Durant & Suns beat Bucks, Wolves-Bulls, Warriors reaction + NBA Mailbag | Hoops Tonight

Durant & Suns beat Bucks, Wolves-Bulls, Warriors reaction + NBA Mailbag | Hoops Tonight

All right welcome to Hoops tonight here at the volume happy Wednesday everybody hope all of you guys are having an incredible week got a fun show today we’re going to hit the Bucks and the Suns from the late night slate last night and then the Minnesota Timberwolves blew a big lead in Chicago

Against the Bulls and what was a highly entertaining game and kind of informing about both teams so we’re going to talk about the Bulls and the Wolves by the way Bulls 19 and 13 since November 30th so they’ve become an interesting little spunky team here in the middle of the

Season and then after that I’ve got seven or eight mailbag questions for you guys at the end of the show where we’ll be bouncing around the rest of the league also for those of you guys who missed it last night we went for almost an hour with Colin coward and hit like

Seven or eight different teams a ton of content bouncing around the league we have some breakout Clips on our Channel but the actual full show is on the Colin coward podcast YouTube channel so make sure you guys get over there to check that out and then don’t forget tomorrow

We’re going live right after the trade deadline and then live again after Lakers nuggets in the evening so we got a double show day tomorrow you guys know the drill before we get started subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel mean a lot to me if you guys

Would take a second to scroll down hit that subscribe button don’t forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast under Hoops tonight it’s also super helpful for us if you leave a rating and a review on the podcast feed follow me on Twitter _ jlt that’s where

I put film threads from time to time as well as show announcements and the last but not least keep dropping mailbag questions in those YouTube comments so we can keep hitting them throughout the season lots of good questions at the end of the show today all right let’s talk

Some basketball so again important context here no Damen Lillard last night no Brook Lopez last night Chris Middleton sprained his ankle and apparently left the arena and crunch crutches in a walking boot so kind of a disaster night for the bucks that said I thought they competed really well on the

Defensive end yet another again like in terms of defensive effort and commitment to the details I think they have gone up a significant level since Doc Rivers came back which is hard to really see the forest for the trees when you’re one and four in that span but I did think it

Was another good positive step for them on the defensive end of the floor Giannis guarded Kevin Durant pretty damn well just one of the few guys and kind of kind of can stay with him step for step and contest shots Malik Beasley was trying really hard against Dev Booker

Even though he’s given up quite a bit of size there and so they were able to keep things interesting throughout most of the game but the Suns offense broke through in a big way in that fourth quarter Bradley Beal had nine points in the first four minutes of the fourth

Quarter I talked a lot about the idea of you know uh of high level close out attacking as a as a as an important function of highlevel offense especially when you get to the later stages of the playoffs and it in large part just because defenses get so much better

They’re going to chase you off the three-point line they’re going to take away the rim this is why I hyper focus on spot up efficiency rather than actual catch and shoot efficiency because catching and shooting is only one phase of making a defense pay and when you’re

Not good at putting the ball on the floor guys can actually recklessly close out at you without necessarily compromising the defense too much and one of the things that the the suns were doing a lot of were like two-man game with Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant to

Try to get uh Malik Beasley switched on to Kevin Durant so that they can go down to the block on him and they did that early fourth quarter quick double team from Giannis quick swing pass out to Bradley beile knocks down a three then later on Kevin Durant Kevin Durant

Pretty consistently was drawing that Blitz out above the key draws a blitz drops it to use of nerkish nurkic makes a kickout pass to Bradley Beal on the left wing pump fake rip through one dribble pull up Elevate knock it down that’s a high level close that attack

That’s a situation if you watch that play The Catch and shoot three is not there the driving layup is not there and so there’s an opening there in the middle of the floor and having a guy who can capitalize on that is super valuable and then the matchup attacking was a big

One they went to the post against campaign with Bradley Beal drove right through him to the basket for a left-handed layup then he drove right past Pat conon actually smoked the it but he’s just such a good athlete that he’s able to get back up off the floor

On that second jump get the ball put it back in that was the big spark for that early fourth quarter run for the Suns and then pretty quickly they went up big and the game was basically over at that point Bradley Beal brings that power and

Force to the offensive end of the floor that the rest of the guys don’t have this is kind of It kind of reminds me of like what Kawhi Leonard brings to the LA Clippers where you know there’s a certain finesse element to the way that

They play it’s a lot of like high level skill these are guys that have made their they’re living in the NBA by working harder on the details in the gym by themselves than anybody else and polishing up these extremely well-rounded skill sets to generate high

Quality shots well a lot of times that I shouldn’t say a lot of times it is possible that that can fail you in a lot of ways because there’s variance in distance shot making right and so having a real physical imposition on the game is a great counter to that okay the

Shots aren’t falling but hey I’m faster than you hey I’m bigger than you or whatever it is right and like that to me is the role that Bradley Beal plays on the Suns and the role that Kawhi Leonard in particular plays on the Clippers in the sense where it’s like he’s actually

Just a top tier athlete for his position and he can get he kind of pulls out to like 30 feet and he kind of gets going downhill with like a series of In-N-Out dribbles and that Defender is just Panic backpedaling on his heels there’s a step

