← The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
Hoops Tonight - Should Nuggets Be Worried? Lakers Earn 2 Seed, Suns Embarrassment
00:34:33
Loading summary
Transcript35 lines
- [00:00]
T-Mobile Advertiser
You can count on T Mobile to help keep you connected from big cities to small towns on America's largest 5G network. Switch the T Mobile keep your phone and they'll pay it off up to 800 bucks per line via prepaid card. Learn more@t mobile.com heap and switch up to four lines via virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service port in 90 plus days with device and eligible carrier and timely redemption. Acquired card has no cash access and expires in six months make some Noise.
- [00:37]
Podcast Host
For the Greatest Shooter of All Time Steph Curry we went live from All Star Weekend for a new podcast called Go Greatest of Their Era and we ranked our top five shooters from the 2000s.
- [00:50]
Podcast Guest
Pak4PA is a okay.
- [00:51]
Podcast Host
You won't believe who Steph left off his list.
- [00:54]
Podcast Guest
That's so tough. That's why we tap these conversations. That's why we absolutely love it.
- [00:58]
Podcast Host
Listen to Go T E Greatest of Their Era on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:06]
Bobby Bones
Calling all Yellowstone fans, let's go to work. Join Bobby Bones on the Official Yellowstone Podcast for exclusive cast interviews, behind the scenes insights and a deep dive into the themes that have made Yellowstone a cultural phenomenon. Our family legacy is this ranch, my protector of my life. Listen to the Official Yellowstone Podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:36]
Ashlyn Harris
We all have a moment that splits us wide open. On my new podcast, Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris, I'll sit down with trailblazers from sports, music, fashion, entertainment and politics to explore their toughest moments and the incredible comebacks that followed. Listen to Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris, an iHeart women's sports production on the iHeartradio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports the volume so when.
- [02:10]
Jason
I'm getting ready to take my wife out for a date, I'm always looking at what I'm gonna be wearing, where we're gonna be going. But there's one thing that is completely non negotiable and that is deodorant. I got sent some stuff from Mando a while back and I have been using their mount for Fuji deodorant for a while. And my favorite thing about it is I've had really frustrating experiences with irritation in my armpits from deodorant for a while. Not even just the stuff that has the aluminum in it, sometimes even just regular deodorant just has something in it that'll just irritate my skin. And I've just had an incredible experience with Mando. I really like the smell of their Mount Fuji scent. It doesn't irritate me at all. I've been using it for a while. I highly recommend it to you guys. It's a whole body deodorant so so you can use it anywhere. It's created by a doctor who saw firsthand how normal BO was being misdiagnosed and mistreated. It's clinically proven to block odor all day and control odor for up to 72 hours. Mando starter Pack is perfect for new customers. Comes with a solid stick deodorant, a cream tube deodorant, two free products of your choice like mini body wash or deodorant wipes, and free shipping as a special offer for listeners. New customers get $5 off a starter pack with our exclusive code that equates to over 40% off your starter PAC back. Use code jason@shopmando.com s H-O-P m a n d o.com Please support our show and tell them we sent you smell fresher, stay drier and boost your confidence from head to toe with Mando. All right. Welcome to Hoops Tonight here at the Volume. Happy Monday everybody. Hope all of you guys are having a great start to your week. Got a jam packed show for you today. We are leading off with a matchup between the two previous NBA champions as the Denver Nuggets went into Boston. I thought it was a very interesting game that explores the floor of both of these teams and some realistic issues that Denver might potentially have to deal with in a postseason series against some of the best teams in the league. After that, we're going to talk briefly on Lakers Clippers as the Lakers have jumped all the way up to the two seed in the Western Conference without two starters putting together an impressive win against the Clippers. And then at the tail end of the show, I want to talk a little bit about the Phoenix Suns and after another embarrassing collapse against the Minnesota Timberwolves last night, some quotes from Kevin Durant about the frustrations going on inside the locker room. I want to at least just pitch an idea of maybe trying again with a version of this team that I don't think will happen because I think the Suns will end up blowing it up this summer. But I want to talk about it because even just within the concept of basketball culture around the league, as we talk about other teams, I think it's a valuable kind of example that we can take a look at as we look at other teams. You guys know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the Hoops Tonight YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at_jason lt so you guys don't miss show announcements. Don't forget about our podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts under Hoops Tonight. It's also super helpful if you leave a rating and a review on that front, don't forget about our new social media feeds