Blazers hand Thunder first loss + how high can Rockets go?

Summary

The Athletic NBA Daily – November 6, 2025

Episode Theme:
A packed recap and analysis of a dramatic NBA night – the Portland Trail Blazers snap Oklahoma City Thunder’s undefeated streak, the Lakers stymie the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama, and an in-depth look at how high the surging Houston Rockets can go. Will Guillory joins hosts Dave DuFour and Zena Keita for insights on Houston’s early dominance and the energy crisis in Memphis.

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Highlights & Key Discussion Points

1. Portland Trail Blazers Hand Thunder Their First Loss

Timestamps: 02:17 – 04:43

• Thunder’s Surprise Defeat
  • Oklahoma City sat Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso, and Luguentz Dort on the second game of a back-to-back.
  • Despite leading 41–21 after the 1st quarter, OKC’s lack of depth showed as they squandered the lead.
  • “They also sat some guys. …Thunder were not just out of this game. They were up 41 to 21 at the end of one.” — Dave DuFour [03:06]
  • Zena notes: “The depth of Portland is what really changed the game here… Jeremy Grant, 20 points off the bench and then… Drop Wreath, coming off and scoring 12 as well for Portland.” [03:41]
  • Deni Avdija flirted with a triple-double (26 pts, 10 rebs, 9 ast; 15/16 FT).
• Blazers’ Fighting Spirit
  • Zena: “They’ve had this grit about themselves in every game that they’ve played. …Pretty competitive this season so far.” [04:14]
• Game’s Decisive Moments
  • Blazers capitalized on tired Thunder legs, winning the shot-making contest down the stretch.
  • Close call: “Blazers did get a little lucky that Aaron Wiggins’ toe was on the line and didn’t give up three free throws there.” – Dave [04:43]
• Perspective: Both hosts downplay the long-term significance for OKC due to fatigue and missing key players.

2. Lakers Beat Spurs – Growing Pains for Wemby

Timestamps: 04:44 – 09:21

• Victor Wembanyama’s Back-to-Back Struggles
  • Wemby fouled out with a line of 19 pts (5-14 FG).
  • “This is back-to-back rough games for him… even in his rookie year… next game, bounce back. We haven’t seen him put together a bad game and a mediocre game like this.” — Dave [05:11]
• Defensive Strategies Against Wemby
  • Zena: “Coaching staffs pass tape around… what Phoenix did against Wemby—making him uncomfortable, crowding his space… if you’re quick about it… you’re not going to get those calls.” [05:51]
  • Wemby’s frustration showed, but he “will have to find a way to fight through all of that because everyone’s got the tape.” [07:10]
• Luka Doncic’s Dominance
  • “Luka in this game, 35 points, had nine rebounds, 13 assists, five steals… two blocks. …The guy continues to just be on a tear.” — Dave [07:31]
  • Chemistry growing between Luka and Rui Hachimura was noted.
• Free Throw Frenzy
  • “There were 66 foul calls and 84 free throws… just too many fouls.” — Dave [08:16]
  • Zena: “The referees were the whole night just holding their ears waiting to see if Secaucus… what they thought of this call.” [08:29]
  • Disrupted rhythm for the Spurs; frustration on both sides.
• Refereeing Concerns:
  • Dave: “Let these guys play. Harrison Barnes… fouled out last night. He hasn’t fouled out since Jan 25, 2016.” [09:21]

