NBA Quick Hitters

we might as well hop on a space is really quick. Um, my goal is to hit on steps shooting this slump that he's been in for the vast majority of this season. I want to talk a little bit about Grayson Allen and uh, you know, kind of how I feel about what makes him different from some of the other dirty plays, dirty players that we see around the league, and why

I think he can be so problematic. And then at the end, I want to talk about Russ in this ridiculous little media tour that he's been doing over the last couple of days that I think is kind of tone deaf and uh, completely unaware of what Laker fans are actually looking for from him. So three quick topics. Like I said, ten fifteen minutes. I appreciate you guys coming to hang out. Let's go ahead and get started.

So step shooting, as we know, he is below from three this year, and for basically the last basically half of their games games, he's shooting well below what we would expect um from a player of his caliber. His field goal percentage has been in the high thirties and his three point percentage has been in the low thirties

for this stretch. And I, you know, I see Warriors fans in particular kind of working through it in a bunch of different ways, trying to blame stuff with rotations, trying to blame stuff with his shot selection, trying to blame stuff with you know, the way he's being utilized on and off the ball. And I remain just completely and utterly unconcerned. I can't think of anything that worries me less than whether or not Steff is going to start making shots at some point. Um. The reason why

is because he looks great physically. This is the big thing that we look at here. You know, when I watch people get upset about Lebron having a rough game or poor shooting night, or failing to get his step on a guy, a lot of times, all I have to do is see one or two moves that he might make over the course of the game where I can say, oh, like his legs are still there. He's just having an off night forever for whatever the reason

might be. Now, when it comes to when it comes to jump shooting in particular, it gets a lot more finicky because there's so much related to the mental side of the game. Like, for instance, step this year is shooting fifty six percent when he's tightly guarded, very tightly guarded. I should say, according to NBA dot Com, he's shooting forty when he's tightly guarded. He's actually been making the tougher you know, classic Steph Curry types of shot, and

he's been missing the wide open ones. Is wide open. Three point percentage is five percent lower than it was last season. So it's one of those things where it's very flukey to me. I think a lot of it is confidence related, you know, Like I said, jump shooting

is kind of like this. It can be one of those things where you know, gets in your head and you start to overthink things and you get you stopped stop thinking about your form, and you start thinking like you've got the yips, or you just don't have it tonight, or man, I just wish one of these would go down, and it just gets in your head and it can really be it can really be a problem. That's what's different between a jump shooting centric player and a player

likes to get to the rim. They can typically impact the game no matter what, just by you know, pushing through that physical barrier of trying to put their head down and get to the rim. Now, to be clear, Steph has still had an amazing season. I think there's a case to be made that he still our m v P because of all of the attention that he

drags all over the court. There is you know, if you look at the Warriors metric, the way that their teammates performed with step on the step on the floor is vastly better than the way they performed with Steph off the floor. So we have to be clear in understanding that Steph just because he's not shooting particularly well, doesn't mean he's having a bad season. He's been very good defensively, He's been very good in in big moments at the end of games. He had another big crunch

time moment last night. I actually think that's gonna be the one that gets him going, because I do believe this is associated with his confidence. So again, I he looks great physically, the team looks great. I'm not even remotely concerned about step I think he's gonna be fine. The one thing I was gonna say, if I had to be really nitpicky with step is related to shot selection. And I've noticed this, especially over their last couple of games.

You know, Steph is a gunner from three. He's one of the few guys in the league that being a gunner from three works for him. It's actually beneficial to the team in a lot of ways. That's where he gets his gravity from. However, step has been in the league for a long time now, you know, they're in

two thousand sixteen and two thousand fifteen. So much of what he was doing was catching the league off guard, and his style of play was so unusual that he could have success, you know, basically based on defensive schemes, having no idea how to handle what he was bringing to the table. Now it's completely different. Over the course of the last six seven years, there's been a blueprint

formed for how to guard Steph Curry. Now, for the record, there's a blueprint that exists for every superstar in the league. So I don't mean that as a negative. I just mean during that early phase of the Steph era, he there was no blueprint because he was so unusual. There was no one had seen anything like it, no one knew how to guard him. Well, now there's a blueprint.

You rough him up off the ball. You're grabbing your hold so that as he's doing his off ball actions, you fatigue him and it makes it harder for him to move around. And essentially you get somebody on your team who's a ball hawk who does a good job of making sure that after Steph gives up the basket all he doesn't lose focus or get out of his stance, because that's when step is most dangerous. So now there are a handful of guys in the league that actually

can do a decent job against him. So this is where Steph has to evolve with them, right, just like every other star that has has come through the league, especially as as they get older, you have to find a way to evolve faster than defenses have been. And so what I would like to see is to see step take a little bit more advantage of guys over playing him to the three point line and make a greater attempt to score in other spots on the floor. Steph is one of the best midrange shooters that we