on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, where we're releasing content throughout the year. And last but not least, keep dropping mailbag questions in the YouTube comments. We can get to them in our mailbags throughout the week. We usually go Fridays. We're going to be recording a mailbag later today. That'll come out on Tuesday because I'm headed to Breckenridge to do some skiing with my wife. This week we'll still have some content. I plan on doing a show on on Wednesday and on Thursday, but for the travel and for tomorrow, we're gonna have a mailbag coming out. All right, let's talk some basketball. So you know, with this Nuggets Celtics game, that was an interesting example of what it's like surviving in the regular season when you've got guys out of the lineup, especially for these serious teams, right? You're trying to navigate the process of getting to mid April with your roster intact so that you have your best chance to be the best version of yourself when all the chips are down, right? And in those situations, when you're down key players. To me, it's all about your foundation on both ends of the floor. On defense, you need to be able to come up with a capable defensive game plan for the personnel you have available. In my opinion, game planning is such an important part of regular season basketball. In the playoffs, it's mostly about adjustments and like really, really intricately digging down to the strengths and weaknesses of both rosters. But when you see a team in like a onesie twosie kind of thing, where it's like, oh, we might play him once, we might play him twice in three days, but like, then we're all moving on with our schedules and like guys are going to be in and out of lineups and everything is going to be just about winning that particular game, throwing out a good game plan can help you steal a game, which is very important in the 82 game concept. And then on offense you have to have Two things. You got to have shot creation and you have to have play finishing. If you have those things, then you have a strong foundation on the offensive end of the floor. I thought the gap between Denver and Boston in that regard was stark. Yesterday Denver was missing Aaron Gordon, but Boston was missing two starters, Drew Holiday and Chris Alps Porzingis. And I thought Boston just completely controlled that game from start to finish. Yeah, there were times where they go on a run. Jamal Murray had hit a couple shots and get a couple stops, and they keep the game relatively close. Like they even cut it to three points late in the game. But every time they made that type of run, Denver couldn't get a stop. And then on the other end of the floor, Boston could play Denver's offense either into some sort of tough bit of shot making from Jamal Murray or kick out passes to Christian Brown and Russell Westbrook, who were struggling to make shots last night. They were 4 for 16 on three point shots, right? And Jamal Murray made a lot of tough shots. He's on a tear right now. For over a month, he's been like 26 points a game on well over 50% from the field and well over 40% from three. But at the end of the day, in those late game situations, anytime Boston really wanted to tighten the screws on both ends of the floor, Denver's offense had more variance. Cause they were playing in Denver into tough shots for Jamal Murray and shots that they could live with with these inferior role players. Whereas Boston, it kind of felt like they could either. Well, let's get into it. So, like when Boston had the ball, they had a surefire way to get a good shot every single time. They could either attack Jamal Murray in space on switches with Jalen Brown, or they could get into the joke. It's at the level stuff that we've been talking about where you bring whoever Jokic is guarding up into the ball screen and Jokic is going to have to come up and attack the basketball. That puts two on the ball. Now we have four on threes at on the backside of that action, right? And by the way, Denver got some stops. Jalen had some bad isos against Jamal Murray where he settled for some unnecessary tough shots. He also missed some pretty easy shots. He talked about that after the game in his postgame presser. But generally speaking, though, it was a quality entry point for Boston. They could go to Jaylen Brown against Jamal Murray and get a high quality shot right then when they attacked Jokic. And ball screens, they got great stuff every single time. Down the end, down the stretch of that game when they were on offense, like if Yokich went up to the level, they just moved the ball around. There's a big one late where they brought Jokic up to the level on the left wing. They dropped it off to Cornett. It was a two on one where Al Horford was wide open in the right corner And Michael Porter Jr. Was the tagger and he just did a poor job and Cornett ended up just taking it right at him and drawing a foul. But like, even if MPJ had done a better job, that pass is just getting swung to the right corner and Al Horford's getting a wide open 3. Al Horford was fantastic yesterday, by the way. But like when they brought Yoko up to the level, they could get great looks. So then Mike Malone's go goes, yeah, we can't do that, so we got to try switching. So then he starts switching with Jokic onto the ball, specifically onto Derek White. And Derek White just quickly gives two buckets to the Nuggets attacking Nicole Jokic beats him off the dribble to the right, forces Jamal Murray up and help. Easy little lob pass to Luke