3. Houston Rockets’ Hot Start – How High Can They Go? (w/ Will Guillory)

Timestamps: 13:26 – 25:16

• Rockets Vibes Are Immaculate
  • Will Guillory: “No, both of those guys [Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun] have been playing at an All-Star level… Shingun was an All-Star last year, and I think he’s been even better this year.” [15:13]
  • Chemistry and contributions from role players: “Jabari Smith has been really good. Joshua Kogi hit three threes… Steven Adams has been fantastic.” [15:24]
• Kevin Durant’s Integration
  • Durant not yet at ‘full KD’ but Rockets still winning: “That’s the scary part… because they’ve won five in a row… could easily be 6–1.” — Will [15:54]
• Amen Thompson’s Role Growing
  • Zena: “My question is… is there more of an opportunity to carve something out for him to be more of a primary scorer? Not just when you know KD’s not having a great night…” [16:35]
  • Will: “Amen Thompson is one of the craziest athletes I’ve ever seen on a basketball court… he makes them [other NBA athletes] look slow at times… the way he moves on the court is unlike what you see in the league.” [23:38]
• Houston’s Offensive Identity
  • “Last year, they were really good in transition and after offensive rebounds. When it came down to really slow down and execute, I think they struggled at times… what you saw in that Grizzlies game… even as [KD] was missing shots, the Grizzlies were still sending two, three bodies at him every time… that opened up stuff for everybody else.” — Will [17:42]
  • “Shangoon is so dangerous as a passer.” — Will [19:38]
• Offensive Rebounding at Historic Rates
  • Dave: “They’ve been grabbing like 40% of their offensive rebounds this season… that would be far and away more than anyone in NBA history.” [19:44]
  • Will: “Offensive rebounding is their formula… they want to grab a whole bunch of offensive rebounds… force you to size up against them.” [20:22]
• Shooting Limitations / Playoff Concerns
  • “The three-point volume for this team is going to be an issue at some point. …If they don’t figure out some shooting… I do worry that three-point volume is going to kind of bite them once they get to the playoffs.” — Dave [25:20]

Notable Quotes

• “Basketball does become a math problem, especially when you get to the playoffs, because those offensive rebounds that they’re relying on right now may not be there.” — Dave [25:20]
• On Amen Thompson: “He still feels like he’s got so much more room to grow with the jump shot, with his handle, learning how to actually run a team and be a true guard. …He had 28 against Memphis and I don’t think he took a tough shot the whole game.” — Will [24:08]

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4. Memphis Grizzlies’ Listless Performances – What’s Happening?

Timestamps: 25:20 – 33:52

• Energy Crisis in Memphis
  • Will: “It felt like [Ja] was just kind of there, like he wasn’t really into the game… there wasn’t any point where it really felt like he tried to take over or inspire his teammates.” [26:52]
  • On Jaren Jackson Jr.: “Against Houston, Jaren Jackson had one shot attempt in the first half… finished with six in the game.” [27:44]
  • The Memphis crowd is trying to will Ja back: “Come on, Ja, you can do it. …trying to hype up Ja to be the Ja that they’re used to, and …they just don’t recognize this guy.” — Will [28:17]
• Deeper Offensive Dysfunction & Coaching Dilemma
  • Zena: “The whole team looks like they don’t know where they’re supposed to be. …I’m seeing everyone kind of looking like, I don’t know, raised hands. I’m not sure where I should be, where I should go, should I cut?” [30:36]
  • Dave: “It’s not just Ja. It’s just that we are used to seeing Ja at 11. And when we’re seeing Ja at like 3 and 4, and it’s not even the primary action with Ja…” [32:09]
  • Will: “NBA man, this is a star league and your role players follow the lead of your stars and the stars just aren’t doing enough right now.” [33:52]

Notable Quotes

• “It’s stunning to watch, because what we’ve known this Memphis Grizzly team for, especially at home, is they just kill you with their energy and their pace and the way they attack the paint. And it’s just gone now.” — Will [29:11]
• “Maybe Desmond Bain was sort of the glue.” — Dave [32:33]
• “They’ve gone back to 100 pick and rolls, everything going through Ja. And now we’re saying the offense is stagnant.” — Will [33:31]

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Segment Timestamps Guide

• Thunder/Blazers Recap: 02:17–04:43
• Lakers/Spurs/Wemby/Luka: 04:44–09:21
• Rockets Analysis w/Will Guillory: 13:26–25:16
• Memphis Grizzlies Dilemma: 25:20–33:52

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Memorable Moments & Closing Notes

• “Dribbling is a key part of basketball, it turns out.” — Will, poking fun at Dallas’ guard issues [23:37]
• The dynamic between gritty young teams (Portland), rising squads (Houston), and struggling stars (Memphis) framed much of the panel’s discussion.
• Extensive, nuanced discussion on why Houston’s offensive rebounding and size have been so dominant — but why they might need to shoot more threes to reach a true contender’s ceiling.
• Vivid, honest analysis of Memphis’ malaise, with both hosts and Will Guillory peeling back layers of both Xs and Os and team psychology.

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Summary Tone:
Conversational, analytical, warm – with hosts balancing detailed stats, candid player observations, and lighthearted banter for every level of NBA fan.

Transcript

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Wish I would stop.