Back jumper that he hit on Jay Crowder I think in the middle of the fourth quarter if I remember correctly and it was just one of those deals where when he backed up and he started coming downhill at Jay Crowder Jay Crowder just has no chance to actually take away the

Jump shot and the drive and so he’s just really aggressively backpedaling and Bradley Beal can rise up into this like easy like 12 foot pull-up jumper that’s barely even contested because of the physical Advantage he brings to the table and so you know if there’s if

There’s a big upside by by going with a third star versus a higher level role player you may lose out on some of the details of the game especially on the defensive end and in rebound situations and just some of the role player stuff but there is something to be said about

That additional high level offensive production right and like specifically with Bradley Beal as the top tier athlete in the group because Kevin Durant is is extremely tall and long for his specific scoring archetype and Devin Booker is one of the most skilled players in the league but Devon Booker’s

Not a top tier athlete at the two guard position he’s not going to physically overwhelm players the way that a guy like Bradley Bean in his position group dein Deon Booker continued his hot streak he had 32 points did most of his work in ball screens he had 19 of his 32

Shooting out of ball screens and dribble handoffs just too big for Malik Beasley he’s really patient like once he gets over the top of the screen Malik Beasley just comes because he’s working really hard trying to get back into the play and Deon Booker will basically just

Patiently whether it’s a pump fake or just putting him in jail and waiting he’s waiting for Malik Beasley to end up back on the ground and then he can just rise back up and he’s so good at like patiently waiting for those little 10 12 Footers that he can get after after the

Defender comes back down to the ground Deon Booker’s 33 points per game in his last 11 games on 55% shooting in 42% from three so kind of maintaining that top tier Superstar level of production that we kind of expected from Devon Booker for the whole season wasn’t there

Really at the start but now he’s starting to get into his Groove and then Kevin Durant picked his spots he he was particularly aggressive against Jay Crowder you could just tell he liked that matchup in particular and he was going to work whenever he got him on an

Island I also thought Kevin Durant defend Giannis pretty well and you know again like one of the big turnarounds of this Sun’s streak because like they’re 16 and six since their lost to Dallas on Christmas Day and they have uh the 10th best defense in the league over that

Span so a top 10 defensive effort over basically a chunk of the season that’s more than a fourth of the season and they have the third best record in the league over that span including a lot of quality wins and a big part of that is one of the things I’ve talked about

Throughout Kevin Durant’s career which is when he engages himself defensively he’s legitimately one of the most talented defensive players in the league and he just has a a really unique ability to impact games there and then the last guy I wanted to shout out on

The uh Suns front was keev uh was uh BB played a really undercontrol game using his length and athleticism just to be a pain in the ass short shifts and still had six rebounds had a crazy block this transition play where AJ Green got a corner three for the bucks uh kind of

In like one of those runout situations he was way behind the play and just gave crazy effort and somehow got back in and blocked the three but the most impressive part to me about it was you know bbo has a tendency just especially from the earlier phase of his career to

Kind of try to do too much offensively and that wasn’t there for bbo in this game just just was being another spoke in the wheel so to speak you were there were so it was interesting watching the game because the Suns fans were just begging him to shoot half the time he’

Catch the damn basketball because obviously you know b b is a little bit of a fan favorite right but no he was super patient he if he caught the ball and he didn’t have like a fan Fantastic look he was turning and looking to run that next dribble handoff and just like

I said a really under contr control game didn’t force anything the suns were plus eight in his minutes as a matter of fact in B Bow’s shifts the Suns haven’t lost his minutes since December 27th so he’s been kind of a useful contributor for them he’s providing if you extrapolate I

Use per 36 not as a method of like what this player could be if he played more minutes but just as a method of trying to capture activity for a bench player and B B is averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds with 3.3 stocks per 36 minutes

So far this season just really active in his opportunities so another good step in the right direction for the Suns again 16- six since since their lost to Dallas on Christmas day so trending in the right direction there again the most encouraging part there is the defensive

End of the floor they need to be closer to what the Nets were with Harden Kyrie and KD where it’s a two-way impact it’s not just competing on the offensive end of the floor with all of their perimeter skill but also using their perimeter skill on the defensive end of the floor

To stay in basketball games and then on the Bucks front the one thing I wanted to hit was a big story after the game and and uh doc I actually asked about it in his postgame presser but doc has basically refused to play the young players uh since he took over in the

Five games since Marjan bamp and Andre Jackson Jr basically haven’t played they both got a little bit of garbage time but that’s it so you know this is where I want to uh want to kind of like address the difference between what a regular season methodology is versus a

Playoff methodology so doc isn’t the first coach in the world to not trust young players I mean we’ve been talking about this all season with Steve Kerr as well and I do understand it in the big picture in the sense that like especially in high leverage situations

It is more important to have a higher floor than a lower uh than it is to have a higher ceiling with a role player because mistakes can be catastrophic and when you have stars that can really strangle control of the game and they don’t make mistakes you’d prefer to have

Them next to other players that don’t make mistakes and trust your stars to provide the ceiling in that situation and so a lot of times going with a A Jay Crowder you know in big minutes might be the safer bet in a playoff series because Jay Crowder might not make the

