The Wolves Are Still Set Up For Success, Plus the Magic, Warriors and All-NBA Race | The Dunker Spot

The Wolves Are Still Set Up For Success, Plus the Magic, Warriors and All-NBA Race | The Dunker Spot

Hi hello and welcome to another episode of the dunker spot we are part of 3 42 Productions I am your host niai Duncan and joining me as always is my co-host Steve Jones Jr Steve how are you doing sir aha feeling good feeling great happy

To be here excited to be here thank you dunkers for once again embracing your bounce uh dunker Nation Let’s Ride YouTube high hit the like button comment subscribe uh Nikas it’s time to hoop it up it is indeed time to hoop it up it’s been a fun weekend of basketball a lot

Of NBA Hoops lot of college hoops as well uh very quickly before we dig into the NBA portion uh any particular games on the college side catch your eye a lot of them any for you uh for me like getting to catch the end of the Stanford

Game last night was a lot of fun uh been keeping tabs on what yukon’s been able to do on both sides uh the bide in particular the offense is a lot of fun to watch I enjoy as I against college basketball I feel like every year about

How some of the offense looks I am glad that Yukon is a team that really cares about a whole lot of off ball movement a lot of flares a lot of it’s it’s fun stuff so that that’s probably it for me on the college front um anything for

You no ah fair enough alrighty then on the NBA side any teams catching your eye as of late A lot’s catching my eye Nas and yes there there’s there’s plenty of Great Hoops especially in the women’s tournament uh put some clips on the timeline there uh but we’re getting down

To the nitty-gritty Nik last 10 12 games and you’re starting to see the fire especially in the league you’re starting to see the competition you’re seeing identities and flaws and things pop up I I think it’s interesting I watched Sacramento and Orlando I watched Golden State Minnesota

And those are matchups where you saw the back and forth you saw teams looking to figure out how to find a way to win in different times and it kind of restored the feeling a little bit for me and you look up and you look at these standings

And the Boston Celtics are 57 and 14 they are winners of nine straight they go to Chicago they win without Jaylen Brown they win without Drew holiday they win without Chris toport Inus You’ got Kobe white in the locker room talking about how it doesn’t matter who plays

For Boston they just find a way to win and you got Joe moula sitting talking about how important each guy in the L Lo room is and breaking down why Jaden Springer had to come in with 4 seconds left in the third quarter because they

Had given up four points in 4 seconds to Denver and Detroit and that every second matters they’re locked in you know what else you see up there n what else do you see the Denver Nuggets 50 and 21 first team in the Western Conference to get the 50 wins

And as of this recording the number one seed in the west they’ve won 14 of their last 16 games the two losses was when the Phoenix Suns lost their mind in overtime and the other came with the left hand of Kyrie Y and we could talk about the

Brilliance of Nico yish we can talk about how good Jamal Murray has been this year how tough it is to guard their actions with those two and Aaron Gordon the defensive cavius cwell Pope the work the second unit has put in to build up this team Michel Porter Jr shooting

42.9% from three post Allstar break 46.3 on catch and shoots about 5.3 tips playing so well that coach Michael Malone said that mpj could go to Cabo whenever he wants and he’ pay for it that brings me to coach Michael Malone I don’t know if anyone’s been

Paying attention but this man is ready for the playoffs I think the internet likes to call them rage timeouts uh I was about to say the timeouts have been coming earlier and earlier I like to call them do you want to win a championship timeouts Dallas gets all these offensive

Rebounds the the man called a timeout and almost went and got one himself Minnesota wasn’t having it Nick came into town he said they have our attention they go they go get a win at Portland without joic without Murray and Coach Michael Bal says I don’t know how

Many teams you can say across the NBA are playing better than the Denver Nuggets right now in a season when I’m pretty sure the majority of people have been saying the Denver Nuggets been playing very well all season long he is going to find it and those are the teams that you’re

Chasing and I think you start to look at it in a big picture sense there’s a lot of teams that are working to put together gather some really good basketball right now and we are set up for a really really competitive playoffs and I hope that people are ready to

Enjoy that um and understand that yes some of these teams are going to fall short but they’ve put themselves in a position to be good and the team I want to talk about was the Minnesota timber roles the six and three since Carl Anthony towns goes down managed to go four and

Two on that long six game Road Trip lost to Denver beat Cleveland and Golden State I think what stands out to me is they’re putting themselves in a position to have that success they’re still only a game out of the on se but they’ve double down on their identity

Their defense has remained just as strong as it has all year long great activity they work to navigate screens with all their personnel you know it’s not just Rudy goberry who has done an incredible job defensively this year it’s Mike Conley pressuring the ball it’s McDaniels pressuring the ball it’s

Anthony Edwards pressuring it’s not coming off the bench pressuring it’s not Reed doing his job they’re active they’re physical they show help they take away driving lanes and they have this ability to have Nuance within their scheme defensively to where we can put two on the ball we don’t have to we can

Navigate these screens M Daniels can slide right under a screen Rudy gets out or ND gets out we defend we can switch off ball we maintain our principles and they work the biggest thing if you want to watch great defense in a league that most people say no longer has defense go

Watch the Minnesota Timberwolves and watch the possessions where there’s a breakdown and there’s an air because this is a league where a lot of teams can play offense they can move the ball they can make the skip passes they can keep an advantage Minnesota does a great job of

Scrambling and being able to recover so when it’s not a perfect world they can still maintain That Base they can still show their help and that ties me into their identity that they have how far does it take them I’m not sure yet but every single night they’re going to

Bring it and if you’ve read read or paid attention to Minnesota’s quotes this season this is a team that believes in what they do they believe in who they are and I think that has help them get through these different stretches of the Season where every time it looks like

It’s time to point at Minnesota doesn’t happen offensively is it a perfect world in the KA no no it’s not 629 left in the first quarter against Golden State guess how many points they had six hey 513 left in the second they have 31 points and are down

10 but they know who they are and they work to get through it and these are good Reps for them in the playoffs to go through these moments where the offense is lean where things bogg down and get stagnate teams want to switch to see teams locking on Anthony Edwards in

Different ways two on the ball and pick and roll when he’s isolated they’re going to show help from the nail they’re going to show bodies and try and take away those driving lanes for them to figure out how to create spacing and how to feel comfortable grinding throughout

A late clock scenario you know they are able to have cuts from the wing whether it’s Mike Conley or n they keep movement and now we’re able to make plays Anthony Edwards in one-on-one scenarios doing a much better job of seeing where the help is coming from and knowing where the

Pass is going to go pick and roll we’ve seen probably more skit passes from Anthony Edwards this year than we had last year because he’s able to read the defense it’s not just turbo button he’s making reads he’s seeing the right plays and they’re running the right actions

One of my favorite things about Minnesota is just empty corner pick and roll and when they decide to deploy it and how they can just twist what you want to do hey you’re worried about naasri because he’s having a heck of a job he’s doing a great job this game here comes Anthony

Edwards handing it back to Monte Morris and now Anthony Edward is on the wing pick and roll empty Corner we got the lob if you help we got the pass we can use Anthony Edwards as a screener we can space him on the weak side we have Mike

Conley and Rudy goar and in this scenario you have Mike connley who just does an incredible job of engaging drop defense and making sure that he’s able to see what the defense is going to do commit find Rudy goar on the role whose roles have been very important for this

Minnesota team by the way and I will add Rudy goar much more confident on the short rle he’s going to take these shots he’s going to make these skid passes he’s gonna make these plays but I think about this team and what they have to

Do and do you think they’re set up for success in the playoffs in the guys I am feeling better about it like one their defense is just going to travel you’ve listed off all the candidates who’ve done a good job defensively for Minnesota this year I

Think the defense is going to travel and they should have solid transition play out of that I’m starting to feel better about the offense and like as you talked about Anthony Edwards and his growth as a play maker and this is something that you’ve been talking about throughout the

Season so this isn’t new but as you bring up Anthony Edwards playmaking and you know circling back to the Warriors game like I I ended up clipping it I believe as I was watching that game um on set watching that game as it was happening and there was like a four or

