Hoops Tonight Steph Curry & Warriors bury Rockets, LeBron James & Lakers fall, Nuggets dominate

basketball win. Strain together multiple bets from the same game, or build your parlay across multiple games for a shot at making your payday even sweeter. Basketball is more fun when you're in on the action. Download the Draftking Sportsbook AP now and use code hoops. That's hops. New customers can get two hundred dollars in bonus bets instantly for betting just five dollars only on Draftking Sportsbook with code hoops.

The crown is yours gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler or visit www dot one eight hundred gambler dot net in New York call eight seven seven eight hope and why or text hope and Why to four six seven three sixt nine In Connecticut. Help is available for problem gambling called eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven or visit CCPG dot org. Please play responsibly on behalf of Boothill Casino and Resort in Kansas.

License partner Golden Nugget, Lake Charles and Louisiana twenty one plus age varies by jurisdiction. Void in Ontario. Bonus bets expire one hundred and sixty eight hours after issuance. See Sportsbook dot DraftKings dot com, slash Basketball terms for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms and responsible gaming resources. All right, welcome to hoops tonight. You're at the volume. Happy Monday, everybody. Hope all of you guys had an incredible weekend. We've

got a theam packed show for you guys again. Today. We're gonna hit five games just like we did on Saturday. Lakers, Kings, Warriors, Rockets, Nuggets, Thunder Hawks, Bucks, and then finally the Sixers and the Raptors. We're gonna hit all ten teams and their matchups from this past weekend. And then I've got four mailbag questions for the end of the show as well. You guys are the drip for we get started. Subscribe to our

brand new YouTube channel. It mean a lot to me if you guys took a second to scroll down and hit that subscribe button as we try to launch this thing and get it off the ground. Don't forget about our social media feeds TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, It's where I'm posting video content and show announcements throughout the year. And then our podcast feed wherever you get your podcast on our hoops tonight. And the last, not least, don't forget

about mailbag questions. Keep dropping them in the YouTube comments so we can keep hitting them throughout the season. All right, Lakers King, So the Kings end up beating the Lakers in ot Lakers looked like they were gonna come away with it there in the middle of the fourth quarter. They were going on a run Lebron hits to pull up three to put them up by four, But then Dearon Fox took over the game down the stretch and then Malik Monk took it over in ot as the

Kings notched an impressive win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, if you guys remember after last year's postseason run. I talked a lot about how they're they're as discouraging as certain things were for the Kings, right, like Sibonis kind of being mostly ineffectual over the course of that Warrior series, Harrison Barnes really struggling over the course of the Warrior series, and it kind of dawning on you that the front court really just isn't gonna be good enough to contend

with the best teams in the league. And that's a real problem. And that's something that even as optimistic as I feel about the Kings at this point and some of the other elements of their roster, you're just not going to win at the highest levels in the NBA with those front court shortcomings, right, But that doesn't take away from the huge positives that this team brings to

the table. I talked a lot about how after that Warrior series, I was blown away by how impressive both Malik Monk and Deer and Fox were with their ability to get the defense into rotation to either beat people off the dribble or make shots over the top to

draw multiple defenders into their ball screen. They just did a really good job generating quality shots throughout the series and It's specifically valuable in that Western Conference because both Malik Monk and Dearon Fox bring this crazy combination of downhill speed to beat people off the dribble and over the top shot making. As Deeron Fox has developed into

a jump shooter at this phase in his career. Hit several big jump shots down the stretch last night to pull up three in Anthony Davis's face, another pull up mid range shot in Torrian Prince's face down the stretch of that game. So like they're both now high level shot makers, and in the Western Conference in particular, a lot of the teams at the top. As a matter of fact, I'll just put it plainly, all of the teams at the top of the conference that I consider

to be championship contenders are bad perimeter defense teams. As you go to the Denver Nuggets, for instance, I really like Aaron Gordon as an option to attack or to put on other big scoring wings around the league. But like with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Junior on the floor, you're gonna have your opportunities if you can beat people

off the dribble, right. Same thing goes for the Golden State Warriors right with Chris Paul and Steph Curry and Klay Thompson at this phase in his career, You're gonna have opportunities if you can beat people off the dribble. Going forward to the Phoenix Suns right like, obviously Joshakogi and Jordan Goodwin have been exciting early season perimeter weapons, but especially when Bradley Beal and Devin Booker are on the floor, they're gonna you're gonna have a lot of

opportunities to beat people off the dribble. And the last but not least, the Los Angeles Lakers with Austin Reeves and and Di'angelo Russell and and Gabe Vincent as their primary back court options, like, you're just gonna have an opportunity to beat people off the dribble if you have the guards that can do that. And so, in a weird way, the Sacramento Kings are a bad matchup for a lot of the teams at the top of the Western Conference

on the perimeter. Now, again, those front core court issues add a certain ceiling to that, which we'll get to in a little bit. But that Fox Monks monk pairing is a real weapon, and we've seen that already in last year's postseason, but it's it's you're seeing that come to the surface and this year's regular season as well.

Last night, the Lakers just could not contain any screening action with Malik Monk er dearon Fox, even in it's just like an easy ghost screen with Kevin Herder on Malik Monk as he pops to the left wing and Gave Vincent is just too slow to recover. And that's the thing. The Lakers don't have that type of real athleticism in the backcourt to physically contain the quicker guards

in the league. And when you pair that with what they've got on the wing with Keegan Murray and Kevin Herders, guys that are like real athletes with real size and length who also can shoot the basketball, it kind of is a perfect pairing in terms of that perimeter kind of like the perimeter identity that this team has, right Like, You've got these off ball movement shooters that kind of contribute in the athleticism areas of the game, and then

you've got these on ball quickness, pull up jump shooters that can get the defense into rotations. You can play drive and kick basketball and that's the thing, Like you saw a lot of those perimeter mismatches manifest down the stretch of this Laker game, where on one end of the floor, every time the Lakers miss and they're missing threes. Right, We're gonna get to it in a little bit, but the Lakers miss some great looks down the stretch of

this game. They're missing threes long off the back of the rim, and Kevin Herder and Keegan Murray and these guys are coming flying in to get rebounds. Kevin Herder had four defensive rebounds in crunch time last night, as the Kings were able to keep for the most part, the Lakers off the offensive glass. Ad had like a tip dunk with about like what twenty five seconds left or so that tied the game. But other than that, they get a good job of keeping the Lakers off

the glass. And then on the other end of the floor, Keegan Murray's just running right by D'Angelo Russell, running right by Torrian Prince and grabbing huge defensive rebounds, both of which led to wide open threes for Malik Monk that

he made both of. And so you're kind of seeing that, like they have real speeding, quickness advantages at the guard position, and then they have real length and athleticism on the wing to get long rebounds, to contest shots in rotation, to on the offensive end, gather and tip out offensive rebounds. They just have a really good core of perimeter players.