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[Dave DeFore]

Good morning and welcome to the NBA Daily for November 6, 2025. I'm Dave DeFore here with Zena Keda. Coming up, the Thunder lose for the first time this season. We're going to talk about that a little bit. The Lakers get a big win over the spurs and Will Guillory is here to talk about the Rockets start to the season and what the heck is going on with JA in Memphis. Good morning everybody. Good Morning, Xena. Another busy Wednesday night in the NBA. Too much stuff to cover, Zena.

[Zena Keda]

I know. That's a good point.

[Dave DeFore]

We're not going to have time to talk about the ridiculous Donovan Mitchell game. Anthony Edwards was back. We don't have time to get into that. We're going to talk about that like probably next week because he had a loss.

[Zena Keda]

So we'll keep that to the side.

[Dave DeFore]

But the reason is because the Thunder lost their first game of the season unexpectedly. You know, when we were looking at the schedule, trying to figure out winner the Thunder going to lose, none of us thought, hey, second night of a back to back. That's my bad. I, I just didn't look at the schedule Sharp enough. They also sat some guys. All right, so Chet was out, Alex Caruso was out, Lou Dort was out. But you know, the, the Thunder were not just out of this game. They were up 21 to, excuse me, 41 to 21 at the end of one. Zena, like they look like they were just going to blow them out.

[Zena Keda]

It was supposed to be business as usual. And I thought you were being funny there when you said we didn't look as sharply at the schedule. Of course, Shaden Sharp did pretty well, but his teammates, Danny Abdia, who's been on a tear this season, just being a great offensive focal point for Portland, 26 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, just one off from that. And then particularly 15 of 16 from the free throw line. And then it was a bench conversation. You just talked about the fact that OKC didn't have the depth that they typically have. Well, the depth of Portland is what really changed the game here. Thinking about Jeremy Grant, 20 points off the bench and then also a name that most people don't think about, Drop Wreath, coming off and scoring 12 as well for Portland. So they really surprised a lot of folks. Probably not them though. They've had this grit about themselves and every game that they've played. It's always been pretty competitive this season so far. And so I know OKC is going to go re recoil and get together and figure out what happened in this game, but really, second night of a back to back, you can't put too much weight on it.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, they look tired on the second night of a back to back again after that big jumping out to that big lead, they blow it. And then down the stretch, the Blazers just hit more big shots than they did. So. And then they, the Blazers did get a little bit lucky that Aaron Wiggins toe was on the line and didn't give up three free throws there. At the end of regulation, the Lakers pick up a win over the spurs. Who the spurs have been, you know, one of the bright spots to start the season. Victor women Yama, though this is back to back rough games for him. You know, we talked about the, the Phoenix game the other night where he only had nine points. This game, you know, a little bit better, had 19 points, but 5 of 14 from the field. And Zena, I want to start with, with Victor women Yama, because he found out of this game they could have. They, they maybe win the game if he's in there down the stretch. But we don't see him struggle very much. Like, even in his rookie year, like, he would struggle, but next game, bounce back. We haven't seen him put together to, you know, a bad game and a mediocre game like this. It's been a minute. What'd you think about how the Lakers approached Wemby?

[Zena Keda]

What I thought was that coaching staffs passed tape around literally ever since we saw what Phoenix did against Victor Wenyama, making him uncomfortable, crowding his space, making it really tough for him to catch without an arm coming across him. Like, I, I did feel bad for Victor as I'm watching the game, like he's getting hacked as anytime the ball went inside to him. But if you're quick about it and it just looks like it's just a flurry around him, you're not going to get those calls. And Victor just had to be a little bit stronger. But it was a, it was a tough game. You could see the frustration. That one dunk that is going to keep being played over and over and over again happened after a made basket. You saw Victor Wembanyama almost had this, like, assertion of himself. Like, no, we just got scored on. I refuse to come down again and not be a part of my team. Success. Sprints down the floor immediately. Seals in the middle of the paint, tries to get open, has to relocate. After he got bobble, he had to bobble the ball because he got pestered again. Get to the corner, does what he does, assesses the situation, pump fakes, goes down baseline, yams. But that was like the only time that we really saw him consistently assertive in this game versus what we saw on the opposite side of the ball from a Luka Doncic. So, yeah, the first frustration is happening because he knows he's getting pestered, he's getting hacked. But now he's gonna have to find a way to fight through all of that because everyone's got the tape.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, he made life hell for deandre Ayton when he was on the court. But Aiden wound up having a pretty nice game. Was really effective when. When Wemby wasn't out there, Luca was crazy.

