
a little bit more distributed. But is it piece or

1965
01:29:50,239 --> 01:29:51,880
panic when it comes to they go more than seven

1966
01:29:51,880 --> 01:29:53,239
players deep at the moment.

1967
01:29:53,720 --> 01:29:55,800
Speaker 2: I mean, I just say the numbers are where they

1968
01:29:55,840 --> 01:29:57,680
need to be. There the fourth best offense, they're just

1969
01:29:57,720 --> 01:30:00,079
outside the top ten on defense. I mean, like so,

1970
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:02,800
so I guess, like, whatever you're doing, keep doing it,

1971
01:30:03,000 --> 01:30:07,199
But I I guess i'd be concerned that, Like, you know,

1972
01:30:07,520 --> 01:30:09,760
Kevin Herder has been a real like part of this

1973
01:30:09,960 --> 01:30:12,159
starting lineup in rotation, and like how much are you

1974
01:30:12,199 --> 01:30:16,399
gonna trust him going forward? And the way to what's that.

1975
01:30:16,760 --> 01:30:18,680
Speaker 1: To stay healthy? By the way, what has already been

1976
01:30:18,760 --> 01:30:19,159
two games?

1977
01:30:19,199 --> 01:30:21,520
Speaker 2: I think he's got he's got six of Yeah, he's

1978
01:30:21,520 --> 01:30:23,800
played in six of eight so far. Ke On Ellis

1979
01:30:23,800 --> 01:30:25,560
hasn't been as big a part. But then, like I

1980
01:30:25,600 --> 01:30:27,960
guess where are you going after that? Because Trey Lyles

1981
01:30:27,960 --> 01:30:29,800
hasn't made a shot and then beyond there. It's like

1982
01:30:29,840 --> 01:30:32,840
Doug McDermott got a start sprinkled in there. So they

1983
01:30:32,920 --> 01:30:35,319
just I guess i'd be concerned that they're they're going

1984
01:30:35,399 --> 01:30:38,880
seven deep maybe with the herder, you know, piece of it,

1985
01:30:38,920 --> 01:30:42,079
the hurder Ellis part being a little tricky, but I

1986
01:30:42,119 --> 01:30:43,920
don't know what what who are you giving up to

1987
01:30:44,000 --> 01:30:46,159
go deep in that rotation. I'm not sure where that

1988
01:30:46,199 --> 01:30:48,960
helps coming from. I'm not panicking though, just because the

1989
01:30:49,000 --> 01:30:51,680
team is good. They're five and three, top five offense.

1990
01:30:51,720 --> 01:30:52,840
It's it's what they're supposed to be.

1991
01:30:53,199 --> 01:30:55,000
Speaker 1: I would have been panicking, but ke On Ellis has

1992
01:30:55,039 --> 01:30:57,479
played like a bunch more minutes over the past few games.

1993
01:30:57,479 --> 01:31:02,560
So Michael Brown dated yours, yours, truly, two.

1994
01:31:02,399 --> 01:31:04,680
Speaker 2: Time Coach of the Year, Michael, Michael. We're gonna call

1995
01:31:04,760 --> 01:31:06,840
him Michael from now on. I just that I was

1996
01:31:06,840 --> 01:31:08,239
looking at something the other day and I was like, yeah,

1997
01:31:08,239 --> 01:31:10,560
that's right, he's got twice. This is this is a

1998
01:31:10,560 --> 01:31:13,960
big one. Victor Women. You have a shot selection slash,

1999
01:31:14,159 --> 01:31:17,159
offensive usage slash, like what do we do with this guy?

2000
01:31:18,199 --> 01:31:20,279
Questions as an offensive player?

2001
01:31:21,239 --> 01:31:24,399
Speaker 1: I the look he's shooting under like twenty percent on catches.

2002
01:31:24,439 --> 01:31:27,399
You threes, so maybe there's a little panic there. But

2003
01:31:28,319 --> 01:31:31,039
let's see Devin Masel come back. Let's see the Spurs

2004
01:31:31,359 --> 01:31:33,880
throw out some like units that have really like they're

2005
01:31:33,880 --> 01:31:35,680
trying to figure out what Steph Cassel. They had him

2006
01:31:35,720 --> 01:31:38,079
on the ball a bunch during there. They beat was

2007
01:31:38,079 --> 01:31:39,920
at the Blazers game the other night, and he had

2008
01:31:39,960 --> 01:31:42,279
some moments. I'm gonna give peace because I believe in it.

2009
01:31:42,640 --> 01:31:46,239
We believe in Wimby, So let's I aspire to taminate Peace.

2010
01:31:46,560 --> 01:31:50,079
Toronto's defense grant dead last in half court, IQ and

2011
01:31:50,079 --> 01:31:52,359
Scotti are out obviously, but does this team have a

2012
01:31:52,399 --> 01:31:56,840
ceiling that it's higher than let's say bottom three in defense?

2013
01:31:56,960 --> 01:31:58,720
Speaker 2: I was gonna say higher than dead last. Yes, I

2014
01:31:58,720 --> 01:32:01,760
believe their ceilings higher than dead last. I mean, I'm

2015
01:32:01,960 --> 01:32:04,560
I would go piece just because, like, what did you

2016
01:32:04,680 --> 01:32:07,920
expect from the Raptors this year? If they're bad, that's great.