And again, like there's there's gonna be some sort of limitation to them as a high level playoff team as it comes as it comes down to their front court, but you have a real foundation there. And like again, in the big picture, and I don't know what they're looking at, especially being that they just reupt with Sabonis, but eventually, if you can imagine a universe where they get real rim protection into this system, they could be really,

really good in the big picture. I thought they did a really nice job too of avoiding the Laker half court defense whenever they could by pushing the ball in transition every single time they had a long rebound or a turnover or anything along those lines. I thought both Keegan Murray and Kevin Hurder did a nice job identifying when Anthony Davis was out on deeron Fox on a switch that they had an opportunity to try to crash the glass because the Lakers didn't have much athleticism on

the back line. I thought they played a really smart game as they out executed the Lakers down the stretch last night to get a win. And again, like where

you're seeing the downside is on that defensive end. You saw the Lakers get a lot of really good looks down the stretch of that game, and they missed them all for the most part, right, And a big part of that is that because of your front court's limitations, you're having to throw two to the ball in post ups and ISOs, you're having to throw a defend pick and roll actions three on two, and so you're existing in rotation too much on the other end of the floor,

which is what's allowing smart teams that have skilled like the Lakers to make that drive and kick pass to find that open shooter. So again, like there's a limit to what they can do until they figure out that front court and kind of build a defensive foundation on it. But you saw a lot of the exciting perimeter potential

of this team against the Lakers last night. Moving on to the Lakers the Lake game issues, I thought like a lot of Laker fans, in particular were kind of missing the boat on what went down down the stretch of that game, Like, yeah, they missed a lot of open shots, and yeah, Anthony Davis wasn't overly involved in the offense, and we'll talk about that in a minute.

But your defense gave up twenty six points and ten minutes of crunch time basketball the final five minutes of regulation and in ot you gave up twenty six points in crunch time a defensive rating of one hundred and twenty four when the score was within five with less than five minutes left. You're not beating anybody if you're giving up like crazy, you know, best offense in the league offensive ratings during the final five minutes of the game.

That's the problem. The problem is is every single time you got to stop, they got an offensive rebound. The problem is your guys on the perimeter can't defend a basic ghost screen action. The problem is is every single time Anthony Davis ends up on a switch, he gets a stop and then no one boxes out. Those are the issues that they're having on that end of the floor.

That's what cost them the game. Despite shooting horrifically on the other end, and they still had an offensive rating of ninety five in the crunch time on the other end of the floor. And that's with them missing every seemingly every single open shot that they generated. And that's an issue like the Lake when it comes to the late game offense, like that was an issue all year last year, and it's definitely something that we're gonna have to keep an eye on over the course of the season.

But when I watched the tape today, like it was just wide open shots. It was wide up and shots every time down the floor. It was Lebron, you know, ripping through to the right, drawing a second defender and kicking to Torreon prints on the right wing for a wide open three. It was Lebron kind of posting up and drawing Gabe Vincent's defender in and kicking out to Gabe Vincent on the left wing for a wide open three.

It was the Lakers running a ball screen with Ad and eight rolling to the basket on a switch and drawing two defenders and d Lo throwing a skip to Torrean Prince in the left corner and in Pump faking and ripping through the baseline and making a kickout pass to D'Angelo Russell wide open on the right wing and he missed the three. Like at the end of the day, these are wide open looks that you're missing, and like, I get it. Maybe you find a way to get

Ad more involved in the offense. But do you think Mike Brown is going to allow Anthony Davis to just work on an island against the Kings, or do you think he's going to be sending multiple defenders which is gonna lead to the defense being in rotation, which is going to lead to driving kick basketball, which is gonna lead to wide open threes. Like at the end of the day, you're gonna get the same damn shots, Like you just have to make the shots. It really is

that simple. And like even specifically from the same point of schematics, like after Sabonas fouled out of the game, Harrison Barnes slid over onto Anthony Davis, and every single possession offensively, he either ran to the opposite block to basically operate in the dunker spot, ran to the corner, or to the wing to spot up. There was not a single possession when Ad had Harrison Barnes on him.

When he ran down the floor buried him and said, give me the damn ball, and then someone threw in the ball and he made a post move that literally never happened. The only time he called for post ups were on switches after ball screens. There was one coming off of a ball screen where Deer and Fox switched on to him and he fronted the post and they bracketed, so there was no post entry and so there was

no opportunity to get him the ball. And then there was another transition possession in ot where Lebron where Ad ran the floor and had Kevin heurdr sealed right under the basket on the left side, and Lebron opted to throw his swing pass over to the right to D'Angelo Russell, who was wide like completely unguarded on the right wing.

And so even the one time I thought Ad had a guy buried for a post up, Lebron made a read to probably your best spot up shooter, like Delo's probably your best guy on the team to take a wide open three, and he just missed it. So like, even though you could argue, yeah, Lebron probably should feed Ad against Herder there, it's not like he made a bad decision. He just made a different decision for a shot that, like you know, is a great look for

that team. Right. And then again, as I always say, I will defend AD to the bitter end, his impact goes far beyond what his offensive production is. I always point out the obvious reasons why he's different from the stars at the very top of the league, and some areas of opportunity that he has. One of those is that half court shot creation piece. But like you have to count account for what he does defensively, Anthony Davis's defensive impact extends so far beyond what you see on

the box score. But the reality is is like there is basically no evidence an AD's career where you could just dump the ball to him and run the offense through him and it's gonna go well like that. That's just not a thing. And I didn't see anything on tape that really screamed at me as like missed opportunities on that end, except for the fact that AD probably should have just buried Harrison Barnes a few times, which

is which is on AD. It's not on the players who didn't even have an opportunity to throw it to him down there. So, like I think focusing on the offensive end down the stretch of that Lakers loss to the Kings is silly. They ran great offense. I think Lebron has done an excellent job of making decisions in crunch time of games so far this year and generating super high quality shots for his teams and for his team, and good shooters are just not making shots, and that's

the problem. Austin Reeves this year five for twenty three on jump shots, D'Angelo Russell seven for twenty three on jump shots, Gabe Vincent three for fifteen on jump shots. As a group, those three guys are three for fourteen on unguarded catch and shoot jump shots, so nobody's standing around them. They catch with all day to sit and think and take the shot, three for fourteen, and they're not making their pull up jump shots either. They're ten for thirty three. So like at the end of the day.

That was the roster construct. The idea was, teams are packing the pain against Ad and Lebron. Lebron's drawing doubles and all his drives AD every time he tries to post up a mismatch. They're bracketing and they're fronting, and their offering backside help, you've gotta hit shots. Like, to me, settling is I have a guy on a swich and I take a step back jump shot, or I'm running pick and roll and I'm taking floaters and pull up

jump shots. That's settling. But when the team is taking away the paint and you are driving and making the right read to wide open shooters, that's not settling. That's especially when they're good shooters. It's one thing when the team's ignoring Jared Vanderbilt and you keep getting Jared Vanderbilt count catch and shoot threes, and you have to start thinking about what you got to do offensively, because that's

a shot the defense can afford to give up. But if your crunch time offense is generating wide open threes for Gabe Vincent, Austin Reeves, D'Angelo Russell, you're gonna win a lot of games. And Torrean Prince is one of the better wide open, catch and shoot three point shooters in the league, and he missed at least three wide open threes in crunch time last night. So like again, like, I think focusing on the offense is the wrong thing there.