Cornett right underneath the rim, other end of the floor. He dribbles Jokic out of a switch onto the left wing and just hits a pull up three in his face. Because Jokic really can only do one of two things in switches against good perimeter players. He can either take away the shot or he can take away the drive. And either way, like again, there's a certain like bend but don't break quality with those things. That'll work against lesser teams like Jamal Murray can get enough stops against lesser players. Nicole Jokic can pressure the ball well enough at the level and they can rotate well enough against lesser teams. But they're now 6 and 13 this year against teams in the top 10 in point differential. And it's been this consistent theme. Teams are able to get their defense into rotation and the Nuggets are not a very good defense in rotation. When Denver had the ball in this game, Boston was able to just completely ignore Russell Westbrook and help heavily off of Christian Brown. This basically nullified Jokic post ups down the stretch. They basically could not go to that as an option. So it forced the Nuggets to play a lot of two man game when Nicole Jokic and Jamal Murray, while keeping an extra defender in the paint defending it three on two. Now what that does is it forces them entirely into over the top shot making. And by the way Jamal made a lot of shots. We talked about it. He even got a layup on this really cool sequence where Jamal pulled Al Horford out and then beat him off the dribble. And then Jokic basically just set a screen in the lane on Jamal Murray's original defender and it just gave him a little easy layup, but that was pretty much the only easy one. The rest of it was tough contest. He made a one legged runner along the left lane line. There were turnaround fadeaways like he was hitting a lot of really tough shots in that stretch. But it's just difficult to keep up with Boston under that dynamic. Not to mention it wasn't just Jamal Murray shot making. A lot of times they were able to stay close to Jamal and who were the release valves? Kick out passes to Russell Westbrook, Kick out passes to Christian Brown. Jokic had a turnover where Brown and Westbrook both cut to the basket at the same time in the same spot and made themselves easy to guard. It's a tough dynamic to manage when you have the defense specifically tilting towards shots that people are comfortable with them taking. I want, I want to, I want to shout out Boston first and then I want to get back to Denver to talk about some of these realities and what they mean for the postseason. I don't think Boston played particularly well. They only generated 22 catch and shoot jump shots. Again, that's been an issue for them as they've struggled to kind of get into their drive and kick as of late. Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown both struggled to knock down their pull up jump shots in this game. They took 13 of them and only made three in this game. But they have such a high floor on both ends of the court. For all the stuff we talked about, the strong defense, game planning, the commitment to detailed basketball culture, we're going to be talking about a lot of that when we get to the Suns in the later part of the show. But they had a strong game plan and they had a high floor in both ends of the floor and they were able to get a win despite being down bodies, despite not playing particularly well. That is that strong foundation on both ends of the four. Boston's offense is sputtering a little bit in their last eight games. They only have a 117 offensive rating, which is not bad. It's still top 10. It was like eighth or ninth in that span. But again, it's not as good as we know Boston is capable of being where they want to be. They aren't generating as many quality threes as they usually do, but they're down two starters and they're just getting through the games in March and they're six and two in that eight game stretch, which is perfectly fine that that I'm not worried about Boston. By the way, we have some mailbag questions that we're going to be talking about tomorrow about big picture Boston stuff where we'll get into some more of those details surrounding how I feel about Boston in the big picture. But there are some realities in play for Denver that will make things tough for them in the postseason. On defense, they don't really have a way to stay out of rotation and they've been a poor rotation team all year. They bring Jokic to the level. It's four on threes on the back end and they haven't defended those well. And, and if they switch, Jokic can't really take more than just one thing away either. The driver, the pull up jump shot. So they end up in issues there. And Jamal can again hold up reasonably well in some matchups, but not against the top teams that go at him with superstar talent. This is where the loss of KCP has been an issue. Because of the loss of KCP, teams have had a way of defending the two man game. 3 on 2 and Jamal isos and Jokic post ups 2 on 1 in a way that they didn't have in the past. Christian Brown is a serviceable shooter. He hits 42% of his wide open catch and shoot threes, but he's only 31% when he's guarded. So he's well over a point per possession when he's wide open. But if you run him off the line or if you offer a contest, he dips down below a point per possession. Even worse, he doesn't really take them when he's guarded. He's only taken 49 catch and shoot threes all season. On film, one of the biggest things I notice is like he's got a hesitant trigger. You