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Luca.

[Dave DeFore]

Luca. In this game, 35 points, had nine rebounds, 13 assists, five steals, which is a career high. Two blocks. You know, just. The guy continues to just be on a tear to start the season. The Lakers look great. They didn't have Austin Reeves. That team has some pretty good chemistry. I really especially like the way that Rui Hachimura plays off Luca. It's very interesting. And then one more note from this game, Xena. But before we go to break, there were 66 foul calls and 84 free throws. This is absurd. The season has started off the complete opposite of what we had going on last year. Bring back the physicality. Let these guys play. Victor Wembanyama. No wonder he was frustrated. Yeah, all these guys should be frustrated. It was just too many fouls.

[Zena Keda]

It was a little bit tit for tat. Um, all night long there was. I, like, I. You know, Secaucus was busy all night long. Have you seen that meme where that guy has a cell phone to his head and he's like, mad and he's like, calling the authorities? That's what I felt like. The referees were the whole night just holding their ears waiting to see if Secaucus. What they thought of this player, what they thought of this call, it was just like, okay. And it kind of ruined the rhythm of the game a little bit. And you also saw that for the Spurs. You know, this spurs team that's been going up and down the floor and most of their matchups coming into this one, it disrupted a little bit of their momentum. And you could see them getting a little bit frustrated. Yeah, it was very much a game of calls. But Luka Doncic, you know what? Even with that, he still dominated. And it was a phenomenal effort for the Lakers, for sure.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah. Again, it's just. It gets to be a tough watch when it's just a parade to the free throw line, you know? And again, to start the season off is just kind of crazy. I mean, look, just put it in perspective. Harrison Barnes is not a guy that. That commits a lot of fouls. He hasn't fouled out of a basketball game since the 2015, 2016 season, since January 25, 2016, when he played for the Golden State Warriors.

[Zena Keda]

State Warriors.

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And he fouled out of the game last night against the Lakers. Let's clean this up, guys. Referees, put the whistles away, guys. Stick around. After the break. We got Will Guillory, who was in the house for Houston and Memphis. We're going to talk about Houston, start to the season and what's going on with the Memphis Grizzlies and why it's not just about John Morant.

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[Dave DeFore]

We'Re only a couple weeks into the season, but our man Will Guillory finds himself in the middle of every interesting thing happening in the N B A2 and O Pelicans. The last two games, right? They've won two straight for the first time since February. That's the team we used to cover. You cover the Rockets for us now. And they played the Memphis Grizzlies, who look like they didn't want to be there last night. Will, how's it going?

[Will Guillory]

Yeah, people who usually follow me on this podcast, though, I usually come on bringing the bad vibes with me, whether it's what's going wrong with Zion Williamson, how bad the Pelicans are, who's getting fired. But now there's nothing but good vibes in the Will Gillery universe. The Pels are winning, the Rockets are winning. My UNO Privateers are getting dubs to start the year, so it's nothing but good vibes for me right now in Memphis.

[Dave DeFore]

Well, look, good vibes. We'll talk about the Grizzlies in a minute. I want to talk about the Rockets because the vibes are good, right? They're five and two to start the year, in spite of desperately, in my opinion, missing Fred Van Vliet as their point guard. You know what I mean? That the plan was pretty clear that he was going to be the starter and you can see where they miss his organization. But a game like last night against the Grizzlies where KD doesn't really have a great game, that stands out to me when especially they win it handily, it didn't really feel even when Memphis started to kind of creep back in the game, it felt like the Rockets could always just put their foot back on the gas. And I want to talk about that A little bit because we've focused so much of our time the last few months on Kevin Durant and then the lack of a point guard that we've sort of missed a little bit of the forest for the trees. They've got a bunch of other guys. I mean, Amen Thompson and Alperin Shangoon have been excellent to start the year.