Five minute stretch in the second quarter where Anthony Edwards just bent Golden State’s defense to his will like okay cool you’re switching trying to show some help I can Boogie one-on-one if you’re not going to put two on the ball I can kind of dictate things in

Pick and roll if you do put two on the ball I can still dictate things like they end up running it’s kind of like a Denver esque action where they ran it two times in a row where he lifts up from the Baseline gets a hand off they

Put two on the ball he’s able to string out one and then on another one he makes a skip to the left corner too I want to say it was I want to say it was Nas re it was someone in the left corner got a

Wide open three out of it just like that capped off the run it’s like well when Anthony Edwards is on like this when he can get to the rim when he can knock down shots in the mid-range you can knock down Pull up threes if you’re too

Far back and drop if you’re now put two on the ball and as you mentioned earlier can get to these skill passes too there isn’t much you can do with Anthony Edwards as a concept and like he just has so much potential to lift the ceiling of this wolves group like

Obviously I think he is their best player like that’s not a hot take but like one of the things that I’ve been keeping an eye on so we’ve talked about what exactly does the decision making look like for him when is he going to some of these shots when is he making

Some of these passes and as he gets better field and as Minesota as a whole does a better job of clearing space for him simplifying some of his reads just making it easier for him to operate you’re now starting to see some of the marriage of his pure talent the growth

That he showcase as a playmaker and what that can mean for Minnesota’s offense overall like it’s been very important for him to G get these reps gain more Comfort offensively and then you zoom out you mentioned Mike connley the timely shot making and to pick a rooll play from him Nel Alexander Walker

Knocking down the shots that he needs to on the perimeter he continues to shoot over 40% from three um throughout the stretch what he’s been able to do n Reed Nas Reed picking up the scoring slack like as they get more guys to step up like I’m feeling better about what

They’re doing conceptually offensively if they can get enough on that end the defense should bring them to the dance well I’m glad you’re feeling better about them offensively I I still think the biggest key is how they’re able to move the ball and generate shots when they are working to generate shots

That’s the biggest bet and I think the best thing that helps Anthony Edwards is the moments where they are not completely leaning in on him and it’s a mix and you’re going to have to live with some of those shots from Edwards that’s just part of the program

But the fact that he’s more willing to not just make the plays but he’s able to see the plays is a big key and I think when you go into the playoffs with a group of guys who know who they are know what their identity is and believe in it

That can become dangerous now it’s going to be interesting because right now they’re the three seed their first round matchup as of right now would be Phoenix Andor Sacramento Andor Dallas so anything could happen M but this isn’t you know that team with a game plan and

An ability to adjust is going to be interesting to deal with in a playoff setting and I’m I’m I’m intrigued to see what it looks like there likewise um I’ll ask a quick question for you because we brought up some of the guards like how have you

Felt about the backup guard play in general I think between Monte mois steady play taking more threes jori Laughlin as of late he’s been fun Off the Bench do you feel better about their guard play moving forward well I think once got Monte Morris and he was able to

Get comfortable in the system you you saw what the vision was we want to have not just smart guard play the entire time we want to have that blend of activity defensively people who can playmake but don’t necessarily have to have the ball they can space if they get

A kick they can drive and keep an advantage they can operate and pick and roll or handoffs that’s the kind of Versatility they want from that guard room and I think where it gets interesting is when you have Minnesota mixing the the lineups and they’re able

To have some of these two Andor three guard lineups depending on how you feel about the personnel and that’s able to carry them through some of those moments where maybe we’re not sure what we’re looking for or you’re playing with Kyle Anderson and teams are just playing off

Of him okay how can we still generate and navigate the space we have the headyy play to be able to get the type of shots we want as opposed to forcing the issue so I think that’s probably been the biggest boost for them is being

Able to know we can get to what we want to whenever we want to because our point guards have that kind of mindset got you and this is why you are one of the best in the business because my next question was going to be how you felt about the

Kyle Anderson usage uh since CAD has been down I think you you know peruse wolves Twitter and just the general blog per there what’s happened to the shot and generally what teams are doing when he does not have the ball in his hands has been a storyline throughout this

Minnesota tber Wolf season but it does feel like he’s a little bit more engaged now being used a little bit more as a handoff hub to toss to him on the Block sometimes or just within the flow of play of their first doesn’t work it’s to

Kick the Kyle Anderson he just kind of find something or find someone to go on the two-man game with so like I felt better about the offense and like defensively very smart off the ball there is just it keeps up the theme of having a whole bunch of siid in the

Front Court when he’s in whether he’s at the four or at the three I if he’s playing with the other two bigs so like I’ve enjoyed the Kyle Anders experience I do wonder if they are able to continue to strike that balance with him offensively because like I just don’t I

Don’t think the shot is worth betting on in terms of the volume or the efficiency being high enough for where teams have to bend towards him um but I’ve liked this play as of late um has anything in particular stood out with you with Kyle

I mean I I wouldn’t get into a debate about the shooting the shooting probably isn’t where wolves fans want it to be or Kyle Anderson wants it to be but I don’t think that takes away from his contributions to the team as a whole I mean if you look at this stretch going

Back even to the Portland game on the fourth he’s had five or more assists in all of two games M I think the he had four against Indiana and he had four against Denver but he’s been able to contribute and I think his ability to process offensively understand how teams

Are treating him and the times where Minnesota can flip it because again you have versatile Personnel so you can use Nas Reed as player X and Kyle Anderson T technically becomes your big with guard skills so you can flip it to use him as

A hub or a screener and Let Nas Reed fly off her space and if he’s able to continue the movement or keep an advantage or keep the ball moving from Minnesota there’s value to that so I don’t necessarily think well Kyon can’t shoot teams are going to play off of him

I think that limits what he contributes offensively I think that limits what he does defensively for that team to where he’s someone you trust out there to be able to take on certain matchups to be able to execute certain schemes and there’s going to be nights where he’s

Going to close people will be like why well defense and then just circling back to the standings very quickly uh it’s something that we’ve talked about earlier in the year year but with Phoenix Sacramento and Dallas all being there in that 68 kind of bunched up together who do you feel is Minnesota’s

Best matchup among those three it’s hard when you get to these conversations especially in the Western Conference all these teams are very good so I mean your probably first glance is oh well yeah Sacramento you still got to deal with damont sabonis who I will once again state has

Had no problem trying to Elbow everyone in the face this year and you still got to deal with de Fox I don’t know if you want to sign up for that the other version is Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and then oh yeah Luca and Kyrie so I’m thinking

Philosophically if you’re Minnesota you may you may sign up for Sacramento but I don’t I would probably say Sacramento by default off Rip but they had some tough times with the Kings this year yeah Sacramento’s good very dull analysis but what are your what are your thoughts I’m I’m engaging

Mine like I think for I wonder if it’s Dallas is kind of where my mind with because luuka and Kyrie naturally scare you but like conceptually you don’t have to deal with the movement of Sacramento and you don’t have like the like Phoenix has all three of their guys

Plus the extra three-point shooter from Gray all and others like in theory like there’s a level of offensive Firepower that if you’re sending two to the ball like it can get kind of funny I can’t I wonder if Dallas just because you may match up better with some of those guys

Defensively and with how Dallas runs their offense there may be less movement for you to worry about so it may be a little bit easier to kind of set your Heth principles from there but even then I wouldn’t I wouldn’t love any of these matchups for Minnesota uh I get your point with

Dallas I think it’s a fair one in theory you could probably be like well Luca is gonna do this we make it tough on Kyrie with length and activity we try to make these other guys beat us but then if you recall Dallas did play Minnesota and

Kyrie had 35 and Luca had 34 and Dallas won that game so it kind of becomes the I feel like Minnesota Dallas would remind me of Phoenix and Denver from the standpoint of I understand what y’all are trying to do defensively there is a chance this

Team could throw you over the top rope oh wait they didn’t good job type beat yeah because you can see a world where hey okay they’re going to score they their buckets we’re going to make other guys be just close out rotate all that good stuff but then if they just take the