Because it was one twenty four to one twenty three with what two minutes left in ot despite all of those missed shots, but you couldn't get a damn stop. And when it was one twenty four to one twenty three, Malik Monk ran a ghost scream with Kevin Herder, and Kevin Herder slipped it to the left wing and got a wide open three and he made it. Because that's bad defense, because they couldn't just communicate a switch properly or hedge and recover whatever it was that they planned

on doing in that situation. Like it just at a certain point, this team's identity is defense. That's how they have to win games. They didn't do a good enough job a couple other things. Rebounding issues again, like some of it's personnel, Like some of it is Dangel Russell's giving up a lot of length and athleticism to some of these guys. Right, there are some things that, uh that darvinham can do. We saw in the Suns game

in particular, put Christian Wood on the floor. He can really help you with your backside rebounding when Anthony Davis gets switched onto a perimeter player like he did on Kevin Durant in those games. Right, in this game, no Christian wood in crunch time, ad gets switched onto Derren Fox Fromer League Monk. You can't rebound on the backside, right.

But a lot of it is just personal shortcomings. Because even if you had Jared Vanderbilt in for Torrian Prince or Christian Wooden for Torrian Prince, there were a couple plays where Gabe, Vincent and Dilo got beat for rebounds. So like at a certain point, it's a personnel weakness. And this is why I've been talking so much about how the Lakers need to find a real athletic guard.

I've said multiple times like my dream trade for the Lakers this year is like a trade with the Bulls to bring back Alex Crusoe and Demarta Rozen, because you solve your over the top shot making and you get a real big athlete at the guard position that can help you in these late game situations, securing the fifty to fifty balls, defending those late game ball screen actions like you wouldn't you probably wouldn't have to switch ad onto Deern Fox if you can guard him with Alex

Cruso at the point of attack and those are that's a severe limitation in this roster, and that's something that they're gonna have to look at when they get closer to the deadline. Last note on the Lakers over the top shot making Lebron he made a pull up three with the about halfway through the fourth quarter that put the Lakers up four, but he missed a couple more pull up jump shots that were easy in pick and

roll down the stretch. He did make a bailout three in the left corner, but he's three for ten on pull up jumpers this year, and overall on jump shots he's zero point eight to one points per jump shot. Anthony Davis zero points seventy five points per jump shot, one for four on pull up jump shots. So, like we talked about how they're gonna have to keep an eye on that over the top shot making piece, and

so far, again small sample size three games. Don't want to overreact to anything, but so far, through three games, their stars still can't make shots, and unless they start making shots, that's gonna be something that severely hinders them in the late rounds of the playoffs. Now, some of you guys out there are probably thinking Jason said the Lakers are gonna win a lot of regular season games there one and two right now. Sometimes teams lose two

games and three tries. And the Lakers are not playing good basketball right now. Dangel Russell Austin Reeves gave Vincent those guys are offensive skill guards. They're not athletic, dirty work guards who play defense, right So if they're not making shots, they're impact craters and the Lakers are going to be a pretty inferior basketball team. But here's the thing. I expect them to make shots this year. Again, those guys are shooting atrociously bad. They're going to make shots.

It's only a matter of time. As a group, the whole team, Anthony Davis and Lebron aren't playing well enough as half court shot makers right Like overall, the team isn't defending well enough. Their offensive skill guards are not making any shots. As a team, they're just not playing well. But you play eighty two games, and I think the Lakers are going to figure it out and play a lot better. And I still feel very strongly that they're

going to win a lot of regular season games. They're just not playing well right now, which is a thing that happens over the course of the NBA regular season. All right, moving on to the Warriors and the Rockets, so the bench lineup carries them again. Steph Curry checks out.

I think it was eighteen to fifteen, about halfway through the first quarter of like mid late first quarter, and they bring in their bench lineup which they've been using so far the season, which is Chris Paul with Gary Payton kind of managing the point of attack assignments, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kaminga, and Dario Sarich, and that group just completely took over the game. And by the time Steph came back in in like middle second quarter ish, the Warriors

were up by double digits. I think they were up by thirteen if I remember correctly. And that's just a huge advantage to be able to go from down without Steph or with Steph on the floor, to Steph coming back into the floor with the double digit lead. And that's why you make the Chris Paul trade. You make the Chris Paul trade to improve the organization of those bench groups. But to be clear, it's defense that's winning those those shifts for that group. They have a ninety

two defensive rating in those possessions. Gary Payton's doing an amazing job at the point of attack. He made a lot of plays defensively in pick and roll. In that bench run at the end of the first quarter. In early second quarter yesterday, Jonathan Kamena brings that down hill rim pressure slashing from the wing. He's basically like playing

on that week side. Chris Paul's running pick and roll, and whenever he sees that low man come over, he's just throwing it to kaming on the wing, and Kaminga is either shooting to catch and shoot three or jab and drive to the left. He's just applying that downhill rim pressure right. Moses Moody has kind of taking the role of like the three and D guy. He's attacking closeouts, taking open threes when they're there, and he's playing physical

point of attack defense. Dario Sarich is the kind of like the offensive fire power in the Chris Paul pick and roll, and they're still having a lot of success in pick and pop situations with him just like dropping back to the to the wing or to the key off of ball screens with Chris Paul, so like it's it's a sensical lineup. We talk a lot about, just like the list of responsibilities on a basketball court. Chris Paul feels that point of attack offense, like getting the

defense into rotation. Kaminga's like kind of your like a second side creator slash, real rim pressure guy. Moses Moody's your three and D guy, right, like Gary Payton's basically operating is your primary point of attack defensive player, but he's operating off the ball on offense kind of out of the weakside corner and as a cutter right. And then Dario Sarich is your skilled big that allows you

to kind of play five out offensively. Right, Like it all they just fill all the positions, and they don't need an outstanding rim protector in that lineup, so they can play sarage because you've got great point of attack defenders out there and Gary, Gary Payton and Moses Moody and Jonathan Kimiko who can be a great point of attack defender when he's locked in, and so it all just makes sense. And that's what allows the Warriors bench lineup to provide more consistent production like they have so

far through the season. Again, forty two possesions really small sample size, by that lineup has been working really well and again, like the starters are not playing super great right now. Andrew Wiggins not playing very well right Draymond Green coming back from an injury, playing on a minute's restriction, so like they need consistency off of their bench to give their starters time to get their shit together, you know. And then here's the thing. You just got to keep

that you keep it close. That's what allows Steph Curry to carry you home late. And that's what happened in this game. The Rockets took a late lead in this game, and then Steph Curry just unbelievably like just got unbelievably hot and took over late. I swear every like heat check, run of three point shooting is coming in fours these days. That's been a theme so far in this regular season. Steph hit back to back to back to back pull

up threes. Well some of them are on the move, but like back to back to back to back threes to basically put the game away. Then there was a fun one for all us basketball fans out there. Like, for the record, like Dylan Brooks as a basketball player, I think he's legitimately very good, very good defensive player. He actually is a little better offensively in the last six months than I think he was in previous years,

which is encouraging for the Rockets. He's actually become a decent playmaker off the bounce, too, good basketball player, probably even deserving of his contract, right, But I just don't like the guy. I think he's downright disrespect to better basketball players than him. Like talking shit on the court, to me is a normal part of competitiveness. But like going into the press and just talking shit about people for no reason, it is disrespectful, unlikable, pointless. I think