2017
01:32:08,800 --> 01:32:12,560
I just you know, yeah, having having Barnes and quickly

2018
01:32:12,760 --> 01:32:15,000
just as like quality defenders on the floor, Like, yeah,

2019
01:32:15,000 --> 01:32:16,880
they have a higher than a bottom three ceiling and

2020
01:32:17,239 --> 01:32:19,239
if they don't great, you'll lose games and get a

2021
01:32:19,239 --> 01:32:24,760
better pick. Keante George dan Our guy, let's just go

2022
01:32:24,800 --> 01:32:26,800
on a one to ten. What's your level of confidence

2023
01:32:26,840 --> 01:32:30,239
in him becoming I'm gonna say, uh, a quality starter

2024
01:32:30,399 --> 01:32:31,720
in the league long term.

2025
01:32:32,159 --> 01:32:34,000
Speaker 1: He shoots well from three over the past few games,

2026
01:32:34,000 --> 01:32:36,319
so I feel like it's a ten. I'm probably at

2027
01:32:36,399 --> 01:32:39,399
if you would have asked me last year, just like, yeah,

2028
01:32:39,520 --> 01:32:41,159
based off everything, the aesthetics of the game might have

2029
01:32:41,199 --> 01:32:43,159
been like a seven or eight. I'm kind of in

2030
01:32:43,199 --> 01:32:44,359
like the four or five range.

2031
01:32:44,439 --> 01:32:46,880
Speaker 2: Oh I was six. I still kind of believe, but

2032
01:32:47,039 --> 01:32:50,159
I yeah, it's so hard to judge him in this environment, right,

2033
01:32:50,239 --> 01:32:51,520
like who it's how can you tell?

2034
01:32:51,720 --> 01:32:54,319
Speaker 1: I do I respect a three point volume this season?

2035
01:32:54,319 --> 01:32:58,199
Though I respect it? And Washington Wizards grant we don't.

2036
01:32:58,039 --> 01:33:01,119
You talked a lot about Alex are So it's probably peace,

2037
01:33:01,199 --> 01:33:03,840
but he's one of ten on two's from short, from

2038
01:33:03,920 --> 01:33:06,800
float to range, and just his overall shot profile on like,

2039
01:33:06,840 --> 01:33:09,960
his finishing isn't super elite. How are you feeling about

2040
01:33:10,039 --> 01:33:13,479
him as a even a play finisher on offense? It's

2041
01:33:13,479 --> 01:33:13,880
work that.

2042
01:33:13,840 --> 01:33:16,520
Speaker 2: Way, not good, I think, I think defensively, I can

2043
01:33:16,560 --> 01:33:20,439
see it. Offensively, I just really have questions about like what,

2044
01:33:21,399 --> 01:33:23,520
like how big of a role he should even have

2045
01:33:23,760 --> 01:33:27,319
in your offense at this point. Now, like it's hilariously

2046
01:33:27,399 --> 01:33:29,600
early in his career, so he can develop like five

2047
01:33:29,720 --> 01:33:31,760
skills in the next couple of years that change that.

2048
01:33:32,279 --> 01:33:34,279
But I just don't know what he's going to be

2049
01:33:34,319 --> 01:33:36,640
as a finisher, as a shooter. It's it's really so

2050
01:33:36,880 --> 01:33:39,359
I guess it's so early. But if it's Piece or Panic,

2051
01:33:39,399 --> 01:33:42,079
I'm panicked about his offensive potential, I don't know what

2052
01:33:42,479 --> 01:33:42,840
it is.

2053
01:33:43,039 --> 01:33:44,680
Speaker 1: Are you ready to take it? Look, I know people

2054
01:33:44,720 --> 01:33:46,439
are gonna be upset. The podcast is over.

2055
01:33:46,279 --> 01:33:46,439
Speaker 2: But.

2056
01:33:48,359 --> 01:33:49,920
Speaker 1: We will be back next week. Do you want to

2057
01:33:49,920 --> 01:33:50,520
take us out of here?

2058
01:33:50,520 --> 01:33:54,000
Speaker 2: Grant Perfect, thanks everybody for listening. Let us know what

2059
01:33:54,399 --> 01:33:57,439
we should have been more peaceful about or panicked about more.

2060
01:33:57,560 --> 01:33:59,079
I think we did a fair I think we split

2061
01:33:59,119 --> 01:34:02,479
it pretty even. Hopefully we're not alarmists, but sometimes we

2062
01:34:03,039 --> 01:34:06,000
trend that way. If you have an already rate review, subscribe,

2063
01:34:06,000 --> 01:34:08,359
make sure you give us some comments on YouTube healthy algorithm,

2064
01:34:08,399 --> 01:34:12,000
love us back, join our discord. Sometimes we solicit you know,

2065
01:34:12,159 --> 01:34:13,840
piece or panics or other things like that on there,

2066
01:34:13,840 --> 01:34:15,800
so that's a good way to get involved. I'll leave

2067
01:34:15,880 --> 01:34:19,199
for that YouTube podcast description. Tell your friends, Tell your enemies,

2068
01:34:19,279 --> 01:34:21,199
and if you see him, make sure you shout out Franklin,

2069
01:34:21,239 --> 01:34:22,720
Latina and apologists and jaredy