Hoops Tonight - Warriors finish Grizzlies, Celtics force Game 7

I sent you. Twenty one plus in president Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Permitted parishes only, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Virginia or West Virginia. First online real money wager only. Refund issued as non withdrawalable site credit that expires in fourteen days. Restrictions apply see terms at sports book dot FanDuel dot com.

Gambling problem called one eight hundred, next step or text next step to five three three four two in Arizona one eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org slash chat in Connecticut one eight hundred gambler or visit FanDuel dot com slash RG in Colorado, Indiana, New Jersey, in Virginia one eight seven seven seven seven zero stop in Louisiana one eight hundred to seven zero seven one one seven for confidential

help in Michigan one eight seven seven eight Hope and Why or text hope and Why to four six seven three six nine in New York. In Tennessee redline dial one eight hundred eight eight nine nine seven eight nine in Tennessee visit www one dot one eight hundred gambler dot net in West Virginia. All right, welcome to Hoops Tonight, presented by FanDuel. Here at the volume, I'm Jason Timp Happy Friday, everybody, congrats on making it to the weekend.

An incredible night of basketball, and we are almost done with the second round of what has been an incredible playoff field so far as we expected with all of the incredible talent and all the great teams involved. What an interesting game. That was a lot of self sabotage from Golden State early on, and you know Steph continues to struggle. We're gonna talk about that in this show.

But he once again as he's done throughout this series, and as he's done for the most part throughout his playoff career, he made all of the big plays when it mattered. At the end of the game, we're going to talk about everything from this game Game six Clay. We're gonna talk about Steph Curry. We're gonna talk about what it looks like for Golden State in the next round, which match up I think is best. We're gonna bring

my guy Carson on. We're gonna get into the weeds and some of this stuff, and then if you guys stick around for the end, I'm going to do a deep dive into everything from that incredible Buck Celtics game, which featured an unbelievable showdown of two of the best basketball players alive in Jayson Tatum and Janis Antenna Kompo.

We have an absolutely packed show tonight. I sincerely appreciate you guys coming to hang out before we move forward, make sure you like this video and subscribe to the volume's YouTube channels you don't miss any more of our content. We're gonna be going live basically for every big game the rest of the way, So no game tomorrow, no

game Monday. But outside of that if you see an NBA playoff game and you want to break down, come hang out with us on YouTube after the final buzzer, and then, last but not least, follow me on Twitter underscore Jason LT so you can see all of the video content that I do to back up the concepts that we talked about on the show. I wanted to start with Clay Thompson tonight because you saw an interesting

battle take place between him and Dylan Brooks. And there are two guys that have been maligned in some ways by their own fan base, but at the same time loved by their own fan base. Now for both of them, it's for different reasons. Because for Clay it's because he just hasn't demonstrated that he's the same guy since his injury, at least not yet. But for Dylan Brooks, it's kind of like consistently, he's just been a kind of a wild card, a guy that looks amazing one night and

terrible the next. Textbook good play, bad play guy. But since Clay has come back from his injury, he's been inconsistent. I'd give him a ton of slack. You've been away from the game of basketball for two years. It's just

really hard to get that rhythm and flowback. But one of the important things with Clay that I've appreciated as he struggled through this stretch, as he's missed a boatload of shots, as the fan base has been critical of him, what I have appreciated is he hasn't lost his audacity. And there's value and audacity because the NBA playoffs are as stressful and high pressure as any basketball environment can get, and there are a lot of guys who simply don't

want to shoot. They don't want to be held accountable for the result of a shot, and you've seen so many players over the years absolutely crumble in this environment. We saw Matistible, a really talented young player for the Philadelphia seventy six ers, just completely combust under the pressure of being expected to knock down spot up three's. And

both of these guys have significantly more responsibility. You need guys that are just a little bit unhinged with their shot selection, that aren't scared, and you understand that there's a downside. You understand that there's gonna be shots from Clay that don't make any sense. You understand that there are gonna be games where Clay Thompson goes out and takes incredibly difficult shots and it ends up hurting the team.

But you also know that you can have a night like tonight when Jordan Pool can't make anything, when Steph Curry can't make anything, when Andrew Wiggins starts one for seven, and you just need somebody to make something happen. And Clay Thompson, who's never scared, who has that audacity, just continually keeps chipping away at that wall, and he had a huge game in a moment where his team absolutely

needed it. You know the Warriors have You know that they had a specific set of tasks that they needed to accomplish tonight, and we talked about all of those

after Game five. The reason why they lost Game five is there the veteran team that went on the road against the young super athletic team that was desperate and in that environment, feeding off of their home crowd, especially with all of their physical advantages, they were able to bludge in Golden State and a lot of very specific ways transition on the glass defensively just sitting in a

stance and containing ball handlers. And I talked about a lot of different things that we're going to be important tonight coming into this game, because the truth of the matter is is Golden State is so much more skilled than Memphis in this environment, in half court sets, when everyone's in their position and you need to create shots, Golden State just has so much more that they can go to. A guy like Dylan Brooks on Golden State would never shoot the ball because there's just more skilled

players on the floor. But the problem is is I talk all the time on the show about swing factors. Swing factors are the things that take place in a basketball game that are outside of the static half court environment, and those things that are like special teams in football. They are the kinds of things that can swing a game one way or another. And transition is one of them. Turning the ball overs one of them, offensive rebounding is one of them. You know, scheming and coaching is one

of them. Out there's a ton of these types of elements, the Foul Colleague for free throw shooting. There's a million things that can come into a game that can swing it one way or another. And you know, Golden State came in tonight and they tightened up a lot of things.

They actually flipped the offensive rebounding script completely on Memphis and dominated them on the offensive glass tonight, which was something that they did really well games one through four, and then they just completely lost control of in game five. They did a much better job in uh in in their in their own defense and containing ball handlers and and just sitting in a stance and doing the things

that they needed to do. They did a lot of things well, but there were two things that they did poorly that I thought were the reason why this game almost got away from them. One, they did not apply enough for im pressure. I talked a lot about after last the last game that one of the most important things that they had to do tonight was get guys like Jordan's Pool, guys like Steph Curry Downhill beating people off the dribble. And they did a little bit in

the fourth quarter. There were a couple of plays where Jordan Pool got in the lane missed layups, but guys were there for offensive rebounds. Steph had a huge driving play past Desmond Bay. So they did a little bit in the fourth quarter. But the reason why the game was so close throughout was they weren't getting the same high quality shots that they always get when they are putting their head down and getting to the basket. When they you know, mess around on the perimeter, that's when

bad things happen. And then the second big thing was turnovers. They were throwing the ball all over the court tonight, and this has been a consistent issue throughout the Golden State era as many of you Warriors fans. No, but I don't think people realize specifically how damaging live ball

turnovers are. So to give you an example, because there's two sides to this, on live ball turnovers in this playoff run that leads to a transition opportunity, Golden State is giving up one point three five points per possession in this playoff run, so a hundred thirty five points per a hundred possessions, if you prefer to hear it that way. But it's not just that it's giving up the shot attempt. So let's say that you expect on a Golden State half court possession in the playoffs to

score one point per possession. Just to make the math easy. That means every turnover is effectively almost a two and a half point swing, because not only are you not getting a shot attempt, but Memphis is running it right down the other way, and in this playoff run, you've been giving up almost one and a half points per transition life ball turnover. That's how damaging those plays are,

and it's not hard to figure out. Typically speaking, when you turn the ball over on a backcut or driving to the basket or throwing across court pass, the guy who gets the steel typically has a head of steam because he's hawking to the ball. The defense is set up in a way where they start sprinting the other their way almost before you can turn around and kind of figure out what's happening. Transition defense is really hard. Look at how athletic Boston it isn't how much they've

struggled with transition defense in this entire playoff run. You have to take care of the basketball because if you don't, it gives Memphis a swing opportunity. If you can keep the game in the half court, you are the better, more skilled team. You are a better defensive team too when you're dialed in the way that Golden State can get at times. And so it's so important that you

don't toss Memphis opportunities like that. You know there was other swing factors like Dylan Brooks just had one of those nights where everything was working, sit and step back threes,

He's getting into the lane. There is value and having a guy that big, you know, six five six six strong, that can put the ball on the floor and shoot from different spots on the floor, especially when that audacity comes into play, because that audacity is what gives him the lack of fear to think that that might not be a good shot. And on a night like tonight, it almost carried Memphis to the finish line. And I

I don't think people realize the stakes. If Golden State had lost that game, they would very likely have lost in Game seven. There was some matchup stuff that was starting to wear on them, specifically with size and athleticism, and Golden State, to their credit, they've made enough plays down the stretch to not let that happen. You know, Steff.

