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Speaker 1: What is up, Fellasikos. I am Dana Valley coming at

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you with my certified fantabulus co host mister Brant Hughes, who, yes,

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you can tell from him he's in pain.

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Speaker 2: Because he works out.

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Speaker 1: Had a really tough workout today, so he's podcasting through

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it because fuck load management. He does not care.

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Speaker 2: He's here.

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Speaker 1: He's not racking up any DMP's rest. We are going

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to talk about which players this season have improved the

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most to us. You can use that as kind of

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a guideline for what most Improved Player will look like,

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but our awards, because no podcast is doing awards check

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ins at the quarterpole, so we have valiantly decided to

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release that episode this Saturday, so stay tuned for that.

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But we're gonna just get into it. We have a

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bunch of players that we think have improved, a bunch

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that we wanted to highlight, and that'll set the stage

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for Most Improved Player, which is kind of its own

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debate where it's more about philosophy and matter of interpretation

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or preference. I guess, as with all awards, but use

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how the heck are you doing? That's the question we

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need to ask first.

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Speaker 2: I'm doing well. I am. I am playing through it

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because I believe availability is the best ability. Isn't that

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like whenever you hear that, isn't it just like that,

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that's one of those things that's like, yeah, it sounds cute,

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but it's like not actually that like smart of a

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thing to say, but you hear.

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Speaker 1: I mean, watch Josh Giddy this season.

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Speaker 2: Like numbers, that's not a good ability in some cases, Uh,

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the players will talk about sorry, sorry, follow up, follow up?

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How are you doing?

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Speaker 1: I am doing fantastic. I'm definitely in less pain than

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you are.

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Speaker 2: So there is that.

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Speaker 1: It's nice to have sort of a positive like there's

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no way, I guess there's way to be negative about this,

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but there's no We're not buying or selling or dumping

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on a certain team or player these We might at.

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Speaker 2: Some point there might be a question about the sustainability

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of some of these improvements slash leaps, but you know,

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you're I want to You're right, this is essentially a

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positive celebration, ignowl bludgement of it. So you said, guys

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that improve have improved the most. We probably should because

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I think we kind of have a more specific definition

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of what that like, this isn't necessarily the guys we

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think this isn't necessarily a most Improved, you know, award

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ranking or anything like that. So the way I looked

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at this was like new skills that weren't there before

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that that carries a lot of weight in this discussion

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for me. And also if there's not a new skill,

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like a singular thing that's happening, a lot of it

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for me. I would are guys that I singled out

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are those that their roles have changed, like whether that's

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or like the their status, like career status even has changed,

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Like this guy was basically out of the league and

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now he's doing this and so he's a rotation guy

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or he was barely a rotation guy. Now he's doing

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this and he's like a like a legit starter and

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then you know starter to star start a superstar to

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all NBA like that kind of thing. So it's two

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different things for me, And hopefully that's not like too

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inconsistent for this to make sense.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And I followed that same logic because you texted

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me about the logic you were using and for uniform resake,

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and I also cribbed it because I thought it was

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smart and in doing so, with that we'll mention like

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overarching improvements, but like I tried to zero in on

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why do I think this player improved the most, Like

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what's the one area of it and isolated it from there?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, do you have?

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Speaker 1: I thought it was really bad breaking news at first

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while we were recording the intro to this, But Kevin

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Durant is going to miss another week for Phoenix per

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Sham's grant, due to a left ankle sprain following his

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left calf sprain. He has been their best player on

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both sides of the ball, so that is a that

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is a very big deal. But I was, I like,

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my job, I saw it. I was like, oh no,

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because we were talking about where would belong in the

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MVP discussion that he not missed a game, so.

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Speaker 2: Well, now we may not have to think about him

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too much if he keeps piling up these these not

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like critical absences, but like just long enough to where

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what's what's the cap on his game's play going to

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be like fifty? Probably?

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Speaker 1: Oh he man, he's been so good this year, But

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that's not what this podcast is about. Mister Hughes, do

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you have anything else to add? About the criteria we're following.

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Speaker 2: I don't think so. I think it's fairly straightforward, and

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we'll kind of brush up, you know, brush up against

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it as we discuss each player.

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Speaker 1: We begin with mister A. Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons,

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who's spoiler alert, not the only Detroit Pistons that's gonna

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make an appearance here. He was my selection, and I think, look,

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you can just go look at the numbers. There's an

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improvement there, Like just the raw numbers. He's shooting more threes,

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hitting them at a good clip. There's still some issues

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that he has at the rim, but this is someone

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who just on the season, Grant is averaging over thirty points,

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twelve assists, and one block per one hundred possessions. Now,

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if this holds, here's every other player who has done

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the same for an entire season, Nicole j Okic, James Harden,

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Lebron James, and Derek Rose. I was surprised that I'm

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not gonna lie to s Price see that name, but

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that is it. Now. I'm using that as my preamble

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into I think We're kid has really improved the most

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is as a defender, slash, rebound or whatever you want

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to call it. He the Pistons. Their defense has slipped

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overall in the past couple weeks, but like they're still

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hovering around lee G average. That's a really big deal, Cad.

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What I think they've done a really good job of

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under head coach JB. Bickerstaff is they're just not like

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he and I know to some extent he needed to

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at points, but he's just not someone who needs to

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defend primary ball handlers anymore. He's gonna be on stationary

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shooters or motion shooters, and then he's gonna be used

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a lot as the helper, which is something he's always done,

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but it's way more tenable for him to do it now.

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He is saving Grant like one point five points at

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the rim per seventy five possessions, which is just absurd

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for someone who is in his positional archetype. The other

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thing that is standing out here is opponents are shooting

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like sixteen point four percentage points worse inside of six

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feet when they're being contested by Caid Cunningham. That is

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like an absolutely absurd number, and it is actually fifteen

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point six points worse. The only players of everyone there

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are fifty six players in the league who contested as

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many shots at the rim as Caid Cunningham this season.

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The only ones affecting shots more are Victor Wabanyama, Walker Kessler,

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and chet Holmgren. Right now, again those are primary rim protectors,

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so there's a difference, but for Kay to be looped

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in there, and I think even when you look at

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some of the individual stuff, you know, he's allowing sub

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thirty six percent shooting when he's guarding the ball handlers

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and pick and rolls, these are all really positive indicators.

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And I think what's impressed me about it the most

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is I feel like Detroit people, I'm sure talking writing

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about it, but no one seems to be mentioning it.

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I've kind of felt I feel like I've seen more

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complaints about, like, well, why isn't he like more explosive

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on the offensive ended points than I have of acknowledging

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that this is already a really good player who has

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visibly to me level up on the defensive end. And

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I know that part of that is probably owed to

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just the Pistons. I think they've done a better job

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optimizing his role. But the stuff he's doing as just

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someone who is helping as a shot contester. It's been

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a really big deal. And finally to the Pistons overall,

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they just have like between Jayal and darn and Isaiah

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Stewart and Kay Cunningham, when you look at just like

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the degree to which they're impacting opponent percentages at the rim,

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they have some of the biggest differentials in the league

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right now.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Duran have really has had some moments. I think

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Cunningham his his again, like really complete player. We've said

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that before. The marginal improvements defensively and as a rebounder too,

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are like if you're not convinced that he can be

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if you think he's like this isn't a great comparison,

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but he's more Chris Middleton than Jason Tatum or whatever.

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Or if you if you just don't ever see him

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as someone that is going to be elite, as like

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your first option creator, then then that's why all this

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other that he's sort of gradually honing matters more because

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it just like gives him more ways to be helpful

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if he just can't. You know, the true shooting is

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not where it needs to be. You mentioned the finishing

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at the rim just isn't where it needs to be

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either if that's never gonna get you know, beyond like

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a B or like a B plus or something down

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the line, then having all this other utility just makes

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him you know, we always talk about scalability and portability.

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It just makes it easier to build around all that.

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Not that he was ever really like a hard guy

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to build around, but you know what I mean, Like

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it just gives him more ways to be part of

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a good team. Eventually, I picked another Piston. I think

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that's who you have next. But I'll wait for you

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to put the uh put the graphic up. And your

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first question might be, if we're starting off with two Pistons,

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why aren't the Pistons better? Well, they are. They're not

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gonna set the league record for consecutive losses.

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Speaker 1: So they've won. They won nine games basically three months

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earlier than they did last year. That I know that

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sounds stupid, but they were. They played in a this

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is again, they played in the NBA Cup game that

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had implications for them. That counts as progress.

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Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, got house, but that's because the Bucks made

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every three possible. But that game will be a couple

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days old by the time you're listening to this, So

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I got j and Ivy. He ironically kind of jumped

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onto my radar for this exercise doing stuff I'm not

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really going to praise because the genesis of this was him.

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You know that buzzer beater, that game winner he hit

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against Toronto. I guess it'll be over a week ago now,

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and a game that Cunningham wasn't available for and he

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had a great game, was you know, led the team

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to win. However you want to value that over Toronto,

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it's your decision. But just looked like, oh okay, like

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all the athletic bursts were there, had some good passes,

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obviously won the game on a tough runner. I don't

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think the improvements he's made are in the realm of

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being like, oh, maybe this guy is like a one B,

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like a first option, like a on ball creator guy.

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What I wanted to focus on was just some of

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the stuff he's done better that makes him a fit

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next to Cunningham or as like a maybe like a

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primary guy against second units. But it's really just like

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his off ball shooting is the big difference when I

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put the stats together. Originally he's kind of at a

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cold spell here, but he was hitting forty nine percent

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of his ketch and shoot threes. It's down to like

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forty four last I checked, Uh, but that's still world's

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better than the thirty seven percent he shot last year.

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And it has been making some good cuts and just generally

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doing more stuff that allows him to be in a

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role next to Cunningham that like makes sense as opposed to,

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you know, had his gains been as you know Alwa's

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you know, just a monster pick and roll ball handler

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this year, or like his isolation. He's a terrible isolation player,

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for example, Like those things just haven't come yet, and

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maybe they won't but for the Pistons purposes and for

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Ivy's purposes, like fitting if this isn't the team for

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him down the road, Like what role can he play

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if he's gonna make ketch and shoot threes and he's

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gonna like pump fake and too dribble attack, Like he's

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better at that stuff now, And I think that just

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makes him a more viable piece kind of the along

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the Cunningham lines, like makes him a more viable piece

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of a good team, because I don't think a good

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team is going to have Ivy in like a ball dominant,

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high usage offensive role. So now he's just doing stuff

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that he wasn't before that makes him fit next to

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other good players, and that's like, that's something a lot

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of players like with his athleticism and you know, draft pedigree,

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don't accomplish. So seeing those signs I think is a

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really positive thing for him.

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Speaker 1: I think it's huge because what did we talk about

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leading into the season, how we just didn't think that

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this was going to be someone who would work alongside

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k coming.

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Speaker 2: That's been the thing all along, right, how does this

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make sense?

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Speaker 1: And now I'm looking at it more so as the

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way you that feels like his optimal role, whether that's

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optimal for the Pistons to where it's he can fit

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along side k cunning him and maybe he's able to

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carve up some second units because they still just have

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a ton of questions about him as a primary or

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secondary offensive engine. As someone who's going to play off

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someone else, there's less questions there. But when he doesn't

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give you the same value to offensively as other complimentary

253
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like this isn't Derek White in the making deal?

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Speaker 2: Yeah?

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Speaker 1: No, And so I think some of his primary stuff

256
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needs to come along more. I will say the data

257
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has yet to align with this, and I haven't checked it,

258
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he feel, and it's probably skewed because of the time

259
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he will spend without Kid Cunningham. He's actually using more

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dribbles than seconds per touch this year. But if you

261
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isolate that to like when Kid cunning him is on

262
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the floor, that had to have been slashed. Like he's

263
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cutting a little bit more than he was last season.

264
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And so you mentioned it, the quicker decision making from

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him while being efficient in but not just a role,

266
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but like in an area. What was the question about

267
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him coming into the draft Out of the draft? Excuse me,

268
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it was a shooting.

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Speaker 2: Is he gonna make open shots?

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Speaker 1: Right? And like he's hitting his open threes right now,

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which is and defenses will like they're not guarding him

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like a five alarm fire, but like he's getting guarded

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more closely than he would have been this time last

274
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year certainly were by the end of last season. I

275
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think that's a that's a good pick and it it does.

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It makes the Pistons future all the more fascinating because

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of just there are other guys on the team where

278
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it's okay, Well, is it an intuitive fit with him

279
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and Caid and Ron Holland NSR. Thompson next up, mister Hughes,

280
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this is my guy. It's also your guy.

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Speaker 2: I was gonna say, was so weird that.

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Speaker 1: You didn't pick him. I just feel like he's no

283
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longer your guy as a result. Is that how this

284
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will work or no? So, Nikkilexander Walker. The defense is

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the defense, like there's just that is still intact. I

286
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think he's been huge from Minnesota on the offensive end

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this year. I haven't loved and they've gotten away from

288
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it a little bit where they've tried to make him

289
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do some point guardy things. But in the face of

290
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Mike Conley being up and down and injured, having Rob Dillingham,

291
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he's been used sporadically being used a little bit more now,

292
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the Julius Randall dynamic of it all, having Aunt need

293
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to shoot more threes, the spacing not being great, Jade

294
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McDaniel's potentially being on one of the worst contracts in

295
00:13:52,279 --> 00:13:55,759
the NBA. Just I'm just kidding her, am I that's

296
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the question. He's done so much more offensively, more of

297
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his shots are going on assisted, a semi big deal,

298
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like you want to have that you don't want to

299
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call him a creator, but to have just that extra

300
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layer of someone who can get downhill on their own,

301
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something he's always done, but never to like the degree

302
00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:17,960
of this consistency. And then the bigger thing is Grant

303
00:14:18,399 --> 00:14:21,720
is he has his effective field goal rate on catch

304
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and shoot opportunities right now is like seventy seventy. That

305
00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:29,799
is just absolutely huge for a Wolve's team that desperately,

306
00:14:30,240 --> 00:14:33,600
I cannot stress this enough, desperately needs to carve out space.

307
00:14:33,639 --> 00:14:36,519
They're only like five players who are taking at least

308
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three catch and shoot jumpers per game with a higher

309
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effective field goal percentage than Nikile Alexander Walker right now.

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And I think this is maybe more of a niche improvement,

311
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but if that's something he's able to do, it opens

312
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up the floor desperately for a team that still needs it.

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When you're looking at the personnel and so like to

314
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have the actual EFFECTI field Green, he's at seventy three now,

315
00:14:59,639 --> 00:15:01,799
so he must have dropped since I last checked it.

316
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Of the players who there are one hundred and thirty

317
00:15:05,039 --> 00:15:07,080
four of them, they are actually at least three catch

318
00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:09,840
and shoot jumpers per game. The only players with a

319
00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:12,799
better effective field go rt Are Garrison, Matthews, Karnthy Towns,

320
00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:17,919
Buddy Heald, ojaiak Baji aj Green, Nicolokagentorian Prints and so

321
00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,480
to have Ni Kil Alexander Walker there. He has been.

322
00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,000
He's always going to be big for Minnesota's defense, but

323
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this year he's been more integral and I would say

324
00:15:26,279 --> 00:15:28,320
more well rounded on the offensive end as well.

325
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I got no notes. I just I love him

326
00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,279
as a role player. I think the shooting's real. I

327
00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:36,399
guess he's I would say, like he's one of those

328
00:15:36,399 --> 00:15:38,879
guys eye test wise where when it goes up, you're like,

329
00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,279
I don't know, like I don't always love the look

330
00:15:41,279 --> 00:15:45,200
of it, just the form and how the ball comes off.

331
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But like thirty eight percent two years ago, thirty nine

332
00:15:47,879 --> 00:15:49,679
percent last year, he's at forty five percent this year.

333
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So it's just like I think that's enough. Like we

334
00:15:52,159 --> 00:15:54,360
I don't really care about the mechanics so much anymore.

335
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And just like overall, I know, every almost every time

336
00:15:57,879 --> 00:16:01,080
we talk about him, I harp on the career trajectory

337
00:16:01,159 --> 00:16:05,240
thing where it's just like he was a just a chucker,

338
00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:07,919
like that didn't really help in many other ways. Early

339
00:16:07,919 --> 00:16:10,960
in his career, and then he changes teams twice and

340
00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:13,840
that's never a good sign within your first like two

341
00:16:13,879 --> 00:16:16,519
three years when you're just bouncing around, and like, good

342
00:16:16,559 --> 00:16:19,000
for him to just find like figure out what it

343
00:16:19,039 --> 00:16:22,039
is he needs to do to be effective. Not everybody

344
00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,440
has the physical tools to just decide they're going to

345
00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:26,919
be an awesome defender and like change their shot profile

346
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,360
and all that stuff. But yeah, I love Naw. I

347
00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:32,679
think I want him on any team I'm putting together,

348
00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:34,679
and I want him in a rotation role, and more

349
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so now than ever.

350
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Speaker 1: We also do have to shout out. You can say

351
00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,399
this won't hold, but like he's shooting twenty of twenty

352
00:16:40,399 --> 00:16:43,039
four at the rim this year too, that's eighty three percent,

353
00:16:43,080 --> 00:16:47,519
and to do that in Minnesota's spacing, that's just super impressive.

354
00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:49,279
Who do you have next, mister Hughes.

355
00:16:49,639 --> 00:16:52,480
Speaker 2: We got Alprin Shangoun a late ad for me, and

356
00:16:53,039 --> 00:16:56,679
it just it's really, you know, he actually hasn't been

357
00:16:56,879 --> 00:16:58,840
quite as good offensively in a lot of ways as

358
00:16:59,159 --> 00:17:00,919
as he had as he was last year when he

359
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,480
was like a fringe All star consideration. I think he

360
00:17:04,559 --> 00:17:06,440
was one of the guys that we had as a

361
00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,599
most improved candidate as well for most of the year.