Critical mistake that a amaran Bo champer and Andre Jackson Jr can make right he might be a little bit more confident and comfortable just because he’s been in more a big basketball games right like he has like a certain confidence in terms of like going toe-to-toe with other veteran players

Because when Jay Crowder was in his prime he was a guy that could guard those guys pretty damn well and so I understand it within the playoff context but here’s the thing if there’s a time to use young players it is during the regular season because during that

Regular season a lot of times you can play the as a coach you can play based on which players having that kind of night you give Martian Bo champ and Andre Jackson Jr a first half shift and you read it it’s like oh he’s locked in today he’s got it going he’s confident

We can get his ceiling today you lean into him right or oh this is too big of a game for him he’s not ready for this particularly this isn’t the night to play him pull him run some more Jay Crowder because he’s going to be more comfortable in those situations right

Like that’s where you can actually take advantage of some of that upside and most importantly for a team that’s pretty damn slow without Giannis on the floor margin Bo champ and Andre Jackson Jr are two your very best athletes on the roster and like never underestimate

The impact of a high motor athlete in the NBA regular season they can just wreck havoc in a lot of the other areas of the game and so a lot of times like I view it as a missed opportunity in the sense like do I think the I’ll give you

An example on the Lakers front like do I think Max Christie can play Big minutes for the Lakers in a playoff run and be like reliable probably not he’s young it’s it’s a totally different setting there but during the regular season you bet your ass you got to lean on on Max

Christie he’s one of their best perer defenders he’s a guy that brings athleticism and motor to the table you’ve got to lean on that as much as you can to get through the 82 again getting through the 82 is an entirely different grind than getting through the

16 wins you got to get through to win the NBA title so I do disagree with Doc’s uh approach there he was he was questioned about it and he gave this answer that was like oh we’re going to need those guys and it’s like yeah well they can’t really help you if they’re

Not on the floor so so it’s something to keep an eye on over the course of the next few weeks looking for a super offer for Super Bowl 58 well DraftKings has you covered new customers can bet on the big game and turn five bucks into 200

Instantly in bonus bets the line right now is at San Francisco minus 1.5 but you can bet all sorts of things on the game even the coin toss although big shock it’s going to be 50/50 odds there my brothers and I always plays a bunch

Of bets on the Super Bowl every year I’m not actually sure what I’m going to do yet but I’m excited should be a great game download the DraftKings sport Sportsbook app now and use code Hoops that’s h o o PS new customers can bet five bucks to get 200 instantly in bonus

Bets only on draftking Sportsbook an official sports betting partner of Super Bowl 58 with code Hoops again that’s h o o PS the crown is yours have you guys ever had a bad ticket buying experience maybe you go to check out and ends up being way more expensive than it was

When you clicked on it or maybe you go to your seat and ends up being not what you expected when you bought it to begin with or maybe it’s just an overly convoluted and complicated process well this is where I want to talk to you guys about game time the fastest growing

Ticketing app in the United States they have Allin pricing so you know exactly what your total is going to be upfront and you know you’re getting a great deal before you check out also you get to see the view from your seat in the app so you know exactly what you’re getting for

Your money and it’s a super easy process you can buy tickets in seconds with two Taps game time has deals on ticket gets right up to the start of the event and even an hour after it starts it’s the place to find last minute seats you can find exclusive Flash Deals and sponsored

Deals on tickets for football basketball baseball concerts comedy theater and more and this is the coolest part the game time guarantee means you’ll always get the best price if you find tickets in the same section in row for Less game time will credit you 110% of the difference and as great as

It is watching these games on TV especially with the NBA heating up here on the home stretch go out and see a game go to see one in person the NBA is in a really great place right now with Talent you got to get into the arena to

Really get the full experience take the guesswork out of buying tickets with Game Time download the game time app create an account and use code Hoops for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code Hoops that’s h o o PS for $20 off

Download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guarant you’ll know real when you get it it’ll say eBay authenticity guarantee and you’ll feel it because when it comes to your feet eBay has your back maybe it’s a head turning pair for hooping or hot new collab whatever you’re after when

You cop on eBay you can trust that your kicks will be checked by experts not just any experts sneaker experts who live and breathe the culture real people with real Hands-On authentication experience that’s what the blue check mark represents on our listings eBay auth authenticity guarantee meaning

Every inch Stitch Sole and logo is verified authentic through a detailed inspection so when you finally step into those Grail kicks you’ll realize that the feeling is unlike any other and with eBay’s authenticity guarantee that feeling of real is always Within Reach ensure your next purchase is the real

Deal visit ebay.com for terms all right moving on to wolves Bulls this is a really fun game The Wolves jumped them early was a classic you know like January February a regular season game early on it was sloppy it was way in the up and like up and down open floor type

Of of play style the Bulls in particular were not doing a very good job of packing the paint to test Minnesota’s decision making and their spot-up shooting which is the like like kind of the the game plan for Minnesota we’re going to talk about that in a little bit

Like you got to pack the paint you got to get the ball you got to test the decisionmaking of Their Stars like the wolves are actually 24th in spot up efficiency this year something we’ll dive into a little bit later and they turn the ball over more than everybody

