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Speaker 1: What is going on? Clippers fans. Welcome to three, episode

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sixty of Clips in Dip. I am Chuck Buckler, joined

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by Adam Oslin and William Updyke. We're coming at you

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live from YouTube dot com, just at Clippers Podcast or

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wherever you listen to pods, but if you want the

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full experience, check us out over on YouTube. It's a

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very fun time today. We're talking to Clippers winning a

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bunch of games in it, remaining the seventh seed, and

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then previewing these Spurs versus Rockets back to back. Before

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we get into all of that, it's a beautiful day

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in Los Angeles this Sunday, Adam, Will, how the hell

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are we feeling after seeing Kawhi Leonard and play his

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first back to back in over a calendar year. Will,

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We'll start with you.

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Speaker 2: I'm feeling good. You know, I know that the fan

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reaction to this one. I was actually kind of surprised

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how mixed some of the reaction is. And obviously I

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understand the concern, you know, given the history, you know,

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Qui not having a healthy postseason four straight years. I

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think what we've talked about on this show, or like

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what would come to the conclusion is is really all

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we can do is trust Kawhi and trust his team

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as well as the medical staff, because there just doesn't

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seem to be any real like recipe or like perfect

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sort of like scenario that you can conjure to make

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sure that there's like this swelling, this recurring issue isn't

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going to flare up again. So I certainly understand people's

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concern on the basis of, you know, he hasn't been

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playing back to back so long, you know, why why

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go ahead and start now. At the same time, they're

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looking ahead to the playoffs. We've we've heard them and

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basically after every game now talk about how you know

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they're approaching this now with a play like with the

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playoff mentality, every game means something, every win means something,

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and you know, if if they are, you know, fortunate

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enough to get out of the first they're gonna be

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playing every other night and at playoff that's the same

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thing as playing back to back. So I think that

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you know, the medical staff as well as Kawhi and

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all those aforementioned teams being on the same page and

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that they believe he's ready to do this, albeit with

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a slight minutes restriction. I still think that that's a

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great move forward, and not to invalidate anyone's concerns, but

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I guess I'll just well by saying we don't.

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Speaker 3: Know, period.

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Speaker 4: He won't know how the knee and.

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Speaker 2: The swelling is going to react, period, So I just yeah,

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I think it's all right to have your concerns, but

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let's not get too upen on start.

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Speaker 1: And I think Kawhi did a good job to invalidate

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some of the concerns last night too, just with how

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well he played. I like your point about like every

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other day of the playoffs is harder than a back

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to back in the regular scene, Adam, how are you feeling?

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Speaker 3: Feel pretty good? Kawhi looked. It's funny because you know,

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he got to catch a rhythm from the night before

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where he played much better. The second night of the

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back to back, he was sharper, he was more in tune.

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So it kind of gives you a glimpse into a

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different version of Kawhi Leonard and just how good he

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can be if he could play more consistently out there

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now with the minutes restriction, obviously being on there last night,

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but being off overall over the last month or so.

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He just looked he looked strong, he looked assertive. His

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defense has been awesome the last ten games or so.

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So you know, I always worry, like did he wake

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up and feel differently? Like I feel better if had

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a personal relationship and I can just text Kawhi, But hey,

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you feel good after last night?

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Speaker 1: You're good.

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Speaker 3: I think the real test is how he feels the

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next day, not that night, because when I flared up

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last year it happened. It wasn't during the game, it

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was the next day.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he looked phenomenal yesterday, twenty nine, six and three. Everyone, honestly,

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everyone except for one guy, looked really good last night,

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which we'll get to that in a sec. Yeah, Adam,

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I do wish you too, also had a personal relationship

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with Kawhi to the extent that you guys could just

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check in see how you know, see how the bodies

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are feeling the day after a workout or something like that.

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Speaker 3: Subclaw.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it'd be all emojis, I feel like with Kawhi

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in the group chat, but we got to see because

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we didn't. The Clippers go two and zero in the

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back to back. They've won four in a row. They're

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still sitting firm at the seventh seed because every other

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team around them continues to win, which is annoying, but

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that I mean, Zoo looked great last night. Nicias on

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Twitter did a really good thread just kind of showcasing

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how insane Chris Dunn played yesterday and just all the

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activity he was doing out there. Like I I think

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I'm hoping people are starting to kind of flip to

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the other side of like, oh, there's incredibly good reasons

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why Chris Dunn is out there, and not only for

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the rotation, but also for being able to blow up

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almost any action of the other team has tried to initiate.

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Speaker 2: And you have the benefit of like having James Harden

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out there, like who can mitigate seemingly all or the

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majority of Chris Dunn's sort of inadequacies on the offensive

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end of the floor.

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Speaker 4: Harden had a phenomenal game that second game.

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Speaker 2: And yeah, that's if that's the sort of the scoring

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he can bring on a consistent level in the playoffs.

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I mean, it really doesn't matter, Like, you know, Chris

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Don's shooting matters a lot less.

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Speaker 4: Does it make things more difficult offensively to work with?

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Speaker 2: Less space, of course, but luckily we have a guy who,

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even if Norm is having an off night, can kind

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of feather the nest for two other guys in the

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starting lineup.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, Chris Dunn covers for him on defense. He covers

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for Chris Dunn on offense. It makes sense in a

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lot of ways.

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Speaker 2: It were ying Yang hot hot. You know where you

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get both flavors. You can get the regular and the spicy.

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Speaker 1: It's that, Yeah, I like that. Another thing that was

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pointed out LA Clippers film saw this too, and then

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it was backed up by another stat tweeted out by

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nikaias Duncan. James Harden is second in the NBA in

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blow by rate this year among high volume drivers, so

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people who've driven the ball at least five hundred times.

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He is the second best at blow by rate so

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far this season, which is incredible for the age. And like,

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just aside from what it's bringing to this Clippers team

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and how we saw it on display yesterday, Like we

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talked Abou Kawhi hitting this stride right with the training

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and everything working out, Harden is also peaking physically at

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kind of the perfect time right now. It's been on

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display more consistently. This last handful of games.

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Speaker 2: Well he had to go to it a little bit more.

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That last game he could not really get threes the ball.

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I think it was one of four Yeah for him

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to s have this in the tank especially, I mean

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we were talking about it now that feels like forever ago,

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but it was truly just a couple of weeks ago

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where we were wondering, like have we asked Harden to

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do too much already?

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Speaker 4: Like has he been too tasks physically?

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Speaker 2: You know, is he hitting some sort of wall that

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we're now not going to be able to extract what

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we need from him, Like come playoff time, and somehow

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he's managed to turn another corner. Yeah, even on despite

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three point shooting, you know, solid efficiency last night.

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Speaker 4: Great to see, love to see it.

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Speaker 2: I mean he's always been one of those players that

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I've enjoyed watching him, but having him on your team

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is a whole, other, whole nother delight.

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Speaker 3: I've felt like the eye tests this season says he's

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been quicker than last year. I didn't know the numbers

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there on the blowby rate? Is he only behind SGA?

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Speaker 1: Let me double check, but I would imagine.

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Speaker 3: Because he you know he had that hamstring injury in Brooklyn,

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and I always wonder that the further he gets away

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from that, could he actually get close to how he

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looked pre hammy injury. And he's looked. Yeah, he's had

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a ton of downhill attack this season, and the Clippers

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have needed all of it, especially when they didn't have

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Kawhi on the floor. But the last seventeen games, now

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hard and shooting thirty eight percent from three, and he's

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averaging twenty six points per game. So he's at the

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top of his game right now.

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Speaker 1: And I think the assistant turnover has been better too, right,

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not that it's been like too terrible over the whole season,

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but I mean last night he was at fourteen and two.

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Like last night might have been his best passing game

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all year. He was surgical out there against the larger

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MAVs team because we saw their full crew.

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Speaker 3: His assist to turnover last seventeen games still isn't great.

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It's a little better than two to one, But overall

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the Clippers turnovers are down, like they are top three

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and fewest turnovers per game the last seventeen I say

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the last seventeen because they're fourteen to three over that stretch,

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so I wanted to check how they've been playing since then.