362
00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,799
For him, it's just the defensive growth. And it's not

363
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,359
as simple as saying, well, look how good Houston defense is,

364
00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:17,799
because if you're making that argument and you're attributing it

365
00:17:17,880 --> 00:17:19,759
just to him, it's like, well, let's be pretending that

366
00:17:19,799 --> 00:17:22,680
Aman Thompson and Tari Easton and Dylan Brooks and on

367
00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,279
down the list, like those guys don't exist. It's not that,

368
00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,720
it's really more that I'm convinced. I mean, I wouldn't

369
00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:31,319
say I wouldn't bet my life on it, but I'm

370
00:17:31,359 --> 00:17:34,519
way more convinced than ever that Shingun can now be

371
00:17:35,279 --> 00:17:38,839
a significant part of a very good defense. He won't

372
00:17:38,839 --> 00:17:41,559
be the driver of it, but his ability to defend

373
00:17:41,559 --> 00:17:43,559
the rim has jumped in ways that I just didn't

374
00:17:43,559 --> 00:17:45,880
think it was possible. And jumped is the maybe the

375
00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:47,759
right word to use, because he's not like a he's

376
00:17:47,759 --> 00:17:51,319
not getting off the floor. He's really physically strong. He's

377
00:17:51,319 --> 00:17:54,319
gotten better at positioning himself, and now his defensive field

378
00:17:54,319 --> 00:17:56,839
goal percentage allowed inside six feet is right around fifty

379
00:17:56,839 --> 00:17:59,559
three percent, which is like, that's almost nine percent below

380
00:17:59,599 --> 00:18:02,880
the average, as you'd expect he's defending more field goals

381
00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:05,039
inside six feet than all but a couple guys in

382
00:18:05,079 --> 00:18:09,079
the league. So like the volumes there, the deterrent effect

383
00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:12,039
is there. He is his block rate is at a

384
00:18:12,079 --> 00:18:15,200
career high somehow, even though then that's more positioning than anything,

385
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:18,519
because he's not, you know, a vertical He's not going

386
00:18:18,599 --> 00:18:19,880
to you know, go up to the top of the

387
00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:21,880
square to get shots, you know, like some of these

388
00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,519
other guys do. But I think you pair the offense,

389
00:18:25,519 --> 00:18:27,720
which I believe will get better, is finishing will improve

390
00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:30,200
with the passing and all this other stuff, and then

391
00:18:30,319 --> 00:18:33,440
like the Sabonis comps kind of fall off a little

392
00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,440
bit because Sabonis has never really been a reason that

393
00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:40,359
his team's defenses have been good. The times that you know,

394
00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:42,559
the defenses around him have been good have had less

395
00:18:42,599 --> 00:18:45,240
to do with him. I think Shangun is doing enough

396
00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,279
as a room protector and just a piece of a

397
00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,400
like a high functioning defensive machine to suggest it like

398
00:18:50,519 --> 00:18:54,640
now you can start thinking about, you know what what

399
00:18:54,799 --> 00:18:57,440
else in Houston's obviously really good and has been on

400
00:18:57,480 --> 00:18:59,640
both ends so far, but like you don't have to

401
00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,480
sort of view him as a maybe like long term

402
00:19:02,519 --> 00:19:05,000
piece and the contract they signed him to I thought

403
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,680
maybe had some of that priced in. I feel like

404
00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:09,440
that question has been answered a little bit so far

405
00:19:09,599 --> 00:19:11,880
to where if he's gonna defend the rim like passibly,

406
00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:14,720
which he's definitely done better than that to this point,

407
00:19:14,839 --> 00:19:17,559
then like what else, what other than like, oh, he

408
00:19:17,599 --> 00:19:20,000
needs to shoot threes? What else do you need the

409
00:19:20,039 --> 00:19:20,480
guy to do?

410
00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:23,839
Speaker 1: I don't. I honestly don't know, And I would even

411
00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:26,680
argue there's been a lot of talk and breakdowns which

412
00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:29,319
are accurate about how they've used him in ways similar

413
00:19:29,319 --> 00:19:32,440
to that Ima Udoka did with Robert Williams the Third

414
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:36,640
in Boston. I do think eye test wise, it's even

415
00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,000
more than that where his improvement is coming from. It's

416
00:19:39,039 --> 00:19:41,319
like being in the right spot independent of those plays.

417
00:19:41,359 --> 00:19:43,799
I think he's done a better job of like staying

418
00:19:43,799 --> 00:19:45,960
in front of guys or figuring out what like and there.

419
00:19:46,319 --> 00:19:48,839
Houston's defense is hell fire and that probably helps him

420
00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:50,960
out a bunch, But a big part of it is

421
00:19:51,039 --> 00:19:54,359
positioning independent of like just being a helper. So I

422
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,240
think he's done. He's probably always been a little bit

423
00:19:56,279 --> 00:19:58,640
better at that then people gave him credit for. But

424
00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,079
it's real and I do your macro point of this

425
00:20:02,279 --> 00:20:04,279
just kind of solidifies that, hey, he can. Maybe they

426
00:20:04,279 --> 00:20:07,359
don't view him as their their number one guy moving forward.

427
00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,359
Maybe they even viewed as like, our best player isn't

428
00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:10,920
even on the roster yet. I don't know if that's

429
00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,519
they might think it's on me and Thompson. It could be, reed, Shepherd,

430
00:20:13,759 --> 00:20:16,799
Houston is just talking about sitting pretty. They're sitting pretty,

431
00:20:17,319 --> 00:20:19,359
but he opens up all sorts of options for them. Now,

432
00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:22,039
if he's gonna be like this on defense, my next guy,

433
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:24,319
can you guess you don't have to? It's Ty Jerome.

434
00:20:24,759 --> 00:20:27,319
Just like you mentioned guys who could have technically been

435
00:20:27,319 --> 00:20:29,359
out of the league or just didn't have these big roles,

436
00:20:29,519 --> 00:20:31,640
he ends up playing just what do he played two

437
00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,559
games last year and just never always been to someone

438
00:20:34,599 --> 00:20:37,079
with Okay, he's got good size, but he's never really

439
00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:39,680
played a ton. He's been in the league since twenty nineteen,

440
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:43,920
twenty twenty, and he's he racked up before this season, Grant, Like,

441
00:20:44,279 --> 00:20:46,319
do you know any games he played before this year?

442
00:20:46,559 --> 00:20:49,319
Speaker 2: I just remember looking he'd never played fifty in a season,

443
00:20:49,519 --> 00:20:52,400
and like last year was basically a fully lost season.

444
00:20:52,559 --> 00:20:54,839
Speaker 1: Right, so he played one hundred and sixty games across

445
00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,880
five seasons in the NBA. That is absolutely that's like,

446
00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,880
that's nothing. So for him to come out now, and

447
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:04,160
it's not like he's playing a ton of minutes. He's averaging.

448
00:21:04,599 --> 00:21:06,480
And if you were to get into a most improved

449
00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:09,359
player debate, I wonder if someone averaging under nineteen minutes

450
00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:12,799
a game could get there. It's tough, it's not tough,

451
00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:14,359
but I think you can make a case that he's

452
00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:17,519
improved in a bunch of different areas. But as an

453
00:21:17,559 --> 00:21:20,720
on ball score as we always knew he had that

454
00:21:20,839 --> 00:21:23,279
upside or thought he had that upside to kind of

455
00:21:24,039 --> 00:21:27,039
not just validate it, but to certify it on a

456
00:21:27,079 --> 00:21:30,119
team that might just win the championship this year as

457
00:21:30,160 --> 00:21:32,440
one of like the two or three most serious contenders

458
00:21:32,759 --> 00:21:36,279
at the moment, he's upped his drives per thirty six minutes.

459
00:21:36,319 --> 00:21:39,640
He's at five point six drives per thirty six minutes,

460
00:21:39,799 --> 00:21:42,839
up from four. Too. This is two years ago. I'm

461
00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,279
using and I'm absolutely excuse me, I'm actually using the

462
00:21:45,279 --> 00:21:49,359
wrong numbers. He's at sixteen drives per thirty six, up

463
00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:51,400
from ten point eight two years ago when he last

464
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:54,680
played in a good amount of games the pull up jumper.

465
00:21:54,799 --> 00:21:56,960
It's just fallen. He's taken five point five pull up

466
00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,400
jumpers per thirty six minutes compared to three point five

467
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,680
during his last season. He's shooting sixty four percent on

468
00:22:02,759 --> 00:22:06,440
pull up twos sixty five point eight percent on floaters.

469
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,119
There's no one in the league right now who's been

470
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:13,680
more efficient twos threes. However, you want to frame it

471
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:16,119
on pull up jumpers overall, and that needs to be

472
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,160
couched with. Okay, he really hasn't. He's taken a total

473
00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,519
fifty six field goal attempts. But if everyone who's taken

474
00:22:21,519 --> 00:22:24,559
at least fifty pull up jumpers this year, his effective

475
00:22:24,559 --> 00:22:27,039
field goal right Grant is seventy six point eight and

476
00:22:27,039 --> 00:22:29,400
that leave the league. I'm not gonna name the players

477
00:22:29,400 --> 00:22:33,599
that's in second because actually Grant four of the top

478
00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:35,480
five players on this list we're going to talk about,

479
00:22:35,519 --> 00:22:37,119
so I'm not gonna name anyone on to come, but

480
00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,359
he's a He's thirteen point eight percentage points higher than

481
00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:44,279
second place. Right now. That is Bonker's efficiency. It won't hold.

482
00:22:44,319 --> 00:22:45,920
He's not gonna shoot fifty eight point one percent on

483
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:48,480
pull up threes forever. But as just an on ball

484
00:22:48,519 --> 00:22:52,119
scoring option. Who doesn't I think even with Tarris Lavert,

485
00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:54,640
there's more waxing and waning, and there can be spatial concerns.

486
00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,119
I think he's been better defensively the past season and

487
00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:59,319
then in the quarter however long we're through this one,

488
00:22:59,519 --> 00:23:01,319
But like if he's gonna give you kind of more

489
00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:03,519
of a steadying force as just oh, he's a more

490
00:23:03,559 --> 00:23:06,039
reliable guy who can hit those jumpers and be a

491
00:23:06,079 --> 00:23:09,359
little bit more disruptive on the defensive end, especially relative

492
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,400
to his position. That's a big deal for Cleveland. I'm

493
00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:14,400
gonna be fascinating to see what type of money he

494
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,400
gets in his next contract now, because there's a bunch

495
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,759
of different factors that go into this. It's the past

496
00:23:19,759 --> 00:23:22,480
track record, it's missing having missed so much time. It's oh,

497
00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:23,839
he was in kind of a small role. How do

498
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:26,599
we scale that forward? But he is going to get

499
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:29,359
most Improved Player votes, and again we're not getting into

500
00:23:29,359 --> 00:23:32,920
that here at this moment. But it'd be tough for

501
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:37,079
me to rebuke those claims because he is just he's

502
00:23:37,079 --> 00:23:39,319
so much more well rounded than I think we even thought.

503
00:23:39,319 --> 00:23:42,359
But as an on ball scorer specifically, I think he's

504
00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:46,160
made strides while kind of validating the best case scenarios

505
00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:48,200
that people laid out for him in seasons past.

506
00:23:48,519 --> 00:23:52,039
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think he really stands out through the

507
00:23:52,039 --> 00:23:55,480
frame of you know, talking about levels of NBA players,

508
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:57,240
these tiers we make up like he was, I mean,

509
00:23:57,440 --> 00:23:59,160
he wasn't out of the league, but he was like,

510
00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:01,359
you know, as close to that as you can be

511
00:24:01,559 --> 00:24:04,000
without really being out of the league. Is just bouncing

512
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,680
around Phoenix, the Thunder, the Warriors, the Calves. Doesn't play

513
00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,119
almost at all for the Calves last year. That's that's injury,

514
00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,880
but still like that's looking like a journeyman guy that

515
00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:14,480
is gonna be thirty in the G League and if

516
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:16,759
you you know that that kind of thing, and he's

517
00:24:17,079 --> 00:24:19,839
jumped not just to like always gonna stick and then

518
00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:21,960
always a you know, he's gonna play a little bit

519
00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:25,440
too rotation to like all that on a on one

520
00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:27,279
of the best teams in the league so far, and

521
00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:31,000
like he's not the reason. Obviously the Calves collectively have

522
00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:32,960
shot the shit out of the ball, and like everybody

523
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,960
that matters has gotten better. And and I think maybe

524
00:24:37,319 --> 00:24:39,319
what I was gonna go into is like, well, he

525
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,319
hasn't missed a floater all year, And is he really

526
00:24:41,319 --> 00:24:43,720
gonna make fifty percent of his threes? Like, yeah, the

527
00:24:43,759 --> 00:24:46,880
shooting's gonna regress. But I think to your point, like

528
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:49,720
and and maybe this is what we should focus on more,

529
00:24:49,799 --> 00:24:52,640
is like he's done those things to this point in

530
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,279
the season, and like that's a significant improvement or a

531
00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,359
leap or growth, so like it still counts. It's a

532
00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:00,400
little bit you know, it's unfair because I think probably

533
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:02,759
most of these guys, as we get further into the

534
00:25:02,759 --> 00:25:04,920
season will regress to like what they've done to this

535
00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:08,119
point in their careers. So he's just such an extreme

536
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,319
case that you almost want us like find ways to

537
00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:12,640
tear it down. But like he's done what he's done,

538
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,160
and it's not just offense. Three and a half percent

539
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,680
steel rate is like way beyond anything he's ever even

540
00:25:19,759 --> 00:25:21,400
touched in his career. The highest he ever had was

541
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,039
two point two percent as a rookie in thirty one games.

542
00:25:24,079 --> 00:25:26,079
Like he I don't know that i'd say he's a

543
00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:28,519
good defender, but he's making an impact. It's kind of

544
00:25:28,519 --> 00:25:32,680
like he's active. He's active, like does he Like it's

545
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,000
a little bit like the argument about SGA's defense last

546
00:25:35,039 --> 00:25:37,200
year is like our steels defense and it's like, well,

547
00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:39,400
not exactly, but they still matter and they make a

548
00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,759
huge impact. So like that for him, it's that's sort

549
00:25:42,799 --> 00:25:45,519
of the same argument. Yeah, he's been is he the

550
00:25:45,559 --> 00:25:49,359
most surprising? Like to me, he's the most surprising leap

551
00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,359
of anybody that we're going to talk about. I think I.

552
00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:55,599
Speaker 1: Would agree with you. And also just the context of

553
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:57,680
it too, because think of the team that he's on.

554
00:25:57,799 --> 00:26:01,200
They have Darius Garland, Karris Lovert, Donovan Mitchell. That's not

555
00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:03,359
you could say like we have high hopes for Tydrobe,

556
00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:04,640
but it was like, well, where was all of this?

557
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,960
Speaker 2: Like like grek Orter Junior was a story last year too,

558
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:08,960
and in the back.

559
00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:12,680
Speaker 1: And Isaacakorro just even maybe more of a wing, but

560
00:26:12,759 --> 00:26:15,400
like that's another that's someone else who would play guard.

561
00:26:15,519 --> 00:26:18,920
So it's it it's the player just because of the

562
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:20,559
track record and how much he's actually played, But then

563
00:26:20,559 --> 00:26:23,079
it's also the roster. It's oh did you expect him

564
00:26:23,119 --> 00:26:25,119
to And even I think you're even kind of seeing

565
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:27,079
it come to bear because if you're a guest right now,

566
00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:28,720
like this is someone who should be in the running

567
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:31,200
for Most Improved Player and six Men of the Year. Like,

568
00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:33,960
regardless of criteria, you're averaging under twenty minutes per game.

569
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:35,920
He's not gonna win either of those awards.

570
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 2: Probably not, certainly less likely to win six Man with

571
00:26:38,279 --> 00:26:39,759
because you know you all, I have a six man

572
00:26:39,759 --> 00:26:42,079
as a guy that starts forty nine percent of his

573
00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:43,640
games and has a bunch of reason and.

574
00:26:43,559 --> 00:26:44,920
Speaker 1: Your closing lineup right.

575
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:48,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, but most improved I think it's, you know, depending

576
00:26:48,039 --> 00:26:49,960
on how you wanted to find improved, Like this guy

577
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,519
saved his career and it's like a good NBA player

578
00:26:52,599 --> 00:26:53,400
right now, and.

579
00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:55,839
Speaker 1: He's a he's a free agent too. This I mentioned

580
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:57,519
that before. I'm going to be very curious to see

581
00:26:57,519 --> 00:26:59,599
what he gets. I've kind of I don't even want

582
00:26:59,599 --> 00:27:01,000
to throw numb exap because I tend to be too

583
00:27:01,039 --> 00:27:03,160
optimistic on the breakout guys. He's probably gonna get like

584
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:05,559
some Mony Fontecio money, like seven million dollars a year.

585
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:07,119
Speaker 2: Yeah, that'd be a bargain.

586
00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,519
Speaker 1: I think your turn, and we are on too.

587
00:27:11,079 --> 00:27:16,480
Speaker 2: This is toast our guy. I'll grant you partial ownership.

588
00:27:17,279 --> 00:27:19,640
So this is another one. I like IVY, where the

589
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,319
numbers looked a hell of a lot better before just

590
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,400
this brutal cold streak that not just as affecting the

591
00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:29,920
whole Wizards scene but also bilall COOLBALI. So the number

592
00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,119
is still though I think under the hood point two

593
00:27:33,759 --> 00:27:36,640
he's made real strides and if anything, like, let's give

594
00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:39,400
the guy credit for doing anything positive on a team

595
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,720
that's just like the Wizards are so brutal on both

596
00:27:43,839 --> 00:27:47,920
ends and the environment is so just count one word

597
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:48,799
to describe.

598
00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:49,799
Speaker 1: The Wizards, grant, what would it be? Right now?

599
00:27:49,839 --> 00:27:51,359
Speaker 2: I'll let you. I'll let you do it because you

600
00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,839
texted me last night like excited about it.

601
00:27:54,839 --> 00:27:58,000
Speaker 1: It's bobcatting offense and defense.

602
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:02,200
Speaker 2: They are bobcatting so and part of it. And that's

603
00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:04,519
like tied to why it's impressive that he has made

604
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:09,039
some strides because he just watching, you know, before the

605
00:28:09,079 --> 00:28:11,599
game got out of him last night. It's just hard

606
00:28:11,599 --> 00:28:13,880
for him to get the ball. And my argument is

607
00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,039
like he needs to start possessions with the ball a

608
00:28:16,079 --> 00:28:18,480
little more often, even though Jordan Poole's shot it better,

609
00:28:18,799 --> 00:28:20,799
Like I don't think Malcolm Brogden is like a real

610
00:28:20,839 --> 00:28:23,440
helpful NBA player anymore. Maybe that changes if he gets

611
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,599
on a serious team. But between those guys in between Kuzma,

612
00:28:26,599 --> 00:28:30,200
who's who's out, But and like the rookies, they're playing, man,

613
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:32,240
it's hard for kol Bali to get the ball in

614
00:28:32,279 --> 00:28:34,480
a position where he's set up to succeed and doesn't

615
00:28:34,519 --> 00:28:37,119
have to do something really hard to make a positive play.

616
00:28:37,519 --> 00:28:41,759
Despite that, he has basically doubled his drives per game,

617
00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:44,920
he's much more efficient on them. He's drawing shooting fouls

618
00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,279
on drives more frequently and more effectively than really anybody

619
00:28:48,279 --> 00:28:50,319
else's driving a lot on the team, I know, like

620
00:28:50,359 --> 00:28:52,880
low bar. But in addition to that, he's their most

621
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,319
efficient isolation player among guys. Again, any kind of isolation

622
00:28:56,359 --> 00:29:01,039
sets And we've sort of discussed in general when we

623
00:29:01,039 --> 00:29:04,599
bring him up, like the fact that he quite quickly

624
00:29:05,039 --> 00:29:07,440
showed signs as a rookie of having like some kind

625
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:11,359
of on ball like utility was was a surprise and

626
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:14,359
like really kind of ups his profile. And we're probably

627
00:29:14,359 --> 00:29:16,720
too high on him, but just because we've kind of

628
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,720
like planted a flag and we're team ballall but all

629
00:29:19,759 --> 00:29:22,960
that stuff has really continued to improve this year, and

630
00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,960
he's just someone that I think has the ability to

631
00:29:27,079 --> 00:29:29,400
be Maybe you know number one option is crazy, but

632
00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,440
like something much closer to that than I think his

633
00:29:32,559 --> 00:29:35,160
pre draft profile suggested. It's like always a project. Who

634
00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:36,759
knows he's going to he's long, he's going to defend,

635
00:29:36,799 --> 00:29:39,920
and all that other stuff. There's enough on ball things happening,

636
00:29:41,119 --> 00:29:44,000
you know, specifically pick and roll specific just and again,

637
00:29:44,039 --> 00:29:46,279
these improvements are from like low levels, like pick and

638
00:29:46,359 --> 00:29:48,279
roll ball handling. He was terrible last year. He's like

639
00:29:48,279 --> 00:29:49,759
in the middle of the pack in terms of points

640
00:29:49,759 --> 00:29:52,640
per play this year. The isolation stuff is pretty legit though,

641
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:56,359
so it's it's something that's like not going to get

642
00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,640
noticed because nobody's watching Washington, and like the baseline numbers

643
00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:02,119
are not He's not the best in the league in anything,

644
00:30:02,519 --> 00:30:05,079
but the strides he's made in a really shitty environment,

645
00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:08,279
I think all augur really well for like what might

646
00:30:08,359 --> 00:30:11,519
happen if and when the Wizards become like a functioning team.