can close out short at him and he probably won't shoot it. There were a lot of sequences like that last night. If you guys are yesterday that you, you guys might remember where it was like kick out to Brown, short closeout, pump fake drive to the left, kick out to Russell Westbrook wide open. He doesn't want to take it. He still took a bunch yesterday, but he doesn't want to take it. There were sequences where it was like Brown pump fake, drive, kick, Russell Westbrook pump, fake, drive. Oh, now the advantage is gone. We're kicking it out. There's four seconds on the shot clock. Someone's got to jack up a shot. And again, like, Russ has shot the ball better this year. But what you're seeing is what the game plan will be, which is dare him to shoot type of shots. And he's going to have to hit those at a high rate because again, when you're talking about shooting percentages, it's not in a vacuum. It's relative to the surrounding circumstances. A 37% three point shooter that takes seven or eight of them a game and is consistently guarded out at the three point line has a value, an offensive utility that extends far beyond their shot making. And it manifests in an influx of offensive spacing and just offense. It'll manifest in their offensive rating. Right. If you shoot 37, 38% on two attempts per game, that's where it becomes tricky because you're barely getting over a point per possession, but you're not being guarded. And outside of the two attempts that you take, there's a. There's a negative offensive utility in terms of the way you affect spacing. In order for Russell Westbrook to do the amount of damage he needs to do shooting the ball in the postseason, he's going to have to hit close to 40% of those threes for teams to actually be like, we got to close out to Russ where you can get that offensive utility. KCP is not having the best season in the world in Orlando, and it was. He was going to be expensive. And I understand the realities surrounding that situation, I do. But there was a formula for the Nuggets that worked in 2023, and it was three guys in Jamal Kentavius and Michael that you could not leave open and a vertical spacer along the baseline and Aaron Gordon. It was a delicate balance. You take one of those guys out and swap them out with an iffy shooter like Russell Westbrook or a guy that's got a hesitant trigger like Christian Brown. The dynamic starts to fall apart and again, it was exacerbated yesterday. Aaron Gordon's hurt. So you got both Russ and Christian Brown in there for parts of the of crunch time. Like, I understand that there are some realities there, but like against the elite teams in a seven game context, one of those two guys is going to be on the floor. It's going to be Russ or it's going to be Christian, and teams will, from a game plan standpoint, offer help off of him. That is a different dynamic than what the Nuggets had when they won the title and I just think it's important to acknowledge that. What does that mean? It means that Denver's margin for error is much smaller than it used to be. It means all of the variables need to swing in their favor if they're going to win the title. They need Jamal Murray to stay this hot all the way through to the end. He's been at again 26 points per game for over a month at over 50% from the field, over 40% from three. He's playing great. They're going to need that all the way through. If he dips below that, it's going to be an issue. They need jokic to shoot 45% on threes. They'll need all those spotty spot up shooters. The guys like Gordon, Brown, Westbrook. They're going to need those guys to shoot in the high 30s from three all postseason. They're going to need to massively sharpen up their defensive rotations. They'll need opponents to shoot poorly. If one or two of those things swings in the opposite direction, this team is going to lose in the second round. Their margin for error is much smaller than it used to be and I think that that's been screaming off the screen in the high leverage matchups for Denver so far this season. Who's scoring big in the NBA this season? You are with all the new ways to get in on the action at DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. From Monster Slams to dishing the rock to cleaning the glass, get behind your favorite players in the prop bets you can make on DraftKings, the home of NBA player props. Ready? Place your first bet. Try betting on something simple like picking how many points your favorite player will have. Go to the DraftKings sportsbook app and make your pick right now. The Oklahoma City Thunder have supplanted the Boston Celtics as the favorites to win the title on DraftKings at +225 with the Celtics right behind them at +235. First time here's something special just for you. New DraftKings customers bet $5 to get 150 in bonus bets instantly. Take it to the rack with DraftKings Sportsbook. Every point counts. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use code HOOPS. That's H O O P S. That's Code Hoo for new customers to get 150 in bonus bets. When you bet just five bucks only on DraftKings, the crown is yours. Gambling Problem Call 1-800- gambler in New York, call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY to 467-369 In Connecticut, help is available for problem gambling. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas. 21 plus. Age and eligibility varies by jurisdiction. Void. In Ontario, bonus bets expire 168 hours after issuance for additional terms and responsible gaming DKNG Co bball Geico's motorcycle expertise.