Shots and keep making them and now you’re in a situation where okay we want to switch oh our switching hasn’t been as good oh no what do you do with that scenario I I is it Phoenix now keep in mind they haven’t played Phoenix since November it could it could be well

I I don’t know cuz like I’m trying to play these matches on my head like I would imagine like Jaden would get KD can have n book if he starts or if Anthony Edwards just says I want the plus five that you [ __ ] about that he just takes the Deon Booker

Match up you kind of play it out from there and you know what I just made the offensive fire power point with Phoenix in terms of the shot profile though you may be able play single coverage in the ways you can against Dallas what do you

Mean well if you play Drop it’s it’s Fenix Denver again you play Drop and then Kevin Durant and Deon Brooker make those shots you’re in a different boat yeah now if Phoenix decides to just not do the movement thing I think I could understand where you’re coming from but

If they’re able to have the shot making and the movement I don’t know does sound IDE I guess I guess senal coverage in the sense of like if you switch out against luuk or Kyrie like those two can get to the rim and thus put you in a deeper

Bind in terms of free throws or extra rotation in a way that like the Phoenix group doesn’t or at least not consistently it’s like maybe you can get away with the switching a little bit more if you want to do that but again even then you’re still tapping right

Into the talent back like it’s still KD Booker and if healthy Bradley Bill at the end of the day and Bradley Bill’s drives have been very important I don’t want to disrespect Sacramento because I’m in a fun place with them because I think they’ve done a lot a lot

Of positive things for the playoffs and some of their some of the way they’re viewed it feels more standing wise Pro it type beat than anything else and this is the West so I mean you had teams rise back up to where now instead of you ascending

You have now fallen into the six7 range and that happens because it’s the West I I would probably guess it’s Sacramento Rudy you play off you play off damont he’s gonna try and hit you contest we have 19 lengthy people to throw at uh dearen Fox and Malik

Monk will be active in physical against your movement yeah that’s where I’m going uh well sorry Sacramento you’re still a very good basketball team as are these other two um but that gets kind of tough um did you have any more thoughts on Minnesota or did you have another team

That you want to bring up uh I mean there’s plenty of teams I wanted to bring up I know you uh definitely wanted to sing the song so let’s go ahead and sing the song but you know I don’t want to cut you off for anything like that uh I did

Want to quickly Circle back to the Orlando Magic uh we talked about them a couple of weeks ago on the Pod and then again in a later episode once Jamal Mosley got the extension but that was more just congratulatory versus like an actual breakdown but a couple weeks ago

Um you asked me how I felt about Orlando’s offense how I felt about the decision making I ended up asking you about their lineups all that good stuff you can go back check out that episode if you want a deeper dive there since that episode The Magic are 5- one with

Their one loss come against Sacramento game that you referenced earlier uh hasn’t been the toughest of schedules they played Brooklyn they played Toronto twice they played Charlotte big win against New Orleans and again the loss against Sacramento but during that stretch 11th in offense which is a lot better than what they’ve

Been throughout the year first in defense because of course the defense has been Elite they’re shooting 38.2% from three over that stretch that would rank eighth overall in the league more importantly for me 38% of their shots have come from behind the yard during this stretch which is a lot higher than

The regular season Mark and it’s a Mark that will rank ninth in the league overall and so like I’ve been intrigued with just the shot profile shift and I’ve been trying to figure out how much of that is just the opponent getting more stops getting out and running and creating looks from there

How much of it is scheme stuff as we go back to that Sacramento game and the amount of Zone that they saw in that that game and I did think Orlando did a pretty solid job of getting the ball into the middle and kind of spraying out from there generated some Corner threes

So like how much of their three-point rate kind of uh kind of Blends into that and how much of it has just been General intention we need to get more of these shots up and so like that part’s been intriguing to me but kind of going bigger picture with them Pao and the

Playmaking has been a lot of fun as have the drives fron has been an absolute bully getting downhill and I’m still very confused as to why he just hasn’t been to hit anything from outside AR as Orlando has shot well from three overall he’s kind of been the lone guy that has

Been able to knock those down and I am still keeping an eye on that portion because if that does Circle back like I think he is a good shooter if that circles back then some of the spacing him one pass away from poo I think that could be more impactful he already does

Good work as a cutter whenever team send extra attention elsewhere so I want to see what the off ball value is going to look like there Jaylen sugs continue to hunt out shots in an opportunistic way and then this bench man we talked about him a couple of weeks ago

Jonathan Isaac has been on an absolute heater in addition to what he does defensively Cole Anthony shot creation pick and role play the drives they’ve all been fun remains one of the best guard rebounders in the sport he’s gotten some timely ones during this stretch Mo vogner the off ball juice for

Him not just the screening but also the cutting also the relocating some fun passing flashes as the driver as well but like most more for me it’s the off ball movement and kind of how that ties into what Orlando’s been trying to build as a spacing group and how they’ve been able

To or at least they’ve been searching for ways to kind of punch your defenses in light of not having the best shooting Talent overall and so it’s been a really fun stretch for them offensively and then just concep like what they’ve been able to do whenever they get to like I

Go to the New Orleans game um their base coverage having JB up at the level trying to force things at the sideline how Orlando was able to kind of play out of that move guys around relocate cut they were able to find those gaps there and then again circling back to the zone

Game that they against Sacramento didn’t always end in made shots but it did feel like the decision- making was cleaner it did feel like they at least knew what they were trying to get to and so to Circle back to that conversation we had a couple weeks ago continuing to feel a

Little bit better about what they’re trying to build offensively they at least know where they’re trying to get to I’m glad you came to that point in that realization because I think the key for Orlando despite criticism is they do have an identity and you may have your

Concerns about shooting you may have concerns about the pace about the tempo they have felt much more comfortable as this season has gone on when things slow down than earlier in the season when it felt like they had no choice felt like defenses were dictating it to them and

They were trying to figure out and find their way I think that a big piece of that is Pao benero and the way that he has played and I think he deserves a ton of credit this might be the wrong episode to do it considering how this could could end but

It’s it’s not just the the playmaking that’s just been a growth like that’s it’s always fun to say hey he’s getting better as a playmaker when you look at what Pao is doing you have to realize one he has scored at such a high level in different ways whether it’s off the

Dribble pull-ups postup the drives getting to the free throw line we have seen defensive shift how they are going to guard him we have seen more teams not only show help early but also we’re a w MH I don’t know if you want if there’s a

Fancy stat for it but I’m just going to tell you what my eyes have seen MH I’ll look up the the F when you’re able to start the game just with a simple cross screen for poo and he’s now Advanced to I’m going to back down and survey and

See where the help is coming because I know it is are you coming from the basine are you coming from one pass away and I can now fire these passes out is it a perfect world no it’s not but that’s a big step especially for where Orlando is and where they’re going and

How important he’s been to it I think that it’s one of those things and I’m glad you mentioned the bench because one thing I’ll say about this Orlando second unit they when you look at them they got a lot of confidence they got a lot of confident guys if you’re GNA have a

Lineup out there with Markel folz Cole Anthony Joe Engles Jonathan Isaac and Mo voder who out there doubts themselves no the opponent trying to try to deal with them I think these guys know who they are and I think there’s a lot of times where we credit teams for being

Able to flip their personnel to a degree like I think we give that credit to OKC or an Indiana or Utah earlier this season I don’t know if Orlando gets enough credit for using their guys in the ways that they do to where in that second unit Marquel folz can bring the

Ball up go to a post up and everyone else stay spaced it makes sense Pao and fron can get a lot of the ball handling reps which allows Jaylen Suggs to just go be Jaylen Suggs and he’s had the ability to have that jump shot improve because they’re

Able to generate good looks for him he’s able to drive and attack Closeouts neither finish or keep an advantage going because hey he’s got the guard skills he doesn’t have that weight of having to open things up though and that’s where I think the Brilliance of what Orlando is that’s