647
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:16,240
Speaker 1: I think he's been He's probably improved literally every aspect

648
00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:18,319
of his game this year. And that's I know, he's

649
00:30:18,359 --> 00:30:20,880
coming off a rookie, like he's going from rookie to sophomore,

650
00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:23,759
so that's kind of expected. That's nevertheless impressive, but I

651
00:30:23,759 --> 00:30:25,960
think you highlighted the right stuff too. And the only

652
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:27,960
thing I would add is we are not two in

653
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,960
the bag for Kolbi. We are we are appropriately in

654
00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:33,200
the bag for him. I think it's my Oh, it's

655
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:36,559
my turn now because you just went so RJ Barrett,

656
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:39,000
mister Hughes, did you ever envision him being one of

657
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:40,759
the five best passers in basketball?

658
00:30:40,839 --> 00:30:42,759
Speaker 2: But I just I mean, I feel like, was there

659
00:30:42,759 --> 00:30:45,200
like a month ago when I asked you, like, what

660
00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,960
what about? What he's doing now is most and least surprising,

661
00:30:49,079 --> 00:30:52,640
And it's just like the passing is unbelievable. It's so real, right,

662
00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,359
It's like he's a legitimate facilitator at the wing.

663
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 1: Yes, he is averaging about eleven potential assists per thirty

664
00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:02,559
six minutes. That's up from six point five last year.

665
00:31:02,599 --> 00:31:06,319
He has increased his assists rate on drives Grant he

666
00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:09,480
ranks thirteenth in the league and assists at the rim

667
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,799
this year. That's Oh, Scotty Barnes hasn't played. I Q

668
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,359
was barely, but shut up. That's impressive. And I think

669
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,519
what's impressed me the most is he can do a

670
00:31:19,559 --> 00:31:22,319
lot of his damage on the move, like in transition,

671
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:27,400
semi transition, the slowed down, more deliberate. Okay, there was

672
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:31,000
a ball screen, or I'm attacking a set defense. There's

673
00:31:31,039 --> 00:31:35,119
playmaking out of that too. He's become just decidedly more

674
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:38,160
efficient out of picking roles as a score And I

675
00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:42,680
think that part of that is he's less predictable as

676
00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:45,200
to what he's trying to do, where he's trying to go,

677
00:31:45,319 --> 00:31:48,839
even the passes that he's throwing, and you can see it,

678
00:31:49,599 --> 00:31:51,920
feel it in the way that the Raptors are running

679
00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,000
their offense and kind of through this all this like

680
00:31:55,319 --> 00:31:57,160
it does expand into different parts of his game, but

681
00:31:57,160 --> 00:31:59,640
I think it's worth highlighting. I don't know that you

682
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:01,839
could say he's gotten better with moving without the ball

683
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:03,519
or when he gets ahead start so much as the

684
00:32:03,599 --> 00:32:05,519
Raptors have done a better job of putting him in

685
00:32:05,519 --> 00:32:07,640
a position to do that. But I think you also

686
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:11,200
look at the way he's playing, and what's most interesting

687
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:15,440
to me is that fits alongside Scotty Barnes. It can

688
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,759
fit when IQ is healthy, when Grady Dick is healthy,

689
00:32:18,839 --> 00:32:21,599
Like this is someone who feels even though he's doing

690
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,000
more playmaking than ever and a lot of it is

691
00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,880
just it's on ball stuff. It's not just like all

692
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:30,720
these swings. He somehow feels more plug and play than ever.

693
00:32:30,799 --> 00:32:33,079
And now what you really need to trust is, Okay,

694
00:32:33,119 --> 00:32:35,599
can the three point percentage stay here? Because it's dip.

695
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:37,279
He's down to like thirty five and a half percent,

696
00:32:37,519 --> 00:32:39,240
But he's not like six attempts per game, which I

697
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:42,119
think for him, that's going to be fine at this rate.

698
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:44,279
And if you're going to continue to have the element

699
00:32:44,319 --> 00:32:48,759
of making quicker decisions or smarter decisions by table setting

700
00:32:48,799 --> 00:32:52,160
for everybody else when you're slowing down, that's huge. And

701
00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,799
so it's it's this weird improvement of I think RJ.

702
00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:59,000
Barrett can be a part of a larger ecosystem more

703
00:32:59,039 --> 00:33:01,480
than I ever have before. And yet if you need

704
00:33:01,559 --> 00:33:03,400
him to kind of drive things, and no, I don't

705
00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:05,079
think you're gonna have a top tier offense if you're

706
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:06,799
running everything through RJ.

707
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:07,359
Speaker 2: Barrett.

708
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,400
Speaker 1: But is your second or your third whatever option he

709
00:33:10,519 --> 00:33:13,359
ends up being in Toronto, that's a huge that's a

710
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,599
huge deal. And this is just maybe he always you

711
00:33:16,599 --> 00:33:18,920
could say he's always had this in him, but like

712
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,640
Toronto's spacing, it's probably better than a percentage wise no,

713
00:33:22,759 --> 00:33:25,559
forget about it. But it's the way they run their offense.

714
00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:27,680
It's probably a little bit more innovative than what he

715
00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:31,200
was seeing under Tibbs. But even when he was I

716
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:33,759
don't even want to say running captaining these second units

717
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:36,799
in New York, you didn't see this level of playmaking

718
00:33:36,799 --> 00:33:39,279
from him. And this is to wrap it up. What

719
00:33:39,359 --> 00:33:41,599
I find most cool about this is it feels like

720
00:33:41,839 --> 00:33:45,119
it's an improvement that's born from just both the player

721
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:48,799
getting better smarter, but then the team putting him in

722
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,880
the optimal situations for him to get better and smarter.

723
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's like, when is it ever? I agree, Like,

724
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:57,319
I don't it wouldn't it be. It'd be a lot

725
00:33:57,359 --> 00:33:59,400
more interesting if you were if we were able to say,

726
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:01,079
like I kind of think you could just use him

727
00:34:01,119 --> 00:34:04,599
as your primary ball handler or something like that. Like no,

728
00:34:05,119 --> 00:34:07,279
but when is it a bad thing when like the

729
00:34:07,319 --> 00:34:09,639
third guy that the ball swings to on a possession

730
00:34:09,679 --> 00:34:13,400
is a massive threat to like facilitate against a scrambled defense.

731
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:15,199
You know, like he he he's like a lot of

732
00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:17,880
the guys we're talking about, where this thing he's doing

733
00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:20,719
now just makes him make way more sense on a

734
00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,039
good offense or a good team, right, like he just

735
00:34:23,599 --> 00:34:26,000
oh no, it's not gonna, it's not gonna like fundamentally

736
00:34:26,119 --> 00:34:28,199
he's not gonna be like a ten time All Star now.

737
00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:31,360
But it's just like, oh, he's got this skill that

738
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:33,920
will play anywhere that you can scale up or down

739
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:36,159
as you need it and at the moment like the

740
00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:38,599
Raptors need it. Like that's and he's really like come

741
00:34:38,639 --> 00:34:41,480
through in a role that like how many other guys

742
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:43,320
could you put in that position and expect this kind

743
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,400
of passing growth out of like count on one hand?

744
00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:47,760
Maybe if that And.

745
00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:49,960
Speaker 1: I'm very curious to see if he gets even better

746
00:34:50,119 --> 00:34:51,679
because I do feel like one of the things he's

747
00:34:51,719 --> 00:34:53,239
gonna struggle with is like if he's going to draw

748
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:55,599
two to the ball, it feels like there's a thirty

749
00:34:55,639 --> 00:34:58,440
three percent chance that's gonna end in a turn over. But

750
00:34:58,679 --> 00:35:02,519
now missuming Hill, he'll see less of that at like

751
00:35:02,559 --> 00:35:04,480
now that's Scotty Barnes's back. And then as if i

752
00:35:04,559 --> 00:35:06,960
Q gets healthy and then so is that gonna or

753
00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:09,760
can he just get better at what happens in traffic

754
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:11,360
in those situations? Because I think if you're going to

755
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:13,840
wonder if any of this is smoking mirrors. It's well,

756
00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:17,559
what does the slow down version, fully slowed down, methodical

757
00:35:17,639 --> 00:35:19,400
version of R. J. Barrett look like as a playmaker?

758
00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,440
And there might still be some questions there. We have

759
00:35:21,519 --> 00:35:24,159
another Toronto Raptor. He's your Toronto Raptor though Brant and

760
00:35:24,199 --> 00:35:24,719
his name.

761
00:35:24,639 --> 00:35:27,360
Speaker 2: Oh Chaiagbaji. This is probably a deep cut if you're

762
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,960
not a Raptors fan. But you know, as I was

763
00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:33,440
looking through options here, again, this may kind of a

764
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,119
tie Jerome case maybe to some extent where it's like

765
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:40,000
anytime this didn't necessarily happen to Jerome. But Abaji was

766
00:35:40,039 --> 00:35:42,239
traded in the second year of his rookie contract and

767
00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:45,079
he was the first round pick that was I don't know,

768
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:49,119
like fairly highly regarded, came with some questions, but like

769
00:35:49,599 --> 00:35:52,280
he goes to Toronto in a deal that brings back

770
00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,960
a twenty four first so it's almost like the Jazz

771
00:35:55,119 --> 00:35:58,280
are like, let's try, let's do it, let's get a

772
00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:02,119
do over, because we don't believe, and I mean honestly

773
00:36:02,199 --> 00:36:05,320
like to like just he didn't seem like an like

774
00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:08,760
an NBA caliber offensive player, Like there was a lot

775
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:12,760
of defensive activity, super athletic if if maybe a little

776
00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:14,920
smaller than you want in like a true three and

777
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,840
D wing. But I think what he's shown this year,

778
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:21,599
in addition to just like his defensive activity levels, good

779
00:36:21,599 --> 00:36:24,599
steel rate, like really does compete, can guard multiple positions

780
00:36:24,639 --> 00:36:26,320
as long as you don't put somebody too big in

781
00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:29,760
front of him. The shooting like just he's making over

782
00:36:29,840 --> 00:36:31,719
fifty percent of his catch and shoot threes. He's not

783
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:33,280
a pull up guy. I don't know. I don't know

784
00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:36,639
that that's ever gonna happen necessarily, which is fine, Yeah,

785
00:36:36,639 --> 00:36:38,599
which is fine, right for what we're talking about, because

786
00:36:38,599 --> 00:36:40,440
this is another guy that I think was very much

787
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:42,440
in danger of being out of the league or just

788
00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:46,519
you know, somebody's the thirteenth guy on a team, you know,

789
00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:49,440
a new team every year or whatever every two years,

790
00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:51,880
depending on how you know, what kind of commitments he

791
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:55,320
could get. And now it's just he is now again

792
00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:58,679
not gonna shoot fifty percent from three all year. But like,

793
00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:01,400
if he's making fifty four percent from the corners, and

794
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:03,639
if that's all he does is just be lights out

795
00:37:03,679 --> 00:37:06,480
from the corners. If he shoots forty four percent from

796
00:37:06,519 --> 00:37:09,280
the corners and defends like he does, that's a rotation

797
00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:12,039
player like can run in transition, can do all the

798
00:37:12,119 --> 00:37:14,840
role player stuff you need. And so just the shooting,

799
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:18,159
just the offensive viability, the sense that like here's what

800
00:37:18,239 --> 00:37:20,599
he can do, Like now there's a thing, there's a

801
00:37:20,639 --> 00:37:22,920
thing he can do on offense that keeps him in

802
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:24,800
the game and keeps his defense on the floor and

803
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,280
his activity and energy and all that stuff. And that

804
00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:30,119
just wasn't the case before. It was just you'd ignore

805
00:37:30,199 --> 00:37:33,440
him as an opposing defense. You'd say, like, okay, cool,

806
00:37:33,559 --> 00:37:37,159
he's a really you know, high ceiling defender that only

807
00:37:37,159 --> 00:37:39,440
plays against backups, So like who gives a shit, Like

808
00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:42,000
he's going to shut down our ninth guy, big deal.

809
00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:46,440
So he's just another guy like Jerome that the growth

810
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:49,880
he's made solidifies a career and maybe even like a

811
00:37:49,920 --> 00:37:54,360
starting job going forward to where this time a year ago,

812
00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,559
I was like, man, this, I don't know how much

813
00:37:56,599 --> 00:37:58,880
longer this is going to go. Which maybe that's not

814
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,159
what you're looking for, and like leap or a big improvement,

815
00:38:01,199 --> 00:38:04,119
but like maybe that's that's as hard of a leap

816
00:38:04,159 --> 00:38:06,800
to make as as almost anything of just going from

817
00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:09,159
being you may not be an NBA player to your

818
00:38:09,239 --> 00:38:11,360
starting and that looks like what your role may be

819
00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:12,239
for quite a while.

820
00:38:12,599 --> 00:38:14,440
Speaker 1: I think you can also just argue like him hitting

821
00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,320
those corner threes just opens up the floor for Scotty

822
00:38:17,360 --> 00:38:17,599
and r.

823
00:38:17,639 --> 00:38:21,719
Speaker 2: J and yeah on that specific team, super valuable right.

824
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:24,639
Speaker 1: And also, by the way, only one players hit more

825
00:38:24,639 --> 00:38:27,679
corner threes than him this year. Mckel bridges. I like

826
00:38:27,719 --> 00:38:30,360
our boggy splits though, because they're basically down the middle.

827
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:32,320
He's made I think sixteen from the right and fifteen

828
00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:34,119
from the left. There's a lot of times you see

829
00:38:34,119 --> 00:38:36,280
guys like there are certain lop sided towards one of

830
00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:38,480
the four. So I like that there's a balance there.

831
00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,239
So this is like he might this is someone who

832
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:43,159
could be a legit three in D guy. It looks

833
00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:45,159
like right now, maybe we're overstating it. That's why we're

834
00:38:45,159 --> 00:38:48,639
not declaring him a MIP candidate necessarily. But there's been

835
00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:53,440
measurable improvement here. There's also been measurable improvement for someone

836
00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:56,760
else who is also on the Toronto Raptors Grant. He

837
00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:59,519
has been missing some time of late. I think it's

838
00:38:59,519 --> 00:39:02,280
with a caffe injury, and his percentages have declined. But

839
00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:03,639
I don't think we need to spend a lot of

840
00:39:03,679 --> 00:39:05,599
time on Grady Dick because we did a deeper dive

841
00:39:05,639 --> 00:39:08,079
into him just a couple of weeks ago. The shot

842
00:39:08,159 --> 00:39:13,599
making versatility is just way broader than it was ever

843
00:39:13,639 --> 00:39:15,239
supposed to be. Like, this is someone who could put

844
00:39:15,239 --> 00:39:17,559
the ball on the deck and attack defenses. He's at

845
00:39:17,599 --> 00:39:20,360
five point six drives per thirty six this year. That's

846
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,199
up from four last year. He has taken more pull

847
00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:26,760
up jumpers, his shooting foul rate is up. And I

848
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:28,960
don't know if this we saw some hints of him

849
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:32,039
doing all this last year, but now they've broken it out,

850
00:39:32,199 --> 00:39:35,360
like not only in higher volume, but again defenses that

851
00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:38,119
are now reacting to him in ways they weren't last year.

852
00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:41,519
When you look at it, this season, twenty percent of

853
00:39:41,599 --> 00:39:45,239
his jump shots Grant are guarded. That's up from twelve

854
00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:48,480
percent last year. That's one of the largest shares in

855
00:39:48,519 --> 00:39:50,599
the league this season. I want to make clear it's

856
00:39:50,639 --> 00:39:52,400
not shooting well in those situations. I think he's had

857
00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:56,280
like thirty percent or something, but having the defense react

858
00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:59,719
because we're talking about jumpers, that's one value. But two.

859
00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:01,280
Now we know that someone can put the ball on

860
00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:03,840
the floor, get to some in between spots, maybe get

861
00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:06,760
all the way to the basket, have some tough finishes.

862
00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:09,079
I think that's another area feels like he's improved or

863
00:40:09,079 --> 00:40:12,039
at least proven himself, is being able to handle contact

864
00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:15,199
with certain instances. So everything from just where he's taking

865
00:40:15,199 --> 00:40:17,480
his shots, from how he's getting them, the defensive attention

866
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:21,440
that he's sucking in. I am very anxious, isn't the

867
00:40:21,440 --> 00:40:24,079
word excited to see what he looks like when all

868
00:40:24,119 --> 00:40:27,920
of the ret Like when IQ, Jakub, Barrett and Scotty

869
00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:29,679
are all available and it's like, well, Grady isn't the

870
00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:31,719
number two option in any of the lineups that he's

871
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:34,679
playing inside, because that might make him more dangerous than

872
00:40:34,679 --> 00:40:35,320
he has right now.

873
00:40:36,159 --> 00:40:38,679
Speaker 2: I think with him too. There was a lot of

874
00:40:38,760 --> 00:40:40,840
chatter about this. I guess it was probably summer League

875
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:44,719
in maybe preseason, where everyone affiliated with the Raptors that

876
00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:48,000
was watching those games was talking about he's not just

877
00:40:48,039 --> 00:40:50,480
a shooter, Like it was like a PSA like Grady Dick,

878
00:40:50,679 --> 00:40:52,840
you know, white dude coming out of college, Like, oh,

879
00:40:52,880 --> 00:40:55,800
he's just to catch and shoot guy, that's wrong and

880
00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:59,440
that's just born out, I think to the foul drawing craft,

881
00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:01,039
like he's you know, I think he's right around seven

882
00:41:01,079 --> 00:41:03,800
per hundred possessions, which is like not nuts, but it's

883
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:06,360
way above last year. And he's a ninety percent free

884
00:41:06,360 --> 00:41:09,119
throw shooter, so like that's there's real value there, and

885
00:41:09,159 --> 00:41:13,000
that just speaks to the broader point of he really

886
00:41:13,039 --> 00:41:15,840
can just do stuff with the ball that not only

887
00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:17,599
you know, wasn't expected of him, but that's like a

888
00:41:17,599 --> 00:41:20,880
lot of wings can't really do. So I think he's

889
00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:23,280
a great pick. And we've got three Raptors now, so

890
00:41:23,559 --> 00:41:25,519
maybe the rap does that mean the Raptors are in

891
00:41:25,559 --> 00:41:28,039
for massive regression or they're going to get really good

892
00:41:28,039 --> 00:41:29,000
once everyone's healthy.

893
00:41:29,239 --> 00:41:31,719
Speaker 1: And I make no apologies for saying this unless there's

894
00:41:31,719 --> 00:41:33,760
some just toxic undertone that I don't know to it.