have in our league. It's a it's a shot that he has to learn to lean on more, especially when you've got guys risking position, getting out of position for the sake of chasing you off the three point line when there's an option there for you in the paint, and he's got an arsenal of these like scoop shots and floaters that when Steph is really clicking, that he

can go to. So again, if I'm being nitpicky, I'd like to see Steph just embrace a little bit or of of of a very varying shot profile, take on a little bit more of some of the other spots on the floor rather than hunting those threes all of the time. I've seen his story too many times this year. You know, Warriors down three late and Steph comes down and he just jacks the three, and it's like sometimes

they go in and sometimes they don't. You know, if he adds a little bit more versatility there, I think it will get him back into his confidence, which then will unleash that barrage of Step three pointers that we all know. But again, you look at the numbers, it's the wide open ones that he's missing. His body looks great, so it's just a typical shooting slump. I wouldn't overthink it. I feel pretty confident that step is gonna have a

big time end of the season. I wouldn't be shocked if he ended up over by the end of the season. One last note on Steps something that's a little bit interesting, Uh, he in his last two postseason runs is underneath from three. That would be an indicator of serious decline. Now, obviously, in the two was a nineteen playoff run, he um was the focal point of the defense because of a couple of injuries, so that's a little bit different. But it'd be interesting to see this year what he shoots

from three in the postseason. I think that'll be a good indicator of where he's seriously at in terms of any sort of alleged decline. Um. But let's let's move on to Grayson Allen for a second. So I was thinking a lot about you know, what makes Grayson Allen different from other players around the league that get people hurt, because we've seen a bunch of them. I've seen, you know.

We we see that play like the Solomon Hill play on Lebron or Matthew Dellavedova in the two thousand fifteen playoffs, diving into Kyle Korver's legs, that sort of thing. There is an epidemic in the NBA of dangerous hustle. This is something that needs to be talked about. That's separate from the Grayson Allen issue. I don't think guys should It's I don't think I should be diving for loose balls when guys are running next to him. It's kind

of similar to diving at a quarterback selex. Obviously, if you're a defensive end and an offensive lineman is pushing you down to the ground, sometimes you you have to dive, right, But the league basically decided, even though that's a natural football play, it's far more important for our quarterbacks to be healthy because that's what's best for the league. It's best for the league if our quarterbacks are on the field,

that's when we get our best television product. And all of the thirty two teams agreed, and that's the way they chose to proceed. That's kind of the type of angle that I think the NBA needs to take. Like, yeah, we get it, it's a hustle play. You're going for

a loose ball. But in my opinion, similar to the Kawhi Leonard play, where the the Zaza Petulia and Kawhi Leonard play where we decided we didn't want defenders coming up under jump shooters anymore, we have to do the same thing with all of these weird fake hustle plays where guys are diving on the floor in blowing guys

knees out and blowing guys uh ankles out. We need to have a rule that if you die for a loose ball and there's a player where the ball is and you take out their legs, it needs to be some kind of flagrant, some sort of some sort of accountability there, because again, it's just more important for the sake of the league, for the health of the league, for the TV product, to have our basketball players actually

available and able to play. But that's different. Like when I think of like other dirty players in the league, like Patrick Beverley is a good example. Patrick Beverley, Like when I think about dirty plays from him, they're typically related to hustle, so they might fall in that category that I'm talking about, like maybe it should be penalized with a flagrant or something like that. The stuff that Grayson Allen does is flat out dangerous and it's not hustle.

It's just dirty. There's a huge difference between the two. You stick in your foot out and tripping a guy that has nothing to do with you trying to make a basketball play that happens to be dangerous and getting someone hurt, that's you just being a prick. That's you just being a jerk who's trying to hurt somebody at then like a child, unable to control your urges to lash out when you get beat off the dribble. There's it's it's absolutely inexcusable, and I there's absolutely no place

for it in basketball. And the same thing goes with two basketball players that I want to use as an example of what I'm talking about, Taylan Horton Tucker last night against Orlando. On a play when Jalen Suggs took off to go to the basket, Taylor Horton Tucker went with two hands towards the ball to try to make a play. He got both hands on the basketball during

the process. He got some wrist as well, and he his momentum was at an angle that it was unfortunate, and it pulled Jalen Suggs to the ground and it ended up being a dangerous play and Jalen Suggs ended up getting hurt. Now there's a blame pie there that all three players are involved, because Jalen Suggs had no business trying to take off right there. He had no angle, there was no advantage. It was just an extremely dangerous move on his part. Taylan obviously pulling the ball down

that's dangerous as well. There's an angle to where Lebron kind of has hands up in there, kind of pushing Jalen in the chest. That's all dangerous, But they're all basketball plays. What Grayson Allen did was not a basketball play. He wasn't looking, he didn't know what was happening. He knew he had Alex Cruise up by the arms. He knew that by pulling him it was gonna be uh, something super dangerous and the worst case in the weapon.