Else in the league per 100 possessions except for the Jazz and pistons and so when you actually make the Wolves be decisive and make them shoot from the P or I shouldn’t say shoot but play off of closeouts that’s where you can have success defensively and they just did

Not do that in the first half they were getting killed in transition uh um Anthony Edwards was ridiculous Anthony Edwards and Carl towns combined for 41 points in the first half as they went uh as they went up by I think 23 it was was the biggest lead in that particular game

But then the Bulls go on a quick run to start the second half Kobe white hit a couple of Threes a catch and shoot one and then a pretty nasty step back in transition then Nicola vich went right to work on against Carl towns in the

Post for a little shot in the lane and then Demar D Ro and Drew some free throws all of a sudden it was a 10-0 run and it was a 13-point game and from there it just turned into a dog fight the Bulls defense in the second half was

Amazing they did a much much better job of keeping the game in the half court and forcing the Wolves into their work Tendencies much better execution on offense they shot the ball better they turned the ball over less which kept Minnesota out of transition and then in

The half court they just really did a much better job of preventing the uh uh um the the Timberwolves getting easy shots around the basket and forcing them to spray out to Shooters and you could really see that in the play type data they only had 10 spot up possessions

Minnesota did in the entire first half and they had a few dozen in the second half so like an entirely different type of play style from the Bulls they were doing a really nice job of sticking to their scheme so they were ducking under ball screens

With Mike Conley and one of the things with Mike Conley that you can pray on is he’s not overly aggressive he’s one of the best Shooters in the league he’s like a mid 40s pullup three-point shooter but he only takes two and a half of them per game he’s good at them but

He does not force them it’s it’s typically only if it’s very open he actually took two pull-up threes in this game but one of them was a transition pull-up three in the first half and then the second one was right at the beginning of the fourth quarter he took

This like incredibly difficult like sliding side step three in the right corner but when aod dunu or Kobe white were ducking under those ball screens there was room there for Mike Conley to shoot and he would not shoot and so that allowed the Bulls to stay home on the

Rle man in this case goar and so most of those ball screens just weren’t generating any sort of advantage and then in addition to that uh Alex Caruso just did an amazing job on Anthony Edwards in the second half just being physical with him him cutting off his

Driving lane same thing kind of ducking under picks but making sure he doesn’t feel super comfortable as he rises up into that pull-up jump shot again it’s just such a weapon to have a player like Alex crusa who can actually make opposing Stars uncomfortable like it’s one of the most important parts of

Having a team that can win the championship when you actually look around it’s like the the job that Aaron Gordon did last year on LeBron James and on Kevin Durant on the way to uh the Nuggets winning the title the job that Andrew Wiggins did last year you know

Guarding the likes of Luca donic and Jason Tatum right the job that Drew holiday did in 2021 the job that Alex Caruso and cavius cwell pope did in 2020 like that ability to have guys that can really really defend at the point of attack not just well enough to fulfill

Their role in the scheme but actually to get in the head of the offensive player a little bit to where they don’t feel as confident and it’s just such a huge asset and and and the Bulls just basically shut down down Minnesota’s offense in the second half they held him

To a 102 offensive rating just a 73.3 offensive rating for the wolves in 9 minutes of clutch time the only real success Minnesota had down the stretch offensively was when they would run a guard to guard screen to get someone like dunu or Kobe white switched onto

Ant and then run their ball screens that was when they were getting the defense in rotation and getting some different stuff but again that’s a very deliberate thing to do it takes a certain you know fortitude to keep actually running the actions you need to generate the

Advantages you need and a lot of times it was ugly offense for Minnesota down the stretch as they fell apart and then Kobe white was the hero offensively in this one 30 points in the second half 10 for 13 from the field seven for nine from three hit two huge clutch shots at

The end of regulation a nasty step back three against Carl towns then he had this and one against jadeen McDaniels where Jaden defended it perfectly funneled him under the basket walled him up and he just somehow reached back behind him and finished at the rim and

Got an and one it was the actual lead changing shot that put them up I think 112 110 at that point he’s he’s got a real case for most improved player this year over the course of the last 37 games which is basically when the Bulls

Started to get it together they uh uh um Kobe White’s averaging 22 points five rebounds and six assists on 49% from the field 43% from three and 82% from the he’s just on a hell of a run uh the Wolves did end up tying the game and

Sending it to OT they ran their best possession of the of overtime uh or of Regulation I should say in crunch time Anthony Edwards ran a ball screen this time he couldn’t get separated from Caruso but he had a nice little like kind of snake dribble move to get uh

Onto the other side of the ball screen against vich that got the defense into rotation they had a really good ball movement possession where the ball was popping around ended up in Carl Town’s hand at the top of the key he ends up hitting the three uh to tie the game and

Send it to overtime but once again the Minnesota offense just faltered in OT and Demar de R roza took over the game in overtime he scored her assistant on 12 of Chicago’s 14 points and the Bulls got the win here’s a fun fact for you the Bulls have the 10th best record in

The league since November 30th they’re 19th 19 and 13 they have the 10th best defense in the league over that span a really athletic core of perimeter players and that’s the key cuz like when they really get to flying around getting into the basketball and flying around in