it's inauthentic too. Like I think I don't think Dylan Brooks is actually wired that way. I think he's just being a dick because it he thinks it. I think you think he's trying to build that villain brand up right, So like like just not my favorite dude, you know. So like I'm always gonna enjoy when when uh Steph Curry as a moment at his expense, and I didn't even mention all the dirty player stuff, like like Dylan Brooks has hurt guys, like has actually hurt guys making

dirty plays on the court. I'm just just not a Dylan Brooks fan. But when Steph Curry hit him with like the behind the back crossover, back to the left and back behind the back again to the pump fake because Dylan Brooks goes flying by and hits a shot in his face and Steph is freaking out as he's

running down the floor. That those are the things that I love about basketball, because regardless of what you end up saying at the end of the day, like you still gotta you can't talk all that shit and then just get your ass bust by Steph Curry, right like the that's the downside. You talk, you got to back it up. And basketball is very much a results sport, and like all you always live to fight another day and you always have another chance to try to make

someone pay. And Steph got the better of Dylan Brooks in a big way down the stretch of that game. Steph's been fantastic so far this season and that you can kind of see things kind of coming together for this team. Kaminga's been really good again yesterday, just making a higher level offensive plays and you're expecting him to make at this phase in his career. The bench fit that we went over is perfect. You're pairing that with

the best starting lineup in the league last year. Right there's just a lot of stuff coming together for this team. Very small sample size. I'm not going to get too excited until we get about twenty games in, but the Warriors look a lot closer to the twenty twenty two version of them so far than they do the twenty

twenty three version, and that's exciting. On the Rockets front, the only thing I really want to hit on here is, uh, the Fred van Vliet thing is so confusing to me, and like I remember that was the basis, Like if this is what you were gonna do, like largely give the keys to uh a guard, to a veteran guard who's a little bit past his prime, Like why didn't you just pay James Harden, Because like, the Van Vleet thing's not going well, zero point eight seven points per

pick and roll, he's co opting the offense too often. He's uh four ISOs just scored once on him, four for twelve at the rim. They finally let Jalen Green be more aggressive in last night's game, but like it's it's it's a little too many hands in the pot right now. It's a little a lot of guys at

a rhythm sort of thing going on. The only real reliable point in their offense right now is Shangoun, who is pretty good again yesterday seven assistants, zero turnovers, like they they I just wish I could understand what the big picture goal is for this Rockets team, and here

you are at zero and three. So if the move was, hey, we're gonna bring him in and we're gonna win games, that's not working either, all right, Moving on to the nugt in the Thunder, I thought this was the most impressive win that I saw so far from a team

this season. The Thunder two to zero at home, all full of piss and vinegar, ready to try to get a big win against the Denver Nuggets, and they just get their ass kicked like it's funny, because like I really do believe that the Nuggets are only a little bit better than the teams at the top of the league when they're fully formed. But you're seeing like the Lakers are working shit out with their rotation in their rhythm,

and most of their guys aren't playing very well. Damian Lillard came into camp out of shape, and the Bucks look pretty bad here early on right, Like the Celtics are really good, but you know how it goes with the Celtics are always worried about them in the late rounds of the playoffs. Like the Sixers are are We're gonna talk about them later, but they're kind of working some things out. Devin Booker and Bradley Beal are are

injured and not available to play. So it's like, right now, if the season ended today, the Nuggets are way better than the rest of the teams in the league. But again, I do think in the big picture, everyone's gonna catch up to a certain extent. I don't think the Nuggets have that significant of a talent advantage. But the Nuggets are the best team in the league right now and it's not particularly close, and they just have like an

inevitability to what they do offensively. Nicole jokis just burying chet Holmengred under the basket a few times early in the game, just to show him like, hey, you literally cannot guard me down here, right like they can punish mismatches elsewhere on the floor. We saw Eric Aaron Gordon do it in the post a bunch of times already this season. We've seen Jamal Murray more in the postseason last year, but we know he can do that too.

And then one of the things that was really impressive to me about the Thunder where they were throwing pretty aggressive coverages at the two man game that the Nuggets were running, and the Nuggets are just so good at countering your counters, right, and so like you can kind of see, like the Thunder every single time, there'd be like a ball screen on the right side of the floor and the defender would start getting The defender would chase over the top and Jamal Murray or Reggie Jackson

or somebody would start getting going downhill a little bit right, and you would see the classic defensive rotation take place. So like you got, let's call it, you know, a shooter in the corner and a shooter on the wing,

and like you'll literally see the Thunder players rotate. So the guy guarding the guy in the corner will come over underneath the basket to basically guard the pick and roll three on two, and then the guy guarding the wing will drop to the corner to take away that skip pass and pick and roll, and like the Nuggets are just like, oh, like this is easy. We're just gonna stash an athlete on the left wing every single

time and have him cut down the lane. And you've seen that BEKCP a lot with the starters, but in the bench group, you're seeing Peyton Watson have a lot of success with that. He's gotten really good at just identifying as soon as his man drops down to essentially replace the low man who comes over and pick and roll, Peyton Watson's just cutting to the basket. And again, like how often can you get away with putting an athlete

above the break who's not a great shooter. Although Peyton Watson's been making some threes this season too, but like he you put an athlete there because you hit him as he's running full speed to the basket and he could just jump over everybody and put it home. And like that, the Nuggets just know exactly what they want

to do every single time down the floor. They know exactly how to get baskets if you defend their action two on two in their ball screen game, right, and then they know exactly how to counter every single aggressive defensive coverage that you throw at them. It's too easy for them. And then again, like it just felt like every single time the Nuggets wanted an easy basket. They just throw it to Yokic and heat buryed Chet homegrin

and put it up underneath the basket. You know, there's even a transition play where Jamal Murray like looks up and Yokic is running along the left lane line and Chet's kind of waiting underneath the basket, and Jokic is just calling for the ball. Jamal just throws a rifle pass hits him. Yokics just literally just bodies Chet once and shoots a little floater in the lane. They just make it look so unbelievably easy. And then on the other end, they're actually defending at an extremely high level

to start the season their seventh in defensive rating. Teams are shooting just twenty eight percent from three against the Nuggets. SGA had a night shooting game in this thunder game. Now again, like in the big picture, are team's gonna shoot twenty eight percent against the Nuggets all season? No, But this is the kind of thing that they can do to teams when they physically pulverize you on the

other end. You know, I talk a lot about how the mental element of basketball, the confidence element, it actually throws other teams out of rhythm when they see you scoring so easily, like you start to get in your head about shots because they're making everything and like that. That that directly affects your confidence. And I don't think it's a coincidence that teams shoot as poorly as they

do against the Nuggets. Some of it, again is the teams they've played, right the Lakers who have been shooting like shit all season, the Timberwolves who don't have great off ball shooting, and this Thunder team who can struggle a little bit with spot up possessions as well. Guys like Shay and guys like Josh Giddy are not outstanding spot up shooters, so like they can have their issues there as well. But at the end of the day,

it is in the big picture. It has a lot to do with what they're doing on the other end of the floor. They got Michael Porter Junior in this

game as well. I think they're gonna run away with the one seed in the West in the regular season, and I think they have a good chance to win the midseason tournament, which I think would be great for the NBA because they're trying to build this This NBA Cup as like a second tournament that's different from the playoffs in that it's single elimination and that has some certain amount of prestige. That's why they're calling it the