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But Harden's played all seventeen of those games. Kawhi's played

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fourteen of them. Arden has been phenomenal.

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Speaker 1: Zoo eleven for eleven, twenty five and ten savingly light

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work for the big fella right now. Who He's not

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gonna win Most Improved Player. He should, but he had.

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I don't know. I wish he could.

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Speaker 2: I wish he is the kind of guy that I

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think that that award should go to versus Cunningham. Yeah,

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not to a number one pick or even a lottery pick.

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It's like, yeah, yeah, I mean you were supposed to

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be good, Like kudos on you, but like it's not

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the same as a guy like hitting his stride in year.

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Speaker 4: Seven in the league or whatever.

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Speaker 2: Like it's you know that that's special to me.

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Speaker 1: I don't know, but there's no expectations.

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Speaker 2: Again, I'm a biased and b I realized that that's

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not that's not a sexy headline, you know, like because

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you know, if you're trying to generate interest in the

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league from a casual observer of beats, the Zoo Bots

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probably isn't the name to do that. That's fair, but

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unless you're trying to get in an older crowd who's

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constantly bemoaning that the three point game defense that you know,

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like defense has been relegated out and.

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Speaker 4: The three point shooting is completely ruined the game.

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Speaker 1: So it's tough because like Zoo is like no one

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ever thought like we love Zoo, but like fifty plus

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double doubles? How many in a row?

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Speaker 2: Like it's well, we I feel like we have for

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the last three seasons been saying this is finally going

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to be a year that Zoo averages a double doubles.

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Speaker 4: So I yeah, not to pat ourselves.

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Speaker 2: On the back here too hard, but uh, it wasn't

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like completely, It wasn't completely I surprise.

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Speaker 3: Could you guys guess who's last year's most improved player was?

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Speaker 1: Is it someone stupid? You know what I mean? Is

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it someone who was drafted high?

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Speaker 3: I didn't. I wasn't sure either, But I'm just saying, like,

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I have no idea is that big of a deal,

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right if we're talking about, well, is it gonna have

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enough brand RECOGNI and star power to his name to

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give the most improved players to that guy? It's like

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we can't even remember who won it last year, So

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why don't just why don't you give it to the

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guy based on marriage and forget about the whole name thing.

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It was Tyrese Maxi, but I didn't. I wouldn't have

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been able to guess that.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I wouldn't have either, And I'm also like good

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pick I guess oh he did improve?

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Speaker 3: Yeah. JJ Reddick spoke about this recently, took some time

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out of his press conference to go after it, and

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he's right. It doesn't make a lot of sense just

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giving it to good young guys who were expected to

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get better and then did. Ari Markin had won it

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the year before.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, JJ Reddick, whose team just dismantled the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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Speaker 3: I'm saying the Lakers are a good matchup for Okay.

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See okay, he's a good matchup for them.

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Speaker 1: I should say, yeah, let me look at the standings.

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Won't change tonight unless the Rockets beat the Warriors, which

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we hope happens.

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Speaker 3: Rockets have been playing well. You would think the Warriors

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are due, but they've been do to lose a game,

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and they've been beating good teams.

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Speaker 1: You would think we talked to one person who we

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talked about who we wanted to see have a good

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game yesterday, who really did it? And again I don't

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mean this in a disrespectful way. He was the only

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person to not shoot at least fifty percent last night,

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I don't think, which was Norm Powell. Norm Powell had

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nine points. He was four for thirteen. I don't think

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he had any free throws. When do we push the

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worry switch for Norm because he has a bunch of

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clout built up obviously for we did early in the season.

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We know he can be clutch. It's not like we've

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seen him fall off a cliff and not come back

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or anything like that.

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Speaker 2: But I looked so I think for Norm, like what

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I'm watching more is the efficiency not for him to

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stuff the stat line like he was earlier in the season.

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Speaker 4: That just wasn't ever.

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Speaker 2: Gonna happen with Kawhi being back in the lineup full time.

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Like that, You know, that is not that Norm wasn't great,

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and not that he didn't improve his game and rise

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to the occasion, but like that was very much a

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circumstance of being out like you're a main rotation player,

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the guy, and of course it was needed, We needed

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every bit of it, and he definitely stepped up to

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the challenge and I appreciate that, but that wasn't something

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if you were expecting him to maintain similar numbers once

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Kawhi returned.

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Speaker 4: I don't know.

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Speaker 2: I guess I've got a bridge to sell you or something,

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because you clearly think everything just continues to go up

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in value. But the efficiency, I guess is what I'd

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be a little bit more worried about. Can we lean

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on norm heavier?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: I still think he was at thirteen shots last night.

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I believe I think that thirteen to fifteen field goal

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attempts is realistically where he's going to be moving forward.

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And so to me, it's not necessarily about the overall

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box score. It's just what he's able to do with

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those fifteen shots. And what was he like thirty percent

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from the floor or whatever last night. That's not getting

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it done. Yeah, he was thirty percent from the floor,

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twenty percent from three, So like, that's not getting it done.

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Speaker 1: But I don't know they still want obviously.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know that I have a huge amount

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of concern because, as I said, it's not just less

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shots either. How he's getting these shots where he fits

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into the flow of the offense. Now it is a

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lot different, you know, Like we talked about this earlier,

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but like when Kawhi came back, he said that he

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was going to sort of fit around everyone else.

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Speaker 4: And now the pecking.

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Speaker 1: Order has been or like, please, I'll do that well.

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Speaker 2: And now the pecking order has sort of like it's

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it's figured itself out in terms of how they're going

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to do things. And now, unfortunately norm because he had

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such an extended period of time outside of the rotation,

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he's the one that has to fit around this and

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obviously his shots are going to suffer because of that.

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And I think he's, you know, he's still trying to

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figure out how to get in rhythm during that.

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Speaker 1: He almost has like the Zubats thing of like you're

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getting these fifteen shots, what you do with them was

301
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entirely up to right, Like in terms of like the

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shot diet, like it's going to fluctuate.

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Speaker 3: I'm not as big on efficiency when it's that low

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of attempts because like he makes one more shot and

305
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it goes up almost ten percent because the volume just

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isn't there. But I think what you're looking for now,

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is just norm to be more like last year's norm,

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maybe somewhere between where he was earlier this year. In

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last year and last year, he only attempted ten shots

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per game, and he made the most of it to

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get to fourteen points, and he shot almost forty four

312
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percent from the outside. This year, he's just under sixteen

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shots per games. So I kind of agree with Will.

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Somewhere between thirteen and fifteen feels right. He is shooting

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over his last eleven games, and I think this is

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all since he's gotten healthy again. Thirty nine percent from three.

317
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It's like he for his standards, he's a little off,

318
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but right there is a little bit of a learning

319
00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,639
curve with Kawhi Leonard being back to this level and

320
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everybody fitting in and adjusting around him and finding where

321
00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,759
they fit in. I still have seen really good things

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from Norm Palell. The Cleveland game, obviously, that was without Kawhi,

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but the Orlando game was with him and he was

324
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eight to fourteen or twenty one points and hit a

325
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few shots in that fourth quarter. So it's been up

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and down a little bit. But I'm not I'm not

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I'm stepping back from the panic button.

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Speaker 1: I guess and he gets a chance too, because we'll

329
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talk about this in the next segment a little bit,

330
00:16:33,279 --> 00:16:37,399
like it's not a given that Kawhi plays this next

331
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back to back either, you know what I mean. So

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there is a chance for Norm maybe to have another

333
00:16:42,759 --> 00:16:44,159
game where it's like, Okay, we're gonna look at you

334
00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:46,720
a little bit, get into that rhythm towards the end

335
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of the season as we kind of close this thing out.

336
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So it remains to be seen, but I hope we

337
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can get on at least one heater before the end

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of the season.

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Speaker 3: He does seem like the type of guy where I

340
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,120
don't want to say he's a luxury at this point

341
00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:06,759
with the way Kauhi is playing. But if Norm does

342
00:17:06,799 --> 00:17:10,720
have a hot game next to Avisa, Zuboss Harden and

343
00:17:10,799 --> 00:17:16,319
Kawhi playing well man, good luck. Like they're just gonna

344
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overwhelm you. They've been again the seventeen game sample size

345
00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,799
where they're fourteen to three, their second best offense over

346
00:17:22,799 --> 00:17:25,039
that time, like second best defense too.