Where it gets really fun now they’re going to have to keep working to generate good looks and this is going to be a very interesting postseason for them and I’ve asked the question I think every time we’ve talked about the Knicks hey are you ready for the Knicks to

Treat Orlando like they treated Cleveland this is a discovery year for Orlando to a degree and now for me I’m watching to see how much can you get to the next option how much confidence can you have in those moments because it’s one thing to be a

Defense leads to offense type team to do that in the playoffs your defense has to be really really key and your offense has to be ready and so that’s where it’s going to get interesting because you’re going to have a team that locks in on Pao while these are really good

Reps it’s gonna they’re going to see more of that and more guys are going to have to step up and they have to have get more creative with their usage as far as who screens for pao what a matchup to attack uh who space is where

And this is why this stretch of the was important to me because they’ve been very good this year very good at home these are all home games you lose Sacramento who is desperate your next opponent is Golden State who needs a win you’re appointed after that the Los Angeles Clippers who need a

Win and then I mean you play Memphis and Portland then you go at New Orleans so I mean this this is a little mini stretch right here you did beat the you did beat the Pelicans you made a statement in that game that was very impressive but

That’s I’m keeping my eyes on the magic during this stretch got you and just uh just very quickly on the Poo front so have to look up some stuff as you as you mentioned the fancy numbers uh of 35 players with at least 300 isolations uh poo has been

Doubled the seventh highest amount uh you know in terms of percentage of those possessions he gets doubled on and then with players with at least 100 post-ups as 37 of those he is also seventh in double team rate there so teams are absolutely sending more of those towards

Him and as you talked about like the different way you could use not only fron but also poo and how to get the guards involved I love in general when Orlando plays a little bit more Tempo like we’ve talked about that already but when they just

Kind of jet into stuff and then combine that with some of the spacing like I think that’s where they’re going to get their best stuff like there was a possession um in the New Orleans game about seven minutes left in the first uh Jaylen sugs let the ball roll up a

Little bit after an inbound picks it up immediately passes it to Pal on the left elbow it’s basically passing cut or whatever you want to dub it there pass a cut jayen sus gets downhill Brandon Ingram meets him on the other side so no drive there he pitches it back to poo

And then they immediately flow into a Palo fron pick and roll New Orleans switches Brandon ingrams kind of lurking around trying to Zone up and wler Carter Jr on the weak side of the floor sets a pin in pal flies it to the right corner

It’s a three for Jaylen sus he gets it to go and I think one it just kind of speaks to again once Orlando sees to or sees help they’re doing a better job of playing out of that and countering that with cutting with their General spacing

Also with these pins like w Carter junor is just looking to hit people which is cool I also have a question about Windell that ties back to conversation we had earlier in the year I think this was during the uh the Goa stretch and you were like hey man what’s the what is

The window fit I’m not quite there but like I am watching him like after rolls if he doesn’t get the ball like where he’s trying to space and what he’s trying to do afterwards it’s like that feels like some of the rare clunkiness we see in terms of actual

Spacing and where you’re supposed to be like him trying to find those Pockets if he doesn’t get the ball so that’s been interesting to track um but I have enjoyed him on the weak side like he said a lot of pinin he’s making sure he hits people he’s generally doing the

Right thing there so keeping an eye on that front and you know a thought that I had as I was like just watching a bunch of magic stuff this morning are the Magics just the Knicks from a couple of years ago or I guess the pre- Brunson

Nicks uh well no because you like them a lot more like that no but like I was thinking about the defense I was thinking about the offense and the tempo I was thinking about how much I enjoyed the second unit and how much faster that second unit plays and

All that good stuff and I was like you know is this just a rerun from a couple years ago it was a very very sobering thought as I was trying to parse through that yeah yeah hit you in the chest didn’t it it sure did oh my goodness

Yeah go go back to the archives if you’re new the othered by that Knicks team get but um I I don’t know if they’re just that well no not in a literal sense it’s I I think there are elements of it they do have a formula like I guess for me

It’s how many times have we seen their defense really get hit to a degree where you don’t believe in it or have their losses been they didn’t know what to do in the clutch or their offense didn’t get show up or a defense took them away like outside of like OKC

In that one game where Miami lost their mind I don’t there hasn’t been too many times where I’m like hey they’re not they they don’t have it on that end so I guess that would be that would be interesting to see in the playoffs if they’re put in that scenario in that

Situation cuz it’s tough like if you’re a defense first team it is fun to get to the playoffs but it is very hard once you’re defense they have found something and now you’re trying to adjust on the Fly because you’re kind of baking in we get stops

And that that can get it tough yeah like I think on that front like to your point no it doesn’t feel like teams really hit their base defense like that they’re just really good and also there’s that’s a lot of a size to try to attack I think

The games in which they really get Dean like I’m glad you brought the Miami game in particular is when the offense isn’t working and they allow teams to run on them because like we talked about the transition a couple of weeks ago and I was like there’s low hanging fruit here

Offensively which very quickly hey do you know where the where the magic rank during the six game stretch in transition frequency third 30th oh they are they are dead last overall and I think they’re bottom three in terms of just pushing in transition off of Misses I’m just like

How do we how do we get worse since I made that point but at any rate they are a team that allows teams to get get out and run against them the thing with them is that they’ve just allowed a very low points per possession number in transition but in terms of how

Often teams get out they do get out against Orlando and with Miami in particular they able to get stops and get out to the three-point lineing down shots in early offense it can be a little bit of Snowball Effect there so like I think that’s where the matchup

Game is going to come into play for Orlando because right now they are what fifth in East right now they’re fifth they’re fifth out set them up with New York which I don’t think they get dinged to that degree if that’s the matchup in terms of three-point

Shooting I’m trying to say is there a way that we get four five Orlando Indy CU I I think that’s where it could get interesting but I don’t I don’t really see the Nick sliding to that degree hey it’s more likely that we get Cleveland Orlando 4

Five because Cleveland is a half game up on New York and they’re a game up on Orlando as we record this so let me tell you this real quick folks buckle up the 4 five matchup in the East is going to be real Hoops real Hoops it’s just a whole lot of Defense

In the in the Pacers who score a lot and they are they trying harder on defense I have a question for you what’s up Ma you’re pretty you’re pretty smart you’re good at this basketball stuff right I try at least I try at least one of the one of

The uh Rising Stars one of the best in the world at this that’s what I’m told the Indiana Pacers just gave up 150 points to the Los Angeles sers what are we talking about what are you say they score 145 though they gave up 150 what are you saying to

Me I’m just I’m just bringing them up in terms of potential matchups this is why I said I don’t see the Nicks sliding to that degree or even the Cavs at this rate but like in terms of who could actually ding Orlando in transition was my overall point and like if the seating

Broke to where it’s Orlando Indie which to that gree if we get Orlando Indian the 36 Orlando’s a game behind Cleveland right now for three like if that’s the three fou like Indie would be the team that could potentially get out and run a bunch against Orlando uh that was my

Only point no you got jokes aside I do think Indiana’s defense will look different with a playoff game plan so I do think there is value for them to make the playoffs as opposed to having to survive the play in to a degree okay I unless the streets just

Want Celtics Heat Bucks Pacers in the first round I mean I tell you what I think Malik Beasley would be here for for buck Pacers if nobody else would who else would be there for buck Pacers uh who Giannis because he has had some some pretty big games against the Indiana

Pacers also tyres hurton who who has also had some some good games against the Milwaukee Bucks and hey real quick I ask a question sure over the last 10 to 14 days what have you done with the Philadelphia 76ers I’ve thrown my hands up if you want my honest answer I’ve thrown my

Hands up because like it’s been fun to track the Tyrese Maxi growth as he’s come back and like the downhill the downhill juice for him has just been fun all year long but again keeping eyes on the foul drawing some of the passes that he’s making getting down Hill how he’s

Dealing with more defensive attention so like the Maxi portion has been fun Kelly UB taking all the shots is it oscillates between fun and okay we get it but also but then I’m just sad about Tobias Harris and so that kind of Tanks it but it’s like okay cool Paul Reed is