NBA Cup. That's why they're putting the trophy on the courts for the courts that they swap at every single game. They're leaning hard into this NBA Cup thing, and in order for it to be legitimate, it needs to go to the best team more often than not, right, And so like, like, I think it'd be good for the league if the Nuggets just went and won the mid season tournament, because that'd be that indicator of like, yeah, we're just better than all of you guys, and this

tournament is another way to show that. And if that's what it turns into, if the tournament just becomes another area for teams to express themselves as the best, that's where that tournament can gain some prestige and if again some prestige teams will care about it. If teams care about it, like you want to get to the point where it's like we're talking fifteen years from now, Like man Jokic has five NBA Cups to go with three NBA champions and you know Giannis only has three NBA cups.

Like that's what you want. You want team people counting that accomplishment in the same breath as MVP and the same breath as the Larry O'Brian. It may never get to the Lario Brian, but if it can get into the same breath as MVP as an accomplishment, that would go a long way towards adding legitimacy to the award. On the thunderfront, I think you really saw the lack

of a big, strong fore man in this game. Again, Like I talk a lot about the different kinds of wings, and you want to have like slender, athletic wings that can navigate screens and move quickly and bother guys on

the perimeter. But you also need, especially next to Chet, who is going to be a little bit of a thin player at the center position, right, you need to have somebody who's of Aaron Gordon's type of archetype, somebody that's between six eight and six ' ten who's really physically strong that can handle some of the bigger, stronger matchups. Because they didn't really even have an option to put Chet off of Jokic in this game. Because there was just not anybody strong enough to bang with him in

those situations. And I like Jalen Williams, but he's a little too short, right, And like lou Dort is very physically strong, but he's too short to bother a guy like Jokic. I think that's the next move for this team is they need to take a look at that starting lineup and see if there's somebody out there that can kind of be their big strong four. In the bigger picture, don't think they'll do it this year. This team doesn't have urgency. They're not trying to win the

championship this year. But in the big picture, I think that I think last night kind of showed you. Yesterday in the afternoon, I should say, kind of showed you the ultimate ceiling of this team. Like you can imagine this team, this Thunder team. Imagine they win fifty five games.

That's way too much. They're not gonna win fifty five, but just say they win fifty five games and they go on this playoff run and they beat the Timberwolves in the first round, and then they head into a second round series and it's the Denver Nuggets, or it's the Let's say the Los Angeles Lakers and Lebron's just picking on him in the post, and they just don't have anybody who can physically hang with him, you know,

like that's where it can be. Or Anthony Davis, for instance, Anthony Davis would probably cause chet Holmgrens some problems burying him under the basket. So like that, that's an example of the ultimate ceiling they can run into if they don't eventually get a more physically imposing forward next to chet Holmgren. In the long run, the Nuggets were just too much of a bad matchup for them in that regard.

All right, Hawks, Bucks, We've got two more games, guys, and then we'll get out of here, and then our mail back questions. They the Hawks went into Milwaukee and just kicked the Bucks ass early and often. In this game. They doubled Dame on every single ball screen and forced a lot of turnovers and got out in transition. The Hawks scored thirty eight points in transition in this game,

which is like insanely good. That's like that, that's about as high as you'll see in an individual game that they Their team speed is what is the most impressive post John Collins trade slide Jalen Johnson in at the four. Jalen Johnson is just a rangy athlete that can get up and down the floor super quick, finish at the rim, above the rim traffic. They are. Jalen Johnson by himself has seventeen points in transition already this season. That's the

eleventh most in the entire league so far. Jalen Johnson also is five for eleven on jump shots and his converting spot up possessions at one point twenty five points per possession. You know, it was funny we talked before the season about whether or not it was gonna be Sadik Bay in that starting spot, but Jalen Johnson's doing a really nice job there and he's making plays on defense.

He's got a block and his steel in every single game so far this year, I think as a team, and you saw this, they didn't defend well in their first two games this year, but you kind of saw what they're capable of defensively in this game when they're really aggressive on the perimeter, because like they forced a lot of turnovers and got out and run in and they just looked like they had arms everywhere and that's

what can happen with this lineup. When you've got Dejonte Murray, when you've got Jalen Johnson, when you've got DeAndre Hunter, when you've got Sadik Bay, You've got athletes that can make plays on the perimeter. And so especially when you partner that with a pretty solid rim protector in Clint Capella, this team is capable of being much better defensively than

they have been. And they have not been good defensively in the big picture this season, but in that first half, in particular against the Bucks, I thought they were really impressive defensively, and I think that's replicable if they take that on as an identity. And again, like you gotta look at it in the big picture too, because offensively they're not where they need to be right right, Like

they're tenth in offense. But that's despite both Trey Young and de Jontay Murray playing horribly to start the season. Dejontay Murray's below forty percent from the field, Trey Young's below thirty percent from the field. Trey Young is seven for twenty one on pull up jump shots and one for eleven at the rim. Now, everybody else in the

lineup is actually playing really well in making shots. And that's the exciting part in the big picture, because if your core guys get going, that's where you can really put together an elite offense. And so I think this Hawks team is capable of being really good. I had them going up a level this year for those of you guys you remember in the season preview. But the Jalen Johnson thing is something I even missed in my preseason prediction and scouting this team. I didn't realize how

good he was. And they just have a ton of depth on the wing and like theoretically with that spacing with their shot craters, when they get going, they can be really really good. On the bucks front, they look like a team that doesn't even practice, and again I know they do, but they just look really sloppy and both ends of the floor right now. On offense, they had no idea what to do when Dame was getting trapped, and a lot of it was on Dame. Dame's just

not playing well. He was turning it over against the blitz, just throwing it into passing lanes and throwing and not even getting it over the guy who's blitzing him, and some of that's like not even about the schematic side of things, Like if Dame can't actually get the pass off in a trap, which he's been doing his entire career in Portland, that's obviously gonna bite you in the butt for you can't even get started right. So I'm not particularly concerned in the big picture. They're just playing

shitty right now and both ends of the floor. Dame is can't hit a shot. He came into camp out of shape. Clearly, he's not even getting the ball over the front of the rim on most of these shot attempts, and a lot of their offensive approach just doesn't make any sense. There was a stretch in the first quarter where Yannis took a turnaround fade away in the post and missed it right after missing a free throw, and he's been shooting free throws like shit so far the season,

so those jumpers clearly not there. Then Dame goes down in the very next possession and shoots a pull up thirty foot three in transition and barely grazes the side of the rim, and then the very next possession, Yannis stripples up and just takes a three from above the break and misses it like bricks it, and I'm like, what are you guys doing, Like this doesn't have to

be that complicated. Just get your four out one in spacing, have Giannis comes set a ball screen and have Dame throw the ball to Yanni's rolling hard downhill against the Blitz. Like a lot of this is just they're not They don't look like a team who knows how they want