347
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Speaker 1: And we've seen too like teams are gonna continue to

348
00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:31,680
double Zoo off of Done and stuff like that, like Zoo,

349
00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:34,759
like Zoo's passing is gonna be really important in the playoffs,

350
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and he's able to find norm is able to cash

351
00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:39,039
it that in or or something like that. It's gonna

352
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be big. The two big things, one of the two

353
00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:45,039
big things in the playoffs are gonna be is Done

354
00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,960
hitting his go for it shots that they're gonna give

355
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him at the perimeter. And how Zoo passing out of

356
00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,000
the double team Like those are two obviously if everything

357
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:56,759
else needs to go right too, Like, those are pretty

358
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big things I think people will be looking at during

359
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the playoff. The Clippers have won four in a row

360
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and there's still the seventh seed. How are we feeling?

361
00:18:06,039 --> 00:18:07,720
How are we feeling that every other team that we

362
00:18:07,759 --> 00:18:11,160
need to lose continues to play great basketball.

363
00:18:12,319 --> 00:18:14,559
Speaker 3: Well, if they win their last four, they are out

364
00:18:14,559 --> 00:18:18,279
of the play in. If they went out, they won't

365
00:18:18,279 --> 00:18:21,519
be in the play in. So they determine their own

366
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destiny to an extent. Doesn't mean they're going to be

367
00:18:23,799 --> 00:18:26,119
four or five or something. They might just be sixth.

368
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But they win the next four, they're out. I think

369
00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:34,559
Adam Silver got what he wanted out of dangling this carrot.

370
00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:38,680
It is created a very competitive atmosphere at the end

371
00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,039
of the season, James Harden was asked about this post

372
00:18:41,039 --> 00:18:45,440
game last night, regarding how well they're playing and the

373
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sense of urgency, and he's like, everybody's got it right now,

374
00:18:48,519 --> 00:18:51,480
you have to have it. So it worked. Whether or

375
00:18:51,519 --> 00:18:53,839
not you think it's fair whatnot, because the teams in

376
00:18:54,000 --> 00:19:00,039
nine and ten are like ten games back. But I

377
00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,599
more fan base is interested and it keeps the teams

378
00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,960
jocking for position late into the season. I guess it

379
00:19:07,039 --> 00:19:08,400
curves tanking to some extent.

380
00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:11,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, how you feel that we just keep winning

381
00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:13,039
with the other teams keep putting too?

382
00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,160
Speaker 2: I mean, I like that we're still in a position

383
00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,960
where we can control our own destiny to the extent

384
00:19:19,039 --> 00:19:21,960
that we can. You know, you can't really control what

385
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,200
happens above you and the standings. All you can do

386
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:25,799
is play who's in front of you. And I do

387
00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:27,920
like that, you know, even with the ups and downs,

388
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:29,720
especially with how cold we came out of the gate

389
00:19:29,759 --> 00:19:32,480
post All Star, we are still in a position where

390
00:19:32,519 --> 00:19:35,440
we can kind of determine our own destiny. Not that

391
00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:37,480
we can cherry pick the matchup or anything like that,

392
00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:40,039
but you know, we do have the possibility to avoid

393
00:19:40,079 --> 00:19:40,480
the plan.

394
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Speaker 4: If that's you know, where we can get blocked in.

395
00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,119
Speaker 1: Yeah, those last two games are going to be incredibly stressful.

396
00:19:47,519 --> 00:19:52,240
What is our hype level as of April six, five,

397
00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:56,000
twenty nine PM. Because I have been having some incredibly

398
00:19:56,039 --> 00:19:59,319
irrational thoughts, I tweeted it out that I was back

399
00:19:59,319 --> 00:20:01,960
at the Clippers Opium Den and they asked me if

400
00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:03,839
I wanted the same thing as last time, and I

401
00:20:03,839 --> 00:20:06,640
said yes. I don't see any reason how this could backfire.

402
00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:11,359
I am ready to get hurt again. Uh, outam your smirking?

403
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:12,960
How are you feeling?

404
00:20:16,759 --> 00:20:18,279
Speaker 3: It does feel a little bit too good to be

405
00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:19,599
true with lower seas.

406
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:21,640
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, let's do it.

407
00:20:23,039 --> 00:20:25,519
Speaker 3: But there are just four games left?

408
00:20:25,799 --> 00:20:25,920
Speaker 1: Uh?

409
00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,319
Speaker 3: Is this the best they have looked? I'm trying. I

410
00:20:29,319 --> 00:20:32,480
was trying to think back of every season with coach Lou,

411
00:20:32,599 --> 00:20:35,400
meaning take away the bubble season, because that was difficult

412
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:37,920
to read. How you finish that regular season? Because now

413
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:42,279
they're in Orlando? Who cares? Is this the best they've

414
00:20:42,279 --> 00:20:45,079
looked to end a season with coach Lou? Like? Is

415
00:20:45,119 --> 00:20:48,240
this the best? The most momentum they've had? I was

416
00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:51,000
trying to think back to twenty twenty one. People were

417
00:20:51,039 --> 00:20:53,640
saying then like they put in Daniel Turou to tank

418
00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,440
a game. I don't think that was necessarily the case.

419
00:20:56,519 --> 00:21:01,039
I thought it was already decided Sunday and by Friday.

420
00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:05,279
I think it was their matchup. I thought I thought

421
00:21:05,279 --> 00:21:10,880
I had that at the time figured out. But regardless, maybe.

422
00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,039
Speaker 1: He got blocked seven times in that game. I think

423
00:21:14,039 --> 00:21:16,160
he set the record for one of the most.

424
00:21:17,319 --> 00:21:18,079
Speaker 3: Maybe that.

425
00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:21,599
Speaker 4: Was intentional.

426
00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:26,160
Speaker 3: Their urgency has been good for this team. It has

427
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:29,960
been really good to have them have to play meaningful

428
00:21:30,039 --> 00:21:33,440
games late into the season. That's the hope, right, that

429
00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,799
this carries over that they already have flipped the switch,

430
00:21:38,559 --> 00:21:40,319
so to speak. Kawhi looks like it.

431
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:49,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I'm Will, you've year? Okay, you being pretty

432
00:21:49,039 --> 00:21:50,640
hyped is one thing because Will has been saying it's

433
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,160
our year all year and hey, it's shaping up to

434
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:54,200
maybe being the Clippers.

435
00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:58,519
Speaker 2: Ear that's right, man, people, people need to take more

436
00:21:58,559 --> 00:21:59,559
heat when I'm speaking.

437
00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:01,519
Speaker 4: Yeah, I look it.

438
00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,319
Speaker 1: I was a right so much.

439
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:06,119
Speaker 4: So much of the.

440
00:22:06,079 --> 00:22:10,200
Speaker 2: Playoffs is just dependent on the matchups that you get.

441
00:22:11,599 --> 00:22:16,079
You know, It's just that there's there's easier paths to

442
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,559
a to a conference final or even a championship than

443
00:22:19,599 --> 00:22:23,559
other ones. Just ask the Lakers or the Warriors, or

444
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,559
you know, all sorts of teams who are the heat.

445
00:22:26,599 --> 00:22:28,240
I feel like so many times end up with a

446
00:22:28,839 --> 00:22:31,119
end up with a pathway towards a conference final where

447
00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,920
it's like, Okay, well good for you guys. So I

448
00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,920
you know, a lot can still happen. But like I said,

449
00:22:38,079 --> 00:22:39,960
just it's like I said before, like the fact that

450
00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,599
they're still in control sort of of their own destiny

451
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:46,119
and could potentially avoid the plan if they choose to

452
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:48,960
do so. I think it's great And I don't know

453
00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,319
how much more you could hope for knowing that Kawhi

454
00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,519
was only going to play, you know, thirty seven games.

455
00:22:55,200 --> 00:22:56,880
Will it end up being thirty five games?