Doing stuff it’s like oh wait this is a lot of Paul Reed and then it’s Mo Boma it’s like hey you’re the three wait a minute teams are putting him underneath the basket I’ve had very mixed feelings about the the Philadelphia 76 you know what else has been odd and like I

Haven’t brought it up on the Pod I don’t want odd’s probably the wrong way probably the wrong word to use but like I think we collectively were very excited about all the things that buddy Hill was doing when he first got to Philly and those minutes have just

Continued to go down and then now he’s no longer starting and it’s been odd and I wonder how much of that is just defens is King in on the ways Nick nurse was using him if this is just a slump if this all gets better if

We do get embiid back which I haven’t seen an update on embiid in a minute it feels like like I wonder if that just kind of reinvigorates the Buddy heeld usage and you tie all three of those guys together and the offense just explodes again or what but like the

Buddy heeld portion has also been not as sad as the Tobias Harris tracking because he just hasn’t really played well in this stretch but it’s been like huh can I raise my hand and say something that no one’s going to like sure it’s Kyle Lowry

Ah hey look man if I’m going have two of y’all out here I know that guy hey hey I know’s credit you know he’s going to defend and he is going to get us what we need to get into and so this is where I think context is very

Important I think if Joel embi was here buddy heel would probably be more valuable to them than Kyle Larry not to say Kyle Larry wouldn’t have value but you probably see where okay buddy spacing helps us more we can slip more of these buddy actions in and I have to

Lean on it I think the problem is one they have to defend two they have to generate good looks I don’t think it’s Buddy’s fault necessarily I just think there’s a trust factor with Kyle Lowry with Tyrese with Kelly UB there’s there’s a there’s a feeling Kyle could probably defend multiple positions so

That might earn in more minutes if Buddy has it going he may play more minutes if doesn’t then he’s kind of in this box to a degree got Nick Batum you can throw out there campaign all of a sudden has a good game I just think it’s a we are

Throwing everything at the wall right now and trying to figure this out and I asked that question just because it’s been curious like I’ve been thinking about it what do you do with a sixer team that is has a way that they can compete but they have to hit that to

Compete and I don’t know what to do with it cuz it’s not tyres Max’s fault you watch a Sixers game and you watch Tyrese Maxi when he gets teams locking on him which they have done in various different ways as far as putting two on the ball trapping him showing help and

You contrast that with when Philly gets a stop and Tyrese is out in transition when Tyrese gets a blink of space in the half court he’s gone that’s been a fun thing to track Tobias Harris Kelly UB it’s very odd because the nights they have it boy that team

Different and then the nights they don’t boy people make jokes on on social media so it’s like Philly without any it’s that’s it’s such a weird thing because they’ve now fallen into they kind of were annoying but also I was about to say they kind of fa

In terms of actual discourse it feels like they fell into the Indie bucket like once Tyrese got hurt where it’s like okay well y’all show some good stuff but y’all get healthy we’ll care again and through this stretch it’s just been again like you find the don’t want to diminish him to

Like a nugget but like you find the fun in the Tyrese Maxi growth and what he’s seeing differently from def from defense and stuff like that but like overall like I don’t know if you can just wholeheartedly change what you think of Philly cealing because they they this just isn’t the

Team no I agree and so like that that part has been like that part has been really weird so like I want them to get healthy to your point like when Maxi pops he just opens up the floor for literally everyone like he’s the guy but also again the playmaking has gotten

Better for him he’s able to kick off that initial chain and they can kind of the ball can pop for him from there like that’s also the value you have a Kyle L he’ll keep the ball moving like one of the things that’s been kind of funny for me to

Watch as I saw him in Miami and now seeing in Philadelphia he catches the ball on the wing so it’s a little bit more often that he’ll take that drive all the way to the paint even if he’s not looking for his own shot you’re getting two or three maybe

Four hard dribbles getting all the way to the paint and kicking out to the corner they keep it going versus some of the uh the Miami reps where it is a is a catch and it is a pass or is a catch and a dribble in a pass and best of luck from

There but yeah Philly just they’re just in an odd place I I want they did healthy U and it very quickly there a quick shout out to the Washington Wizards who whove won two in a row big win over Sacramento a close win over Toronto this is this mostly serves as a

Salute to uh Jordan p and Denny AIA and also Cory kissper which Denny the drives continue to be fun he’s also shooting with the Reckless abandoned when he catches it on the perimeter so I don’t know why I get quiet when I talk about Washington like yeah there’s some there’s some cool

Stuff happening in Washington they’re not good but the de aggression has been fun and like as we’ talked about we talked about like Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Maxi and some of the playmaking growth like Jordan P has put some fun passes on film over the last

Couple of games and like we talked about Jordan pool during a mailbag question not too long ago about how his you not only did the roster context change from Golden State to Washington but also his actual usage he eventually comes off the bench more ball screens stuff like that

Just tracking the just tracking the passing growth we’re seeing more skits from him a little bit more manipulation so like that part’s been cool and then Cory kisper just off the ball like he is the movement guy in Washington sets there it’s a whole lot of staggers they

Do some fun stuff with him if they go double drag use him as the first screener and he’s flying off like it’s cool and then the cutting has been really good for him so just wanted to give a quick hat tip to the Washington Wizards if you are still looking for fun

There since he wonder they not good also bow is out so like if that was your primary source of Joy then that stinks but there there’s still some cool stuff happening I just just wanted to give him a quick tip of that ni I’mma peel the

Curtain back we got a we got a comment saying boy I can’t wait until the Wizards are are good enough to for Nas and Steve forgot about our part of the rebuild and this is what you delivered the streets which all is double funny if you consider the amount of hornet shout

Outs you got in triple funny if you consider if you’re a long-term dunker if you’re new you’ll get the joke but if you’re a long-term dunker I’ve been excited about the Wizards this entire podcast except for this year with I mean you pick the right year

To but no I I just find the okay this is cool this is cool Steve was like Hey man they started 12 and eight wait yeah yeah yeah that’s yeah that’s me but Steve has historically been the Wizards guy on the pot more than me they got some cool stuff going on uh

Very quickly until some teams that make us think so the Golden State Warriors huh H bars time again it’s not bars coming yeah bar them up n it ain’t even time for bars it’s just kind of funny you know I brought up the Houston Rockets and they continue to win and jayen green

Continues to just shoot the Nets off the ball so that’s that’s fun but like a lot of the excitement about the Rockets is wow they’re winning all these games hey they kind of closing into to the play in so then we turn our attention to the actual play and this Warriors

Group uh 5- seven in March they are 17th in offense they are 25th in defense in the month of March and I just feel kind of bad for Steph because like it’s a mix of him kind of being overtasked though he shouldn’t be considering who’s on the

Roster but based on how some of those guys are playing and based on some of the other guys being guarded like he’s kind of the only Advantage C plus Advantage Creator they have on the roster right now at least consistently like clay get two off the ball but that’s going to require a

Whole lot of running and if his shot isn’t going then it’s just kind of tough JN the kaminga has continued to be aggressive and like teams have shifted a little bit more attention to him but like he’s still trying to figure out when I do see help am I just buring

Through that help am I making the Easy Pass from there and then if I do get off of it where am I going from there so there’s just been natural Growing Pains there but overall that just leads to it’s a it’s a lack it’s a lack of Advantage creation for this Golden State

Group and a lot of it falls on Steph and then you combine this with Steve CD trying not to play Steph 40 minutes a night and that’s cating in Stu playing what was it 30 minutes against Minnesota and the Warriors getting blitzed in those minutes and postgame comments come out

From there my timeline is just in a frenzy like what are you talking about and so I decid to go down a rabbit hole of stuff minutes just to see what was going on here because like I’ve watched the war like I haven’t care too much about the

Minutes portion cuz like in theory like the second unit should be good enough to kind of hold sir while he’s on the floor why should it be good enough to hold serve Nas what move did they make to make the second unit get enough to hold serve Nas