Rotation they can be really difficult to score on and then they’re an excellent rebounding team thanks to the likes of Andre Drummond and Nicola vich they are fifth in defensive rebounding since November 30th on the offensive end of the floor super balanced scoring 23 points a game from Kobe 23 points a game

From deardo Rosen 19 points a game from nicoa vich and then Pat Williams aod duno and Alex cruso are all averaging double figures over that span they may not be a great team they may not have Championship potential IAL but they’re a fun team and they’re capable of being

Very good and they’re a lot like I said they’re just a lot of fun to watch and I I that watching that wolves Bulls game was one of my favorite regular season games of the Season it just super fun back and forth you know even in spite of

The crazy defensive effort from Chicago Anthony Edward still made some crazy shots down the stretch hit like a 30-footer on the left wing had some crazy finishes around the rim it was it was just a fun game to watch on the Minnesota end once again their clutch

Offense ends up being an issue 73 offensive rating and 9 Minutes of clutch time in their last nine games that have involved clutch situations they are scoring just 98 points per 100 possessions that is atrocious in a large sample size they are just three in six in those games too so they’re it’s

Directly leading to losses they’re also down to 20th in clutch offense for the season this is something that I’ve preached about all year and it just continues to be an issue you could literally hear it on the broadcast the Wolves announcers were talking about it you could hear

Them saying where are the Wolves going to go for offense here down the stretch Alex cruso has put the clamps down on Anthony Edwards these are things that the Wolves announcers were literally saying even the shots they made down the stretch were extremely high difficulty shots like a making a 30-footer when

They were already down big or or getting to the foul line when he’s driving into traffic it just there was no like real free flowing easy looking off it’s not the type of uh top tier execution that you’re accustomed to seeing from teams like Denver if that makes sense and

Really really what it comes down to and I’ve been watching this for a while over the course of the last month the the teams can really pack the paint against the Wolves which will force them to make the right reads and they can struggle on that front they they have the fourth

Most turnovers per 100 possessions in clutch situations by the way that’s an extension of an issue that they have over the course of the 48 minutes as well they don’t take care of the basketball well that continues to be a problem in clutch time they had a huge turnover

In OT last night when it was a four-point game where Jaden McDaniels threw the ball away to Alex cruso quickly led to two points for the Bulls and all of a sudden they were down by six and then you can get away with packing the paint against them because

All you have to do is chase them off the three-point line they’re not a high level closeout attacking team it’s crazy because they shoot the ball extremely well when you just look at catch and shoot efficiency the Timberwolves are one of the best teams in the league but

When you actually look at their ability to convert spot up possessions which again that’s the actual read of your ability to space the floor a catch and shoot three is just we talked about this earlier when we were talking about the Bucks and the Suns that’s just one

Element to beating highlevel defense if you have the athletes especially teams like Chicago that have real perimeter speed that can chase you off the three-point line if you can’t actually convert those possessions into points including the possessions where they chase you off the line you can struggle

The timber roles are 24th in spot up efficiency Jaden McDaniels is below average 47th percentile converting spotted possessions Carl towns excellent catch and shoot guy but chase him off the line and he struggles only converts spot at possessions at 0.94 points per possession that’s 31st percentile Anthony Edwards 55th percentile barely

Above average and then Rudy goar’s out there too and so like it just turns into this situation like you can force them to play drive and kick by chasing them off the line and they’re probably going to turn it over or force a bad shot make

Some form of mistake and and and they can struggle to score and so all of those factors just combined to make them relatively easy to guard especially by the better defenses in the league in the Slowdown environment at the end of games and then to make matters worse their

Defense hasn’t been very good as of late that same nine game span of crunch time games they are uh they have a 130 defensive rating and even though they have a the best defense in the league by defensive rating over the entirety of the season they are just 19th in clutch defense

This year it’s definitely something to keep an eye on and it’s like it’s kind there’s some entry points there Mike Conley’s an entry point like Kobe White’s taking Carl towns off the bounce there’s a different once again a difference between your base defensive scheme and what you can accomplish

Versus what is your entry point where’s the weakness there’s something to be said about your weakest link in those environments but I’m not as worried about their defense I think they’re going to figure out how to get stops again like they have been um for the

Most part this season but it has been a little bit of a concern and clutch situation but the stuff on offense is the big red flag like I think their defense is mostly offense awesome it’s going to keep them in games but will they be able

To go shot for shot with the likes of a Nicole yic with the likes of a Kevin Durant with the likes of a you know Kawhi Leonard with the likes of a LeBron James that’s going to be one of the big determining factors for this team in the

Playoffs and again like take take my word for it my favorite team the Lakers last year had this exact same issue they were really bad in clutch time last year they specifically struggled with over-the-top shot making and they would stay in every single game on the strength of their defense and then the

Denver Nuggets would just pick them apart with Nicole yic and Jamal Murray just being better at playing clutch time basketball it’s actually one of the reasons why I’m more encouraged about the Lakers this year last year LeBron shot 46% in clutch time this year LeBron’s shooting 62% in clutch time and