456
00:22:58,559 --> 00:23:00,480
Speaker 3: Yeah, if he plays the last four, it'll be at

457
00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:01,160
thirty eight.

458
00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,599
Speaker 1: Thirty Okay, damn yeah fuck thirty games.

459
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:05,880
Speaker 3: Yeah.

460
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:07,799
Speaker 2: People didn't pay Like people thought this was going to

461
00:23:07,839 --> 00:23:09,680
be one of the worst teams that Like people thought

462
00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:11,440
this would be the worst team in the Pacific Division.

463
00:23:11,559 --> 00:23:12,920
I thought it would be one of the worst teams

464
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:14,759
in the West. I don't I didn't see a lot

465
00:23:14,799 --> 00:23:17,119
of people. I didn't see a lot of people preseason

466
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:21,759
projecting the Clippers higher than like eleven twelve. So I

467
00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,759
think what they've done here is is pretty damn impressive.

468
00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:28,599
Speaker 1: And we all said they'd be a high playing team

469
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:32,960
and lo and behold, they're a high playing team or

470
00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:33,400
maybe not.

471
00:23:34,839 --> 00:23:39,000
Speaker 3: And you know, we said six like was their ceiling, right,

472
00:23:39,279 --> 00:23:42,519
like six was aspirational and maybe they end up there.

473
00:23:43,319 --> 00:23:46,079
But all of this was just hinging on can Kawhi

474
00:23:46,079 --> 00:23:49,039
get back to who he was last season? And the

475
00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:53,359
last twelve games he's getting twenty six points on fifty

476
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:58,000
seven fifty two ninety two splits. That's what he did

477
00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:00,519
for about thirty games last year year to set the

478
00:24:00,519 --> 00:24:04,400
all time efficiency record. So he's back the same version

479
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:04,880
of Kali.

480
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:12,039
Speaker 1: Good luck everybody else. I'm feeling way, I'm feeling irrationally confident.

481
00:24:12,799 --> 00:24:14,799
I'm sure this will change depending what happens over this

482
00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:17,759
next back to back. Let us know at Clippers pod

483
00:24:17,839 --> 00:24:20,559
or at Clippers podcast what you think of the Clipper,

484
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,640
what your hype level is that. I know a lot

485
00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,319
of people are ready to step on the Clippers rake again,

486
00:24:25,519 --> 00:24:27,240
and I am right there with you. My foot is

487
00:24:27,319 --> 00:24:30,240
hovering over the rake waiting for it to hit me

488
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:33,839
in the face. Coming up, we're doing a final back

489
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,480
to back preview, the Clippers play the Spurs, then the Rockets,

490
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,039
and then we'll be sending you on your merry way

491
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,359
for the week. If you're listening on the audio, there's

492
00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:43,519
gonna be some ads. If you watch us at YouTube

493
00:24:43,559 --> 00:24:46,480
dot collebish at Clippers Podcast, there's no ads that we

494
00:24:46,559 --> 00:24:48,720
choose to put in, so there's some ads and then

495
00:24:48,759 --> 00:24:51,400
back to back talk coming up in three two one.

496
00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:56,079
Speaker 2: All right, welcome back into clips and did talking about

497
00:24:56,079 --> 00:24:59,160
the Clippers being victorious in a back to back that's

498
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:01,319
already over now looking ahead to another one taking on

499
00:25:01,359 --> 00:25:03,599
the Spurs and then the Rockets. I mean one of

500
00:25:03,599 --> 00:25:06,880
these games, clearly, I think it's a lot more difficult

501
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:12,119
and there's probably heavier implications seating wise between between that one.

502
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,839
That being said, uh Adam, do you expect that? Do

503
00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,440
you expect Kawhi to play through the back to back again?

504
00:25:18,519 --> 00:25:20,319
Do you think they save him for the second game

505
00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:22,799
with a little extra rest or what?

506
00:25:22,799 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 4: What? What do you expect there from the from the

507
00:25:24,759 --> 00:25:25,400
starting five?

508
00:25:25,599 --> 00:25:29,839
Speaker 3: Hold on, let me text my guy big claw the

509
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,920
point the point emoji when the thumb's up. I think

510
00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:35,960
a lot of this depends on how he felt today,

511
00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:38,200
how he came out of this back to back. I

512
00:25:38,279 --> 00:25:44,799
would also put into the calculus, is three days off

513
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:48,000
too many days off for him? If he doesn't play

514
00:25:48,079 --> 00:25:51,480
their question Deo game, that's three days off before he

515
00:25:51,519 --> 00:25:52,160
plays Houston.

516
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,119
Speaker 4: Is that's so weird how often we have to talk

517
00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:55,319
about is it too much? Dressed?

518
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,720
Speaker 1: Well into Will's last point, right, that's playoff basketball schedule.

519
00:25:59,039 --> 00:26:02,000
You're going every other day like you might as well,

520
00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:04,279
like if he's if he reacted well today because they

521
00:26:04,279 --> 00:26:06,200
don't practice today, I don't think because's the day after

522
00:26:06,319 --> 00:26:08,599
back to back. I think that's the illegal base on

523
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:12,799
the union rules. Yeah, he's gonna like why not?

524
00:26:13,799 --> 00:26:17,000
Speaker 3: I mean they should, first of all, without Kawhi, they

525
00:26:17,039 --> 00:26:19,759
should be able to handle San Antonio just fine. And

526
00:26:19,839 --> 00:26:21,839
if they don't, I'm not gonna say they should have

527
00:26:21,839 --> 00:26:24,119
played Kawhi in this game. No, then they blew it

528
00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:26,799
like they shouldn't need Kawhi to beat San Antonio with

529
00:26:26,839 --> 00:26:29,799
the state of their team right now and what they're

530
00:26:29,799 --> 00:26:33,799
looking forward to in their future. So if he does play,

531
00:26:34,559 --> 00:26:36,839
there's a real good chance he might play around twenty

532
00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:40,559
minutes and do you get the same scenario. Then we

533
00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,720
don't know exactly what his minutes restriction was last night

534
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:45,200
because that game got out of hand.

535
00:26:45,599 --> 00:26:48,200
Speaker 1: They said twenty to twenty five. I think pregame and

536
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:49,920
he played right at twenty five.

537
00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:51,359
Speaker 3: I was there. I didn't hear that.

538
00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:52,400
Speaker 1: Oh really, I.

539
00:26:53,799 --> 00:27:00,960
Speaker 3: Could be wrong. I just wonder because I thought Law

540
00:27:01,039 --> 00:27:04,920
said he thinks it somewhere between thinks like twenty eight

541
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:06,720
or thirty minutes, and I thought maybe.

542
00:27:06,519 --> 00:27:08,279
Speaker 1: Oh, he said twenty five to thirty.

543
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:13,839
Speaker 3: Yeah, but nobody, nobody knows, like that's you're calling.

544
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:15,720
Speaker 4: You're calling Rousseau a liar.

545
00:27:19,039 --> 00:27:21,480
Speaker 3: No, I'm not. Did he say coach Lu said twenty

546
00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:22,079
five to thirty?

547
00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:25,319
Speaker 1: No, he said he's just he just reported that he's

548
00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:28,799
on a minutes restriction. Yeah. Law said he thinks it'll

549
00:27:28,799 --> 00:27:30,880
be around twenty five to thirty, and then he ended

550
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:32,039
up playing twenty four.

551
00:27:33,039 --> 00:27:36,160
Speaker 3: So we don't know. If he does play against the Spurs,

552
00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:38,160
Let's say he only plays twenty minutes because they blow

553
00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:40,640
him out. How many minutes he can get to the

554
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,759
next night when they might need him for thirty five

555
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,240
against Houston? Is that gonna be on the table. I

556
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:49,440
don't think it would be. I don't think. I don't

557
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:53,799
think he'd go past thirty so if that's the case,

558
00:27:55,799 --> 00:27:58,440
I would take an extra day's rest and worry about

559
00:27:58,559 --> 00:28:01,240
rust like in the first Corps or whatever. Maybe Kawi

560
00:28:01,279 --> 00:28:04,000
can figure it out if we're talking about oh no,

561
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,279
one day too many off, Like I'm just I don't know.