895
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:37,440
I skeeded the other night that the Raptors are the

896
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:40,280
most entertaining team in the league under five hundred, and

897
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:43,440
it's not even close for me, Like have you gotten

898
00:41:44,119 --> 00:41:46,639
and maybe part of expectations are taked in here, So

899
00:41:46,719 --> 00:41:48,400
I haven't gotten a lot of joy out of watching

900
00:41:48,440 --> 00:41:51,239
the Kings or the Pacers. They've stressed me out more

901
00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:53,239
than anything this year. So it's just like, who is

902
00:41:53,239 --> 00:41:56,239
the team that's below five hundred. You're choppering in to watch,

903
00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:59,920
you're just thoroughly enjoying basically every game. It's either over

904
00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:02,360
dramatic and they'll still lose, or maybe they pull out

905
00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:05,760
a win like they did on the NBA Cup Tuesday.

906
00:42:06,079 --> 00:42:09,039
So I haven't. The Raptors have been one of my

907
00:42:09,119 --> 00:42:11,800
favorite watches this season, which is funny because they've won

908
00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:13,280
what six games? Seven games?

909
00:42:13,519 --> 00:42:16,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it just let's it's we like guys

910
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:18,719
that seem to be playing over their heads, like that's

911
00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:20,360
and I'm not saying they are, but like that's a

912
00:42:20,480 --> 00:42:23,599
huge bonus to watching a team that's not winning. Is like, look,

913
00:42:23,719 --> 00:42:25,719
look we can you believe a Baji can shoot it now,

914
00:42:25,719 --> 00:42:27,639
and look at Barrett Passing and Grady Dick can do

915
00:42:27,679 --> 00:42:29,679
all kinds of stuff just mix for a good watch.

916
00:42:29,719 --> 00:42:32,199
We have Franz Wagner next, which is what I have.

917
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:34,639
This is kind of like we can't really do this

918
00:42:34,719 --> 00:42:36,440
if we're not going to talk about him as much

919
00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:38,320
as anything, because he's just his.

920
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:40,000
Speaker 1: I don't think he's improved even a little bit.

921
00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:43,679
Speaker 2: No, you don't think, uh, I mean, so that's that

922
00:42:43,840 --> 00:42:46,599
is the argument you might make, is like he's just

923
00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:50,800
tasked with doing more because Paula Bankaro is hurt, and

924
00:42:51,199 --> 00:42:54,360
like that's not really improvement. The counter to that is

925
00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:58,760
just like the weight that he's carrying is way heavier,

926
00:42:59,119 --> 00:43:01,519
and if you're our is well he's just kind of

927
00:43:01,559 --> 00:43:05,559
doing more of the same. Then like that's incredible because

928
00:43:05,559 --> 00:43:08,519
the job he has is so fundamentally different and like

929
00:43:09,079 --> 00:43:11,400
not a secret. The Magic's offense is not very good.

930
00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:13,800
There's not a lot of shooting there. And for him

931
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:17,320
to basically take on, you know, twenty five percent more

932
00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:21,000
touch time just on the ball, you know, over last year.

933
00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:23,400
I don't know what happens to that when Ben Caro's back,

934
00:43:23,719 --> 00:43:26,679
but to do that and and just set career highs

935
00:43:26,679 --> 00:43:28,400
and all your per game stuff while playing the same

936
00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:31,360
number of minutes is just like that's insanely hard. And

937
00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:35,000
what it really points to is he might be well

938
00:43:35,039 --> 00:43:37,800
he is, he's he can be a number one, you know,

939
00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:41,320
primary ball handler, shot creator, playmaker, whatever shorthand you want

940
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:44,519
to use on a good team, provided there's good defense there,

941
00:43:45,079 --> 00:43:48,719
and that just wasn't the case last year. Some of

942
00:43:48,719 --> 00:43:50,960
that is the shooting growth and we're again we're coming

943
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:52,920
from a low point twenty eight percent last year. I

944
00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:55,679
think last I looked, he is thirty four percent thirty

945
00:43:55,679 --> 00:43:57,480
three like thirty three eight I think is what I

946
00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:00,800
saw when I looked last night. So like a dead eye,

947
00:44:00,880 --> 00:44:04,920
knockdown guy, but paired with his driving, his improved passing,

948
00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:08,199
and just looking at that all through the fact that

949
00:44:08,239 --> 00:44:11,360
he's getting I don't know, one and a half or

950
00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:14,599
twice is twice two x defensive attention every night because

951
00:44:14,599 --> 00:44:18,039
Paolo is not playing. That's just that's a hard jump

952
00:44:18,079 --> 00:44:19,480
to make that I have another guy I'm going to

953
00:44:19,480 --> 00:44:23,559
talk about that is also probably pretty predictable, but I

954
00:44:23,599 --> 00:44:27,679
think we underrate, Like, yeah, the overall statistical profile is

955
00:44:27,719 --> 00:44:31,920
not super different, but when the job changes, I think

956
00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:34,440
that can really point to growth in ways that aren't

957
00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:38,000
as obvious as like a Bajie shooting fifty percent from

958
00:44:38,039 --> 00:44:41,840
three versus being a non shooter before. Like the circumstances

959
00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:44,119
I think can can have as much to do with

960
00:44:44,159 --> 00:44:45,920
what we view as growth as anything else.

961
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:49,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, look, I know you say concerned about

962
00:44:49,800 --> 00:44:53,039
the Magic offense, but they're in the sixty first percentile

963
00:44:53,199 --> 00:44:56,920
of offensive efficiency when Franz is playing without Palo this season,

964
00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:59,639
which kind of continues a trend where they were. I

965
00:44:59,679 --> 00:45:02,239
think last year they were in the ninety fourth or

966
00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:06,320
ninety fifth percentile of offensive efficiency in those same minutes. But like,

967
00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:09,599
given the personnel, that's a like because when you're playing

968
00:45:09,599 --> 00:45:12,239
without Polo last year, you're going up against a lot

969
00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:15,559
of inferior lineups. Now it's no, you're going up against

970
00:45:15,559 --> 00:45:19,079
the main lineups. And I think what's interesting, and I

971
00:45:19,079 --> 00:45:21,800
think also a little bit exciting, is so he's averaging

972
00:45:21,840 --> 00:45:24,320
about thirty six points per one hundred possessions this year

973
00:45:24,679 --> 00:45:27,760
when Ben Carroll's off the floor, he's averaging about thirty

974
00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:30,079
six points per one hundred possesions when Palo Bank Carroll's

975
00:45:30,079 --> 00:45:32,519
on the floor as well. And the change has been

976
00:45:32,639 --> 00:45:34,440
you mentioned in the shot profile. He has to take

977
00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:38,360
more unassisted threes, the twos get harder, his efficiency drops off,

978
00:45:38,360 --> 00:45:40,960
but he has a fifty five plus true shooting without

979
00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:43,480
Polllow on the floor. Again, is the engine of your

980
00:45:43,519 --> 00:45:45,760
offense on a team that's not really built to generate

981
00:45:45,800 --> 00:45:48,480
a ton of offense that's really good. The thing that

982
00:45:48,519 --> 00:45:51,119
I think stands out to me the most has been

983
00:45:51,480 --> 00:45:54,920
the passing. And so without Palo this year, Grant he's

984
00:45:54,960 --> 00:45:58,480
generating twenty three point nine points per one hundred possessions

985
00:45:58,519 --> 00:46:02,360
as a passer just off of assists. And now for context,

986
00:46:02,679 --> 00:46:04,440
like if you're looking where that would ranked if you

987
00:46:04,559 --> 00:46:07,559
scaled it, just like if that was his default, that's

988
00:46:07,599 --> 00:46:10,559
about top twenty, top twenty one in the league. It's

989
00:46:10,599 --> 00:46:14,000
what Luka Doncic is generating per one hundred posessions as

990
00:46:14,039 --> 00:46:16,960
an assist guy this year. And now that's an extreme

991
00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:18,800
because the mass have him playing off the ball more,

992
00:46:18,840 --> 00:46:20,159
which I actually think is going to be a huge

993
00:46:20,159 --> 00:46:23,119
benefit to him in them long term. But we're talking

994
00:46:23,159 --> 00:46:24,800
about I'm not saying he's one of the ten best

995
00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:27,800
passes in the league. I also probably have more questions about, well,

996
00:46:27,800 --> 00:46:30,639
can he be the primary driver of an efficient offense.

997
00:46:30,679 --> 00:46:35,320
I think I'm just so like clumpy pilled from watching

998
00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:38,000
Orlando's offense still after all these years where they did

999
00:46:38,079 --> 00:46:39,800
try to make certain changes to it with the addition

1000
00:46:39,840 --> 00:46:42,039
of KCP, and it hasn't necessarily worked out that way.

1001
00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:46,320
I've could you imagine if the Magic were like, let's

1002
00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:49,480
say a top ten shooting team, what would him and

1003
00:46:49,519 --> 00:46:50,320
Paolo look like?

1004
00:46:50,719 --> 00:46:53,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's the thing. So to your point, this

1005
00:46:53,480 --> 00:46:55,960
kind of maybe brings it home so his assist rate

1006
00:46:56,039 --> 00:46:58,840
is up over thirty percent and it was under nineteen

1007
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:02,239
percent last year. His turnover rates down at a career low.

1008
00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:06,639
So like that touches the passing, that touches on Like

1009
00:47:06,679 --> 00:47:11,719
it's insane that he's doing more positive facilitating without making

1010
00:47:12,119 --> 00:47:17,159
while making fewer mistakes amid significantly greater defensive attention in

1011
00:47:17,199 --> 00:47:19,719
an environment that has not built for him to succeed

1012
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:22,840
in because of the lack of shooting. So like it's

1013
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:24,760
I don't know, does that make sense? Like it really is,

1014
00:47:24,800 --> 00:47:27,960
just you have to consider the circumstances when you're looking

1015
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:29,440
at him, because if you just look at the raw

1016
00:47:29,480 --> 00:47:32,159
counting status, it's like those are good. Is he really different?

1017
00:47:32,199 --> 00:47:35,039
It's like no, he's very, very different, and you have

1018
00:47:35,079 --> 00:47:37,079
to understand like what's going on around him to really

1019
00:47:37,119 --> 00:47:37,719
appreciate that.

1020
00:47:38,199 --> 00:47:40,719
Speaker 1: I do find it funny that you just made the

1021
00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:43,400
Palo bang Caro over Jalen Williams Rookie of the Year

1022
00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:45,320
case that you railed against a couple of years ago.

1023
00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:49,679
Speaker 2: I'd like to distance myself from that, although maybe not

1024
00:47:49,719 --> 00:47:52,000
because oh it's not my turn next, but we'll get there.

1025
00:47:52,440 --> 00:47:56,039
Speaker 1: Norman Powell, I think another guy where you just wonder, okay,

1026
00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:59,719
is he just because they're the offensive packing order in

1027
00:48:00,039 --> 00:48:02,719
Los Angeles has fallen off a cliff. There's James Harden

1028
00:48:02,760 --> 00:48:04,440
and then who else is going to be here? Number

1029
00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:08,920
two option without Paul George there, without Kawhi Leonard being healthy.

1030
00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:12,239
This is what Norman Palla averaged last year, grant thirteen

1031
00:48:12,280 --> 00:48:16,639
point nine points. He's averaging twenty three point nine as

1032
00:48:16,679 --> 00:48:19,480
we record this, So just a ten point jump. I

1033
00:48:19,519 --> 00:48:22,599
don't I don't care. Oh he's starting now, like I

1034
00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:26,119
just he's playing more minutes. He's averaging ten additional points

1035
00:48:26,320 --> 00:48:30,519
while playing like five six extra minutes per game. He

1036
00:48:30,599 --> 00:48:34,400
has been otherworldly efficient relative to volume, istining fifty point

1037
00:48:34,480 --> 00:48:37,599
seven percent on threes while taking almost eight of them

1038
00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:41,119
per game. That's efficiency that you would expect to come down,

1039
00:48:41,199 --> 00:48:44,639
but it's also just mind melting to have. We're a

1040
00:48:44,719 --> 00:48:47,320
quarter away through the season and he's maintained that efficiency

1041
00:48:47,519 --> 00:48:49,840
when you're looking at actual changes, because I do think

1042
00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:52,039
when you're looking at the three point shooting and even

1043
00:48:52,039 --> 00:48:55,920
the rim pressure, that's something he's always done. I'll call it.

1044
00:48:55,960 --> 00:48:59,960
The self sustaining scoring is just at an all time high.

1045
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:02,559
He's averaging eleven point four drives per thirty six minutes.

1046
00:49:02,840 --> 00:49:05,519
That's up from six point nine last year. And I

1047
00:49:05,519 --> 00:49:07,400
think notably, and I want to make clear it's not

1048
00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:10,000
a huge part of his game, but like they have

1049
00:49:10,119 --> 00:49:12,679
him running pick and rolls at this point, he's at

1050
00:49:12,719 --> 00:49:14,960
three point nine pick and roll possessions as the ball

1051
00:49:14,960 --> 00:49:18,000
handler per game. That is more than double the volume

1052
00:49:18,039 --> 00:49:21,760
that he had last season. And he also is scoring

1053
00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:23,920
efficiency in those situations. So you're giving him a ball

1054
00:49:23,960 --> 00:49:26,800
screen against the set defense, he's averaging one point one

1055
00:49:26,840 --> 00:49:31,480
to one points per possession. That is incredibly efficient for

1056
00:49:31,519 --> 00:49:35,239
that circumstance. It ranks tenth among the seventy nine players

1057
00:49:35,400 --> 00:49:37,400
who have run more than fifty pick and rolls, and

1058
00:49:37,440 --> 00:49:40,000
by the way, I even find that number staggering. He's

1059
00:49:40,039 --> 00:49:42,320
just among the players a quarterway through the season that

1060
00:49:42,519 --> 00:49:45,360
have run more than fifty pick and rolls. Now, I

1061
00:49:45,400 --> 00:49:47,280
still think there's a lot to be desired as just

1062
00:49:47,320 --> 00:49:50,280
he's not passing a ton more in those situations. I

1063
00:49:50,280 --> 00:49:52,360
think he's making an effort at least if you're going

1064
00:49:52,400 --> 00:49:54,519
to give him a ball screen. But like he has

1065
00:49:54,519 --> 00:49:57,800
a one track mindset when he's getting downhill, and that's fine.

1066
00:49:57,880 --> 00:50:02,320
I think that he's just he's gotten more efficient or

1067
00:50:02,360 --> 00:50:07,119
remained comparably efficient while dealing with more complicated volume. It's

1068
00:50:07,119 --> 00:50:09,639
not just more volume, it's more complicated volume. There's extra

1069
00:50:09,679 --> 00:50:14,480
defensive attention, there's extra responsibility. I'm very curious to see again,

1070
00:50:14,559 --> 00:50:16,920
not the discussion we're having, but in the actual most

1071
00:50:16,920 --> 00:50:20,599
improved player convo. I'm curious how people are going to

1072
00:50:20,679 --> 00:50:23,920
view him. But this is this is a massive leap,

1073
00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:26,159
and it's coming from someone who is in his age

1074
00:50:26,159 --> 00:50:29,039
thirty one season. So we just have like ten plus

1075
00:50:29,119 --> 00:50:32,159
years of knowing who this player is or what we

1076
00:50:32,199 --> 00:50:36,079
think he is. We have our priors, and he's flipped

1077
00:50:36,440 --> 00:50:38,360
a few of them. Now is this the Clippers don't

1078
00:50:38,360 --> 00:50:41,840
have a great offense, but like him is your number three,

1079
00:50:42,440 --> 00:50:44,079
Like if Kawhier comes back or you make it even

1080
00:50:44,119 --> 00:50:47,039
him is like your number what like two point five?

1081
00:50:47,159 --> 00:50:50,280
It's he's done a great job for LA this season.

1082
00:50:50,800 --> 00:50:53,480
Speaker 2: I was just thinking before you said it, like I,

1083
00:50:54,159 --> 00:50:56,800
this isn't the most improved like ranking or anything. But

1084
00:50:57,000 --> 00:50:59,079
of the guys we've discussed so far, there might be

1085
00:50:59,159 --> 00:51:02,320
one may two that I would I would suspect voters

1086
00:51:02,360 --> 00:51:05,440
would pick over Powell just because the the spike is

1087
00:51:05,440 --> 00:51:08,480
so glaring, and it's been like such a story that

1088
00:51:08,519 --> 00:51:10,320
like him and Harden are just kind of like I

1089
00:51:10,320 --> 00:51:12,719
guess Zubats too, but like that's more of a defensive thing,

1090
00:51:13,239 --> 00:51:15,519
like that offense is not good and those two are

1091
00:51:15,559 --> 00:51:17,679
like the only guys that are doing a lot consistently,

1092
00:51:17,679 --> 00:51:19,679
And it's just the efficiency and the volume and all

1093
00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:22,480
that stuff. It's so it's so conspicuous and it so

1094
00:51:22,559 --> 00:51:24,639
fits into like the type of stuff that we tend

1095
00:51:24,679 --> 00:51:27,400
to reward with most improved player. But yeah, and to

1096
00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:28,880
do it at this age, I know you mentioned it,

1097
00:51:28,920 --> 00:51:30,679
but it's like he's by far the oldest guy we're

1098
00:51:30,679 --> 00:51:31,280
going to talk about.

1099
00:51:31,519 --> 00:51:33,280
Speaker 1: It's just like it's not cooln even think about that.

1100
00:51:33,440 --> 00:51:36,039
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so I mean, maybe that makes you more skeptical,

1101
00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:38,199
but all I would argue it also makes it more

1102
00:51:38,199 --> 00:51:40,559
impressive because usually, like you said, you're sort of set

1103
00:51:40,639 --> 00:51:42,800
what you're going to be forget ten years, like five,

1104
00:51:42,960 --> 00:51:44,280
like we kind of have a sense of what kind

1105
00:51:44,280 --> 00:51:46,599
of player you are, and this he's just the best

1106
00:51:46,679 --> 00:51:47,199
version of that.

1107
00:51:47,280 --> 00:51:51,039
Speaker 1: Now Clippers have been Are they the biggest surprise this year?

1108
00:51:51,119 --> 00:51:52,840
You could probably throw the ruck. I don't I'm not

1109
00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:56,519
technically surprised by the magic without Polo for sure. I thought,

1110
00:51:56,880 --> 00:51:58,880
remember I was just yet they need to make a trade,

1111
00:51:58,880 --> 00:52:00,960
like this isn't going to work. So they've been surprising

1112
00:52:00,960 --> 00:52:02,280
in that aspect. But if you told me they were

1113
00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:04,880
top four in the East according like that wouldn't shock me.

1114
00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:07,840
It's probably between the Rockets or the am I forgetting somebody.

1115
00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:09,320
I guess the calves at this level.

1116
00:52:09,440 --> 00:52:11,840
Speaker 2: For sure, we were pretty in on the caves. I mean,

1117
00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:13,559
if you're going the other way. The Pacers have been

1118
00:52:13,599 --> 00:52:14,559
surprisingly bad.

1119
00:52:14,679 --> 00:52:17,599
Speaker 1: But like I think I disappointed. There's like, what, what's

1120
00:52:17,639 --> 00:52:18,960
the biggest pleasant surprise?

1121
00:52:19,360 --> 00:52:21,599
Speaker 2: It's for me it's the Clippers because we buried them.