We we're gonna talk about Steff here in just a minute, because there's a big task laying in front of Golden State and a big task ling in front of Steps specifically with some matchup stuff that we'll talk about when we bring Carson on, but consistently, not just in this series, but throughout this whole playoff run, even on bad nights, he's had the fortitude to make the important plays at

the end of the game. And ironically, in almost every situation in this playoff run, it's been getting to the basket. The two shots that got Steff going tonight, we're a play where he drove into the lane and I can't remember who was guarding him, might have been des in Vane, but kind of hit with the shoulder, got that little bit of space right at the charge circle, and made like a little fade away seven footer. Again it's a jump shot, but a wide open seven footer for Step

he's going to make eight percent of the time. And then the next trip down he drove all the way to the rim and finished. There are a lot of guys in this league that when they aren't making their jump shots, they come bust. They feel like it's not their night. They want to pound their head into the brick wall, meaning all they want to do is keep taking jump shots. STEP's been there and he's done that.

He's had enough bad shooting nights to know that, especially with him and all the impact that he has, you know, the biggest play the game that dunk at the end that kind of iced it. The dunk that Draymond had, it's step just faking a step back three. And when he faked a step back three, Keevan Luni's man helped out of the the week side corner. He just dropped it over the top to Looney Luney just kind of made a little bounce past the Draymond in the lane and

it's a punk. Those are little things that aren't going to show in the box score for Steph Curry, but they are part of his impact on winning and too Steph's credit, He's always understood that his jump shot is not reliable. Even at his best. He's capable of having one for ten nights or two for ten nights, and he knows that that's not exactly a night and night

out type of thing. And he has to impact winning in different ways and consistently in this playoff run, whenever he has had poor shooting nights, he has made big plays at the end of the game to help his

team win. And that's the mark of a champion. That's the mark of a guy that I think has been the second best player of this era, and it's a mark of a guy that I think as it's not a coincidence that he's won as often as he has big win for Golden State, that I don't think people realize anywhere near how much trouble they were in their trailing in the fourth quarter in Game six, facing a Game seven in Memphis, we want to get into a bunch more details of this game, but I want to

bring my guy Carson on so that we can do it in a more conversational manner. So let's get car Su up here, and we're gonna get into some questions. We might not have Carson yet, so I'm gonna I'm gonna move into this conference finals matchup. So the question becomes, if you're a Golden State fan and you've got a big game, a big game seven on Sunday night between Phoenix and Golden State, and up there we go. We got Carson, Well we don't have Carson. All right, I'm

gonna keep going. So, uh, Sunday night, Dallas and Phoenix. Now we're good to go. Now, all right, anybody, Hey Jason, how are you doing? I'm doing good man, I can't complain. That's fantastic. All right, Well, we got five big questions for you tonight, and we'll start with one related to what's coming up for the Warriors now. So obviously we have Game seven still in coming between the Suns and the Math. Who do you think is the better matchup

for the Warriors between those two teams? So this is a really interesting question because they're both very different, and one team in particular is significantly better. Like, I think Phoenix is a better basketball team by than Dallas by a pretty decent margin, although it hasn't manifested in this series. I just think that has a lot more to do with Chris Paul randomly hitting a massive slump and Phoenix

just not really playing well on the road. But when they're at home, there's a there's a giant chasm between the teams, and it's even bigger than the chasm that manifests in Dallas. What's interesting, though, is if I was Golden State, I would want Phoenix to win because I think, again,

these playoff series is are frequently about matchups. What would terrify me about a matchup with Dallas is one of the reasons why Luca is struggling, not just Luca, but Jalen Brunson and everybody in that series has struggled to create, especially in Phoenix, is because Phoenix is extremely imposing with their size, and so Luca is struggling to shoot over the likes of Mikhail Bridges, struggling to shoot over the likes of DeAndre Ayton, struggling to shoot over the likes

of Cam Johnson, because they just have a ton of length, and it just makes it so that each of those shots is a little more rushed, a little more pressed, and it's just difficult. Right. Here's the thing, Luca is gonna have a size advantage over every single rotational player that plays for Golden State in that series. He will be comfortable the entire series, at least as it pertains to getting to his spots and getting to his shots. Golden I'm sure Steve Kerr will have a lot of

his sleeve. They'll have different coverages and things that they'll throw at him. So it's not like it won't be a challenge, But I think Luca will have a much easier time attacking Golden State than he did Phoenix. Now why would I The Phoenix obviously has their own issues right there, A bigger team, that's something that could theoretically

cause Golden State problems. But Golden State has demonstrated for you against Memphis that when they're focused and actually doing the job that they're supposed to do, that they handle

size pretty well. What I like about the matchup with Phoenix is I do think they'll do a little bit of drop coverage stuff, especially early in games and early in the series, to try to save Steph in Jordan Pool and Clay from having to bang with DeAndre Ayton and offensive rebound situations or in quick seals and things like that. So I do think they'll try to avoid that sum but Golden State will consistently have an option

to switch everything, and they'll do that a lot. And because of the way that Dallas has played and because of the way that New Orleans played. We saw this in New Orleans when New Orleans played uh Valanciunists and they did drop Phoenix was scoring at will, but when they ditched him and went five out and switched everything, Phoenix struggled to score. And we talked a lot about

how that's a strategy for Dallas. In game seven, I think Golden State has some potential to really disrupt Golden State's offense, and with Chris Paul not looking great right now as an individual shot creator getting to his spots and knocking down shots you pretty much. It's not that you don't have to worry about Chris Paul, but Devin Booker is the only one that really intimidates you as

a matchup attackers. So I think, especially as the series drags out, Golden State is gonna have some really good options to attack a Phoenix on both ends of the floor, whereas I think Dallas it could turn into a really bad Luca problem that they might not be able to solve. So that's really interesting. I think you're absolutely right on

the Luca nightmare matchup issue. And I also think the Sons just overall haven't been playing quite at the level that we've come to expect from them, probably, and I think part of that maybe is something that we've seen from CP and UM. I just think obviously they have not been at the level that we saw from them

at their best this year. I still do think though that in terms of true two way ceiling, in terms of just the quality impact player quotient, in terms of having you know, multiple guys who went out their best are true star level, they do of a lot of advantages over the Maps. I do think that they're fundamentally just a better basketball team, but I also don't necessarily disagree with some of the matchup things that you point out there. So how do you think the Warriors would

go about handling Luca? Like, what is the coverage? Who is the primary guy there? What's the approach? So I think the smart move and and Phoenix has demonstrated this is you turn Luca into his score. But Phoenix has the luxury of um because the thing with Luca is he punishes mismatches with his size. Okay, Like he wants to pin you on his hip, and he wants to work you into the lane and go to an arsenal of floaters if he can. If he can't get get past you in that regard, he wants to pin you

on his backside. And he wants to take turnaround jump shots out of the high post because he knows that that those are his highest percentage shots to attack switches. That Phoenix has put him in a predicament where he's had to take a lot more step back threes because those guys are so damn big that the he can't

shoot over them as easily right. I think that I think that Luca would be living in the low the low post, in the high post against Golden State in those isolation situations and just get a lot better shots than he did against Phoenix. Now here's the thing, Golden State, they will throw different coverages at him, They'll trap him sometimes, they will they will send double teams from time to time. It's just like he's one of the most cerebral players

in the league. I just think, I just think in general, the there's going to be a groove that I believe Luca would get into against Golden State that he hasn't gotten into against Dallas against Phoenix. And I think that if I am Golden State, that would scare me more than the prospect of let's switch everything against Phoenix and turn Chris Paul into his score, which he hasn't done well in a couple of weeks now. And Devin Booker's got this hamstring thing. He obviously is a great player,

and he's gonna burn you some on that. But like there are little details, right, Like you don't want you don't want to have Steph in Jordan Pool fighting through uh fighting for offensive defensive rebounds, against eight and all series long. There are definitely wrinkles there. But you're choosing between two great teams. It's not like we're choosing between two bad teams, like they're both gonna present different problems.