Who be the person to make it hold serveas well you get out the camera do um they brought they uh they brought in Chris Paul uh to help alleviate some of the bench concerns and while it is cool that Chris Paul is back to knocking down Threes And

While it is cool that Chris Paul is largely not turning the ball over which has been the case for most of his career that man does not get to the rim he does not get to the free throw line more of his pick and roles have become

Switches and on the other end he knows where to be on defense sometimes the body just don’t get there and when teams try to attack him that leads to more help golden state has to send and boy have their rotations been a mess defensively just team wide which doubly hurts because like you

Move to Draymond at the five in part to kind of simplify things you just have your quarterback you want to maximize the offense obviously but like okay cool draymond’s quarterbacking things we should be okay and it it hasn’t hit the way that I thought it would especially during this recent

Stretch and now you throw in the back issues with Draymond too and it’s how much can you reasonably rely on him to carry the defense when he’s out there like honestly I would like for them to experiment more with Draymond and Trace out there together like at least looking

At the numbers like that those lineup That pairing has been solid and then even conceptually about the defensive end like you could have Trace closer up to the level and you have Draymond to clean things up on the back end and like you can at least get some

Activity there have more reliable play on the back end you’re able to get out and run or at least flow into early offense and maybe it’s a little bit easier for like your non- steep guys to create advantages you’re able to flow from there but like they just haven’t

Really been able to get the stops that they need and the offense has been we will call it underwhelming I’m I’m just in a spot with the Warriors right now well outside of getting you do that bit here’s my thing right how good is their defense how good

Is the best version of their defense how good is their offense how good is the best version of their offense what’s their best lineup what’s their second best lineup do we have any answers to these questions I mean I guess in terms of like their best lineup this year anyway

It’s been Steph pods Andrew Wiggins Jonathan kaming and Raymond Green what’s her what’s their next best one uh next best one would be uh steep clay Wiggins kaminga and green okay here’s my thing when you’re trying to find it offensively and defensively and you’re trying to find the lineup combinations

And you’re also trying to get guys going because you need guys to play well and you’re also not defending at the level that you’re used to and also offensively there are question marks it becomes this to a degree and I thought they had a they fought in that Minnesota game you

Know Minnesota flipped on a dime real quick but what a fourth quar lead start fourth quarter they had defensively but golden state was in control came back that kind of thing happens so was very good hard place to win but there were these moments where I looked up and it’s

A Chris Paul Gary pton Klay Thompson Draymond Green treace Jackson Davis lineup which I understood on one end the floor but on the other how many help points are you giving a lot you go I say everyone ex it’s everyone except clay because like you know something that we’ve talked

About like as well as Chris Paul can shoot there is an element of okay we don’t know if he’s actually going to take this open shot so we can probably cheat off of him more than what his actual shooting Talent would dictate because we don’t know if he’s going to

Take it addition to him have like the slow load up with the jumper so you can contest and stuff but yeah and like gp2 you’re okay with helping off of him Trace isn’t a three-point shooter and Draymond he’s certainly been taking him this year boy is that falling off a cliff in

March in terms of the shooting so like yeah you just yeah in theory those are three guys that probably work best as rollers that are now all in the same lineup together which in theory you could make it work if you find the right match up Minnesota didn’t cooperate you

Go small you got Chris Paul you got pods you got clay you got Andrew Wiggins you got Trace Jackson Davis how many people we helping off of in that lineup well I mean not as aggressively as the the first lineup that you name but like in terms of we are

Terrified at this guy like it’s still just clay and this this is where it becomes okay now what do we run this player is supposed to help us with our pick and roll attack teams are not cooperating with their pick and roll defense we go back to our movement teams

Are not cooperating when this person catches the ball okay we’re stuck and I feel like that’s been the story like a whole bunch of noise have fun do all the takes it’s cool they’ve gotten kaminga to play very very well they’ve gotten pods to play very very well we’ve seen Draymond show

Flashes heck in that Minnesota game he had some great hey I’m not at the level actually I am trap haha M step’s been incredible this season we’ve had stretches from Wiggs you got clay shooting 40% from three post All-Star break my other thing is how many of these people have played

Well at the same time I feel like that’s been the problem well that’s been a problem I guess but yeah and and so for me this is a team that they need to be do you remember how I felt about the Los Angeles Lakers team post Championship where it’s like I think

They could do it but I don’t think they’ve won enough games to be in the spot they need to to do it that’s how I feel about Golden State it’s very easy to copy paste Golden State LA you don’t want to see them in the playoff series all that good

Stuff it’s true though you don’t want to see these teams in the playoff series and they know that the problem is they are going to face each other with one of them advancing to play another game and the other is uh going on to Cabo that’s that’s the issue and so

That’s what they have to face and they have to figure out how to get as good as they can for that matchup or you got Houston coming I do want to make a quick Houston point because I’m sure you got some else on gold state okay hey

Man get get hey salute on the aame win streak jayen green cooking no it’s not just cuz of shenon they want wanted to play faster before he went down just go look at the shot cloud data they’re more willing to take early shots and they’re making more of

Them but uh this schedule gonna tighten up pretty quick n hey you play the Blazers on Monday then it’s at OKC at Utah against Dallas at Minnesota against Golden State who boy they gonna want to beat you and then against Miami and then at Dallas so

Hey it gets hazy oh why we’re on D why we’re on Houston I did have something I wrote down in my notes like a drop about their small ball lineup so anyway since shanon’s been out Houston’s gone six and0 their most used lineup is their small ball starting unit

Fred Van B Jaylen green Dylan Brooks amen Thompson Jabar Smith Jr right A Plus 17.3 net rating per nba.com very good of 35 lineups to log at least 30 minutes in that time span that is seventh so of these 35 lineups the rocket start new starting unit they are first in offensive rating

With a 139 seven which is absurd they are 302 of those 35 lineups in defensive rating which is very funny in light of like some of the shinon conversation I’ve just been kind of like when is anyone going to bring up like the other side of

The of the thing here bring it up man just it’s just again I talked about it last week like they’re they still small at the end of the day you still get them at The Rim and so like it’s just funny in light of that starting to not even really

Starting to Bubble Up in Earnest like I don’t want to overplay it but like yeah they are playing faster without shinon but it’s just kind of funny that I just I just personally haven’t seen the the defense with that group in particular because like overall defense been very

Good like the second unit in particular did a good job with Houston on defensively which again not that it’s all on him because it isn’t but it has been fun watching ja Landell play like an NBA player over the last couple weeks so that’s cool

Um but yeah I’m just like we all the fun with this with this smaller group and I’ve had a lot of it I me screening Jabari aggressing with the jumper Jaylen green doing all the things f b drives and kicks and he’s also shooting shooting the ball getting them organized

All the good stuff that group ain’t really defending that well and I do kind of Wonder like hey if they don’t hit shots to a ridiculous degree like what is that lineup G to look like and I think we’re at least going to get an answer one way or another as to your

Point the schedule tightens up a little bit so it’s just something to keep an eye on I don’t want to again I’ve had a lot of fun with Houston and if things continue like they are just going to be the 10 seed oh okay so it’s it’s it’s been it’s

Been a week and last week I said Hey Big Dog what you about to play I ain’t there yet one week later one week later so if they continue to do this they go be no make a stand stand up stand up stand up is crazy

I feel much better about Houston I do about Golden State I put it that way so say it say it fine I feel better about Houston all right man what you what you want to talk about man that’s but no just just a little bit worried about Golden State like it’s a

Group they just haven’t really been able to find consistency on either side of the ball and like that worries me the lineup combinations been in and out it look at the wing room again like we’ve gotten the growth of kaminga but then we’ve had this Andrew wigin season which

Before any other basketball thing like I just hope that dude is okay yeah it’s just been like a really weird just year for Andrew Wiggins I don’t have any information even if I did like I wouldn’t disclose that on the podcast why would I do that but like it

Just feels like there’s just been a lot going on and so like I do hope like overall like people aren’t discounting there may just be out external factors as to why Andrew Wickson said inconsistent season and I hope there’s legitimate Grace given there but with that like the ENC Court