- [20:26]
Geico Advertiser
Means I'm covered by people who know.
- [20:28]
Ashlyn Harris
Bikes like I do.
- [20:30]
Geico Advertiser
I'm happy as a clam.
- [20:31]
Geico Voice
No conclusive scientific research has shown clams can experience happiness.
- [20:34]
Geico Advertiser
It just meant that I feel really good about my coverage.
- [20:36]
Geico Voice
I mean, even if you took the clam out for the best day ever, visiting the zoo, taking a scenic ride, knowing you're insured by specialists, and sharing a strawberry ice cream cone together, the clam would not feel happy and your strawberry cone would taste sort of clammy.
- [20:46]
Jason
Ew.
- [20:46]
Geico Voice
Geico's motorcycle specialist who know bikes like you to assume no liability for clammy ice cream cones. Geico expertise for your motorcycle make some.
- [20:55]
Podcast Host
Noise for the greatest shooter of all time, Steph Curry we went live from All Star Weekend for a new podcast called Goat Greatest of Their Era and we ranked our top five shooters from the 2000s.
- [21:08]
Podcast Guest
Peja 5 Dirk Ford PA is a loop.
- [21:11]
Podcast Host
Okay, I'm madam. I left him off my list, but I still like my list. You won't believe who Steph left off his list.
- [21:18]
Podcast Guest
That's so tough. That's why we have these conversations.
- [21:21]
Podcast Host
Yes, absolutely.
- [21:22]
Podcast Guest
Love it.
- [21:23]
Podcast Host
Steph talked about what separates the truly elite NBA shooters.
- [21:26]
Podcast Guest
When you have a scouting report and you're on the list as not just a shooter, but we have specific rules for how we guard you. There's a fear factor that's associated with anytime you're wide open. Like, you might as well just count that and get on back on defense.
- [21:42]
Podcast Host
Listen to Goat G O T E Greatest of their era on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.
- [22:02]
Jason
All right, let's talk a little bit of Lakers Clippers. Same sort of concept in terms of what we were talking about earlier, about keeping a high floor in both ends. Like you're down two starters in Rui Hachimura and Austin Reeves, and they made up for it with their bench through a strong defensive effort. You filled in for those two starters with these bench guys that all do their jobs and play super hard on Defense Gabe Vincent, Jared Vanderbilt, Dorian Finney Smith, Trey Jemison. They had a great JJ Red A game plan. Same game plan that they had from the last game. Except for a little tweak with Zubotz. They were strong side zoning Kawhi similar to what they, similar to what they were doing to Anthony Edwards, like funneling him towards the sideline, bringing over an extra defender on the other side of the paint. They were playing Harden's left shoulder so that he, when he would shoot that step back, they wouldn't step up underneath his feet and they'd force a right handed drive which is going to lead to him taking a floater instead of a driving left handed layup, which is obviously a smart game plan. They shrunk from the weak side onto Zubota's role. So that was the major adjustment I knew noticed. They just, they were a little bit more willing to concede some of those spray out threes to the weak side and just shrinking the floor. They didn't shoot. Clippers didn't shoot as well. Chris Dunn, after hitting all those threes in the first game, didn't hit him in this game. It, it worked. They were able to maintain their high defensive floor. They held the Clippers to 102 points. It's actually the same seventh consecutive opponent that the Lakers have held 202 points or fewer as the Lakers continue their like half season long stretch of defensive dominance. By the way, I just continue to be particularly impressed by their rotations. Every single player on this roster is so committed to the game plan and the details. They're holding up really well on the glass. They're chasing teams off the line. They're top 10 in contested shots since January 15th. They, they just look like a team that desperately wants to be great and they're committed to the work. And then on offense, two of your best players are out, but you still have your two, your two stud shot creators, right? And the Clippers swarmed them and they forced a lot of turnovers, but they were still able to generate some huge advantages, be able to generate some makeable shots for their role players. And they scored enough points despite the fact that LeBron had a really rough game. By the way, I want to shout out LeBron. I've been hammering this concept a bunch over the course of the last few weeks. But like bad games are part of being a basketball player, especially when you have an offensive workload where so much of your decision making and shot making is like on display every single night. And LeBron had a rough game jumper wasn't falling, turning the ball over too much. Like they had that weird sequence down the stretch where like they were trying to get LeBron to 50,000 career regular season playoff points and, and going away from Luca, who had been cooking all night. And I think they just got a little lackadaisical. Cause they thought the game was over. It was crazy. It was like 11 point