I just think the problems that Phoenix presents are more solvable for Golden State, whereas Dallas is problem that might be unsolvable. Yeah, that's interesting. I do think the other factor that is always a question with Dallas is the element that's out of Lucas hand, and that is what is the secondary and shot, the secondary shot making playmaking

that you get from Bronson and din Witty. And obviously Bronson was phenomenal in the first series and has had some great moments in this one, but also some down moments. Din Wit he has often struggled to be efficient. Luca is going to be dominant individually. There's just no denying that that is a nightmare matchup for anybody, although I do wonder if some of the Warriors true wing defenders like and Andrew Wiggains how he can compete in that matchup.

I don't know if there are times where you put Draymond on Luke. Obviously, you know, straight up perimeter to offences in his strength, but in the post, I think Draymond is incredibly well equipped to handle that. So that's interesting. I would think that if I were the Warriors, I would rather see the MAVs, even though Luca alone has them so scared, not just because of the Sun's simply have more I believe, really good, truly impactful basketball players.

I think they're still uh solid amount better defensively, and I just kind of trust the replicability of what they're doing a little bit more because outside of Luca, it just feels like night tonight with the MAVs. You don't really know. I think, unquestionably Golden State would have an easier time scoring against Dallas. I think that goes without saying, um, it's just it's just like I think of I think that they're they're gonna put both teams in predicaments, though

you know what I mean. So I don't know, I don't I I don't think it's something I'm particularly passionate about. I'm just saying if I was a Golden State fan, that's where I would lab. But that's a really really interesting perspective. Carson, and I think you I think you've broke it down really well. Yeah. I think another interesting factor is, like, you know what level CP gets to, and we'll see obviously what happens with all that. All right, So let's talk about Steph for a second here, because

he had an interesting game tonight. He really struggled to be efficient for a while, did end up making some big shots down the stretch. But you've talked a lot throughout this year about some of the regression that we've seen from him in terms of shotmaking, in terms of his production and efficiency this year, and we've seen some moments of that in the playoffs too. So, Jason, do you believe, as the Warriors now work their way into the last four teams here, can Steph match the firepower

of the other top major stars out there. That's tough. I I don't think so. But I don't think he needs to necessarily be honest, I don't think he necessarily needs to be what Jayson Tatum was Tony. I don't think he needs to be like that world beat or offensive player. Because his team has a ton of skill and talent, it's more important for him to weaponize that and create shots for other people. But he will need

to be better than he has been. So Steph was amazing in the first round he had a fifty forty round from the field over from three. But in this series, coming into tonight, which he did not shoot well tonight overall he was forty two percent from the field and

from three average about twenty five points. So the reality is is there are specifically Dallas in Boston or Miami would put step in a position where he would have to create shots for himself off the dribble a little bit more because of their switching attack that is designed

to bait you into isolation possessions. Right. You know what will be really interesting is I think if they played Phoenix, they'd end up putting Michael Bridges on him because Michaale has had some success against him, completely shut him down

in one game this regular season. But and then I think if they put Michael on him, they could put him in situations where, uh, where they can run drop coverage with eight and the trick is is what I would worry about if I was Phoenix at that case is if I'm Steph, I'm just running off of a million screens if Michael Bridges is on me. Because Michael is a big body, and he's more likely to get caught on screens, although he does a really good job

compared to most bigger players. But the reality is is there. This is a really deep field and there are really good teams ahead. You know, Dallas is one of the weaker ones, but Phoenix is really good, Boston is really good, Miami is really good, Milwaukee is really good. And step is probably going to be asked to create offense in a way that he didn't have to in these first two rounds because this Memphis team is not as nearly as skilled as Golden State. That Pelicans team was not

nearly as skilled as Golden State. When they move into these later rounds, there are going to be teams to have good offensive firepower that are going to require this Warriors offense to produce more. And I do think Steph needs to be better. But it's all about matchups, you know. Like and in that first round series against Denver, Yokich sat in a up all night long and then when he would switch the Steph would dust him. So he was getting better looks against Denver. He got worse looks

in this series. The one thing I'll say to this is not a conversation about steps long term, you know, uh prospects, Like the dude literally played zero regular season games coming into this playoff run because he had a sprained foot. His first bit of basketball action was first round of the NBA Playoffs coming off the bench. So I'm not criticizing step in the sense that like, oh,

he's washed. I'm just saying, regardless of the circumstance with his foot injury, he's going to have to be better than he has been in order to beat the top teams in the league. Do you think he is in that top five players on the Planet group right now? Oh, that's a good question. So I would go, I think you have to put be honest there. Yeah, I'm way down on embiid. I'm lower on your kids than you, but I do think he probably is on that list.

I up, Katie there, I still put Lebron there. This is interesting, So I really want to do a deep dive into this after the season. But the reality is is Steph has I think he scored over thirty points in most of his playoff games this year, so that I would say is is pretty classic stuff. He's done a great job on the defensive end of the floor, he's been closing games. He's dependable in a playoff environment.

He's a fantastic leader who doesn't get rattled. I would say that he probably is in that four or five slot, but I don't want to be held to that until I can take some more time after the season to dive into it. And it does feel like that list is kind of ever changing, just because there's so many dynamics stretches that we see from guys. Yeah, I mean Luca Tatum. Those guys are out of sorts for half a year and then second half of the year playoffs have been like top five players on the planet in

that period. I do think it's interesting just the shot making dip compared to what we normally see from stuff, though because the regular their season efficiency we are aware of, and in the playoffs he's been from the field thirty six percent from three. It's just it's established and he's still obviously is incredibly dynamic. He was among the most

efficient pick and roll on isolation scorers this year. He's still a really efficient score overall because of just the value of the three at the volume he shoots it and the efficiency shoots it and you know, he has moments to night where he's just dusting guys off the dribble when he wants to, but it just has not been the same consistent, dominant steph. And so I think it's a very legitimate question at this point in terms of does he get to that level of the top

tier guys. He's not even taking the types of shots he took from two thousand fifteen to two thousand eighteen, Like he's just not even attempting them anymore, which is a weird thing in and of itself. What he kind of looks like now, and again we have to remember the foot injury is a huge part of this, but what he kind of looks like now is that old guy at the gym that is playing with the younger guys.

This kind of just floating through the games because he doesn't have the energy to But then at the end of every game, you know, he can just tap into that you know, extra level that the other guys can't tap into. And so the question for him moving forward becomes, you know, is this a physical decline or is it just his foot? And the only real way we're gonna find out is if he gets stronger over this playoff run or if he comes into next year and training

camp and just looks amazing. But the reality is is, like, you know, these playoff games, especially for these talented teams that have lots of guys like Golden State, it's not Milwaukee. They're not in a situation where they require Janice to create every single basket for them, or Yannice or Drew or Bust, you know what I mean. Like, they have guys that can kind of spread that load around. So it's kind of a luxury for step in the sense that like he doesn't need to be a hundred percent

right now, they just need him to close games. But again, it's the margin for error gets tighter and tighter as you get further along in this run. So I do think they'll that he'll have to tap into something. The old guy in the gym analogy is remarkable just because not that I think it's untrue, but it's just crazy because last year he averaged thirty two a game on like almost sixty true shooting. I think it was we were talking about, is this peak, Steff? Is this the

best he's ever been? And I thought he was the best we've ever been. Yeah, I think that's very fair. And it was also even a different level of volume of pick and roll stuff because they didn't have the secondary ball handlers and decision makers that they did in you know, peak Warriors dynasty. Besides Draymond, it was him having to get more for himself than ever before, on higher volume, on as good efficiency as ever. Just crazy. It's really a pretty remarkable contrast between last year and

this one. So obviously we talked about Steff here and he is and forever will be the face of this Warrior's team. Who do you think is the second most important Warrior Jason? So I think this is Jordan's Pool hands down. So we just talked a minute ago about Stef not taking the crazy types of shots off the dribble that he used to when he was younger. Right, Well, to me, that's kind of that kind of amounts to