He’s got his pullup jump shot back it’s like a huge swing factor for that particular team but a lot of times like it comes down to who can execute in the final 5 minutes and that’s been an issue for Minnesota and it’s something to keep

An eye on all right let’s move on to our mailbag we have seven or eight questions today first question my friend and I got into a debate yesterday he said he would trade a few of the starting five for the Nuggets to get Luca on the team if

Hypothetically this was possible and he said he would fill the holes or at least Murray and Porter I disagreed and said you could do a one for one but it would be completely the wrong move just wanted your thoughts on it I know Luca and

Nicole yic want to be on the same team one day but neither of us have the illusion this is remotely possible in the near future when I heard you talking about hypothetical LeBron trades I figured you would weigh in on this as well thanks and love your content you’re

Right I love a good hypothetical and yes no there’s no chance in hell that Luka donic and Nicole yic are going to play together here’s the thing I am a big believer in diminishing returns when it comes to star power like in my opinion if you have two legitimate shot creators

Then it’s more important for you to have quality role players around them than to bring in a third legitimate shot Creator and there’s something to be said about the beauty of a fiveman basketball lineup like regardless of the fact that there’s no like true Superstar next to

Nicole yic every single one of those players whether it’s Jamal Murray or kavus k Pope Michael Porter Jr Aaron Gordon they’re all stars in their roles Jamal Murray is just a star shot maker and so therefore he is a perfect fit with Nicole yic in the two-man game

Because if you cover it you have to concede something and most teams will concede Jamal Murray isos and and and his ability to convert those especially against teams that switch that action goes a long way or that chase over the top and stay home on the rle man where

He has opportunity to get separation from the screen that’s what teams are willing to concede and he continues to make those shots kcp just attacking off of dribble handoffs attacking out of spot-up situations and defending the other team’s best perimeter defender or perimeter offensive weapon he’s awesome

At that he’s a star in that role Michael Porter Jr weak side shooting helps side defense defensive rebounding offensive rebounding when he’s being ignored he’s a star at that he’s one of the best spoted players in the league right Aaron Gordon just the perfect shoe in forward

To put next to Nicole joic because he brings the athleticism and defensive versatility that Nicole yic does not bring to the position he’s a excellent Wing Defender while also being an excellent help Defender while also being an excellent defensive rebounder and the perfect guy to run along the Baseline

For their offense when Nicole yic is operating around the elbow and so again like it’s it to me that is a concoction I would never mess with until one of those four guys like and like if if kcp in two years starts to show some kind of

Decline then sure you can look to to to make some sort of change but as long as those four that that fiveman grouping is all operating at this level you’re got to do whatever you can to keep them together because it’s very rare when you can capture real magic in a fiveman

Basketball lineup and that Denver group has captured that magic and I would try to maintain that as long as possible next question hey Jason knowing you read a lot of the comments I want to point something out in 2022 you pray Jason Tatum for his commitment on the

Defensive end and I think based solely on itest Jaylen Brown has made a similar commitment this year he takes on the best matchups every night now and I’d like to know what you think if you take a closer look and rewatch some of the games I hear people questioning who is

The second best player and that is insane to me with jaylen’s offensive production combined with the defense this year it’s not close thanks so I agree in the sense that Jaylen Brown is in a vacuum the second best player on the team especially when you look at

Talent and I agree his his ability to impact the game defensively while providing scoring production is legitimate the reason why it gets a little complicated is like sometimes there’s a difference between like talent and value and so for instance let’s look at Derek white this this is a team that

Struggles with offensive decision-making and half court like real like real slow down shot creation from time to time as it pertains to decision-making so Derek white becomes immensely valuable for them as one of the guys that they can use to kind of dissect halfcourt defense

And so that is why one of their go-to actions at the end of games is Derek Jason Tatum Twan game they do that because they trust Derk white to have the basketball in his hands in those big moments so there’s something to be said about the value of Derek white Christof

Porzingis the same thing between pick and pop being the most difficult action in the league to guard and specifically the value of a real rim protector alongside all their perimeter Defenders there’s something to be said about porzingis is value by the way when you look at the uh the uh onoff numbers for

The Celtics according to cleaning the glass the three best onoff guys on the team are Dereck white Jason Tatum and christops porzingis and so again I agree with you it’s not it’s not a question of talent like Jaylen Brown’s a better basketball player than Derrick White he’s better basketball player than

Christops porzingis but what you when you look at this specific team and and roster needs Jaylen Brown’s a little bit of a redundancy next to Jason Tatum whereas Derek white and chrisop porzingis fulfill absolutely vital roles for that group to to put it differently like obviously you don’t want to see

Anybody get hurt but if Derek white got hurt I think it would hurt the Celtics more than Jaylen Brown getting hurt or vice versa with W with uh with chrisop porzingis and I think again that’s not a shot at Jaylen Brown it just is a a product of the roster construction next

Question hey Jason big fan of the show it’s a great place to expand my knowledge as someone with no background in the game two Warriors questions for you we’ll go one at a time what I understood from the evolution of your opinion regarding the Warriors front what the Warriors front office should do

Is that they should go all in on winning with Steph in addition they shouldn’t trade JK who will probably take a few years to develop into a good enough number two I don’t understand how those two goals go together considering all the Personnel problems the Warriors have