[Will Guillory]

No, both of those guys have been playing at an All Star level. There's no question. I mean, Chengun was an All Star last year, and I think he's been even better this year with the way he's kind of running the offense, scoring in the paint. He's been effective when they go double big when he's the center and kind of the guy, the. The guy running the show. It's been extremely impressive. And also some of these other role guys around them. Jabari Smith has been really good. Joshua Kogi hit three threes in the game against Memphis. Stephen Adams has been fantastic this year. I think they're getting contributions from everybody and, and if. And we've had some kind of, you know, a couple moments where we've seen Katie, but Katie, through these first six or seven games hasn't really been the full Kevin Durant that we expected in Houston. And I think that's really the scary part because they've won five in a row. They're playing extremely well. Could easily be 6 and 1 right now if they won that OKC game to start the year. So that their figuring things out and getting wins along the way, which is exactly what you would want if you're a Rockets fan.

[Zena Keda]

It's kind of crazy. There's a few teams around the association that you would say are still trying to figure things out, and Houston's definitely one of those. And the fact that they haven't even really clicked on all cylinders just yet is scary times. I mean, I'm looking at even Tar Eason starting this season. We were kind of like, he's forcing it a little bit, right? He wasn't really clicking with the offense last night against the Memphis Grizzlies, 4 of 8 from 3 getting rebounds, all the above. I love Will that you wrote an article about Houston's offense and just talked about the things you kind of just laid out. Alper and Shangun being that hub, being a passing big kd, obviously being able to get to his spots. But we know, we know that Houston was a great offense last year and they were capable of beating teams. And the question was, is this going to be enough when teams scout them and they can play really great defense against them. Like, is it going to be enough that KD is a great scorer and Alper and Chengun can back folks down and get to his spot in the post? And so my question is, looking at Amin Thompson putting up 26 shots last night, is there more of an opportunity to carve something out for him to be more of a primary scorer? Not just when you know KD's not having a great night, but just having him be more of a primary option in the offense?

[Will Guillory]

No, I think that's the really the fascinating part about KD being a part of this team now, because you said they were a really good offense last year and I would say they were really good in transition and they were really good after offensive rebounds. But when it came down to really slow down and execute, I think they struggled at times. And we saw that against Golden State in the first round of the playoffs last year. And I think what you saw in that Grizzlies game in particular is yeah, KD missed a lot of shots. But even as he was missing shots, the Grizzlies were still sending two, three bodies at him every time he touched the ball. And that opened up stuff for everybody else. And if you go back and look at a lot of those Amen Thompson shots, there were shots directly at the rim, coming off a swing swing, him getting wide open, lobs him getting wide open, dump off passes in a dunker spot. Because KD draws so much attention when he's on the court, even when he's not shooting the ball well, teams have to send multiple bodies at him to slow him down. So I think that's really a weapon that this team didn't have last year, right? Where even with Shangun playing at the all star level, just having that guy in half court situations who can not only score but can draw double teams consistently that can give you open shots Atari east and give you open shots for Amen Thompson. And that's been making them much more efficient in half court situations and frankly makes them really scary come playoff time because we know what KD can do come playoff time. But in the past, we've seen where teams force him off the ball. Some of the guys around them haven't necessarily come through, but now we're seeing these guys getting more and more comfortable finding their shots, getting the right spacing. And this team can be really dangerous because it's not just KD, but when you get the ball out of KD's hands. Shangoon is so dangerous as a Passer especially.

[Dave DeFore]

And he's starting to draw double, too, Will.

[Will Guillory]

Exactly. Exactly right.

[Dave DeFore]

He's starting to also draw the attention of the defense, and that's where things are. The geometry of the floor is changing for everybody else, and that's. A man is going to benefit from that greatly. If he can stick shots, great. But if he can continue to put rim pressure after those guys get in the ball, I think that that's where they're really going to find a lot of success. Another place that they've been successful. I mean, we knew that they were coming in, that their intention was to play big, be big, and. And Kevin Durant, by the way, is. Is 7:1. And we don't think about him as being big, but pretty big. All right, so they're huge.

[Zena Keda]

I think he wants you to think that he's 7:1.

[Dave DeFore]

Yeah, I know. You know, he's 6:13. Adams, they've got Shingoon. Clint Capella was giving him good minutes last night and kind of a down night for them on the glass. They only grabbed about 31% of their misses. They've been grabbing like 40% of their offensive rebounds this season. And you know, that is. That would be far and away more than anyone in NBA history. That is a great game plan because taking more shots, having more possessions is huge. But is that sustainable? You know, where the. Where the easy buckets going to come from for this team?