1122
00:52:21,639 --> 00:52:23,639
I think. I don't know if we picked like the

1123
00:52:23,679 --> 00:52:25,800
most likely under but I know they were in the

1124
00:52:25,800 --> 00:52:28,360
conversation for us, just like I was hopeless. There's nothing

1125
00:52:28,480 --> 00:52:30,920
James Harden can't do this anymore, which you know, I

1126
00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:33,960
mean he's been fine, uh and great in a couple

1127
00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:36,880
recent spurts. But like the defense, I guess there were

1128
00:52:36,920 --> 00:52:39,400
people though now in hindsight, like some people were saying

1129
00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:41,159
the defense was going to be really good. I just

1130
00:52:41,320 --> 00:52:42,039
never bought it.

1131
00:52:42,079 --> 00:52:44,320
Speaker 1: We we said the defense was going to be really good,

1132
00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:46,760
and we continued to rip winds away from them. Anyway,

1133
00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:48,639
while we were going through that exercise, I think I

1134
00:52:48,679 --> 00:52:50,639
had them under thirty wins or something. I have to

1135
00:52:50,639 --> 00:52:53,480
go back and look, uh, but yeah, I think they're

1136
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:59,079
relative to our expectations, they're clearly the biggest. Yeah, wow, soccer.

1137
00:52:59,159 --> 00:53:01,159
Speaker 2: My guy. You know, we just couldn't do Do you

1138
00:53:01,159 --> 00:53:03,119
think I was gonna do this without getting Jayalen Williams

1139
00:53:03,159 --> 00:53:06,480
in here? Dan? Come on, So all the numbers are up,

1140
00:53:06,719 --> 00:53:11,039
you can do some fun basketball reference sorting messing with

1141
00:53:11,079 --> 00:53:15,239
his like twenty two five five, two and one, and

1142
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:17,559
you get one other season in NBA history and it's

1143
00:53:17,559 --> 00:53:20,440
Michael Jordan in nineteen ninety ninety one. So it's just

1144
00:53:20,519 --> 00:53:23,840
like you're throw in his efficiency. His true shooting is down,

1145
00:53:23,960 --> 00:53:26,360
although I think it's probably back over sixty percent because

1146
00:53:26,400 --> 00:53:28,800
he was lights out last night, but had him at fifty.

1147
00:53:28,800 --> 00:53:32,400
He was at fifty nine percent prior to that, So

1148
00:53:32,760 --> 00:53:35,800
like you're you'd say, like, wow, what's different. He played

1149
00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:40,000
center for like a month and he so I would

1150
00:53:40,079 --> 00:53:45,280
argue maybe sixty five seven to two wingspan kind of

1151
00:53:45,599 --> 00:53:48,400
comparable physically to Draymond Green. Was he a decent defender?

1152
00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:51,440
I guess, like I don't know. It's it's a couple

1153
00:53:51,400 --> 00:53:53,400
of things with Jim Well, it's three things. One, I

1154
00:53:53,639 --> 00:53:55,800
have to talk about him because I love him. Two,

1155
00:53:56,239 --> 00:53:58,679
I think he's made the rise to like all NBA level.

1156
00:53:58,760 --> 00:54:00,400
If you a lot of the catch alls him in

1157
00:54:00,400 --> 00:54:02,280
the top ten, like he's way up there in EPM,

1158
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:04,199
and it's it's early and all that stuff is real,

1159
00:54:04,400 --> 00:54:07,199
you know, noisy at this point. But I do think

1160
00:54:07,599 --> 00:54:10,760
just in terms of across the board volume, across the

1161
00:54:10,800 --> 00:54:15,039
board efficiency, he's elite just flat out statistically. And now

1162
00:54:15,079 --> 00:54:19,719
if we're going to introduce into that essentially like five

1163
00:54:19,760 --> 00:54:22,599
position stuff, I guess the knock against him still would

1164
00:54:22,639 --> 00:54:25,119
be you take Sja off the floor, you put Jalen

1165
00:54:25,159 --> 00:54:27,719
Williams on the ball, surround him with the best the

1166
00:54:27,760 --> 00:54:32,119
Thunder have. Offensively, it's still maybe not great, right, Like,

1167
00:54:32,159 --> 00:54:35,519
it's not elite. I still think he some of that

1168
00:54:35,639 --> 00:54:37,559
has to do with the player, the limited players the

1169
00:54:37,599 --> 00:54:40,039
Thunder put around him in some of those lineups. I

1170
00:54:40,079 --> 00:54:43,239
do believe that he can. He's close or closer maybe

1171
00:54:43,519 --> 00:54:46,079
to being someone that can just run the offense without SGA.

1172
00:54:46,119 --> 00:54:48,119
He's not as good as SGA. Sorry, there's like three

1173
00:54:48,119 --> 00:54:53,639
guys that are in the world whoa So yeah, you

1174
00:54:53,679 --> 00:54:56,440
know he like he doesn't he walks on water, SJ

1175
00:54:56,679 --> 00:55:00,480
runs but like you introduce into that you really can

1176
00:55:00,599 --> 00:55:03,599
credibly play center on a team that's really good defensively,

1177
00:55:03,920 --> 00:55:07,119
and like, I'm sorry, that's that's growth, Like that's a leap,

1178
00:55:07,199 --> 00:55:08,960
or at least if he could always do that, he

1179
00:55:09,039 --> 00:55:11,480
wasn't trusted to do it, and now you know he

1180
00:55:11,559 --> 00:55:13,719
has been. Don't know how much you're gonna see of

1181
00:55:13,760 --> 00:55:16,079
that once now that Hartenstein's back and Chet will get

1182
00:55:16,119 --> 00:55:18,880
back whenever he does. But having that like club in

1183
00:55:18,920 --> 00:55:21,000
the bag is insane for a guy that's just one

1184
00:55:21,039 --> 00:55:23,679
of the best wings in the league full stop, he

1185
00:55:23,719 --> 00:55:25,760
can also play center, Like what are we doing? Like

1186
00:55:25,800 --> 00:55:27,119
that's that's incredible?

1187
00:55:28,320 --> 00:55:32,920
Speaker 1: Do you so? I'm honestly just asking, because I do

1188
00:55:33,039 --> 00:55:35,119
find myself on this podcast I end up I think

1189
00:55:35,159 --> 00:55:37,039
being so we had the conversation Jale and Williams or

1190
00:55:37,039 --> 00:55:39,679
Scottie Barnes the other day. You swayed me on it

1191
00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:41,280
by the end, But I just feel like I have

1192
00:55:41,360 --> 00:55:43,559
to play Devil's advocate whenever we talk about J Dubb.

1193
00:55:43,599 --> 00:55:45,280
Otherwise this would just turn it into.

1194
00:55:45,199 --> 00:55:47,639
Speaker 2: I'm I'm irrational about I am biased.

1195
00:55:48,000 --> 00:55:49,719
Speaker 1: Here's the thing. I don't know that I think you are,

1196
00:55:49,840 --> 00:55:52,000
but I am having a tougher time scoring away where

1197
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:54,960
I watch him and I humans just like, oh, like

1198
00:55:55,039 --> 00:55:57,079
this could be do you view him? I guess in

1199
00:55:57,119 --> 00:55:59,480
the same vein of and I would saying, well, he

1200
00:55:59,519 --> 00:56:02,400
can draw an offense by himself, but we have all

1201
00:56:02,400 --> 00:56:05,880
this evidence when he plays without Shay that the numbers

1202
00:56:05,960 --> 00:56:09,440
do not back it up, particularly without Chet Holmgren on

1203
00:56:09,480 --> 00:56:11,519
the floor. Yeah, how do you like? What do you

1204
00:56:11,519 --> 00:56:12,039
make of that?

1205
00:56:12,360 --> 00:56:14,239
Speaker 2: I think that's the that's a fair knock because the

1206
00:56:14,320 --> 00:56:16,239
numbers say what they say.

1207
00:56:16,599 --> 00:56:19,039
Speaker 1: I what do you have him at your proprietary data?

1208
00:56:19,239 --> 00:56:22,960
Speaker 2: That's my proprietary metrics. Uh, my proprietary metrics have him

1209
00:56:23,000 --> 00:56:27,119
at very good and underrated as a primary he's underrated

1210
00:56:27,159 --> 00:56:30,440
point oh point oh sorry, point oh one. As I'm

1211
00:56:30,559 --> 00:56:34,079
checking the numbers here, you know that that's like, that's

1212
00:56:34,119 --> 00:56:36,679
a fair assessment. You can't really argue I. I just

1213
00:56:36,760 --> 00:56:39,480
sort of try to contextualize it with like, all right,

1214
00:56:39,519 --> 00:56:41,519
so if you're out there with I don't have the

1215
00:56:41,559 --> 00:56:43,800
lineup data in front of me. But it's if you

1216
00:56:43,800 --> 00:56:46,320
put him out there with like literally no one else

1217
00:56:46,480 --> 00:56:48,400
that can do something with the ball, like Isaiah Joe

1218
00:56:48,440 --> 00:56:51,239
can shoot it, Aaron Wiggins can drive it. If he's

1219
00:56:51,239 --> 00:56:54,039
out there with other Jalen Williams, he's gonna make hustle plays.

1220
00:56:54,079 --> 00:56:56,440
If it's Kendrick Williams, same thing might make spot up threes.

1221
00:56:56,480 --> 00:57:00,119
Like it's asking a lot of him to run on

1222
00:57:00,159 --> 00:57:04,320
an offense effectively when he's the only guy that's gonna

1223
00:57:04,320 --> 00:57:06,639
make a play like even you know, I it's just

1224
00:57:06,719 --> 00:57:09,599
if SGA is off, obviously you're at a dearth of playmaking.

1225
00:57:09,760 --> 00:57:12,280
You're driving. He's the only guy that gets to the

1226
00:57:12,280 --> 00:57:16,039
line SGA is so like, yeah, it's just tough. I

1227
00:57:16,079 --> 00:57:18,440
wonder what would happen if you gave Jalen Williams, like

1228
00:57:18,760 --> 00:57:22,199
somebody else that could pass droubleshoot like fairly consistently. What

1229
00:57:22,199 --> 00:57:24,599
that would look like? Maybe that's chet honestly down the

1230
00:57:24,719 --> 00:57:27,760
down the road like once he's back. But yeah, if

1231
00:57:27,760 --> 00:57:30,320
you're gonna make the knock, that's it. I just think, Uh,

1232
00:57:30,679 --> 00:57:33,559
that's something he's getting better at, and I'm I wonder

1233
00:57:33,639 --> 00:57:37,599
what some of that uh Jalen Williams primary ball handler

1234
00:57:37,679 --> 00:57:39,880
stuff would look like if the lineups around him were

1235
00:57:39,920 --> 00:57:40,519
a little different.

1236
00:57:41,159 --> 00:57:45,079
Speaker 1: Can I ask you a question, you may you put

1237
00:57:45,360 --> 00:57:49,679
Jalen Williams into Franz Wagner situation with Orlando right now,

1238
00:57:50,119 --> 00:57:51,559
Are the magic better or worse?

1239
00:57:52,119 --> 00:57:59,199
Speaker 2: Hmm, that's a great question. I think I think they'd

1240
00:57:59,199 --> 00:58:04,280
be pretty loose. I imagine Williams would be more efficient

1241
00:58:04,440 --> 00:58:07,440
as a scorer than Franz is. I wonder about the

1242
00:58:07,679 --> 00:58:09,960
I wonder if he can handle that much volume though,

1243
00:58:10,239 --> 00:58:12,480
because we just we just haven't. We haven't seen that,

1244
00:58:12,599 --> 00:58:16,840
So fair question, I think, and that does illustrate, like

1245
00:58:16,880 --> 00:58:20,639
maybe Jadab is not someone that can right now be

1246
00:58:20,760 --> 00:58:25,079
like the high volume rep after rep after rep primary

1247
00:58:25,360 --> 00:58:28,559
initiator on offense, and Franz has done that. But I

1248
00:58:28,559 --> 00:58:31,280
would bet you that that at least Williams would be

1249
00:58:31,719 --> 00:58:34,480
like shooting it better, would be more efficient. I don't

1250
00:58:34,480 --> 00:58:36,440
know if that that dodges your question. I think maybe

1251
00:58:36,440 --> 00:58:40,440
they'd be comparable, but like in different ways. And maybe

1252
00:58:40,599 --> 00:58:42,960
maybe the volume is what matters, right because that's what

1253
00:58:43,000 --> 00:58:45,159
Franz has proven, is that he can just take on

1254
00:58:45,239 --> 00:58:48,159
this enormous playmaking load and Willams has never really had

1255
00:58:48,199 --> 00:58:50,440
to do that and hasn't done it as successfully in

1256
00:58:50,440 --> 00:58:51,239
smaller doses.

1257
00:58:51,760 --> 00:58:53,960
Speaker 1: Someone needs to run a two case him on that.

1258
00:58:54,440 --> 00:58:56,199
We'd probably be the only idiots that are wondering what

1259
00:58:56,239 --> 00:58:58,159
would happen, So we won't do that.

1260
00:58:58,159 --> 00:58:58,840
Speaker 2: That's a good question.

1261
00:58:59,079 --> 00:59:01,119
Speaker 1: Next up, and it's our final one before we go

1262
00:59:01,159 --> 00:59:04,480
into a lightning round. Peyton Prichard, I think, what do

1263
00:59:04,480 --> 00:59:06,480
you think people are probably expecting him to show up here.

1264
00:59:06,480 --> 00:59:08,519
He's definitely showing up in six Man of the Year discussions.

1265
00:59:08,559 --> 00:59:11,719
I haven't seen him. When it comes to improvements, I

1266
00:59:12,760 --> 00:59:16,000
don't maybe I shouldn't say that they're subtle improvements. But

1267
00:59:17,039 --> 00:59:20,880
what he's done best is be less of a point guard.

1268
00:59:21,480 --> 00:59:23,360
And what I really mean by that is by the

1269
00:59:23,360 --> 00:59:26,400
way he's still like he's killing people in pick and

1270
00:59:26,480 --> 00:59:28,719
roll situations. He leads the league rant. You don't need

1271
00:59:28,719 --> 00:59:31,199
to filter it by possessions anything, just in points per

1272
00:59:31,199 --> 00:59:33,400
possession out of the pick and roll. Peyton Pritchard Branks

1273
00:59:33,440 --> 00:59:37,280
first right now, which okay, going up coming off the bench,

1274
00:59:37,679 --> 00:59:39,559
but like we're a quarter of the way through the seasons,

1275
00:59:39,599 --> 00:59:41,239
that's something that you probably need to take a little

1276
00:59:41,239 --> 00:59:45,119
bit seriously. When you're looking at it, he's just to me,

1277
00:59:45,280 --> 00:59:48,920
when I watch him, it feels like he's making quicker

1278
00:59:48,960 --> 00:59:55,320
decisions and then just absolutely eviscerating defenses with those quicker decisions.

1279
00:59:55,639 --> 00:59:58,199
He is, like, we all know what he's probably shooting

1280
00:59:58,320 --> 00:59:59,920
on like three point ers. I think it's like a

1281
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:03,320
eighty percent or something, But sixty two point three percent

1282
01:00:03,559 --> 01:00:07,199
of his shots come while using one or fewer dribbles.

1283
01:00:07,360 --> 01:00:09,960
That number was only at fifty two percent last year.

1284
01:00:10,039 --> 01:00:13,440
Sixty percent of his shots are also coming with after

1285
01:00:13,880 --> 01:00:16,559
fewer than two seconds of touch time. That's up from

1286
01:00:16,599 --> 01:00:20,800
fifty two percent last year as well. To play that

1287
01:00:20,920 --> 01:00:25,119
much quicker and then still just be super efficient like whatever,

1288
01:00:25,320 --> 01:00:27,840
almost in whatever kind of shot type you want to

1289
01:00:27,880 --> 01:00:29,920
filter for him when you look at Yes, we know

1290
01:00:30,000 --> 01:00:32,280
the three point percent is, but Peyton Pritchard on drives

1291
01:00:32,320 --> 01:00:35,599
this year is up to seventy seven point percent shooting grant,

1292
01:00:35,800 --> 01:00:38,920
He's shooting twenty four or thirty one out of drives.

1293
01:00:39,400 --> 01:00:41,559
He's shooting off the catch. I don't even know what

1294
01:00:41,599 --> 01:00:43,519
the exact number is for him on spot up threes

1295
01:00:43,639 --> 01:00:46,320
this season, but if it's under fifty percent, I think

1296
01:00:46,320 --> 01:00:48,480
I'd probably be a little bit shocked. So he's at

1297
01:00:48,480 --> 01:00:50,280
forty five point six percent, so color me a little

1298
01:00:50,280 --> 01:00:52,719
bit shocked he's shooting thirty eight point eight percent on

1299
01:00:52,800 --> 01:00:56,199
pull up threes. I think he can still do a

1300
01:00:56,239 --> 01:01:00,000
lot of the point guard stuff, and like he's definitely talented.

1301
01:01:00,480 --> 01:01:02,400
Like if you're talking about like you want to see

1302
01:01:02,480 --> 01:01:05,320
kind of the circus handles sometimes he is someone who

1303
01:01:05,320 --> 01:01:08,400
could do that and maybe go after defense is in

1304
01:01:08,440 --> 01:01:11,800
that regard. The Boston's not built to need him to

1305
01:01:11,800 --> 01:01:14,079
do that or want to do that, And I am

1306
01:01:14,400 --> 01:01:17,639
just basking in this is someone who did not have

1307
01:01:17,679 --> 01:01:20,480
the cachet to request a trade, but did so what

1308
01:01:20,599 --> 01:01:24,199
two or three times, and now he's become an integral

1309
01:01:24,280 --> 01:01:26,239
part of the team and he's probably good enough to

1310
01:01:26,280 --> 01:01:28,360
if he wanted a trade, he could actually force one

1311
01:01:28,440 --> 01:01:32,960
now because he reads that profile. So he's been I'm

1312
01:01:33,000 --> 01:01:35,800
curious to see if anyone can catch him for six

1313
01:01:35,880 --> 01:01:37,440
Man of the Year right now, Like he seems like

1314
01:01:37,519 --> 01:01:41,360
the runaway favorite and not just well, let's just consign

1315
01:01:41,599 --> 01:01:44,639
to you know, convention there, but like, oh no, he's

1316
01:01:44,639 --> 01:01:47,719
the rightful runaway favorite, pull up jumper, effective field. Great,

1317
01:01:47,760 --> 01:01:49,960
he was number three, so by the way, those rankings

1318
01:01:49,960 --> 01:01:53,119
before ninety one players have taken at least fifty pull

1319
01:01:53,159 --> 01:01:56,079
up jumpers. Ta Jerome is the most efficient, Norman Powell

1320
01:01:56,119 --> 01:01:59,519
is number two. Peyton Pritchard's number three. So this is

1321
01:01:59,639 --> 01:02:01,599
just he seems to kind of be fitting the mold

1322
01:02:01,639 --> 01:02:03,840
to more than ever, just what a lot of people

1323
01:02:03,880 --> 01:02:06,360
want a sixth man to be. And just the number

1324
01:02:06,400 --> 01:02:09,920
I referenced earlier, one point four possessions as the pick

1325
01:02:10,000 --> 01:02:12,639
points per possession is the pick and roll ball handler

1326
01:02:12,840 --> 01:02:15,599
that leads the league, and he's running almost two pick

1327
01:02:15,599 --> 01:02:16,960
and rolls of games. So this isn't you know, Michael

1328
01:02:17,000 --> 01:02:18,639
Porter Junior is at one point three to nine but

1329
01:02:18,679 --> 01:02:22,320
barely runs a pick and roll. Taylen Horton Tucker's three.