to play right now. And then on the defensive end, the rotations have been really shitty so far, which is surprising, especially from the back line guys, Like there were two possessions in the first quarter in particular where Trey Young and de Jante Murray were able to feed to guys directly under the basket for dunks because Giannis was leaving the paint to rotate somewhere else, and no one rotated on Giannis's behalf to the to underneath the basket like

they just Again, we talked about this before the season. I am a huge believer in the Bucks ultimate playoff ceiling, but I said, I think they're gonna go down a level in the regular season, and I said, don't be surprised if there's a huge gap between them and the Celtics, and if they end up being a middle of the pack team in the regular season, and I really do think that's a possible outcome here, because they're just really far right now from where they need to be to

be a good basketball team. In the big picture, it's going to be fine. There's too much talent there. Chris Middleton missed this game. Chris Middleton obviously improves your ability to play off of Dame double teams. In general, You're the Dame Giannis pick and roll is gonna gain a lot more traction as the season progresses. Dame eventually is gonna start making shots. I promise you he will. So like,

everything's going to be fine. But we can't really judge the Bucks right now because they kind of, like what I was saying about the Lakers, they're just playing shitty basketball right now. And when a team's playing shitty basket ball,

try not to overthink it. Try to understand that. Like we're looking at thirty NBA teams that are all on various levels of progress from like what they could be and where they are, and like there are teams like the Nuggets who like know exactly what they are and they're already playing at their individual standing, Like the Nuggets

right now are playing like a championship team, right. And then you've got teams towards the bottom where it's like Bucks still trying to figure out what they want to do, right, the Lakers still playing well below what they're capable of doing. Then you have teams that are kind of like up in the middle, right, like the Warriors are kind of one of those teams that like they look like they're a little further along and where they want to be

compared to some other teams around the league. Right Sacramento Kings right now look a little bit further along than some of the other teams and what they want to be. We all are kind of evaluating these teams on this sliding scale. But this top piece here is the only one that really matters, right cause, like this Bucks team right now, if you put them in a playoff series against the Miami Heat, they probably lose, right, just like

they did last year. But I mean, they've probably lose if they started a season even with a series even with them right now, they're just not ready. But we're talking about who's going to be the best basketball team in the middle of April, not in the middle of October, and so it's not crisis mode. But this team looks

really far away, and Bucks fans be prepared. They could lose a lot of regular season games in the meantime while they're shorting the stuff out, and it could be a little closer to like the Warriors last year, where like they're scrounging away at the bottom of the playoffs, top of the play in tournament type of area the bracket if they're not careful. All right, moving on to

Sixers Raptors. So the Sixers blew out the Blazers last night, but I want to focus on this Raptors game because I thought it was a little bit more interesting of a game. They trailed by double digits at four different points in the first half. The Raptors were putting a halacious defensive effort on them getting out and transition a lot, which can be an issue for the for the Sixers if you guys remember, But right about two and a half minutes left in the first half, the Tyre Smaxy

Joelinbi two men started to click. And this is the upside of James Harden's absence, Like you want to get a look within this season, this version of Tyree Maxy what he looks like as your top perimeter option in the event that you have to flip James Harden for role players, which is a very distinct possibility under the circumstances. Right, and so far through three games, Maxie's averaging thirty points, seven rebounds, six assists on sixty nine percent through shooting.

He's shooting seventy one percent in effective field goal percentage on jump shots. Tyree's looks incredible. Now again it's three games sample size. You want to see more, but like, this is what he's capable of. He already was one of the best shooters in the league, like Tyre s Maaxy is flat out one of the best jump shooters in the league now he was last year and he's

shooting guns blaze him to start this year. Like when you combine that with his downhill athleticism, it really was just about can he ever get to the point where he can run the two man game with Joel Embiid and set him up with those ISOs and pick and pop opportunities that he needs to at easy shots. And I thought he did a really nice job of that in this game like, he's got the kind of like swoopy over the back pass to Embiid when he pops

to the top of the key. He's got that little pocket pass to Embiid, and he's got the timing down now where he knows the proper time to get it to him so that he actually gets a decent look there. He's starting to see the back line a little bit better. There was a play where they came up with a third defender to take away the pocket pass to Embiid and Kellyubrace stuck along the baseline and Tyree's just hit him on the bounce for a dunk. Like to you need to see in the big picture what Tyree's is.

Playmaking can be like right, and for the record, it can be a lot better. He's run fifty one ball screen so far and they've only led to forty eight points, so he's a hair under a point for possession in pick and roll, and he's seven for twenty three on pull up jump shots so far. So like, it looks good, really really good, and he can still go up a

level from there. And by the way, the pull up jumpers, that's that's off the dribble there are several shots that Maxi has made so far this year two man game off of Embiid off the catch. That's the thing that he had that that Harden doesn't have, Right, max he can come flying off a dribble handoff, not put the ball on the ground and just rise up and shoot

going both ways. And that's kind of like an interesting almost Warriors esque DHO action or King's esque DHO action that they can run that they couldn't run with James Harden. And so like again, James Harden's value is not good. He's probably not gonna bring back a star barring some sort of other distressed star, right, and so more than likely you're gonna get a quality role player or two in that exchange. And in order for that to work, you need Tyrese Maxy to flash as a as a

legit number two next to Joel Embiid. And it could not have gone much better than it did. Over the course of the first three games of the season. They just started like Maxi had the three point shot going, he had like by the time I stopped watching the game, he had already made like six threes, and then Joel Embiid in the process as everyone chasing Maxie around. He's getting great looks. Joel Ebid's got his jump shot going

now is three point shot looks great too. Like they just kicked the Rafters ass in this game, and like just manhandled him down the stretch, and so like all on the strength of maxim bid two man game, Like those two absolutely torched them. The Sixers right now are fifth in offensive rating one hundred and nineteen points per one hundred possessions without James Harden, fifth best offense in the league without James Harden. And again, like that was against a Raptors team that has been one of the

best defenses in the league so far this year. That was against a Bucks team which should, in theory be a great defensive team. The Blazers are the only kind of cupcake in that group. Right that's not a slouch. The defense isn't where it needs to be, but it's a transition issue. The Sixers are allowing just ninety points per one hundred half court possessions embiads. Rim protection has been excellent, but they can still get a lot better.

They're still having some issues with like Maxie getting switched and then trying to scram him out of switches, but they're rotating in time. So there were a couple plays against the Raptors where like Maxi would leave his man to scram out of a switch, but then they would just make the feed and he'd score to the guy Maxi was guarding because they didn't rotate fast enough. So, like, they've got some stuff to work out with their half court defense, but for the most part, they've been pretty good.