[Will Guillory]

It's funny that you bring that up, because if you go to the athletic.com I got a story about that this morning about their offensive rebound. I appreciate the plug, but no, I think you're exactly right that this was the number one team in offensive rebounding last year. Right. So they were really good at this last year. And like you said, they're even better this year. And I think a big part of it is that, you know, Stephen Adams is fully healthy now. They're just playing big all the time. They're running double bigs. Clint Capella and Spot Bennett has been really good for them, and I think this is going to be their formula. They want to grab a whole bunch of offensive rebounds. They want to bully teams in the paint. They want to force you to size up against them. Where a lot of teams want to size down, they want to size up all the time. They want to have bigger guys on the court. And you're right. I mean it. And it's kind of what we talked about before last year. That wasn't a formula for success because when we get to playoff time and Katie Kind of talked about this recently. You got to make shots, right? You got to have a guy out there who can make shots, who can, in tough moments against tough defense, put the ball in the basket. And they just didn't have that last year. Not enough against the Steph Curry Warriors. And now that they're hoping KD can kind of solve some of those problems and maybe an improved version of Ammantops and an improved version of Alper and Shangun can get them across the finish line. But you're right, they need some of these other guys to make shots. And I think in particular three point shots, when you're talking about the Tyree Easton's of the world, the Joshua Kogis, well, they're going to eventually get Dorian, Finney, Smith back. They need those guys to knock down threes so you can create that space for your best guys. Because we've seen them figure it out with these double and triple teams. But it's hard to live that way. Like you said, having your best players fight off two, three guys consistently. So those other guys have got to make shots. But we're going to continue to see this group attack the boards at a record pace. And I don't know if other teams really just have the size to contend with them.

[Zena Keda]

I love the intentionality that the Houston Rockets have when it comes to offensive rebounding because it's one thing to be able to get to the glass, but they're also leading the league in offensive box outs. And I think that that just goes to show just how much of a game plan it is for them to ensure that they're getting those and grabbing those. There's also a level to this and I wonder how much. Well, this has come up like, like we're talking about hitting shots, but let's just be real. The reason why I asked that question about Amen and you know, 26 shots, his shots are coming off of him in open space, beating his defender one on one. It's. Those are like the quote unquote, easy buckets that we're finding. It's coming off of being athletic, right? Being crazy good on defense, turning the ball over, going the other way, being crazy good on the glass, jumping over people. I mean, that one shot we saw of Amen Thompson dunking the other night and his three teammates looking at him like he's Jesus coming back to earth was insane. Like, this is what, this is what they do. So it's like, how much have they talked about. Yeah, our athleticism kind of outdoes the fact that or outpaces the fact that we're not maybe offensively perfect just yet in terms of hitting shots. I look at these two teams, and like Houston, Dallas, both teams have size, but one team's just a little bit more athletic. And you're seeing the outcome of that. How much can you rely on that aspect of it going throughout the season?

[Will Guillory]

Yeah, that Dallas thing, we could do a whole pot about that. Or what the. What the heck is going on in Dallas right now?

[Dave DeFore]

You need guards, Will. Turns out dribbling is important.

[Will Guillory]

Dribbling is a key part of basketball, it turns out. But nah, I think I was having this conversation with somebody in the media section last night at the Memphis game. I really do think Ahmed Thompson is one of the craziest athletes I've ever seen on a basketball court because we've seen guys who can jump, we've seen guys who are fast, we've seen guys who are quick. He's got it all. I mean, the way he moves on the court is unlike what you see in the league where the most athletic people in the world play. And he makes them look slow at times. The way he can just. Just move so quickly and get to his spots and just kind of soar through the air and kind of figure out what he's going to do once he gets there. He's having a really incredible past couple games, and I think, man, when you watch him, it still feels like he's got so much more room to grow with the jump shot, with his handle learning how to actually run a team and be a true guard. He's so good right now. He. He's so impactful with the way he can, you know, do things on offense and defense, but he still got so much room to grow, which is impressive. And I think. I think you got to give Eme Udoka a lot of credit for the way he's figuring out how to put amen in advantageous spots where some coaches would probably be like, hey, give him the ball and let him figure it out. Where now they're like, hey, we can stash him in the dunker spot and let him take advantage of the doubles that sh. Drawn. We can sometimes allow him to run the offense in transition or, you know, bring it up a little bit. They. They put him in different spots where it doesn't feel like he has to do things where he's uncomfortable doing them right. You don't see him taking a whole bunch of jump shots or coming off a million picker rolls throughout games. They're putting him in spots where he's comfortable, where he's getting the shots that he wants to get. And I think that's what makes him so dangerous because like you said, he had 28 against Memphis and I don't think he took a tough shot the whole game. I mean it was just easy.