1330
01:02:22,719 --> 01:02:24,760
There's that is I don't buy that at all. So

1331
01:02:24,840 --> 01:02:28,239
but like Peyton Pritchard, I don't know if he's gonna

1332
01:02:28,320 --> 01:02:30,760
end up playing enough, or if people are gonna do

1333
01:02:30,800 --> 01:02:33,760
what they do to Tatum in the MVP discussion, what

1334
01:02:33,800 --> 01:02:36,199
maybe we've done to Tatum in the MVP discussion. But

1335
01:02:36,559 --> 01:02:40,679
he's not gonna receive most improved credentials even though he's

1336
01:02:40,679 --> 01:02:42,679
playing almost thirty minutes a game, because oh he's on

1337
01:02:42,719 --> 01:02:44,440
the Celtics, Like his job is so easy.

1338
01:02:44,719 --> 01:02:46,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, like yeah, a lot of I think

1339
01:02:46,960 --> 01:02:49,760
it's really interesting that I didn't know the numbers who

1340
01:02:49,760 --> 01:02:50,840
were going to cite, and a lot of those are

1341
01:02:50,880 --> 01:02:53,159
kind of on ball stuff, the pick and roll efficiency

1342
01:02:53,159 --> 01:02:55,639
to pull up thing, Like I think what I like

1343
01:02:55,679 --> 01:02:58,039
about the three point volume is just a thing on

1344
01:02:58,079 --> 01:03:00,639
its own. Like he's getting over up over fifteen per

1345
01:03:00,679 --> 01:03:04,159
hunter possessions. His career high before that was twelve, like that,

1346
01:03:04,239 --> 01:03:06,760
which is high. Well, like that's an insane number and

1347
01:03:06,800 --> 01:03:08,760
to shoot it as well as he has forty three percent,

1348
01:03:09,199 --> 01:03:11,719
that's like just the It's kind of like the math

1349
01:03:11,760 --> 01:03:13,639
game that the Celtics as a team are playing is

1350
01:03:13,639 --> 01:03:16,000
like we're just gonna shoot so many more than you're

1351
01:03:16,000 --> 01:03:17,840
comfortable with and make them at high rates that you

1352
01:03:17,920 --> 01:03:21,760
just can't win. I think like the off ball value

1353
01:03:21,800 --> 01:03:24,480
is really high too, because he's one of those guys

1354
01:03:24,880 --> 01:03:27,880
and I always jump to like Eric Gordon that he

1355
01:03:27,960 --> 01:03:30,400
will spot up way beyond the line, like so he

1356
01:03:30,519 --> 01:03:33,159
just forces a defense to cover a lot more space

1357
01:03:33,199 --> 01:03:35,800
if he's off the ball. So I don't know that

1358
01:03:35,800 --> 01:03:38,719
that's a new skill, but his his average shot distance

1359
01:03:39,039 --> 01:03:41,079
is twenty two and a half feet this year, and

1360
01:03:41,119 --> 01:03:44,320
that's with ten percent of his attempts coming inside three feet.

1361
01:03:44,360 --> 01:03:47,360
So like I should have just parsed out the NBA

1362
01:03:47,400 --> 01:03:49,079
dot Com data because I think they do have the

1363
01:03:49,159 --> 01:03:52,039
like the extra long threes or they they split it

1364
01:03:52,119 --> 01:03:55,280
up into beyond twenty three nine. But like the on

1365
01:03:55,280 --> 01:03:58,679
ball stuff's amazing. That's probably where the growth I think, rightful,

1366
01:03:58,760 --> 01:04:02,519
you're citing the right stuff first, but like as an area.

1367
01:04:03,440 --> 01:04:05,239
Speaker 1: More with what you're saying where it's okay, it's the

1368
01:04:05,239 --> 01:04:07,960
on ball stuff, but he's getting rid of it quicker,

1369
01:04:08,360 --> 01:04:10,239
and so that fits into the whole off ball things.

1370
01:04:10,239 --> 01:04:11,760
And so he's always had a little bit of a

1371
01:04:11,760 --> 01:04:15,119
plug and play element. I guess his improvement is he's

1372
01:04:15,199 --> 01:04:16,800
just become infinitely scalable.

1373
01:04:17,119 --> 01:04:19,679
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, well, man, like against in that self the

1374
01:04:19,679 --> 01:04:22,519
game when Boston played Cleveland. He also just like put

1375
01:04:22,599 --> 01:04:24,880
Darius Garland in the basket on one play, like he

1376
01:04:24,920 --> 01:04:27,000
caught it in a low catch and just like bodied

1377
01:04:27,039 --> 01:04:29,199
him underneath the rim and just scored right over him

1378
01:04:29,239 --> 01:04:30,920
like he was I don't know, like a like a

1379
01:04:31,840 --> 01:04:34,880
power forward in nineteen ninety one. Just like, oh he

1380
01:04:34,920 --> 01:04:37,440
can do that too, because he's super competitive and super

1381
01:04:37,440 --> 01:04:40,079
physical and strong, and so if you don't have size

1382
01:04:40,079 --> 01:04:42,440
on him, then he's also just gonna like, you know,

1383
01:04:42,840 --> 01:04:45,000
leave you dusted behind screens or like pin you on

1384
01:04:45,000 --> 01:04:48,239
his back. He's just yeah, he's It's almost like he's

1385
01:04:48,239 --> 01:04:50,840
made two gains in like too many areas to really

1386
01:04:50,920 --> 01:04:51,880
like focus on one.

1387
01:04:52,679 --> 01:04:56,039
Speaker 1: Where where do you think he would rank this season

1388
01:04:56,320 --> 01:04:59,639
in shots made twenty five feet or further out?

1389
01:05:00,000 --> 01:05:01,239
Speaker 2: I mean I just said all that, So he's got

1390
01:05:01,280 --> 01:05:01,960
to be top three.

1391
01:05:03,119 --> 01:05:09,599
Speaker 1: He's not per per stat head Peyton Pritchard ranks, He's

1392
01:05:09,599 --> 01:05:11,360
not even in the top fifty. Is that right?

1393
01:05:11,760 --> 01:05:12,519
Speaker 2: That can't be right.

1394
01:05:12,800 --> 01:05:14,840
Speaker 1: I never would. Maybe it's like, so if I if

1395
01:05:14,880 --> 01:05:17,920
I changed it to like maybe it's a twenty three

1396
01:05:17,920 --> 01:05:20,960
feet situation, what is his average shot distance is over

1397
01:05:21,039 --> 01:05:24,199
twenty two, So let's just say twenty three. Does he

1398
01:05:24,239 --> 01:05:25,880
pop up there like he's just taking it from a

1399
01:05:26,000 --> 01:05:27,039
very specific reign.

1400
01:05:27,159 --> 01:05:29,760
Speaker 2: Maybe am I imagining that? Maybe maybe what I'm doing

1401
01:05:29,840 --> 01:05:32,320
is conflating all of his like end of quarter heaves

1402
01:05:32,360 --> 01:05:34,639
that he made in the playoffs last year, or like

1403
01:05:34,639 --> 01:05:36,000
that he's so good at in general.

1404
01:05:36,679 --> 01:05:38,599
Speaker 1: I'm wondering if I sorted it wrong because to me,

1405
01:05:39,360 --> 01:05:41,920
I definitely sort it wrong. So he is seventh in

1406
01:05:42,000 --> 01:05:45,039
shots made outside of twenty three.

1407
01:05:44,880 --> 01:05:47,320
Speaker 2: Feet, Okay, that's pretty good. Feel better about that.

1408
01:05:47,559 --> 01:05:50,280
Speaker 1: Yeah. The players in front of him, Derek White, Donovan,

1409
01:05:50,280 --> 01:05:53,800
Mitchell Tyler, Hero, LaMelo Ball, Jason Tatum, to Anthy Edwards.

1410
01:05:53,800 --> 01:05:56,360
This fact that three Celtics are just in the top

1411
01:05:56,400 --> 01:05:57,679
seven is perfect.

1412
01:05:57,679 --> 01:06:00,119
Speaker 2: And the Celtics are totally fine with the introduction of

1413
01:06:00,159 --> 01:06:01,639
the four point line, is what you're telling me.

1414
01:06:02,000 --> 01:06:05,400
Speaker 1: Ready for the lightning round, mister Hughes, Sure, less lightning,

1415
01:06:05,440 --> 01:06:07,880
but the real lightning round comes after. Christian Brown. I

1416
01:06:07,920 --> 01:06:11,159
do think he deserves a mention. The numbers for him

1417
01:06:11,599 --> 01:06:13,760
just kind of pop when you look at relative to

1418
01:06:14,280 --> 01:06:17,559
last season. So last year he averages what was he

1419
01:06:17,599 --> 01:06:20,800
at last season? He averaged seven point three points per game.

1420
01:06:21,000 --> 01:06:23,400
He's more than double his scoring output. He's at fifteen

1421
01:06:23,719 --> 01:06:27,079
point nine. I think where his real improvement has come,

1422
01:06:27,360 --> 01:06:30,519
and there's probably two areas, is they've given him more

1423
01:06:30,519 --> 01:06:34,000
ball handling responsibility in certain moments, and I think he's

1424
01:06:34,000 --> 01:06:35,800
done a pretty good job of that. I still wish

1425
01:06:35,800 --> 01:06:37,840
that I could see more of that from Peyton Watson,

1426
01:06:37,840 --> 01:06:39,920
since I view him as kind of the more fluid

1427
01:06:39,960 --> 01:06:44,000
on ballplayer, even though he's definitely not as consistent as

1428
01:06:44,079 --> 01:06:46,760
Christian Brown. He's done some more handoffs. But I think

1429
01:06:47,679 --> 01:06:49,599
I think what the big thing is for Christian Brown

1430
01:06:49,679 --> 01:06:53,800
is he's more effective and better at kind of understanding

1431
01:06:53,800 --> 01:06:57,000
how to move when Nikola Jokic is off the floor.

1432
01:06:57,719 --> 01:07:00,000
He has a sixty point two effective field goal percentage

1433
01:07:00,079 --> 01:07:02,639
without nikol Jokic on the court this year. That's up

1434
01:07:02,639 --> 01:07:05,760
from fifty one point four last year. He's shooting sixty

1435
01:07:05,800 --> 01:07:09,280
seven percent on twos without Yolkic on the floor compared

1436
01:07:09,280 --> 01:07:12,000
to forty eight percent last year. And it's that might

1437
01:07:12,039 --> 01:07:14,519
feel like a small thing because we know that he's

1438
01:07:14,519 --> 01:07:16,519
gonna play a bunch of minutes next to Nikoliokic, but

1439
01:07:16,639 --> 01:07:19,840
he is more independent on that end of the floor

1440
01:07:19,880 --> 01:07:22,400
even when he's away from the ball than he's ever been,

1441
01:07:22,440 --> 01:07:24,000
And I do think that deserves just a little bit

1442
01:07:24,000 --> 01:07:26,440
of a shout out. I still I understand that that's

1443
01:07:26,519 --> 01:07:28,719
never going to be the crux of his offense, but

1444
01:07:29,159 --> 01:07:31,239
I look at him and I'm like, are you really

1445
01:07:31,239 --> 01:07:33,719
shooting feweror threes per one hundred persessions than you were

1446
01:07:33,800 --> 01:07:34,280
last year?

1447
01:07:34,599 --> 01:07:38,800
Speaker 2: I was a team I was just gonna say, like, so, yeah, what,

1448
01:07:39,079 --> 01:07:40,800
I have it right in front of me. Three point

1449
01:07:40,800 --> 01:07:42,960
six attempts per hundred. He was at four point nine

1450
01:07:43,039 --> 01:07:46,599
last year. And yet I think it's a testament to like,

1451
01:07:47,159 --> 01:07:49,039
because all we wanted him to do is just be

1452
01:07:49,239 --> 01:07:52,239
KCP basically right, like you just shoot as often as

1453
01:07:52,239 --> 01:07:54,119
he does and as accurately as he does, and then

1454
01:07:54,239 --> 01:07:56,280
keep doing all your other stuff. I think it's a

1455
01:07:56,320 --> 01:07:58,599
credit to him to and maybe the Nuggets too, of

1456
01:07:58,719 --> 01:08:01,280
just like, yeah, he's shooting forty percent from three, that's

1457
01:08:01,320 --> 01:08:03,159
all the more reason to shoot more. But I think

1458
01:08:03,159 --> 01:08:05,480
they kind of looked at like, Okay, what's he good at,

1459
01:08:05,719 --> 01:08:08,039
Let's just do more of that, Like, let's let's help,

1460
01:08:08,159 --> 01:08:12,039
Let's have him improve in ways that like are like him,

1461
01:08:12,199 --> 01:08:14,159
as opposed to trying to turn him into like the

1462
01:08:14,199 --> 01:08:16,239
type of player that we need because maybe he just

1463
01:08:16,520 --> 01:08:19,479
maybe that's just never gonna happen. But it's it's fascinating

1464
01:08:19,479 --> 01:08:22,039
to me that his scoring growth and stuff has really

1465
01:08:22,039 --> 01:08:24,560
stemmed from stuff he was already good at, as opposed

1466
01:08:24,560 --> 01:08:28,279
to like, let's turn him into some totally different version

1467
01:08:28,319 --> 01:08:30,920
of of what he's been, which is like that's I

1468
01:08:30,960 --> 01:08:32,159
don't know a lot of ways. I think that's a

1469
01:08:32,159 --> 01:08:34,399
hard decision to make, right, to just double down on

1470
01:08:34,439 --> 01:08:35,920
what a guy's good at, as opposed to try and

1471
01:08:35,960 --> 01:08:36,880
to change him.

1472
01:08:37,279 --> 01:08:41,279
Speaker 1: He does feel like someone who's gonna finish higher on

1473
01:08:41,319 --> 01:08:43,199
the ballout of most improved player, because it feels like

1474
01:08:43,199 --> 01:08:45,520
he kind of checks the boxes that people are comfortable

1475
01:08:45,640 --> 01:08:47,800
for sure Jackie, where it's oh, he's not a second

1476
01:08:47,840 --> 01:08:50,840
year player and his role has gotten bigger, and there's

1477
01:08:50,880 --> 01:08:55,000
like just this very material increase in his counting stats.

1478
01:08:55,000 --> 01:08:56,600
I don't know if he deserves it. Again, we need

1479
01:08:56,600 --> 01:08:59,279
to dig into it, but he does feel like a

1480
01:08:59,319 --> 01:09:01,720
candidate that'll a lot of people might gravitate towards.

1481
01:09:01,880 --> 01:09:03,199
Speaker 2: I totally agree.

1482
01:09:03,520 --> 01:09:07,119
Speaker 1: Next name, what have you noticed from mister Hughes Diyson Daniels.

1483
01:09:07,119 --> 01:09:08,680
We've talked at length about him already.

1484
01:09:08,760 --> 01:09:12,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. So this is a

1485
01:09:12,359 --> 01:09:16,159
volume situation, I guess, because defensively, he's just in the

1486
01:09:16,159 --> 01:09:18,560
conversation now of like, is he the best perimeter defender

1487
01:09:18,600 --> 01:09:21,600
in the league, and that's tied directly to the insane

1488
01:09:21,640 --> 01:09:25,119
steel rates, insane deflection rates. Like you know, we spent

1489
01:09:25,199 --> 01:09:27,039
a good portion of the first month of the year

1490
01:09:27,079 --> 01:09:29,600
talking about like, is he gonna just set the steels

1491
01:09:29,600 --> 01:09:31,880
per game record or at least be the first guy

1492
01:09:31,960 --> 01:09:35,760
in whatever thirty forty years to be up you know,

1493
01:09:35,960 --> 01:09:39,159
over three a game, Like is that plausible? He just

1494
01:09:39,319 --> 01:09:42,840
like the defense has been unbelievable. It's sort of easier

1495
01:09:42,840 --> 01:09:45,960
to see coming. But he's also like now not efficient

1496
01:09:46,039 --> 01:09:49,159
as an offensive player, but has just shown more of

1497
01:09:49,199 --> 01:09:51,960
like an in between game has. He was getting a

1498
01:09:52,000 --> 01:09:53,479
lot of praise early in the year for just being

1499
01:09:53,520 --> 01:09:56,720
willing to shoot threes, whereas like Pelicans fans would know

1500
01:09:57,199 --> 01:09:59,640
there would just be long stretches whole quarters of games

1501
01:09:59,640 --> 01:10:01,520
where he's just like not gonna look at the basket,

1502
01:10:01,880 --> 01:10:05,079
like to the detriment of the offense. So some credit

1503
01:10:05,279 --> 01:10:08,560
is deserved for just being willing to shoot it. But

1504
01:10:08,680 --> 01:10:11,600
like the floater stuff, the kind of you know, six

1505
01:10:11,640 --> 01:10:14,000
to ten foot stuff, even the three to ten foot stuff,

1506
01:10:14,159 --> 01:10:16,319
there's a little more there this year. I think really

1507
01:10:16,319 --> 01:10:18,880
it's just the level of defensive impact he's been able

1508
01:10:18,920 --> 01:10:20,199
to make that stands out the most.

1509
01:10:20,279 --> 01:10:23,520
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, I guess you're right. I still think it's

1510
01:10:23,640 --> 01:10:27,159
him showing more dynamics where he's always been good, like

1511
01:10:27,159 --> 01:10:29,279
from the float ranger like when he's getting to the basket.

1512
01:10:29,319 --> 01:10:31,439
I just think he's been smarter and more comfortable even

1513
01:10:31,439 --> 01:10:33,680
dealing with contact. But for me, it's tough because of

1514
01:10:33,720 --> 01:10:36,439
all the things you mentioned. He was never like Atlanta's

1515
01:10:36,439 --> 01:10:38,399
just gonna have a better half courts basing environment than

1516
01:10:38,439 --> 01:10:39,800
he had in New Orleans. And his role was just

1517
01:10:39,800 --> 01:10:41,760
also bigger. So it was this kind of again, the

1518
01:10:41,760 --> 01:10:44,239
stuff he's doing well, we always saw flashes of most

1519
01:10:44,279 --> 01:10:46,880
of it in New Orleans for sure, another Atlanta Hawk.

1520
01:10:47,000 --> 01:10:49,439
I would say, what I've noticed the most about Jalen Johnson,

1521
01:10:49,439 --> 01:10:51,680
who not that I wrote him off at the beginning

1522
01:10:51,720 --> 01:10:53,960
of the year, grant, but he had like a rough

1523
01:10:53,960 --> 01:10:56,399
start after signing a contract extension. I wonder if that

1524
01:10:56,520 --> 01:10:58,760
was he didn't want to he didn't go so hard

1525
01:10:58,880 --> 01:11:00,840
until the extension was so he had a worker his

1526
01:11:00,840 --> 01:11:02,520
way back into shape because hen' want to get injured

1527
01:11:02,760 --> 01:11:04,680
before signing it. But I think the biggest thing with

1528
01:11:04,760 --> 01:11:08,000
him is I've always viewed him as like this connective passer.