562
00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:09,640
I'm not that worried about it. But maybe it just

563
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:11,839
depends on how Kawi is feeling what he says.

564
00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:15,799
Speaker 1: Yeah, and well, I guess we'll also know pretty well.

565
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,759
I mean, injury report should come out fairly soonish, right,

566
00:28:20,799 --> 00:28:21,799
that'll be out tomorrow.

567
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:24,880
Speaker 3: I just want to have him for thirty eight or

568
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,039
forty minutes if you need him in that game and

569
00:28:27,039 --> 00:28:29,359
against Houston. If he plays the game against San Antonio,

570
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:31,119
I don't think you're getting up for the most minutes.

571
00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:32,920
Speaker 1: Well, because that's what I was wondering. If the game

572
00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,519
against San Antonio, like, even if it's like whatever, he

573
00:28:35,839 --> 00:28:39,079
ends up only playing twenty three minutes because it's like

574
00:28:39,119 --> 00:28:42,799
a shit show, the good the professional win shit show,

575
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:45,839
then maybe he plays against Houston. But I yeah, I

576
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:48,799
wish I wish the scheduling was flipped. I wish it

577
00:28:48,839 --> 00:28:51,559
was Houston then San Antonio because then for sure he'd

578
00:28:51,559 --> 00:28:54,079
be playing against the Rockets.

579
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,160
Speaker 3: But well, I think he'll play as long as he

580
00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,000
came out of this back to back good. Like, there's

581
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,759
no reason he wouldn't play in both. If he does

582
00:29:01,799 --> 00:29:04,119
play against San Antonio, it's just how many minutes can

583
00:29:04,119 --> 00:29:07,279
you play against Houston then, right, because it's not gonna

584
00:29:07,319 --> 00:29:10,200
go like last night's game went against the Tallas Mavericks

585
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,640
where he only needed to play twenty five because they

586
00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:16,000
were destroying them. Yeah, Houston game, you're probably gonna need

587
00:29:16,079 --> 00:29:18,920
Kawhi for big minutes. So should you play them against Antonio?

588
00:29:19,519 --> 00:29:23,359
Speaker 1: Well, in San Antonio has been terrible. They have lost

589
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,200
six of their last seven. They're minus ninety one over

590
00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:30,119
this stretch. Total. The Clippers are a league best plus

591
00:29:30,119 --> 00:29:34,519
one hundred and nineteen. So it's different. The Spurs have

592
00:29:34,599 --> 00:29:37,359
one hundred and twenty two defensive rating over the span

593
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,839
and a one oh nine offensive rating. They have you know,

594
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:45,480
things are a little wonky and was flipped. Yeah, and

595
00:29:45,519 --> 00:29:48,000
they are. They are not rebounding the ball. They are

596
00:29:48,039 --> 00:29:51,440
bottom ten and every single rebound percentage stet So this

597
00:29:51,599 --> 00:29:54,759
is a team that has built Adam As you said

598
00:29:54,799 --> 00:29:57,240
that if even if Kawai can't go, this is a

599
00:29:57,279 --> 00:29:59,680
team the Clippers should absolutely light up. This should be

600
00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:04,359
a win. Haggle, No haggle. Norm getting out a heater

601
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,319
is one of the more important things we could take

602
00:30:06,359 --> 00:30:07,519
away from this Spurs game.

603
00:30:10,319 --> 00:30:13,160
Speaker 3: No haggle. But then again, I want to know is

604
00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:15,000
he getting on a heater next to Kawhi or a

605
00:30:15,039 --> 00:30:20,119
heater without Kawhi because the issue is fitting in next

606
00:30:20,119 --> 00:30:25,240
to Kawhi and Norm still being himself. Just a scaled

607
00:30:25,279 --> 00:30:26,240
down version.

608
00:30:27,039 --> 00:30:31,680
Speaker 1: Yeah, a more yeah, basically scaled down. Well, how do

609
00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:34,559
you feel about this Spurs game? What are you hoping for?

610
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:38,119
What's because again I expect it that I think most

611
00:30:38,119 --> 00:30:41,160
of us do to be a win, maybe along the

612
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:43,920
more easier side of the wins as these things go.

613
00:30:44,799 --> 00:30:50,039
But it's really kind of their last easy on paper

614
00:30:50,119 --> 00:30:52,799
game because you obviously have the Rockets the next day

615
00:30:52,799 --> 00:30:54,599
and then you have the Kings and the Warriors to

616
00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:54,960
close that.

617
00:30:56,519 --> 00:30:59,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, this one has to be a professional

618
00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,000
win and they have to continue to like just take

619
00:31:02,039 --> 00:31:04,839
care of business, uh and have those good habits there.

620
00:31:04,880 --> 00:31:08,400
There would be no excuse to losing to the Spurs

621
00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:12,079
team with how the team has been looking right now.

622
00:31:12,519 --> 00:31:13,519
Speaker 4: The Clippers, that is it.

623
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:17,759
Speaker 2: I think even close one would be I don't want

624
00:31:17,759 --> 00:31:20,839
to say inexcusable, but it would, uh, it would give

625
00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:22,279
me a little bit of pause.

626
00:31:22,039 --> 00:31:24,680
Speaker 4: Even as hell, it'd be it to like.

627
00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:27,000
Speaker 2: Have to like claw this one out. A team down,

628
00:31:27,079 --> 00:31:31,400
it's like two three best rotation players, like come on.

629
00:31:32,839 --> 00:31:35,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they've been putting together. They have. It's not

630
00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:37,680
like they're a team that's down there three best rotation

631
00:31:37,759 --> 00:31:40,200
guys and like, wow, they're still playing pretty hard. There's

632
00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:43,000
some things that are doing well. They're not doing anything

633
00:31:43,039 --> 00:31:45,119
that they're shooting thirty five percent from three. That's like

634
00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:46,440
the best that I can find.

635
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:48,400
Speaker 2: And it's like not even like they have a much

636
00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:51,079
to play, like to play for, you know what I mean.

637
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:52,920
It's not like they're like fighting to get into a

638
00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:57,039
playing spot, like there's not Again, no team in the

639
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,799
NBA is necessarily easy, but like this team, they have

640
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,680
no reason to like really gut something out, you know

641
00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:06,279
what I mean. So going there, take care of business early,

642
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:08,319
maintain the lead, like let's.

643
00:32:08,319 --> 00:32:11,119
Speaker 1: You know, drive over to Houston, get minimal rest.

644
00:32:11,319 --> 00:32:14,839
Speaker 2: Minimal fourth quarter minutes from Harden and Kawhi would be

645
00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:18,319
great for Harden. Sorry, I'm assuming kau I'll just play

646
00:32:18,319 --> 00:32:20,119
the second game that's fair.

647
00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:22,599
Speaker 3: I don't know, I don't know what they're gonna I

648
00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:26,200
would just if you can only play so many minutes

649
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:27,720
the second I have a BAP to back and it's

650
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:31,920
thirty or less and you're taking on Houston and you're

651
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:35,319
probably gonna need it for thirty eight. I just wouldn't

652
00:32:35,319 --> 00:32:37,079
play against Antonio.

653
00:32:37,079 --> 00:32:39,759
Speaker 2: Any potential playoff upon that, like why would you? Why

654
00:32:39,759 --> 00:32:40,920
would you mess around with it?

655
00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,319
Speaker 1: And it goes back to your thing too, will conference wins,

656
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:52,440
like let's let's get some Oh yeah, yes, okay, So

657
00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,039
do we have anything else to say about the Spurs game? Really?

658
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:58,240
Before we talk more about the game that matters more,

659
00:32:58,279 --> 00:33:00,480
which is a team of the Clippers have been beaten

660
00:33:00,519 --> 00:33:03,440
all this year's clip?

661
00:33:04,279 --> 00:33:06,319
Speaker 3: Does Kawhi want to play against them because he's a

662
00:33:06,359 --> 00:33:08,039
former Spurs? They're that type of thing.