the offensive creation element. Right And Jordan Pool, We've did a whole thing on this show of like about a week ago about this after Game three, I believe, But Jordan Pool's ability to to apply dribble penetration it becomes so much more valuable as they move deeper into the playoffs, and they faced teams that do more switching. We talked

about this concept a lot in the show. We're gonna talk about it more later tonight, but the gist of it is is against switching defenses, they're designed to bait you into pull up jump shooting. But the best way to be the switching defenses with dribble penetration to force help so that you can swing the ball around and start attacking close outs and get better looks out of it like that. And so Jordan Pool, Clay Thompson is Clay Thompson, and you know, he's not the same two

way player that he was before the injuries. He's still incredibly important to this team. We talked about that earlier, his audacity and in the way that his lack of fear is such a weapon. But I you think that in half court situations, as they get further into this playoff run, having a guy like Jordan Poole that can beat dudes off the dribble is going to become absolutely imperative to them beating some of these better teams. Who

do you think makes the next best argument? Oh man, Um, I would say I would say Draymond h the reason why. And I'm gonna refer to him on offense because he is every bit as great as you could expect Raymond to be on the defensive end of the floor, but especially you know, in specific matchups, like if they play Phoenix and they end up having to play Luney a

lot more. Whatever it is, spacing starts to become a little bit of a concern and and Draymond looking to score, particularly in short role situations like I'm I'm not as

concerned about him in spot up situations. People freak out about that, but to me, it's like if Raymon's wide open up top the key and no one's guarding him because you know, Stephen Atoms or whatever is under the basket, okay, and you kick out to Draymond if he doesn't shoot, but he just runs over to Clay, does a dribble handoff and like body checks Clay's man and Clay gets wide open three. That it effectively accomplishes the same thing as him being open, arguably better because it's for a

better shooter. To me, it's more short roll situations him when he's barreling to the basket unguarded him looking to score with those floaters and layups, at the rim. That to me is what allows the defense to collapse around

him so that he can kick too shooters outside. Whereas when he starts kick when the debt giveaway with Draymond is when he starts kicking even when no one's contesting him at the rim, or kicking like at the semicircle, semi circle before he's even gotten to the rim, Like those are those are the possessions where it's like, Okay, Draymond, you gotta look to score because even if you miss, like even if in short roll situation Draymond's Draymond goes

two for six on floaters and layups. All it takes is convincing the defense to collapse on him, because then that's what opens up his playmaking opportunities. So you say Pool is their second most important player, Is he just outright their second best player? You think not necessarily, he's too inconsistent. I would say Draymond's easily their second best player. Jordan's. It's maybe like the question was most important, and that's kind of what I'm hitting at here, is like I

don't think the Warriors are the best team remaining. I think Boston is better than them. I think Milwaukee maybe kind of similar level Phoenix and is is in terms of talent. I like, Golden State is a match up there, but Phoenix is a more talented team in terms of two way size and athleticism and skill. It's like it's

to me, it's more about matchups moving forward. I think in order to raise Golden States ceiling to the point where they are the ones holding the trophy, the most important swing factor there is Jordan's pool and his ability need to be great offensively, particularly beating people off the dribble.

I agree with you in terms of swing factor because there is uh I think with Draymond such a dependability in terms of the defense and the playmaking and yeah, you don't know what kind of finishing you're gonna get, but I think if you were to take away Draymond, it's interesting because we saw this regular season, obviously, as we do every year, his value where I think they were eight and seven when he and Steph played together or twenty something something around there during the regular season,

and their defense fell off from best in the league to suddenly they were playing at the level of like the twenties something best defense in the league without him, But I also totally agree with you and that the Warriors have never had a secondary shot maker, a secondary bucket getter like Jordan Pool. Pete Clay Thompson couldn't come close to replicating the value getting downhill, facilitating, you know, shot making off the dribble. Clay. We see it tonight.

He calls for a screen and he's just curling around it and pulling a three and the eyes handed his face, but it just doesn't matter because he's Clay. But he's completely added a new dimension, as you've touched on before. And yeah, I mean it's up to him to play at true star level because first half of the year Jordan Pool was like a solid sixteen a game guy on pretty solid efficiency. Second half of the year Jordan

Pool playoff. Jordan Pool has been a twenty three a game guy on great efficiency, and that's I think what they need if they're gonna win the title. Yeah, in credit to Memphis, like you got, Memphis did a really really good job after Jaw went down of defending and pretty much everybody on the Warriors struggled during these last few games. So credit credit to Memphis. But yeah, I

agree with you. I think I think Jordan Pool is the most important for for just raising that offensive ceiling to where they need to be in order to get the Lario b All right, let's let's talk about Memphis here. How do they approve? How do they improve ahead of next season now that this year is over with them? Jason and specifically, what does jaw do to improve? Well,

the Jaw thing is easy. It's defense. I think he needs to put on a little bit of muscle and and become better at holding his own at the point of attack. Defensively, that was him giving up general penetration was one of the biggest things that undercut his own success in this playoff run. As far as like how to improve the roster or whatever, like their their roster is incredible, They're gonna be great. I love the way

it's put together. This team is every bit the type of young team, like looking forward that Golden State was in two thousand, two thousand fourteen, that Oklahoma City was in two thousand, ten, thousand eleven. They have all of that at their disposal. In talent, the guy that I think is the huge swing factor for this team is Jaren Jackson Jr. He was an absolute monster after Jah went down. I take that back. He was a monster

in the entire series. But one of the big reasons why this series were mained close after John went down was how dominant Jaren Jackson Jr. Was. He's got Anthony Davis type of upside underneath the basket as a rim protector. He's showing these flashes of perimeter shooting that are are, you know, super encouraging, and then he unlocked like a little bit of a bullyball thing in this playoff runt.

He's always had the bulleyball thing, but he's always been reckless with it and kind of tunnel vision, not great at seeing what's happening around him on the floor. That like, there were possessions in the last few games where he was just taking it to Draymond, like and there's nothing

Draymond could do. He's got a really, really good left handed hook in the lane, which is super important for for any player to be able to score in bullyball situations because if you can only go one direction, it just makes the physical task for the defenders so much easier. But like, this team is gonna be terrifyingly good. Desmond Band kind of is what he is. I don't see him getting significantly better or at anything. He shot over

fifty from three this year or whatever. It was, So like Desmond Bayane is Desmond bay Like he's He's He's going to be the Clay Thompson of this team. He's gonna take big perimeter defensive assignments. He's gonna attack close out and knockdown three's like crazy. You know, John Moran offensively more or less is what he is. But he'll

become more dependable as a three point shooter. But like as John Morand elevates and takes that next step into becoming that dependable two way superstar, and as Jaren Jackson Jr. Does the same, this team was already the two seed. They already had the talent to push Golden State to the point where without their best player in a Game six, they had a fourth quarter lead on the road and

had an opportunity to send this thing home. Like Memphis is like I don't need to see a single free agent signing or a single trade to know that they are a bona fide contender next year. Like that, I'm a huge believer. And then looking forward, I think Triple J is fascinating The defense is all world. I think that's undeniable. He came so far are there this year, and that was always the expectation is I think that

would be his greatest asset. And you see the moments offensively of the ball handling at his size, the relative quickness, the shooting, and you know, some of the bullyball stuff that you talk about. At the same time, there is just an inconsistency and a lack of control and decision making. You know, he settles for the floaters a lot, and it's like he's okay at them, but he's got thirty

eight percent from the field in these playoffs. His shot really has been shockingly inconsistent since his second year, where you know, he was sub thirty two from three this year. So I always have mixed feelings about him offensively, because when it's going, it's great, But there's a lot of nights where I just feel like he's not playing up to his talent level and what he should theoretically be just is not what he looks like night tonight. So

he's four years into his career. It's sort of an interesting point where he's not fully developed, but he's obviously deep in his developments, Like what is your actual expectation do you think he can become a true star level guy? Do you think he will reach that level or just where do you come down on? You know what you think he'll be. I absolutely think he'll be a sorry First of all, Carson, you're so good at this kind of stuff. I think this is one of your best abilities.