1529
01:11:08,279 --> 01:11:11,359
He's just making. He's playmaking more from dead stops, just cut,

1530
01:11:11,399 --> 01:11:14,159
not capslock running the offense. But he has the ability

1531
01:11:14,199 --> 01:11:16,319
to go against that defense is attack off the dribble

1532
01:11:16,359 --> 01:11:19,680
and make place for others out of that. That's been

1533
01:11:19,680 --> 01:11:22,119
a huge deal, and Lanta's getting healthier now, so having

1534
01:11:22,159 --> 01:11:24,720
Modanovic back, getting a little bit more run from Kobe Buffett,

1535
01:11:24,720 --> 01:11:26,640
even though he's more of a defensive option at this point.

1536
01:11:27,079 --> 01:11:28,720
They kind of need that though, when you look at

1537
01:11:28,800 --> 01:11:31,079
just Okay Bogey gets injured a lot, and then you

1538
01:11:31,119 --> 01:11:32,800
have Trey Young and then it's who, like, who's your

1539
01:11:32,800 --> 01:11:35,920
second best? Probably Dyson Daniels after that, So you've Bogdanovic

1540
01:11:35,960 --> 01:11:38,760
and Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson. I've been very impressed

1541
01:11:38,800 --> 01:11:40,159
with that aspect of Jalen's game.

1542
01:11:40,399 --> 01:11:42,439
Speaker 2: I think, like I made the case the other day

1543
01:11:42,720 --> 01:11:44,800
something I was writing for just more Trey Young off

1544
01:11:44,840 --> 01:11:46,279
the ball, and a lot of it has to do

1545
01:11:46,319 --> 01:11:48,479
with Jalen Johnson can just be someone that makes the

1546
01:11:48,520 --> 01:11:50,239
right decision much more than he used to be.

1547
01:11:50,560 --> 01:11:52,840
Speaker 1: I'm very curious to know what you say about LaMelo

1548
01:11:52,920 --> 01:11:56,560
Ball because he's injured again. Casstrain right, I think he's

1549
01:11:56,560 --> 01:11:59,319
dealing with I mean, the Hornets are just pick a name.

1550
01:11:59,399 --> 01:12:01,359
Until he was not injured at this point, Bretton Miller,

1551
01:12:01,399 --> 01:12:03,880
who is playing enough minutes to make Tom Thibodeau blush

1552
01:12:03,920 --> 01:12:06,920
at the moment, But LaMelo counting stats are fascinating, but

1553
01:12:07,000 --> 01:12:08,520
a lot of the improvements that we saw at the

1554
01:12:08,520 --> 01:12:12,399
beginning of the season, they're like not the same. So

1555
01:12:12,439 --> 01:12:14,359
I'm just kidding, where do you land on this?

1556
01:12:14,880 --> 01:12:17,720
Speaker 2: He's a so have we not talked about him yet,

1557
01:12:17,760 --> 01:12:19,520
like the kind of the give and take of his

1558
01:12:19,920 --> 01:12:21,119
free injury part of the year.

1559
01:12:21,720 --> 01:12:23,760
Speaker 1: Right, So the question you posted to me, you said,

1560
01:12:23,760 --> 01:12:26,600
people are wondering if LaMelo ball has become basically the

1561
01:12:26,600 --> 01:12:27,760
most overrated player in.

1562
01:12:27,720 --> 01:12:31,199
Speaker 2: The Yeah, And that struck me because I was just

1563
01:12:31,239 --> 01:12:34,000
looking at like the three point volume was insane, and

1564
01:12:34,039 --> 01:12:36,880
he was He's he tailed off a little bit before injury,

1565
01:12:37,119 --> 01:12:40,520
but to get up thirteen threes a game is like that.

1566
01:12:40,680 --> 01:12:42,600
And if you're hitting him a league average clip, which

1567
01:12:42,720 --> 01:12:45,119
is fairly close to that's that's such a huge value

1568
01:12:45,159 --> 01:12:48,159
add and the passing and the offensive orchestration. The usage

1569
01:12:48,239 --> 01:12:49,840
rate was on pace at one point to be like

1570
01:12:49,880 --> 01:12:54,399
the third highest in the like modern era, So like ye,

1571
01:12:55,680 --> 01:12:58,479
but then but then so the pushback was always kind

1572
01:12:58,520 --> 01:13:00,319
of two pronged. One is just like he is an

1573
01:13:00,399 --> 01:13:04,880
unseerious defender and team player, which is easy to say

1574
01:13:04,920 --> 01:13:06,760
about him because he does play with like such a

1575
01:13:06,800 --> 01:13:10,520
care free like his like his step backs are unlike

1576
01:13:10,560 --> 01:13:12,880
anyone else's because they almost just feel like, I fuck

1577
01:13:12,920 --> 01:13:14,920
it like every time. You know, they're just like little

1578
01:13:14,960 --> 01:13:17,840
flicks and and like shoot it off one and a half.

1579
01:13:18,119 --> 01:13:20,880
Speaker 1: The same, Like I'm not putting on the same level

1580
01:13:20,880 --> 01:13:23,000
of these players. But I don't like when we try

1581
01:13:23,000 --> 01:13:26,479
to use demeanor as a metric for commitment. You can

1582
01:13:26,560 --> 01:13:28,399
tell he's like you could say the same thing about

1583
01:13:28,479 --> 01:13:29,760
Luca or Jokic.

1584
01:13:30,079 --> 01:13:32,680
Speaker 2: Maybe so maybe so I think, well, yeah, I think

1585
01:13:32,680 --> 01:13:36,199
that's true. Maybe less for Jokic than Luca.

1586
01:13:36,399 --> 01:13:40,640
Speaker 1: Well bleeding and has scratches on him, but he makes

1587
01:13:40,680 --> 01:13:43,359
things look so like he's not fired up after these

1588
01:13:43,359 --> 01:13:45,479
plays where he gets like he can get off those

1589
01:13:45,600 --> 01:13:49,239
ridiculous like sweeping two point shots. Yeah, and Luca with

1590
01:13:49,359 --> 01:13:52,359
the step back two those looks James Harden even like

1591
01:13:52,560 --> 01:13:54,560
they feel like they take more effort now that he's older.

1592
01:13:54,600 --> 01:13:56,760
But like Pete James Harden, it just kind of felt

1593
01:13:56,760 --> 01:13:59,800
like it looked easy. And is that do we penalize

1594
01:14:00,600 --> 01:14:01,119
that now?

1595
01:14:01,439 --> 01:14:05,079
Speaker 2: I would say, I'm not making this argument. I think, well,

1596
01:14:05,079 --> 01:14:07,680
here's what I'd say, if the reason you think he's

1597
01:14:07,760 --> 01:14:10,960
unseerious is like maybe some of the like stupid driving

1598
01:14:10,960 --> 01:14:13,159
stuff with a couple of years ago, and the fact

1599
01:14:13,199 --> 01:14:15,119
that like this is where you're wrong. You would be

1600
01:14:15,159 --> 01:14:17,159
wrong if you're making this criticism that he like smiles

1601
01:14:17,199 --> 01:14:18,920
a lot and like seems to be really having a

1602
01:14:18,920 --> 01:14:21,760
good time, so like therefore he's not he doesn't care.

1603
01:14:21,880 --> 01:14:24,359
Like that's not a great argument. What I would say,

1604
01:14:24,640 --> 01:14:26,880
you do have a leg to stand on if you

1605
01:14:27,000 --> 01:14:31,079
cite defensively, for example, he's just never in a stance

1606
01:14:31,199 --> 01:14:33,399
like he's just standing up and he just if a

1607
01:14:33,439 --> 01:14:36,319
guy goes by him, he reaches, he'd fouled out. I

1608
01:14:36,359 --> 01:14:38,720
think Chris Herring for ESPN had this, like he fouled

1609
01:14:38,720 --> 01:14:41,560
out what like three out of six games at one

1610
01:14:41,600 --> 01:14:44,279
stretch and was fouling out early and just and it

1611
01:14:44,359 --> 01:14:47,079
was dumb reaches. It was like lazy plays. It was

1612
01:14:47,239 --> 01:14:50,600
just unseerious defensive play like that I think is real.

1613
01:14:51,079 --> 01:14:53,880
And and if you're if that bothers you, and if

1614
01:14:53,880 --> 01:14:56,039
you also cite the stuff that says like, yeah, he

1615
01:14:56,119 --> 01:14:58,520
makes the Hornets offense way better, but when he's on

1616
01:14:58,560 --> 01:15:01,119
the floor, that offense is still like a jectively not good.

1617
01:15:01,319 --> 01:15:03,880
It's you know, like it doesn't rank high enough to

1618
01:15:03,920 --> 01:15:06,199
make the argument that, like, oh, he's this incredible driver

1619
01:15:06,279 --> 01:15:09,079
of offense. It's really just relative to like how much

1620
01:15:09,079 --> 01:15:11,920
better things are when than compared to when he's not

1621
01:15:11,960 --> 01:15:15,119
on the floor. I'm receptive to that stuff, like the

1622
01:15:15,520 --> 01:15:18,640
defensive just like not giving a shit and the like,

1623
01:15:18,760 --> 01:15:20,880
does he raise the offense to a level that's high

1624
01:15:20,960 --> 01:15:23,640
enough to like anoint him as you know, worthy of

1625
01:15:23,680 --> 01:15:26,720
this crazy high usage rate. Those are good arguments, I think,

1626
01:15:26,840 --> 01:15:28,960
or at least compelling. I still think you have to

1627
01:15:29,000 --> 01:15:31,279
weigh that against the sheer volume of the stuff he's

1628
01:15:31,319 --> 01:15:33,720
doing as a scorer and the load that he has

1629
01:15:33,800 --> 01:15:36,880
to carry with a bad team around him. And that's

1630
01:15:36,920 --> 01:15:39,920
what's not that's what makes him tricky, right, I don't.

1631
01:15:40,680 --> 01:15:43,319
I think I'm more impressed than not. But I am

1632
01:15:43,399 --> 01:15:47,720
receptive to the stuff that suggests like this actually isn't

1633
01:15:47,880 --> 01:15:51,159
as meaningful as some of the numbers individually for him

1634
01:15:51,239 --> 01:15:53,079
make it look like very quickly.

1635
01:15:53,119 --> 01:15:54,600
Speaker 1: What do you make of the notion that he hasn't

1636
01:15:54,760 --> 01:15:57,039
actually gotten better, that this is more of a volume

1637
01:15:57,439 --> 01:15:58,039
and approach.

1638
01:15:58,319 --> 01:16:00,239
Speaker 2: I think I don't think it has to be one

1639
01:16:00,319 --> 01:16:02,359
or the other. I think the ability to do stuff

1640
01:16:02,399 --> 01:16:04,560
at a higher volume level means in a lot of

1641
01:16:04,640 --> 01:16:07,239
cases that you have gotten better, right, like like you

1642
01:16:07,239 --> 01:16:08,720
know what I mean? Like that maybe that's a cop

1643
01:16:08,760 --> 01:16:12,399
out answer, but not everybody gets to play that high

1644
01:16:12,479 --> 01:16:14,920
usage of a role. And he's done it with good

1645
01:16:15,000 --> 01:16:17,399
enough efficiency that you put him in a category of

1646
01:16:17,439 --> 01:16:19,560
like I don't know how many other guys even could

1647
01:16:19,920 --> 01:16:21,800
do that, like have the ability to do that.

1648
01:16:22,119 --> 01:16:24,600
Speaker 1: The Hornet's offense fifty third percent tile with him on

1649
01:16:24,600 --> 01:16:26,600
the court, The half court offense is in a thirty

1650
01:16:26,600 --> 01:16:28,840
fifth percentile, which can be a red flag. I just

1651
01:16:28,920 --> 01:16:31,840
wonder what's the if If that's the returns, little mellow,

1652
01:16:31,880 --> 01:16:34,680
what is the player you put on this Hornet's team

1653
01:16:34,720 --> 01:16:37,479
with the availability, the injury concerns and all exactly is

1654
01:16:37,520 --> 01:16:40,279
a lot better? And I think you're getting into the

1655
01:16:40,399 --> 01:16:43,479
Jokic Luka Doncic, of course, but like who if you

1656
01:16:43,520 --> 01:16:45,800
put I'm just I'm asking if you put Anthony Edwards

1657
01:16:45,800 --> 01:16:47,680
on this Hornets team, are they a better offensive team?

1658
01:16:47,840 --> 01:16:50,119
Speaker 2: Yeah? How different? Or is of Trey Young or something

1659
01:16:50,199 --> 01:16:52,279
someone that we have seen drive a really good offense,

1660
01:16:52,319 --> 01:16:55,119
Like is it? Is it meaningfully different. We can't answer that,

1661
01:16:55,159 --> 01:16:57,560
but no, that I think that's the right counter, at

1662
01:16:57,600 --> 01:16:59,800
least in turn, if you're gonna impune him offensively, I

1663
01:16:59,800 --> 01:17:01,640
don't think that's necessarily the way to go. I think

1664
01:17:01,680 --> 01:17:03,720
it's the defense as much as anything.

1665
01:17:03,920 --> 01:17:06,119
Speaker 1: I want to shout out Jaron Jackson Junior as well.

1666
01:17:06,159 --> 01:17:08,479
I know we're seeing an extension of kind of what

1667
01:17:08,520 --> 01:17:10,720
happened last year with more self creation. But he leads

1668
01:17:10,760 --> 01:17:13,960
the Grizzlies in scoring and they're top five offense right now.

1669
01:17:14,199 --> 01:17:15,720
They can still be, and we saw it in their

1670
01:17:15,720 --> 01:17:18,760
loss to the Mavericks. That half court machine is very rickety,

1671
01:17:18,840 --> 01:17:22,760
including Jaron Jackson Junior, whose release remains it's tough to

1672
01:17:22,800 --> 01:17:27,159
watch themout. Yeah, but he's shooting sixty percent on floaters

1673
01:17:27,239 --> 01:17:29,399
versus forty four percent last season, and so I think

1674
01:17:29,439 --> 01:17:31,399
the floor opening up a little bit when John Rant's there.

1675
01:17:31,399 --> 01:17:33,560
But John Morants miss time this season, and the Grizzlies

1676
01:17:33,560 --> 01:17:37,680
are not this billboard for Pristine's basing. I think Jaron

1677
01:17:37,720 --> 01:17:40,319
Jackson Junior has kind of continued to build upon what

1678
01:17:40,399 --> 01:17:43,000
he did last year. I think it's exciting for Grizzlies

1679
01:17:43,000 --> 01:17:45,680
fans in that team in general to see him be

1680
01:17:45,840 --> 01:17:49,920
this player in I guess I would say closer to

1681
01:17:50,159 --> 01:17:52,399
what the normal team is supposed to be when you

1682
01:17:52,399 --> 01:17:53,600
look at who was played this year.

1683
01:17:53,880 --> 01:17:56,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's I think I made a wild prediction early,

1684
01:17:56,560 --> 01:17:58,560
like before the season, that he would finish higher in

1685
01:17:58,640 --> 01:18:01,279
MVP rankings than jaw, which was mostly because I thought

1686
01:18:01,319 --> 01:18:03,840
Joe would miss time. Feel pretty good about that one.

1687
01:18:04,079 --> 01:18:07,680
Speaker 1: I think I predicted the Hornets with Bobcat. That was

1688
01:18:07,720 --> 01:18:10,520
my one of my bold predictions. So right on schedule.

1689
01:18:11,119 --> 01:18:13,479
Speaker 2: Evan Mobley. Okay, so this is interesting because I think

1690
01:18:13,479 --> 01:18:15,760
in passing I mentioned and I want to pull the

1691
01:18:15,800 --> 01:18:19,239
numbers up now that like there again I keep making

1692
01:18:19,279 --> 01:18:22,359
like straw man cases. But there was like some pushback

1693
01:18:22,920 --> 01:18:25,199
on oh, has he made the leap because after like

1694
01:18:25,239 --> 01:18:29,159
a pretty impressive start, statistically, the numbers you know, points, rebounds,

1695
01:18:29,159 --> 01:18:31,359
assists per game had kind of like dropped down, like

1696
01:18:31,399 --> 01:18:34,640
the three point volume hadn't like spiked. He's at two

1697
01:18:34,640 --> 01:18:37,000
attempts per game, which is good if you average one

1698
01:18:37,000 --> 01:18:39,000
point two last year, but you know a couple more

1699
01:18:39,039 --> 01:18:41,520
points per game. His assists are down, his rebounds are

1700
01:18:41,560 --> 01:18:45,159
down per game despite more minutes, and and like I

1701
01:18:45,159 --> 01:18:47,119
guess if that's where you wanted to stop. You'd say,

1702
01:18:47,119 --> 01:18:48,720
like how different is he? And then you'd just be

1703
01:18:48,800 --> 01:18:52,359
wrong because the way Evan Mobley is playing, you just

1704
01:18:52,399 --> 01:18:54,079
have to be watching him, I guess, right, which is

1705
01:18:54,119 --> 01:18:56,920
like sometimes a sort of shitty thing to say, But

1706
01:18:57,079 --> 01:19:01,399
like the physicality that he plays with, especially on offense,

1707
01:19:01,479 --> 01:19:04,079
and the level of aggression is just like that wasn't

1708
01:19:04,119 --> 01:19:06,640
there before. I think part of it is he looks

1709
01:19:06,640 --> 01:19:09,880
physically much stronger, and his ability to just move guys

1710
01:19:10,159 --> 01:19:13,279
is just something that he didn't have, you know, last season,

1711
01:19:13,399 --> 01:19:15,319
Like he you go back to that Knick series in

1712
01:19:15,359 --> 01:19:18,000
the postseason where he just couldn't finish through contact, right,

1713
01:19:18,079 --> 01:19:20,319
Like he would be the guy on the roll that

1714
01:19:20,359 --> 01:19:22,800
would either have to make the pass or finish oversize

1715
01:19:22,840 --> 01:19:24,560
and he just couldn't do it. And that's, you know,

1716
01:19:24,720 --> 01:19:26,760
one of the main reasons the calves like, oh well,

1717
01:19:26,800 --> 01:19:29,760
I don't know about this team now. So his finishing

1718
01:19:29,760 --> 01:19:32,560
through contact, I know, you have a stat ninetieth percentile

1719
01:19:32,680 --> 01:19:36,560
right now, he's averaging about three more drives per game,

1720
01:19:36,760 --> 01:19:38,960
and the drive the nature of the drives are different.

1721
01:19:39,079 --> 01:19:42,760
They're just like aggressive is like not it's like predatory,

1722
01:19:42,840 --> 01:19:45,520
like he's hunting contact, and I caught I caught the

1723
01:19:45,560 --> 01:19:48,000
last game I saw of the Calves. I caught myself

1724
01:19:48,039 --> 01:19:50,319
thinking like because he did look bigger in the upper body,

1725
01:19:50,359 --> 01:19:52,319
and he would just get a shoulder into guys and

1726
01:19:52,399 --> 01:19:54,680
put him, you know, too low to contest, and he

1727
01:19:54,840 --> 01:19:56,960
just dunks now off the dribble all the time. And

1728
01:19:57,000 --> 01:19:58,960
I started thinking, like, is this going to be a

1729
01:19:59,000 --> 01:20:01,319
thing where he becomes like Giannis? And he has like

1730
01:20:01,359 --> 01:20:03,600
three plays a game where he just like doesn't make

1731
01:20:03,640 --> 01:20:05,920
a move but just catches the ball close enough to

1732
01:20:05,960 --> 01:20:08,039
the basket to where he just can go through people

1733
01:20:08,159 --> 01:20:11,720
to dunk, And like, wow, that's new. Like now Yannis

1734
01:20:11,800 --> 01:20:13,960
is an insane physical comp Like there's sort of never

1735
01:20:13,960 --> 01:20:16,319
been anybody like that. But the things that Moblei is

1736
01:20:16,359 --> 01:20:18,760
doing now call that to mind, I think, which is like,

1737
01:20:18,880 --> 01:20:21,319
go back a year and a half, you'd never in

1738
01:20:21,399 --> 01:20:24,640
a million years have thought like the main improvement he

1739
01:20:24,680 --> 01:20:27,800
would make is just the use of physicalit. But that

1740
01:20:27,840 --> 01:20:29,800
but that I think to me has been the biggest

1741
01:20:29,800 --> 01:20:30,760
standout for him this year.