663
00:33:08,119 --> 00:33:13,920
Speaker 1: Still, yeah, what if Kawhi puts up seventy against the Spurs,

664
00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:16,519
but then his benched against the Rockets? How we feel

665
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:22,480
just the most unnecessary f you game ever beat the

666
00:33:22,839 --> 00:33:23,839
sixty and then.

667
00:33:24,599 --> 00:33:28,359
Speaker 3: I know I was traded seven years ago ago.

668
00:33:28,799 --> 00:33:31,880
Speaker 1: It's still on, yeah, and I'm going to kick you

669
00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:35,920
when you are quite possibly at your lowest miss missing

670
00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:40,519
your best players, all right, they play the Rockets. The

671
00:33:40,599 --> 00:33:44,160
Rockets are playing the Warriors tonight, so it's go Rockets.

672
00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,400
Because we are hurtling towards a terrifying situation where there's

673
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,680
like a five way tie between a bunch of these teams.

674
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:53,160
Justin Russo has been sick about that on Twitter. Every

675
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:55,240
team going forty nine and thirty three or whatever it is.

676
00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:58,960
Speaker 3: You'd the Clippers fair if there's a five way tie.

677
00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:04,119
Speaker 1: Let me look it up. I think it helps them.

678
00:34:04,359 --> 00:34:07,759
Speaker 2: Well, we still don't have tiebreakers over We only have

679
00:34:07,839 --> 00:34:08,719
tie breakers over what.

680
00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:09,719
Speaker 4: The Warriors and the Grizzli.

681
00:34:12,079 --> 00:34:15,960
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, so, yeah, the Timberwolves would still be ahead

682
00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:21,119
of us. I still don't know that we could get

683
00:34:21,159 --> 00:34:22,280
higher than six.

684
00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:32,840
Speaker 1: I think it, Yeah, hold on him and that anyway, Yeah,

685
00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:36,519
I think I think the Yeah, I think we're still

686
00:34:36,559 --> 00:34:39,840
six in that scenario because like the Lakers have the conference,

687
00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:43,280
they won the division, which helps the hardest division in

688
00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:48,280
basketball potentially those who know no.

689
00:34:48,519 --> 00:34:55,039
Speaker 5: Of course, yeah, that one year it was really good,

690
00:34:55,079 --> 00:34:57,840
except for the Kings fucking it up consistently every single

691
00:34:57,880 --> 00:34:58,679
year that I say that.

692
00:34:58,639 --> 00:35:01,679
Speaker 1: The Pack Dave is going to be good. All right, Well,

693
00:35:01,679 --> 00:35:03,199
I can't find the stat right now, but it is

694
00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:06,519
funny that there might be like a five way tie

695
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:10,960
for this team. The Rockets are playing really good basketball.

696
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:15,239
We're recording this before they're playing the Warriors. They are

697
00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:17,960
eight and ten, and they're eight and two in their

698
00:35:18,039 --> 00:35:21,280
last ten games. Their fifth and net rating, they're only

699
00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:25,920
sixteenth and true shooting percentage. But the Spurs are a

700
00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:29,679
bad rebounding team. The Rockets are the best rebounding team

701
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:32,000
in the league right now. Over their last ten games.

702
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:35,079
Their first and offensive rebound percentage, their fourth and defensive

703
00:35:35,079 --> 00:35:38,920
rebound percentage. Clippers haven't played this team since December.

704
00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:42,199
Speaker 2: That low true shooting number, though, is doing elected bull

705
00:35:42,199 --> 00:35:43,360
Steel's offensive rebounds.

706
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:48,000
Speaker 1: I'm sure very true. Clippers haven't played them since December,

707
00:35:48,039 --> 00:35:50,039
so we didn't have the new bench, and the last

708
00:35:50,039 --> 00:35:52,440
time we played them, I think KPJ started and a

709
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:56,599
mere coffee, so it was like it was going to

710
00:35:56,639 --> 00:36:00,559
be a loss. How we field heading the one. I

711
00:36:00,559 --> 00:36:03,440
feel a lot better now than Kawhi is gonna maybe

712
00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:06,760
play against them.

713
00:36:06,559 --> 00:36:08,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know. I got this feeling like he's

714
00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:13,360
gonna play both and I don't know, but the Houston

715
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:17,679
Rockets their struggle this season was supposed to be on

716
00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:21,559
the offensive end, and it was at first, but the

717
00:36:21,639 --> 00:36:26,000
last fifteen games now they're second in offensive rating, so

718
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:29,519
they have an elite defense, and like the Clippers, they've

719
00:36:29,519 --> 00:36:32,800
turned things around on the offensive end. Now, they didn't

720
00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:35,119
get a Kawhi Leonard back, but they just kind of

721
00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:38,360
matured and shng Goon and Jalen Green would play better

722
00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:40,280
next to each other, and men Thompson. The second half

723
00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,480
of the season has been awesome for them. Jabari Spit

724
00:36:42,599 --> 00:36:46,960
Junior's back now, so they're scary. Like as much as

725
00:36:47,119 --> 00:36:50,199
I would prefer to play them over Denver, the Lakers

726
00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:54,039
like it's that it's getting closer, Like I don't. They

727
00:36:54,039 --> 00:36:55,719
don't love the Houston matchup.

728
00:36:55,679 --> 00:36:58,679
Speaker 4: And Denver is in a mini spiral right now.

729
00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:02,320
Speaker 1: Dought of it. Yeah, I mean they're not Donovan. Their

730
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:06,679
defense is bad like they la Clippers. Film was tweeting

731
00:37:06,679 --> 00:37:09,440
about this. He was like, no one on the Nuggets

732
00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:10,960
is like checking James Harden.

733
00:37:12,559 --> 00:37:14,639
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is not that defense.

734
00:37:15,039 --> 00:37:18,639
Speaker 4: Yeah Nuggets team, This is not that Nuggets team that

735
00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:21,719
it was when they won the championship, when they've been

736
00:37:22,039 --> 00:37:23,159
terrifying before.

737
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:29,119
Speaker 1: It's sorry, Sue, no I think we're about to say

738
00:37:29,119 --> 00:37:32,480
the same thing. Hopefully he's back by the playoffs about

739
00:37:32,519 --> 00:37:36,880
Jamal Murray, so like they're I want the Nuggets more

740
00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:38,920
than any other team now because like that is not

741
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,320
a team. Well, I think someone was tweeting out, like

742
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:43,480
how many games have they lost this year where Yoka

743
00:37:43,679 --> 00:37:46,400
has put up fifty? They've lost like six games this

744
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:48,639
year where he's put up fifty points.

745
00:37:49,559 --> 00:38:00,079
Speaker 3: Like average fifty. Yeah exactly, but likests, Yeah, that's the recipe.

746
00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:03,079
Speaker 1: And we will learn more right about how this Clippers

747
00:38:03,079 --> 00:38:04,920
team because now we got the new look bench like

748
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,679
Bogie Simmons but toom and Derek Jones junior. If we

749
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:13,119
have the full roster with Kawhi playing, like, we get

750
00:38:13,199 --> 00:38:16,000
to see a lot better bench than we saw any

751
00:38:16,039 --> 00:38:19,079
of the other three games versus Houston this season in

752
00:38:19,159 --> 00:38:22,400
terms of how guys are playing currently fit in chemistry

753
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,639
and all that stuff. Like, it's a much different Clippers

754
00:38:25,679 --> 00:38:28,320
bench that the very good Rockets bench is gonna have

755
00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:30,400
to defend.

756
00:38:31,199 --> 00:38:39,239
Speaker 3: Bogie. So I got one more baby, got my guys

757
00:38:39,239 --> 00:38:42,760
shooting fifty from three the last twenty one games. It's

758
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:43,679
pretty incredible.

759
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:48,239
Speaker 1: He's killing it. He's been the Bogie playoff game is

760
00:38:48,280 --> 00:38:51,119
gonna be awesome because there's gonna be a Bogie playoff game.

761
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:55,000
Speaker 3: I think you can flip a series. Honestly, I said

762
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:57,079
that when they got him. I'm that high on Bogie.

763
00:38:57,119 --> 00:39:00,079
I think he can flip a playoff series for you.

764
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:03,320
Speaker 4: Yeah so is.