Product has been very inconsistent and I wonder just how many of the problems for Golden State particularly on the defensive end how what percentage of it is solved if it’s if Andrew Wiggins is just sturdier at the point of attack or just sturdier in space if there are less on ball

Breakdowns from him do we minimize some of the help lapses that we’ve seen from Golden State this year because they aren’t in rotation because wi has been able to contain the defensive slide is not 100% his fault that’s not the point that I’m making but like it has been a noticeable

Drop off from even last season’s version and certainly the All-Star version and like that that part it it stinks if you don’t have that if you’re not able to force turnovers if you’re not able to get out you know Force misses and get out and run and

Transition and it’s a bunch of halfcourt offense in which look this up earlier like teams are switching I think the N highest rate against Golden State pick and rolls this year and that number skyrockets when step’s off the floor like if you AR even get juice

There and depending on if Klay is in or not like some of the offb stuff doesn’t have the same juice what exactly are you getting into consistently especially against good teams so like I would like for them to be able to find it again I said I did a

Whole thing looking up step minutes I don’t even want to get into it cuz like ultimately like he’s just been around 31 to 33 minutes a game all season long something’s got to give like we’re this late in the year like I go all out go all out with the small

Ball lineups just we just going to score be Pacers West or really dig into these defensive lineups and say fine we are going to get stops and we’re going to hope that Steph Steph clay can do enough late in games and we just win some of these

10399 it’s like them trying to find on both at this point just has not worked and I am losing confidence in their ability to find enough two-way lineups to make it work like the roster construction itself kind of Blends itself to they have limited options on

That front but it’s just been it’s it’s just been a weird year and we’re 70 games in bars gosh started but I Tell You Folks I I just wanted I just want to play better and then very quickly since we’re deep in the pod but um just keep your

Eyes on the New Orleans Pelicans again two and0 since Brandon got hurt he suffered a bone contusion he’s going to be really evaluated in two weeks um so in those two games a big win over Miami on the second night of a back toback and they beat Detroit CJ McCollum with 53

Points across those two games shooting over 52% from three in those two games uh Steve would you happen to have any CJ McCollum stats I have it queued up ah uh no I have it uh the New Orleans Pelicans are 22-2 when CJ McCullum scores 20 or more points they’re 21-4

When he has five or more assists they’re 14 and0 when he has 20 or more points and five or more assists there you go there we go it is fitting that in these two games CJ McCullum has 53 points and 14 assists which would mean he is a clearing those

Benchmarks uh can I can I add to your point quickly sure uh defense uh the bench is making shots shout out to Naji Marshall and Jose Alvarado that helps things and also Larry it makes it a lot better when Larry n is is bad to being

Larry n Jr and it’s like oh yeah that that drop works and there’s some switchability and yeah you’re moving the ball making some plays ah just want to tip my cap to the bench real quick and Herb Jones initiator there you go good stuff uh as I had in my notes uh

Literally in order CJ McCollum in his stats niji Marshall in his stats Jose alfar and his stats and Larry Dan Jr and his stats so I guess I would just say Zion’s good at basketball boom teamwork dream work etc hey how do we feel and I meant to bring this up uh

When we did like the whole question thing last week it was coming after the uh the win over the Clippers how do we feel about Zion just being the big Wing Defender I like the idea I that’s a fun development I I like the idea I like what he’s done defensively it’s been

It’s it’s been fun stuff yeah if he’s just going to be that like going over the possessions that he had to defend Kawai in that game they won a week and a half ago at this point it’s just like oh right Zion’s just strong and if you don’t have a bunch of

Wiggle he could just stay in front of you and be strong and you’re not going to get like the strength based stuff against him that could get interesting like that was one of the things I was excited to see when the the heat Pelicans match up happened or rematch happened like one there’s

Just you know Jimmy said we’re the better team after the whole Skirmish the last time they played all that good stuff so like there was inherent like bad blood is too strong because don’t you know it’s a regular Seas game at the end of the day like there was there was

A little extra to this one but I was just like you know what Zion has done better defensively overall and against strength drivers in particular like those are the type of dudes he should be okay defending I want to see him matched up against Jimmy a couple of times granted

That that just turned into uh five Pelicans in the paint Miami Hit shots we Dare You Miami could not do that and that game got out of hand very quickly but we can we can Circle back to that there’s there’s a shot making discussion to be have with New Orleans defense and

Oklahoma City’s to a degree but we we ain’t got time for that AZ ah we like that we like that and I guess just to empty the notes I think we will save the other big discussion for the next pod uh just wanted to quickly

Shout out Keon Ellis who is uh start at six of the 11 games he’s played in marched he shooting 44% from three in this stretch the defense has been very good and he’s doing good things for the Kings brother nice to see him pop we were supposed to talk all NBA and you

Snuck in the Keon Ellis I’ll ask you a first team question because I would imagine like four of your five going to be yic Shay uh Luca and Yannis wa deliver what’s up we not do we not doing all NBA we can do all we can do all NBA

Let’s let’s do let’s do all NBA we’re here let’s have some fun so let’s start with that question again like I would imagine yic Chay Luca and jannis are going to be four of your five for the first team how much the how much internal debate did you have about that

Fifth spot I had no internal debate about the fifth spot okay so you’re just you know who you’re the first team is the easiest team to do like here’s here’s the thing with all NBA it’s position lless why would your first team not just be your MVP

Ballot yeah I mean that question would also carry over to the MVP ballot no I got my five L then okay my my five have not moved like here’s the thing like for me I start out wide cast a wide net do the MVP discussion while y’all make fun

Of me and then I watch as y’all do gross stuff and I’ve already got my five locked in and I tried and sprinkling it with n hey you think there’s anyone else that could be in the conversation what about this person what about that person it’s

No no no I like all right cool here’s my five so what where did you stress with the top five well I had those four and then I was kind of going back and forth between Jason Tatum and Kevin Durant for that fifth

Spot and I ultim yeah oh no no no I tell me more I’m intrigued by this okay well it kind of circled back to well it went back to a conversation we had about like how we view MVP versus all NBA and how we view Defensive Player of the Year

Versus all defense and like factoring in the winning portion like how heavily that weighs um across the different Awards and so like for most of the season have felt like Kevin Durant has had a better year than Jason Tatum but like because of where Phoenix has been

Standing wise like I likely was going to have KD ahead of Tatum for MVP stuff but all NBA was where it’s going to be a little bit different uh but I think with what we’ve seen from Tatum post Allstar break particularly with the shooting turning around the way that it has and

He’s also just had some really good defensive games in this stretch as well like I I probably lean Tatum for that Fifth and final spot on the first team right now and like ktie would just be my very first uh second team guy but that’s where I was having some of the debate

There I think yokin Shay LCA Yannis was lck in like Tay versus KD has kind of been back and forth for me all year it’s interesting it’s interesting because I I understand the difference between all NBA and MVP I think it all kind of ties together right

So I’ve been thinking about this and number one salute to the names that are just already eliminated that you can’t even think about joelan bid Donovan Mitchell Jamal Murray Jimmy Butler Chris S porzingis jul L Randle Trey young L marinin not that they might have made it

You don’t even have the choice they’re out of here you can’t even talk about it I am intrigued to see if all NBA being positionist is the reverse of all defense being positionist and that more guards and wings get recognized than bigs do and you’re no longer forced into

Deciding to honor a big because it can get tricky if you do the mats 15 spots I do find it a little odd that the first positionist year is after all the years where it was a decision between Joel embiid and nicolea yic and embiid’s not it even yeah doesn’t matter it’s it’s

Unfortunate uh but again for me I can understand the difference between honoring a guy on the first team and not having them in the MVP conversation but for me it’s your five best players if you got the five for the MVP to me that should be your first team

That’s that’s who you believe were the five best players all year that should just be easy copy and paste Now problem is there’s 10 slots left with a whole bunch of names and for me I didn’t go full Nas but I built myself a big list hey who from each team has an