Is this like player development scouting type of thing. This is this is why everyone needs a follow Carson on TikTok. But the thing with the thing with Jaren Jackson Jr. Is like, to me, the efficiency stuff And I didn't realize it was that bad. But the thing with the

efficiency stuff is like to me, shot selection. Efficiency stuff will come in time, especially for a guy like Jaren Jackson Jr. Two who like he's he's going through offensive development phases that guards go through when they're twelve years old, you know, like he's he's learning on the fly how to be an offensive player in very very difficult environments against two teams by the way, in Minnesota and Golden State, who are excellent that containing guys who are scores, you know,

specific the guys that put the ball on the floor and try to go to the basket. They're too excellent dribble contained teams. So like the way I look at it, it's like when you when you buy yourself. It's like Dylon Brooks. Like we've all roasted Dylan Brooks for his shot selection in this series, and obviously he was great tonight. But you know what Dylan Brooks does. He guards like an mfer and no and he's a huge pain in

the ass. And so like when you're a coach, you just kind of live with the bad because you're getting so much good on the defensive end of the floor. And that's kind of the way I see the Jaren Jackson Jr. Thing, Like right now, he's a huge positive because of what he brings defensively in his offensive game is so unpolished, but there's all this potential there, so like there's no reason in the world why he shouldn't

be able to polish some of that stuff up. One of the big things that I like with him and that I that I prefer compared to other bigs, Like I would compare this to bamat of Bio, Like both Jaren Jackson and Bamata Bio have this capability a lot of the bigger upright bigs, guys like Anthony Davis guy's like I mean, I would even say Joel Embiide is

in this camp as well. They don't have super quick first steps, so like they can destroy slow footed bigs, and they can if they get into low post situations, they can beat smaller defenders by shooting over the top. What they aren't doing is slashing, and so what you'll see all the time is like Anthony Davis types, they'll just put a stout, low center of gravity wing on him and try to push him further away from the basket, you know what I mean. But Jared Jackson and he

did this. He was a monster with this stuff in game four in particular in this series, the one that

um Golden State pulled out late and at home. Like he has a great first step and can beat quick players to the spot and get to the rim, which with his side his size is Baymon Bio has this too, and I think it's like to me, that's the real next evolution of the center position is is a guy that has the rim protecting cape of abilities of an Anthony Davis type of player, but has the slashing capabilities of a big wing and to me, that's bamed. To me,

that's Jaron Jackson. Obviously, Jared has a long way to go, but that's kind of the way I look at it. Yeah, I think that the traits are undeniable. I think it's a matter of consistency and decision making and mentality at

times with him offensively. But I think you're right. I mean, if he shoots thirty seven percent from three, which it seems like he's totally capable of, and takes better shots offensively, he doesn't have to be an offensive star to be a star basketball player because he's already such a game changer defensively. YEA, let's step away from Warriors Grizzlies for our last question here, and let's talk about the masterpiece

that was Jason Tatum's forty six point performance tonight. Jason, do you think that was the best individual performance of the playoffs so far? Oh? That's off question. Um, I can't. I can't put it over the Janice stuff because the degree of difficulty is so much higher. Like Janice is just facing so much more defensive attention and his team doesn't have anywhere near as much creation around him. So like Tatum's had some bad games in this series where his team is won. So like that, to me, it's

a it's a different type of ask. But that said, like Janice is on a fast track to enter some pretty intense long term basketball conversation, so that's a totally

different standard. Like Tatum. Tatum is is just now kind of entering into his phase of superstartument What this was, what tonight was and I will go too far into the weeds because we're about to do a full breakdown of Buck Celtics, but like, what this was to me was the first signature moment, the first signature game of Jayson Tatum's career, in the same way that with Lebron fans you look back to that two thousand seven Game five against the Pistons as kind of like his coming

out part. To me, that's what Tatum. This is what it was for tonight. Everyone knew Tatum was good, but this was like the oh, he can be that good, and you know in terms of degree of difficulty, and it's not like Joannest but what it was was and I don't know if you felt this, Carson when you were watching the game, but there was and we're gonna talk more about this when we get into the breakdown.

But Milwaukee figured some stuff out, specifically with how switching causes Boston's offensive issues, Like we've talked a lot about Boston's offensive issues in their shot selection, kind of determining the direction that these games going when they when they play smart offense, they just immediately going to run, and when they start messing around, they immediately start giving up

points and transition and stuff like that. Well, Milwaukee has figured out that if they do switching primarily and to keep brook Lopez off the floor, it kind of leads Boston into that type of play, And a lot of stuff was going Milwaukee's way in that fourth quarter, and that shot making from Jayson Tatum literally staved off what I thought was going to be a Milwaukee comeback, you know, like I it kind of felt like all of the

Avalanche was moving in that direction. And and so you guys, you guys hear me talk about this all the time, Like Tatum at some awesome games against Brooklyn, but he's the front runner hit a better team. I predicted Boston would win the series after Game two. I thought they I thought they'd sweep them after Game two because I'm like they're just so much better, you know what I mean?

And I always talked about how like what always is caused, what's always resonated with me personally evaluating basketball players is like what do you do when things aren't going your way? What do you do when when the tables are turned on you? And again, Boston had a lead. So I don't I don't want to act like it's as wild as some of the comebacks that we've seen, but if you were watching that game, you could feel it. You

could feel Boston's offense falling to pieces. You could feel the lack of drible penetration, you could feel the lack of co here rent shot selection, and Jayson Tatum you could also feel it going the other way. The honest made another massive fourth quarter three point shot, and you're Pat Connaton hit a shot in the corner and you're like, it's coming, this is it, It's happening again, and Jayson Tatum staved that off. So first signature moment of his career.

Salute to Jayson Tatum. I've been wildly impressed by him in this playoff run. You know that this is this is this looks like a guy growing into into into an all time great right in front of our eyes, and it's it's been cool to watch. Yeah, and I think you hit on it. I mean, what has always been so transcendent with him is that bailout shot making.

I mean he's a guy who can make a shot for you at any time at his side, with his handle, with his pure shooting ability, with his footwork and balance, and that will always be immensely valuable to any offense at any time. I think there's some good contenders here. I mean Jaws Game two was a masterpiece against the Warriors. There's been a couple of Luca games. I agree with you. I think nice Game three where he had forty two obviously tonight, I mean he had forty four and twenty

as well. I just think that in the two way impact, the playmaking, the attention that he's attracting, I don't think anything can top that. But do you think Tatum is a case for having been the second best guy in these playoffs so far? Oh? Now that is a spicy take their carson Um. Yeah, Yeah, I mean why not.

I don't think he's been better than Luca, Like Luca has been a much better offensive player, but Tatum when he's bringing on the defensive end has been great, Like there's been a lot of conversation about like guys guarding your honest, like who's he comfortable against and who's he not comfortable against, Like not comfortable as he's he's starting to break through Horford and Grant Williams a little bit, definitely eating alive guys like uh like uh Jalen Brown,

but Tatum's held hissult. What Tatum's done on post ups with Your Honest, which has been really impressive, is he's just ambling on the post entry or if not on the post entry, but then on his first triple, Tatum's got these obnoxiously long arms and he's like, I'm not gonna just like stay in front of you, honest, He's gonna run me over. So he's just tested his handle, which is something he did a lot to Kevin Durant in the first round and was really successful with it.

He's just he's like, I'm just gonna reach for the ball, you know, and and see what I can do. And he's knocked the ball away from a bunch of times there. Yeah, I think you're right, Carson. I think Jayson Tatum has been the second best player in this playoff run. Yeah, it's an interesting one because you know there's been some nights in the Buck series where his offensive production wasn't there. The playmaking has been great though, the defense has been great,

and there's been some incredible scoring nights. Obviously, I think Luca makes a really strong case because even despite the defensive gap, offensively, I mean just as an overall engine, other worldly and pure score. And you know, maybe some people would argue that Jimmy's knocking on the door. I don't think I could have him there. But like the scoring production, the playmaking, the efficiency, the two way stuff,

it has been pretty great from him. But I think have got to be the top four guys in these playoffs so far, which is fascinating. Obviously, no Katies, no Lebrons, no Onbids, no k Is. Like it's a it's a really interesting postseason that we have here. It's a new era, man um. Can I tell you who I thought was the best performance of this playoff front? Yes? Please? I I think Janice in Game five in Boston was and again County stats weren't as good. I think he only

had forty I think and eleven. But when you factor in what was happening in that game, when you only only forty and eleven, when you when you when you factor in the types of shots he was hitting at various points in the game. What he did in that second quarter to stave off the first Boston run going into halftime. What he did early fourth quarter knocking down that massive three after Jalen Brown hit the step back.