[Zena Keda]

But 28, they're just to be fair on his athleticism. That's to be fair.

[Dave DeFore]

20, the whole team's 26 shots. All right, like we, we gotta bump the efficiency up a little bit. I will say it is wild that in 20, 25 a guy had 26 shots and only three threes. You know, the three point volume for this team is going to be an issue at some point. Like basketball does become a math problem, especially when you get to the playoffs, because those offensive rebounds that they're relying on right now may not be there. You know, I, I, I'm worried about what they're going to do in the half court when the shots don't fall. And part of that is that they just don't get up enough of them right from, from deep. They shoot a lot of mid range and that's fine for now. And that's going to win them a bunch of games I think in the playoffs too, because they're ready to take those. But I do worry that three point volume is going to kind of bite them once they get to the playoffs if they don't figure out some shooting. All right, you, you saw Memphis last night. I want to talk to you about the Grizzlies because you're in the building, right? You him, it's, you know, we're on Jaw watch. Basically, you know, we, we're breaking out the fake jaw trades. Jaw said that he's kind of lost his joy in the post game press conference. Thomas is Isola, the coach of the, the Memphis Grizzlies. He was talking about how he feels like, you know, they've got three guys in the half court that are not moving at all times. They, their energy is up and down. They just, they're inconsistent. That's the way it looks at the eye test. What was it like in the building? You know, did you feel anything from, from Ja. The Grizzlies? Like did you see anything?

[Will Guillory]

It was really just stunning is the only word I can really think of because, you know, I was here last year, you know, when this team was making their runs of the playoffs and during that first round series against Oklahoma City and you know, the usual John Morant experience is him roaring at the crowd you know, running 100 miles per hour up the court, talking trash to the other team. And in that Houston game, it felt like he was just kind of there, like he wasn't really into the game. There wasn't any point where it really felt like he tried to take over or inspire his teammates. It just kind of felt like he was going through the motions again, which, you know, this whole thing started because he was going through the motions against the Lakers. And his coach called him out for it. And it feels like just whatever's going on hasn't been resolved. They still haven't figured it out. And we can talk about the other guys, but let's be real, they're following the lead of their two best player. Their two best players are not engaged, they're not aggressive. I mean, against Houston, Jaren Jackson had one shot attempt in the first half. One. I think he finished with six in the game. Six for the game. I mean, he just, he just wasn't there. And John Morant took way more, but he was much. His efficiency was in the drain. He was just taking a whole bunch of jumpers. It just. It's funny sitting in the arena and what I love going about going to Memphis is that we actually sit court side, unlike, you know, 95 of other NBA arenas. So we're actually able to hear stuff. And during the game you hear grizzly smell like, come on Josh, you can do it.

[Dave DeFore]

Come on, pick it up.

[Will Guillory]

And it's like they're trying to hype up job to kind of be the job that they're used to. And they like, they just don't recognize this guy who's out there, who's in the past has put this franchise on his back. I mean, that's why the people in Memphis love him so much, because he's carried this team. And that's what he kind of took pride in, being the guy who put this team on his back. And right now he's just kind of there. And I don't know what you do to fix it. I don't know what that problem actually is. That's kind of the weird thing. We don't really know know why he's acting like this right now and why it's kind of bled over to Jaren Jackson as well now. But it's a major problem and I don't know what you do to fix it. And I think it's just, like I said, it's stunning to watch because what we've known this Memphis Grizzly team for, especially at home, is they just kill you with their energy and their pace and the way they attack the paint. And it's just gone now. It just doesn't exist with this team anymore. I don't know how they get it back.

[Zena Keda]

I'm gonna take a sigh. I'm also gonna take the devil's advocate position here. Okay. Put my player cap on here. And this is for the both of you.

[Dave DeFore]

Yep.