And Steph turning 36 soon him being this good still is already an anomaly it would be great if he was still good in a couple of years to play with a developed JK but I don’t think it’s smart to just expect that for the record those were

Two separate opinions that I had so like I thought the Warriors should go all in on Steph and then JK had this 10 game stretch where he averaged 25 points a game on 61% shooting and it’s like oh [ __ ] you got yourself a star here so now

Like you’re trading away a star a future star to to try to get back I don’t know high quality role players right and so that’s where it gets super convoluted like to me I agree those two uh concept are kind of opposed to each other right like there’s just it’s just not possible

To go all in on step without trading Jonathan kaminga because Jonathan kaminga is your best opportunity to bring back quality players and so the reality is like the decision got Made For You by Jonathan kinga’s rise and so now it actually makes more sense to do smaller

Moves on the margins and hope for your biggest influx of talent to be Jonathan kinga’s development over the course of the next couple of years next question you’ve smok you’ve spoken a lot about the Warriors woes this season but one thing you didn’t mention is that Steph

Has has a negative net rating which hasn’t happened since his rookie season when the entire team was pretty bad what do you think is different this season that’s causing this and how can they fix it I know them doing anything of significance this year is already a long

Shot but I’m pretty sure they won’t do anything if they’re already losing when they’re best players on the floor so the reasons are pretty simple Draymond Green is the second best player on the Warriors this season in terms of like two-way impact he’s he’s that’s he

Always just pairs so well with Steph on both ends of the floor with helping Steph generate quality looks while also anchoring their defense and I think he’s only played like what 21 22 games this year so like he just he’s been gone for most of it so that that’s a huge part of

It Klay Thompson has experienced his first substantial decline as a as a veteran and then Andrew Wiggins just has not been the same player that he was in 2022 to put it simply that’s a massive pullback of talent the players that you’ve been supplementing that with our young players young players bring

Inconsistency right so like that to me is the reasoning behind the low net rating the reason why I don’t think that should play a role in their decisionmaking is to put it simply like Steph is still one of those guys one of the special talents in the league and so

Like I mean the dude just dropped 60 the other night so like to the way I look at it basketball has basketball has a uh we talked earlier about the Nuggets lineup in the way that it kind of has like a a magic quality to it in my opinion like

Basketball I is not as simple as the sum of the parts so you might if you take away 20% of your talent that doesn’t necessarily amount to a 20% decrease in prod production if those 20% if the 20% of talent that gets pulled out of the equation is in vital areas of that

Lineup’s ability to be coherent then you could experience a 60% reduction in the lineup’s uh capability of contending in a in a basketball game right because like again like you take Draymond Green out of the equation they had a stretch there where they were the worst defense in the

League for an extended stretch like like it the bottom falls out in a lot of these specific situations and so the same thing goes in reverse like I I talk about this with all these teams it’s like it’s the Lakers last year it’s like oh they don’t have any forwards okay you

Bring in ruy hamur and Jared Vanderbilt two castoff forwards that other teams didn’t watch and then all of a sudden they look like a way better basketball team because they have a position group that they did not have on the roster all of a sudden filled like that’s kind of

The idea behind it is like the idea is you get Draymond back you know Jonathan kaminga plays a lot better you make one smart move for veteran forward and like all of a sudden everything starts to make sense again and things can work so like don’t underestimate uh um don’t

Overreact I should say to that kind of statistical production involving a star like the Lakers this year have not been particularly good with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the floor but LeBron James and Anthony Davis are actually having a better season than last year it

Comes down to the struggles of the skill guards Darin ham and the way he’s constructed the rotations the heavy leaning on Toran Prince so you have a lack of perimeter athleticism right like the the specific uh Personnel weakness and not having a top tier athlete at the

Guard position like all of those things it’s not like LeBron and AD are negative players it’s not like Steph Curry is a negative player it’s just the basketball lineup is dipped below that certain mandatory amount of of fulfilling of responsibilities to be able to compete

And so once you get down below that line it can it becomes a little bit dangerous and so again I don’t think it’s over for the Warriors I’m a big believer you get Chris Paul back you get Gary pton back you get the rise of Jonathan kaminga

Andrew Wigan starts to play a little bit more like he did in 2022 it could pretty quickly rise back to being a a competent basketball team next question I have three left what do you think of if the Warriors try to trade for Jonathan Isaac or possibly trade Wiggins plus others

Picks or CP3 to the Pacers for maybe Miles Turner or buddy heeld couple things Miles Turner is not going anywhere I don’t think uh he’s kind of a little bit of a foundational piece there in in in Indie and specifically as a stretch big he’s very valuable next to

Tyres salbert it’s one of their pet actions and then also next to Pascal sakam who can be somewhat streaky as a fourman having a shooting five is somewhat important for them there’s also a a problem with trading Andrew Wiggins in the sense that like how much like

What has a better chance of your team getting better flipping Wiggins for a different player or Wiggins just plays better like in my opinion you get through the deadline it becomes clear that Andrew Wiggins is not getting traded it give him a really clear spot in the rotation where his minutes are