What the three that he hit to break it down to three when they were up six late, the relentless attacking in the basket, the offensive rebound put back, Like he stole that basketball game. Now, other guys made plays, Holiday made plays, Bobby Portis made plays, but I thought Janice stole that basketball game with it just with nothing but sheer force of will, And so I had to go with that one. What do you think? I think

you're absolutely right. Actually, I throughout Game three first, it's crazy, like he has several masterpieces within this series, like genuine just could be legacy games kind of stuff. But I think that that in terms of necessity, in terms of timeliness, I don't know that anything has topped that. So I think that's a great choice. Alright, Guys, before we toss to our next breakdown, a couple of things quick for all of you who are listening, I sincerely appreciate the support.

Please like this video and subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel. Before we move on to our full breakdown of the Bucks and the Celtics, here is a quick word from our sponsor. It's time to dig yourself out of that winter hibernations bring is here and it's time to get sprung with blue two. That's right. This episode is sponsored

by blue Choo. Bluechoo is a unique online service that delivers the same active ingredients as Viagra and Cialis, but in chewable tablets and at a fraction of the cost. You can take them anytime, day or night, so you can plan ahead or be ready whenever an opportunity arises. The process is simple. Sign up at blue chow dot com, consult with one of their licensed medical providers, and once

you're approved, you'll receive your prescription within days. So if you could benefit from extra confidence when it's time perform, blue Choo can help. And we've got a special deal for our listeners. Try blue Choo free when you use our promo code temp that's t I m PF at checkout, just pay five dollars in shipping. That's blue chow dot com promo code TEMP to receive your first month free.

Visit blue choo dot com for more details and important safety information, and we thank Bluetoo for sponsoring the podcast. You know, throughout NBA history, there's been some pretty consistent phenomenon set phenomena that happened in these types of situations in big time NBA playoff games when the physicality goes

up another level. Not that there wasn't physicality throughout this series, because obviously there was, but when it goes to an additional level when the refs don't want to you let their whistle be a factor in the outcome of the game.

Every even really good offensive players begin to struggle, and you'll see guys like Drew holiday In, Jalen Brown, and guys like Derek Like Derek White was really good offensive player when he was in San Antonio, made some big plays today, but you'll see, you know, guys like Grayson Allen, star offensive player back in college. You'll see great basketball players of of any ilk struggle in that environment because it's just extremely difficult to score the basketball in those settings.

But there are two specific types of basketball players that have successfully been able to score in these environments. People that can go through you and people that can shoot over the top of you. And the two most recent examples that we've seen in NBA history is like a Lebron versus like a k D. Right now, Lebron can do both, and that's why he's in the goat conversation.

There's just not that many guys in NBA history that can have the physically imposing effect that Lebron has but also can just shoot over the top of you at any time that he needs to, which obviously has been a latter half of his career thing. And if you honest figures that out, we might as well all just pack it in at some point. And he's made a

lot of really big jump shots in this series. But those two specific archetypes went head to head tonight and had an epic duel, and those are the kinds of things that lead to legendary types of NBA playoff games that we watch on ESPN Classic and NBA TV down the line, And those are the kinds of nights that make me feel thankful that I get to do this for a living because it's just it's just incredible theater, it's incredible basketball, and it's so so, so much fun

to watch. But down the stretch of that game, you saw both teams executing their defensive game plan perfectly. And we're gonna talk a little bit, We're gonna get deeper into this concept later in the show, because I do think Milwaukee figured out some specific things that should make you feel if you're a Bucks fan more optimistic about Game seven, then you should be after losing a Game six at home like this, when Boston pretty much controlled

you throughout the game. But you know, Jayson Tatum on on defense or excuse me, on offense, is consistently being guarded by the likes of a Wesley Matthews or the likes of a Drew Holiday. Got some George hill On switches, But he's consistently being guarded by shorter defensive players, right, And he has this advantage that nobody on Milwaukee, at least when gets into those matchups, can do anything about.

And it's like he can shoot over the top anytime he wants, and it's what allows him to have the the the ability to get that kind of shot volume off. I think he took like fifteen threes tonight. I can't remember off the top of my head, but he took a million three tonight. And it's because when push came to shove, when the ship hit the fan, that's a

release valve for Jayson Tatum. He knows that if I can't get around you, if I can't go through you, I can just pull up over the top and I trust my skill to knock a certain number of these down. And with Joannice it's the exact opposite. He's being guarded pretty consistently by bigger defenders, guys like Grant Williams, guys like Al Horford, guys that have size and strength, but he just knows that, like if I continually try to work my way through and around them, there's nothing that

they can do with me. Janice has this really nifty trick that he does that Honestly, I don't know how the hell you officiated. I don't know how the hell you do anything with it. It's definitely been coached into him and it's absolutely genius. But it's kind of like a chicken wing swim move where when he sees you

standing directly in front of him. All he's trying to do is take that aggressive step to your shoulder, and when he drops his shoulder, he wants to raise that left elbow and hook it around your shoulder and pull himself around. If you guys watch him, he does that on almost every single play. And once he gets that elbow around you, you've lost your leverage, your leverage, and it's game over for you. And you saw him do that time and time and time again. Tonight. Both players

came out absolutely aware of the steaks. Both players attacked the first quarter in their own way. Janice played one of the best quarters of basketball I have ever seen an NBA player play in that first quarter, and the Bucks were down by two because Jayson Tatum came out and immediately started reigning threes. He hasn't shot the ball particularly well in this series, um, but he's been getting

pretty decent looks. A lot of that has to do with the drop coverage that Milwaukee likes to run, and they do it with Janice too, And like there's a way in a drop coverage to make it harder on pull up jump shooters by the big being what they call at the level of the screen. You'll hear color commentators talk about that. Sometimes you hear NBA analysts or

writers talk about it. Basically, what it means is if the guard is coming off of the screen as a shooter, if the big man is not at the level of the screen, the guard has an opportunity to pull up and shoot. And one of the big concessions that the Bucks have had to make in this series during the Lion's share of the game, the vast majority of the game is when Janice is is in these coverages. They want him to drop and they want him to stay back at the basket, want to protect the paint, but

too it's because of fatigue. Think about how much more ground you have to cover as a big man if you have to be up at the screen for the shooter, but then as soon as you dissuade the shot, you have to recover back to a roleman and hope that your guard can get back into the play. It just makes you cover like twice as much ground in every

pick and roll. So you could tell that Milwaukee was like when mill when Brooks out there were dropping and with Janice, we're gonna have him dropped too, because we just need to save his legs. Look at that Milwaukee offense tonight. Just about every single possession that wasn't initiated by Janice went very poorly. We're gonna talk a little bit about Drew Holiday in a few minutes and why he one of the reasons why I think he's been

struggling so much. But they needed Janice to create absolutely everything for them offensively, so they had to sit him and drop as an energy saver. And here's the thing, Jayson Tatum, this is it's all. Everything has a cause and effect. Every strategy decision you make has a downfall. The Bucks shutting off the paint the way did the way they did all season led to them giving up more wide open threes than any team in the NBA.