lead, standing ovation from the Lakers fans. And I'm like, man, when's the last time the Lakers got a standing ovation with this much time on the clock? And as it was happening, it just like completely crumbled from there. They almost choked the game away, which was. Was kind of funny. Dorian Finney Smith missed a wide open layup. There were some bad offensive possessions, but like, it got a little ugly. But LeBron made one play that helped save the game. Down five. Chris Dunn's got a breakaway layup off of a turnover, and he pins that shit on the glass. Got a little favor from the official because it got called a goaltend when it wasn't. I thought on replay I thought it was pretty clear LeBron's thumb hit the ball before it hit the backboard. But like it was a goal 10 or it was a block, but it got called a goal 10, which stopped Kawhi Leonard from getting an offensive rebound put back. So a little favor from the referees there, but he made a play. He made one play that closed the deal. The big thing there was it allowed the Lakers to set their defense instead of giving Kawhi an easy offensive rebound put back. And they were able to get another stop and prevent anything from really, really becoming dangerous there down the stretch. Again, one play, if you get a win, will be a pallet cleanser in a lot of ways. And Luca did a lot of work. We're going to talk about him in a second. He needed his teammate LeBron to make one play to help him, and he made one play at the tail end of the game. Luca and his shot making got back on track. Yesterday. LeBron had a rough offensive game for the first time in a while. They were -13 in his units when Luka was off the floor. But the Lakers straight up dominated that game. When Luka Doncic was on the floor, they were plus 19 in his minutes. Why? Because Luka was at his typical level of offensive dominance. An efficient 29 points, nine assists. Nothing incredible. Nothing like we know. Luka can go for 42 and 15, but he goes for 29 and nine. Just like a pretty standard career Average type of game for Luka Doncic and they ran the Clippers off the floor when Luka was out there and that got me excited for the big picture potential of this team. Luka is such a world lifting offensive player. If you can anchor him with elite defense, you're going to be really hard to beat. And I just thought it was really interesting as I was watching that. It's like their defense is just forcing the Clippers into these tough shots and Luka just keeps getting downhill and getting and ones making tough shots. Gosh, some of his mid range shot making that little bank shot he hit on Chris Dunn down the stretch off the window, that was such a ridiculous shot. The step back three was going. He just was able to squeeze out offense with limited groups around him and they literally dominated the Clippers when he was out there. And that's what, that's what gets scary for this team in the big, in the big picture. There's a version of this where LeBron's out there, Austin's out there, Luke is out there, then a really good offensive groove and they're one of the very best offenses in the league while being this team that literally for 42 games now has been a top five defense in the league. So more than half the season and for 22 games now has been the very best defense in the NBA. That's what you're anchoring that with. Couple other quick shout outs. Dalton connect. He's a guy that I, I haven't been critical of Dalton specifically because all young players I think have these issues, but I've been hesitant to view him as a reliable rotation player and I still don't view him as a reliable rotation player. But when guys are injured, you got to step up. JJ talked about this after the first Clippers game. Like, you know, we didn't think you were going to play tonight, but we ended up needing you and you hit a couple of big shots. He is a very streaky offensive player, but he is hitting an extremely timely hot streak right now and the team really needed it. They don't win that game last night without Dalton. Connect. I thought he was really good on the defensive glass too. Got a couple of key contested defensive rebounds. Shout out to Dalton because he's being, he's red hot in a phase where the Lakers desperately needed him to. Last note, we talked a little bit about Jared Vanderbilt in pod, one of the pods from last week and I talked about like kind of the difference between using him out of the corner versus using him as a Cutter and how I talked about how in the early returns he had been knocking down some threes but missing on his cuts and I just wanted to keep an eye on that. Well, since we had that conversation in the two or three games since then, he's missing his corner threes and he's starting to get some openings on cuts with Luka. He had two dunks last night, a lob and then a cut along the baseline where he caught it, caught a drop off pass in a dunk. Luca is just able to so surgically create these types of openings for him that I do think it's manifesting better for him to be operating out of out of the dunker spot more. I just again, I was just really curious to see how that would develop over a larger sample. And after