765
00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:06,760
Speaker 2: Sorry, I don't mean to side check this, but uh track,

766
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:11,519
it is the more favorable matchup just playing the Grizzlies

767
00:39:11,519 --> 00:39:14,880
in a playing game, taking the Rockets, and then you

768
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:16,920
would face if you get out of that series. And

769
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:19,840
again Adam As, I'm saying, the Rockets aren't getting scarier,

770
00:39:20,119 --> 00:39:22,360
but then you could potentially.

771
00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:25,079
Speaker 4: In the second.

772
00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:28,559
Speaker 3: Round, second round.

773
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:31,320
Speaker 1: See this is some charles. This is you See I

774
00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:34,800
was getting shipped for Man the other day.

775
00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:36,920
Speaker 4: You're still probably taking on the Lakers.

776
00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:41,719
Speaker 1: I guess right. The West is insane. I always say

777
00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:45,239
this every year, but it's the second round is difficult

778
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:47,920
no matter what, Like you're not, there's not It's not

779
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,480
like the East, where it's like like you were saying, well,

780
00:39:50,519 --> 00:39:53,800
like the heat get these paths sometimes where you're like, congrats,

781
00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:56,039
now you have to play real basketball, or like when

782
00:39:56,039 --> 00:39:58,239
the Blazers made it to that Western Conference finals.

783
00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:02,000
Speaker 2: I mean, whoever's getting I feel like whoever is getting

784
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:04,960
the winner of the four or five matchup as currently

785
00:40:04,960 --> 00:40:07,039
constructive getting neither Nuggets or Warriors.

786
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,679
Speaker 4: I feel like that's that's a pretty good role.

787
00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:15,360
Speaker 3: So do we want the Nuggets to catch the Lakers

788
00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:17,440
right now and be in the three spot?

789
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:21,800
Speaker 4: That would be ideal, hundred percent, that would be ideal.

790
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:26,920
Speaker 3: If your best option is getting Jokics in the first round,

791
00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:29,679
it's like it's a Blood and Russ.

792
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:33,559
Speaker 1: Which if people have been noticing the poor beat writers

793
00:40:33,639 --> 00:40:36,000
for the Nuggets, who did sell themselves out for the

794
00:40:36,079 --> 00:40:39,480
Russ fans to begin this season, are now having to

795
00:40:39,519 --> 00:40:43,480
deal with the fact that if you say anything remotely

796
00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:51,079
bad or Nuggets honest about Russell Westbrook's performance, you are

797
00:40:51,159 --> 00:40:53,480
thrown under the bus. So first of all, this is

798
00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:56,079
what you get. You're selling what you reaped or whatever.

799
00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:58,760
Speaker 4: And yeah, anyway, I.

800
00:40:58,719 --> 00:41:02,119
Speaker 2: Mean, if I have, if I have the choice between

801
00:41:02,119 --> 00:41:05,400
two difficult teams to face in the playoffs, I am

802
00:41:05,480 --> 00:41:07,840
ten at a time, ten times picking the one that

803
00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:11,679
also has Russell Westbrook as a significant contributor in the rotation.

804
00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:15,639
Like I mean, come on, like look at the track.

805
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:19,880
Speaker 1: Record and look how it's been trending the last week

806
00:41:19,920 --> 00:41:21,519
and a half or whatever, like.

807
00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:26,760
Speaker 2: There's an entire body of work there and it just

808
00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:29,000
is pretty favorable two opponents.

809
00:41:30,079 --> 00:41:33,119
Speaker 3: I think he's been out of the first round two

810
00:41:33,239 --> 00:41:39,039
times without or once without Kevin Durant, and that was

811
00:41:39,079 --> 00:41:43,400
in the bubble next to James Harden with the Rockets when.

812
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:45,440
Speaker 1: They made that great edit of him, even though he

813
00:41:45,519 --> 00:41:47,760
wasn't yelling at the small children the bubble edit.

814
00:41:54,639 --> 00:41:58,880
Speaker 3: I don't, Yeah, I still worry there's going to be

815
00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:02,199
a Ross game where he nukes you somehow from three,

816
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:04,239
like it sure feels like that's coming.

817
00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:05,360
Speaker 4: Don't care.

818
00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:08,159
Speaker 1: But there's three other games in the series that he

819
00:42:08,239 --> 00:42:09,599
has to play min of them.

820
00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:12,880
Speaker 3: I wonder if Mike bolone at some point given what

821
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,639
has occurred at the end of the season, because I

822
00:42:15,679 --> 00:42:19,000
don't think coach lou got nearly enough love for how

823
00:42:19,079 --> 00:42:23,000
often he wouldn't play Russ late and fourth quarters over

824
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,039
the last two years.

825
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:29,519
Speaker 1: I also think it seems pretty difficult to communicate to

826
00:42:29,599 --> 00:42:33,039
Russ that he will not be playing significant minutes. Based

827
00:42:33,079 --> 00:42:34,559
on some of the things that.

828
00:42:34,679 --> 00:42:37,920
Speaker 2: You mean, it seems like you essentially have to completely

829
00:42:38,239 --> 00:42:40,400
him out of the lineup if you intend to not

830
00:42:40,519 --> 00:42:47,480
close with him.

831
00:42:47,679 --> 00:42:48,519
Speaker 1: It's Nuggets.

832
00:42:48,599 --> 00:42:54,719
Speaker 3: Do you want Nuggets more than Rockets? Well as of.

833
00:42:57,719 --> 00:43:00,840
Speaker 2: Be the best player in the series. That's you think, like,

834
00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:03,639
do you think that? Do you think I'm not against

835
00:43:03,679 --> 00:43:04,239
the Nuggets?

836
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:08,159
Speaker 3: But yes, I think Yoka is just the one guy

837
00:43:08,199 --> 00:43:11,559
where you can definitely, I mean based upon track record.

838
00:43:11,559 --> 00:43:14,440
He's a three time regular season MVP, a more recent

839
00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:18,320
finals MVP. They won in the bubble against Kawhi. I

840
00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:19,960
think you have to at least give the nod to

841
00:43:20,039 --> 00:43:22,800
Yokis going into the series. I'm not saying Kawhi can't,

842
00:43:22,960 --> 00:43:26,599
but I think, oh for sure.

843
00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:31,400
Speaker 1: Number one, who's two, three four? Why James New.

844
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:37,760
Speaker 3: It might tell me is Jamal Murray playing like I playoff?

845
00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:41,199
Jamal Murray is also very different against LA teams.

846
00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:43,320
Speaker 4: Yeah, very scary.

847
00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:44,760
Speaker 1: But if he's not going to be one hundred percent,

848
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:46,440
it doesn't sound like they'll even be one hundred percent

849
00:43:46,480 --> 00:43:49,280
because and again this is off the one quote, maybe

850
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:52,280
he'll be Hopefully he's back for the playoffs. So it's like, damn, like,

851
00:43:52,360 --> 00:43:53,840
what's that first round going to look like?

852
00:43:55,039 --> 00:43:58,199
Speaker 3: So the Nuggets have this is who they have left

853
00:43:58,239 --> 00:44:02,400
on their schedule. If you're rooting for dem to move

854
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:05,039
up into the three spot, and in case the Clippers

855
00:44:05,079 --> 00:44:07,440
get the sixth spot. They're playing the Pacers tonight at home.

856
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:11,480
They're currently up by nine first half. They're in Sacramento,

857
00:44:12,159 --> 00:44:15,760
then they host the Memphis Grizzlies, and then the final

858
00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:18,800
game of the season, they're in Houston against the Rockets.

859
00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:21,559
The Rockets, there's a chance they might not have anything

860
00:44:21,559 --> 00:44:24,519
to play for, yeah, whause they might be locked in

861
00:44:24,519 --> 00:44:25,239
with the two seed.

862
00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:26,760
Speaker 1: Just rest everybody.

863
00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:34,000
Speaker 6: Yeah, that might mean the Clippers beat them for them

864
00:44:34,039 --> 00:44:36,280
not to have anything to play for, and the Warriors

865
00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:37,039
beat them tonight.

866
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:40,400
Speaker 2: I mean, the Rockets are mighty close to being done.