1742
01:20:30,760 --> 01:20:32,600
Speaker 1: I had to hit b Ball Index for having those stats,

1743
01:20:32,600 --> 01:20:35,520
But ninety eight percentile in finishing through contact when he's

1744
01:20:35,520 --> 01:20:37,840
never ranked higher than the sixty fourth percentile on his

1745
01:20:37,880 --> 01:20:38,960
career and wouldn't.

1746
01:20:38,600 --> 01:20:40,680
Speaker 2: Try it, Like that's the other thing he wouldn't like

1747
01:20:40,760 --> 01:20:43,800
the his comfort and like his almost like desire to

1748
01:20:43,920 --> 01:20:46,600
like find contact is just that makes you a different player.

1749
01:20:46,680 --> 01:20:49,319
Speaker 1: We have Darius Carlin next up, another calv We've covered

1750
01:20:49,399 --> 01:20:51,600
him in detail too here as well. Just some of

1751
01:20:51,600 --> 01:20:53,920
the efficiency has fallen off, but the down hill and

1752
01:20:53,960 --> 01:20:56,319
the finishing around the rams back to being okay, eh,

1753
01:20:56,319 --> 01:20:58,560
But like the stuff from the in between, like him

1754
01:20:58,560 --> 01:21:01,960
being aggressive going downhill, putting defenses in rotation, drawing two

1755
01:21:02,000 --> 01:21:05,239
to the ball, just creating an absolute havoc running the offense.

1756
01:21:05,439 --> 01:21:08,159
He's just gotten better, more composed, and we're kind of

1757
01:21:08,159 --> 01:21:11,680
seeing what happens when he's healthy for an extended period

1758
01:21:11,720 --> 01:21:13,920
of time. And I think that, you know, you still

1759
01:21:13,920 --> 01:21:15,600
want to see the finishing be a little bit better.

1760
01:21:15,720 --> 01:21:17,319
I think when you do dig into the numbers that

1761
01:21:17,359 --> 01:21:19,640
it does get better when there's only one big on

1762
01:21:19,680 --> 01:21:21,600
the court. But like this is someone who I think

1763
01:21:21,600 --> 01:21:23,920
has also made I'll call it like a miniature leap.

1764
01:21:24,239 --> 01:21:25,960
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think if there were a comeback Player of

1765
01:21:26,000 --> 01:21:27,880
the Year awards still it would just be him, Like

1766
01:21:27,880 --> 01:21:29,960
oh oh, there he is like Darius Carland's back to

1767
01:21:29,960 --> 01:21:31,800
what we thought he was going to be. Nauji Marshall

1768
01:21:31,840 --> 01:21:34,920
the next real quick hasn't necessarily like done the stuff

1769
01:21:34,960 --> 01:21:37,800
that you would have ideally hoped for coming over to

1770
01:21:37,840 --> 01:21:41,520
the MAVs, like under thirty percent from three. You know, well,

1771
01:21:41,560 --> 01:21:45,880
so therefore he's useless as a role player. But in fact, right,

1772
01:21:46,000 --> 01:21:47,720
like if you're on the MAVs, then you can't make

1773
01:21:47,760 --> 01:21:49,479
spot up threes and you're not on the ball, Like

1774
01:21:49,520 --> 01:21:53,239
what do you do here on offense? Basically he's just

1775
01:21:53,399 --> 01:21:55,920
making floaters all the time now, which is a cool thing.

1776
01:21:55,960 --> 01:21:58,079
It's the highest true shooting percentage of his career. He's

1777
01:21:58,119 --> 01:22:00,680
over sixty two percent, which, like, I don't care about

1778
01:22:00,680 --> 01:22:03,199
the volume. If you have a sixty plus two shooting percentage,

1779
01:22:03,199 --> 01:22:07,399
you're just a helpful offensive player. So he like I

1780
01:22:07,399 --> 01:22:09,000
don't know, I think there's a pretty strong case that

1781
01:22:09,079 --> 01:22:12,720
just he needs to play over Klay Thompson. Maybe you'd say,

1782
01:22:12,920 --> 01:22:15,000
I like, that's just if Thompson is going to be

1783
01:22:15,359 --> 01:22:17,840
as one dimensional as he's been, Like, I don't know

1784
01:22:17,840 --> 01:22:18,640
what the argument is.

1785
01:22:18,920 --> 01:22:20,920
Speaker 1: He's an interesting sixth Man of the Year candidate too,

1786
01:22:20,920 --> 01:22:22,199
And I know he had some of the floater and

1787
01:22:22,199 --> 01:22:24,840
transition stuff in New Orleans, but it's just ratcheting it

1788
01:22:24,920 --> 01:22:27,680
up since he's gotten to Dallas. Next up we have

1789
01:22:27,920 --> 01:22:29,640
I think Tyler Herro is the one that I have

1790
01:22:29,680 --> 01:22:32,319
next up here. Oh No, ped mc mather who I

1791
01:22:32,399 --> 01:22:35,239
debated whether or not to include. I will say I

1792
01:22:35,239 --> 01:22:37,920
think he's been more consistent this year. He's gotten better

1793
01:22:37,960 --> 01:22:41,119
at rebounding. The defense is neither here nor there. They're

1794
01:22:41,239 --> 01:22:43,760
the numbers are there. I want to make this clear,

1795
01:22:43,880 --> 01:22:45,840
but I do feel like he's a little bit culpable,

1796
01:22:45,840 --> 01:22:47,960
and like when the Pacers offense slows down, and it

1797
01:22:48,000 --> 01:22:53,560
really shouldn't. But again, just being more consistent and rebounding better,

1798
01:22:53,880 --> 01:22:56,640
that is super helpful. And they they needed, or I

1799
01:22:56,680 --> 01:22:58,359
think you could argue they probably still need, Like if

1800
01:22:58,359 --> 01:23:00,159
Halliburton is going to continue to be one of the

1801
01:23:00,279 --> 01:23:02,880
NBA's wildest roller coasters, and I know he settled down

1802
01:23:03,239 --> 01:23:07,199
over the past few games. Like Benne mcmatherin, becomes more important,

1803
01:23:07,239 --> 01:23:11,039
doesn't address your biggest issues, but becomes an important safety valve.

1804
01:23:11,119 --> 01:23:13,640
And so I do think that we've seen some strides

1805
01:23:13,680 --> 01:23:16,279
from him, but I thought after kind of making strides

1806
01:23:16,319 --> 01:23:18,399
as someone who is more of a quicker decision maker.

1807
01:23:18,640 --> 01:23:20,760
I feel like the Pacers have now leaned more into

1808
01:23:20,840 --> 01:23:23,680
him than vice versa. And maybe I'm wrong there, but

1809
01:23:23,720 --> 01:23:25,760
that's just kind of where I'm at with him.

1810
01:23:26,000 --> 01:23:28,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't have a lot to add. I think

1811
01:23:28,479 --> 01:23:31,199
he's probably marginally better. I don't know if it's changed

1812
01:23:31,239 --> 01:23:33,560
my opinion of like what kind of player he ultimately

1813
01:23:33,600 --> 01:23:37,840
is going to be. Yeah, Tyler hero shot profile question

1814
01:23:37,960 --> 01:23:40,720
basically right, Like this was I forget who was on

1815
01:23:40,760 --> 01:23:43,079
it initially, but this was this was a discussion like

1816
01:23:43,119 --> 01:23:45,880
pretty early in the year because the types of shots

1817
01:23:45,920 --> 01:23:48,840
he was taking were so starkly different than than in

1818
01:23:48,880 --> 01:23:51,520
the past, and like as as a result of basically

1819
01:23:51,640 --> 01:23:54,960
guess what, like cut out the tough twos, essentially replacing

1820
01:23:54,960 --> 01:23:57,399
them with shots at the rim and threes. I don't

1821
01:23:57,399 --> 01:23:59,359
have the pull up versus catch and shoot data in

1822
01:23:59,359 --> 01:24:02,159
front of you, but to illustrate the point, So last year,

1823
01:24:02,560 --> 01:24:04,439
this wasn't a career high, but he was taken about

1824
01:24:04,479 --> 01:24:07,279
ten percent of his shots from sixteen to twenty three feet.

1825
01:24:07,520 --> 01:24:10,279
Everybody hates those shots. He was taken about seventeen percent

1826
01:24:10,279 --> 01:24:13,359
from ten to sixteen feet, arguably slightly better. Still, not

1827
01:24:13,399 --> 01:24:16,800
good shots combined from those distances, He's at about seven

1828
01:24:16,840 --> 01:24:19,119
percent this year. So he's just like and he's just

1829
01:24:19,199 --> 01:24:23,840
reapportioned all of those to three point range. Essentially, has

1830
01:24:23,920 --> 01:24:26,520
never shot more than half of his attempts from beyond

1831
01:24:26,560 --> 01:24:28,840
the arc. He's at fifty six percent this year. So

1832
01:24:28,880 --> 01:24:32,600
it just like has simply swapped out the bad twos

1833
01:24:32,640 --> 01:24:35,159
that no one likes for threes and close close range

1834
01:24:35,159 --> 01:24:38,039
looks and like low, what's his true shooting percentage this year?

1835
01:24:38,039 --> 01:24:41,880
I guarantee it's yeah, he's at sixty one point four percent.

1836
01:24:42,079 --> 01:24:44,720
He's never been above fifty seven percent. Sixty percent like

1837
01:24:44,720 --> 01:24:47,279
the gold standard for true shooting, Like, that's just where

1838
01:24:47,279 --> 01:24:48,840
you want to be as an offensive player.

1839
01:24:49,600 --> 01:24:51,600
Speaker 1: I think what I've also liked and so to your

1840
01:24:51,640 --> 01:24:54,000
point about that, like the pull ups versus catch and shoot.

1841
01:24:54,079 --> 01:24:56,159
So this year, when you look at his catch and

1842
01:24:56,159 --> 01:24:59,239
shoot frequency, thirty one point two percent of all his

1843
01:24:59,279 --> 01:25:01,840
shots are coming and catching shoot situations. That number was

1844
01:25:01,880 --> 01:25:04,359
like twenty three percent last year, so there's a was

1845
01:25:04,399 --> 01:25:06,560
twenty six percent last year, so there's a big shift there.

1846
01:25:06,560 --> 01:25:09,319
Pull Ups accounted for forty six percent of his shots

1847
01:25:09,399 --> 01:25:12,119
last year. That number is dipped a lot to thirty

1848
01:25:12,119 --> 01:25:14,199
five point seven and as that numbers dipped, You've already

1849
01:25:14,279 --> 01:25:16,520
kind of mentioned this, like he's even taken more shots

1850
01:25:16,520 --> 01:25:19,760
inside ten feet this year. What I think this is

1851
01:25:19,800 --> 01:25:21,399
weird that this has impressed me the most, but now

1852
01:25:21,479 --> 01:25:23,399
is his percentages have kind of slipped a little bit.

1853
01:25:23,760 --> 01:25:27,039
We haven't seen him backslide to his normal tendencies, Like

1854
01:25:27,079 --> 01:25:29,279
he is still going through this process of like, no,

1855
01:25:29,399 --> 01:25:32,159
this is what my offense looks like now, and I

1856
01:25:32,199 --> 01:25:35,039
think that like doing that in the face of not

1857
01:25:35,079 --> 01:25:37,359
playing as well as you were, I think is super

1858
01:25:37,359 --> 01:25:40,199
critical and so hats off to him for being able to,

1859
01:25:40,399 --> 01:25:42,880
you know, kind of just rework his his entire just

1860
01:25:42,880 --> 01:25:45,399
like functionality to this degree this year. Do you have

1861
01:25:45,439 --> 01:25:46,800
anything else to add or you're ready to take this

1862
01:25:46,840 --> 01:25:47,600
out here? Oh?

1863
01:25:47,640 --> 01:25:50,159
Speaker 2: I was gonna ask, was it you that posted the

1864
01:25:50,279 --> 01:25:54,199
beyond Barbecue Chicken meme about Tyler Hero? Was that him?

1865
01:25:54,359 --> 01:25:55,319
Somebody was sat?

1866
01:25:55,720 --> 01:25:56,000
Speaker 1: I did?

1867
01:25:56,239 --> 01:25:57,840
Speaker 2: I did see that. I pop in, I pop in

1868
01:25:57,840 --> 01:25:59,359
on Blue Sky every so often.

1869
01:25:59,359 --> 01:26:01,800
Speaker 1: Look at you? Yeah? Yeah, that was the Celtics or

1870
01:26:01,840 --> 01:26:03,960
the Elk business going after him. Yeah.

1871
01:26:04,159 --> 01:26:06,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, we just got to show both sides

1872
01:26:06,600 --> 01:26:08,600
of the coin here. Tyler Hero still sucks on defense,

1873
01:26:08,680 --> 01:26:10,039
but that's not the one.

1874
01:26:10,159 --> 01:26:12,000
Speaker 1: Let us know if you think we missed anyone, We

1875
01:26:12,000 --> 01:26:14,560
didn't do it intentionally, if this wasn't our ranking, like

1876
01:26:14,560 --> 01:26:16,039
we said, we did some of the players that we

1877
01:26:16,079 --> 01:26:18,319
thought just improved the most. I'm curious as to who

1878
01:26:18,359 --> 01:26:20,479
would be the Is there anyone that springs to mind

1879
01:26:20,479 --> 01:26:22,479
that you think we probably I thought about Ojannis is

1880
01:26:22,479 --> 01:26:24,199
shooting the lights out for mid range, but that's just

1881
01:26:24,239 --> 01:26:26,239
we've kind of been there, done that before, right.

1882
01:26:26,279 --> 01:26:29,039
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's had he's had spikes and I don't know,

1883
01:26:29,039 --> 01:26:30,000
peaks and valleys in that.

1884
01:26:30,039 --> 01:26:33,760
Speaker 1: For some people will advocate for Ogan Andobi and I

1885
01:26:33,760 --> 01:26:36,760
think the numbers are better, but that's just to me,

1886
01:26:36,800 --> 01:26:39,000
it's like a volume he's not shooting well on drives

1887
01:26:39,079 --> 01:26:41,800
or like ye, yeah, one on one situations.

1888
01:26:41,359 --> 01:26:44,000
Speaker 2: Well, And it's probably like as far back as what

1889
01:26:44,079 --> 01:26:46,840
like four or five years ago we were just talking,

1890
01:26:46,920 --> 01:26:49,000
he would just get mentioned as like, this guy is

1891
01:26:49,039 --> 01:26:51,479
the best defensive player in the league because he can

1892
01:26:51,600 --> 01:26:54,399
you know, like he's just doing og In and Obi stuff. Basically,

1893
01:26:54,840 --> 01:26:55,319
I will.

1894
01:26:55,119 --> 01:26:56,760
Speaker 1: Say this player if he was doing more of it

1895
01:26:56,840 --> 01:26:58,920
in higher volume. I just think it's kind of he's

1896
01:26:58,920 --> 01:27:02,680
more efficient with the same level of broadening his horizons.

1897
01:27:02,800 --> 01:27:05,479
Leture to Manti Kamara has been Yeah, it's a delight.

1898
01:27:05,560 --> 01:27:08,600
Speaker 2: I mean we could have just said wimby because the

1899
01:27:08,920 --> 01:27:11,119
three point volume is insane and it's been.

1900
01:27:11,000 --> 01:27:14,640
Speaker 1: Really people uncomfortable that though uncomfortable about that, you get

1901
01:27:14,680 --> 01:27:16,960
better or worse because he's taking that many threes? Is

1902
01:27:17,000 --> 01:27:17,399
the question.

1903
01:27:17,760 --> 01:27:19,479
Speaker 2: I just I want. I just want to know what

1904
01:27:19,479 --> 01:27:20,520
he's going to try next year.

1905
01:27:20,680 --> 01:27:24,600
Speaker 1: It's like, what, like could have tried dunking from the

1906
01:27:24,640 --> 01:27:25,920
three point line.

1907
01:27:26,279 --> 01:27:29,640
Speaker 2: Seems seems easy, right? Why shoot it? Why shoot it

1908
01:27:29,640 --> 01:27:32,800
when you don't have to let go the ball to score? Yeah? No,

1909
01:27:32,880 --> 01:27:34,520
I think that's good. Yeah, let us know who we missed,

1910
01:27:34,520 --> 01:27:38,159
which I probably did twenty five players here. But yeah,

1911
01:27:38,239 --> 01:27:41,399
thanks again everybody, as always for for watching, for listening.

1912
01:27:41,640 --> 01:27:44,960
Remember if you haven't subscribed on YouTube, great review, five stars,

1913
01:27:44,960 --> 01:27:47,439
the whole deal. Wherever you're listening to this, whatever podcast

1914
01:27:47,439 --> 01:27:50,960
provider you have, comment on YouTube that you know, engage

1915
01:27:51,000 --> 01:27:51,560
with us there.

1916
01:27:51,760 --> 01:27:51,960
Speaker 1: Let it.

1917
01:27:52,119 --> 01:27:53,600
Speaker 2: That's a good place to let us know who we

1918
01:27:53,720 --> 01:27:57,279
did or shouldn't have included, or what we overlooked.

1919
01:27:57,560 --> 01:27:59,800
Speaker 1: Let us know what what should be the next edition

1920
01:27:59,840 --> 01:28:03,239
of I call it reaction inception. Let us know when

1921
01:28:03,279 --> 01:28:05,920
someone reacts to something that Grant or I have written,

1922
01:28:06,359 --> 01:28:08,359
who can react to them reacting to us?

1923
01:28:08,439 --> 01:28:11,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean miss me with that. I don't I'm

1924
01:28:11,479 --> 01:28:11,720
going to.

1925
01:28:11,760 --> 01:28:13,000
Speaker 1: Make you do that at some point.

1926
01:28:13,159 --> 01:28:17,079
Speaker 2: Okay, that's fine, I'll commit to doing one. I just want.

1927
01:28:17,560 --> 01:28:20,560
What I hope is that we react to a reaction

1928
01:28:20,680 --> 01:28:23,439
and then the original reactor reacts back and we can

1929
01:28:23,560 --> 01:28:26,760
just like have content forever. I guess that's just a

1930
01:28:26,800 --> 01:28:28,560
conversation if you really think about it.

1931
01:28:29,600 --> 01:28:31,640
Speaker 1: Yeah, but it's happening independently. Yeah.

1932
01:28:31,680 --> 01:28:36,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a series of traded of monologues. I guess.

1933
01:28:37,159 --> 01:28:39,279
Join our discord and link for that YouTube podcast description

1934
01:28:39,319 --> 01:28:42,319
a good place to get our merch as well. Think

1935
01:28:42,439 --> 01:28:44,680
that does it. So until next time, make sure you

1936
01:28:44,680 --> 01:28:46,880
shout out Franklin lakeinan and apologize to Jared