seeing more, I think I'm leaning more towards keeping him in the dunker spot. All right, let's talk some Phoenix Suns before we're done for today. They had another collapse last night against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second half. They just completely fell apart. KD had some interesting quotes in the post game press conference. It's tough, man. That's a shitty game. We didn't play up to our standards at all. We embarrassed the fans, we embarrassed ourselves with the way we played and I want us to be better. He went on to say, we ain't playing well. Mistakes are compounding themselves and it just looks bad when adversity hit. We just start floating a little bit as a team that's tough to deal with. So it's frustrating for sure losing a game that way. This falls in line with what I've been talking about with the Suns over the last couple of weeks, if you guys remember what I've been talking about. I've given a bunch of lists of these ideas of like when I watched the Suns play, I don't think Kevin Durant, Devin Booker are the problems. They're doing their job. Their job as stars in this context are or is, I should say on defense. Do your job, compete. Devin Booker's not the greatest point of attack defender in the world, but he does his job. I thought he was really good with Team USA this summer. He's shown that he can't. He's shown that he can do that job. He is doing that job as well as you could expect an athlete of his caliber to do. Kevin Durant, I think, has been excellent on defense at phases this year. They're doing their jobs. And on offense, what's the job of the stars? Score the Basketball consistently generate advantages. They're doing that. I don't look at KD and Devin Booker as the problem there. The issue is they are surrounded by very undisciplined basketball players and the team appears to have a very undisciplined basketball culture. The attention to detail is not there. Guys are constantly getting back cut. Guys are constantly giving up offensive rebounds by not watching corner crashers. Guys are not picking up the ball in transition. Guys are generally not matched up in transition. Their help defense is bad. Everyone's just failing to do their job as the satellite players around Kevin Durant, Devin Booker. There are two things that I think are missing from getting higher level contributions around Kevin Durant, Devin Booker. One is basketball culture. You need an obsessive culture from the top down that demands a certain standard from players on both ends of the floor. J.J. redick, I think, has done an amazing job of this with the Lakers this year. Complete reversal from the Darvin Ham experience. Something I begged for. Those of you guys who watch the show, I begged for this after last season. Attention to detail. Be a serious basketball team from day one of training camp. Lay out. Here's what is expected of you if you're going to play on the floor and then hold players accountable to that. JJ Redick sat down with LeBron James the day after that rough night in Miami, the one where I had my freak out, if you guys remember, and sat down with him and was like, I need more out of you. And it worked. And LeBron's been setting that example. Everyone's doing their job and they are now maximizing their talent. There is a lack of that culture and accountability in Phoenix. The second piece of it is when you're in the market for discounted players. And guess what? You're going to be in the market for discounted players with your current build. I mean, you might be able to reverse that trend a little bit with Bradley Beal this summer. If you can find a deal. We'll talk about the summer in a minute. But like when you're looking for the types of players to anchor your stars with, target players who fit into that culture of excellence on a daily basis. Attention to detail, effort and execution. I actually think Kevin Durant, Devin Booker is a strong foundation. They give you a high floor on the offensive end of the floor in terms of shot quality. It won't be easy to pivot this summer. Bradley Beal is a different, a difficult contract to move, but I think they need to flip over a good chunk of that role player, core Stop going after you know Bo bowl is a tantalizing talent but he's very inconsistent in his possession to possession execution. I've watched him grab crazy contested rebounds that only he can get and I've watched him float around and not do his job, not pick up his man in transition, not track a shooter off the ball. They don't need talent. Devin Booker and KD is the talent. They need dependability in the details. They need scrappers. They need fighters. Guys who can muck things up and allow Kevin Durant and Devin Booker's gifts to lift them over the top. Not to bring it back to the Lakers, but that's literally how they won a game last night. It was like a bunch of two way guys and bench role players alongside LeBron and Luca. But those dudes are all ass kickers who play defense and pay attention to the details and they have a culture from the top down from their head coach so they look like a damn good basketball team and they just pretty much manhandled a very good Clippers team, down