Consistent you might get more consistent production and I personally think that he belongs in the starting lineup next to Jonathan kaminga and I give him consistency there and let Andrew Wiggins just kind of refind his confidence and I’ve I’ve seen a lot of encouraging stuff out of him in the last couple of

Weeks too but I do think at a bare minimum they should be targeting some form of playoff playable forward at the deadline that could be a different type of U of contract swap whether that’s like you know Moses Moody and another one of their minimums or who knows what

What how they would kind of kind of construct that sort of thing but I don’t care whether it’s a Dorian finy Smith or a kenri Williams or a PJ Washington I mean Jonathan Isaac would be amazing but he’s flashed some insane highle defense again this year so I don’t know if

Orlando would be willing to get rid of him but maybe they would maybe with his injury history they’d want to sell high on him and maybe you can jump on a guy like that but then you’re taking on the risk of his injury history right so that

Gets a little tricky but regardless of what kind of guy it is just bringing in another veteran playable forward simplifying you know Steve Kerr’s rotation decisions that could go a long way towards uh uh towards getting them back on track as well two more you say

Tatum is going to figure it out and most players do around 26 27 years old but most good players get drafted to bad teams and it takes a while for them to go on deep playoff runs he’s been to multiple Conference Finals in one finals already shouldn’t he have figured it out

Yet the jumper he shot on kcp to finish the Denver game killed me he had plenty of time to drive it in my opinion kind of like LeBron on Paul George in 2013 it’s actually kind of an interesting idea because on that Paul George play LeBron caught and then

Quickly pivoted over his right shoulder and went right to the rim and tat kind of did the same thing but right when he pivoted he went right back into that one like fade away and so he didn’t even really try to be more physically aggressive on the play and you’re right

He did have some more time here’s the thing I agree with you that his timeline should be accelerated like 26 years old it’s time to start figuring it out that I agree that said I still think it’s way too soon to just say he’ll never get there because he is making strides and

There have been encouraging moments and again like there just aren’t that many guys in the league that are as talented as Jason he’s got one of the most gifted physical profiles of a Ford that we have in the league can really shoot the basketball the handle is improving

Yearby year I I do think that that that ceiling is still there but I guess I agree with you in the sense that it is discouraging that it’s taken as long as it has taken especially considering how much experience he has last question are you coming to Indie for all-star weekend

And have you ever considered a meet and greet so I’m not going to Indie for all-star weekend but I typically every year get out to summer league and that’s the best opportunity in Vegas uh for you guys to come out and and hang out we can

Meet in person and chat about the game a little bit uh I will be on Twitter letting you guys know exactly what dates I’m out there but I’m usually just in the gym I usually you know I just go up there and whatever the first game is and

I just hang out in the arena until until they’re done so you can always find me in the arena at summer league and if at some point in the future I end up traveling to more NBA events I’ll let you guys know but as of right now I’m

I’m pretty much just a cover the game from home kind of guy so we’ll we’ll see how it changes in the long run but hopefully I can see some of you guys in Vegas in July all right guys that’s all I have for today as always I sincerely

Appreciate your support borrowing a star trade this evening we won’t have anything tonight but we will have a live show right after the trade deadline tomorrow and then again live after Lakers Nuggets I will see you guys Then

Jason Timpf reacts to Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns beating Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks 114-106 as the Suns are beginning to find their form. Meanwhile, the Bucks fall to 1-4 in the Doc Rivers era as they try and figure out how to contend for an NBA title after trading for Damian Lillard in the offseason. Jason then discusses Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors as they sit at 22-25 on the season, and reacts to the Minnesota Timberwolves dropping a game to the Chicago Bulls.

Timeline:
00:00 – Introduction
01:30 – Bucks-Suns Reaction
03:05 – What makes Bradley Beal so valuable
06:30 – Devin Booker stays hot
07:18 – Durant turns up on defense
08:08 – Bol Bol steps up
09:38 – #1 reason Suns are improving
10:06 – Doc Rivers does not trust his young players
16:51 – Bulls big comeback vs. Timberwolves
23:09 – Bulls quickly improving
24:22 – Timberwolves clutch offense an issue
27:38 – Wolves defense struggling late
29:31 – Luka to Nuggets?
32:21 – Is Jaylen Brown Celtics 2nd best player?
34:33 – How Jonathan Kuminga forced Warriors hand
36:02 – Why does Steph Curry have negative net rating?
39:49 – Warriors new trade targets?
41:50 – Will Tatum ever “figure it out”?
43:12 – Are you going to All-Star Weekend / hosting meet-and-greet?

Follow Jason Timpf on social:
Tweets by _JasonLT
https://www.instagram.com/jtimpf15/

Shop the hottest gear in all of sports podcasting: https://thevolume.com/shop-all-new

Follow us on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/thevolumesports
Tweets by TheVolumeSports
https://www.facebook.com/TheVolumeSports

@thevolumesports

Learn more about the Volume:
https://www.thevolume.com

#nba #phoenixsuns #devinbooker #kevindurant #milwaukeebucks #giannisantetokounmpo #docrivers #minnesotatimberwolves #anthonyedwards #stephcurry #goldenstatewarriors #basketball #sports