Anytime you make a strategic decision, you run the risk of it burning you in another area on the floor. And one of the interesting things that I thought happened in this game was Jayson Tatum got a lot of really good looks off the dribble, three point shots and pull up two's because of Janice and Brooks staying super

low in their drop. Now, what inevitably ends up happening is they go what they started this in Game five is in the fourth quarter, they ditched Brooke, they go your honest at the five, they do a bunch more switching, and now those drop opportunities aren't there anymore. And they did that again tonight at the end of the game. But here's the problem. At that point, Jayson Tatum had already made like five threes, and like these things with jump shooting, especially when you're a tall guy like I'm

I'm six six and pretty tall. When I get my jump shot going, especially against local competition and like men's leagues and stuff, they can't, like they're just too small. If I get to my release, it's over. It's all. It's it's the result is in my hands. I'm either going to make it or I'm going to miss it. You're not going to dissuade me in any way. And that's kind of the predicament that you run in too,

when you let Jayson Tatum get going. Is there at the end of the game, Wesley Matthews and Grace and Allen and Drew Holiday and George Hill and all of them, they're they're contesting the shots. They're not open. It just doesn't matter. It doesn't matter when you've got your rhythm,

It's just not a very reliable thing. Pull up jump shooting is one of the least reliable things in the game of basketball, and that's why you know, Jayson Tatum hasn't shot the ball particularly well through five games, and

then tonight he finally kind of broke through. But I thought that was an interesting strategy, and it's gonna be really interesting to see as we move forward into Game seven whether or not Milwaukee goes to that earlier, because once again they nearly came back and won this game in the fourth quarter. If by by making that simple adjustment, Let's put Jana set center, let's switch everything and take

away those drop coverage opportunities. I talked to you guys a lot after last game about why Boston fell apart in that fourth quarter. When you go into a switching defense, those break free opportunities aren't there anymore. You coming off of a ball screen and having tons of area around you to get into a pull up jump shot, those

aren't air there the transition, those opportunities aren't there. You're constantly A good switching defense is constantly connected to you, So as a result of that, there's no action you can run or no thing you can do to just get an easy, wide open shot. So as a result, there's only one way that you can attack a switching defense, and it's to apply rim pressure to beat people off the dribble you the the switching defense is designed to stagnate you and get you to settle for pull up

jump shots. And one of the stats that I threw out in our last show, the telling stat of that fourth quarter in Game five, Boston attempted zero three point shots. They consistently went into like a little high post ups with Jalen Brown and Jayson Tatum like from the basket, and Wesley Matthews and Drew Holiday consistently made them settle for jump shots. And tonight they got some rim pressure against the switching but not a lot. It was a lot of just Jayson Tatum making shots over the top

and Jalen Brown making shots over the top. And so that's the interesting dynamic about Milwaukee's switching defense is when they've gone to it in this series, Boston hasn't been able to drive by them enough, and as a result of that, Milwaukee's gotten Boston to settle, and in Game five they missed them, and they lost, and in game six they made them and they won. And the very unique reason why this works is the types of defensive

players that Milwaukee has on the floor. You know, when you're guarding a bigger wing that can shoot over the top, there's two options that you can go to to try to guard them. You can put a very big player on them that can give space and be a positional defender. Think like what Boris Boris d ou did to Lebron in the two thousand thirteen finals, like playing off of him, try to bat him into jump shots and if he drives into you, you have size to hold your ground right.

But the second option there is to put a low center of gravity, shorter player who's very laterally quick, because you do not have a foot speed advantage against them. So specifically in this switching defense, it's devastating because if Wesley Matthews is guarding up on Jason Tatum on the perimeter, Tatum is not getting around him really not easily. And if he is, he's doing it through size. He's like getting into his body and like spinning off of him

and having to use physical leverage to get around. It's not like he can just rip through and get by Wesley Matthews. Wesley Matthews is gonna slide and take that in his chest, you know, or a crossover. Wesley Matthews is such a gifted defender, he's not gonna do that.

Drew Holiday is the exact same thing. So the weird quality of this Milwaukee defenses they have all these shorter guards that are very quick and super strong, so it's very difficult to get around them, and that's how they bait Boston into all of these pull up jump shots. Now the way you're supposed to counter that as a as an offensive player, when you were bigger wing and you've got a small guard on you that's much quicker

than you and you can't get around them. You have to fight for position closer to the basket, and that's just hard to do. It's hard to displace Wesley Matthews from post position. It's hard to displace Through Holiday from post position because they're so strong. And so that's kind of the genius of this Milwaukee defense and the strategy that they've kind of uncovered at certain stretches of this series, and that that to me, is going to be the

biggest indicator of Milwaukee's chances in Game seven. I'm really curious to see if Mike Budenholzer is willing to drop brook Lopez and entirely or use him sparingly and do more switching, because Boston's offense consistently in the series has fallen apart when they switch. Boston is the better team. We've talked about this a lot. That's why I picked them, That's why they were minus two hundred favorite coming into

the series. That's why they were remind us one nine favorite when it was too too And my guess is their favorite now even though I haven't seen the numbers yet. But the reason why their favorite is they're more talented, they have more uh, they have more multifaceted offensive players, and they have the best defense in all of basketball. But they have a glaring weakness, and that glaring weaknesses

they do not have an offensive half court surgeon. They do not have a player that understands, you know, the flow of a basketball game, that understands the importance of shot selection, that understands the importance of keeping all of the other players in rhythm, and so in these switching defense situations, it turns into a shot making contest into Boston's credit. They went in there tonight and they won with their shot making. The thing that concerns me for

Boston moving forward is the shot selection wasn't great. If you guys, remember if you those those of you had been following me on Twitter, and again follow me on Twitter if you want to see video breakdowns of this kind of stuff. I tweeted out every offensive possession from Game four, the game Boston won in Milwaukee. I tweeted out every offensive possession from what it was eight to seventy Milwaukee up to uh Boston taking the ten point lead. I think it was ninety six to eighties six or

something like that. It was a thirty six un or thirty six to sixteen run, I think is what it was.

And in that run, they got absolutely wide open looks every time down the floor, just complete wide open looks because of the fact that they Boston of Milwaukee was not in their switching defense because they were playing brook Lopez, and it was just Jayson Tatum coming off the ball screen, working his way into the lane and making kickouts to wide open shooters every single time down the floor when Brook Lopez wasn't in drop or he was in the back line help, they tuck Al Horford in the corner

and they'd work their way into the lane, and here would be Al Horford in the corner wide open. When I pulled Boston's offensive possessions from the end of this game, they're not gonna have a lot of wide open shots in there. And that's the that's the trick there, you know there, this is the advantage of having a guy who's just a relentless rim attacker. So think someone like

Joannice or someone like Lebron. Switching defenses do not work typically in terms of the structure the way they're supposed to work against those dynamic rim pressuring guys, because with the switch, as soon as you command help, you're in the same predicament. As soon as you have to send guys to help from the perimeter, shooters are open. Now

we're in that rotation game. I always talked about that attack the clothes out, attack the clothes out of act the close out until you get a wide open shot. But if you take pull up jump shots, you never force a help rotation. If you never force to help rotation, you can't get wide open looks. And so the dynamic in the chess match of Game seven is going to be how often can Milwaukee get to their switching lineups? Or more more importantly, how willing as coach Budenholzer to

go that route? How like is he willing to bench Brook? Is he willing to ask Janice like, hey, man, I need you to guard up in a switch defense this entire game as opposed to sitting and drop around the basket so that he can save his legs those that that How how often Milwaukee is willing to do that

versus Boston when they get to that situation. How willing is Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown and Marcus Smart to attack the basket and to beat that matchup off the dribble to force help so that they can get into their dribble drive stuff. A couple of interesting wrinkles that I thought were possible, uh kind of cures for this. Derek White was awesome tonight. And one of the specific things that Derek White did was he got dribble penetration

and he was a good cutter. So when Jayson Tatum would be posting up and help would come from one side, uh that Derek White cut on the back door. That's another way to basically replicate dribble penetration, because if Derek White catches it on the cut, somebody has to come into help. Now, it's that same quality of kickout, attack the clothes out, attack the clothes out that you get

from a dribble drive guy. Right, So I think it might be interesting to look towards a little less of a Grant Williams, a little bit more of a Derrick White,

a little bit less of a Daniel Tys. Maybe you have to keep Grant Williams out there, so you go away from Daniel Tye entirely, essentially going smaller and understand that it's gonna hurt you on the glass a little bit, but you might get more double penetration because again, the story of this series, guys like I picked Boston in five because they're the better basketball team, and I've laid that out and Janice has proved me wrong in a

lot of different ways. And we're gonna talk a little bit more about your honest here in just a minute. But the flip side, in addition to the honest thing, has been Boston's offensive process at various points in this series. And I went on a big rant about this in Game five. Boston's inability to stay on the right track offensively has led to their long scoring droughts that allow