And now a player who deserves consideration for the All Defense Team is gonna miss two months of basketball because Grayson Allen couldn't control himself again and got somebody hurt. I think Grayson Allen deserves a significantly long suspension, something that sends this very important message. Yeah, we might be able to hustle, to legislate dangerous hustle out of the league, but this business with Grayson Allen doing this jan ky

dirty stuff has to get out. The only way it's gonna happen is if they levy a heavy suspension on him. There needs to be a point if Grayson Allen is going to stay in the league, there needs to be a point where he actually starts to encounter these situations and it's dada just sticking his foot out or doing something stupid. He finally thinks about a consequence for once and he stops doing it. It needs to be done before somebody gets seriously, seriously hurt, and maybe it's worse

than a couple of months. Alright, really quickly, before we get out of here. I wanted to hit on this Russell Westbrook thing. So after the catastrophe against the Indiana Pacers the other night, we had the story from Davig Mediment about Russ walking off the floor essentially, and then DeAndre Jordan's kind of trying to shepherd him back to

the bench. And then we heard that he skipped on the media session, but not only did he skip on the media session, he skipped the postgame meeting with the team. Like he ran back to the locker room. It took

a quick shower and ran out of there. And so then Russ goes on the offensive, right, he tells, uh, he I think he did the interview with Adrian Morzanowski and he does this lengthy story about all the how difficult this has been and how he's just working through it and how all he wants to do is win and he's gonna do whatever it takes to to make sure he fits into that role. And you know, everyone's like, oh, Russ is saying all the right things, And I thought

the same thing. I'm like playing Russ is saying all the right things. But they said all the right things in that story before the season when Anthony Davis, Lebron and Russ met up and talked about what this would look like, and during that that time, Russ said all the right things about what he would have to do to fit with Lebron and Anthony Davis. That was all said before. This is all This is a classic talk

is cheap type of situation. I just no one's interested, and you're saying you have to do all the right things. Just go out and do all the right things for us, Like the Laker fan base. If there's one thing about the Laker fan base, they're gonna be real with you, man, like, if you play really well, if you do all the little things well, if you do what's necessary to fit into this team, the fan base will embrace you again. They'll stop demanding that you get traded, they'll stop tweeting

out every bad play you make. If you actually tip this scales to where what you do good outweighs what you do bad, your impression around the team, You're impression around the fan base will change, and it will Frank will start playing any more. There's so much good that comes from that. Just focus what's going on the court.

And then we get this ridiculous story today in ESPN talking about how Russ got back on track against the Orlando Magic, and it's just so like tone deaf to me, like, come on, man, like we we you do you really think that you're going, you know whatever, it was like seven for fifteen or whatever it was against the Orlando Magic and having some success getting to the rim against that absolute dogshit defense, that that's gonna be what turns

everything around. Like, come on, man, like have some standards, have some understanding, like don't be so tone death, be aware of what people are asking for from you. We play the Miami Heat tomorrow. The Miami Heat have one of the best defenses in the league. They're one of the best, most well co to his teams in the league, well coached teams in the league. Eric Spoelstra is going to have a game plan that is going to be

geared towards exposing all of Russell Westbrok's weaknesses. And what's really going to happen in that game is russ is gonna have an opportunity to show us what he really means when he says what he said to Adrian W. Dronowski the other day. Is he going to go into that game and do his defensive job on every single possession. Is he going to go into that game and never get lost off ball? Is he gonna go into that game and stop hunting rebounds but rather hunt his box

out which is more important to the team concept. Is he on the offensive end going to make the right read to take away what or to directly attack with Miami is game planning to take away from you? Or is it gonna look like it's looked against every other good team this year, where it's fast and loose. For every good defensive play, there's a bad defensive play or bad jump shot selection getting into the lane and picking up your dribble and getting yourself in a bad position.

Those that's what we're really watching. Russ. We don't care what you did against the Orlando Magic. We don't care what you say to Adrian Warzanowski. You have a good stretching. You have a stretch of games here coming up against

really good teams. If you go into this stretch of games and you do your job on defense every single possession or the vast majority of the possessions, and on offense, you play within the five out concept, just like Malik Monk is, just like Stanley Johnson is, just like all these guys are. Just do your job on both ends of the floor. I promise you, Lak your fans will be thrilled to have you on the team, like your fans will be thrilled to think about what this next

two years would be like. The only reason they're not the only reason I'm saying trade you. The only reason all these guys are saying trade you is because you're not paying attention to that stuff, and you're far more wrapped up in the old RUSS instead of embracing what the new RUSS needs to be. So no more of these stories, no more of these weird puff pieces and quotes coming out. Just go out and play basketball, Russ. If you go out and you play well, everything is

going to turn around for you. It's really that simple. Al Right, guys, that's all I have for today. This is gonna be on our Twitter feed or excuse me, our podcast feed here in about fifteen twenty minutes and Rod roges out of town. So Venet was kind enough to offer to join. So Venet is gonna be joining me for the post game show tomorrow, the final right after the final buzzer. I believe it is a three

pm Pacific Standard time. Tip. We appreciate your support as always, and I'll see you guys tomorrow