867
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:46,719
They got I think three games up on the Lakers.

868
00:44:46,719 --> 00:44:50,159
Speaker 3: And they have one game left against them. That's the

869
00:44:50,199 --> 00:44:52,119
other part of it. And I think whoever wins that

870
00:44:52,159 --> 00:44:54,840
game would have the tiebreaker between the Lakers and Rockets.

871
00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:57,719
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Lakers second to last game is Rockets. I

872
00:44:57,760 --> 00:45:00,360
think the Lakers play the Trailblazers the last day year.

873
00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:06,719
Where's that at Portland? I don't hate that the Motive

874
00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:10,039
Center rocking, rocking in twelve thirty.

875
00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:11,239
Speaker 3: She's up in Portland.

876
00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:15,519
Speaker 1: All right, Back to this Rockets game, I guess this

877
00:45:15,639 --> 00:45:17,400
is back to both games. Who was our player of

878
00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:21,920
the back to backs? Pick? Which way? Who did we

879
00:45:21,960 --> 00:45:24,039
all pick for the last game? I picked but Tom

880
00:45:24,039 --> 00:45:25,760
he did Okay. I think all of our picks did

881
00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:29,519
pretty good because no one played poorly against the Mass

882
00:45:30,559 --> 00:45:32,239
except for Norm. But we can't pick him.

883
00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:35,960
Speaker 3: I had Bogie, he was pretty hot Friday night. Didn't

884
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:37,719
didn't take me Shaw's yesterday?

885
00:45:38,960 --> 00:45:39,719
Speaker 1: Well, who'd you pick?

886
00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:45,920
Speaker 3: Pretty sweet reverse duncle off the lu.

887
00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:48,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, nasty and took a crazy was that Norm or Derek?

888
00:45:49,039 --> 00:45:50,719
Both of them took crazy knocks?

889
00:45:51,079 --> 00:45:51,360
Speaker 4: Yeah?

890
00:45:51,440 --> 00:45:54,960
Speaker 1: Yesterday that normal one dude when he got knead and

891
00:45:55,079 --> 00:45:58,599
the knee and they showed the replay. Holy fuck. Anyway,

892
00:45:58,719 --> 00:46:01,079
forget all of that. So we were we were three

893
00:46:01,119 --> 00:46:05,119
for three on the picks. Well done, fellas. Who's your

894
00:46:05,159 --> 00:46:07,000
pick for a player on the back to back?

895
00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:15,400
Speaker 3: I will go with give me Nico this time. I'll

896
00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:15,880
take Nico.

897
00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:17,679
Speaker 1: But okay, I like that.

898
00:46:18,199 --> 00:46:21,079
Speaker 3: Never go wrong with Nico. He's almost always a plus.

899
00:46:20,599 --> 00:46:25,840
Speaker 1: Very difficult. Yeah, well, you're player of the back to

900
00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:28,480
back pick, I'll.

901
00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:30,280
Speaker 4: Go for Adams guy. I'll go for Bogey.

902
00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:34,280
Speaker 3: Oh dare you? I was gonna take him before this.

903
00:46:34,719 --> 00:46:39,679
Speaker 1: It'll be fun to watch him had first choice, it'll

904
00:46:39,719 --> 00:46:41,880
be fun to watch him against Houston and what Tyler

905
00:46:41,880 --> 00:46:44,679
you can do with a more versatile bench. Now, I'm

906
00:46:44,719 --> 00:46:48,000
going Ben Simmons for basically the exact same reason, because

907
00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:50,960
I want to see how he is used. Kind of

908
00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:53,239
I feel like we're all kind of putting the Spurs

909
00:46:53,239 --> 00:46:57,840
game has a Watch Ben Simmons against a team with

910
00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:02,320
as much athleticism and length on the and aggressiveness as

911
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:04,880
the Rockets is interesting to me because we're gonna see

912
00:47:05,320 --> 00:47:09,159
the defense the Rockets play is very good, and that's

913
00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:11,000
very close to what we're gonna see in terms of

914
00:47:11,079 --> 00:47:14,480
playoff intensity defense, Like in terms of some of the

915
00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:16,519
best we're gonna see before the end of the season

916
00:47:16,960 --> 00:47:18,320
is gonna be that Rockets team.

917
00:47:19,039 --> 00:47:21,679
Speaker 3: Also, to be honest, Ben has not been as good

918
00:47:21,760 --> 00:47:24,400
recently as.

919
00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:26,440
Speaker 1: Right, so it's like, can can he get back into

920
00:47:26,440 --> 00:47:30,920
some better form? I thought about wraps up unless anyone

921
00:47:30,960 --> 00:47:33,840
has anything else to say about the final back to

922
00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:36,639
back of the Clippers twenty four to twenty five season.

923
00:47:39,599 --> 00:47:42,000
Speaker 3: Go Rockets, tonight, Go Nuggets.

924
00:47:43,880 --> 00:47:46,239
Speaker 1: There we go perfect all right, We're going to have

925
00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:49,519
a full episode out on Thursday. We're all gonna be

926
00:47:49,559 --> 00:47:51,320
at the game on Wednesday, so that's gonna be fun.

927
00:47:51,360 --> 00:47:54,599
If you see just come say what's up? Will? Where

928
00:47:54,599 --> 00:47:56,840
can these people now that the weakest started, they have

929
00:47:56,880 --> 00:47:59,239
to go back to work tomorrow. Where can they tell

930
00:47:59,280 --> 00:48:02,360
their coworkers that they must listen to us? What answer?

931
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:04,480
What they did this weekend? Where could they do that?

932
00:48:04,719 --> 00:48:06,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can tell your coworkers to listen to us

933
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:09,000
wherever they get their podcast if they happen to listen

934
00:48:09,119 --> 00:48:11,880
over on Apple Podcasts, Spotify with a little rating and review.

935
00:48:11,920 --> 00:48:15,400
It always helps us out. But your coworkers who are

936
00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:17,039
really in the now should be checking us out over

937
00:48:17,079 --> 00:48:21,000
on YouTube dot com slash at Clippers podcast. Subscribe over there,

938
00:48:21,159 --> 00:48:22,920
hit the little bells. You can get notified when we

939
00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:25,480
come out with new stuff. You can comment on every video.

940
00:48:26,440 --> 00:48:27,800
Speaker 4: Yeah it's a good.

941
00:48:27,639 --> 00:48:31,559
Speaker 2: Time, so come through on that. But however you listen

942
00:48:31,599 --> 00:48:33,800
to watch this show, you know we appreciate you.

943
00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:38,840
Speaker 1: We absolutely do. Always wonderful getting the full crew together,

944
00:48:39,119 --> 00:48:42,760
Adam before we send these wonderful folks out for a

945
00:48:42,920 --> 00:48:48,199
quasi stressful week of basketball. One positive thing for Clippers fans.

946
00:48:48,159 --> 00:48:54,480
Speaker 3: Yeah I got something go whi doesn't watch ESPN. Hey okay, yeah,

947
00:48:54,559 --> 00:48:58,920
the goat the coat that's a watch and has no

948
00:48:59,039 --> 00:49:01,960
idea what sau Zubas was doing with that press tour.

949
00:49:02,480 --> 00:49:04,519
Speaker 1: That was so funny. Yeah, he's like, I had no idea.

950
00:49:04,559 --> 00:49:06,280
He was on cool man.

951
00:49:06,320 --> 00:49:10,599
Speaker 3: I know he's a basketball player and he's good, and

952
00:49:10,639 --> 00:49:12,440
he was like trying to put together I don't know

953
00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:15,519
what the topics were. I don't locked.

954
00:49:15,280 --> 00:49:17,519
Speaker 4: In, dude, he's too locked in to be watching TV.

955
00:49:19,000 --> 00:49:20,280
Speaker 3: I love Kawhi so much.

956
00:49:21,440 --> 00:49:24,559
Speaker 1: You're texting them that right now? All right, we will

957
00:49:24,559 --> 00:49:28,280
see y'all later. Here's to a good week, and as always,

958
00:49:28,559 --> 00:49:29,280
let's go close.