Milwaukee to get back into the game. That's been their biggest predicament, and so one of the things that they're that they're probably going to have to do to counter that is use smaller lineups so that they have more guys that can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. And it's just that's again, I talk all the time about the predicament that great teams put you in. This is the predicament that a great team like Boston or that a great team that Milwaukee

puts you in. They put you in the predicament where you have to make a concession, and in this case, it's the offensive glass that gave up a bunch of offensive rebounds again tonight. That's going to contin continually be a problem in this series because of how big Milwaukee is. And you know, again, as far as Game seven goes, it's going to come down too. It's going to come down to, uh, which team brings their best punch. I've talked a lot about how Boston has Boston is the

Jekyl and High team of this playoff run. When they are on that right track offensively, they're very difficult to beat. They went into Milwaukee tonight and almost We're up twenty in the second half. Like that's that's how good this Boston team is down three two in a series close out opportunity for Milwaukee. They went in there and pretty much kicked their butt all game long. So like, that's how good Boston is when they're at their best. But I've also seen them blow a ton of double digit

leads in this series. They've blown two games blowing double digit leads, and they damn near did it again tonight. And so Boston, Boston has this ugly side, and so so much of Game seven comes down to which side of Boston shows up. I wanted to hit it a couple of quick notes before I give you guys my prediction for Game seven. Ya hones, Did anybody think he

wasn't gonna put up forty four tonight? There was this thing that happened with Lebron in the two thousand eighteen postseason where the idea of him getting forty two, twelve and nine was like the safest bet in sports I think he had I remember correctly, like eight forty point games in that playoff run. He and he was going

against great defense. Is that Raptor defense was incredible, That Boston Celtics defense was incredible, That Indiana Pacers defense was incredible, all like just against really good defensive teams consistently in that playoff run, none of them could do anything with Lebron.

And it again, like if you were I'm a Lebron fan obviously, and like if I'd be getting ready to watch a game to be four o'clock here in Tucson, and I'd sit down in front of the TV, and I would have concerns about what would happen in the game. But there's one thing I had absolutely no concern about, and it was is Lebron gonna be great tonight? Yeah, he's gonna be He's gonna be incredible. It was the

safest bet. And that's one of the biggest things that I think is underrated when we're ranking players all time

is the consistency. There are lots of guys that have huge playoff moments, like a game here or a game there where they play great Kawhi Leonard in two thousand nineteen looked like he might have been the best player in the world, and then the next year in the bubble, his jump shot stopped falling, and all of a sudden, he wasn't impacting the game in a bunch of other ways, And you're like, oh, is this guy even a top five player? You know what I mean? Like they're the

consistency wasn't there with Kauai. You know, I've seen c J McCollum in a Game seven execute the Denver Nuggets on their own floor and look like one of the better three level scorers in the league, and then needs us the next night. He won't be making a shot, you know what I mean? Like that's the that's the the inconsistency that plagues the vast majority of players in

the NBA. And what was so awesome about Lebron was like it was the safest bet in sports that he was going to be great every single playoff game, and and Janice is doing that right before our eyes. It's like, you, I don't we don't know for sure what's gonna happen in Game seven. I'll give my prediction here in a few minutes. But there's one thing I know for damn sure. Be honest, is gonna be the best player on the floor by a mile, and Boston's gonna have absolutely nothing

they can do with him. I can guarantee he's gonna bring a percent effort. I can guarantee he's gonna be a wrecking ball inside on both ends. That's it's this. It's a safe bet. If you're a Milwaukee fan, you don't have to sit on your couch and wonder about whether or not Janice is gonna bring it in Game seven. Sixers fans had no idea what they were gonna get from Joel Embiad and James Harden the other night. You know,

like that, like even even with Steph Curry. You know, I love Steph Curry is one of my favorite players. I don't know what I'm gonna get from him tonight. If he shoot, he might shoot really well, he might shoot poorly. He might be sloppy with the basketball and

have a bunch of turnovers. And I can I can depend on him to play hard, and I know he's gonna defend and and I know that he's going to have his impact that he has in the form of gravity and the way he can warp a defense, but there are just very few guys in the league one, arguably because of Lebron's age, that I can just guarantee he is going to dominate this next playoff game the safest betting sports. Last note before I give you guys my prediction. Drew Holiday. This guy is the bane of

Bucks fans existence in the sense that he's very inconsistent offensively. Obviously, monster defensive player who's made a ton of huge, pivotal defensive plays for this Bucks team in the last two playoff runs, and his value I think is undeniable and unassailable. But I think there's a very unique reason why he's so inconsistent offensively, and it has to do with a thing Lakers fans who are listening, that have been listening to me over the last couple of years, you'll recognize

this specific thought process. But there are two different kinds of offensive players out there. They are offensive players that generate a lot of easy shots and then also can make tough shots. And then there are offensive players that only can and attempt difficult shots like Drew Holiday. If you look at his shot selection and it's not his fault. He's a six three guard who doesn't have amazing vertical lift.

He's not the quickest guy in the world. He's he's he's a very good athlete, but it's more like a strength and coordination and savvy and hand like he's very good with his hands on defense and obviously very very good athlete. But he's not the guy. He's not Jayson Tatum. He can't just levitate over the top. He's not a guy that consistently generates easy shots for himself to supplement

his offense. And so if he's gonna take twenty to twenty five shots a night for this Bucks team, and the vast majority of them are going to be very difficult, then what does that mean. That means there's gonna be nights where they go in and knights where they don't. That's why he goes ten for twenty one night and five for twenty the next. He doesn't get easy shots

in his offense. The guys that consistently have fiegal percentages over and consistently it's like twelve eleven for twenty it's because they went seven for seven on their easy shots or seven for nine on the easy shots that they generate over the course of the game. And then they go or less on their tough shots that they take. And so that that's the thing, and this is the predicament of not having Chris Middleton is the Bucks need Drew Holiday to take a lot of shots. They need

him to take shots every single night. And Chris Middleton is at his size, he can get easy shots in the flow of his offense, Like if he gets a small guy on a switch, it's like he's going to a fade away. But a six eight guy shooting a fade away over a smaller defender is a high percentage shot, you know, like like there that that's a matchup thing, is all that is. Drew Holiday doesn't have the luxury

of those types of shots. And so because Chris Middleton isn't there as a release valve, because of that, it puts you in a position where Drew Holiday has has to take extremely difficult shots all night long, and it's going to be inconsistent. And that's a swing factor for Game seven. Will Drew make those shots? Are will he not? And And we'll see, all right, guys, So I have to give you a prediction for Game seven, and everything about what I know about these two teams screams at

me that I should pick Boston. Boston has been the best team in the league since January. They've been the best defense in the league all season, best defense in the league by country miles. Since January. They have demonstrated in this playoff run why they're punch. Their best punch is the best punch in all of in all of the NBA right now. But I'm picking the Bucks in Game seven, and there's two reasons why I trust the honest to go in there and impact winning on a

level that is just about guaranteed. I think Mike Budenholzer will go to switching. I think he will. He will ditch Brooke or use him very sparingly and do a ton of switching. I think they have enough data on that now and enough film to demonstrate that that's their best option. I don't trust Boston guys. If Boston plays smart offense, not just against the drop but against the switch and applies rim pressure and attempts to drive to

the basket, Boston will win. Okay, So for all the Celtics fans listening, Boston will win if they play smart. I'm saying that I trust Joannice more than I trust Boston to play smart. It's that simple. I just I they have despite all the evidence in the world of the way that Boston needs to play, they have consistently, in almost every game of the series gone through extended stretches where they forget that they've gone through extended stretches

where they play the wrong way. And so when it comes to betting or making a prediction, I have to go with the guy that I can count on to play exactly the way he needs to to win the game. And that's the honest. But yes, Boston fans, if Boston plays smart and plays the right way on offense and attacks their switching defense by putting pressure on the rim, Boston will win and then we'll have an epic seven

game series between Boston and Miami. But my prediction right now, my my not very inspiring prediction, is that Milwaukee will win in Game seven. Hi, it's Colin Coward. I started the volume to bring you some of the most apathetic voices in sports. While you're here, make sure you hit subscribe. Thanks alright, guys, that is all I have for tonight. As always, I sincerely appreciate your support. All of you guys who came to watch the video today. If you could do me a favor and like this video, I

would really appreciate that. We have two We are off tomorrow, no games, but we have two Massive Game sevens on Sunday. We will be going live after both of them, and I hope to see all of you guys there. The volume