Argument for all NBA and then you Whittle it down and then you have to double check to make sure they’re eligible but boy that 10 got sticky so we agree the first team Nicole yic Shay Gil alander Giannis Jason Tatum Luca uh those are the five yes all right

This is typically where things go left between me and nikayas on these all mbas yes we’re gonna end up having the same team this year it’s gonna be fun very funny so so here here I had a really tough time once you got the list together I kind of

Teared it like people I was like I think they’re probably going to be in then like I think they probably should be in and then it was like they’re playing well but I need to like they’re they’re not they’re not they’re not in that conversation yeah and then I had a tough

Time different differentiating between the second team and the third team so I’m like well what honestly what makes the difference between this person and that person so it’s gonna get real real personal real subjective what’s your second team ni guys all right let’s have some fun uh

Second team as of March 25th as we record um Kevin Durant Jaylen Brunson damont sabonis Anthony Edwards and kawh Leonard Ah that’s my second team right now we only have one difference oh okay I have Jaylen Brunson Kevin Durant kawhai lonard damonta sabonis LeBron James LeBron over 0 okay or R rather 20

258 and7 shooting 53% from the field ain’t too many people with that statline that’s that’s pretty true that’s pretty true naturally the the literal first name on my third team is LeBron James so like it’s it’s not hey and and the K you should mind the

Game that’s true actually have JJ on the third team as well um but what’s up I thought okay anyway what’s your third team uh 1D for me is where it got uh very tough oh boy and this is this is where I uh so here are all of the names

Well I guess Sans LeBron since I just admitted he’s on my third team but these are all the names that I considered in in third team conversations and this excludes Devin Booker and Tyrese halberton right now where I’m not sure if they’re going to end up qualifying by the end of the year

I will Circle back in April like as I know who’s played how many then those two will get back into heavy discussion for me because I think they both played well this year Tyrese obviously since the injury it’s been down but like I don’t want to Discount the literal first

Half of the year for him um so like no Booker no halberton here just because I don’t know if they’re going to qualify yet send the list side is crazy but guys I consider Tyrese Maxi bam maio Zion Williamson dearen Fox Rudy gobear Paul George Victor WN Bama

Anthony Davis Jaylen Brown Steph Curry and Paul George and so I have to pick four out of that list of players did you say pao’s name Pao would also he didn’t I didn’t I didn’t say magic or let magic God bless Pao like even we had the allstar conversation earlier this year

Like I was like hey man like he’s he is leading this Orlando Magic group how much better has he been than Scotty Barnes individually like we had this discussion earlier this year like I do think like Pao has been very good obviously but like he does fall below

The efficiency threshold for me like anyway so we got LeBron we got Anthony Davis and that concluded like the firm portion of the program my final three right now I have Steph Jaylen Brown and Paul George but I feel like that I’m going to have some altering to do by the time uh

The last day of the season comes around like Zion very Zion very much creeping up the list for me of what he’s done defensively and again remains a Powerhouse inside the yard de Fox was a tough leave off just because it’s just been such an inconsistent offensive year for

Him until it hits like the last five minutes of the fourth quarter in which he just goes superhuman but like the rest of the game and thus the rest of the season also also matters but like he’s close for me well what’s up well I

I just I hear you going through this I think you’re you’re you’re Hing the wrong portion okay my my thir team was Stephen Curry Anthony Davis Jaylen Brown Anthony Edwards and Tyrese halberton you said Paul George huh you see uh you seem surprised yeah yeah a little bit like I will say

Like I guess first and foremost as you went through the list of players that are just eliminated like I probably just don’t even have them if Donovan Mitchell is available for this award and that’s not to say Joel and be just on the first team if he’s

Healthy but like Donan Mitchell out in particular like I think that that gets pretty easy like he’s probably a second team guy everyone else bumps down one and we’re just kind of good to go um but like I do think the the shooting the driving the playmaking the defense for

Paul George has been very important for this Clippers group has it has it been more important than paos and I even have Pao on my list I do feel like he’s been better than poo this year which obviously that gets funny like pring roles and stuff but

Okay cuz I I I had a tough time Pao I had in until I went through everything if tyes doesn’t qualify probably Pao would slide in Zion was up there Devin Booker Devon Booker against Jaylen Brown had me in a headlock I don’t know why I chose that

Battle um that’s what that’s really like Devon Booker is really he’s been he’s been insane cuz he’s at uh pullup basketball ref very quickly he’s at 57 games right now like if Booker clears like I do feel like on balance like Booker’s had a better year than Paul

George actually question for you as you kind of go through some of the list like how close was win before you was he like a a very early cut off from the list I imagine he made the longer list but no wom didn’t make none of my list no

Disrespect not for all NBA he’s been great but not okay is that just gonna here’s here I’ll give you my subgroup okay uh Demar Rudy Pascal Brandon Ingram Paul George Jaylen Williams James Harden Jared Allen they slipped quickly and then I had above them uh dearon Fox Tyrese

Maxi uh bam Damen lard and then the the injured beats I got you bam is bam is someone that’s like very high up on like the inconsideration portion of the program I just list out the names but Bam’s up there I I want to see how bam finishes the year

Offensively I think I think bam would have made it if it wasn’t the defense just warrants him the defense probably alone warranted him being in discussion like I listed Rudy gobear as one of the guys I thought about mostely didn’t make 13 for me if I think of the defense alone for bam

Has been good like the scoring efficiency is kind of waxed and kind of Ed and Float this year like a strong finish there Miami claims the top six se like it’s again like I would probably characterize my list as I have 12 in pin

And then or 13 in pin and then the last two is where it gets kind of we’ll see what happens hey n Paul George or T-Mac thank you for listening to this episode of the it’s it’s going to be uh Tracy McGrady for me however I respect uh what Paul George

Has done for the new generation honestly one probably one of the more underrated future Hall of Famers that we have which is hilarious to say out loud but I think a lot of people get lost in the all the the jokes with Paul George it’s like this this was one of

The best Wing defenders in the league at p and it’s still very good could score at all three levels like in terms of three-pointers made like he has already showcased he’s already one of the best three-point Shooters of all time in terms of makes and then you factor in the volume and

The efficiency on top of that like he’s been one of the best Wing shooters ever Paul George deserves a little bit more credit than he deserves I think I ain’t taking him over T-Mac though but all due respect to that man okay uh did you have any uh any further thoughts on

All NBA or any closing thoughts in general any shout outs you want to give or anything that comes to mind uh no it’s going to be tough I I I think it’s going to be interesting to see how do you value you know it’s it’s gonna be hard

To imagine Steph not making it LeBron not making it which makes the list even smaller potential candidates and so I think the position list thing actually turns it into some of these hypotheticals we see every single day on social media where now you are literally having to compare pyo

Against Tyrese halberton or Devon Booker against Jaylen Brown and that gets interesting uh but it it was a fun exercise to do now it won’t be easy it will not cannot wish my 1 te to look uh very different by the time the regular season rolls around but uh but no that’s

Where I’m at right now uh without further comment thank you for listening to or watching this episode of the donker spot if you haven’t already please subscribe to us we are on Apple Spotify Google Stitcher pod Bean where you get your podcast you can find us and

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Just click on that once again it is free to create a profile if you have a lead pass description you are good to go and with that we will catch y’all on Thursday hey man why kraton did that to my Lady Rebels Dog

Nekias Duncan and Steve Jones Jr. are back with another episode of The Dunker Spot!

The fellas bounce around the league with more observations — and more questions for some playoff hopefuls.

0:00 Intro
1:20 A salute to the Celtics and Nuggets
4:45 The Wolves leaning on their identity without KAT
22:45 The Magic making strides offensively
39:00 How do we judge this version of the Sixers?
44:50 A quick hat tip to the Wizards
47:20 What’s going on with the Warriors?
52:45 The importance of CJ McCollum + a Zion question
1:07:30 An All-NBA check-in

If you have NBA or WNBA questions for us, email them to dunkerspot@yahoo.com.

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