It's the transition defense that's continued to kill them. On the Raptors front defense looks great. They're fifth in defensive ratings so far. Scottie Burnes and ogn Andobi are combining the average four point five blocks and two point seven steals per game, and they're doing a really nice shot

getting out in transition. Off their defense, they're third and fast break points per one hundred possessions twenty six points per game in transition according to Synergy, that's seventh most in the NBA, and they're really efficient in those situations one point three points per transition shot attempt, which is fifth in the NBA. But their half court offense is

absolutely atrocious. They are scoring just seventy eight points per one hundred half court possessions that is dead last in the NBA, and they are the only team in the NBA right now with a half court offensive rating below eighty so, and we kind of called this before the season. I told you, guys, I saw the Raptors is the

worst backcourt in the NBA. And that's how you get defenses into rotation, right, And so you've got a bad front court backcourt, in my opinion, combined with a front court full of athletic players that have a lot of defensive potential and are somewhat raw offensively, right, guys a go Jiananobi, guys like Scottie Barnes, guys like Pascal Siakam, Like, You're just gonna struggle to score in the half court

with that group. And they really really have Like I love Dennis Schroeder, great point of attack defender, can generate rim pressure. Gary Trent Junior is a really interesting player, can run gribble handoffs and ball screens, can hit pull up jump shots and floaters. They are a They're both

okay players. But if you're gonna have a back court without stars, you better have like a bona fide half court surgeon in the front court and they just don't, and so they don't have any high, high end half court shot creators on this team, and they're just really

going to struggle to score until they address that. I mean, they're another team where you're like, why don't you guys go after someone like James Harden to just try to bring some sort of higher level half court shot creation to the situation, especially when you have a defense that's that good. When you've got that defense and the ability to get out in transition, if you give them a reasonable ability to score in the half court, they could win a lot of games. All right, let's move on

to our mailbag. Got four questions for you guys today. First one, how many games do you think is enough of a sample science to say a player has made real improvement in a given era, for example, shooting, playmaking, defense. I've seen only two games from Luca, but he looks like a totally different player on the defensive end compared to previous seasons. I want to make sure I temper

my expectations adequately. So when it comes to skill things like the ability to handle pass shoot, I would say like at least twenty games, but really it could even extend to seasons, because guys can have a hot shooting season and then not shoot well after that, right, But around like we've seen twenty game samples where you know, Anthony Davis, for instance, in the bubble just makes a

ton of jump shots and then he can't shoot anymore. Right, So, like it it's tough to say when it comes to skill stuff if it's not clearly apparent over several seasons that a guy has become reliable in some specific area. But right around twenty games is at least an opportunity

to be encouraged. So, like there's a player that's not shooting well and then he has a twenty game stretch where he shoots forty two percent from three, that's at least a reason to be excited about him potentially progressing in that direction. On the defense and rebounding front, it's really like you can physically do it or you can't.

And that's the thing with this Lucas stuff, Like Luca's always been capable of being an average team defender, Like he's always been capable of that, but like he was really bad defensively last season, like downright atrocious down the stretch. I had a lot of Mavericks fans again being like, like, oh, you ranked Luka Doncic's tenth. Yeah, but I told you in a vacuum, I think he's the fourth best player in the world. That tenth ranking was based on his

performance from last season, which was not good. Like, that's just the reality. My player rankings are more of like an awards ceremony based on the actual basketball that took place. I know what Luke is capable of. Love Luca think he can be the best player in the world. Think he is the fourth best player in the world in a vacuum. But he has to play team defense, he has to take care of the basketball, he has to boxing out was a huge problem for him last year.

Just wouldn't do it on a lot of possessions. So like, again, you either can do it or you can't. Luca always has been able to, It's just been a question of whether or not he will do it next one. Roughly, how many games does it take for you to gauge the process of rebuilding of a rebuilding team. I'm a Pistons fan and love and loving the changes Monty has made to our play style, and of course Caid coming back with a vengeance. We should have beat Miami if

not for the daily five stupid turnovers per game. But Monty has emphasized physicality, rebounding and defense combined with more ball movement less standing around off ball. I've be coming off the bench. I don't like with Bogdanovic injured, we need to spark off the bench. Plus his defense is terrible. But I'm confidente when Bogie comes back and him learning to use his physical gifts on d he'll at least be able to be a neutral defender and join the starter.

So I have noticed the Pistons have played well too. I've just had to cover some other teams first. I will hit a Pistons game at some point in the next week or so. Specifically, Cad Cummingham looks amazing and that's that like big playmaking guard right, Like he's technically a guard, but he kind of has the body of a forward, and that that gives you that ability to put defenders in jail easily, to score around the paint efficiently, to be the size to be able to see over

the top of the defense and make the passes. And he's made enough pull up jump shots, which is obviously a monumentally important part of that side of the ball. Right the thing. Ivy is one of my favorite young players in the league. You guys know, ever since Summer League two years ago, I've been super high on him. It's just a weird roster for him in a lot of ways, obviously because he's coming off the bench now

they're running two big lineups. You think of a situation where like Ivy with the starters wouldn't make a ton of sense anyway, because he's a slack sure, and you're putting him alongside two bigs Jalen Deurn, who obviously operates inside.

You got Isaiah Stewart taking a lot of threes, but he's obviously not going to be a guy that teams guard out there, right Asar Thompson, who's flashing huge perimeter defense potential, which is super exciting, but like, he's not a non shooter in most in most cases right now not being guarded as a shooter, and so like, it actually makes a lot of sense to have Ivy come

off the bench with this particular group. But as far as like the Pistons in the big picture, and we'll talk about them when I covered them later this week, but I would look at them like the same way

we looked at the Magic last year. What you're looking for is like these five six game spurts where because young players struggle to replicate what makes them successful, So like you're not going to get them just overnight becoming a fifty win team, right, But what you're looking for is five six game stretches where they look like a really good team, right, And that was what we got

from the Magic last year. They were out of the playoffs, they what do they win thirty five games or whatever it was, they had like this random stretch where it's like, whoa, they won six games in a row and they beat the Celtics twice, Like clearly they're capable of doing more, you know, like, oh, they won eight out of ten games, like this looks like a really good team in terms

of potential. That's what you're looking for, And so just kind of look for little two week stretches where the Pistons beat a couple quality teams and go four and two. Those are the times to be excited about what the potential can be in the bigger picture. All right, next question, Jason, I'm a recent subscriber, so bear with me. But have you ever tried going pro? If so, what happened your knowledge of the game of basketballs maybe look at basketball

completely differently. Thank you for the kind words. By the way, I've told the story of the show before, but I'll tell it again for people who haven't heard it. So, like, I just wasn't a very good basketball player when I was in college. I was good enough to get my school paid for, and I did little things well right, like I could score at the JUCO level at put up big numbers there as a score and I always

was a very good rebounder. But then when I went to play it the AA level, which is more organized, it kind of exposed me for being a limited offensive player just with the ability to navigate really good defenses. And so I basically just guarded the other team's best player and took spot up threes. And so I was good athlete. I could defend and I could rebound. I was really all and I was a streaky shooter. That's

what I was in high school. And so I wasn't good enough to play pro right out of high school. So I just went to work and then I was a late bloomer. I didn't start playing basketball until I was like halfway through high school. So I rapidly escalated post college. Like I literally couldn't dribble or shoot when I was in college, and then like suddenly, little by little became a good shooter, little by little became a

good ball handler. Then I like learned how to play with the ball in my hands, and like now I play as like this big like playmaking forward who operates as like the guy with the ball in his hands, who's making every decision and can score and can pass