[Zena Keda]

After that Lakers game and, you know, everyone saw the clip of Blake Griffin, you know, properly criticizing but also building up John Morant and how his body language was in that game. We all talk. We talked about it. Dave, you and I broke it down. It did not look good. Absolutely. So I immediately, when I watched this game tonight, I had particular goggles on. I wanted to see number one. Is John Morant doing the little things, the things that you don't necessarily get paid to do, but will absolutely change the game. Are you engaging with your teammates when they do good things, tapping them on the way back, tell them, good shot, et cetera? Are you rotating in help defense? Are you even trying to find out where you should be in help defense when the shot goes up? Are you turning to your man to touch him or check him before he goes to the glass? These little things I was paying attention to because he was not doing it against the Lakers, but I noticed, okay, he's doing them not tremendously or not super, like energetically, but he's doing them. You just said will. This whole lack of energy on offense has happened to Ja, but it's also bled over to Jaren Jackson Jr. I would say it's blended. It's bled over to everyone.

[Will Guillory]

I started looking at that offense a little bit.

[Zena Keda]

The whole team looks. Thank you, Dave. The whole team looks like they don't know where they're supposed to be. The second that someone gets the ball at the top of the key. And I'll give you. I'll give John this another thing that we saw. Yes, he had a lot of pushed and forced, you know, jumpers in the mid range, but in transition, he was looking for folks. We saw some pretty, you know, alleys that he threw to Jock and, you know, getting things going on, transition, whatever, but he was looking. It just no one's cutting. The only person that was cutting was Santee Aldama. Cedric Howard would bleed out to the wing. You saw Vince Williams Jr. Doing that. You saw everyone kind of just being like, oops, someone's in the middle of the paint. I'm not sure. Let me not get in the way. I'M starting to look at this and say, okay, we've been evaluating Jaw with this backdrop that might be bigger than ja, which is, do y' all know what y' all are doing on offense? And I just want to know, is it unfair bias? Yes, we. We saw that game, but is it now unfair bias that we've already got our eye on JA trained to see him not be energetic in an offense that. I'm now taking a step back and being like, this ain't just ja. I'm seeing everyone kind of looking like, I don't know, raised hands. I'm not sure where I should be, where I should go, should I cut? And I think it's ultimately impacting how we're evaluating him in this moment.

[Dave DeFore]

I think it's. That's a good observation. I mean, you know, again, like, we. It's not just jaw. It's just that we are used to seeing Ja at 11.

[Zena Keda]

Yeah.

[Dave DeFore]

And when we. We're seeing Ja at like 3 and 4, and it's not even the primary action with Ja. Right. Like, he. He is still doing things. It's that when he gives the ball up, then what. But as you. As you said, there's a lot of that. It's kind of. It's a bunch of guys on that team starts to make you think, well, maybe they're missing Desmond Bain. Maybe Desmond was sort of the glue.

[Will Guillory]

Yeah, no, I was going to say, I remember Taylor Jenkins at the start of last year saying, hey, we're too Job Morant dependent. We need to have more movement, more ball movement, more spacing, more guys cutting off the ball, and we need to be less pick and roll every single time and depending upon ja. And what happened was, guys said, no, we don't want to do that. We want to be the Ja Morant team that we've been in the past. So they've gone back to 100 pick and rolls, everything going through ja, and now we're saying the offense is stagnant. Guys are uninvolved. And I think Zena's right. You got to be able to find a happy medium. But also, I think this was the issue last year, was that they didn't want to be this team. They wanted to have more movement. They wanted to have more cutting, and the guys kind of rejected it. So now we're here, which Isola. And like I said, I don't know how you kind of put the genie back in the bottle now where you. You tried this experiment where they. They revamped their offense. They had some success but they eventually just collapsed at the end of last season and now they're kind of doubling down on hey, we're a jama rant pick and roll team and it's just not working. And I think you're right that those other guys have to contribute. But we know this the NBA man, this is a star league and your role players follow the lead of your stars and the stars just aren't doing enough right now.

[Dave DeFore]

Yep. Well you know what guys, maybe Zach Edie will fix all of this and it will just forget any of this ever happen. Guys, go and read Will Guillory over at the Athletic. He's going to be covering the Rockets. But of course good source of information. All about the NBA. Thanks to Zena Keda. I'm Dave DeFore. This has been the NBA Daily. Thanks for waking up with us.

[Zena Keda]

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