two starters in most of their offensive talent. It do you think Trey Jemison is an incredibly talented basketball player compared to some of these Suns role players? Do you think Shake Milton is or Dalton Connect is or Jared Vanderbilt is? These are very flawed players, but they're ass kickers. They're fighters. They're scrappers that are in a culture that demands that from the top down. If I was running the Suns this summer, I would do everything I could to trade Bradley Beal and I would target every discounted mean ass kicking role player that I can find. Even if they have offensive limitations. All minimum players have limitations on one end of the floor, sometimes both. But from day one of training camp I do everything in my power to establish a strong basketball culture or effort and execution is mandatory to see the floor. Find players that fit into that culture and see what you can do with Dev, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. I don't think this is going to happen. I think it's more likely that they trade KD and instead try to rebuild around Devin Booker. But I think that's a mistake. Not unless you plan on trading Devin Booker too. Because I don't think Devin Booker is good enough to be the best player on your team in the Western Conference. With Luca, with Shea, with Jokic, with Wemby on the way, with the team that's led by Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler. I don't think you're going to do well in that conference with him as your best player. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker is enough to hang in the West. You just need to do a better job of surrounding them with guys that accentuate their strengths instead of demand more out of them as defenders and rebounders and detail guys. Get them ass kickers, get them dudes that'll. That'll go out there every night and just fight alongside them and do their jobs. I think that would go a long way towards giving them a better chance to compete with that group again. I don't think it's going to happen. I think they're going to end up punting. But look, look, it's already bad. You're already in a precarious situation. There is no pivot. Even with the KD trade that's going to bring you to revel relevance. KD has been one of the strong and dependable players on both ends of the floor for you this year. At a superstar level, there's nothing you could get back in a deal that would actually allow you to be successful next season, except for maybe draft compensation that can help you reset. And if that's the case, you might as well trade Devin Booker, too. But I would at least try to trade Bradley Beal and see if you can't try to pivot around those guys. All right, guys, that's all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate you for supporting me and supporting the show. We'll be back tomorrow with a mailbag that I'm about to record. I will see you guys then. The Volume what's up guys? As always, I appreciate you for listening to and supporting HOOPS tonight. It would actually be really helpful for us if you guys would take a second and leave a rating and a review. As always, I appreciate you guys supporting us, but if you could take a minute to do that, I'd really appreciate it.
- [38:04]
Allstate Advertiser
Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like, you know to check for the nearest bathroom first before the game starts. Now you're heading in the wrong direction and it sounds like your team's taking the lead. Checking first is smart, so check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate Savings. Vary subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and.
- [38:29]
Geico Advertiser
Affiliates Northbrook, Illinois this is Nikki Glaser from the Nikki Glaser Podcast. On a more serious note, I'm still thinking about that commercial with Tom Brady and Snoop Dogg hating on each other. Because when you listen to the reasons for hating someone or something, you realize just how stupid they really are. There is too much hate in this country and it's gotta stop. So join us at iHeart in standing up to it. If you see hate, speak up, call it out and you can learn more by following.
- [38:56]
Podcast Host
Ot'supwithhate make some noise for the Greatest Shooter of All time, Steph Curry. We went live from All Star Weekend for a new podcast called Go Greatest of Their Era and we ranked our top five shooters from the 2000s.
- [39:10]
Podcast Guest
PAJA 5 Dirk 4 Pa is alone.
- [39:12]
Podcast Host
You won't believe who Steph left off his list.
- [39:15]
Podcast Guest
That's so tough. That's why we have these conversations. Love it.
- [39:19]
Podcast Host
Listen to Go G O T E Greatest of Their era on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [39:26]
Ashlyn Harris
We all have a moment that splits us wide open. On my new podcast, Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris, I'll sit down with trailblazers from sports, music, fashion, entertainment and politics to explore their toughest moments and the incredible comebacks that followed. Listen to Wide Open with Ashlyn Harris, an iHeart women's sports production on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.