and do those sorts of things. Like I just wasn't that player when I was in college and when I tried to play pro, so right around the time, because when I got out of college, I started working at Verizon, and then I one day was like, I would really like to try to play Pro one last time before I just hang them up for good, right, And this was when I was about like twenty four, and I was definitely better than I was in college, but I still wasn't very good, and I didn't have the statistical

evidence to be able to go get a contract easily for real money. I could only do it for like small amounts of money. So like I'd get these offers to like go play in a lower level league in France for two hundred bucks a week. I had like two or three offers like that. I had one where like I had one where like a professional team in Brazil was like, well, we'll pay your room and board

if you come down here and play. And like I was already making money in the States like a lot more than that, and so like I'm and I'm married, and I have two dogs and my wife and I had a house, and so it was like, what was I gonna do, like leave my house to go to Brazil to play for room and board, And like that's the thing is, like there are a lot of people who do that, and there's no shame in that, but it's easier when you're single and you're right out of college,

because then what those guys do is they'll take that deal in France for two hundred bucks a week, and they'll and they and they're like, I don't have kids, I don't have a wife. I can just go over

there and just lean into basketball. And then they have a good season and then they go to like a different team in the lower level league that pays him five hundred bucks a week, and then they have an even better season, and then they get on with one of the top leagues in France, and now they're playing as one of the two American players in the top league in France for twelve hundred dollars a week, right, and then the two or three more good seasons, suddenly

you could sign one hundred and fifty thousand dollars contract in like the NBL, or in with some other league in Europe, right and so like that's the pathway that a lot of players take when they go overseas. You pretty much have guys that like come right out of

d one who signed big deals right away. Right Like, guys like a guy who uh didn't get drafted and didn't make an NBA roster is going to go play in the top league in Germany and he's gonna make like one hundred and seven twenty five thousand a year, right like because he was All Conference in the Big

twelve last year or something like that. Right. But I wasn't that type of talent coming out of college, and so I pretty much had to go through the working up through the ranks process, and by the time I actually got good enough to do that, I was already twenty four to twenty five, and I had too many roots set up at home, and so I had to look for things that were like super lucrative. And so I finally got my break, so to speak. There was a league called the Uba in India and they run

a shorter season. It was only like a three month season. But they offered me a deal for one thousand dollars a week, and I was like, oh my gosh, like this would be perfect. Like I could tell my wife, I'm basically just going for a couple of months. I'll make some decent money while I'm over there. It'd be great experience for me. This league had like an excellent production company that ran their television network, so like they had great film to use and everything as well, and

like I was super excited. They paid me for two weeks and then the league folded because of some like international incident involving the Indian government and some of the

players that local from India or something like that. And so when that happened, I just kind of like I looked at my wife and I was like, it's just not meant to be, you know, And it's sad because, like I always played basketball with a chip on my shoulder post high school because I was so bad, like worst player on my high school team, legitimately couldn't didn't become a decent player until I was like twenty one,

and even then I wasn't that good. And so like I've always been obsessed with like finding what the best version of myself as a basketball player looks like and trying to kind of like unpack that a little bit.

But like, at the end of the day, like you got to weigh that against the practical nature of what it's like being a human being and having to pay bills and manage relationships and stuff, and so you know, there's always going to be a part of me that wishes that I could have had a better kind of pathway there. For instance, like I didn't play basketball at

all until I was halfway through high school. Like what if I'd started when I was ten, what I have reached a lot of these milestones earlier and had a better chance. Like yeah, maybe, but like what do I always talk about on the show, Like hypothetical doesn't mean anything, And hypothetically there's a version of my basketball career that could have gone differently, But it didn't, and so I kind of just have to be at peace with that.

And you know, for me, like I just kind of redirected that energy into being the best basketball player that I can be for myself, and so like I take great joy in the game now, and I still train like a pro because I'm a psychopath in that sense, and like, I like being good. But at the end of the day, like, like I put a ton of respect on the guys who actually did it, And the truth of the matter is like like to to navigate that a situation overseas the difficult practice schedule, the being

away from home, the training, all of that stuff. I have so much respect for the guys who actually did it, and and I'm kind of at peace with the fact that this is the way my story went. And I'm just very thankful that I get to be around the game still. Like how lucky am I that despite all of that, I'm still around the game every single day because this is what I do for a living. And so I just like I'm at peace with it. It is

what it is. But I guess the short version of that answer is I tried got paid for two weeks. League folded so no, I guess the short answer to make it easy. All right. Last mail bag question from Benjamin always hear you talking about how the Celtics are unquestionably the most talented team in the league, and to be honest, I don't see it even when you compare them to Phoenix JT or KB, JB or I'm guessing that's Jason Tatumer, Kevin Durant, Jalen Brown or Devin Booker

or Drew Holliday or BB that's Bradley Beal. I'm guessing even Chris hops porzingis although he has great upside, there's a good chance he gets hurt. And Nurkic is just more mature thoughts. Also, I think you're sleeping on the Nuggets again and then possibly being a dynasty. Also early call, where do you think Wemby will end up when all things are said and done. So here's the thing. I do think Christops is way better than use of Turkic.

And then we're also forgetting Derek White there Again, it's with the Celtics. What makes the most talented roster in the league is their top six is insane. They're all above average starters. Between Horford persingis Tatum Brown, Drew Holliday, and Derek White. Right. Then you go past that and it's like, like Peyton Pritchard is like a really good backup guard. Right. So, like they just have in terms of their top six, seven, eight guys, they are the

most talented team in the league in my opinion. For Phoenix after their top three, it's a pretty big drop off in my opinion. I do think though, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant is probably the best duo in the league right now in all likelihood, either them or Damon Giannis, depending on if Dame can ever find a shot again. I sleep the quest. I can't talk second question about the Nuggets also, I think you're sleeping on the Nuggets again. Thoughts on them potentially being a dynasty. I talked about

them earlier today, so hopefully that answers your question. I think the Nuggets are by far the best team in the league right now, and that even if everyone kind of reached their fully formed levels, I still think the Nuggets are still a tiny bit better than everybody. Whether or not they can be a dynasty. The hardest part with that is, like typically when there's a dynasty, there's a truly great team and then a big chasm and

then everyone else. I just think there's too many other great teams for the Nuggets to like really rank off a bunch of like just rep out championships. But I wouldn't be surprised at all if they won three of the next six, Like I certainly think that's on the table, and that's kind of like a little mini dynasty, right. And then last question, also early call, but where do you think Wenby will end up when all things are said and done. If he's healthy, he could be the

best player of all time. That's certainly his potential. It's just really gonna come down to health at that point. All right, guys, that is all I have for today. As always, I sincerely appreciate your support. Quick breakdown to the schedule for the rest of the week. We're gonna be going Tomorrow breaking down Monday night's games, Wednesday breaking down Tuesday night's games, Wednesday night breaking down Lakers Clippers, and then the early game I can't remember who plays

in the early game the ESPN slate that night. Then Thursday, we're gonna hit a couple other games from Wednesday Friday, a couple games from Thursday, and then Friday night we're gonna go. So we're actually doing seven shows this week in total. All right, that's all I have for right now. I will see you guys tomorrow. The Volume